Davey Boy Smith Jr. defeated Yuma Aoyagi to win the title today at AJPW Giant Series 2024 in Sapporo. He is now the 74th champion in the title’s history.
The finish saw Aoyagi get near falls off a Fisherman buster and a series of pinning combinations, followed by Smith hitting consecutive Saito suplexes and then his Bulldog Bomb for the win.
Smith is the seventh foreigner to win the AJPW Triple Crown, joining a list that includes Terry Gordy, Stan Hansen, “Dr. Death” Steve Williams, Big Van Vader, Taiyo Kea, and Joe Doering.
Aoyagi’s second reign with the title finishes after 79 days and two successful defenses. He defeated the 2023 WON Rookie of the Year, Yuma Anzai, for the belt at AJPW Summer Action Wars in August.
Smith started with AJPW at the end of 2023 and returned for the annual Champion Carnival tournament. He placed second in the A block with a 5-3 record. He signed a deal with the promotion this summer that extends through January and the start of the year shows.
I’m so proud of you @DBSmithjr!!!! Ever since you were a kid, you wanted this. I’m so happy for you and you’ve worked so hard for this.
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Sunday Update
Bryan and I will be back tonight talking all the weekend news including the television shows, Vince McMahon and Ari Emanuel, Royal Quest and Logan Paul boxing. Our week in review show talking Tuesday night ratings, MJF angle, UFC/USADA, Hall of Fame in-depth, and much more with Garrett Gonzales is up right now.
We’re looking for your thoughts on Royal Quest, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]
Adam Cole did get ankle surgery on Thursday.
Davey Boy Smith Jr. is out of the hospital after surgery to remove part of his colon due to getting appendicitis and diverticulitis at the same time. It was said to be painful as hell. He was in the hospital for four days and now he’s at home recovering.
I would tell everyone to go out of their way to see both the Will Ospreay vs. Zack Sabre Jr., main event and the Tomohiro Ishii vs. Shingo Takagi semi from Royal Quest. The reaction across the board is both were match of the year candidates. Ospreay vs. Sabre was in the vein of Danielson vs. Sabre, but the idea was similar but the match was completely different. It was incredibly innovative. Takagi vs. Ishii was exactly what you would think it would be. I will say at least from my standpoint the sound didn’t travel well on the broadcast so it felt like it was a hard crowd but others have said the atmosphere was unreal.
For Google Searches this week, nothing from pro wrestling made the list. You can really see how little interest there is these days based on the Saturday UFC shows that are strictly streaming shows on ESPN+ not cracking the top 20. It used to be automatic for every UFC show to do so. As far as yesterday’s PPV show, the Logan Paul vs. Dillon Danis fight got 1.1 million searches while the KSI vs. Tommy Fury main event got 50,000. Paul vs. Danis also got another 200,000 on Thursday based on Danis hitting Paul with the mic and cutting him open. The only other thing to make the list this week was No. 6 on Wednesday with 50,000 was UFC announcing that Fight Pass would be airing several college wrestling dual meets this season. Nothing involving Tuesday’ NXT vs. AEW made the list.
On last night’s Collision show, Tony Khan made the call for Tony Schiavone to be the lead announcer. Kevin Kelly worked the show as well, as did Nigel McGuinness. During the Bryan Danielson vs. Christian Cage main event (an outstanding match by the way), Jim Ross replaced Kelly.
At Royal Quest, they made three new matches. For Power Struggle on 11/4 in Osaka they made Will Ospreay vs. Shota Umino for the UK and US titles and Jon Moxley vs. Great O’Khan. For 10/28 in Las Vegas, Tama Tonga will defend the Never title against Singo Takagi.
WWE house show results from last night in Kansas City, MO, with a rare Roman Reigns house show match. Reigns is not on tonight’s house show in Springfield,MO:
Cody Rhodes & Jey Uso retained the tag titles over Ludvig Kaiser & Giovanni Vinci when Rhodes pinned Kaiser.
Dominik Mysterio b Ricochet using the tights and ropes to retain the North American title
LA Knight b Jimmy Uso via DQ when Solo Sikoa interfered. Sikoa laid out Knight with the Samoan spike
Gunther b Chad Gable to retain the IC title after a power bomb. Maxxine and Otis were also involved
Seth Rollins b Shinsuke Nakamura with a curb stomp in a street fight for the world title
Carlito & Joaquin Wilde b The Street Profits
Iyo Sky won three-way over Charlotte Flair and Asuka. Apparently there was a close near fall where people thought Asuka didn’t get her shoulder up after a spear by Flair but that wasn’t the finish. Sky reversed the Asuka lock into a pin
Roman Reigns beat Sami Zayn with a combination spear and Solo Sikoa interfering with the spike. Long match. Jimmy Uso interfered. Zayn kicked out of the first spear. A couple of refs bumps. Jimmy Uso brought in a chair but Zayn speared him. Zayn used the helluva kick on Reigns but the ref was slow counting and Reigns took out. Sikoa came out and they did the spear and spike combo as the ref was down and that was the pin. Jimmy & Solo were beating on Zayn after the match. LA Knight made the save and used the BFT on Reigns, Uso and Sikoa.(thanks to Shannon Walsh)
We’re looking for reports on these shows:
NXT on Friday night in Largo, FL and last night in Winter Haven, FL
WWE house show tonight in Springfield, MO
We’re looking for results, finishes and highlights to [email protected]
Thanks to Brian Overholt, Paul Meade and John Muse for the reports from AEW last night in Toledo.
With Nick Aldis now a WWE television character, it looks like no more indies. We don’t have that confirmed but he did pull out of his show for the Hart Family’s promotion in Calgary so it looks that way.
The Grizzled Young Veterans, formerly the Dyad, had their contracts expire and wrote, “You’ve got soulless wrestlers with heartless gimmicks. And then you’ve got the death of creativity. We took a long look around and we said to ourselves, `If this is the big life, then we’re not looking to live it.’ We are sick of taking the safe option, we are sick of reading the same old boring scripts that go absolutely nowhere. And we are sick of dealing with knobheads that have wormed their way into this business.”
The Grizzled Young Veterans will be part of the 10/28 OTT ninth anniversary show at Dublin National Stadium.
Cody Rhodes said he made one last decision as NXT General Manager which will be announced on Tuesday.
The Logan Paul boxing match with Dilon Danis was predictably terrible as Danis can’t box. Paul dominated and Danis just kept trying to block punches and not get hit. In the fifth round, Danis went for a guillotine and since it was a boxing match, he was DQ’d. Paul challenged Rey Mysterio and Conor McGregor, as well as challenged Danis to an MMA fight.
Tommy Fury beat KSI in the main event in Manchester, UK on scores announced as 57-57, 57-56 and 57-56 in what was a close fight. KSI claimed he was robbed. The fight was also said to be terrible. Just Rafael Ramos, who scored the fight 57-57 actually added up his scores incorrectly and when added up it later came out he als scored it 57-56 for Fury.
UFC Hall of Famer Pat Miletich faced reporter and sometimes fighter Mike Jackson last night. Miletich, 55, beat on Jackson, best known for his fight with CM Punk, for two rounds at the fight in Davenport, IA. But Miletich was so exhausted he couldn’t come out for the third round and Jackson won the fight. Jens Pulver was furious at Jackson for celebrating his win.
Brian Cage was injured so he was out of last night’s scheduled match with Komander. Komander beat Metalik as part of the ROH tapings last night in Toledo, OH.
Jerry Lawler was at a wrestling show Friday night in Memphis in a show put on by the Memphis Tigers college before their game with Tulane at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium. Lawler came to the ring but didn’t wrestle. Jimmy Hart, Doug Gilbert, Tommy Rich and Koko B. Ware were also at the show.
Defy from Friday night in Yakima, WA: Juventud Guerrera & Super Crazy & Guillermo Rosas b Ricky Gibson & Eddie Pearl & Mils Deville, Coyote Azteca & Alan Extreme b Sepulcro 3000 & Vaquero Fantasma, Masato Tanaka b Bryan Keith, Gringo Loco won three-way over Arez and Galeno del Mal (son of Dr. Wagner Jr.) for the Defy Lucha title, Shaff won BMF Battle Royal, Vert Vixen retained the Defy title in a four-way over Nicole Matthews, Liiza Hall and Karisma, Ultimo Dragon & Nick Wayne & Cody Chhun b Judas Icarus & Travis Williams & Evan Rivers, Swerve Strickland b El Hijo del Vikingo. The next show is 10/27 in Seattle with Sanada and Mike Bailey.
Brian Pillman Jr. worked both of the NXT house shows this weekend as Lexis King. Gable Steveson also wrestled on both shows.
West Coast Pro from last night in San Francisco: Alpha Zo b Mike Bailey, Bryan Keith b Jiah Jewell, Calvin Tankman & Beef b Royce Isaacs & Jore Nelson, Johnnie Robbie & Unagi Sayaka & Rachael Ellering & Chikayo Nagashima b Sandra Moone & Maria & Riko Kawahata & Mio Momono in what was said to be a great match, Vinnie Massaro b Masato Tanaka in a no DQ match, Ultimo Dragon & Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin Adrian Quest & Danny Rose & Ricky Gee, Timothy Thatcher b JT Thorne, Takumi Iroha b Masha Slamovich to keep the West Coast Pro women’s title, Starboy Charlie b Titus Alexander in 40:00 to win the West Coast Pro title. Also said to be really good. The show ended with Kenta Kobashi putting the title belt around Charlie’s waist. Chris Hero, who hasn’t wrestled in a few years but is the booker here, challenged Thatcher to a match after Thatcher attacked him which will be on 11/17 in San Francisco. Kobashi also did a long interview in the ring. He talked about getting his kidney removed in 2006 due to cancer and said he thought his life and his career were over. He said he came back from it and wrestled until 2013 and retired with no regrets and was grateful to be back in the U.S.
Innovate Wrestling tonight at 6 p.m. in Kingsport, TN at 100 Emory Lane at the Beautiful Bobby Eaton Arena.
Spark Wrestling from last night in Orlando: Devlyn Macabre b Brittany Blake, KZT b Kelsey Raegen, Amber Nova b Maika Ozaki, Sumie Sakai & Dani Mo b Emi Sakura & Ultra Violette, Miu Watanabe b KiLynn King, Miyu Yamashita b Jessie, Ram Kaichow b Xia Brookside to keep the Pacific title, Saki b Maya Yukihi to become the first Atlantic champion.
House of Glory Friday night in New York: Midas Black & Jay Lyon retained the tag titles over Ken Broadway & Showtime Moore, Carlos Ramierz b O’Shay Edwards, Idris Jackson b Joey Silver, Kevin Blackwood won over JJ Doujii, Raheem Royal, Dezmond Cole, Jay Armani and Roachie Roach, Nolo Kitano b Michael Fain to keep the cruiserweight title, Kiki Van Gogh b Leila Gray-DQ, Mike Santana b Rocky Romero, Minoru Suzuki b Charles Mason. Santana challenged HOG champion Matt Cardona for the 12/1 show.(thanks to Samuel Rosenthal)
UWC on 10/21 in New Egypt, NJ at the American Legion with a Halloween themed show.
MLW’s Davey Boy Smith Jr. has undergone emergency surgery to remove part of his appendix and colon according to a social media post.
After it was announced Thursday that Smith was forced to withdraw from Saturday’s MLW Slaughterhouse event where he was scheduled to challenge Alex Kane for the company’s World title, Smith posted on Instagram that he had gone emergency surgery.
Smith says that he went in to the hospital expecting to have surgery for appendicitis, but that he also discovered that he was suffering from diverticulitis and that part of his colon would have to be removed.
Smith posted on Instagram:
I wanted to inform everyone officially I needed to have Emergency surgery ⚕️ ❤️ late last night for appendicitis + appendix removal, to find out it was diverticulitis as well. I have had part of colon removed with some of my appendix as well for the procedure . Folks this was one of the most painful experiences of my life, but I’m glad I got it done. A burst appendix can lead to serious complications too. I’m sad to announce my withdrawal from the @majorleaguewrestling World Title Match vs. Alex Kane this weekend in Philadelphia as well . Hopefully I can get this same opportunity in the future when I’m back healthy, and so sorry to my fans, these things happen and was not something I ever want to endure again! Trust me! The was a 12/10 in the pain scale. Arigatou. I’m in stable condition now, but I am still in immense pain I’ll keep everyone posted with updates. Thanks for everyone reaching out to me also. -Harry
At MLW Slaughterhouse this Saturday night, Davey Boy Smith Jr. was supposed to challenge Alex Kane for the MLW World Heavyweight Championship. But MLW announced today that Smith “has withdrawn from the bout and has been placed on the emergency injured reserved list.” Lawlor will be replacing Smith in the title match.
This will be the first time Lawlor has wrestled for MLW in two years. He’s a former MLW World Heavyweight Champion, holding the title for five months in 2019.
Kane won the MLW World Heavyweight Championship from Alex Hammerstone this July.
Slaughterhouse is taking place from the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia this Saturday and will air live on Fite+. Here’s the updated card for the show:
MLW World Heavyweight Champion Alex Kane defends against Tom Lawlor
Minoru Suzuki vs. Jacob Fatu
Title vs. title match: NWA World Historic Welterweight Champion Rocky Romero vs. MLW Middleweight Champion AKIRA
Spin the Wheel, Make the Deal match: MLW National Openweight Champion Rickey Shane Page defends against 1 Called Manders
MLW Women’s Featherweight Champion Delmi Exo defends against a mystery challenger
Chamber of Horrors match: Second Gear Crew (Mance Warner & Matthew Justice) vs. The Calling (Cannonball & Talon) vs. Matt Cardona and a mystery partner
Davey Boy Smith Jr. is getting a World Heavyweight Championship shot at MLW Slaughterhouse.
It was announced today that Smith will challenge Alex Kane for the MLW World Heavyweight Championship at next month’s Slaughterhouse event. The show is taking place at Philadelphia’s 2300 Arena on Saturday, October 14. It will air live on Fite+.
Earlier this year, Smith was crowned as the winner of the 2023 Opera Cup tournament in MLW. Smith, who also won the tournament in 2019, is a two-time Opera Cup holder.
Kane and Smith were the final two wrestlers in this year’s MLW Battle Riot match. Kane won the Battle Riot and later defeated Alex Hammerstone to win the MLW World Heavyweight Championship. Kane has been champion since July.
The Kane vs. Smith match is part of a double main event at Slaughterhouse. In the other top match on the show, Minoru Suzuki faces off against Jacob Fatu. The match is Suzuki’s MLW debut.
These are the first two matches that have been confirmed for Slaughterhouse.
This week’s MLW Fusion was taped in Philadelphia as part of April’s Battle Riot tapings with Rich Bocchini and Matt Striker on the call.
We opened with a recap of how we got to tonight’s main event for the Opera Cup with highlights from Davey Boy Smith Jr. defeating Calvin Tankman and Tracy Williams defeating Tony Deppen in the tournament semifinals.
MLW National Openweight Champion Jacob Fatu vs. Rickey Shane Page went to a double disqualification
In recent weeks, Page and The Calling have taken out Fatu’s bloodline of Juicy Finau and Lance Anoa’i in backstage attacks. This week, Fatu was out for revenge but also to keep his National Openweight title.
Fatu wasn’t waiting and opened this bloody fistfight with a dive through the ropes as Page was circling the ring for his entrance. A top rope senton bomb from the champion followed, as well as a triple jump springboard Arabian moonsault. Page came back with a running crossbody and, after a break, slammed Fatu onto a chair.
The brutality and gruesomeness were turned up a few notches as Page used a screwdriver to repeatedly jab into the sole of Fatu’s foot, followed by him piercing Fatu’s cheek with it and then biting Fatu’s toes. The final act broke the Philadelphia crowd into a “You sick f*ck” chant.
But the champion was not down for long. In true Samoan fashion, he no-sold a drop-toe hold onto a chair in a nice callback to the old ECW days. Fatu took out Page with another dive to the floor and came off the top again with a crossbody. Fatu’s handspring moonsault followed to continue the high flying and aerial display from the champion.
Raven distracted Fatu, which allowed Page to throw a chair at his head, but his sick idea of dropping Fatu on a sideways chair backfired as Fatu reversed and hit Page with a pop-up Samoan drop onto it instead. That looked brutal.
An “ECW” chant broke out at the sight of a table being set up in the ring. More chairs were used to set up Fatu on the table. Page then climbed to the top rope and hit a huge jumping senton, squashing both Fatu and the table, but that only got a two count.
In a match where weapons were allowed, we got a double DQ after both Page and Fatu shoved down the referee — a sensible finish for setting up their next weapons match but a confusing one given that the match had no disqualifications.
The two will square off in a Weapons of Mass Destruction match at September’s Fury Road streaming special.
– The teases we have seen in recent weeks will come to a head next week. We will see what worlds will collide, we will enter the realm and see kingdoms collide. This could be connected to a special announcement that will also take place next week.
– Matt Cardona cut a poolside promo on his Fury Road opponent Mance Warner. Cardona said he is not coming to take anyone’s spot because he already has his own at the top and the rest of the locker room can jump on his back.
MLW Featherweight Champion Delmi Exo defeated Paris Van Dale to retain
B3CCA has been desperate to get a title match against Exo. This week, she interrupted Exo’s pre-match interview with Sam Leterna but the champion shot her down, saying she needs to earn her shot and not continue this delusional dream.
This was quite short, but displayed what Exo can do in a short space of time. She hit some machine gun chops, a fisherman’s suplex and, after a short comeback from Van Dale, her Delmi Driver to retain her title.
B3CCA continued her campaign, but took it to a different level as she attacked Exo with a guitar as she was leaving the ringside area.
– We saw another tease for KUSHIDA coming in. This time the dates set on the Delorean were August 17 (for this episode of Fusion), September 3 (Fury Road) and May 12, 1983 (KUSHIDA’s birthday).
– Ahead of their MLW heavyweight title match at Fury Road on September 3rd, Alex Kane accused Willie Mack of not taking his match seriously by mocking his weight. Kane then teased a warm-up match against someone in Mexico. Kane already wrestled Delirious from the Mexico tapings two weeks ago, so will there be another warmup match for the champion before Mack gets his shot?
Davey Boy Smith Jr. (w/ Mister Saint Laurent) defeated Tracy Williams to win the 2023 Opera Cup tournament
The crowd booed Smith and taunted him with “Microman” chants as we started. Smith turned heel recently and aligned himself with MSL by attacking Microman.
Williams initially used some speed to out-wrestle Smith as well as focusing on Smith’s bandaged knee that he injured during his first round match against Tankman.
Striker’s tongue once again made him sound like a fool saying Smith’s new look of denim jeans was a tribute to Brian Pillman and Bret Hart… to which Bocchini corrected him saying it’s actually a homage to his dad, the British Bulldog.
If you ignore Striker trying to take away the focus from what is in the ring, the action was very good. It picked up with a forearm battle but the larger Smith eventually got the advantage, hitting a suplex and then an impressive top rope leg drop for a close two count.
Smith hit his Bulldog powerslam but couldn’t fully take advantage as he landed on his injured knee. Williams got a foot on the ropes to break the pinfall followed by a tilt-a-whirl Fujiwara armbar but quickly transitioned to an ankle lock. Smith powered out and snapped back into control with a quick power slam.
Smith then hit the power bomb he couldn’t land earlier. The referee counted to two and it looked like Williams just raised his shoulder off in time but it wasn’t clear. Smith quickly transitioned to a crossface and Williams tapped out. There was potentially a miscommunication at the finish, but they quickly recovered.
This was good but threatened to be ruined by Striker on commentary.
Leterna interviewed MSL and Smith on the stage as the crowd booed them both. MSL called Philadelphia a sh*thole and insulted the women of the city. They want to hold next year’s tournament in Canada but more importantly, they sent out a challenge saying they want the MLW heavyweight title
Next Week:
A special announcement
Willie Mack will take on Ken Broadway, Love Doug, Nolo Kitano and O’Shay Edwards in a scramble match
This week’s MLW Underground heavily hyped next week’s War Chamber match with both the opener and main event being used to build to the massive match.
This week’s action was taped in Philadelphia during February’s SuperFight TV taping with Joe Dombrowski and Matt Striker on the call.
Matthew Justice defeated Mance Warner, Microman and Real1 in a dumpster match
The story surrounding this match was with Real1 having all his recent adversaries competing, there was no way he could win and would face his comeuppance. He certainly didn’t win, but put in a good showing.
Early on, Real1 tried to get his hands on Microman but Warne and the crazy Justice took turns getting their shots in. Microman even got his own shot in with an assisted “Whazzzup!” to Real1’s lower regions.
Real1 fought back and dropped his opponents groin first on the guardrail before hitting his Razor’s Edge into the ringpost on both men, then sidestepping to send Warner crashing through a wooden board.
Justice took Real1 out with a chair and he and Microman rolled him on top of a ringside dumpster. Justice then brought a ladder into the ring, climbed it and dropped an elbow onto Real1 into a dumpster, giving him the win.
As he hit the dumpster, the ominous music of The Calling hit as Ricky Shane Page, AKIRA and their crew of masked henchmen attacked Justice and Warner, also attacking MLW Champion Alex Hammerstone in the backstage area.
– MLW Fusion will be returning and showing the upcoming Super Series.
– It was announced that the Opera Cup will be returning but the current cup “holder” Alex Kane will be banned due to his recent actions of disrespect towards the Cup.
Davey Boy Smith Jr. defeated Alex Kane in a no ropes catch wrestling match
Smith got cheered during his entrance, but would finish the match getting booed by the Philadelphia crowd for no reason other than the crowd chose Kane as their favorite. There has definitely been a mixed reaction recently to Smith and the Billington Bulldogs and a quick “kiss my ass” taunt at the end of the match showed Smith acknowledging the crowd’s choice.
Before the match, we heard a pre-taped interview with Kane who taunted Thomas Billington after he had his teeth knocked out last week at the hands of the Bomaye Fight Club.
This started as a grappling match but broke down into a suplex and striking battle towards the end.
Smith nicely bridged out of an octopus hold early on and had a nip-up to escape a leg lock. Kane went to the eyes to escape from an armbar and a German suplex exchange started as the crowd started to get behind the heel Kane.
Strikes followed and Kane hit Smith with another suplex and an Angle slam. They exchanged leg submissions as they rolled and reversed, ending in a sharpshooter by Smith. Mr. Thomas helped Kane escape (because there were no ropes to grab), but Smith kicked him off the apron.
This gave Kane a chance to go for the liquid that blinded Smith last week, but Smith ducked and locked in a rear naked choke to pick up the win to the boos of the Philadelphia crowd.
– Sam Laterna interviewed Lio Rush after he laid out Middleweight Champion Lince Dorado last week and left with his title. Rush had the title over his shoulder and said Dorado had been dodging him recently, but if Dorado wants his title back, he will need to catch him if he can.
AKIRA defeated Calvin Tankman
This called back to The Calling’s first set of attackers as Tankman was one of their first victims as well as the more recent attack on Tankman’s tag partner, EJ Nduka.
AKIRA brought a crowbar into the ring to start the big man vs. little man style match, but ended up having his chest beaten red via chops from Tankman.
Tankman got his leg stuck in the guardrail to give AKIRA an opening and he took full advantage. Back in the ring, he focused his attack on the leg and locked in a standing octopus/Manji Gatame hold. AKIRA then jumped on Tankman’s back to lock in a choke, but Tankman threw him off.
Tankman hit his pop-up spinning elbow and set AKIRA on the top rope with bad intentions. Tankman followed him up but before he could do anything, Raven took a cheap shot with a loaded pipe to Tankman’s leg after which AKIRA locked in a choke. Tankman toppled to the mat and AKIRA transitioned to a bulldog choke to get the referee stoppage finish to pick up the win.
After the match, 1 Called Manders and Matthew Justice ran out with steel chairs to get some revenge for earlier on and began to brawl with AKIRA and the masked Calling henchmen. AKIRA ended up coming off the top rope with a chair across his back to take out everyone at ringside.
Outside the building, we saw Hammerstone, Warner, Rickey Shane Page and other henchmen brawling as the announcers hyped up next week’s War Chamber match.
Next week:
Alex Hammerstone and Second Gear Crew (Mance Warner, 1 Called Manders & Matthew Justice) vs. The Calling (Raven, AKIRA & Rickey Shane Page)
MLW has added another match to the lineup for SuperFight.
The promotion revealed on Wednesday that Davey Boy Smith Jr. will face Alex Kane in a no-ropes catch-style match on the show.
MLW.com described the rules of the match:
The true origins of MMA and No Holds Barred fighting, a no ropes catch wrestling bout has no rounds and no rules.
Noted for its brutal submission holds (“hooks”) and incorporating several English wrestling styles, catch wrestling is a violent form of combat sports. In catch wrestling, expect to see some of the most brutal tosses and suplexes ever. No wrestling holds or moves are banned, regardless of how dangerous they might be.
Both Kane and Smith are captains of factions in MLW. Kane leads the BOMAYE Fight Club while Smith heads up the new British Bulldogs along with the Dynamite Kid’s nephews, Tom & Mark Billington.
MLW SuperFight takes place Saturday, February 4, 2023, from Philadelphia’s 2300 Arena. The announced lineup for the show is as follows:
MLW World Heavyweight Champion Alex Hammerstone defends against Jacob Fatu
Davey Boy Smith Jr. vs. Alex Kane in a no-ropes catch wrestling match
Lio Rush vs. Davey Richards
Dumpster match: Real1 vs. Microman vs. Mance Warner vs. TBA
John Hennigan vs. Willie Mack
DragonGate Open the Twin Gate Champions Big Boss Shimizu & Kzy defend against TBA
MLW Featherweight Champion Taya Valkyrie defends against Delmi Exo
Hardcore match: Rickey Shane Page vs. 1 Called Manders
For the first time since 2020, Davey Boy Smith Jr. is returning to MLW.
MLW has announced that Smith will return to the promotion at its Fightland tapings in Philadelphia this month. The tapings are being held at the 2300 Arena on Sunday, October 30.
Smith is a former MLW Tag Team Champion and the winner of the 2019 Opera Cup tournament. After losing in the first round of the 2020 Opera Cup, it was announced that Smith had departed the promotion. MLW’s Court Bauer said at the time:
Davey Boy’s exit in the opening round of the Opera Cup marks the end of this chapter for DBS in MLW. I have immense gratitude for (Davey) and his contributions inside the MLW ring over the past 2 ½ years. The MLW system was a great fit for him. Winning the 2019 Opera Cup as well as his run as a World Tag Team Champion. A certified beast. Davey Boy Smith Jr. is the real deal and I wish him luck with whatever comes next.
Smith returned to WWE in 2021 but ended up never making a televised appearance for the company. He was released by WWE in November 2021.
This June, Smith won the NWA Tag Team titles with Doug Williams. They had to vacate the titles in August after Smith wasn’t able to compete at NWA 74 due to an illness.
The updated card for the MLW Fightland tapings is listed below:
MLW Fightland (Sunday, October 30) —
Last Man Standing match: MLW World Heavyweight Champion Alex Hammerstone defends against EJ Nduka
As part of Starrcast V, “Ric Flair’s Last Match” will feature talent from a variety of promotions, as wrestlers from Impact and MLW have already been announced for the event.
NJPW was also announced as having a presence on the card, although no specific NJPW talent has been named to this point. NJPW will present Music City Mayhem the day before as part of Starrcast.
“Ric Flair’s Last Match” will air live on FITE TV as a pay-per-view event. Here is the lineup to this point:
Jim Crockett Promotions Presents: Ric Flair’s Last Match (Sunday, July 31) —
Ric Flair’s last match (match to be announced)
Impact World Champion Josh Alexander defends against Jacob Fatu
Impact Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace defends against Deonna Purrazzo and Rachael Ellering in a three-way match
The Wolves (Davey Richards & Eddie Edwards) vs. Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin)
Killer Kross (w/Scarlett Bordeaux) vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr.
Davey Boy Smith Jr. was set to return to WWE under a new name before he was released.
The 36-year-old wrestled a dark match for the promotion on July 16, 2021 but was later let go that November without having appeared on television. During an interview with Inside the Ropes, Smith says he was set to wrestle under the name “The Stampede Stud” before being part of talent cuts that fall.
Following his dark match, Smith says he spoke to Senior Manager of Talent Relations for WWE, John Cone, about his future in the company.
“John Cone said ‘the next time you are going to come to SmackDown it’s going to be your debut’, you did really good [in your dark match], Vince really liked it”
“So I was like, great, I’ll just wait and then they asked me to do a dark match in Tampa and they were going to do some backstage vignettes with me and my father’s leather vest.”
Smith continued to say that his return got stalled after he had a bad case of COVID-19. He said this led to his return falling through the cracks.
“Then I was kind of forgotten about, I came to TV one or two times… I was waiting to come back and then they called and Johnny [ Laurinaitis] said he wasn’t a fan of it [his release], he wasn’t happy with the list of names he was given but it wasn’t from him.”
“I don’t know what they were waiting for, the only thing I was told was, I was going to be debuting on SmackDown and they were going to call me ‘The Stampede Stud’.”
It just never happened, it wasn’t my fault. I showed up more than in shape. I saw Vince and he was like “oh you’re looking good kid.”
Smith is currently wrestling in the NWA as part of the Commonwealth Connection tag team with Doug Williams. They will challenge La Rebelion for the NWA World Tag Team Championships on Saturday at Alwayz Ready. Smith and Williams made it to the finals of the Crockett Cup back in March. They’ve since won two straight matches on episodes of Powerrr.
Davey Boy Smith Jr. appeared in a dark match prior to tonight’s SmackDown.
Smith teamed with Austin Theory to take on Odyssey Jones and Xyon Quinn (formerly Daniel Vidot). Smith was billed under his real name, Harry Smith. In another dark match, Xia Li wrestled Aliyah.
WWE later posted a video on social media with Smith talking about his return to WWE.
Originally signed by WWE in 2006, Smith was released by WWE in 2011 and spent most of the last decade teaming with Lance Archer as the Killer Elite Squad in New Japan Pro Wrestling, where they won the IWGP Tag Team titles on three occasions. Smith left NJPW in 2019 and has worked dates with MLW since his departure. He also attended the WWE Hall of Fame indcution ceremony this year, where his father The British Bulldog was inducted.
Tonight’s SmackDown at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas is the first television taping to take place in front of fans since March of 2020. WrestleMania 36 in Tampa, Florida has been the only WWE event to be held with a live audience since then.
Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport returns for the second straight Saturday night, this time featuring a main event with former AEW World Champion Jon Moxley vs. the undefeated Davey Boy Smith Jr.
This will be Moxley’s second Bloodsport stint following his debut win over Chris Dickinson last October while Smith Jr. is a perfect 4-0 thus far in Bloodsport competition.
In the co-main event, Jeff Cobb will look to get to 2-0 when he faces “Filthy” Tom Lawlor (2-2) in the co-main event. Cobb debuted with a win over Dickinson in the main event last week while Lawlor defeated Simon Grimm.
Other matches on the card include Dickinson vs. JR Kratos in a battle of Bloodsport veterans; Rocky Romero making his Bloodsport debut against the returning Grimm; Calvin Tankman looking to rebound against Nolan Edward; Alex Coughlin vs. Royce Isaacs; Kal Jack vs. Superbeast, and Bad Dude Tito vs. Calder McColl.
Unlike last week, this week’s show is available on Fite.tv.
Our live coverage kicks off at 7 PM Eastern.
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Calder McColl (1–1) submitted Bad Dude Tito (0–2)
This was a nice opener with fast back-and-forth grappling from the beginning. Scotland’s McColl wanted to keep the fight on the ground, even challenging Tito to switch from standing position to McColl’s open guard where McColl would attacking from a seated position. Tito rallied back with a big German suplex and landed some big strikes before McColl used a running flying knee strike and a rear naked choke to put the Bad Dude down. Both guys looked really good.
Calvin Tankman (2–1) defeated Nolan Edwards (0–2) by TKO
Tankman touched Edwards a number of times early on, peppering him with open palm strikes and a low kick before hip tossing the smaller Edwards to the mat. They were soon in a 50/50 position on the mat where Edwards attempted to lock in some sort of leglock or heel hook, but no luck. Tankman told Edwards to get back up and both were back on their feet. Tankman decked Edwards once more with a huge palm strike, knocking him to the mat. Edwards rallied back with a running knee strike, pulled guard and locked in a guillotine choke.
Tankman looked to be in danger until the big man slammed Edwards to the mat, breaking the lock. This move is actually banned in most BJJ and MMA tournaments today. Tankman continued striking Edwards on the ground until the referee called the match, giving Tankman the win by TKO. This was a much better showing for the MLW roster member than he had with Davey Boy Smith Jr. last week. Both were impressive in this short one.
“Grizzly” Kal Jack (2–1) defeated Superbeast (1–1) via ref stoppage
Superbeast could easily be a character in a redux of Saturday Night Slammasters for SNES. He wore spiky Road Warrirors-esque shoulderpads to the ring while Jack wore his custom bear skin. Bloodsport is great.
Both of these dudes are huge. Superbeast laid in hard strikes early on before Jack outwrestled the ‘beast to the mat. Jack gutwrenched him up into the air and planted him with a doctor bomb, but just moments later, Superbeast was back up and throwing high kicks. Jack again forced Superbeast to the mat and slowly worked for a type of head-and-arm choke, but Superbeast powered his way up to his feet and Jack suplexed him down to the mat once again. Jack went for another gutwrench bomb, but Superbeast slipped out to throw another kick. Jack caught the kick in mid-air and powerbombed him down to the mat, putting him to sleep out with a modified head-and-arm choke for the win.
Royce Isaacs (2–0) submitted Alex Coughlin (0–2)
These two look to be right about the same size. Coughlin scored two takedowns early on, but Isaacs found himself in top position soon after. This was constant back-and-forth grappling. Isaacs threw an elbow to Coughlin’s ribs at one point when he was in side mount, then moved to a single leg calf crusher lock submission before Coughlin reversed and found himself on top in full mount. He transitioned nicely to an armbar, but Isaacs slammed his way out of hit. Coughlin attacked the back and again went for the armlock, but again Isaacs powered out. He attempted a German suplex but Coughlin dragged him back down to the mat and again aimed to lock in the armbar. Isaacs escaped and locked in a Texas Cloverhold, but Coughlin dragged both men out of the ring to the floor.
Back in the ring, Isaacs went for a gutwrench, but Coughlin countered with a gutwrench bomb of his own, slamming Isaacs to the mat again. He locked in an STF submission before Isaacs escaped and drilled Coughlin with a backdrop suplex before locking in a grounded dragon sleeper (SANADA’s Skull End) for the victory to end a really good match. Both Coughlin and Isaacs have been standouts over the past two Bloodsport events.
Rocky Romero (1–0) submitted Simon Grimm (1–4)
Josh Barnett mentioned before the match that he’d actually trained Romero in catch wrestling back in the day at Antonio Inoki’s dojo in Santa Monica, Calif. This marked his Bloodsport debut against MLW and Bloodsport alum Grimm.
Romero took Grimm to the mat quickly with nice judo technique. He showed off some interesting catch submission attempts, like a choke where he’d attempt to use his own calf as the lever pushing down against Grimm’s head and neck. On their feet, Romero locked in a crevat necklock but Grimm brought things back to the ground.
Later, Romero locked in a front facelock and then transitioned to an octopus hold, but Grimm slipped out and applied an anaconda vice until Romero escaped into full mount and then to a turtle position where he threw a few elbows into Grimm’s ribs.
The pace slowed as Grimm worked for a kneebar. They eventually both stood back up and started trading strikes until Grimm had Romero back to the mat in an amrlock attempt. Again, Romero wound up on top and went for a triangle or armbar, but Grimm reversed that. No dice there, either.
On their feet, Romero moved back to the crevat and grapevined Grimm’s leg so that he wouldn’t move. Grimm eventually muscled out of the predicament with a capture-hold suplex. Romero was later able to lock in the octopus hold for a second, but Grimm blocked it. Romero transitioned to a high armlock from his guard. When Grimm tried countering, Romero held on and was able to roll and sink the hold in even deeper, causing Grimm to tap almost immediately. This was a nice showing in Romero’s first Bloodsport outing.
Chris Dickinson (1–4) submitted JR Kratos (2–1)
Kratos stormed out of the gates. He used a vertical suplex seconds after the match started, but Dickinson was able to collect himself and score a takedown. He caught Kratos with some short body shots while in side mount, but Kratos methodically muscled his way back to the top, throwing a few strikes and short headbutts before moving to side control and then full mount.
Dickinson found a way out of the larger Kratos’ control and attempted a toehold which forced Kratos to stand up. Dickinson landed a kick flush to his chest while Kratos angrily threw hard palm strikes. Kratos dropped Dickinson with a big power bomb, slowing him down and went for the attack on the mat, but Dickinson slipped away and grabbed on to a waistlock and heaved Kratos over his head with a gutwrench German suplex which looked wild. Look for the .GIF of that one when it goes up on social media.
Dickinson locked in a rear naked choke which forced Kratos to tap for the win. I hope to see more of these two go at it on NJPW Strong.
Jeff Cobb (2-0) submitted Tom Lawlor (2-3)
Cobb tried avoiding Lawlor’s standup striking by getting him down to the mat and outwrestling him. In some ways, this was a great demonstration of what a wrestler with a primarily BJJ background but no MMA background can do. Both fought with different approaches which made for an intriguing match from the get go.
Lawlor attempted a number of leglocks throughout. He transitioned from a kneebar to a double wristlock/Kimura lock, released it and used a running legdrop, making sure Cobb stayed on the mat. Cobb used a rough cradle to stretch out Lawlor’s legs, making him uncomfortable enough to release position, giving Cobb an opening to escape to his feet. He was able to throw Lawlor back to the mat with a judo-style head-and-arm throw.
Lawlor locked in a guillotine choke next, despite being thrown, and wouldn’t let go until he was in full mount position on top, where he tried striking his way to victory. Cobb hiip bumped Lawlor off him, caught him in a waistlock and planted him with two German suplexes. Cobb went for a third, but Lawlor defended, so Cobb cinched in a tight full nelson, forcing Lawlor to tap out.
Jon Moxley (2–0) defeated Davey Boy Smith Jr (4–1) via TKO
Moxley came out to Hole’s “Violet” while Davey Boy Smith Jr. used Loverboy’s “Turn Me Loose” as an entrance, which was great on a few different levels.
Moxley went in for a takedown early but Smith controlled the pace from the top and from back position. Moxley attempted a double wristlock to escape out of DBS’ waistlock, so Smith simply launched Moxley out of the ring to the floor.
In the ring, Smith locked Moxley in a crucifix, but he slipped out and worked his way into a slide facelock. Smith, with his back to Moxley, used a toehold to create pain and escape out of Moxley’s hold. Moxley kept working for armlocks, but Smith defended well, standing up eventually and forcing the fight to a contest of strikes for a bit. Moxley attempted an uchi mata but pulled his leg back, but Smith eventually pinned Moxley’s leg in a grapevine, forcing him back to the mat and moving into a d’arce choke attempt before he unloaded a dozen vertical elbow strikes to Moxley in mount.
Moxley turned to his stomach to avoid the strikes, but Smith continued his assault and attempted a sleeper choke. Moxley put his back to the mat again and this time he was able to fight his way from under Smith and started going wild. Moxley was bleeding from the forehead at this point. Smith saw the blood and tried opening it up even more with elbows, grinding his fists into Moxley’s head. DBS planted him with a backdrop suplex. Moxley “hulked up” toward the end, and then with a crazed look in his eyes, he went to unload everything in his arsenal from strikes to elbows to various attempts an armbar and a guillotine choke. Smith answered with a nice Northern Lights suplex and transitioned to a double wrist lock.
Moxley fought his way out of it, and later on their feet, he and Smith traded more hard strikes before, seemingly out of nowhere, Moxley spiked Smith with a Paradigm Shift double-arm DDT, knocking Smith out cold to take the win.
At the end of the show, Bloodsport promoter Josh Barnett’s voice sounded over a black screen: “Jon Moxley is always searching the world for fights to make him feel truly alive. Barnett granted Moxley his wish announcing that Barnett vs. Moxley will finally happen at Bloodsport 6 on April 8th.
Final thoughts:
This was an even better show than last week’s with a hell of a main event. There wasn’t a bad bout on the show and at just around 90 minutes, the card flew by. If you like a grittier, no nonsense, no silliness kind of pro wrestling, Bloodsport is the alternative and I say that with utter conviction.
It appears former AEW World Champion Jon Moxley isn’t quite done with Bloodsport yet.
At the end of Saturday’s Bloodsport 4 event, a video played with a Moxley voiceover calling out the undefeated Davey Boy Smith Jr. for next Saturday’s Bloodsport 5, saying he was going to rip his head off and put it on his wall.
“I’M GONNA RIP HIS HEAD OFF AND PUT IT ON MY WALL”
Moxley debuted at last October’s Bloodsport 3 with a win over Chris Dickinson in the main event. On Saturday, Smith Jr. defeated Calvin Tankman to run his record to 4-0 in Bloodsport with wins over Killer Kross, Tom Lawlor and Josh Alexander.
Smith Jr. is currently a free agent following his MLW contract ending in December. He said recently he is talking with WWE about a return.
No other matches have been announced for next week as of yet.
Saturday’s show featured the debut of Jeff Cobb in a win over Dickinson in the main event while Lawlor also picked up a win over veteran Simon Grimm.
