On the day she will make her official return to Impact Wrestling, it was learned that Killer Kelly has re-signed a new multi-year deal with the company.
She revealed the news while on the Battleground Podcast, saying she has actually been under a contract with Impact for the last two years. The two sides began negotiating after she debuted for them in late-2020. The Portugal native would have returned sooner, but her work visa wasn’t approved until this past May.
On the July 7th edition of Impact, a new Kelly vignette was unveiled and that she was coming soon. She makes her official in-ring return on Thursday’s show in a match taped nearly two weeks ago against Tiffany Nieves.
Going into Thursday, she has just two Impact matches under her belt, last teaming with Renee Michelle in a losing effort in the Knockouts Tag Team title tournament in 2020.
She wrestled just three indie matches in 2021 and in October, she announced she was taking the rest of the year off to address health issues. The Nieves match is her only action of the year thus far.
Impact Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace has her challenger, date and location set for her next title defense.
Mia Yim won a no. 1 contender’s match over Deonna Purrazzo Thursday to earn the shot at Grace at Emergence on Friday, August 12th. Grace came out afterward and shook Yim’s hand in a sign of respect.
Grace regained the title at last month’s Slammiversary in the first-ever Queen of the Mountain match and successfully defended it against former champion Tasha Steelz at last Friday’s Against All Odds. Yim is looking for her second reign as champion as she previously won the TNA version under her former name of Jade.
Killer Kelly returning
After nearly two years away, Killer Kelly is returning to Impact. She made her presence felt during a vignette Thursday and is “coming soon.”
Kelly has two Impact matches under her belt, last teaming with Renee Michelle in a losing effort in the Knockouts Tag Team title tournament in 2020.
She wrestled just three indie matches in 2021 and in October, she announced she was taking the rest of the year off to address health issues. Her next match will be her first this year.
Next week’s lineup
Five matches were announced for next Thursday’s Impact which includes the continuation of two rivalries that lasted most of the last month.
Impact World Champion Josh Alexander will team with the Motor City Machine Guns to take on Violent By Design’s Eric Young, Joe Doering & Deaner.
Deaner and Doering were looking for Alexander backstage Thursday and ran into Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin. A brawl ensued, Alexander showed up, and the match was announced later on. Alexander has wins over all three VBD members in June.
In a clash of former Knockouts Champions, Mickie James will face Chelsea Green with Deonna Purrazzo banned from ringside.
In an eight-man tag team match that also is continuing a recent feud, Honor No More’s Eddie Edwards, Kenny King, Matt Taven & Mike Bennett will take on Bullet Club’s Good Brothers, Ace Austin & Chris Bey.
In a pair of singles matches, Steve Maclin will face James Storm while Masha Slamovich takes on Tenille Dashwood.
Killer Kelly is stepping away from pro wrestling for the rest of the year in order to take care of her health.
In a statement posted on social media this afternoon, Kelly said that she has had problems breathing during her matches and will be taking time off to fix her nose and breathing problems.
“Since coming back to wrestling, I’ve noticed that something is off,” she wrote. “I tried my best to hide it, mainly because I wasn’t understanding what was happening. And because I wanted to keep on wrestling. Thankfully, none of you picked [up] on it. And only my opponents knew what was happening.”
“I’ve been having a lot of trouble breathing to the point that I couldn’t take a breath,” she added. “And no, this isn’t COVID related because I’ve never had it/don’t have it. It’s “just” me being not capable of breathing. So with that said I’ve pulled away from all my wrestling commitments for the year and I’m going to take some time away to fix my nose and my breathing. I didn’t want to do this but health should come first.”
After spending most of 2021 inactive, Kelly returned in September, wrestling for Black Label Pro and Beyond Wrestling.
Impact Wrestling returns from Nashville, TN for this week’s episode, main evented by the Impact World Champion Rich Swann defending the title against this year’s Hall of Fame inductee, Ken Shamrock.
Opening video was a recap of John E. Bravo’s shooting investigation, Joe Doering’s debut, the farewell of The Rascalz, and the closing attack on Rich Swann at the hands of Callihan and Shamrock.
The show opened with D’Amore being told that Bravo is in stable condition, but that if he wakes up from the coma, he may not be the same Bravo as before.
Matt Striker is replacing Madison Rayne this week on commentary. Rayne is taking the night off as she will be part of Wrestler’s Court.
Kiera Hogan & Tasha Steelz defeated Sea Stars (Ashley Vox & Delmi Exo) in a Knockouts Tag Team Championship Tournament first-round match
This is the Sea Stars’ debut for Impact Wrestling as a team, though Ashley Vox worked some dates back in 2019.
Match saw Exo dominate early on, but once Vox and Steelz tagged in, Vox was cut off and was separated from her corner. Hogan and Steelz worked over Vox for a couple of minutes before Exo got the hot tag, with the Sea Stars getting some near falls. In the end, Steelz managed to take out Vox outside the ring, making an opening for a double team and swinging neckbreaker pin for the win by Hogan. Good opener, Sea Stars looked good.
Hogan and Steelz advance to the semifinals. They will face the winner of Purrazzo & Lee vs Taya & Rosemary.
– Backstage, Jordynne Grace and Jazz, her partner for the tournament, were watching the match that just ended. Gia Miller approached Jazz about teaming with Grace. Jazz said that she wanted to end her career as the Impact Knockouts Tag Team Champion.
– Josh Matthews and Matt Striker ran down tonight’s card, plus a quick rundown of the Knockouts tag team tournament brackets.
– Ethan Page and Josh Alexander talked about Doc Gallows being injured and having to be gone for 4-6 weeks. Alexander was mad because it meant they couldn’t challenge for their titles until then.
– We got the first segment of Wrestler’s Court. Madison Rayne is representing Swinger, while D’lo Brown is representing ‘the boys’. Rayne objected that Dreamer is the one doing the investigation and couldn’t be the judge, so Dreamer ended up switching places with Brown.
Rayne’s argument was that Swinger was too dumb to carry out any plan that would end with Bravo’s shooting. Dreamer brought up that a gun was found in Swinger’s fanny pack.
– Rohit Raju came out for a new Defeat Rohit Challenge. He cut a promo putting himself over before someone accepted his challenge. Suicide came out, accepting the challenge. Raju said that he knew who was under the mask and that it was a trick, and so he took the title off the line for the challenge.
Crazzy Steve defeated X Division Champion Rohit Raju in a non-title match
Going by last week’s segment with D’Amore and TJP, we are to believe that TJP is under the mask, and Raju believed it too.
The story of the match was that Raju kept going for Suicide’s mask while he was on the offense. Suicide’s arsenal was really similar to TJP’s and commentary sold it like that. Raju at the end managed to take the mask off Suicide, but it wasn’t TJP, it was actually Crazzy Steve. TJP walked down the aisle, distracting Raju long enough for Steve to cradle Raju, pinning him for the win.
With a pin on Raju, Crazzy Steve could be getting a title shot soon, but there is the argument that it was booked as Suicide, which could open the door for the old Conquistadors swerve and have TJP win the title under the Suicide mask next.
– Backstage, Sami Callihan pumped up Ken Shamrock for tonight’s title match. Moose approached them and told them that they’re fighting for the second most important title in the company. Moose said that it was unfortunate that it wasn’t him who will face Rich Swann, but reminded Shamrock that once he wins, he’ll come for him and remind him of what happened when Moose and Shamrock fought last year.
– Tenille Dashwood and Kaleb with a K were taking some photographs backstage when Alisha Edwards approached Dashwood about tagging again. Dashwood told her to get the hint, but Edwards kept insisting, leading to Dashwood considering teaming with her again.
Kimber Lee (with Deonna Purrazzo) defeated Killer Kelly (with Renee Michelle)
This is both Killer Kelly and Renee Michelle’s debut, who are joining Impact for the Knockouts Tag Team Championship tournament. Purrazzo and Lee are also feuding with Su Yung, who threatened them last week.
The match was good but too short. Back and forward action between the two. Some mat wrestling early on with pin reversals and submissions, leading to a couple of bigger spots towards the end, which saw Lee get the win with a swanton bomb.
After the match, Susie came out and told Purrazzo and Lee that they hurt her friends, and so instead, their friends are going to attack them. They did a great edit to make it seem like Susie was on the ramp while Su Yung attacked the ring and sent Purrazzo and Lee running away.
– Gia Miller interviewed the Motor City Machine Guns. Alex Shelley said that he was cleared to return to action, and they were going after XXXL, The North, and The Good Brothers.
– Rich Swann and Willie Mack met backstage. Swann said he was sorry he couldn’t help Mack with Moose, but Mack said it was ok, he’d been fighting all his life. Chris Bey came in and tried to talk Swann into a title match at the expense of calling Mack a loser, which made both men get defensive and kick him out of the room.
Swoggle (with Karl Anderson) defeated Ethan Page (with Josh Alexander)
Last week, Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows told Page that if they wanted another title match, they had to defeat someone of their choosing, and they had hinted that Page would be facing someone ‘Phenomenal’. That person wasn’t AJ Styles, but Swoggle dressed as AJ Styles. We at least got to hear the old AJ Styles theme.
The match saw Page not take Swoggle seriously, so Swoggle took advantage and got some hits early on. Alexander cut Swoggle off and allowed Page to regain composure and work on Swoggle for a bit. In return, Anderson distracted Page, allowing Swoggle to schoolboy Page to score the upset win.
Page seemed to be having a breakdown after the match.
– Back at Wrestler’s Court, Swinger is being interrogated. Swinger made a case that Dreamer and himself went way back and that Dreamer knew that as much as Swinger cheats, he’d never shoot someone.
Dreamer called up Rosemary, who accepted that she never loved Bravo, but she wanted his virgin blood. At this perfect timing, Bravo returned and confronted Rosemary about being used. Bravo said he knew who shot him and it was revealed that it was Larry D’s alter-ego, Lawrence D, and he had done it out of jealousy. Months worth of programming just for this? Total waste of time.
Fallah Bahh vs Daivari ended in a no contest
This only lasted maybe one minute before Joe Doering and Eric Young ran down and took out both men. Young started cutting a promo, but Rhino ran down to attack them. The numbers game was too much and instead, they laid out Rhino. Young ended with a cryptic promo saying the world belongs to them.
– Backstage, TJP approached Crazzy Steve and Swoggle for help. Brain Myers walked up and made fun of all three of them.
– Somewhere else backstage, Purrazzo and Kimber Lee approached James Mitchell about dealing with Su Yung. Mitchell said he’d offer help for a ‘price’, but didn’t go into details.
– Matthews and Striker ran down next week’s card, which includes XXXL vs. MCMGs, Rohit Raju defending the title against Crazzy Steve, Killer Kelly & Renee Michelle vs. Jordynne Grace & Jazz in the Knockouts Tag Team Championship tournament, and Willie Mack vs. Chris Bey.
Impact World Champion Rich Swann defeated Ken Shamrock (with Sami Callihan) to retain the title
Sami Callihan has been manipulating Shamrock for a couple of months now. Callihan and Shamrock set their sights on Swann after he won the title, attacking him on a couple of occasions, leading to this match.
Callihan interjected himself into the match in the opening minutes and wound up being ejected from ringside. The distraction was enough for Shamrock to attack Swann and gain control of the match, immediately going after Swann’s bad leg. Shamrock had control for about half of the match, he switched from legs to guillotines and back to the leg, just anything to keep Swann down.
Swann eventually used his speed to make a comeback, but every now and then, Shamrock would still find counters and would reverse into submission, only for Swann to escape. In the end, Shamrock had the ankle lock, but Swann rolled over Shamrock and got the win. Well wrestled match, but a bit one-sided considering the champion was involved.
After the match, Shamrock attacked the referee. Callihan came out and hit Swann with the cactus special. He teased attacking Swann with a bat, but Eddie Edwards came out for the save. Callihan and Shamrock took down Edwards and tied him down to the ropes, then proceeded to take out Edwards’ eye once again. D’Lo Brown and security came down, but Shamrock took down Brown. Security finally got Callihan and Shamrock off Edwards as the show went off the air. Interesting angle, one would imagine that this could write off Edwards for a while.
Final thoughts —
Okay show by Impact, nothing really outstanding. It was entertaining and it went by fast. The direction of most of the storylines right now are pretty hard to read.
A “Killer” has joined the ranks of Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport III.
GCW and Barnett announced Friday that Killer Kelly has been added to the Thursday, April 2nd event in Ybor City, Florida.
The German-based talent from Portugal is currently a member of the NXT UK roster, but isn’t exclusive to them as she is a frequent presence in wXw and as of two weeks ago, wants to fill up her schedule.
The first-ever wXw women’s champion is the first female announced for the show and joins a group and matches that already includes the following:
Josh Barnett vs. Jon Moxley in a match originally slated for the second Bloodsport show
For those not familiar, Bloodsport is a hybrid shoot-style show in a ring with no ropes where the only way to win is knockout or submission. After Matt Riddle’s name was attached to the first event, Barnett signed on.
Episode 17 (taped October 14 at Plymouth Pavilions in Plymouth, England)
Quick recap:
Toni Storm made her return to NXT UK after being injured in her title match with Rhea Ripley and beat Charlie Morgan. James Drake & Zack Gibson managed to beat Flash Morgan Webster & Mark Andrews with some outside assistance by Fabian Aichner in an attempt to qualify for the NXT UK Tag Team Championship tournament.
In another women’s match, Nina Samuels beat Killer Kelly. Joe Coffey managed to beat Travis Banks, further cementing his status as a legitimate contender for Pete Dunne’s WWE UK Championship. For some reason, the sound mix was off for this episode, with the music too loud and the commentary too silent on any segments involving the announcers and background music.
Full rundown:
Toni Storm defeated Charlie Morgan in 3:56 after Storm Zero
They briefly shook hands, then locked up but neither woman could get the advantage. Morgan slapped Toni, but she came back with slaps of her own, followed by a big boot and a low dropkick for a one count. Toni got on a cross between an Indian Deathlock and STF, but Morgan made the ropes. Morgan managed to fend off Toni’s attack in the corner and hit a step-up enzuigiri for a quick cover.
She kept being on offense, working over Toni with kicks and locked in a camel clutch in an attempt to break Toni’s back and make her humble. Toni managed to escape and flip Morgan over, then followed up with forearm strikes and a release German suplex. Toni hit the hip attack in the corner, then followed up with Storm Zero for the win.
In the studio, Vic and Nigel talked about Toni being back and threw it to a music video about Gallus. The sound mix was off here and it was hard to understand them.
A video hyping up Gallus aired, with highlights of the destruction they caused over the past few weeks.
Joe Coffey and Travis Banks were shows warming up backstage in a split screen; this was followed up by a WrestleMania hype video.
James Drake & Zack Gibson defeated Flash Morgan Webster & Mark Andrews in 8:49 when Gibson submitted Andrews with the Shankly Gates
The sound mix still was off during the entrances, making it nearly impossible to understand the announcers while the music was playing.
Gibson and Andrews started, with Gibson using his size advantage early on but Andrews being the quicker man and countering most of his offense. Andrews tagged out and they hit a double hip toss combined moonsault/reverse shooting star onto Gibson. Morgan locked in a guillotine but Gibson backed him into his own corner and Drake tagged in.
Drake briefly took over but Webster hit the Rude Boy Block off the second turnbuckle. As he went to the top again, Gibson took off his wrist tape and threw it at Webster, distracting him enough for Drake to attack and send him to the outside. Gibson picked him up for a backbreaker to the outside and Drake jumped over the ropes and hit a knee onto Webster.
The heels continued working over Webster in and outside the ring. The fans were livid at this point with “shoes off if you hate Gibson” chants and virtually everyone waving their shoes into the air, prompting Nigel to complain about the smell in the arena. Drake hit a forearm for a near-fall and applied a chin lock. Webster finally managed to push Drake into Gibson and reach for the hot tag. Andrews came in with a springboard huracanrana on Gibson right away, then slid under a double clothesline and hit a double Pelé kick on both heels.
Andrews got caught on a moonsault attempt, but managed to turn it into a swinging DDT. Gibson finally managed to thwart another aerial attack by Andrews, kicking his legs off the ropes and following with a forearm, leading into a missile dropkick by Drake and Grit Your Teeth (a running Codebreaker) by Gibson for a near-fall.
Andrews managed to escape a Doomsday Device attempt, make the tag to Webster who sent Gibson to the outside, hit Drake with an enzuigiri from the apron and followed up with an inverted huracanrana from the second turnbuckle, but Gibson managed to make the save. Webster manged to hit a head-butt, sending Gibson staggering, but Gibson managed to pick up Webster and throw him into Andrews who was on the top rope.
The heels tossed Webster out of the ring and grabbed Andrews, but he managed to turn a double suplex attempt into a double Stunt Dog Millionaire. Andrews went to the top to hit the Shooting Star Press on Drake but Fabian Aichner ran out and threw Webster into the steel steps, prompting Andrews to hit a plancha onto him. Meanwhile, Drake tagged out to Gibson without Andrews noticing, so when Andrews finally hit the Shooting Star Press, Drake wasn’t the legal man anymore. Gibson slid into the ring and locked in the Shankly Gates.
After the match, Aichner got back into the ring and attacked Andrews, picking him up for his spinning power bomb but Webster pulled Andrews down at the last second and they managed to send Aichner packing.
A highlight video hyped up Killer Kelly and Nina Samuels, who we were told would be competing next; this was followed by a WWE Custom Tees commercial.
Nina Samuels defeated Killer Kelly in 4:30 after Hell to the Knee-na
Problems with the sound mix continued. Samuels managed to avoid Kelly a few times, before slapping her and getting caught in a wrist lock, but managed to escape to the ropes. Samuels kept teasing Kelly, but only drew the ire of Kelly, who hit a series of forearms and a big boot for a two-count.
Samuels ducked a right hand by Kelly on the apron and snapped the her neck on the top rope. Samuels locked in a sitting full nelson on the mat. Kelly briefly powered out but Samuels locked it back in and hit a snap mare and a a somersault neck snap for another near fall. Kelly was tied up in the ropes and Samuels hit a running dropkick to Kelly’s back for yet another two count.
Samuels locked in another full nelson, but Kelly managed to slide out of the move and roll Nina up. Kelly suplex her into the corner and hit a running basement dropkick for a close near-fall. Kelly tried for a fisherman’s buster but Samuels grabbed one of her pigtails and rammed her into the corner. She followed up with Hell to the Knee-na for the win.
A graphic for our main event was shown followed by a commercial for the AJ Styles 365 special.
Radzi interviewed Fabian Aichner backstage, talking about Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster getting the last laugh. Aichner said that if they thought they could mess with him, they got another thing coming. Webster and Andrews won’t win the NXT tag team titles because Aichner would find himself a partner and win the titles himself.
Joe Coffey defeated “The Kiwi Buzzsaw” Travis Banks in 11:13 after a discuss lariat.
Coffey came out on his own, without his Gallus brethren. Both guys charged each other but Banks started out with strikes and kicks. They had a striking battle early, until Banks hit a shotgun dropkick followed by a swinging kick on the apron. They battled on the outside until Coffey rolled Banks back into the ring, but Banks came flying right back with a topé to the back of Coffey.
Coffey then hit a slingshot on Banks, sending him into the barricades shoulder-first to take the lead. Back in the ring, Coffey started working over Banks’ still injured right shoulder, including locking in a full nelson, which he kept on despite some brief attempts of Banks to escape.Coffey continuously attacked the shoulder with a number of strikes, yanks, and submission holds.
Banks finally hit a few kicks, but Coffey wouldn’t let go of Banks’ arm, until a big knee strike that sent something from Coffey’s mouth flying. He evaded a corner attack by Coffey and hit a dropkick to the back of his head, followed by a Shining Wizard for a near-fall. After a failed attempt at a fisherman’s buster, Coffey took over again with more attacks of the shoulder and a big power slam. Coffey caught him in a spinning bear-hug and hit an overhead belly-to-belly for another near-fall.
They battled on the top rope until Banks hit a head-butt to send Coffey to the mat, followed by a double foot stop to Coffey’s neck and then another double stomp in the corner from the second turnbuckle. Banks hit a fisherman’s buster for a near-fall, hit a hard elbow on Coffey on the apron, sending him to the floor.
Banks followed that one with a suicide dive and rolled Coffey back inside. Banks hit yet another double foot stomp onto Coffey’s back for a close two-count. As Banks missed an aerial attack and rolled through, Coffey hit him with a spear (although it was more a flying shove) into the corner and went for his discuss lariat. Banks blocked it, but Coffey spun around again and successfully hit the discuss lariat for the win.
Next episode:
They didn’t announce anything, but we are heading into the November set of tapings next week, including the start of the NXT UK Tag Team Championship tournament and the debut of a few new faces in NXT UK.
Episode eleven (taped August 26 at the NEC Arena in Birmingham, England)
Quick recap
Pete Dunne successfully defended his WWE UK championship against Jordan Devlin in an outstanding main event, as both men delivered and had a great match. In women’s tag team action, the young up-and-comers Xia Brookside & Millie McKenzie beat the debuting Charlie Morgan & Killer Kelly in a fun match. Eddie Dennis kept his undefeated streak, beating Ashton Smith in another fun match. Joseph Conners beat former tag team partner Saxon Huxley in a slobber knocker mean guy match. All in all an entertaining episode.
Full rundown
Show opened to a graphic promoting the NXT UK women’s title finals next week, when Toni Storm meets Rhea Ripley. Another graphic informed us that Pete Dunne would defend his WWE UK title against Jordan Devlin tonight.
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Xia Brookside & Millie McKenzie beat Charlie Morgan & Killer Kelly in 5:13 when Xia pinned Morgan with a bridging pin
Charlie Morgan, who was trained by Danny Collins and the Knight wrestling family (Paige, her brothers and parents), started out in 2011. She wrestled for all the major UK women’s promotions, such as WAW, Bellatrix and Pro Wrestling: EVE. She also performed for PROGRESS, RevPro and Southside Wrestling Entertainment among others and is a former Bellatrix and EVE champion. She is openly gay and had her coming out at a Pro-Wrestling EVE show in 2017. She also was born prematurely at only 28 weeks old.
Morgan and Xia started out and Xia took her down with a top wrist lock. After some back and forth, Morgan escaped with an impressive headstand. Xia hit a huracanrana and a drop kick and tagged McKenzie, who came in with a swinging neck breaker. Kelly managed to tag in but also quickly got locked in a Fujiwara arm-bar style submission which looked like Millie almost ripped her shoulder out of the socket.
Kelly came back with a surfboard attempt that ended with Millie’s face firmly getting planted in the mat after a hard stomp to the back of the head. Millie eventually came back with a release German suplex, after which both women tagged out. Xia hit a chin breaker and double knees into the corner on Morgan.
She went to the top, but Kelly pulled her off. Meanwhile Millie came in and hit a hard spear on Charlie Morgan, who then got pinned by Xia using a bridging pin.
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We saw Pete Dunne backstage, preparing for his upcoming match.
There was a graphic for Eddie Dennis vs. Ashton Smith, followed by a TLC promo.
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Eddie Dennis beat Ashton Smith in 6:00 after the Neck Stop Driver
This match had been built up for a few weeks, with Dennis telling Smith to watch his debut match and Smith then interrupting Dennis’ backstage interview.
Dennis took Smith down early, but Smith escape and locked in a head lock for a bit. He flipped out of a back suplex attempt, did a leap frog over the much taller Dennis, hit a drop kick that rocked the bigger man and finally a leg lariat that briefly took him down and to ringside. Smith tried a dive as a follow-up, but Dennis caught him mid-move and gave him a black hole slam on the apron.
Back in the ring, Dennis used his judo background and threw Smith, then locked in a cravat and held it for quite a while. Smith finally escaped and hit a springboard dropkick on Dennis who was on the apron. A somersault plancha connected and back in the ring, Smith hit a leg lariat from the top for a near-fall.
He then hit a drop kick on Dennis, who was sitting on the top rope, but failed a superplex attempt as Dennis slipped beneath him and picked him up for the Severed Bridge, a Razor’s Edge style buckle bomb. He followed that his the Neck Stop Driver for the win.
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We took a look back at Joseph Conners turning on Saxon Huxley last week and were informed that this match was next. Also, a WWE Shop commercial aired.
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Joseph Conners pinned Saxon Huxley in 5:16
These two had a mean guy match, right out of a Vinny V dream sequence. The first 90 seconds or so were just punches and kicks, as Huxley tore into Conners with punches and Conners came back with body shots. Huxley got whipped into the corner, but stormed right back out with a shoulder block. Conners came back with a clothesline and more punches, then draped Huxley over the ropes in the corner and rained down some more punches on him. Huxley came back with a knee lift and a dropkick.
Conners escaped an over-the-shoulder power bomb attempt and hit some more. you guessed it, punches. Huxley briefly got the upper hand with a clothesline but Conners hit a nice sit-out spine buster for another near fall. He grabbed Huxley by the hair and screamed “this is my world, you are just visiting” at him, before finishing him off with a kind of reverse-spinebuster-face slam type of move.
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Nigel and Vic were in studio as we got a Toni Storm video with sit-down segments and in-ring highlights, including her winning the Mae Young Classic this year. She said that she always had felt pressure, but if you wanted to be a history maker that’s what it took. Her whole life led up to this point and that this was not something she wanted but she needed.
She said that she was going to be the first NXT UK Women’s champion, after nine years of hard work and sacrifices. She concluded by saying that it was Toni Time.
We saw Jordan Devlin prepare backstage, followed by a WWE 2K19 commercial.
Next, we took a look at Rhea Ripley. She came to the UK to rip the women’s division apart, and that Toni would just be another victim. Toni’s last step was Rhea Ripley, her name was going to be on the NXT UK Women’s title. She will be the first champion and this is where it all ends.
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WWE UK Championship: Pete Dunne (c) submitted Jordan Devlin in 15:07
They locked up right away and Dunne immediately took him down with an arm bar and kept working the arm, but Devlin head scissored his way out amd slapped Dunne, prompting and immediate slap back from Dunne. Dunne tried stomping Devlin’s elbow and forearm, but Devlin rolled out of the way. A monkey flip by Dunne sent Devlin flying. then the champ followed with a hard forearm and an even stiffer lariat.
Dunne worked over Devlin’s arm and when to manipulate his fingers as well. Dunne tried his backflip off the turnbuckle on a whip but Devlin caught him and gave him a back stabber for a two count, which established Dunne’s lower back being hurt. Devlin hit his uranage/standing moonsault combo for a two count.
Dunne came back with a running enzuigiri into the corner, after successfully completing his backflip this time around. Dunne went for a German but got countered and Devlin hit a German of his own, which Dunne flipped over on and landed on his feet and hit a snap German of his own. He followed that by suplex into an arm bar, but Devlin escape by rolling up Dunne.
Devlin hit a running kick that had Dunne down in the corner and in an impressive spot, Devlin pulled Dunne up from the corner by the arm, straight into a backdrop driver for another two count.
After missing a standing moonsault, Dunne stomped his hand but then ran into a Spanish Fly out of nowhere. Devlin couldn’t capitalize on the momentum though, as Dunne immediately locked in a Koji clutch. The action spilled to ringside, and as Dunne tried to stomp Devlin’s arm on the ring steps, Devlin pulled his legs away and Dunne crashed onto the steel steps face-first. Devlin then hit a Spanish Fly off the steps onto the floor, which looked brutal.
They both narrowly got back in the ring at 9. After a double stomp on Devlin’s fingers, Dunne went for the Bitter End, but Devlin countered it into a reverse huracanrana for another near-fall. A quebrada by Devlin was stopped mid-air by a forearm smash by Dunne, who hit the Bitter End, but on landing, hurt his back even more and couldn’t go for the pin. They both were on the apron and Devlin shoved Dunne hard into the ring post back first.
They both got to the top rope and Devlin hit a Super Spanish Fly for a 2.99 cover. Dunne got up in a fighting stance, but Devlin hit a head butt that took both men down. Devlin removed Dunne’s mouth guard and hit a super kick for another close near-fall.
Devlin went for a moonsault, but got caught in a triangle on impact. He managed to briefly touch the ropes, but Dunne rolled over with the triangle still locked in, bent Devlin’s fingers apart, then grabbed the remaining fingers and bent them as well, forcing Devlin to tap.
Devlin sulked backstage, as the Bruiserweight celebrated in the ring.
The show opened with a recap of last year’s tournament, which segued into a video of this year’s competitors.
Michael Cole, Beth Phoenix, and Renee Young are the commentary team.
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Tegan Nox defeated Zatara in a first round match
In her pre-match video package, the masked Zatara said she was the first Chilean wrestler in WWE history. Nox’s video had plenty of footage from PROGRESS.
Nox was the crowd favorite as they exchanged holds early. Nox got the best of her at the start. Zatara reached out for a handshake, but she betrayed Nox by booting her in the gut.
Zatara began working on the knee that Nox injured before last year’s tournament. Nox tried to shake it off during her comeback, the highlight of which was a diving crossbody off the top rope. Nox kicked out after a running double knees in the corner and picked up the win with a Shining Wizard!
A good, solid match to kick off the tournament. Nox will face the winner of the Isla Dawn vs. Nicole Matthews first round match.
Ember Moon and Alexa Bliss were shown applauding in the audience.
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Rhea Ripley defeated MJ Jenkins in a first round match
Ripley said she made a fool out of herself last year, but this is the darker version of her.
Ripley refused the pre-match handshake — and it was on. Jenkins was moving and grooving until she was on the apron and went to jump back in the ring, with Ripley dropkicking her and sending her crashing and burning onto the mats outside the ring. Ripley dominated Jenkins, who did a great job selling. Ripley used the abdominal stretch and dug her elbow right into the ribs.
Jenkins screamed to the heavens as she started her comeback. She hit a high kick and this time connected with the springboard dropkick on Ripley for a two count. Jenkins seemed primed for another big move, but Ripley hit a pumphandle powerbomb for the pin.
Ripley will face the winner of Kacy Catanzaro vs. Reina Gonzalez.
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Lacey Lane defeated Vanessa Kraven in a first round match
Lio Rush was shown ringside before this match.
Lane is the hometown favorite. She’s from Winter Park, Florida and has been in wrestling for two years. Kraven, however, is six feet tall and a 14-year veteran from Montreal. She’s competed all over Canada, Japan, and the United States.
Lane may be a foot (or so) shorter, but she can get her foot high, as she kicked Kraven right in the head. She also used an ugly looking multiple-springboard move, but it still did the trick. They ended up outside the ring, but that was for the worse. Kraven caught Lane and hung her upside down from the top rope. Kraven stalked Lane around the ring, using chops and an over-the-shoulder backbreaker.
Lane tried to fight back and kicked out after a Black Hole Slam, which got the crowd chanting for her. Kraven missed a cannonball splash (that she had hit earlier) and got upset when Lane used a crucifix pin for the win.
Kraven couldn’t believe it and neither could the Full Sail crowd. Lane will now face the winner of Taynara Conti vs. Jessie Elaban.
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Shadia Bseiso interviewed Natalya, who was really happy to be here and said she was rooting for both Mia Yim and Io Shirai to win.
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Meiko Satomura defeated Killer Kelly in a first round match
Want to know how long Satomura has been wrestling? In 1996 and 1997 she lost matches on WCW television, including to Toshie Uematsu on Nitro. Funaki and Tye Dillinger watched from ringside for the main event. Killer Kelly has been wrestling two years but has already competed for NXT UK, Rev Pro, Pro Wrestling EVE, and wXw.
Kelly used her superior speed, but once Satomura got her hands on her, she was twisted like a pretzel. Satomura locked on a single-legged crab and turned that into the best looking STF you’ve seen on WWE TV in 13 years. Kelly was used as a kick pad, as Satomura kicked her in every exposed inch of her body. Kelly came back with a suplex and went for a pump kick, but Satomura used an uppercut. Satomura also used a handspring into a double knee drop.
Kelly got the nearest of near falls with a Perfect Plex, which inspired a “This is Awesome” chant. Satomura was tired of the games and hit a nice looking Death Valley Driver for the pin.
Satomura will face the winner of Ashley Rayne vs. Mercedes Martinez.
So, that does it from night one of the Mae Young Classic. Thank you for reading and I’ll see you again next week!
Nearly half of the lineup for this summer’s Mae Young Classic has now been confirmed.
WWE added four more participants to the 32-wrestler field today. Three of the new additions are returning from last year’s Mae Young Classic, while the other is a newcomer to the tournament.
Mia Yim, Mercedes Martinez, and Kavita Devi will be back this year. Yim and Martinez aren’t under WWE contract, but both made it past the first round in 2017. Martinez, a veteran indie wrestler, lost to Shayna Baszler in the semifinals. Yim was formerly known as Jade in TNA/Impact Wrestling and was defeated by Baszler in the second round.
Devi is from India and lost to Dakota Kai in the opening round last year, with WWE’s clip of their match on YouTube currently having nearly 30 million views. Devi is under contract to WWE and appeared in the WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal this April.
Killer Kelly was the other wrestler announced for the tournament today. Kelly is from Portugal and wrestled on both of WWE’s United Kingdom-brand shows at Royal Albert Hall last month.
UPDATE: WWE originally announced a wrestler named Crystal, who made her in-ring debut in 2016 and calls herself the “Queen of Philippine Wrestling,” for the tournament before removing her from their article. She took part in a WWE tryout in Manila in 2017 and currently wrestles in Southeast Asia. She may be announced at another point as WWE continues their rollout of this year’s participants.
The 2018 Mae Young Classic will be taped at Full Sail University on August 8 and 9. Here’s the updated lineup:
Kaitlyn
Rhea Ripley
Io Shirai
Nicole Matthews
Jinny
Kacy Catanzaro
Deonna Purrazzo
Tegan Nox (formerly known as Nixon Newell)
Jessie Elaban
Reina Gonzalez
Taynara Conti (won a qualifying match at NXT TV tapings)
