On a show that he rarely loses on, Ricochet defeated Gran Metalik before Angel Garza dispensed with Humberto Carrillo in a strong match to close out the show.
**********
Ricochet defeated Gran Metalik (w/ Lince Dorado) (5:50)
Lucha House Party become two when Kalisto was drafted to SmackDown two weeks ago. The stable had had mixed success over the last two years, but were probably due a refresh and reset.
Ricochet’s plight continues as he is regularly relegated to this show despite being one of the most interesting in-ring workers on the active roster. Time will tell whether he is content to wait for his chance.
This was all action as you might expect. There was, however, quite a slow pace by the end as both men looked tired and labored.
In the end, Ricochet looked slightly heelish as he hit a modified suplex, growling and posturing to the crowd. He then hoisted Metalik up and nailed him with the Kick Back for the win.
Angel Garza defeated Humberto Carrillo (8:06)
Since making the move from 205 Live to the Raw roster back in February, Garza has had quite a bit of success. This being only his second appearance on Main Event, it was yet another win for the impressive 28-year-old from Mexico.
In comparison, the wins have really dried up for Carrillo who now finds himself somewhat of a Main Event regular and rather directionless.
They worked beautifully together at times, both generous with each other until they culminated in a nice creative finish where Garza was arguing with the ref over holding the tights.
Carrillo hit a missile dropkick and a crossbody for two near falls, but when Garza rolled him up and held the tights, the referee took issue with it. Garza dodged Carrillo’s attempts to take advantage, nailed him with a superkick, and hit the Wing Clipper for the win.
Final Thoughts:
These were two good matches, but there wasn’t much to go out of your way to find here. Ricochet and Garza should be used better elsewhere, but for now, they are by far the most entertaining thing on Main Event for some time.
Impact Wrestling returns from Nashville, TN to kickoff the semifinals of the Impact World Championship #1 contender’s tournament.
Also tonight, The North will defend the tag team titles against Cody Deaner and a mystery partner at the Deaner Compound.
Tonight’s Impact Wrestling episode is dedicated to Shad Gaspard and Hana Kimura. RIP.
Opening video focused on Moose defending his TNA World championship against Suicide, Ace Austin defeating Rhino, and Elgin defeating Callihan to advance to tonight’s semifinal matches.
Ace Austin defeated Hernandez in an Impact World championship #1 contender semifinal match
This was another speed vs. power match for Ace, he was quick to dodge and run around Hernandez, but Hernandez only needed to get his hands on him to cut him off and throw him around.
Hernandez had started with some momentum, but Ace cut him off with a kick and went after his legs. Hernandez hit a body press slam, blocked a sunset flip, but Ace was quick enough to superkick him, send him to the floor, and follow with a dive, only to get caught by Hernandez.
Ace caught Hernandez coming into the ring and kicked the ropes into his groin to finally cut him off. Hernandez tried to punch Ace away, but Ace kept going after the leg. Ace went for a bodyslam, but he wasn’t able to lift Hernandez, who instead tossed him around with a suplex. Ace went back for the leg instead and stomped around for a while, getting a two count at one point with a running dropkick.
After some more knees and kicks, Hernandez caught Ace with a shoulder tackle and turned the match around. He hit a couple of clotheslines, a corner splash and followed with a backbreaker for a two count.
Hernandez went for the Border Toss, but Ace escaped and clipped the knee of Hernandez. He tried for the Border Toss anyway, but his knee buckled. Ace went for a crossbody, but Hernandez caught him, rocked him like a baby, completely ignoring the knee, and went for a powerbomb, but was countered with a rana for a two count.
Hernandez went for a suplex, but once again, Ace escaped and clipped the knee. This time, Ace hit Hernandez with a reverse DDT and The Fold for the clean win.
Weak match, Ace was great, but Hernandez can’t do much right now. Ace advanced to the finals.
Josh Matthews and Madison Rayne ran down tonight’s card.
We got a video package of someone in a motorcycle, which was the subject of Undertaker references by Cody Deaner, who was getting ready for his match tonight. We saw The North take a limo to the Deaner Compound, making fun of everyone who lives there.
Backstage, Johnny Swinger told Chris Bey that he has his back tonight and he has all the gimmicks in his pocket. Bey just told him to call it in the ring.
Michael Elgin cut a promo saying that last week he beat yet another World Champion, and tonight, he has to take care of Trey Miguel. He told Trey to be serious tonight and not his Treehouse happy-go-lucky self, because Elgin is always serious.
Chris Bey (with Johnny Swinger) defeated Cousin Jake
Commentary explained that Cousin Jake wasn’t at the Deaner Compound because he was stuck in the US.
Lock up to start the match, with Jake having the power advantage, pushing Bey to the corner, and sending him to the other side with a toss. Jake kept hold of Bey’s wrist and hit a couple of short distance Clotheslines. Bey tried to run around, but took a Body Block and Body Slam for a two count.
Jake dropped a knee, and at this point, Bey started dodging Bey, and thanks to Swinger’s distraction, Bey finally connected with a kick and dropkick to take down Jake.
Back from commercial, Bey worked over Cousin Jake with past paced kicks. Bey took time to distract the referee, allowing Swinger to attack Jake.
Cousin Jake eventually fired up and started challenging Bey to hit him. Bey eventually took him down with a kick and got a two count. So much for that approach.
Bey kept these attacks coming for a while, but after missing a standing moonsault, Jake finally got an opening to hit a right hand on Bey and take him down. Cousin Jake hit a series of clotheslines and prepared for one more, but instead caught Bey and hit a screwdriver for a two count.
Jake went for a deadlift powerbomb, but Bey woke up and fought from underneath. He went for a rana, but Jake blocked and went for a powerbomb, only for Bey to reverse it into a Yoshi Tonic. Bey went for another, but this time, Jake connected with a powerbomb for a two count.
Jake hit a corner spear, but Swinger got involved and distracted Jake, who took him out, but the distraction was enough for Bey to hit the Fameasser and the Final Finess for the win. Pretty good sleeper match.
After the match, Swinger and Bey attacked Cousin Jake until Willie Mack came out for the save.
Rohit Raju was interviewed about his future. Rohit asked when he was getting a rematch, but before he continued, Chase Stevens interrupted him. Rohit asked why he was here to take spots in the card and challenged him to a match. Crazy to believe that in 2020, Chase Stevens is becoming a regular.
Kimber Lee defeated Havok by DQ
Kimber Lee, this time around, is definitely playing a bit more heelish on her entrance.
Lee jumped Havok to start the match. She went on a flurry of strikes, but soon enough, Havok got a hold of her and started tossing her around from corner to corner.
Kimber Lee regained control by kicking Havok on her legs and head to bring her down to her knees, and transitioned to a sleeper. Havok started to fade a bit, but Havok then powered up, picked up Lee, and slammed her back-first to the buckle. Havok then hit a huge spinebuster and backbreaker and clothesline combo to take her down. Havok hit a couple of running boots to the corner.
Kimber Lee raked Havok’s eyes and went for the brass knuckles, but Nevaeh finally got in the ring and attacked Kimber Lee, saving Havok from the knockout punch. Havok and Lee have a good chemistry and put a lot of intensity to their work, they could have a great match if given time.
After the match, Havok and Neveah hit a demon drop and cutter double team move.
Backstage, Kiera Hogan and Tasha Steelz bullied Kylie Rae. Susie came out and told Hogan that what she was doing was bad. Hogan and Steelz beat up Rae and Susie, who had some Su Yung flashbacks.
We got another video of The North getting to the compound’s barn and being greeted by some dude that just keeps running. The barn opened and three rednecks welcomed The North in.
Backstage, Joseph P. Ryan asked Jake and Dave Crist to come out with him next to his fight with “Mentally ill” Steve.
Cody Deaner hyped his crew for tonight’s match. The North said the match was a two-on-two and that no other Deaner could get involved, but Cody Deander said that in the compound, everything goes. Cody introduced “Wheels”, his tag team partner.
Impact World Tag Team Champions The North (Ethan Page & Josh Alexander) defeated The Deaners (Cody Deaner & Wheels) to retain their titles
This was a cinematic type of match. It started with all four men brawling around the barn, with the Deaners getting some early advantage over Josh Alexander thanks to the size of Wheel. Afterwards, Cody focused on Josh while Wheels went around ringside beating up Page.
Back in the ring, however, Josh Alexander took control of the match, while Page started to recover by throwing stuff at Wheels.
The match spilled outside where they rammed each other against walls and tossed tractor tires at each other. At one point, The North hit Cody with a double Border Toss from a trailer onto the crowd. Cody later hit a plancha from up top too.
Wheels was tossed through a fence, but later recovered to slam Josh through a car, breaking the windows and all, only getting a two count.
The brawl continued around the farm with tire irons and such, but it eventually built to Josh and Cody brawling up to the top of a cargo container, where Josh hit a piledriver and left Cody for dead. Josh tossed the ladder away to make sure that Cody couldn’t come down.
Page and Josh then double teamed Wheels for a while in the ring, while the rest of the Deaners tried to bring Cody down.
Back in the ring, the referee attacked The North, but failed to land his SSP. Meanwhile, Cody Deaner came back, ran wild over The North and hit the Give’er on Josh for the visual pin, but the referee was down.
The North hit their finisher on Cody, but he rolled out of the ring. Wheels went for a double chokeslam, but the announcer from Battlearts Academy appeared. They low blowed Wheels, revealed his referee t-shirt, and counted the quick pin. This was fun, but nothing special.
The North and company then ran away from an angry mob of rednecks.
TJP and Fallah Bahh were interviewed about The North. TJP said they were still in the northern trail and it was a matter of time before they would get their title match. The Rascalz interrupted them and told them that they JUST them, to which TJP made a challenge for next week for the tie breaker and #1 Contendership match for the tag titles.
Trey Miguel was at the Treehouse when Dezmond and Wentz arrived. Trey was stressing out regarding his match tonight when Moose arrived and gifted Trey with some sweet sunglasses. They asked Moose why he had the TNA title. He said that once Trey wins, maybe he should go after Moose’s title instead of Tessa’s, but they laughed it out. Moose reminded them what happened the last time they made fun of Moose.
Impact Plus Flashback Moment of the Week was Moose vs. Cody Rhodes for the Impact Grand Championship.
We got a vignette for “The Virtuosa” Deonna Purrazzo. Hell of a catch for Impact! She cut a great promo.
Rosemary and John E. Bravo were talking at the bar, Rosemary talked about her history and coming close to getting married. Bravo said that he felt like he had also sold his soul to Taya. They agreed to work together and said that they’d go find a new bar for next week. It just hit me that they’ve been in a crowded bar for weeks.
Matthews and Rayne ran down the card for next week: The Rascalz vs. Bahh and TJP, Joseph P. Ryan vs. Crazzy Steve, Kiera Hogan and Tasha Steelz vs. Susie and Kylie Rae, a Locker Room Talk featuring Chris Bey, and the finals of the #1 contender’s tournament.
Trey Miguel defeated Michael Elgin in an Impact World championship #1 contender semifinal match
This is yet another speed vs. power match up. This time around, they started with some chain wrestling and a short sequence of headlocks and reverses. Elgin had the strength advantage and was really hurting Trey when he got his hands on him, but Trey’s lucha style ranas and arm drags were able to take Elgin out of his element.
Elgin was sent to the floor, but caught Trey Miguels’ dive attempt. Trey went for a second with a moonsault. Once again Elgin caught him, but Trey managed to rebound from the ropes and drop Elgin with a DDT, followed by a split-legged moonsault in the ring for a two count.
Trey hit an elbow on Elgin, but was brought down from the top rope the hard way and hit with a double underhook backbreaker for a two count.
Elgin started punishing Trey with chops and forearms. He whipped Trey around the corners and talked trash to Trey, challenging him to bring it, but Trey couldn’t even take a slap from Elgin. Trey kept trying to come at Elgin, but couldn’t hurt Elgin at all. Elgin kept on with the punishment for a while.
After more strikes from Elgin, Trey finally fired up and started taking Elgin’s punches and pushing back, and eventually released a flurry of attacks, going after Elgin’s jaw.
Elgin went for a powerbomb, but was blocked by Trey and taken down by a low kick. Elgin went for a pop-up powerbomb, but Trey reversed into a meteora on the spot, finally bringing down Elgin.
Back from commercial, Trey had started gaining momentum with kicks, scoring a two count with a Pele Kick. Elgin hit a cutter and stormbreaker for a two count. Elgin went for short distance clotheslines, but Trey kept trying to strike back. Elgin started striking down Trey, but the latter managed to start superkicking Elgin and connected with a Yoshi Tonic. Elgin simply rebounded into a sliding lariat. Elgin went for a suplex, but Trey reversed into a Stunner, again, only for Elgin to rebound from the ropes with a Lariat, turning Trey around.
Trey hit his second wind and delivered three Superkicks, a Foot stomp, and a low Cutter for a two count. Trey was crying out of desperation at this point.
Trey went for the third rope, but was stopped by Elgin, who went for the Green Bay Plunge, but Trey blocked and went for the rana. Elgin blocked, but Trey managed to gain momentum and land it.
Trey went for a poison rana, but Elgin blocked and hit a release German suplex instead for a two count. Elgin went for a deadlift superplex, but Trey fought off and hit another meteora for a two count. Trey went for another meteora, but Elgin caught him with a powerbomb.
Elgin hit a huge lariat for another two count, and Elgin is now the one getting desperate. He went for the buckle bomb, but was interrupted by Sami Callihan, who hacked the screen and lighting of the venue. Thanks to the distraction, Trey recovered, rolled over Elgin, and picked up the upset win of the year.
That result officially makes it Ace Austin vs. Trey Miguel next week in the tournament finals.
After the match, Elgin threw a fit and trashed his surroundings as the show closed.
Final thoughts:
Ok show. Two really good matches, and a couple of storyline developments as they start to build the upcoming programs for the future.
Episode 22 (taped November 25, 2018 at the Liverpool Olympia in Liverpool, England)
Quick recap:
Toni Storm beat Deonna Purrazzo in a good opener, gearing up for her upcoming championship match against Rhea Ripley. The champ came out afterwards to stare Toni down. Wild Boar beat Josh Morrell in a short match. Eddie Dennis and Dave Mastiff brawled to a double DQ, so Johnny Saint booked them in a No-DQ match for the upcoming NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool.
In the main event segment, WWE UK Champion Pete Dunne and Joe Coffey signed the contract for their upcoming match at TakeOver. After “talking to much” (according to Pete Dunne), Coffey got his fingers snapped but had the last laugh as he power bombed Dunne through the table in the ring and posed with the championship. All six members of British Strong Style and Gallus will meet next week, leading up to TakeOver.
Full rundown:
Toni Storm beat Deonna Purrazzo in 9:25 after Storm Zero
Toni took Donna down and locked in a guillotine, followed by a waist lock and Toni was victorious in a battle of hold and counter holds, then offered her hand to Deonna. Deonna then managed to escape head scissors by Toni via a headstand and refused to shake Toni’s hand afterwards. Toni hit a spin kick, followed by a running basement dropkick for a quick two count.
Toni locked in a combo STF/chin lock but Deonna made the ropes. Toni missed her running hip attack and Deonna started working over Toni’s left arm. Deonna eventually hit an STO and locked in a Koji Clutch, but Toni managed to turn it into a pinning combination. Toni eventually managed to stop Deonna’s momentum with a backstabber, but Purrazzo managed to stop a Storm Zero attempt, but got flattened after a head butt.
Deonna escaped Storm Zero once more, hit a back flip followed by a drop kick and locked in the Fujiwara arm bar until Toni finally managed to reach the ropes with her legs. They had a battle of chops and forearms until Toni managed to escape another Fujiwara arm bar attempt, hit a release German suplex and Storm Zero for the win.
Rhea Ripley came out after the match, got on the apron, stared Toni down and held the NXT UK Women’s Championship right in front of her.
A short video on WIld Boar aired.
Radzi interviewed Sid Scala and Johnny Saint about the other bracket of the NXT UK Tag Team Championship. Scala announced the semi-final match of Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster vs. Zack Gibson & James Drake for next week.
“Wild Boar” Mike Hitchman beat “Turbo” Josh Morrell in 3:04 after a frog splash
Morrell showed some athleticism early on, but Board countered with sheer craziness and took over, launching his own body all over the ring and into his opponent. Morrell managed to hit a sunset flip from the top rope but quickly got his momentum taken away as Boar hit a fireman’s carry into the corner, followed by a flying inverted senton and frog splash for the victory.
A Jospeh Conners video aired, talking about how there is no “we” in NXT UK, only himself. He vowed to break all the “shiny new toys” of the brand.
Travis Banks cut a backstage promo, saying that he loved his country as much as Jordan Devlin loved his.
Marcel Barthel and Fabian Aichner confronted Sid Scala backstage and demanded to be put in the NXT UK Tag Team Championship semi-finals match instead of Andrews & Webster. Scala told them they had just arrived and if the got involved in the match next week, they would be out of NXT UK as quickly as they had come in.
Eddie Dennis vs. “Bomber” Dave Mastiff went to a double DQ in 4:20
Dennis charged in with punches and whipped Mastiff into the corner numerous times. He followed with a number of kicks and stomps, until he charged right into Mastiff’s elbow. Mastiff wiped Dennis out with a running cross body, followed by a big dropkick after some pulling and pushing. Mastiff hit a few big elbows to the side of Dennis’ head. Dennis escaped to the outside and attacked Mastiff as he followed.
Dennis had Mastiff up for his splash mountain drop but Dennis escaped and hit a rolling fireman’s carry on the outside, but smashed into the ring steps as Dennis moved out of the way of his charge. Both men made it just back into the ring at the count of 9. Back inside, the two big men went at it with punches and would not stop so the referee disqualified them both.
After a brief shock, the two behemoths kept going at it until a number of referees and Sid Scala tried breaking them up with little success. Johnny Saint finally came out and made a no disqualification match between them for NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool.
A recap of last episode’s tag team main event of Moustache Mountain vs. Gallus with Joe Coffey and Pete Dunne getting involved aired; a match between all six members of Gallus and British Strong Style will take place next week.
Contract signing between Pete Dunne and Joe Coffey
Johnny Saint and Sid Scala were in the ring for the contract signing between WWE UK Champion Pete Dunne and Joe Coffey. Scala called out Coffey first, followed by the champ, who came out to a big ovation. Scala wanted them to sit down but neither man would oblige. Coffey finally took the mic and they both slowly sat down.
Coffey said that there would be a change of the guard in NXT UK. Coffey asked Johnny and Scala to back off, because he wanted a moment with Dunne. He said that the NXT UK brand was his and the title would soon be his too. He said Dunne was champion for too long and that he only still had the title because he had not been here before. He said now was the time to claim his throne.
Coffey signed the contract but as he was done, Dunne grabbed his fingers and broke them. He said Coffey talked too much and he would see him at NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool. The rest of Gallus came out and Coffey used the distraction to hit Dunne in the throat and power bombed him through the table, then picked up the WWE UK Championship and posed with it in the ring as his music played and the show went off the air.
Next week:
Zack Gibson & James Drake battle Flash Morgan Webster & Mark Andrews in the second semi-final for the NXT UK Tag Team Championship. Also, British Strong Style will meet Gallus just days before NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool.
Both men were working babyface, a theme for the evening. Gresham won with a roll up.
– Hangman Page defeated Kip Sabian and Flip Gordon in a triple threat match
Flip and Hangman (who were both massively over) took turns fighting Sabian until their alliance broke down when Gordon accidentally hit Page and he fought back. Page pinned Sabian with the Rite of Passage just before Gordon could break up the pin.
– Kay Lee Ray defeated Ayesha Raymond
Raymond worked over for a lot of the match and KLR came back for the win. Very basic stuff.
– Christopher Daniels defeated Mark Briscoe by disqualification
After a fairly even match, Jay Briscoe distracted the ref to allow Mark to submit Daniels with chain. However the decision was overturned when the ref saw the chain and Daniels got the win.
Daniels was beat down by the Briscoes after the match until Flip Gordon and Joe Hendry made the save.
– Punishment Martinez defeated Jimmy Havoc in a street fight
Havoc challenged Martinez to make the match a street fight and prove himself and he agreed and the match was changed. Notably Havoc was the most over guy on the show. Havoc started out with the trays to the head, then getting an ironing board involved. Staples were dished out and Havoc stapled up his bleeding wounds from pizza slicers. Havoc squeezed Lemon juice in Martinez’s wounds. Martinez won with a chokeslam into the thumb tacks.
– Marty Scurll defeated Jay Briscoe
Mark came out to distract the referee but Daniels came down to even the odds allowing Marty to win clean. They both put each other over after with Marty faking a finger break spot when shaking hands.
– The Young Bucks defeated Jonny Storm and Jody Fleisch
Storm got the better of Matt early on with clever ring awareness and being that tiny bit quicker. Fleisch got in and beat Nick at his high flying moves. Both teams threw themselves around the ring with moonsaults and shooting stars, including a springboard shooting star from Fleisch to the outside. The Bucks won with the Meltzer Driver.
– Jay Lethal defeated Mark Haskins to retain the ROH title
Haskins had earned the opportunity by winning the ROH international cup earlier in the tour. Neither men are superstars and so worked hard to get the crowd into it, both men clearly working 95%. Again in this match both men were largely working face. Haskins worked the arm to setup his armbar finisher and Lethal kept escaping. Haskins kicked out of the Lethal Injection, and Lethal out of Haskins finisher also, before Lethal won with a second lethal injection.
Television tapings for MLW took place in Long Island City, New York last night. Tony Schiavone and Matt Striker, making his MLW debut, did commentary for the tapings. Striker will be a regular announcer going forward.
– Fred Yehi defeated Richard Holliday
Yehi submitted Holliday with an armbar.
– Kotto Brazil defeated Myron Reed
Brazil pinned Reed with a sliced bread #2. This was billed as a middleweight match
– Jake Hager defeated Simon Gotch
Hager pinned Gotch after a kick to the face.
– Jimmy Havoc defeated Brody King
Havoc pinned King after avoiding a chokeslam and followed through with a forward roll.
– Pentagon Jr. and Rey Fenix defeated Drago and Rey Horus to retain the MLW tag team titles
Pentagon and Fenix retained the titles after a double team.
– PCO defeated Homicide
PCO won after a forearm shot.
– MJF defeated Joey Ryan to become the first MLW Middleweight champion
MJF won the title after pinning Ryan with a powerbomb.
– Sami Callihan defeated Shane Strickland.
– Teddy Hart and Davey Boy Smith Jr. defeated Rich Swann and ACH
Hart and Smith won after Brian Pillman Jr., who was at ringside, low blowed ACH with a cane. Hart followed with a lumbar check for the pin.
Swann appeared to be injured during the match after hitting his head on the guardrail. He was vomiting after the match and was later taken to the hospital with a concussion. Su Yung, who was supposed to do a run-in later that night with Zeda Zhang, went to the hospital with him instead. He was released later that night.
His status for Slammiversary this Sunday, where he is set to face Fenix,Taiji Ishimori and Johnny Impact (Hennigan) in a four way bout is currently up in the air.
– Low Ki defeated John Hennigan to retain the MLW championship.
– Filthy Tom Lawlor won the 40 man Battle Riot
Participants included Tom Lawlor, Ken Doane, John Hennigan, Kevin Sullivan, Jimmy Havoc, ACH, Davey Boy Smith Jr., Teddy Hart, Rich Swann, Pentagon Jr., Jimmy Yuta, Low Ki, Fallah Bahh, Brody King, the Blue Meanie, Jake Hager, Swoggle, Lance Anoa’i, PCO, Konnan, Joey Ryan, Sami Callihan, Jason Cade, MJF, The Tahitan Warrior (replacing Rich Swann), Headshrinker Samu, Barrington Hughes, Rey Fenix, Head Shrinker: Samu, Kotto Brazil, Aerostar, Drago, MJF, Leo Brien, Michael Patrick, Richard Holliday, Rey Fenix, Vandal Ortagun, The Dirty Blondes and Simon Gotch.
Lawlor last eliminated Hager for the win. He will be able to challenge for the MLW title anywhere at any time.
This match, along with the middleweight title match and Brazil vs. Reed will be part of a two hour special that will air a week from tonight.
Submitted by reader Kael and Mike LaRoy from the Royal Oak Music Theatre
– Lars Sullivan pinned Kassius Ohno after hitting a top rope diving headbutt.
– Dakota Kai pinned Lacy Evans after a double foot stomp. Shayna Baszler ran through the crowd and attacked Kai after the match.
– Angelo Dawkins pinned Cezar Bonnoni after a spinebuster.
– Adam Cole pinned Chris Dijak after hitting a shining wizard to the back of the head.
– NXT Tag Team Champions Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly pinned Heavy Machinery with a schoolboy after distraction by Cole. After the match, Sullivan chased all of The Undisputed Era back into the ring to get beat down by Machinery.
– Shayna Baszler beat Kairi Sane by disqualification when Kai attacked Baszler.
– Aleister Black pinned Velveteen Dream after hitting the Black Mass kick.
– Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae submitted NXT Champion Andrade Cien Almas and Zelina Vega with a double Gargano Escapes.
SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos won a four way over The New Day, Chad Gable/Shelton Benjamin, and Rusev/Aiden English
Big E and Kofi worked for the New Day and Rusev got the biggest pop out of all the guys here. The Usos were very over with the crowd also. The match ended with The Usos superkicking everyone and pinning English.
Mojo Rawley def. Tye Dillinger
Dillinger tried his best to get over with the crowd, but they really didn’t seem to care for this one. Rawley won with a sunset flip pin reverseal while holding the ropes.
The Bludgeon Brothers def. Breezango
The match started with Harper smacking Rowan in the face which led to comedy spots of Fandango smacking Breeze. BB won after a discus clothesline from Harper to Breeze.
Jinder Mahal (w/Sunil Singh) def. Sin Cara
A brief promo from Singh started this very, very short match. SC went for a suicide dive, but Mahal pulled Singh in front of him to take the blow. Mahal hit his finish for the win after SC got back in the ring.
Naomi/Becky Lynch vs. Carmella/Lana vs. Liv Morgan/Sarah Logan
This match went on for a while with nothing too important to note. Lana was in the match for a total of around 10 seconds. Becky and Naomi went over when Becky clamped on the Dis-arm-her.
U.S. Champion Bobby Roode and Randy Orton went to a no-contest
The crowd went nuts for Orton. This was a good babyface/babyface match with Roode as more of the aggressor. Mahal came in and attacked both men for the no-contest. Roode hit his DDT on Mahal, and then Randy hit the RKO on both Roode and Jinder.
Intermission
SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte def. Natalya and Ruby Riott in a three way
This was a pretty basic triple threat match with Natalya and Riott both working over Charlotte. The champion eventually won with the Figure 8.
Shinsuke Nakamura def. Dolph Ziggler
The crowd was not very invested in either guy. Ziggler did his best to try to play the crowd into singing Nakumura’s theme during the heat, but they didn’t bite. The crowd didn’t get behind Nakamura’s comeback very well. However, they put on a great match and eventually, the crowd came alive. Nakumura went over with a Kinsasha out of nowhere after a schoolboy pin attempt by Ziggler.
WWE Champion AJ Styles def. Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, and Baron Corbin in a four-way
The match started with a long, long hug by Zayn and Owens which the crowd really ate up. Styles and Corbin came and started beating the two around the ring. Styles took the heat, mostly from Owens and Zayn. Styles won after hitting a Phenomenal Forearm to Zayn.
Submitted by readers Gregory Dennis & Shawn Dunagan
– Before the show, ring announcer Andrea D’Marco updated the crowd that The Drifter recently lost to Kassius Ohno in a “Loser Leaves NXT” match and would not be here tonight.
– No Way Jose def. Kona Reeves
No Way Jose worked his tail off to get the crowd into it, but it was an uphill battle. About a third of the crowd responded to Jose out of appreciation for the effort. The rest of the crowd was flat. Jose won clean with his finisher and by the end, he had about half of the crowd warmed up.
– Liv Morgan def. Macey Estrella
This devolved into a clunky comedy match. After a few back-and-forth submission holds, Morgan won clean after a bulldog.
– Kassius Ohno def. Patrick Clark
Clark looks like a cross between Prince and Bootsy Collins. Ohno is originally from Dayton, Ohio (about 60 miles away) so he got a big pop and a “Welcome Back” chant. At Ohio State sporting events, it’s common for someone to yell “O-H” while the crowd follows with “I-O.” Here the someone would yell “O-H” and the crowd would respond with “Oh-No.” Unfortunately, this was the highlight of the match. Ohno won with an elbow to the side/back of the
neck.
– DIY had a promo video discussing the “O-H”, “I-O” chants.
– Despite being told earlier that The Drifter would not be there, out he came wearing an ill-fitting mask. Nobody cared. When he got to the ring, he asked, “Who wants to walk with..The Rambler?” He started singing a song about how Columbus sucks and the crowd should shut up. This did generate some heat from the crowd. Aleister Black’s music hit and the former Tommy End walked out to cut a pretty good promo. A beatdown ensued which turned into…
– Aleister Black def. The Rambler
Short match. Black had most of the offense and finished with a superkick and a pin. I’m not sure if this was intentional, but the super kick spun Sampson’s mask sideways, which was a nice touch. Black looked very good.
The crowd chanted “one more song,” so Sampson continued his ditty about how Columbus sucks and the crowd should shut up before drifting off to the back.
This was a very fun match, and noticably better level of wrestling than we’d seen up to this point. Young plays the role of the crazed lunatic exceptionally well. Ciampa & Gargano did suicide dives and flying knees to the outside despite very close quarters between the ring and a concrete wall. At one point, Ciampa actually botched a spot, but transitioned it immediately into a cool spot like a true vet. This was just an very entertaining pro wrestling match.
At one point, the referee ejected Wolfe from ringside for interfering. Shortly thereafter, Gargano got caught in SAnitY’s corner when Nikki Cross emerged from under the ring and holds Gargano’s arms in the corner while Dain recovered. Dain hit Gargano with a big crossbody into the pin.
As SAnitY celebrated in the ring, Cross demanded microphone and calls out Asuka. Asuka’s music hits and she comes out for what is announced as a title match.
– NXT Women’s Champion Asuka def. Nikki Cross to retain
Young and Big Dain stayed out and stalked ringside. This was a very good match as Asuka was so quick with her movements and athleticism. At one point, she hit Cross with a dropkick from the top. Cross did get in some offense and did a great job selling. Asuka got Cross in a rear naked choke and Cross tapped, but Young distracted the ref and didn’t see the tap. Asuka released Cross thinking she won. Young & Damo threatened to enter the ring when DIY raced out to clean house. Asuka hit Cross with a kick and pinned her in a very fun match.
After the match, Young and Asuka had a staredown in the ring. DIY distracted Young and with his back turned, Asuka fired up behind him. Young turned into a superkick from Asuka which Young sold brilliantly.
– Tye Dillinger & Shinsuke Nakamura def. NXT Champion Bobby Roode and Andrade Cien Almas
Almas came out to zero fan reaction, but when “Glorious” hit, the crowd came alive. The crowd ate up Roode’s slow entrance. Dillinger came out to a chorus of “ten” chants. Nakamura’s music hit and the place went nuts.
The match started with Almas vs. Dillinger and a lot of chain wrestling. Dillinger tagged Nakamura who immediately went on the offensive. As Almas was selling, Nakamura tried to goad Roode into the ring. Roode teased the crowd and then eventually tagged in. Roode & Nakamura circled the ring and then Roode tagged out without touching one another. Roode then laughed at the crowd, drawing heat.
Dillinger tagged back in and proceeded to get the hell beat out of him for a good 8-10 minutes. Roode and Almas traded off working on Dillinger’s left knee. Eventually, Dillinger escaped. Nakamura got the hot tag. After several near falls, Nakamura hit Almas with his finisher and got the pin.
Overall, it was a good show, but not great. The first half was clearly developmental and the second half was high quality.
**********
– Venue is a bar that hosts mid-level music acts. NXT has been here on a few occasions including its first show outside of Florida 3 years ago.
Great match to start the night. The crowd popped at the right spots. He worked as a face and now when he screams, the crowd screams back which he fed on to get him over. Almas hit the double knees in the corner but only got a near fall. Tozawa then hit him with his German Suplex finisher for the pin.
– Billie Kay and Peyton Royce defeated Liv Morgan and Aliyah
The first Australians on the card came out and cut a promo saying that they want to be billed from Orlando, Florida, and not Australia, especially the Gold Coast. The fans kind of popped for Morgan but were dead whenever Aliyah had offence. Fans were cheering and booing all over the place, then Kay and Royce got the pin after double team knee to the face of Morgan So, the hometown women who turned on the crowd to get heat ended up winning.
– Patrick Clark defeated Oney Lorcan
These guys did a great job considering they were relatively unknown to the crowd. This was a classic 80s style match where the heel Clark was over the top as he came to the ring. The crowd chanted ‘You look stupid’ (with an Australian accent which was wacky) in reference to Clark’s ring attire. Clark yelled at the crowd ‘Shut up, you wankers’, starting the crowd going into business for itself with “You’re the wanker” chants and “You’re still a wanker” when he got offence. The crowd chanted “You’re a tosser” and then back to “You’re a wanker”. It was fine for this match, but continued on throughout the night.
– Buddy Murphy defeated Elias Sampson
Sampson started cutting a promo and the “What” chants began. Sampson started repeating himself everytime the crowd said “What” which made it worse. Then, he started singing a song about how he hated the Gold Coast and everyone got their phones flashlights out and due to the small size of the arena, it was almost like the house lights were on. During his song, Murphy’s music cut him off. Finish came when Sampson went for his guitar but the ref took it off him and Murphy rolled him up for the pin.
– NXT Tag Team Champions DIY defeated Tino Sabatelli and Riddick Moss to retain
Initially, the main event would going to be DIY and Nakamura vs. The Revival and Samoa Joe. Instead, we got a pretty average match where Tino and Moss were slow and plodding on offence. Crowd chanted ‘Go back to football’ at Tino, and this prompted DIY to do an American football snap in the middle of the ring where Gargano threw an imaginary ball to Ciampa for a touchdown. Match was pretty basic with the heels getting heat on Ciampa until the hot tag to Gargano. Match ended with the DIY knee/superkick finish to Moss.
– Bobby Roode defeated Tye Dillinger
Crowd went completely nuts for Roode, but they cheered as if both were faces. Fun match with both playing to the crowd. Dillinger was about to hit the Tye Breaker when The Revival ran in for interference and Roode got a roll up using the middle ropes with The Revival holding his legs. The heels ran off and Dillinger got up and just walked out.
– NXT Women’s Champion Asuka defeated Ember Moon to retain
Crowd had become pretty restless and were just trying to start whatever chants they could to get themselves over. At a few different points, there were chants for James Ellsworth. The match was actually really good, but early on, it was ruined by the crowd until a few great spots which started the only “This is awesome’ chant of the night. Asuka got Moon in a few submission holds, an armbar and a kimura lock, which Moon escaped before tapping out to the Asuka lock.
After the match, Moon extended her hand for a handshake on the ramp. Asuka hesitated then shook her hand and the two hugged.
– TM61, Tye Dillinger and NXT Champion Shinsuke Nakamura defeated The Revival, Bobby Roode and Samoa Joe
The original match was just going to be a 6-man sans Dillinger and Roode. After the heels came out, TM61 had a nice homecoming entrance but was spoiled by the heels beating them down. Crowd chanted for Nakamura but instead Dillinger came to even the numbers. Then Roode came down and they threw the babyfaces out of the ring.
Nakamura’s entrance hit and the crowd went insane. When he got into the ring, the heels scattered, making Nakamura look really strong. The match was then announced as an 8-man.
There was lots of comedy in the match, some so cheesy and over the top it could only be done on a live show. Joe didn’t work much and just threw a few punches. The finish came when Dillinger hit a surprise super kick on Roode, followed by a Kinshasa by Nakamura.
Submitted by reader F. Javier Díaz Fischer from the Movistar Arena
The atmosphere felt like the post-WrestleMania Raws, but with the fans enjoying the show and trying to chant, cheer and boo rather than going into business for themselves and be a part of the show.
– WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day (Xavier & Kofi) def. Enzo & Cass and The Club (5 minutes)
The faces’ entrances were really over but the match was not good at all. Anderson & Gallows had a better reaction than in night 1 with a few “Bullet Club” chants.
– Sami Zayn & Darren Young def. Titus O’Neil & Bo Dallas (8 minutes)
Sami Zayn got a tremendous ovation and was really over tonight. The match revolved around him and he got the pin. There was no reaction whatsoever for Young who was certainly “not great again” in Chile.
– Sin Cara def. Luke Harper (9 minutes)
This was the first good match of the night. Both guys were very over and the fans were very happy that Sin Cara had the chance to actually work tonight considering he was squashed by Strowman the night before in less than a minute. There were a lot of “Lucha! Lucha! Lucha” chants.
– WWE Women’s Champion Sasha Banks, Bayley & Alicia Fox def. Charlotte, Dana Brooke & Nia Jax (9 minutes)
You could really tell the difference between this crowd and the one from the first show when it came to the reception Bayley got. She was really over here to the level of Sasha and Charlotte, who received humongous pops both nights. Not a very good match. Banks made the hot tag and beat Charlotte again clean in the middle with the Bank Statement. Jax received real heel heat.
– WWE United States Champion Roman Reigns def. Rusev (w/ Lana) (13 minutes)
Lana came to the ring first and tried to get heat by purposely confusing Chile with Bolivia and making fun of the loss of the Chilean national soccer team. It worked to a certain extent, but the crowd absolutely loved her regardless. She introduced Rusev, who got cheered.
Reigns was booed out of the building when his music played. Real hostile crowd for him at the beginning, but not that much during the match and after. It almost felt that people wanted to boo him during his entrance because it was “cool” to do it, but not that much during the match. This was a good match with a mixed reaction.
– Braun Strowman def. Neville (2 minutes)
Neville got some kicks and moves in, but Strowman destroyed him in little time.
– Cesaro, Sheamus & Golden Truth def. The Shining Stars, Curtis Axel & Jinder Mahal (9 minutes)
Once again, Cesaro received quite the ovation and was over like crazy. There was a sea of “Cesaro Section” signs all over the crowd. Again, there was a lot of respect for Goldust. In an interesting note, “Axelmania” ran wild for 30 seconds.
– Seth Rollins d. WWE Universal Champion Kevin Owens by DQ (15 minutes)
This was the match of the night. Owens was more over tonight as the crowd recognized what a great performer he is but also understood he was the heel and went along with the ride. Rollins received an ovation that I can only compare to the one The Undertaker received in Chile back in 2008. Rollins is over here like you wouldn’t believe, and has quite the cult following but is also capable to capture the more casual fans with his wrestling style. He worked total babyface, before, during and after the match.
They worked a great match with Owens resorting to every little trick in the book in order to get some real heel heat. After 15 minutes of great wrestling, Rollins was going for the Pedigree but Owens lowblowed him causing the referee to DQ him. The champion grabbed the microphone and told the audience that the only thing that mattered was that he was “still your Universal Champion” and the people booed him until Rollins gave him a Pedigree.
This was by far the best match of both nights. After the match, Rollins said this was the best crowd he ever performed in front of and posed with the Chilean flag.
**********
We all understand wrestlers do not have the “match of their careers” in a house show, but when WWE comes to a country once every five years, you certainly appreciate what Owens and Rollins did for this crowd tonight. Better show than last night, and once again a good night for WWE but monumental night for the fans that packed the Movistar Arena.
Side note: During WWE’s visit, Cesaro and Zayn were very gracious and cordial with the fans and the Swiss Superman even took the time to go to a rehab center for special needs children. He is quite the ambassador for the company.
Submitted by Chance Treyger from the Palm Springs Convention Center
This is their first show here since July 2009. The entire crowd is on floor level with no risers due to the venue specs.
– Dolph Ziggler def. I-C Champion The Miz with Maryse in a non-title match. Miz cut a promo before the match, trashing the venue, saying he’s gonna show us what he’s gonna do to Dolph Ziggler at No Mercy. Maryse got ejected. Ziggler won via superkick.
– American Alpha & Hype Bros def. Vaudevillains and The Ascension after AA hit Grand Amplitude.
– Apollo Crews def. Curt Hawkins after hitting a spinout sitdown powerbomb. Crowd was dead, as very few cared for/knew Hawkins. Short match.
– Smackdown Women’s Champion Becky Lynch & Naomi def. Natalya, Alexa Bliss and Carmella. Lynch & Naomi won via submission as Lynch tapped Natalya with the Dis-arm-her.
– Baron Corbin def. Jack Swagger with a schoolboy pin
– Randy Orton def. Bray Wyatt after hitting an RKO
– Kane def. Tyler Breeze after hitting a chokeslam. Breeze wanted to take a “big red selfie” with Kane which led to the quick match and finish.
– Smackdown Tag Team Champions Heath Slater & Rhyno def. The Usos. Usos attacked pre-match, but the champs won after Rhyno hit a gore.
– WWE Champion AJ Styles def. John Cena and Dean Ambrose in a three-way. Styles used a steel chair on Ambrose as he was gonna hit Dirty Deeds on Cena. He then low-blowed Cena for the pin.
Styles cut a promo afterwards threatening to take Cena out with the belt before the PPV. Ambrose hit Dirty Deeds on AJ. Cena and AJ had a tug of war with the title, but Cena let go, AJ fell down, and Cena hit AA after he charged him.
– Women of Honor: Kelly Klein, Veda Scott & Britt Baker def. Mandy Leon, Crazy Mary Dobson & Faye Jackson
Klein choked out Mary via a guillotine.
– ACH def. Will Ferrara after a 450 splash to the back.
– Jon Gresham def. Delirious with a rolling crucifix pin.
– Frankie Kazarian def. Chris Sabin
Kamaitachi distracted Sabin. Kazarian gave Sabin a vertical suplex, and pinned Sabin while Kamaitachi held Sabin’s feet down.
– Alex Shelley def. Kamaitachi with a side cradle after hitting him with a reverse Russian legsweep into the second turnbuckle.
– The Briscoes def. Silas Young & Beer City Bruiser, Rowe & Hansen and Rhett Titus & Kenny King (w/The Cabinet) in a four-way tag match
Titus and King knelt during the Code of Honor to protest the oppression they experience in ROH (a nod to the recent Colin Kaepernick U.S. anthem kneeling controversy) which led to them being assaulted by everyone. Jay Briscoe hit Bruiser with a neckbreaker, and Mark Briscoe pinned him after a Froggy Bow.
– Cheeseburger def. Chris LeRusso after a running palm strike
After the match, BJ Whitmer and a large flunkie attacked Cheeseburger and LeRusso. Colby Corino tried to make the save, but was laid out. Steve Corino arrived and had a bizarre, quiet confrontation with BJ and his son.
– Lio Rush def. Caprice Coleman (w/The Cabinet)
The Cabinet took another knee during the Code of Honor. Rush pinned Caprice with the Rush Hour.
– Jay White def. Christopher Daniels with something resembling a Michinoku Driver
– Jay Lethal, Dalton Castle (w/ The Boys) & Colt Cabana def. The Bullet Club (ROH Champion Adam Cole/Young Bucks)
Colt dropped Nick Jackson on the top turnbuckle. Lethal hit the Lethal Injection, and Castle finished him off with the Bang-a-Rang.
Previously on Impact: Last week on Impact, Bobby Lashley defeated James Storm in a titles-for-title match. He won the King of the Mountain title and retained both the TNA World Heavyweight title and X Division title.
Tonight on Impact: On tonight’s show, The Hardy Boys, BroMans, Helms Dynasty, and The Tribunal will battle in the “Ascension to Hell” ladder match for a shot at the TNA World Tag Team Championship. Additionally, Gail Kim continues on her quest for a shot at the Knockouts title when she goes one-on-one with Jade.
Show Recap —
– Backstage, Lashley with all his belts gets in the face of Aron Rex who is talking with Dixie Carter and Billy Corgan.
– Inside the ring, James Storm calls out referee Brian Hebner. Storm recaps how he had Lashley beat last week but Hebner was busy getting Jeremy Borash out of the ring. Storm blames him for the loss and demands a rematch.
Corgan came out and denied him his rematch. Corgan said it’s not that Storm has bad luck — he just can’t win the big one. Storm went nuts and got in Corgan’s face. Storm brought up Bobby Roode and AJ Styles leaving but he stayed.
Security came out and Storm hit one of them with a beer bottle. He then told Corgan if they cross paths again he’ll smash his pumpkin. Storm left the ring and Corgan suspended him indefinitely.
– In the back, The Miracle and Maria are with Moose as he gets ready for his match with Eddie Edwards. Miracle told Moose to do what he says and when he says, which seemed to bother Moose.
– Outside, an angry James Storm leaves the Impact Zone.
Moose w/ “The Miracle” Mike Bennett defeated Eddie Edwards
Josh Mathews points out that Moose is coming out to the ring to Miracle’s entrance music. Pope notes that it seems to bother Moose. The finish came when Edwards hit a suicide dive onto Miracle. Edwards climbed to the top but Moose caught him with the Go to Hell to score the win.
– Backstage, Maria told Jade that she will never get a title shot again if she fails to beat Gail Kim later.
Gail Kim defeated Jade
Story of the match was that both Jade and Gail are friends who respect each other. Regardless, they both have something at stake and must win the match. Gail hit the Eat Defeat and had Jade beat, but Knockouts Champion Sienna interfered causing a disqualification that gave Gail the win. Sienna gave Gail the AK-47 on the floor.
Maria came out and said that Gail failed on her quest for a shot at the Knockouts title. Mathews immediately pointed out that Maria was making no sense because Gail won the match.
– Backstage, Lashley belittled Braxton Sutter, DJ Z, and Mandrews. He bragged about having all the belts. Lashley promised to make a big announcement later.
DJ Z defeated Mandrews, Rockstar Spud, and Braxton Sutter
Finish of the match came when DJ Z hit a rolling double ZDT on Braxton Sutter and Mandrews. DJ Z pinned Mandrews to win the match.
– Next, we get a recap of Drew Galloway challenging Ethan Carter III to a match with the winner getting the title shot at Bound for Glory.
– In the back, Dixie approaches Corgan who is still upset about what happened with Storm. Dixie mentions that everyone is on edge because Lashley has all the belts.
– EC3 comes out to the ring and calls out Galloway to give him an answer to his challenge. After some back and forth, EC3 accepted the challenge.
Aron Rex then came out to the ring. He said that he’s excited to see EC3 face Galloway for the Bound for Glory title shot. Rex said that he wants to see a clear-cut winner. He went to TNA management and will be the special guest referee for their match.
– In the back, Lashley and Eli Drake argued but Lashley noted that he didn’t have time for this because he has an announcement to make. He bumped into Sienna and admired her Knockouts belt. She told him not to get cute.
– Next, “Brother Nero” Jeff Hardy and “Broken” Matt Hardy are in an empty arena. The ring is surrounded by and filled with ladders. Jeff is dressed similar to Matt but has white face paint and his eye is all messed up. Jeff is now broken like Matt.
Matt tells Jeff he won’t be using his body as a weapon or taking any risks. The video ended with both laughing hysterically.
Eli Drake defeated Mahabali Shera
Eli Drake comes to the ring and calls out Lashley, but instead Mahabali Shera comes out. Finish came when Drake hit the Blunt Force Trauma to pick up the win.
– Backstage, Dixie and Corgan approached Lashley wanting to know what his big announcement is. Lashley said he’s headed to the ring to let everyone know.
– Lashley comes out to the ring and has two random guys hold the belts up for him. They stood behind him the whole time even when he would turn around. Lashley called out Dixie and Corgan to the ring.
As Dixie and Corgan made their way to the ring, Mathews acknowledged Dixie as the company’s chairman and Corgan as TNA’s president.
Lashley wants to unify all three belts together. Dixie and Corgan tell him he can’t do that. He threw the KOTM title to the ground and called it garbage. He said nobody could beat him for the X Division title so he threw that to the ground too.
Dixie and Corgan were offended by his actions. Lashley only wants to keep the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. He started to leave but Corgan and Dixie announced an open invitational battle royal next week with the winner getting a shot at Lashley’s TNA World Heavyweight title.
– In the back, Corgan promised to crown a new X Division champion soon. He made no mention of the King of the Mountain title.
The Hardy Boys defeated The BroMans w/ Raquel, The Helms Dynasty, & The Tribunal
Jeff walked to the ring slowly and was all messed up because he’s broken. The match started with everyone brawling in the ring. Matt stayed outside the ring and didn’t get involved at first.
The Tribunal focused their attention on Jeff. Matt finally got involved an attacked The Tribunal. Jeff hit a crossbody to the floor on Basile Baraka but barely grazed him. He hit the floor hard. Matt went nuts and cleared the ring. He bit everyone in sight.
Matt gave Trevor Lee a side effect on the ladder but got caught with a springboard dropkick from Andrew Everett. Everett climbed up the ladder but Jeff sacrificed himself to knock Everett off it. Matt came in and climbed up the ladder to win the match. The Hardys are the number one contenders for Decay’s tag titles.
Next Time on Impact: Next week on Impact, EC3 defends his Bound For Glory title shot against Drew Galloway with Aron Rex as the special guest referee. Also, Impact will feature an open invitational battle royal with the winner getting a shot a the TNA World Heavyweight title.
Taya pinned Santana after hitting her with a Northern Lights suplex and a kick to the head in about 7 minutes.
Hugo speculates to Josh about TNA hosting the World Cup next year.
Victoria Trophy
The 4 losing teams from Night 1 are placed in a modified battle royale. One member of each team enters the ring, and when someone is eliminated by going over the top rope, his teammate enters the match, and the match continues until there are 2 participants at which point it becomes a singles match.
First entrants are Eli Drake for Team TNA, Blue Demon Jr for Team AAA Legends, Akebono for Team Japan-Odo/Zero-One, and Rockstar Spud for Team Rest of the World
Drake is eliminated after being knocked over in a superplex attempt. Tyrus throws EC3 into the ring. Rockstar Spud does some comedy sumo spots with Akebono, and then pulls a Mil Mascaras. Apolo replaces him. EC3 knocks Blue Demon Jr off the apron. Canek replaces. Canek eliminates Apolo, Mil Muertes enters as final member of Team Rest of the World.
Akebono gets eliminated and in a scary moment, has his leg stuck in the ropes and dangles. Doctors were tending to him, and Tanaka replaces him. EC3 calls Tyrus into the ring for extra muscle, and gets thrown out by Tyrus as Hugo wonders “Is this legal?” and Josh replies “No.” After a few more eliminations, the final 2 were Mil Muertes and Tyrus with Muertes pinning Tyrus after a Flatliner. Rockstar Spud celebrates in the ring as Mil and Apolo blow him off.
Men’s Semifinal 1: Team AAA vs Team Japan-NOAH
Crowd was pretty hot, Psycho Clown pins Taniguchi with a frog splash in 6 or 7 minutes.
Men’s Semifinal 2 – Team LU vs Team AAA International
Dario comes out with Team LU and spends the match standing behind the tournament judges staring and wondering “Why did I put Chavo on my team”. Dr Wagner gets a promo in, but at least this time the clock wasn’t running like on Night 1. Easily the first match worth trying to catch if you missed it. Last 2 minutes were incredibly intense and ended with Brian Cage pinning Dragon Azteca Jr in 9:58 after reversing a tilt-a-whirl DDT into a Drill Claw.
Women’s 1st place match- Team Japan vs Team Mexico
Aja Kong waffles all of the Apaches with a garbage can in the last 25 seconds as the ref is distracted. No pinfall attempts made. First match to meet overtime. Aja Kong vs Faby Apache is first OT and goes the limit. Yuki Miyazaki vs Mary Apache is second OT. Josh learns the etymology of Hurricanrana after Miyazaki busts one out on Apache. Close nearfalls with Apache powerbombs and superplexes. Miyzaki kickouts at 2.9 for both moves. Ref was Marty Elias of LU, which drew massive heat. Mary Apache pins Miyazaki after a Michinoku driver. Only the final OT really had some great heat and a good story. Marty might need to have pulled a Hebner if Team Japan won that, but it built heat for the AAA/LU final.
Men’s 3rd place match – Team Japan-NOAH vs Team AAA International
They’re skipping the 10 minute regulation and going straight to sudden death.
OT1 – Marifuji vs Dr. Wagner Jr – No Wagner promo. Submission holds traded, ends with Wagner locking Marifuji in a small package as time expired.
OT2 – Taniguchi vs Dragon Azteca Jr – Not too many pinfalls, it ends with an Azteca cannonball plancha with 14 seconds left.
OT3 – Ishimori vs Rey Mysterio Jr – Rey went for a 619 early but it was caught by Ishimori and reversed into a gutbuster. Eventually Ishimori ended in the ropes again, and ended up eating a 619 and the frog splash for a pin with about 55 seconds left on the clock.
Men’s 1st place match – Team AAA vs Team LU
AAA is attacked by LU as they enter. Great action, Chavo appears to be hurt. Pentagon Jr counters an End of the World by Mundo and hits a package piledriver, but runs out of time before he can get a pinfall.
OT1 – Chavo vs Texano
Story of this OT is that Chavo is working hurt. Not sure if the injury is legit, but he gets a bit of offense in and is cut off by Texano. Pattern repeats until Chavo tries a Frankensteiner, which is reversed into a top rope power bomb with 15 seconds to go. Texano can’t move after the landing and time expires.
OT2 – Cage vs Psycho Clown
In the final minute, Psycho Clown has a pinfall cover but Mundo distracts the ref by grabbing his leg and Cage kicks out. Cage goes for a power bomb, but Clown reverses into a Canadian Destroyer. Visual pinfall, but ref doesn’t get into the ring with less 10 seconds left and time expires.
OT3 – Mundo vs Pentagon Jr
With about a minute left, Pentagon cinches in the armbreaker, but Cage pulls the ref out. Chavo blasts Pentagon with a chair, Mundo hits the End of the World and gets the pinfall. Disappointing end and beers start flying.
Dario gets on the mic as Team LU retreats up the ramp. Dario is pelted with garbage and joins them. Now we know why Mexico hates Chavo. Team AAA cuts a babyface promo against LU’s antics.
Award ceremony starts
Johnny Mundo wins best flying move
Best match is awarded to LU vs AAA International.
Best female wrestler is Mary Apache
Best male wrestler is Pentagon Jr. Pentagon stares at Team LU and slowly backs down the ramp.
