Dragon Gate 2/4/2022 Open The New Year Gate Day 13

Dragon Gate 2/4/2022 Open The New Year Gate Day 13

Dragon Dia & Yuki Yoshioka vs. Natural Vibes (Jacky Funky Kamei & U-T)

Funky Boy Kamei does a prayer pose then forces Dia into one and gets armdragged and dropkicked for it. Vibes does a double team sequence on Dia that ends in him getting dropkicked in the face. Dia and Yuki come back with their own double team sequence that ends in Kamei getting standing SSP'd. Yuki hits a nice spinning slam on Jacky.

Dia puts Jacky in the rocking horse then Jacky gets popped up by Yuki but reverses it into a dropkick. UT pushes Dia into the ropes and rebounds him into a zigzag. Jacky hits his kicking rush attack and Yuki hits a nicedropkick on Jacky. Dia handspring elbows UT then Yuki does a wristclutch uranage. Dia then moonsaults off of a Yuki who is on all fours onto UT.

Jacky tries some pinning combinations on Yuki and gets a brainbuster. Dia then hits his 2nd rope DDT on him and tope con hilo's 2 members of Vibes. Yuki hits a brainbuster variation on Jacky then frogsplashes him for the in.

This wasn't that great or anything though it wasn't bad. Yuki really is missing some fire but Yuki has some nice moves.

Don Fuji vs Shoya Sato

They argue before Fuji gets in the ring. Sato rushes Fuji during intros and pays for it. Heh hits a nice hip throw on Fuji for 2 then hits a bunch of headbutts on him. Fuji throws off Sato and throws him outside. He then rams him into the post and slams him on the mats on the floor. Sato barely beats the count to get in and gets beat up more.

Fuji slaps and slams him. He drops some elbows then gets rolled up with an armbar. Fuji then germans him for the win.

This was short and nothing special. 

Gurukun Mask & YAMATO vs Ishin Iihashi & Riki Iihashi

Ishin and Yamato have a section that isn't anything special then Riki dropkicks Gurukun. Gurukun spin kicks Riki and kicks him in the chest. Riki throws some bad chops at Guru then is slapped for it. Yamato and Riki trade chops and Yamato gets suplexed by him. Ishin runs the ropes fast and shoulders down Guru. He then springboard dropkicks him.

Riki puts Yamato in the octopus stretch then Ishin does the same to Guru a little later. Guru facebusters one of the bros onto the other then Guru flip sentons on Ishin. Ishin gets a close roll-up for 2 on Guru then takes a stiff clothesline. Guru then high kicks him and brainbusters him for the win.

This was really nothing special at all with the result never in question.

 

Gamma, Punch Tominaga & Yosuke Santa Maria vs Z-Brats (Diamante, H.Y.O & SB KENTo)

Z-Brats is the new unit after R.E.D broke up last month. They were yellow and black and seemingly formed on a show that wasn't aired.

Everyone fights in the ring to start. Punch takes some sentons and splashes then is held up into a nice ligerbomb from Diamante. SB hits Maria in the back with the box lid then Hyo hits Maria in the nuts. Someone then nails Hyo with the box lid and Maria gets the cheap win in 2 minutes. A hot start for a new unit here in an odd match.

HIGH-END (Ben-K, Dragon Kid, Keisuke Okuda) & Takumi Hayakawa vs Ryu Fuda, Shuji Kondo, Strong Machine J & Ultimo Dragon

Ben-K and SMJ trade forearms to start. Fuda and Okuda trade kicks then Fuda gets pump kicked. Fuda and Hayakawa trade forearms then Fuda kicks him hard in the body.

Hayakawa chops Kondo then gets back elbowed. Kid almost nails Ultimo but stops himself and walks away. Fuda penalty kicks Hayakawa. They then trade chops and Hawakawa dropkicks him, then tornado ddt's him.

Ben-K gets in and spears Kondo and SMJ at the same time, then helps whip Kid into Fuda. Kondo overhead throws Kid. UD kick combos Ben and Kid hits UD when he isn't looking and keeps regretting it.

Hayakawa gets the big Kondo spear. Ben spears Fuda and wins it soon after.

I had no expectations for this going in but it was actually fun with Kid trying to respect Ultimo, everyone hitting their spots and the younger guys getting time.

M2K (Masaaki Mochizuki, Susumu Mochizuki & Yasushi Kanda) (w/Darkness Dragon) vs Natural Vibes (BIG BOSS Shimizu, Genki Horiguchi & Kzy)

Vibes does their usual entrance dance and Shimizu dancing along was quite funny.

We get the old M2K entrance on scooters but sadly the audio was muted for copyright and we don't get to enjoy it. Kanda has the full mohawk again!

Of course they brawl outside early. M2K ties up Shimizu then face kicks him. They then double suplex Genki. UT tries to fight them off but gets double reverse death valley drivered. Susumu throws Genki by his hair and headbutts him in the crotch. Genki then gets his crotch rammed into the post outside.

Genki gets stood up on his head then Mocchy axe kicks him in the nuts as M2K holds his legs apart. Genki criss crosses Kanda with a hurricanrana and gets out. Susumu and UT trade forearms and K-Ness trips UT. K-Ness gets some offense in and drops a knee on UT. Yagi, the ref, just like purposely turned his back to ignore all this.

MSK hits a knee/lariat combo on Genki then Kanda does the big elbow from the top. Mocchy and Shimizu trade but Shimizu gets hit in the back with the blue box. Susumu ties up Genki on the bleachers by hugging him and K-Ness nails Shimizu with a box to ensure the double countout. For those who don't know, M2K purposely tried to make every match end in a double countout during a tournament once and the finish was based off that.

Look, I could point out some of the logic errors here and point out the bad stuff here, but it was fun to see M2K back and I appreciate it for what it was.

Jason Lee & Kota Minoura vs Z-Brats (BxB Hulk & Shun Skywalker) and Naruki Doi & Takuma Fujiwara

Takuma has some lite brite neon tights on. Shun gets double armlocked early then Takuma gets it. Takuma flips out of it then runs up the ropes, flips off them and armdrags both down.

Takuma took a double team combo from Kota and Lee. Takuma and Kota trade forearms. Hulk axe kicks Takuma in the back of the neck. Shun hits some hard strikes on Takuma then Takuma takes a big double hiptoss. Hulk then helps out Shun to spin him into a facebuster.

Doi ends up making Lee dropkick his own partner and he and Hulk botch something. Hulk hits a standing twisting moonsault on him. Everyone hits corner moves on Shun and Takuma does his slignshot double footstomp on him. Hulk hits nice spin kicks on the ex-Masquerade guys. Shun standing moonsault knees Takuma.

Lee tornado ddt's Hulk off of Shun, Doi hits Doi Fives on Hulk. Kota then hits a double wrist clutch ligerbomb and wins it.

I didn't like this. There were too many people and it was real herky jerky with people having to rush to get stuff in and then not be able to follow up on it. Doi was shaking his head at Takuma after and wasn't pleased. Kota was excited about his win and called out Doi. They then shook hands.

Open The Dream Gate Title Match - KAI (c) vs Takashi Yoshida 

Yoshida is wearing pants again...YESSS! He also has a shiny silver cape. They worked the leg early then forgot about it. They had a nice double lariat spot and Yoshida hit a nice top rope elbow later in the match. Kai ended up winning this with a roll-up where he kind of ddt'd himself. I'm really not a fan of either guy in DG and it was a slower match until the last 3rd of it or so when they started doing more lariats and enzugiri's. It was pretty much just as I expected and I don't know why this was booked in the main or why it was booked to go 18 minutes when anything else minus Santa Maria would have been more interesting.

Overall thoughts: It wasn't a great one but the M2K reunion was fun, the opener was good and I liked the 8-man tag.

AEW Rampage 2/4/2022

AEW Rampage 2/4/2022

 

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2022/01/aew-rampage-1282022.html

 

Adam Cole vs Evil Uno

The announcers stress how Cole's loss to OC was in an unsanctioned match so he is undefeated.

Cole takes control and hits a neckbreaker early. Cole goes for a kick, Uno throws his leg into the ref then neckbreakers Cole. Uno flurries on Cole in the corner then face kicks him. Uno goes for a senton atomico but Cole gets his knees up and leg lariats him.

Cole superkicks a kneeling Uno then hits the boom knee to the pack of his head to win it in a quick one.

Cole gets on the mic after namedropping a bunch of people he beat. Cole said his loss to OC doesn't exist. He promises a new Adam Cole and says he wants respect. He says he has been the man in every promotion he has been in and says he will be AEW champ. I don't think I really need to say it, but the whole idea of "he lost, but it didn't count" is stupid and pretending like it isn't stupid is even more stupid.

Jade Cargill and Mark Sterling did a promo. They said she will become 27-0 tonight. She said she is green...like money and asks who will be next on her show.

TNT Title - Sammy Guevarra vs Isiah Kassidy

No entrance for Kassidy. Kassidy armdrags him early then dropkicks him. They slap and punch each other and Sammy does his flip leapfrogs into a dropkick. He then does a corkscrew plancha on Kassidy.

Marq Quen and Hardy mess with Sammy on the outside and Sammy gets a side effect from Hardy on the apron while the ref isn't looking. We went to break and returned with Kassidy chinlocking him. Sammy hits a knee on Kassidy. He later goes up top and Andrade's music hits. Sammy gets distracted and takes a sling blade on Kassidy's knee then a backstabber for 2.

Sammy goes for a springboard from the outside to in but gets cuttered over the top then tope'd on the outside. Kassidy then senton atomico's him for 2 from the top. Kassidy and Sammy trade SOS kicks. Sammy goes for a springboard and moonsaults Marq Quen then springboards twice for cutter on Kassidy. Sammy then hits the GTH to win.

I didn't think this was great or anything. They teased maybe selling Sammy's injured ribs but didn't go all the way with it and the heels looked kind of silly watching their man get pinned and not doing anything about it. They hit all their spots and hit some flips.

AHFO surrounded Sammy after then Darby Allin ran down and took Sammy's side. He then stared at Sammy's title.

QT Marshall talked about Hook. He said Hook is unhinged and said he is sending a prized student nobody has seen before on Hook.

Kris Statlander was interviewed about Leila Hirsch. Kris says she needs to act professional then got chaired. Hirsch then put the chair near her head and kicked it.

Mercedes Martinez vs Thunder Rosa

This is Mercedes' debut in AEW. Rosa shotgun dropkciks her to start then flurries her. Rosa stomps her and sentons her back. MM gets thrown into the rails then suplexed on the floor. Jericho buried MM saying she's "not looking too good" and those are words you don't want to hear in your debut.

MM spinebusters her and we go to break. We return and MM does a 2nd rope death valley driver...which of course Rosa kicks out of. Rosa hits some kind of slam on MM then MM hits her with a pipe to get DQ'd in a lame ending to a match that wasn't very good. What a way to debut.

Serena Deeb gets video package.

Mercedes is interviewed. She said she is here ot take out Thunder Rosa by any way necessary. Britt Baker and friends then comes in and Britt says MM getting dq'd was not what they discussed. Britt tells her to remember who signed her check and MM said she did her job. Britt says to finish the job and make sure she doesn't beat her again. Hayter gets in the way as MM tries to get in her face. 

We got the split screen interview for the main. Jay said he is worried about Hobbs interfering and said he will be FTW champ. Starks said he has no ego but says he is cut from a different cloth than Jay. Jay asks what will become of Starks if he loses tonight and said lets find out.

We are told there will be a major announcement on Wednesday and the Face of the Revolution ladder match is returning. Hook is on Rampage next week and the Gunn Club will get tag title shots against Jurassic Express. We were promised there would be a major announcement tonight, which there was not. I don't get how the Gunns weren't worthy of a title shot a few weeks ago but now are.

FTW Title - Ricky Starks (c) vs Jay Lethal

Slow start to this. Lethal trips Starks and he goes outside, then gets tope'd. Jay tope's him again and Hobbs stares down Jay. Starks then slips through and nails Jay to knock him down on the outside as we go to break.

We come back from break with Starks in control. Starks hit a big belly to belly during the break. Lethal does a nice duck under on Starks' leg then lariats him. Lethal hits a nice combo move. Starks hits a nice ligerbomb for 2. They trade shots while on their knees then trade forearms. Lethal hits an SOS kick and Hobbs gets on the apron. Jay dropkicks him off then tries to tope him outside but Hobbs avoids it.

Dante Martin then comes out of nowhere and tope plancha's Hobbs. Jay hits a cutter and a roll-up for 2. Jay goes for a lethal injection but gets caught with a cool roshambo for the Starks win.

This really wasn't bad at all.

Overall thoughts: Nothing was super bad except the stuff with Mercedes and the failed announcement. Not a bad show.

Wrestle Yume Factory 7/16/1997 - Midsummer Nights Dream '97

Wrestle Yume Factory 7/16/1997 - Midsummer Nights Dream '97

I don't know much about this fed at all to be honest, but we like reviewing new things here at ProWresBlog. From what I read online, Wrestle Yume Factory split off from SPWF in 1992 and only lasted until 2001. It featured people like KAMIKAZE(future Zero-1 midcarder) and Masayoshi Motegi (known for competing in the original Super J Cup).

Cosmo Soldier & Tadahiro Fujisaki vs. Basara & Shigeo Kato

Fujisaki is in the blue singlet and Kato is in the white and blank long tights. Basara is in the black mask with a beard on it and Cosmo is in the mask and blue shorts. They go to the mat early and then exchange slaps. Fujisaki hits some headbutts then Cosmo Soldier gets in. Basara takes down Cosmo and armbars him then Kato hits a decent dropkick on Cosmo.

Cosmo potatoes him with two legit kicks to the head and they do some mma mount fighting. Basara and Kato hit a double shoulder on Cosmo. Basara goes for a suplex on Cosmo, but Fujisaki catches Cosmo and whips him into a tornado ddt on Basara. Cosmo then does a wild tope onto Basara knocking down a few chairs.

Fujisaki rocks Basara with a forearm then Cosmo comes off the top with a missile dropkick to the back. Basara takes a german from Fujisaki. Basara goes up top and does a nice splash on Fujisaki for 2. Basara then hits a weird suplex on Fujisaki. Cosmo hits some hard kicks on Kato then Basara camel clutches Fujisaki for the win.

This was clipped but I really liked it. It was a little sloppy but they threw some stiff shots at each other and there was some energy to the match.

Azteca vs. Wolf

Azteca is in the red here and Wolf is in the black. They go to the mat early and Azteca headflips out of a headscissors. Azteca ties up Wolf on the mat, but he gets out and dropkicks him. He hits a corner spinning heel kick and a fisherman's suplex for 2. Wolf then hits a real nice german for 2. Azteca picks him up for a blue thunder then spikes him hard with a kneeling michinoku driver. Azteca then does a very far frogsplash for 2.

Wolf gets a surprise headscissors into a roll-up for 2. Azteca then botches a roll-up for a win.

Again, we only saw a few minutes of this, but the last few minutes that they showed were good with some stiff moves and the crowd getting behind them.

Rikio Ito & Shinichi Shino vs. Gokuaku Umibozu & Masashi Aoyagi

I think Gokuaku gets thrown into the chairs then the Korauken wall. Aoyagi's already busted open. Gokuaku gets slapped on the mat then takes a double clothesline. Rikio Ito is in the face paint and hits some face kicks and a punch on gokuaku. He then hits a stiff swigning powerbomb which Aoyagi breaks up. Ito boston crabs Gokuaku and Shino hits some shots on him but Aoyagi breaks it up with a kick. Shino hits a stiff clothesline on Gokuaku then hits a wild release backdrop suplex. Gokuaku gets held up and Ito does a clothesline on him from the top.

Shino bites Gokuaku then Gokuaku spinning heel kicks Ito out. Aoyagi gets some payback on Ito on the outside then Gokuaku moonsaults him for 2. Gokuaku low blows Shino and Shino slap flurries him for it...then Gokuaku does it again. Gokuaku goes for the hot tag but Ito breaks it up and armbars him.

Goku ducks a Shino lariat and comes back with one of his own. He punches him then buzzsaw kicks him. Shino gets sat on the ropes then Aoyagi kick combos him. Shino lifts up Aoyagi for a spinning full nelson and drops him hard. Ito then powerslams Aoyagi for 2 and backdrops him.

Things start to break down and and Gokuaku hits Shino in the head with something. Aoyagi puts his karate belt around Ito and ties him up to the post. Aoyagi kick combos Ito and Gokuaku joins in with weapons shots. The faces throw the ref down multiple times and they get disqualified for it.

This was good up until Aoyagi tagged in. They had a hot tag all ready to go and just completely forgot about it. Then they had the faces beat up the ref in a really odd bit of booking. Other than that, Ito looked good and the heels did a good job beating up on Gokuaku.

Masaaki Mochizuki, Takashi Okamura & Yoshikazu Taru vs. Hiroyoshi Kotsubo, Kamikaze & Masakazu Fukuda

Mocchy hits some kicks early and gets taken down. He gets in a deep single leg crab and is taken down again after a kick. He tries to hit a brainbuster but Kotsubo sandbags him and he gets drilled on his head. Okamura comes in with some fiery kicks and gets dragon screwed. Kotsubo tries it again and he evades the dragon screw. Kotsubo then gets kicked while he is in a camel clutch. Taru then gets in and pounds him then hits a nice judo throw.

Taru kick combos Kotsubo and Kamikaze gets some offense in on Taru. He kicks and slaps around Taru. Taru then takes two hard brainbusters from Fukuda and a triple team dropkick. Kami his a 2nd rope twisting splash and a 2nd rope moonsault before eating a Taru spin kick. Mocchy hits a kick combo on Kami then single leg crabs him.

Mocchy ddt's Fukuda but he gets right back and armbars him without selling. Mocchy hits some hard kicks to him then Taru comes in and spin kicks him. Fukuda gets thrown out then Taru dives on him from the top to the floor. Mocchy then does a sweet springboard moonsault to the outside.

Kotsubo hits a michinoku driver on Taru then rolls him into a leg lock. Taru kick combos Kotsubo and Kotsubo gets a single leg crab on Mocchy who missed a springboard in. Fukuda hits a spike fisherman's buster on Mocchy then Kamikaze hits a beautiful twisting moonsault on Mocchy for 2. Kamikaze then ligerbombs Mocchy for 2 and larats him for another 2. Kami blocks a Mocchy heel kick with a dropkick then Mocchy hits his triangle lancer kick for 2.

Fukuda gets Okamura hard then dropkicks him hard in the face. Okamura hits a northern lights suplex but Fukuda reverses it into a hammerlock. He then brainbusters him and hits a big deadlift german for another 2. Fukuda takes a Mocchy kick to the face then an Okamura german for the win at 15:37.

The selling wasn't great and it went a little long but this was mostly a fun match with tons of kicks and a hot crowd. Taru jumping off the top to the floor was really cool, Kami had an amazing moonsault and Mocchy looked great all match.

Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Shinigami

Shinigami is a zombie and they shake hands to start. They went to the mat and Fujiwara got STF'd. they continued to mat wrestle and Fujiwara hammerlocked him while under him but Shinigami hit the ropes. Fuji hit some shots and Shinigami put the iron claw on him. Fuji then hit his Fujiwara armbar but Shinigami escaped. Shinigami went for another iron claw, got rolled up then turned it into a stomach claw.

Shinigami tried to bang Fujiwara's head off the turnbuckle pads but he just wiped his face after and was unphased by it. Fujiwara did a nice counter out of a boston crab attempt. They botched a kick to the face/chest and Fuji took a coconut crush. Shinigami hit another claw then got Fujiwara armbarred again for the Fujiwara win.

The crowd was dead for this and I think they could have had something with the oddball matchup but it went too long for that. It didn't really feel like either connected well on their shots either and it had a slow pace.

Masayoshi Motegi & Shinichi Nakano vs. Ryo Miyake & Tarzan Goto

Nakano gets take down by Goto and he headscissors out of it. Goto does a nice northern lights suplex variation and an over the shoulder suplex. Motegi and Miyake have a nice slap exchange. Motegi german suplexes Goto then Goto did some jumping armdrops and Fujiwara armbarred Motegi.

Goto hits some decent punches and gets monkey flipped off a hiptoss atempt. Motegi then plancha's him. He then tope's Goto and Goto hits him with chairs outside. Motegi gets busted open. Goto beats him with a chair. Miyake pounds on Motegi's bloody face. Goto then tkes over and Motegi tries to fire up but can't and takes more of a beating.

Motegi finally does a crossbody from the 2nd buckle and gets to tag out. Nakano handles business against both opponents and hits a big slam on Miyake for 2 and a big suplex. Goto chairs him to stop it. Goto then gets the advantage over Nakano and brainbusters him for 2. 

Nakano makes a comeback on Miyake then Motegi comes in and tombstones Miyake. He hits a top rope headbutt and Nakano breaks up a double team attempt on him. Motegi release german's Miyake then ligerbombs him for the win at 21:40.

This went too long and the beatdown on Motegi went forever. They then blew the hot tag out of it by having the heels tag out during it. This would have been a decent 10 minute match, but not a decent 20 minute match.

Overall thoughts: The more this show went on the less I liked it. The first couple of matches were fun but the last two were slow and long and brought down the show.

WWE NXT UK 2/3/2022

WWE NXT UK 2/3/2022 

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2022/01/wwe-nxt-uk-1272022.html 

Next week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2022/02/wwe-nxt-uk-2102022.html 

This show has no crowd. It seems the crowd was evicted for the Ilja match last week and not allowed back in.

#1 Contender to the NXT UK Tag Titles - Oliver Carter and Ashton Smith vs Jack Starz and Dave Mastiff

Starz does a nice escape out of an armlock early. Mustache Mountain is watching andcommentating along.

Smith does a nice sell for a Mastiff shoulder then gets a butt drop. Carter slingshots himself in and shoulders Starz. Carter does a springboard moonsault off the 2nd rope and isn't near anyone at all. Mastiff grabs Carter's leg and pendulums it down but Carter flips forward and kicks him.

Dave gets double back body dropped and Starz gets double hiptossed. Starz tags imself in and him and Smith trade euro uppercuts. Starz hits some nice dropkicks and gets thrown over the top hard on a blocked monkey flip. Smith and Carter do a Private Party esque silly string move that ends in a splash on Starz.

Carter hits a hard spin kick in the corner on Starz. Starz gets stopped from making a tag and takes a hard lariat. Starz hits a butterfly suplex off the top on Carter. Mastiff gets in and hits a big belly to belly on Smith then Carter legit gets suplexed over the top rope to the floor. Dave then hits a big lariat. Dave and Smith ram into each other and Dave turns down a tag from Starz. He then hits a big release german on Smith and he argues with Starz over a tag.

Mastiff misses a corner cannonball then gets a running double knees to the back. Smith holds up Carter and flips him for a moonsault win on Mastiff and the win.

I didn't think it was great, but they were stiff here and they were successful in telling the story of Mastiff and Starz having issues.

Mustache Mountain promised to give them their best after in the title match.

A-Kid was interviewed about Saxon Huxley. He said Saxon is misunderstood and said he is training Saxon on etiquette. They played chess, did math and listened to classical music. Saxon ate on of the chess pieces and knocked the board off the table.

They did a video package on the Devlin/Dragunov match.

Nathan Frazer was interviewed leaving the Performance Center. He says Die Familie is weird and just henchmen. Nathan's car wouldn't start and he got jumped by DF. DF slamed him into the building and the car.

 

Myla Grace vs Isla Dawn

Myla is cute and has some seriously glittery eye shadow. She rolls up Isla then does a leg sweep and a basement dropkick. Isla throws her in the buckles hard and hit a hard knee over the ropes. Myla hits a tilt-a-whirl headscissors then 619's Isla's body while she sits on the middle rope. Isla puts her on her shoulders, swings her into a side slam and wins it.

Myla has a good look but is very green and needs a lot of time.

Amale is interviewed and Nina Samuels interrupt to do the Nina Samuels show. Nina says she isn't the French Hope, but is the French Hopeless. Amale asks to settle it in the ring and walks off.

Sam Gradwell is interviewed. Sam says he maybe had this coming but you have to ruffle feathers. He says he isn't a cockroach though and warns Kenny that he better be careful for who is on the other side of the door they are scuttling under. He said Kenny isn't ready. Good promo.

Noam Dar and Sha Samuels talk. Noam announces Season 2 of Supernova Sessions is on. Gallus wants to place a bet with Sha and asks to be on Supernova Sessions, but Dar says they have a guest already.

Teoman vs Nathan Frazier is announced for next week.

Japanese Street Fight - NXT UK Women's Title -  Meiko Satomura vs Blair Davenport

We have 10 minutes for this. They do the intros in-ring and neither hits the other during it when they should have. Meiko hit a tornado kick and they go outside. BD throws a chair at her and she ducks. Meiko gets thrown into the rails. Meiko then gets put on a chair and takes a hard boot to the face. Meiko comes back with a chair to her gut.

Meiko gets some nunchuks and hits her in the gut and back with them. Meiko backdrops her then gets a chair dropkicked into her face from the 2nd rope. Meiko hits a pele kick on the floor on BD.

Meiko ties a chain to her leg and kicks BD in the chest with it. BD then grabs the kendo stick and hits Meiko with it, especially right in the shin. BD grabs the connector to the turnbuckle and traps Meiko's hand in it. BD gets tripped and loses it then Meiko STF's her. BD grabs the kendo stick though and gets out of it. BD hits some kendo stick shots then camel clutches her with the kendo stick.

Blair goes up top and double stomps Meiko who is laying over the edge of the apron body first. Blair screams and cries after the double stomp and the ref holds up the injured sign. The ref stops the match and Meiko is awarded the victory.

The match just has a lot of basic weapons shots until the abrupt finish. I wasn't sure if the end was legit or not because they filmed Blair crying if it was a shoot which was low but they did also finish with 8 minutes remaining, so maybe it was. I don't know why they wouldn't have filled the time with another match of some sort.

Overall thoughts: No overall thoughts for this one since the main ended up abruptly and there were only 2 other matches. I would skip this one since the other matches weren't special.

AEW Dynamite 2/2/2022

AEW Dynamite 2/2/2022

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2022/01/aew-dynamite-1262022.html

Next week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2022/02/aew-dynamite-292022.html

Jon Moxley vs Wheeler Yuta

Danhausen and OC are with Yuta. Mox evades a dropkick to start.  Mox and OC stare down outside then Yuta capitalizes. Yuta tries a springboard dropkick and gets whisked to the side then Mox throws him up and down on a suplex. Mox hits a big piledriver for 2.

Mox tried for a headlock driver on the apron but Wheeler took it without having his head touch the apron. Danhausen distracted Mox and Wheeler dove on him from the top then german suplexed him. Mox hit a cutter then Yuta came back with an olympic slam variation. Yuta then hit a top rope splash for 2.

Mox lariated him in the back then hit a bunch of elbows. He then hit the paradigm shift and won it.

This wasn't anything special and I didn't think I could hate Best Friends any more than I did, but I was so wrong.

Daniel Bryan came in the ring and stared down Mox. Bryan asked if the crowd wanted to see them fight. He put over Mox but said they should be fighting together. He ripped the various AEW champs and said they could run the company together. He said they should take people like Daniel Garcia, Lee Moriarty and Wheeler Yuta under their wings and create the future of wrestling together. He told Mox to think about it.

Brandi came out...totally because she deserves to be. Dan Lambert, Sky and Page thankfully came out and stopped her. Lambert said Brandi needs a reality check (she does). He said Brando's CBO title was made to stroke her ego and said her boobs were fake. The crowd told her to shut the f*ck up which I loved. Lambert said their whole family should go heel which I didn't like and said Brandi used to be a prostitute. Brandi slapped him and brought out Paige Van Zant to confront Brandi. A bunc hof the AEW women then came to stop it. Why? I don't know why. And that was it.

AHFO did a promo. Hardy blamed Private Party for not winning the tag titles. Andrade came in then Hardy said Kassidy would fight Guvearra for the TNT Title. Matt asked Andrade why Darby wasn't signed yet and told Kassidy not to fail him. This segment sucked.

 

The Knights of the Black Throne vs Penta El Zero Miedo and PAC

They were called the Kings of the Black Throne by the announcer for some reason and they have new music that sounds like a darker version of the Rockers theme.

Pac is wearing something over his eyes but it doesn't look super thick. Pac cleared off the heels early then Pac and Penta did double dives on their opponents. Penta went up top and dropkicked Black in the crotch. We went to break and came back with Penta making a hot tag. Penta hit a backcracker for 2 on Black.

Black hit a kick combo on Pac then a sliding knee. Black was thrown into the ropes and rebound german suplexed. Brody and Penta traded forearms then Penta plancha'd him. Penta then did a springboard dive on him. At some point Pac's blindfold came off and Pac got pushed off the top rope to the floor. Black misted Penta then threw him onto King for the slam and the win.

This wasn't good. It went too long, this shouldn't have been even and the crowd wasn't super into it.

I skipped the Ruby Soho match.

Adam Cole did a promo. He said he's still undefeated in singles competition even though he lost last week. He said that was a fluke though. He said he would beat Player Uno then the world would know what he wants.

The Gunn Club went up to Jungle Boy and they fought, JB got foot shoved into a door and rolled around on the sidewalk. He then got thrown into a snow pile then Jurassic Express ran them off.

Adam Page came out and was interviewed by Tony S. He called out Lance Archer to fight now. Dan Lambert and Jake Roberts came out. Jake said he was afraid then Lance said let's just shut up and do this and went for Page. Page tope'd him then Archer ran himself into the steps. Dan tried to chair Page but Archer ended up doing it. Archer then chokeslammed Page on the side of the steps. Lance then hit him with a black out through a table.

Chris Jericho did a promo and said he was disrespected by Santana and Ortiz not tagging him in last week. He didn't get why they were so loyal to Eddie Kingston and said he is more of an influence in AEW. He said he wants to hear from them face to face next week and is calling for an Inner Circle team meeting next week. He said attendance is mandatory.

MJF vs CM Punk

MJF won here. This went 40 minutes for unknown reasons and lost me a third of the way into it.

Overall thoughts: I didn't like this show at all. It was long and little of it interested me.

WWE NXT 2/1/2022

WWE NXT 2/1/2022

 

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2022/01/wwe-nxt-20-1252022.html

Imperium vs Diamond Mine

Walter nails Strong as they enter and everyone fights to start. Brutus hits Aichner with a karelin's lift. Aichner catches a flying Brutus, squats him and does a rolling fireman's carry. Barthel gets some hard knees to the gut then gets crossfaced by Julius. Barthel hits a butterfly suplex then a 2nd rope euro uppercut for 2.

Strong gets offense in and gets nailed with a Walter lariat. We go to a long break then come back. The Creed's slap each other and one suplexes the other onto Barthel. They both pick up Aichner and then kind of double spinebuster him. Walter and Strong trade shots and Walter takes a flying kick.

Strong gets thrown into the steps outside and Brutus Creed clears them out. Walter then puts the sleeper on Brutus inside.  Walter hits a hard chop on him then a big powerbomb for the win.

This wasn't amazing but it was an okay opener. I would have liked to have seen this go longer and would have liked to have seen more of Walter here.

LA Knight is in the back. He said Grayson Waller is trying to avoid the inevitable. Gacy and Harland show up behind him. Gacy says Knight has a lot of anger and says he can help Knight move on from this like he did with Harland. Knight says he will stomp Harland and Gacy tonight as he takes on Gacy in a singles match.

They announced NXT will be on Syfy for the next 2 weeks which means some bad ratings.

Toxic Attraction came out for a promo. Kay Lee Ray came out and said she wanted a title match from Mandy Rose. She said she was the longest reigning women's champion of the modern era and Mandy said she didn't care about that. KLR said she was women's champ of NXT UK while Mandy was slipping at Mania and kissing Otis. Mandy said "look at me now" and said talent can't replace her body. KLR promised to have her title match by the end of the tonight then nailed Mandy. Toxic Attraction came to help out and KLR chased them with a baseball bat.

Cora Jade was interviewed. She says she wants to prove to Raquel that she is tough enough. She said she would hit RG with everything she has. RG then came in and offered to let her back out but Cora declined.

Toxic Attraction was leaving. Mandy said KLR is not on her level and told the cameraman to leave. The car was locked as Mandy tried to leave and it was revealed that KLR was in the driver's seat with the rest of T-A. How KLR got in the car with keys is something I'm not sure of.

Raquel Gonzalez vs Cora Jade

RG picked up Cora and spun her around. Cora tried to monkey flip her but got caught and got flipped by RG. Cora flew into RG and was swung around and slammed. RG backbreakered her over the shoulder then rammed her into the buckles. RG tried to throw around Cora but she caught her with a submission while RG was standing.

Cora hit some forearms then ran up the ropes and hurricanrana'd her. RG ended up getting the win here with a powerbomb variation. She shook Cora's hand after and said "let's go and win it" in reference to the Dusty Cup.

The match wasn't great but they did the david vs goliath storyline here and it was passable.

Sarray did a vignette. She said it didn't go well when she came here and she is coming back next with new passion and energy.

Pete Dunne did a video on Tony D. He said he took Tony's cousin's advice and said he handled his business. He challenged him to a cage match.

Sarray vs Kayla Inlay

Sarray has her bangs died gray and is weaing some pink now but mostly looks the same. Sarray armdragged her off the ropes then held both of her hands and threw her. Kayla was getting in a decent bit of offense and McKenzie Mitchell cut in to give us an update on KLR/Mandy Rose. Sarray hit some forearms to the chest and rolled her up into a double stomp. Sarray then hit her with a dropkick as she was against the bottom rope. Sarray then won it with an exploder. She was a little more animated here than usual and needs to drop a few pounds as she has a noticeable gut.

Duke Hudson did a vignette. He said he saw an oppurtunity to attack Dante Chen and took it. He said he is addicted to inflicting pain and making people suffer. He was playing with hair clippers and shaved his hair shorter.

Trick Williams and Carmelo Hayes were getting ready to come out.

Bron Breakker and Ciampa talked in the back. Ciampa put the belt on his shoulders and said he wants to make sure Bron reminds champ.

Trick Williams and Carmelo Hayes came out. Trick and Hayes said Grimes isn't ready. Hayes said he is the standard and says he is always looking down on Grimes because he was better than him. Grimes then came out. Trick threatened to beat him up and called him slimey, but Grimes said he was grimey. Grimes said Hayes' haircut looked like Spongebob's house. Hayes said he would shoot for the moon and take the stars as casualties against him. Grimes said their match would be a one star match and the star was going to the moon.

Enfore and Blade fantasized about Mandy Rose then Mandy Rose fell into them as she was running from KLR. KLR ripped off Mandy's jacket and chased her. Blade covered his crotch and said he needed a minute.

Diamond Mine was interviewed. Bivens said they would win the Dusty Classic and said they will face Imperium again for the tag titles. The Grizzled Young Vets then came in. They said all Diamond Mine did was make their journey easier.

LA Knight vs Joe Gacy with Harland

LA hit a neckbreaker early then stomped him in the corner. Gacy got a comeback in and pushed against LA's neck. Gacy then backdropped LA. Gacy hit some boots to the gut in the corner and a euro uppercut. Knight then hit an uppercut and slammed him before hitting a jumping elbow.

Grayson Waller's bodyguard Sanga came out then Grayson came from nowhere and hit LA with a cutter. LA was almost counted out and got hit with a handspring rebound lariat when he came back in for the Gacy win.

This was short and nothing special.

Grayson Waller got on the mic after and ripped LA. He said he is NXT then they fought. Sanga grabbed Knight and chokeslammed him.

Wendy Choo is getting ready for action and Tiffany Stratton is watching on.

Robert Stone hyped up Von Wagner in the back. He said he paid Von Wagner's fine and said Von is a future NXT and WWE champ.

We saw clips of Tiffany Stratton talking down Wendy Choo earlier. Tiffany promised to take Amari shopping if she takes care of Wendy.

Amari Miller vs Wendy Choo

Wendy has an unusual lullaby type of theme. She came to the ring with a drink and her pillow while wearing pajamas. Wendy rolled out of the way and pretended to sleep. Amari put her in a headscissors and Wendy tried to sleep on her leg. Wendy hit a running kick to Amari then did an elbow with a sleeping pose.

Wendy hit a clothesline then a nice overhead belly to belly. Wendy then did a handspring elbow in the corner and exploder suplexed her. Amari came back with a codebreaker for 2. Tiffany came out and slid Amari her card. This distracted Amari and led to her getting hit wit ha double axe handle with the card to win.  Look, sometimes when you are coming up with gimmick ideas, you get a little too creative and that's what happened here. This gimmick is clever, but it doesn't make a ton of sense.

Tiffany yelled at Amari after and asked for the card back, but didn't know Wendy has it. Wendy then showed off the card and posed with it. Tiffany could just deactivate the card and Wendy taking it is clear credit card theft.

Dexter and Indi met up with Persia Pirotta in the back. Persia asked Dexter if Duke Hudson was hot and he gave a thumbs down. Brooks Jensen then entered and asked for dating advice. Indi said talking to omuch is a turn off and non-verbal communication is sexy. Brooks talked about the hot tub look and tried to stare at Persia who turned him down.

We got clips of Draco Anthony training at the Performance Center. He's a marine and the graphic said he was "grinding hard". They said he would debut tonight for NXT.

We got a vignette. Nikita Lyons said her dad is a musician and she was traveled the world with him. We saw clips of her singing and it said she was coming soon.

Sarray was interviewed and her hair is now black. She said she can do anything with her necklace. Dakota Kai came in and I am not sure what she said.

Andre Chase vs Draco Anthony

No entrance for Draco. Chase armdragged him early and said it is a teachable moment. Draco shoulderblocked him then got caught on a leapfrog. Draco hit a powerslam and hit an exploder on Chase. Chase hit a nice russian leg sweep then did the C-H-A-S-E-U stomps. Draco grabbed Bodhi's Chase U flag and stepped on it. Chase then speared Draco and pounded on him. Chase hit a wrist clutch flatliner and won it.

This wasn't good and Draco looked like an idiot.

Chase challenged Von Wagner after.

Mandy was in the back and telling everyone to go. She was very tired out and near cake. KLR popped up behind her in the kitchen and poured spaghetti on her head. She then hit her with a cake but somehow none of it got on her in a bizarre incident.

NXT Vengeance Day is 2 weeks away.

Next week we have Dusty Cup Semi-Finals and LA Knight vs Sanga.

Tomasso Ciampa and Bron Breakker vs Legado del Fantasma (Joaquin Wilde and Raul Mendoza)

Ciampa gets a hard chop on Mendoza early and mocks his dance moves. Raul and Ciampa traded chops then Ciampa stomped on him in the corner. Bron rolled Wilde into a delayed vertical suplex then Ciampa did the same to Mendoza. they both then calpped and patted each other on the back.

We went to break and returned with Bron hitting a big lariat on Wilde. Bron went outside and tried to go back in but Santos Escobar threw him into the post. Mendoza got some corner moves in on Bron then Bron was double suplexed.

Bron hit a great overhead throw on Wilde then Ciampa got the hot tag in. He cleared off LDF and hit a flying double lariat. Mendoza was launched up by Ciampa then slammed down by Bron. Escobar got on the apron then Bron ate a missile dropkick from Mendoza. Mendoza then hit a phoenix splash for 2.

Bron hit a super hard spear on Mendoza then ciampa did a pump knee on Mendoza. Wilde got pushed off the top rope onto the commentator's table then Bron slammed Wilde for the win.

This was a fun main event with the heels bumping big and the faces hitting hard.

KLR then chased Mandy into the ring and pointed the bat at her. She said she wants her title match next week and Mandy agreed if she would put the bat down. KLR then superkicked her and hit a Gory bomb.

Overall thoughts: I thought the main and opener were okay and I liked some of the vignettes but it just wasn't the best show NXT has done. The KLR/Rose angle had issues and Sarray somehow changing hair colors didn't make much sense. I'm also not a fan of the Mandy angle with Enofe and Blade.

Dramatic Dream Team 1/30/2022 - 2022 Ultimate Tag League Opening Round

Dramatic Dream Team 1/30/2022 - 2022 Ultimate Tag League Opening Round

 

Ultimate Tag League 2022 Block B Match - The 37KAMIINA (MAO & Shunma Katsumata) vs. Pheromones (Yuki Ino & Yumehito Imanari)

I didn't know Ino is doing a copycat gimmick of Danshoku Dino's shtick going into this, but he spent half the match with his pants off and his butt showing and I couldn't bear to finish it. Imanari rolled up Shunma to win it. Don't expect anymore matches with Ino's new gimmick to get reviewed here.

 

Ultimate Tag League 2022 Block A Match - Kazuki Hirata & Shuji Kondo vs. The 37KAMIINA (Konosuke Takeshita & Yuki Ueno)

Hirata and Ueno leapfrog each other early and Hirata tries to put on glasses but Kondo stops him. Takeshita gets some shots in on Hirata's stomach and Ueno does a nice vader bomb style double knees to Hirata. Takeshita then sentons Hirata. Ueno has Hirata in a camel clutch. Kondo breaks it then stomps on his own partner much to everyone's confusion. Hirata dropkicks Takeshita from the 2nd rope but then gets a brainbuster. Hirata is very tired out but hits a tilt-a-whirl headscissors and tags out.

Kondo gets in and puts Ueno on the middle rope where he drives him down with his boot. He then does his big lanzarse spear for 2. Kondo tries to pop up Ueno for a move but gets hurricanrana'd. Takeshita hits a flying shoulder to Kondo. He then forearm combo's him and then hits a release dragon suplex. Kondo blocks his spear then hits a big lariat. Hirata tags himself in and eats Takeshita's boot. They trade forearms and Hirata enzugiri's him but eats a nice high knee. Ueno puts Hirata in a very high boston crab then Takeshita does the same to Kondo. Hirata tries to tap out but Kondo stops him from doing so and the holds are broken.

Ueno half and half suplexes Hirata for 2. Hirata then gets double single arm powerbombed but Kondo breaks the count. Kondo takes a double dropkick then Hirata is superplexed and frogsplashed. Kondo breaks the count again. Kondo and Takeshita lariat battle and Hirata almost gets a surprise pin on Ueno. Hirata goes for a frogsplash but Ueno block it then Takeshita hits knees on both oppoents. Takeshita picks up Hirata and Ueno does a springboard doomsday device leg lariat for 2. Ueno then wins it with a double jump moonsault.

I didn't like some of the comedy with Hirata but the dynamic between Kondo and Hirata grew on me as it went on. I think Hirata kicked out of a little too much though.

Ultimate Tag League 2022 Block A Match - Burning (Jun Akiyama and Tetsuya Endo) vs Yuji Hino and Yukio Naya

This is a good looking match. Naya hits a hard forearm and knee to start on Endo then throws him into the rails. Naya then throws Jun into the rails and nails some hard shots on him outside. Hino grounds Endo for a while. Endo and Naya trade forearms and Endo is thrown on a slam.

Hino does a big senton on Endo for 2. Hino tries to slam Endo but Endo turns it into a ddt. Jun gets in and hits a sliding knee on Hino for 2. Hino and Jun trade chops. Jun gets the better of the forearms but is belly to belly suplexed.

Naya gets in and avalanches Jun in the corner and hits some big knees to the gut. Jun comes back though with a big knee and tags back out. Endo springboard forearms Naya and goes for a handspring back elbow but is german suplexed. Naya hits a big splash in the corner on him and they try to double flapjack Endo but it gets botched.

Jun comes in and hits exploders on both opponents but Hino no sells it and exploders him. Endo hits a handspring kick on Naya for 2 but then gets superplexed. Naya nails Endo with a running knee to the chest for 2. Jun shining wizards Naya and naya fights them off with forearms and tries to do with a facekick but gets an exploder. Endo standing SSP's Naya then then hits a spinning sitout bomb for 2. Endo then top rope ssp's him for the win.

It went a little longer than it needed to with some slow sections. I thought Naya took a little too much as well. It seemed like they going for a match where the smaller guys get beat on then make a big comeback and while they did do that, the comeback never really ended and it hurt the bigger guys. It still wasn't a bad effort, just it could have been done better.

Ultimate Tag League 2022 Block B Match - Calimari Drunken Kings (Chris Brookes and Masahiro Takanashi) vs DISASTER BOX (HARASHIMA and Naomi Yoshimura)

Masa and Harashima chain wrestle early then Brookes and Yoshimura do the same. Brookes and Yoshimura shoulder battle. Brookes and Masa try to double boot Yoshimura but Brookes has longer legs and Masa can't do it. Disaster Box gets tied together in a fujiwara armbar and octopus stretch combo.

Harashima hits some pendulum knees on Masa in the corner and Masa brainbusters him. Brookes bridges Harashima on the top rope then swinging neckbreakers him. Harashima evades an octopus stretch and shotgun dropkicks him. Yoshimura suplexes Brookes while he is seated on him then they trade running moves in the corner. Brookes and Yoshimura trade chops. Brookes hits a running high knee then takes a judo throw.

Harashima superplexes Masa for 2. Masa goes outside and trips him then Brookes senton atomico's him from the 2nd rope. Brookes and Masa do it again but this time, Yoshimura takes a dropkick as Brookes falls. Disaster Box misses a double team and Harashima takes a slingshot cutter from Brookes. The ref gets put on Harshima as he is bent over and is used to hit a code red.

Everyone starts getting some moves in and Bookes slingshot cutters Yoshimura. Harashima hits some kind of meteora/dropkick combo on a seated Brookes then falcon arrows Masa for 2. Harashima does a gorilla press double knee to Masa then Masa rolls him up out of the figure four and wins it.

I thought this went too long and didn't see any real story or logic to it. It was slow and they saved most of the bigger moves for the last 2 minutes.

DDT Universal Title Match - Daisuke Sasaki (c) vs Minoru Fujita

Really not sure about this one. Fujita spears Sasaki early and Mad Paulie beats up on Fujita outside. Fujita strangeholds Sasaki but he hits the ropes and breaks it. Fujita starts a "we will rock you" chant and splashes Sasaki in the corner.

Sasaki steps on Fujita's face but Fujita bites his foot. Sasaki diving clotheslines him then dragon screws him. Sasaki then does it as Fujita is tied up in the ropes and figure fours him but Fujita breaks it on the ropes. Fujita tries a top rope hurricanrana but Sasaki holds on and Fujita goes down alone. Sasaki then top rope elbows Fujita in the lower back and ankle locks him. Sasaki goes back to the ankle lock but Fujita breaks it.

Mad Paulie trips Fujita on the outside then Sasaki tries to tope Fujita but hits his partner instead. Fujita top rope splashes him for 2. He then tombstones him for another 2 when Paulie pulls the ref out. Paulie tries to use a chair but gets stopped. They fight over the chair and Fujita gets a low blow when he tries to use it, then is nailed with it. Fujita then dropkicks Sasaki in the nuts.

They go up top and Fujita hits a top rope tombstone for 2 on a very slow count. Sasaki gets some offense in and is rolled up for 2. Fujita goes for another tombstone but Sasaki does a cool reversal on it and tombstones him. Sasaki then wins with a crossface.

This went too long at around 19 minutes and wasn't anything special. I don't know why companies are putting Fujita in main events lately but he's over the hill and really not that good. Sasaki kind of worked the knee here for a little but not enough to make it a big part of the match.

Overall thoughts: I saw 5 of the 7 matches. They all went longer than they needed to and in front of a crowd that can't cheer, long matches aren't a great idea. I wasn't a huge fan of this though Akiyama's match and Kondo's matches were half-good.