Indy Minute: Your weekly source for independent wrestling news

Indy Minute is back with another week packed with news. If you listened to Ring Rust Radio (which you should by visiting www.ringrustradio.com or www.blogtalkradio.com/ringrustradio) you noticed that the on air version is now called “NXT, Lucha Underground and Indy Wrestling Minutes” but I’m keeping it real and sticking with the original segment name.

NXT TV 12/4

  Charlotte opens NXT TV this week taking on…Mia Yim?! What? I didn’t know Mia was in NXT. Well, I don’t think she’s in NXT, probably just doing enhancement work but it’s cool to see an indy wrestler getting TV time on NXT. I guess Leva Bates (often Mia’s tag team partner) put in a good word for her.

  They start off trading shots but Charlotte quickly hits a neckbreaker followed by Natural Selection for the win in a short match. But as she celebrates with her title, Sasha Banks hits the stage and says Charlotte should just hand over the title because Sasha will just beat her for it anyway.

  Bayley then comes out on a crutch and knee brace and tells Sasha to shut her stupid ratchet face up. Sasha kicks the crutch out and kicks her knee and Charlotte rushes the stage and Sasha runs. Charlotte checks on Bayley and Sasha comes back and tries to attack her but Charlotte sees it coming and picks her up, taking her to the ring screaming”Get me a ref!” Charlotte dumps her in the ring but Becky Lynch distracts her letting Sasha hit Charlotte with the Bank Statement lungblower and poses with the title.

  After a Jingle All the Way 2 commercial (let me just say I hate WWE for ruining the good name of the classic Arnold and Sinbad Christmas movie with Larry the Cable Guy), we get another “Vaudevillains Pictures” presentation. “Fall of the Lucha Dragons” The commissioner calls The Vaudevillains and says The Lucha Dragons are dropping water balloons off city hall! But first, they train! Aiden lifts an old timey barbell (that’s over 1000 pounds!) and Gotch does some lion taming. They find the Mini Dragons on the roof of city hall dropping water balloons and tie their shoes together. And the other end to an anvil. English taps one on the shoulder and gives him the anvil followed by stock footage of a guy falling to earth.

  Wesley Blake and Buddy Murphy up next with their terrible dubstep theme music. I don’t know what’s worse - their music or Carmella’s. Rich Brennan says the Vaudevillains shouldn’t look past Blake and Murphy, putting them over as possibly one of the next big tag teams in NXT.

  Blake starts off fast against English but Aiden soon gets the advantage, doing a snap mare and headlock take over into the ropes. He tags in to Gotch and he starts working a leg, tying it up and doing Hindu squats. They tag in and out and stay on Blake’s left leg, keeping him on the mat. Brennan mentions that the Dragons are the only team who have defeated the Vaudevillains, back in the #1 contender tournament.

  Blake finally tags Murphy in after avoiding English trying to knock him off the apron. Murphy knocks down English quickly a few times then knocks Gotch off the apron. Murphy hits a big leg lariat followed by a kip up, English sits up and Murphy hits a low Knees of Meteora for a 2. Blake tries to interfere but gets low bridged out of the ring and the Vaudevillains hit their finisher (was called Gentleman’s Congress but now Brennan called it the Whirling Dervish, Gotch Euro uppercut to the back and English neckbreaker) for the win.

  William Regal in the back talks with Tyler Breeze about how he can’t find Marcus Louis. They haven’t seen him since he walked out of Full Sail. Says they can’t have the rematch tonight but Tyson Kidd walks in and says he wants a rematch against Finn Balor tonight. Regal has an idea - put Hideo Itami and Balor in a match against Breeze and Kidd. As they walk out Kidd says of Breeze’s vest “This better not be cat fur.”

  Bull Dempsey out for a match against Elias Sampson. The crowd starts counting and Bull hits him with a standing splash followed by a diving headbutt for the win. As he walks out, Baron Corbin’s music hits. Dempsey is still on the ramp looking annoyed about Corbin. Corbin walks past Dempsey and doesn’t even acknowledge him. They also say that there will be a preshow for NXT Takeover: R Evolution at 7:30 on Thursday where they have a special announcement about the future of Corey Graves.

  Corbin to take on Steve Cutler. Corbin pins him with the End of Days in just 13 seconds. Dempsey was still out there on the ramp watching and looks pissed as he walks away.

  Then perhaps the best Kevin Owens video package yet. It references how he has fought Seth Rollins, Daniel Bryan, Adrian Neville and Sami Zayn before WWE but they all got called first before Kevin Owens did. Amazing because WWE used to never acknowledge other wrestling promotions existed and now they’re showing pictures form ROH and PWG matches, basically talking about Owens’ time on the indies. Granted, don’t call him Kevin Steen or Sami El Generico, but everyone knows.

  Tyson Kidd and Tyler Breeze out now to tag against Hideo Itami and Finn Balor. Balor’s entrance is great. Dude really gets the theatric, showmanship element and easily has the in-ring work down.

  Kidd and Itami start. Drake is the ref. (Never thought I’d see Prince Devitt, Kenta and Drake Younger in the same ring) Itami gets the best of a few exchanges and Kidd tags in Breeze. Breeze and Kidd working well together to keep Balor and Itami off balance and out of rhythm. Kidd and Breeze keeping Balor on the mat, tagging in and out quickly. They keep one step ahead, avoiding his offense and keeping him on their side of the ring away from a tag for Itami. Every time he gets close, they pull Balor back toward their corner.

  Balor hits a Pele kick and finally tags in Itami. Kidd tags in Breeze and Itami kicks him into next week. Lots of body kicks followed by a Roderick Strong sick kick and a big basement dropkick in the corner. Kidd breaks up the pin and pulls Itami out of the ring and as Breeze gets to his feet, Balor hits a double stomp from the top rope. Itami breaks away from Kidd and gets back in the ring, and uses a crazy head kick as Breeze is on his knees to knock him out for the win.

  Balor gets on the mic and calls out the Ascension. He tells them to bring all they got because at Takeover: R Evolution, he’s bringing something they’ve never seen before. Which I’d have to assume will be some form of crazy body paint like he used in Japan.

  Sami Zayn and Adrian Neville go face to face to close NXT. Neville comes out in a shirt and tie with the NXT Title. They hype that Neville and Zayn are on Talk is Jericho this week too.

  Neville talks about how he faces his longtime friend next week. Says people think he should feel conflicted but he doesn’t. Because his goal is the same as it’s always been. To win at any cost. Asks if people think he is proud of having to pull the ref out for the win at the last Takeover or win with a quick pin a few weeks ago. Because he says he isn’t. But that is the difference between him and Zayn. That he is prepared to do whatever is necessary and that Zayn lacks that killer instinct. That he lacks an edge. And is why he’ll never be NXT Champion. That Sami is too nice and it’s cost him.

  Neville really soldiering through the Ole chantshere . He says he won’t be held responsible if Sami wants to quit after next week’s match, it won’t be his burden to bear. Sami says he’s been doing a lot of thinking too and a lot of listening. He’s been listening to what Neville has been saying and it’s starting to piss him off. Sami says that Neville has some nerve telling him he’s too nice to win the NXT Championship and that he’s done pretty well for himself doing things his way. That Neville can’t tell him how to live his life and that Neville won’t decide his fate, he will.

  Neville tries to shake his hand saying he respects Sami more than maybe anyone else on the planet and that it will be an honor and privilege to face him next week. But Sami won’t shake his hand. That this is where he goes wrong trying to be the good guy. This isn’t about respect and Sami asks if he understands. Neville shakes his head and Sami slaps him and yells “Do you understand that!?” Sami storms off yelling that he will end Neville and his story and he will take that title at Takeover.

  In another interesting NXT, New Japan Pro Wrestling top star “Rainmaker” Kazuchika Okada recently started following NXT on Twitter. I seriously doubt that Okada would ever jump ship to WWE considering the magnitude of his popularity in Japan but it’s interesting none-the-less. I’d probably just chalk it up to wanting to keep up on guys like Devitt and Kenta now that they are getting more popularity in NXT.

Lucha Underground, Episode 6

  Big Ryck is in Dario Cueto’s office as the episode begins. He has apparently signed an exclusive contract to work for Cueto, who brought in Mundo to make an example of him. That he doesn’t care about reputation. That violence is his favorite kind of entertainment and with Ryck, things are about to get a whole lot more entertaining.

  Ivelisse and Son of Havoc (Matt Cross) are in the ring to start the show. Ivelisse says ever since Havoc has been in LU, he’s been made a joke of. That his first match he wrestled a woman and last week he wrestled half a man. She says if they knew that they would be jokes they wouldn’t have signed a seven year contract (7?! Optimistic aren’t they?) to fight in LU and that they’d be living in Nashville (an obvious allusion to TNA). Havoc gets the mic and challenges anyone to come down to the ring if they have the balls and fight him man to man.

  His opponent appears at the top of the stairs - and it’s Pimpinela Escarlata, an exotico like Cassandro. Striker references several wrestlers who had “effeminate” gimmicks and includes The Miz in that list.

  Pimpinela gets in the ring and starts to back Ivelisse ito the corner with his dancing and Havoc hits him from behind. Pimpinela hits him with a few vicious chops and gets knuckle lock on Havoc and struts on the top rope before splashing Ivelisse. Pimpinela goes to run the ropes and jumps over Havoc once but then gets tripped up on a low bridge during his flamboyant running, perhaps the only time a low bridge has worked in wrestling.

  Havoc takes control, hits a big chop and a flying forearm in the corner. Pimpinela avoids the second forearm and hits a big arm drag from the top and then a rolling senton off the apron to the floor. Chops his back and sends Havoc back in.

 Pimpinela hits a big missile drop kick off the top. He rushes in and Havoc hip toss into the corner for a two. Havoc sends him in the corner and Pimpinela tries to float over the top but misses the apron and hits the floor hard, shaking out his shoulder and elbow. Ivelisse puts the boots to him and Havoc does his MDogg20 holding-himself-on-the ring-post-and-drops-an-elbow spot. (Vampiro says brother an awful lot, just noticing)

  Havoc rolls him back in the ring, Pimpinela holding his left arm close to his body. Havoc hits a cartwheel into a back elbow but Pimpinela ducks a springboard crossbody. Havoc tries to roll him up in a sunset flip, Ivelisse slaps him to get his hands off the ropes but Havoc only gets a 2. Pimpy (as they start calling him on commentary) hits a hip toss on Havoc and a hip toss on Ivelisse when she tries to interfere then Mascarita Sagrada runs out and starts to chase Ivelisse around and they roll into the ring.

  Sagrada runs through the legs of Havoc and distracts him and Pimpinela plants a kiss on Havoc (his finisher apparently) and gets the pin.

  Cueto is in the bathroom and Johnny Mundo assaults him. Mundos says no matter how many times he sends Big Ryck to attack him, he’s going to pick himself up and come kick Cueto’s ass. Cueto says he can make it right and Mundo says things haven’t been right since he gave away his 100 grand. Cueto says he can get him the money but if he hurts him, Mundo gets nothing. Then Mundo takes the necklace from his neck (with what looks like a key on it) for insurance.

  In the ring, Famous B is set to take on Mil Muertes. Muertes again attacks his opponent before the bell as B tries to hype up the crowd. Mil takes the refs attention and Catrina snaps B’s head over the ropes. Mil levels B with a spear and hits a flatliner for the win. Mil holds up B and Catrina licks his face, “the lick of death” as Striker calls it.

  Next, Drago already in the ring to take on King Cuerno. Cuerno attacked Drago last week after his match with Mil since Cuerno was pissed Drago beat him in his debut. Did a short video package on Drago about dragons, how they were hunted to extinction until one rose as a man.

  Cuerno starts the match fast taking Drago off his feet with a big dropkick. Drago having to use his speed and quick moves to counter the high-impact moves of Cuerno. Show some Asian chick in the crowd, coming through the crowd to watch these two then turns and leaves. No mention of who it is. Drago nearly got the pin with a crazy pin combo but Cuerno kicks out then takes out Drago with a big dive to the outside. Cuero throws him back in and hits the DVD into a Falcon Arrow which Striker called The Thrill of the Hunt. After Cuerno’s hand is raised he keeps attacking Drago and yells in his face “The hunt has just begun!”

  Mundo is in the ring with the key around his neck he took from Cueto. He says Cueto owes him $100,000 and that he has until the count of 10 to get out there and pay him. Big Ryck comes out and interrupts him. Ryck says that ring belongs to him and unless he wants to go through another table he should get the hell out…but can’t say anymore because Mundo hits him with a dive.

  He gets in the ring again and continues the count but this time Konnan interrupts him from the top of the stairs. He says Mundo owes that money to Prince Puma since it’s Mundo’s fault Puma is the target of attacks and will no longer have Mundo’s back. Ryck attacks Mundo from behind but Puma appears and takes out Ryck with a dropkick. Vampiro really hates Konnan and says he’s a snake and that Puma is right to question him. Puma and Mundo have words then start punching each other as the Crenshaw Crew takes Ryck to the back as officials come out to pull Mundo and Puma apart.

  Cueto shows up with a briefcase and says he has Mundo’s money in it. That it was supposed to be Ryck’s signing bonus but Ryck didn’t read the fine print. That Ryck has to earn it. And next week there will be a three way ladder match for that $100,000.

  In the main event, Chavo and Pentagon Jr take on Sexy Star and Fenix. All four start brawling in the ring. Star drop kicks Chavo out and Pentagon throws Star out to let Fenix and Pentagon start going at it.

  Now with some order restored, Chavo and Fenix work in the ring with Chavo taking advantage first, keeping Fenix down with a chinlock but soon, Fenix get some momentum up, hits a drop kick and tags in Star. She nails him with a few kicks but he takes her off her feet with a big shoulder block. Chavo drags her by the hair to her corner and tags in Pentagon who stomps on her throat in their corner then tags Chavo back in.

 She creates space, hits Chavo then tags in Fenix. Fenix hits a few big strikes but Chavo soon puts him down and puts the boots to him. Vampiro says Chavo is a bastard and a snake like his father was. Pretty harsh words from Vampiro.

  Chavo and Pentagon keep Fenix in the ring, tagging in and out to keep them fresh and keep Fenix down. He finally tags in Star who knocks down Chavo and Pentagon, stomps Chavo in the corner and headscissors Pentagon. Chavo tries to lock in a crab on Star and Fenix stomps his back from the top but as he rolls through, Pentagon overhead suplexes him into the corner. Star is up and hits a crazy, lots of rotations tilt-a-whirl DDT on Pentagon sending him outside, takes to the top rope and corkscrew plancha him from the top.

  Star tries a cross body on Chavo in the ring but gets caught and planted on the mat. Chavo goes up for the frog splash but Fenix pushes him off. Star and Fenix take down Pentagon and Fenix nails him with a double knee drop from the top rope and Star gets the pin. Chavo looked on the whole time and didn’t try to make the save. But Vamp and Striker say that Star still wants to get revenge on Chavo for Blue Demon.

  In other lucha libre news, El Patron Alberto (Alberto Del Rio) became the AAA Mega Campeon (Heavyweight champion) at Guerra de Titanes over the weekend, defeating Texano Jr. The win makes ADR the first ma to hold top championships in WWE, AAA and CMLL (where he won the heavyweight title as Dos Caras Jr.). His win also ended the 735 day reign of Texano Jr.  

  Jon Jones, current UFC Lightheavyweight Champion took a shot at CM Punk on Twitter the other day. Not a direct one, granted, but his tweet was an obvious jab at the former WWE Champion and new UFC fighter.

  Mark Andrews won Season 2 of TNA British Boot Camp. Andrews worked in the Chikara King of Trios this year (with Damien and Peter Dunne), defeating The Bloc Party in the first round before losing to eventual champions The Devastation Corporation. Andrews beat out finalists Kay Lee Ray, El Ligero, Nikki Storm, Kris Travis, Rampage Brown and Noam Dar to win a contract in TNA and has worked for Progress Wrestling and ATTACK Pro Wrestling in Britain.

Chikara

Season 14 finale “Tomorrow Never Dies”

  Chikara returned to the ECW Arena (now the 2300 Arena) this past Saturday and I was there. It was their Season 14 finale and their first event back in The Arena since it reopened and I didn’t want to miss it.

  Unfortunately, I did miss some of it. The website listed the show starting at 7:30 and when I showed up at 7:30, I found that I had already missed the Young Lion’s Cup match between Heidi Lovelace and Missile Assault Ant and the German suplex match between “Smooth Sailing” Ashley Remington and Juan Francisco de Coronado. I only realized this after they went to intermission and started setting up the cage for the main event too, so I was kinda annoyed. Lovelace won the YLC and Remington defeated Coronado.

Eddie Kingston vs Jimmy Jacobs

Grudge match

 When I arrived, Eddie Kingston versus Jimmy Jacobs was already in progress. Kingston won with after hitting the Backfist to the Future twice. Volgar, Jacob’s right-hand-man, interfered a bunch too but that didn’t stop the War King from picking up the win.

  After the match, Kid Cyclone came to the ring but instead of celebrating the win, he attacked Kingston with a pipe wrench. He blamed the fans for the attack, saying everyone is bloodthirsty and cheers Kingston for doing the same things they are booing him for. Also, he’s upset about everyone calling him a coward for running from Deucalion a few shows ago.

  Cyclone said that Kingston is just the top of a long list of wrongs he wants to make right. He didn’t want to have to see his friends in the Greenhorn Militia die and he never wanted to wear a cape or a mask. He said he was bucking tradition and unmasks himself and says he never wanted to be Kid Cyclone because he is Kevin Condron and that’s who he will be. As he leaves, he gives the wrench to Lithuanian Snow Troll who looks confused but then follows him out. (I gotta believe the pipe wrench is some sort of allusion to BioShock and the influence that Snow Troll is/was under)

The Throwbacks vs The Devastation Corporation

Two out of three falls for the Campeonatos de Parejas

  Next up, The Throwbacks defend the Campeonatos de Parejas against The Devastation Corporation. Dev Corp looks like they have new tights as well as some crazy looking Shredder-esque mask entrance gear.

  This was a good match but took a little bit to get started. Dev Corp got the first fall on Mr. Touchdown with the Deathblow as Sydney Bakabella holds Dasher Hatfield’s legs, preventing him from making the save. The Throwbacks get the second fall when Mr. Touchdown pins Axe Smashmaster with a mahistrol cradle.

  Later in the match, Dasher Hatfield actually kicked out of a Death Blow, which I don’t think anyone has done yet. The Throwbacks then look like they have the titles won after hitting a 3D off the top rope, but Bakabella blocks Barber’s arm from hitting the mat for the three to save the Dev Corp. Mr. Touchdown grabs Bakabella by the hair and wants to punch him, but he jumps from the apron and Touchdown rips his toupee off. After that, Smashermaster picks up Touchdown on his shoulder and Blaster McMassive hits a top rope elbow drop onto him in a kind of crazy Doomsday Device variation and the Devastation Corporation are the new Campeonatos de Parejas.

Ultramantis Black vs Delirious

Loser Leaves Chikara

  In what was probably my favorite match of the night, Delirious faced Ultramantis Black in a “loser leaves Chikara” match. Delirious looked extra evil, in a long black robe, sporting black and green body paint with the words “Delirious never dies” on his back. In a weird twist, there was almost no heat to start this match because I’m pretty sure no one wanted to boo either guy.

  Ultramantis has been around since the early days of Chikara and the fans really love him, but Delirious is a great wrestler and has also endeared himself to the fans as well. It was tough to say who was the face and heel too, considering the story behind it.

  Ultramantis Black used the Eye of Tyr to control the mind of Delirious during the original BDK run and once Delirious broke free of Ultramantis’ mind control, he promised to take the years from Ultramantis that were taken from him. So while Delirious looked the part of the heel, his actions are really justified in wanting revenge on Ultramantis for mind controlling him.

  This was an awesome match, where both guys went all out from the get out. They both teased clotheslining Barber before Delirious actually does it. Afterward, Mantis hit a crazy looking cradle suplex but no one was there to count it. Delirious uses Mantis’ staff against him, and the skull went flying into the crowd, which looked great but I can’t imagine was planned. After that, Delirious hits Mantis with a Tiger Driver and Derek Sabato runs in to a chorus of boos but it’s only a two-count.

  Ultramantis won the match with a Tiger Driver and afterward, Hallowicked and Frightmare come out to raise his hand and celebrate. Delirious leaves ringside but soon returns with what looks like the Eye of Tyr! He puts it to Hallowicked’s head and he freezes while Frightmare grabs his head and starts thrashing around. This is all behind Mantis’ back and when he turns around, Hallowicked hits him with a big boot and he and Frightmare leave as Delirious laughs at Ultramantis.

  After this match, Gavin Loudspeaker announces Chikara will return for the Season 15 debut back in the ECW Arena on January 25. You might also notice that is the day of the WWE Royal Rumble in Philadelphia. Bell time for the show is 2 p.m.

Torneo Cibernetico

  I lost track of the eliminations in this since there were so many guys in the match and things were happening so fast. But this was probably my second favorite match of the night. Lots of great action and lots of teasing of the confrontation between Soldier Ant and his former Colony mates, Silver Ant and Fire Ant.

  Before Chikara was shut down, Wink Vavasuer moved Soldier Ant out of The Colony and replaced him with deviAnt, who became Worker Ant. As Chikara kept changing, Soldier became more disillusioned with the company and eventually walked out – only to reappear this season alongside The Flood.

  Soldier looked really strong in this match. The final four were Silver and Fire Ant against Jakob Hammermeier and Soldier Ant. Silver and Fire won’t fight Soldier when they get the chance and Silver even yells at him “I don’t want to hurt you!” at one point, only to be taken out by a big haymaker from Jakob. Then Fire Ant pinned Jakob with an Air Raid Crash. Fire Ant actually speaks and tells Soldier to wake up, to which Soldier Ant responded by grabbing him by the throat and chokeslamming him to win the Cibernetico.

Icarus vs Deucalion

Steel cage grudge match

  I don’t know if I had too high of expectations for this match, but I wasn’t very impressed with this one. Icarus has been doing well in his role as top face in Chikara (even though I think he’s better as a heel), but this match just fell flat for a number of reasons.

  For one, I don’t know how many matches Deucalion has worked before but he looked sloppy, slow and almost lost in there against Icarus. His whole gimmick is supposed to be a monster killing machine but he didn’t have much impressive offense besides throwing Icarus around. Also, I don’t think he should have ever been unmasked or taken off his combat gear. Whereas he once looked like a menacing, unfeeling killing machine, now he just looks like some dude. All his mystique was lost, in my opinion.

  Deucalion came to the ring with all the masks of wrestlers he’s killed strung together. Icarus came to the ring with Estonian Thunderfrog’s hammer and the Grand Championship, which isn’t on the line in the match. It should have been, if you ask me.

  Icarus and Deucalion just didn’t click in this one. They started using cage spots just a few minutes in, which kinda showed just how little Deucalion could really do in the ring since they didn’t even tease using the cage and just went right to it. Another telling factor in how this match kinda flopped was that the most heat from the crowd came when Deucalion teased hitting Bryce with the chokebreaker. Which, admittedly, would have been the worst thing to ever happen (I was even wearing my “Da Bryce is Right” shirt so you know I would have been devastated), but still – in a match with such build, such big implications, and the end to a season-long feud, for the biggest moment to come from the ref being threatened tells you just how little people actually cared about Icarus vs Deucalion.

  There were a couple cool spots, like a big hurricanrana from the top rope and the finish, where Icarus reversed a chokebreaker into a Chikara Special for the win. During the match, the Chikara Heroes came out to ringside to lead the crowd in cheers and chants and after the match, The Flood came to ringside. Jacobs blocked Deucalion from leaving and got on the mic and yelled at Deucalion, “You made your bed now you die in it!” followed by Icarus killing him with Thunderfrog’s hammer. (Yes, Chikara’s top face killed a guy with a hammer.)

  Overall, “Tomorrow Never Dies” was a pretty good show. The wrestling was good and there was lots of set up for the next season with Devastation Corporation winning the tag belts, Kevin Condron turning on Chikara, Hallowicked and Frightmare turned by Delirious and The Flood still around but losing their monstrous leader. I saw a post online about Jacobs being a great parallel to Starscream and that’s totally accurate. He wants control of the Flood and turned on the leader, much like Starscream would sell out Megatron any chance he got to lead the Decepticons.

  Also, apparently there was an “after the credits” secret scene which showed a picture of a frog wearing a cape set to AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck.” Could the Estonian Thunderfrog be coming back from the dead somehow!? Man, I hope so.

  Also during the show, Chikara announced that they are touring the United Kingdom in April, their first shows in the UK. The tour starts with two nights in Wolverhampton on April 3 and 4. The next night they are in Cardiff followed by the final show in London on April 6. Check out more information at http://www.chikarauktour.com/.