Tag: Report

AEW Dynamite live results: Mercedes Mone vs. Yuka Sakazaki TBS title match

Posted on by Ryan Howard

The TBS Championship is on the line on tonight’s AEW Dynamite from Huntsville, Alabama, as Mercedes Mone defends the title against Yuka Sakazaki.

Making her return to AEW for the first time since last September, Sakazaki was the winner of a four-way number one contender’s match on last Saturday’s Collision.

In a match with World title implications, Jeff Jarrett will face Claudio Castagnoli of the Death Riders. If Jarrett wins, he earns a future World title shot against Jon Moxley.

Wheeler Yuta of the Death Riders will also be in action as he takes on Jay White.

Will Ospreay will take on Brian Cage of the Don Callis Family after both men were involved in a show-opening brawl last Wednesday.

Former AEW World Champion MJF has also been announced for tonight’s show. He has been engaged in a war of words with Jarrett lately with a feud with Hangman Page feud also teased last week.

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AEW Dynamite comes on the air with Excalibur welcoming us alongside Tony Schiavone & Taz as the music for Will Ospreay hits and we’re ready for the opening contest of the evening. They promote Ospreay teaming with Kenny Omega at Grand Slam Australia, but only told us it was Saturday February 15th, no start time or any other info, at least not yet on TV.

Will Ospreay defeated Brian Cage (w/Don Callis & Lance Archer)

(Good opener here, as Ospreay won the battle, but the Don Callis Family got the last laugh tonight and revenge for last week. While I wish Cage would have more wins, he’s the perfect guy to have competitive matches with big stars, making them look good in the process.)

Right as the bell sounded, Callis took the microphone and told Ospreay to look at the big screen, as we see Kenny Omega had been attacked and tended to by doctors and referees. Callis laughed maniacally, as Cage attacked, but Ospreay responded with a hurricanrana to the floor. Trying a follow-up dive, Cage side stepped and leveled Ospreay with a lariat. Ospreay managed to post Cage, sprung to the guard rail, but leapt into the clutches of Cage, who walked around ringside with a stalling suplex. Cage took the ref, allowing Archer & Callis to get in some cheap shots for good measure. Cage controlled the action back inside with multiple tilt-a-whirl back breakers for two. Good old fashioned bearhug worked over the lower back, as Ospreay fought free with a handspring corkscrew kick for the reset.

Ospreay couldn’t get the back suplex, but trapped Cage in the corner with Cheeky Nandos followed by Pip, Pip, Cheerio for a near fall. Cage tried a German, but Ospreay floated over, booted Cage to the outside, where he was met with the Sasuke Special. Archer ran distraction long enough for Cage to recover and hit the superplex from the outside in for two. Ospreay slipped out of a powerbomb with multiple hook kicks, tried the Oscutter, but Cage caught him with multiple lariats and Liger Bomb for a close two. Cage managed an Avalanche F5, Ospreay got his foot on the ropes, but Archer shoved it off, getting caught by referee Rick Knox in the process. Knox did nothing but scold Archer, as the delay allowed Ospreay to counter a powerbomb into a hurricanrana that collided Cage into Archer. Ospreay somehow managed a Styles Clash and got the victory.

Post-match, Archer attacked immediately with Cage joining in. Kenny Omega’s music hit and he ran out with a chair, which he chucked at both Murder Machines. Ospreay & Omega’s attention was turned to Cage & Archer, allowing Konosuke Takeshita & Kyle Fletcher to hit the ring to make it 4 on 2. Takeshita hit a Bastard Driver on Omega, while Fletcher delivered a Tombstone on Ospreay, as Callis joined his Family and they stood tall, leaving Omega clutching his ribs, as Ospreay covered him from taking any more punishment.

-Renee Paquette is outside Swerve Strickland’s locker room, when Hangman Adam Page stormed by, looking inside, but not finding Strickland, saying it wasn’t Paquette’s business what he was doing. Page shouldered past MJF after a brief stare down, as Max mocked how Page is acting like he’s king sh*t and called him hypocritical. MJF kept talking to himself before Paquette cut him off, he apologized saying it was the ADD. MJF said Jeff Jarrett will learn tonight that he should’ve taken his deal with the Devil, but he’ll be beaten by a horse in Claudio Castagnoli. MJF said tonight is The Last Outlaw’s Last Ride, Ain’t I Great?

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-We go to pre-recorded comments from Powerhouse Hobbs, who said unfortunately he wasn’t cleared to travel to Dynamite tonight. When he is cleared, he’s going to show Big Bill that the hell they went through on Collision (both crashing off the stage through tables), is only the beginning. Commentary told us Bill hit Hobbs with a brick, thus why Hobbs wasn’t cleared to travel. I do like that they showed the brawl from Collision, also Hobbs getting the win in the multi-man tag a few weeks ago.

Claudio Castagnoli defeated Jeff Jarrett

(I thought the match was fine, as I was somewhat thankful Castagnoli didn’t take the loss here, shenanigans or not (it’s what the House of Moxley does all the time at this point). I respect the story they’re trying to tell with Jarrett wanting a World Title shot, but I think his road to that match could go through potentially the Owen Hart Cup and just have the title shot happen on TV instead of All In like last year. We’re clearly getting MJF vs. Jarrett soon, another match that should probably happen on TV, as they keep teasing MJF & Hangman, a feud that should obviously be highlighted on PPV.)

Quick hip tosses and arm drags from Jarrett in the early going, as he followed up with corner punches, which Castagnoli easily escaped from into a lariat. Jarrett avoided a Neutralizer and locked on the Figure Four, but Castagnoli quickly got the ropes. Wheeler Yuta strolled out from the crowd and began arguing with Jarrett, which is all that happened to take us to break.

When things returned, Castagnoli had taken control, keeping Jarrett grounded with a double stomp for two. Castagnoli fired off uppercuts, but Jarrett responded with his picture-perfect right hands. Jarrett really zoned in on the leg, but missed an enzugiri, resulting in Castagnoli doing the Giant Swing. Castagnoli started selling his leg, but still applied the Sharpshooter. Jarrett somehow reversed the hold into a Sharpshooter of his own, until Yuta slid a chair in the ring. After eating a right hand from Jarrett, Yuta held onto the ref, as Castagnoli went for a chair shot, missed, as Jarrett was about to hit The Stroke, when Jon Moxley appeared and laid out Jarrett with a Paradigm Shift. Castagnoli followed with multiple Neutralizer’s and got the pin. Moxley, Yuta & Marina Shafir are all watching, as Castagnoli joined them and stormed out through the crowd.

Post match, Jarrett slowly recovered as the crowd chanted for him until MJF’s music hit. Taz said it was smart for MJF to pick his spot like this as he strutted to the ring with a smile on his face. MJF was about to talk when he just ran through Jarrett with a right hand using the Dynamite Diamond Ring. MJF knelt down next to him saying he respects his elders, so he’s not going to say he told him so. MJF walked to the back with Jarrett left unconscious in the ring.

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-Renee Paquette is backstage with Ricochet, who she informs that Tony Khan told her that if Swerve Strickland interferes in any capacity tonight, then his match against Ricochet next week will be called off. Ricochet said is happy to hear that and he’ll tell her his thoughts on Collision this Saturday, so it’s time to go take care of business. Commentary mentioned how Ricochet interfered in Strickland’s match last week, so it makes no sense for the no interference rule to apply only to Strickland this week.

Ricochet defeated AR Fox

(I had thought things were going to be a lot worse for Fox after that no interference rule for Strickland. Thankfully we got a nice match between the former Lucha Underground rivals and the post-match was a nice little final build to Ricochet & Strickland’s showdown finally taking place next week.)

Fox worked an early headlock, as he kicked Ricochet away in the corner and hit a jumping stunner followed by a corkscrew brainbuster that sent Ricochet outside. Fox cleared the top rope for a dive, as Taz said he flew like a rocket ship, Rocket Ship Jones. Fox wanted a DVD on the apron, but Ricochet floated into the ring and hit a hip toss onto the apron, which was unique. Ricochet teased a dive, but put on the brakes to jaw jack with the fans heading to break.

When things returned, Ricochet remained in control, hitting the People’s Moonsault for a near fall. Both men got a full head of steam, ducked an attack and collided while both trying cross body blocks for the reset. Fox hit an enzugiri and leg captured DDT for two of his own. Iconoclasm into a pulling cutter led to a picture perfect 450 Splash for a close near fall, as Fox couldn’t believe it. Ricochet crawled to the apron, but held onto the ref as Fox pulled him back in. The brief hesitation allowed Ricochet to hit the Code Breaker for two, as he loaded up and hit The Spirit Gun followed by Vertigo for the win.

Post-match, Ricochet grabbed his gold scissors from behind a turnbuckle and was about to use it when Swerve Strickland appeared, dragged Ricochet to the outside and sent him crashing into the barricade and steps. The attack was allowed, as Strickland didn’t show up during the match. Strickland wanted a Swerve Stomp, but Ricochet grabbed the downed Fox and used him as a shield with the gold scissors to his throat. Ricochet tossed Fox aside and bailed, as Strickland stared him down saying there’s nowhere to run in 1 week.

-We see footage from Renee Paquette’s Closeup series with the Death Riders. Paquette asks why her husband is holding the AEW World Title hostage in a briefcase? Moxley said do people want to take a picture with it, is it a petting zoo? People don’t understand what it takes to be a champion, as Moxley is the living definition of World Champion, take a look, it’s right here. It’s not something you win, hold, show off or take a picture with, it’s in your heart, cultivated, grown in the white-hot fires of combat. Moxley is building an army of Jon Moxley’s behind him and he’s backfilling them behind him, putting them through what he’s gone through and worse.

-30 second AEW merchandise commercial with Daddy Magic is shown. This reminded me of old WCW merch ads with Public Enemy back in 1997.

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-A commercial for Chris Jericho’s new movie Dark Match is shown on Shudder this weekend. This leads to another New York Minute, as Jericho said it’s nice to be in the land of the Crimson Toad. Jericho said his new movie is violent and speaking of violent, Big Bill took out Powerhouse Hobbs last week. Bill said he put Jericho’s words into action and feels stronger because of it. Jericho said that makes him proud of himself for being such a great mentor, but he didn’t take out Hobbs permanently, so he has more to learn. Jericho said he & Bryan Keith will take on The Outrunners this week on Collision. Jericho has never seen The Outrunners anywhere else but AEW TV and Keith yelled it was The Mandela Effect. Jericho waved goodbye, but his smirk slowly faded to disgust. Taz pointed out that the New York Minute is much longer than a minute.

Switchblade Jay White defeated Wheeler Yuta

(I really enjoyed this match, as White finally got his revenge on the thorn in his side the past month or so. The crowd was loudly behind White throughout and also booed Yuta quite a bit.)

Yuta tried attack before the bell and nearly suffered a Blade Runner for his troubles, but he scrambled outside. Bell sounded and again Yuta took a powder, but when he got back in, White grabbed him by the goatee and fired off chops. Guns up back drop from White, as Yuta was crotched on the ropes and ate another chop that sent him crashing outside. White continued to have his way until Yuta dropkicked out the leg and hit a drop toe hold onto the edge of the ring. The ankle was trapped in the framing of the ring, allowing Yuta to stomp down on the knee. Back inside, fisherman’s suplex got a near fall, as Yuta stayed in control during break. Excalibur threw it to picture in picture, but it took a while to actually cut to commercial.

When things returned, White tried to mount a comeback, but Yuta again went after the leg. Yuta wanted a back superplex, but White fought out with a dragon screw. White shook out the leg and finally hit a massive superplex for two. More chops to Yuta, who rolled through a Uranage and chop blocked White leading to a single leg Boston Crab. White got the ropes, but Yuta hit an arm trapped Angle Slam for two. Anvil elbows delivered, as White started firing up with a huge Uranage. White wanted Blade Runner again, but Yuta rolled through into a school boy, hit a comeback German for another close near fall. Yuta looked for a splash, rolled through, wanted the Busiaku Knee, but ran right into a Blade Runner for the cool finish.

Post-match, Death Riders hit the ring and attacked White, but Rated FTR quickly made the save before things got out of hand. Cope shook White’s hand, as Dax Harwood took the mic and said he doesn’t hate how Death Riders operate, but hates how they tried to end a 67 year old hero of his, Ricky Morton, last week. Hardwood said Dennis Condrey is there tonight and on his name, on Collision, they’ll see the Death Riders in a Mid-South Street Fight. Crowd popped for this, but Moxley didn’t look amused as his crew retreat.

-Video package of Mariah May & Toni Storm’s interaction on Collision last week was shown and the performance of a lifetime and the return of Timeless Toni Storm. I’m glad they showed this tonight, as this was one of the best segments on Collision in quite some time.

We go to Renee Paquette, who welcomes Mariah May to the stage. Tony Schiavone calls May a typical Mean Girl, as May said it’s great to be in Huntsville, but said maybe they should change the first letter to a C. May said they’re not playing this game, Toni Storm is not real, as she got into Paquette’s face, causing her to bail. May said Toni wants to play the role of Toni Storm? Why doesn’t she play the role of the woman who used her for her gold? Play the Toni Storm whose most memorable moment was bleeding and crying in May’s hands or the one who walked out of AEW, Japan & Mexico because she couldn’t touch May. Play whatever version you want, the ending is still the same, when you’re this good, you don’t change a thing. May is the woman from hell and she always will be, something she’ll remind Storm for the rest of her life. Look now and never forget, for this is your AEW Women’s World Champion. May held up the title, as there was no appearance from Storm herself tonight.

-Video package for The Gunns is shown, as they are looking at past highlights from their career in AEW, while training for their return. Jay White’s voice is heard throughout, as they hit the Guns Up line to end it.

-We’re told Daniel Garcia will defend the TNT Title against Kyle O’Reilly & Lee Moriarty in a 3-way on Collision and see highlights from the past few weeks and the run-ins between the three

-Highlights of The Hurt Syndicate winning the AEW Tag Team Titles last week was shown. MVP recognizes Private Party for fighting hard, but wasn’t their fault for running into a dominant tandem in Lashley & Shelton Benjamin, who will hold the titles as long as they choose. Name the time and the place, they’re the Hurt Syndicate and they hurt people.

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-Video package for International Champion Konosuke Takeshita is shown and his recent success winning the NEVER Openweight Title and defending it.

-Backstage, Taya Valkyrie & Deonna Purazzo say moments from now, they’ll see Mercedes Mone defend her title against Yuka. Purrazzo said it should’ve been her in this match, but Valkyrie said Harley Cameron stuck her balloons where they don’t belong. Now, Cameron belongs to The Vendetta and on Collision, they’re coming to collect.

Mercedes Mone defeated Yuka Sakazaki to retain the TBS Title

(I thought this turned into a good main event and Sakazaki put up quite the fight with the crowd supporting her, but there was no way Mone was losing here. I wish Mone would scrap the Mone Maker, as the rarity it hits flush, it doesn’t seem like that much of an impact for a finisher and it doesn’t get that big of a reaction. The Statement Maker submission is more than fine.)

Big intros from Justin Roberts before the start of the match, as the crowd is loudly behind Sakazaki, as both ladies trade wrist and headlocks. Mone hit a shoulder tackle and did her dance, but Sakazaki kipped up, fast sequence, hit a shoulder block of her own and mocked the dance. Mone whiffed on an arm drag, as Sakazaki got a rolling high stack for two. Mone dodged a sliding lariat into a roll-up for two of her won, as both ladies were up and Mone hit a springing arm drag. Taz said some people despise Mone, but it could be jealousy. Sakazaki blocked a baseball slide, mocked Mone, who she hit with a spinning kick on the apron. Sakazaki went to the top for a dive, but Mone wisely bailed. Sakazaki tried the boot from the apron, but Mone swept out the leg and hit a diving Meteora, taking control into break.

Mone remained in the driver’s seat when things returned, but Sakazaki countered a powerbomb into a hurricanrana. Mone missed a corner Meteora, as Sakazaki missed the first springboard attempt, but worked for it and hit the second attempt dropkick for two. Brainbuster and sliding lariat connected for a near fall, as Mone responded by floating over a suplex into the Three Amigos. Mone took way too much time going up top, as she was cut off with a step-up forearm and superplex.

Sakazaki wanted the Merry-Go-Round, but Mone spun out, tried the Mone Maker, only for Sakazaki to land on her feet and hit a thrust kick. Merry-Go-Round hammerlock slam connected for the closest near fall of the match. Mone avoided a charge with a head scissors into the corner, leading to the backstabber into the Statement Maker. Sakazaki rolled into a pin attempt for two, hit the rolling elbow and pin attempt for a near fall. Mone was trapped in the corner, where Sakazaki hit a snap German, as she went for the Magical Girl Splash, but Mone got the knees up. Pump knee, powerbomb and Mone Maker connect for the win.

AEW Collision 2/1/25

  • FTR vs. Jon Moxley & Wheeler Yuta in a Mid-South Street Fight
  • Daniel Garcia defends the TNT Title against both Kyle O’Reilly & Lee Moriarty
  • Chris Jericho & Bryan Keith vs. The Outrunners
  • Ricochet Addresses Swerve Strickland
  • HOOK & Samoa Joe vs. Kip Sabian & Nick Wayne
  • We’ll hear from Timeless Toni Storm
  • The Vendetta Look to Collect on Harley Cameron

AEW Dynamite 2/5/25

  • Swerve Strickland vs. Ricochet

WWE NXT live results: Bayley & Giulia vs. Roxanne Perez & Cora Jade

Posted on by Chris Aiken

WWE NXT is on the road this week with tonight’s episode taking place live from Center Stage in Atlanta.

Bayley will continue her feud with Roxanne Perez as the two meet in tag team action. It will be Bayley and NXT Women’s Champion Giulia against Perez and Cora Jade.

A Women’s Tag Team title match is also set with Bianca Belair and Naomi putting their belts on the line against Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson. In another title match, Shotzi challenges Fallon Henley for the NXT Women’s North American Championship.

NXT Champion Oba Femi will appear as Grayson Waller and Austin Theory’s guest on The Grayson Waller Effect.

Last week, Trick Williams made it clear that his sights are set on winning the NXT Championship back from Femi. Williams will be in action tonight when he goes one-on-one with Wes Lee.

Join us for live coverage starting at 8 p.m. Eastern time.

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NXT is on the air from Center Stage in Atlanta, once the home

Personally, seeing pro wrestling on television from Center Stage again is very nostalgic for me. I have watched wrestling on TV from the venue since 1989. Production has come a long way.

The show starts with Bayley’s first match on NXT since 2020.

NXT Women’s Champion Giulia & Bayley defeated Roxanne Perez & Cora Jade

Bayley pinned Jade to win the match. This was such a fun match. Really good opener.

The babyface duo gets to shine early on, but the heels take over before a commercial break. Perez & Jade both do dives just before the show cuts away to a split-screen. Bayley is trying to rally as the show returns from the break.

Bayley tries to climb the turnbuckles, but the heels work together to trip her up and stomp on her. Bayley is separated from her corner, and the heels work her over. Bayley-to-belly and a hot tag to Giulia. Some Matrix moves and Giulia is on fire. Missile dropkick for a two count.

Miss-communication by the heel duo, as Jade inadvertently hits Perez with a forearm smash. Giulia hit a knee for a near falls where Jade dives in to break it up. Bayley rushed into the ring to fight with Perez, and their fight spilled outside the ring.

Perez takes a hard bump into the barricade, and she is down selling the rest of the match. Meanwhile, Giulia drops Jade with a headbutt. Bayley climbs the turnbuckles around Giulia tags her, and Bayley leaps off the top rope with a flying elbow drop. Bayley then hooks a leg and covers Giulia for a three count.

Eddy Thorpe is the focus of a vignette, where is standing by a fire as he cuts a promo. He vows to make his mark, and he will not be broken. Should be noted he still has that strap like in a strap match.

After a fun wrestling match to open the show, now is the sports entertainment portion of the program.

“The Grayson Waller Effect” with NXT Champion Oba Femi

Although it starts as a talking segment with Femi facing off with Garyson Waller and Austin Theory. That leads to Femi issuing a challenge to either Waller or Theory, asking which one will face him at Vengeance Day. Trick Williams is shown watching the proceedings on a monitor backstage.

After Femi challenges Austin and Waller, out comes NXT General Manager Ava. She tells Femi he does not make the matches around here, she does. Ava is then interrupted by the entrance of Trick. He storms past Ava and into the ring. Trick throws both Waller and Theory out of the ring, but Femi cuts off Trick and give him a pop-up powerbomb. The show cuts to a commercial break with Trick down, and has a match up next.

Sarah Schreiber interviews Izzi Dame to ask what is going on with Dame and Tony D’Angelo. Dame says nothing is going on, and they are not even friends. They just have a similar enemy. Up walks Ridge Holland to interject, and he calls Dame a liar.

Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo comes up to take up for Dame, and Holland says he does not want to talk with D’Angelo’s lackey. Holland and Stacks get face-to-face when they are separated by referees.

Referees are at ringside checking on Trick Williams, who is still selling the powerbomb from Femi. Trick vows to wrestle, and the refs let him.

Trick Williams vs. Wes Lee (with Tyriek Igwe & Tyson Dupont)

A day after JD McDonagh took a nasty bump on an announce desk, they do a spot in this match were Lee jumps off the apron with meteora that drives Trick backwards on the announce desk. From there, the show cuts to a commercial break.

Igwe and Dupont get involved at one point, and there is blatant interference. The ref lets it go, as Trick thwarts the heels. However, Trick starts kicking too much butt.

Trick won’t back off when the ref says so, and Trick shoved the ref down. The ref then disqualifies Trick. A miscarriage of justice as Gorilla Monsoon would say. Trick picks up a metal folding chair, and he heels flee.

In a backstage skit, Ava tells Femi that he will defend the NXT title in a triple threat match against Theory and Waller at Vengeance Day. Another triple threat match. How original. But wait, there’s more.

After a commercial break, Ava is talking with Trick, who is upset he is not getting the title shot at the PLE. Ava tells Trick to prove it, and she books him in a tag match with Femi as Trick’s partner against Waller and Theory for next week on NXT.

NXT Women’s North American Champion Fallon Henley (with Jacy Jayne & Jazmyn Nyz) defeated Shotzi (with Tatum Paxley & Gigi Dolan) to retain her title

Henley pinned Shotzi with ‘The Hoedown” to win the match. Rough to watch at time because Shotzi took such crazy bumps.

Shotzi does a dive on to everyone at ringside. From there, the respective entourages start fighting at ringside. They fight their way up the ramp and exit stage right. Henley chop blocks Shotzi’s knee, and the show cut to a commercial break wondering whether Shotzi can continue.

Shotzi makes a comeback after the show returns from the break. She takes some crazy bumps. Moments late, she drops all her weight on Henley when Shotzi jumps off the ropes with a senton bomb.

Henley cuts off Shotzi, and Shotzi gets trapped in the tree of woe. Henley then suplexed Shotzi, and Henley does a famouser (Rocker Dropper), that Vic Joseph on commentary called the “The Hoedown”. Silly name, but Henley is so damn good.

After the match, Stepahnie Vaquer enters stage right to confront Henley. Then a title match is officially announced that Henley defends against Vaquer at Vengeance Day.

Kelani Jordan was very rude to Karmen Petrovic, and Petrovic calls her a “bitch” as Jordan walks off.

Sarah Schreiber interviews Ava in a backstage skit. Ava is about to announce the NXT Womens’ title match for Vengeance Day when Roxanne Perez interrupts with Cora Jade in tow. Perez assumes she is not the challenger, and she blames Jade for losing in the tag match.

Ava instead announces Perez is challenging for the title in yet another triple threat match. What such an overdone concept. Anyway, the women’s title match is Giulia defending against Perez and Bayley in a triple threat.

Jade storms off, as she is upset over the news. Perez chases after her. Later in the show, Jade tells Ava they need to “have a word!”

Ethan Page vs. Cedric Alexander

Page pinned Alexander.

The match goes through a commercial break. Page works over Alexander’s hand, targeting it and smashing the hand on the ring steps. After a while, Alexander fights back with a suplex. Alexander then makes a comeback. Michinoku Driver by Alexander for a near fall. Brainbuster for a two count as well.

Alexander has Page in a submission when Page snaps Alexander’s fingers to break the hold. There is a slugfest and they trade strikes. Page blocks Alexander’s handspring finisher, and Page executes a Diamond Cutter. Page then covers Alexander for a pinfall.

Page pulls the bottom turnbuckle pad off, as if Page is going to smash the injured hand. Je’Von runs down the ramp for a save, and Evans leaps into the ring to splash Page. Evans is a house of fire, and Page is set sailing out of the ring.

Fatal Influence cut a promo where they announced Stephanie Vaquer against Jacy Jayne in match for next week.

Josh Briggs gives Yoshiki Inamura a leather vest in a vignette. Now they have matching vests like a real team.

WWE Women’s Tag Tea Champions Bianca Belair & Naomi defeated Lash Legend & Jakara Jackson to retain the titles

Belair pinned Jackson to win the match, and the champions retain their titles. My feed of the CW was in-and-out several times during the match, so it seems disjointed to me.

The live crowd booed heavily at the false finish, thinking Jackson has pinned Belair. The crowd turned on the match when Belair kicked out.

Belair and Naomi execute a tandem sit-out finisher on Jackosn, and Belair scores the deciding pinfall.

There was a teaser of some sort at the end of the show for Vengeance Day.

WWE Raw live results: Royal Rumble go-home show

Posted on by Steve Khan

Date: January 27, 2025
Location: State Farm Arena in Atlanta, GA 

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The Big Takeaway —

Lots of seeds were planted on the final Raw before the Royal Rumble. Sami Zayn lost again to Drew McIntyre and mistakenly knocked out Cody Rhodes with a Helluva Kick. The show ended with CM Punk addressing Rhodes and calling his shot for WrestleMania. See more below. 

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Show Recap — 

Cody Rhodes, Brandi Rhodes and their daughter were shown arriving at the arena. Naomi and Bianca Belair, Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez, Sami Zayn, and Drew McIntyre were also shown. A dizzying drone shot showed us the packed State Farm Arena in Atlanta before Pat McAfee quickly ran down the SNME results. 

Seth Rollins kicks off Raw, Gunther and Logan Paul interrupt 

Rollins entered to a good reaction. It was his favourite time of year—WrestleMania season, which kicked off on Saturday when he won the Royal Rumble. He admitted that 2025 got off to a bad start. He suffered the worst loss of his career on the first Raw of the year and suffered a black eye. (The crowd chanted for CM Punk, so he remarked that Punk looked no better off than he did when the match was over.) 

After he lost, Rollins wondered who he was and who he wanted to be. But he knew who he was, he was Seth freakin’ Rollins. When he was the most focused version of himself, there was no one on the planet better than him. He started his path to redemption when he beat McIntyre last week, and it would continue on Saturday. 

He had no problem tossing out John Cena, Jey Uso, McIntyre, Sami Zayn or Roman Reigns. He especially hoped to toss out Reigns. He dreamt of CM Punk being the final person in the ring with him so he could crush his Mania dream to dust. 

The real question was which title he would go after when he won. We all knew Gunther was just holding the world title until he decided to go after it. But it would be poetic if he took the same title from Rhodes that he helped Rhodes win last year. 

Gunther interrupted. He informed Rollins that he wasn’t keeping the belt warm for him. He wondered where Rollins has been while he has been defending the title. He beat that clown Jey Uso on Saturday. The crowd Yeeted, so Gunther reiterated that he beat Jey’s ass. Gunther advised Rollins to ignore the drama and focus on the Rumble, but he wondered if Rollins still had it in him. 

Rollins said the World Heavyweight title that he held only existed because of him. Rollins wasn’t Jey Uso or Damian Priest or Finn Bálor. 

Gunther knew that and called Rollins one of the best wrestlers to ever step foot in this company. But it was 2025, and he was no longer the best in the company—Gunther was. Gunther wanted Rollins to face him at Mania so he could feel the same way as everyone else when they faced him. 

Logan Paul interrupted. He was booed a decent amount when he entered, but it got exponentially louder the more he spoke. He said the Netflix era needed a new face, one that oozed with charisma. He said Gunther and Rollins were both great in the ring but they reached their peak. (It was hard to hear what he said next because the crowd loudly chanted, “You suck.”)  

Paul announced he was entering the Rumble. He had no plans to eliminate 29 other men because that was grunt work. He would be smarter than that. He would win the Rumble and main event Mania. The crowd gave him the “What” treatment. Rollins was amused. 

Gunther changed his mind and said he wanted Paul to win the Rumble so he could knock the smirk off his face. The crowd cheered. Rollins got the last word and said he would be getting his title back—if he chose to. 

********

Cathy Kelley interviewed CM Punk backstage. Punk didn’t care about Paul and planned on winning the Rumble. He’d throw out Kelley if he had to. 

Zayn interrupted to ask about Punk’s comment last week about them not being on the same level. Zayn said that was true because only one of them was a WrestleMania main-eventer. They said they’d see each other at the Rumble. 

Karrion Kross approached Zayn after he walked away. Kross basically advised him to listen to Kevin Owens because there was a world of opportunity at his feet. After Kross left, Rhodes suddenly appeared and patted Zayn on the back. Zayn acted surprised to see him. Zayn quickly patted him on the chest and left. 

********

There was an interview during commercials with Austin Theory and Grayson Waller in the crowd. 

After the break, Noah Centineo, Lil Yachty, 2 Chainz, Quavo, Theory and Waller, and The Creed Brothers were shown in the crowd. 

******** 

The War Raiders defeated Dominik Mysterio & JD McDonagh to retain the World Tag Team Championships (11:54) 

There was a scary spot early in the match where McDonagh hit a springboard moonsault to the outside (on Ivar), but his head bounced right off the announce table. Michael Cole freaked out and repeatedly asked that somebody check on him. They showed a replay, and it looked brutal. McDonagh got to his feet and to the apron and actually got a nice applause from the crowd. 

During a break, the doctor checked on McDonagh, and he waved her off. 

Erik and Ivar went for their finisher, but McDonagh ducked it and headbutted Erik. Ivar went to the top, but McDonagh brought him down with a suplex. Cole said McDonagh must be the toughest man in the WWE the way he’s still going. 

Dom tagged in, but Ivar hit him with a spinning kick. As McDonagh distracted the referee, Carlito spat an apple in Ivar’s face. This allowed Dom to hit a 619, and McDonagh followed with a moonsault. Dom hit a frog splash for a nearfall after Erik shoved McDonagh into Dom to break up the cover. (Cole suggested the ref look at all the apple bits in the ring.) 

Dom went for another 619, but Erik tagged himself in, and they hit Dom with War Machine for the pinfall win. This turned into a pretty good match. 

********

Ludwig Kaiser approached Pete Dunne backstage. It seemed like Kaiser wanted to form an alliance, but before they could say much, they were approached by New Day. Even these heels wanted nothing to do with New Day, so they walked away. Kelley approached New Day for an interview. 

Kofi Kingston said Atlanta’s favourite son was home. Kelley thought they meant Bron Breakker. They said no. She also guessed Austin Theory and Cody Rhodes. Woods said he was Atlanta’s favourite son, and he would beat the brakes off Rey Mysterio in front of his town and his mother, father and sister. His family wasn’t there yet, but Woods knew they would show up because he spent a lot of money on their front-row seats. 

********

New Day entered during commercials. They were booed. Woods wanted the crowd to show respect, and Kingston said he would bring Atlanta something that Kirk Cousins and the Falcons never could—a win. (Because they were still in a break, Cole remarked that they were really bad guys now because they ran down the local sports team.)  

Lil Baby and Miller Mike were shown in the crowd. Also shown were the empty reserved seats that Woods paid for. 

Cole announced that this was Zelina Vega’s final night on Raw because she was being sent to Smackdown as part of the transfer portal. 

Cole also announced a sold-out crowd of 12,432. 

Rey Mysterio (w/LWO) defeated Xavier Woods (w/Kofi Kingston) (10:56) 

Woods wrestled in black jeans (and black knee pads), as Kingston did in his recent match. Woods cut off Rey’s comeback attempt after a break, but Rey hit a sunset flip powerbomb off the ropes, followed by a Code Red for two. However, Woods shoved Rey into the announce desk moments later. 

Woods noticed that his parents and sister finally arrived, sitting next to Lil Yachty in the front row. Woods approached them only for his parents to reveal they were wearing “New Day Sucks” t-shirts. Lil Yachty was wearing one, too, which was funny. Woods’ sister tossed a shirt at his face. 

Woods was pissed, so he went back into the ring, where Rey gave him a 619 and springboard splash for the pinfall win. Woods’ family cheered. 

Rey put on a “New Day Sucks” shirt and posed with Woods’ family. 

*******

Rollins approached Zayn backstage. Zayn wanted him to know the Helluva Kick last week was a mistake. Rollins knew that but said you could understand why he may have thought otherwise. If it happened again, Rollins would not think of it as a mistake. They shook hands. Rollins told him to get his win over McIntyre tonight. 

********

Jey entered through the crowd alongside Quavo. He got a huge reaction. Jey told the crowd he needed that, and he thanked them. He lost on Saturday, but he knew he could beat Gunther. Now Rollins had his name in his mouth, too. Jey knew what he had to do. He would toss all their assess out in the Rumble, and he would become the world champion at WrestleMania.

******** 

Pat McAfee kept the crowd warm during commercials. He interviewed Woods’ family and Lil Yachty. McAfee asked Lil Yachty if he’d ever get into the ring. Lil Yachty said he’d only be interested if it involved Rhea Ripley. The crowd was amused by that. (He held up a Ripley shirt earlier in the show.) 

********

Jackie Redmond interviewed Lyra Valkyria. Valkyria was ready to defend her Intercontinental Championship, but she also announced that she was entering the Rumble. 

American Made interrupted. Chad Gable told Valkyria that Ivy Nile would be winning the belt for him… and for them. Valkyria said this was as close as any of them were getting to the IC title. Nile got in her face, but Valkyria brushed it off. 

American Made bumped into Otis and Akira Tozawa, who were dancing nearby for Maxxine Dupri’s cameraphone. Gable called them pathetic for doing TikTok dances. 

(It makes sense that Valkyria would enter the Rumble, but this segment also made it pretty clear they don’t have much of a plan for her first IC title challenger.) 

********

Cole plugged Belair and Naomi defending their tag titles against Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson on tomorrow’s NXT.

Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez defeated Women’s Tag Team Champions Bianca Belair & Naomi in a non-title match (12:33) 

Belair made a hot tag shortly after a break and ran wild on Morgan. Rodriguez tagged in and gave Belair a spinebuster. She also powerbombed her partner onto Belair for a two count. Naomi tagged in and hit an X-Factor for two. Rodriguez followed with a fallaway slam. Morgan tagged in and hit Belair with a Codebreaker. 

Morgan went for Oblivion, but Belair caught her and hit a KOD. However, Dom distracted the referee from making a cover. Belair wiped him out with a slingshot dive. 

Naomi hit Morgan with a split-legged moonsault, but Rodriguez pulled Naomi out of the ring to break up the cover. This happened right in front of the referee, who, instead of admonishing Rodriguez, played dumb and checked on Morgan instead. This allowed Rodriguez to slam Naomi onto the apron. Morgan crawled into a cover for the pinfall win. 

This was a weak finish. It’s also odd that Belair completely disappeared after hitting a simple dive. The crowd was quiet for the match, but they were into Belair when she was doing stuff. 

********

Kelley interviewed Ripley. She said it didn’t matter who won the Rumble because she would brutalize them if they faced her. Bayley appeared and issued a warning. Ripley chuckled and wished her luck. She left. Iyo Sky approached Bayley and sternly told her, “See you Saturday.” 

********

There was a Penta video package. He thanked the fans for their reaction, but this was only the beginning. He wanted to be the best in the world, but the only way to do that was to face the best. He was entering the Rumble, and he would get his WrestleMania moment. This was good. 

The announcers ran down the Royal Rumble card, which begins at 6pm ET (3pm PT). 

  • 30-man Royal Rumble match 
  • 30-woman Royal Rumble match 
  • Cody Rhodes vs. Kevin Owens in a ladder match for the WWE Championship 
  • DIY vs. Motor City Machine Guns in a 2-out-of-3 falls match for the WWE Tag Titles 

********

Paul Heyman/Drew McIntyre segment 

Paul Heyman sauntered out to the ring to announce that Roman Reigns is the cover man for WWE 2K25. A banner dropped from the ceiling showing the cover. The crowd chanted, “OTC.” 

Heyman said Reigns was coming back for his championship. He said it would be 29 vs. 1 at the Rumble because he knew that all 29 other men were coming for Reigns. Reigns was the biggest star in WWE, on Netflix, on this planet and would be the biggest star on Mars when Elon Musk colonized it. He called the rest of the locker room Reigns-wannabes. 

Drew McIntyre entered before Heyman could leave. Heyman was nervous, but McIntyre told him to relax because the only person who should be nervous around here was Zayn. McIntyre just wanted to talk. The crowd chanted, “We want Roman.” McIntyre said he was responsible for all the success Heyman was having. The crowd chanted, “We don’t care.” 

McIntyre said they will care. He called himself the daddy of the Bloodline and said, “I hate it, but I’m the catalyst of it all.” McIntyre said he eliminated Reigns to win the Rumble (in 2020) and slayed the beast at WrestleMania. That beast was Heyman’s client. (He never said Brock Lesnar’s name.) 

After that, McIntyre said, Heyman found Reigns at a low time and harnessed his talent for evil. Heyman went on to make more money than ever. Heyman was even on the video game cover. (McIntyre pointed to Heyman bowing to Reigns on the very bottom-right of the cover.) McIntyre just wanted a ‘thank you’ from Heyman. 

Heyman thanked him but said, “You’re crowding me right now.” McIntyre backed off but asked Heyman for a favour: tell your boy that I will target him and toss his carcass over the top. Heyman sarcastically agreed to deliver the message to Reigns. McIntyre said he wasn’t talking about Reigns—he was talking about Punk. Heyman left looking distressed. 

*******

Redmond interviewed Bron Breakker. He called half the other Rumble entrants senior citizens. They’d realize they were no match for the badass because it wasn’t 2014 anymore. He declared himself for the Rumble. He was interrupted by Penta (wearing a suit). He made the “cero miedo” gesture without saying a word, and the crowd chanted along. 

******** 

Drew McIntyre defeated Sami Zayn (14:27) 

Zayn came up bleeding from the tip of his nose early in the match. (I’m not sure where it happened but he did get booted in the face a couple of times.) McIntyre went for a Claymore outside the ring, but Zayn ducked, and McIntyre landed on the announce table. 

During a break, McIntyre chucked Zayn into the barricade. Zayn and his bloody face managed to crawl back into the ring. However, after a break, McIntyre hit a spinebuster for two and a sit-out powerbomb for two. Zayn came back with a sunset flip powerbomb out of the corner for two. McIntyre suplexed Zayn and kipped up to his feet, but Zayn nailed a boot and Blue Thunder Bomb for two.  

Zayn went to the top, but McIntyre brought him down with a suplex. He tried a Claymore, but Zayn countered into a cradle for two. McIntyre ran shoulder-first into the ring post, and Zayn hit an exploder into the turnbuckles. Zayn went for a Helluva Kick, but McIntyre dodged it and covered Zayn with his feet on the ropes for the pinfall win. 

That’s 11 straight losses for Zayn against McIntyre. 

— As Zayn pleaded with the referee, McIntyre attacked him from behind. Cody Rhodes ran out to make the save, but Kevin Owens ran out next to attack Rhodes. Rhodes fought him off, but McIntyre attacked Rhodes from behind. Zayn tried to make the save, but he hit Rhodes with a Helluva Kick by mistake. 

Owens stood next to Zayn and smiled. He patted Zayn on the chest and left the ring. 

Zayn was distressed as he looked down at Rhodes. Cole wondered if he would choose a title opportunity over his friends. 

— The camera followed Zayn during a commercial break. Zayn was upset as he walked toward the back. He even got some boos. He looked back toward Rhodes and repeatedly said, “I’m sorry.” Zayn left. 

(For a moment, I thought the show was over when they faded to black on a shot of a sullen Sami Zayn. But it continued.) 

******** 

Cody Rhodes/CM Punk segment

Rhodes got to his feet to address his hometown fans. He looked up at the two WWE Championship belts hanging above the ring. He said he’s learned that being champion was not about the physical belt despite what Owens has convinced himself of. It was a mindset. It was about the work. Nobody in WWE worked more matches than him. He showed up first and left last. He was so looking forward to Saturday when he could finally move past Owens. 

CM Punk interrupted. Punk asked if Rhodes was feeling alright. Rhodes was his friend, and Punk was worried about him. It seemed like everything was finally getting to him. Punk knew what the title could do to a man. 

Punk was champion for a historic 434 days. Somewhere around the 300-day mark, it started to weigh on him. He was burned out, and it turned him into somebody he didn’t enjoy being most days. He lost friends, and it’s happening to Rhodes now. He understood Rhodes wanted to be Bruno Sammartino and John Cena, but none of them could be Superman. 

Rhodes said he didn’t have a lot of friends, but “CM Punk, you’re my friend, right?” Punk said Yes, that’s why he was out there. Unlike everyone else, Punk would always be his friend. Not just because of a promise he made to Dusty but because he loved him. But not even Dusty could’ve prepared Cody for this. When you were on top, there were no friends because you had a target. 

Rhodes asked Punk what was next for him. Punk said he knew Rhodes wasn’t going to get much sleep because he either had an early call time or he’d be thinking about the biggest match of his career against Owens—one of the toughest SOBs in the locker room. If he got past that, there would be more waiting for him after that. That’s what’s next for Rhodes. Less time with his family, feeling alone ironically in front of sold-out crowds. Meanwhile, somebody in the best shape of their life would win the Rumble and take advantage of Rhodes and take his belt. And that was the good news. 

Rhodes wanted to hear the bad news. Punk responded, “The bad news is that somebody is me.” Unlike everyone else who stabbed Rhodes in the back, Punk would win the Rumble and stab him in the front. 

Rhodes had a story. When he showed up in OVW, he met Punk, and they were the only ones who wanted to learn arm drags from Greg Gagne. Everyone there wanted to be Punk. They chased him. Punk got called up, and Rhodes followed later. Rhodes chased Punk. Everyone chased Punk. But that dynamic changed because Punk was now chasing him. 

Rhodes wanted Punk to win the Rumble “because I want you to catch up.” Rhodes wanted to see the look on Punk’s face when he realized the “best in the world” wasn’t the best in the world anymore. Rhodes’ music played, and the show ended. 

(This was a strange segment. Mostly because of Rhodes’ behaviour. He sounded upset in the first part of his promo, where he spoke about doing the work. Instead of sounding like a proud champion, he sounded annoyed and even whiny. He was also oddly confrontational to Punk from the get-go and a bit overdramatic—even for him. Perhaps we’re to feel like he’s losing it a bit, but that also came out of nowhere. This was also very long. It didn’t help that the show felt like it ended 15 minutes ago.)

AEW Collision Homecoming live results: Takeshita vs. Shibata International title match

Posted on by Suit Williams

Tonight’s Homecoming edition of AEW Collision from Jacksonville, Florida, will feature several champions in competition.

AEW International Champion Konosuke Takeshita will put his title on the line against Katsuyori Shibata in a first-time-ever meeting.

AEW Continental Champion Kazuchika Okada will face ROH men’s TV Champion Komander in a champion vs. champion bout.

AEW TNT Champion Daniel Garcia teams with Matt Menard and the returning Angelo Parker against the Undisputed Kingdom’s Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly & Roderick Strong.

The next contender for the TBS title will be made in a four-way between Yuka Sakazaki, Queen Aminata, Deonna Purrazzo and Serena Deeb.

AEW Women’s World Champion Mariah May and Toni Storm will have a face-to-face session ahead of their February match at Grand Slam Australia.

Samoa Joe returns for the first time since last July as he takes on Nick Wayne while Powerhouse Hobbs squares off with Big Bill.

The show is rounded out by Buddy Matthews & Brody King vs. Gates of Agony.

**********

We got pre-roll promos from The Patriarchy, Toni Storm, Mariah May, & Samoa Joe. Tony Schaivone & Nigel McGuinness were joined by Jim Ross for this week’s show.

Samoa Joe (w/ Hook & Katsuyori Shibata) defeated Nick Wayne (w/The Patriarchy)

Good to see Joe back in a fun opener to continue the Patriarchy/Hook & Friends feud.

This match was originally scheduled for Dynamite, but Samoa Joe had travel issues due to winter weather.

The Patriarchy surrounded Joe before Hook & Shibata came out to ward them off. Joe took the fight to Wayne to start, peppering him with jabs in the corner. Joe had Wayne up for the Muscle Buster, but Wayne raked the eyes to escape. Wayne worked over Joe’s legs, hitting a moonsault to Joe on the outside.

Joe came back with the uranage in the corner, but Wayne clawed at Joe’s eyes to avoid another Muscle Buster attempt. Wayne hit a rolling Code Red for a nearfall. A Wayne’s World attempt got ducked, and Joe laid out Wayne with a sick lariat before scoring with the Muscle Buster for the win.

We got a recap of the angle from Dynamite with Will Ospreay, Kenny Omega, & The Callis Family.

Champion vs. Champion Non-Title Match – AEW Continental Champion Kazuchika Okada defeated ROH TV Champion Komander

This was a good clash of styles, with Komander having another good showing against a top-line star in Okada.

Komander refused to shake Okada’s hand and used his pace to keep Okada off balance to start the match. Komander hit a tope to the floor before Okada dropped him with a boot. Komander came back with a step-up armdrag to the floor but got caught on a headscissors attempt on the floor and dropped with a DDT.

After a commercial break, Okada tried to catch another headscissors attempt, but Komander caught him with an X-Factor. A wheelbarrow bulldog got Komander a nearfall, but Okada cut off a springboard and hit the neckbreaker over the knee. Okada hit the elbow drop and gave the big middle finger, but Komander ducked the Rainmaker and hit a step-up headscissors. Komander hit a springboard destroyer and hit a ropewalk moonsault to the floor. Okada caught Komander on a springboard and hit the Rainmaker for the win.

After the match, Okada finally got his handshake before jumping Komander from behind and cackling to the back.

We got a recap of last week’s run in that led to the trios match tonight between Daniel Garcia & 2.0 & The Undisputed Kingdom.

Powerhouse Hobbs was waiting in the parking lot for Big Bill. Bill arrived, chucking a brick at Hobbs’ head and pinballing him around. Bill laid him out with a big boot, but Hobbs ripped a fence door off and hit Bill with it before security separated them.

Big Boom AJ & Big Justice were backstage with Lexy Nair, who were interrupted by The Undisputed Kingdom. Adam Cole came in and did the Boom with them.

The Undisputed Kingdom (Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly & Roderick Strong) defeated Daniel Garcia, Angelo Parker, & Matt Menard

This is the best way to rehab the Undisputed Kingdom after the MJF feud, by having them earn back their cache in-ring. A solid match here to build a few issues in the midcard.

Shane Taylor Promotions were ringside. Cole & Garcia started off, with both teams getting quick tags in before Garcia laid out O’Reilly on the floor for a commercial break. After the break, the former Jericho Appreciation Society members were laying into O’Reilly in the corner before O’Reilly fought to his corner.

Cole got the hot tag and traded shots with Garcia, dropping him with a neckbreaker over the knee. Strong and Parker tagged in, with Strong running wild with backbreakers. O’Reilly and Strong laid out Menard with double forearms before pinning Parker with a Total Elimination. Both teams shook hands after the match as Shane Taylor Promotions glowered at the scene at ringside.

Max Caster was backstage, upset that his partner and his mentor turned their backs on him last week. He called himself a survivor and announced an Open Challenge Series, daring people to step up to the Best Wrestler Alive.

(I gotta tell you, I don’t like Caster’s chances.)

There was a blink-and-you’ll-miss it tease for Hologram, who has been out on paternity leave recently.

Top Flight was backstage with Lexy Nair. Dante was upset that Lio Rush & Action Andretti weren’t in the building, but Darius wasn’t surprised. He went off on Dante, noting that he never wanted Rush in the group to begin with. Andretti had helped them out while Dante was hurt, but Rush bailed on Dante when Darius got hurt prior to that. Darius challenged Rush to a match and promised to send him packing again.

(I’m intrigued by this lower-card feud, as it continues to evolve in a logical way and continues to keep these four talented guys on screen.)

Mariah May & Toni Storm’s Face-To-Face

I’ve been critical of this story, and I still don’t really understand why Storm pretended to not remember anything. But she got a big pop for the Timeless reveal and cut a good promo, so I guess all’s well that ends well.

Tony Schiavone was in the ring to moderate the face-to-face between Toni Storm & Mariah May. May entered first, ready to get this s**t over with in her own words. May ran Storm down, calling her a joke and a meme before promising to humiliate Storm in her hometown. Storm said that she was May’s biggest fan, having followed her career from the UK to Japan to AEW. Storm said that she wanted to be just like May and gave her a hug. May reciprocated before slapping her in the face and laying her out with the title belt.

May went to leave, but Storm took the mic and asked why May thought she’d forgotten everything. Storm got back into her Timeless Toni voice and disrobed out of her rocker clothes, revealing that she was playing the role of herself and had given the performance of a lifetime. Storm fired up and said that she would rip May apart in Australia as the crowd went crazy.

We got a preview of a long form interview with Jon Moxley and Claudio Castagnoli with Renee Paquette.

Hounds of Hell (Brody King & Buddy Matthews) (w/ Julia Hart) defeated Gates Of Agony (Bishop Kaun & Toa Liona)

The House of Black is officially dead, and the Hounds of Hell are in their place. King and Matthews can be a cornerstone team in a rebuilt tag division, and can be a credible threat to the Hurt Syndicate moving forward.

King & Matthews came out with a new presentation and a new name as the Hounds of Hell. Matthews and Liona started off before King and Liona traded big shots. Kaun tagged in and helped Liona clubber on King in the corner. Matthews tagged in and took the Gates to the floor before hitting a big dive into the commercial break.

The Gates were running wild as we came back, dumping King over the timekeeper’s table before hitting a double tree slam on Matthews for a nearfall in the ring. King made his way back to the corner and got the tag, running wild on both Gates and hitting a DVD on Liona for a nearfall. Matthews cut off another tree slam, kicking off a move train. Liona no-sold a piledriver, but Matthews hit a Meteora to take him out. Matthews and King hit a corner cannonball/dropkick combination on Kaun for the win.

Big Boom AJ & Big Justice were backstage with Lexy Nair & Harley Cameron. Cameron didn’t know any of their gimmicks, and Deonna Purrazzo & Taya Valkyrie interrupted them all to talk trash to Cameron.

Penelope Ford & Thunder Rosa were backstage with Lexy Nair. Ford challenged Rosa to a match, and they talked trash to each other.

AEW TBS Title #1 Contendership Four Way Match – Yuka Sakazaki defeated Serena Deeb, Deonna Purrazzo (w/ Taya Valkyrie), Queen Aminata

The action came quickly, with all four women going for flash pins. No one had a clear advantage, with all the women laying in big shots. Sakazaki hit a big dive to the floor as we went to commercial. After the commercial, Purrazzo hit La Mistica on Aminata to lock on a Fujiwara Armbar, but Aminata fought out and they dropped each other with clotheslines.

Sakazaki hit a high cross on Deeb for a nearfall. Deeb came back with a flurry of suplexes and a short-arm lariat to Aminata for a nearfall. Deeb and Aminata brawled to the back, as Valkyrie got in the ring to help Purrazzo. Harley Cameron came out to take Valkyrie out of the match, and Sakazaki caught Purrazzo with a flash pin to win the title shot on Wednesday’s Dynamite.

The Hounds of Hell were in the back with Lexy Nair, with Buddy Matthews saying they barked as one. Kazuchika Okada was laughing at them off to the side, saying that they barked like bitches. Matthews challenged Okada to a title match, with Okada giving him a middle finger in denial. Matthews said that made Okada the bitch and walked off.

Big Bill was in the ring, calling out Powerhouse Hobbs again. Hobbs came out and bumped a bunch of security guards to get to the ring. Bill went after Hobbs’ knee and hit him with a backpack that contained a brick, Hobbs’ knee brace, and a set of handcuffs. Bill punched Hobbs with the handcuffs and bloodied him up as they made their way to the announce table. Bill drilled Hobbs with a chair. Hobbs came back and took Bill off the stage with a belly-to-belly off the stage through a table.

We got a pre-tape of the Don Callis Family meeting in Callis’ palatial estate. Callis noted that this was a different Kenny Omega, one that was bloodthirsty and ready to spill Callis’ blood. Cage brought up how they had the numbers advantage as it was five-on-two, but Callis reminded him that a barely focused Omega won three World Titles with Callis by his side. Callis said that Cage was wrong that there were only five of them, with the camera focusing on a sixth plate at the table.

AEW International Title Match – Konosuke Takeshita (c) defeated Katsuyori Shibata

An awesome main event here, as Shibata took Takeshita to the brink with Daily’s Place red-hot for it. Takeshita looked strong going into the big-time Grand Slam Australia tag match.

The two grappled to start the match, with Shibata almost scoring with the Penalty Kick. Shibata cornered Takeshita, but Takeshita fired out of the corner with a lariat. Takeshita took Shibata over the barricade and went for a running boot, but Shibata caught him with a boot and knocked him over a chair as we went to commercial.

Shibata hammered Takeshita in the corner as we came back from the break, landing the hesitation dropkick and the half-hatch suplex for a nearfall. Shibata teed off with kicks, but Takeshita came back with strikes of his own. Takeshita landed a big forearm, but Shibata came back with an STO. The two traded forearms before Shibata snatched on a sleeper hold. Takeshita tried to fall back, but Shibata held on to the hold.

Takeshita transitioned out of the sleeper into a Bastard Driver and a German suplex, but Shibata hammered Takeshita with a Penalty Kick as the fans chanted AEW. Shibata locked in the Cobra Twist as Don Callis went to ringside from the announce booth. The two men traded suplexes before Shibata got the sleeper hold on again. Callis cut off the Penalty Kick, allowing Takeshita to counter the sleeper with a Blue Thunder Bomb for a one count.

Takeshita ran through Shibata with a lariat and the Powerdrive Knee before landing Raging Fire for the win.

WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event live results: Three title matches, contract signing

Posted on by Marc Quill

The second installment in the WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event revival on NBC airs live tonight from San Antonio, Texas, featuring three title matches, a contract signing, and a match between two brawlers.

WWE World Heavyweight Champion Gunther will look for the fifth defense of his title as he faces former Intercontinental Champion Jey Uso who is looking for his first World title. Gunther is making his second SNME appearance after defeating Damian Priest and Finn Balor in December’s debut.

The show will feature a contract signing between Cody Rhodes and Kevin Owens ahead of their undisputed Universal title ladder match at the Royal Rumble. Shawn Michaels will mediate.

WWE Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley returns for her second SNME as she defends against former Women’s Champion Nia Jax.

Sheamus will attempt to win his first-ever WWE Intercontinental title as he challenges reigning titleholder Bron Breakker.

The show is rounded out by Jacob Fatu against Braun Strowman.

**********

– Following the WWE signature intro, we got a kickoff of the show from Joe Tessitore, who introduced all our key players for this evening’s show, including Ted DiBiase, who appeared with his Million Dollar Belt. We then went to the cold open.

– Tessitore was shown on the stage with Jesse Ventura. The two discussed tonight’s card, particularly the Intercontinental Championship match between Bron Breakker versus Sheamus. But first, it was time for the first match of the evening.

Women’s World Championship Match: Rhea Ripley defeated Nia Jax to retain

As always, Ripley got a great reaction from the crowd as she made her entrance. Jax delivered a cheap shot as the championship introductions were in progress, which brought this match underway.

Ripley assumed control with a DDT and a cannonball from the apron. In the ring, Jax withstood clotheslines from the Women’s World Champion and then flattened her with a headbutt. In the corner, Jax took out her foe with an avalanche Samoan drop as we took our first break of the evening.

We returned with Ripley reversing a move from Jax as she tried to rally back into the match. An attempted springboard hurricanrana was caught by Jax, but Ripley turned that into a Code Red for the near-fall. Ripley’s attempt at Riptide was countered into a Samoan Drop by Jax. The challenger headed up top for a leg drop on Ripley, which wasn’t enough to get this match done.

In the corner, Ripley showed impressive strength and dropped Jax with a powerful powerbomb. She attempted a Prism Lock, but Jax countered it. Uranage from the corner by Jax gave her the chance to take over. She went to the top rope, but got driven to the outside. Ripley climbed to the top and hit a superb crossbody onto Jax.

Back in the ring, Ripley tried for another Riptide, but got splashed by Jax instead. On the corner, Jax hit the Annihilator on the Women’s World Champ. As Jax attempted for a second Annihilator, Ripley lifted her up for the electric chair drop. Ripley avoided a splash from Jax before finishing this title defense off with third time’s the charm for a Riptide and the win.

A good opener with an expected result, but still an enjoyable way to open tonight’s SNME show. Rhea’s popularity simply can’t be underestimated.

**********

– In the crowd, Alundra Blayze (or Madusa, if you prefer) and Mark Henry were shown in the crowd.

Intercontinental Championship: Bron Breakker defeated Sheamus to retain

Prior to the match, Jesse Ventura joined Michael Cole & Pat McAfee for commentary on this match, the first Intercontinental Championship title defense on a SNME episode since 1992 when Shawn Michaels defeated the British Bulldog.

Sheamus and Breakker locked horns to start off this encounter. The champ broke off the lock and laughed arrogantly at his foe. Sheamus began to work over Breakker in the corner with clubbing blows, followed by a hard lariat. Breakker recovered and hit a belly to belly throw on Sheamus. Breakker made a a speedy run across the ropes to send Sheamus outside with a clothesline. At ringside, Sheamus caught Breakker after an attempted super spear and threw him into the timekeeper’s area.

In the ring, Sheamus threw Breaker onto the apron and wanted to deliver the Beats of the Bodhran, but Breakker escaped. As Sheamus leapt off the steel steps, he was met by a fierce spear from Breakker. That, of course, meant a break in the action.

The action continued as Breakker delivered repeated rib breakers on Sheamus in the middle of the ring. Sheamus fired himself up as Breakker taunted him and he answered with a huge knee to the champion. That only got a near-fall, however. As Breakker scurried to the apron, that left him open for the Beats of the Bodhran from Sheamus — 16 to be exact. Sheamus lifted Breakker up high for the Celtic Cross. One, two… not quite.

Breakker hoisted Sheamus above his head for the Gorilla Press Powerslam, but that was not enough for the three. On the corner, Breakker paid homage to his lineage with a Frankensteiner. Attempted Spear by Breakker was met by a Brogue Kick from Sheamus. Is this one over? No! Breakker got his foot on the bottom rope to break the count.

Sheamus attempted for another Brogue Kick, but his bad ribs gave out. Breakker eventually seized the moment with a Spear and that’s it, over. Another successful Intercontinental Championship defense for the young Breakker.

Now that was a very enjoyable fun. I’m always entertained by, for lack of a better term, big meaty men slapping meat. On that end, Sheamus and Bron Breakker delivered in spades. That ringside spear was one hell of a spot.

**********

– More legends in the crowd were shown, including Ted DiBiase and “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan, who got a great reaction from the crowd.

Cody Rhodes & Kevin Owens Contract Signing (Hosted by Shawn Michaels)

Michaels started by saying he was so happy to be back in San Antonio, and that he had been given one job tonight: to walk out of the ring with the contract signed by Rhodes and Owens. He said he was “the closer” that SmackDown GM Nick Aldis sent for tonight. With that said, Michaels introduced Owens (who wore a “Cody Sucks Eggs” shirt, shouting out Terry Funk’s shirt aimed at Cody’s legendary father) and Rhodes.

As Rhodes and Owens stared each other down in the ring with their respective championships on their shoulders, Michaels told them to be seated. They refused to do so. HBK said that for as much as we enjoyed Rhodes and Owens battering each other for months, his assignment was to walk out of tonight with their Royal Rumble match contract signed. Rhodes signed the contract first before Owens was supposed to do so.

Owens took the mic and said that Rhodes talked about something that pissed him off last night on SmackDown. He said that Rhodes saying Owens took the easy way out annoyed him. Before Owens could continue his diatribe, Rhodes told him to shut up because he was done talking about Kevin Owens and he was looking ahead to who he was facing at WrestleMania.

Owens said that at the Royal Rumble, he will shut everyone up who doubted him and he will prove to be the true WWE Champion. He says that everything that Cody has will be his once everything is all said and done.

Michaels interrupted and told Owens sounded jealous. The belligerent Canadian took umbrage to this remark and lashed out at Michaels, claiming that he was bringing more pride to the Winged Eagle than HBK ever did. Owens finally signed the contracted and forcefully shoved it to Michaels’ chest.

On Michaels’ instruction, a referee took both Rhodes and Owens’ championships and hung it on a hanger. Michaels said that only one man will walk out undisputed WWE Champion next Saturday before he wished both Rhodes and Owens the best of luck. As HBK tried to shake both men’s hands, Owens delivered a cheap shot to Rhodes and set Michaels up for a package piledriver. Rhodes responded with a superkick to Owens before HBK tuned up the band and hit Sweet Chin Music on the self-proclaimed WWE Champion.

**********

Braun Strowman defeated Jacob Fatu via disqualification

On the way to the ring, Fatu cut a promo to the camera, stating that he was going to beat Strowman from post-to-post, on NBC, and coast-to-coast.

This showcase of the big meaty men slapping meat kicked off with a test of strength beween Strowman and Fatu, before the former took early control with a shoulder block. Fatu recovered for a bit and hit a right hand, but that didn’t help him for long. Strowman clotheslined Fatu to the outside, but Fatu responded with a suicide dive across the middle rope to knock down the redwood that is Braun Strowman. That cued up a break in the action.

Saturday Night’s Main Event returned with Fatu in firm control until a sidewalk slam from Strowman created some separation. Strowman swung meat hook strikes that kept Fatu stunned long enough for a Biel throw that sent him outside. At ringside, Strowman had a full head of steam for a running charge that sent Fatu into the barricade. Strowman went for another running shoulder pounce that sent Fatu over the announce table. Third time’s a charm? Nope, as Fatu sent Strowman with a Samoan Drop onto the announce table to stop the Strowman Express.

Back in the ring, Fatu launched a barrage of running hip strikes on Strowman which kept the big man stunned. The referee attempted to stop him, but got thrown out for his troubles. With nobody to stop him, Fatu unleashed more running hip strikes on the stunned Strowman. The referee called the match to the disapproval of the fans.

Security poured in and got waylaid by Fatu as additional officials and SmackDown GM Nick Aldis arrived in the hopes of stopping this onslaught by Fatu. Strowman was left bleeding as Fatu hit his leaping moonsault onto him. The fans were in love with this carnage as they chanted “one more time”. Fatu obliged and delivered one more springboard moonsault onto Strowman, The fans chanted for Fatu as we got one more springboard moonsault onto the out-of-it Strowman. Fatu and Tama Tonga made their exit, the Samoan Werewolf more than satisified in living up to his boast of beating Strowman from post-to-post, coast-to-coast.

This match was rather short, but it more than filled my need of seeing two big giants battering the hell out of each other. Fatu getting cheers despite being a heel was interesting to see. Maybe the San Antonio fans just love the sight of giant-on-giant violence like I do.

**********

– Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard were shown in the crowd as Cole tossed things over to Joe Tessitore and Jesse Ventura, who were stood at the “Okerlund Position” (named in tribute to “Mean” Gene Okerlund). We then got a rundown of the Royal Rumble next week:

  • Men’s Royal Rumble Match
  • Women’s Royal Rumble Match
  • Ladder Match: Cody Rhodes vs. Kevin Owens (Undisputed WWE Championship)
  • 2/3 Falls: DIY (Johnny Gargano & Tomasso Ciampa) vs. Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley)

World Heavyweight Championship: Gunther defeated “Main Event” Jey Uso to retain

Gunther caught Uso with a boot to the head to start the match, which led to a striking start. The World Champion gave us the sight of a big meaty man slapping Yeet as he hit Uso with a hard chop that sent the challenger outside, which sent us to the commercial break once more.

We returned with Gunther flattening Uso with a clothesline for the two-count. Gunther maintained his dominance with more chops and boots to the head of Uso, who fired back with some strikes of his own. A very hard-hitting World Title affair taking place right now. Gunther applied a submission in the middle of the ring, but couldn’t hold it for long. Uso lifted up Gunther for a Samoan Drop to create some much-needed separation.

Gunther delivered his finishing Powerbomb on Uso, but couldn’t put him away with it as Uso kicked out at two. As Uso rolled out to the apron, Gunther attempted to choke him out with a boot as we got another ad break.

We returned from the break, same as the last, with an exchange of strikes that ended with Gunther hitting a German suplex. He was met with a superkick from Uso as he tried for another lariat. Uso avoided the shotgun dropkick from Gunther and hit a running hip strike on the World Champion. Uso ascended the top rope but was intercepted by Gunther, who tried for a superplex. Uso slipped underneath and instead got a sitout powerbomb on Gunther for the two.

Uso hit a surprise Spear on Gunther, who kicked out at 2.999999 to keep his World Title reign alive. Another superkick and a Spear from Gunther was followed by the Uso Splash. Once again, Gunther barely kicked out after that salvo from “Main Event” Jey.

As Uso went for a third Spear, Gunther caught him for two consecutive Powerbombs. The three, and that’s it, over. Gunther retains the World Heavyweight Title in the main event of Saturday Night’s Main Event. The show ended with the implication that Uso’s gutsy effort got some respect from Gunther.

An alright main event that got hot in the last five minutes, but the placement of commercial breaks kind of disrupted things and made it a bit hard to fully get into the match.

**********

All in all, while the results were predictable, this edition of Saturday Night’s Main Event was as good as the one last month, and gave us a rather memorable angle with Jacob Fatu’s destruction of Braun Strowman in their encounter. Meat was on the menu this evening and all that hard-hitting action tonight was, in my view, enough to whet the appetite of wrestling fans who were looking for the kind of wrestling that would make Big E proud.

WWE SmackDown live results: LA Knight vs. Tama Tonga

Posted on by Colin McGuire

After a confrontation last week, LA Knight will go one-on-one with Tama Tonga on tonight’s WWE SmackDown.

The Knight vs. Tonga match was set up after a brawl between Tonga, Knight, Jacob Fatu, and Braun Strowman last Friday. Knight was looking to seek revenge for Fatu and Tonga interfering in his match against Shinsuke Nakamura two weeks ago for the United States Championship.

Also slated for the episode, the Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) will take on Pretty Deadly (Kit Wilson & Elton Prince). Pretty Deadly interfered in MCMG’s match last week against Los Garza, but the interference backfired and MCMG still came out on top.

Tonight’s show will serve as the final build for this weekend’s Saturday Night’s Main Event episode. Ahead of his contract signing with Kevin Owens at SNME, Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes will appear tonight for an exclusive interview. It will be conducted by Joe Tessitore.

Rhodes and Owens are set to meet in a ladder match for the Undisputed WWE title at the Royal Rumble on February 1.

Join us for live coverage starting at 8 p.m. Eastern time.

**********

– Joe Tessitore spoke as outdoor shots of Texas were shown. Footage of Tama Tonga, Jacob Fatu, LA Knight, and Tiffany Stratton walking in various places was shown. Turned out, Tessitore was standing in the middle of the ring and he introduced Cody Rhodes.

The Cody Rhodes Interview

There wasn’t a lot to this. I suppose you couldn’t expect Owens to interrupt because Cody and Owens will be around each other at SNME, but I did kind of think they might set up a proper main event for tonight with Cody involved. Instead, we got three (maybe four?) standard questions from Tessitore and Cody doing his best to be engaging … but truthfully falling a tiny bit short. It felt like the live crowd wanted more – and it felt like more was coming – but the segment just never blossomed into anything of note. Kudos for WWE for trying something different, though. That’s encouraging.

Tessitore started talking and the crowd broke out into “Cody!” chants. Tessitore mentioned how Austin was the hometown of Dusty Rhodes. Tessitore noted how Cody will have his title taken from him to be hung above the ring and asked Cody how he felt about these being the final moments of him having the belt in his possession. Cody said Shawn Michaels knows something about ladder matches (Michaels will host the contract signing for the match at SNME) and reminded everyone that to main event WrestleMania, you have hold the title he holds and he, like everyone else, wants to main event WrestleMania.

Tessitore asked Cody about Kevin Owens and Cody threw the question to the crowd, who booed. Cody said a lot of people have a lot of opinions on Owens and they shouldn’t because he will subvert everyone’s expectations. Cody called Owens a once-in-a-generation superstar and said 10 times out of 10, Owens will always chose the easy way out. Because of this, Cody said, this is why the ladder match is the best way to go because it will simply be about who can climb the ladder and leave Indianapolis WWE Champion.

Following that up, Tessitore said he wasn’t sure if Owens could remain calm at SNME’s contract signing and asked Cody what his final message before the Royal Rumble to Owens would be. Cody said he might appear to be a good guy, but he was the one who defeated the greatest champion of his era, Roman Reigns, and he was also a student of Randy Orton. Therefore, he was and is as mean as people can get. Cody said simply put, he had only one thing to say to Owens: “Good luck.” Cody’s music hit and that was the end of that.

**********

– #DIY and Pretty Deadly were talking backstage and Johnny Gargano told Pretty Deadly they wouldn’t be able to help them later because Gargano has a match against Apollo Crews later. Ciampa told Pretty Deadly to handle their business. Gargano told them they believe in them. This all came after Pretty Deadly tried to see what might happen after tonight. #DIY walked away and Pretty Deadly ran into Legado Del Fantasma, who stared the team down. No words were said. Back in the ring, MCMG’s theme hit for the night’s first match.

Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) defeated Pretty Deadly (Kit Wilson & Elton Prince) [9:55]

A fine TV match, if not a little too predictable. Much like the opening segment, it felt like there was something else that was supposed to happen, but it didn’t happen. In this case, interference from some tag team somewhere felt inevitable, but this was simply a clean win for MCMG. No complaining from me. I enjoy some of the edge that Pretty Deadly is showing, but seeing believing when it comes to if it will mean anything substantial moving forward. Here’s hoping.

Prince and Sabin started the match and Sabin got the best of it briefly, but Prince turned it around. Shelley tagged in, but Wilson soon followed. Sabin quickly tagged back in and MCMG landed a double-team move, but it wasn’t long before Pretty Deadly got aggressive and ran Sabin into a ring post on the outside. Shelley followed the heels and roughed them up. Pretty Deadly posed as the show went to a picture in picture.

The show returned and Wilson was beating down Sabin inside the ring. Prince tagged in and kept the pummeling going. Wilson tagged in, but Sabin fought back and hit a running enziguri on Wilson to then get the hot tag to Shelley. Prince tagged in, but Shelley took care of both of them, complete with a DDT on Prince for a two-count. Pretty Deadly were on the outside and Sabin tagged in to land a suicide dive on Pretty Deadly.

Back inside the ring, MCMG set up for Skull and Bones, but Pretty Deadly worked out of it to take control on both Sabin and Shelley. Prince landed a Bulldog from the top on Shelley for a near-fall. With Wilson as the legal man, MCMG hit their signature double-team moves before ultimately hitting Skull and Bones for the win.

**********

– The Miz was shown meeting with Nick Aldis backstage. Miz said Tessitore does a great interview, but it’s not Miz TV. Aldis informed Miz he is now on SmackDown permanently. Miz noted how the Wyatts are on SmackDown and flipped out. Aldis told Miz he’ll need to make new friends and make them fast.

– A video package/tale of the tape ran on the Braun Strowman vs. Jacob Fatu match for SNME.

The Kevin Owens/Jimmy Uso segment

Kevin Owens appeared out of nowhere as Tessitore and Wade Barrett were talking at the commentary table. Owens berated Tessitore for interviewing Cody and not him. Owens asked why everyone wants to be Cody’s friend because all Cody does is betray his fans. Owens said he will prove at the Royal Rumble that he is the true WWE champion. Matthew McConaughey was in the crowd and started jawing at/with Owens. Jimmy Uso’s music hit and Jimmy walked out.

Jimmy stepped into the ring and Owens asked Jimmy why he was there. Jimmy said it was because Owens “talks too damn much” and then attacked Owens. Jimmy went to the top rope, but Owens rolled out of the ring with his Winged Eagle belt. Jimmy got on the mic and asked Owens where he was going. Jimmy challenged Owens to a match for later tonight. And it appears we have found our impromptu main event.

**********

Carmelo Hayes was shown talking to Aldis in Aldis’s office. Melo was supposed to face Jimmy Uso later, so Melo was angry about it. Aldis said he has an opponent for Melo, but Hayes said he wants to meet his opponent instead of waiting until he gets in the ring because the last time that happened, Strowman came out. Melo said he’d wait to see who shows up.

B-Fab & Michin defeated Chelsea Green & Piper Niven [3:25]

This wasn’t much, either. At least Owens injecting something into the first hour. Sadly, it didn’t carry over into this tag, which was clearly here only to set up the eventual Green vs. Michin rematch. At this point, it would be nice if we got there sooner than later.

Michin and Niven began the match. Michin kicked Niven and Green tagged in. Michin dragged Green into the ring and went for Eat Defeat, but Green countered. The sequence ended up with Green in a corner and Michin twerking. Michin went for a Cannonball, but Green moved and took control. Green suplexed Michin for a one-count. Niven tagged in and went for an elbow drop, but Michin moved. B-Fab received the hot tag while Green tagged in.

B-Fab worked over Green, complete with a DDT and a cover that was broken up by Niven. Niven slammed B-Fab and Michin dropkicked Niven. Somehow, Green and Michin were the legal women (I guess I missed at least one tag) and Michin hit Eat Defeat on Green for the win.

**********

– Melo was still in Aldis’s office and Damian Priest showed up and Aldis asked Priest if he was interested in a one-on-one match with Melo later. Priest said he was there to work and it looks like Priest will be on SmackDown full-time now.

– A Charlotte vignette aired for the second week in a row. This time, Charlotte spoke over the fancy video footage. Charlotte declared for the Royal Rumble.

The Tiffy Time segment

This was fun for what it was and finally threw some energy into the proceedings. We’ll see what Aldis was about to announce before the show went to break.

Stratton said once again she is the center of attention. Stratton said she wasn’t worried about who wins the Royal Rumble because things will still operate on Tiffy Time. Rhea Ripley’s music hit and Ripley walked out to a loud ovation. “Mami!” chants broke out. Ripley said she knew Tiffy was still new there, but she wanted Tiffy to know she was a women’s champion, too. Ripley said she respects what Tiffy did to Nia Jax, but it won’t compare to what she’ll do to her at SNME. On cue, Nia Jax’s music hit and Jax walked out with Candice LeRae.

Jax said she didn’t understand why she was “catching strays,” and that’s a young person’s phrase, so who knows what that means. Jax officially declared for the Royal Rumble match as the crowd booed. Jax looked at a kid in the entranceway and said “Your mom sucks, kid.” Jax said she will beat Ripley at SNME. Jax said she’d take back Tiffy’s title eventually because that title is hers. As Jax stepped into the ring, Bianca Belair’s music hit and out came Belair and Naomi.

Naomi asked Belair if she could believe it. Naomi officially entered the Royal Rumble match. Belair did the same. Belair and Naomi went back and forth on who was going to win. Liv Morgan’s music then hit and Liv walked out with Raquel. While standing in the entranceway, Liv noted how Ripley lost her man “to a real woman.” Live called Tiffy a Liv Morgan wannabe. Liv shouted that she doesn’t care about anybody because the headline news will be all about Liv … because she is also declaring for the Royal Rumble match. Liv also “declared her victory” for the Rumble match. Liv said Raquel will ensure that Liv wins and Ripley headbutted the hell out of Liv. All the women then brawled. Nick Aldis walked out and the show went to a commercial break.

**********

Liv Morgan, Miz Jax & Candice LeRae defeated Bianca Belair, Naomi & Rhea Ripley [12:13]

Lots of star power here and that’s a good thing. The match itself was a bit of a cluster, but what else would you expect? I said this last week, but I’ll say it again: Why wouldn’t WWE advertise a match like this ahead of time? It will most likely end up as the most star-powered bout of the night … why not put it out there to entice viewers to tune in? I digress. Anyway, a fluke win for the heels all but ensures Ripley beats Jax tomorrow night, but we knew that anyway. In the meantime, this was fun for what it was.

Ripley started the match and suplexed LeRae. Naomi and Belair got involved and threw Naomi onto Jax. Morgan tagged in and Naomi took her down before tagging in Belair and hitting a double arm-drag. Belair started pounding on Morgan, but LeRae interfered and Morgan then started pulling on Belair’s braid. Jax tagged in and clotheslined Belair. Jax rag-dolled Belair. Jax set up for her finisher, but Belair pushed Jax over the top and to the outside. The show then went to a commercial break.

The show returned and Morgan had the upper hand on Naomi. Jax tagged in and hit a splash on Naomi. Jax followed that up with a stink face. LeRae tagged in and rolled up Naomi for a two-count. Jax attacked Ripley on the outside of the ring. Morgan did the same to Belair. All of this allowed the heels to triple-team Naomi, but Naomi fought back and landed an X-Factor on LeRae. Ripley hopped back on the apron and received the hot tag. Morgan tagged in and Ripley went to work on Liv.

Belair tagged in and went for a moonsault on Morgan, but Morgan got her knees up. Belair landed a weird spear/tackle. Things broke down and Ripley set up for a Riptide on Jax, but Morgan broke it up. As a result, Ripley hit a Riptide on Morgan, onto Jax. After all was said and done, Belair hit a KOD on LeRae, but Morgan rolled Belair up immediately after that and got the win.

**********

– Chelsea, Piper, Michin and B-Fab were talking backstage. Michin said she got a rematch with Green for the U.S. title next week.

Apollo Crews defeated Johnny Gargano [4:15]

A fun win for Crews, who needs wins. This obviously sets up MCMG vs. #DIY for the tag titles and if anything, I’m hoping they get at least 20 minutes to tell a solid story because we all know these teams can do just that. No nonsense. No limitations. Just let them loose. You won’t be sorry, Mr. H.

Crews had some offense early, but he ran into a super-kick from Gargano for a two-count. Gargano stomped a mudhole in Crews after that. Ciampa and Gargano pat themselves on the back and Gargano ran into a kick from Crews. From there, Crews pressed Gargano and landed his standing moonsault for a two-count. Crews leapt at Gargano, but Gargano moved and followed it up with a back-cracker for a two-count.

Back on their feet, the two traded blows. The sequence ended with Gargano throwing Crews to the outside, where Ciampa hit a running knee on Crews. MCMG walked down the aisle and that distracted Gargano. From there, Crews rolled up Gargano for the win.

**********

– Jacob Fatu said he was both Godzilla and King Kong as he cut a promo on Braun Strowman while walking to the ring. Fatu told LA Knight that Tama Tonga was coming for him. Fatu then accompanied Tonga through the entranceway and to the ring for the next match.

– Comedians Shane Gillis and Fluffy Iglesias were shown in the crowd.

– LA Knight had a microphone before his match and said “Let me talk to ya!” Knight talked about he got his ass kicked last week, but it was worth it as long as he got a shot at Tonga tonight. Knight mouthed off to Fatu and did his catchphrase with the crowd. The match between Tonga and Knight then began.

LA Knight defeated Tama Tonga [12:07]

This was pretty good despite the fluky (but expected) finish. Knight is low-key getting better in the ring and Tonga is … well … Tama Tonga. This all but ensures that Fatu gets the win over Strowman tomorrow night, but that’s the right call. Of note: Where is Solo Sikoa again? With all of these things happening, all we get is a mic-drop moment last week and that’s it?

Knight had control early and the action spilled outside, where Tonga threw Knight into the crowd barrier. Tonga walked the crowd barrier and clotheslined Knight off the barrier. The two got back into the ring and Knight hit a springboard shoulder block for a two-count. Knight landed a back-body-drop and clotheslined Tonga over the top to the outside. Knight followed him out there and and Tonga rammed Knight into the corner of the ring steps. The show then went to a commercial break.

The show returned and Knight hit a neck-breaker inside the ring for a two-count. Tonga came back with a dragon-screw leg-whip. Tonga then went to work on Knight’s leg. Tonga went for a vertical suplex and Knight countered into a neck-breaker. Tonga cut off a comeback attempt with a knee to the gut. Knight worked his way back and cut off Tonga off as Tonga went to climb the ropes. Before long, Knight hit Tonga off the apron and onto the commentary table. Knight rolled Tonga back into the ring and lifted him, but Tonga countered into his DDT finisher, but Knight kicked out at two.

Tonga placed Knight on the top and the two traded blows. Knight threw Tonga off the top and executed his step-up elbow from the top. Fatu climbed onto the apron and that allowed Tonga to get in a rollup. In the end, though, Knight hit a BFT on Tonga for the win. Immediately after the match, Fatu dropped Knight onto the commentary table and placed Knight on the table. Braun Strowman’s music hit and Strowman stomped to the ring to stop the carnage. Fatu and Strowman stared each other down and Fatu tried to go after Strowman, but Tonga stopped Fatu … until Fatu punched Tonga away and stepped in the ring with Strowman. Fatu and Strowman circled each other. Strowman tore off his shirt and the crowd poped. Tonga hopped on the apron, but Strowman clotheslined Fatu over the top. Tonga then stopped Fatu from getting back into the ring as the segment ended.

**********

– The Miz was shown talking to Austin Theory and Grayson Waller backstage. The Miz pitched “The Marine 7” and they all said they’d be rich. Aldis walked in and told Waller and Theory they were going to Raw for good. The Miz was upset and confused.

– A Nakamura vignette aired.

Damian Priest defeated Carmelo Hayes [10:48]

Melo got in a lot of offense here, which is good for Melo, but is that a great way to debut Priest, who is a former WWE Heavyweight Champion, on the Blue Brand? These are the things that can be debated in the current wild world of professional wrestling commentary. In the meantime, Melo came out of this looking better than he did going in, even though he lost. I wonder what happens with Priest moving forward. Does he get into the world title mix once things settle in, roster-wise? Is he somehow defined down on SmackDown? I hope not. There’s so much equity in Priest these days and he’s earned that; I hope the WWE booking minds don’t take that away from him.

Melo had the upper hand early … until he ran into an elbow from Priest. Priest walked the top rope ala Undertaker and came down in a cross-body for a two-count. The action spilled outside and Priest tried to run Melo into a ring post, but Melo countered and kicked Priest repeatedly. Melo posed on the second rope and the show went to a break.

The show returned and Melo continued to work over Priest. Melo landed a dive onto Priest on the outside. Back in the ring, Melo hit a cross-body from the top for a two-count. Melo went to work on Priest’s arm. Melo chopped Priest and Priest fired up. Priest followed up with a Broken Arrow and a front-face slam for a two-count. Outside the ring, Priest shoulder-blocked Melo into the time-keeper’s area. Back in the ring, Melo went for a springboard move, but Priest caught him … but then Melo came back with a First 48 for a nice near-fall.

Melo went to the top, but Priest moved when it came to a Nothing But Net attempt. Priest clotheslined the hell out of Melo and set up for his finish. From there, a South Of Heaven went down and that earned Priest the win.

**********

– MCMG and #DIY were backstage arguing around Nick Aldis. Turns out, it will be MCMG vs. #DIY for the tag titles at the Royal Rumble in a two-out-of-three falls match. Next week on SmackDown, #DIY will team with Pretty Deadly to face MCMG and Los Garza. Also, Liv Morgan will go one-on-one with Naomi. Plus, Jimmy Uso vs. Carmelo Hayes and Chelsea Green vs. Michin for the Women’s U.S. title.

– Michelle McCool was shown in the crowd. Ditto for Mark Henry.

– Priest was shown walking backstage and he ran into Cody Rhodes. Cody shook Priest’s hand and walked away. Priest said, “See you soon, champ.”

– The Miz was talking to Andrade backstage, sucking up to him. Andrade walked away and Jimmy Uso came into the picture. Jimmy walked past Melo and Jimmy taunted Melo on his way to the ring. Melo followed Jimmy and attacked Jimmy on Jimmy’s way to the ring. Officials ran out and tried to break things up. Jimmy smiled and Melo was escorted to the back. Jimmy made his way to the ring for the main event.

Kevin Owens defeated Jimmy Uso [13:46]

Jimmy got in a lot of fury here, but you knew KO wasn’t going into SNME a loser. As such, this worked well and I have to think an Owens vs. Jimmy Uso rematch (perhaps with Owens as the Undisputed Champion?). Both guys worked hard and Jimmy, especially, kept his string of strong performances up. Don’t look now, but he’s accruing a solid resume of wins/matches on WWE TV now that the Bloodline stuff has died down a bit. With Jey’s recent singles run in mind, you have to think a proper tag run for the two could work out awfully well, but that’s for another day. In the meantime, this was a worthy main event.

The match started outside and Jimmy punched Owens a bit. Back in the ring, Owens took control back with a Swanton. Owens ran Uso into the second rope turnbuckle and posed. Owens threw Uso into another corner and pummeled Uso. Uso turned the tables and the action spilled outside, where Uso slammed Owens on the commentary table. Things briefly made their way back into the ring, but it went right back outside and Owens hit a frog splash from the apron onto Jimmy. The show then went to its final commercial break.

Back from that break, Owens was working Uso’s arm in the ring. Jimmy tried to work his way out, but Owens countered with a side slam, which was good enough for a two-count. Owens went back to Jimmy’s arm. Owens went to the top and Jimmy cut him off to go for a super-plex, but, as is always the case, Owens fought back and fought Jimmy off. Owens then went for a Swanton, but Jimmy got his knees up and then followed that up with a hip attack. Both wrestlers were down to reset the match.

With everyone on their feet, Jimmy took control with a Samoan Drop and a two-count. Owens ran the ropes, which led to Owens running into a super-kick, which got Jimmy a two-count. Owens popped up and landed a Blue Thunder Bomb for a two-count (hi, Sami Zayn!). Owens jawed at Jimmy and went for a Stunner, but Jimmy countered and hit a super-kick for a two-count. Jimmy went to the top, but missed an Uso Splash and Owens landed a super-kick as a follow-up. Jimmy came back with one of his own and that resulted in a good near-fall.

Jimmy ran at Owens and Owens kicked Uso, but Uso came back with a spear. Jimmy went to the top, but Owens cut him off and pulled him down. Owens ran Uso into a ring post and hit the pop-up powerbomb for the win. After the match, Owens went to piledrive Jimmy on the commentary table, but Cody’s music hit and Cody ran out for the save. Cody and Owens brawled in and out of the ring. The credits rolled in the midst of this and that ended the show.

TNA Impact live results: Genesis fallout, NXT Tag Team title match

Posted on by Matt Boone

The first live TNA Impact in eight years will likely be a newsworthy one given last Sunday’s Genesis pay-per-view and last week’s announcement of an official WWE/TNA partnership.

New TNA World Champion Joe Hendry will be on the show following his victory over now-former champion Nic Nemeth on Sunday.

After making an appearance and getting involved in the TNA Tag Team title match, NXT Tag Team Champions Fraxiom (Axiom & Nathan Frazer) will defend their titles against The Rascalz (Zachary Wentz & Trey Miguel).

TNA Knockouts Champion Masha Slamovich will team with Knockouts Tag Team Champions Spitfire against Rosemary and Ash & Heather by Elegance following their respective title matches last Sunday.

In a non-title match, TNA Tag Team Champions The Hardys will face X-Division Champion Moose & JDC.

After defeating Jordynne Grace, Tessa Blanchard will make an appearance as will Josh Alexander who quit the promotion Sunday but is contractually obligated to appear per Santino Marella.

**********
After several minutes of live audio being tapped in on the TNA+ feed, Tom Hannifan eventually informed the truck of this, and the audio stopped. The cold open video package aired to start off the first live show in eight years, recapping the action from TNA Genesis 2025.

Santino Marella Teases Surprises, History-Making Show

Hannifan and Matthew Rehwoldt welcome the viewing audience at home to the special live episode from San Antonio, TX. After a slickly-produced opening camera shot, footage is shown of Gia Miller talking with the TNA Director of Authority, Santino Marella, who teased “a couple of surprises” for the show.

Joe Hendry Kicks Off Special Live Episode

From there, the usual “Cross the line” theme and accompanying opening video hit to formally open the show. Back inside the Impact Zone, the viral smash hit, “I Believe in Joe Hendry” plays as the brand new TNA World Champion Joe Hendry makes his way out to the ring.

Rehwoldt calls tonight the start of a new era led by Hendry. He and Hannifan are shown on camera to emphasize again how important tonight is to TNA, and how significant being live is. Hendry does the dramatic soap opera turn to the hard-camera as his entrance tune wraps up.

“Say his name, and he appears! Joe Hendry is your TNA World Champion!” are the first words to come out of Hendry’s mouth. Fans respond with a loud “You deserve it!” chant. Hendry thanks the fans, noting anytime he faced an uphill battle, they had his back.

He said the journey to the title was then, but this is now. He said he went to Santino Marella and told him that not only will he be a fighting champion, but he’ll put his title on-the-line against anyone, from anywhere. “And folks, trust me when I say anything can happen, because for the first time in eight years, TNA iMPACT is live!”

With that said, the theme for TNA Director of Authority Santino Marella hits and out he comes with a microphone in-hand. He congratulates Hendry and confirms his story about coming to him insisting he’ll be a fighting champion inside and outside of TNA.

He says he had an individual who took him up on his offer. So tonight in the main event, it’ll be Joe Hendry defending his title against “Alwayz Ready” Matt Cardona. “The Indy God” comes out with a big smile on his face. The opening segment wrapped up on that note.

Eric Young Wants To Help Josh Alexander, Steve Maclin Doesn’t

Footage of Josh Alexander quitting TNA at TNA Genesis 2025 is shown. Afterwards, a backstage digital exclusive from Sunday’s PPV is shown, with Eric Young asking how after all that, Alexander is really going to quit and leave. Alexander doesn’t say a word and walks off.

Back live, Steve Maclin is with Eric Young, and asked why he bothered wasting his time. Young said he saw something. Maclin said he did too, at one time, but not anymore. He reminds him of the despicable acts of Alexander as of late. Young says he wants to help him. Maclin makes it clear he does not.

Up walks “The Walking Weapon” himself. He says he’s not here to make excuses. He says he’s here to tell Young and Maclin he respects them both. He thanks them for everything over the years. He tries extending his hand for a shake, but doesn’t get any buyers.

Rehwoldt and Hannifan are shown on camera again to recap the Alexander situation. They promote a segment later in the show where we will learn more about Alexander’s status. They run down the rest of the lineup for tonight as the match graphics flash across the screen, and then the show heads into the first commercial of the evening.

Nic Nemeth To Addresses TNA Status Next Week

When the show returns, we see Gia Miller backstage talking to Ryan Nemeth, when his big brother Nic shows up. Nic Nemeth tells Miller that next week he will address his TNA status. Ryan then gets on Miller’s case, insisting she pre-screen her questions in the future, as not to upset his big bro.

Rosemary, Ash & Heather By Elegance defeated Spitfire (Dani Luna & Jody Threat) & Masha Slamovich

Inside the Impact Zone, George Iceman takes a cowboy hat and stomps on it to show the Texas crowd what he thinks of “The Lone Star State.” He then introduces the Knockout duo of Ash and Heather By Elegance. They come to the ring and are joined by their partner, Rosemary, who makes her way out next.

Their opponents, TNA Knockouts Tag-Team Champions Spitfire make their way out first. Dani Luna and Jody Threat come to the ring and stop at ringside. The entrance tune for their partner hits, and out comes TNA Knockouts Champion Masha Slamovich.

Six-Knockouts tag-team action kicks things off inside the ring on the first live episode of TNA Impact in eight years. Threat and Ash kick things off for their respective teams. Ash pushes and slaps Threat, and gets decked with a big right hand in response by Threat.

Threat goes to work on Ash in the corner with repeated shots. Threat works Ash over for a few more seconds before tagging in Luna. Luna scoops Threat up and bodyslams her onto Ash for a close two-count. Ash tags out and in comes Heather by Elegance.

She quickly decides against engaging, instead tagging Rosemary and quickly rolling out to the floor. Meanwhile, Luna shoulder tackles Rosemary and begins working over her arm. Luna makes the blind tag to Threat, and the two hit some double-team action on Rosemary, finishing with a seated splash for a two-count.

Rosemary fights back, snatching Threat up by the throat and muscling her into the corner with one arm. With her other free arm, Rosemary snatches up her own partner, Heather, by the jugular as well. She shouts some orders at her and then tags Ash in.

Ash takes out Threat with a clothesline after Heather snuck in a knee to the back on the ropes. Rosemary tags back in and grounds and pounds Threat before letting out a war-cry scream. She hits a big splash on Threat in the corner and then hits an exploder suplex for a two-count.

Masha Slamovich tags in and takes out any-and-everyone in sight with bullish offensive spurts and flurries. Threat tags in and takes over, hitting slams and drivers on everyone until she is kicked out of the ring. Slamovich hits a spinning kick on Ash and tags in Luna.

Ash rolls Luna up out of nowhere, but only gets two. Luna back suplexes Ash onto her elegant dome — three times in a row. As the action continues, the theme for WWE NXT Superstar Cora Jade hits. She makes her way down with a folder in her hand.

She hands it to Slamovich, who pulls out an X-ray photo of herself. Cora pulling a page out of Slamovich’s own playbook leads to Ash rolling up a distracted Slamovich for the win. After the match, the show heads into another commercial break.

Josh Alexander Addresses Quitting TNA Wrestling

When the show returns, Josh Alexander’s theme hits and “The Walking Weapon” makes his way out alongside Northern Armory associates Travis Williams and Judas Icarus. He gets on the mic and is booed Dominik Mysterio and Don Callis-style.

Alexander, who was promoted as being contractually obligated to appear, starts by thanking TNA for giving him the opportunity to address some things, “because I certainly didn’t have to.” He talks over the loud boos about how he wants to be remembered for the good times he had in TNA, not the past few months.

He says he’s been here six years and his son is now six years old. His son has only ever known him as a TNA wrestler. As a former champion and someone who risked it all to achieve his dream. On June 19, 2002, Alexander was 15 years old. He tuned into the first TNA broadcast and was inspired.

Fans start giving him the “What?” treatment along with more sustained booing as he tries to continue his Hulk Hogan at Saturday Night’s Main Event style fighting-against-the-grain promo. He says if you believe one thing, believe this — his time in TNA over the past six years has been a dream come true.

It’s now time for him to step away. “Guys, guys …relax.” He tells Judas and Travis not to worry because they have all the talent in the world. He talks about going to bat for the two with TNA management. He says The Motor City Machine Guns did as well.

He calls them the best up-and-coming tag-team in the world. “You can do this, just do it the right way. Because it’s gonna be without me.” They tell him he can’t quit. Alexander says he can and has. They tell him he doesn’t understand. He can’t leave. They then sneak-attack him.

As the two continue to beat down Alexander, Eric Young sprints out from the back to make the save. He tells them he knows they haven’t been around long enough to know what’s going on. “One, you don’t mess with Texas, and two, you don’t mess with Eric Young and ‘The Walking Weapon.'”

He tells him next week it’ll be Williams and Icarus against Young and Alexander. Hannifan says “let’s see if it gets made official.” He and Rehwoldt run down the remaining lineup for tonight as the match graphics flash across the screen, and then the show heads into another commercial break.

The Hardys defeated Moose & JDC

When the show returns, The System theme hits and out comes Moose and JDC, accompanied by Eddie Edwards, Brian Myers and Alisha Edwards. The duo head to the ring for the next match of the evening, as Hannifan and Rehwoldt talk about the last live Impact eight years ago featuring the debut of Moose.

After they settle inside the squared circle, their music pipes down, the iconic tune for the Hardys pipes in, and the San Antonio crowd goes insane as Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy make their way to the ring. The TNA Tag-Team Champions settle inside for their non-title match to loud “Hardy! Hardy!” chants.

As they head to opposite corners to pose for the fans, they are ambushed and attacked from behind by Moose and JDC. The System duo pound on The Hardys for a few seconds, but then the champs fight back. They put JDC and Moose in the same corner and hit their trademark Poetry in Motion spot.

Matt and JDC settle as the legal man starting the match off. Matt bounces JDC’s dome off the turnbuckles over-and-over again as fans chant “DELETE! DELETE!” He hits an elbow to the back of a standing JDC’s head after leaping off the middle rope. He looks for Twist of Fate, but JDC escapes.

A brief Alisha Edwards leads to a cheap shot from Moose to the back of Matt’s head. JDC follows up and then tags in Moose. The TNA X-Division Champion settles in the ring and picks up where JDC left off, taking it to Matt as fans loudly boo. Moose quickly tags back out and JDC takes back over.

JDC controls the action for a couple of minutes, but misses when going for Down ‘N’ Dirty. This buys Matt enough time to make the much-needed tag to Jeff. “The Charismatic Enigma” hits the ring off the hot tag and the crowd goes wild as he takes it to JDC and Moose by himself.

Alisha Edwards gets involved again, leading to another brief shift of offensive momentum, but it quickly swings back in the other direction. Jeff takes his shirt off and hits his trademark top-rope Swanton Bomb for the pinfall victory. The Hardys pose with their titles in the ring to the adoring crowd to wrap things up.

23 Is Just A Number … Or Is It?

The Hardys head over to say something to Hannifan and Rehwoldt, but as they do, the lights in the Impact Zone begin flickering.

The mysterious and cryptic 23 flashes on the big screens on the entrance ramp like they have the past several weeks, as a voice says “23 is just a number.” Hannifan points out that today is January 23, a.k.a. 1/23, as the show heads into another commercial break.

When the show returns, Sami Callihan makes his way down to the ring. Hannifan says a match was scheduled for right now, but Callihan has taking over. Callihan demands his music be cut and then immediately makes it clear he’s sick of waiting and mind games about this “23” mystery.

He tells 23 to get down here right now. Some music begins playing. Out comes Steph De Lander. The new TNA Digital Media Champion. She claims she won the title in the divorce. “What’s mine is mine and what’s his is mine!”

She says now that her husband is out the door, she wants to introduce us to her boyfriend. The lights go out. The 23 vignette plays again. “23 is just a number.” When the lights come back on, Mance Warner is in the ring. He attacks Callihan.

“The Southern Psycho” is in TNA and literally you can hear a pin drop for his highly-promoted debut. He takes De Lander’s title and the two make out, Edge-Lita style, to end the segment. The show heads into another a TNA Rebellion 2025 trailer.

Fraxiom (c) defeated The Rascalz to retain the NXT Tag-Team Championships

When the trailer wraps up, we return in the Impact Zone, where Hannifan and Rehwoldt introduce “The Liaison” Arianna Grace, who joins them on guest commentary. They hype up the NXT Tag-Team Champions Fraxiom defending against The Rascalz.

The bong hits begin as the lights go out. When they come back on, The Rascalz duo of Trey Miguel and Zachary Wentz descend from their treehouse and head to the ring for their big inter-promotional title opportunity.

After they settle in the ring, the theme for NXT Tag-Team Champions hits, and out comes the Fraxiom duo of Axiom and Nathan Frazer. The “Tag Lines” tale of the tape style graphic flashes on the screen and then the bell sounds to get things started.

Miguel and Axiom kick things off for their respective teams. Miguel takes Axiom down and isolates his left arm. He cranks away at it, but Axiom flips around and escapes, launching Miguel across the ring with a big shot. He wraps up Miguel in a side-stretch after tagging in Frazer.

Frazer hits the ropes Bron Breakker-quick before launching himself knee-first into the open mid-section of Miguel. Rehwoldt encourages Grace to speak, and she does by talking about being friends with Fraxiom. Important contributions from “The Liaison” only, of course.

Fraxiom continue to utilize frequent tags, keeping a fresh man in the ring and keeping Miguel isolated on their side of the ring at all times. Minutes later, Wentz finally gets the hot tag and helps pick up the pace and shift the offensive momentum into The Rascalz’ favor.

Wentz hits a standing shooting star press for a close two-count. Fans react with a loud “This is Awesome!” chant as Wentz and Frazer continue to fly all over the ring in fast-forward-looking-fashion. Fraxiom hit a double-team spot on Miguel as the referee was checking on Wentz.

Frazer hits a super-plex on Wentz off the ropes. He rolls through and hoists him up again, hitting another as Axiom adds the contribution of a super kick on the way down. Frazer follows up with an immediate cover, but only gets two. Wentz fights back with a spinning knee to the chin off the ropes.

Everyone is down and recovering as the crowd shows them some more love. Wentz hits Axiom with an enormous kick that pops the crowd and commentary team-alike. He walks into a big shot from Axiom after that, but Miguel hits the ring and The Rascalz take over with some double-team spots.

Frazer goes for a springboard moonsault off the ropes, but is met with stereo super kicks from Rascalz on the way down. The Rascalz hit the Street Sweeper off the ropes double-team spot for a close two-count. WWE NXT Superstar and former member of The Rascalz, hits the ring.

Tyson Dupont & Tyriek Igwe attack Wentz from behind as Lee distracts the referee. Fraxiom take over on Miguel in the ring. Axiom hits a Spanish Fly. Frazer follows up with his splash off the ropes for the win. Fraxiom retains. After the match, the show heads to another commercial break.

Mike Santana Interrupted By Returning Mustafa Ali

When the show returns, Mike Santana’s theme hits and he makes his trademark custom ring entrance through the crowd, as Tom Hannifan refers to him as the new standard in TNA. Santana settles in the ring and talks about beating Josh Alexander at TNA Genesis.

Santana boasts getting the torch of the standard of TNA passed to him by Alexander, and that he made him say those two magic words he claimed he never would, which, of course, were “I Quit.” Santana then makes his TNA World Championship aspirations clear.

It seemed like that was going to be it, but as Santana gets ready to leave, he is cut off by the familiar sounds of the entrance music of Mustafa Ali. Ali comes out and comes into the ring with Santana. Ali confirms he has signed with TNA. He says the company needs great leadership, and he is that leader.

Ali announces a campaign in which he becomes the next world heavyweight champion. Santana makes a crooked face while standing calmly in the corner taking this all in. Ali reminds us all that “In Ali, we trust!” His theme hits again. Ali side-stares Santana, smirks and exits the ring.

Tessa Blanchard Talks San Antonio & Blanchard Family History

Backstage, we see a shot of Tessa Blanchard’s locker room door, complete with the name plate on the door. A security guard knocks on the door and out she comes. The security guard waves the direction for her to walk, and informs her she’s next.

Tessa “Bill Goldberg” Blanchard is next. The show heads to another commercial break on that note. When the show returns, Tessa’s hip-hop theme, which mentions her name and diamond references, hits. She makes her way out to boos.

Blanchard talks about Texas, and San Antonio in particular, as a place her family made their name. She says the Blanchard’s own San Antonio. Her father, Tully Blanchard, is shown in the background smiling as she continues to talk.

She talks about her grandfather, Joe Blanchard, bringing the first wrestling to cable television “before WWE was even a thought.” Easy, they’re you’re partners now! She mocks San Antonio for not having a real sports team. She says the Spurs don’t count.

The only thing San Antonio is famous for is losing the Alamo. She talks about her family looking at her and seeing something greater than any Von Erich, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin or any Funk. “Tessa, you are going to be great.” She said most parents don’t do that. She says you have to pay the price to be great.

Fans can say whatever they want about her, “but you will never hear that Tessa Blanchard is not great. The standard here in TNA Wrestling has just been raised.

It is time to step up or shut up. At TNA Genesis, I took out the trash, and now it’s time to get back to business.” She claims Tessa Blanchard answers to no one and her music hits again to wrap things up.

Joe Hendry (c) defeated Matt Cardona to retain the TNA World Championship

It’s main event time!

The Tale of the Tape “Tag Lines” graphic flashes on the screen to set the stage for the main event of the evening. Frankie Kazarian’s theme hits and out comes the self-proclaimed “King of TNA” and Call Your Shot Gauntlet winner, with his trophy in-hand. He joins Hannifan and Rehwoldt on commentary.

From there, the “Alwayz Ready” theme hits and out comes “The Complete” Matt Cardona, as he is being called. Cardona settles inside the squared circle and poses on the ropes ahead of his big title opportunity in his return TNA appearance.

After Cardona settles inside the squared circle, the familiar sounds of Joe Hendry’s catchy-ass entrance tune plays to bring out the brand new TNA World Champion and face of the new era of TNA, Joe Hendry. The fans in San Antonio clearly believe, and are making as much known as he heads to the ring.

A fan holding up a “Joe Hendry believes in breakfast tacos” sign is shown on camera. Got to love the San Antonio creativity. McKenzie Mitchell is shown on-camera and handles the formal pre-match ring introductions for the champion and challenger.

Hannifan mentions #TNAWrestling is trending number one in Sports in America on X as the show heads into a quick pre-match commercial break. When the show returns, the bell sounds to get things started. Hendry over-powers Cardona off the initial lock up.

Kazarian talks on commentary for the second time since sitting down about being in a bad mood. He claims if JBL shows his face inside the Impact Zone, he might just knock him out. Meanwhile, Hendry goes to work with repeated chops to Cardona in the corner.

Cardona hits Hendry low and taunts the booing crowd in the Boeing Center. Hendry fights back and takes over. Hendry hits his trademark stalling suplex spot. “252 pounds of pure motivation” continues to work over Cardona, until “The Indy God” knocks him out of the ring and chokes him with his t-shirt.

As Cardona rubs it in the fans faces, he turns and leaps on Hendry, who catches him and Donkey Kong’s him off the hard part of the ring apron from the floor with an A.A. As Kazarian boats smelling good tonight on commentary, Cardona pokes Hendry in the eyes and takes over as the show heads into a mid-match commercial break.

When the show returns, Hannifan runs down the advertised lineup for next week’s show (see below), as Cardona continues to work over Hendry in the ring. Hendry begins to fight back, and stomps and claps to lead the fans in “We will rock you” sounding comeback background noise.

Cardona cuts Hendry’s comeback short, however, and the cheers quickly turn to loud droning boos. Cardona looks for the Re-Boot, but Hendry avoids it and begins fighting back again. He looks for a power bomb, but Cardona escapes and blasts Hendry in the throat.

He follows up with a missile dropkick and close-range DDT for a two-count. Cardona complains to the referee. He turns around and looks for Radio Silence, but Hendry avoids it. The referee gets bumped just as Hendry hits his Standing Ovation finisher. “That’s certainly a shame, isn’t it?” says Kazarian on commentary.

Kazarian claims this is where Hendry would normally grab brass knuckles, which Hannifan quickly points out is actually a page out of Kaz’s own playbook. Cardona blasts Hendry with a blatant low-blow while the referee was still down. Kaz says his monitor went out, so he didn’t see it. Rehwoldt didn’t either, of course.

Cardona rubs his hands together and eyes the TNA World Championship at the timekeepers table. He picks it up and continues his fixated stare at it as he heads to the ring. JBL comes out through the crowd and takes out Cardona with a Clothesline from Hell. Fans chant “JBL! JBL!”

Hendry is stuck confused at JBL’s actions. He turns around and is blasted by a recovered Cardona with the title. Cardona covers him just as the referee comes back to life. Hendry kicks out at two-and-a-half. Hendry fights back and hits a Standing Ovation seconds later for the win, getting the first defense of his TNA World Championship under his belt. That’s how the first live TNA Impact in eight years goes off the air.

Next Week:
* Eric Young & Josh Alexander vs. Travis Williams & Judas Icarus
* Mustafa Ali vs. TBA
* We’ll hear from Nic Nemeth
* Wes Lee vs. Ace Austin

Thanks for joining us and don’t forget to follow F4WOnline.com’s Matt Boone on Twitter/X.

Ring of Honor TV 100th episode live results: Men’s TV title match

Posted on by Jeff Moss

Ring of Honor celebrates their 100th TV episode in the Tony Khan era on HonorClub with a men’s TV title defense.

After surviving a Proving Ground match recently, QT Marshall will challenge reigning champion Komander for the title tonight in hopes of his first ROH singles title.

Former ROH Pure Champion Katsuyori Shibata will battle Shane Taylor in what should be a hard-hitting match while The Beast Mortos will take on Lord Crewe.

In a key contest in the women’s division, Taya Valkyrie will go one-on-one with the high-flying Lady Frost. Leila Grey will also be in action, battling former NWA Women’s Tag Team Champion Marti Belle.

Ahead of their AEW Collision bout with Brody King & Buddy Matthews, the Gates of Agony will take on Jay Lucas & Terry Yaki.

Fan favorites The Outrunners will compete, going heads-up against Jon Cruz & Rosario Grillo.

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Here we be, Ring of Honor Faithful! The milestone 100th episode of Ring of Honor on Honorclub and what a ride it’s been. I’ll be honest, I was not super familiar with Ring of Honor when I started this gig, but over the episodes I’ve covered, I have developed a real excitement for Thursday nights! This is some of the best wresting out there right now, with exciting matches and lots of really, really good workers. The storylines and presentation need a little work in order to create a cohesive show week to week, but hey, that’s what the next 100 episodes are for! And I’m stoked to see how ROH develops in the coming year.

So with all that said, let’s strap on some incorrect Premier Athletes merch, have a quick dance with Angelico and Serpentico, re-up our Minion memberships, touch some tips and get right into it!

-In the cold open, we were joined by former ROH World Champion Mark Briscoe who professed his love and offered congrats to everyone in ROH for reaching 100 episodes.

ROH World Television Title Match: Komander (w/Alex Abrahantes) (c) defeated QT Marshall

A few weeks ago, Marshall made the smart choice and allowed as much time to run off the clock as possible in a Proving Ground match against Komander. This led to Marshall winning the match (which honestly, rarely happens) and earning and shot at Komander’s ROH TVT Title. Marshall is cashing in his win on the 100th episode of ROH on Honorclub and this should be a good one! Komander has only defended the title one other time since winning it at Final Battle 2024 so this could make for a short title reign! 

Marshall had the definite size advantage over Komander and has been working in Mexico a lot recently, so he knows how to work around luchadore speed and agility. Komander however, outlasted 5 other wrestlers to win that title in the first place, so his endurance wasn’t something to sneeze at.

Marshall tried to over power Komander off the top, but Komander countered with a hurricanrana. Marshall laid in a really great backbreaker into spiked DDT, sending Komander bouncing out of the ring. Marshall chopped Komander against the barricade, but drove his hand into the ringpost when Komander ducked.

Back in the ring, Marshall caught Komander with a pop up forearm to the face and dragged him down for a two-count. Marshall then tried to take off Komander’s mask to a chorus of boos. Marshall left the ring and Komander followed via the top turnbuckle and a big moonsault.

Komander tried a springboard moonsault fromthe second rope, but Marshall got his knees up. Komander tried to battle back, but Marshall caught him with Diamond Cutter out of nowhere. Masrhall climbed out and grabbed the TV Title belt. Komander reversed the distraction into a Mexican destroyer though and went tot he top rope.

Komander tried to get Marshall with a dive, but Marshall rolled out of the ring onto the raised entrance ramp. Back in the ring, Komander hit another Mexican Destroyer followed by the running moonsault to get the 1-2-3 and retain his ROH TV Title!

After the match, Lee Johnson wandered down the ramp. He made the universal sign for “title belt” at Komander, who invited him into the ring. Johnson said “another day” though and left from where he came.

Backstage. He was backstage and then went back there.

Leila Grey defeated Marti Belle

The last time we saw Top Flight’s Grey in ROH, it was on the losing end of a Proving Ground match with ROH Women’s World Champion Athena. Since then, Grey actually won the MCW Women’s Champion from Gia Scott, but lost it back to her the next night. Since then, she’s been taking losses in AEW and NJPW, so a win here would be nice. Belle is a bookish young girl from the French countryside with an affinity for beast— no, wait, she’s actually the current EMERGE Women’s Champion, and enjoyed some success in TNA where she teamed with none other than Allysin Kay. 

The two locked up right off the top, trading waistlocks until Grey got the advantaged and locked in an armbar. Belle worked her way out though and the wasitlocks resumed. Grey came out on top again, sending Belle to the corner for a healthy serving of forearms. Belle tried to reverse it, but Grey was waiting and hit a bulldog.

Grey headed to the top turnbuckle but Belle knocked the ropes, sending her to the mat. Belle worked Grey in the corner and sent her into the ropes for a clothesline. Belle started playing to the crowd which may not have been the best idea as it gave Grey a chance to battle back, sending Belle to the ground with a clothesline of her own.

Grey hit a running neckbreaker into a dragon sleeper and Belle had no choice but to tap out.

The Outrunners (Truth Magnum & Turbo Floyd) defeated Jon Cruz & Rosario Grillo

The Outrunners are always going to be Fan Favourites. Their 80’s schtick fits in really well in ROH because they are the only ones doing it and they are doing it very, very well. I wanted to dislike them, I really did. But their enthusiasm is infectious and they can work all the power moves in the ring. Cruz and Grillo are regular faces in ROH, but probably not greasy enough to be up to the task of beating Magnum and Floyd. 

The Electric Code of Honor was adhered to, and Cruz and Floyd kicked things off while Magnum fired up the crowd. They traded the most intense wristlocks and breakneck speed, with Magnum coming out on top and Cruz exiting the ring. Cruz wandered over to the ramp where the Outrunners had left their BluBlocker Raybans. Cruz stomped on them, enraging the Outrunners.

Magnum dragged Cruz back to the ring and tagged in Floyd. Cruz tried to throw some potatoes, but Floyd shrugged them off and dropped him on the mat with a stalling snowplow! Grillo jumped in and Floyd tossed him out. Cruz tried to sneak up on Floyd, but that just brought in Magnum. The Outrunners locked hands and hit the Mascularity followed by a Total Recall. That was it for Cruz and Grillo, with Grillo never officially making it into the match.

The lesson: Do not destroy the shades of 1980’s time travelers.

-Next up ROH Women’s World Champion Athena joined us in a taped promo from Japan. She showed some clips from her “world tour” and promised to be back in ROH very soon.

The Beast Mortos defeated Lord Crewe

The Beast Mortos found his way back to ROH last week where he and Tony Neese beat the ever-lovin’ heck out of each other. Mortos would be someone that I pushed into a Main Event slot in ROH as soon as possible, but they don’t let me write the show (yet), just write about it. As for his opponent, they should re-name him Lorde “Chew” by the way Mortos was looking at Crewe. Being a beast, it’s presumed that Mortos would want to eat Crewe, but for now a wrestling match is a good start. 

Crewe stood a few inches taller than Mortos, but when taking on a beast size really doesn’t matter. It’s all about how long you can survive. Crew looked like he might last a while until Mortos flattened him with a series of kicks and armdrags.

Crewe tried a quick rollup, but it only got a two. Mortos and Crewe ran a fast, intense series off the ropes and Crewe actually managed to club Mortos to his knees, a feat not often seen. Crewe tried a running corner attack, but Mortos delievered an elbow instead.

The two big men got into the chops, with Crewe holding his own. Mortos began hitting sling blades, with the last one moving into a samoan drop. Mortos kept trying to overpower Crewe, but had unfortunately founda man who was his size equal. Mortos hit him with everything he had and managed to finally get Crewe down for the pin.

Mortos won the match, but Crewe was really impressive. With a little packaging and conditioning, he would fit in really well in AEW or WWE.

ROH Classic Match: ROH Tag Champions Christopher Daniels and Matt Sydal vs CIMA and Shingo (ROH International Challenge, 22nd December, 2006)

Christopher Daniels supposedly ended his long and legendary in-ring career in a bloody match against Hangman Page. To celebrate the Ring of Honor staple, this tag match from when Daniels was an ROH Tag Champion with Matt Sydal. Their opponents were two Dragon Gate veterans in CIMA and Shingo, so it was a “Dragon Gate Style” Match which was a lot of fun!

-Leila Grey was interviewed backstage. She was stoked about her win earlier in the evening and was thinking that it might time for her to challenge Red Velvet for the ROH Women’s TV Championship. Grey issued the challenge for next week. Get it? Got it? Good.

Taya Valkyrie (w/Deonna Purrazzo) defeated Lady Frost

Taya Valkyrie has been away from ROH for a while, but spent some time in AEW taking on Toni Storm and teaming with Purrazzo as “The Vendetta.” More importantly, Valkyrie’s home that she shares with husband Johnny TV was spared from the recent wildfires in the Los Angeles region where they live. Valkyrie has spent much of her time handing out food and supplies to displaced neighbors, which is pretty darn great of her. 

Since October, Frost has racked up losses to a who’s who of ROH competitors such as Billie Starkz, Queen Aminata and even ROH Women’s World Champion Athena. She’s in deep here against a powerhouse in Valkyrie, but a win could turn things around for Frost in ROH. 

Valkyrie had control off the top, powering through whatever Frost sent her way. Valkyrie wrestles with such confidence that it wasn’t a huge shock to see her having an answer for anything Frost threw at her.

Valkyrie dragged Frost out of the ring and threw her into the guardrail. She then mugged for a bit, giving Purrazzo the chance to stomp on Frost. Back in the ring, Frost tried to battle back, but only managed to get a dropkick in on Valkyrie’s spine. After that, Valkyrie hit a fallaway slam to regain control.

Frost managed to get Valkyrie into the corner for a running Snowball and then she climbed to the top turnbuckle for a crossbody and a two count. Valkyrie followed up with a blue thinder bomb and locked in Shania Pain. Frost’s head bounced off the mat and Valkyrie covered her for the pin.

-Jakked Jameson of all people joined us from the back. He was looking for new pals and approached Griff Garrison and Cole Karter. Jameson tried to convince them to join him in a new “fraternity” group. Chicks, parties, money, titles, awesome. They shooed Jameson away with a promise to talk about it.

Gates Of Agony (Bishop Kaun & Toa Liona) defeated Jay Lucas & Terry Yaki

Gates of Agony are here and they are in a foul, foul mood. The Gates lost to Shane Taylor Promotions a couple of weeks ago and that would turn anyone sour (not that they were exactly Teletubbies to begin with. They may have gotten into this match by accident while trying to order dinner, specifically Terry Yaki. 

Lucas and his partner have been going by Top Team on the indies, but sadly his partner is the aforementioned horribly named Terry Yaki. He has lots of singles indie cred, but his name makes me genuinely angry, so I’m going to stop talking about him until the Gates do their thing. Their only ROH appearance before this was a loss to BEEF and Anthony Henry on ROH on Honorclub #80.  

Kaun spent the opening minutes attempting to catch a very speedy Yaki. When he did, it was with a clothesline that sent Yaki spinning in the air. Liona tagged in for a try and prevented Yaki from getting a tag to Lucas. When he finally did, both Liona and Kaun met him in the middle of the ring and double teamed him. Liona covered Lucas and the match was over.

-Next, matches were made official! Next week, we will see ROH TV Champion Komander take on Lee Johnson and ROH Women’s TV Champion Red Velvet take on Leila Grey!

-The ROH World Champion “The Nueve” Chris Jericho joined us in a taped segment. He said that the 100th episode of Ring of Honor is the perfect time to show his 100 greatest moments! He ran down some former ROH Champions and congratulated ROH on 100 eps. Thanks Guys!

Katsuyori Shibata defeated Shane Taylor (w/Carlie Bravo, Lee Moriarty & Shawn Dean)

Shane Taylor is an animal. The 300+ lb Taylor not only has the distinction of being a former ROH World TV and Six-Man Champion, but he also has the most devastating stable backing him up with the likes of the Infantry and ROH Pure Champion Lee Moriarty at his side. Taylor, it goes without saying, is very, very good at pro wrestling. Shibata recently took a shot at Daniel Garcia and the AEW TNT Title on Collision but came up short. Shibata is 18-2 in ROH and wore the ROH Pure Title for 239 days before losing it to Wheeler Yuta. He is also very, very good at pro wrestling. Just saying. 

The two locked up off the top, brawler vs technician. Taylor ran his mouth, calling Shibata a “little Japanese bitch.” That brought a slap from Shibata and the two began the ceremonial trading-of-chops, with Shibata (eventually) stunning Taylor, sending him into the corner. Shibata then charged him, but Taylor laid him out with an uppercut, sending him out of the ring.

On the outside, the Infantry and Moriarty stomped on Shibata while Taylor kept the Ref occupied. Taylor joined them, dropping a huge leg on Shibata on the ring apron (the hardest part of the ring!). Taylor showed no mercy, sending Shibata into the guardrail again.

Back in the ring, Shibata began a comeback that ended with a big lariat from Taylor. Taylor continued talking trash while Shibata staggered to his feet. Taylor peppered him with punches in the midsection. Taylor went for a splash, but Shitbata ducked it and threw some rapid fire chops on Taylor in the corner.

Shibata hit a suplex on the much larger Taylor and resumed punshing him in the head. Taylor stood and the two traded blows. Taylor hit a Marcus Garvey Driver, but Shibata was able to kick out at two. Taylor misjudged a move and Shibata locked in a sleeper. Taylor began to fade and Shibata broke the hold and delivered a massive knee to the face. He then pinned Taylor for the huge win.

After the match, The Infantry and Moriarty climbed into the ring and attacked Shibata. Taylor yelled instructions as the crew laid out Shibata. Taylor grabbed a chair and was about to introduce Shibata’s face to it until the AEW TNT Champion Daniel Garicia appeared at the top of the ring.

Shane Taylor Promotions considered this developement when suddenly, the Undisputed Kingdom arrived and stormed the ring! Adam Cole, Roderick Strong and Kyle O’Reilly ran off STP and stood tall with Shibata and Garcia in the ring.

The Camera cut to the backstage area where Don Callis cut a promo saying that Shibata was not bigger than Callis Family Member and AEW International Champion Konosuke Takeshita! A challenge was issued for the next episode of AEW Collison!

And there it is! 100 Episodes of Ring of Honor on Honorclub in the books! Here’s to the next 100!

AEW Dynamite live results: Omega and Ospreay face-to-face

Posted on by Ryan Howard

Kenny Omega and Will Ospreay will go face-to-face on tonight’s AEW Dynamite.

United by their common enemies The Don Callis Family, Omega and Ospreay will hash things out in the ring tonight from Knoxville, Tennessee.

The issues between Cope and The Death Riders will continue on tonight’s program, as Cope goes one-on-one with PAC.

The AEW Tag Team titles will be on the line with Private Party’s Brother Zay and Marq Quen defending against The Hurt Syndicate’s Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin.

Julia Hart will take on Jamie Hayter in a rematch from the New Year’s Day Dynamite Fight for the Fallen.

After making his surprise return on last week’s Dynamite, Samoa Joe will have his first professional wrestling match since last July on tonight’s episode as he faces Nick Wayne of The Patriarchy.

Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson of The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express have done local media to promote tonight’s show and will be at the building for a meet and greet this evening, and could also appear on the live simulcast on TBS and Max.

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AEW Dynamite comes on the air with Excalibur welcoming us alongside Taz, who throw it to Tony Schiavone in the ring for our opening face-off, as he introduces Will Ospreay & Kenny Omega to the ring respectively, both getting loud ovations. Omega has his Battle Cry theme this week.

Kenny Omega & Will Ospreay Face-To-Face

Schiavone said it’s an honor to be in the ring with two of the all-time greats and gives the floor to Ospreay, who said he’s thankful Omega is here and not dead. They’re used to throwing fists at each other, but he’s no longer with the Don Callis Family and said Omega came back at a really bad time. Jon Moxley has the AEW World Title and that’s something he wants, but he can’t shake the Don Callis Family, he can’t do it on his own. Omega takes the mic away and tells Ospreay to stop. Omega said Ospreay didn’t remember the last time they faced each other in a ring, so Omega reminds him it was Forbidden Door, where Ospreay nearly broke his neck and stabbed him in the head with a screwdriver, the same screwdriver Don Callis used months before. Omega said what makes him better than Callis, it’s because Ospreay was trying to prove he was the best and better than Omega, something he doesn’t believe then and now. It took diverticulitus and Omega being out for a year for people to realize who Will Ospreay was, but now that #1 is back, Ospreay can go back to being #2, as he will never trust or help someone like Ospreay. Things get intense, as Ospreay got into Omega’s face when Don Callis’ music hits and he walks out on stage.

Callis called them prima donnas, when Omega bolts up the ramp and gets attacked immediately by Konosuke Takeshita & Kyle Fletcher. Ospreay debates helping initially, but heads out and fights Fletcher to the ring where he tried a snap hurricanrana, Fletcher caught him, but Ospreay turned it into a handspring corkscrew kick. Takeshita attacks from behind, but gets dropped with a Snap Dragon. Omega gets the crowd going, tries a Terminator Dive, but eats a Fletcher thrust kick. Fletcher boots Ospreay over the barricade into the fans, as Fletcher leapt off a chair onto him. Callis waved in Brian Cage & Lance Archer, as it’s too many numbers for Omega & Ospreay. Archer hit a low blow on Ospreay and clobbered him into the stands, as they brawl into the merchandise area, where Archer slid Ospreay down the table, wanting a chokeslam, when Omega appeared and made the save. Omega & Ospreay avoid a double chokeslam and instead hit a double suplex on Archer through the table. Cage chucked a trash can at Omega, as it’s still 3 on 2, with Fletcher & Cage beating down Ospreay, while Takeshita fights with Omega back into the arena.

Takeshita wanted a brainbuster on the concrete, but security broke things up long enough for Omega to avoid it. Ospreay fought off Fletcher & Cage, as he was popped up by Fletcher, but grabbed onto the balcony railing, pulling himself up. Meanwhile, Omega climbed the lighting rig and hit a big moonsault off it, while Ospreay did the same thing, hitting a massive moonsault onto the pile. Ospreay & Omega both climb the lighting rig and stare down Don Callis’ Family saying next time they do this, they’ll put Callis six feet under. Omega said to Ospreay it should’ve been himself that apologizes and said Grand Slam, it’s Omega & Ospreay vs. Fletcher & Takeshita. Omega’s theme hit and he told them to cut it as he did his go home line before then giving the nod to hit his music, as he needs to climb down, he’s afraid of heights. Fletcher especially gave a long stare down to end this pretty chaotic and great opening segment.

-An excellent history package of PAC in AEW is shown ahead of his showdown with Cope later tonight. We go backstage to Jon Moxley, Marina Shafir & Wheeler Yuta. Moxley said Cope went to sleep in 2011 and woke up in 2025, not knowing what he’s gotten himself into. There’s plenty of weak individuals here and Moxley is more than willing to throw him onto the pile. Moxley said Cope’s neck is hanging on by a thread, just like Bryan Danielson’s, as he put out of his misery, along with Darby Allin. When Cope goes to the doctor and gets bad news, Moxley won’t lose sleep, he doesn’t have time to sleep. He doesn’t have time for relics of the past, when he’s trying to build a future.

The Hurt Syndicate (Bobby Lashley & Shelton Benjamin w/MVP) defeated Private Party (Zay & Quen) to win the AEW Tag Team Titles

(Well, Zay & Quen got off at least a little more offense than last weeks destruction, but they again ran into a buzzsaw tonight and it cost them their titles. I wish Private Party had a better title reign, but Lashley & Benjamin have been built as complete monsters since coming to AEW and I think they could have a really strong run as champions. With that said, I have no idea what Zay & Quen do from here, maybe an excursion in Japan would be beneficial, similar to how Anna Jay went over for about a month.)

I like how in Justin Roberts intro for the Hurt Syndicate, he said “they…hurt people.” Fast start by Zay & Quen, who wanted to push the pace, unfortunately, Lashley was having none of that, as he mowed both down before tagging Benjamin. Zay & Quen were able to connect with Silly String and a neckbreaker/senton combo, but Benjamin was out at one. Lashley ate a cutter while on the apron, as Benjamin was low bridged, allowing Zay & Quen to try double dives, only to get caught with double overhead belly to belly throws. Benjamin sent Zay into the clutches of Lashley, who absolutely flattened him with a spinebuster through the table into commercial.

Back from break, it was Quen flying solo with his partner out of it being tended to by the doctor. Benjamin slams him repeatedly from barricade to edge of the ring and the crowd chants one more time, which Benjamin gives to them. MVP on commentary reminds us Lashley has never held tag title gold in his career, as Zay leapt in to break up the pin. MVP said he respects the fight in Zay, as it’s champions fighting spirit. “We Hurt People” chants from the crowd, as Quen flips out of a blocked kick into an enzugiri and double down, as Zay makes the tag and hits a pop-up dropkick. Benjamin missed a dive, as Zay hit a diving Flatliner and Quen hit the 450 splash for two. Rewind kick from Benjamin, as Lashley tagged in to a huge chant, as he flattened Zay with a Spear for two, as Quen broke it up. Benjamin in to take Quen to Suplex City, as Lashley followed it up with another spinebuster. Step-up knee from Benjamin, as Lashley turned Zay inside out with a Spear to get the win and the titles.

Post-match, Mark Briscoe checks on Zay & Quen, as Lashley, Benjamin & MVP celebrate with the gold.

-Video package on the rematch of Mariah May vs. Toni Storm at Grand Slam is shown. This was an excellent highlight video about the history, as it was May talking about how AEW doesn’t deserve her and she can’t wait to meet Toni Storm on Collision. Storm is backstage with Renee Paquette, who said she can’t wait for Saturday when Harley Cameron interrupts and wishes her good luck. Storm said there’s no reason Cameron can’t wrestle in Australia, as both start machine gunning off Australia references before Storm says she’ll see Cameron in Australia. Paquette was left baffled by all of this.

**********

-Alex Marvez is backstage with Jeff Jarrett, who immediately is cut off by Karen Jarrett. She said Jeff getting down in the mud with MJF last week was not who he is anymore and she didn’t like it. Jeff cut her off and said he’s got this, as his music hits, he gave her a kiss and went out to the arena.

Jarrett said it’s great to be back in Knoxville and the Volunteer State, as he was wondering what he was going to say here tonight a memory of Jerry Lawler. Jarrett got his ass kicked in the ring that night and he got in some verbal jabs before heading to the back. Lawler told him don’t ever get in the gutter with his opponent, as Jarrett remembered that advice and said MJF will find out exactly who The Last Outlaw is. Jarrett said they’ll settle this Southern style, no lights, no camera, he’s taking MJF out to the woodshed to beat his ass. Jarrett said he wants to talk about the fans, who inspired him to enter the Owen Hart Cup last year, they gave him the gift of a 57-year-old man could become AEW World Champion. Jarrett said it’s time to get down to business and calls out Jon Moxley to talk.

While Jarrett was ready for Moxley, he was attacked from behind by Claudio Castagnoli, who said no one gets to Moxley without going through him first. Castagnoli gave one piece of advice to the Last Outlaw, stay out of their business. He went to leave when Jarrett recovered and said Castagnoli is going to have to kill him to stop him. Castagnoli slowly turned back around, as Jarrett said if he beats Castagnoli next week, he gets an AEW World Title shot. Castagnoli said beating Jarrett lifeless is an interesting proposition and he’ll see him next week. Jarrett celebrated and said he’ll him next week.

At least this was nowhere near as long as last weeks promo, but is that all it takes to get a possible World Title shot? Granted Castagnoli is a beast, but still, I could see Jarrett getting a flash win, only for MJF to cost him the match with Moxley.

**********

-Highlight video on Megan Bayne and her AEW debut last week in the Gauntlet was shown.

Swerve Strickland (w/Prince Nana) defeated AR Fox

(I know this didn’t need to go long and much of it happened during break, but these two work so well with each other, I wanted it to go longer. The main story was Ricochet’s antics as we continue to build to their showdown in two weeks.)

Fast start by both, as these two know each other incredibly well. Strickland sent Fox to the floor, where he hit a moonsault off the apron before going back inside, wanting his diving uppercut, which Fox avoided with the boots up. Ricochet was shown walking backstage, with the gold scissors in his pocket, as back in the ring, Strickland hit a misdirect shoulder tackle. Rolling suplex from Strickland, who was in control heading into commercial.

Back from break, Fox was able to hit a springing moonsault from the ropes to the outside, but as he went for a follow-up springboard inside, Strickland caught him with the fireman’s carry into the powerslam. Strickland successfully hits the diving uppercut to the back, as he signaled for a House Call, but Ricochet ran to the apron with the scissors, attempting to stab Strickland, but was unsuccessful. Nana had a steel pipe and chased Ricochet to the back, as Fox was able to hit a pump kick in the corner, followed by the Lo-Mein Pain for two. Fox missed a follow-up 450 Splash, but rolled through Big Pressure to get two. Strickland was still able to hit a rolling Flatliner, House Call and Swerve Stomp to get the win.

Post-match, Strickland offered a handshake to Fox until Ricochet was shown on the big screen. Ricochet said next week, everyone will be forced to hear what he has to say and shows that he’s holding his scissors up to Prince Nana’s neck. Ricochet there’s a new landlord in town and rent is due, as he bails before Strickland could make the save.

-Highlights of last weeks main event was shown between Jon Moxley & Powerhouse Hobbs. We then see the face-off between Hobbs & Big Bill on Collision. The New York Minute is then shown, as Chris Jericho said unfortunately The Learning Tree failed last week on Collision, as Big Bill did his words of wisdom before being scolded by Jericho, who said learning moments only work if you learn from them. When will Bill take the knowledge Jericho has bestowed upon him? Bill thought about it and said Hobbs won the match last week, but he didn’t beat Bill, Hobbs can’t beat him. This Saturday, Bill is coming to find Hobbs. Jericho & Bryan Keith give each other a smirk and nod, as Bill walks off.

Despite there being an enhancement talent (Tyler Shoop) in the ring ready for the next match, MJF makes his entrance and tells him to get the hell out of his ring. Shoop obliges, as MJF said Jeff Jarrett owes an apology to everyone for his actions last week, especially MJF. When MJF said he’d help Jarrett win the AEW Title and wanting the first shot, it wasn’t because he believed in Jarrett, it was because he’d be the easiest to beat. MJF said if Jarrett thinks he can do it on his own, he’s as senile as he looks. By the time Claudio Castagnoli is done beating his brains in next week, Jarrett will realize it. MJF said pro wrestling doesn’t love Jarrett anymore, neither do the fans, but sometimes you’re better off making a deal with the Devil instead of defying him.

Hangman Adam Page, who was supposed to be in action, made his entrance, stared down MJF, who walks out, not wanting trouble.

Hangman Adam Page defeated Tyler Shoop

Page wastes no time with a boot and massive clothesline for the win. Page wasn’t done, as he hit an Angels Wings and stood over his opponent until Christopher Daniels’ music hit and he came to the stage. Page charged up the ramp and asked if he wanted to beat his ass again? Daniels said he never wanted to fight him, he realizes he was just pouring gas on the fire, his ego escalated this, as he regrets facing Page, the most violent man, in the most violent match. After the last Buckshot lariat in their Texas Death Match, doctors advise him never to wrestle again. Daniels said Page wins, he won the last match he’ll ever wrestle, apologizes and said he hopes Page can be happy now. Daniels leaves, as Page was left contemplating the news he was told, shoving the camera man aside.

**********

-Mercedes Mone is walking backstage to a set-up celebration with balloons (for a win that happened weeks ago, I guess?), as Renee Paquette asks her what is next? Mone has always said she wants to be a world traveling champion and can’t wait to see who steps up to face her at Grand Slam Australia. Harley Cameron walks in with her guitar and sings that she wants to ride the Mone Train and for her to Feel the Wrath. Mone said she’s wrestled the very best, but Cameron has never won a match on AEW TV, so that’s a hard no. Cameron is left dejected, as Paquette said it was a good song, though. Harley Cameron remains one of the MVPs of the company, she’s ridiculously entertaining.

Jamie Hayter defeated Julia Hart

(Hayter gets her win back after losing to Hart on the first Dynamite of the year. I enjoyed this match a lot more than their first battle and I like the post-match, Hayter put over Hart. This whole match made me want to see the rubber match, both ladies did good work here tonight.)

Hayter got the early advantage, taking things to the outside, as Hart tried battling back, only to get sent crashing into the steps. Back inside, a nice missile dropkick by Hayter got a near fall, as Hart again responded with a charging corner lariat. Hayter got a boot up, tried to go to the second rope, but Hart swept out the legs and pounced on top for two as things went to commercial.

It was all Hart during break, but Hayter was able to cut her off in the corner with a back superplex for the double down. Both slugged it out as they got to their feet, as Hayter side-stepped a back drop and hit a German that dropped Hart really awkward on her shoulder, three times. The third, Hart clutched her head, as she stumbled to her feet into a spinebuster for two. Hayter sank in a half crab, but Hart got the ropes. Hart managed to apply a flying Octopus hold, but Hayter countered into a tilt-a-whirl back breaker. Hart pulled the hair to escape and hit a Crucifix Bomb for a close two. Sliding sledgehammer to the back of the neck by Hart, who opted to pose, allowing Hayter to hit a Hayt-Breaker and wild Hayterade for the win.

Post-match, Hayter took the mic and said she’s not one to butter someone else’s bread, but has a heavy respect for people like Hart, who do what they want to do, moving to the beat of her own drum. But spitting crap in her face or trying to kill her with an arrow, that doesn’t fly with her. Whether Hart has two big men by her side or like now and she’s all alone, with no one beside her, Hart is still a tough bitch. She’s won one, Hayter has won one, whenever she wants it, she’s up for the rubber match.

-Powerhouse Hobbs addresses Big Bill ahead of Collision this Saturday. Hobbs said he’ll be waiting for Bill in the parking lot.

**********

-Swerve Strickland is pacing backstage with Prince Nana, screaming that in 2 weeks, the lion finally gets his hands on the rodent. Maybe, Strickland will catch Ricochet a little sooner than that?

-A pre-recorded vignette of Brody King, Buddy Matthews & Julia Hart walking the streets was shown. King said for years, they’ve had a voice to guide them, the voice was deafening, but now silent. Matthews said they’re done living in the shadows. Hart said it’s time to honor themselves, no leaders, no masters, no Gods. Just, violence, as when they bark, they bark together. This was quick, but an effective way to show that the former House of Black no longer needs Malakai Black and The Hounds of Hell are here. I for one can’t wait to see what’s next for King & Matthews, hopefully they turn into a great team, or get singles pushes. Even with this coming off a Hart loss, I liked this reset for the trio.

Cope defeated PAC

(I thought this was an excellent main event and a clash of styles between two wrestlers I didn’t think would get to do battle during their careers. I’m glad we got it, as PAC did a great job controlling a lot of this, while Cope sold his past injuries very well. The post-match was your typical House of Moxley beatdown, but having Jay White try to make the save, would not surprise me if he ends up with a World Title shot come Grand Slam Australia. The crowd popped big for him trying to save Cope. Poor Rock n’ Roll Express, their two appearances these last few weeks have resulted in them getting beaten up both times by Death Riders. Safe to say FTR will want revenge for their heroes, it’s just a matter of them actually getting it. I assume they will and Rated FTR will ultimately get Trios gold.)

Slower pace and more exchanging of ground work between the two early, until a head-scissors sent PAC to the outside. Both took turns sending over the top to the apron until Cope swept out the legs and dropped PAC face first with a cazadora onto the steps. PAC was sent crashing into the barricade, as Cope slowly would break the count to keep the fight outside, slamming PAC into the commentary table. PAC kicked out the leg and slammed the side of Cope’s head into the edge of the ring, allowing PAC to pounce, but referee Bryce had to keep him back to check on Cope. That lasted briefly, as PAC hit a slingshot dive and stayed in control throughout commercial.

Cope fought back with a John Woo dropkick that launched PAC clear across the ring. A flapjack and big time Sky High from Cope got a near fall. It took a long time for Cope to follow-up, as the delay allowed PAC to kick at the leg, hit a series of sole butts, but a Cope mis-direct lariat turned PAC completely inside out. Impaler DDT connected, but Cope again was slow to capitalize. Cope wanted the Spear, but PAC leap frogged, as Cope got a fireman’s carry, only for PAC to turn it into a standing Brutalizer. Cope started to fade, but luckily fell into the ropes. PAC wanted the gut-wrench German, but opted for a thrust kick to the neck, then the bounce back German. Referee Bryce again stopped to check on Cope, as PAC slid in for the Brutalizer. Cope, still in the move, slowly powered up to his feet and drove PAC down for the reset. Cope hit a Spear to the lower back, followed by a proper Spear, as Cope hit a spinning TKO to win the match.

Post-match, Death Riders were shown beating up the Rock n’ Roll Express backstage, while FTR were tied up in chairs and their mouths taped. Claudio Castagnoli gave Ricky Morton a Con-Chair-To as Jon Moxley told Cope to stay right there. They make their way out from the crowd, as Cope was surrounded. The numbers were immediately too much, as Cope was beaten down by Moxley, Yuta, Castagnoli & PAC. Switchblade Jay White’s music hit and he takes out Yuta & Castagnoli down the aisle before dispatching of PAC. White came to the ring and was about to hit a Blade Runner on Moxley, when Yuta again hit the low blow, preventing White to get what he wanted. White was beaten down, as Moxley slapped on the Bulldog Choke on Cope, as Yuta & Castagnoli forced White to watch. Moxley screamed that he could break Cope’s neck, but the Death Riders opted to leave instead, laying White & Cope out to end the show.

AEW Collision 1/25/25

  • “First Time Meeting” between Mariah May & Toni Storm
  • Big Bill Calls Out Powerhouse Hobbs
  • Brody King & Buddy Matthews vs. The Gates of Agony
  • Daniel Garcia, Matt Menard & Angelo Parker vs. The Undisputed Kingdom (Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly & Roderick Strong)

AEW Dynamite 1/29/25

  • Jeff Jarrett vs. Claudio Castagnoli (if Jarrett wins, he gets an AEW World Title shot)
  • Will Ospreay vs. Brian Cage

WWE NXT live results: Three championship bouts

Posted on by Chris Aiken

A slate of title matches is set for tonight’s episode of WWE NXT on The CW Network.

In his first defense since becoming NXT Champion, Oba Femi defends against Eddy Thorpe in tonight’s main event. Femi won the title from Trick Williams at New Year’s Evil two weeks ago in a triple threat match that also included Thorpe. Now Femi and Thorpe will attempt to settle their issues one-on-one.

Ridge Holland gets his shot at the men’s NXT North American Championship tonight when he challenges Tony D’Angelo. The Heritage Cup will also be on the line as Lexis King and Charlie Dempsey once again face off for the trophy.

Plus, new NXT Women’s Champion Giulia will make an appearance following her victory at New Year’s Evil. She dethroned Roxanne Perez to win the title.

We’ll see if WWE has any follow-up tonight after Perez was confronted by Bayley last week.

Join us for live coverage starting at 8 p.m. Eastern time.

**********

Corey Graves is back on commentary alongside Vic Joseph and Booker T.

NXT North American Champion Tony D’Angelo (with The Family) defeated Ridge Holland to retain his title

Lots of closed fist punches back and forth from the start. The match goes through a commercial break with a split-screen. As the show cuts to commercial, out comes Shawn Spears.

During the break, Holland posted D’Angelo twice. Holland then smacked an arm on the ring post, and Holland went to work on the arm. Holland is working the arm as the show returns from the break.

D’Angelo makes a comeback, and “The Don” gets a near fall with a fisherman’s buster suplex. Slugfest starts again, before D’Angelo is dropped on his head. “The Don” still comes back with a spear. Spears soon gets involved in the match.

Spears jumps on the apron and gets punched by D’Angelo. That brings out Spear’s goons, which includes Brooks Jensen and Niko Vance. They brawl with The Family at ringside. That takes the referee’s attention away from the the ring.

That allowed Izzi Dame to suddenly interfere, after she got in the ring. She boots Holland in the face with a high kick. D’Angelo delivers a spinebuster, and he covers Holland for a three count. Dame at ringside says she and “The Don” are now even.

A locker room skit sets up two singles matches for Wes Lee. One against Dion Lennox for tonight, and another next week with Trick Williams. In the skit, Williams gives Lee an open hand slap.

Bayley is up next for a monologue. Her and Roxanne Perez has an altercation in a cliffhanger angle from last week. Bayley is here to address that.

Bayley said she was there last week to talk with Perez, because Bayley cares about all that Perez has done. That that got her was a slap in the face.

Bayley goes on to talk about Perez confronted her from the front row on Raw and Smackdown. At some point, Bayley name drops Giulia. So, out comes Giulia to join Bayley.

Giulia says Perez may not look up to Bayley, but Giulia herself does. Bayley and Giulia sing each other’s praises until they are interrupted by Cora Jade and Perez.

Both Perez and Jade cut promos on Bayley. Perez claims the current NXT exceeded anything the Four Horsewomen did, and that is really way Bayley is here. That ignites a brawl, and the fight is on. The heels powder as Bayley and Giulia stand tall. This angle clearly sets up a tag team match.

Cut to the women’s locker room, where Kelani Jordan is arguing with Jaida Parker. Karmen Peterovic wants to calm them down since she is in love now.

Cut back to ringside and the brawl between the two teams is on again.

Wes Lee defeated Dion Lennox

Lee pinned Lennox in a short match that was more of a backdrop for the angle that followed with Trick Williams. Lennox did get a close near fall, but Lee strikes with a Cardiac Kick. Lee then covers Lennox for a pinfall.

Lee in a post-match promo says he is going to handle Trick next week since Trick slapped him earlier. That brings out Trick, and he is a house of fire. Williams drops Tyson Dupont and Tyriek Igwe, who both were at ringside with Lee.

Trick then storms into the ring and lays out Lee. Trick grabs the microphone and accepts the challenge for next week at Center Stage in Atlanta.

Lexis King is the focus of a video package, and he defends the Heritage Cup up next.

But first, an interview with Stephanie Vaquer. Sarah Schreiber conducts the interview. Vaquer cuts a decent promo. It is not her fault they do not have her in a focused angle.

NXT Heritage Cup Champion Lexis King defeats Charlie Dempsey (with No Quarter Catch Crew) to retain the cup

This match got a lot of time, but that was somewhat a given with the round system. The match went through a commercial break, and they did a fall during the break. When the show returned from the break, Vic Joseph on commentary remarked how that shows you have to pay attention during the split-screen break.

King is saved by the bell in the first round. Dempsey applied a crossface chicken wing that would make Bob Backlund proud. Time runs out on the round with King still locked in the hold. The closing moments of this round were really good.

A camera shot shows brass knuckles in King’s corner as the show cuts to commercial. That is when they did the finish during the break. King scores a pin he counters a sunset flip into a pinfall. King is up 1-0.

Dempsey evens the score in round 3, as Dempsey scores pin using a butterfly suplex. Between rounds, King teases using the brass knux. But he thinks better of it.

Later on, King fires up and leaps over the ropes with a flip dive on No Quarter Catch Crew. They go back-and-forth in the closing moments. After deciding against the knux, King still wins with a heel move. King with a mule kick low blow, and the ref didn’t see it. King then executed the Coronation, and King scores the deciding pinfall.

WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Bianca Belair & Naomi cut promos on Meta-Girls (Lash Legend & Jakara Jackson). Next week in Atlanta, Meta-Girls challenge for the tag titles in a featured match.

Karmen Petrovic enters with her love interest, Ashante “Thee” Adonis. Petrovic has a match up next.

Andre Chase is followed around in a skit, but he is depressed. Some trainees are watching old Chase promos, but Chase is still super depressed.

Karmen Petrovic defeated Jaida Parker

Petrovic rolled up Parker to score the pin, after interference by Kelani Jordan. Parker looked strong throughout much of the match.

Jordan shows up and she goes to slap Parker, but Parker blocks the slap. The referee is right there the whole time, but somehow this is not a disqualification. Petrovic then rolls up Parker, and the referee counts the pin.

Petrovic celebrates after the match with Adonis.

A locker room skit has Sol Ruca and Zaria talking with Meta-Girls. Tatum Paxley and Gigi Dolan are also there. This was a waste of time I will never get back.

Brooks Jensen & Niko Vance defeated Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo & Luca Crusifino

Vance pinned Stacks to win the match. For the finish, Jensen with a somersault kick and Vance follows up with a lariat. Stacks does a flip to sell it, and Vance covers him for the pinfall. This was a great way to introduce Niko Vance.

NXT Tag Team Champions Nathan Frazier & Axiom are being interviewed by Sarah Schreiber. Josh Briggs & Yoshiki Inamura interrupt the interview. Briggs is upset they went to TNA when Briggs claims they had “next” up. This did not go anywhere as the director cuts away to a brawl happening backstage. Then, the show cuts to commercial.

More melodrama after the break, this time within The Family. Stacks is upset that “The Don” was not out there with them. D’Angelo responds that Stacks has been Underboss for a while now. He needs to figure it out on his own. “The Don” then leaves.

Ethan Page is cutting a sadistic promo on Je’Von Evans in a video package sponsored by an insurance company. Would have made sense if it was medical insurance, but it was automobile insurance.

Evans is then in GM Ava’s office. Evans is still selling his jaw, but he wants a match with Page. Ava says he is still hurt, which he clearly is selling like he is hurt. Evans can barely talk. Ava then brings in Cedric Alexander, who is booked against Page in a match next week at Center Stage.

In comes Austin Theory & Grayson Waller. Apparently, next week at Center Stage is “The Grayson Waller Effect” in Atlanta. What have we done to deserve this?

Oba Femi is heading to the ring for his match when he crosses paths with Trick Williams backstage. They exchange glances just before the show cuts to a commercial break.

After show returns from the break, Diamond Dallas Page is shown sitting front row ringside.

NXT Champion Oba Femi defeated Edddy Thorpe to retain his title

This wasn’t Flair-Steamboat, but thank goodness it wasn’t another skit. It was actually pretty good too, especially by the end. At least for action. Psychology might be another story.

For a champion who’s nickname is “The Ruler”, Femi ends up selling a lot. Maybe too much, but as champ I guess he has to give the illusion he might lose. Him selling so much takes away from his aura. Thorpe cuts off Femi before the show’s final commercial break, and Femi is in peril during much of the picture-in-picture. Why is Femi fighting from underneath?

Back from the commercial break, and comeback by Femi. Led to a near falls after Femi delivers a spinebuster. Thorpe counters an attempted chokeslam with a triangle. Femi tries to power out, but Thorpe counters that into a hurricanrana. Two count for Thorpe.

Thorpe again counters Femi. This time Thorpe uses a stunner after blocking a suplex attempt. Thorpe climbs to the top rope and he leaps off with a mighty flying elbow drop. Near fall.

Thorpe and Femi trade strikes and moves. Femi goes off his feet after Thorpe gives him a snap German suplex. Thorpe goes for another flying elbow, but Femi blocks it to deliver a chokeslam. Thorpe gets a shoulder up to break the count at two and three quarters.

Femi posted himself on a missed charge in a corner. Femi looks to be in trouble, until he tossed Thorpe across the ring. Femi then executes his pop-up powerbomb, and Femi covers Thorpe for a pinfall.

The psychology seemed way off in this match, but the work itself was really good. Grayson Waller & Austin Thoery were watching from a perch overlooking the ring. They are trying to jaw with Femi. Meanwhile, Trick Williams is in the ring to confront Femi.

Williams then drops Thorpe when Thorpe goes for a cheap shot. Williams an Femi are face-to-face as the show goes off the air.

WWE Raw live results: Seth Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre

Posted on by Steve Khan

Date: January 20, 2025
Location: American Airlines Center in Dallas, TX 

********** 

The Big Takeaway —

Kevin Owens appeared and offered Sami Zayn words of encouragement for the Royal Rumble match. Owens made it clear that he wanted Zayn to win so the two men could main-event WrestleMania against one another. Owens also suggested that he would have Zayn’s back at the Rumble if Zayn had his (against Cody Rhodes).

Zayn saved Seth Rollins from a Drew McIntyre beat-down at the end of the show, only for Zayn to hit Rollins with a Helluva Kick by mistake. 

The inaugural Women’s Intercontinental Champion Lyra Valkyria was advertised for the show but did not appear.

**********

Show Recap — 

Seth Rollins, Drew McIntyre, and CM Punk (wearing a t-shirt of Marvel’s The Thing) were shown arriving. Rhea Ripley was shown earlier today, too, but she was attacked by Nia Jax. They also plugged Penta against Pete Dunne. 

Michael Cole said Dallas was hosting Raw for the 27th time. Wade Barrett is filling in for Pat McAfee, who is at the College Football National Championship. 

Jey Uso and Gunther segment

Jey Uso entered to a huge reaction. Cole danced like an idiot, and instead of heading to the announce desk with Barrett, he awaited Jey to slap hands with him. 

Gunther quickly cut off Jey’s promo. Gunther called him a funny little man for thinking he would win the world title. Gunther was looking forward to facing him—until today. Until he saw Jey acting like their conversation hadn’t happened last week. Acting like a complete dork and a company mascot. At this point, Gunther may as well be facing Jimmy Uso. 

Jey warned him not to talk about his brother. Gunther asked, “Or what?” because Jey never followed up on his words. Jey claimed he bet on himself, but he wouldn’t be doing that if Roman Reigns, Sami Zayn or Cody Rhodes came calling for help. Jey was just a useful idiot. Jey’s words and actions didn’t align, but Gunther’s did. Gunther would expose Jey on Saturday. 

Jey said Gunther was right again. Jey was the mascot, but the fans were his team. Because they ride with him, and they would be with him when he beat Gunther for the title. Jey respected Gunther, and Gunther would respect him, too. Only one of them had main evented WrestleMania, and it wasn’t Gunther. 

Gunther heard enough and attacked, but Jey fought him off and sent him out of the ring with a superkick. Jey held up the world title belt, and the crowd popped. 

********

The New Day ran into JBL backstage. Kofi Kingston was glad JBL was doing commentary for his match and slid cash ($2) into his coat pocket to butter him up. Kingston and Xavier Woods assumed he would be on the same page as them because he cut the dead weight of his own tag partner and went on to the most success of his career—just not as much success as them. 

JBL gave them a backhanded compliment. He understood why they cut ties with Big E because the fans loved him way more than them, and he figured they wanted the fans to pay more attention to them. New Day didn’t appreciate this, so they left. 

********

Cathy Kelley interviewed Bayley. She announced she was officially back on Raw and declared herself for the Royal Rumble. She said she could go after either brand’s champion if she won. She was about to tease perhaps going after the NXT champion but was cut off by Jax. Jax wanted Tiffany Stratton for herself and planned on winning the Rumble. 

Professional bull riders Mason Taylor and Austin Richardson, and PBR announcer Matt West were shown in the crowd. 

JBL entered for commentary. 

********

The crowd booed New Day heavily as they entered. They were pissed at the fans constantly booing them since they were walking Hall of Famers, unlike JBL. Kingston took back the two bucks out of JBL’s coat pocket. 

Rey Mysterio defeated Kofi Kingston (w/Xavier Woods) (10:30) 

Kingston wrestled in black jeans (with black knee pads). Kingston worked over Rey and had a lot of heat until Rey drove him into the steel steps ahead of a break. Interference by Woods behind the referee’s back allowed Kingston to take over. The crowd chanted, “Let’s go, Rey,” and he fought back with a seated senton and low dropkick for two. 

Kingston poked Rey in the eyes behind the ref’s back and hit a splash on Rey’s back for two. Rey set up for 619, but Woods blatantly tripped him, so the ref tossed him out. Woods argued, so Rey knocked him off the apron. Rey hit a 619, but Kingston got his knees up on a springboard splash. 

Kingston went for an SOS, but Rey reversed into a cradle for the sudden pinfall win. 

— Woods attacked Rey from behind and attacked him alongside Kingston until the LWO ran out to make the save. New Day bailed, but as LWO checked on Rey, New Day ran back down through the crowd, and Kingston posted Joaquin Wilde. New Day bailed again before Rey or Cruz Del Toro could get them. 

(New Day running back down just to attack one of the LWO guys was pretty funny.) 

*******

There was a video package highlighting Penta’s debut. 

Kelley interviewed Chad Gable, who was pissed off. He spoke of his recent struggles in the ring with Penta, Dragon Lee and Rey Mysterio. He realized he knew a man who could help with his luchador problems, and that was Dominik Mysterio. 

Ivy Nile and the Creed Brothers stated their intentions of winning gold. Gable said they would all be wrapped in gold, and it would be glorious. 

********

During a break, Jackie Redmond interviewed Karrion Kross and Scarlett. Kross dismissed the Wyatt Sicks. He said, “I’m the only guy to beat Uncle Howdy. I derailed all their momentum. He’s gone, I won, they lost.” He had his eyes set next on Rollins, Punk, and Zayn. 

******** 

The announcers spoke briefly about pro wrestling’s history in Dallas. They aired a clip of one of the many things to happen in Dallas: Wade Barrett winning the first season of NXT. 

*******

Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens segment 

Zayn entered and announced he was in the Rumble after speaking with Adam Pearce. His conversation with Rollins last week really made him think about what he wanted. It opened up a lot of thoughts. 

He thought about his 14-year-old self and all the people who grew up wanting to be wrestlers. He thought about the few thousand who did become wrestlers and the many fewer who actually got to WWE. He thought about the even smaller group of guys, the upper echelon of five or six or seven guys. 

He considered himself in that group, and all of those guys were in the Rumble with him. The only difference between them and him was that they had a world championship in their name, and he didn’t.  He has had a great life and career. He didn’t need the world title to feel complete. 

The fans have supported him throughout the years, and their support has meant more to him than any world title could ever mean. “So no, I don’t need the world champion. But dammit, I want it!” Because 14-year-old Sami wanted the championship, and 14-year-old Sami was still with him. 

Kevin Owens interrupted. (Owens wore a Bret Hart zip-up jacket.) Zayn said he knew it was just a matter of time before Owens came. Zayn asked how he wanted to do this. Owens didn’t know what he meant. Zayn brought up his issues with Rhodes after he teamed with Reigns. 

Owens wasn’t here for that. Owens admitted he was upset when Zayn teamed with Reigns, but it wasn’t the same as Rhodes. Zayn and Reigns had a lot of history, just like they did. Reigns did terrible things to Zayn that he chose to overlook. Owens did terrible things, too, and Zayn forgave him, just like he forgave Reigns. Zayn did that because he was a good person. 

Owens called Zayn his best friend and brother. Owens wanted to tell Zayn, “You can and will win the Royal Rumble.” Zayn deserved to win the Rumble and go on to Mania to win the title. They’ve done a lot together, but there was one more thing they could do, and that was main event WrestleMania one-on-one for the WWE Championship. 

Owens said that could only happen if Zayn won the Rumble—and if Owens walked out as champion. Owens knew that would happen because he had Zayn’s back, and Zayn would have his back. Owens ended with, “As my brother, if I need you, I know you’ll be there.” Owens left as Zayn contemplated what he said. 

********

Kelley interviewed Sheamus backstage. Sheamus said he may have had the best career backwards. He beat John Cena just six months into his career for the WWE title. But ironically, the Intercontinental title drew him to WWE as a kid and it’s the title he has been chasing for five years. The stars were aligned on Saturday where he would beat Bron Breakker for the title. 

Breakker interrupted. Bron said he would beat Sheamus and break him like an old man. Bron advised him to retire. Sheamus shoved Bron, who laughed and backed away.

******** 

They aired a memorial graphic for Bob Uecker. RIP.  

******** 

Nia Jax defeated Bayley (12:21) 

Roxanne Perez watched from the front row (squeezed between two regular fans). Perez tried to slap Bayley, but Bayley blocked it and slapped her instead. Perez was about to jump the barricade, but a random security guard grabbed her and held her way up in the air with one arm. She was carried away (off-camera). 

Bayley was amused, but Jax attacked her from behind as they went to break. After the break, Jax missed a leg drop on the ring apron, and Bayley hit a sunset flip powerbomb into the post. Bayley followed with an Annihilator (Jax’s finisher) and an elbow drop off the middle rope for two. 

Jax responded with a shoulder breaker. Jax drove her shoulder-first into the ring post and squished her into the post. Bayley blocked an Annihilator attempt and hit a running knee strike for two. 

Jax went up for her finisher again, but Bayley brought her down with a powerbomb for two. Bayley followed right away with a flying elbow drop off the top for a nearfall. Jax followed with a pop-up Samoan drop, senton, and Annihilator for the clean pinfall win. 

— After the match, Ripley ran out to attack Jax, but the brawl was quickly separated by security. As you can imagine, they broke through the pack a few times which led to Ripley knocking everyone down with a cannonball off the announce table. Ripley angrily challenged her to a match at SNME. 

********

Gable eagerly asked Dom for help with his Lucha problems in the Judgment Day clubhouse. They didn’t seem to want him there and even Dom initially resisted his request. However, Dom handed him a piece of paper containing the name of someone who could help. Gable was excited, and he dismissed the rest of Judgment Day as he left to learn the dark arts of Lucha libre. They weren’t sure why Dom would help him, but Dom said it wasn’t the worst thing for Gable to owe them one. 

JD McDonagh was worried because they were getting a tag title rematch next week, but Finn Bálor was out. Dom offered to take Bálor’s place, and McDonagh accepted. McDonagh was worried Bálor may not like this idea but Liv Morgan assured him that he would. Morgan poked fun at Dom for trying to be helpful like he was (or wasn’t) in her match against Ripley. Dom said he would make it up to her. 

********

There was a video recap of Lyra Valkyria winning the Women’s Intercontinental Championship. (She was advertised for the show but never appeared.)

******** 

There was a Martin Luther King Jr. tribute video. 

******** 

Zayn approached Rollins to let him know that his words got through to him last week. Rollins knew it and was glad to see this side of him. However, Rollins wouldn’t hesitate to throw him out of the Rumble. Zayn said he would toss him out first. They had a friendly face-off before Zayn left, and Rollins continued to warm up. 

******** 

Penta defeated Pete Dunne (10:02) 

Cole mentioned that these two first wrestled at RevPro years ago (2017), which is true. 

Dunne tried a backflip off the top, but Penta superkicked him out of mid-air. Penta went for a dive, but Dunne cut him off with a forearm ahead of a break. Penta fought back after the break with a slingblade, corner dropkick and DVD for two. Penta followed with a Canadian destroyer, but Dunne rolled out of the ring, so Penta hit a flip dive. 

Dunne blocked another destroyer attempt and hit a DeadEye for two. Dunne snapped Penta’s fingers and applied an arm bar, but Penta hoisted him up and hit a backbreaker, The Sacrifice (armbreaker) and Penta Driver for the pinfall win. 

This was pretty good. The crowd was into Penta’s entrance. They got into the match more toward the end and popped for the win. 

******** 

There was a Logan Paul video package. 

********

CM Punk promo 

CM Punk entered. He basically stole Jey Uso’s entrance. He entered from the concourse through a sea of fans. He joined Redmond in the stands for an interview. She asked Punk about the Rumble, a match he’s never won against a stacked field.  

Punk called himself the maker of history. He made history by main-eventing the first Raw on Netflix, where he beat Seth Rollins. He would make history at the Rumble by beating 29 other superstars, and nobody was better than him when the people were behind him. 

Punk ran down the names Redmond listed. He dismissed the idea of John Cena or Roman Reigns eliminating him and he already put Drew McIntyre in the ground. (He got some light boos for his line about Cena.) 

He didn’t want to hear about Sami Zayn because Zayn wasn’t on his level. You could put Hulk Hogan in the Rumble, but Punk would throw his dusty ass out and kill Hulkamania. (The fans cheered, which is exactly what Punk was hoping for.) 

Punk said he would settle a score and would call in a favour or two if he needed to. Only one man would get his hand raised, and that was CM Punk. 

********

Kelley interviewed the War Raiders (who spoke in their normal guy voices). Ivar said they were always ready to defend the tag titles. They would return honour and prestige to the division, something that was tarnished by Judgment Day. Erik said they weren’t overlooking any teams, but no one was taking their titles. 

********

IYO SKY & Dakota Kai defeated Zoey Stark & Shayna Baszler (6:24) 

Early in the match, Stark obliterated Kai with a springboard dropkick, and the crowd buzzed at the spot. (The ref checked on Kai, and the match continued.) 

Sky eventually made the hot tag, and the fans chanted her name. Sky took out Baszler with a German suplex and suicide dive. Sky hit Stark with a missile dropkick and a running double knee strike for two. 

Sonya Deville tried to distract Sky, so Kai wiped her out. Sky was distracted instead by Baszler taking out Kai. Stark knocked Sky off the top and suplexed her for two. Baszler hit a running knee but Kai broke up the cover. Kai hit Stark with a PK, and Baslzer knocked Kai off the apron. 

Baszler put Sky in the Kirifuda Clutch, but Sky slipped out of it and hit a moonsault for the pinfall win. This was more or less a showcase for Sky. The fans were into her. 

********

There was a video package for Rollins vs. McIntyre. Rollins entered ahead of a break, and if you are among the lucky people who get to watch during the breaks, you got to hear Rollins’ music play and play and play. 

(The main event began at 10:15 pm ET.) 

Seth Rollins defeated Drew McIntyre (16:59) 

Rollins hit a suicide dive, but McIntyre caught his second attempt and suplexed him over the announce desk. After a break, McIntyre tried a reverse Alabama Slam, but Rollins countered into a victory roll for two. Rollins followed with jabs and chops and drove McIntyre shoulder-first into the ring post three times. Rollins followed with a flying knee and running boot for two, followed by a springboard senton for two. 

McIntyre went to the top, but Rollins brought him down with a superplex. Rollins tried to transition into the falcon arrow but McIntyre hit the falcon arrow instead. Rollins ducked a Claymore, but McIntyre hit a spinebuster for two. Rollins hit a falcon arrow for two. 

They traded counters until Rollins applied a crossface, but McIntyre got a rope break. Rollins got in McIntyre’s face (in the ropes), and as the ref pulled him away, McIntyre poked Rollins in the eye. McIntyre followed with a Future Shock DDT for a nearfall. 

McIntyre hit consecutive clotheslines and seemed to think Rollins was done. He took his time pacing around the ring, so Rollins caught him in a jackknife cover for the sudden pinfall win. 

— McIntyre was pissed, so he attacked Rollins after the match and nailed a Claymore Kick. 

McIntyre placed Rollins’ head against the ring post and was about to kill him with a Claymore but Zayn ran out to make the save. Zayn checked on Rollins, but McIntyre headbutted Zayn. 

McIntyre taunted Rollins in the corner. Zayn went for a Helluva Kick, but McIntyre moved out of the way just in time, and Zayn kicked Rollins instead. McIntyre was amused. Zayn explained himself to Rollins as they went off the air (at about 10:36 pm).

(They had a good match but the crowd was pretty quiet for it. There was nothing on the line, and Rollins hasn’t been the most endearing babyface lately, so that could explain it. 

One negative was they repeated a few spots we saw earlier tonight. The shoulder-into-the-post spot was done multiple times, as it was in the Bayley-Jax match. Although Bayley and Jax varied it a bit. McIntyre poked Rollins in the eye to set up a nearfall, only for Rollins to win with a flash pin. In the opening match, Kingston poked Mysterio in the eye to set up a nearfall, only for Mysterio to win with a flash pin.)

TNA Genesis live results: Nic Nemeth vs. Joe Hendry, WWE NXT appearances

Posted on by Matt Boone

TNA Wrestling returns for their first pay-per-view of 2025 with Genesis from Dallas, Texas — the first show after this week’s official announcement about a multiyear deal signed between WWE and TNA.

While nothing official has been announced, it’s been more than strongly hinted NXT will have an influence tonight.

TNA World Champion Nic Nemeth defends against Joe Hendry while Knockouts Champion Masha Slamovich defends against Rosemary in a Clockwork Orange House of Fun match.

Tessa Blanchard will have her first match for TNA in nearly five years when she battles Jordynne Grace.

TNA Tag Team Champions The Hardys defend against The Rascalz while Josh Alexander takes on Mike Santana in an I Quit match.

X-Division Champion Moose defends against Ace Austin with the champion promising a new title tonight.

Knockouts Tag Team Champions Spitfire defends against Ash & Heather by Elegance while The System’s Eddie Edwards & Brian Myers face Eric Young & Steve Maclin.

The pre-show features Leon Slater against Frankie Kazarian.

**********
The Countdown to TNA Genesis pre-show kicks off inside the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, TX. with Gia Miller seated next to Tommy Dreamer, Mark Henry and Dave LeGreca from Busted Open Radio.

After a brief audio hiccup with the house microphone, the introductions are out of the way. They narrate arrival shots of Joe Hendry, Nic Nemeth, Tessa Blanchard and Jordynne Grace. Slight video glitch during that. Not a flawless start. Just a couple of very small issues coming out of the gate.

Jordynne Grace With A Message For Tessa Blanchard

The pre-show panel give their thoughts on the Blanchard-Grace bout, and then they kick it to a backstage promo from Grace. Grace admits there was a time she wanted to be Blanchard. She says Blanchard then abandoned everything.

“There’s a reason Tessa has her own locker room now.” She claims she and the rest of the TNA roster don’t want her here. She vows to beat her tonight and send her packing back where she belongs — to obscurity. Dreamer, LeGreca, Henry and Miller all predict Grace to win tonight.

The talk shifts to the TNA Knockouts Tag-Team title tilt for tonight. Dreamer jokes about his hatred for George Iceman. LeGreca shows off his light pink Ash By Elegance t-shirt.

Miller then brings up the TNA Knockouts “Clockwork Orange House of Fun” match. With that said, the confessional segment from Thursday’s “go-home” episode of TNA Impact is shown.

Arianna Grace Talks WWE NXT & TNA Partnership

The pre-show panel send things down to ringside, where Tom Hannifan and Matthew Rehwoldt are shown on-camera for the first time. The two talk among themselves about the WWE and TNA partnership announced earlier this week and how that might play a factor tonight.

As the pre-show panelists from Busted Open speculate on what the partnership could mean for tonight, they are interrupted by “The Liaison” between TNA and WWE NXT. Arianna Grace comes out and takes credit for the partnership between NXT and TNA.

Jake Something defeated Ashante “Thee” Adonis

Grace says tonight so many of her besties are here. She won’t tell us who because that would ruin the surprise. “But expect to see some familiar faces. It’s going to be magnificent.” Ashante “Thee” Adonis comes out and says even on TNA, he is “thee” main attraction.

Adonis gets some cheap heat on himself. “Hey Dallas, how about them Commanders?” He says he’s here to kick off the partnership between NXT and TNA. He’s here to issue a challenge to any TNA star in the back who thinks they can hang with “Thee” Adonis.

With that said, Jake Something’s entrance tune hits. Out he comes in his ring gear looking ready for battle. A referee rolls into the ring and this impromptu open challenge pre-show bout is underway. Adonis jumps on Something from behind to start things off hot.

Something fights back and runs over Adonis with a clothesline. Adonis gets up and slaps Something, who answers back with a huge forearm blast. Adonis fights back and hits the Air Drop to shift the momentum in his favor. Something fights back and hits his Into the Void finisher for the win.

Moose Teases New TNA X-Division Title

After the match, the pre-show panelists talk for a minute until they are cut off again, this time by TNA X-Division Champion Moose. He comes out with JDC holding a new TNA X-Division Championship title belt that is still covered up. He teases unveiling it later.

JDC says he feels like doing some talking tonight. He heads down to join in on special guest commentary for the next match. Before that, the pre-show panelists talk and kill some time for a bit.

The Rascalz With A Message For The Hardys

They shift the focus to the dream tag-title tilt tonight between The Hardys and The Rascalz. The Rascalz appear in a brief promo segment where they talk with obvious excitement about their title opportunity tonight against The Hardys.

“Smoke ’em if you got ’em,” is how the quick message from Zachary Wentz and Trey Miguel wraps up. The panelists weigh in with their predictions, with LeGreca and Henry predicting a title change later this evening.

Frankie Kazarian defeated Leon Slater

The theme for Frankie Kazarian hits to bring out the self-proclaimed “King of TNA,” who comes to the ring toting his Call Your Shot Gauntlet trophy. After he settles in the ring, his music dies down and Leon Slater’s entrance tune hits to bring out his young and talented opponent.

JDC is shown at the commentary desk with his shirt off. He gifts Rehwoldt a jacket, but doesn’t bring one for Hannifan. The bell sounds to get the Kazarian-Slater pre-show bout underway. JDC claims he’s out here to scout Slater for The System.

Slater, meanwhile, jumps into an early offensive lead after utilizing his speed advantage. Slater enjoys a minute or two in the lead until Kazarian takes over. Kaz taunts the crowd while controlling the action, but when the pace picks up, Slater hits a one-legged dropkick that shifts the momentum again.

As the action continues, Slater hits a big Blue Thunder Bomb for a close two-count. Fans in the building break out in a loud “TNA! TNA!” chant. Slater dives through the ropes from the ring apron into a well-timed leg drop from Kazarian. Kazarian hits a slingshot cutter after that for a close two-count.

Kazarian goes for a chicken wing, but Slater avoids it. Kazarian looks for Fade to Black, but Slater avoids that as well. Slater sees Kazarian taking a breather on the floor and sets up a big dive, but Kazarian moves. Slater pumps the breaks, adjusts, hits the ropes and hits an insane senton dive over the ring post to the floor. Fans react with an appropriate “Holy sh*t!” chant.

Slater goes to the top-rope for a 450 splash, but JDC distracts him and Kazarian moves. Kazarian then rolls Slater up and holds the tights for the pinfall victory.

Moose (c) defeated Ace Austin to retain the TNA X-Division Championship

The “Countdown” pre-show wraps up with brief backstage go-home promos from main-eventers Joe Hendry and TNA World Champion Nic Nemeth. We then see McKenzie Mitchell is back as the ring announcer for TNA.

The national anthem is sung by someone, with the Dallas-based crowd yelling “STARS!” every time the word “star” came up. After that, the cold open for the show airs. Inside the packed Curtis Culwell Center, ABC’s theme hits to bring out Ace Austin for the opening match.

Moose’s bad-ass entrance tune hits next and out comes the TNA X-Division Champion accompanied by JDC and Alisha Edwards. He opens up his ring jacket to unveil his newly designed TNA X-Division Championship title belt.

The bell sounds to get things started, and Austin sprints across the ring and jumps on Moose to get things started hot. Austin uses his fast-paced offense to follow up, however a moment later, Moose’s power helps the champ take over.

On the floor, Moose sends Austin into the unforgiving steel guard rail with authority. And again. He rolls back in the ring to break the referee’s count. Austin fights back and actually hits a suplex on the much larger man on the floor.

From the ring apron, Austin blasts an interfering JDC with a kick. The distraction, however, allows Moose to take over. Moose slams the hell out of Austin onto the ring apron with a chokeslam. Austin bounces awkwardly off the apron before crashing and burning on the floor.

Austin barely beats the referee’s count, leaping back into the ring at the count of nine-and-a-half to keep this match alive. He begins a fired up offensive comeback, but Moose keeps things competitive. The two trade shots, with Austin picking up steam until being blasted with a headbutt from the champ.

Moose tries catching Austin with a Go To Hell chokeslam, but Austin counters with a headscissors. He follows up with a second one on the ring apron, which sends Moose crashing out to the floor at ringside. Moose recovers, but other members of The System hit the ring. Austin takes them out with a high spot.

Back in the ring, Moose runs over Austin with a spear that turns the challenger inside-out. He follows up with an immediate cover, but to the shock of everyone in attendance, Austin manages to kick out. Fans chant “This is Awesome!” Austin rolls up Moose for a two.

He tries a few more quick pin attempts, to no avail. He goes for The Art of Finesse, but Moose counters and hits him with a spear to his back. He follows up with a regular spear out of the corner for the pinfall victory to retain the TNA X-Division Championship in an exciting PPV opener.

Steve Maclin & Eric Young defeated The System (Eddie Edwards & Brian Myers)

After the X-Division Championship opener wraps up, Moose is joined by The System duo of Eddie Edwards and Brian Myers. They begin a post-match beatdown of Austin, which brings out the team of Eric Young and Steve Maclin.

The scheduled opponents for Edwards and Myers begin a brawl, which brings out more officials to try and restore order. The brawl continues for several minutes, leading into the impromptu start of their scheduled tag-team tilt.

Once Maclin and Edwards enter the ring during the brawl, the referee calls for the bell to get things officially started. Maclin lands a running knee that sends him out to the floor. He goes for a dive, but Alisha Edwards trips him up. Edwards hits a Blue Thunder Bomb to take over.

Maclin ends up on the defensive for the next several minutes, with Edwards and Myers taking turns with consistent tags. Fans chant “F**k The System” as they maintain their firm command of the offense, until finally, Young gets the much-needed hot tag for his team, which shifts the offensive momentum.

Young and Maclin take over again, and Maclin tags back in as the legal man. As he comes close to finishing things off, once again Alisha interferes, leading to The System duo taking back control of the action. They look for the back-pack stunner and elbow drop combo, but it is broken up.

Maclin hits a running spear to Myers in the corner, while Young hits a diving splash to Edwards on the floor. Maclin follows up with the K.I.A. on Myers in the ring for the cover. 1-2-3. Maclin and Young win.

Spitfire (Dani Luna & Jody Threat) (c) defeated Ash & Heather By Elegance (w/ George Iceman) to retain the TNA Knockouts Tag-Team Championships

The TNA tag-lines “tale of the tape” style graphic flashes on the screen to get the crowd ready for the third match of the pay-per-view card, and fifth overall this evening, which features the TNA Knockouts Tag-Team Championships on-the-line.

George Iceman comes to the ring and does the personal introductions for his team, the “dream team” duo of Ash & Heather by Elegance. With that said, the challengers make their elegant ring entrance for their big title opportunity. They come out dressed like Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders.

Spitfire duo Dani Luna and Jody Threat coming out running in place, full of excitement, wearing TNA’s new BLCKSMTH apparel, giving Hannifan and Rehwoldt the third opportunity to promote their new deal with the clothing company. The referee holds the Knockouts tag titles up high and the bell sounds.

Iceman, Ash and Heather huddle up for a “Go Eagles!” pre-match cheer. Spitfire jumps them and the match starts off hot. Luna and Ash kick things off for their respective teams, with Luna establishing the initial offensive control. Iceman provides a distraction, allowing the Elegance team to take over.

Heather tags in and goes to work on Luna. Ash drags out Luna from the floor under the bottom rope, Randy Orton draping DDT style. Heather leaps and hits a double stomp, Finn Balor Coup de Grace style, on Luna’s back. Back in the ring, Ash tags in and goes for a cover but only gets two.

Iceman grabs the pom-poms at ringside and cheers his elegant team on. Heather provides a distraction from ringside with the pom-poms to help Ash maintain offensive control of the action in the ring. Threat eventually tags in and shifts the momentum before ultimately finishing things off. Spitfire retains.

Frankie Kazarian Teases Cashing In Call Your Shot Gauntlet Trophy

We see footage of Frankie Kazarian’s victory over Leon Slater in the pre-show. Kazarian says Slater is called the future, but he is the present. He says his focus is now on the main event.

He hopes Nic Nemeth and Joe Hendry tear each other apart, because then he’s got a decision to make. He grabs his Call Your Shot Gauntlet trophy and teases tonight possibly being the night he uses it to cash-in.

Tessa Blanchard defeated Jordynne Grace

Once the brief Kazarian backstage promo wraps up, the pre-match video package airs to set the stage for the grudge match showdown between Jordynne Grace and Tessa Blanchard.

After the package wraps up, the lights in the building go out. When they come back on, for the first time since returning, Tessa Blanchard makes a regular ring walk down the entrance ramp, with music and the whole sha-bang.

She bites on the tip of a pair of sunglasses as she walks to the ring to a chorus of boos from the Texas crowd. She settles inside the squared circle to Hannifan singing her praises and explaining the significance of her being back in TNA again. “That’ll teach you to never say never,” Rehwoldt adds.

Her music dies down and the familiar sounds of the entrance tune for Jordynne Grace hits. Austin, Texas’ “Juggernaut” heads to the ring to a huge reaction from her near-hometown crowd. As soon as the bell sounds, Grace scoops Blanchard up and runs her into the corner.

The two trade shots until Grace takes over and launches Blanchard out of the corner. She does the same on the other side of the ring. Blanchard heads to the floor for a breather, but Grace dives through the ropes and splashes onto Blanchard. She stands up and hits a Juggernaut Driver to her on the floor.

Fans loudly chant “F**k you, Tessa!” as the clear-cut heel in this equation shifts the offensive into her favor for the first time in the contest. She flips off the crowd. Grace muscles Blanchard up in the powerbomb position and slams her sideways into the guard rail.

She hoists her up but Blanchard escapes and leaps onto the ring apron. Blanchard stomps on the hands of Grace. She wraps her leg around Grace’s head and slams her face-first into the corner of the ring apron. On the floor, she grounds and pounds Grace as the crowd loudly breaks out in a “Let’s go Tessa” and “Tessa sucks” dueling chant.

Blanchard enjoys some time in the offensive spotlight in the ring, with the crowd on her case the entire time. Grace takes back over, and hits a wild cradle piledriver turned into a powerbomb spot for a close two-count. Blanchard fights back with a modified Canadian destroyer for a close pin attempt of her own.

Grace hits a spinebuster and goes for the cover, but only gets two. Blanchard slaps up a triangle off her back on the mat. She throws some elbows up at Grace’s dome, but Grace blasts her back with a big shot. She muscles Grace up into a suplex position, but Blanchard sails over into a neckbreaker for two.

Blanchard hops off the bottom rope and hits a twisting cross-body splash onto Grace at ringside. Grace fights back and hoists Blanchard up over her shoulders. She climbs up to the ring steps and hits a rolling DDT, or sideways death valley driver slam. Fans break out in a very appropriate “This is Awesome!” chant.

Grace looks for the Juggernaut Driver inside the ring, but Blanchard avoids it. The two fight up onto the ropes. Grace hoists Blanchard onto her shoulders again. They leap but Blanchard rolls and lands on top after a crucifix driver for a close two-count.

This match is hitting early Match of the Year contender status already. Fans randomly chant “She’s a racist!” at Blanchard. Blanchard locks up the legs of Grace on the mat and rolls. She stands and goes to drop back with Grace’s legs tied up, but Grace escapes.

Off the ropes, Grace picks Blanchard up, who ties up “The Juggernaut” in an octopus. She yanks on the fingers of Grace from the hold. Grace hoists Blanchard up and bounces her off the ropes for a backwards slam. Blanchard holds onto the turnbuckle pad while her legs are wrapped around Grace’s head.

Grace hits an airplane spin type of move before Donkey Kong’ing Blanchard on the mat for another close two-count. Grace is extremely frustrated after her inability to put Blanchard away that time. Grace runs into a back elbow from Blanchard, who then struggles to try and finish removing the turnbuckle padding.

She fails to do so and gives up. Grace gets Blanchard up for a Muscle Buster but Blanchard avoids it. Blanchard hits a Buzzsaw into the not-exposed turnbuckle in the corner. Blanchard goes for the cover, but Grace gets to the ropes before the count of three.

Blanchard pops up and this time removes the padding off the middle turnbuckle, which was the one she initially tried to expose, before changing to the bottom one afterwards. She does so this time, and after driving Grace into it and leaps off the ropes with a big Codebreaker for the finish. Unbelievably good match. Unfortunate situation with the turnbuckle padding at the very end. Still very good stuff.

Mike Santana defeated Josh Alexander in an “I Quit” match

The pre-match video package airs to set the stage for the next match of the evening, which features Mike Santana going one-on-one against Josh Alexander in an “I Quit” match. The commentators inform the viewing audience that The Northern Armory have been banned from ringside.

After the package wraps up, we return inside the building where Josh Alexander’s theme hits. “The Walking Weapon” heads to the ring, walking by a fan holding a sign that reads, “Josh Alexander’s hair already said ‘I Quit.'” The fan gets the close-up treatment on-camera afterwards. Nice.

Mike Santana is shown backstage kneeling in prayer as his hip-hop theme hits to give him his cue. He stands up and walks the halls into the crowd, making his usual custom ring entrance through the people. The bell sounds to get things started.

The two glare at each other from opposing corners before charging and meeting in the middle. The fight is on. Alexander gets Santana down in a crossface, but Santana rolls, escapes and returns to his feet. Alexander heads to the floor.

Santana heads out after him, but Alexander dives back into the ring and waves Santana back in. Fans break out in a “We want tables!” chant. Santana responds to them by quickly heading out to the floor and pulling a table out from under the ring. He sets it up but Alexander takes back over.

Fans get on Alexander’s case with multiple chants, including “Walking Weiner!” and “You’re still bald!” Santana rights back and goes for the rolling buck-50 in the ring, but Alexander avoids it. Santana hits a running cannonball onto a seated Alexander in the corner.

Santana works Alexander over in the corner some more and fans break out in another “We want tables!” chant. Santana again immediately reacts in typical babyface fashion, stopping his attack to look at the crowd and acknowledge the chants by pointing down to the table set up on the floor.

The referee gets the microphone and holds it in Santana’s face after Alexander hits a big spot. Santana, in thug fashion, tells him to “get that damn microphone out of his face.” Alexander locks Santana in the ankle lock. The ref again asks him. Again Santana says, “No!” He then says “No god damn*t!”

Santana’s boot comes off. Santana charges at Alexander, who ducks and Santana crashes through the table down below. The ref asks him almost immediately after he goes through the table. Santana replies, “I don’t quit!” He then yells, “Get that damn mic outta my face.” Next time he says, “Referee, get out of my damn face!”

Alexander pulls out another table and throws the steel ring steps in the ring, along with a steel chair. Alexander blasts Santana with the chair. The ref asks him. Santana says “No! You’re gonna have to kill me, Josh!” Santana hits him again and he begins laughing and saying “there ain’t no quit in my blood.”

Alexander pulls out zip-ties and goes to lock up the hands and wrists of Santana. Santana punches from his back, but Alexander beats on him and begins pounding him with vicious looking elbows, Brock Lesnar-Randy Orton style. Santana starts bleeding but seems to be enjoying it, asking for more. Alexander obliges, hitting his C4 Spike on Santana.

Santana no-sells it and stands up and slaps his own face. He unloads on Alexander with a barrage of strikes. He goes for a buckle bomb in the corner, but Alexander’s back misses and the top of his head hits the turnbuckle on the way down. Santana hits a leaping hurricanrana to bring Alexander off the top.

He follows up with a big frog splash. Santana lands Spin the Block so hard it knocks Alexander’s mouth piece out and his head gear off. The ref asks Alexander if he quits, but he does not. Santana gets the zip ties and locks Alexander’s hands behind his back. He hits him with another Spin the Block.

The ref asks him again. Alexander again yells no. Santana brings a table in the ring and hits Alexander with it while leaning it against the corner over his body. He pulls the ring steps over in front of it. Santana runs and leaps off the steps, hitting a cannonball through the table onto Alexander in the corner.

The ref asks him and again Alexander refuses to quit. Santana pulls out a slapjack, cue-balls stuffed inside a sock. He uses it to beat the living crap out of Alexander with it over-and-over while his hands remain cuffed behind his back.

Alexander’s mouth fills up with blood as he says, “You’ll never be the guy, Mike!” when prompted by the ref to quit. Santana puts his boot on the back of Alexander’s head with his hands cuffed behind him. He threatens with a curb stomp onto the steel steps. Alexander quits before he does it.

Josh Alexander Quits TNA Wrestling

Santana gets on the mic after and demands Alexander keep his word and shake his hand. Fans chant “Shake his hand!” Santana extends his hand. Alexander reaches out and obliges. While still holding Santana’s hand he asks for the mic.

“I’m a man of my word. I said ‘I Quit.’ I’ll look you eye-to-eye and admit, you’re the new standard of TNA. I quit tonight, but I quit TNA, too.” He drops the mic, yanks his singlet straps down and walks off.

The Hardys (Matt Hardy & Jeff Hardy) (c) defeated The Rascalz (Trey Miguel & Zachary Wentz) to retain the TNA World Tag-Team Championships

The pre-match video package airs to set the stage for the “Dream Match” for the TNA World Tag-Team Championships, with the legendary Hardys duo of Matt and Jeff Hardy defending against their modern-day counterparts, The Rascalz team of Trey Miguel and Zachary Wentz.

The TNA Tag-lines “tale of the tape” style graphic flashes on the screen. The theme for The Rascalz hits and out comes Miguel and Wentz to a big crowd reaction. They are wearing ring gear paying homage to their opponents, with Wentz even dying his hair like Jeff Hardy and wearing green smeared face paint.

The iconic sounds of The Hardys’ theme hits and the crowd explodes inside the Curtis Culwell Center as the legendary duo of Jeff and Matt Hardy emerge and head to the ring to easily the loudest reaction of the night. By far, too. They settle inside the squared circle and the sustained roar grows.

Before things get started, the WWE NXT Tag-Team Championship duo of Fraxiom, Nathan Frazer and Axiom, make their way out to loud “Holy sh*t!” chants. They pull up chairs and take a seat at ringside to get a closer look. The bell sounds and off we go.

Miguel and Matt Hardy kick things off for their respective teams. The two reach a stalemate. Matt leads fans in a “DELETE! DELETE!” chant. Jeff tags in. Wentz does as well. The two start with a bit of a stalemate as well, and then Jeff begins to take over. Matt tags in and the two hit a double-team spot.

After some more back-and-forth action, things build to a spot where Miguel is thrown and crashes onto Fraxiom in their seats at ringside. He knocks them out of their chairs, prompting Fraxiom to pop up and get in the faces of The Rascalz.

They are ejected from ringside so the match can continue. The Hardys then go on to hit a Twist of Fate and Swanton Bomb off the ropes for the pinfall victory to retain their TNA World Tag-Team Championships.

TNA Impact & Upcoming PPV Announcements

A TNA Rebellion 2025 trailer airs for the pay-per-view scheduled for April 27 in Los Angeles, California. After that, we learn that Santino Marella will address Josh Alexander quitting TNA on Thursday’s Impact.

Additionally, NXT Tag-Team titles will be on-the-line on the first live TNA Impact in eight years, as Fraxiom defend against The Rascalz on the January 23 episode.

A graphic flashes on the screen to announce TNA Sacrifice will take place in El Paso, TX. on March 14, with a follow-up TNA Impact taping the next night on March 15 in the same El Paso County Coliseum venue. TNA Slammiversary is announced for July 20.

Masha Slamovich (c) defeated Rosemary in Clockwork Orange House of Fun match to retain TNA Knockouts Championship

The pre-match video package airs to tell the story leading up to the first-ever women’s Clockwork Orange House of Fun match for the TNA Knockouts Championship, with Masha Slamovich defending against Rosemary.

Inside the arena, the TNA Tag-lines “tale of the tape” style graphic flashes on the screen, as Hannifan and Rehwoldt point out how this is history in the making, with the first-ever women’s version of the Clockwork Orange House of Fun match. Rosemary’s theme hits and out comes the challenger.

She settles in the ring and the lights come back on. Masha Slamovich’s entrance tune hits next and out comes the reigning, defending TNA Knockouts Champion. The ring has a chain going around above the top rope, with various weapons hanging from it. There are weapons in each corner as well.

As soon as the bell sounds, Masha takes the early offensive lead and beats down Rosemary with a chair. She heads to the corner and brings down a staple gun. Before she can use it, Rosemary stops her, kicks her and takes it. She grabs the staple gun from behind Masha and tries stapling her face.

Masha ends up stapling Rosemary’s hand to break free. She holds a kneeling Rosemary and staples her in the arm pit. Masha climbs another weapon corner and pulls down a cane. Before she can use it, however, she is misted in the eyes by Rosemary. She cleans her eyes out and the fights continues.

A table is pulled out and set up. With Rosemary on the apron outside of the ring ropes, Masha charges at her, builds up a full head of steam and splashes onto her, putting her through the table down below. Rosemary recovers, however, and begins beating down Slamovich with a chair at ringside.

Rosemary reaches under the ring and sees something that makes her stop in her tracks and react to the crowd. She pulls out Janice. The calling card of TNA Hall of Fame legend Abyss, who mentored Rosemary within Decay many moons ago. She goes to hit Masha, who moves, and she breaks it on the steps.

She takes a shard of it and uses it to beat up Slamovich, who was toting a cane at the time. She breaks the cane and beats down Slamovich with a piece of Janice on the entrance ramp. Rosemary disappears to the back and returns with a red sack in her hands. She holds it up high and unties it.

She dumps out a ton of thumbtacks on the top of the entrance stage. Rosemary slams her onto them and drags her by her hair down the entrance ramp to the ring as fans chant “That was epic!” A barbed wire board is brought into the ring. Slamovich fights back and slams Rosemary on it for a two-count.

Slamovich hits a stomp onto Rosemary on the barbed wire board for another two-count. Slamovich brings a ladder into the ring and whacks Rosemary with a trash can lid. She then sets the ladder up near the middle of the ring. She begins climbing but Rosemary pushes it over.

Slamovich goes sailing over the ropes and crashing onto two tables. Unfortunately, only one breaks and Slamovich’s noggin bounces onto the side of the other table in violent fashion. Ouch. Rosemary covers her on the floor, but only gets two.

Four steel chairs are unfolded and set up facing each other. Rosemary climbs to the top, but Slamovich stops her and climbs up after her. She hits Requiem into the steel chairs and covers her for the pinfall victory to retain her TNA Knockouts Championship in a violent spectacle.

Cora Jade Arrives, Confronts Masha Slamovich

Once the first-ever women’s Clockwork Orange House of Fun match wraps up, Slamovich holds her TNA Knockouts Championship up high in the air in celebration. Her music cuts off. The theme for Cora Jade hits.

Out comes the WWE NXT Superstar. She gets in the ring and confronts Slamovich, who simply smiles and raises her title high in the air in front of her. The two exchange stares mere inches from each other’s faces. The brief post-match scene wraps up on that note.

Joe Hendry defeated Nic Nemeth to capture the TNA World Championship

It’s main event time!

The Busted Open Radio pre-show hosts come out on the stage to give their predictions for the main event for the TNA World Championship between Nic Nemeth and Joe Hendry. Ryan Nemeth comes out and babbles about his brother until Santino Marella comes out and announces he is banned from ringside.

The pre-match video package airs now to tell the story leading up to the highly-anticipated title tilt between Nemeth and Hendry. The TNA Tag-line “tale of the tape” style graphic flashes on the screen as the fans in Garland already start up with “We believe!” chants.

The lights in the Curtis Culwell Center go out. A dramatic pre-theme song beat plays and grows more intense. McKenzie Mitchell is shown in the ring. “It’s time for the moment you’ve all been waiting for! It’s time for your main event!”

The intense beat peaks, stops and we hear the familiar sounds of the viral smash hit, “I believe in Joe Hendry!” Nic Nemeth’s theme hits next and out comes “The Wanted Man” for his latest title defense. Following the formal pre-match ring introductions, the bell sounds.

Nemeth and Hendry go nose-to-nose in the middle of the ring and then start getting after it. Loud dueling chants break out, with half of the crowd chanting “Let’s go Nemeth!” and the other-half chanting “We Believe!”

After some back-and-forth action, Nemeth begins to settle into the offensive lead. As he does, the crowd loudly boos. The camera shoots over and Ryan Nemeth is shown with a ticket in his hand and a smirk on his face as he takes a seat close to the ring despite being banned from ringside.

Hendry begins fighting back. He hits a fall away slam and kips up. Fans chant “We believe!” He hits a big Attitude Adjustment for another close two-count. Hendry goes for another AA, but this time Nemeth counters in mid-air with a FameAsser for a close two-count of his own.

Nemeth calls for a high spot and heads to the top-rope. Hendry cuts him off, climbs up after him and hits a big super fall-away slam. The two are both down and out. Frankie Kazarian comes out with his Call Your Shot Gauntlet trophy in-hand.

He hits the ring, but before he can cash-in, JBL appears and takes him out with a Clothesline from Hell at ringside. Fans loudly chant “JBL! JBL!” He then walks over and punches out Nemeth’s brother, Ryan Nemeth, just like he did at TNA Bound For Glory.

And just that fast JBL disappears through the crowd out of the camera shot. Fans chant “This is Awesome!” as Nemeth and Hendry return to their feet. Nemeth goes for his finisher, but Hendry avoids it and hits a Standing Ovation. He goes for the cover, but somehow only gets a two-count.

Fans loudly chant “One more time! One more time!” Hendry looks around and plays to the crowd before amping up and stomping the mat, leading the fans in a “We will rock you!” singing chant of “We believe!” Nemeth hits a super kick and a Danger Zone on Hendry. He goes for the cover, but Hendry kicks out.

Nemeth measures Hendry, setting up another super kick, but he walks into yet another fall away slam from Hendry, who follows up with another Standing Ovation. 1-2-3. We have a new TNA World Champion, and his name is Joe Hendry.

Thanks for joining us and don’t forget to follow F4WOnline.com’s Matt Boone on Twitter/X.

The People vs. GCW live results: Hammerstein Ballroom return

Posted on by Joseph Collins

For the first time in three years, GCW will return to the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City for The People vs. GCW.

After a big build, their January 2022 debut received mixed-to-negative reviews which GCW owner Brett Lauderdale will try to erase tonight.

GCW Champion Mance Warner defends against a mystery opponent while the next challenger will be decided in a bout between partners Effy and Allie Katch.

GCW Tag Team Champions Violence is Forever defend against Alec Price & Cole Radrick while the GCW Extreme title and Ultraviolent title will be unified in an eight-person match.

In what should be an athletic affair, El Hijo del Vikingo will take on Sidney Akeem while Tom Pestock (the former Baron Corbin) will debut in a Bloodsport rules match against Josh Barnett.

Former ECW stars Super Crazy, Little Guido & Tajiri will face Arez, Gringo Loco & Jack Cartwheel with another former ECW star — Masato Tanaka — will go one-on-one with Joey Janela.

The card will also feature Matt Cardona against a mystery opponent, a steel cage match and more.

**********

Kick Off Show.

There was a 90 minute kick off show. It started off with clips of matches from various GCW events that set up tonight’s matches. There was a pretty good Matt Cardona hype video.

Preshow Scramble Match: Manders pinned Marcus Mathers in a match which also had Mr. Danger, Marcus Mathers, Fuego Del Sol, Rich Swann and Blake Christian (11:03)

The arena was still mostly empty at the start of the match, but there was still a booming GCW chant from the crowd that was there. Mathers got to look good in an exchange with Del Sol, and the commentators put over he was WWE’ID. Christian did some ariel stuff with Mr. Danger and Swann. The opening few minutes were two guys doing stuff in the ring, four guys selling on the floor.

Christian hit a snap spinning powerslam on Del Sol. Manders (the only guy in the match who isn’t super flippy) got dropped with a quadruple superkick. Christian hit a fosbury flop onto four guys on the floor. Mr. Danger hit a top rope springboard moonsault onto all five guys. Back in the ring, Christian hit Danger with a top rope Spanish Fly. There was a stacker superplex on Swann, and then Fuegeo hit Manders with a coast-to-coast dropkick. Del Sol hit a springboard DDT on Christian, and Dangers hit a moonsault on Del Sol. Mathers hit a fisherman’s bustper on Danger. Manders tossed Matthers out of the ring with a suplex, and Christian took him out with a superkick. Christian followed up with a 450 foot stomp.

Swann caught Manders with a springboard cuter for a near fall. Manders hit a destoryer off the top on Del Sol while he was on Manders shoulders. Mathers dove into a Oklahoma stampede from Manders, who finished him off with a lariat. All those flips and the finish was a clothesline.

– Allie Katch and Effy gave promos ahead of their top contender’s match later.

PCO won the Kick-Off Rumble.

There were already a bunch of guys brawling in the ring with this started, but then there were more entrants every minute or two. First was Crowbar, who came in and hit everyone with a crowbar. Zeyda Steel (who is a woman) entered next and actually got the corwbar from Crowbar. The tag team champions from Juggalo Championship Wrestling, The Back Seat Boys, (brought out by the Insane Clown Posse) enterted next. Sam Stackhouse was the next entrant. This was just a mess.

Shane Mercer came in next. There were so many men in the ring I was started to fear it might break. Brook Havoc (another woman) entered next. She was followed by CPA, an accountant. Big Vin was the next entrant and he gave someone a big chokeslam. The final participant was PCO.

PCO tossed a bunch of guys. Havoc eliminated Steel. Shane Mercer eliminated the Back Seat Boys. The camera cut to a wide shot, but you couldn’t really tell what was goign on. Sam Stackhouse use a cartwheel kick to eliminate someone. Havoc sent Stackhouse (who weighed like 400 pounds) to the floor with a rana. Shane Mercer then gorilla pressed Havoc and dumped her onto a crowd on the floor. This left him with PCO. They fought onto the apron, where PCO chokeslammed Mercer to the floor and got the victory.

After the match, PCO got the microphone and smashed a TNA championship belt (the Digital Media title) with a sledgehammer. PCO started running down TNA and the show quickly cut away from PCO and went to a pretaped package.

I guess PCO wasn’t happy in TNA.

– Brett Lauderdale crows about his ticket sales and how they’re better than any show that ran in this building “in the last 30 days or so.” He put over GCW’s success and promised to bring it to all 50 states. He talked up how GCW was successful without a coprorate TV contract or “a billion dollar safety net.” He also recognized some GCW fans who have passed away, including his mother. He rambled on for way too long.

– Dave Prazak joined the commentary team.

The People vs. GCW Main Show

Dave Prazak and Veda Scott were on commentary for the main show.

Matt Tremont won the DLC Match for the GCW Ultraviolent Championship & Extreme Championship which also featured Drew Parker, Dr. Redacted, Rina Yamashita, Matthew Justice, Ciclope, John Wayne Murdoch, Brandon Kirk, and Maki Itoh (15:55)

Most of the entrances occurred during the pre-show. “DLC” means “Doors, ladders and chairs” with the two belts hanging above the ring. This was the retirement match of Brandon Kirk, win lose or draw. Murdoch grabbed a mic and declared that Itoh didn’t not belong in the match, and he was jumped by everyone else to start the match. Itoh is the “Extreme” champion, which is one of the belts hanging above the ring. Parker & Murdoch climbed a ladder and were yanked down by their groins by Yamashita. Itoh did the Terry Funny spinning ladder spot. Guys threw chairs at each other’s heads, then came off the top rope with chair shots to the head. Cicople gave Yamashita a spinebuster. Cicople hit a springboard moonsault onto a pile on the floor. The pan to a crowd shot, but I gotta say the building looked a lot better when AEW was in it last month.

Brandon Kirk went through the first door. Murdoch hit Parker with a destroyer. Itoh hit Murdoch and Justice with a spinning DDT. Kirk went for a pumphandle slam, but Itoh countered that with another spinning DDT. Itoh hit a dive onto a pile on the floor. Nobody has made any attempt to get the belts.

Yamashita and Redacted tried to come off of opposite corners while wearing trash cans, but wound up crashing into each other. Now the match has just stopped while everyone builds ladder struckers in the ring and door/table structures on the floor. Yamashita and Cicople double-teamed Redacted, suplexing a ladder onto him. Out of the ring, Itoh and Murdoch were laid out on tables by Parker. On the top of a ladder, Cicople forced a kiss onto Yamashita, then superplexed to the floor through some tables. Then Drew Parker came off the top of another ladder with a swanton through Itoh and Murdoch. Then on a ladder-scaffold, Justice gave Redacted a death valley driver through a table against the ring barricade. This left Kirk to climb the ladder, but Drew Parker cut him off. Kirk then gave him a pump handle powerpomb through the ladder.

With everyone down, Kirk set up another ladder-scaffold before starting to climb for the belt. Murdoch low-blowed Kirk and sent him through the ladder he’d just set up. Oh the irony! Matt Tremont and Murdoch climb a ladder, and Tremont stopped him by hacking away at him with a fork, sending Tremont crashing down. Tremont pulled down both belts to win the titles.

– A pre-match video on Allie Hatch had me convinced she was winning tonight.

Effy defeated Allie Katch by decision for the GCW World Title shot in the Main Event (4:35)

Katch backdropped Effy to the floor and followed him out with a tope. Katch’s head ended up under the guardrail, but the commentators said she injured her leg. Later it was confirmed she injured her leg. Effy broke character checking on Katch, and the show cut to a wide shot while Katch was tended to by the crew.

Mance Warner (the champion) came out and attacked Effy with the title belt. Warner chokeslammed Effy through the time keeper’s table. Effy was declared the winner in what was obviously not the planned finish.

The New York OG’s (Homicide, Grim Reefer & Amazing Red) defeated Real F’n Pros (Kerry Morton, Tony Deppen, Griffin McCoy) after a lot of time killing.

Kerry Morton started a pre-match promo by saying “It’s a damn shame that GCW gets real professional wrestlers” and immediately became the babyface for me. There was a lot of mic work that felt like it was trying to fill the time left from the last match. And there was really no need for that.

Then, an announcement is made that they can’t actually start the match because “the commission” was not at ringside because they were dealing with the Allie Katch injury. This led to Morton grabbing another mic to run down some more people. The Real F’n Pros decide to leave since they’ve already been paid. Homicide got a mic and started cursing and demanded someone ring the bell. The Grim Reefer offered to hunt down the commissioner and “slap him in his f*n face.”

The finally cut away for some pre-tapes.

The match got underway once a second ambulance got on site. The first ambulance took Allie Katch to the hospital after her leg injury.

Morton did some great heel work from the apron while Deepen was triple teamed by the OG’s. Morton pulled a joint out from behind the Grim Reefer’s ear and broke it in half. Reefer sold for the heels. Morton’s heel work was tremendous. Reefer was completely gassed taking basic punishment from the Real Pros. Reefer pulled out another joint, lit it, then hit a top rope dive onto Deepen and McCoy. Homicide got the tag and took out Deepen and Morton with cutters. Morton’s team triple-teamed Homicide. Morton grabbed Homicide’s fork, but Ricky Morton ran in and took the fork away from his kid, then gave him a destroyer. A Code Red and A Cop Killer ended the match for the New York OG’s.

After the match, Amazing Red was inducted into the 2025 Independent Wrestling Hall of Fame. This would have been a great thing to do when they were trying to kill time before the match.

The Gahbage Daddies (Cole Radrick & Alec Price) defeated Violence is Forever (Kevin Ku and Dominic Garrini) for the GCW Tag Team Championship (14:28)

The match spilled to the floor very early. The Gahbage Daddies went for spinning DDTs on the floor, but they were blocked. Price was dropped with a brainbuster on the ring apron. Back in the ring, the champs double-teamed Radrick. This led to some pretty good old-school tag psychology where Vioence is Forever kept cutting off Radrick from getting the tag to Price.

Price finally got the tag and hit a blockbuster on Ku for a near fall. Price hit knee strikes on the champs. Garrini ate several kicks, and Price hit him with a top rope splash for two. Garrini dropped Price with a northern lights bomb. Ku hit a Regalplex on Price (with a boot from Garrini for good measure) for a near fall. Price and Garrini took each other out with a double clothesline.

Ku and Radrick exchanged forearms, and Ku caught him with a sleeper. Garrini had Price locked in a submission, but Radrick broke that up. Ku hit a brainbuster on Radrick, but Drake came off the top with a swanton bomb to break the pin up. Ku and Garrini hit Radrick with a spike piledriver, but it only got two.

Radrick hit an inverted powerbomb for a near fall. The Gahbage Daddies went for their finisher, but the champs countered it, and Ku dropped Drake with a top turnbuckle brainbuster. The Gahbage Daddies made a fast comeboack on Ku, hitting him with a cutter and a rebound lariat. Then then hit their finish, the Gahbage Disposal (a top rope stop from an electric chair) on Ku to get the pinfall and the championship.

This was decent. The Garbage Daddies went into the crowd to celebrate their title win.

Charles Mason defeated Richard Holliday in a Steel Cage Match (12:17)

Holiday reported Mason for murder, but apparently the charges didn’t stick and now we have this cage match. Because a snitch is worse than a murderer, according to commentary. During the entrance for Mason, various criminals are shown on the screen and Luigi Mangione gets a face pop.

Mason seems to understand his character, I will give him that. Mason was pretty dominant early. He sent Holliday headfirst into the cage but walked into a cutter. Holliday sent Mason into the cage headfirst but it didn’t faze him. Holliday hiptossed Mason into the cage to finally slow him down. They brawled up to the top of the cage. Holliday tumbled to the mat, and Mason came off the top of the cage with an elbow.

Perro (Holliday’s ally) broke into the cage and chokeslammed Mason. Mason kicked out of the pin attempt, so Perro threw a door and some chairs into the ring. Perro set up Mason for a powerbomb through the door, but Mason’s ally Slade entered the ring and speared Perro through the door. The wooden door set up like a table, not the cage door. Slade and Perro brawled out of the cage and into the crowd.

Holiday found a chain, but Mason had a chair and beat Holiday to the punch. With the chair, I mean. Mason went for a last big swing, but Holliday caught him with a low blow. Holliday admitting to snitching on Mason and leveled him with a superkick. Holliday hit a spinning suplex for one. Mason hit a spinning lariat and a meteoria in the corner. Mason hit a death valley driver for two, then locked in a sleeperhold. Holiday went for a suplex, but Mason countered into another sleeper, and locked in a body scissors. Holiday tried to use the chain to break it, but Mason grabbed it and used it to choke out Holliday to get the win via ref stoppage. This wasn’t too bad, either.

Sidney Akeem defeated El Hijo Del Vikingo (10:38)

Some pretty great mat stuff started things out. Vikingo offered Akeem a handshake, but he declined and hit a crossbody and a forearm. Vikingo came back with a superkick. Akeem went for a suplex to the floor, but Vikingo escaped with a knee and a kick. Akeem dodged a dive from Vikingo and hit him with a bodypress on the floor from the apron, basically on his back.

Back in the ring, Akeep hit a top rope crossbody for a near fall. Vikingo came back with a missle dropkick off the top that sent Akeem to the floor. Vikingo hit a tope and immediately grabbed his left knee. Back in the ring, Vikingo hit a frog splash for two. Akeem hit a spin kick and a pump handle slam for a near fall. Vikingo hung up Akeem in the ropes and hit a double stomp for a near fall. Both guys avoided cutters and knocked each other down simultaneously with kicks.

Akeem hit his handspring cutter (The Final Act) for two. Vikingo crotched Akeem on the top rope, then hit a destoryer from the top rope onto the ring apron. Back in the ring, Akeem hit the Final Act a second time and got the pinfall.

Arez, Gringo Loco & Jack Cartwheel defeated Tajiri, Super Crazy & Little Guido (12:35)

The ECW guys looked very old. Guildo did soem pretty good matwrok, and Tajiri hit some crisp arm drags. Super Crazy kept up with Arez desipte putting on a good deal of weight since his ECW days. A cheap shot from Arez led to all six guys getting in the ring, and Cartwheel’s team triple teamed Crazy and sent him to the floor. Arez stomped on Little Guido, and Cartwheel hit a slingshot elbow off the ropes. He went to the top for a skytwister press, but Guido rolled out of the way.

Crazy got the tag and hit his opponents with clotheslines. Tajiri took out Loco and Arez with the handspring elbow. Tajiri and Crazy tied them up with tarantuals, and Guildo locked Cartwheel in an armbar. The fight then went to the floor.

Super Crazy climed up the second level balcony and hit a moonsualt on the pile. That’s an insane risk considering what’s already happened on this show. The match eventually went back to the ring, and Arez and Crazy each lock one of their opponents into a surfboard. Arez sent Crazy to the floor, and Loco and Cartwheel followed out and hit him with dives. Arez then hit the pile with a moonsualt to the floor of his own.

Back in the ring, Tajiri misted the referee. Arez then hit Tajiri with the red mist! Loco hit Guido with a split legged moonsault and got the pinfall.

This show feels like it’s been on forever.

Josh Barnett v. Tom Pestock in a “Bloodsport Fight” (10:04)

Pestcok is the former Baron Corbin, but he has legitimate Golden Gloves and BJJ experience. This match has a 15 minute time limit with a five minute overtime if necessary. The ropes have been removed from the ring for this.

Pestock got a takedown and then a heel hook. Barnett looked like he might have an armbar, but Pestock countered and got in a full mount and turned that into a cross arm breaker. Barnett escaped and caught Pestock with some short rights. Pestock threw some elbows into Barnett’s ribs. Barnett got a headlock, but Pestock countered with a headscissors and then went right back into a cross arm breaker again. Barnett was able to block it. Barnett rolled up on Pestock and went for ankle, but Pestock was able to roll on top to counter. Pestock got on top and drove some knees into Barnett’s ribs, then went into a guillotine. Barnett countered that with a suplex, then locked in an armar into a cross arm breaker. Pestock tried to power out, but Barnett countered into a knee bar. Pestock escaped and started pummeling him with forearms. Pestock hit a verticual suplex and some more forearms. Barnett got on top and hit a punches, but Pestock rolled over and fired back.

Both men got to their feet, and Barnett went after Pestock with kicks to the legs. Pestock blocked a kick and leveled Barnett, then hit a pair of backdrop suplexes. Barnett countered a third with a go-behing and went for another legbar, locked it in and Pestock (who had been the crowd favorite) had to tap out.

I don’t’ know what it was but the crowd was into Pestock.

Megan Bayne defeated Atticus Cogar (13:49)

Cogar wore headgear exactly like Bayne’s. Bayne quickly hit a spear for a near fall. Bayne backdropped Cogar and hit a chop in the corner. Bayne buried knees in Cogar’s midsection and hit a spalsh in the corner, then followed that up with a butterfly suplex. Sliding lariat got Bayne a near fall. Cogar shoved Bayne off the turnbuckles to the floor.

Cogar draped Bayne across the barricades and came off the apron with a splash. Cogar set up a table on the floor. Cogar caught Bayne coming in the ring with a DDT for a near fall. Cogar kicked a chair into Bayne’s face. Cogar tried to drive skewers into Bayne’s head but missed. They exchanged German suplexes, and Cogar hit a half and half suplex and a superkick. Cogar found some more skewers and shoved them into every corner of the ring.

Bayne came back with forearms and an overhead belly to belly suplex. Cogar went for a crossbody, but Bayne caught him and gave him a fallaway slam into a steel chair. Cogar hit a headbutt, then came off the top with a stomp for a near fall.

Bayne escaped an air rad crash and hit a sitout powerbomb for two. Bayne went to the top, but Cogar caught her with a kick. Cogar followed him up and hit an air raid crash that was supposed to be on the apron but they went straight to the floor. They went back into the ring and Bayne kicked out of a cover attempt. Bayne hit Cogar with an F5 for a near fall. Bayne grabbed some of the skewers, but before she could skewer him, Otis Cogar (Atticus’ brother) ran in and gave Bayne an uranage, then a moonsault. But Atticus only got a near fall. Otis went for a second moonsault, but Sawyer Wreck sprayed him with a fire extinguisher. Wreck then hit Atticus with a taser, and Bayne hit a tombstone on Atticus to get the pinfall.

Joey Janela defeated Masato Tanaka (12:38)

I don’t think having this many guys who were stars in ECW 30 years ago is the flex the guys running this thing think it is. Tanaka turned Jalena inside-out with a clothesline. Janela dropped Tanaka with a death valley driver on the ring apron. Janela set up some tables on one side of the ring. Jalena then walked Tanaka over to the tables and whipepd him into the ring barricade. Tanaka sent Jalena over the ring barricade and hit him with a chair. Janela then positioned himself onto a table for Tanaka to dive onto him.

Tanaka then threw a bunch of chairs in the ring. Back in the ring, Janela cuaght Tanaka with a DDT. Tanaka hit Jalena with a swinging DDT into the pile of chairs. Janela suplexed Tanaka into the pile of chairs. Then back onto the apron , and Janela powerbombed Tanaka through the table on the floor.

Jalena set up the chairs in the ring. He went for a powerbomb, but Tanaka countered with an elbow and hit Diamond Dust for a near fall. An elbow sent Janela into the chairs and Tanaka went to the top, but Janela caught him. Janela superplexed Tanaka through the chairs and got a one count. Janela hit Tanaka with a pair of chair shots to the head for two.

Janela threw a door and a table into the ring while Tanaka grabbed his head. Janela set Tanaka up in the corner for a superplex, but Tanaka turned it into a spinning DDT into the table. Jalena kicked out at two. Janela sent Tanaka through the door with a death valley driver.

They fought with chairs and forearms in the center of the ring. The each hit rolling elbows and knocked each other down. Janela hit a superkick, then a package piledriver on a steel chair to get the pinfall.

Janela grabbed the mic afterwards and said, “it’s been a long f*cking night.” Yeah, no kidding. Janela got the crowd to give Tanaka ovation. Janela started to talk about his spring break show and the lights went dark. Then clips of Sabu were shown. Including stuff from ECW, Raw, and WCW so I don’t know how they’re getting away with that. Anyway the lights came back up and Sabu was in the ring with Janela. Janela announced that Sabu would have his retirement match with Janela at his spring break show.

Matt Cardona defeated Tommy Invincible (1:44)

Cardona cut a promo about how he’s carried GCW on his back for the last four years. Tommy Invincible has a social media following, and the crowd doesn’t respond well to him. Cardona hit Radio Silence right out of the gate, but it only got two. Invincible hit a pair of knees and then did a John Cena impression to a lot of boos. Invincible hit a fistdrop and a cutter for a near fall. The crowd was not having any of this. Cardona hit a low blow and another Raido Silence and that was it.

So after destroying that nobody, Cardona demands more competition.

Matt Cardona defeated Micro Man

It’s midnight, are these guys serious? The smallest wrestler alive Micro Man came out to wrestle Cardona. Cardona won this match after a low blow when his second, Jimmy Lloyd, pulled the ref out of the ring. Cardona demanded another opponent.

Jimmy Lloyd defeated Matt Cardona (2:12)

Lloyd was Cardona’s second, who turned on Cardona and hit him with Radio Silence. Lloyd hit him with a boot wash and a superkick, then dropped him with a big piledriver and got the pinfall.

Effy defeated Mance Warner for the GCW Championship (19:07)

Warner is trying to start fights with the crowd around ringside. Also it looks like there are a lot of empty seats in the Ballroom. Probably because it’s well past midnight.

Effy started off fast and hit a pair of boots in the corner, but Warner grabbed the title belt and walloped Effy with it. The fight went to the floor and Warner dominated with chops and bit Effy’s forehead. Effy suplexed Warner on the floor. Effy whipped Warner into the ringpost and into the guardrail. Effy threw some chairs in the ring.

Back in the ring, Effy hit Warner with a chair, then dropped him crotch-first onto a chair. Effy went for a cannonball off the top, but Warner moved and Effy hit the chair. Warner hit Effy with a chair. Warner then chokeslammed Effy into the edge of a set-up steel chair. What was left of the crowd was behind Effy, and they definitely weren’t as loud as they were earlier in the night. Warner set up some more chairs in the ring. Effy sent Warner into the chairs with the TKO. Effy followed up with a tombstone into a set up chair.

Effy smashed Warner with a door. Warner hit him with the door. Warner tried to springboard into Effy, but Effy caught him and spinebustered him threw the door. Effy gave him a curbstomp into a chair for another near fall.

Effy threw more doors and chairs into the ring. Any booker with good sense would have sent these guys home by now. The crowd does not care about any of this. Effy and Warner fought on the apron, and Warner tried a piledriver through the table and it didn’t break and both guys are out of it. And the crowd couldn’t care less.

Back in the ring, Effy kicks out of a pin attempt. The crowd barely reacts. Warner goes to the floor to throw more stuff around. Warner hit a member of the ring crew with a steel chair. Back in the ring, Warner put a door across some steel chairs (a “door bridge” the commentators called it). Warner DDT’d Effy off the top through the door, and Effy kicks out. And maybe four people clapped.

Warner dumped Effy to the floor and demanded a count out. Effy got in before the ref counted ten, so Warner dumped him out again. Effy made it back in the ring, and Warner beat him with a steel chair. Warner hit him with a knee for one, and finaly the crowd reacted a bit. Warner pulled a screwdriver out of his boot, and Effy hit a spear. Effy got the screwdriver and hit Warner in the head. Effy gutwrench powerbombed Warner through the door, but it only got one. Warner countered a Radio Silence attempt with a powerbomb, then hit a DDT for another near fall.

Warner then left the ring to grab a guitar. But Cole Radrick ran in and stopped him. Radrick pulled out a brass ring (which would get him a title shot), but Radrick didn’t use it. Instead, he gave Effy the guitar and left. Effy hit Warner with the guitar, then hit the Radio Silence (which he calls the Sack Ryder), and got the pinfall. The win got barely any crowd reaction.

This show was about two hours too long. There’s only so many times you can see guys get hit with chairs or go through tables or doors before it gets redundant. And I’d guess about 1/2 the crowd left before the end of it.

AEW Collision Maximum Carnage live results: Texas Death Match, Continental title defense

Posted on by Suit Williams

Tonight’s Maximum Carnage edition of AEW Collision from Cleveland, Ohio, will feature two ends of the wrestling spectrum: a violent Texas Death Match and a Continental title defense.

Former AEW World Champion Hangman Page will square off with Christopher Daniels in a Texas Death Match. The two have an extensive history outside AEW and Daniels, who hasn’t wrestled since last September, will have contend with Page in his speciality match.

AEW Continental Champion Kazuchika Okada will defend against old NJPW rival Tomohiro Ishii in their first singles bout since 2020’s G1 tournament.

AEW World Champion Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta, Chris Jericho, Big Bill & Bryan Keith will take on Cope, FTR, Powerhouse Hobbs & The Outrunners.

Adam Cole, Roderick Strong & Kyle O’Reilly go heads-up against The Infantry & Lee Moriarty.

The card is rounded out by Julia Hart vs. Harley Cameron, Dustin Rhodes vs. Adam Priest, and Lance Archer & Brian Cage vs. Top Flight.

**********

Collision started with words from Rated FTR, The Outrunners, Powerhouse Hobbs, Kazuchika Okada, & Hangman Page. Collision was live (to tape) from Cincinnati, Ohio, and our announce team was Tony Schiavone, Nigel McGuinness, & Matt Menard.

Texas Death Match – Hangman Page defeated Christopher Daniels by knockout

An ugly, vicious beating from the Hangman here as he dominated Daniels here. Daniels had some slight hope spots, but Page was unrelenting in his beating here and left him down for the count. A great match, and a great way for Daniels to go if the rumors of his retirement are true.

A vice principal no longer, Daniels came out as the Fallen Angel. Page slapped Daniels in the face and took him to the floor before drilling him with a chair to the head. Daniels was lacerated as Page pulled barbed wire out from under the ring and whipped Daniels with it as we went to the first commercial.

We came back to both men on the apron, stood over Chekov’s Table. Daniels backdropped Page into the ring, but Page threw Daniels into a chair wedged into the corner. We got a replay of Hangman dropping Daniels with a pop-up powerbomb through chairs during the commercial, and after we got back to full screen action, Page double-stomped Daniels through a table.

Daniels got up at the count of seven, with Page responding by pulling out another table with barbed wire taped all over it. Hangman set it up in the ring and looked to go for a Deadeye off the ropes, but Daniels countered with a uranage off the ropes into the barbed wire table. Daniels fired up, but Page quickly shut him down with a clothesline to the ramp. Daniels dodged a Buckshot but had an Angel’s Wings attempt countered with a backdrop into the ring.

Page went for a barbed wire assisted Buckshot, but Daniels countered with a facebuster and a Muta Lock. Page raked at Daniels’ eyes with the barbed wire to escape, but Daniels countered the Deadeye again with the Angel’s Wings. Daniels hit the Best Moonsault Ever, then sat part of the broken barbed wire table over Page and hit another one.

Page popped up at a count of nine with a bloody mouth, dropped Daniels with a lariat, and hit a Tombstone on a chair. Daniels’ arm was limp, and Page followed up with a Deadeye on a chair. Daniels got up, but Hangman dropped him with a Buckshot Lariat to the back of the head. Daniels was unmoving as the referee counted him out, giving Page the win by knockout. Page went to leave but came back to lay Daniels out with the Angel’s Wings. The referee and the ringside doctor checked on an unmoving Daniels as the announcers sold the beating he had taken.

Toni Storm Town Hall

Tony Schiavone welcomed Technicolor Toni Storm to the ring for an interview. Storm said that her dreams were coming true, as she would wrestle in the building where she saw her first wrestling match. Schiavone asked Storm about Mariah May, and Storm called her the best in the business. She said that she had yet to introduce herself to May and wanted to introduce herself to her next week on the Homecoming episode of Collision. Schiavone tried to get through to Storm that they had been in a feud, but Storm cut him off and said that since they were both Toni/Tony, then it was Toni Time.

We got a recap of Wednesday’s trios match before we cut to words from the Hurt Syndicate from after the match. MVP believed that their win made them the #1 contenders to the tag team titles and challenged Private Party to a title match on Dynamite, which was confirmed by an on-screen graphic.

The Undisputed Kingdom (Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly & Roderick Strong) defeated Shane Taylor Promotions (Lee Moriarty, Carlie Bravo, & Shawn Dean) (w/Shane Taylor)

Solid trios match here as the Kingdom finally pivots away from MJF. This had a good energy to it, and both teams would be good additions to the Trios division.

We got quick tags to start, with the Kingdom getting the first nearfall with a double suplex on Dean. Dean cut off O’Reilly from the floor, allowing STP to get heat as we went to a commercial.

O’Reilly got the tag out to Cole, who ran wild. Cole got a nearfall with a brainbuster over the knee. Strong tagged in and had a flurry of offense on Dean before getting saved by his partners on a nearfall. The Kingdom hit all of their finishers before finishing Dean off with a Total Elimination.

After the match, Shane Taylor laid out all three of the Kingdom and talked trash to Matt Menard. TNT Champion Daniel Garcia came out to take the fight to Taylor, and all the babyfaces worked together to take Taylor down and out. After the match, the Kingdom stared down Garcia before thanking him for the help.

We got a recap of the issues between the Don Callis Family, Kenny Omega, & Will Ospreay. We cut to an interview Alicia Atout held with Will Ospreay after Dynamite. Ospreay said that his battles with Omega were legendary, and they were linked through Don Callis. Ospreay said that it was time to have a chat with Omega and wanted to do it on Dynamite.

Murder Machines (Brian Cage & Lance Archer) defeated Top Flight (Dante & Darius Martin) (w/ Leila Grey)

A bad night at the office for Top Flight.

The Machines jumped Top Flight to start the match and pinballed them around until Darius dodged a corner charge from Archer. Cage tagged in and kept control until Darius landed an enzuigiri. Dante got a tag in and laid in some strikes before dropping Archer with a springboard cannonball. Cage and Archer quickly cut them off and hit a Chokebomb for the dominant win.

After the match, Action Andretti and his poofy coat came out to talk trash to Top Flight. Lio Rush attacked Top Flight from behind, and they laid out Top Flight.

The Learning Tree was backstage with Lexy Nair. They had none of Lexy’s muckraking and stirring the pot between the Learning Tree and the Death Riders. Jericho went over his history with Jon Moxley before saying they would prove why the Death Riders should trust them tonight.

TNT Champion Daniel Garcia & Matt Menard were backstage with Lexy Nair, but the Undisputed Kingdom interrupted them. Cole thanked Garcia again for their help before lamenting that Menard and Garcia didn’t have a third man to challenge for a trios match. Garcia said that he walked into Daily’s Place three years ago with two men he didn’t even know and left with a contract. Menard said that they would call their friend Angelo Parker to accept their challenge for next Saturday.

Max Caster Town Hall

(The end of the Acclaimed, and not a moment too soon. I was in the building at All Out 2022 for the Acclaimed’s breakout match with Swerve In Our Glory – remember them? – and they were a naturally over team of AEW originals. But they were about a year passed their sell-by date, and their Trios Title reign heavily impacted those titles in a negative manner. With that said, I have enjoyed how they’ve gone about breaking the team up, with Bowens getting fed up with Caster’s arrogance and ego. Caster in particular has done a good job of being an annoying weasel heel, and he’s gotten some good heat. I’m interested in seeing how these two do on their own.)

Max Caster was in the ring with a Louis Vuitton bag, getting booed by the crowd. He said that there had been a lot of rumors about the Acclaimed but wanted to clear the air with his partner Anthony Bowens. Bowens came to the ring, and Caster said that there was a misunderstanding between the two. Caster was upset that Bowens wouldn’t call him the Best Wrestler Alive, and Bowens immediately cut him off.

Bowens said that he had protected Caster for five years because he was his partner and he became Bowens’ best friend. Caster made him a liar, because he was an arrogant edgelord piece of s**t. The people thought he sucked, leading to Caster pulling out a framed trademark calling himself the Best Wrestler Alive. Bowens said that he was more than Caster’s partner, and that he had every tool he needed to be a World Champion. He was an ambassador for AEW, the pride of AEW, and wrestling’s five-tool player, and he didn’t need a piece of paper to prove it.

Billy Gunn came out to try and calm things down. Caster said that Gunn didn’t care about them and only attached himself to The Acclaimed to get attention for himself. (The man makes a point.) He said that Gunn made the team about himself when it should be about him, the best wrestler alive…oh, and Bowens too. Caster said that Bowens was his best friend, while Gunn’s own sons didn’t want anything to do with him. Gunn got in Caster’s face, and Caster told Bowens that if he wanted to keep the team together, he would pick him over Gunn.

Bowens threw up the scissors, but when Caster went to scissor him, Bowens gave him the middle finger. Caster threw a tantrum, telling Bowens that The Acclaimed was done because he said they were done. Caster said that he would prove that he was the Best Wrestler Alive, and that Bowens and Gunn would suck without him. Bowens and Gunn scissored one last time to end the segment.

We got footage of Swerve Strickland at a pro-am golf event, rubbing elbows with various celebrities, including recent Monday Night Raw guest Travis Scott. Does that count as a jump? Anyway, Strickland was backstage with Lexy Nair, who asked about his match with Ricochet on the February 5th Dynamite. Strickland said that this wasn’t cat-and-mouse, this was lion-and-rodent. Strickland planned on getting his hands on Ricochet far before February 5th.

AEW Continental Title Match – Kazuchika Okada (c) defeated Tomohiro Ishii

(The word from the tapings is that Ishii hurt his ankle or his leg during this match, which would explain why this was far from what you would expect when you see these two paired up against each other. They basically cut to the closing stretch of a good match before actually having the good match, which is unfortunate as I was looking forward to this.)

Okada was cautious to lock up with Ishii to start before Ishii laid into him with a chop. Okada raked Ishii’s eyes before Ishii dropped him with a shoulder block. Okada bailed out of the ring, but Ishii dropped Okada with another shoulder block on the floor as we went to a commercial.

After the break, the announcers noted that the doctors had to check on Ishii’s ankle during the break. Ishii hit a superplex out of the corner, but Okada caught him with a neckbreaker as he tried to follow up. Okada hit the big elbow drop and did the middle finger pose, but Ishii popped up and grabbed the finger to give Okada one of his own. Okada raked the eyes and hit a landslide, but Ishii countered a Rainmaker with a lariat of his own.

Ishii went for another lariat, but he got cut off with a dropkick. Okada went for another Rainmaker, but Ishii cut him off with a pair of headbutts. Okada caught Ishii with a short-arm lariat, but Ishii powered through and hit another headbutt. Ishii hit a sliding lariat for a nearfall. Ishii went for a brainbuster, but Okada cut him off with a dropkick to the back. Okada grabbed the ring bell from ringside but only used it as a distraction. Okada hit a ripcord low blow, then hit the Rainmaker to win and retain the title.

The Gates of Agony were backstage, putting themselves over and telling AEW to send the best they had to Daily’s Place next week. During the next match, it was made official that the Gates of Agony would take on Brody King & Buddy Matthews.

Dustin Rhodes defeated Adam Priest

Rhodes dumped Priest high on a scoop slam, then went for the Shattered Dreams before the referee cut him off because, y’know, it’s a kick to the nuts. Rhodes was undeterred, hitting the Cross Rhodes and the Final Cut for the win.

We got a highlight video for Brody King & Buddy Matthews, with the encouraging words from Will Ospreay & Adam Copeland played over their highlight reel.

Julia Hart defeated Harley Cameron

As the match began, it was announced that Julia Hart would be taking on Jamie Hayter in a rematch on next week’s Dynamite.

Cameron came out with sunglasses on, or as her people would call them, sunnies. She sold her eyes being damaged after taking the glasses off, but she brought the fight to Hart. Hart clawed at Cameron’s eyes to get control, then dug her fingers into Cameron’s eyes while having her tied up in the ropes.

After a commercial break, Hart countered a fireman’s carry into an Octopus Hold. Cameron fought out of the hold, but Hart peppered Cameron with strikes in the corner before hitting a DDT for a nearfall. Cameron fought to the ropes as Hart tried to lock on Hartless, but Hart dropped her onto the turnbuckle and hit a rabbit lariat before locking on Hartless for the quick submission win.

We got a recap of Samoa Joe’s return to AEW on last week’s Dynamite, followed by the announcement that he would take on Nick Wayne on Dynamite this coming week.

That announcement was cut short, as we cut to the back where The Learning Tree was standing over Powerhouse Hobbs. Jericho had his bat, and Big Bill walked off with Hobbs’ knee brace.

Powerhouse Hobbs, Rated FTR (Cope, Cash Wheeler, & Dax Harwood) & The Outrunners (Truth Magnum & Turbo Floyd) defeated Death Riders (Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, & Wheeler Yuta) & The Learning Tree (Chris Jericho, Big Bill, & Bryan Keith)

(This main event caused a bit of a furor on social media, but it ended up being a fun fireworks match. The showcase at the end of the day was on Hobbs, who comes out of this important week looking pretty good. If he’s getting programmed with the Learning Tree moving forward, I would have him quickly put them away. The fact that I can’t definitively say whether putting the Ring of Honor World Title on him would be a positive move says everything about the state of ROH these days, but it would be a nice statement of intent to put a World Title on him.)

Hobbs was not out with his team as the match started, with Jericho and Harwood starting off with slaps and chops. Keith tagged in, but Harwood got the better of him and took him to the tecnico corner. Keith escaped to his corner and went to tag Big Bill, but Yuta tagged himself in to get pinballed by FTR. Some back and forth with Yuta and the Outrunners led to a Pier Six brawl breaking out as we went to a commercial.

After the break, Harwood was your mustache-in-peril as the Learning Tree worked him over. Jericho offered Moxley a tag, and Moxley accepted it as the two of them stared each other down. Mox hit Harwood with a piledriver before Yuta tagged in to put more work in on Harwood. Harwood ducked a Busaiku Knee and hit a German suplex, then dodged a Big Bill corner charge to tag in Cope.

Cope ran wild and went for a spear on Jericho, but Cope cut him off with a Codebreaker. Turbo Floyd tagged in and ran wild with bodyslams, eventually hitting the Predator elbow on Jericho and Keith. Another Pier Six brawl broke out, with Cope hitting Moxley with an Impaler DDT on the ramp. Cope went for a spear, but PAC cut him off as the referee was distracted. The Death Riders went to take out Cope’s leg, but Wheeler hit a dive off of the stage.

The Death Riders and Rated FTR brawled through the crowd, but Powerhouse Hobbs hobbled to ringside to tag in and fight off The Learning Tree on one leg. Hobbs and Big Bill faced off, with Hobbs winning the exchange. Jericho got hit with Total Recall, and Hobbs caught Keith trying to hit him with the ROH World Title. Hobbs hit Keith with the spinebuster to get the win.

UFC 311 live results: Two title fights from Los Angeles

Posted on by Ryan Frederick

The first UFC pay-per-view event of the year is here as the Octagon debuts inside the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, California for UFC 311.

The main event has undergone come late changes in a wild past 48 hours. UFC Lightweight Champion Islam Makhachev defends the title against an unexpected challenger, as Renato Moicano steps in on short notice.

Moicano replaces Arman Tsarukyan, who was forced to pull out with a back injury early Friday morning. Moicano was scheduled to fight Beneil Dariush in a main card bout, but steps in for a title shot on the heels of four straight wins. Makhachev makes his fourth title defense on the heels of a 14-fight win streak.

The co-main event is a second title bout as UFC Bantamweight Champion Merab Dvalishvili makes his first title defense against undefeated challenger Umar Nurmagomedov. Dvalishili defeated Sean O’Malley for the title in September, running his win streak to eleven straight. Nurmagomedov gets his first shot at championship gold after 18 straight wins to start his career.

The rest of the main card sees a pivotal light heavyweight battle between former champions Jiri Prochazka and Jamahal Hill; a heavyweight tilt pitting Jailton Almeida against Serghei Spivac; and a middleweight bout between Kevin Holland and Reinier de Ridder.

FX PRELIMS | 6 PM ET/3 PM PT

> Flyweights- #11 Tagir Ulanbekov (15-2, 4-1 UFC) vs. Clayton Carpenter (8-0, 2-0 UFC)

Ulanbekov lands a hard calf kick and follows with a left hand. Carpenter connects with a stiff jab and then a left hook. Ulanbekov just misses a front kick to the face. Carpenter with a calf kick. Ulanbekov looks for a takedown but Carpenter defends and reverses against the fence. Carpenter lands a knee and Ulanbekov reverses position. Ulanbekov is able to score a takedown. Carpenter throws some elbows from the bottom. Ulanbekov with a pair of left hands from the top. Ulanbekov with some big elbows from the top. Ulanbekov with some ground-and-pound from the top. Carpenter is cut open above the eye but he scrambles to his feet. Carpenter with a leg kick. They trade kicks. Ulanbekov with a jab. 10-9 Ulanbekov.

Carpenter lands a left hook. They trade leg kicks. Carpenter scores a takedown. He’s working from the half-guard looking to set up a choke as he lands. Ulanbekov gets him back inside his full guard. They scramble to their feet as Carpenter complains that Ulanbekov grabbed his shorts. Ulanbekov shoots for a takedown but Carpenter sprawls. Carpenter lands a knee as they get to their feet. Ulanbekov scores a takedown. Ulanbekov with some body shots. Ulanbekov controlling and landing from the top as both are trying to find openings. Ulanbekov ends on top. Close round. 10-9 Ulanbekov, 20-18 Ulanbekov.

Carpenter lands a leg kick. Ulanbekov lands a straight right hand. Carpenter with a high kick and a body shot. Ulanbekov with a quick flurry. Carpenter lands a left hand as Ulanbekov lands. Carpenter pushes it against the fence and lands some knees. Ulanbekov reverses position and scores a takedown. Ulanbekov working inside the guard. Carpenter with some shots from the bottom, though Ulanbekov is also landing from the top. Ulanbekov looks to get up but transitions to side control and has the body lock. Ulanbekov with some elbows from the top. 10-9 Ulanbekov, 30-27 Ulanbekov.

Official Result- Tagir Ulanbekov def. Clayton Carpenter by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

> Bantamweights- Ricky Turcios (12-4, 2-2 UFC) vs. Bernardo Sopaj (11-3, 0-1 UFC)

Sopaj with a partially landed head kick. Turcios with a high kick. Sopaj lands a head kick. He lands a jab as Turcios lands a leg kick. They trade leg kicks and Turcios lands another pair of them. Turcios with a spin kick. Turcios with a leg kick and Sopaj lands a counter combination. Turcios with a body kick. They trade and Turcios looks for a takedown against the fence. Turcios is chasing after it as he has Sopaj against the fence. They separate. Turcios with a body kick and almost scores a takedown but Sopaj defends. Turcios ends up with a takedown and takes the back, but Sopaj squirms out. Turcios with some elbows from the bottom as Sopaj pops his head out. They get to their feet as Sopaj lands a knee. Sopaj lands an elbow as they break. Turcios lands but Sopaj lands a clean right hand. Turcios with a leg kick and lands some knees. 10-9 Turcios.

Turcios lands a leg kick. Sopaj works the jab. They trade and Turcios looks for a takedown but Sopaj is defending. Sopaj with a leg kick. Turcios lands a leg kick and then another. He lands another. Sopaj lands a right hand and Turcios started to run away. Sopaj with a leg kick and a right hand. Sopaj connecting better but Turcios is landing. Sopaj scores a takedown. They scramble to their feet and separate. Sopaj lands an uppercut. Sopaj lands a knee in a brief clinch as Turcios lands a left hand on the break. Sopaj taking deep breaths. Turcios pushes it against the fence and lands some knees. Sopaj lands a knee. Sopaj with an elbow and a left hook. He lands a right hand. Sopaj with a short left hand. Turcios with a late clinch. 10-9 Sopaj, 19-19.

Sopaj drops Turcios with a body shot to start the third. Sopaj landing from the top as Turcios is trying to crawl away. Sopaj with an elbow from the top. They scramble up. They trade punches. They clinch and Turcios with several uppercuts. Sopaj with a knee to the body. Turcios looking for a takedown and has the back. Sopaj trips Turcios down to the mat after taking the back. Sopaj now in side control. They get to their feet. Sopaj lands a right hand. Sopaj with a jumping knee and a leg kick. Turcios lands a knee and Sopaj lands an uppercut. Turcios lands a leg kick. Sopaj with a spin kick to the head and they scramble to the mat late. 10-9 Sopaj, 29-28 Sopaj.

Official Result- Bernardo Sopaj def. Ricky Turcios by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

> Bantamweights- Rinya Nakamura (9-0, 3-0 UFC) vs. Muin Gafurov (19-6, 1-2 UFC)

Nakamura lands a leg kick after Gafurov barely lands. Nakamura with a body kick. Gafurov with a left hook and a hard right hand. Gafurov lands a head kick but slipped on it. Gafurov lands a body kick. Nakamura landing lots of leg kicks. Gafurov with a left hook. Gafurov with a head kick. Gafurov lands a big right hand and Nakamura gets tripped up to the mat. Gafurov lands from the top and goes into the guard. Gafurov lands some shots from the top. He lands more from the top to end the round. 10-9 Gafurov.

Gafurov lands a body kick. Nakamura lands a left hand. Gafurov connects and has Nakamura stunned for a brief moment. Gafurov lands a body kick. Gafurov with a heavy right hand. Gafurov with a spin kick to the body. Nakamura lands a left hand. Nakamura shoots for a takedown but Gafurov defends. Nakamura with a leg kick. Gafurov drops Nakamura with a huge right hand. Nakamura immediately tries to go for a takedown but Gafurov sprawls and has neck control. Gafurov with some knees. He lands some more. They separate. Gafurov with a combination ending with a head kick. 10-9 Gafurov, 20-18 Gafurov.

Gafurov rocks Nakamura with a big right hand. Nakamura recovers and Gafurov lands a switch kick. Gafurov with a side kick to the body and Nakamura goes to his butt briefly. Gafurov with a spin kick. Nakamura lands a body kick. They scramble to the mat and Nakamura ends up on top. Nakamura with some left hands as he has neck control. Nakamura looking for a guillotine choke and has it locked in. Gafurov fights it off. They scramble up. Gafurov lands a left hand. Gafurov with a combination. Gafurov lands a spin kick. Gafurov with a high kick and a right hand. 10-9 Gafurov, 30-27 Gafurov.

Official Result- Muin Gafurov def. Rinya Nakamura by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

> Women’s Bantamweights- #9 Karol Rosa (18-6, 7-3 UFC) vs. #13 Ailin Perez (11-2, 4-1 UFC)

Perez with a brief body lock and lands an elbow as they break. Rosa lands a leg kick. Perez scores a takedown into the half-guard. Perez landing from the top and keeping Rosa pinned on the mat. Rosa landing short punches from the bottom. Rosa lands an upkick as they get to their feet. Rosa with a pair of leg kicks. Perez with a spinning back fist. Rosa lands a leg kick. They trade jabs. Perez lands a body kick. Rosa with a pair of strong leg kicks. 10-9 Rosa.

Rosa landing some kicks and Perez complains of a groin strike. They get back to action and clinch but quickly separate. Perez with a body kick. Rosa lands a right hand. Perez with a spin kick. Rosa with a leg kick and a jab. Rosa lands a knee and Perez tries a takedown and ends up completing it. Rosa landing short shots from the bottom and staying active as Perez tries to improve position. Perez now landing from the top. They both land. 10-9 Perez, 19-19.

Rosa lands a right hand. Rosa lands a leg kick. They trade kicks. They trade and Perez clinches against the fence. They separate and Rosa lands a leg kick. Perez with a spinning back fist. Rosa lands a left hook. Rosa landing slightly more. Perez with another spinning back fist. Rosa with a combination. Rosa lands a knee and a right hand. Close fight. 10-9 Rosa, 29-28 Rosa.

Official Result- Ailin Perez def. Karol Rosa by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)

FX PRELIMS | 8 PM ET/5 PM PT

> Lightweights- Grant Dawson (22-2-1, 10-1-1 UFC) vs. Diego Ferreira (19-5, 10-5 UFC)

Dawson lands a spin kick and then a wheel kick. He lands another spinning back kick. Dawson with more kicks and they trade punches. Dawson shoots for a takedown and gets it. They scramble to their feet and Dawson has body control. They scramble and Dawson has control and lands a pair of head kicks. Dawson has it down and is on Ferreira’s back and lands some punches. They scramble and Dawson gets inside the guard of Ferreira. Dawson with punches from the top and Ferreira landed an upkick. 10-9 Dawson.

They trade and Dawson goes for a takedown but they scramble to the mat. Ferreira gets the back as they stand but Dawson shakes him off and they are separated. Ferreira with some solid right hands. Dawson with a left hand. Dawson scores a takedown. Dawson working from the top. Dawson landing to the head and body from the top. Dawson in total control from the top as he lands a big elbow. Dawson with several more elbows from the top. 10-9 Dawson, 20-18 Dawson.

They scramble right to the mat as Dawson looks for a takedown. Dawson reverses into the full guard of Ferreira. Dawson with punches from the top. They are stood up by referee Frank Trigg while Dawson was landing. Dawson rocks Ferreira on the feet and they trade punches. Dawson shoots for the leg and scores the takedown. Dawson with lots of punches and some elbows from the top. Dawson with lots of right hands from the top. Dawson with a pair of hard elbows. Dawson gets the back and lands. 10-9 Dawson, 30-27 Dawson.

Official Result- Grant Dawson def. Diego Ferreira by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

> Light Heavyweights- #13 Bogdan Guskov (16-3, 2-1 UFC) vs. Billy Elekana (7-1, 0-0 UFC)

Guskov lands a leg kick. He lands two more. Elekana with a teet kick. Elekana gets a takedown and takes the back of Guskov. Elekana still attacking the back as Guskov is trying to escape. Elekana with some elbows from the back. Elekana looking for a choke. He lets go but is still controlling from the back and landing. Guskov escapes and starts landing punches from Elekana’s back. Guskov landing heavy shots. Guskov looks for a choke late but Elekana survives. Elekana did tap but it was after the horn sounded. 10-9 Elekana.

Guskov lands a right hand. Elekana lands a left hand and a jab. Elekana with a left hand. Guskov pressuring as both look for openings. Guskov lands to the body and then to the head. Guskov with a right hand to the body. Guskov with a combination to the head and body and starts unloading with uppercuts and two knees. Elekana goes to a knee and Guskov is landing lots of punches. Guskov landing a lot and grabs a guillotine choke and Elekana taps. It wasn’t pretty, but Guskov picks up the win.

Official Result- Bogdan Guskov def. Billy Elekana by submission (guillotine choke) at 3:33 of Round 2

> Middleweights- Zachary Reese (8-1, 2-1 UFC) vs. Azamat Bekoev (18-3, 0-0 UFC)

Bekoev lands a body kick. Reese with a knee to the body as Bekoev looks for a takedown. Bekoev gets it down but Reese is looking for an armbar. Bekoev gets out as they both land hammerfists. Bekoev lands to the body as Reese missed an upkick. Bekoev with some heavy shots from the top. Bekoev continues to land from the top. Bekoev with a big right hand and starts teeing off and he knocks Reese out cold as it is stopped! What a debut for Bekoev!

Official Result- Azamat Bekoev def. Zachary Reese by knockout (punches) at 3:04 of Round 1

> Bantamweights- Payton Talbott (9-0, 3-0 UFC) vs. Raoni Barcelos (18-5, 7-4 UFC)

Barcelos looks for the takedown immediately and pushes it to the fence as he has a single leg. Talbott grabs the neck but Barcelos completes the takedown. They get to their feet. Barcelos jumps onto the back of Talbott, but he gets back to his feet. Barcelos maintains back control. Barcelos looks to get the hooks in. Barcelos looks for the choke. He lets go but lands punches. Barcelos in the mount. Barcelos with some big elbows from the top. Barcelos looking for an arm-triangle choke from the half-guard. He lets go of it. Barcelos still working from the top as he gets back to full mount. Barcelos with some shots from the top. 10-8 Barcelos.

Talbott lands a leg kick and is pressuring, but Barcelos scores a takedown. Barcelos landing from the top and keeping Talbott down. Talbott is able to scramble to his feet. Talbott lands a short right hand and Barcelos looked a little hurt from it, but Barcelos is able to score another takedown. Barcelos gets the full mount. They scramble to their feet and Barcelos lands a spinning back fist. Barcelos with an uppercut and a right hand. Talbott lands an uppercut. Talbott lands a body kick. Barcelos grabs the single leg and scores a takedown. Barcelos with a pair of big elbows from side control. 10-9 Barcelos, 20-17 Barcelos.

Talbott lands an uppercut. Barcelos looks for a takedown but Talbott reverses into his own takedown and lands from the top. Talbott controlling from the top and Barcelos is rolling for an arm, but he grabbed the fence so timeout is called. Talbott is given the position back and they trade as they stand. They trade big punches. Talbott lands a flying knee but Barcelos gets a takedown. Talbott stands and shakes Barcelos off and starts landing. Barcelos lands a right hand. Talbott lands a spin kick. Talbott lands a right hand but Barcelos scores a takedown. Barcelos in the full mount and lands to the body. Barcelos with big shots from the top as he closes the fight out strong. 10-9 Barcelos, 30-26 Barcelos.

Official Result- Raoni Barcelos def. Payton Talbott by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)

ESPN+ PPV MAIN CARD | 10 PM ET/7 PM PT

> Middleweights- Kevin Holland (26-12 1 NC, 13-9 1 NC UFC) vs. Reinier de Ridder (18-2, 1-0 UFC)

de Ridder gets Holland to the mat immediately and is inside the guard of Holland. Holland is attacking the arm and throwing from the bottom. Holland throwing kicks from the bottom. de Ridder lands an elbow from the top. de Ridder with some body shots and a cut is opened up on Holland. de Ridder with some ground-and-pound from the top. de Ridder transitions to the back of Holland. Holland stands with de Ridder on his back. de Ridder looking to attack the arm but gets the body triangle locked. de Ridder locks in a rear-naked choke and Holland taps! Impressive first-round finish from de Ridder.

Official Result- Reinier de Ridder def. Kevin Holland by submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:31 of Round 1

> Heavyweights- #6 Jailton Almeida (21-3, 7-1 UFC) vs. #7 Serghei Spivac (17-4, 8-4 UFC)

Spivac with a body kick. Almeida lands a leg kick. They tie up and Spivac scores a takedown. He gets inside the guard of Almeida. Spivac with a right hand from the top. Spivac with some punches and elbows from the top. Almeida is able to sweep to the top. Almeida in the half-guard and then gets the mount before he takes the back of Spivac. Spivac is able to turn into the guard of Almeida and starts landing punches. Almeida is able to sweep to the top. Almeida lands some big shots on Spivac and Spivac is in trouble. Almeida gets a takedown and starts landing from the mount. Almeida gets the back and starts landing as he flattens Spivac out and it is stopped! What a finish out of nowhere from Almeida.

Official Result- Jailton Almeida def. Serghei Spivac by TKO (punches) at 4:53 of Round 1

> Light Heavyweights- #2 Jiri Prochazka (30-5-1, 4-2 UFC) vs. #3 Jamahal Hill (12-2 1 NC, 6-2 1 NC UFC)

Hill lands a leg kick. Prochazka lands a body kick. Prochazka with a right hand. Prochazka lands a left hand. Hill with a quick flurry and lands a knee. Prochazka lands a left hand. Hill with a jab. Prochazka lands a body kick. Prochazka drops Hill with a left hand. Hill is able to scramble up. Hill landed a nice right hand. They trade punches. Prochazka lands a combo and a pair of knees to the body. Hill lands a knee. Hill lands a right hand. Prochazka with a body kick. Prochazka with a big left hand. 10-9 Prochazka.

Prochazka with a high kick. Prochazka with a pair of body kicks. They trade high kicks. Prochazka with a jumping knee. Timeout is called for an eye poke on Hill, but they get back going fairly quickly. Hill lands a left hand. Hill with an uppercut. Prochazka lands a left hand. Prochazka gets poked in the eye and timeout is called. They get back going after a couple of minutes for Prochazka to recover. Prochazka lands a big right hand. Hill with a right hand. Hill lands a pair of right hands. Prochazka lands a left hand. Hill with a right hand. Prochazka lands a pair of kicks. They trade in close range. Close round. 10-9 Hill, 19-19.

Hill lands a left hand to the body. Prochazka with a body kick and then hurts Hill with a flurry of shots. They tie up and both land. Hill lands inside the pocket. Prochazka with a left hook. Prochazka with a right hand to the body followed by a body kick and a left hand. Hill lands a big knee. Prochazka drops Hill with a right hand and he starts landing from the back. Hill gets up and Prochazka is swarming on him and he throws Hill to the mat. Prochazka with big strikes on the ground and it is stopped! What a finish from Prochazka!

Official Result- Jiri Prochazka def. Jamahal Hill by TKO (punches) at 3:01 of Round 3

> UFC Bantamweight Championship- C Merab Dvalishvili (18-4, 11-2 UFC) vs. #2 Umar Nurmagomedov (18-0, 6-0 UFC)

Both being patient as no one lands inside the first minute. Nurmagomedov lands a right hand. Dvalishvili lands a right hand and a pair of leg kicks. Dvalishvili lands a right hand. Both finding their range and Nurmagomedov looks for a takedown, but Dvalishvili defends and they separate. Dvalishvili with a right hand. Nurmagomedov with a body kick. Nurmagomedov lands a big right hand. Nurmagomedov with a body kick. 10-9 Nurmagomedov.

Nurmagomedov with a right hand and a series of body kicks. Nurmagomedov lands a left hand as Dvalishvili was coming in. Dvalishvili grabs a leg but Nurmagomedov is able to sprawl and defend and then scores a takedown after he grabs the back of Dvalishvili. They get to their feet and separate. Dvalishvili lands a right hand. Nurmagomedov lands a knee. Nurmagomedov with an inside leg kick. Dvalishvili pressing forward and lands to the body. Dvalishvili with a right hand and looks for a takedown. They separate. Nurmagomedov lands a right hand. Nurmagomedov with a body kick. 10-9 Nurmagomedov, 20-18 Nurmagomedov.

They trade and Dvalishvili briefly gets it down but they scramble right up. Dvalishvili lands a big right hand. Dvalishvili pressing forward and lands more. Nurmagomedov with an inside leg kick. Dvalishvili lands as he comes forward. Dvalishvili comes forward and just throws punches but a few do connect. Dvalishvili gets a takedown but lets Nurmagomedov right back up. Dvalishvili gets a takedown but Nurmagomedov is able to reverse immediately to the feet. They are tied up but break apart. Nurmagomedov with an inside leg kick. Nurmagomedov grabs a leg and then takes the back. He is able to get it down as Dvalishvili was showboating. 10-9 Dvalishvili, 29-28 Nurmagomedov.

Dvalishvili with a right hand to the body. Dvalishvili almost gets a takedown. Nurmagomedov lands a left hand. They trade inside the pocket. Dvalishvili gets a takedown but Nurmagomedov gets up. Dvalishvili shoots for a takedown against the fence and they fall to the mat, but get up and Dvalishvili lands a knee on the break. Dvalishvili with a right hand. Nurmagomedov with a head kick that is blocked. They trade punches. Dvalishvili with a combo. They trade jabs and Dvalishvili lands a right hand. Nurmagomedov looks for a takedown but Dvalishvili slips away. Dvalishvili with a pair of right hands. Dvalishvili lands a left hand. Nurmagomedov is looking tired. Dvalishvili with a left hand then a big right hand. Dvalishvili scores a takedown. They get up and Dvalishvili lands against the fence. 10-9 Dvalishvili, 38-38.

Dvalishvili pressing forward and looks for a takedown but Nurmagomedov defends. Nurmagomedov lands a left hand. Dvalishvili with a pair of leg kicks. Dvalishvili looks for a leg and lands a right hand. Dvalishvili with a right hand. Nurmagomedov lands a left hand. Dvalishvili looks for the takedown against the fence. Dvalishvili lands as they separate. Nurmagomedov looks for a takedown but to no success. Dvalishvili gets a brief takedown and lands as they separate. They trade punches. Nurmagomedov with a left hand and a body kick. Nurmagomedov with a pair of kicks but eats a big right hand from Dvalishvili and then Dvalishvili gets a takedown, but Nurmagomedov pops right up. Dvalishvili gets another takedown from the back. They stand and Dvalishvili gets another takedown. Dvalishvili taunts late. 10-9 Dvalishvili, 48-47 Dvalishvili.

Official Result- Merab Dvalishvili def. Umar Nurmagomedov by unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 49-46) to retain the UFC Bantamweight Championship

> UFC Lightweight Championship- C Islam Makhachev (26-1, 15-1 UFC) vs. #10 Renato Moicano (20-5-1, 12-5 UFC)

Moicano with a high kick. Moicano with a leg kick and a right hand. Makhachev lands a left hand. Moicano with a leg kick. Makhachev lands a body kick. Makhachev lands a left hand. Moicano connects with a left hand and Makhachev almost went down and he was hurt from it. Makhachev scores a takedown. Makhachev lands some short left hands. Makhachev locks in a D’Arce choke and it gets Moicano to tap! Easy night at the office for Makhachev as he defends the title.

Official Result- Islam Makhachev def. Renato Moicano by submission (D’Arce choke) at 4:05 of Round 1 to retain the UFC Lightweight Championship