NXT, Lucha Underground and Indy Wrestling Minute - Your Weekly Source for Independent Wrestling News

NXT, 2/25

Hideo Itami on NXT first this week, gets a big Hi-de-o chant from the crowd. Among the many things NXT does better than the main roster is starting a wrestling show with wrestling and not with a 20 minute talking segment.

Hideo takes on Bull Dempsey, who is a big time jobber now and I can’t see Itami losing to Bull. Unless Bull cheats or something.

(Why would they even bring up the No DQ match from Rival? Literally nothing out of the ordinary happened. Dempsey grabbed a chair but no one even used it.)

Bull hammering Hideo early. Dropping elbows and going for covers, using chinlocks to keep Hideo on the mat. Hideo fights up, hits a few clotheslines and bounces off the ropes but Bull bowls him over with a standing splash.

But Itami puts together a combination of strikes and kicks, a spinning backfist sends Bull to the corner and Itami hits a basement facewash dropkick followed by a single leg drop kick to Bull’s face and Itami gets the win.

But as Itami celebrates, Tyler Breeze levels him with a Super Model Kick and thankfully he still has his selfie stick. But as he’s trying to frame up a selfie, Itami gets back up and chases him to the ring and hits a few kicks before Breeze runs off.

Charlotte gets a rematch at the Women’s title next week.

Video package hyping the return of The Brian Kendrick. But he’s taking on Finn Balor so I don’t see his re-debut going well.

Next match, the Lucha Dragons take on Jason Jordan and Tye Dillinger. But during their entrance, Solomon Crowe interrupts (with his iPad). Says last week wasn’t an introduction – it was a statement. He’s here on a mission and that mission isn’t complete until he’s NXT Champion. Ends it with “You’ve been warned.” And the commentary team doesn’t seem to realize it happened, they don’t reference it.

Jordan and Dillinger should be marketed as pure athletes and wrestle a much more technical style utilizing amateur wrestling moves. Instead, they’re just dudes who are there who are somehow more bland than Blake and Murphy.

Jordan and Dillinger start strong but the Dragons eventually take control, utilizing their inventive double team maneuvers and using quick tags to keep Dillinger off balance, who seems to be resistant to tagging Jordan back into the match, despite him acting.

Dillinger finally goes to take Jordan – and Jordan hops off the apron and walks away! Kalisto hits the Selina Del Sol and tags Sin Cara who hits a swanton and gets the pin.

That random dude Greg (who doesn’t get a last name) talks to Finn Balor. He asks him how he’s gonna deal with Kevin Owens but Balor says he’ll get to him in due time, right now he needs to focus on Brian Kendrick, a former tag team champion. (Even though he was also a World champion for a hot minute in a Championship Scramble match)

Dillinger is still in the ring. Says he won’t leave until Jordan comes out and explains why he left him high and dry. Says he doesn’t care whose match is next, he’ll whoop that man. And unsurprisingly, it’s Baron Corbin.

Corbin squashes him quickly after a shoulder block and an End of Days.

Devin Taylor talks to Charlotte. Charlotte says Sasha Banks has never beaten her one on one. Says nothing is guaranteed except that the title is coming back where it belongs.

Tyler Breeze says Itami thinks he got one over on him but Itami fell into his trap and soon will be squished like the cockroach he is.

Sami Zayn to speak live on NXT next week.

Now Bayley is out to take on Becky Lynch. Becky seems to have taken my advice and got her long pants back, even if she still does have the bland grey/red color scheme.

Becky with the advantage early and there is a surprising amount of people behind Becky in the crowd. Even though Corey Graves still hates Becky, for some reason.

Becky takes her over with the pumphandle suplex that Graves says is called the Bexplex as well as the multiple leg drops. Bayley tries to get something going but Becky staying in control.

Bayley hits several back elbows in the corner and sets Becky on top. She gets shoved off and catches her arm on the top rope and begins holding it, so maybe Becky will start working it. Bayley stays in control though. She rushes in for the Belly to Bayley and Becky takes her down and locks in several arm bars and makes Bayley tap.

Rhyno tells Devin he’s in NXT because everywhere he went, he heard about NXT. So he tuned in and saw in the competitors the same intensity that he always had and he’s here to tear people apart with the Gore.

Jason Jordan says he’ll give an explanation for walking out on Tye Dillinger when he’s ready.

Kevin Owens on commentary for the main event, Finn Balor vs The Brian Kendrick.

They start off exchanging holds while Owens talks about how he is just a man trying to provide for his family, despite what Adrian Neville or anyone else says about him.

Kendrick flips in over Balor and tweaks his ankle, look he might’ve twisted it pretty good. Balor backs off as Drake checks on his and Owens questions why he would do that. Alex Riley says it’s because there’s no malice between them and Owens says it’s not about malice it’s about winning.

Getting awkward on commentary. Owens tells Riley he’s the NXT Champ because he didn’t show compassion or remorse and Riley doesn’t understand that because he isn’t a champion and never was a champion, but Owens is and that’s the difference. Riley, after  moments of silence, says he agrees, he never was a champion in NXT but he is a man and as a man he wouldn’t have done what Owens did to his friend. Riley giving Owens the cold shoulder, trying to block him out of the discussion and camera shot, Owens gets up and says he’s gonna get out of here before he does something he’d regret and gives one last look at Riley before leaving. And Graves says, “Way to go, Riley, you made the champ angry.”

 Kendrick hits a big Tiger suplex and goes for The Kendrick but Balor flips out of it. Balor hits the Slingblade, a dropkick to the corner followed by the Coup de Grace double foot stomp for the win.

After he wins, Owens appears on the stage and stares him down. But Owens walks off toward the commentary table and keeps glancing out of the corner of his eye at Riley. He grabs Riley by the jackets and tosses him over the table while staring down Balor, who tries to get him to fight in the ring, but Owens walks off.

-Rhyno and The Brian Kendrick have been added to the WWE/NXT roster pages

-Also, Rey Mysterio has been moved to the Alumni section of WWE.com and the company released a statement that Rey is “no longer under contract with WWE.”

Lucha Underground, 2/25

Striker says Prince Puma is back and wants revenge for what Cage did to Konnan and for what he did to the LU Championship.

Aerostar in the ring first. He gets a rematch against Drago. Aerostar hits a big step up dive to the outside to start but Drago takes advantage after that as it looks like Aero might’ve hurt his ankle.

Aero avoids the Dragon’s Lair pin combo and nearly gets a pin with a mahistrol cradle. Now trading pin attempts. Aero step up sunset flip powerbomb Drago to the floor. Throws Drago back in a springboard splash off the top for the win. Both have a win over the other now. Aero picks up Drago and shakes his hand and raises it in a show of respect.

But Dario Cueto comes out of his office and congratulates Aero. Says he enjoyed the fight but is left wanting more and assures him it was a compliment. He’ going to make them fight each other until one wins two more times (so just two more wins or gets two wins in a row?). The winner gets a “unique opportunity.”

Next match, Cage already in the ring. Prince Puma heads to the ring and goes right after Cage but Cage using his size to throw Puma around. Puma using in speed and strikes to try and get something going but Cage shrugging off all damage and pummeling Puma. Puma sitting on the second rope and Cage lariat him and he hits his head on the apron then lands on his neck on the floor. As Puma gets back in, Cage deadlift suplex from the apron back in but gets a 2.

Cage in total control of Puma, just tossing him around, catching him out of mid-air and slamming him to the mat. Cage misses a second rope moonsault and maybe Puma can get something going.

Puma step up, springboard SSP to the outside, throws Cage back in, springboard 450 but gets a 2. Puma hits a series of head kicks but misses a Phoenix Splash. When he gets up, Cage levels him with a discus lariat but Puma kicks out. Cage pumphandle facebuster and only gets a 2.

Cage locks in a stretch muffler and lifts Puma off the mat with it. Konnan appears at ringside and wills Puma to reach the ropes.

Cage powerbombs Puma, lifts him up and buckle bomb. Puma bounces out and Cage hits him with a Weapon X but instead of going for the pin, just starts hammering on Puma’s face. Konnan grabs a towel off some dude at ringside and throws it in and the ref calls for the bell.

In the locker room, Konnan tell Puma whether he knows it or not - whether he likes it or not - Konnan just did him a favor. Tells him to remember what Konnan taught him, the art of war and that war is based on deception. They have a plan and need to see it to fruition. But Puma doesn’t look happy about it.

Sexy Star tells Cueto she is tired of men jumping into her matches to save her. She is capable and strong enough to do this alone. Cueto says sounds like she has a problem with Big Ryck but she says not with Ryck, with the Crew. They sent her friends Pimpy and Sagrada to the hospital and the Crew will meet the same fate. Cueto makes her a deal - she and Ryck both have beef with the Crew. Next week, she faces Ryck and whoever wins gets the Crew.

Some jobber named Vinnie Massaro in the ring. Probably to get his arm broken by Pentagon Jr. Striker says he’s a brawler from NorCal.

Pentagon makes Melissa Santos say this match is dedicated to his master. Pentagon gets the win with a half nelson, pumphadle piledriver. After he wins, he gets a table, sets Vinnie on the top and powerbombs him through it. Then locks in that submission and breaks his arm. But the crowd chants for Pentagon.

Main event time - King Cuerno vs Johnny Mundo.

Mundo in control early. As soon as Cuerno got in the ring, Mundo was on him. Hit a crazy double side flip over the top to Cuerno on the outside. Cuerno catches a cross body and drops him into a back breaker and takes control. Cuerno then stars working over Mundo’s knee and hitting high impact strikes and a double knees in the corner.

Mundo hits the Moonlight Drive and goes for the End of the World but Cuerno up and kicks him in the head sending him to the outside. He follows it with a high impact tope sending Mundo into a guardrail. Then hits another which sends Mundo into the announcer table. Then hits a third sending Mundo sprawling on his back.

But Cuerno and Mundo continue fighting outside as the ref counts 10 and calls the match a draw but they keep going. Mundo shoves Cuerno into a cameraman then dives through the turnbuckle at Cuerno. Mundo thrown into Cueto’s office but reverses a whip which sends Cuerno into the railing on the steps and follows it with a big kick to Cuerno’s face. Cuerno tries to escape up the stairs but Mundo follows him, stomps him in the chest and smashes his face with a knee.

They continue fighting at the top of the temple throug the crowd as ref Marty Elias tries to get them to stop. Cuerno drops him with a punch and they keep battling through the crowd. Cuerno rushes Mundo and powerslams him through a chainlink fence. Dashawn gets a shoutout from Vampiro at the end too “It’s the hot tub guy!” (Who just started following me on Twitter, cause I'm big time like that)

Ring of Honor

ROH hosted its 13^th Anniversary Show this past weekend from Las Vegas, Nevada and it was a really great card from top to bottom.

-Matt Sydal defeated Cedric Alexander is a strong opener. Sydal is looking really strong since returning to ROH and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him in the TV or World title picture soon.

-Moose defeated Mark Briscoe. Good match, nothing outstanding but a good match. Moose is still new to pro wrestling but has all the tools to become a big star.

-The Kingdom defeated The Addiction and Karl “Machine Gun” Anderson. Doc Gallows was stuck in Detroit due to weather but Anderson did a great job on his own in the match. The Kingdom got the win and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them get a tag title shot soon.

-Roderick Strong defeated BJ Whitmer. Roddy has wins over all members of The Decade now so it’ll be interesting to see where he goes from here.

-ODB defeated Maria Kanellis. Maria tried to talk her way out of the match, saying she was pregnant and couldn’t fight ODB. After ODB won, she took Maria’s “Title of Love” and tore the pink fur off of it. That belt was the original World title that Jay Briscoe won so it’ll be interesting to see what happens with it going forward now that ODB has it (who is associated with the Briscoes).

-AJ Styles defeated ACH. Really, really great match. ACH is one of the brightest young stars who has a great future ahead of him in ROH and in wrestling in general.

-reDRagon retains the tag team titles against The Young Bucks. I was worried that O’Reilly and Fish would lose the ROH titles after recently losing the IWGP Junior tag team titles to the Bucks. But with this win, reDRagon has to be considered one of the best tag teams in ROH history.

-Jay Lethal retains the TV Title against Alberto El Patron. Lethal continues his push to have the TV title recognized as the most important title in ROH and a win over El Patron helps legitimize his claims even more.

-Jay Briscoe retains the World title against Tommaso Ciampa, Michael Elgin and Hason. I was pretty sure that Briscoe wasn’t leaving Vegas with the title, since it’s a four way, someone else could take the fall, they could move the title and Briscoe’s un-pinned record stays intact. I was hoping they’d finally pull the trigger on Ciampa or that Elgin might get it back (even though his reign as champ was one of the most unspectacular ever). Still, defeating three top guys makes Briscoe look like even more of a beast. At this point, every champ in ROH looks so strong and have held their respective titles for so long, I don’t know who could unseat any of them but it will be a big coup when someone finally does beat Briscoe, Lethal or reDragon.

-Also, Samoa Joe was at the 13^th Anniversary Show at got a huge reaction. He said he’s coming back to ROH for the World title and whoever holds it (despite rumors that he’s only back for 5 dates and going to NXT after that).

Chikara Challenge of the Immortals

Chikara is doing something different for Season 15. “Director of Fun” Mike Quackenbush has picked 10 “team captains” who drafted wrestlers this past Monday on Twitter to embark on “The Challenge of the Immortals.”

As Quack explains it, the teams will enter into a round-robin tournament with each member of the winning team getting a Golden Opportunity – a chance to challenge for whatever title they want, regardless of their point standings.

Each team will face every other team twice, with the captains deciding on the type of match beforehand – a singles, tag, trios or atomicos match. But the catch is during their second meeting, the captains can’t choose the same match type as the first meeting.

Each win in the tournament nets the team one point while losses earn no points. The team with the most points at the end of the tournament will be the winners and earn their Golden Opportunities.

The teams are:

- Max Smashmaster (captain), Blaster McMassive, Flex Rumblecrunch and Jaka

- Dash Hatfield (captain), Mr. Touchdown, Icarus and Heidi Lovelace

- UltraMantis Black (captain), Kodama, Obaryion and Oleg the Usurper

- Chuck Taylor (captain), Drew Gulak, Orange Cassidy and Swamp Monster

- Hallowicked (captain), Frightmare, Silver Ant and Blind Rage

- Jakob Hammermeier (captain), Soldier Ant, Nokken, and Pinkie Sanchez

- Amasis (captain), Fire Ant, Worker Ant and Ashley Remington

- Ophidian (captain), Eddie Kingston, Shynron and Argus

- Juan Francisco de Coronado (captain), Mr. Azerbaijan, Prakash Sabar, and The Proletariat Boar of Moldova

- Princess Kimber Lee (captain), Jervis Cottonbelly, and Los Ice Creams

In other Chikara news, the first trio for the 2015 King of Trios is…The Bullet Club! AJ Styles and The Young Bucks will be tearing it up this year. Already, I can’t see anyone in Chikara who could beat the Bullet Club.

Allegedly, Uhaa Nation has signed with WWE. There was a big sendoff for him at a recent Dragon Gate show in Japan, after losing to BxB Hulk in an Open the Dream Gate  championship match on March 1.