Tag: dragon lee

CMLL Arena Mexico results: Gran Alternativa tournament finals

Posted on by Chris Aiken

Images: CMLL. Photography: Alexis Salazar.

The atmosphere in Arena Mexico became proverbially electric when hosting an outstanding match in the Gran Alternativa tournament finals on Friday night in Mexico City.

The main event featured Caristico teaming with Soberano Jr. to win the tournament in a tag team match against Ultimo Guerrero & Sanson. The annual CMLL tag team tournament pairs veteran luchadores with young up-and-comers the promotion wants to establish as future stars.

Amongst the brawling and trios matches that filled out the undercard, Dragon Lee and Barbaro Cavernario did what they could in trying to steal the show with the ten minutes they got in a lightning match.

The entire show is available to watch for free via CMLL’s YouTube channel:

While closing with a tag team match, the show also opened with one as well.

Virus & Raziel defeated Sangre Imperial & Magia Blanca

The rudos captured the first and third falls to take the match. In the first fall, Virus pinned Blanca after dropping a flying elbow, and Raziel tied Imperial in a knot to submit him. The tecnicos began a comeback in the second fall, leading to Imperial submitting Virus and Blanca submitting Raziel.

The rudos would curtail a tecnicos rally in the third fall, with Raziel pinning Blanca after Raziel delivered a neckbreaker while Virus held Blanca in a Romero Special. Virus then submitted Imperial with a stump puller to win the match.

Misterioso Jr., Polvora & captain Dragon Rojo Jr. defeated Drone, Guerrero Maya Jr. & captain Stuka Jr.

The rudos won the second and third falls en route to taking the match. The first fall had a triple roll-up spot by the tecnicos for a near fall. Right afterwards, the rudos tried triple roll-ups of their own for a two count. To end the first fall, Drone and Stuka stretched the other two rudos as Guerrero Maya pinned rudo captain Dragon Rojo after a hurricanrana.

To end the second fall, Dragon Rojo came off the top with a double foot stomp for a pinfall on Guerrero Maya while Polvora also covered Drone after giving him an off the top rope sit-out version of Farooq’s Dominator.

The tecnicos fired up as the third fall got underway, but not before Dragon Rojo took time to tear at Drone’s mask. To end the match, Misterioso dropped Stuka into a Gory Bomb and covered the tecnico captain for the pinfall. Misterioso also stole Stuka’s mask.

Vangellys, El Terrible & captain Shocker defeated Kraneo (w/ Mije), Pierroth & captain Rush

The match started as a wild brawl during the introductions as Los Ingobernables attacked. They brawled all around the ring. When they got back in the ring, Pierroth jumped off the middle rope into a senton to pin Vangellys. To end the first fall, Rush charged into a corner on Terrible for an assist in setting up Kraneo pinning Terrible.

The brawling continued like this was 1979 and they were in a concession stand in Tupelo, minus the condiments. Los Ingobernables looked to keep on dominating, but their opponents rallied. Terrible applied a Boston crab on Rush to submit the rudo captain, evening the falls.

Into the third fall, Los Ingobernables left Kraneo hanging at one point as they did a Zbyszko stalk. Terrible eliminated Kraneo when he pinned him after a splash off the top. Rush then eliminated Terrible by pinning him.

Pierroth covered Vangellys for a pinning attempt, but the referee was distracted trying to get Terrible out of the ring. Pierroth went to confront the ref when Vangellys fouled Pierroth with a blatant low blow. With his back turned, the ref never saw the foul. Vangellys​ covered Pierroth, which the ref did see as he counted three for the deciding pinfall.

Vangellys cut a promo on Pierroth afterwards. Rush responded with a promo of his own. Since the beef remains between Vangellys and Pierroth, this feud must continue.

Dragon Lee defeated Barbaro Cavernario in a lightning match

Being a one fall match hampered by a ten-minute time limit, they had a great bout while it lasted. The first dive by Dragon Lee came a minute and a half into the match. Moments later, he jumped off the top rope with a frog splash for a near fall. Shortly thereafter, Cavernario cut him off and took control.

Cavernario set him up for Shattered Dreams but instead gave him into a codebreaker. The action spilled to the outside, where Cavernario did his crazy tope suicida through the turnbuckles. An even crazier DDT by Cavernario got a near fall. For another near fall, Dragon Lee caught Cavernario​ with a running Spanish Fly.

With the clock ticking past the eight-minute mark, Cavernario splashed Dragon Lee and covered him for a two count. Dragon Lee finished off Cavernario with a Del Rio double foot stomp, followed by a pinfall with about 30 seconds of time remaining.

Angel de Oro, El Valiente (w/ KeMonito) & captain Niebla Roja defeated Negro Casas (w/ El Perico Zacarias), Euforia & captain Gran Guerrero

Valiente replaced Diamante Azul, who was advertised as part of the tecnico side of this trios match. The tecnicos won in two straight falls, though that included a disqualification in the second fall. In a scene similar to a previous trios match on the card, the rudos ambushed the tecnicos during an entrance.

Los Guerreros Laguneros were back to their routine of administering a beatdown on Niebla Roja. Still, the tecnicos made a comeback to win the first fall. Angel de Oro pinned Euforia with a hurricanrana, and Valiente submitted Casas with a Romero Special.

The rudos again gained an advantage as the beatdown resumed. That led into Niebla Roja leading a comeback that culminated in a parade of dives. Gran Guerrero unmasked Niebla Roja for a DQ to end the match.

Following the DQ, Gran Guerrero cut a promo on Niebla Roja. That could possibly lead to a match down the line for Roja’s light heavyweight title that he recently won.

Caristico & Soberano Jr. defeated Ultimo Guerrero & Sanson in the Gran Alternativa tournament finals

The tremendous atmosphere inside Arena Mexico hosted an outstanding match, which is worth going out of your way to see.

In the first fall, Guerrero ripped Soberano’s mask as Sanson also tore at Caristico’s mask. Guerrero catapulted Sanson into a double foot stomp on Soberano, followed by Sanson pinning Soberano. Guerrero then applied Pulpo Guerrero on Caristico for a submission to win the first fall.

Caristico and Soberano made a comeback in the second fall, leading to some spectacular flying that lit the crowd on fire. Soberano ripped the mask of Sanson. Evening the falls, Soberano pinned Guerrero with a victory roll while Caristico submitted Sanson with the Black Widow.

The place was electric as the climactic final fall began. A spectacle of flight gave way to a brawl on the floor. That set up Guerrero doing his signature spot of leaping over the barricade into a flying body block.

Guerrero became a base for Soberano to fly, but he would also deadlift Soberano into a superplex. Guerrero also went back to the top rope to give Soberano a super gourdbuster. Soberano kicked out at two and a half, and he countered seconds later with a Frankensteiner off the top for a two count.

Sanson and Caristico tagged in to trade near falls as they squared off. Guerrero made the save on a cover, then he and Caristico traded near falls. Guerrero powerbombed Caristico off the top rope, and Guerrero took a Frankensteiner off the top from Caristico.

Soberano and Sanson fought each other in the closing moments. Sanson lifted Soberano in a torture rack, then spun him around into a sit-out powerbomb. Upon a save by Caristico that also brought Guerrero back into the ring, Soberano executed a guillotine moonsault on Guerrero to eliminate him via pinfall

As that unfolded, Caristico launched into the application of La Mistica to submit Sanson and win the match.

Having joined Ultimo Guerrero as the only luchadores to win the tournament on three separate occasions throughout the years, Caristico was under the guise of a different name when he won previously in 2007 (as Mistico teaming with La Sombra) and 2004 (as Mistico teaming with El Hijo del Santo).

Soberano Jr. gets another tournament victory as the rocket stays firmly attached to his back in his continuing push up the cards.

The winners stuck around afterwards, but so did Ultimo Guerrero. He shook hands and posed for selfies with adoring fans gathered at ringside. The masses were sent home with a happy ending to conclude a stellar show.

NJPW Best of the Super Juniors 2017: What you need to know so far

Posted on by Bryan Rose

With one week remaining, the 24th NJPW Best of the Super Juniors tournament still has a lot of twists and turns to sort out. While some competitors have already been knocked out of the tournament, many remain, and even some of those who are currently struggling can still pull it off given the right circumstances.

Here is everything you need to know leading into the last week of the tournament.

Current rankings

As of this writing, Will Ospreay, Dragon Lee, Ricochet, Taichi, and Hiromu Takahashi have eight points to lead Block A. Marty Scurll (six points), Taka Michinoku (two points), and Jushin Thunder Liger (zero) are mathematically eliminated from winning the tournament.

Block B has El Desperado, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Ryusuke Taguchi, and ACH leading with six points each. Tiger Mask IV, Volador Jr., KUSHIDA, and BUSHI have four points.

Liger’s last stand?

Before the tournament, Jushin Thunder Liger shocked everyone by announcing that this would be his last BOSJ and after his loss to Michinoku, he vowed to win the rest of his matches. But that hasn’t come into fruition at all. In fact, he has a big ol’ goose egg heading into the tourney’s final week.

Liger is the most prolific wrestler to compete in the tournament, entering it every time since its inception with the exception of 1995 and 2000. He’s won it three times: 1992, 1994, and 2001. At 50, he’s still one of the best workers the company has as far as telling a story and overall solid workrate.

KUSHIDA’s story

One wrestler to follow in this tournament is former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion KUSHIDA, who has been struggling to gain momentum ever since he lost his rematch to Hiromu Takahashi at Sakura Genesis back in April.

That struggle continues in this year’s tournament where as of this writing, he has only been able to rack up four points, defeating BUSHI in the main event from the May 22nd show and Yoshinobu Kanemaru on May 27th. Losses to Desperado, ACH, and Tiger Mask have impeded his path to gaining another tournament win.

KUSHIDA needs to win the rest of his matches to have a chance at winning his block and making it to the finals. If he is able to win the tournament, he’ll be able to get another crack at the title, which he’s been yearning to do since his humiliating April loss.

What you need to watch

Without a doubt, Ospreay and Ricochet have stolen the show this year, equaling, if not surpassing, their famous match from last year. They dished out every single move you could possibly imagine with Ospreay finishing things off with a dragonrana and his OsCutter finisher for the win.

Dragon Lee and Takahashi also continued their epic rivalry, capping off the opening day with a killer main event. It wasn’t as barbaric as their encounter back in February at New Beginning, but still managed to wow Korakuen Hall with some sick back and forth offense.

Lee is becoming the big MVP of the tournament and his other matches between he, Ospreay, and Ricochet are also highly recommended.

Most other matches on the card have ranged from solid to pretty good. I’d suggest avoiding anything involving Taichi as he goes out of his way to have bad matches, and I’m sure you have other things to do besides watching him stall for ten minutes.

The rest of the tournament

The tournament runs through June 3rd at Tokyo Yoyogi Gym, with the finals airing live on New Japan World with English commentary. Three other shows will air live before then:

– May 29th at Korakuen Hall will be a B Block night: El Desperado will face Tiger Mask IV, BUSHI takes on Yoshinobu Kanemaru, ACH will face Volador Jr., and KUSHIDA will face Ryusuke Taguchi in the main event.  

– May 31st in Osaka will determine the A Block winner: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Taichi, Ricochet vs. Marty Scurll, Dragon Lee vs. Taka Michinoku will all take place, with Hiromu Takahashi vs. Will Ospreay headlining. 

– June 1st in Nagoya will decide the B Block winner of the tournament: BUSHI vs. Tiger Mask IV, ACH vs. Ryusuke Taguchi, KUSHIDA vs. Volador Jr. and El Desperado vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru.

NJPW Best of the Super Juniors live results: The tournament begins

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Tonight kicks off the 24th Best of the Super Juniors tournament, which will run through June 3rd. It will feature some of the best junior heavyweight wrestlers in the world.

Headlining tonight’s show will be current IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi taking on Dragon Lee. The two have been known to tear it up each and every time they step into the ring, both in Mexico and in Japan. With the spotlight on them, they may actually try and outdo themselves tonight, which will be tough as the two have had some of the most dangerous, but awe-inspiring matches in recent memory.

Both the A block and B block will be represented tonight. A block matches feature Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Taka Michinoku, Ricochet vs. Taichi, Will Ospreay vs. the debuting Marty Scurll, and the main event.

B block matches include Tiger Mask vs. Volador Jr., ACH vs. BUSHI, KUSHIDA vs. El Desperado, and Ryusuke Taguchi against Yoshinobu Kanemaru.

Join us for live coverage this morning at 5:30 a.m. ET/2:30 a.m. PT.

**********

A Block: Taka Michinoku defeated Jushin Thunder Liger

Good opener. More about the hot crowd than anything, though it was clear both had their working boots on. Taka came out in his Kaientai Dojo gear. 

As this was the opener, it had a pretty hot start, with both brawling around the ring. Liger used a chair on the back of Michinoku to gain heat. Taka took him down with a crossface and teased a submission forever but finally but a foot on the bottom rope. 

Liger hit the Liger Bomb but Taka kicked out at 2.99. Liger went to pick up Taka, but it was a trap as he raked his eyes, grabbed his arms and took him to the ground, rolling him up for the sneaky win. 

B Block: Volador Jr. defeated Tiger Mask

This was pretty solid while it lasted, the two worked well together. After some back and forth wrestling, Volador springboarded off the ropes which is where Tiger Mask dropkicked him in the back, taking him down. Tiger Mask pelts him with kick and relatively keeps him grounded until Volador unleashes a big tope con hilo to the outside.

Tiger Mask came back with a back suplex that took down Volador, but he bounced back and hit a spanish fly off the top rope for the win.

Block A: Ricochet defeated Taichi

Before the match, Taichi appeared in the crowd lip syncing to his song. I will admit, his entrance isn’t bad. The rest of the act, however, isn’t very good. As far as the match goes, this was okay once the stalling ending.

Taichi started the match by bailing and stalling for a long while. Finally, after what felt like forever, Ricochet wiped him out with a suicide dive…..but Taichi continued to stall, calmly exiting the ring. Then threw in his lady of the day. This distracted Ricochet long enough for Taichi to jump him with his microphone stand, then started choking him with it.

Ricochet made his comeback, looking very good. Taichi came back with some strikes. Ricochet grabbed him but Taichi grabbed the ref, and in the confusion Taichi wiped him out with a superkick for a nearfall. Taichi’s lady handed him the microphone stand, but Ricochet grabbed him and laid him out the the Bendryller. He followed that with a shooting star press for the win. 

B Block: ACH defeated BUSHI

This match was a excellent highlight reel for ACH, who looked great out there, and BUSHI held his own to make it a pretty damn good early bout.

BUSHI started the match by wanting to shake ACH’s hand. Like a dope, ACH obliges and his quickly taken down with a dropkick. He quickly makes a hot comeback, but BUSHI takes him to the outside, then flies out of the ring, landing a hurricanrana and follows that with a DDT on the apron.

ACH soon starts mounting a comeback, jumping on the inside of the middle rope then launching himself the other way onto an unsuspecting BUSHI with an awesome looking crossbody. BUSHI mounts a comeback, going for the MX, but ACH fires back with a dropkick and soon lands with the Michinoku Driver for the win. 

B Block: El Desperado defeated KUSHIDA

Good match with a hot crowd.. I know a lot of people will be surprised at the result, but I’m guessing we’re doing a slow build to where KUSHIDA doesn’t pick up the wins he needs until later on in the tournament.

Desperado goes for something off the top rope, but KUSHIDA springboard kicks him in the face, climbs to the top rope and in mid air grabs Desperado’s arm. He sinks in the kimura, but Desperado quickly manages to get to the ropes. 

KUSHIDA sinks in the kimura lock again, but a ref bump means KUSHIDA doesn’t pick up the submission win when Desperado taps. KUSHIDA goes to wake up the ref, but Desperado on the outside grabs KUSHIDA’s ROH Television title. 

KUSHIDA knows what is going on and fights back, but Desperado grabs him and plants him with a underhook facebuster. KUSHIDA kicks out, but soon falls to the Guitarra de Angel in an upset.

Block A: Marty Scurll defeated Will Ospreay

Really great match, especially the last few minutes as they were just doing one insane move after another. Eye popping would be the best way to describe some of this stuff, just amazing moves from Ospreay. The crowd being hot for everything helped a lot, too. 

They taunted one another early in the bout. Very close back and forth match. Scurll finally caught him, putting the knees up on a shooting star attempt, then nailed him with a superkick as he recovered on the outside.

More hot back and forth action. Scurll wipes out Ospreay with a superkick as Ospreay was standing on the middle rope. Ospreay derails Scurll with a stunner as Scurll was lifting him, then hits the Sasuke special to the floor. Ospreay does the Rainmaker pose as he looks to go for the rainmaker, but Scurll grabs Ospreay’s hand and “breaks” one of his fingers. 

Scurll looks to go for a finish but Ospreay wipes him out with a pele kick, lands on his feet after a clothesline attempt and hits the Robinson special. He looks to go for the Ozcutter but Scurll latches on to him in midair and applies the crossface chickenwing. With nowhere to go, Ospreay quickly taps out.

Block B: Ryusuke Taguchi defeated Yoshinobu Kanemaru

I liked this. The work overall was solid, but I kind of enjoyed the finish and the story of the match overall.

Kanemaru quickly gains the upper advantage and works on…Taguchi’s butt. Well, sure, I guess that works. He continually has the upper hand, hitting multiple DDTs, then hits his usual finish, the DDT off the top rope but Taguchi kicks out in a surprise.

Taguchi manages to fire back with the ankle lock, but Taka Michinoku climbs to the top rope to distract the ref. Kanemaru manages to low blow Taguchi and pokes him in the eyes, but as he falls Taguchi’s legs fly up right into Kanemaru netheregions. 

Taguchi takes the opportunity to shove Kanemaru into Taka, then rolls him up as he recoils for the win. 

Block A: Dragon Lee defeated Hiromu Takahashi

Great match. The February match was definitely better as I think they were a bit safer in spots (which really shouldn’t be a negative, considering how dangerous their last match was), and there was some sloppiness towards the end of the match. With that said, they still did plenty of crazy stuff and turned out to be a pretty heated match.

A fierce chop battle starts between the two. Dragon Lee soon starts flying, hitting a hurricanrana to the floor then following with a big tope con hilo. 

Takahashi gets the advantage and slows things down a bit, but Dragon Lee fires back with a sunset flip bomb to the floor. Lee hit a cool looking suplex into a powerbomb for a near fall. He went to do a double foot stomp off the top rope, but Takahashi dodged it. He goes to do the move Lee couldn’t do…but Lee avoids it himself as they start trading some scary looking German suplexes.

Takahashi went to do the reverse sunset flip bomb off the top rope, but Lee countered with a foot stomp that sent Takahashi face first on the floor. Takahashi brushes it off and hits the time bomb a running death valley driver into the corner and starts ripping on Lee’s mask.

After hitting another death valley driver into the ring post, Takahashi goes for another time bomb but Dragon Lee awkwardly counters it, only for Takahashi to counter with a wheelbarrow suplex. Lee quickly counters, grabbing Takahashi and hitting Takahashi’s running death valley driver into the corner, then finishes off Takahashi with the phoenix plex for the win.

Dragon Lee cut a promo after the match to end the show, saying he’s thrilled to be here and will win the tournament.

Big rematches highlight NJPW Best of the Super Juniors schedule

Posted on by Bryan Rose

New Japan Pro Wrestling has released all of the cards for the upcoming Best of the Super Juniors 24 tournament, which feature a bevy of high profile matches over the two week period.

The tournament will kick off on May 17th at Korakuen Hall with Hiromu Takahashi taking on Dragon Lee in the main event. Those two have had killer matches both in Mexico and Japan, and it seems likely they’ll continue that trend on opening day.

Another spectacular rematch from the past year pits Will Ospreay and Ricochet against one another on the second night, also to take place at Korakuen Hall. Their match in last year’s tournament became the talk of the pro wrestling world in its immediate fallout, with them having more standout bouts in other promotions since.

Other live shows will be on May 29th, with Ryusuke Taguchi taking on KUSHIDA, and the finals, which are to take place live at Yoyogi 2nd Gymnasium on June 3rd. It’s not known if the June 1st show will be live or taped, as NJPW has not put out their complete June schedule yet.

NJPW previously revealed the participants and blocks for the tournament.

The tournament lineups are as follows —

May 17th (Korakuen Hall, live on NJPW World)

  • Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Taka Michinoku
  • Tiger Mask vs. Volador Jr.
  • Ricochet vs. Taichi
  • ACH vs. BUSHI
  • KUSHIDA vs. El Desperado
  • Will Ospreay vs. Marty Scurll
  • Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru
  • Hiromu Takahashi vs. Dragon Lee

May 18th (Korakuen Hall, live on NJPW World)

  • Taichi vs. Taka Michinoku
  • Dragon Lee vs. Marty Scurll
  • Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Hiromu Takahashi
  • Ricochet vs. Will Ospreay

May 20th (Mie, VOD)

  • ACH vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru
  • Tiger Mask vs. KUSHIDA
  • El Desperado vs. BUSHI
  • Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Volador Jr.

May 21st (Shizuoka, VOD)

  • Will Ospreay vs. Taka Michinoku
  • Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Marty Scurll
  • Dragon Lee vs. Taichi
  • Ricochet vs. Hiromu Takahashi

May 22nd (Korakuen Hall, live on NJPW World)

  • Volador Jr. vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru
  • Tiger Mask vs. ACH
  • Ryusuke Taguchi vs. El Desperado
  • KUSHIDA vs. BUSHI

May 23rd (Tochigi, VOD)

  • Taka Michinoku vs. Marty Scurll
  • Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Will Ospreay
  • Taichi vs. Hiromu Takahashi
  • Ricochet vs. Dragon Lee

May 25th (Ishikawa, VOD)

  • Tiger Mask vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru
  • Volador Jr. vs. El Desperado
  • Ryusuke Taguchi vs. BUSHI
  • KUSHIDA vs. ACH

May 26th (Nagano, VOD)

  • Taichi vs. Marty Scurll
  • Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Ricochet
  • Taka Michinoku vs. Hiromu Takahashi
  • Dragon Lee vs. Will Ospreay

May 27th (Ibaraki, VOD)

  • ACH vs. El Desperado
  • Volador Jr. vs. BUSHI
  • Tiger Mask vs. Ryusuke Taguchi
  • KUSHIDA vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru

May 28th (Gunma, VOD)

  • Ricochet vs. Taka Michinoku
  • Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Dragon Lee
  • Will Ospreay vs. Taichi
  • Marty Scurll vs. Hiromu Takahashi

May 29th (Korakuen Hall, live on NJPW World)

  • Tiger Mask vs. El Desperado
  • BUSHI vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru
  • Volador Jr. vs. ACH
  • Ryusuke Taguchi vs. KUSHIDA

May 31st (Osaka, VOD)

  • Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Taichi
  • Ricochet vs. Marty Scurll
  • Dragon Lee vs. Taka Michinoku
  • Will Ospreay vs. Hiromu Takahashi

June 1st (Aichi, To be determined)

  • Tiger Mask vs. BUSHI
  • Ryusuke Taguchi vs. ACH
  • KUSHIDA vs. Volador Jr.
  • Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. El Desperado

June 3rd (Yoyogi 2nd Gymnasium, live on NJPW World with English commentary)

  • Block A winner vs. Block B winner

ROH Manhattan Mayhem VI results: The Hardys & Bully Ray appear

Posted on by F4W Staff

Image: @ringofhonor. Report submitted by reader Matt Singer. Check out our post on The Hardys and Bully Ray showing up for more on their surprise appearances.

– Christopher Daniels defeated TK O’Ryan

– Dalton Castle defeated Colt Cabana

This was a solid comedy match. Castle won after a distraction (and a big bump) from the Boys.

– ROH Television Champion Marty Scurll defeated Sonjay Dutt to retain his title

Scurll vs. Dutt was a really good match with probably the best psychology on the show. The crowd loved Scurll. He worked over Dutt’s arm and then won with the crossface chicken wing.

– Dragon Lee defeated Will Ospreay

This was the match I came to see and it didn’t disappoint. It was a total spotfest, but a spectacular one. Lee won after they traded one big move after another. Ospreay is incredible live.

– ROH Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks defeated Lio Rush & Jay White to retain their titles

The Hardys appeared after to confront the Bucks, leading to a title match between the teams.

– The Hardys defeated The Young Bucks to win the ROH Tag Team Championship

– Matt Taven won a battle royal to earn a future ROH World title shot

– Cody, Hangman Page & Frankie Kazarian defeated The Briscoes & Jay Lethal

The match was mostly a brawl. They went up the aisle and onto the stage and back. Lethal got a great reception when he came out, but didn’t get much of a spotlight. He was mostly teasing a match with Cody.

– ROH World Champion Adam Cole defeated Bobby Fish to retain his title

Cole won by roll-up with a handful of tights. Bullet Club tried to beat down Fish after, which led to Bully Ray making the save and saying that he’s now with ROH.

NJPW/CMLL Fantastica Mania results: Dragon Lee vs. Cavernario

Posted on by Bryan Rose

The Big Takeaway — 

Dragon Lee retained his CMLL Lightweight title against Barbaro Cavernario, continuing to build momentum for an eventual IWGP Junior title match. Hiromu Takahashi defeated Titan in a match filled with great high flying spots, then confronted Dragon Lee in the main event, though things didn’t go his way.

Okumura and Hechicero made it clear what their intentions were for their matches on tomorrow’s show — Hechicero to become CMLL Heavyweight champion, and for Okumura to score a big win over Stuka Jr.

Blue Panther Jr. & Henare defeated Ephisto & Will Ospreay

Good opener. Ospreay always shines in these type of matches and looked like a million dollars compared to everyone else. Ospreay did a Sasuke special that took out Henare. That allowed Blue Panther Jr. to secure the submission with the nudo lagunero.

Jushin Liger, Tiger Mask & Soberano Jr. defeated Raziel, Gedo & Jado

Soberano Jr. looked really good. He picked up the win with a moonsault off the middle rope where Raziel was laying.

Hechicero & Okumura defeated Maximo Sexy & Stuka Jr.

This went by pretty quick, but was good while it lasted. Maximo got a cool near fall after Stuka Jr. did his torpedo, wiping out Okumura on the outside and Maximo followed with a ropewalk splash. Stuka missed a dive and Okumura took advantage by ripping off part of his trunks then scored the win with the reverse DDT.

Okumura cut a promo in Spanish, then Hechicero said tomorrow Maximo’s CMLL Heavyweight title was his. Maximo said he’d win it for his friends in Japan. After Stuka Jr. said his piece it turned into a brawl with the rudos standing tall. This builds toward matches between Okumura/Stuka Jr. and Maximo/Hechicero for tomorrow’s show.

Before the next match, they had a short ceremony acknowledging Black Cat’s contributions to both NJPW & CMLL. The technicos and Black Cat’s wife posed for pictures holding a picture with Black Cat.

Tetsuya Naito, Rush, SANADA, EVIL & BUSHI defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi, Atlantis, KUSHIDA, Ryusuke Taguchi & David Finlay

Rush and Atlantis worked part of the match until Rush tore off the top of Atlantis’ mask, causing him to go to the back. Rush jumped him on his way out, taking them both out of the match.

Good six man from there. It was all action and fast-paced. Taguchi and Tanahashi went for stereo pescados on the outside but fell to the floor, leaving it between Finlay and EVIL, with the latter scoring the win with the STO.

Rush and Atlantis came brawling back into the ring after the match, but this time Atlantis’ mask was ripped off completely. LIJ showed no respect by kicking it around like a soccer ball. They all posed together after the match.

Kazuchika Okada, Ultimo Guerrero & Euforia defeated Mistico, Volador Jr. & Juice Robinson

This was pretty good. There was a lot of comedy centered around Volador, Ultimo, and their masks early on. Okada worked with Euphoria and Ultimo Guerrero and got booed whenever he was in, which was actually pretty funny.

It was really good whenever Volador and Ultimo were in. Volador went for a big hurricanrana from the ring to the floor, but Ultimo grabbed him and powerbombed him on the outside. Euphoria, meanwhile, caught Mistico in the soberana which Mistico quickly tapped out to.

Hiromu Takahashi defeated Titan

Another pretty good match that had a ton of cool spots by both guys, but did have a flat finish for whatever reason even though people were into the match generally. Takahashi worked on a bum leg early. Titan caught him on the apron and hurricanrana’d him to the floor, then launched off with a great Asai moonsault followed by a great flying swanton bomb.

Titan caught Takahashi on the top rope and pushed him off, but Titan came back and launched another hurricanrana to the floor. They started trading some good back and forth near falls, including Takahashi hitting the sunset flip bomb off the top rope. He followed that up with a running Death Valley Driver then hit the time bomb. The finish felt flat as the crowd didn’t buy that was the end of the match.

Dragon Lee defeated Barbaro Cavernario to retain the CMLL Lightweight title

Another good match, but this was the same as the previous one. The crowd was into it, with plenty of great spots throughout by both men, but they weren’t into the finish and as a result it felt pretty flat.

Lee started off hot early with a big suicide dive that sent Cavernario into the crowd. Cavernario soon followed with one of his own, through the turnbuckles. He also did the big splash off the top rope to the floor. Dragon Lee followed that with a double foot stomp off a draped Cavernario on the apron. Lots of great back and forth between the two here including a release suplex by Dragon Lee and a reverse rana by Cavernario. Lee finally caught him with a bridging back suplex, retaining the title.

Cavernario seemed to have injured his shoulder during the match, as he was checked on by staff and was taken out. Hiromu Takahashi came running in after the match to blindside Lee but he wouldn’t have it and made a comeback, laying Takahashi out and cutting a promo on him to end the show.

Final Thoughts —

This was a good show highlighted by a couple of really good matches, but ended up having flat finishes that could have worked better. That plus a lukewarm crowd made this show pretty good, but not great.

ROH TV results: The Kingdom vs. Bullet Club; Bobby Fish vs. Dragon Lee

Posted on by Chris Aiken

The rise of a new version of The Kingdom began on the latest episode of Ring of Honor television. Taped in Lowell, MA, the show featured Matt Taven returning to TV with a new stable facing off against Adam Cole and the Bullet Club.

Also on the episode, Dragon Lee earned a TV title shot against Bobby Fish. In the opening match, Big Mike played cat-and-mouse with trickster Toru Yano.  

Michael Elgin defeated Toru Yano

Taped before breaking his orbital bone, Big Mike was his usual self here. So was Yano. The early portion of the match was Yano begging off. He offered a left handed handshake then tried to turn it into a test of strength. He failed that test as the power of Elgin proved too great. Elgin then pummeled Yano before knocking him out of the ring.

On the outside, Yano grabbed a pair of snips that he used to cut loose a turnbuckle pad. Yano gained a momentary advantage using underhanded tactics like choking Elgin with the tag rope. But Big Mike would soon fire up.

Elgin got a near fall when he executed a falcon arrow. Moments later, Elgin retrieved the snips and cut loose another turnbuckle pad. Upon blocking a buckle bomb, Yano sent Elgin into an exposed buckle. Referee Todd Sinclair blocked an attempted low blow only for Yano to use him as a human shield. Yano then used a low blow anyway and cradled Elgin for a two count.

Elgin hoisted up Yano and dropped him on an exposed buckle with snake eyes. Yano still kicked out even after a lariat clothesline. So, Elgin finished him off with a sit-out powerbomb and covered him for the pinfall.

Hyping a TV title match on the next episode, Bobby Fish cut a promo on Hangman Page. Besides being a title match, there is a grudge to settle as Page injured Fish in storyline when he attacked him with a chair. Fish would later have his ribs taped and that played a part in the story of the next match.

Dragon Lee defeated World TV Champion Bobby Fish in a non-title proving ground match

In an effort to get him over and introduce him to the TV audience, a video package highlighted Dragon Lee and aired earlier in the show before this match. On commentary, Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino played up the injury to Fish. Dragon Lee was at first reluctant to target the taped ribs until doing so later in the match. That was after Fish turned up the intensity.

They started off with mat wrestling that led to dives and heated exchanges down the stretch. Fish sold the ribs during the match, fighting through the pain. Lee applied a submission hold but Fish got a rope break. Fish had a last minute flurry, but Lee rolled him up with a la magistral cradle for the pin. In winning the “proving ground” match, Lee gets a future title shot for beating the champion.

The announcers put over Fish having to defend the title in “seven days” against Page on the next episode of ROH TV. In reality, the matches took place several weeks apart. Nevertheless, the injury angle unfolded on TV the past several weeks so the storyline is consistent.

The Kingdom defeated Bullet Club to advance in the six-man tag tournament

The back story here was the history between Adam Cole and Matt Taven. Formerly, Cole was the leader of The Kingdom with Taven as a stablemate. Cole went on to leave the stable before joining Bullet Club. Taven reformed The Kingdom in his image after being sidelined by an injury and now seeks vengeance on Cole.

With Taven as the leader of a new Kingdom, TK O’Ryan and Vinny Marseglia debuted as members of the new faction. They would face Cole and The Young Bucks in this match as part of the first round in the B block of the six-man tag team championship tournament.

As part of their grand entrance, a scribe read a proclamation from a scroll as a little person held candles and a microphone in introducing Taven and his new Kingdom. The new stable attacked Bullet Club before the bell to start the match. They thrashed Cole and the Jackson brothers, leaving them laying heading into a commercial.

Just after the break, Bullet Club came back with triple superkicks. They went to do the Rise of the Terminator spot, but The Kingdom tripped them up. Bullet Club responded by powerbombing them all on the ring apron, then redoing the Terminator spot to set up triple dives through the ropes. Cole almost ate it as he exploded across the ring, but he recovered nicely. Bullet Club would go on to do some comedy before Kingdom cut them off.

Kingdom worked over Matt Jackson for some time doing double and triple-team combinations. For the hot tag, Nick Jackson ran wild before a commercial, and was he still running wild as the show returned from the break. Relating to the back story, Cole and Taven eventually came face-to-face. They had mostly avoided each other until squaring off late in the match. A slugfest ensued.

Taven spat at Cole, so Cole superkicked Taven’s braced knee, then Cole sent a snot rocket at Taven in retaliation. They traded near falls as the others would also jump in. The Bucks of course had a superkick party. Cole jumped off the top rope into a wicked Canadian Destroyer that folded up Taven. When the dust settled after the action peaked in the closing moments, Kingdom isolated Matt and O’Ryan covered him for the pin.

Dragon Lee to make ROH debut

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Ring of Honor will be seeing another international star make an appearance on their roster, as Dragon Lee will make his debut for the company later this year.

Lee will compete for ROH at their September 30th All Star Extravaganza VIII pay-per-view in Lowell, MA. He will also compete on ROH’s TV tapings the next night.

The 21-year-old Lee has seen his profile skyrocket in the last year, thanks in large part to a series of matches with fellow international standout Kamaitachi.

The two have battled in Lee’s home promotion of CMLL, as well as having one match in New Japan Pro Wrestling. Kamaitachi is a member of the NJPW roster, but has been on excursion to CMLL and most recently ROH in the United States. Lee defeated Kamaitachi in a mask vs. mask match in 2015.

No indication was given of who Lee will face, but ROH noted Lee’s connection with Kamaitachi.