Tag: Colt Cabana

ROH Unauthorized results: PCO vs. Dan Maff unsanctioned match

Posted on by Justin Knipper

ROH was in Columbus, OH Sunday night for ROH Unauthorized: Hanukah Comes Early, a mostly comedy show hosted by Colt Cabana. He explained that that Unauthorized essentially meant he was going to book the show tonight. He promised the crowd that the wrestling would be great, but weird. One of those statements turned out to be true.

Cabana brought out Joe Hendry to do guest “singing commentary.” He sang everything he said. He and Ian Riccaboni were the first broadcast team of the night.

Ultimo Guerrero defeated Jonathan Gresham

Guerrero is CMLL Heavyweight champion but he didn’t have the belt with him this weekend. Gresham has a crazy new octopus mask and is a heel now but cool things like that get over. It’s hard not to cheer the guy.

The match itself was really good but was absolutely butchered by Hendry’s awful singing commentary which made this hard to watch. It was mostly tight technical wrestling, Guerrero played face, sort of, while Gresham would throw in something sneaky behind the referee’s back. At one point, he landed what I have only known to be called as the “sack tap” behind the ref’s back. Cabana, who was sitting on stage, got on the mic and told on Gresham. Hendry was rhyming all of his singing commentary. Riccaboni started singing midway through, too. Guerrero won after he used the Guerrero Especial, a reverse superplex from the second rope, to pin Gresham in about 12 minutes.

El Villainisto (Marty Scurll) and Jéfe Cobbo (Jeff Cobb) defeated Delirious and Mini-Delirious (Swoggle) in a loser must lose their mask match

Cabana made a facetious claim after the previous match insisting that he booked everything that happened in the ring just now. ROH flashed entrance banners for Delirious and Mini-Delirious on accident while Cabana was talking to the audience. 

Cobb came out in a black El Santo mask and Scurll had one that looked like a Masked Superstar mask. Swoggle came out in a Delirious mask but his pants still read SWOGGLE on the sides. This was supposed to be a comedy match but it wasn’t funny at all. Scurll pretended to be one of the Deliriouses and then snapped their fingers. Delirious and Swoggle then bit Scurll and Cobb’s fingers. Swoggle did German suplexes to both Cobb and Scurll. Cobb pinned Swoggle after a standing moonsault. Swoggle unmasked after the match and Cabana said it was Little John Studd. This was bad.

Kenny King, Flip Gordon & Dalton Castle defeated Cheeseburger & The Bouncers in Colt Cabana’s Punderful six-man tag

This was another messy comedy match. The theme was Cabana wanted to give everyone a burger-related name. Kenny King was Kenny “Burger” King and came out with a Burger King crown. Amy Rose came with him to the ring. Rhett Titus was on commentary with Caprice Coleman and Riccaboni for this one.

Dalton “White” Castle and “Double Cheeseburger” Beer City Bruiser were in first but all they did was shake hands. Castle tagged Gordon in next. Cheeseburger was wearing a cheeseburger hat on the apron. King later arm dragged ‘Burger so hard that the cheeseburger hat flew off. Cheeseburger used a drop-down and it actually worked, the one of very few times I have seen it work as a move and not part of a bigger rope-running sequence. There was a spot where Milonas laid on top of Castle and had to have everyone in the match had to peel him off.

King did a big Arabian Press to the floor at one point like a regular Christopher Daniels. He and Cheeseburger were the highlights of this match, if you can believe that and Gordon to an extent too. Gordon teased a dive off the stage towards the end but flipped the crowd off and walked to the back, which got a good heel reaction. “Double Cheese” Bruiser did a cross body off the stage, and later did a somersault senton onto his own partner, Brawler Milonas. Riccaboni said Bruiser may have had too many brews beforehand. King cradled Cheeseburger to win this. Everyone but King and Gordon drank beers and ate cheeseburgers from a cooler afterwards.  

The Allure defeated Sumie Sakai and Jenny Rose in a no disqualification match

Sakai and Rose attacked the Allure before they made it to the ring. Sakai brought out her Daryl, Hiromu Takahashi’s stuffed animal mascot. It was over. Rose used a snap suplex to Leone on the stage that looked good, albeit brutal. Sakai missed a moonsault from the top and landed knees first onto a chair. Angelina Love scored the pin after landing the Botox Injection kick on Sakai. Maria Manic came out afterwards and threatened Love, saying “At Final Battle, you’re dead, b****.” Manic has serious potential to be a megastar. Her in-ring debut will be at Final Battle.

Mark Briscoe (w/ Jay Briscoe) defeated Josh Woods (w/ Silas Young) in a partner must drink after kickout match

Jay Briscoe and Silas Young did live commentary during this match, and every time Woods or Mark Briscoe made a pin attempt, the two out at ringside had to take shots of whisky. Cabana announced every time they had to take a shot on his mic. This was the focal point of the match, unfortunately. Briscoe and Woods had a decent match earlier this year in Portland at what’s now known the infamous Bully Ray “Be a Fan” show. Woods powerslammed Briscoe into the barricades. The crowd made some noise here but they were mostly quiet throughout much of this.

Young started complaining about the ref’s count and then Jay Briscoe and he started jaw-jacking until both got into the ring. Young flew out of the ring after missing Jay Briscoe on a tackle, and then Woods tried throwing Jay Briscoe out but the whole thing was botched. Woods dropped Jay, who was flailing in the ropes before rolling under them to the floor. Mark Briscoe landed a Froggy Bow to win the match. I don’t know what this was supposed to accomplish since the Briscoes are already booked against Jonathan Gresham and Jay Lethal for Final Battle. Not good.

Rush and Dragon Lee defeated LifeBlood under Lucha Libre rules

This was the best match of the show so far. It was “lucha libre rules” which just meant there weren’t any tags or too many countouts. Haskins and Lee meshed well together. LifeBlood worked Lee over in their corner until he could tag out to Rush, who wrestled like the place was Madison Square Garden. He did a good job at waking the Columbus crowd up. 

The match spilled to the floor early. Back in the ring, Rush and Lee used some impressive tag team combinations on Tracy Williams. They sort of functioned like heels here. Rush shouted “Viva Mexico!” to the crowd midway through. Lifeblood did crisscrossing dives to the floor. Rush pinned Williams after the Bull’s Horns to win this one in a good match.

For some reason, Cabana interviewed ring announcer Bobby Cruise in the ring next.

He asked Cruise what his favorite match to announce was. Cruise said Samoa Joe vs. Kenta Kobashi. That was pretty much the whole interview. Cabana said if he ever did a podcast, Cruise would be his first guest. ROH World Television champion Shane Taylor’s music then hit and he walked out with the Soldiers of Savagery and another unnamed male and talked about how upset he was that his match was changed for tonight in his home state. He challenged Cabana to a TV title match. Cabana agreed to a match, but said it’d be a 4-on-4 match, and since it was his show, Colt would prove that he could pick literally anyone in the building to beat Taylor. 

His first choice was Mike Gator, the cameraman. They made an entrance video for him and it just read GATOR with pictures of alligators behind it. 

Cabana’s next choice was senior ROH broadcaster Ian Riccaboni. This isn’t a joke. Riccaboni had a cool bobblehead entrance video and his theme sounded like something from The Price is Right. He looked excited to wrestle, unlike most others on this show who seemed like they couldn’t have been bothered to be there in the first place. 

ROH promoter Gary Juster was the final team member. For those who aren’t aware, Juster was a promoter for WCW and has been with ROH for years. He was also one of the vital names behind All In last year in Chicago. He got pyro here tonight. 

When Cruise went to announce the teams for the match, he stopped early and asked who the one guy was with Taylor who wasn’t one of the Soldiers of Savagery guys. “That’s Ron! Ron Hunt! The CEO of Shane Enterprises!” That’s what Caprice Coleman had to say about it. Riccaboni probably got the biggest pop of the night, and deservedly so. He’s arguably been the best part of ROH this year. 

Brian Johnson, a bald, bearded guy from this year’s ROH Top Prospect tournament, came out and cut a promo, a decent one, basically saying he felt slighted, that he should have headlined tonight. He said that he’s the Mecca and people need to know that “it’s everyone vs. Mecca.” He didn’t care which team he had to wrestle on, so Cabana immediately pointed to the opposite corner and insisted he be with the heels. He picked referee Todd Sinclair instead, who also had his own entrance video, a custom one that sounded like U2 but started with a three-count. 

Colt Cabana, Mike Gator, Todd Sinclair, Ian Riccaboni and Gary Juster defeated ROH TV Champion Shane Taylor, Brian Johnson, Ron Hunt and the Soldiers of Savagery

Coleman was on commentary with Joe Dombrowski for this. Johnson and Cabana were in first. Taylor’s heel team left the apron and refused to tag Johnson. The biggest pop of the night came next from Cabana tagging out to referee Sinclair, who happened to be quite good. I didn’t expect to type that tonight. He did a leapfrog to Johnson and then did the Ricky Steamboat kung fu pose and the crowd was on their feet and lost it. This is where ROH is at these days.

Juster threw one ginger chop tp Johnson, then tagged out to Cabana and was back on the apron.

Next was Riccaboni, who landed a flying elbow drop onto Johnson, which got an even bigger pop. It looked great. He tagged out to Cabana who pinned Johnson. The ROH All-Stars won. This was insane but fun. I think this crew would draw more most of the regular roster at this point. That’s not a joke, either. Riccaboni, Sinclair and Gary Juster were the highlights. Cameraman Gator was in the match but also filmed the match, so we couldn’t see him. 

PCO defeated Dan Maff in an unsanctioned no DQ match

Brian Zane from the Wrestling with Wregret YouTube show joined the Coleman and “Macho Madness” Riccaboni on commentary for this match. 

This was a hoss deathmatch battle from the get-go. Maff, who dresses in Hellraiser bondage gear now, took his trenchcoat off and whipped PCO in the face with it before the match. They traded big punches at the top and Maff used a massive tope early on. He hasn’t wrestled in ROH for 14 years. PCO was back in the ring quickly and used a cannonball suicida to the floor onto Maff. They started pulling cinder blocks out from under the ring. A good chunk of this match was either of the guys walking around the ring looking for or preparing weapons while the other guy sold.  There were about eight inside the ring by the time they were done.

The two chased each other around the ring and ran into each other with shoulderblocks. PCO started slamming his head into the barricade, then Maff did, and then they both started doing it until PCO poked Maff in the eyes. There were a few young kids down in front going crazy for this, but the rest of the crowd sounded quiet at times. Maff spiked PCO onto the floor with a Burning Hammer. PCO responded in the ring and put Maff through a table with a spear. Maff reciprocated a few minutes later and then put PCO through another table with a Death Valley Driver. Maff threw a number of chairs into the ring next. PCO did a French-Canadian Destroyer onto a pile of chairs in the ring onto Maff. PCO missed another cannonball from the top rope onto the apron and a kid down in front screamed “ARE YOU OK?!” 

Maff poured out a bag of thumbtacks but was chokeslammed onto them by PCO. Maff had so many shiny silver tacks in his back after this. Maff returned and back body dropped PCO onto the thumbtacks, then shoved thumbtacks into his mouth, and superkicked him in the head. When Maff set PCO up onto the cinderblocks near the corner of the ring, PCO got back up and blocked whatever flying move Maff was going for. He grabbed him by the groin after Maff started biting his fingers, then press slammed Maff onto the cinderblocks. It was sick. A lady shrieked in the crowd. The crowd started their first “this is awesome” chant of the night.

Maff sat up like the Undertaker and then planted PCO with a Burning Hammer onto the cinderblocks but PCO kicked out. The crowd was loud at this point, and most people were chanting “He’s not human” in support of PCO. After one more chokeslam and a moonsault, PCO won the match. People chanted for PCO after the bout. 

After the match, Marty Scurll came out to shake PCO’s hand. He built PCO’s match with Rush for the ROH World Heavyweight title and put him over like crazy, explaining how he’s 51 and has gave everything up for the wrestling business. The crowd started chanting “next world champ.”

Final thoughts:

ROH Unauthorized can be thought of as either a fun, out-of-canon exhibition show meant to lift company morale or as a bright marker pointing out to fans that ROH has entered its late-‘90s AWA/late ‘00s WCW phase. Guerrero vs. Gresham was great but ruined by Hendry’s singing commentary. Dragon Lee and Rush vs. LifeBlood was higher quality and the best pure match of the show. PCO vs. Maff was a textbook example of a “plunder” match with all big weapon spots and general brutality.

I don’t know what to say about the match with Cabana, Gary Juster, Riccaboni and others. Nonplussed is the feeling I’m left with, considering ROH’s bad string of PR in the post-G1 Supercard world. I’m not sure if this was the best time to do a show like this as it will be used as fuel for the narrative that ROH is unraveling before our eyes, because there’s surely an argument to be made for this being one of the worst shows of the year.

NWA Power results: Team Aldis vs. Team Storm

Posted on by Josiah MacDonald

The show opened with a recap of The Dawsons vs. Tim Storm & Eli Drake from last week.

**********

James Storm came out and asked why Nick Aldis was ducking him, and he called out Colt Cabana about how Cabana wanted to insert himself into the title picture. Cabana said he wanted Storm’s NWA National title. Eli Drake came out and said that the National title was the key to getting a shot at the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship.

Aldis entered and said all the things that Storm was saying must have been a result of him having too much to drink. He said Eli Drake doesn’t drink, smoke, or do drugs — his only vice is wanting to be exactly like Aldis. Aldis said “Why don’t we just get into the squared circle and settle this like men?”

Aldis suggested that they have a six-man tag. If Aldis’ team wins, Cabana gets a title shot at James Storm. If James Storm’s team wins, he gets a shot at Aldis’ NWA World title, with one condition — If Storm wants that shot, he needs to vacate the NWA National title, because to challenge for the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship, he needs to put it all on the line.

**********

A video recap aired of Kamille not speaking and Aldis appearing to not let her speak. Kamille refused to talk to Joe Galli several times.

**********

David Marquez interviewed Trevor Murdoch. Murdoch cut a promo saying he wanted an NWA contract. He said that he didn’t think that Jocephus should be suspended for 45 days for throwing powder into Colt Cabana’s eyes, but that he should fight Murdoch. Murdoch said he would beat anyone he had to for a contract.

Jocephus came out and attacked Murdoch from behind, and we had a match.

Trevor Murdoch defeated Jocephus

Murdoch started hitting 10 punches in the corner, but Jocephus dropped him into the top turnbuckle. As the referee was checking on Murdoch, Jocephus went for some powder in his tights. Murdoch kicked the powder from Jocephus’ hand into his own face.

Murdoch then followed with a bulldog from the middle rope for the pinfall.

**********

Aron Stevens came out and Galli reminded the crowd that Stevens didn’t want anyone to make eye contact. Stevens was getting started, but Ricky Starks came out to interrupt him. Stevens said Starks looked ridiculous, but Starks slapped him and sent him flying across the studio before saying, “You talk too much.”

**********

A recap video aired of The Wild Cards vs. Eddie Kingston & Homicide.

**********

It was announced that The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express are coming to NWA Power soon.

**********

The Dawsons were out at ringside and Kingston & Homicide attacked them and started brawling. Kingston & Homicide were trying to get some revenge on the two Dawsons for interrupting their Tag Team title match against The Wild Cards.

The Dawsons defeated Eddie Kingston & Homicide in a no DQ match

Dave Dawson was in the ring with Homicide, but Zane Dawson dragged him to the floor and both teams resumed brawling around the ring as Dave targeted the hand of Kingston while Homicide tried to choke Zane with a camera cable. The Wild Cards made their way to ringside, watching the match closely.

The brawling continued, with chairs being thrown into the ring. The Dawsons hit Kingston with the chair on the outside. Homicide hit a cutter on Zane Dawson, but it only got two. Kingston’s hand was very damaged, and he continued to sell it throughout the match. The Dawsons set up two chairs in the middle and bridged a third between them. They suplexed Kingston onto the chair.

Homicide came in, but the numbers got the best of him as Zane Dawson destroyed him with a chair shot to the back. They piled a bunch of chairs in the middle of the ring on Homicide and Zane climbed the top rope.

Tom Latimer ran up to the apron and hit Zane with the belt to knock him off. Then Royce Isaacs came in and hit a Death Valley Driver on Kingston and dragged Dave Dawson onto Kingston for the pinfall.

The announcers were as confused as I was about why the Wild Cards attacked both teams, only to put Dave Dawson on Kingston for the win.

**********

Ashley Vox defeated Marti Belle

Belle talked about how Allysin Kay is her best friend, but she wants a shot at Kay’s Women’s title.

Vox out-wrestled Belle in the early portion of this match, but Belle was able to overpower her and drive a knee into her face in the corner for a two count. Belle hit two vertical suplexes and a Russian leg sweep for two, then a rolling elbow for two.

Belle went for a corner charge, but Vox dodged and hit a headbutt. Vox went for a headscissors, but Belle dodged it and went for the Pedigree on Vox. Vox fought out and went for a chicken wing, but Belle blocked it and went for the Pedigree again. Vox dropped down and rolled over into a jackknife pinfall for the three count!

Thunder Rosa came out and offered to shake Belle’s hand, but Belle left the ring.

**********

Ricky Starks defeated Aron Stevens

Stevens and Starks locked up, with Stevens hitting a snapmare and missing an elbow. Starks hit a chop and whipped Stevens into the ropes. Stevens countered with an elbow and tried to put Starks into the turnbuckle. Starks blocked it, drove Stevens into three turnbuckles, and then hit a big dropkick for one.

Starks locked on an armbar, but Stevens shoved him into the ropes. Starks stepped over the ropes and Stevens kicked the rope into Starks for a low blow before hitting a series of punches and then a Russian leg sweep.

Stevens hit an elbow on Starks. He picked Starks up and hit a very weak slap. Starks fired up and hit a series of clotheslines and a slingblade for two.

Stevens hit the ropes and Starks hit a back body drop. Starks threatened to slap Stevens and Stevens screamed in fear, so Starks rolled him up and scored the pinfall.

Stevens said “No!” — and the crowd chanted “Yes!” back at him.

**********

Team Aldis (Nick Aldis, Mr. Anderson & Colt Cabana) defeated Team Storm (James Storm & The Wild Cards)

Tom Latimer and Aldis started the match after Latimer tagged himself in. He hit the ropes and screamed “Screw you!” at Aldis, so Aldis took his head off with a clothesline and tagged out to Anderson. Anderson hit an armbreaker on Latimer. Latimer tagged out to Isaacs, but Anderson took him down and tagged out to Cabana.

Cabana came in and hit two bionic elbows on Latimer and Isaacs. He called in James Storm, but this was a mistake as he was cut off by Latimer.

Storm then tagged in and attacked Cabana. Isaacs kept Cabana in the corner and tagged out to Latimer. They continued to get the heat on Cabana for the next few minutes.

Isaacs went for a dive off the ropes, but Cabana got his foot up. Cabana made the hot tag to Anderson, who ran wild. Latimer picked up Anderson in a fireman’s carry, but Anderson fought out and hit a fireman’s carry flip. Anderson hit the Mic Check on Latimer, but Isaacs broke it up before Anderson could get a pinfall.

Aldis hit Isaacs with a dropkick. Storm hit Aldis with a codebreaker, but Aldis fell back into the ropes and they collided with a double clothesline.

Anderson tagged out to Cabana, who ate a knee from James Storm. Storm tried to superkick Cabana, but Cabana ducked and Storm hit Isaacs. Anderson clotheslined Storm over the top rope. Aldis hit a slam on Latimer and Cabana did the superman pin on Latimer for the pinfall victory! James Storm must defend his National title against Cabana.

Colt Cabana announced for NWA TV tapings

Posted on by Joseph Currier

The NWA has added another wrestler to their first television tapings of the Billy Corgan era.

On Monday night, the NWA announced that Colt Cabana will be appearing at their television tapings in Atlanta, Georgia on Monday, September 30 and Tuesday, October 1. The tapings are taking place at GPB (Georgia Public Broadcasting) Studios.

In the NWA’s video announcing his addition to the tapings, Cabana cut a promo where he said he hasn’t forgotten about his issues with James Storm.

Storm is the current NWA National Champion. He defeated Cabana to win the title in June, with the title change being set up by Storm attacking Cabana and getting him to agree to the match despite being injured. Prior to that, Cabana and Storm went to a 15-minute time limit draw in a title match in May.

Storm, NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis (w/ Kamille), NWA Women’s World Champion Allysin Kay, Eli Drake, and Ricky Starks have also been confirmed for the September 30 and October 1 studio show tapings.

Thomas Latimer & Royce Isaacs won the NWA Tag Team titles from PCO & Brody King before ROH’s Global Wars Espectacular show in Villa Park, Illinois this past weekend. The NWA’s working relationship with ROH came to an end in July.

Cabana is a commentator and wrestler for ROH in addition to wrestling on the indies. Cabana vs. Marty Scurll in a Final Battle number one contender’s tournament first round match is set for ROH’s Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view on September 27.

ROH reveals bracket for number one contender’s tournament

Posted on by Joseph Currier

After the participants were confirmed last week, ROH has now revealed the bracket for their number one contender’s tournament.

The left side of the bracket has PCO vs. Kenny King and Dalton Castle vs. Mark Haskins in the first round. The right side has Colt Cabana vs. Marty Scurll and Bandido vs. Jay Lethal.

The winner of the tournament will challenge for the ROH World Championship at Final Battle this December.

PCO vs. King and Cabana vs. Scurll are set for ROH’s Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view on Friday, September 27. Castle vs. Haskins and Bandido vs. Lethal will take place at the post-Death Before Dishonor television tapings on Saturday, September 28. Sam’s Town Live in Las Vegas, Nevada is hosting both shows.

ROH World Champion Matt Taven is defending his title against Volador Jr. at ROH & CMLL’s Global Wars Espectacular night two this Saturday. Rush will challenge for the ROH World title at the Death Before Dishonor PPV.

The semifinals and finals of the number one contender’s tournament are taking place at Glory By Honor at the UNO Lakefront Arena in New Orleans, Louisiana on Saturday, October 12.

CM Punk files countersuit against Colt Cabana in legal fees battle

Posted on by Josh Nason

The ongoing feud between former friends CM Punk and Colt Cabana will continue in the judicial arena as first reported by PWInsider.

PWInsider reported that on June 18th, Punk (Phil Brooks) filed a countersuit against Cabana (Scott Colton) in Illinois Circuit Court for $600,000, interest, and other fees in response to an amended suit Cabana filed against Punk in August 2018. In that suit, Cabana is looking for unpaid legal fees due to a breach of contract as he claims Punk said he would cover those fees

The fees are associated with the lawsuit WWE doctor Dr. Chris Amann filed against the two following their infamous November 2014 podcast where Punk claimed, among other things, that he was misdiagnosed by Amann which caused him further medical issues. They won that lawsuit and did not have to pay damages to Amann.

The Cabana suit, now in its third amendment, is seeking $200,000 in incurred fees and additional damages from Punk after Punk’s legal team dropped Cabana as a client. However, Punk claims he spent $1.2 million in fees for both of them and was never reimbursed by Cabana, effectively breaching their contract.

Cabana’s side must respond to the countersuit by July 3rd. The court also has to rule on whether several parts of the lawsuit should be sealed due to attorney-client privileges.

Colt Cabana pulled from tag match at ROH Best in the World

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Due to an injury, Colt Cabana won’t be able to wrestle at ROH’s Best in the World pay-per-view this Friday.

The NWA uploaded a video today where Cabana announced that he won’t be able to team with Nick Aldis against The Briscoes at Best in the World. Cabana is the current NWA National Champion, while Aldis holds the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship.

Cabana’s replacement will be unveiled on the Best in the World pre-show, which is airing at 8:30 p.m. Eastern time on Friday.

Cabana suffered an injury on June 5 that resulted in a hematoma on his thigh. On June 18, Cabana tweeted that he couldn’t bend his leg because of it. He said in today’s NWA video that his return to the ring will be way sooner than later.

Cabana & Aldis vs. The Briscoes had been set up for Best in the World when The Briscoes laid out both Cabana and Aldis at ROH’s television tapings in Villa Park, Illinois last month.

Best in the World is taking place at the UMBC Event Center in Baltimore, Maryland. Here’s the card for the PPV:

  • ROH World Champion Matt Taven defending against Jeff Cobb
  • ROH Television Champion Shane Taylor defending against Bandido
  • ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champions Villain Enterprises (Marty Scurll, PCO & Brody King) defending against Mark Haskins, Tracy Williams & PJ Black
  • Jay Lethal vs. Kenny King (final match in their best-of-three series)
  • The Briscoes vs. Nick Aldis and a partner
  • Dragon Lee vs. Dalton Castle
  • Kelly Klein & Jenny Rose vs. The Allure (Angelina Love & Mandy Leon w/ Velvet Sky)
  • Jonathan Gresham vs. Silas Young in a Pure Rules match
  • Rush vs. Flip Gordon (pre-show)

Aldis & Cabana vs. The Briscoes set for ROH Best in the World

Posted on by Joseph Currier

The NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion and NWA National Champion will be teaming up at ROH Best in the World.

NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis & NWA National Champion Colt Cabana vs. The Briscoes has been announced for Best in the World. The pay-per-view is taking place at the UMBC Event Center in Baltimore, Maryland on Friday, June 28.

The match was set up after Cabana’s National title defense against James Storm at last month’s ROH television tapings. The NWA uploaded video of Cabana vs. Storm and the post-match angle today, with The Briscoes laying out both Cabana and Aldis.

In storyline, The Briscoes are out for revenge against the NWA after they were disqualified for using steel chairs in their match against PCO & Brody King at the Crockett Cup.

Both teams had chairs in their hands at the end of the Crockett Cup match. Jay Briscoe went to hit King, but King moved out of the way and PCO hit Jay with a chair. The referee didn’t see it because he was trying to take Mark Briscoe’s chair from him. The ref then disqualified The Briscoes when Mark gave King a chair shot.

Here’s the updated card for Best in the World:

  • ROH World Champion Matt Taven defending against Jeff Cobb
  • ROH Television Champion Shane Taylor defending against Bandido
  • Rush vs. Flip Gordon
  • Dragon Lee vs. Dalton Castle
  • Nick Aldis & Colt Cabana vs. The Briscoes

Colt Cabana to defend NWA National title at ROH TV tapings

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Colt Cabana’s first defense of the NWA National Championship will take place at this month’s ROH television tapings.

Cabana vs. James Storm for the National title has been announced for ROH’s tapings in Villa Park, Illinois on Sunday, May 12. The show is the final night of ROH’s War of the Worlds tour.

At the NWA & ROH’s Crockett Cup event this past weekend, Cabana defeated Willie Mack to win the National title. James Storm came out to the ring after the match, cutting a promo on NWA management and how they don’t want him to be World Champion. Storm complimented Cabana but said he’s come up with a plan where management can’t silence him — and that’s winning the National title.

The War of the Worlds tour also has stops in Buffalo, New York on May 8, Toronto, Ontario, Canada on May 9, and Grand Rapids, Michigan on May 11.

Jay Lethal vs. Jeff Cobb vs. Rush vs. PCO will headline the TV tapings in Villa Park. Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa defending the ROH Tag Team titles against The Briscoes, Hirooki Goto vs. Hikuleo, EVIL & SANADA vs. Satoshi Kojima & Yuji Nagata, and PJ Black vs. Karl Fredericks have also been announced for the tapings.

NWA crowns three new champions at Crockett Cup

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Three new NWA champions were crowned tonight at the Crockett Cup tournament in Concord, North Carolina.

The ROH team of Brody King and PCO defeated Royce Isaacs and Thomas Latimer (formerly Bram from Impact) to win not only the Crockett Cup tournament, but the NWA Tag Team titles, which have been vacant since 2017. Isaacs and Latimer won the wildcard battle royal and earned a spot in the tournament in the first match of the show, but lost in the finals after PCO hit a moonsault on Latimer following a fireman’s carry Michinoku driver from King.

Earlier in the card, Allysin Kay defeated Santana Garrett to win the vacant NWA Women’s championship. Garrett went to the top rope for a shining star press, but Kay moved out of the way and pinned Garrett with a spear to win the championship for the first time.  The match originally was supposed to be Jazz defending the title against Kay, but on 4/22 it was announced that she would be vacating the title after 948 days due to personal and medical reasons.

Colt Cabana later defeated Willie Mack to win the NWA National title after scoring the win with the Superman pin, ending Mack’s 184 day run as champion. James Storm made an appearance after the match, challenging Cabana to a future title match.

ROH Masters of the Craft results: Two title matches

Posted on by Justin Knipper

ROH was in Columbus, Ohio on Sunday for their Masters of the Craft special broadcast live on the HonorClub streaming service. Ian Riccaboni, Colt Cabana, and NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis were the announce team for the night. 

ROH TV Champion Jeff Cobb defeated Rhett Titus in a non-title match

Titus flexed and posed before the match. The announce team used the word “striations” very much with regard to Mr. Titus. 

They did some light comedy chain wrestling at the beginning. Titus kept slipping out of Cobb’s holds and the announcers said it was because he had so much baby oil on his body. At one point, Titus tried a tope to the floor and landed very close to head-first onto the concrete. Yikes.

Titus hammered down on Cobb for a few minutes inside the ring until Cobb came back with a huge overhead belly-to-belly suplex. He later used a delayed superplex followed by a standing moonsault for a two-count. At some point during this part of the match, Cobb’s nose looked to be busted open hardway. 

Titus used a top rope X-Factor at one point. Cobb did a new move, or rather combination of moves: two floatover gutwrench suplexes into one floatover piledriver. He followed up with the Tour of the Islands for the win. 

This was a decent opener. Both looked good, but Cobb, as usual, looked especially impressive. He had a rock-solid response from this crowd, too. 

Jenny Rose defeated Holidead

Before the match, Riccaboni brought up how Holidead was trained by Gangrel. She bullied Rose around at the beginning of the match — good powerhouse heeling around on her part. 

As Rose picked up some steam and knocked Holidead out of the ring, the Allüre (Mandy Leon, Angelina Love, and Velvet Sky) came out from the back and distracted her. They came out with selfie sticks and sat ringside. They’re doing a mean girls gimmick that feels fifteen years out of date. They are being called “influencers” by the announce team. 

Nick Aldis made a great “Glengarry, Glen Ross” reference during one of the slower parts of the match (“Always Be Closing”). Rose eventually made a final comeback and used a uranage for the seemingly out-of-nowhere win. 

This wasn’t great. What momentum the match might have built to was killed by the Allüre angle, but the crowd seemed satisfied nonetheless. 

Eight-man tag match: Shane Taylor, Silas Young & The Briscoes (Jay & Mark) defeated Coast 2 Coast (Shaheem Ali & LSG) & The Bouncers (Brian Milonas & Beer City Bruiser) 

This was better than you’d think it’d be. Ali and Young were first in and chain wrestled. Jay Briscoe was next in and he and Ali traded blows. LSG and Taylor had a good exchange that ended in LSG literally flying into Taylor and bouncing off his body.

Milonas and Taylor had a shoulder block contest which the crowd was pretty into. The match devolved into a massive brawl that spilled out around the ring. 

Mark Briscoe and LSG had a nice exchange back in the ring. Beer City Bruiser and Young had a few exchanges as a part of some angle the two have going. 

They did a sequence of dives at the end that had the crowd going pretty crazy. Taylor did a running cannonball off the apron, LSG and Ali did a pair of dives, Mark Briscoe did a corkscrew senton from the top to the floor, and finally Bruiser hit a plancha from the top to the floor that Cabana politely called as follows: “It wasn’t pretty, but it was effective!”

After more madness both in and out of the ring, Taylor was able to land a big Fire Thunder Driver that they’re calling Greetings from 216 on LSG for the win.

Again, this was better than you might think it’d be from looking at the lineup on paper. Milonas and Taylor had a few good big man exchanges that might lead to something down the road. Coast 2 Coast shined brighter than usual here tonight, as well.

So Aldis kept poking fun at Cabana on commentary from the beginning of the broadcast, all for beating him in a match a year ago in China. After the tag match, Cabana got on the mic and challenged Aldis to a rematch on this show. Aldis accepted but was indignant about it and stormed to the back after the challenge. He assured Cabana he’d “stretch” him. 

Rush defeated Soberano Jr.

Riccaboni talked about how Soberano is the son of CMLL’s Euforia. He’s currently CMLL Welterweight Champion. Compared to a year or two ago, Soberano has noticeably improved. He used an awesome tornillo on Rush early on in this one for two. 

Rush came back quickly and did a few of his signature spots to Soberano — the fake-out dropkick into kick-in-face into Tranquilo pose, etc. He later took the match to the floor and whipped Soberano from corner to corner, shoving him into the barricades. 

It was only moments later that Rush had Soberano lying prone in the corner ready to take the Bull’s Horn basement dropkick to the face. Rush hit it and grabbed the quick and dominant win. It seems like ROH are booking Rush in short squashes to build him for something much bigger this summer. 

Four-way match: Bandido defeated PJ Black, Caristico, and Flip Gordon

Crazy match. Caprice Coleman joined Riccaboni on commentary for this one. Riccaboni did a nice rundown of Caristico’s career in Mexico before the bout. 

Bandido and Gordon got the loudest reactions upon their entrances. Crazy to think Bandido is getting twice the reaction Caristico gets these days considering how popular Caristico used to be.

Gordon has what looks to be a 20-pack now. Looking at him just a year ago to now is wild, a pretty crazy transformation. He was really good in this match. 

It was fast action in this from the start, as you might imagine. Caristico and Bandido were pretty amazing together, as were Bandido and Flip Gordon. Those were the especially good parts of this match. The crowd treats Bandido and Gordon like total superstars already. 

PJ Black was hanging in a Tree of Woe while Bandido attempted to superplex Caristico when he sat up and German suplexed Bandido, who in turn superplexed Caristico. Whew. 

The match was filled with lots of innovative stuff, really cool flying, though there were a few obviously botched moments, like when Caristico slipped off the ropes, or when Black went to do some double lucha-style submission to two guys but collapsed. Thankfully the crowd stuck with everything, and since there were so many moving parts in this match it was easy to forget. Bandido and Caristico did multiple dives to the floor just after this. 

In what will surely be in GIF form this week, Flip Gordon did a tope con giro from the ring over the barrier into the upper level of the crowd onto all three opponents. He launched himself really, really far. 

The finish saw Black attempt an O’Connor Roll on Gordon, but Bandido swooped in and used his slingshot German suplex on both Black and Gordon, pinning Black in the process. 

Huge reaction from the crowd after this. They cheered everyone in the match separately, but for some reason the ring announcer gave a special instruction to the crowd to thank the “CMLL Legend” Caristico. Very good match with Bandido and Gordon looking especially impressive. 

30-Minute Iron Man tag team match: Jonathan Gresham & Jay Lethal defeated LifeBlood (Mark Haskins & Tracy Williams) (2–1)

Kenny King joined the announce team for this. King sold Great Muta’s mist he got in the eyes at G1 Supercard. He wore sunglasses and came out with a cane and acted like he was blind. He rambled a lot before the match started.

The winners of this match will face IWGP & ROH World Tag Team Champions Guerrillas of Destiny in Buffalo, NY.

Jay Lethal was loudly over with the crowd. Williams had great grappling sequences with both Gresham and Lethal. At one point, Lethal ordered Haskins to tag Williams back into the ring to keep wrestling. 

The ring announcer gave the time at five-minute intervals during this match, unlike what they did during Lethal and Matt Taven’s 60-minute draw last month. 

Haskins and Gresham exchanged really hard chops and kicks. LifeBlood isolated Gresham on their side of the ring for a while. Both Williams and Haskins did some interesting catch submissions that worked over Gresham’s shoulder and taped-up arm. 

Every few minutes ROH would display a small scoreboard in the bottom right corner of the screen. Jay Lethal made his way back into the ring at around 11 minutes into the match to bail Gresham out. The two then started working over Williams’ knee, with Gresham using some unique figure-four variations. 

Later, Lethal put Williams in a traditional figure-four leg lock and Williams seemed close to tapping before grabbing the bottom ropes for the break. Williams then connected with a diving rocker dropper from the second rope onto Lethal and was then able to tag out to a fired up Haskins, who used a brutal looking double arm breaker submission on Gresham for a close submission victory until Gresham caught the ropes with his ankles.

Haskins dove onto both Gresham and Lethal outside the ring, then used a pumphandle driver for two. Minutes later, Haskins put Gresham in a Sharpshooter that Caprice Coleman put over as “the deepest Sharpshooter in professional wrestling.” Whatever works. It was around 20 minutes into the match when LifeBlood went up 1-0.

Williams and Lethal kicked off the second fall and exchanged stiff forearms and chops. LifeBlood did a suplex into an atomic drop on Lethal for two. I’d never seen that one before. 

A few minutes later, Lethal and Haskins exchanged suplex attempts. LifeBlood double-teamed Lethal while Gresham sold on outside the ring. Gresham made his way back into the match, though, and was able to catch Williams mid-air than German suplex him. With under five minutes to go, Lethal launched Gresham into Williams to deliver a big Cornette Cutter to even the match score to 1-1. 

LifeBlood hit their signature moves and looked like they were about to get a double tap until Lethal and Williams spilled out of the ring. While Haskins had Gresham in another Sharpshooter, Gresham rolled Haskins up and scored another quick win, his team now up 2-1.

The last few minutes consisted of Haskins using a number of leg locks on Gresham until Lethal could make the save, tagging Gresham discretely and landing a big diving elbow drop for a close two. The teams brawled until the time limit ran out; Lethal and Gresham won, 2-1. They will face Guerrillas of Destiny in Buffalo, NY soon for the double tag titles. 

Solid match that flew by. It didn’t feel like 30-minutes at all. Lethal is a master at pacing, apparently, like Keiji Muto or something. Hard-hitting with lots of action, well balanced. Not perfect, but very good. The crowd was in and out during it but was generally on board.

I think this was also good for LifeBlood, who actually needed more exposure. The longer nature of the match at hand gave them a chance to show the crowd that they are, in fact, very good wrestlers. Haskins is especially good. 

NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship match: Colt Cabana defeated Nick Aldis (w/ Kamille) by DQ

It was announced as a title match just as Cabana made his way to the ring. Sounds like there was some miscommunication as Riccaboni announced that the match was for the NWA title, but then Cabana got on the mic and did an angle about how they hadn’t announced it yet. Riccaboni saved it by saying Cabana was “making sure” it was for the championship. 

They did some smooth chain wrestling at the top of the match. These two complement each other physically, they’re just about the same height and around the same weight. The crowd was pretty loudly behind Cabana for this match. 

Cabana missed a splash off the ropes when Aldis got his knees up. Cabana was able to counter back with the Billy Goat’s Curse submission; Aldis grabbed the ropes for a break. 

Aldis later landed a tombstone and a big diving elbow drop for a late-match two count. Cabana returned with a big quebrada onto Aldis for two. The crowd was into this.

Right as this happened, Marty Scurll ran to the ring and stole the NWA title. Kamille got in his face and Aldis blindsided him. Cabana then dropkicked Aldis but knocked him into Scurll. Scurll and Cabana then started jawjacking and getting into it physically, causing the ref to call the match as a DQ in favor of Cabana, who won, though Aldis retained.

Scurll smashed the NWA title over Aldis’ face after to build for their match at the Crockett Cup event on April 27, which will also be on Honor Club. 

Dalton Castle came to the ring next. People still cheered him despite turning against The Boys at the MSG show last week. He walked around the ring and through the crowd with a mic and teased saying something but didn’t. He smirked and walked to the back. That’s it. People still chanted his name after he was gone. 

ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship match: Villain Enterprises (Marty Scurll, Brody King & PCO) defeated The Kingdom (ROH World Champion Matt Taven, Vinny Marseglia & TK O’Ryan) in a Columbus Street Fight to retain their titles

Chaotic brawl that went all over the place. Scurll got on the mic and said since they had done this match so many times before, tonight they’ll make it interesting and make the match a Columbus Street Fight. The Kingdom didn’t hesitate to agree and the teams brawled as the bell rang.

Brody King and PCO did tope con giros at the beginning of the match. King and PCO have such unique and distinct charisma. A few minutes later, the chairs were brought in. There were four or five chairs in the ring at one point and they did a series of chair spots. Scurll sat and flexed on the chairs and probably got the biggest pop of that section.

Later, Marseglia and O’Ryan superplexed 51-year old PCO onto about five of the aforementioned folding chairs inside the ring, which was followed by a “holy sh*t” chant from the crowd.

The crowd then chanted for tables. Marseglia and O’Ryan argued over whether to use a table or not and Taven tried to mediate — but Scurll and King caught them and tossed them back into the ring. Scurll and King did some cool double-team moves together. 

There was a lot of stalling as the Kingdom set a table up in the corner of the ring. King later used the table by putting Matt Taven through it with a Death Valley Driver. Scurll snapped Taven’s fingers after this.

Marseglia kept acting like he wanted to pull out more tables from under the ring. The teams spilled back to the floor and later King gave Marseglia a big lariat on the entrance stage. 

O’Ryan was on the top rope going for something when Scurll snapped fingers on both of O’Ryan’s hands, then spit in his face until O’Ryan lost his balance and fell through a few tables. Marseglia did an Acid Drop from the apron to the floor, then a somersault senton through a table to King near the announce table. Carnage and craziness all over the place. 

In the ring, Taven gave PCO a low blow and hit the Climax on him, but Scurll made the save. Taven screamed about how he’s so sick of Scurll and called him a Melvin. He did Just the Tip, the running knee, then kept telling Scurll to get up so that he could hit him with the ROH belt.

Instead, PCO out of nowhere got up like Frankenstein and hit Taven with the belt. PCO then hit his monstrous moonsault on Taven to pin the current ROH World Champion only one week after he won the title. The announcers put this over huge and were screaming their heads off. 

The show’s final shot was of PCO holding not just his ROH Six-Man title but also the ROH World title over a prone Matt Taven. Let’s see if this leads to a title shot for PCO in the next few months. 

New Japan Cup night 10 results: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

Posted on by Ethan Renner

The 2019 New Japan Cup semifinals are set. 

Quarterfinal action wrapped up today as NJPW ran their second consecutive night in Shizuoka. 

The main event featured a rematch of last year’s New Japan Cup final, with Zack Sabre Jr. taking on Hiroshi Tanahashi, reprising that battle with another instant classic. 

The other tournament bout saw the end of Colt Cabana’s Cinderella story in wrestling’s version of March Madness, with him falling to SANADA in the semi-main. 

Full results and match recaps are below:

HIROYOSHI TENZAN, SATOSHI KOJIMA & YUYA UEMURA DEFEATED YUJI NAGATA, MANABU NAKANISHI & YOTA TSUJI 

A stronger opening contest than last night here, with the youngsters carrying much of the match. Kojima hit Tsuji with a lariat and pinned him. 

TAICHI & TAKA MICHINOKU DEFEATED WILL OSPREAY & SHOTA UMINO 

The audience reacts to Umino in a different way than they do the other young lions. He’s already special, but he’s going to be in main events for a decade, barring injury. 

Ospreay did a lot considering his tough match with Okada the night before. Taichi taunted Ospreay with Ospreay’s NEVER title, and beat him down after the match, so look for that at some point in the future. 

Taichi submitted Umino with the Stretch Plum. 

BAD LUCK FALE, CHASE OWENS & HIKULEO DEFEATED JUICE ROBINSON, MIKEY NICHOLLS & REN NARITA 

Chase and Juice continue to trade tag wins in advance of their U.S. title match on Sunday. 

After a kendo stick shot from Jado, Chase hit a Jewel Heist on Narita for a near fall, then used a package piledriver for the pin. 

After the match, HIKULEO and Fale held Juice and forced him to watch Owens hit a second package piledriver on Narita. 

MINORU SUZUKI, LANCE ARCHER & DAVEY BOY SMITH JR. DEFEATED MICHAEL ELGIN, RYUSUKE TAGUCHI & TOA HENARE 

The Suzuki-gun credibility rehab tour continues, as the group picked up another tag victory on this tour. 

Suzuki and Taguchi did some comedy together, which worked because of their differences. Elgin and Smith did a bunch of power stuff together, and that also worked really well. Archer hit the Blackout on Henare for the pin. 

TETSUYA NAITO, EVIL, SHINGO TAKAGI & BUSHI DEFEATED KOTA IBUSHI, TOGI MAKABE, TOMOAKI HONMA & TORU YANO 

Naito and Ibushi are so good that even in taking it easier than usual in an undercard tag match, they were still excellent. We also saw a new wrinkle from EVIL, as he used a Sharpshooter on Honma to pick up the win here via submission. 

Naito again taunted Ibushi after the match, and that looks to be a future Intercontinental title bout. 

TOMOHIRO ISHII & HIROOKI GOTO DEFEATED KAZUCHIKA OKADA & YOSHI-HASHI

This provided a preview of Saturday’s Okada vs. Ishii semifinal bout. I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that their match will not be lacking in intensity. 

Early on, Okada tried to break cleanly and taunt Ishii in doing so, but Ishii responded by slapping Okada across the face.

Later, they did an awesome series of counters and reversals as each looked to hit their finisher. Ishii avoided a dropkick, and hit Okada with a lariat. 

The finish saw Goto hit an ushigoroshi, Ishii hit a sliding lariat, and Goto hit the GTR on YOSHI-HASHI for the win. 

NEW JAPAN CUP QUARTERFINAL MATCH: SANADA DEFEATED COLT CABANA (14:57)

They had a solid outing, but not a spectacular match. They never got out of second gear, and they didn’t seem to have a lot of heat. The crowd was not very well mic’d, but even still, not a lot of audience reaction came across on the broadcast. 

They began with some mat work. Colt used a headscissors, and SANADA popped out. Colt offered SANADA the Paradise Lock, but it was a trap, as Colt used a cradle for a near fall. SANADA finally applied the Paradise Lock, then sent Colt to the floor. 

They did a couple of comedy spots, but the focus remained serious. SANADA did his leapfrog dropkick spot, then hit a pescado. SANADA used a chinlock. They traded strikes, and SANADA hit a Frankensteiner. 

Colt hit a double jump splash, picking up a two count. He crashed and burned on a moonsault attempt. SANADA went for a springboard dropkick, but Cabana caught him, then used the Billy Goat’s Curse. SANADA crawled to the ropes, forcing a break. 

Colt hit a top rope rana, but SANADA rolled through into a cover for a two count. SANADA went for Skull End, but had to settle for a draping neckbreaker. 

SANADA went for a moonsault, but Colt got his knees up and used a cradle for a two count. SANADA countered the Superman. Colt went for it a second time, but SANADA escaped, then used Skull End for the submission. 

NEW JAPAN CUP QUARTERFINAL MATCH: HIROSHI TANAHASHI DEFEATED ZACK SABRE JR. (21:12)

They worked a great old school match, almost exclusively built around trading holds. 

Sabre picked up an early one count after the opening mat grappling sequence. He worked for an armbar, but Tanahashi kept his hands clasped, then managed an escape. 

Tanahashi called for a knuckle lock — and Sabre engaged. They traded the advantage in the hold, before Tanahashi used a suplex to break it. 

Sabre used the threat of an armbar, then stomped on Tanahashi’s left arm. Sabre used a wristlock, then again stomped on the left arm, establishing the target of his attack for the match. 

They exchanged forearm shots and uppercuts. Tanahashi hit a flying forearm, a bodyslam, and a somersault senton to pick up a two count. 

They traded cobra twists. Tanahashi used a pumphandle slam. Sabre countered with a kick to the face, then applied an octopus hold over the ropes. On the break, Tanahashi hit a dragon screw, dropkick, and dragon screw combination in the ropes. 

Tanahashi slapped on a cloverleaf, but Sabre slipped out of the hold into a triangle choke. Tanahashi managed to escape and went back to the cloverleaf, but Sabre forced a rope break. 

Sabre used a guillotine, then transitioned to a wristlock, but Tanahashi reversed into a Twist and Shout. Tanahashi hit two more Twist and Shouts, then hit Slingblade for a near fall. 

Sabre used an octopus hold, hit a PK, avoided a dragon screw, and used a European clutch for a near fall. Tanahashi used an O’Connor roll for a near fall, but Sabre used the cover to transition to Orienteering with Napalm Death. Tanahashi used a dragon screw to break the hold. 

Sabre used a wristlock into a clutch for a near fall. He went for a backslide, but Tanahashi escaped and hit an inverted Slingblade. Tanahashi used a Japanese leg clutch hold for the pin. 

Tanahashi closed the show with a series of air guitar encores. 

New Japan Cup night eight results: Minoru Suzuki vs. SANADA

Posted on by Ethan Renner

NJPW ran their second consecutive sellout night at Tokyo’s Korakuen Hall on Sunday, highlighted by the conclusion of the second round of the 2019 New Japan Cup. 

The undercard was much stronger than the day before. The matches without tournament implications all delivered with intensity, and the crowd reacted in kind. 

The tag matches that provided previews of upcoming Cup matches were strong as well. 

As for the tournament matches, Cabana and Yano delivered on what had to be one of the most highly-anticipated comedy matches ever, while SANADA and Suzuki followed up with a strong main event. 

Full results and match recaps are below:

YUJI NAGATA, MANABU NAKANISHI & YOTA TSUJI DEFEATED SATOSHI KOJIMA, HIROYOSHI TENZAN & YUYA UEMURA 

Super heated opener. Nakanishi and Tenzan jawed at each other during the match. The finish saw Nagata hit an exploder on Uemura, then he applied the Nagata Lock for the submission. 

CHASE OWENS, BAD LUCK FALE & HIKULEO DEFEATED JUICE ROBINSON, MIKEY NICHOLLS & REN NARITA

This continued the build for Chase eventually challenging Juice for the U.S. title. Juice and Chase started out, but Chase begged off. Fale and HIKULEO went after Juice on the floor, and Chase tagged in once Juice was on the defensive. 

Narita looked good here. He hit Owens with a dropkick and had him in a crab, but Fale made the save. Owens hit the package piledriver on Narita for the pin. 

Chase executed a sneak attack on Juice after the match. He teased a package piledriver on the floor, but Juice escaped. Owens ducked the Left Hand of God, and Jado hit Juice with his kendo stick. Owens tossed Juice into the ring, then left him laying with a belt shot. 

LANCE ARCHER, DAVEY BOY SMITH JR. & TAICHI DEFEATED TOGI MAKABE, MICHAEL ELGIN & TOA HENARE 

Another showcase match for Suzuki-gun, with Smith and Archer on the winning side for the second consecutive night. 

The match began with Taichi and Archer dominating Henare. Henare dodged a charge into the corner and tagged Elgin. Elgin and Archer had a big man battle, then Elgin tagged Makabe. 

The match broke down, and Smith and Archer hit a Hart Attack on Henare. Taichi took his trousers off, and he hit a buzzsaw kick for a near fall. Taichi hit a superkick before using a Stretch Plum for the submission victory over Henare.

TETSUYA NAITO, SHINGO TAKAGI, EVIL & BUSHI DEFEATED SHO, YOH, KOTA IBUSHI & SHOTA UMINO

This was an incredibly fun eight-man, and the last several minutes were excellent. They teased a future match between Ibushi and Naito for the Intercontinental title. 

LIJ beat down SHO for several minutes at the outset. SHO made a comeback with a spear and a deadlift suplex, then tagged Ibushi. Ibushi and Naito did battle, with Ibushi picking up a near fall off a standing moonsault. 

Naito hit a pair of neckbreakers. Both traded strikes, and Naito hit a spinebuster. EVIL tagged in and ate a dropkick. Umino entered and ran wild with back elbows and a missile dropkick. EVIL reversed a fisherman buster attempt into one of his own. 

Everyone jumped in and hit a big move. Umino held off Naito and EVIL at first, kicking out of an inverted atomic drop into a lariat, but eventually fell victim to Everything is EVIL. 

HIROSHI TANAHASHI & TOMOAKI HONMA DEFEATED ZACK SABRE JR. & TAKA MICHINOKU 

Tanahashi and Sabre began the match with a mat wrestling clinic. Tanahashi picked up a near fall off a backslide. Sabre and Tanahashi applied dueling cobra twists to Honma and TAKA. Sabre went for a cobra twist on Tanahashi, but Tana dumped him over the top rope with a hip toss. 

Sabre used a headscissors on Honma, while also applying a heel hook to Tanahashi. Sabre and TAKA worked over Honma, who eventually dumped Sabre on his head on a suplex, then tagged Tana back in. 

Tanahashi went for a cloverleaf on TAKA, but Sabre broke it up. Sabre went for an armbar on Tanahashi, but Honma broke it up with a kokeshi. Tanahashi used a cloverleaf on TAKA for the submission. 

After the bell, Sabre attacked Honma and taunted Tanahashi. 

TOMOHIRO ISHII, WILL OSPREAY & HIROOKI GOTO DEFEATED KAZUCHIKA OKADA, RYUSUKE TAGUCHI & YOSHI-HASHI

The highlight here was the interaction between Ishii and YOSHI-HASHI ahead of their matchup in the next round of the tournament. 

Much of it was the fact that he was working with Ishii, but YH looked great, easily the best he’s been since his return from injury. Ishii and YH engaged in several chop battles. Ospreay broke out a standing shooting star press on Okada. 

Near the finish, Okada hit a dropkick. Taguchi hit a hip attack. Goto hit a GTR and got the pin on Taguchi. 

NEW JAPAN CUP SECOND ROUND MATCH: COLT CABANA DEFEATED TORU YANO (7:47)

This had to be one of the most anticipated comedy matches of all time. Expectations were extremely high, but they were met, if not exceeded. 

Cabana grabbed a waistlock on Yano, and he pulled a roll of tape out of Yano’s trunks. Each used a distraction to attempt a schoolboy on the other. After a prolonged log roll spot, Cabana scored a second near fall. 

Yano pulled a third roll of tape from under the ring, but Cabana got a hold of it and taped one of the turnbuckle pads. Yano went to untie it, while Cabana untied another. Yano untied a third turnbuckle pad, and they played catch with it. Yano used a schoolboy for a near fall. 

Cabana blocked a low blow, then used a Superman cover for the pinfall. 

NEW JAPAN CUP SECOND ROUND MATCH: SANADA DEFEATED MINORU SUZUKI (28:45)

Can we put Suzuki in the Hall of Fame again? This was great. 

They teased locking up. SANADA checked a leg kick. Suzuki grabbed a side headlock, then went after SANADA’s left arm. Suzuki used a rear naked choke. SANADA slipped to a hammerlock, Suzuki used a headlock takeover, and SANADA used a headscissors escape. 

SANADA used a headlock, but Suzuki used a headscissors to escape it. SANADA used a handstand to escape the headscissors, and they ended up back on their feet. 

SANADA went for the paradise lock, but TAKA jumped on the apron for a distraction. Suzuki played as though he was in the lock, but when SANADA went for a dropkick to break the hold, Suzuki popped up and pulled him to the apron for a heel hook. 

Suzuki posted SANADA’s legs, then draped the right leg over the barricade and attacked it with kicks. The match spilled into the crowd, and Suzuki used a chair. Suzuki continued to attack the right leg over the barricade. 

Back inside, Suzuki used an Achilles lock. SANADA reached the ropes, forcing a break. SANADA made it back to his feet. After an exchange of strikes, SANADA hit a dropkick to Suzuki’s right knee, then used a dragon screw. 

SANADA hit his leapfrog dropkick, then a pescado. Back inside, Suzuki avoided a springboard dropkick, then hit a PK for a near fall. They exchanged a series of forearm strikes. Suzuki was staggered, but eventually dropped SANADA. 

They did an awesome misdirection spot. SANADA went for Skull End, but Suzuki powered out and applied a rear naked choke with a bodyscissors. Suzuki transitioned to a lateral press for a two count. 

Suzuki hit a couple of short knee strikes, then went for the Gotch Piledriver. SANADA powered out of it. SANADA slipped to the Skull End. He gave up the hold and went for a moonsault. Suzuki popped up, and SANADA rolled through. 

SANADA went for a springboard dropkick, but Suzuki caught him and applied a kneebar. SANADA briefly tried to bridge into a cover, but Suzuki used a rear naked choke. Suzuki hit a series of palm strikes, then used another rear naked choke. SANADA powered out and hit a TKO. 

After an exchange of strikes, SANADA hit a Saito suplex for a two count. SANADA went to the top for a moonsault, but Suzuki cut him off. SANADA eventually hit the moonsault into the Skull End. Suzuki grabbed the knee and briefly got a kneebar. They traded the same holds, and even simultaneously applied them. 

Suzuki slipped to an inverted figure four, but SANADA slid back into the Skull End. Suzuki sold as though he passed out in the hold, so SANADA went for a cover. Suzuki kicked out at two. 
SANADA went to the top rope, hit a moonsault, and got the pin.

Daily Update: Raw fallout, Matt Hughes, Punk/Cabana lawsuit

Posted on by F4W Staff

DAILY UPDATE

Latest News

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F4W NEWSLETTER: Figure Four Weekly: WWE takes first steps toward WrestleMania 35 triple threat

It appears that WWE has officially taken the first steps towards Ronda Rousey, Becky Lynch, and Charlotte Flair all being involved in the main event of WrestleMania 35.

An angle where Vince McMahon suspended Lynch for 60 days and announced that Charlotte would be taking her place at WrestleMania closed last Monday’s episode of Raw. Charlotte aligned with Vince and fully turned heel, with Vince calling her someone with charisma, someone with charm, and someone who knows their lane and stays in it.

WON NEWSLETTER: February 25, 2019 Observer Newsletter: Elimination Chamber review

The show didn’t sell out, even in one of WWE’s best markets. The show had more good than bad, with the highlight being the main event, the men’s Chamber match where Daniel Bryan retained and the crowd got so strong behind Kofi Kingston in the Mustafa Ali slot that Vince McMahon changed plans for Fast Lane to put Bryan vs. Kingston on top.

The show was the brainchild of Motoko Baba, to run a big Baba celebration show in 2019, 20 years after his early 1999 death. With her passing away last year, it was her nieces and nephews who put the show together.

All but one count of Mark Hunt’s lawsuit against the UFC, Dana White and Brock Lesnar on the grounds they conspired against him to allow a juiced up Lesnar to fight him at UFC 200 was thrown out of court.

The 2020 Royal Rumble will take place on 1/26 at Minute Maid Park in Houston. Most likely that would also mean Takeover on 1/25 at the Toyota Center, Raw on 1/27 and Smackdown on 1/28.

FOX this weekend started advertising 10/4 as the debut of the new Friday Night Smackdown show.

“Fighting with My Family,” the Dwayne Johnson Seven Bucks Entertainment movie about Growing Up as Paige, which has its big national release on 2/22, has gotten great word-of-mouth so far.

Chris Jericho noted that while he and Gedo are on the same page, that New Japan management hasn’t talked with him about a new deal.

ORDERING INFO:  Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered  via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].

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TUESDAY NEWS UPDATE

by Joseph Currier and Bryan Rose

WWE

  • SmackDown tonight will be at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The main focus of tonight’s show will be a contract signing between Daniel Bryan and Kofi Kingston for their WWE title match at Fastlane. Johnny Gargano will face Cesaro, while Aleister Black and Ricochet will take on Shinsuke Nakamura and Rusev.
  • The tournament to determine Buddy Murphy’s challenger for WrestleMania will begin on tonight’s 205 Live with Kalisto vs. Tony Nese and Brian Kendrick vs. Drew Gulak in first round matches. There will be two more first round matches left in the eight-man tournament after tonight.
  • WWE sent out a statement saying “We have nothing to announce at this time” when asked about reports of WrestleMania 36 taking place in Tampa, Florida next year. The Tampa Bay Times notes that the Tampa Bay Sports Commission declined to comment and directed inquiries to WWE.
  • WWE posted an interview with Roman Reigns from after his appearance on Raw, and Reigns tweeted a video thanking his family for their support during his leukemia battle.
  • Reigns also thanked Robin Roberts and everyone at Good Morning America after his appearance: “Thank you to @RobinRoberts and everyone from @GMA. Thank you for the support and the platform to raise awareness for leukemia research. Now, it’s time to get ready to go back to work!! @WWE”
  • David Arquette was at Raw in Atlanta last night. Ric Flair tweeted a picture with him backstage before the show.
  • Flair also sent out a tweet about the angle where he was attacked by Batista at the end of Raw: “I Want To Thank @WWE For Throwing Such A Wonderful Birthday Celebration With Some Of My Closest Friends. As For @DaveBautista… Be Careful Whose Party You Crash, Big Man! #WOOOOO”
  • After Raw went off the air last night, Shawn Michaels hit Sweet Chin Music on Jinder Mahal and Kurt Angle gave Mahal an Angle Slam onto Flair’s birthday cake.
  • WWE has uploaded the entire NXT TakeOver: Phoenix event from last month on their YouTube page as a part of the WWE Network’s fifth anniversary celebration.
  • WWE’s YouTube page has reached 40 million subscribers.
  • The Tampa Bay Times has a feature story on Dave Bautista.
  • This week’s Total Bellas drew 424,000 viewers, which is down from last week’s 426,000 viewers.
  • Check here if you would be interested in volunteering for WrestleMania Axxess.

Pro Wrestling

UFC/MMA

  • Matt Hughes has been hit with a restraining order from both his wife and brother after allegations of domestic and physical abuse. Audra Hughes described in court documents that a pattern of abusive behavior that started in 2017 after Hughes’ truck was struck by a train. Mark Hughes also filed a restraining order, alleging that Matt roughed up his son and attacked a tractor in a dispute over who owned the tractor. Both restraining orders were granted.
  • According to ESPN, ONE Fighting Championships and Vitor Belfort are in serious negotiations. If everything goes to plan, the announcement will likely be made later this week.
  • The second episode of UFC 235 Embedded is now up.
  • Josh Emmett will fight Michael Johnson, while Ray Borg will fight Pingyuan Liu at UFC on ESPN 2 in Philadelphia on 3/30.
  • Jesus Pinedo will fight Chris Gruetzemacher at the Tennessee Ultimate Fight Night event on March 23.
  • Krzysztof Jotko vs. Roman Kopylov has been added to the Ultimate Fight Night event in St. Petersburg Russia.
  • Diego Sanchez talks about his fighting spirit ahead of his match against Mickey Gall this weekend.

Daily Pro Wrestling History: Davey Boy Smith becomes first WWF European Champion

Ed in San Antonio presents the WRESTLEMANIAWeekend Events (more to be added):

  • Sunday, April 6th, at 12:00 pm: Lunch (all you can eat) at Churrascaria Plataforma ($90 per person), located at 316 W. 49th street in Manhattan. Purchase tickets here~!
  • Luxury Bus to MetLife Stadium for Wrestlemania: We will depart from the Hilton Midtown (site of Wrestlecon) located at 1335 Avenue of the Americas. Departure time is 4:00 pm and will return from MetLife approximately 30 mins after the event. Times are subject to change, and cost $67.00 per person for the round trip. Purchase tickets here~!

CONTACT INFORMATION

NJPW reveals New Japan Cup participants, Mikey Nicholls to return

Posted on by Bryan Rose

The participants for this year’s New Japan Cup have been revealed.

This year’s tournament format has changed. Instead of the usual 16 man tournament, the number has now doubled to 32 participants. The tournament will kick off on 3/8 at Korakuen Hall and will end on 3/24 in Niigata.

The most notable name for this year’s tournament is Mikey Nicholls, the former Nick Miller of the NXT team TM61. He had asked for this release from NXT back in December of last year, splitting the long-running team formerly known as TMDK with Shane Haste/Shane Thorne. Rocky Romero noted on Twitter that he has also joined CHAOS in the process.

Michael Elgin will also be making his return to the company, having recovered from a knee injury. HIKULEO will also return to the promotion after being out nearly a year due to an ACL injury and training at the NJPW US dojo. Colt Cabana is also coming in for this tour, taking on Togi Makabe in the opening round.

All shows will be streaming live on New Japan World with English commentary. The second round will take place 3/13, 3/14. 3/16 and 3/17. Quarterfinals will take place on 3/20 and 3/21, and semi-finals on 3/23.  

Here are the first round matches for the tournament:

March 8 – Korakuen Hall

  • Yuji Nagata vs. Tomohiro Ishii
  • Juice Robinson vs. Chase Owens
  • Tomoaki Honma vs. Taichi
  • Manabu Nakanishi vs. YOSHI-HASHI

March 9 – Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium

  • Toa Henare vs. Lance Archer
  • Will Ospreay vs. Bad Luck Fale
  • Kazuchika Okada vs. Michael Elgin
  • Mikey Nicholls vs. HIKULEO

March 10 – Hyogo Baycom Gymnasium

  • Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. David Finlay
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Shota Umino
  • EVIL vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
  • Kota Ibushi vs. Tetsuya Naito

March 11 – Kagawa Takamatsu City General Gymnasium #1

  • Toru Yano vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr.
  • Satoshi Kojima vs. Minoru Suzuki
  • Hirooki Goto vs. SANADA
  • Togi Makabe vs. Colt Cabana

ROH TV results: Tag title match, six-man mayhem

Posted on by Dan Velten

Ian Riccaboni, Colt Cabana, and Caprice Coleman called the action from Center Stage in Atlanta, Georgia.

Shane Taylor defeated Rhett Titus, Luchasaurus, Kenny King, Chris Sabin, and Flip Gordon in a six-man mayhem match

Starting off in the ring were Sabin and Luchasaurus. They battled briefly, and King and Titus were in next. King and Titus had an even exchange. For a moment, the two men then re-formed their tag team of the All Night Xpress to work together to take out Luchasaurus and Taylor.

That didn’t last long as King and Titus began verbally attacking each other, which allowed Gordon to take over. A melee ensued with each man connecting with a move. It ended with Gordon landing a Pele kick on King. All the competitors were down as the show went to break.

After the commercial, King had managed to get control until Luchasaurus kicked him off the apron. Taylor booted Luchasaurus. Taylor then hit a bowling ball flip dive off the apron to the floor on King and Titus. This allowed Luchasaurus time to regroup and hit a running springboard flip dive over the top rope to the floor.

Not to be outdone, Gordon then ascended a balcony near ringside and hit a flip dive onto all four men. He tossed Taylor in and hit a 450, but King pulled him off the cover. The referee decided that his actions were illegal — so he had King disqualified and sent to the back.

Inside, Titus managed to put down Luchasaurus and then powered up, hoisted Taylor up on his shoulders, and hit a Samoan drop. That only got a two count. Titus then did his best Lex Luger imitation, but Taylor blasted him with a knee and landed Greetings from the 216 on Titus for the win.

The Bouncers (Beer City Bruiser & Brian Milonas) defeated Master & Machine (Marcus Kross & Griff Garrison)

Milonas launched both opponents, then put them both down with a double clothesline. He tagged in Bruiser — who missed a senton. A big elbow off the top barely phased the Bruiser. He caught Kross on his shoulders and planted the young man.

Kross used a double thrust palm strike to get some clearance and tag in Garrison. Garrison ran wild, but not for very long. He ran into a huge slam from Milonas, but Kross broke up the pin. Milonas put Kross up top and the Bouncers landed Closing Time on Garrison to get the win.

ROH Tag Team Champions The Briscoes defeated Chuckie T & Colt Cabana to retain their titles

Chuckie T came to the ring alone with a microphone. He announced that his best friend had a family emergency so his partner was…Colt Cabana. Cabana got undressed right at the announcers table. He joined Chuckie — and they attacked The Briscoes right away.

Chuckie and Cabana got the early edge, but The Briscoes quickly cut off the newly formed tag team. The Briscoes put a hurting on Chuckie early, but he used a dropkick out of the corner to get the tag to Cabana — who came in and landed a nice moonsault and a Flying Apple to each Briscoe. 

Chuckie tagged himself back in and went to work on Jay Briscoe with Soul Food and a standing Sliced Bread. He stalked The Briscoes, but they fought back on the outside. Jay suplexed Chuckie on the floor. Both Briscoes set up Cabana in a chair and Mark Briscoe hit a running blockbuster off the apron to Cabana. 

After the break, Jay was looking for the Jay Driller — but Chuckie evaded it. However, Chuckie ended up on Jay’s shoulders and nearly found himself on the wrong end of the Doomsday Device, but he scrambled out and got a roll-up for only a two count.

Chuckie then walked into a Jay Driller. That allowed Jay to get the pin as The Briscoes retained the ROH Tag Team titles.

The Briscoes weren’t finished and continued to beat up Chuckie. With Cabana dispatched of, they got a table out from under the ring and set it up on the outside. Mark nailed a Froggy Elbow onto Chuckie through the table. 

– A recap of Bully Ray leading the charge to lay out The Elite and SoCal Uncensored aired. This was immediately followed by a recap of Juice Robinson’s formation of the LifeBlood faction. 

– Riccaboni was in the ring and brought out Jay Lethal. Lethal said there was a lot of pressure on him besides just being the champion as he watched the company that he loved deteriorate.

Lethal mentioned Matt Taven walking around with a fake belt. Just then, he was interrupted by LifeBlood. Robinson came out with the other members in tow. 

Lethal said that he assumed LifeBlood felt the same way, but he didn’t want to join a group like LifeBlood. Robinson said that with all due respect, there wasn’t an invitation for Lethal to join. 

Lethal then addressed each member of LifeBlood individually and complimented them on their past performances. He called each of them one of the best wrestlers in the world. He said he believes they can get ROH back on track. Lethal went to leave — but Robinson stopped him.

Robinson said that they should stop talking about it, and be about it. Robinson told Lethal to get four other like-minded guys in the back to compete against his team of five. In order to restore honor to ROH, Lethal accepted the challenge, so next week it will be LifeBlood vs. Lethal’s team.