Wednesday Wrestling Minutes - Your Weekly Source for NXT, Lucha Underground, Ring of Honor and Independent Wrestling News

NXT, 6/24

Opens with a moving tribute and 10-bell salute to Dusty Rhodes with the entire NXT roster on the stage.

Hideo Itami opens NXT. Haven’t seen him since Unstoppable “when his shoulder was injured.”

Greg “The Borash” Hamilton welcomes him back. He says doctors say it’ll be 3-4 months before he’s allowed to compete. Itami says he can’t wait until he’s back in the ring. Itami says that NXT is very popular in Japan and they’re very excited for the live show on July 4 and that he will be there. And it doesn’t matter who wins, he will challenge them for the NXT title.

But then Kevin Owens interrupts hims. He says it’s great that Itami will be in Japan but too bad he won’t be competing. That’s OK though – next time, he says. Says he’s sure the only reason Itami is going to see Owens end Balor for good. Owens stumbles over the word “delusional” but turns it around by saying he stumbled so bad it sounds like Hideo trying to speak English. Says there’s no way he’s leaving Tokyo without the NXT Title. He had nothing to do with Itami’s injury unlike people say but he didn’t because if he did, Itami would be somewhere else licking his wounds and not on NXT. And he also wants an apology because Itami called him a bad person a few weeks ago and that’s not OK. Then tells the crowd to shut up and let Itami talk.

Itami says he is a great champion but a terrible human being. Owens says if he’s gonna be blamed for Itami’s injury he might as well deserve. He’s got one good arm left and is gonna take care of that. But as he heads to the ring, Finn Balor attacks him from behind and Owens tries to run but Balor follows and attacks again. Balor sets up to leap on him from the stage but Rhyno attacks Balor from behind and refs break them up.

Enzo and Cass with Carmella out for a tag match to open the show. They take on Sylvester LaFort and Jason Jordan.

Enzo starts off fast against LaFort and quickly tags in Cass and they dominate him easily. Jordan blind tag himself in and starts throwing around Enzo. He works with LaFort to keep Enzo on the mat.

Jordan tags in and Enzo throws LaFort outside and rolls up Jordan for the win. Jordan tells LaFort to get lost and he’s still looking for a permanent tag partner.

Samoa Joe promo from after his match with Owens where he says he wants Owens again because he didn’t give him the beating he intended to and wants them to let him fight. Kinda short and stop-and-start in his speaking but he expressed lots of anger and emotion.

Dana Brooke out next with Evil Emma. She takes on KC Cassidy. Seems like they just call her Cassie now.

Big Dana sucks chant but some let’s go Dana too. She gets Cassie in an arm wringer and starts patting her on the head like she does to Devin. Cassie reverses it and pats Dana on the head but Dana is pretty mad about it and takes control easily.

Dana puts her in a weird, one arm, one leg bow and arrow but gets out of it and starts a short comeback. Roundhouse kick Dana in the corner but Dana puts her on top and then slams her down with the Samoan Driver for the win.

Devin talks to Charlotte. Devin says that it sounds like Dana is jealous of her. Charlotte says the only door that was open to her was opportunity. And the next opportunity she gets she’s going to kick Dana’s ass (but stops herself before she actually says ass, because PG).

2^nd part of “Who is Finn Balor?”

Sami Zayn stops by Balor’s apartment before they go out to eat and Balor has a Bullet Club hat on top of his fridge. He’s building Legos apparently and describes himself as more of an introvert who would rather sit and listen. Some people like puzzles, he likes Legos.

Matt Bloom/Jason Albert says first time he met Devitt was in the NJPW Dojo in Tokyo in 2006. How they hit it off right away on the bus to the dojo. They show some pictures including a few with Machine Gun and one with Devitt on the back of motorcycle with Albert driving.

Talks about going to the dojo and how tough it was to make it there. About how tough it is to be a young boy in the dojo – getting up early to clean everything and cook every meal and basically be a servant for the vets. How his three months turned into 8 years in Japan.

Albert talks about his huge success in Japan and how everyone loves him. But he never thought of himself as a star. And about how Prince Devitt was a man who was obsessed with mastering the Japanese art of pro wrestling.

Becky says how huge we was in Japan and how there wasn’t much left for him to do there and how huge it was for him to come to WWE.

Next week is part 3? His arrival in NXT. Also that the WWE Special from Japan starts at 5:30 am when Balor faces Owens for the NXT title.

William Regal has ordered Bull Dempsey to get in better shape and they show a bunch of pictures of Bull being fat and falling asleep in the gym and covered in food and chips.

The Hype Bros (Mojo Rawley and Zack Ryder) take on Angelo Dawkins and Sawyer Fulton. Rawley starts first and he and Ryder do a good job of staying on top of Dawkins and Fulton. But Mojo’s hype betrays him and Fulton trips him up on the ropes and Dawkins and Fulton take control, keeping Mojo on the mat.

Ryder is the hot tag and tags out Dawkins. He knocks Fulton off the apron and they get the win with what I think Mojo called the Hyde Ryder (the assisted Rough Ryder).

Regal in his office. Eva Marie comes in. Better that they give her a pre-taped segment so she doesn’t get booed out of the building. She wants a match in NXT. Regal says she can’t use her charms to get a match and she has to prove she’s ready. And she says that’s what she’s going to do. Eva needs to learn some enthusiasm and charisma.

Main even time – Balor vs Rhyno.

But before Rhyno comes out, Kevin Owens hits the stage. Looks like he’s gonna be on commentary. He pushes Byron out of the way who doesn’t want Owens to be next to him and looks very uncomfortable. When Rhyno comes out, Owens says he loves rhinos, alluding to how much he loves zoos.

They go at each other fast as the match starts, neither want to give up any ground. Balor taking it to Rhyno but Rhyno keeps coming back. But Balor uses his speed to stay a step ahead of the much larger Rhyno.

Byron asks Owens if he had anything to do with the attack on Itami and Owens sounds very exasperated at the question and says no, he said as much 40 minutes ago. He tells Rich to back him up but Rich gets all excited at a Balor dive over the top and Owens says “Yeah, that’s all your good for, say the guy’s name in an excited voice.”

Owens is just owning Rich and Byron on commentary and it’s even better than the match itself, which was pretty good in its own right, if a little plain.

Balor showing good resolve, staying in the match despite the beating that Rhyno is giving him. Rhyno big overhead suplex and ramming him into the corner with numerous shoulder blocks.

As Balor goes up top for a Coup de Grace, Owens heads to the ring to distract him. Balor dropkick Owens off the apron and Rhyno belly to belly. But Balor stays in it, hits a Slingblade off the ropes followed by a Coup de Grace for the win but as soon as the bell rings, Owens attacks Balor. Rhyno starts beating down Balor too until Samoa Joe hits the ring to chase them off.

Lucha Underground, 6/24

Recap of Dario Cueto’s Aztec medallion challenges. Drago coming back to the temple. And Mil Muertes coming back as well.

Vampiro hypes the final matches of the first year of LU and they recap the brewing feud between Mundo and Patron and that they will fight at Ultima Lucha.

Sexy Star in the ring stealing Dalton Castle’s cape/wing gimmick. She faces Super Fly who now has face paint and a new pissed off attitude.

Vamp talked to Super Fly in an interview. Vamp asks him why he attacked Star and he says he doesn’t need to explain himself...then explains that she stole something from him, so he wanted to steal something from her. He wanted Star to experience the same pain he felt, but Vampiro jumped in the ring and stopped Pentagon.

Vamp says she didn’t steal his mask, she won fair and square and he lost his mask by the order of Dario Cueto. SF says she could have walked away and walked away from the temple and none of this would have happened. He says Cueto gave him a rematch and tells Vampiro not to get involved. He says he is focused and not going to make the mistake of going easy on her because she is a woman like he did last time. Tonight, he is going to put her in her place.

SF slaps Star in the face to start the match and she chops him back. SF being very aggressive and controlling the early parts of the match but Star trying to make a comeback.

Star mounting a comeback, hits a springboard arm drag and gets a 2 off a mahistrol cradle but SF smashes her with a big punch to stun her.

Back and forth match and SF seemed stunned after being tossed up and over the ropes to the floor and landing awkwardly but he gets the win with a powerbomb and held on for a sitout powerbomb. After he gets the win, he keeps stomping on Star and starts ripping at her mask. He throws her outside and stares her down as she tries to regroup, basically in the lap of a fan.

The next match is a five-way match for one of the Aztec medallions between Pentagon Jr, Cage, Aerostar, The Mack and Marty the Moth. Fenix and Jack Evans have won medallions already, not sure what these medallions will be worth or used for though. Cueto says they will offer immortality but Cueto’s opportunities always have a twist so I have to imagine the winners of these medallions are in for an unwelcome surprise.

When Pentagon hits the ring, he grabs the mic from Melissa Santos who he has attacked before and so she gets out of there as quick as she can. He says he isn’t interested in a simple gold medallion to offer his master. He wants something more valuable, he wants to prove he’s worthy and the only luchadore with zero fear. He wants to destroy the man who took his greatest sacrifice - Vampiro! He calls Vampiro into the ring to face him.

Pentagon heads to the commentary table and Vampiro gets up and tries to calm down Pentagon but Pentagon grabs him by his shirt and Vamp pushes him away. Vamp unbuttons his shirt but Rick Knox gets between them and pushes Pentagon away who walks out of the temple. Vamp looks really upset and angry about the confrontation, like he wants to do something about Pentagon but won’t or maybe can’t.

With Pentagon gone it’s a four way match. Mack and Cage start off fighting with Marty and Aero watching but Aero rolls him up and they go at it. Mack has some issues with Cage and showing he’s not afraid of the much larger Cage.

Marty dives over the ropes on Mack and Cage but breaks his fall with his face. Aero springs up to the top and takes out Mack and Marty. Aero springboard cross body on Cage but gets caught, Cage curls him a few times and fall away throws him over the ropes to the floor on Mack and Marty.

Marty getting a bunch of near falls on Mack and seems like he has more skill than I expected. Cage flattens Mack with a huge discus lariat but only gets a 2 count.  Cage fireman carry Mack on the apron but he frees himself and exploder suplex to Cage on the apron! And follows it with a frog splash from the turnbuckle onto Cage on the floor!

Both Cage and Mack are down on the floor and Marty gets on the top rope but Aerostar runs the ropes to him and hurricanrana down to the center of the ring. He follows it with a springboard splash onto Marty to win a medallion!

Ivelisse, Son of Havoc and Angelico are training in the temple. But Catrina interrupts them. She says sooner or later death will come to all three of them and there’s nothing they can do about it. Catrina uses the stone to summon the Disciples of Death who beat up the Trios champs and leave them lying.

Main event time - Drago vs Mil Muertes with a title shot at Ultima Lucha on the line.

After Drago enters, Hernandez attacks him and beats him down with his belt. He starts choking him with it as the ref yells at Hernandez to get out of the ring. Hernandez finally leaves and Drago tries to pick himself up.

Catrina leads Mil to the ring. Mil has a definite power advantage on Drago and Drago will have to use his quickness to get an advantage. Nothing Drago can do seems to have an effect on Mil. He just overpowers Drago at every turn as Mil nearly tears Drago in half with a huge spear.

Whatever Drago does to Mil, Mil just shrugs it off and sits up. Mil throws Drago into the crowd and starts smashing the chairs apart as the ref checks on Drago. Mil slams him into the chairs a few more times then powerbombs Drago onto the announcer table.

Mil throws Drago back in and Drago desperately tries to turn the tide. He hits a few kicks and a tornado DDT but Mil back up. Drago spring board and goes for Dragons Lair Pin but Mil rolls through it and batters Drago. Mil slams Drago down with a flatliner for the win.

Catrina lick of death on Drago. As they celebrate, Prince Puma appears at the top of the temple with Konnan and they stare each other down.

Ring of Honor

Death Before Dishonor 13, July 24 in Baltimore, Maryland

ROH World Title match

Jay Lethal vs Roderick Strong

ROH Tag Team Title Four Corner Survival

The Addiction vs. War Machine vs. The Kingdom vs. reDRagon

No DQ match

ACH vs Adam Page

Grudge match

Moose with Stokely Hathaway vs Cedric Alexander with Veda Scott

Also a match has been announced for Field of Honor at MCU Park in Brooklyn on August 22:

The Briscoes vs The Time Splitters (Alex Shelley and Kushida)

This is the second show with Kazuchika Okada, Shinsuke Nakamura and Kushida advertised. The first is August 21 in Philadelphia though no matches have been announced for that show yet.

New Japan Pro Wrestling

Most if not all of the G1 will be available live on New Japan World. Starts July 20. Blocks not announced yet.

Pro Wrestling Guerrilla

The rest of the Battle of Los Angeles entrants were announced today and it look absolutely bonkers. I thought last year couldn’t be topped but this year just might.

The first 10 were:

1. Will Ospreay

2. Marty Scurll

3. Timothy Thatcher

4. “Speedball” Mike Bailey

5. Chris Hero

6. Biff Busick

7. Mark Andrews

8. Brian Cage

9. Ricochet (2014 Winner)

10. Tommy End

And then things went off the rails straight into insanity:

11. Trevor Lee

12. Pentagon Jr.

13. Drew Gulak

14. Angelico

15. Trent?

16. Andrew Everett

17. Fenix

18. Rich Swann

19. Jack Evans

20. Drago

21. Matt Sydal

22. Aerostar

23. Zack Sabre Jr.

24. Drew Galloway

I’m hyperventilating. I need an adult. I thought last year’s tournament was amazing and couldn’t be topped but they did it somehow. Lucha Underground is taking over the world and with the inclusion of UK indy stars like Ospreay, Scurll, Andrews, Sabre and Galloway this tournament has a worldwide flavor that not even the NJPW G1 can match.

Also, several matches were announced for Threemendous IV on July 24. Unfortunately, ROH Death Before Dishonor is that night and Roderick Strong is in the main event so it seem 99.9999% certain he won’t be there. The American Wolves won’t be there because of a conflict with TNA.

Also, Candice LeRae was injured after Mystery Vortex 3 and wasn’t able to compete at Beyond’s Life Sucks and Then You Die but is still scheduled for Threemendous IV.

Matches announced are:

Angelico and Jack Evans vs The Young Bucks

Ricochet vs Akira Tozawa

Team Tremendous vs World’s Cutest Tag Team

“Speedball” Mike Bailey vs Chris Hero

So you might want to skip past this rest of the PWG section if you don’t want spoilers from Mystery Vortex 3. The show is available for preorder but if you want to be surprised, skip past the rest of this – there is a lot of stuff to cover out of Mystery Vortex 3.

So HUGE, MASSIVE SPOILERS from here on out – you’ve been warned.

PWG Mystery Vortex 3 - The Aftermatch

Huge spoilers so watch at your own risk, if you’ve somehow avoided spoilers so far

Mystery Vortex 3 all that needs to be said is MOUNT RUSHMORE 2.0.

RODERICK STRONG

THE YOUNG BUCKS

SUPER DRAGON

Mystery Vortex 3 results

-Sofia Vergara and her…husband? Boyfriend? I don’t know what they are but the Modern Family star was in the crowd with Joe Man…Mangan…ummm…that dude from Magic Mike. (Joe Manganiello for the record).

Tommaso Ciampa def. Johnny Gargano

(From what I heard, Gargano keeps getting massive heat from the Reseda crowd and the best thing they could do is turn him heel – hard. I’d love for Ciampa to get some momentum in PWG but he’s there infrequently now and isn’t even in BOLA.)

World’s Cutest Tag Team def. Monster Mafia

(Joey and Candice get their win back after losing the titles to Monster Mafia at DDT4. Not sure what they’re going to do with WCTT now that they aren’t the champs anymore. People in Reseda HATE Joey Ryan with a passion but absolutely love Candice LeRae so keeping them together isn’t exactly hurting Candice but isn’t helping Joey either.)

Biff Busick def. Timothy Thatcher

(Biff picks up his second win in PWG, his first being a win over Mike Bailey at “From Outta Nowhere.” This was Thatcher’s first match in PWG and people pretty much never win in their first few PWG appearances. There is big Biff news too which I’ll hit later.)

Roderick Strong retains the PWG World title against “Speedball” Mike Bailey

(I heard this was an amazing match and I don’t doubt it. Bailey is quickly becoming one of the most impressive guys in the indies and Roddy has been having an awesome year so this match will be something to see)

Brian Cage def. John Silver

(I can’t think of a bigger size mismatch. Well, in terms of height because Silver, in his own words “is jacked and everyone knows it!” Said to be lots of funny moments in this match which was a good way to bring it back down a little bit after the world title match before it)

Zack Sabre Jr def. Chris Hero

(Insane that ZSJ was there this month since he’s gonna be in CA for three days in August for BOLA. Apparently Hero’s finger was broken very early into the match and it bled a lot and was pretty gross. But because Hero is a boss, he toughed it out and put on a great match with Sabre)

The Young Bucks def. Andrew Everett and Trevor Lee for the PWG World Tag Team Titles

(Both ever Everett and Lee debuted at a Mystery Vortex so it’s a special event for those two. They started out saying they didn’t have challengers so they would just wrestle each other but then THE YOUNG BUCKS from outta nowhere and they have a crazy match.)

During the main event Trevorett nearly wins but Nick pulls Rick Knox out and superkicks him. Roddy shows up to attack the tag champs, the Bucks hits a Meltzer Driver and a new ref comes in and the Bucks win the PWG tag belts for a record 4^th time. The Bucks are unsure of Roddy but he hands them the tag belts and they hug it out as Joey and Candice run to the ring and get taken out then Gargano runs out and gets taken out. Rick Knox runs in with a chair and takes out the Bucks but then Roddy kicks him and sets up chairs.

Now, during the main event and post beatdown, the lights had been flickering a little bit. As Roddy set up to drive Knox through the chairs the lights go out for several seconds and SUPER DRAGON hits the ring and stares down Roddy…THEN HITS A PSYCHO DRIVER ON KNOX THROUGH THE CHAIRS! (I legit get chills every time I watch the aftermath video above and the lights go out and Super Dragon shows up) Super Dragon opened his robe to reveal a Mount Rushmore 2.0 shirt and they proceed to destroy everyone.

Dragon shows Candice how to do a real Violence Party then hits her with a cutthroat Psycho Driver. Excalibur leaves the commentary-booth-shaped-like-a-table and gets in Dragon’s face but gets forearmed to the mat, then super kicked by both Bucks right before eating a Curb Stomp. Everett eats a Psycho Driver. Lee gets a pump handle Psycho Driver.

Biff Busick stomps to the ring looking pissed and gets in the face of Dragon but eats a super kick as Dragon eggs him on. Roddy sits on the turnbuckle drinking from a pitcher of beer telling them to keep it up as Mike Bailey runs to the ring and knocks Roddy from the turnbuckle but eats a super kick as soon as he gets in the ring. Dragon smashes the pitcher on Bailey’s head and puts him down with (my favorite Psycho Driver variation) the Barry White Driver. And to add insult to injury, Dragon small packages Trevor Lee and Nick Jackson counts the pin.

Then, amidst the fallen bodies of Joey Ryan, Candice LeRae, Rick Knox, Johnny Gargano, Trevor Lee, Andrew Everett and Mike Bailey, the Young Bucks start selling Mount Rushmore 2.0 t-shirts in the ring.

Busick has been challenging Dragon for months on Twitter but it all seemed like idle posturing since no one ever really though Dragon would ever come back, let alone in a wrestling capacity. But now that Dragon has reappeared it seems like a match between the two could actually happen now.

Mount Rushmore (Adam Cole, Kevin Steen and The Young Bucks) ran roughshod over PWG from 2013 until both Kevin Steen and Adam Cole departed PWG for different reasons (Steen to NXT and Cole being made an exclusive ROH talent after Black Cole Sun).

I wrote an article about the original Mount Rushmore which you can check out right here!

http://delcoelbowdrop.blogspot.com/2014/02/pwgs-mount-rushmore-most-important.html

And maybe I’m reading too much into inconsequential actions but I can already see cracks in this Mount Rushmore 2.0 that tells me maybe, despite the destruction they caused at Mystery Vortex 3, this stable won’t be around very long.

For one – Super Dragon left the ring before Roddy gave his final address to the crowd. Roddy, as the champ in the position Cole was in before, should be the most powerful and influential person in the group. It worked for the first incarnation because Steen realized he couldn’t beat Cole and reasoned “if you can’t beat them, join them.” And the Bucks allied with them because the Bucks are attracted to powerful, influential groups that they then feed off of.

But Dragon is the head of PWG. Dragon is almost a mythical figure in PWG and no one – not even the champ – is bigger than Dragon in terms of PWG. In 1.0, Steen needed Cole and the Bucks to stay on top. In 2.0, Dragon doesn’t need Roddy and the Bucks. Dragon is bigger than the titles – Dragon is PWG.

For two – the Bucks started setting up selling merch before Roddy had finished speaking. They are clearly more concerned about themselves and their money than whatever arrangement they have with Roddy as part of 2.0. Then when Roddy wanted them all to pose, one of the Bucks didn’t even have his tag title belt or know where it was because they were too concerned about their merch – more concerned with themselves than with Roddy, who in terms of Mount Rushmore, should be their leader. Already the troops are disobeying and not following the leader’s lead? That’s not good for a group’s stability.

Roddy, in terms of PWG history, has always been the bridesmaid, never the bride. It took him 10 years to get to the top of the mountain (his first PWG match was in 2005). He had held the tag titles before, but all his partners went onto bigger and better things while Roddy stayed behind and could never quite get there on his own.

He only won the title because he challenged Kyle O’Reilly to a Guerrilla Warfare match AFTER O’Reilly had already faced Ricochet. He’s been a sneaky, conniving weasely champion so far and he needs Dragon and the Bucks far more than either of those parties need him. Granted, he won the title and kept it on his own so far, if he depends too much on Dragon or the Bucks going forward they might be less than willing to stick their neck out for him than Steen and the Bucks were for Cole.

But then again – I could just be misreading the whole situation. Roddy has been destroying people since before he won the title and is capable enough on his own to keep the title. Add in the Bucks who basically have the tag belts welded to their souls and Super Dragon who can and will destroy anyone for any reason, Mount Rushmore 2.0 could be even more devastating than the original incarnation.

And if you were skipping spoilers, it’s OK to come back now. The spoilers are gone – they can’t hurt you anymore.

Beyond Wrestling

“Life Sucks and Then You Die” results

-Candice LeRae was injured and so the card had to be shuffled a little bit

-The Kingdom def. Team Tremendous (After the match, Bill Carr walked out on Dan Barry, saying he is the reason they’ve lost every match since Tournament for Tomorrow. You can find a video of it on Beyond’s Twitter but I won’t link it here because it makes me too sad)

-Colt Cabana def. Johnny Cockstrong and Joey Ryan in a “No Dicks-qualification” match where low blows and genitalia-based offense was legal.

-Team Pazuzu (Pinky Sanchez, Jaka, Angel Ortiz, and Mike Draztik) def. Davey Vega, Ricky Shane Page, Eric Corvis and Myke Quest

-David Starr def. Anthony Stone

-Da Hit Squad (Mafia and Monsta Mack) def. The Hooligans (Devon and Mason Cutter)

-During intermission, owner Drew Cordeiro hyped their biggest show of the year, Americanrana, which is on July 26 and wanted to sell out Fete Music again this year.

-Donovan Dijack def. Biff Busick

-Death by Elbow (JT Dunn and Chris Hero) def. Da Hoodz (Kris Pyro and Davey Cash)

-Nick Gage def. Stockade in a No DQ match

-Team Pazuzu (Chris Dickinson and Heidi Lovelace) def. Shynron and Kimber Lee

-AR Fox def. Paul London

-Also, after the show, Colt Cabana hosted a live Art of Wrestling podcast featuring Nick Gage, Rich Palladino, Team Tremendous, Steve “The Turtle” Weiner, and Joey Ryan.

Chikara

Another team has been announced for the King of Trios tournament on Sept. 4-6 in Easton, PA – the bWo are reuniting to take part in the annual trios tournament! They join:

Bullet Club (AJ Styles and Young Bucks)

Team Lucha Underground (Fenix, Drago and Aerostar)

Team Fight Club Pro (MK McKinnon, Tyler Bate and Trent Seven)

Team ATTACK (Mark Andrews, Peter Dunne and “Flash” Morgan Webster)

Finally, Inspire Pro was previously affiliated with NWA but recently announced on their Facebook page that they are leaving the NWA umbrella and striking out on their own.

I watched a little of Inspire Pro during the second #RAWlternative and I really liked what I saw. They seem like they have a solid roster of local guys as well as bring in good outside names too. And they had good production value on top of that, which never hurts.