#it started with aew storming into a wwe event

[blowflyfag]

Pro Wrestling Illustrated: April 2024

TOP 10 NEWS STORIES

MERCEDES MONE KICKS OFF GROUNDBREAKING YEAR FOR WOMEN’S WRESTLING

WITH REPORTS OF six-figure paydays and buzz of potential dream matches aplenty, the former Sasha Banks got 2023 off to a hot start by signing with New Japan–even if it ended up being something of a false start.

Eight months after walking out of WWE, Mercedes Mone shocked fans inside the Tokyo Dome when she appeared at Wrestle Kingdom 17 to announce she had joined NJPW. Mone would work on a perdate deal with New Japan and its sister promotion, Stardom, in what was rumored to be one of the most lucrative contracts ever offered by Bushiroad.

In front of a record streaming audience on NJPW World, Mone physically overtook IWGP Women’s champion KAIRI (Sane)--setting up a title match for Mone’s official NJPW debut at Battle in the Valley in San Jose, California, the following month.

“The CEO” beat KAIRI to capture the title. She held it for two months before dropping it to Mayu Iwatani at Stardom’s All-Star Grand Queendom event on April 23.

Mone quickly set her sights on another championship: the newly-created NJPW STRONG women’s title. The betting favorite to become the inaugural titleholder made it to the tournament final against Willow Nightingale. But when Mone suffered an ankle injury mid-match, Nightingale pulled off the upset win.

Just five matches into her thrilling run, Mercedes Mone found herself sidelined for the remainder of the year. Her hiatus also delayed plans for a dream match against Stardom stalwart Giulia, who went on to capture the STRONG title from Nightingale in July.

[Mercedes Mone makes her entrance at NJPW Resurgence, clad in Snow White-inspired cosplay. Unfortunately, her considerable momentum would be derailed that night by a serious injury, leaving women’s wrestling fans to clamor for her eventual comeback.]

[PHOTO BY JENNIFER MARTINEZ]

Although Mone’s 2023 came to an abrupt end by the spring, the year was just getting started for her longtime friend and former tag team partner, Trinity Fatu. In May, the former Naomi debuted with IMPACT, instantly becoming one of the company’s top stars … and a top contender for the Knockouts championship. Just two months later, Trinity achieved that goal by beating Deonna Purrazzo for the storied belt at Slammiversary.

While other women had career years in 2023–including dominant ROH champ Athena and breakout AEW star “Timeless” Toni Storm–perhaps no wrestler, male or female, had as successful a year as Rhea Ripley. The Australian-born “Eradicator” started off 2023 by becoming the first woman to go the distance in a Royal Rumble match. Having entered at #1, she eliminated seven participants and lasted more than 61 minutes–a Women’s Rumble record.

Ripley made history again when she beat Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania for the Smackdown Women’s title–making her the only woman to have won the Raw, Smackdown, NXT, and NXT U.K Women’s championships/

Ripley would go on to hold the title, later renamed the WWE’s Women’s World championship, for the remainder of 2023. All the while, she was featured as a member–and, arguably, defacto leader–of WWE’s hottest faction of 2023, The Judgement Day.

 Ripley’s career year was enough to secure the top spot in the 2023 PWI “Women’s 250” ranking, along with several awards in this very issue.

“I really wasn’t expecting it, because there’s just so many amazing females out there that obviously work so hard to get where they are,” Ripley told PWI’s Jason McVeigh in a “Hotseat” interview for our “Women’s 250” issue. “It’s insane for me to even think I’m number one. But, at the end of the day, Mami’s always on top.”

[blackpoolcombatwriter]

Which company do you think has done a better job with the other company’s wrestlers?

This feels like tribalism bait but I'm bored so why won't go through all (well most) of the wrestlers who have switched companies.

Starting with AEW.

Jon Moxley: One of the bigger names to make the jump. Has a whole lot more input in AEW. He had a decorated career in WWE but was never going to be the main guy. In AEW, he's been the face of the company, a 4-time world champ, main eventing PPVs, leading top factions.

Bryan Danielson: No one can deny this guy is a future WWE Hall of Famer. The main guy who was never meant to be the main guy. He can make anything work. In AEW, he did sometimes feel a step below Moxley since he kept losing title matches until he finally won.

Toni Storm: Better off in AEW, not even a debate.

Mercedes Mone: In the end, got screwed over by WWE(well, one man in WWE), but she was hugely important to the company. In AEW, she has a lot of titles but most of them are for other promotions. She seems happier in AEW.

Going alphabetically

Adam Cole: Booked as one of the top guys in NXT for years. Sadly, in AEW has been very affected by injuries.

Angelo Parker/Matt Menard: Hard to separate them. Both got much more focus in AEW and a much higher spot on the card for months. A little forgotten now that Dark/JAS is over.

Big Bill: He and Enzo got a lot of screen time when they were a team in WWE and did win a tag team of the year award. In AEW, he's been a tag champion but also won worst gimmick of the year with The Learning Tree(WON awards). By way of winning a title, better off in AEW.

Billy Gunn: Better off in AEW as of now. He wouldn't be wrestling in WWE. Career-wise he'll probably be remembered more for his time in WWE.

Bobby Lashley: Still very new but he got what he wanted in reuniting The Hurt Business(minus Cedric). He hasn't really been around in AEW enough to say he'll eclipse his WWE run in terms of winning titles but he'll probably be a mainstay in tournaments.

Buddy Matthews: When they got rid of the Cruiserweight division, guys like Buddy suffered. If we just go by titles won, he's 3-1 in WWE vs AEW and sadly, House of Black fell apart. Personally, I think being one of the Hounds of Hell is slightly better than being one of Seth's disciples.

Cash Wheeler/Dax Harwood: Another two impossible to separate. They're happier in AEW, there's no question. They were highly featured and decorated in WWE but if they hadn't left, we wouldn't have gotten some of their best matches against The Bucks and The Briscoes.

Chris Jericho: Better in WWE. Less annoying in WWE.

Christian: This one is hard because Edge and Christian are still regarded very highly in WWE but his father figure gimmick in AEW might be his best.

Edge/Cope: For him, better off in AEW as of now because they let him wrestle. Career-wise, I don't think he has time to eclipse what he's done in WWE.

Claudio/Cesaro: Another guy who was booked well in WWE(I know that's not a popular opinion) but was never going to be the top guy. But The Bar is one of the more decorated tag teams, Claudio won the tag titles 7 times. In AEW, he's highly featured every week but unfortunately got stuck in Jericho's Vortex over the ROH title that sucked all his momentum for a while.

Keith Lee: Better off in WWE. Not AEW's fault, just so many unfortunate injuries.

Kyle O'Reilly: Part of NXT's most important faction but never booked as the strongest member. His ending feud with Adam was probably the highest point. In AEW, he's usually on TV each week and he looks like he's having a blast.

Lio Rush: Better off in AEW. In WWE, he was Lashley's hype man and being called a child by Elias.

Mr Brodie Lee: He was great in The Wyatt Family but will be remembered for the Dark Order.

MVP: Better in WWE simply because he likely won't be wrestling in AEW.

Neville/PAC: Better off in AEW. Felt like gravity wasn't the only thing that forgot him in WWE. He's had a lot of visa issues in AEW that's broken his momentum but he gets to show his psycho side and is in the top faction.

Ricochet: Better featured in AEW. He's a great annoying heel, who knew?

Roderick Strong: In NXT's top faction for years. His "ADAM!!!!" gimmick might be better remembered though.

Samoa Joe: Better off in AEW. (Technically better in TNA). In WWE, sadly he was derailed many times with injuries. In AEW, he's been a little start/stop because of movie roles but he's usually in a top feud.

Shelton Benjamin: Another one a little too early to tell how his AEW run will go. He's a great tag team guy and highly decorated in WWE. The question will be how will AEW book Shelton outside of The Hurt Syndicate.

Swerve: Better off in AEW. He got a lot of good moments in WWE but AEW he's gotten to really show his acting abilities and a side he never could in WWE.

Athena: Better off in AEW/ROH, no question. Forever champ.

Ruby Soho/Riott: Hasn't won a title in either company but did win a Battle Royal in AEW. Probably would have been in a better spot in AEW if The Outcasts hadn't fallen apart.

Saraya/Paige: Better booked in WWE, no longer with AEW.

Tay Melo: Was getting many more opportunities in AEW. Who knew she'd be so great in street fight matches?

Miro/Malakai: Neither are with AEW anymore. Malakai was booked better than Miro but both were plagued heavily by rumours they refused to put anyone over.

CM Punk: Better in WWE because he's finally getting his dream of main eventing a Wrestlemania.

Cody Rhodes: Better off in WWE because fans are(right now) accepting him as the face of the company.

Shawn Spears: AEW tried but he kind of disappeared after The Pinnacle fell apart. First WWE run is forgettable but his current NXT run is good. He's been a champion and is the leader of a new cult-like faction.

Andrade: I guess better off in WWE the first time around. He had a great run in NXT. He didn't get the chance to do much in AEW and since he returned to WWE, his biggest moment has been his feud with Carmelo(great matches).

The Hardys: Better in WWE. One of the best booked tag teams in WWE.

Jake Hager/Swagger: He's more decorated in WWE but The Inner Circle and JAS in AEW offered him the chance for more memorable matches.

Part 2 with AEW guys who went to WWE coming soon.

[galaxy-brain-rasslin]

Just some quick thoughts on All In. There will be spoilers.

Zero Hour

I, 100% did not expect Adam and MJF to win, at all. I expected there to be the initial start of a betrayal or something. I was pleasantly surprised, since I love the two of them.

Aussie Open seems really good. I should probably check out ROH.

Hook is one of my favorite anime protagonists, and Jack Perry has improved so much by being a complete piece of shit.

Also, Taz being hyped up for everything Hook does will literally never get old. Dude just sounds so proud every damn time.

CM Punk vs Samoa Joe

I don't really care a whole lot about CM Punk. I've seen a few of his pre-AEW matches, and I think he cuts a fun promo. I also think he's clearly enjoying himself, which makes watching his matches more enjoyable, in their own way.

That said, watching Samoa Joe just beat the absolute fuck out of Punk for most of the match was beautiful. I missed Joe in the original ROH and TNA/Impact, but his NXT and WWE stuff was so fun. Joe works at such a great pace, too. He literally always feels like a threat.

Seeing "real world championship" in quotes every time they mention CM Punk’s belt always reminds me of when AJ Styles was being announced in WWE as "The Man Who Would Like to be Announced as 'The Face that Runs the Place'"

Golden Elite vs Bullet Club Gold w/ Takeshita

Juice Robinson is my favorite feral little gremlin in pro wrestling.

Jay White is a beautiful piece of shit and I love him for it. He's also so fucking good in the ring.

Takeshita is also fantastic and has been consistently great.

I love how much everyone hates Don Callis.

Golden☆Lovers OTP

Hangman Adam Page is one of all-time favorite wrestlers. Just always happy to see him out there.

Ibushi tried to murder people with his kicks and it was fantastic shit.

A shitty surprise pin on Kenny Omega is absolutely on brand. I was peeved in a good way.

FTR vs Young Bucks

Fuck the Revival. I also like FTR a lot. Been a fan of theirs since NXT, and I loved seeing them draped in gold not that long ago.

I don't always feel like watching a Young Bucks match, but I always enjoy the match when it's done.

FTR and the Bucks were top-tier tag team wrestling today.

I legitimately expected FTR to lose, given the legal troubles that Cash could be facing. Seeing FTR win was a nice surprise.

FTR having arm bands for Brodie Lee, Bray Wyatt, and Jay Briscoe was so sweet, and so sad.

Stadium Stampede

Find someone who loves you as much as Eddie Kingston hates Claudi Castagnoli.

Mox looked so fucking cool walking out.

Oh my god, Trent, why, what the fuck. Please stop.

Someone getting skewers stabbed into their heads will always make me wince and laugh simultaneously.

Penta being walked backstage by medics only to return as Penta Oscuro was amazing shit. Penta is great.

Wheeler Yuta is the perfect person in BCC to be a bloodthirsty little goblin that you want to see eat the pin. He does his job well.

Also Best Friends hugging Yuta only to beat him up was gold.

I lost track of what was happening at least 400 times during the match and I don't care. I was thoroughly entertained.

Dr. Britt Baker, DMD v. Toni Storm v. Saraya v. Hikaru Shida

I assumed Saraya was going to win as soon as I saw her come out to Queen with her entire goddamn family walking out.

Toni Storm is a beautiful disaster.

In the event that Saraya wouldn't be winning, I didn't want Britt to win.

But that's also primarily because I *wanted* Shida to retain. Also, I love that Shida's theme has big 90s X-Men vibes.

Shida in general is just great. She should win every match.

I also just had no real investment in Brit for this match. She just kinda felt like she could have been nearly any other woman from the women's division. She wasn't *bad* by any means, just not someone I was pulling for or against.

I'm curious to see what happens with this implosion of the Outcasts now that Saraya and Toni aren't on good terms.

I dislike Ronnie Radke musically and as a person, so I'm not really thrilled at the idea of hearing Saraya's music more now that she's the champ.

At the same time, given all the shit she's been through, I can't be too mad about them giving her a run.

I still want Shida to have an actual good, long run though. I love her matches.

Christian Cage & Swerve vs. Darby Allin and Sting

Schiavone shouting "IT'S STING" is one of my favorite things in wrestling.

Joker Sting is fun as hell.

Swerve is actually the coolest motherfucker on the entire roster, and it is a literal crime that he doesn't have a belt.

Christian Cage is a menace and I can't get over that he wrestles in a sleeveless turtleneck now.

Darby is here for a good time, not a long time.

Sting is SIXTY-FOUR GODDAMN YEARS OLD AND SHOULD NOT BE DOING THIS STUFF.

Darby shouldn't either, but I'm fairly certain he's not even human anymore.

I love Swerve.

I also love Prince Nana.

Getting all of Wembly to shout "Swerve's house" probably felt cool.

This was fun as hell.

Will Ospreay vs Chris Jericho

bruv

Ospreay is so fucking good, dude. Like he's absolutely up there as one of the best to do this. Every match I've seen of his just blows me away.

Jericho is also absolutely one of the most versatile wrestlers of all time. I've seen this man reinvent himself like a dozen times, and every time feels just as natural as the one before it.

If they had Jericho win, there was going to be a riot.

Plz give me more Ospreay matches. Dude can fucking go.

I'm curious to know what happens with Jericho and Sammy now

House of Black vs The Acclaimed and Billy Gunn

HOB walking out with a lantern 😭

The Fireflies 😭

HOB looks so cool in white, holy shit.

I love Julia's hats.

I am not a cop, so obviously I love The Acclaimed.

Billy Gunn coming out in full-on Badd Ass Billy Gunn trunks made me feel like I was 12 again.

I love HOB, but if The Acclaimed didn't win this, after their whole mini arc of Gunn retiring, and Gunn bringing back BABG, I was gonna be mad.

Is there a rule that someone has to wreck Julia's shit every match, because lmao

A lot of fun.

Brody King scares the hell out of me.

Adam Cole vs. MJF

I went into this expecting heartbreak

Adam Cole, who took character inspiration from Handsome Jack from Borderlands 2, comes out sporting some definite Broderlands-vibe gear.

MJF is still wearing BTYBB gear.

MJF as this babyface-leaning thing is actually some of the greatest shit I've ever seen. The whole turmoil over using a weapon feels like Roddy Piper vs Bret Hart.

Cole being a desperate POS to the confused, hurt, and mad MJF was wonderful.

The tombstone onto the announce desk with metal reinforcement was brutal on my knees as a viewer.

lol Roddy. lmao.

MJF and Cole almost having a total falling out after the match was amazing.

Cole opting not to slam the AEW belt into MJF's head after the match, and they hug instead? Cinema.

Was I still deeply concerned that there was going to be a betrayal literally up until the PPV feed stopped? Oh hell yes. I watched Ciampa turn on Gargano after the little copyright stuff showed up in NXT. I will *still* be concerned about that until the moment it happens.

That said, I genuinely don't want it to happen because these dudes work so well together. They're just so fucking dorky in the best way.

Misc. Other Thoughts

I missed whatever happened with Miro and Hobbs, because I just missed the whole first hour of Zero Hour.

Apparently there was Drama involving Punk and Jack Perry-- I guess related to the use of actual glass in the windshield of the car that Hook and Perry wrestled on? Whatever. Punk isn't why I watch this stuff, but I would rather Perry not get screwed.

Why did they keep panning over to Mercedes Moné if she wasn't gonna do anything other than vibe to The Acclaimed's theme?

That being said, I was loving the wig she had on. I've been liking the shorter-cut wigs compared to the long-ass stuff she was wearing as Sasha Banks

A lot of people kept expecting Edge to show up at some point. I'm pretty sure I saw somewhere that his contract was extended.

Overall, this was, in all honesty, probably the best wrestling PPV I've ever watched. And, thanks to the invention of VHS tapes in my youth and the WWE Network as an adult, I have seen a *lot* of PPVs. This felt bigger than any Wrestlemania I've watched. I can't compare it to Wrestle Kingdom because I've never actually seen one of those all the way through. But it had numerous people who have been in Wrestle Kingdom matches, which were great.

I'm just annoyed that All Out is next goddamn week, because I don't want to shell out $100 in two weeks for this stuff.

Regardless. I love wrestling. We are in one of the greatest eras of pro wrestling, if not *the* greatest. What a time to be a fan.

[anthonysstupiddailyblog]

Anthony's Stupid Daily Blog (1042): Sun 26th Jan 2025

Tuned into last nights Collision and enjoyed it very much. It started off with a tease of friction between Will Ospreay and Kenny Omega but they quickly united to fend off The Don Callis Family and culminated with a pair of moonsaults off of high structures onto the heels. I think that more and more AEW are starting to realise that you have to start off the show with a hot angle to keep the viewers hooked. The matches in AEW are great but by starting off every show with a banger match you’re giving the audience less reasons to stick around if what you’ve got in the remainder of the show are more banger matches. WWE used to get a lot of grief ten years ago for always starting off with a HHH / Stephanie promo to tease what would happen in the main event. I actually believe this is the correct way to start off most shows it's just that when Stephanie and HHH would do it they'd always say the exact same shit week after week. AEW should be having different people in the main event every week and they should be the main focal point ofthe show and have a story that unfolds throughout the night. The show also featured Toni Storm reverting to her Timeless character after being slapped by Mariah May. This was good and got a huge pop from the crowd but I think they could’ve done even better if they’d had Mariah squash regular Toni Storm then have her put her career on the line in exchange for a rematch. May, thinking that it’ll be easy to squash regular Toni Storm again agrees to the match but then a few seconds into the match Toni unveils her Timeless attire, kicks the shit out of May and win back her world title.Toni Storm is one of AEW's biggest success stories, right up there with MJF and Swerve Strickland. Yeah she had a run in WWE but can you really say she was given as much of a chance to showcase her creativity as she has been with AEW? I really hope AEW starts doing what they did with Toni, MJF, Swerve and a few others by just giving the undercard performers the ball and letting them run with it. As a huge silent movie fan in particular the films of Buster Keaton I'm hoping that one day they do an homage to him during a Toni match where her opponent pushes over a wall with a tiny whole in it and Toni is standing in the perfect spot for it to pass around her leaving her unharmed. For a while I actually wanted to do this stunt as an item on my bucket list but then I remembered I' ma fucking coward and I'd probably die. I'd do the stunt but I'd need to be wearing a full suit of armour, basically an Iron Man suit so that if the wall did land on me I'd still be unharmed…also the wall would have to be made of Weetabix that had been painted to look like a real wall. I was looking for things to do in Sunderland and Newcastle to get myself out of the house and saw that in addition to a dance class for men there was a group called Boho Arts who do a six week improv course in Newcastle every Tuesday. I think I’m going to sign up for both of these because not only can I not dance (unless you count the little wiggle I do whenever I’m bursting for a piss but I doubt they’d let me do this on Strictly Come Dancing) but improv has been on my bucket list for a while. This and stand up are the two things on my bucket list that terrify me the most but I’ve been reading the participant reviews on the company website and they seem to be mutual agreement that everyone is terrified when they first start but they quickly learn that it’s a team effort and all in good fun. Improv isn’t just about comedy like you see in Whose Line Is It Anyway? but rather about learning to listen and communicate which I certainly need help with. Who knows it might help me become less of an anxiety-ridden gibberish wreck of a human being but at the very least it will be something to tell the grandkids about…not my grandkids because I don’t want any but someone’s grandkids.

[d2kvirus]

23/8/24 Fact or Fiction

Statement #1: Swerve Strickland is the TOP attraction in AEW. FICTION - While he's the company's top champ (at least at the time of typing) it is hard to deny that they've been presenting Will Ospreay as the company's top star since his arrival. The key thing, however, is he is not being treated as an afterthought in the way Hangman's title reign felt especially when it was clear his reign was being sacrificed to Punk (and didn't that work out well for all involved?), though there is the problem that his title defences have taken on the assumption of him dropping the belt, first to Ospreay and now to Danielson

Statement #2: CM Punk vs. Drew McIntyre, Hell in a Cell – bad idea.  FACT - Bracelet on a Pole is the only way for this feud to end, obviously

Statement #3: In 5 years, you will have forgotten that Nia Jax was the WWE Smackdown Women’s Champion in 2025. FICTION - I sincerely doubt that Nia Jax will have left the company five years from now, unless she gets into another shoot fight with Charlotte on TV or something, so that little factoid will be brought up every now and then

Statement #4: Taking the US Title off of Logan Paul for LA Knight means even less US Title matches on WWE PLEs. FICTION - Considering how most PLE cards can be summed up as "And you get a title match, and you get a title match..." that increases the chances of more US title matches featuring, especially now the belt is on a fulltime performer and not a part-timer who is more interested in amateur snuff photography, running pyramid schemes, exploiting the legal system to silence criticism and generally being a transphobic heap of decomposing rhino shit

Statement #5: You’re embarrassed to tell new people you meet in real life that you’re obsessed with pro-wrestling. FICTION - I look like the bassist of an early 2000s post-grunge band, so embarrassment in public usually starts there

Statement #6: The Wyatt Sicks is a dumb name FACT - Let's be honest, the name does have the whiff of the 2002-3 indie scene to it. Not enough to tank the gimmick outright, but it does feel like a little more workshopping was needed

Statement #7: If pro-wrestling became an Olympic event, AEW and WWE would work together to try to win gold for USA. FICTION - Aside from it not being an Olympic event, because Olympic events don't have predetermined outcomes (not even the Australian Breakdancing qualifiers, contrary to internet theories...) but to be honest you couldn't see WWE and AEW working together to bring home gold for the USofA for the obvious reason that they have plenty of non-'Murican talent, for example Rhea Ripley or Toni Storm winning gold for Australia would reflect just as well on the company as Charlotte or Britt Baker would

Statement #8: You’ve cried because of wrestling. FACT - Eddie Guerrero's passing certainly brought a tear to the eye. Which was kind of awkward, given it was my first day in a new job and I had to explain why I was crying to my new colleagues

Statement #9: Timeless Toni Storm continues to be entertaining. FACT - Though I do wonder if turning her face, as seems to be the plan going forward, might see the character jump the shark - which it has been at risk of doing once or twice already

Statement #10: It’s still impressive when someone gets driven through WWE’s ringside barrier. FICTION - It looked impressive when the spot was very rarely used, for example when Goldberg speared Rosey through the barrier it was a spot that hadn't really been seen up until that point, but these days the spot is so common its lost all (pun not intended) impact

Statement #11: Rhea Ripley should be happy to be rid of Dominick Mysterio – dude’s a loser, in reality AND kayfabe! FACT - It frees Dom up to mercilessly troll that transphobic heap of decomposing rhino shit on their podcast, after all

Statement #12: We will never have another over and dominant “big man” wrestler again, like an Andre the Giant or Yokozuna. FACT - The monster heel is a relic of the territory era, where they could come in and dominate for a period before being sent packing by the territory's top babyface to repeat the cycle somewhere else. That simply cannot happen in WWE or AEW, because once they're vanquished the first time they would either require a significant retool to appear the dominant force they once were like Kane did, or are a forever nerfed part of the roster like Big Show, Khali et al were for longer than they were ever the dominant force

Statement #13: Randy Orton deserves a World Championship title shot even though he lost clean to Gunther in the King of the Ring finals. FICTION - If they are going to run Cody vs Orton, surely they need one of those "storylines" I keep hearing about as people continue to pretend that the two biggest matches of WrestleMania 25 prove that to be absolute hogwash. There's obviously a story there, and not "Your father died" or "You left the company you founded" which is the story of the vast majority of Cody feuds for the past eighteen months, but a Master vs Apprentice storyline going back to their time in Legacy - but that would need time to build up, and to be honest feels like a stopgap in the period between Survivor Series and the Rumble

Statement #14:  You know how we can end the curse of the of multi-person ladder matches. FACT - It's quite easy: have Jimmy Fallon say that he loves multi-man ladder matches on his show, as that's the usual way to run something into the ground faster than Concorde and end anybody's interest in it

Statement #15: Let’s be honest here, people really don’t care about tag team wrestling. FICTION - I'm a person and I care about tag wrestling, so therefore...

Statement #16: It’s weird that TNA’s arguable most-over contracted star is now a regular mid-carder on WWE’s C-brand. FICTION - I'd say it was on-brand

Statement #17: You know exactly when WWE TV is going to commercial every time, and that sucks. FICTION - Mainly because I use WatchWrestling, so I'm distracted by their ads cutting in far more than when the actual ad breaks would be

Statement #18: It’s only fair that all male wrestlers should have to wear shirts or singlets that cover their nipples when they wrestle. FICTION - Mainly because it would be rendered moot when 23% of all wrestlers do the same pulling down their straps spot in their matches, at which point matches would start to feel like a weird burlesque show

Statement #19: Bryan Danielson will never really retire. FACT - Dory Funk Jr is set to wrestle a match aged 83 next month, so you know AmDrag will take that as a challenge

Statement #20: You understand why Roman Reigns, super evil heel, would help his arch enemy, and all-around enemy of the Bloodline, Cody Rhodes defeat Solo Sikoa and cost him the WWE Title, despite claiming that championship is what fed their entire extended family and he went on record multiple times saying Solo was going to be the next Tribal Chief. FACT - Because a necklace is far more important than a title belt. Duh!

[celestial-thoughts]

august 7, 2023 - weekly women’s pro wrestling news roundup: week of july 31- august 6, 2023

this week's news roundup includes:

News & results from last week’s editions of Monday Night Raw, NXT, and Friday Night SmackDown.

News & results from last week's editions of WWE Main Event and NXT Level Up.

News & results from last week’s editions of AEW Dynamite, AEW Rampage, and AEW Collision.

News & results from WWE SummerSlam.

Other updates and news from last week.

Pro Wrestling Illustrated's weekly top 10 recap.

Things to look forward to in women’s wrestling this week!

spoilers below the cut for shows/events listed above!

Notable news & results from TV last week:

Monday Night Raw (7/31):

Maxxine Dupri defeated Valhalla. Maxxine was victorious in her first singles match, defeating Valhalla by pinfall. match length-3:33.

The Judgment Day came out to the ring to cut a promo. Raquel Rodriguez interrupted and confronted Women's World Champion Rhea Ripley, who attacked Raquel's knee.

Part one of a two part video package for the match between Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler at SummerSlam was shown. It was then announced that their match would be contested under MMA Rules.

Adam Pearce checked on Raquel backstage in the trainer's room. He said that she wasn't cleared yet, but promised her a match against Rhea once she gets cleared.

Becky Lynch came out to the ring and called out Trish Stratus, saying that she had earned her rematch after beating Zoey Stark last week. Trish and Zoey came out, and Trish tried to talk her way out of it, but Adam Pearce came out and made the match official right there.

Becky Lynch defeated Trish Stratus by DQ. Almost immediately after the bell rang to start the match, Zoey hopped in the ring and attacked Becky, ending the match just seconds after it began. Trish and Zoey then brawled with Becky at ringside, with the duo ultimately standing tall in the end. match length-0:05.

Backstage, Trish and Zoey were stopped by Adam Pearce, who informed them that Trish will face Becky in two weeks on Monday Night Raw in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Adam also told them that Zoey would be barred from ringside for the match.

Part two of the video package for Ronda vs. Shayna was shown. Both women got choked up at moments, and Shayna vowed to take Ronda's reputation, saying that she had always been the baddest woman on the planet, not Ronda.

NXT (8/1):

Lyra Valkyria defeated Jacy Jayne. match length-9:26.

Elektra Lopez & Lola Vice defeated Yulisa Leon & Valentina Feroz. match length-3:33.

AEW Dynamite (8/2):

Hikaru Shida defeated Toni Storm to become the new AEW Women's World Champion. With this win, Shida becomes just the second woman (after Toni Storm) to hold the AEW Women's World Championship more than once. Her first reign is still the longest in the title's history at 372 days. match length-13:16.

WWE Main Event (8/3):

Dana Brooke defeated Xia Li. match length unknown.

Friday Night SmackDown (8/4):

Zelina Vega defeated Iyo Sky. Zelina capitalized on a distraction from Shotzi to pick up the win. match length-2:58.

NXT Level Up (8/4):

Gigi Dolin defeated Tatum Paxley. match length-5:53.

AEW Rampage (8/4):

Anna Jay defeated Skye Blue. match length-7:08.

AEW Collision (8/5):

Kris Statlander defeated Mercedes Martinez to retain the TBS Championship. match length-10:14.

Notable news & results from PPVs last week:

WWE SummerSlam (8/5):

Shayna Baszler defeated Ronda Rousey via technical submission in a MMA Rules match. Shayna defeated her former best friend after forcing her to pass out to the Kirifuda Clutch. The Queen of Spades was victorious in her SummerSlam debut, giving Ronda her first non-pinfall loss. match length-7:30.

Bianca Belair defeated Asuka and Charlotte Flair to become the new WWE Women’s Champion. After being taken out of the match briefly due to an injured knee, Bianca managed to fight through the pain and rolled up Asuka to win the title. match length-20:45.

Iyo Sky cashed in her Money in the Bank contract and defeated Bianca Belair to become the new WWE Women’s Champion. Iyo hit a moonsault on Bianca, pinning her to win the gold. This is Iyo’s first singles title on the main roster. After the match, Iyo celebrated in the ring with her Damage CTRL teammates Bayley and Dakota Kai, who made her first WWE appearance since her ACL surgery in May.

Other news & updates from last week:

On Monday, July 31 former NXT UK wrestler Aleah James announced that she is no longer with WWE and is now a free agent. She last wrestled for WWE in March of 2022 (while NXT UK was still active), and was not among the wrestlers who made the move over to NXT when the brand dissolved in September of 2022.

On Thursday, August 3 Fightful Select reported that the reason the match between Becky Lynch and Trish Stratus was moved from SummerSlam to the August 14, 2023 episode of Monday Night Raw was due to time constraints.

Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Newsletter gave the Weapons Wild match between Roxanne Perez and Blair Davenport at NXT: The Great American Bash a rating of 3.75 stars. He also gave the NXT Women's Championship Submission match between Tiffany Stratton and Thea Hail 3.5 stars.

Additionally, Meltzer gave the AEW Women's World Championship match between Toni Storm and Hikaru Shida from the August 2, 2023 episode of Dynamite a rating of 3.75 stars.

At the SummerSlam press conference following the show, Dakota Kai was asked if she was ready to return. She said that she has a ways to go before being cleared for in-ring, but that she has to be there for Iyo’s moment.

Also at the press conference, Triple H said that no matches were cut from the SummerSlam card, and that if the show had been any longer, it would have been bad. The show was just over 4 hours long, not including the kickoff show.

Pro Wrestling Illustrated top 10 rankings recap:

Evaluation period: July 28-August 3, 2023. Published on August 4, 2023. Note: my recap of PWI's top 10 tag teams of the week will only cover the women's tag teams listed in the rankings for the week (PWI includes both men's and women's tag teams in their rankings). PWI lists their criteria for rankings as the following: championships held/defended, win-loss record, push, and technical ability.

PWI's Women's Wrestling top 10:

1: Hikaru Shida (AEW) 2: Asuka (WWE) 3: Tiffany Stratton (WWE) 4: Athena (ROH) 5: Toni Storm (AEW) 6: Tam Nakano (Stardom) 7: Trinity (Impact) 8: Rika Tatsumi (Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling, DDT Pro Wrestling) 9: Vert Vixen (Freelancer) 10: Megan Bayne (Freelancer)

PWI's Tag Team Wrestling top 10:

3: Mariah May & Mina Shirakawa (Stardom) 9: Chelsea Green & Sonya Deville (WWE)

Things to look forward to this week:

All of the fallout from SummerSlam will unfold this week on Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown.

Current Women's Champions in WWE & AEW:

WWE: - Women's World Championship: Rhea Ripley - WWE Women's Championship: Iyo Sky - NXT Women's Championship: Tiffany Stratton - WWE Women's Tag Team Championship: Chelsea Green & Sonya Deville

AEW: - AEW Women's World Championship: Hikaru Shida - TBS Championship: Kris Statlander

[r-truth]

last night i was so out of it that i started writing a thing that involves a future aew vs wwe but make it angst

[pwrestlingxpress]

Wild Weekend in Pro Wrestling + New Champions Crowned

We had quite the Memorial Day Weekend 2023 as new champions were crowned in various promotions.

Starting off with WWE's "Night of Champions 2023" Event, two new champions were crowned (pictured above) as Seth Rollins becomes the first WWE World Heavyweight Champion since December 2013 while Asuka ended Bianca Belair's 420 reign to become the new RAW Women's champion.

The next night, at NXT's Battleground; a new NXT Women's Champion was crowned as Tiffany Stratton defeated Lyra Valkyria to become the champion after the previous champion (Indi Hartwell) was forced to vacate the title due to being promoted to the main roster.

Switching to Stardom's "Flashing Champions" event, in 4 championship matches, 3 new ones were crowned. Saki Kashima defeated both reigning High Speed Champion AZM (pronounced Azumi) and Oedo Tai stablemate Fukigen Death to become the new High Speed Champion. New Artist of Stardom champions were crowned as Giulia, Thelka, and Mai Sakurai defeated the reigning team of KAIRI, Natsupoi, and Saori Anou. This was the first defense of the reigning champions that ended in defeat. And then in the main event for double gold, Tam Nakano becomes the new Wonder of Stardom Champion over Mina Shirakawa while retaining her World of Stardom Championship. The result of the main event has caused some mixed reactions from fans. Some positive, some negative. Since I don't watch Stardom, can't really tell how they feel but truly understand their feelings. Mina Shirakawa's time was now and instead, they went with Tam Nakano.

Over in NJPW, we finish up the "Best of the Super Jr. 30" Tournament as both Master Wato and Titan collide in a classic bout to determine who is the Best Junior in NJPW. As pictured above it is Master Wato who not only defeated Titan but in the process became the youngest Japanese Best of Super Jr winner at the age of 26.

(Not Pictured) Lastly, at AEW's Double or Nothing, a big reign came to an end. Jade Cargill has been the TBS Champion since the title's creation and on May 28, 2023 her reign came to an end as Kris Statlander defeated Jade Cargill to become the new TBS Champion. Also, due to injury an new AEW Women's Champion was crowned as Toni Storm took advantage of whatever's been going on with Jamie Hayter to become the new champion.

Impact Wrestling was the only company that had a Memorial Day weekend event where every champion retained their titles.

Again...this was quite the Memorial Day weekend that many will remember for a long time.

[gdwessel]

Rumors About Ospreay + Unrest In The NJPW Locker Room; Government Adds Okinawa to State Of Emergency, Another Extension Possible; Quick Review of DSOTR Collision In Korea; Shota Umino News!; Ren Narita on Dark Elevation; Satoshi Kojima In Impact Next Week

Strap in because this is going to be a long one.

There are rumors and reports coming out now (mostly from one source, the Voices of Wrestling website, from behind a Patreon paywall) that Will Ospreay's injury may not be what it seems, and there is growing discontent to the point of "mutiny" among the non-Japanese wrestlers regarding the state of emergency, the last-minute decision to resume touring when some were already travelling out of Japan, and the constant need for quarantining when coming back into Japan. Unfortunately this is as much as I can say, because this is behind a paywall, so until it gets made for public consumption I’m kinda limited in what I can say.

I can totally buy that all is not well within NJPW, especially after the COVID-19 bubble has burst. I've already discussed the creative malaise happening in the company right now. That there seems to be backstage dissent shows possible signs of trouble ahead for the promotion, and this golden period that we've been accustomed to is well and truly over. (I mean, it already was once lockdown happened, but they did the best they could, in my honest opinion, including a Pretty Good if not great WK15. Right now, creatively, we are below 2nd-half 2018 levels of poor.) But NJPW has weathered these storms before, although not with a global pandemic looming over everything. I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt that Ospreay is indeed injured, because a) they haven't exactly been shy about wrestlers being injured and needing to vacate titles before b) if Ospreay is legit injured, he is far more likely to receive treatment as a citizen of the UK from the (somehow still alive if not totally hobbled by Brexit) NHS, as opposed to Japan's healthcare system which is far more like the US model. Some wrestlers are swearing up and down he is injured, from the rumors. Ospreay certainly hasn’t said anything in his own words, beyond RTing NJPW’s announcement of his injury and vacating the title, and posting a pic of himself kissing the belt. RevPro kinda sorta said something but were also pretty vague. But for an injury suffered on 5/4/2021, this pic posted on 5/18 does not look like someone who just had such a severe neck injury they need to fly back to the UK (mind you, it COULD have been taken much earlier than that). Indeed, Ospreay’s still-active Twitter is more focused on Hana Kimura at the moment*. All this said, professional wrestling by it’s very nature has a baked-in amount of bullshit as part of it, so that this injury might be phony is always a distinct possibility.

It is utterly believable there is conflict between wrestlers and management, and communication is piss-poor at best. It is also believable that NJPW and Bushiroad are only taking their cues from a government Hell-bent on holding an Olympics an overwhelming majority of those polled are against, and who are treating the extended state of emergency as a vague suggestion rather than as a, you know, state of emergency. Pretending everything is hunky dory hasn't worked so far, so not sure why NJPW, nor the Japanese government, think eventually it will. (And NOAH is on my shit list right now too.) On that note, the government has now officially added Okinawa to the state of emergency. There is also talk that it will be extended further, as a government subcommittee member is quoted in the article as saying “it is difficult to think” that it will be lifted on 5/31/2021. Among that talk is word that Tokyo particularly will be under a stricter lockdown if this goes on. On a piece of actual GOOD news, it has been announced that the government has approved both the Moderna and AstraZeneca versions of the vaccine, so perhaps the vaccination rates will start to go up at last.

* - The anniversary of Hana Kimura’s tragic death is tomorrow (5/23/2021). I still sometimes struggle with the idea she is gone. Tonight at 10:30pm EDT (which is 5/23/2021 12:30pm in JST), FITE TV will be showing a live Hana Kimura tribute show put on by her mother, Kiyoko Kimura. Have a look in if you can

I was able to watch the Vice Dark Side Of The Ring episode on Collision in Korea, the two-night joint NJPW & WCW show from May Day Stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea, on 4/28 & 4/29/1995, as it aired Thursday. It will hit YouTube here pretty soon. I am working on a podcast project about this documentary, and the (WCW version of the**) show itself, with the good lads at the Days Of Thunder podcast, so I won't talk too much here, but I will say a few things about it:

I did appreciate the detail here, as well as being able to get an interview with Antonio Inoki for this, especially as he was the principal driver of this show happening. I did also like that they took time to detail Inoki's mentor, and the "father of puroresu," Rikidozan, who himself was a North Korean national by birth. I did not appreciate the mythical pathos they added to the death of Rikidozan, which by all accounts was a random street fight with yakuza over a perceived insult (stepping on Rikidozan's shoe). I also felt they could have done a better job explaining the situation between Japan and North Korea at the time. When the event was first proposed to the NJPW roster, Scott Norton recounts Masahiro Chono telling Norton that "they want us dead," but it took until introducing former CNN foreign correspondent Mike Chinoy nearly halfway through the documentary to (briefly) explain the brutal colonialism that Japan wreaked on North Korea in the first part of the 20th century.

Also, as salacious as DSOTR can get, I am very surprised one of the most famous rumors/stories about this show did not get discussed, the internet wrestling legend that Kensuke Sasaki and Akira Hokuto were, erm, Quite Vocal when they were together, which of course did eventually lead to their marriage four months later which continues to this very day. But that was also part of another critique I had, which is, they mainly focused on the WCW part of the events, when this was an NJPW promoted show. The way it was told on DSOTR, the only Japanese wrestlers there were Antonio Inoki, Shinya Hashimoto, Akira Hokuto and Bull Nakano. I'd love to hear more from the NJPW side of things, besides how proud Inoki was of this political stunt that did not get him re-elected to the Diet anyway.

Overall, I do recommend watching this when and how you can, because it is absolutely bonkers. I will definitely keep you posted on when the podcast project for this drops. ** - I've tried looking for the NJPW version and have failed so far. NJPWWorld only has two matches from this, Antonio Inoki v. Ric Flair, and Akira Hokuto v. Bull Nakano. The WCW version is not officially released, even on WWE Network, so yeah search the internet to see it.

We finally have an update on Shooter! That is, Shota Umino. Earlier in the week, RevPro's official Twitter had a tweet saying This Summer, showing Umino in not only his white/pink Tanahashi-esque tights, but holding his Death Riders jacket from Jon Moxley, that Shota retweeted, making this his first tweet since September 2019. Two days later, a hype video appeared with footage of Shooter, including performing Death Rider. Now a Sports Illustrated article is claiming that Shooter was supposed to have reunited with Mox on the NJPW Strong episode that had Mox & Chris Dickinson face Yuji Nagata & Ren Narita, but Umino had an unspecified injury preventing that. (They further say that Mox v. Nagata’s IWGP US title match was originally set for Strong but Tony Khan convinced NJPW to hold it on AEW Dynamite.) Umino's last match listed on Cagematch was on 3/14/2020 in ATTACK! Wrestling in Cardiff, Wales, on the winning side of a 6-man tag match with Kyle Fletcher & Kid Lykos II defeating Shigehiro Irie, Chief Deupty Dunne & Los Federales Santos, Jr. It's great to have him back wrestling again, and I hope we get that reunion with Moxley soon enough too.

As an update to an item from an earlier post, it appears that the Ren Narita v. Royce Isaacs match that was teased but then not aired on AEW Dark this past Tuesday will actually be on AEW Dark: Elevation this coming Monday instead. Also part of that will be approximately 35 other matches (I only slightly kid), one of those being Rocky Romero v. JD Drake. This usually drops on YouTube at 7pm EDT / 6pm CDT Mondays.

This past Thursday on Impact, a video package showed that Satoshi Kojima would be appearing on next week's episode. This will be Kojima's first time ever wrestling in Impact under any name, as the last time NJPW and TNA were working together, Kojima was still away in All Japan Pro Wrestling. No word as to what he will be doing or whom he will be wrestling.

Also on Impact, Juice Robinson & David Finlay Jr. successfully defended the Impact World Tag Team titles against Ace Austin & Madman Fulton... before getting blindsided by two members of the Violent By Design unit (in this case, ECW veteran Rhino and former AJPW Triple Crown champion + cancer beater Joe Doering) with whatever Impact's version of a Anytime Anywhere Challenge is, and took the belts from FinJuice. They claimed FinJuice were going back to Japan, but, erm, who knows if that's the case or if it was for a time period when Wrestle Grand Slam was still a thing that was happening.

Also also, it seems Don Callis is no longer in any executive capacity at Impact. This is a little significant as it seems it was Callis who opened the negotiations back up for Impact to work with NJPW. Of course, lately he's spent more time as an on-screen heel manager for Kenny Omega, the Good Brothers and now the Young Bucks on both AEW and Impact programming. We'll see how much longer Kenny Omega's belt collector shtick goes on for with Callis no longer part of creative or management.

And that is actually it for now! Yipes!

[pastelbatfandoms]

Give it some M(R)oxy

A/N:In light of recent AEW events and A Certain Podcast...featuring A Certain Lunatic,I became inspired to write a little something new with My OC Roxy and her resident Bad Boy. I wondered how she would feel about AEW or staying with WWE...Since she’s essentially me as a Wrestler,I think I know EXACTLY how she’d react. 

Warnings: Oh look no smut this time! Just lots of Drama and  a Rebellious Couple in love.

Part 1

I was walking down the hall of A building for The WWE Show when I felt a hand lock around My wrist and pull me into a dark corner. I let out a short yelp,My eyes wide as i felt a firm but soft hand clamp around My mouth. My gaze softened when I realized who it was. 

The figure dropped My hand and let go of My wrist as he gave a quiet “Shhh.” A finger to my lips. 

“Dean what are you doing here?” I asked both surprised and happy to see him,it had been Months since he had quit WWE,in a move that had stunned and saddened all of us,me especially,though it really shouldn’t have.

“Not Dean anymore baby.” He answered with a wolfish grin. 

“Jon.” I quickly realized taking in his attire and new,or rather old,demeanor. 

“I told you I’d be back for you.” Moxley walked slowly towards me,a swagger to his steps as he went in for an embrace but stopped when I put My hand out.

“Wait...” I looked him over,not that I minded what I saw,that was never the issue. “If you’re Moxley again...” 

At my concerned look Mox spoke up. “Let me stop you right there Rox. Just because I’m not Ambrose anymore does not mean,in anyway in HELL,that I am going to treat you how I did back then. I’ve grown,We’ve grown.” Jon searched my eyes as he asked. “You trust me right?” 

I smiled in relief and nodded. “Of course I do.” 

With that out of the way,Moxley wrapped his arms around My waist and kissed me deeply as I wrapped My own arms around his neck. After we broke apart he whispered into My ear. “I would only hurt you if you wanted me to Babe.”

My eyes fluttered closed and I smirked at his implication,biting My lips when Jon kissed My neck and let out a dark groan. “Fuck I missed you. but first I something to ask you.”

“Anything.” I answered without thinking.

“Come with me to AEW,we can be together again,just the two of us.” Jon rushed before I could say anything. 

“I don’t know De-Jon. I like AEW,I get along with Cody but...” 

Moxley grinned at the slip up a cute dimple appearing in one cheek. “All the more reason to be there. You’ll get along with The head honcho. He’s not a selfish Bitch like Dixie and he’s not a Tyrant.” 

I looked up at Jon. “Vince isn’t so bad.” i replied trying to sound convincing. 

Moxley’s look told me I hadn’t. “Or he didn’t used to be...” I sighed. “I have Family,Friends here.” 

“You’re Men.” Jon but in.

“My Husband.” I stated,looking him in the eyes. Referring to Triple H. “A Career,I can’t just leave everything.”

Jon rubbed My arms as he said. “I’m not asking you too. Vince let you go back and forth to TNA. you could do the same at AEW,unless he’s scared you won’t come back. Jon smirked raising an eyebrow.

I smirked back but said,”Doubtful. I have too much history with them.” 

“You can make history in AEW too. As for Friends you know,Billy Gunn’s there ,JR,Dustin,Dreamer,Daniels,Brandi.I’m there.” Jon stared into my eyes,giving me a meaningful look. Playing with a strand of My long dark hair. “You said before I Ieft here that you were scared of losing me like you lost Punk. I don’t want that to happen,not with us. I love you. It could be just us two,together the way it should be.” 

“Without the competition you mean.” I replied,half joking. 

“Hell yeah. I prefer My competition in the ring. But I’d fight for you,you know that. We could make one hell of a team.” 

I gave him a small smile. “We already do. A crazy power couple.” I considered.

Jon looked at me expectantly. ‘Well?” Jon had let me go now,his hands together,bouncing from one foot to the other,I could tell he was anxious. 

“I’ll talk to Vince.” 

“And if he says No.”

I kissed Jon lightly on the lips before answering with a sly smile. “Well then I might have to just get a little unstable.” 

Moxley let out a light chuckle at that. “I’ll see you out there.” Jon brushed My bottom lip with his thumb then disappeared into the shadows of the parking lot. 

Awhile Later...

I took a deep breath and steeling myself opened the door of Vince’s office. I was greeted with not only Vince Mcmahon but Triple H and Shane as well. *Shit,so not the time.* I thought to myself but remembering what Jon had said I gathered up My nerve and spoke up. “Vince we need to talk.” 

Vince starts to show MY Men out but I stop him. “No this is not a social call,they should hear this too.”

Vince nods,”Alright.”

As Triple H and Shane remain where they were standing in the room. “Roxy what’s going on?” Shane asks in concern.

I don’t acknowledge him though,I stare straight at Vince and let out a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding. “I want to go to AEW.”  I blurt out in a rush. Glad,for the moment,that it was out. 

I finally look at Hunter and Shane who are staring at one another in shock and worry over how Vince will react of course. Frankly I was worried about that too,I’d be stupid not to be. 

I turn My gaze back to Vince who was just standing there,hands clasped in front of him,a smile on his face,I didn’t like it. “You want to what?”

“Not permanently,just go back and forth like I did with Impact.” I tried to explain,hastily. 

“Impact is a joke,not competition,which is why I let you go.” Vince replied,I disagreed but I wasn’t about to argue over that. 

“if this is about creative.” Triple H added,trying to smooth things over. 

“It’s not,well a bit yes,but I just want to spread My wings,have more freedom,something less...stale.” I knew I’d gone to far with that when I heard Vince hit his desk,hard. 

“No.” Vince said quietly through clenched teeth. 

“What? But I-”

“I said No! You’re not going anywhere.” Vince glared at me but I also saw something else,fear. Jon was right AEW did make Vince nervous. 

I wouldn’t back down though not on this. “Moxley was right you are a control freak.” I stepped up to him,our eyes locking in a battle of wills. 

Hunter stood just beside us ready to stop either of us from doing something stupid. Too late.

Vince’s look turned from domineering Boss to one of realization at what I’d said. “Ambrose is here?” Before I could stop him,Vince had stormed out of the office and down the hall as I tried to catch up with him. 

“No he’s not!” I lied. “Dammit Vince If you don’t let me go,I’ll leave for AEW and never come back!” I yelled out in frustration. I didn’t want to but if that was the only way he’d listen. It was.

Vince whirled on me“Fine you want to go to AEW huh Roxy?! Then you’re-” Vince was interrupted by Shane who got into his face before he could mutter those two famous last words. 

“Dad! No. you need to cool it!” Shane pointed at Vince angrily,backing him away from me. “Just calm down,let’s go,you need to relax!” Shane shouted at him. 

But it was already too late,looking around I noticed most of The Superstars standing around in shock had heard Vince’s outburst of almost firing me and AEW in one sentence. 

I looked down embarrassed that my leaving had become so public,not how I wanted everyone to know. Especially when I noticed Randy,AJ and Baron in the crowd. AJ looked at me in sympathy but Randy just shook his head in disappointment and walked away. Baron crossed his arms and stared at me in disapprovel. 

“Guys I...” i trailed off not knowing what to say until I felt a hand on my arm and Triple H’s voice in My ear. “C’mon Baby lets just forget this. You got Vince’s attention,hell you got everyone’s attention now.”

That snapped me out of any regret I had as I pulled away from Triple H. “I’m not doing this for attention Hunter.” I said though gritted teeth. 

I turn toward a still Angry Vince and tell him, “You know what Vince you can’t fire me,I quit!” 

I start to walk off in false bravado but Baron stops me holding onto My arms. “Rox don’t do this.” 

“Baron let me go.” I told him quietly obviously upset but not at him. 

Until Vince’s angry voice shouted out. “You can’t quit,this business is all you have!” 

“Watch me.” I try to get out of Baron’s grip,but his hold didn’t lessen. I looked up at him but he simply shook his head,let out a low growl,I knew it was a last attempt to make me stay but it wouldn’t work this time. 

At that moment I saw a figure fly at us as I was pulled away from Baron and Jon wailed on Corbin. “Let her go,she can do what he fuck she wants!” Jon yelled at them,riled up,he must have got out of that Car fast. 

I grabbed Jon shouting at him to stop. “Mox that’s enough!” Mox let Baron fall to the pavement,breathing heavy as he put an arm around my waist. 

Seeing Moxley made Vince become even more irate. “You little shit,this is your fault!” It took both Shane and Hunter to hold Vince back this time. Though I could tell it took everything Triple H had not pummel Jon right then and Shane was turning red with anger. 

“It was My decision Vince,I told you what would happen if you pushed me,us.” I told them. “I’m sorry this all had to happen.” And I really was,but there was no going back now. With one last look I let Jon lead me to the car.

Once inside I broke down in both relief and sadness as Jon held me in his arms while we drove away. From The WWE and My Family I hoped not for the last time. 

TO BE CONTINUED....

A/N: Hope you liked it! there will be more where that comes from! Maybe with less drama but probably not lol

[wrestlingisfake]

Wrestle Kingdom 14 preview (part 1)

For 29 years, New Japan Pro Wrestling has run an annual Tokyo Dome show on January 4, right after Japan’s multi-day New Year celebrations.  This is the 14th such show called “Wrestle Kingdom,” and the first to expand to a two-day event.  Aside from WWE’s stadium shows, this is the biggest pro wrestling event of the year, so if you’re looking to get into NJPW, this is a good place to start.

Kazuchika Okada vs. Kota Ibushi - Ibushi won the 2019 G1 Climax tournament for the right to challenge Okada for the IWGP heavyweight championship, the top title in New Japan.  This is being billed as part of a “Double Gold Dash” along with Jay White vs. Tetsuya Naito, so the champions coming out of those two matches will meet on the January 5 show with both titles at stake.  The two guys who leave this show empty handed will wrestle in a consolation match on the undercard of the January 5 show.

Okada, a five-time champion, has held the title for 1,789 of the last 2,883 days.  In the past seven years, all the other titleholders put together have not held the belt as long as he has.  He’s The Man, handpicked to lead the company into the 2010s and beyond, and at just 32 years of age he’s not going anywhere anytime soon.  The storyline for Okada is pretty basic--he’s almost always on top, acting kinda cocky about it, and dismissing the competition until they give him a reason to take them seriously.  He’s the one guy in this Double Gold Dash who doesn’t care about being a double champion, and he resents the suggestion that his one championship is somehow inadequate.

Ibushi is something of an oddball journeyman, whose phenomenal talent has at times been at odds with his unorthodox approach to business.  He might have been champion many times over by now, but he preferred to be a free agent rather than commit to any one company, making it politically difficult to push him.  Then, just as it seemed he might jump to All Elite Wrestling with his soulmate Kenny Omega, he locked in with a long-term NJPW contract.  (If you’ve been watching AEW and wondering why Omega seems depressed and out-of-sorts, it’s because he had to leave this guy behind.)  At 37 he’s finally getting the tippy-toppy guy push he always deserved...and yet the story is that he’d kinda sorta rather have the intercontinental title, for sentimental reasons.

Expectations for this match are running high, because each man has delivered some of the best matches in the world.  Okada’s whole thing is to get in his opponent’s head by teasing him and taking him lightly until things get harder and he has to turn it up.  Ibushi’s whole thing is fighting like an anime guy--he’s all honorable at first with quick flashy moves, and then when he’s beaten down he hulks up and goes sickhouse on your ass.  Basically Ibushi is the wrong damn guy for Okada’s “you’re a good little hand, kid, but you can’t beat me” shtick, because Ibushi will kick his head off.  But Okada is the wrong damn guy for Ibushi’s “now I’m in ultimate turbo super collosal mode” shit, because Okada can weather the storm and keep going.  Whoever wins this one is going to have to damn near kill the other guy.

It’s tough to pick a winner knowing anything could happen 24 hours later.  But it feels like this is Ibushi’s time, and it’s taken a long time to get there, so he should win the big one.  But history has taught me to never doubt Okada’s ability to crush his challengers’ hopes and dreams and convince me that it’s best for business.  If anyone can roll over Ibushi’s push, it’s Okada.  But if anybody can defy conventions, it’s Ibushi.  This one’s too close to call.

Jay White vs. Tetsuya Naito - White pinned Naito in the G1 Climax, and then won the IWGP intercontinental title from Naito in September, so this is the rematch.  This is also the other half of the “Double Gold Dash” along with Okada vs. Ibushi, so the champion after this match goes on to the double title match on January 5, and the other guy ends up in the consolation match.

The whole idea of everybody wanting to be double champion kicked off a year ago with Naito.  He’d always resented the intercontinental belt, dragging it on the ground and such, but after winning it at Wrestle Kingdom 13 he seemed to come to terms with it always coming back to him, and set his sights on being the first man to hold it and the heavyweight belt at the same time.  Of course, then he lost his belt to Ibushi, and had to get it back, and before you knew it Ibushi was deciding he liked the idea of being a double champion as well.  As talk of a double title match at the Tokyo Dome started heating up, White realized his best shot of regaining the heavyweight title was to take the intercontinental belt from Naito to ensure he’d be in the conversation.  But Naito, undeterred, insisted on getting a rematch with Naito, which secured his spot in this little tournament.

It’s still incredible to me that White used to be the scrawny looking young boy in the opening matches 3½ years ago.  He’s not quite at the level of the other tippy-toppy guys, but for my money he’s one of the best in the company.  Part of the reason I haven’t missed Kenny Omega in NJPW all that much is because White has taken the top gaijin role, run with it, and made it his own.  He’s so hated that, if he wins the main event on 1/5, there is a very real chance that tens of thousands of people will just rush to the exits instead of watching the end of the show.  He’s great.

The big knock on Naito is that he’s pretty banged up and can’t go like he used to.  In WWE they’d probably take him off the road, or reduce his schedule to a handful of matches each year until he could recover.  In New Japan, he seems to be on every tour, phoning it in until it’s time to pull out all the stops in a big money match.  Now he’s looking at two big money matches in a row.  If you ask me now is not the time to book Naito over two top stars and position him to defend two top belts like he’s Superman.  Then again, if you ask me, I’m not certain anyone at NJPW sees it that way.

I’m not expecting this match to be all that great.  Naito has elevated “stall to fuck with your opponent” to a whole new artform.  White, meanwhile, has perfected a strategy where he goes limp and lies on his back so opponents can’t execute their big moves (because pro wrestlers don’t know how to just stomp a guy or grab a hold, apparently).  When these two fight, it’s very much Larry Zbyszko’s “human game of chess,” and to be honest I never liked Zbyszko very much.

The outcome here really depends on what New Japan sees as the best opponent for the winner of Okada-Ibushi to headline the 1/5 show.  Of the possible combinations, Okada-Naito is the freshest match (last seen in January 2018), followed by Okada-White (April 2019), Ibushi-Naito (June 2019) and Ibushi-White (August 2019).  That sort of leads me to think Naito is the preferred winner here, in addition to the fact he’s the bigger star and the bigger draw.  The question, though, is whether his body can hold up to the demands of that star power.

Will Ospreay vs. Hiromu Takahashi - Ospreay is defending the IWGP junior heavyweight championship.  Takahashi is returning from a neck injury that has sidelined him since July 7, 2018.

I was in the Cow Palace when Takahashi seemed to glide across the mat as if his face was an ice skate.  I still remember the noise the crowd made when we saw the replay.  I was relieved when Hiromu got back up and won the match to retain the junior title, because I assumed that meant everything would be all right.  By the time I learned he’d been immediately rushed to the hospital after the match, I was sightseeing in San Francisco the next day.  I followed his status updates closely, until they stopped coming.  Then I commiserated with New Japan Tumblr about the frustration of expecting him to return at every single big show.  So yeah, I’ve been waiting for this for a long time.

Here’s the thing.  Both of these men do big crazy moves that elevate the art of lightweight pro wrestling.  They aim to please the crowd with high-risk spots, and accept the enormous risks of overdoing those spots.  I appreciate Will and Hiromu for their styles.  But I consider them two of my favorites because of their characters, the stuff that they could coast instead of killing themselves for style.  Ospreay didn’t elevate his game by flipping around with Ricochet, but by delivering a passionate promo about battling depression and vowing to “slay the dragon” by overcoming the (then) undefeated Shingo Takagi.  Hiromu didn’t elevate his game by feuding with Dragon Lee, but by purchasing a stuffed cat and making us treat it like a real cat. 

So as far as I’m concerned, the big angle for this match is that Ospreay has introduced his own stuffed animal mascot (Percy the Pig) to counteract Hiromu’s cats.  If they met in the center of the ring at the Tokyo Dome and made their dolls fight each other, I would declare it the match of the year.  I don’t need these guys to destroy themselves for me.  I accept that they will try to do that anyway.  But I’m into this match on a whole other level, and I hope they don’t lose sight of that.

I personally think Hiromu needs to regain the junior title (even if only for a few weeks) to close the book on his return from injury.  The only good reason not to do that here is if they think he still needs to shake off some ring rust.  But by all accounts, he’s been cleared to wrestle for months, so if the time for the title win isn’t now, I’ll be incredibly shocked.

Lance Archer vs. Jon Moxley - This is for Archer’s IWGP United States championship.  The match is being billed as a “Texas death match,” although the rules for such a contest seem to change literally every time someone books one.  In this case, the match can only end when one participant submits or fails to answer the referee’s count of ten.  Regardless of the outcome, whoever is US champion will defend against Juice Robinson on the January 5 show.

Moxley won the title from Robinson in June, but Juice pinned him in a non-title match in August.  That set up a rubber match in October 14, but Typhoon Hagiibis prevened Mox from making the show, so he was stripped of the title.  Archer defeated Juice in a match for the vacant title, and now Moxley is back to reclaim what he never lost in the ring.  For his part, Archer is fixated on validating his title run by defeating the ex-champion he’s never faced.

Archer was always terrifying in his run with Davey Boy Smith, Jr., as the Killer Elite Squad, but after Smith left he really started to show me something as a singles guy.  He was an unexpected highlight in the G1 Climax as a big bully that frightens small children, and I’m actually ashamed that I didn’t consider the potential of a feud with Moxley until he back-doored his way into the US title picture.  I like seeing Moxley with an IWGP championship, but I have to admit Archer is a stronger choice for a US champion, considering that he’s not contractually prohibited from defending the title in North America.

My gut says the Robinson match on January 5 doesn’t make a lot of sense unless the goal is to rapidly reset things back to October 14 and deliver the Moxley vs. Robinson title match.  I don’t see why they’d do it that way unless they’re determined to move the title back to Juice and have Moxley give him the rub.  While there are certainly other possibilities (Archer retains in both matches, Moxley wins both matches, Archer beats Mox but loses to Juice), none of them make quite as much sense to me.  Since I happen to like all three guys, I guess I can’t be disappointed in any event.  But as far as this match goes, I think Moxley will regain the US belt.

Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa vs. Juice Robinson & David Finlay - Robinson and Finlay won the World Tag League tournament for the right to challenge the Guerillas of Destiny for the IWGP heavyweight tag team championship.  If Juice wins this match, and goes on to win his US title match tomorrow, he will effectively have two IWGP championships at the same time before any of the Double Gold Dash guys, so that’s kinda funny.

Finlay was sidelined with a shoulder injury very early in 2019, and in the meantime Robinson ended up feuding with Moxley over the US title.  Finlay returned just in time to get involved in the subsequent Juice vs. Lance Archer mini-feud, but Archer made short work of him too.  So their run in World Tag League seemed to be a reset for both guys, giving them a new direction to prosper in while Archer moved on with the US belt.  At least, that’s what I figured before Juice was booked in that US title match on 1/5.  Now I don’t know if they’re planning to push him as a singles act or a tag team guy.  Can they do both?  I guess we’ll see.

The story here for the Guerillas of Destiny is that they dominate the tag division but never actually win at Wrestle Kingdom.  (Tama’s last Tokyo Dome win was years ago, as a curtain jerker, long before Tanga showed up.)  It’s not much of a story, though, so it’s hard for me to imagine they’re going to finally get that big win here.  Juice has been beating himself up a lot for his losses in the past few months, so I’m pulling for him to have something to celebrate tonight.

KENTA & Bad Luck Fale & Chase Owens & Yujiro Takahashi vs. Hirooki Goto & Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI & Toru Yano - Now that Wrestle Kingdom has expanded to two days, there’s more room for filler tag team matches to pad the show.  This one is a preview of the Kenta vs. Goto match on January 5.  Kenta was teaming with Ishii and Yoshi when he betrayed them to join Bullet Club, and the two of them have really failed to get any shred of revenge, so this may be their last big chance.  But in the end I expect the Bullet Club team to win to put heat on Kenta going into tomorrow’s title match.

Zack Sabre, Jr. & Taichi & Minoru Suzuki & El Desperado vs. SANADA & EVIL & Shingo Takagi & BUSHI - This match previews the Sabre vs. Sanada match on January 5.  Sanada suffered some sort of injury a couple of weeks ago where he had to be pulled from the card, so there was concern he might not be cleared for this weekend.  But as of this writing, this match is still scheduled.  As a fallback, New Japan booked Bushi to score a big upset on Sabre in December, so that gives Sabre two guys to target here. 

I’m curious about the 2020 directions for several guys in this match, most notably Suzuki, Evil, and Shingo.  In theory this match could preview possible storylines for them, but that tends to be something they save for New Year Dash, so I won’t hold my breath.  The Sabre/Taichi team seems to be getting some momentum, so that may also be a thing to watch heading into the new year, especially if Sabre drops his British title to focus on a tag team run.  As far as this match goes, though, I think it could go either way.

Jushin Thunder Liger & Tiger Mask & Tatsumi Fujinami & The Great Sasuke vs. Naoki Sano & Tatsuhito Takaiwa & Shinjiro Otani & Ryusuke Taguchi - Liger’s team will be cornered by El Samurai and Sano’s team will be cornered by Kuniaki Kobayashi.  Norio Honaga will be the special referee.  This is the first of two retirement matches for Liger, who will end his in-ring career on January 5 and then have a ceremony on January 6.

Liger (55) has hand-selected the participants in this match.  Tiger Mask (49) has been his long-time tag team partner.  Fujinami (65) was his idol, who inspired him to become a pro wrestler.  Sasuke (50) and Liger collaborated to create the Super J Cup and J Crown tournaments.  Kobayashi (63) was Liger’s first opponent in the Jushin Liger gimmick in 1989.  Sano (54) was Liger’s first big rival back in 1990.  Liger feuded with Takaiwa (47), Otani (47), Samurai (53), and Honaga (64) over the years.  Taguchi (40) seems to mainly be there to help carry the match and represent the current New Japan junior division.

In theory, a guy that’s retiring should lose on his way out.  Then again, in theory a guy that’s retiring doesn’t have two retirement matches in the Tokyo Dome.  Liger obviously has to go down hard on 1/5, but he could score the win here to give us one last big celebration with his cool theme music and stuff.  It is frankly not that important to give the rub to Taguchi or his team.  So, unexpectedly, we’ll have to wait and see how this one plays out.

Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi - This is one of three opening matches that will be in the pre-show.  All four guys are on the active roster but they’re all past their prime and mainly work with the young boys in the undercard.  If you’ve watched New Japan for any time at all you’ve probably seen these four a dozen times.  It’s not going to blow the roof off the dome, but it’ll be a nice nostalgia pop to see them working in the Tokyo Dome one more time.  It kinda doesn’t matter who wins.

Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma & Yuya Uemura & Yota Tsuji vs. Toa Henare & Karl Fredericks & Clark Connors & Alex Coughlin - Another pre-show match, which should be the first one actually broadcast for streaming services and Japanese television.  Makabe and Honma are longtime partners who are all that’s left of the defunct faction GBH.  Uemura and Tsuji are young boys training in New Japan’s dojo system.  Henare graduated from that system a while back, but he’s still little more than a curtain jerker waiting for his first real push.  Fredericks, Connors, and Coughlin are trainees at New Japan’s new Los Angeles dojo, as part of their big “New Japan of America” initiative.  On paper, there’s no way Makabe and Honma lose to a bunch of rookies, let alone gaijin rookies.  But they’ve been pushing the LA Dojo students as being a hair better than the local young boys, so I think an upset is at least possible.

Arisa Hoshiki & Mayu Iwatani vs. Giulia & Hana Kimura - This is a special exhibition match featuring women from the World Wonder Ring Stardom promotion.  Although NJPW and Stardom are owned by the same parent company, their broadcasting rights are with different outlets, so this probably won’t be aired on the live stream, and I’m not certain when or where it will be made available to view.  That’s a shame since I know almost nothing about Stardom, and this could have been a good opportunity to dip my toe in that.  I’ve heard fans of both promotions aren’t wild about them intermingling like this, but booking men and women on the same show is pretty standard in the West so I’m sure I wouldn’t understand the problem.

[anthonysstupiddailyblog]

Anthony's Stupid Daily Blog (836): Mon 1st Jul 2024

Used my emergency hours to go home at one so I could watch Forbidden Door which was mostly a good show. Weirdly, much like how ROH's War Of The Worlds PPV started out pitting the best of ROH against the best of New Japan but gradually all the top guys in ROH left for WWE so WOTW became the best of New Japan vs whichever midcarders ROH were experimenting with in the main event picture, NJPW now finds itself in the ROH position. So many of New Japan's top stars have either left to join AEW full time that they are really lacking in star power right now. Naito is their top star but you can tell he's winding down, Tanahashi is now the president so he'll be working a reduced schedule, Sanada and Shingo both had lengthy main event runs but never quite rose to the challenge of becoming "the guy", Zack Sabre Jr is one of the best in the world but I don't think New Jpan will ever pull the trigger on him as a main eventer and I know that someone in New Japan is clearly a massive fan of David Finlay and thinks that he can be the one to carry the company into the future but….meh. Personally I think New Japan should spend the next year or so elevating Ren Narita, Shota Umino, Yota Tsuji and Yuya Uemura. I think a good booking decision would be to make Narita the new leader of Bullet Club and since CHAOS don't have a leader now that Okada has left, have Shota Umino step in to rally them in their pushback. Also although Tsuji is by far the most improved of all the Young Lions he's too much of a heelish performer to be in LIJ and I would just have him be the new leader of the villainous United Empire. The show opened with The Acclaimed and Tanahashi vs Okada and the Young Bucks and Tanahashi doing air guitar to The Acclaimed’s rap got a 10/10 from me. I know Hogan originally did the air guitar thing but Tanahashi is the best non-racist wrestler to do it. Fucking hell poor Tanahashi has he ever won a match in AEW? I mean I know he doesn’t need to but come on. Even Captain Shawn Dean has won a match in AEW whoever the fuck he is. The Moxley vs Naito match was surprisingly underwhelming and to be honest I just did not see the point of putting the IWGP belt on Moxley in the first place since he wasn't going to be a full time champion in New Japan or AEW. The Toni Storm vs Mina Shirakawa match was very entertaining but all anyone will remember from it will be the three way kiss between the two participants and Mariah May (I imagine every man in that building who was intending to go for a piss break after this match had to stay in their seat for an extra ten minutes after seeing this kiss). I'm glad that Tony Khan didn't make the same mistake he did with the MJF vs Adam Cole feud by having one of them turn on the other just because that's what history dictates happen in such a feud. Everyone has been speculating that either Mariah is going to turn on Toni or vice versa but I don't think they should, at least not yet. Be the trend breaker, if the angle is hot then ride it out until it's not. While you're letting the Toni / Mariah storyline dominate the women's division experiment with new gimmicks, storylines for the other women's wrestlers so that they will get over the same way Toni did. The Swerve Strickland / Will Ospreay match was phenomenal as expected. I'm glad Swerve retained as I think they need to keep building on him to solidify him as a main eventer. However I will reluctantly admit that although I'm not a big admirer of Ospreay in real life because he's said and done some dodgy things, he is a fucking amazing wrestler and I think he is going to be AEW's crown jewel going forward. He is his generation's AJ Styles, someone who's so far ahead of all his peers in terms of the things he can do in the ring. He's so quick, so resourceful, has such perfect timing, such a good seller and such a natural storyteller that he frequently has to lower his level of expertise so that the people he's in the ring can keep up with him.

[a-lucha-brother]

Oh shit!! It’s All Out night babyyyyy And here’s my predictions:

Firstly I want to say, I am holy fuck hyped for All Out 2022, BUT I feel like the build is so very hit and miss, which is becoming a prevailing problem within AEW. On the one hand ALL of the grudge matches (ironically all non-title go figure) have super builds behind them as does the triple tag team title match (literally years of story-telling colliding), but pretty much ALL of the title matches, especially the main event, have sweet FA leading into them - don’t come at me saying Mox/Punk has good build, it has WWE circa 2014 build, aka really lazy and boring rinse and repeat.

But anyways, starting with the Zero Hour pre-show:

Tomohiro Ishii vs Eddie Kingston 2

Now let me tell you something brother!! I love me a bit of the Stone Pitbull, but Eddie’s taking this no doubt about it. You love to see it!

AEW All-Atlantic Championship Pac © vs Kip Sabian

Well fuck me silly and dress me up cute! Two of Britains greatest exports going to slap meat together, you know this is going to be a barn burner and a half! I know Kip is being built back, but this title was made for THE BASTARD. My man is going for the win come on y’know!

FTW Championship Hook © vs Angelo Parker

Now, I love the JSA because of course I do, and I love Cool Hand Ange, but sweetheart, you know Hook is killing him faster than you can say BAH GAWD.

I care so little about Sammy right now I’m not even bothering with his match, how’s about a go fuck yourself on that one. Can’t wait to hear the crowd booing like crazy.

AND NOW for the main card of All Out 2022:

Casino Ladder match Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta, Andrade El Idolo, Rush, Rey Fenix, Penta El Zero M, Dante Martin and the ‘Joker'

Oooooooh yeeeeah, brother let me tell ya WOO this is going to blow all of our balls off like there’s no tomorrow. My head says that Andrade will win, but I personally want my main man Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeyyyyyyy Fenix to win it all, you know you fucking want it, he’s a crazy son of a bitch!

AEW Interim Women's World Championship Toni Storm vs Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. vs Jamie Hayter vs Hikaru Shida

Now again, this is going to be a mental match brother! And again, my head says Toni Storm is walking away with the title, but screw that I’m going for MY LASSIE Jamie Hayter here we go!! Also I’m totally in love with her so I’ll be hyping her ass up like you wouldn’t believe brother!!

Jungle Boy vs Christian Cage

Ayooo Christian Cage is MY GUY y’know, me and him go waaaaay back. But I gotta go with my main man Jack Perry brother. He’s gonna beat Cage black and blue brother, but I also wouldn’t be surprised if they find a way for Cage to win so we can keep this hype train going. Still going for Jungle Jack though.

Ricky Starks vs Powerhouse Hobbs YES MY GOD YES I cannot wait for this so much, it’s honestly going to be such a wild match and the crowd are going to be WILD for Ricky Stahks (as JR calls him). This is a beautiful time to be a fan of Ricky Starks because we’re finally seeing him become a MEGA STAR. Whether Hobbs wins or not is irrelevant because the rocket is firmly up Ricky’s ass rn. Also I want him to win if that wasn’t clear.

AEW World Tag Team Championship Swerve In Our Glory vs The Acclaimed

EVERYBODY LOVES THE ACCLAIMED

TBS Championship Jade Cargill vs Athena

AYOOO brother! I think it’s finally time to get the title off Jade and give it to someone fresh.....like Athena.

Bryan Danielson vs Chris Jericho

To quote JR, this is going to be the match of the year I don’t care what anyone says. And I honestly can’t call who’s going to win that’s how damn good and how many moving parts there are to this. So here’s a gif of Daddy Magic!

Trios Match FTR & Wardlow vs Jay Lethal & Impact Wrestling's MCMG

Need I even say anything...

Trios Match House of Black vs Darby Allin, Sting & Miro Oh my fucking god good god almighty this is going to be INSANE, blood will be spilled and bones will be shattered, and souls will be redeemed, so sayeth The Druid, so shall be the will of The Redeemer.

AEW World Trios Championship Tournament Final Kenneth BY GOD Omega & Young Bucks vs Hangman Page & Dark Order I can’t even, I just have no words to express any sense of what’s going to go down here. All I can say is that we better strap our asses down as securely as possible. The Elite were always going to win this though no doubt at all.

AEW WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP JON MOXLEY THE DEATH RIDER vs CM PUNK AND HIS SORE FOOT

Bro, don’t even question it, Jon Moxley is going to fucking KILL CM Punk yet again, you love to see it! So sayeth The Druid, and so shall it be! And there ain’t fucking NOTHING you can do about it!! Jon Moxley IS PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING.

[placetobenation]

Welcome to the week that was in the WWE. But before we get to the show recaps, there’s few things to get to during the week.

Paul Wight is now in AEW. That’s right. The superstar formerly known as The Big Show and The Giant is now All Elite. After 22 years, he’s left the WWE for what he hopes are greener pastures on a multi-year deal. You see, it seems like Wight feels like he has more left in the tank than the WWE thinks he does. As one who lives in New England, it’s a familiar story involving someone you might have heard of, you know, one Tom Brady. He not only left the Patriots but won his seventh Super Bowl at age 43 while the Patriots missed the playoffs. Wight had a great run in the WWE but his last memory in the company will be that in the Randy Orton storyline as a washed-up legend. His Netflix show, produced with WWE Studios, was canceled late last year as well. So, now it’s on to a return to Turner and TNT where he started as The Giant in WCW nearly a quarter century ago. We wish him nothing but the best. He’s a good guy who I met once in person doing radio in Providence, Rhode Island. His first assignment will be doing commentary with Tony Schiavone on Monday night’s AEW Dark: Elevation on You Tube followed by an appearance on Dynamite on Wednesday night. It should be very interesting in what is a very big signing (pun intended) for AEW and Tony Khan’s crew.

What’s up with the flurry of non-title matches?

On RAW, we got three non-title affairs. On NXT, we got another three matches with champions battling not with the championships on the line. What happened to the days when it was unique that champions even appeared on tv to wrestle? Now, it’s like a weekly thing. Seems to keep the luster off when a title is defended.

What happened to follow-up on storylines? Details people? Could we get an update on Keith Lee and why he’s not around? Could we get some closure on Lacey Evans’ pregnancy announcement from her side?

Elimination Chamber Thoughts – It’s been a long time coming, but Bobby Lashley is finally making his way back into the main event scene and I like it! If someone’s going to legitimately take down Drew McIntyre, Lashley’s a perfect candidate to do it. Plus, if The Miz was going to have a successful cash in with his Money In The Bank contract, he needed an underhanded, sure thing to get it done. MVP brokered the deal and got it done. All in all, a solid PPV that got us to Edge vs. Roman Reigns in the main event of WrestleMania. Job done and kudos to Daniel Bryan and Cesaro for being stars in the chamber.

Star of the Week:

Bobby Lashley – Sure, Lashley did lose his United States Championship to Riddle. But he didn’t get pinned to lose it. And sure, The Miz did win the WWE Championship, so maybe he might deserve the spotlight. But we all know it was only because of Lashley that The Miz could’ve cashed in his Money In The Bank contract to get the victory over Drew McIntyre after the Elimination Chamber match. Plus, Lashley did get a dominant win over Braun Strowman to boot to keep his title match this Monday night against The Miz a one-on-one affair. Things are looking up for The Hurt Business’ top guy!

RAW

RESULTS

Non-title United States Championship Match: Riddle defeated John Morrison

The New Day defeated RETRIBUTION (MACE & T-BAR)

Non-title RAW Tag Team Championship Tornado Tag Team Match: Cedric Alexander & Shelton Benjamin defeated Lucha House Party

Damian Priest defeated Angel Garza

Non-title WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship Match: Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler defeated Charlotte Flair & Asuka

Sheamus defeated Jeff Hardy

Naomi & Lana defeated Mandy Rose & Dana Brooke

AJ Styles defeated Ricochet

Bobby Lashley defeated Braun Strowman to deny Strowman of WWE Championship Match opportunity

A DOMINANT victory by @fightbobby and a massive SPEAR for #WWEChampion @mikethemiz!#WWERaw pic.twitter.com/ZsL04N1dEL

— WWE (@WWE) February 23, 2021

Coming off the Elimination Chamber PPV, RAW was heavy on The Miz/Bobby Lashley storyline. That was to be expected and as expected, we got The Miz trying to weasel his way out of his deal with The Hurt Business to give Lashley a title match after hand-delivering The Miz the title on Sunday night with Lashley’s attack on Drew McIntyre after his Elimination Chamber title defense. Did we need Lashley having to beat Braun Strowman to keep it a one-on-one match, probably not. But it gets Strowman reintroduced to in-ring action and it makes Lashley look stronger going into this Monday’s match with The Miz.

"Go home. I am thankful for the doors you have opened. I am thankful for everything you have given me. But let me try to be Charlotte Flair. I love you, Dad." Spoken with her tears on #WWERaw, @MsCharlotteWWE just wants to put all of this in the past and move on. pic.twitter.com/oM3X3JgV5T

— WWE (@WWE) February 23, 2021

Elsewhere, the biggest thing coming out of Monday night was Charlotte Flair and Asuka. They get yet another match with the tag team champs and after Flair inadvertently knocks Asuka down, the RAW Women’s Champion is pissed, doesn’t take Flair’s apology and walks off. Meanwhile, we finally get a decent, detailed interaction between Charlotte and Ric Flair with both sides trying to explain their sides in the Lacey Evans mess. This comes a couple of weeks too late for me. It explained it, but it was out of context now that they have nowhere to go with Lacey, who’s now out due to her pregnancy.

Somebody get @sanbenito in next year's #RoyalRumble after that!#WWERaw @ArcherOfInfamy pic.twitter.com/jItNbxbVY0

— WWE (@WWE) February 23, 2021

Bad Bunny and Damian Priest continue to shine as we expect them to get a WrestleMania match with The Miz and John Morrison after The Miz drops his title to Bobby Lashley. It’s a good, entertaining pairing that has some upside.

I don’t exactly understand why we needed AJ Styles against Ricochet again in short fashion just to have Omos beat up Ricochet after the match. Seemed like just a time filler. The same can be said of Sheamus vs. Jeff Hardy and the ladies tag team match.

What … just happened to @RandyOrton? #WWERaw pic.twitter.com/39gN3EUxHg

— WWE (@WWE) February 23, 2021

Randy Orton getting choked up on some nasty black goo was interesting. Yes, Alexa Bliss is up to her fiendish ways again. I love that she doesn’t have to actually appear in order to affect a storyline. That’s good tv right there.

Maybe, finally, we get the end to the wretched RETRIBUTION angle after Mustafa Ali walks out on them when they lose yet again to The New Day. He’s better without them but they’ve wasted months trying to get a group over that never had a chance.

Riddle and The Hurt Business get non-title wins. I hope they give Riddle a bit of a stretch as champion to prove himself. As for THB, I’m not sure if they’re going to continue the dissension angle or keep the group together when Lashley becomes WWE Champion. After all, the champ will need some coverage in fending off new challengers, right.

Rhea Ripley is coming soon!

NXT

RESULTS

Non-title NXT North American Championship Match: Dexter Lumis defeated Johnny Gargano

Leon Ruff vs. Tyler Rust went to a no-contest

Non-title NXT Women’s Championship Match: Io Shirai defeated Zoey Stark

Xia Li defeated Kacy Catanzaro by referee stoppage

Grizzled Young Veterans defeated Killian Dain & Drake Maverick

No DQ Non-title Cruiserweight Championship Match: Karrion Kross defeated Santos Escobar

That was kind of a strange, yet entertaining edition of NXT.

Dexter Lumis gets a non-title (of course) win over Johnny Gargano. But the real news is after the match as there could be some differences of opinions in The Way with Austin Theory and Indi Hartwell taking some shine to Lumis. Theory didn’t hit him with a chair as Gargano wanted him too and Hartwell is enamored with him apparently. Hmmm….

If 𝙨𝙝𝙚 wants you to continue, you continue. @wwekayden is next. #WWENXT @XiaWWE pic.twitter.com/4wm9ogvJzP

— WWE (@WWE) February 25, 2021

Xia Li continues to be a badass, beating up her former bestie Kacy Catanzaro into a referee stoppage victory. I like the match that gave both a bit of time to shine. Will Kayden Carter be next on her list?

Having Io Shirai take on Zoey Stark was just a means to a way to announce a championship match with Toni Storm. Executed and answered.

WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?! #WWENXT @NashCarterWWE @WesLee_WWE @ZackGibson01 @JamesDrake_GYT pic.twitter.com/o1pVgUcZya

— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) February 25, 2021

What are we to make of the Grizzled Young Veterans attacking MSK and seemingly braking Wes Lee’s hand? Is their title match still on for this upcoming Wednesday night or are the GYV trying to sneak into the match?

Michael Bivens and Tyler Rust picking on “injured” stars hoping to get easy wins is getting old, especially now when they claim wins in a match in which it never starts. They can thank Isaiah “Swerve” Scott for taking out Leon Ruff for that one.

SAITO SUPLEX INTO THE TABLE.

It's @WWEKarrionKross' time now. #WWENXT @EscobarWWE pic.twitter.com/ELlYmIMTAA

— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) February 25, 2021

As expected, Karrion Kross picked up a win over Santos Escobar in a non-title (of course), No DQ match. That was never going to be in doubt. But, by having Legado del Fantasma continuously beat up Kross for a 3-on-1 match gives Escobar some cred for his smarts in at least trying to take out Kross, who ultimately puts Escobar through a table and gets the victory. Where does Kross go next?

And just like that, @AdamColePro has cemented the #EndOfAnERA. #WWENXT @roderickstrong pic.twitter.com/PIaO8qP7W7

— WWE (@WWE) February 25, 2021

Adam Cole, as Pat McAfee says, is a terrible human. He continued his attacks on his former teammates in The Undisputed Era. Last week, it was Kyle O’Reilly. This week, it’s Roderick Strong getting a low blow after a feigned emotion plea from Cole, who also gets a superkick in on NXT Champion Finn Balor to boot. We’re going to get Cole vs. Balor at some point. Maybe it comes as WrestleMania? How does Kross factor in? He wants his NXT Championship, something he never lost, back soon and Scarlett is lurking!

SMACKDOWN

RESULTS

Otis & Chad Gable defeated Rey & Dominik Mysterio

Apollo Crews defeated Shinsuke Nakamura

Tamina defeated Liv Morgan

The Street Profits defeated King Corbin & Sami Zayn

Daniel Bryan and Jey Uso went to a double count out

That'll teach him. #HeadOfTheTable #SmackDown @WWERomanReigns @WWEDanielBryan @HeymanHustle @WWEUsos pic.twitter.com/HHEbVK4cbx

— WWE (@WWE) February 27, 2021

Just like RAW, SmackDown leaned on the “win and you get a title match” storyline with Daniel Bryan having to beat Jey Uso in order to get a one-on-one shot at Roman Reigns and his Universal Title. And just like Braun Strowman, Bryan didn’t win, instead missing out on a title shot with a double count out finish. I was surprised Edge didn’t come down to help save Bryan from the Reigns post-match attack.  All in all though, I’m with Edge. I don’t like the Fastlane title defenses either. Things would be better without that PPV impeding the Road to WrestleMania. Even despite being someone we’ve seen a lot already in 2021, Uso vs. Bryan did give us a decent main event before the disappointing ending.

I was screaming at my tv for Corey Graves and Michael Cole to at least throw out there that what was the reason for the change in Otis and Chad Gable? They were together for over a month being Mr. Positivity, along with Daniel Bryan, and then we get a spur of the moment heel turn last week. I don’t mind the change in attitude, but at least have them explain why! Having Graves spout off that Otis is now more aggressive with Gable makes no sense when he’s been with him for the past six weeks or more. Details people! The WWE Universe is not that dumb.

.@WWEApollo picks up the win on #SmackDown. pic.twitter.com/60pmzfIK4V

— WWE (@WWE) February 27, 2021

Apparently, Apollo Crews is going to follow Roman Reigns is following and celebrating his heritage. I can dig it. By far, that promo Friday night was the best of his WWE career. Let him get personal and shine! That was one creative way to use a scarf too to get a victory over Shinsuke Nakamura.

Tamina gets two victories in two weeks. I don’t not like it. At least Tamina can somewhat wrestle which is more than I can say for Nia Jax.

WrESTleMania can't come soon enough. @BiancaBelairWWE will challenge @SashaBanksWWE for the #SmackDown #WomensTitle at #WrestleMania!!!

pic.twitter.com/evfGaEPH7h

— WWE (@WWE) February 27, 2021

There was only ONE choice Bianca Belair and you made the right one. Belair vs. Sasha Banks for the SmackDown Women’s Championship will be epic! I find it interesting that SmackDown, with Belair vs. Banks and Edge vs. Roman Reigns, has the two main event matches for WrestleMania’s two-night event. It speaks volumes doesn’t it!

Speaking of Belair, I’d love to see her in a mixed tag team match with her husband Montez Ford! Ford and Angelo Dawkins are back in the win column too this week with a victory over the squabbling Sami Zayn & King Corbin. Corbin is just a guy lost from storyline to storyline these days. That’s a shame.

Seth Rollins and Cesaro are about to put on a string of matches you won’t want to miss. That is, if given the time to do it.  I like that Rollins introduced the longtime friend card too. Well, at least before Cesar sent him swinging. Let it breathe Vince! This could be special.

Coming up this week:

RAW: WWE Championship Match: The Miz vs. Bobby Lashley Drew McIntyre returns

NXT: WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship Match: Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler vs. Dakota Kai & Raquel Gonzalez NXT Tag Team Championship Match: Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch vs. MSK

SMACKDOWN: TBD

Thanks for letting us share our thoughts! Shoot me an email at jcrowe567@gmail.com. We’d love to hear your comments and suggestions! You can also check out my blog, The Crowe’s Nest as we delve into more pro wrestling, sports entertainment and the World of Sports. My apologies ahead of time – I AM a Patriots, Red Sox, Celtics and Bruins fan! If you’re not down with that, I’ve got TWO WORDS for you… NEW ENGLAND

[daleisgreat]

Lockdown 2010

Greetings and welcome to sixth entry chronicling the TNA/Impact Wrestling Lockdown PPVs, with this one covering the 2010 edition emanating from St. Charles, MO. For past Lockdown recaps, click or press here to peruse away! As I alluded to in last year’s entry, the 2010 Lockdown is first of four that are operated under the Hulk Hogan/Eric Bischoff regime. This is a few months into Hulk and Eric’s run in the company, and already big changes are amidst. The first noticeable change is them going back to a traditional, four-sided ring. TNA fans infamously jeered Bischoff and Hogan when they opened up the previous month’s PPV, Genesis defending the ring switch. I was indifferent on the switch. I thought the six-sided ring helped define TNA after nearly six years with it, but after hearing numerous wrestlers not being too happy with it in interviews I can understand why they changed it up. Another change from last year is replacing Don West at the announce desk with Taz (WWE kept the extra Z in his name). I liked Don West at the desk, but I also am a fan of Taz (and continue to be with his current AEW work, especially on Dark), and I was all for freshening up the announce desk by this point. The final major change in TNA is that at this point when Lockdown transpired, Impact was halfway into their brief, 10-week run on Monday nights against RAW in what ended up as a footnote of version 2.0 of the ‘Monday Night Wars.’ Hogan and Bischoff threw a lot on the first head-to-head Impact against RAW on March 8, 2010 with Hogan wrestling in the main event, and a plethora of returns and debuts of former WWE stars in TNA like Ric Flair, Rob Van Dam, Jeff Hardy, Sting, Jeff Jarrett, Nasty Boys, Scott Hall, Sean Waltman and Sean Morley. Despite this, TNA could not get that bump up in ratings from commercial break channel flippers they were hoping for, and after 10 weeks and rapidly declining ratings, Spike TV moved them back to Thursday nights.

Even though Sean Walman debuted a month earlier on that March 8th Impact, he no showed Lockdown as Tenay and Taz opened the show stating that his partner Scott Hall had to find a last minute replacement for his match against Team 3D or go it alone. Tenay & Taz also said that X Division champion, Doug Williams, was stuck in Europe due to a recent volcanic eruption in Iceland causing un-navigable air and TNA officials stripped Williams of the title and will declare a new champion in a triple threat match on this show. The PPV then kicked off proper with two wrestlers who would be competing in opposing teams in the Lethal Lockdown match in the main event with Rob Van Dam squaring off against James Storm to see which team would have an entrance advantage. It was a solid back and forth opener with RVD getting the win after his vintage Five Star Frog Splash. Next up was the annual X-Scape match with Homicide, Brian Kendrick, Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin competing. They removed the rule where there had to be pin/submission eliminations until the final two wrestlers had to escape to win, and it was now whoever escaped the cage first would win. After several minutes of typical X-Division agility, Homicide snuck out and over the cage, with Brian Kendrick right on his tail to be declared winner. A nice video recapped Eric Young’s rivalry with Kevin Nash to set up their match aired, and despite an early flurry of offense from Young, Nash was able to shift momentum with a low blow and shortly thereafter land his Jack Knife powerbomb for the win. Nash declared after the match he would be teaming with Hall later on in the evening. It was a kind gesture of Nash to be pulling double duty considering in hindsight this would be his final Lockdown and he would be returning to WWE at the beginning of 2011.

All of the Knockout titles were on the line next, with Knockout champ Angelina Love defending her Knockouts Title by teaming with Tara and facing off against the Beautiful People’s Madison Rayne & Velvet Skye for their Knockout Tag Titles. It was sadly a mess of a match with the uneasy alliance of Tara and Love causing a lot of clunky teamwork, before an assist from Lacey Von Erich caused Tara to get pinned by Rayne to become the new Knockout champ. Jeremy Borash interviewed Team Flair for their upcoming Lockdown match, and this was when AJ Styles was endorsed by Ric Flair to be the next Nature Boy and we got to see AJ come out in Ric Flair-esque robes and attempt to style and profile like the Nature Boy. It……kind of worked, but never really got AJ Styles seriously over as a villain in TNA like they hoped it would. A triple threat match for the vacant X-Division title was next which saw Homicide earn in a spot in the match for winning the X-Scape match earlier. Homicide went up against Kazarian and Shannon Moore. I cracked a huge grin when Moore entered to the ring carrying his book of DILLIGAF prop which I completely removed from my mind this past decade. This was another solid X-Division spotfest, with Kazarian locking in the win and the title after connecting with a sick looking inverted piledriver. Christy Hemme interviewed a wound up “Pope” D’Angelo Dinero next, who preached so hard during his promo that he needed a water break. Pope was a fun reinvented Elijah Burke from WWE, and he had an entertaining brief run in TNA that saw him reach new heights here as he would be vying for the World Title later on this night.

Up next was the match with Nash subbing himself in for the no-show Sean Waltman, and it was not until all four guys were out there that I had a mild taken aback moment and realized I was witnessing a degree of a dream match between The Dudleyz/Team 3D against The Outsiders. Granted, Kevin Nash was in his final year of wrestling on a semi-regular basis, and Scott Hall was barely hanging on here a few years prior to entering rehab with DDP, and this would be the final Lockdown we would see Brother Ray as we knew him since he would drastically transform and evolve his persona by next year’s Lockdown. This match was better than any right it had to be. The teams busted out the bag of tricks with some crowd brawling to start off that the audience ate up. Brother Ray gets locked out of the cage while D-Von gets a 2-on-1 beat down until Ray barrels through the cage door for a crowd-pleasing comeback and The Outsiders surprisingly sell their asses off for Team 3D’s vintage Wassup Headbutt and Hall on the receiving end of a 3D through a table for the feel good Team 3D victory in the surprisingly solid match of the night. The next match will feature the first of several Lockdown appearances from one Ken Anderson, AKA, WWE’s Ken Kennedy. Anderson’s gimmick in TNA is that he self-proclaims himself an ‘Asshole’ and acts like a dick to everyone as a convincing video package for his upcoming match with Kurt Angle demonstrated. Their bout was spectacular, with Angle sacrificing his well-being for ridiculous spots like a moonsault from the top of the cage that was dangerous-yet-undeniably-awesome. Anderson goaded Angle back into the ring before his escape with some more convincing near-escape spots before Angle ultimately choked out Anderson and departed the cage for victory. Angle announced to the crowd he needs to take care of himself and would be taking a hiatus after the match.

The TNA World Title was on the line next with AJ Styles defending against The Pope. I got a kick out of Hebner being his trademark over-animated self by ejecting Flair before the match even started. Pope was crazy over for this brief time and the crowd was absolutely into him and his near falls. The fan support was not enough though before Dinero succumbed to AJ stabbing him with a pen to set up the Styles Clash for a successful title defense. The main event was the Lethal Lockdown with Team Hogan’s Abyss, Rob Van Dam, Jeff Hardy and Jeff Jarrett versus Team Flair’s James Storm, Robert Roode, Sting and Desmond Wolfe. Abyss and Roode started off the initial five minute period before the remaining team members entered every two minutes. The roof of the cage with weapons hanging from it and on top of its roof lowered down after Sting entered last. Jeff Hardy did an eye-popping ladder spot onto Beer Money on the roof of the cage, but what was more memorable was Abyss finally landing a move onto thumbtacks he brought to the ring when he chokeslammed Sting on the tacks….it felt like Patrick Ewing finally hitting his jump shot in the animated Clerks series. Eventually Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair get involved, with the Hulkster getting the best of Flair that of course saw him do a Flair Flop….onto the tacks! The chaos concluded with Abyss pinning Wolfe after a Black Hole Slam. The 2010 Lockdown DVD has a standard array of bonuses seen in previous releases, which is a half hour of interviews from fans and wrestlers from the floor of the previous day’s Fan Fest. This interview montage is highlighted by a fan showing Sting his custom made fan car to his disbelief, and RVD playing to the crowd’s delight. There are also a deluge of pre- and post-match interviews, with noteworthy ones being Angle elaborating on why he needs a little R&R and Jeremy Borash getting a little too mischievous and getting called out for it during his interview with the Beautiful People. Wrapping up the extras is a music video and photo gallery, from which I included a couple screenshots from in this recap!

Keeping up with tradition, I believe we set a new record for the amount of wrestlers busting open into a bloody mess with this Lockdown having seven bloodbaths occurring….from six wrestlers because RVD bled in two separate matches. Other stars doing the bloody honors this night were Brian Kendrick, Eric Young, Ken Anderson, Ric Flair and Kurt Angle. Overall, this is one of the better Lockdown shows with almost all of the matches delivering during an era of uncertainty for TNA. I recall becoming extremely frustrated with TNA throughout 2010, and by the end of the year after six years I went from becoming a weekly Impact viewer to watching it maybe once a month. It will only get worse as cover the remaining Lockdown PPVs.

This Lockdown entry, hell all TNA/Impact Wrestling associated entries here are dedicated to the man who I have consistently attributed as one of THE voices of TNA, one Mr. Barry Scott who sadly passed away in September of this year. As almost always mentioned in all previous Lockdown posts, I have always been a huge fan of the TNA video packages he narrated and usually introduced most of their PPVs and always gave me goosebumps narrating like only he can. He narrating packages for TNA all the way until a few months before his death - click or press here to see his final voiced video package he did for Moose in May of 2020. Impact Wrestling did a nice series of tweets highlighting his most prominent video packages I highly recommend checking out by click or pressing here so you can see his gift at getting you amped up for big shows like only he can! Past Wrestling Blogs Best of WCW Clash of Champions Best of WCW Monday Nitro Volume 2 Best of WCW Monday Nitro Volume 3 Biggest Knuckleheads Bobby The Brain Heenan Daniel Bryan: Just Say Yes Yes Yes DDP: Positively Living Dusty Rhodes WWE Network Specials ECW Unreleased: Vol 1 ECW Unreleased: Vol 2 ECW Unreleased: Vol 3 Eric Bishoff: Wrestlings Most Controversial Figure Fight Owens Fight: The Kevin Owens Story For All Mankind Getting Rowdy: The Unreleased Matches of Roddy Piper Goldberg: The Ultimate Collection Hulk Hogans Unreleased Collectors Series Impact Wresting Presents: Best of Hulk Hogan Its Good to Be the King: The Jerry Lawler Story The Kliq Rules Ladies and Gentlemen My Name is Paul Heyman Legends of Mid South Wrestling Macho Man: The Randy Savage Story Memphis Heat NXT: From Secret to Sensation NXT Greatest Matches Vol 1 OMG Vol 2: Top 50 Incidents in WCW History OMG Vol 3: Top 50 Incidents in ECW History Owen: Hart of Gold Randy Savage Unreleased: The Unseen Matches of the Macho Man RoH Supercard of Honor 2010-Present ScoobyDoo Wrestlemania Mystery Scott Hall: Living on a Razors Edge Shawn Michaels: My Journey Sting: Into the Light Straight Outta Dudley-ville: Legacy of the Dudley Boyz Straight to the Top: Money in the Bank Anthology Superstar Collection: Zach Ryder Then Now Forever – The Evolution of WWEs Womens Division TLC 2017 TNA Lockdown 2005-2016 Top 50 Superstars of All Time Tough Enough: Million Dollar Season True Giants Ultimate Fan Pack: Roman Reigns Ultimate Warrior: Always Believe War Games: WCWs Most Notorious Matches Warrior Week on WWE Network Wrestlemania III: Championship Edition Wrestlemania 28-Present The Wrestler (2008) Wrestling Road Diaries Too Wrestling Road Diaries Three: Funny Equals Money Wrestlings Greatest Factions WWE Network Original Specials First Half 2015 WWE Network Original Specials Second Half 2015 WWE Network Original Specials First Half 2016 WWE Network Original Specials Second Half 2016 WWE Network Original Specials First Half 2017

[gdwessel]

Road to New Beginning Tour: KUSHIDA Farewell 1/29 v. Tanahashi, NEVER 6-Man Match 1/30; 3rd New Beginning USA Show Added; NJPW & AEW Not Working Together (For Now), Jericho Joins AEW, Omega Doesn’t (Yet); Romero, Owens Stay; Naito in Costa Rica 3/30

Strong Style Story Podcast Episode 48 on Pro Wrestling Only

Strap in, this is a long one, and the second time I’m typing this out because my stupid laptop rebooted without my say-so during dinner grrrrrr.

The full lineups for the Road to the New Beginning tour have been released. The biggest bit of news here is the scheduling of KUSHIDA’s final match in NJPW. It will take place on 1/29/2019, at Tokyo Korakuen Hall, and his farewell opponent is none other than IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi. If you’re going to go out, may as well be against the champ. Pity it took this long to get a singles match against a heavyweight, but what can you do.

The next night in Sendai, there is a NEVER Openweight Comedy 6-Man Tag Team title match, as Togi Makabe, Toru Yano & Ryusuke Taguchi make another attempt at taking the belts from Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Taiji Ishimori. This show is not listed on NJPWWorld’s schedule, which is a shame as there are also two special singles matches, in which BUSHI & Shingo Takagi face off against El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru, respectively. It’s only Shingo’s 2nd singles match since signing to NJPW too. Maybe these matches will show up on tape delay.

There’s a lot more news to go so I am going to put the tour lineups at the bottom of the post.

On the English broadcast of WK13, they mentioned that a third show was going to be added to the New Beginning USA shows in late January/early February. That has now happened, with a show on 2/2/2019 at the War Memorial Auditorium in Nashville, TN. Tickets will go on sale for that on 1/15/2019, and you can see the ticket pricing scheme here. NJPW also announced they are adding additional seats to the show at the Globe Theatre on 1/30/2019 in LA, and those will also go on sale 1/15/2019. 

From the onset, NJPW said that wrestlers who would come over are the ones who would not be working The New Beginning in Sapporo. We already know those lineups, and that takes out Tanahashi, Okada, Jay White, Bullet Club, Suzuki-gun and Los Ingobernables. It may seem like much, but going from those lineups, the USA shows will probably feature the IWGP US title match between Juice Robinson v. Trent Beretta, as well as possibly the previously postponed singles rematch with Hirooki Goto v. Jeff Cobb, and perhaps even the Yuji Nagata v. Tomohiro Ishii match teased at New Year Dash!! on Saturday. Stay tuned.

Earlier today, All Elite Wrestling held a press conference / rally in Jacksonville, FL, for their forthcoming debut PPV under the AEW banner, Double or Nothing, in Las Vegas, NV, on 5/25/2019. Since many of the questions about AEW involve NJPW, I’m going to answer what we know about the relationship between the two: 

Not much.

In fact, yesterday there were reports that NJPW was very happy with the current relationship with Ring of Honor. For their part, Matt Jackson at this rally stated they were going to be working with Oriental Wrestling Entertainment, the Chinese promotion that took 2018 by storm, currently run by Dragon Gate co-founder CIMA, and featuring several other DG wrestlers who jumped over. Brandi Rhodes also made vague comments that they have reached out to joshi talents/promotions to work within their womens’ division. So at least in the immediate future, there is no current working relationship between All Elite Wrestling and New Japan.

As for the talents, AEW announced a bevy of them. Including, at the very end, the recently dethroned IWGP Intercontinental champion Chris Jericho. Considering AEW doesn’t start running officially until 5/25/2019, there is no reason I can think of why the rumored IWGP Heavyweight title challenge Jericho wants v. Hiroshi Tanahashi at G1 Supercard in Madison Square Garden can’t still happen. So wait and see on that.

One name noticeably absent from the announcements? Kenny Omega. So despite reports from Tokyo Sports that had more than a bit of kayfabing in it, we still really know nothing about what Kenny Omega’s next move is. It could be NJPW, it could be AEW, it could be WWE, it could be retiring and being a Twitch streamer. We’ll let you know when we do.

As I really have no interest in AEW, unless there is NJPW involvement, I won’t be reporting on them with any regularity. If you want to know more about the rally, check the interwebs as there are plenty of reports on what took place.

Just to flip the script a bit, we’ve been talking a lot about wrestlers who are leaving, maybe leaving, or retiring lately. Two wrestlers who have confirmed they are sticking around are Rocky Romero and Chase Owens. Both men tweeted out yesterday that they have signed new contracts with NJPW, so they will be part of the company for a while yet. Good for them!

An announcement that may have gotten lost in all this: NJPW announced that Tetsuya Naito will be making a rare appearance in Costa Rica on 3/30/2019, at the 5th anniversary show for Costa Rica Wrestling Embassy. CMLL’s Shigeo Okumura will be there as well, although it’s not known if they will be teaming. Naito used to team with Okumura during several of his Mexican excursions, however he also famously turned on Okumura’s “Yellow Wave” to join Los Ingobernables on an episode of CMLL Informa. And the rest is history...

Finally, last post I mentioned that I wasn’t familiar with what character was whom in My Dad Is A Heel Wrestler, in reference to the special match during the 1/21/2019 Fantasticamania show (and it was also after midnight by then). I’ve seen been informed that the match, underneath the masks and costumes, will be Kazuchika Okada & Togi Makabe v. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Ryusuke Taguchi. Should be a hoot.

Tour lineups:

Road to The New Beginning - 1/26/2019, Saitama Wing Hat Kasukabe

Yota Tsuji v. Yuya Uemura

Toa Henare v. Ren Narita

Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Manabu Nakanishi v. Ayato Yoshida [K-DOJO] & Shota Umino

Tomoaki Honma & YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] v. Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa [Bullet Club]

Togi Makabe & Toru Yano [CHAOS] v. Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens [Bullet Club]

Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, SANADA, BUSHI & Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables] v. Minoru Suzuki, Zack Sabre Jr., Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado [SZKG]

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS], Ryusuke Taguchi & KUSHIDA v. Jay White, Bad Luck Fale, Taiji Ishimori & Gedo [Bullet Club]

- 1/28/2019, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (NJPWWorld)

Manabu Nakanishi & Ren Narita v. Yota Tsuji & Yuya Uemura

Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Toa Henare v. Ayato Yoshida [K-DOJO] & Shota Umino

Togi Makabe, Toru Yano [CHAOS], Tomoaki Honma & Ryusuke Taguchi v. Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, Chase Owens & Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club]

Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] v. Bad Luck Fale & Yujiro Takahashi [Bullet Club]

Hiroshi Tanahashi & KUSHIDA v. Jay White & Gedo [Bullet Club]

Elimination Match: Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, SANADA, BUSHI & Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables] v. Minoru Suzuki, Zack Sabre Jr., Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado [SZKG]

- 1/29/2019, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (NJPWWorld)

Ren Narita v. Yuya Uemura

Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Manabu Nakanishi v. Ayato Yoshida [K-DOJO] & Shota Umino

Toa Henare & Ryusuke Taguchi v. Yujiro Takahashi & Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club]

Togi Makabe, Toru Yano [CHAOS] & Tomoaki Honma v. Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Chase Owens [Bullet Club]

Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] v. Jay White & Bad Luck Fale [Bullet Club]

Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, SANADA, BUSHI & Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables] v. Minoru Suzuki, Zack Sabre Jr., Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado [SZKG]

KUSHIDA Farewell Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi v. KUSHIDA

- 1/30/2019, Miyagi Sendai Sunplaza Hall

Toa Henare & Yota Tsuji v. Ayato Yoshida [K-DOJO] & Shota Umino 

Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Ren Narita v. Manabu Nakanishi & Tiger Mask IV

Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables] v. Yoshinobu Kanemaru [SZKG]

BUSHI [Los Ingobernables] v. El Desperado [SZKG]

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS], Tomoaki Honma & YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] v. Jay White, Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens

Tetsuya Naito, EVIL & SANADA [Los Ingobernables] v. Minoru Suzuki, Zack Sabre Jr. & Taichi [SZKG]

NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship: Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club] (c) v. Togi Makabe, Toru Yano [CHAOS] & Ryusuke Taguchi

- 2/6/2019, Nagano Athletic Park Gymnasium

Shota Umino v. Yuya Uemura

Yota Tsuji v. Ayato Yoshida [K-DOJO]

Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Ren Narita v. Manabu Nakanishi & Tiger Mask IV

Tomoaki Honma & Ryusuke Taguchi v. Chase Owens & Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club]

Togi Makabe, Toru Yano [CHAOS] & Toa Henare v. Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Yujiro Takahashi [Bullet Club]

Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, SANADA, BUSHI & Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables] v. Minoru Suzuki, Zack Sabre Jr., Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado [SZKG]

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS] & YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] v. Jay White, Bad Luck Fale & Gedo [Bullet Club]

- 2/7/2019, Aichi Nagoya Congress Center Event Hall

Ren Narita v. Yota Tsuji

Yuya Uemura v. Ayato Yoshida [K-DOJO]

Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Shota Umino v. Manabu Nakanishi & Tiger Mask IV

Tomoaki Honma & Ryusuke Taguchi v. Yujiro Takahashi & Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club]

Togi Makabe, Toru Yano [CHAOS] & Toa Henare v. Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Chase Owens [Bullet Club]

Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, SANADA, BUSHI & Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables] v. Minoru Suzuki, Zack Sabre Jr., Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado [SZKG]

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS] & YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] v. Jay White, Bad Luck Fale & Gedo [Bullet Club]

- 2/8/2019, Mie Yokkaichi City Green Park Gymnasium #2

Ren Narita v. Yuya Uemura

Shota Umino v. Yota Tsuji

Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Ayato Yoshida [K-DOJO] v. Manabu Nakanishi & Tiger Mask IV

Toa Henare & Ryusuke Taguchi v. Yujiro Takahashi & Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club]

Togi Makabe, Toru Yano [CHAOS] & Tomoaki Honma v. Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Chase Owens [Bullet Club]

Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, SANADA, BUSHI & Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables] v. Minoru Suzuki, Zack Sabre Jr., Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado [SZKG]

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS] & YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] v. Jay White, Bad Luck Fale & Gedo [Bullet Club]

- 2/9/2019, Osaka EDION Arena Subarena

Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Yota Tsuji v. Ayato Yoshida [K-DOJO] & Shota Umino 

YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] v. Ren Narita

Tomoaki Honma & Toa Henare v. Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens [Bullet Club]

EVIL, SANADA & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables] v. Minoru Suzuki, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado [SZKG]

Tetsuya Naito & Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables] v. Taichi & TAKA Michinoku [SZKG]

Elimination Match:  Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS], Togi Makabe, Toru Yano [CHAOS] & Ryusuke Taguchi v.  Jay White, Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club]

Strong Style Story Podcast Episode 48 on Pro Wrestling Only