AEW has revealed Kenny Omega’s new opponent for All Out.
With Jon Moxley off the pay-per-view, Omega is now facing PAC at All Out. Omega vs. Moxley had originally been set, but Moxley announced today that he won’t be able to wrestle at All Out because a serious case of MRSA has returned in his elbow.
This will be PAC’s debut for AEW. He was supposed to face Hangman Page at Double or Nothing, but PAC was removed from that match due to creative differences. PAC vs. Page instead took place for WrestleGate in Nottingham, England ahead of All Out.
PAC was also supposed to team with Pentagon Jr. & Fenix against Omega & The Young Bucks at Fyter Fest. Laredo Kid instead took his place in that match.
PAC lost Dragon Gate’s Open the Dream Gate Championship to Ben-K last month.
All Out will also be the first time PAC has wrestled in the United States since leaving WWE. The PPV is taking place at the Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois on Saturday, August 31. Here’s the updated card:
Chris Jericho vs. Hangman Page for the AEW World Championship
Kenny Omega vs. PAC
AAA Tag Team Champions The Lucha Bros (Pentagon Jr. & Fenix) defending against The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) in a ladder match
Cody Rhodes vs. Shawn Spears
Hikaru Shida vs. Riho
Darby Allin vs. Joey Janela vs. Jimmy Havoc
Best Friends (Trent Barreta & Chuck Taylor) vs. The Dark Order (Evil Uno & Stu Grayson) (winning team gets a first-round bye in AEW’s Tag Team title tournament)
Women’s Casino Battle Royale (pre-show)
Private Party (Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen) vs. Angelico & Jack Evans (pre-show)
No, it’s not the last time Adam Rose won a match. (Well, it might be, but probably not.)
Instead, for only the second time in their then-young history, NXT streamed a live special on the WWE Network. Following in the footsteps of a critically acclaimed NXT Arrival special three months earlier, the stars of developmental geared up one more time for something called NXT TakeOver.
Five years later, TakeOver has become the hottest regular special on the Network. Playing to sold out arenas in Brooklyn, London, Dallas, Toronto, San Antonio, Orlando, Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, New Orleans, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Bridgeport, CT, this past Saturday, it has become an elite level event.
But, it had to start somewhere.
Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida, had just passed the two-year anniversary of their relationship with WWE and believe it or not, once upon a time they not only had trouble filling that tiny little arena, they had trouble even getting people to stay for the entire television taping. Regularly, they would give out far more tickets than available since many free ticket holders didn’t even bother to show up. That would eventually cease to be an issue.
Now that 25 TakeOvers are in the book, what better time to go into the Wayback Machine and look at the very first TakeOver event and what eventually happened to the 12 men and women who graced the ring that night?
Adam Rose pinned Camacho in 5:08
(Dave Meltzer’s rating: *1/4)
Rose was the repackaged Leo Kruger, who had just debuted on the main roster in a gimmick that didn’t have much of a chance; a more talented version of No Way Jose with only slightly more credibility. He would eventually turn heel and form the Social Outcasts with fellow NXT failures Bo Dallas, Curtis Axel and Heath Slater before requesting his release in May 2016 following an arrest for domestic abuse. The charges were later dropped and Rose continued working independents for the next three years. He has since announced his retirement with his final match set for mid-June 14 against fellow NXT alum Bull James (Bull Dempsey).
This may not have been Rose’s last win, but it was the last televised match for Camacho who got fired that June. He spent a year in TNA before crossing the Pacific Ocean to join New Japan as Tanga Loa. He has since become a five-time IWGP tag team champion, a 3-time NEVER Openweight 6-Man tag team champion, and an ROH tag team champion. Needless to say, he is one of the successes, albeit inadvertent, coming out of this show.
With that said, the biggest stars in the match were not the people inside the ring, but a few of them outside the ring. As mentioned, Rose was the original No Way Jose and with it came his own band of weirdly dressed misfits who just happened to be a lot of developmental wrestlers and a few random locals. Mixed in with Justin Gabriel in a bunny suit and Simon Gotch, you also had Braun Strowman, Alexa Bliss, and one of only two people on the entire show to be in the main event of WrestleMania: Becky Lynch.
NXT Tag Team Champions The Ascension defeated El Local & Kalisto in 6:17
(Dave Meltzer’s rating: *1/4)
Oh, The Ascension. They were tag team champions for an entire year, which sounds sort of impressive until you realize they literally were the only team in NXT for over six months. They had a weekly gimmick where they would issue an open challenge to any team in the world, which was usually just two random developmental guys teamed up. Long forgotten is that they also had a win over Davey Richards & Eddie Edwards and the hardest thing to believe, especially given how WWE is now, is that they didn’t offer contracts to either man, who eventually both went to TNA.
The Ascension got called up in December 2014 and it’s debatable whether or not they had the talent to go anywhere, but it can be argued that they were sabotaged from the start as the announcers were instructed to bury them from the word go. It didn’t help that they were scripted to mock the Legion of Doom which got the wrong kind of heat with a lot of people, especially those who should have known better. They would go on to be poster boys for NXT failures. Even more insane is since they teamed with Cody Rhodes to win a six-man tag on the 2015 Night of Champions pre-show, they have only won three matches as a team. At this point, neither has wrestled since the night after WrestleMania 35 where they lost a WWE Main Event match to Heavy Machinery.
El Local is a name that probably won’t ring any bells, but you know him better as Ricardo Rodriguez. After finishing up his run as the ring announcer for both Alberto Del Rio and Rob Van Dam, Ricardo donned a mask and tried to take over the NXT tag team division. That didn’t work out and he was released two months later.
Kalisto had a bit of success after forming a team with Sin Cara. They were NXT tag team champions as the Lucha Dragons and had a decent run on the main roster. Kalisto would go on to become a 2-time U.S. Champion (including defending the title at WrestleMania) and cruiserweight champion.
Tyler Breeze pinned Sami Zayn in 15:54
(Dave Meltzer’s rating: ***1/2)
In some ways, Breeze’s run on the main roster is an even bigger disappointment than The Ascension’s. In NXT, he was a top of the card heel, almost always in the NXT title picture, and was the one chosen to face Jushin Thunder Liger when Liger came to NXT for that one-off performance.
Breeze would have one great match after another with just about everyone on the roster from Zayn to Neville to Finn Balor to Hideo Itami. After being called up to the main roster, he had a brief fling with Summer Rae and proceeded to go nowhere for over three years. The only whiff of success he had was when he formed a team with Fandango and was part of a seven-month long storyline in 2017 that paid off by being squashed by the Bludgeon Brothers. Can he reclaim what he had with his return to NXT?
Zayn was NXT’s Daniel Bryan: an incredibly talented, incredibly well liked, main event loser. He lost far more often than he won, but his failures and the story of him overcoming those losses made him even more beloved and sent the NXT crowd into a tizzy when he finally won the NXT Championship. He has had a decent amount of success on the main roster, but seems to lose his momentum with multiple injuries. However, he has wrestled on the main card of two WrestleManias, including in a top match at 34 when he was part of the aforementioned Bryan’s return match.
Before the next match, Lana came out and introduced Rusev to the world. He had just joined the main roster and began his year-long undefeated streak. As Lana put Vladimir Putin over, they were interrupted by beloved babyface Mojo Rawley. Mojo challenged Rusev to a fight, ran to the ring…and Rusev laid him out quite easily. Mojo couldn’t have been a bigger loser and even his biggest win on the main roster (the 2017 Andre The Giant Battle Royal) only happened so they could get on ESPN following Rob Gronkowski’s inclusion.
In the finals of the NXT Women’s Title Tournament, Charlotte (w/Ric Flair) pinned Natalya (w/Bret Hart) in 16:54
(Dave Meltzer’s rating: ****)
This is not to be confused with the 2016 embarrassment when they had the same match on the main roster and made Bret Hart stand at ringside as they re-enacted the Montreal Screwjob in front of him. Without exaggeration, this match, more than any other, is what led to the women becoming main event stars. Yes, Paige and Emma already had their match, but that was a better-than-average match in a world where WWE women’s matches were unimportant three minute affairs. Even when they would have a great match (see AJ vs Kaitlyn at Payback 2013), it led to nothing. This match led to change. Every great NXT woman’s match you saw since is a direct result of this match. On this night, it was the perfect match in front of the perfect crowd. You had Bret and Ric down there to add star power and while Ric was insane, he didn’t steal the spotlight from the girls.
Charlotte would go on to become one of the best women’s wrestlers on the main roster, having a two-year long PPV winning streak and winning nine women’s titles before main eventing WrestleMania against Becky Lynch and Ronda Rousey. Natalya has had an 11-year (and counting) career on the main roster and while it can be argued that she should be used better, she has been a Divas Champion and SmackDown Women’s Champion.
There was a long forgotten plot hole with this match. Paige had been WWE Women’s Champion, but had been stripped of the title by GM JBL because no one could handle the schedule of being on the main roster and NXT at the same time. The problem is the ensuing tournament featured four women from the main roster…and Natalya had reached the finals. Using prior logic, if Nattie had won, she then would have been stripped of the title to set up a new tournament.
NXT Champion Adrian Neville pinned Tyson Kidd in 20:55
(Dave Meltzer’s rating: ***1/2)
With his career floundering on the main roster, Kidd moved to NXT for six months to refresh himself. In that time, he turned heel and became a top- evel star. He would return to Raw and SmackDown that fall, forming a team with Cesaro. However, just as Kidd started getting his biggest main roster push, tragedy struck as he was badly injured in a dark match with Samoa Joe. Kidd would be forced to retire, but continues to work with WWE behind the scenes.
Neville would go on to have a bizarre run on the main roster. He debuted by losing his first name while gaining a cape. He would go back and forth on either coming close to superstardom or being a forgotten member of the undercard. Despite his push (or lack thereof), he was always one of the more popular wrestlers. Even during his run in cruiserweight purgatory, he is the only champion to consistently get main roster crowds to react to his actual matches. However, cruiserweight purgatory is still cruiserweight purgatory and he joined the list of people to leave WWE instead of being the king of 205 Live. Of course, we know the story these days and he has since gone back to being PAC and is the current Dragon Gate Champion.
**********
The last 90 minutes of the show were especially well received as you can imagine, and it is one of only a handful of shows to receive a 100% thumbs up reaction in the subsequent Wrestling Observer Poll. Out of the 12 people to wrestle on the show, six of them went on to have bigger and better careers in wrestling, whether on the WWE main roster or worldwide
24 TakeOvers and 121 matches later, we have seen dozens of legendary matches and memorable moments which continues today and into the future. Where will the stars of this past weekend be in five years? It’s impossible to tell, but if history is any indication, it will still be just interesting to see what paths they take.
AEW has released video of Hangman Page and PAC’s match from Nottingham, England this past weekend.
Page vs. PAC from Wrestle Gate Pro streamed on AEW’s YouTube account at noon Eastern time today. The match took place due to Page vs. PAC being off Saturday’s Double or Nothing card and as a way to explain the cancelation.
PAC was originally supposed to wrestle Jody Fleisch and Robbie X at Wrestle Gate, but it was said that neither were able to make the match. PAC cut a promo saying there’s no one on the roster or in the country who has the balls to face him, which led to Page making a surprise appearance and answering PAC’s challenge.
The match ended with PAC getting himself disqualified by low blowing the referee. Page got a visual pinfall after hitting the Buckshot Lariat, but PAC attacked him with a chair in a post-match angle. PAC got on the mic and said he isn’t coming to Vegas, Double or Nothing, or AEW.
A graphic officially announced that Page vs. PAC at Double or Nothing is canceled. That was first reported by Dave Meltzer, who noted that it was due to creative differences. Meltzer wrote that Page will still be wrestling at Double or Nothing.
Video of Page and PAC’s match from Wrestle Gate is available to watch below:
The angle at today’s WrestleGate show in Nottingham, England involving PAC and Hangman Page was done largely to present the match that had been built up because the match won’t be taking place at Double or Nothing on Saturday.
The official word from AEW is that there were creative differences regarding the match and PAC won’t be on Saturday’s show. With PAC’s regular matches in the U.K., it’s known that beacuse he takes his status as world champion with Dragon Gate seriously, he has not agreed to any losses since winning the Open the Dream Gate title and to protect that has done 30:00 draws with Zack Sabre Jr. and Will Ospreay. On the flip side, AEW wants to present a sports-like atmosphere and had their own direction for what they wanted.
The PAC vs. Page match will be released this week on the Internet by AEW with the idea that everyone can see the match, even if it had a DQ finish, for free, so fans are getting the hyped up match. Page agreed to fly to England and do the match to make up for the hyped match not happening on the PPV. Page will be wrestling against a new opponent, although the name probably won’t be announced before the PPV show. The DQ finish kept things open ended enough that PAC may be back with the promotion at some point to face Page, although there is no definitive time frame.
There will be at least one more announcement made midweek regarding Saturday’s show.
There was an angle for Saturday’s Double or Nothing shot today in Nottingham, England featuring PAC and Hangman Page.
PAC was wrestling in the main event for WrestleGate, scheduled in a three-way against Jody Fleisch and Robbie X. The claim was that Robbie was injured and Fleisch had transportation issues. PAC issued an open challenge to anyone on the roster.
Adam Page then came out. The two did a 15:00 match, really good with the crowd red hot. PAC was disqualified for using a low blow on the referee. PAC then attacked Page with a chair and put a chair on Page’s leg and Pillmanized him.
After the angle, PAC said his goal was to injure Page and he’s already done that so he’s not coming to Las Vegas, not appearing at Double or Nothing and he’s not coming to AEW at all.
PAC and Page have been feuding since first AEW press conference back in January when the two confronted one another.
For as long as I’ve been a professional wrestling fan, attending WrestleMania has been a goal of mine.
WrestleMania has changed a lot since I was watching Steve Austin vs. The Rock and getting captivated by Axxess recap videos. What began as a standalone show has grown into a weeklong celebration of everything pro wrestling. Fans take over a city and promotions from all around the world compete for their time and money, with more events than one person could ever hope to attend.
When it comes to news, the biggest issue of the year is out, covering WrestleMania, all the behind-the-scenes stuff at WrestleMania, Hall of Fame, NXT and Supercard of Honor, as well as the top indie shows. This issue has more backstage news than any issue of the year.
This issue leads off with coverage of WrestleMania, with the main event finish, what was supposed to happen, who got the blame, why it was brought up on the broadcast, and the future of Ronda Rousey and Brock Lesnar in WWE.
Next get the update with AEW television talk, what is and isn’t accurate about what has come out, what the current plans are and more.
Also look at the Supercard of Honor in Madison Square Garden. Look back to 1960 when the last time a non-McMahon card took place at the arena and who was on top.
Also look at the idiot who attacked Bret Hart at the Hall of Fame ceremony, what actually happened, comments from the Hart family, the firing of writer R.D. Evans and the comments after by HHH and the rest of DX making fun of it, plus the comments on AEW.
This issue has full details of AAA and its debut in Madison Square Garden. Look at the press conference, the goals, and the story behind the business idea of why it will work. Also look at the AAA relationship with Cain Velasquez.
Also look at the WrestleCon super show, one of the biggest indie events of the year, with appearances by Ric Flair, Animal, Will Ospreay, Bandido, SCU, Jushin Liger, X-Pac and Dragon Lee.
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MONDAY NEWS UPDATE
Garrett Gonzalez and I will be up tonight after Raw covering tonight’s show as well as the latest news from around the world. Bryan and I will be back doing a show together on Wednesday night.
As noted earlier today, due to problems at Newark Airport, where a lot of the talent had connecting flights, a number of wrestlers scheduled for tonight’s show weren’t going to be able to get to Montreal in time for the show so much of the show had to be rewritten today. Given all the winter travel and the hard schedules, it’s actually pretty amazing this doesn’t happen more often. Samoa Joe was said to be very sick and was taken off tonight’s show even though he did make it to Montreal.
There was a graphic for the Superstar shakeup that lists all the Raw & Smackdown talent and also included Kairi Sane. As noted, I’ve been hearing Sane’s name for a couple of months about coming in, but you have to remember these things change all the time.
PAC took a bad bump yesterday on his neck in a match in Scotland. We haven’t heard an update but were told from someone backstage that he finished the match but the fall was concerning.
The lawsuit filed by Riki Johnson, the first husband of Ashley Fliehr (Charlotte) against WWE, Ric Flair and Charlotte Flair regarding comments made about him in the book “Second Nature” were officially settled out of court.
WWE
WWE Network News reported that 34 new episodes of Mid South Wrestling will be uploaded to the WWE Network tomorrow. They will be from August 11, 1984 through April 27, 1985.
Johnny Loquasto was reported by Mike Johnson as having signed with WWE as an announcer. Loquasto, who is a comedian who had appeared on AXS TV’s standup comedy show, had been announced for David Marquez’s Championship Wrestling From Hollywood promotion.
MISCELLANEOUS
Mike Johnson reported that one count in Scott Colton’s (Colt Cabana) lawsuit against Phil Brooks (C.M. Punk) was dropped but another is still there.
Fred Rosser, the former Darren Young, will be receiving the Vanguard Award for 2019 during Miami’s OUTshine Film Festival on 4/28 based on his advocacy for LGBTQ athletes.
MLW debuted tonight on FreeSport in the U.K. and Ireland, which was a few hours ago. The show will air regularly every Monday night at 10 p.m. Jim Cornette and Rich Bocchini are handling the announcing.
MLW tickets for their return TV taping in New York on 7/25 at the Melrose Ballroom in Queens, NY were put on sale today.
Legacy Fighting on 4/26 on AXS from Sioux Falls, SD at the Sanford Pentagon. The main event will determine the LFA lightweight champion since UFC signecd former champion Austin Hubbard. It pits Sheriff’s Deputy Harvey Park (11-2) of Clovis, NM against Demarques Jackson (10-2).
Fierce Females from yesterday in Glasgow, Scotland: Ashley Vega b Valkyrie (not Taya), Ivy b Roxxy, Anastasia b Ruby Radley, Raven Creed b Ashley Vega, Emily Hayden b Amy Allonsy, Debbie Keitel b Angel Hayze, Valkyrie b Raven Creed, Jaylda Dark b Jokey (thanks to Jonathan Crombley, Shannon Walsh and wresetlingwithdemons.net). Mercedes Martinez, Jamie Hayter and Session Moth Martina were supposed to be the top stars on the show but were unable to get there due to travel issues from London the day before.
I Believe in Wrestling on Saturday night in Orlando: Aaron Epic b Blake Banks, Mike Reed b Miguel Mason, Chasyn Rance b johnny Zeke, Andrew Merlin & Carlos Gabriel b Caius Wolfe & Chris Ramirez, Jesse Neal b Djkovic Rabbit, Jake Shadows b Cisco Suicio, Kaci Lennox won Rex Bacchus Memorial Battle Royal.
Thunder Championship Wrestling on Saturday night in Lakeland, FL: Spirit Kid b Chico Adams, Anna Diaz b Rocky Radley, Kahagas b Damien Angel, George Rodriguez (managed by Bushwhacker Luke Williams) b Uther MacGreogr, Kahagas & Michael Tarver b Eddie Taurus & Damian Angel, Sean Maluta b Shannon Moore. Next show is 6/1 at Auburndale High School with Hector Guerrero and Brian Knobs doing a meet and greet. (thanks to Al Haft)
CWE last night in Lethbridge, Alberta: Danny Duggan b Robin Lekime, AJ Sanchez & Kevin O’Doyle & Shaun Martnes & Alex Ace b Beri Grayson & Sean Gaston & Jude Dawkins & Normah Harass, Bulldog McBain b Slave, Scarlett Black & Alix Zwicker b Maddison Miles & Jade, Psicosis b Kyle Sebastian, The Stormbringer & Cowboy Bryn Watts & Marn Pain b Jimmy Jacobs & Travis Copeland & Jumpin Josh, Michael Elgin b Killer Kross. Next show in Lethbridge is 11/22 with the company’s 10th anniversary tour.
Defy Wrestling on Saturday night in Portland, OR: Leon Negro won four-way over Guerrero de Neon, Guillermo Rosas and Cody Chhun, Drexl & Dr. Kliever b Sonico & Hero, Riea Vno Slasher b Danikia Della Ruoge, Schaff b Alex Hammerstone in a chain match, Mike Santiago & Ethan HD b Reno Scum, Artemis Spencer retained the Defy title over Jake Atlas. (thanks to Matt Farmer)
A story on a book regarding Good Advice from Pro Wrestling. (thanks to Chris Cruise)
In the silly Twitter stuff, Hulk Hogan complained that the Viceland documentary on Randy Savage was too inaccurate and relied on less than credible sources. One of the producers posted that Hogan was asked to be a part of the show and declined. Hogan then blocked him. (thanks to Robert Pasbani)
Kenny Omega and PAC will be on opposite sides of a six-man tag match at All Elite Wrestling’s event with CEO Fighting Game Championships.
It was announced today that Omega & The Young Bucks will team against PAC & Pentagon Jr. & Fenix at AEW Fyter Fest. The show is taking place at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Florida on Saturday, June 29.
The Young Bucks have been feuding with The Lucha Bros and will defend their AAA Tag Team titles against them at Double or Nothing in Las Vegas on May 25. Omega is facing Chris Jericho at Double or Nothing, while PAC is wrestling Hangman Page.
This is the second year in a row that Omega has been involved with a pro wrestling event that’s in partnership with CEO’s gaming convention. CEO x NJPW When Worlds Collide took place in Daytona Beach last June.
The Fyter Fest name was announced earlier this week and is a reference to the failed Fyre Fest music festival from 2017. CEO organizer Alex Jebailey vs. AEW’s Michael Nakazawa in a hardcore match is also set for Fyter Fest, with it being a rematch of their comedy match from the CEO x NJPW pre-show.
Tickets for Fyter Fest will go on sale in early May. AEW Fight for the Fallen is taking place in Jacksonville two weeks after Fyter Fest.
We regret to inform you that PAC will not be at WrestleCon. We worked diligently over the past several months with our attorneys to ensure that he successfully received a Visa to travel into the United States. Our Visa application was filed in a timely manner, all fees were paid to attorneys, and all required information was disclosed to government officials. Our attorneys were confident there would be no issue and based on their experience and expectation, we advertised PAC on the assumption there would be no problem obtaining a Visa. However, after exhausting all efforts, we were unable to provide PAC the appropriate Visa to travel and work in the United States. We understand and share your disappointment of this unanticipated outcome, as does PAC.
Further, we would like to clarify that in no way will this unfortunate incident have any impact on his future with AEW. This issue is isolated to WrestleCon only.
Over the next few days, we will issue refunds on all photo ops and autographs that were purchased related to PAC’s appearance at the Convention. We will also replace graphics that featured him, so we appreciate your patience during these updates.
PAC was scheduled to appear at WrestleCon’s convention and multiple shows that are part of WrestleCon. Will Ospreay & PAC vs. CCK (Chris Brookes & Jonathan Gresham) had been announced for Revolution Pro Wrestling’s event in NYC on Friday, April 5, and PAC was set to face Rich Swann at Wrestling Revolver’s Pancakes & Piledrivers show on Saturday, April 6.
PAC vs. Hangman Page is official for AEW Double or Nothing in Las Vegas on Saturday, May 25.
Will Ospreay and PAC will be sharing the ring together over WrestleMania week — but they’ll be doing so as teammates.
Revolution Pro Wrestling announced today that Ospreay & PAC will face CCK (Chris Brookes & Jonathan Gresham) at their WrestleMania week show in New York City on Friday, April 5. The show is presented by WrestleCon and will take place at the Hilton New York Midtown Ballroom. The start time is 3 p.m. Eastern.
Ospreay & PAC vs. CCK stems from the story of Ospreay and PAC’s first-ever match against each other from RevPro’s High Stakes event last week. Brookes and Gresham interfered and attacked Ospreay while the referee was down. Brookes went to hit Ospreay with PAC’s Dragon Gate Open the Dream Gate title belt, but PAC stopped him. Ospreay and PAC briefly worked together to take out CCK.
Ospreay and PAC’s match at High Stakes ended in a 30-minute time-limit draw. PAC escaped a Storm Breaker and low blowed Ospreay near the finish. PAC wanted the referee to call for the disqualification, but he let the match continue. PAC then went up to hit the Black Arrow, but he opted to celebrate instead as time expired.
The crowd chanted for five more minutes after Ospreay vs. PAC. Ospreay called for it too, but PAC headed to the back.
– The excellent Crooked Gentlemen hype video for Jordan Devlin vs. David Starr played on the big screen before the show. Most fans thought that was just OTT playing it to get ready for the show — but in a big surprise, it was the opener.
– Jordan Devlin defeated David Starr
Incredible match and atmosphere. Starr entered to “We Belong” by Pat Benatar, which was the song he and Devlin came out to as a tag team when they first faced WALTER in OTT.
They brawled all over the building before moving on to a great physical contest with believable levels of hatred. They did each other’s moves and had very close near falls before Devlin won with two big package piledrivers, booking his spot in the main event of ScrapperMania V on March 16 against WALTER for the OTT World Championship.
– Ilja Dragunov defeated Shigehiro Irie
Great bruising contest with both men landing heavy blows. The fans were largely behind Dragunov, but there was some support for Irie as well. Dragunov ducked Irie’s Beast Bomber and landed Torpedo Moscow for the win.
– PAC defeated OTT World Champion WALTER by DQ in a non-title match
PAC played babyface here as WALTER came out disrespecting the OTT World title belt, throwing it around and stepping on it. At one point, PAC landed badly on a dive and dislocated a finger, but he snapped it back into place and carried on.
WALTER went to use the belt, the referee caught him, and PAC low blowed WALTER. PAC went for the Black Arrow, but WALTER rolled out of the ring, then shoved the referee to get disqualified.
Devlin stopped WALTER from leaving, hitting him with a slingshot cutter and allowing PAC to hit the Black Arrow. Devlin then stood over WALTER raising the title to set up the ScrapperMania V main event.
– Charlie Sterling & The Anti-Fun Police (Chief Deputy Dunne & Los Federales Santos Jr.) defeated More Than Hype (Darren Kearney, LJ Cleary & Nathan Martin)
Fun cool-down match with a good level of comedy and decent action. Sterling stole the win with a jackknife pin on Kearney with his feet on the ropes.
– OTT Gender Neutral Champion Mark Haskins defeated Andrew Everett and Terry Thatcher to retain his title
Good three-way match, with the fans solidly behind the local star Thatcher. Everett is now doing a gimmick where he believes he’s a giant. Thatcher hit his finisher on Everett, but Haskins threw him off and stole the pin to retain the title.
– Scotty Davis & Will Ospreay defeated The Besties In The World (Davey Vega & Mat Fitchett)
A showcase for Davis, who is a protege of Ospreay, though all four men delivered here. Vega suffered a knock mid match, but he carried on.
Davis got the pin, then Ospreay revealed that he was supposed to wrestle Davis at ScrapperMania V, but he was required by New Japan for the date — so Davis will now wrestle Jushin Thunder Liger. That’s a huge deal as Davis is only 18 years old and is talented well beyond his age.
– Justy & MJF defeated The Angel Cruzers (Angel Cruz & B. Cool)
MJF made a reference to the Irish Potato Famine during his entrance, which drew tremendous heat. The Angel Cruzers had the match won when their young boys Team PRICK (Peter and Rick) turned against them and joined forces with Justy, leading to him and MJF winning.
– OTT Women’s Champion Raven Creed defeated Yuu to retain her title
This was sadly the low point of the card, as they didn’t really click with each other. Yuu showed some good judo skills, but Creed won in just a few minutes to retain the title.
– Intermission was taken here to set up the steel cage, which only took a few minutes. They held a raffle to benefit the recovery of former Women’s Champion Katey Harvey, who broke both her elbows last month.
– OTT Tag Team Champions The Kings of the North (Bonesaw & Damien Corvin) defeated The Lads From the Flats (Paddy M & Workie) & Session Moth Martina in a steel cage match to retain their titles
This was War Games-style entry, but Dragon Gate-style elimination — as all members had to escape the cage to win the match. Paddy M was great flying all over the cage.
It came down to Corvin and Martina remaining in the cage. Lots of weapons were used, and both of them ended up in thumbtacks, with Martina putting in a great performance to show that she’s more than just a comedy wrestler.
They attempted to leave the cage at the same time, but Paddy M and Bonesaw were brawling outside and knocked the referee into the door, slamming it in Martina’s head. That allowed Corvin to climb to the outside to retain the titles for the Kings.
A rather short affair that probably should have been more intense for its length. Angelico kicked Bodom in every place possible, whole Bodom equaled Angelico with strikes and throws. Eventually Sha Samuels came out to distract the referee which allowed Bodom to get Angelico in position for the Bliss Buster which got him the pin.
This was fine, but really nothing special.
Team White Wolf defeated Besties in the World
Both teams received a moderate reaction and it was clear that the crowd was maybe unfamiliar to the teams. However, by the end of the match the crowd was certainly won over. A-Kid was worked over for the first portion of the match, while Carlos Romo grew frustrated on the apron. Eventually A-Kid made a comeback and tagged in Romo who made a comeback on the Besties.
After some back and forth action, Vega tagged in Matt Fitchet who was the highlight of the match, with his hot tag wowing the audience and the building came unglued. At this point, the match reached insanity and both teams got near falls. Eventually after a splash from the top rope, and a roll-up, Romo got the pin, only to be viciously beaten up by Bodom and Samuels after the match. This was very good.
Zoe Lucas defeated Bea Priestley to retain the Undisputed British Women’s Championship
This was meant to be Zoe Lucas defending against Sammii Jayne, the winner of Queen of the Ring 2019. However, due to injury, Priestley replaced Jayne. It felt like Lucas is coming into her element as champion, having somewhat of a presence in her entrance. She is playing up her relationship with the title, almost treating it like she’s in a relationship with it.
This was shaping up to be a decent match but ended abruptly after a finish in which the referee counted despite them being in the ropes.
CCK defeated Aussie Open
For me, and many others this was the biggest disappointment of the night. These teams had the best York Hall match of 2018 at Summer Sizzler but failed the recreate the magic here.
Five minutes into the match the teams hadn’t even touched, with CCK choosing whether Brookes or Gresham would start the match. It wasn’t remotely funny it was mind numbingly dull. They then left the ring for no reason and came back. It turned into a brawl outside the ring in which CCK took Davis out, and let loose with a staple gun on Fletcher. There was a lot of ‘nothing’ here and eventually, 22 minutes into the match they started actually fighting.
For a brief five minute spell they had a great sequence of near falls before the referee was distracted while Gresham got a visual pin on Fletcher. Then the referee came in and counted the same pin to three giving. CCK the win. Even this ending made no sense; essentially Fletcher was pinned by a roll-up for nearly 10 seconds.
The number one contenders to Minoru Suzuki and Zack Sabre Jr. looked like idiots and the crowd who were expecting a 30 minute barnstormer were let down severely.
El Phantasmo defeated MJF
The show needed to get back on track after the intermission and MJF was the man to do it. He came out and trashed the crowd, saying they were all losers, couldn’t satisfy their wives and that he was rich. He was booed out the building, with heat reminiscent of Zack Gibson before he had to leave RevPro. El Phantasmo came out and was a worthy opponent for him.
These two matched up very well, with similar builds and styles. They matched each other with counters early on with an extremely clear heel/face dynamic that allowed the crowd to be extremely invested. MJF tried to cheat around by holding the ropes for his submissions, but the referee kicked his hands away. Phantasmo hit his usual spots and was incredibly over here.
This reached the next level when both guys stepped it up a gear in ring. They traded Canadian destroyers but eventually ELP won with a huge splash. He motioned to the camera that there was going to be an upcoming ladder match with David Starr for the cruiserweight title, something Starr has referred to also on the Cockpit. This was excellent.
MK McKinnan defeated Kip Sabian
This match never stood a chance on the card. Initially this was MK versus the Great-O-Kharn but his absence was replaced by Chris Ridgeway. But Ridgeway’s travel issues meant he was replaced an hour before the show by Sabian. The crowd weren’t into this one bit due to the placement on the card and the lack of build or story.
Both guys kicked hard and hit a few big moves but MK submitted Sabian with a choke fairly easily. Being right after ELP Vs MJF and before the main event was going to be hard for anyone. MK continues to build great momentum and many, myself included think he’ll be the one to end The Great-O-Kharn’s undefeated streak.
Will Ospreay vs. PAC ended in a time limit draw
There is so much to say about this. The atmosphere was as good as York Hall gets, which is really saying something. Both men entered with their respective titles and received huge reactions as expected. Pac received a very split response, with him obviously trying to be the bad guy but receiving a fair amount of cheers too.
Early on, both men stared eachother down before finally locking up. Pac used his strength advantage to dominate Ospreay early on but Ospreay would flip out of anything Pac hit him with. The crowd was genuinely electric throughout all of this with duelling chants the whole match. Then they started to run the ropes, hitting dropkicks, hurricanranas and lariats on each other, with every move carrying weight.
Pac took it outside and threw Ospreay around a bit, and Ospreay just about got back into the ring before the count, but had been cut on the outside and was bleeding from what looked like the nose. It added to the match for sure, seeing Ospreay visibly scarred from the match at this early point. Ospreay hit a Sasuke special to the outside, and Pac moonsaulted onto Ospreay out the ring.
At this point in the match, the storytelling really came into the forefront, with Ospreay taking moves from his great York Hall opponents. He used Scurll’s finger break, Sydal’s shooting star press, Ricochet’s benadryller, and a Style’s clash too – Pac sucked up all the punishment, and came back with a huge superplex. With both guys down in the ring, CCK came down to attack Ospreay, but Brookes was about to use Pac’s title to hit Ospreay leading to Pac and Ospreay to team up on CCK, and even Aussie Open came down to get them out of there.
At this point, there was five minutes of time remaining and both guys were pulling out all the stops to pin the other, with suplexes, spanish flys and flips galore. With around a minute left, Pac gave Ospreay a low blow but for whatever reason, he wasn’t disqualified. He then went to hit the black arrow as the clock counted down but he chose to let the clock run down instead and it was a draw.
On one hand, it was an incredible dream match from two legendary British talents that was the best York Hall match since 2017 without a doubt. On the other hand, it was overbooked with CCK coming down, tarnished by the fact there was no winner, and undermined by the lack of logic in the finish. The crowd and Ospreay requested another five minutes but just like that, the show was over. Ospreay said this was not over.
Final Thoughts
The main event did leave a sour taste in the mouth, and many in the crowd booed at the end. There was always the issue that this would end this way, after ZSJ vs. PAC had a non-finish due to both guys being champions. Clearly as Dragon Gate champion, Pac can’t lose, and Ospreay can’t either as the NEVER Openweight champion.
As for the rest of the card, it was very weak. The absence of David Starr, and anyone from New Japan was more than noticeable, with a lot of the matches just lacking star power and therefore being lost on the crowd. There is still a lack of focus on workrate clearly, with only three of the matches actually being ‘good’, and a handful actually being noticably bad.
However the main issue was the lack of stakes. For a show called High Stakes, there was only one match with any stakes (Women’s title), and the stakes weren’t high and that match only lasted eight minutes. The fact that all the other champions were absent, and all the other matches had no repercussions was awful.
Hope this gives some insight into the show. It was an odd one and certainly not the start RevPro should have been looking for in 2019. PAC vs. Ospreay is definately worth the watch though.
PAC made an appearance at today’s All Elite Wrestling rally.
Hangman Page on stage and was talking about becoming the first ever AEW World champion when PAC’s Dragon Gate music hit. That was when he came out in full gear, sporting Dragon Gate’s Open the Dream Gate championship.
PAC said he was here in AEW and that he was already a champion. The two then had a staredown before PAC made his exit. Hangman said if that was meant to be some sort of challenge, he accepts. It isn’t clear at this time if PAC has officially signed with the promotion.
Formerly known as Neville in the WWE, PAC officially left the promotion last August after spending nearly a year at home due to contract disputes. Since then, he was wrestled mainly for Dragon Gate, winning their top title back on December 4.
During the rally, it was announced that the first show under the AEW banner, Double or Nothing, would take place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on May 25.
The man formerly known as Neville was won gold in Dragon Gate.
PAC defeated Masato Yoshino today at Fantastic Gate 2018 inside Korakuen Hall to win the company’s top single title, the Open the Dream Gate championship. Yoshino had held the title for 177 days, winning it back on June 10.
This comes after a long period where PAC’s contract was frozen by WWE after he walked out before an episode of Raw back in October of 2017. He remained sidelined with his contract situation up in the air until August, where it was reported he was no longer under WWE contract. He then resurfaced in Dragon Gate a few months later, aligning himself with the R.E.D stable on October 2.
PAC is scheduled for a number of dates in the United Kingdom. The most high profile bout is a match between him and Will Ospreay that will take place at a upcoming RevPro event on February 15.
The long-anticipated Will Ospreay vs. PAC match will become a reality in February.
Revolution Pro Wrestling has announced Ospreay vs. PAC (formerly Neville in WWE) for their High Stakes 2019 event at York Hall in London, England on Friday, February 15. PAC also faced Speedball Mike Bailey for RevPro last month and has a match against Zack Sabre Jr. set for RevPro’s Live at the Cockpit show at The Cockpit Theatre in London on Sunday, January 6.
Sabre will be challenging for Tomohiro Ishii’s RevPro Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 13 on January 4.
Ospreay had been building up a match against PAC prior to today’s announcement, tweeting “Give. Me. PAC.” when it was confirmed in August that PAC was no longer under contract with WWE.
After a year away from the ring, PAC resurfaced for Dragon Gate at a show in early October. He started to make his first post-WWE European independent appearances last month.
Zack Sabre Jr. and PAC (formerly known as Neville in WWE) are set to face off at the beginning of 2019.
Revolution Pro Wrestling announced today that Sabre vs. PAC will take place at their Live at the Cockpit show at The Cockpit Theatre in London on Sunday, January 6. PAC also made an appearance at RevPro’s event at the Portsmouth Guildhall this Thursday, facing Speedball Mike Bailey.
After a year away from the ring, PAC returned to Dragon Gate this October. He’s now started to make his first in-ring appearances in Europe since it was confirmed in August that he was no longer under contract with WWE.
Before facing PAC, Sabre will be challenging for RevPro’s Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship at New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Tokyo Dome show. Tomohiro Ishii defending his British Heavyweight title against Sabre at Wrestle Kingdom 13 on January 4 was set up at RevPro’s Uprising event earlier this month.
