Tag: Report

WWE Raw live results: The Superstar Shakeup begins

Posted on by Josh Hamlin

The Big Takeaway: Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Bobby Roode, Drew McIntyre, Dolph Ziggler, Baron Corbin, Jinder Mahal, Sunil Singh, Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan, Sarah Logan, Fandango, Tyler Breeze, Natayla, and more all became members of the Raw roster in the Superstar Shake-Up.

Jeff Hardy pinned Mahal to win the U.S. Championship in the show’s first match. Mahal said he would get his rematch at the Greatest Royal Rumble. They explained Owens and Zayn becoming members to the Raw roster by claiming that Stephanie McMahon signed them, unbeknowst to Kurt Angle. Matt Hardy & Bray Wyatt will face The Bar for the Raw Tag Team Championships after beating the Revival in the tag team eliminator finals.

Kurt Angle already announced that The Miz will be going to SmackDown tomorrow, but Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel will be staying on Raw. 

Show Recap: 

Kurt Angle came out and introduced the first new member of Raw: Jinder Mahal. So the United States Championship is now on Raw. If tradition holds true, that means Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins will be on SmackDown tomorrow night. Mahal came out with Sunil Singh and said he was unhappy that he came to Raw in an SUV when he always travels in a limousine. Angle stared to say something, but Mahal said he was a former WWE Champion and demanded to be treated the same way as Brock Lesnar. Angle said if Mahal had any concerns then Mahal or SIngh could email him at [email protected]. Angle said he brought Mahal to Raw to compete which means his United States championship is on the line immediately and opened anyone to come out and face Mahal. Jeff Hardy came out. 

Jeff Hardy defeated U.S. Champion Jinder Mahal (with Sunil Singh) to win the U.S. Championship (11:27) 

Good crowd heat. Hardy took a beating on the apron, climbed the ropes for the Whisper in the WInd but Mahal crotched him. Hardy fought Mahal off the top rope for the Whisper in the Wind. Hardy knocked SIngh off the apron to start his comeback, Hardy went for the Twist of Fate, but Mahal popped Hardy with a high knee for a two count. Mahal went for the Khallas, but Hardy turned it into a victory roll for a two count. Mahal nailed a superkick for another near fall. In slo-mo, Mahal looked like he drilled Hardy across the nose. Mahal went for the full nelson slam, but Hardy escaped into the Twist of Fate, then got the pin with the Swanton. Hardy won the U.S. Championship for the first time. 

In the back, Mahal was angry at Angle. He cut a promo with Renee Young backstage saying he would challenge Hardy for the U.S. Championship at the Greatest Royal Rumble. The rest of his interview was drowned out by No Way Jose’s music. Jose smailed at Mahal and said when life tries to get him down, he says no way. Jose danced off with Young as Mahal stewed.

Sasha Banks and Bayley fought to a no contest (8:52)  

Banks had total heel body language during her ring entrance. Bayley blew the first spot she did slipping off the second rope. After Banks tried a rope walk arm drag but Bayley dropped Banks on her face, Bayley threw Banks over the top rope. Bayley pulled off a reverse Tornado DDT for a two count. Banks kicked Bayley in the head and threw her out of the ring. Banks caught Bayley with a knee to the head, and the double knees off the top rope, which Michael Cole called the Meteora. Banks trash talked Bayley and slapped her, Bayley retailiated and they started brawling, which got the fans involved. Banks hit the Meteora in the corner, but Bayley reversed a pin attempt into a backslide. Then Banks put on the Bank Statement. As Bayley was trying to get to the ropes, the Riott Squad ran in. Ruby Riott gave Bayley the Riott Kick while Liv Morgan and Sarah Logan took out Banks. Yet again, Banks and Bayley were left laying while feuding with each other. 

Heath Slater and Rhyno did an inset promo about the Authors of Pain. Rhyno admitted AOP made a great first impression, but tonight they get a second chance, something they don’t take lightly.

The Authors of Pain defeated Rhyno and Heath Slater (2:37)  

Cole announced that Paul Ellering had been fired by the Authors of Pain after last week. Rhyno and Slater jumped Akam and Rezar early and got some offense in the opening 40 seconds. Akam and Rezar gave Slater a double gutbuster for a near fall. Rhyno got a hot tag and more offense on Razar, including a belly-to-belly suplex. Akam pinned Rhyno after the Last Chapter. 

The Miz, Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel came out for MizTV. Miz said his guests will represent a seismic shift for Raw. He introduced Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn as the newest members of the Raw roster. Cole screamed how this isn’t right because Owens and Zayn don’t have a job in WWE. Owens and Zayn had a group hug jumping up and down. Jonathan Coachman said they were free agents just like any other sport and a GM is supposed to sign free agents. Miz said this was the greatest collection of talent ever gathered in one place, saying they were better than the NWO, the 1992 U.S. Olympic Dream Team and the Avengers competing in Infinity Wars. Miz said together, they would change the landscape of WWE. 

Angle walked out looking unhappy saying Miz had no control to sign talent, he does. Angle said Owens and Zayn had their chance to make the Raw roster last week and they both lost. Owens said an email was just sent out and Angle’s plans have changed. Zayn had a printed copy of the email, put on his reading glasses and read the email saying in light of Angle’s habit of making emotional decisions, the compay awarded Zayn and Owens new Raw contracts. Zayn said the email was signed by Stephanie McMahon. Owens taunted Angle about how he and Zayn were back on Raw and there was nothing he could do about it. Miz laughed about how Angle and wondered if he saw his job future flashing by his eyes. Angle said he was surprised that Stephanie would have time to write a letter. He thought Stephanie would be in physical therapy after Ronda Rousey nearly broke her arm. Angle welcomed Angle and Owens to Raw and told them to say goodbye to Miz. Angle said they Daniel Bryan was adamant about getting Miz on SmackDown, and he assumes that Bryan still has pull on SmackDown. Miz said Angle can’t do that. Angle said he can and he did. Miz screamed that Angle just made SmackDown the A show, that he and the MizTourage would make SmackDown a must-see show. Angle said Dallas and Axel were going nowhere, they’re staying but Miz is going. Angle then announced a 10-man tag team match for later tonight with Owens, Miz, Dallas, Axel and Zayn vs. Finn Balor, Rollins, Bobby Lashley, Braun Strowman and a WWE Superstar making his Raw debut. 

Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt defeated the Revival to advance to face The Bar for the Raw Tag Team Championships at the Greatest Royal Rumble (5:27) 

Sheamus and Cesaro were on commentary. Matt Hardy got the heat and gave Scott Dawson the Side Effect to make the hot tag to Bray Wyatt. Hardy tagged in as Wyatt gave Dawson Sister Abigail. Wyatt lifted Dash Wilder into wheelbarrow position as Hardy delievered the Twist of Fate for the pin. 

They ran a video basically explaining the end of brand specific PPVs next month with the gimmick being the Superstars were singing in a recording studio. 

Sheamus and Cesaro walked backstage when they stumbled on Fandango and Tyler Breeze. Fandango said the Fashion Police had been transferred to clean up the streets of Monday Night Raw. Breeze asked Sheamus if he had a permit for that mohawk. Fandango told Cesaro he should write him a ticket for the skirt he was wearing. Fandango handed them the ticket. Cesaro screamed they were kilts. 

Rousey talked with Angle backstage. Rousey said WrestleMania was an amazing experience. Angle said Stephanie wasn’t going away quietly. The door knocked. It was Natalya, who hugged Rousey. Angle didn’t know they were familiar with each other, but Natalya said they used to train together. Angle said Natalya had transferred to Raw. Natalya said she was glad to be getting a new start on Raw and she wanted to be the best there is, the best there was and the best there ever will be. She looked at Rousey and said, well, maybe the second best. Natalya and Rousey shared a friendly laugh. 

Ember Moon defeated Mickie James (4:38) 

Nia Jax was on commentary. Bliss was supposed to join her but didn’t show up. Cole annouced that Bliss was in the locker room. Bliss did an inset promo saying that Jax was a bully and just like a bully, Jax probably wanted to rub Jax’s win in her face. Crowd was tired by this point. After James took most of the match, Ember Moon did a kick up head scissors, a kick to the midsection, a handspring elbow to the corner and got the Eclipse for the pin.

Zayn and Owens were in the back talking. Zayn said they need to focus on Strowman and take him out early. Owens was concerned with the mystery man. Owens was mad that Angle was do this to them. Miz walked in and asked about Shane McMahon and how would Shane treat him. Zayn told Miz to focus on tonight and not Zayn. Owens said maybe Miz needs to focus on his MizTourage, who were talking among themselves. Miz said tonight was his final Raw appearance and they need to focus on him. They zoomed in on Miz forever after he finished speaking. 

Dolph Ziggler came out as the newest Raw acquisition. Ziggler said he still steals the show but one thing has changed. Titus O’Neil, Apollo and Dana Brooke came out. O’Neil welcomed Ziggler back to Raw and said things have changed, which included him creating Titus Worldwide. Titus handed him a business card and offered Ziggler a spot in Titus Worldwide. Titus said that Ziggler was a multi-platform superstar. Ziggler said it was nice to hear that, but the one thing that changed was he didn’t come back to Raw alone. Ziggler threw the card back in O’Neil’s face. Drew McIntyre ran out of the crowd and jumped O’Neil. McIntyre unloaded on Apollo. Crowd was hot for McIntyre and he gave Apollo the Claymore. Cole put McIntyre joining Ziggler over huge. 

Roman Reigns came out. It’s like the buildup for WrestleMania has been forgotten by the fans and he’s back to the same reaction as the last three years. In fact, it may be worse. There were Roman Sucks chants. Reigns said, once again, he was there and Brock Lesnar isn’t. Crowd was booing him loudly and nearly drowned him out. Reigns he was going to leave Lesnar trapped in a cage and he was going to return to Raw as your full-time Universal Champion. Samoa Joe showed up to “Joe” chants. Joe said that Reigns comes out and brags about how he shows up for work, but he never talks about getting the job done. Because the fact is Reigns doesn’t get the job done and Reigns never will. Joe said Reigns doesn’t understand that Reigns is going to get in the ring with Lesnar, who has beaten Reigns every time he’s faced Lesnar. Joe said Reigns is too stupid to understand he can’t beat Lesnar. When Lesnar is finished with Reigns, he’ll be waiting for Reigns to put the big dog to sleep once and far all at Backlash. Then Joe showed a video of the beatings that Lesnar has given Reigns over the years, including the WrestleMania in Santa Clara, CA, the buildup to this year’s WrestleMania, followed by last Sunday. 

Reigns said that was everything Lesnar has done and challenged Joe to come to the ring to see what his lazy, fat ass can do. Joe walked to the ring, then stopped and walked back up the ramp. Joe stopped, threw his towel down and went back to the ring, but stopped just shy of ringside and told Reigns he would see him at his time, at Backlash.  

Natalya defeated Mandy Rose (with Sonya Deville) via tapout (2:49) 

Natalya worked as a babyface. Mandy Rose put on an abdominal stretch. After Natalya gave Rose a hip toss, Natalya put Rose in the sharpshooter for the tapout. Sonya Deville jumped Natalya, Rose joined in a double team. Rousey came down to a huge roar to clear the ring. Deville went in the ring to challege Rousey. Deville, with her MMA gimmick, tried to punch Rousey, who quickly scored a combination back and took down Deville. Rousey helped Natalya out of the ring. 

Baron Corbin was announced as also joining the Raw roster. 

Breezeango defeated The Bar (3:47) 

Fandango opened the match wearing Cesaro’s camoflague jacket. Cesaro wallopped Breeze with a hoist uppercut. Sheamus and Cesaro gave Breeze the old Demolition finisher for a near fall. Fandango pulled Sheamus off the apron as he was awaiting Cesaro’s tag, and Breeze gave Cesaro a Sunset Flip for the upset pin. 

Elias did an interview with Young, who said that he has opted not to play tonight. Elias said he doesn’t do small shows anymore, he only plays the big time. A rinky dink town like Hartford doesn’t matter. He said Lashley doesn’t deserve to be in the same arena as him, much less the same ring. Elias said if Lashley interrupts him again,he will learn that WWE stands for Walk With Elias. Elias said Renee took this interview because she was a huge fan of Elias. Renee said they don’t have time for a performance, but he started playing anyway. They went to a commercial. 

Brock Lesnar will be back next week for the Greatest Royal Rumble go-home show. 

Braun Strowman, Bobby Roode, Bobby Lashley, Seth Rollins and Finn Balor defeated The Miz, Bo Dallas, Curtis Axel, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn (22:12) 

Rollins came out in a “Monday Night Rollins” t-shirt. Cole and Graves laughed at the irony of that considering Rollins could be headed to SmackDown within 24 hours. Bobby Roode came out as the latest member of the Raw roster. Roode’s response was lacking. Crowd chanted for Strowman as Balor got the heat. Lashley got a hot tag to very little reaction. He did his power suplex on Zayn and press slammed Miz onto Owens and Dallas on the floor. After a commercial, Rollins tagged in and Zayn backdropped him to the floor. Miz trolled Bryan, who tweeted earlier that he was looking forward to seeing the Miz again tomorrow on SmackDown, with the Yes kicks on Rollins. Dallas and Axel pulled Balor and Lashley from the apron as Rollins went for the hot tag. Owens and Zayn tried to do the same thing, but Strowman threw them against the dasherboards.

Crowd was disappointed as Roode got the hot tag because they wanted Strowman. Roode really struggled to get a response as he set up the Glorious DDT on Axel. Roode hit a blockbuster on Axel, but Dallas made the save. Axel gave Roode a chop block and tagged in Miz, who went for the Figure Four. Roode turned it into a small package and tagged in Strowman to a big pop. Miz tried to run away but Strowman ran him down. Strowman gave Miz a choke slam, threw Dallas and Axel into the same corner, but Strowman missed a charge and hit the post. Rollins gave Axel a tope. Roode gave Zayn the Glorious DDT, but Owens gave Roode a superkick. Lashley delivered a spinebuster to Owens, and Miz threw Lashley out of the ring. Miz was left alone with Strowman. Miz hit two flying dropkicks, but Strowman came out of the corner with his own flying dropkick.

Miz tried to tag in Axel, who walked out on him. Miz tried to tag in Dallas, who also walked out. Miz looked stunned at the betrayl. Strowman was up and waiting for Miz. Strowman gave him the running powerslam for the pin.

NJPW Road to Wrestling Dontaku results: Suzuki-gun vs. LIJ

Posted on by Ethan Renner

New Japan Pro Wrestling ran something of a “B show” in Tokyo’s Korakuen Hall on Saturday. 

The legendary fifth-floor venue hosted its second consecutive event, kicking off the Road to Wrestling Dontaku tour. IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada and top contender Hiroshi Tanahashi did not wrestle on the show, and the main event served to further the IWGP Intercontinental, Tag Team, and Junior Heavyweight Tag Team title feuds, featuring the warring Suzuki-gun and Los Ingobernables de Japon stables.

The undercard featured another tag battle between the Taguchi Japan squad and the CHAOS faction, which saw United States Heavyweight Champion Jay White, NEVER Openweight Champion Hirooki Goto, and Junior Heavyweight title holder Will Ospreay in action against their future challengers, David Finlay, Juice Robinson, and KUSHIDA. 

Below are the results from Korakuen Hall —

– Ren Narita defeated Yota Tsuji via submission with a Boston Crab.

– Yuji Nagata defeated Shota Umino via submission with a Nagata Lock.

– Tomoyuki Oka, Ryusuke Taguchi & Manabu Nakanishi defeated Tetsuhiro Yagi, Tiger Mask IV & Hiroyoshi Tenzan when Oka made Yagi tap out to a Boston Crab.

– Taichi, TAKA Michinoku & Takashi Iizuka defeated Roppongi 3K (SHO, YOH & Rocky Romero) when Taichi pinned SHO after a Tensho Juji Ho.

– Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano defeated Toa Henare & Togi Makabe when Ishii pinned Henare after a vertical brainbuster.

– David Finlay, KUSHIDA, Juice Robinson & Michael Elgin defeated IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion Jay White, IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay, NEVER Openweight Champion Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI 

White and Finlay started off, and White looked motivated to match Finlay’s recent intensity. He teased using a chair, but thought better of it. Ospreay and KUSHIDA tagged in and did an electrifying sequence — some really state of the art stuff from two of the best in the world. 

Ospreay started selling his neck, and the Taguchi Japan team went to work on the champ. Ospreay initially countered some of Elgin’s power moves, so Elgin went to an enzuigiri and a slingshot neckbreaker to vary his attack. Robinson, Finlay, and KUSHIDA all used axe handles off the top to continue pounding on Ospreay’s neck. 

Ospreay finally made a tag to Goto, who did a sequence with Robinson that led to a double down. YOSHI-HASHI and Elgin tagged in, and Elgin sold a lot for him. Elgin recovered and hit a flying headscissors, which didn’t lead to anything. It was a wasted spot. 

Elgin hit a fallaway slam and a press slam for a near fall. He went for an Elgin Bomb, but Ospreay cut him off. The match broke down into an eight-way, with White, Goto, and KUSHIDA all hitting finishers. 

With the ring cleared, YOSHI-HASHI hit a lariat on Elgin for a near fall. He went to the top for a crossbody, but Elgin caught him and turned it into a buckle bomb, followed by an Elgin Bomb and a pinfall. The last two minutes or so were good. 

After the bout, Finlay taunted White, and White hit Finlay with a Blade Runner. 

– Suzuki-gun (IWGP Intercontinental Champion Minoru Suzuki, IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Killer Elite Squad) defeated Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi & IWGP Tag Team Champions EVIL & SANADA)

Did you know that sometimes Suzuki-gun jumps their opponents before the bell? You would think that their opponents would employ this strategy themselves far more often than they do. 

Suzuki went to work on Naito, who was the most over guy on the show by a wide margin. Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Lance Archer did the same, before Naito made a tag.  Naito and Suzuki brawled around the ring and in the crowd, with Suzuki getting the best of it. EVIL and SANADA got a little bit of offense on Smith, but were cut off. Several minutes of the match were spent on Suzuki-gun getting the heat on EVIL.

Kanemaru escaped a backslide, shoved the ref, hit a low blow on BUSHI, and pinned him for the first elimination. Naito quickly used a bridging combination to pin Kanemaru. Naito and Suzuki brawled to the apron, and Suzuki teased hitting the Gotch piledriver, but Naito evaded it and pulled Suzuki to the floor, going down with him. The two brawled to the back. 

Smith was next out, thrown over the top by SANADA with a Dragon Screw of sorts. Archer quickly tossed SANADA after escaping a Paradise Lock attempt and hitting a Pounce. Archer then eliminated EVIL over the top rope, before Takahashi sent him up and over. 

The final few minutes saw Desperado and Takahashi as the final two, with Desperado taking the bulk of the offense on Takahashi. They did more strong style power stuff than you might expect. Takahashi got a near fall, but while Desperado took the ref, Kanemaru reappeared, blowing mist in Takahashi’s eyes. Desperado took advantage and scored the victory for Suzuki-gun with a roll-up

The top two matches featured some good action, but this second show of a long tour is not required viewing. 

NJPW Road to Wrestling Dontaku results: CHAOS vs. Team New Japan

Posted on by Ethan Renner

New Japan kicked off the Road to Wrestling Dontaku tour with a star-powered main event on Friday.

The first of two consecutive nights at Korakuen Hall was capped by an elimination match featuring four of the five singles champions in the promotion, as well as the top contender for the IWGP Heavyweight title, longtime company ace, Hiroshi Tanahashi.

Tana is set to challenge champ Kazuchika Okada for the promotion’s most prestigious title at Wrestling Dontaku next month. But first, the two and their respective stablemates will do battle in a series of tag matches on this tour.

Below are the night one results:

– Tetsuhiro Yagi defeated Yuya Uemura

Yagi won via submission with a Boston crab.

– Manabu Nakanishi defeated Tomoyuki Oka

Nakanishi won via submission with an Argentine backbreaker.

– Tiger Mask, Yuji Nagata & Shota Umino defeated Togi Makabe, Ryusuke Taguchi & Ren Narita

Tiger Mask got the win for his team, pinning Narita after a Tiger Driver.

– Taichi, TAKA Michinoku & Takashi Iizuka defeated Roppongi 3K (SHO, YOH & Rocky Romero)

Taichi pinned SHO after a Taichi Style Last Ride

– Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Toa Henare

Match ended when Ishii pinned Henare after a Vertical Brainbuster.

– BUSHI & Hirmou Takahashi & IWGP Tag Team Champions EVIL & SANADA defeated Killer Elite Squad & IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru

The Suzui-gun team jumped the LIJ team before the bell and cleared the ring, staying true to the Suzuki brand. SANADA fired back and hit Archer with a sweet dropkick, but was cut off by Kanemaru when going for the Paradise Lock. Kanemaru ended up in the hold himself, which didn’t get as big of a reaction as it typically does. Archer hit a Pounce and Suzuki-gun asserted control of the match.

SANADA was left to fend for himself for several minutes, until Takahashi made it back to the apron and got a tag. He scored a nearfall on Desperado after a low dropkick. EVIL tagged in and did some spots with Smith, who got a nearfall after a suplex. He scored another nearfall after a bodypress from Archer.

Archer missed the Hart Attack, and EVIL hit Smith with a DDT. BUSHI and Kanemaru tagged in, and the finish saw BUSHI kick out of Deep Impact and small package Kanemaru to score the pinfall for Los Ingobernables.

There was nothing wrong with this, but it didn’t have nearly the heat that you would expect from a semi-main at Korakuen.

– Hiroshi Tanahashi, Juice Robinson, David Finlay, Michael Elgin & KUSHIDA defeated IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada, NEVER Openweight Champion Hirooki Goto, IWGP United States Champion Jay White, IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay & YOSHI-HASHI in an elimination match

Tana did Taguchi’s captain spot and everyone ran wild on Jay White. Finlay looked good, and I continue to be impressed with the intensity he has shown in the early stages of his U.S. title quest. Finlay was cut off by the Chaos team, and Ospreay and White went to work on him. Ospreay had kinesio tape across his neck and traps.

Okada and Tana had a staredown, with the Ace attempting to take the Rainmaker’s focus away from attacking Finlay. Okada used a chinlock and transitioned to a standing side headlock, but Finlay used a suplex to escape and tagged in Tana. Tana ran wild on the entire Chaos team, including hitting a duel Dragon Screw on White and Goto.

Tana and Okada paired off and did a sequence together, which included Okada bumping a lot for Tana. Okada looked like he was hurting. Ospreay got a tag, and his next challenger, KUSHIDa, tagged in fr a great back and forth. KUSHIDA worked over Ospreay’s neck. Ospreay hit a 619, and KUSHIDA countered a springboard elbow attempt into a flying armbar. They went to the apron and teased a Spanish Fly, playing off the last Ospreay/Scurll match, bt Ospreay blocked it.

The eliminations started coming quickly near the fifteen minute mark, as Ospreay and KUSHIDA both went out when Ospreay hit a vertical suplex on KUSHIDA on the apron, and they rolled to the floor. Elgin tossed out YOSHI-HASHI. Goto tossed Elgin. Goto was thrown out by Juice, his next challenger. Juice was quickly thrown out by Okada.

Okada and Tana did another series of spots, and Okada applied the Cobra Clutch, but Tana slipped out and applied the Cloverleaf. White saved for Okada. Okada hit a dropkick to a prone Tanahashi as he sat on the top rope. They teased a duel elimination on the apron, and both were knocked to the floor by White and Finlay, leaving them the focal point of the closing minutes of the bout.

Finlay got a nearfall with a backbreaker, but White took control of the match, repeatedly firing Finlay into the turnbuckle pad. White tossed Finlay to the apron and teased a suplex to the floor, but tossed him back inside and hit one of his own.

The finish saw Finlay go for a cutter, dodge a Blade Runner, then hit the cutter, and clothesline White over the top for the victory. This was fun once they got down to the eliminations.

I understand the reasoning behind the advent of these elimination matches, in that they provide a way to beat guys without them having to do jobs, which is useful when booking some variation of the same tag match night after night on these tours. That said, the winners and losers of them have a lot less impact.

Impact Wrestling results: Rosemary vs. Taya in Demon’s Dance

Posted on by Dave Bath

Previously: Eli Drake defeated Moose to win the World Championship title shot briefcase.

Tonight: Rosemary takes on Taya Valkyrie in a Demon’s Dance match.

Show Recap —

– Eli Drake came out and bragged about having both the World Championship and Tag Team title shot briefcases. He pointed out that he could be on his way to winning all the gold in Impact.

LAX interrupted, demanding to know the identity of Drake’s partner to challenge for the titles. Drake then introduced his partner for Redemption, Scott Steiner. Steiner promised to defeat LAX and win the tag titles.

Konnan played mind games and asked Drake if he could trust Steiner to show up. He also wondered if Steiner still has it or not.

Flashback of the Week: Rosemary defeated Knockouts Champion Jade in Six Sides of Steel

They brawled around ringside before getting in the cage. Rosemary was firmly in control until Jade hit a top rope hurricanrana. Jade executed a crossbody block off the top of the cage, but Rosemary spit the mist in her eyes and hit the Red Wedding for the win.

Moose defeated Sami Callihan by DQ

Callihan took over after a lariat and a suicide dive. Moose fought back and powerbombed Callihan twice on the apron, then Callihan regained control after a low blow.

Moose made a comeback, hitting a pop-up powerbomb and a senton for a near fall. He hit the Go 2 Hell for another close two count. The finish came when Callihan hit Moose with the baseball bat for the disqualification.

After the match, OVE beat down Moose until Eddie Edwards ran out for the save. OVE overwhelmed Edwards and beat him down as well. Alisha Edwards ran out to protect her husband, with Callihan backing Alisha in the corner when the lights went off.

When the lights came back on, Tommy Dreamer was standing in the ring. He cleared the ring of the heels. At Redemption, Dreamer, Moose & Eddie Edwards take on OVE in a House of Hardcore match.

Petey Williams defeated Josh Mathews (w/ Matt Sydal) by DQ

Mathews stalled and pretended to stretch in the corner. Williams chased him around the ring and Mathews let out a high-pitched scream. Williams set up for the Canadian Destroyer, but Sydal interfered for the disqualification.

The heels beat down Williams after the match.

– Backstage, Johnny Impact had another confrontation with Jimmy Jacobs and Kongo Kong. They agreed to a match next week.

Tyrus, Fallah Bahh & Richard Justice defeated Trevor Lee, Caleb Konley & KM

The faces had the early advantage until the heels took over after a kick to Justice’s back. Tyrus got the tag and ran wild on the heels, and Bahh hit the Banzai Drop for the win.

Rosemary defeated Taya Valkyrie in Demon’s Dance

Valkyrie took over after dropping Rosemary stomach-first on the guardrail, then she hit double knees into a chair covering Rosemary. She also hit a chair with another chair that was placed between Rosemary’s legs.

Rosemary fought back and sent Valkyrie into a ladder that was set up in the corner, but Valkyrie regained control when Rosemary went head-first into a chair set up in another corner. She put Rosemary on a table and climbed to the top, but Rosemary cut her off.

The finish came as they fought on the top turnbuckle and Rosemary gave Valkyrie a piledriver through the table for the win.

– Highlights from Impact vs. Lucha Underground from last Friday in New Orleans aired. It focused on the Redemption press conference, the Impact vs. LU main event, and the aftermath. 

After brawling with Aries at the Redemption press conference last Friday, Alberto El Patron was shown leaving the event and promised to get revenge on Aries at Impact vs. LU that night.

After his House of Hardcore victory the next day, Aries mentioned Patron no-showing the night before at Impact vs. LU. He challenged Pentagon Jr. and Fenix to a rematch at Redemption, which is now the new main event.

Next Week: From Impact vs. Lucha Underground, Austin Aries vs. Pentagon Jr. vs. Fenix. Plus, Johnny Impact takes on Kongo Kong.

WWE NXT results: The War Raiders debut

Posted on by Arya Witner

The Big News: TakeOver was amazing, go watch it.

The Medium News: Now called War Raiders, War Machine made their NXT television debut and laid out Heavy Machinery and Riddick Moss & Tino Sabbatelli

The Little Beaver-sized News: In between the six video packages, Kairi Sane also won her match.

**********

The show began with the first of many video packages, this one being a recap of the full TakeOver: New Orleans card.

**********

Kairi Sane defeated Lacey Evans

This match was set up last week when Evans cut a promo about how she was a proper lady, unlike Sane and others. Evans was not liking being outclassed in the ring early and yanked Sane down by her hair to take over. Evans hit a slingshot elbow, which looked good.

Evans sarcastically asked Sane if she was okay before she laid in forearms to the chest. Evans got to look better here than most of her NXT matches, even the ones she won. She shoved Sane into the ropes, but Sane exploded off of them with an Interceptor.

Sane hit the flying Kabuki elbow for a near fall and an Insane Elbow for the win.

**********

We then got a video package for the six-way ladder match for the North American Championship, won by Adam Cole.

**********

We got back-to-back Cole video packages as the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic finals/NXT Tag Team Championship match was showcased, which was won by Cole & Kyle O’Reilly when Roderick Strong turned on Pete Dunne.

Cathy Kelley did a post-match promo with Undisputed Era. Well, she tried to. Before Cole could speak, Strong whispered in his ear and they all went back into their locker room.

We then got an interview with The Authors of Pain, which was after their Raw debut. Akam said this was not about Paul Ellering, this was about how they just destroyed the first-ever SmackDown Tag Team Champions. Ellering walked up and said he devised all the plans to make them successful. Rezar told him his chapter has ended.

**********

Then we got a video package recapping the phenomenal Johnny Gargano-Tommaso Ciampa match. If you didn’t watch TakeOver, it’s well worth your $9.99 just for this match and you owe it to yourself to go check it out.

Gargano will be on NXT next week.

**********

Guess what? We had another video package! This one was about Ember Moon vs. Shayna Baszler, which Baszler won to become the seventh NXT Women’s Champion.

After the match, Baszler was interviewed and said you don’t get to jump on and off her bandwagon. She knows who was with her and against her from the start. She said things will change and wrestling in the NXT women’s division isn’t going to be about who gets the most compliments on their hair and outfit, it will be about who the best wrestler is.

They showed Moon debuting on Raw and then doing a promo talking about how happy and excited she was. She said her biggest regret is that she left Baszler with the rest of the NXT women’s division.

**********

We got a video package for every other match, so why not the title match? We had a video package for Andrade “Cien” Almas vs. Aleister Black, where Black won the NXT Championship.

**********

A quick video of No Way Jose debuting on Raw and The IIconics arriving on SmackDown aired.

**********

Next week: Lars Sullivan faces Killian Dain.

**********

Heavy Machinery vs. Riddick Moss & Tino Sabbatelli ended in a no contest

Hey, a match! I almost forgot what these looked like. Moss & Sabbatelli are going through the longest breakup this side of Wesley Blake & Buddy Murphy. Murphy is finally doing something two years later, while Blake is still floundering. Perhaps Moss & Sabbatelli should take note of that.

A four-way brawl broke out, which Heavy Machinery got the best of. Tucker Knight and Otis Dozovic did a version of the Bushwhacker stomp before squishing Sabbatelli’s head in between their stomachs. As Knight went after Moss, Sabbatelli punched him in the back of the head and the heels took over.

Moss actually caught Knight on a crossbody and slammed him down, which was very impressive. Knight surprisingly used his speed to avoid Moss and Sabbatelli and made the tag to Dozovic. Dozovic ran wild on both — literally running from corner to corner with big splashes before using the Caterpillar on Sabbatelli.

Suddenly, the War Raiders (War Machine) ran in and assaulted all four men. Called Rowe and Hanson, they decimated both teams and stood tall after using the Fallout on Sabbatelli.

So, that does it for this week. The show was skippable unless you want to see the War Raiders’ debut. Until next week, remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers!

WWE 205 Live results: Murphy ruins Alexander’s celebration

Posted on by F4W Editors

Cedric Alexander and Mustafa Ali’s match from the WrestleMania pre-show was recapped, with footage of their back-and-forth promo exchange tying some of the match’s threads together.

Vic Joseph was at ringside and said that Nigel McGuinness will be back in two weeks, but Percy Watson will be McGuinness’ replacement and will then join the announce team to make it a three-man booth. Joseph hyped up Mark Andrews vs. Drew Gulak as tonight’s main event, while Alexander will also celebrate his title win.

Kalisto came out and we got a weird video promo with him welcoming Tozawa to the lucha house party.

Kalisto defeated Akira Tozawa

Tozawa worked on one of Kalisto’s arms to start things off. Kalisto did a hand-walk headscissors before starting a lucha chant. Tozawa landed a nice snap jab that sent Kalisto down, with Tozawa then stomping a mudhole in him. Tozawa got two off a senton before getting a chinlock.

Joseph talked about the Superstar Shakeup and what that could mean for 205 Live. Kalisto superkicked Tozawa’s gut and got two off a basement rana. Kalisto hit a springing Spanish Fly for two, hit a variety of PKs to the arm, and charged in — but he got monkey flipped into the buckle.

Tozawa hit a suicide dive to the floor and sent Kalisto into the announce table. He went for the senton off the top, but Kalisto got his knees up. They went back and forth on cradles before Kalisto turned one into the Salida Del Sol for the win. Gran Metalik & Lince Dorado face Tozawa & Hideo Itami next week.

Mark Andrews talked to Tony Nese, who said that Drew Gulak was his friend — but now he’s a crazy egomaniac. He wanted Andrews to kick Gulak’s ass for him tonight, so it looks like Nese is a babyface now.

Gulak came out for his match against Andrews and asked for everyone’s attention as he showed off a new PowerPoint presentation! A giant “PowerPoint” chant broke out, so Gulak said there’s a time for those — but it’s not now, when he’s about to destroy Andrews. 

Drew Gulak defeated Mark Andrews

Andrews took Gulak down quickly several times with arm drags, so Gulak went outside for a powder. Gulak came in and got kicked in the leg, so he took Andrews down to the mat with his arm and Andrews escaped with fancy flips. Gulak briefly got the dragon sleeper in, but Andrews cradled him for two.

A wheelbarrow bulldog hit for Andrews, with Gulak then going to the apron and tossing Andrews into the steel turnbuckle posts. Gulak stomped his back before hitting a backbreaker for two. He locked in a crossface chicken wing, but Andrews escaped and hit a standing enzuigiri.

Andrews hit a crucifix bomb for two. Gulak landed a nasty rabbit lariat for two, but Andrews hit the Stundog Millionaire. He went up top, but Gulak got to the other side and baited him in before smacking him into the buckle and earning a tap with the Gu-lock.

Gulak locked it on again after the match, but Nese made a save and hit a Fosbury flop to officially turn him face in front of the fans.

Drake Maverick told Brian Kendrick, who was returning to television, and Jack Gallagher that he has some reservations about them teaming up and wants to make sure there won’t be a vendetta against Hideo Itami. Gallagher said a vendetta is beneath them and Kendrick said that their issues are water under the bridge.

Maverick came out and put over the Cruiserweight title match as one that stole the show at WrestleMania. Alexander came down, thanked the fans, and thanked his family for always being there for him. Ali entered and said that there are a lot of people backstage who want a shot, but he wants one too. He got  a “One more match” chant.

Buddy Murphy’s theme then hit. Maverick and Ali were looking at the entrance ramp as Murphy snuck in from behind and hit the Murphy’s Law on Alexander. Maverick yelled at Murphy while Ali checked on Alexander, with Murphy motioning that he’s going to be the next Cruiserweight Champion.

WWE SmackDown live results: Fallout from WrestleMania 34

Posted on by Dave Bath

WWE wraps up WrestleMania week in New Orleans as SmackDown takes place at the Smoothie King Center tonight.

The show will feature SmackDown’s fallout from WrestleMania 34, and WWE will follow-up on Shinsuke Nakamura’s heel turn after he lost to AJ Styles and low blowed him following their match on Sunday.

Daniel Bryan & Shane McMahon were victorious at WrestleMania. With Bryan back in the ring, will he be stepping away from his duties as SmackDown general manager? SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair will also appear tonight after ending Asuka’s undefeated streak, and SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Bludgeon Brothers and United States Champion Jinder Mahal make their first appearances since their title wins.

Ember Moon, No Way Jose, and The Authors of Pain were called up from NXT on the post-WrestleMania episode of Raw. SmackDown should follow suit with some additions tonight ahead of next week’s Superstar Shakeup on Monday and Tuesday.

**********

Shane McMahon kicked off SmackDown and welcomed everyone to the final show of WrestleMania week. He mentioned it was a highlight of his career to team with the returning Daniel Bryan. He noted that Bryan is now a full-time WWE superstar and accepted his resignation as SmackDown GM.

He introduced the new SmackDown GM Paige to an enormous response. She mentioned that last night she delivered her retirement speech and Shane was the first person to greet her backstage.

As Paige’s first act as GM, she wants to make the night special for the fans. She announced the blockbuster main event of Daniel Bryan versus AJ Styles.

The Usos defeated The New Day (w/ Kofi Kingston)

The winners of this match challenge for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship at the Greatest Royal Rumble. Big E gave Jey a splash off of Wood’s shoulders for a near fall. The Usos gained the advantage after Big E missed a splash on the apron.

Big E took out Jimmy with a spear through the second rope. The Usos made a comeback and took out Big E with a double superkick. Jey hit the Uso splash on Woods for the win.

The Usos challenge the SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Bludgeon Brothers at The Greatest Royal Rumble. After the match, The Bludgeon Brothers came out for a stare down with The Usos.

Naomi defeated Natalya

Naomi had the early advantage and hit an impressive looking slingshot leg drop. Natalya took over after dropping Naomi face first on the turnbuckle. Naomi hit a scorpion kick but Natalya fired back with a powerbomb for a close near fall. Naomi made a comeback and hit a split legged moonsault for the victory.

In the back, Renee Young interviewed Shinsuke Nakamura and asked why he attacked AJ Styles at Mania. Nakamura gave a sarcastic apology for attacking Styles and winked at Young. She asked the question again but this time he responded with “No speak English.” 

Charlotte Flair came out and addressed facing Asuka. She called Asuka her toughest challenger yet but she still walked out champion. She wondered about her next challengers when The Iconic Duo, Peyton Royce and Billie Kay, from NXT interrupted. The crowd gave them a great response and chanted “Iconic”.

They told her to stop worrying about a match in the past. They jumped Flair and gave her a vicious beat down around ringside. They gave her a brutal looking double power bomb on the floor. The crowd chanted for Carmella to cash in her money in the bank.

The referees came down to check on Charlotte when Carmella ran out and cashed in her title shot.

Carmella defeated SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair

Carmella hit the superkick to win the Women’s Championship. The crowd erupted for Carmella cashing in and winning.

Randy Orton defeated Bobby Roode and Rusev (w/ Aiden English)

New US Champion Jinder Mahal and Sunil Singh were at ringside. The winner challenges Mahal for the title at Backlash.

Rusev and Orton brawled on the floor and Orton dropped Rusev on the announce table. Roode jumped Orton and set up for the Glorious DDT but Orton rolled through for a two count. Rusev made a comeback and dropped Orton on the announce table.

Rusev locked on The Accolade on Roode, but Orton broke it up and hit the RKO on Roode for the win. Orton challenges US Champion Jinder Mahal at Backlash. 

In the back, Charly Caruso interviewed new SmackDown Women’s Champion Carmella. She cried fake tears and thanked herself for her victory.

Backstage, Renee Young interviewed AJ Styles about Shinsuke Nakamura but Styles is focused on Daniel Bryan. He said Bryan is one of the greatest but he’s not phenomenal. 

AJ Styles vs. Daniel Bryan Ended Without A Winner

Bryan was in control early after hitting a series of kicks. He worked over Styles arm with various holds. Styles fired back with a beautiful looking standing dropkick and slingshot forearm to the floor.

Bryan hit the Yes Kicks but Styles countered the third into a dragon screw whip. Bryan executed a back flip but his knee buckled and Styles counted into a backflip into the reverse DDT for a near fall.

Bryan fired back and locked on the armbar but Styles countered into the Calf Crusher. Styles attempted the Phenomenal Forearm but Bryan caught him with two kicks.

Bryan attempted the Running Knee but Styles countered into the Styles Clash. Bryan countered the Styles Clash into the Yes Lock but Styles made the ropes. Bryan attempted a back suplex off the top turnbuckle but Styles countered and landed on Bryan.

Shinsuke Nakamura ran out and attacked both Styles and Bryan. He hit both with the Kinshasa and gave Styles two low blows to end the show.

Next Week: SmackDown features the second night of the Superstar Shake-up

WWE Raw live results: The night after WrestleMania

Posted on by Josh Hamlin

The Big Takeaway: As always, a newsworthy night after WrestleMania. Next week, there will be a SuperStar Shake-Up. Ember Moon, No Way Jose, and the Authors of Pain (teasing dissension with Paul Ellering immediately, so it looks like his run is over) made their main roster debut.

Bobby Lashley returned to the company for the first time since 2007 (when he did an injury angle at the hands of Mr. Kennedy) to lay out Elias. In an emotional moment, Paige formally announced her retirement due to neck injuries. Samoa Joe returned to set up a match at Backlash with Roman Reigns.

For all the mystery that lingered from last night’s Reigns-Lesnar match, there wasn’t much follow-up tonight. Reigns cut a promo saying he would beat Lesnar at the Greatest Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia in a cage, only to have Joe really run him down on the subsequent interview with no verbal comeback whatsoever.

The Raw Tag Team Championships were vacated by Braun Strowman because Nicholas is still in grade school. They started a Eliminator Tournament to crown new champions, which will culminate at the Greatest Royal Rumble with either the Revival or Matt Hardy & Bray Wyatt facing the Bar. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn showed up looking for a job on Raw. Kurt Angle claimed that he had only one vacant spot on the Raw roster and the two could wrestle for it. Owens and Zayn went to a double countout in the best match of the night.

Show Recap: 

Stephanie McMahon came out with her left arm in a sling limping down the ramp. Michael Cole put over Ronda Rousey’s debut as possibly the greatest in WrestleMania history. Crowd chanted “You tapped out” at her. Stephanie admitted she expected more from the people. She said she knows the typical crowd on the night after WrestleMania is more of an international flavor, and she smelled the difference on the breaths of the fans on the way to the ring. Stephanie said everyone had to admit they were surprised by her performance and she does deserve their accolades. Stephanie said she knew what she was doing, she would bring out the best in Rousey. She deserves that pat on the back so she thanked the fans. Stephanie said she was proud of Rousey and what she accomplished last night, so she introduced Rousey. 

Rousey came out to a big reception wearing a big smile. Stephanie admitted the better woman won last night and Rousey made her tap out. Stephanie said Rousey was spectacular, she was beaten by the best in the world and she doesn’t feel bad about that. Stephanie said since Rousey is under contract to her, together they can blaze new trails together. With her in Rousey’s corner, together they can spread Rousey’s message. Crowd chanted “B.S.” Stephanie said Rousey was smarter than all of them and that Rousey taught her a lesson last night and Stephanie paid a message. As the crowd chanted “S.T.F.U” (without the initials), Stephanie abruptly told the crowd to give it up for Rousey. They two hugged, but after they released the embrace, Rousey wiped away her smile and frowned at Stephanie. Rousey put Stephanie in an flying armbar as Stephanie screamed and tapped out quickly. Several referees and EMTs ran down to help Stephanie and rush her to the back. 

Ronda left, but Stephanie remained in the ring. Crowd chanted “you deserve it,” then “Hey, hey, hey, goodbye.” Jojo the ring announcer asked the crowd to show a little respect for Stephanie. They just booed louder as Stephanie slowly walked to the back while she nursed her injuredleft arm. 

Cole, Jonathan Coachman and Corey Graves gave their annual disclaimer about how the crowd tonight will be different from other crowds that folks typically see on Raw. The fans will boo wrestlers that others typically cheer and vice versa. 

Next week, there’s a Superstar Shake-Up, starting on Monday with Raw. 

Jax got “You deserve it” chants after her ring entrance. She looked really choked up. Alexa Bliss said it looks like there’s no bigger bully here than Rousey, unless you talk about Jax. Bliss said the truth about Jax is that she’s the bully because she loves to throw her weight around, which is clearly a lot of weight because it’s twice the size of Mickie James and three times the size of her. Bliss said Jax beat up James last night for no reacon, and she was distraught over that, which is why she lost. Bliss said she lost because she is a compassionate woman and was competing under emotional distress. Bliss said everyone in the locker room knows deep down that Jax is cold as ice.

Jax told Bliss to shut up. Jax said she loved every second of what she did to Bliss and James last night. At first, this was supposed to be a handicap match but Jax said she has a partner tonight: Ember Moon, who came out to a loud ovation. 

In Durham, N.C., (where I’m located), the break after announcing the Superstar Shake-Up, they advertised a Smackdown house show at PNC Arena in Raleigh for next month. A.J. Styles was billed as defending the WWE Heavyweight Championship against Shinsuke Nakamura, along with a four-way featuring Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, even though they’re supposed to be fired. 

Raw Women’s Champion Nia Jax and Ember Moon defeated Alexa Bliss and Mickie James (3:02) 

Crowd popped big when Moon tagged in and chanted “NXT.” She looked rough around the area on some spots, but hit the Eclipse on Bliss for the pin. 

Kurt Angle talked to someone on a cellphone when Strowman walked up. Angle congratulated Strowman on his win of the Raw Tag Team Championships and asked where his partner was. Turned out, Nicholas was there the whole time. Crowd roared for Nicholas. Strowman said they’re relinquishing the Raw Tag Team Championships because Nicholas has a scheduling conflict since he’s still in 4th grade. But as soon as he graduates, he’s coming back for the championship. Nicholas said someone is going to get these hands. So the Raw Tag Team Championships are now vacant. 

A vignette for No Way Jose aired. He debuts next. 

No Way Jose defeated John Skylar (:25) 

Jose came out with his conga line and won with the windup punch. There’s a reason why NXT acts are called up to the main roster in front of this crowd and it’s because they come across like stars on their first night in front of hardcore fans. It was no different in this situation. 

Cesaro and Sheamus walked up and asked about Strowman relinquishing the tag team championship. Angle corrected Sheamus and said Strowman and his partner relinquished the tag team championships. Cesaro asked if they were going to hand them the tag team championships back now, or would he rather do it in the ring with a more formal presentation. Angle reminded them they lost to a 10-year-old last night. Instead, Angle arrange a tag team eliminator, not using the term tournament. It would start tonight and conclude at the Greatest Royal Rumble event in Saudi Arabia. The Bar would be in action tonight. 

The Revival defeated Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows in a Tag Team Eliminator match (3:35) 

Karl Anderson got the hot tag and kicked Scott Dawson across the face and hit a neckbreaker. Anderson hit Dash Wilder with a pescado, then followed with an Anderson spinebuster. Wilder made the save. Wilder made a blind tag and pinned Anderson after the Shatter Machine. There are no brackets for this tournament and it must be one of Vince McMahon’s directives not to use the term “tournament” because it was omitted by the announcers. 

Seth Rollins came out as the new Intercontinental Champion. Rollins said there have been a lot of ups and downs over the last few years, but that was the loudest “Burn it Down” he’s ever heard. After last night, Rollins can finally say that Seth “Freakin'” Rollins is back. Rollins said he had to admit “Grand Slam Rollins” has a nice ring to it, which led to a chant. Rollins said he’s finally caught up to Reigns and Dean Ambrose and now every member of the Shield is a Grand Slam champion and the best part is he did it at WrestleMania. 

Finn Balor walked out without his usual entrance. Balor congratulated Rollins. Balor said Rollins was the better man last night, but last night was a Triple Threat match. There was a winner, there was a loser, and then there was Balor, who wanted more. He challenged Rollins to an Intercontinental Championship match. The two shook hands and it appeared Rollins accepted. 

The Miz came out with Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel. Miz, who was no babyface here, said Rollins didn’t deserve it, he does. Miz said he made the Intercontinental Championship the most prestigious in the WWE. Miz said he told the MizTourage to stay in the back because he wanted no excuses from Rollins when he won. Rollins asked Miz if he just said that Miz can’t beat Rollins without the MizTourage. Miz said he became a father two weeks ago, which got cheers. Maryse said when Rollins stole the belt from him, he made Monroe Mizanan cry. That made Maryse cry. When Miz heard that, he cried. Rollins said he had to admit, he’s proud that Miz admitted he cried, because that’s what everyone does when they watch Miz wrestle. Rollins said Miz can’t lace his boots. 

Miz said he’s entitled to a rematch. Rollins said if he wants to invoke his rematch clause, they can do it tonight. Miz rejected that idea because he’s in a custom suit and he will invoke his rematch clause at Backlash. Miz challenged Rollins and Balor to a 3-on-2 handicap match. They got ready to square off when Jeff Hardy came out to a big pop to join the babyfaces. They teased going at it, but Miz, Dallas and Axel left. There will be a six-man tonight. 

Mandy Rose (with Paige and Sonya Deville) defeated Sasha Banks (with Bayley) (6:58) 

Just as the match was about to start, Bayley came out, got in the ring, then stepped out be in Sasha Banks’ corner. Crowd chanted for Bayley the way every international crowd does. Banks nailed Mandy Rose with a knee acros the jaw and came off the top rope with double knees to the shoulders. Rose rolled out to the floor and pushed Bayley. Bayley retailiated and went after Rose, but Rose ducked and hit Banks. That led to Banks and Bayley arguing Banks got back in the ring and Rose gave her a knee lift for the pin. 

Bayley walked to the back looking remorseful. 

Postmatch, Paige said it was really hard for her to sit on the sidelines for WrestleMania because this ring is her heart and soul. Paige announced that due to neck injuries, she can’t perform in the ring as an in-ring competitor anymore. Crowd chanted “Thank you, Paige.” Rose and Sonya Deville vanished at this point. An emotional Paige thanked every single female star and said she was proud to be a part of this division. They have built the division into something huge. Paige thanked her family and thanked Daniel Bryan, who came back from a career-ending injury yesterday and had his first match back. That gave her hope. Paige thanked Edge, who was backstage tonight. He said Edge has showed her there’s life beyond wrestling and he’s got a successful acting career and a lovely family. Paige said she will have to find something else besides wrestling to do. Paige said she debuted four years ago in New Orleans and won the Divas Championship. Now, New Orleans will be the place where she wants to retire. Paige thanked everyone and with tears streaming down her eyes, the crowd chanted “This is your house.” Paige thanked everyone and said this will always be her house. She laid down the micropone, placed her t-shirt over it and left the ring. 

Elias was in the ring wearing a leather jacket that looked like 1981 era Burt Reynolds in “Smokey and the Bandit 2.” Crowd actually clapped along with his guitar playing. Elias said, in one year, he’s become the biggest musical act on the face of this planet. Last night at WrestleMania, everyone paid to see an Elias performance. Crowd started singing for Elias to the tune of “Seven Nation Army.” Elias looked taken aback. Elias shouted the crowd down and said he was going to perform tonight, albeit in front of the same unappreciative scumbags from last night. That led to a “We are scumbags” chant. Elias sang a song about wanting to punch the fans in the face as they clap. 

Then Bobby Lashley came out to a huge pop. Elias looked stunned. Lashley, wearing a black headband, got in the ring to ‘Welcome back” chants. Elias took a swing at him but Lashley gave him a neckbreaker, followed by a one-arm vertical suplex where he held him for 15 seconds. 

In the back, Angle was in the middle of another cell phone conversation when Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn showed up, all dressed up. Owens said they’ve had a falling out with SmackDown Live management. Angle asked if they were looking for a job. Angle asked if they got fired for attacking their Commissioner and General Manager. Zayn said that was true but that won’t happen again. Angle actually said his tag team division is full but TNA is hiring. (He just had a 10 year old compete on the biggest show of the year) Owens sold out Zayn and said he was a father, unlike Zayn. Angle said he has one spot on the roster and the two of them can wrestle for it tonight, take it or leave it. They reluctantly agreed. 

Rhyno and Heath Slater were in the ring. Slater said it’s a shame they weren’t involved in “the tag team eliminator thing” because they were the first SmackDown Tag Team Champions. Slater challenged any tag team to come out. Crowd chanted for Authors of Pain before their music started, and guess who came out?

The Authors of Pain defeated Heath Slater & Rhyno (:49) 

Cole opened the match by mistaking Akam for Razor. Akam pinned Slater following the Last Chapter. Akam and Razor then refused to allow Paul Ellering to walk to the back with them. Ellering just shook his head at them. It looks like Vince’s stance on managers isn’t changing. 

They announced Reigns vs. Lesnar in a steel cage for the Universal Championship at the Greatest Royal Rumble. 

Reigns walked out. As if this is news, he’s just never going to get acceped by the hardcores as he was booed out of the place. He was selling his beating from last night. This year, the fans actually let him talk, but not without some resistence. Reigns said he got his ass kicked last night, as everyone can see. But he’s here tonight and Lesnar isn’t. Reigns said he really doesn’t know what happened yesterday. He said Vince McMahon couldn’t look him in the eye and smarten him up. Reigns said he knew that Lesnar was a smart businessman because he heard at the end of last week that Lesnar was going back to UFC. Then he learned today that Lesnar had signed a new contract and that he was going to face Lesnar in a cage match, something he wasn’t told ahead of time until he got on the Internet. Reigns said if he faces Lesnar one-on-one, he would walk out the Universal Champion. 

Samoa Joe showed up for the first time since January and mocked how Reigns thinks there’s a conspiracy against him. Joe said Lesnar didn’t just beat Reigns last night, Lesnar exposed Reigns. For over a year, Reigns said he was the only one who could beat Lesnar, but the truth is no matter what, Reigns failed, which makes Reigns a failure. Crowd cheered and chanted “Failure.” Joe said it also makes Reigns a liar, he lied to the fans, he lied to his family because Reigns can’t face the fact that every time he goes face-to-face with Lesnar, Reigns gets jacked up. Regins winds up on tables, Reigns winds up on tables and Lesnar gets richer. Joe said the vicious cycle will end because after Lesnar fails again in a cage, he’ll be waiting at Backlash to put Reigns to sleep. Joe left to “Joe” chants like he was the top male babyface in the company. 

Titus O’Neil and Apollo were waiting on their opponets for the tag team eliminator. Matt Hardy talked to the Andre the Giant trophy like it was a deity. Behind him was one Bray Wyatt, who seems to have just turned babyface after emerging from the Lake of Reincarnation and is now partnering with Hardy. 

Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt defeated Titus Worldwide in a Tag Team Elimination match (5:06) 

O’Neil and Hardy chanted “Delete” and “Worldwide” back-and-forth. Apollo did a backflip out of the corner. Wyatt and Hardy together said “Wonderful” and applauded, with many fans joining in. Apollo came off the second rope, but Wyatt caught him and delievered a uranage. Wyatt set up Sister Abigail, but threw Apollo into Hardy, who hit the Twist of Fate for the pin. 

Next week, the Revival faces Hardy & Wyatt. The winner advances to the Greatest Royal Rumble to face the Bar. 

They played a Backlash PPV ad as one of the rare times all year that SmackDown and Raw are joining forces, completely leaving out the fact that’s how future PPVs are going to be. 

Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn went to a double countout in a match where the winner gets hired to Raw (10:13) 

Zayn hit a tope con hilo immediately. Owens recovered almost instantly and tried to power bomb Zayn onto the apron, but Zayn catapulted Owens into the ringpost. Zayn tried to walk the ropes, but Owens crotched him and landed an inverted splash. After a commercial, Zayn hit the Blue Thunder Driver for a two count. Zayn attempted the diving DDT through two ropes, but Owens caught him with a kick and scored the Bullfrog Splash for a two count. Crowd was into it with rhythmic applause. Owens hit two running knees, but Zayn caught the Helluva Kick. Owens landed through the ropes so Zayn couldn’t cover him. Then Owens caught the Pop Up Power Bomb, but fell out of the ring. Owens screamed “I need this, OK?” as he climbed the top rope, but Zayn kicked him on the ropes and tried a Superplex. But Owens turned it into the Steenalizer. Zayn and Owens were both down and, for the first time I can recall on Raw, they were both counted out int he ring. They announced that neither man would get a job on Raw. 

Jeff Hardy, Balor and Rollins were in the back. Jeff walked up to Matt, who said he was happy to see that Jeff had recovered from his broken condition. Jeff said he was glad that Matt won the Battle Royale. Matt said he did it with the help of a familiar foe. Wyatt walked in, looked menacingly at Jeff, then opened his arms and said “Brother Nero.” They hugged. Balor and Rollins looked at this scene with their jaws agape.

Seth Rollins, Jeff Hardy and Finn Balor defeated Bo Dallas, The Miz and Curtis Axel (13:57)

Not sure if it was microphone placment or what, but Rollins’ spot calling was louder than a Slayer concert. Miz didn’t get into the ring at all early. he distracted Miz long enough for Dallas to deck him from behind for the heat. After a dropkick to Miz, Balor tagged Jeff. Crowd chanted “Brother Nero.” Hardy hit Whisper in the Wind on Axel and Dallas to tag Rollins, who gave Axel a tope, clotheslined Miz over the top rope and hit a tope on all three heels. Crowd chanted “Burn It Down.” Rollins missed a charge in the corner and Miz went to the top rope, but Rollins caught him with a superplex rolled into the Falcon Arrow. Dallas made the save, but Balor gave Dallas a sling blade. Balor clotheslined Axel over the top rope and Balor gave Axel and Dallas the Cope con Hilo. Rollins pinned Miz after the Curb Stomp. 

Postmatch, Dallas ran after Balor, but Hardy intercepted with a Twist of Fate, Balor hit the Coup de Grace and Rollins gave him the Curb Stomp. Axel went after the faces, but Hardy gave him the Twist of Fate, Balor the Coup de Grace and Rollins the Curb Stomp. 

WWE WrestleMania 34 live results, news & recap

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Preview by Joseph Currier

Nine title matches, Daniel Bryan’s return to the ring, and Ronda Rousey’s debut highlight the card for WrestleMania’s return to New Orleans.

In what could be the last match of Brock Lesnar’s current WWE run, he’ll defend his Universal Championship against Roman Reigns tonight. AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura will be facing off in their second-ever singles bout as they bring their dream match stateside.

Bryan and Rousey are involved in separate tag matches. Bryan is teaming with Shane McMahon against Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn, with the stipulation being that Owens and Zayn will get their jobs back if they win. Rousey & Kurt Angle are taking on Stephanie McMahon & Triple H.

We’ll also see what form John Cena vs. The Undertaker takes after their meeting was never officially announced before WrestleMania.

Charlotte Flair’s SmackDown Women’s Championship and Asuka’s undefeated streak will be on the line as they face off. On the Raw side, Alexa Bliss is defending her title against Nia Jax. The Intercontinental, United States, and Raw and SmackDown Tag Team titles will also be up for grabs on the main card.

The 2018 Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal, and Cedric Alexander vs. Mustafa Ali in the Cruiserweight Championship tournament finals will air on the two-hour pre-show. Our live coverage begins at 5 p.m. Eastern time before the main card kicks off at 7 p.m.

We’re looking for your thoughts on this show, as well as last night’s UFC 223, ROH Supercard of Honor and NXT Takeover shows, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match for each show to [email protected]

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By Dave Meltzer

John Cena is being shown in the crowd hanging out with the fans.

MEN’S ANDRE THE GIANT BATTLE ROYAL 

Basically everyone not on the card was in the match including the returning R-Truth, wearing a T-shirt, and guys like Primoi and Mike Kanellis who haven’t been on TV mch of late.  It came down to  Kane, Matt Hardy, Doph Ziggler, Baron Corbin and Mojo Rawley. Kane therw out Ziggler who tried the zig zag.  Coribn threw out Kane.  Bray Wyatt showed up. Hardy threw out  Rawley,  Corbin then hit Wyatt with the end of days.  Matt Hardy threw out Corbin to win.  The announcers thought it came down to Matt and Wyatt, but the bell rang and it was ruled Wyatt was never in the match.  Then Matt and Wyatt hugged when it was over.  The match was okay, but the finish was flat because nobody knew what was happening.

CEDRIC ALEXANDER VS. MUSTAFA ALI FOR CRUISERWEIGHT TITLE

Good match but nothing compared to most of the recent 205 Live main events.  They played it up like they were best friends.  Ali hit the 054 but Alexander got his foot on the ropes.  Ali tried it again but missed.  Alexander came back and hit three spinning back elbows and the lumbar check to beat him.  Alexander before beating him old him to stay down with the idea that he didn’t want to keep hurting him.

WOMEN’S BATTLE ROYAL

They are making a much bigger deal of this one then the men, who just started with everyone in the ring,  They are getting intros and they called it the first ever women’s Battle Royal in WrestleMania.  I guess that one that Santina won in 2009 never happened.  

All the women on the roster were there plus Peyton Royce, Dakota Kai, Davita Kavi, Taynara Conti, Kairi Sane and Bianca Belair were the NXT reps in the match.  They were all eliminated pretty early,.  This was rushed through.  Naomi disappeared at some point in the match.  It looked like it came down to Bayley, Sasha Banks, Sarah Logan, Liv Morgan and Ruby Riott.  Bayley and Banks worked together to throw out Mogan, Riott and then Logan.  Bayley and Banks acted like they were best friends left together.  The crowd popped big for them and then Bayley jumped Banks and threw her over the top, and everyone thought she won.  Noami then jumped back in the ring, hit the rear view and threw out Bayley to win.

THE MIZ VS. SETH ROLLINS VS. FINN BALOR FOR THE IC TITLE

Rollins won the title in a good match.  Balor took over on Miz with the sling blade, Woo dropkick and coup de grace.  Rollins  then broke it up with the curb stomp on Balor and then hit the curb stomp on Miz and pinned Miz to win the title.  Miz told Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel that he wanted to do it on his own and didn’t work as a heel as all in the match.  It felt like three babyfaces.  It was all action.  Miz hit the skull crushing finale on Rollins during the match and Rollins kicked out. 

CHARLOTTE FLAIR VS. ASUKA FOR THE WOMEN’S TITLE

The streak is over as Charlotte won clean with the figure eight.  This was a great match.  Charlotte was breaking down and crying in the latter stages of the match, which may have to do with the timing of the anniversary of  Reid’s death.  Charlotte used some new moves like a top rope Spanish fly while Asuka did a suplex off the apron.  Hard hitting and pretty emotional stuff.  Charlotte was bleeding pretty badly from the left elbow.. 

Asuka said “Charlotte was ready for Asuka.  Congraulations.”  Then they hugged.

Rudy Charles told John Cena that Undertaker was here, or at least that’s what I think he said.   Cena ran from ringside to the back.  Weird to do that on top of Charlotte’s celebration.

RANDY ORTON VS. RUSEV VS. JINDER MAHAL VS. BOBBY ROODE FOR THE U.S. TITLE

Crowd was really hot for Aiden English’s entrance for Rusev. 

The match was all action with big moves and ended with Rusev using the side kick on Samil Singh when Mahal moved and then Mahal used the Khallas and pinned Rusev.  Rusev had previously laid out Orton and Roode with the kicks.  There was another spot where Orton gave everyone RKO’s but Roode saved when Orton went to pin Mahal.  It was good but on the short side.

There was a skit with Tyler Breeze and Fandango with Mick Foley.  It was a Snickers commercial. 

KURT ANGLE & RONDA ROUSEY VS. HHH & STEPHANIE MCMAHON

There was a big motorcyle ring entrace by HHH & Stephanie.  HHH physically looked as cut as he’s probably ever been.  Rousey out in a Piper leather jacket and a kilt.

This match was excellent and Rousey at no point looked out of her element, she was crisp in just about everything.  Rousey did great strikes on both Stepahnie and HHH, and even gave HHH a huracananra.  She kept getitng armbars on Srtepahnie but they’d be broken up and even got the arnmbar on HHH at one point which would have made a great finish.  I think they are going to do a deal where she broke Stephanie’s arm based on Stephanie selling and getting medical attention at the end.  The crowd was as hot for this as many Mania match in a few years, maybe since Daniel Bryan’s Mania a few years ago.  They went more than 20:00 with the crowd on fire most of the way.  Rousey’s selling was good enough.   Angle and HHH were both on target with everything they did including doing their finishes with the women breaking up the pin.  The match story was strong.  They teased Rousey’s first time in for six minutes and the crowd exploded when she finally got in.  This was one of the better pro wrestling debuts I’ve ever seen.  They showd Dana White at ringside and identified him giving Rousey a standing ovation when it was over.  The only negative is that it was silly that Stephanie was able to block the armbar several times during the match.  This couldn’t have gone better.       

USOS VS. NEW DAY VS. BLUDGEON BROTHERS FOR TAG TITLES

Short match.  They were put in the buffer position so the crowd wasn’t much into this but they all worked hard.  The Bludgeon Brothers won a short match with Harper doing an assisted power bomb off the top rope on Kofi Kingston (who teamed with Big E) for the pin.  The Usus did a double dive to Rowan but he snatched them by the throat and then both Usos suplexed Rowan on the floor. 

John Cena came out for a match with Undertaker.  Instead Elias came out.  Elias sang for a whlie.  Cena went to leave and go back in the stands.  Elias sang a song about how Cena sucked and Cena came in, did his trademark spots like the five knuckle shuffle and got rid of Elias with an AA.

Undertaker’s coat and hat showed up.  Lightning struck and his music started to play.  He then came to the ring with his usual outfit.

JOHN CENA VS. UNDERTAKER

The reason they did the Elias thing was to cover for this.  Undertaker came out fast, pretty much dominated and used a big boot that missed that Cena sold, a legdrop and went for the choke slam.  Cena got out, did a back suplex.  Undertaker sat up, Cena freaked out and Undertaker hit the choke slam and tombstone piledirver and got the pin in less than 3:00.

It’s the Hall of Fame video package.  Jarrius Robertson, who has super charisma got a bigger reaction than almost everyone.  They built up the big pop for Goldberg with his sparklers entrance and the fans chanting his name.

DANIEL BRYAN & SHANE MCMAHON VS. KEVIN OWENS & SAMI ZAYN

They did a video package for Bryan’s return that is really the type of stuff they should have done four years ago,

Bryan was ridiculously over although the Yes banners all over ringisde were handed out to the fans at ringside.  But there were loud Daniel Bryan chants.  

Owens gave Bryan a power bomb on the apron before the match and he was laid out.

The first part of the match was mostly beating on Shane’s stomach.  Shane came back and did a coast to coast dropkick and went for the pin on Zayn but Owens used a senton on him.  Owens hit a frog splash on Shane but Bryan saved.  Then Bryan made the hot tag and did most of his regular spots.  Bryan kicked out of both the helluva kick by Zayn and power bomb by Owens.  Bryan did a big comeback with the yes kicks, the running knee and finally the Yes lock and Zayn submitted.  Bryan looked very good when he was in there.  He had a big bruise on his right biceps when it was over.   

Bryan went to ringside and celebrated with Brie and Shane celebrated with his kids.

Announced 78,133.  Obviously that number isn’t even close to real although it may be August before the real number is out   Theyannounced from 50 states and 67 counhties and biggest gate for an entertainment event which means it was less than the biggest sports events obviously like Super Bowls and such.  

ALEXA BLISS VS. NIA JAX FOR THE RAW WOMEN’S TITLE

Jax won the title with a Samoan drop off the middle rope.  Jax first destroyed Mickie James before the match started with a Samoan drop on the floor.  The match was fine.,  They tried to push the idea that being big was good.  Bliss said I’m sorry and hit a DDT but Jax kicked out.  Bliss also did a twisted bliss off the top rope to the floor.  Bliss kept attacking the eyes, but even with her selling the eyes Jax finally hit an Alabama slam and then the Samoan drop off the middle rope to win the title.  Jax celebrated with Ata (Dwayne Johnson’s mother) and daughter Simone after the match.

A.J. STYLES VS. SHINSUKE NAKAMURA FOR WWE TITLE 

Nakamura had a great elaborate entrance with a great guitarist from Alice Cooper’s band and a ton of violinists.

Styles retained the title when Nakamura went for the Kinshasa but Styles reversed into a Styles clash and got the pin.  After the match, Nakamura got on his knees and handed Styles the belt and then went heel and gave him a low blow and kicked him out of the ring.  There was a mixed reaction but a ton of people cheered seeing the angle at first with a “yes” chant and others were booing the turn.  In the end after putting more kicks to Styles after the match there were more boos but then they cheered when Nakamura gave him the Kinshasa on the floor.  The match was good but not a classic, not close to the prior match or really at the level of most Styles PPV bouts.  Not sure if this was worldwide but we had a ton of technical glitches with buffering and the sound going off frequently on the stream.  Styles was on point with everything he did.  Nakamura did kick out of the phenomenal forearm and Styles did a springboard 450 and Nakamura got his knees up.  

SHEAMUS & CESARO VS. BRAUN STROWMAN & NICHOLAS FOR THE RAW TAG TITLES

Nicholas was a kid out of the crowd who looked about ten years old.  They won the titles when Cesaro came off the ropes for a springboard move and Strowman caught him and powerslammed him for the pin.  Strowman worked the entire match but he did tag Nicholas in, but Nicohlas just stood there for a few seconds and tagged out.  They did a celebration afterwards.  

BROCK LESNAR VS. ROMAN REIGNS FOR THE UNIVERSAL TITLE

Lesnar retained the titel after about a million F-5s.  This was weired to say the least.  The crowd wanted to hate the match.  The crowd seemed to react more to beach balls in the crowd and were chanting “this is awful” and CM Punk and tons of other things.  And the match was physical as hell,  It was the usual Paul Heyman big match style Lesnar booking where they just do their big moves.  Lesnar did tons of suplexes and tons of F-5s and Reigns kept kicking out.  People didn’t even pop for his kick outs.  Earlier Reigns did Superman punch after Superman punch and two spears and Lesnar kicked out.   He did another spear into a knee by Lesnar.,  Lesnar also elbowed the hell out of Reigns and Reigns was bleeding like crazy.  Reigns took some bad falls from suplexes including nearly on his head on the floor from an overhead suplex.  Lesnar did five F-5s, four for near falls and one onto a table.  Reigns came back with a another set of two spears and Lesnar kicked out again and Lesnar hit his final F-5 and got the pin.,  The whoel thing was done for sympathy for Reigns when it was over to make him a babyface as they concentrated on showing him all beaten up and bloodied and limping to the back with the idea he was hurt, and he took a ton of punishment.  Really interesting where this is headed tomorrow.

NXT TakeOver New Orleans live results: Gargano vs. Ciampa

Posted on by Arya Witner

Three titles will be defended, a new one will be officially established, and Johnny Gargano will finally face off with Tommaso Ciampa at NXT TakeOver: New Orleans tonight.

Gargano vs. Ciampa is an unsanctioned match, with the stipulation being that Gargano gets his job back if he wins. Ciampa turned against Gargano and attacked him at TakeOver: Chicago nearly a year ago, then returned after Gargano’s loss to Andrade “Cien” Almas in Philadelphia. After that, Ciampa reappeared to cost Gargano a title vs. career match.

Almas is defending his NXT Championship against Aleister Black tonight. The Women’s title is on the line in a rematch from Philadelphia, with Shayna Baszler again challenging Ember Moon.

Adam Cole is working twice, teaming with Kyle O’Reilly against The Authors of Pain and Pete Dunne & Roderick Strong with the Tag Team titles and this year’s Dusty Rhodes Cup on the line and in a ladder match for the newly-created NXT North American Championship. The ladder match will also feature Ricochet, EC3, Velveteen Dream, Killian Dain, and Lars Sullivan.

Our live coverage begins at 8 p.m. Eastern time.

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EC3 vs Ricochet vs Adam Cole vs Killian Dain vs Velveteen Dream vs Lars Sullivan in a Ladder Match for the North American Championship

Adam Cole won an incredible ladder match to become the first ever NXT North American Champion. The finish saw all six men on 3 side by side ladders when slowly each one dropped off one-by-one, until Lars was the only one left. This was actually the first time Lars climbed up in the entire match. Ricochet did a Springboard to rip Lars down, but Cole ripped Ricochet down before grabbing the belt.

This was a safe, yet spectacular match. No one took a ladder to the face, but there were plenty of memorable spots.

Ricochet started the match by walking up the ropes and doing a Shooting Star Press onto Dain and Sullivan, who were standing on the floor. Dain did a Suicide Dive, of all things, to Sullivan. Sullivan heaved a ladder at all five men and seemed more content with hitting everyone with a ladder than winning the match. Ricochet took a backdrop on a ladder, but then joined EC3, Cole and Dream in hitting Sullivan with a Sunsetflip Power Bomb.

Cole and EC3 teamed up to take out Sullivan and Dain, but Cole turned on him and gave him a DVD on a ladder. Cole hit superkicks on everyone, referred to as a Superkick Party. Dream gave Sullivan a Purple Rainmaker (diving elbow) off the top of a ladder, which the fans went nuts for. He then took a power bomb into a ladder by EC3, which the fans weren’t so happy about. EC3 then gave Cole a TKO off the ladder. Dain did a Vader Bomb to EC3, who was under a ladder, while Cole was on his back.

Ricochet was climbing the ladder when Lars tipped it over, but, while falling, Ricochet did a moonsault to the floor to Dain. He followed that up to a Shooting Star Press to EC3, who was on top of a ladder this time. Dream gave Ricochet Rolling Death Valley Driver on top of a ladder bridge. Lars then gave EC3 a Freak Accident on top of Dream, who was across another ladder bridge. Not to be outdone Dain drove Cole through Ricochet on another ladder bridge with a Michinoku Driver.

The match built to a confrontation between Dain and Sullivan. Ricochet got Beale tossed across the ring by both men. Dain went for The Divide, but Lars caught him and power slammed him, which was very impressive.

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Ember Moon vs Shayna Baszler for the NXT Women’s Championship

Ember had a band perform her theme song on the way to the ring. Ronda Rousey and Jessamyn Duke were at ringside to cheer Shayna on.

Shayna became the 7th NXT Women’s Champion by making Ember pass out to the Kirifuda Clutch. The finish saw Ember go for The Eclipse, but on the way down Shayna caught her in the Clutch. Shayna could only use one arm due to Ember injuring it and, like in Philadelphia, Ember fought and scratched and clawed to get to the ropes. Unlike in Philadelphia, Ember couldn’t make it and passed out.

The story of this match was Ember was aggressive from the bell and tried to win the match quickly. Baszler’s best offense was a good defense as her biggest moves were in counter to Ember’s attempts. The match built to a spot where Ember gave Shayna the same stomp to the arm and elbow that Shayna gave Dakota Kai and others. Baszler sold it that her shoulder was separated and she slammed her shoulder into the ring post to pop it back in. Ember finally hit The Eclipse on Shayna, but did it to the floor, which looked spectacular. Shayna got on the Kirifuda Clutch, but Ember got out of it by slamming Shayna’s shoulder down and then power bombed Shayna out of a triangle.

The Queen is dead, long live the new Queen!

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Paige introduced a clip of Fighting With My Family.

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Adam Cole was in the trainers office selling his ribs, unsure if he can defend the tag team titles tonight.

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Adam Cole & Kyle O’Reilly vs The Authors of Pain vs Pete Dunne & Roderick Strong for the NXT Tag Team Championship and the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Cup

Dustin Rhodes and Jeff Jarrett were shown at ringside for this match.

The finish saw Roderick Strong turn heel on Pete Dunne and joining Undisputed Era in the process. Dunne had O’Reilly pinned after The Bitter End, but Strong stomped on Dunne and laid him out with a End Of Heartache.

Cole was taken out early when AOP gave him a double team power bomb through the Spanish Announce Table, leaving O’Reilly by himself for the entire match. O’Reilly fared well for himself, at one point having Strong in a Triangle Choke, while giving Akam an Ankle Lock. Rezar broke it up the only way he knew how: he gave Dunne a power bomb onto O’Reilly.

This wild brawl broke down into a tag team match. AOP dominated, which told you they weren’t winning. They used a Super Collider on Dunne and O’Reilly and almost pinning O’Reilly with a Last Chapter, but it got broken up by Strong. Dunne and Strong used their Pop Up Facebuster on Rezar, but Akam broke that up. AOP got sent outside the ring, which led to the finish.

Bobby Fish, on crutches, came out to help the team celebrate. There was no big presentation like the other Dusty Classics. This was a good match, not great, but good.

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Nita Strauss, who is Alice Cooper’s guitarist, was show at ringside.

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Andrade “Cien” Almas vs Aleister Black for the NXT Championship

Black won the title with Black Mass after Zelina Vega’s 5th attempt at interference finally backfired. A fantastic match to end a great title reign by Almas.

Black was on fire at the bell striking Almas all over the ring and did an Asai Moonsault to the floor. Vega used a hurricarana off the apron, sending Almas into the ring steps, to get the heat for Almas. Almas weakened Black with multiple draping armbars, but ate a mouthful of Black’s boot when he went for a Springboard move. A series of strikes and reversals and more strikes led to both men getting multiple near falls. They teased the Rocky II finish where they knocked each other out at the same time, but both got up.

At one point Almas did the spot where he does a moonsault off the top rope, but his opponent rolls out of the way, but Almas lands on his feet and immediately does a second one. Well he did this one with such speed and precision that it was impossible to not be impressed. Almas then used a Springboard Corkscrew Plancha.

Black had the title won with Black Mass, but Vega put Almas’ foot on the ropes. Vega interfered a 4th time when Black went for another Asai Moonsault. Black went for another Black Mass, but Almas used a dropkick to the back of the head when Black was mid-spin. Black did a beautiful Tope Con Hiro, threw Almas in the ring and immediately got dropped with a Hammerlock DDT, but Black kicked out!

Seth Rollins, Big E Langston, Bo Dallas, Adrian Neville, Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, Finn Balor, Samoa Joe, Shinsuke Nakamura, Bobby Roode, Drew McIntyre, Andrade Almas and now, Aleister Black joins that list. The King is dead, long live the new King!

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Johnny Gargano vs Tommaso Ciampa in an Unsanctioned Match

Ciampa came out to no music, but a lot of heat and this is actually his first match since he blew out his knee at TakeOver: Chicago.

Gargano won another instant classic. They played off the entire breakup angle and the finish was a true masterpiece. Ciampa removed his knee brace and pad, but Gargano swung for the fences and slammed the brace into his knee. THEN Ciampa played up that he was truly sorry and began crying, lulling Gargano into a false sense of security. Gargano sat on the mat next to him, playing off the breakup of the time. Ciampa, of course, went to take off Gargano’s head with the knee brace, but Gargano ducked it and locked on an STF, using the brace to pull back Ciampa’s head for the tap out!

Referee Drake Wuertz wore UFC-style referee gear, right down to the black gloves. Shockingly this was not a wrestling match. A fight from beginning to end by two men who hated one another. Gargano got far more than a pound of flesh, stomping away at Ciampa in the ring and diving over the guard rail onto the floor. Gargano threw Ciampa over the announce table and into the laps of the announcers, which caused the fans to chant “Mamma Mia” in tribute to Mauro. Ciampa blocked a suplex on the table and delivered one of his own, except they went off the table and onto the floor. Gargano was draped over the ring apron, so Ciampa stomped down on his head.

There was a planted fan in a knee brace at ringside, so Ciampa stole them to use as a weapon. Karma came back to bite Ciampa, as he was unable to hit Gargano with a crutch and was eventually the victim of a sunset flip power bomb onto the concrete floor, which Ciampa exposed earlier in the match. The fans chanted “You deserve it” at Ciampa, which may be the best use of that chant.

Gargano got the crutch and waylayed Ciampa in the head with it, paying off all the sneak attacks from the past few months. Gargano went for the Reverse Hurricarana, but Ciampa didn’t get all the way way over. Ciampa almost tapped to the Gargano Escape, but raked Gargano’s eyes to get out of it.

Ciampa undid some of his wrist tape, but Gargano grabbed the end of it and engaged in a punch battle until Ciampa kicked him low. Ciampa told him that this was his moment, but Garagno nailed two Superkicks and Lawn Darted Ciampa into an exposed turnbuckle for a near fall. Ciampa used a power bomb into a backbreaker off the top rope, but that was also a false finish.

I have watched a lot of great wrestling this weekend, but that may have been the best of all of it.

Thank you for reading, continue enjoying WrestleMania weekend and good luck to the main roster in topping this one!

ROH Supercard of Honor XII live results: Kenny Omega vs. Cody

Posted on by Bryan Rose

What is perhaps the biggest show in Ring of Honor history takes place at the UNO Lakefront Arena in New Orleans tonight.

With nearly 6,000 tickets sold, the Bullet Club’s issues will come to a head as Kenny Omega takes on Cody Rhodes. It’s being billed as a double main event, with Marty Scurll also challenging for Dalton Castle’s ROH World Championship.

The Young Bucks are teaming with Flip Gordon against Six-Man Tag Team Champions SoCal Uncensored (Christopher Daniels, Frankie Kazarian & Scorpio Sky) in a ladder match for the titles, The Briscoes’ tag belts will be on the line against Hiroshi Tanahashi & Jay Lethal, the first Women of Honor Champion will be decided, and Kenny King and Silas Young are facing off in a last man standing match for the TV title.

Both the finals and semifinal matches in the Women of Honor Championship tournament are scheduled for tonight. The semis will be Mayu Iwatani vs. Kelly Klein and Tenille Dashwood vs. Sumie Sakai.

Other matches on the show are: Kota Ibushi vs. Hangman Page, Tomohiro Ishii vs. Punishment Martinez, and Chuck Taylor vs. Jonathan Gresham. The show is streaming live on ROH’s HonorClub subscription service, and our coverage starts at 8:30 p.m. Eastern time, with a pre-show starting at 7:30 p.m. Eastern time.

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Kelly Klein defeated Mayu Iwatani

They start off with some back and forth action. Klein catches Iwatani and goes on offense, striking her with a big boot. Iwatani came alive after hitting a hurricanrana off the top rope and followed with a missile dropkick. She missed a double foot stomp, but then superkicked Klein and hit the foot stomp. She followed with a frog splash, but Klein kicked out.

Klein went to powerbomb Iwatani but Iwatani countered with a reverse rana. Klein hit a driver but Iwatani followed with a northern lights suplex. Klein gets in a guillotine choke, and while Iwatani resisted, she eventually passed out, giving the win to Klein as she advances to the finals. A bit sloppy at times, but otherwise a solid match.

Sumie Sakai defeated Tenille Dashwood

This starts off hot with Dashwood immediately coming after Sakai. Dashwood took out Sakai with a giant crossbody off the top rope to the floor. Dashwood puts Sakai in a submission, but Sakai manages to counter with an armbar.

Dashwood hits the Taste of Tenille in the corner, but Sakai makes a comeback until Dashwood plants her with a powerbomb. Sakai came back with the smash mouth. Dashwood goes for the spotlight, but Sumie Sakai dodged the spotlight and rolled her up in a crucifix for the win. Another good match, which makes it Sakai vs. Klein later tonight for the Women of Honor title.

After the match, Klein came down to the ring and the two finalists posed for pictures. Klein laid out Sakai with a punch in a heel move and was escorted out by referees.

Chucky T defeated Jonathan Gresham

Gresham did a big suicide dive to the floor, but overshot and really just kind of pushed Chucky T to the floor. When mat wrestling, Gresham is really smooth and good at everything he does. Gresham kept working on the leg, then went for a springboard DDT. Gresham went back to the leg but Chucky T cradled him for the win. Solid opener.

Punishment Martinez defeated Tomohiro Ishii

Martinez used his size early to dominate Ishii and absorb his offense. Martinez did a crazy running plancha to the floor, wiping out Ishii then followed with a tope con hilo and a spinning dropick off the top rope. He took Ishii to the top rope and hit a hurricanrana for a near fall.

Ishii came back and launched off the top rope with a superplex. He followed with the sliding D, but Martinez grabbed him. Ishii escaped and hit a lariat. The two traded back and forth offense until Martinez hit a kick to the side of the head and hit the south of heaven chokeslam for the win. Very good back and forth match, an intense back and forth brawl. Some of the spots Martinez did were scary, but he’s very underrated at this point at how much he’s improved.

Kota Ibushi defeated Hangman Page

Good back and forth action to start. Ibushi went for the Golden Triangle moonsault but Page pulled him off. Hangman Page went for the shooting star shoulder block on the outside. Ibushi then took Page, who was on the barricade, and German suplexed him to the floor in a crazy spot. He followed up with a giant Golden Triangle moonsault.

Back in the ring, Page hit a package powerbomb. Ibushi escapes the right of passage as they go to the apron. Ibushi teased a piledriver, but Page countered with a back body drop. Page hit a giant moonsault to the floor. They give each other forearm shots and slaps until Page hits a roaring elbow. Ibushi connects with a kick and a press powerbomb. Page kicked out and dodged the kamigoye, but Ibushi gave him a German suplex then hit the kamigoye for the win. Excellent, crazy match.

Sumie Sakai defeated Kelly Klein to win the Women of Honor title 

Sakai immediately jumped Klein, probably in retaliation for the cheap shot earlier, but was immediately laid out with a suplex. They go to the outside where Klein dominates. Sakai tries to rally back, but Klein nails her with a German suplex. The rest of the Women of Honor roster come to the ring as Sakai comes to life and hits a moonsault. She follows with a DDT and pins her to win the match and becomes the first ever Women of Honor champion. Match was fine, but finish felt like it came out of nowhere.

All the women, including Daffney who was at ringside, came to the ring and posed for photos.

SoCal Uncensored defeated The Young Bucks and Flip Gordon in a ladder match to retain the ROH Six Man tag team titles

Flip Gordon and Frankie Kazarian fought each other early, which led to a big cutter to the ground. First crazy spot of the night was when the Bucks assisted Gordon in doing a 450 splash on Daniels who was on the ladder. Kazarian tries to do the ladder on the neck spot, but Flip kept dodging and hit him with a superkick.

Daniels pins Gordon on the ladder and tries to climb up, but the Bucks make a save. They rally back and isolate Flip for a while until the Bucks come in and lay everyone out. During all this, Flip did a one legged tope to the floor. The Bucks climb the ladder, but The Kingdom come in and start to beat on the Young Bucks. They lay out Gordon with their finish.

At first, the Kingdom allow SoCal Uncensored to get the titles, but they turn on them and just join the match because, well, I guess they can. O’Ryan goes to get the belts but the Bucks send him to the floor. The Bucks, Gordon and SoCal Uncensored all meet each other on the ladder. Someone grabs Flip and takes him to the floor, knocking his head on the ladder on the way down in a crazy spot.

Lots of crazy dives on the outside followed, capping off with Flip doing a double blockbuster to a sea of people on the outside. Tables are introduced and set up as Flip and one of the Bucks do stereo 450 splashes. Daniels and Matt Jackson meet on the ladder. Daniels falls to the floor, but shakes the ladder enough that Matt (who took off his weight belt supporting his bad back)  is shoved off the ladder to the floor and through a table. Daniels climbs the ladder and grabs the titles to retain them. I don’t know if this was good as other recent Young Buck spectacle matches, but it had just as many crazy, unique spots that made it stand out during a weekend of crazy action.

After the match, The Kingdom steal the six man belts and escape into the crowd, so the next title match will probably be between these three teams.

The Briscoes defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi and Jay Lethal to retain the ROH tag team titles

Lethal worked a lot of the match until making the hot tag to Tanahashi. Briscoes then worked on Tanahashi forever. Lethal was finally tagged in and hit the lethal combination on Jay. Lethal applied the figure four as Tanahashi went to go for the high fly flow, but Mark shoved him to the floor. Lethal came back and hit the Lethal Injection on Mark but he kicked out.

Lethal next went for the Injection on Jay, but as Lethal went to plant him Jay countered with a German suplex. Briscoes then lifted him up and hit the Doomsday Device for the win. This was fine, and the last few minutes were good, but the bulk of it didn’t do much for me.

Silas Young defeated Kenny King to win the ROH Television title

Silas gets the advantage early by throwing King out of the ring and onto a table. He then throws him into the barricade not once but twice. Silas was on offense until King came back with a blockbuster to the floor. Young fired back and started to introduce trash cans into the ring. King escaped being suplexed from a chair but walked right into a trash can lid shot to the head.

King sets up a table on the outside and puts Young on top. He’s about to launch off the top rope when the Beer City Bruiser comes in. King beats him up, then Silas goes after him. King responds by suplexing King on a ladder. He finally gets the spot he was looking for by doing a shooting star press off the top turnbuckle onto a table on the outside in a crazy spot.

As the referee counts to ten, Silas makes it to his feet but King can’t, so Silas wins the match and the title. Immediately after, it was revealed the Beer City Bruiser was under the ring the whole time and had tied up King’s feet. Just kind of a standard weapons match with a dead crowd until the big spot.

Young and Bruiser beat up King until Aries made the save with a steel chair.

Cheeseburger and Eli Isom were about to have a match with The Dawgs when The Dawgs jumped them with steel chairs. Bully Ray came in and told Cheeseburger that his partner can’t compete. Cheeseburger wanted Bully Ray to be his partner. After a lot of talking, Bully Ray accepted.

After doing some spots that took care of the Dawgs, Bully Ray turned on Cheeseburger and laid him out with a chokeslam. He told him how dare you put him on the spot. You are what is wrong with the pro wrestling business, you and all of your kind, your selfish generation, you entitled, you think it’s all about you. Guys like Will Ospreay, Flip Gordon, Ricochet and so on.

Joe Koff comes out. Bully Ray taunts him. He says this is the reason wrestling sucks, because of guys like this, and you make these people think it’s okay. Flip Gordon comes out, but Bully Ray grabs Cheeseburger and says he’ll piledrive him and shut down the show, because the piledriver is banned in Louisiana. Gordon backs down and listens to Bully Ray when he says to stand in the corner.

Bully Ray says he’s a WWE Hall of Famer. Then he powerbombed Cheeseburger and left the ring. Cool.

Cody defeated Kenny Omega

First big spot of the match is Omega taking out Bernard the Business Bear with a baseball slide. His head fell off, but apparently it wasn’t important as to who was under the mask. Cody cut Omega off and teased he was going to hit the shattered dreams, but instead flipped off the crowd. Cody told Brandi at ringside to “throw him the gimmick”. The referee took away the gimmick, but in the process low blowed Omega.

Cody took him to the outside and threw him into a chair. Back in the ring, Omega fires back with a crossbody and eventually lands a giant tope con hilo to the outside. Omega continues his offense in the ring, hitting a snap dragon suplex. He hits another, then goes for a third but Cody connects with a disaster kick. American death lock follows but Omega fights back, trades punches with Cody and reverses it.

On the outside, Cody get a table and cuts off Omega on the apron. Cody tries for a piledriver, but Omega escapes and hits a dragon suplex on the apron. Cody somehow fights back and drives Omega’s gut through the edge of the table with a reverse suplex.

They’re back in the ring again as Omega plants Cody with a reverse rana. Brandi gets on the apron as Cody stirs. Omega goes for the v-trigger but Cody dodges and instead Omega smashes his knee into Brandi, sending her through a table. Omega tries to revive Brandi, but once he re-enters the ring Cody plants him with the crossroads for a nearfall. Flip Gordon comes out and helps Brandi to the back.

Cody makes a comeback and starts whipping Omega with the weight belt but Omega dodges a moonsault and connects with a v-trigger. He hits another and goes for the One Winged Angel but Cody reverses and hits a vertebreaker. This brings out the Young Bucks, who are conflicted and think about who they’re going to assist. They appear like they are about to superkick Cody, but as they do he ducks and they strike Omega instead. Cody revives, hits the crossroads and pins Omega.

I think this was pretty good, with some strong storytelling and pretty cool spots. It was exactly what it needed to be at this stage of the game to what they’re building to later in the year — not an all out awesome match, but a very good, dramatic match that the crowd were invested in.

The Bucks tried to explain to Kenny what happened, but Kenny wouldn’t hear any of it and shoved Matt as he headed to the back.

Dalton Castle defeated Marty Scurll to retain the ROH World title

They showed NWA World Heavyweight champion Nick Aldis at ringside. Announcers put over that he and Scurll were friends and have known each other for a long time.

After some back and forth, they go to the outside and exchange blows. Castle goes to clothesline Scurll but he dodges and Castle connects with the turnbuckle instead. Scurll starts working on the arm and fingers, but Castle fights back and starts hitting a series of suplexes. Castle takes him to the outside and hits a German suplex.

In the ring, Scurll went for the bangarang but Scurll countered with a rolling pin. Scurll took Castle back out of the ring but Castle started to fight back. They went over to the stairs where Castle took a big back body drop onto the stairs. Scurll continued his momentum by throwing Castle into the barricade.

Castle came back and planted Scurll on the apron and followed with a great deadlift bridging German suplex for a nearfall. Aldis gives Scurll the powder and tries to use it on Castle, but is blinded by it instead. He breaks the referee’s finger on accident and can’t make the count when Castle hits the bangarang. Scurll takes the umbrella and smashes everyone in sight with it. He gets a visual pinfall on Castle but when a new referee comes in Castle kicks out.

Scurll locks in the chicken wing but Castle gets to his feet and slams Scurll to the floor. Scurll comes back and locks it in again. Castle tries to get to the ropes but Scurll grabs his fingers and breaks one of them again. Scurll repeatedly stomps on Castle’s head as he looks for the chickenwing again but Castle turns it into a rollup. Castle fires back with a third bangarang and scores the win. This was a great match on a technical level, but the crowd was dead for it save for the last few minutes.

I’m not sure what to make of this show overall. There’s lot of good stuff early on, but the two matches and angle after the intermission dragged forever — the pacing for the show felt way off. This felt every bit of a 4-5 hour show, and then some. The two main events, Ishii/Martinez and Ibushi/Page were all very strong matches, so they’re worth a look for those watching the replay.

Impact Wrestling results: Case vs. Case match

Posted on by Dave Bath

Previously: Austin Aries defeated Grand Champion Matt Sydal to win the championship.

Tonight: Moose takes on Eli Drake with both the World Championship and Tag Team title shot briefcases on the line.

Show Recap —

– Bobby Lashley came down to the ring and called out Brian Cage. Cage entered and, as he posed on the apron, Lashley jumped him from behind. Their brief brawl suddenly turned into a match.

Brian Cage defeated Bobby Lashley

Lashley was firmly in control after kicking Cage low, but Cage fired back by hitting a German suplex and a Death Valley Driver for a near fall. Cage executed a massive deadlift superplex for a two count.

Cage missed a discus lariat and Lashley hit the spear for a near fall. Cage used a jumping knee and the Drill Claw for the win.

– A fired up Allie came down to the ring and called out Su Yung. As Yung posed on the apron, Allie jumped her from behind.

Knockouts Champion Allie defeated Su Yung by DQ

Allie had the early advantage until Yung quickly took over. Yung scored a near fall after hitting a hanging pedigree. She tried to use a kendo stick, but Allie caught her with a superkick.

Braxton Sutter ran down and distracted Allie, with Yung attacking Allie and the referee with the kendo stick.

– KM tricked Richard Justice to go to the ring. KM bullied Justice for his appearance, telling a series of fat jokes. KM jumped him until Fallah Bahh ran out for the save. Trevor Lee and Caleb Konley then came out to give the heels the advantage, but Tyrus appeared and cleared the ring of the heels.

Johnny Impact defeated Taiji Ishimori

They went back and forth early with neither guy getting the upper hand. Ishimori sent Impact to the floor and followed up with the Golden moonsault. Impact landed a standing Shooting Star Press for a near fall.

Ishimori used a huge hurricanrana for a very close two count. Impact made a comeback and hit the Starship Pain for the win.

After the match, Jimmy Jacobs and Kongo Kong entered to confront Impact. Kong gave him a vicious beatdown. Impact made his own comeback and took out Kong with a dive to the floor. 

– An in-depth video on Austin Aries vs. Alberto El Patron aired. It covered their careers in Impact and the many ups and downs they’ve had. El Patron briefly discussed his personal problems.

Flashback Moment of the Week: Jay Lethal defeated X Division Champion Kurt Angle (from No Surrender 2007)

Lethal had the brief advantage, but Angle took over after a buckle bomb. Lethal made a comeback and scored a near fall with an enzuigiri. Lethal hit the Randy Savage elbow for another near fall.

The finish came when Lethal countered the ankle lock into a pin for the victory.

Eli Drake defeated Moose in a Case vs. Case match

Moose had the edge as they brawled around ringside, but Drake took over after he sent Moose into the ring post. Moose came back with a buckle bomb and hesitation dropkick.

Moose attempted the Game Changer, but Drake ducked and Moose nailed the referee. OVE ran out and attacked Moose until Eddie Edwards made the save.

Drake used Sami Callihan’s baseball bat, only getting a two count. The finish came when Drake hit the Gravy Train on Moose to win the World Championship briefcase. Drake now has both a World Championship title shot and a Tag Team title shot.

Next Week: Rosemary takes on Taya Valkyrie in a Demon’s Dance match. Also, Josh Mathews goes one-on-one with Petey Williams.

Tomorrow Night: Impact vs. Lucha Underground airs on Twitch at  10 p.m. Eastern. The lineup features:

  • Austin Aries & Fenix vs. Alberto El Patron & Pentagon Jr.
  • Sami Callihan (wrestling as Jeremiah Crane) vs. Eddie Edwards in an I Quit match
  • Knockouts Champion Allie defending against Taya Valkyrie
  • Impact World Tag Team Champions LAX defending against Killshot & The Mack
  • King Cuerno, Drago & Aerostar vs. Andrew Everett, Dezmond Xavier & DJ Z
  • Scott Steiner & Teddy Hart vs. OVE (Dave & Jake Crist)
  • Eli Drake vs. Brian Cage
  • Matt Sydal vs. Caleb Konley vs. Moose vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr. vs. Jack Evans vs. Matanza in a six-way match
  • Trevor Lee vs. Famous B

WWE NXT results: TakeOver New Orleans go-home show

Posted on by Arya Witner

The Big News: Since Adam Cole & Kyle O’Reilly caused a double disqualification in the finals, there was no winner in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. Instead, Cole & O’Reilly will defend the NXT Tag Team titles against both The Authors of Pain and Roderick Strong & Pete Dunne at TakeOver: New Orleans.

The Medium News: As you may have figured out by reading all that, Bobby Fish is injured and won’t be medically cleared to defend the NXT Tag Team titles. Cole has been ordered to defend for him.

The Little Beaver-sized News: Lars Sullivan vs. Killian Dain ended in a no contest when everyone in the ladder match ran in and stared at each other.

**********

The show began with Charly Caruso recapping the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. Michael Hayes, Terry Taylor, and Dustin Rhodes were all in the arena to observe the finals.

Caruso also confirmed that Bobby Fish has not been medically cleared to compete, but left it hanging as to what would happen at TakeOver.

**********

The Authors of Pain vs. Pete Dunne & Roderick Strong in the finals of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic ended in a double DQ

The show kicked off with the finals of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. AOP defeated TM61 and The Street Profits to make it to the finals. Strong & Dunne were a replacement team and had to get through Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch and SAnitY to get to this point. Once upon a time, Strong formed an alliance with The Authors of Pain in order to enter War Games together, but that alliance is out the window now.

Dunne got beaten and muscled down by Akam and Rezar, but he put up a fight in going down. Rezar connected with hammer fists to Dunne’s face and it took a double-team effort for them to maintain the advantage. Dunne snapped Akam’s fingers and cut him down with leg kicks, which gave him the chance to make the tag to Strong.

Strong ran wild on both men, getting multiple near falls on Rezar as Akam was knocked outside the ring. Dunne got back in and locked on a triangle choke, but Rezar lifted him up and carried him across the ring and AOP used a double-team neckbreaker. That was the moment that took Strong and Dunne to the next gear as they used an amazing series of double team moves on their larger foes. Akam and Rezar laid them out with a pair of boots.

As all four men were laid out, Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly suddenly hit the ring. The match was ruled a double disqualification as Cole and O’Reilly put the boots to both teams.

NXT General Manager William Regal came out and announced that at NXT TakeOver: New Orleans it will be The Undisputed Era vs. The Authors of Pain vs. Dunne & Strong for the NXT Tag Team Championship and for the Dusty Rhodes Cup. It wasn’t mentioned here who from Undisputed Era would be in the match, but it was confirmed later that it would be Cole & O’Reilly.

So, to sum things up, Undisputed Era could win a tournament they never competed in.

**********

We had a video package previewing the North American title ladder match at TakeOver.

**********

A video package for the Johnny Gargano vs. Tomasso Ciampa unsanctioned match aired.

**********

Kairi Sane defeated Vanessa Borne

Borne got a new theme song and light show for her entrance. This was more competitive than you’d imagine, with Bourne getting her fair share of offense. Sane hit the Interceptor spear, the sliding punch, and a Kabuki elbow before picking up the win with the Insane Elbow.

**********

Lacey Evans was backstage to make a statement. She said she won’t be able to do anything until Mr. Regal disallows societal trash from walking around NXT. She was offended that a complete psycho like Nikki Cross gets opportunities. She also put down Ember Moon, Dakota Kai, and Sane.

**********

Mr. Regal was leaving the building when Cole and O’Reilly ran up to him screaming about the situation they are in at TakeOver.

Regal told them they had three options: Cole competes in two matches, O’Reilly defends by himself, or Cole steps out of the North American title match.

Undisputed Era weren’t very happy.

**********

Next up was a video package for Andrade “Cien” Almas vs. Aleister Black.

**********

More recaps! We were reminded of the Ember Moon-Shayna Baszler fight from last week.

Moon then cut a promo saying she was not sorry for getting into the fight. Baszler disrespected a coach so she deserved to be attacked. Baszler walks around like she owns the place and that’s not how you behave as a champion. Moon said Baszler started the war, but she is going to end it.

**********

Next week:

  • Kairi Sane vs. Lacey Evans
  • Seven or eight video packages (this part wasn’t said, but it happens on every single post-TakeOver episode of NXT)

**********

Killian Dain vs. Lars Sullivan ended without a finish

These two monsters will join Ricochet, EC3, Adam Cole, and Velveteen Dream in a six-way ladder match to determine the first-ever North American Champion on Saturday night.

Dusty Rhodes would have been screaming at the announce desk about the clubbering happening here as these two wailed away on one another with one heavy blow after another. Sullivan finally got the brief advantage by ramming Dain into the ring apron. Dain used the Belfast Blitz, but Sullivan got his knees up on a Vader Bomb attempt.

They fought to the top rope and Dain delivered a headbutt, which caused them both to fall to the ground outside the ring. Suddenly, both Velveteen Dream and Cole ran in and glared at one another. EC3 decided that now was the best time to come out and stare down his fellow heels. From the dead, Dain and Sullivan appeared back in the ring. Ricochet’s music then played and the man himself was here.

Ricochet ran into the ring and stared at each man individually as the show went off the air. Dain and Sullivan didn’t seem to mind that their match just randomly ended.

This Saturday is NXT TakeOver: New Orleans, so please check out my live play-by-play that night. Enjoy WrestleMania weekend and, until next week, remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers!

WWE Mixed Match Challenge live results: The finals

Posted on by Chris Aiken

Images: WWE

Team Awe-ska won the mixed tag team tournament after defeating the Robe Warriors in the finals. The Asuka winning streak also remains alive.

Asuka & The Miz against Charlotte Flair & Bobby Roose was about more than just Mixed Match Challenge. Asuka and Charlotte were on opposing sides days ahead of their singles title match at WrestleMania.

The winning streak of Asuka continued as momemtum builds heading into the Smackdown Women’s Championship showdown on Sunday. In arguably one of the best matches of the tournament, the highlight was Asuka and Charlotte squaring off in the ring before their title match.

The charity represented by Team Aweska — Rescue Dogs Rock — gets $100,000 for their team winning the tournament. All other charities involved in Mixed Match Challenge each get $10,000.

As the show opened, the announce team strongly encouraged the audience to interact on social media. Carmella & Big E were also shown interacting in the comments section.

Asuka & The Miz defeated Charlotte Flair & Bobby Roode to win the tournament

Miz pinned Bobby thanks to an assist by Asuka. Bobby had Miz set up for a Glorious DDT when Asuka rushed into the ring to kick Bobby. That continued a theme throughout the tournament of Asuka making the save as Miz almost cost her the winning streak. Ironically, Miz then delivered the Skull Crushing Finale to score the deciding pinfall in winning the tourney.

The men started the match, which let anticipation build before Charlotte and Asuka squared off in the ring. Miz was begging to start only to regret it. After some walking and talking, Miz got the short end of an exchange. Asuka gladly tagged in to face off with Charlotte. They had a collar-and-elbow lock up go to a stalemate even after they spilled out to the floor. After the staredown, they got tagged out.

Miz mocked Flair only to quickly get mowed down by Roode. That led to a hot tag. Asuka ran wild with a flurry of kicks, followed by a near fall after a PK. Charlotte cut off Asuka with chops, and climbed to the top rope for a moonsault. The announcers sold it like the streak was over, but Asuka kicked out of a pinning attempt. Charlotte and Asuka traded more near falls before a double down.

Several times during the match, Miz taunted Flair as he worked over Bobby’s leg. Nonetheless, Bobby still hit a flying clothesline even while selling his leg. Miz later went back to working the leg. When Miz signaled for the figure four leglock, Charlotte rushed into the ring to break up the hold and apply the figure four on Miz.

Miz kicked out of another near fall in the closing moments. Bobby signaled for his finisher, but Asuka kicked him him the back. That allowed Miz to counter with his finisher for the pin.

Renee Young did a post-match interview with the winners. In a total babyface promo, Miz said this was the best week of his life with the birth of his child. Miz went on to put over all the charities involved — especially Rescue Dogs Rock. Miz vowed to retain the Intercontinental title at WrestleMania. Asuka chimed in to say she would win the women’s championship. The winners then closed the show with their “Awe-ska” catchphrase.

WWE SmackDown live results: Final build to WrestleMania 34

Posted on by Steve Khan

Date: April 3, 2018
Location: Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, TN

The Big Takeaway —

AJ Styles finally got one over on Shinsuke Nakamura. After Nakamura almost hit Styles with the Kinshasa before pulling up last week, Styles returned the favour this week, stopping just short of giving him a Phenomenal forearm. See more below.

Also, Shane McMahon returned and they pushed the WrestleMania tag match as though he’s absolutely participating. He and Daniel Bryan both admitted their own wrongdoings over the past few months and hugged. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn showed up later in the show to mock them for it.

Show Recap — 

Daniel Bryan came out to a giant reaction to kick off the show. He welcomed us to Smackdown and introduced Shane McMahon, who looks like he always does. He deliberately put his hand on his stomach to sell his health issues/injury. The announcers said the hernia was a result of the attack by Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn and the diverticulitis was unrelated.

Shane called Bryan a role model who managed to fight and claw for something he believes in and congratulated him on being able to return to the ring. The crowd chanted Yes. Shane mentioned his own health issues and placed (partial) blame on Owens and Zayn, but claimed to be medically cleared.

Bryan admitted Shane was right about him letting his friendships get in the way causing him to make mistakes. He apologized. Shane said he didn’t need to apologize, put his arm on Bryan’s shoulder, and admitted he himself can be a bit hot-headed, which Bryan thought was funny.

Shane apologized for being a hot head ever since Owens headbutted Vince and offered a handshake. Bryan didn’t want to shake his hand and asked the crowd if they should hug. They chanted Yes, so they did.

Bryan said he and Shane being on the same page was bad news for Owens and Zayn, and Shane said we would never see them on Smackdown again after WrestleMania. Bryan said they would beat up Owens and Zayn at Mania and led a Yes chant.

(There was a moment in the middle of this segment where there was an awkward pause because somebody probably forgot their line. Not sure who it was, but it seemed like it was Shane’s turn to speak. Bryan ended up picking things up again.)

Non-title match: Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair defeated Natalya

The announcers questioned Charlotte taking this match so close to WrestleMania and also acknowledged that she has a second match later tonight in the Mixed Match Challenge (also involving Asuka).

Charlotte was in control until Natalya got her knees up on a twisting moonsault attempt. They knocked each other down with clothesline attempts and Carmella ran out with the briefcase and a referee. Charlotte kicked the briefcase out of the ring and booted Carmella, who rolled out.

Natalya used the distraction and applied a schoolboy, but Charlotte kicked out and countered into the Figure Eight for the submission win. This was another strong match and it was nice to see the babyface take more of it than usual.

Asuka entered immediately afterwards. A handful of people chanted “Asuka’s gonna kill you.” She said the queen would bow down to the empress, but before she could say no one was ready for her, Charlotte grabbed the mic and asked if Asuka was ready. They stared at each other for a bit until Charlotte’s music played. 

They aired a pre-taped interview with AJ Styles. Styles said Shinsuke Nakamura knows he’s emotional which is why he’s playing games, but his emotions are not his weakness, they’re his strength. Styles said Nakamura’s weakness was that he’s taking him too lightly. Styles is the WWE Champion and they’re a long way from the Tokyo Dome. He said he would beat Nakamura.

They reminded us that WrestleMania is free (for new network subscribers) and aired a video package for Bryan & Shane vs. Owens & Zayn.

Rusev (w/Aiden English) defeated Jinder Mahal (w/Sunil Singh) (9:47)

Before the match, Sunil sang a quick song to mock English. He was pretty bad, which made it great. English responded with a song/rap of his own. He didn’t mock the crowd as he normally does. Bobby Roode was on commentary and Randy Orton was shown backstage watching on a TV at a perfectly normal angle. They went to commercial 43-seconds into the match.

Mahal had control after the break and the crowd chanted “Rusev Day.” As they did on Raw, they showed an inset Mania commercial during the match, this time for Reigns vs. Lesnar. They did this earlier during Charlotte’s entrance, plugging Rousey & Angle vs. Triple H & Stephanie.

Sunil tried to distract Rusev but it didn’t work. Rusev kicked him off the apron and nailed Mahal with a Machka kick for the pinfall win.

As Rusev celebrated, Orton ran in and gave him an RKO. You could tell it was coming because the crowd started screaming before he appeared. It still looked good, though. English attacked Orton and went to the middle rope, which was not a good idea. Roode pushed him off the ropes and Orton gave him an RKO. Orton and Roode had a stare down. 

They aired a pre-taped interview with Nakamura. He admitted he was playing games, but he takes this game very seriously. He came to America for one reason–WrestleMania. He continued: “I do not take AJ Styles lightly. I know AJ Styles very well. And I know AJ Styles is very emotional. So emotional, he will make a mistake. When he does, I become WWE Champion with a knee to face.”

The New Day were shown backstage and received a good reaction. They let us know WrestleMania is free for new subscribers. Xavier Woods asked Big E for his phone but he pulled out a pancake instead. He did pull out a tablet from his pants. Kofi Kingston asked Big E to reach into Woods’ pants and pull out an XBox. He was about to, but the Usos interrupted.

Basically, the Usos also plugged Mania being free while also saying they would win their match. The New Day laughed when the Bludgeon Brothers appeared from behind. New Day and the Usos backed off and Harper smashed a camera with his hammer. (This ended the segment, even though he smashed a camera that wasn’t being used to film most of this segment.)

This was silly. They could’ve had New Day plug the network in a separate segment without trying to force their build for the tag match into it.

8-Man Tag match: Baron Corbin, Dolph Ziggler, Mojo Rawley & Primo Colon defeated Tye Dillinger, Zack Ryder, Tyler Breeze & Fandango (5:36) 

They all took turns tossing each other over the top rope in this tag team match. The best spot was Corbin launching Breeze onto a pile of bodies outside the ring. Corbin got the pinfall win over Fandango with an End of Days. 

The announcers reminded us that WrestleMania is free, then ran down the card. After that, they let us know WrestleMania is free.

Benjamin and Gable did a selfie promo where they claimed they would beat Styles and Nakamura and send them limping into WrestleMania.

Owens and Zayn ran in through the crowd and jumped on the announce table. Owens said Smackdown and WrestleMania were still the Sami & Kevin Show despite them being fired. Zayn mocked the apology session Bryan and Shane had earlier. He then apologized to Brie Bella and Birdie for what they were going to do to Bryan.

They mocked the “inspirational” advice Brie gave to Bryan. Zayn said it was their dream to obliterate Bryan, and Owens said that would be their WrestleMania moment. Zayn said they deserve it and led a “we deserve it” chant. Zayn was incredible here.

Shane and Bryan came out. Bryan told the fans to take plenty of pictures because it was the last time we would see those two on Smackdown. Shane led the crowd to sing the goodbye song.

Owens and Zayn are terrific, so this was entertaining. However, it doesn’t feel for a second that they’re really fired. It’s not a big deal, but it took forever for referees, not security, to show up and ask them to leave. Also, Owens was wearing the same WWE-branded sleeveless shirt he always wears.

WWE Champion AJ Styles & Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Shelton Benjamin & Chad Gable (12:12)

The crowd was hot for Styles and Nakamura. Gable and Nakamura had a nice little chain wrestling sequence until Nakamura pulled him toward the corner. Styles offered a tag, so Nakamura obliged by patting him on the head. Styles got in his face as the fans chanted for both men, then they were attacked by Gable and Benjamin leading to commercial.

After a break, Styles made a hot tag to Nakamura who hit Benjamin with a flying kick, enziguri, and knee to the ribs. However, after Gable made a blind tag, Benjamin hit a high knee and Gable followed with a moonsault for two. He applied an armlock and they aired an inset commercial for Charlotte vs. Asuka. Gable hit a nice looking German suplex during the ad.

Benjamin hit an enziguri and went for a running knee, but Nakamura countered with a spinning heel kick and made the hot tag to Styles. Styles ran wild and gave Gable a fireman’s carry neckbreaker.

With Nakamura back on the apron, Styles deliberately stared him down, leaped onto the apron, and nailed Gable with the Phenomenal forearm for the pinfall win. Good match and finish.

Styles grabbed his title and began his way up the ramp. Benjamin attacked Nakamura from behind but Nakamura managed to fend him off alone. Styles jumped on the apron and went for a Phenomenal forearm, but he pulled up just short of hitting Nakamura.

Nakamura looked up and smiled when he realized what happened. Styles then patted Nakamura on the head, and his mood quickly changed. Nakamura appeared pissed but did not attack Styles. Styles posed with the title as the show ended. This was all quite great.