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

NXT Takeover: Respect

Dash and Dawson spend surprising amount of time in control over. They take out Finn early and work over Joe. Finn comes back a bit but they start to work Finns leg mercilessly. Dash and Dawson use great teamwork to keep Finn isolated and get a close 2 count off a big elbow drop.

Joe gets in and tide turns immediately. Joe hits a Muscle Buster but Finn demands a tag and hits Coup DE Grace for the win but messes up his knee, even though Joe had it covered.

Jordan and Gable vs Rhyno and Corbin next. Jordan and Gable deserve to win but I won't be surprised if Corbin goes over. Jordan and Gable control Rhyno early, working over his arm a lot. But once Corbin comes in, he takes control of Gable. Jordan gets in and takes out both Rhyno and Corbin. But surprise surprise, Corbin nails Gable with the End of Days for the win.

Asuka totally destroys Dana Brooke in her debut match. Brooke and Emma tried their best but Asuka had an answer for Emma and picked apart Dana the whole match. She showed off her impressive skills with a varied offense and won with a crossface chicken wing called the Asuka Lock. Emma tries to get her in face but she backs down from Asuka.

A trainer looks at Balor's knee and Joe doesn't look happy. Could this be what begins the split between Joe and Balor? That Balor put his own glory ahead of their team?

Nia Jax - next week. She’s gonna squash people since she’s a monster (5’11 but I guess that’s monster for a lady). Her name is Lina Fanene and she’s The Rock’s cousin so you know she’s gonna have a rocket strapped to her back.

I’ve seen pictures from live shows where she worked as a heater for Devon Taylor, who apparently wrestles on live shows. As far as I can tell, she’s a homegrown WWE product, never done indies. Though I saw some people online quoting Bayley as having said she wrestled her on the indies. But Wikipedia lists NXT as her first wrestling company so that’s what I’m going with.

Tyler Breeze vs Apollo Crews. Breeze trying his best but he can't counter the size and speed of Crews. Crews showing impressive strength with a stalling vertical suplex. But Breeze uses his NXT experience over Crews to get an advantage, work over Crews back and locks in a sharpshooter.

Crews gets the ropes but Breeze hangs on til 4. Been a very physical match and neither guy has much left. Crews flips over ropes and tweaked his back opening him up for a Supermodel Kick but Breeze only gets a 2. Crews hits gorilla press but Breeze blocks moonsault and small package Crews for 2.

Crews catches Breeze with a boot as he ran into the corner and hefts him up into an Atomic Drop position then spins him into a powerbomb for the win.

Just a really great match overall from both guys. Crews has proven he's already top tier talent. And Breeze proves once again that he deserves better.

Why don't they get a secondary title that changes hands more often than the NXT Title? How about an open challenge belt or a TV title that must be defended every other week and at Takeovers?

Dusty Classic finals - Balor starts against Rhyno. Gutsy move by the champ. Corbin and Joe get in and Joe is beating up Corbin easily. Corbin gets an opening and hits a big move, letting Rhyno in to dominate. Balor gets back in but his knee gives out and gets worked over.

Joe back in like a house of fire but Rhyno surprises with a Gore that Finn breaks up. Joe and Balor win with Muscle Buster and Coup de Grace and Cody, Dustin, Eden, Dusty’s daughter and other Rhodes, or Runnels I guess, are there to present the trophy.

Sasha Banks vs Bayley video package before the main event. Really good despite this garbage BMTH song.

Lots of quick pin attempts in the early goings of this match. Sasha trying to work over Bayley's arm, especially after she lands hard on her neck and shoulder in what looked like a botched suplex. But the Boss tricks Bayley into a handshake and takes control. Sasha tries to use the ropes on a pin. Sasha rakes Bayley's eyes about 21:20 for the first fall!

But then around 19 min, Bayley ties it up with a Belly to Bayley. Sasha works over Bayley outside, throwing her into the steps numerous times in front of Izzy. Sasha takes Bayley up the ramp and throws her into the LED screen and gets a count out win at 15:45. Bayley is crawling back and Izzy is bawling.

It seems like Bayley could get counted out again but Sasha throws Bayley back in and goes to work. Sasha with a deep Boston crab and working over Bayley's back but somehow Bayley gets a pin with a surprise hurricanrana pin combo about 13. Bayley starts to turn the momentum in her favor, getting a few 2 counts. Crowd getting a little big for their britches.

Steph is there and the smarks tried to start a "Better than Raw" chant that died quick. They've been really vocal in this match and it's getting a little grating.  This match has gone to a different level. Bayley catches a tope and hits a B2B on the floor, after using the stairs to launch a flying clothesline.

Bayley hits a B2B from the top but Sasha gets her foot on the rope. Sasha flips out of a top rope Bayleycanrana and hits her own belly to belly then locks in the Banks Statement with 2 min left. Bayley tries to reverse out but Banks kicks off the ropes and locks in again at 1. They battle for position and Bayley rolls out, locks in a sort of Rings of Saturn or the lock that Sabre used to win BOLA and Sasha verbally taps out with 3 seconds left.

The NXT locker room is on the stage and they give Sasha and Bayley big bouquets and both are teary eyed. Sara Del Rey and Regal there with Sasha and Bayley standing tall in the ring is such a great image to end on.

More NXT:

I saw pictures online from recent NXT live events where former indy wrestler Athena starting working matches for NXT. There was conflicting reports about the name she was going by (I’ve heard Athena, I’ve heard Adrienne Reese, and others) but the results I saw had her teaming with NXT trainee Gionna Daddio (who you may remember as the crazy Tyler Breeze fan that ran from the crowd to Breeze during his entrance at a Takeover but hasn’t wrestled on TV yet) in a losing effort against Alexa Bliss and Peyton Royce.

ROH DA 10/7

Highlighting matches from Field of Honor at Brooklyn MCU park, the same night as Takeover Brooklyn.

Time Splitters out first to take on The Briscoes. Looks like a pretty big crowd despite running against NXT. Briscoes control early but Time Splitters work together to get back into it. But the Briscoes don't go away and keep it back and forth. Eventually, Shelley and Kushida work over Mark a bit but then Jay gets back in and takes control.

Looks like the stiffness of the Briscoes broke a tooth in Shelley's mouth. Kushida works over Mark’s arm and gets Hoverboard Lock but Shelley can't atop Jay from breaking it up. TS take control, take out Jay and hit a combo splash and moonsault on Mark but only get 2. Jay in and they clear Shelley, hit Kushida with a crucifix bomb neck breaker combo but only get 2. Mark Saito suplex to Kushida, followed by a Jay Driller from Jay to Shelley for the win. And they shake hands after.

Next week, Watanabe vs Jay Lethal TV Title match.

Up next, gauntlet match for TV #1 contender. Oh wait, seems they are only showing the end of the gauntlet match, Cedric vs Watanabe. And this is how he earned the title shot.

So...they told us Watanabe was going to win before they showed the match? What's the point of that? I know these shows were filmed weeks and weeks ago but you should still act like the TV product is current and relevant. Don't negate the show's relevance by assuming your audience already knows what happens anyway. Anyway, Moose comes out, who was eliminated earlier, and distracts Cedric and Veda. This let's Watanabe hit a German and a half nelson, half arm bar suplex on Cedric, followed by an STO for the win.

Main event time now - Roderick Strong vs IWGP Heavyweight Champ Kazuchika Okada. Crowd is split as they feel each other out. Okada hits a low dropkick on a seated Roddy to take advantage early. But Roddy is able to turn things around easily. Roddy sends Okada to the outside and goes to work, dropping him back first on the railing into the crowd then chest first on another. Okada struggles to get back in and when he does, Roddy is on him and starts to work Okada's back.

Okada starts to get back into it and the action is just as intense as it was at the beginning. Okada sets Roddy on top and sends him crashing to the ground with a dropkick. Back from commercial and Roddy won't go away, and drives the back of Okada into the apron and rolls him in but only gets a 2. They trade stiff shits and Okada staggers first.

Roddy hits a running step up knee followed by a high impact forearm in the corner. Roddy sets him on top. Okada blocks and Roddy with a big enzi followed by a superplex but only gets 2. Stronghold right as Okada kicks out but he gets out and they start to hammer each other.

Roddy hits three jumping knees followed by a Sick Kick but Okada kick out at 2.999 and the crowd can't believe it. Out of nowhere, Okada hits a Tombstone. And then another. Rainmaker pose and goes for Rainmaker clothesline. Roddy throws a knee, Okada catch into a German followed by a Rainmaker clothesline for the win. What a crazy match. They advertised the rest of Field of Honor on VOD which sounds awesome.

ROH DA TV 10/1

-Matt Sydal vs ACH (Best of 5 #4, ACH 2-1)

-Beer City Bruiser and Silas Young vs The Boys

-Watanabe challenges Jay Lethal for the ROH TV Title 

New Japan Pro Wrestling

King of Pro Wrestling results

Jushin “Thunder” Liger, Kushida, Mascara Dorada, Ryusuke Taguchi and Tiger Mask IV def. David Finlay, Jay White, Juice Robinson, Sho Tanaka and Yohei Komatsu

(I want so much for NJPW to do something with the Young Lions but time and time again, they do the job to the vets)

Tomoaki Honma def. Yoshi-Hashi

Manabu Nakanishi, Yuji Nagata, and TenKoji (Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima) def. Captain New Japan, Hirooki Goto, Katsuyori Shibata and Kota Ibushi

(Captain New Japan took the pin here but still – what’s the point of putting a team of old guys [including Nakanishi who moves so slow he seems to be going in reverse] over a team with two guys whose pushes inexplicably end just as they seem to start [Goto/Shibata] and a guy who came into NJPW super-hot and has since done nothing of note [Ibushi].)

reDRagon def. RPG Vice to retain the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Titles

(This match was going well then ended out of nowhere. I don’t think it was supposed to end when it did because Junior tag matches usually build to an explosive finish and this match just sorta ended.)

Kenny Omega def. Matt Sydal to retain the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship

CHAOS (Kazushi Sakuraba, Shinsuke Nakamura and Toru Yano) def. Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson)

Tomohiro Ishii def. Togi Makabe to win the NEVER Openweight Championship

(Honma came out afterwards and it looks like he’s the next in line for a NEVER title shot. He got his first G1 win over Ishii this year – can he score another win over Ishii with gold on the line?)

Hiroshi Tanahashi def. Tetsuya Naito to retain his January 4^th Tokyo Dome title shot

(In this match, another man dressed in the same Los Ingobernables gear that Naito dresses in accompanied him to the ring. This man was revealed to be Takaaki Watanabe, who is now going by the name EVIL.)

Kazuchika Okada def. AJ Style to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Championship

The annual Super Junior Tag Team Tournament has been announced for the Power Struggle tour. 8 teams will compete in a single elimination tournament which culminates at Power Struggle on Nov. 7. The participating teams are:

Tiger Mask IV and Jushin “Thunder” Liger

Ryusuke Taguchi and Mascara Dorada

RPG Vice

reDRagon

The Young Bucks

Time Splitters

Kenny Omega and Chase Owens

Matt Sydal and Ricochet.

Two Road to Power Struggle have been announced for NJPWWorld.com so far.  They are the first two shows of the tour:

Road to Power Struggle, October 23

Saitama/Tokorozawa Civic Gymnasium

-Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask IV and Captain New Japan vs. Juice Robinson, Sho Tanaka and Yohei Komatsu

-reDRagon vs. David Finlay and Jay White

-Ryusuke Taguchi, Mascara Dorada, Alex Shelley and KUSHIDA vs. The Young Bucks vs Chase Owens and Kenny Omega

-Meiyu Tag (Katsuyori Shibata and Hirooki Goto) vs. Bullet Club (Tama Tonga and Cody Hall)

-Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma vs. Tomohiro Ishii and Gedo

-CHAOS (Shinsuke Nakamura, Toru Yano and YOSHI-HASHI) vs. Bullet Club (Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows and Bad Luck Fale)

-Hiroshi Tanahashi, Matt Sydal and Ricochet vs. Kazuchika Okada and RPG Vice (Beretta and Rocky Romero)

Road to Power Struggle, October 24

Korakuen Hall, Tokyo

-Hirooki Goto, Katsuyori Shibata, Togi Makabe and Captain New Japan vs. Yohei Komatsu, Sho Tanaka, Jay White and David Finlay

-CHAOS (Shinsuke Nakamura, Toru Yano, YOSHI-HASHI and Kazushi Sakuraba) vs. Bullet Club (Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows, Bad Luck Fale and Tama Tonga)

-Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tomoaki Honma and Juice Robinson vs. Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii and Gedo

Super Junior Tag Tournament First Round Matches

-Jushin “Thunder” Liger & Tiger Mask IV vs. reDRagon (Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly)

- RPG Vice (Rocky Romero and Beretta) vs. Kenny Omega and Chase Owens

-Mascara Dorada and Ryusuke Taguchi vs. The Young Bucks (Nick and Matt Jackson)

-The Time Splitters (Alex Shelley and KUSHIDA) vs. Matt Sydal and Ricochet

The semifinals of the tournament will take place on November 1st at Korakuen Hall.

Power Struggle, November 7^th

Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium

-Super Junior Tag Tournament Final

-Hirooki Goto vs. EVIL (Takaaki Watanabe)

-Toru Yano and YOSHI-HASHI vs. AJ Styles and Bad Luck Fale

NEVER Openweight Championship

Tomohiro Ishii (c) vs. Tomoaki Honma

-Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kota Ibushi vs. Kazuchika Okada and Kazushi Sakuraba

IWGP Intercontinental Championship

Shinsuke Nakamura (c) vs. Karl Anderson

Juice Robinson will be working in NJPW full time going forward. This is awesome news for the former CJ Parker. Parker left NXT because he didn’t like his direction and wanted to get real world experience on his own and now he’s going to be learning from some of the best pro wrestlers (not sports entertainers) on the planet.

And this just proves to me that if higher level WWE guys left, they could easily find a home in NJPW. Daniel Bryan. Dolph Ziggler. Cesaro. These guys and so many others who are being misused in WWE could but would tear it up in New Japan.

Indy Wrestling

WWNLive/Evolve

Sami Zayn will be appearing at this weekend’s Evolve 49 and 50 events in Queens and Deer Park, respectively. Last week during a conference call, Triple H said he looks at Evolve as a feeder system for NXT and WWE and said he loves what Evolve does. More info can be found at dgusa.tv.

-They say he will be there for a meet and greet on one of the nights and will make a special in-ring appearance that will NOT be broadcast on the iPPV – it will be a special treat for live fans.

- In response, Kevin Owens blocked Gabe Sapolsky on Twitter

Evolve 49

Queens, NY

I Quit Match

Ethan Page vs Johnny Gargano

(If Gargano loses, he leaves WWN forever)

Evolve Champion Timothy Thatcher and TJ Perkins vs RPG Vice (Baretta and Rocky Romero)

For a title shot at Evolve 50

Drew Gulak vs Trevor Lee

Anthony Nese vs Andrew Everett vs Matt Cage vs Peter Kassa

Tracy Williams vs Willie Mack

Matt Riddle vs Jonathan Gresham

Evolve 50

Deer Park, NY

Evolve Championship

Timothy Thatcher (c) vs Winner of Gulak/Lee

RPG Vice (Baretta and Rocky Romero) vs The Premier Athlete Brand (Caleb Konley and Anthony Nese)

Willie Mack vs Loser of Gulak/Lee

TJ Perkins vs Tracy Williams

Matt Riddle vs Chris Dickinson

Andrew Everett vs Peter Kassa

Ethan Page vs Matt Cage

Johnny Gargano noted on Twitter that after Tuesday, you'll no longer be able to buy the “Johnny Wrestling” t-shirt. If I had to guess – this indicates that he’s signing a full-time WWE deal and they are taking the nickname for themselves, like they did with Pac’s “Man That Gravity Forgot.”

This Page/Gargano I Quit match with the “loser leaves town” stip on Gargano is just another indication that he is possibly headed to WWE full time. Evolve/DG USA has been his home promotion for a while (for example, he’s the longest reigning DG USA Open the Freedom Gate title holder ever) so if he’s “leaving,” there’s really only one place that he could end up.

Absolute Intense Wrestling

“Big Trouble in Little Cleveland” this Friday

-No card announced yet but there is a big reason to check out AIW this weekend. Wrestling legend Terry Funk will be at this show for a special meet and greet and autograph signing.

Combat Zone Wrestling

CZW Tangled Web results

Pre-show

-“The Pectoral Poseidon” Rex Lawless (who may just go by Poseidon in CZW) and his Sea Friends def. Frankie Pickard and the Dub Boys

-Lio Rush def. AARON Williams

iPPV

-Sozio def. Pepper Parks

-AR Fox def. Joe Gacy

-Team Tremendous def. Beaver Boys to retain the tag titles

-Joey Janella def. Tim Donst to win the CZW Wired Championship

-Greg Excellent def. Dick Justice to win the honorary CZW Junior Heavyweight Championship

-Masada def. Rory Gulak

-JT Dunn def. David Starr

-Matt Tremont def. Blk Jeez to retain the CZW World Heavyweight Championship

(Afterward, DJ Hyde announced that since there’s no #1 contender for the World title, he’s making Masada vs AR Fox vs Devon Moore vs Matt Tremont in Cage of Death for the title)

-Nation of Intoxication def. OI4K in a Tangled Web match

CZW notes

-Jake Crist is apparently retiring after “Cerebral” on Nov. 7 in Dayton, Ohio.

-Not sure why DJ Hyde made the COD main event at this show. He said it was “since there’s no #1 contender”…even though there’s two shows between Tangled Web and COD XVII (Cerebral on Nov. 7 and Night of Infamy on Nov. 21).

CZW vs IWS

“Freedom to Fight”

Vampiro, Green Phantom, and the Hardcore Ninjas vs Nation of Intoxication (Danny Havoc, Devon Moore, Lucky 13 and Conor Claxton)

CZW World Championship No DQ Match

Matt Tremont (c) vs PCP F’n Crazy Manny

CZW Tag Team Championship rematch

Team Tremendous (c) vs Tabernak de Team

DJ Hyde vs Shayne Hawk

“Chainsaw” Joe Gacy vs Exess

Sozio vs Rory Gulak

Speaking of IWS

Mike Bailey is getting a shot in AAA and Smash Wrestling announced that he wouldn't be on the Something Different show, which is Oct 16. Also have a show Nov 7 that is an anniversary show. Rumors are he's signed full time. Don't know for sure. It's great that he gets a shot in AAA but I hope he doesn't leave the US Indy scene for too long. Then again - Bailey in AAA means Lucha Underground is a possibility. 

Someone on Wreddit said that it was IWS who announced Bailey’s AAA deal but I don’t think IWS has much of a web presence anymore so it might be hard to verify if that’s true. (I looked up IWS on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram but I couldn’t find any info from them about it)

https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/3oice7/speedball_mike_bailey_signs_with_aaa/

Ol’ Blue Pants – The El Generico of NXT

Every now and then I’ll see posts on wrestling message boards asking for help to get back into WWE. Sometimes the questions are about current wrestlers or if past ones are still in the ring. Some ask about current storylines and often about how to get into NXT. But I’ve also seen the same specific question – who is Blue Pants and why does she seem to be so popular?

It’s not an easy question to answer. Blue Pants (independent wrestler Leva Bates) hasn’t wrestled very often in NXT, only won once, has very plain attire and has never cut a promo. Yet despite all that, has become a favorite among NXT fans, getting huge reactions at the NXT Arena in Full Sail University and even been interviewed by WWE.com.

Blue Pants – aka Leva Bates – has been wrestling since 2006 but only made her NXT debut in Sept. 2014, taking on Carmella in a losing effort. Since then, she’s wrestled five more times for NXT and actually won a match against Carmella in Dec. 2014. But in that first appearance, a star was born. Even though she’s just an enhancement talent (a nice way of saying she’s a jobber), fans quickly latched onto Blue Pants because of her upbeat attitude and enthusiasm, despite seemingly having no character beyond being happy to be there and being named after the color of her pants.

And as I thought about what made fans so enamored with Blue Pants, it made me recall another ultra-popular wrestler with an equally simplistic character – El Generico.

El Generico got his start in Quebec, Montreal, Canada for International Wrestling Syndicate in 2002. ProFightDB.com lists his first match as a four-way at CZW’s High Stakes 2 in 2004 (with Kevin Steen, Excess 69 and won by Sexxxy Eddy) though CageMatch.net has his first match listed as 2002 with IWS against TNT, a match which he won by count out.

The story I’ve always heard about El Generico’s origin is this – the Generico gimmick wasn’t meant to be permanent, rather he was just supposed to be another jobber. He had generic tights, a generic luchadore mask and even had the word “generic” right in his name. Nothing was supposed to stand out about El Generico – except, somehow, the fans absolutely loved him. They loved him so much he won his first 8 matches in IWS and his first loss was in an IWS Heavyweight Title match against Dru Onyx.

Blue Pants was even inducted into the bWo!

 

It’s hard to say why the fans took to Generico so much initially. But as time went on, he developed into a beloved, ultra-babyface character that just wanted to wrestle and put on great matches, which the fans really connected with. And the same could be said of Blue Pants.

Like Generico, she isn’t flashy and her name is based on the attire that she just happened to be wearing for her debut. She’s just happy to be able to work for NXT and I think it’s her earnest enthusiasm which the fans picked up on and took to right away. Just look at the June 10 edition of NXT TV in her match against (Evil) Emma – Blue Pants got arguably the biggest pop of the night. It’s hard to say if Ol’ Blue Pants will have as lengthy a career as El Generico or if she’ll ever be brought in full time by WWE, but one thing is for sure, just like El Generico, Blue Pants has definitely won the heart of the crowd.

(I actually wrote this several months ago and never posted it for some reason. I don’t think it will feel too dated and with Blue Pants showing up at NXT Takeover: Brooklyn, it feels like as good a time as any. I actually saw Leva wrestle in some tiny town in middle to northern New Jersey against Veda Scott in…I wanna say late 2013. It was for a Wrestling Is show and there were maybe 50-80 people there, it’s very cool to see someone who works incredibly hard at both costumes and cosplay as well as wrestling, like Leva does, get such a big reaction at a huge event like Takeover: Brooklyn.)

NXT, Lucha Underground and Indy Wrestling Minutes - You weekly source for independent wrestling news

So, so much to talk about this week. We got what could have been the show of the year on NXT last week and at the same time, Lucha Underground put on an incredible show too with one of the most impressive ladder matches I’ve ever seen. But, great highs don’t come without lows and there’s some unfortunate news near the end of this report. But let’s get into NXT Takeover: R Evolution, a show I’ve watched a few times already and could watch a few more times probably – it was that good.

NXT Takeover: R Evolution

  Amazing, amazing show from top to bottom. Kevin Owen’s debut, great Women’s title match, Balor’s war paint, teasing Corbin/Dempsey for reals, Zayn winning the title and Owen’s incredible betrayal – R Evolution had it all. TLC&S is gonna have a hard time following that. (I obviously wrote that last sentence before TLC and spoiler alert – it wasn’t nearly as good as R Evolution)

  The set up video package for the show was quick but hit all the big points and hyped the show really well. Kevin Owens really did take over, going from brand new guy to NXT Title contender and top heel in an instant. Plus, Corey Graves announced he was retiring from in-ring competition and will be full-time on the commentary team but actually was really good on commentary. He brought depth that was missing that no one else on the team really adds.

  Kevin Owens debuts and has some decent theme music. Kinda plain but it works. Like his T-shirt style too – simple but stands out. I just hope the same thing doesn’t happen to him that happened to the last guy who used the KO initials.

  Owens takes on CJ Parker, who we haven’t seen much of lately. Parker is good in the ring and has a really great, firmly established character, it’s just too bad that creative has nothing for him.

  Owens starts the match lightning fast, hitting two clotheslines as the bell sounds followed by a cannonball senton in the corner. Owens then rips up Parker’s sign and hits a huge tope con hilo drawing maybe the first “holy shit” chant from the crowd.  Graves puts him over until Riley calls him a “flying cow.”

  Owens backs Parker into the corner and hits some chops until Drake pulls him off and Parker uses the space to take him off his feet with a big kick and starts putting the boots to Owens. He collects himself and sends Parker into the corner and rushes in, but gets knocked down with a huge palm strike that breaks Owens’ nose. Seems like they went right to the finish after that and makes me wonder if they had a longer match planned but went to the finish after seeing how badly Owens was bleeding. Owens wipes his blood off and picks up Parker, dropping him across his knee with a cradle neckbreaker which honestly could have been his finisher but then pins him with a pop up powerbomb.

  I noticed that they used lots of backstage/locker room footage during Takeover of guys warming up and getting ready for their matches. Gave it almost a UFC, big fight type feel.

  Lucha Dragons versus Vaudevillains for the NXT Tag Team titles was next. Kinda surprised how over the Vaudevillains are. That’s why they need to be more heelish, to try and turn the fans off to them. But then again, there isn’t a team the NXT crowd likes more (besides Balor and Itami maybe) for them to be heels against.

  Dragons start the match in control, using high flying and double team moves to stay in control but the Vaudevillains start tagging in and out quick to keep Sin Cara grounded.  English knocks Cara to the outside and trips Kalisto out of nowhere and the crowd starts chanting for Aiden English. Wut? That’s a heel move guys. Wrestling 101 - you don’t cheer heels.

  Kalisto gets tagged in and hits lots of crazy moves. A springboard corkscrew splash that lands perfectly, a no-handed rebound into a stiff kick. They send Gotch and English to the outside and both Dragons suicide dive out and English pushes Gotch out of the way and the crowd chants “chivalry.” Kalisto rolls Gotch back in and hits the Selina Del Sol for the win and retains.

   Next Tye Dillinger up to take on Baron Corbin. Corbin may not have shown much in the ring so far but his entrance is great. They also announce that next week, Renee Young will interview Kevin Owens.

  The crowd starts to count the time but the match goes over 30 seconds and they start to lose interest in it. Corbin does more than punch/finisher though, picking up Dillinger and dropping him on the top turnbuckle face first and a big boot followed by the End of Days. But during the match, Bull Dempsey is shown standing in the front row watching the match and afterwards, claps sarcastically for Corbin. Corbin actually acknowledges him unlike last week, and stares daggers at Dempsey. During the cover, Corbin spins around on Dillinger to stare down Dempsey.

  Graves added a lot to this one. At first, says he runs in the same circles as Corbin and that he doesn’t say much but when he does you better listen. Then at the end, during the stare down, he adds that it’s almost like Corbin is daring Bull to try something.

Triple H and Kenta joining Bullet Club confirmed.

  The Ascension out to take on Hideo Itami and Finn Balor. Hideo sporting some new yellow and black gear which looks pretty cool. But doesn’t compare to Balor’s new look. His entrance music has a long hype period with a heartbeat and lots of fog. Has a crazy body paint that’s like dragon/Carnage-esque (I later found that this was his interpretation of the demon, Balor) Also streamers on his wrists and on his head, which sorta look like dreads, almost like the Predator. Huge fangs painted on his upper chest and lower jaw to make him look like some crazy demon.

  All four start brawling before the bell. Balor’s entrance gets a “That was awesome” chant. Hope they keep it only for PPVs and big events to keep it special. Like his war paint for important battles.

  Itami and Viktor start the match. The Ascension corner Itami for a lot of the match. He tries to get momentum going with big strikes but Konnor and Viktor use their size and strength to keep him grounded and on their side of the ring. Just noticed someone tried to start a “We want Kenta” chant that got booed down followed by a “Hi-de-o” chant.

  Teasing lots of hot tags in this one. Cutting off Hideo, knocking Balor off the apron and keeping Itami in their corner. Balor pulls out Tanahashi’s Slingblade move too. Balor misses a double stomp but lands a reverse implant DDT (commentary calls it a reverse brain buster).

  Itami gets a huge pop when he teases hitting Viktor with the Go2Sleep. Konnor blocks it and they set up for the Fall of Man but Itami pulls out Konnor. Itami sick kick on Konnor, Balor Pele kick on Viktor and both nail double stomps and Balor gets the pin.

Hideo Itami and Finn Balor celebrate after defeating The Ascension.

  And just like Cena is a hype vampire, Roman Reigns shows up so Renee can talk to him about how he was voted “Superstar of the Year” allegedly completely legitimately. He puts over the show and the main event but also says he has one goal, to be the first NXT alumni to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Umm…wasn’t Daniel Bryan technically an NXT alumni?

  Ric Flair backstage with Charlotte before her match. Unfortunately they don’t use him on the actual show.

  Sasha Banks takes a Charlotte shirt and changes it from “If you’re gonna do it, do it with Flair” to “Do it like a boss.” In a nice touch, Little Naitch is the ref for this one.

  These two have one of the best rivalries in NXT right now and they put on a really good match. They really seem to hate each other and Sasha wants the belt almost as much as Charlotte wants to prove she’s better than Sasha.

  Women’s championship matches outshine Divas matches in almost every way possible. The moves are more vicious and believable and the workrate is more intense. Like the male wrestlers, Sasha and Charlotte actually seem like they’re beating the hell out of each other, instead of just going through the motions until the match ends as it seems like in every single Divas match, championship or otherwise.

  Maybe the first women’s match ever to get a “This is wrestling chant.” Charlotte pulling out all the stops. Hits a spear on Sasha, goes for a moonsault but lands on her feet when Sasha moves and hits a standing front flip senton. After Sasha sets up Charlotte for a superplex, Charlotte front slams her to the mat. Pulls Sasha up by the hair and hits a Natural Selection off the top rope to retain the title.

  Hilarious at the end, Lil Naitch has to point Charlotte to celebrate toward the hard cam.

  The crowd is massively behind Sami Zayn before the main event. Let’s Go Sami chant punctuated by Neville Sucks.  Starts off with great back and forth chain wrestling. On commentary they talk about how much Adrian Neville and Zayn have come to hate each other. They won’t train at the same time, had coaching times changed so they won’t be around each other and don’t even want to be in the same room as the other.

  Neville showing some impressive strength in this match. Hitting a German suplex with a picture perfect bridge and a sitout powerbomb that had to take some strength. But Zayn keeps coming back at him, hitting numerous dives to the outside after Neville retreats (a sitout springboard moonsault and a tope con hilo) as well as numerous heavy clotheslines and one of the best spots of the whole match, Neville handspring and Zayn catches in an electric chair then transitions into a Blue Thunder Bomb. Another great spot was Zayn getting the knees up on a Red Arrow attempt and turning it into a Koji Clutch but Neville got to the ropes.

  Zayn sets up for an exploder suplex in the corner but Neville reverses it into a victory roll. As Zayn kicks out, he throws Neville off of him but his head collides with the ref’s who was counting the pin. Zayn goes to check on the ref and Neville hits him with a superkick and a reverse rana but Zayn kicks out somehow.

  Start trading forearms, Zayn ducks a high kick and hits two Germans followed by a half and half. Neville stands up in the corner and Zayn sets up for the Helluva Kick but Neville rolls out. Zayn follows and dives through the ropes and hits a tornado DDT. He rolls Neville back into the ring who pulls himself up in the corner. Zayn again sets up for the Helluva Kick but Neville pulls the ref between them and he gets taken out a second time.

  Neville on the outside grabs the NXT Title but Zayn hits him with a big boot when he comes back in. Zayn picks up the belt and goes to hit Neville with it but looks conflicted about using it against Neville to help him win. But he decides not to (and actually yells “No, f*ck that!” which they muted when I rewatched it) and turns to put the belt down but Neville slides over and rolls him up...but Zayn kicks out! As Neville rushes in, Zayn hits an exploder into the corner followed by a Helluva Kick to become the NXT Champion! (When the ref raises his hand, there’s a few more “I’m the f*cking man!” that get muted out too)

  Afterward the locker room empties to come out and congratulate Sami and the charge is led by none other than Kevin Owens. They embrace as the rest of the NXT roster applauds Zayn and then lifts him up on their shoulders. (And Solomon Crowe makes his TV debut with spiked up hair and a terrible spray tan!) Even Pat Patterson gets in the ring to congratulate Zayn (Drake is there too)

  All during the celebrations and confetti, Neville is slumped in the corner where he has been since the match ended. Neville eventually gets up and the other wrestlers make room. Sami puts the belt down and puts his hand out to shake. Neville kicks it away but then embraces Sami and raises his hand.

   Zayn gets on the turnbuckle to celebrate some more as the ring empties. He sits on the apron and just takes a good long look at the belt and Owens comes back and hugs Zayn again. Owens puts him arm around Zayn as they walk out...then slams Zayn onto the ramp! He throws the belt aside then powerbombs Zayn into the apron as blood from his broken nose begins to trickle down his face. William Regal meets Owens on the ramp as he walks out and is seething with anger but Owens just walks on by him. Regal and some refs call for the doctor as the show goes to black.

Lucha Underground, Episode 7

  Lucha Underground opens with a video package about how the $100,000 ladder match came to be. Mundo threatening Cueto, taking that key necklace, Mundo demanding the money, Ryck confronting him, Puma attacking him (for Mundo costing him the match against Ryck) and Cueto eventually saying they would all have a shot at the money in a ladder match.

  Also, “Machete” star Danny Trejo is in the front row for this episode.

  King Cuerno in the first match of the night, with his ridiculous deer headdress. He’s been feuding with Drago the past few weeks but this episode he has a new opponent - Super Fly. Commentary talks up Super Fly a lot but he easily gets taken advantage of by Cuerno with a big clothesline, hard punches and a big back drop. Drago is at the top of the arena watching Cuerno. Vampiro is very impressed by Striker saying Drago looks like a gargoyle for some reason.

  Super Fly hits a rana but Cuero easily takes control with a big drop kick. Super Fly hits a hand spring moonsault over the top rope. But Cuerno reverses a suplex and hits a big knee to Super Fly’s face and stares down Cuerno has he hits his finisher for the win.  Drago still in the same spot and Cuerno points at him as if to say “I know you’re there, I’m coming for you.”

  Video package about Pentagon Jr. on how he learned lucha in Mexico but had to go east to Japan to learn the best training in the world and surpassed them all and now he has “zero fear.”

  Next, Pentagon accompanies Chavo to the ring. Chavo up to face Fenix, who is accompanied by Sexy Star. Dueling “Let’s go Chavo/Let’s go Fenix” chants. Back and forth strikes between them, Fenix hits a drop kick and gets a 1 count followed by a Fujiwara armbar.

  Fenix to the apron and springboards up into a Knees of Meteora but Chavo grabs his leg and rolls through into a single leg Boston Crab. Fenix barely gets to the ropes, which Pentagon was trying to pull away from him. Chavo pulls him to the corner and slams his leg on the post then keeps working it in the ring.

  Fenix tricks Chavo into diving outside them goes to the top rope and hits a corkscrew plancha on both Chavo and Pentagon. Chavo seems to be limping too. Fenix sets him up on top, hits big palm strike and springboards up and hits a superkick which sends Chavo to the mat. But as Fenix gets on the top himself, Sexy Star gets the refs attention and Pentagon pushes Fenix off the top rope. Chavo races to the top rope and hits frog splash for the win. Sexy Star hits the ring and both Chavo and Pentagon run off.

  Sexy Star gets on the mic and says she isn’t done with Chavo and that Blue Demon Jr. is coming back soon for Chavo.

  Video package introducing another new luchadore. It’s the Swoleverine, Brian Cage! They’re just calling him Cage but dude is looking jacked and video shows him working out, doing moonsaults and tossing around some guy. “Losing isn’t getting pinned, losing is giving up. I’m not strong because I work out, I’m not quick because I run fast. I win because I simply want it more. I’m not a man - I’m a machine. You call me Cage.”

  Main event starting already. Gonna be pretty damn long, like 25 minutes left in the show.

  Mundo still has that key he took from Cueto. Says it’s his insurance policy (against not getting his money) and Vamp and Striker reference, saying they want to know what it’s for.

  Puma and Mundo start off attacking Ryck together, who quickly escapes the ring. Mundo takes the chance to attack Puma. Mundo takes Puma down with a running knee to a seated Puma and goes to get a ladder, but Ryck blindsides him. As he goes to slide it in, Puma baseball slides the ladder into Ryck. Puma sets up the ladder and gets halfway up but Mundo pulls him down.

  Puma and Mundo are really nailing each other with big kicks and stiff looking shots. Mundo and Puma climb the ladder and start trading punches but Ryck pushes the ladder over and sends them to the mat then folds it up and hits both with it, sending them to the floor. He starts to climb but calls out Cisco and Cortez Castro to climb the ladder for him.

  Puma and Mundo pull Cortez off the ladder and send him outside with Ryck and Cisco is still at the top. They lift one side of the ladder up and send him crashing to the floor and both Ryck and Cortez pretty much miss catching him. Mundo and Puma start trading shots and Mundo whips Puma off the ropes and backdrops him on the ladder leaning against the top rope. Then Mundo hits the ropes and runs across the ladder and hits a flipping senton onto Ryck and the Crenshaw Crew. Mundo sets up two tables on the outside right in front of Danny Trejo.

  Mundo sets up the biggest ladder next to the tables with Cisco on them. He climbs to the top but Puma starts punching him, springboard up then pulls him down across the top rope. He goes to dive at Mundo on the apron but he ducks, Puma flies through the big ladder and takes out Ryck and the Crenshaw Crew. Mundo pushes the ladder over trying to hit Puma but it crashes around him and doesn’t hit Puma.

  Puma sets up a ladder and Mundo follows him. Mundo hammers him with punches and has a hand on the case but Puma stops him and hits a cutter off the top. With both guys down, Ryck and the Crew hits the ring and starts working over both Puma and Mundo. Set up a ladder bridge from the ladder in the middle to the top rope, whip Mundo into it then catapult him up into it. Ryck isolates Puma and the Crew take on Mundo. They set him up in the corner but Mundo knocks off Cortez and throws Cisco through the two tables on the outside. Back in the ring, Puma and Cortez in the corner with a table set up beneath it. They fight on the top rope and Puma uses a Knees of Meteora to smash Cortez through the table. But as he turns around, Mundo nails him in the face with a ladder.

  Mundo and Ryck fight over a ladder and Ryck pushes him to the corner. Mundo leaps up over the ladder and hits a corkscrew press onto him then sets him up in the corner on a ladder and hits his finisher, The End of the World (a split leg corkscrew moonsault). After that Puma hits a 630 senton onto Ryck on the ladder, and I’d guess he’s pretty much dead.

  Puma sends Mundo outside but instead of climbing a ladder, he sets one up in the corner across the second rope. Vampiro saying Konnan must be pissed seeing him not go for the money. He throws Mundo inside and sets him up on it and goes to the top but Mundo kicks him and stands up on the ladder. Puma front suplex Mundo on the ladder. Ryck back up now and Puma leaps onto him but Ryck catches him in a powerbomb, then picks him up against powerbombs him on Mundo on the ladder. Then Ryck takes Mundo and uranage him in the middle of the ring. Ryck presses Puma over his head and throws Puma out of the ring and through the big ladder set up from the ring to a barricade.

  Ryck climbs two ladders to get to the briefcase and Striker acts like it’s over, but Mundo gets back in the ring and follows him up. Ryck looks really uneasy on the ladders and Mundo low blows Ryck and sends him off the ladders. It looks like it’s over but a masked man runs into the ring and pushes him off the ladders. He keeps attacking Mundo and Striker acts like it’s a fan or someone who jumped the railing (even though he’s wearing a Pentagon mask and so why couldn’t it have been him). He takes the mask off and it’s B-Boy! Looks like he’s motioning at Ryck to get up and Mundo pulls him out and superkicks him on the outside as Ryck gets up and sets up the ladder, telling the Crew to climb it. Mundo tricks Ryck and pulls him down across the top rope then springboards onto a ladder set up next to the one the Crew are climbing. He kicks over the ladder the Crew are on and grabs the briefcase to win the $100,000.

 Afterward, Cueto on the mic and congratulates him and says he hopes they can have a lucrative business relationship going forward - that is, if Mundo gives him back his insurance policy (that key). Mundo grabs the key and Cueto tells him to be a gentleman and put it around his neck. Mundo bunches up the necklace in his hand and knocks out Cueto with it then lays the key on his chest. Striker says that next week Mundo is gonna find himself on the indies - because, you know, LU isn’t an indy.

 

Ring of Honor

Former WWE Superstar Alberto Del Rio (now known as El Patron Alberto) will be joining the Ring of Honor roster in 2015. The news was teased last week but recently made official by ROH.

Even more exciting is that Alberto’s first opponent in ROH has been named. On January 3, during the Winter Warriors tour, he will face “The Fallen Angel” Christopher Daniels in their first ever meeting. Later in the month, Alberto will face ACH on Jan. 30 in Dearborn, Michigan.

Alberto has been causing a huge stir in the world of pro wrestling since leaving WWE. Having joined back up with Mexican promotion AAA, Alberto recently defeated Texano Jr. to become the AAA Heavyweight Champion and is also the first man to win heavyweight championships in AAA, CMLL [as Dos Caras Jr] and in the WWE. He also made a huge surprise appearance at the House of Hardcore 7 show in Philadelphia on November 15.

ROH recently began announcing participants in this year’s “Top Prospect Tournament.” Seven wrestlers have been announced so far – Will Ferrara, Ashley Sixx, J. Diesel, Mikey Webb, “The Peacock of Professional Wrestling” Dalton Castle, the Beer City Bruiser and “The Missouri Madman” Jake Dirden. The winner of the TPT this year gets a guaranteed shot at the Television Title in Baltimore on March 7. Previous winners Matt Taven and Hanson have become staples in the company so winning the TPT would be a big boost to one man’s career in ROH.

Will Ferrara is a student at the ROH Dojo and been stepping up in the company in recent months, filling in spots in matches and getting his name out there and winning the TPT could catapult him to a top spot in the company.

I’m not familiar with Ashley Sixx but they say he’s been training with Michael Elgin so he’s going to be bringing the rough-and-tumble style of his mentor to the TPT.

Mikey Webb is a product of the New England wrestling scene which has been a hotbed for great new stars over the past few years. Previous TPT winners Matt Taven and Hanson are out of the New England circuit as well and Webb looks to make it 3-for-3 for the region. I’ve seen Webb a few times in Rhode Island’s Beyond Wrestling and though he only made his debut in 2012, Webb brings a high energy performance to the ring and could have what it takes to win this year’s tournament.

We’ve been seeing more of J. Diesel recently in ROH as he’s aligned himself with Truth Martini and the House of Truth. Acting as the bodyguard for TV Champ Jay Lethal, Diesel isn’t afraid to get in the face of anyone in his path. Since joining Truth and Lethal, he’s been more vicious and since the winner of the TPT gets a TV Title shot, I’m sure Truth Martini will be looking to help Diesel advance and keep the title with the House of Truth.

I’m not familiar with Dalton Castle but I’ve seen his work in Chikara where he wrestles as “Smooth Sailing” Ashley Remington. A skilled amateur wrestler, Castle will look to use his high-energy persona and solid wrestling background to become this year’s Top Prospect.

The Beer City Bruiser may not a traditional entrant into the TPT, since he made his pro debut back in 2000, but the massive wrestler is looking to make a name for himself in ROH. Like Hanson last year, Beer City Bruiser will look to use his size and toughness to crush his opponents and become this year’s Top Prospect.

The most recent announced participant is Jake Dirden, known as the “The Missouri Madman.” Like the Beer City Bruiser, Dirden will use his considerable height and weight to his advantage as well as his wild fighting style. Dirden recently completed his first tour of Japan, working and training in Pro Wrestling NOAH. Using the Asiatic Spike to choke out his opponents, Dirden will be a considerable test for the other competition in the TPT.

Pro Wrestling Guerrilla

PWG hosted “Black Cole Sun” last Friday night and while it sounds like a great show, there’s a lot of bad news that came out of it. Let’s get into the results.

AR Fox, ACH and Rich Swann defeated Chuck Taylor, Johnny Gargano and Bobby Fish with the Low Mein Pain on Fish

Excalibur announced Roderick Strong wasn’t there due to a storm and missed his flight.

John Morrison (Johnny Mundo) and Ezekiel Jackson (Big Ryck) were sitting front row at the show. Scouting talent for Lucha Underground, maybe?

Adam Cole defeated Cedric Alexander with Florida Keys (a straight jacket German suplex). After the match, Cole announced that he hurt his shoulder against Jay Briscoe at Final Battle and will need surgery. No word on how long he’ll be out but it will probably be a while

Trevor Lee defeated Chris Hero with a small package. Lee has been killing it in PWG. I don’t think he’s lost since his first match against Cedric Alexander and Andrew Everett. I also really like how he doesn’t have a flashy finisher, but beats everyone with a simple small package.

World’s Cutest Tag Team (Joey Ryan and Candice LeRae) retained the PWG Tag Team titles against Frankie Kazarian and Christopher Daniels with a Superkick from Ryan to Daniels as he was seated on the mat. WCTT has looked really strong lately and I don’t know who could take them out. But this is PWG so it’ll probably be the Young Bucks (though I really hope it can be the Best Friends when Trent? is back in action).

Brian Cage won a four way (the meatiest four way in professional wrestling history) against Uhaa Nation, Tommaso Ciampa and Biff Busick when he pinned Busick with a discus lariat. All four of these dudes could be top guys in PWG and it’ll be interesting to see who breaks out of these matches to take a top spot. I’m hoping for Brian Cage (who it seems like it will be) though Busick has gotten over super quick, Ciampa has been impressive over the past year and Nation made a big impact in his first few matches.

Matt Sydal and Chris Sabin defeated the Young Bucks with a standing Shooting Star. Kinda surprised the Bucks lost to the make-shift team of Sabin and Sydal. Ever since Mount Rushmore disintegrated, the Bucks just seem to have lost an edge in PWG.

Kyle O’Reilly retained the PWG World Championship against Ricochet with triangle choke but after the match, Roderick Strong came out and attacked O’Reilly! He challenged O’Reilly to an impromptu Guerrilla Warfare match for the PWG title and O’Reilly, being too much of a babyface, accepted.

Roderick Strong defeated Kyle O’Reilly to become the NEW PWG World Champion with a front suplex onto chairs followed by the Strong Hold. Afterward, Roddy told the crowd to go f*ck themselves and left. I’m kinda really surprised by this outcome and almost wish I didn’t read spoilers about it and watched it fresh on DVD. Roddy is going to be a great heel champion and he really deserves to be the top guy in PWG as he always works his ass off to put on amazing matches.

There were rumors after the show (stemming from posts on the PWG message board) that Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly, Bobby Fish and Michael Elgin are no longer going to be working PWG shows due to their contracts in ROH. Joey Ryan confirmed on Twitter that Black Cole Sun was Cole and O’Reilly’s last show so it seems likely that other ROH stars are in similar positions.

This really sucks. O’Reilly should have been allowed to have a much longer reign as World champ than he did because like Roddy, he always works really hard to put on compelling matches. Plus, I was really hoping to see reDRagon in DDT4 this year. Not only that, but Bobby Fish was also starting to come into his own as a singles guy in PWG. I’m less upset about Cole and Elgin because for one, Elgin hasn’t been there in months anyway and unless he was working in the Unbreakable F’n Machines with Cage, didn’t have much going for him. And it sucks that Cole won’t be around anymore, but there’s not much left for him to have done in PWG.

I can understand why ROH wants to keep their top guys fresh and focused on working their product but it’s still really lame to take away a payday for them and take them away from the fans. But, this makes room for new guys to step up in PWG and I can’t wait to see who does.

Other notes

WWNLive announces they will return to China and signs a multi-year deal with Great Wall Sports to promote future shows in China.

Mark Andrews won Season 2 of TNA British Boot Camp. Andrews worked in the Chikara King of Trios this year (with Damien and Peter Dunne), defeating The Bloc Party in the first round before losing to eventual champions The Devastation Corporation. Andrews beat out finalists Kay Lee Ray, El Ligero, Nikki Storm, Kris Travis, Rampage Brown and Noam Dar to win a contract in TNA and has worked for Progress Wrestling and ATTACK Pro Wrestling in Britain.

There’s now a “Select language” option at the bottom of the page of New Japan World which is powered by Google Translate. I had been using the Translate option in Google Chrome to check out the site but it seems like this works a little better somehow. Still haven’t signed up but this makes me very tempted to.