Category: WWE Results

Impact Under Siege live results: Steve Maclin vs. PCO no DQ title match

Posted on by Josiah MacDonald

Impact Wrestling returns tonight with Under Siege from London, Ontario, Canada.

The event will feature nearly every championship defended with Impact World Champion Steve Maclin putting his title on the line against PCO in a no DQ match.

Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo gets a big test in her latest run as champion as she defends against Jordynne Grace. If Grace cannot regain the belt, she can’t challenge Purrazzo again as long as she is champion.

X-Division Champion Trey Miguel will defend against former multi-time champion Chris Sabin while Impact Tag Team Champions Chris Bey & Ace Austin will defend against the debuting Subculture (Flash Morgan Webster & Mark Andrews).

In a six-way to determine the next World title challenger, it will be Eddie Edwards vs. Moose vs. Jonathan Gresham vs. Yuya Uemura vs. Frankie Kazarian vs. Alex Shelley.

The 10-match card will also feature Trinity looking to go 2-0 in her early run as she takes on Gisele Shaw.

**********

Countdown to Under Siege:

The pre-show for Under Siege began with The Coven making their entrance.

Death Dollz (Courtney Rush & Jessicka) defeated Knockouts Tag Team Champions The Coven (Taylor Wilde & KiLynn King) in a non-title match

I like this presentation of Rush far more than her Rosemary character. This was a fun match.

Rush and Wilde started the match. After a brief exchange, Jessicka & KiLynn King tag in and start hitting some hard strikes. Jessicka gets the better of it and this leads to some double team offence from Rush and Jessicka. Rush went for a sharpshooter on Wilde, but King ran up and hit a big German suplex on Rush. Wilde and King got the heat on Rush for the next few minutes, including missing a tag by Jessicka, as the referee was distracted by KiLynn King.

Jessicka managed to tag in and hit a big kick to the face of King before hitting a low cross body to the seated King for a 2-count. Wilde and Rush both tagged in again, and Wilde tried to setup a double team move with King, Jessicka ran in and took out King while Rush countered and locked a sharpshooter on Wilde for the submission.

– Joe Hendry came out and cut a promo about how Dango was experiencing an identity crisis recently, attacking Santino. Hendry said that it didn’t matter if he came out as a ballroom dancer, a fake police officer, or a list of others jobs, because the only job he needed to worry about was coming down to the ring to get beat by Joe Hendry. This was a good promo.

Impact Digital Media Champion Joe Hendry defeated Dirty Dango via DQ to retain

There was not a lot to this match, but it was highlighted by Dango working over the left arm of Joe Hendry repeatedly. Dango hoped to get the win that way, but as he was on the middle turnbuckle holding Hendry’s arm, Hendry pulled him off and hit a cutter. Dango responded by low blowing Hendry for the DQ.

Dango continued the assault after the match, stomping on the arm of Hendry. As he went to the top rope, Santino’s music hit and he ran down and made the save. Dango ran away before Santino could attack, and handed Hendry his title.

Main Card:

Nick Aldis opened the show with his entrance and a great reaction from the Canadian audience.

Nick Aldis defeated Kenny King (w/ Sheldon Jean)

Good opening match here with Aldis and King. Kenny King has really been working different since his MMA style match with Mike Bailey. Aldis looked quite good here as well.

Aldis caught King on a crossbody, and picked it up into a nice vertical suplex. King rolled the floor and let Jean roll into he opposite side of the ring to distract Aldis, but Aldis responded and turned to elbow King as he was rolling back into the ring to attack. Aldis followed King to the floor and got hit with a drop toe hold that drove Aldis face first into the steps.

King managed to hit a great flip over the top rope to the floor on Aldis. King missed a springboard leg drop and Aldis got up and hit a suplex. Aldis went to the top rope for a flying elbow, but King cut him off and went for a superplex. Aldis shoved King off the ropes, but King landed in a back handspring and landed on his feet before running up the ropes with an enziguri. Both men stood up and started exchanging punches. King hit a powerslam for a 2-count.

Aldis hit a Michinoku driver and then an elbow drop off the top rope, but Sheldon Jean got on the apron to distract the referee. Aldis knocked Jean off the apron but gold rolled up by King, who put his feet on the ropes. The referee noticed and broke up the pinfall. King tried to hit a dropkick off the top rope, but Aldis caught him and locked the Kingsland Cloverleaf on for the submission win.

As Aldis was leaving, he noticed something in the audience, and it was Masha Slamovich and Killer Kelly brawling through the crowd. They brawled to ringside and Kelly hit a suplex on the floor that dropped Slamovich. Kelly grabbed a steal chain from ringside and wrapped it around the mouth and neck of Slamovich, attempting to choke her out, and a whole bunch of security and referees ran down to break it up as the fans chanted “Let them fight!” This was a great angle.

– Jordynne Grace was with Gia Miller backstage, and she talked about the potential of losing the match tonight against Deonna Purrazzo. If Grace lost, she would never be able to challenge for the title again as long as Purrazzo was champion, and that would mean her admitting that she wasn’t the best, and she didn’t know what to do if she wasn’t. She was quite emotional here, and Gia Miller looked ready to cry.

Sami Callihan, Rich Swann & Jake Crist defeated The Design (Deaner, Kon & Angels)

This was a really good tag match, with non-stop action and tons of time for everyone to shine. Kon was booked to hide his weaknesses and highlight his strengths, which was no selling and throwing people around. This was very well done.

Crist and Callihan double teamed Angels in the early portion, but it broke down to all 6 men being in the ring soon thereafter and the action spilled to the floor. Angels hit a tope on Callihan while Crist went for a suicide dive on Kon, but Kon hit a forearm to the face of Crist to drop him. Crist got up quickly as Callihan hit Kon with a kick and hit a springboard moonsault to finally drop Kon.

Callihan then power bombed Angels over the top rope onto everyone. Rich Swann was bleeding a lot from the mouth as he, Callihan, and Crist rolled Kon into the ring and hit a triple superkick that Kon no sold. Swann jumped onto the back of Kon and put him in a sleeper while Callihan and Crist hit two superkicks which failed to knock Kon down again. Kon then slammed Swann over his head and onto Callihan and Crist.

Deaner tagged in and got a big reaction, as he worked the Canadian indie scene for years. The Design isolated Crist, who was now bleeding from the ear. Crist managed to hit a flying forearm on Deaner and tag out to Callihan. Callihan signaled he wanted to fight Deaner, offering his chin for Deaner to punch. Both men started brawling, but Crist and Angels came back in again, and soon Callihan and Crist were hitting stereo Death Valley Drivers.

Kon chokeslammed both men, and Angels hit a huge spinning kick on Callihan before hitting a low down for a 2-count. Kon missed a corner charge and Swann came in and superkicked everyone before hitting a double handspring cutter on Kon and Deaner. Angels took out Swann but ate a superkick and a tiger suplex from Angels. Callihan came in and hit a Cactus driver on Deaner. Angels hit a half nelson suplex on Swan, and went for another, but Swann countered into a forward cradle for the pinfall. Good match.

– Gia Miller was with Santino backstage, and he talked about how Dango attacked him. Santino threatened to punch the lights of Dango out.

Trinity defeated Gisele Shaw (w/ Savannah Evans & Jai Vidal)

Trinity looked so happy as the fans cheered, and started the match hitting a nice leg drop on Shaw. Shaw rolled from the ring to regroup. Trinity dodged a corner charge and hit a Stinger splash before hitting flying head scissors on Shaw. Shaw rolled to the floor to regroup again, so Trinity tried to hit a basement dropkick.

Shaw moved, and Trinity came face to face with Savannah Evans. Trinity launched over Evans and hit a Thesz press on Shaw. After rolling Shaw back into the ring, Evans pulled Trinity from the apron onto the floor. Shaw got the heat over the next few minutes, slowly shoving Trinity with kicks.

Trinity blocked the next kick and hit a torture rack backbreaker on Shaw. Trinity hit a series of forearms and a dropkick before spiking Shaw with a head scissors takedown. Trinity hit the split legged moonsault for a 2-count. Shaw cut Trinity off and hit a draping DDT for a 2-count. Trinity dodged the running knee and hit two enziguris to take down Shaw and Vidal, who got on the apron. Trinity then reversed an attempt at a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker into a sunset flip before locking on Starstruck for the submission win.

– Gia Miller was with Subculture backstage, talking to Mark Andrews, & Flash Morgan Webster, & Dani Luna. Brian Myers and The Good Hands came up and said that they should be getting the tag title match first. Subculture then offered The Good Hands their first defense once they beat ABC.

Impact Tag Team Champions ABC (Ace Austin & Chris Bey) defeated Subculture (Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster) (w/ Dani Luna) to retain

What a fantastic tag team title match. This was fantastic, and I hope we see more of Subculture in Impact. This is a team that and act that fits in very well with Impact, and they could use some more great tag teams.

Austin and Andrews started with Austin seeing a drop toe hold blocked, leading to Austin to kick Andrews in the back before tagging out to Bey who continued the assault. Subculture quickly hit some double team moves that involved several moonsaults and sentons on Bey, ending with a North Lights suplex on Bey from Andrews for a 2-count.

Austin managed to tag in and ABC hit the Click Click Boom on Webster, stealing from the Motor City Machine Guns. Austin low bridged Webster to send him to the floor, letting Chris Bey hit a tope con giro. Austin captured Webster’s head between his feet and stomped it down to the mat for a 2-count.

Webster managed to slip through the legs of Bey and tagged out to Andrews. Andrews can in and hit a moonsault to the floor on Bey before hitting a code red on Austin for a 2-count. Austin dodged a corner charge from Andrews and hit a springboard dropkick. Austin and Andrews both tagged out, and Bey and Austin hit a combo enziguri and torture rack bomb for a 2-count.

Andrews was sent to the floor after a low bridge from Austin. Bey and Austin were both sent to the floor by Webster, who hit a flip dive off the corner post to the floor. Andrews managed to hit Bey with a Stundog Millionaire and Webster hit a senton bomb on the back of Bey for a 2-count. Subculture went for a combo knee on Bey, but Bey ended up hitting a poison rana on both men before Bey and Austin hit the One Two Sweet for the win.

– An excellent hype video aired for Trey Miguel vs. Chris Sabin

Impact X-Division Champion Trey Miguel defeated Chris Sabin to retain

This was another excellent match. Impact’s show thus far has been a huge thumbs up, as Sabin showed why he still one of the best going, and Miguel was right there with him.

Sabin quickly outwrestled Miguel and sent him to the floor with an arm drag. Miguel went to the floor again after getting in the ring, thinking he escaped Sabin, but Sabin followed him and hit a running kick off the apron on Miguel. Sabin put Miguel in the tree of woe and hit a hesitation dropkick in the corner.

Miguel was able to get the advantage after sweeping the legs of Sabin with a tiger feint kick on the apron. Miguel hit a senton and a running knee drop in the ring, and locked on a dragon sleeper. Miguel switched to a sleeper hold, but Sabin fought out. Sabin hit a sunset flip for a 2-count and followed up with a DDT. Sabin hit a missile dropkick off the top rope on Miguel and a boot in the corner that Hannifan called a “hell of a kick” in the corner. I see what you did there, Tom.

Sabin hit a German suplex. Sabin and Miguel exchanged uppercuts and strikes back and forth running corner to corner, and it ended when Miguel hit a flying kick and a brainbuster for a 2-count. Sabin rolled under a meteora and hit a dropkick to the knees of Miguel before stomping on the legs of Miguel.

Miguel got hit with a dragon screw by Sabin before getting locked in a sharpshooter. Miguel got to the ropes to escape. Both men ended up fighting on the turnbuckle and Miguel tried to hit a sunset flip bomb off the corer, but Sabin countered. Miguel hit a cheeky nandos kick before hitting a meteora for a 2-count. Miguel slid on his knees through the lower ropes into a tornado DDT on the floor. Miguel missed a second meteora, landing right on the injured knee.

Sabin and Miguel started to exchange chops in the middle of the ring. Sabin kicked the knee of Miguel and hit a chop to drop him. Miguel went for the lightning spiral, but Sabin countered it into a Canadian Destroyer. Sabin hit a massive lariat and went for the Cradle Shock, but Miguel raked the eyes to escape.

Sabin grabbed the referee and thought it was Miguel, but put him down. Miguel dropkicked Sabin into the referee, and Sabin hit the Cradle Shock on Miguel, but there was no referee to make the count. Miguel rolled to the floor and grabbed his spray paint and sprayed it into the eyes of Sabin before rolling him up for the win.

Alex Shelley defeated Moose, Eddie Edwards (w/ Alisha Edwards), Jonathan Gresham, Yuya Uemura and Frankie Kazarian to become the no. 1 contender to the Impact World title 

Impact is in London, Ontario tonight, which is not far from Detroit, MI. Shelley spent a lot of time working Ontario indies in his career, so the right call was having him win here. This was fantastic.

Kazarian and Edwards immediately started brawling around ringside. Shelley and Gresham dropkicked Moose off the apron before locking up to start their technical wrestling exchange. Moose came in and tried to chokeslam both of them while Kazarian was suplexed on the floor by Edwards. Shelley and Gresham managed to block the chokeslam and hit dropkicks to Moose’s knees. Shelley hit dragon screw leglocks on everyone before Kazarian came in to cut him off.

Shelley hit a drop toe hold and Kazarian and locked a single leg crab on both Uemura and Kazarian. Moose pulled Shelley to the floor and drove him into the apron. Edwards tried to run at Kazarian, but Kazarian dodged and Edwards spilled to the floor and nailed Moose with an accidental tope suicida.

Gresham hit a hurricanrana on Kazarian but got hit with a big boot from Edwards. Kazarian fought back and hit his draping legdrop on Moose before hitting a springboard legdrop on Edwards. He went for the chicken wing, but Edwards fought out. Kazarian hit an unprettier on Edwards, but Shelley broke up the pinfall attempt. Kazarian hit a backstabber on Gresham and sent him into a flatliner into the turnbuckle by Shelley.

Uemura came into the ring and started exchanging chops with Kazarian and hitting a shoulder tackle. Moose came in and hit a huge uranage on Edwards before power bombing Uemura. Moose rolled through a backslide from Kazarian and hit yet another power bomb. Moose went for another power bomb on Gresham, but Gresham hit a hurricanrana. Moose held on, however, and picked Gresham up and hit yet another power bomb for a 2-count.

Moose tried to hit Uemura with a spear, but Uemura rolled out of the way and hit a flying forearm on Moose. Uemura went for a bulldog on Moose, but Moose shoved him off and Uemura ducked a clothesline from Edwards before hitting a capture suplex on Edwards and the bulldog on Moose for a 2-count.

Moose hit a sky high out of the corner on Uemura, but Shelly broke up the pinfall. Kazarian hit an O’Connor roll on Shelley and a Northern Lights suplex on Edwards at the same time for a 2-count. Gresham hit a few dives, but Kazarian hit slingshot cutter. Everyone hit big moves after this ending with Shelley hitting Shell Shock on Uemura and getting the win!

– Trey Miguel was met by Gia Miller backstage, and Miguel mocked Chris Sabin, leading to Sabin running up to him and attacking. Referees and security came in to separate them.

Impact Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo defeated Jordynne Grace to retain

This match was awesome. Grace and Purrazzo have a ton of chemistry, and the finish was spectacular. I can only imagine what this match would have been like in front of 10,000 people instead of the 1000 or so here at this show, but regardless, the fans loved this one.

The story of the early parts of this match featured Jordynne Grace trying to keep the match hard hitting while Purrazzo tried to turn it into a technical affair. Purrazzo hit a neck breaker on Grace on the apron before hitting a flipping senton off the apron to the floor on Grace. Grace tried to hit a clothesline or punch, but Purrazzo kicked the arm to stop it. However, Purrazzo unwisely tried to hit a head scissors takedown on Grace, but Grace caught it and dumped Purrazzo across the top rope.

Grace went up and over Purrazzo in the corner and hit a German suplex for a 2-count. Grace put Purrazzo on the top rope and went for a muscle buster, but Purrazzo fought out of it and tried to kick the left arm of Grace while coming off the turnbuckle, but Grace dodged and hit a lariat that sent them both over the top rope to the floor. Grace and Purrazzo came back into the ring and started exchanging forearms.

Purrazzo hit a running knee but was unable to hit a Russian leg sweep. Purrazzo hit a head scissors into a Russian leg sweep that she immediately transitioned into a Fujiwara armbar, but Grace countered into a roll up. Grace hit a torture rack bomb for a 2-count. Grace went for a tombstone piledriver, but Purrazzo countered into one of her own for a 2-count.

Grace hit a power bomb and a jackhammer for a 2-count. Grace picked Purrazzo up in a fireman’s carry and tried to climb the ropes, but Purrazzo slipped out and hit a  cheeky nandos kick in the corner before hitting a power bomb. Purrazzo went for the Queen’s Gambit, but Grace countered into a Jackknife pin, which Purrazzo countered into Queen’s Gambit for a 2-count. Grace hit a reverse piledriver for a 2-count.

Grace went for the Grace driver, but Purrazzo blocked it. Purrazzo and Grace hit open handed strikes at the same time and both went down. Grace tried to hit the Grace Driver off the middle ropes, but Purrazzo countered out of it and hit Queen’s Gambit off the middle ropes for the pinfall.

– Victory Road is set for Friday, September 8th in White Plains, New York, with the 1000th Impact being taped the following night. I remember the first episode, so this makes me feel very old.

Impact World Champion Steve Maclin defeated PCO in a no DQ match to retain

This is one of the bloodiest matches I’ve seen in Impact ever, and that includes all of Abyss’s wars, and Raven’s insanity. This is not my kind of match, with some of the things that happened, but holy cow they worked hard. Absolutely brutal war between the two, and if you ever doubted the toughness of either Maclin or PCO, then you really shouldn’t.

Maclin and PCO started brawling right away, with PCO hitting a clothesline that took them both to the floor. PCO hit a cannonball through the ropes on Maclin, leading to a huge reaction from the crowd. Maclin suplexed PCO into the ring steps, and it sounded horrifying. Maclin nailed PCO with a cookie sheet and sent PCO flipping to the floor in a horrific thud. It is hard to believe PCO has been taking that bump since the 90s.

Maclin went for a tope suicida and PCO nailed Maclin with a cookie sheet that busted him wide open. There looked to be a huge cut on his forehead, leading to the blood. Maclin hit a low blow and nailed PCO with a chair. Maclin was nailed PCO with the chair several more times and got a 2-count out of it. Maclin hit a spear in the corner on PCO into a garbage can for a 2-count.

Goodness gracious, Maclin took a staple gun and stapled PCO’s mouth shut. PCO grabbed pliers and took the staples out. That was horrifying. Maclin hit PCO with a sledgehammer, and then pulled slabs of concrete out from under the ring. Maclin then put the concrete on PCO’s back and hit it with a sledgehammer like he did on Impact 2 weeks ago, but only got a 2-count.

PCO fired up and hit a DDT on Maclin and then hit a lung blower off the middle ropes. PCO hit a leg drop to the back of the neck of Maclin for a 2-count. PCO hit a senton bomb off the top rope onto Maclin on the apron. Maclin then hit an iconoclasm off the top rope onto the apron on PCO.

PCO somehow got up after this and hit an inverted DDT on Maclin before setting up a series of cinder blocks in the ring. PCO went to the top rope but Maclin cut him off and threw PCO off onto the cinder blocks before hitting the KIA on the blocks for the pinfall.

Maclin grabbed a mic and demanded that Scott D’Amore keep his promise and come down to the ring to put the belt around Maclin’s waste while blood poured down his face and covered the ring. I can’t say that is an image I will ever forget, as D’Amore strapped him up. D’Amore offered to shake his hand, but Maclin refused, leaving the ring and a pool of his own blood behind. Maclin left screaming that he was D’Amore’s boss now.

As Maclin left, Bully Ray came out from the crowd and wrapped a strap around the neck of D’Amore and choked him out in the ring. Maclin said he liked the way Ray thought, and Ray told Maclin to get the tables. Bully Ray pulled out lighter fluid and went to light the table on fire Matt Rehwoldt ran in and told Ray and Maclin to stop. Ray took out Rehwoldt. PCO got back in the ring and briefly tried to fight back, but they took him out.

The Motor City Machine Guns tried to make the save, but they were fought off too. Ray and Maclin lit the table on fire and power bombed D’Amore through it, with Ray getting in the face of D’Amore after, saying that D’Amore would never get rid of him, and he was going to tag the entire company down around him. Ray then held Maclin’s hand up, celebrating with the bloody champion.

Maclin will defend against Shelley at next month’s Against All Odds.

Final Thoughts:

Well, a lot sure happened on this show. After a few shows that felt inconsequential, Impact fired back with this, literally in the case of D’Amore going through a flaming table. I know they tried this angle a few months back with Ray, but the table wouldn’t light. This time it did, and it made it better. The violence against D’Amore escalated from going through a table to going through a flaming table, and now it appears Bully Ray will be aligned with Steve Maclin going forward, hopefully in a more managerial role, with the occasional match.

If you are into great wrestling, this show had plenty of it, and it you are into freak show matches, that main event was definitely one of those. With the angles put forward, and with the quality of matches this didn’t feel like a monthly special, but a big time PPV for Impact. This show was a home run.

MLW Fusion results: Taya Valkyrie defends two championships

Posted on by Iain Oliver

MLW has returned with a new season of Fusion on beIN Sports, following the recent Underground season that concluded on Reelz.

To catch you up, Alex Kane won the 2023 Battle Riot match to earn an MLW title shot against Alex Hammerstone at July’s Never Say Never streaming special on FITE.tv. The season also included the debut of new heel faction The Calling who most recently attacked and injured the ever popular former champion Jacob Fatu.

This week’s show was taped in Tijuana, Mexico, as part of the MLW and AAA Super Series tapings with Joe Dombrowski and Christian Cole on the call.

The episode opened with highlights of Kane’s Battle Riot victory where he went the distance to win from the no. 1 spot before we were treated to a new opening video and music package for the new season.

Juicy Finau defeated Crazy Frank and Damian 666 in a triple threat Tijuana street fight

With the size and abilities of each competitor, this was a slow-moving but hard-hitting weapons match that saw the MLW Tag Team champion get the victory.

They listed off Damian’s previous deathmatch/hardcore opponents and it is quite an impressive list: the original Sheik, Onita, Sabu, Masato Tanaka and Mike Awesome among others.

Damian stapled some pesos to Finau’s shoulder before he and Frank sent him over the barrier with some cookie sheet shots. Frank used a cheese grater on Finau, followed by Damian driving skewers into Frank’s forehead. Finau then set Frank on a chair, placed an HD plasma TV on his lap, and crushed both man and TV into the barrier.

Inside the ring, we had a run-in from Frank’s stablemates who suplexed Damian from the top rope onto a car hood. However, they were soon on the end of an avalanche splash by Finau and kendo stick shots from Damian.

The action stumbled to the stage where Finau threw Damian off the stage and through a table. Frank joined them with another cookie sheet and dragged Finau back to ringside and sent him through the TV.

Inside the ring, Frank’s stablemates set up some plexiglass using chairs but ended up going through them via a double chokeslam. Finau then hit a Samoan drop and a middle rope moonsault onto Frank to pick up the pinfall victory. 

– They announced that Jacob Fatu will be out due to injury for three weeks while he recovers from his attack from The Calling. However, his MLW Openweight title shot against John Hennigan that he did not get due to the attack was still valid and he will get it in the future.

– MLW Champion Alex Hammerstone said Danny Limelight (his next opponent) and Alex Kane will suffer the same fate, and that The Calling will get theirs soon enough as well.

– Delmi Exo told Taya Valkyrie that her time is up as MLW Featherweight Champion, firmly supplanting herself as her next challenger if she can retain tonight.

– Sam Leterna interviewed Willie Mack who said he has gold on his mind and Hennigan in his sights.

– Mister Saint Laurent was backstage on his cellphone setting up a deal with “the best wrestler to come out of your country” when he bumped into Mance Warner, 1 Called Manders and Matthew Justice having a beer. MSL warned them to stay away from his “meal ticket” Microman but after MSL left, Microman was happy to receive and share a post-bathroom beer. 

– In a press conference, Alex Kane answered a string of questions:

  • Mr. Thomas is in Tijuana training for his next big fight.
  • Kane will not cash in his title shot during the Super Series.
  • He will have another Prize Fight before his title shot.
  • We will find out who is behind the Bomaye Fight Club, a group he said is the lifeblood of MLW and that he will be the next MLW Champion.

    Taya Valkyrie defeated La Hiedra, Dalys and Sexy Star in a four-way match to retain both the MLW Women’s Featherweight and AAA’s Reina de Reinas titles

    Hiedra got ganged up on in the early going, but this quickly broke down into a series of one-on-one mini matches as all four took turns in the ring as the other two rested on the outside.

    Star came close with a lungblower but Valkyrie returned with a suplex, only to be interrupted by Dalys who hit a big suplex on the double champion.

    All four were knocked down, but Dalys and Hiedra got to their feet and exchanged strikes. The two both ended up on the wrong end of a double roll-up from Star and Taya before they then were left alone in the ring to renew their rivalry.

    Valkyrie and Star exchanged strikes and near falls after Star hit a German and Valkyrie hit a hard clothesline.

    Star impressively powered the champion up onto her shoulders and dropped her with a driver for another close two count. But after another strike exchange, Valkyrie hit her Road to Valhalla to pick up the victory and retain both titles.

    As Fusion was going off the air, a vignette aired for The Calling who said Jacob Fatu will be the first victim.

    Next week:

    • Sam Adonis, John Hennigan & Gringo Loco vs. El Hijo del Vikingo, Psycho Clown & Rey Horus in a no DQ trios match

    Impact Wrestling live results: Under Siege go-home show

    Posted on by Josiah MacDonald

    The final stop before Friday’s Under Siege on Friday has arrived with Thursday’s Impact Wrestling on AXS TV.

    In the night’s featured match, Chris Sabin will take on “Speedball” Mike Bailey in a clash of former X-Division Champions. Sabin will challenge again for the title Friday when he faces current titleholder Trey Miguel.

    Ahead of her challenge of Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo, former champion Jordynne Grace will face Alisha Edwards.

    Chris Bey will go one-on-one with John Skyler. Bey and Ace Austin will defend the Impact Tag Team titles Friday against the debuting Subculture.

    Angels will take on Rich Swann ahead of their trios clash on Friday while Impact Knockouts Tag Team Champion Taylor Wilde will take on Jessicka. 

    In a tag team match, Kenny King & Sheldon Jean will face Decay (Black Taurus & Crazy Steve). King will face Nick Aldis on Friday.

    The BTI pre-show will feature Sami Callihan against Shogun.

    **********

    BTI pre-show: 

    Sami Callihan defeated Shogun

    Callihan yelled “Boo this man!” as the match started and the fans did. This was a decent match where Shogun got a little bit of time to show what he could do. Callihan won with a death valley driver after a few minutes in a good match.

    Main Card:

    After the recap of last week’s events, the show jumped right into the first match.

    Chris Sabin defeated Mike Bailey

    This match was absolutely outstanding. Sabin and Bailey had a PPV main event level match in the opening of Impact here this week. This is must see.

    There is no better match to setup Chris Sabin challenging for the X-Division title than facing Mike Bailey. Sabin tied up Bailey’s foot in the ropes, and then started hitting a few strikes before hitting a hesitation dropkick to the prone Bailey’s face. Bailey got loose from the ropes and did a handspring backflip to dodge a clothesline before hitting the ropes and talking Sabin’s head off with a flying kick.

    Bailey hit a running shooting star press for a 2-count. Sabin went for a cradle shock, but Bailey countered into a hurricanrana and then hit a backflip double knees to the chest of Sabin. Bailey hit a moonsault to the floor on Sabin, causing the crowd to go crazy. Bailey hit an enziguri and went for Ultima Weapon, but Sabin tried to counter into the Cradle Shock. Bailey floated to the apron, and Sabin went over into a sunset flip power bomb on the floor.

    Sabin went to the top rope and Bailey followed. Sabin kicked him off, but Bailey hit a flying kick and went back to the top ropes. Sabin slipped under the legs and ran up the ropes, hitting a release German suplex off the top ropes. Incredible. Sabin went for Cradle Shock, but Bailey countered into a pinfall attempt. Sabin kicked out and ran straight into a one man Spanish fly for a 2-count. Bailey hit a thrust kick to drop Sabin and hit the tornado kick in the corner. Sabin dodged Ultima Weapon, set Bailey on the ropes, hit a muscle buster, and then picked him up and hit a Cradle Shock for the win. Holy cow, what a match.

    – A recap video aired of PCO and Maclin’s feud thus far. Maclin called the video package wasted motion because there was no way PCO was actually going to be at Under Siege after what he did to him recently, so he was going to name his own replacement later in the show.

    Kenny King & Sheldon Jean defeated Decay (Crazzy Steve & Black Taurus)

    Good match between these two teams, with King getting the win to build up to his match with Aldis.

    Nick Aldis joined the commentary desk for the match, putting over Kenny King for his ability. Steve did a neck snap on Jean as the announcers talked about King elevating his game in the time Aldis was away from Impact. Taurus was isolated briefly by Jean, who hit a series of forearms on the grounded Taurus. King mocked Taurus and hit two shoulder tackles, causing Taurus to charge, and King hit a powerslam and tagged out to Jean.

    Taurus hit a spinning bulldog on Jean and tagged out to Steve, who went right after Kenny King. Steve hit a cannonball in the corner for a 2-count that Jean broke up. Taurus hit an incredible tope con giro on Jean to the floor, who caught the large man completely. Impressive, at it absolutely crushed Jean, but certainly kept Taurus safe. King, meanwhile, bit Steve as he went for a monkey flip, and King hit the Royal Flush for the win.

    King grabbed a mic and said he was glad to give Aldis a front row seat to what he could do, and promised to beat Aldis at Under Siege. Aldis claimed that King couldn’t keep his name out of his mouth because King was trying to make a name at Aldis’ expense. Aldis took his jacket off to fight with King, but King left the ring and said he would see him tomorrow.

    – Jessicka was waiting for Rosemary backstage with the hourglass again, but had to put it down to go wrestle in a match against Taylor Wilde.

    Taylor Wilde (w/ KiLynn King) defeated Jessicka

    This was a nothing match as Wilde quickly hit the Witch’s Wrath for the win on the distracted Jessicka. As Wilde and KiLynn King attacked Jessicka after the match, we see the hourglass hit zero, and someone leaves the Undead Realm. Music hits, and Courtney Rush, Rosemary’s alter ego, ran out to save Jessicka.

    Rush was later backstage with Jessicka and Jessicka pointed out how she looked like Rosemary, but wasn’t Rosemary. Rush clarified that Rosemary was someone who possessed her body for the last seven years, and she wasn’t sure why she was there, as there was an agreement Rosemary, but she was going to be a part of the Death Dollz for now. If this means we lose the Undead Realm stuff, I’m happy. I suspect we won’t be losing it though.

    Rich Swann (w/ Sami Callihan) defeated Angels (w/ The Design)

    Angels got the advantage of Swann in a really clever way, by pushing the apron up into the ring, and as Swann stepped on the apron, Angels pulled it out from under him. Angels then hit a slingshot into the ring post and hit a half nelson suplex for a 2-count in the ring. After a body slam, Swann started to hit some kicks that drove Angels to the floor. Swann hit a flipping senton off the apron and then hit a handspring cutter for a 2-count.

    Angels managed to take the legs out of Swann when he was on the middle rope getting ready to hit a phoenix splash. Angels hit another half nelson suplex and then hit a moonsault to the floor on Swann. Angels hit a low down for a 2-count. Swann managed to pull Angels off the top rope and hit a 450 splash for the 3-count.

    – The Design continued to assault Swann and Callihan after the match with Deaner hitting Callihan in the face with a baseball bat yet again.

    – Alisha Edwards interrupted a Deonna Purrazzo interview saying that Purrazzo was kind to give Jordynne Grace the benefit of the doubt for what happened last week, but she’d soon learn what she and Eddie Edwards learned – that the locker room is full of backstabbers.

    – Killer Kelly and Masha Slamovich were brawling backstage and went through a kitchen area to a back hallway where Slamovich choked Kelly unconscious with a cable.

    Jordynne Grace defeated Alisha Edwards (w/ Eddie Edwards)

    Jordynne Grace laughed at the strikes of Edwards, hitting a bangarang and then the Grace driver for the win.

    – Dirty Dango did a pre-taped promo, and talked about how he was done with people being happy to be there, and mocked the younger generation for wanting social media likes more than live crowd reactions. Dango claimed people came to see stars, and that he was one, and it didn’t matter if he loved the business. He basically called all the wrestlers marks. He said Jim Cornette would probably bury this. I will beat him to it. This is not good. Dango said people didn’t pay to seem armdrags, but they would pay to see his arms. I have no idea where this character is going.

    – A very good promo video aired for the six-man #1 Contender match for the Impact World Championship.

    Chris Bey (w/ Ace Austin) defeated John Skylar (w/ Jason Hotch & Brian Myers)

    I am not sure why Hotch got the win last week only for ABC to get a win back here with Bey defeating Skylar, but hey, The Good Hands are going for the titles at Under Siege anyway.

    Bey had the advantage early on, using his speed to leave Skylar reeling. As Skylar moved out of the way of a plancha to the floor, Bey landed on his feet and got distracted by Myers and Hotch, so Skylar drove him face first into the ring post. When we came back from the break, Hotch had Bey in a headlock. Bey was able to get out and hit a slingshot into a DDT on Skylar for a 2-count. Skylar hit a spear from the apron into the ring for a 2-count. Bey hit a dropkick on Myers on the floor and then hit the Art of Finesse for the 3-count.

    Steve Maclin/PCO segment

    Impact World Champion Maclin came out to introduce his opponent for Under Siege, selecting Champagne Singh to face him as a reward for how Singh helped him attack PCO last week. The crowd was not impressed. Singh joked that he was going to finish his story, taking a shot at Cody Rhodes, and that he was going to win the title. Singh actually got a lot of heat here, as he wanted to thank a long list of people that rivaled Chris Jericho’s list of moves in WCW.

    Scott D’Amore came down to the ring and Singh claimed D’Amore was on the list. Shera took the list and tried to find D’Amore’s name while D’Amore said the match between Maclin and Singh was not going to happen. Maclin claimed that D’Amore was set against him having the title. D’Amore said he was fine with him being champion, but he wanted him to fight the best in the ring, and he was clearly avoiding that now. This was a good promo from D’Amore.

    D’Amore conceded that he did not respectfully hand the title to Maclin at Rebellion, but promised to do so if Maclin fought at Under Siege in a real match. Maclin refused and said he was owed the respect of D’Amore, and that he was the real boss of the company, and D’Amore answered to him and he was going to strap the title around Maclin’s waist regardless. D’Amore agreed that if he could beat PCO, he would.

    Maclin insisted PCO wouldn’t be there, but D’Amore was sure, because PCO was there tonight. The lights went out, and came back on and PCO was in the ring. Maclin hit PCO in the face with the belt, but PCO no sold it, grabbed the belt, and took out Shera and Singh before posing with the title. Good angle for the go home episode.

    Final Thoughts:

    This was a very good show tonight featuring a phenomenal match between Mike Bailey and Chris Sabin, some strong angles and promos, and all of it served to build Under Siege. It seems like Impact does a better job building their Impact Plus specials than they do their PPVs most of the time. I won’t complain though. This was a good show.

    Final Impact Under Siege card:

    • Impact World Champion Steve Maclin defends against PCO in a no DQ match
    • Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo defends against Jordynne Grace (if Grace loses, she can’t challenge for the title again while Purrazzo is champion)
    • X-Division Champion Trey Miguel defends against Chris Sabin
    • Impact Tag Team Champions Chris Bey & Ace Austin defend against Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster (w/ Dani Luna)
    • Impact World Championship number one contender’s match: Eddie Edwards vs. Moose vs. Jonathan Gresham vs. Yuya Uemura vs. Frankie Kazarian vs. Alex Shelley
    • Nick Aldis vs. Kenny King
    • The Design (Deaner, Kon & Angels) vs. Sami Callihan, Rich Swann & a mystery partner
    • Trinity vs. Gisele Shaw
    • Pre-show: Knockouts Tag Team Champions The Coven (KiLynn King & Taylor Wilde) vs. The Death Dollz (Jessicka & Courtney Rush) in a non-title match
    • Pre-show: Digital Media Champion Joe Hendry defends against Dirty Dango

    Ring of Honor TV live results: Samoa Joe & Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Christopher Daniels & Matt Sydal

    Posted on by Suit Williams

    The respective TV Champions from Ring of Honor and NJPW will team up on this week’s ROH on HonorClub TV.

    ROH TV Champion Samoa Joe and NJPW TV Champion Zack Sabre Jr. will face Christopher Daniels and Matt Sydal where if Daniels and Sydal win, they earn TV title shots of their own.

    Thursday will feature two Proving Ground matches as ROH World Champion Claudio Castagnoli will face Serpentico while ROH Women’s Champion Athena takes on Promise Braxton. If either challenger wins or survives the time limit, they will earn a future title shot.

    Ahead of his special referee gig at Sunday’s Double or Nothing, Mark Briscoe will face JD Drake while new NJPW Strong Women’s Champion Willow Nightingale will take on Hyan.

    The 19-match lineup will also feature former ROH Women’s Champion Mercedes Martinez against Dream Girl Ellie, and ROH Tag Team Champion Penta El Zero Miedo going one-on-one with Slim J.

    **********

    Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman, and Nigel McGuinness are on the call for this supersized edition of ROH on Honor Club, coming from the set at Universal Studios.

    Mark Briscoe defeated JD Drake (w/Anthony Henry)

    The WorkHorsemen continue to impress in singles matches. They have made themselves highlights of these Honor Club shows. This was a great singles match to start off this week’s show.

    Briscoe started the match by opening himself up for a chop, which started a chop battle that Briscoe won before booting Drake into the corner. The announcers talk about Briscoe’s role as guest referee for the AEW Tag Team Title match at Double or Nothing as Drake threw Briscoe across the ring. Briscoe came back and sent Drake to the floor. Briscoe booted Drake off the apron before hitting a corkscrew senton to both Workhorsemen on the floor to a big reaction.

    Back in the ring, both men traded slaps. A technical error shortly killed my feed here, but it came back quickly to Drake clubbering on Briscoe in the corner while talking trash to the crowd. Drake hit a Bossman Slam for a nearfall, following it with a bottom rope Vader Bomb for another nearfall. Drake brought Briscoe to the top rope, but Briscoe fought him down with chops before hitting a missile dropkick.

    Briscoe chopped Drake into the corner before bringing him to the top rope. Drake blocked the Iconoclasm but ran into the Uranage from Briscoe for a nearfall. Briscoe called for the Jay Driller, but Henry interrupted him from the apron. Briscoe took Henry down with a baseball slide, but Drake took Briscoe down with a rebound forearm. Drake hit a moonsault in the ring, but Briscoe kicked out at two.

    Drake went for the Jay Driller, but Briscoe fought out and hit a rolling DVD. Briscoe followed it with the Froggy Bow for the win. After shaking hands with Drake, Briscoe made sure to call out Samoa Joe to the camera.

    – Backstage, Dasha was with Christopher Daniels & Matt Sydal. Daniels says that while Samoa Joe and Zack Sabre Jr. think they’ve thrown a curveball, they’ve put themselves on the back foot against former World Tag Team Champions. Sydal said that he felt the titles pulling him closer, and he would get to one of them before long.

    ROH World Title Proving Ground Match: Claudio Castagnoli defeated Serpentico

    Castagnoli toyed with Serpentico in a test of strength, but Serpentico scored with a pair of headscissors. Castagnoli rolled to the floor, where Serpentico followed him with a dive. Serpentico hit a high crossbody in the ring for a nearfall. Castagnoli dumped Serpentico to the floor, where he sent Serpentico hard into the steps.

    After gutwrenching Serpentico back into the ring, Castagnoli hammered Serpentico with short-arm clotheslines. Serpentico gave him the middle finger, so Castagnoli continued with the clotheslines before hitting a measured final clothesline for the win.

    Kiera Hogan defeated Vertvixen

    Vertvixen looked solid here. She’s got a good look, good offense, and the crowd took to her. Hope to see more of her. Hogan as Athena’s next victim is fine enough.

    ROH Women’s Champion Athena made her way to the stage to watch this one. Vertvixen took Hogan down with a dropkick, but Hogan dropped her into the ropes and hit a hip attack. Hogan hit a step-up legdrop for a nearfall before noticing Athena on the ramp. Vertvixen hit a flatliner and transitioned into a Koji Clutch, with Hogan quickly reaching the ropes.

    Vertvixen hit a springboard kick for a nearfall. Hogan came back with a running forearm and a sliding kick in the corner for a nearfall. Vertvixen sent Hogan into the corner and hit a Yakuza kick before hitting the Blue Thunder Bomb for a nearfall. Hogan fought out of a hold and hit a Saito suplex for the win. She made sure to stare down Athena during the cover.

    Athena and Hogan shared words before Athena piefaced Hogan over the fallen Vertvixen and exited stage left.

    Kyle Fletcher (w/ Mark Davis) defeated AR Fox

    Kyle Fletcher is going to be a big deal, and after the news of Aussie Open signing with AEW, his time may be imminent. This was a great match.

    Fletcher and Davis came out with the IWGP Tag Team Titles that they had vacated this past Sunday. Ian Riccaboni explained that New Japan officials allowed Aussie Open to come out with the titles one last time before the new champions are crowned at Dominion.

    Fox got the upper hand with an offensive flurry, ending with a clothesline in the corner and a skin-the-cat dropkick. Fletcher booted Fox from the apron before pulling him to the apron as well. Fletcher hit a side suplex on the apron, then followed it up with a bodyslam on the floor. Fletcher continued with the bodyslams in the ring, but Fox caught him with a spinning suplex.

    Fox fired up, hitting the rolling cutter for a nearfall. Fox went to the top rope, but Fletcher moved out of the way and countered another cutter with a half-and-half suplex. Fletcher hit a Mafia Kick and a brainbuster for a nearfall. As the crowd chanted This Is Awesome, Fox caught Fletcher with an enzuigiri before booting him to the floor. Fox went to the top rope and hit a senton to Fletcher on the floor.

    Back in the ring, Fox went to the top rope and hit the 450 for a nearfall. Fox brought Fletcher to the top rope, but Fletcher brought Fox down with a top rope bodyslam for a nearfall. Fletcher hit a running kick in the ropes before hitting a spinning Tombstone for the win.

    Willow Nightingale defeated Hyan

    The announcers put over Nightingale’s NJPW Strong Women’s Title win, noting that she beat Mercedes Mone to do it. Ian Riccaboni noted that Nightingale didn’t have the title with her as New Japan was getting the nameplate set on the title. I appreciate Riccaboni’s attempts to cover these continuity errors.

    Nightingale was in firm control early on. Hyan ducked a body block in the corner before hitting elbows in the corner. Nightingale fought back, hitting an enzuigiri and the body block she intended earlier. Nightingale followed with a shotgun dropkick and a cannonball. Nightingale dropped the straps and hit the Babe With The Powerbomb for the win.

    The Kingdom (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) (w/Maria Kanellis-Bennett) defeated Mack Attack (Ninja Mack & Willie Mack)

    Mack Attack is the kind of experimental team I want to see on ROH. Two guys not doing much on their own coming together to make a fun little team. They made a good pair here against the veterans in the Kingdom.

    Willie started out with Taven, hitting several armdrags to start. Bennett and Taven took control with quick tags and fast offense. Willie fought out of a double team and powered his way to a tag. Ninja ran wild with offense on both Kingdom members. Ninja went for a Sasuke Special, but Bennett caught him and hit a German suplex.

    The Kingdom blitzed Ninja with tandem offense, but Willie made sure to break up the pin after a Taven frog splash. Ninja fought his way free and made a tag to Willie, who took both Kingdom members down with a double clothesline. Willie hit corner clotheslines and a cannonball to Bennett before dropping Taven with a Samoan Drop and standing moonsault. Ninja tagged in and hit a double handspring moonsault over the ropes to both Bennett and Taven.

    Ninja and Willie hit a 3D but had some miscommunication on the legal man. The Kingdom was able to take advantage, as Bennett hit a rebound forearm to Willie on the floor. The Kingdom hit the Proton Pack to Ninja to score the win.

    Mercedes Martinez defeated Dream Girl Ellie

    Martinez took down Ellie with a boot after some trash talk. She stomped on Ellie before hitting a side suplex. Martinez hit Ellie with short-range knees before putting her away with the Brass City Stretch.

    – Dasha was backstage with Mack Attack. They hyped themselves up, saying that despite the loss, they were here to stay.

    Ashley D’Amboise defeated Danielle Kamela

    Kamela took control, dumping D’Amboise into the corner and hitting boots to the gut. She hit a squisher before tying D’Amboise in the ropes and kicking her repeatedly. D’Amboise traded forearms with Kamela before hitting a neckbreaker. D’Amboise hit a powerslam for a nearfall.

    Kamela slipped out of D’Amboise’s grasp and hit a facebuster for a nearfall. Kamela hit another neckbreaker for a nearfall. D’Amboise fought off Kamela and hit a Burning Hammer for a nearfall. Not exactly as effective as Kenta Kobashi. D’Amboise followed up with a Uranage for the win.

    Rocky Romero defeated Titus Alexander

    Titus Alexander has gotten a lot of buzz on the west coast independent scene, so I made sure to watch him closely. His offense was impressive, and his selling was very good as well. He’s one to keep an eye on.

    Alexander mocked Romero after a basement dropkick, then cut off the Forever clotheslines with a standing dropkick. Romero got the upper hand with a tornado DDT off the ropes. Romero landed kicks to the arm, then baited Alexander to the floor before hitting a dive. Romero hit the running Sliced Bread for a nearfall.

    Alexander avoided a corner charge and hit a set of evasive kicks before landing a brainbuster for a nearfall. Alexander avoided another corner charge, but Romero caught Alexander with an enzuigiri. Romero pulled Alexander off the top rope and locked on the Diablo Armbar for the win.

    Stu Grayson & The Righteous (Dutch & Vincent) defeated LSG, Marcus Kross & Vary Morales

    A bit of a surprising turn here as Grayson worked well with the Righteous. This is a neat little undercard feud here with the Dark Order.

    Grayson started quickly with Morales, hitting an overhead belly-to-belly suplex. Morales made a quick tag to Kross, but Grayson got control of him. Dutch and Grayson hit a successful tag team combination to Grayson’s surprise. Vincent and Grayson hit another combo to Vincent’s delight.

    LSG tagged in and got some offense in, but Grayson took down both LSG and Kross. Dark Order made their way to the stage as Dutch hit a Bossman Slam on Morales. Dutch and Vincent hit Autumn Sunshine on Kross before Vincent tagged in Grayson to finish the job. Grayson hit Nightfall for the win.

    – Dasha was backstage with Zack Sabre Jr. & Samoa Joe. They were tense toward each other, with Sabre noting that he came to ROH to make his NJPW World TV Title the premier TV Title in wrestling. Samoa Joe said that like all of his other partners, he would have Sabre’s back tonight. I think that was sarcasm.

    Shane Taylor (w/Anthony Henry & JD Drake) defeated Tracy Williams (w/Rhett Titus)

    Williams and Taylor traded blows, with Taylor winning the exchange. Williams caught Taylor in an armbar over the ropes, but Taylor responded with a barge attack in the ring before dropping him with a forearm. Williams tried to catch Taylor with an armbar in the ring, but Taylor hit a side suplex out of it. Williams hit a set of strikes before dropping Taylor with a jumping DDT off the ropes for a nearfall.

    Williams went to the top rope, and after fighting off an intervening Taylor, hit a frog splash for a nearfall. Williams almost had Taylor up for a piledriver, but Taylor hit a back body drop. Taylor hit a headbutt and a uranage before hitting a standing splash for a nearfall. Taylor dropped Williams with a heavy forearm before hitting the Package Piledriver for the win.

    ROH Women’s World Title Proving Ground Match: Athena defeated Promise Braxton

    Braxton kept up with Athena early on, but after a stalemate, Athena caught Braxton with a high kick. Athena hit a big forearm. Braxton caught Athena in an octopus hold, but Athena got out. Athena hit a gourdbuster and a superkick for a nearfall that came after some bragging.

    Braxton ducked a corner charge and fired up, hitting double knees to the back of Athena for a nearfall. Athena caught Braxton with a rana into the turnbuckles, then hit a corkscrew splash over the ropes for a nearfall. Braxton hit a pair of forearms, but Athena caught her with a big shot that knocked Braxton silly. Athena locked on a Cobra Clutch for the submission win.

    After the match, Athena went to do more damage to Braxton before Kiera Hogan made the save. She dropped Athena face-first on the title as was Athena’s trademark before standing tall with the title.

    Dralistico (w/Jose The Assistant) defeated Tony Deppen

    I’ve been hard on Dralistico ever since he came into the AEW system, but this was his best performance to date.

    Deppen literally kick-started this match, booting Dralistico to the floor and hitting a dive. Dralistico sent Deppen into the post before taking Deppen around ringside and doing damage with the barricade and the steps. Dralistico hit a springboard senton but pulled Deppen up on the cover. Dralistico booted Deppen in the corner before hitting a running superkick.

    Dralistico went for a powerbomb, but Deppen slid out and hit a pump kick. Deppen avoided Dralistico on a charge and hit a twisting springboard gainer to the floor. Deppen hit a double stomp back in the ring for a nearfall. They traded chops before transitioning to palm strikes and forearms. Dralistico caught Deppen with a hurricane kick, but Deppen came back with a pair of German suplexes. Dralistico hit a German of his own before hitting a superkick and a poisonrana.

    Deppen got some offense in, but Dralistico tied him up on the ropes and hit a hurricanrana. Dralistico hit La Mistica and got the submission win.

    – Dasha was backstage with Nick Comoroto. He didn’t understand the hype around Blake Christian, calling him All Generic. He said that no one looked like him, and that would be the difference tonight in their match. He told ROH fans not to “simp for these wimps.”

    Skye Blue defeated Miranda Alize

    After a ringside chase, Alize cut off Blue with a low dropkick and a DDT for a nearfall. Alize hit a facewash and a corner dropkick before hitting a butterfly suplex for a nearfall. Blue cut off Alize with an elbow before scoring a nearfall with a kick to the head. Alize hit a throwing suplex for a nearfall. Alize locked on the Miranda Rights crossface, but Blue turned it into a pinfall to get out of it. Blue avoided a corner charge and rolled Alize up for the win.

    – Lexy Nair was backstage with Athena, asking her how it felt to get a taste of her own medicine. Athena said that Kiera Hogan would get her title match next week before freaking out on some nearby barricades.

    Darius Martin & Action Andretti defeated Cole Karter & Zack Clayton

    Clayton and Andretti started off, with Andretti using his speed to take Clayton down. He hit a corkscrew splash for a nearfall before tagging Martin. Clayton cut off Martin with a clothesline before tagging in Karter. Martin got back in control with a dropkick. Martin and Andretti pinballed Karter before Andretti hit a tornado splash for a nearfall.

    Andretti lost his footing on a springboard, allowing Karter to shove him to the floor. Clayton brought him back in with an outside-in suplex. Andretti dropped Clayton with a superkick before tagging in Martin who ran wild on both men. Martin hit a facebuster for a nearfall before running into a Clayton powerslam. Karter hit a frog splash for a nearfall that Andretti cut off. Martin helped Andretti hit a tornado DDT on Clayton. Martin and Andretti then hit a pendulum slam on Karter for the win.

    Blake Christian defeated Nick Comoroto

    While I’m not a huge fan of Comoroto’s new character, he looked good here as the big foil to Christian’s speed offense.

    Comoroto flung his sucker at Christian to start, baiting Christian into a charge. Christian avoided a corner charge by backflipping to the floor. Christian led a chase on the floor that led to Comoroto running into the stairs. Christian hit a dive to the floor and followed it with a senton in the ring. Christian went for another dive, but Comoroto caught him and threw him into the post.

    Comoroto flung Christian across the ring with a suplex for a nearfall. Comoroto controlled Christian, chopping Christian down as he tried to fight back. Christian hit an enzuigiri before ducking a corner charge to get things level. Christian low-bridged Comoroto to the floor before following him with a dive. Christian hit a double stomp to Comoroto’s back before hitting a frog splash for a nearfall.

    Comoroto hit Christian with a spinebuster, but Christian caught Comoroto in an inside cradle for a nearfall. Comoroto hit Christian with a reverse Attitude Adjustment for a nearfall. Christian pulled a steel chair out from under the ring. Comoroto grabbed him, but Christian threw the chair into the ring. Comoroto went for the chair, but Christian caught him with a flash pin for the win.

    Diamante defeated Trish Adora

    Adora caught Diamante trying to cheap-shot her on a rope break and tied her up in a submission. Diamante fought out and sent her to the apron before hitting a neckbreaker in the ropes. Diamante hit a dropkick to Adora sending her to the floor. The women traded chops before Diamante hit an overhead throw, sending Adora to the corner. She hit a basement dropkick for a nearfall.

    More forearm trading before Adora threw Diamante to the mat with an arm wringer. Adora hit a spinning fisherman’s suplex for a nearfall. Adora went for the Lariat Tubman, but Diamante hit a neckbreaker. Diamante locked Adora in a Cobra Clutch style submission for the win.

    Penta El Zero Miedo (w/Alex Abrahantes) defeated Slim J (w/Ari Daivari, Jeeves Kay & Sonny Kiss)

    These jokers think they’re slick, saving the Trustbusters for the semi-main event of this extra-long show just for me. Jokes aside, Slim J is a quality wrestler, and he had a solid match with Penta here.

    Penta cut off Slim J on a transition, booting him while he was upside down. Penta went for a dive, but Slim J cut him off with a forearm. Slim J dumped Penta to the floor, allowing the rest of the Trustbusters to lay the boots in while he took the referee. Slim J hit the springboard reverse DDT for a nearfall.

    Penta hit a pair of superkicks and a pair of Slingblades for a nearfall. Slim J fought out of the Fear Factor and hit the running Dudley Dog for a nearfall. Slim J went for punches in the corner, but Penta kicked his leg out and hit a double stomp to the chest for a nearfall. Slim J took advantage of a slight Trustbuster distraction to hit a wheelbarrow flatliner and a leaping reverse DDT for a nearfall. Penta cut off another Slim J springboard and hit the Fear Factor for the win.

    Samoa Joe & Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Christopher Daniels & Matt Sydal

    This wasn’t much until the hot tag, after which this became a very fun flurry of a main event. It’s a shame that Daniels and Sydal lost because this match made me desperately want to see Sydal vs. Sabre.

    Sabre started off with Sydal, who was able to match Sabre’s technical ability and hit a leg lariat. Daniels and Joe tagged in, with Joe’s tagging coming to his partner’s surprise. Daniels caught Joe with a flash pin for a nearfall, leading to Daniels and Sydal hitting a tag team combo. Joe quickly tagged back out to Sabre, but Daniels and Sydal hit him with a combination to keep control.

    Sabre caught Daniels with a pair of boots before Joe booted Daniels in the ropes. Joe hammered Daniels with punches before hitting the corner enzuigiri. Sabre tagged in and stretched Daniels for a minute before tagging Joe back in. The two television champs showed off to each other, beating on Daniels in different ways. Daniels dumped Sabre into Joe and got a flash pin, but Sabre kicked out and tagged Joe in calmly. Joe hit a powerslam for a nearfall.

    More quick tags, and more beating on Daniels. Daniels finally fought out, hitting an STO on Joe before tagging Sydal. Sydal ran wild with kicks on Joe, hitting a meteora for a nearfall that Sabre broke up with a neck crank. Sabre tagged in and went to work with uppercuts. Sydal turned a running uppercut into a backslide for a nearfall, then got another flash pin for a nearfall. Sydal hit La Mistica on Sabre, with Daniels catching Joe in a Koji Clutch, but Sabre got to the ropes.

    Sabre met Sydal on the top rope and put him in a double wristlock. Daniels pulled Sabre out and they hit a Doomsday-style Meteora for a nearfall. Sabre countered a Daniels move and tagged out to Joe, who laid out Daniels with a lariat. Sydal took Joe out with a jumping knee, but Sabre caught Sydal and neck cranked him. Daniels hit Angel’s Wings on Sabre, but Joe hit the uranage in the corner and locked on the Coquina Clutch for the win. After the match, everyone shook hands, including the TV champions.

    AEW Dynamite live results: Double or Nothing go-home show

    Posted on by Ryan Howard

    Three titles are on the line on tonight’s AEW Dynamite, the go-home edition of the program ahead of Sunday’s Double or Nothing pay-per-view. 

    Orange Cassidy will defend the International Championship against Kyle Fletcher of Aussie Open. Cassidy is set to defend the AEW International title in a battle royal at Double or Nothing. 

    ROH Tag Team Champions The Lucha Bros will defend their titles against Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta. 

    House of Black are set to defend the AEW World Trios Championship against AR Fox, Metalik, and Blake Christian. 

    Tony Khan will reveal the site for the debut episode of Collision on tonight’s show. 

    Daniel Garcia will battle Roderick Strong on tonight’s show. 

    Taya Valkyrie will go one-on-one with Lady Frost in singles competition. 

    A Double or Nothing contract signing will take place between Chris Jericho and Adam Cole. 

    Promos from The Four Pillars, FTR, and Ricky Starks are also announced for the show. 

    Our live coverage begins at 8 p.m. Eastern time. 

    **********

    AEW Dynamite comes on the air with Excalibur welcoming us alongside Tony Schiavone and Taz, as they throw it right to our opening title match of the evening.

    Orange Cassidy defeated Kyle Fletcher to retain the AEW International Title

    (I’ve nearly run out of things to say about how great this title reign has been for Orange Cassidy. Every week he manages to put on fantastic defenses, all while finding different ways to survive. Similar to the other challengers, Fletcher came very close, but ultimately couldn’t put a stop to the champion.)

    Fletcher almost instantly hit a brainbuster for a quick near fall, as Cassidy tried to float over in the corner, but was dropkicked outside. Fletcher sprinted for a dive before turning Cassidy inside out with a lariat back in the ring. Fletcher wasted too much time when about to go for a dive off the ropes, as Cassidy shoved him off onto the apron hard. Cassidy followed with a DDT on the apron, as both men landed awkwardly. Cassidy hit a Beach Break on the floor and is trying for a count out win, but Fletcher beat the count. Cassidy tried his pocket offense, but Fletcher fired off a thrust kick and delayed vertical suplex heading to picture in picture.

    It was mostly a game of catch me if you can during commercial, as Cassidy kept rolling away from Fletcher, who finally blocked a DDT into a half and half suplex. Right as they returned from break, Cassidy fired off a Stundog Millionaire and DDT for two. Cassidy tried to go to the ropes, but was booted to the apron. Fletcher wanted a superplex, but Cassidy avoided, got caught off a cross body into a Fletcher Michinoku Driver for two. After a series of counters, Fletcher wanted another brainbuster, but Cassidy countered into one of his own for a double down. Cassidy hit a Michinoku Driver of his own, but the roll up allowed Fletcher to hold on into a cradle and dropped Cassidy with two Tombstone piledrivers.

    Fletcher went to the corner and despite Cassidy trying to avoid it, suffered an avalanche Michinoku Driver for a close near fall. Fletcher went for the Grim Stone, but Cassidy spiked him with a DDT. Cassidy wanted an Orange Punch, Fletcher countered, wanted Grim Stone, but Cassidy countered into a roll up for the win.

    -Renee Paquette is backstage with Ricky Starks and asks about his disqualification loss last week against Jay White. Starks was fully aware of his actions and took matters into his own hands. This Sunday, Starks will focus his energy on winning the Blackjack Battle Royal. Starks was attacked from behind by Juice Robinson & Jay White, who smacked a chair over his back. White said Bullet Club Gold is not done making Starks’ life a living hell just yet.

    **********

    -Jungle Boy Jack Perry is backstage and talks about making the drive to Vegas, remembering wrestling with his friends when younger down the street. Just a few years earlier, his world was turned upside down going into Double or Nothing. The ring gives him a purpose and allows him to be the man he wants to be, the life he chooses to live. Come Monday morning on his drive home, he’ll do it as the AEW World Champion.

    FTR Address Their Double or Nothing Title Defense

    Wheeler said it would be easy to say Jeff Jarrett & Jay Lethal got where they are by the politics in wrestling. The truth is they’ve outsmarted FTR every step of the way, but at Double or Nothing, their luck runs out. Harwood said Jarrett has broken a million guitars, but can’t stay relevant, so he attached his name to the greatest tag team in the world. If Jarrett thinks the head of the tag division will be two rejects from TNA, that’s not going to happen. After Double or Nothing, Jarrett will have to call the Queen of the Mountain for job security and Dax didn’t mean Karen Jarrett, instead Dixie Carter.

    Mark Briscoe came out and Wheeler said he has every right to be made, but not to make Lethal & Jarrett make him look stupid. Wheeler said they went to hell and back with Mark & his brother three times. Briscoe asks Harwood what the piledriver meant a few weeks ago, as Harwood said it was a mistake and wanted a handshake. Briscoe slapped him in the face, as Wheeler tried to make peacemaker while Briscoe left the ring. As he headed up the ramp, he shoved Karen Jarrett & Sonjay Dutt out of his way, slapped Jeff Jarrett and told Jay Lethal he’s his boy, but he’s tired of this BS.

    -Renee Paquette is backstage with Sammy Guevara, as Paquette said MJF wanted to relay a message to him. The offer still stands for Guevara to lay down at Double or Nothing. Guevara said hell no and he’s not for sale, as his whole life people wanted to buy him out of his dreams. Guevara said MJF can shove the offer up his ass and he is the man who will take the AEW Title from Max.

    The House of Black (Malakai Black, Brody King & Buddy Matthews w/Julia Hart) defeated Blake Christian, Metalik & AR Fox to retain the AEW Trios Titles in an Open House Match

    (This was an all out sprint, as the stipulation chosen by the challengers really allowed this to be super chaotic. Another dominating performance from the House of Black, there’s not a whole lot more to say.)

    The stipulation the challenging team chose to go along with 20 counts and no rope breaks were that one man is in and one man is out, no tags need to necessarily be made. The lighting is much better than the first Open House match as Matthews & Christian had a quick exchange before Matthews hit a pump knee to send Christian outside. Metalik jumped in and dispatched of Matthews, only to have Black quickly do the same. Fox & King had a brief back and forth until Christian tried to use his speed on King, who overmatched him with his power. Christian tried to start a kick exchange with Black and was quickly laid out with a knee lift on the apron. Christian flipped out of a German suplex into his corner, as Metalik used his speed to fight back and send Black & Matthews to the floor. Christian & Metalik hit dueling dives on the floor, as Christian turned his into a spinning reverse DDT.

    King & Fox were left in the ring, as King just absorbed the offense before King was dropkicked to the floor. With everyone on the floor, Fox connected with an Implosion Senton, as back inside, Fox tried an enzugiri on Matthews, who avoided into a Curb Stomp. Matthews locked in an Inverted Cloverleaf, but the Open House rules means no rope breaks. Black sank a knee bar in on Metalik, while Christian tried to break things up with thrust kicks. Matthews no sold, as King locked in his hangman’s choke off the apron with the House of Black getting double submissions to retain.

    -After a video recap of The Elite reuniting last week, we go backstage to the Blackpool Combat Club, as Bryan Danielson tonight’s objective is to win the ROH Tag Team Titles. However, the objective on Sunday is to end The Elite. Jon Moxley said the BCC does the job the way it’s supposed to be done. There is no one in this business better than they are at stepping up to the plate when it counts. The BCC will deliver on Sunday, in a storm of violence; they will stay calm and show the world the difference between professionals and amateurs.

    **********

    The Four Pillars Face Off One Final Time Ahead of Double or Nothing

    MJF walked out and immediately went over to the commentary table, where he took a sip of Tony Schiavone’s drink and threw it in his face, which popped Taz huge. MJF went to the ring and said it’s funny, they call this Sin City, but it should be called Virgin Vegas. MJF said he wants Sammy Guevara’s tongue to get stuck in a light socket, Darby Allin to climb Mount Everest with his shoelaces untied, Jack Perry to get thrown into an echo chamber, have to listen to himself talk and bore himself to death. It doesn’t get more homegrown than the four of them though, as the four of them didn’t have the cheat code of already having the crowd know who they were when AEW started. The four pillars aren’t just a part of AEW, they are AEW. MJF doesn’t want to be part of it anymore, as he’s sick of competition and fans not showing him respect. MJF said Tony Khan knows that his contract is coming up, so it’s not a shock that he’s in a match where he doesn’t need to be pinned to lose his title. MJF said he might just take his ball and go home, since he’s earned it and no one else can keep up. While the other three men in the title match are talented, much like everyone in the back, no one is on the level of the Devil.

    Darby Allin walked to the ring and MJF demanded his music be cut. Allin said he’s lost a lot in his life, but after he graduated high school and working at the 99 cent store, he realized that’s not what his life was supposed to be like. AEW allows him to be who he wants to be, AEW allows him to skateboard with Tony Hawk, crash cars with Travis Pastrana and climb Mount Everest. Allin said he needs to win the AEW Title and on Sunday he will, maybe even with a headlock takeover. MJF punted Allin low and was about to hit him with the Dynamite Diamond Ring when Sammy Guevara sprinted out to make the save with MJF bailing to the ramp. Jungle Boy Jack Perry came out, ducked a MJF belt shot and laid him out with a clothesline as Perry was left standing tall holding the AEW World Title.

    -A vignette of Wardlow talking about how he knows Christian has a history with ladders, but so does Wardlow in AEW. Arn Anderson asks Christian if he can imagine the damage that can be done when Wardlow has a ladder in his hands, as they’ll find out in four days.

    Taya Valkyrie defeated Lady Frost

    (Valkyrie looked strong ahead of her TBS Title match this Sunday, a match where she can use her finisher this time. Credit to Lady Frost, who put up a good fight in her Dynamite debut.)

    Prior to the match there were highlights of Frost from her matches on ROH TV in recent weeks. After an early back and forth sequence, Frost hit a head scissors, but Valkyrie answered with an arm drag into the corner. Valkyrie followed with a stiff sliding lariat and hard corner chop. Valkyrie missed a charge, but as Frost used her gymnastics, Valkyrie knocked her right to the mat. Jade Cargill, Leila Grey & Mark Sterling made their way to the ramp right as things went to picture in picture.

    It was all Valkyrie during commercial until Frost cut her off with a spin kick and somersault senton. Frost went up top and connected with a Tornillo, but Valkyrie popped right up with a Spear into the double down. A forearm battle ensued with Valkyrie winning that with a sit out slam. A vicious double arm trapped stomp to the back of the head lead to Valkyrie turning her attention to Cargill, as she cut off Frost with a back breaker, knee strike and Road to Valhalla for the win.

    Tony Khan’s AEW Collision Announcement

    Tony Khan is backstage and said it’s great to be back in the MGM Grand, where it all began for AEW. Khan said Collision starts a new beginning for AEW and runs down the dates he listed last week for the Canadian tour. The first episode of Collision will happen June 17 at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. Right when he said the arena, the crowd immediately started chanting for CM Punk.

    **********

    -Alex Marvez is backstage with Hangman Adam Page and asks about his status of his friendship with Kenny Omega & The Young Bucks. Page said his relationship with The Bucks was always best of friends, while he & Omega were different. He said he views them as family and they find themselves at Anarchy in the Arena, they’ve tried to take his eye, hurt Matt’s arm, Nick’s shoulder and somehow cost Omega Don Callis. At Double or Nothing, The BCC will pay in blood.

    Adam Cole & Chris Jericho Contract Signing

    (The year is 2023 and I can’t believe the last sentence I just typed about this segment. To say this was unexpected would be a massive understatement.)

    Roderick Strong joined Cole to the ring, while Jericho was accompanied by all the Jericho Appreciation Society. Schiavone said everyone agreed to no physicality tonight, as Jericho propped his feet up on the table with Cole immediately signing the contract without looking at it. Cole said for weeks he wondered why Jericho handcuffed him, forced to watch Britt Baker beaten with a kendo stick by The Outcasts. Cole said it could be because Jericho is a scum bag, but it’s because he believes he is invincible. They will find out Sunday how invincible Jericho truly is, as the blood will be on Cole’s hands. Cole said he can’t beat up Jericho tonight, but on Sunday, he’ll break both Jericho’s legs, shatter his jaw, break his hands, so hurry up and sign the paper, b*tch.

    Jericho said he’s not a b*tch, he’s not from Vegas. Before Jericho signed the contract, he threw it to the big screen to show Baker being beaten weeks ago by Saraya and the kendo stick. Jericho questions what kind of man Cole is to allow that to happen? Jericho said on Sunday he’ll knock Cole’s teeth down his throat, as Cole knows he can’t beat The Ocho. Jericho signed the contract and says there is five of them against only Cole & Strong. Cole said he realizes that, so he made a phone call to someone who is crazy and Jericho questions who’s crazier than he is? Cole said he called the Suicidal, Homicidal, Genocidal Sabu. Taz couldn’t believe it, as Sabu walked to the ring. Cole tossed a chair to Sabu, who chucked it right at Matt Menard as the J.A.S. bailed with Cole, Strong & Sabu standing tall.

    -A video package is shown highlighting the upcoming AEW Women’s Title match at Double or Nothing. Toni Storm the only reason Jamie Hayter won the Women’s Title in the first place was because of help from Britt Baker. This time, Storm has backup and she will take the title from Hayter on Sunday.

    Roderick Strong defeated Daniel Garcia

    (Every week a match suffers from picture in picture and unfortunately this was that match. I was really hoping these two would get more time, but maybe a potential rematch down the line that could happen. I very much enjoyed this match for how long it went though, as Garcia & Strong really beat the crap out of each other. Strong picked up his second win over the J.A.S. in as many weeks.)

    Everyone from the last segment went backstage prior to this match, as Strong won an early chop battle. Excalibur informs us that Mark Davis & Kyle Fletcher have officially put pen to paper and Aussie Open is All Elite. Strong connected with a backbreaker and controlled the action before he missed a baseball slide and was tossed into the steps by Garcia. Opting to do a dance for the fans was a mistake of Garcia, who got chopped viciously by Strong until Garcia was able to hang up Strong on the ropes to take over.

    Garcia continued to dance as Taz made a perfect Alex Wright name drop. Strong fired back with a dropkick, charging knee and slam for two. A leg captured back breaker by Strong led to Garcia responding with overhand chops and Rock Bottom for a near fall of his own. Garcia sank in the Dragon Tamer, but Strong turned through, kicked free, hit Death By Roderick and End of Heartache for the victory.

    -A video is shown of Willow Nightingale winning the NJPW Strong Women’s Title this week, defeating Mercedes Mone in the Finals. Nightingale said it’s time to show the world just how Strong she is. I really hope AEW showcases Willow following her title win.

    **********

    Lucha Bros (Penta el Zero Miedo & Rey Fenix w/Alex Abrahantes) defeated ROH Champion Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta to retain the ROH Tag Team Titles

    (A phenomenal, action packed main event with The Elite getting their last minute shots in ahead of Anarchy in the Arena. If they so choose, Castagnoli & Yuta have an out if they’d like a rematch down the line.)

    Bryan Danielson joined commentary, channeled William Regal, thanking the Man in the Mask for having him. A chaotic start has Castagnoli & Yuta eat thrust kicks to the floor as the Lucha Bros followed with double dives. Fenix did his double springboard dive, as Yuta was rolled inside and planted with Made in Penta for two. Danielson said this is the best he’s ever seen Fenix & Penta, as Castagnoli made the save with uppercuts aplenty to create some space. Penta hit a sling blade, while Fenix followed with a rope walk kick. Yuta broke up the Fear Factor, but ate a kick, as Fenix tried a springboard, only to get popped with an uppercut into commercial break.

    Fenix remained isolated until Yuta was hit with a high back drop. Castagnoli cut off Fenix, hit a Giant Swing with Yuta doing a dropkick mid move like Tyson Kidd used to do with Castagnoli. Fenix was able to get free and make the hot tag to Penta, who cleaned house with a series of thrust kicks and a gnarly powerbomb into a lung blower on Yuta. Penta was about to snap the arm of Yuta until Castagnoli made the save. Fenix made the tag, delivered a spin kick to Castagnoli and roll through uppercut to Yuta. Fenix was slammed onto Yuta, as Penta used his brother as a launch pad to his Castagnoli with a Destroyer. Fenix planted Yuta with a crazy piledriver for two as Danielson screamed about what William Regal told them, to tuck their necks.

    The Lucha Bros played to the crowd too long, as Penta was knocked off the ropes and Fenix was sent into a brutal Castagnoli uppercut. Yuta & Castagnoli hit a Rocket Launcher, but Fenix kicked out. Alex Abrahantes took the referee, the Lucha Bros hit the Fear Factor on Yuta and before Castagnoli could break it up, The Young Bucks appeared from under the ring and held onto his legs as Yuta was pinned. The Bucks bailed into the crowd as Jon Moxley & Bryan Danielson ran to the ring.

    Moxley took the microphone and said The Bucks can laugh while they still can because at Double or Nothing, they are going to get plastered on the pavement. Anarchy in the Arena will be the wildest, most violent match in AEW history and The BCC will accept nothing less. If people are squeamish at the sight of blood, then buckle you’re seatbelts because you’ve seen nothing yet.

    AEW Rampage 5/26/23

    · The Acclaimed & Daddy Ass take on Rush, Dralistico & Preston Vance

    · Britt Baker & Hikaru Shida vs. Nyla Rose & Marina Shafir

    · Ethan Page & The Gunns in action

    · Big Bill & Lee Moriarty take on Chuck Taylor & Trent Beretta

    AEW Double or Nothing 5/28/23

    · MJF vs. Jungle Boy Jack Perry vs. Sammy Guevara vs. Darby Allin for the AEW World Title

    · The Elite (Kenny Omega, The Young Bucks & Hangman Adam Page) battle The Blackpool Combat Club (Jon Moxley, Bryan Danielson, Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta) in Anarchy in the Arena

    · Adam Cole vs. Chris Jericho in an Unsanctioned Match with Sabu as the Special Enforcer

    · FTR defend the AEW Tag Team Titles against Jay Lethal & Jeff Jarrett with Mark Briscoe as Guest Referee

    · Jamie Hayter vs. Toni Storm for the AEW Women’s Title

    · Ladder Match for the TNT Title as Wardlow defends against Christian Cage

    · Orange Cassidy defends the AEW International Title in a 21 Man Blackjack Battle Royale

    · Jade Cargill puts the TBS Title on the line against Taya Valkyrie

    · The Hardys (Matt & Jeff) & Brother Zay vs. Ethan Page & The Gunns (Austin & Colten)

    WWE NXT live results: Women’s title tournament semifinals

    Posted on by Bryan Rose

    The final NXT before Battleground takes place tonight.

    The episode will feature both semifinal matches in NXT’s Women’s Championship tournament. Roxanne Perez and Tiffany Stratton will meet with a place in the finals on the line. On the other side of the bracket, Cora Jade takes on Lyra Valkyria.

    The tournament finals are being held at Battleground this Sunday. The NXT Women’s Championship was vacated by Indi Hartwell earlier this month.

    Ahead of defending his Heritage Cup trophy against Dragon Lee at Battleground, Noam Dar will be in action against Nathan Frazer.

    Tyler Bate vs. Eddy Thorpe and Hank Walker vs. Tank Ledger have also been announced for tonight’s show. Bate is challenging for the North American Championship at Battleground in a triple threat match against Wes Lee and Joe Gacy.

    Plus, NXT will finish building to Carmelo Hayes and Bron Breakker’s NXT Championship match at Saturday’s special.

    Our live coverage starts at 8 p.m. Eastern time.

    The show started with inset promos by Lyra Valkyria, Cora Jade, Tiffany Stratton, and Roxanne Perez ahead of the NXT Women’s Championship semifinals.

    Lyra Valkyria defeated Cora Jade to advance in the NXT Women’s Championship tournament

    Very short match. This ended eight minutes into the show.

    Valkyria and Jade traded counters early. Valkyria hit an exploder on Jade for a nearfall. Jade tripped Valkyria on the ropes but Valkyria dodged and hit a spinning heel kick for the win. That puts Valkyria in the finals at Battleground on Sunday.

    Jade jumped Valkyria after the match, targeting Valkyria’s knee. Jade grabbed a kendo stick and struck Valkyria in the knee, likely playing into Saturday’s match.

    Axiom and Dabba Kato were shown walking to the ring. They showed a tale of the tape, because Dabba Kato tall, Axiom short.

    Dijak walked into the building but was attacked by Ilja Dragunov, who attempted to close a sliding gate on Dijak. Referees stopped him before he could do it. Vic Joseph had the “hold harmless” agreement they are to sign later tonight.

    NXT announcers, for the record, did mention that it was Reggie who Axiom unmasked several weeks ago.

    Dabba Kato defeated Axiom

    Another short match. Why did Axiom need to be the fall guy here?

    Axiom dodged a chokeslam, but Kato grabbed him and threw him to the floor. Axiom attempted to fight back, but Kato slapped him and threw Axiom back into the ring. Axiom targeted Kato’s leg but Kato hit a huge lariat then connected with a tree slam for the win.

    Kato continued to attack Axiom after the match, completely destroying him. Reggie then showed up and dumped Kato to the floor, who was then whisked away by security. Reggie acted friendly towards Axiom, but Axiom did not seem interested in being friends with Reggie.

    Tony D’Angelo was shown in what looked like a police interrogation room. The interrogator asked why D’Angelo’s name kept coming up “in ongoing investigations”. The interrogator showed him a video and asked to identify someone in the video. D’Angelo said it wasn’t him. Another person came in and told the interrogator that there was new information regarding D’Angelo’s involvement.

    In a video, Bron Breakker talked about what happened at NXT Stand & Deliver. He asked what did this last year get him? Was this all just so he could pass the torch? He said that Melo can have the torch, because he’s about to burn this bitch down. He said Melo is just a dude walking around with his title. He’s not coming to Lowell to witness a homecoming, he’s coming to Lowell in front of Melo’s friends and family for a massacre.

    Gallus came to the ring and cut a promo in green Sin Cara lightning. This has never, ever worked and yet they still do it every six months. They ran down Tony D & Stacks and The Creed Brothers. The Creeds came out and said they were saying to their faces they want the titles on the line at Battleground. The two teams eventually got into a fight. The numbers game started to come into play until Stacks came to the ring to make the save for the Creeds.

    Wes Lee was interviewed by McKenzie Mitchell. A lot of talking tonight. He said he thought he could trust Tyler, and while he might be paranoid, things have changed. Tyler Bate came in but Wes wouldn’t have any of it and walked away. Bate said challenging Wes Lee for the title changes nothing about what he thinks about Lee but it’s another story entirely regarding Joe Gacy.

    Tyler Bate defeated Eddy Thorpe

    This was good while it lasted. Thorpe looked fine here but Bate, in terms of in-ring work, stands out among most on the brand following the draft.

    Some good back and forth early. Thorpe cut off Bate with a crossbody but Bate cradled him for a nearfall.Thorpe responded with a knee to the back of Bate. Bate eventually cut off Thorpe with a knee and a standing shooting star press for a nearfall.

    Bate went for the Tyler Driver 97 but Thorpe escaped. Bate hit a lariat then went for the Tyler Driver 97 again, and this time it connected and got Bate the win.

    In what is turning out to be a reccuring theme on this show, Gacy came to the ring and jumped Bate after the match. Lee ran into the ring, but was also taken out. Gacy held the title as the segment ended.

    McKenzie Mitchell asked Lyra Valkyria for a medical update backstage. Valkyria said she’ll be fine and will be ready for the finals. Valkyria said she wanted Roxanne Perez, saying she is the best in NXT.

    During the break, it was shown that Lee and Bate were fighting after Gacy left.

    Nathan Frazer defeated Noam Dar

    This was good. Frazer is so quick on his feet, it’s very impressive. I think he’s coming along well even though I don’t really understand the John Oliver promos they have him doing now. Dar held his own and was fine.

    After some chain wrestling, Frazer used his speed to send Dar out of the ring and to the floor. During the commercial break, Dar gained the advantage, cutting off Fraszer. Frazer attempted to make a comeback, but Dar cut off Frazer by attacking his knee and working over his arm.

    Dar continued to work over the arms and legs of Frazer until Frazer came back with a springboard reverse DDT. Fraszer hit a spinning neckbreaker for a nearfall and went for a phoenix splash but Dar escaped and went for a knee lock, only for Frazer to quickly escape.

    The finish had Dragon Lee coming to ringside, admiring the Heritage Cup trophy. Dar was upset and shoved Lee. Frazer hit a dive to the outside on Dar then hit the phoenix splash for the win.

    McKenzie interviewed Dragunov, who was interrupted by Dijak as the two fought some more and were pulled apart by the roster.

    Time for a Carmelo Hayes video, who will be defending the NXT Championship in his hometown. He was shown doing promotional work and said he couldn’t wait to do this in his hometown. They showed him at a Boston Celtics game, and also posing with Mark Wahlberg. Melo said Breakker coming into his backyard to try to beat him is crazy, and said he hopes Bron is ready to get bitten.

    Hank Walker defeated Tank Ledger

    This was fun while it lasted. Ledger is pretty good for someone who’s only had a couple of matches, he only does basic stuff but comes off far more polished than some who have been here for months.

    The two hit shoulder blocks on one another. Ledger hit Walker with elbows in the corner, but Walker countered with some strikes. Ledger hit a powerslam and a headbutt for a two count. Walker hit a slam but soon the two collided in a double crossbody. Walker got the better of it, recovered first, and pinned Ledger for the win.

    Bron Breakker immediately hit the ring after the match and laid out both with spears. He told Melo that he would see him Sunday.

    Stacks met with The Creeds. Julius told Stacks they appreciate him coming out for the save. Stacks told the Creeds that they’ll also be outnumbered at Battleground and suggested that they work something out. The Creeds politely rejected Stacks’ offer, mentioning how they’ve been burned in the past by others. Julius told Stacks that he and D’Angelo would get the first title shot once they win the titles.

    Gigi Dolin came out to talk. She said she wasn’t ashamed of the broken home she grew up in. Neither she nor her brother knew what a normal home life was like. She would have done anything for Jacy Jayne, but now she wanted to end her. Jayne was in the crowd and cut a promo saying she got tired of carrying her and refused to let her drag her down any longer. Dolin said let’s settle it right here and now. 

    Jayne said she couldn’t wait to end this and suggested they do it next week in a steel cage. Dolin called Jayne a fake ass bitch and agreed to a steel cage match, but upped the ante and made it a weaponized steel cage match. Jayne said it was on. The dialogue here, especially for Dolin, was very corny and not great.

    The guy who has been mean to Von Wagner for the last two weeks, who has never been named, now has a name: Luca Crusifino. He said he would make Von regret that they didn’t settle their matter in court. He’s a lawyer, you see.

    NXT Anonymous captured a video of Noam Dar begging Oro Mensah to be in his corner. Mensah rejected him and got laughed at by Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson.

    Luca Crusifino defeated Von Wagner by DQ

    Crusifino literally came out to The People’s Court theme. It was a daytime court show in the 90’s, kids, Google it.

    Wagner immediately attacked Crusifino , hitting a big boot. Crucifino dodged a splash and hit an armdrag. Wagner was thrown out of the ring as Crusifino grabbed the picture of Wagner as a child from Mr. Stone and called him a freak very loudly. This got Wagner mad and beat Crusifinoso much against the ropes that he ignored the referee’s five count and got disqualified.

    Wagner attempted to powerbomb Crusifino into a table after the match, and at first it seemed like Mr. Stone had talked him out of it. Wagner then grabbed Crucifino and powerbombed him into the table anyway.

    D’Angleo was still in the interrogation room. Oh no, he’s being arrested. He said he knows his rights.

    Tiffany Stratton defeated Roxanne Perez in a NXT Women’s Championship tournament semifinal

    This was okay. Stratton has something but is still clearly super green and looked so in spots during this match.

    After some early back and forth, Stratton gained control after clipping Perez off the top rope, sending her rolling to the floor. Perez came back with two crossbodys to the floor and then went for one off the top rope, but Stratton lifted her up, dropped her, and went for the BME, which they are now calling the most beautiful moonsault. Perez dodged but Stratton caught her in a sky high for a nearfall.

    Perez hit a springboard hurricanrana off the top rope for another nearfall. Stratton blocked a side russian leg sweep as the two traded nearfalls. Perez hit the side russian leg sweep this time and went for pop rocks, but Stratton blocked it and sent Perez into the ropes. Stratton then hit the most beautiful moonsault ever for the win. That makes it Lyra Valkyria vs. Stratton for the vacant title this Sunday.

    More segments! The mystery lady that has attacked a bunch of people on social media has made a television appearance, attacking Perez as she headed to the back. Before anyone could breathe and absorb what had just happened, Dijak came out and was immediately attacked by Dragunov. Dijak eventually signed their agreement as they brawled near the announcer’s desk. Everyone was yelling and screaming. CALM DOWN. They had a staredown as they were pulled apart.

    The show ended with a NXT Battleground hype video. This show at times felt like a Vince Russo-induced fever dream with 1,000 segments, a lot of them talking, and sometimes some of them bleeding into one another. Not the greatest go-home show.

    WWE Raw live results: Night of Champions go-home show

    Posted on by Steve Khan

    Date: May 22, 2023
    Location: GIANT Center in Hershey, PA 

    Show Recap —

    As soon as the show started, Brock Lesnar attacked Cody Rhodes as he arrived at the arena. Lesnar tossed Rhodes around backstage and smashed his arm against a garage door.

    Paul Heyman promo 

    Heyman assured us that he had nothing to do with what we saw backstage but warned Rhodes what was in store for him at Night of Champions against the beast.

    Heyman said his special appearance on Raw went over so well last week that he was invited back and he was here to hype us on Night of Champions.

    Heyman stated that the Usos would be watching at home when Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa beat Kevin Owens and his rat bastard of a friend Sami Zayn for the tag team championships.

    Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn promo

    Heyman was finished but Owens and Zayn entered. Heyman disappeared once Owens and Zayn entered the ring and Zayn thought it was funny how quickly he scurried off.

    Zayn said they were feeling good going into their title defence on Saturday. This match was personal to him but he had nothing else to say because he already said his piece straight to Reigns’ face.

    Owens did have something to say. He dedicated their upcoming victory to the true pillars of the Bloodline: Jimmy and Jey Uso.

    Zayn shifted focus to their match tonight against Imperium and Imperium entered. Imperium surrounded the ring like the Shield when Matt Riddle sprinted out to join Owens and Zayn. Imperium initially backed off but they ran back in the ring only to get tossed aside by the babyfaces. 

    ******** 

    Adam Pearce told Byron Saxton that he didn’t have an update on Rhodes. Saxton asked about a rumour that Rhodes suffered a broken arm but Pearce again wouldn’t comment.

    Bronson Reed defeated Ricochet (8:33)

    This match stemmed from the battle royal last week where Mustafa Ali eliminated Ricochet and Reed to win. Reed blamed Ricochet for costing him an IC title shot.

    Ricochet got some early offence but Reed ran him over with a body block and followed with an elbow drop, steam roller and running shoulder tackle off the apron.

    After a break, Ricochet kneed his way out of a delayed vertical suplex but ran into a Samoan drop for two. Ricochet came back with kicks and a lionsault but Reed was barely phased. Reed tried another tackle off the apron but Ricochet caught him with a knee strike.

    Ricochet tried a springboard move but Reed tripped him, hit a powerslam and Tsunami for the pinfall win.

    The crowd was quiet until the last minute or so but they did pop for the Tsunami.

    ******** 

    Cathy Kelley interviewed Apollo Crews who was pumped to be back. He also wished Rhodes well.

    Dominik Mysterio and Rhea Ripley interrupted. Dom told Kelley that this was Ripley’s interview time but Kelley said Ripley’s turn was after Apollo Crews. Dom responded, “Apollo who?” Crews said he was everything that Dom wasn’t. Dom didn’t care and invited Ripley to cut her promo.

    Ripley looked into the camera to send Natalya a message. Ripley would make an example out of Natalya and make her regret getting drafted to Raw. Ripley planned on ending her legendary career.

    Crews informed them that this was still his interview time. Dom warned him not to interrupt Mami. Crews asked what he would do about it and Dom only acted tough once he got behind Ripley. Ripley said they would remind him who runs Raw. Crews was amused by Dom’s cowardice and said he couldn’t wait to see them try something.

    ********* 

    Seth Rollins sit-down interview with Corey Graves

    This was the continuation from last week.

    Graves asked Rollins about Roman Reigns. Rollins said he loved Roman Reigns — but he didn’t like Roman Reigns. That was brotherhood. Reigns had always been there for him but Rollins doesn’t respect the person or the champion that he’s become.

    Reigns has been poisoned by his own ego and was taking opportunities away from everyone else and that was as selfish as you can be. Rollins wanted to become World Champion so we can all forget about Reigns.

    Rollins said being the World Champion can help push the industry forward. After he wins the title, he wants people to step up to challenge him and he acknowledged that somebody had to take the torch from him or Reigns one day.

    Rollins called AJ Styles one of the greatest of all time and was truly special. They showed footage from a match at NWA No Limits in April of 2004 between Styles and Rollins (Tyler Black). Styles was interviewed about it in 2016 and he said he knew back then that Rollins would be a superstar one day.

    Rollins said he was at the top of his game and was feeling invisible. More to come.

    ******** 

    There was footage from last week’s Raw Talk where Damian Priest blamed Shinsuke Nakamura for costing him a shot at the World title. Nakamura asked if he was going to cry about it like he did when he lost to Bad Bunny. Priest wanted to beat him up but Finn Bálor backed him off and said they’d deal with Nakamura next week.

    Saxton tried interviewing Bálor but Priest got in his face because Bálor was getting ready for a match. Bálor backed him off again and told Saxton that Nakamura would pay for disrespecting Judgment Day. If Nakamura was lucky, Bálor would leave a little left over for Priest to pick the bones.

    ********

    There was a good Zoey Stark video package. She plans on picking our heroes apart.

    Zoey Stark defeated Candice LeRae (2:27)

    Stark entered last and attacked LeRae as soon as she hit the ring. Nikki Cross scampered out to ringside to cheer on LeRae which led to a LeRae comeback. LeRae hit a springboard crossbody to the outside and rolled Stark back in the ring.

    Cross (a child in an adult’s body) decided this was a good time to hug LeRae, unintentionally preventing her from getting back in the ring. Stark pushed them both and LeRae fell into the steel steps. Stark followed with Z-360 for the pinfall win.

    ******** 

    [SECOND HOUR]

    They congratulated John Cena and Batista on the successes of Fast X and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

    Saxton interviewed Mustafa Ali in Gorilla. Ali couldn’t do his usual positivity gimmick. Ali said he’s been dreaming about an opportunity like this (against Gunther on Saturday). Ali said his career has been failure after failure but he finally has a chance against Gunther.

    Lesnar suddenly walked by and before going through the curtain, he looked at Ali and said, “Get a life, kid.” Incredible.

    Ali shook his head and walked off. Lesnar went to the ring.

    Brock Lesnar / Cody Rhodes segment

    Lesnar said we wouldn’t be getting Rhodes and he wouldn’t be able to compete on Saturday. Lesnar instead issued an open challenge to anyone to step up and face him at Night of Champions.

    Rhodes entered (without his music) with his arm iced and in a sling as Pearce and a few officials tried to talk him out of it. Rhodes entered the ring and removed the ice and sling from his arm.

    Lesnar ran at Rhodes and put him in the kimura. Lesnar seemed to “snap” Rhodes’ arm before finally letting go. Lesnar also stomped his arm before walking off.

    A bunch of officials ran out to tend to Rhodes as Pearce desperately asked for medical personnel. 

    ********

    Alpha Academy (w/Maxxine Dupri) defeated Viking Raiders (w/Valhalla) (4:53)

    The Raiders worked over Gable and there was a modest “We want Otis” chant. Otis made the hot tag, bodyslammed Ivar and gave Erik the caterpillar. Valhalla pulled Ivar out of the way of an Otis charge so Gable tagged himself in. Dupri confronted Valhalla for interfering but ran away once Valhalla started walking toward her.

    Back in the ring, Gable fended off a double-team by kicking Ivar off the top and putting Erik in an O’Colnner roll for the pinfall win.

    ******** 

    Saxton was once again outside of Rhodes’ locker room looking for an update. Pearce blew past him into Rhodes’ locker room. Rhodes was pissed and quickly kicked Pearce out of his room and slammed the door (while stating that he had nothing to say).  

    ********

    There was a quick Indus Sher video.

    Finn Bálor (w/Damian Priest) defeated Shinsuke Nakamura (11:19)

    This was the first match between these two since Nakamura beat Bálor for the IC title on the Extreme Rules kick-off show in July of 2019.

    Bálor took control after Priest clotheslined Nakamura behind the referee’s back ahead of a break. Nakamura fought back after the break after no-selling a few kicks. He hit a sliding German suplex and taunted Priest. He set up for a Kinshasa but Bálor dropped him with a double foot stomp. Nakamura avoided a Coup de Grace and followed with a kick to the head.

    Priest pulled Bálor out of the ring so Nakamura attacked Priest and clotheslined him into the timekeeper’s area.

    With Nakamura’s back turned, Bálor dropkicked him into the barricade and followed with a Coup de Grace for the pinfall win.

    ******** 

    Raquel Rodriguez defeated Sonya Deville (w/Chelsea Green) (1:53)

    Green tossed her shades in the ring so Rodriguez stomped them. Rodriguez turned her back to her opponent so Deville attacked and took control. Deville hit a flying knee strike for two but Rodriguez eventually came back with a twisting senton and Tejana Bomb for the pinfall win.

    — The heels attacked Rodriguez after the match so Shotzi made the save and wiped them both out with a dive.

    ********

    A referee told Pearce that Rhodes was very angry and refused to let anyone in his locker room. Pearce said he’d address it.

    Trish Stratus approached Pearce. She suggested a no-touch policy for tonight’s contract signing. Pearce didn’t think they needed one and said, “Thank you, Trish, but no.”

    ******** 

    [THIRD HOUR]

    There was a Riddle video package.

    Becky Lynch and Trish Stratus contract signing 

    Lynch entered first and immediately signed the contract while calling out Stratus. Stratus entered next and had to ask Graves what town they were in (for heat). Stratus noted this was her first contract signing, while Lynch has been in many. Lynch could thank Stratus for putting in the work to get the women’s division in a place where that was a common thing.

    Stratus said she was still number one in WWE and was number one the day she walked in and she didn’t need a broken nose to get there. Stratus wondered what would happen to Lynch when Stratus won. Maybe Lynch would disappear again to go through her “stuff.”

    Stratus said Lynch wanted to find a name and a face for all the badness that went on in her life but it was looking at her in the mirror. Stratus said this would be Lynch’s last contract signing. Stratus signed.

    Lynch said Stratus must be scared. She saw what Stratus asked Pearece in the back. Lynch assured her that she wouldn’t hurt her because she wanted her at 100%. Lynch said Stratus was worried that people would forget her. Everyone was getting better around her while the fans realized she wasn’t as good as they remembered.

    Stratus didn’t need to worry about why Lynch was gone, she needed to worry that Lynch was back. Lynch thanked her for being everything she hoped she never becomes. Stratus was vapid and trashy and cold. Lynch said she was “it” and Stratus was not. Lynch knew she wasn’t perfect but could carry on regardless and that’s why she’s had a career that Stratus could only dream of.

    Lynch said Stratus has done things that would give her nightmares. “If you thought barking like a dog was embarrassing, just wait until I whoop your ass at Night of Champions.” Stratus chucked the table over toward Lynch and backed away up the ramp.

    ******** 

    Pearce was on the phone with somebody and informed them that Rhodes’ arm was mangled but he won’t listen to anyone. Whoever was on the phone seemed to be giving Pearce some direction.

    Saxton interviewed Shotzi and Rodriguez. Shotzi said Saxton had no idea how much respect she had for Rodriguez and she’d always have her back. Rodriguez said she found her new tag partner and they’d win the titles next week. Shotzi was pumped.

    ********

    Dominik Mysterio (w/Smackdown Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley) defeated Apollo Crews (5:00)

    Crews ducked a 619 and yanked Dom from the ring. Ripley got in his face and the distraction allowed Dom to yank Crews into the steel steps. Dom distracted the ref as Ripley shoved Crews into the ring post.

    Dom was ready to take a count-out win but Crews just barely beat the ten count. As soon as Crews slid into the ring, Dom hit a frog splash (landing on Crews’ back) for the pinfall win.

    ******** 

    There was an AJ Styles video package.  

    Seth Rollins sit-down interview with Corey Graves continued

    Graves asked why this World Championship was such a big deal for Rollins. Rollins believed it was time for a change. Being in this business was his dream and he wanted it to be the best it could be. The new title was their moment to do something special.

    They included clips of Rollins as a child and really played this up like a big deal for him.

    *******

    The announcers ran down the Night of Champions card. (The women wrestlers are all covered up in the graphics, aside from their faces.) 

    Next week on Raw:

    • Fatal four-way to determine new Women’s Tag Team Champions: Rodriguez & Shotzi vs. Ronda Rousey & Shayna Baszler vs. Bayley & IYO SKY vs. Deville & Green
    • Money in the Bank qualifiers

    ********

    Six-man tag match: Matt Riddle & Tag Team Champions Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn defeated Intercontinental Champion Gunther, Ludwig Kaiser & Giovanni Vinci (15:17)

    Imperium (mainly Gunther) worked over Riddle for a while (through a break) and neutralized his partners so he couldn’t make a tag. Riddle finally gave Gunther a German suplex and tagged in Owens who stomped Vinci, hit a senton, a German suplex and a cannonball for two. Kaiser and Vinci double-teamed Owens which led to a second commercial break.

    Owens gave Vinci a frog splash and made the tag to Zayn who hit Kaiser with clotheslines, a back body drop and Michinoku Driver for two. Gunther made a blind tag and chopped Zayn twice. Zayn gave Gunther a Blue Thunder Bomb but Imperium broke up the cover.

    Owens gave Vinci a stunner while Zayn chucked Kaiser from the ring. Gunther put Zayn in a sleeper but Riddle broke it up with a floating bro. Vinci tagged in but Zayn gave him an exploder into the buckle. Gunther held Zayn by the leg as he set up a Helluva Kick so Owens superkicked him and Riddle chucked him over the announce table.

    Vinci gave Zayn a clothesline but Zayn came right back with a Helluva Kick. Owens tagged in and hit a senton bomb for the pinfall win.

    — After the match, Zayn looked into the camera and informed Reigns that the titles were staying with them.

    ******* 

    In the closing angle, Triple H approached Rhodes in his locker room. Triple H tried reasoning with him and telling him that he needs medical attention. He said they can both look at his arm and know that it was broken. He said Rhodes was afraid. Rhodes stood up and said he had nothing to be afraid of. Triple H said he’s afraid of what a doctor might tell him.

    Triple H wasn’t questioning Rhodes’ toughness. He let Rhodes wrestle with a torn pec against Rollins in Hell in a Cell. But this was different. He wanted Rhodes to remember the year of his career that he lost after that. Rhodes said it would be worse if he came back as a coward. He had to go to Night of Champions and fight. Triple H of all people should know this.

    Rhodes looked at Triple H and said, “I’m going to Night of Champions and I’m going to fight Brock Lesnar.”

    Rhodes sat down and Triple H patted him on the leg before leaving. 

    NJPW Resurgence live results: Strong Women’s title tournament

    Posted on by Chick Fritts

    A one-night tournament to crown the inaugural Strong Women’s Champion headlines tonight’s NJPW Resurgence event. 

    Mercedes Mone vs. Stephanie Vaquer, and Willow Nightingale vs. Momo Kohgo kick off the main card in tournament bouts. The winners will meet in the show’s main event to crown the first NJPW Strong Women’s Champion. 

    In the semi-main, Will Ospreay faces Hiroshi Tanahashi in a bout to determine who faces Lance Archer at NJPW Dominion to crown a new number one contender to Kenny Omega’s IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship. 

    The full card: 

    • NJPW Strong Women’s Championship tournament finals
    • IWGP United States Championship number one contender’s tournament match: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Will Ospreay
    • Jon Moxley, Wheeler Yuta & Shota Umino vs. Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii & Rocky Romero
    • NJPW Strong Championship: Hikuleo defends against KENTA
    • Street Fight: Fred Rosser vs. Juice Robinson
    • Zack Sabre Jr. & Bad Dude Tito vs. Barbaro Cavernario & Virus
    • NJPW Strong Women’s Championship tournament first round: Willow Nightingale vs. Momo Kohgo
    • NJPW Strong Women’s Championship tournament first round: Mercedes Mone vs. Stephanie Vaquer
    • Pre-show match: Bateman vs. The DKC
    • Pre-show match: Christopher Daniels vs. Alex Coughlin

    Our live coverage begins with the pre-show at 7:20 p.m. Eastern time.

    **********

    The DKC defeated Bateman

    This was a nothing match. The dozens of people who were already in the building didn’t really care.

    Throughout the match, Bateman utilized his size, forcing DKC to use his speed. DKC won the match by turning a submission into a quick pin.

    Alex Coughlin defeated Christopher Daniels

    This was a fine little match, but the lack of a crowd really hurt.

    Daniels used heelish tactics, stepping on toes and taunting, early on, but Coughlin used his size to take advantage. Daniels repeatedly wrestled Coughlin to the mat before attempting the Angel’s Wings. Coughlin reversed before hitting a belly-to-belly and a pair of gut-wrench suplexes.

    Daniels escaped a German and hit the Angel’s Wings, but Caughlin kicked out at one. Coughlin then hit a German and a jackhammer to win the match.

    Virus & Barbaro Cavernario (CMLL) defeated Zack Sabre Jr. & Bad Dude Tito (TMDK)

    This was a fantastic opener to the main card. The crowd, now filling the seats, was into it from bell to bell.

    ZSJ opened the match by taking Virus to the mat. Virus held his own, prompting a double tag. Tito and Cavernario squared off, with Tito gaining an upper hand. Virus involved himself to turn the match around, setting up more interference from both sides for the rest of the match.

    Tito gained a significant advantage over Virus, leading to a Cavernario hot tag. Cavernario led the match until the tag reached ZSJ, which initiated an extended back-and-forth between all four competitors.

    The closing sequence saw Tito land an impressive Blue Thunder Bomb before Cavenario caught him in Cavernaria for a sudden submission victory for the CMLL pairing.

    After the match, ZSJ and Virus had an exchange involving the NJPW World Television belt, perhaps setting up a title match in the future.

    NJPW Strong Women’s Championship Tournament: Mercedes Mone defeated Stephanie Vaquer

    This was another match on the ever-growing list of great Mone matches. That’s not to say it was all Mone because Vaquer looked very good throughout this match.

    Before the match could begin, the crowd showered Mone in cheers. Once the match actually began, Mone and Vaquer had a prolonged back-and-forth sequence, with neither woman gaining much of an advantage.

    A sudden arm drag and crossface from Mone allowed her to establish the first lead in the match, which she used to set Vaquer on the top rope. Vaquer took advantage, securing an armbar from the top and stealing control from Mone.

    It took running knees from the apron to the floor for Mone to reverse momentum back in her favor. Another pair of flying knees on the inside scored Mone a nearfall. Growing desperate, Mone landed a cross body, but Vaquer reversed into a crossface. After Mone escaped, she locked in her own crossface but failed to close.

    Mone attempted a Mone Maker but couldn’t connect. In response, Vaquer landed a DDT and a backbreaker for a nearfall that took the wind from the building.

    Vaqour kept up the pressure, landing a barrage of offense. Mone avoided a leg drop to put Vaquer on the backfoot. She then landed a lung blower and the Mone Maker to win the pinfall.

    NJPW Strong Women’s Championship Tournament: Willow Nightingale defeated Momo Kohgo

    This was another great match. Both women were fantastic throughout. Kohgo winning over an unfamiliar/adversarial audience was terrific.

    Willow was the clear crowd favorite from the beginning. She was quick to establish a lead, using her strength to catch Kohgo at every turn. It took a quick head-scissor, 619, and dropkick all in succession for Kohgo to turn the match around. Willow tried to cut off Kohgo’s advance, but Kohgo caught her with a pump kick and a suplex, which earned her the support of the crowd.

    A strike exchange left Willow back in control, but when she attempted a powerbomb, Kohgo reversed. A crucifix driver forced Willow to utilize the ropes to stay alive. Willow answered with a spinebuster, but Kohgo kicked out.

    Kohgo powered through a lariat but was immediately dropped from the fireman’s carry and finished with a powerbomb.

    Street Fight: Juice Robinson defeated Fred Rosser

    Juice and Rosser opened the match with some heavy strikes, but it didn’t take long for the fight to spill to the floor. Rosser attempted a driver on the entranceway, but Juice reversed, dropping him on the flat of his back. Juice then took this opportunity to attack Rosser, choking him with a belt before dragging him back in the ring.

    Inside the ropes, Juice whipped Rosser with the belt. Juice attempted a Left Hand of God with a fist full of quarters, but Rosser sidestepped the strike and drove Juice through a door positioned in the corner. Rosser then whipped Juice with the belt before choking him over the top rope.

    Rosser attacked Juice with a trashcan, a chair, and a stop sign, drawing a river of blood from Juice. To continue his attack, Rosser launched Juice into a ladder and salted his wound with potato chips from the trashcan. Rosser put Juice’s upper half in the trashcan and beat him with chains and a chair.

    After Rosser choked Juice with a chain from the tree of woe, Juice retreated into the corner to beg for mercy. While he was begging, Toni Storm hit the ring and attempted a low blow on Rosser. Rosser didn’t budge before revealing he was wearing a cup. Instead of attacking Toni, Rosser forcefully kissed her. After the kiss, Rosser lifted Toni onto his shoulders, opening the door for a low blow from Juice. Juice landed the shot because Rosser dropped his cup after surviving the first attack to his nethers. Toni then dropped Rosser with a driver, buying Juice a nearfall.

    Rosser locked in a chicken wing which Toni was unable to break up. Rosser threw Juice into Toni before landing a gut buster and locking in the crossface again. This time, Toni broke up the submission with a beer bottle across the head of Rosser. Juice followed up with a spear through another door. Toni then landed a stop sign-assisted flying hip attack, setting Juice up for a DDT onto a chair. This was enough for Juice to win the match.

    Aussie Open Relinquishes IWGP and NJPW Strong Tag Titles

    Kyle Fletcher came to the ring to announce that, due to a Mark Davis injury, they would have to relinquish both of their pairs of tag belts.

    NJPW Strong Openweight Championship: KENTA defeated Hikuleo (c)

    Hikuleo opened the match with a sudden boot that forced KENTA to retreat to the floor. Once KENTA was back in the ring, he bumped the ref and attempted a low blow. Hikuleo blocked the low blow somehow and forced KENTA back to the floor.

    On the outside, Hikuleo beat KENTA past the curtain, leaving the audience bling. KENTA emerged from the curtain first, but a limping Hikuleo maintained his pursuit. The pair continued to meander around the ring for quite some time, trading momentum multiple times.

    The referee recovered just as Hikuleo and KENTA tried to climb the stairs into the crowd. Hikuleo bumped the referee, buying KENTA enough time to overwhelm Hikuleo and throw him over the guardrail, sending him crashing through a table 10 feet below. After this, the referee initiated the ring-out count. KENTA made it back in the ring late into the count, but Hikuleo’s fall left him unable to return to the ring. KENTA is the new STRONG Openweight champion via count out victory.

    After the match, an Eddie Kingston video played to challenge the new champion. KENTA answered by saying he doesn’t understand Eddie’s accent, but he’ll defend the belt, anywhere, anytime.

    Jon Moxley, Wheeler Yuta, & Shota Umino defeated Rocky Romero, Kazuchika Okada, & Tomohiro Ishii (CHAOS)

    This was another excellent match in the “Okada vs. unruly children” that has been the highlight of 2022 NJPW.

    Shota tried challenging Okada as the match began, but Okada was uninterested in the fight. Instead, Ishii stepped up. While squaring off with Ishii, Shota taunted Okada before knocking him off the apron.

    An irritated Okada tagged into the match and dropped Shota with a boot. Okada then took the fight to the floor, slamming Shota into the barricade and pouring a beer across his back. Inside the ring, Okada dropped Shota with a flapjack and tagged back out.

    Yuta and Rocky traded momentum for a while before Moxley tagged into the match. Okada tried breaking up a hold from Moxley, but Shota took the opportunity to rush Okada again. This led to a brief, but intense, struggle.

    Shota and the BCC worked to isolate Rocky. A DDT from Rocky to Moxley resulted in a match breakdown. Once order was restored, Shota and the BCC continued their tactic of isolation, this time on Ishii. Ishii powered through, hitting Moxley with a brainbuster to tag out to Okada.

    With Okada and Shota legal again, Okada wasted no time regaining control for CHAOS. Shota responded with a backdrop and a DDT to put Okada on the backfoot, but he couldn’t hit the Deathrider. Instead, Okada landed the air raid crash and a flying elbow drop.

    Okada hit the rainmaker pose, but Moxley interrupted with a pair of middle fingers and a flurry of strikes. Okada answered with a dropkick, sending Moxley to the floor. This distraction bought Shota enough time to attempt the Deathrider once more, but the rest of CHAOS made the save.

    After an extended brawl between teams, Okada dropped Moxley with the rainmaker. Umino made the save, hitting Okada with Deathrider. Shota then dropped Rocky with Deathridder and pinned him to win the match for his team.

    IWGP United States Contenders Tournament: Will Ospreay defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi

    The match opened with both men playing to the audience, but it didn’t take long for Ospreay to take the lead. He sent Tanahashi to the floor, where he landed a giant crossbody to secure the lead. Back in the ring, Ospreay continued to pick apart Tanahashi with deliberate offense.

    A quick forearm from Tanahashi opened the door for a momentum shift, but Ospreay was able to maintain control. A leaping forearm and a strike to the back of the head dropped Tanahashi.

    As Ospreay tried for hidden blade, Tanahashi sparked up, dropping Ospreay with a dropkick to the knee, followed by a leg whip and a cloverleaf.

    A strike exchange left Osperay in a strong position. He climbed to the top where he landed a forearm to the back. When Osperay attempted Stormbreaker, Tanahashi reversed into a sling blade. After a second sling blade, Tanahashi hit a high fly flow, but Osperay rolled trough. A double stomp to the chest opened Tanahashi up for an OsCutter, Hidden Blade, and a Stormbreaker. Osperay then pinned Tanahashi to advance, leaving him even closer to a rematch with Kenny Omega, but Lance Archer still stands in his way.

    NJPW Strong Women’s Championship: Willow Nightingale defeated Mercedes Mone

    While the finish was awkward, this match was awesome. Willow is a star; there’s no way around it. Mone is the best in the world.

    The match opened with an extended ovation for both women. The action started when Willow used a handshake to work Mone to the mat. This upset Mone, who tried working Willow down in response. Willow answered with a nasty pounce that sent Mone crashing into the ropes.

    Willow controlled the pace for quite some time. A step-up enziguri left Mone grounded, allowing Willow to take the back. Willow then hit Mone with a spinebuster and locked in a deep Boston crab. Once Mone escaped, Willow hoisted her on the top rope and landed a brutal superplex for a nearfall.

    Mone began to fight back with a bunch of strikes. She then climbed to the top rope, where Willow met her again. This time, Mone dropped Willow against the top rope, buying her some time. Mone then locked in the crossface, but Willow powered out, hitting Mone with a brutal powerbomb. Mone didn’t kick out of the pin that followed, but the referee stopped his count at two. Mone seemed to be genuinely rocked, but the match went on. Willow hit a second powerbomb and pinned Mone to win the match.

    In one of the biggest shocks in recent memory, Willow Nightingale pinned Mercedes Mone to become NJPW Strong Women’s champion.

    After the match, Mone was carried out of the ring.

    Willow cut the show closing promo with tears in her eyes. She thanked everyone, including Mone. This is only the beginning of Willow Nightingale. 

    WWE Main Event results: Tegan Nox vs. Nikki Cross

    Posted on by James Cox

    This past week’s WWE Main Event was taped at the Coliseum Complex in Greensboro, North Carolina, before Monday’s episode of Raw.

    Dana Brooke defeated Emma (5:40)

    This was a good 50/50 contest in which both worked well. Emma could certainly be working on much higher profile matches, because her in-ring work is strong.

    They replayed Brooke being beaten by Rhea Ripley on Raw and suggested that it would be hard for her to come back from such an ugly defeat.

    Emma had an inset promo where she wanted to remind us that she is the “real pioneer of the WWE women’s division” and that before there were the Four Horsewomen, the history books say “Emma.”

    Early on, this featured lots of back and forth as they traded side headlock takedowns and quick pinfall attempts. After what had looked like it would be babyface vs. babyface, Emma turned on Brooke and claimed that she was being disrespected.

    There was really no separating the two and in the end, Emma just got caught up in complaining which led to an opportunity for Brooke to steal one.

    Emma had nailed Brooke with a basement crossbody in the corner and was moaning to the referee when Brooke jumped up and pinned her with a small package to get the win.

    Nikki Cross defeated Tegan Nox (5:27)

    This was ok. The crowd was a little dead, but there was solid work on display here with Nox looking more than comfortable working with main roster talent.

    The match marked the Welsh-born Nox’s Main Event debut. She has worked a few SmackDown tapings, as well as the 2020 and 2023 Royal Rumble matches on the main roster, but is otherwise no doubt a new face to many.

    She got an inset promo here, which was good to see. She said that now that she was on the red brand, she would beat people up and enjoy doing it.

    The crowd was quite quiet during this one, but did seem to be behind Cross. There were a few tepid “Let’s go Nikki” chants toward the end that never quite took hold.

    Cross gave Nox a lot here as she worked her over methodically without relying on rest holds so the match felt a lot more fluid. She used a flapjack and a ton of strikes and kicks to beat her down. With the crowd fairly quiet, you could hear that Nox enjoys a thigh slap when she’s on the attack.

    Cross fired up in the last minutes, using a tornado DDT off the second rope for two before countering a comeback to hit Nox with a spinning neckbreaker for the win.

    Final Thoughts:

    It was good for the women’s division to be so well represented on the show this week. Everyone was good here, but WWE is missing something by not building any momentum or storylines like they used to. It was at its strongest last year when they played out angles so that the show didn’t exist in a vacuum and had some semblance of continuity.

    NJPW Best of the Super Juniors night eight results, updated standings

    Posted on by Ian Carey

    The Best of the Super Juniors continued on Sunday from Korakuen Hall. 

    El Desperado vs. Francesco Akira headlined the show. Hiromu Takahashi vs. Taiji Ishimori was the night’s semi-main event. 

    BOSJ 30 night eight 5/21 full results:

    • B Block: El Desperado defeated Francesco Akira
    • A Block: Hiromu Takahashi defeated Taiji Ishimori via referee stoppage
    • B Block: YOH defeated Kevin Knight
    • A Block: Lio Rush defeated TJP
    • B Block: Dan Moloney defeated Robbie Eagles
    • A Block: Mike Bailey defeated Ryusuke Taguchi
    • B Block: Master Wato defeated BUSHI
    • A Block: KUSHIDA defeated SHO
    • B Block: Clark Connors defeated Yoshinobu Kanemaru 
    • A Block: Titan defeated DOUKI

    Titan kept his chances of advancing in the tournament alive when he made DOUKI submit in the opener. He faces Hiromu Takahashi on the final night of A Block round-robin action. 

    Clark Connors initially kept his chances of advancing alive with a win over Yoshinobu Kanemaru, although results later in the night eventually eliminated him. He picked up the victory with No Chaser. 

    KUSHIDA had to overcome a lot of cheating by the House of Torture to defeat SHO. Kevin Knight helped fend off EVIL’s efforts to interfere and KUSHIDA finally locked in the Hoverboard Lock for the win. It’s been a difficult tournament for the former two-time BOSJ winner. He sits at just four points with one match to go. 

    Master Wato became the first wrestler in the tournament to get to 12 points with his win over BUSHI with a German suplex. He has Kevin Knight in his final match. BUSHI’s record in the tournament drops to 1-7. 

    Mike Bailey became the first wrestler in the A Block to get to 12 points when he beat Taguchi with a pinning combination. He’s looking good to advance and faces Lio Rush in his final match. Taguchi, in his 20th BOSJ, drops to 0-8. 

    Kevin Kelly noted that Dan Moloney is wrestling with a separated shoulder. Despite this, Robbie Eagles focussed on his leg for much of the match. Just when it looked like Eagles had the match in the bag, Moloney hit the Drill Killa for the win. Moloney improved to six points but doesn’t have a chance to advance. Eagles sits at 10 points and will still have an opportunity to make the semi-finals. He faces El Desperado on the final night of B Block round robin action. 

    Lio Rush picked up a hard fought victory over TJP, finishing off his opponent with the Final Hour. He improves to 12 points and will face Mike Bailey, who also has 12 points, on the final night. 

    YOH improved to 12 points as well with a win over Kevin Knight. He will face Kanemaru on the final night. 

    Takahashi vs. Ishimori had to be stopped early when Ishimori was unable to continue. He took a big clothesline that looked like it caught him on the chin moments before the match was stopped and Takahashi was declared the winner. However, he appeared to be favoring his shoulder as he was helped to the back. Takahashi joins Bailey and Lio Rush atop A Block with 12 points. He takes on Titan on the final night of round robin action. Ishimori, technically still in the running, is scheduled to face TJP if he is medically cleared to do so. 

    El Desperado became the third wrestler in B Block to reach 12 points when he defeated Francesco Akira in the main event. The finish of the match saw TJP attempt to throw in the towel for his United Empire teammate but Akira ended up throwing the towel out of the ring. Then it looked like referee Hiroyuki Unno was going to stop the match but Akira kept coming. Finally, Akira submitted to Numero Dos, eliminating him from playoff contention. 

    A Block —

    • Mike Bailey (6-2) — 12 points
    • Lio Rush (6-2) — 12 points
    • Hiromu Takahashi (6-2) — 12 points
    • Taiji Ishimori (5-3) — 10 points
    • Titan (5-3) — 10 points
    • TJP (4-4) — 8 points
    • DOUKI (3-5) — 6 points
    • SHO (3-5) — 6 points
    • KUSHIDA (2-6) — 4 points
    • Ryusuke Taguchi (0-8) — 0 points

    B Block —

    • Master Wato (6-2) — 12 points
    • YOH (6-2) — 12 points
    • El Desperado (6-2) — 12 points
    • Robbie Eagles (5-3) — 10 points
    • Francesco Akira (4-4) — 8 points
    • Clark Connors (4-4) — 8 points
    • Kevin Knight (3-5) — 6 points
    • Dan Moloney (3-5) — 6 points
    • Yoshinobu Kanemaru (2-6) — 4 points
    • BUSHI (1-7) — 2 points

    The tournament continues on Tuesday from Osaka. The final night of action for the A Block will take place on the show. 

    BOSJ 30 night nine, A Block, 5/23 lineup:

    • Ryusuke Taguchi vs. KUSHIDA
    • Titan vs. Hiromu Takahashi
    • DOUKI vs. SHO
    • Mike Bailey vs. Lio Rush
    • TJP vs. Taiji Ishimori

    BOSJ 30 night ten, B Block, 5/24 lineup:

    • BUSHI vs. Francesco Akira
    • El Desperado vs. Robbie Eagles
    • Master Wato vs. Kevin Knight
    • Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. YOH
    • Dan Moloney vs. Clark Connors

    The top two in each Block advance to the semifinals, which will take place on Friday from Yoyogi National Gymnasium. The finals are on Sunday from Ota City General Gymnasium. 

    UFC on ESPN+ 81 live results: Mackenzie Dern vs. Angela Hill

    Posted on by Ryan Frederick

    The Octagon is back at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas after a couple of weeks away for tonight’s UFC on ESPN+ 81 which closes out the promotion’s month.

    Mackenzie Dern and Angela Hill square off in a battle of ranked strawweights in the five-round main event. It will be Dern’s third main event, but she’s still in search of her first main event win following a loss to Yan Xiaonan in October. Hill is in her second main event as she looks to extend a two-fight win streak.

    In the co-main event, it’s a middleweight clash as Edmen Shahbazyan takes on Anthony Hernandez. The main card will feature a welterweight fight between Andre Fialho and Joaquin Buckley, as well as a battle of lightweight veterans when Diego Ferreira takes on Michael Johnson.

    ESPN+ PRELIMS | 4 PM ET/1 PM PT

    > Welterweights- Takashi Sato (16-6, 2-4 UFC) vs. Themba Gorimbo (10-4, 0-1 UFC)

    Gorimbo with a head kick and a combo to start. Gorimbo tries a takedown but Sato defends as they get to their feet and are tied up against the fence. Gorimbo trying to life Sato up to slam him down but Sato staying on his feet. Sato gets a brief takedown but they get right up and Gorimbo gets Sato down. They get to their feet and Sato has body control and is trying to get it back down. Gorimbo reverses position and lands a couple of body shots followed by a knee. Sato gets a trip takedown but Gorimbo scrambles and takes the back and has the neck. Gorimbo looking for a choke. Gorimbo is landing punches from the back. 10-9 Gorimbo.

    Sato rushes forward to start the second but Gorimbo lands a body kick. Gorimbo then drops Sato with a big right hand and gets on top and is landing lots of punches trying for the finish. Sato somehow survives and starts to work back up and they stand. Sato with a knee to the body. They clinch against the fence. Gorimbo gets the back and is trying hard to get Sato down. Sato gets a takedown. They get to their feet and Gorimbo is trying to get it back down as Sato lands some elbows. Gorimbo relentless with the pressure as they’re on the feet. They separate. 10-9 Gorimbo, 20-18 Gorimbo.

    Sato comes forward and lands a left hand. Gorimbo lands a body kick and they tie up. Gorimbo putting the pressure on against the fence. Gorimbo gets it down. Sato gives up his back and Gorimbo lands some punches. He continues to land punches as he has the body triangle locked in. Gorimbo still with big pressure. Sato is able to spin into the guard of Gorimbo and lands some shots. Gorimbo is covering up as Sato lands some punches and time runs out. 10-9 Gorimbo, 30-27 Gorimbo.

    Official Result- Themba Gorimbo def. Takashi Sato by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

    > Women’s Flyweights- Natalia Silva (14-5-1, 2-0 UFC) vs. Victoria Leonardo (9-4, 1-2 UFC)

    They trade in close range. Silva with a high kick. Silva lands a combo. Silva with some body kicks followed by a combo. Silva lands a combo and drops Leonardo with a left hand. Leonardo tries to attack a single leg but Silva is sprawling. They get to their feet and Silva lands a few head kicks as Leonardo was covering. Silva lands a right hand then a head kick and Leonardo is covering up and it is stopped. Big finish by Silva and a great showing.

    Official Result- Natalia Silva def. Victoria Leonardo by TKO (strikes) at 2:58 of Round 1

    > Lightweights- Chase Hooper (11-3-1, 3-3 UFC) vs. Nick Fiore (6-1, 0-1 UFC)

    They trade right away. Hooper lands a left hand and briefly gets it down but they get to their feet. Fiore tries a trip and Hooper grabs the leg and is trying to roll but Fiore is scrambling and is now on top. Hooper grabs the leg and tried something but they get to their feet. They’re back on the mat and Fiore is on top in the north-south position as Hooper is looking for a reverse triangle. They get to their feet. Fiore lands an elbow and Hooper lands a right hook followed by some punches then a left hand against the fence. They trade inside the pocket with Hooper landing more. Hooper lands a left hand then a knee as they tie up but Fiore gets it to the mat and is in side control. Hooper reverses and they get to their feet. Hooper lands two left hands. Hooper stuns Fiore with a left hand and is landing lots of punches and elbows against the fence as the round ends. 10-9 Hooper.

    Hooper throws a kick but Fiore grabs a leg and gets it down despite eating a few punches from Hooper. Fiore passes to side control then into full mount. Hooper goes for the legs and throws some punches from the bottom. Hooper looking for a heel hook and is rolling but Fiore gets out from it. They get to their feet. Hooper throwing lots of punches and pressuring. Hooper with a series of body shots. Hooper throwing lots of punches and is landing but Fiore is covering up. Hooper lands a head kick. Hooper lands a knee, then a combo, then an elbow. They’re tied up and Hooper lands a knee. They break and Fiore lands a couple of punches. Hooper lands some elbows and just keeps landing shots. Fiore landed a couple of right hands. They clinch and Fiore gets a takedown. Hooper gives up his back as the round ends. 10-9 Hooper, 20-18 Hooper.

    Fiore going right for the takedown as he grabs the leg and Hooper is landing punches. Fiore gets it down. Fiore stands and Hooper lands an upkick before standing. Hooper with a combo. Hooper lands to the body. Fiore is connecting some but it is still all Hooper with pace and volume. They go back to the mat and Hooper is on top as Fiore is bleeding. Hooper stands and gets the back of Fiore. They get to their feet and are clinched against the fence. They break and Hooper with a combo. Hooper lands a body kick. Hooper gets it down and has back control as he’s landing punches. He lands more to end it. 10-9 Hooper, 30-27 Hooper.

    Official Result- Chase Hooper def. Nick Fiore by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)

    > Heavyweights- Ilir Latifi (16-8 1 NC, 9-6 UFC) vs. Rodrigo Nascimento (9-1 1 NC, 2-1 1 NC UFC)

    Nascimento landing more punches as they trade early. Latifi lands a couple of hard punches but Nascimento stuns him with some punches. Nascimento lands two hard right hands. Nascimento lands a left hook to the body. Nascimento with some more punches and Latifi lands a heavy leg kick. Nascimento still landing slightly more but Latifi is picking up his volume. Latifi lands a right hand before Nascimento lands a late flurry. 10-9 Nascimento.

    Latifi throwing more to start the second as he lands a right hand. The pace is slowing down. Latifi lands a left hand. Latifi lands a leg kick as Nascimento is pressuring and lands a combo. Latifi gets a big takedown and is working inside the guard of Nascimento. Latifi landing from the top as he’s landing heavy shots to the head and body. Latifi ends the round on top. 10-9 Latifi, 19-19.

    They have a heavy exchange on the feet. Nascimento lands a body kick. Nascimento scores with a left hand. Latifi lands a big left hand but eats an even bigger left hand from Nascimento. Latifi backing up after they trade in close range. Nascimento lands a leg kick. Nascimento lands an uppercut as Latifi was trying for a takedown. Latifi pushes it against the fence and grabs the shorts of Nascimento. Herb Dean separates them and gives Latifi a warning. Nascimento lands a combo. Latifi gets a takedown and has the back as they get to the fence. They get to their feet. Nascimento with a knee to the body. They separate and trade left hands. Latifi lands late. Close fight. 10-9 Nascimento, 29-28 Nascimento.

    Official Result- Rodrigo Nascimento def. Ilir Latifi by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

    > Welterweights*- Orion Cosce (8-1, 1-1 UFC) vs. Gilbert Urbina (6-2, 0-1 UFC)

    *Cosce missed weight by 1.5 pounds

    Urbina lands a left hook and follows with some big punches as he had Cosce in trouble. Urbina lands some knees to the body then a jab. Cosce is able to recover. Cosce lands a leg kick. They trade big left hands inside the pocket. They clinch against the fence and Urbina gets a takedown. He lands an elbow to the body from the top. Urbina lands more punches from the top. Urbina gets the full mount as Cosce almost gives up his back as Urbina lands some punches from the top. Urbina with some big elbows from the top. Urbina now gets side control but goes back to the mount and lands to the body. Urbina with more punches from the mount. Urbina looking for an arm-triangle choke but is in the mount. He lets go but continues to land lots of punches from the top. Urbina gets the back and lands big punches as the round ends. 10-8 Urbina.

    Cosce lands a body kick. Urbina lands a leg kick. He lands another after a combo. Urbina landing to the head and body as he mixes punches and kicks. Cosce is keeping his hands low as he complained about possibly having a broken rib. Urbina lands a body kick then drops Cosce with a knee and it is stopped. Big finish by Urbina!

    Official Result- Gilbert Urbina def. Orion Cosce by TKO (strikes) at 2:55 of Round 2

    > Women’s Strawweights*- Karolina Kowalkiewicz (14-7, 7-7 UFC) vs. Vanessa Demopoulos (9-4, 3-1 UFC)

    *Demopoulos missed weight by 1.5 pounds

    Demopoulos lands a combo to start. She lands more punches as Kowalkiewicz was pressing forward. They trade right hands. Kowalkiewicz lands a combo against the fence. Kowalkiewicz lands a jab. Demopoulos tries a takedown but Kowalkiewicz defends, though Demopoulos lands a left hand. They trade against the fence. They trade right hands. Kowalkiewicz lands a combo ending with a nice right hand. Kowalkiewicz with pressure as they clinch. Kowalkiewicz lands two right hands as they break. Kowalkiewicz lands a big right hand. Demopoulos scores with a right hand. They trade inside the pocket. Demopoulos lands a leg kick but eats a right hand from Kowalkiewicz. 10-9 Kowalkiewicz.

    Kowalkiewicz landing the jab and stuns Demopoulos briefly with one. Kowalkiewicz continues to press forward though Demopoulos lands some leg kicks. Both are landing punches with Kowalkiewicz landing with more volume as she remains a step ahead. Kowalkiewicz lands a right hand. Kowalkiewicz lands a leg kick then a combo. Demopoulos lands a body kick but gets wobbled by a right hand from Kowalkiewicz. Kowalkiewicz lands a right hand. They trade right hands. Kowalkiewicz scores with another right hand and then another. They trade inside the pocket. 10-9 Kowalkiewicz, 20-18 Kowalkiewicz.

    They trade before Demopoulos pulls guard and they go to the mat. Kowalkiewicz lands from the top. Demopoulos tries for the leg but Kowalkiewicz escapes to her feet. Kowalkiewicz lands a jab. They trade punches. They trade jabs. Kowalkiewicz lands a jab. Kowalkiewicz lands an uppercut. Kowalkiewicz lands a body kick. Demopoulos lands a right hand and Kowalkiewicz slips to the mat but gets right up. Demopoulos lands another right hand. They trade jabs and Kowalkiewicz lands a right hand. Demopoulos lands a right hand. 10-9 Kowalkiewicz, 30-27 Kowalkiewicz.

    Official Result- Karolina Kowalkiewicz def. Vanessa Demopoulos by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

    > Lightweights- Hayisaer Maheshate (9-2, 1-1 UFC) vs. Viacheslav Borshchev (6-3, 1-2 UFC)

    Borshchev landing some leg kicks early. He lands some more as Maheshate is looking for an opening. Borshchev lands a left hook to the body. Maheshate lands a head kick. Borshchev lands a body kick then a left hand to the body. Maheshate lands a combo but Borshchev is starting to turn up the volume. We have a timeout for an eye poke. They get back to action and both are trading. They exchange body kicks and jabs. They trade in close range and Borshchev lands a big left hook. Maheshate lands a right hand but then Borshchev drops him with a right hand and lands some big punches to end the round. 10-9 Borshchev.

    Borshchev lands a combo and a leg kick as Maheshate lands a jab. Maheshate looks for a takedown but Borshchev defends. Borshchev lands a big right hand. Borshchev drops Maheshate again with a right hand. They clinch and Borshchev lands some knees before they both land right hands on the break. Borshchev drops Maheshate again with a right hand and finishes it off with punches from the top.

    Official Result- Viacheslav Borshchev def. Hayisaer Maheshate by TKO (punches) at 2:37 of Round 2

    ESPN+ MAIN CARD | 7 PM ET/4 PM PT

    > Lightweights- Diego Ferreira (17-5, 8-5 UFC) vs. Michael Johnson (21-18, 13-14 UFC)

    Johnson lands a left hand. Ferreira lands a leg kick. Johnson lands a combination. Ferreira lands a high kick. Johnson scores with a combo as Ferreira lands a body kick. Ferreira lands a right hand but eats a left hand from Johnson. They trade big punches inside the pocket. Ferreira lands a jab as Johnson lands to the body. Johnson wobbles Ferreira with a left hand. Ferreira lands a jab. They trade jabs as both land combos as well. Ferreira lands a body kick then a combo. 10-9 Johnson.

    Johnson lands a quick combination. Johnson scores a body kick. Johnson lands a left hand then Ferreira scores with a head kick. Ferreira shoots for the takedown but Johnson defends. Ferreira then lands a big right hand that puts Johnson out cold as he falls straight back to the mat. What a knockout by Ferreira!

    Official Result- Diego Ferreira def. Michael Johnson by knockout (punch) at 1:50 of Round 2

    > Welterweights- Andre Fialho (16-6 1 NC, 2-3 UFC) vs. Joaquin Buckley (15-6, 5-4 UFC)

    Buckley lands a head kick. He then lands a leg kick. Buckley with a couple more kicks. Fialho has done very little but finally lands a body kick. Buckley lands a combo. Fialho lands a right hand then a body kick. Fialho lands a head kick. Fialho lands a left hook. Buckley gets a big takedown but they get right back to the feet. Fialho lands a body kick. Buckley gets another brief takedown but they get to their feet before the end of the round. 10-9 Buckley.

    They trade and we have a timeout for a groin strike. They get back to action and Fialho lands a right hand. Buckley lands a left hand then a high kick. Buckley lands a combination then a leg kick. Fialho scores with a jab. Buckley coming forward but eats a right hand then a body kick from Fialho. They’re trading and we have a brief timeout for a clash of heads, but they get right back to action. Almost immediately, Buckley drops Fialho with a head kick and finishes it off with one more punch. Fantastic knockout from Buckley.

    Official Result- Joaquin Buckley def. Andre Fialho by TKO (head kick) at 4:15 of Round 2

    > Women’s Strawweights- Emily Ducote (12-7, 1-1 UFC) vs. Loopy Godinez (9-3, 4-3 UFC)

    Godinez rushes in with a combo as Ducote lands a leg kick. Godinez lands another combo. Ducote lands a left hand. Godinez lands another combo. Godinez with a big right hand. Godinez lands a combo ending with a high kick. Ducote lands a combo but Godinez counters with a nice combo. Lots of volume early on from Godinez. Godinez lands another combination. Godinez lands a hard leg kick. Godinez continuing to land with more volume. She lands a hard right hand. Godinez lands more to end the round. 10-9 Godinez.

    Godinez lands a combo to start the second. Ducote lands a leg kick then a body kick but Godinez counters with a combo. Ducote lands a calf kick. Godinez then lands a big combo ending with a calf kick. Ducote attempts a takedown but Godinez defends and lands a couple of knees. Godinez with a leg kick and they trade inside the pocket. Godinez lands a combination. They trade and Ducote lands a left hook. Ducote lands a nice combo. Ducote with a front kick to the body. Godinez lands a knee as Ducote shot for a takedown. Godinez lands a combo. Godinez went for a takedown but Ducote defends, though Godinez lands a knee on the break. They trade late. Close round. 10-9 Godinez, 20-18 Godinez.

    Ducote pressing forward and both are landing. Godinez lands a right hand. They trade heavy calf kicks. Ducote lands a combo, then Godinez lands a combo, then they trade leg kicks. They trade inside the pocket. They both land hard punches that stun one another. They trade combinations against the fence. Godinez is just landing the harder shots even though it’s pretty even on the feet. They trade inside the pocket. Ducote lands a body kick. Godinez lands a big combo. Ducote gets a brief takedown but they get right up. Godinez lands a combo and scores a late takedown. 10-9 Godinez, 30-27 Godinez.

    Official Result- Loopy Godinez def. Emily Ducote by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

    > Middleweights- Edmen Shahbazyan (12-3, 5-3 UFC) vs. Anthony Hernandez (10-2 1 NC, 4-2 UFC)

    They trade and Shahbazyan lands a stiff jab. Hernandez clinches but eats a knee from Shahbazyan and Shahbazyan lands some follow-up shots. Hernandez shoots for a takedown but Shahbazyan defends and they break. Shahbazyan lands a right hand and a leg kick. Shahbazyan lands a nice right hand. Hernandez looks for a takedown as he pushes it against the fence. Hernandez drops down looking for a guillotine but Shahbazyan escapes and lands some big punches, then an uppercut on the way up. Shahbazyan lands a body kick. Hernandez looks for the takedown against the fence. Shahbazyan defends and lands some punches. Shahbazyan has the neck standing and they go to the mat, where Shahbazyan gets full mount. Shahbazyan looking for an armbar but Hernandez escapes. Hernandez looking for a guillotine choke but Shahbazyan escapes. They get to their feet. Hernandez lands a big right hand then gets a takedown. Hernandez looks for a choke but they get up. Wild round. 10-9 Shahbazyan.

    Hernandez looks for a takedown as he pushes it to the fence. He gets it down and has the neck and is in control. They get to their feet. Shahbazyan lands the jab but eats a big elbow from Hernandez. They clinch after Shahbazyan lands a knee. He lands another. Shahbazyan goes to the mat and Hernandez lands a knee. They almost got to their feet but Hernandez keeps Shahbazyan down on the mat. Shahbazyan has the mount and looks for a guillotine but switches and now has a better position but Shahbazyan is able to escape. Hernandez lands an elbow from the top. He lands some more from side control. Hernandez gets back into the full guard of Shahbazyan. Hernandez lands some more big elbows. Big round for Hernandez. 10-9 Hernandez, 19-19.

    Hernandez gets Shahbazyan down to the mat early on and is landing elbows. Shahbazyan is cut open from those elbows and Hernandez is pouring it on and it is stopped. Big finish from Hernandez to get the win.

    Official Result- Anthony Hernandez def. Edmen Shahbazyan by TKO (elbows) at 1:01 of Round 3

    > Women’s Strawweights- #8 Mackenzie Dern (12-3, 7-3 UFC) vs. #14 Angela Hill (15-12, 10-12 UFC)

    They rush right to the center and Hill lands before they clinch. Dern lands to the head and body in the clinch. Dern with some knees. They break and are trading in the center and Dern lands a big right hand. Dern then gets a big throw takedown but Hill reverses and they scramble back to the feet. Hill lands a jab but then Dern knocks Hill down with a right hand. Dern gets into side control. Dern with heavy pressure from the top. Dern ends up getting to her feet but is pressuring Hill standing. Dern goes down and looks for a leg. Dern steps to the mount and is landing a lot of punches and big elbows from the top. Dern now looks for the arm. She’s trying to pull for the armbar but Hill defends until the end. 10-8 Dern.

    Dern landing some big punches to start the second but Hill did land a couple of jabs. Dern is chasing Hill around the Octagon. Dern lands a right hand and Hill is able to take the back standing. Dern spins and they are tied up against the fence and both land knees. They break. Both throwing wild punches but mostly missing before they tie up. They both work in the clinch before breaking and Hill lands some big punches and lands a knee as they clinch. 10-9 Hill, 19-18 Dern.

    Hill lands a big knee and Dern stumbles to her back. Dern looking to throw her legs up for a triangle choke as Hill went into her guard. They get to their feet and Dern lands a knee that wobbles Hill and they go back to the mat. They get to their feet and Dern has the body and pushes it against the fence. Dern gets it to the mat and steps over into the mount. Hill trying to use the fence to escape. Dern staying on top and lands some left hands. Dern with some big punches from the top. Dern now has the back of Hill. Dern with elbows and punches from the top. Dern with big shots from the top. Dern going for the armbar. Dern with big punches and Hill survives. 10-8 Dern, 29-26 Dern.

    Dern comes out swinging before they clinch against the fence. Hill lands a knee. Hill lands a right hand as they break. They trade in close range and Dern lands a big elbow. Dern lands a leg kick and pushes it against the fence. They’re trading knees but not a ton of action going on. Dern lands on the break then lands a combo. Hill lands and uppercut. Hill grabs the back on the feet and Dern rolls them to the mat. Dern spins and ends up on top inside of Hill’s guard. 10-9 Dern, 39-35 Dern.

    Dern gets Hill down right away and is working inside the guard of Hill. Dern moves to side control and is looking to isolate an arm. Dern gets into side control and lands some elbows. Dern now looking for an arm and the kimura. Dern now landing a lot of punches from the back and then gets the mount. She is landing big punches and elbows and looking for the late finish. Dern lets up and goes back looking for the arm. Dern now lands some more punches and Hill survives the fight. Outstanding showing from Dern. 10-9 Dern, 49-44 Dern.

    Official Result- Mackenzie Dern def. Angela Hill by unanimous decision (49-43, 49-44, 49-44)

    WWE SmackDown live results: Reigns & Sikoa face-to-face with Owens & Zayn

    Posted on by Colin McGuire

    Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns & Solo Sikoa will come face-to-face with undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens on tonight’s WWE SmackDown from Columbia, South Carolina.

    The two teams will square off at next weekend’s Night of Champions in Saudi Arabia.

    The show will also feature Jimmy & Jey Uso returning to the ring for the first time since they failed to regain the tag titles at Backlash as they take on Rey Mysterio & Santos Escobar following a confrontation last week.

    Two recent NXT call-ups will make their presence felt as Grayson Waller will welcome AJ Styles to The Grayson Waller Effect. Styles will face Seth Rollins to determine the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion next weekend at the PPV.

    Pretty Deadly (Elton Prince & Kit Wilson) will step into the ring against Ridge Holland & Butch after the teams confronted each other backstage on last week’s SmackDown.

    Plus, Asuka takes on Zelina Vega. Our live coverage starts at 8 p.m. Eastern time.

    **********

    – Michael Cole welcomed everyone in as the show opened and Roman Reigns’s theme music hit. Reigns made his entrance with Paul Heyman and Solo Sikoa. 

    The Bloodline/Zayn & Owens segment

    Before Reigns began talking, the crowd chanted “You suck!” Reigns responded by telling the crowd that’s not they start things. After Reigns hit the “Acknowledge me!” line, the crowd cheered, but things quickly turned as Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn’s respective music hit. Owens and Zayn made their way to the ring. The crowd sang Zayn’s music even after production cut it off. 

    Reigns said it was perfect because he was going to bring Owens and Zayn out anyway. Reigns demanded Zayn and Owens acknowledge him. After that, Reigns said they could drop off their titles and see their way out. Owens threw a mic down with his belts and stepped to Sikoa. Reigns settled the situation down and turned his attention to Zayn. Reigns said he only had one regret throughout his career and that was wasting his life on Zayn. 

    Zayn responded by saying he only had one regret, too, and that was not blasting him with a chair sooner. Zayn said Reigns’s greed has led them to this moment. Zayn said Reigns has received everything he’s wanted in life, but at Night of Champions, Reigns isn’t going to get the tag titles, even though that’s what Reigns wants now. Zayn said Reigns just isn’t as good as Zayn, Owens and even the Usos. 

    Reigns started to speak, but Jey Uso came through the crowd and attacked Zayn. Jimmy soon followed and attacked Owens. The Usos celebrated, but Reigns stifled their celebration and said it was Reigns’s ring and Reigns had a plan. Reigns threw a fit and left the ring. On his way out, he accidentally ran into Sikoa and the show cut to a commercial break. 

    **********

    – When the show returned, the Usos were pleading their case to Reigns in the back. Reigns asked them why they ran “random stuff out there.” Reigns screamed that he had something to say to Zayn, but he wasn’t able to say it because the Usos interfered. Reigns kicked the Usos out of his room. 

    **********

    Pretty Deadly (Elton Prince & Kit Wilson) defeated Butch and Ridge Holland [8:06]

    Pretty Deadly didn’t quite connect with the crowd the way I think a lot of people thought they would in their debut. Something felt like it was missing, but the duo has time to adjust. On the other side, Butch and Holland could stand to use some wins. Crowds seem to like them (along with Sheamus), but for whatever reason, it doesn’t feel like WWE decision-makers necessarily agree. WWE’s tag division is in a weird place because there’s the top – whomever from the Bloodline, Zayn, Owens – and then there’s everyone else. Imperium might be up soon and there’s always the Street Profits and the New Day, but as far as Butch/Holland and Pretty Deadly go … this just felt inconsequential.  

    Sheamus sat in on commentary as Butch and Wilson began the match. Prince quickly tagged in and Butch stomped on Pretty Deadly’s fingers. Holland tagged in and Prince received a shotgun dropkick from Butch on Butch’s way out of the ring. Holland suplexed Prince. Wilson got a blind tag and the two took Holland down. Prince came up from the sequence with blood running from his nose. 

    Prince and Wilson landed a combination leg-drop and splash on Holland for a two-count. Holland eventually got the hot tag to Butch with Wilson perched on Holland’s back. Butch took out both Prince and Wilson. Butch hit Wilson with a kick to the ear and Holland tagged in. Holland had both Prince and Wilson on his back and dropped them both. Holland and Butch landed stereo 10 Beats on both Pretty Deadly members. Almost immediately, Pretty Deadly hit Spilled Milk for the win. 

    **********

    – Michael Cole threw to a “Superstar” Billy Graham tribute video. Graham died earlier this week.

    **********

    Asuka defeated Zelina Vega [6:08]

    This was fine for what we saw of it (at least two minutes of the match was lost to a commercial break), but there was little doubt that Asuka would get the win, considering how she’s the one with a title match in a week. Still, it’s nice to see Vega get some shine and outside of a few awkward finishing seconds when the women appeared to be on separate pages as they traded pin attempts, it was a standard television match. Not great. Not terrible.

    Asuka came at Vega quick, but Vega countered with a roll-through and dropkick. Vega went for a 619, but Asuka moved and dropped Vega on the announce table. Back in the ring, Asuka toyed with Vega by kicking Vega in the head. Vega fired up and landed a basement dropkick before getting Asuka in position for a 619 and got in the first part before heading to the top rope. Vega hit a Meteora for a two-count. The two traded some clunky pinning attempts, but Asuka sank in the Asuka Lock for the win. After the match, Bianca Belair ran to the ring to break the Asuka Lock, but Asuka got the best of it after spraying some mist in Belair’s face. 

    **********

    The Grayson Waller Effect

    Waller started the segment about reminding everyone about their history in NXT. Waller said Styles is a first-ballot Hall of Famer and asked Styles what winning the World Heavyweight Title would mean to him. Styles recalled that his latest injury put him on the shelf for longer than he’s ever been in his career and he’s been training harder than ever for his comeback. Styles said he wants the World Heavyweight Title more than air to breathe. Styles talked about Seth Rollins being on a movie set. Waller predicted that Rollins would win the title and Styles stood up. The two shared a stare down to end the segment. 

    **********

    – The LWO was shown talking backstage. Santos Escobar said Latinos all around the world need to know what the LWO is about. Rey Mysterio said the Usos will find out what happens when they mess with the LWO and everyone traded handshakes. 

    **********

    The Street Profits defeated LA Knight and Rick Boogs [3:56]

    So, this was the segment that was cut last week, eh? Here’s hoping this gets the popular Knight on television more, though it’s not like a program with Rick Boogs is probably going to set the world on fire. The match was secondary to the Knight/Boogs angle, but it was fairly standard for what could be expected. Actually, if the point was to kickstart Knight, it’s odd that Boogs got more of the spotlight with the weightlifting tricks. So it goes. It’ll be interesting to see if WWE missed the mark on Knight and waited too long to give him a chance.

    The crowd popped for Knight during his entrance. Knight cut a promo in the entry way saying he can beat the Profits with anybody and thus introduced Boogs. Montez Ford mocked Boogs to start the match and tried to clothesline the big guy. Boogs sold nothing. Boogs bench-pressed Ford over his head 10 times to little response from the crowd. Angelo Dawkins tagged in, but Boogs landed a shoulder tackle to take Dawkins down. Boogs then curled Dawkins as the crowd chanted. Knight tagged himself in and took Dawkins down with a double shoulder-tackle. 

    Knight slammed Dawkins and landed a leaping elbow on Dawkins for a two-count. Boogs tagged in, but Dawkins slipped away and tagged in Ford, who hit a cross-body on both Boogs and Knight. Ford landed a series of kicks on Boogs. With Boogs and Knight on the outside, Ford landed a Senton on them both. Back inside the ring, Ford hit a frog-splash on Boogs for the win. After the match, Knight got Boogs to his feet, only to attack Boogs and leave the ring. 

    **********

    – Cameron Grimes was interviewed backstage by Megan Morant. Grimes said being on SmackDown feels like he’s living the dream. Grimes said he is determined to go straight to the top and, well, of course, to the moon.

    **********

    – Karrion Kross was shown speaking to nobody in particular. Scarlett pulled out one of her cards with AJ Styles on it, so it looks like we’re heading toward a Styles/Kross match, which begs the question … why the hell did the Grayson Waller Effect happen?

    **********

    Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn defeated Valentina Feroz and Yulisa Leon [1:16]

    A basic squash coming to you directly from the hallowed halls of NXT. Dawn beat up everyone in sight to open the match. Fyre and Dawn ultimately made quick work out of Leon and Feroz by hitting their finisher for the win. 

    **********

    – With Liv Morgan hurt, it was announced that Raquel Rodriguez will have to relinquish the women’s tag titles. A fatal four-way will happen and Raquel will have a mystery partner on her side to compete in said fatal four-way. Raquel then cut a promo backstage and was interrupted by Bayley and Iyo Sky. Bayley said next week, her and Iyo would like to face Rodriguez and a partner of Rodriguez’s choice. 

    **********

    The Austin Theory Segment

    Austin Theory stood in the ring with a microphone and said everyone knows who he is. Theory said last week, he was ganged up on by Bobby Lashley and Sheamus. The crowd gave him the “What?!” treatment. Theory said Lashley has a weird obsession with him, but he didn’t understand why Sheamus had a problem with him. Theory said he has things in common with Sheamus, like the fact that they both beat John Cena. Naturally, Sheamus’s music hit and Sheamus walked to the ring. Sheamus grabbed a microphone, but then instantly hit a Brogue Kick on Theory, dropped the mic and left the ring to end the segment.

    **********

    – Backstage, Paul Heyman spoke to the Usos and said Roman Reigns forgave them. The Usos asked Heyman if Reigns would be out to support them during their match, but Heyman said Reigns wouldn’t be out there. Heyman said the Usos are only facing the LWO, so it should be an easy win. The Usos walked out of the frame as Heyman grabbed his phone.

    – Next week, The KO Show returns with guests Solo Sikoa and Roman Reigns. Karrion Kross will face off against AJ Styles. Sheamus will take on Austin Theory for the United States Championship. And Raquel Rodriguez, with a mystery partner, will step in the ring with Bayley and Iyo Sky. 

    **********

    The LWO (Rey Mysterio Jr. & Santos Escobar) defeated Jimmy & Jey Uso [14:21]

    This was a worthy main event that had some exceptional false finishes, especially when it comes to what we normally see on weekly WWE television. The story of the Usos being drowned in disappointment continues, and it sure does feel like the powder keg will finally blow things to smithereens at Night Of Champions, but we’ll see. In the meantime, it’s fun to see the LWO get so much booking love, being put in meaningful matches and in this case, landing a meaningful win. This match had great action and it benefited from the mystery of who might come out on top. Good stuff from everyone involved.

    Mysterio and Jey started the match, but Jimmy quickly tagged in and the two Usos worked over Rey. Mysterio fought back and Escobar tagged himself in as the LWO took control, ran the Usos out of the ring and posed as the show went to a commercial break. When the show returned from break, the Usos had the upper-hand on Escobar inside the ring. Reigns and Sikoa were shown watching the match on a television backstage. 

    Escobar eventually dropkicked Jimmy to slow things down and tease a hot tag, but Jey tagged in and kept the Usos in control. Jimmy tagged in and landed some strikes on Escobar in a corner. Escobar got some life when he kneed Jimmy and landed the hot tag to Mysterio. Jey tagged in and Mysterio hit a springboard cross-body for a two-count. Jey kicked Mysterio in the midsection, but Mysterio responded with a Destroyer and a two-count. 

    Jimmy interfered and kicked Mysterio in the back of the head. Jey then landed a neck-breaker for a good near-fall. Jimmy tagged in and lifted Rey, but Rey kicked his way out. Rey then took the Usos over the top to the outside. Escobar tagged in and hit a splash onto the Usos on the outside. Back inside the ring, Jimmy and Santos traded blows. Mysterio tagged in and went to the top, where he landed a leg-drop on Jimmy, but Jey broke up the pin attempt. Jey super-kicked Escobar and Rey threw Jey to the outside. Rey went for the 619, but Jey broke it up and hit an Uso Splash for a very good near-fall. The Usos went to the top, but Kevin Owens showed up and distracted the Usos while Samy Zayn interfered. Rey hit the 619 on Jimmy, Escobar hit a splash from the top and that was enough for the win. The show ended with a shot of a disappointed Roman Reigns in the back. 

    AEW Rampage live results: Blackpool Combat Club vs. Best Friends & Bandido

    Posted on by Ryan Howard

    Tonight’s AEW Rampage will be another early edition due to the NBA playoffs on TNT.

    In trios action, the Blackpool Combat Club (Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta) will take on Best Amigos (Chuck Taylor and Trent Beretta) & Bandido). The BCC learned on Wednesday they will battle The Elite in an Anarchy in the Arena match at Double or Nothing.

    Undefeated inaugural TBS Champion Jade Cargill will continue her quest to find challenges as she defends against Danni Bee.

    In a trios match, former AEW Tag Team Champions The Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens & Max Caster) and Billy Gunn will take on the Varsity Athletes (Tony Nese, Josh Woods & Ari Daivari).

    ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champion Bishop Kaun of the Mogul Embassy will face Dustin Rhodes.

    Matt & Jeff Hardy and Brother Zay will also make an appearance on the show as they want to make a run at the AEW Tag Team titles.

    **********

    Blackpool Combat Club (Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta) (w/ Bryan Danielson) defeated Best Amigos (Chuck Taylor and Trent Beretta) & Bandido)

    This was a fun, action packed party match of an opener with everyone getting their time to shine. I liked the history they played off of between Taylor & Yuta as it was fitting the trainee pinned his trainer. The BCC look more than ready for Anarchy in the Arena in a little over a week.

    Moxley tried an early attack on Bandido, who used his speed to overcome the onslaught as Yuta & Beretta tagged in. Beretta blocked a skin the cat and sent Yuta to the floor where Taylor slammed his former protégé into the barricade. Castagnoli distracted Taylor long enough for Yuta to hit a chop block as the BCC isolated Taylor in their corner.

    Taylor fought out of the corner and tagged Beretta, who took the fight to Moxley with a series of German suplexes. With the BCC collected on the floor, Best Amigos hit a trio of dives. Back inside, Castagnoli shoved Moxley out of the way from danger and caught Beretta in mid air with an uppercut to take control during commercial. There was supposed to be picture in picture, but we only saw commercials and no action.

    Beretta avoided a charging Moxley and connected with a Tornado DDT into the double down. Castagnoli & Bandido made tags with Bandido hitting a tornillo out of the corner followed by a springboard hurricanrana pin attempt for two. A strike exchange led to Bandido trying a delayed vertical suplex, but Yuta made the save, only to be caught by Bandido as Best Friends made the blind tag with a Soul Food and half & half combo.

    Best Amigos gave the people what they wanted with a hug before Taylor spiked Yuta with a snap piledriver. Taylor tried Yuta’s seatbelt pin, as Moxley broke it up by dropkicking his own partner. The match broke down with everyone hitting big moves until Taylor went for Awful Waffle, but was cut off by a Moxley Death Rider and Rocket Launcher by Castagnoli & Yuta to get the pin.

    – Kyle Fletcher cut a promo about why he attacked Orange Cassidy last week. Since Fletcher was born and raised in Australia, made a name for himself in England, won titles in Japan & the USA, no one is more fitting to be AEW International Champion than he is.

    TBS Champion Jade Cargill (w/ Leila Grey & Mark Sterling) defeated Danni Bee to retain

    Excalibur talked about Taya Valkyrie failing last month to win the TBS Title and subsequently losing her cool on referee Aubrey Edwards, getting suspended in the process. We learned that suspension has since been lifted. Bee has wrestled twice on Elevation in losing efforts to Abadon & Emi Sakura. Cargill smoked Bee with a forearm immediately and followed with a fallaway slam. A violent pump kick got Cargill the win and put her at 58-0. Sterling ran his mouth post-match asking if that’s the best Texas had to offer and brought out another challenger.

    TBS Champion Jade Cargill (w/ Leila Grey & Mark Sterling) defeated Genesis to retain

    We learned Genesis is a trainee of the Dustin Rhodes Wrestling Academy and Jericho explained she had a massive stroke, was paralyzed and had to learn how to walk and speak again before deciding to get into pro wrestling. Cargill violently whipped Genesis into the ropes, hit a spear and Jaded to go to 59-0.

    Sterling said Cargill was about to go to 60-0 as an unnamed challenger came out to the ramp to accept the challenge until Valkyrie made an entrance and laid out the woman. Valkyrie stormed to the ring, took out Grey and laid out Cargill with a clothesline and Road to Valhalla. 

    Valkyrie got the microphone and asked Cargill “Who’s that b*tch,” saying she’ll see her at Double or Nothing. Excalibur said Tony Khan made their title rematch official and this time, Valkyrie can use her finisher unlike in their first meeting.

    The Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens & Max Caster) and Billy Gunn defeated Varsity Athletes (Tony Nese, Josh Woods & Ari Daivari)

    Gunn had early face-offs with each member of the Athletes until Nese tried a posedown. Gunn played to the crowd before taking his shirt off and planted Nese with a side suplex. Scissor Me Timbers by Bowens connected as The Acclaimed & Gunn scissored for the crowd. Caster posed too long and found himself isolated during the commercial break, but made his comeback when they returned. A double clothesline by Caster & Woods allowed Bowens to make the hot tag.

    While this was all happening, Gunn beat down Daivari ringside. Bowens ran wild with an over the top leg drop on Nese as Gunn tossed Woods to the outside. Nese initially avoided the Arrival with a spin kick to the face, but as he went for a combo, Bowens hit The Arrival and Caster with The Mic Drop to pick up the win.

    -This week’s QTV started with QT Marshall asking Aaron Solo if he hacked Matt Hardy, which Solo denied. Marshall said he has them all entered in the Blackjack Battle Royal for the International Title at Double or Nothing. Marshall talks about Powerhouse Hobbs being on the poster for AEW Collision and mentions Miro while Solo & Harley Cameron name drop Buff Bagwell, Blue Meanie and Tatanka. Marshall said it doesn’t matter because on June 17th, the real story begins.

    The Hardys and Brother Zay

    Tony Schiavone was in the ring and introduced Matt and Jeff Hardy & Brother Zay. Matt said it’s official for Double or Nothing with the three of them against The Gunns & Ethan Page where the stipulation being if Team Hardy wins, then Matt Hardy gets control of Ethan Page’s contract.

    Jeff put over the Texas crowd briefly before Page came to the stage alone. Page said he and Matt have been feuding for too long and that Zay can trust Page and he and Zay were going to become The Moan Event until he turned his back on Page. 

    This was all a ruse as The Gunns showed up from behind with chair shots to the Hardys and Zay. A chair was placed over Zay’s neck as Page stomped down onto it. I’m sure this match will be fun at Double or Nothing, but I agree with what Page said earlier: it feels like this story with Page & Matt Hardy has went on forever.

    Chris Jericho and Adam Cole brawl

    After highlights of Wednesday’s falls count anywhere match between Chris Jericho and Roderick Strong. Jericho called Adam Cole a coward and said if Cole was there, he’d beat his ass. Cole appeared on screen, saying every week he’d show up and beat Jericho’s ass. Jericho said he has lifted the legal agreement of Cole being banned from the building, challenging Cole to an unsanctioned match at Double or Nothing. Cole thanked Jericho and immediately entered the building for his search of Jericho.

    After the break, Cole walked down from the crowd, sprinted up the ramp and the brawl was on between he and Jericho as security tried to separate them. Both men broke free at different points during the fight.

    Dustin Rhodes defeated Bishop Kaun (w/Prince Nana)

    It wouldn’t be a match in Texas without a Rhodes family member bleeding. Rhodes did an amazing job getting the crowd behind him as he continues to put on very good matches against everyone he competes against. The post match was a continuation of the Swerve Strickland and Keith Lee story which needs to be settled soon as both need to go on to other stories sooner than later.

    Kaun attacked just as Rhodes stepped through the ropes, but Rhodes quickly clotheslined him to the outside. Back inside, Kaun reversed a whip to the corner and Rhodes ran right into the camera, spilling to the floor, busting himself open in the process. Kaun connected with a neckbreaker off the apron onto the floor and controlled him during the entire commercial break.

    Rhodes tried his snap powerslam, but Kaun nailed an air raid crash for a one count as Rhodes hulked up into a slugfest. A series of clotheslines, dropdown uppercut and snap powerslam got Rhodes in control as he delivered corner punches, but got his legs pulled from under him.

    Rhodes fought back with a nice Code Red and piledriver for near falls. Kaun hit a shotgun dropkick, but missed a corner charge, which allowed Rhodes to connect on a bulldog and Final Reckoning for the win.

    Post match, Brian Cage attacked and power bombed Rhodes as Swerve Strickland sauntered into the ring, smiling at the beatdown. Keith Lee then walked out from the back as Cage and Kaun went to cut him off on the ramp. Lee took them both out and stared down Strickland. Lee took way too long to get his hands on Strickland, which allowed Cage & Kaun to attack from behind with a chair. 

    Cage powered Lee up on his shoulders and hit an F5 onto the chair. Lee was placed seated on the chair as Strickland hit a Swerve Stomp as Rhodes was forced to watch by Cage.

    This Wednesday:

    • Tony Khan will announce the location of the debut episode of AEW Collision
    • All Four Pillars (MJF, Darby Allin, Jungle Boy and Sammy Guevara) will be heard from
    • AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy defends against Kyle Fletcher
    • ROH Tag Team Champions Lucha Brothers defend against Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta
    • AEW Trios Champions House of Black defend against AR Fox, Blake Christian & Metalik
    • Taya Valkyrie vs. Lady Frost
    • FTR promo
    • Adam Cole & Chris Jericho contract signing

    Impact Wrestling live results: Trinity vs. KiLynn King

    Posted on by Josiah MacDonald

    After a year away from in-ring action, Trinity (the former Naomi in WWE) will make her Impact Wrestling debut on tonight’s AXS TV show.

    She will face KiLynn King, one half of Knockouts Tag Team Champions The Coven along with Taylor Wilde. Trinity laid King out last Thursday as she came to the aid of Deonna Purrazzo and Jordynne Grace after The Coven attacked them.

    In a preview of next Friday’s six-way no. 1 contender’s match at Under Siege, Moose, Eddie Edwards & Franke Kazarian will team up against Alex Shelley, Yuya Uemura & Jonathan Gresham.

    X-Division Champion Trey Miguel will face Laredo Kid in a non-title match ahead of his title defense against Chris Sabin at Under Siege.

    Ace Austin, one half of the Impact Tag Team Champions, will face Jason Hotch of The Good Hands in singles action.

    The BTI pre-show will see The Design’s Kon & Deaner take on Zicky Dice & Johnny Swinger.

    **********

    Before the Impact:

    George Iceman revealed that Dango and Joe Hendry narrowed down the culprit about who attacked Santino.

    The Design (Deaner & Kon) (w/ Angels) defeated Johnny Swinger & Zicky Dice

    Swinger was an excellent babyface in this match as Deaner and Kon got the heat on him. His selling was fantastic and the crowd actually really got into wanting them to make a comeback. Of course, Dice died after a power bomb from Kon and a DDT from Deaner for the win.

    Main Show:

    After recapping what happened last week, Impact went directly to Trey Miguel’s entrance.

    Impact X-Division Champion Trey Miguel defeated Laredo Kid in a non-title match

    This was a great opening match. Miguel and Laredo Kid are both fantastic wrestlers, and I hope we get to see more of these two in the future.

    Kid and Miguel had a quick start to the match, with Miguel trying to run away on the floor, and Kid hitting a suicide dive through the ropes at the corner to hit Miguel. As they fought around the ring, Miguel hit a tiger feint kick around the apron onto Kid, who was standing, causing Kid’s legs to be swept out from under him. That was cool.

    Miguel and Kid hat some fast exchanges, ending with Kid hitting a flipping DDT on Trey Miguel for a 2-count. Kid hit a few strikes and went for a Michinoku driver, but Miguel slipped out and hit an enziguri. Kid countered at lightning spiral but almost hit the referee. As he turned around, Miguel ripped off Kid’s mask and rolled him up for the pinfall. Excellent match.

    Miguel grabbed a mic and trash talked Chicago, saying he was a generational talent, but no one respects him as much as they should. Miguel then said he was going to stay in the ring until everyone respected him. Chris Sabin came out to stop the protest.

    Sabin said that Miguel only gets what he gives, and he disrespected the championship by spray painting it. Sabin said he disrespected everyone who held the title, from AJ Styles, to Josh Alexander. Sabin said he was going to show Miguel respect by saying to his face that he was going to beat him at Under Siege to become the first ever 9-time X-Division champion. Miguel walked away dejected. This was really good.

    – Trinity was backstage warming up and Jai Vidal walked up, saying the picture he took with her last week got him in trouble with Gisele Shaw. Trinity said that if Shaw had a problem with it, there was an opening for a match at Under Siege. Vidal said that he would tell Shaw.

    – A fantastic interview aired with Rich Swann and Sami Callihan talking about their history on the indies and how long they have been friends, and even when they fought, they had respect for each other. Their relationship is why Swann is standing with him now against The Design.

    Jason Hotch (w/ John Skylar & Brian Myers) defeated Ace Austin (w/ Chris Bey)

    Good match here, showing that if Jason Hotch was indeed a good hand, and if given time, he’ll use it to get over.

    Hotch is a good worker, and kept up with Austin well. Both guys started fast, with Hotch starting to get heat after a blue thunder bomb for a 2-count. Austin responded with a forearm and a few strikes, ending with a knee and going for a spin kick that Hotch ducked. Austin did a head scissors into a side Russian leg sweep for a 2-count.

    Austin squeezed Hotch’s head between his angles, jumped into the air, and drove it down into the mat. As Austin signaled for the fold, Myers got on the apron to distract the referee. John Skylar pulled Austin from the ring, leading to Chris Bey running over, launching himself off the back of Austin, and kicking Skylar. That was cool.

    As Austin recovered and came back in the ring, he ran into a standing Spanish fly from Hotch for a 2-count. Austin slipped out of a torture rack and hit an O’Connor roll, but Hotch kicked out and as Austin went to the rope, Myers punched him, and Hotch rolled Austin up for the win.

    – Steve Maclin was backstage and said Shera and Champagne Singh proved their worth last week, attacking Heath. They were back in his good graces, but needed to follow his orders. They agreed.

    – Jordynne Grace was confronted backstage by Alisha Edwards, who mocked her for losing last week. Grace scared Edwards off by feinting a punch, and it looks like we’re going to get a match between the two soon.

    Trinity defeated KiLynn King (w/ Taylor Wilde)

    This was a great match for Trinity. King did a phenomenal job in this one helping Trinity look great. Trinity did very well working a non-WWE style match, as this was a bit more hard hitting than you would normally get, especially with King. Good stuff.

    Trinity got a great reaction from the audience as the bell rang, Trinity was all over King in the early part of the match, dodging everything King tried, and hit a splitting leg drop on King for a 2-count. Trinity hit the ropes, but Wilde caught her foot, leading to King attacking from behind and then hitting a big boot that dropped Trinity hard.

    King managed to keep Trinity from making comebacks, hitting hard strikes and chops. King did some sort of finger wagging pose at Wilde, and Wilde started swinging wildly at the air. I don’t know why Wilde flailed at the air around her, but it was funny. Wilde choked Trinity on the ropes behind the referee’s back. The referee finally caught them cheating and sent Wilde to the back, while Trinity fought King off as they were on the ropes. Trinity hit a nice crossbody on King for a 2-count.

    Trinity hit a blockbuster off the top rope, which she should use as a finish as it looked awesome, but King kicked out. King fired up and hit some strikes in the corner and then a powerslam. Trinity low bridged King, and then hit a heatseaker as King was draped over the middle ropes for a 2-count. King fought through some forearms and punches before hitting a Death Valley Driver for a 2-count. King went for the Excalibuster, but Trinity flipped out and rolled into starstruck, getting the submission on King.

    Jai Vidal came out and said Shaw accepted Trinity’s challenge before trying to hit a slap. Trinity blocked the slap, said that she would see Shaw at Under Siege, and then kicked Vidal in the head. I liked this.

    – Maclin, Singh, and Shera ran into PCO backstage and they started brawling which resulted in Shera hitting a chokeslam onto the floor (covered lightly by cardboard boxes) before putting two blocks of concrete onto the back of PCO and breaking it with a sledgehammer. PCO screamed about the pain in his back.

    – Jessicka was backstage with the hourglass Rosemary gave her. Wilde and King walked up and offered to open the door to the undead realm for her, but Jessicka noted that Rosemary said they were not powerful enough to open the door. King said Rosemary wasn’t always right. Jessicka pointed out Wilde wasn’t either, since she couldn’t foresee King losing the match against Trinity. They did not like this. Neither did I, to be honest. The segment, that is.

    Jody Threat defeated Sierra

    I just saw Sierra on NWA Power, which was also filmed in Chicago, and she showed her ability to bump well here too, as Threat squashed Sierra hitting a German suplex and a F416.

    – Frankie Kazarian was backstage and Eddie Edwards walked up to him, saying that they had to get along tonight if they were going to win. Edwards suggested that Kazarian follow his lead, and Kazarian said that it wasn’t a problem, but he hoped it would go better than Honor No More did.

    – Dango was backstage with Zicky Dice and Johnny Swinger. Dice was trying to hand a bottle full of urine to Dango for his drug test. Dango admitted after wrestling Swinger and Dice that they were totally incompetent, and completely incapable of attacking Santino. Swinger nodded and agreed.

    Swinger & Dice accused Joe Hendry, who appeared as his name was said. Dango said that it had to be Joe Hendry because he tried to steal Dango’s spotlight. Hendry went to walk away, and Dango pulled him back, so they scuffled, and Dango’s shirt got ripped off, and he had a patch of hair missing on his chest, meaning Dango attacked Santino. Dango then drove Hendry into the wall as Swinger ran away and screamed, “Call the bossman, man!” The announcers claimed that no one saw this coming. I did.

    Jonathan Gresham, Yuya Uemura & Alex Shelley defeated Moose, Frankie Kazarian & Eddie Edwards (w/ Alisha Edwards)

    This was an awesome, non-stop action, main event. No pun intended on the old TNA name. Really fantastic stuff here. All six guys got to showcase what they can do, and every one of them looked like they could win at any moment, which is what you want out of these matches to setup their 6-way match at Under Siege.

    Eddie Edwards was the victim of the babyface team in the opening parts of the match, as they showed solid teamwork, including Alex Shelley sending Moose into a front headlock on Edwards, and then clotheslining Edwards so he accidentally hit a DDT on Moose. That was fun. Moose decided he had enough and attacked Shelley on the floor, finally letting his team get some offence.

    Edwards reluctantly tagged in Kazarian, who hit a few moves on Shelley before chopping Moose to tag in. Moose continued the assault on Shelley. Kazarian tried to keep his team honest, by asking for clean tags, but Edwards and Moose largely ignored him unless the referee is looking. Shelley almost got away from Edwards, but Edwards grabbed a sleeper. Shelley hit a knee breaker on Edwards to break it, but Edwards responded with a Boston knee party and chopped Kazarian hard to tag in.

    Kazarian went for an unprettier, but Shelley hit a flatliner on Kazarian and tagged out to Uemura, who went wild, hitting uppercuts and throwing Moose and Edwards all over the ring. Uemura hit a back suplex and got a 2-count on Edwards. Edwards managed a blue thunder bomb and tagged out to Moose. Moose hit a backbreaker and a huge powerbomb on Uemura for a 2-count. Moose missed a spear and Gresham tagged in, hitting dropkicks to the knees of Moose, hyper extending the knee, forcing Moose to tag out to Kazarian.

    Gresham went for a dropkick to the knee of Kazarian, and Kazarian jumped and hit a leg drop as he was in midair. That was awesome. Shelley and Kazarian got in the ring, and Kazarian put the chicken wing on Shelley, who drove Kazarian back to his corner. Edwards blind tagged in, breaking the submission. Edwards hit a backpack stunner on Shelley, but Uemura made the save.

    Kazarian hit a backstabber on Uemura. Gresham hit a high angle German suplex on Kazarian. Moose tried to powerbomb Gresham on the floor, but he slipped out and was sent into a flying crossbody, Tanahashi style, from Uemura onto Moose. Edwards and Kazarian got into a fight in the ring, and Kazarian hit a lariat on Edwards, leading to Shelley hitting Shellshock on Edwards for the win.

    Final Thoughts:

    This was a really great episode of Impact tonight with very little that stood out as bad. Really good matches, solid angles, and a good build towards Under Siege. I couldn’t ask for more.

    **********

    Next Week:

    • Rich Swann vs. Angels
    • Mike Bailey vs. Chris Sabin

    New for Under Siege:

    • Trinity vs. Gisele Shaw

    Ring of Honor live results: Zack Sabre Jr. NJPW TV title defense

    Posted on by Suit Williams

    Zack Sabre Jr. will return to Ring of Honor TV on HonorClub Thursday to defend his NJPW TV title once again.

    After appearing on the revived debut show, the inaugural NJPW TV Champion will put the gold on the line against AR Fox in pursuit of his seventh title defense.

    In a no DQ Fight Without Honor match, The Kingdom’s Mike Bennett and Matt Taven will face Darius Martin and Action Andretti.

    Former ROH Women’s Champion Mercedes Martinez returns to action off the injured list for the first time since last December when she goes one-on-one with Ashley D’Amboise.

    Former ROH Tag Team Champions Christopher Daniels and Matt Sydal will continue their reformed run as they face Cole Karter and Zack Clayton.

    In a high-flying affair, Rey Fenix will take on Gringo Loco.

    Other action includes Willow Nightingale vs. Madi Wrenkowski, Lady Frost vs. Miranda Alize, and several tag team matches.

    **********

    – The show started with Dasha backstage with Willie Mack and Ninja Mack. They showed respect to each other and made the decision to team together.

    This week’s Ring of Honor was taped at Universal Studios in Orlando, FL. Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman, and Nigel McGuinness were on the call.

    Rey Fenix (w/Alex Abrahantes) defeated Gringo Loco

    This was a great opener to the show. Loco was a great pickup by ROH, as his basing allows these high-flyers to really shine.

    These two started off quickly, avoiding each other’s offense before Fenix scored the advantage with several kicks. Fenix sent Loco to the floor with an armdrag before following him outside with a springboard dive. Fenix hit a frog splash in the ring for a nearfall. Loco caught Fenix on a rolling move, picking him up in a gorilla press before slamming him down.

    After going for the mask, Loco dropped Fenix with a facebuster for a nearfall. Fenix fought Loco off with a pair of thrust kicks before hitting his spinning back kick in the corner. Fenix followed up by running on the top rope to kick Loco in the head before landing another splash for a nearfall. Loco cut Fenix off, but Fenix hit the rewind kick through the ropes.

    Fenix brought Loco to the corner and went for a rolling cutter, but Loco caught Fenix with a cutter of his own for a nearfall. Fenix scored with a rolling Frankensteiner for a nearfall before drilling Loco with a superkick. Fenix brought Loco to the top rope before hitting a double jump rana for a nearfall. Fenix brought Loco back to the top rope, but Loco knocked him down before hitting a step-up twisting Destroyer for a nearfall.

    Loco brought Fenix up on his shoulders, but Fenix pulled him down with a poisonrana. Fenix hit the rolling cutter to win.

    – Dasha was backstage with The Wingmen, Peter Avalon and Ryan Nemeth. They mock the Iron Savages and want to prove that ROH is Wingmen Country. Good luck with that.

    – Ian Riccaboni announces that Katsuyori Shibata will defend his title against his protégé Alex Coughlin in two weeks on ROH television from Las Vegas.

    Willow Nightingale defeated Madi Wrenkowski

    Nightingale was in firm control to start, landing a senton. Wrenkowski got a boot in on Nightingale before choking her over the ropes. She brought Nightingale to the apron and covered her up with the apron itself, landing heavy strikes.

    Back in the ring, Nightingale fired up, hitting a splash in the corner before hitting the spinebuster. Wrenkowski fought out of the Babe With The Powerbomb, forcing Nightingale into the corner. Nightingale caught Wrenkowski in powerbomb position, but Wrenkowski took her down by the head Billy Kidman-style for a nearfall. Nightingale moved out of the way of a boot and hit the Pounce. Nightingale followed that with the Babe With The Powerbomb for the win.

    Iron Savages (Boulder & Bronson) (w/Jacked Jameson) defeated The Wingmen (Peter Avalon & Ryan Nemeth)

    Jameson led the Savages out with an energetic introduction, hyping up the crowd for the Savages. Riccaboni noted that Nemeth will be playing Gino Hernandez in the new Von Erich movie that MJF also plays a part in. Currently, Nemeth was getting pounded on by the Savages. Nemeth desperately tagged out to Avalon, who got the advantage after Nemeth chop-blocked Bronson.

    Nemeth took some time to swivel his hips, which was met with a spinebuster from Bronson. Boulder tagged in and ran wild on the Wingmen, landing a double flapjack. Boulder went for a moonsault, but Avalon moved and hit a splash of his own for a nearfall. Boulder repeatedly pressed Avalon to kick out before dropping both Wingmen with a crossbody. Bronson tagged in and scored the win after getting electric chair dropped onto both Wingmen.

    Christopher Daniels & Matt Sydal defeated Cole Karter & Zack Clayton

    Daniels and Sydal got the advantage first, scoring an offensive combination on Karter. Clayton tagged in but met the same fate and took an offensive combo for a nearfall. Karter cut Sydal off on the ropes, allowing Clayton to hit a lariat on Sydal. Karter and Clayton worked over Sydal for a while, with Karter sending Sydal off the top rope into a powerslam from Clayton. Karter hit a splash for a nearfall that Daniels broke up.

    Daniels tagged in and ran wild, landing a bulldog/clothesline combo. Karter cut off an Angel’s Wings attempt, bringing Sydal in to send Karter out. Daniels hit the STO as Sydal landed a dive on Karter on the floor. Daniels got the win with the Best Moonsault Ever.

    Lady Frost defeated Miranda Alize

    Both of these women maximized their minutes here. I wouldn’t mind seeing more of them in this women’s division.

    A quick start to this one, as Alize drilled Frost with a rana before booting her in the gut. Alize hit a strong face wash boot in the corner, but only scored a one-count. Alize talked trash, but Frost hit a jumping knee and a cartwheel cannonball in the corner for a nearfall. Alize came back with a release suplex for a nearfall. Alize hit a Tiger Driver for a nearfall.

    Alize set up a neckbreaker, but Frost fought out and cartwheeled into an Air Raid Crash. Frost went to the top rope and hit a corkscrew moonsault for the win.

    Spanish Announce Project (Angelico & Serpentico) (w/Luther) defeated Cheeseburger & Eli Isom

    Cheeseburger and Serpentico got started, with Cheeseburger getting the better of Serpentico with technical maneuvers. Angelico broke up Cheeseburger’s momentum before tagging in and showing off his llave submissions. SAP worked over Cheeseburger until he got a tag out to Isom. Isom ran wild, hitting a dive on Serpentico on the floor.

    Luther booted Isom on the floor while the referee was focused in the ring. Angelico caught Cheeseburger in a leg vine submission for the quick submission win.

    NJPW World Television Title Match: Zack Sabre Jr. defeated AR Fox to retain

    All NJPW World TV Title matches have a 15-minute time limit, with the title remaining with the champion in the case of a draw. It was announced that the winner would defend the title against Jeff Cobb at NJPW Dominion on June 4th.

    After an opening exchange, Fox caught Sabre with the double dropkick combo in the corner for an early nearfall. Fox sent Sabre to the floor and hit the superman dive to the floor. Fox hit a springboard dropkick for a nearfall. Sabre got a hold of Fox’s arm and slammed him down.

    Sabre started the work on the arm, manipulating his wrist while in an armbar. Fox tried fighting back, but lost Sabre on an Irish Whip attempt due to the bad arm. Sabre did more work on the arm, twisting Fox into an armbar that Fox fought off. Fox caught Sabre with a jumping clothesline. Fox booted Sabre twice before hitting a swinging suplex for a nearfall.

    Sabre went back to the arm, dropping Fox to all fours and stomping on his elbow. Sabre hit the Penalty Kick for a nearfall. Sabre toyed with Fox, allowing Fox to fight back and send Sabre to the floor. Sabre cut off a dive, but Fox superkicked him in the ropes. Fox hit a pendulum DDT for a nearfall. Fox brought Sabre to the top rope, but Sabre caught him in the Cobra Twist on the top rope. Fox popped back up, hitting the Lo Mein Pain for a nearfall.

    At the 10-minute call, AR Fox went to the top rope, but Sabre rolled to the floor. Fox followed him with a big dive to the floor. Back in the ring, Sabre avoided a 450 and caught Fox in a European Clutch for a nearfall. Sabre started ripping at Fox’s legs, catching Fox in the Orienteering With Napalm Death submission for the win and his 7th successful defense of the title.

    – In the ring, Dasha interviewed Sabre after his win. He said that he saw a chance to make history as the first NJPW World TV Champion, and he took it. He declared himself the best champion in wrestling, and the most active TV Champion in wrestling. ROH TV Champion Samoa Joe came out taking offense to this. Joe offered a fight against Sabre right now, but Matt Sydal and Christopher Daniels made their way to the stage. Daniels stated that he, Joe, and Sabre have all held TV Titles, but Sydal was overdue for a title shot of his own. Sabre offered up a tag team match, with a TV Title shot on the line for Sydal and Daniels if they won. Everyone seemed to agree, with Sabre saying that afterward, they’ll figure out which champion is better. I’m excited about all of these potential matches.

    The Gates Of Agony (Bishop Kaun & Toa Liona) (w/Prince Nana) defeated Dalton Castle & Boy Brandon

    This stems from the mystery attack on Boy Brent last week. Boy Brandon started off with Kaun and got the better of him in a grappling exchange. Kaun then tagged in Liona, who tackled Brandon and threw him with abandon. The Gates threw Brandon around for a while until Brandon caught Kaun with a low flatliner. Kaun cut him off and sent him into the ropes where Liona booted him.

    The Gates clubbered on Brandon more until Brandon crotched Liona on a splash attempt. Castle got the hot tag and ran wild with offense. Liona took a half dozen splashes from Castle and Brandon, but Liona kicked out at one. Brandon got caught on a dive, with Kaun taking out Castle with a gutbuster. Liona and Kaun landed a double facebuster on Brandon for the win.

    Shane Taylor & The Workhorsemen (Anthony Henry & JD Drake) defeated Midnight Heat (Eddie Pearl & Ricky Gibson) & Schaff

    Henry caught Pearl with a heavy kick to the midsection for the first advantage in the match. Drake tagged in and flattened Pearl with a senton and a Vader Bomb. Schaff tagged in and used his size to run wild, but Taylor dropped him with a lariat. As the Workhorsemen took out Pearl and Gibson, Taylor hit the Package Piledriver for the quick win.

    – Dasha was backstage with Vincent & Dutch. Quickly, Stu Grayson entered the frame to wonder why they’d been watching him lately. Dutch and Vincent said that while the Dark Order brought him back, they were also holding him back. The Dark Order came in to drive them away, but Grayson decided to give Vincent and Dutch one chance to impress him.

    Mercedes Martinez defeated Ashley D’Amboise

    Martinez couldn’t keep a hold on D’Amboise early on until she caught D’Amboise with a rolling forearm. Martinez hit the Three Amigos for a nearfall. Martinez clubbered on D’Amboise until D’Amboise avoided a corner charge. D’Amboise fought back until she walked into a spinebuster for a nearfall.

    D’Amboise countered a Fisherman’s Suplex into a rollup for a nearfall. D’Amboise threw a bunch of strikes at Martinez. D’Amboise caught Martinez with a forearm in the ropes, then followed it up with a Burning Hammer for a nearfall. Martinez caught D’Amboise with a curb stomp, then scored the submission win with the Dragon Sleeper.

    Fight Without Honor: Action Andretti & Darius Martin defeated The Kingdom (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) (w/Maria Kanellis-Bennett)

    This was one hell of a battle in this main event. Everybody took a beating in this one, and they did some sick spots here too. This is one to seek out for sure.

    The Kingdom menaced Andretti on the ramp, but Martin jumped them from behind to kickstart this match. The plunder came out quickly, with Bennett catching a double dropkick with a chair in the face. Taven took a drop-toe hold into the chair, with Martin launching off of Taven’s back for a dropkick to Bennett. Andretti and Martin clubbered on Taven with weapons as he was trapped in a garbage can, but Maria involved herself, allowing Taven to dropkick a ladder into their faces. Martin got on the apron, but Maria hit a low blow, allowing Bennett to drill Martin with a chair.

    Bennett got lacerated but didn’t let that stop him from hitting a spinebuster to Andretti on top of a trash can. Taven hit Just The Tip on Martin with a ladder in his face, but the Kingdom brought out a table to do more damage. They went for the big Doomsday Device to the floor, but Martin moved, leading to Taven taking out Bennett. Andretti hit an Arabian Press to both Kingdom members on the floor.

    Back in the ring, we got a train of offense that left Dante Martin standing. Taven took down Martin with a chair to the back. The Kingdom hit a Hail Mary to Martin on top of chairs. Andretti fought out of the Proton Pack, hitting a bulldog on Taven. Andretti put Taven on a table, hitting a springboard 450 throu…onto the table. Andretti finished the job, suplexing Taven through the table for a nearfall that Bennett broke up.

    Bennett and Andretti traded strikes, leading to Bennett hitting a spear and a DVD through the table. Martin fought his way up, but Taven dropped him with the Purple Thunder for a nearfall. Andretti and Martin got sent to the floor. Maria hit Martin with a pipe and held him up for chops from Bennett. Bennett went for the rebound forearm, but Martin moved, and Maria took the shot instead.

    Martin and Andretti fired up, dropping Taven on a chair. They hit Bennett with a Doomsday Device off of the ladder to win. After the match, The Kingdom offered a handshake, which was accepted.