NXT Philly at The Tower Theater results

NXT Philly: Night 1

The first stops on the first NXT Tour were in Upper Darby last Thursday and Friday at The Tower Theater. I saw a wrestling show there before (TNA) and they put the ring on the stage which wasn’t great for the people sitting close to the stage (aka where I was sitting). But NXT’s set up was great – they had some bleachers set up on the stage next to an entrance way with the ring set up on a platform extended out from the stage. People in the balcony had a good view of the action and seats from the floor were even better (I had balcony seats on Thursday and floor seats maybe 10 rows back from the stage on Friday).

The show opened with Enzo and Cass with Carmella taking on Blake and Murphy for the tag team titles. Enzo and Cass got a huge pop from the crowd, one of the biggest of the night. They did their usual “Certified G/Bonafide stud” routine and the whole place chanted along with them.

Blake and Murphy retained with their running suplex/frog splash combo. Afterward, the champs attacked Enzo and took the turnbuckle off a corner but before they can use it, Cass and Carmella stop them and all three take turns forearming Blake (or Murphy, I don’t remember) in the face. Blake and Murphy were really hated, especially because Blake came out with his hair in pigtails.

My view from the balcony wasn't too bad on night one of NXT Philly

Next match was Jason Jordan vs Bull Dempsey. Jordan had new music but the same singlet as always. Bull won the match but I don’t remember how, it was pretty lackluster and the crowd was hating on Bull the entire time. Plus, the biggest reaction Jordan got was taking his straps down like Kurt Angle, which tells you how into this match the crowd was.

Dana Brooke came out next to huge boos. She tagged with Becky Lynch against Bayley and Alexa Bliss. Becky and Bliss got good pops from the crowd but nothing like Bayley – people absolutely loved her. There was a big “We Want Blue Pants” chant during this match and also, I’m pretty sure I saw Danny Doring (ECW original who tagged with Roadkill) in the crowd.

Bayley got the win with a Belly to Bayley. Solid match, nothing too flashy though.

The final match before intermission was a triple threat NXT Championship match between Tyler Breeze, Finn Balor and Kevin Owens. The crowd went nuts hearing we were gonna see a title match, as well as three of the most popular guys in NXT. (It’s too bad Sami Zayn and Hideo Itami are hurt because they were the only ones who could’ve maybe gotten a bigger response than these three guys)

Crowd starts a huge “Ole” chant soon as the match starts and Owens immediately heads outside and sits down next to Jojo and Greg Hamilton as Breeze and Balor fight in the ring. Owens retains after Balor hits the Coup de Grace on Breeze and Owens throws Balor out and collects the win.

Afterward, William Regal announces that Balor gets a title match and Balor says he’s bringing the demon!

After intermission, Mick Foley comes to the ring and gets a few cheap pops and he and Joey Styles sit at ringside. The next match is Solomon Crowe taking on Tye Dillinger. Dillinger has a new gimmick where he refers to himself as “The Perfect 10” and carries a sign with him that has a giant 10 on it. Crowe gets the win with a stretch muffler.

Dillinger’s new gimmick got over surprisingly well, even though he was the heel in the match. Crowe got a huge reaction the crowd, getting “Sami” and “CZW” chants for all his time as Sami Callihan in Combat Zone Wrestling.

Baron Corbin came out next to a mixed reaction, which only got way worse as the match went on. He took on ECW vet Rhyno who got a big reaction and lots of “ECW,” “Gore,” and “Rhyno’s gonna kill you” chants.

Corbin was working heel in this match and was really working well as the bad guy, riling up and antagonizing the crowd. Lots of “Corbin sucks” chants to the tune of the “New Day sucks” chants. There were also “Corbin’s gonna bore you” like the “Rhyno’s gonna gore you” chants, but I can’t remember if this was Thursday or Friday.

Their match actually wasn’t too bad and Corbin gets the win with the End of Days. Afterward, he trash talks ECW guys and the crowd was chanting “Shut the f*ck up” at him so loud it was drowning out his promo over the PA system. He talks down to Joey Styles and tells him to bring another ECW original Friday for him to beat.

Before the main even, Triple H came out which was a huge surprise to everyone. He puts over NXT, specifically the women’s division and acknowledges the crowd chanting “Better than Divas” by saying he doesn’t care what you call them because they kick ass.

The main event is Sasha Banks vs Charlotte for the Women’s title, which was just an awesome match, one of the best they’ve ever put on. It was also really cool that the women got to main event the first show.

Sasha gets the win with the Banks Statement, nearly wrenching Charlotte in half, pulling her over a few times to get her away from the ropes.

Overall, the first night of NXT Philly was just a great show from top to bottom. The crowd was into everything and chanting almost the whole time. Plus, The Tower is a pretty good venue for wrestling when it’s set up right and draws a hot crowd.

My only complaints were that the music was really loud and sometimes it kill the crowd’s enthusiasm during some entrances. Also, there were lots of kids and families in attendance and the smarks were sometimes chanting some really vulgar stuff which made participating in some of those chants really awkward. Plus, this felt like just a warm up show for Takeover since so many of those matches are also happening on Wednesday. But still, the matches they put on were really good and they got a lot more time than they usually do on WWE programming.

NXT Philly: Night 2

Greg Hamilton opened Night 2 with a recap of Night 1 and Jojo did a great performance of the national anthem.

The first match saw Enzo and Cass take on Tyler Breeze and a mystery partner, which turned out to be Bull Dempsey. Breeze said he was going to be a champion for them because the Eagles aren’t winning any championships any time soon. He also talks down on cheesesteaks which really got the crowd going. Enzo and Cass came out with cheesesteaks and interrupt Breeze, saying they like their rolls toasted so they hard and aren’t…well, you know.

Lots of comedy spots in this match with Enzo and Cass tempting Bull with a cheesesteak and Breeze stopping him from eating it. Also, Enzo chased Breeze around outside the ring until Bull started chasing Enzo with Breeze, but got winded quickly and Breeze and Enzo lapped him around the ring.

Enzo and Cass got the win with the assisted splash and Bull turns on Breeze and eats one of the cheesesteaks. Also, Tye Dillinger came out after the match and gave it a 3 and points to Bull.

View from my seats night two were even better but unfortunately, most of my pics came out terrible

Next, Alexa Bliss takes on Dana Brooke. Alexa is really over and the crowd still really hates Brooke, giving her “You can’t wrestle” chants, even though she was doing pretty well in the ring. Brooke gets the win with the Samoan Driver. Afterward, Dillinger came out and gave the match a 9, but then turned it over into a 6 after getting booed.

Baron Corbin came out next to huge boos and called out Joey Styles. Lots of loud ECW chants as Styles announces Corbin’s opponent – The Innovator of Violence, Tommy Dreamer!

Fun match with Dreamer taking Corbin around outside the ring, hitting him with a can of soda and a cup of beer. Takes him in the ring and gets a 2 off a DDT but then Corbin takes control and wins with a End of Days. Tye Dillinger comes out and gives Dreamer a 0 and Styles gets in his face. Dillinger grips him up but Styles pushes him into Dreamer and Dreamer DDT him.

Next match is a fatal fourway for the NXT Women’s title between Sasha Banks, Bayley, Charlotte and Becky Lynch. Sasha and Charlotte took bumps outside the ring which I thought was nuts because it didn’t sound like there was much padding down. Sasha and Bayley fought off the stage and into the crowd a little too.

There were lots of other cool moments like a big superplex/powerbomb tower of doom spot with all four women and Becky got a “Suplex City” chant after tossing people with a few t-bone suplexes. Bayley hits a Belly to Bayley on Becky but Sasha throws Bayley out to pin Becky. Huge pops for each girl after the match and before they leave, Charlotte, Becky and Bayley raise each other’s hands. Just an awesome, crazy match.

First match after intermission was Jason Jordan and Solomon Crowe taking on Blake and Murphy for the tag team titles. Crowe gets beat down for a while and Jordan gets the hot tag and goes nuts with suplexes and shoulder blocks into the corner on Blake and Murphy. There was also a cool spot where Crowe and Jordan had the stretch muffler and ankle lock applied at the same time but the champs didn’t tap. Jordan and Crowe worked pretty well together despite seeming like an odd pairing.

Main event time – Kevin Owens vs Finn Balor for the NXT Title. Balor enters through the crowd with the demon paint (though it’s the usual paint and not new paint as was reported by the dirtsheets).

Owens runs out of the ring a few times before locking up with Balor and plays the heel really well, despite the crowd wanting to love both guys. There were loud “Cena sucks” chants all night and Owens busted out a You Can’t See Me followed by a 5 Knuckle Shuffle, but Balor dodged it.

Owens picked up the win after a great match by hitting Balor with a chair on the outside. He then tried to powerbomb Balor on the edge of the stage but faces came out to stop him, followed by the heels to start a big brawl to end the show. Great match overall though, honestly, I think the women’s fourway might’ve been better.

Finn Balor's demon makes an appearance at The Tower. (Not my picture)

Both shows were awesome and the turnout for both shows was really good so hopefully WWE and NXT come back to Delco soon.

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

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

Indy Minute - Your weekly source for independent wrestling news

NXT

  NXT TV opens with a recap of the Ascension attacks on Hideo Itami until he brought in his friend, Finn Balor, to even the odds against the longest reigning NXT tag team champions. I hope these four actually have a match sometime because that could be pretty good.

  Finn Balor opens the show this week. He has a pretty theatric entrance, which will definitely help him get over. The crowd gets behind him chanting “Finn” before he even speaks. But before he can say much, he’s interrupted by Tyson Kidd with Natalya (who is looking amazing).

  Tyson says he was brought into this business as a Hart and one of the first things they are taught is respect, something Balor clearly lacks. Justin Gabriel joins him and echoes his sentiments. He says he sick of every week, a new international talent arrives and thinks he’s “the guy.” Tyson and Gabriel get in the ring and corner Finn but Hideo Itami makes his way to the ring to have Balor’s back. Kidd and Gabriel back off but a ref shows up and it seems like this is going to be a tag match now.

  (It seems like Alex Riley, Rich Brennan and Jason Albert are always on commentary now.)

  Itami and Gabriel in first but he quickly tags in Kidd who goes for an arm ringer. Itami reverses and tags in Balor to a big pop. Kidd tags out quick and Balor nails Gabriel with a dropkick. Goes up top for a stomp and Kidd pulls Gabriel out but Balor hits them both with a tope con hilo.

  Kidd and Gabriel take advantage of Balor after keeping him off balance and tagging in and out quickly. Balor hits a big Pele kick and finally manages to tag Itami, who starts lighting up Kidd with kicks. After hitting double basement dropkicks into the corner, Balor nails Gabriel with a double stomp from the top rope for the win. He got some huge air on that one and really drove it into Gabriel. Balor’s music is pretty badass too and a lot more unique than most WWE themes these days.

  Backstage, Sami Zayn is with Devin Taylor. He says tonight feels different from opportunities he’s had in the past. He feels like this is his destiny.

  Up next, Sasha Banks takes on Alexa Bliss. I think Bliss has new music. No more “Did it all for the bling bling” or whatever that was. Still using the “Glitter blizzard” that Stardust tried to steal, which is good to see.

  Sasha on Bliss quickly with hard shots and lays her across the second turnbuckle and drops the double knees on her midsection followed by the Kyle O’Reilly rebound slap. Then locks Bliss in a bow and arrow which Bliss reverses into a cover.

  Bliss gets some momentum with a rebound headscissors and a yoshi tonic (sunset flip bomb) out of the corner. Bliss gets a bloody nose (which I think she got earlier in the match when Sasha smashed her face in the mat) and the crowd chants “E-C-Dub.” Banks hits a dropkick followed by the Bank Statement for the win. I hope we get to see Bliss more often going forward. Her style in the ring is a lot different from the other female wrestlers and with only four female wrestlers usually in competition on NXT (five if you count Carmella who has had a few short matches), there’s definitely room for more competitors for the Women’s championship.

  Adrian Neville is backstage with Devin. Says He says Sami is a good friend of his and an incredible competitor. But the difference is that Sami can’t win the big one, which will be proven again when Adrian leaves with the title and Sami leaves disappointed. This is like the third or fourth week in a row where Neville reiterates that Zayn can’t win the big one. Not making his mic skills seem very strong.

  The Lucha Dragons are up now to take on Wesley Blake and Buddy Murphy (I refuse to call them Team Thick unless anyone besides Renee actually does).

  Murphy and Blake have terrible theme music. Dubstep is the worst. Despite that, I feel like they are going to be big stars in NXT if not WWE. They are solid in the ring and both are really strong. Plus, once the Ascension goes up there is an open spot for another regular tag team.

  Blake and Murphy keeping Kalisto grounded early, using their strength and power moves to keep him on the mat.  Kalisto finally has an opening, using his speed to escape Blake and Murphy and tag Sin Cara. Cara takes it to both Murphy and Blake, displaying some impressive strength with a power bomb before a swanton for the win. Kalisto also hit a ridiculous step up corkscrew plancha to the outside before the win, which like commentary said, I don’t think anyone has ever done in WWE.

  The Vaudevillains backstage with Devin. She asks about how they feel about the Lucha Dragons win. Aiden English and Simon Gotch give them a sarcastic golf clap of congratulations. Gotch says they should keep the gold shined and leather oiled because the belts won’t stay with two children but will go home with two men.

  Sami Zayn is out first for the main even NXT title match. Zayn is ridiculously over. Everyone loves this guy and I’m confident that even if he wasn’t Generico before, people would still love him cause he just has a natural charisma. Dude is gonna be huge. A “Sami’s better” chant breaks out with a faint “No he’s not” response.

  In the early goings, Sami seems to have the advantage, getting the best of every encounter. He knocks Adrian Neville outside and goes for hilo but Adrian moves and he rebounds off ropes and moonsaults to center with a loud “Ole” chant. Sami holds the ropes open for Adrian to get back in but he flips over the top rope instead. Adrian nails a series of kicks and a stiff low drop kick off the ropes.

  Adrian with the clear advantage now, weathering the early offense by Sami and using his speed and strength to keep Sami off balance and on the mat. Sami fights back and clotheslines him over the top and hits a hilo on Adrian on the outside. Sami rolls him back in and goes to the top rope for a cross body but Adrian counters with knees to the chest followed by a quick standing shooting star press but only gets a 2 count.

  Neville sets up for a power bomb but Sami blocks and catches a forearm. Sami reverses out and Adrian springboard to Sami shoulders spins around and wants a rana but Sami hits a p bomb for a 2. Sami hits two German suplexes in a row followed by a half and half (which he did all the time as El Generico but hasn’t pulled it out much in NXT) but only gets a 2 somehow.

  Sami charges into the corner for a Helluva Kick, Adrian gets the boot up and staggers Zayn. Sami tries to go for an exploder but Adrian counters in a victory roll for two. Adrian hits a head kick and looks for a Red Arrow as the crowd chants “NO” and Sami rolls away at the last second. Neville clutches his knee on the mat after the miss as Sami sets up for a Helluva Kick and looks unsure about what he should do. The ref throws up the crossed arm X and Sami looks concerned and checks on Neville. As he does, Neville rolls him up for the three count. Sami looks devastated and Neville drags himself over and pats Sami on the back. A trainer comes out to check on Adrian and Sami is still slumped in the same spot, in disbelief.

  Though I’d like Neville to be a more clearly defined heel in this feud, I like how they are successfully walking the line between Neville “winning cheaply” and “doing what he needs to do to stay champion.” I think in the long run, however, it would be more beneficial if they were to have Neville act more obviously evil in this instance. As amazing of an athlete as he is, Neville doesn’t have much going for him in the charisma department. He lacks whatever trait Sami has that makes him naturally likeable and in this feud he just seems like more of a jerk than an overt heel and in wrestling, playing the middle ground often isn’t as powerful as being naturally likeable and over-the-top evil.

  Finn Balor has been getting praise not only from WWE and NXT fans, but from all around the world. Here he is keeping kayfabe strong on Twitter with New Japan’s Yuji Nagata:

Lucha Underground

  This week’s episode of Lucha Underground showcased several luchadores from Mexico and featured a lot of incredible, high-flying action. In the first match, Mariachi Loco faced minis wrestler Mascarita Sagrada. Loco started the match making fun of Sagrada’s height but ended up losing when Sagrada surprised him with a cradle. Chavo Guerrero then attacked Sagrada after the match.

  In a segment following the match, Konnan told Chavo that Mexico knows what he did to Blue Demon Jr. and it will only be a matter of time before they find out about Sagrada and come after him. Next, Mil Muertes defeated Ricky Mandel and the main event featured three luchadores, Fenix, Drago and Pentagon Jr.

  Next to Puma versus Mundo from week one, this was one of the best matches Lucha Underground has put on so far. Drago was eliminated first after two piledrivers and Fenix pinned Pentagon Jr with a reverse hurricanrana.

  I’m planning on putting up a short article soon about my thoughts on Lucha Underground as a whole so be sure to be on the lookout for that.

  Also, I just saw this on Twitter – apparently The Young Bucks are in negotiations with Lucha Underground. They’d be a perfect fit for LU so let’s keep our fingers crossed:

Ring of Honor

  ROH hosted one of their final live events of the year this past weekend before heading into their biggest show of the year, Final Battle in NYC in December. This past weekend at “Glory by Honor XIII” in San Antonio, TX, fans were treated to some great action as well as setting up a huge match for Final Battle.

Glory By Honor XIII results

Nov 15, 2014

San Antonio, TX

(Attendance was said to be between 700-800)

Jay Diesel defeated Shane Taylor

(Seems like they are using Jay Diesel more often these days. Not sure if he’s a student or just a journeyman wrestler, though. When I saw ROH live in Philly a few months ago, Diesel helped the House of Truth attack Matt Taven so I wouldn’t be surprised to see him join with Truth Martini in the future)

Tommaso Ciampa defeated Romantic Touch with the Sicilian Stretch

(I liked that Ciampa has been involved with Nigel in a sort of “loose cannon” angle but that seems to have died down a bit. Hopefully he can get into the TV or World title scene again.)

Hanson defeated Mark Briscoe, BJ Whitmer, and Moose

(Raymond Rowe was said to be at the show with his arm in a brace and after the match. It seems like Hanson is getting a pretty good push on his own, though I did like War Machine a lot. They seemed to be starting a feud with The Briscoes before Rowe was injured and hopefully that will be revisited when War Machine is back in action)

Frankie Kazarian defeated Roderick Strong

(Undoubtedly a great match between two vets. It seems like they have been pitting The Decade and The Addiction against each other recently which will help both groups. Each team could easily be ROH tag team champions but I don’t see reDRagon losing any time soon)

reDRagon retained the ROH tag team titles against The Kingdom (Matt Taven and Michael Bennett)

(reDRagon has been on a tear lately. I don’t see them losing the ROH belts anytime soon and being the IWGP Junior Heavyweight champions is a huge honor as well. I like the whole Kingdom gimmick but Taven and Bennett isn’t the most exciting team in the world)

Will Ferrera defeated Adam Page

(Seems like there is trouble in The Decade. I read reports that Roderick Strong distracted Page leading to Ferrara getting the win and that after the match, Strong and Ferrara beat up Page and Whitmer. Will definitely have to see how this plays out heading into Final Battle)

Jay Lethal retained the ROH TV Title again RD

(Well, #TheNewStreak is over folks. It was a great ride but all good things must come to an end. Lethal retained after Moose accidentally hit Evans with a spear. I read that the crowd was split for both guys, though, so at least Evans is getting over. He’ll win that belt someday, mark my words)

Adam Cole defeated Christopher Daniels

(Cole defeated Daniels with the Jay Driller, no doubt sending a message to ROH Champion Jay Briscoe. This match was probably awesome as Cole is one of the most talented rising stars in wrestling and Daniels is at the top of his game despite debuting over 20 years ago)

Jay Briscoe retained the ROH World title against ACH

(It’s cool they gave ACH a title shot in his home town though they haven’t exactly been building him up as a main event star lately. I’d love to see his feud continue with Jay Lethal for the TV title. After the match, Briscoe put over ACH as the future of wrestling)

It was also announced that at Final Battle, Adam Cole versus Jay Briscoe for the ROH World Championship will be a fight without honor.

  This weekend, ROH will host “Tag Wars ‘14” in Baltimore, MD, its final show before Final Battle in December. The card so far is:

Adam Cole vs Brian Kendrick

Tommaso Ciampa vs Cedric Alexander in a No DQ grudge match

In the Tag Wars tournament, six qualifying teams face off with the winners entering into a four way elimination match against reDRagon for the ROH Tag Team Championships. The three qualifying matches are:

Matt Sydal and ACH vs The Young Bucks

Jay Lethal and J. Diesel vs The Briscoe Brothers

The Addiction vs The Decade (BJ Whitmer and Jimmy Jacobs)

WWNLive in China

  The final WWNLive show on the tour of China at the MasterCard Arena in Beijing drew 10,500 spectators.

  Johnny Gargano defeated Ricochet to win the Open the Freedom Gate championship as well as became the first CITIC Guoan Cup winner. Gargano is also the first two-time Open the Freedom Gate champion. His first reign was 873 days long with 21 successful defenses until losing it to Ricochet on April 4, 2014. His reign was 226 days.

Also, I found this link from LeTV where you can watch then entire final event in Beijing for free:
http://www.letv.com/ptv/vplay/21223675.html

House of Hardcore

  House of Hardcore 7 at the ECW Arena on Saturday was an amazing show. Jigsaw, Davey Richards and EC3 were unable to compete but there were many surprise appearances from wrestlers like Stevie Richards, The Sandman, Spike Dudley, The Dudley Boyz, TNA World Champion Bobby Roode and Alberto Del Rio with Ricardo Rodriguez making his first appearance in America since leaving WWE. Visit DelcoElbowDrop.blogspot.com for full results from the show.

  For my full write up from the show pluspictures and gifs, hit this link.

 

Chikara

  Chikara hosted the final two shows of Season 14 before “Tomorrow Never Dies” which is being held at the ECW Arena.

On Her Majesty’s Secret Service

November, 15

Haverhill, MA

Jakob Hammermeier, Nokken and Oliver Grimsley defeated 3.0 and Jervis Cottonbelly (3pointcheery0)

Missile Assault Ant defeated Princess Kimber Lee

Worker Ant defeated Prakash Sabar

Spectral Envoy (Frightmare, Hallowicked and UltraMantis Black) and The Batiri (Kodama andObaryian) defeated The Flood (Shard, 17, Jimmy Jacobs, Volgar the Unknown and Ducaleon)

(Frightmare defeated The Shard in this match. It sounds like Deucalion is losing his mind and control over The Flood heading into “Tomorrow Never Dies.” Deucalion tried to kill Frightmare but 17 turned on The Flood and saved him and both escaped. Deucalion threatened Jimmy Jacobs and he threw The Shard under the bus and Shard was killed with a choke breaker.)

Shynron defeated Proletariat Boar of Moldova

Juan Francisco de Coronado defeated “Smooth Sailing” Ashley Remington

Wrecking Crew (Jaka and Oleg the Usurper and Devastation Corporation) defeated Golden Trio (Icarus, Dasher Hatfield and Mark Angelosetti) and the Osirian Portal

For Your Eyes Only

November 16

South Windsor, CT

Four Corner Elimination Tag Team Match (point are in play)

– The Bloc Party (Prakash Sabar and Proletariat Boar of Moldova) eliminated Ashley Remington/Jervis Cottonbelly

– The Batiri (Obariyon and Kodama) eliminated The Bloc Party (Prakash Sabar and Proletariat Boar of Moldova)

– The Devastation Corporation (Blaster McMassive and Max Smashmaster) eliminated the Batiri and have 3 points

(The Devastation Corporation are on a tear in Chikara lately. Sydney Bakabella’s monsters won the King of Trios tournament and seem to be next in line to hold the Campeonatos de Parejas. It seems like the rudos are gearing up for some big things at “Tomorrow Never Dies.”)

Hallowicked defeated Worker Ant

(Apparently Soldier Ant appeared out of nowhere and attacked Worker Ant)

Nokken defeated Shynron

(Lots of BDK interference in this one. The BDK is undergoing big changes now that Jakob is at the helm. Once he revealed himself to be the Cosby Sweater Dr. Cube with ownership of The Eye of Tyr, he took control of the group and kicked out Ares. And at this show, he kicked out Milo Schnitzler, former owner of Wrestling is Cool. It also seems like Pinkie Sanchez made his return to Chikara and is part of the BDK once again)

(Word is that Jimmy Jacobs showed up with the masks of all the fallen heroes. Icarus interrupted him and called out Deucalion and challenges him to a match at “Tomorrow Never Dies.” Not sure if it’s for the title, though)

The Osirian Portal defeated The Wrecking Crew (Jaka and Oleg the Usurper)

(The Portal have two points now apparently)

Eddie Kingston defeated Snow Troll

Jimmy Jacobs defeated Ultramantis Black

Frightmare defeated Juan Francisco de Coronado

(Coronado hit three German suplexes on Frightmare but Ashley Remington made the save allowing Frightmare to get the roll up win)

Los Campeonatos de Parejas 2/3 Falls match

The Throwbacks (Dasher Hatfield and Mark Angelosetti) defeated 3.0 (Shane Matthews and Scott Parker)

(The Throwbacks retained the belts in two straight falls. Afterward, Bakabella comes out and tells the champs to keep the titles warm)