Cody Runnels looks to be out of action for six weeks shortly after the first of the year with his torn meniscus.
Runnels got his MRI results on Friday and they revealed two tears, one vertical and one horizontal, on the medial meniscus.
He is going to be rehabbing it through 12/14, when he will wrestle Jay Lethal on the ROH Final Battle show. He will also wrestle on the Tokyo Dome show on 1/4 in a match that has yet to be announced. He is planning surgery after the Tokyo Dome show.
Runnels injured his knee in what would be considered a freak accident. He was pivoting around, teasing throwing a t-shirt to the crowd during the ROH Global Wars tour last weekend when he heard his knee pop. He was forced out of his 11/11 IWGP United States title match against Beretta as a result.
He has said he will be at all of his advertised bookings including a tour of Australia later this month for World Series Wrestling, doing meet and greets, but not wrestling.
The results of Cody Rhodes’ MRI on his knee came in today, and he suffered a large meniscus tear in an injury on Friday night’s ROH Global Wars show in Buffalo.
The injury occurred when he pivoted his foot just moving and not the result of any move. He heard a large pop.
The injury will require arthroscopic surgery.
Right now his plan is to get the surgery in January after NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 13. While not announced, based on the angle last night in Toronto, it looks like he will defend the IWGP United States Heavyweight title against Juice Robinson on that show.
Cody missed last night’s match in Toronto against Beretta, and Robinson took his place in the match and won. The usual New Japan protocol is if a champion misses a title defense the substitution match is for the title, but in this case that would have changed scheduled plans.
Cody tweeted this afternoon: “GOOD news is my doctor is fairly confident that my mcl/pcl/acl are structurally sound. BAD news is the meniscus is fairly damaged, gonna’ require a scope. No dates will be adjusted at the moment, and I’ll definitely still compete in the final battle main event & at WK.”
An injury has put Cody Rhodes out of tomorrow’s IWGP United States title match at ROH Global Wars.
Rhodes made the announcement today on his Twitter account, noting that he would not be able to make his title defense against Beretta tomorrow in Toronto, saying that a replacement would be named.
“Sadly folks I will not be able to wrestle tomorrow in Toronto” he wrote. “I will still be at the pre-show meet/greet to say hello to everybody. ROH & I will find a suitable replacement for the match. I’m extremely sorry. I’ll be able to confirm the extent of the issue after an MRI this week.”
Rhodes also described how the injury happened on 11/9, saying he felt a pop in his knee as he was teasing tossing a t-shirt into the crowd.
“Going from one side of the crowd to the other last night, teasing a t-shirt toss of all things…heard a loud POP in my knee,” he wrote. “Terryfing (sic). Hoping it was just a lil’ meniscus and Sunday I can still deliver.”
Cody and Beretta had been building the feud during the last New Japan tour, with Beretta issuing a challenge to Cody for the championship during a Road to Power Struggle event.
Taped at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Colt Cabana returned to commentary to join Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman.
A recap aired of the Bully Ray and Flip Gordon confrontation from last week’s episode. This week, each man picked a representative to compete on their behalf. The stipulation was that the winner would get to do whatever they’d like to the other. Ray said that he would end Gordon should his representative, Silas Young, win the match.
Bully Ray came out and called it a “Pick Your Punishment” match. He had a manila envelope in his hand. Flip Gordon came out as Cabana left the announce booth to walk with him to the ring. Cabana announced the representative for Gordon, which turned out to b The Sandman! The hardcore legend made his way to the ring through the crowd while smashing beer cans on his forehead.
Silas Young defeated The Sandman
As soon as the match started, Sandman cracked Young with a kendo stick. It didn’t take long for Sandman to break out a ladder. Young cut off Sandman and went for a table. Sandman fought back, laid the ladder on top of Young, and hit a senton off the top turnbuckle. Young managed to escape the pin, and then hoisted up Sandman. Young nailed Sandman with Misery for the pin and got the win for Bully Ray.
After the match, Ray got into the ring with a microphone. He said the punishment for Gordon would be 10 shots with Sandman’s Singapore cane. He tattooed Gordon in the back of the head with shot number one. An announcer’s voice came on to inform us that due to the graphic nature, not all of the lashes would be shown.
Ray was swinging as hard as he could. After five shots, he gave Gordon the opportunity to say, “I quit” and end the torture. Gordon instead said, “Never.”
SoCal Uncensored came to ringside to plead with Ray to stop. Eventually, the Bullet Club came out as well. Cody got in the ring and encouraged Gordon to stand up. The crowd chanted for “Flip.” Ray struck him again. Rather than say, “I quit,” Gordon took the microphone and screamed, “F*** you,” to Bully.
That only provoked Ray further. Instead of hitting Gordon with the stick for the last time, he dropped to his knees and gave Gordon a low blow and then fled the scene.
Jenny Rose, Madison Rayne & Women of Honor World Champion Sumie Sakai defeated Dr. Brit Baker, Kelly Klein & Karen Q
Baker and Sakai started it off. A nice grappling exchange led to a blind tag by Karen Q on Baker. The match broke down into a scrum briefly. This led to a commercial break.
After the break, Sakai landed a spinning headscissors and tagged in Rayne — who unleashed some big strikes on Klein. Rayne landed a stunner and tagged in Rose. She immediately hit a spear on Klein, and then hooked on an abdominal stretch. Klein powered out and refused to tag in Baker.
Rose hit a Northern Lights suplex and was able to get the three count on Klein for her team. Klein’s team was not happy with her decision to not tag out.
Cody defeated Kenny King by DQ
ROH World Champion Jay Lethal came to the announce desk to help call the main event.
King got the early advantage and did some posing for the crowd. However, King’s arrogance cost him as Cody landed a long delayed vertical suplex. To fool the referee, King hit the ropes and feigned as though Brandi Rhodes grabbed his leg from the outside. King snapped off a cartwheel kick, and then again faked as if being struck by Brandi by clapping his hands and then selling. The referee didn’t believe it and she was allowed to stay.
King maintained control until a double clothesline put both men down. Cody hit a powerslam and uncorked some big offense that dropped King for a two count. Cody went for Cross Rhodes, but King countered into a roll-up. King used the ropes for extra leverage, but the referee saw it and did not count the three. King laid out Cody with a spinebuster, only receiving a two count.
King then threw an elbow pad at Brandi, which drew her into the ring. This distraction led to King grabbing one of Cody’s title belts. He tossed it to Cody and then faked as if a belt shot from Cody hit him. The referee was almost convinced, but the senior official came down and straightened out the situation. Frustrated, King shoved the referee and nailed Cody with a low blow for the disqualification.
King got into the face of Brandi, which caused Lethal to run down from the announce table and separate the two. Lethal turned his back, creating the opportunity for King to blast Lethal in the back of the head with the ROH World Championship belt. King stood tall to end the show.
Flip Gordon won the Sea of Honor tournament and will face Jay Lethal for the ROH World Championship in the coming weeks.
The Alpha Club vs. Bullet Club angle was left somewhat open ended, with both sides jaw-jacking with each other as the show went off the air.
Show Recap —
Colt Cabana and Jay Lethal were on commentary to begin the show. The event kicked off with a short highlight package of the Sea of Honor tournament first round matches:
Christopher Daniels defeated Delirious
Dalton Castle defeated Matt Taven by DQ after a belt shot
Marty Scurll defeated Rhett Titus
Mark Briscoe defeated Will Ferrara
Flip Gordon defeated Silas Young
Adam Page defeated Frankie Kazarian
Cheeseburger defeated Beer City Bruiser
Jay Briscoe defeated Kenny King
Sea of Honor tournament quarterfinals —
Dalton Castle (as Ashley Remington) defeated Christopher Daniels
The ring announcer claimed Castle was out of the match with a concussion, and that “Smooth Sailing” Ashley Remington would replace him. This was Castle’s sailor comedy character in CHIKARA. Cabana’s explanation was that Castle is concussed and he implied that Castle had a Cactus Jack-like amnesia, hence the Remington character.
Daniels jaw-jacked while the crowd chanted “That’s not Dalton.” Daniels asked Remington if he’s really not Castle. He said he’d believe the crowd’s chants because they had kind eyes.
There was a slower pace at the beginning of the match, followed by a number of counter-reversal-counter exchanges mixed in with comedy poses and gestures.
Cabana and Lethal tried to put the match over as serious even though both wrestlers seemed a bit relaxed throughout it. They assured the viewers that this was the World Championship tournament and was a serious matter.
Daniels landed an Arabian Press for a two count. Remington reversed the pace with a big lariat, a flying knee into the corner, and a bulldog for two. The crowd was 60-40 in favor of Remington.
Remington/Castle rolled Daniels into a small package for the win in this decent comedy match. Remington gave Daniels a basket of fruit afterwards, then they hugged.
Flip Gordon defeated Marty Scurll
There were big chants for Scurll before the match. They dragged a handshake spot out for a few minutes ahead of the bell, playing up the friendship angle they did in the Being the Elite show. The crowd chanted for them to hug and they finally did, but Scurll crossed Gordon with a surprise Rock Bottom/uranage. The referee rang the bell and counted a close two. The crowd was awake for this one.
Scurll crotched Gordon on the rope and teased the old Gran Naniwa crab-walk spot, but then did an “up yours” gesture to the crowd instead for cheap heat. They teased a superplex for a minute until Scurll finally landed it on the third attempt for a two.
Scurll stomped on Gordon’s fingers and put him into a modified abdominal stretch, then into a modified Rings of Saturn, slowing the pace of the match down until Gordon turned the volume up after a few dropkick variations.
Gordon used a springboard slingblade and 450 splash, both for two. Scurll kicked out of the 450 at 2.75 for a very close near fall.
The crowd eventually turned on Scurll and rooted for Gordon instead. The two had a few chop and elbow battles, and Cabana compared them to Sasaki and Kobashi at the Tokyo Dome in 2005. It wasn’t quite that, but Gordon’s chest was horrible and looked very purple.
Gordon reversed Scurll’s Sugarback Powerbomb into a sunset flip pin for the win. He offered to shake Scurll’s hand after the match, but Scurll denied him and rolled out of the ring. Very good — albeit short — match.
Jay Briscoe defeated Cheeseburger
As Briscoe came down to the ring you could hear the announce team chatting away from the mic. It sounded like everyone in the crowd was having a good time, but it made the broadcast feel amateurish.
Cheeseburger’s new ring gear is a tribute to Jushin Thunder Liger, with the red and white color scheme and a Cheeseburger icon on his chest.
Briscoe offered Cheeseburger to take a countout loss because he claimed no one wanted to see Cheeseburger get hurt. Cheeseburger responded with the finger and they started brawling. Briscoe got the better of the initial fisticuffs, then pounded on him for a while. They told a bully story where Briscoe kept screaming at Cheeseburger to quit — but Cheeseburger refused to.
Briscoe used a Death Valley Driver for two, then put Cheeseburger in a Camel Clutch and swore at the crowd. They bleeped this out on the HonorClub broadcast.
Cheeseburger mounted a few comebacks. He landed a Shotei that looked really phony for two. Briscoe landed a Rude Awakening-style hanging neckbreaker after this and it looked brutal.
Briscoe’s jumping Jay Driller got a huge pop from the crowd, and a win for himself. This was a decent match with a simple but clear David vs. Goliath narrative.
Mark Briscoe defeated Hangman Page
The announcers pushed the story that whoever won this got to face Jay Briscoe. It was pretty obvious that they were building for a brother vs. brother match.
Both Page and Briscoe got in each other’s faces early and had a chop battle. Both were great at no-selling each other’s chops and the crowd was getting into it, albeit slowly. They had a body slam battle. The crowd started chanting “scoop slam.” Next was a vertical suplex battle. Page “won” the suplex duel with a delayed vertical suplex.
The two exchanged a few more moves after this, but in a less gimmicky way. The crowd kept chanting “That was weak” and Page seemed not to know how else to please them.
Page landed a gutwrench suplex with a bridging pin for two. This was followed by a “That was strong” chant. Briscoe then gave Page a lariat that flipped him inside out.
Apparently a bird flew into the crowd and Cabana seemed really freaked out by it. People started chanting “holy sh*t,” but the cameras didn’t catch any of it. Cabana stood up and lost it, which was caught on camera. People were chanting for the bird. Lethal was speechless for a while until he lost it over the bird, too. I didn’t understand any of it without the visual references.
A spinning lariat and powerbomb from Page to Briscoe got two. The crowd was really distracted here and it didn’t pop like it normally would. The wrestlers weren’t rattled by this at all, though, which was impressive.
Briscoe missed a Froggy Bow and Page reversed it into a jackknife for another close two count. Briscoe eventually reversed Page’s Buckshot Lariat into a schoolboy for the abrupt win.
This match was better than it came off as on TV, but the bird situation really ruined the latter part of it with regard to crowd reaction.
Sea of Honor tournament semifinals —
Flip Gordon defeated Dalton Castle
It was dark at this point. The night shots looked much better on TV than the matches that took place in the day. Matt Taven and Mandy Leon joined Cabana for this part of the show.
This was a short match and was mostly comedy. Castle wrestled as himself this time. He claimed he had a really bad sunburn and they used this as the story thread throughout the match. Castle sold his sunburn hard, and when Gordon would chop him the crowd booed. Castle poured water onto his chest to cool off.
They brawled more in the ring. Gordon back-raked Castle to more boos. A tope suicida to the outside came next, then a springboard splash for two. Castle used some of his Ashley Remington moves and got a few chants for them.
Gordon won out of nowhere with a small package. It was strange and the crowd booed the finish. This was the third surprise cradle finish of the night.
Taven wasn’t bad as the color guy here and added a nice heel flavor to this.
Jay Briscoe defeated Mark Briscoe
The brother vs. brother match that virtually anyone could see coming, though it didn’t matter because it didn’t deter the crowd nor bum them out — there was a “holy sh*t” chant before the bell.
The brothers shook hands, but Mark ran out at Jay with a dropkick after the bell. He landed an early Froggy Bow for two. The crowd was very into this.
Jay brought a chair into the ring and hit brother Mark with it. Jay played crazy-eyed heel here. Jay bullied Mark to the outside of the ring and threw a can of beer at his head.
Jay pounded on Mark more back in the ring. He then set a chair in between the top two turnbuckles and tried to Irish whip Mark into the chair. Mark reversed it and threw Jay head-first into it, which was insane. The crowd went wild. Mark then sat Jay down onto the chair and landed a flying crossbody press onto him, breaking the chair.
Later, Jay threw a chair at Mark as he was on the top rope, then landed another Jay Driller for the win. Both hugged, which got a big reaction from the crowd.
This was the best match of the event so far, both in terms of in-ring action and crowd response.
Sea of Honor tournament finals —
Flip Gordon defeated Jay Briscoe
Lethal was back on commentary for this match. It looked like it took place in the afternoon a day or two after the previous match.
Briscoe jumped Gordon before the bell. Gordon missed a 450 splash, then Briscoe started choking him with a shirt. The pace slowed to a heel-led brawl. Briscoe punched and stomped until Gordon came back with some flying offense, including a springboard missile dropkick.
Briscoe eventually slowed things down a bit with more methodical heel brawler offense. At this point in the match, something was either bleeped or the feed cut out for a second.
Gordon landed a crossbody press, and later a springboard spear for two. He hulked up after dropkicking Briscoe’s back, but Briscoe reversed Gordon’s suplex after this.
Briscoe hit a massive lariat and Jay Driller on Gordon for a 2.5 count. The crowd chanted “that was three” and people started losing it. Gordon quickly reversed the momentum, landing a jump-up enzuigiri and a Flip 50 (a TKO) to win the tournament.
This was shorter than I imagined it would be. It was good, but not as good as Briscoe vs. Briscoe. Jay didn’t shake Gordon’s hand after the match.
Bullet Club (Kenny Omega, Cody Rhodes & Marty Scurll) defeated Alpha Club (Chris Jericho & The Young Bucks)
Scott D’Amore and Don Callis called this match with Cabana. Callis wore an admiral’s outfit. He looked like the lead singer of the Village People.
The crowd chanted a lot before things got started. Bullet Club all took their shirts off at the same time and did poses for some happy people in the crowd.
Nick Jackson and Cody had a few quick exchanges, then Cody flipped the crowd off. There were loud “Y2J” chants when Jericho first entered the ring.
The Alpha Club group made so much more sense than one may have thought initially. As a trio they gelled naturally, all working the same tempo.
As soon as Omega entered the ring, he pointed at Jericho and the crowd really united on their “holy sh*t” chant for this one. They circled each other until Cody tagged himself into the match, all to a chorus of crowd boos.
Jericho lit Cody up with chops, but he countered with a missile dropkick from the second ropes. Callis and D’Amore put over Jericho’s credentials hard — and it did lend more credibility to the match. The Sea of Honor tournament was relaxed in comparison.
Nick Jackson made his way back into the ring, but Scurll and Cody worked him over in the Elite corner for a few minutes, slowly.
Whenever Omega was in the ring, he got noticeably louder chants than most people on this card. He and Scurll worked over Nick some more, and Scurll did the Jericho “Come on, baby!” pin-flex thing in Alpha Club’s direction for two.
Nick was playing Ricky Morton for the middle part of this match. He was dominated and abused by Bullet Club until he finally countered their momentum and tagged Jericho for a house of fire sequence. Jericho looked smooth here, not rusty at all.
Scurll teased the chicken wing, but Alpha Club did a double Sharpshooter and Walls of Jericho spot until it was broken via rope break.
Matt Jackson was in for a number of high spots, followed by a running, jumping Codebreaker from Jericho onto Cody. The crowd was loud again. The Bucks used a handful of their double-team flying spots for near falls, including a moonsault/splash combination.
A few exchanges between Omega and The Young Bucks resulted in Omega using a snap dragon suplex on both of them. Jericho interrupted Omega’s flow with a running elbow — and then they faced off and did the Frye-Takayama punching spot.
Omega went for a dive to the floor, but the Bucks blocked him. All three Alpha Club members did a triple superkick spot for two and got a big reaction from the crowd. Jericho helped the Bucks with an assisted Meltzer Driver into a Walls of Jericho. Cody landed a Cross Rhodes.
There was chaos and bedlam in the ring among all members until Jericho put Omega into the Lion Tamer. Nick Jackson used a slingshot facebuster on Omega to prevent him from grabbing the ropes. Scurll snuck an umbrella into the ring behind referee Todd Sinclair’s back and hit him in the back. Omega got a two count from that.
More brawling between the teams. Omega attempted a One Winged Angel — but his back went out. Matt landed another superkick to no avail. Omega finally put Matt down with a One Winged Angel for the win.
This was a fun match with a number of storylines threading through each other. Considering how well Alpha Club/Bucks of Jericho (or is it Y2Jackson?) gelled together, I’d be interested to see them in other trios matches.
The two teams were jaw-jacking at the end, but it was cut off by a cut to Jericho on the ship thanking everyone for watching. It was cut off a few seconds before he finished.
Conclusion —
The Sea of Honor tournament was a mildly entertaining but arguably skippable event. This was purely “fan service.” If you’re already a huge fan, you’ll love it, though if you’re not, this might not be the best place to start watching ROH or the Elite guys.
The matches were average to very good, but the stakes were seemingly low. Many of the early round matches felt like house show bouts or exhibitions. There was no filler or fluff between matches, either, and the matches that weren’t so great were usually short, which made the show easy to watch.
There were a handful of streaming issues, but nothing like what happened recently at the NWA 70th Anniversary Show. There were a few confusing blips and errors, but none that took away from the show on my end.
A decent show overall, and most definitely the best wrestling show on a cruise ship of all time—until next year.
Cody Rhodes’ first IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship defense will be taking place at next month’s Global Wars tour.
ROH announced today that Cody will defend the IWGP United States title against Beretta at Global Wars: Toronto on November 11. They’ve been building up a match against each other, which has included Beretta issuing a challenge to Cody at an NJPW Road to Power Struggle show and Cody tweeting out a poll asking if Beretta deserves a shot at the title.
Cody won the IWGP United States Championship by defeating Juice Robinson at NJPW Fighting Spirit Unleashed in Long Beach, California last month.
Kenny King challenging for Jay Lethal’s ROH World Championship will main event the Global Wars event in Toronto. It’s the last stop on the tour, with shows also being held in Lewiston, Maine on November 7, Lowell, Massachusetts on November 8, and Buffalo, New York on November 9.
The NWA celebrates its 70th anniversary at the Nashville Fairgrounds tonight.
The 70th Anniversary Show will be headlined by Cody Rhodes defending his NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship against Nick Aldis. Cody won the title from Aldis at All In, and Aldis is getting his rematch in a two-out-of-three falls match tonight.
There will also be a one-night tournament to crown a new NWA National Champion. Two fatal four-way elimination matches (Willie Mack vs. Jay Bradley vs. Mike Parrow vs. Ricky Starks and Colt Cabana vs. Sammy Guevara vs. Scorpio Sky vs. Sam Shaw) will decide who advances to a singles match for the title later in the night.
In another title match, Jazz defends the NWA Women’s Championship against Penelope Ford.
Plus, Former NWA Champion Tim Storm takes on Peter Avalon, Jax Dane & Crimson (w/ Road Warrior Animal) face The Kingdom of Jocephus, and Laredo Kid wrestles Barrett Brown.
Our live coverage begins at 7:05 p.m. Eastern time.
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By Richard Zahovic
There were some technical problems at the beginning as opening video has live audience audio. Joe Galli, Tony Schiavone and Jim Cornette welcomed us to the Asylum at the Nashville Fairgrounds and ran down the card.
Same audio issue as Colt Cabana and Sammy Guevara were interviewed in the back but we were hearing the commentary team. Scorpio Sky did a video promo, then it was time for our opening match.
NWA National Championship Tournament Semifinal: Sam Shaw defeated Colt Cabana, Sammy Guevara, and Scorpio Sky in a four-way elimination match to advance
Fast paced, entertaining but rushed opener. Shaw was established early as the powerhouse in the match. Sky and Guevara did a nice double plancha, and Guevara hit a shooting star press to the outside. Shaw pinned Cabana with a powerbomb off the rope — much to the disappointment of the crowd who loved Cabana.
More crazy dives by Guevara. but he was pinned by Sky — who got superkicked by Shaw straight after for the win.
There was a Blue Demon Jr. interview after more technical issues where he stated he wants a World title match at some point. Cornette, who’s been great on commentary so far, gave some more history.
Barrett Brown defeated Laredo Kid
Another entertaining but rushed feeling match. Laredo Kid started hot and hit an Asai moonsault. Brown cut him off with a dropkick coming off the ropes and then hit a dive to the outside. A flip DDT got a two count as Brown continued to control the match.
Laredo Kid made a comeback and hit a 450 off the apron to Brown on the floor. hit a slightly botched reverse rana, and both men were now selling big. Laredo Kid got a two count after a cutter off the ropes but missed a corkscrew off the top. Brown countered with a running knee to the face for the victory.
Laredo Kid looked great here and the match would have been so much better if they had had five more minutes, but they seem worried about time.
No audio again for the backstage interviews and promos as James Ellsworth appeared with Mike Parrow. Audio really letting down what has otherwise been an excellent production so far.
Ricky Starks cut a promo by the commentary position to introduce his elaborate intro video. Magnum TA was now at ringside for an interview segment and name dropped all the NWA legends and put over the NWA. He’ll be presenting the NWA National title later, Magnum was better here than 90 percent of modern wrestling promos.
NWA National Championship Tournament Semifinals: Willie Mack defeated Jay Bradley, Ricky Starks, and Mike Parrow in a four-way elimination match to advance
Good, solid match. There was a big man battle early between Parrow and Bradley with Parrow getting a two count off a sit-out powerbomb. Starks came in and caught Parrow with a roll-up and a handful of tights to eliminate him. Classic shine and eliminated formula in these four-ways tonight.
Bradley hit a final cut and butterfly suplex on Starks and was dominating the ring. Bradley got caught going to the top rope, got powerbombed by Starks, and then a splash from Mack eliminated him.
It was down to Starks and Mack. A stunner by Mack after a nice exchange got the three count, and he advances to face Shaw in the final. Bradley jumped Mack during a post-match interview as Shaw caused the distraction to establish Mack as the underdog going into their match later. Ellsworth came in and ducked during an attack that sent Bradley into the post.
Tim Storm defeated Peter Avalon
Avalon cut an in-ring promo, bragging about his prior victories over Storm and heeling on the crowd. Storm grabbed the mic and announced a kiss my foot stipulation.
Avalon jumped Storm at the bell but was quickly cut off by the former NWA Champion who took control. Storm dominated until Avalon’s manager (Nikko Marquez) created a distraction that allowed Avalon to get some offense in. Avalon accidentally hit Marquez while he was holding Storm, then Storm caught Avalon in the Perfect Storm for the win.
Post-match Avalon forced Marquez to kiss Storm’s foot instead — but Storm didn’t accept that and forced Avalon to kiss his foot too. Weakest match on the show so far, but it was very entertaining for what it was and didn’t drag on. Had a real old school feel with the stipulation and Storm was over big with the audience.
NWA Worlds Women’s Championship Jazz defeated Penelope Ford to retain her title
Jazz cut a promo and they were putting her over huge as a legend of women’s wrestling. Sound problems again for Ford’s promo. Cornette put over Mildred Burke on commentary.
Ford hit a handspring cutter, handspring elbow, and a Northern Lights suplex. Jazz regained control with a clamp, but Ford kicked out. Jazz was working as the overconfident, dominate heel. Ford came back with a couple of roll-up attempts but missed a backflip.
Jazz had the three count with a Michinoku driver, but Earl Hebner only counted two and then stopped. Jazz put Ford in an STF and got the submission. Both worked hard, and Jazz looked good and had a great presence, but the finish really hurt the match and Ford was off in places tonight.
There was a post-match interview with Jazz where she announced that she wants a shot at the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship.
Jim Cornette was in the ring for an interview with Jeff Jarrett and put over Double J and the whole Jarrett family. Jarrett talked about the NWA and thanked the crowd for continuing to support the company. Jarrett introduced the new NWA National title and put over Magnum TA.
NWA National Heavyweight Championship Tournament Final: Willie Mack defeated Sam Shaw to win the title
Mack jumped Shaw as he was making his intro as payback for earlier in the show. Mack missed a charge in the corner, allowing Shaw to take control. Shaw used slow, deliberate offense including an old school nerve hold, leading to the almost as old school hand drop spot. Mack got a hope spot but was quickly cut off by Shaw. Shaw put on a chinlock, which led to another hand drop spot.
Mack hit an exploder suplex, and Cornette was putting him over huge as the underdog who came from nothing. Mack made his comeback with a cannonball, a Samoan drop, and hit a standing moonsault for a near fall. Shaw went up top and misses a swanton bomb.
Shaw walked into the stunner for a big two count. Shaw came back with a superkick that got two, but he missed a second superkick and Mack hit a second stunner to become the NWA National Champion. The match was plodding when Shaw was on offense, but the crowd loved Mack as the underdog. Very old school match structure and physchology that might turn off some, but it worked well in front of this audience.
Nick Aldis did an interview where he teased having his own manager to counter Brandi Rhodes in the main event tonight. Very Nick Bockwinkel style delivery here by the former champion.
Tag Team Open Challenge: Crimson & Jax Dane (w/ Road Warrior Animal) defeated Shannon Moore & Crazzy Steve
Jocephus did an interview on the ramp teasing that his spiritual advisor and Hollywood from GLOW would challenge Dane and Crimson, but it was a distraction to allow Shannon Moore and Crazzy Steve to jump Crimson & Dane from behind. The heels dominated early before Crimson hit a spinebuster, brought in Dane on a hot tag, and Dane hit a double Samoan drop. Crimson & Dane hit a Samoan drop into a cutter for the victory.
Quick match that lacked heat and felt like filler. Post-match Jim Cornette interviewed Animal — who announced that the Crockett Cup will return next year.
Dory Funk Jr. was interviewed at ringside. He told a story about watching NWA as a seven year old, talked about his dad, and put over the NWA. These interviews with the legends have done a nice job of putting over the legacy of the National Wrestling Alliance tonight.
Nick Aldis defeated Cody in a two-out-of-three falls match to win the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship
Tony Schiavone re-joined commentary to call the main event. The former NWA Champions who have been on the show tonight came into the ring as the ring announcer introduced Aldis, who comes to the ring with Kamilla Kaine. Cody entered with Brandi and shook hands with Dory Funk Jr.
First Fall
They did a handshake at the start of the match and it was solid technical wrestling in the early going. A delayed suplex and flatliner by Cody got the first two count.Aldis hit a brainbuster, and Cody came back and got a two count with a Disaster Kick.
Aldis responded with a superplex, but Cody quickly picked his leg and locked on the figure four. Aldis got to the ropes and locked on the cloverleaf for the submission to take the first fall. Aldis was selling his leg from the figure four and Cody was ready to start the next fall. Commentary was pushing the idea that Cody did more damage and it was clever strategy by Cody to tap quickly when he realized he couldn’t make the ropes.
Second Fall
Aldis wasn’t ready at the bell — so he went to the outside, Cody hit a tope as they brawled around ringside and then into the crowd. Aldis whipped Cody into a wall and Cody responded with a trash can. The brawl went through the concession stand before Aldis slammed Cody on the ramp.
Cody set up a table in the corner of the ring, and commentary was pushing that the referee will give them freedom as he doesn’t want to disqualify anyone. Aldis hit a DDT and got ready to put Cody through the table. Brandi came in the ring to save Cody. That brought brings in Kamilla Kaine, but it was Aldis that hit Brandi with a running knee from behind.
The referee got the table out of the ring, but Aldis set it up at ringside and put Cody on the table. Aldis went through the table from a top rope elbow drop as Cody rolled off at the last second. Cody hit the Cross Rhodes in the ring and it was tied at one fall each. The fans started chanting “this is awesome.”
Third Fall
Cody hit a superkick, then Aldis avoided Cross Rhodes and a moonsault attempt by Cody. Cody hit the flip, flop and fly. Both men went for a clothesline, which led to a double down in the ring. Kaine and Brandi got into a fight at ringside and the referee had enough of it — so he ejected everyone from ringside.
The distraction allowed Aldis to hit Cross Rhodes for a two count. Cody picked the leg again and put on the figure four, but Aldis made it to the ropes. Cody landed a draping DDT, and Aldis responded with a tombstone and hit an elbow off the top for another near fall.
It turned into a slugfest in the center of the ring. Aldis went for the cloverleaf — but Cody’s boot comes off. Cody got a small package, then Aldis reversed it for the three count to regain the title. Excellent main event that went around 30 minutes. The finish caught the crowd by surprise which hurt the reaction, but it was a really well-structured match.
Closing
The commentary team thanked us for joining them as Aldis celebrated in the ring. An entertaining show that went by quickly. Except for Sammy Guevara in the opening match, this felt like a very old school presentation inside the ring — which is a brave strategy in 2018 and it will be interesting to see how successful the brand is going forward.
The talent on the card was thinner than most major indie groups and it showed at times. The technical issues were cleared up by the end of the show and I really enjoyed the commentary and realistic presentation.
A triple threat match for the IWGP title headlines this morning’s King of Pro Wrestling event in Sumo Hall.
Kenny Omega will face not one, but two opponents as he faces Cody and Kota Ibushi. The match was set up last week when Cody proposed a solution that would enable Kota Ibushi and Kenny Omega to square off, continuing to keep their promise that their next big match would be at the biggest venue possible. The co-main event will feature Hiroshi Tanahashi defend his Wrestle Kingdom 13 IWGP title contract against Jay White.
Other title matches set for this morning include the finals of a IWGP Jr. title tournament where KUSHIDA and Marty Scurll will battle to determine the new champion. The IWGP Jr. tag team titles will also be on the line, as veterans Tiger Mask and Jushin Liger take on champions Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru in the opener.
One of the more intriguing matches in the undercard will be an eight man tag team match with LIJ members taking on CHAOS members. In a video earlier this week, Tetsuya Naito promised that a new “pareja” will team with them at this morning’s show. Let the speculation begin!
Join us for live coverage starting at 4 a.m. EDT. There will be English commentary.
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EL DESPERADO & YOSHINOBU KANEMARU DEFEATED JUSHIN LIGER & TIGER MASK TO RETAIN THE IWGP JR. HEAVYWEIGHT TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP (9:53)
This was weird for an opener, as the heels won, and they did a bunch of shenanigans and a ref bump. The wrestling itself was fine.
Liger and Tiger Mask got jumped during their entrance. Desperado used a chair on Liger, and Kanemaru sent Tiger into the security fence.
Suzuki-gun finally brought the action into the ring. Desperado and Kanemaru worked over Tiger, and teased taking off his mask. Tiger made a comeback, and tagged Liger. Liger hit a top rope rana on Kanemaru, and cradled Kanemaru for a nearfall.
Liger used an armbar on Kanemaru. Desperado jumped in for the save, and ate a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Tiger got a tag and hit a diving headbutt on Kanemaru for a two count. Desperado got a tag and hit a brainbuster and a spear on Tiger.
Liger came in for the save, but Kanemaru took him out. Tiger hit Desperado with a tiger driver for two. Tiger put Desperado on the top rope, and hit a tiger suplex. He covered, but Kanemaru slid a whiskey bottle in, stopping the count.
Kanemaru spit the whiskey mist in Tiger’s eyes, and the ref took a bump. Liger hit Kanemaru with a somersault senton from the apron to the floor. Tiger got a visual pinfall on Desperado, but the referee was out. Desperado hit a low blow. Desperado hit the pinche loco on Tiger, and got the pin to retain the titles.
TOGI MAKABE & TOMOAKI HONMA DEFEATED JUICE ROBINSON & TOA HENARE (10:21)
A very simple, basic tag match. Honma did more and looked better than he has since his return.
Honma and Henare started off. They hit each other with shoulder tackles. Honma hit a slam, bt missed a kokeshi. Juice tagged in and hit a vertical suplex, but then tagged out immediately. Honma hit a vertical suplex, and both Honma and Henare tagged out.
Honma hit juice with ten punches in the corner, but Juice came back with corner clotheslines, a cannonball, and his jab series. Makabe ducked a jab, hit a lariat, and tagged Honma. Honma hit a bulldog and a kokeshi. Honma hit a lariat and made a cover, but Henare jumped in to break it up.
Honma went up top, but Juice press slammed him to the mat. Juice tagged Henare, who hit a lariat for a two count. Honma hit a diving kokeshi, and tagged Makabe. Henare hit a tackle for a two count.
Makabe hit a lariat on Henare for a one count. Honma jumped in and they hit double lariats. Honma hit a kokeshi, and Makabe hit a king kong knee drop for the pin.
TAMA TONGA, TANGA LOA, BAD LUCK FALE & TAIJI ISHIMORI DEFEATED THE YOUNG BUCKS, CHASE OWENS & HANGMAN PAGE (12:06)
A great match. Everyone looked spectacular.
Owens and Loa started off. They did virtually nothing, before tagging Nick and Ishimori, who did a lightning quick stalemate sequence. All eight men jumped in, and the Elite team hit stereo dropkicks, sending everyone to the floor. Nick hit a senton off the top to the floor. Matt teased a dive, but got tripped.
Loa slammed Matt on the floor, and the OGs turned it into a brawl around ringside. Matt was the legal man, and found himself worked over by Ishimori and Tonga. Matt had his back taped up and was wearing the weight belt. Tonga took the belt off, and Fale ripped the tape off. Fale stood on the back. Tonga hit a stinger splash to the back.
Tonga went for a second splash in the corner, but Matt escaped. He hit a superkick to Loa, and a spear on Tonga, then tagged Page. Page ran wild, hitting a dropkick on Loa into a standing moonsault on Ishimori. Page hit a moonsault from the post to the floor, wiping out the OGs.
Page hit a buckle bomb to Ishimori into double enziguris from the Bucks. Owens hit a backbreaker for a two count. Ishimori slipped going for a handspring kick. Everyone jumped in and hit a big move. Page hit the buckshot lariat. The Bucks double superkicked Fale. Ishimori hit a fantastic twisting plancha to the floor.
Owens escaped a gun stun, and hit a pump kick and a step-up knee on Loa. He went for a package piledriver, but Loa countered, and lifted him into a gun stun from Tonga, and the OGs got the victory.
This served to set up Suzuki and Ishii’s RPW title match next week, and set up Ospreay as a challenger for Taichi. I suppose someone finally realized that maybe, just maybe, the NEVER Openweight title could mean something if it were truly an openweight title, rather than a tertiary heavyweight belt.
Suzuki-gun tried to jump CHAOS at the bell, but CHAOS was ready. Ospreay and Goto ran wild. Suzuki grabbed Goto’s arm and applied an armbar over the ropes, and employed some small joint manipulation on Goto’s fingers. This enabled Suzuki-gun to take over, and it devolved into a wild brawl.
They brawled around ringside, with Suzuki-gun using chairs. They teased a countout, but Goto made it back in at 19. Iizuka bit everyone. Goto made a comeback and hit a brainbuster on Suzuki. Ishii got a tag, and Ishii and Suzuki stood in the center of the ring, trading blows. Suzuki ended up with a bloody mouth. Suzuki blasted Ishii with some short forearms.
Ishii fired back. He teased a brainbuster. Suzuki teased a Gotch. Ishii hit a flying tackle, and they did a double down. Ospreay and Taichi got tags. Ospreay hit pip pip cheerio, and a handspring into a kick. Taichi came back with a high kick. Goto and Ishii got sent to the floor, and Suzuki-gun triple-teamed Ospreay. Taichi hit an axe bomber for a nearfall, but Ishii and Goto made the save.
Taichi took his pants off. Maybe his balls was hot?
Ospreay’s chest was all welted up. Iizuka tried to use the iron hand, and he took the referee. Taichi tried to use the NEVER belt on Ospreay, but Ospreay hit a standing spanish fly. Goto hit an ushigoroshi on Iizuka, while Ishii took Suzuki to the floor.
Ospreay hit the storm breaker on Taichi, and got the pin. They played this up like it was a big deal, and Ospreay said he was next for Taichi.
They played a video package before the next match, teasing the new LIJ member. LIJ did their entrance. Naito cut a promo. He teased that the new member was Milano Collection AT, but Milano denied it. Naito then introduced The Dragon. The Dragon entered, and unmasked as Shingo Takagi, formerly of Dragon Gate.
Takagi and YOH started off. All eight men quickly jumped in. SANADA tied Yano up in the paradise lock over the bottom rope. He then tied YOH up, and dropkicked him into Yano, freeing him. BUSHI hit a missile dropkick, then tagged Naito. YOH hit dragon screws on Naito and BUSHI.
Okada got a tag, and DDT’ed Naito. He followed with a flapjack for a two count. Naito hit an inverted atomic drop and the slingshot dropkick in the corner. Naito and BUSHI hit Okada with basement dropkicks, and picked up a nearfall.
Naito went for gloria, but Okada countered, and hit a dropkick. Naito went for a destino, but Okada countered. Naito hit a flying forearm, into a double down. SHO and BUSHI got tags. SHO hit a spear, then a backstabber, while YOH delivered a dropkick.
SHO and YOH went for a 3K on BUSHI, but he countered, and tagged Takagi. The match broke down, and all eight jumped in. Takagi hit his finish, the last falconry, on SHO for the pin.
ZACK SABRE JR. VS. EVIL NEVER STARTED, WAS RULED A NO CONTEST
EVIL made an entrance with druids. One of the druids jumped him, and unmasked as Chris Jericho. Jericho hit a codebreaker, then laid EVIL out with a belt shot with the Intercontinental title. Jericho took off.
They ruled that EVIL was unable to compete, but Sabre went after him anyway. He applied an armbar, but Naito ran in for the save. Naito hit a swinging DDT on Sabre, and Sabre bailed.
KUSHIDA DEFEATED MARTY SCURLL TO WIN THE VACANT IWGP JR. HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP (18:34)
This turned into a hell of a match by the end. KUSHIDA’s matches always start slower than I anticipate, but his closing sequences are among the best in the world.
They began with some chain wrestling. KUSHIDA hit a flying armbar, but Scurll turned it into a cradle for a two count. They executed a series of cradles and reversals, ending with Scurll getting a nearfall. KUSHIDA rolled to the floor, and Scurll hit him with a superkick down the line, and he took control of the match.
Back inside, Scurll used a romero special. KUSHIDA came back with a cartwheel dropkick. KUSHIDA went after Scurll’s left arm, trying to soften him up for the hoverboard lock. KUSHIDA went up top, but Scurll cut him off and hit a superplex. KUSHIDA rolled through the superplex into a pinfall, but Scurll kicked out and hit a thrust kick to the side of the head.
Scurll hit a stiff forearm shot, leading to another series of cradles and reversals. Scurll popped out of a cradle and hit a superkick. They traded knee strikes to the head. KUSHIDA hit a bicycle kick, Scurll hit a rebound lariat, and both hit simultaneous overhand chops, leading to a double down.
KUSHIDA hit a cartwheel kick, and Scurll rolled to the floor. KUSHIDA went to the top, but Scurll cut him off, and joined him on the top rope. KUSHIDA slapped on the diablo armbar, and they crashed to the mat. Scurll hit a short slingshot under the bottom rope. He charged at KUSHIDA, but KUSHIDA used a drop toehold to send Scurll into the corner pad.
KUSHIDA went for a back to the future, but Scurll jumped into the chicken wing, locking it on in the center of the ring. KUSHIDA rolled through, but Scurll locked on a hoverboard lock of his own. KUSHIDA kept his hands locked, then escaped. Scurll hit a suplex, dropping KUSHIDA right on his head.
KUSHIDA countered a graduation with an air raid crash. KUSHIDA went for back to the future, but Scurll slipped out and stomped on KUSHIDA’s hand. KUSHIDA tried to lock on the hoverboard, but because of the hand stomp, he couldn’t lock it on.
Scurll hit a powerbomb, then a package driver for a two count. Scurll hit a lariat, and attempted to roll into a chicken wing, but KUSHIDA blocked it. KUSHIDA then hit two back to the futures for the pin, winning the title.
HIROSHI TANAHASHI DEFEATED SWITCHBLADE JAY WHITE TO RETAIN THE TOKYO DOME IWGP HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP CHALLENGE RIGHTS CERTIFICATE (20:40)
The match was good for what it was, especially given all the gaga and interference. It featured some incredible work from Tanahashi, but all of that was secondary to the post-match.
White began with some stalling. He rolled to the floor. He came back inside, and they locked up. White broke cleanly on the ropes, but Gedo tripped Tana from the floor. White sent Tana into the fence. Gedo jumped in for a cheap shot, and Tana chased him into the ring. While Gedo took Tana, White hit a chop block, then played air guitar.
White went to work on Tana’s left leg, and played air guitar with it. He pulled Tana to the apron, and worked the leg over on the apron. White posted Tana’s leg, and Gedo used the briefcase on the leg. White sent Tana over the top. Tana kicked off Gedo and skinned the cat, but the interference allowed White to grab the leg and continue working it over.
White sent Tana into the corner, but Tana was able to counter with a dragon screw. Tana hit a scoop slam, second rope senton, and an inverted dragon screw. Tana used a cloverleaf, but White reached the ropes immediately. White Saito suplexed Tanahashi over the top rope to the floor, where he then slammed Tana into the fence.
White pulled a chair from under the ring. As he attempted to bring it inside, Red Shoes stopped him, and Tana hit a dragon screw over the rope. White rolled outside, and Tana hit a high fly flow to the floor. Back inside, Tana went for sling blade, but White cut him off twice. White hit an exploder, into a double down.
They traded short forearms. Tana went to using right hands, but White kicked at the leg. White hit some right hands, but Tana hit a palm strike, then another. They did an insane sequence of reversals, ending with White hitting a right hand. Tana then hit two twist and shouts. He went for a third, but White reversed it into a spinning brainbuster. He went for another, but Tana hit another twist and shout.
Tana hit sling blade. Gedo jumped onto the apron. White went for a blade runner, but Tana turned it into a dragon suplex for two. Tana hit a high fly flow to a standing White. He hit another to a fallen White. Red Shoes counted to two, but Gedo pulled him out of the ring before he could count the pinfall.
Gedo jumped in with brass knuckles. Tana ducked them and KO’ed Gedo, but White hit a low blow, then grabbed a chair. He swung the chair, but Tana ducked it and hit a low blow. Tana slammed White on to the chair. He went for a high fly flow, but White rolled out of the way, and Tana landed on the chair.
White hit a chair shot. Red Shoes was revived. Rather than cover immediately, White tried to hit a blade runner first, allowing Tanahashi to counter with a roll-up for the three count.
White and Gedo assaulted Tana after the match. White went for a blade runner, but Okada ran down for the save. Okada laid out White. Gedo tried to sneak attack him, but Okada fired back. Jado ran in to make the save for his brother, while wearing an Okada shirt. He talked Okada into backing off.
The Bullet Club OGs came to ringside. Fale grabbed Gedo. Tonga grabbed Jado. Okada hit the ropes to hit Gedo, but Tonga hit him with a gun stun. Gedo, Jado, Loa, Tonga, Fale, Ishimori, and White, all threw up the too sweet, and White hit a blade runner on Okada.
So, White, Gedo, and Jado have aligned themselves with the Bullet Club.
After the Bullet Club scattered, Tana got back into the ring, and stood over Okada. He didn’t help him to his feet, and was then helped to the back by the Young Lions, who then escorted Okada to the back.
KENNY OMEGA DEFEATED CODY & KOTA IBUSHI TO RETAIN THE IWGP HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP (34:14)
This was intricately laid out. There was no absence of ring psychology here, and the underlying story of the match was the complications that Omega and Ibushi’s relationship brought to the bout.
That said, it was primarily about all three guys trying to win the championship, and there were approximately six billion moves. Omega was slightly less crisp than his impossible standard, but still incredible. Ibushi and Cody were excellent. The crowd wasn’t into it in some stretches, but they were into it at the end.
Cody sent Ibsuhi to the floor, and hit Omega with his dropdown right hand. Omega rolled to the floor, and Ibushi jumped back in. Ibushi hit a dropkick. Omega jumped back in and hit a kotaro krusher. Ibushi covered, but Omega pulled him off. Omega covered, and Ibushi pulled him off.
Cody hit a gutbuster on Omega, who sold his right shoulder. cody rolled to the floor and hit Ibushi with a gutbuster on the floor. He jumped back in and hit Omega with a knee to the gut, before jumping back outside. Ibushi ran at Cody, and Cody sent him over the fence, into the crowd.
While Ibushi sold his knee outside, Cody jumped back in and hit a running knee strike on Omega, picking up a two count. Omega hit a snap rana, sending Cody to the floor. Omega hit the rise of the terminator.
All three men climbed back inside. Omega hit you can’t escpae. Ibushi hit a moonsault. Omega went for a one-winged angel on Ibushi, but Ibushi slipped out. Cody hit a powerslam on Omega. Ibushi hit a powerslam on Cody, then a moonsault for a two count.
Cody talked Omega into trying a double brainbuster on Ibushi, but as they lifted him, Cody rolled up Omega for two. Omega and Cody traded strikes, and Cody applied a figure four. While they sat in the figure four, Ibushi hit both with kicks, then hit a standing moonsault on Omega for a nearfall.
Ibushi went for a moonsault on Cody, but Cody got the knees up. Omega hit a snap dragon on Cody, side-stepped a disaster kick, then gave Cody a snap dragon. Omega went for a v-trigger, but Ibushi hit him with a dropkick. Cody hit Ibushi with a springboard dropkick, then hit a hammerlock DDT for a nearfall.
Omega rolled to the floor. Cody hit a suicide dive to Omega. Ibushi teased a golden triangle on both, but Cody cut him off. He teased a cross Rhodes on the apron, but Omega grabbed him and powerbombed him through the announce table. Ibushi then hit a twisting springboard moonsault to the floor on Omega.
Ibushi had a chance to try a springboard maneuver on Omega, but stepped inside and dared Omega to lock up instead. They locked up, then traded strikes. They exchanged front kicks, then Ibushi hit a combination. Omega countered with a snap dragon. They did a series of reversals, and Omega hit a v-trigger. Omega went for a rana, but Ibushi flipped out, landed on his feet, and hit a thunderous lariat.
Ibushi teased a phoenix splash, but Cody shoved him from the top to the floor. Cody hit a canadian destroyer for a two count on the champion. Cody teased din’s fire, but ate a wheel kick to the back of the head. Omega hit a v-trigger, sending Cody into the corner pad.
Omega teased a top rope dragon suplex. Ibushi cut him off. Omega recovered. Ibushi hit a kick to the back. Ibushi teased lawn darting Omega, but Omega buckle bombed Ibushi into Cody. Omega hit a package driver for two on Ibushi. WIth Cody tied to the tree of woe, Ibushi lawn darted Omega into Cody.
They did a take on the stacked up superplex spot, with Omega hitting a springboard sunset flip. He didn’t quite execute it perfectly. Omega hit both with v-triggers. Cody lifted Omega into a german from Ibushi, but then broke up the ensuing pinfall. With Omega on the apron, Cody hit him with a disaster kick. He went for a table, but it was on the other side of the ring, so he went to the other side of the ring and set up a table.
Omega went for a springboard attack, but Cody pushed him off, and he went through the table. Ibushi hit a superplex, but Cody rolled through into a cradle for a two count. Cody went for a disaster kick, but Ibushi hit him with a kick. Ibushi hit a sit-out powerbomb for a two count.
Ibushi hit a straightjacket suplex, but didn’t have Cody’s shoulders down. He slid to a lateral press for a two count, but Omega grabbed Red Shoes’ hand, holding up the count. The crowd had not really been into the match for some time, but that spot got them back into it.
Omega tried to apologize to Ibushi, but Ibushi hit him with a palm strike. Omega hit a desperation single-leg, but Ibushi ended up on top. Ibushi slipped to mount, and hit Omega with a series of closed fists. Ibushi hit a bomaye for a two count.
Ibushi teased a kamigoye, but Cody pulled him to the floor. Cody hit a cross Rhodes and made a cover on Omega, but Ibushi hit a double foot stomp, breaking it up. Cody hit a second cross Rhodes, and the crowd bought it as a finish, but Omega kicked out at two.
Cody hit din’s fire on Ibushi, but Omega broke up the pin. Cody went outside and grabbed a chair, but settled on using his US title belt as a weapon. He tossed the belt to Nick Jackson, then grabbed the chair again. Omega laid over Ibushi, begging Cody not to hit him.
He kicked off Cody, who rolled to the floor, then hit a v-trigger on Ibushi. He followed with a jay driller for two, then hit the one-winged angel for the pin.
After the match, Omega said that he wouldn’t address the crowd until Ibushi could get to his feet. Ibushi got up.
Omega told him that he loved him. He told Cody that he loved him and his dog, too. He told the Bucks that he loved them.
Just as he was about to goodbye and goodnight, Tanahashi appeared. Omega offered him the microphone. Tana said he was angry, but that they shouldn’t settle their differences today, but rather at the Tokyo Dome.
Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman called the action from the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Eli Isom defeated Shane Taylor, Chris Sabin, and Flip Gordon in a four-way match
This match was one fall, not elimination. Gordon and Sabin started it off. They went right to a forearm exchange and double clothesline. Both tagged out. Taylor went right to work destroying Isom. Sabin and Gordon worked together briefly to take out Taylor. Gordon hit a big dive on all three men. Taylor recovered and did a wrecking ball dive of his own on everyone, which led to commercial.
Taylor was firmly in control after the break until Gordon landed a huge dropkick and running flip kick. A springboard spear earned Gordon a two count. He went up top, but Taylor caught him and landed a clothesline that turned Gordon inside out.
Sabin tagged in and hit a tornado DDT on the big man for a near fall, but Taylor hit an STO out of the corner and followed up with a knee. Isom tagged himself in to have a go at the monster. Isom managed to lift Taylor up and hit a Samoan drop. Next, Sabin came in and landed a DDT/flatliner combo on Isom and Gordon, but then Isom got to his feet and hit a dive on Sabin and took him out.
Back in the ring, Gordon looked for the Star Spangled Stunner but ate a huge knee. That allowed Isom to roll up Taylor for the pin and the upset win!
The celebration ended soon as Taylor got up and gave Isom and Sabin the sit-down piledriver. He went for it on Gordon, but Gordon countered and landed a superkick.
An Aaron Solow highlight package aired to show how he earned his TV title shot tonight.
Marty Scurll called out Hurricane Helms in a promo.
ROH Television Champion Punishment Martinez defeated Aaron Solow to retain his title
Solow’s offense did him no good as Martinez brushed it off. Solow landed a few counters and kicks, but Martinez simply stomped him to the mat — and smashed him into the barricade.
After the break, Solow landed a superkick and sent Martinez outside of the ring. Solow hit a big flip dive and then went to the top turnbuckle. Martinez caught him with a chokeslam, but Solow rolled through and landed a belly-to-belly on the big man — only earning a two count.
It didn’t last long for Solow. A Psycho driver, Silencer stomp, and a huge chokeslam ended Solow’s night as Martinez retained.
A highlight package for Coast 2 Coast played. They’ll be back next week.
Backstage, Bully Ray and Silas Young discussed the six-man main event. Ray was not happy about Young deciding to team with “these two schmucks,” referring to The Bouncers.
ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks & Cody defeated Silas Young & The Bouncers (Beer City Bruiser & Brian Milonas) to retain their titles
The Bucks’ early attempts on offense didn’t go well as the enormous Milonas and Beer City Bruiser shrugged off their attacks. It took all three men dropkicking Milonas to get him out of the ring. The Bucks and Cody took over on Young and cleared the ring. The big men took a minute to regroup.
The plan must have worked as Beer City Bruiser caught Nick Jackson, slammed him, and then bit him in the head. Jackson fought out and tagged in Cody — who was actually able to slam Bruiser. A Last Call attempt by Bruiser went awry, and he ended up crashing onto Burnard the Business Bear. That led us to the commercial.
After the break, Young was in with Cody — who landed a powerslam on Young. Both men tagged out. Young tagged Bruiser, and Cody tagged in Nick. Nick ran wild, hitting a bulldog and clothesline combo that left him alone with Milonas. Young, Bruiser, and Milonas were hit with superkicks, leading to a splash/standing moonsault by the Bucks on Bruiser. That earned a two count.
A huge melee ensued, and all six wrestlers gathered near the entrance ramp. That allowed Bruiser to go to the top rope and smush everyone with a crossbody. Back inside, Milonas hit a massive leg drop on Cody, but the Bucks broke up the pin.
Young had a chance to get back in and help Milonas, but Young bailed. The Bucks connected with superkicks and Cody hit the Cross Rhodes for the win.
New Japan returns to Long Beach, California tonight for Fighting Spirit Unleashed, where a number of key matches will take place.
Two titles will be on the line tonight, one which will feature Cody challenging current champion Juice Robinson for the IWGP United States championship. The Young Bucks will also make their first defense of the IWGP tag team titles as they will face the Guerillas of Destiny. There’s no love loss between the four following what happened in San Francisco back in July.
Will Ospreay and Marty Scurll will clash once again tonight as well, this time with the winner meeting KUSHIDA at King of Pro Wrestling on 10/8 for the vacant IWGP Jr. championship. The show will be headlined by a tag team match pitting the Golden Lovers against the CHAOS team of Kazuchika Okada and Tomohiro Ishii.
Join us for live coverage this evening at 8 p.m. EDT. The show will air live on New Japan World, with the AXS TV broadcast airing this Friday at 8 p.m. EDT.
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Jushin Thunder Liger, ACH and Ryusuke Taguchi defeated Roppongi 3K and Rocky Romero
This was a pretty hot opener. There’s noticeable empty seats throughout the arena, but the crowd is still hot. Rocky briefly had the heat on Liger but cut him and R3K off and tagged in ACH, who made a nice hot tag.
Rocky and Taguchi are back in. Taguchi runs wild with the hip attacks. ACH wiped out 3K on the outside with a double suicide dive as Taguchi planted Romero with the dodon for the win. Good opener.
The Addiction defeated Hangman Page and Chase Owens
This was a good, solid tag team match. Page and Owens showed some good tandem offense. Kazarian made the hot tag to Daniels. Page went for the shooting star shoulderblock on the outside but Kazarian got the knees up and took him out. The duo then laid out Owens and Daniels hit the BME for the win.
Jeff Cobb, Chris Sabin and Flip Gordon defeated Best Friends and Hirooki Goto
CHAOS worked on Sabin until he made a hot tag to Gordon, who ran wild on everyone with some really cool looking offense. Goto gets tagged in and runs wild on Cobb. Goto attempted a GTR but Cobb countered with a suplex.
He missed a standing moonsault as the Best Friends came in and took out Cobb with a double suplex. Cobb laid them out out with a double suplex in return. Chuckie piledrove Cobb and went for the moonsault, but it didn’t connect. Cobb gave him a lariat then pinned him following the tour of the islands. A good match and a great highlight reel for Cobb.
Goto confronted Cobb after the match as the two had a staredown. Doesn’t look like the end for them.
Zack Sabre Jr. and Killer Elite Squad defeated Tetsuya Naito, EVIL and SANADA
Much like in the previous matches, KES worked over SANADA. He tagged in Naito who went at it with Davey Boy Smith Jr.. Sabre and EVIL were tagged in, and went at it as they’re in the middle of a feud. EVIL hit a cool fisherman’s buster and tagged in SANADA as all three LIJ members went at it.
Naito and SANADA took out KES as EVIL went for the STO but Sabre countered out of it. EVIL hit darkness falls, but Sabre kicked out. EVIL went for the STO again, but Sabre escaped, bridged EVIL and pinned him in another good match.
KES beat up one of the young lions after the match for good measure. EVIL wasnt happy about taking the pin.
Jay White and Gedo defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi and KUSHIDA
Tanahashi went to the top rope for the high fly flow, but when White got the referee distracted Gedo punched Tanahashi with what may have been brass knuckles. White then grabbed Tanahashi and hit the Bladerunner for the win. A solid match, not really into the ending.
White grabbed a microphone after the match. The crowd wouldn’t let White talk and drowned him out in boos and other naughty chants. White says Okada drew with you, but I beat you and thus I have the rights to this briefcase. He asks what is he waiting for? He says you and NJPW are scared because NJPW can’t deal with the thought of him or two headliners in the main event of WrestleKingdom.
White says that it is an inevitability, and you and everyone here will breathe with the Switchblade.
Marty Scurll defeated Will Ospreay
An excellent match, it goes without saying that these two have excellent chemistry with one another. The layout of the match was so well done.
Ospreay went a million miles an hour right at the bell, hitting a giant spanish fly, a Sasuke special, shooting star press then a suicide dive all within the first minute of the match. Scurll catches him on the outside with a superkick. He takes Ospreay to the ring and works him over with chops.
Scurll works on Ospreay’s neck, dragging him to a bottom rope and using all of his weight while standing on Ospreay’s neck. Ospreay comes back with a springboard kick, but Scurll cuts him off and takes him back to the outside. Back in the ring, Ospreay cuts him off and hits a giant sunset flip bomb to the floor.
The two traded offense, with Ospreay getting the better of thing with a lariat. The two meet on the top rope, where Scurll hits a springboard hurricanrana. Ospreay powers through Scurll chops and unleashes some of his own. The two trade some great back and forth near falls.
Ospreay connects with the cheeky nandos kick and went to go for something off the top rope, but Scurll meets him there again and smashes his head into the turnbuckle. Scurll unleashed a giant chickenwing suplex, then what I can only describe as a package sidewalk slam. Scurll then got the win with Graduation.
This makes it Marty Scurll vs. KUSHIDA at King of Pro Wrestling for the IWGP Jr. title.
The Guerillas of Destiny defeated The Young Bucks for the IWGP tag team titles
A different match than most Young Buck bouts, but a good match that told a good story.
The match starts out pretty even, until Tanga Loa took out Matt with a running powerslam. A table was introduced by Loa. The Young Bucks fire back, with Nick hitting a big dive onto Loa. Matt tries to go something on the top rope, but Tonga shoved Matt off, sending him into the table.
GoD focus on Nick as they work him over. They got the heat on him for a while until Matt came in and made a comeback. Matt went for a sharpshooter on Tonga but Loa attacked his back. They continued to work over his lower back until he finds and opening and tags in Nick.
The Bucks try for the More Bang for Your Buck but Matt’s back kept bothering him, and took a long while before he could actually connect. They try for the Meltzer driver but Tama Tonga hits a gun stun out of nowhere. An assisted gun stun on Matt seals the deal.
Cody defeated Juice Robinson to win the IWGP United States title
I liked this match a lot, not blow away but very good. Great heel work by Cody and Brandi throughout, and the finish was excellent.
Cody went for a dive off the top rope but Juice grabbed him on the outside and hit a belly to belly suplex. Brandi Rhodes, who accompanied Cody, tried to grab Juice but he shoved her away. In the confusion, Cody laid out Juice with an inverted DDT.
Juice came back with some roll ups, then connected with the cannonball in the corner. He went for a running powerbomb, but Cody countered with a hurricanrana that sent Juice into the turnbuckle. After Brandi rake the eyes, Juice managed to dodge a kick by Cody and connected with a crossbody.
Cody countered Juice with a figure four lock. Juice reversed it as Cody escaped and was consoled by Brandi, who gave him water. After distracting the ref, he blinded Juice with water and laid him out. Juice came alive and ended up hitting the pulp friction. But once again, Brandi came to Cody’s rescue by dragging him out of the ring.
After telling Red Shoes to stop counting, he exited the ring to grab Cody, only for Cody to come alive and plant him with the crossroads. They make it back to the ring where the two start exchanging punches until Cody rakes Juice in the eyes and laid him out with the Din’s fire (vertebreaker). Juice cut off Cody on the top rope and connected with a superplex, but Cody out of nowhere hooked Robinson’s legs on impact, cradling him and scoring the pinfall and the championship.
Golden Lovers defeated Kazuchika Okada and Tomohiro Ishii
Great main event. It was nothing but action throughout and ended up turning into a really heated tag team match.
Things start off with some solid tag team work — Ishii worked against Omega, and Ibushi worked with Okada. The story of the early portion of the match was that Omega and Okada avoided one another, but every other variation worked against one another until finally Okada was tagged in. They went at it briefly before the Golden Lovers wiped both Okada and Ishii out with the Cross Slash.
Okada and Omega eventually do see eye to eye as they traded offense. Okada escaped a One Winged Angel attempt and connected with a dropkick. Golden Lovers connected with with tandem offense as Omega lays it in with a v-trigger. Okada counters another One Winged Angel attempt with a tombstone, and Ishii connected with a sliding D.
Omega laid out Okada with a uranage as Ishii and Ibushi came back in. The two exchanged strikes, which Ishii got the better of. He then hit a moonsault, but landed his knees on Ishii’s gut. Golden Lovers go for the Golden Trigger but Okada breaks it up. Ishii came in and soon enough all four men are laid out.
Ishii and Ibushi exchanged strikes once more, with Ibushi again getting the better of things with a lariat. Ishii powers back and Okada helps him get the advantage. Omega takes out Okada on the outside as Ibushi blocked a lariat and scored a huge kick to the head. Ibushi tried for the kamigoye but Ishii headbutted him. Omega comes in and they connect with the Golden Trigger for the win.
Omega after the match said it wasn’t the best night for the Bullet Club, and apologized to the Young Bucks. Despite some empty seats near the rafters, he sees so many familiar faces, happy faces who were happy to see The Elite. The worldwide movement is only beginning.
He then turned his attention to Ibushi. He said that when we decided to protect our ten year promise, it proved to be a disappointment to the front office and the fans. They want to see the rematch. At that moment, Cody came out. He said let me help you out and alleviate the burden. He asks the crowd if he wants to see the rematch….Kenny Omega vs. Kota Ibushi….vs. Cody Rhodes.
Omega said that this is actually ingenious. They want to make history, and they want to do it their own way. Let’s show the beauty of professional wrestling and have a triple threat match. This isn’t personal, this is about the beauty and originality of professional wrestling. So it looks like we have our main event for King of Pro Wrestling next weekend.
Ring of Honor returned to the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas for the second straight night as the venue hosted Saturday’s post-Death Before Dishonor television tapings.
– The Luchasaurus defeated Hyperstreak Gregory Sharpe
– Beer City Bruiser defeated Cheeseburger
– After they attacked Jay Lethal at the end of Death Before Dishonor, The Kingdom came out for an in-ring segment where they forced Bobby Cruise to read a list of Matt Taven’s accomplishments and call him the real ROH World Champion.
– Kenny King defeated Chase Owens
King faked an injury before pinning Owens with a small package.
– Flip Gordon vs. Shane Taylor
Gordon got on the microphone before the match and talked about his feud with Bully Ray. Bully came out and taunted him, leading to Silas Young entering from the crowd and low blowing Gordon.
Taylor, Bully, and Young beat down Gordon and challenged anyone to come make the save for him, but no one did.
– Nick Aldis defeated Christopher Daniels
This match was taped for HonorClub.
– ROH Tag Team Champions The Briscoes defeated Coast 2 Coast (LSG & Shaheem Ali) to retain their titles
– Jeff Cobb defeated Punishment Martinez to win the ROH Television Championship
– Tenille Dashwood came out with her arm in a sling and discussed dealing with a shoulder injury and skin condition (psoriasis). She revealed that she’s had the shoulder injury for six months and will need to undergo surgery.
– Marty Scurll defeated Chris Sabin
– Brandi Rhodes defeated Heather Monroe
– Hangman Page defeated Scorpio Sky
– Shane Taylor defeated Eli Isom
Taylor attacked Isom after the match, Cheeseburger tried to make the save, and Flip Gordon made the save for Isom and Cheeseburger. Gordon laid out Taylor with a chair. He asked if that’s what Bully Ray wanted and issued a challenge to Bully.
Bully said he wouldn’t be facing Gordon tonight. They set up a match where Silas Young will face someone of Gordon’s choosing at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia. If Young wins, Bully can do whatever he wants to Gordon. If the person Gordon chooses wins, Gordon can do whatever he wants to Bully.
– ROH World Champion Jay Lethal & Jonathan Gresham defeated Jushin Thunder Liger & KUSHIDA
– NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Cody Rhodes defeated Willie Mack to retain his title
Cody was making his first defense of the NWA title since defeating Aldis at All In.
– The Young Bucks defeated Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian, Beretta & Chuckie T, and EVIL & SANADA in a four-way tag match
During the show-closing promo, Cody teased All In II while the crowd was chanting “All In.”
Cody Rhodes’ first NWA title defense will be taking place in Ring of Honor.
While appearing for Championship Wrestling from Hollywood yesterday, Cody announced that he’ll be defending the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship against Willie Mack at ROH’s television tapings in Las Vegas, Nevada on September 29.
The Orleans Arena in Las Vegas will host ROH’s Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view on September 28 and the next day’s post-PPV tapings.
Cody won the NWA title from Nick Aldis at All In earlier this month, and Aldis will be getting his rematch in the main event of the NWA’s 70th Anniversary Show in Nashville, Tennessee on October 21. Aldis defeated Doug Williams at Wrestling MediaCon in Manchester, England on September 9 to be confirmed as Cody’s challenger for the Anniversary event.
The NWA title was last defended in ROH during the build to All In, with Aldis retaining against Flip Gordon in July.
Amid all of the speculation about what the show means for the industry and what’s next for those who put it together, All In was a celebration of the past, present, and future of professional wrestling. Taken as a whole, All In was a show-of-the-year candidate. It was important that the card delivered, but nothing could have taken away from the accomplishment of it even happening.
The story of All In is the focus of this week’s issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Take the most detailed look at the business and ramifications of what is one of the most unique major events in pro wrestling history.
Examine the business of the show, the realities of the popularity level, the lessons of the show, the behind the scenes story of the NWA title promotion, wrestling vs. sports entertainment, the timing issues, the last famous show with a similar timing issue, the controversy regarding the Joey Ryan angle, and the story behind Chris Jericho being there.
Look at the Shawn Michaels-Undertaker segment, where things stand today about going forward, famous retirement stips and the angle on Raw leading to everything, as well as more on the show in Australia coming up next month.
Find out about Daniel Bryan’s WWE status, update Dave Bautista and his thoughts on wrestling again, notes on a taped December Raw show, Kevin Owens quitting, Evolution PPV business notes, Toni Storm update, new WWE signee proposes to girlfriend on stage right before coming to Orlando, NXT major star to Evolve, and Big Cass talks what got him fired.
Read notes on NOAH’s big show at Sumo Hall featuring Hideo Itami’s return to the promotion against Naomichi Marufuji.
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FRIDAY NEWS UPDATE
WWE
WWE announced in a press release today that they have partnered with WizKids in a new multi-year licensing partnership. WizKids specializes in pre-painted miniatures and board games.
Chris Jericho discussed his All In appearance on today’s episode of his podcast. He said Cody Rhodes called him months ago when the show was announced, and Jericho said he wasn’t wanting to work non-WWE shows in the United States at that time. Jericho said his mindset has changed and he’s enjoying being part of this “revolution” of wrestling that’s going on. Jericho said he’d consider it, but the idea had to be right. Cody pitched him on being under the Burnard the Business Bear costume and attacking Kota Ibushi, but Jericho said he wasn’t really interested. Cody called him again, they kicked around ideas, and Jericho came up with attacking Kenny Omega and keeping their angle alive from the Tokyo Dome and having it be a late promotional opportunity for his cruise. They were able to work the logistics out with Jericho’s Fozzy concert in Kansas and get it pushed to later in the night. Pentagon Jr.’s extra costume was silver instead of gold, so they had to find a Home Depot and get gold spray paint at the last minute.
Cody has announced today on Twitter that he is writing a children’s book similar to the Young Bucks’ book as part of the Elite Team Series. It will be released next spring.
Destiny Wrestling, a Toronto-based promotion, will have their first iPPV on FITE TV on November 25. Titled Fearless, it will be hosted by Alicia Atout, Scott D’Amore and the former Santino Marella.
Joey Ryan talks to Chris Van Vliet about the All In entrance and why he isn’t interested in signing with the WWE.
Jonathan and Justin Gajewski, who are being described as “emerging filmmakers”, have obtained the story rights to Rocky Johnson’s life story.
Steve Hanna, Nicco Montaño’s training partner, released a statement to MMA Fighting saying that Montaño was taken to the hospital this morning due to kidney issues. “She will be fine in a few days,” Hanna said. “The UFC medical team was called in to evaluate her this morning during the process of her weight cut. They determined that she had to cease cutting weight and be transported to and treated at the local hospital for issues regarding her kidney infection.”
Valentina Shevchenko released a statement on Twitter after her flyweight title bout against Montaño was canceled, saying she is not surprised about the situation. “She was speaking about Fighting spirit and character….What kind of fighting spirit is is she talking about?” the statement reads. “I don’t believe in a version about health issues, she was looking totally fine in open work out and media day. Her actions are totally unprofessional!”
Erick Silva, who is fresh off a UFC run, has signed an exclusive, multi-fight deal with Bellator.
Former UFC star Melvin Guillard is wanted by Denver police after video has emerged apparently showing him knocking out someone in a bar. He also allegedly punched a woman who tried to attack him in retaliation.
Alex Garcia will take on Court McGee in a welterweight bout on October 27 in Moncton, Canada.
Jordan Rinaldi will face Jason Knight in a featherweight bout at UFC 230 on November 3.
Tai Tuivasa talks to The Sydney Morning Herald about his main event fight against Junior Dos Santos in Adelaide, Australia on December 2.
Michael Chandler talks to FloCombat about re-signing with Bellator in a multi-fight deal.
After All In went off the air last night, The Young Bucks and Kota Ibushi stayed in the ring for the post-show promo and were joined by Cody, Brandi Rhodes, Kenny Omega, Hangman Page, and The Young Bucks’ families. Marty Scurll was one of the people that Nick Jackson called to the ring but didn’t end up appearing after his match with Kazuchika Okada.
– Nick admitted that they had a time restriction for the Young Bucks & Ibushi vs. Rey Mysterio, Fenix & Bandido main event, with Matt Jackson joking that they had to hurry up and beat their opponents. On Wrestling Observer Radio last night, it was noted that the six-man tag was scheduled to go 28 minutes but got cut to 12 due to things going long.
– Matt called All In a group collaboration between everyone in the ring, everyone in the back, and the fans. He said there’s a hunger for good pro wrestling and good entertainment, that the show was their vision of what they think they can do with wrestling, and asked the crowd if they wanted more of it.
– After the crowd chanted for another All In, Cody brought up that sometimes when you make a bet you go double or nothing. Matt said they aren’t making an announcement but called it something to think about. He said they’d give the fans more of this if they want it.
– Cody reiterated that, with the big question of what happens next, this group is sticking together.
– Cody called Omega the leader of the Bullet Club and handed him the microphone to close the show. Omega gave credit to The Young Bucks and Cody for being the brainchildren behind the event and called it probably the greatest pro wrestling show he’s been a part of. He mentioned that the fans know where he comes from and where some people want him to go, but he said that All In blew everything else out of the water.
After his surprise appearance at All In, Chris Jericho posted a video on Instagram while on a private plane flying to Fozzy’s concert in Merriam, Kansas so he could make both events in the same night. Jericho went on stage while still wearing his Pentagon Jr. face paint.
The lights went out after Omega defeated Pentagon last night, with Jericho replacing Pentagon while wearing Pentagon’s full costume. Jericho attacked Omega and hyped up the Jericho & Young Bucks vs. Omega, Cody & Scurll match on next month’s Rock ‘N’ Wrestling Rager at Sea cruise.
His father held the title three times, and Cody will have at least one reign with the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship.
Cody defeated Nick Aldis at All In to become the new NWA Champion. The finish was Aldis going for a sunset flip, with Cody collapsing on it and hooking Aldis’ legs to get the pin.
Part of the story for the match was Cody bleeding when Aldis hit him with an elbow when Cody was going for a springboard move to the outside. Aldis went for an elbow drop from the top rope towards the end of the match, but Brandi Rhodes covered Cody and took the brunt of the move.
Cody’s title win comes in advance of the NWA’s 70th Anniversary Show in Nashville, Tennessee on October 21. Cody is the third person to hold the NWA title in the Billy Corgan era, joining Aldis and Tim Storm. Aldis had held the championship since defeating Storm in December 2017.
The NWA title will be defended in the main event of the 70th Anniversary Show.
