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

NXT, 11/25

Michael Cole opens NXT, and people aren’t that happy to see him. William Regal isn’t at NXT right now (which people boo) but only because he is recovering from successful neck surgery (which people cheer). And apparently Regal has put Michael Cole in charge, for some reason.

Cole goes on to talk about the challenge Eva Marie laid down to Bayley for the NXT Women’s title. Regal did not want the match to happen but corporate called Cole and told him that, yes, that match will happen and happen tonight. (Basically making the story that WWE is pushing Eva Marie to the top regardless of horrible fan reaction. Are they like, real-time satirizing main roster fans’ treatment of Reigns with this angle?)

But Cole is also there to oversee the contract signing between Finn Balor and Samoa Joe for the NXT Title at Takeover London.

Balor gets to the ring and cuts a promo. He says that Joe did what he felt he had to to get an NXT title shot. But it taught Finn that trust and friendship in this business are a rarity (hmm…I seem to recall saying this situation would make Balor more cautious in the future). He wants Joe to come out and sign the contract, look into Balor’s eyes and know that he isn’t entitled to anything.

As Joe heads to the ring, Balor takes off his jacket and gets ready for a fight. Joe gets in the ring, signs the contract and leaves, without ever once looking at Balor. What a sign of disrespect. Not only that, but the head games displayed by Joe. By not even regarding Finn with a glance, he makes it seem like Balor isn’t even a threat.

But as Finn heads up the ramp, Joe attacks him from behind. Joe throws Balor into the ring but Balor uses his quickness to turn the tables immediately and the refs have to pull them apart. As the refs separate them, Joe locks in the Kokina Clutch and chokes out the champ.

The Vaudevillains head to the ring for their tag title rematch against Dash and Dawson. The Vaudevillains take over early but it isn’t long before Dash and Dawson start using some smart teamwork to turn the tide. They start to work over the shoulder of English, keeping him isolated away from Gotch. This is Dash and Dawson proving that they don’t need to take advantage of weaknesses – they are proving they are capable of breaking down anyone as well as showing an ability to keep opponents on their toes by changing strategies on the fly.

English is finally able to make a tag to Gotch, who takes charge. But once again, quick tags and teamwork by Dash and Dawson end his brief rally. Dash makes a blind tag behind the back of English, leading to Dash and Dawson teaming up to hit the Shatter Machine for the win.

As the champs celebrate, the music of Enzo and Big Cass plays and they go right at Dash and Dawson, brawling with them in the ring.

Tom Phillips talks to Eva Marie. They’re in William Regal’s office for some reason. Eva says she needs a bigger place to prepare for her championship match, and she knows Regal won’t mind. (Is this the beginning of Eva emasculating every man on the roster without ever getting comeuppance, sorta like Stephanie? No, exactly like Stephanie.)

Tom asks her why she said her title match was inevitable and she says she’s the hottest prospect, all-around, in a long time. She’s been beating every opponent since she returned and Bayley is a great champion, but it’s time for a real woman to become champion. She says it’s all because of the support from the WWE Universe and thanks Total Divas for that. Holy shit, they are going all-in on this tongue-in-cheek stuff about how much the smart fans despise her.

But better than gifts, is friendship and introduces everyone to her new friend, Nia Jax.

Elias Sampson vignette? Dude’s playing a guitar and singing and shit. Because that worked so well for Aiden English when he was a heel before the Vaudevillains became faces.

Next match, Asuka vs Dana Brooke. Before Brooke heads to the ring, she says she’s gonna slap the smile off Asuka’s face and then Emma blindsides Asuka! Asuka tries to defend herself but Emma chop blocks her and locks in the Emma Lock as Dana berates Asuka.

Tom Phillips talks to Bayley about her title match. She says that to some people, Eva is the perfect champion. She’s pretty, star of a reality show and has the backing of WWE corporate. But she has something Eva doesn’t – Bayley is a wrestler and Eva isn’t.

Video package for…Sami Zayn returning?! No word when but it seems clear he’s going back to NXT when he returns. Kinda sucks though. I felt like that US Title Open Challenge was his main roster debut so that’s where he should be now. He should come back and knock Owens out of the Royal Rumble to kick off a feud with him and reintroduce himself with the main roster fans.

Apollo Crews heads to the ring next, he takes on Jesse Sorensen. Rich Brennan says it’s a surprise to see him and Corey Graves asks why, and Rich has to dance around why it’s a surprise.

Sorensen holding his own for a bit but Crews is never in any real trouble in the match as he goes on to pin Sorensen following that crazy spinning powerbomb.

Afterward, he calls out Baron Corbin. Corbin cost him his shot at becoming NXT Champion and accepts his challenge for Takeover London. They call Corbin the lone wolf but when he gets in the ring with Crews, Crews will lay him down (“lay him out” or “put him down” would’ve been better but, whatevs)

Backstage, Corbin says Crews will end up being the answer to a trivia question, because his career won’t be long enough to remember. He’s been getting better at being an insufferable douchebag lately.

Little Naitch makes his way to the ring before the main event and he tells the ref something, then tells Greg whatever-his-name-is something as well. Greg announces that WWE Corporate has sent Charles Robinson to ensure that there is no controversy in the Women’s Championship match (so basically, to ensure there’s all sorts of controversy).

Eva makes her way to the ring with Nia Jax to all sorts of boos while it’s complete opposite for Bayley.

Bayley is going to need to do everything she can to get even a passable match out of Eva. Yoshihiko is a more competent worker than Eva Marie. Mere minutes into the match, Eva walks into a Bayley to Belly because she’s terrible and as the ref is counting the 3, Nia Jax pulls him out to the floor! (and he hits hard too, landing right on his chest) Other refs come out to check on him but Charles Robinson isn’t that concerned about Nia’s interference. In fact, Eva rolls up Bayley and Lil Naitch is there to count, but it’s only 2.

Bayley can’t believe Robinson would do something like that and as Robinson goes to try and talk to the other refs about what happened, Nia gets involved again, headbutting Bayley. Eva completely whiffs trying to hit a running senton (the camera angle has to switch suddenly to hide it) but Bayley kicks out. So far, Naitch’s counts have been steady but we’ll see if that continues.

Bayley gets a few pin combos on Eva but she only gets 2 counts. Eva is surprisingly in control for most of this but Bayley isn’t giving up. Bayley hits a series of shoulders in the corner and sets up for a back elbow, but Robinson steps in front of her to buy Eva some time. As Bayley argues with Robinson, Eva takes advantage of the opening to hit a Sliced Red – but Bayley kicks out! Eva claps her hands 5 times to mimic the 3 count that Robinson should be counting and then almost forgets that 3 comes after 2 (am I getting worked?).

Eva sets up for another Sliced Red but Bayley pushes her off and Eva hits Robinson and sends him flying. Eva goes up top but Bayley stops her and sets up for a Bayley to Belly but Nia Jax grabs her leg and pulls her to the floor. But Bayley sweeps Nia’s legs out and she hits the apron face first. Bayley climbs back in and hits the super Bayley to Belly but there’s no ref! Wait, yes there is! The original ref is back and count the 3!

(So even with Bayley and one of the most over-produced Women’s matches in NXT history, Eva Marie only looked competent – not even close to good.)

Afterward, Nia lays out Bayley and flattens her with a standing leg drop. Nia grabs the women’s title and drops another leg on Bayley, dropping the belt on her and walking out.

Huge match to be included in “NXT’s Greatest Matches, Vol. 1”

The fabled Kassius Ohno/Cesaro vs CM Punk and Seth Rollins match will be featured on the upcoming NXT's Greatest Matches Vol. 1

-Worldwide on March 16

http://www.wrestlingdvdnetwork.com/nxt-week-more-content-wwe-nxt-greatest-matches-dvd/104491/

ROH TV, 11/25

Moose out first to take on some jobber named Dominic Carter, who looks pretty concerned to be in there against Moose. Carter shakes hands then Moose spears him and pins him. 

Afterward, Stokely says it's a matter of when, not if, Moose gets another title shot and he will become the World champ. Stokely says they heard the same things from Michael Elgin last week. He says, bruh, we go way back. But, face facts, Moose is bigger, Moose is stronger and Moose is a better wrestler. And Moose beat his jobber faster than Elgin did last week. Add that up and you get the fact that you can't beat Moose.

But Big Mike has heard enough. He asks am I talking to Stokely or Moose? He says when Moose wants real competition or to speak for himself, Elgin is right here and doesn't back down.
Moose takes the mic from Stokely and says they can do this right now, but they're interrupted by the House of Truth and...TAELER HENDRIX. Well, there goes my concentration. 

Truth says they can't sit back and let them take Jay Lethal's name in vain. He says Lethal's name shouldn't ever come out of their mouth because they aren't on the same level. Truth says when reality doesn't check them, he will.

Elgin says the only thing he will be checking is Truth's new side piece and checking her into a motel later (what will MsChief think?!) after he beats Dijack and Diesel on his own. Truth is furious that Elgin would speak to Taeler like that and he sics Dijack and Diesel on them and the brawl around the ring begins. 

Back from commercials, Moose and Elgin work over Dijack and it seems like they are more interested in trying to show up the other rather than focusing on winning the match. Things break down a bit and Taeler grabs the leg of Elgin (making her presence felt in her first appearance and getting Elgin back for his comments, allowing Dijack and Diesel to focus on Moose.

Commentary says J Diesel wants to compete by his full name now, which is Joey 'Diesel' Daddiego. K. J Diesel is way better. There's something to be said for brevity - for a quick, hooky wrestling name, and that new one ain't it. 

Anyway, Elgin and Moose start to fight back into it. Elgin takes Taeler and dips her at one point, like he's going to kiss her even though she clearly doesn't want it, then he spins her away instead. Back in the ring, Moose blind tags himself in and spear for the win after a Elgin bucklebomb. Moose stares down Elgin as he gets the pin and Elgin is can't believe it. Then they have a staredown.

Strong vs Lethal 3. One more match. This time for the TV Title. Roddy cuts an impassioned promo about how all he needs is one more shot at Lethal. Their first match was an hour draw which Lethal was happy with, but not Roddy. Then in Philly, Roddy saw that Lethal was scared. It's not about titles - it's about pride. He isn't just taking the TV l, he's taking his pride.

BJ Whitmer talks trash on Steve Corino. That he saw through his words last week, that Corino is just scared of Whitmer. That Corino is making excuses not to fight him and everyone bought it. Then Whitmer talks trash on Nigel, that Nigel did the same thing a few years ago when he quit. And Nigel gets in the ring and says that he's sick and tired of hearing Whitmer whine and talk and moan when they should be watching Lethal vs Strong for the TV Title. So if Corino can't be at Final Battle, neither can Whitmer! Or Page!

Kevin Kelly says that Final Battle is the biggest payday of the year. This is another thing that sets ROH apart from WWE. These people aren't all making big money like everyone in WWE. They need to work to get paid and wrestling often and winning means more money.

Main event - Roderick Strong vs Jay Lethal for the TV Title. No House of Truth at ringside and TWO referees to keep everything on the up and up. Kelly says Lethal was too busy getting his hair done to talk earlier today, so clearly he isn't taking Roddy seriously. 

Great technical wrestling in the feeling out process but Lethal keeps trying to duck Strong, jumping out of the ring and literally running away. As they fight on the outside, Lethal gets the advantage, throwing Roddy into the guardrails and taking over in the ring from there. Roddy trying to fight back into it but Lethal cutting him off. Lethal hits two topes, but Roddy sidesteps the 3rd and lands an Olympic Slam on the floor. 

Next week, Adam Cole vs Dalton Castle, who we haven't seen in a while. And Mark Briscoe back on commentary, by popular demand allegedly.

Anyway, Roddy hits a big superplex from the top for 2. Lethal superkick and Lethal Injection, but Roddy kicks out! Roddy hits several jumping knees and a series of forearms and sets up for a superplex but Lethal turns into a cutter at the last moment and Strong kicks out! Roddy stuns Lethal with two knees, a Sick Kick, the End of Heartache and locks in the Strong Hold! And Lethal taps! Roddy is the new TV Champion! The House of Truth is out to console Lethal, who is incensed that he lost and he is no longer the undisputed champion.

This week on ROH TV
Adam Page vs Will Ferrara
Jay Lethal calls out AJ Styles on their way to Final Battle
And Dalton Castle vs Adam Cole

New Japan Pro Wrestling

World Tag League results (As of 12/3)

Block A

Hiroshi Tanahashi and Michael Elgin - 6

Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma - 6

Kazuchika Okada and Yoshi-Hashi - 6

The Addiction (Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian) - 4

Yuji Nagata and Manabu Nakanishi - 4

Toru Yano and Kazushi Sakuraba - 4

Bad Luck Fale and Tama Tonga - 2

  

Block B

Tetsuya Naito and EVIL - 8

Meiyu Tag (Hirooki Goto and Katsuyori Shibata) - 8

TenKoji (Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima) - 4

Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows - 4

Shinsuke Nakamura and Tomohiro Ishii - 4

AJ Styles and Yujiro Takahashi - 2

The Kingdom (Matt Taven and Michael Bennett with Maria Kanellis) - 2

-Elgin/Tanahashi and Los Ingobernables de Japon seem to be the front runners to winning the WTL and I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Los Ingobernables wins it all.

-In Block A, Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma didn’t start strong (losing to Sakuraba/Yano and Nakanishi/Nagata) but have won their next 3 matches. Michael Elgin and Hiroshi Tanahashi also have three wins but still have two matches left. They look like gimmes (Tonga/Fale and Sakurabab/Yano) but Tanahashi has problems with both teams. Fale and Tana have had several run ins and Yano and Tana have been feuding off-and-on for years. I could definitely see Yano stealing a win for his team, putting Tana and Elgin at even points with Makabe and Honma. And unless Honma’s personal life troubles sink his professional prospects (more on that in a bit) I’m picking them to win Block A.

-In Block B, Ingobernables still have to face Meiyu and have only lost once, to Nakamura and Ishii. Meiyu Tag has also only lost once as well, falling to TenKoji. So it seems likely that these two teams will decide the winner of Block B. This block was a little depleted because of an injury to AJ Styles, but since he was tagging with Yujiro, I don’t think they were going to be winning much.

Just a little over a week left in the tour. The final day of block action is Dec. 6 and the finals will take place on Dec. 9.

AJ Styles misses several World Tag League days

AJ Styles was pulled from NJPW WTL D6 due to injury. He’s been dealing with a lower back injury for some time now and it seems like it’s catching up with him.

http://enuhito.com/eng/?p=337

In fact, he’s missed several days of the WTL tour. It’s been reported that New Japan made a statement that he would be back as soon as he’s ready – but I’ve seen conflicting reports, citing an interview Styles did with a Japanese wrestling magazine, which states that he would take time off until Final Battle to be ready for his title match against Jay Lethal. (In the same article, it was also allegedly said that Styles would stop taking indy bookings in 2016 and focus on what’s important – ROH and New Japan.)

https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/3v0nv3/aj_styles_told_new_japan_magazine_that_in_2016_he/

New Japan World turns 1

NJPW World 1 year anniversary playlist, everything on it is free! Seems like it’s only matches from December, so a lot of the more recent matches on it are WTL matches but there’s matches on there going back to the 70s, so lots of Inoki matches. Looks like on page 5, it goes from 2011-12 to the 90s and then lots of matches from the 80s and into the 70s. Guys like Dusty Rhodes, The Great Mutah, Vader, WWE Hall of Famer Tatsumi Fujinami, friend of the show Bob Backlund, Bruiser Brody, Hulk Hogan, Stan Hansen, some dude named Andre the Giant - all on this free playlist.

http://njpwworld.com/pg/t_00_1anniversary_1/e/sp

NJPW/Revolution Pro uploaded to NJPW World

Global Wars UK, October 3, 2015

-Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Big Damo

-Kazuchika Okada vs Will Ospreay

-Bullet Club (Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows) vs Shah Samuels and James Castle

-Shinsuke Nakamura vs Marty Scurll

-TenKoji vs Mark Haskin and Joel Redman

-Gedo vs Lord Gideon Gray

-Tetsuya Naito vs KUSHIDA vs Martin Kirby

Tomoaki Honma accused of domestic abuse, responds with his own allegations

Oh my god. Hulk Hogan cursed Honma. Honma has been accused of some serious domestic abuse and if the reports are true, it sounds like Honma is a real piece of shit. I'm really disappointed. I loved the underdog Honmamania character but it sounds like he's done for. Stories about Taichi cheating on his wife resulted in his push disappearing and getting suspended.  So if this Honma stuff is true, I wouldn't be surprised if they cut him entirely.

https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/3uvypm/kiyoko_ichiki_comes_forward_with_domestic/

Honma has responded, denying all claims made by Ichiki. In fact, Honma is claiming that HE has been the victim of HER domestic abuse.

What the hell is going on? Is Honma going to be the underdog in real life too? Or...just a piece of shit. Really hard to say in these personal, domestic quarrels. It’s all he-said, she-said - who do you believe?

https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/3uzfjh/tomoaki_honma_responded_to_kyoko_ichikis_domestic/

Other puro news notes

World’s Cutest Tag Team headed to DDT

One half of WCTT, Joey Ryan, recently took part in a tour of Japan for DDT (his first for DDT, I believe). And recently it was announced that Candice LeRae would be joining him on an upcoming tour.

Stardom 2015 USA Tour recap. It’s in Japanese though so it might be kinda hard to follow. The wrestling is cool though.

https://sendvid.com/s58keorn

Indy Wrestling

Evolve

-The first ever Evolve Tag Team Champions will be crowned during a three day tournament in January 2016

-The shows will be

Evolve 53 (Jan. 22, Ybor City, FL)

Evolve 54 (Jan. 23, Orlando, FL)

Evolve 55 (Jan. 24, Orlando, FL)

-This is the same weekend as the WWE Royal Rumble, which will also take place in Orlando

Confirmed teams:

Previously announced

Johnny Gargano and Drew Galloway

RPG Vice

The Premier Athlete Brand (Tony Nese and Caleb Konley)

Recently announced

Drew Gulak and TJ Perkins

Team Tremendous

Evolve Champion Timothy Thatcher and Zack Sabre Jr.

Chris Hero and Tommy End

The Bravado Brothers

-8 teams have been announced so I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s all of them

PWG

Some big PWG DVD news a week before All Star Weekend 11

-Two new compilations coming soon:

Young Bucks – Five Stars

http://www.prowrestlingguerrilla.com/merch/comps/dvd00BUCKS.html

Not Another Steen DVD

http://www.prowrestlingguerrilla.com/merch/comps/dvd00STEEN.html

Not only that - PWG Blu Rays coming!

https://twitter.com/Highspots/status/671467126234947584

Young Bucks FWE documentary

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iye1J8x9USc&feature=share

Chuckie T/Gargano vs London and Kendrick chicken fight https://streamable.com/nia7

Not familiar with Tommy End?

http://youtu.be/myz47WiF6MY

Sami Callihan returns

The recently released Solomon Crowe returned to the independent scene in a big way, attacking the newly crowned AAW Pro champion Eddie Kingston Friday night at the Windy City Classic.

There were also rumors last week that Callihan may be headed to ROH/NJPW in the future, but these reports are so far unfounded.

Callihan is also slated to appear at CZW’s Cage of Death 17 on Dec. 12, which will be live on iPPV.

Apparently, Callihan asked for his release to head back to the indies and reinvent his image, stated in a story recently published by ProWrestlingSheet.com. He’s already made an appearance at AAW in Chicago and won the 2CW Championship, so it seems like Callihan is just getting started turning the indie scene on its ear.

http://prowrestlingsheet.com/sami-callihan-asked-release-reinvent-image-wwe-nxt/

Mentioned CZW and Cage of Death before…

CZW COD 17

Dec 12, Voorhees NJ

CZW World Championship

Cage of Death

Matt Tremont (c) vs Masada vs AR Fox vs Devon Moore

CZW Tag Team Championship

Team Tremendous (c) vs TV Ready (Blk Jeez and Pepper Parks)

CZW Wired Championship

Joey Janela (c) vs Lio Rush

I Quit match

Tim Donst vs Joe Gacy

Deathmatch rules

Danny Havoc vs Ricky Shane Page

The Amazing Gulaks vs The Beaver Boys

Greg Excellent vs Ton Nese

A scramble match for a spot in Best of the Best

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

NXT, 9/2

Tonight on NXT, the inaugural Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic kicks off, to commemorate the memory of a legend who had such a huge impact on NXT.

The Ascension return to the NXT Zone to take part in the Dusty Classic. The NXT crowd is happy to see them, even though they’ve been nothing but jobbers on the main roster.

They take on Rhyno and Baron Corbin. Rhyno in first with Viktor but Viktor in control. Corbin tags himself in and The Ascension go to work, keeping him on the mat and in their corner. But after Viktor gets run into the corner post, Corbin and Rhyno take over and keep Viktor isolated.

The crowd is really behind the returning Ascension. Or they could really just hate Baron Corbin. Or it could be both. The Ascension line up Rhyno for the Fall of Man but Corbin distracts Viktor and pulls him out of the ring. This lets Rhyno gore Konnor for the win and Rhyno and Corbin move on.

Next, Devin talks to Neville and he’s with Solomon Crowe and it looks like they’ll be teaming in the Dusty Classic. Neville says it’s great to be back and honoring the memory of Dusty and Crowe says he feels pretty good about their chances since he’s teaming with perhaps the greatest NXT champ of all time. Crowe says he’s calling his shots and saying they’re winning this thing.

Alexa Bliss takes on Blue Pants now, still angry over Blue Pants costing Blake and Murphy the tag titles at Takeover Brooklyn.

Blue Pants is very over with the crowd but Alexa Bliss goes right at Blue Pants, beating her down and trash talking the whole time. Bliss has been dominating the whole match, with Bliss being ruthless while working her over.

But ol’ Blue Pants starts to turn it around, hitting a few head kicks and a bridging Northern Lights suplex but Bliss kicks out at 2. But Bliss hits the Glitz Flip and the Sparkle Splash to defeat Blue Pants.

In William Regal’s office, he’s talking to…JOHNNY GARGANO AND TOMMASO CIAMPA?!

Tyler Breeze barges in and says he needs to talk to Regal. He asks who the other two are but then says it doesn’t matter. Breeze says after what happened in Brooklyn, he doesn’t just want to win the Dusty Classic – he needs to win it. He says Regal came through with an important opponent for Takeover, now he needs Regal come up with an important tag partner for him.

Regal says, well, since he just interrupted a meeting with Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa – the two most sought after free agents in their industry (sure, why not) – next week, Breeze and his partner will face Gargano and Ciampa.

Regal racks his brain and comes up with it – Bull Dempsey! Breeze can’t believe that’s who Regal came up with but says it doesn’t matter, he’s still going to win.

Recap of Emma winning the women’s fatal fourway last week then getting her thoughts on the win. Emma says everyone has forgotten the Divas Revolution started at NXT ArRival with Paige vs Emma. And tonight, she reminded everyone there is no Divas Revolution without Emma.

Apollo Crews makes his NXT Zone debut after making his general debut at Takeover Brooklyn. Tonight, Crews takes on Martin Stone.

Crews in control early but Stone turns it around later. The crowd not really into this match but are definitely impressed with Crews’ agility. Crews gets the win with the Crews Combo.

Devin talks to Jason Jordan and Chad Gable about taking on Neville and Solomon Crowe in the Dusty Classic later tonight. Jordan says they will make history when they beat Crowe and Neville to move on tonight.

Gable says history is written by the winners – and that’s gonna be Jordan and Gable. He says Neville is gonna fly too high and they’ll make sure he falls. And Crowe? People will forget he existed.

Devin talks to Finn Balor about the upcoming NXT tour in Texas and Balor says he wants to be there when NXT plants its flag in Texas. She asks about Balor in the Dusty Classic where he will team with…Samoa Joe!

Joe says it’s obvious the NXT title is important to Balor but you know what else is important? The Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. Joe doesn’t want to just do well – he wants to win it all. And asks Balor – are you ready?

Next – Eva Marie out for a match with her fake Ric Flair robes. She takes on the newly renamed Billie Kay (who I think was Jessie before).

Eva getting lots of boos though there is a loud Eva chant (which sounds like it’s from ladies) which is followed by a Billie chant.

Billie trying to hold her own but Eva is in control for most of this match. Billie starts trying to turn it around and lands a suplex body slam and Eva doesn’t exactly kick out in time and the ref pulls up on hi count as Eva lazily rolls over. The crowd notices this too and lets them hear it. Billie thought she had won too.

Then Eva wins with a terrible Sliced Bread out of nowhere. Man, she really hasn’t gotten much better. X-Pac heat isn’t strong enough to describe how people feel about Eva Marie.

In the main event, Jason Jordan and Chad Gable take on Neville and Solomon Crowe in a Dusty Classic first round match.

Neville gets a big reaction on his return to NXT. Crowe and Gable start off first and working really well together to start the match. Neville tags in and Jordan tags in and they go to work. Big size mismatch here and Jordan is taking advantage of it. Jordan doesn’t know how to counter Neville’s agility and tags out to Gable. Both Gable and Jordan get tossed from the ring and try to regroup.

After a commercial, Jordan and Gable are working over Crowe in their corner, just pounding Crowe into the turnbuckles with repeated shoulder blocks. Jordan and Gable tagging in and out quickly, working over Crowe’s midsection with submission holds.

Crowe eventually gets the hot tag to Neville who is a house of fire, taking out both Gable and Jordan. Neville set up for the Red Arrow on Jordan but Gable pulls him out of the way. Neville readjusts and moonsaults onto Jordan from the corner and Crowe tope onto Gable. Neville rolls Jordan back in and springboards off the top but Jordan catches Neville in mid air and throws him onto the mat face first.

Neville super kick Jordan and Crowe tags himself in. Hits a big running knee on Jordan and throws him into the opposite. Crowe rushes in but Jordan catches him and hits a huge overhead belly to belly suplex. Jordan boots Neville to keep him out then he picks up Crowe, throws him to Gable who brings him down in a bridge for the win.

They show a bracket for the tournament after the match but it’s too small to read the whole thing. There’s 16 teams and two have already advanced – Corbin/Rhyno and Jordan/Gable.

Looks like (and this is bracket order too):

Finn Balor and Samoa Joe vs Lucha Dragons

Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady vs Angel Dawkins and Sawyer Fulton

Dash and Dawson vs ??? (I think it say Tucket Knight and someone. So jobber team)

Blake and Murphy vs Vaudevillains

Hype Bros vs Marcus Louis and Alexander Wolfe

Jason Jordan and Chad Gable vs Neville and Solomon Crowe

Baron Corbin and Rhyno vs The Ascension

Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa vs Tyler Breeze and Bull Dempsey

Kana officially signed to WWE 
The WWE issued a press release this week officially announcing Kana signing with the company. At Takeover Brooklyn, they showed Kana in the front row with Ric Flair and Sgt. Slaughter (and misspelled her name as Kanna).
There was speculation before whether she was coming in to train or wrestle and it seems she will be an active competitor. The release also said she will report to the Performance Center in late September so it could be a while before we see Kana on NXT. But I hope that when we do, she literally kicks Eva Marie’s head off so we aren’t subjected to “All Red Everything” anymore.

Ring of Honor

ROH, 9/2

Adam Page out first with BJ Whitmer and Colby Corino. He takes on Jay Briscoe who looks kinda annoyed he needs to concern himself with Page.

Briscoe wants to shake but Page yells at him that The Decade doesn't shake hands and then slaps Jay. Briscoe can't believe it and tries to shake again but Page slaps him again. Briscoe beats the shit out of Page when the bell rings. After a tope from Jay, Colby hits Jay with a crutch but it's not very effective.

Briscoe starts to stalk Colby but when he turns around, Page fires a chair right in his face that the ref sees and calls for the bell. They roll Briscoe back in the ring and throw a few more chairs in the ring. Page piles up the chairs and hits Jay with his finisher on them. Mark shows up with even more chairs and throws them in the ring to run off Page and the Decade.

Recap of Dalton Castle beating Silas Young two weeks ago and Young's challenge to Castle for his Boys.

Castle promo about how he stayed silent long enough. He yells about how his Boys are his but if Young really wants the match, if Castle wins, when he wins, Young becomes one of his boys. Castle says he'll make a wonderful ottoman.

Cedric Alexander takes on Caprice Coleman. Cedric gets on the mic and says since he's the only man in ROH to beat Moose twice, beating Coleman does nothing for him so he's just gonna leave.

Coleman says he should talk to the one with more hair on their chest and tells Veda good job on winning matches for Cedric. Veda is furious and tells Cedric to attack.
Caprice controls the early parts of the match and Cedric can stay in it and avoid a few things but doesn't get much offense in. Veda eventually trips up Coleman as Cedric distracts the ref and Cedric takes advantage. Coleman hits a head scissors through the ropes and uses the opening to get a 2 count with a springboard rana. Cedric turns it around and gets a 2 count after a flurry of moves and a Michinoku Driver.

Cedric gets the wrench from somewhere but as he does, Stokely Hathaway shows up, grabs Veda off the apron, who was distracting the ref, and drops her on the floor! At the same time, Moose appears and takes the wrench away from Cedric. Caprice surprises Cedric with a Rough Ryder for the win. Cedric and Veda are in disbelief in the ring. Cedric is incensed and rushes at Moose but gets hit with his own wrench. Prince Nana then walks down and shakes hands with Stokely and Moose and hands an envelope (looks full of money) to Coleman, who looks as surprised and confused as we are.

Brutal Bob Evans vs Cheeseburger now. As Cheeseburger hits the ring, Brutal Bob is on the outside near the announcers and covers his mouth to yell something at Cheeseburger and pisses him off enough to chase Bob immediately. Kelly and Corino say they won't say it back...did Bob call Cheeseburger the N-word?

Bob yelled at him from the outside so the match wouldn't start. He kicks Cheeseburger low and goes to hit him with a chair but misses and Cheeseburger kicks it into Bob then flips off the guardrail onto the chair on Bob.

Cheeseburger rolls Bob in and the bell rings. Bob begs off, backing into the opposite corner, then throws Cheeseburger into it. Cheeseburger trying to wrestle a clean match, but Bob is taking cheap shots left and right. Bob hits him with like a body slam into a neckbreaker and then picks Cheeseburger up at 2. Cheeseburger tries to fight back but Bob has too much size and experience.

Cheeseburger kicks out of a big shoulder block and starts to fight back. He gets a 2 count off a school boy and Bob levels him with a lariat. Bob gets a table from under the ring and sets it up outside. He grabs Cheeseburger and pulls him to the apron and screams I hate you in his face, but Cheeseburger escapes as Bob lifts him up and lands a palm strike which sends Bob through the table. Bob tries to answer the 20 count but can't do it and Cheeseburger defeats Brutal Bob!

Main event time - Hanson out first (without Rowe - bad idea, he'll need backup against HoT) to challenge Jay Lethal for the TV title. Bobby Fish is on commentary, since he has the next TV title shot at All Star Extravaganza.

Surprisingly, Lethal is only accompanied by Truth Martini. Donovan Dijack and J. Diesel are nowhere to be seen. Perhaps, only for now?

(Next week, championship edition - Roderick Strong vs Jay Lethal for the World title rematch and Addiction vs Young Bucks for the tag titles)

They shake hands before the match but before they lock up, Lethal starts jawing with Fish at ringside. Lethal goes at Hanson first, but Hanson turns the tide and is in control.

And this is why ROH commentary is better than WWE - Kevin Kelly explains that a few years ago, doctors told Hanson he had to stop wrestling but he worked through a back and a shoulder injury which took over 12 months of rehab but got into the best shape of his life and he's been a consistent worker for ROH, after he won the Top Prospect Tournament.

Hanson continues to be dominant but gets distracted when Truth grabs his leg, letting Lethal hit a great springboard dropkick followed by three big topes, the last one sends Hanson to the floor. After a commercial, Lethal is still in control, but Hanson starts to turn it around. Hanson uses his strength to turn the tide then cartwheel and a huge lariat but only gets a 2 count.

Hanson runs in on Lethal in the corner for a Bronco Buster but Lethal puts his foot up and gets Hanson low. Ref warns him and Lethal and Truth say it was an accident. They start slugging it out and Lethal calls for Lethal Injection but Hanson hits him with a back handspring elbow! Hanson goes up top for a moonsault but Lethal gets the knees up. Lethal hits two Lethal Injections and pins Hanson to retain the TV title.

Afterward, Lethal and Fish trash talk and Kyle O'Reilly shows up. ReDRagon holds the ropes open as Roderick Strong runs in and Lethal gets out of the ring before Strong can get his hands on him.

Next week, Championship Edition of ROH TV

-Jay Lethal defends ROH World title against Roderick Strong rematch

-The Addiction defends ROH World tag team titles against The Young Bucks

ASE 7 TV Tapings, 9/19

-Jay Briscoe vs Adam Page, no holds barred

-Takaaki Watanabe vs TV Champ (Bobby Fish or Jay Lethal - Fish has shot on 9/18)

New Japan Pro Wrestling

The Destruction tour is underway but so far, I think only the show from Sept. 4 is on NJPW World and it’s split into matches instead of an upload of the whole show.

Not much else going on in NJPW until the end of the tour with Destruction in Okayama on Sept. 23 and Destruction in Kobe on Sept. 27. The next big event following the Destruction tour is King of Pro Wrestling on October 12.

Chikara

King of Trios results, Night 1

-The United Nations (Juan Francisco de Coronado, Mr. Azerbaijan and The Proletariat Boar of Moldova) defeated Team Attack! (Mark Andrews, Morgan Webster and Pete Dunne)

-Team Fight Club: Pro (Daniel Moloney, Trent Seven and Tyler Bate) defeated Team BDK (Jakob Hammermeier, Nøkken and Soldier Ant)

-Arcane Horde (Kodama, Obariyon and Oleg the Usurper) defeated Crown & Court (El Hijo del Ice Cream, Ice Cream Jr. and Princess Kimber Lee)

-Devastation Corporation (Blaster McMassive, Flex Rumblecrunch and Max Smashmaster) defeated Team bWo (Stevie Richards, The Blue Meanie and Hollywood Nova)

-Battleborn (Kevin Condron, Lucas Calhoun and Missile Assault Man) defeated Dasher's Dugout (Dasher Hatfield, Icarus and Mark Angelosetti)

-The Bullet Club (AJ Styles, Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) defeated Battle Hive (Amasis, Fire Ant and Worker Ant)

-Nightmare Warriors (Frightmare, Hallowicked and Silver Ant) defeated Snake Pit (Eddie Kingston, Ophidian and Shynron)

-Team AAA (Aero Star, Drago and Fénix) defeated The Gentleman's Club (Chuck Taylor, Drew Gulak and the Swamp Monster)

King of Trios results, Night 2

-Jaka defeated Ashley Remington

-Team Fight Club Pro (Daniel Moloney, Trent Seven, Tyler Bate) defeated The United Nations (Juan Francisco de Coronado, The Bloc Party)

-Shynron defeated Matt Cross, 2 Cold Scorpio and Madjai Amasis in a Rey de Voladores semi-final

-Team AAA (Drago, Fenix & Aero Star) defeated The Nightmare Warriors (Hallowicked, Frightmare & Silver Ant)

-3.0 and NRG defeated Flying Francis, Arctic Rescue Ant & Orbit Adventure Ant

-Team Bullet Club (AJ Styles & The Young Bucks) defeated Battleborn (Kevin Condron, Lucas Calhoun & Missile Assault Man)

-Mark Andrews defeated Mascara Purpura, Pinkie Sanchez and Ophidian in a Rey de Voladores semifinal

-The Devastation Corporation (Max Smashmaster, Blaster McMassive & Flex Rumblecrunch) defeated The Arcane Horde (The Batiri [Obariyon & Kodama] & Oleg the Usurper)

King of Trios results, Night 3

-Team AAA (Drago, Fenix and Aero Star) defeated The Devastation Corporation (Max Smashmaster, Blaster McMassive and Flex Rumblecrunch)

-The Bullet Club (AJ Styles and The Young Bucks) defeated Team Fight Club Pro (Daniel Moloney, Trent Seven and Tyler Bate)

-Crown & Court (Princess Kimberlee, El Hijo del Ice Cream, Ice Cream Jr. and Jervis Cottonbelly) defeated The Gentleman's Club (Chuck Taylor, Orange Cassidy, Drew Gulak and The Swamp Monster)

Tag Team Gauntlet Match:

- The Throwbacks (Dasher Hatfield and Mr. Touchdown) eliminated Bee Boy & Genetic Grasshoper

- The Throwbacks eliminated Argus and Purpura

- Blue Meanie and Simon Dean eliminated The Throwbacks

- 3.0 eliminated The bWo

- Pete Dunne & Morgan Webster eliminated 3.0

- Osirian Portal eliminated Dunne & Webster

- Ole Juke Joint and Missle Assault Ant eliminated Osirian Portal

- Orbit Adventure Ant and Arctic Rescue Ant eliminated Ole Juke Joint and Missile Assault Ant

- Nokken and Pinkie Sanchez eliminated Orbit Adventure Ant and Arctic Rescue Ant to win

-Heidi Lovelace defeated Boar of Moldova to retain in the Young Lion's Cup

-Mark Andrews defeated Shynron to win the 2015 Rey de Voladores

-Team AAA defeated The Bullet Club in the King of Trios finals when Fenix hit a springboard 450 on Nick Jackson and pinned him. Team AAA dedicated their win to Perro Aguayo

Also in Chikara news - they are co-promoting “Battle Wars 2: A Battle Beyond The Stars” with Inspire Pro in Austin, TX this Saturday, Sept. 12. IP recently broke away from the NWA to run the promotion on their own. Not listed on Chikara’s site but at IP’s site - http://inspireprowrestling.com/events/

The LAST King of Trios?

(But in looking at comments, apparently it is a running joke that every year Chikara announces that was the last KOT ever)

Ultramantis Black to retire

Smash Wrestling

Smash is hosting the annual CANUSA Classic on September 13. This is an all female show, similar to AIW’s Girls Night Out, but with the twist of it being Canada vs America. The card for the 2015 CANUSA Classic is:

(CAN)Canadian Ninjas vs (USA) Kimber Bombs

(CAN) Courtney Rush vs (USA) Jessicka Havok

(CAN) Vanessa Kraven vs (USA) Heidi Lovelace

(CAN) KC Spinelli vs (USA) Veda Scott

(CAN) Jennifer Blake vs (USA) Candice Lerae

(CAN) Jewels Malone vs (USA) Sassy Steph

(CAN) Xandra Bale vs (USA) Allisyn Kay

Nick Gage Invitational results

I was planning on attending the Nick Gage Invitational deathmatch tournament last Saturday in Warren, NJ but I didn’t end up going. The people I was going with pulled out and I realized Warren is about 2 hours from Philly and I wasn’t feeling that drive.

And thankfully we didn’t go because Nick Gage no-showed. Rumor was that there were or are issues with his parole and wasn’t able to make the show. I saw on the former CZWFans forum that Brett Lauderdale, the guy who runs Gage’s Twitter, posted on Facebook he isn’t sure if it’ll be one month or one year before he sees Gage again. Other speculation (and I call it that because I don’t know for sure) was that Gage had 9 months or so left on his sentence when he was paroled and if he violated it, he could have to serve the remainder of his sentence in prison.

I don’t have complete results but I know Lowlife Louie Ramos replaced Nick Gage and Masada won the tournament (beating Danny Havoc in the finals, I think).

CZW and WSU this weekend

Down With The Sickness

8 pm on September 12

Chri$ Ca$h Memorial Ladder Match

“Speedball” Mike Bailey vs AR Fox

CZW World Tag Team Championship

Team Tremendous vs Tabernak de Team

Team MDK (Nick Gage and Biff Busick) vs Amazing Gulaks (Drew and Rory Gulak)

(Gage is still advertised for this show even though it’s known that Gage wasn’t at the NGI and that AIW announced Gage won’t be at their show on Sept. 11)

Matt Tremont and Sozio vs TV Ready (Blk Jeez and Pepper Parks)

Greg Excellent vs Mia Yim

Lio Rush vs Joey Janella

OI4K (Dave and Jake Crist) vs The Dub Boys (Nate Carter and Dave McCall)

OI4K (Eric Ryan and Alex Colon) vs Nation of Intoxication

Joey Gacy and Frankie Pickard vs CZW Wired Champ Tim Donst and Poseidon

WSU’s Excellence

4 pm on September 12

WSU Championship

Cherry Bomb vs Candice LeRae

WSU Tag Team Championship

Chicks Using Nasty Tactics (Annie Social and Kimber Lee) vs The Dollhouse (Marti Belle and Mia Yim)

Leva Bates defends WSU Spirit Championship for the first time

Athena vs Sumie Sakai

Tess Blanchard vs Hania the Huntress

Solo Darling and Brittany Blake vs Veda Scott and Angel Dust

AIW

Faith No More

Sept. 11, Cleveland, Ohio

Originally advertised:

Nick Gage vs Bob “Hardcore” Holly

AIW Tag Team Championship

To Infinity and Beyond (c) vs Colt Cabana and Cliff Compton

Hot Sauce Entertainment (Tracy Williams and Tyson Dux) vs Nation of Inoxication (Danny Havoc and Lucky tHURTeen)

AIW stated on Twitter that Cabana will be choosing a new partner and Holly will make a statement Friday (since Gage is MIA and Compton is having health issues)