Newly instituted travel guidelines have forced Tajiri to cancel an upcoming indie booking.
The former WWE and ECW wrestler was set to be in the United Kingdom for Pro Wrestling Chaos on April 18. However, he has now been forced to pull out of the booking just a few days after it was announced. Tajiri’s flight would have taken him over Middle Eastern airspace, which the Japanese government has advised against due to the worsening situation in the region amid the conflict between the United States & Israel and Iran.
Pro Wrestling Chaos is operated by wrestlers Flash Morgan Webster and “Wild Boar” Mike Hitchman. They put out a statement addressing Tajiri’s cancellation and offering refunds to any fans who no longer wish to attend the show:
— Pro Wrestling Cha💣s (@chaos_wrestling) March 9, 2026
Hi everyone, unfortunately less than 72hrs after we announced Tajiri for our April 18th show, the Japanese government advised all [citizens] not to travel over or between middle eastern airspace due to the on going conflict in Iran. Which of course meant Tajiri’s booked flight is no longer an option.
We have spent the last 5 days exhausting all options regarding this. But of course it being mania weekend meant that replacement wrestlers of equal standing are already booked in vegas and alternative flights are completely out of budget.
So with that in mind we are out of options and Tajiri or an alternative won’t be at our show on April 18th.
All Tajiri meet and greets will be refunded, and anyone who has tickets for the show on April 18th who no longer want to attend please contact us and we will also issue you a full refund.
This booking was part of a two-week trip Tajiri had planned to England where he was schedule to wrestle and hold seminars. A former WWE Cruiserweight Champion, he has continued his career in Japan after most recently appearing for WWE in 2016-2017 around the Cruiserweight Classic. He also had a Middleweight title reign for MLW in 2021-2022.
Three ECW legends are teaming up for Game Changer Wrestling’s Hammerstein Ballroom event.
GCW has announced that Super Crazy, Tajiri & Little Guido (Nunzio) vs. Arez, Gringo Loco & Jack Cartwheel will take place at the Sunday, January 19 show. It’s streaming live on TrillerTV+ and marks the second time GCW has ever held an event at the Hammerstein Ballroom.
The storied venue’s wrestling history includes playing host to ECW cards in the past. It was also the site of WWE’s ECW One Night Stand shows in both 2005 and 2006. Super Crazy defeated Tajiri and Little Guido in a three-way dance the first year. The second year then saw Little Guido & Tony Mamaluke defeat Super Crazy & Tajiri.
GCW first ran the Hammerstein Ballroom in January 2022. After that show received mixed-to-negative reviews, the theme this time is that GCW has a chance at redemption.
The People vs. GCW is the name of this event. Here’s everything that has been announced so far:
GCW World Champion Mance Warner defends against Effy or Allie Katch
Effy vs. Allie Katch (winner challenges Mance Warner later in the night)
GCW Tag Team Champions Dominic Garrini & Kevin Ku defend against Cole Radrick & Alec Price
Doors, Ladders & Chairs match for the vacant GCW Ultraviolent Championship: Matt Tremont vs. Brandon Kirk vs. Drew Parker vs. John Wayne Murdoch vs. Matthew Justice vs. TBA
Super Crazy, Tajiri & Little Guido vs. Arez, Gringo Loco & Jack Cartwheel
El Hijo del Vikingo vs. Sidney Akeem
Bloodsport match: Josh Barnett vs. TBA
Masato Tanaka, Maki Itoh, Homicide, Amazing Red, Ricky Morton, and more set to compete
Four ECW legends have been booked for Game Changer Wrestling’s return to the Hammerstein Ballroom.
Masato Tanaka, Tajiri, Super Crazy, and Little Guido (Nunzio) are all set to compete at The People vs. GCW, though their matches have not been announced yet. The show is taking place from New York City and will air live on TrillerTV+.
Returning to the Hammerstein Ballroom — where ECW once staged events — holds special meaning for Tanaka. His last-ever match against the late Mike Awesome took place at ECW One Night Stand 2005 at the Hammerstein. In a tweet this morning, Tanaka reflected on the moment and said he never thought it would be the last match of their legendary rivalry.
I'm going to the venue where Mike and I last matched.。 I never thought that would be the last time
One Night Stand 2005 also featured a three-way dance with familiar opponents Super Crazy, Tajiri, and Little Guido. Super Crazy got the win that night.
This is GCW’s second time ever running the Hammerstein Ballroom. The theme of the show is that — after their first event at the venue in January 2022 received mixed-to-negative reviews — GCW gets a chance at redemption this time.
Here’s what has been announced for the card so far:
El Hijo del Vikingo vs. Sidney Akeem
GCW Tag Team Champions Dominic Garrini & Kevin Ku defend against Cole Radrick & Alec Price
Doors, Ladders & Chairs match for the vacant GCW Ultraviolent Championship: Matt Tremont vs. Brandon Kirk vs. Drew Parker vs. John Wayne Murdoch vs. TBA vs. TBA
Masato Tanaka, Tajiri, Super Crazy, Little Guido, Josh Barnett, and more set to compete
Fumi Saito gives his thoughts on AEW-NJPW Forbidden Door, plus the reaction to the show in Japan and where it could lead in the future. He also has observations on Clark Connors, Moxley vs Tanahashi and how he thinks FTR will be received as IWGP Tag Team Champions in Japan.
There’s also talk about Stardom “Fight In the Top” and the new PPV business model that seems to be springing up in Japan. TAJIRI has a new book out, “What Pro-Wrestlers Are Showing The Audience”. Available on Amazon, Fumi translated it to English. We talk about Tajiri’s career and philosophies in the book. That and more in this episode of Pacific Rim.
Two major title matches bookended this week’s MLW Fusion as Alex Kane and Calvin Tankman continued their rivalry over the Openweight title, plus Tajiri put his Middleweight title on the line in a fatal four-way match against Myron Reed, Matt Cross and the debuting Bandido.
After being promised to be the number 1 contender replacement for Alex Hammerstone’s MLW Heavyweight title last week by Cesar Duran, the new MLW evil power couple of Richard Holliday and Alicia Atout opened this week’s episode by putting a bounty on Davey Richards’ head, offering a huge sum of money to anyone who can take him out and secure Holliday’s path to the gold.
MLW National Openweight Champion Alex Kane defeated Calvin Tankman to retain the title
Tankman finally had his chance to get his hands on Kane after months of close calls and sneak attacks by Kane and his bodyguard, Mr. Thomas. Kane originally offered Tankman a spot in their fight club, but after Tankman refused, he became their prime target in a series of clashes and pull-apart brawls.
This was a slugfest from the get-go, continuing the story of their feud. Tankman started the better of the two, but the match was briefly stopped when Kane took out Tankman’s knee, made worse by Thomas using a steel pipe behind the referee’s back.
The referee stopped the match temporarily as Tankman could not put weight on his leg. He left ringside but was back a few minutes later to continue the fight.
Kane suplexed Tankman, but the challenger came back with a ripcord elbow to the head. Tankman was in control until Kane drove his shoulder into Tankman’s injured knee and quickly rolled him up to pick up the shock quick win.
Rich Bocchini interviewed Kane after the match, who said his win was sponsored by “Cry Baby Calvin.”
– Homicide tried to take out Richards backstage, but Richards fought him off and left in a rage looking for Holliday.
– Tag Team Champions 5150 (Rivera and Slice Boogie) called out the MLW tag division, focusing on the family legacies such as the Von Erichs and Ricky & Kerry Morton.
– Karlee Perez presented King Muertes with a rare artifact that Perez said would make him a god.
– As the entrances of the next match took place, the Saito Brothers took their shot at taking out Richards but were unsuccessful.
KC Navarro defeated Ho Ho Lun
Navarro returned after a three-month injury absence and had to try and forget about his problems with nZo as he faced Dragon Gate’s Lun in his MLW return.
This was the opposite of our opener, with both high fliers keeping a fast pace. Navarro started stronger, flipping and dodging Lun’s attacks and hitting a suicide dive to the outside.
Lun got his advantage when he tripped Navarro who fell back first onto the top turnbuckle, playing into the nZo attack where he buckle bombed Navarro into the steel ring post.
The tough Navarro overcame the aggravated injury by hitting a lungblower and his sliced bread finisher to put away Lun.
After the match, Bocchini caught up with Navarro who passionately challenged nZo to a grudge match which was later booked for next week.
During the last match, the cameras showed a pull-apart confrontation backstage between Kane and ACH.
– Gnarls Garvin and Budd Heavy seem to be getting along quite well, bonding over a lot of beers and putting a plan in place to get back to winning ways.
– Richards’ luck looked like it was running out when King Muertes joined Homicide and the Saito Brothers in finally beating him down, but Richards was saved by his future opponent Hammerstone in an attempt to keep the scheduled title match alive for next week. Holliday’s bounty plan failed, at least for now.
Myron Reed defeated Tajiri (c), Matt Cross and Bandido to win the MLW Middleweight title
Duran introduced Bandido as the mystery fourth opponent in this great, near 10 minute match. It had the usual high risks and high flying spots you would expect given those involved, but also had good fluid exchanges in the early going as all four took turns to pair off inside the ring before the high risks began.
Bandido was the main focus of all the early exchanges, but Cross took him out with a backbreaker and springboard crossbody before we went to a break.
Tajiri then took control with an array of kicks to his opponents. He locked in the tarantula on Reed, but ate a superkick from Bandido after missing his Buzzsaw kick. Reed countered a Bandido suplex with a stunner, and Cross joined in by double stomping Bandido while he was on Reed’s shoulders before diving out onto Tajiri.
Bandido then found himself on Reed’s shoulders again, this time in an electric chair position. Cross again dove off the top rope in an attempted crossbody, but Bandido caught him in mid-air and gave him a fallaway slam, also hitting Reed with a poison rana at the same time.
In a callback to their Fightland title match, Reed ducked Tajiri’s green mist as he sprayed Bandido instead. Cross took out Reed and Bandido with a double springboard cutter and went to the top to try and hit his shooting star press.
As Cross aimed for Bandido and dove off the top, Reed jumped in and caught him with a cutter out of nowhere in an excellently timed finisher. Reed then covered Cross and regained the Middleweight title for the third time.
– We finished the episode with a hype video for next week’s Hammerstone vs. Richards title match. They both promised not to hold back. Hammerstone said if he can’t put Richards away quickly, he may be in trouble due to Richards never running out of gas. Richards said Hammerstone is not ready for what he is going to bring. Hammerstone ended by saying it will be the best MLW Heavyweight title match ever.
Next week:
MLW Champion Alex Hammerstone vs. Davey Richards in a title match
KC Navarro vs. nZo
MLW Tag Team Champions 5150 vs. The Von Erichs in a title match
A new championship match has been added to the card for MLW’s first television tapings of 2022.
It was announced today that Tajiri will defend his MLW Middleweight title in a mystery entrant triple threat match at Blood & Thunder. It will be Tajiri vs. Myron Reed vs. a surprise third wrestler.
Reed has previously held the MLW Middleweight Championship twice. Tajiri defeated him for the title last October in a four-way match that also included Aramis and Arez.
This will be Tajiri’s second title defense since becoming champion. In his first defense, Tajiri retained against Atsuki Aoyagi in a match that took place in All Japan Pro Wrestling and aired on MLW Fusion: Alpha.
Tajiri is also scheduled to defend the Middleweight title against Jody Fleisch at a show for World Pro Wrestling in England on Saturday, February 19.
The Blood & Thunder tapings are being held in Dallas on Friday, January 21. Here’s the updated lineup:
Falls count anywhere match: MLW World Heavyweight Champion Alex Hammerstone defends against Pagano
Texas Tornado match: MLW Tag Team Champions 5150 (Slice Boogie & Danny “Limelight” Rivera) defend against Marshall & Ross Von Erich
Jacob Fatu vs. Mads Krugger
Triple threat match: MLW Middleweight Champion Tajiri defends against Myron Reed and a mystery entrant
MLW National Openweight Champion Alex Kane defends against Calvin Tankman
Rok-C vs. Miranda Gordy
Davey Richards vs. ACH
Trios match: Aramis, El Dragon, and a mystery partner vs. Arez, Gino Medina & Mini Abismo Negro
As they prepare for their MLW Azteca mini-season to begin in early-January, MLW has continued to firm up their main roster for 2022 in addition to announcing a new Middleweight title contender to champion Tajiri.
The promotion said Thursday that UK star Jody Fleisch will challenge Tajiri for the title on a February 19th World Pro Wrestling event in England. The well-traveled Fleisch has been a pro since the late-1990s and has worked stateside for Ring of Honor, PWG, GCW and Impact Wrestling in a career that has seen him take on some of the best talent in the world.
This will be the second defense of the title for Tajiri and the second outside the U.S. as he recently defeated Atsuki Aoyagi at an All-Japan Pro Wrestling show. This will be the first time he has wrestled Fleisch.
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PWInsider reported Thursday that Mads Krugger has signed a new long-term, multi-year deal with MLW. They added Krugger (aka Logan Creed) “will be getting a massive push as a heel monster in 2022” with a plan of eventually pitting him against former CONTRA teammate Jacob Fatu.
The news comes a day after Davey Richards signed a multi-year contract extension with MLW. He will face ACH at January’s Blood & Thunder event in Dallas, Texas.
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MLW will introduce minis to their roster in 2022, starting in Dallas next month. They announced Mini Abismo Negro as the first of those minis that will compete at Blood & Thunder.
For the first time since 2018, New Japan star Jeff Cobb will be in an MLW ring this Saturday, announced by Court Bauer in an interview released Monday.
Bauer didn’t give any details, but referenced Cobb as one of some new faces “entering the mix” along with nZo for the November 6th War Chamber event in Philadelphia, PA.
Cobb lost to Tom Lawlor in 2017 before returning for three 2018 bouts that included losses to Matt Riddle and Jake Hager.
Cobb had an impressive run in the recent G1 tournament in losing just one match, that being to Kazuchika Okada in the B block finals. He went to a no-contest with former MLW Champion Jacob Fatu this past weekend for Seattle’s Defy Wrestling.
It’s possible that Cobb will either be the wild card in the five-man ladder match that will determine the new National Openweight Champion or the mystery man in the War Chamber match as part of World Champion Alexander Hammerstone’s team.
The show will be headlined by that match between Hammerstone, EJ Nduka, Richard Holliday and a mystery man against CONTRA Unit (Fatu, Mads Krugger, Josef Samael and Ikuro Kwon). The show will also feature the Opera Cup finals, nZo vs. Matt Cross and more.
MLW also announced Monday that indie talent Gnarls Garvin (also known as Big Beef) has signed and will make his debut this Saturday in Philadelphia.
In a separate announcement, it was learned that new Middleweight Champion Tajiri will defend his title in All Japan Pro Wrestling against Atsuki Aoyagi on Sunday, November 28th. This will be the first MLW title defense of any kind in AJPW since 2003.
MLW National Openweight Champion Alexander Hammerstone captured the World title from Jacob Fatu in the main event of Fightland Thursday, becoming the promotion’s first-ever double champion.
Hammerstone, boasting a 859-day reign as the National Openweight titleholder, went head-to-head with Fatu in a title vs. title match and after a 20-minute match, the finish saw Hammerstone pinning Fatu after hitting his signature neckbreaker.
The two titans of MLW have been building to a match for multiple years as both had run through their respective sides of the roster. Hammerstone earned the title shot with his win at Battle Riot III in July.
Thursday’s show also saw another title change as Tajiri won the Middleweight title in a four-way match that featured champion Myron Reed, Arez and Aramis. Tajiri, debuting in MLW, pinned Reed after spraying him with green mist and hitting him with a buzzsaw kick.
The win ends the second title reign for Reed. He regained the title from Lio Rush earlier this year.
A former WWE Cruiserweight Champion and ECW Television Champion will be making their MLW debut this October.
MLW uploaded a video on Monday night announcing that Tajiri will debut at their Fightland set of television tapings on Saturday, October 2. The tapings are taking place at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia.
The 50-year-old Tajiri currently wrestles for All Japan Pro Wrestling. He was most recently with WWE from 2016-2017. Tajiri was part of WWE’s Cruiserweight Classic tournament in 2016.
The Fightland tapings will also feature Nicole Savoy’s MLW debut. MLW announced last month that Shimmer promoter Dave Prazak has joined their office of wrestling operations and is spearheading the relaunch of the MLW women’s division.
The opening and semifinal rounds of the 2021 Opera Cup tournament are also set to take place at Fightland. The finals will be held when MLW returns to the 2300 Arena on Saturday, November 6.
MLW’s video announcing Tajiri’s debut is available to watch below:
Tajiri announced the news in a series of tweets written in Japanese last night. A translation provided by Chris Charlton noted that Tajiri said that he was cleared to return after suffering a knee injury earlier this year and was coaching at the Performance Center while he waited to come back to television, but WWE decided not to use him with his age being a factor.
He said that he would be going back to Japan and had no regrets about his return to WWE.
After taking part in the Cruiserweight Classic last summer, Tajiri made his 205 Live debut on the first episode of 2017 and was beginning a feud with Brian Kendrick. He last wrestled for the company in a dark match at a set of NXT tapings in January. WWE later announced that he wasn’t cleared to wrestle after suffering a right knee injury at those tapings.
Tajiri teamed with Shinsuke Nakamura against Samoa Joe & Bobby Roode in that match.
Though he just returned to WWE earlier this month, it’s unclear when Tajiri will be wrestling for the company next after suffering an injury.
WWE.com posted on Tuesday that Tajiri isn’t medically cleared to wrestle after suffering a right knee injury at NXT’s latest TV taping. Tajiri teamed with Shinsuke Nakamura against Samoa Joe & Bobby Roode in what may have been a dark match main event on that taping. The conclusion of the match saw Chris Hero make his NXT return as Kassius Ohno to confront Nakamura after it was over.
After featuring in the Cruiserweight Classic last summer, Tajiri made his return to WWE TV earlier this month on 205 Live and started a program with Brian Kendrick. WWE didn’t elaborate on the severity of his injury.
The company appeared to get more bad injury news on Monday night as Darren Young’s match with Epico on Main Event was cut short after Young suffered an arm injury during the match.
The Big News: Shinsuke Nakamura has unbelievably won the NXT Championship…oh wait. I’ve said that before.
The Medium News: DIY defeated Akira Tozawa & Tajiri in the show stealer.
The Little Beaver-sized News: Nia Jax may be unstoppable on Raw, but Asuka easily stops her on NXT, as the Empress of Tomorrow beat Jax for the second time.
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So before we begin this week, will it ever be explained why the shows aired in the order they did? Why didn’t they air Osaka on the 14th, Australia on the 21st, and the shows that aired those two weeks afterwards? Instead, I get to review shows out of chronological order and whose results have already been talked about on TV.
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Oney Lorcan defeated Andrade “Cien” Almas
This is a rematch from the dark match from NXT TakeOver: Dallas, when they were known as Manny Andrade and Chris Girard.
Almas came out in his La Sombra mask before unmasking for the match. If you are a fan of chinlocks and headlocks, then the first half of this match is the match for you. Both men made excessive use of rest holds. Things picked up when they finally stood up. Lorcan hit a running blockbuster for a two count.
The fans were very much into this match once the men stopped with the rest holds. Lorcan did several corner charges, but on the third one he got hip tossed into the corner. Lorcan used an exploder suplex from the top rope to get the win.
That was surprising. Lorcan now has wins over Almas and Tye Dillinger.
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Peyton Royce & Billie Kay defeated Liv Morgan & Aliyah
This match seemed at times to be an excuse for Corey Graves to tell every New Jersey joke he knows. Morgan took Royce for a ride when she slapped on a body scissors and then rolled all over the ring, getting about a dozen one-counts during the second that Royce’s shoulder was on the mat.
The heels got the heat on Aliyah. After what seemed like hours of getting the heat, Morgan got the hot tag and ran wild on both ladies. Aliyah, who just got her butt kicked for two weeks, ran back in like a house on fire. It didn’t matter, however. Aliyah got thrown out of the ring and Kay pinned Morgan after a bulldog onto Royce’s knee.
Has anyone else noticed Aliyah fails at almost everything she tries on TV?
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NXT Tag Team Champions DIY defeated Tajiri & Akira Tozawa to retain their titles
This was the first match where it seemed like the wrestlers involved were going out of their way to have a great match, as opposed to a house show match.
Tozawa, who has yet to have a match on 205 Live, is here teaming with Tajiri to challenge for the seven pounds of gold. All four men worked as babyfaces. Tozawa at times was more of a tweener, but never a full blown heel.
Tozawa and Ciampa traded hard knife edge chops, much to the delight of the crowd. A four-way brawl broke out with Tozawa hitting multiple suicide dives to the champions on the outside. Tozawa actually took most of the match for his team. Tajiri would get in here and there, but it was mostly his partner. Tajiri did get Gargano down and go for the Kick of Death, but Gargano rolled out of the way and kicked Tajiri in the head.
Tozawa used a deadlift delayed German suplex and a bicycle kick to the back of Ciampa’s head, but Ciampa took his head off with a clothesline and a powerbomb onto his knees. Finally, DIY retained the gold with the running knees to Tozawa.
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NXT Women’s Champion Asuka defeated Nia Jax to retain her title
Jax was unsuccessful in her first attempt at defeating the Empress of Tomorrow, back at NXT TakeOver: The End, but will tonight be her night?
Spoiler: No. No, it won’t.
They tried to work a match that made you think Jax had a chance, but no one believed that she would be taking the title to Raw. The match was solid, but again, nothing you wouldn’t see at a house show. They did have a rough spot in the middle where Jax went for a Samoan drop but something went wrong and they fell on each other.
Asuka got on a kneebar that Jax sold like near death…until she got out of it. Then it was like it never happened. The Japanese crowd watches too much NXT, as when Asuka was being counted out they chanted “10” for each number.
Asuka went for every submission she knows, but Jax not only didn’t tap, but somehow turned a triangle choke into a powerbomb. Asuka moved out of the way of a corner splash and chopped down Jax, before winning with a roundhouse kick.
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Shinsuke Nakamura defeated NXT Champion Samoa Joe to win the title
They aired the full match this time, as opposed to the condensed version that they did three weeks ago. At one point, Joe removed the top half of the steps outside the ring, which wasn’t aired the first time and they eventually came back to it later. Joe worked over the knees of Nakamura, which made the match make more sense.
The match was better the second time around, as you got to see everything, as opposed to earlier. Nakamura won with the Kinshasa to win the NXT Championship for the second time.
Until next week, thank you all for reading and remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers!
Mauro Ranallo and Daniel Bryan welcome us to the second round of the Cruiserweight Classic tournament. Bryan mentions his favorite part of the first round was the great battle between Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano.
Corey Graves welcomes us to the next round as well, and after putting over the first round, shows us the two matches taking place tonight.
Gran Metalik defeated Tajiri
The same Gran Metalik video from a few weeks ago was shown, followed by a new Tajiri video. Tajiri mentions that he’s been wrestling maybe longer than some of these guys have been alive. He says that age is a disadvantage, but before he retires he wants to do something great.
Fun television match. Both guys looked really good. Metalik has slowed it down some in NXT but is still really good, especially with the mat wrestling which I haven’t seen too often from him.
I’ve heard conflicting reports on Tajiri since he’s left WWE but he looked really good here; with his experience in Mexico they gelled really well.
They did some good mat wrestling and traded submissions, with some cool transitions in between. Metalik came back with a huge senton from the top rope that leveled Tajiri. Tajiri made a comeback and did a running dropkick to Metalik in the tree of woe position.
Tajiri trapped Metalik in a submission but Metalik kicked Tajiri’s face to free himself and hit the (formerly known as) Dorada Screwdriver for the win.
In the next round, Gran Metalik will face the winner of the Jack Gallagher vs. Akira Tozawa match.
Kota Ibushi defeated Cedric Alexander
Cedric Alexander says he’s had many people tell him he couldn’t make it, but he’s going to make them eat their own words and will prove he’s one of the best today. This is the apex of the industry, and he says he will make it here.
Kota Ibushi’s motivation is to make people happy. He’s wrestled all over the world, and now he will wrestle in front of the world.
Incredible match, easily the best of the tournament so far. Both guys were on point. Ibushi looks to not have missed one step at all since his return from injury, and this is easily the best I’ve seen Alexander look.
In my mind, Alexander went from someone who has a ton of potential to someone who is a can’t miss superstar based on this match alone. Just tremendous and a must watch.
Some great high flying back and forth to start. They had a pretty even match until Ibushi planted him with a big kick. He went for the middle rope moonsault to the floor but Alexander dodged, entered the ring, and hit a senton to the floor. Crazy.
They came back in and Ibushi LEVELED Alexander with a crazy dropkick. Ibushi sent him to the outside with an exploder and hit an Asai moonsault to Alexander on the floor. Ibushi went for a top rope rana but Alexander landed on his feet and there were some more crazy back and forth spots.
Alexander picked up a ton of near falls as the crowd went bonkers for this match. Alexander missed a double footstomp which allowed Ibushi to make his comeback and hit the press powerbomb for the win.
A clearly emotional Alexander stood in the aisle to a roaring “Thank you” chant from the crowd. The crowd then started chanting “Please sign Cedric.”
Triple H came out and shook Alexander’s hand, escorting him to the back as he gave a thumbs up to the crowd. They cheered and started doing the “Yes” chant as the show went off the air.
Final Thoughts: Obviously the main event is the match to see, but the show overall was fun, with Tajiri vs. Metalik also being a very good match. Check the show out as a whole.
Daniel Bryan and Mauro Ranallo welcome us to the show. Ranallo puts over Bryan being the new GM of SmackDown. Bryan says it’s great, but the CWC is awesome. They throw it to Corey Graves who runs down the matches for tonight and the highlights from last week.
Tajiri (Japan) defeated Damian Slater (Australia)
Damian Slater is profiled before the match. He knows he’s an underdog but says he’ll come out the victor. He wants people to come in not knowing who he is. He’s not in it just to be involved, he wants to win this thing.
Tajiri looked good here. He did his typical spots, including the tarantula, and worked a pretty good technical style. At 46, Tajiri still looks good. Damian Slater did a cool dive to the outside and he didn’t look bad in this match either. Tajiri won with the buzzsaw kick.
Tajiri advances to the second round, facing Gran Metalik.
TJ Perkins (Philippines) defeated Da Mack (Germany)
TJ Perkins mentions how he started wrestling at 13 years old. He describes his in-ring style as versatile. There’s a lot of good wrestlers, but he likes to make it look easy. Da Mack calls himself the Urban German. He wants to be the Michael Jackson of pro wrestling and is heavily influenced by his style.
Da Mack came out to some fun music, kind of reminiscent of a Michael Jackson song. Perkins came across well as an established veteran, not only looking good in the ring but also showed great confidence.
Perkins sank in a Muta lock but Mack escaped and hit a corkscrew senton. Perkins got the win with a kneebar in another solid match.
Lince Dorado (Puerto Rico) defeated Mustafa Ali (Pakistan)
Mustafa Ali is introduced. He’s been wrestling for 13 years and considers himself the most well-rounded wrestler in the tournament. He says he can fly and wrestle better than anyone. He doesn’t see anyone on this list he can’t beat, it’s do or die for him.
Lince Dorado is next. He’s been wrestling for 10 years under this mask. Some of the setbacks he has suffered include him being injured, but being on the biggest stage shows his family where he belongs.
Ali worked over Dorado as a heel and looked pretty good. Dorado made a good comeback and laid out Ali with a big Asai moonsault, then followed it up with another moonsault off the top turnbuckle. There was a great near fall where Dorado hit a springboard reverse hurricanrana.
Ali came back with a Spanish fly for another near fall. Ali went for an inverted 450 splash but missed. Dorado capitalized with a shooting star press for the win. Really good match.
Akira Tozawa (Japan) defeated Kenneth Johnson (USA)
Tozawa says he’s very energetic in the ring and that it has long been his dream to be in WWE. “Tozawa? WWE? WOW!” he says. Johnson says he’s fought his whole life. He knows the heart and determination it takes to keep going. He wants to inspire and encourage others.
This was pretty solid. It was mostly a Tozawa match as he took control. Johnson looked fine but nothing out of this world. He didn’t look lost, but Tozawa looked better and threw some great suplexes. Tozawa looked on his game here. He won with a deadlift German suplex.
Next week: Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Tyson Dux, Drew Gulak vs. Harv Sihra, Anthony Bennett vs. Tony Nese, and Raul Mendoza vs. Brian Kendrick will continue the tournament.
Final Thoughts: I thought Ali vs. Dorado stood out as match of the show, just solid work from both guys and both came across as people to watch. Overall, the show was pretty fun and easy to watch. Presentation wise this is one of the best shows WWE is producing.
