Tag: kalisto

Tag Team title eliminator tournament continues on next Impact Wrestling

Posted on by Josh Nason

The opening round of the Tag Team title eliminator tournament to crown a new number one contender will wrap up on next Thursday’s Impact Wrestling on AXS TV.

Former champions ABC (Ace Austin & Chris Bey) will face a pair of Impact World Champions in Rich Swann & Sami Callihan. Austin & Bey are the former champions and were unsuccessful in their rematch with current champions Subculture (Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster) following Slammiversary where they lost the titles in a multi-team match.

However, The Rascalz, who caused ABC to both lose the titles and the rematch, advanced Thursday with their win over Mike Bailey & Jonathan Gresham. Trey Miguel & Zachary Wentz now await the winners of ABC vs. Swann & Callihan. The winners will get their title shot at this month’s Emergence.

The only other match announced will see the promotional debut of Samuray Del Sol (the former Kalisto in WWE) as he teams with Laredo Kid & Black Taurus against Bully Ray, Moose & Brian Myers.

Here’s the current lineup with more expected to come:

  • ABC (Ace Austin & Chris Bey) vs. Rich Swann & Sami Callihan in a Tag Team title eliminator tournament semifinal
  • Samuray Del Sol, Laredo Kid & Black Taurus vs. Moose, Bully Ray & Brian Myers

Kalisto: August 2021 battle with COVID-19 ‘nearly ended him’

Posted on by Josh Nason

Image: AEW

The former Kalisto in WWE took to Instagram Wednesday to detail his past battle with COVID-19, saying the virus “nearly ended him.”

In the post seen below, he said he was hospitalized for the entire month of August and nearly had two heart attacks in addition to the virus and a stomach ulcer, adding that he “only had a day to prepare for my return on tv.” That was a reference to a SmackDown match he had with Cesaro — his first such action since December 2019.

“Beyond my belief I thought I never get this bad, but i took that as a sign, really trained hard and rolled the dice and Lucha. 2022 is all I focus on…LUCHA always like there’s no tomorrow, he wrote.

He was released by WWE in April 2021.

Returning to his old working name of Samuray del Sol, he made his return in a tag team match with Aero Star against AAA Tag Team Champions FTR on the November 3rd AEW Dynamite. He drew criticism after the fact for invoking the name of the late Brodie Lee, saying he “prayed and talked” with Lee before the match and thanked him for showing him his home.”

Huber’s widow and AEW community outreach team member Amanda Huber and Chris Jericho called del Sol out both directly and indirectly for misspelling Huber’s first name with our Bryan Alvarez saying that Huber and others were “very, very upset” by the tweet.

Since then, del Sol has wrestled twice, one for The Crash in a MLW co-promoted show and again in the five-way for the vacant AAA Mega title at TripleMania Regia.

Omega vs. Angels, Kalisto debut added to AEW Dynamite

Posted on by Ethan Renner

Kenny Omega vs. Alan Angels, plus the AEW debuts of Samuray Del Sol (formerly Kalisto in WWE) and Aerostar have been added to tonight’s AEW Dynamite. 

AEW GM Tony Khan made the announcements on today’s Wrestling Observer Live. Omega vs. Angels is a rematch of an April 2020 Dynamite bout, which saw Angels give Omega a competitive bout before eventually losing. 

Samuray Del Sol and Aerostar of AAA will answer the open challenge issued by AAA World Tag Team Champions FTR on last night’s AEW Dark, according to Khan. Del Sol worked under the Kalisto name in WWE and was with the company for nearly eight years until his April 2021 release. This will be his first match since leaving WWE. 

Khan also stated on Wrestling Observer Live that he will announce a replacement opponent for Orange Cassidy in the AEW World title eliminator tournament on tonight’s show. Cassidy was set to take on Jon Moxley, but Moxley is seeking in-patient treatment and will not be able to compete. 

Here is tonight’s lineup: 

AEW Dynamite, Wednesday, November 3 —

Cody Rhodes vs. Andrade El Idolo

Kenny Omega vs. Alan Angels

AAA World Tag Team Championship: FTR vs. Samuray Del Sol & Aerostar

TBS Championship tournament first round: Anna Jay vs. Jamie Hayter

AEW World title eliminator tournament semifinals: Orange Cassidy vs. TBA

Gran Metalik & Lince Dorado drafted to WWE Raw

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Gran Metalik and Lince Dorado are heading to Raw.

WWE Watch Along announced that Gran Metalik and Lince Dorado are heading to the Raw brand. This splits them up with Kalisto, who was drafted to SmackDown.

WWE Network’s twitter account posted an interview with Lucha House Party earlier on Monday. Kalisto was boasting about how he had been in meetings with FOX. When Dorado asked if he or Gran Metalik were brought up, Kalisto said the meetings were only about him. Dorado said that he and Dorado would remain “lucha lit” with or without Kalisto.

Since returning from injury in August, Kalisto has been teasing dissention between himself and the other two members of Lucha House Party, with Kalisto often instigating the confrontations.

Both Metalik and Dorado were in SmackDown’s draft pool, but neither were picked on the show nor were they drafted on Talking Smack the following day, leaving them free agents. Shorty G, who was also left as a free agent, was later confirmed today signing with the SmackDown brand.

WWE announces five additional draft picks

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Another round of WWE Draft picks has been revealed.

WWE announced during this week’s episode of Talking Smack that Humberto Carrillo, Drew Gulak, and Tucker have been drafted to Raw. It was also announced that Murphy and Kalisto have been drafted to SmackDown.

Those five names were among the remaining wrestlers left in the night one draft pool after last night’s SmackDown. Mickie James, the rest of The Lucha House Party (Gran Metalik & Lince Dorado), and Shorty G were also in the night one draft pool but weren’t selected. WWE has noted that any undrafted wrestlers “will immediately be declared free agents and able to sign with the brand of their choosing.”

Tucker being drafted by Raw means that Heavy Machinery have been broken up in the draft. Otis was selected by SmackDown last night.

Murphy is joining Seth Rollins and Rey & Dominik Mysterio on SmackDown.

The draft will conclude on Monday’s episode of Raw. The updated rosters for Raw and SmackDown are listed below, along with the wrestlers in the night two draft pool:

Raw —

  • WWE Champion Drew McIntyre
  • Raw Women’s Champion Asuka
  • The Hurt Business (MVP, United States Champion Bobby Lashley, Shelton Benjamin & Cedric Alexander)
  • AJ Styles
  • Naomi
  • Women’s Tag Team Champions Shayna Baszler & Nia Jax
  • Ricochet
  • Mandy Rose
  • The Miz & John Morrison
  • SmackDown Tag Team Champions Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods
  • Dana Brooke
  • Angel Garza
  • Humberto Carrillo
  • Drew Gulak
  • Tucker

SmackDown —

  • Universal Champion Roman Reigns
  • Seth Rollins
  • Sasha Banks
  • Bianca Belair
  • Jey Uso
  • Rey & Dominik Mysterio
  • Big E
  • Otis
  • Murphy
  • Kalisto

Night two draft pool —

  • Andrade
  • SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley
  • Aleister Black
  • Alexa Bliss
  • Daniel Bryan
  • Carmella
  • King Corbin
  • Apollo Crews
  • Nikki Cross
  • Dabba-Kato
  • Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode
  • Elias
  • Erik (of The Viking Raiders)
  • Lacey Evans
  • Charlotte Flair
  • Jeff Hardy
  • Billie Kay
  • Lana
  • Keith Lee
  • Riddick Moss
  • Natalya
  • Titus O’Neil
  • Randy Orton
  • Kevin Owens
  • 24/7 Champion R-Truth
  • RETRIBUTION (Mustafa Ali, T-BAR, MACE, SLAPJACK, RECKONING & RETALIATION)
  • Matt Riddle
  • The Riott Squad (Ruby Riott & Liv Morgan)
  • Peyton Royce
  • Arturo Ruas
  • Sheamus
  • Shinsuke Nakamura & Cesaro
  • Raw Tag Team Champions The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford)
  • Braun Strowman
  • Lars Sullivan
  • Tamina
  • Akira Tozawa
  • Zelina Vega
  • Bray Wyatt
  • Intercontinental Champion Sami Zayn

Kalisto returns to WWE TV on SmackDown

Posted on by Bryan Rose

After being away most of the year due to injury, Kalisto returned to WWE on tonight’s episode of SmackDown.

He made an appearance during a Gran Metalik vs. Shinsuke Nakamura match which took place tonight. Kalisto helped Lince Dorado take care of Cesaro with a tornado DDT.  This allowed Metalik to hit Nakamura with a springboard elbow for the win.

The announcers mentioned that Kalisto had been out of action for some time following a separated shoulder. Kalisto last wrestled back in December, when he and Gran Metalik lost a tag match to The Revival at a WWE house show in Los Angeles, California.

Since Kalisto’s injury, the Lucha House Party has remained a team and have competed for the SmackDown Tag Team titles on several occasions throughout the year.

The trio, originally part of Raw, were moved to SmackDown as part of the WWE Draft that took place in October of last year.

Kalisto reportedly signs multi-year contract extension with WWE

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Kalisto looks to be the latest WWE wrestler to sign a new long-term contract with the promotion.

Pro Wrestling Sheet reported today that Kalisto recently signed a multi-year contract extension with WWE. Further details about his new deal weren’t revealed.

Pro Wrestling Sheet wrote that “sources tell us Kalisto decided to re-sign with WWE because the wrestler feels as though he still has a lot left to accomplish in the company.”

In August, Kalisto tweeted and then deleted “10 months…#freeagent.” Gran Metalik responded to his post by writing “Me too carnal.”

The Lucha House Party (Kalisto, Metalik & Lince Dorado) moved to SmackDown in October’s WWE Draft. They most recently appeared on the show when The Revival defeated Mustafa Ali & Shorty G, Heavy Machinery, and Metalik & Dorado in a fatal four-way elimination tag match for a SmackDown Tag Team title shot last month.

Kalisto unsuccessfully challenged for the Cruiserweight title in a triple threat match on the Survivor Series pre-show in November.

Cruiserweight title match set for WWE Survivor Series pre-show

Posted on by Joseph Currier

The Cruiserweight Championship will be on the line on tonight’s Survivor Series pre-show.

Ahead of tonight’s pay-per-view, WWE announced that NXT Cruiserweight Champion Lio Rush will defend his title against wrestlers from Raw and SmackDown in a triple threat match on the pre-show. It will be Rush vs. Raw’s Akira Tozawa vs. SmackDown’s Kalisto.

The announcement was made on WWE Now’s preview show for Survivor Series.

Tozawa and Kalisto were both on the 205 Live roster prior to last month’s WWE Draft.

Rush has recently been feuding with Angel Garza. Rush retained his title against Garza on NXT two weeks ago, but Garza had his foot on the rope while he was being pinned. Garza also taunted Rush’s wife during that match.

Garza defeated Isaiah “Swerve” Scott on last night’s NXT TakeOver: WarGames pre-show. WWE posted video of an angle after the match where Rush attacked Garza as he was heading backstage.

The pre-show will begin at 5 p.m. Eastern time, with the main card starting at 7 p.m. Eastern. Shawn Michaels will also appear on the pre-show and reveal NXT’s team for tonight’s men’s triple threat elimination tag match.

WWE Main Event results: Lucha House Party vs. EC3 & Eric Young

Posted on by James Cox

The Big Takeaway: After doing something different last week, this was a dull show with two meager matches. Mojo Rawley defeated No Way Jose and Gran Metalik & Kalisto saw off EC3 & Eric Young in under two minutes.

Dio Maddin was on the announce team this week alongside Bryon Saxton and Renee Young.

*********

Mojo Rawley defeated No Way Jose (4:44)

Rawley’s look is absurd at the moment. He has a few lines of blue face paint across his face that look like they were applied at a kids’ party. He also looks like he’s carried an injury at some point in the last few months and is still getting back into ring shape.

For a guy with Rawley’s physical presence and intensity, it feels that it’s already time to hit the reset button on a character that they gave some vignettes and hype to but then quickly gave up on.

They’ve done this match several times before on Main Event and it doesn’t get any more exciting the sixth time around. It’s your basic back and forth and offers nothing creative or new.

After Jose tried to roll Rawley up with a schoolboy, Rawley kicked out and caught the charge of Jose. He planted Jose with an Alabama slam and got the victory. 

The Lucha House Party (Gran Metalik & Kalisto w/ Lince Dorado) defeated EC3 & Eric Young (1:54)

Speaking of guys that they’re not doing enough with right now, EC3 and Eric Young have to be right up at the top of that list. And with new opportunities to appear on live television each week and on new networks that can reach new audiences, if I were them, I’d be making a fuss.

As the runtime suggests, they went at this at 100 mph, with Metalik and Kalisto getting all their stuff in as best they could. They teamed up on EC3 and Young with flips and dives and then did stereo suicide dives to the outside.

After a commercial break, Metalik flipped over the top rope to take out EC3, and Kalisto countered Young’s attempt to finish him off, nailing him with the Salida del Sol for the win. 

WWE Main Event results: Dana Brooke gets her revenge

Posted on by James Cox

The Big Takeaway: Dana Brooke defeated Sarah Logan in a rematch from last week where Brooke had suffered a nasty facial injury. The main event saw the random team of EC3, Cesaro & Robert Roode see off the Lucha House Party in under three minutes.

**********

Dana Brooke defeated Sarah Logan (6:13)

Whether this show will reap any of the benefits of Paul Heyman becoming executive director on the Raw side of things remains to be seen.

The fact WWE acknowledged last week at all here is certainly a positive. Quite rightly, they did a rematch and made a much better go of it. Brooke was smiling and fired up throughout and they kept doing spots where she would get her face bashed.

The finish saw Logan with Brooke on the apron again. She went for the running knee that caused the stoppage from last week, but Brooke had it scouted. Brooke countered and then landed a Swanton Bomb from the top rope for the win.

Cesaro, EC3 & Robert Roode defeated The Lucha House Party (Kalisto, Lince Dorado & Gran Metalik) (2:40)

This, however, was a negative. If this show does see any changes, it would certainly benefit if they didn’t throw together arbitrary tag matches where the entrance times out-strip the running time of the match.

The first minute was EC3 getting dominated by the pace and tenacity of the Lucha House Party — before the ring filled and the LHP cleared it, posing in unison. And then we went to a break. Yes, a commercial break, in a three-minute match. 

I can also confirm that wrestling took place during the commercials.

The last minute was everyone hitting their finishers but failing to get the pinfall. The finish was Cesaro hitting a European uppercut on Metalik as he came off the top rope. As usual, the timing looked fantastic.

Lars Sullivan vs. Lucha House Party rematch official for WWE Raw

Posted on by Joseph Currier

After their match at Super ShowDown, Lars Sullivan and The Lucha House Party will again be facing off on tonight’s Raw.

WWE has announced Sullivan vs. The Lucha House Party (Kalisto, Gran Metalik & Lince Dorado) in a three-on-one handicap match for tonight. This time, it will be an elimination match.

Sullivan defeated Kalisto, Metalik & Dorado by disqualification at Super ShowDown, with The Lucha House Party getting disqualified when they were all in the ring and wouldn’t stop attacking Sullivan. As The Lucha House Party went to leave after the match, Sullivan attacked Kalisto, Metalik & Dorado.

The SAP Center in San Jose, California is hosting tonight’s Raw. Zack Ryder & Curt Hawkins will defend their Raw Tag Team titles against The Revival and The Usos in a triple threat match, United States Champion Samoa Joe will appear on Miz TV, and Shane McMahon and Drew McIntyre will celebrate Shane’s win against Roman Reigns from Super ShowDown.

Most of tonight’s Raw is going against game five of the Toronto Raptors vs. Golden State Warriors NBA Finals series, with the basketball game starting at 9 p.m. Eastern time. The Raptors are leading three games to one in the best-of-seven series.

Three-on-one handicap match added to WWE Super ShowDown

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Lars Sullivan’s main roster in-ring debut is set for Saudi Arabia.

On tonight’s SmackDown, WWE announced that Sullivan will face The Lucha House Party (Kalisto, Gran Metalik & Lince Dorado) in a three-on-one handicap match at Super ShowDown in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Friday, June 7. The event is taking place at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium and will air live on the WWE Network starting at 2 p.m. Eastern time.

Sullivan has been feuding with the Lucha House Party and has had segments where he’s brawled with and attacked them, but this will be his first official match on the main roster.

WWE put out a statement earlier this month announcing that Sullivan would be fined $100,000 for racist, homophobic, and other offensive posts he had made on Bodybuilding.com’s forum in his past. It was also noted that Sullivan would be required to complete sensitivity training. In his own statement, Sullivan apologized for the posts and said they don’t reflect who he is today.

Here’s the updated card for Super ShowDown:

  • Goldberg vs. The Undertaker
  • Triple H vs. Randy Orton
  • Universal Champion Seth Rollins defending against Baron Corbin
  • WWE Champion Kofi Kingston defending against Dolph Ziggler
  • Roman Reigns vs. Shane McMahon
  • Braun Strowman vs. Bobby Lashley
  • Intercontinental Champion Finn Balor (as his Demon character) defending against Andrade
  • Lars Sullivan vs. The Lucha House Party (Kalisto, Gran Metalik & Lince Dorado) in a three-on-one handicap match
  • 50-man battle royal

Two tournament matches set for next week’s WWE 205 Live

Posted on by Bryan Rose

The first two matches for the upcoming 205 Live #1 Contender tournament have been announced.

Next week on 205 Live, Kalisto will face Tony Nese and Brian Kendrick will face Drew Gulak in the opening matches of the tournament, which is a single elimination eight man tournamentThe remaining four participants have yet to be announced.

On tonight’s episode of 205 Live, two matches took place that 205 General Manager Drake Maverick said would have big implications coming out of the tournament. In those matches, Humberto Carrillo defeated TJP while Mike Kanellis defeated Cedric Alexander. It seems based on those two wins, they will likely be a part of the tournament.

The eventual winner of the tournament will receive a title match against Buddy Murphy at WrestleMania 35. Murphy has been champion since October 6, winning the title at WWE Super Show-Down in Australia. Most recently, he defeated Akira Tozawa at Elimination Chamber.

205 Live next week will take place at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Two title matches airing on WWE Royal Rumble pre-show

Posted on by Joseph Currier

WWE has confirmed two title matches for Sunday’s Royal Rumble pre-show.

On SmackDown’s go-home show for the PPV, it was announced that Rusev’s United States Championship defense against Shinsuke Nakamura will be airing on the Royal Rumble pre-show. Cruiserweight Champion Buddy Murphy will also defend his title against Kalisto, Akira Tozawa, and Hideo Itami in a fatal four-way match on the pre-show.

Both matches had already been announced for the Royal Rumble before being confirmed for the kickoff show.

The two-hour pre-show will begin at 5 p.m. Eastern time on Sunday. The panel for the first hour will be Jonathan Coachman, Beth Phoenix, Booker T, and Jerry Lawler, with Shawn Michaels and David Otunga replacing Booker T and Lawler in the second hour. There will also be another panel with JBL and Charly Caruso.

Sunday’s PPV is taking place at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona. Here’s the updated card:

  • Universal Champion Brock Lesnar defending against Finn Balor
  • WWE Champion Daniel Bryan defending against AJ Styles
  • Men’s Royal Rumble match
  • Women’s Royal Rumble match
  • Raw Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey defending against Sasha Banks
  • SmackDown Women’s Champion Asuka defending against Becky Lynch
  • SmackDown Tag Team Champions Cesaro & Sheamus defending against The Miz & Shane McMahon
  • United States Champion Rusev defending against Shinsuke Nakamura (pre-show)
  • Cruiserweight Champion Buddy Murphy defending against Kalisto, Akira Tozawa, and Hideo Itami in a fatal four-way match (pre-show)

Triple threat match announced for next week’s WWE 205 Live

Posted on by Joseph Currier

On 205 Live’s go-home show for the Royal Rumble, all three of Buddy Murphy’s next challengers will be taking part in a triple threat match.

Kalisto vs. Akira Tozawa vs. Hideo Itami has been announced for next week’s episode of 205 Live. Those three wrestlers will be challenging for Murphy’s Cruiserweight Championship in a fatal four-way match at the Royal Rumble.

Kalisto, Tozawa, and Itami all won qualifying matches over the last couple of weeks to set up the title match for the pay-per-view. Kalisto defeated Lio Rush to qualify, Tozawa defeated Drew Gulak, and Itami defeated Cedric Alexander.

205 Live moved back to airing live on Tuesday’s after SmackDown this week. The show featured Murphy issuing a non-title open challenge, with Murphy defeating the debuting Humberto Carrillo. Carrillo was formerly known as Ultimo Ninja before signing with WWE. He had been wrestling in NXT before joining 205 Live.

Next Tuesday’s SmackDown and 205 Live are taking place at INTRUST Bank Arena in Wichita, Kansas.