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

NXT, 7/29

Enzo and Big Cass out first to a big reaction. They have Carmella with them as usual. They seem like they’re trying out some new lines or routines in front of the crowd, perhaps polishing them for the main roster (which they are allegedly working).

They take on Dash and Dawson (who have new theme music as well as unique lighting which tells me they could see a big push soon. Their NXT Briscoes gimmick seems to be toned down or gone.

Enzo in first against Dawson and gets the best of him until Dash comes in but Big Cass steps in to even the odds. Big Cass gets tagged in and takes control of Dash easily.

During this match they show an ad for NXT in Houston on Sept. 17 and Austin on Sept. 18 and in San Antonio on Sept. 19 (ROH has shows in San Antonio on Sept 18-19). Those tickets go on sale on August 1 at 10 am.

Enzo gets run into the corner post then Dawson takes control of Enzo, working his arm. Dash and Dawson tag in and out, keeping Enzo on the mat. But when Cass gets tagged in, he easily takes control of both Dash and Dawson with ease.

Carmella picks up Enzo and smacks him around to wake him up as Big Cass calls for the rocket launcher splash but Dash pulls Cass out and throws him into the steps. Enzo leaves the ring to chase but Dawson cuts him off with a big clothesline then Dash and Dawson hit Enzo with an assisted codebreaker for the win.

Devin catches up with Jason Jordan and Chad Gable.

Jordan talks about why they mesh. He says they may not see eye to eye on some things but they get the job done. No nonsense and then it’s onto the next.

Gable says they’re all business, not Enzo and Cass who ooze sleeze. They don’t need to talk in nursery rhymes or pump their fist to get their point across. Or the Hype Bros – stay hype? More like struggle to stay awake. He says no one compares to them because they are ready, willing and…he holds up a towel with his name and goes to Jordan “Say it…come on, say my name” but Jordan not on board with that much of it yet.

Video package of Dana Brooke being annoyed that they chose Charlotte for the Tap Out campaign instead of her, the Total Diva.

Brooke says that Charlotte copies all her training and eating habits but Charlotte gets the Tap Out deal.

Basically just hyping their dislike for each other and their upcoming match and that Dana will run Charlotte out of NXT.

Baron Corbin out next to squash another jobber. People still cheering for him though, must be because they never aired that promo during the show or let him cut any promos on the air.

Corbin squashes Jesse Sorenson this week. Jesse Sorenson? Isn’t he the guy who broke his neck in TNA, was told he’d always have a job in TNA but then got fired and his mom went bankrupt from his medical bills?

Anyway, Corbin squashes him in seconds with the End of Days.

Tyler Breeze barges into William Regal’s office. Regal is annoyed but Breeze says he’s been trying to get in touch via every sort of social media and Regal says he sent a carrier pigeon and laughs to himself about it.

Breeze wants to know his Takeover opponent. Regal says he has someone very special. He’s gone to the ends of the earth to find his opponent and tells Breeze to be very careful, flower.

Jason Jordan and Chad Gable out next. They are in tag team action against Elias Sampson and Levis Valenzuela Jr.

Never seen this Valenzuela before but he’s a big dude. Has size even on Jordan.

Was even a Jason Jordan chant to start the match. Jordan outquicks Levis early then Sampson tags in a says he wants Gable. Gable tags in and uses his superior grappling to ground Rallis.

Rallis and Valenzuela use their size to swing momentum their direction. But Gable uses his moves to evade them and tag in Jordan who powers through both Rallis and Valenzuela and lets them hit their finisher for the win.

Devin talks to Dana Brooke and Emma. Brooke says Charlotte is lucky she’s on Raw now because she will be serving Charlotte an eviction notice from NXT.

Video package on getting #BullFit. Bull sat around eating chips and chocolate until Regal told him he was a disgrace. So he dropped the junk food and turned his life into an early 90s workout video, going from wearing neon color work out clothes and Zubaz pants to a trash bag type plastic outfit, trying to get in shape. He’s basically Bobby Dempsey getting bullied by Chris Hero in Sweet and Sour Incorporated in Ring of Honor.

If this turns into Bull being a motivational speaker or personal trainer while still being lazy and fat, I’m totally on board.

Charlotte out now to take on Dana Brooke.

Dueling “Let’s go Dana/Charlotte” chant which surprises me that people actually like Dana Brooke. I mean, I like Emma a lot and I think Dana has potential but I wouldn’t be chanting for her.

Brooke showing off a mean streak, taking advantage of Charlotte’s misteps and rubbing it in. Brooke is in control for a surprising amount early on, keep Charlotte in the corner and on the mat and getting a few 2 counts. She also is doing a good job of trash talking almost the whole time and using what the crowd is giving her.

But Charlotte reverses a submission into a cover then takes out Emma when she tries to interfere. Charlotte hits Natural Selection for the win.

Samoa Joe faces Rhyno next week. He says he’s in NXT for the NXT Championship and also says Rhyno is there for the same reason. Joe says next week, Rhyno’s future ends and Joe will beat him down and choke him out.

Kevin Owens apologizes for hitting William Regal during the contract signing last week. He says it’s been a rough couple days, he hasn’t slept much but that he’s sorry. He got into fight or flight mode and didn’t mean for that to happen (hitting Regal in the melee).

Regal nods his head in acceptance but once Owens leaves, Regal says he can’t wait to see him get beaten in Brooklyn.

Kevin Owens out now to take on some jobber named Martin Stone. Owens looks like he wants to rip up a Finn Balor poster on his way to the ring but he doesn’t.

Brennan says Owens was fined an undisclosed amount for hitting Regal last week. Owens is easily taking control of Stone in this match. After a cannonball and a swanton, Owens wins with a pop up powerbomb.

After the match, Owens powerbombs Stone on the ring apron then does the Balor pose on the turnbuckle to mock Finn Balor.

The Vaudevillains out next to face Blake and Murphy for the tag team titles in the main event. Alexa Bliss accompanies Blake and Murphy.

Back and forth early, trading holds in the middle of the ring. The Vaudevillains get a slight advantage as Blake and Murphy take a moment to regroup in their corner.

But after Murphy tags in, things begin to turn around for the champs and they control Aiden English in their half of the ring. But once Gotch tags in, he starts to turn things around for the challengers. Gotch uses his interesting offensive maneuvers get beat down Murphy and fend off Blake.

Gotch tags in English and they set up for the Whirling Dervish. They hit part of it but when English hits the rope for the neckbreaker, Alexa grabs his leg and trips him up. Murphy rolls him up while Blake distracts Gotch and the champs retain.

The Vaudevillains attack the champs as they celebrate and hit Blake with the Whirling Dervish and hold up the tag title belts. Alexa moves to slap English but realizes she’s cornered by both of them with Blake and Murphy nowhere to be seen. They walk around like they are going to do something to her, but then both hold open the ropes for her. She smiles at them and calls them pathetic and then slaps both of them. And the Vaudevillains just kinda take it as Alexa walks out with Blake and Murphy.

NXT will be running head to head against ROH AGAIN. In Sept, ROH is hosting All Star Extravaganza on Sept 19 in San Antonio and NXT just announced a show that night in SA about 17 miles away (ROH is in Shrine Auditorium and NXT in Aztec Theater). NXT will also be in Houston on 17 Austin on 18.

Lucha Underground, 7/29

Ultima Lucha starts this week. Looks like it’s gonna be Cage/Mack, Hernandez/Drago and Trios Titles match.

Dario Cueto in a tuxedo visits Black Lotus in her cell. He offers her champagne but she flips him off. He says he hoped spending all this time near his brother would give her a change of heart. Cueto says pitbulls got a reputation for being vicious because they were pushed to being violent – and his brother is the same way. Their father made his fortune in fighting pits and made a lot of money off his little pitbull, “The Monster” Matanza Cueto.

But Cueto says Matanza didn’t kill her parents – it was El Dragon Azteca. Her father was the head of the Black Lotus Triad and were at war with El Dragon and his army of mercenaries and Dragon killed her parents and blamed Matanza. Then to have the last laugh, he took his archrivals daughter as his apprentice. Cueto says Matanza may be a pitbull, but El Dragon Azteca is a snake.

First match of the night – The Mack vs The Machine in a falls count anywhere match. As Mack makes his entrance, Cage attacks him from behind at the top of the stairs and the match gets going quickly.

Cage throwing the Mack around but Mack shows his power and suplex Cage over his head on the wooden bleachers. Mack speared Cage through a door into the room where Fenix got powerbombed but Cage finds a fire extinguisher and stuns Mack. He hammers Mack with a stop sign then a DDT on it for a 2 count.

Mack hits Cage with a cooler full of beers and cracks a few open in Cage’s face and hits him with a stunner but only gets a 2. It seems like Cage is just getting more angry and shrugs off a bottle to the back of his head. Cage sets up a table under the turnbuckle on the floor and Mack powerbomb Cage through the table from the turnbuckle to the floor but Cage kicks out!

They fight up on top of Cueto’s office and Cage deadlift suplex over the railing onto the ceiling for 2. Cage grabs a cinder block and hits a Super Dragon curb stomp sending Mack’s face through the cinder block for the win.

Next match, Catrina leads the Disciples of Death into the ring. The Disciples have new masks on now and look really creepy now. They also each wear different colors so maybe now I’ll be able to tell them apart.

The champs head to the ring and Ivelisse is still on crutches. The champs are also being referred to as Team Havoc now Match is going to be tornado rules which means no tags.

The Disciples take out Ivelisse early and use the numbers game to beat down Angelico and Havoc. And whenever Ivelisse tries to get back in it, they beat her down and keep her on the outside.

One of the Disciples work over Ivelisse’s good leg and the others mock her until Havoc breaks it up to help her out. The fight starts spilling into the crowd with Angelico and one of the Disciples. Angelico uses his position outside the ring to leap off the room and land on all the Disciples of death to give his teammates some room to breath.

But Catrina starts stalking around the ring and seems to have her sights set on Ivelisse. Catrina gets in the ring with the stone and seems to be rallying the Disciples until Ivelisse sneaks up on her. She throws away her crutches and calls Catrina a bitch and when Catrina chokes her, Ivelisse arm drag and starts dropping punches. Catrina hips up and reverses her over and nails Ivelisse in the face with the stone.

Catrina calls a Disciple into the ring to make the pin while the other two hold back Havoc and Angelico and the Disciples become the new Trios champions. Catrina gives Ivelisse the lick of death and it’s even more beautiful than it was in my dreams.

They bring out the believers for the Believer’s Backlash and they surround the ring. DaShawn “The Hot Tub Guy” is pointed out amongst the many with leather straps.

Striker says the insurance has been squared away and waivers signed so Hernandez is allowed to hit back. Hernandez tosses Drago out first but the believers help him up instead of whip him and Hernandez is pissed. He jumps out to push Drago but starts getting whipped by everyone around.

Hernandez tries to call time out and run up the steps but still the whipping doesn’t stop until he jumps back in the ring where Drago uses the opportunity to stomp on Hernandez.

Hernandez has had enough of the whipping and steals one of the straps from a believer. Hernandez starts to turn the tide against Drago, using his power to slam Drago down with a powerbomb but doesn’t cover.

Drago tries for the Dragon’s Lair pin but Hernandez is so big he can’t lock it in completely and only gets a 2.  Hernandez powerbombs Drago over the top rope onto three of the believers! Then Hernandez tries to follow it up with a dive of his own, but Drago sidesteps and hits him with the dragon’s breath in the face. The believers gang up on Hernandez as Drago sets up a table and pulls out nunchucks! They drive Hernandez toward Drago and Drago literally breaks the nunchucks on Hernandez face and Drago sets him up on the table. Drago dives off the top rope and puts Hernandez through the table.

Drago hits another splash on Hernandez after Drago rolls him back in and gets the pin!

El Dragon Azteca walks up to the temple but is stopped by a guard. They exchange a few punches and the guard tells Dragon “you know the prophecy – you cannot enter the temple”. But Dragon wants to save Black Lotus, that she is a prisoner because of him.

The guard says he’ll tell Prince Puma, he brought Black Lotus to him once, he can do it again. But Dragon says Puma has a different path this time and he doesn’t want to put him in more danger. The guard says he will go but Dragon says no, this is his fight.

The guard says but the prophecy, it says Dragon will die. He says that he may die but El Dragon Azteca will live on forever. And the dude lets Dragon in. And that’s where it ends.

Ring of Honor

ROH DA 7/29

Moved to 11 pm from 9 for some reason

First out is The Kingdom with Maria. They face Corey Hollis and Jonathan Gresham.
Taven and Bennett shake hands then blindside Hollis and Gresham with super kicks. Taven and Bennett beat them down outside the ring while Corino tries to make Maria annoyed with Kelly for asking about Cole and problems in Kingdom. Jobbers get a comeback but Kingdom win with spike piledriver in the end.

Next, Caprice Coleman vs Brutal Bob Evans vs Silas Young vs Cheeseburger vs Moose vs Dalton Castle. Prince Nana also on commentary. 

Castle starts with Moose but Evans tags Moose out. Cheeseburger wants in and Castle tags him but Evans tags in Young who takes control of Cheeseburger. Castle getting beat down for a while by Silas until he tags in Moose and things start to break down. Moose dives onto everyone and sets up Cheeseburger for the spear but Castle climbs in and knees him in the face as he runs in. Castle sets up for a German suplex but Silas hits him from behind.

After a melee with Coleman taking out Young and Cheeseburger palm strike to Evans, Castle actually hits the stalling German suplex on Moose but no bridge. Castle misses Bob and goes flying. Bob rolls up Moose with his feet on the ropes but Cheeseburger tells the ref pushes his feet down which distracts Bob letting Moose spear him for the win.

The Decade are out next. Whitmer talks about how Colby Corino has matured in the last few months and how he's shown more than anyone in the locker room or at ringside, a slight at Steve Corino. Whitmer talks about how Colby almost beat Moose and War Machine all by himself, even though Colby got destroyed by those guys. Whitmer says he comes to think of Colby as a son and hopes he can be the father Colby never had. He then says he has a surprise for Colby - a gauntlet match!

Whitmer brings out the four guys who are all way bigger than Colby and Steve leaves announce table to eye them up and gets in the ring. BJ says Steve abandoned Colby and will abandon his pretty little wife and new kid which pisses Steve off and he  wants to fight but Nigel and security stop him as Whitmer mocks him.

Next the main event, ACH vs Bobby Fish. Nigel on commentary, talking about how Steve Corino should know better than to put his hands on the wrestlers and Corino isn’t at the table.

ACH using his quickness to try and get something going but Fish staying a few steps ahead through the early parts of the match. ACH gets a few 2 counts and Kelly says next week, Adam Cole vs Kyle O'Reilly and War Machine vs Young Bucks and I can't wait for next week.

ACH hits a few big moves but misses a high risk move and Fish takes advantage. Fish gets the knees up on a 450 and hits a hard combo, targeting the knee of ACH and get a heel hook in he calls the Fish Hook but ACH reverses into a pin. ACH goes up top but Fish kicks his leg out and wins with a super falcon arrow.  And they shake hands after.

ROH’s next big show is the Aftershock tour in Philadelphia on Aug. 21

Some big matches signed for that so far:

ROH World Title Rematch

Jay Lethal (c) vs Roderick Strong

Adam Cole vs Shinsuke Nakamura

Non-title match

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champ KUSHIDA vs Matt Sydal

IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada and RPG Vice vs The Briscoes and IWGP Intercontinental Champion Hirooki Goto

Dalton Castle vs. Cedric Alexander (w/ Veda Scott)

Michael Elgin vs Silas Young

Also to appear:

ROH Tag Team Champs The Addiction

The Kingdom

New Japan Pro Wrestling

Get the standings so far for the G1

(As of 8/6)

Block A

Tetsuya Naito – 8

AJ Styles – 8

Katsuyori Shibata – 8

Bad Luck Fale – 8

Hiroshi Tanahashi – 8

Kota Ibushi – 6

Togi Makabe – 6

Toru Yano – 4

Hiroyoshi Tenzan – 2

Doc Gallows – 2

Block B

Kazuchika Okada – 8

Tomohiro Ishii – 8

Karl Anderson – 6

Hirooki Goto – 6

Shinsuke Nakamura – 6

Michael Elgin – 6

Yujiro Takahashi – 4

Satoshi Kojima – 4

Yuji Nagata – 2

Tomoaki Honma – 0

Shinsuke Nakamura is back in the tournament with a heavily bandaged elbow. He’s been putting on good performances since returning but you know people will be focusing on his injured elbow going forward.

Honma still hasn’t gotten a win yet. Even Elgin has been well, earning two wins on his own (in addition to two points from a forfeit from Nakamura).

Block A is still pretty crowded at the top. Five guys (Naito, Styles, Shibata, Fale and Tanahashi) all have the same amount of points.

And the next Block A matches (on 8/8), Ibushi has a chance to get into the running and stall Fale’s run when they face off. I’d be surprised if Naito loses to Yano. Styles is getting two points from Tenzan. Makabe is most likely gonna beat Doc Gallows. And Tanahashi vs Shibata is legit too close to call but I’m going with Shibata.

In Block B, Okada and Ishii both have 8 points but Anderson, Goto, Nakamura and Elgin are all right there with 6 points.

And in the next Block B matches (on 8/7), Okada and Ishii will face off so someone will be the undisputed leader after 8/7. Elgin faces Nagata in what should be a good match but Elgin will focus on Nagata’s ribs for the win. Anderson faces Honma and I can’t see Honma winning here either. Goto should be able to beat Kojima to stay in the running. And if Nakamura loses to Takahashi I will be very surprised.

Pro Wrestling Guerrilla

Battle of Los Angeles 2015 matches announced

BOLA N1

Aero Star vs Brian Cage

Andrew Everett vs Biff Busick

Will Ospreay vs Mark Andrews

Trevor Lee vs Trent?

Drago vs Pentagon Jr.

Matt Sydal vs Fenix

Non-tournament

Tommy End, Marty Scurll and Zack Sabre Jr. vs The Young Bucks and Roderick Strong

Inner City Machine Guns vs Jack Evans and Angelico

BOLA N2

Rich Swann vs Marty Scurll

Chris Hero vs Timothy Thatcher

Drew Gulak vs Tommy End

Angelico vs Jack Evans

Mike Bailey vs Drew Galloway

Ricochet vs Zack Sabre Jr.

Non-tournament

Andrew Everett, Trevor Lee and Biff Busick vs The Young Bucks and Super Dragon

Fenix and Aero Star vs Drago and Pentagon Jr.

-Definitely going to have some crazy second and third round matches

-Pick em:

N1

Cage

Everett

Ospreay

Lee

Pentagon

Fenix

Bucks/Strong

Angelico/Evans

N2

Swann

Hero

Gulak

Evans

Galloway

Ricochet

Bucks/Dragon

Fenix/Aero Star

Beyond Wrestling

Battle of New England Returns

August 30

Fete Music, Providence, Rhode Island

WWA4 Showcase

AR Fox vs Jonathan Gresham

Last Time Ever

Nick Gage vs Sugar Dunkerton

Lick of Death vs Blowpop

Karlee “Catrina” Perez vs Joey Ryan

First Time Ever

The Kingdom vs Beaver Boys

Battle of New England Challenge Match #1

Doom Patrol (Chris Dickinson and Jaka) vs ???

Battle of New England Challenge Match #2

EYFBO (Mike Draztik and Angel Ortiz) vs. ???

Battle of New England Challenge Match #3

Pinkie Sanchez vs ???

Scheduled to compete:

-Anthony Stone

-Da Hit Squad

-Da Hoodz

-Dan Barry

-David Starr

-Donovan Dijack

-“Hot Sauce” Tracy Williams

-JT Dunn

-Kimber Lee

-Matt Tremont

-Shynron

Combat Zone Wrestling

Retribution, Aug. 8

Flyer’s Skate Zone, Voorhees, New Jersey

Pre-show, 6:30 p.m.

Joey Janela vs JT Dunn

Sozio vs Ryan Galeone

Marvelous Puroresu USA Showcase Match-ups

Brittany Blake and Tahumo Broha vs Sumie Sakai and Penelope Ford

DVD Security vs Chigusa Nagayo and Takaaki Watanabe

Main show begins at 8 pm

Tim Donst vs. Frankie Pickard

Pepper Parks vs Matt Tremont

Dick Justice vs Greg Excellent

Jake Crist vs Danny Havoc

Dave Crist vs Conor Claxton

-With just a few days left before the show, this card feels really weird and incomplete. So basically, par for the CZW course.

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

NXT, 6/24

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2^nd part of “Who is Finn Balor?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Main even time – Balor vs Rhyno.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Lucha Underground, 6/24

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ring of Honor

Death Before Dishonor 13, July 24 in Baltimore, Maryland

ROH World Title match

Jay Lethal vs Roderick Strong

ROH Tag Team Title Four Corner Survival

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

No DQ match

ACH vs Adam Page

Grudge match

Moose with Stokely Hathaway vs Cedric Alexander with Veda Scott

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

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

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

New Japan Pro Wrestling

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

Pro Wrestling Guerrilla

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

The first 10 were:

1. Will Ospreay

2. Marty Scurll

3. Timothy Thatcher

4. “Speedball” Mike Bailey

5. Chris Hero

6. Biff Busick

7. Mark Andrews

8. Brian Cage

9. Ricochet (2014 Winner)

10. Tommy End

And then things went off the rails straight into insanity:

11. Trevor Lee

12. Pentagon Jr.

13. Drew Gulak

14. Angelico

15. Trent?

16. Andrew Everett

17. Fenix

18. Rich Swann

19. Jack Evans

20. Drago

21. Matt Sydal

22. Aerostar

23. Zack Sabre Jr.

24. Drew Galloway

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

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

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

Matches announced are:

Angelico and Jack Evans vs The Young Bucks

Ricochet vs Akira Tozawa

Team Tremendous vs World’s Cutest Tag Team

“Speedball” Mike Bailey vs Chris Hero

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

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

PWG Mystery Vortex 3 - The Aftermatch

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

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

RODERICK STRONG

THE YOUNG BUCKS

SUPER DRAGON

Mystery Vortex 3 results

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

Tommaso Ciampa def. Johnny Gargano

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

World’s Cutest Tag Team def. Monster Mafia

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

Biff Busick def. Timothy Thatcher

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

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

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

Brian Cage def. John Silver

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

Zack Sabre Jr def. Chris Hero

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Beyond Wrestling

“Life Sucks and Then You Die” results

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

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

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

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

-David Starr def. Anthony Stone

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

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

-Donovan Dijack def. Biff Busick

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

-Nick Gage def. Stockade in a No DQ match

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

-AR Fox def. Paul London

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

Chikara

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

Bullet Club (AJ Styles and Young Bucks)

Team Lucha Underground (Fenix, Drago and Aerostar)

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

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

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

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