Reality of Wrestling 8/8/2026 Summer of Champions XII
Brad Gillmore talks before the show but the audio doesn't work.
We get a recap video on some of the stuff that's been going on this year.
They sing the national anthem.
Chris Van Vilet comes out to do commentary for the battle royal.
King of the Summer Battle Royal
The winner gets a title shot of their choosing.
There's a couple of guys who get no intros here.
Buck Gator gets an elimination to start. Everyone pairs off and fights. Nasir Dey is almost thrown over by Buck. He headscissors Buck onto the apron and both slide in. K-Toomer lariats one of the lucha guys from behind. Toomer then double lariats both lucha guys over the top. Toomer is then tossed by Quentin Wynters and Blake Troop together. Blake and Wynters throw out Hans Steel.
Jay Davis his big germans and Semsei pulls him over the top. Mike Anthony is thrown out by Savage King. Hoka throws TY Shane out. Hoka then gorilla press throws someone onto TY Shane outside.
Nasir dropkicks Hoka. Blake and Nasir send Hoka to the apron. Savage King hits shots on Semsei. Semsei spin kicks hi in the gut. King then spinebusters him. Wynters sends King shoulder first into the post. Sem rebound double chops Wynters. Sem skins the cat on an elimination attempt. Wynters pump kicks Semsei out. Wynters dropkicks Blake Troop out.
Hoka lariats Savage King over the top for the elimination. Buck Gator ear claps Nasir Dey. Dey then dups Buck Gator out. Nasir Dey, Quentin Wynters, Zack Mason and Hoka are the last four. They pair off and fight. Zack and Dey hit each other. Dey hits chest kicks and headscissors him down. Dey sweeps him then buzzsaw kicks him. Zack sends Dey to the apron. He step up enzugiri's him and Nasir Dey is eliminated.
Wynters dropkicks Zack in the side of the head. Wynters ends up on the apron and Hoka forearms him off the apron. Zack hit shots on Hoka. He chops him. Hoka headbutts Zack down. Hoka chops Zack. Zack ends up on the apron and Hoka goes there with him. Hoka running foreamrs him off the apron to win.
Thoughts: It was your usual battle royal. It didn't go too long at least. It was average to acceptable. They've been making a big deal about Hoka's return so him winning this one makes sense.
Mystii Marks is interviewed. She says she told everyone she would walk away with a title this year and says Mia Friday is close to getting marked. She says she's making a stand and will come out with the title she says to count your days as Friday will be black
ROW Glory Women's Title Match - Mia Friday vs. Mystii Marks
Mia trips her and hits mounted shots. Mia boots her out of the corner. Mia headscissors her out of the corner. Mia springboard diving armdrags her. Mia slaps her. Mia walks up the buckles, does rope tricks and diving armdrags her.
Mia dropkicks her through the ropes and crossbodies her off the apron. MM catches her and is pushed into the post. MM flying facekicks her inside. MM then hits mounted shots on her. Mia is pulled into the buckles and MM gets a 2 count on her.
Mia boots her off the ropes then casadora rolls her for 2. Mia sunset flips her for 2. MM hip attacks her for 2. MM arm and chinlocks her. Mia armdrags her doesn't hit 2 moves clean. They crossbody each other at the same time.
Mia hits slingblade facebusters. Mia superkicks her in the gut and pumping knees her for 2. MM suplexes her for 2. Mia cradle shocks her for 2. Mia kicks the ref on a springboard on accident. MM neckbreakers Mia for 2. MM argues with the ref then takes a backslide for 2. Mia springboard twisting cutters her and pins her.
Thoughts: Mia won as expected as she's been pushed a lot more than Marks has. It started okay but Mia had some sloppy moments. The finishing stretch could have been a little better. I thought it was average.
Chazz "Starboy" Hall is interviewed. He says he's got CJ Valor and says he will find out that when the straps go down, the dragon comes out. He says he will leave everyone in ROW absolutely starstruck.
Chazz Hall vs. CJ Valor
They lock up, CJ shoves him back and Hall backflips out. CJ fireman's carry takeovers him and hip throws him. CJ rolls him up for 2. Hall flips out of a snapmare. Hall jumping spin kicks him in the face. Hall offers a handshake and CJ takes it. Hall tries to irish whip him but can't.
Hall dropkicks him. Hall is on the 2nd rope and CJ dropkicks him down. CJ backdrops Hall. CJ shoulder throws him twice and hip throws him for 2. Hall casadora stunners him. Hall spin kicks him, legsweeps him and standing corkscrew moonsaults him for 2.
Hall kips down out of a lariat and pele kicks him. CJ flips him with a lariat. Hall ddt's him. CJ pulls his straps down and misses a corner charge. CJ goes out and Hall flying space tiger drops him.
Hall misses a top rope ssp inside but lands on his feet. Hall rolls him up and CJ wheelbarrow germans him. CJ runs into a kick from Hall. Hall superkicks him. Hall springboard's onto him and they fall over. CJ pop up spinebusters him and pins him.
Thoughts: They botched the finish which hurt this one. They had the right idea but it would have been more effective if CJ threw him around more and Hall flew a bit more. They should have just went with the botched finish as it would have been less awkward than what we got. It was average.
We hear from the 4 men in the ROW Texas Title match.
ROW Texas Title Four Way Match - Jay Alexander (c) vs. Chandler Hopkins vs. Terrale Tempo vs. Cappuccino Jones
They say Cap's new name is "Dark Roast" Cap Jones. Cap comes out with a girl with an afro.
2 people stomp Cap in the corner. Jay tells them to bring it on and Chan slides out. Jay belly to belly overhead suplexes TT. Cap dropkicks Chan off the apron. Cap superkicks TT and Jay germans TT. Cap dropkicks Jay.
Cap hits mounted punches on Jay. Cap is thrown off and caught by the other two. Jay bodyblocks them over. Chan clips Jay then running knees him for 1. Cap rolls up Chan for 2 then slaps him. TT flying kicks Cap for 2.
Cap comes off the 2nd rope and TT catches him with a suplex. Chan handspring enzugiri's TT. Chan hits corner spears on Cap. Cap is up top and Chan kicks him down. Jay spinebusters Chan and twisting drops him from his shoulders. Jay and TT go over the top together. Cap top rope elbow drops Chan and pins him.
Thoughts: It was shorter one. Tempo did some nice bumps for Jay's suplexes here. What we got was acceptable but it didn't really get as much time as it needed.
ROW Tag Team Title #1 Contendership Four Way Match - Erik Lockhart & Rhys Maddox vs. Cam Cole & Will Allday vs. It's GAL & Vin Parker vs. The Mog Squad (Jacari Ball & Santi Rivera)
Gal poses at Ball then Ball poses back. Gal waistlock takedowns him and does push up's on him. Gal poses again and Bal throws him down. Ball then does one arm push up's on him. Vin comes in and rolls up Ball for 2 then 1.
Vin northern lights suplexes Ball. Vbn gets dropped face first on the buckles. Ball goes for the tag but Vam hits his partner. Santi bottom rope springboard cutters Cam. Ball umps off Santi's back and flying lariats 2 people. Will comes off the top and runs into Ball's superkick. Ball jumps off his partner's back and splashes 2 people.
Will takes kicks from Erik's team and a running knee for 2. Will springboard enzugiri's Rhys. Cam running boots Rhys and Will PK's Rhys. Will is dropped into a splash on Rhys. Will runs the ropes and Gal tags himself in. Everyone gets in and pushes each other before fighting.
Erik and Will trade shots. Erik takes a double suplex from Ball's team. Ball's team goes up top and both get crotched. Erik running back elbows Will then is dropkicked on the 2nd rope by Cam. Will then lying headscissors 2 opponents down. Erik 2nd rope sitout powerbombs him.
Gal top rope double dropicks Ball and Cam. Erik back elbows Vin. Erik takes a reverse rack sitout drop from Vin onto his chest. Rhys takes a codebreaker into a wheelbarrow german. Ball and Santi get double lariats over the top rope. Will topes multiple people outside.
Erik rolls up Cam for 2. Erik is on the 2nd rope. Rhys wants a tag in. Erik gets distracted and says no then he is headscissored into a codebreaker. Cam then pins Erik to win the match.
Thoughts: We had 8 people involved so there was a lot of things going on in this one. They made the best of it but the format limited it. It worked out well for the most part and it was nice to see some WWE ID guys in this. I was surprised those guys lost. I'm curious to see if Erik blames Rhys for the loss.
Gianni Capri is interviewed. She just won the title last night on an unaired show and wonders why she has to defend it again. She says she beat Monica Monroe once already and will do it again.
ROW Women's Title Match - Gianna Capri (c) vs. Monica Monroe
MM ducks a lock up. She double leg takedowns her and hits mounted shots. She boots Capri in the corner and chops her. Capri knees her in the gut. MM punches her. Capri is thrown out and MM topes her.
Capri pump kicks her for 2. Capri hits a crossface shot on her and Capri split leg drops her for 2. MM euros her down and Capri spinebusters her for 2. Capri chinlocks her.
MM powerslams her. MM asai moonsaults her for 2. Capri hits a wasteland on her for 2. Capri misses a split leg drop and is booted in the face. MM goes up top and Capri slides out. MM goes for a dive and gets hit.
Capri grabs a chair and throws it in. The ref takes the chair then Capri nails MM in the face with a title belt. MM superkicks her and cradle shocks her. MM top rope swantons her and pins her.
Thoughts: It was acceptable. They didn't really need the spot with the weapons, but we got it anyway. It's a bit weird to have Capri win the title then lose it the next day. Capri continues to look good and I think she will be fine in WWE.
Charmell, Booker T's wife, comes out and gives Monica Monroe a new title belt after.
Hank Walker and Tank Ledger are interviewed. Hank says it seems like everyone has forgotten like they were goldfish. Hank says before they were NXT and GHC tag champs, they were ROW tag champs. Hank says they set the bar here. Tank says they are making sure the bar is upheld. Tank says everything is bigger in Texas but asks if the motion can handle The Belly Boy Ocean.
ROW Tag Team Title Match - Motion (EJ Nduka & Sam Holloway) (c) vs. Hank Walker & Tank Ledger
Hank's team is nailed before it starts. Hank flying lariats Sam. The bell rings. Tank hits shots on EJ and EJ hits corner spears on him. EJ flying lariats him in the corner. EJ back elbows him. Sam 2nd rope springboard elbow drops Tank.
EJ takes a double flying back elbow in the corner then EJ is double slammed. Tank hip attacks Sam on the ropes and running facekicks him for 2. Tank side headlocks him. Sam facekicks him. Hank is double teamed.
EJ hits shots on Tank. Tank is double hiptossed and dropped. Sam foot chokes Hank and leg chokes him on the ropes. EJ clubs on Hank. Hank takes a suplex + flying shoulderblock combo. Sam misses a corner splash. Sam flying dropkicks Hank.
Hank takes a double flapjack for 2. EJ knees Hank in the gut and corner splashes him. Hank lariats EJ. Tank comes in and takes out the heels. He cartwheels and lariats EJ. Tank backdrops Sam. Tank lariats EJ over the top then topes his opponents outside. Hank 2nd rope twisting shoulderblocks EJ.
EJ takes a double team bodyblock then a back elbow + powerslam combo. Hank pins EJ.
Thoughts: Anyone from WWE is always the likely winner in ROW and Hank and Tank got the win here. It was a random title change, so it wasn't good storyline wise. The match was fine as expected. Hank did the selling until Tank came in and cleared house. Hank's team then won.
Timothy Thatcher vs. Clay Roberts
Clay grabs his wrist and wristlocks him. TT wristlocks him. and takes him down by the arm. TT twists his fingers then Clay headscissors him. TT bow and arrows him. Clay hammerlocks TT and tries to pin him. TT kimura's him and rolls him by the arm.
TT yanks on the arm. TT traps one of Clay's arms and pulls on the other. TT grabs him by the beard and hits chops. TT euros him then slams him. TT elbow drops him for 2. TT stomps Clay's arm into the mat. Clay's chest is banged off the apron.
Clay stomps on TT's leg then chopblocks him. Clay does a figure four variation. Clay yanks on the leg. Clay drops him with punches and Clay chinlocks him. TT bangs Clay's arm off his shoulder. Clay euros TT. They butt heads. TT hits euros.
TT forearms him in the chest and Clay flying knees him for 2. Clay texas cloverleafs him. TT fujiwara armbars Clay and submits him.
Thoughts: It went as expected. Clay traded his chops for TT's euros. They both worked some holds and TT won as expected. It was the usual TT match and it was fine for what it was but nothing too memorable. Clay had no chance of winning this one and he lost here.
Booker T and some others come out after. Booker says it was a hell of a fight. Booker gives TT a plaque for 20 years of service and thanks him for giving back to the wrestling business. Booker then thanks him and gives him the plaque. We then get a "Thank You, Thatcher" chant.
TT talks on the mic. He tells Clay it was a hell of a fight and that's what he was here for.
Chris Van Vilet talks to Jesse Funaki and wishes him luck. Richard Holliday comes in and says the brown-nosing makes him sick. He says Jesse is the walking fluke and says Chris should be talking about him. Rich tells Jesse that he shouldn't get too attached to his title. He tells him good luck and says he never knows when he may pop up again.
Booker T comes out before the Jesse Funaki vs Ryan Davidson match. He says this is Summer of Champions and we always fight. He says we should make this a triple threat and brings out Richard Holliday.
ROW Legacy Title Three Way Match - Jesse Funaki (c) vs. Ryan Davidson vs. Richard Holliday
JF dropkicks Ryan into Rich on the apron. Ryan chops JF down. JF dropkicks Ryan out. JF tope con hilos both opponents outside. JF then does it again.
Ryan blocks JF's headscissors. JF rolls over his back. JF enzugiri's him and jumping cutters him. JF misses a top rope move. Ryan pop up powerbombs him. Rich pulls Ryan out. Rich is sent into the post. Ryan corner lariats JF and overhead suplexes him for 2.
Ryan overhead suplexes him again. JF hits forearms on Ryan and Ryan chops him down twice. Ryan slams him and misses a fist drop. JF boots him out of the corner. JF spinning ddt's him. Rich nails JF from behind and stomps on him. Rich bangs JF's head off the buckles and chops him. Rich running back elbows JF for 2.
Rich cutters Ryan over the top rope. JF rolls up Rich for 2. Rich double underhook backbreakers JF for 2. Rich's throat is pulled over the top rope. Ryan corner splashes Rich. Rich facekicks him and they double lariat each other. They trade forearms and chop each other. JF flies in and dropkicks both.
JF hits running corner forearms on both opponents. JF dropkicks Rich, making him ddt Ryan in the process. JF flying dropkicks Rich then over the back fameassers him. Rich facekicks JF. Ryan runs at them, they move and Ryan corner splashes the ref on accident.
Ryan spinebusters Rich. JF superkicks Ryan and Rich lariats Ryan over the top. Rich low blows JF then twisting suplexes him. The ref is out though and can't count. Chris Van Vilet comes in the ring. He has words for Rich. Rich pushes Chris and Chris rock bottom's him. Chris then wakes the ref up. JF flying knees Rich and JF pins Rich.
Thoughts: Well this had a unique ending with Jesse pinning Rich with help from Chris Van Vilet. It was alright enough. JF had nice dropkicks as usual and we had some twists and turns with the ref going down and Chris coming out. Jesse doesn't do anything too crazy but he's a good simple underdog face.
Danny Limelight does a promo. He says it will be poppin' when he leaves with the ROW Title. He says he might get at Niko or Max too. He says he will leave with his title.
Max Castellanos says he has finally hit the top and will become ROW champ.
Zilla Fatu appears on the tron. We can't hear him but we are told he has travel issues. He says to stay tuned for his replacement. Hoka then comes out.
ROW Title Four Way Match - Niko Vance (c) vs. Danny Limelight vs. Max Castellanos vs. Hoka
All 4 men fight. Niko knocks over DL and Max. Niko hits punhes on Hoka and Hoka forearms him back. Niko spinning headbutts Hoka and Hoka headbutts him like if he were doing a spear. DL pounds on Hoka. Niko corner splashes Hoka and DL 2nd rope blockbusters Niko. DL standing spanish flies Hoka.
Max hits a big punch and chop on DL. Max powerslams DL then backcrackers Hoka for 2. Hoka bangs DL's head off the buckles. Hoka chops Max in the corner then chops DL. Hoka corner spears Max then 2nd rope superplexes him. DL diving knees Hoka and Niko 2nd rope headbutts DL. Niko lariats Max down.
Niko suplexes DL then he suicide dives him. Niko suplex throws Max. Niko tries to hidden blade Max but nails the ref on accident. Niko is sent shoulder first into the post by Max. Hoka jackhammers Max but the ref is out. Max's girl Alexa tries to throw the belt in but Hoka blocks it. DL hits Hoka with the belt.
Max low blows DL then swinging side slams DL. Max goes for the pin and a second ref comes in. Max pins DL.
Thoughts: Max winning the title should have been a little bit bigger of a moment than what it was since it took him so long to get it. It wasn't built up that well. It was a shorter one but we got enough of a taste of it here. Niko loses his title without getting pinned. It was acceptable but not much more. I have no problems with Max being champ as he's a decent worker, a decent character and has a good look.
House Money does a promo in the back. AJ says he's the first ever 2x Glory champ, the first Glory champ and the longest reigning Glory champ. He says it's his 2nd Summer of Champions in the main and he says it'll be the 2nd Summer of Champions he walks out as champ. He says he's the best big man in the business and says he will prove that the house always wins. AJ says he will handle this on his own to prove how good he is. AJ says Luther's time is coming one day, but House Money pays the rent around here.
ROW Glory Title Match - AJ Francis (c) vs. Big Luther
They stand face to face. They lock up and AJ spins Big into the corner. AJ then hides between the ropes in the other corner. Big shoves him backwards and AJ goes out to stall.
AJ waistlocks Big and side headlocks him. They shoulderblock battle and Big knocks him over. Big throws AJ and AJ slides out. Big goes after him and punches him outside. Big is pushed into the post and AJ sends him into the steps.
AJ vader bombs him for 2. AJ clubs on his back and kicks him in the ribs. AJ clubs Big's chest around the ropes then he hits tennessee whiskey. AJ tries to pull Big into the post. Big blocks it and pulls him in instead. AJ slams Big on the apron edge from the floor. AJ 2nd rope moonsaults Big for 2.
Big blocks AJ's chokeslam and hits shots. AJ facekicks him then death valley drivers him for 2. AJ arm and chinlocks him. Big fights out and corner lariats AJ a few times. Big spears him. Big chokeslams AJ for 2 when Tianna Sway puts AJ's foot on the ropes. Josiah Jean flying knees Big and Quentin Wynters flying facekicks Big. AJ spears Big then chokeslams him for 2.
Big fires up and throws Josiah Jean in. AJ tries to crossbody Big but Big catches him and slams him. Wynters comes off the top and Big chokeslams him. Tianna then gets on the apron and tries to hit Big. Josiah goes to hit Big but nails Tianna. Josiah is sent out by Big. Big hits a sky high on AJ and pins him.
Thoughts: Luther won as expected here since it was the big show and he's the top face. The match was fine. Luther was catching his breath towards the second half of it. He could have been a little bit better as a face but he did some of the right things. I'm interested to see what a Big Luther title reign look like as it'll be a completely different thing than what he has been doing.
Overall thoughts: It was a longer show at 3 hours with no real breaks. Like a lot of ROW shows, there were too many matches so a lot of things didn't really get enough time to be anything great. ROW is also a bit more family friendly, so we didn't see any big bladejobs or any spot that were too wild. One other thing with ROW is that titles tend to change hands a lot and often randomly. And there was a lot of that here. I'm not too hard on them because it's not a weekly show and they are a smaller indy, but it's a problem. There were tons of guests from WWE ID and even Hank and Tank popped in. But, those wrestlers usually have to win when they wrestle here, so it's sometimes a detriment. I'm not sure if there was a best match here but there was a lot of okay and acceptable bouts. I'd give it a 6 out of 10 overall.
