Tag: Report

WWE Raw live results: Women’s Tag Team titles on the line

Posted on by Steve Khan

Date: November 11, 2024
Location: Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, MI

**********

Show Recap — 

Bianca Belair, Jade Cargill and Liv Morgan with Judgment Day arrived at the building. (Carlito had his hand on Raquel Rodriguez’s shoulder but she brushed it off.) 

Gunther vs. Damian Priest for the world title was announced for Survivor Series. 

Gunther and Damian Priest confrontation 

The crowd booed Gunther as he stood in the ring. He stated, “All that matters is that I am still the World Heavyweight Champion.” He wasn’t living in the past and was looking ahead to his next challenger, Damian Priest. 

Priest entered (wearing a Bad Bunny t-shirt). Priest said it was advertised that Gunther would address him so Priest wanted to hear it in person. Priest cut Gunther’s promo for him, repeating his past claims about him being street trash and a Latino thug. 

Priest admitted he felt doubt the first time they came face-to-face. He wasn’t sure he could beat Gunther (at SummerSlam) and hated to admit that. But if it wasn’t for his former brother (Finn Bálor), he would have beaten him. 

Since SummerSlam, Gunther’s vibe as a killer has faded because he started doubting himself. That vibe faded even more after Crown Jewel because he got pinned by Cody Rhodes. (The crowd chanted for Cody.) 

Priest saw doubt in Gunther right now. The unbeatable killer was dead and Priest knew it because the old Gunther would’ve taken a swing at him by now if he was anybody else. Priest dared him to take a swing. Priest knew he wouldn’t do it because Gunther knew Priest would drop him. 

Ludwig Kaiser interrupted. Kaiser told Priest that the result of his title match against Gunther would be the same as last time. Gunther stopped Kaiser’s promo and dressed him down (off-mic). Kaiser called Priest street trash so Priest decked him and drove him out of the ring. 

It seemed like Gunther would attack Priest from behind but stopped—and took a step back—when Priest turned around and faced him. Priest was ready to fight but Gunther smirked and left the ring. Gunther and Kaiser left together. 

(So the gist here is that Gunther has lost confidence and is no longer the fearsome killer he was. Priest came across well here but hopefully Gunther isn’t presented this way much longer.)

********

Cathy Kelly interviewed Iyo Sky and Kairi Sane. They were quickly joined by the returning Dakota Kai. Kai was happy to see them but pissed at Pure Fusion Collective. They were there to remind everyone what Damage CTRL was made of. 

There was a Veterans Day video. 

Kofi Kingston thanked R-Truth for helping them a few weeks ago. He apologized for not having his back against the Final Testament when they attacked him. Kingston said Xavier Woods didn’t want him to get involved. 

Woods overheard this conversation while standing in the background and quickly interjected. Pete Dunne interjected next to confront Truth for calling him “Butch.” Kingston stood up for Truth and agreed to a match against Dunne. (Woods was about to stand up to Dunne too but was annoyed when Kingston took charge. Woods left on his own.) 

********

Six-woman tag team match: IYO SKY, Kairi Sane & Dakota Kai defeated Sonya Deville, Shayna Baszler & Zoey Stark (9:30) 

Damage CTRL had the early advantage until Baszler clotheslined Sane outside the ring behind the referee’s back. PFC (Pure Fusion Collective) had the heat during commercials and Sane made a hot tag to Kai the moment they returned from break. 

Kai hit Baszler with a running boot but Baszler avoided a second one and put Kai in a single-leg crab (on her injured leg). Sky broke it up which led to everyone trading moves. 

Baszler put Kai in the Kirifuda Clutch but Sky tagged herself in. Baszler put her in the submission as well but Kai booted Baszler. Sky followed with a moonsault for the pinfall win. The crowd popped for the moonsault and the win.

********

There was a recap of the Bloodline angle from Smackdown. 

Jey Uso and Sami Zayn were backstage and they got a big pop. Jimmy Uso showed up and was immediately antagonistic toward Zayn (for seemingly no reason). Zayn stood up for himself and Jey calmed them down. Zayn complimented Jimmy’s outfit and chain but Jimmy couldn’t find anything nice to say about Zayn’s outfit. 

Jimmy said they needed a fifth member for War Games because it was five-on-five. Zayn had a lightbulb go off and said he might know someone. Jimmy doubted that Zayn knew anybody. Zayn said he would text Jey (and was very clear he would text Jey only). Jey told Jimmy to be nice. 

(On commentary, Wade Barrett said Zayn better not be thinking about Kevin Owens.)

******** 

Priest vs. Kaiser was announced for tonight. 

Pete Dunne defeated Kofi Kingston (w/Xavier Woods) (9:04) 

The babyface shined and hit a dive before a break 90 seconds into the match but the heel was in control anyway after the break. Kingston came back with a double knee drop, dropkick, and frog splash to Dunne’s back for two. Kingston tried something off the top but Dunne caught him with a forearm. 

Kingston came right back with Trouble in Paradise but Dunne fell out of the ring. As the ref held back Kingston, Woods clotheslined Dunne. Kingston confronted Woods for that so Woods told him to focus on his objective. 

Kingston slid Dunne back into the ring and decided to continue his conversation with Woods. As Joe Tessitore noted, Kingston was giving Dunne way too much time to recover. Dunne caught Kingston with a knee strike and Bitter End for the pinfall win. 

— Woods helped Kingston walk toward the ramp but Kingston shoved him away because Woods kept saying he was right. They continued arguing as they cut to the next segment. 

********

Judgment Day were hanging out in the back. (Carlito and JD McDonagh were playing the WWE 2K24 on PS5.) Liv Morgan was excited to win the tag titles so they would have it all. An annoyed Finn Bálor stood up and said they would have it all—except the world title. He confronted Dominik about losing last week because now Priest was one win away from being champion again. 

Dom said nobody had his back last week and Bronson Reed got involved. Dom wondered where Bálor was. Bálor said he was just doing what Morgan suggested and that was focus on the tag titles. 

Dom told Bálor that he beat Priest and got closer to the world title than Bálor had in a long time. Bálor got in his face and said, “You wanna say that again, kid?” The rest of Judgment Day jumped in to calm things down and Morgan called them a family. 

Bálor agreed with Morgan that they were a family so he suggested Dom and Carlito step in for him and McDonagh to face the War Raiders next week. Dom had no problem with this and left to make the match official. 

********

Jamahal Hill was shown in the crowd. 

Bronson Reed and Seth Rollins segment 

Bronson Reed entered. He said Seth Rollins was a hell of a competitor and he proved that by getting the win at Crown Jewel. But Reed was not a competitor—he was a monster. Last week, he took out Rollins, Priest and Sheamus. He would take out anyone who stood in the way of taking down Rollins for good. He called out Rollins. 

Rollins pranced out holding a mic. He dropped the mic and ran to attack Reed but Reed decked him with a body block. Rollins fought him off but Reed superkicked him onto the announce table. Reed set up for a Tsnuami but Rollins flew off the table and tackled him. 

They continued to brawl until security separated them. A bunch of guards held back Rollins outside the ring so Reed went for a suicide dive. Rollins moved and Reed wiped out the guards instead. Pearce and other officials ran down to separate them but they continued to brawl during a commercial break. 

After the break, Rollins argued with Pearce in the back. Pearce had enough of this but Rollins demanded a rematch. Pearce was pissed but agreed to one more match. He told Rollins to end it next week. 

— Sami Zayn approached Rollins about being their partner at War Games. Zayn knew Rollins had bad blood with Roman Reigns and the Bloodline. Zayn did too but he had a family bond with them and that never went away. No matter what happened between Rollins and Reigns, they were still brothers. Zayn looked up and down the roster and said there was no one else. Rollins was their fifth man. 

Rollins told him he was out of his damn mind. (That got a good crowd reaction.) Rollins knew who Reigns really was and was shocked anybody would stand next to him—especially Zayn. Zayn had to be blind not to see that Reigns was using him again. Rollins appreciated Zayn but his answer was no. 

********

Damian Priest defeated Ludwig Kaiser (7:43) 

Priest crashed shoulder-first into the ring post and they went to break 30 seconds into the match. Priest came back with a falcon arrow after the break for two. Kaiser went back on offence momentarily but Priest hit a few strikes and a South of Heaven chokeslam for the pinfall win. The crowd was into Priest. 

— Gunther appeared on the stage. Barrett said he was pensive and nervous-looking. Gunther left. 

********

They congratulated The Rock on being named GQ’s (male) entertainer of the year and plugged his new expensive movie. 

********

They showed a clip of Sheamus and Bron Breakker wrestling to a time-limit draw on Speed. They got into a brawl after the match. (They don’t normally show clips from Speed.) 

Kelly interviewed Breakker. He said he wanted to expand his trophy case. He would be standing there with the Speed title if it wasn’t for that ugly, idiot, bonehead Sheamus. 

Sheamus appeared. He called Bron disrespectful considering he has been there 15 years while Bron has been there for 15 minutes. Sheamus said Bron reminded him of himself when he was younger. He admitted to being arrogant when he beat John Cena to become one of the fastest ever to win the world title. 

Sheamus wondered if Bron had a set big enough to put the Intercontinental title on the line. Bron said he wasn’t listening to anything Sheamus said, but if he wanted a title shot, he’s got it because he would love to beat Sheamus’ old ass. Sheamus told him to shine up the belt because he was taking it home next week. 

Jimmy Uso approached Bron after Sheamus left. Jimmy asked if he had a second to speak. Bron said yes. 

*******

Final Testament/Wyatt Sicks segment 

Final Testament found Miz backstage and Karrion Kross acted thrilled to see he was still alive. Miz said he was asking Pearce for a leave of absence. Kross said he was not doing that because Miz had given him no information about the Wyatts. 

Miz said this was bigger than them. He had to think about his family. He settled his business with the Wyatts. He apologized and promised that he had changed his way, so they let him go. Miz was a better man now. 

Kross was pissed because the Wyatts took out Paul Ellering, who was his family. Kross reminded Miz that he said they would break his legs. AOP grabbed Miz and they dragged him out in front of the crowd. Kross didn’t believe Miz’s story and demanded to know where the Wyatts were. 

The lights went down and the Wyatt Sicks appeared. The Wyatts faced off with Final Testament until Miz attacked Erick Rowan with a chair. It was a setup. Final Testament and Miz worked together and they laid out the Wyatts. (Scarlett took out Nikki Cross). Miz and Kross hugged. The crowd told Miz that he sucked. 

Miz left with Final Testament as Uncle Howdy/Bo Dallas began laughing at them. 

********

Kelly approached Rollins for an interview as he left but he turned his attention to Solo Sikoa and Jacob Fatu in the parking lot. (Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa were in their SUV.) Sikoa said they both hated Roman Reigns so they should join forces and take him out. Rollins laughed. 

Rollins planned on stomping Reigns’ head into the ground the next time they were in the same ring. Sikoa liked the sounds of that until Rollins said he would never join forces with a wannabe Roman Reigns. (The crowd popped for that.) Fatu got in Rollins’ face but Sikoa held him back. Rollins left. 

********

Next week on Raw (being taped tonight): 

  • Seth Rollins vs. Bronson Reed 
  • Bron Breakker vs. Sheamus for the Intercontinental title 

********

Bianca Belair & Jade Cargill defeated Raquel Rodriguez & Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan to retain the Women’s Tag Team Championships (7:28) 

Belair almost hit Cargill by mistake and the miscommunication allowed the heels to take control. After a break, Rodriguez and Cargill knocked each other down with simultaneous big boots. 

Smackdown’s Nia Jax and Tiffany Stratton ran out. Stratton distracted the ref while Jax gave Cargill a Samoan drop onto the ring apron. Rodriguez followed with an elbow drop but Belair broke up the cover. 

Smackdown’s Naomi ran down to take out Stratton and Jax. Morgan gave Naomi a backstabber. Cargill booted Morgan out of mid-air and knocked Rodriguez off the apron. Belair gave Morgan a KOD for the pinfall win. (So Belair pinned the women’s champion.) 

— Jax attacked the champs post-match but Iyo Sky ran down to make the save with a springboard dropkick. She also knocked out Stratton. Belair and Cargill knocked Rodriguez out of the ring. Sky, Naomi, Belair and Cargill worked together to take out Jax. The four babyfaces stood tall as the show ended.

AEW Collision live results: Death Riders vs. Conglomeration Trios title match

Posted on by Suit Williams

A Trios title match is set for Saturday’s Collision.

The newly-named Death Riders (PAC, Wheeler Yuta, and Claudio Castagnoli) will take on The Conglomeration’s Mark Briscoe, Kyle O’Reilly, and Tomohiro Ishii. After fellow Conglomeration member Orange Cassidy was attacked by The Death Riders on Dynamite, the rest of the group came out for the save, setting up Saturday’s title match.

Also on the card is The Outrunners vs. Top Flight, in which the winners will advance to a four-way match at Full Gear for the AEW Tag Team titles, which will include new champions Private Party. After a confrontation on Rampage between Roderick Strong and Jake Roberts, Strong will now face The Beast Mortos.

Other matches will see House of Black taking on the Iron Savages and Jacked Jameson and Nick Wayne vs. AR Fox. Kris Statlander will be in action, and we’ll hear from Mariah May, The Acclaimed, Lio Rush, and Anna Jay.

Live coverage starts at 8 pm ET.

Collision began with the House of Black making their entrance for the opening match. Tony Schiavone & Nigel McGuinness were on the call.

House Of Black (Brody King, Buddy Matthews & Malakai Black) defeated Iron Savages (Beefcake Boulder, Bulk Bronson & Jacked Jameson)

I don’t even like seeing the Savages get killed. A re-establishing match for the House, and some clarity on which two members would be going for the tag titles.

King booted the Savage Sauce – ugh – out of Boulder’s mouth, leading to a House of Black move train. Jameson didn’t fare any better, with Black and Matthews double-teaming him. Bronson fell on top of Jameson in a humorous way before King landed a senton onto both of the Savages. King hit a suicide dive onto all three Savages before The House hit Jameson with a triple attack in the corner to score the quick win.

After the match, Black grabbed the microphone before the lights went out. FTR – their opponents in the Full Gear Contender Series – made their way to the ring. They said they weren’t here to fight before Harwood noted that he held the AEW Tag Team Titles above his health, his family, and God. Harwood asked which two of the House of Black they would be fighting. King and Black stepped forward. Black wished them good luck before FTR left the ring.

Lio Rush was backstage. He felt a shift happening in AEW, and everyone was involved. He said that his past was creeping up on him, forcing him to make a decision. He held onto MVP’s business card, noting that it was a golden ticket to do business with people the way Rush used to agree with. Rush noted that he had won his last two matches before making a challenge to Swerve Strickland for Dynamite.

Private Party came out and took seats on the stage to watch the first Contender Series match.

Full Gear Four Way Contenders Series – The Outrunners (Truth Magnum & Turbo Floyd) defeated Top Flight (Dante Martin & Darius Martin) (w/ Leila Grey)

A solid match, given the style clash between the teams. I would rather be pushing Top Flight, but they’re in the midst of a story right now.

Magnum and Darius started off trading shoulder blocks before they tagged their partners in. Dante evaded Floyd in the corner before both teams faced off in the ring. FTR were watching in the back. After the commercial, Top Flight were double teaming Magnum. Magnum got sent to the floor and almost ran into Leila before Darius dove into Floyd on the floor. The Martins argued about Leila being in the way, allowing Magnum to fight to the corner for a tag.

Floyd ran wild with bodyslams. The Outrunners hit the Predator elbow drop, but Dante fought free of Total Recall and got the tag out to his brother. Magnum saved Floyd on a double suplex attempt, allowing Floyd to Hulk Up. Floyd caught Martin in the corner, allowing Magnum to hop in the ring and hit Total Recall for the win.

During this match, Rush vs. Strickland was confirmed for Dynamite, as well as Roderick Strong vs. Lance Archer in a Falls Count Anywhere match.

The Acclaimed were in the back. They warned La Faccion Ingobernable that they would beat them and get into the tag title match at Full Gear. The Hurt Syndicate entered the frame. MVP talked exclusively to Caster, noting that his father was an All-Pro wide receiver for the New York Jets. Bowens told MVP they weren’t interested, but MVP knew Caster still had his card.

Roderick Strong defeated The Beast Mortos

A slightly disappointing match here. Mortos’ overproduced hesitations to hurt his friend hurt the flow of the match, and the crowd wasn’t into it.

This is Strong’s second match in the series to challenge MJF at Full Gear. Strong made the challenge for this match after Jake Roberts warned him to stop recruiting his charge.

Mortos was conflicted for a moment before dropping Strong with a lariat. Strong bounced back with a leg lariat, but Mortos hammered Strong in the corner before hitting a powerslam for a nearfall. Strong popped Mortos with a jumping knee before scoring a nearfall with an Olympic Slam. Mortos hit Strong with a headbutt but continued to shake his head in frustration at the situation. Strong came back with strikes before Mortos popped him up into a Samoan drop.

After a commercial break, Strong fought back with flying forearms that staggered Mortos. A running clothesline dropped Mortos before the Sick Kick scored a nearfall. Mortos caught Strong with a twisting backbreaker. Mortos powerbombed Strong over his knee before scoring with a spinning lariat for a nearfall. Mortos once again hesitated to finish Strong, and that allowed Strong to escape a move and hit the jumping knee for the win.

After the match, Lance Archer got the jump on Strong and laid him out with the Blackout ahead of their Falls Count Anywhere match on Dynamite. If Strong wins that match, he will get the match with MJF at Full Gear.

We got a recap of Mariah May’s defense of the Women’s Title last week before getting words from the champ. May said that she hated women’s wrestling. Since winning the women’s title, May realized that she was surrounded by the “weakest, saddest little sh*ts she’d ever seen.” Her prime was being wasted by the lack of competition around her, and she would accept the blame for killing women’s wrestling.

Anna Jay was in the back with Lexy Nair to respond to May’s words. She noted that she hadn’t just competed with May, she had beaten her. Since she was the only person to beat May since All In, she made one more challenge for the title. Jay challenged May to a no-disqualification match for the title and vowed that she would never challenge May again if she lost.

(I felt the finish to their title match left the door open for a rematch, but I’m not sure this feud required a third match with Mina Shirakawa returning on Dynamite.)

We got a recap of Dynamite’s main event, which featured the return of Powerhouse Hobbs and Will Ospreay.

(A little detail I liked about Hobbs’ return is that, according to Ricochet, Hobbs’ contract with the Don Callis Family expired one year to the day of his joining the group.)

Kris Statlander defeated Ashley Vox

This was a far more effective way to build up a title match than ATTEMPTED VEHICULAR HOMICIDE.

I was still writing the note about Hobbs’ return when this match ended. Statlander won with Saturday Night Fever. Mercedes Mone, fresh off of her VEHICULAR HOMICIDE ATTEMPT on Dynamite, snuck up on Statlander after the match and locked her in the Bank Statement before referees pulled her away.

La Faccion Ingobernable was angry in the back. Rush was angry at Beast Mortos for showing mercy in his match and reminded him what LFI was all about. Jake Roberts warned The Acclaimed that they were simply sparrows looking for a nut and that if you messed with the bull, you’d get the horns.

AEW TNT Title Match – Jack Perry (c) defeated Action Andretti

A solid match here. Andretti gets a lot of grief in the places I frequent, which I don’t understand. He’s a perfectly serviceable high flyer on this roster, slotted exactly where he should be slotted. Perry vs. Daniel Garcia at Full Gear should be a big-time title defense.

Perry caught Andretti with a chop block in the opening exchanges before sending him into the post. Perry dumped Andretti on the apron before dumping him on the steps. After a commercial break, Andretti caught Perry with an inside cradle for a nearfall. Andretti fought through the injured back to score with a handspring elbow and a Falcon Arrow for a nearfall.

Perry fought to the apron and kneed Andretti in the back, but Andretti countered with a Death Valley Driver to the apron. Andretti hit a springboard 450 splash for a nearfall. Perry evaded a split-legged moonsault but ran into a Spanish Fly-style powerslam for an Andretti nearfall. Perry went on the offensive, scoring with a buckle bomb and a brainbuster for a nearfall. Andretti countered the Glass Jaw knee with a rollup before scoring with a springboard kick. Perry got his knees up on a running Shooting Star Press attempt before hitting two Glass Jaw knees for the win.

After the match, Perry grabbed the mic but was interrupted by Daniel Garcia. Perry handed Garcia the mic. Garcia said that he disagreed with Perry about a lot of things, but he most strongly disagreed that the two of them were anything alike. Perry was a multi-millionaire nepobaby who only fought for himself, while Garcia fought for his friends and his people. Garcia said that he would never be anything like Perry, but he would be the TNT Champion at Full Gear. Perry accepted the challenge but said that Garcia wasn’t ready.

Julia Hart was cheerleading on a football field before a veiled figure shot her with an arrow. She jolted awake before the vignette ended.

We got a video of The Outrunners shilling their merch.

Lexy Nair found Daniel Garcia & Matt Menard backstage. Menard gave Garcia a pep talk, telling Garcia to prove everyone who believed in him right at Full Gear.

Nick Wayne (w/Mother Wayne & Kip Sabian) defeated AR Fox

Before he made his entrance, Wayne was on the jumbotron noting that today was the anniversary of Fox’s father passing away. He said that Fox should be happy that his father was dead so he wouldn’t have to see the beating Wayne gave him. Fox responded by jumping Wayne during his entrance with a pair of big dives. Wayne dropped Fox into the steps and crotched him on the barricade.

After a commercial, Fox dove onto Wayne on the floor to make his comeback. Fox hit a swanton bomb for a nearfall. Fox caught Wayne with a enzuigiri, but Wayne countered a Fox cutter into a Dragon suplex for a nearfall. There was a spectacular Fox sequence that ended in a powerbomb for a nearfall. Fox caught Wayne with Lo Mein Pain, but Sabian cut off a 450 Splash attempt. Wayne caught Fox with a butterfly Destroyer for the win.

After the match, Sabian held Fox down as Mother Wayne pulled out a picture of Fox with his father. She pulled out a stapler and watched as her son stapled the picture to Fox’s face.

MxM Collection was backstage with Lexy Nair. They took up Johnny TV’s offer for a collab, but Johnny couldn’t do a trios match as he already had a match for next week against Daniel Garcia. Johnny agreed to let them come to ringside with him.

AEW World Trios Title Match – Death Riders (Claudio Castagnoli, PAC & Wheeler Yuta) (c) defeated The Conglomeration (Kyle O’Reilly, Mark Briscoe & Tomohiro Ishii)

A solid main event with all of the side characters to the Cassidy/Moxley World Title match, but nothing on this show rose above solid. A muted two hours of action.

The opening exchanges led to Briscoe getting driven into the Death Rider corner. Briscoe fought over to his side of the ring and dumped Yuta and Castagnoli to the floor before hitting the chair-assisted dive to the outside. O’Reilly went for an armbar on Yuta, but PAC stomped on O’Reilly to break it up. After a commercial, the Death Riders were still working over O’Reilly. PAC hit a double stomp out of the Demolition Device position for a nearfall.

The Death Riders ran wild on O’Reilly with a train of strikes in the corner before PAC hit a Tombstone. Briscoe broke up the pin, but the Death Riders dumped him and Ishii at ringside before getting back to O’Reilly. O’Reilly caught Yuta in an ankle lock, then dropped him with a clothesline before tagging in Ishii. Ishii ran wild with German suplexes before scoring a nearfall on PAC with a brainbuster.

Briscoe and Castagnoli tagged in, with Briscoe running wild on both Castagnoli and PAC. Briscoe hit a Fisherman’s Buster on Castagnoli for a nearfall. O’Reilly and Ishii double teamed Yuta, hitting Chasing the Dragon before Briscoe hit the Froggy Bow for a nearfall broken up by PAC. We got a move train that left everyone down.

Jon Moxley & Marina Shafir walked out from the crowd, but before Moxley could get in the ring, Orange Cassidy made his way out from the entrance ramp. Yuta stared down Cassidy, allowing O’Reilly to catch Yuta in an ankle lock. Castagnoli and PAC got disposed of on the floor, but Castagnoli threw a chair into the ring to distract the referee. Yuta sent O’Reilly to the floor, where Shafir hit him with the briefcase. Yuta hit O’Reilly with the Busaiku Knee to score the fall and retain the titles.

Moxley was happy after the match, but Cassidy hit Yuta with the Orange Punch and dove onto Moxley on the floor. The Death Riders and the Conglomeration got into a huge brawl, ending with Cassidy diving onto the pile off of the announce table. Cassidy and Moxley stared each other down on opposite sides of the barricade to end the show.

During this match, Britt Baker vs. Penelope Ford was announced for Dynamite, and Mariah May vs. Anna Jay in a No-DQ match for the Women’s Title was announced for next week’s Collision.

UFC on ESPN+ 105 live results: Neil Magny vs. Carlos Prates

Posted on by Ryan Frederick

The Octagon is back inside of the UFC Apex in Las Vegas for what isn’t, on paper, a big show, but it’s a landmark show as UFC on ESPN+ 105 marks the 100th UFC Fight Night event at the UFC Apex.

The main event is a welterweight battle between long-time veteran Neil Magny, in his 34th UFC bout, taking on rising contender Carlos Prates, in his fourth UFC bout and first main event. Magny is looking to halt the momentum of Prates, who is riding a ten-fight win streak, as Magny himself looks to get back into the win column.

The co-main event marks the UFC debut of one of their recent big signings, as former ONE Middleweight and Light Heavyweight Champion Reinier de Ridder debuts against submission specialist and veteran Gerald Meerschaert.

Also on the main card is a bantamweight battle between Gaston Bolanos and Cortavious Romious; a battle of ranked strawweights as Luana Pinheiro takes on Gillian Robertson; and Mansur Abdul-Malik meets Dusko Todorovic in middleweight action.

ESPN+ PRELIMS | 4 PM ET/1 PM PT

> Women’s Bantamweights*- Melissa Mullins (6-1, 1-1 UFC) vs. Klaudia Sygula (6-1, 0-0 UFC)

*Mullins missed weight by one pound

Mullins lands a jab as Sygula lands a pair of leg kicks. Sygula lands a jab and body kick. Mullins just misses a right hand but they trade in the pocket. They trade inside the pocket. Sygula looks for a takedown as she has the body lock against the fence. Mullins looks for a head-and-arm throw but they stay on the feet. Mullins gets Sygula down with a trip takedown. Mullins controlling from the top and trying to pass guard. She gets the mount and lands to end the round. 10-9 Mullins.

They trade in close range. Sygula grabs the head but Mullins scores the takedown right into mount. Mullins with some left hands from the top. She lands a few 12-to-6 elbows then goes back to landing the left hand. Mullins keeps pouring it on and it is stopped as Sygula wasn’t defending herself.

Official Result- Melissa Mullins def. Klaudia Sygula by TKO (punches) at 1:20 of Round 2

The weight miss wasn’t a good look for Mullins, but she did everything right inside the Octagon to get the finish. Her takedowns were good and her ground work was great to get a solid finish. Hopefully, she gets her weight issues under control as this was a good performance for her.

> Middleweights- Tresean Gore (4-2, 1-2 UFC) vs. Antonio Trocoli (12-4 1 NC, 0-1 UFC)

Gore gets an early big takedown but they get to their feet at the fence. They trade knees in the clinch. Gore with a standing guillotine choke locked in and it is in tight and Trocoli taps!

Official Result- Tresean Gore def. Antonio Trocoli by submission (standing guillotine choke) at 1:23 of Round 1

Gore had been out of action since October 2022 due to numerous injuries, and he certainly didn’t look rusty at all. That early takedown was big and the standing choke was nasty. This was Gore’s best performance and one that makes it look like he’ll live up to his potential.

> Bantamweights- Cody Stamann (21-7-1, 7-6-1 UFC) vs. Da’Mon Blackshear (14-7-1, 2-3-1 UFC)

Stamann lands a combination inside the pocket after Blackshear lands a body kick. They trade leg kicks. Blackshear with a body kick. Stamann lands a right hand. Stamann with a leg kick. They trade left hands. Stamann with a heavy leg kick. Blackshear lands a right hand. Stamann lands a combo but Blackshear lands a knee and a counter left. Blackshear lands a flying knee and a big combination and Stamann is hurt. Stamann looks for a takedown but Blackshear lands and locks in a guillotine choke. He has it mounted with one arm in. Blackshear lets go but is in full mount. Stamann gives up his back. Blackshear locks in a rear-naked choke and it is in tight and Stamann taps!

Official Result- Da’Mon Blackshear def. Cody Stamann by submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:19 of Round 1

Blackshear has a career-best performance here and looked fantastic. Stamann landed some on the feet early, but it was done once Blackshear was able to get going on the feet, and the choke finish was impressive. Great showing all around by Blackshear.

> Welterweights- Matthew Semelsberger (11-7, 5-5 UFC) vs. Charles Radtke (9-4, 2-1 UFC)

Semelsberger with a high kick. Radtke lands a left hook. They trade and Radtke wobbles Semelsberger with a left hand. Radtke rocks Semelsberger with a right hand and Semelsberger is about to go down. Radtke continues to land as Semelsberger is hurt and it is stopped.

Official Result- Charles Radtke def. Matthew Semelsberger by TKO (punches) at :51 of Round 1

A quick night of finishes sees another one as Radtke gets the finish in less than a minute. He had Semelsberger hurt early and swarmed on him until it was stopped. This was a good showing from Radtke.

> Welterweights*- Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos (24-8-1, 10-4-1 UFC) vs. Zach Scroggin (7-0, 0-0 UFC)

*Scroggin missed weight by three pounds

Scroggin with some low leg kicks. Zaleski with a hard leg kick. Scroggin lands a jab. Zaleski with another hard leg kick. Zaleski lands a right hand and Scroggin is hurt as they go down. Zaleski landing a ton of punches from the top and starts landing hammerfists and keeps landing and it is stopped.

Official Result- Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos def. Zach Scroggin by TKO (punches) at 1:15 of Round 1

This fight was made on four days’ notice and was quite a mismatch, so it went as expected with Zaleski getting the quick finish. He is dangerous and Scroggin gets credit for taking such a tough fight, but this was an easy night at the office for Zaleski.

> Women’s Strawweights- Karolina Kowalkiewicz (16-8, 9-8 UFC) vs. Denise Gomes (9-3, 3-2 UFC)

Kowalkiewicz with a leg kick. Gomes lands a leg kick then a body kick. Kowalkiewicz with a leg kick. Gomes lands a right hand. They continue to trade kicks. Gomes lands a combo then lands a flurry of punches and a knee against the fence. They clinch and Gomes with a knee. Kowalkiewicz lands a knee and reverses. Gomes lands a pair of right hands as they battle the body lock. Gomes lands to the body. Kowalkiewicz with a knee to the body. They trade knees. Gomes with more knees. 10-9 Gomes.

They trade leg kicks and Kowalkiewicz lands a jab. Gomes with an overhand right then a left hand. Gomes with a body kick. Gomes lands to the body. They trade kicks. Gomes tries a spin kick and Kowalkiewicz gets the back as they go to the fence. Gomes reverses and lands a knee as they break. She lands another knee as they clinch back up. Gomes lands a knee as they separate. Gomes lands a combo and a head kick. Gomes with a solid right hand as they clinch. Gomes lands a knee. Gomes controlling against the fence. They trade knees. 10-9 Gomes, 20-18 Gomes.

They trade leg kicks. Kowalkiewicz lands a right hand. Gomes lands a right hand. Kowalkiewicz lands a flurry before they clinch against the fence. Gomes lands some knees. Gomes with more knees before they separate. Gomes with a right hand. Kowalkiewicz lands a combination. They trade leg kicks. Gomes with a series of punches. Kowalkiewicz lands to the body. Kowalkiewicz landing with more volume but Gomes lands a pair of hard right hands. Kowalkiewicz lands a right hand. Gomes with a body kick. Gomes lands. Kowalkiewicz jumps on the back and they go to the mat. Kowalkiewicz lands a pair of right hands. They get on their feet but Gomes escapes. They stand but go to their knees and Gomes goes for a late guillotine choke. 10-9 Gomes, 30-27 Gomes.

Official Result- Denise Gomes def. Karolina Kowalkiewicz by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

This wasn’t much of a fight but it was Gomes landing the more impactful and cleaner shots on the feet, plus controlling the clinch. I don’t see Gomes becoming a contender off of this but it was a solid win.

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> Middleweights- Mansur Abdul-Malik (6-0, 0-0 UFC) vs. Dusko Todorovic (12-4, 3-4 UFC)

Todorovic lands a leg kick as Abdul-Malik lands a left hand. They trade and Abdul-Malik drops Todorovic with a right hand and starts landing from the top. Todorovic looks for a leg but Abdul-Malik starts dropping hammerfists. Todorovic still has the leg but eats more shots from Abdul-Malik. Todorovic gets to his feet. Abdul-Malik lands a knee. Abdul-Malik lands a right hand. Abdul-Malik drops Todorovic with a knee and starts landing from the top. Hammerfists from Abdul-Malik and it is stopped as Abdul-Malik picks up the win.

Official Result- Mansur Abdul-Malik def. Dusko Todorovic by TKO (punches) at 2:44 of Round 1

Abdul-Malik was one of the standouts on this last season of Dana White’s Contender Series, and he couldn’t have had a better debut. He looked powerful and those hammerfists from the top were brutal. He has tons of potential.

> Women’s Strawweights- #13 Luana Pinheiro (11-3, 3-2 UFC) vs. #14 Gillian Robertson (14-8, 11-6 UFC)

Robertson with some kicks. Pinheiro lands a jab. Robertson gets a brief takedown but they pop right up. Robertson has back control. Pinheiro has grabbed the fence a couple of times. Robertson gets it back to the mat. They get to their feet and Robertson maintains back control. Pinheiro lands some left hands as they separate. Pinheiro lands an uppercut. Pinheiro with a right hand and Robertson lands a couple of kicks. Robertson gets it to the mat and jumps on the back. Robertson with some 12-to-6 elbows. 10-9 Robertson.

They’re trading to start as both are landing jabs. Pinheiro lands to the body and then lands a left hand followed by a right hand. Robertson is pressing forward but Pinheiro is landing. Robertson lands a body kick. Pinheiro with a jab to the body and a right hand. Pinheiro lands some more. Robertson looks for the takedown against the fence. They separate. Pinheiro with a jab to the body. Pinheiro lands a right hand. Robertson with a pair of kicks. Robertson grabs the back on the feet. Pinheiro defends. 10-9 Pinheiro, 19-19.

They trade kicks. Robertson looks for a takedown against the fence. Robertson gets the takedown. Robertson gets the mount and lands some elbows. Robertson controlling as Pinheiro is trying to escape. Robertson gets the crucifix position and lands some left hands. Pinheiro gets her arm free and Robertson goes back to the mount. Robertson with some left hands from the top. Robertson with more punches. Pinheiro scrambles and Robertson gets the back. Pinheiro ends up on top and has the neck as she lands to the body. Robertson gets her neck out and is on top. Robertson looks for an arm-triangle choke as Pinheiro lands to the body. Robertson lands from the top at the end. 10-9 Robertson, 29-28 Robertson.

Official Result- Gillian Robertson def. Luana Pinheiro by unanimous decision (29-27, 29-28, 29-28)

Robertson remains a force on the mat. If she gets someone down, she is able to dominate and control. Pinheiro had her moments in the second as Robertson still struggles on the feet, but was unable to stop the takedowns, which made the difference. This was a really strong win by Robertson.

> Bantamweights- Gaston Bolanos (7-4, 1-1 UFC) vs. Cortavious Romious (9-2, 0-0 UFC)

Romious with an inside leg kick. Bolanos lands a right hand then a leg kick. Romious with a leg kick. Bolanos with a leg kick. Romious gets a big takedown. He got the back but Bolanos slips out. Romious looks for a triangle choke and an armbar but they work up to their feet. They separate. Bolanos with a series of hard kicks. They trade punches. Bolanos with a body kick then a leg kick. Bolanos with a hard body kick then lands another. Romious lands a left hand and Bolanos goes to the mat and they have a late scramble. 10-9 Bolanos.

Romious lands a left hand and gets a big takedown. They get up but Romious gets it back to the mat. Romious has the back of Bolanos. Romious working for a choke as he has back control. Bolanos with some deep breaths. Romious still working for the choke. Bolanos is able to slip out and lands an elbow as they scramble up. Bolanos lands a knee. He lands several more knees. Bolanos gets it down. Bolanos lands from the top. Bolanos with some elbows and big shots from the top. 10-9 Bolanos, 20-18 Bolanos.

Romious with a body kick and he slips to the mat. Bolanos scrambles down and Romious looks for the back. Romious gets into the guard of Bolanos. Bolanos looks for an armbar as they scramble. Romious escapes and works to the back. He tries to jump on the back but Bolanos shakes it off and ends up on top. Bolanos with some punches from the top and lands some knees as they get up. Romious tries a takedown but they just fall to the mat. Bolanos is in the guard of Romious but nothing happens as they stand. Bolanos lands a body kick and Romious gets an easy takedown. They both land on the mat. 10-9 Bolanos, 30-27 Bolanos.

Official Result- Gaston Bolanos def. Cortavious Romious by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)

This was not the debut Romious was looking for. Bolanos was able to land better on the feet, and Romious is going to need to improve standing. This wasn’t much otherwise.

> Middleweights- Gerald Meerschaert (37-17, 12-9 UFC) vs. Reinier de Ridder (17-2, 0-0 UFC)

de Ridder with a pair of kicks. He lands a right hand. Meerschaert lands a combination. de Ridder with a jab then a leg kick. de Ridder scores a takedown. He stands but scrambles down and they stand. de Ridder with a stiff jab. They trade and Meerschaert clips de Ridder with a right hand. Meerschaert lands a combo. de Ridder with a jab and a leg kick. de Ridder gets it to the mat but they quickly get up. de Ridder looks for another takedown but Meerschaert defends. de Ridder lands a left hand. de Ridder lands a combo and drops Meerschaert but time runs out. 10-9 de Ridder.

Meerschaert presses forward. Meerschaert lands to the body and de Ridder lands a jab. de Ridder scores a takedown. de Ridder working from the top. de Ridder lands and they stand. de Ridder tries to trip it down but Meerschaert ends up on top. Meerschaert with a left hand from the top. de Ridder lands from the bottom. Meerschaert postures up to stay on top. de Ridder lands from the bottom. They scramble up and de Ridder scores a takedown. Meerschaert goes for an armbar but de Ridder scrambles. Close round. 10-9 Meerschaert, 19-19.

They clinch immediately against the fence. They separate. Meerschaert looks for a takedown but de Ridder keeps it upright. de Ridder throws Meerschaert down to the mat. de Ridder gets the back of Meerschaert. He moves to the full mount and locks in an arm-triangle choke and it gets Meerschaert to tap.

Official Result- Reinier de Ridder def. Gerald Meerschaert by submission (arm-triangle choke) at 1:44 of Round 3

It was a tough match-up for de Ridder in his debut, and Meerschaert had his moments, but de Ridder was able to weather the storm and get the submission win. de Ridder is a solid addition to the middleweight division and has potential to be a title contender, and this was a good start to his UFC run.

> Welterweights- #15 Neil Magny (29-12, 22-11 UFC) vs. Carlos Prates (20-6, 3-0 UFC)

Magny goes for the single leg right away. Prates is able to get it down and is inside the guard of Magny. Prates with a right hand from the top. They get to their feet. Magny lands a right hand. They trade and Magny looks for a takedown against the fence. Prates defends but Magny retains control along the fence. They separate. Prates with a leg kick. Magny goes down as Prates lands a punch and Magny is ordered up. Prates with some big punches on Magny. Magny has a leg along the fence. They separate. Prates lands a left hand and Magny goes down face first and is out cold.

Official Result- Carlos Prates def. Neil Magny by knockout (punch) at 4:50 of Round 1

Prates is a beast. Props to Magny for taking on the young, hungry upcoming talent, but he was out of his league in there with Prates. It remains to be seen if Prates can go into deep waters, but if he keeps knocking people out like this, it may not matter. He is someone to keep watching as he moves up the rankings.

AEW Rampage live results: Lio Rush vs. Komander II

Posted on by Joseph Collins

A rematch from last week’s AEW Rampage is the featured bout on this week’s edition as Lio Rush faces Komander.

Komander won the match last week as Rush looks to even the score tonight.

In a three-way tag team contest, Mike Bennett & Matt Taven of The Undisputed Kingdom take on John Silver & Alex Reynolds of The Dark Order, plus The Infantry’s Shawn Dean & Carlie Bravo who recently aligned with Shane Taylor Promotions.

Former AEW Women’s World Champion Hikaru Shida will face Viva Van. This is Shida’s first appearance since September while Van remains winless in 13 AEW matches.

Top Flight (Dante Martin & Darius Martin) will team against JD Drake & Beef. Top Flight will also be in action on Saturday’s Collision against The Outrunners in a Full Gear four-way contenders series matchup.

This week’s Rampage episode was taped this past Wednesday in Manchester, New Hampshire. Spoilers from the show are available here.

**********

Taped in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Tony Schivaone, Excalibur & Matt Menard were on commentary.

Hikaru Shida defeated Viva Van (5:20)

This match feeks like it should be the six minute match in the middle of the show where four minutes are wrestled during the picture-in-picture break. It’s started out like they were wrestling in quicksand. Shida hit a dropkick off the middle rope and got a reaction from the crowd. Shida got a running knee strike for a near fall. She went for a katana kick, but Van avoided it. Van tried a crossbody off the top, but  Shida rolled through for a near fall. Van set up what looked like an attempt at a One Wing Angle, but Shida countered that into a cradle for a near fall. Shida caught Van with a hook kick, then dumped Van with a Falcon Arrow to get a pinfall. 

– Renee Paquette interviewed Harley Cameron, who recapped her year. Before she could say what her plans will be going forward, Paquette had to end the interview because they were out of time.

Undisputed Kingdom (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) defeated Dark Order (John Silver & Alex Reynolds) and The Infantry (Shawn Dean & Carlie Bravo) (w/ Shane Taylor, Lee Moriarty and Trish Adora) in a three-way (9:31)

The Undisputed Kingdom got a babyface pop. Reynolds was sporting the DDP Memorial rib tape. Reynolds hurt himself delivering a splash on Charlie Bravo. Taven got a tag and caught Bravo with a dropkick. Dean caught Bennett with a cutter against the ring apron, and the Infantry beat on Bennett around ringside. 

Ater a split-screen break, The Infantry continued to double-team Bennett in their corner. Bennett caught Bravo with a spinebuster, then tagged in John Silver. Silver suplexed Dean and delivered a straight jacket back stabber. Taven got the hot tag and took out both members of the Dark Order. Taven hit everyone but Silver with a moonsault off the middle rope to the floor. Taven went to the top, but Dean pushed him to the mat. 

Dean buried a knee into Reynolds’ injured ribs. Reynolds went for a rolling elbow strike on Taven, but fell victim to a pop up uppercut. Taven and Bennett finished Reynolds off with a powerbomb/cutter combo to get the pinfall. 

After the match, Brian Cage came down the aisle to taunt the Undisputed Kingdom, which allowed his partner Lance Archer to blindside Bennett and Taven. Cage and Archer left the Undisputed Kingdom lying. 

– Lexi Nair interviewed Roderick Strong about how his buddies were getting beaten in the ring, but Jake Roberts interrupted. Roberts told Strong to leave The Beast Mortos alone, and this leads to a match between Mortos and Roderick Strong on Collision tomorrow night.

– During the last match, it was announced that Dr. Britt Baker will be on Dynamite this week.

– Another vignette for Deonna Purrazzo & Tyra Valkyrie, “The Vendetta.” 

Top Flight (w/ Leila Grey and Action Andretti) defeated  JD Drake & Beef (7:13 aired)

I thought Drake and Beef were babyfaces? Anyway, Private Party were scouting potential future challengers by watching this match backstage. 

Drake and Beef double-teamed Darius during the split-screen break. After the break, Dante got the hot tag and flew around attacking Drake, hitting him with a springboard senton and a flying splash for a near fall. Drake spun Dante around with a lariat for a near fall. Beef splashed Dante into the ropes, and Drake pput Dante down with a spinebuster. Darius broke up an attempt at a top rope splash from Beef, and took out Drake with a spinning DDT on the floor. Darius and Dante caught Beef with a double-team DDT to get the pinfall. 

After the match, the Top Flight and Drake and Beef respected the Code of Honor and shook hands after the match.

Lio Rush defeated  Komander (w/ Alex Abrahantes) (12:08)

Now that Komander doesn’t have a bigger match on the horizon, it was time for Rush to get his win back. This match started with a hand shake. Lots of face-paced mat work to start. Rush blocked a cazadora and turned it into an arm drag. Komander offered Rush a handshake again, and this was meant with a punch and forearms. Rush caught Komander from behind with a lariat to the back of the head.  Rush hit a backdrop suplex for a near fall. Komander rolled to the floor. Rush followed him out and hit a Asai Moonsault, springing off the bottom rope. 

Komander hit a standing moonsault. He hit Rush with an enziguri. Rush rolled to the ring apron. Komander went for a back stabber on the ring apron, but Rush blocked it. Rush hit Komander with a tope suicida. Back in the ring, Rush hit a blue thunder bomb for a near fall. Rush went to the top, but Komander rolled out of the way. Komander went for an Alabama Slam, but Rush countered it with an F5 for a near fall. Rush missed a dive off the top and Komander suplexed him into the corner. 

Komander hit a top rope moonsault for two. Rush dodged a shooting star press, and Rush caught Komander with an enziguri and a bottom rope springboard stunner. Rush came off the top with the frog splash and got the pinfall. Excalibur teased a rubber match.

Opening with basically a squash really set a down tone for the show.

NJPW Fighting Spirit Unleashed live results: Kidd vs. Fujita, Takeshita vs. TJP

Posted on by Corey Michaels

NJPW Fighting Spirit Unleashed streams tonight on NJPW World with an Openweight title match main, and AEW International title match co-main.

In the main event, Gabe Kidd defends the NJPW Strong Openweight Championship against Kosei Fujita in a matchup of two young stars the promotion has high hopes for in the future.

In the semi-main, AEW International Champion Konosuke Takeshita defends his title against United Empire’s TJP.

Other highlights on the card include a four-way to determine the number one contender to Mercedes Mone’s NJPW Strong Women’s Championship with Anna Jay vs. Trish Adora vs. Koguma vs. Hazuki. The West Coast Wrecking Crew will also face Fred Rosser & Tom Lawlor in a best two out of three falls matchup.

TMDK defend the NJPW Strong Tag Team titles against Grizzled Young Veterans in the show’s other title bout, plus Mustafa Ali and Lio Rush go one-on-one in a junior heavyweight tilt.

**********

Pre-Show Kickoff

Matt Vandagriff defeated Seabass Finn

Finn immediately had control initially, launching with an impressive tilt-a-whirl suplex. Vandagriff dashed these early hopes, however, using his long limbs, height, and strength to keep Finn down. The smaller competitor snatched the match’s momentum back, delivering a Kiss My Bass and more suplexes. Using Tyler Bate’s Lariat, he earned a 2-count.

Finn set up for another devastating suplex, but the size of Vandagrif countered this. With a Bloody Sunday, Vandagrif slammed Finn down with a resounding clash, earning him a pinfall victory.

– Post-match – After some SpongeBob SquarePants banter with the crowd, Vandagrif was met with a bald and angry Zane Jay, who Vandagrif laid out.

Vandagrif is undoubtedly a character-focused storyteller, but I came out of this a fan of Seabass Finn and would love to see more of him.

– Grizzled Young Veterans declared their grit against TMDK for the Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship

– TJP threatened AEW Continental Champion Konosuke Takeshita ahead of their match tonight, complete with Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata and a promo evocative of Patrick Bateman from American Psycho

Main card

David Finlay defeated Kevin Knight

Knight struck Finlay before the bell could ring, sending him to the outside. His aerial offense and blinding agility kept the Bullet Club leader down. Finlay found an opening, sending Knight over the steel barricade, and resumed his bullying inside the ring. Hoping to gain a pinfall, he tried a Backbreaker to no avail. Knight fired back, aiming to win with a hurricanrana, which failed. Finlay tossed Knight to the outside and took the fight there, but Knight’s reaction time sent his opponent careening into the barricade.

Finlay opted to close the match with an Oblivion, but Knight miraculously kicked out at two. After a couple of high-impact moves, Knight suffered a powerbomb. Finlay unleashed hell with an Overkill, granting him a pinfall victory.

I’m not going to lie, Finlay’s growing on me again but Knight eclipses him here with his in-ring prowess. Also, I’m pretty sure that someone screamed like Toad from Super Mario Bros after Knight performed a Twister DDT on Finlay.

Grizzled Young Veterans (James Drake & Zack Gibson) defeated TMDK (c) (Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls) for the Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship

Gibson and Haste started this match, but Nicholls joined in, isolating the Grizzled Young Veteran from his partner. Drake managed to tag into the action, leading Gibson to slide with a Single-Leg Dropkick to Haste. Drake continued to pick Haste apart like a vulture. Haste managed to crawl to Nicholls, who went on a blazing rampage, demolishing GYV in the process.

While Drake endured TMDK’s offense, Gibson snuck up to Nicholls and pulled him out of the ring. Nicholls broke up a Stundown/Backstabber combination, but the damage to Haste had already been done. During his comeback, Haste’s aspirations were literally choked out by a towel manned by Drake while Gibson distracted the referee, setting them up for a High/Low for the win. Grizzled Young Veterans then became the Strong Openweight Tag Team Champs.

A fine match. TMDK’s double-champ reign, as magical as it was, is over. Grizzled Young Veterans are the perfect holders for these belts outside of Japan. The chemistry shared between these teams is nothing short of exciting.

Lio Rush defeated Mustafa Ali

Ali’s approach, albeit slow, proved a difference-maker, slowing the pace with a Single-Leg Crab and an STF. The velocity at which Rush operated existed as a foil to Ali’s best-laid plans. Ali taunted Rush for being an AEW star while battering Rush down. Tired of the disrespect, Rush sent a flurry of elbows and followed with a Tope Suicida, punctuated with a Lope. Flying high as he must, Rush’s waxen Icarus wings melted with Ali catching him for a DDT on the hardwood floor beneath.

Frantically, Rush escaped the wrath of Ali, with a Running Powerbomb nearly ending the match. Missing with a Moonsault, Ali spent the rest of the match writhing in agony. Rush soared once more, landing with a Frog Splash on Ali and gaining the pinfall.

As awash as I am in 205 Live nostalgia, seeing Rush’s story continue as someone with a place to call home while Ali opting to carve his own path away from a company made for an interesting conflict. Though these two have aged up, they continue to excel in what the human body can do.

West Coast Wrecking Crew (Jorel Nelson & Royce Isaacs) defeated Dirty Work (Fred Rosser & Tom Lawlor) in a 2-out-of-3 Falls Match.

Tension had no chance to boil as WCWC and Dirty Work collided head-on. Nelson and Lawlor in particular brawled to the crowd, demolishing a sweet grandmother’s chair in the process. Isaacs meanwhile catapulted Rosser to the ring post and a back suplex onto the unforgiving floor. The grandmother from earlier tagged in Lawlor who proceeded to plunge onto Nelson on the table at the ramp. Lawlor gained the first pinfall immediately after this.

Incapacitating Nelson, Dirty Work pulled a double-submission maneuver on Isaacs, both pulling at his arms and bending his fingers. Nelson broke this up, giving Isaacs a moment of respite. WCWC gained the upper hand, cornering Rosser, who narrowly escaped an Ankle Lock. Isaacs repeatedly punched Rosser’s head, each successive blow pouring blood. Squeezed dry like a mango, Rosser found the strength to keep Isaacs from Lawlor, but only enough to distract from the punishment on Nelson. Try as he might, Lawlor couldn’t prevent Isaacs from passing out from blood loss. West Coast Wrecking Crew gained the second fall.

The third stretch strapped up each team – Nelson to Lawlor and Isaacs to Rosser. That adrenaline could only be matched by the blood-fueled fire burning inside Rosser. The bell at last rung, Lawlor dropped Nelson with a Death Valley Driver while Isaacs had been punctured by Rosser’s Gut-Buster. After much carnage, WCWC nearly lost to a 10-count, had Nelson not rolled meekly to the outside on his feet. Nelson, with a strap around his neck on the top rope, sent Lawlor plummeting through the table. After ten counts, he was eliminated. Rosser had to fend for himself, and he fell prone after a Piledriver combination deemed West Coast Wrecking Crew the winners.

– Post-match – Drowned in boos, WCWC called out Grizzled Young Veterans for their newly won NJPW Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship.

As though the FTR vs Briscoes Trilogy took place on an NXT Takeover card under the NJPW banner, this gnarly affair left me giddy with the violence and silliness. The heart displayed by two tag teams who hate each other couldn’t have been done better.

– Mercedes Mone called out the women in the upcoming 4-way match for the NJPW Strong Style Evolved event in December

Hazuki defeated Trish Adora, Anna Jay, Koguma, and Hazuki for the #1 contender to the NJPW Strong Women’s Championship

Koguma heralded this new match with her Kuma Dance, which Jay and Adora joined. Hazuki didn’t seem to like it. Jay and Adora then turned against Koguma. America versus Japan occurred right after, with temporary alliances forged. Jay quickly trounced the STARS teammates, who sent a dazed Adora into them. Koguma and Hazuki overpowered them, leading to a stiff exchange. Adora cleared the field with a Double-Arm Lariat, but her Lariat Tubman was no match for Hazuki’s La Magistra. Hazuki pinned Adora clean for the win.

– Post-match – Mercedes Mone greeted Hazuki after the match, smack-talking her ahead of the Strong Style Evolved match. The pair brawled, with Mone standing tall over the exhausted body of Hazuki.

Anna Jay’s improvements and Koguma’s charming nature made this entertaining, but Adora and Hazuki’s stand-off was a spectacle. This is what I love seeing in women’s wrestling—feral rage.

Los Ingobernables de Japon (Yota Tsuji & Shingo Takagi) defeated Undisputed Kingdom (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett)

Taven and Bennett kept Takagi away from Tsuji and then cornered him too when the match started. Takagi, fresh off a tag, withstood Undisputed Kingdom’s dirty tactics, spiking Bennett on the mat. Tsuji dealt with the painful offerings of the opponents for a while, but Takagi’s stiffness and Pumping Bombers kept his partner’s head above water. With a devastating Gene Blaster, Tsuji pinned Taven. The Undisputed Kingdom celebrated with the victors before leaving.

– Post-match – A mysterious vignette darkened the arena, and when it lit up again, Jack Perry assaulted Tsuji. Perry challenged Tsuji to a match at Wrestle Dynasty on January 5, 2025. Takagi made the save, chasing off Perry as the crowd chanted obscenities at him.

A short sprint, but a fine one nonetheless. The trademark heel approach of Undisputed Kingdom against the powerhouse dynamic of Takagi and Tsuji is what great pro wrestling is made of.

Ryohei Oiwa defeated KENTA

Immediately playing unfairly, KENTA kept Oiwa down and refused to relent in the slow damage of his left arm. With the young wrestler’s arm hampered KENTA’s wily veteran antics and casual offense mocked Oiwa. Though the pain in his arm was great, Oiwa’s will kept him powering through his hurt arm. Moving on from the arm, KENTA double-stomped his opponent’s sternum. A Doctor Bomb by Oiwa brought him close to the end, but no cigar. Rolling on the mat, however, he and KENTA tried pin for pin for any glimpse of victory. Inevitably, Oiwa defeated the Bullet Club member via his small package counter.

Not exactly what I’ve come to expect of Oiwa, but this put him in a different environment. Softening the hard-hitting powerhouse style for a comeback story, this tested his character rather than his strength and power. I’m not as much of a fan of KENTA in 2024, but kudos to him for putting in a quieter story compared to the rest of the card.

Shota Umino and Tomohiro Ishii defeated TMDK (Bad Dude Tito & Zack Sabre Jr.)

Sabre and Umino locked up, with the TMDK frontman benefitting from this technical style. Umino opted for a more grounded style, but the crowd changed the trajectory of the match thereof. Tito and Ishii then replaced their partners, clashing ahead like only a couple of strong bulls could do. Their exchange, which also leveled Sabre and Umino, left the ring a thundering percussive instrument.

Ishii and Tito reddened each other’s chests so violently, a marker of the true test of sport. Sabre then contorted the winded Ishii for further tenderizing by Tito. Umino, fresher than anyone in the match, sped through Sabre’s efforts, but was no match for the technical maneuvers. Coupled with the power of Tito, Umino nearly fell to the Death Valley Driver. Sending Sabre out of the ring with a Death Rider, Umino capitalized by flinging Tito with a Tornado DDT. Umino ended the match via pinfall thanks to another Death Rider on Tito.

– Post-match – Jon Moxley announced his disappointment in Umino while vowing to make him the champion he always wanted Umino can be. He revealed he would be sending an emissary for Umino to face at Wrestle Dynasty. Umino agreed to this while denouncing Moxley.

Tito being so over with the Massachusetts crowd despite being the easy pin is humorous—at least to me. His dynamic style and presence lend so much to matches, yet it’s clear who bookers view as the big choice going forward.

Konosuke Takeshita (c) defeated TJP for the AEW International Championship

TJP spat red mist on Takeshita’s face before the bell. Taking advantage of his blinded foe, TJP picked at any weak point he found. Takeshita, a mighty warrior, kept finding the strength to power out of each attempt. Capturing TJP after one of many aerial moves, Takeshita bent and contorted the smaller competitor over his long body.

A Tornado DDT by TJP laid out both men, equally worn and torn from the battle. A Blue Thunderbomb by Takeshita closely teetered him a win, but TJP miraculously kicked out. Reversing an inside cradle by Takeshita, TJP shielded the referee as he spat more red mist on Takeshita’s eyes. Rattling TJP with an elbow, the Takeshita hoisted him to the top rope and planted him soundly with a Super Falcon Arrow for the pinfall.

– Post-match – Takeshita bemoaned the lack of challengers stepping up to him at Wrestle Dynasty. Shingo Takagi entered, accepting the opportunity, but negotiating it to take place at Wrestle Kingdom instead. Tomohiro Ishii also emerged, throwing his hat into the ring. It appears there will be a triple threat at the Tokyo Dome on January 4.

My match of the night. TJP threw everything he had at an indomitable force of the AEW International Champion. However, the brawn and energy of Takeshit is never to be denied. The clash of equally matched stars made each counter more compelling than the last.

Gabe Kidd vs Kozei Fujita for the Strong Openweight Championship

Kidd wasted no time in taunting and insulting Fujita. After prolonged brawling, a flying Fujita fell loudly from a vertical drop to the wooden floor. Adding to the further chaos, he throws Fujita over the barricade and across the production tables. Bemoaning the crowd and making crude references to their mothers, Kidd waited patiently for Fujita, who struggled back to his feet.

Flesh sounding on flesh echoed through the auditorium as Fujita and Kidd traded chops. The insults and injuries Kidd afforded unto Fajita came back two-fold, pushing beyond what he was normally capable of with unrelenting strikes and a Bridging Suplex. Trading finishers consecutively, Fujita and Kidd staggered. Fujita tried an Abandon Hope, but Kidd laid too close to the ropes, resulting in a break. Another one was attempted, but Kidd knocked the challenger from the height. Kidd released Powerbomb after Powerbomb, eventually resulting in the crumpled Fujita sitting through a 3-count. Kidd won by pinfall.

– Post-match – Despite being the winner, Kidd hoped for another cruel Powerbomb until Ryohei Oiwa charged to the ring to save his fellow TMDK member. KENTA tried aiding Kidd but didn’t succeed. Oiwa cut a promo in Japanese as Kidd implored him to speak English. A future matchup between the two is in the cards.

Oh, this was so close to the Takeshita/TJP match or the women’s four-way. Fujita’s a massively entertaining wrestler in terms of work and Kidd’s unique brawling style and simplicity made for a compelling matchup. Wrestlers like Fujita will be remembered for what they put into their amazing performances while ones like Kidd will rise to the top through his unbridled character work.

Fighting Spirit Unleashed had a lot of substance leading to Wrestle Kingdom and Wrestle Dynasty. Lots to sink one’s teeth into. The matches themselves were entertaining, providing a variety of flavors. But one thing I must point out is how far improved the production quality has been. I’m not watching footage of a monitor playing a vignette, but I’m actually watching high-quality vignettes. Strong tapings are typically a bit better than Royal Quests, but this one I was genuinely pleased by. Standouts include the women’s four-way, the AEW International Championship, and the Strong Openweight Championship matches.

TNA Impact live results: ‘Speedball’ Mike Bailey vs. Moose X-Division title match

Posted on by Matt Boone

Former TNA World Champion Moose will challenge reigning X-Division Champion “Speedball” Mike Bailey in one of the featured bouts on tonight’s TNA Impact.

Moose has never held the X-Division title while Bailey is looking to extend his third reign as champion and gain his fourth successful title defense.

After Joe Hendry was unsuccessful at winning the World title at Bound for Glory, the popular star will be on tonight’s show to talk about his recent issues with Nic and Ryan Nemeth.

Despite losing her Knockouts title to Masha Slamovich last month, Jordynne Grace and the new champion will team up against Alisha Edwards & Tasha Steelz.

In what is leading to an expected title match, Knockouts Team Champion Jody Threat will go one-on-one with Heather by Elegance after Ash by Elegance defeated Dani Luna thanks to interference last week.

NXT’s Wendy Choo will return to battle now former partner and ally Rosemary.

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Jordynne Grace & Masha Slamovich defeated Tasha Steelz & Alisha Edwards

After a recap package of last week’s show, the show opens inside the Impact Zone where Tom Hannifan and Matthew Rehwoldt welcome us to the show. Tasha Steelz makes her way out to the ring and is joined by Alisha Edwards, who is wearing a neck-brace despite being medically cleared.

The sirens then sound and the fans come to life as “The Juggernaut” Jordynne Grace makes her way out. She heads to the ring as the commentators mention her performance at the WWE NXT at 2300 Arena show on Wednesday evening. Her partner, new TNA Knockouts Champion Masha Slamovich is out next.

Knockouts tag-team action gets things started on this week’s show. Steelz and Grace kick things off for their respective teams. Grace settles into the early offensive lead and then the champ tags in and takes over.

Slamovich picks up where Grace left off, taking it to Steelz, after giving her some free chops and then blasting her out of the water with an overwhelming striking attack. She tags Grace back in and the two hit a big double-team side-slam for a two-count.

Grace goes for the Vader Bomb out of the corner, but Edwards knocks her off the ropes. Steelz follows up with a Back-Stabber to help shift the offensive momentum into her team’s favor. She pounds on Grace’s back with forearms and tags in Edwards. Edwards comes in, neck brace-and-all, and slaps a camel clutch on Grace.

Grace eventually escapes and after dumping Steelz, who was once again the legal woman, she tags in Slamovich. The Knockouts Champion goes on an offensive tear against Steelz, but when she goes for the cover, Edwards interferes to break it up.

Steelz hits the double-knees lung-blower on Slamovich. The champ quickly falls into her corner and makes the tag. Grace comes in looking for the Juggernaut Driver, but Steelz defends. Steelz hits a Crucifix Bomb for the two-count that Slamovich broke up just in time.

Edwards tags in and hops on Grace’s back with a sleeper hold. Grace makes the tag to Slamovich, who slaps a standing rear naked choke / sleeper hold on Edwards’ neck, with the neck brace-and-all, and quickly gets the win. Rehwoldt is livid at the gall of Slamovich to target Edwards’ poor neck. Neck health awareness, folks. After the match, the show heads into a commercial break.

Savannah Evans Explains Attack Of Lei Ying Lee

When the show returns, footage is shown of Savannah Evans’ return last week and attack of Lei Ying Lee. Backstage, Gia Miller asks Evans about this. She says she got tired of sitting home and watching people get opportunities. She’s back now to take her own. And she’s done talking to Gia, too.

Rosemary defeated Wendy Choo in a No Disqualification match

Back inside the Impact Zone, WWE NXT Superstar Wendy Choo’s theme hits and she makes her slow, creepy walk to the ring with her little bedazzled sleep eye mask on her forehead.

The lights in the building go out and the entrance tune for her friend turned rival Rosemary plays. She comes out with her little walking stick and makes her own creepy, slow ring walk.

It’s time for No DQ action in the Knockouts division. The bell sounds and Choo has her loaded pillow, while Rosemary has her cane. Weapons are legal in this one. Choo beats down Rosemary in the corner and hits a big leaping elbow drop for an early two-count.

Choo hits a running kick to the grill of Rosemary in the corner as Hannifan does a live ad-read for the Chris Bey auction this Friday. Rosemary is hung in a tree of woe laying over the ropes above the ring apron. Choo hits a dropkick to send her down to the floor at ringside — the hard way.

As Rosemary recovers outside the ring, inside the ring Choo grabs her giant pillow and heads back. When she does, Rosemary reaches under the ropes from the floor and yanks it, pulling Choo face-first into the steel ring post. Rosemary brings Choo over to the commentary desk and chokes her with a cord.

Some cool camera angles are shown with a dashboard-type cam being used as she chokes the life out of her and screams like a banshee. Rosemary uses her cane in a leaning-back bridge to choke Choo. Choo ends up escaping. The two each hold the others’ hair and land a Rocky Balboa-Apollo Creed double knockout shot like in II. Nowhere near as cinematic, of course.

In what looks to be the softest pillow ever, and the camera shot fully captures that, Choo bashes away at Rosemary with the fluffy vengeance as the commentators try to sell it like something violent. As awful as it sounds. Choo follows that dastardly deed up with a top-rope high spot for a close two-count.

Rosemary takes over and gets her cane. She takes a big swing and then locks Choo in a full nelson or mandible claw with it. Choo bites her way out. Rosemary hits her finisher seconds later and uses the cane for good measure to get the win. The show heads into another commercial break after this wraps up.

From The Vault: Mustafa Ali vs. Mike Santana

When the show returns, we are treated to a “From The Vault” match, likely replacing the Chris Bey match that ended in scary fashion in the post-Bound For Glory 2024 taping.

The bout is Mike Santana going one-on-one with the at-the-time TNA X-Division Champion Mustafa Ali from June 15, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. After a few minutes of action, the show heads into an abrupt mid-match commercial break.

As the show returns from the break, it immediately captures the finish of the bout, which saw Campaign Singh hit the ring, prompting a disqualification ruling.

TNA Director of Authority Santino Marella overrules the ruling, making an impromptu tag bout with Santana and Joe Hendry against Ali and Singh. The match wraps up with the run-ins of Frankie Kazarian and Rhino and then we return to first-run content.

Steve Maclin With A Message For Josh Alexander

Steve Maclin is shown talking directly into the camera, sending a message to Josh Alexander. He brings up having his hands zip-tied and beaten, but makes it clear he didn’t really lose to “The Walking Weapon.” He assures them that things aren’t over with them yet.

The Rascalz Are Ready To Climb Again

From there, Zachary Wentz and Trey Miguel are shown talking amongst themselves backstage about how there’s always another obstacle in front of them.

They ultimately decide that it’s all about the climb anyways, and they’re ready to do so again. They literally climb up the set behind them as the segment wraps up and the show heads into another commercial break.

When the show returns, they are back in their spot, complete with the fake canned studio audience. They address the empty chair where Wes Lee used to sit. A couple of sex and weed jokes later, things wrap up.

Joe Hendry Premieres “The Ryan Nemeth Story”

We then shoot to a digital exclusive that shows Nic Nemeth and Ryan Nemeth arguing and bickering backstage after what happened with Joe Hendry. Hendry comes in and Ryan yells at him to admit what he did. Santino Marella keeps everyone apart, as does Tommy Dreamer, who enters the picture.

Santino tells Hendry he lost and has to start again from the bottom. Hendry decides Ryan is as low to the bottom as things get and wants to fight him. Nic and his brother leave. Back inside the Impact Zone, Hendry comes out and cuts his entrance short.

Hendry says it’s usually time to talk about Joe Hendry, but now it’s time to talk about Nic’s brother, Ryan Nemeth. The fans all react with an “Uht-Oh!” and laughter as Hendry talks about researching his career. He mentions he put together another custom music video.

He wants to celebrate all of the amazing accolades achieved by Ryan Nemeth. He says there’s a lot to get through. He says he spoke to the network and if they need to go long to cover it all, they can. “The Ryan Nemeth Story” is then shown.

“He’s Nic Nemeth’s brother …the end!” That was the entire thing. Fans chant “One more time! One more time!” Hendry says they’ll add another chapter because Ryan Nemeth will have to face Joe Hendry next week on Impact.

Mike Santana Isn’t Interested In First Class

Mike Santana is shown backstage, when First Class duo AJ Francis and KC Navarro walk up to him. Francis, looking like Suge Knight in the 1990s, literally quotes his Source Awards speech dissing Puff Daddy about “being all on the records, all in the videos ..dancing..” and essentially offers Santana to join them.

Santana tells them he just went through The System by himself. Why would he need “someone like you” to help? He walks off. Francis tells Navarro he’s gonna need him to handle Santana. Navarro doesn’t seem thrilled. The show heads into another commercial break on that note.

Jody Threat defeated Heather By Elegance

When the show returns, George Iceman makes his way out inside the Impact Zone. He handles the formal ring introduction for his newest protégé, Heather By Elegance. Out she comes accompanied by Ash By Elegance for the next match of the show.

After she settles in the ring, the Spitfire theme hits and out comes the TNA Knockouts Tag-Team Champions Jody Threat and Dani Luna. Threat settles in the ring and while finishing her entrance, she is attacked from behind by Heather.

The bell sounds and the two get after it, with Heather taking the early offensive lead. Threat fights back and hits a series of repeated clotheslines to Heather in the corner. Hannifan reads another live ad for the Chris Bey auction.

Ash grabs Threat from ringside, leading to Heather hitting a tornado DDT for a close two-count. Heather continues to dominate for a few minutes and then Threat fires up for a comeback. Ash hops on the ring apron, but Luna trips her up.

Heather comes off the top, but is caught by Threat and hoisted up for her finisher. Threat gets the win. After the match, the commentators plug the main event and the show heads into another commercial break.

Moose defeated “Speedball” Mike Bailey to capture the TNA X-Division Championship

It’s main event time!

When the show returns, the matches listed below were announced for next Thursday’s episode of the show. The official “X-Factors” graphic flashes on the screen for our TNA X-Division Championship main event of the evening.

The theme for Moose hits and out comes the leader of The System for his title opportunity. The entrance tune for the reigning and defending TNA X-Division Champion “Speedball” Mike Bailey hits next, and out comes the modern day Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat for the final match of the show.

Moose goes for his Go To Hell spot early on, but Bailey avoids it and Moose crashes and burns on the floor at ringside. Bailey goes out after him. Moose tries fighting back but Bailey moves and Moose lands a hard chop on the steel ring post. Moments later, the same thing happens. Ouch.

They continue to brawl outside of the ring and the reverse happens to Bailey, as the barefoot X-Division Champion goes for a big kick, but Moose moves and Bailey’s foot blasts the steel ring steps. Moose hoists Bailey up and slams him onto the ring apron as the show heads into a mid-match commercial break.

When the show returns, Moose is seen sweeping Bailey’s legs out from under him in the ring. So much so that Bailey does a full flip and is folded in half upon landing. Moose continues to control the offense, hitting an enormous buckle bomb on the X-Division Champion after catching him in mid-air.

Bailey starts to mount some offense, but upon going for a standing shooting star press, Moose moves and takes back over again. Bailey surprises him with a quick roll-up attempt, but again Moose kicks out and quickly resumes kicking ass again in one-sided fashion.

As Bailey starts to show signs of life and begins fighting back into competitive form, he starts taking over as the show heads into a second mid-match commercial break as our main event title tilt continues. When the show returns, Bailey is thrown to the floor in violent fashion.

Bailey gets up selling his leg. Back in the ring, Bailey hits an insane Poisonrana off the ropes to Moose. Moose took a bit of a rough landing, too. He hits the Ultimo Weapon off the ropes after that for a super close two-count. Moose hits a spear that turns Bailey inside-out.

On the floor, Moose charges at Bailey and blasts him with another vicious spear that nearly halves-him, Walk Hard-style. “I’ve been halved!” Back in the ring, Moose charges for a third one, but sprints right into a roll-up from Bailey.

Moose kicks out. Moose hits Bailey with a spear in mid-air. He stalks him for a fourth. He hits it. He immediately covers him. Moose is the new TNA X-Division Champion.

Trent Seven Turns On “Speedball” Mike Bailey

After the match, Trent Seven came to the ring to try and cheer up his Speedball Mountain partner. He got the crowd to rally behind him but then blasted him with a low-blow for no apparent reason.

He followed up with a Seven-Star Lariat to a ton of heat from the fans inside the Impact Zone. He chokes him out with a towel. He throws him out to the floor like yesterday’s garbage to end the show on a double-somber note.

That’s how this week’s show goes off the air. Thanks for joining us and don’t forget to follow F4WOnline.com’s Matt Boone on Twitter/X.

Next Week:
* Joe Hendry vs. Ryan Nemeth
* Mike Santana vs. KC Navarro
* Nic Nemeth vs. Brian Myers
* Northern Armory vs. Eric Young, Jonathan Gresham & Steve Maclin

Ring of Honor TV live results: Sammy Guevara, Katsuyori Shibata in action

Posted on by Jeff Moss

This week’s Ring of Honor on HonorClub will feature a smorgasbord of talent and several key matches as December’s Final Battle begins to form.

ROH Tag Team Champion Sammy Guevara will be in singles action against Preston Vance. The assumed next challengers to Guevara and Dustin Rhodes’ titles — The Righteous — will also be in action.

In what should be a hard-hitting bout, former ROH Pure Champion Katsuyori Shibata will battle The Butcher.

ROH Women’s World Champion Athena will hold an emergency meeting of her minions following last week’s title defense over Abadon.

AR Fox will take on former Pure Champion Josh Woods while past title challenger Diamante goes heads-up with Rachael Ellering.

After pinning Chris Jericho on Wednesday, Tomohiro Ishii continues his march toward an ROH World title match as he faces Aaron Solo.

The rest of the card is rounded out by The Infantry, the returning Leyla Hirsch, Angelico & Serpentico, Lee Johnson & EJ Nduka, and The Patriarchy’s Nick Wayne.

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With absolutely nothing of interest or importance happening in any part of the USA, all eyes were fixed firmly on Ring of Honor on Honorclub Episode 89!

The Infantry (Carlie Bravo & Shawn Dean) (w/Lee Moriarty & Shane Taylor) defeated Tom Mitchell & Trace Parker

Last week, the Infantry shocked everyone by signing up with Shane Taylor Promotions. This immediately helped them get a somewhat shady win over Spanish Announce Project, which possibly signalled a heel turn for the group. This week, they have significantly less imposing foes in Mitchell and Parker who… well, they were there.

Bravo started off against Parker, taking the greener wrestler to the woodshed quickly. The Infantry’s newfound agression was on full display as Dean grabbed Parker from the outside, choking him behind the ref’s back. Taylor was very pleased by this. Mitchell jumped in to help his partner and ate a Boot Camp but Parker was the legal man, so the Infantry gave him a “Two To The Head” to pin him. Mitchell never legally entered the match.

Spanish Announce Project (Angelico & Serpentico) defeated LSG & Shawn Donavan

As mentioned, last week Serpentico and Angelico lost in dubious fashion to The Infantry. It’s cool though, and the laid-back duo looked to right the ship with a win over the first-time pair, LSG and Donavan. LSG has been popping up this year as part of the horribly-named Ace of Space Academy, but professional Dax Harwood impersonator Donavan hasn’t been seen in ROH in over 5 years. 

It was beef vs bean (string bean that is) as Angelico and Donavan kicked things off. The shorter Donavan had the density of a dying sun, so Angelico wasn’t able to get him off his feet, allowing him to lock in the longest wrist lock I’ve ever seen. Donavan was so dialed in, Serpentico had to break it up from the top rope.

From there, the tandem offence of SAP was the story. They were able to keep both Donavan and LSG on their heels and making sloppy mistakes. LSG and Donavan got some decent work in against Serpentico, but Serpentico’s speed was able to deke them out and bring in Angelico.

Even though his partner is Serpentico, Angelico might be part snake the way he was able to slide and slither around LSG. He locked him into a crazy hammerlock/abdominal stretch/airplane spin that caused him to tap out.

-ROH Pure Champion Lee Moriarty cut a promo from backstage. He called out Matt Taven, who had entered the Pure Division for the first time last week, in advance of their inevitable PURE Championship match in the future. Spoiler: Moriarty does not think Taven will win.

Sammy Guevara (w/Dustin Rhodes) defeated Preston Vance

Last week, Guevara and Rhodes, the reigning ROH Tag Champions were called out, confronted and then jumped by The Righteous, Vincent and Dutch. They are looking to take those titles and being The Righteous, they don’t care if they do it in a strictly “legal” way. But it remained to be seen if they would cause some chaos in Guevara’s match with Vance.

Guevara gave up a bit to Vance in terms of muscle, but right off the top Guevara’s speed had him in control. That speed came back to bite him though as Vance caught him with a back elbow while he was running the ropes. That didn’t slow Guevara down though as he took Vance to the outside a drove him in to the guardrails, while Rhodes watched diligently for any sign of The Righteous.

As much fun as it was watching a guy named Vance get punched in the face, it came to an end when Guevara hit a big cutter followed by a GTH for the win. Rhodes joined him in the ring, still standing guard with a steel chair. Suddenly, the lights got all weird and the sound of snapping was heard. Vincent and Dutch were nowhere to be found though.

EJ Nduka & Lee Johnson defeated The Philly Marino Experience (Marino Tenaglia & Philly Collins)

Now that Nduka and Johnson have officially joined forces, it’s gotta make a lot of other teams in ROH nervous. Especially The Philly Marino Experience (which sounds like a hip new Tapas spot, by the way) who were making what appears to be their ROH Debut. Excellent way to do it, I’m sure it’ll work out great for them. 

[Ron Howard Voice]: It did not.

Johnson started the match against Tenaglia which was a nice matchup in terms of size and speed. Johnson’s experience gave him the advantage though and he was able to keep Tenaglia off his feet and firmly in a chin lock.

Nduka then tagged in and to his credit, Tenaglia didn’t burst into terrified tears. He took a swing ot two and Nduka picked him up like a loaf of bread and threw him across the ring. Several times in fact. Collins tagged in and even though he had a bit more size, didn’t fare much better. Nduka kicked, punched and threw both of them around with ease.

Johnson tagged back in and hit a frog splash, pinning what was left of Collins to get the win. These guys are fun to watch, but Nduka needs to expand his move set a bit just to keep things interesting.

-ROH Women’s Champion Athena called an emergency MEM (Minion Empowerment Meeting) in the back. Athena managed to barely hold onto her title against Abadon last week, so she has some things to say to her MiT’s (Minions In Training). Athena said the she is ready to take on porcelain hussies all around the world. Suddenly, Billie Starkz appeared. While Lexy Nair has been loyal to the Forever Champion, Starkz has been pretty moody and uninterested in helping the champion out. Athena left in a huff, leaving Nair to deal with Starkz. Nair put Starkz in Minion Time Out and walked out after the champ.

Diamante defeated Rachael Ellering

Ellering has been trading fashion tips with Harley Cameron and this match is her return to the ROH ring for the first time since August. Ellering’s Tag Team Partner, Leyla Hirsch has had beef with Diamante for a long, violent time. Speaking of which, Diamante failed to capture the ROH Women’s TV Title a few weeks back, but did pick up a win last week against Aminah Belmont.

Diamante had the adventage off the top because though she be wee, she be very, very strong. Ellering was able to hold her own though, as well as hold Diamante by the waist in a gut wrench suplex. Ellering tried a senton, but telegraphed it and Diamante was ready with knees up. Diamante’s mean streak was on display as the dragged Ellering’s face along the rope between turnbuckles.

Ellering caught Diamante with a huge back elbow and landed her Squish senton, but Diamante wasn’t done yet. She raked the eyes while the ref couldn’t see and landed a huge DDT to make Ellering’s night a bad one. Afterwards, Diamante called out ROH Women’s TV Champion Red Velvet who appeared in the ring and hit her with a big spinning kick. Diamante retreated up the ramp while the two debated the places they were from.

Leyla Hirsch defeated Tina San Antonio

Leyla Hirsch is back! Hirsch’s last match was the excellent Texas Death Match against Diamante at Death Before Dishonor back in July. Hirsch won that match, but injury put her on the shelf for a bit. Now that she’s back, will she still have trouble with Diamante? Or will she start the climb towards a bigger prize, namely ROH Women’s Champion, Athena? And will San Antonio get a surprise upset in her ROH Debut? So many questions, so much time to answer them. 

HIrsch looked good off the top. She wrestles a fast, technical style and it looked like her injury hadn’t cost her a step. San Antonio had a bit of a height advantage, but Hirsch was fired up and managed get out of everything San Antonio threw at her.

Hirsch managed to catch San Antonio with a huge knee to the head and get the pin to win, looking like she had never left in the first place.

-Backstage, Matt Taven responded to Lee Moriarty’s earlier promo. Taven has won every title in ROH except the Pure title. So Moriarty better be ready because Taven’s bringing it home to the Kingdom.

Tomohiro Ishii defeated Aaron Solo

Ishii, a proud member of the Conglomeration, stomped down to the ring to face former Nightmare Family member Solo. Presumably, Ishii would then stomp on Solo, and stomp back to the locker room. The man likes to stomp. Solo has not won a match in ROH since April. So this will work out fine for him, I’m sure. 

It almost seemed mean to put Solo up against Ishii. Solo, tall and thin, had very little defence against the sheer strength and power of Ishii. Every punch and attempt to send Ishii to the ropes was shrugged off, frustrating Solo. Ishii unleashed the chops and Solo was lucky his lungs didn’t pop out.

Ishii tried to pin Solo off of a side suplex, but Solo, a glutton for punishment, kicked out at two. Solo tried to take the match to the air with a big double stomp from the top rope, but took too long to pin Ishii, who crushed him with a big lariat. Ishii got Solo up and then brought him down with a big Brainbuster and got the pin.

-The Righteous headed out to the ring for a match and were immediately jumped by Rhodes and Guevara in payback for the attack by Vincent and Dutch last week. Security came down to break up the melee, but Dutch got busted open in the process. Everyone seemed to forget that there was a match scheduled and the ROH Tag Champs, Rhodes and Guevara stood tall as the Righteous exited up the ramp.

Nick Wayne (w/Kip Sabian & Mother Wayne) defeated Ryan Clancy

Wayne has been making some noise for The Patriarchy in ROH recently, this time bringing Mother Wayne and Kip Sabian with him. A couple of weeks ago Wayne came out on top in a match against Brian Cook. This week, he’s up against (checks notes) “Fancy” Ryan Clancy, who is (checks notes again) a wrestler. 

Clancy ended up being a pretty decent bruiser, wrestling a “classic” style and keeping up with Wayne in both speed and intensity. Wayne had him beat in the posing department though, hands down.

After a very impressive flurry of Clancy offence, Wayne picket up speed with a series of near falls. Clancy responded with a few near falls of his own, making it seem like an upset was close. Wayne kicked out every time though while Mother Wayne looked on.

Clancy climbed to the top rope, but Wayne pushed the Ref into the ropes causing him to fall. Wayne hit a dragon suplex followed by a huge cutter from the corner to get the win.

-The Infantry and STP entered the ROH locker room backstage. They were met byt 4 NPC’s dressed in black. Taylor asked if they had seen Rhodes and Guevera. When no one had, The Infantry and STP beat up the men. Taylor then called out the ROH Tag Champs, saying that STP wants those titles back. Guevara and Rhodes have several targets on their backs now.

ROH Classic Match: ROH World Six Man Tag Team Title Match: Shane Taylor Promotions (Kaun, Moses & Shane Taylor) vs MexiSquad (Bandido, Flamita & Rey Horus)(c) (Baltimore, Maryland, USA, Feb 19, 2021)

With Taylor and company hunting down the Tag and Six Man Tag belts in ROH, it made sense to see this classic match from the Pandemic era of pro wrestling and, well, life. Maria Kanellis joined the commentary team for this match and she added some really fun color. It was a hard-hitting affair and definitely worth 9 minutes of your time.

AR Fox defeated Josh Woods (w/Ariya Daivari & Mark Sterling)

Fox got his first ROH singles win three weeks ago against the one and only Jack Cartwheel. He’s looking to add to those stats against the Premier Athlete and Very Large Dude, Woods. Not that he needs the help, but Wood’s teammates Daiavari and Sterling accompanied him to the ring, while Tony Nese is still out relentlessly celebrating the birth of his twins. 

Sterling added “flogging our new shirt” to his opening schtick as the Athletes came down to the ring. Fox, in what can only be assumed was a move of protest, came down to the ring with no shirt on at all. Woods and Fox stood at about the same height, but Woods had the upper pectoral in the muscle department.

Woods tried to keep things technical and on the mat where he excels. Fox wasn’t used to that and he seemed confused as to how to proceed. Finally, he settled on a headlock while he figured out his strategy. Fox figured out he had the high-flying advantage and hit a big splash on the outside.

As the match progressed, Fox tried to leap over a running Woods but caught his foot on his opponent and smashed his face into the match. That gave Woods an opening to club a prone Fox. Sterling got involved behind the Ref’s back and hung Fox up on the ropes for Woods to pick apart.

Woods went for a cocky cover, but Fox kicked out and spiked Woods on his head with a big second rope DDT. Fox got his second win and hit a swanton. The fight moved to the outside where Fox drove Wood’s head into the mat. Back in the ring, Fox went for a springboard from the top rope, but hit his face on Woods’ knee on the way down.

Fox tried again, but Woods attempted to knock him off the top rope. The agile Fox rolled through though and hit a 450 splash to pick up the surprise win! Then a wild Nick Wayne appeared and took Fox apart. Fox and Wayne have a match coming up on Collision.

Katsuyori Shibata defeated The Butcher

This match was taped way back in June of this year, but only made it to air now. One can only assume it fell behind a filing cabinet or something. The Butcher was making his ROH Singles debut here while his partner, The Blade, recovers from back fusion surgery. Shibata is, well, The Wrestler. That’s because he’s very good at wrestling and hasn’t lost a match in ROH in 2024. 

Butcher had about 50 lbs and 6 inches on Shibata, but see above. Shibata drove him into the corner off the top, leading to Butcher moving into a more technical strategy. It was a big risk taking on one of the best technical wrestlers in the world in his preferred style, but Butcher had a plan. He drew Shibata out of the ring and then drove him into the ring apron (the hardest part of the ring!).

Back in the ring, Butcher’s powerful strikes kept Shibata on the ground and Butcher locked in a one-legged crab hold. Shibata wrigged under the ropes to break the hold, and sent Butcher to the corner to take a big double dropkick.

Butcher fought back and tried to set Shibata up for brain buster, but Shibata countered and put on a sleeper hold followed by a big PK to put the Butcher down for good, closing out the show.

AEW Dynamite live results: Orange Cassidy & Darby Allin vs. Claudio Castagnoli & PAC

Posted on by Ryan Howard

AEW strikes back at Jon Moxley’s Death Riders on tonight’s Dynamite from Manchester, NH.

Fighting for AEW’s honor, Orange Cassidy & Darby Allin will team up against Moxley’s allies Claudio Castagnoli and PAC a week after Allin descended from the rafters to return and brawl with Moxley’s group.

After their in-ring confrontation last week after Adam Cole defeated Buddy Matthews, Malakai Black and Cole will go one-on-one. Cole needs to win three in a row in order to get a shot at MJF at Full Gear.

After his debut last week, Bobby Lashley will appear live alongside The Hurt Syndicate’s MVP and Shelton Benjamin.

AEW International Champion Konosuke Takeshita & Kyle Fletcher will face Ricochet & a mystery partner.

In a Fight Without Honor, The Learning Tree’s Chris Jericho, Big Bill & Bryan Keith will face The Conglomeration’s Mark Briscoe, Kyle O’Reilly & Tomohiro Ishii.

Penelope Ford will face Jamie Hayter, while Christian Cage and Hook are set for a face-to-face confrontation.

**********

AEW Dynamite comes on the air with Excalibur welcoming us alongside Nigel McGuinness as they throw it to Tony Schiavone in the ring who introduces The Hurt Syndicate to the arena.

The Hurt Syndicate Address AEW

MVP officially introduces himself to the AEW crowd, as Shelton Benjamin was next and his resume was run down to a strong ovation. Lashley was next, and got a massive ovation. MVP brought up handing out Hurt Syndicate business cards, saying if you accept it, it’ll change your life, if you reject it, this is what happens, throwing to the big screen and Swerve Strickland being laid out last week. Swerve Strickland & Prince Nana then come to the stage and have to be held back by officials, as Strickland had a steel chain in hand, looking for a fight. Strickland yells at Lashley for a match at Full Gear and MVP accepts. Lashley, never taking his sunglasses off, stared him down from the ring.

-Video package highlighting Orange Cassidy’s quest to battle the Death Riders is shown before tonight’s opening contest.

Orange Cassidy & Darby Allin defeated AEW Trios Champions Claudio Castagnoli & PAC (w/Wheeler Yuta) via disqualification

(Strong opener, with the crowd really behind Cassidy & Allin and their multiple comebacks. The ending wasn’t a surprise, as I assume we’re getting a Castagnoli & Allin singles match soon and this was also a way for the Death Riders to get back some of their heat after being finally outmatched last week. I wouldn’t be surprised if we got a Death Riders vs. Conglomeration match coming out of this.)

Castagnoli & PAC charged up the ramp to go at Cassidy, who lured them up there as Allin dove from the top of the entrance tunnel to wipe out both. PAC & Cassidy brawled ringside, as Allin piggybacked Castagnoli with a sleeper before being driven into the barricade. The match officially began, with Castagnoli & PAC both getting the upper hand in and out of the ring, until Cassidy side stepped a PAC dropkick and delivered a brutal PK. Cassidy momentarily distracted himself staring down at Yuta, giving PAC time to hit a Helluva Kick. Cassidy fought off the avalanche brainbuster, sending PAC crashing to the mat before hitting a diving DDT for two. Castagnoli made the save with backbreakers aplenty, as the match reset into commercial.

Cassidy’s ribs were worked over the entire break before finally side stepping a charging Castagnoli in the corner, diving for an Allin hot tag. Crowd erupts, as Allin ran wild, hitting a Coffin Drop from the ring to the floor on PAC before leaping into the clutches of Castagnoli. Allin avoided a Giant Swing, but Castagnoli launched him high in the sky with a back drop for two. Castagnoli powered Allin into a spinning backbreaker until PAC followed with a stalling German suplex for two of his own. Locomotion uppercuts in the corner until PAC dropped Allin with a brainbuster, followed by an avalanche variety for a close near fall broken up by Cassidy. Series of reversals led to a Cassidy hot tag this time, as he took PAC from corner to corner head first into the buckle. Cross body off the top on PAC, as a Stundog Millionaire into a Code Red dropped Castagnoli. Both Allin & Cassidy took turns hitting dives, as back inside Cassidy spiked PAC with a spinning DDT.

Yuta tried to jump in the ring, but ate an Orange Punch, as did Castagnoli on the apron. Marina Shafir appeared and kicked referee Bryce from the ring, allowing Jon Moxley to show up and choke out Cassidy. Allin made the save with a skateboard shot to the back until Yuta jumped Allin and the match was officially called off. Allin managed to fight off PAC, Yuta & Castagnoli with his skateboard, ducking a Shafir briefcase shot, only to run into a Castagnoli uppercut. Castagnoli launched Allin violently into the ring post off a gorilla press as back in the ring, the Death Riders had a 5 on 1 attack on Cassy with Moxley hugging Yuta, ordering Shafir & PAC to hold Cassidy up. They followed orders, as Yuta hit a Busaiku Knee. The Conglomeration’s music hit, as Mark Briscoe, Kyle O’Reilly, Rocky Romero & Tomohiro Ishii hit the ring, as the Death Riders retreat.

**********

-Renee Paquette is backstage with Ricochet, asking who his mystery partner will be in the main event. Ricochet said he could pick anyone, as so many have issues with the Don Callis Family, but will keep it a secret for now. The Hurt Syndicate approach, as Ricochet said it’s nice to see them while MVP said they just want to wish him good luck. Ricochet tells them to watch him work and MVP said they will.

Mark Briscoe, Kyle O’Reilly & Tomohiro Ishii defeated ROH World Champion Chris Jericho, Big Bill & Bryan Keith in a Fight Without Honor

(Weapons galore, as the result was expected, especially with the return of Ishii last week to be the first challenger in this reign of Jericho for the ROH Title. The crowd were really into this and all the wild moments, with Briscoe doing exactly what you’d assume, going absolutely nuts when a Fight Without Honor is happening. I’m glad they’re seeming to pivot from Briscoe being the contender for the ROH Title, as he needs to be focused on AEW for a while, I feel.)

All out brawl from the jump, as Briscoe decked Jericho with the ROH Title, while O’Reilly hit a Dragon Screw on Big Bill over the top rope, which was a cool visual. Jericho avoided a Jay Driller off the apron through a table, but not Ishii, who hit a backdrop driver on Jericho through the table. Bill was there to hit a big boot, as Briscoe launched off a chair over the post with a dive onto the big man. O’Reilly & Keith were left brawling on the apron before both fell off through a table together. Briscoe set up a ladder against the barricade, but took too long and suffered a chokeslam through it by Bill, as complete carnage took things to picture in picture.

The Learning Tree controlled the break, but Briscoe & Jericho both grabbed chairs and swung it out until Jericho dropped first and ate a shot to the back. Keith suffered the same fate, but Bill was there with a series of big boots and impressive Boss Man Slam on O’Reilly. Bill missed a corner charge and was lit up by all three Conglomeration members until a high/low from Ishii & O’Reilly sent him outside. Jericho tried a Lion Tamer on Briscoe, but Ishii met him with chops. Briscoe wanted a Jay Driller, but Keith made the save with a kendo stick, as O’Reilly & Bill fought to the back, leaving it a tag match in the ring.

Tower of Doom spot was turned into Briscoe hitting a powerbomb on Jericho while Ishii hit a superplex on Keith. Bill is shown stalking O’Reilly in the back and then into the arena, as he set up multiple tables while O’Reilly was down. Bill wanted a huge chokeslam off loading crates, but O’Reilly locked in a guillotine. Both men fell from the crates and they crashed through the tables. Back in the ring, Briscoe charged with a ladder, but Jericho hit a dropkick into it. Briscoe ducked a chair shot and managed a Jay Driller, but opted to set up a ladder and table instead of making the cover. Jericho was placed on the table, as Briscoe went to the top of the ladder for a massive Froggy Bow, but Keith just broke the pin. Ishii no sold some lariats and flattened Keith, who was taken out by a diving Briscoe leaving Ishii alone with Jericho, hitting a sliding lariat. A vertical drop brainbuster followed and Ishii pinned the ROH World Champion.

**********

-The Death Riders were seen leaving the arena as Jon Moxley said just so there’s no confusion, Wheeler Yuta doesn’t owe Orange Cassidy anything. Being a nice guy doesn’t buy loyalty, only a cause does. Yuta isn’t Cassidy’s student, he’s a soldier under Moxley’s command. He calls Darby Allin a disappointment he had high hopes for before shoving Yuta out of the camera shot. Moxley said there’s a time to kill, heal, destroy and build, as it’s time for those to stop playing at the thing you want people to think you take seriously. Moxley leaves with Shafir by his side.

Adam Cole defeated Malakai Black

(These two have always worked well together over the course of their careers and this was no different. Similar to last week, there were times in this match that allowed the crowd not to just cheer for Black, but boo Cole for kicking out of The End, which, I don’t know was the intended reaction they wanted. The finish was interesting, as the respect Black had for Cole almost led to Black accepting his fate and letting Cole hit his finisher. It’ll be interesting in who MJF called on the phone in the post-match, which I’m assuming has something to do with the final hurdle for Cole, or perhaps the second hurdle for Strong.)

Excalibur brings up how Cole has never beaten Black in all their singles matches in their career, as Black is 6-0. McGuinness said this is Black’s first singles match since “retiring” Adam Copeland in their cage match at Double or Nothing. Quick series of back-and-forth takedowns traded until Black caught a superkick and slowly placed the injured ankle down, refusing to take the easy route and target Cole’s weakness. Black opts to work the wrist before firing off an inside leg kick to force Cole to regroup outside. Black was quickly out after, but Cole battled back, wanting a Heatseeker, only for Black to avoid, dive off the apron, with Cole hitting a superkick in mid-air to take things to commercial.

When they return, Cole immediately hit a fireman’s carry neckbreaker for two before wanting Panama Sunrise, ultimately hitting it. The momentum took Black to his feet and he fired off a pump knee into the reset as both collapsed, Black managing a near fall, as he fell onto Cole. Both up for a slugfest until Cole superkicked out the leg, but Black swept the leg in return, going to the corner slow, allowing Cole to cut him off. Black countered a superplex, wanting a sunset bomb, but hit another pump knee instead. Both trade superkicks until Cole hit the neckbreaker on the knee. Cole charged and Black hit The End flush, but Cole kicked out to some boos from the crowd.

Black tried dragging Cole up, collapsing initially, but it was a ruse, as he caught Black with a superkick followed by a Panama Sunrise and another superkick to get another reset. Cole up first, as Black tried to get up, but instead sat with his legs crossed, telling Cole to essentially put him out of his misery. Cole hit The Boom and got the win, as the fans didn’t really know what to think of Black seemingly falling on his sword. We saw Kyle O’Reilly watching backstage getting worked on by the trainer, as Cole was seen thanking Black, who slowly recovered. Cole offered a handshake, as Black shrugged it away, instead hugging Cole.

After Black left, Cole took the microphone and put him over as one of the best he’s ever faced in his 16-year career. The crowd cheered Black loudly, as he gave a nod to them. Cole said he has one more win left to get his hands on MJF, as Roderick Strong has two more to go. Cole said everyone wonders if Cole & Strong both get three wins, what will happen? Cole talked to Tony Khan and said it would be a Triple Threat at Full Gear with Cole, Strong & MJF. Cole guaranteed MJF getting the ass kicking of a lifetime courtesy of the Undisputed Kingdom.

MJF was shown, I guess from his home, furious at what he just saw, as he made a phone call saying he needs them to pay someone a visit.

-The Full Gear 4-Way Contenders Series begins this weekend on Collision to determine the three challengers on who will face Private Party for the Tag Team Titles.

-Renee Paquette is backstage with Switchblade Jay White and asked him about the vile things Hangman Page said about him last week. As White was running down what Page said, Page charged into the shot and the two brawled into the arena. Page beat down a security guard, allowing White to grab a chair and try for a home run shot, but Page tackled him into the barricade. Page trapped White’s ankle between the railing and was about to use a chair on it until Juice Robinson ran in to make the save. White got free and brawled with Page into the ring, but Page escaped into the crowd, limping while doing so. White took the microphone and begged for Page to tell him what he was going to do to him at Full Gear. White said he’s going to dismantle Page at Full Gear and will have fun doing it. White said Page told him he’d leave White behind, but he’s never been ahead of him and Page’s leg will be his downfall. Perhaps White will be the first to make Page tap-out.

**********

-Renee Paquette is backstage with Kris Statlander, who appears to be arriving to the arena 90 minutes into the show, asking about her recently announced TBS Title match at Full Gear against Mercedes Mone. Statlander said she can’t wait for Full Gear and walks off screen before we hear a car screeching and see that Statlander jumped out of the way of a truck being driven by Kamille. Mone was in the passenger’s seat and scolded Kamille for missing, ordering her to go after Statlander. She was unsuccessful, as Statlander fought off both, slamming Kamille into the car door and hitting a Rock Bottom onto the hood of the car to Mone. More cracks in the partnership between Mone & Kamille in this segment.

Christian Cage & HOOK Face to Face

The Patriarchy came to the ring, as Cage held up the AEW World Title contract and told the fans to shut their mouths. Cage said security were at the aisle for HOOK’s protection before officially welcoming Kip Sabian to the family, as he’s a fatherless loser like many. Cage plays the clip of Sabian stealing his pen before almost cashing in his contract last month, as Cage then said Sabian was wise enough to realize the BCC, who were standing backstage at the time, would’ve interfered and cost him his World Title match. Cage said in that moment, Sabian did more for him than any of his other sons ever have, glaring at Nick Wayne. Cage said he loves Sabian, hugging him until HOOK’s signal is seen, the music hits and he comes to the stage.

HOOK said whatever it is Cage has to say, make it good and fast, he doesn’t have much patience. Cage said HOOK is a wild card with crazy eyes, he’s an ass kicker, but said he needs a son like him. Cage realized if he was going to be his son, he needed Taz out of the picture, as it was out of a place of love. He took out Taz with a led pipe to the leg, questioning why he didn’t just tell HOOK who did it, as he saw it was Cage who was behind this, why did he force HOOK to find his own answers? Cage said Taz buckled under the pressure of the bright lights and hid behind the commentary table and asks if that’s what HOOK wants to do or does he want to be a World Champion like Cage? Cage said no one cares that Taz is alive and wishes he was dead, as HOOK broke through the security, but The Patriarchy all bailed and the guards were left getting their asses kicked and choked out. Cage is smiling at the entrance as HOOK, standing tall, screams he wants a one-on-one match.

-Alex Marvez is backstage with Don Callis and asks about his new team of Lance Archer & Brian Cage before a big man approaches, offers an envelope and ring box before playing a message on his phone. It’s from “The Devil” as MJF said he needs Callis to do something for him and said there’s more money where that came from. MJF also said do what needs to be done, bay-bay and not to scuff up his ring or he’ll have someone scuff him up. The man walks off, with Callis putting the Dynamite Diamond ring on and admiring it.

Jamie Hayter defeated Penelope Ford

(I was about ready to criticize how little offense Hayter had, but I liked that the Hayter-ade came out of nowhere and once she hits it, it’s all over.)

Ford attacked Hayter at the bell as she was posing in the corner, getting a full mount, firing off strikes. Ford missed a corner charge, allowing Hayter to hit a high back suplex and returned the favor with punches in bunches of her own. Ford fought back with her handspring elbow and charging boot. Trip kick into the ropes led to a snap dropkick by Ford for another two count. Ford missed a moonsault, allowing Hayter to fly in with a dropkick and spiked Ford with a brainbuster. Hayter tried a lariat, but Ford did a matrix into a cutter for a nice near fall. Hayter fought out of a fireman’s carry and just like that, hit a Hayter-ade for the win.

-Mina Shirakawa video is shown, as she’s returning to AEW next week

**********

-A video package for Kazuchika Okada was shown. Jim Ross called him is one of his favorite talents ever in wrestling. Most people who are knowledgeable will have in their Top 5 wrestlers of all time. Excalibur said if Okada wins the Continental Classic, he will tie Masahiro Chono for the most tournament wins for a Japanese talent, bringing up the G1 Climax legacy left by Chono. Okada shrugged off Chono’s previous G1 Climax wins and mentioned how he will win the Continental Classic this year and defend the Continental Title. This was a good quick little video to put over Okada’s history of big tournament wins ahead of the Continental Classic.

Ricochet & Powerhouse Hobbs defeated AEW International Champion Konosuke Takeshita & Kyle Fletcher

(I thought this was a great main event with the returning Hobbs more than holding his own in there, looking like a future contender for the International Title. Ricochet is obviously next in line, so getting a pin on the champ made sense here, but I look forward in seeing what Hobbs does going forward now that he’s healthy, as he’s been a missed presence on TV. The post-match was filled with a bunch of run-ins, but most importantly, Will Ospreay, who is finally back and out for revenge on Fletcher, presumably at Full Gear.)

Ricochet took the mic and called Takeshita & Fletcher morons for allowing him to pick a mystery partner. Ricochet someone’s contract was allowed to expire with the Don Callis Family and he’s really pissed off that they had seemingly forgotten all about him. Powerhouse Hobbs makes his entrance to a loud ovation and he storms to the ring with Ricochet and the match is on. Hobbs mowed down both Takeshita & Fletcher with a shoulder tackle, as McGuinness said it’s a rare oversight by Don Callis for letting Hobbs’ contract to expire, while Excalibur said once Hobbs was injured, Callis had no use for him any longer and turned to Lance Archer & Brian Cage.

Takeshita started no-selling Ricochet chops ringside and flattened him with a forearm, as Hobbs dropped Fletcher before stalking Takeshita. Ricochet stood on the shoulders of Hobbs and moonsaulted off to the floor onto Takeshita & Fletcher to a huge pop. Delayed vertical suplex from Hobbs on Fletcher before tagging in Ricochet. A momentary distraction from Takeshita allowed Fletcher to hit a draping DDT through the ropes to gain control, as stereo big boots had Ricochet isolated throughout the break.

Adam Cole was shown watching backstage, as we’re told Cole vs. Takeshita will take place next week for Cole’s final hurdle to get to Full Gear. Hot tag from Hobbs, who ran wild with a lariat on Fletcher and snap powerslam on Takeshita. Meat chants from the crowd, as Hobbs hit an Avalanche Tour of the Islands, but Fletcher broke the pin attempt, causing Hobbs to chuck him from the ring. Hobbs lowers the straps, but the delay allowed Takeshita to fire off a forearm, which Hobbs slowly rose up from. Forearm exchange by Hobbs & Takeshita led to Hobbs winning that war, but Takeshita managed a stalling German suplex. Hobbs answered with a wild lariat in the double down in a really fun back and forth.

Ricochet & Fletcher tag in and pick up the speed, with Fletcher hitting a big boot, but missed a corner charge. Ricochet tried a springboard cross body, but was caught by Fletcher, who turned it into a sit-out Liger Bomb for two. Hobbs sent to the floor, as Takeshita wanted an avalanche powerbomb on Ricochet, who countered into a hurricanrana in mid-air. Ricochet wanted a 450 on Takeshita, but missed, rolled through and Takeshita hit a pump knee. Head scissors into an attempted gut-wrench German, but Ricochet landed on his feet, tried a Poison Rana, but Takeshita held on and Fletcher flew in with a Doomsday Device for two. Ricochet avoided the Power Drive Knee, hit Takeshita with a thrust kick, as Fletcher was steamrolled outside by Hobbs. Takeshita wanted a home run lariat on Ricochet, but Hobbs shoved him out of the way and took the bullet. Ricochet flew off the top for a hurricanrana, Takeshita initially caught him, but Ricochet snapped through with a pin attempt for two. Shooting Star Press connected for another two, but The Spear Gun charging lariat got the job done and the win.

Post-match, Fletcher grabbed a steel chair and smacked Hobbs on the apron followed by one to the back of Ricochet. Fletcher wanted a Tiger Driver when Mark Davis hit the ring to make the save, trying to drag Fletcher to the back, but a shoving match occurred with Davis shoving down Fletcher. Lance Archer & Brian Cage hit the ring and attacked Davis, laying him out with Fletcher watching on. Adam Cole ran out, but Takeshita cut him off and brawled with him immediately to the back ahead of their match next week. Fletcher went and grabbed a chair to put Davis out of commission until Will Ospreay’s music hit and Ospreay sprinted out from the back to a huge ovation with his fists taped. Cage & Archer saved Fletcher initially, but Hobbs, Davis & Ricochet all recovered and made the save. Fletcher almost ate a Hidden Blade, but bailed before Ospreay could hit. Ospreay, Hobbs, Ricochet & Davis stared down the Don Callis Family to end the show.

AEW Collision (11/9/24)

  • Death Riders (PAC, Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta) defend the AEW Trios Titles against The Conglomeration (Mark Briscoe, Kyle O’Reilly & Tomohiro Ishii)
  • The Outrunners vs. Top Flight in a Full Gear Contenders Series
  • Nick Wayne vs. AR Fox

AEW Dynamite (11/13/24)

  • FTR vs. House of Black in a Full Gear Contenders Series
  • Adam Cole vs. Konosuke Takeshita

WWE NXT live results: Trick Williams & Bubba Ray Dudley team up at former ECW Arena

Posted on by Chris Aiken

WWE NXT Champion Trick Williams will team with Bubba Ray Dudley against former champion Ethan Page and Ridge Holland as part of tonight’s live debut from the former ECW Arena.

Dudley and Holland got into a verbal altercation at last month’s Halloween Havoc leading to Dudley getting physically involved in defending Williams on last week’s NXT TV.

The show is taking place on a different night as well, going head-to-head with AEW Dynamite.

In an all-star 10-woman tag team match, former TNA Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace returns to team with Stephanie Vaquer, Giulia, Kelani Jordan and Zaria against NXT Women’s Champion Roxanne Perez, Cora Jade, and all three members of Fatal Influence.

In an homage to the now-2300 Arena, Lola Vice will go one-on-one with Jaida Parker in a hardcore match with former ECW manager Dawn Marie as special guest referee.

In an anticipated singles bout, Je’Von Evans will go to battle with Wes Lee.

**********

The show begins with a canned intro that uses the ECW “This is Extreme!” theme song, along with clips from NXT action. NXT is live on the air from the corner of Swanson and Ritner, from the former home of the ECW Arena.

In the crowd is someone dressed like Hat Guy, and his seat is nearly in the same spot. Opening the show is a “hardcore” match.

Jaida Parker defeated Lola Vice in a hardcore match with Dawn Marie as special guest referee

Parker pinned Vice after a hip attack finisher. They steal a page from the Friday script, except in this version the heel grabs a brick and hits the babyface. That set up the finish.

Metal folding chairs are used early and often in the match. There are spinning back fists into chairs, chairs wedged between the ropes, chairs scattered in the ring, and also chair shots of course. Vice tries to get a table from underneath the ring, but Parker shoves the table back under the ring.

Double clothesline on the floor, and a double down as the show cuts to its first commercial break. When the show returns, ladders, trash cans, and kendo sticks (or “Singapore canes” since this is an ECW tribute show).

Vice is put on a ladder bridged in the ropes, and Parker jumps off a standing ladder in the ring. Parker with a “teardrop” senton and crushes the ladder bridge, and Parker gets a near fall. Vice fights back to apply a choke, yet Parker is able to escape. They took turns hitting each other with the Singapore canes, and they took some big bumps.

Just before they go home, Vice has Parker trapped in a chokehold. Parker is able to pick up a gimmicked brick that is laying in the ring, and Parker hits Vice with the brick. The hold is broken of course, and Parker gets to her feet so she can run the ropes. Parker delivers her hip attack finisher, and Parker covers Vice for a three count.

Ridge Holland and Ethan Page are together to cut promos on their opponents for tonight. Notably, Page says there will be no tables in their match.

Wes Lee ambushes Rob Van Dam in a backstage skit. RVD is giving some advice to Kelani Jordan, who points Rob in the direction of Ava’s office. Suddenly, Wes Lee runs in to attack RVD. The skit is shot in a way that chair shots are not seen, but heard instead.

Adrianna Rizzo against Nikkita Lyons in a singles match is official for next week, which is first mentioned in a skit where Nunzio (Little Guido) and Tony Mamaluke meet up with a Tony D’Angelo and his Family for not checking in. Nunzio is apparently now a gangster from Philly. It was silly, but not in the fun way when Little Guido ran with the FBI.

Je’Von Evans defeated Wes Lee

Evans pinned Lee, in a match where RVD shows up at ringside. This was a pretty dang good match, and it was more in the spirit of the original ECW than anything else on the show so far.

The match goes through a commercial break. The show cuts to commercial after Lee drops Evans with a brain buster on the ring steps.

Less brawling after the break, and more high spots. Lots of flying. Evans does his double springboard into a cutter, but Lee rolls out of the ring before Evans can make a cover. Evans then sails through the ropes with tope suicida that sends him crashing over the announce desk.

Lee gets a chair and goes to hit Evans, but the ref takes the chair away. Moments later, Lee gets the chair again. That brings out RVD, who made a miraculous recovery. Lee confronts RVD, and RVD ducks a chair shot. Evans then dives over the ropes on Lee.

Rolling back into the ring, Lee takes a flying cutter from Evans. RVD cheers on Evans as he does a frog splash, and Evans covers Lee for a pinfall.

Eddy Thorpe wants to speak with Ava, but she makes an excuse and says it can wait. Ava is headed to the ring alongside Stevie Turner and Robert Stone.

After a commercial break, Ava and company are in the ring. The crowd is tough as Ava announces the next NXT PLE will be Deadline. Robert Stone butts in to cut a promo on Philly fans. Stone puts over New York fans over Philly fans. Stone keeps cutting a promo on Philly when the arena lights go dark. The lights come back on and Rhino is in the ring. Rhino gores Stone, and the crowd pops.

Ridge Holland & Ethan Page defeated NXT Champion Trick Williams & Bubba Ray Dudley

Holland pinned Williams to win the match. With Holland pinning the champion, that likely sets up a title bout for the near future. D-Von Dudley made a cameo in a post-match angle.

Holland shoves Bubba early on, so they square off. Later on, Bubba cleans house after a mildly hot tag. The crowd was nonetheless hot for Bubba. The heels are reeling as the show cuts to a commercial break.

When the show returns from the break, Bubba is crotched on the ring post. Holland & Page then get heat on Bubba, as they work him over. Bubba is audibly calling spots clear as day, as he sets up to deliver a spear. Hot tag to Trick, and he is a house of fire. All four are involved in the match just before the finish.

For the finish, Holland dodges Trick’s knee strike finisher, and Holland rolls up Trick for a pinfall.

Page jumps Trick after the match. Holland then joins in to team up on Trick. Page & Holland are beating down Trick when Bubba makes a save. Bubba and Trick do the “wazzzup” and the “get the tables” spots, which were actually not part of ECW lore. Whatever, though. It got over with the live crowd.

When Trick went to get a table, he could not find a table under the ring. They wondered what to do when the Dudley’s theme song blares, and out comes D’Von Dudley with a table. Page is then put through a table. D-Von then presents Trick with a pair of Dudley glasses.

The love story between Ashante “Thee” Adonis and Karmen Petrovic continues to blossom. Slow burn here.

NXT North American Champion Tony D’Angelo (with The Family) defeated Nunzio (with Tony Mamaluke)

D’Angelo pinned Nunzio after a spinebuster. Nunzio looked very thin in tights, but he can still work pretty well. He did a few of his signature spots, before getting a crowbar to use. The ref takes the crowbar from Nunzio, and D’Angelo finishes him off. D’Angelo executes his finisher, and he covers Nunzio for a pinfall. Tony D and Nunzio embrace after the match after shaking hands.

Backstage, Shawn Spears tells Brooks Jensen that he is “feeling Italian” next week in Orlando.

In footage from last week, Mr. William Regal shakes hands and says farewell to Lexis King. Regal the runs into Charlie Dempsey and the No Quarter Crew. Regal remarks to Dempsey that King is not his father’s son. Regals asks Dempsey is he is his father’s son. Dempsey says time will tell. The inside joke here is Dempsey’s actual father is Regal.

Francine is shown in the front row of ringside.

TNA Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace, Stephanie Vaquer, Giulia, Kelani Jordan & Zaria defeated NXT Women’s North American Champion Fallon Henley, Jacy Jayne, Jazmyn Nyz, Cora Jade & NXT Women’s Champion Roxanne Perez

Zaria pinned Perez to win the match. This was a good match where everyone got to shine or get some spots in. Giulia and Vaquer worked together with tandem moves, since they are an established team. Zaria eventually tags in, and she looks strong.

All ten face off in a standoff that turns into a slugfest. Jordan does a moonsault off the top rope to the floor, just before the show cuts to its final commercial break. A replay shows the moonsault in slow motion as the show fades into commercials.

After returning from the break, heat on Jordan. She is kept away from her corner, as Jordan is in peril. Hot tag to Grace, and she is a house of fire. She gets a near fall on Jade.

Lash Legend & Jakara Jackson come down to ringside, and they are wiped out with high flying from Vaquer & Giulia.

Everyone gets involved with a parade of high spots in the closing moments. Zaria inadvertently spears Grace in the match, which was a very notable spot.

For the finish itself, Perez goes for Pop Rocks. Zaria blocks the move, and Zaria gives Perez the F-5. Zaria then covers Perez to win the match.

The babyfaces celebrate with their hands’ raised, as the ECW theme song plays before the show fades to black.

There was some really good wrestling on the show, but this was the lamest ECW tribute I have seen. As a fan of the original ECW, this show had none of the magic of past tribute shows.

WWE Raw live results: Fatal four-way number one contender’s match

Posted on by Steve Khan

Air Date: November 4, 2024 (taped November 3)
Location: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 

**********

Show Recap — 

(If you followed my recap of Crown Jewel, you’ll know there were streaming issues with Sportsnet Now. Well, Raw opened with no audio on Sportsnet Now even though it’s a taped show. The audio returned about 7 minutes into the show. Fortunately, it takes about that long for anything to happen on a WWE show.) 

Raw opened with a massive fireworks display, which doesn’t happen much anymore. Judgment Day, Damian Priest, Sheamus and Seth Rollins were shown arriving earlier. 

Michael Cole and Corey Graves were tonight’s announcers. 

Liv Morgan segment 

Liv Morgan entered with Dominik Mysterio and Raquel Rodriguez. She held her world title and showed off her new Crown Jewel ring (she did not have the Crown Jewel belt). She welcomed us to Monday Night Morgan. 

She declared the Liv Morgan revenge tour was over and the world tour was starting. She took out Rhea Ripley for a third time and she would be out for a long time. She beat Tiffany Stratton (on Smackdown) and travelled halfway around the world to become the inaugural Crown Jewel champion. 

Dom said he would win tonight and become the next world champion as he was loudly booed. 

Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair interrupted. Belair recalled their interaction last week and Cargill challenged them to a tag match. Morgan tried to create dissension between Belair and Cargill but they didn’t bite. 

Adam Pearce marched out and tried to settle things down but Morgan kept taunting Belair so Belair smacked her. Pearce informed Morgan there would be a battle royal tonight to determine her next challenger and Belair and Cargill were in the match.

IYO SKY won a battle royal to become number one contender for the Women’s World Championship (12:41) 

The opening portion of the match followed a familiar pattern. Someone would shine, then get eliminated by someone else. That person would shine, then get eliminated, and so on. 

Kayden Carter eliminated Isla Dawn first. Shayna Baszler almost eliminated Carter but she was saved by Katana Chance. Sonya Deville picked up the pieces and eliminated Carter anyway. Maxxine Dupri got a moment to “shine” but she was quickly eliminated by Ivy Nile. Zelina Vega used an ugly-looking 619 to eliminate Nile. 

During a break, Kairi Sane eliminated Vega, Natalya eliminated Alba Fyre, and Iyo Sky eliminated Chance. Chance was seemingly eliminated earlier but she didn’t land on her feet so she walked on her hands back to the apron but was immediately dropkicked out by Sky. 

Belair eliminated Sane before Baszler and Deville eliminated Natalya. Baszler and Deville had their backs turned so they were dumped out by Belair and Cargill. That left Cargill, Belair, Lyra Valkyria and Sky. Cargill and Belair wound up facing off for a moment but they were attacked from behind by the other two. Cargill and Belair fought them off anyway. Cargill hit Jaded and Belair hit KOD. 

Rodriguez and Morgan ran back down and eliminated Belair and Cargill from outside the ring. The tag champs chased them away through the crowd. 

Sky and Valkyria battled on the apron as the crowd chanted “This is awesome” (for the second time in the match). Valkyria booted Sky into the ring post but Sky followed with a German suplex on the apron. Valkyria fell out of the ring and Sky is your new number one contender. 

(This wasn’t good but the crowd had fun.) 

********

New Day interview / Wyatt Sicks video 

Cathy Kelley interviewed The New Day. Xavier Woods said they should have won the number one contender’s match last week and they would have if Chad Gable didn’t interfere. Kingston raised his eyebrow at this comment. Kingston said the War Raiders didn’t win straight-up but it didn’t go down the way Woods described. Woods said Kingston dropped the ball because he’s the one that got beat. Kingston suggested he watch the tape. 

As they argued, the feed cut to a Wyatt Sicks video. Uncle Howdy/Bo Dallas spoke in riddles as the camera focused on a man tied to a chair wearing a sheep mask. Bo Dallas removed the mask to reveal The Miz was the man kidnapped. Miz said they wanted Final Testament but he wasn’t in Final Testament. Dallas showed his face and told Miz that he was the one he wanted. 

Dallas told Miz he would crawl on his belly through thorns and thistles for all the pain he had inflicted on others as he begged and pleaded for mercy until he returned to the ground. For dust you are and to dust you will return. Dexter Lumis (in his mask) ran up behind Miz as the feed cut. 

After a break, Cole said their production crew had nothing to do with the airing of that video. He didn’t seem concerned about Miz. 

(They probably should’ve chosen any other week to air this video.) 

********

The War Raiders defeated The New Day (9:08) 

Erik gave Kingston a nasty-looking knee to the back of the head and the War Raiders took control through an early break. Kingston made a hot tag after the break and ran wild until Woods tagged himself in. Kingston was getting ready for Trouble in Paradise as Woods tagged in. Kingston was perplexed. Erik knocked out Kingston and the Raiders gave Woods their finisher “War Machine” (elevated German suplex and springboard clothesline combo) for the pinfall win. 

********

[SECOND HOUR] 

They announced their Road to WrestleMania European tour. 

Sami Zayn & The Usos segment 

Zayn entered. He greeted the fans in Arabic and said how proud he was to be able to come out in front of his people and speak their language on WWE television. However, that’s not why he came out. He wanted to address what happened on Crown Jewel with the Bloodline. 

Jey Uso entered (to a very big reaction). Jey thanked Zayn for having his back at Crown Jewel. Even though he watched the footage, Jey asked Zayn if kicking Roman Reigns was an accident. Zayn looked surprised by the question.  

Jimmy Uso entered. Jimmy said they all saw the same thing. They watched Zayn kick OTC dead in the face on purpose. Jimmy was pissed, Reigns was pissed, and Jey should be pissed. Jimmy said Zayn couldn’t be trusted. 

Zayn interrupted and said Jimmy should probably be reminded of his own track record. Jimmy welcomed him to the family first and was his brother but as soon as things started going badly, it was Jimmy who kicked him in the face. Jimmy kicked Reigns in the face when things got bad between them and as soon as Jey had his own opportunity, Jimmy kicked him in the face too. 

Jimmy said he didn’t owe Zayn an explanation and he wasn’t the bad guy. The crowd chanted, “Sami Uso.” Zayn told Jimmy that he didn’t hate him. He never did. Jimmy wasn’t a bad guy but he made bad decisions. Zayn came out at Crown Jewel for one reason and that was Jey. 

Zayn admitted that standing alongside Jimmy, Jey and Roman felt like old times. It felt special. For one minute, it felt pretty damn good. But that’s how long it lasted. Just one minute and it fell apart just like it always did with the four of them. 

Zayn wasn’t doing this again. He wasn’t having his loyalty tested and wasn’t being put on trial by their family again. He apologized to Jey and said he wasn’t doing this again. Zayn told Jey, “I’m out.” 

Zayn left the ring but Jey asked him to come to Smackdown so they could talk this out like family. Jimmy said Zayn wasn’t family. Jey said Zayn isn’t blood-related but he is family. Jey called him “Sami Uso” (as the crowd was already chanting, “Sami Uso.”) The crowd cheered. Jey hoped to see Zayn on Smackdown. Zayn walked to the back. 

Zayn was great here. 

********

Seth Rollins interview 

Jackie Redmond interviewed Seth Rollins. (It seemed like Rollins was scaling back on the ridiculous outfits but he was in a new one here.) Rollins put over Bronson Reed. He respected their fight and knew they would dance again. But that was down the line because he had gold on his mind. Three of the best in the world—and Dominik Mysterio—were going to duke it out for a chance at Gunther. Rollins was full of confidence. 

******** 

Dragon Lee (w/Zelina Vega) defeated Chad Gable (w/Ivy Nile) (11:36) 

There was a bit of comedy early on with Dragon Lee snapping Gable’s singlet against his body. They would up on the apron and Gable gave him a back body drop off the apron to the floor. After a break, Dragon Lee gave Gable a double-foot stomp off the top but Gable gave him an overhead suplex into the corner. 

Dragon Lee superkicked Gable right in the face (as Gable was upside down on the middle rope) and hit a corner dropkick for two. They exchanged forearms until Dragon Lee hit a German suplex. Gable no sold it and hit a German suplex of his own. Dragon Lee no-sold that and they traded counters until Gable hit consecutive German suplexes. 

Dragon Lee came back with a Liger bomb for two. Gable suplexed Dragon Lee off the top and hit a Cliffhanger DDT. Gable tried a cover with his feet on the rope but Vega knocked him off. Nile went after Vega and put her on a dragon sleeper. 

Rey Mysterio walked out to check on Vega. Gable tried to attack him (and maybe remove his mask) but Dragon Lee hit Operation Dragon (Destino) for the pinfall win. 

(This was great. It sort of felt like they were told to do whatever match they wanted. This is worth checking out if you missed it.)  

********

Gunther interview 

Redmond interviewed Gunther (with Ludwig Kaiser) about his loss to Cody Rhodes. Kaiser was pissed at the question but Gunther calmed him down. Gunther said Rhodes didn’t get lucky and wasn’t undeserving. That night, Rhodes was the better man. 

Redmond asked about the number one contender’s four-way. Gunther said they were three very capable competitors—and Dom. Rollins’ ability spoke for itself and Priest represented another difficult challenge. There was also Sheamus who Kaiser was supposed to take care of. 

Gunther was still the champion and after losing on Saturday, it was on him to do better. He looked at Kaiser and said they both needed to do better. Kaiser didn’t look happy. 

********

Priest entered first at 9:29 pm, they went to break, and the match started at 9:41 pm. They went to break two minutes into the match and returned at 9:47 pm. They wrestled for just four minutes before going to break again. 

Fatal four-way match: Damian Priest defeated Dominik Mysterio, Sheamus and Seth Rollins to become number one contender for the World Heavyweight Championship (17:40) 

Dom tried to escape the other men but Sheamus caught him with ten beats of the Bodhrán. Priest gladly watched this transpire but Rollins caught him in a schoolboy for two. Rollins wiped out Sheamus and Priest simultaneously with a suicide dive and hit one on Dom. 

Dom was actually in control after a break. During the break, he shoved Rollins off the top to the outside and shoved Sheamus into the ring steps. Dom hit Priest with a tornado DDT for two. Dom talked trash as he punched Priest so Priest fired up and hit strikes, a corner elbow and a flatline. 

Sheamus gave backbreakers to Priest, Rollins and Dom. The crowd chanted for Sheamus as he hit Dom with a diving knee drop. Rollins broke up the cover and Priest clotheslined him. 

After another break (the second one within ten minutes), Sheamus and Priest exchanged strikes until Sheamus hit White Noise for two. Dom set up Sheamus for 619 but Sheamus hit him with a powerslam. Sheamus went for a Brogue Kick but Rollins knocked him out of the ring with a knee strike. Rollins gave Dom a Pedigree but did not go for a cover. 

Rollins set up for a curb stomp instead but his attention turned to Bronson Reed who attacked Sheamus and Priest outside the ring. Rollins went after Reed but Reed clotheslined him and cleared the announce table. Priest and Sheamus attacked Reed who rolled into the ring. 

Reed fought off both men and gave out Death Valley Drivers. Reed hit Tsunamis on both men (as Dom watched from the outside). Reed then put Rollins through the announce table with a Tsunami off the barricade. 

Dom waited until Reed left to take advantage. He hit Sheamus with a frog splash but Priest broke up the cover. Dom gave Priest a 619 and went for a frog splash but Priest caught him out of the air and hit a chokeslam for the pinfall win. 

(Sheamus seemed to be the favourite but the crowd obviously cheered when Priest pinned Dom.) 

— Gunther was in the ring after replays and had a staredown with Priest as the show ended. 

NJPW Power Struggle live results: Kenny Omega appearance, four title matches

Posted on by Corey Michaels

A special appearance by Kenny Omega is on tap for today’s NJPW Power Struggle event.

Omega, out of action since late last year due to diverticulitis, has been advertised for a special appearance on today’s show in Osaka, potentially setting something up for January’s Wrestle Kingdom and Wrestle Dynasty events.

Four title matches will also take place today.

IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Zack Sabre Jr. defends against Shingo Takagi in the main event in a bout where Shingo’s NEVER Openweight title is not on the line.

IWGP Global Champion David Finlay defends his title against Taichi on the show.

DOUKI puts the IWGP Junior Heavyweight title on the line against Master Wato today.

TMDK’s Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls defend the IWGP Tag Team titles against United Empire’s Great-O-Khan & HENARE.

The Super Junior Tag League finals are also set for the show featuring the winners of A Block vs. the winners of B Block.

**********

Bullet Club War Dogs (Gabe Kidd, Clark Connors, Drilla Moloney, Robbie X, and Taiji Ishimori) defeated Intergalactic Jet Setters (Kevin Knight and Kushida), Katsuya Murashima, Paris De Silva, and Jude London

Silva and London dominated in the early sprint, delivering high-octane offense to the War Dogs. However, X gained the upper hand with a Standing Shooting Star Press. Kidd returned the favor to the War Dogs with a stiff lariat to Murashima. The Bullet Club’s representation closed the match by mockingly delivering their finishers to Murashima with each signature finish: X-Express, a Bloody Cross, Drilla Killa, and a No Chaser, punctuated by Kidd unleashing a Piledriver for the win.

A quick sprint. Silva and London have impressed in the Super Junior Tag League, so seeing them get a spot in a fun opener was nice.

Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, Yota Tsuji, BUSHI, and Hiromu Takahashi) defeated Dragon Dia, Ryusuke Taguchi, Tomoaki Honma, and Toru Yano

Tsuji immediately overwhelmed Yano, who tagged in Taguchi who was overwhelmed by LIJ as a unit. Dia turned the tide through his vigor and agility, capitalizing with a 619 to Naito. Honma suffered by BUSHI, Takahashi, and Tsuji but countered Takahashi’s offense with a Kokeshi. As Naito held Yano in a Figure Four Leglock, Takahashi submitted Honma via a Boston Crab for the win.

Speedy, yet efficient. Everyone performed excellently – even Naito had me on the edge of my seat.

House of Torture (EVIL and Ren Narita) defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi and Boltin Oleg

SHO and Yujiro Takahashi intercepted Tanahashi and Oleg on the way to the ring, leaving Narita and EVIL to pick up the scraps. Hoping for an easy night’s paycheck, Narita worked on Tanahashi’s weakened leg for another quick advantage. Tanahashi began his team’s comeback with a Flying Crossbody as he gave a hot tag to a spirited Oleg. The Kasachstan native mowed down the heavy numbers of the House, lending Tanahashi to drop Narita with a Slingblade.

Seeming as though the Ace and Oleg had the match under wraps with a wishful High Fly Flow, EVIL clutched Tanahashi’s leg on the top rope while Narita rolled up Oleg in the middle of the ring for the win.

– Post-match – House of Torture bullied their downed opponents further. An interfering Jado attempted to make the save, but he met the same fate. Though Oleg fought back, Narita laid him out. Ryohei Oiwa then challenged Narita for the NJPW World TV Championship, as did Jeff Cobb. Oiwa, Cobb, and Narita then brawled.

This lacked the usual House of Torture volume of interference, leading to a sincerely enjoyable tag match. I’m moreso anticipating an impending clash between Cobb and Oiwa, however.

Shota Umino defeated SANADA

Both men started strong, but SANADA gained an advantage after slamming Umino with a Magic Screw on the outside. Sending the Roughneck into the chairs beyond the barricade, SANADA callously punished him, only leading to a 17-count.

Umino’s spirit saw a comeback through a Tornado-DDT, which he followed up with a standard DDT onto the ring apron. Another Magic Screw saw SANADA regain his momentum, only for Umino’s Death Rider to even the odds. Succeeding many offensive transitions, Umino sealed the victory through a Death Rider with a pinfall.

A bit longer than it needed to be, but only a little. Despite that, each man’s comeback heightened the drama of the match. SANADA’s character shift is brimming with frustration and I’m ready to see where it leads him.

United Empire (Great-O-Khan and HENARE) defeated TMDK (Mikey Nicholls and Shane Haste) (c) for the IWGP Tag Team Championship

HENARE and Khan mocked Nicholls soon into the match so he’d inadvertently distract the referee as they dominated Haste in the ring. Nicholls made the rescue for his partner, as he and HENARE exchanged stiff shots until the champion foolishly headbutted HENARE, leaving blood to trickle like a stream down his forehead.

Opting for a DDT, Nicholls’s efforts were thwarted by Berserker, which a Sliding Lariat countered. Khan and Haste took over from there, with the former’s resilience reminding the latter that victory won’t be easy. TMDK’s Takebuster fell Khan, but HENARE broke up any chance for a victory with a falling headbutt, and a Power Bottom did the same to HENARE to no avail. The challengers then collaborated with an Imperial Drop to Nicholls for the pinfall.

As a TMDK fan, this win was so well-deserved by United Kingdom after an incredible match. Nicholls and Haste fighting from underneath gave so much hope, only for this monster team to steal it away.

– Kenny Omega appeared, confirming an in-ring return for January 5, 2025, at Wrestle Dynasty, representing AEW against a young NJPW wrestler

TMDK (Robbie Eagles and Kosei Fujita) defeated Catch 2/2 (TJP and Francesco Akira) in the Super Junior Tag League Finals

TMDK got an early advantage, leading to Fujita soaring from the top rope to TJP and Akira on the outside. Once tagged in, TJP’s agility gave Catch 2/2 a moment to breathe. Eagles incapacitated Akira on the outside after a Tope Con Hilo, while his partner narrowly avoided TJP’s Falcon Arrow.

Eagles dived back into the ring to stop a top rope assault on Fujita, leading to a slow but steady comeback. The situation worsened after the Eagles accidentally kicked Fujita off the ropes, but he survived their Leaning Tower. Eagles kept countering TJP’s roll-ups in a desperate stretch, eventually landing one of his own for the pinfall.

This match stole the show. United Empire wasn’t an easy obstacle to overcome, but TMDK did it, with Fujita and Eagles’s futures proving to be bright within NJPW.

– Post-match – Chris Charlton on commentary mentioned Kenny Omega and Gabriel Kidd had gotten into a backstage altercation. Intergalactic Jet Setters emerged, accepting TMDK’s challenge at Wrestle Kingdom. Catch 2/2 was called back to the ring for another title opportunity. Drilla Moloney and Clark Connors attacked everyone and announced their interest in the belt.

DOUKI (c) defeated Master Wato for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship

Trading elbows, the competitors locked horns. DOUKI’s prowess kept him ahead of Wato, leading to a near-count. Ensnaring the challenger in holds, DOUKI held him in a hold before releasing him. Wato’s speed saw him, but nothing was enough.

Wato sought out a Spring Uppercut from the top rope, flattening DOUKI, but lost control due to a baseball slide to the ring apron courtesy of DOUKI. Just when Wato seemed on his feet again, DOUKI’s DOUKI-bomb laid the challenger out beyond the ring. Wrapping Wato within his signature DOUKI Chokie, title retention was nearly in DOUKI’s hands. After landing a TTD, DOUKI hoped for a pinfall, but it didn’t come. Once again keeping Wato in a DOUIKI-Chokie, the champion rendered the challenger motionless and unconscious.

– Post-match – El Desperado made a surprise appearance, setting up a future match with DOUKI for the Junior Heavyweight Championship.

DOUKI does it again. He pulls out memorable title defenses that carve out a space that fills matches with desperation and intensity through his selling and his motivation to succeed.

David Finlay (c) defeated Taichi for the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship

Stalking around his challenger, Finlay’s goal was clear, and it was to make Taichi uneasy. The Just 5 Guys member isn’t so easily swayed and he kicked the champion with such disgust and disdain. Finlay managed to eke out some painful agony of his own onto Taichi, slamming him into barricades, commentary booths, and the ring apron. Taka Michinoku and SANADA stayed, accompanying Taichi.

Suplexing Finlay over the top rope, Taichi recovered while Finlay squirmed in pain over landing hard on the steel barricades. Rallying the fans behind him, Taichi’s aspirations were cut short as Finlay attacked Taichi’s spine. Finlay contributed a Canadian Hammer onto the carcass of Taichi but failed to make a successful pin cover. The same can be said for the Oblivion and Jackknife moves which met the same result. Taichi nearly had the match won with a Black Mephisto, but shockingly, SANADA pulled the referee away, costing him the match. SANADA then removed his jacket to reveal a Bullet Club War Dogs shirt underneath. With a shillelagh, Finlay struck the backside of Taichi and gained the pinfall victory.

Going into Power Struggle, I expected Finlay to beat Taichi, but I didn’t see the SANADA betrayal coming. Considering his attitude at Royal Quest and during the Shota Umino bout, it makes all the sense. I came out of this sincerely enjoying a David Finlay match, but the aftermath was a surprise that’ll be in my mind for far longer.

Zack Sabre Jr. (c) defeated Shingo Takagi for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship

Saber’s confident and speedy holds held no benefit in the early goings, for Takagi’s power was too much. The overwhelming force of him drew forth a pained grunt from the Brit when Takagi so much as struck his gut with his knee. Despite this torment, Sabre found it in himself to send Takagi into the barricades and the floor in the arena. Scouting Takagi’s signature pose, Sabre damaged Takagi’s fingers and strung him along across the mat with painful holds to keep him from recovery time.

Covering Takagi in an Octopus Hold, the LIJ member had to unleash a Death Valley Driver to survive. In a flurry of offense, both champion and challenger brought out the same flurry of offense, leading to a gnarly lariat by Takagi. Deploying a Stay Dream further cut the distance between Takagi and victory, but Sabre did not yield. Sabre, upon spinning through a Tornado-DDT, remained unable to pin Takagi, but the signs of weakness were visible on his stature. Trying finisher after finisher, Sabre returned once more to the well with a Sabre Driver to gain a pinfall over Takagi.

– Post-match – Shota Umino approached Sabre after the title defense, challenging for the title, shaking his hand after his acceptance. Former WWE talent and current AEW wrestler Ricochet made a shocking return to the cerulean blue, also staking his claim to a title match at Wrestle Dynasty before Umino chased him off.

I love clashes of styles. Takagi, a brickhouse of beef and muscle, against Sabre’s chess-playing tactics creates an unreal presentation to see which style wins out. Sabre’s run so far has been presented well and compliments his long journey to the title.

Power Struggle was an exciting show, filled with surprises and welcome developments. From Kenny Omega’s announcement to United Empire’s title win to SANADA’s Bullet Club defection to Sabre Jr. defending his title, this show had a lot for fans to sink their teeth into. For fans of AEW, the appearance of Ricochet is sure to set some excitement for the upcoming Tokyo Dome show at Wrestle Dynasty. The build has begun, and I am ready.

AEW Collision live results: Mariah May vs. Anna Jay Women’s title match

Posted on by Suit Williams

AEW Women’s World Champion Mariah May will defend her title against Anna Jay on tonight’s live AEW Collision from Philadelphia.

Two weeks ago at Battle of the Belts XII, Jay pinned May in an upset to earn the shot. Jay has been looking to prove herself since returning from Japan, saying she has improved tremendously. May will be looking for her fourth title defense.

AEW World Champion Jon Moxley will also be making an appearance. He and the rest of the Blackpool Combat Club have been going after everyone who stands in their way. On Dynamite, Orange Cassidy threw out the challenge to Moxley for Full Gear after Moxley took out Chuck Taylor.

The reborn Kyle Fletcher will take on Komander, who scored an upset win over Lio Rush on Friday’s Rampage.

After feuding for the last several weeks, Thunder Rosa will meet Harley Cameron in what is being billed as a Day of the Dead match.

**********

Private Party Town Hall

This was a nice follow-up to Dynamite, giving Private Party some focus after their big tag team title win. This wasn’t Hard Times or anything, but it was a fine little segment.

Collision began with a collection of wrestlers in the ring and on the stage. Tony Schiavone welcomed out the new AEW World Tag Team Champions Private Party. They thanked the Young Bucks for pushing them to be their absolute best before letting the assorted tag teams around ringside know they were willing to defend their titles against anybody. They got in FTR’s faces and a little shoving commenced, but The Outrunners broke it up and reminded everyone that this was a celebration. They started an AEW chant before Kassidy closed things out.

Separately, Mariah May & Anna Jay walked into the building ahead of their Women’s Title match tonight. Jay cut a short promo saying there would be a new champion tonight.

The Acclaimed were backstage with Renee Paquette. When asked about the changing of the guard in the tag team division, Anthony Bowens congratulated Private Party but noted that they were coming back for the titles. Max Caster interrupted Bowens’ catchphrase to brag about their popularity, with fans giving them money and friendship bracelets. (Don’t let CM Punk see!) To Bowens’ surprise, Caster also pulled out one of MVP’s business cards, noting that Private Party hadn’t gotten an offer from MVP like the Acclaimed had. Bowens cut Caster off to hit his catchphrase and end this enlightening interview.

(I love MVP casting a wide net to see how many people he can get into the Hurt Syndicate. I also enjoy some friction with the Acclaimed, as I’ve grown tired of their act.)

Day Of The Dead Match – Thunder Rosa defeated Harley Cameron

This was a fun little bit of plunder to kick off the wrestling on this show.

This was a no-disqualification match, with Day of the Dead-themed weapons around ringside. Both came out with face paint, Cameron’s more resembling a day at the fair than Dia De Los Muertos. Rosa came out with a picture of Cameron that she sat in a Dia De Los Muertos tribute at ringside. She also had skeleton paint on her body, giving me an excuse to bring up La Parka. Rosa hit Cameron with some plunder around ringside before Cameron cut off a barricade walk. Rosa came right back by throwing Cameron through a big board with a sugar skull skeleton on it.

The two traded clotheslines as we came back from a commercial before they took each other down with hairmares. Rosa hit a lungblower for a nearfall before setting up a chair contraption. She took too long, allowing Cameron to hit her with a SHOOT PINATA before putting her through the contraption for a nearfall. I think there were M&M’s or Skittles in there. God forbid they were Reese’s Pieces. Cameron went for a shining wizard to a seated Rosa, but Rosa moved, and Cameron kicked the chair.

Rosa stuffed Cameron in a trash can and kicked her into the corner. Rosa then set up a table as a ramp before launching with a hesitation dropkick to a binned Cameron for the win.

A freshly shaven Roderick Strong & The Kingdom were backstage with Lexy Nair, with Strong warning SHANE Taylor that he was just an obstacle on his path to MJF. Strong put over his group’s accomplishments, with the Kingdom winning a three-way tag match on last week’s Rampage and Adam Cole coming back better than ever. Brian Cage & Lance Archer walked in to talk trash and tell them to stay out of their way.

Kyle Fletcher defeated Komander (w/ Alex Abrahantes)

This was a must-see match with two stellar young talents in AEW. The crowd being so against Fletcher made it easy for Komander’s normally impressive moveset to get an even bigger reaction. Fletcher has been great in these big spots on TV, and the turn is giving him great momentum into the eventual Will Ospreay match. The Mark Davis diversion is a great call, as he can be a road block match on the way to Ospreay. Just excellent stuff all around.

Fletcher now has Taichi-style tearaway pants, ripping them off and throwing them in Komander’s face to sneak a big boot in. Fletcher caught Komander on a reverse crossbody, but Komander got him into a crucifix hold for a nearfall before running wild on offense. Komander went for a fancy lucha armdrag, but Fletcher shoved Komander off the top rope to the floor. Fletcher followed with a powerbomb on the apron as we went to a commercial break.

After the commercial, Fletcher had Komander in the tree of woe, but Komander somehow caught Fletcher to hit an Avalanche Sliced Bread off the top rope. Fletcher juked Komander on a dive attempt and hit a dive of his own before booting Abrahantes in the face. Komander came back with a step-up moonsault to the floor to a big pop. Back in the ring, Komander scored with a Spanish Fly for a nearfall.

Komander went for a moonsault, but Fletcher countered by booting Komander in the face. Fletcher hit a Last Ride powerbomb for a nearfall. Fletcher teased the Tiger Driver, but Komander countered with a hurricanrana for a nearfall. Fletcher caught Komander on his shoulders on a poisonrana attempt, but Komander pulled Fletcher to the outside and hit the poisonrana on the floor.

Komander hit a Destino on the apron, then followed up with a top rope moonsault for a nearfall. Fletcher scored with a lariat before following with a running boot. Komander slipped out of a top rope Brainbuster attempt before sending Fletcher to the outside with a step-up Destroyer. Komander hit his Spaceman dive to the outside, but when he tried his ropewalk Shooting Star Press, Fletcher booted the rope to knock him down. Fletcher hit a running boot and the top rope Brainbuster for the win.

After the match, Fletcher laid more punches on Komander before Mark Davis came out to stop him. They barked at each other before Fletcher bailed out.

TNT Champion Jack Perry was backstage. He was cutting one of his grumpy promos with his back to the camera when Daniel Garcia walked in. Garcia wanted to put Perry against the wall again like he did on Dynamite but wanted to try a different approach to get through to him. Garcia wanted Perry to know that he’s dealt with pretentious people like Perry all of his life and that Perry didn’t know anything about him. Perry said that he knew Garcia because he was Garcia, having walked the path that Garcia walked. He gave everything to AEW because he loved it, but AEW turned his back on him all the same. He said that Garcia saw who succeeded around here, and that Garcia was afraid to be the person he needed to be to succeed. Perry told Garcia that his unwillingness to sacrifice was why he wasn’t ready.

(This was an excellent bit of business here. Perry has made the dynamic between these two clear and compelling. These are two sides of the same coin, with Perry as the burnt-out, bitter counterpart to Garcia’s ascending, rah-rah babyface.)

Lance Archer & Brian Cage defeated Shaun Smith & Joe Keys

This was a murder, with Smith getting pinned after a chokebomb. They murdered these poor goons some more after the match. They murdered these poor goons some more after the match, leading to The Undisputed Kingdom running them off. Kyle O’Reilly was in the back looking on. Shane Taylor was also watching as Strong was his opponent later tonight.

AR Fox was in the back with Lexy Nair. He was about to talk about what was next for him when Nick Wayne & The Patriarchy walked in. Wayne told Fox that his father – Christian Cage, of course – taught him to always hold a grudge. Wayne reminded Fox that the biggest mistake of his life was jumping Wayne at his training school last year. Fox cut Wayne off to challenge him to a match for next week’s Collision.

We got a recap of Kris Statlander’s win over Kamille on Dynamite, with Mercedes Mone attacking her after the match. Statlander was backstage, noting that she was pissed after the attack. She said that if Mone was the star she believed herself to be, then facing Statlander at Full Gear wouldn’t be an issue.

Jon Moxley Town Hall

Jon Moxley, Wheeler Yuta, & Marina Shafir came out. Moxley spoke amongst the people, noting that he would face Philadelphia’s own Orange Cassidy at Full Gear. Moxley warned Cassidy that the games didn’t begin at Full Gear, they had already begun. Moxley said that it was a question of if Cassidy would make it. He said that Philadelphia built tough, hard-nosed people like Wheeler Yuta. Yuta understood what it meant to sacrifice, and he understood what it meant to be a Philadelphia hero.

Action Andretti came out to the ring. He was tired of Yuta claiming to be a hometown hero because he didn’t represent Philadelphia like Andretti did. Andretti challenged any one of them to a fight right now, leading to PAC jumping him from behind. Moxley and crew made their way to ringside, and Bryce Remsburg came into the ring to start the match.

PAC (w/ Jon Moxley, Wheeler Yuta, & Marina Shafir) defeated Action Andretti

(The match was an enhancement match for PAC, but the segment was a good bit of build for the World Title match. Wheeler Yuta continues to be the most interesting aspect of this story, as he continues to waver in his allegiance to Moxley.)

PAC stomped out Andretti through the commercial break. Andretti came back with a handspring elbow, then followed up with a dive to the floor. Andretti had a flurry of offense that ended with a Falcon Arrow for a nearfall. Yuta distracted the referee as Shafir hit Andretti in the ankle with the briefcase. PAC brought Andretti down with a superplex before snatching on the Brutalizer for the win.

PAC held onto the hold after the bell as the BCC surrounded Andretti. Orange Cassidy appeared in the crowd. He reminded Yuta of their past, living in his and Chuck Taylor’s house when he fell on hard times. The old Wheeler Yuta wouldn’t have allowed the attack on Taylor, and the old Yuta would have realized that Moxley was only using him. He said that he would bring back the old Yuta and stop Moxley’s madness by winning the title at Full Gear.

Moxley told Yuta to go get Cassidy. When Yuta hesitated, Moxley smacked him in the face and told him to go again. Yuta went after Cassidy but hesitated when they came face to face. Cassidy pulled the chair away, then hit the Orange Punch when Yuta went to attack. Moxley was furious and went after Cassidy, but he left through the stands.

Malakai Black was in the House of Black’s rumpus room. He said that when people have sat dormant for too long, they become worse versions of themselves. Black had sat dormant for too long, which is why he stepped up to Adam Cole. He said that he saw people like himself and Cole becoming relics in a rapidly changing AEW, and challenged Cole to fight off the darkness that had already consumed Black.

Konosuke Takeshita & Kyle Fletcher were backstage with Lexy Nair. Fletcher was tired of dealing with the past and was looking toward the future alongside Takeshita. He reminded Private Party that Takeshita & Fletcher beat them earlier in the year, and wanted to move toward a tag team title match. They challenged Ricochet to find a partner to take them on for Dynamite.

Lio Rush defeated Ariya Daivari

Daivari jumped Rush at the bell, but Rush quickly came back with a headscissors. Rush clubbered on Daivari in the corner to the point where the referee had to pull him off, allowing Daivari to clothesline Daivari. Rush outmanuevered Daivari for a flash pin, but Daivari came back with a reverse DDT for a nearfall. Rush came back with a lariat and a Falcon Arrow for a nearfall.

Rush went for a dive, but Daivari threw Woods in the way. Another dive attempt took out Mark Sterling before Rush caught Daivari with a headscissors. Daivari caught Rush with a DDT, but Rush came back with Rush Hour and a frog splash to score the win.

MxM Collection & Johnny TV were backstage with Lexy Nair. Johnny said that MxM had “it,” and offered them a collab any time. Collab is short for collaboration, for those unaware.

Roderick Strong (w/ The Kingdom) defeated Shane Taylor (w/ Lee Moriarty & The Infantry)

(A solid TV win for Strong as he tries to get his hands on MJF as well.)

The Infantry joined Shane Taylor Promotions on a recent episode of Ring of Honor television. Taylor snuck a body shot in as they were against the ropes. MJF was seen watching on, somehow having a live camera in his house. Taylor and Strong hammered each other with chops as their respective units barked at each other on the floor. Strong went to the floor, but it was to bait Taylor for a baseball slide. Taylor caught Strong with a forearm, then hung him over the ropes before dropping him with a stunner.

After a commercial break, Taylor was still in control as the crowd chanted Strong’s name. Strong evaded an apron leg drop and dropkicked Taylor to the floor. Strong hit a set of flying forearms before taking Taylor down with a lariat for a one-count. Taylor was too big for an Olympic Slam, but a Sick Kick softened him up for a successful second attempt and a nearfall. Taylor evaded a knockout knee, then yanked Strong up into a uranage. A splash from Taylor got a nearfall, but Strong slipped out of the package piledriver and scored the win with a knockout knee. An unimpressed MJF watched on.

We got footage of Bobby Lashley’s debut on Wednesday with the Hurt Syndicate. The Hurt Syndicate was announced for an appearance on Dynamite.

It was announced that Private Party would defend their tag team titles in a four-way match at Full Gear. The teams will be determined in a series of qualifying matches. Those matches will be The Outrunners vs. Top Flight on next week’s Collision, FTR vs. The House of Black on the November 13th Dynamite, and La Faccion Ingobernable vs. The Acclaimed on the November 16th Collision.

Konosuke Takeshita & Kyle Fletcher vs. Ricochet & a mystery partner was made official for Wednesday’s Dynamite.

We got a Mina Shirakawa video package, noting that Mina Is Coming. Good for her.

AEW Women’s World Title Match – Mariah May defeated Anna Jay to retain

(This was what you would expect it to be. The crowd got into Jay well enough, and the Queenslayer nearfall did get interesting after a point. A solid TV defense for May.)

They paint-brushed each other in the corner before locking up. Jay hit a Dangerous Jay kick in the corner before May came back with a back suplex into the corner. Jay fired up with strikes after a commercial break. A shotgun dropkick sent May into the corner, and after a pinning predicament, Jay hit a lungblower and a backstabber for a nearfall.

Jay hit another pair of kicks in the corner but May caught Jay with a choke on the top rope. May hammered Jay with a shotgun dropkick off the top rope. May hit a high-angle back suplex for a nearfall. May caught Jay with a headbutt and a running knee for a nearfall. Jay went for the same flash pin that earned her this title match but May fought out of it.

Jay caught May with a neckbreaker in the ropes, then followed up with a blockbuster for a nearfall. Jay snatched on the Queenslayer choke, and after some fight, May grabbed the referee’s shirt to escape the hold. May dropped Jay neck-first onto the ropes, then caught Jay with a flash pin of her own to score the win and retain the title. May offered a handshake but pulled her hand away to celebrate on the stage.

UFC on ESPN+ 104 live results: Brandon Moreno vs. Amir Albazi

Posted on by Ryan Frederick

For the first time since July 2019, the Octagon heads back to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, as UFC on ESPN+ 104 returns to Rogers Place.

This will be the first UFC event to take place under the newest set of the Unifed Rules of MMA which now sees 12-to-6 elbows as legal, as well as the elimination of the rule where one hand on the mat signifies a grounded fighter.

The main event is a five-round flyweight bout that could serve as a title eliminator as former UFC flyweight champion Brandon Moreno takes on Amir Albazi. Moreno is looking to end a two-fight losing skid and get back into a title fight while Albazi comes in riding a six-fight win streak. He has a perfect 5-0 mark during his UFC tenure and is looking to secure his first shot at UFC gold.

Derrick Lewis was poised to take on the undefeated Jhonata Diniz, but chose to withdraw on extremely short notice after missing Friday’s ceremonial weigh-ins due to an unspecified health issue.

In the co-main event, it’s another potential title eliminator bout as Erin Blanchfield battles former UFC women’s strawweight champion Rose Namajunas in a women’s flyweight bout. Also on the main card is a light heavyweight bout pitting Caio Machado vs. Brendson Ribeiro; a middleweight fight between Marc-Andre Barriault and Dustin Stoltzfus; and Mike Malott vs. Trevin Giles in welterweight action.

ESPN+ PRELIMS | 5 PM ET/2 PM PT

> Women’s Flyweights- Jamey-Lyn Horth (6-1, 1-1 UFC) vs. Ivana Petrovic (7-1, 1-1 UFC)

They trade to start. Petrovic with a high kick as she is pressing forward. Horth lands a right hand and they clinch against the fence. Horth lands a knee. Petrovic still has advantage against the fence. Horth gets the underhook but Petrovic is able to score a takedown. Petrovic gets inside the full guard of Horth. Petrovic lands and stands and Horth gets to her feet. They clinch against the fence. Horth has the back as they go to the mat. Horth looking for a choke. Petrovic slides out. Petrovic with some elbows from the top. Petrovic gets the crucifix position and lands some punches. 10-9 Petrovic.

They trade kicks and Petrovic grabs the leg and scores a takedown. Petrovic in the guard of Horth and Horth is looking for a triangle choke. She now goes for an arm. Petrovic with a pair of elbows. Petrovic escapes and they get to their feet in the clinch. Horth lands a right hand as they break. Horth with a body kick. They trade and Petrovic lands a leg kick then some jabs. Petrovic with some kicks after Horth lands. Petrovic with a late takedown but Horth sprawls. 10-9 Horth, 19-19.

Horth lands a right hand. They trade kicks. They clinch and Petrovic pushes it to the fence. They separate. Horth lands a right hand and then another. They trade punches. Horth with a pair of right hands. They tie back up and Petrovic has the neck. Petrovic looked for some form of choke but let go. Horth scores a takedown and has the back. Petrovic escapes to the top and lands a pair of hammerfists. Horth sweeps to her feet. They clinch and Petrovic lands on the break. They trade kicks. Horth with a combination and lands a right hand. Petrovic tries a takedown but Horth defends with a knee. Horth with a right hand and gets a takedown but Petrovic ends up on top and lands. Close fight. 10-9 Horth, 29-28 Horth.

Official Result- Jamey-Lyn Horth def. Ivana Petrovic by split decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28)

They were back-and-forth rounds, so the fight could’ve gone either way. I don’t know about giving Horth all three rounds. Neither looked like they were going to be a contender soon, but a solid win for Horth.

> Bantamweights- Chad Anheliger (13-7, 2-2 UFC) vs. Cody Gibson (20-10, 2-5 UFC)

Anheliger lands two right hands. Anheliger with a leg kick. Gibson lands a stiff jab. Anheliger with a heavy leg kick. They trade and Gibson pushes it against the fence. Gibson has the back and gets a takedown and gets a hook in. Gibson spins into the half-guard. Gibson lands after letting go of a choke attempt. Gibson gets the mount and Anheliger gives up his back on a scramble. They scramble to the feet but Gibson gets it back down. They scramble and Gibson grabs the neck. Gibson with a one-arm guillotine choke but Anheliger gets out. Gibson looks for a choke but Anheliger survives. 10-9 Gibson.

They trade and Gibson gets a takedown. Gibson has the mount and lands some elbows then some punches from the back. Gibson looks for a choke. Anheliger hangs on and eats an elbow from Gibson as he lets go. Gibson with big shots from the top. Gibson with an arm-triangle choke locked in. Anheliger gets out but Gibson has the back. They scramble and Gibson ends up in side control. Gibson looking for another arm-triangle choke. They stand. They go back to the mat. Gibson with big punches from the back. 10-8 Gibson, 20-17 Gibson.

Anheliger lands a jab. Anheliger with a combination. Gibson lands and Anheliger lands a counter right hand. Gibson gets a takedown. Gibson is inside the guard of Anheliger and lands some elbows. Anheliger with some punches from the bottom. They scramble to their feet. Gibson has the back standing. Gibson drags it down. Gibson still on the back. Gibson landing punches to end it. 10-9 Gibson, 30-26 Gibson.

Official Result- Cody Gibson def. Chad Anheliger by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)

Gibson was dominant in this one and looked really good. Anheliger had no answer for the wrestling and ground work by Gibson. I’m surprised there was only one 10-8 round scored. A good win for Gibson.

> Bantamweights- Serhiy Sidey (10-2, 0-1 UFC) vs. Garrett Armfield (10-4, 2-2 UFC)

Sidey with a calf kick. Sidey with a leg kick as Armfield lands. Armfield with a right hand. Sidey with some kicks. Armfield lands a left hook. They trade and Sidey with a knee to the body. Sidey with a series of jabs. They trade kicks. Sidey lands a solid combination. Armfield lands a right hand. Armfield with a combo to the body. Armfield goes for a takedown but Sidey looks for an anaconda choke. Armfield gets out. Armfield gets a takedown. They scramble to their feet. Sidey looks for a late takedown and lands some knees. 10-9 Sidey.

They trade kicks to start the second. They trade jabs. Armfield lands a right hand. Armfield lands a combination. Sidey with a body kick as Armfield lands a combo. Sidey with a body kick. They trade jabs. They trade them again. Armfield with a combination. They trade jabs. Sidey with a jumping knee and they trade jabs. Armfield with a heavy leg kick. Armfield with a combination. Sidey lands a pair of right hands. Armfield with a right hand then a jab. Sidey with a double jab. Armfield with a combination. Armfield lands late. 10-9 Armfield, 19-19.

Sidey with a jab and body kick. Armfield scores a takedown. Sidey is looking for a guillotine choke. Armfield escapes and gets on the back of Sidey as Sidey stands. Armfield looking for a choke. They go to the mat. Sidey spins into the guard of Armfield. They almost scramble up but Armfield keeps it down and is on top. He gets the back of Sidey with the hooks in. They work to their feet. Sidey lands a knee and a body kick but Armfield gets a takedown. Sidey looked for the neck but Armfield escapes and controls from the top. Armfield gets the back as he lands. 10-9 Armfield, 29-28 Armfield.

Official Result- Serhiy Sidey def. Garrett Armfield by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

I’m not sure about that decision. I thought it was clear Sidey won the first and Armfield won the final two, though Sidey landed some good shots in the second. It was a good fight though.

> Heavyweights- #13 Alexandr Romanov (16-3, 5-3 UFC) vs. #15 Rodrigo Nascimento (11-2 1 NC, 4-2 1 NC UFC)

Romanov immediately goes for the takedown and pushes it to the fence. He gets the back of Nascimento. Romanov controlling from the back and slams Nascimento to the mat. Romanov with some knees. They get to their feet and Romanov gets it back down. Romanov landing from the top. He lands some punches and elbows. 10-9 Romanov.

They trade and Romanov pushes it to the fence. Romanov with a pair of knees. They’re just holding on. They separate. Romanov shoots for a takedown but Nascimento sprawls, though Romanov switches to the back. They crawl to the fence. Romanov lands a pair of knees. They stand and Romanov still has the body. They go to the mat. They separate and Romanov lands a pair of jabs. Nascimento with a left hand. Romanov lands a combination. Romanov lands then Nascimento lands a left hand. Timeout is called for a groin strike by Nascimento. They get back to action and trade punches. 10-9 Romanov, 20-18 Romanov.

They have an awkward exchange to start. Nascimento with some leg kicks. Romanov with a leg kick. Nascimento lands a combination. They trade inside the pocket. Romanov with a flurry as they tie up. Romanov with a left hand. Nascimento with a jab. They trade in close range. Nascimento lands a jab. Romanov with a right hand. Romanov lands a combo. Romanov with a Superman punch. 10-9 Romanov, 30-27 Romanov.

Official Result- Alexandr Romanov def. Rodrigo Nascimento by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

This was an ugly fight and the less said about it, the better. Romanov has a good record but isn’t impressive, and Nascimento looked to regress this fight.

> Featherweights- Jack Shore (17-2, 6-2 UFC) vs. Youssef Zalal (15-5-1, 5-3-1 UFC)

They trade leg kicks. Zalal with a calf kick then works the jab. Shore lands a solid right hand. Shore grabs the single leg and almost gets the takedown as he pushes it to the fence. Shore is able to lift Zalal and put it on the mat but they get up. They separate and both land combinations. Zalal with a jab. Shore lands a combo. Shore looks for a takedown and pushes it against the fence. Shore gets it to the mat late and they both land. 10-9 Shore.

Zalal lands a big knee and that drops Shore to the mat. He jumps on top and locks in an arm-triangle choke. It’s in tight and Shore taps! What a finish from Zalal to pick up the win.

Official Result- Youssef Zalal def. Jack Shore by submission (arm-triangle choke) at :59 of Round 2

Zalal has been impressive since returning to the UFC, and this is his sixth straight win overall. He’s ready to mix it up with the level of competition just outside of the rankings, and maybe in the 12-15 range of the rankings.

> Bantamweights- Charles Jourdain (15-8-1, 6-7-1 UFC) vs. Victor Henry (24-6 1 NC, 3-1 1 NC UFC)

Henry with a leg kick. They trade kicks. Henry with a high kick. Jourdain with a hard calf kick. Jourdain with a left hook. He lands a high kick and then a combination. Jourdain with a jab then a leg kick. Henry lands a leg kick. Jourdain trips Henry up and went for a guillotine choke but Henry pops out. Jourdain trips Henry again, but then Henry trips Jourdain to the mat and jumps on top. They get up and Jourdain lands an elbow. Jourdain with a body kick then a left hand. Henry trips it to the mat and is on top. 10-9 Jourdain.

Jourdain with a leg kick. Jourdain lands a combo ending with a stiff right hand. They trade wildly inside the pocket. Jourdain with a calf kick then a pair of left hands. Jourdain with a head kick. Henry gets a takedown and immediately takes the back of Jourdain. Jourdain tries to roll out but Henry stays on the back. Jourdain looks for a guillotine choke as he scrambles to his back. They stand and Jourdain still has the choke locked in and they go to the mat and the choke is still in tight and Henry taps. What a finish from Jourdain!

Official Result- Charles Jourdain def. Victor Henry by submission (guillotine choke) at 3:43 of Round 2

This was fun while it lasted with lots of good ground work. Jourdain getting that guillotine choke locked in and keeping it on was impressive and this was a great win for him.

> Bantamweights- Aiemann Zahabi (11-2, 5-2 UFC) vs. Pedro Munhoz (20-9 2 NC, 10-9 2 NC)

They trade jabs. Munhoz with a jab then a leg kick. Zahabi lands a right hand and a leg kick. They trade and Munhoz works the jab. Zahabi with a right hand. They trade jabs. Munhoz lands a series of jabs. Munhoz with a left hook. Zahabi lands a kick and Munhoz with a right hand. Zahabi lands to the body. Munhoz lands a combination. Zahabi with a left hook. Munhoz lands a leg kick. Munhoz lands a right hand and is pressuring while landing the jab. Zahabi with a head kick. 10-9 Zahabi.

They trade and Zahabi lands a right hand. They trade and Munhoz lands a right hand. Zahabi lands an elbow. They continue to throw inside the pocket but Munhoz is missing most of what he throws. Zahabi with a stiff jab. Zahabi with more jabs. They trade jabs and Zahabi lands a big right hand. Zahabi lands a combination. Munhoz still throwing and landing the jab. Zahabi with a right hand. Munhoz looks for a takedown but Zahabi sprawls. They trade left hands. Munhoz looks for a takedown but Zahabi defends and lands a knee to the body. 10-9 Zahabi, 20-18 Zahabi.

Munhoz lands a combination. Munhoz with a jab. Zahabi lands a left hand. They trade in close range. Munhoz lands a left hand. Zahabi with a jab and they have a heavy exchange in the center. Zahabi lands a hard right hand. Munhoz fires back and Zahabi lands another big right hand. Munhoz with a combination. Zahabi with two hard jabs. Munhoz with a quick flurry. Munhoz with more volume but Zahabi landing with more impact. Zahabi lands a stiff jab. Munhoz with a combination. They trade jabs. Zahabi with another big right hand. Munhoz’ face is a mess. Munhoz with a jab. 10-9 Zahabi, 30-27 Zahabi.

Official Result- Aiemann Zahabi def. Pedro Munhoz by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

The story of the fight was Zahabi landing with all sorts of damage, and Munhoz’ face showed it by the end. This was the biggest win of Zahabi’s career and his fifth straight win, and he may get a ranked opponent next.

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> Welterweights- Mike Malott (10-2-1, 3-1 UFC) vs. Trevin Giles (16-6, 7-6 UFC)

Malott with a body kick. Giles lands a leg kick. They trade in close range. Malott with a body kick after Giles lands a combo. Giles with a leg kick. Giles with a leg kick as Malott lands a jab. Malott lands a pair of leg kicks then two body kicks. Malott with a high kick. Malott with a leg kick. He lands another before landing a combination. Malott with a spin kick then back to landing the leg kick. 10-9 Malott.

Malott with a switch kick to the body. Malott with a leg kick. Malott with a left hand then a body kick. Malott lands a right hand. Giles with a jab then a combination. Malott scores with two body kicks. Giles with a combo and Malott lands a pair of body kicks. Both land jabs as Malott continues to land leg kicks. Malott lands a solid right hand. They both land in close range. Malott with a high kick. 10-9 Malott, 20-18 Malott.

They trade leg kicks. Malott with a high kick. Giles lands a right hand. Malott with a jab. Giles with a head kick. Malott with a pair of leg kicks. He lands a head kick. Giles with a snap jab. Malott with a series of kicks. Malott lands a solid left hand. Giles with a right hand. Malott with a pair of body kicks. Malott with a high kick as Giles lands a right hand. Malott pressing forward. Giles lands a right hand. Giles with a jab. Malott lands a calf kick then a high kick. 10-9 Malott, 30-27 Malott.

Official Result- Mike Malott def. Trevin Giles by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

Malott didn’t look as good as he did before the loss to Neil Magny, but he did enough to score the win. Giles should’ve been more active as he could’ve won this, but allowing Malott to land the leg kicks gave it away.

> Middleweights- Marc-Andre Barriault (16-8 1 NC, 5-7 1 NC UFC) vs. Dustin Stoltzfus (15-6, 2-5 UFC)

Stoltzfus lands a jab and trips Barriault up with a leg kick. Stoltzfus grabs the neck and leg on the mat. Nothing is happening. Stoltzfus gets into the half-guard. Stoltzfus with a right hand from the top. Stoltzfus looking for a D’Arce choke. Barriault escapes but Stoltzfus remains in the half-guard. They get to their feet and start blasting away at each other with punches inside the pocket. They’re both landing and Stoltzfus lands a right hand that knocks Barriault out cold! Wow, what a finish by Stoltzfus!

Official Result- Dustin Stoltzfus def. Marc-Andre Barriault by knockout (punch) at 4:28 of Round 1

This was a must-win fight for both and Stoltzfus got the job done in a wild finish after an ugly first few minutes. He saves his UFC career for now, and this was a fun ending.

> Women’s Flyweights- #13 Ariane da Silva (17-9, 6-6 UFC) vs. #14 Jasmine Jasudavicius (11-3, 5-2 UFC)

Nothing happening in the first minute. They trade punches. da Silva lands a right hand. They trade right hands. da Silva lands a combination. da Silva with a high kick. Both really feeling each other out. Jasudavicius lands a right hand. da Silva lands a right hand after a quick exchange. da Silva with a combination. da Silva with another combo. da Silva lands a head kick and Jasudavicius is able to turn it into a takedown. Jasudavicius lands late. 10-9 da Silva.

They trade to start the second. da Silva with a combo. They trade jabs. da Silva with a combo inside close range. da Silva lands a solid right hand. Jasudavicius scores a takedown. Jasudavicius gets the crucifix position and lands some. Jasudavicius gets to the half-guard and lands. Jasudavicius with some elbows. Jasudavicius with more elbows and is teeing off with punches. Jasudavicius pouring it on late with lots of punches but da Silva makes it to the end. 10-9 Jasudavicius, 19-19.

They trade to start the third. Jasudavicius lands a right hand. Jasudavicius gets a takedown. Jasudavicius working from top half-guard and landing left hands. Jasudavicius looks for a D’Arce choke. It is in tight and da Silva taps! Jasudavicius picks up the submission win.

Official Result- Jasmine Jasudavicius def. Ariane da Silva by submission (D’Arce choke) at 2:28 of Round 3

Jasudavicius continues to impress and move up the rankings with another strong win. She keeps improving and should face a top-ten opponent next.

> Light Heavyweights- Caio Machado (8-3-1, 0-2 UFC) vs. Brendson Ribeiro (15-7, 0-2 UFC)

They’re trading leg kicks in the first minute. Ribeiro with a body kick. Machado lands a left hand. Machado with a high kick. Ribeiro lands a body kick. Machado with a body kick. Machado with a head kick. Ribeiro lands a high kick. Ribeiro with another high kick. Machado lands a leg kick. Machado with a body kick. Ribeiro lands a flurry of punches but Machado shakes it off. Machado with an inside leg kick. Timeout for a groin strike. They get back to action and Ribeiro with a body kick. Ribeiro lands a right hand. 10-9 Ribeiro.

Machado lands a body kick. Ribeiro with a leg kick. Machado with a body kick as Ribeiro lands a right hand. Machado with a combination. Machado with some kicks and circles away. Machado lands a left hand. Machado with a combo. They trade kicks. Machado with a pair of body kicks. Ribeiro lands a right hand. Ribeiro with a high kick. Machado with a left hand. Both miss as they swing big. Ribeiro landed a right hand late. 10-9 Machado, 19-19.

Machado with a body kick. Machado with a high kick. Machado lands a left hand. Ribeiro with a combination. Machado lands a left hand and Ribeiro stumbles back. Machado with a quick flurry. Ribeiro with a body kick. Ribeiro lands a head kick and Machado grabs the leg before a brief clinch. Machado with a body kick. They trade and both hurt each other for a moment. Machado with a combination. Machado lands a right hook. Machado with a body kick. Machado with a spinning back fist. Ribeiro lands a standing hammerfist and a spinning elbow. 10-9 Machado, 29-28 Machado.

Official Result- Brendson Ribeiro def. Caio Machado by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

That was a boring fight. Nothing much else to say.

> Women’s Flyweights- #3 Erin Blanchfield (12-2, 6-1 UFC) vs. #5 Rose Namajunas (13-6, 11-5 UFC)

Namajunas landing the jab early. She lands a leg kick. Blanchfield with a body kick. Blanchfield with another body kick. Namajunas with a combo. Namajunas with a leg kick. Namajunas back with the jab. Blanchfield lands a right hand. Namajunas with a combo. She lands another one. Blanchfield with a left hand. Namajunas with a jab. Blanchfield lands inside the pocket. Blanchfield with a right hand. Namajunas with a left hand. Namajunas lands a leg kick. She lands a combo. 10-9 Namajunas.

Namajunas with a left hand. She lands a combo. Namajunas with a left hand. Blanchfield with a leg kick and lands a combo. Namajunas with two stiff right hands. Blanchfield looks for a takedown against the fence. Namajunas reverses and gets a takedown. They work up and separate. Namajunas lands a right hand. Blanchfield with a body kick. They trade inside the pocket. Namajunas with a right hand and then another. Blanchfield rushes in with some punches and pushes it to the fence but they break. 10-9 Namajunas, 20-18 Namajunas.

Namajunas with a jab. She lands a right hand. They trade punches. Blanchfield with a leg kick. Namajunas with a body kick. She lands a jab. Blanchfield with a combo inside the pocket. They trade. Namajunas looks for a takedown but Blanchfield defends and Blanchfield pushes it against the fence. Blanchfield gets a takedown. Blanchfield working from the half-guard. Blanchfield landing and keeping Namajunas pinned on the bottom. Blanchfield with some elbows but Namajunas is defending. Blanchfield with some punches. 10-9 Blanchfield, 29-28 Namajunas.

Blanchfield pressing forward and they trade kicks. Blanchfield with a leg kick. Blanchfield lands a combination. Namajunas with a right hand. Blanchfield with a jab. Blanchfield lands a right hand. Namajunas with a quick combo. She lands a right hand. They trade and Blanchfield clinches and pushes it to the fence. They break apart and trade. They trade right hands. Blanchfield with a right hand. Namajunas lands a left hook. Blanchfield looks for a takedown but Namajunas defends. They break and Blanchfield lands. 10-9 Blanchfield, 38-38.

They have a frantic exchange to start the fifth as both land. Namajunas looks for a takedown but Blanchfield defends and lands an elbow on the break. Blanchfield scores the takedown. Blanchfield working from the half-guard and had neck control. She lets go and lands some left hands. Blanchfield gets the crucifix position. She lands some elbows to the body. Blanchfield landing punches and hammerfists. Blanchfield gets the back of Namajunas. They get to their feet. Blanchfield lands a knee as she has body control. Blanchfield goes for a late takedown but Namajunas defends. 10-9 Blanchfield, 48-47 Blanchfield.

Official Result- Erin Blanchfield def. Rose Namajunas by unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 48-47)

The fourth round was the key round, as it could’ve gone either way, and the other four rounds were split. I was surprised they all gave it to Blanchfield. She should be in a title fight next, but it’ll be a wait, so I suspect she’ll fight one more time in the meantime, and it wouldn’t surprise me if it’s Alexa Grasso, who Blanchfield brought up.

> Flyweights- #2 Brandon Moreno (21-8-2, 9-5-2 UFC) vs. #3 Amir Albazi (17-1, 5-0 UFC)

Moreno with a jab. He lands a left hand. Albazi with an inside leg kick. Albazi lands a right hand. Moreno with a left hand and body kick. Moreno lands a right hand. Moreno with a jab. Albazi lands a leg kick. Albazi with another leg kick. Moreno lands a left hand. They trade. Moreno lands a right hand and Albazi slips. Albazi with a leg kick. They trade uppercuts. Moreno with a combo ending with a pair of leg kicks. 10-9 Moreno.

Moreno with a pair of leg kicks. Moreno lands a jab then a head kick. Albazi might be hurt. Moreno lands a jab. Moreno with a straight right hand. Moreno with a jab. Moreno lands to the body. Albazi gets a takedown but Moreno scrambles right back up. Moreno lands a body kick. Albazi lands a jab. Moreno lands a stiff jab. Moreno lands a combo. They trade and Moreno lands a combo. Moreno with a left hand. Moreno lands a body kick. 10-9 Moreno, 20-18 Moreno.

They trade as Moreno keeps landing the jab. Moreno with a combination. Moreno lands to the body. Albazi with a jab. Albazi lands a combination. Moreno with a right hand. Moreno stuns Albazi with a right hand. Albazi connects with a right hand. Moreno with a leg kick. Moreno lands a series of shots. They trade leg kicks. Moreno backing Albazi up as Albazi claimed an eye poke. Moreno with a left hook. Albazi lands a right hand. Albazi looks for a single leg but Moreno punches his way out. They trade. 10-9 Moreno, 30-27 Moreno.

They’re trading and Moreno lands a combo. Moreno with a jab. Albazi lands a quick combo. Moreno with a left hook. They trade jabs. Albazi with a left hook. They trade inside the pocket. Albazi with a front kick up the middle. Moreno with a combo and Albazi lands the jab. Moreno with a right hand. Moreno with slightly more volume this round. Both continue to land as the round ends. 10-9 Moreno, 40-36 Moreno.

Moreno landing the jab and some combos early. Moreno lands a right hand. Albazi looks for a takedown but Moreno defends. Timeout is called for an eye poke. They trade as they get back to action. Moreno wobbles Albazi with a left hand and he rushes in as Albazi circles away. Moreno with a left hook. They tie up and Albazi pushes it to the fence. They separate. Albazi is busted open. Moreno with a left hook. Moreno continuing to pick Albazi apart. Moreno with a jab. Moreno lands an elbow and rocks Albazi with a right hand. Moreno lands two left hands. Moreno with a jab and a high kick. Moreno with a head kick in a wild ending. 10-9 Moreno, 50-45 Moreno.

Official Result- Brandon Moreno def. Amir Albazi by unanimous decision (49-46, 50-45, 50-45)

An absolutely flawless performance from Moreno. He looked like a world champion in there. I think he’s next up for a title shot.

WWE Crown Jewel live results: Cody Rhodes vs. Gunther

Posted on by Steve Khan

Two matches for new ceremonial championships highlight today’s WWE Crown Jewel from Saudi Arabia.

Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Cody Rhodes faces WWE World Heavyweight Champion Gunther, and WWE Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan takes on WWE Women’s Champion Nia Jax for the men’s and women’s Crown Jewel championships.

Now reunited, Roman Reigns will team up with The Usos to take on three members of The Bloodline (Solo Sikoa, Jacob Fatu, Tama Tonga or Tonga Loa).

Seth Rollins will take on Bronson Reed in a grudge match while Randy Orton battles Kevin Owens in a high-profile bout.

WWE United States Champion LA Knight will defend against Carmelo Hayes and Andrade in a three-way while WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Jade Cargill & Bianca Belair defend against Chelsea Green & Piper Niven, Lash Legend & Jakara Jackson, and IYO SKY & Kairi Sane in a four-way.

The main card kicks off at 1 PM Eastern on Peacock/WWE Network.

**********

Show Recap — 

COUNTDOWN SHOW —

Michael Cole, Big E and Corey Graves hosted the 2-hour countdown show outside the arena surrounded by fans. 

Gunther sit-down interview 

Joe Tessitore did a sit-down interview with Gunther. Gunther saw Randy Orton as a big obstacle heading into their first match. He knew beating Orton would change his career. However, going into his match against Cody Rhodes, he already sees himself ahead of Rhodes. Rhodes came into this match with much support but would get choked out. 

Tessitore asked what it would be like to have the large belt in his hands if he won. Gunther called it materialistic but it would be nice and would allow him to call himself the number one champion in WWE and that’s what it was all about.

********

Seth Rollins told Cathy Kelley that he was not 100% but that never stopped him before. Today’s match against Bronson Reed was a big test, one of the biggest of his career. It wasn’t just about slaying this monster but finding out what he had left in the tank. He had his eyes on big things and needed to find out if this was the version of Seth Rollins that was ready to take another run at the world title. 

(This was a good promo and certainly better than the one on Raw trying to tell us there’s a monster inside of him.) 

********

There was an extraordinarily long Braun Strowman video package (who is injured and not on today’s show). 

Kevin Owens promo 

Kelley interviewed Kevin Owens (wearing a Cowboy Bob Orton shirt). Owens was hilarious here. He told a story about how the company sent them on some activities in the middle of the desert. They were told to go enjoy themselves so they took a ride in a dune buggy. That dune buggy flipped three or four times. (Kelley confirmed this happened.) 

They were in a car accident and he had no doubt the driver was paid off by Orton or Rhodes. This was all because he attacked their golden boy Cody. Now they were making him do something he didn’t want to do and that was fight his friend Orton. He loved Orton. He apologized to Kelley who was in the dune buggy with him and was collateral damage. He said whatever happened to Orton today was his own fault. 

********

Triple H spoke to Nathalie Mamo about how great their arrangement has been with Saudi Arabia. She asked if WWE was here to stay and he said, “Yes.” 

******** 

Jackie Redmond and Sheamus replaced Cole and Graves for the second hour of the pre-show. 

There was a video of Big E trying local cuisine.

******** 

Cody Rhodes interview 

Kelley interviewed Rhodes on his bus. She asked how he was feeling. He said if he had any complaints they would be so surface-level that they couldn’t compete with the fact that this was the happiest he’s been professionally. It was a dream come true. 

There was an element of leadership involved. That excited him because when he had a leadership role in the past he didn’t do well with it. He failed with his past leadership but at least he knew why. So this was an opportunity to plug back in and perhaps there was a leadership future beyond wrestling with WWE. It’s been something he’s thought about lately. 

Kelley asked about the impact this has had on his family. She noted Cody wanted to spend more time with his daughter but his schedule was very demanding. Rhodes was willing to do more work because of his family. He was lucky to have Brandi and she was his rock. 

He spoke about teaming up with Roman Reigns. The Rock appearing after that match was a reminder that he could stick his big, bald, shiny head in the mix anytime. He called Gunther the best on paper but he was also overconfident. Gunther couldn’t get under his skin and Rhodes’ Universal title was the north star of their business. 

******** 

Kelley interviewed Nia Jax backstage. She planned on squashing Liv Morgan and would squash Raquel Rodriguez and Dominik Mysterio if she had to. She wasn’t worried about Tiffany Stratton because she knew it wasn’t her time to cash in.

Kelley interviewed LA Knight whose birthday was yesterday. He didn’t celebrate his birthday because he was in the gym. He soiled the Cheerios of Nick Aldis who was pretty upset for spoiling his game seven between Andrade El Idiot and Carmelo Hayes. Hayes said he doesn’t miss but he did miss and will miss again. The odds have been stacked against Knight his entire career but nothing was going to change. He was going to walk out as champion. 

******** 

One of the final things on the pre-show was a video package for AJ Styles (who is injured and not on today’s show). 

Cole and Graves made their entrance for commentary. 

******** 

CROWN JEWEL 2024 MAIN SHOW ––

Various wrestlers were shown arriving at the arena. The large belt arrived too. 

6-man tag team match: Solo Sikoa, Jacob Fatu & Tama Tonga (w/Tonga Loa) defeated Roman Reigns & The Usos (16:37) 

Sikoa pinned Reigns. 

The new Bloodline entered first. Roman Reigns and Jimmy Uso entered together to Reigns’ music (as the crowd chanted “OTC”). Jey Uso entered last to his own music through the crowd. The fans Yeeted and sang along to his song. 

Everyone wore some combination of black and red except for Jey who wore his new blue, pink and white gear. The show was 20 minutes old by the time the bell rang. 

Jey and Tama started. Jimmy tagged in and the Usos worked well together. Jacob Fatu tagged in but the Usos had no trouble with him. They cleared the ring and Reigns seemed pleased. 

The crowd loudly chanted, “We want Roman.” Reigns called for a tag but Jey tagged in Jimmy instead. (Graves said Jey wanted Reigns to know he wasn’t in charge and that they were all on the same level.) Jey and Roman argued while Jimmy tried keeping them on the same page but the distraction allowed the Bloodline to get the heat on him. 

Tama missed a Stinger splash and Jey tagged in. He hit strikes and a running hip attack for two. Fatu tagged in and gave Jey a pop-up Samoan drop to take over. The Bloodline worked over Jey for a while and Tama knocked Jimmy off the apron. Jey fought him off and made the hot tag to Reigns. 

Reigns and Sikoa exchanged blows. Reigns got the better of it and hit a leaping clothesline, uranage and Superman punch. Sikoa blocked a spear and hit a Samoan spike. It actually looked like Sikoa got a three-count but the ref stopped his count at two even though Reigns didn’t kick out. The camera didn’t catch Jimmy breaking up the cover and he was late too. 

Jey handed out superkicks but Fatu headbutted him while outside the ring. Reigns gave Sikoa another Superman punch. He yanked Tama into the ring but Tama knocked over the referee in the process. Reigns handed out more Superman punches. Fatu blocked the attempt on him and headbutted Reigns. Fatu tackled Reigns and hit a step-up moonsault. Fatu also wiped out Jey with a suicide dive. 

Sikoa took advantage and hit Reigns with consecutive Samoan spikes for the pinfall win. The crowd was stunned. 

— The four Bloodline members attacked Roman and Jimmy after the match. They cleared the announce table and Jey tried making the save but they beat him up too. The crowd chanted for Sami Zayn. 

They placed a chair around Jey’s neck and were about to kill him but Sami Zayn entered and they stopped what they were doing. Zayn stood tall as he faced off with the Bloodline. The crowd chanted, “Sami Uso.” 

Sikoa wanted Zayn to join them and offered an embrace. Zayn went to hug him but gave him an exploder suplex instead. The Bloodline swarmed Zayn but he was saved by Reigns and the Usos. 

They cleared the ring leaving Sikoa on his own and it seemed like he was done for. However, Reigns went for a Superman punch while Zayn simultaneously went for a running boot. Sikoa ducked and Zayn knocked out Reigns with the boot. That looked great. Sikoa bailed. 

Jimmy got in Zayn’s face until Jey separated them. Zayn left on his own while Jey remained with Jimmy and Roman.

(It was typical Bloodline stuff where the match itself was fine but everything surrounding it was well put together.) 

******** 

— The Sportsnet feed in Canada completely died after the opening match and didn’t come back on until the women’s tag match was well underway. They were at the point where everyone was trading high spots by the time the feed returned. 

Fatal 4-way tag team match: Jade Cargill & Bianca Belair defeated Chelsea Green & Piper Niven, Kairi Sane & IYO SKY and Lash Legend & Jakara Jackson to retain the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships

Cargill and Belair retained the titles with a Doomsday Device on Piper Niven. The champs didn’t seem all that happy after the match. 

The match seemed to go about 11-12 minutes. 

********

Seth Rollins defeated Bronson Reed (12:21) 

Rollins entered first and went after Reed on the entrance ramp as Reed entered. They brawled toward the ring and Rollins hit a suicide dive. However, Reed grabbed Rollins and slammed him over the barricade into some leather chairs. 

They got in the ring and the match officially started. Reed immediately hit a Tsunami. He went for another instead of attempting a cover but Rollins moved and hit a curb stomp, barely getting a two count. Rollins went for a sunset flip but Reed sat down on him. Reed worked him over until Rollins countered a powerbomb into a DDT. 

Rollins followed with a flying clothesline but Reed remained on his feet. Reed met Rollins on the middle rope but Rollins headbutted him off and followed with a frog splash for just a one count. Rollins hit a rolling forearm but Reed just knocked him over and hit a spinning sit-out powerbomb for two. Reed followed with a DVD for two and a superplex for two. 

Rollins smacked Reed in the face so Reed just leveled him with a clothesline. Reed set up for Tsunami but Rollins rolled to the other side of the ring. Reed hit a senton and went back to the top but Rollins rolled out of the ring this time. 

Reed grabbed the steel steps and tried to hit Rollins with it but Rollins swept his leg out. Rollins followed with a curb stomp onto the steps. Reed slipped into the ring to avoid a count-out but Rollins immediately hit a curb stomp. Rollins went to the top and hit a super stomp for the pinfall win. 

This was really good. 

— Rollins gingerly made his way to the ramp as Reed emerged to his feet to Rollins’ surprise. Reed had a stream of blood down his face. Reed wanted more and Rollins told him the result would be the same next time.

******** 

If you’re reading this you know this already but it bears mentioning that all of the women featured today have been covered neck-to-toe in their outfits. 

They showed the angle from NXT where Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez laid out Rhea Ripley in the parking lot.

Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan defeated WWE Women’s Champion Nia Jax to win the WWE Women’s Crown Jewel Championship (8:14) 

This was overbooked to death. 

Jax headbutted Morgan early in the match. (Ripley headbutting Morgan a few weeks ago is seemingly how she got injured. I didn’t see the full women’s tag match earlier because the stream went down, but in all three of the other matches there have been headbutts.) 

Morgan hit a tornado DDT for two. Cole said it would be a huge upset if Morgan won and Graves rightly told him that it shouldn’t be considered an upset if one champion beats the other. Jax hit a Samoan drop for two. Jax hit a super Samoan drop off the middle rope for two. Jax went to the middle rope but Morgan brought her down with a powerbomb. 

That brought out Tiffany Stratton (to her music). She was about to cash in but Jax told her off. Stratton tried to claim she was going to cash in on Morgan. Jax told her to leave. Morgan hit a crucifix bomb into a cover for two. (Or at least she tried to. Jax initially landed right on top of her and Morgan had to adjust to make the cover.) 

Stratton made her way back down to the ring as Morgan went for Oblivion but Jax countered into a slam for two. Stratton hopped on the apron hoping to cash in (on Liv) but she was yanked down by Rodriguez. Jax went after Rodriguez but that allowed Morgan to hit a Codebreaker off the ropes for two. 

Morgan and Rodriguez cornered Stratton against the barricade and Jax knocked them all over with a tackle. Jax hit Morgan with a leg drop in the ring. Jax set up for Annihilator while Dominik Mysterio distracted the referee. Rodriguez knocked Jax off the ropes and Morgan hit Oblivion for the pinfall win. 

— After the match, Triple H handed the Crown Jewel title belt to Morgan. She held up both belts and the Crown Jewel belt was basically twice the size of the regular belt.

******** 

Kevin Owens vs. Randy Orton 

The match didn’t happen. 

Owens (wearing a Cowboy Bob Orton shirt) attacked Orton with a chair from behind during his entrance. Owens cleared the announce table but Orton fought him off and gave him a back suplex onto the table. Orton sold his knee, which Owens targeted earlier with the chair. 

Owens attacked Orton with the chair again until referee Eddie Orengo yanked it out of his hands. Owens gave Orengo a stunner and he took a great bump. Officials ran down as Orton attacked Owens with the chair. Orton drove Owens onto the other announce table as officials scrambled around. 

Cole said the match has been waived off. Shawn Daivari tried to stop Orton so Orton kicked him and chucked him out of the ring. 

Adam Pearce tried to stop Orton so Orton gave him an RKO. The brawl continued through the crowd. Owens hit Orton with an equipment box and Orton was laid out over some tables. Owens ran up the stairs and did a crazy flying elbow drop off the railing. Officials checked on both men. 

********

Triple threat match: LA Knight defeated Carmelo Hayes and Andrade to retain the United States Championship (9:09) 

They had a fun, fast-paced match with lots of creative spots. There was a great spot early where Andrade went to the top, seemingly targeting Hayes in the ring, but instead hit a moonsault to the outside on Knight. (Knight checked to make sure Andrade was okay and he was.) 

Andrade hit Hayes with an avalanche fallaway slam for two. With both men down, Knight hit them with a diving elbow drop for two. Later on, Knight leaped onto the top rope to hit Andrade with an avalanche German suplex. (Knight slipped initially and actually crotched himself before readjusting to hit the move.) Hayes followed with Nothing But Net on Knight for two. 

Hayes went for a facebuster on Andrade but Knight caught him with BFT for the pinfall win. 

********

On Monday’s Raw, being taped Sunday in Riyadh, there will be a world title number one contender’s match between Seth Rollins, Damian Priest, Dominik Mysterio and Sheamus.  

******** 

Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes defeated World Heavyweight Champion Gunther to win the WWE Men’s Crown Jewel Championship (23:00) 

The crowd loudly sang along with Rhodes’ song. They started the match with “Olé” chants and sang for Cody Rhodes. Rhodes wore navy blue, gold and white. Gunther wore black and white. 

They went back and forth for the first five minutes. Rhodes had the advantage first, followed by Gunther. Gunther went for the sleeper but Rhodes quickly slipped out of it. The crowd was red-hot (it seemed like they were going to be hot no matter what was happening in the ring). 

Rhodes hit jabs but Gunther cut him off before he could do the bionic elbow. Gunther taunted the fans before hitting Rhodes with an uppercut. Rhodes hit the Dustin Rhodes uppercut and clotheslines to knock Gunther out of the ring. Rhodes knocked Gunther off the apron with a springboard kick. Gunther tried a sleeper again but Rhodes knocked him out of the ring. 

Gunther blocked a suicide dive, drove Rhodes into the side of the ring and body-slammed him outside the ring. Gunther worked over Rhodes and the crowd continued with Olé chants. The announcers figured the fans were trying to get in Gunther’s head knowing he lost to Sami Zayn at WrestleMania. The fans followed by doing the wave. 

Rhodes came back with a body slam and delayed reverse vertical suplex but Gunther responded with a body slam of his own. Rhodes followed with a superplex, powerslam, jabs and a bionic elbow. The crowd chanted for Dusty before Cody hit a Cody Cutter for two. 

Rhodes tried a Disaster Kick but Gunther blocked it and applied a Boston crab. Rhodes almost escaped so Gunther hit a German suplex and applied the sleeper. Rhodes fought out with jawbreakers. Gunther went for the sleeper again but Rhodes countered into a Cross Rhodes. The crowd chanted, “This is awesome.” 

Gunther hit a dropkick and powerbomb for two. Gunther chopped Rhodes and dismissively smacked him in the face. Rhodes shoved Gunther and fired back with forearms. Gunther tried a sleeper but Rhodes countered with a back suplex. Gunther came right back with a clothesline but Rhodes countered another clothesline attempt with Cross Rhodes for a nearfall. 

Rhodes went for a super Cody Cutter but Gunther caught him in a sleeper. However, Rhodes immediately rolled through into a cradle for the pinfall win. (As Graves noted, this was shades of Bret Hart.) Gunther slammed the mat in frustration. 

This was really good. 

— Gunther and Rhodes shook hands post-match. Gunther had some words for Rhodes before he left. 

Rhodes was handed the Crown Jewel belt. Cole explained what Triple H informed us of earlier, that both the women’s and men’s belts would remain in Saudi Arabia and the winners, Morgan and Rhodes, would be given rings instead. 

Morgan entered and she posed alongside Rhodes and Triple H. Triple H eventually left the ring and the two champions posed together as the show ended. 

AEW Rampage live results: Lio Rush vs. Komander

Posted on by Joseph Collins

Five matches are set for tonight’s AEW Rampage from Cleveland, Ohio.

Lio Rush will face Komander in a match showcasing two of the great high-flyers in the industry. Rush is looking to snap a five-match losing streak in AEW while Komander has lost 13 straight in AEW dating back to July 2023.

La Faccion Ingobernable (Rush, Dralistico & The Beast Mortos) will face The Butcher, JD Drake & Beef while in another trios bout, Dark Order (Evil Uno, Alex Reynolds & John Silver) will face Top Flight (Darius & Dante Martin) and Action Andretti. Both Dark Order and Top Flight/Andretti have been feuding with the Blackpool Combat Club as of late.

Top Flight’s Leila Grey will take on Queen Aminata in a battle of two up-and-coming stars in the women’s division while Taya Valkyrie will also be in action, flanked by new running mate Deonna Purrazzo.

This week’s show was taped Wednesday following Fright Night Dynamite. Spoilers from the show are available here.

**********

Taped in Cleveland, Ohio. 

Excalibur, Matt Menard & Tony Schiavone were on commentary. 

LFI (Rush, Dralistico & The Beast Mortos) vs.  The Butcher, JD Drake & Beef (9:20)

Everyone was in the ring brawling before the credits from Thor had finished rolling. This match actually stemmed from the Beef match last week, where LFI laid out Beef and Drake. Rush and Butcher exchanged forearms in the ring before a rolling elbow took Butcher down and out in the LFI corner. Drake flopped into Mortos with a knee strike off the middle rope and chopped him in the corner. Somehow, Mortos got Drake up for a pop up Samoan Drop for a near fall. Drake got dumped the floor, and Rush sent him into the ring barricade. 

Back in the ring, Rush chopped Drake in the corner. Rush splashed Drake in the corner, and Dralistico hit a superkick. Rush set up Drake for the diving corner dropkick with his partners disposed and could have just ended the match, but he did that dumb spot where he just stopped and gave him a love tap instead. Because I guess all Rampage openers just have to run through a commercial. 

After a split-screen break, Drake caught Rush with the spinebuster and got the tag to Beef. Beef was the proverbial house of fire, until he ran into a chop from Rush. Beef actually staggered Rush with a series of right hands (with the crowd chanting “Beef!” with each shot). Beef then took him out of the corner with the bulldog. Beef went up to the top for a splash, but Dralistico crotched him. Mortos clipped Butcher’s knee, Dralistico hit a springboard lung blower on Butcher, Mortos followed up with a cannonball, and finall Rush finished him off with the Bull’s Horns diving dropkick in the corner. 

The crowd is into Beef so just push him already. 

– Renee Paquette asked Stokely Hathaway if he had a hand in Private Party winning the World Tag Team titles on Wednesday, and of course he takes credit. He called himself the “Architect of Champions.” 

Taya Valkyrie (w/ Deonna Purrazzo) defeated  Zoey Lynn (0:54)

Valkyrie by locking her opponent in a surfboard, then stomping her face into the mat.  I like Purrazzo, but Valkyrie does nothing for me. 

After the match, Renee tried to interview Valkyrie and Purrazzo. But Hathaway stirred the point and told Valkyrie that Lynn was talking trash about them before the match. So Valkyrie ran out and attacked Lynn, giving Lynn her finish on the floor.

– A promo for the Thunder Rosa/Harley Cameron match tomorrow from Collision in Philadelphia. 

Queen Aminata defeated  Leila Grey (5:35) 

So there was a spot where Aminiata was supposed to get a suplex out of a side headlock, but Grey tried to countered with a small package. When Aminata kicked out, it looked like Grey’s hair got caught on Aminata’s outfit and came off (they cut to a wide shot). I had to watch this a couple of times to figured out what happened. They cut away from Grey and I think she dumped her wig on the floor. Then they spent another minute working the headlock to set it up Aminata hitting the suplex a second time.

Grey went for a butterfly suplex, but Aminata transitioned into an Air Raid Crash for a near fall. Aminata tied up Grey’s arms from behind with her legs, then transitioned out of that into a Dragon Sleeper and a body scissors at the same time. Aminata hit a second snap suplex, and Grey looked seriously winded. But Grey got out of the way of an attack on the corner and hit a bulldog for a near fall. Grey hit a blockbuster out of the corner for a near fall. Grey laid in some forearm shots, but Aminata cut her off with an axehandle. Aminata then tied up Grey with something that looked like it was out of Zach Sabre’s playbook, and Grey tapped out. I thought this was pretty clunky at first, but actually they held it together really well considering how the match started.

Top Flight (Darius and Dante Martin) & Action Andretti vs.  Dark Order (Evil Uno, Alex Reynolds & John Silver) (7:31 aired) 

Both sides of this match are standing tall against the Moxley World Order, so it doesn’t make much sense that they’re fighting. Reynolds ribs are taped up, and after a shoulder tackle he had to tag out because of how bad he was hurting. Dante countered a back suplex attempt from Uno into a DDT. Uno went to the floor, and Andretti hit him with an Arabian Press. 

After a commercial, Andretti hit Silver with a Falcon Arrow. Darius kicked Silver into a neckbreaker from Andretti for a near fall. Uno saved Silver from a double suplex, then hit Something Evil on Darius for a near fall. Silver and Reynolds hit the Wombo Combo on Darius. The Dark Order tried to set up Darius for a pendulum bomb, but Reynolds’ couldn’t hold him up due to his ribs. Andretti dove in off the top with a high cross to take out Silver and Uno. Andretti went after Reynold’s rib tape, but Dante wouldn’t let him. Uno took out Dante, and Andretti got the rib tape off Reynolds. Andretti then sent Reynolds into the ringpost ribs first. Andretti finished Reynolds off with a split-legged moonsault. After the match, Top Flight shook hands with The Dark Order, and eventually Andretti shook hands with the Dark Order as well.

Komander (w/ Alex Abrahantes) defeated Lio Rush (11:55)

Komander dropkicked the taste out of Rush’s mouth. Komander went for a springboard, but Rush avoided it. Rush sent Komader to the floor with a handspring into a kick, then hit a plancha on the floor. 

Komander and Rush wrestled through a four minute split-screen break. After the break, Rush missed a frog splash off the top and caught a back elbow. Komander hit a springboard crossbody off the middle rope. Komander did some fancy rope-walking and hit a superkick. Komader hit a top rope moonsault for a near fall. 

Rush caught Komander with a stunner. Rush locked in a cravat, then hit another stunner. Komander countered a suplex attempt, but Rush blocked a hurricanrana attempt with a powerbomb. Rush hit a Falcon Arrow for two. Rush walked into an up kick from Komander on the apron. Komander hit Rush with a backstabber on the apron. Back in the ring, Rush hit a springboard stunner off the bottom rope. 

Rush went to the top and missed a frog splash. Komander caught him with a crucifix for two. Komander hit a superkick. Komander walked the ropes and hit a shooting star press to get the pinfall. Not as good as I thought it would be. 

Going in, I thought Rush was going to win this, but Komander has a big match tomorrow night against Kyle Fletcher. 

After the match, Rush and Komander shook hands. But Top Flight and Andretti met Lio Rush in the aisle. Andretti looked intense and he gave Rush Alex Reynold’s rib tape.