Tag: results

NJPW Strong results: Jay White & Karl Anderson vs. Wheeler Yuta & Homicide

Posted on by Justin Knipper

Tonight saw the first of NJPW Strong’s Autumn Attack tapings from Las Vegas, Nevada.

Shota Umino defeated QT Marshall

Umino got his full-on babyface crash course from QT Marshall in tonight’s opening bout, babyface vs. heel 101 between these two.

Usually, Marshall doesn’t do anything in the ring that I’d call out of the ordinary, but he is consistently good at eliciting negative responses from crowds. Though this always comes across better live, and it always seems to drag on television because NJPW’s production quality isn’t able to capture how loudly the crowd reacts. This style of wrestling is better in a live setting than on NJPWWorld, for sure.

Marshall earned a close two-count after a Golden Star Bomb, just like Kota Ibushi does. I’m sure people will love to read that. Umino hit a tombstone piledriver and later, he’d pick up the win after hitting the Death Rider on Marshall.

*****

JR Kratos and Danny Limelight from Team Filthy came out next. Limelight got on the mic and trashed the people of Vegas and called out “cherry boys” Aussie Open, who are current STRONG Openweight Tag Team champions. The crowd gave them a lot of heat during the promo. When Kratos grabbed the mic to speak, the mic seemed to have been cut out, so the fans started chanting “We can’t hear you!” What’s funny was that Kratos has such a powerful voice that I did, in fact, hear him, even though it was through the screen.

Kratos eventually got the mic working again and re-emphasized what Limelight said, that they essentially were owed a shot at the titles since they were in NJPW Strong and grinding far longer than some outsider team. Aussie Open then appeared on the entrance ramp and nodded in approval of they and Team Filthy squaring off for the titles in the future.

Ren Narita defeated Juice Robinson via disqualification

The “Rock Hard” one ambushed Narita on the entrance ramp as he was on his way to the ring. The ring announcer was barely into his match call when Robinson appeared, so Narita took a lengthy pre-match beating.

When the bell rang, Robinson continued beating the hell out of Narita at ringside. He even at one point grabbed the ring bell and hit Narita with it. Actually, right before that, the referee tried taking the bell out of Robinson’s hands but Robinson shoved him into the guardrail.

Soon after all this, the ref called the match and awarded the win to Narita via disqualification. Narita was covered in blood by this point.

“You shouldn’t have called me out on the internet, Narita!” Robinson said. He then proceeded to cut a pretty blue promo on Narita for calling him out (despite being a lower ranked wrestler in the NJPW system), and at the end of it, he basically offered Narita to restart the match, but as a no-DQ match. A bloodied-up Narita demanded the ref restart the match, and we were back on. Bloody Narita vs. “Rock Hard” Robinson in a no-disqualification rules match.

Ren Narita defeated Juice Robinson via submission in a no disqualification match

There was a great visual of Narita having Robinson locked in a figure four, all blood all over his face. Robinson hit Narita with a kendo stick a number of times, to the point where the stick split apart and hit the announcers at the commentary table. Ian Riccaboni even mentioned he got hit by a piece of the stick, and both announcers claimed they got some of Narita’s blood on them.

Robinson later started biting Narita’s bloody head. People in the crowd began chanting “You sick f*ck!” at Robinson, who pointed out a fan and mouthed “This is YOUR fault” before removing his belt and whipping Narita with it. Robinson is damn good in this role.

Robinson hit the Left Hand from God for two. Narita responded later by tossing Robinson a chair, then using a single-foot dropkick into the chair, smashing Robinson in the face with the chair he was holding. Narita laid in a number of elbows before Robinson was able to reverse the offensive momentum. He then grabbed a chair and stuck it in between the middle and top rope in the blue corner, but when he tried to throw Narita into it, Narita reversed the Irish whip and slammed Robinson head first into it instead.

Narita unfolded the steel chair next and used a single-arm suplex on Robinson, sending him crashing onto the chair. Narita continued hitting Robinson with the chair, but Robinson was able to catch Narita with a low blow before spiking him head-first onto the mangled chair for a very close count of two. Ten minutes had passed at this point, and the pace slowed between spots.

Finally, Robinson power bombed Narita through a table on the outside, which got a “Holy shit!” & “This is awesome!” chant from the crowd. Robinson rolled Narita back into the ring for a pin but only scored another two-count. The house energy dipped a lot from here. The crowd started chanting about wanting tables. Robinson obliged and grabbed the ring announcer’s table and threw it into the ring.

When Robinson attempted an avalanche Death Valley Bomb through a table, Narita was able to slide out of the fireman’s carry hold and slapped on a sleeper lock. This forced Robinson to come down from the top rope to attempt blocking the submission hold. Narita eventually transitioned from a sleeper to an escalera double-shoulder lock from standing rear mount, which he cranked on until Robinson tapped. Narita grabbed the win and looked awesome in doing it. Despite this going a little too long, both Robinson and Narita did a hell of a job, and I think both came out of this looking stronger and more interesting.

Bullet Club (Jay White & Karl Anderson) defeated Homicide & Wheeler Yuta

“Filthy” Tom Lawlor joined the English announce team for this one. He ended up getting into a scuffle with Homicide a few minutes into the match, with Homicide spitting water in Lawlor’s face.

White got a bloody shiner in this, with some blood visible from under his left eye.

Yuta tagged back in at around the ten-minute mark and cleaned house. Minutes later, the finish saw White hit Homicide with a Blade Runner while Homicide was distracted by Tom Lawlor, who jumped the guardrail. Doc Gallows kept referee Jeremy Marcus distracted as White laid the aforementioned Bladerunner on Homicide for the win.

After the match, chaos ensued: Lawlor came into the ring and attacked Homicide. White joined in. Yuta beat on Lawlor to defend his partner. Soon after, West Coast Wrecking Crew arrived and began beating on Yuta. Shota Umino also arrived too and would end up getting beaten on. White got on the microphone and asked Tim Filthy to “remove the trash from the ring,” referring to Homicide. He scolded fans for chanting for Jon Moxley and said he wouldn’t be showing up tonight. He also said that Eddie Kingston, who was supposed to face White in Las Vegas, got “butterflies” which is why Kingston didn’t appear (Kingston actually contracted COVID-19, which is why he had to miss the show). White hinted that maybe he’d come to meet him instead, at NJPW’s upcoming event there, Rumble on 44th St.

Afterwards, “Filthy” Tom got on the mic and addressed his hometown crowd in Las Vegas. He said Team Filthy has been carrying NJPW Strong. He then got the audience to do a “NJPW Strong” call-and-response before saying “Ganbatte! [Do your best]”! A pretty babyface promo considering what’s just gone on in the ring. Will this lead to more Bullet Club + Team Filthy team-ups in the future?

Final thoughts:

This was a decent episode of Strong, though it did feel like it dragged at times. The hardcore match was good, but it could have been chopped by five minutes; also, while the main event was good, the crowd sounded exhausted. If this were in front of a NJPW crowd in Japan, or on an AEW taping, this would have turned out much differently, and the energy would have been a lot higher. Like with any other promotion taping a series of shows in a row at a single event, NJPW Strong tapings exhaust fans, and that often impacts the overall perception of the show itself and its main events. Fussiness aside, this was a fine extended edition of NJPW Strong.

NJPW Strong results: Taiji Ishimori vs. Alan Angels

Posted on by Justin Knipper

Tonight saw the next set of tapings from NJPW Strong’s Fighting Spirit Unleashed 2022 tapings in Hollywood, California, with IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Taiji Ishimori defending his title against Alan Angels in the main event.

QT Marshall (w/ Aaron Solo) defeated Keita

Marshall got booed a lot, both before and during the match. It was around the time of the five-minute call that Marshall flashed the Diamond Dallas Page diamond gesture, crotch-chopped the audience, then put Keita away with a Diamond Cutter for the win.

Marshall got on the mic and talked about how Shota Umino ruined his moment at NJPW Strong in Charlotte, North Carolina recently. Knowing that Umino wasn’t in the building for this show, Marshall would challenge Umino to a one-on-one match. Suddenly, a backstage vignette of Umino aired where he answered Marshall’s challenge. He showed off his Death Rider jacket Jon Moxley gave him, then addressed Marshall before saying “See you in Las Vegas.” Marshall then started screaming to unbook the match as he exited with Aaron Solo.

TMDK (Shane Haste & Bad Dude Tito) defeated Christopher Daniels & Yuya Uemura

This match was great.

There were sporadic “TITO!” calls came from the audience before things got underway. On commentary, Ian Riccaboni explained that Haste’s usual tag partner in TMDK, Mikey Nicholls, was absent due to the birth of his child, which is why Tito was in his spot. Congratulations to Mikey Nicholls.

Uemura took a beating from TMDK until he was able to stop Haste from coming off the top rope, taking him over with a big double-overhook suplex into the ring. He then tagged out to Daniels, who cleaned house. He took Tito out with a big diving lariat from the second rope before spiking Haste with a Death Valley Bomb for two.

There came a point where Daniels hoisted Haste onto his shoulders in an electric chair so that Uemura could come off the top with a flying bulldog, Steiner Bros. style, just like they’ve used over the summer. However, Bad Dude Tito was able to shove Uemura off the top, which sent him crashing into Daniels and breaking up the spot. Daniels started yelling at Uemura, but Haste capitalized and attacked Daniels while Daniels had his back turned. Tito dragged Uemura out of the ring, and Haste put Daniels away after a fireman’s carry-to-uranage slam for the win.

Afterwards, Daniels apologized to Uemura. The two hugged, and Daniels raised Uemura’s arm . . . just before giving Uemura a low blow. Daniels kicked him in the groin, dropping Uemura immediately. The crowd booed a lot. A scowling Daniels then gave Uemura two double-jump moonsaults before telling off the crowd and heading backstage.

Next up was a short promo interview from TJP. He addressed NJPW Strong Openweight Champion Fred Rosser and the upcoming match between the two. He talked about how they’d both been champions in New Japan and at “a different company” (WWE). He told a story about the WWE Cruiserweight Championship; since he was the inaugural champion, TJP claimed wrestlers would ask him why his name wasn’t featured on the side plates of the belt with the other champions. TJP said that it was because the big part in the middle was made for him. He then said Rosser wouldn’t be “sharing” the ring with TJP but “renting” it from him, because he said without a NJPW Strong there’d be no LA Dojo, and without an LA Dojo, NJPW wouldn’t have existed, saying the he “built this dojo”. He told Rosser to remember the big centerpiece on the Strong Openweight championship before their match, because TJP is the one who “built” that championship.

Ren Narita defeated Jakob Austin Young

This was solid. Young was discovered by NJPW at one of their dojo tryouts. He’s previously worked for OWE in China. He’s very talented.

Narita would pick up the win with a bridging front suplex.

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship Match: Taiji Ishimori (c) defeated Alan Angels

This was good, but it seemed as though it finished early because of a possible injury towards the end of the match.

Angels has good charisma and is just 24. Towards the finish, Angels did a triangle moonsault from the top rope to the floor, but on his way down, he crashed shin-first into the guardrail. It doesn’t come across that loudly on screen, but inside the venue, it was absolutely jarring; it sounded like a car crash. The crowd reaction was loud, and a number of fans unfortunately began chanting “You f****d up!” The mood changed at the venue from here. Even Ian Riccaboni hoped Angels was all right after the match.

Angels and Ishimori crawled back in the ring and went right to the finish. Angels came off the second rope, but Ishimori caught him on the way down with double-knees to the face. He’d then put Angels away with the Bloody Cross, which looked kind of bad because Angels couldn’t kick his legs up in the air for it.

Final thoughts:

Christopher Daniels & Yuya Uemura vs. TMDK was the best match of this week’s episode, with Narita vs. Austin as a short but solid runner-up.

Next week sees STRONG Openweight Champion Fred Rosser take on TJP and more.

NWA Power results: Matt Cardona vs. Rolando Freeman II, Ricky Steamboat appearance

Posted on by Josiah MacDonald

NWA Power opened with Matt Taven and Mecha Wolf already in the ring, ready to battle after they eliminated each other in the NWA US Tag Team Title Battle Royal at NWA 74.

Matt Taven defeated Mecha Wolf

The NWA used the black ring canvas they had for NWA 74, continuing to use the ring from Harley Race’s training school. Taven and Mecha Wolf didn’t waste time feeling each other out with Taven hitting chops and a suplex for a quick two count. I liked how Velvet Sky and Tim Storm talked about how tag team wrestlers naturally looked to the corner for their partner when their opponent had a successful attack.

Mecha Wolf pulled Taven off the middle ropes, getting a two count, and began to get a little heat on Taven, controlling the match for the first time. Wolf taunted Taven, saying that he was the champ and Taven was not. Wolf hit a snap suplex and then hit an implant reverse DDT for a near fall.

Taven used the ropes to slide over Wolf in a corner charge, rolling him up in a smooth move. However, Wolf made him pay with a dropkick to the face soon thereafter. Wolf choked Taven against the ropes and bit his forehead to the commentary team’s disgust. Taven hit an enziguri as the fans chanted “Let’s go Matt!” Taven hit a spinning neckbreaker, but missed a lionsault. It didn’t stop him, though, as he hit a springboard enziguri and then a lionsault for a near fall.

Wolf hit a pop-up powerbomb and a V-Trigger for a near fall. Taven rolled through a sunset flip and hit a running knee before going to the top rope. Wolf cut him off and bit him again, claiming this was “wolf style” if I heard him correctly. Taven hit another kick to knock him off, but missed a double stomp. Taven then countered a hurricanrana into a sunset flip to get the pin in a great TV match.

Taven was over as a babyface and having him win here sets up a future Tag Team title match for the OGK against La Rebelion. This was simple, easy booking, and the stuff what was missing from the TV before NWA 74.

Ricky Steamboat/Matt Cardona segment

– Ricky Steamboat came to the new podium which has a screen with the NWA logo behind it. Steamboat apparently had a hand in booking the tournament for the no. 1 contender to the NWA National Title. Steamboat put over the competitors of the NWA and that the tournaments present intriguing possibilities for the fans as they try to figure out who advances.

NWA World Champion Trevor Murdoch was announced to join them at the podium, but Matt Cardona and Chelsea Green came out instead. Cardona announced that at November’s Hard Times 3, he will be facing Trevor Murdoch for the title. Steamboat said you had to understand where Cardona was coming from as a fan yelled that Cardona sucked. Steamboat laughed and said, “He said you suck!” which made me (and the fans) laugh. 

Steamboat was an amazing babyface as Cardona and Green mocked him. Steamboat said, “I guess his true colors showed.”

– May Valentine was with Murdoch and he explained that he saw Cardona going out to the podium and didn’t want to deal with him while Steamboat was in the building. Murdoch said he didn’t care who was in front of them as they were going down. Murdoch also said he was still feeling the effects of the match with Tyrus at NWA 74.

– Aron Stevens embraced his full heel side and said he had a big announcement. He used a weird accent while saying this, except for when he yelled at the fans. Stevens then introduced a new Question Mark that was clearly Rodney Mack under the mask. The crowd booed as Stevens claimed that he got him into the US because of his relationship with the ambassador of Mongrovia.

Question Mark defeated De’Vin Graves

Well, this was quite funny as the fans chanted “Question Mack” as Stevens urged Mack to use karate chops. Mack won the match with the Mongrovian Spike, changing from using the Euthanizer mid-move. I have no idea where it’s going, but it is funny.

– EC3 was with May Valentine and he claimed he was changing professional wrestling and was here to awaken the industry. He wanted to awaken the people who could carry the load. It sounds like he is trying to recruit people to a cult? I don’t know. It was nonsense. He said he wasn’t going to give away his plan, but he wants to be World champion. He used a lot of words to say nothing. He said he was going to burn the title and wasn’t going to have a rematch with Thom Latimer after NWA 74.

Thom Latimer defeated Chris Sainz

Latimer took it right to Sainz hitting some clotheslines and a body slam. Latimer hit a big pop-up sit out powerbomb for the win in a simple and effective squash.

– Nick Aldis and Flip Gordon were with May Valentine and they talked about their match from NWA 74, but addressed Odinson attacking them. Aldis said that Odinson went after him because he was the top guy. Valentine said that Odinson was suspended for his actions, but Aldis will make him pay, one way or another, and Gordon has him in his sights as well.

– Bully Ray was with May Valentine and said he came to the NWA for KiLynn King and Kamille because he trained both women. He wants to continue being a mentor to them, but implies he will fight if he had to. He then gave the promo here that should have been on TV before NWA 74.

Matt Cardona (w/ Mike Knox) defeated Rolando Freeman (w/ Rush Freeman) in a no DQ match

Cardona hit a dropkick on Rush on the floor rather than fighting Rolando. Knox ran after Rush after he held the foot of Cardona so Rolando could hit a suicide dive. Knox went after Rush again and he pulled his “big brother” Rolando in front of him, which was funny. Knox kept Rush at bay while Rolando was beaten on by Cardona.

Rolando dodged an attack and sent Cardona flying into a steel chair that Cardona set up in the corner. Rolando hit a flatliner and then a zig zag, but Knox put Cardona’s foot on the ropes. Knox and VSK beat on Rush, so Rolando hit a dive onto all of them. Cardona hit Rolando with a low blow and then several ReBoots in the corner. As he was taunting Freeman, Murdoch came in and hit a top rope bulldog on Cardona to give Rolando the pin and win.

Final Thoughts:

This was infinitely better than the NWA Power episodes before NWA 74 and actually built toward November’s pay-per-view with Murdoch vs. Cardona. They have restarted their feud as Murdoch helped Rolando get another win over Cardona which advances the story.

It is strange to see the top contender lose two matches in a row, but he has a guaranteed shot due to what William Corgan told him when he gave up the title so that does makes sense. 

All in all, this was a significant improvement from previous weeks with stories actually being setup and advanced.

NJPW Strong results: Hiromu Takahashi vs. El Desperado vs. Blake Christian

Posted on by Justin Knipper

JR Kratos defeated Drew Adler

Adler is a local wrestler from North Carolina. He did some comedy early on. Kratos dropkicked Adler out of the ring and made fun of the crowd. He launched Adler across the ring with a vertical suplex before putting him away with a modified Boss Man Slam for the win in a few minutes.

Afterwards, The Workhorsemen, JD Drake & Anthony Henry, introduced themselves to the NJPW Strong audience and built their upcoming match against KUSHIDA & Ren Narita.

Dax Harwood defeated Rocky Romero

AEW’s Dax Harwood and partner Cash Wheeler currently hold the IWGP Tag Team titles, titles which they won in a three-way tag match at AEWxNJPW: Forbidden Door in June against champions United Empire (O-Khan & Cobb) and Roppongi Vice (Romero & Beretta). Romero’s promo on last week’s episode of NJPW Strong heard him explain how Roppongi Vice really should have won that match, and that his match against Harwood at High Alert would see Romero getting back at FTR.

Harwood got a big reaction from his hometown crowd before the bout got under way. Harwood controlled Romero on the mat early on, before Romero began chopping Harwood’s chest up in the corner. Romero played de facto heel here, and not only because he wasn’t the hometown hero, but because he’d sometimes use his cunning to get one over on Harwood. The crowd would boo when the professor of “Sneaky Style” would sneak in an eye-poke in order to knock Harwood off his game.

Romero caught Harwood with a springboard dropkick to Harwood’s arm before laying him on the mat and locking in a top wristlock. He’d connect with his signature Rewind Kick for a two-count.

Harwood countered Romero’s onslaught with a sharpshooter. Harwood later laid Romero out with a big superplex off the top ropes, right onto the middle of the Lion Mark mid-ring.

The finish saw Romero land Sliced Bread before locking in a cross armbreaker. Harwood was able to power up and out of the move, power bombing Romero with his trapped arm before slapping on the sharpshooter once again, this time for the clean submission win. Fans chanted “F-T-R!” after the match. Romero got into Harwood’s face, but the two ended up shaking hands in the end. This was good.

El Desperado defeated Blake Christian & Hiromu Takashi in a three-way match

Takahashi brought Daryl to the ring with him before setting him on the English commentary table in front of Ian Riccaboni. Fans chanted for Takahashi once he stepped into the ring. By the time Blake Christian and El Desperado were in the ring together with Takahashi, the audience started in with an “ALL THESE GUYS!” chant. Takahashi responded to this brilliantly by walking over to NJPW official Jeremy Marcus and raising his arm in “victory.” The fans then chanted for them to have a four-way match before Takahashi, and then Desperado, got out of the ring and stood on the apron, leaving Marcus and Christian alone in the ring together—implying that this was now a tag team match. The fans lost it.

Once the crowd settled down, the match was finally allowed to start. The three huddled around each other, a pensive triangle, of sorts, testing out who’d make first contact, which turned out to be Takahashi and Christian simultaneously kicking Desperado in the stomach.

Fast action abounded as the pace began to quicken. The three all caught each other’s legs at the same time next, which saw Takahashi and Desperado then team up against Christian for the break. Their alliance was short-lived, as Desperado ended up booting Takahashi in the face a minute or so afterwards.

After all three brawled around ringside, the match shifted back into the ring. Desperado and Takahashi went nuts on each other with front-handed chops.

Christian would appear moments later and take Takahashi out with an enzuigiri before leapfrogging over Desperado and putting Takahashi back down with a dropkick. Christian’s offense is very creative.

Desperado pulled Christian off the top rope, then climbed to the top and landed on Takahashi with a frog splash of his own. Christian broke up the pin attempt at the count of two. He and Desperado traded elbows to the score of a chanting crowd.

When Desperado went to dive to the floor, Christian caught him with a kick on the way through the ropes. Takahashi would then dive onto Desperado with a top-rope senton to the floor. Christian followed suit, crashing onto both of them with a Fosbury flop.

Takahashi was able to catch Christian with a deadlift German suplex. He then went for the Timebomb, but Desperado reappeared and ran at Takahashi with a back elbow.

After another crazy round of offensive exchanges, all three wrestlers laid strewn on the mat selling their pain & fatigue. Takahashi was up first and slammed Christian into the cornerpad with a running Death Valley Bomb, but Christian must not have felt it because he immediately hit Takahashi with a jumping knee. Takahashi caught Christian with a lariat, then Christian served him one of his own. He pinned Takahashi with a footstomp but Desperado broke up the pin. You could notice a medium-length gash across Christian’s back in the shot, too. Not sure what he did to get that.

El Desperado would put Christian away in the end with Guitara de Angel for the win in 19:19.

Desperado would get on the mic after the match and tell Blake Christian that he’d be waiting for him in Japan at next year’s Best of the Super Juniors tournament.

Next, Desperado said he respected the USA and even liked the USA, but the important fact he wanted fans to know was that he hates traveling on airplanes. He said he couldn’t come to the US too many times because of this, and he doesn’t know how many times he’ll be back, but for now, while he’s here, please check out his matches.

Next week’s episode of NJPW Strong sees the debut of KUSHIDA with Ren Narita as they take on The Workhorsemen.

NJPW Strong results: New Openweight Tag Team Champions crowned

Posted on by Justin Knipper

The first set NJPW Strong’s High Alert tapings from North Carolina aired tonight, which featured the finals of the STRONG Openweight Tag Team Championship tournament in the main event, with Christopher Daniels & Yuya Uemura taking on Aussie Open.

Jorel Nelson defeated Shane Haste

Good match with a nice last couple of minutes.

Haste caught Nelson with a nice basement dropkick before Nelson rolled out onto the floor. They brawled around ringside a bit before Nelson launched Haste with a back body drop onto the ring apron. Haste crashed onto the bottom rope on the way down.

Back in the ring, Nelson spun Haste with a reverse dragon screw leg whip before posing for the crowd. Nelson worked over Haste’s legs for the next few minutes. Nelson locked Haste in a Texas Cloverleaf.

Haste countered later with a DDT and later a short dive onto Nelson out to the floor. He threw Nelson back into the ring and and put him down with a big Liger Bomb for two. He dumped Nelson on his head with a backdrop suplex. Nelson came back suddenly with a Claymore Kick that spun Haste inside out.

When Nelson went to the top rope, Haste caught Nelson and perplexed him onto the Lion Mark in the middle of the ring. Shortly after this, Nelson, seemingly out of desperation, caught Haste in the back of the knee with a chop block, then school-boy’d him for the pin. Nelson clearly had a handful of Haste’s tights, too, which is illegal, but the referee missed it and counted to three.

A backstage vignette featuring Rocky Romero aired next. He talked about his three-way tag team match from AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door in June this year, when IWGP tag team champions Roppongi Vice took on FTR and United Empire. Romero explained he couldn’t stop thinking about when he had Dax Harwood pinned in the match. Romero promised he’d get the three-count at High Alert in his singles match with Dax Harwood, which is scheduled to air in a few weeks.

Hikuleo defeated Big Damo

This was a decent but short big man brawl. It was as if Hikuleo was the de facto babyface in this match based on how the North Carolina crowd reacted to him.

The two giants traded shoulder tackles early on. Hikuleo was able to knock Damo off his feet first, but the big man from Belfast was up quickly. While Hikuleo was hyping up the audience, Damo dashed at him, taking him out of the ring with a running lariat.

They brawled on the floor for a bit. Chops flew. Back in the ring, Big Damo would flatten Hikuleo with a big running cross body block, and later a cannonball into the corner. Damo would connect with a running senton later, but he missed on the Vader Bomb follow-up when Hikuleo rolled out of the way.

Hikuleo caught Damo coming off the ropes with a powerslam, but there must have been some miscommunication because it didn’t look like Hikuleo had a proper grip on Damo. He followed that up with a high chokeslam for the win in just over six minutes. The crowd was happy that Hikuleo won, but overall the finish felt a bit flat. I imagine when they have their rematch down the road, it’ll be better, especially if they’re in a different setting and given more time.

STRONG Openweight Tag Team Championship finals: Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) defeated Christopher Daniels & Yuya Uemura to become the first STRONG Openweight Tag Team champions

This was really good. Daniels and Fletcher were in first for their teams. Daniels and Uemura would keep Fletcher close to their red corner and work him over with a constant double-team assault.

After a few minutes, Daniels would throw Fletcher to the floor and go for a pescado dive onto both him and Davis, but he missed after they moved. Uemura came running off the apron and dove onto Davis, who caught Uemura mid-air. He and Fletcher would then slam Daniels & Uemura into each other, back-first, before dropping them.

The bout moved back into the ring, with Aussie Open now in control of offense. They isolated Daniels near their blue corner and went on the attack with a series of double-team sequences. They held Daniels in a delayed suplex, with Davis passing Daniels off to Fletcher while hanging in the air before dropping him.

At the five-minute mark, Daniels was able to surprise Davis with an inside cradle pin, but Fletcher distracted the referee and couldn’t make the count in time. Daniels later came off the second rope with a frankensteiner from out of nowhere to Fletcher before finally tagging back out to Uemura, who came in as a proverbial house of fire. He planted Mark Davis with a back suplex for a count of two. The crowd got behind Uemura. He low-bridged Davis out of the ring before launching Fletcher with a double-overhook suplex.

Uemura and Daniels would pull off the double-team elevator bulldog on Kyle Fletcher, the same move that the Steiner Brothers used as a finish. It wasn’t enough to put Aussie Open away, though.

Fletcher and Davis would soon take Uemura out with The Dental Plan and a combination spinning Emerald Flowsion + second-rope diving DDT for a close two. The crowd started chanting “This is awesome!”

When Aussie Open went for Coriolis, their finisher, Daniels made the save for Uemura, who escaped the hold and rolled Davis up for a sudden nearfall. Daniels took Fletcher out with an STO before attempting another diving frankensteiner, but Davis blocked it and power bombed the 51-year-old Daniels coming off the top rope.

Aussie Open went for another Dental Plan, but Uemura blocked it, dropkicked Fletcher out of the ring, then caught Davis with a jumping frankensteiner into a cradle pin—the same one he used on TMDK to advance from the semi-finals—but Fletcher made it back into the ring to break up the pin attempt. More than ten minutes had passed by this point.

Mark Davis was finally able to neutralize Uemura, who was on fire, with a jumping enzuigiri kick. Kyle Fletcher followed up with a jumping lariat in the corner, dizzying Uemura. They’d then spike Uemura with Coriolis to put him away; Davis pinned Uemura for three as Fletcher held Daniels from getting back into the ring. Aussie Open are your first-ever STRONG Openweight Tag Team Champions.

Retired NJPW referee Tiger Hattori presented the team with the brand new title belts, which looked to have platinum plates with cerulean blue leather straps.

Backstage after the match, the team spoke about how they’d won the titles despite only being with NJPW Strong for a couple of months. They loudly claimed to be the best in the world and said they’d take on any team at any time, in any place. West Coast Wrecking Crew’s Jorel Nelson apparently heard this and appeared on screen moments later. He told Aussie Open that it was his team, the West Coast Wrecking Crew, that built NJPW Strong’s tag team division, and according to Nelson, that meant that WCWC deserved the first shot at Aussie Open’s new tag championship. Nelson mentioned NJPW Strong’s upcoming Fighting Spirit Unleashed 2022 event in Hollywood, California this month and said that’d be a good place for both teams to square off. After some light jaw-jacking back and forth, Aussie Open agreed to the match, but said they’d still be champions afterwards.

Final thoughts:

While the openers were solid, the main event is the highlight of this week’s show. It was a very good match that highlighted how much of a wrestling wizard Christopher Daniels is while also showcasing both Uemura and Aussie Open as three of the best younger wrestlers in the game at the moment.

NJPW Strong results: Openweight Tag Team tournament begins

Posted on by Justin Knipper

NJPW Strong: Ignition from Hollywood, California kicked off tonight, which featured two first round matches in the STRONG Openweight Tag Team Championship tournament.

Christopher Daniels and announcer Ian Riccaboni appeared at the top of the program to explain Karl Fredericks’ absence from the scheduled Openweight Tag Team Tournament. NJPW aired an angle this year which had Fredericks asking Daniels to be his tag partner in the upcoming tournament.

Daniels explained that with such a high level of talent in the tag tournament, he’d be smart to simply step aside and allow a more established unit to take his and Fredericks’ spot. He also explained that with his 29-year background in wrestling, he also knew that opportunities like this don’t often come by, and that if he’s to win the tournament, he’d need a partner who matched his drive and ambition to win.

Daniels then brought out Yuya Uemura. He told Uemura that he had the same fire and heart as he did, and that together they could surprise many teams and become the inaugural tag team champions. Uemura said “Let’s go!” and the two shook hands. Daniels is masterful at this sort of thing and did a good job of smoothing over loose ends. Simple, short, and effective.

STRONG Openweight Tag Team Championship, Round 1: Christopher Daniels & Yuya Uemura defeated The Factory (Nick Comoroto & Aaron Solo) w/ QT Marshall to advance to the semi-finals

Good opener. The crowd loved Daniels & Uemura and loved to hate The Factory. The heel team were in control early. Daniels took a beating for a bit, but when the five-minute call sounded, he was able to power up and tag out to a fresh Uemura, who re-entered the ring afire with forearms. He has a great-looking flying forearm a la Tito Santana. Uemura landed a running bulldog on Solo, which the crowd loved. He earned a close near-fall after a back suplex, but Comoroto rushed in to break up the pin. He beat on Uemura despite being the illegal man.

Uemura tagged out to Daniels and they double-teamed “The Freak Beast,” Comoroto. When Comoroto ran towards the two, Daniels low-bridged him, pulling the top rope down and letting Comoroto spill out onto the floor. The stocky Uemura followed up with a huge pescado out onto Comoroto.

Inside the ring, Daniels caught Solo with a standing uranage and pinned him after a picturesque double-jump moonsault for the win. Daniels & Uemura advance to the semi-finals of the tag tournament.

JONAH defeated Taylor Rust

Rust had trouble with JONAH’s size early on. He tried chopping him down with low kicks as they circled each other. Despite JONAH’s positioning as heel, the crowd clearly preferred JONAH to Rust, who would crush Rust with a running avalanche a few minutes into this. Rust countered quickly and continued working over JONAH’s legs. JONAH answered back with a buckle bomb.

A fan began chanting “N-X-T!” at JONAH, who pointed at the fan and took a few steps. His response is hard to catch on the broadcast, but inside the venue, it was clear as crystal: “That 2.0 s*** sucks.” The crowd went wild for the line and began chanting “JO-NAH!” over and over.

JONAH blasted Rust with chops out on the floor. Rust threw a few shots in return, but JONAH stayed in control. Back in the ring, JONAH leveled Rust with a back elbow.

After around five minutes of action, the pace began to slow, with JONAH neutralizing Rust on the mat, squeezing him with a waistlock. JONAH went for a splash but Rust moved. He caught JONAH with a scissor kick. JONAH answered with a fireman’s carry throw. Rust would lay JONAH out moments later with a Samoan drop of his own, where he carried JONAH from the corner to the middle of the ring. Rust is damn strong. He followed up with a super-shallow swanton bomb for two.

Rust would ground & pound JONAH with elbows and kicks before locking him in a modified Rings of Saturn submission. JONAH earned a rope break, and both were back to their feet. They traded big strikes. JONAH caught Rust with a lariat, then wrecked him with a spear before squashing him with a splash off the top rope for the win. JONAH remains undefeated in NJPW Strong.

STRONG Openweight Tag Team Championship, Round 1: TMDK (Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls) defeated West Coast Wrecking Crew (Jorel Nelson & Royce Isaacs) to advance to the semi-finals

This was very good. I don’t believe Haste & Nicholls have appeared together as a single unit for a long time, maybe since their time together in NXT.

Nelson and Nicholls started things off. Nelson whipped his t-shirt at Haste, who was standing on the apron in the red corner. Since both teams play heel, I liked how Riccaboni described them as having different momentums. They do work different styles, with TMDK falling more on the high octane, high impact side, while WCWC prefers to slowly tenderize their opponents before putting them away with impressive double-team finishes.

Haste landed a nice Japanese-style armdrag. Nelson eventually out-powered Haste and slammed him into the blue corner before tagging Isaacs into the match. Isaacs held Haste in a delayed vertical suplex position for over 20 seconds before dropping him. He and Nelson then flexed for the crowd in celebration.

WCWC trapped Haste in the corner and picked him apart, pounding and stomping away. Isaacs landed a backbreaker and Nelson went in for the pin, but only for two. Later, he caught Haste with a jumping knee, then climbed to the top rope. Before he could dive, a reanimated Shane Haste dashed up to the second rope and launched Nelson with a single-arm suplex.

Isaacs and Nicholls were tagged back into the match after this. They duked it out for a few, but Isaacs would tag Nelson back in, and WCWC then laid Nicholls out with a suplex-power bomb combination for a two-count on Nicholls.

When Jorel Nelson went for a German suplex, Nicholls countered and spiked Nelson with a DDT before tagging Haste back in. Haste landed a pretty dropkick on Nelson before crashing into both members of WCWC with a leg lariat in the corner. Nicholls then powerslammed Isaacs and stayed on top of him so that Haste could launch himself off of Nicholl’s back for a cannonball into the corner onto Nelson.

TMDK connected with the Tank Buster on Nelson, but Isaacs rushed in for the save. WCWC took Nicholls out with a double-team Dominator-facebuster combo.

Isaacs caught Haste in the corner and flung him off with a spinning avalanche powerslam. Nelson followed that up with a nice diving elbow drop.

WCWC called for the finish, but when Nelson bounced off the ropes, Nicholls yanked Nelson out of the ring by his ankles, then served him a lariat on the floor. In the ring, Haste blasted Isaacs with a high roundhouse kick. TMDK then put him away with Hell in the Elevator for the win. TMDK advances to the semi-finals.

Final thoughts:

Yet another solid, watchable episode of NJPW Strong that lasted under an hour.

Next week sees Stray Dog Army (Barrett Brown & Misterioso) vs. The Midnight Heat (Eddie Pearl & Ricky Gibson) and The Dark Order (Evil Uno & Alan Angels) vs. Aussie Open (Mark Davis & Kyle Fletcher) as the STRONG Openweight Tag Team tournament continues. 

NJPW Strong results: Bullet Club vs. Team Ishii

Posted on by Justin Knipper

Tonight saw the first episode from NJPW Strong’s Collision tapings in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Killer Kross defeated Yuya Uemura via TKO

It should be noted that the English commentary track for this match was heavily distorted and pretty much unlistenable throughout. It sounded like the broadcast team’s track was out of sync which created a bizarre echo on the commentary track, like the live audio was out of phase with whatever post-production commentary track they used.

Uemura was fearless as he went at Kross at the start of the match. He was able to wrestle him to the mat and maintain some control upfront. Uemura went into open guard with his back to the mat as Kross stood over him trying to get his hands on the wily newcomer. Kross threatened a closed-fist punch but then thought against it and invited Uemura back to his feet to fight.

Uemura slapped Kross in the corner. Kross responded with a release German suplex, planting him on the mat. Uemura later landed a nice dropkick, then put Kross in an armbar. He later earned a two-count for a bridging German suplex of his own.

When Kross put his hand around Uemura’s throat, Uemura grabbed Kross’ wrist and wrenched it down. He again locked in an armbar and transitioned to a triangle choke. Kross used a Rampage Bomb to free himself from Uemura’s hold. The crowd started chanting for Uemura. Kross decked him with a lariat and went for a cover. Kross was nonchalant as he pinned Uemura, so Uemura was able to kick out. Kross then power bombed Uemura, then lifted him into a fireman’s carry and back suplexed him. The crowd chanted “YU-YA!” over and over.

The finish saw Kross catch Uemura in the back of the head with a running elbow, The Quickening, which knocked Ueumura out. Kross pounced on Uemura and continued landing elbows to the back of Uemura’s head until the referee stepped in to stop the match; Kross is your winner via technical knockout.

Karl Fredericks defeated QT Marshall (w/ The Factory)

The commentary track audio issues in the first match seemed to be resolved for this match.

Fredericks blasted Marshall with a John Woo dropkick right before the bell, knocking Marshall into the corner. Fredericks has been having issues with The Factory ever since he denied Marshall’s invitation into the group, so tonight he was fired up. Marshall escaped to the floor but Fredericks chased after him. They went back and forth, both in and out of the ring. Fredericks dove through the ropes onto Marshall, but then, behind referee Jeremy Marcus’ back, Factory member Nick Comoroto laid Fredericks out. When Marcus noticed Fredericks had been laid out, he went to the floor and ejected both Comoroto and Aaron Solow from ringside.

At one point, Marshall did a handspring enzuigiri kick that seemed to shock the crowd. Fredericks later came back and landed a high jumping elbow drop and later a spinebuster on Marshall. When Fredericks went for a cross body-block, Marshall caught him in mid-air, then put him down with a backbreaker-flatliner combination. The crowd’s reaction? A “YOU STILL SUCK!” chant.

Marshall called for the Diamond Cutter, but Fredericks avoided it. Marshall used a pop-up punch and a Liger Bomb on Fredericks for two.

When the ten-minute call sounded, it was Fredericks who came out victorious, putting Marshall away with the Manifest Destiny DDT for the win.

Afterwards, Marshall offered a handshake, but before Fredericks could do anything, The Factory went after Fredericks, attacking him until someone in a black hood made the save, taking out The Factory and sticking a double-jump moonsault on Solow before revealing himself to be Christopher Daniels. The crowd was shocked and chanted “HOLY SH*T!’ Daniels had a singles match with Fredericks on an episode of Strong this year and told Fredericks that he’d earned Daniels’ respect and would watch his back. The two shook hands and celebrated before heading to the back.

Bullet Club (Jay White, Juice Robinson, Hikuleo, Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows) defeated Team Ishii (Tomohiro Ishii, Rocky Romero, Mascara Dorada, Chuck Taylor & Ren Narita)

Dorada and Anderson kicked things off. Anderson caught Dorada with a couple hard shots, but Dorada was back in the game quickly, planting Anderson face-first into the mat with an inverted slingblade before walking up the ropes and taking Anderson out with a springboard dropkick.

Ishii and Gallows were in together next. The size disparity between these two made for a great visual. Ishii went for a suplex but Gallows reversed it, then tagged in Juice Robinson, who’d just won the IWGP US title the night before. He and Narita had a good exchange before Robinson tagged Jay White in, with White continuing to work over Narita. Hikuleo tagged in next and blasted Narita with a loud chop. Gallows tagged in and dropped an elbow. They essentially trapped Narita in the blue corner, but he kept fighting back regardless of the abuse. He caught White in a rear naked choke and got his hooks in between White’s thighs, his whole body clinging to White. White quickly crashed himself and Narita into the corner, with Narita getting the worst of it. Robinson came in next, but Narita was able to escape and tagged out to a fresh Chuck Taylor. He did a somersault senton over the top rope and onto the floor, taking out both Robinson and Anderson.

Rocky Romero appeared late in the match, at one point using a ton of Forever Clotheslines in each corner to various prone members of Bullet Club, but it quickly turned into a 5-on-1 situation when BC cleared the ring and went after Romero.

We saw fast action in the last few minutes of the match. A bit later, Ishii was able to block Anderson & Gallows giving him the Magic Killer, then was able to take the much larger Doc Gallows down with a brainbuster. Hikuleo appeared and blasted Ishii with a big boot. Dorada reappeared and caught Hikuleo out with a springboard dropkick. Dorada again climbed the ropes—he does this without using his hands, by the way—and did a flipping senton to the floor, crash-landing onto four members of Bullet Club.

Back in the ring, Romero cradled Hikuleo for a close two-count. Hikuleo then caught Romero coming off the ropes and put him down with a big snap powerslam, then put him away after massive chokeslam. Bullet Club are your winners.

Bullet Club went after Romero after the match. Ishii and Narita tried making the save, but there were too many BC bodies in the ring for them to handle. Dorada came in later too, but met the same fate. The fisticuffs continued while the timekeeper kept ringing the bell. White laid Ishii out with a Bladerunner before rolling him out of the ring. Bullet Club celebrated their win and Robinson’s IWGP US Championship from the previous night before heading to the back.

Final thoughts:

This was a good show with an enthusiastic crowd. The main event was a full-on buildup to NJPW’s Dominion card in Osaka, Japan, which has IWGP World Heavyweight champion and CHAOS member Kazuchika Okada taking on Jay White in the main event. 

NJPW Strong results: Team Filthy six-man tag

Posted on by Justin Knipper

Bullet Club (Hikuleo & Chris Bey) Stray Dog Army (Bateman & Barrett Brown)

Brown and Bey were first for their teams. They locked up but neither could gain the upper hand. After a stalemate, Bey threw up the Too Sweet gesture and asked if Brown wanted in Bullet Club. Brown flipped him off instead. From here, they kicked their exchange into full gear, running the ropes, trading headscissors and chops.

Later, the two taller teammates, Bateman and Hikuleo, squared off. Bateman tried chopping Hikuleo down with elbows, but Hikuleo wouldn’t budge. He sent Bateman flying with a shoulder block. When the match spilled to the floor, Hikuleo hoisted Bateman up and dropped him throat-first into the guardrail with snake eyes.

Bey tagged himself in back in the ring. Hikuleo looked annoyed by that, continuing the storyline between Hikuleo and the Bullet Club.

Bey used a variety of submissions on Bateman, taking the taller Bateman off his feet and neutralizing him in the center of the ring. When the ten-minute call sounded, Bateman was able to slam Bey into the corner post, breaking a sleeper, and eventually tagged out to a fresh Barrett Brown, who cleaned house.

Hikuleo and Bateman got into it a few moments later. Chris Bey low bridged Bateman over the ropes onto the floor, then dived onto him with a tope con giro. In the ring, Brown tried coming off the top rope, but Hikuleo shut it down. He finished Brown off with a massive chokeslam to pick up the win for Bullet Club.

Bey tried celebrating with Hikuleo after the match, but the big man wasn’t having it as he was still sore over G.O.D.’s fresh removal from Bullet Club.

JONAH defeated Blake Christian

Speaking of JONAH, the “Top Dog” just recently left IMPACT Wrestling.

Christian went in for a double-leg early on, but JONAH peeled Christian off and placed him on the apron. Back in the ring, Christian tried flipping and weaving out of JONAH’s way in an attempt to find an opening or at least tire JONAH out, but to no avail. JONAH press slammed Christian, then dropped him onto the guardrail before throwing him back in the ring for more punishment.

Chrisitian came back and connected with a tornado DDT before diving onto JONAH with a Fosbury Flop to the floor. No luck on the Flop, though, since JONAH caught him mid-air. Christian did, however, get himself out of the pickle by using yet another swinging DDT on JONAH, this time onto the floor. Christian then scored a nearfall with a springboard 450. Christian flew off the ropes again, but this time JONAH caught him flush with a cross body-block. He then power bombed Christian onto the Lion Mark logo, then squashed him with the Bam Bam Bigelow-style diving splash for an emphatic finish, which woke up the crowd.

Team Filthy (Tom Lawlor, Royce Isaacs & JR Kratos) defeated Fred Rosser, Alex Coughlin and The DKC

“Why are they so small?!” Kevin Kelly exclaimed. He was referring to Team Filthy, who decided to wear tiny sombreros to the ring for this match. The Three Filthy Amigos.

Coughlin and Kratos got into each other’s faces during the ring announcements before the match. When things got underway, it looked as though Rosser and Isaacs would start the match off for their teams, but before they could lock up, JR Kratos dashed to the opposite corner and ambushed Coughlin. Rosser saw what happened, so instead of locking up with Isaacs, he enacted some tit for tat action and bashed “Filthy” Tom off the apron. The match immediately turned into a scene of bedlam, with bodies flying everywhere, both in and out of the ring.

When the match settled back into the ring, Coughlin laid Isaacs out with a gutwrench suplex. Coughlin tagged out to Rosser, who tenderized Isaacs with a series of forearms, but Isaacs returned fire with a capture suplex. He tagged Lawlor into the match next. Lawlor did the Filthy Strut before working Rosser over in the corner. Team Filthy would take turns beating on Rosser, each tagging in and out. Rosser was able to muscle out of the blue corner, lay Lawlor and Isaacs out with a double lariat, and finally tag out to the DKC.

DKC was fired up when he got back into the ring, but Kratos steamrolled him within seconds, total kibosh. He flattened the DKC with a lariat, and later launched him with a vertical suplex. Lawlor and Isaacs would come into the ring and Team Filthy posed over a dazed DKC.

Kratos tagged Lawlor in. His plan to take advantage of a helpless DKC backfired when Rosser decided to drag Lawlor out of the ring by his ankles. Rosser planted him with a falling backdrop on the apron after whipping him into the barricade outside the ring.

Back in the ring, Kratos and Coughlin finally had their chance to go at it one-on-one. Coughlin tried lifting Kratos in a fireman’s carry, but no dice. Their fight went onto the floor next, while the DKC chopped up a storm back in the ring. He likes to do a spot where he takes a prone opponent, lies them back-first across his knee, then proceeds to shout “DKC FIRE!” before furiously chopping the opponent in the throat with knife-edged karate chops. He did DKC Fire to both Lawlor and Isaacs, but earned only a two when he pinned Lawlor.

Lawlor came back and slammed the DKC into his team’s corner, but when he and Isaacs went for a double-team gutbuster type move, the DKC slipped out of Isaac’s clutch and Isaacs’ ended up coming face-down onto Lawlor’s knees. The DKC then took Lawlor out with a Liu Kang-style jump kick.

When the DKC went to the top rope, Lawlor climbed up from behind him and slapped on a sleeper. This gave Isaacs a chance to grab the DKC and take him out with a spinning avalanche powerslam for the win.

Right after the match, Fred Rosser got on the mic and said when he challenged Tom Lawlor in Florida for his STRONG Openweight championship, Lawlor just walked away “like a little bitch.” On this night in Texas, he demanded a shot at Lawlor’s title. Lawlor said that his answer again was “no.”

But then Lawlor said he was feeling generous. He asked if Rosser was “feeling ready for primetime,” a subtle dig at Rosser’s time in WWE as part of the Primetime Players tag team. He asked if Rosser would show up, or would he prove to Lawlor that he’s the same guy he was ten years ago. He then offered Rosser a shot at the STRONG Openweight title, with the caveat being he must beat both Royce Isaacs and Isaacs’ tag team partner, Jorel Nelson, in a handicap match at NJPW Strong: Mutiny in Hollywood. Lawlor said he wasn’t worried, though, because he believed that still, even after a handicap match, his answer to Rosser would be “no.”

Final thoughts:

Tonight’s NJPW Strong was solid fare, as usual. It was more focused on storytelling and prolonged angles, like the story between Hikuleo and Bullet Club and the continuation of the Fred Rosser vs. Team Filthy feud.

Next week sees the first episode from NJPW Strong’s Mutiny tapings from Hollywood.

WWE 205 Live results: Kushida vs. Damon Kemp

Posted on by Chick Fritts

Brooks Jensen defeated Bodhi Hayward

Jenson has decided to wrestle in blue jeans, along with a giant belt buckle and cowboy boots, just in case there was any illusion of subtlety in his character. This was a cute little match with a cute little finish.

After a chain wrestling sequence, Bodhi landed an arm drag, opening Jensen up to a handful of standing splashes. Jensen reversed momentum with an arm drag of his own before landing some strikes. Jensen locked in a choke that acted as a catalyst to Bodhi’s comeback. Bodhi landed a bunch of strikes and tackles. Bodhi was setting up for a final blow, but Jensen caught him with a knee to end the match.

Kacy Catanzaro and Kayden Carter defeated Fallon Henley and Lash Legend

This was a pretty by-the-book tag match.

The match began with Legend throwing Catanzaro across the ring. Carter tried helping Catanzaro in overwhelming Legend, but was unsuccessful as Legend soon was in complete control.

Henley was able to maintain her team’s lead for a while, but eventually, Catanzaro got the hot tag. Legend tagged in, but was unable to stop Catanzaro’s momentum. Carter held Legend in place as Catanzaro landed a nice splash, leading to the pinfall victory.

Brooks Jensen and Josh Briggs were dancing outside of the ring after the finish.

Kushida defeated Damon Kemp

I liked this quite a bit for what it was. Simple and to the point as both men pulled off a nice, focused match.

Kemp opened the match by shooting on Kushida, resulting in an early toss. Kemp didn’t follow up, allowing Kushida to start the ground game following a quick transition. Kushida paid close attention to Kemp’s arm, but eventually Kemp used his strength to regain control.

A German suplex from Kemp was followed with hesitation due to his damaged arm. Kushida was able to take the lead back quickly and maintained it by working on Kemp’s arm again. Kushida fought out of a fireman’s carry and transitioned into an armbar resulting in the submission.






















ROH TV results: Tag Team titles on the line

Posted on by Skylar Russell

Quinn McKay joined us from the ROH studio and ran down the card for this week’s show which featured an eight-man tag between The Foundation and the team of Taylor Rust, Eli Isom, Joe Keys and World Famous CB as well as an ROH Tag Team title bout between current champion Dragon Lee and Kenny King vs. S.O.S (Moses and Kaun). 

ROH World Tag Team Champions La Facción Ingobernable (Dragon Lee & Kenny King) defeated S.O.S (Moses and Kaun) to retain (12:53)

This was a really fun match and although it would have been even better with a crowd, both teams came out of it looking strong. 

The champions immediately retreated from the ring as the bell rang, making Moses and Kaun look strong. Lee eventually climbed in the ring and went face to face with Moses. S.O.S were able to throw Lee out of the ring and isolate King going into a commercial break. 

After the break, S.O.S were still in full control but working over Lee instead of King. Kaun had positioned Lee on the apron for a suplex, but King was able to grab his foot and turn the move in Lee’s favor. 

Lee and King kept the momentum after that, taking turns isolating Kaun. Moses was finally able to get the tag, coming in and clearing house. 

The finish of the match saw Bestia Del Ring come down to the ring to distract referee Todd Sinclair right before he was about to count the pin after S.O.S’s finishing maneuver. Shane Taylor came down to run off Bestia, but due to the referee’s distraction, King poked Kaun in the eye and hit a Royal Flush. Lee followed it up with his Incinerator knee strike and the duo pinned Kaun for the win to retain the belts.

The Foundation (Jay Lethal, Jonathan Gresham, Rhett Titus and Tracy Williams) defeated Eli Isom, Joe Keys, Taylor Rust and World Famous CB (17:50)

This was a fine way to showcase the Pure division wrestlers in ROH, but it went way too long. 

Williams and Rust started off. Both teams took turns sending different competitors in the match, wrestling for a few seconds and then tagging out. Isom and Lethal had the longest exchange, which played mostly throughout a commercial break. 

Stories developed as the match went on with Gresham and Keys going at it with a “teacher vs. student” dynamic. Keys got Gresham off his game ever so slightly which sent the match into another gear. 

The constant tags continued, but became one-sided as Rust began isolating Lethal and tagging in and out. Once Isom came in, Lethal was able to fight back and made the hot tag to Williams while Isom tagged out to CB. 

Williams planted CB with a doctor bomb, shifting the control of the match towards The Foundation. It didn’t last for long as Rust came in and began to target Titus, including hitting his Perfect Circle neckbreaker. 

The finish of the match saw more chaos, but it came down to Gresham and Keys. Gresham took a few clotheslines and suplexes from Keys which resulted in a very good near fall. Gresham was able to catch Keys in a moment of rest and twisted the leg, turning it into a drop toehold lock which Keys eventually succumbed to. 

The show ended with a Vincent vignette. The video didn’t contain much meaningful dialogue, but it seems like Vincent will be joining the division soon.

Next Week:

  • Rhett Titus vs. Tony Deppen 
  • Chris Dickinson and Brody King vs. Jonathan Gresham and Tracy Williams 
  • Homicide vs. Jay Lethal

Final Thoughts: 

This week’s episode of ROH TV featured two fun matches, but the length of both were questionable. Due to ROH’s TV format, though, these matches often tend to run a bit longer than they should.

Final Battle is nearing closer and closer, so I expect some storylines for that show to begin advancing soon.

In recent weeks, I have introduced a scale (Must Watch TV, Go Out of Your Way, Recommended Viewing, YouTube clips, Avoid at all Costs) in order to let you know if the current week of TV is worth your while. This week’s episode of ROH TV falls under Recommended Viewing.

ROH TV results: Brody King vs. Lethal vs. Kenny King vs. Taylor

Posted on by Skylar Russell

Quinn McKay welcomed us to the show and ran down the card for tonight’s show. McKay promoted a “protege vs. mentor” match between Brian Johnson and PJ Black, as well as a four corners survival match between Brody King, Jay Lethal, Kenny King and Shane Taylor. 

Brian Johnson defeated PJ Black in a Pure Rules match (10:58)

Black and Johnson exchanged some mat wrestling in the early stages of the bout, but Black was able to come out on top and take control in the match. 

Johnson would eventually escape from the clutches of Black by using his first rope break. Johnson rolled to the outside and looked to catch a breather, but was met with a dive from Black. 

After a short commercial break, the broadcast returned as Johnson was in a cradle submission. Johnson immediately used his second rope break as Black taunted. 

In the final stages of the match, Johnson and Black traded multiple chops and strikes. Black grabbed Johnson by the beard and suplexed him before following it up with a springboard splash. Once Black went to attempt the pin, Johnson used his third and final rope break. Black tried to capitalize on a weary Johnson, but was met with an eye poke and Johnson’s signature “The Process” neckbreaker which resulted in a pin. 

Brody King defeated Jay Lethal, Kenny King, and Shane Taylor (9:21)

Lethal and Brody started the match. Brody attempted to use the same strategy that he beat Lethal with previously, but was met with a fire of rapid defense from the former ROH World Champion. 

Taylor tagged himself in and had a short exchange with Lethal, which resulted in him hurting his leg. Kenny tagged himself in and squared off with Lethal. Kenny replicated a few of Lethal’s signature maneuvers, including his signature cartwheel dropkick.

Kenny was still in full control of the match after a commercial break. Brody came in for Lethal and exchanged frying pan chops with Kenny, before Kenny was able to slip to the outside and hit a blockbuster neckbreaker on Brody. 

Kenny went for a running maneuver but Taylor tripped him up, allowing Brody to clothesline him. Taylor tagged himself in and went face to face with Brody. Taylor clocked Brody with a devastating forearm that sent him reeling to the outside, which allowed Kenny to slip in the ring and try to take advantage of a distracted Taylor. 

Kenny was able to lift up Taylor for a blue thunder bomb, to which Brody came in and picked the bones. Brody threw out Kenny and hit Taylor with a clothesline on the jaw, which allowed him to pick up the win. 

Final Thoughts: Both matches on this week’s ROH TV were good matches that had purpose behind them. Black/Johnson was good and advanced the storyline of Johnson joining the Pure division. The four way match was also good for a few reasons, including Taylor getting his hands on Kenny King (but not too much) and despite losing the match, getting some shine. It seems as if the company is building to a Bandido/Brody King match, which should be really good.

Weekly ROH TV (along with MLW and a few others) proves week in and week out that one hour wrestling shows are the best. 

In recent weeks I’ve introduced a scale in order to let you know if the current week of TV is worth your while. The scale is as followed:

  • Must Watch TV
  • Go Out Of Your Way
  • Recommend Viewing
  • Watch YouTube Clips
  • Avoid At All Costs

This week’s episode of ROH TV is: Recommended Viewing

PWG Threemendous VI results: Bandido vs. Davey Richards

Posted on by Bryan Rose

PWG returned to the Globe Theater in Los Angeles, California for tonight’s Threemendous VI event.

New Tag Team Champions were crowned, as Brody King and Malakai Black defeated Black Taurus and Flamita for the titles. In the main event, Bandido successfully retained the PWG Championship against Davey Richards. Alex Shelley earned a future PWG World Championship match, pinning Jonathan Gresham in the undercard.

Here are the full results from tonight’s show:

AEW’s Chuck Taylor joined Excalibur on commentary.

Evil Uno defeated Tony Deppen

Uno won following a piledriver and a twisting inverted vertebreaker.

Dragon Lee defeated Aramis

Lee won after a piledriver into a running knee.

Alex Shelley defeated Jonathan Gresham in a number one contender’s match

Shelley won after submitting Gresham with the Rings of Saturn. As a result, Shelley is the new number one contender for the PWG World title.

Jack Cartwheel, Dante Martin, and Alex Zayne defeated Lee Moriarty, Trey Miguel, and Myron Reed

Cartwheel won the match for his team following a red arrow.

JD Drake defeated AJ Gray

Drake won following a top rope moonsault.

Brody King and Malakai Black defeated Black Taurus and Flamita for the vacant PWG World Tag Team titles

King pinned Flamita with a piledriver to win the titles.

Bandido defeated Davey Richards to retain the PWG World Championship.

PWG resumed shows starting last month when they ran their Mystery Vortex VI event.

WWE Main Event results: Ricochet vs. Alexander, Gulak vs. Garza

Posted on by James Cox

The first post-ThunderDome Main Event was immediately improved by having fans in attendance.

Angel Garza defeated Drew Gulak (5:18)

Garza got a great reaction and the fans were into this match throughout. Kevin Patrick noted that he was in front of his home fans here tonight in Dallas, Texas. His connection with the live audience proved once more that he’s really wasted on Main Event every week. He relates well as a babyface or a heel simply because he has tons of charisma and talent.

They went back and forth, but went to cover attempts pretty quickly and it became all action from there. Gulak had two or three two counts before Garza ducked a clothesline and used a German suplex for a near fall.

Gulak used a cloverleaf but it was all for naught at as Garza finished him off with the Wing Clipper to leave Gulak with only three wins to his name in 2021.

This wasn’t much of an opener, but like everything at the moment, it was infinitely better for being live in front of human beings.

Ricochet defeated Cedric Alexander (6:14)

Ricochet was absolutely awesome at Money in the Bank and literally a day later at the Raw taping, they demote him back to Main Event. And once again he killed it, so what does the guy have to do? You really have to wonder.

As you may have seen, the finish to this one included a pretty incredible looking canadian destroyer that did the rounds on social media this week.

Before that, though, it was a solid match that went through a commercial break. Ricochet was hugely over in what Patrick told us was their first match in ten months. Given that they worked so well together, that’s pretty impressive.

In the end, Alexander looked like he was on his way to a victory as he used a couple of power moves for close near falls. Ricochet eventually elbowed his way out of a Lumbar Check attempt and then countered with the aforementioned destroyer.

Ricochet got the win with the Recoil and the crowd counted along with the pin to make him look like a star when he got his hand raised. They need to do this again next week because Alexander isn’t being used for anything useful at all right now.

Final Thoughts:

All the better for being taped in front of fans, of course, but there was still nothing especially noteworthy this week. Ricochet was the star again and he and Alexander can wrestle every week for all I care, but you have wonder when Ricochet will run out of patience. 

NJPW Strong results: Josh Alexander debuts

Posted on by Justin Knipper

Josh Alexander defeated Alex Coughlin

IMPACT’s Josh Alexander made his NJPW Strong debut tonight in a great opener with Young Lion Alex Coughlin.

Alexander went for a single-leg takedown early. The two grappled in the middle of the ring for the first few minutes. Coughlin had Alexander in a tight headlock but Alexander was able to maneuver his way out of it and whip Coughlin into the ropes. He chopped Coughlin as he was coming off the ropes, but the Young Lion wasn’t phased at all. He continued to run the ropes, then shoulder blocked Alexander out of the ring. Alexander returned fire later, nailing Coughlin with a low running cross-body block that knocked him off the apron and back to the floor.

The five-minute call was made as the two were exchanging brutal chops in the red corner. Coughlin sold his own arm after unloading about a dozen chops on Alexander, but while he had his back turned, Alexander kept Couglin’s leg and took him on the mat with an ankle lock. Coughlin escaped, then used a very high-angle German suplex that put Alexander down head-and-shoulder first.

When both were back to their feet, they exchanged elbows. Coughlin put Alexander down with a flying shoulder tackle off the ropes. He then used a series of impressive gutwrench suplexes, but on the last one, Alexander was able to break his fall and slide back into the ankle lock submission he had on Coughlin moments earlier. Coughlin escaped using a variation of a De La Riva sweep that he turned into a single-leg crab.

Alexander came close to winning with a German suplex of his own, earning a close nearfall with that one. Coughlin answered with a hard double-chop and a bridging fall-away slam for a nearfall of his own.

IMPACT’s “Walking Weapon” was able to sink in the ankle lock again. Ten minutes had elapsed by this point. Coughlin tried to wheelbarrow suplex himself out of danger, but Alexander blocked and put him back into the ankle hold, but it wasn’t quite enough to tap Coughlin. Alexander went for his double-underhook piledriver (aka Jaydriller) finish, but Coughlin powered out and reversed it into a bridging suplex hold for two. Alexander then hoisted Coughlin into the double-underhook piledriver and spiked him for the pin. Very good stuff.

Bateman and Barrett Brown defeated Fred Rosser and Adrian Quest

This was a solid tag team match. Brown recently joined up with Bateman. He had Bateman in his corner in his match against Adrian Quest recently, where he won with a bit of help from Bateman. After the match, Fred Rosser offered Adrian Quest a hand if he ever needed help dealing with either Brown or Bateman, and tonight was the pay-off to that mini-storyline they’d built.

Quest used a springboard dropkick on Bateman before tagging out to “Mr. No-Days-Off” Fred Rosser, who laid in a few headbutts upon entrance. Rosser announced that he had officially signed with NJPW this week.

Rosser punched Bateman while he was on the apron. When Rosser went to suplex Brown on the apron, Bateman grabbed Rosser’s ankle which allowed Brown to escape. He’d tag out to Bateman who continued working over Rosser. I imagine these two will have an interesting singles match down the road, as these are two regulars on Strong who bring a distinctly American style of wrestling to the show.

When Quest finally got his hands on Brown, he got right on top of him and tried beating him down like he was in a schoolyard fight. When Quest went to springboard off the ropes next, Brown caught him with a right hook. When he went to suplex Quest on the apron, Rosser appeared and dropped Brown on the apron with a backdrop suplex of his own. Rosser has become this kind of babyface who can bend or break rules and it never comes off as heelish; it feels like genuine retaliation against something and he’s looking for revenge.

Quest scored a nearfall after a standing shooting star press on Brown but Bateman made the save. A minute or so later, when Quest went to the top rope to put Brown away, Bateman yanked on the ropes, which caused Quest to lose his balance. Bateman then scooped Quest up into a tombstone and spiked him for the win in just under ten minutes.

Afterward, Brown celebrated the win outside the ring where it looked like he was doing snow angels. A fiery Rosser and Bateman got into it in the ring. They traded fists before Rosser tried lifting Bateman into a fireman’s carry for his signature gutbuster, but Bateman slipped away before heading to the back.

Backstage, Brown said that the entire NJPW Strong roster was on notice since he and Bateman are now a team. Bateman didn’t like that Rosser had recently called him a bully, but he did enjoy how angry Rosser looked tonight after the match. He said that pain is a teacher and a motivator and that he and Rosser have a lot to teach each other down the road.

Satoshi Kojima defeated JR Kratos

Satoshi Kojima has been surprisingly busy this year, especially as someone celebrating his 30th year in the business. He recently lost to Joe Doering at IMPACT’s Against All Odds pay-per-view, but picked up a win over Rhino on the company’s recent television.

Tonight was Kojima’s second appearance on Strong where took on JR Kratos. According to Kevin Kelly, Kojima has not won a singles match without using a lariat since 2008. That meant that if he were to hit Kratos with a lariat, there’d be a very good chance Kratos would be down for the count.

Kojima tried his best to take Kratos off his feet early. He went after Kratos with shoulder blocks, hard kicks, and some elbows to the head, but Kratos absorbed everything, then knocked Kojima to the floor with a jumping shoulder tackle, similar to what we saw Alex Coughlin do earlier in the night, just from someone twice his size.

Back in the ring, Kratos dropped a big elbow onto Kojima, and later threw him with a gutwrench suplex. Kojima sold as though he’d been hit by a car. Kratos used a vertical suplex that quite literally launched Kojima from one corner of the ring to the other.

Kojima fired off his patented machine-gun chops in the corner, but these didn’t do anything to him. Kratos flipped Kojima into the corner next, then came down hard on Kojima with a huge-double chop, then a series of knife-edged chops and five minutes, not too unlike Genichiro Tenryu. Kojima answered with his own variation of chops and punches. It was only five minutes into the match at this point, too.

Kratos teased suplexing Kojima off the apron to the floor, but Kojima was able to reverse and drop Kratos with a DDT onto the apron. Back in the ring, he came off the top rope with an elbow drop into Kratos’ mid-section. Kratos put Kojima back down with an impressive sit-out chokeslam-powerbomb, then a hanging vertical suplex, but in both instances, he received only two counts. Kojima used a DDT in response, but Kratos got up from it, smiling at Kojima. Kojima DDT’d him again, and again, Kratos was up and smiling back at COZY. After a third DDT, Kojima seemed like he didn’t know what else to do. Kratos then laid him out with a lariat. Both were out for a few moments.

Kojima landed a Koji Cutter at around the ten-minute mark. He struggled but was eventually able to put Kratos down with a big brainbuster, but for two. When Kojima went for his running lariat, Kratos caught Kojima with a jumping knee. Kojima missed on his second lariat attempt, but he caught Kratos flush with the third one, which laid Kratos out completely. Kojima wins, but only by a hair.

Final thoughts:

Tonight’s episode was great. I can’t think of another episode that felt as evolved or as established as tonight’s show, and I say that because everyone who appeared on the show stuck out in one way or another.

Tonight’s opener between Alex Coughlin and IMPACT’s Josh Alexander was excellent, so hopefully either NJPW or IMPACT runs this back soon.

The tag match did a good job at building on the new Bateman/Barrett Brown connection, and it also made for a nice springboard for Fred Rosser’s apparent upcoming match against Bateman. These two in particular have helped give NJPW Strong a much deeper flavor, as both are bringing non-traditional styles into the mix.

The main event delivered as expected, though I didn’t expect Kratos to come off as much of a monster as he did. This match with Kojima tonight really had him feeling like a monster and a legitimate threat to those on the NJPW roster.

Next week sees Karl Fredericks take on “Filthy” Tom Lawlor for the NJPW STRONG Openweight title.

WWE Main Event results: Slapjack vs. Carrillo, Garza vs. Tozawa

Posted on by James Cox

The Big Takeaways:

Slapjack made it two wins in as many weeks with a victory over Humberto Carrillo while Akira Tozawa continued his losing streak with a loss against Angel Garza.

**********

Angel Garza defeated Akira Tozawa (5:05)

It really is about time they pulled the trigger on Garza. He carries himself like a star, looks great and is an excellent in-ring performer. He came out here in a bright red suit, looking every bit like what they had wanted from Alberto Del Rio when he arrived at the company back in 2011.

Garza and Tozawa work really well together, but this wasn’t as good as their December Main Event match. In just over five minutes, they hit a pretty intense pace and was all the better for it. Tozawa managed to lock in his Octopus hold after he connected with a few knees. It’s a move that looks devastating, but thus far is paying no dividends. 

After Garza freed his arm to break the hold, they went back and forth until Tozawa made the charge and got caught in the Wing Clipper. This was perfectly fine for what it was, but these two have had better battles than this.

Slapjack (w/ Mustafa Ali) defeated Humberto Carrillo (7:54)

Another week, another distraction finish win for Slapjack. Last week, Ali helped Slapjack get it done against the aforementioned Tozawa of all people. The fact that they are doing this again so soon is quite the indictment.

Ali is just not at all convincing as a heel. He has all the characteristics and charisma of a babyface with a real-life backstory to boot. Even Ali’s politics are heroic as he defines himself as a man who “represents unity.” Only WWE could mess this up.

This one needed a little light and shade. Carrillo is very good, but the pace was lacking as they locked in holds and did lots of mat work early on. It was at its best in the last few moments.

Slapjack hit a Falcon Arrow for a near fall. Ali shouted “Enough!” from the outside and seemed to be disgusted that Slapjack hadn’t seen it through yet. Carrillo tried to go up to the top rope, but Ali distracted him so that Slapjack could crotch him, taking him down to hit the Snapback for the win.

Final Thoughts:

Main Event was a little tepid and uninspiring this week and some fresh talent wouldn’t go amiss. This show was at its best in the last year when it was used as a platform to trial new faces. NXT or Performance Center roster guys would be a welcome change to Main Event, because otherwise this show serves very little tangible purpose.