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NXT, 3/11

Enzo Amore and Colin Cassidy open NXT this week. Bada-boom, realest guys in the room – how you doin’?!

Enzo says the Lucha Dragons are more like lizards.

Sounds like the Lucha Dragons are getting booed a little bit. Followed by a loud “How you doin” chant from the crowd followed by a “Certified stud – bonafide G” chant. They’d do well to either break up the Dragons or bring them up to the main roster sooner rather than later to nip the booing in the bud.

Enzo starts with Kalisto, who easily out-quicks Enzo but Enzo catches him with a few stiff punches. Kalisto takes him over with an arm drag, tags in Sin Cara and get a 2 count after a wheelbarrow senton.

Cara and Kalisto are working over Enzo big time. Eventually Cass pushes Enzo out of the way of a double tope from the Dragons on the outside to save him from the damage. Cass crawls back around the ring as Enzo gets thrown in by the Dragons. Sin Cara powerbombs him and Kalisto sets up on top but Cass rushes them, big boot to Cara who hits the ropes which wipes out Kalisto on top. Cass drags Enzo to their corner and tags himself in and goes to work on Kalisto.

Cass hits a sit out sidewalk slam (The East River Crossing) on Kalisto, tags in Enzo and catapults him into a splash from the top rope onto Kalisto for the win.

Alex Riley has quit as an announcer to get back in the ring and get his hands on Kevin Owens. But first he needs to get past CJ Parker.

Video package for Alex Riley. I never heard his theme song before but apparently he innovated the “Say it to my face!” because his theme song yells it at you.

Followed by a video package for Kevin Owens, recounting his sudden rise to the top of NXT and highlights of his matches with Sami Zayn and Adrian Neville.

Carmella enters to an almost silent crowd. And once she starts talking, she only gets boos. She either needs to learn how to be a face or stay away from Enzo and Cass because they should not be associated while at opposite ends of the alignment spectrum. Carmella faces Alexa Bliss, who we haven’t seen in a while.

Bliss looking impressive in this match, using a lot of arm drags, cradles and ranas to get near falls on Carmella. Seems like her offense is really lucha inspired, which really works well with her quickness and smaller stature.

Carmella drop toe hold Bliss into the corner then starts putting the boots to her, choking her on the ropes and kicking it into Bliss’ throat. Carmella really heeling it up. Mounts Alexa and just punching away followed by a dropkick.

Alexa gets the win with a move she calls the Sparkle Splash from the top, a half spin into a splash from the top.

Alex Riley cuts a pretty good promo in the locker room about what drives him to get back in the ring. He says he never wanted to be away from the ring and compares it to being locked in a cage for two years, watching everyone around him eat while being told there’s nothing for him. And that now, it’s time to rage.

CJ Parker to the ring first with a sign that says “CJ Parker taking over the Takeovers”. Gets on the mic to talk about his world and how it isn’t fair but gets cut off by Alex Riley’s entrance music.

Albert name dropping Ring Rust Radio…well maybe not (talking about how ring rust must have set in on Alex Riley).

Riley in control for much of the match, Parker only getting in scattered offense. He hits a big spinning neckbreaker and hits a blockbuster from the top for the win.

But after he wins, Kevin Owens’ music interrupts Riley’s and the champ hits the stage. Says it’s a good thing he looks as good as he does because he’s the dumbest man in NXT. And if his horrible tattoo isn’t enough to prove that, the fact that he ended his commentary career to fight Owens sure does. Because now, Owens is gonna end his in-ring career too. And once he’s done with Riley, he’s gonna put an end to the rise of Finn Balor.

In the main event, Tyler Breeze faces Hideo Itami for what feels like the 10^th time. If Breeze isn’t on the main roster by the time the next Zoolander is coming out or announced, he definitely will be if only because of that movie. (And if Derek Zoolander and Hansel host Raw I’d lose my mind)

This is a weird match up. Because Itami is the face but he doesn’t have much in the way of personality of charisma. Whereas people really love Breeze, even though he’s the heel. It feels like people are cheering for Itami just because they’re supposed to.

Breeze jumps out of the ring to start the match, telling Itami it’s not gonna be like last time. But Itami goading him to get back in the ring.

Breeze takes the advantage early, surprising Itami with shoulder blocks in the corner and rolls outside when Itami hits a few punches. But Itami chases him out and lands a big line.

Itami tornado DDT on the top rope and sets up on top but Breeze hits the ropes to crotch him on top and stomps on him in the corner.

Itami off the top with a knee to the back of Breeze’s head who got front suplexed onto the top rope. The crowd starts chanting GTS and Itami hits a huge combo of punches and kicks and goes for a basement dropkick but Breeze rolls out of the way. As Itami collects himself, Breeze lands a Beauty Shot for the win.

-They announced a week or two ago that Kevin Steen will defend the NXT Title against Finn Balor at an upcoming live event, NXT Next Generation on March 25. But apparently, Owens underwent surgery to repair a partially torn meniscus recently and they haven’t talked about that title match since it was announced. I also had to have surgery on my meniscus when I was in high school and it put me out of action for an entire wrestling season so I’d be very surprised if Owens is back in the ring next week. According to WWE.com, he’s already off crutches and rehabbing at the Performance Center so we’ll have to see what happens but I’d be really surprised if they let him get back in the ring to work matches mere weeks after knee surgery.

- NXT next week will be from the Arnold Classic (Arnold Sports Festival) which took place in early March. Kevin Owens faces Alex Riley and Alexa Bliss faces Sasha Banks. They mentioned “fan tryouts” but who knows if that will be part of the show.

- Joey Ryan’s “cryptic” tweet about being threatened by lawyers

“It’s so quiet lately. Almost as if lawyers threatened to sue all of us if we kept telling the truth.”

- NXT WrestleMania weekend show at the San Jose State University event center sold out in under an hour. The venue can hold 5,000 which will be the largest show so far for the NXT brand.

 

Lucha Underground, 3/11

Opens with a video package recounting Pentagon destroying jobbers and talking about his master. Then Ivelisse/Son of Havoc/Angelico triangle. Finished by the King Cuerno/Johnny Mundo match that ended in a double count out leading to the cage match tonight, the first in Lucha Underground.

Clark Duke and Davis Shoemaker showcased prominently to start the show (but not mentioned by commentary). They mention later that NBA player AC Green is there as well. And they show former UFC champion Josh Barnett in the crowd too (though he doesn’t have front row seats for some reason).

Pentagon Jr out first, getting a big reaction. He faces Argenis. Definitely not a jobber like the last three Pentagon faced and injured, will be interesting to see if he can continue his dominance.

Argenis taking control early, using high flying to stay on top of Pentagon. He’s just one step ahead the whole time, hitting a big satellite tornado and a top rope rana. But Pentagon hits a nasty basement dropkick and takes control.

Pentagon showing big power, gorilla pressing Argenis over his head and slamming him into the corner. Picks him up in a torture rack and drives him into the turnbuckle and dropkick him in the back. Sends Argenis off the ropes and a big drop kick.

Pentagon shows he can fly too, hitting the ropes and a big tope con hilo onto Argenis on the outside.

Pentagon nails Argenis with the Package Piledriver and makes him tap with that arm submission and breaks Argenis’ arm as the crowd cheers him on “Zero miedo.”

Gets on the mic and says “Master, as you can see, no one can stop me. Because I am prepared, I am zero fear!”

I’m really interested to see where this whole Pentagon thing is going. At first I thought that his “master” might be Mil Muertes, since Pentagon was basically killing people and offering them up to his master. And as we all know, Mil deals in lives.

But on this show, Vampiro made a comment about the term that Pentagon uses doesn’t necessarily refer to a person, but a higher power, like a god or something. Plus, the crowd seems to be getting behind Pentagon Jr., despite him destroying people and breaking their arms.

Next, Fenix in the locker room and he’s approached by Catrina. She says Fenix may be the man of 1,000 lives, but Mil will not stop until he’s taken all of them. There’s only one thing he can do – he must bury Mil. And just like that, Catrina is gone.

Hilarious (well not supposed to be) video package of Konnan making a new cane out of metal in a shop, since he broke his last one over the back of Cage. Also something about how war is won before it’s ever fought. “Konnan: Revenge is coming”

These video packages that Lucha Underground produces rivals anything that WWE does. One could say that LU does “sports entertainment” better than WWE does.

Next match, Angelico already in the ring. He takes on Ivelisse with Son of Havoc as the special guest referee. Damn, Ivelisse looks like a total badass during her entrance.

Angelico motions for a knuckle lock but kisses Ivelisse’s hand and she kicks it away. Gets a waist lock on her, pulls her in then lifts her up and throws her down. But when he picks her up, she drops him with a lucha arm drag.

Ivelisse hits a few big arm drags, followed by a rana and a huge corkscrew from the top rope to the outside on Angelico. And Son of Havoc gives her a big high five back in the ring.

Angelico sidesteps a drop kick and she hits the ropes and lands awkwardly and Angelico takes control. Throws Ivelisse into the corner but Havoc pulls her out of the way as he rushes in for a knee. Ivelisse starts kicking away on his knee that he jammed into the corner and tries to go for a knee bar on a standing Angelico but can’t take him down.

Son of Havoc not counting numerous pins from both competitors so not really sure what his angle is. But then Ivelisse chops Angelico numerous times and tells Angelico to hit her and when he winds up for a big chop, Havoc gets in between them to block him.

Ivelisse on top, goes for a tornado DDT but Angelico blocks. Lifts her up in a stalling suplex but Ivelisse drops down into a hanging guillotine choke. Angelico starts caressing her back and she lets go and start punching him.

Angelico sets up for a crucifix bomb but Havoc pulls her down as he runs past. Ivelisse gets a 2 count off a rana as Angelico argues with Havoc. Angelico knocks out Ivelisse with a head kick meant for  Havoc and fast counts Angelico in the pin and pushes him out of the ring off Ivelisse.

Mil Muertes in the locker room, putting on his mask and Catrina enters and reminds him of the earthquake that buried him in a building collapse as a child and says that was the day they first met. She also calls him by his real name (Pasqualle Mendoza) and says that all things must come to an end. And next week, she will have Fenix send him back to the darkness he came from, in a casket match.

Main event match, cage match between Mundo and Cuerno. Striker makes a good point, both guys like to use the apron and the outside to hit big moves but that is negated in this match. And Mundo uses lots of parkour and crazy stuff that the cage doesn’t really allow for.

Both guys have chances to escape early but choose to stay in the ring and do damage to the other.

Cuerno using the cage as a weapon first, throwing Mundo into it, choking him on the top like a guillotine and raking Mundo’s face on the cage link. Cuerno has the advantage but misses a double knee into Mundo and bounces off the cage, allowing Mundo to hit numerous twisting splashes and leg drops.

Mundo slams Cuerno into the cage numerous times with him on his shoulders and makes the first attempt to climb out but Cuerno grabs his leg to stop him. Cuerno locks in a powerbomb and slams Mundo into the cage then sits out with it but only gets a 2.

Cuerno tries to escape but Mundo on him. Cuerno over the top and Mundo holding onto him by his mask and pulls him back in. On the top rope, they grapple for the advantage then crash to the mat and the ref starts the standing 10 count. They get back up and start trading punches and slamming each other into the cage.

In the corner with Cuerno’s deer head, they jockey for position, chopping each other and Mundo slams Cuerno’s head into the top of the cage and throws him to the mat. Mundo puts one leg over and looks like he can escape, but climbs back in for some reason. He sets up on top of the cage and lands a corkscrew moonsault on Cuerno and gets the pin.

Ring of Honor

Ring of Honor hosted two shows on the “Conquest Tour” shows this past weekend in Milwaukee and Chicago Ridge.

Saturday March 13

Milwaukee, WI

 -Roderick Strong defeated Arya  Daivari

-Will Ferrara defeated Silas Young via DQ. (This was Young’s first match back after a leg injury and got himself DQ’ed by low blowing Ferrara. I could see these guys continuing to feud going forward)

-Mark Briscoe defeated Beer City Bruiser (Cool that they’re continuing to use Bruiser. They brought him in for the Top Prospect tournament but he’s got a look you don’t see often in ROH and is a pretty good brawler.)

-RPG Vice (Rocky Romero and Trent Baretta) defeated The Decade (BJ Whitmer and Jimmy Jacobs) (Jacobs observed the code of honor and Whitmer wasn’t happy about it. Rumor has it that Jacobs is joining WWE Creative soon and retiring from in-ring competition)

-Matt Taven defeated Cheeseburger (Has Cheeseburger won ever?)

-Michael Elgin defeated Josh Alexander (Hopefully Monster Mafia is in ROH more often)

-Samoa Joe defeated ACH in what was said to be an awesome match

-reDRagon defeated Jay Briscoe and Jay Lethal. O’Reilly forced Jay Lethal to tap out (I’m sure it was a great match but I don’t know why you would pit your champions against one another.)

Saturday March 14

Chicago Ridge, IL

 -J. Diesel (with Truth Martini) defeated Will Ferrara

-ACH defeated Jimmy Jacobs (Jacobs again adhered to the code of honor which made Whitmer upset. Definitely angling for Jacobs and Whitmer clashing soon to put Jacobs out of the company)

-Silas Young defeated Mark Briscoe, Matt Taven and Roderick Strong in a fatal fourway

-Jay Lethal defeated Cliff Compton in a street fight (If Compton won, he’d get an instant shot at the TV Title)

-Beer City Bruiser defeated Cheeseburger

-Tommaso Ciampa addressed the fans about the injury he suffered in the main event of the 13^th Anniversary show and his issues with ROH management. But Silas Young interrupted him and told him to get over it but officials rushed out before the situation escalated. With Ciampa near the top of the card now, a feud between Young and Ciampa could be pretty good and would elevate both of them.

-Jay Briscoe defeated Silas Young. (If Young won, he would get an instant shot at the World title)

-RPG Vice defeated reDRagon to win an instant tag team title shot. RPG Vice seems like the next big time tag team in ROH and had the titles within their grasp but the champs came back to retain the titles.

-Samoa Joe defeated Michael Elgin via submission. They’re definitely building Joe up to be a big threat to Jay Briscoe. But if rumors can be believed, Joe is only in ROH for a select few dates and then going to NXT. 

There have been three big main events announced for ROH Supercard of Honor on March 27:

-Jay Briscoe defends the ROH Championship against Samoa Joe

-Jay Lethal defends the ROH TV Title against Jushin “Thunder” Liger

-reDRagon defends the ROH Tag Team Titles against The Kingdom (Matt Taven and Michael Bennett) 

New Japan Pro Wrestling

Kota Ibushi defeated Hirooki Goto in the finals of the New Japan Cup and will get a shot at AJ Styles and the IWGP Heavyweight championship at Invasion Attack PPV on April 5.

Also at that show, Young Bucks defend the IWGP Junior Heavyweight tag team titles against RPG Vice (Trent Baretta and Rocky Romero), Kenny Omega defends the IWGP Junior Heavyweight title against Mascara Dorada and the Bullet Club (Karl “Machine Gun” Anderson and Doc Gallows) defend the IWGP Heavyweight tag team titles against The Kingdom, Matt Taven and Mike Bennett.

WWNLive Experience at WrestleMania 
Updated card for WWNLive Experience show over Wrestlemania weekend (which Icopy and pasted from this link because I don’t feel like retyping it all):

EVOLVE 39 - Thursday, March 26th - 8pm PST, 11pm EST -  www.WWNLive.com

JUST SIGNED: EVOLVE Title Match

EVOLVE Champion Drew Galloway vs. "Darewolf" PJ Black

These two will wrestle with no restrictions for the EVOLVE Title

Bonus Match Event

DGUSA Open The Freedom Gate Champion Johnny Gargano vs. AR Fox

Two of the top faces of the WWN Family finally square off in singles action

A Wrestling Odyssey Rematch

Timothy Thatcher vs. Drew Gulak

The rematch of their classic last year

Special Tag Team Attraction

Ricochet & Uhaa Nation vs. Caleb Konley & Brian Cage with So Cal Val

Can Ricochet & Nation build momentum towards 3/28 vs. a hungry, new Premiere Athlete Brand

First Time Ever Match

Chris Hero vs. Ethan Page

Page has been endorsed by Gargano, can he make an impact against the veteran Hero?

Pro Wrestling Clinic

Biff Busick vs. Tommy End

This is sure to be one no true pro wrestling fan can miss

EVOLVE 40 - Friday, March 27th- 3pm PST, 6pm EST - www.WWNLive.com

First Time Ever Dream Match

Ricochet vs. PJ Black

The premier high-flyer in the world vs. an aerial artist with something to prove

 Bonus Main Event - Non-Title

EVOLVE Champion Drew Galloway vs. Uhaa Nation

A first time battle of the big men

Grudge Tag Team Match

Johnny Gargano & Rich Swann vs. Caleb Konley & Brian Cage with So Cal Val

It's Ronin vs. The Premier Athlete Brand in San Jose

 Special Challenge Match #1

Chris Hero vs. Biff Busick

Hero and Busick will finally wrestle after their confrontation last August

Special Challenge Match #2

Timothy Thatcher vs. Tommy End

A potential classic

Special Attraction Match

AR Fox vs. Ethan Page

Another fresh match that could steal the entire show

 Plus Drew Gulak and others!!!

WWN Supershow - Saturday, March 28th - 4pm PST, 7pm EST - www.WWNLive.com

JUST  SIGNED: Champion vs. Champion

EVOLVE Champion Drew Galloway vs. DGUSA Champion Johnny Gargano

Which titles will be on the line?

 Generation Next vs. The New Generation

Austin Aries & Roderick Strong vs. Ricochet & Uhaa Nation

The men who changed the landscape ten years ago vs the men who changed Dragon Gate and WWN

Dareworlf vs. Daredevil

PJ Black vs. AR Fox

Two of the most extreme athletes on the planet face off for the first time

Grudge Match

Chris Hero vs. Timothy Thatcher

Hero ruined Thatcher's moment when he won Style Battle, now he must face him

JUST SIGNED: SHINE Presents A Six Woman Tag Team Match!

Plus more with Rich Swann, Biff Busick, Drew Gulak, Tommy End, Ethan Page and Premier Athlete Brand members Caleb Konley and Brian Cage with So Cal Val