While not apologizing for his recent tweets toward WWE, Jay Lethal, and Ring of Honor, NXT wrestler Jordan Myles took to another social media platform Tuesday to continue the discussion about his displeasure with his current situation.
Myles (Albert Hardie Jr. and the former ACH) took to Twitter Sunday and Monday to complain about a recent t-shirt design, saying in a now-deleted tweet that “WWE hates black people” while also calling out Ring of Honor and Jay Lethal in another deleted tweet. He specifically mentioned Vince McMahon, Paul Levesque, and a WWE creative services employee in tweets and a screenshot of an email that remain up. Myles has been quiet on Twitter Tuesday but did post another picture of himself in NXT without any caption.
As of this writing, Myles is still a WWE employee and has yet to publicly ask for his release. While Lethal and ROH have yet to comment on Myles’ comments, fellow WWE talents Booker T discussed it on his podcast while Titus O’Neil took to Twitter to add his insight:
@GoGoMyles I AM 100% in agreement that the shirt is very Distasteful. That being said, bringing others into this to vent your frustrations or Issues THAT HAVE NOTHING to do with @WWE or the shirt is also very Distasteful. If it’s #ForTheCulture Don’t attack those in it!! 👊🏿✊🏿
NXT wrestler Jordan Myles continued to air his displeasure at WWE and other wrestling promotions via social media Monday morning, saying among other things that “WWE doesn’t care about black people” in a now deleted tweet.
Myles (real name Albert Hardie Jr.) also called out Ring of Honor for racism and referred to Jay Lethal using a derogatory term in a tweet that was also deleted.
The 31-year-old Myles took umbrage with a t-shirt design Saturday that was compared to blackface imagery, saying that if that was Vince McMahon and Paul Levesque’s vision for him, it was a slap in the face to all African-American wrestlers, fans, and supporters, He remained active on Twitter throughout Sunday, prompting supporters to change their profile pictures to black and white in protest among other retweets of support for his position.
WWE released a statement late Sunday night, saying Myles had approved the design but that the design had been pulled, adding they collaborate with their talents on input and approval before moving forward.
After the aforementioned deleted tweets, Myles tweeted that he had approved it, but only saw the design on a white background and that when put against a black background, “you can see the racist intentions“. In another tweet seen below, he shared a WWE employee’s email address and exchange with him, and said in another tweet that employee, a WWE creative services talent coordinator, claimed Levesque wanted the design even though Myles had issues with it from the start:
Myles then went on to call out WWE for being fraudulent and creating a system where you can’t trust anyone, specifically calling out Hulk Hogan’s locker room apology for being caught on video using racist terms:
ACH and Rock were both part of the group of wrestlers that reported to the WWE Performance Center in February, while WWE announced Garza’s signing in April.
Several NXT wrestlers have gotten their WWE names recently. DJZ made his NXT debut at a house show in Largo, Florida last week and is using the name Joaquin Wilde. It was also revealed at that show that Shane Strickland is now going by Isaiah Scott.
Punishment Martinez is now Damian Priest, Trevor Lee is Cameron Grimes, Jessie Elaban is Jessi Kamea, Eric Bugenhagen is Rik Bugez, Adrian Jaoude is Arturo Ruas, and Luke Menzies is Ridge Holland.
After having his first match for NXT at a house show last Thursday, ACH was in action at tonight’s NXT television tapings.
In his NXT TV debut, ACH lost to Humberto Carrillo at the tapings. ACH has yet to get a new in-ring name and went by his real name (Albert Hardie Jr.) in the match.
ACH also went by his real name when he faced Raul Mendoza at last Thursday’s NXT house show in Largo, Florida and took on Carrillo at Saturday’s house show in Crystal River. He lost both of those matches.
ACH reported to the Performance Center as part of February’s group of signees. Trevor Lee and Jonah Rock were also part of that group and made their NXT debuts at house shows last week, with Lee losing to Luke Menzies and Rock being defeated by Riddick Moss. Rock used his real name (Jermaine Haley) in that match.
Before joining WWE, ACH said farewell to AAW in January. ROH and NJPW are among the other promotions he’s wrestled for in his career.
ACH debuted and WWE’s Women’s Tag Team Champions made a surprise appearance at Thursday night’s NXT house show in Largo, Florida.
ACH, who reported to the Performance Center last month, made his WWE debut in Largo. He wrestled using his real name (Albert Hardie) and lost to Raul Mendoza in the opening match. The finish was Mendoza getting his knees up when ACH went for a move off the top rope, then cradling ACH for the pin.
After attending Thursday’s WrestleMania 36 announcement press conference in Tampa Bay, Banks & Bayley cut an in-ring promo at the NXT house show and watched Io Shirai & Kairi Sane vs. Aliyah & Vanessa Borne vs. Rhea Ripley & Reina Gonzalez from ringside.
The match ended in a no contest when Aliyah & Borne and Ripley & Gonzalez wouldn’t stop attacking Shirai & Sane. Banks & Bayley then made the save for Shirai & Sane by cleaning house on the other two teams.
WWE has set up that the Women’s Tag Team titles can be defended on Raw, SmackDown, or in NXT. Banks & Bayley also appeared and cut a promo on the NXT television episode that aired on February 27.
Here are the results from Thursday’s house show (estimated attendance: 400 people):
– Raul Mendoza defeated Albert Hardie (ACH)
– The Forgotten Sons (Wesley Blake & Steve Cutler) defeated Brennan Williams & Stacey Ervin Jr.
Blake and Cutler used a double-team reverse DDT/flying foot stomp on Ervin.
– Deonna Purrazzo defeated Jessie Elaban
Purrazzo hit The Pendulum for the victory.
– Eric Bugenhagen defeated Mansoor Al-Shehail (w/ Shadia Bseiso)
After the match, Mansoor challenged Bugenhagen to a “Rock Off” next week in nearby St. Petersburg.
– Matt Riddle defeated Babatunde Aiyegbusi
Riddle got a submission victory over the giant Babatunde.
– WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Sasha Banks & Bayley made a surprise appearance and cut an in-ring promo.
– Io Shirai & Kairi Sane vs. Aliyah & Vanessa Borne vs. Rhea Ripley & Reina Gonzalez ended in a no contest
Banks & Bayley were watching at ringside to scout the NXT talent. Aliyah & Borne and Ripley & Gonzalez joined forces to attack Shirai & Sane until Banks & Bayley made the save.
– Keith Lee defeated Luke Menzies
Lee got a decisive victory.
– NXT North American Champion Velveteen Dream defeated Adam Cole to retain his title
Dream hit a stunner, his spinning DDT, and the Purple Rainmaker to retain.
The latest group of WWE signees have officially reported to the Performance Center.
WWE announced this month’s Performance Center class via Twitter today, which features wrestlers Trevor Lee, ACH, Rachael Ellering, Karen Q, Samuel Shaw, Jonah Rock, Elliot Sexton, Team 3.0 (Scott Parker & Shane Matthews), and Nick Comoroto.
Former college football players Omari Palmer and Ricardo Miller, who had WWE tryouts last summer, are the two other members of the new Performance Center class.
Lee officially confirmed last month that he had signed with WWE. He finished up with Impact Wrestling in November and had farewells for PWG and AAW this January but still holds the CWF Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship. ACH also said farewell to AAW last month.
As “Rachel Evers,” Ellering took part in the 2017 and 2018 Mae Young Classic tournaments. Karen Q was an entrant in last year’s Mae Young Classic as well.
Shaw formerly wrestled for Impact and was involved with the NWA before signing with WWE. Rock and Sexton are both from Australia, and Rock had been a regular for PWG.
3.0 are a tag team from Canada who have also made appearances as enhancement wrestlers for WWE. Comoroto is a graduate of the Monster Factory wrestling school.
The evolution of WWE’s relationships with promotions they’re friendly with continued to take shape this past weekend. Five WWE-contracted wrestlers were in action for EVOLVE last Friday and Saturday: The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford), Fabian Aichner, Kassius Ohno, and Mustafa Ali. Killian Dain made a surprise appearance for ICW in Glasgow, Scotland on Sunday, defeating Mikey Whiplash after it had been advertised that Whiplash would be facing a wrestler from WWE.
One week ago, the Survivor Series was to be headlined by Brock Lesnar vs. A.J. Styles and Ronda Rousey vs. Becky Lynch in battles of the Raw and Smackdown brand champions.
But just days before the show, two unrelated incidents saw both main events that were heavily-looked forward to change.
And in doing so, one of the key matches at WrestleMania, possibly the main event, was also established.
Right now the plan is for Ronda Rousey vs. Becky Lynch to headline WrestleMania. After the injury to Lynch on 11/12, a fractured nose and a concussion from a punch by Nia Jax during an in-ring Raw vs. Smackdown women’s brawl, she was out of the match that, due to the promos on both sides, was the most looked-forward to match on the show.
The next day, both Vince McMahon and Rousey decided that the best course of action was to do the match at WrestleMania. Rousey and Lynch immediately went at it hard on social media, even though Rousey’s new opponent on the PPV is Charlotte Flair.
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John Cena will appear on the Graham Norton show this Friday on BBC One to promote his upcoming movie with Jackie Chan.
Pro Wrestling
There was a scary incident last night at a PALL event outside Mexico City. It was a match between Angel o Demonio and Cuervo, from Puerto Rico. There was a spot in the match where after Cuervo hit Demonio with multiple chairshots, Demonio went to the back, grabbed a cinder block and threw it right in the back of Cuervo’s head. Cuervo went unconscious and the match was stopped. Last word is that Cuervo will be undergoing surgery to remove a blood clot.
The Mid-South Coliseum, home to Memphis wrestling for decades, has been saved after over a decade of being in limbo. A new tourism development zone plan that was passed yesterday by the state will pave the way to restore and renovate the building, which was closed down in 2006.
A new documentary on the life of Owen Hart, simply called Owen, is being worked on by Curate Films. It will be done in cooperation with Martha Hart and the Owen Hart Foundation.
Lucha Brothers vs. The Hart Foundation will headline MLW’s Never Say Never event on December 13. It will be a TV taping.
ROH is asking for Final Battle attendees to bring in an unwrapped toy to donate for Toys For Tots.
UFC/MMA
Ahead of their show this coming weekend in Beijing, UFC announced yesterday that they will be opening a giant 93,000 square foot facility in Shanghai similar to their performance center in Las Vegas. Dana White told ESPN in an interview that the goal of the facility is not only to find and recruit Chinese and other Asian athletes, but also find a future world champion.
The Honolulu Police Department has launched a second degree assault investigation following an incident involving Rachael Ostovich that left her hospitalized with what is being reported as a broken orbital bone. MMA Fighting is reporting that the male suspect is allegedly her husband Arnold Berdon, also a MMA fighter. Ostovich was scheduled to face Paige VanZant on January 19 on the first UFC ESPN+ card, but she is now out of that fight. Ostovich has also filed a restraining order against Berdon.
UFC on FS1 this past Saturday scored 630,000 viewers, finishing 14th for the night.
Aichi was home to the B Block finals of the 24th Best of the Super Juniors tournament this morning.
Will Ospreay has made it to the finals for the second year in a row from the A Block — with everyone in the opposite block at six points going into the last night of competition, anyone can wind up facing him in the finals on June 3rd.
Prelim matches —
– Taka Michinoku & Taichi defeated Hirai Kawato & Jushin Thunder Liger when Michinoku submitted Kawato with a crossface.
– SANADA, EVIL & Hiromu Takahashi defeated Ricochet, Dragon Lee & Juice Robinson when SANADA submitted Dragon Lee with the Skull End.
– Bad Luck Fale & Guerrillas of Destiny defeated David Finlay & War Machine after Fale hit Finlay with the Grenade.
– Yujiro Takahashi, Kenny Omega & Marty Scurll defeated Gedo, Will Ospreay & Kazuchika Okada following Takahashi hitting Gedo with the Pimp Juice DDT.
Tournament matches —
Yoshinobu Kanemaru defeated El Desperado by countout
This was fine. It was full of the stuff you normally see in Suzuki-gun’s matches on this tour, but it was never bad.
Taka Michinoku cornered Desperado for this match, while Taichi decided to corner Kanemaru. They started off slow, but it soon became a brawl with Desperado attempting to use a chair on the outside. Kanemaru threw him into the crowd and body-slammed him on the floor.
Taichi teased the whiskey spot, but after some counters accidentally sprayed Kanemaru. Desperado built his momentum with a big suicide dive. He tried for a brainbuster on the concrete floor, but instead Kanemaru countered with a reverse DDT on the mat.
The referee started counting. Desperado tried to climb in to beat the count, but Taichi pushed Michinoku into Desperado, sending him to the floor. Kanemaru beat the count and won the match.
Desperado wasn’t too happy about the result, even though everyone wanted to make up after the match. Desperado eventually obliged.
This eliminated ACH, Volador Jr., and El Desperado from contention based on tiebreakers.
Ryusuke Taguchi defeated ACH
Taguchi worked on ACH’s behind early. ACH countered that with two atomic drops and a cheap shot to the nether regions.
Taguchi came back and kept it on the ground, now working on ACH’s legs. He mounted a comeback until Taguchi connected with a knee. ACH tried to low blow him, but Taguchi used his thighs to block it. Taguchi continued to work him over, using a lot of butt-based offense.
ACH finally connected with a superplex. More back and forth and reversal after pin reversal followed until Taguchi countered one more roll-up with one of his own for the win. It was a solid match, but it wasn’t anything special.
Taguchi, BUSHI, and KUSHIDA remained as viable block winners.
BUSHI defeated Tiger Mask IV
This was okay. There were a few good spots, but otherwise it was just kind of average.
Early in the match, BUSHI took a chair and tried to use it, but the ref stopped him. Undaunted, he continued to work over Tiger Mask, leveling him with a missile dropkick. Tiger Mask tried to mount a comeback, and despite BUSHI going after his mask, managed to take him to the floor with an arm drag.
Tiger Mask caught BUSHI in a waistlock sleeper-type move until he was able to get to the ropes. BUSHI managed to knock the ref down and dropkicked Tiger Mask in the leg. He got a chair, threw it at Tiger Mask, and landed a Codebreaker, but it didn’t work. The MX, however, did.
That left it between BUSHI and KUSHIDA, which led us to the main event.
KUSHIDA defeated Volador Jr.
Great main event. These two worked really well together and it led to a great back-and-forth match with some great spots. At times it felt like a contest to see who could match who and that added to the excitement.
Some mat wrestling early led to some quick back and forth. KUSHIDA bailed to go to the outside — wrong move as Volador met him there with a giant tope con hilo. Not too long after that, however, the tides were turned and KUSHIDA came back with one of his own.
KUSHIDA went for a charge, but Volador jumped over him, landed his knees on KUSHIDA’s back, and utilized a reverse monkey flip. Volador went for a dive, but KUSHIDA caught him with an armbar in mid-air. KUSHIDA went to attack Volador on the apron, but Volador instead hopped over him and met him on the floor with an Asai moonsault.
Volador looked to build momentum, but KUSHIDA caught him, sending him to the floor. KUSHIDA went for something off the top rope, but Volador met him there — which gave KUSHIDA the opportunity to take him to the floor with a super rana. KUSHIDA went up, though again Volador Jr. met him there and landed a super rana of his own for a near fall.
Volador spiked KUSHIDA with a reverse rana, but KUSHIDA trapped him in an armbar — only for Volador to counter. He went for a la magistral cradle, though KUSHIDA countered with a roll-up for another near fall. KUSHIDA landed the La Mistica and sunk in the hoverboard lock, then while still in the move hit Back to the Future for the win.
That makes it Will Ospreay vs. KUSHIDA in the Best of the Super Juniors finals on June 3rd.
Ospreay came to the ring to cut a promo. He said he’s out here to congratulate KUSHIDA. He knows that he can beat him and needs to prove it. As much as he respects him, he will not let him stand in his way. Please bring your best, because it won’t be enough and I will be back-to-back Best of the Super Junior.
KUSHIDA’s response was simple: Let’s go crazy. The two had a staredown as Ospreay left. KUSHIDA said a few more words then left as the show went off the air.
With the non-WWE festivities surrounding WrestleMania now expanding to what has become nearly a full week of shows, promotions and wrestlers are afforded more opportunities than ever to prove themselves in front of some of the biggest crowds they’ll see all year.
EVOLVE kicked things off in Orlando with the first major show of the week that was streamed live. And by the time EVOLVE 80 was over, a clear candidate had emerged as the early breakout star of WrestleMania weekend.
With Ricochet helping to get the most out of him, Keith Lee had his best match since arriving in EVOLVE and came off as a star. Their styles seemed like they would mesh effortlessly before it even began, and the results were as expected. Lee used his power while Ricochet relied on his quickness and athleticism, though Lee attempted to keep up with him at points.
In the end, Ricochet won after needing a springboard 450 splash, two shooting star presses, and a 630 to get the job done. Lee attempted to fight back after the second SSP, but Ricochet connected with strikes to keep the advantage.
Lee looked great even in defeat. While it would’ve been ideal for him to win, this did more for him than beating almost anyone else on the roster would have.
ACH also had his best EVOLVE showing yet against Zack Sabre Jr. in the main event. They had the type of excellent back and forth title match that had been missing on most EVOLVE shows during Timothy Thatcher’s reign as champion, with Sabre retaining at its conclusion.
During the closing stretch, Sabre kicked out of ACH’s brainbuster. ACH got caught in a triangle choke after trying to follow up with a 450. He tried to power out, but ZSJ was able to trap him in a double armbar for the submission.
Though he kept his title, Sabre didn’t end the night on a high note. He was cutting a promo about his upcoming matches in Orlando when Michael Elgin came out to ask if Sabre would put his championship on the line when they face off tomorrow. Sabre said that he’d defend against anyone before Elgin laid him out to close the show.
Elgin teamed with Donovan Dijak in the semi-main event as they debuted by challenging Tracy Williams & Fred Yehi for their tag titles. The champions retained, though the challengers worked pretty well together. Williams and Yehi hit a double team powerbomb on Dijak, then Williams transitioned into a crossface. Dijak tried to get to his feet until Yehi dropkicked his knees and he fell back down to the mat and tapped out.
The night opened with Drew Galloway picking up a surprisingly dominant win over Matt Riddle. Their grudge match was as advertised with intense brawling on the floor. Galloway piledrove Riddle through a table and shortly after hit a Future Shock DDT and another piledriver for the victory.
That evened things for Galloway, who lost his last match to Riddle by ref stoppage. They’ll both be in the elimination match to crown the first WWN Champion at Saturday night’s Supershow.
Chris Dickinson and Jaka made the save for Riddle after his loss, but they were the only Catch Point members to come to his aid. Larry Dallas brought up Williams and Yehi’s absence after their tag title defense, attempting to create more tension within Catch Point. His efforts seemed to be effective as Dickinson and Jaka questioned when they would get their tag title shot.
Ethan Page and his Gatekeepers worked together as a more cohesive unit, though their troubles came externally. The Gatekeepers first demolished Facade and Michael Richard Blaze (who had attended the WWN seminar earlier in the day) and Page beat Austin Theory with the spinning Dwayne.
Page got on the mic after, vowing to continue bringing chaos throughout the weekend if he isn’t given an EVOLVE title shot. He threatened to ruin EVOLVE’s business relationship with PROGRESS until he was interrupted by Priscilla Kelly. A group of people dressed up as medics wearing face paint entered with a body bag like the one that Page and The Gatekeepers last left Darby Allin in.
Page and The Gatekeepers didn’t want to open it at first, instead trying to destroy it and throwing it to the outside. They finally relented, and Allin emerged with a metal pipe to run them off. He challenged Page to an anything goes match tomorrow and Page accepted.
Elsewhere on the show, Jaka vs. Jason Kincaid was turned into a surprise three-way bout with the addition of Lio Rush at the last minute. With his EVOLVE return pushed up a day, Rush showcased his offense and won by hitting the Rush Hour on Kincaid, connecting on a suicide dive to the outside on Jaka, and seamlessly coming back in with a frog splash on Kincaid.
Timothy Thatcher appeared for the first time since his marathon reign as EVOLVE Champion ended. He defeated Chris Dickinson with a choke to regain some momentum. Dickinson’s intensity served as a good matchup for Thatcher, and the show was less reliant on Thatcher having a great match now that he’s without the title.
Final Thoughts —
This was a good way to start WrestleMania week off. Lee vs. Ricochet and Sabre Jr. vs. ACH were both great matches that should still be remembered by the time everything in Orlando is over. Nothing else was at that level, but Friday’s card looks deeper on paper, with ZSJ vs. Elgin, Riddle vs. Yehi, Page vs. Allin, Lee vs. Dijak, and Galloway vs. Rush.
EVOLVE 80 results —
EVOLVE Champion Zack Sabre Jr. defeated ACH to retain his title
EVOLVE Tag Team Champions Tracy Williams & Fred Yehi defeated Michael Elgin & Donovan Dijak to retain their titles
Ricochet defeated Keith Lee
Ethan Page defeated Austin Theory
The Gatekeepers defeated Facade & Michael Richard Blaze
Lio Rush defeated Jason Kincaid and Jaka in a three-way match
Road to Power Struggle continued today with a stop at Korakuen Hall. Tag team bouts dominated as usual, hyping the various matches going down at Power Struggle.
Meanwhile, we also saw the semifinals of the Jr. Tag Team Tournament, with Ricochet and David Finlay facing ACH and Taiji Ishimori in the main event. The other semifinal bout had Ryusuke Taguchi and CMLL’s Fuego teaming to take on Roppongi Vice.
Teruaki Kanemitsu defeated Hirai Kawato
Both guys have filled out compared to earlier this year. Kanemitsu has size, at least compared to Kawato who is pretty tiny. Solid young boy match with a lot of basic back and forth sports. Kanemitsu got the win, submitting Kawato with the Boston crab.
Yoshitatsu & Juice Robinson defeated Yujiro Takahashi & Bone Soldier by DQ
This was on the same level as their worst match of the year candidate a few weeks ago. Devoid of heat, uninteresting wrestling,and a bad finish to boot. Yoshitatsu cut a promo on Bone Soldier and jumped him as the match started. Yujiro worked on Yoshitatsu for a bit, then Juice got the hot tag, which made this match a bit better than the last tag but not by much.
Other than that, there was absolutely no heat for this match. Then Bone Soldier just low blowed Yoshitatsu for the DQ. He put on a full nelson, then tried to choke him, but Robinson made the save. This feud is quickly outpacing Titus O’Neil and Darren Young for worst feud of the year in record fashion.
Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima, Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask defeated Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi, Angel de Oro & Titan
Standard eight-man tag match. Angel de Oro and Titan looked good when they were in. Tenzan worked with them as well and looked good. Tiger Mask gained the win for his team with the tiger suplex hold on Titan.
Another standard match, mostly good action throughout with Ishii getting the win with the brainbuster on Chase Owens, who was wearing some sort of pumpkin face paint. GoD taunted Ishii after the match that sent him in a rage, brawling with Tonga into the crowd.
The roster for January’s Fantasticamania shows are as follows: Atlantis, Mistico, Volador Jr., Maximo Sexy, Dragon Lee, Titan, Stuka Jr., Blue Panther Jr., Soberano Jr., Ultimo Guerrero, Euforia, Ephesto, Barbaro Cavernario, Hechicero, Okumura and Raziel.
Kenny Omega & The Young Bucks defeated Will Ospreay, Gedo & Kazuchika Okada
Great match, blew away everything on the show up to this point. Your usual great Young Bucks six-man with plenty of cool spots galore, plus Ospreay is one of the best high flyers in the world and he showcased that here.
Omega and Matt were dressed as Ghostbusters while Nick was playing the ghost. Actually pretty amazing outfits, loved it! This was a fun tag match full of the normal spots you’d see whenever The Elite team up. Ospreay was on point with his great offense as well, putting on Nick’s ghost costume and launching off with a corkscrew. The last few minutes of this were great with Ospreay doing a double hurricanrana on the Young Bucks.
Everyone ran in to do some great spots. Ospreay went for the springboard cutter but Omega grabbed him. Matt came in and accidentally superkicked Omega. Ospreay went for the Sasuke Special but Omega grabbed him and the Young Bucks hit the Indytaker on the outside. A triple superkick followed but Gedo broke it up. Omega hit the One Winged Angel on Ospreay and picks up the in.
Solid match. Crowd was into this since Ingobernables are hot as a unit right now. Tanahashi and SANADA had some cool exchanges in preparation for their singles bout next week. Honma was on a hot streak, laying out Naito with a lariat. But BUSHI misted him and Naito rolled him up for the win. Shibata went after EVIL after the match but was laid out with a belt shot and the STO.
Rocky Romero & Baretta defeated Fuego & Ryusuke Taguchi in a tournament match
Fuego and Taguchi have such terrific chemistry as a comedy face tag team, it’s actually amazing they’ve never done it until now. Taguchi worked the first half of the match, both on offense and defense. Fuego made the hot tag and did a step up crossbody to the floor. Romero got in and was running wild until he got derailed with an assisted dropick by Taguchi.
Baretta ran in and did a giant tope to the floor. Taguchi came back with the Dodon but Baretta kicked out. Fuego came in, and after laying out Taguchi on the floor, Romero helped Baretta pin him with the dudebuster/dropkick combo. RPG Vice did tease dissension throughout the match, but were fine after.
ACH & Taiji Ishimori defeated Ricochet & David Finlay in a tournament match
This was fine. Not bad by any means, but I expected more. Also felt pretty short. Some good back and forth wrestling from ACH and Ricochet, some cool dives, but not really much of anything. Crowd was quiet in spots, which hurt the match. ACH and Ishimori won the match, getting the win with their stereo 450 splashes.
That makes it Roppongi Vice vs. ACH and Taiji Ishimori for Power Struggle.
RPG Vice came in after the match. Romero cut a promo in Japanese, then said this is New Japan territory and he’ll send Ishimori and ACH back to NOAH. Ishimori then cut a promo to close out the show.
A good show overall. Tag matches can get a little too same-y at times, but the last three matches were pretty good, especially the six-man.
New Japan returned today with Super Junior tag action, as well as some matches that will lead us to Power Struggle on November 5th. Tonight’s card took place in Korakuen Hall.
They announced that due to visa issues, Ricochet would not be wrestling tonight. He and Finlay will face Ospreay and Gedo on October 25th, with the winners advancing to the semifinals.
Nagata got the win for his team after submitting Kawato with the Boston crab. Decent opener, not much to talk about. Both of the young boys have really bulked up in the last year, and it’s becoming more noticeable.
Yoshitatsu & Manabu Nakanishi defeated Bone Soldier & Yujiro Takahashi by DQ
Not a good match at all, as all four seemed completely off their game. Nakanishi was slow, Yujiro and Yoshitatsu were just there, and Bone Soldier didn’t show anything in this new role. Of course, Yoshitatsu wanted to take on Bone Soldier, but Solider wasn’t interested.
Bone Solider and Nakanishi did not work well together. Yoshitatsu eventually did get in with Boner Solider, but it didn’t last long before Bone Soldier started choking Yoshitatsu with rope. When the referee tried to stop it, he was thrown out and the ref disqualified him.
YOSHI-HASHI won the match for his team with the Karma sit-out piledriver. Good, solid match with a lot of fast-paced action. YOSHI-HASHI is coming off as having some real star quality with his work and new appearance. It seemed like based on recent pairings they’re totally going with Ishii and Goto as a tag team, probably a team to look out for at the end of the year tag league tournament.
Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, SANADA & BUSHI defeated Juice Robinson, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe & Katsuyori Shibata
EVIL and Shibata immediately went at it as they are entrenched in a feud. Another pretty good eight-man tag. There was a spot where everyone ran in and laid each other out. EVIL stood tall, and along with Naito honed in on Robinson. He made a fiery comeback, but it was two-on-one and Naito quickly took him down with the Destino for the win.
Will Ospreay defeated David Finlay
Good match. Crowd reacted to Ospreay and to his big spots, but not much else. Ospreay has dyed his hair blonde and now looks a lot like Okada with the new gear and hair. Ospreay looked great as usual, doing all the great transitions along with some cool spots, including the Sasuke Special to the floor.
Ospreay controlled pretty much all the match, with Finlay getting some offense but not a lot. Even though he’s improved a ton, Finlay just felt like a guy here next to Ospreay, who got the win with the springboard cutter.
Roppongi Vice defeated Angel de Oro & Titan in a tournament match
Another good match. It’s clear that the crowd came today to see the tournament as they woke up for this match as time went on. Angel de Oro looked really good in spots, as did Titan and their offense got over with the crowd really quickly. They did a cool spot where Oro jumped off Titan’s shoulders for a crossbody and Titan followed soon after. Baretta managed to cut off Oro and pin him with the dudebuster, allowing RPG Vice to advance to the next round.
There was some tension after the match between Romero and Baretta, but they smoothed things over before high-fiving each other as they made their exit.
Fuego & Ryusuke Taguchi defeated Jushin Thunder Liger & Tiger Mask in a tournament match
Fuego is easily the most charismatic junior they bring in. Add him with Taguchi and it makes sense. They had a pretty good match, with the crowd loving Fuego and Taguchi providing some good action with Liger, who got trapped in the ankle lock and submitted, advancing Fuego and Taguchi to the next round.
This makes RPG Vice vs. Fuego & Taguchi the first semifinal match on the October 30th show.
Taiji Ishimori & ACH defeated The Young Bucks in a tournament match
Ishimori wiped out the Bucks early with a big moonsault to the floor. Bucks managed to isolate Ishimori and worked on him. ACH made a hot tag and did a great suicide dive, sending Nick into the crowd. Bucks took him out with a great Doomsday Device spot except Nick superkicked him instead of a clothesline. He recovered, and along with Ishimori went for double 450 splashes but they missed.
Bucks were going for the Indytaker but ACH cut off Nick with a cutter and after Ishimori laid out Matt, they pinned both Bucks with their stereo 450 splashes. That win advances them to the second round, and they’ll face the winners of the Ricochet & David Finlay and Gedo & Will Ospreay match.
Final thoughts:
Top three matches were pretty fun. The rest was okay. Actually, aside from the second bout there wasn’t anything bad on this show at all. Crowd could have been better, but otherwise a fun show.
