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

NXT, 6/10

Opens with a hype video for Samoa Joe being on the show later in the night. Graves later says he’s making his in-ring debut tonight.

Zack Ryder coming out to the ring first. I wonder if Ryder is going to overhaul his gimmick or just try and tweak it to become relevant.

Ryder tags with the returning Mojo Rawley and these smarks must have a short memory because they’re chanting for Mojo when they were booing the hell out of him before he got hurt. They take on the team of Mike Rallis and Elias Sampson.

There’s a whole row of people in Mojo Rawley “Stay hype” shirts. Mojo starts first against Rallis who tags out and Mojo slams him around and does some ridiculous dancing into a sitout axe handle. Ryder tags in and the unknown NXT guys immediately get the better of him.

Those guys in the Rawley shirts have been standing the whole time, I bet the people behind them love them.

Rawley is the hot tag for Ryder and gets hype all over Rallis and Sampson. Rawley and Ryder get the win after Rawley lifts up Sampson and Ryder hits the Rough Ryder from the top. After the win, Ryder and Rawley head into the crowd and jump around with the Rawley section. And somehow, they take until the end of the segment to mention that Rob Gronkowski is there.

Finn Balor video package. About how everyone has two sides, some try to ignore or suppress their dark sides while he embraces it. It’s actually a hype video for the Tokyo event on July 4 and it ends with “Finn Balor arrives” which is weird because he’s been here awhile. Why don’t you spoil that he’s winning the title more. Also says it will be live on WWE Network.

Dana Brooke sitting around, reading her Twitter and allegedly read one that said “Dana Brooke is the rebirth of the NXT Women’s division.” Rebirth into what? A boring Divas division where they hire models instead of competent females from the indies? Video package for her about how awesome she is or something. Says she feeds off negativity and haters, like she’s Ryback or something. Keeps calling herself the Total Diva - already angling for a spot on the show.

Evil Emma out next. I love her change of character, how disdainful she is of the NXT crowd and her old persona. She takes on Blue Pants who gets a massive reaction.

Blue Pants dances around and gestures that she hearts Emma but Emma just stands in the corner, arms crossed and looking sour. But when Blue Pants turns around, Emma attacks her from behind. Emma is just handling Blue Pants, really showing an aggressive side that she never has before.

Emma starts trash talking crowd and BP gets two quick covers but Emma puts a stop to it with a big clothesline. BP hits a few big head kicks and an elbow drop type slam and another 2 counts but Emma makes her tap to the Emma Lock.

Devin talks to Enzo, Cass and Carmella. She tells them next week they face Blake, Murphy and Alexa Bliss in a 6-man tag match. Carmella calls them pathetic pigs and cheats. Enzo says Alexa looks like her hair is on fire and a bunch of stuff about Hunger Games or something that I missed cause he talks so fast but Cass says they’re cowards, liars and cheaters and they look ridiculous. And this place would a whole lot better if they weren’t around anymore and they’re taking care of that next week. Enzo says to call them an Uber and he has plenty of time but no time for this.

Tyler Breeze out next, he takes on Bull Dempsey. Bull overwhelming Breeze early. Goes up top for the headbutt but Breeze rolls out. Bull comes after him but Breeze runs away. Bull gives chase but gets winded halfway around the ring and the crowd chants “Car-di-o” at him. I just had an awful premonition of Vince seeing this and giving Bull a gimmick where he’s just a fat dude who gets tired minutes into every match and does embarrassing things but somehow still manages to win by falling on people and pinning them because they can’t kick out because he’s so fat.

Breeze laps him and throws Bull back in the ring and hits the Beauty Shot for the win.

Becky Lynch out now. Good to see she’s still rocking that new look she debuted at Takeover. She takes on Jessie (aka Jessie McKay). Just Jessie, huh? That’s terrible. That’s the best they could do?

Jessie doing pretty well in this match, keeping the advantage over Becky with holds and using her height to her advantage. But Becky hits a hammerlock overhead suplex and then a Mike Quackenbush Black Tornado Slam and transitions into the seated armbar for the win. Byron calls it the “Disgoosting Armbar”, a play off the way Becky pronounces disgusting and I hope to god that’s not what they call it going forward.

William Regal announces that Kevin Owens will be on commentary when Samoa Joe makes his debut. And Bull Dempsey walks in eating a bag of chips, saying “You wanted to see me Mr. Regal?” Regal says he thinks Bull may have a problem. Bull says he can explain, he knows he got a little tired and he was doing really well until that part at the end where he lost but it was because he was up all night training so he was really, really tired and it won’t happen again.

Bull can barely keep from corpsing as Regal takes the chips from him and says “Listen flower, you need to get your act together.”  Regal walks off and Bull shrugs then pulls out an already opened candy bar from his singlet.

Greg “Jeremy Borash” Hamilton talks to Jason Jordan about his match last week. He says last week didn’t work out but he has a new tag team partner now. Then Chad Gable walks in and Jordan is annoyed to see him and says “No Chad Cable, it is not you.” Gable says that he doesn’t want to say I told you so but...I told you. So, when Jordan is ready he’ll be there for him, ready, willing, and Gable. He holds up another towel with his name on it and gives it to Jordan who throws it away and walks away. After he does, Gable writes his name next to Jordan’s on Jordan’s locker.

Baron Corbin out next, he takes on Angelo Dawkins. Crowd doing the counting gimmick but it quickly morphs into “Cor-bin sucks”. Dawkins gets in a little offense but it’s mostly Corbin who wins with the End of Days.

Kevin Owens on commentary for the last segment, Samoa Joe’s in-ring debut. Opens with a shot of the announce table where Owens is already and he has his arm around Byron who looks very uncomfortable. Owens says “Lighten up a little. You’re out here with the champ, nothing’s gonna happen to you.” I feel like he might’ve also called him Barry instead of Byron.

Samoa Joe takes on Scott Dawson. Joe’s music is weird. The intro is great and really ominous but then it switches to this weird, bass line with a drum beat and random horn stabs behind it and it’s not very threatening at all.

Crowd starts with “Joe is gonna kill you” and “Please don’t die” chants at the bell. Dawson holding his own well to start the match but Joe doesn’t have a problem handling his offense. Dawson does well but can’t overcome Joe’s striking and power and Joe wins with a Muscle Buster.

Owens says “Good little first match for Joe. Not as impressive as me.”

Owens leaves the announce table and looks over his shoulder at Joe. But Joe gets on the mic and calls out Owens. He says last time Owens said that if they were in the same ring Owens would drop him but instead he did what he is doing now and ran away. Owens gets on the mic and says first of all, I don’t really run anywhere. Owens doesn’t want to drop Joe after his first match in NXT. And because Joe is a bit of a rookie in NXT, and Owens being a veteran, he tells him you can’t just walk in here and get an NXT Title match after one match. You have to earn those things. And Joe simply hasn’t done that.

But then Regal comes out. He says Joe hasn’t earned the right to a title shot, but he has earned the right to fight. So next week, Owens will face Samoa Joe.

Allegedly, Drew Gulak was the standout of the recent WWE PC tryouts, with Biff Busick in a close second. No word on Chuckie T other than “he did well” but what makes me call bullshit on this news is that Johnny Gargano apparently did terrible in the conditioning portions of the tryout and Gargano seems like he’d be a cardio machine

NXT will beat the “Louder Than Life” Festival on October 3-4 in Louisville, KY, as well as recently announcing that NXT will be at the Aftershock Festival on October 24-25 in Sacramento, CA.

Putting NXT on festival shows like this is a great idea, in my opinion. They seem to be metal/hard rock shows so the crowd should hopefully be receptive to pro wrestling and performing at a festival will get more new eyes on the product than they would get from just touring.

Lucha Underground, 6/10

Recapping the Chavo vs Mexico and Chavo turning on Black Lotus almost immediately. Also talking about Drago’s “unique opportunity” against Prince Puma.

Opening shot of the show is Drago on top of the temple at dusk, in front of the LU sign, and now he’s sporting wings. He jumps off the roof (not really taking flight) and the opening credits start.

Vampiro apologizes as the show starts for letting his emotions get him involved in Pentagon/Sexy Star last week. He’s a broadcaster and that’s where he’s going to be. Still, Striker commends him for doing the right thing and they shake hands.

Dario Cueto is in the ring and announces that in 8 weeks there will be an event so big, no one will ever forget it – Ultima Lucha. Says it will be a yearly event featuring the biggest matches. And it begins tonight where they determine the competitors to fight for the LU Title. Cueto says he’s invited all the competitors who’ve competed with Prince Puma for the title – Hernandez, King Cuerno, Cage, and Fenix. But since Mil Muertes sent him to an early grave, it will just be a three way dance to determine who gets a shot at Ultima Lucha.

He invites Blue Demon Jr. back to the ring, a man who was in the first ever LU match. Cueto says he wants Blue Demon to be part of Ultima Lucha but wants to make sure he doesn’t have any ring rust. So tonight he’s organized a match with another man making his LU return – Chavo Guerrero, who has The Crew with him and seems to be their leader now. Looks like they are his “round the clock protection.”

Chavo is in his gear and Blue Demon is in a suit but Cueto says this match is happening right now and this time – anything goes!

Blue Demon trying to hold his own but soon Cortez Castro and Mr. Cisco get involved and hold him back while Chavo rips his shirt open and gives him a stiff chop. Demon tries to fight back but Chavo hammers him with a kendo stick and chokes him with it, and the Crew stomping him. Cisco and Castro hold Demon down so Chavo can hit the frog splash and gets the pin.

This is followed by a short shot of Drago re-entering the temple.

Chavo with Black Lotus and tells her sorry, business is business. She calls him a liar but he corrects her saying “I’m a Guerrero.” She says he betrayed El Dragon Azteca and he will make sure Mexico finds him. But he says after what he did to Demon, Mexico won’t have the balls to come after him again. As he leaves he says hope you enjoy your view (of Matanza).

Cueto in the bowels of the building and Drago appears behind him. Drago grips him up and says the title opportunity also includes him and Cueto agrees, except that he’s been banished. Drago demands into the match and Cueto relents but says if Drago loses, not only will he still be banished, but he must leave his mask behind.

Catrina leads the Disciples of Death to the ring for a trios match. They face Bengala, Mascarita Sagrada and Pimpinela Escarlata, who are making their returns to the temple!

Pimpy getting the better of one of the DOD skeletons for the early part of the match, doing his usual antics. He even kisses some dude in the front row before the match, then runs out of the ring later on and kisses him again.

Bengala tags in and Vampiro and Striker make cat puns. Bengala is extremely agile, hitting lots of springboard moves and back handsprings into the ropes. He tags in Sagrada who gets overwhelmed almost immediately. The other two DOD attack Pimpy and Bengala from behind in their corner and they all 3 attack Sagrada.

The tide seems to be turning and the DOD are dominating. Working well together to pull of trio maneuvers, though they don’t seem to be completely on the same page with their opponents so the match feels a little off overall. But the DOD looks good as a trio.

Catrina gives Pimpy the lick of death and they pull off a crazy trio finisher for the win.

Johnny Mundo walks into Cueto’s office. He wants to know why he’s not in #1 contender match and if anyone should have a shot at Ultima Lucha, it’s him. But Cueto says he expects him to be champ at Ultima Lucha. He says all their problems are in the past and when he saw what Mundo did to Alberto (throwing him through his window), he saw the new Johnny Mundo. Cueto wants the new Johnny unleashed on Prince Puma and next week, the whole show will be Mundo vs Puma in an iron man match for the title. Mundo says you know what, you might be the best boss I’ve ever had and they shake. (Found it funny Cueto said next week they’re going all night long, which is Ricochet’s theme song in PWG with Rich Swann which the crowd usually chants nonstop)

The main event fourway now. Cage out first. Cuerno next. Next Hernandez. Finally, making his return to the temple – Drago! Drago looks a little different, not just cause of the wings but has paint around his mouth and a darker color scheme.

Cage and Hernandez battling outside while Drago and Cuerno lots of high flying stuff in the ring. They’re all very familiar with each other, especially Cuerno and Drago.

Drago trying to work against Cuerno and Cage but they work together well. They’re teaming breaks down eventually though and they turn on each other. Hernandez back in and shows off his power with a huge shoulder block.

While Hernandez and Drago are in the ring, Killshot appears on a balcony and is just watching the proceedings. Could he be looking for revenge on Cage for what he did to Mack?

Cage showing off his high flying ability in this match including an asai moonsault from the turnbuckle to the floor on Drago and Hernandez and neither really catch him. But he’s all muscle so it looks like it barely phased him. Cuerno sets up for the Arrow from Hell but aims the gesture at Killshot.

Drago spits a mist at King Cuerno and pins him with the Dragon’s Lair pin combo for the win! A big welcome back chant breaks out and Prince Puma comes out and raises the belt in Drago’s face.

Cueto is watching from his office but Catrina sneaks up on him. She says he made a mistake no putting Mil Muertes in that match. Cueto says he never faced Puma for the title. She says that is exactly why Puma is still champion. She grabs the key necklace around his neck and starts choking him, saying Mil destroys everything in his way, so why are you in his way? Cueto struggles and says in two weeks, Mil vs Drago and the winner goes on to face Puma at Ultima Lucha. She says wise choice because even the monster he hides in the cell is no match for Mil Muertes.

Ring of Honor

6/17 TV Preview

Contract signing for Champion vs Champion main event between Jay Briscoe and Jay Lethal

Tanahashi and Naito vs ACH and Sydal

War Machine vs The Decade

Cedric Alexander vs Moose

Best in the World is Friday June 19 from Terminal 5 in NYC on PPV and iPPV

ROH Championship vs ROH TV Championship

Jay Briscoe vs Jay Lethal

One man will walk away with both belts

ROH Tag Team Title No DQ match

The Addiction (c) vs. reDRagon

ROH World Title #1 contender

Roderick Strong vs Moose vs Michael Elgin

The Kingdom (Adam Cole, Matt Taven and Michael Bennett) vs Bullet Club (AJ Styles and the Young Bucks)

Mark Briscoe vs Donovan Dijack

Dalton Castle vs Silas Young

C&C Wrestle Factory (Cedric Alexander and Caprice Coleman) vs War Machine (Raymond Rowe and Hanson)

The Decade (Adam Page and BJ Whitmer) vs ACH and Matt Sydal

New Japan Pro Wrestling

NJPW on AXS, the 2014 G1 Climax 24 kicks off on June 26 with Katsuyori Shibata vs Shinsuke Nakamura. With the G1 Climax 25 beginning soon, catching up with last year’s tournament on AXS will be a great way to get ready for this year’s action.

The G1 is an annual heavyweight tournament for New Japan where competitors (20 this year) are split into two blocks. Each block competes against each other round robin style with winners getting 2 points, losers get 0. The winner of each block face off at the conclusion of the tournament and the winner of that bout gets a IWGP Heavyweight title shot at the annual January 4 Tokyo Dome show, WrestleKingdom.

Below is the full listing for what will be on AXS each week coming up, so skip to the next section if you want to be surprised.

June 26 Episode 118 – Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center

Full match: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Katsuyori Shibata

Highlights: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tomoaki Honma, A.J. Styles vs. Kazuchika Okada

July 3 Episode 119 – Akita Prefectural Gymnasium

Full Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Katsuyori Shibata

Highlights: Yuji Nagata vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, Tetsuya Naito vs. A.J. Styles, Kazuchika Okada vs. Karl Anderson

July 10 Episode 120 – Sendai Sunplaza Hall

Full Match: Tetsuya Naito vs. Kazuchika Okada

Highlights: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Bad Luck Fale, Tomoaki Honma vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

July 17 Episode 121 – Korakuen Hall

Full Match: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Tomohiro Ishii

Highlights: Minoru Suzuki vs. A.J. Styles, Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Hirooki Goto

July 24 Episode 122 – Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium

Full Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

Highlights: Tomoaki Honma vs.  Katsuyori Shibata, Kazuchika Okada vs. Yujiro Takahashi

July 31 Episode 123 – Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium

Full Matches: Kazuchika Okada vs. Minoru Suzuki

Highlights: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Bad Luck Fale, A.J. Styles vs. Tougi Makabe, Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Davey Boy Smith Jr.

August 7 Episode 124 – Seibu Prince Dome Part 1 – 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT

Full third place match plus highlights from special single matches.

August 7 Episode 125 – Seibu Prince Dome Part 2 – 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT

Full tournament final.

The Young Bucks did an AMA (Ask Me Anything) on Reddit and both Nick and Matt answer questions. Nothing too serious or groundbreaking but it’s a fun read if you’re a fan of the Bucks. And it was one of the more highly attended AMAs on r/SquaredCircle that I can remember, which just shows how popular the Bucks are.

Combat Zone Wrestling

Tournament of Death 14 results

June 13, 2015

Townsend, DE

Great set of photos from Tim Jacob on Facebook. I also took some photos which I posted on my Twitter account, @JoeArchy. I didn’t want to post any directly here on this site since blood and violence isn’t everyone’s thing.

Quarterfinals

Barbed Wire Boards Match

Jake Crist def. Ron Mathis

Pits and Strips Match

Matt Tremont def. Josh Crane

Light Tube Bundles Match

Danny Havoc advances def. Rickey Shane Page

Fans Bring The Weapons Match

“Wrench” Conor Claxton def. DJ Hyde and Nick Gage

Non-Tournament

LOL (Ladders, Orange Sacks and Legos) Match

Lucky 13 def. Eric Ryan

Semifinals

Matt Tremont def. Danny Havoc to go to the finals

Conor Claxton def. Jake Crist to go to the finals

Non-Tournament

Scaffold Match

Dave Crist def. Devon Moore

Finals

No Rope, Barbed Wire, Barbed Wire Frames and Panes of Glass

Matt Tremont def. Conor Claxton

I took the trip down to Townsend for TOD14 with a good friend of mine for my first TOD since…geez, TOD 6 or 7? It was ridiculously hot but the turnout was huge.

The earlier round matches were definitely a lot better than the semis or finals, but I guess that’s to be expected since guys aren’t exactly going to perform better after having been through one or two deathmatches. It’s probably better on DVD since you’d get to see every spot, some of which were blocked for me being that they took place in the crowd or outside the ring. (A funny note about the ring – they forgot to bring the canvas and someone had to go pick it up and bring it to the show which is why it shows up half way through the show)

After his deathmatch series to join the Nation of Intoxication, it wasn’t too surprising to see Claxton go all the way to the finals but putting over Tremont as the champ was the right call. The finals were kinda “meh” to me. They took forever setting up these frames – half wrapped with barbed wire and half with a pane of glass in it – but the barbed wire on either frame was never touched. And you’d think the finals of a deathmatch tournament would be the craziest, bloodiest match but it was basically just another match – nothing really felt special about it. (Another note about Tremont – he made the right call using different theme music for each entrance to keep it interesting. While the OI4K guys used the same, awful, awful, awful music [did I mention it’s awful?] for each entrance which means we heard it like, 4 times in one afternoon)

But the highlight of the day, for me, was Tim Donst complimenting my “Da Bryce is Right” shirt (this was after two separate people asked me “Did you get that shirt at the Price is Right?”)

Also at TOD, they announced CZWStudios.com, an OnDemand service to stream CZW shows for $9.99 a month. Looks like it’s got full shows on there going back to 2011 (though not the complete catalogue from that time yet) as well as some WSU shows.

Alpha 1 Wrestling

Josh Alexander (who often partners with Ethan Page as Monster Mafia) is retiring after the Alpha-1 show “Seppuku” on July 12 where Monster Mafia faces the Gym Rats (Alessandro Del Bruno and Scotty O’Shea). Apparently he’s been suffering from neck issues for over a year and in order to ensure that he will be there for his family in the future, he’s making the difficult choice to walk away.

He also did a write up here, where he goes into detail about his physical condition over the past year and the circumstances surrounding his retirement. It’s really, really unfortunate news since I feel like Monster Mafia (Alexander, especially) were on the verge of breaking out in the world of indy wrestling.

http://walkingweapon.blogspot.ca/2015/06/walking-weapon-walks-away.html?m=1

Pro Wrestling Guerrilla

Tons of insane news about upcoming PWG shows. Will Ospreay and Marty Scurll are making debuts at BOLA and The American Wolves, Angelico and Jack Evans and motherfucking AKIRA TOZAWA will be at Threemendous IV. Check their Twitter

Threemendous IV - July 24

Jack Evans makes his PWG return

Angelico makes his PWG debut

The American Wolves, Eddie Edwards and Davey Richards, return to PWG

Akira Tozawa returns to PWG

Battle of Los Angeles 2015 - August 28-30

1. Will Ospreay

2. Marty Scurll

3. Timothy Thatcher

Also, PWG DDT4 from May 22 is shipping this week. There’s a preview vid on the PWG Twitter (@OfficialPWG) but I don’t want to link it or watch it because I don’t want any ruined/spoiled. There was also a note on the DDT4 item page that, due to a camera malfunction, match 1, 2, 5, and 6 use only the hard camera angle.

Beyond Wrestling

Life Sucks and Then You Die - June 28

Kimber Lee and Shynron vs Heidi Lovelace and Chris Dickinson (Grudge match)

Paul London vs AR Fox (Please don’t die match)

World’s Cutest Tag Team vs Team Tremendous (First time at Fete)

Biff Busick vs Donovan Dijack (Fight for honor)

Death by Elbow (JT Dunn and Chris Hero) vs The Best Tag Team In The World (Says open challenge match so I’m not sure who this “Best Tag Team” might be)

Da Hit Squad (Mafia and Monsta Mack) vs The Hooligans (Devin Cutter and Mason Cutter) (Reinforce the ring)

Colt Cabana vs Johnny Cockstrong (Scientific exhibition)

Just announced:

Stockade vs Nick Gage (Stockade wants Matt Tremont in what he says will be “the most violent match in Rhode Island history,” but first he’ll have to get through Gage)

Chikara

“Sword of Destiny,” June 13 from Chicago, IL

-Missile Assault Ant def. Arik Cannon

-N_R_G (Hype Rockwell and Race Jaxon) def. The United Nations (Juan Francisco de Coronado and Prakash Sabar)

Challenge of the Immortals 6 Man Tag

-Battle Hive (Amasis, Ashley Remington and Worker Ant) def. The Arcane Horde (Kodama, Obariyon and UltraMantis Black)

-Kevin Condron and Lucas Calhoun def. Dasher’s Dugout (Icarus and Heidi Lovelace) (w/Mark Angelosetti)

-Silver Ant defeated Blaster McMassive.

Challenge of the Immortals Tag Team Match

-The Nightmare Warriors (Frightmare and Hallowicked) (w/Blind Rage) def. Die Bruderschaft des Kreuzes (Jakob Hammermeier and Soldier Ant)

-Eddie Kingston def. Jaka

Challenge of the Immortals Tag Team Match

The Wrecking Crew (Flex Rumblecrunch and Max Smashmaster) def. The Snake Pit (Ophidian and Argus)

-Dasher Hatfield defeated Tommaso Ciampa.

Challenge of the Immortals 6 Man Tag Team Match

-Crown And Court (Jervis Cottonbelly, El Hijo del Ice Cream and Ice Cream Jr) def. The United Nations (Prakash Sabar, The Proletariat Boar Of Moldova and Juan Francisco de Coronado)

Global Force Wrestling

Results, June 12

-Tate Twins def. Best Friends

-Sonjay Dutt def. Jamin Olivencia

-Thea Trinidad def. Lei’D Tapa

-Moose def. Kevin Matthews

-Chris “Adonis” Mordetzky (Chris Masters) def. “5 Starr” Dustin Starr

-Jim Cornette came out to thank the fans and they gave Dusty Rhodes a 10 bell salute. He introduced Jeff Jarrett, who also thanked the fans

-Bullet Club (Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows) def. The New Heavenly Bodies

Results, June 13

-Tate Twins def. Best Friends

-Sonjay Dutt and Chase Owens def. Jason Kincaid and Jamin Olivencia

-Thea Trinidad def. Lei’D Tapa

-Moose def. Kongo Kong

-Chris “Adonis” Mordetzky def. Devin Driscoll

-Same as before, Cornette and Jarrett thanked the fans and did a 10 bell salute for Dusty

-Bullet Club def. New Heavenly Bodies

Northeast Wrestling hosting several more “Wrestling Under the Stars” events this year.

7/18 in Niles, Ohio at Eastwood Field. Kevin Nash, Jerry Lawler, Mickie James, Matt Hardy and Matt Taven announced.

8/1 in Fishkill, NY at Duchess Stadium. Rey Mysterio, Alberto El Patron, Samoa Joe, Matt Hardy, Young Bucks, Velvet Sky and Mickie James announced.

8/2 Lowell, MA at LeLacheur Park. Rey Mysterio, Alberto El Patron, Mick Foley, Samoa Joe, Mickie James announced.

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

NXT, 6/3

Opens with a recap of Owens vs Cena at Elimination Chamber.

Tyler Breeze out to the ring first. He’s taking on Adam Rose who is without Rosebuds and seems completely indifferent to being there.

A “We want Kruger” chant before the bell, followed by a smaller “No we don’t” chant.

Slow paced match with Rose almost taking on the role of the heel, being more aggressive and keeping Breeze in a headlock on the mat. But Breeze works his way back up and sends Rose to the apron then crashing to the ramp with a dropkick. And a commercial break for Total Divas 10 minutes into the show in the middle of the opening match to begin the most boring episode of NXT ever.

Rose in control for a surprising amount of this match. Hits a spine buster and locks in a Boston crab in the middle of the ring. Breeze gets the ropes and Rose holds on til 4 then drops a leg on the back on Breeze’s head on the apron and drops an elbow off the apron. But literally 5 seconds later, Breeze wins with a Beauty Shot out of nowhere.

I get that they want to make Breeze look like a title contender but Rose is a good worker who could be used a lot better and looked pretty bad after getting in most of the offense in the match but losing after one move.

Solomon Crowe talks to Devin backstage. Crowe says he’s feeling pretty beaten but it’s nothing he hasn’t felt before. He says he had to get in the face of Kevin Owens last week and applauds Samoa Joe for doing the same thing. Then goes on to say that when he gets back he’ll be better than ever and he will go toe-to-toe with the champion. Is he injured? Not going to be on TV for a while? Wasn’t really clear.

Video package about Dana Brooke competing in the Arnold Classic in Brazil. Says she was invited to participate in the next Arnold Classic in September in Spain.

Greg Hamilton talks to Eva Marie on the stage who gets a lukewarm reaction at best. Lots of booing from people despite her trying to get cheap pops. The more she tries to talk and talk up the crowd, the more she gets booed and “You can’t wrestle” chants despite not even wrestling. Talks about the NXT women stole the show at Takeover and that is why she is in NXT and hopes she can get an opportunity to compete with the best in NXT.

I get why the smarks don’t like her but the outright hatred the NXT crowd seems to have for her is a little unfair and bordering on mean and unnecessary. Yeah, we all know she was hired for her looks and we all know she isn’t that great in the ring. But these same smarks should also know that she’s been trying to improve her in-ring ability (if her Instagram videos are to be believed) so maybe give her a chance before booing her out of the building? Especially when she’s just trying to put over the NXT Women’s division (and, I’d assume, foreshadow that she’s going to be wrestling in NXT soon).

William Regal announces WWE event on July 4 in Tokyo, Japan. Also announces that Kevin Owens will face Finn Balor for the NXT Championship and it will be live on the WWE Network. (Check out the full card at the end of the NXT section)

Next up, Carmella with Enzo and Cass out to take on Alexa Bliss, with Blake and Murphy. Carmella on Alexa at the bell with a Thesz press, hammering on Alexa and doing this several times. But Alexa turning it around and keeping Carmella on the mat with a cravat. She goes for the Glitz Flip but Carmella moves out of the way.

Carmella seems to be mounting a comeback when Alexa rolls her up and holds onto the ropes for extra leverage and the win.

Hopefully they do a trios match sometime since this feud is tailor-made for one. As much as I like Alexa as a face, she fits in well with Blake and Murphy and gives them a little something extra that they’ve been missing.

Devin talks to Rhyno. Says he enjoyed going to war with Baron Corbin but says it’s time to get back to what he came to NXT for – to be the champion. That he has to take out Finn Balor to make his next step to the title.

I hope that Corbin has been benefitting from working with Rhyno, even though it doesn’t really seem like it. He still lacks charisma and is pretty dull in the ring. Even this abstract “presence” that commentary tries to put him over for doesn’t really seem to exist.

Sami Zayn video package about getting surgery on his shoulder and how he hurt himself recklessly throwing his arms around. The doctor says the injury was actually worse than they anticipated, that more of the labrum was detached than they thought and he had a tear in his rotator cuff but that the surgery went well. No word on how long he’ll be out, though.

The Vaudevillains are back. They take on the odd pairing of Jason Jordan and Marcus Louis. Kinda sucks for Louis he didn’t get a program with Tyler Breeze, LeFort or Enzo and Cass after losing his hair. Just was made to look like an idiot then disappeared for months. Also looks like he’s wearing Corporate Kane attire.

Simon Gotch starts off against Louis, who is making the craziest face possible. And throughout the match, Louis is making crazy noises and yells. Not a whole lot going on in this match – just seemed like a reintroduction for the Vaudevillains and the beginning of Jordan looking for a competent tag team partner and, if I had to guess, will end up being Chad Gable.

Jordan gets knocked off the apron and the Vaudevillains get the win with a Whirling Dervish. Jordan looks pretty annoyed that his team lost.

Sasha Banks video package. About how she’s always known she’s the best and being the NXT Women’s Champ just proves it.

Finn Balor talks about how he forged his career in Japan and won 11 championships there and it would be an understatement to say he is excited to return to face Kevin Owens for the NXT Championship.

But he isn’t overlooking Owens, he saw what he did to Zayn at Takeover and what he did to Cena at Elimination Chamber. Says Owens is the real deal but Owens will meet the demon. Owens may walk into Tokyo with the championship, but Balor is walking out with it.

Main event – Balor vs Rhyno. Balor having trouble dealing with Rhyno’s power early on. But Balor using his speed to get ahead of Rhyno, taking him out with a big dive over the ropes to the floor.

Rhyno hammering on Balor and keeping him on the mat with holds. Balor fights his way out but Rhyno takes him back down with a back elbow. Rhyno spends time mocking Balor’s entrance and theatrics, allowing Balor an opportunity to try and fight back. But when he hits the ropes, Rhyno lifts him with a press slam and gets a 2.

Balor hits a shotgun dropkick and goes for the Coup de Grace but Rhyno rolls out of the way. Balor into the opposite corner and Rhyno sets up for the Gore but Balor evades and rolls up Rhyno for the 3.

After Balor celebrates and heads up the ramp, Rhyno blindsides him with a Gore which takes him half way across the stage and almost into one of the LED boards and leaves him lying as the episode ends.

During this episode of NXT, a WWE Network live special was announced which will be held in Tokyo on July 4^th from Sumo Hall. I think I saw that it will air live and since it’s from half-way around the world, the live airing will be at 6:30 a.m., which means basically everyone will be watching it after its aired.

The card is:

NXT Title Match

Finn Balor vs. Kevin Owens

WWE Divas Title Match

Paige vs. Naomi vs. Nikki Bella

WWE Tag Team Title Match

Cesaro and Tyson Kidd vs. The New Day

Brock Lesnar vs. Kofi Kingston

Chris Jericho vs. Neville

John Cena and Dolph Ziggler vs. Kane and King Barrett

The Lucha Dragons vs. Los Matadores

On Jericho’s podcast, he mentioned he was going to be wrestling Finn Balor but it seems that plans have changed. If I had to guess, Balor will win the NXT Title since it’s in Japan and he’s presumably going to be the demon, but also because Owens is on the main roster now and doesn’t need to be holding the NXT Title anymore.

Also, due to Tyson Kidd’s reported injury against Samoa Joe recently, one would assume that the tag team title match will be changed, though there’s been no official word yet.

The bWo recently inducted Blue Pants into their group (from Blue Meanie’s Twitter)

Also, there were rumors that several independent stars participated in a WWE Performance Center tryout last week including Tommaso Ciampa, Johnny Gargano, Drew Gulak, Biff Busick, Chuck Taylor Athena, Taeler Hendrix and Jessicka Havok. Also, Pro Wrestling NOAH/Australian wrestlers The Mighty Don’t Kneel (TDMK), Shane Haste and Mikey Nichols. This is all allegedly but I’ve seen lots of reports saying the same thing. Then again, restating false info a bunch of times doesn’t necessarily make it true.

And if you’ve been keeping up with internet news, you might’ve heard that while these tryouts were going on, several old tweets from Jessicka Havok were made public which most likely sunk any chance she had of being offered a contract. I’m not going to be posting any screens of the tweets here (since they’ve been deleted) but suffice to say there were several racist and homophobic comments made on her Twitter, which she has both allegedly apologized for as well as made excuses for, such as “my boyfriend/friends were playing on my phone.” Word was that these tweets came to light during the tryouts themselves which prompted officials leading the tryouts to give a speech about being careful what you put on social media in a public business like pro wrestling, though not specifically singling her out.

And finally, if you ever wanted to know how Chuck Taylor got to be in way better shape than Tyler Black, watch this Sexy Chuckie T Training Montage. (And if you didn’t get the reference in the first sentence, click here)

Lucha Underground, 6/3

Show opens with Chavo in Dario Cueto’s office. Cueto says he’s confused, he thought Chavo quit. He says he did and Cueto wants to know why he’s here. He tells Cueto that Black Lotus is back in the Temple to kill his brother and been trained by “you know who” and Cueto seemed stunned when he realizes he means El Dragon Azteca.

Cueto says it was Chavo’s job to take care of her but he says Dragon got to her first. Cueto says that’s impossible, that Dragon wouldn’t dare step foot inside the Temple and Chavo surmises that he must have someone on the inside. Chavo tells Cueto about Dragon’s promise to erase his debt to Mexico if he promised to protect her. He tells Cueto that he agreed but that a Guerrero is only truly loyal to the highest bidder. Cueto smiles and says he wants Lotus on a silver platter and grabs stacks of cash and asks “What does that cost me?” But Chavo says how about round the clock protection from Mexico? With that out of the way, Cueto asks what he really wants but Chavo just smiles and laughs as the scene ends.

First match features Jack Evans. He snubs a fan for a high-five on his walk out and says he’s the best ever and he invented modern lucha libre. His opponent is Argenis.

Cueto shows up and talks to Argenis. Says he comes from a great family of luchadores but no one really cares about him. And says that even though Jack Evans is talented, he lost his first match so who cares about this match. So to make it interesting, he’s putting up an Aztec medallion on the line, which will bring great fortune to the one who wins it.

Striker says Myzteziz, Argos and Mini Murder Clown (are these real names) are Argenis’ brothers. Evans cheap shots Argenis to start the match and trash talks “Who’s better?!”, like he’s Kanyon.

Argenis staying in it but Evans in control for the most part. He hit a crazy standing corkscrew moonsault and a flying arm bar but couldn’t make Argenis tap.

Argenis was mounting a comeback but Evans gets the win with a backslide and a bridge to win the medallion.

Daivari meets Ryck in the locker room. He says Cueto is giving them a Trios title match tonight but they need a third partner. Ryck suggests The Mack who says “Sure, why not.” But Cage walks in and says “I’ll tell you why not – why choose you when they can have me.”

Daivari asks Cage what makes him the best man for the job and he replies by attacking Mack and throwing him into the lockers until one row falls over then he slams the Mack on them. Daivari says welcome to the team and they walk out as Ryck looks down at Mack but Daivari yells to leave him and Ryck follows.

Chavo tells Black Lotus he talked to Cueto and that her first match is tonight. But then he tries to attack her! She beats the crap out of him and he calls for help and (what’s left of) The Crew rush in with weapons but she takes them out too. But then Chavo hits her from behind with a pipe and pulls out handcuffs as the scene ends.

Trios title match. Delavar Daivari, Big Ryck and Cage out first. The champs follow them shortly after. I don’t know why they make Ivelisse comes down the steps every time even though she has a broken foot.

Angelico starts first with Cage. He easily outquicks Cage but Cage uses his power to start wearing down Angelico. Angelico and Son of Havoc start arguing after a tag and Cage clotheslines them both and Daivari starts working against Havoc. Ivelisse yelling for a tag but Havoc seems to have no intention of tagging her.

Angelico blind tags himself in again and gets overzealous attacking Cage in his own corner and gets overwhelmed. Ryck tags in and drops elbows on him as Ivelisse takes a seat in the crowd since her team won’t tag her in.

The challengers keep Angelico in their corner and overwhelm him, knocking Havoc off the apron. Daivari demands a tag from Ryck and gets it. Ivelisse back on the apron as Daivari and Ryck double team Angelico, setting up for a big lariat. But Ivelisse distracts Daivari who grabs her by the hair and throws her off the apron. But as that happens, Texano shows up and takes out Ryck with the bull rope fist. Angelico hits a running knee on Daivari then takes out Cage with a tope as Havoc hits a shooting star on Daivari for the win.

In Cueto’s office, Chavo has the Crew bring Black Lotus in, all tied up and gagged. He says he has something special for her, a spot right across from his brother, so he never gets lonely again.

Main event submission match. First out, Pentagon Jr. followed by Sexy Star. Pentagon wearing a Perros Del Mal t-shirt, in honor of the recently passed Perro Aguayo Jr.

Pentagon on the mic before the match starts. He promises Sexy Star that tonight, he is going to break her. It’s a sacrifice he’s making to his master because he is zero fear but before he can finish, Star attacks him.

Lots of good chain wrestling to start, neither really gets an advantage. Star hits a dive through the ropes on Pentagon and starts hammering him with kicks and throwing him into the posts. She hasn’t really been working a body part for submission, though.

Duelling “Cero miedo/Sexy Star” chants. They both lock in a few submissions but neither taps. Sexy hits a cross body off the guard rail outside.

Sexy Star locks in a deep single leg Boston Crab in the middle of the ring and it doesn’t seem like Pentagon is going anywhere. Out of nowhere, Super Fly hits the ring and Star seems happy to see him – but he cracks her in the face! Star drops and lets go of Pentagon and Super Fly hits a sit out bomb and gives her back to Pentagon who hits a Package Piledriver. Pentagon locks in a surfboard, modifies it by cranking back on the neck even more and Sexy taps.

Afterward, Pentagon shoves the ref down and sets up to break Sexy’s arm but Vampiro throws off his headset, runs in the ring and shoves him off her. Pentagon winds up to hit Vampiro, but then stops. Vampiro looks conflicted and wants to hit Pentagon but stops himself and walks away.

As the episode ends, Vampiro is in the locker room by himself, thinking back on his past and things he’s done (referenced by himself on commentary). He bashes the mirror in front of him with his head a bunch of times and stares at himself in the broken glass.

Ring of Honor

Best in the World (June 19, Terminal 5 in NYC on PPV and iPPV) updated card:

Champion vs Champion

ROH Champion Jay Briscoe vs ROH TV Champion Jay Lethal

ROH Tag Team Title match

The Addiction (c ) vs. reDRagon - No DQ match

ROH World Title #1 Contender

Roderick Strong vs. Moose vs. Michael Elgin

The Kingdom's Adam Cole and Michael Bennett and Matt Taven w/ Maria Kanellis vs. The Bullet Club's AJ Styles and Young Bucks.

Donovan Dijak with Truth Martini vs. Mark Briscoe

New Japan Pro Wrestling

Best of Super Juniors finals

-Jushin Thunder Liger and Sho Tanaka def. Yohei Komatsu and Ryusuke Taguchi

-Tiger Mask IV def. Chase Owens

-Mascara Dorada def. Barabaro Carvenario

-Bobby Fish def. Baretta

-Rocky Romero def. Nick Jackson

-Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Tomoaki Honma and Satoshi Kojima def. Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi and David Finlay

-Okada and Gedo defeated Bullet Club (Cody Hall & Yujiro Takahashi)

-Shinsuke Nakamura, Toru Yano, Kazushi Sakuraba, Tomohiro Ishii, and YOSHI-HASHI def. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hirooki Goto, Togi Makabe, Captain New Japan & Shibata

-KUSHIDA def. Kyle O'Reilly to win BOSJ. He will now face Kenny Omega at Dominion on 7/5

G1 Climax 25 Competitors announced

Dates:

7/20 - Sapporo

7/23 - Shizouka

7/24 - Kyoto

7/25 Takamatsu

7/26 Hiroshima

7/28 Beppu

7/29 Fukouka

8/1 Osaka

8/2 Nagoya

8/4 Sendai

8/5 Morioka

8/7 Hamamatsu

8/8 Yokohama

8/9, 11, 12 Tokyo Korakuen

8/14, 15, 16 Tokyo Ryogoku

Entrants:

Kazuchika Okada - 2-time winner (2012, 2014) (4th year, consecutive)

AJ Styles - IWGP Heavyweight Champion (2nd year, consecutive)

Hirooki Goto - IWGP Intercontinental Champion, Winner in 2008 (8th year, consecutive)

Togi Makabe - NEVER Openweight Champion, Winner in 2009 (12th year, consecutive)

Hiroyoshi Tenzan - NWA Heavyweight Champion, 3-time winner (2003, 2004, 2006) (20th year, 5 consecutive)

Hiroshi Tanahashi - Winner in 2007 (14th year, consecutive)

Yuji Nagata - Winner in 2001 (17th year, consecutive)

Satoshi Kojima - Winner in 2010 (14th year, 6 consecutive)

Tetsuya Naito - Winner in 2013 (6th year, consecutive)

Katsuyori Shibata - (5th year, 3 consecutive)

Shinsuke Nakamura - Winner in 2011 (12th year, 9 consecutive)

Toru Yano - (10th year, 9 consecutive)

Tomohiro Ishii - (3rd year, consecutive)

Yurjio Takahashi - (6th year, consecutive)

Karl Anderson - (6th year, consecutive)

Doc Gallows - (2nd year, consecutive)

Bad Luck Fale - (2nd year, consecutive)

Michael Elgin - G1 debut

Kota Ibushi - 2nd year (Missed 2014 due to injury)

Notable talent not included:

Suzukigun - Still running things in Pro Wrestling NOAH so unfortunately Minoru Suzuki (the GHC Heavyweight Champ), Lance Archer and Davey Boy Smith Jr. won’t be involved.

CMLL - NJPW has a working relationship with the lucha libre company and it’s surprising that no one from CMLL is in G1 this year.

The Kingdom - The IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Michael Bennett and Matt Taven as well as the newly returned Adam Cole seemed like they could be possibilities for G1 but unfortunately won’t be participating.

Stacked tournament this year with many champions and former winners involved. It’s interesting that Elgin got a spot in the tournament. They must’ve really liked his work on the recent WOTW/GW tour. I hope he’s in a bracket with Ishii and Makabe because those matches would be all out wars.

The fact that no one from Suzukigun, CMLL and The Kingdom were included is a little surprising but with the tournament slimming down from 22 entrants to 20, it’s not too surprising. Hell, the only non-full time NJPW guy in this year is Elgin. But when you go back and look at previous G1 tournaments, it’s usually only comprised of full-time NJPW guys so Elgin getting a spot is actually pretty impressive. Hopefully they don’t give him a Honma-like run from last year and lose every single match.

It’s hard to say who might win this year since there doesn’t seem to be an obvious winner. They could go with Shinsuke if they want to move him back into Heavyweight title contention or they could go with Tanahashi since he’s only won it once. That way, they could have Okada get the belt back before WK10 and then do a rematch of last year, except with the belt on the other guy and have Okada get a Tokyo Dome win.

Or they could get real crazy and have Ibushi win it since they are pushing him to the moon right now. He’s only been in it twice but he’s been putting on spectacular matches since being (basically) full time in NJPW.

There were also rumors that Alberto El Patron would be in the G1 this year, but rumors is all they were. With Alberto being the AAA Champion and with NJPW having a relationship with CMLL, there’s no way they’d bring him in unfortunately. (CMLL and AAA do not like each other and do not get along)

Absolute Intense Wrestling

AIW is holding its annual “Battle of the Sexes” on August 14, part of the annual “Wrestling Geek Fest”. From the image AIW posted on Facebook, looks like Cheech, Colin Delaney, Ethan Page, Josh Alexander, Johnny Gargano, Eddie Kingston and Mad Man Pondo vs. Mary Elizabeth Monroe, Candice LeRae, Annie Social, Heidi Lovelace, Mia Yim, Allysin Kay and Crazy Mary Dobson. 

Smash Wrestling

Chris Hero vs Samoa Joe from Saturday’s show is already available via Smash OnDemand. And the following day, Hero took part in the “Infinity Gauntlet” challenge, a special event held by Smash to raise money for ALS Canada.

For every $500, 30 minutes would be added to the challenge. According to the website (http://smash-wrestling.com/als/) they raised $3,440 meaning Hero would have to wrestle for over 3 hours, regardless of whether he gets pinned or submitted.

The Infinity Gauntlet also included a Lion’s Den match in an MMA cage.

1. Chris Hero def. Rip Impact

2. Rich Swann def. Chris Hero

3. Jason Kincaid def. Chris Hero

4. Chris Hero def. Tarik

5. Chris Hero def. Tyler Thomas

6. Chris Hero def. Brent Banks

7. Facade def. Chris Hero

8. Sebastian Suave def. Chris Hero

9. Chris Hero def. Tarik

10. Chris Hero def. Ben Ortmanns

11. Chris Hero def. Rip Impact

12. Jason Kincaid def. Chris Hero

13. Chris Hero def. Tyler Thomas

14. Chris Hero def. Brent Banks

15. Chris Hero def. Tarik

16. Chris Hero def. Facade

17. Chris Hero and Rich Swann go to a draw as time expires

After time expired, Tarik, who was previously eliminated three times by Hero, donated another $180 for 10 more minutes. Tarik hammered Hero with the Smash Wrestling Championship multiple times, leading to DQ wins for Hero but then an unconscious Hero was pinned several times by Tarik who left the Infinity Gauntlet laughing.

Global Force Wrestling

GFW announced last week the replacements for Tyrus (George T. Murdoch) after he was pulled by TNA at the upcoming shows in Jackson and Knoxville. On Friday in Jackson, Kevin Mathews will face Moose and on Saturday in Knoxville, Moose will face IWA-MS Champion Kongo Kong.

Chikara King of Trios teams

-Bullet Club (AJ Styles, Young Bucks

-Team Lucha Underground (Fenix, Aerostar and Drago)

-Team Fight Club PRO (MK McKinnon and Moustache Mountain [Trent Seven and Tyler Bate])

AAW Pro

AAW Pro bringing in Fenix and Pentagon Jr. for their annual big show of the year, The Windy City Classic XI on November 28 at The Olympic Theater in Cicero, IL.