NXT, Lucha Underground and Indy Wrestling Minute - Your weekly source for independent wrestling news

NXT, 3/18

Tonight is a special presentation of NXT, the first episode taped somewhere other than the NXT Arena at Full Sail University, at the Arnold Classic in Columbus, Ohio earlier in March.

Looks like a pretty big crowd. The entrance is weird though. There’s no ramp and the actual entrance is on a stage then the wrestlers have to walk around to the side of it and walk down some steps to get to the ring – or just leap into the ring if you’re Kalisto.

Kalisto in singles action for the first time in forever. I guess Sin Cara didn’t make the trip. He takes on Tyler Breeze.

Breeze trying to keep Kalisto grounded early but once he gets going, he uses the ropes and his quickness to take Breeze to the mat with crazy arm drags and a ridiculous stalling, hand spring hurricanrana. But Kalisto tries to springboard into the ring and Breeze catches him with a dropkick to the face.

Kalisto gets a nearfall off a 450 but Breeze manages to grab the ropes. Kalisto was getting some boos before that near fall cause Breeze is so damn over despite being a heel.

Kalisto sets up for the Selina Del Sol but Breeze pushes him off his shoulders and when Kalisto collects himself, Breeze hits the Beauty Shot for the win.

Lots of filler. A video package of the Owens/Riley feud. And a long package about NXT at the Arnold Classic. NXT wrestlers visiting sick kids at a hospital, Triple H getting an award from the International Sports Hall of Fame, Hulk Hogan talking about how the NXT title would look good around his waist and more.

Finn Balor talks to Alex Riley. Balor tells him he’s got Owens next week and he’ll be watching like a hawk. Riley says good, he wants him to watch. Riley says he wants to humiliate Owens and there isn’t going to be a tomorrow for him and that it’s time to rage. But Balor tells him not to overlook Owens or there’ll be no tomorrow for Alex Riley.

Colin Cassady vs Wesley Blake up next.

Blake and Wesley come out to a lukewarm reaction. But the crowd is super-hot for Enzo and Cass (and Carmella is there too). The boos are huge for Carmella when Enzo introduces her.

Cass says Arnold likes to pump iron but they like to pump fists. And that Wesley Blake needs to pump the brakes because he’s about to run into a roadblock. Enzo says that “the Australian kid” needs to didgeridoo himself a favor while they still have the NXT tag team titles is kick rocks in flip flops and skedaddle, sweet boys.

It’s kinda surprising how much Cass can hold his own on the mic even though Enzo is generally considered way better on the mic.

Crowd starts a “This guy’s sawft” chant at Blake as the match starts. Then a “We want Blue Pants” chant. They ought to consider putting her with them somehow. Have her and Carmella constantly at odds despite being part of the same group.

At one point, Murphy  jumps on the apron to distract Cass. Carmella jumps up to yell at Murphy and Cass boots him in the face knocking him to the floor. But then Blake shoves Cass into the ropes, knocking Carmella to the floor then rolls him up for the win. (Maybe grabbed the tights?)

Highlighting a new NXT Diva, Dana Brooke, who apparently was competing in the Arnold Classic. She’s pretty jacked but also pretty agile too it looks like.

Now Alexa Bliss takes on Sasha Banks in a nontitle match.

Sasha taking control early, stomping Alexa’s face into the bottom buckle then dropping he knees across Alexa’s midsection. But Bliss comes back, escaping a crossface choke and hammering on Sasha Banks. She hits a Glitz Flip, a back handspring into a double knee drop on Banks.

She hits a Thesz Press on Banks who rolled out of the ring and when she gets up, throws her into the post. Bliss rolls back into the ring and Banks is counted out! Alexa Bliss picks up a win over the Women’s champ!

Kevin Owens says he’s gonna make Alex Riley wish he never quit his coushy commentary job. He knows why Riley quit – he needs to prove he can still do this, but the truth is he can’t. Not against someone like Kevin Owens. And he can’t wait for his match against Finn Balor because he wants to prove that no one is taking the title away from him and his family.

Alexa Bliss talks about how happy she is she beat Sasha Banks in her hometown and showed her who’s boss, but Banks steps in and says she never pinned her. William Regal gets between them and says there’s an easy way to settle this, next week Sasha Banks defends her title against Alexa Bliss.

Main event now, Alex “Say it to my face” Riley taking on Kevin Owens.

Owens gets in the ring and gets right in Riley’s face, holding the belt up and smirking at him. Drake tries to get between them as Riley and Owens start to shove each other and Drake tries to back them up to opposite corners.

Owens takes advantage early, keeping the pressure on Riley hammering him with punches and chops. Riley tries to mount a comeback but Owens puts quick stop to it and hits a cannonball in the corner. Crowd solidly behind Owens with “Kill Owens Kill” chants and even breaking out “Mr. Wrestling.” Owens mocks Riley as he’s on the mat “Come on, Riley! Rage!” and drops an elbow.

Owens lays in a headlock by Riley fights to his feet. Hits a few stiff punches and sends Owens to the outside. Owens goes for another cannonball and Riley avoids it then hits a big spinebuster for 2.

Owens avoids a crossbody then hits three sentons to regain control. He throws Riley to the outside and into the solid steel guardrail of the arena. Lifts Riley up and tosses him into that steel and Riley crashes to the ground. Owens throws him back in and as Riley rushes in, Owens hits a pop up powerbomb for the win.

Riley rolls to the outside and Drake checks on him as Owens leaves. But Owens stops and grabs Riley, dragging him to the apron. He’s about to set up for an apron powerbomb when Finn Balor’s music hits. Owens is distracted by Balor who tells him not to do it and Owens drops Riley. Owens acts like he’s going to leave, but then picks up Riley and sets up for the powerbomb, when Balor jumps off the stage and onto Owens, hammering him on the ground. Balor throws him into the steps then into the ring.

Balor hits him with a big dropkick sending him into the corner and sets up for the double stomp but Owens manages to roll out of the way (and gives Riley another stomp as he leaves) and collects his belt before leaving the ringside area.

At the WWE Axxess events during the week leading into Mania, NXT will be holding a tournament where the winner gets a spot in the Andre the Johnson Memorial Battle Royal. Doesn’t say everyone involved, only that Finn Balor, Adrian Neville, Tyler Breeze and Hideo Itami will be in it.

In the semifinals, Hideo Itami defeated Adrian Neville to advance to the finals and Finn Balor defeated Tyler Breeze in the other semifinal match to set up a meeting between the former tag team partners with a spot at WrestleMania 31 on the line.

In a big surprise to many, Itami defeated Balor and will take part in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal on Sunday. Many had speculated that the winner would be Adrian Neville with an outside chance of it being Finn Balor (I thought it would be Neville) but WWE swerved us all and Itami now gets a chance to become the second Battle Royal champion.

Also, I just saw this on r/SquaredCircle - the semifinal and final match of the NXT Axxess tournament! Despite the fact that WWE didn't feel the need to film these and air them on the network, someone found fan-cam footage of the three matches and now you can watch them too.
I'd watch them quick because they'll probably be taken down soon.

Hideo Itami vs Adrian Neville: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsV1t1Bxwlk
Finn Balor vs Tyler Breeze: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5uLdTJo29Q
Tournament finals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7B71EoiRWZQ

Lucha Underground, 3/18

Recap of Dario Cueto turning The Crew into his personal wrecking crew and Star and Ryck battling for the chance to face the Crew. As well as the series between Drago and Aerostar and the Fenix/Mil Muertes feud.

The opening match is the third match in a best of 5 between Drago and Aerostar. Both have a victory against the other.

Drago using unique offense to tie up Aero’s legs and keep him on the mat but Aero eventually grabs the ropes. Aero tries to get something going, kips up off a whip into the ropes but Drago catches him and Alabama slam for a 2 count.

Aero escapes the ring and slides through the corner. Drago follows and Aero catches him with a kick and takes control. But not for long as they both hit a cross body on each other and are down.

Aero hits a crazy reverse splash to the outside. Aero sends him out with a big dropkick, Aero springboard to the top and leaps off backwards onto Drago but Aero looks hurt as well.

Both guys hitting huge moves even late into the match and it could be anyone’s game. Aero hit a crazy double stomp on the apron but Drago takes control after baiting Aero in hanging onto the middle and top rope then leaping over the ropes for a twisting corkscrew tope.

Aero hits a rana from the corner then a springboard splash to pick up the win over Drago. Aero leads the series, 2-1, and only needs one more win to earn Cueto’s “unique opportunity.”

Konnan video package likening the art of war to chess. That the strongest and fastest doesn’t always win but the one who wins is the one who positions himself the best and the one who believes he can. (Konnan was playing chess with Prince Puma and beats him, then smashes the clock with his cane)

Crew in the ring for a 3-on-1, no DQ, elimination match against Big Ryck.

The Crew taking it to Ryck early. Hitting “The Treatment” their three move combo in the corner.

Bael brings in the first weapon, wedging a chair in the corner. They try to throw Ryck into it but he overpowers them, tosses Cisco aside and throws Bael into the chair. Cortez Castro tries to sneak attack him with the kendo stick but Ryck no sells it, takes the stick and breaks it over Castro’s back.

Ryck eliminates Bael first with a chokeslam. Ryck grabs Castro by the throat and Cisco comes in and gets grabbed up too. Then boot him in the gut and try to suplex him but he suplexes them both over.

Ryck eliminates Castro with a kendo stick lariat. Cisco realizes he’s the last one and tries to walk out on the match and heads up the steps, but Sexy Star meets him at the top and hits him with a few forearms and sends him tumbling down the stairs. She throws him back in the ring and Ryck levels Cisco with a big right hand. Cisco is busted open and Ryck hammers the cut.  He sets up the chair and hits a uranage through the chair and pins Cisco for the win.

Next week, AAA champion Texano defends the title agaisnt Alberto El Patron in a bull rope match and Prince Puma defends the LU Championship in a Boyle Heights street fight match against Cage.

The main event up now - a “Grave Consequences” casket match.

Several figures dressed up in “Day of the Dead” facepaint bring the casket in. Mil Muertes out first, descending the stairs with the stone. Fenix out next with some new gear, black tights with yellow/red designs (looks like fire) and bright white boots. Catrina also comes out with Fenix, the first time I think that she has actually accompanied him to the ring.

But as soon as Fenix hits the arena floor, Mil dives through the ropes with a tope, picks him up and slams Fenix into the announcer table. Sends him in the ring and just starts hammering on Fenix.

Fenix slams Mil into the casket and then both guys start hitting each other with the decorations brought out for the casket. Fenix then DDT Mil onto the casket and dents it. Fenix runs into the ring and sets up for a tope through the ropes but Mil lifts up the casket and Fenix crashes into it.

Mil, looking like he’s trying to rip Fenix’s mask off, and tries to pull him up on the casket. But as he’s doing so, he rips Fenix’s mask open and Fenix scrambles to try and pull it down over his face. But Mil stays on the attack, undoing the bottom turnbuckle and taking it to use as a weapon and smashes Fenix in the face with it over and over and Fenix is busted open big time and Mil bites the cut numerous times. I don’t know how Fenix mask is staying on.

Mil takes Fenix up the steps and smashes him into the railings and support beams. He throws Fenix over a railing and onto a ledge and Mil threatens to throw him to the floor below. Fenix turns it around, trying to suplex Mil to the floor but Mil lifts him up and throws him into some metal box hanging from the ceiling then into the crowd and they head back to ringside.

Mil clearing the announcer table and powerbombs Fenix onto it but it doesn’t break! Mil drags the casket into the ring but Fenix is getting time to recover. Mil sets the casket in a corner as Fenix pulls himself back into the ring. Fenix rushes in and Mil overhead belly to belly onto the casket! Mil goes back to the cut and bites it as Fenix tries to collect himself in the corner.

Mil rushes into the corner and Fenix superkick and goes up top. But Mil uppercut stuns him and lands a top rope codebreaker.

Blood is pouring out of Fenix’s head. Mil pulls the casket back out and onto the roller. Mil takes Fenix around the arena and through the crowd. Mil smashes Fenix with a chair in the crowd, over and over (wooden chairs too so there’s no give). He misses a kick and gets crotched on the guardrail and Fenix headkick sends him down to the floor. Fenix on the rail and tope con hilo onto Mil on the floor! He’s covered in blood and his mask is barely hanging on.

Fenix tries to whip Mil into the guard rail but gets reversed and he hits hard. Mil then slams his head into the railing over and over. But Fenix somehow has enough to hit two superkicks and climbs onto the railing and hits a moonsault onto Mil!

Catrina very close to the wrestlers, watching the battle intently. Fenix ducks a clothesline and Mil levels Catrina! And she writhes on the ground, Mil is distracted briefly and Fenix enzugari. Fenix back in the ring and Mil follows, biting his head more.

Catrina back up and staggering to the side of the casket. Mil has Fenix in a suplex position, trying to take him over the top to the floor or onto the casket. Fenix blocks as Catrina opens the casket.

Fenix hits a combo of strikes and frees himself. Mil collecting himself on the apron and Fenix head up top and lands a huge double stomp to the back of his head, sending Mil into the casket. Catrina grabs Mil’s stone, licks it and throws it into the casket and closes it giving Fenix the win. The procession of death comes back to wheel Mil away.

Ring of Honor

ROH is hosting “Supercard of Honor IX” in Redwood City, CA on 3/27. Three big main event matches have been signed along with several other matches.

-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) 

-Original members of The Decade square off as BJ Whitmer faces Jacobs

-Michael Elgin vs Frankie Kazarian

-Christopher Daniels vs Roderick Strong

Evolve 39 results

-Drew Gulak defeated Timothy Thatcher

-Biff Busick defeated Tommy End

-Chris Hero defeated Ethan Page

-Ricochet, Rich Swann and Uhaa Nation defeated The Premier Athlete Brand (Caleb Konley, Brian Cage and TJ Perkins)

Dragon Gate USA Open The Freedom Gate Championship

-Johnny Gargano (c) defeated AR Fox

(Gargano’s knee  is pretty banged up after the match so we’ll have to see if he’s able to face Drew Galloway on Saturday)

Evolve Championship

-Drew Galloway (c) defeated PJ Black

Pro Wrestling Guerrilla

PWG’s “Don’t Sweat the Technique” will be held on April 3 from scenic Reseda, California.

Scheduled matches are:

-Roderick Strong defends the PWG World title against Zack Sabre Jr.

-World’s Cutest Tag Team face Beaver Boys in a non-title match

-Chris Hero vs Tommy End

-Brian Cage vs Biff Busick

-ACH vs. Tommaso Ciampa

-“Speedball” Mike Bailey vs Trevor Lee

-Andrew Everett vs Ricochet

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

With the shenanigan-fest that was the 2015 Royal Rumble (which I will post a write up for soon), let’s focus on something positive – NXT, Lucha Underground and Indy Wrestling Minute! NXT is hotter than ever and with new talent showing up on Lucha Underground all the time, these shows are getting better every week. Not to mention the tons of independent wrestling that you can indulge in if you take the time to seek it out – or just read Delco Elbow Drop to stay on top of everything!

NXT, 1/21

Starts with a replay of Kevin Owens attacking Sami Zayn after R Evolution. Shows highlights of the Adrian Neville/Zayn rematch last week ending with Owens’ attack after the match.

William Regal announces that the next NXT special is on Feb. 11. Also announces a tournament to determine a #1 contender for the NXT title. And because of the tag match last week, Sasha Banks gets a shot at Charlotte’s NXT Women’s title.

Sami Zayn out to the ring to open the show. He immediately attacks Tye Dillinger who is already in the ring. Lays him out and throws Dillinger over the ropes. Zayn gets on the mic and demands that Kevin Owens come out to the ring. But William Regal comes to the ring instead and asks him what the bloody hell do you think you’re doing. This isn’t the Zayn he knows and he can’t act like this. Zayn says he isn’t wrestling one more match unless it’s against Kevin Owens.

Regal says he won’t allow people to jump the chain of command and attack people to get championship matches. Owens may get a title shot one day but he hasn’t earned a title match and he’s not gonna get one. Zayn says he’ll do anything Regal wants but he needs to get his hands on Kevin Owens. And on Feb 11, Zayn will face Kevin Owens in a nontitle match.

Next week on NXT, there’s gonna be a contract signing for the nontitle match so you know there’s not going to be any shenanigans or anything involved.

Curtis Axel up to take on Finn Balor in the number one contender’s tournament. Axel starts jaw jacking with the crowd and trash talking Finn but Balor takes him out of the ring with a drop kick and follows it with a tope con hilo over the top rope. Axel back in the ring and Balor with a gamanguri and Axel in the ropes and kicks out Balor’s knee as he moves in.

Balor ducks a clothesline but Axel hits him in the back with one. Stomps on him and chokes him out in the corner. Axel follows it up with a dropkick of his own and the crowd boos. Axel drops a few elbows on his head and keeps him on the mat with a chinlock. Balor fights to his feet but Axel takes him down with a knee lift and gets a 2.

Axel from the second rope drops and elbow but misses. Balor hits two quick forearms followed by a Pele kick and a Tanahashi sling blade. He hits a stiff dropkick on Axel in the corner who crumples to the mat and Balor drops a double foot stomp from the top to get the win and advance.

8 men in the #1 contender’s tournament. Neville/Kidd will face Balor. Then winner of Hideo Itami vs Tyler Breeze and Bull Dempsey vs Baron Corbin face off.

Sasha Banks tells Devin Taylor that Charlotte isn’t going to have anyone to help her tonight and she will become the NXT Women’s champion. She asks if Devin has any more questions but whips her hair in Devin’s face and says “Don’t care” as she leaves. (So Bayley is coming back tonight, right?)

Sasha vs Charlotte now. They lock up and start throwing each other around in the collar tie. Graves talks about how they don’t get along and won’t be in the same room as each other in the Performance Center. Tie up again and keep pushing each other around and they tumble through the ropes and land hard on the floor and Charlotte up first, pounding on Sasha. Becky tries to get involved but Charlotte takes her down with a line.

Back in the ring, Charlotte bodyslam Sasha and gets a 2 off a knee drop. Sasha reverses a whip into a Thesz press. Charlotte reverses into one of her own. Becky gets in the ring and pulls Charlotte off Sasha and Euro uppercut Charlotte a few times. The ref calls for the bell and Sasha pushes Becky but then they both start putting the boots to Charlotte until Bayley makes the save!

Bayley takes the NXT Women’s title from the ref and gets an eye full of it before Charlotte takes it from her. Bayley gets a crazy look in her eye and turns Charlotte around and drops her with a Hugplex!

Regal comes out and says on Feb 11, Charlotte defends the title against Bayley, Becky and Sasha in a fatal four way.

Totally makes sense to advertise for a WWE video called “True Giants” about the biggest guys ever in WWF/WWE on a show where the most popular stars are Sami Zayn, Finn Balor and Hideo Itami. I’m sure it’s just Vince subtly taking a shot at the NXT guys by running this ad during NXT.

In the locker room, Kevin Owens is on his phone and some dude I’ve never seen comes up to him and asks his he can have a moment of his time. Owens looks at him and goes “Do you work here?” Owens says that whatever he has to say to Zayn, he’ll say it at the signing next week.

The Vaudevillains out to take on Wesley Blake and Buddy Murphy. Murphy starts with English and takes him down with a leg lariat. But English backs him into his own corner and puts the boots to him. Gotch tags in and they take control of Murphy. They use quick tags to keep Murphy on the mat until Murphy can leap over English to tag in Blake.

Blake takes down English with elbows and forearms, hits a springboard forearm and kips up and the crowd seems behind them. Blake powerslam English but Gotch breaks up the count. Murphy tries to throw Gotch out but gets tossed himself. Blake whips english who reverses but Blake pulls him down a Murphy hits him with a big kick from the floor and Blake gets the pin!

On a phone video, Tyler Breeze says it’s only a matter of time until he’s NXT Champion and once he is, he’s separating the world into super good looking people, and uggo people.

Murphy and Blake apparently get a shot at the Lucha Dragons NXT Tag Team Titles next week. I guess because there’s like, no tag teams in NXT.

Tyler Breeze to take on Hideo Itami now. Looks like Marcus Louis is stalking Breeze, he was watching him from behind the stage during his entrance. Then I thought I saw a dude decked out all in black coming down the ramp behind Breeze but it could’ve just been a stage hand.

Breeze and Itami tie up and Breeze ducks a few head kicks just barely. Breeze goads Itami in as the ref is between them and kicks him in the gut. Itami off the whip and kitchen sinks Breeze which seats him on the mat and Itami follows it with a kick to his chest. Itami cover and kick out at 1.

Back and forth match. Itami trying to use his strikes but Breeze keeps him off balance and grounded with a chin lock. Breeze spins Itami around with a neckbreaker and gets a 2. Itami gets to his feet and drops Breeze with 3 lines, catches a kick and sweeps the leg. Itami running knee to the corner and tiltawhirl drops the neck of Breeze on the top rope and gets a 2.

Breeze sets up for a power bomb and Itami kicks him in the face on the way up and gets a 2 off a Fisherman suplex. Breeze gets a 2 off a Super Model Kick.

Breeze sets Itami on the top rope but Itami fires back with punches. Itami goes for a big kick but Breeze catches it, boot to the stomach then takes him over with a crucifix bomb but gets a 2.

Breeze picks him up and yells in his face “You are not better than me! You don’t get to win!” and lays in punches. But Itami gets fired up and feels that fighting spirit and hits a huge combo of punches and kicks, hits a basement dropkick in the corner, takes Breeze to the center and hits a Sick Kick off the ropes and gets the pin. He’ll face the winner of Baron Corbin/Bull Dempsey next week.

Obviously, this is setting up for Balor vs Itami in the finals.

The NXT event scheduled for March in Columbus, Ohio sold out almost immediately, I’ve heard. The venue wasn’t very large but almost as soon as the tickets went on sale, they were all gone.

Lucha Underground, 1/21

Matt Striker and Vampiro opens LU by saying that King Cuerno and Drago will have a “Last Luchadore Standing” match tonight.

In the ring, Cortez Castro and Mr. Cisco are in the ring with weapons (with Bael). They take on Pimpinela Escarlata and Mascarita Sagrada.

See, this is why Lucha Underground (and lucha libre in general) gets about pro wrestling. Putting guys in the ring who are obviously at opposite ends of the personality/gimmick spectrum against each other to really get the crowd behind the faces and booing the heels. There isn’t much middle ground - you know who’s the good guy and who’s the bad guy from first glance.

Pimpy starts first against Cisco. He’s spinning around, enjoying the adulation of the crowd until Cisco attacks him. Cisco ties him up with a full nelson and Castro comes in to lay in punches but Pimpy wriggles free and ties up Castro with a knuckle lock. He jumps over Cisco and takes Castro to the corner, walking the ropes, leaps off and takes Cisco down with a head scissor and Castro down with an arm drag.

As Big Ryck makes his way down to the ring, Pimpy jumps into the arms of Cisco and tries to kiss him, but he pushes him off and rolls out of the ring. Pimpy turns his attention to referee Rick Knox and backs him up into the corner and wants to kiss him and Cisco runs at him from behind and just gets out of the way in time. Pimpy whips him into the opposite corner and Cisco gets out of the way and as he does, Cortez enziguri Pimpy, Cisco basement dropkick and Bael basement dropkick behind Knox’s back and The Crenshaw Crew is in firm control.

Cortez tags in and lays in punches followed by a gutwrench. Cisco back in and curb stomp and senton to Pimpy. Pimpy in their corner and trying to fight back but getting overwhelmed by all three Crenshaw Crew members.

Pimpy into the corner and Cortez follows but Pimpy sticks out his butt and Cortez runs into it and gets stunned. Pimpy uses the opening to tag in Sagrada who rana Cisco and a big tiltawhirl DDT but only a 2. Cortez tries to drop the elbow on him but hits Cisco. Cisco Mafia kick on Sagrada and they taunt the crowd. Picks up Sagrada and whips him off the ropes but he ducks them and tope con hilo through the ropes onto Bael.

In the ring, Pimpy knuckle lock on both guys, step up to the top, drop down spring board off the ropes and arm drag both over. He kisses Cisco who rolls out of the ring and Pimpy heads up top to splash all three Crenshaw Crew on the outside.

As he celebrates on the outside, Cisco sends Sagrada off the ropes and flapjacks him backward onto the knees of Cortez. Bael holds Pimpy’s legs so he can’t get in the ring before Sagrada is pinned.

Big Ryck in the ring with the Crenshaw Crew after the match. Vampiro says he’s smoking in a no smoking zone so you know he’s definitely a bad guy.

Ryck gives his cigar to Cisco to hold and he looks annoyed about it. Ryck takes the mic and says he wants to let everyone know (and turns to make it known he means the CrenshawCrew too) that he’s coming after the gold and whoever is holding it. But then, Cortez chop blocks Ryck and the Crew starts attacking him! They beat him down with punches and kicks and Cortez whacks him with a kendo stick. Bael and Cortez hold his arms down and Cisco burns Ryck’s face with the cigar! Striker says it was in his eye so I guess we’ll have to see if he’s wearing an eye patch next week. The Crew leaves the ring and heads into Dario Cueto’s office.

Cueto pays off the Crew and says “It was hard to Ryck to see how valuable we could be to one another. Now it will be hard for him to see anything!” They watch Cueto’s back and he’ll dig deeper.

Vampiro interviewing Cage. Says he doesn’t care that no one in the locker room likes him. He took out the champ because he’s not gonna wait in line because he’s better than everyone else.

Next, Super Fly in the ring to take on Pentagon Jr. Pentagon starts the match with a big super kick but after that, they kinda seem off, not on the same page. Pentagon pretty much has control of the match, hits a big chop and sends Super Fly to the floor and drops him on the mat with a big fireman carry.

That Asian chick is watching the match as Pentagon and Super Fly hit each other with clotheslines. Super Fly starts getting some momentum going, sending Pentagon to the floor and hitting a handspring moonsault over the ropes. He sends him back in and off the ropes looks to hit another moonsault but Pentagona hits him with a dropkick in mid-air. Pentagon wins with a Package Piledriver.

Pentagon on the mic. He thought Chavo was a legend. He thought Chavo could help him but he says Chavo is a fraud. He says there’s someone out there who can help him to the next level but doesn’t say who.

Sexy Star taking on Mariachi Loco. Striker says Loco used to work in a restaurant two blocks from the LU Temple and until one day he put on the mask and started training (No one cared who I was until I put on the mask…). Striker also says he goes around the ring after matches and asks for tips.

Loco tries to kiss her but Star fights him off. He gets a waist lock and she fights out of it and reverses it but Loco starts gyrating his hips and she pushes him into the ropes. She hits a big tiltawhirl headscissor off the ropes and takes Loco out of the ring. As he gets back in, she hits a big bicycle kick and stomps him. But Loco takes her down and smashes her face into the mat. He backs her into the corner and hits a big chop.

He sends her off the ropes but she catches herself and blows him a kiss to bait him in. He runs to her, she low bridges him out of the ring. She gets to the top and big cross body off the top. Sexy Star wins with a small package.

Main event time. Drago sidesteps a dropkick at the bell and takes Cuerno off his feet then hits a big running drop kick which sends Cuerno outside. Drago hits the ropes and a big tope con hilo and the ref starts the count but gets to his feet by an 8 count. Back in the ring, Drago drops Cuerno with a drapeing DDT. Up to his feet at 7 and rolls out of the ring. Drago follows him and runs off the apron at him for a rana but Cuerno catches him and drops him on the mat outside with a running sit out power bomb. As Drago tries to get to his feet, Cuerno kicks him hard in the midsection which drops him again.

Cuerno rolls him back in the ring and drops Drago on his head with two German suplexes and rolls through for another but lands a brainbuster instead.

Drago hits a blockbuster off the ropes followed by nuermouskicks to the midsection. He hits the ropes but Cuerno pulls the ref down in front of him to stop Drago. Drago hits the ropes against and as the ref gets up, he springboards off him to hit a leg lariat. Cuerno on the apron, Drago hits the ropes, leaps over and rana Cuerno to the floor. Drago pulls himself back in the ring and Cuerno makes his feet at 9. Cuerno back in the ring and hits a big head kick followed by a leg drop.

Cuerno sends Drago to the floor with a stiff missile dropkick. He follows it with a tope off the ropes then goes under the ring for a table. Cuerno picks him up and nails him head on the ring post several times before laying him on the table. Cuero looked to leap off the ropes but Drago tipped him up. On the apron, Drago lands several forearms. Looks for a Spanish Fly and Cuerno hooks the ropes. He elbows Drago in the head and drops Drago through the table with a Thrill of the hunt. But Drago starts getting up around 8 and Cuerno looks furious. Runs at him with a knee and throws him in the ring.

Stomps on him a few times and sends him to the corner with a dropkick. He runs from the opposite corner and lands a baement dropkick on a motionless Drago. Cuerno puls out some rope from under the ring and yells at the ref “No disqualification!” and starts to tie Drago to the bottom turnbuckle. Wraps it around his arms and neck and posts up on the ring post to choke out Drago and the ref is counting out Drago! King Cuerno wins and Drago is choked out in the corner and Cuerno puts his deer head dress on Drago’s head as refs try to untie him.

Chuck Taylor made a documentary. I haven’t watched much of it yet, but from what I can tell it’s about him and Trent? being best friends in China. And also just the tour in general that DG USA/Evolve did in China recently.

#RAWlternative numbers

The organizers of #RAWlternative were very happy with the turnout for the show, which had over 12,000 unique views and as many as 1,600 people watching at once. #RAWlternative was replayed last night and several indy companies (Smash Wrestling, FWE, and Chikara) also streamed shows on Monday with Raw being cancelled.

Justin Gabriel reportedly quit WWE, unhappy with his position in the company and being replaced in the Royal Rumble this year.

It was recently announced that Gabriel will make his first appearance on the indies at PWS’ “Frozen Fallout” on Jan. 31 in Rahway, New Jersey as part of a six-man match, taking the place of the injured AR Fox.

Gabriel will also now go by the name “Darewolf” PJ Black.

Upcoming shows

Beyond Wrestling “Hit and Run” – Saturday, Jan. 31

Chris Hero & JT Dunn vs. Biff Busick & Drew Gulak

“M-Dogg 20” Matt Cross vs. Anthony Stone
Team Pazuzu (Jaka, Pinkie Sanchez, Mike Draztik, Angel Ortiz) vs. Franky The Mobster, Buxx Belmar, Thomas Dubois, Mathieu St-Jacques

“Speedball” Mike Bailey vs. Silver Ant

Shynron vs. Fire Ant

Kimber Lee vs. David Starr

The Hooligans (Devin Cutter & Mason Cutter) vs. Da Hoodz (Davey Cash & Kris Pyro)

Matt Tremont vs. Rickey Shane Page

Dave Cole vs. Davey Vega

Also scheduled:
-Chuck Taylor
-John Silver
-Orange Cassidy
-Ryan “Rush” Galeone
-Swamp Monster

FWE returns to action on Feb. 7, debuting at the World Resort Casino in Queens, NY. I’ve read it’s a big facility that has shuttle buses running to and from the venue too so it should be easy for fans to get to.

The card is stacked:

FWE Tri-Borough Champion Paul London takes on Matt Sydal in their first ever meeting

Drew Galloway vs Matt Hardy

Tommy Dreamer vs Joey Ryan

The Addiction vs Adrenaline Express

FWE Ladies Champion Candice LeRae vs Veda Scott

Juicy Product vs Trent? and Bandido Jr.

Katarina Leigh (Katie Lea/Winter) vs Taeler Hendrix

Johnny Gargano vs Brian Myers (Curt Hawkins)

Robbie E vs Orange Cassidy

CZW 16^th Anniversary and WSU Anniversary Show doubleheader, Feb. 21 at the 2300 Arena (formerly the ECW Arena) in South Philadelphia. (From what I’m to understand, this show at The Arena is a one-time thing as CZW usually runs out of the Flyers Skate Zone in Voorhees, New Jersey.)

WSU Anniversary

WSU World Championship

LuFisto (c) vs. Shanna

WSU Tag Team Championships

Juicy Product (c) vs. Chicks Using Nasty Tactics (Annie Social and Kimber Lee)

WSU Spirit Championship

Niya Barela (c) vs. Nevaeh

Tables, Ladders and Chairs

Hania vs. Athena

Sassy Stephanie vs. Tessa Blanchard

Cherry Bomb vs. Leva Bates

Brittany Blake vs. Jenny Rose

Micki Knuckles vs. Solo Darling

CZW 16^th Anniversary Show

CZW World Championship

BLK Jeez vs. Chris Dickinson

CZW Tag Team Championships

OI4K vs. The Young Bucks

Ultraviolent Rules match

Matt Tremont vs. Stockade

Best of the Best qualifier

Sozio vs. Joey Janela

Best of the Best qualifier

Team Tremendous and Dick Justice vs. The Beaver Boys and Rex “Lawless” Silver

The next PWG show is scheduled for Feb. 27. No name announced yet.

Matt Sydal vs Ricochet

Best Friends vs Beaver Boys

Young Bucks vs Monster Mafia

Cedric (the) Alexander vs Tommaso Ciampa

Drew Gulak vs Chris Hero

“Speedball” Mike Bailey vs Biff Busick

Roderick Strong defends PWG World title against Trevor Lee

(Brian Cage and Uhaa Nation vs Young Bucks was announced but Uhaa can’t make it)

(Also, heard that World’s Cutest Tag Team and Johnny Gargano are in England that weekend)

Also, PWG Sells Out Volume 2 is back on sale. I have Volume 3 and it’s great so pick this up while you can.

Features matches like:

Frankie Kazarian, CM Punk and Joey Ryan vs Colt Cabana, Adam Pearce and Super Dragon (Pimpin’ in High Places, 2003)

Bryan Danielson vs AJ Styles (2005 BOLA)

Necro Butcher vs Super Dragon (2006 BOLA, No DQ match)

Alex Shelley vs Matt Sydal (2007 BOLA)

Roderick Strong vs Matt Sydal (ASW3 2006)

Kevin Steen and El Generico vs Davey Richards and Super Dragon (European Vacation 2, 2007)

Bryan Danielson vs Low Ki (ASW6 2008)

Low Ki vs El Generico (Pearl Habra, 2008)

El Generico, Kevin Steen and Susumu Yokosuka vs The Young Bucks and PAC (ASW 7 2008)