WWE Wrestlemania 19 3/30/2003

WWE Wrestlemania 19 3/30/2003

Note: I originally reviewed this in 3 parts and wanted to put this into one post. My original reviews are here:

Part 1 - https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2013/04/wrestlemania-19-review.html

Part 2 - https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2013/04/wwe-wrestlemania-19-review.html

Part 3 - https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2013/04/wwe-wrestlemania-19-review_3.html

Wrestlemania 19 was the first ever Wrestlemania I ordered on PPV. I really loved WWE around this time. Okay, Raw wasn't the greatest but Smackdown had a pretty legendary roster. Every week there would be a mix of stuff from the famed Smackdown Six of Rey Mysterio, Edge, Eddie Guerrero, Chavo Guerrero, Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit. We also had the up and coming Brock Lesnar who was turning into a heck of a worker, A-Train who had good performances at times, Tajiri and Rhyno. While we did get crap like Mr. America, there was more than enough good stuff to make up for it.

The big story going into this was whether Kurt Angle would actually be able to wrestle or not. Kurt Angle has always been banged up and broke his neck coming into the show. The rumor was that Chris Benoit was going to be his replacement if he was too injured to wrestle. I was legit worried for Kurt Angle and was hoping not for a good match, but for Kurt Angle to not get injured any worse.

The other big news was that Stone Cold Steve Austin was hospitalized the night before. He was under a lot of stress and overdid it with energy drinks and almost ended up missing Wrestlemania completely. I didn't really know much about this though at the time.

Hulk Hogan vs Mr. McMahon was a heavily pushed match for this show and some would say it led to the show not doing as well as it should have.

Wrestlemania 19 is one of my favorite Wrestlemania's. I usually have it at #2 below Wrestlemania 17. The match quality was top notch and it had a great mix of stars and wrestling.

One final note is that Bill Goldberg debuted on Raw the night after this show. Why they had Goldberg not debut at Wrestlemania is beyond me, but whatever.

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Pre-show Match -  WWE World Tag Team Championship -  Kane and RVD vs Sean Morley and Lance Storm

Ah, Kane makeshift tag team #1000. The Dudley Boyz were at ringside here.

Storm got the win here after Bubba Ray Dudley hit an elbow on RVD. Odd match here which I could definitely use some help in understanding. Apparently the Dudleys were siding with the faces for some reason but then turned on them anyway? I dunno. I also don't know why the ref didn't DQ someone when the Duds were in the ring. The faces looked good here with Kane busting out a dive which was cool, but the storyline was dumb.

Main Show

We are in Seattle, WA. Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler are on commentary for some matches and Tazz/Michael Cole are on commentary for the others.

WWE Cruiserweight Title - Matt Hardy vs Rey Mysterio

Matt Hardy got the win with a reverse of a roll-up from the Electric Chair position. Good match here with a fast pace. This was all action and both guys looked pretty good. There was a little too much interference from Shannon Moore but it's hard to complain about anything else here. Rating:***1/4

The Miller Light Catfight Girls argued over which match they wanted to see more.

Nathan Jones was laid out by The Big Show and A-Train. I'm not sure what the reasoning behind this was other than, it's Nathan Jones. Nathan Jones had everything you would want in a wrestler, except for the fact that he was clumsy and couldn't work to save his life. They pushed him as this deranged ex-con but after seeing him in the ring, my interest waned. He had a really cool background though being in the World's Strongest Man, PRIDE FC and being a ripped 6'10 guy.

Handicap Match - The Undertaker vs A-Train and The Big Show

The Undertaker got the win with a tombstone on A-Train. The match wasn't bad at all with the heels doing holds on Taker until Taker made his big comeback with some help from Jones. A-Train was in shape here and actually had abs, which you know meant this was old. Show looked fine and Taker did a fine job as a face. The crowd liked it too. Rating:**3/4

The girls talked about how much they loved each other. Stacy Keibler brought up her advertising campaign with Test with the fans of Test being called "The Testicles" and she said she had some idea for the girls.

WWE Women's Title - Jazz vs Victoria vs Trish Stratus

Jazz was one woman I never got. She wasn't good looking and she wasn't a good worker. I thought she was too small to be Chyna and I thought Jacqueline was better.

Trish Stratus beat Victoria with a kick to the stomach/ribs. Good match here surprisingly. They kept the pace high, everyone made the extra effort and they hit some nice stuff. The crowd was into it and it really wasn't bad at all. Trish wasn't bad at all here and neither was Jazz or Victoria. Rating:***

The Rock was angry that the fans were calling him a sell-out and booing him. He said he was here to fulfill his destiny and beat Steve Austin at Wrestlemania. He was 0-2 against Austin at this point at Wrestlemania. 

The Rock said this was the last chapter of their feud and The Rock said he would win.

WWE Tag Titles - Team Angle vs Chris Benoit and Rhyno vs Los Guerreros

Team Angle got the win after Rhyno gored Chavo and Shelton got the pin. This was disappointing. There were too many people out there and they got under 10 minutes which wasn't close to enough time at all.

Stacy and Torrie argued over whether McMahon or Hulk created Wrestlemania, then the catfight girls argued over it as well and then argued over whether to do it in ring or in bed. You know, when you have to have other people argue your case for your own ego, you have severe ego problems.

Shawn Michaels vs Chris Jericho

I remember being really excited for this one and hoping for Jericho to get the big win that he could have used.

Shawn Michaels got the win with a reverse on a backdrop. Excellent old-school match. There were lots of submissions with Jericho launching a nice gameplan of working on HBK's back and HBK trying to fight through it. Jericho got cocky and mocked HBK's mannerisms and just couldn't put him away en route to losing. Good heat here and a very good performance and smart match from both guys. Rating:****1/2

I do think the wrong person won here though. HBK had little to gain and a loss to Jericho would have done him little harm. Jericho losing showed WWE's lack of faith in him and the fact that while they did try to push him before, he was always a secondary guy. 

Jericho hugged HBK after the match then kicked him in the nuts.

Sylvan Grenier was in referee attire and looking for Vince.

They did a commercial for Goldberg, saying he would come to Backlash.

Limp Bizkit performed and they did a catfight thing with Stacy Keibler, Torrie Wilson, The Coach and The Catfight Girls. The less said the better.

World Heavyweight Championship - Triple H vs Booker T

Ah, the infamous long crawl match. This was during Triple H's never ending title reign of terror. I was hoping Booker T would win this going into it, but I would have cheered Nathan Jones if he had a title match at that point.

There was some really awful commentary during the early portions with both JR and King agreeing that WCW was a joke.

Triple H beat Booker T with a pedigree. The pin to get there wasn't as long as its made out to be but it was kind of silly. The match just wasn't that great. They didn't click and Triple H wasn't that interesting. The commentary was really bad though. King made Booker seem like such a loser that he telegraphed the finish. He really buried him.

Street Fight - If Hulk Hogan loses, he retires - Mr. McMahon vs Hulk Hogan

Hulk Hogan got the win with the legdrop. This was a long brawl but it wasn't too bad. Both men bled a lot and you have to give them credit for going all out at their old ages. Roddy Piper came down to get some shots on Hogan and McMahon and Sylvan Grenier came down to help Vince out too. IT wasn't enough though. Vince made some great evil faces and with his blood, it made for good shots. His legdrop off the ladder was also pretty cool. Good match, surprisingly. Rating:***1/2

Shane McMahon came down to check on his dad after.

The Rock vs Stone Cold Steve Austin

I wasn't really interested in this one going into it. Austin had just returned and The Rock had just returned as well. The Rock fought Hogan a little bit before this and got mad that Austin won the "Superstar of the Decade" Award. It was Rock/Austin III at Wrestlemania but we kind of already had been there and done that and the match seemed to be thrown together. There wasn't much build to it either. Starting in 2002, Steve Austin just kind of felt like old news to me in WWE and it was clear that his best days were gone.

I should also state again that Steve Austin was hospitalized the night before this. He was stressed and had too many energy drinks and ended up in the hospital from it.

One last note is that this ended up being Stone Cold Steve Austin's last match.

The Rock beat Steve Austin with 3 Rock Bottom's. Good match here with great crowd heat and Rock really stepping it up with big bumps. They mostly relied on mocking each other and stealing finishers, but it worked. They both brought their A-Game here and The Rock was on fire. I loved Rock's selling and the cameras captured all of it well. Austin mostly got dominated here en route to losing. This wasn't the WM 17 classic, but it was very good and a nice way to cap off their feud. Rating:****1/4

WWE Championship - Kurt Angle vs Brock Lesnar

As I stated, Kurt Angle broke his neck a few weeks before this and I was mostly hoping he would make it out alive. I was very excited to see this one though as Lesnar and Angle just seemed like natural opponents for each other.

Brock Lesnar got the win with an F-5. Excellent match here. They mostly wrestled and exchanged holds and it was great. Kurt Angle was pretty awesome here with all of his submissions and represented wrestling well. Brock Lesnar's failed Shooting Star Press was really memorable and I thought he was dead after it. This was a great wrestling match with an old school feel to it. Good stuff here that is worth a look. Rating:****1/4

Overall thoughts: This is still my second favorite Wrestlemania of all-time. Great show from top to bottom. Only Triple H's match was bad and even then, it wasn't that bad. The main, Austin/Rock, HBK/Jericho and Hogan/Vince were all pretty good and it was a great effort altogether. I really loved WWE at this time and if I could go back in time and watch a few shows live, this would have been one of them. This is a must see show and it is great from top to bottom!

WWF Wrestlemania 17 4/1/2001

WWF Wrestlemania 17 4/1/2001

Note: I originally reviewed this in 2 parts and wanted to put this into one post. My original reviews are here:

Part 1 - https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2013/03/wwf-wrestlemania-x-seven-review.html

Part 2 - https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2013/03/wrestlemania-x-seven-review.html

---

Welcome to my review of Wrestlemania X-Seven. Wrestlemania X-Seven is in opinion the best Wrestlemania of all-time and is by far my absolute favorite. The show was a classic and WWF at its best and I've been looking forward to reviewing this one for a while.

For a fun fact, I actually paid around  $70 for this a few years ago before WWE started heavily getting into selling DVD's. This was rather rare and expensive back in the day and next to Wrestlemania 2000, was one of the more expensive WWE DVD's. 

We are in Houston, Texas. Jim Ross and Paul Heyman are on commentary.

Pre-Show:

Steve Blackman agreed to be Grand Master Sexay's partner on Sunday Night Heat.

Pre-show Match - Grand Master Sexay and Steve Blackman vs X-Factor (X-Pac and Justin Credible)

X-Factor won with double superkicks. The match wasn't bad. X-Pac looked great throwing some nice kicks and Sexay was into it. Even Blackman was kind of fun here.

Wrestlemania 17 Main show:

Intercontinental Title - Chris Jericho vs William Regal

Chris Jericho won with a lionsault. The finish was a little unexpected but the match was very good. They both beat the crap out of each other and brought their best stuff out. I loved Regal's leg counter of the Walls of Jericho into the Regal Stretch and Regal's release german was nasty. Great match here. Rating:***1/2

Shane McMahon arrived in the limousine with the WCW1 license plate.

The Acolytes were in the back playing cards and looking for Tazz. Bradshaw then encouraged them all to get up and get going as its Wrestlemania, after a long speech.

Tazz, Farooq and Bradshaw vs Right to Censor (Val Venis, The Goodfather and Steven Richards)

Steven Richards tried to talk before the match before getting interrupted.

Bradshaw won with a clothesline from hell on The Goodfather. Short and sweet match here. They kept it action packed and did a good job considering some of the talent levels of wrestlers in there. Bradshaw really nailed Venis with the top rope backdrop and whammed Goodfather with the clothesline for the win. Rating:**3/4

Steph asked Linda how good it felt to have one child turn out okay and asked Trish to crack some ice with her hands.

WWF Hardcore Title - Raven vs The Big Show vs Kane

Kane won with a legdrop off the cage. The match was really fun as they put out all the stops. They went through walls, doors, glass and even ran each other over with cars. This was wacky and crazy and I really enjoyed it. Everyone went all out here and this was pretty memorable. Rating:***

Kurt Angle was in the back and was watching footage of Chris Benoit tapping him out. He was trying to rationalize it and say that since it wasn't an official match, it wasn't an official tap out. Edge and Christian tried to cheer him up, but Kurt was focused on Benoit.

We saw Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka at WWF New York.

WWF European Title - Eddie Guerrero vs Test

Eddie Guerrerro won with a belt shot. Good match here but it was loaded with interference. Saturn got involved twice and Malenko got involved during the finish. Test looked good here and I really liked his powerbombs.

Mick Foley said he would call the match right down the line tonight even though Vince McMahon fired him from being the commissioner.

Kurt Angle vs Chris Benoit

Kurt Angle won with a roll-up and a pull of the tights. Very good match here but I think it could have been better. I didn't like the ref bump, but everything else was good. I would have loved to have seen more suplexes, but what they did was good. I liked them stealing each others finishers and I loved Kurt's moonsault. The technical wrestling to start was also very good. Rating:***1/2

Michael Cole was talking to Regal when Kamala jumped in his office.

Kurt Angle was asked if he now respected Chris Benoit. He said no and Benoit attacked him.

Women's Title - Ivory vs Chyna

Chyna won in a quick squash. Not much else to say about this here, but it was one of Chyna's last WWE matches. She was in really good shape for this.

Vince McMahon told Trish to double Linda's medication and to bring her down when Shane McMahon was totally immobile.

Cole wanted to ask about the shocking development of Shane McMahon signing with WCW and Vince told Cole that if he wanted shocking, he will get it.

Street Fight - Special Ref: Mick Foley - Vince McMahon vs Shane McMahon

Shane McMahon beat Vince McMahon with the coast to coast dropkick with a trashcan. Well, this was all theatrics and drama. Those parts were pretty good with father vs son, turns, violence and Linda recovering. You can't really ask for more than that. The actual match had about 3 moves, with all of them coming from Shane. Shane also sold for a long time inbetween them with him probably laying down after the table bump for an easy 5 minutes. They did a really good job with it though and made this one a big match on the big stage.

Matt Hardy was interviewed about TLC and said none of the teams will be the same after it tonight.

TLC II - WWF World Tag Team Championship - The Dudley Boyz vs Edge and Christian vs The Hardy Boyz

Edge and Christian won TLC II when Christian grabbed the belts while on Rhino's shoulders. Obviously, this was a heck of a match. This was the Mankind vs Undertaker Hell in a Cell of TLC matches and was TLC at its peak. This was a stunt show and completely insane. They were extremely creative and went beyond putting it all on the line for the big show. These 6 killed each other and I believe that to this day, they are still feeling remnants from it. There were three big highlights which included Jeff Hardy's swanton off the 16 foot ladder, Edge's spear to Jeff Hardy who was hanging in the air and Bubba and Matt going through 4 tables off of a ladder. It was excellent, exciting and it was well done storyline wise. This was an epic on the biggest stage possible and a truly unforgettable match. Rating:*****

Gimmick Battle Royale

The Iron Shiek got the win here due to being the only person who really couldn't take the bump. The match was quick and short as it should have been and after the match Sarge put the Cobra Clutch on Shiek.

The Undertaker vs Triple H

The Undertaker won with The Last Ride. This was a lot better in memory than in actuality. The match was mostly weapon shots and little else. The big spots here were also kind of goofy. Triple H got backdropped off a camera tower and it appeared to be a good bump. Then they showed it again and it was little more than a crash pad that HHH seemed to bounce nicely off of. The second was the sledgehammer shot near the end. HHH hit Taker in the back with it and somehow this caused Taker to bleed from his forehead. The pacing to the match was good though and it was set-up nicely, just the big spots really didn't deliver. Rating:***1/2

WWF Title - No DQ - The Rock vs Stone Cold Steve Austin 

Stone Cold Steve Austin beat The Rock in 28:07 to win the WWF title. Excellent match. They brawled wonderfully and put everything in it. They used each others moves, they used moves they hadn't used in years and they even referenced Austin being Sharpshootered by Bret at Wrestlemania 13.  They bled and even did submission work. This match had it all. It was a per

fect cap to the Attitude Era and I don't think the announcers knew how true their words were that the WWF would never be the same again after this. This is probably the best match in Wrestlemania history and was a super classic. This is must see. Rating:*****

Overall thoughts: This is one of the best shows of all-time. Every match was good and the show featured two 5-star matches. This is a must see show and the last show of the Attitude Era.  This show had something for everyone and is a Wrestlemania that may never be matched.

WWF Wrestlemania 2000 4/2/2000

WWF Wrestlemania 2000 4/2/2000

Note: I originally reviewed this in 3 parts with gifs. I wanted to get this into one post. Here is the original 3 part review:

Part 1 - https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2013/03/wwf-wrestlemania-2000-review.html

Part 2 -  https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2013/03/wwf-wrestlemania-2000-review_31.html

Part 3 - https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2013/03/wwf-wrestlemania-2000-review_9129.html 

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We are in Anaheim, CA.  

Welcome to my review of Wrestlemania 2000. Wrestlemania 2000 aka Wrestlemania 16 was one that I always enjoyed that others didn't. Sure, it wasn't Wrestlemania 17, but that is one of the top 5 shows of all time. It was sure as heck better than Wrestlemania 15 though and there was some good stuff on it.

Like Wrestlemania 17, this was hard to find in the era before video on demand. Unless you knew where to look online or wanted to pay huge prices on ebay, you weren't going to find this one too long after its release date.  I think I dropped about 60 bucks on the DVD version of this but hey, youtube was only a dream at that point in time.

Lillian Garcia sang the national anthem.

Ice T came out with The Godfather and D'Lo Brown. He sang, "Pimpin' Ain't Easy, Man".

The Godfather and D'Lo Brown vs The Big Boss Man and Bull Buchanan

Bull Buchanan won with a top rope legdrop. The match was actually pretty good which surprised me. Bull looked great here. He was so athletic and seemed to be able to do anything and the crowd liked the faces. Fun stuff overall here but it could have been a minute or two shorter. Rating:***

Triple H and Stephanie McMahon bragged a little in the back about Wrestlemania.

They had a meeting for rules about the hardcore battle royale. The match would be 15 minutes long and there could be a million pinfalls or none at all.

WWF Hardcore Title - Hardcore Battle Royale

This goes 15 minutes and anytime someone pins the current champ, they become the champ. Crash started out the champ but Tazz pinned him seconds in to become the champ.

Hardcore Holly won with some type of glass shot on Crash. The ref never counted three but Hardcore Holly won anyway. Awful match here with people getting legit injured and probably more concussions in one match than ever before. This wasn't even remotely interesting but at least some people got WM paydays.

Al Snow was talking to someone in the men's toilet and Steve Blackman told him no shenanigans tonight. Someone flushed, Al made a face and that was it.

Head Cheese (Steve Blackman and Al Snow) vs T&A (Test and Albert)

Test won with a top rope elbow. This one was pretty much a fail. WWF was interested in getting the piece of cheese over and Trish's tits with the match being secondary. The match wasn't bad but this was really Trish's tits vs Chester McCheeserton. They also ran the storyline of Chester McCheeserton making unwanted advances at Trish. Test and Albert made a decent team but the name killed them.

Head Cheese beat up Chester McCheeserton after.

They did the Austin Powers skit with Mae Young grabbing things to cover up the naked Kat.

Devon said the WWF was against them as they had to defend in a ladder match, but they said they would win. Bubba Ray said thou shall not f**k with the Dudleyz.

WWF Tag Team Titles - Triple Threat Ladder Match - The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D'Von Dudley) vs Edge and Christian vs The Hardy Boyz (Matt and Jeff Hardy)

Edge and Christian won the match after grabbing the belts. Great match as you would expect. Tons of big and memorable spots here and there was no shortage of action. While this wasn't as great as TLC 2, it was very good. The bumps were so big here that even the smaller bumps were still pretty rough. I thought Jeff getting tossed onto the outside floor from the ring had to be one of the worst of the night along Christian/Matt going off the ladder to the floor. Jeff's swanton also looked brutal as he hit the ground hard. The final bump was really cool as it looked like Matt Hardy walked the plank to his execution. This was a classic and one that you won't forget if you ever see. Rating:****1/2

Mick Foley was interviewed with Linda McMahon. Foley said it was like a fairytale to him to be in the main event and he wanted to make the main event one people talk about for the next 10 years.

Cat Fight - The Kat vs Terri Runnels

Moolah pulled Kat out of the ring so Terri could win. This wasn't really a match and was by and large, stupid. The big story here was Mae Young making out with Val Venis. Mae Young hit a Bronco Buster on Moolah after and Kat stripped Terri. 

Dean Malenko and Eddie Guerrero were interviewed. Dean said they'd break the legs of Too Cool and Eddie Guerrero was talking about laying the latino heat on Chyna. 

2 Cool and Chyna did a promo. 2 Cool said it was time to kick it.

2 Cool (Scotty 2 Hotty and "Grandmaster Sexay" Brian Christopher) and Chyna vs The Radicalz (Eddie Guerrero, Saturn and Dean Malenko)

Chyna won with a sleeper into a drop. The match was pretty good but Chyna's pants broke at the worst time - the finish. Still, there was a ton of action, the crowd was hot and the storyline was fun. Chyna and 2 Cool were both pretty underrated, well I guess everyone in this match was pretty underrated. Good stuff here though with a great crowd. Rating:***

Big Show said to Shane McMahon that he would unplug the most electrifying man in sports entertainment, retire Foley and make Triple H do a game over.

Bob Backlund apparently came out during Heat and revealed that he made Kurt Angle put both belts on the line. Angle wasn't happy and put him in a chickenwing.

Angle talked to Tommy about being the Euro-Continental Champion (IC title + European title) and asked for extra security tonight as the women and children will be all on him and he wants to celebrate in the crowd.

Before his match, Jericho said he couldn't guarantee victory but he would make sure his opponents would get a beating.

Triple Threat Match - 2/3 Falls - 1st Fall is for the Intercontinental title, 2nd fall is for the European Championship - Kurt Angle vs Chris Benoit vs Chris Jericho

Chris Benoit won the IC title with a top rope headbutt and Chris Jericho won the second fall and the European title with a lionsault. There was no third fall for some reason which was confusing since it was supposed to be a 2/3 falls match. That part was confusing but the match was good. Benoit hit lots of stiff chops and did most of the cool stuff here. The match was kind of short though for these three. It only went about 15 minutes or so without intros and could have used more time for nearfalls and stuff. The match felt like a piece of a story, but not the end of it. Rating:***1/2

Vince McMahon was interviewed. Vince hinted at interfering by saying, "I guarantee, I'll get it right". 

Triple H talked to Steph in the back and said he would show the world who the man is tonight and won't allow himself to be beaten.

X-Pac and Road Dogg vs Kane and Rikishi Phatu

Kane got the win with the tombstone. This was all about Rikishi hitting the stinkface in this short match. Once he did that on Tori, Kane hit the tombstone and that was it.

2 Cool came down with The San Diego Chicken and got Rikishi up for a dance. The Chicken turned out be Pete Rose. Kane chokeslammed Pete Rose after the match and Rikishi hit a stinkface on Pete Rose.

The Rock was interviewed. The Rock basically just said he waited a year to return to Wrestlemania and said he would win the title.

WWF Title - Fatal Four Way Elimination Match - Triple H vs The Rock vs The Big Show vs Mick Foley

Triple H won here after Vince hit The Rock with a chair at 36:28.

This match was awful anyway you look at it. First of all, this match with a love letter to The McMahon Family from The McMahon Family. Yeah, there was a match here but most of the focus near the end wasn't on it.

Let's start before the first elimination. The Big Show had Triple H up for a chokeslam to eliminate him and Mick Foley nut shotted Big Show. Why? I have no idea at all. Then it got worse. Triple H interrupted a pin on The Rock later again for no reason at all. Mick Foley then turned on Rock, for no reason at all to JOIN THE MAN WHO RETIRED HIM, TRIPLE H. Triple H then eliminated him of course because he's The Game and Foley came back to hit him with a barbed wire bat. Why? I don't know but the only explanation I can find is that he's a sore loser.

Then, we got to the real crap here with The Rock and Triple H remaining. The McMahon's all get involved. Vince goes after Triple H and throws him in the ring to be pinned...for some odd reason. Vince and Shane have a long fight where they didn't cut to the ring for about 2 minutes. Shane attacks Vince and then Vince comes back later and attacks him. The Rock and Triple H fight around the crowd for no reason at all right before this. Vince then gets a chair later and naturally should try to brain Triple H. Instead he hits The Rock. Why? Again, I don't know. And if that was the plan all along, why did he try to get Triple H eliminated? Triple H then OF COURSE gets the pin, because he ain't doing a job and Vince and Stephanie hug.

The ring work was fine but the match went on forever. 35 minutes, plus intros, felt like a good hour and wasn't far from it. The match would have been a fine 20 minutes or so, but they really stretched it out and did stuff just cause. Foley not getting enough air on his dive hurt the match and caused Triple H to move around awkwardly for a few minutes until he came up with another solution to somehow break the table.

Take away 15 minutes, the McMahon crap and the stupidity and the match would have been in the *** range.

After the match, Steph and Vince hugged and The Rock cleared them plus Shane out to end the show. 

Overall thoughts: The show was pretty good up until the main event. The hardcore battle royal was the worst thing next to the main event. The main stunk though and one bad main event even with the best of undercard matches brings down the show.

The best match was easily the ladder match with probably the threeway for the titles not being far behind. Yes, I know there were tons of multi-man matches here but the roster was so huge at the time that I guess they wanted to get more people on the show. I don't think it hurt anything to be honest and in some cases, it made things better. Steve Austin not being on this show in any way, shape or form kind of hurt the show though. It didn't feel like a Wrestlemania with Steve Austin and I think he should have been the special referee in the main event at worst. I guess it wouldn't have made a huge difference in quality but it at least would have gotten the biggest star in the WWF on the show.

As a whole, I'd recommend checking the show out. It's pretty good minus the main and the battle royal. Kat/Terri wasn't that good but I'd rather watch two girls in thongs have a bad match than two guys in underwear have a bad one. Nothing is really great though minus the ladder match.

Stardom 7/26/2026 5★STAR Grand Prix 2026 Day 5

Stardom 7/26/2026 5★STAR Grand Prix 2026 Day 5

5STAR Grand Prix 2026 Red Stars Block A Match - Tomoka Inaba vs. Maika

TI waits for Maika in the aisle and they fight there. TI's head is banged off the apron. TI forearm flurries her inside. TI kicks the rope into her face and pump kicks her out. TI hits chest kicks on her outside.  

TI chest kicks her inside and spin kicks her in the gut. TI crossfaces her and Mika ropebreaks. Maika powerslams her and sliding d's her. TI knees her in the gut and is lariated on the ropes. TI step up knees her in her in the corner. Maika hits suplexes on her for 2. 

Maika 2nd rope superplexes her. TI no sells it and high kicks her. Maika lariats her over and TI no sells it. TI spinning roundhouse kicks her and both go down. TI high kicks a lariat away then pop-up spin kicks her. 

TI sitout gordbusters her and spinning back kicks her in the head for 2 while she's seated. Maika michinoku drivers her and TI no sells it, rolling her up for 2. TI michinoku drivers her for 2. Maika lariats her down then michinoku drivers her. Maika michinoku drivers her again and pins her.

Thoughts: I didn't like it. Inaba wasn't selling anything here, defeating the whole purpose of doing it. It wasn't even just bad selling, it was complete no selling. It was a faster match otherwise with Inaba throwing hard kicks.

TI slaps her after.

5STAR Grand Prix 2026 Red Stars Block B Match - Konami vs. Lady C

They each miss kicks. C takes her down and hits mounted forearms. Kon then hits mounted shots on her. C shoulders her over and running boots her in the face. C is pulled over the top rope. C is thrown hard into the seats and into the post.

Kon kicks her and headbutts her. Kon pulls her arm around the middle rope and twists the arm. Kon foot chokes her. Kon stomps C's arm into the mat and stands on it. C hits forearms on her and Kon eye rakes her.

C running back elbows her and flying neckbreakers her for 2. C cobra twists her and Kon ropebreaks. C running facekicks Kon then knee drops her for 2. Kon armbars her then pulls her down backwards. Kon kicks her in the back. C blocks a PK and forearms her. C drops her chest first on the mat for 2. 

C running facekicks Kon. Kon rolls her into an armbar and C ropebreaks off another arm hold. Kon sleepers her. Kon step up kicks her then C facekicks her. C chokeslams her for 2. Kon germans her for 2. Kon buzzsaw kicks her in the head. C tries to fight through it and gets another one. Kon punts her in the face and pins her.

Thoughts: Kon mostly worked the arm here but sadly didn't win with an arm finisher. C was a little better than usual and showed some fire. It wasn't that bad but some kind of arm submission finish would have made this a lot better.

Kon spray paints C after and shoves a photo in her face.

5STAR Grand Prix 2026 Red Stars Block A Match - Natsuko Tora vs. Rina

They lock up. Rina spits on her on the break. Tora shoulders her over twice. Rina whips her outside and chokes her with it. Rina hits her with a chair outside. Rina running back elbows her then facekicks her on the ropes. Rina basement dropkicks her for 2. Tora crossbodies her for 2. Tora misses a senton. Tora forearms her down. 

They forearm each other. Rina hits chest forearms and hip throws her. Rina does an octopus on her. Rina 2nd rope dropkicks her. Rina then northern lights suplexes her for 2. Rina does an octopus on her and grounds her with it. Tora ropebreaks.

Rina 2nd rope double knee drops her then top rope double knee drops her for 2. Tora cradle shocks her. Tora sentons her for 2. Tora 2nd rope splashes her for 2. Tora corner cannonballs her for 2. Tora misses a top rope swanton and Rina gets a 2 count on her. 

Tora lariats Rina then sitout powerbombs her for 2. Tora top rope swantons her and pins her.

Thoughts: They kept it moving and it was competitive. It didn't quite go into the heel vs heel concept as much as it could of and there wasn't a great story. This was acceptable.

5STAR Grand Prix 2026 Red Stars Block A Match - AZM vs. Sayaka Kurara

AZM offers a handshake and Saya forearm flurries her. AZM germans her then sunset flips her for. AZM goes for a pin but Saya rolls through and tries her own. AZM suplexes her and AZM twistihg fisherman's suplexes her for 2. 

Saya corner spears her. Saya springboards and is kicked. Saya spears her for 2. Saya misses another spear and AZM rolls her up. AZM pins her.

Thoughts: Saya loses yet another match. Why? I have no idea, but it's pretty bizarre. This was very fast paced and it was a shorter match at only a few minutes. It was never boring at least.

5STAR Grand Prix 2026 Red Stars Block B Match - Mei Seira vs. Azusa Inaba

AI cartwheels out of a wristlock and side headlock takeovers her. Mei headscissors her and they stand off. Mei sweeps her and gets swept. AI boots her in the face then hair throws her. 

AI foot chokes Mei. AI snapmares her and kicks her in the back for 2. AI ties her legs up. AI stomps her and kicks her in the back. AI hair throws her then puts her boot in the face in the corner. AI stomps her. AI kicks her in the back and slams her for 2. 

Mei hits chest forearms. Mei 2nd rope dropkicks her. Mei basement dropkicks her. Mei goes up top and AI pump kicks her down to the floor. AI PK's her from the apron. AI then throws her into the seats. AI slams her on the floor. Mei throws AI into the seats. They barely beat the count in at 18.

They trade chest shots. AI back elbows her and pump kicks her through the ropes for 2. Mei dropkicks her then AI high kicks her. Both girls go down. 

Mei sweeps her then AI bodyscissors takedowns her. They both try pin attempts and AI gets a 2 count on her. AI pump kicks her. AI then guillotine suplexes her for 2. Mei pop-up, sitout powerbombs her for 2. AI hurricanrana's her for 2. AI superkicks her then is superkicked back. AI high kicks her. AI rolls her into a legbar. 

Mei fisherman suplexes her. AI leg kicks her then rolls her into leglock. Mei ropebreaks. AI flying facekicks her down for 2. Mei dropkicks her. AI hits underhook suplexes and the time limit expires.

Thoughts: I liked it. It was a fast paced match and AI kind of worked the leg some with leg kicks and some leg locks at the end. Mei kept up the pace as well. This was an okay match.

5STAR Grand Prix 2026 Red Stars Block A Match - Itsuki Aoki vs. Akira Kurogane

They lock up. Aoki wristlocks her. Akira reverses it after hitting forearms to the arm. Aoki reverses it. Akira hits back elbows and trips her. Aoki guillotines her and Aoki side headlocks her. 

Aoki shoulders her over twice. Aoki hair throws her and foot chokes her. Aoki basement dropkicks her. They trade chest forearms. Aoki running back elbows her. Akira running dropkicks her. Akira russian legsweeps her for 2. 

Akira stomps her and kneels on her on the ropes. Akira running boots her over the bottom rope. Aoki suplexes her and corner meteora's her. Aoki suplexes her for 2. Akira hits chest forearms. Aoki short arm lariats her. Akira ducks a lariat and enzugiri's her.

Akira running knees her in the face for 2. Akira double underhook suplexes her for 2. Aoki chest forearms her down. Akira then hits an air raid crash for 1. Akira fires up and hits chest forearms. Akira headbutts her. Aoki rebound germans her. 

Aoki superkicks her in the face then air raid crashes her for the win.

Thoughts: It was a simple but decent match here. Akira brought a lot of fire. Aoki's offense looked good and she seemed a bit more comfortable here than usual. I didn't expect much out of this but it worked out well. 

Aoki then talks on the mic after then Akira also talks. Aoki then helps her up.

5STAR Grand Prix 2026 Red Stars Block B Match - Rina Yamashita vs. Maki Itoh

They stare down. Itoh shoves her and Rina side headlock takeovers her. Itoh headscissors her. Itoh backslides her for 2 and they stand off. They shoulderblock battle. Rina runs at her and Itoh trips her. Itoh misses a falling headbutt drop then Rina shoulders her over.

Rina slams her then rakes her eyes on the ropes. Rina running knees her from behind against the ropes. Rina slaps her and bangs her head off the buckles. Rina corner lariats her. Rina goes for mounted corner punches and is powerbombed down. Itoh hits mounted corner punches. 

Itoh top rope crossbodies her for 2. They trade chest shots. Rina step up enzugiri's her but Itoh falling headbutts her as she falls down. Itoh rolls her up for 2 then cradles her for 2. Rina running lariats her for 2. 

Rina lariats her. Itoh back body drops her. Itoh stunners her then running M. Bison stomps her while she's down for 2. Itoh forearms her down while she's seated. Itoh grabs a pizza cutter. The ref stops her from using it. Rina grabs skewer sticks.

They try to hit each other with the weapons and battle over them. The ref then almost gets hit with the weapons. They both drop the weapons. They then bow to the ref to apologize. Rina sleepers her then backdrops her. Rina sits up top and is forearmed down. Rina suplexes Itoh on the floor. Itoh tornado ddt's her on the floor from a chair. They fight out of the arena and both end up getting counted out.

Thoughts: It started off okay but then got too silly by the end with the weapons and them getting counted out. I ended up not liking this one. 

They are tied together somehow with what looks like a streamer and the young girls help them to the back.  

5STAR Grand Prix 2026 Red Stars Block B Match - Utami Hayashishita vs. Saya Iida

They trade forearms. Utami dropkicks her. Utami running back elbows her for 2. Saya slams her then diving lariats her against the bottom rope. They shoulder battle in the aisle and both end up going down. They shoulder battle in the ring and both knock each other over.

Utami samoan drops her and Saya suplexes her. They trade forearms for chops. Utami hits a forearm flurry. Saya polish hammers her in the chest and elbow drops her for 2. Saya boots her out of the corner. Saya diamond dusts her for 2. Saya holds on and dragon sleepers her. Utami basement dropkicks her.

Saya northern lights suplexes her. Utami chest forearms her down. Saya rams her into the corner and corner lariats her. Saya no sells a lariat and gets german suplexed. Utami air raid crashes her. 

Utami sliding lariats her. Utami sitout spinning torture rack bombs her. Saya gets a bridge pin on her for 2. Saya spinning lariats her down for 2. Utami lariats her for 2. Utami forearms her then germans her for 2. Utami lariats her down then does a spinning razor's edge. Utami pins her. 

Thoughts: It didn't start out that serious but got a little better as they went on. This was a power match here with them lariating, shouldering and suplexing each other. I did end up liking this one in the end. Utami was the favorite going in and won. It was alright.

Saya talks to Utami on the mic after and they hug. Utami then talks on the mic.

Overall thoughts: This was a better show than some of the other GP shows. I didn't like the opener. Konami/C wasn't bad. Tora/Rina was acceptable. Kurara lost another match in quick fashion for unknown reasons. Mei/Inaba was okay and showed some potential to maybe even better the next time they do it. Aoki/Akira was simple and decent with both showing fire. Itoh/Rina got too silly. The main didn't have a good start but got better later. I'd give it a 6 out of 10 as the show was okay overall.

TNA Xplosion 7/31/2026

TNA Xplosion 7/31/2026

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2026/07/tna-xplosion-7242026.html

Around the Ring was not shown this week. The only new content is:

Indi Hartwell vs Gabby Forza

They lock up and Indi side headlocks her twice. Indi cradles her off a slam attempt. Gab boots her in the gut then corner splashes her. Gab rams her back into the buckles and eats a face kick. Indi corner lariats her and bulldogs her. 

Indi corner lariats her. Gab blocks an up and over and fallaway slams her. Gab clubs on her then slams her. Gab chops her for 1. Gab chinlocks her. Indi jawbreakers her and Gab lariats her over. Gab gorilla press drops her. Indi suplexes her. Gab boots her in the gut and short arm lariats her. Indi lariats her twice then spinebusters her. Gab spinning torture rack bombs her. 

Indi leapfrogs a spear and Gab goes into the buckles face first. Indi hits a hurts donut and wins.

Thoughts: Gabby got a lot of time to show off here. It only got so much time though and there was only so much they could do with it. Indi didn't really impress here as usual and won as expected.

Overall thoughts: There was only one new match and no other new content here. The one match was nothing of note and there was only about 6 minutes of new content here. I wouldn't recommend this one.

WWE NXT 8/4/2026

WWE NXT 8/4/2026

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2026/07/wwe-nxt-7282026.html

We are at the Performance Center in Orlando, FL. Vic Joseph and Booker T are on commentary. 

We see clips from last week with Cruz Montana debuting and Grayson Waller.

We see various wrestlers arrive. 

Jaida Parker and Thea Hail vs Nikkita Lyons and Karmen Petrovic

Nattie is with Lyons and KP.

KP side headlock takeovers JP. JP yanks on her arm and wristlocks her. KP reverses it then goes for the side headlock. JP shoulders her over then Thea slams KP. JP drops Thea onto KP for 2. KP kicks Thea out of the corner. Thea is swept into an axe kick for 2. 

Thea and Lyons fight over a wristlock. Thea flips out of a double wristlock and armdrags both opponents. JP and Thea hit stereo lariats and dance. Thea topes out and JP baseball slides out. JP is sent into the steps. Lyons tiger drivers Thea for 2.  

We go to PiP break and return. Thea crucifixes Lyons then cradles her for 2. Thea high kicks Lyons. Lyons short arm lariats her. Thea boots Lyons out of the corner and tags out. JP comes in and hits a double shoulderblock. JP headscissors Lyons out of the corner then slams KP. JP gordbusters KP. Nattie helps out her girls. KP slingblades JP then JP takes a hart attack for 2.

Thea pulls KP out and they trade shots. JP backrolls Lyons and knocks Nattie off the apron. Lyons rolls up JP for 2. Lyons is laid on the 2nd rope. JP step up butt drops Lyons down. Thea 2nd rope backsplashes Lyons and pins her.

Thoughts: It was an alright tag here. They had some styles clashes but were able to work around. Jaida did some different stuff than usual. It got enough time to play out as well. 

Nattie, Lyons and KP attack Thea and JP after. Nattie nails Lyons on a failed double team. KP takes shots from both opponents and Lyons goes out after getting hit.

Tavion Heights asks if Myles Borne is ready. Tav says he could get his first tile tonight. Borne says he's going all out for him. Tav says he doesn't know what he will do if they don't win. Borne says they will be new NXT Tag champs.

We get clips of Brock/Oba at Summerslam. We then see Brock Lesnar saying he's retired on today's Pat McAfee Show.

Tony D'Angelo comes out to talk. He says Grayson Waller disrespected him and the brand. He says Waller will not use him as a stepping stone and he won't let him talk trash without consequence. Tony says he's old business.

Tony says Cruz Montana laid him out, whether it was a mistake or not. He says they should finish their conversation. Grayson Waller interrupts from the riser. Waller says he's the money fight and the title and Tony go through him. Tony says they could talk man to man but Waller won't because he's a b!tch. 

Tony says they were teammates in the NXT 2.0 days. He says Melo, Bron, Trick and Tony were all champs, but says Waller hasn't held anything. Tony says Waller came here to make himself relevant, but says he's the champ. Waller says more people are talking about NXT than ever because of him. He says Tony has done nothing. Waller calls the roster soft.

Cruz Montana/Mike Santana comes out. Cruz says Waller rattled cages last week and says he was once in his shoes. He says he didn't try to clown or moan on the mic though as he put in work. Cruz says he proved week after week that he's the man he said he is. Cruz says Waller has a chip on his shoulder as nothing is nice in his life, but he has no choice but to have one. He says he hopes he never has to meet the man in the mirror he went to war with. Cruz says he spent years proving he belongs here while Waller spent years trying to get others to notice him.

Waller asks how many times he will tell the same story. He tells him to light his fire as he will p!ss all over it. Cruz says Waller only fights for himself and says it won't get him nowhere. Cruz says having people depend on you is what makes you unstoppable. Tony says he doesn't care bout their motivations as they both want his title. Tony tells them to talk to Stone, make a #1 Contender's match and he will see the winner at Heatwave. 

Wren Sinclair talks to Kendal Grey in the back. Wren is worked up and pacing back and forth. Wren says they are in over their heads. KG says they wanted this and wanted this pressure when they wanted to become champs. KG tells her she's up next.

WWE Women's Speed Title - Wren Sinclair (c) vs Zaria

Wren gets a shot at Zaria's title if she lasts the 5 minutes.

Wren sunset flips her for 1. Wren side headlock takeovers her and side headlocks her. Zar boots her out of the corner. Wren armdrags her. Zar hits her in the corner. Wren shoulders her over and bangs her face off the mat. 

Zar's head is banged off the ropes and Wren springboard diving armdrags her. Wren flying headscissors her. Wren back elbows her. Wren is swept off the 2nd rope and Zar throws her shoulder first into the buckles. 

Zar elbows Wren's neck and elbow drops her. Zar back elbows her then pump kicks her. Wren superkicks her. Zar back elbows her down and Wren holds her mouth. Wren and Zar trade shots. Wren rolls her up for 2. Wren chops her. Wren lariats her down and back elbows her. Wren facebusters her for 2. 

Zar step up knees her out of the corner (with her backto the corner). Wren rolls her up for 2. Wren dropkicks her then double underhook splexes her for 2. Wren top rope crossbodies her but Zar rolls through. Zar spears Wren out of the ring. Both go out and the time runs out as they get back in.

Thoughts: There was only 5 minutes so there was only so much they could do here. Some of their shots could have been clean as they missed a few. It was average.

Zar hits Wren after and F-5's her.

OTM talk in the back. Nima says he owes him for last week and says he cost them both by not keeping an eye on him. Price says Nima has his back up plan and he needs his own backup plan. The Birthright come in. King says OTM is crumbling and he was right. Price challenges King. Stacks asks if he wants a singles match. Price says Nima has his backup plan and now he has his.

Grayson Waller and Kelani Jordan talk in the back. KJ says she appreciates GW's legacy. KJ says Waller had many NXT Title shots and she's waiting for one. She says she will do something he couldn't do when she gets the shot - win a title on her first attempt.

Mason Rook comes in and asks why Waller is calling him soft. He says he's twice his size and can do things in the ring he can't. He says he should find out how soft he is. Waller says he doesn't know what sacrifice is. Kam Hendrix nails Rook from behind. Security breaks it up as Waller eggs it on.

NXT Tag Titles - The Vanity Project (Brad Baylor and Ricky Smokes) (c) vs Myles Borne and Tavion Heights

Tav double leg takedowns RS and then shoulders him over. Tav capture suplexes him and slams him. Tav powerslams him for 2. MB angle slams RS for 2. RS clubs him in the back of the neck. MB lariats him. MB dropkicks Brad for 2. 

MB short arm lariats Brad then euros him in the corner. MB is whipped into a lariat on Brad. Tav's throat is pulled over the top rope. RS slingshot roll up's Tav. We go to PiP break and return. 

Brad knees MB in the gut and is rolled up for 2. MB cradles him for 2. Brad boots MB in the gut. RS foot chokes MB. Brad stomps MB in the corner. RS knee drops MB for 2. Brad and MB trade shots on their knees. Tav is tagged in. He hits shots on the heels and overhead belly to belly suplexes RS. Tav headbusters RS then flying lariats him for 2. RS takes a dropkick + sitout powerbomb combo for 2.

RS meteora's MB. MB takes a dropkick + spinebuster combo for 2. MB powerslams Brad. Brad and RS hit flying knees on their opponents but then take stereo powerslams. Jackson Drake gets in the ring and the ref ejects him and Myca Lockwood. RS is sent into brad then MB hits a zigzag on RS. Tav spinning belly to belly suplexes RS and pins him.

Thoughts: I was a bit surprised MB and Tav won as I was sure they were going to lose and turn on each other after. The Vanity Project are fine with or without the belts though. It was a faster match with a ton of action going on. I liked the dropkick + sitout powerbomb combo. I'd be up for a rematch. This match was fine.

Jackson Drake yells in the back. Myca Lockwood walks past Keanu Carver and stares him down.

Izzi Dame and Niko Vance talk to Lizzy Rain. Izzi tells her it's time she learns her place around here. Shawn Spears then comes in with a chair. He says he talked to Stone and it's Spears/Rain vs Niko/Izzi. Niko says Spears never takes his own advice and won't see it coming. Lizzy says she doesn't trust Spears and says it could be 3v1 real quick next week if things don't work out.

Keanu Carver vs EK Prosper

KC backs him up in the corner and tells him to come on with a clean break. KC waistlock takedowns him. EK hammerlocks him and KC one arm overhead suplexes him. KC throws him but EK flips out of it. EK enzugiri's him from the apron then plants off the top into a moonsault for 1.

EK chinlocks KC. EK dropkicks him. KC dropkicks EK. EK looks shocked. KC is pulled out then dropkicked off the apron. EK crossbodies off the apron but gets caught. KC is nearly pushed into Booker T. EK dropkicks him over the commentary table and lands back first on it. EK double stomps him in the back off the rails.

We go to break and return. EK hits leg kicks on KC and KC lariats him down. EK hits shots to the gut and hits punches. EK cutters him out of a suplex attempt. EK hits punches then superkicks him. EK high kicks him.

EK asai moonsaults onto him then spinning ddt's him. EK swantons into a blockbuster on him for 2. EK enzugiri's KC. EK's mouth is busted open. KC pop up germans him for 2. KC powerbombs him for 2. 

EK sunset flips him and rolls him up for 2. EK is popped up and he dropkicks KC. EK shining wizards him. KC tries to a block top rope moonsault. KC then cradles him and pins him.

Thoughts: It was a bit of a different match from Keanu than usual. It got a lot more time, he tried some different stuff and was being a lot more fair. What we got was an okay bout. EK did his flying as always and KC did more power offense.

Cutler James and Osiris Griffin wonder if Dion Lennox is okay. OG says Dion has something to prove. Dion gets mad. He says he got put through a wall. They ask what he wants and he says he wants Darkstate to be untouchable. He says they used to be champs and used to be feared. Dion says he's not cool with being called soft and complacent like Waller said. Dion says Waller isn't right about them. Dion says when Darkstate strikes, nobody is safe.

Shiloh Hill does a video. He says adrenaline is a drug. He says he fractured his skull in the match with Tristan Angels and says he will be out for a while. He says Kam Hendrix is supposed to have a hurt knee and he's either lying about the injury or being cleared. He talks about Kali Armstrong. He says Pat Patterson won the IC Title in Rio but there's no proof of it. He says it sounded alarm bells in his head. He also says the green mist comes from Texas and The Great Kabuki. He says it's called poison fog in Japan. He then says he has to put out a campfire.

The announcers talk about Dory Funk Jr. passing away today. We get a video on Dory.

Robert Stone talks to a free agent on the phone. He tells Cruz Montana that the match with Grayson Waller is official next week. Tristan Angels comes in. He says Cruz needs to earn his title shot and says he's new. Cruz says when he was putting in work last year, Tristan wasn't here. Tristan says he was here 3 months. Cruz says, "and I'm the new guy?".

NXT Women's Title - NXT Underground - Kendal Grey (c) vs Lola Vice

Lola hits leg kicks. KG takes her down and Lola goes for a sleeper. KG goes for an armbar and they get back up. KG trips her. They roll to the apron edge and break. Lola takes her down. KG headscissors her from the apron. KG tries to take her down again outside and rams her into the post. Lola sweeps her on the apron, sending her face first into the steps. KG's ear is bleeding. We go to PiP break and return.

KG's ear and head are taped up. KG germans her in the ring. KG hits another suplex then exploders her. KG germans her. Lola knees her in the chest and KG backrolls into a bump outside. KG ankle locks her off a spin kick attempt. Lola kicks her in the body and KG punches her in the shoulder and gut.

Lola hits a kick combo and spin kicks her. Lola urakens her, KG goes to fall out but Hank and Tank save KG from falling out. KG is pushed back in and spinning back elbows Lola. Lola then grounded chokes her. KG armbars her and Lola's glove is pulled off.

Lola hits her in the gut and back elbows her. KG ducks a uraken and the ref gets it instead. Lola grounded sleepers KG. Wren tells KG to stay in it and slaps her once Lola goes to pick up the ref. KG superkicks Lola. Lola spinning high kicks her. KG armbars her after taking mounted shots. Lola taps out.

Thoughts: I'm never a big fan of these matches as the arena gets dark and it's a bit hard to see. They didn't hit a lot of their shots clean and the match didn't get a ton of time to play out. I just thought it was average. I assume this match was Lola's swan song in NXT, but we will see.  Lola raises KG's arm up after.

Overall thoughts: It was the usual NXT with a lot of different stories and wrestlers being on the show. The opener was alright. Wren/Zaria didn't get enough time. I thought the tag title match was fine and Keanu/EK was my pick for match of the night. I didn't like NXT Underground so much as the arena gets dark and it's hard to watch. They also just missed on a lot of strikes. I'd give the show a 6 out of 10 as it was alright overall. I still don't think they've really found their groove yet with this crop of wrestlers though.

AAA on Fox 8/1/2026 Verano De Escandalo 2026 Part 2

AAA on Fox 8/1/2026 Verano De Escandalo 2026 Part 2

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2026/07/aaa-on-fox-7252026-verano-de-escandalo.html

Rey Mysterio, JBL and Corey Graves are on commentary.

We see clips of Dom turning on Grande last week. He says what do you expect from him? He says he's another guy pretending to be Mexican and he runs things around here.

We see various wrestlers arrive and hang out.

AAA Latin American Title Qualifying Three Way Match - Mecha Wolf vs. Lince Dorado vs. La Parka

Wolf and Lince shove each other. Park dances and is hit by both. Parka is stomped on by both. Parka throws Lince over the top and flying headscissors Wolf. Parka single leg dropkicks Wolf out. Lince comes off the top and Parka atomic drops him.

Parka goes up and over Lince then tilt-a-whirl backbreakers him. Parka dropkicks him out. Lince is back body dropped out. Parka's tope is caught by 2 opponents and he is sent into the post. Lince tilt-a-whirl armdrags Parka then the tope con hilos Wolf through the ropes.

Lince top rope diving headscisssors Park for 2. Lince enzugiri's Wolf. Wolf back body drops Lince then topes Parka. Wolf then topes Lince again. Wolf bottom rope springboard tornado ddt's Lince for 2. Wolf and Lince chop each other. Lince pump kicks him and gets pump kicked. Lince dropkicks Wolf then poisonrana's him. They double clothesline each other down.

Parka rolls into a double cutter on his opponents. Parka powerslams Wolf then flapjacks both. Parka 2nd rope moonsaults his opponents. Lince hurricanran's Parka for 2. Lince backcrackers Parka for 2. Wolf is enzugiri'd on the ropes by Lince. Wolf 2nd rope twisting superplexes Lince for 2. 

Parka and Wolf trade forearms. Parka pop up drops Wolf then blue thunders him for 2. Parka has Rolf on his shoulders. Lince handspring stunners Parka and Wolf hits a crucifix bomb on Parka off of it. Lince and Wolf pump kick each other down. 

Lince reverse headscissors Wolf down from the apron. Lince top rope ssp's Parka for 2. Wolf mists Lince. Parka top rope spanish flies Lince. Wolf top rope diving headbutts Lince. Parka half-nelson suplexes Wolf. Parka then overhead suplexes Wolf into the buckles. Parka topes Lince outside. Parka top rope splashes Wolf. Parka hits his bone breaker spinning slam on Wolf and wins.

Thoughts: It got a lot of time and maybe too much as the longer it went, the less that sold and the more things slowed down. It had some good action though and lots of flying. The announcers really put over Wolf and seemed to like him. Parka was the favorite going in and pulled this one out. It was alright.

Parka dances with a fan in the ring after.

We see The Psycho Circus arrive. 

Los Perros del Mal do a promo. Daga says they did what they said they would do since they arrived. Daga says it's not over yet and says they set the rules. Daga says God forgives but Los Perros don't.

El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. & Galeno vs. Dinamico & Drago

Dina side headlocks Hijo and Hijo slaps him. Dina spin kicks him in the gut. Drago pump kicks Hijo. Hijo sentons Dina then pop-up powerslams Drago. Hijo lariats Dina over the top. Galeno shoulders Dina over outside.

Galeno lariats Drago in the corner. Hijo is popped up into a dropkick on Drago for 2. Hijo pump kicks Dina off the apron. Gal lets Hijo stand on his shoulders and Hijo splashes Drago. Galeno double underhook twisting drops Drago and pins him.

Thoughts: It was just a squash but The Wagner's looked alright together here. It's a shame it wasn't more competitive.

Rey Mysterio does a press conference. He says Dom aligning himself with Dorian and Omos is concerning. He says it made sense and says they have a lot of things in common. He says he has faced giants in the ring and never backed down, but he doesn't plan on taking on Omos right now. He says the main event will be fantastic tonight.

AAA World Cruiserweight Title Match - Rey Fenix (c) vs. Mini Vikingo

They shake hands. Rey double wristlocks him. Rey rolls through a hurricanrana. Rey cartwheels over Mini. Mini blocks a pop-up superkick and stares him down. Mini hits kicks, jumps up and is superkicked in mid-air. Mini springboard diving tornillo's him for 2.

Mini hits kicks and a leg lariats on him. Mini toyota roll code red's him for 2. Mini corkscrew headscissors Rey. Rey enzugiri's Mini on his tope attempt. Rey top rope crossbodies Mini for 2. Mini crucifix bombs him for 2.

Rey rope walk kicks Mini. Rey death valley drivers him for 2. Rey hits chest kicks on Mini and buzzsaw kicks him. Mini standing spanish flies him for 2. Mini forearms Rey and is forearmed down. Rey superkicks Mini. Rey misses a double knee in the corner and is poisonrana'd. Mini top rope frogsplashes Rey for 2.

Mini pounds on Rey in the corner. Rey rolls into a cutter on him for 2. Mini top rope spanish flies Rey for 2. Mini misses a phoenix splash off the top. Rey flying double knees him. Rey is cradled for 2. Rey dropkicks him from behind for 2. Rey mexican muscle busters him and pins him.

Thoughts: They did a little more than I wanted but they didn't go too crazy with it. They had a lot of flying but they were lacking the things in between all that. I don't think they did a good job of getting the story over either of Mini going for the upset win. It was so-so.

They shake hands after.

I think Dorian Roldan has some words for Mini Vikingo as he leaves in the back. Mini looks confused.

Overall thoughts: It was the usual AAA for the most part. The opener was alright. The second match was a squash. The main had some dynamic moments, but didn't do that well on the smaller stuff and didn't really get the match right. We didn't have a lot of non-wrestling stuff going on here and not a lot was built up for future eps on this one. I'd give this a 5 out of 10 and say it was average overall.