Ring of Honor has announced TV tapings in Philadelphia next month and a new match for Supercard of Honor XV.
The company revealed today that Shane ‘Swerve’ Strickland will make his promotional debut April 1 at Supercard of Honor, facing Alex Zayne on the show. Strickland will wrestle under the name SW3RVE The Realest in ROH.
Thank you for joining our Facebook LIVE honor nation! Stay tuned for more announcements đ pic.twitter.com/UCrgflKlKm
— ROH – Ring of Honor Wrestling (@ringofhonor) March 2, 2022
During today’s ROH Live Chat on Facebook, Ian Riccaboni also revealed that ROH will return to Philadelphia’s 2300 Arena on April 10 for a set of television tapings. He also noted that they will be unveiling a new logo and a new set design.
Additonally, Riccaboni said that company officials are negotiating with an “ROH favorite” to face the winner of the Jonathan Gresham vs. Bandido match at Supercard of Honor.
GCW’s Ninja Mack and Joe Hendry were also confirmed for the show.
Our own Denise Salcedo was announced as a special host and backstage interviewer for Supercard of Honor. She joined Riccaboni in the live chat and teased that there will be an announcement regarding the ROH Women’s World Championship soon. Deonna Purrazzo has been defending the title in Impact Wrestling since defeating Rok-C on an episode of Impact Wrestling that aired on January 13.
ROH Supercard of Honor XV takes place Friday April 1 from the Curtis Culwell Center in Dallas-Fort Worth, TX. The updated lineup for the show is below:
Jonathan Gresham vs. Bandido in a Winner Takes All match to determine the undisputed ROH World Champion.
ROH World Tag Team Champions The Briscoes (Mark & Jay Briscoe) vs. TBA
Alex Zayne suffered a significant eye injury during Saturday’s GCW The Coldest Winter show that required surgery.
Zayne tweeted today that he suffered a ruptured globe during his death match against Jimmy Lloyd at Saturday’s show in Los Angeles, and underwent surgery to remove glass from his eye and to repair the injury.
The NIH website describes a ruptured globe as “a vision-threatening emergency” and a penetrating injury “when an object penetrates the eye, but the object does not go all the way through the eye.”
During Saturday’s match, Zayne went through panes of glass on four occasions, including hitting a senton through a glass pane that caused a laceration to his arm. It is not clear where exactly during the match the eye injury occurred.
Zayne wrestled as Ari Sterling on WWE’s 205 Live brand in 2021. He signed with the company in December 2020, then was released in August 2021. Since returning to the indie scene, Zayne has regularly appeared on NJPW and GCW events.
Quinn McKay started off the show and hyped up the card for this Championship Edition of ROH TV. McKay went through the history between Bandido and Alex Zayne to preview their ROH World Championship match, as well as talking about the Pure Championship match between Josh Woods and LSG.
**********
ROH Pure Champion Josh Woods defeated LSG to retain his title (10:37)
This was a fantastic showcase of both wrestlers’ skills and a great way to start off Woods’ title reign.
The match started quickly, with both guys exchanging arm drags and pinning counters before they transitioned to a mat submission style. Woods applied a kimura, but LSG was able to maneuver his way out of it in a fast manner.
Woods continued to target the arm in a multitude of ways as the match went on. LSG used his first rope break to break an arm-based hold, but Woods went right back on the attack. LSG was eventually able to lock in a Muta Lock, but Woods used his first rope break and escaped.
The fight spilled to the outside as the two exchanged forearms. Woods got fed up with LSG and just launched him over his head with a belly-to-belly suplex as the match went to break.
The momentum turned in LSG’s favor when the bout returned, as he hit a tough clothesline that resulted in a near fall. LSG would follow it up with a few of his signature maneuvers, including a Rocket-By-Baby slam. But none of these were enough to put away Woods. Woods fired back with a Beast Slam and a leg lock that made LSG submit.
**********
As commentary was talking about the Bandido vs. Zayne match, Beer City Bruiser, Ken Dixon, and Brawler Milonas approached. Bruiser took issue and ripped off Ian Riccaboniâs headset before pushing Caprice Coleman. Bruiser challenged Coleman to a match before the group walked off.
**********
ROH World Champion Bandido defeated Alex Zayne to retain his title (10:15)
This was absurd and even crazier than their first encounter back in 2020.
Bandido worked the arm of Zayne early, which prompted a few kip-up spots. Bandido clocked Zayne with a forearm that made him weary, allowing Bandido to hit a standup Code Red for a very close near fall.
This didnât slow down Zayne though, as he charged at Bandido once both men got to their feet. Bandido lifted up Zayne with both hands and hit a wild combination of a Falcon Arrow and a gorilla press slam. Bandido hit a standing Shooting Star Press shortly after, but it only warranted a two count.
After Bandido positioned himself on the top rope, Zayne jumped and took him right off with a headscissors. Bandido recovered quickly and hit a reverse Alabama slam for another near fall.
As the bout winded down, the competitors began exchanging open-handed chops. Zayne baited Bandido to the second rope, where he hit a reverse side slam that nearly put away the champion. Bandido was able to pull his signature X-Knee strike out of nowhere, then followed it up with the 21-Plex for the three count.
**********
Next Week —
The Righteous (Vincent, Bateman & Dutch) vs. The Foundation (Jonathan Gresham, Tracy Williams & Rhett Titus)
The OGK (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) vs. Flip Gordon & PJ Black
Caprice Coleman vs. Beer City Bruiser
Final Thoughts —
The second Championship Edition of ROH TV was a great watch. Both matches were great, there weren’t any weird swerve booking choices, and everything made sense. Bandido vs. Zayne II lived up to the acclaim of the first one, while Woods vs. LSG exceeded expectations for me personally.
This week’s episode of ROH TV is: Go Out Of Your Way to watch.
The Big Takeaway: As the journey to Final Battle begins, two tag matches take place and ROH Women’s World Champion Rok-C makes an appearance.
The Briscoes defeated Alex Zayne & Taylor Rust (11:16)
Rust and Mark started the match. Rust showed his technical prowess early on, working down Mark and keeping him from hitting any big moves. Rust and Mark continued to exchange holds and strikes as the match transitioned into a commercial break.
When the bout returned from break, Zayne and Jay became the legal men. Zayne tried to pull some of his usual tricks on Jay, but was instead met with a clothesline from the former World Champion.
There was a point in the bout where Mark and Jay isolated Zayne, keeping him away from Rust. The two brothers took turns beating down Zayne before he eventually reversed a few moves and made a tag to Rust.
Rust came in and he thought he took out Jay, then shifted his attention to Mark and locked in an arm-based submission. Jay came back and immediately broke up the submission as the match went into a second commercial break.
As the match returned, Zayne hit an inside-out springboard moonsault to both Briscoe brothers who were standing on the outside of the ring. This wouldnât keep either brother down for long, as the finishing sequence saw Jay hit a Jay-Driller on Rust followed by a Froggy Bow elbow drop from Mark for the win.
Rok-C interview
Brian Zane was joined by the ROH Womenâs World Champion Rok-C for an in-ring interview. Rok-C explained what winning the title meant for her, before being interrupted by The Allure.
Leon and Love ran down Rok-C and expressed that the âCâ in her name stands for a word that canât be said on television. Miranda Alize, Trish Adora, Willow, Allysin Kay, and Maria Kanellis-Bennett all trotted their way down to the ring shortly after.
Bennett made two three way matches that will lead to a number one contenderâs match which will determine Rok-Câs challenger for Final Battle.
VLNCE UNLTD (Brody King, Chris Dickinson, Homicide & Tony Deppen) defeated Danhausen, Demonic Flamita, PCO & Sledge (15:05)
Danhausen and Homicide shared the ring to start the bout. They squabbled back and forth for a bit before going to a commercial break.
As the match returned, Flamita and Deppen became legal. Flamita took Deppen lightly, which caused him to tag out to Dickinson. Dickinson didnât last for long either, as he hit a few moves on Flamita and tagged out to faction leader, Brody King.
Sledge became the center of attention, as VLNCE UNLTD isolated him and kept him from tagging out. Sledge was beat down for what felt like forever, but eventually made the tag to PCO.
PCO cleared the ring into a commercial break. When the break returned, he squared up with King. After King nailed PCO with a piledriver, he did his usual âmalfunctionâ shtick and began targeting members of his own team, including hitting a chokeslam on Danhausen and a moonsault on Sledge.
The finish of the match saw a ton of tags being exchanged, but Sledge took the pin after King delivered a Ganso bomb.
Final Thoughts:
This week’s edition of ROH TV was rather uneventful and skippable.
The show featured two good matches, but nothing was advanced in terms of storylines other than Rok-C’s title challengers being teased. Nothing on the show was bad, just uneventful.
In recent weeks Iâve introduced a scale in order to let you know if the current week of TV is worth your while. The scale is as followed:
Must Watch TV
Go Out Of Your Way
Recommend Viewing
Watch YouTube Clips
Avoid At All Costs
This weekâs episode of ROH TV is: Watch YouTube Clips
Alex Zayne returned to Ring of Honor tonight, winning the Honor Rumble.
Zayne was the final enrant of the match at number 16. He and PJ Black were the final two men in the ring. Black attempted a crossbody, but Zayne ducked and sent Black over the top rope to eliminate him. As a result of winning the Honor Rumble, Zayne has earned a shot at the ROH World Championship.
Tonightâs Death Before Dishonor event was among the first Zayne has competed in since being released by WWE back in August. He had signed with WWE in December of 2020 and had been wrestling mostly on 205 Live under the name Ari Sterling. Zayne has already been announced for New Japan Strongâs October tour in Philadelphia.
Death Before Dishonor takes place tonight at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Bandido will defend the ROH World title in a fatal four-way against Brody King, Demonic Flamita, and EC3.
Jake Atlas, Alex Zayne, Jonathan Gresham, and Chris Bey have been added to next month’s New Japan Showdown tapings in Philadelphia. The tapings are being held at the 2300 Arena on Saturday, October 16 and Sunday, October 17.
Atlas and Zayne were both released by WWE during last month’s NXT roster cuts. Zayne used the name Ari Sterling in WWE.
Atlas will be making his NJPW debut at the New Japan Showdown tapings, while Zayne had been part of NJPW Strong prior to signing with WWE.
Gresham is the current ROH Pure Champion. Bey is part of the Impact Wrestling roster and is a former X-Division Champion. Bey will also be appearing at this month’s NJPW Strong tapings in Garland, Texas.
Here are the wrestlers that have been announced for the October tapings in Philadelphia:
Two debuts have been announced for this week’s episode of 205 Live.
Ahead of taking part in the NXT Breakout Tournament, Odyssey Jones and Josh Briggs will both be making their televised WWE debuts on 205 Live this Friday night. Jones is facing Grayson Waller on the episode, while Briggs is facing Asher Hale.
WWE wrote that, to preview Jones and Briggs being in the Breakout Tournament, 205 Live is forgoing its typical 205-pound weight limit for Friday’s episode.
Jones (real name Omari Palmer) is a former offensive lineman for Syracuse University. He signed with WWE and joined the Performance Center in February 2019. Jones made his in-ring debut at an NXT house show in November of that year.
Jones wrestled in a dark match prior to last week’s SmackDown.
Briggs (real name Joshua Bruns) formerly wrestled for EVOLVE and was the last-ever EVOLVE Champion.
Trey Baxter (formerly known as Blake Christian), Carmelo Hayes (Christian Casanova), Andre Chase (Harlem Bravado), Briggs, Ikemen Jiro (Jiro “Ikemen” Kuroshio), Joe Gacy, Jones, and Duke Hudson (Brendan Vink) make up the field for this year’s NXT Breakout Tournament. The winner will receive a shot at the NXT title of their choosing.
The Breakout Tournament will begin with Jiro vs. Hudson taking place on NXT next Tuesday.
This was, without a doubt, the best episode of 205 Live Iâve watched. Both matches were tons of fun and had high-speed cruiserweight action. The debuts excite me to no end, as both of these men have all the potential in the world. If this is the future of the brand, it might have a reason to exist.
Ari Sterling defeated Samir Singh (w/ Sunil Singh)
Ari Sterling, formerly Alex Zayne, made his debut tonight. While Titan will tone down the fantastically insane moveset of Sterling ultimately, tonight he delivered an exciting match filled with athletics. Whether he is in Kingsport TNâs Civic auditorium or the WWEâs Capitol Wrestling Center, itâs hard to understate how exciting this man is.
Samir started the match with a headlock takedown, but Sterling proved capable moments later after escaping the hold. Sterling hit a few moves in quick succession before delivering a flipping springboard dive to the outside dubbed the âMoonsauce.â
Samir sidestepped a dropkick before launching Sterling with a reasonably typical catapult; Sterling flew outside the ring. Once back inside the ring, Samir locked in a Boston crab. After Sterling freed himself from the crab, he connected with an up kick to reset the match.
Sterling rallied with some basic strikes followed by a front flip into a kick. Sterling then hit an awkward slam with a flip, a different move from his former finisher, for the win.
August Grey and Ikemen Jiro defeated Ariya Daivari and Tony Nese
In another debut, Ikemen Jiro, formerly Jiro Kuroshio of Wrestle-1, showcased his atypical persona in a superb match. The pacing was excellent, and the action was exciting, but Jiroâs presence shined through.
The match began only after Jiro refused to remove his signature jacket; he would wrestle the match with the sports coat. Jiro got the best of Nese in the opening exchange and tagged in Grey, who immediately lost all the control Jiro gained in the opening moments.
Daivari and Nese dominated Grey, leaving him desperate for a tag. After the tag came, Jiro took out both Nese and Daivari before showing off his jacket to the CWC; A solid strike to the back of the head stopped his fashion show.
Daivari and Nese were back in control, this time with Jiro tag desperate. Jiro transformed a sleeper into a belly-to-back suplex, creating enough time for a hot tag. Grey connected with everything but the kitchen sink, taking out both of his opponents. After a failed pin following a crossbody, Grey tried to tag in Jiro, but he was nowhere to be found.
Nese grabbed Greyâs leg, allowing Daivari to club Nese into the ground. Jiro hit the ring in time to save Grey from sure doom, causing a four-way brawl. Daivari and Nese, in the end, won out, lifting Grey into a double team move that Jiro was forced to break up.
Jiro tagged into the match, connecting with everything in his arsenal. To punctuate his rally, Jiro hit Nese and Daivari with a moonsault. Jiro followed up with a beautiful senton and a pin that Daivari broke up. Grey hit Daivari with a dive to stop his interference, which Jiro followed with a dive of his own. Jiro then hit a âleg slashâ to pick up a win.
Two members of The Rascalz have signed with WWE and been introduced as part of the latest class of Performance Center recruits.
WWE unveiled their latest group of signees today, confirming that The Rascalz’s Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz have signed with the company. Their farewell match for Impact Wrestling aired two weeks ago and featured Wentz & Xavier losing to Trey Miguel & Rich Swann.
Xavier & Wentz are the current PWG Tag Team Champions and have held the titles since April 2018. PWG is currently on hiatus from running shows due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Alex Zayne, Jiro “Ikemen” Kuroshio, and Rust Taylor have also signed with WWE, along with former college basketball and WNBA player Anriel Howard. WWE’s full announcement is available below:
The latest class of recruits has reported for training at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Fla. The group brings a wide array of experience to the WWE PC, including independent and international wrestling experience as well as in professional sports.
Deveon Everheart Aiken, better known to fans as Dezmond Xavier, brings a dazzling array of aerial offense to the PC. Aiken, a nine-year-veteran of the squared circle, has competed for promotions including Combat Zone Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla and Impact Wrestling.
Zachary Green, aka Zachary Wentz, is a frequent tag team partner of Aikenâs. The 26-year-old Ohio native is also a former MMA fighter.
Alex Brandenburg competed under the name Alex Zayne on the independent scene. The Kentucky native has made a name for himself in promotions like Game Changer Wrestling, Black Label Pro and Ring of Honor during his 15-year career.
Sojiru âIkemenâ Higuchi is a 26-year-old wrestler from Japan who was trained by former United States and WWE Tag Team Champion Tajiri, and he has competed for Wrestle-1 and All-Japan Pro Wrestling.
Twenty-three-year-old Georgia native Anriel Howard played college basketball at Mississippi State and Texas A&M. She was selected in the 2019 WNBA Draft, and played professionally for the Seattle Storm.
Russ Taylor of Phelan, Calif. brings plenty of global experience to the WWE PC. Taylor has competed for wXw in Germany, as well as in Japan and across the United States.
Zayne and Taylor have also wrestled for NJPW of America. Taylor was an entrant in ROH’s Pure title tournament this year, losing to Tracy Williams in the first round.
Alex Zayne and Adrian Quest defeated ACH and Blake Christian
Lots of innovative aerial action in this one. ACH and quest started first. ACH clearly had a distinct poise compared with the younger fellows, a real pro. He and Alex Zayne had a nice exchange midway through.
After five minutes or so of action, after Zayne had been in control for a few moments, ACH was able to enzuigiri himself out of Quests offense. He tagged out to Blake Christian, who was exceptional whenever he was in.
Late in the match, Zayne went for a pump handle, but Christian reversed the hold into a cradle for two. Zayne countered his counter with a cradle of his own and bamâZayne nabbed the win for his team. Somewhat futile booking considering todayâs news regarding Zayne, as he has reportedly signed with WWE. That’s wrestling, folks.
“Filthy” Tom Lawlor defeated Fred Rosser via submission
Lawlor came out with JR Kraots and Rust Taylor, who we saw last week. These three together are called Team Filthy, according to the banner Kratos and Taylor held up before the match.
Lawlor threw his filthy ring towel at Rosser before the match started. Tom proceeded to strip down from his denim shorts to reveal another, skimpier pair of denim shorts. Who doesn’t love Filthy Tom?
Lawlor’s MMA-centric offense looked great here. It created this great and very clear contrast in their styles, Rosser showcased the classic North American “wrestler’s wrestler” style, contrasting with Lawlor, the gutsy martial arts technician.
Rosser suplexed Lawlor onto the apron midway through this. His offense looks good, but more safe compared with Lawlor’s style.
Filthy Tom spent the next part of the match working Rosserâs left arm and shoulder, slowing the pace. He punished Rosser with low kicks. Rosser toughed it out and cradled Lawlor for a surprise two count. Lawlor immediately slapped on an arm breaker before Rosser inched his way to the bottom rope for a break.
Lawlor looked to be in control of things until towards the end, when Rosser went for a fireman’s gutbuster. Lawlor was able to reverse it into a cloverhold, then into an STF before Rosser made it to the ropes for the break. Rosser later was able to pull off the gutbuster, but it wasn’t enough to put Lawlor away; Filthy Tom tapped Rosser with a-bow-and-arrow armlock/leglock.
The story here is that Rosser lost, but not by much, according to Kevin Kelly. Overall it was a good match with a nice finish that seems like it could lead to a rematch down the line.
Juice Robinson, Karl Fredericks & Brody King defeated Bullet Club (Jay White, Tonga Loa & Chase Owens)
Solid tag action here. White and Fredericks started things off. These two are going to have barn burners down the road.
These two didnât have too much time in the ring together, but it felt like theyâd been rivals for years. The towering Fredericks did a leapfrog and crossbody block early on, but with all the grace of a SANADA or a Ricky Steamboat. Very impressive.
Tonga Loa and Chase Owens started double-teaming Fredericks as the match continued. Brody King came in and cleaned house midway through and looked beastly. Lots of action throughout with the clash between White and Fredericks sticking out.
Towards the end, White spiked King with a snap DDT. He then rolled King to the floor and made sure Owens was able to take out Robinson in the ring. Robinson landed his Pulp Friction finish in the end, picking up the W for his team.
Tama Tonga defeated PJ Black
Well-paced main event match. Tonga was slow and cunning at the top of this, really dictating the pace, slowing it down from the get-go. After watching Tama Tonga for so longâI’m sure I’ll catch flack for this, but hear me out: Inside the ring, Tama Tonga is a lot like Keiji Muto. Sure, we initially associate Muto with moonsaults and handspring back elbows, but I am referring specifically to Tonga’s deliberate pacing, grinding his match to his flow, exploding in short bursts for stomps or an elbow drop. Tonga doesn’t really turn on the juice until it’s necessary, just as Muto often would like to do.
Black landed with plancha to the floor early on. He busted his nose open early on in this, so there would be moments in the match where production may have been forced to hold wide shots to avoid showing blood on screen. Black used a quebrada, caught Tonga, and turned it into a falling inverted DDT.
The last couple minutes of this were high-energy, with both Black and Tonga turning up the juice late in this, getting the win with the gun stun. We didn’t get a clear view of the finish, though, as the camera was stuck on the wide shot during the pin.
Nonetheless, good match. The stakes weren’t all that high, but by the end of the match it felt like it mattered. Tama Tonga needs a singles run soon.
Tonga told Black afterwards: “Yeah I see you … but do you see me? Do all of you see me now?”
Final thoughts:
Another good show from the NJPW Strong crew this week. Gradual storyline and character development throughout. Fred Rosser is finding a niche, I think. Tom Lawlor and the new Team Filthy with JR Kratos and Rust Taylor could be a great “outsider” element for the show going forward. And hopefully, there may be something in store for Tama Tonga down the road in terms of a singles run, which, again, I think he desperately needs, as I think he would kill it.
In this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer confirmed that Alex Zayne has signed a deal with WWE.
Last week, Zayne had what was billed as his final indie match, a loss to Tony Deppen at GCW’s So Much Fun show. He has stayed active throughout the summer and fall, working for New Japan on Strong, GCW, and other indies.
The Kentucky native has worked consistently in the past few years and has appearances for both Impact Wrestling and Ring of Honor under his belt. It’s expected he will report to the WWE Performance Center as part of their next class along with another recent signee, Ben Carter.
Perhaps joining them will be Zachary Wentz and Trey Miguel of The Rascalz.
Reiterating what he discussed on Wednesday’s Wrestling Observer Radio, Meltzer said the belief is the two are WWE bound as their Impact Wrestling deals recently expired. Team member Trey Miguel’s deal also expired at the same time and Meltzer said he is drawing interest from both WWE and AEW.
Meltzer said the trio got offers from Impact that “weren’t great”. Their final match for the promotion is set for this Tuesday night’s show.
Tonightâs episode of NJPW Strong was titled âRoad to Lionâs Break Crown,â a reference to the tournament the company has planned for next week.
Danny Limelight, Clark Connors, Logan Riegel & Adrian Quest defeated The DKC, Blake Christian, Jordan Clearwater & Barrett Brown
All-action opener. This was basically a preview of the matches we will see next week on Lionâs Break Crown. Even though these are all considered to be Young Lions, each member of the match seems to have at least a few years of experience, and come off as more professional and more seasoned than a lot of other rookies you see in the United States scene at the moment.
Adrian Quest and Blake Christian were in first for their teams. Christian is extremely athletic and it shows.
Connors and Jordan Clearwater were in next. Connors was aggressive with his mat wrestling, even cradling Clearwater for a nearfall early.
Later, when the DKC put Riegel in an armbar, all of the members of the match jumped into the ring and started going at it. Quick, wild brawl for a few seconds.
Connors put Clearwater in a Boston crab, but the DKC came in to break it up. Danny Limelight came in next. Barrett Brown was next with a tope of his own, and finally Blake Christian with the flip dive.
Back inside the ring, Logan Riegel made a blind tag to Brown, putting himself in the match and putting away Jordan Clearwater with a jumping spike DDT for the win.
All eight guys got into it with each other after the match, hyping up next week’s tournament.
PJ Black and Rocky Romero defeated Fred Rosser and Misterioso
Fine match. Rosser looked huge next to Romero inside the ring. Romero tried knocking Rosser off his feet with shoulder blocks but Rosser wouldnât budge.
Rosser and PJ Black went at it next, and this is where Misterioso entered the match. He and Black double-teamed Black on and off for a while.
When Misterioso went for a moonsault, Black put his feet up and Misterioso landed face-first into them. Black next tagged out to Romero, who used his Forever Clotheslines on both Rosser and Misterioso. Black later landed a diving crossbody block for two.
Misterioso and Rosser used a 2nd-rope superplex on Black, though he recovered quickly, which led to Romero taking Rosser out on the floor with a pescado. Black went on to pin Misterioso after the Placebo Effect (springboard 450 splash) to pick up the win for his team.
Guerillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tonga Loa) defeated ACH and Alex Zayne
ACH and Zayne were on offense for the early part of this. ACH has looked awesome on these recent episodes of NJPW Strong. He and Zayne double-teamed Guerillas of Destiny early on, but the Bullet Club brothers turned the tables not long after and went to work on ACH for a while. G.O.D slowed the pace and worked over ACH for a long while, until ACH finally rolled to his corner and tagged in Alex Zayne, who cleaned house. Heâs flashy and uses innovative moves, but itâs clear he still needs those reps. That said, this was hands-down the best match Iâve seen him in ever.
Zayne used a super Frankensteiner on Loa for a very close two-count, but a minute or so later, Loa recovered and spiked Zayne with Apesh*t to put him away and nab another win. This was really good for what it was. This was textbook heel tag team work from G.O.D, and both ACH and Zayne looked better than ever.
Final thoughts:
Another solid one in the can for NJPW Strong this week, though I anticipate next week’s Lion’s Break Crown tournament to be very interesting. All eight wrestlers looked hungry and aggressive in their tag match tonight, and I’m hoping the vibe will carry over into next week’s episode of NJPW Strong, when all eight face off in singles matches in night one of the Lions Break Crown tournament.
NJPW has announced a new series of events that will take place on NJPW Strong.
Following the conclusion of the Fighting Spirit Unleashed series, NJPW has announced that its Friday night NJPW Strong show will play host to the Lion’s Break Crown tournament.
The single-elimination tournament will feature eight competitors, described by NJPW in this video as “the hottest young talents that we can find anywhere.”
As was the case with the Fighting Spirit Unleashed tour, Strong will be comprised of a series of Road to events, culminating with the NJPW Lion’s Break Crown event itself.
The first Road to Lion’s Break Crown event will air on Friday, September 18 at 10 p.m. Eastern time on NJPW World. That show will be headlined by a tag match featuring ACH and Alex Zayne vs. Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa).
Further information as to specific talent involved in the Lions Break Crown tournament and how long the series will last has yet to be released.
ROH has confirmed two more matches for this Friday’s 18th Anniversary pay-per-view.
Villain Enterprises stablemates PCO & Brody King will team against Rey Horus & Alex Zayne at the PPV. Eli Isom is also set to face Bully Ray in a singles match.
Bully Ray interrupted Isom vs. LSG at Bound By Honor on February 28. Isom then challenged Bully Ray to a match. Bully Ray won and went to attack Isom with a steel chair after, but Cheeseburger and Caprice Coleman came out to make the save.
At Gateway to Honor the next night, Isom made a save for Coleman and Cheeseburger after Bully Ray defeated Coleman. Isom went to put Bully Ray through a table, but Bully Ray low blowed him and powerbombed him through it.
ROH hyped that Bully Ray “has said that heâll leave ROH for good if anyone can defeat him” and Isom is determined to rid the company of him.
Zayne made his ROH debut by defeating Bandido at Honor Reigns Supreme in January. The night before that, Bandido, Flamita & Horus won the ROH Six-Man Tag Team titles from Villain Enterprises.
Sam’s Town Live in Las Vegas, Nevada will host ROH’s 18th Anniversary PPV this Friday and ROH Past vs. Present on Saturday.
Here’s the updated card for the Anniversary PPV:
ROH World Champion Rush defending against Mark Haskins
ROH Television Champion Dragon Lee defending against Bandido
ROH Tag Team Champions Jay Lethal & Jonathan Gresham defending against Villain Enterprises (Marty Scurll & Flip Gordon)
The Briscoes vs. Dalton Castle & Joe Hendry
Villain Enterprises (PCO & Brody King) vs. Rey Horus & Alex Zayne
Dealer’s Choice match: Dan Maff vs. Kenny King vs. Shane Taylor vs. Bateman (winner gets a future title shot of his choosing)
Left My Wallet is back to kick off a busy Super Bowl weekend with maybe the fastest rising independent wrestler today, Alex Zayne.
Alex isn’t a sports fan, but we talk about the sudden death of Kobe Bryant, the lessons of motivation and work ethic Alex took from #24, and how Bryant transcended sports to become a pop culture icon.
We then talk about Alex’s love of tacos, his favorite Mexican food, and of course, his love of Taco Bell. We also delve into his favorite regional fast food, if he’s an In and Out or Whataburger guy, and his favorite fast food in his native Kentucky.
Finally, we talk about his rapid rise through the independents and working the current New Japan U.S. tour, learning from the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express, debuting for Ring of honor, and some big things coming up for the purple haired one.
Get to know the athletic and acrobatic Alex Zayne as he continues his rise to being one of the most entertaining performers in wrestling today. Grab a taco and enjoy!
