#so that's where the 'top ten hottest brawls' comes from

[aceofbooks-creative-anthologies]

-> manjirou/mikey sano's camera roll

Notes:

Mikey really likes taking photos of me. Especially when a) I'm not paying attention or b) I'm pissed at him.

Our favorite hobby together is napping (and fighting) so all of our friends and family take photos of us sleeping in random ass places (not included is a photo of us sleeping on the train).

His first love is his bike. His second is dessert. I'm in third place.

I mentioned it in Kei's post, but they're competing for number of hickies.

50/50 chance that our current text thread is being communicated exclusively through cat memes.

Even though we're legally married, I spend the least amount of time with him (our schedules just do not work (and we get hella toxic)), so when he's feeling needy he sends me selfies of his back and shoulders because he knows it's my one weakness.

Not included is his folder of my "top ten hottest brawls" where he has them ranked based on how hot I look covered in someone else's blood. There's a subfolder in there of all the others that don't crack the top ten; he rotates them from time to time when the mood strikes him.

Fun fact unrelated to Mikey's camera roll: I don't exist in the story until after Takemichi makes his final time leap.

[neo-culture-mafia]

NCT 2018 as Mafia Positions

LEE TAEYONG ~ Leader (GOD FATHER)

He was brought up in a Mafia family himself so once he came of age, he branched his own syndicate. His father was furious...using the word ‘furious’ was an understatement though. He broke the family branch and created his own: Neo Culture 

Leads the work day with an iron fist, yet doesn’t hesitate to unwind with his members during the night time. Always looks out for his members when they show weakness and fatigue with their day to day life. 

“Oh no honey, I’m an angel...I swear! The horns are just there to hold up the halo.”

______________

MOON TAEIL ~ UNDER BOSS 1

He was there to step in for Taeyong whenever he was needed outside of the country for business. He held a lot of power within himself and the younger and inexperienced members. He kept quiet until needed, yet he was always lurking in the shadows taking note of everything and everyone.

Once he was needed though, you sure as hell need to know that he will make his presence known and he will instruct fear into his victims when needed.

“At times I feel like giving up, but then I bite my tongue and realize I have a lot of mother fuckers to prove wrong.”

______________

SEO JOHNNY ~ UNDER BOSS 2

The under boss who made his presence known from the beginning. He would always remind the others when Taeyong was out who they needed to be listening to. He would be by Taeyong 24/7 - ready. Ready to make the calls to blow something up or simply to call everyone to dinner. 

He holds the older members together and makes sure everyone has someone to go to if they needed it. Wouldn’t be afraid to get his hands dirty for the ones he loved and held close to him.

“Keep your head high...but your middle finger higher.”

_____________

NAKAMOTO YUTA ~ FOREIGN BOSS OF AFFAIRS (JAPAN)

Lives up the Neo Culture branch located in Japan. Rules his own soldiers with an iron fist that has all of them shaking on the daily. Spends most of his time reporting tensions of the Yakuza and Neo Culture to Taeyong. He knows when to pick his men up and transfer them back to Seoul for safety. Makes his own plans for his branch yet will always have clear communication with his hierarchy.  

Isn’t afraid to ask for help from his higher-ups. Has his life on the line every day with being so far away from Headquarters...but you wouldn’t catch him talking about his problems to his men because he has an image to maintain.

“The hottest lives have the coldest ends.”

______________

QIAN KUN ~ MEDIC

He didn’t even mean to get caught up in the mafia. It was a fluke thing, really. He had met Taeyong at a coffee shop that he had been working to get through medical school. Taeyong had walked in late at night with a huge gash on his shoulder. Kun being the almost certified doctor he was, took Taeyong and got him fixed up and out the door in less than 10 minutes with a complimentary coffee. The next night at the same time, his shop was bombarded by men in fancy suits with Taeyong offering him a proposal: Leave college and this job for the Mafia and be guaranteed protection for him and his family in China.

As he thought about his family, he knew he couldn’t say no. He wanted a better life for not only himself but his mom and dad. He needed this even though he hated to admit it. When they come back from a mission or a run, he doesn't get nosy and ask questions...he just does what he was brought here to do.

“There is only one hell: The one we live in now.”

____________

KIM DOYOUNG ~ HEAD OF WEAPONRY

Always had a thing for guns and knives...seems to call him. He makes sure everyone who is going on a mission or run is fully equipped for anything that may be thrown at them...literally. He makes sure everyone not only has weapons but also, safety gear that could withstand anything from a gunshot to a cherry bomb (which he also makes himself)

He has a cold exterior but once you get him out of his office and surrounded by his fellow members, he is very lively and very blunt in getting his point across in the most loving way possible. 

“If the enemy is in range...so are you.”

______________

TEN ~ TRAINER FOR HAND TO HAND COMBAT

He takes everyone under his wings. He works alongside Doyoung but in the opposite form: Hand to Hand. Ten makes sure that he teaches EVERYONE apart of Neo Culture hand to hand so just in case that a weapon fails or they are in close range, they know how to easily take out an enemy. He also teaches fatal shots to pressure points, temple hits, and body twists. Makes it so it seems as if when they fight, they are boneless. 

He is always open with his members from the get-go. He makes sure he is always available for his members...his family. 

“Your body is a temple...don’t let me knock it down.” 

________________

JUNG JAEHYUN ~ INTERROGATOR / TORTURE SPECIALIST

Jaehyun uses mental tactics to get inside his victims’ heads. Makes it feel as if he already knows what they have done when in actual reality he doesn’t even know what he’s supposed to be getting out of them. Yet when he meets a tough cookie that doesn’t fall for his mental tricks, he doesn’t have a problem getting physical with different instruments. 

Once off the job, he couldn’t hurt a fly. He relies on the care of his members to rid his mind of the horrific things he has seen during the day. Warm smile yet killer eyes that makes even the toughest man weak in the knees. 

“Do not let too much thinking paralyze the doing.” 

DONG SICHENG (WINWIN) ~ FOREIGN BOSS OF AFFAIRS (CHINA)

This boy couldn’t hurt anyone from the get-go. He learned from pain and mistrust that he only has himself and his members. He joined Neo Culture when his family was murdered in a Triad hit and run. He tried to leave China after that so he went to South Korea. He lived paycheck to paycheck until he was taken under Taeyong’s wing. He was put as Foreign Boss of Affairs for the China branch. Like Yuta, he reports tensions of local gangs and Neo Culture to Taeyong. 

When it gets too much for him - being in China - he always welcomed back to Seoul along with his own men. His anger sits locked inside of him...just bubbling over in the pot labeled as his mind. He believes that he should treat his men with a kind hand at night and a firm fist during the day. Always welcomes his own into his office to talk about their feelings. He felt as if he had no one for the longest time and he doesn’t want others to feel as if they had no one either. He’s there.

“You can tell how dangerous a person is by how they hold their anger inside them quietly.”

______________

KIM JUNGWOO ~ SNIPER / MANIPULATOR

His steady hand comes in use when he is needed for roof-top duties. Always knows where everyone, why they’re there, and what they’re going to be doing 10 minutes from now. Yet, when he is needed on the ground, he is used to getting people to come with him. He is used to using people. Buys pretty ladies drinks just to get them back to headquarters to find out what their partner is planning, or he could become friends with another leader to get insights on what they are doing in cases of funds, attacks, or pop-ups. 

Is relatively hidden in the shadows for good reason. Once he’s recognized more than once then he has some explaining to do to the person he was trying to seduce. He isn’t afraid to aid the others on the smallest of missions just to make sure that they get out of their alive.

“Never start an argument with a man that can take you out from another zip-code.”

______________

WONG YUKHEI (LUCAS) ~ MANIPULATOR

He is ready to get into anything just to find out sought-after information. A car, a brawl, a bed - you name it. You name it, he’s probably been in it to get valued information that will put his team ahead of everyone else so no one can touch them.

During work, he doesn’t let his emotion get in the way of anything, yet when he’s around his members he lets all emotion go and unwinds. He is always changing himself so he doesn’t get recognized. 

“Keep yourself closed off for it won’t give me the opportunity to get what I wanted in the first place.”

___________

LEE MARK ~ HEAD OF JUNIOR FORCES

Mark...he’s the man that Taeyong goes to when he finds another kid that needs someplace to go. Mark usually goes on hits with the other members, yet when they’re at headquarters - you can find him training everyone younger than him. He is skilled in everything from explosives to money transfers in hacking. He’s paving the way for all the prospering youths to be prepared for when they become legal. Once they become legal, then Mark won’t have to teach them anything else and will expect them to prove their skills to all the other members.

Super caring and fun to be around with the members (to be) during training, yet when he’s out on a run - he’s as scary as Taeyong. He was a natural born leader so even though he’s younger than all the official members...he’s looked up to. He paved his own road that he’s traveling on so he can teach others to do the same for themselves.

“You better watch yourself, I did this all by myself.”

_______________

HUANG RENJUN ~ ASSASSIN 

He was the second child in his ethnic Chinese family. His parents were poor and couldn’t afford him. They left him outside an orphanage and he grew up there with his anger boiling inside of him. He had terrible anger issues so once so many homes wouldn’t take him...he was transferred to Korea where as soon as he arrived at the new home, he ran away. Taeyong caught him stealing random scrap supplies from their warehouse and decided to bring him in. 

He has a lot of anger so he makes sure to put everything into his actions as he trains and practices. He wanted vengeance at first but now he just wants a safe place where he knows people care for him. 

“When you get angry, count to ten...when you reach eight, throw the punch that no one expected.”

_____________

LEE JENO ~ POISON / HALLUCINATION  SPECIALIST

Even though he’s still younger than most members, the members come to him asking for anything to drug a victim, especially Jaehyun. He always had a knack for making people go crazy in their own minds. He was a troubled youth which made his parents roam and eventually disown him. He carries a chip on his shoulder even though he has a family now: Neo Culture

He used to use his own Hallucination tactics on himself to escape his painful reality of being unloved. After meeting Mark and all of the other boys though, his own happiness became his drug he just couldn’t get enough of. 

“It’s not called dreaming when you induce it on yourself...it’s called a hallucination.”

___________

LEE HAECHAN ~ DECOY 

He uses his slyness and trickery to throw off others while on hits. He is used by the higher-ups in missions. No one would expect an innocent looking boy to be deadly and involved in such hazardous tasks. Whether it’s using prosthetic to disguise himself in the line of enemies, or stealing identities to get into elite social and business gatherings for other syndicates, he does it all. 

He always had an issue of figuring out who he was as a little kid. With this work though...he could be anything or anyone. Yet, once he takes off the fake body features and makeup, he becomes the classy and funny boy his friends have all grown to know. 

“Why be ordinary when I have the chance to be anyone?”

_____________

NA JAEMIN ~ ARSONIST

Jaemin always loved the idea of fire. Anything that you created could be gone so quickly. He loved being in control of it though. He loved being able to manipulate it to the point where he figured out to burn a single space in a matter of 5 minutes. He works alongside Doyoung in the aspect of learning what it takes to makes bombs and do it safely. Yet, sometimes he doesn’t care and just lets it range free as he watches in awe of its power to destroy something it took so long to build. 

His family kicked him out at 13 once they found his stash of explosives and fire equipment. Taeyong found his ability and hobby a good use and asset to the team. He acts super badass and hard when in actual reality, he’s super soft and a huge nerd when he is surrounded by his friends. 

“The most powerful weapon on Earth is the human soul on fire.”

______

ZHONG CHENLE ~ ESCAPE ARTIST (IN TRAINING)

He was always put in sticky situations as a child. He came from the same situation as Renjun, yet he was never taken in by anyone. When he finally was, he escaped as quickly as he could from that ‘home’. He was tied down by the people who were supposed to look after him, yet he got out. He uses his abilities to be able to get out of any situation. Whether he is in the situation, or he’s telling another member what to do, he is relied on to get them out of there in a safe and timely manner.

He uses his abilities in his day to day life. Whether Kun wants him to help with washing some bloody towels or Jaehyun needs help to scrub blood off the floor, Chenle will quickly, effortlessly, and seamlessly slip out of the room unnoticed. Once he escapes, he runs to his friends to hang out and play games.

“It’s not that I want to escape my life in itself, I want to escape the harsh reality OF my life.”

____________

PARK JISUNG ~ ANTI - DOCTOR (IN TRAINING)

Basically goes against Kun. If an enemy is brought in and Kun already fixed them up, he would be the one to go back in and reverse everything that helped. He worked under Kun for a while and learned everything he needed to in order to save someone, and then reversed it. Kun didn’t approve but he would never let Jisung know that. If it’s still confusing, basically: an enemy comes in all beat up and injured (shot) - Kun fixes said victim - Jaehyun gets information out of said enemy - Jisung comes in and takes out the stitches that held all his wounds closed. Slowly and painfully. He knows how to keep the person alive while still bringing the most pain as possible. 

His family kicked him out at age 11 for being ‘psychotic’. He learned how to fend for himself through the waves of wanting vengeance. Yet, with being the youngest, he has all his hyungs to lead him on a better path with the exception of his trained work. 

“I’m not afraid of monsters thanks to the one that lives inside of me.”

[wrestlingisfake]

All In preview

This is the big independent show everyone’s been talking about.  Several big promotions have allowed their talent to do this show, but none of them are directly running this show.  Cody Rhodes and the Young Bucks are promoting this out of their own pockets, which is pretty amazing when you think about it.

This all came about because some guy on Twitter asked Dave Meltzer asked if Ring of Honor could run a 10,000-seat venue and Dave was like “not anytime soon” and Cody was like “I’ll take that bet.”  Then everyone was like “what market is going to have enough hardcore fans to fill a building that big?” and Chicago was like “hold my beer” and the place sold out in 30 minutes.  So yeah, fuck Wrestlemania going to New York and Florida all the time, we’re gonna do our own Wrestlemania with indy guys and stupid storylines off of Youtube!

This will be airing live on pay-per-view, ROH’s Honor Club service, and Fite.tv, with a one-hour pre-show on WGN America.  September 1, 6pm Eastern/5pm local.

Nick Aldis vs. Cody Rhodes - This is for the NWA world heavyweight championship, which Aldis won last year--the same title Cody’s father held in 1979, 1981, and 1986. 

Aldis is probably best known as Magnus for his run in TNA, where he held what is now the Impact world title.  (He also held the Global Force Wrestling world title for most of that group’s existence.)  Cody is, of course, a former ROH world champion and WWE intercontinental champion; he’s a top act in ROH and part-time special attraction with New Japan Pro Wrestling.  He’s also one of the promoters of this show, which may or may not give away the finish.

The great irony here is that “independent wrestling” used to mean “wrestling unaffiliated with an NWA member,” but now the NWA has no members, which means it has the most prestigious championship that is truly independent of the major players today.  The current NWA business model, under Billy Corgan, is to fly the champion around to other people’s indy shows, resembling the old-school pattern of Harley Race or Ric Flair coming to an NWA territory once or twice a year.  Since this show isn’t being promoted by a group with its own world champion, it’s a perfect fit for that model.  So it’s a good thing Aldis got booked, because if he hadn’t the NWA would’ve looked pretty bush-league.

The main story here is that Cody and Corgan arranged this title match without consulting Aldis.  Aldis then tried to hold out for added incentive to defend the title, suggesting that if Cody regained the ROH world championship they could have a double title match.  Cody came up short, but still managed to goad Aldis into accepting the challenge.  Obviously the crowd for this show is going to be solidly behind Cody simply for making this show possible, and moreover they’re going to be into the angle that Cody has a chance to recreate one of his father’s career highlights.

I don’t foresee a lengthy NWA title reign for Cody, since his obligations to ROH and New Japan probably don’t line up with Corgan’s business plans.  However, if I was Corgan, I’d want to get the belt on Cody while he’s the talk of the wrestling world.  At the very least, I’d want to set up a Cody/Aldis program to run through October’s NWA anniversary show and maybe even the ROH/NJPW Madison Square Garden show in April.  So a title change makes sense, but it’d depend on a lot of things falling into place behind the scenes, so it’s not a lock either.  In the end, though, this is a bad weekend to bet against Cody.

Kenny Omega vs. Pentagon, Jr. - Omega holds the IWGP heavyweight championship--the top title of New Japan--but the title is not at stake here.  Penta works all over the place but is probably best known from AAA and Lucha Underground.  His biggest accolade is possibly the LU championship, but he also briefly held the Impact Wrestling world title earlier this year.

This is easily the biggest dream match that this show could book.  To the average US wrestling fan, Omega is the hottest guy in Japan and Penta is the hottest guy out of Mexico.  But since Penta’s never really been to NJPW or ROH, and since Omega’s never really been to AAA or Impact, there’s never been a way to book this match on a big show...until now.

I don’t really know anything about Pentagon except that he’s fucking scary, dude, and I’m pretty stoked to finally see what this cat’s deal is.  Omega has made a name for himself delivering some of the best matches of the decade, but Penta is a brawler so this won’t be a wrestling clinic.  It should be a unique spectacle, worthy of this one-of-a-kind event.

I feel like New Japan would not authorize this appearance if their champion was going to lose, so I would be very shocked if Penta wins.

Kazuchika Okada vs. Marty Scurll - Okada isn’t quite the ace of NJPW, but he’s getting there, especially after a record-setting 720-day run with as IWGP champion.  Scurll is a junior heavyweight in NJPW, but in ROH he’s approaching the main event level, and if he sticks around long enough he’ll probably become their world champion.  In Japan, heavyweights and junior heavyweights almost never compete against one another one-on-one, so this match is automatically a rarity.

Scurll is sort of just there in the grand scheme of things, but within the context of a 10,000 indy wrestling fans in Bullet Club shirts, he’s practically the second coming of Christ.  Between the quality of his opponent, the historic nature of the event, the favorability of the crowd, and the timing of his peak popularity, this could be the match of Scurll’s life.  But that said, he’s bound to lose, because I can’t imagine New Japan allowing an upset to disrupt their pecking order among the weight classes.  That’s fine with me, because while everyone else will be whooping for Scurll, I’ll be there to see Okada.

Rey Mysterio & Fenix & Bandido vs. Kota Ibushi & Nick Jackson & Matt Jackson - Fenix is the brand-new AAA heavyweight champion.   Mysterio is a former WWE champion and the current champion of Mexico’s #3 group, The Crash.  There isn’t much info (at least, not in English) on Bandido except that he’s worked in CMLL, AAA, and various smaller promotions.  Aside from being a finalist in NJPW’s G1 Climax tournament this year, Kota Ibushi is legendary for his high-risk style and his preference to be a freelancer rather than commit to a single company.  Nick and Matt, the Young Bucks, are currently the IWGP heavyweight tag team champions, and have become synonymous with the post-ironic style that has defined the modern age of indy wrestling.

There really isn’t a story or direction to this match beyond getting all these guys in the ring at the same time to work with each other.  The Bucks do their spots with everyone in the indies, this is their big special show, and so as a special treat they’re going to do their shit with Rey and Fenix.  Ibushi seems to be here because Kenny Omega is occupied elsewhere, and to get his last chance to work with Rey before Mysterio returns to WWE.  Bandido seems to be here primarily to do the job, which kinda suggests Ibushi and the Bucks are winning.

Hangman Page vs. Joey Janella - Page is one of the lesser white guys in Bullet Club, but he had a decent run in the G1 Climax recently, and it seems like he’s starting to move up in the world.   Janella is best known for a) Joey Janella’s Spring Break, GCW’s Wrestlemania weekend event and b) a 2016 match with Zandig where they did an insane rooftop bump into a pickup bed filled with glass and barbed wire.  This is being billed as a Chicago street fight, which could mean anything really but generally means no count-outs, no disqualifications, so you can fight all over the place, but you still have to score a fall in the ring.

The, uh, storyline in this match is that Page, yeesh, either murdered Joey Ryan or believes that he did.  Joey Ryan is arguably the most popular American indy wrestler who is not booked on this show, and he’s conspicuous by his absence since a good chunk of the build for this show is about his fate.  Anyway, Page is, uh, afraid to wear his cowboy boots because they keep...well...talking to him about how he’s going to kill “another Joey,” apparently meaning Janella.  So yeah, the big idea is that it’s significant that Ryan and Janella have the same first name.  It’s like that whole “Martha” thing in Batman v. Superman, only dumber.  This is what happens when the main television for your show is Being the Elite, which is slightly less absurd than Southpaw Regional Wrestling or Z! True Long Island Story.

In any case, Page is suitably deranged enough to brutalize Janella, which means Janella has sufficient motivation to go sickhouse on Page.  These two ought to give us a good brawl and some nasty hardcore spots.  Dave Meltzer seems to think this could steal the show, and I wouldn’t go that far, but it might have everyone talking afterwards, if only for sheer wtf-ness.  I’m not sure it matters who wins, but Page is the one who’s friends with the promoters so I’d bet on him.

Jay Lethal vs. the winner of Over Budget Battle Royal - Lethal (probably best known for his Randy Savage impression in TNA ten years ago, and a sexual harassment scandal this summer) is defending the Ring of Honor world title against whoever wins the battle royal in the pre-show.  Since the battle royal includes at least one woman, there’s at least a chance this could become an intergender match.  This is the biggest match on the show that does not involve any members of Bullet Club, although I suppose the battle royal winner could, like, join Bullet Club or something.

Being the Elite has been setting up the idea that Lethal’s “Black Machismo” persona is re-emerging, so the big angle for this match is the hype that Lethal might bring that stuff back.  I don’t know how that will play off of whoever wins the battle royal, but I guess they have some crazy idea.

For historical purposes, a title change at this show would be a feather in ROH’s cap.  But I don’t expect them to see it that way, or for the battle royal winner to be anywhere close to ROH’s ideal world champion.  I’m picking Lethal to retain.

Christopher Daniels vs. Stephen Amell - Daniels has been around so long that he appeared (as a jobber) on both sides of the Monday Night Wars, won the first King of the Indies, held the IWGP junior tag title with Daniel Bryan, and became a founding father in the early history of both ROH and TNA’s “X” division.  These days he’s primarily known as the leader of ROH’s SoCal Uncensored faction.  Amell plays the superhero Green Arrow on TV, and became friends with Cody Rhodes through Cody’s appearances on that show and a celebrity tie-in match at Summerslam 2015.

During the whole “Joey Ryan was murdered” storyline, Amell was arrested but then later it came out that Daniels framed him.  I feel like that should leave Daniels in deep legal shit but I guess we’re not worrying about that.

Amell is looking to prove he can hold his own in the ring despite his limited experience, and Daniels has the challenge of making him look even better than that.  I think they’ll probably do fine.  That said, I don’t watch Arrow or Being the Elite and I barely even pay close attention to ROH weekly television, so I sure don’t give a fuck about this match.  I guess Amell wins. 

Tessa Blanchard vs. Madison Rayne vs. Chelsea Green vs. Britt Baker - Blanchard is the reigning Impact women’s champion and WSU world champion; neither title is not at stake.  This is presumably a standard four-way where the first wrestler to score a fall wins the match.  This is the only women’s match on the card--okay technically Jordynne Grace is in the battle royal but that’s not really the same thing.

Rayne is probably best known for her tenure in TNA/Impact (she held the women’s title five times), although she recently competed in both the ROH Women of Honor tournament and WWE’s Mae Young Classic.  Green wrestled as Laurel Van Ness in Impact and is of late appearing in Lucha Underground.  Baker has yet to really move up into the bigger indies, so her biggest claim to fame may be as one of the jobbers Nia Jax squashed early in her run on WWE Raw.

There really isn’t anything at stake in this match.  In theory a victory over Blanchard would set up a title match, but this isn’t Japan and I don’t know if Impact or WSU will really care who wins here.  So it kinda just comes down to whoever Cody and the Young Bucks want to go over.  I tend to think that’ll be Blancard since she’s the next big thing in women’s wrestling.  Although if somebody’s looking to make a statement about the next next big thing, that could be a case for pushing Green or Baker.

Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe vs. Frankie Kazarian & Scorpio Sky - This is currently scheduled for Zero Hour, the free pre-show.  The Briscoes are the current Ring of Honor tag team champions, but as far as I know the title is not on the line.  To build for this match, SoCal Uncensored made a video where they’re training like it’s Rocky III.  The Briscoes responded with a video in which they can’t really be bothered to watch a damn 12-minute YouTube video, but then they do and they like go all dark and shit like it awoke something inside of them.  I don’t understand why every angle for this show has to be like one of those Channel Awesome crossovers where they team up and fight supervillains or whatever.

Anyway, I always kinda dug the Briscoes, it’ll be neat to see ‘em live finally, and I think they’re gonna win.

Over Budget Battle Royal - This is set for the pre-show.  Assuming it’s a standard battle royal, the match begins once everyone has entered the ring, and can only end when all but one participant has been eliminated.  The last one left is the winner, and qualifies to challenge Jay Lethal for the ROH world title later in the show.

This has been announced as a 15-person battle royal, although I doubt the exact number is a hard requirement.  Named participants so far are:

Colt Cabana (ROH)

Moose (Impact Wrestling)

Brian Cage (Impact X division champion)

Jimmy Jacobs (Impact Wrestling)

Punishment Martinez (ROH television champion)

Rocky Romero (New Japan)

Billy Gunn (WWE legend)

Austin Gunn (Billy’s son)

Jordynne Grace (WSU Spirit champion)

Ethan Page (Chandler Park from Impact Wrestling)

Marko Stunt (a very small indy guy)

Brandon Cutler (PWG)

It’s worth pointing out that CZW champion MJF was booked for All In but as of this writing hasn’t been put in a match.  So I’m kind of expecting him to end up here, although I don’t see the point of withholding that information until the last minute.  Similarly, a huge part of the All In promotion has been Flip Gordon’s failed attempts to get on the show, and it seems ridiculous to resolve that by just not using him anywhere.  Also similarly, I can’t believe the “murder” of Joey Ryan is such a big deal with this show and that the actual real live Joey Ryan won’t be wrestling on it.  The promotion of All In has been really weird, basically.

Other surprise entrants that I could see happening include Pac (formerly Adrian Neville, who has very recently been released from WWE), and Austin Aries (the Impact world champion).  Considering Jordynne Grace is already there, it wouldn’t be a big deal to add additional women.  However if there’s any group that I believe Cody and the Bucks want to see more represented in this match, it would be one-note running joke performers like Papa Buck, Cheeseburger, or Chico El Luchador.

The finish here is going to depend on which winner can have the most entertaining title match with Jay Lethal.  If we’re talking “biggest match possible,” that’d probably be Brian Cage or (if he’s available) Austin Aries for the “ROH vs. Impact” vibe.  If we’re talking “local guy hometown pop,” then Cabana is the obvious choice.  But if the plan is to follow through on an angle that’s particularly important to the target audience, then it pretty much has to be someone who hasn’t been announced for the match yet, which means literally anything is possible.

[pwchronicle]

Impact Wrestling TV Taping Report May 3rd in Philadelphia, PA

 I decided to see Impact Wrestling (the former Total Nonstop Action) live and in person Friday night for the first time in years, giving them a shot based on a lot of the talent they’ve been building around. My live TNA experiences have consisted of a big house show in the summer of 2006 in what was then the New Alhambra Arena, Lockdown 2009, and Bound For Glory 2011. Those last two were in the Liacouras Center, and I only attended those because my Up North Radio colleagues decided to make a thing of it, so I was with plenty of friends. Friday was the first of two nights at the 2300 Arena to tape matches for TV. Doors opened around 7 PM when they were supposed to open at 6. There were a couple meet & greets (Madison Rayne, LAX and Konnan), but no merchandise in sight. The ring announcer was also unseen, just a voice booming within the building. They also brought out risers for the first time in forever to set up across from the hard camera. Not a full crowd, but it was a good size, and they were loud throughout most of the night.

I should note that I barely follow Impact and watch it even less, so apologies if I don’t know the names of every move.

Josh Mathews and Don Callis came out after previously being out to check on things. I recognized two of the four refs as Brandon Tolle (EVOLVE) and Kris Levin (GCW and Chikara). The first two matches were taped for Xplosion.

1. The Rascalz (Wentz & Trey) beat oVe (Jake & Dave Crist) when Dave was pinned after a meteora from Trey [Miguel] and a swanton from [Zachary] Wentz. A considerably hotter opener for a TV taping than the dark matches I’ve seen before ROH TV tapings. A lot of fun fast-paced action between four guys that know each other very well, beginning with the Rascalz hitting dives onto the Crists.

- They always played music in between the matches, and the invisible ring announcer would always talk to hype up the crowd before a match started.

2. Cousin Jake beat Wrecking Ball Legursky with a sidewalk slam. I know Jake better as out-of-focus Bruiser Brody on Viceland, and I thought he looked solid. Legursky was an Earthquake-type without being as heavy-set. This went longer than I thought it would.

- Matches for Impact started here, with several women coming out for a battle royal, some of them at the end likely to be highlighted on the actual show.

3. Glenn Gilbertti won a Knockouts Battle Royal over Tessa Blanchard, Madison Rayne, Jordynne Grace, Scarlett Bordeaux, Kiera Hogan, Alisha Edwards, Solo Darling, Tasha Steelz, Ashley Vox, and Karissa Rivera. Gilbertti was the last wrestler out, and he talked down to the ten women as the crowd chanted at him to shut the fuck up. No language warnings given to the crowd before hand. The bell rang, the ten women put the boots to him, and he slid out and joined in on commentary for the rest of it. The four freelance wrestlers (including Chikara regulars Darling and Vox) were all eliminated first and waited around ringside in heaps. Then Blanchard lifted up Edwards above her head, and the four eliminated women conveniently grouped up together to catch her on the floor for her elimination. It took two women to eliminate Grace. Taya Valkyrie ran out to beat up Rayne on the floor, then tossed her back in the ring so that she could be properly eliminated. Down to three, they all hit big moves on one another. Hogan eliminated Bordeaux with a clothesline. Hogan and Blanchard fought on the apron, with Blanchard eliminating her to seemingly win the match. Then Gilbertti slid back into the ring, clotheslined Blanchard, and tossed her over the top to actually win. Big heat for this finish as Blanchard angrily went after Gilbertii to the back.

4. Rosemary beat Su Yung in a Demon Collar Match with an F-5. Solid brawl between these two scary women, chained together by their necks. They both blew mist into the air before getting started. Rosemary was able to fight out of Yung’s mandible claw move. Rosemary also dodged Yung’s red mist. The detached from Yung’s collar, but it didn’t matter so much at this point. Yung was hit by Rosemary’s green mist as she came off the top, then Rosemary hit her with a spear and her finisher to win it. Rosemary then put her chained collar on Yung and grabbed a tight hold of the chain, hauling Yung on her back like a bounty hunter bringing in an outlaw. The fans got behind this and were high on both women, especially Rosemary.

5. Mad Man Fulton (w/ Sami Callihan) beat Randy Shawn with a tilt-a-whirl into End of Days. Total squash match. Fulton came to the ring with Callihan riding on his shoulders. Fulton hit his smaller opponent with three chokeslams before finishing him off, then continued attacking him afterward until Callihan pulled him off.

6. Killer Kross beat Eddie Edwards with a backdrop driver. Hard-fought match between these two, with Edwards still coming off as a strong wrestler underneath his brawly-brawl-brawl gimmick. The end came when Edwards got a hold of his kendo stick (Kenny?) that Kross had stolen from him, but whiffed on his attempt on hitting Kross with it.

- Kross put down Edwards with a head kick after picking up the win, and then he zip-tied Edwards to the middle rope. He put on gloves and looked to hit Edwards with the stick, and Edwards was ready for it. Instead, Kross paused before striking him and broke the stick in half, much to Edwards’ dismay. Kross laid the two halves of the stick and his gloves in front of a distraught Edwards and bowed to him, then scared off the ref (Tolle) with the broken stick and left with it, leaving Edwards to be freed by the ref.

7. Rich Swann beat Michael Elgin via disqualification. Swann is the Impact X-Division Champion, and I assume this match was non-title, and... hoo boy. Swann has had his personal issues that seem to have mellowed, and I’ve mellowed my attitude towards him too. The reputation Elgin has garnered still bothers me, and I was pretty bothered that Impact decided to bring him in. This exact match happening a year and a half ago would have been my ground zero for disdain. So I was already uneasy with it. Oh, and I should also mention at this half-way point of the show that there were a couple of drunks standing behind my seat, shouting really dumb stuff at the top of their lungs (especially during the women’s matches). So my general uneasiness with the match coupled with two assholes drilling their bullshit into my head led me to getting up for a snack break and hanging back. For what it’s worth, this match received maybe the hottest reactions up to this point. They were given a lot of time and did a lot of big moves for believable nearfalls. The end came when both were on the floor, and Elgin powerbombed Swann into the ringpost. The ref (Levin) warned Elgin to get back inside, and Elgin shoved him to the ground. He gave Swann another powerbomb into the ring post, and the ref called for the bell.

- Elgin looked to finish off Swann in the ring with an Elgin Bomb when Willie Mack ran in to make the save. After taking Elgin down, Johnny Impact ran in and laid out Mack. The two babyfaces down, Johnny and Elgin acknowledged one another before Johnny returned to the back. This led into intermission. Still no merchandise available. These were the only appearances of Johnny Impact and Willie Mack during the night.

8. Sami Callihan beat Fallah Bahh (w/ Scarlett Bordeaux) with a slingshot piledriver and his feet on the ropes during the pin. A longer match than I thought it would be. I saw how beloved Bahh was in his native WrestlePro over WrestleMania Week, and he was pretty popular here, so I guess he’s doing well in Impact. Since Bahh wrestles barefoot, Callihan focused some offense on his feet, including biting them. Late in the match, Bahh was going for a Banzai Drop in the corner when Dave Crist distracted the ref and Jake Crist knocked Bahh out of the corner. Bordeaux stood up to them, avoided getting a superkick from one of them, and then dove onto both of them off the apron. Then he opened the ropes so that Bahh could take them out with a tope. The match still continued a little longer before this. Better than expected.

- By this point, I realized that if I can just stand in the spot behind my seat where the drunks were standing, the drunks wouldn’t return. This pretty much worked.

9. Taya Valkyrie beat Madison Rayne to retain the Impact Knockouts Championship with a Glam Slam. The crowd was largely cold to this match, leading Tara to shout out to us, “Are you not entertained?” Taya worked Rayne over a lot, Rayne got some hope spots, and then Taya avoided Rayne’s finisher by holding onto the ref.

- As Valkyrie celebrated afterward, out came Rosemary. She was still leading around Su Yung on a chain like a leash, fastened the chain to the ring post so that Yung couldn’t escape, and put her focus on Taya, intimating that she’s coming for her title. Taya backed off and left. Rosemary got a great reception from the crowd during all of this.

10. LAX (Santana & Ortiz w/ Konnan) beat The North (Ethan Page & Josh Alexander) to retain the Impact World Tag Team Championships after they hit Alexander with a double-team flipping facebuster move. Online advertising I saw said it would be LAX vs. Swann & Mack, and while I wouldn’t have been balked at that match, I thought this match happening instead was a very pleasant surprise, and I wasn’t disappointed. It didn’t seem to last very long, but they packed a lot of double-team action into it, ending when they were able to isolate Alexander. All four guys were over, as was Konnan, who was basically a non-factor in the match.

11. Glenn Gilbertti vs. Ashley Vox went to a presumed No Contest. Gilbertti still had massive heat with the crowd from earlier in the night. He took a mic and said this was a public exhibition. After Vox made her entrance (big night for her!), Gilbertti asked for her name and how long she has been wrestling. She said four years. Gilbertti asked if she was dating any of the guys in the back, thinking that would be the only reason she would be here. The match started with Gilbertti taking a cheap shot and taking Vox down with a side headlock, still holding onto the mic to talk to the crowd. I always think back to Jerry Lawler doing this a few times in the mid 90s. He let up on the headlock and began cutting a promo to the hard cam on Scarlett Bordeaux, when Vox surprised him with a schoolgirl rollup for a nearfall. Gilbertti hit her with his Chart Buster finisher, but pulled her up from the pin. He looked to hit it a second time when Tessa Blanchard ran out, causing Gilbertti to quickly bail. Blanchard had the refs check on Vox.

12. Dez won an X-Division 4-Way over Petey Williams, Ace Austin, and Rohit Raju (w/ Gama Singh) when he pinned Raju following a running backflip kick. Singh came out first, talking briefly about the “EWC Arena,” bringing up names like Eddie Guerrero, Tommy Dreamer, and Rob Van Dam, and how his boys, the Desi Hit Squad, could have taken them all on. He introduced Raju, then Williams, Austin, and Dez[mond Xavier] each came out to strong reactions, with Wentz and Trey giving last minute support to Dez before heading to the back. More fun, fast-paced action, with Austin getting the biggest showcase of the four of them... until Williams took him out with a Canadian Destroyer. Williams went to hit Dez with one, but Raju stopped it with a doublestomp off the top to Williams’ back. The finish came up quickly after this. Dez and Williams shook hands afterward.

13. Rob Van Dam beat Tommy Dreamer with a Five Star Frog Splash. The return of RVD to Impact has led to the return of RVD’s dumb music from his band. RVD largely looks the same, just slightly older in the face. ECW nostalgia still runs wild, especially for what I assume were a lot of fans that have rarely or never been to this building. The crowd couldn’t believe their luck, as they were immensely hot for both guys as they did very little to start. The action picked up when Dreamer took RVD to the floor and spit water at him. A chair was introduced, leading to a lot of their greatest hits. Dreamer was able to hit RVD with a piledriver, and RVD was able to sell it by bouncing off the ring upon impact. When RVD hit his frog splash, he was able to get an impressive amount of distance on it.

- The two of them showed respect to one another after the match, but then The North ran back out and attacked them. RVD and Dreamer were able to fight off Page and Alexander, but then Moose ran out for the man advantage. Then the arena went dark to everyone’s delight, and sure enough Sabu appeared when the lights came back on, accompanied by Melissa Coates as his genie valet and a few chairs. She handed chairs to Sabu as he threw them at Page and Alexander’s heads to take him out, then he threw a chair to RVD so that he could hit Moose with a Van Daminator. The three ECW originals and Coates posed in the ring together, and then at the top of the entrance ramp, to close the show and send the crowd home happy.

Overall, I thought this was a show of peaks and valleys, and peaks within valleys, so I was left mostly cold to this show. A number of wrestlers on the card I enjoyed, interspersed with some I don’t and some segments that didn’t click for me. Some of the matches I liked the most I hoped would go longer, while a match I wasn’t looking forward to received a lot of time and is likely a TV main event. It’s nice seeing Rosemary and some of the other women getting a big showcase, and I’m hoping the angle with Gilbertti will have a nice payoff. I’ve had my fill of ECW nostalgia after my friend’s documentary was released. Surprisingly little of Johnny Impact here, and maybe not so surprisingly, nothing from the (likely very busy) Lucha Brothers. I only felt like going to the Friday taping, with no intention for the Saturday taping.

They announced that they will be back on June 8 with an Impact Plus special, with Great Muta the focus of the advertising. Based on who else I hear will show up (Lucha Brothers hopefully?), I might give them a shot. Otherwise, my live wrestling schedule for the summer so far is very eclectic.

[mikebookswrestling]

Becky v Rhonda: TLC to Mania and Beyond

So it seems fairly inevitable that Becky Lynch is going to drop the Smackdown Women’s Title at TLC and I can’t really blame them for it because it’s a way to take the belt off of her without really beating her and hurting her momentum, setting up her transition to Raw and the much-anticipated feud with Ronda Rousey.

But what if it wasn’t inevitable…?

Becky retains at TLC in a brutal affair. All three women look strong, all three elevate themselves. This is the beauty of ladder matches. There’s no pinfall so no one has to look weak or beaten, just a bunch of badasses, one of which happens to have won.

Building to Royal Rumble

Now along the line of no one losing, both Charlotte and Asuka want another shot at Becky but once again the rest of the women’s locker room wants their shots at the top as well. So Paige says that in two week’s time there will be a fatal four-way elimination match to determine the number one contender to Becky’s belt at The Royal Rumble: Charlotte and Asuka are automatically in, the other two spots to be determined by a pair of triple threat matches on this week’s and next week’s Smackdown. (Because we need to start building up some more members of the SDL Women’s Division if Becky is potentially leaving to feud with Ronda.) This week it’s Billie Kay, Sonya Deville, and Carmella with Sonya winning, next week it’s Peyton Royce, Naomi, and Lana with Peyton Royce going over (with help from Billie of course).

So it’s a Fatal Four-Way Elimination match because Becky had to fight her way through the entire women’s division to get her shot at the title, so “If ya wan a shot at The Man’s title, ya can do da same ting!” This match is on Smackdown but you want to build Sonya and Peyton… and Asuka for that matter, so this should be given about 20 minutes with zero eliminations in the first ten. Eventually, Peyton is forced to tap to the Asuka Lock, then Sonya catches Charlotte with a hard knee shot and pins her. Shock. Then it’s Asuka vs. Sonya and while it isn’t easy, Asuka does win, again with the Asuka Lock.

The Royal Rumble

So it’s Becky versus Asuka one-on-one at the Royal Rumble because we deserve nice things. I’m certain that they could and would have a great match, only somewhat tainted because it goes to a No Contest because of Charlotte and her kendo stick once more. After a brutally hard-fought match, she lays into both of them relentlessly. Charlotte goes Full Heel.

She also enters the Royal Rumble at number one. Number two is Bayley and oh it’s a bad day to be Bayley. She gets a little bit of offense in before Charlotte takes over and just lays into her. Number three is Dana Brooke and there’s just this brief look between the two of them before they both go to work on Bayley. Now I’m not going to do the whole Rumble, but in general, there are going to be a whole lot fewer Legends and a lot more spotlight for the NXT/PC ladies: Nikki Cross, Shayna Bayzler, Biana Belair, Dakota Kai (wearing her Kingslayer shirt, ofc), Kairi Sane, others make appearances. Billie Kay takes her time entering at number 12, gets to the ringside area, stops and waits. Then Peyton Royce enters at number 13 and they go in together and stick together.

Bayley despite having the absolute crap kicked out of her the whole time just refuses to be eliminated.

About number 19 or 20 Nia Jax’s music hits but she doesn’t come out. Cut to backstage where Nia is laid out in an area that looks like it was hit by a hurricane. There has been some sort of wild brawl here. Alexa Bliss is there, Paige is there, no one seems to know what happened until Becky’s music hits out in the arena and The Man comes to the Royal Rumble. She’s covered in welts and bruises from the earlier beating but she’s still coming, still carrying the Smackdown Women’s Title. She hands off the belt to a referee and makes a beeline for Charlotte, eliminating her in pretty short order with Bayley’s help. Charlotte stares daggers back up at Becky and once again very audibly Becky calls Charlotte a bitch.

Have Sonya Deville go on a tear eliminating a lot of people, have her get six or seven total (because the current record holder is Michelle McCool and no one is helped out by her having that distinction).

Eventually, the final four are Becky, Bayley, Sonya, and Sasha Banks. Sasha is super-fresh, having come out at number 29. Bayley is your iron woman, having been in from the start at 50+ minutes on now, mostly due to sheer determination at this point. Becky has been through a war with Asuka already, then Charlotte and her kendo stick, then the Rumble match itself. And Sonya is on a roll right now.

Becky immediately goes for Sasha judging her to be the biggest threat. Sonya eliminates Bayley just past the 56 minute mark, giving her the new record for the longest time in the Rumble which builds her up. Sonya then jumps Sasha from behind and lays her out.

Then she squares up with Becky and because we’ve built Sonya up over the last month, it starts to look like maybe… just maybe they’re going to go this way instead. For a minute or two a wrestling match breaks out in the middle of the Royal Rumble. Sonya is fighting with Becky rather than just trying to eliminate her, seemingly to prove to herself that she can hang with The Man, which proves to be her undoing because Sasha gets back up and throws her out of the ring. Becky and Sasha then go at it for a couple of minutes before Becky just manages to get Sasha out of the ring.

Becky grabs the microphone and says, “Hey, Ronnie, ya didn’t think I forgot about ya, didja? I’ll see you at Wrestlemania.” She drops the mic. She holds the Smackdown Women’s Belt up with one arm, then she holds the other arm up the same way as though it had the Raw Women’s Title in it.

The Road to Wrestlemania

Now, Becky/Ronda is going to suck up a lot of oxygen in both women’s divisions so I would use this as the opportunity to announce the cross-branded WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles and the tournament to crown the inaugural champions culminating at Wrestlemania. This gives the other women something to fight for that’s actually worth fighting over, so they aren’t just all in a battle royal for the fifth time in just over a year. The finals at Mania should be Sasha and Bayley vs. The IIconics and The IIconics should win.

Becky defends her title in The Elimination Chamber and wins. I’m not going to get into the specifics of it but you have enough credible challengers to make this look like Becky is definitely going to lose the belt here and then she overcomes.

Now things are getting interesting. What are Shane and Paige going to do? Ultimately they decide that they can’t force Becky to vacate the title and they can’t stop Becky from fighting Ronda, she earned that right by winning the Rumble. They can, however, book a Smackdown Women’s Title match for Wrestlemania. And suddenly “Oh my god, is Becky Lynch going to have to pull double duty at Wrestlemania?”

Paige suggests a gauntlet match with all the Smackdown women to determine who gets the shot. Shane likes that idea but decides he’s going to one-up it and makes it an Open Invitation Gauntlet Match, any woman from any WWE Brand can show up and be in the match. Now, this is a gauntlet match like we had earlier this year on Raw, where it’s a series of full-length TV matches that take up most if not the entire episode of Smackdown, and like that match, Naomi will be playing the part of Seth Rollins. She beats Carmella. She beats Mickie James. She beats Dakota Kai. She beats Lana. She beats Ember Moon. She beats Liv Morgan by DQ when the rest of the Riott Squad jumps her. (They are all ejected from the match and from the building as a result.) She just beats Mandy Rose with a well-timed head kick and FTG. 

Next comes Asuka and try as she might, Naomi is exhausted. She’s been fighting for 50+ minutes. Asuka would be a challenge if she were fresh, like this she’s got nothing. One spin kick and Asuka pins her. Asuka beats Nattie and Candice LaRae and Alicia Fox. (No IIconics, Sasha, or Bayley because they are in the tag team match at Mania, no Nia Jax because I don’t like her, she clearly doesn’t know how to work a safe match, she needs to go back to the PC and relearn her fundamentals.)

Then out comes Charlotte, but before she can get to the ring, from behind Ronda Rousey with a kendo stick blasts Charlotte again and again and again and again. While the referees are dealing with that, Mandy and Sonya drag Asuka from the ring and hurl her into the ring steps. They put her through the announce table (a spot someone would have set up earlier in the gauntlet). They roll her back into the ring and Sonya makes the cover. Mandy gets a referee to notice what’s going on. He makes the three-count. 

Sonya stands up to see if there’s another challenger and no sooner than she’s turned around, she’s slammed to the ground with a judo throw and locked into an armbar. Sonya taps. Ronda is seething at the mouth and staring up the ramp towards the back, no one else wants a piece of her. The new number one contender for the Smackdown Women’s Championship is Ronda Rousey.  

The match at Wrestlemania is now Title v Title, winner takes all, winner gets to choose their brand going forward. Only one other time in Wrestlemania history has there been a Title v Title match. That was billed as The Ultimate Challenge, this is The Ultimate Fight! This is your main event of Wrestlemania 35.

Again, Becky wins (by pinfall, neither of them can get their submissions locked in). She’s the absolute hottest act anywhere in the company. She’s a fantastic worker, she a great promo, she’s basically social media royalty at this point. After all this build, it costs Ronda nothing to lose to her so there’s literally no downside to closing your biggest show of the year with your hottest act, your biggest babyface holding all the gold.

After Mania: Becky is The Man!

Monday on Raw they hype is “What will be Becky’s choice? Raw or Smackdown?” Before that happens though, Becky’s walking around backstage and runs into Bayley and Sasha who are upset that they lost the tag title tournament. Becky basically says, “So what ya lost? Ya gonna let it get to ya or ya do sometin about it?” “We’re gonna do something about it,” they answer in unison. “That’s my girls,” Becky says walking off.

So come time for the announcement and it’s Becky in the ring with Renee Young and when asked what brand she chooses she says, “Both.” Asked how she plans to do that she says “I am The Man and I will be The Man every day of the week and twice on Sundays and anyone who wants to take either of these belts offa me, inside the ring or out, better come ready for a fight.”

No one is really interested in sharing Becky across brands so both sides start making plans to get the belts off of Becky at Backlash. Stephanie and Alexa’s strategy is that if Ronda wins the Raw belt back Becky’s going to want another shot at it and they’ll force her to declare herself for Raw in order to get it. Shane books Becky into a Triple Threat Match against Sonya and Mandy that essentially a handicap match convinced that he is actually going to force a feud between Becky and him. He’s a bigger target than Ronda Rousey, Shane’s a McMahon, after all (just to intentionally belabor the comparisons between Becky and Austin some more).

Backlash: An (Un)Equal and Opposite Reaction

Naturally, Becky plays Sonya and Mandy against each other and swoops in at the opportune moment to tap out Mandy, jump-starting a Mandy-Sonya split. Then against Rousey, Becky gets her in the Dis-Arm-Her and Rhonda won’t tap, won’t tap, won’t tap but can’t seemingly escape either. Eventually, she can’t answer the referee’s call and the ref stops the match.

After the match, Shayna Bayzler, Marina Shafir, and Jessamyn Duke hit the ring and put the boots to Becky. Rhonda comes to momentarily and gets in Shayna’s face asking what they’re doing? Shayna responds, “Are you done trying to act like a good girl, yet?” Rhonda thinks about it for just a second before saying, “Yes.” Then the beating resumes. As the segment closes, they stand over Becky’s laid out body, flashing the four fingers.

Elsewhere on the card Bayley and Sasha won the Tag Titles from The IIconics who want their rematch on Monday. 

The Man Goes to War

The tag title match only gets a couple of minutes in before Duke, Shaffir, and Bayzler jump in and start fighting everyone, though Billie and Peyton take off pretty quickly. Sasha and Bayley put up a fight but are outnumbered until The Man comes for her girls. Ronda’s crew isn’t at all interested in a fair fight just at the moment so they clear out. Becky, Bayley, and Sasha stand tall and, in true Horsemen style, hold all the gold so they all throw up the four fingers despite them being only three.

Tuesday opens with Paige in the ring with Becky, Bayley, and Sasha. Bayley and Sasha are there to give The IIconics an actual rematch but they’re here for Becky’s announcement too. Becky says:

“For almost three years now, I’ve been proud to represent Smackdown Live. I was the first woman drafted to this brand, which is how I knew that Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan were smart enough fellas that I wanted to work for them. Because they could see that, even then, that I am The Man. I was the first woman to hold this belt. I was in the first ever Women’s Steel Cage match on Smackdown Live, I was in the first Women’s Money in the Bank match, the first Last Woman Standing match… and with all due respect to AJ Styles, he did not build this house alone.

But Sunday night at Backlash, Rhonda Rousey started a war and it’s a war I aim to finish, but I can’t do that while my attention is divided. So reluctantly I have to surrender the Smackdown Women’s Title. (She goes to hand over the belt but pauses.) To alla yous in the back, just remember, I never lost this title. None a ya beat The Man, but come Survivor Series I’ll be waiting to let ya prove that ya really deserve it.”

From there, Becky, Sasha, and Bayley 3-on-4 feud with the MMA Horsewomen. I’d have Ruby Riott win MitB and then you can throw The Riott Squad into the mix with them to keep things fresh (as well as The IIconics and maybe make Lana and Carmella a tag team, too. The Dancing Queens or whatever.) 

Asuka wins the Smackdown Women’s title, for sure, and now we’ve got a strong Smackdown Women’s division for her feud with: Charlotte, Sonya, Naomi, Mandy, maybe at this point start building Zelina Vega as a serious women’s wrestler as well.