It’s Saturday and that means Wrestling Observer Live with yours truly.
Hikuleo defeated Jay White in a loser leaves Japan match Friday in NJPW, so what does this mean for White’s future? With both JONAH and White leaving, does it say something about NJPW?
WWE SmackDown laid the groundwork for this month’s Elimination Chamber while AEW Rampage built to this Wednesday’s Dynamite and next Friday’s “Slam Dunk” edition of Rampage.
Who will go into the WWE Hall of Fame in Hollywood this year? I think it’s got to be people who are big stars, WWE talent and very pretty. Let’s discuss.
WWE says they listen to fans, but do they really? All that and more on today’s WOL.
Some notes from Sunday morning’s NJPW Burning Spirit event in Kobe.
Hikuelo turned on Jay White during Sunday’s show, aligning himself with his brother Tama Tonga. Meanwhile, a match between Zack Sabre Jr. and Tetsuya Naito was set for NJPW Royal Quest, where the winner will face Will Ospreay for the IWGP United States Championship.
After Ospreay successfully defended the IWGP United States title against David Finaly, Naito came out and issued a challenge to Ospreay. Before Ospreay could answer, Sabre came out and mentioned that it was him who defeated Ospreay during the New Japan Cup tournament this year, and therefore he should be champion. Eventually, Sabre figured out a plan without consulting Ospreay where he and Naito would face off at NJPW Royal Quest in London, and the winner would be next to face Ospreay. Ospreay didn’t have a chance to reply as both of his future potential opponents left before he could get a word in.
Earlier in the show, Karl Anderson successfully defended the NEVER Openweight Championship against Hiroshi Tanahashi. After the match, Jay White and Doc Gallows jumped Tanahashi. Tama Tonga came to the ring, and soon did his brother, Hikuleo. After Hikuleo saw both Tonga and White in the ring, he chose to help his brother, throwing White into Tonga who delivered a gun stun. The segment ended with Tonga posing with the IWGP World Heavyweight title, while Hikuelo posed with the NEVER Openweight title.
