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WWE NXT results: The Dusty Classic begins

Posted on by Arya Witner

The Big News: Andrade “Cien” Almas turned heel on Cedric Alexander after the duo lost their tag team main event.

The Medium News: The Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic kicked off with The Revival and The Authors of Pain picking up victories.

The Little Beaver Sized News: Samoa Joe destroyed the debuting Dan Matha and gave William Regal one week to give him Shinsuke Nakamura.

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The Authors of Pain defeated The Bollywood Boyz in a first round Dusty Classic match

Straight out of the CWC, Harv and Gurv Sihra are here to go two-on-two with the undefeated Authors of Pain. This was not the night for the duo from India, but they did get a little bit of offense in along the way.

Akam and Rezar made short work of the former GFW Tag Team Champions, finishing them off with the combo side Russian leg sweep/lariat, which is called The Last Chapter.

In the next round, they will face the winner of No Way Jose & Rich Swann vs Tony Nese & Drew Gulak.

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Rich Swann defeated Patrick Clark

Clark held up his side of the match and didn’t look totally out of place, but between the two of them it’s obvious the right person is on Raw right now. Swann hit a superkick and won after a handstand into a standing moonsault.

I love Rich Swann’s theme.

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We saw video of Cedric Alexander vs. Andrade “Cien” Almas from a few weeks ago and how it now leads to them as teammates in the Dusty Classic against The Revival tonight.

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Last week, Liv Morgan was getting checked on in the trainers room when Billie Kay and Peyton Royce walked up and made fun of her.

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Peyton Royce w/Billie Kay defeated Danielle Kamela

NXT has put the two Australian women together here, as Royce and Kay are friends. Kamela was both a dancer and a cheerleader before trying out at the Performance Center. Kamela has a lower center of gravity, which made her fall hard when Royce kicked her in the face.

This was a very basic match. The fans got behind Kamela when she was being held in a chinlock, but this was not her night. Royce won with a knee to the side of the head and a fisherman suplex. Tom Phillips called it a northern lights suplex, and Corey Graves said Mauro Ranallo wouldn’t have screwed that up.

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Bobby Roode & Tye Dillinger cut a promo backstage, with Roode not allowing Dillinger to talk at first and then doing his Glorious pose when Dillinger tried talking.

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The debut of Dan Matha didn’t happen

Dan Matha actually doesn’t look nearly as ripped when walking to the ring as he did in video packages.

We were spared from seeing his debut by Samoa Joe running out and beating the crap out of Matha, much to the fans delight. At first all we saw were fans laughing and looking off to the side, then Joe came out and destroyed him.

Not that I was looking majorly forward to this debut, but it seems weird that they built it up for weeks just for him to be a guy taken out by Joe in 30 seconds.

Anyway, Joe cut the promo he has every week where he orders William Regal to give him Nakamura or the title, finally giving him one week to make a decision.

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No Way Jose & Rich Swann cut a promo saying they became a team because the NXT Universe wanted them to be partners. They ended their promo by singing “Can you handle this? No way Jose.”

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Sanity is coming next week. That’s good. Sometimes we all need help. Wait…wrong kind of Sanity.

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NXT Tag Team Champions The Revival defeated Cedric Alexander & Andrade “Cien” Almas in a first round Dusty Classic match

Alexander and Almas worked well together, but The Revival are a really good team. It was last year in the Dusty Classic that they got the start of their push, making it to the semifinals before losing to Samoa Joe & Finn Balor.

Revival got the heat on Almas, specifically targeting his left shoulder. Dash and Dawson really have perfected that “80’s tag team” gimmick, but are not doing it in a gimmicky way, if that makes sense. They are a modern tag team that uses 80’s psychology in their matches.

Alexander got the hot tag and took out both men, and he probably would have fared better in a handicap match, as Almas was more of a hindrance than a help. At the end of the day, the champs picked up the win, pinning Alexander with a Shatter Machine.

The Revival will now face the winners of Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa vs. HoHo Lun & Bin Wang in the next round. I don’t know if that match has been taped, but I think it’s safe to assume Gargano & Ciampa will be advancing.

Almas snapped after the match, turning heel by attacking Alexander! I guess he read what I wrote and decided to take it out on Alexander. Almas dropped Alexander face first on the ring steps before walking out to a chorus of boos.

That does it for this week. Next week Sanity debuts, Joe gets his answer from Mr. Regal, and the Dusty Classic continues. Until then remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers!

WWE SmackDown video highlights: Cena, Ambrose & Styles go face to face

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Miss Tuesday night’s episode of SmackDown or want to watch something again? Check out last night’s video highlights from a go-home show that featured John Cena, Dean Ambrose and AJ Styles going face to face in advance of their title match this Sunday, the return of The Spirit Squad, and more build to No Mercy.

More coverage from last night’s show —

WWE SmackDown video highlights —

Kane vs. Bray Wyatt

Becky Lynch & Nikki Bella vs. Alexa Bliss & Carmella

Daniel Bryan honors breast cancer survivors during Breast Cancer Awareness Month

The Hype Bros vs. The Vaudevillains

The Miz presents a Dolphumentary

The Spirit Squad makes an appearance on Miz TV

Jason Jordan vs. Jey Uso

Curt Hawkins to make his in-ring return at No Mercy

Randy Orton attempts to trap Bray Wyatt

Jack Swagger vs. Baron Corbin

John Cena, Dean Ambrose and AJ Styles come face to face in advance of No Mercy

SmackDown fallout: Carmella vows to put an end to Nikki Bella

SmackDown fallout: The Spirit Squad make their exit

WWE Raw video highlights: Sasha Banks reclaims the Women’s title

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Miss Monday night’s episode of Raw or want to watch something again? Catch up on last night’s video highlights from a show that featured Sasha Banks reclaiming the Raw Women’s Championship, Roman Reigns and Rusev continuing their feud and being booked in a Hell in a Cell match at Raw’s next pay-per-view, Kevin Owens & Chris Jericho teaming against The New Day, and much more.

More coverage from last night’s show —

WWE Raw video highlights —

Roman Reigns vs. Rusev set for Hell in a Cell

TJ Perkins vs. Brian Kendrick in a non-title match

Bayley tells Sasha Banks that she has her back

Kevin Owens & Chris Jericho demand a tag title shot

Seth Rollins sits down for an interview

Braun Strowman claims another victim

Sami Zayn vs. Titus O’Neil

Cesaro & Sheamus prepare to team again

Ashton Kutcher and Danny Masterson confront Chris Jericho

Enzo & Cass celebrate breast cancer survivors to kick off Breast Cancer Awareness Month

The Golden Truth vs. Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson

WWE and NBC honor Mil Mascaras for Hispanic Heritage Month

Emma becomes Emmalina

The New Day vs. Kevin Owens & Chris Jericho

Seth Rollins reveals Triple H’s worst decision

Rich Swann vs. Tony Nese

Cesaro & Sheamus vs. Raul White & Mark Carradine

Bayley takes out Dana Brooke

Raw Women’s Champion Charlotte defends her title against Sasha Banks

Raw fallout: The Shining Stars pitch an investment opportunity to The Golden Truth

Raw fallout: Ashton Kutcher and Danny Masterson discuss their Raw appearance

Raw fallout: Titus O’Neil holds a press conference

Raw fallout: Sasha Banks celebrates her title win

TNA Bound for Glory live results: Bobby Lashley vs. Ethan Carter III; Cody Rhodes debuts

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Preview by Joseph Currier

Amid turmoil over a potential sale of the company, TNA presents its biggest event of the year on Sunday night with Bound for Glory live on pay-per-view from the Impact Zone in Orlando, FL.

We’re looking for your thoughts on he show, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]  We’re also looking for your thoughts on the ROH All-Star Extravaganza show.    

While much of the focus has been on whether or not TNA would be sold before the show, the PPV will be headlined by a TNA World Championship match pitting Bobby Lashley against Ethan Carter III with no holds barred.

The PPV will also feature the finals of the Grand Championship tournament. Drew Galloway was originally scheduled to face Aron Rex for the newly created title, but Galloway was replaced by Eddie Edwards after having to pull out of the match due to an injury.

The next chapter in the Broken Matt and Jeff Hardy saga will also take place as the Hardys battle Decay in the “Great War.” And Cody Rhodes will make his first appearance in a TNA ring.

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X DIVISION CHAMPION DJ Z VS. TREVOR LEE

Very good opener where they did the modern X style with dives and reverse huracanrana spots. They traded three dives early. DJ Z kicked out of a powerslam. The finish saw DJ Z hit the Canadian Destroyer and the ZDT with a jumping DDT for the pin.

– McKenzie Mitchell is backstage with Drew Galloway. She’s very unconvincing. He said he doesn’t feel very good, and the doctor told him “a little to the left or a little to the right” and he would have been out for a year. He said he chose to fight but the company said no. He said he asked to hold back the tournament final and they said no. In reality, he knew he couldn’t wrestle tonight. He then said Billy Corgan is buying the company.

10 MAN GAUNTLET MATCH FOR A TNA TITLE SHOT

Eli Drake won the match by throwing Jessie Godderz and Tyrus over the top to win. So, he has a title shot whenever he wants…but has to give the promotion one week.

The match wasn’t good at all as nothing much happened. Rockstar Spud, Grado (who lasted about two seconds), Mahabali Shera, Robbie E, Baron Dax, Basille Baraka and Braxton Sutter were also in the match. There were no highlights.

– Jeremy Borash called out Robert “Batista” Irvine. He said he and his kids are here for Gail Kim’s induction into the Hall of Fame and tonight, he’s Mr. Gail Kim, not Robert Irvine. Maria Kanellis showed up with Mike Bennett. Irvine told them that tonight will be a bad night for both of them. Maria said she was the greatest Knockouts champion of all-time, while Mike said that Maria was the greatest female wrestler of all-time and he was the best pro wrestler in the world.

MIKE BENNETT VS. MOOSE

Moose won with a tree slam off the rope and the discus clothesline. They traded moves back and forth. The crowd was into the “Moose” chant but not the match. Even when Bennett used a piledriver and Moose kicked out, there wasn’t any pop. It was an okay match.  

– We got an Aron Rex interview and said the Grand Championship title is going to revolutionize the way the sport is viewed. He talked about how he and Eddie Edwards were trained by the same guy. After the interview, Josh Mathews did mention Killer Kowalski even though Rex didn’t.

ARON REX VS. EDDIE EDWARDS IN THE FINALS FOR THE GRAND CHAMPIONSHIP

This will be a five minute round match instead of a three minute round match. Rex won the match winning the first and third rounds. Borash is doing a UFC style interview. (I just hope Rex doesn’t thank Jesus Christ or say he’ll face whoever Joe Silva and Dana White puts him against.)

Match was average at best, but this format didn’t work. It’s good to tell jokes while watching it, but it didn’t help for the crowd. Edwards wasn’t bad but they never built any crowd momentum. After the third round, when Jeremy Borash went to read the scorecards, the graphics listed 30-27 for Rex even before Borash announced it as a split decision for Rex.

GAIL KIM HALL OF FAME INDUCTION

Christy Hemme returned for the ceremony. They piped in fake crowd noise as she did an interview. Hemme introduced Taryn Tarrell, expecting her second child. Terrell said Gail Kim was a career maker, that she was a beginner and Kim gave her matches she could be proud of. She said she was the greatest woman wrestler of all-time. This got barely even polite applause.

Awesome Kong showed up, looking totally different like she’s lost a lot of weight. Kong said Kim was awesome and elevated every opponent to their best level possible and said how proud she was. Dixie Carter was out next. She said Gail was the perfect combination of beauty, brains, athletic ability, and unselfish. Chef Irvine, no relation to Chris Jericho, was shooting photos from ringside. 

Dixie said she defined a generation of woman wrestlers and made the Knockouts the greatest women’s division of all-time. (Yes, TNA Knockouts and early 90s All Japan women is a close call.) The talking heads in the video were Hemme, Josh, Jeremy Borash, Pat Kenney, Dixie, Jade, Madison Rayne, Al Snow and Billy Corgan, 

Corgan said Kim vs. Kong changed the way people think about women wrestlers around the world. This was easily the best thing on the show so far.

Gail Kim came out. Fans are chanting “You deserve it.” (Why are they piping in fake crowd noise? You’d want the crowd quiet and respectful.) She said wrestling has brought her creativity, self confidence, strength, fearlessness, and true passsion. She started thanking people, Ron Hutchinson, Rob Etcheverria, Fit Finlay (people popped for that name), Scott D’Amore, Pat Kenney/Simon Diamond, the crew, the production people, seamstresses, make-up people, “You make my job not a job. I love my life.”

She thanked Dixie Carter, Dutch Mantell, Jeff Jarrett, her stepdaughters, her goddaughter and her husband which got a big pop. “I’ve never met someone so inspiring and motivating as you.” She thanked Trish Stratus, Molly Holly, Victoria, Jazz and all the women she learned from. “They’re my sisters and I appreciate that I could share a locker room with these wonderful women.” Then she gave a special shoutout to Molly: “She’s the reason I’m in this business and why I got this opportunity. She taught me to be a good person in the ring or outside of the ring. She said if you’re a good person, success will follow.”

This was as well done as it could have been.

MATT & JEFF HARDY VS. TNA TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS ABYSS & CRAZZY STEVE IN THE GREAT WAR

This was something.

The Hardys won the titles when Jeff came off the top of a 15 foot ladder with a swanton onto Steve through two tables for the pin.  A lot of this match was pre-taped stuff out of the building which included Matt brawling with Abyss in the park in the back of a pickup truck, and Vanguard 1 blowing mist in Rosemary’s eyes. Matt made a barbed wire board sandwich with Abyss, and came off the top rope with an elbow on him.

Jeff had some magic water poured on him that allowed him to disappear and throw pumpkins at Steve. (Get it, smashing pumpkins?) Jeff showed up as a bunch of different characters. They came back in the ring, and Rosemary did a coast to coast dropkick into a garbage can like she was RVD. At another point, Rosemary gave Abyss “Janice”, but Matt set Janice on fire and threw the board out of the pickup truck. That may have been the idea that Janice and the Carters are dead. Who knows? Hopefully they won’t get mad at Matt’s ideas and threaten to sue.    

– Bobby Lashley interview.

KNOCKOUTS CHAMPION MARIA KANELLIS VS. GAIL KIM

Maria said her hand was broken and the doctor wouldn’t clear her. Allie then said she must have misread it and she was cleared. Maria got mad about that. Anyway, the match started.

This match was pretty bad. Maria is just so limited. Mike Bennett threw a hand brace into the ring, and Maria used it but Kim kicked out. Allie got the brace and Maria wanted it again. She threw it over Maria’s head to Kim. Kim teased handing it to Maria, but instead threw it out of the ring. Kim used Eat Defeat, which Maria sold badly or it missed, for the pin.

– Bennett said he was shutting the show down and nobody could stop him. Cody & Brandi Rhodes showed up. Cody was really over to the crowd.  Maria yelled at Cody and told him to go back to WWE. Brandi got in her face, and Maria attacked her. Brandi threw a knee. Cody & Bennett brawled.  Cody used the disaster kick on Bennett and they left the ring.

TNA CHAMPION BOBBY LASHLEY VS. ECIII

They laid this out as a big show main event where each guy kicks out of big moves. Lashley won clean with a spear off the middle rope and nearly landed on his head when delivering the move. ECIII had kicked out of two spears earlier. He hit the One Percenter, did a spear, and also used a splash off the top rope. 

The problem is these two didn’t work together well at all. They weren’t in the right position a lot, and the selling in a lot of cases looked mechanical. The crowd wasn’t much into it either. Even with all the kicking out of big moves, this wasn’t a good match and didn’t feel like a big show main event.

There was no Alberto del Rio at the finish even though he evidently no-showed the AAA show tonight.

We’ll have a full recap of the show on tonight’s Wrestling Observer Radio.

WWE NXT results: Dusty Classic announcement; Itami vs. Dorado

Posted on by Arya Witner

The Big News: The second annual Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic was announced and the show saw several teams state their intentions on becoming the tournament champion.

The Medium News: Samoa Joe finally lived up to his threat from last week, but what he did was attack two people you’ve never heard of before their first TV match.

The Little Beaver Sized News: Hideo Itami beat Lince Dorado in a very good main event.

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The show started with William Regal standing in an empty arena and announcing the second annual Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, with the finals being held at NXT TakeOver: Toronto. He also stated that the brackets will be released on Twitter and the first round matches will begin next week.

It is a 16-team tournament, won last year by Finn Balor and Samoa Joe, which was actually the start of their 10-month storyline.

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Tye Dillinger defeated Angelo Dawkins

We kick things off with the Perfect 10 facing Angelo Dawkins. Dawkins has lost the vast majority of his televised matches over the last few years, while Dillinger has gotten closer and closer to an actual winning streak lately.

Remember how I have been saying that I didn’t think people cared so much about Dillinger as much as they liked chanting 10? Well I may not be able to say that much longer, as the fans are starting to like him more and more. Dillinger picked up his second straight win with the Tye Breaker in a short bout.

Glorious! As Dillinger started walking away, out came the most glorious superstar in NXT history, Bobby Roode. He congratulated Dillinger, but said he’s not a 10 yet, however with the proper guidance he could be. He said the number one reason he came to NXT was to win the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. That seems like an odd reason.

The fans exploded, chanting “Glorious 10,” as they saw where this was going. Roode said he hasn’t made very many friends, but he needs the perfect partner for the tournament. Roode asked him to think about it since Dillinger was so close to Dusty Rhodes. Roode said it would be Perfectly Glorious, stuck his hand out, and Dillinger accepted!

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Hideo Itami was asked about his match later in the night against Lince Dorado. Itami said Dorado is a great fighter and has great heart, unlike Austin Aries. He called Aries a baby and a coward, saying he may need to put him to sleep again.

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The match between NXT Tag Team Champions The Revival and The Ealy Brothers never got started, as Samoa Joe stormed past The Revival and destroyed the twins by himself.

Joe took the mic and said the beatings will continue until William Regal’s decisiveness improves. In case you forgot, he is demanding either an immediate rematch with the injured NXT Champion Shinsuke Nakamura or for Mr. Regal to strip Nakamura of the championship and award it to Joe.

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Dan Matha is coming next week. Picture a bald Curt Hawkins’ head on Mason Ryan’s body. Even then I think Matha is more ripped.

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Ember Moon defeated Mandy Rose

Rose is from Tough Enough and is Corey Graves’ newest crush. The biggest positive of Eva Marie being called up was that Graves would stop acting like a 30-year-old Jerry Lawler, then we got Mandy Rose.

Rose punched Moon in the face, so Moon replied with some very hard kicks and a springboard crossbody. Rose did shake it off and hit a really nice bicycle knee to the face. Moon picked up the win with the top rope stunner.

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Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa felt good about sending The Revival running away at the CWC live finale, but they have a checklist that needs to be finalized. They want to win the Dusty Rhodes Classic, since that is how they got into NXT last year. Also on the list is beating The Revival and winning the NXT Tag Team Championship.

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Sanity is coming. That’s good news.

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The Authors of Pain defeated Jesus Yurnett & Jonathan Cruise

It’s time for Akam and Rezar! Jesus Yurnett needed Jesus as The AoP just destroyed him and his partner. Rezar heaved Cruise out of the ring and pinned Yurnett with the side Russian legsweep/clothesline combo.

Paul Ellering finally got to speak! He said the first chapter began with the arrival, the next chapter will unleash a plethora of pain, and for now, that’s all we need to know. A small number of people randomly yelled “What?” and “You suck.”

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Regal had no update to give everyone regarding Nakamura’s health. He was about to talk about the teams in the Dusty Rhodes Classic (despite saying earlier he was going to later this week) when Blake and Murphy came in and began arguing with each other over whether or not they were a team again.

Regal sent them on their way and that was that.

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NXT Women’s Champion Asuka defeated Liv Morgan

Liv Morgan has been running her mouth the last few weeks and now Asuka is here to shut her up. After a dropkick from Morgan, Asuka took her down right away and made her tap out in the shortest match of the night.

After the match, Asuka declared that nobody is ready for her.

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Next week: Cedric Alexander & Andrade “Cien” Almas vs. The Revival in a Dusty Rhodes Classic match.

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Hideo Itami defeated Lince Dorado

This was a very good match, and Itami continues his streak of solid matches since he came back from injury. Dorado looked really good here as well. This match was a perfect blend of the two men’s respective styles.

At one point, Itami hit a top rope clothesline from more than halfway across the ring. Later, Itami teased the Go To Sleep and then held his fingers an inch apart.

Dorado missed a picture perfect shooting star press, and Itami hit the Yakuza kick and corner dropkick before hitting the GTS for the win!

Itami was celebrating his win when Aries ran in and attacked him. It took six weeks, but Aries is finally on the attack after Brooklyn! Itami reversed an Irish whip, and Aries grabbed the ropes and ran away again.

That does it for this week. Will Aries ever step up and face Itami? Will we find out next week? Only one way to know for sure, and until then remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers!

WWE SmackDown video highlights: Styles vs. Ambrose for the WWE title

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Miss Tuesday’s episode of SmackDown or want to watch something again? Catch up on last night’s video highlights from a show that featured AJ Styles putting his WWE World Championship on the line against Dean Ambrose, Dolph Ziggler putting his career on the line in an emotional challenge, and more build to the brand’s upcoming No Mercy pay-per-view.

More coverage from last night’s show —

WWE SmackDown video highlights —

Bray Wyatt challenges Randy Orton

Heath Slater, Rhyno & American Alpha vs. The Usos & The Ascension

Nikki Bella & Naomi vs. Natalya & Carmella

Alexa Bliss ambushes Becky Lynch

More Curt Hawkins facts

The rise of The Miz

Dolph Ziggler puts his career on the line for an I-C title shot

Randy Orton searches for Bray Wyatt

Dean Ambrose challenges AJ Styles for the WWE World Championship

SmackDown fallout: Why Alexa Bliss thinks Becky Lynch is a loser

WWE SmackDown live results: Styles vs. Ambrose for the WWE World Title

Posted on by Steve Khan

Date: September 27, 2016
Location: Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, OH

The Big Takeaway —

AJ Styles retained his WWE World title in a great match by defeating Dean Ambrose after John Cena got involved. Cena laid out both men to end the show in a heated segment.

Speaking of heated, Dolph Ziggler will put his career on the line at No Mercy for a shot at The Miz’s IC title following a really good segment between the two in their hometown of Cleveland.

Show Recap — 

The show started with a promo for the WWE World title main event.

Randy Orton came out to a pretty big reaction. He’s wearing track pants and has grey in his beard. Orton claimed Bray Wyatt was afraid, but that’s okay, because people are afraid of many things, like spiders and snakes. Orton said Bray was afraid of him, and called him out to face his fears.

Bray appeared on the screen, apparently ready for this. He told the story of Hansel and Gretel, called himself a god and omniscient being. He said the sands of time wait for no man and sang, “He’s got the whole world in his hands.” The screen went black, so Orton left the ring and stormed to the back.

Backstage, Charly Caruso asked Dean Ambrose for his thoughts. Ambrose said he had many thoughts, but it’s a PG show. He said AJ Styles has been bragging about beating John Cena, which is no big deal, because he did it last week. Styles beating Cena was old news, just like Cena was old news. Ambrose said he would break Styles’ face, make him cry, and take back his WWE World Championship.

8-Man Tag Match: The Usos & The Ascension defeated Heath Slater, Rhyno & American Alpha

The Usos have new music. They’re the only team that got an entrance. Jimmy = shirt, Jey = no shirt.

Gable used an armbar on Jimmy over the ropes, but Jey took him out from behind with a chop block to the bad leg. As they worked over Gable after a break, the crowd chanted “Rhyno” and “ECW.” The Ascension took out Jordan, so Rhyno took out the Ascension. That left Slater on the apron as the crowd chanted “Heath.”

Slater got the hot tag and ran wild on the bad guys. Everyone got involved, but it came down to Slater and the Usos. They attacked his leg, an Uso applied a Tequila Sunrise, and Slater tapped.

Charly Caruso asked John Cena, who will be at ringside for the title match, if he cares who walks out as champion. Cena said Ambrose at least has guts, unlike Styles. Either way, he would walk out of No Mercy as 16-time champion.

They showed Miz and Maryse backstage staring at a Cleveland Cavaliers championship banner. A stagehand came by with a Miz poster to cover up a poster of LeBron James and the crowd booed.

They cut elsewhere backstage to Orton searching for Bray’s dark room. There was an object on the wall in the form of an arrow, pointed toward the right. He tried turning it around thinking it might do something, perhaps open a door, but it didn’t. Orton left, but when they cut back to the arrow, it was pointed toward the right again, and Erick Rowan was standing there. After the break, Bray laughed and said Orton was always bad at taking direction.

Natalya & Carmella defeated Naomi & Nikki Bella

The heels worked over Naomi after Natalya gave her a Michinoku Driver on the floor. Ranallo talked about Naomi’s resilience as she fought back. JBL said, “It’s the glow!” and Otunga responded, “It’s definitely the glow.” Ugh.

Nikki made the hot tag and used shoulder tackles in the corner on Carmella. She turned around to nail Natalya with a forearm, but Carmella rolled her up for the win after about 10 minutes. This was bad. Carmella is terrible.

Backstage, Orton saw “One way out, choose wisely” written on the wall. There were two doors to choose from. He opened one and there was a cardboard cutout of Orton (with the eyes missing) behind the door. Orton opened the other door, and Rowan was standing behind waiting for Orton to enter. There was also a camera man back there, and they cut back and forth to make this feel as fake as possible. Orton outsmarted him. He closed the door, locking Rowan inside whatever room he was in.

The Miz’s Homecoming Celebration

Miz and Maryse entered to a huge fireworks display. Miz got a mixed reaction, and they played a video package of his career. Miz announced that he’s home and put over the Cavaliers winning “the NBA finals.” However, he turned on the crowd because the Cavs got 1.2 million people at their celebration and he didn’t. Miz called LeBron a traitor, and Miz was winning championships while LeBron was gone.

Miz welcomed his parents, who were in the front row. Maryse informed Miz that Dolph Ziggler’s parents were at ringside too. Miz told them they created an elite-level loser, so Ziggler stormed out. Maryse got between him and Miz. Ziggler grabbed a mic and told Miz he shouldn’t say anything about his parents or his city.

Miz said he’s already beaten Ziggler over and over, and Ziggler reminded him that he cheated over and over. Ziggler was about to leave, but Miz noted that the record books won’t show that he cheated, they’ll just show how many titles he’s won. Miz said Ziggler loses constantly now. He thought Ziggler’s career was embarrassing, and that his parents and friends should be embarrassed.

Miz said he was going to celebrate in Hollywood and left the ring. He passed Ziggler’s parents and told them, “You must be so proud.” Ziggler asked him to stop and called him Mike. Ziggler said Miz was right – the ring was all he had, but sometimes the things you love don’t love you back. Ziggler mentioned fans asking why he still does it, but he can’t stop himself.

Ziggler told Miz to put the title on the line one more time (the crowd chanted “one more time”) and Ziggler would put up his career. Miz wanted clarification that his career would be over–Ziggler can’t go to Raw or NXT or come back in 30 days. Ziggler said he’ll walk out as champion or he’ll be done. Either way, he’ll be out of his misery. Miz accepted (at No Mercy). I wasn’t looking forward to this feud continuing, but this was really good.

Backstage, Bray Wyatt is still waiting. “The door is open, Randy.”

Becky Lynch began making her entrance to the ring but was attacked from behind by Alexa Bliss. Bliss grabbed her title and told Lynch she doesn’t deserve it. The crowd booed and she tossed the title down.

Curt Hawkins promo. He’s making an announcement next week.

Bray is still waiting. He’s disappointed, and began yelling “Where you at, Randy?” Suddenly, Orton popped up behind Bray wearing a sheep mask. Bray turned around and Orton attacked him. Bray shoved him off and ran away. Orton chuckled, sat down, and put the sheep mask on. He began singing “he’s got the whole world,” but the camera started shaking and Bray re-appeared on the screen in the seat. They cut to the announcers who talked about how serious this was as the crowd chanted “New Day rocks.”

Caruso caught up to AJ Styles. Styles said he beat up Cena, then beat Cena. He beat up Ambrose, then beat Ambrose for the title. He’ll beat Ambrose again tonight.

WWE World Championship: AJ Styles defeated Dean Ambrose

Cena is on commentary. Ambrose was all over Styles and tossed him onto the announce table. JBL began sending it to commercial, but he was too early. Ambrose climbed back in the ring as Cena noted Ambrose can’t win the title on a countout, and then they did go to commercial. The world title is on the line and they scheduled a commercial break one minute into the match.

After a break, Cena talked about the importance of No Mercy, and acknowledged that he’ll go down as one of the all-time greats. Otunga asked about his other commitments getting in the way. Cena compared himself to Deion Sanders and Bo Jackson, because they were two-sport athletes. Cena, not a two-sport athlete, said he’s able to do two things at once and he’s not leaving anytime soon.

Ambrose was in control as they kept cutting back to Cena. Ambrose applied a Texas Cloverleaf, but Styles got to the rope. Ambrose followed with a suicide dive and flying elbow to the outside, and they went to commercial.

After the break, Styles targeted the leg and applied the Calf Crusher. Ambrose was in the hold a long time before breaking out by bouncing Styles’ head off the mat. They traded strikes leading to Ambrose hitting a chickenwing facebuster for a nearfall. Styles followed with a rack bomb for two.

Ambrose crotched him on the top rope and nailed a hard clothesline off the ropes for two. Styles came back with a back elbow and Pele kick, but missed a springboard 450. Ambrose followed with a flying elbow drop for a nearfall.

Ambrose tried a plancha, but Styles moved and nailed with a running knee strike. Styles tossed Ambrose back in the ring, then clobbered Cena with a forearm.

Cena jumped on the apron to go after Styles but the referee stopped him. Ambrose rolled up Styles but the referee was still distracted. The ref turned around and began the count, but Styles kicked out. Ambrose spilled out of the ring and knocked down Cena for costing him the match.

Ambrose jumped back in the ring, but Styles caught him in a rollup holding the tights for the pinfall victory.

Immediately afterwards, Cena jumped in the ring and he argued with Ambrose. Ambrose tried to hit Dirty Deeds, but Cena countered into an AA. Styles then tried to attack Cena from behind, but Cena got him with an AA as well. He held up the title as the announcers put over Cena chasing the record at No Mercy. Great stuff.

Final Thoughts —

Really good show thanks to a great world title main event and the segment between Miz and Ziggler. While the main event result might have been pointless thanks to the upcoming triple threat, they made the most of it and told a good story.

I wasn’t a fan of the Bray Wyatt/Randy Orton stuff.

UFC 205 press conference: Watch Conor McGregor, Eddie Alvarez & more at 6 PM EST

Posted on by F4W Staff

With the UFC 205 card essentially finalized, the main attractions on the show will meet the media and fans Tuesday afternoon at Madison Square Garden at a 6 PM EST press conference.

On Monday night, UFC announced that featherweight champion Conor McGregor will attempt to become the promotion’s first dual-division champion in company history when he faces current UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez in the main event.

The show will be the first MMA event in MSG and the first UFC event since 1995 in Buffalo. The sport had been banned there until finally being legalized this year after years of political battle.

Former middleweight champion Chris Weidman makes his return to action against Yoel Romero in what is basically a middleweight title shot eliminator, welterweight champion Tyron Woodley will look to make the first defense of his title against Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson, and strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk will face Karolina Kowalkiewicz in a battle of Polish-born fighters.

As if that wasn’t enough, the undercard features Frankie Edgar vs. Jeremy Stephens, Rashad Evans dropping to middleweight to face the returning Tim Kennedy, former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate, and more!

Watch the presser above starting at 6 PM EST.

WWE Raw video highlights: Rollins’ health; Cesaro & Sheamus team up

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Miss Monday night’s episode of Raw because of the presidential debate or football? Catch up on last night’s video highlights from a show that featured Roman Reigns defending his United States Championship against Rusev, the second week of the Raw cruiserweight division, Cesaro and Sheamus teaming up, Seth Rollins looking to continue his feud with Kevin Owens, and much more.

More coverage from last night’s show —

WWE Raw video highlights —

Roman Reigns defends his United States Championship against Rusev

Mick Foley makes an offer to Cesaro and Sheamus

Cesaro and Sheamus try to get on the same page

Mick Foley questions Stephanie McMahon

The New Day defend their tag titles against Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson

Bayley vs. Anna Fields

Cedric Alexander & Rich Swann vs. Lince Dorado & Drew Gulak

Mick Foley urges Seth Rollins to consider his health

Brian Kendrick feels like the Cruiserweight title is already his

Cesaro & Sheamus vs. Nick Cutler & Willis Williams

WWE and NBC honor Pedro Morales during Hispanic Heritage Month

Sasha Banks wants her rematch against Charlotte

Ashton Kutcher and Danny Masterson are coming to Raw

TJ Perkins vs. Tony Nese

Seth Rollins crashes “The Highlight Reel”

Enzo Amore & Big Cass vs. Kevin Owens & Chris Jericho

Raw fallout: Cedric Alexander and Rich Swann are ready to party after their victory

Raw fallout: Rusev flips out after his loss

WWE Clash of Champions live results: Kevin Owens vs. Seth Rollins

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Preview by Joseph Currier

Raw presents its first brand-exclusive pay-per-view since the WWE Draft on Sunday night as Clash of Champions hails from Indianapolis, IN.

We’re looking for your thoughts on these three shows, New Japan Destruiction in Hiroshima, Destruction in Kobe and this show with thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]

In the show’s main event, Kevin Owens will defend his WWE Universal Championship for the first time since winning the the title on Raw a few weeks ago. Owens will defend against Seth Rollins, who he pinned to win the title after Triple H returned and turned on Rollins.

Every other Raw title will also be on the line as Brian Kendrick challenges TJ Perkins for the Cruiserweight Championship, Charlotte defends her Women’s Championship against Sasha Banks and Bayley in a triple threat match, Rusev defends his U.S. title against Roman Reigns, and The New Day put their tag titles on the line against Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows.

The card for the show is:

  • WWE Universal Champion Kevin Owens defending against Seth Rollins
  • Raw Women’s Champion Charlotte defending against Sasha Banks and Bayley in a triple threat match
  • United States Champion Rusev defending against Roman Reigns
  • WWE Cruiserweight Champion TJ Perkins defending against Brian Kendrick
  • Raw Tag Team Champions The New Day defending against Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows
  • Cesaro vs. Sheamus in the final match of their best-of-seven series
  • Sami Zayn vs. Chris Jericho
  • Nia Jax vs. Alicia Fox on the Clash of Champions kickoff show

By Dave Meltzer

NIA JAX VS. ALICIA FOX

Short match with Jax mostly ragdolling her.  Fox did get two near falls including with a scissors kick.  Jax came back and ran her over, a running hip attack that missed but was sold like it hit and a Samoan drop for the pin. Weak match.

NEW DAY VS. LUKE GALLOWS & KARL ANDERSON FOR TAG TITLES

The New Day did a monologue about how Gallows & Anderson wear tube sox with their flip flops and fart in crowded elevators.  They said Steiners and  Dudleys are the only teams to have held both the IWGP and WWE tag titles. 

Short match, fast paced though.  Kingston did a dive on Gallows.  Xavier Woods hit Anderson with the trombone and then E & Kingston did the double-team big ending on Anderson for the pin.  They pushed this as 400 days as tg team champions.  E had had used the big ending on Anderson after Kingston did trouble in paradise on him, but Gallows pulled E out of the ring for the save earlier.

T.J. PERKINS VS. BRIAN KENDRICK FOR THE CRUISERWEIGHT TITLE

They did a lot of cool things and missed a few spots.  Perkins retained via submission.  Kendrick went for the bully choke but Perkins escaped, used a kick to the head and a kneebar for the submission.  After the match, the two hugged but Kendrick then head-butted Perkins to turn himself heel and keep the program going.  The crowd was decently into it, not really the match but they did the dueling chants.  It was far from the spectacular cruiserweight you’d want to make a statement, but it was a good match. 

They did a video game commercial using the old Petula Clark song “Downtown.”  Commercial was really good, and there was an appearance of Alberto in there.

Cesaro was in a white suit.  He said he was going to prove he’s the most physically dominant and have the biggest comeback in sports entertainment history.  

SHEAMUS VS. CESARO

The two had an excellent match which ended when they were on the floor and Cesaro threw Sheamus into the post and then clotheslined him over the barricade into the ringside area.  then both were selling injuries and the match ended with the referee ruling neither man couild continue.  Sheamus had kicked out of the neutrlizer and Cesaro had kicked out of the Brogue kick.  There were a lot of big spots and they did far more high flying than the cruiswerweights.  At one point Cesaro did a tope but had a bad trajectory and landed on the side of his head.  He seemed to come close to an injury.  Everyone acted concerned but they worked several more minutes of big moves before their finish.  

Charlotte and Bayley were backstage.  Charlotte said you got in this match because of a dunce of a referee and an accidental pin.  Charlotte said you’re not going to win.  Bayley said I beat you before and I can beat you agian.  Charlotte told her that she can’t even beat Sasha.

CHRIS JERICHO VS. SAMI ZAYN

Another excellent match.  Zayn kept going for the Helluva kick but never got it.  After Zayn got a near fall with the blue thunder bomb, Jericho used the codebreaker for the clean pin.  Just a great well-built match and the one spot that wasn’t smooth, when Zayn did the dive from the floor through the ropes into and out of the ring into a DDT on the floor, which looked clumsy, Corey Graves did a great job of covering for by saying Jericho went to block the move.

Mick Foley & Stephanie McMahon are backstage with Kevin Owens.  Foley said he was proud of Owens.  Owens started acting sarcastic to  Foley.  Owens said he’s going to show why HHH picked him over Seth Rollins and why they should have picked him and not Seth Rollins as the first draft pick.  He said Seth Rollins is no longer the man, he’s the mistake, and then told  Foley, he’s your mistake.  Foley said all the grseat ones have a chip on their shoulder

CHARLOTTE VS. SASHA BANKS VS. BAYLEY FOR WOMEN’S TITLE

Another good match.  It was the typical three-way with everyone using their finishing move with the third person making the save.  The show was built around Charlotte, who retained her title using a high kick to Bayley, knocking her into Sasha Banks which knocked Banks off the apron.  Charlotte used another high kick on Bayley for the pin.  Dana Brooke saved Banks once when she was the in bank statement.  Banks used the back stabber and bank statement several times.  Once Charlotte did a moonsault on both and went to pin Banks but Bayley saved. 

RUSEV VS. ROMAN REIGNS FOR U.S. TITLE

Good match ending with Reigns winning the title clean with a spear out of nowhere.  Reigns had powerd out of the Accolade.  Earlier Reigns hit the spear but Lana pulled the ref out of the ring and he threw Lana out.  Rusev did a great job here, a solid physical match but not the level of the Jericho or the Cesaro match.  So the idea looks to be to use the U.S. title to keep Reigns out of the Universal title situation for a while.  The crowd booed Reigns at times, like when he made comebacks, but there were an early loud dueling chant like with John Cena.

Mick & Stephanie told Rollins how proud they were of him.  Rollins told Stephanie everything that comes out of her mouth is a bold faced lie and told her to tell her husband he bet against the wrong guy.  They are clearly building Rollins vs. HHH that they wanted to do before Rollins was hurt last year.

KEVIN OWENS VS. SETH ROLLINS FOR THE UNIVERSAL TITLE

Good match, never reached the heat level of some of the other matches.  Owens retained due to inteference of Chris Jericho and hitting a power bomb after a ref bump when Stephanie McMahon sent out a second ref.  So the idea is the second ref was sent by Stephanie but it wasn’t overt in the sense it wasn’t as if she was blatantly favoring Owens.  But she didn’t send the second ref out when Rollins had hit a pedigree and Owens was down for 20 seconds.  Among the match highlights were Owens missing a senton and going through the Spanish table.  Rollins kicked out of a package power bomb.  Rollins hit his first pedigree and Jericho put Owens foot on the ropes to stop the count.  Then we had the ref bump, leading to the Rollins second pedigree but no ref to count.  Jericho then blatantly attacked, but Rollins backdropped Jericho over the top and hit a tope on Jericho and another on Owens on the other side of he ring.  Remember that Jericho was originally to be in a three-way main event at Hell in a Cell with Owens and Finn Balor, and Rollins has been subbing for Balor.

NJPW Destruction in Kobe results: Elgin defends his title against Naito

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Matt Sydal is off today’s card, I guess the travel issues from a few days ago are still ongoing (that is the official New Japan word, anyway). Shibata is also out the rest of the tour due to his injuries. They announced that David Finlay is taking Sydal’s place, and whoever wins the match are the new NEVER six-man tag champions.

Ryusuke Taguchi, Tiger Mask & Henare defeated Roppongi Vice & Will Ospreay

This was a surprising result. Solid match, not much of note. Just your typical opener. Romero submitted to Taguchi’s ankle lock in the upset.

Might be a storyline reason to this as Barreta and Ospreay pretty much left Romero in the dust following the match, possibly teasing dissension.

Chase Owens & Yujiro Takahashi defeated Yoshitatsu & Captain New Japan

This was more of an angle than anything. Yoshitatsu cut a promo announcing that his poll had concluded, and that Captain New Japan was out of the Hunter Club. Yoshitatsu was civil about it, but CNJ turned on him, laying him out and joining Bullet Club in a three-on-one assault. CNJ laid out Yoshitatsu with the uranage and Takahashi pinned him with the pimp juice DDT not long after that.

CNJ continued the assault after the match, laying the Bullet Club flag on Yoshitatsu and choking him with a rope. My best comparison for this is like Crush or Horace Hogan joining the nWo C-team.

Tomoaki Honma & Togi Makabe defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Teruaki Kanemitsu

Tenzan, Kojima, and Nagata’s themes all seemed to be dubbed again on New Japan World. Weird.

This was pretty good, everyone seemed to step it up a notch. Kanemitsu brought his A game and looked really good here. Kanemitsu brought it early to GBH. He actually showed a great amount of fire and intensity here, but got cut off by a double lariat/clothesline combo by GBH. Honma laid in a Boston crab and Kanemitsu made it to the ropes. He tried a comeback, but Honma took him down again with a Boston crab and this time Kanemitsu submitted.

reDragon defeated Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata

Nagata and Nakanishi worked a lot against O’Reilly. Nakanishi had another off night, struggling to get to the top rope and slipping twice on his way up. Nakanishi at one point overpowered both members of reDragon single-handedly. O’Reilly trapped him in an armbar. Nakanishi tried to get him up, but O’Reilly kept it on. Nakanishi collapsed and eventually submitted.

David Finlay, Ricochet & Satoshi Kojima defeated The Young Bucks & Adam Cole to become the new NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champions

Fantastic match, probably the best match on any show so far. This was a total Young Bucks six-man in that they did a bunch of crazy stuff, especially when Ricochet was involved in the action. It’s hard to describe, as there were so many crazy moves throughout.

The crowd was into it. Ricochet wiped everyone out with a fantastic looking dive to the outside. Bullet Club took out Kojima with a triple superkick and isolated Finlay. Nick did a double swanton bomb as Finlay and Ricochet were draped on the bottom rope. Ricochet took out one of the Bucks with a flying cutter, Finlay followed with a rolling senton on Nick then Ricochet hit a great looking shooting star press for the win.

Finlay got the mic after the match and challenged the Bucks for the IWGP Jr. tag titles. From what it seems like Sydal has basically vanished from the Earth in this promotion.

Kenny Omega, Bad Luck Fale & Guerillas of Destiny defeated The Briscoes, Tomohiro Ishii & Hirooki Goto

Briscoes looked very good here. Everyone else held their own and it turned out to be a pretty good tag team match, nothing wrong with it. Tama Tonga got the win for his team, picking up the win with the Guerrilla Warfare. Makes sense as they are the future title challengers, probably at next month’s PPV.

SANADA, EVIL & BUSHI defeated Juice Robinson, Hiroshi Tanahashi & KUSHIDA

Another good tag team bout, but nothing all that special at the same time. Everyone was fine. They continued to build the BUSHI/KUSHIDA rematch as they worked together for a few minutes. Robinson’s teammates did a double plancha as SANADA focused on Robinson. He kicked out of a TKO but got trapped in the Skull End and quickly submitted.

Kazuchika Okada, YOSHI-HASHI, Gedo & Jado defeated Naomichi Marufuji, Daisuke Harada, Atsushi Kotoge & Toru Yano

Another good tag match that did a good job in building matches for both promotions. They teased the Marufuji/Okada match for next month by having them go at it for a bit, both at the start and towards the end of the match. Jado and Gedo also faced off with Harada and Kotoge as they are next in line to receive a GHC Jr. tag team title shot.

Okada and Marufuji came in again and traded some big shots. Yano and YH worked together as well, as did YH and Harada. After some good back and forth, YH picked up with the win with his Karma finish, which is a pumphandle driver.

Okada and YOSHI-HASHI made it clear after the match that they wanted a shot at Marufuji and Yano’s GHC Heavyweight tag team titles. Good idea as that brings some intrigue to future NOAH shows.

Tetsuya Naito defeated Michael Elgin to win the IWGP Intercontinental Championship

Amazing match, better than the six-man tag in some ways. It was very well paced and never dragged. Even the interference, which seems utterly normal now in New Japan main events, worked well and the last few minutes were incredible, the heat was unreal and the finish was one of the better ones I’ve seen all year. Definitely a must see match.

After a few minutes of back and forth, which also mainly involved Naito playing mind games, they went to the outside where Naito targeted the leg of Elgin, which he and the rest of LIJ had been targeting all tour. Naito focused on the leg, working on it, but Elgin cut him off with a big wheelbarrow suplex. Every time Elgin made a comeback, Naito would go right back to the leg to gain the upper hand.

Elgin drilled Naito with German suplexes and even caught Naito with a powerbomb but Naito came back with a tornado DDT, then gave him a hurricanrana off the top rope. Naito followed up with a reverse rana and worked on the leg some more, sinking in a submission but Elgin escaped. He caught Naito on the apron and laid him out with a Death Valley Driver, then followed that with the falcon arrow.

Elgin went for the buckle bomb, but Naito countered and took out the ref in the process. Elgin tried to hit the powerbomb but BUSHI and EVIL came out and stomped on him. In response, KUSHIDA and Tanahashi made the save. SANADA came out. EVIL laid out Tanahashi with the STO and BUSHI misted KUSHIDA. Elgin took out the rest of the Ingobernables by powerbombing BUSHI into his team.

Naito hit the Destino once the dust cleared but only got a near fall. Elgin laid him out with two lariats but Naito still kicked out. Elgin hit the buckle bomb and went for the powerbomb but Naito countered with the Destino and hit another to win the championship.

Final Thoughts:

This was probably the strongest of the three Destruction shows. It had two of the best matches of the entire tour (the main event and the NEVER six-man tag titles match) and the tag matches were okay to pretty good. It’s pretty obvious, however, doing three shows like this is overkill — it dilutes the cards and makes shows feel very long, which doesn’t happen often for New Japan cards. Today’s show was at least stronger than the others.

TNA Impact Wrestling results: The build to Bound for Glory continues

Posted on by Dave Bath

Previously on Impact: Last week, TNA World Heavyweight Champion Bobby Lashley, Ethan Carter III, Moose, and Mike Bennett got into a huge brawl to end Impact. Also, The Hardys and Decay agreed to battle in “The Great War” at Bound For Glory.

Tonight on Impact: In tonight’s main event, Lashley and Bennett will take on EC3 and Moose in tag action. Furthermore, the Grand Championship semifinals will take place when Drew Galloway takes on Eddie Edwards and Aron Rex battles Eli Drake.

Also, TNA posted a video teasing the debut of a new star with all roads leading to tonight’s Impact.

Show Recap —

Drew Galloway defeated Eddie Edwards in a Grand Championship semifinal match

Galloway won the first round by split decision. The second round went to Edwards, who also won by split decision. Galloway hit the Future Shock DDT but the time limit expired making it the first Grand Championship match to go to the judges for a decision. Galloway won the match by split decision and will go to the finals at Bound For Glory.

After the match, Jeremy Borash interviewed Galloway. He told EC3 and Lashley to ask for him to go last on BFG because they won’t be able to follow him.

EC3 came out and told Galloway not to forget that the true main event at BFG is Lashley against EC3. Galloway said that Lashley will beat EC3, and after Galloway will give EC3 a shot at the Grand Championship. However, Galloway said that EC3 won’t be able to beat him in that match.

Lashley made his way out and passed Galloway along the way. Bennett jumped EC3 from behind and Lashley hit EC3 with a spear. Moose made the save but was cut off by Bennett, and he too took a spear from Lashley.

– In the back, Allie was searching for an inexperienced opponent to face Maria in a public workout.

– Backstage, Bennett celebrated beating down EC3 and Moose. He called Lashley his best friend and Lashley quickly shot that down telling him never to say that again.

Aron Rex defeated Eli Drake in a Grand Championship semifinal match

Before the match started, Rex and Drake traded insults. All three judges gave the first round to Rex with a score of 10-9. Drake won the second round on split decision. Rex hit his finish (the Revelator) to win the match. Rex will face Galloway in the finals for the Grand Championship at Bound for Glory.

– In the back, Decay discussed the Hardys and The Great War at Bound for Glory. Vanguard 1 approached and an image of Senor Benjamin appeared. He held a shovel that read “Delete.” Decay chased Vanguard 1 but it escaped.

– Backstage, Rex and Galloway argued about who will win the Grand Championship at BFG.

– Next we get a video announcing the official debut of Cody Rhodes, but he was only referred to as Cody. He said that all roads lead to Bound for Glory. He will make his TNA debut at Bound for Glory in less than two weeks. Josh Mathews mentioned that Brandi Rhodes signed with the company on Monday.

– Decay came to the ring. They discussed the Hardys and The Great War at Bound For Glory. This brought out Broken Matt and Jeff Hardy. Rosemary said that Decay had the advantage because there were three of them and only two of the Hardys.

The lights went out, and when they came back on Crazzy Steve and Abyss were tied to the corners. Reby was in the ring and attacked Rosemary. Reby went for the Twist of Fate but Rosemary escaped. Reby told Rosemary never to mess with a mother and her child. They will face each other next week.

– In the back, Moose and EC3 talked about tonight’s main event. EC3 told Moose to leave Lashley for him but Moose said he beats up who he wants and when he wants.

– X Division Champion DJ Z came out to the ring. He noted that the first time he was champion he was immature, but things are going to different this time. He’s going to be a fighting champion. He called out anyone from the X Division and Trevor Lee accepted.

X Division Champion DJ Z defeated Trevor Lee w/ Andrew Everett

This was a good match that saw DJ Z pick up the win with the Rolling DZT. Everett and Lee jumped DJ Z after the match until Edwards ran out for the save. Edwards took the mic and challenged DJ Z to a title match next week and DJ Z accepted.

– Maria warmed up for her public workout and warned Allie not to mess this up.

Maria’s Public Workout

Maria called herself the greatest Knockouts Champion of all time, but the crowd chanted for Allie. So Maria put Allie in the corner.

Allie brought out Maria’s opponent, and Maria said her opponent’s name wasn’t important. Maria jumped her and distracted the referee while Sienna choked her. Maria pinned her to win the match.

Maria demanded a second opponent, but Allie said there was only one. Maria challenged Allie but a masked opponent in all black came out. They went back and forth until she unmasked, revealing that it was Gail Kim. Sienna attacked Gail, but she hit the Eat Defeat on Sienna.

TNA World Heavyweight Champion “The Destroyer” Bobby Lashley & “The Miracle” Mike Bennett defeated Ethan Carter III & Moose

EC3 and Moose ran down to the ring and Bennett escaped leaving Lashley alone. EC3 and Moose doubled teamed Lashley until he got out of the ring.

Back from commercial, Bennett and Lashley isolated EC3 in their corner. They worked on EC3’s taped up ribs. Moose ran wild on both Bennett and Lashley. Bennett set up for the M.I.P. but EC3 countered into a sunset flip to win the match.

After the match, Moose and Bennett fought to the back. EC3 and Lashley had a huge brawl. It required security, referees, and wrestlers to keep them apart.

Billy Corgan came out and announced that next week EC3 will captain a team against Lashley’s team in Lethal Lockdown. Whoever’s team wins gets to pick the stipulations for the main event at Bound For Glory.

Next week on Impact: Next week’s Impact is dubbed Road to Glory. It’s the go-home show for TNA’s biggest event of the year, Bound For Glory. It’ll feature a Lethal Lockdown match. Also, DJ Z defends the X Division title against Eddie Edwards.

NJPW Destruction in Hiroshima results: Kenny Omega defends his title shot

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Thursday morning marked the second big NJPW show this month, Destruction in Hiroshima. It’s a bit more in-depth than the show in Kobe, with YOSHI-HASHI seeking to take Kenny Omega’s IWGP title shot, Adam Cole defending the ROH World Championship against Will Ospreay, Kazuchika Okada facing Bad Luck Fale in a G1 rematch, and The Briscoes defending their IWGP heavyweight tag titles against The Young Bucks.

One of the announcers said that Shibata is off the rest of the tour due to injuries. Also, due to travel delays, Matt Sydal is not on this card either.

Ricochet, Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima defeated Yoshitatsu, Captain New Japan and Togi Makabe

Okay opener. Mostly just a continuation of the story between Captain New Japan and Yoshitatsu where CNJ constantly loses and Yoshitatsu is growing tired of it. Yoshitatsu now has more reason to be upset as CNJ again cost his team the match, this time eating a lariat from Kojima.

reDragon, David Finlay and Ryusuke Taguchi defeated Tiger Mask, Tomoaki Honma, Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi

For some reason Nagata’s music is dubbed again even though as recently as last week it wasn’t. Nakanishi totally missed a plancha on O’Reilly that looked embarrassing, he landed on the floor hard. Beyond that spot, perfectly okay tag match ending when reDragon pinned Tiger Mask after Chasing the Dragon.

Guerillas of Destiny defeated Roppongi Vice

Started off with Baretta doing a huge dive, wiping out both Tonga and Loa. It’s easy to see why doing the mixed tag divisions would make a whole lot of sense as even though the Guerillas of Destiny are bigger it’s not by much.

The two teams worked well with one another, though by far RPG Vice came off as more over in general. Tonga went for a gun stun at one point but Romero blocked it with a roll-up. Tonga got a second one and pinned him with the Guerilla Warfare (assisted double arm DDT).

Hirooki Goto & Tomohiro Ishii defeated Chase Owens & Yujiro Takahashi

Solid match. Yujiro brought out two women in bunny masks whose outfits left very, very little to the imagination. Owens actually hit the package piledriver on Goto for a near fall. Ishii helped him get things back together, with Goto hitting the ushigoroshi and Ishii hitting the sliding D lariat. Goto followed with the GTR and pinned Owens for the win.

Juice Robinson, Hiroshi Tanahashi, KUSHIDA & Michael Elgin defeated BUSHI, EVIL, SANADA & Tetsuya Naito

Pretty good match towards the end. No sign of the mysterious Ingobernable that’s been lurking about LIJ matches as of late. They took out Elgin in an angle early on in the match by having LIJ jump him, laying him out on the stage, and hitting him with a steel chair on the leg they’ve been targeting during this entire tour. Staff took him to the back as the match continued.

After a while, Elgin came back and made a hot tag, beating up Naito. This gained momentum as time went on, with a great exchange between EVIL and Elgin that kept going until Elgin got the win with the sit-out powerbomb.

Naito tried to jump Elgin immediately after the bell rang but he stood his ground, powerbombing Naito. KUSHIDA and BUSHI went at it as well, with KUSHIDA making it very clear that he wants another shot at the title down the line.

The Briscoes defeated The Young Bucks to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship

Good, solid match. Not out of this world, but a lot better than other recent heavyweight tag team title bouts. Briscoes were wearing bizarre trunks that I guess kind of looked like camouflage grass or something. It was really weird, but kind of fit them at the same time.

It was mostly a good back and forth match to start — Bucks would get some momentum, but Briscoes would cut them off, and so on. Matt floated over a Doomsday Device and the Bucks hit some superkicks. Briscoes came back following a failed Meltzer Driver attempt, with Jay laying out Matt with the Jay Driller. Briscoes laid out Matt with a space mountain/cutter combo from the top rope but he still kicked out. Briscoes then hit the Doomsday Device and got the pin.

Guerrillas of Destiny came out and laid out the Briscoes with the belts after the match. Tonga cut a promo saying this belongs to GoD. This is our territory. Japan belongs to Bullet Club, and GoD wants a rematch. This isn’t a feud I’d continue.

Adam Cole defeated Will Ospreay to retain the ROH World Championship

This was good, but the crowd was pretty much dead for it. Probably would have come off as a great match if they were into it.

Nice back and forth to start. Ospreay hit the big Sasuke Special to the floor. Cole tried to gain momentum but Ospreay cut him off and hit a standing corkscrew. Cole hit a backbreaker to get back in the match. Ospreay countered a suplex into a stunner in a pretty cool transition spot. Ospreay hit the corkscrew punch and tried the cutter but Cole countered.

Big back and forth which resulted in Cole hitting a running knee. Cole charged to the corner but Ospreay superkicked him. Ospreay went to springboard again but Cole countered, hit a Canadian Destroyer from the middle rope, then pinned Ospreay with the Last Shot (a suplex into the knee) for the win.

Kazuchika Okada defeated Bad Luck Fale

Good match. Fale is really limited, but Okada has had good to great matches with Fale before and this one was no different. They played their roles perfectly, with Fale being the big monster who was super tough to beat while Okada fought against the odds to win.

Okada tried to bodyslam Fale early on the outside but Fale countered and bodyslammed him instead. They brawled on the outside, with Fale choking Okada with his foot on the guardrail. Yujiro then appeared and and started to freely interfere.

Fale gained control of the match while Okada started favoring his arm. He hit a back body drop. Okada tried to pick up Fale, but couldn’t until Fale missed a charge and recoiled back to Okada. Fale made a comeback and tried for the Bad Luck Fall but Okada escaped and hit the dropkick.

Okada tried for the Rainmaker, but Fale came back with the lariat and the Grenade but Okada kicked out right at 2.9. Fale went for something on the top rope but Okada slammed him back to the floor. Yujiro interfered but Okada cut him off and tried for the the Rainmaker, but it didn’t connect all the way.

Fale grabbed him for a Grenade but Okada countered and tried another lariat, but it didn’t connect with the giant Fale. Okada escaped the Bad Luck Fall again and hit a dropkick. The tombstone followed, then the Rainmaker, and that finally clinched it for Okada.

Kenny Omega defeated YOSHI-HASHI to retain his spot in the WrestleKingdom 11 IWGP title match

Omega and YH made it out to the floor early where Omega took out the mats. He teased piledriving YH on the exposed floor but YH countered with a back body drop. This is where the Young Bucks came in and interfered, spraying hairspray in YH’s eyes. YH wound up on the barricade where Omega landed a moonsault, sending them both into the audience.

Omega worked him over until YH managed to cut him off with a neckbreaker, but Omega came back and tried to use a trash can. Of course, The Young Bucks conveniently distracted the ref and shoved him to the floor, and assisted Omega in spike piledriving YH through the trash can.

With YH down, Omega tried to go for the One Winged Angel but YH countered with a DDT. He started to make a comeback, hitting the double knees on a seated Omega for a near fall. He locked in the butterfly lock, but Omega escaped. Omega missed a moonsault that allowed YH to hit a tombstone and a knee strike to the head for another near fall.

YH tried for the swanton bomb but Omega got the knees up. Omega hit a German suplex but YH immediately got up as the crowd popped. Some hard slaps were exchanged as the crowd got into it. Omega walked right into a YH lariat. YH went to the top rope but Omega met him there. YH countered with a powerbomb into a cover but didn’t get the win.

YH hit the swanton but Omega still kicked out. They exchanged some really good back and forth until Omega caught him in the reverse rana. Omega hit the knee to the temple, then hit the One Winged Angel for the win

Hirooki Goto came out and challenged Omega after the match. There’s intrigue to that, since an Okada/Goto main event would be interesting, but Goto lost clean in the finals. Why would Omega accept the challenge? What would he have to prove?

Omega cut a promo after the match, saying that he admires YH’s heart but he still did the J-double-oh-B. He called Goto “Goto Hell.” He wants to stand here and challenge him when he beat him at the G1? He asked the fans if they wanted the match. They cheered, which caused him to say “Goto Hell” again. He said he’d think about it.

Final Thoughts:

This was better than the Tokyo show in terms of name value and match quality. Nothing here was absolute must see, though the main event was the best match out of either show so far.

Some booking directions going later into the Fall seem pretty flat, in all honesty. There’s no reason for Goto to challenge Omega and just when you thought the tag titles were going in another direction, everything returns to normal immediately. Kind of lame, but it might all make sense in the end given Gedo’s booking.

WWE SmackDown video highlights: John Cena vs. Dean Ambrose

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Miss Tuesday’s episode of SmackDown or want to watch something again? Check out last night’s video highlights from a show that featured John Cena taking on Dean Ambrose in the main event, The Miz defending his Intercontinental Championship against Dolph Ziggler, the return of American Alpha, a contract signing between Becky Lynch and Alexa Bliss, and much more.

More coverage from last night’s show —

WWE SmackDown video highlights —

Becky Lynch comes face-to-face with Alexa Bliss

The Usos vs. American Alpha for a shot at the SmackDown tag titles

Apollo Crews vs. Baron Corbin

Curt Hawkins tells the WWE Universe to face the facts

Dolph Ziggler vs. The Miz in an Intercontinental Championship match

Randy Orton vs. Erick Rowan

Nikki Bella & Naomi vs. Natalya & Carmella

Dean Ambrose vs. John Cena

SmackDown fallout: Dolph Ziggler is at a loss of words

WWE SmackDown live results: Cena vs. Ambrose; I-C title match

Posted on by Steve Khan

Date: September 20, 2016
Location: Legacy Arena in Birmingham, AL

The Big Takeaway —

Dean Ambrose beat John Cena clean in the main event. Ambrose will get a title rematch against AJ Styles next week on SmackDown.

The Miz successfully defended his Intercontinental Title once again over Dolph Ziggler.

Finally, The Usos defeated American Alpha to become number one contenders and will face Slater & Rhyno at No Mercy.

Show Recap — 

Right off the top, they plugged Dean Ambrose vs. John Cena, as well as Miz defending the IC title against Dolph Ziggler as two big main events for tonight.

SmackDown Women’s Championship Contract Signing

Daniel Bryan led “Yes” chants in the ring to start things off. Bryan acknowledged how contract signings usually go, but said he wanted to keep this one civil. The crowd booed, and Bryan responded, “Don’t boo that,” which was funny.

He brought out Becky Lynch first and asked that she keep things civil, and the crowd booed again. Lynch said she would have on her thick skin. Alexa Bliss came out next and made cracks about Lynch’s appearance. Lynch said that while Bliss is preparing for pageants, Lynch was getting ready to fight.

Bliss claimed Lynch didn’t fit the role of champion, her role was someone who never quite gets to the top. She said Lynch would lose her title, because she was born to be a loser. The crowd chanted for Lynch, who said she watched too much TV and believed when they said she could do what she wanted.

Lynch said she poured her heart and soul into everything. She wasn’t born to be champion, she fought to be champion, and would rip off Bliss’ head if she thought otherwise. Bliss mocked her and said would win the title and expose Lynch as a one-hit wonder.

Bliss smacked Lynch with the clipboard, which knocked Lynch down somehow. Bliss signed the contract and tossed the table over on Lynch. Bliss left, but Lynch got up and attacked Bliss, who managed to run away. Bryan gave Lynch the contract and she signed it.

They announced The Usos vs. American Alpha in a number one contender’s match.

Miz and Maryse confronted Bryan backstage. Miz was pissed he had to defend the title tonight, even though he was content with his new contract. Bryan offered to cancel the match, but that would mean his contract gets cancelled too. Bryan let Miz know this little detail was in his contract, which Miz didn’t read. Bryan asked if Miz still had a problem and he begrudgingly said no.

Number One Contender’s Match: The Usos defeated American Alpha

Backstage, Jordan and Gable did a good little promo saying the Usos made things personal. Gable started out hot as soon as the bell rang, but the Usos eventually attacked his injured leg and took control. Jordan made the hot tag and hit each Uso with suplexes and running shoulder tackles.

Jordan tried a belly-to-belly off the middle rope, but the Usos knocked him down. Jey hit a superkick and Jimmy followed with a splash, but Gable just barely broke up the cover.

Jordan was about to tag Gable, but Gable’s leg gave out on the apron. Gable still wanted a tag, but Jordan decided to save his teammate and fight on alone. Bad idea. The Usos took out Gable, hit Jordan with superkicks, and a splash for the win after about 12 minutes. It’ll be Heath Slater & Rhyno vs. The Usos at No Mercy.

Backstage, Slater and Rhyno weren’t worried about the Usos. Rhyno was still eating crackers with cheese. Slater wanted to start a “Rhy-no” chant, in the vein of “Us-o.” Rhyno wasn’t into it. Usos interrupted and threatened to take out Slater’s leg. They also threatened Rhyno’s crackers, but he told them not to dare touch his crackers. Usos insulted Slater’s 26 raggedy-ass kids, so Rhyno smashed his own crackers and stood up for Slater. The Usos backed off.  

They aired a Hispanic Heritage video, honouring Roberto Clemente.

Baron Corbin defeated Apollo Crews

Crews didn’t smile on his way to the ring. He lost in 3 minutes via End of Days. Jack Swagger was on commentary and said he joined SmackDown because he wanted to be champion. He had a brief staredown with Corbin after the match.

They showed Dean Ambrose getting ready for his match, behind a cage in a dark room.

They congratulated Rami Malek for winning an Emmy and aired another stupid Curt Hawkins video.

Charly Caruso interviewed Naomi and Nikki Bella. Naomi told Caruso that “the glow” was about confidence. She said Nikki had the glow, but Natalya lost it a long time ago and claimed Natalya would feel the glow tonight. Nikki said Carmella wanted to make a name for herself, but Nikki was in the fight of her life. She feels rebooted, and Carmella was nothing but a bootleg. Holy hell, this was dumb.

Elsewhere, a downtrodden Dolph Ziggler told Renee Young that he has to give it his all tonight. After running down the Miz, Ziggler talked about being a World Champion and now a Kent State hall of famer. Ziggler fired up and said he would take it all tonight.

They aired a commercial for WWE 2K17 using actual game footage, including Brock Lesnar and Goldberg fighting backstage. Chris Jericho wasn’t with them.

Intercontinental Championship: The Miz (w/Maryse) defeated Dolph Ziggler

Mauro Ranallo said that two of Ziggler’s four previous IC Title reigns started with wins over Miz. Miz again used Yes Kicks and running dropkicks as part of his offense. Crowd chanted “coward” at him. After a break, Miz tried a sunset flip powerbomb but couldn’t land it — so he actually did a springboard sitout powerbomb for a near fall. Ziggler followed with a fameasser for a near fall.

Maryse was about to pepper-spray Ziggler in the face, but the referee caught her and tossed her out. They traded rollups when Ziggler hit a Zig-Zag for a very close near fall. Miz crawled out of the ring, grabbed his title and began walking out, but Ziggler cut him off and tossed him into the steel steps.

Miz had the title on him when Ziggler tossed him back in the ring, so the referee and to put it away. As he did this, Miz sprayed Ziggler in the face and followed with the Skull Crushing Finale for the win.

The first half of the match was not good, but it picked up after commercial and the finish was pretty clever. This didn’t do Ziggler any favours, though. He hit his big move and Miz kicked out.

Otunga said Cena and Ambrose would be facing off for the first time. It’s not.

Randy Orton defeated Erick Rowan

The crowd chanted “Randy Orton.” He won in 2 minutes after a draping DDT and RKO.

Afterwards, Bray’s video went off and when they came back to the ring, Rowan had disappeared, but his mask was still there. Bray showed up on the screen and said Gods never die, I think.

Naomi & Nikki Bella defeated Natalya & Carmella via DQ 

Only Naomi got an entrance. The match was shorter than her entrance. Natalya applied the Sharpshooter on Nikki right away, but Carmella–Natalya’s partner–pulled Nikki out of the ring to attack her and the ref called for the bell. Naomi kicked Natalya and checked on Nikki afterwards. This sucked.

Caruso asked AJ Styles about his rivalry with Cena and Ambrose. Styles correctly noted that he has no rivalry with them, because he’s beaten them both. He called himself the champ that runs the camp and superior in every way. He claimed they booked a triple threat because the only way he can lose the title is if he doesn’t get beat.

Dean Ambrose defeated John Cena 

Ranallo clarified that this was the first match between these two on SmackDown. Ambrose didn’t get a notably different reaction than usual on the way out. Dueling chants for Cena to start the match.

After a break, Ambrose was all over Cena. Cena caught him in an STF but Ambrose crawled to the rope. Ambrose nailed a suicide dive and tried a diving elbow, but Cena caught him, rolled through and hit an AA for a near fall. 

Cena hiked him up again for an AA, but Ambrose slipped out and hit Dirty Deeds for a near fall. They traded punches until Ambrose went for the rebound clothesline. Cena countered and tried for another AA, but Ambrose reversed into a rollup for the win. Match was only about 10 minutes. 

Afterwards, AJ Styles laid out Cena with a flying forearm, then gave Ambrose a Pele kick in the ring. Daniel Bryan came out and informed Styles that Ambrose will get his one-on-one title rematch–next week on SmackDown. Crowd booed because they weren’t getting it now. 

Styles tried to attack Ambrose again, but Ambrose nailed him with Dirty Deeds. 

Final Thoughts —

This show was alright. The IC Title match was good, and Ambrose defeating Cena is pretty eventful. I didn’t really care for anything else on the show.

When they announced the main event, I wondered why it wasn’t just a number one contender’s match. Now that Cena lost, I’m not even sure why he’s getting a title match. He lost to Styles at SummerSlam, and Ambrose tonight.