It’s the Saturday Wrestling Observer Live with Jim Valley.
This weekend has an international flavor with Friday’s TNA Emergence, Saturday’s TripleMania & the finals of the G1 Climax tournament, AEW Collision, NOAH, and the main event of CMLL’s 91st Anaversario card set.
Meanwhile, Friday’s WWE SmackDown felt like a lot of the same wrestlers doing the same things against the same opponents and the same outcomes. There’s a lot of top quality talent, but I feel like I’ve seen it again and again.
Following a loss to Mike Santana at TNA Emergence on Friday, Callihan took off his boots and laid them in the ring, signifying the end of his career. He had previously stated that if he were to lose the match against Santana, he would retire.
Callihan, 37, started wrestling in 2005 and since 2017 has been wrestling for TNA. In recent years he has ventured into promoting, holding shows under The Wrestling Revolver banner.
Earlier in the night, Tommy Dreamer announced that the company was re-signing Lei Ying Lee. A ceremony was held in the ring with Carlos Silva, Jazz, Xia Brookside, and Masha Slamovich also in attendance.
The main event of the show had Trick Williams successfully defend the TNA Championship, defeating Moose. The show went off the air after TNA President Carlos Silva gave Williams the championship, but the audio feed remained on. What could be heard was Santino Marella coming out to announce tomorrow’s tapings and teasing a “big announcement” for Williams during those tapings.
A new match and segment has been added to the lineup for Thursday’s edition of Impact.
On Tuesday, it was announced that fans will hear from Sami Callihan on the show. Callihan was attacked last week by the debuting Mance Warner, who was revealed to be Steph De Lander’s new boyfriend following her divorce from PCO.
Leon Slater vs. The System’s Brian Myers has also been scheduled for Thursday’s show. Slater is coming off a loss to Frankie Kazarian on the Genesis pre-show. In his last match, Myers dropped a tag bout at Genesis along with Eddie Edwards to Eric Young and Steve Maclin.
A tag team match with Genesis implications is set for the Thursday, January 16 TNA Impact.
TNA Tag Team Champions Matt and Jeff Hardy will face Sami Callihan and PCO on next week’s Impact, with Callihan and PCO added to the TNA Tag Team title match at Genesis on January 19 should they win. The Hardys are currently set to defend against Trey Miguel and Zachary Wentz of The Rascalz at Genesis.
Three more matches are also set for next week’s Impact, with First Class’s AJ Francis & KC Navarro taking on Steve Maclin & Eric Young, Jake Something vs. Laredo Kid, plus a Trent Seven vs. Leon Slater tilt.
A “championship celebration” segment with Ash by Elegance and Heather by Elegance has also been announce for next week. The Elegances will challenge Spitfire for the Knockouts Tag Team titles at Genesis.
The TNA Impact lineup for Thursday, January 16:
The Hardys (Matt & Jeff Hardy) vs. PCO & Sami Callihan — PCO & Callihan added to Genesis Tag Team title match if they win
First Class (AJ Francis & KC Navarro) vs. Eric Young & Steve Maclin
Jake Something vs. Laredo Kid
Trent Seven vs. Leon Slater
Ash by Elegance & Heather by Elegance championship celebration
Sami Callihan plans on being with TNA Wrestling for the foreseeable future.
While being interviewed by Tru Heel Heat Wrestling this month, Callihan gave an update on his contract status, confirming that he’s signed a deal with TNA. Callihan said he could envision a future where he remains part of TNA even after his in-ring career is over.
“I’ll be there for the foreseeable future. We came to an agreement on a deal — and I’m extremely happy working for TNA,” he said. “I could see myself retiring at TNA one day and hopefully working behind the scenes. Like, I love TNA Wrestling. As much as people [talk] about, ‘Oh, I want to go to Japan. I want to work for WWE’ — TNA was always like on a pedestal to me. And being a part of that now is like a dream come true.”
Callihan’s previous contract with TNA expired in September 2023 and he spent some time as a free agent before eventually returning to the company earlier this year.
“TNA’s hot right now, dude,” Callihan told Tru Heel Heat Wrestling. “People want to talk about this company or that company — over the past five years building to what TNA is now, I don’t think there’s been a better weekly episodic television wrestling show… For every other company that may have taken one step back, TNA just keeps trucking along, trucking along, trucking along. It’s that old story of, ‘Is it going to be the rabbit running fast that’s going to win the race or is it going to be the tortoise just trucking along?’
“And I think TNA finally is getting the respect it deserves. I think we’re right now hotter than we’ve been in years. We’re selling more tickets and more pay-per-views than we’ve done in 10+ years. And I think right now the time to be not just a TNA fan [but] a wrestling fan in general — like, right now is the best time. You have wrestling at your fingertips. If you have a phone, [if] you have internet — you have professional wrestling. Not only independents but also TNA, WWE, other companies.”
In addition to wrestling for TNA, Callihan owns the indie promotion Wrestling Revolver.
The six-way World title match at next month’s TNA Slammiversary will begin to take shape on tonight’s TNA Impact with two qualifying matches.
In one, former TNA World Champions Steve Maclin and Sami Callihan will clash for the first time since their 2022 rivalry while past title challenger Nic Nemeth will take on former World Champion Rich Swann.
The Slammiversary bout will include current champion Moose and former champion Josh Alexander along with four other competitors.
X-Division Champion Mustafa Ali will be on hand to deliver a State of the Union address following some unflattering distorted audio released recently.
In a three-way tag team match, ABC (Chris Bey & Ace Austin) will face Jake Something & Deaner and The Rascalz (Trey Miguel & Zachary Wentz).
Following a confrontation last week, KUSHIDA will take on Alan Angels while Knockouts Tag Team Champion Masha Slamovich will face Xia Brookside.
Our live coverage begins at 8 PM Eastern.
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An “In memory of Sika Anoa’i” graphic gets the show started.
Jordynne Grace Gives Ash By Elegance Knockouts Title Shot
Jordynne Grace is introduced and comes to the ring to kick off the show. Gia Miller interviews the Knockouts Champion in the ring and talks about Ash By Elegance trying to get her attention for a while now. She says she saw Santino Marella and signed the contract. Ash gets a Knockouts title shot tonight.
George Iceman comes out to interrupt her. He introduces Ash By Elegance, accompanied by personal security. He says there is a contract and a match, but it won’t be tonight. Instead, it will be at TNA Slammiversary.
Because the contract is already signed, Ash By Elegance is going to take a much-needed, extensive vacation in the Bahamas. For their own safety, they brought security to escort her out of here because she is violent. Ash tells security, “Go get her, boys!” Grace takes out the security guards one-by-one. Santino Marella runs out to stop Jordynne.
As Santino is getting Grace to head to the back, Masha Slamovich makes her way out accompanied by Alisha Edwards. Grace and Slamovich lock eyes as they pass each other. Slamovich settles in the ring for the opening contest.
Xia Brookside is out next, and has a quick word with Grace as well. Before the TNA Knockouts Champion heads to the back, she gives Brookside a thumbs up. The match gets started and sees Slamovich grab a side head-lock off an opening lock-up. Brookside counters and slaps on a headlock of her own.
Brookside takes the early offensive lead. She gets Slamovich stumbling back into the corner before dropping down and monkey-flipping her across the ring. Edwards grabs Brookside from ringside, allowing Slamovich to attack Brookside from behind and take over.
Slamovich continues to work over Brookside right in front of Edwards, who taunts her at ringside. Slamovich ties up the referee, allowing Edwards to choke Brookside over the ropes behind his back. Slamovich with a big suplex after that. Slamovich begins working over the arm of Brookside, who fights back.
While selling the arm, she takes over and hits a hurricanrana before following up with Broken Wings. She leaps into a neckbreaker. Fans chant “Let’s go Xia!” as she works over Slamovich in the corner. Edwards hops on the apron, but Brookside knocks her to the floor. The distractions allows Slamovich to hit Brookside with a kick and the Snow Plow for the win.
First Class With DJ Whoo Kid
After a recap of First Class attacking PCO during his date with Steph De Lander is shown. Backstage, DJ Whoo Kid catches up with AJ Francis and Rich Swann. DJ Whoo Kid gives him the International Wrestling Championship, which Killer Kowalski, The Shiek, Mad Dog Vachon, Abdullah The Butcher, Dino Bravo and others have held.
He declares himself the new International Heavyweight Champion. Francis says Rich Swann will beat Nic Nemeth tonight. DJ Whoo Kid gives them some drinks to celebrate. After this wraps up, the show heads into the first commercial break of the evening.
Lars Frederiksen Gives Spitfire Their Final Test
We see Dani Luna and Jody Threat talking with Lars Frederiksen of Rancid, who gives them a tough-love pep talk about how now is the time for them to double down.
For their final test, Jody and Dani will be fighting each other. He wants them to bring the violence in their minds to the ring and most importantly to each other. The Spitfire teammates shake hands.
Mustafa Ali State Of Union Address
Back inside the arena, Campaign Singh is in the ring. He informs us that the man we have all been waiting for is in the building. He introduces the TNA X-Division Champion and out comes Mustafa Ali for his advertised State of the Union address.
The commentators remind us of the alleged distorted bonus footage of Ali’s sit-down with Tom Hannifan being shown at Against All Odds before Ali begins speaking. Ali thanks everyone for their warm, warm reception.
Ali says he is here to address something that happened, which is the aforementioned video that aired showing his true colors. He brings up the distorted audio and unclear images. He says he knows fans demand the truth. Fans in the Impact Zone chant “We want truth! We want truth!”
Ali says he has found the truth after having Campaign Singh launch an investigation. The truth is, that video was A.I. generated “fake news.” He assures the fans he would never belittle his great hometown of Chicago. He says they are number one. Most of what they are number one for is crime related, but still, they’re number one!
With that in the rear view mirror, Ali insists it is time to move forward and look to future challengers for his X-Division Championship. He says he looks to the TNA locker room and other locker rooms to find who deserves to be the new number one contender.
Fans loudly chant “We want Speedball!” Ali says, “No, we don’t want Speedball. Speedball couldn’t hang with me if his life depended on it.” He then asks Chicago who they would like to see. They chant the same thing. Ali says he tried to play nice. He demands a group of hecklers be ejected from the building.
He exits the ring and points out the fans he wants thrown out. One of the fans throws a drink on Ali before leaving. Ali beats the fan down after pulling him over the barricade. He throws the fan in the ring and heads in to beat him down more. “Speedball” Mike Bailey runs out and tackles Ali. Trent Seven is out to try and calm things down. Security tries keeping everything in order.
Ali pretends to leave, but charges around the ring and leaps on Bailey to get the fight going again. It is broken up again but Bailey ends up with the X-Division Championship, which he holds up to taunt Ali. Ali rolls back into the ring and grabs the mic.
He’s sick of hearing fans chant his name. He’s sick of being accused of dodging him. He says he ruined his homecoming, so now he’s gonna ruin his. He’s laying out a challenge for the X-Division Championship between Ali and Bailey at Slammiversary. Bailey is happy and throws the title back to Ali before heading to the back.
We head to another commercial break. When we return from the break, “Speedball” Mike Bailey talks directly into the camera to react to Mustafa Ali’s State of the Union Address. He claims it was a mistake to challenge him for a match in his hometown of Montreal.
ABC (Chris Bey & Ace Austin) defeated Jake Something & Deaner vs. The Rascalz (Trey Miguel & Zachary Wentz)
Back in the Impact Zone, it’s time for three-way tag-team action. All three teams come out and first take turns on the microphone talking about being deserving of tag-team title shots. This was after Cody Deaner spoke of meeting with Santino, who told him he is excited they’re back in the tag division and that if they win tonight, they are in line for a tag-team title shot.
Deaner and Miguel kick things off in the ring. Deaner gets the early offensive jump. Wentz tags in for Miguel. Deaner works him over as well briefly before tagging in Something, who picks up where he left off. We head to a mid-match break and when we return, Miguel and Wentz are in the offensive lead, taking it to Deaner and utilizing frequent tags.
The commentators tout Joe Hendry’s appearance in WWE NXT being WWE’s single most viewed clip on X of 2024. Something goes on an offensive tear, cleaning house of many of the opposition in the ring. On the floor, he Donkey Kong’s The Rascalz before the action resumes in the ring, where The Art of Finesse gets ABC the win.
Backstage With The System
Backstage, The System are shown. They talk about Santino Marella always trying to stack the deck against them, but they always end up on top regardless. Moose brings up not losing a singles match in two years now. He says one person might be a problem, but Johnny Dango Curtis is going to handle that potential problem for him. We head to another commercial break after this wraps up.
Steve Maclin defeated Sami Callihan in a Road To Slammiversary Qualifier
An extensive video package airs to promote the next Road To Slammiversary qualifier. It’s time to see who will join the six-man match at Slammiversary with TNA World Champion Moose, as Steve Maclin and Sami Callihan do battle.
Maclin with a fast start, hitting a running knee for a two-count. Callihan fights back with a big near-finish of his own within the first few seconds after a Cactus Driver. Things slow down after that, with Callihan in the offensive driver’s seat.
Maclin turns the tables with another running knee, which he follows up this time with a top-rope headbutt for a close two-count. With Callihan on the floor, Maclin runs the ring apron and hits a flying elbow, Cactus Jack-style, at ringside.
Callihan fights back and launches Maclin on the floor as well. The fans rally behind both guys as the referee begins a double count out, which is stopped when Maclin and Callihan each re-enter the ring just in time after the count of nine. Maclin hits a Rock Bottom-style backbreaker for another nearfall attempt.
Callihan cuts off Maclin’s offensive run with an exploder suplex into the turnbuckles in the corner of the ring. Callihan looks for a Cactus Driver off the middle rope, but Maclin fights his way out of it. He gets behind Callihan on the top-rope, but Callihan gets him on his shoulders and connects with a Super Death Valley Driver.
He follows that up with another Cactus Driver straight into the pin attempt, but still only gets a count of two and a half. Callihan looks for a Cactus Driver on the hard part of the ring apron outside of the ring ropes, but Maclin fights his way free.
Maclin hits a running knee as Callihan was coming back into the ring. He hits his finisher next and gets the win to qualify for the TNA title match at Slammiversary. After the match, the show goes back into another commercial break.
KUSHIDA defeated Alan Angels
After the show returns from the break, Alan Angels makes his way out of the entrance tunnel to the ring for the next match of the show. His opponent, KUSHIDA is out next and before the bell sounds, Angels goes to work on him to get the early offensive jump.
Before even taking his entrance coat off, KUSHIDA fights back and takes over as fans chant his name. Angels fights back with kicks to KUSHIDA in the corner. He whips him to the opposite corner and follows him in with a clothesline.
KUSHIDA catches the right arm of Angels as he leaps to the floor. He snaps the arm of Angels in vicious fashion before taking over in the ring. KUSHIDA hits a Tanaka punch to Angels as he leaped off the ropes. KUSHIDA follows up with the Hoover Board Lock for the tap out victory.
After the match wraps up, Jonathan Gresham hits the ring and attacks KUSHIDA from behind. Gresham leans KUSHIDA’s head back and tries pouring that black ink into his mouth, but security runs out and stops him before he does. The show went into another break after this wrapped up.
Backstage With The Hardys
Backstage, we return from the break to “BROKEN” Matt Hardy, Rebecca Hardy and Jeff Hardy. Matt talks about The System putting their hands on his wife at Against All Odds. He announces a mixed tag match with Matt and Rebecca vs. Eddie & Alisha Edwards in Philadelphia, PA. for next week. Jeff Hardy then mentions The Hardy Boys vs. The System in tag-team action also coming up in Philly.
Nic Nemeth defeated Rich Swann in a Road To Slammiversary Qualifier
It’s main event time!
Back inside the Impact Zone, the commentators plug the TNA Summer Tour and TNA Slammiversary lineup, as well as the card for next week’s Impact. The elaborate video package for our second Road To Slammiversary Qualifier, which serves as this week’s main event, airs next.
Rich Swann and Nic Nemeth make their respective ring walks, with AJ Francis and DJ Whoo Kid accompanying the former, and the latter coming out by himself. Before things get started, we head into another pre-match commercial break.
When we return, Nemeth and Swann lock up and “The Wanted Man” immediately goes to work on the arm of the First Class member, isolating it and cranking away. Meanwhile, the commentators talk about AJ Francis buying the title belt that PCO long wanted after ruining his recent date with Steph De Lander.
Swann gets a break in the action and rolls out to the floor for a quick in-match hug session with Francis and DJ Whoo Kid. Back in the ring, Nemeth hits a quick drop down after switching behind Swann, taking him down to the mat and slapping on a bulldog choke.
Nemeth hits a picture-perfect dropkick and pops up for a quick arrogant hip-swivel in Swann’s face. Swann and DJ Whoo Kid tie up the referee, which allows Francis to get in a cheap shot. He gets in another one, hitting Nemeth with a can of Gin N Juice, before the referee ejects he and DJ Whoo Kid from ringside.
After that, the show heads into a mid-match commercial break. When we return, Swann is still in a comfortable offensive lead. Nemeth eventually fights back and hits the Jerry Lawler heart attack series of quick repeated elbow drops to take over on offense. Swann catches Nemeth coming off the ropes with a huge clothesline to slow down his momentum.
Nemeth leaps onto Swann for a comeback, but Swann catches him and buckle bombs him into the corner. Moments later, out of nowhere, Nemeth hits a Fame-Asser for a close two-count. After Swann kicks out, Nemeth slaps on a sleeper hold onto a grounded Swann.
A Danger Zone attempt doesn’t pan out, leading to Swann hitting a big kick for a two-count. Fans chant “Wanted Man” to try and rally behind Nemeth. Swann sets Nemeth up and heads to the top for a splash, only to land on the raised knees of Nemeth. Swann hits a hand-spring cutter for a close nearfall attempt.
Swann picks up Nemeth, but Nemeth drills him with a big punch. He invites Swann to hit him back, and Swann happily obliges. The two trade shots back-and-forth in the middle of the ring and then Nemeth hits a big headbutt and a super kick. He runs into a super kick by Swann and then delivers another of his own, followed by a DDT. He hits the Danger Zone after that for the win.
With the win, Nemeth joins Steve Maclin and Josh Alexander in the six-way TNA World Championship match against Moose at TNA Slammiversary. Next week, either Frankie Kazarian or Mike Santana, and Joe Hendry or Jake Something will join the three in the bout. Nemeth’s post-match celebration wraps up the show. Thanks for joining us and follow me on Twitter/X.
Next week:
* Frankie Kazarian vs. Mike Santana (Road To Slammiversary Qualifier) * Joe Hendry vs. Jake Something (Road To Slammiversary Qualifier) * Dani Luna vs. Jody Threat * Eddie & Alisha Edwards vs. Matt & Rebecca Hardy
– Bryan and I will be back tonight covering all the weekend news including Dynasty, Smackdown, Collision, WWE cuts, and more. Garrett and I did our week in review show on Friday, we talked with Brad Balukjian extensively about the 80s period when WWF went from regional to national including busting some myths, plus talked about AEW TV contract negotiations, what Steve Austin and Terry Funk had that others didn’t, and Chris Adams.
– AEW has Dynasty tonight in St. Louis at the Chaifetz Arena. There were 6,447 tickets out this morning and the place would sell out at about 7,000 or a little more, so it is possible they’ll sell out but more likely they’ll come just shy. On paper for action, this show looks exceptional. It’ll run from 7 p.m. to midnight.
Zero Hour:
Trent Baretta vs. Matt Sydal
Orange Cassidy & Katsuyori Shibata vs Shane Taylor & Lee Moriarty
Billy Gunn & The Acclaimed vs. Jay White & Gunn Brothers for both the AEW and ROH trios titles
PPV:
Adam Copeland & Eddie Kingston & Mark Briscoe vs House of Black
Julia Hart vs. Willow Nightingale for the TBS tile
Roderick Strong vs. Kyle O’Reilly for the International title
Kazuchika Okada vs. Pac for the Continental title
Young Bucks vs. FTR for vacant tag titles in a ladder match
Toni Storm vs. Thunder Rosa for the women’s title
Will Ospreay vs. Bryan Danielson
Samoa Joe vs. Swerve Strickland for the AEW title
We have a preview in the current edition of the Observer with all the odds going into the show.
The show goes head-to-head with two NBA playoff games and two NHL Stanley Cup playoff games. The next several weeks for all pro wrestling shows will be hard with the playoffs. AEW has another obstacle on Wednesday with a 5 p.m. start on the West Coast for the show headlined by Jon Moxley vs. Powerhouse Hobbs for the IWGP title. The start time should hurt AEW ratings by about eight percent, and NBA playoffs will hurt it as well.
– AEW does have a huge benefit next week as the three-hour Saturday night block with Collision & Rampage starts at 8:30 p.m., only 30 minutes later than usual, but gets a Boston vs Miami lead-in. The first quarter is likely to be by far the highest quarter hour of viewing so far this year so they should open up with the top angle for Double or Nothing when viewership is high. The rating should be way up but it also doesn’t mean anything due to the lead-in past an opportunity to get talent seen by more non-fans than any time in a long time.
– We’re doing polls this weekend on Dynasty and TNA Rebellion so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match for each show to [email protected]
– WWE finished the European tour yesterday in Belfast, Northern Ireland:
Sami Zayn won four-way over Gunther, Chad Gable, and Finn Balor. Balor was a huge babyface of course and Zayn raised Balor’s hand after the match
JD McDonagh b Ricochet – They changed from the ending in the other cities because McDonagh is Irish
Natalya & Tegan Nox b Shayna Baszler & Zoey Stark
Damian Priest b Kofi Kingston to keep the world title. McDonagh and Xavier Woods both interfered
Becky Lynch b Piper Niven
Jey Uso b Drew McIntyre. McIntyre cut a promo saying Belfast may host WrestleMania before saying he’ll personally make sure it never happens.
Cody Rhodes b Shinsuke Nakamura to keep the WWE title
The show sold out legit
– For Google searches this week, nothing from pro wrestling or MMA made the list, but the Ryan Garcia vs Devin Hansey boxing match had 2 million searches, the second most for the weekend behind the NBA playoffs, which had 6.5 million. Garcia vs. Haney was just slightly below UFC 300 and double that of WrestleMania.
– We’re looking for reports on these shows from the weekend:
WWE Friday night in Pittsburgh (dark matches only)
WWE last night in Erie, PA
WWE tonight in Fort Wayne, IN
NXT Friday in Davenport, FL
TNA tonight in Las Vegas
AEW last night (anything not on the three-hour live show)
We’re looking for results, finishes and highlights to [email protected]
– Sami Callihan was back with TNA last night but is expected to continue working with MLW.
– I saw the Friday night Arena Mexico show. The three-way where Mascara Dorada beat Mistico and Atlantis Jr. in an elimination match to advance to next week’s tournament of champions final against Titan and Magnus was excellent. Even better was the Villanos & Zandokan Jr. match against Titan & Esfinge & Flip Gordon. The heat for this stuff is so far beyond what you see anywhere else these days. The other match we got high recommendations for this weekend was the Yuma Anzai vs. Ryuki Honda Champion Carnival match from All Japan today in Chiba.
– New Japan did a ten bell salute to Akebono at yesterday’s show in Machida.
– A&E tonight has WWE Rivals at 8 p.m. on the Hulk Hogan vs. Randy Savage feud and Most Wanted Treasures at 9 p.m. features Dusty Rhodes, with Cody Rhodes and Booker T.
– There was a giant upset as four-time NCAA champion and Hodge Trophy winner Aaron Brooks beat defending gold medalist David Taylor, considered the country’s best wrestler regardless of weight, on scores of 4-1 and 3-1 at the Olympic trials last night on the USA Network. So Brooks made the Olympic team at 189 pounds. Taylor had been all over TV commercials done by Cody Rhodes on NBC and USA, so they may have to cut a new one for Brooks, Kyle Dake, or Kyle Snyder. Mason Parris, a WWE NIL wrestler, made the team at 275 pounds beating Hayden Zillmer 7-0 and 7-0 in straight matches. Snyder made his third Olympic team at 213 beating Isaac Trumble 5-0 and 4-0. He’s got one gold and one silver.
– On the women’s side, Amit Elor, the top star at 149 and best woman wrestler regardless of weight in the country, at 20 years old, beat Forrest Molinari 6-0 and 2-1 to make her first Olympic team. Elor won two age group world titles (under 18 and under 20) in 2021, two age group world titles (under 20 and under 23), and the overall world title in both 2022 and 2023. She’s been in eight world championship tournaments and gone 29-0 and outscored opponents 251-9. Helen Maroulis made her third Olympic team after winning gold in 2016. Kayla Miracle made her second team.
The biggest news story from the women’s side was Kennedy Blades beating Adeline Gray 11-6 and 8-3 to make the team at 167 pounds. Gray has been the dominant US wrestler in that division for more than a decade and won six world titles and the 2021 silver medal, but never a gold, and not making this team means she’s likely to never win a gold.
– Adam Coon beat WWE NIL wrestler Cohlton Schutz, winning the second and third match after losing the first, to make the Greco-Roman Olympic team in the 286-pound weight class.
– Luke Rockhold knocked out Joe Schilling in the main event of Karate Combat in Dubai last night. It was Rockhold’s first combat sports win in seven years.
– Swerve Strickland threw out the first pitch at yesterday’s St. Louis Cardinals game. He had with him an AEW world title belt,
– Aero Star debuts with House of Glory Wrestling on 5/5 in New York at the NYC Arena.
– Yuka Sakazaki’s leg injury in her bout last night in Peoria, IL with Emi Sakura was legit. As of this morning, the exact injury and its ramifications weren’t clear. She gutted her way through the match but the injury did change things.
– TNA tapes Impact tonight in Las Vegas:
Jordynne Grace vs. Miyu Yamashita for the Knockouts title
Sami Callihan has returned to TNA after several months as a free agent.
The former TNA World Champion made a surprise return during the Knockouts title match between Jordynne Grace and Steph De Lander, helping take out Kon and The Good Hands.
After dispatching them, he turned to De Lander and threw her back into the ring for the awaiting Grace who then finished her off for the successful title defense.
The 36-year-old finished off his last Impact contract in September 2023, ending a six-year run that began in 2017. During his break, Callihan wrestled on the indies 21 times, taking on the likes of actor Paul Walter Hauser at this year’s WrestleCon SuperShow in addition to some MLW dates among them.
TNA did not announce any formal signing as of yet.
His return was one of three on the night, including former TNA World Champion Matt Hardy and former AEW star Mike Santana.
In the other four defenses, TNA World Champion Moose successfully defended his title against Nic Nemeth, Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace defended against Steph De Lander, X-Division Champion Mustafa Ali defended against Jake Something, and Knockouts Tag Team Champions Spitfire (Masha Slamovich & Jody Threat) defended against Decay (Rosemary & Havok).
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Former NFL defensive star and wrestling fan Shawne Merriman got physically involved during Saturday’s show, nailing Joe Hendry.
Merriman was sitting at ringside for the Hendry vs. Rich Swann match when Swann’s teammate AJ Francis was about to hit Hendry with a chain. Merriman got involved as if he was coming to Hendry’s aid but got into the ring and clotheslined him instead, leading to Swann eventually picking up the win.
Merriman made sporadic WWE appearances through the years but told Renee Paquette in a 2021 podcast interview that a deal didn’t happen between the two sides due to issues around his “Lights Out” branding.
The annual Wrestlecon Mark Hitchcock Memorial Supershow as part of WrestleMania weekend returns with its usual array of interesting first-time matches.
Two tremendous athletes from two generations will clash for the first time as Rob Van Dam will battle “Speedball” Mike Bailey.
In a Philadelphia street fight against Sami Callihan, award-winning actor Paul Walter Hauser will look to remain undefeated in his third-ever match.
Multi-promotional champion Nic Nemeth will take on Joey Janela while former TNA World Champion Josh Alexander will battle Masato Tanaka.
RevPro undisputed British heavyweight champion Michael Oku will defend against Titan.
In an eight-man tag team match, The FBI (Little Guido, Tommy Rich & Tony Mamaluke) will team with a mystery partner against Los Boricuas (Huracan Castillo Jr., Jose Estrada, Miguel Perez Jr. & Savio Vega).
Averno, Cavernario, Mistico, Star Jr. & Villano III Jr. will take on Ben-K, Dragon Kid, Kota Minoura, Shun Skywalker & YAMATO in a ten-man match.
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Show Report —
The show started with a photo slideshow featuring the show’s namesake, the late Mark Hitchcock.
Kevin Gill & Veda Scott were on the call.
Nic Nemeth defeated Joey Janela
Janela dominated early on. Nemeth started a comeback but was dropped with a dragon suplex. They started trading big moves, including back-and-forth superkicks for the double down. Janela nailed Nemeth with a Death Valley driver on the apron.
Back in the ring, Nemeth avoided a diving stomp and hit a jumping DDT for two. Janela blocked the Famouser and turned it into a powerbomb, following it up with a package piledriver for a near fall. Nemeth came back with the Famouser and the Danger Zone for the win.
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– Former ECW referee Jim Molineaux came out to officiate the following match.
The FBI (Little Guido & Tommy Rich) and Deonna Purrazzo (w/ Tony Mamaluke) defeated Los Boricuas (Miguel Perez Jr., Nathalya Perez, & Savio Vega) (w/ Huracan Castillo Jr. & Jose Estrada)
The Virtuosa joined the Full Blooded Italians for one night.
This was obviously more for novelty and fun than anything else. Los Boricuas were good heel foils for the FBI. Guido can still go! Molineaux sent the rest of the Boricuas to the back midway through.
The best actual wrestling in the match was between Purrazzo and Nathalya. Eventually, it was Purrazzo getting the submission victory with the Fujiwara armbar.
**********
Rob Van Dam (w/ Bill Alfonso) defeated “Speedball” Mike Bailey – with special guest referee Jerry Lynn
RVD was super over, he got by far the biggest reaction of anyone on the show to this point. They started with some back-and-forth chain wrestling, leading to a couple standoffs. RVD got the upper hand on the outside, landing a spinning kick to a prone Speedball. Speedball fired back and landed an Asai moonsault to the floor.
After an extended control segment, RVD put together a comeback. Fonzy entered the ring but was sent packing by Lynn. Speedball landed his rapid-fire kicks and avoided Rolling Thunder, earning enough breathing room to hit a missile dropkick. RVD avoided the Ultimate Weapon.
Fonzy tossed RVD a chair and distracted the official, allowing RVD to kick the chair into Speedball’s face. The Five-Star Frog Splash followed for the win.
**********
RevPro Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship: Michael Oku (c) defeated Titán
After the opening exchange, they went right into trading chops. Oku sent Titán to the outside after a headscissor takeover, but Titán countered the follow-up and landed a tope suicida. After that, it was Titán in control for a while.
Oku came back with a Fosbury Flop and a diving crossbody for two. Titán nailed a superkick and a diving double stomp but missed another before getting the knees up on an Oku moonsault. Oku fired back with a running knee and a lionsault before locking on a half Boston crab. Titán fought his way to the ropes.
Titán hit a psycho driver for two. Oku returned fire with a superkick, but Titán fought back with his through-the-ropes clothesline. Titán stuck the diving double stomp but was too slow on the cover. He immediately applied an inverted Figure Four leglock, but Oku escaped and put on the half crab. Titán nearly made it to the ropes, but Oku dragged him back into the center of the ring and bridged back, forcing the tap.
**********
Mustafa Ali & Matt Riddle defeated The Rascalz (Zachary Wentz & Trey Miguel)
This match was unadvertised. Riddle and Wentz went back-and-forth at the start, then their partners did the same. Riddle & Ali hit some tandem offense with Riddle holding the ropes open for an Ali suicide dive, but the Rascalz cut them off for a heat segment.
Riddle eventually reached Ali for the hot tag, getting a near fall. The Rascalz returned fire with a strike combination for two. Riddle strung together some offense with a ripcord knee, an exploder suplex, and a Bro-ton to both Rascalz. Riddle hit a double RKO on both Rascalz before nailing Miguel with the Bro Derek for the win.
**********
Josh Alexander defeated Masato Tanaka
This was a hard-hitting heavyweight battle in the early portions. Alexander held the control sections, continuing to beat Tanaka down until Tanaka fought back with a brainbuster. Alexander hit three consecutive German suplexes, bridging into a kickout at 2.
Tanaka hit a big superplex, but Alexander popped up and slapped on the ankle lock. Tanaka was bleeding from the forehead. Alexander landed a nasty car crash crossbody for a near fall.
They had a really cool back-and-forth fight towards the end that fired up the crowd. We got the cursory forearm exchange before simultaneous clotheslines led to the double down. Tanaka hit Diamond Dust, but Alexander avoided the Sliding D and hit a powerbomb onto a knee before the C4 got him the win.
*********
Team CMLL (Místico, Cavernario, Averno, Star Jr., & Villano III Jr.) defeated Team Dragongate (Shun Skywalker, YAMATO, Kzy, Kota Minoura, & Dragon Kid)
Cavernario vs. Dragon Kid to start. The participants in the match each paired off early on in this order: YAMATO vs. Averno, Shun vs. Místico, Kzy vs. Star, and Minoura vs. Villano.
It was pretty messy in the early portions. Interestingly enough the Dragongate team leaned into being heels even though Shun is the only true heel on the team. Minoura even went for Místico’s mask at one point.
It was Místico who was the catalyst for Team CMLL’s comeback. Star Jr. landed a running tornillo to the outside, followed by Místico hitting a diving crossbody into the front row. The other CMLL wrestlers took turns hitting big moves on Dragon Kid in the ring. Averno hit a double-tap powerbomb on Shun, but Dragon Kid ran in to break it up.
YAMATO hit Go To Hospital 2 on Averno, allowing Dragon Kid to hit the elevated top-rope Frankensteiner, which Kzy followed up with a frog splash. Cavernario broke up the pin and hit a splash on Dragon Kid for two. Villano landed a corkscrew splash for two of his own.
We got the parade of big moves until a Místico vs. Kzy face-off in the middle of the ring. Shun cut his own partner off, trying to steal all the glory, before just booting Kzy. Místico capitalized on the infighting, allowing Star to lock on a wacky submission. Meanwhile, Místico applied La Mística to Kzy for the win.
**********
Philadelphia Street Fight: Paul Walter Hauser defeated Sami Callihan
Hauser is an actor known for roles in films like Richard Jewell and I, Tonya. He’s also made a couple of AEW appearances.
The actor teased a dive at the start, but Callihan cut him off with a shot from a trash can lid. Callihan cut between Hauser’s fingers and squeezed lemon juice on the wounds. He then pulled out a pizza cutter and ran it over Hauser’s forehead. Hauser donned the crimson mask.
Hauser tossed powder in Callihan’s face before nailing a big boot on the outside. Callihan didn’t stay down for long, but Hauser moving out of the way led to Callihan chopping the ring post. Back inside, Hauser smacked Callihan with a chair. He propped Callihan up against a door, but Callihan rolled out of the way, sending Hauser crashing through it.
The two men each acquired staplers and took turns stapling each other. A falling headbutt from Hauser got two. Hauser then planted Callihan on some thumbtacks with a Samoan Drop. He tried to follow it up with a diving elbow drop, but Callihan moved out of the way.
Callihan powerbombed Hauser through a table for a near fall. He attacked the official. Bill Alfonso came out, and Callihan took him out too. The lights then went out, Enter Sandman played, and The Sandman appeared.
Sandman attacked Callihan with a kendo stick. He handed the kendo to Hauser, who hit a cane-assisted side Russian leg sweep onto tacks for the win.
MLW’s first free signature event of the year aired Saturday with Reload, taped earlier this month as part of the Kings of Colosseum tapings from Philadelphia’s 2300 Arena with Joe Dombrowski and Matt Striker on the call.
A “Sessions with Saint Laurent” segment featuring MLW Champion Alex Kane kicked things off. Saint Laurent tried to sign Kane to his WTF stable, even giving him a custom WTF entrance song to try to tempt the champ. Kane didn’t buy into Saint Laurent’s elaborate promises and ended up tearing up the contract presented to him.
Zayda (w/ Saint Laurent) defeated Notorious Mimi
Striker mentioned both competitors being heels and the fans not liking either, but Mimi worked as the babyface and had the fans shouting “yay” in a boo/yay strike exchange. Moments later, Zayda tried to pull a fast one and get a pin with her feet on the ropes.
Mimi hit a nice back kick for a two count and had momentum in her favor as she climbed to the top, but Zayda knocked her off and hit an Unprettier to pick up the win.
After the match, Dombrowski tried to get an interview with Zayda but Saint Laurent took over and pushed him to the side. In a long line of WTF comparisons to mid-90s WWF, we were told “The Federette” was America Online’s most downloaded person in all of 2023 before she said she wanted a Featherweight title shot.
However, that might interfere in Saint Laurent’s business dealings with Salina de la Renta, so he said he would handle it and talk to Salina.
– Mistico will take on Averno at MLW Superfight on February 3rd. Other matches announced include Alex Kane vs. Satoshi Kojima for the MLW title, Sami Callihan vs. AKIRA in a “Callihan Rules” match, Yuji Nagata vs. Jacob Fatu, and Ichiban vs. Rocky Romero for the Middleweight title in a two out of three falls match
– Minoru Suzuki was announced for Intimidation Games on February 29th from New York City.
Good Brother #3 defeated Steph De Lander (w/ Saint Laurent)
De Lander cost Mance Warner his “MLW career” when she interfered in his loser leaves MLW match against Matt Cardona. But, luckily a close friend of Warner, the masked Good Brother #3 who bears a striking resemblance to Warner, was quick to step into Warner’s shoes to try to exact some revenge for his fallen Southern friend.
De Lander offered a handshake and then kissed Warner, I mean Good Brother, before rolling him up for a sneaky fast two count. Moments later, she crashed into the ring post on the outside which let GB set up some weapons in the ring.
Inside the ring, De Lander tried to give GB a lap dance but he quickly swapped positions, got on the mic, had some music play, and began stripping down. As he was getting into it, De Lander kicked him low, rammed his face into the chair, and used another chair to crack across his skull.
De Lander speared GB through a board in the corner, but only got a two count. GB blocked a Cardona-style boot in the corner and got a two count of his own after throwing a chair at De Lander.
Another low blow slowed GB down. De Lander then got on the mic and said they shouldn’t fight but instead, they should show love. GB got on the mic and said he thought he had found the one and even proposed to her to which she said yes.
After toasting with a cold beer, GB asked for a kiss so she closed her eyes and puckered up, but when she opened them, she received an eye poke from the Eye Poke God and rolled her up to pick up the pinfall win.
– In front of their 80s-inspired green screen and neon WTF banner, Tom Lawlor and Josh Bishop took turns hyping up what each other was going to do to Matt Riddle and Alex Kane, eventually settling on “just watch.”
– A bloody AKIRA, fresh off his Taipei death match with Ricky Shane Page, told Sami Callihan he is ready for him at Superfight.
Ichiban defeated Jimmy Lloyd
In what could be seen as a clash of styles, Ichiban started with a tope con hilo but early on, Salina de la Renta and Jesus Rodriguez came out to distract their foe. Lloyd took advantage with a big neckbreaker.
Rodriguez took a cheap shot from the outside, but it only motivated Ichiban to fight back and hit Lloyd with a stunner, missile dropkick, and his custom Code Red. He tried to hit Lloyd with a dive but got caught mid-air and was dropped on his head on the floor.
Lloyd brought out two ladders but another distraction by Rodriguez cost Lloyd the match when he accidentally got knocked off the apron. That led to Ichiban hitting Lloyd with his face-first finisher after jumping from the top rope and catching Lloyd climbing a ladder in the ring.
Nao Kakuta defeated Moka Miyamoto
This was advertised as a Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling showcase match and did not disappoint in the short time it got.
Striker was doing his usual best to take away from those in the ring as after a lock up and wrist lock, he said it was nothing he hadn’t seen before.
Some differences I noticed from other featherweight division matches were the stiffer strikes, or so they seemed, and the more brutal underhanded tactics by using the hair, kicks to the head, and upper body.
Miyamoto took two attempts, but she eventually hit her big standing chop to Kakuta for a two count. However, the ever-aware Kakuta immediately tried to hook her arms and roll her up, showing she was still aware of her surroundings.
Miyamoto locked in an abdominal stretch as she began to try her comeback but Kakuta cut her off, hit her with a flatliner and then a twisting fireman’s carry into a stunner to pick up the win.
After the match, Love Doug came out to console Miyamoto and tell her she was brave and show her how brave he was by asking her out. He asked the Philadelphia crowd if they thought she should say yes. They agreed, and so did Miyamoto, so the lovebirds left together.
Delmi Exo defeated Tiara James
James has still to be pinned in MLW while Exo has been flirting with the idea of joining Salina de la Renta’s Promociones Dorado after coming off two recent big defeats. Azteca henchmen stood guard at the side of the stage during the match.
Striker questioned Exo’s ability, saying something was missing as of late and even pointed out she didn’t keep an early hold on or didn’t have the ability to keep it on.
Exo went for the Delmi Driver early, but James powered out and hit a running clothesline. Exo slid out the back and quickly rolled up James to pick up a surprise win. This was a bit of a letdown since they were hyping up James’ undefeated streak throughout the short match.
Afterward, Exo called out Featherweight champion Janai Kai who obliged De la Renta and came out to the ring. Kai seemed fine with fighting Exo there and then, but Zayda and Saint Laurent then came out. A quick war of words followed but De la Renta ended up slapping Saint Laurent,
Exo took down Kai and Saint Laurent shook it off to hold Zayda back from De la Renta (who she was aiming for in the first place). As she was leaving, Exo was handed a key by the Azteca Henchmen.
Alex Kane & Matt Riddle defeated WTF (Josh Bishop & Tom Lawlor) (w/ Saint Laurent)
The two former UFC fighters (Lawlor and Riddle) started with a mat battle that ended with Lawlor hitting a side Russian leg sweep and locking in an Octopus hold. Riddle escaped and just missed a big penalty kick to the head.
Kane came in and helped Riddle moonsault on to Lawlor before unloading his array of suplexes. Bishop was in next to use his size and power to ground Kane.
WTF worked over Kane but he fought back and was close to tagging in Riddle, but Lawlor ran around the ring and pulled him off the apron. Kane then took Lawlor out with a dive to the floor which let Bishop wait and grab Kane with a big Bossman slam. Lawlor added insult by DDT’ing Kane on the floor, too.
WTF then used old-school heel tag team tactics by enraging Riddle to distract the referee so they could illegally tag each other in and out, just because they could. Lawlor hit a Bronco Buster to rile up the fans and Riddle even more. He got cocky and tried a second, but Kane moved and Lawlor went crashing where no man wants to crash.
Kane slipped out of an Outsider Edge and hot-tagged Riddle. He hit a Bro-ton splash, penalty kick and German suplex to Bishop while Kane suplexed Lawlor. Richard Holliday tried to interfere, but Kane suplexed him too. Riddle went up top and won the match for his team after a Super Bro-ton bomb from the top rope.
After the match, there was a backstage brawl between the World Titan Federation and the Second Gear Crew.
Satoshi Kojima defeated Sami Callihan
As Kojima was making his entrance, Callihan jumped him and the fight was underway.
Callihan introduced some weapons from underneath the ring and papercut the webs of Kojima’s fingers and the sides of his mouth. The bell rang for the start of the match which sprung Kojima into life with a big clothesline.
Machine gun chops followed on the outside to which Callihan responded with some hard chops of his own. Inside the ring, Callihan went after the fingers of Kojima, used his hair to move him around, and used his fingernails to scratch at his skin. He even lobbed a mouthful of spit towards the referee.
The spit followed as he lubricated his hand before chopping Kojima’s chest, but moments later, Kojima fired back and unloaded more machine gun chops.
Kojima tried to go to the top rope, but Callihan caught him and drove him to the mat with a death valley driver for a close nearfall. Callihan then tried a piledriver, but Kojima blocked it and dropped him with a DDT.
Callihan blocked a Koji Cutter and hit a backdrop driver. Kojima responded by absorbing a pair of lariats and then hit a Koji Cutter for a one count.
Callihan defiantly got in Kojima’s face and was met with a big lariat, but Callihan kicked out at two. He could not kick out of a running lariat as Kojima picked up a big win ahead of his MLW heavyweight title fight at Superfight.
After the match, Kojima told us he ate bread this morning and that he will eat some after the match. If we were not aware, he loves bread.
The show finished up with Alex Kane who dismissed Kojima’s chance at taking the title from him. Kane talked through his six successful title defenses and told Kojima he would be another of his successful defenses. He said what he will do to Kojima at Superfight will make the crowd uncomfortable.
As the show was going off the air, a quick flash of an old logo we have not seen for a long time appeared on screen: that of CONTRA Unit.
MLW’s special year-end Holiday Rush event comes after last week’s season finale of MLW Fusion and ahead of January’s Kings of Colosseum.
Ichiban vs. Salina de la Renta, an MLW Tag Team title match, and Jacob Fatu vs. Hammerstone were the main advertised matches. Those, and the rest of tonight’s matches, were taped earlier this month at the One Shot tapings at the Melrose Ballroom in New York.
Joe Dombrowski and Matt Striker were on commentary.
AKIRA defeated Alec Price, Brett Ryan Gosselin, J Boujii, Love Doug and Nolo Kitano in a scramble match
Doug jumped BRG as he made his entrance to continue their feud over being the love interest of the “International Pop Superstar” B3CCA. These two continually clashed throughout the match and will meet in a blindfold match at the January 6th tapings.
Price, AKIRA, Boujii and Kitano picked up the pace early with a rotation of switching one-on-one highspots. Doug turned a five-way sleeper hold train into a love train by switching from chokehold to hug, but Kitano quickly put a stop to that with a missile dropkick.
AKIRA based a Tower of Doom spot that saw Boujii as the unfortunate top layer of the double superplex.
Doug and AKIRA brought a Santa sack into the match and used it to blindfold BRG before double-superkicking him. Doug and AKIRA then turned their attention to each other. Doug hit a superb looking rebound clothesline, but had to be aware of a roll-up and springboard cutter from Boujii.
This began a series of nearfall finishers as Kitano, AKIRA, and Price – complete with a dive to all opponents on the floor – were all involved, but it was the prizefighter AKIRA who picked up the win after his Death Penalty reverse DDT was enough to put Price away.
After the match, AKIRA got on the mic and cut a babyface promo about his time in The Calling. He called Ricky Shane Page a leech and said The Calling’s storm won’t last. He was interrupted by Page, Cannonball, and a gang of masked goons. AKIRA fought most off, but Page hit his devastating DDT to once again stand over his fallen ex-friend…or did he? AKIRA kicked him low to show he still has fight left. AKIRA will face RSP in a Taipei Death Match at Kings of Colosseum.
– Backstage, we saw Promociones Dorado getting ready for Salina de la Renta’s match against Ichiban, but she was quickly distracted by a bag left in her office. Last week on Fusion, one of Cesar Duran’s henchmen’s masks was left in her office, so it seems she is spooked and may not be as strong and powerful as she tries to show.
– A vignette for the return of Sami Callihan at Kings of Colosseum aired.
Zayda (w/ Saint Laurent) defeated Notorious Mimi and Tiara James in a three-way
James was on the losing end of another three-way last week involving Delmi Exo and Featherweight Champion Janai Kai so she was looking to get back to winning ways here.
Before the match, we saw WTF member Zayda trying to negotiate a future title match for herself. Saint Laurent said he would talk to De La Renta to get a match with Kai.
Mimi hit a tilt-a-whirl slam, but it looked like a missed tilt-a-whirl headscissors by Zayda as she left the ring to leave Zayda and James to work the next spot. James ended up coming off the middle rope with a double dropkick to her opponents and then dropped Mimi with a gutbuster and spinebustered Zayda on top of her too. James looked strong going into the finish.
MSL had to save Zayda and interrupted a pinfall attempt after a rolling neckbreaker. That outside distraction let Zayda hit an Unprettier on James to pick up the win.
– Hyper Misao will make her MLW debut against Kai at Kings of Colosseum in January.
– MLW returns to Chicago on May 11th for Azteca Lucha.
Josh Bishop (w/ Saint Laurent) defeated Matthew Justice
This played into Bishop’s size and power vs. Justice’s daredevil toughness. Justice rallied time after time in the early going, fighting off a wind-up sidewalk slam, a backdrop to the apron, and a spinebuster into the ring post by diving through the ropes and baseball sliding into his larger opponent.
This tough guy match turned into a weapons bout as a table and chair were brought into the ring. Bishop used a table to ram into Justice’s head as he was on the top rope.
Justice hit a spear for a nearfall, but another interference distraction from MSL let Bishop lift Justice in an Outsider’s Edge position and toss him through the table that was resting in the corner to pick up the pinfall win. Bishop lifted Justice’s MLW Tag Team title belt after the match, and both ended up brawling to the back.
Later on in the show, the two continued their brawl to the roof of the building. A table was set up there for some reason, so Justice used it to hit a death-defying elbow drop after climbing to a higher level of the rooftop area.
Tony Deppen (w/ Griffin McCoy & TJ Crawford) defeated Kevin Blackwood
This was very quick but served as a nice step in the ongoing feud between Blackwood and Deppen’s gang of goons. Blackwood looked in control as he tried to get some revenge for the continued attacks and taunting he had received in recent weeks.
Deppen had pulled the turnbuckle pad off at the start of the match. After being knocked off the apron earlier, McCoy and Crawford interfered again, this time causing Blackwood to collide with the exposed buckle. That gave Deppen the opening to roll up Blackwood and get the tainted win.
– WTF’s Jayda introduced Richard Holliday who complimented her tan before announcing he is officially a member of the World Titan Federation, hyping up his MLW title match vs. Alex Kane at Kings of Colosseum.
– A vignette for the returning Matt Riddle,who will face Jacob Fatu at Kings of Colosseum, aired.
Wasted Youth (Dyln McKay & Marcus Mathers) defeated The Mane Event (Jay Lyon & Midas Black) and TJ Crawford & Griffin McCoy to earn a future MLW Tag Team title shot
The popular Mane Event were unfortunately on the receiving end of another loss as Wasted Youth won themselves a future tag title shot. Wasted Youth have a bright future as they are an exciting and explosive duo. McCoy and Crawford continued their wicked ways, teaming for the first time here.
Wasted Youth hit a nice backstabber/lionsault combo, but McCoy and Crawford came in with some nice double-team moves of their own — especially a twisting suplex throw into a sit-out power bomb. Lyon ran down the ramp and dove into the ring through the circus hoop to break up the pin.
The action was non-stop and packed with high-flying and double-team moves. Wasted Youth picked up the win after a shooting star press and 450 splash on Black while Lyon was taken out with a Fosbury flop to the floor.
Ichiban defeated Salina de la Renta (w/ Jesus Rodriguez, Janai Kai & Rocky Romero) by DQ
This was short, but it was here to continue the story of Ichiban’s quest towards Romero’s Middleweight title.
Kai, Romero and Rodriguez tried to interfere early, but Ichiban thwarted them all. This left Salina alone, who tried to negotiate with Ichiban before literally blindsiding him with a spray to the eyes. This caused the DQ, but allowed the Promociones Dorado team to lay a beating on Ichiban and remove his mask. Mascara Dorada came out to help Ichiban and chase away the dastardly heels.
Bomaye Fight Club (Alex Kane & Mr. Thomas) defeated MLW Tag Team Champions The Second Gear Crew (1 Called Manders & “Good Brother 3” Mance Warner) by DQ
Freebird Rules were in effect here as the masked Warner, ahem Good Brother 3, stepped into Matthew Justice’s shoes to represent the champions.
With no ongoing storyline between the teams and with both being babyfaces, it was a quiet opening as they exchanged holds and slowly warmed up into a strike battle between Thomas and Manders.
SGC hit Thomas with a double suplex off the top rope so Kane had to come in for his team and begin a one-man comeback consisting of suplexes and a splash on the apron.
Kane locked in an ankle lock on Manders, but broke it off when he noticed Jayda and Saint Laurent at ringside. Warner hit his running knee, but Kane regained his focus and suplexed him out of the ring.
Saint Laurent grabbed Kane’s ankle and the champion left the ring to confront the corrupt promotor, but Richard Holliday, with a glass of bubbly, also appeared at ringside. Kane and Holliday came face to face and Kane ended up with the champagne in his face. They came to blows as the referee called for the bell and called a disqualification win for the Bomaye Fight Club which also meant no title change.
Tom Lawlor and Josh Bishop came in with chairs to lay waste to the three members of the SGC but this ended up in security pulling them all apart as the commentators hyped up Alex Kane vs Richard Holliday on January 6th.
-Backstage Janai Kai and Delmi Exo confronted each other and came to blows. After being pulled apart two of Cesar Duran’s masked men appeared and handed Exo an envelope… interesting.
– After the end of the last match, it was announced that Matthew Justice & 1 Called Manders would defend their MLW tag titles against Josh Bishop and Tom Lawlor at KOC.
Jacob Fatu defeated Alex Hammerstone (w/ Saint Laurent)
Before they started, we had the popular “MEAT!” chant as the two long-term rivals sized each other up.
Hammerstone took the early advantage, but Fatu came back with an early run-up twisting moonsault from the top rope and a dive through the ropes to the floor. A brawl on the floor ensued with Hammerstone going headfirst into the ring post.
Fatu dove off the top with a senton bomb for a two count. Hammerstone then pulled the referee in the way to stop Fatu from hitting a superkick. This slight distraction gave Hammerstone the opening to hit a running pump kick to get the heat.
Hammerstone posed and flaunted as he slowly hammered Fatu, focusing on the lower back. A brief disagreement with the referee let Fatu hit him with a desperation savate kick, a running hip attack, and a Vader bomb for a close two count of his own.
Hammerstone got his knees up on Fatu’s handspring moonsault and then hit a powerslam and underhook suplex for another nearfall.
Fatu fought back and hit an amazing move. With Hammerstone sitting on the top rope, Fatu climbed up from the apron to meet him. Then, from balancing on the top rope, Fatu jumped and hooked Hammerstone with a hurricanrana, sending him the full way across the ring.
As momentum was swinging towards Fatu, Hammerstone desperately pushed the referee into the ropes which meant Fatu crotched himself on the top. Hammerstone then climbed to meet his foe and hit his own impressive top rope move with a top rope overhead belly-to-belly suplex.
A strike exchange followed as fatigue was setting in. Hammerstone slipped out of a Samoan drop and hit his standing pump kick, a release German suplex and a sit-out power bomb for a nearfall. Hammerstone immediately lifted up Fatu and hit his Nightmare Pendulum but somehow Fatu kicked out of that as well.
Fatu caught Hammerstone and hit his pop-up Samoan drop and quickly hit his signature double-spring top rope moonsault but Hammerstone hooked Fatu’s arms during the pinfall and nearly caught him out with a crucifix pin.
Fatu hit two more savate kicks, a Samoan Spike and another double spring moonsault to finally pin Hammerstone for the first time in his MLW career.
Saint Laurent looked disgusted with Hammerstone for losing and walked out on him. Hammerstone rolled out of the ring to meet Fatu at ringside and after a tense moment, they both hugged in a show of respect.
Post-match promo
After the match, Hammerstone got on the mic and said he could be getting himself in hot water but only has good intentions. He talked about his contract situation but said above all else, tonight he feels grateful. He mentioned his failed tryouts for WWE, Impact Wrestling and Lucha Underground and they all passed on him apart from MLW.
Without a tryout match, Court Bauer signed him to a three-year contract because he saw something in him. He said a lot of people say things about MLW and Court, and it has not been all sunshine and rainbows but they took a little boy and turned him into a wrestling superstar.
He went on to say that he wants to say that MLW is built with bricks made up of Hammerstone’s DNA, but in reality, Hammerstone is built with bricks made up of MLW’s DNA.
He named Ricky Shane Page, 1 Called Manders, Josh Bishop and Alex Kane being the names to take MLW forward. Bauer came out and hugged Hammerstone before they both walked to the back.
As his MLW contract ends on Jan 1st, if this was his last appearance in MLW, this was a nice send-off for the former champion. Hammerstone was pushed really strong from the start of his MLW run as part of MJF’s Dynasty stable. He will be remembered for his undefeated National Openweight title run and his two-year World title run against numerous top-level names. His recent surprise return as a heel fooled a lot of fans as the story had hints of reality where Hammerstone was airing his contract grievances before showing up and siding with Saint Laurent and the renegade WTF group.
Before going off air, we saw a video Riddle just posted to X from Las Vegas. In it, he said he was excited to get back to MLW because the MLW World Championship has eluded him since 2018. He then said that he was excited to fight the baddest man in the world in January and told Jacob Fatu he would be seeing him soon.
AEW star Jon Moxley will be competing in tag team action at Wrestling Revolver’s Unreal event later this month.
Wrestling Revolver has announced a first-time-ever tag team bout for the Thursday, November 16 event. Moxley & Sami Callihan will team up against The Rascalz (Trey Miguel & Zachary Wentz). The show is taking place in Los Angeles and will stream live via Fite+.
Moxley makes frequent appearance for Wrestling Revolver, which is an indie promotion run by Callihan.
The Unreal event will feature the Wrestling Revolver debut of UFC Hall of Famer/former WWE star Ronda Rousey. Callihan told Busted Open Radio that booking Rousey is something that he “fell into” because of his relationships with other people and them putting him over to Rousey. Callihan said Rousey wanted to do the show for charity. All ticket sale profits from Unreal are being donated to Lahaina wildfire relief.
Rousey & Marina Shafir are facing Athena & Billie Starkz at Unreal. The show is also set to include the in-ring debut of actor Paul Walter Hauser, “Speedball” Mike Bailey vs. Bryan Keith, Rey Horus vs. Gringo Loco, Jacob Fatu vs. Masha Slamovich, and more.
Sami Callihan says he can’t take credit for bringing in Ronda Rousey to Wrestling Revolver.
Rousey is scheduled for the promotion’s Unreal 3 event on November 16 in Los Angeles. Profits from ticket sales are being donated to Lahaina Wildfire Relief to help those impacted by the 2023 Hawaii wildfires.
Wrestling Revolver is run by Callihan, who appeared on Busted Open Radio on Wednesday. He said Rousey being on the show is something that simply fell into his lap.
“It’s something I fell into because of my relationships with other people and people putting myself over to Ronda, like, this is the guy you want to do work with,” Callihan said on the show.
“Ronda wanted to do this for charity,” he continued. “She wants to do something for the Hawaiian relief fund. Her husband is from Hawaii and this is a charity she holds very near and dear to her heart and as soon as it was brought up to me, I was like, ‘Absolutely, that is 100 percent something I want to be involved with because that money will actually go to help people.'”
Callihan continued to clarify that all profits after production costs will be donated to the charity. Many people working the show have asked for their fees to be sent directly to the charity as well. 250 tickets were sold on the first day they became available.
Rousey will team with Marina Shafir on the show. Their opponents have yet to be announced.
Free agent Sami Callihan was backstage at Saturday’s AEW Collision taping in Memphis, Tennessee.
Dave Meltzer reports in today’s Daily Update that Callihan was present backstage for Saturday’s Collision taping at the FedEx Forum in downtown Memphis. Bodyslam.net reported on Saturday that Callihan was backstage at the show.
Meltzer wrote:
Sami Callihan, who is a free agent, was backstage at the AEW tapings last night.
Callihan, 36, left Impact Wrestling following his contract expiring at the end of September. The final match of his deal aired on the October 12 Impact Wrestling episode in a Tag Team title challenge teaming with Rich Swann against The Rascalz.
In his 2017 to 2023 run with Impact, Callihan held the company’s World title from October 2019 to January 2020 where he dropped the championship to Tessa Banchard. Other Impact highlights for Callihan included headlining the 2021 Slammiversary pay-per-view in a challenge against Kenny Omega for the World title.
In addition to his in-ring career, Callihan is the owner and promoter of The Wrestling Revolver indie promotion that runs primarily in Iowa and Ohio.
Callihan and AEW star Jon Moxley teamed together as The Switchblades on the independent scene from 2009 to 2011, and the duo reformed for two matches in 2022 when Moxley wrestled for The Wrestling Revolver.
Fightful reported over the weekend that there was interest from both Callihan and Impact Wrestling in reaching a deal that would keep the 36-year-old in the company. However, PWInsider reported that the feeling backstage at Impact’s TV tapings in Memphis this weekend is that Callihan was finishing up with the promotion.
News that Callihan could be departing Impact soon comes just days after Pat Laprade reported that PCO has given notice to the company. PCO’s contract is believed to expire on October 30.
Callihan’s potential departure also comes after the promotion announced it will be running fewer dates than originally expected in 2023 due to making upgrades to its production.
Callihan first debuted with Impact Wrestling in 2017 and held the promotion’s world title from October 25, 2019, until January 12, 2020.
