The match to determine Kenny Omega’s next International title contender is set.
On Collision, Mark Davis and Ricochet advanced to the finals after winning qualifying matches on Saturday. They will join Orange Cassidy and Speedball Mike Bailey on this coming Wednesday’s Dynamite where the winner will face Kenny Omega for the International title at AEW Dynasty on April 21.
Ricochet opened Collision by pinning Katsuyori Shibata after Shibata missed a penalty kick, allowing Ricochet to roll him up and use the ropes for leverage. In the other qualifying match, Davis defeated Briscoe with the help of Lance Archer and Brian Cage. Archer took the referee as Cage knocked Briscoe off the top rope, allowing Davis to plant Briscoe with a piledriver to advance.
The Don Callis Family pulls the strings once again, helping Mark Davis claim the last spot in the AEW Dynasty International Championship Eliminator Tournament 4-Way!
A new match between Megan Bayne and Kris Statlander was also announced for this coming Wednesday. Bayne continued her assault on AEW’s women’s division on Collision, attacking Thunder Rosa as she was cutting a promo. Despite the attack, Rosa decided to compete against Bayne anyway later in the night, coming up short.
The lineup for the Wednesday, March 19 AEW Dynamite:
AEW World Champion Jon Moxley defends against Cope in a street fight
AEW International title eliminator four-way: Mike Bailey vs. Orange Cassidy vs. Mark Davis vs. Ricochet
The teased new member of the Don Callis Family was revealed on Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite to be Mark Davis, formerly of Aussie Open.
Davis took on a very surprised Will Ospreay on Wednesday, but ended up falling in defeat after getting nailed with a Hidden Blade.
The twist is that Davis was formerly aligned with Ospreay and Kyle Fletcher in the United Empire faction. After missing a year due to a wrist and knee injury, he made his surprise return on the October 30th Dynamite to confront Fletcher who had joined the Callis Family at that point.
No reason was given for his turn back to being a heel other than Callis saying that when Davis was in the hospital, he had given Fletcher power of attorney, so Callis basically owned him now. Davis did appear to glare at Callis coming out to the ring.
In subsequent matches, he teamed with Ospreay, Powerhouse Hobbs and Ricochet against the Callis Family but there were no signs of friction. He also unsuccessfully competed in the Dynamite diamond battle royal and the ROH men’s TV title Survival of the Fittest match at ROH Final Battle before disappearing off AEW TV in mid-December.
Brian Cage will defend the Ring of Honor men’s TV title at next Friday’s Final Battle in a six-way Survival of the Fittest match.
Cage will face AR Fox, Willie Mack, Mark Davis, Blake Christian and Komander in the elimination-style bout taking place at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City.
Cage has two title defenses since winning the gold at October’s WrestleDream, coming against Fox and Komander.
Here’s the current card for the HonorClub streaming special:
ROH World Champion Chris Jericho defends against Matt Cardona
ROH Women’s World Champion Athena defends against Billie Starkz
ROH Tag Team Champions Sons of Texas (Dustin Rhodes & Sammy Guevara) defend against The Righteous (Vincent & Dutch)
ROH women’s TV Champion Red Velvet defends against Leyla Hirsch
ROH men’s TV Champion Brian Cage defends against AR Fox, Willie Mack, Mark Davis, Blake Christian and Komander in a Survival of the Fittest match
After a year’s absence, Mark Davis made his return on AEW Fright Night Dynamite to confront his former Aussie Open partner and friend, Kyle Fletcher.
Fletcher was surprised to see him but when he went in for a hug, Davis rejected him. Davis called him out for his recent treatment of Will Ospreay, turning on him at October’s WrestleDream and costing him the AEW International title.
Fletcher then fired back and said Don Callis has shown him the truth. He said while Ospreay has forgot about Fletcher, he never did and he made sure Davis had a spot in the Don Callis Family. Davis had no interest and walked away, but Fletcher made a point to say there would come a day when he had to make a hard decision and that he’s shown he has no problem in cutting the past loose.
The 34-year-old Davis broke his wrist at last year’s WrestleDream when he and Fletcher lost to then-AEW Tag Team Champions FTR.
Kyle Fletcher’s #UnitedEmpire partner Mark Davis is BACK!
AEW head Tony Khan spoke to the media for an hour Thursday ahead of Saturday’s All Out, giving updates about his impending TV rights renewal with likely partner WBD, injury updates on Powerhouse Hobbs and Mark Davis, and Sting’s status with the company.
He also shared what he considered an “insane stat.”
The full audio from the call can be heard below.
**********
On the TV rights end, Khan continued to heavily suggest that they will be renewing with WBD and are continuing to have “great conversations” with them. No timetable was given, but he said recent media reports about the deal are accurate without specifically saying which ones.
He again said the deal is in the red zone and will be a “huge touchdown” for AEW. It’s just waiting to be pushed in.
**********
Khan said he’s been learning a lot about AEW fans during the TV rights negotiations, including some information he didn’t even know about his company.
He then talked about how much wrestling fans have changed in terms of knowing the news and the business. He said it’s a golden age now and AEW is a huge part of the wrestling conversation now. Historically, the avidity has never been higher: a word he used several times during this portion of the call.
One stat he made a point to call “insane:” Of all the world’s sports leagues, the league whose fans spend the most per month on streaming video is AEW. He did not cite his source or other details on where that stat came from.
**********
Khan was asked if Sting remained under any kind of AEW contract given his recent appearance at All In. Khan didn’t answer directly, saying Sting was in the “AEW family” and was also recently backstage in Dallas, Texas, during their residency in Arlington.
**********
He also gave updates on two injured talents in Powerhouse Hobbs and Mark Davis. He confirmed Hobbs had been backstage recently to visit doctors, and that Davis had surgery on his arm. He didn’t provide any timeline for when either could be back, nor if Davis would be paired up with Aussie Open partner Mark Davis upon his return.
Other notes:
Asked about a potential women’s Casino gauntlet match perhaps at All Out, Khan said he thinks it would good to build one up and advertise it in the future. He wouldn’t commit to doing one this weekend.
Asked about their relationship with GCW and Josh Barnett, Khan said he likes and respects Barnett a lot but doesn’t really know the GCW team that well.
Injury updates are available for multiple AEW wrestlers.
Aussie Open’s Mark Davis has been out of action since suffering a broken wrist at AEW WrestleDream last October. Kyle Fletcher recently told WGN Radio that there is still no timetable for his tag team partner’s return.
“I can’t speak exactly on what’s going on right now with him. I think that’s his story to tell, I don’t want to be that person but he’s doing good. He will definitely be back at some stage, we don’t have an exact timeline but yeah, I can’t wait to get back in the ring with him,” Fletcher said.
The Blade and The Bunny updated fans on their status during a virtual signing with K&S Wrestlefest recently as well. The Blade has been out of action since February with a back injury but says he hopes to return by AEW All In.
“Just on the injured reserve right now but yes, still with the company,” Blade said.
Later during the signing, he was asked if he’ll be back in time for AEW All In.
“I’m hoping so,” Blade responded. “My back’s bad, it’s slowly but surely getting better but I’m hoping to be back in a couple of months.”
Blade also said he’ll be at AEW’s show in his hometown of Buffalo next week.
In April, Blade wrote on Instagram, “I’m currently off the road nursing a lower back injury. 2 bulging discs, L2 L3 and L4 L5. Plus two ruptured discs, L3 L4 and L5 S1. I’d like to thank @aew and @tonyrkhan for giving me this time off to heal.”
The Bunny hasn’t wrestled since September. She was removed from the AEW roster page in November and says she’s currently taking a hiatus from wrestling.
“I’m figure skating right now and I’m loving it. I’m acting and I’m taking a little hiatus from breaking my body weekly,” Bunny said. “19 years, I think I deserve a little break. Never say never but as of right now, I’m really enjoying my figure skating and acting. It’s very fun.”
“I have a project coming up but I can’t talk about it yet but I do have a project coming up that’s very exciting. It’s horror-related,” she added.
Sunday’s AEW WrestleDream saw two wrestlers walk away injured while another injury has turned out to be part of a storyline.
Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez discussed the following on last night’s Wrestling Observer Radio recap show, available for subscribers via audio or video.
After a nasty bump on ringside steps courtesy of TNT Champion Christian Cage in the main event, Darby Allin had his right arm in a sling and was headed to a local hospital to have it looked at. As of this writing, no further update is available.
Allin eventually lost to Cage in the best two-of-three falls match that saw Nick Wayne turn on Allin and Adam “Edge” Copeland make his debut to assist Allin and Sting to close the event.
Mark Davis has a possible broken left wrist after taking a top rope splash from Cash Wheeler during the FTR vs. Aussie Open AEW Tag Team title match. Davis was favoring the wrist for the duration of the match, but gutted it out as his team eventually succumbed to the champions.
Tony Khan did not confirm the extent of the injury at the post-event press conference. Alvarez couldn’t confirm 100%, but said he had someone suggest to him that was the case.
Davis later tweeted he snapped his wrist:
sometimes you win em, sometimes you snap your wrist
On a positive note, the eventual pulling of AEW International Champion Rey Fenix during the four-way no. 1 contenders’ tag team match on the PPV was storyline according to Alvarez who first tweeted the news during the show.
Fenix deal was an injury angle to try to protect him for Wednesday given he's really banged up
Fenix was favoring his taped-up left shoulder during early spots in the match and eventually disappeared, leaving his brother Penta El Zero Miedo to fend for himself. He was eventually pinned by the Young Bucks who earned the future title shot. Fenix will defend his title against Nick Jackson on this Wednesday’s Dynamite.
We have some updates from all the injuries over the past week plus since what was discussed on last night’s Wrestling Observer Radio.
– There is nothing confirmed on Mercedes Mone past it was either an ankle or a foot injury.
– Mark Davis of Aussie Open had arthroscopic surgery on his knee to repair a torn meniscus. Aussie Open vacated both the New Japan Strong and IWGP Tag Team titles because they would be unable to make their already advertised defense at the June 4 Dominion show in Osaka.
Both titles will be up for grabs at Dominion in a match with EVIL & Yujiro Takahashi vs. Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI. Both teams were to face Aussie Open in a three-way for the IWGP Tag Team only. Because there was no timetable for Davis to return, they vacated the Strong titles as well.
But those close to Davis have said he’ll be back very soon, citing six weeks or perhaps even shorter.
– Dakota Kai’s injury was confirmed as a torn ACL. The injury took place in the same match on May 12 that Liv Morgan was injured in with Raquel Rodriguez & Morgan vs. Kai & Bayley for the WWE Women’s Tag Team titles. The word was that she was injured after Morgan suffered her shoulder injury and the knee injury came in a spot where she knew Morgan was hurt and was trying to protect her.
KaI is scheduled for surgery tomorrow.
– Will Ospreay appeared in great pain last night from his right shoulder after his win over Hiroshi Tanahashi in Long Beach, California. He had just returned from an injury to the A/C joint suffered in a match with Davis in the New Japan Cup.
We’ve heard nothing regarding being out of action, only that he was in pain and his actions at the end of the match weren’t selling but were legitimate.
With Mark Davis out of action, German wrestler Lucky Kid has been added to ROH’s United Kingdom tour.
ROH revealed yesterday that Lucky Kid will be replacing the injured Davis on this month’s Honor United events. Davis announced earlier this week that an MRI has revealed that he suffered a ruptured MCL and torn ACL last month. The injury happened when Davis was warming up before a PWG Battle of Los Angeles show.
Davis wrote that the recovery time is looking quite extensive, but he promised to work as hard as he can to come back as soon as possible.
Davis had been set to team with his Aussie Open tag team partner Kyle Fletcher on the ROH UK tour. Fletcher will now team with Lucky Kid on all three Honor United shows. They’ll face PCO & Brody King in London, England on October 25, The Briscoes in Newport, Wales on October 26, and Marty Scurll & Flip Gordon in Bolton, England on October 27.
Lucky Kid was the winner of this year’s wXw 16 Carat Gold tournament. He also took part in PWG’s Battle of Los Angeles last month.
ROH has announced appearances by “Speedball” Mike Bailey and Aussie Open for next month’s United Kingdom tour.
Bailey will make his ROH debut in a match against Bandido at ROH’s Honor United show in Bolton, England on Sunday, October 27. That event will also feature Jeff Cobb challenging either Matt Taven or Rush for the ROH World Championship. Taven is defending his World title against Rush at Death Before Dishonor on September 27.
Bailey, who is from Canada, hasn’t wrestled in the United States since 2016 due to visa trouble.
Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) will face Villain Enterprises (PCO & Brody King) at ROH’s Honor United show in London, England on Friday, October 25. Fletcher & Davis won Revolution Pro Wrestling’s Road to Royal Quest tournament last month, which led to them unsuccessfully challenging for the IWGP Tag Team titles at NJPW Royal Quest in London.
ROH’s Honor United tour will be streamed on HonorClub. It also has a stop in Newport, Wales on Saturday, October 26. LifeBlood (Bandido & Tracy Williams) vs. Villain Enterprises (Marty Scurll & Flip Gordon) has been announced for that show.
Fight Club: PRO ran its third event of 2019 on Friday, with International Tekkers boasting a stacked card.
Only one match involved performers that are local to the promotion. Of course, what it means to be local to Fight Club: PRO is broader than the usual promotion, as Fight Club: PRO runs a training school that has become a magnet for pro wrestlers from Australia, New Zealand, and Canada looking to further their career by moving to the United Kingdom.
For the uninitiated, Fight Club: PRO is the closest that Britain has to PWG. Co-owned by WWE UK wrestler Trent Seven, it runs monthly events in Wolverhampton that showcase both local wrestlers and those from Japan, Mexico, and America. Like PWG, it is often seen as primarily a live event promotion, with a combination of dream matches, top-quality action, and comedy making for a great live experience.
However, 2019 has seen Fight Club: PRO finally take the VOD plunge, with them launching the Fight Club: PRO Unlimited subscription service, having previously only made its events available for individual purchase.
Historically, Fight Club: PRO had been closely identified with the three men who make up British Strong Style, however throughout 2018 they were de-emphasized, before losing a “losers leave town” match in December. Instead, the big dividing line has been Chris Brookes’ Schadenfreude stable and their battles with promotion co-owner Martin Zaki and their attempts to take the title from the woman who seized it from Brookes — Meiko Satomura.
Schadenfreude is comprised of Brookes, Kid Lykos, Jonathan Gresham, Timothy Thatcher, Kyle Fletcher, and Mark Davis. WALTER had previously been a member but was removed last month, probably as part of The Ring General reducing his non-WWE/wXw commitments.
While the event wasn’t quite sold out, the first time that has happened for a Friday show in their new venue, it must have come close with The Hangar being very busy. It’s also worth noting that the presentation has received another upgrade with the ring entrance now boasting a three screen set up very similar to wXw, and more wrestlers now having “TitanTron” style entrance videos.
Chris Brookes (w/ Kid Lykos) defeated CIMA
Brookes defeated CIMA by making him submit to the Octopus Hold. This was a surprising result considering that CIMA has always been booked strong when making appearances in Fight Club: PRO.
The story of the match was Brookes repeatedly feigning a knee injury to both disrupt his opponent’s momentum — and to distract the referee so Lykos could attack CIMA. Currently away from the ring due to an injury he suffered in January at PROGRESS, Lykos seemed pretty much back to full fitness, including being able to do a dive to the outside.
Much like Brookes’ match against Ryusuke Taguchi at Revolution Pro Wrestling’s Uprising show last year, while the action did not hit the heights of his tag team matches, this was a fun match where the Brit carried himself as a superstar.
Dan Moloney defeated Timothy Thatcher
Having somewhat disappeared in 2018, Moloney is looking to re-establish himself after his WWE UK contract ended. This was a good showcase for him, as he hung in there with one of the world’s best.
As one would expect from a Thatcher match, there was a lot of striking and submission wrestling exchanges. Moloney got the surprise submission victory with a leglock, after the promotion’s colorful producer, G-Man, distracted Thatcher to continue their feud. It looks increasingly likely that Thatcher and G-Man will meet in the ring.
Sendai Girls Junior Champion Millie McKenzie defeated Charli Evans to retain her title
This was the only match of the night that was between two people based in the West Midlands, with Evans being one of the many Australasians who have come to Wolverhampton to train with Fight Club: PRO.
While she’s been booked more as an underdog in PROGRESS, across the Midlands, McKenzie is one of the most popular wrestlers, with her trademark being a style based around hitting lots of suplexes a la Brock Lesnar. Having only just finished junior college, McKenzie has started to spread her wings internationally — recently appearing in both Germany and Japan. During her most recent Japanese tour, she won the Sendai Girls Junior Championship.
This match was booked following Evans attacking McKenzie after she defeated Yuu last month. It was very much fought as a grudge match, with both wrestlers frequently exchanging short punches and elbows. They also brawled on the outside, which given their height, meant stretches of the match weren’t visible to most of the crowd. Still, they worked hard, putting together an intense match that McKenzie won with her trademark spear.
After the match, Evans and McKenzie seemed on the verge of reconciliation, before the emcee announced that Fight Club: PRO would host Sendai Girls’ first-ever UK show on Saturday, July 27 in Manchester. That means the UK will have both major Joshi promotions run shows in conjunction with local promotions within a month, as Stardom are working with Pro Wrestling: EVE for Wrestle Queendom II on Sunday, June 30.
The Besties in the World (Damian Vega & Mat Fitchett) defeated The Anti-Fun Police (Damien Dunne & Santos), Grizzled Young Veterans (Zack Gibson & James Drake), and The Hunter Brothers to win the Fight Club: PRO Tag Team titles
This was initially framed as The Hunter Brothers issuing an open challenge for their Tag Team titles, which was surprisingly answered by the NXT UK Tag Team Champions, neither of whom have a preexisting relationship with Fight Club: PRO.
Naturally, Zack Gibson cut a brilliant promo, which was one killer line after killer line. Highlights included him noting that Fight Club: PRO proves that “you can indeed polish a turd” and that 90 percent of the crowd only come because they “want to shag the wrestlers at the after party” (Fight Club: PRO is famous for fans and performers going to The Giffard pub for drinks afterwards).
Before the match could start, The Anti-Fun Police, who have gone from being a Right to Censor-esque heel gimmick to one of the more popular acts on the British circuit, and Besties in the World, who were warmly received when they’ve previously appeared in Fight Club: PRO, added themselves to the match.
This was the type of crazy multi-person match, which for better or worse depending on your tastes, Fight Club: PRO is famous for. There were lots of big moves and dives, as the sheer number of men involved meant the action never had to slow down. There was also some comedy, as with the match being worked under rules where only two men were legal at any one time, Santos and Dunne had to work through the implications of them being tagged into the match at the same time.
The Besties in the World ultimately secured the victory and the titles by pinning Dunne. This was a lot of fun, and will presumably set up The Hunter Brothers looking to avenge their loss.
Rey Horus defeated El Phantasmo
This was originally scheduled to be Horus vs. Jordan Devlin, but the Irish Ace was pulled from the match the morning of the show, for unknown reasons. El Phantasmo was the obvious replacement, especially since he had already announced on Twitter his intention of being at the show.
This was El Phantasmo’s first time appearing for Fight Club: PRO since New Japan Pro Wrestling began airing the vignettes which both teased his forthcoming debut and hinted that he would be aligned with Bullet Club. That was built into his presentation throughout this match, with him not only now donning a leather jacket — but also frequently using Bullet Club mannerisms.
In many ways, this was probably a more natural pairing than the advertised match, with both men adept at hitting big high-flying moves. The end came after both men were on the top rope, and Horus managed to hit a rolling super powerbomb for the victory.
Daisuke Sekimoto defeated Kyle Fletcher (w/ Chris Brookes and Kid Lykos)
Before the match began, Brookes tried to persuade Sekimoto to lay down for Fletcher and join Schadenfreude. It was a funny promo, which referenced the fact that both men had been in Germany for last weekend’s wXw 16 Carat Gold tournament, with Brookes even talking about lending Sekimoto his phone charger.
Sekimoto rejected the offer, though he wasn’t quite able to tear the Schadenfreude shirt — which I suppose is a testament to the high quality of the merchandise.
If you have not seen Sekimoto in person, then you cannot appreciate how huge a man he is. Fletcher did very well to look credible against one of the widest, most muscular men in pro wrestling. Having turned down his heel mannerisms for his excellent match against Will Ospreay at the previous month’s event, Fletcher was back to being the sniveling coward that he’s proven surprisingly adept at playing since he turned heel back in June.
Despite Brookes and Lykos being ringside, the interference was kept to a minimum as the two men had a very good match that Sekimoto won with a bridging suplex.
Mark Davis defeated Meiko Satomura to win the Fight Club: PRO World Championship
This was Meiko Satomura’s sixth visit to Wolverhampton in 18 months, having first made the trip to lead her Sendai Girls team in an unsuccessful defense of their Chikara King of Trios title, at a weekend of events hosted by Fight Club: PRO. For the first time since British Strong Style triumphed in that memorable final, she would taste defeat, as Davis won an epic contest to bring Satomura’s 11-month reign as Fight Club: PRO World Champion to a close.
For a promotion that is often (unfairly in my opinion) criticized for its crowd not taking matches seriously, this was a heated encounter with the overwhelming majority of the crowd cheering on the champion. The match was a war, with both competitors laying in hard strikes throughout. Davis is one of the hardest choppers in pro wrestling — up there with both WALTER and Pentagon Jr., both of whom he’s faced within the past six weeks. Meanwhile, Satomura’s kicks make Daniel Bryan look like The Miz.
They brawled across The Hanger, with Davis bleeding from the forehead after being dropped on the ring apron. He was also put through a table, with Satomura countering an attempted super powerbomb to the outside into a running Death Valley Driver.
It seemed that Satomura was on course to win, hitting two axe-kicks as she tried to put away her larger foe. Davis collapsed before she could hit a third, with the referee preventing Satomura from pressing her advantage. Davis regrouped to hit a sit-down piledriver for the victory.
Schadenfreude celebrated Davis’ victory in the ring. When they got to the back, Davis cut an impassioned promo that speaks well to his ability to grow into the role of being a singles champion.
After they left, the rest of the roster came down to ringside to give Satomura a guard honor, with everybody in The Hangar applauding her for both the great matches she had as champion and her crucial support for the promotion’s recent show in Japan. In a surprise move, Trent Seven made his first on-camera appearance at a Fight Club: PRO show since December to embrace her on the entrance ramp.
It was an emotional end to what was another great show from Fight Club: PRO. And in many ways, this was just an appetizer for next month, where they hold the third Dream Tag Team Invitational tournament that will feature (among others) PAC & Eita, LAX, and The Lucha Bros.
Fight Club: PRO International Tekkers 2019 will shortly be available as part of the Fight Club: PRO Unlimited Streaming Service which can be purchased for approximately $8 at https://vimeo.com/ondemand/fightclubprounlimited. Their next live event is Fight for Destiny, which takes place on Thursday, April 4 in Queens, New York.
York Hall in London wasn’t quite sold out, but it was pretty full and had a great atmosphere for the night.
– Taichi defeated Chris Brookes (15:03)
Taichi kept leaving the ring and avoiding Brookes at the start, and when they eventually came to blows, a crazy brawl erupted all around the arena. The two had good chemistry when back in the ring and had a decent back-and-forth match.
Brookes had Taichi in a submission when El Desperado came out and distracted the official — who then didn’t see Taichi tap out. Will Ospreay came down to even the odds (despite not yet being cleared to wrestle) and went to hit Desperado with Taichi’s mic stand, but Taichi ducked and Ospreay hit Brookes, and then got a superkick from Taichi.
Taichi took advantage and submitted Brookes after a low blow. After the match, Ospreay apologized and raised Brookes’ hand, only for Brookes to turn on him and give the still-injured Ospreay a moderate beatdown. This was expertly booked and the crowd lapped it up.
– The Great-O-Kharn defeated Shane Taylor (7:14)
Lord Gideon Grey came out and said that RevPro had given in to his demands for The Dominator to have a match, but said it would be against a mystery opponent. Shane Taylor came down to little reaction and got an alright match out of the improving O-Kharn
There were a lot of strikes and suplexes, but O-Kharn won fairly quickly with a chokeslam after interference from Gideon Grey. Taylor got a good ovation at the end. This was a pleasant surprise on the card and O-Kharn remains undefeated.
– Josh Bodom defeated Chris Ridgeway (8:19)
This started off very hot with both wrestlers wanting to get at the other. They fit a lot into a short amount of time here, as the match hit top gear a few minutes in.
Ridgeway went crazy with kicks and nearly won with an ankle lock. Bodom was incredible. He did a picture-perfect moonsault to the outside, followed by a tombstone on the apron and a Bliss Buster for the win. Bodom was busted open halfway through and looked sadistic with blood all over his body — this was a really good showing from him, as per usual.
– El Phantasmo defeated El Desperado (15:58)
As is often the case, the first half main event was stellar. It started off pretty fast paced as both men ran the ropes and got the crowd involved. They slowed down a bit, with Desperado gaining control until Phantasmo started to get the upper hand, leaping all over the place with the crowd firmly in his corner.
The last few minutes were insanity, with all sorts of near falls as the crowd became very invested. Phantasmo won this with his swanton and moonsault combination and received a huge ovation. Phantasmo is a superstar and it is only a matter of time before he is signed up somewhere.
– Satoshi Kojima defeated WALTER (11:40)
Kojima is incredibly over in the United Kingdom and WALTER is a pretty effective heel, so this made for a good dynamic. WALTER chopped the life out of Kojima, who kept on attempting to fire up but being swatted down.
Eventually, Kojima quickly won with a lariat in what was barely a three count — a clearly improvised finish due to WALTER being apparently hurt. WALTER was taken to the back with the medics, but it didn’t seem to be too serious.
Kojima cut a promo and was about to challenge Tomohiro Ishii until Bodom came out announcing he was moving up to heavyweight. He said Kojima was the past and he was the future, while demolishing a loaf of bread, much to the distress of the leader of Bread Club.
The match could have gotten very good had it not ended abruptly — but regardless, you have to again question the booking of WALTER here. It genuinely baffles me why he isn’t treated as a bigger star in RevPro and there was no need for Kojima to win this.
– MK McKinnan defeated “Speedball” Mike Bailey (14:37)
This was Bailey’s return to York Hall after an over two-year absence following his incredible run in 2016. It was awesome to finally see him back. McKinnan was clearly not that over at the start of the match and the crowd was pretty worn out too, however this incredible match brought them right back up.
Both men wrestled really well, starting off on the mat before going to the top rope and the ramp. Bailey hit his double-knee moonsault on the apron, there was a massive superplex, and several great near falls. McKinnan got Bailey in a choke and elbowed him till he passed out.
This was really good stuff, and a very strong win for McKinnan, who has looked fantastic since returning. Hopefully Bailey can stick around too as he’s such a valuable asset.
– Undisputed British Tag Team Champions Minoru Suzuki & Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) to retain their titles (21:50)
This had a really big-fight feel as both teams have been pretty invincible in RevPro this year. Suzuki dominated both opponents early on, scaring Fletcher, who was worked over for a lot of this. Davis tagged in and ran wild before being worn down by Suzuki’s submission-based offense.
Davis tagged Fletcher back in for an awesome staredown between Fletcher and Suzuki — Fletcher finally facing his fear. However, just as Fletcher was getting the upper hand, Sabre came in and they started applying double submissions. Davis eventually broke it up and Aussie Open hit their double-team finishers, each of them being kicked out of. Then while Sabre had Davis in a submission, Suzuki pinned Fletcher with the Gotch-style piledriver.
This was an odd result, — Aussie Open had been building to this since January and I’m not sure where they go from here.
– Undisputed British Heavyweight Champion Tomohiro Ishii defeated Undisputed British Cruiserweight Champion David Starr to retain his title (19:07)
The build to this match was great, with Starr claiming he is not just the best cruiserweight but the best wrestler. The match was designed to appeal to the fans who object to NJPW talent holding RevPro titles and would prefer full-time champions like Starr.
Starr mocked Ishii’s walk and stance, while Ishii just stared down his opponent. Starr outwrestled Ishii early on, being too technical, nimble, and agile for the heavyweight and wearing him down. As you’d expect, Ishii came firing back with heavy forearms, but Starr was able to match him and never gave up despite taking a beating.
They exchanged more strikes and chops, with Ishii often no selling Starr’s strikes and even hitting the best superplex I’ve ever seen. Starr hit a combination of lariats and followed with a Han Stansen — but Ishii kicked out at one. Ishii then hit his brainbuster for the win.
A really good main event and the crowd was very into Starr potentially being a double champion. After the match, Suzuki-gun attacked Ishii and Sabre announced that he never got his rematch from when Ishii beat him for the title back in April. Sabre will get his rematch at Wrestle Kingdom 13. The crowd loved this announcement — it almost made up for Starr not winning.
Final thoughts —
This was an excellent show from top to bottom, with every match ranging from good to incredible. RevPro is often criticized for being all in-ring and no story, but they did very well to combat that at this show. The three big angles were really well booked and will lead to other matches down the line, with the Ospreay/Taichi stuff and Sabre/Ishii stuff standing out in terms of story.
The in-ring side was as good as ever, with The McKinnan vs. Bailey match, Phantasmo vs. Desperado, and obviously the main event standing out. The only concern is in the booking decisions. The main criticism of RevPro right now is that the NJPW guys that come over always win, after at Global Wars UK when every New Japan guy won except from against El Phantasmo. This was again the case here.
The WALTER loss hurt, as well as both Starr and Aussie Open losing their title matches. I think most people assumed at least one of Ishii and Suzuki-gun would lose their titles and neither did, which came as a surprise. It does make the RevPro roster look weak if they always lose to NJPW guys and it’s certainly an issue that needs addressing before more of the fan base become angered.
