AEW Women's World Championship Eliminator Tournament 2/28/2021

AEW Women's World Championship Eliminator Tournament 2/28/2021

Just doing selected matches only here.

Japan Women's World Championship Eliminator Finals - Yuka Sakazaki vs Ryo Mizunami

Ryo squeezes Yuka's hand on the handshake. Yuka flips out of a wristlock. Yuka does a backflip with the help of the ropes out of another wristlock. Yuka tries a dropkick but Ryo doesn't budge. Yuka dropkicks Ryo through the ropes.

Ryo slams her and hits a legdrop. Yuka rope breaks on a camel clutch but is machine gun chopped soon after. Yuka blocks a chop with a boot which I thought was cool, then she hits a running hurricanrana. Yuka hits a diving back elbow from the 2nd rope. Yuka then does a nice rolls through into a calf crusher then sliding lariats her on the ropes.

Yuka evades an attack on top with a cartwheel on the top rope but is then caught with a powerslam. Yuka gets a wheelbarrow suplex and tries to triangle Ryo, but gets powerbombed. Yuka comes back with a forearm combo then rolling snapmares her into a kick and hits a sliding lariat for 2. Yuka hits the magical girl splash off the top for 2 but Ryo evades her 2nd attempt at it. Ryo then uranage's her. Ryo then hits a couple of lariats but still can't finish her. Ryo hits a falcon arrow with a leg over top of Yuka and wins it.

I thought Yuka could have gotten less in to be more of an underdog here and I thought it went a little longer than it needed to with too many kickouts. It wasn't bad though.

American Women's World Championship Eliminator Semifinals - Riho vs Thunder Rosa

Nothing says American like two people who aren't actually from America. They have about 12 minutes for this. They go to the mat for a little early and Riho hits a face dropkick. Rosa hits 2 suplexes then puts Riho over the top rope on the last. Rosa then kicks her in the head.

Rosa puts her in a neckbreaker and then puts Riho's leg over her knee for extra pressure, then she just whips her over. Riho headscissors Rosa then does a 619 knee. Riho fires some forearms but is taken down with one shot easy. Riho northern lights suplexes Rosa for 2.

Riho then hits a headscissors off the 2nd rope and rolls through into a stomach double stomp. Riho crossbodies her off the top and Rosa clotheslines her through the ropes. Rosa drops a stiff dropkick on Riho at the bottom buckles but Riho is back soon after with a dragon suplex. They battle up top and Riho footstomps her in the tree of woe position. They start slapping each other in the chest then Riho runs the ropes into a lariat for 2. Riho tries to roll Rosa in a cradle but Rosa counters it and wins.

I wasn't a fan of this one. Just not too much selling at all and Riho kept interrupting Rosa when she was building momentum on offense.

Dragon Gate Truth Gate Day 7 2/21/2021

Dragon Gate Truth Gate Day 7 2/21/2021

R.E.D. (BxB Hulk, Eita, KAI & KAZMA SAKAMOTO) vs. Natural Vibes (Genki Horiguchi, Kzy, Susumu Yokosuka & U-T)

Natural Vibes did a dance for their entrance. Watching a couple of near 40 year olds do that looked very wrong.

Eita and Susumu go at it to start and Susumu armdrags him. UT and Kai traded forearms and UT hit a nice dropkick to the face of a kneeling Kai. Kzy hit a running blockbuster on Hulk. Kzy slingshot senton'd in on Eita then Vibes did a 4 person attack sequence.

Hulk put Genki in a high texas cloverleaf as RED blocked Vibes from breaking it up. Vibes starts up an H-A-G-E chant for Genki and he powers up with a hurricanrana. Vibes abd Red do a 2 person corner charging sequence which Vibes wins. Hulk carthweeled out of an irish whip then did a kick combo on Susumu. Susumu ducked a spinning high kick so he sweeped him on the go around then standing moonsaulted him. UT hit a slingshot codebreaker on Hulk then Kzy did a running euro on Hulk.

Kai lariated two members of Vibes down at the same time off the ropes then UT took some corner lariats. UT took a hard powerbomb from Eita but his partners saved him from pinfall. Kazma jumping knee'd UT then did a hard running knee to get the win. Nothing wrong with this opener. It was a little slow to start but then it picked up.

H.Y.O vs. Shun Skywalker

Shun flips Hyo over with a running dropkick then does a big sitout butterfly bomb. Hyo gets picked up for something then turns it into a rough looking spinning ddt. Kai gets on the apron and Hyo takes off the turnbuckle pad and hits Shun with it. The ref was distracted again and Shun was hit with a box in the leg. Hyo kicks around Shun with his boot at 5 minutes then he stands on his stomach and pulls on his arms.

Shun hits a nice pump kick on Hyo then Hyo goes high for a monkey flip. Shun hits a big dropkick off the top. Hyo takes a spinning rock bottom. Isihida of RED blatantly comes in and hits Shun and the ref with a box lid for the DQ in a very lame finish. This was only a few minutes long and most of it had RED shenanigans.

Dragon Kid & Keisuke Okuda vs. R.E.D. (Kaito Ishida & SB KENTo)

Kid dropkicks Kento before the bell rings then he hits a christo on Kento. Okuda punch combos Ishida then stands on his shoulders as he is on the mat in the corner. Kid and Ishida trade leg kicks then SBK grabs Kid off the ropes and chokes him with something.

Ishida and Kid traded more leg kicks. SBK forearm flurries Kid in the corner. Kid tries to make a comeback with strikes but a rake in the eyes stops it. Both tag out after a Kid suplex on SBK. Okuda gets in and hits a nice snap fisherman suplex on Ishida and the two trade arm kicks. They have a nice sequence where they do it back and forth then both high kick each other at the same time. Kid comes off the 2nd rope with a hurricanrana on SBK. SBK catches his 619 then SBK hits an awesome spinebuster. SBK tries to put the sharpshooter on and Okuda kicks him then punches him straight in the face to break the hold.

Ishida hits a death valley driver on Okuda for 2. Then he goes up top but Kid follows. Kento sits on Okuda's shoulders then Kid hurricanrana's him off. Kento takes a 619 and a nasty knee from Okuda. Ishida and Okuda have a nice strike flurry on each other and Okuda does a nice running high knee on Ishida. Hyo interferes and throws salt or chalk in Okuda's face and Ishida pins him. Crappy finish to what was a fun little match otherwise. As always, when Okuda and Ishida go at it, good wrestling is to be had.

Open The Triangle Gate #1 Contendership Tournament Semi Final Match - R.E.D. (Dia Inferno, Diamante & HipHop Kikuta) vs. MASQUERADE (Jason Lee, Kota Minoura & La Estrella)

Masquerade gets jumped during their entrance. Estrella top rope crossbodies Diamante then Estrella handsprings out of the corner. He then does a spinning armdrag and a pop-up hurricnrana. Estrella then flip dives onto multiple RED members. Estrella puts his knees on the top rope then flip sentons onto Inferno.

Dia does a soul foot to Lee's face then Lee and Kikuta trade forearms. Minoura hits some hard forearms to Inferno and then gets bit in the neck by him. Diamante hits a neat hammerlock northern lights like suplex onto Minoura.

Diamante puts Minoura in an armbar as RED patrols, but Minour hits the ropes for a break. Minoura catches Diamante and hits a nice waterwheel drop. Lee fights out of a RED 2v1 and hits a nice tornado ddt on Inferno. Lee rolls into a strike combo on Kikuta then Kikuta pump kicks him. Estrella gets flipped over from the wheelbarrow position but catches him then springboard reverse tope's Inferno. Inferno takes a top rope 619 then Minoura hits a cross-legged suplex for 2. Minour holds up Inferno for a Lee DDT but he kicks out.

Kikuta butt bumps Lee then Diamante tilt-a-whirl drops him from the reverse rack position. Kikuta hits a great spinning lariat on Lee after Lee gets his foot pulled on by a member of RED and wins it. Fun DG spring here with a lot of fast paced action and cool moves. Not much story here at all but the action was good.

Open The Triangle Gate #1 Contendership Tournament Semi Final Match
Kagetora, Shuji Kondo & Yosuke Santa Maria vs. Team Boku (Bokutimo Dragon, Punch Tominaga & Ryo Saito)

What a group of misfit toys we have here. Boku and Kagetora hit nice armdrags on each other. Punch tries to froearm Kondo but Kondo just needs one each time to knock him back. Punch throws him into the middle rope then kicks the rope on his throat.

Yosuke gets beat up on and takes a Punch and Ryo double team that ends in a Punch headbutt. Punch is sat on the middle rope then Kondo stomps him down hard. The match slows down as Ryo gets beat up on. Yosuke did some weird thing where he mooned Ryo while Ryo was in the camel clutch then dropkicked him off the ropes.

Yosuke and Ryo exchange slaps then Ryo is suplexed. Kagetora gets in and takes an overhead suplex. Boku does his headlock takeover and headscissor combo on Yosuke/Kagetora. Punch then asai moonsaults to Kagetora and Yosuke on the outside. Punch does his slingshot headbutt on Yosuke for 2. Punch coms off the 2nd rope with a battering ram style headbutt into Yosuke's chest then Kagetora does a nice kick combo into a shinging wizard.

Boku pops up Yosuke who turns it into a legdrop on a standing Boku then Boku pops up Yosuke into a german. Punch gets catapulted into a headbutt on Yosuke, Ryo double jump splashes Yosuke then Punch moonsaults on Yosuke. Ryo then picks him up like a backbreaker but slams him down chest first. Punch takes a double lariat and enzugiri then Kondo does his big spear and Kage elbows him off a springboard for 2.

Yosuke runs up the ropes and dives on Boku on the outside. A little later, Punch reverses a bridge attempt then does his own on Yosuke to win it. This just went too long and I don't know why they put some of these usual opening card guys in the main event.

Overall thoughts: Mixed bag here. As usual, RED ruined a lot of the stuff they were involved in. The crew put out a good effort for a smaller show but the booking hurt them.

New Japan Pro Wrestling Castle Attack Day 2 2/28/2021

New Japan Pro Wrestling Castle Attack Day 2 2/28/2021

Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano vs EVIL, Jay White and Chase Owens with Gedo and Dick Togo

Ishii gets beat up on early. The heels get rammed into each other and double shouldered down. Gedo and Togo 2v1 Ishii on the outside. Three people assist on an abdominal stretch on Ishii. Ishii gets 2v1'd in the ring and the ref doesn't do anything about it, then he comes back and german suplexes Chase.

Yano comes in and removes the turnbuckle pad. Gedo trips Yano. Togo puts the corner pad back on when Evil goes in and takes it off again when Yano goes in. Okada gets in and beats up on Owens. Okada ended up winning with the money clip about 2 minutes later. This was short and still felt too long and was bad with the usual BC shenanigans.

Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima vs Will Ospreay and Jeff Cobb

As usual the faces get nailed at the bell and they go outside. Will tries to plancha Kojima but nails Cobb instead. Will get 2v1'd with forearms and Kojima mongolian chops Will since Tenzan can't. Kojima does a slingshot elbow while Tenzan headbutts Will. Will takes some machine gun chops in the corner, Cobb gets involved then he takes some. Cobb also accidentally chops Will during this.

Cobb machine gun chops Kojima in the corner. Then he bridges Kojima on the top rope so Will can double stomp him. Will takes a Koji cutter. Tenzan comes in and cleans house then suplexes Will. Will comes back with a springboard elbow. Cobb gets in and takes a spinning heel kick from Tenzan then a brainbuster from Kojima for 2. Kojima takes a spin cycle backdrop then Cobb and Will mongolian chop Tenzan. Will slaps around Tenzan who comes back with the mongolian chops he isn't allowed to do.

Cobb then takes a 3D and Will gets a side effect from Tenzan. Kojima gets a Cobb superkick then lariats him hard to win in an upset. I called it when it happened that it would just be a matter of time until Tenzan went back to mongolian chops and that is what happened here. This was a fun match minus that with the heels being jerks to the legends then the legends coming back and getting a surprise win.

Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano vs EVIL, Jay White and Chase Owens with Gedo and Dick Togo

IWGP Tag Team Titles - Guerillas of Destiny vs YOSHI-HASHI and Hirooki Goto

Goto snapmares Tonga then Yoshi leapfrogs over him into a stomp. Goto then hiptosses Yoshi onto Tonga. They double back club Jado and GoD comes back. GoD hits a double dropkick and Loa powerbombs Yoshi. GoD hits some slingshot swantons on Yoshi. Goto comes in and suplexes Tama onto Loa. Loa and Goto double clothesline each other and both go down.

Yoshi gets in and lariats Tonga and Tonga hits a twisting neckbreaker for 2. Yoshi gets 2v1'd and takes an inverted 3D. GoD then hits guerrilla warfare and a magic killer on Yoshi for 2. GoD goes up on both corners for a flying attack but one misses his splash and Goto throws the other off the top rope. Goto comes in and lariats both opponents in each corner and gives Jado one too. Goto double clotheslines both opponents and spinning heel kicks Tonga in the corner. Yoshi does a neckbreaker on one of GoD onto Goto's knee. Then Goto and Yoshi hit their own version of the magic killer with a lariat on it. Loa germans Yoshi and Yoshi returns one. Tama hits a superman punch and Tama powerslams Goto hard.

Yoshi hits some forearms on Loa and Loa returns with some hard forearms. Yoshi back crackers him. Goto catches Tama on his shoulders and they do a death valley driver/superkick combo on Tama. Jado hits Goto in the back with a cane then Tama hits a jumping cutter to win it.

This wasn't too bad. It went a little long and while there was some interference, it wasn't as bad as other matches this weekend.  Probably the best match on this show which tells you how disappointing this show was.

NEVER Openweight Championship - Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Great-O-Khan

Why are we doing this match again? Khan goes out to stall early and drops Tana head first on the apron. Khan holds up Tana so Yota Tsuji can hit him outside, but Tsuji doesn't. They go back in and Khan hits a nice Karelin's lift. Khan sits on him in the corner like usual. Tana comes back with a flying forearm then flip senton's him off the 2nd rope.

Tana dragon screws him and works the knee a little. Khan tries to drape Tana's throat over the ropes but hurts his knee when he lands. Tana hits another dragon screw when he comes back in and cloverleafs him. Khan hits a gordbuster on Tana then sells the knee after at 10 minutes. Khan puts Tana in the tree of woe then sliding dropkicks him.

Khan hits a reverse slam for 2. Khan and Tana both put each other in iron claw's and Tana knocks him down with a slap. The ref gets pulled into Tana and goes down, then Khan punches Tana straight in the face. Yota Tsuji grabs a chair outside and throws it to Tana. Tana sits in it and when Khan charges at him, he gets a drop toe hold into it. Khan recovers from this super quick and Tana ends up hitting a sling blade. Tana high fly flows a standing Khan but misses the high fly flow on a laying Khan.

Khan comes back with a John Woo then does a fying shoulder for 2. Tana hits a couple of sling blades which Khan doesn't sell to omuch then Khan lariats him. Khan racks Tana over the back and spinning bombs him which was a neat looking move. Khan goes for the eliminator and Tana reverses it into a pin to win.

It was okay when Tana was doing comebacks and this was probably Khan's best showing yet, but it wasn't that good. The bar on this show is so low for quality though that I liked this more than the top two main events. The Khan character is really hampering Khan and he is just not ready for the push he is getting and Tana is wasting what may be some of the last few good years he has with this stuff.

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship - El Desperado vs El Phantasmo vs BUSHI

ELP charges in the corner and misses, going out to the floor. Desperado legsweeps Bushi into a back dropkick on ELP. Bushi hits a top rope hurricanrana on Desperado then hits a running bulldog on ELP and dropkicks Desperado on the end of it. Desperado is laying on the top rope then ELP does a weak fall on his back to him from the top.

ELP runs up the buckles and walks the top, dancing like a fool up there, the finally Desperado crotches him. Bushi then springboards off the top rope into a hurricanrana on ELP. Bushi ducks a lariat then tope's Desperado on the outside. ELP then jumps up to the top rope and dives on both. ELP rips Desperado's mask up on the ramp then cradle piledrivers him on the ramp. ELP takes the mask off completely and puts it on, then kicks it. Bushi comes back in and missile dropkicks him then hurricanrana's him from the inside to the outside.

ELP starts choking Bushi with a shirt. Then he puts him in the tree of woe and goofs around before deciding to stand on his crotch. ELP springboard crossbodies Bushi then asai moonsaults him. ELP spinning racks him and then drops him out, then he does a top rope splash on him. Desperado finally comes back into the match and spears ELP, then pounds on him. Desperado lariats ELP over the top thewn does a nice tope con giro on him. Desperado tries to superplex ELP then Bushi sunset bombs him.

ELP hits a Styles Clash on Desperado which Bushi breaks up the pin on. Then he starts doing Kenny Omega stuff before Desperado rolls him up. Desperado hits an Angle slam for 2 at 20 minutes on ELP. ELP comes back and hits a CR2 and Bushi grabs the ref to stop the count. Bushi codebreakers ELP for 2. Bushi comes off the top and runs into a superkick and then ELP takes a big punch from Desperado. Desperado does two sitout spinning pedigrees on ELP and wins it.

This was a long match that was slow despite having three guys who work pretty fast in it. Most of the match had one person hanging out on the outside while the other two wrestle and ELP seemed like he got forever to do his shenanigans. You'd expect these guys to do all kinds of cool flips and stuff but that was hardly the case here.

IWGP Intercontinental Title - Kota Ibushi (c) vs Tetsuya Naito

They do technical wrestling to start. I don't know why since we know darn well they aren't going to follow up on that. Naito flurries on him in the corner and throws the ref down. Naito pops up Ibushi and dropkicks him in the knee. They go outside. Naito stomps on the knee more and Ibushi can't run because that dropkick hurt his knee so much. Naito figure fours him back in the ring.

We get more knee work by Naito then he is dropkicked by Ibushi. Ibushi sliding kicks him then standing moonsaults him. They both get back up and Naito slaps him, knocking him down. Naito puts him in a head and arm lock that Ibushi ropebreaks for. Ibushi catches Naito off the ropes with a german then Naito comes right back with a tornado ddt off the ropes. The two trade forarms on the mat then get up and exchange more.

Naito dropkicked him in the knee then put an unusual hold on his knee. Naito starts nailing him with back elbows in the corner. then Ibushi does a nice sell for a reverse diamond dust. Ibushi escapes a corner move and takes back over. He hits a deadlift german off the 2nd rope while Naito is on the apron. Ibushi then does a running knee to the head and sit out powerbombs him for 2. Naito hits a nasty looking valentia at 24 minutes and Ibushi comes back with a big lariat. Naito then comes back with a destino for 2 but Ibushi is back up in no time with a kamigoye to the back of the head, then hits a 2 normal kamigoye's for the win.

Wasn't a fan of this one at all. The early part of the match was all about knee work that was swiftly forgotten. Then they went into doing dangerous moves which they didn't sell too much. There wasn't any story to this except for Ibushi taking a whooping for half the match and the crowd not being able to cheer also didn't help. 

El Desperado came out after and challenged Ibushi for the anniversary show.

Overall thoughts: Not a good one. The main wasn't too good and neither was the three-way. Tana/Khan had some okay points. I liked the Tenzan tag though and the GoD tag. NJPW has got to get rid of the Bullet Club shenanigans as it is destroying this company.

New Japan Pro Wrestling Castle Attack Day 1 2/27/2021

New Japan Pro Wrestling Castle Attack Day 1 2/27/2021

I only skipped the Owens/Yano match.

The United Empire (Great-O-Khan, Jeff Cobb and Will Ospreay) vs Hiroshi Tanahshi, Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima

The faces get jumped at the bell like usual. Will charges at Tana in the corner and takes a huge bump on a back body drop out. He almost cleared the post on it. Tana then did a springboard twisting crossbody on Khan. Kojima hit his machine gun chops on Khan. Kojima went up top and Cobb gorilla pressed him, walked with him a little and then threw him.

Kojima got worked on by the heels for a bit and fired back on Khan with forearms and a cutter. Khan screwed up on the forearms but did a nice bounce for the cutter. Tana came in and hit all the heels with dragon screws. Tana and Khan exchanged forearms then Khan hit a reverse slam.

Tana hit a bad twist and shout on Cobb. Tenzan went to do his mongolian chops but remembered he can't do them anymore and settled for gut kicks instead. The faces threw Cobb into a Tenzan spinning heel kick. Will messed up a springboard but ended up nailing Tenzan hard with a forearm anyway then hit some Kawada kicks and a superkick. Will then did a great flip for a Tenzan samoan drop. Tenzan went to mongolian chop him but kept remembering he couldn't and stopped himself.

Tenzan then got nailed by the heels with a brogue kic kand a superkick. Tana took a big chokeslam from Khan and Kojima ran into a Cobb tour of the islands slam. The heels held up Tenzan for an Os Cutter and Will picked up the win.

I liked this one. There was some sloppiness but the second half was fun.

YOSHI-HOSHI vs Tanga Loa with Jado.

Yoshi goes after the arm early then Loa comes back with a lariat and stomps. Yoshi continues on the arm until Jado trips him outside. Yoshi takes a high backdrop and then gets clobbered with a headbutt. Yoshi blows some kind of running blockbuster attempt. Yoshi tries to forearm battle with Loa but can't go toe to toe with him so Yoshi hits a neckbreaker instead.

They go up top and Yoshi hits a running sunset bomb for 2. Loa hits a bad jumping knee and enzugiri then spinebusters him for 2. Yoshi hits five superkicks which Loa doesn't sell, but he finally sells the sixth one. Yoshi swantons him off the top for 2 then goes back to working the arm. Loa grabs the ref then Jado gets in the ring with a kendo stick and misses. Loa nails him and the ref doesn't see any of it then Yoshi dragon suplexes him.

Yoshi hits him with a meteora then Loa's partner appears at ringside. Loa hits an ugly sitout tombstone and wins it. GoD and Jado then beat down Yoshi after. Goto then comes out and cleans house.

This was not good at all with no-selling, blatant interference and just bad work.

Tama Tonga vs Hirooki Goto

No entrances for this as it starts as both men are out there already. Goto gets thrown into the rails early and Tonga keeps control early. Goto takes a punch and dares him to hit another as he hulks up. Tonga misses a splash in the corner then gets suplexed. Goto hits a nice spining heel kick in the corner. The two fight over a twisting neckbreaker which Tonga finally hits after both reversed it.

Tonga goes for a jumping cutter but gets brushed off then he hits a jumping ddt. Tonga hits hard on a missed top rope frog splash then Goto lariats him in the back of the head. Jado gets up on the apron and distracts the ref, then Loa jumps right in and attacks Goto. He fights them off. Him and Loa have another counter sequence before Goto beats him with a slice lariat.

Without all the interference, it wasn't too bad of a match. They mostly kept the action fast paced and the reversals were kind of nice. As usual, the interference sucked though.

Jay White vs Tomohiro Ishii

Jay stalls early and nails Ishii when he comes in after chasing him. Jay gets the ref's attention then Gedo eye rakes Ishii and throws him into the rails. Jay gets thrown into the rails and plays around outside. He gets back in then they both go outside again. Ishii gets dropped throat first on the rails. Ishii then gets his ribs ran into the rails and the apron.

Jay continues to work the ribs on the inside. Ishii comes back with a powerslam. Ishii gets frustrated and starts banging him in the head then White walks into a suplex. White plants Ishii with a ddt at 10 minutes.

White then hits a death valley driver on him. they trade chops in the corner. Ishii hit some chops and walked into a reverse STO, then was deadlift german suplexed. Then he got half underhook suplexed into the buckles and into the rails. They go back in and Jay hits a twisting brainbuster and a nasty uranage. Jay then hits a kiwi krusher for 2. White goes back to the ribs then Ishii starts to hulk up. Ishii drops him with a nice forearm and when White goes up top, Ishii hits a hard headbut to his chest. Ishii then superplexes him for 2.

Ishii hits a Regal plex and Ishii nails him with a lariat. Jay comes back with a brainbuster and Ishii responds with a german. Ishii then powerbombs him for 2. Gedo openly comes into the ring and Ishii's blocks Jay's lowblow then lariats him. Ishii then does a sliding lariat for a close nearfall. Ishii takes a sleeper suplex thrn a blade runner for the White win.

I wasn't too big of a fan of this. Jay worked the ribs early, forgot about it and controlled the majority of this with Ishii not getting much in at all  I didn't like Gedo getting involved as usual either. This also just went too long.

EVIL with Dick Togo vs Kazuchika Okada

Okada hits a boot to start and Evil goes to waste time outside. Togo pulls at Okada and that gives Evil a chance to attack, but Okada comes back and hits a slingshot flip senton. Okada dropkicks Evil and he rolls outside. Okada then chases Togo and gets caught in the ring by Evil. Okada gets knocked into the rails in front of Abe then Abe and his table fall over.

Evil puts the chair around Okada's neck and swings it off with another chair. Back in the ring and Evil takes control for a bit, the misses a senton and takes a euro uppercut. Okada hit some running back elbows then ddt'd him for 2. Evil sat on top and got dropkicked to the floor. Okada chased Togo up the ramp then ddt'd him and Evil at the same time.

They get back and Evil takes control again before getting a high flapjack at 15 minutes. Okada catches him and hits his neckbreaker over the knee. Okada hits a big missile dropkick off the top rope. The turnbuckle gets pulled off and Okada is clotheslined into it. Evil superplexes him from the top. Evil hits darkness falls for 2 at 20 minutes.

Evil gets thrown into the exposed corner chest first then rakes Okada's eyes to get out of a money clip. Togo chairs Okada then gets in the ring and punches him. Okada comes back though with a dropkick on Evil and puts the money clip on. Okada hits a tombstone then puts it back on. Evil grabs the ref then Okada gets pushed into the ref. The ref goes down then Togo comes in and chokes Okada with something. Okada escapes that and ends up hititng him with a tombstone then Evil hits a low blow. Evil goes for the sharpshooter then Okada low blows him.

Okada hits a spinning tombstone at 25 minutes. Evil gets put in the money clip but makes the ropes. Evil takes a clothesline then hits a half and half release suplex then lariats him for 2. Okada blows some kind of sitting tombstone then rainmaker's him for the win.

This wasn't good at all. There was a ton of shenanigans with Togo that added nothing to the match and the two just weren't that interesting together. There wasn't any story or flow to this except for constant cheating.

Overall thoughts: I'm not a fan at all right now of New Japan. There's just interference, ref bumps and cheap weapons shots in almost every match which isn't helping anyone. People like Tana, Suzuki and Goto are being phased out and their replacements of Evil, Khan and White just aren't up to par. This show sucked and had more shenanigans than WWE has had at times.

Ring of Honor TV Episode #493 2/27/2021

Ring of Honor TV Episode #493 2/27/2021

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2021/02/ring-of-honor-tv-episode-492-2192021.html

As always, ROH gets released and airs on different days depending on where you watch it. So don't go by dates, just episode counts. 

They did a nice little package on Taylor vs Rush with an old school voiceover. 

Rush and crew are talking in the back. Rush says the same thing will happen to Taylor tonight like it will anyone else. They said they will humiliate him and Bestia showed a chair. Kenny King walked in and basically said they didn't have to use any cheap tactics because he has a good history with Taylor. Rush said this is all about humiliation and they told King to "think".

Quinn McKay then welcomed us to the show like usual. She ran down the card.

Dragon Lee and King talked. Lee said his faction is the true foundation and faction. He said all that matters though is that he and King win the tag titles tonight. King says this is his house.

Lethal and Gresham do a promo. He said its great that they beat the Briscoes, but that was the easy part. He said this is under Pure Rules tonight and they are going to have to wrestle. Gresham said the world is watching and said they won't out-wrestle them.

ROH Tag Team Titles - Pure Rules - The Foundation (Jonathan Gresham and Jay Lethal) vs Dragon Lee and Kenny King with Amy Rose

King and Lee don't want to shake but end up doing a crappy fist bump. Gresham does a nice roll to evade a hammerlock reversal. Lee uses a ropebreak early and they do a nice armdrag sequence. Jay and King wrestle on the mat a little and King uses a second rope break. Then him and Lee strut outside. Lee uses a closed fist and gets a warning then he topes Jay as we go to break.

King gets sat on the top then is dragon screw leg whipped off of it at 11:15. Gresham and Lee trade forearms. King accidentally enzugiri's his own partner in the corner. Lee gets rolled up and King breaks it, which burns their last rope break. Lee hits a tombstone variation onto Gresham for 2. Lee does a flyinh knee to the back of Gresham's head and that burns a rope break. Lethal tries to dive on King on the outside but nails Rose instead. Lee then uses a closed fist to knock out Gresham and win while the ref's back was turned. 

Thoughts: They didn't do that much here for the 14 minutes they had and this match was mostly about Lee and King exploiting the Pure Rules.

Shane Taylor does a promo. He said he likes to talk about politics and people like him aren't supposed to be in ROH.

Ring of Honor World Title - Rush (c) vs Shane Taylor

Todd yells at both early to break up a collar and elbow tie-up. Taylor standing spinebusters Rush. Rush gets thrown into the barricades and takes a very hard forearm. Shane bridges Rush off the apron and ddt's him to the floor. We come back from break and Rush hits a dropkick and throwns Shane into the barricades. Then he slams the barricade door on him.

Rush and Todd Sinclair argue outside and Rush throws Shane hard into the barricade. Rush finds some cables under the ring and Todd tells him to "knock it off". Rush then whips him with the cables. I applaud the announcers for explaining that Todd didn't want to DQ Rush because then Shane will basically get screwed even if he wins.

Rush is pretty much squashing Shane at this point. We go to break and come back and Taylor is mounting a comeback with chops. shane knees him then Rush hits a jumping knee. Shane hits a nice lariat and gets bounced off the ropes into a german. Shane gets hung up on the middle rope and Rush legdrops him. Shane tries to pull himself up on the ropes but then is double stomped by Rush off the second rope.

They trade forearms and chest chop each other. they both fall down and then trade forearms and Shane hits chest headbutts. Shane then package piledrivers him for 1. Rush belly to belly suplexes Shane into the buckles. Rush stomps Shane's face in the corner and Todd tries to make himn stop but Rush nails Todd down. Bestia del Ring then brings a chair down. rush goes to use it but King jumps int othe ring from the commentary booth and stops him. They argue about it. King tries to hit Rush with a chair but Rush ducks and he nails Taylor. King then basically says that he meant to do it and Rush face dropkicks Shane in the corner to win.

Thoughts: I wasn't a fan of this one. Shane didn't get much offense in and Rush's offense wasn't that interesting. Shane oversold and I'm not into seeing shenanigans with interference and ref bumps, especially in ROH which is usually above that.

Shane reaches for King after as he yells over top of him and slaps him.

Overall thoughts: Wasn't a fan of this one. Both matches had shenanigans in them and neither were that interesting.

NJPW Strong Episode #29 2/26/2021

NJPW Strong Episode #29 2/26/2021

The DKC, Kevin Knight, Clark Connors and TJP vs The Riegel Twins, Brody King and ACH

King puts his face mask over the ref. Clark really should run the angle that he is Adam Page's brother. ACH starts the match with a hoodie and mask on. DKC hits a nice dropkick on ACH. The twins hit a combo on DKC that ends in a jumping neckbreaker. TJP tries to sweep Logan Riegal with his arm then Logan just face dropkicks him.

TJP puts Logan in the sharpshooter. Brody gets in and Knight wants some. They trade forearms and Knight does a nice leapfrog and a great dropkick. ACH continues to wear the hoodie and mask. Knight gets beat up in the corner and Sterling clubs him down.

ACH and Clark exchange shots. ACH is pop-up booted to the chest then Clark hits a near spear followed by a TJP frogsplash. Knight hit a good dropkick on Brody then TJP did an inside to outside springboard dropkick. ACH then won it soon after with a brainbuster at 8:37. Multi-man matches like this are completely reliant on time to be anything special and 8 minutess just wasn't enough. It was fine for what it was but couldn't be much more than that.

Ren Narita vs Chris Dickinson

Chris did a nice takedown to start. They traded some chops. They traded hard forearms and Chris does a nice rolling leglock, but Ren puts him in one of his own. Ren slaps Chris on the mat while in the figure four. They trade more chops and Chris hits a dragon screw leg whip. Ren pounds on Chris with forearms and chops in the corner really getting aggressive. Ren then pounds him with forearms in another corner. Chris then picks him up and hits a death valley driver for 2. Ren bullies Chris with hard slaps and mounts him with them. Ren then rolls around Chris and wins it with a sharpshooter. Very good match here with endless hard strikes. Ren looked fantastic here and kudos to Chris for taking the whooping when he didn't have to.

We got a package on Kenta vs Jon Moxley. Mox said he would get him eventually and is coming for him. Kenta said he would make him go to sleep.

IWGP US Heavyweight Championship - KENTA (c) vs Jon Moxley

They trade hard forearms to start. Kenta tries to springboard but gets forearmed down to the floor. They brawl on the floor and Mox is suplexed on the floor. Mox gets ddt'd on Kenta's briefcase. Back in the ring and Kenta kicks Mox's back. Kenta pounds on the back of Mox's head then kicks him in the ear. Kenta chest kicks Mox more and they trade forearms.

Moxley tope's Kenta and lands on the hard floor. Mox jumps off the small stage with a knee on Kenta. Mox sets up a table but after he does, Kenta hits him with the US Title Belt. kenta then pounds on him as he lays on the table. Kenta then elbow drops him from the top through the table.

Mox barely beats the count in and takes a corner dropkick at 10 minutes. Kenta does a top rope footstomp for 2. Kenta hits some hard slaps and takes a release german. Mox then hits a nice running clothesline for 2. Mox pounds on him then he takes a crossface. Kenta runs the ropes and takes a wild lariat. Kenta slaps Mox and gives him the finger then Mox hits a death rider ddt for the in. I thought the ending was a little sudden and Mox didn't get enough in, but I liked it. This was one of the few Mox matches I liked in a long time. They were stiff with each other and made it feel like there was some real hatred there.

Overall thoughts: Really good episode of Strong with two strong matches and a third that was fine.

WWE Friday Night Smackdown 2/26/2021

WWE Friday Night Smackdown 2/26/2021

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2021/02/wwe-friday-night-smackdown-2122021.html

Roman and crew came out to talk and as usual, it took about 5 minutes just to arrive to ringside.

Roman says Smackdown needs him and the Elimination Chamber needed him. He said the Chamber would have been perfect but Edge ruined it by spearing him. He said Edge should go back home instead of challenging him for Mania. He said Edge doesn't stand a chance then Daniel Bryan came out.

DB mocked his idea of the Chamber being nearly perfect and said he wasn't a real champ for forcing the title match right after the Chamber. DB said the head of the table should have defended the title in the main event, not the second match at the show.

DB challenged him to defend the title against him at Fastlane. Jey Uso was offended by this and told DB he lost. He said he's at the back of the line now and Jey said he will come after him if he doesn't back off. Jey then jumped DB, throwing him out of the ring then over the barricades.

Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville talked in the back. Edge came up and said he needed to talk.

Jey and Roman talked in the back. Jey said he disrespected him and Roman said there is nothing to apologize for as long as he gets the job done.

We went back to Edge, Pearce and Sonya. Edge wasn't happy that Daniel Bryan can get a title shot tonight if he beats Jey Uso. Pearce said it would be a bigger attraction and meant no disrespect. I'm not sure what Edge is mad about. His Rumble win was for a title shot at Wrestlemania, not another show. This segment was a little confusing as they didn't make the Jey/DB stipulation clear ahead of time.

Otis and Chad Gable vs Rey Mysterio and Dominic Mysterio

Otis and Chad Gable were on the mic on the ramp. They wanted to replace Otis splashing Rey last week, further proving they are now heels which sucks.

Chad tells Otis to execute the plan. Rey tries to jump on Otis but gets bodyblocked off. Otis drops a big elbow then throws Rey on a slam. Chad gorilla presses Rey into a gutbuster. Dominic does a bice body hurricanrana to Chad into the buckles then walks the middle rope a little into a tornado ddt. Chad is lifted up and Rey does a top rope la silla to him. The Mysterio's hit a double 619 then Rey frogsplshes Chad for 2. Rey springboard dives onto Otis but gets slammed then Otis splashes him from the middle rope for the win.

Short match but nothing wrong with it at all. It's amazing Rey can still do what he does after close to 30 years in wrestling.

They showed Apollo Crews in the back and said they would talk more about his attack on big last week.

Crews has new gear. He said he is from Nigerian and is a real Africa American. He said his grandfather was a ruler there and talked about him having 5 wives. He said his new green and white colors represented that. He said Big E told him to go back to catering, but he went back to his roots. Then he started talking with a Nigerian accent and said something about his opponent tonight which lead to...

Apollo Crews vs Shinsuke Nakamura

Crews jumps Nakamura as he poses. He grabs the steps outside and the ref stops that as we go to break. Back from break and Crews is in control. Crews hits a huge release german on Nakamura, but he comes back and does a cool flying kick. Nak lights him up with more kicks. He hangs him over the top rope and axe kicks him, then sliding lariats him.

Crews hit triple germans on Nak then Nak came back and did his sliding german suplex while Crews was on the middle rope. Crews grabs his scarf on the buckle and pulls Nakamura into the buckles while he has him in a sleeper. Crews then hits an angle slam and wins it. Not bad at all. Not too much story but good action.

Heyman said the DB/Jey match for the title shot was made official to Roman. Heyman and Roman confirm DB only gets the shot "if" he wins tonight.

Tamina with Natalya vs Liv Morgan with Ruby Riott

No entrances for either girl. Liv bridges out of a lariat and running hurricanrana's Tamina. Then she eats a big superkick and gets thrown. Liv gets flipped backwards on a backslide then kicks Tamina in the head. Liv dropkicks her from the 2nd rope for 2. Tamina hits a samoan drop and swinging side slams her for the win. This was short and fine with them doing the giant vs underdog story.

Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville come out and introduce Bianca Belair for her Royal Rumble decision. They play packages for both Asuka and Sasha. Reginald then comes out while Bianca talks. He said Bianca wrestled with Sasha and is now elevated by her genius. He said she will lose if she faces Sasha.

Sasha comes out and says she is the best, which makes Bianca the 2nd best. She tells Reginald not to speak for her and as expected, Bianca challenges her for Wrestlemania. 

Sami and his camera men interview Corbin in the back. Corbin says his crew needs to figure out the mystery of why they are tag partners tonight. Sami said it was his idea as while they don't get laong, they have good chemistry. Sami said he needs a big win after getting robbed and says they could be tag champs if they work together. He says they could be the New Can-Am COnnection or the Kingdom of Liberty.

Corbin agrees but says get the camera men out of his face and stop recording him.

The Street Profits vs Baron Corbin and Sami Zayn

Ford does his handspring into a backflip out of the corner then armdrags Sami. Ziggler and Roode watch in the back, saying they feel bad for them and drinking out of their own plastic cups, mocking the SP's.

Corbin runs out Dawkins with a shoulder and takes a big dropkick. The camera men block Corbin outside and he yells at them. Then Ford jumps off of Dawkins' back to dropkick Corbin off the apron.

We come back with the heels in control and Ford making a tag. Dawkings does a nice back flying elbow and a spinning corner splash. Dawkins hits a nice dropkick on Corbin. The camera men get in Corbin's way and he pushes them off. Sami talks to him and Ford flip dives over him onto Corbin. Ford then springboard splashes Sami to win. Short but another fun match. Dawkins looked really good here.

Daniel Bryan is interviewed in the back. He said he has good chances of beating Uso and Reigns and says his chances of beating Reigns are better than Edge's chances. He said he doesn't know if Edge has what it takes to beat Roman, then Edge comes in. Edge says if DB beats Roman, then DB is facing him. He asks who will win that one and DB won't say. DB said none of that matters if he doesn't beat Jey tonight.

Seth Rollins comes out. He said his complaint last week got a lot of play on social media, then Cesaro came out in jeans. Seth asks Cesaro for a chance to make this right. He calls Cesaro a star and asks why it seems like he always comes up short. Seth said Cesaro keeps coming up short because he doesn't have killer instinct. He said had Cesaro not walked out on him two weeks ago, he would already be champ. He told him to embrace the vision and let him lead him and he will make it. Cesaro giant swings him instead and Seth does a great job of selling it. Cesaro then european uppercuts him to end the segment.

If Daniel Bryan wins, he gets a title shot - Daniel Bryan vs Jey Uso

We have about 11-12 minutes left for this. DB hiptosses Jey early and takes control hitting his usual stuff. He hurricanrana's Jey off the top. He goes for a tope on him but Jey superkicks him as he tries to dive out. Jey then knee drops him on the announcer's table. Jey then rams the knee into the post.

We go to break and come back with Jey working the knee. Jey hits a samoan drop for 2 and misses a top rope splash. DB kick combos Jey and puts him over the top. DB running knee's him off the apron. Jey goes back to working the knee with a single leg crab and DB gets out. DB buzzsaw kicks him for 2. He goes for a running knee but gets speared and superkicked for 2. DB butterfly superplexes him. They go outside and DB goes into the steps and both get counted out. They roll back in after and DB puts him in the yes lock. Roman finally comes in and pounds on DB. Uso superkicks DB as DB puts Romai n the yes lock. Roman then spears him and king crab hold chokes him. Then he poses over top of him to end the show.

As usual, DB/Uso was a decent back and forth match and I liked the knee work. The double count out finish was lame but atleast it is probably leading to something.

Overall thoughts: A pretty good edition of SD. A lot of short but decent TV matches and we've clearly started up some angles.

WWE 205 Live 2/26/2021

WWE 205 Live 2/26/2021

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2021/02/wwe-205-live-2192021.html

Mansoor and Curt Stallion vs Ever-Rise

E-R hugs then Mansoor and Curt hug. Martel yells "what do you got?" at him then Curt forearms him and yells it back to him in a headlock. Mansoor takes control for a little and tags back out. Curt hits a hard running back elbow. Mansoor gets put in a double wristlock and flips out of it, then catches both members of E-R with atomic drops. E-R then both take dropkicks out. The Bollywood Boyz then come out and tells them to call down. Parker does a bunch of leapfrogs, confusing Mansoor then Martel comes in and powerbombs Mansoor hard.

Mansoor takes a double shoulder and a double fist drop. Mansoor sunset flips Chase, who wasn't the legal man and takes a punch to the face for it. Curt gets in after a failed E-R double team and dives onto the Bollywood Boyz. He goes for a top rope splash but Parker gets his knees up. Mansoor gets tagged in and tries a bulldog, but Parker holds on Martel to save him. The Boyz throw their directors scene prop, Chase doesn't know what to do with it then Mansoor rolls him up. Nothing wrong with this at all. I've always liked Martel and this furthered the BB/ER story. BB and ER argue after.

Vic Joseph tries to get Nigel to agree that the BB/ER team isn't working but Nigel won't go along with it.

They ran down the Grey vs Nese and Daivari feud.

Tony Nese with Ariya Daivari vs August Grey

We have about 8 minutes for this. Grey hits some punches on Nese then hurricanrana's him. Grey hits a few more nice punches and does a neat body slam into a side slam, almost emerald flowsion like. Ariya tries to get involved and Jake Atlas comes down to help. Grey and Daivari argue on the outside then the inside and Nese jumps over Grey and drops his neck over the ropes. Nese then does an outside to inside springboard moonsault for 2.

Grey does his short rope walk into a twisting crossbody on Nese. Nese comes back with a pumphandle slam for 2. Grey does his jawbreaker into a neckbreaker then backdrops Nese but flips him over at the peak of it. Ariya shoves Atlas into the steps then Nese does a rolling shotei to Grey up top. Nese misses a 450 and Ariya gets on the apron. Atlas takes Ariya off then hits a big right hand. Nese then does a huge twisting flipping moonsault to Atlas then Grey tope's him. Grey then does his walk up the buckles unprettier to win. This was mostly about the feud between Ariya/Nese and Grey/Atlas. It fulfilled that purpose and we got a couple of cool dives in between. The outside shenanigans were as much of a feature as the match here. It was fun.

Overall thoughts: Not a bad episode of 205 Live at all. They continued two storylines here and even though the matches weren't outstanding or anything, they were fun and that's about the best 205 Live can do in 30 minutes.

AJPW Excite Series Day 1 2/18/2021

AJPW Excite Series Day 1 2/18/2021

I skipped the first two matches.

Izanagi vs Dan Tamura

Dan shoulder blocks him early and they trade forearms. Dan puts him in a boston crab and Iza hits the ropes. Iza puts him in a bad figure four and Dan reverses it, but Iza reverses it back. Iza then sets his legs up again for the figure four but rolls forward and pins him. this was very short and wasn't any good.

Enfants Terribles (Hokuto Omori, Kuma Arashi & Shotaro Ashino) vs. JIN (Jake Lee & Koji Iwamoto) & TAJIRI

This starts off very very slow with absolutely nothing happening for the first 3 minutes. Tajiri and Omori trade some shots. Omori and koji trade forearms thn Lee comes in and drops Koji's gut over his knee.

Omori hits some forearms on Lee then Ashino comes in and gutwrench suplexes Lee. Then he euro uppercuts him. Kuma goes to dive on Lee, but Lee gets up and stares at him, then throws him off the top. Ashino ankle locks Lee and he gets face kicked out. Omori then tries to go toe to toe with Lee and gets forearmed and backdropped for a quick loss in another lazy waste of time match.

Abdullah Kobayashi vs. Kento Miyahara

Abdullah enters from the crowd in surprise and starts choking Kento with a towel. Then he chokes him with a jacket. Kento step kicks him. Kento dropkicks Abby in the knee and Abby rolls out. Kento hits him with headbutts out there then running face kicks him and crossfaces him around the post. They go back in and Abby hits a nice clotheslines on him, then he shinging wizards him. He misses his elbow when Kento moves.

Kento does some weak stomps on Abby and pumping knees him on the apron. Kento forearms Abby and he falls right into the ref, knocking him down. Abby then grabs a wrench and hits him in the throat with it. Abby comes off the top with an elbow but Kento moves. Kento hits a pumping knee but Abby rope breaks. Kento goes to face kick Abby, but Abby moves and he nails the ref. Abby gets a box during this and throws it at Kento's head then chokes him with something. Various people at ringside break it up and this is declared a no contest in another lazy match, this time with a bad finish. 

 

Twin Towers (Kohei Sato & Shuji Ishikawa) vs. Evolution (Hikaru Sato & Suwama)

Shuji and Kohei leg lock each other at the same time on the mat early. Hikaru hits some leg kicks on Shuji then takes him down. They trade chest chops and Shuji downs Hikaru with some. Shuji hits a hard knee flurry to the body of Hikaru. Shuji cranks Hikaru's neck at 10 minutes then chinlocks him on the mat.

Hikaru hits some chest kicks to Shuji but Shuji comes back with a double stomp off the 2nd rope. Shuji runs the ropes and runs into an enzugiri by Hikaru then tags to Suwama. Suwama hits some hard lariats on Shuji and takes him down. Shuji ducks a lariat and backbreakers Shuji with an STO then Sato comes in and chest kicks Suwama at about 15 minutes.

Suwama and Kohei trade foreams and Suwama germans him. Kohei does the same and neither sells it then Suwama lariats Kohei down. Hikaru enzugiri's Kohei. Shuji comes in and him and Kohei knee Hikaru at the same time then hit dual forearms. Suwama comes in and chops up Kohei but gets dropped with a forearm. Suwama is knocked out then Sato piledrivers Hikaru and wins it. Well, this was a bizarre finish. Suwama may have legit been knocked out, or just really sold it well. You can't really tell. The fact that the ref didn't end the match tells me that maybe it was a work but the fact that the finish happened right after tells me maybe it wasn't. This was the best match that I've seen on this show but that was really not saying much. They worked a logical match with the big guys picking on Hikaru and Suwama coming in to even things up.

Overall thoughts: Excite Series? Bore Series is more like it.  The first two matches were some of the lowest effort matches I've seen in some time and Abby/Kento wasn't much better. Add in a crowd that can't or won't cheer due to the virus and you've got a real stinker of a show. Then the main was going along well then Suwama got knocked out...legit or not, who knows?

WWE NXT UK 2/25/2021

WWE NXT UK 2/25/2021

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2021/02/wwe-nxt-uk-2182021.html

They hyped Gallus vs Pretty Deadly tonight with a video package.

Loser must become the winner's personal assistant for one month - Xia Brookside vs Nina Samuels

Xia beats up on Nina to start. Nina then grounds and pounds her. They fight outside and Xia gets kicked into Nina's luggage. Xia is at the count of 9. Does Nina let her get counted out and take the easy win? No, she pulls her up and brings her back into the ring in a very stupid spot. It would be one thing if this was a title match and if Xia did it, but the heel did it in a non-title match.

Nina keeps control on the inside with a body scissors. Nina traps one of her arms and pull the other, then does a surfboard which Xia escapes. Xia neckbreakers her and baseball slides her. Nina swings her into the barricade. Nina asks for Henry(her bag carrier) to hand her the purse and he refuses and even fights her for it. Nina swings the purse and misses, Xia kicks it out of her hands then rolls her up for the win.

That luggage spot blew the whole match for me and I'm not sure why Nina's bag carrier refused to help her. Nina cries and throws a fit in the ring over losing.

Gallus warms up in the back.

We get a package on Trent Seven. He says all of the restrictions are making his weight loss attempt harder and says he is just trying to eat clean. They show him running up a mountain and posing. It was a nice touch just it kind of made Trent look bad that he is having some issues losing weight as everyone in WWE is in pretty good shape.

Ilja Dragunov is asked about his match with Tyson T-Bone. He says he loses control sometimes then Sam Gradwell goes up to him. Sam dared him to try and do it to him and Ilja accepted the challenge.

Bailey Matthews vs Tyler Bate

Bailey is Regal's kid. Bate did an in-set promo and says he wants a real challenge and asks Johnny Saint to find him an opponent. Bailey puts a wristlock on and gets monkey flipped, but keeps it on. Bailey hammerlock takeovers Bate and headscissors him. Bailey is put in a side headlock and uses his leg to get out. Bailey does a great cravate takeover and reverses a hiptoss into a backslide. He tries to flip his body over but Bate moves.

They trade euro uppercuts and Matthews hits a nice gutwrench for 2. They trade more euro uppercuts and Bate exploders him. Bate then does a running ssp for 2. Bate airplane spins Bailey and Bate hits a nasty koppok kick. Bate then hits a tiger driver for the win. Bailey doesn't have much personality or much of a look but he is already a very strong technical wrestler and this was a good match.

They did a video package for a new wrestler but it was really hard to hear what was being said over the music. He talked about a kid growing up who was poor and has some kind of disc shaped object in his hand.

Joseph Connors was interviewed. Piper went up to him and told him to stop getting involved in her business. Joseph said she's not a real woman like Jinny is and went to insult her when Jinny came in and a fight was broken up.

Piper said she wanted a match with Connons and Jinny, which Sid Scala refused. She then grabbed Jack Starz and said he will be my partner and to make the match. I don't like Starz being manhandled by a woman.

Lana Austin vs Aoife Valkyrie

Aoife's name is pronounced "E-fa". She supposedly hasn't lost in NXT UK and hasn't had a match since 12/3/2020. They say Austin is a mother of 3. Aoife shoulders her down and does a nice jump into a trip.

Aoife does a cool escape out of a wristlock and rolls her up for a pin attempt. Aoife kicks her and gets thrown down, then Austin hits a stiff dropkick. Aoife fights back with chops and does a flipping neckbreaker for a close nearfall. Aoife does a running enzugiri and a spinning roundhouse kick. Aoife then single legdrops her off the top while Austin bends over to win. Good squash for Aoife though it went a little too long.

Xia gets interviewed. She said she feels great and Nina Samuels carries her bags, looking very unhappy and dropping bags.

Kenny Williams and Amir Jordan get interviewed. Kenny said he is finally 100% and they will be fighting next week.

We get a video package on the Kay Lee Ray vs Meiko Satomura match that is upcoming.

NXT UK Tag Team Championship - Gallus (c) vs Pretty Deadly

Wolfgang does a nice arm takeover on Howley and Gallus controls PD early. Howley takes a double team monkey flip. Coffey does a nice hiptoss on Howley. Wolfgang charges on Howley in the corner and Stoker pulls out Howley. They all get in and argue and the ref tries to clear them out.

Wolfgang throws Stoker across the ring and Stoker knees Wolfgang in the back to send him out. Wolfgang is then rammed into the post. PD does a double backbreaker on Wolfgang. Wolf gets thrown into the middle buckle and Wolf gets double teamed. Howley bends over after a shot and then Wolf splashes his back from the middle rope.

Mark Coffey gets the hot tag and the announcer says "a fresh Coffey", which was hilarious, intentional or not. Mark beats up on PD and bulldogs him off the second rope. Mark backdrops Stoker for 2.  Howley throws Mark into a double knee from Stoker then Mark comes back with an enzugiri. Gallus catapults Howley into a samoan drop then Wolfgang moonsaults him off the 2nd rope. Stoker makes the save on the pin.

Mark chokeslams Stoker from the mat to the apron then Howley almost steals it with a roll-up. Wolf hits a big spear/slam for 2 on Howley. Stoker slaps Wolf and Wolf gets ambushed over the rails with a euro uppercut/shoulder by Howley. Howley gets thrown into the corner, Stoker lifts up his legs so he can pass under then Howley pushes him with his back into a codebreaker on Mark for a very close nearfall. Howley throws in a title belt and grabs one himself, but Mark nails him. Mark gets caught though on a Stoker tornado ddt on top of the belt. Stoker holds up Mark and Howley neckbreakers him to win! PD then yells "Pretty Deadly On Top" and poses with the belts.

Major major upset here as Gallus held the belts since 10/4/2019. The match was a little boring for the first half, though the finishing stretch was exciting and turned it into a good one. PD's a lot more limited than some of the other people on the roster but they played their role well, only getting the advantage with 2v1's and having to cheat to get ahead on the much bigger Gallus. The upset truly was surprising and that mostly made the match.

Overall thoughts: As usual, a pretty solid edition of NXT UK. I didn't like the Xia/Nina match, but the main event ended up being good and Matthews/Bate was good.

Dramatic Dream Team 2/14/2021 Kawasaki Strong 2021

Dramatic Dream Team 2/14/2021 Kawasaki Strong 2021

I skipped the two comedy matches here.

Miyako Matsumoto and Saori Anou vs Maya Yukihi and Saki Akai

Miyako only works sparingly now and gets thrown out hard to start. Akai and Maya double kick Anou. Akai paradise locks Anou then invites Maya in to help pose on her. Miyako tries to break it up but ends up splashing Anou.

Anou takes an STO and hits an enzugiri on Maya. Miyako comes in and tries to dragon screw leg whip Akai but gets caught. Miyako headlock takeovers and headscissors Maya over at the same time.

Maya does a nice roll into a grounded octopus on Miyako. Miyako armbars Maya over the ropes then Anou comes in and missile dropkicks her. Anou hits a nice face kick to Maya then does a great sell for a knee through the ropes. Maya misses a top rope missile dropkick then the Miyako and Anou screw up a double axe kick.

Akai does a crossbody from the top rope onto Anou and Anou bridges out of a pump kick from Akai. Anou german suplexes Akai. Miyako shining wizards Akai then puts her in an octopus stretch. Miyako sits on top and Akai steps on the bottom rope to give her a great face kick. Maya and Akai do double swinging knees to their opponents. Miyako starts slapping around Akai but one slap takes her down. Then she gets high kicked and tries some pin attempts on Akai.

Maya accidentally nails the ref with a shot. Anou tries to hold up Maya for a shot and then Maya ducks...but Miyako nails her anyway. Akai and Maya high kick eac hother on accident then Miyako slams Anou on her opponents. Miyako stacks Anou on her opponents and screws up her pose. Anou fisherman suplexes her own partner and Saki hits Miyako with a tough pump kick to win.

I always hate the storyline of partners attacking partners. The work was pretty good up until they started doing that even though they had some botches.

Toi Kojima & Yusuke Okada vs. Junretsu (Hideki Okatani & Mizuki Watase)

Toi hits a dropkick on Okatani early. Watase slaps Okada hard and Okada returns the favor off of a ropre break. They pull each others hair and exchange forearms. Watase then drops him with one and Okada comes back. Watase and Okada continue to go at it after Watase tags out.

Okatani hits some forearms then gets a big boot from Okada. Toi stomps on Okatani's back. Watase gets tagged in and him and Okada trade more forearms, then he hits a big knee on Okada. Watase facewashes Okada in the corner then brainbusters him. Okada kind of misses a big boot but Watase sells it anyway then Toi comes in and crossbodies Watase from the top. Toi does an enzugiri and Watase takes a 2v1.

Toi hits some chops on Watase and Okatani top rope dropkicks Okada. Watase hits a tiger suplex then boston crabs Toi for the immediate submission.

Pretty good opener with Okada and Watase bringing the hate and nailing each other. They then grab each other's hair after the match.

HARASHIMA & Yuji Okabayashi vs. Kazusada Higuchi & Yukio Naya

Yuji and Naya shoulder battle early which Naya wins. Harashima hits Higuchi with some face kicks and is slammed then running dropkicked. Naya and Higuchi double shoulder Harashima. Naya drops Harashima with a forearm. Higuchi continues the beatdown and finally Harashima dropkicks him and tags out. Oka comes in and suplexes Higuchi. He racks him and throws him at Naya in a cool spot.  Naya and Yuji trade chops and forearms and Yuji lariats his leg to sweep him down at 10 minutes. Harashima springboard splashes Naya and eats a black hole slam.

Naya put Harashima in an abdominal stretch and Higuchi put Oka in a claw at the same time. Higuchi and Oka trade chops and when Oka ran the ropes, Higuchi shoved him back. Naya and Higuchi did a dxouble chokeslam to Harashima then Naya did a hard running knee for 2 on him.

Harashima and Naya hit some hard chops then Naya nailed Harashima with a hard knee and backdropped him. Harashima did two flying double knees and won this.

I didn't really like this. Harashima was the odd man out here as he was smaller than everyone else and he didn't really work that angle well. We got very little Okabayashi here and the battle of the hosses never really came to be.

DAMNATION (Daisuke Sasaki, Mad Paulie, Soma Takao & Yuji Hino) vs. ALL OUT (Akito, Konosuke Takeshita, Shunma Katsumata & Yuki Ino)

This is Ino's return after being out for months. Damnation gets attacked before the bell. Konosuke hits his flying lariat early and Sasaki takes a double baseball slide from Damnation. Ino tries to do his haka but Hino lariats him down. Hino sentons Ino and Ino takes a kind of lame beat down for a while. Ino comes back with chest clubs vs Takao's forearms and tags to Shunma, who jumps off of Takao's back and dropkicks a DN member.

Akito hits a real nice dropkick on Takao out of nowhere then lifts him up for a high pedigree which Shunma assists on. Shunma does a top rope double stomp on Takao. A little later, Takeshita flips Sasaki with a lariat and hits a nice blue thunder bomb. Sasaki comes back with a hurricanrana then pedigrees and superkicks him. Hino and Ino go at it and trade chops. Hino takes off his shirt during it so he can get chopped harder I guess and dares him to chop more. Ino gets german suplexed but doesn't sell it then is hit with a lariat. Ino takes a double stomp to the back and a Paulie splash. Everyone splashes on Paulie and Ino in the middle of the ring and we get a dogpile. Both teams do double german suplexes to partners and opponents in a dumb spot.

Takeshita no sells a release Hino german then pumping knee's him. Thre's a 5v5 forearm battle and Sasaki bridges a ladder between the ring and a table. Shunma crossbodies Hino from the top and gets caught then Hino fallaway slams him onto the bridged ladder, though Shunma misses a lot of it. Sasaki gets hit in the head with a chair by Sasaki but isn't too affected by it then he samoan drops Hino. Takeshita does a coast to coast dropkick on two opponents. Paulie is lariated then german suplexed and speared by Ino for 1. Ino then runs the ropes and spears him to win.

The beginning was boring, there were some goofy spots and there was a lot of no-selling. Without some of these issues, it would have been fine to good.

DDT Universal Title Match - Yuki Ueno (c) vs. Yukio Sakaguchi

Endo takes him down early and triangles him. Ueno is supposed to double stomp his shoulder from inside to out but misses then they miss on Yukio getting his arm put into the post. Yukio hits a nice jumping knee and some chest kicks. Endo mounts him and then forearms him, then puts him into something like a camel clutch.

Ueno gets a nice diving knee in on the ropes then tornillo's Yukio on the outside. Ueno pulls Yuki's arm over the top then missile dropkicks it. Ueno then armdrags him into a double reverse armbar. Endo gets out though and rolls into a triangle. Ueno tries to powerbomb him out of it but Yukio keeps it on and he hits the ropes to break it.

Yukio gets release german suplexed but doesn't sell it nor does he sell a running shining wizard, then he slaps on a king crab hold. Ueno powers out of it and hits an exploder suplex, then he does a far frog splash. Yukio hits a great pumping knee and the flurry chest kicks him. He does it again and hits a hard penalty kick to the chest. Yukio hits left and right high kicks for 2. Yuiko charges at him in the corner and takes a big dropkick.

They held each others hand and forearmed each other then Ueno hit a stiff pumphandle slam. Ueno hits a great standing dropkick then a forward rolling ddt. Yukio doesn't sell it much though and slaps on a sleeper. Ueno then wins with a sleeper in a dumb finish. How's Ueno gonna choke out an MMA tough guy like Yukio? The match could have been good had they just had Yukio dominate Ueno with kicks and stuff until he made his comeback but they didn't do that here. They did a lot of no selling though and it just wasn't that good.

KO-D Openweight Title Match - Tetsuya Endo (c) vs. Jun Akiyama

They get off to a slow start with not much happening. They trade forearms and Jun wins the exchange with a headbutt. They go outside and come back in and Endo's buddy Mad Pualie holds Jun so Endo can dropkick him in the knee. Endo works on his knee on the outside and does a unique roll into a figure four. Endo continues to work his leg as they come in. Endo ties up his leg in the ropes and dropkicks it then dragon screw leg whips him.

Jun his a quick piledrive on Endo then does it again. Jun hangs Endos head off the apron and drops a knee on it but it bothers his hurt knee. Endo gets a neckbreaker and Jun hooks him behind the neck but Endo hits the ropes. Jun hits some headbutts and a big knee to the chest. Endo evaded a backdrop and flipped out of a dropkick. Endo hits a flying space tiger driver to the outside but barely gets Jun.

Endo sunset flips Jun then pulls him out of it to hit the moss covered 3 handed family gradunza. Endo cranks his neck a little then Jun comes back and makes him flip on a lariat. June hit some knees to the chest then hit a big one for a 2 count. Jun lifts him up and somewhat alley oop's hs throat onto the ropes then backdrops him and knees him. Jun then puts him in the king crab lock. They trad some forearms then Endo superkicks and german's him. Jun doesn't sell it though and exploders him right after, then Endo doesn't really sell that. Endo does a spinning torture rack bomb for 2. Endo remembers he was supposed to work the knee again then puts Jun in a leg lock, which Jun rope breaks for.

They go up top and Jun hits some headbutts. Jun then top rope exploder suplexes him. Jun exploder suplexes him again for a nearfall. Endo headbutts him then does a pele kick, then he handsprings into the ropes and does a twisting kick. Endo then spinning torture rack bombs him for another 2 count. Endo misses an SSP and Jun pounds him with knees. Endo takes another exploder for 2. They grab each other by the face and Jun exploder suplexes him for another 2. Endo does a sitout fisherman's buster and wins it.

I wasn't too into this. They started off slow. Endo never really followed up on the knee work and they kicked out of too much. Then it ended up going on too long.

Overall thoughts: Disappointing show in my opinion. 3 of the big 4 matches weren't that good with people just doing big moves and big spots without much thought behind them.

WWE Main Event 2/25/2021

WWE Main Event 2/25/2021

Tom Phillips and Samoa Joe are doing commentary.

Mansoor vs Drew Gulak

Mansoor is put in a hammerlock and puts his legs on the top rope then flips backwards to get out of it. Gulak takes some hard chops and a dropkick. Mansoor takes him down and does a standing moonsault. Gulak hits a hard lariat in the corner and Mansoor hits some hard strikes.

Mansoor drops him on his face and spinebusters him for 2. Mansoor bulldogs him from the 2nd rope then outside to inside slingshot neckbreakers him. This was short with Mansoor controlling most of the match with some decent offense.

They did some recaps of Raw and some of the other stuff going on this week.

Elias and Jaxson Ryker vs Humberto Carrillo and Akira Tozawa

Carrillo did a nice springboard armdrag on Elias. Humberto did a slingshot crossbody on Ryker. Tozawa hit some kicks and got caught in a crossbody. Tozawa dumped Elias out then tope'd him. Humberto then jumped off the lower part of the steps with a crossbody on Ryker.

We came back with Tozawa hitting a big diving back elbow. Tozawa jumped over Elias and ran right into a spinebuster. Elias did his sitout side chokeslam on Tozawa for 2. Ryker pops up Tozawa and gets hurricanrana'd. Humberto comes in and springboard crossbodies Elias and then he does a back roll into a moonsault on Elias. Elias hits a big jumping knee on Humberto for 2. Tozawa comes in with a missile dropkick on Ryker then takes a hard black hole slam for the Ryker and Elias win. This really wasn't bad at all and the timing was just about right. They put in a good effort despite this show being such low status.

Then covered more from Raw and that was the end of the show.

Overall thoughts: The two matches shown were not bad at all but were short.

AEW Dynamite 2/24/2021

AEW Dynamite 2/24/2021

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2021/02/aew-dynamite-2172021.html

Jon Moxley vs Ryan Nemeth

Nemeth did an inset promo and said he is going for a starring role tonight - the winner. Mox slaps him early and hit crossface strikes. Mox hits a nice backdrop on him and pulls apart his fingers in the corner. Ryan hits a nice dropkick and takes a nasty looking double arm ddt/driver for Moxley win. This was all squash.

Mox gets on the mic after. He said he will do whatever it takes to get back on top of the hill, even if it means going through barbed wire. He asked us what images come to mind when we hear "exploding barbed wire deathmatch". He got off-topic talking about how his career might come to an end at Revolution and said if that's the case, it's a good way to go out.

They showed clips from some of the past Omega vs Moxley matches.

They showed an interview with Lance Archer and Rey Fenix from last week. Lance said they were a good team when they teamed together but he is going to kick Rey's @ss. Rey said he was the worst partner he ever had and they had a short and bad brawl.

We saw the Bucks arrive with their parents in the back and take a photo.

Ricky Starks and Brian Cage vs the Varsity Blondes

Pillman rolls out of a wristlock and kicks Starks in the face. Pillman tripped Starks when he dropped down, sending Starks out. Then he dropkicked him. Pillman went for a springboard but was pushed off the ropes. The nhe powerbombed into the post and landed his lower back or butt into the sharp edge of the steps.

We went to picture-in-picture break and when we came back, Cage fallaway slams Pillman. Starks hits a missile dropkick on him. Griff comes in and hits some nice clotheslines then he does a great dive over the top onto Cage. Griff does a front first bomb on Cage then Pillman Jr. springboard clotheslines Cage off the top. Griff holds up Starks in a powerbomb position and Pillman dropkicks him from the top. Cage blind tags and hits a spinning lariat while Stakrs hits a spear. Cage then does his sitout tombstone and wins it. The finish stretch was the best point of the match and it remains clear that Griff is a lot better than Pillman and way above this.

Sting is shown driving through the desert in a car with Darby in a bodybag tied up behind him. Then Darby is taken out of it and smiles. I have no idea what that was.

Sting then comes out dragging the body bag. Sting points to the rafters where Darby comes out on a zipline with a skateboard. Sting and Darby beat up Cage and Starks and it is revealed Hook was in the body bag. Darby hits Starks with a skateboard and dives on him. Sting scorpion deathdrops Cage. Sting abducting Hook in a body bag was almost an afterthought and had no build to it on top of just being weird. Darby also just happening to have a spare zip line around was odd.

Tony Schiavone interviewed Ford, Sabian and Miro. They were not happy the wedding was ruined. Miro said he will destroy OC in-time but he likes Chuck Taylor and he can come home anytime. Someone gives Tony a note. The note was some goofy note asking if Miro and Kip would face OC and Taylor at Revolution. Miro then ate the note and spit it at Tony.

Jake Hager vs Brandon Cutler

Cutler got some punches in then was wheelbarrow german suplexed twice.  Hager pounded on him some and hit a face kick. Hager did a Vader bomb. Hager went over the top and was tope'd and then flip tope'd outside. Cutler springboards on Jake and is slammed then Jake flips him with a clothesline to win. Not bad at all.

The Inner Circle then comes out and beats up Cutler but the Bucks hit superkicks and save him.

The Bucks get on the mic after. They ask Jericho and MJF to come out now. Jericho and MJF appear on the mic. They pulled up The Bucks' dad who was all bloody and rammed him into the back of the truck then did the Bucks' pose over him. Then they ran for it as one of the Bucks chased. This wasn't done that well as it was rushed and the angle was wasted. Something like this should really be saved for a big feud. Doc and Gallows help load The Bucks' dad into the ambulance.

They did a video package on Shaq/Velvet and the mess that was this whole feud.

Isiah Kassidy with Matt Hardy and The Hybrid2 vs "Hangman" Adam Page

Page nailed Hardy early and flurried on Kassidy. Page hits a great lariat on him. Page plancha's Kassidy and lariats him over the rails. Hardy grabbed Page when he tried the buckshot lariat and rammed him into the post. Silver and Reynolds then came out and said he was getting involved. The ref then kicked out Hardy. We went to picture-in-picture break with Kassidy maintaining control. Page hit a spinning elbow for 2. Kassidy jumped up and was caught in a death valley driver.

Kassidy evaded a sliding lariat but took a brainbuster for 2. Kassidy came back with a poisonrana and kicks, then armbarred him. Page tries a springboard lariat to Kassidy on the apron, but they mess it up and Page lariats the rope. Kassidy tries a springboard canadian destroyer but takes a samurai driver and Page won. This went too long and I have no idea why Kassidy is going this even with Page.

Hardy started talking and promised revenge. He said Page betrayed him and he would hurt every member of the Dark Order. Then he thew Alan Angels off the stage onto a table.

Alex Marvez went into a workshop with Callis and Omega, who were working on an "extermination chamber" for Moxley. Like usual, Kenny was over the top here banging the thing he was making very hard. We couldn't hear most of what was said due to bad audio.

I skipped the Rose/Baker match.

We got a package on the upcoming FTR and Tully Blanchard vs Jurassic Express match. The Express said this has gotten personal. Marko was making threats which was hilarious. They pointed out how Tully hadn't wrestled for 30 years. FTR said it will be even since they have Tully here and no longer have a 2v3.

They announced that Big Show and Tony Schiavone will be the commentators on AEW Dark: Elevation and ran down next week's show and Revolution's card.

Qualifier for entry into the Face of the Revolution Ladder Match - Lance Archer with Jake Roberts vs Rey Fenix

Rey wore a Pentagon style mask for his entrance. Rey hurricanrana'd him off the 2nd rope and tried a handspring into the ropes into a move, but was just pushed down on his back. Rey hits a nice flip tope onto Archer. Rey tried to walk the top rope but Jake knocked Rey off of it. Jake was standing on the stairs and Rey did a flip dive over him off the stage.

We did a picture-in-picture break. We came back with Archer in control. Rey was lariated on the apron and did an SSP flip bump for it on the apron. Archer threw Rey into the rails and did a lame looking cannonball to him while he was next to the rails. Archer really threw him on a suplex. Rey did like a double footstomp to the back of Archer's head.

Archer release german suplexed him. Archer did his rope walk into a moonsault for 2. Fenix walked the top rope and face kicked him. Rey did his top rope moonsault into a backroll into a cutter for 2. Archer grabbed him off the top and hit some kind of suplex or fall back muscle buster. They both fought up top and Archer took a rop rope spanish fly. Archer pounced Fenix, powerbombed him into the corner then chokeslammed him for 2. Archer then won it with a blackout. They pound fists after.

This went too long and was little but cool moves and spots. The top rope spanish fly spot was beyond stupid. It just wasn't really believable that Fenix was going to be able to damage Archer and he didn't do much in the match to change that thought.

Overall thoughts: Long show that wasn't good. They did too much in most of the matches and all of the matches felt like they went a long time. The Bucks angle with their dad was poorly done and Sting abducting Hook in a body bag was just weird.

WWE NXT 2/24/2021

WWE NXT 2/24/2021

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2021/02/wwe-nxt-2172021.html

They showed a video on the Kross/Escobar feud.

The Way puts their hands in the middle and does a cheer and Johnny tries to make sure Theory is okay. Theory says he is.

Dexter Lumis vs Johnny Gargano

We start the show with Dexter crawling in the ring. Johnny charges at Lumis, but Lumis holds his fist up and Johnny backs off. Johnny takes a hard right hand and Lumis goes under the ring. Lumis then appears behind Johnny and Theory says "I found him Johnny, he's right behind you" in an excited tone. Lumis Thesz presses and pounds Johnny. Lumis delay suplexes him.

Johnny pushes him into apron and slams him off the floor.  Lumis drops Johnny face first on the apron. The Way gets in Lumis' face and LaRae tries to hurricanrana him in full view of the ref. Johnny then baseball slides him and tope's him. How that was not a DQ, I do not know.

Johnny keeps control over a long commercial break. Lumis comes back with a bulldog then slingshot suplexes him. Lumis backdrops him and does a jumping leg drop. Lumis and Johnny stare at each other on the mat and Lumis hits a punch and a spinebuster. Lumis pop-up uppercuts Johnny who comes right back with a superkick. Theory hands Johnny achair and Lumis steps on it. Johnny calls on Theory to chair Lumis but he can't and Johnny charges into Theory and the chair. Lumis then puts his side triangle on Johnny and wins it.

I thought Lumis took a little too much for being such a big dude and I didn't think it was a particularly great match.

Regal asks the cameramen to tell him when Escobar arrives.

Wade Barrett is not there and says he is in "Dexter Lumis' basement" over the phone.

MSK did a video package. They said they had been fighting for this oppurtunity for a while and cried when they won the Dusty Cup. They said everything they worked for has paid off and showed Nash's family going crazy for his Dusty Cup win. Nash said he got into wrestling due to his dad who passed away. Nash said it was the best feeling of his life and they said it was only the beginning. It was a nice little package.

They did a profile video on Shotzi Blackheart.

MSK were being interviewed in the back and got jumped by the Grizzled Young Vets.

They showed Leon Ruff getting cleared by the trainer in the back. Malcolm Bivens then popped up in the back and goaded him into fighting Rust later.

Bivens did a promo. He said Ruff is the son he never had and didn't want. He then said Ruff holds a special place in his heart and said Rust will prove why he is a diamond in the rust.

Tyler Rust with Malcolm Bivens vs Leon Ruff

Rust needs the win here badly. Ruff is pretty hyped up and poses on the ropes but gets nailed by Isaiah "Swerve" Scott. Scott put Ruff on the announcer table. Swerve did an F-U to Ruff off the apron edge which looked pretty nasty. Bivens then held Rust's arm in victory.

Regal offered Zoey Stark a non-title match with Io Shirai tonight.

Zoey Stark did an interview. As she talked the camera cut to Io and it seemed they had some kind of technical difficulty.

Cameron Grimes showed the old video where Ted Dibiase challenged a kid to dribble a basketball 10 times for cash. Grimes said with enough money, you can humiliate nayone. Grimes then went up to someone in the back and gave him a basketball. He said he owuld give him $1,000 for 10 dribbles. Grimes didn't interrupt him and said he didn't think he would be able to do it successfully, which he did. The guy he picked then said that's why he picked a kid. The guy took his money and left.

Zoey Stark vs Io Shirai

They botch a backdrop early. Io dropkicks her in the face. Io tries to 619 her but Zoey stops it then gets caught when she tries to dive out. Io goes up top and gets kicked down to the floor. We go to break and come back. Zoey tries a 450 but rolls out when no one is there then they collide in the air with crossbodies. Io gets release half and half suplexed for 2.

Io comes back and missile dropkicks Zoey off the top. Shirai hurricanrana's her off the 2nd rope then does a butterfly into a backbreaker on her. Zoe gets double knee'd at the bottom buckles then Io moonsaults on her from the top to win. This was mostly the Io show and I'm still not seeing the big deal about Zoey.

Toni Storm comes out and accuses Io of ducking her. Toni says Io can't beat her and Io says she will fight her anytime and anywhere. Toni doesn't buy it and tells her to go find Regal and make it happen. Io agrees.

The Way gets interviewed in the back. Johnny is angry at Theory for not using the chair. Theory says he didn't deserve the chair and Lumis is misunderstood. Johnny says he isn't misunderstood, he is just crazy. Indi says she thinks he is hot and Johnny is losing his mind over this. Johnny says Theory has Stockholm syndrome and sais he is taking him to therapy.

We see a quick package on Xia and Kacy and they are up next.

Grimes goes up to people outside and calls a stack of money "tossed greens". He said he watched all of the Million Dollar Man video and offers to give a girl $1,000 if she can dribble the ball 10 times. She stands up and is taller than Grimes. Grimes goes to kick the ball and she puts it between her legs and he loses. Grimes yells "Ted Dibiase, this ain't over".

Kacy Catanzaro with Kayden Carter vs Xia Li

Kacy back handsprings into a hurricanrana on Xia, then is dropped on the ropes throat first. Xia spin kicks her in the gut and Kacy hits an awful flurry with super weak strikes. Kacy dives off the apron onto Xia and gets rammed into the barricades. Kacy's leg is on the steps and Xia stomps down on it. Xia drags her up the steps and across the apron by the hair and the ref ends the match. Kayden goes up to the Boa, who gets in her way. While she does that, Xia spin kicks Kacy in the head and Kacy is down. This was short and was just there to further angle.

Regal looks for Escobar who still isn't there.

They do a package with Nia/Shayna and Raquel/Kai. Shayna says only the  scraps are left from when she was there and they laugh at the idea of Kai's team beating them. RG tells Nia to wake up and Shayna says Kai just has a friend to take her to the hospital now.

Grimes says this isn't over yet and challenges someone else to dribble the ball 10 times for $1,000. The guy says "like the Ted Dibiase thing?". Grimes then says "yes". The guy goes to dribble and Grimes decks him in a funny spot. Grimes tells Dibiase to kiss his grits and says "who says money can't buy happiness?".

The Grizzled Young Vets vs Drake Maverick and Killian Dain

This is sponsored by Burger King lol  Drake wears a shirt with Dain's face on it. Dain rips it off of him and whips him with it. Yeah, it's funny but Dain is so much better than this.

The Vets get on the mic and say Wes Lee has broken his hand. Drake says they were given a big fine. Gibson calls his opponents Shrek and Donkey and says the better team didn't win the Dusty Cup.

Dain messes up a dropkick to start. The announcer says Drake was "caught dreaming of a whopper". Dain saves Maverick from a doomsday device then throws both Vets over the top rope. Dain then throws Maverick on them. We go to break and return with Dain belly to belly suplexing Drake and taking control. Dain picks up both opponents and fallaway slams them and sentons them. Dain suplexes both opponents and then Maverick dives on Drake. They announce Io vs Toni for the title in 2 weeks. Drake dropkicks Maverick into a Gibson reverse STO. Dain grabs Gibson by the ear outside and gets dove on by Drake.

Maverick goes up top and gets thrown off then the Vets hit a ticket to mayhem on him and win. This had non-stop action and wasn't bad despite being a little short.

Legado del Fantasma finally arrives at 9:31pm.

Dain picked up Maverick when they were leaving and carries him to the trainer's room. Alexander Wolfe confronts him and says "you used to be a monster".

No DQ - Karrion Kross with Scarlett vs Santos Escobar

Scarlett does the entrance then Kross jumps LdF outside. Kross drives Escobar into a truck's side. Escobar gets thrown into the truck then pulls the back door down on Kross' shoulder in a cool spot. Escobar throws him head first into the truck then forearms the truck when Escobar moves. Escobar goes into the truck. Kross pulls the side mirror off and finds an axe underneath it. Kross starts beating the door and Escobar comes out. Wilde attacks and is thrown onto the hood. Mendoza attacks goes into the grill. Escobar then hits him with a trash can. Kross gets 3v1'd on the outside and is thrown back first into the truck.

LdF brings Kross into the arena and they beat him on the steps. Kross starts to fight them off and throws two of them through the plexiglass fence and stares down Escobar. They get in the ring and Kross face kicks Escobar. Mendoza gets thrown into the plexiglass again and Escobar starts using a chair on Kross. Kross then gets put into the steps. During the picture-in-picture break, Kross has the bottom half of the steps rammed into him. Escobar continues to focus the arm/shoulder.

Back from break and Kross's arm is put in a chair then it is rammed into the post. Kross is ddt'd into a chair. Kross has to fight off LdF and Escobar topes Kross into the barricades. Escobar continues the arm work and Kross overhead suplexes him. Wilde gets knocked off the apron as Escobar gets suplexed again. Escobar gets put into the steps and the post and Kross fights off Mendoza. Mendoza dives off him off the steps and is suplexed to the floor then Wilde dives onto him and is put into the barricades.

Kross stands on the steps which are near the announce table and saito suplexes Escobar through the announcer's table. Kross forearms him in the back of the head to win in a really good match. The match made a lot of sense from start to finish. They did some cool spots and starting off from the parking lot was unique. This was a good grudge style match as it should have been.

L.A. Knight did a promo. He said everyone wants to know he wants to debut. He said he debuts on his time and terms.

Adam Cole comes out. He said he feels sick to his stomach for what he did and he doesn't like the guy he has become. He said he was tired of Kyle getting chance after chance at the NXT title over him and said he was ashamed at himself. He said he hates to admit when he is wrong but he was dead wrong. He said he made a stupid mistake and hates himself for it. He said he is sorry and will do what he can to fix this.

Roderick Strong then came out. He said "now you feel bad?". Strong wasn't happy that he wasn't clued in as to what was going on. Strong said everything has changed and said Cole shattered their trust. Strong said Kyle will heal but he doesn't know if he can save Cole from what he will do to him.

Finn Balor then comes out. He pushes Strong and grounds and pounds Cole. Strong gets back in and they fall out together then Strong stomps him. Cole superkicks Finn in the face. Then when Cole gets in to apologize to Strong, Strong nails him. Cole says he is sorry and wants to go back to normal. He says this is all his fault and Strong yells "what is happening?". Strong then puts his head on Cole's head and said he loves him and he is his brother. They hug and shake hands but Cole low blows him. Cole calls him stupid, says he is dead to him and rips off his dog tag. Then he superkicks him in the head.

Overall thoughts: Not a great NXT but it got a little better as it went on. The main event was good and the Cole/Strong segment was interesting.