WWF Summerslam Spectacular 1991 8/18/1991

WWF Summerslam Spectacular 1991 8/18/1991

Vince McMahon and Bobby Heenan are our hosts. Heenan says he can't wait for the main tonight which is Hulk vs Sarge for the WWF Title. He asks if Warrior will hide behind Hulk, considering he's snake bitten. Vince calls Bobby a beach bum as he is wearing some beach clothing.

Hawk vs Brian Knobbs

Knobbs stalls to start and keeps going out. They each get shots in and Knobbs takes a facebuster. Knobbs then does a nice bump out for it. Knobbs hits some punches when he gets back in. Vince says Jack Tunney promised no interference in this one. Hawk throws Knobbs backwards by the hair and fist drops him. Hawk hits corner punches. Hawk misses a corner spear. Knobbs then chairs Hawk outside while Jimmy Hart distracts the ref.

Knobbs double axe handles Hawk off the apron. Knobbs back elbows him. Knobbs crabs Hawk. Hawk uses his legs to push Knobbs out off the the crab. Knobbs double axe handles the back. Knobbs slams Hawk then sits on his back and pulls the chin.

Knobbs elbow drops and headbutt drops the back. Hawk stands up with Knobbs on his back and drops him backwards. Hawk facekicks him then flying shoulders him. Hawk powerslams him. Knobbs charges into the corner and gets a boot. Hawk diving lariats him off the top.

Thoughts: It wasn't great but I liked it. Knobbs took a nice bump to the outside and worked the back some before Hawk made his comeback and won. Both guys did what they were supposed to and there were no real problems with this.

Jake "The Snake" Roberts and The Ultimate Warrior are outside of a dark, creepy room. Jake says Lucifer's in there. Jake says there's a coffin in there with Lucifer waiting for him. He tells Warrior to reach his hand in there and let Lucifer gives him the answer. Warrior says he has no fear and the trust he had in Jake so far has done him no harm. Jake tells him to go for it and closes the door on him. Jake then locks the door. Jake says he'll shed light on the subject.

Warrior is then stuck in a room filled with snakes. Jake says these are friends of his. Warrior bats the snakes away. Jake says the snakes won't hurt Warrior. Jake says to reach in the coffin and find out what The Undertaker is made of. Jake says Warrior was buried in dirt and a casket and tells him to go to the center of the room.

Warrior touches a mini coffin with a snake on it. Jake says, "it's there". Warrior opens it up and Lucifer is inside. Lucifer stands up and supposedly bites him. Jake says that's not what you expected and not what the doctor ordered. Jake says Warrior is a little sick now and says the venom is part of it. Warrior wants out. Jake says it's not over yet. Jake tells Warrior there's nothing left to give him. Jake tells him to drop like the common man he is. Warrior then starts to drop down. Jake says this is what happens to all good men.

Jake then talks to the camera. He says he should come and see how the devil's work is done. Warrior then bursts through the door. Jake says Warrior is fighting to survive. Warrior then grabs boots and it's The Undertaker with Paul Bearer. Jake tells Warrior, "I'm a snake, never trust a snake". Warrior is then out cold and the segment ends.

Thoughts: Well that was quite the segment. I thought it was a great. This turned Jake heel after his long face run. This helped build a Warrior vs Taker and a Warrior vs Jake program. 

Vince says Warrior was given anti-toxin in the ER and is now back on his feet.

We get a commercial for Summerslam.

Bret "The Hitman" Hart vs The Barbarian

Heenan says Warrior is done and says you can't trust Jake. Heenan says the surgeon general should put a label on Jake, letting people know he's dangerous for your health.  Bret gives a fan his sunglasses.

Bret side headlocks Barb and Barb shoulders him over. Barb then shoulders him over again and sends him out with it. Heenan says Hart can't think. Hart works Barb's arm and armdrags him. Hat armdrags him. Hart hits punches and then hits dropkicks. Barb goes out.

Hart jumps off the apron onto him, gets caught and is rammed into the apron. Barb swings Hart's back into the post. Barb foot chokes Hart then sends him into the buckles chest first. Barb backbreakers Hart. Coach is outside with a clipboard. 

Hart goes for a hiptoss and is lariated over hard. Barb suplexes Hart. Barb goes for the pin, Vince says it's a 3 but the ref says it's 2. Barb sends Hart into the corner then bearhugs him. Hart bites Barb to escape which is pretty poor sportsmanship.

Barb stomps on Hart. Hart boots him out of the corner then 2nd rope diving lariats him. Hart hits an atomic drop then shots to the gut and head. Hart hits corner punches on Barb. Hart russian legsweeps Barb for 2. Hart backbreakers Barb then hits a 2nd rope elbow drop.

Barb facekicks Bret and Bret is kicked down to the floor. Barb tries to powerslam Hart in and Hart cradles him to win.

Thoughts: It was a long, slow and kind of boring at times. The work was okay though. Barb hit some nice stiff shots on Bret. I didn't like Bret's facework here as he bit Barb to get out of a hold for no reason. 

Mean Gene Okerlund interviews Sid Justice on the platform. Sid says he can't control everything that goes on outside the ring at Summerslam but he can control everything that happens inside the ring. Gene says the match could side either way depending on which team he sides with. Gene asks him how he could be impartial.

Sid says Gene doesn't know him or what he stands for. Sid says he stands alone. He promises justice will be served at Summerslam.

Sgt. Slaughter General Adnan and Col. Mustafa do a promo. Sarge says it's him and Hulk 1v1 before Summerslam. He says there's many battles in a war and says he will take the title before Summerslam. He says Warrior won't be Ultimate and may not even be at Summerslam. He says it could be Hulk vs Sarge's Core of Destruction. Sarge says "Slaughter Rules" and says that's an order.

Irwin R. Schyster vs Mark Thomas

IRS says the government is in trouble and it's time people pay their taxes. Heenan says IRS saved him money last year. Heenan asks if Vince has a good accountant and asks when he's due out of jail.

IRS drops Mark with a punch then slams him. IRS hits elbow drops then flying lariats him. IRS does an abdominal stretch and rubs Mark's face into the mat. IRS samoan drops him and picks up the win as Vince make's fun of IRS' name.

Thoughts: It was all squash here with Mark getting nothing in before being beaten.

IRS elbow drops him after.

We see clips from Macho Man's bachelor party from Prime Time Wrestling. There's a female indian style dancer dancing Macho. Slick's dancing and Jamison' getting down. Piper feints as a stripper dances. The Bushwhackers get hold of a giant cake. Heenan goes to check it out, thinking a girl is inside. A fat lady is in it, thinks it's Vince and puts the moves on Heenan. She then lifts him on her shoulders and we cut away. Heenan calls it the worst party he was ever at.

The British Bulldog, The Dragon & The Texas Tornado vs. The Orient Express (Kato, Tanaka and Sato)

Hey, Sato's back. We hadn't seen him since Kato debuted. Vince calls Fuji "The Avocado King" and "Chopstick Charlie".

Ricky and Tanaka start us off. Ricky side headlocks him and shoulders him over. Tanaka tries to send him over the top but Ricky skins the cat. Tanaka takes a high back body drop, a double chop and an armdrag. Davey shoulders Tanaka over then lariats him. Kato trips Davey from the outside and Davey takes a kick in the back.

Davey dropkicks Kato. Kerry works Kato's arm. Heenan says the heels names sound like an oriental law-firm. Vince says it sounds like a soy sauce. Kerry hits punches on Sato. Kerry gets a knee to the back from the apron. Heenan says Kerry's the only guy he knows who can hide his own easter eggs. Kato chops and eye rakes Ricky. Heenan calls the heels, "The Oreo Express". 

Ricky takes a flying forearm from Tanaka then going for a piledriver on Kato. Fuji hits Ricky with his cane. Kato falling chops Ricky. Ricky is then triple teamed in the corner. Sato side kicks Ricky and chops his throat. Ricky takes a double chop.

Kato goes up and over Ricky then superkicks him. Ricky is double face raked on the ropes. Tanaka back body drops Ricky. Kato hits chops on Ricky then camel clutches him. Ricky gets triple teamed. Tanaka elbows Ricky in the gut and superkicks him. Ricky is bridged on the ropes and Tanaka butt drops his back there. Tanaka superkicks Ricky for 2.

Ricky neckbreakers Tanaka. Kato chinlocks Ricky. Ricky leapfrogs Kato then superkicks him. Davey is tagged in. Davey back body drops Kato then gorilla presses Sato and Tanaka. Kato tries an up and over but is caught with a running powerslam. Davey powerslams Kato. Ricky top rope crossbodies Kato and picks up the win.

Thoughts: It was a good tag here with the heels being heels and Ricky doing the majority of the selling for the team. We didn't see much of Kerry in this one. Tanaka bumped around like a mad man as usual. I would have liked to have seen Sato get more offense in though. Heenan was really funny on commentary.

Heenan and Vince talk about the Summerslam main event. Heenan says Warrior's mind is "mashed potatoes" and totally gone. Heenan says the main event will be something and salutes as Sarge's music hits. Heenan then pulls out the NWA Title. He says Ric Flair is the real world's champ and says he will give the winner of this a title shot. 

WWF Title - Hulk Hogan (c) vs Sgt. Slaughter

Adnan and Mustafa are at ringside. They lock up and Sarge is pushed in the corner. Sarge hits punches on Hulk then chest clubs him. Sarge takes a back body drop then Hulk hits a lariat. Hulk bangs Sarge's head off the post and hits mounted punches inside.

Sarge rakes Hulk in the eyes and on the back. Sarge knocks Hulk out of the ring with a punch. Adnan nails Hulk outside. Mustafa bangs Hulk's head off the apron. Sarge hits punches on Hulk then bites his head. Sarge drops Hulk with punches. We go to break and return.

Sarge chokes Hulk on the top rope then hits Hulk in the back with a chair. Sarge hits a top rope knee drop on Hulk's back for 2. Hulk is busted open and starts to hulk up after taking punches. Hulk points at him and hits punches. Hulk then hits the big boot. Adnan throws powder into Hulk's eyes. 

Mustafa gets in the ring and stomps on Hulk for the DQ. Adnan and Sarge join in. The ref is thrown over the top. Hulk is then put in a camel clutch and slapped with Adnan's hat. Sid Justice comes out and jumps to the apron. Sid backs up the heels. Hulk grabs the chair and the heels run. Sid takes the chair from Hulk.

Thoughts: The match wasn't much. I was surprised to see Hulk bleed. Sarge did basic stuff and Hulk made his comeback.

Hulk and Sid argue over the chair then Sid leaves.

We see clips of Earthquake injuring Andre the Giant.

The Natural Disasters (Earthquake & Typhoon) vs. Ray Garcia & Russ Greenberg

Typhoon clubs Ray then lariats him. Typhoon hits an elbow drop then does a standing dropkick. Quake back elbows Ray then elbow drops him. Quake corner splashes Ray then Typhoon does as well. Quake clubs on Russ and Russ takes a double body block. Russ is thrown over the top.

Ray is slammed then splashed by Typhoon. Quake then butt drops Ray and pins him.

Thoughts: It was all squash as expected here with the jobbers getting nothing in before their demise. As usual, The Disasters looked good with lots of weight based offense.

The Barber Shop

Brutus Beefcake welcomes us to the show. Sensational Sherri is this week's guest. She is asked what her gift for Macho and Liz is for their wedding. She says she wants to deliver it to them right now. She says she'd like to slap Macho and puke all over Liz. Brutus says that's a little extreme and Sherri says it's not. Sherri says the overrated and over the hill Macho lost at Wrestlemania VII then proposed to Miss Elizabeth. Sherri says the wedding is a mistake.

Brutus says Sherri is bitter and says it will be a happy ending for Macho and Liz. Sherri says Liz and Macho won't be the match made in heaven but the match made in hell if she has anything to do with it. Brutus says he arraigned Sherri's transportation to the wedding and hands her a broom. Sheri swings it at him and knocks some stuff over with it. 

Summerslam Report

Mean Gene talks about the Summerslam main event. He says Hulk and Warrior are unavailable for comment. We hear from Sgt. Slaughter's team. Sarge says Hulk got bit. Sarge asks what will Hulk do when his partner is laying around wishing he's not there. Sarge says he wants Sid to let them do things their way. Sarge says his trio will destroy Hulkamania once and for all.

Gene runs down the rest of the card. Ted Dibiase and Sherri do a promo. They say the buck stops here. Ted says Virgil may show up in a limo but he leaves in a yellow cab. Virgil says he will ride the train down to Summerslam and will tip the limo driver so nicely that he will go down to Broadway and Ted/Sherri will pay the tab.

The Mountie and Jimmy Hart do a promo. Mountie says Boss' running days are coming to an end and his hard time serving days are coming to a beginning. He says he will put him in jail. The Big Boss Man does a promo. He says it'll make him feel good to make Mountie feel real bad as he's going to jail. 

Ted Dibiase comes out with a masked wrestler who is wearing The Black Knight's mask (he was a jobber who was on Superstars a few times this year). Ted says he knows Virgil can hear him. He says everyone knows Virgil's dream in life is to beat him and Summerslam and take the Million Dollar Belt. He says he paid this wrestler a lot of money to break Virgil in half. He says Virgil should be confident to face Ted's man.

Virgil vs Ted Dibiase's Masked Wrestler

They lock up and Virgil is pushed down. The masked guy hits shots on a downed Virgil then chokes him. Virgil's eye is raked on the ropes. Virgil hits punches then hiptosses him. The masked guy waistlock takedowns him and Vince wonders who the masked guy is. Virg goes up and over and rolls up the masked guy for 2. Virg hits some punches and wristlocks him.

Virg shoulders the masked guy over then takes a stun gun. Virg is dropped throat first on the top rope. The masked guy stomps Virg then puts Virg in a sleeper. Virg hits a punch.

Virg lariats the masked guy. Heenan says "Murray" is the masked guy's name. Virhg puts the million dollar dream on the masked guy. Ted Dibiase trips Virg from the outside and Virg is lariated hard over the top. Ted gets a cheapshot in on Virg then the masked guy suplexes Virg in. The masked guy suplexes Virg. He does a splash but Virg gets his knees up. Virg then pins the masked guy.

Thoughts: They say Smash was under the hood here. The masked guy got a bunch of offense in and was not treated like a jobber. It was average though. Virg took a nice lariat over the top to the floor.

The Mountie takes us on a tour of the jail cell Boss Man will be in. He says Boss will be kicking and begging for mercy. He says they will take a photo of Boss then Mountie poses for photos. Mountie says the real fun will be when Boss gets fingerprinted. Mountie fingerprints someone and says it'll be another black stain in Boss' life. Mountie says there's only room for one law enforcement officer in the WWF. Mountie slams the door and says Boss will serve hard time.

The Big Boss Man says it's good Mountie is checking out the jail as he will get a second chance at Summerslam. He says he will take his last breath as a free man and will serve hard time.  

Bobby and Vince close the show. Heenan says someone will raise their hand when they ask if anyone objects to Macho and Liz's wedding. They talk about the Summerslam card.

Overall thoughts: They gave away a much better card than we usually get each week. I was surprised we got a WWF Title match but wasn't surprised it ended in shenanigans. I liked this one. The work was good in the various matches. Hawk/Knobbs was fine and the trios match was good. Hart/Barbarian was a little slow. The WWF Title match wasn't much. The show wasn't great but it was a nice way to hype up Summerslam some. I'd give it a 5 out of 10 overall.

New Japan Pro Wrestling 1/6/2025 New Year Dash !! 2025

New Japan Pro Wrestling 1/6/2025 New Year Dash !! 2025

TenKoji (Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima) & Yuji Nagata vs. Daiki Nagai, Katsuya Murashima & Shoma Kato

KM = Katsuya Murashima

KM side headlocks Koji. KM takes him down by the wrist and armlocks him. KM side headlock takeovers him. Koji headscissors him and they stand off. KM hits chops and forearms on Koji. Nagai chop flurries Koji. Koji is triple stomped on by the rookies.

Kato hits forearms on Koji and hits him even after he tagged out. Kato takes shots from TenKoji and Tenzan falling headbutts him for 2. Tenzan suplexes Kato then bangs his head off the buckles. Kato gets kicked down by Yuji and takes a chest kick. Yuji half-crabs him.

Koji chops up Kato in the corner. Koji flying forearms him in the corner and 2nd rope elbow drops him for 2. Kato dropkicks Koji. KM gets in. He hits forearms on Koji then flying forearms him. KM powerslams Koji for 2. Koji suplexes KM.

Yuji chest kicks KM and KM dropkicks him out of the corner. Nagai gets in and hits forearms on Yuji. They trade. Yuji facekicks him then Nagai hits a dropkick and crossbody. Nagai crabs Yuji and it is broken up. Yuji belly to belly suplexes Nagai then crossfaces him. Nagai submits.

Thoughts: It was your usual rookie vs vet opener. The rookies got some shots in before going down.

Exhibition Match - Josh Barnett vs. Oleg Boltin

Oleg takes down Josh and waistlocks him. Oleg rolls him by the leg. Josh goes for a rolling armbar and they get back up. Oleg armbars Josh and Josh ropebreaks. Oleg rolls him and goes for the kimura.

They grapple. Josh headscissors him and grabs the arm. Oleg karelin's lifts him then Josh grabs a sleeper. The time limit then runs out.

Thoughts: It was only a few minutes long here and was just mostly grappling as you would expect. It wasn't anything too great and these type of matches aren't really my thing.

Josh gets on the mic after. He says this was a test of Oleg to see if he would come and meet him in the ring. Josh said he showed up and wrestled his @ss off. Josh said he told him he was going for the arm and congratulates him. He says he's moving up and will take him as high as he can. Josh says he will take him as high as he can. Oleg says English isn't his language and talks in Japanese. He says he wants to train under him. 

El Phantasmo, Jado, Master Wato, Shota Umino & Tomoaki Honma vs. United Empire (Francesco Akira, Great-O-Khan, Jakob Austin Young, Jeff Cobb & TJP)

Shota and Khan go at it. Khan takes him down and they get back up. They shoulder battle and Shota dropkicks him. Khan takes a striple team ending in a step up enzugiri. Jado gets worked on and Jake basement dropkicks him. TJP stomps on Jado in the corner and facewash kicks him.

Khan hits mongolian chops on Jado then uppercuts him. Khan sits on Jado's neck in the corner. Akira flying headscissors Wato. Shota slams TJP then Honma misses a falling headbutt on TJP. Cobb misses a corner splash on Jado. ELP 2nd rope twisting crossbodies Cobb then asai moonsaults him for 2.

Cobb throws ELP on a suplex then spin cycle backdrops him. ELP ddt's Cobb. ELP twists Khan's nipples in the corner. Khan takes corner attacks from his opponents. Honma ddt's Khan for 2.

Everyone starts coming in for a move. Khan takes a tornado then Wato dives off the top while ELP moonsaults off the top outside. Honma falling headbutts Khan for 2. Honma headbutts Khan then Khan flatliners him. Khan chokeslams Honma and pins him.

Thoughts: It was a short tag with more people than time. It wasn't much of note and was just filler. I don't like Honma taking chokeslams and stuff. That guy is too fragile for those kinds of moves. 

ELP bumps in Cobb after and puts his title in his face. Khan sends Shota into the rails. He then rips up Shota's toy belts that a kid made for him. Shota goes after Khan and is group beaten by United Empire.

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tiger Mask, Togi Makabe & Toru Yano vs. House Of Torture (Ren Narita, SHO, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Yujiro Takahashi)

Sho got the win by hitting Tiger with a belt. It wasn't too much of note. With Yano and Togi in there, the faces actually used HoT's own underhanded tactics and didn't put up with as much BS as usual which was good. It was just your standard HoT match but they didn't do some of the worse cheating spots.

The faces get beaten up after and Oleg Boltin makes the save. HoT steals the 6-Man Tag Titles after.

Just 4 Guys (Taichi & TAKA Michinoku) vs. BULLET CLUB War Dogs (Clark Connors & SANADA)

Tai's team attacks the heels as they enter. Sanada's head is banged off the commentary table and Tai beats him up in the aisle way. Tai is whipped into the seats and the rail. Clark hits chops on Taka and Taka eye pokes him. Clark pounces Taka. Sanada snapmares Taka and chokes him with tape while doing a headscissors to him. Taka puts just facelock on both opponents. Taka jumping kicks Clark.

Tai facekicks Sanada over then hits Kawada kicks. Tai side kicks Sanada and facekicks Clark off the apron. Sanada dropkicks Tai in the knee then the chest. Sanada plancha's Tai outside. 

Tai enzugiri's Sanada. Tai takes his pants off. Sanada chokes him with his pants then Tai lariats him. Sanda goes for a bridge pin and is put in just facelock. Clark is then put in stretch plum at the same time.

Sanada takes a superkick for 2. Sanada low blows Taka then submits him with skull end to win.

Thoughts: It was short and not much of note. Sanada didn't get much offense in here though he did pick up the win.

Sanada pours beer on Taka after. 

El Desperado & KUSHIDA vs. BULLET CLUB (KENTA & Taiji Ishimori)

Despy and TI go at it. Despy shoulders him over early and TI crossfaces him. TI facekicks Despy over. Kenta chinlocks Despy. TI chinlocks Despy around the rails. Despy is double teamed in the corner and tries to fight it off.

Despy spinebusters TI. Kush gets in and armdrags TI. TI armdrags him and Kush headscissors him. Kush does a hiptoss into a cartwheel and basement dropkick. TI handspring corkscrew kicks Kush.

Kenta knees Kush in the gut and crossfaces him. Kenta powerslams him. Kush is double teamed and hits a handspring double back elbow. Kenta rolls up Kush twice and tries to pin him with his feet on the ropes. Kush kimura's Kenta and submits him.

Thoughts: It was another short and forgettable match. They didn't have a ton of time and didn't do anything too special here.

Kush gets on the mic after and TI takes it away. TI challenges Despy for his title. 

Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, Shingo Takagi, Titan & Yota Tsuji) vs. BULLET CLUB War Dogs (David Finlay, Drilla Moloney, Gabe Kidd & Gedo)

DF pounds on Yota to start. DF catches a flying headscissors and Yota running knees him. DF is pulled over the top and Bushi is tripped then sent into the rails. Everyone fights outside. Gedo hits Bushi with a hammer and the ref doesn't care.

DF stands on Bushi's chest. Gedo rakes Bushi's eyes. Drilla pulls on Bushi's mask and elbows him in the neck. Bushi hits chops on Gabe and takes an uppercut. Bushi flying headscissors Gedo. Yota and Gabe get into a shoulder battle then trade forearms. Gabe and Yota trade chops. They trade corner attacks then more strikes. Gabe headbutts him in the chest then hits a big lariat. Yota suplexes Gabe. Gabe no sells it and backdrops him. Yota no sells it. They then headbutt each other at the same time. 

Shingo lariats Drilla. Drilla step up enzugiri's him. They trade forearms. Shingo lariats him on the ropes then Drilla spinebusters him. They lariat each other. Drilla superkicks him and takes a lariat. Titan springboard crossbodies Gedo then pele kicks DF. Titan jumping back kicks Gedo then corner lariats him. Bushi holds Gedo and Titan top rope double stomps Gedo's back for 2. Titan springboard dropkicks DF then Bushi hits a tope on DF. Titan inidian deathlocks Gedo and taps him out.

Thoughts: It was another waste of time that didn't get enough time to be anything special. This was little more than a way to get people on the card.

Gabe and Yota butt heads after. Yota holds his title up at Gabe. Drilla gets on the mic and says he's a heavyweight. He says dragon's aren't real and only he is real. He tells Shingo to show him what he's about. 

FUNKY SAUCE (Alex Zayne & Ryusuke Taguchi) vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon (Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito)

HT = Hiromu Takahashi, RT = Ryuske Taguchi

HT wore his giant helmet thing from The Dome here. RT and Ht lock up. HT side headlocks him. HT slides out. RT sits down and hurts his crotch somehow then HT misses a crossbody. RT basement dropkicks HT and RT puts ice on his inner thigh and crotch. RT misses a hip attack. HT crossbodies Alex and RT.

RT takes an atomic drop and then a baseball slide. HT corner lariats Rt then basement dropkicks him for 2. RT takes a double atomic drop on double hip attack attempt. He then hits the double hip attack. Alex hits forearms on Naito. He then hiptosses him into a standing corkscrew moonsault. 

Naito flying headscissors Alex off the 2nd rope. Alex bites Naito's hand then step up enzugiri's him. RT corner hip attacks Naito then Alex leapfrogs RT into a corner dropkick on Naito. Alex corner cannonballs Naito. Naito takes a flipping legdrop = side slam combo. RT ankle locks Naito then hip attacks him. Naito step up enzugiri's RT then HT lariats RT for 2. Naito does an assisted tornado ddt on RT. Naito hits destino on RT and wins.

Thoughts: I'm not sure why this was in this spot. It was just a match with RT goofing around and Alex not even getting to do that much flying.

I think Naito maybe challenges The Young Bucks after.

CHAOS (Hirooki Goto, Rocky Romero, YOH & YOSHI-HASHI) vs. TMDK (Kosei Fujita, Robbie Eagles, Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr.)

Kosei and Yoh lock up. Kosei kisses him on the ropes. Yoh trips him then  they miss attacks. They then stand off. Rob and Rocky go at it. Rob trips him and armdrags him. Rocky armdrgas him back then hits a big slap. Rob spinning heel kicks him. Zack and Goto go at it. Zack takes a double shoulder. Goto hiptosses his partners onto Zack. Zack is clubbed down on the back by the other team.

Yoshi headhunters Oiwa. Yoshi chops him up. Oiwa stomps Yoshi's arm. Yoshi gets his limbed worked on by all 4 opponets at once. They then rotate to each limb. Kosei chops down Yoshi in the corner then PK's him for 2. Yoshi takes a double back elbow and a double kick.Oiwa side headlocks Yoshi and shoulders him over. Yoshi superkicks him then lariats him. Zack and Goto get in. 

Zack hits euros and Goto corner lariats him. Goto spinning heel kicks him in the corner and backdrops him for 2. Goto hits forearms and Zack pele kicks the arm. Zack then legsweeps him. Zack does an octopus to Goto. Zack grounds him with it. Goto running lariats Zack. Zack does a birdge pin on Goto for 2. Zack then PK's him.

Goto no sells a german and does double lariats with Zack. Goto lariats Zack over. Yoh and Kosei trade forearms. Rocky and Rob then trade at the same time. Kosei spin kicks Rocky then Rocky takes a double team kick. Kosei step up enzugiri's Yoh. Kosei takes a t-gimmick for 2. Oiwa hits a big lariat on Yoshi.

Rob springboard dropkicks Yoh in the knee. Yoh neckbreakers Rob on his knee. Zack and Goto jump in and trade forearms. Goto ushigoroshi's him. Rob trips and rolls up Yoh for 2. Kosei takes a 3D. Rob takes a backcracker into a falcon arrow.

Yoh superkicks Rocky on accident. Yoh cradles Rob for 2. Rob hits kicks on Yoh. Rock superkicks Yoh in the knee then Yoh crucifixes Rob for the win.

Thoughts: The Zack vs Goto segments were nice. It was an okay main but not great. Nobody did anything too crazy here but compared to the rest of the card, the effort was better.

Goto and Zack get into it outside. Yoshi and Oiwa fight outside. They eventually fight up the aisle way.

Yoh gets on the mic after. Yoh says his team will challenge for the junior tag titles. Goto says he has a world title match guaranteed. Goto says he will become champ.

Overall thoughts: It was a nothing show. All this did was get a bunch of people on the show and started the build to some matches on the next big show. This was almost all filler and not very entertaining to watch. Almost none of the outside wrestlers from the Dome shows showed up to this minus Titan. The only match where they really tried was in the main. And this was all tag matches instead of adding another type of match in for some variety. I'd give this a 3 out of 10 and would not recommend it.

WWE NXT 1/7/2025 New Years Evil 2024

WWE NXT 1/7/2025 New Years Evil 2024

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2024/12/wwe-nxt-12312024.html

Next week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2025/01/wwe-nxt-1142025.html

We are in Los Angeles, CA. Vic Joseph, Corey Graves and Booker T are on commentary.

We see various wrestlers arrive including The Rock. 

NXT Women's Title - Roxanne Perez (c) vs Giulia

G = Giulia

G side headlock takeovers her. RP headscissors her. They stand off. RP does la magistral and side headlocks her. G is down, RP cartwheels over her and slaps her. G hits a headbutt flurry. G hits forearms then top rope dropkicks her. G corner face kicks her. RP pulls G's down over the top then stomps her hand over the bottom rope connector.

We go to PiP break and return. They trade forearms. G kicks her over. RP hurricanrana's her off the top. RP stomps G's hand. RP backdrops her. Booker goes nuts over RP on commentary and challenges Graves to a fight. The girls slap each other at the same time.

G hits some slaps. RP arm whips her down. RP ropes G outside. G hits a top rope hammerlock suplex. G does a spinning glorious driver for 2. RP crossfaces her then dropkicks her through the ropes.

G northern lights bombs her on the floor. Cora Jade comes out and throws RP back in. RP hits a pop rocks on G for 2. RP goes for the armbar and hte ref ejects Cora. G pumping knees RP then hits a 2nd northern lights bomb for the win.

Thoughts: It didn't quite get enough time. It wasn't anything too great either. G had her hand worked on and eventually overcame her. The ref should have done something about Cora Jade throwing G back in the ring. I'm not too surprised Giulia won here. It was pretty much the only option and they didn't sign G to have her lose in NXT.

We go to the back and Eddy Thorpe is down. Ava walks in and thinks he's faking the injury again. Eddy says it's real.

We get a video from Je'Von Evans. He says his jaw is wired shut. He can't sleep, eat or talk. He says he's gonna find Ethan Page. He says he will make him feel his pain.

NXT Women's North American Title #1 Contender's Match - Kelani Jordan vs Stephanie Vaquer vs Lola Vice vs Cora Jade

Cora takes shots from everyone to start. SV is pushed into Lola and rolled up. Cora forearms over KJ and ges some offense in on all opponents. SV bangs Cora's head off the mat with the headscissors. Lola axe kicks SV. KJ tiger feint armdrags Lola then dropkicks 2 opponents.

Cora flying headscissors KJ and KJ cartwheels out. KJ slingshot corkscrew out. Cora cannonballs KJ off the apron. We go to PiP break and return. 

SV bangs Cora's head off the buckles and hits a headbutt flurry. KJ pulls SV by the hair then SV dragon screws KJ. SV corner meteora's Cora Lola sleepers SV from behind and SV rolls her up. Lols hits spin kicks on SV then kick combos KJ down. Fatal Influence are watching in the back as Lola misses a hip attack. Cora high kicks Lola. Cora goes for a step up knee and is thrown over the top.

SV top rope plancha's 2 opponents outside. KJ does a top rope moonsaults to the outside. KJ top rope crossbodies SV but SV rolls through it. KJ hits a nice olympic slam on Cora. KJ misses a 450 off the top. Lola urakes her then is superkicked.

SV package neckbreakers KJ over thek nee and wins.

Thoughts: It was okay. They kept this one moving and had action going at all times. No one botched anything and I had no issues with this.

Ava talks to Akba Fyre and Isla Dawn in the back. She says they will face Lash and Jakara in a #1 contenders match for the women's tag titles. Sarah asks Ava about Eddy's injury. Ava says Eddy is fine. Oba says Eddy isn't pretending and said he attacked him for hitting him with a trophy. He said he just wante to return the favor. Oba says the result remains the same whether Eddy makes it tonight or doesn't.

We see Triple H and Nick Khan at the show.

OTM talk. They say Fraxiom is smooth and has never been in a dogfight. Nima says his problems and Fraxiom's problems aren't the same. He says he deals with real life struggles while they argue like kids. They say they are taking the tag titles next week and dragging Fraxiom through the mud.

Fatal Influence (Jacy Jayne, Fallon Henley and Jazmyn Nyx vs Tatum Paxley, Shotzi and Gigi Dolin

The heels hit the faces as they pose in the corner. Tatum dropkicks Jacy in the corner then corner crossbodies her. Tatum double underhook suplexes her for 2. Jacy throws Tatum down backwards and PK's her. Tatum bangs Nyx's head off her knee. Nyx takes attacks on the ropes and Tatum elbow drops her.

Shotzi is tripped and rolls up Fallon for 2. Shotzi knees her in the face and spinning forearms her. Shotz does a botched suplex on Fallon in the corner. Fallon spinning facebusters Shotzi. The 6 girls all fight. Shotzi tries to tope Fallon but gets hand and lands hard on the floor.

Gigi headbutts Nyx and Jacy cannonballs her. Fallon wrap's around the post and 619's Tatum. All 6 girls are down and we go to break. We return from break. Tatum is tripped and takes a kick to the back. Jacy sentons her for 2. Jacy chinlocks her. Tatum backdrops her. Gigi gets in and Jacy tries to run away. Gigi hits various strikes and high kicks her. Gigi lariats her for 2. Jacy superkicks GigiGigi hits a double neckbreaker off a double suplex attempt.

Shotzi hits a top rope double crossbody. Fallon take a drop + neckbreaker combo for 2. Fallon takes a double step up enzugiri. Gigi and Fallon do stereo dives together. Shotzi top rope sentons Fallon and gets the pin.

Thoughts: It was an okay trios match. They kept it moving and there was a lot of action. I kind of like the Gigi/Tatum/Shotzi team and would like them kept together. It will probably get them further than anything in singles will. They look like people who would hang out together.

Ava talks to Ethan Page in the back. Ava talks about Page breaking Evans' jaw. Page says that monent has played on every episode of NXT. Page complains that he's not on the show. Ava says it's her show and she calls the shots.

The Rock walks in. Rock says it's good to meet him. He says he heard a lot about him but it's not all good. Rock asks him about breaking Evan's jaw. He says payback will be a b!tch for that. Rock says if anyone, including Page, needs something to come to him. Rock says he's the final boss but says Ava's the final boss on this show. He says if Page wants to be cool with him, he needs to be cool with Ava. Page says they will be cool and they shake. Rock says he'll see him on the main roster some day. Rock then slaps him on the butt.

Ava says NXT is all about moments and she says this is a good one. The Rock says he doesn't know what he will say out there. Rock asks her for advice. Ava says Rock has never been in front of an NXT crowd and says their passion is different. Ava says Rock will feel what he wants to say. 

NXT Heritage Cup Match - Sudden Death - Charlie Dempsey (c) vs Lexis King

CD wristlocks King. King side headlocks him. King armdrags and dropkicks him. King side headlock takeovers him. CD wristlocks King. CD snapmares him twice then cravates him. King gets a pin attempt then armdrags him. CD hits euros. King dropkicks CD off the apron. CD's buddies catch him and King top rope plancha's all of them.

We go to break and return. CD slaps King and King hits forearms and chops. King shoulders and lariats CD over. King corner lariats CD then northern lights suplexes him for 2. King powerslams CD for 2. King hits a top rope crossbody but CD rolls through it and armbars him. CD's head is busted open. King slams him to escape the hold.

CD pounds on King. CD back elbows him. They run into each other and both go down. CD backslides King. CD leapfrogs and King ends up headbutting him in the crotch. King hits a coronation neckbreaker and wins.

Thoughts: The match was about average and had an unusual ending with King winning after an accidental shot to the groin. We know this isn't the end of this one and we'll have to see where this thing with King trying to be a good boy goes. Because I'm still not sure.

Ava talks to Vaquer and Fallon in the back. Shotzi walks in. She says she beat Fallon in the ring and should be the #1 contender. Vaquer said she beat 3 wrestlers. Fallon says Shotzi and Vaquer should fight to determine the #1 contender. Ava says let's do it next week.

NXT Title - Trick Williams (c) vs Oba Femi vs Eddy Thorpe

Eddy does not come out before the match starts. Oba and Trick lock up. Oba hits corner spears. Oba waistlock takedowns him. Trick jawbreakers him and hits a sitout death valley driver for 2. We go to break and return.

We see Eddy Thorpe start to head to ringside with a chair. Oba spears the post when Trick moves. Trick 2nd rope rock bottoms Oba for 2. They trade punches. Oba hits a big forearm and Trick flying lariats him. Trick jumping neckbreakers Oba then slams him.

Trick flapjacks Oba. Oba hits a chop on Trick then Trick ddt's him. Trick spinning facekicks him for 2. Oba sitout powerbombs him for 2. Oba spinebusters Eddy then throws him on the backdrop. Trick flying knees Oba for 2. Trick pumping knees a chair into Eddy (as he missed Oba) then Oba pop-up powerbombs Trick for the win.

Thoughts: The match wasn't that great. Eddy was barely part of the match to be honest. I don't mind Oba being champ as he has the tools. But I would have liked to have seen him win the title on a bigger stage. Stand and Deliver is still a few months away but to me, Trick vs Oba is the only match that could possibly main event it and hopefully this starts us on the road to getting there. Trick's 2nd run with the NXT Title accomplished absolutely nothing.

Oba and Giulia pose on the stage together with smoke and confetti as both won titles tonight. 

We go to break and return. The lights go out and The Rock comes out. 

The Rock takes a while to talk and says he only has 6:33 left to talk. He talks about Cody and said he was told by fans not to be mean to him. He said he wanted to give props to Cody. He said Cody kicked @ss and carried the company on his shoulders. He says the best thing for the fans who said that is to know their role and shut their mouth. Rock says he has 2 minutes left and says he will go all night. Rock said he was told he was coming to NXT but didn't know what to say. Rock says it was easy to go to Raw where all the stars are. He says the fans are critical to this show. He says some of the wrestlers here could be in the main event of Mania and some could be out of wrestling. Rock says it only matters how the fans react. He says the fans matter more than anything. He says he loves WWE and NXT.

Thoughts: This was a total disaster and reminded me of the Shane McMahon promo on Braun from a few years back. I think Rock got nervous, was pressed for time and tried to wing it and totally failed. The Rock made no sense here at all and it was easily one the worst promo I've ever seen him do.

Overall thoughts: It was a so-so show overall. The Rock's promo was a total disaster and one of the worst promos since the Shane McMahon promo on Braun Strowman from a few years ago. I don't think it will affect anything or have greater complications but it was bad. I only really liked the women's trios match here and that wasn't a classic. The three way for the title wasn't that good. Giulia vs Perez wasn't that good. Dempsey/King had another unusual finish and the women's four way was okay. The men's title match being a letdown and The Rock accomplishing nothing really brought this one down for me. I'd give this a 4 out of 10 as this one clearly underachieved. I would not recommend this.

New Japan Pro Wrestling 1/5/2025 Wrestle Dynasty

New Japan Pro Wrestling 1/5/2025 Wrestle Dynasty

Pre-Show International Women's Cup Final Four Way Match - Athena vs. Momo Watanabe vs. Willow Nightingale vs. Persephone

Willow boots Momo. Pers has a mask on here because she only lost her mask in Mexico. Athena throws Pers over the top. Momo throws Ath out onto Pers. Wllow step up enzugiri's Momo then corner hip attacks her. Willow running boots Momo then puts her in the torture rack and drops down.

Pers bridges out of a lariat then fallaway slams Willow. Ath suplexes Pers then forward cartwheel forearms her. Ath PK's Pers then axe kicks her. Momo hits forearms on Pers. Momo goes for the b-driver and Ath lariats Momo over for 2. Willo flying headscissors Ath then boots her over. Willow pushes Ath into a Pers spear.

Willow oduble suplexes 2 opponents then does a double splash. Momo dropkicks Ath then meteora's Willow off the apron. Ath swantons off the buckles onto 2 opponents. Pers top rope tornillos 2 girls.

Willow shotgun dropkicks Pers in the ring then misses a cannonball on her. Pers tope con hilos Willow.Pers germans Willow for 2. Momo hits a b-driver on Willow for 2. Ath and Momo push each other. Willow spinebusters Momo. Ath hits a double diving 2nd rope codebreaker. Ath alabama slams Pers onto Willow.

Willow pounces Ath. She trades chest chops with Pers then Pers hurricanrana's her for 2. Pers northern lights suplexes Willow for 2. Ath powerbombs Pers on the apron. Momo high kicks Willow twice. Willow corner death valley drivers her. Ath top rope diving cutters Willow for when Thekla pulls the ref out. Momo hits Ath with a bat then does a half-nelson wrist-clutch suplex to win.

Thoughts: It was your usual four way. The girls would get something started then someone else would jump in and everything would reset again. It was okay but not great. Momo winning in Japan makes the most sense but it hurts Athena's endless ROH-only winning streak.

Momo picks up the trophy and ends up breaking it after on accident.

Pre-Show ROH World Tag Team Title Match - The Sons Of Texas (Dustin Rhodes & Sammy Guevara) (c) vs. House Of Torture (SHO & Yoshinobu Kanemaru)

You do have to just go LOL at this one. What a random match. Sammy's wearing Wolverine themed gear and looks about 10 years old with it.

DR gets hit by the heels then hits a double lariat. DR chops Sho then Sammy gets a chop in. Sho takes a double suplex then Sammy standing moonsaults Sho. DR running knees Sho. SG top rope crossbodies Sho. Sammy top rope moonsaults out. Sammy is sent into the rails. 

DR is whipped into the exposed buckles. YK back body drops Sammy. YK suplexes Sammy then crabs him. Sho steps on the ROH tag titles. Sammy step up enzugiri's Sho. Sammy pulls Ren over the top. Sammy step up enzugiri's YK and DR gets tagged in. DR drop down punches Sho and powerslams both opponents. Sho spears DR. YK gets tagged in.

YK dropkicks DR in the knee then yanks on the leg. YK basement dropkicks DR. The ref is nearly sent into Dustin. YK spits whiskey in DR's eyes and rolls him up for 2. YK top rope moonsaults DR on the legs for 2.

Sammy flying cutters YK then DR canadian destroyers Sho. DR spits whiskey at YK. Sammy superkicks YK. DR twisting brainbusters YK and Sammy top rope swantons YK for the win.

Thoughts: It was okay. Both sides got a little in and the heels heeled it up some before losing. This was never going to be great due to the people involved. I didn't buy that the heels had any chance of winning.

Lucha Rumble - Taiji Ishimori vs. Titan vs. El Desperado vs. Hechicero vs. Soberano Jr. vs. Master Wato vs. Kosei Fujita vs. Mascara Dorada

Sob = Soberano Jr., MD = Mascara Dorada, TI = Taiji Ishimori, Despy = El Desperado

Hech and Kosei start us off. Hech ties up his legs, Kosei lifts himself up. Hech armbars Kosei. Sob is the next one in. Sob top rope crossbodies Kosei then headscissors Hech off the ropes. Hech rolls up Kosei and rocking horses him. Sob breaks it up with a springboard dropkick. Sob headscissors Hech in a botched spot then he fosbury flops him outside. 

Wato is next in. He trades chops with Sob. Sob does a high dropkick then Wato flying headscissors him. Mascara Dorada is next in. MD walks up the ropes, flips on them and armdrags Wato over. MD twisting headscissors Sob. MD headscissors Hech then topes Sob outside. MD then ropes Hech. 

TI gets in next. TI handspring cutters MD. TI hammerlock backbreakers MD. TI la mistica's MD then does a border city stretch on him. Titan is next in. Titan springboard crossbodies TI then pele kicks Hech. Titan jumping back kicks TI. Titan walks up the ropes then dropkicks TI off of them. Titan tornado ddt's MD. Titan superkicks MD.

Despy is next in. Everone is waiting for him to come in and is waving at him to come. Everyone goes after Despy and beats him up on the ramp. MD suplexes Despy then everyone gets shots in on Despy.

Everyone hits shots on each other. Kosei tope con hilos onto Hech outside. TI 2nd rope moonsaults Kosei outside. Sob tornillos off the top to the outside. Titan top rope moonsaults outside then Wato tope con hilos outside.

MD 2nd rope ssp's outside onto people. Despy goes for a stretch muffler on Kosei. Kosei then surfboards him. TI then gets a pin on Despy and wins.

Thoughts: It was a multi-man spotfest as expected. It wasn't great or anything but we got some nice dives out of it at least. It wasn't as good as it could have been but I still thought it was alright.

Exhibition Match - Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Katsuyori Shibata

They lock-up and spend a bunch of time doing it. They trade chest chops and chop flurry each other. Tana headbutts him then KS hits a chop flurry. Tana chop flurries him. They trade more chops and the time limit expires.

Thoughts: They only were given 5 minutes for this. It obviously wasn't enough time for them and this didn't accomplish a whole lot. I get that they didn't want anyone getting hurt, but I thought they could have done better.

NJPW STRONG Women's Title / RevPro Undisputed British Women's Title Match - Mercedes Mone  vs. Mina Shirakawa

Mone came out with Sailor Moon gear on.

Cone backs her up in the corner and backs off. Mina spin kicks her. Mina avoids a shot and shimmies. Mone armdrag rolls her into a crossface off the ropes. Mone topes Mina. Mina dragon screws Mone off the buckles.

Mone's leg is banged off the post then Mina figure fours her around the post. Mone pulls Mina into the buckles then 2nd rope meteora's her for 2. Mina drops Mone on her knees and kneebreakers her on her knee. Mone meteora's her. Mone does a backcracker. Mone lays her on the 2nd rope and double knee presses her down.

Mone hits a 2nd rope meteora, Mina no sells it and bangs Mone's knees off the mat. Mina figure fours her. Mone springboard kicks her for 2. Mone lifts her and drops Mina's chest on her knees. They trade forearms on their knees then get up and trade. Mina spinning forearms her. Mina tornado ddt's Mone.

Mone hits suplexes on Mina. Mina ddt's her from the top rope. Mina dragon screws her then electric chair drops her on her chest. Mina figure fours Mone. Mina top rope diving slingblades Mone then does an implant ddt. Mina sitout reverse ddt's Mone for 2.

Mone codebreakers Mina then does a pendulum codebreaker for 2. Mina gori bombs her. Mina ties up the legs and cut-throats her but Mone tries a pin out of it. Mone backslides her for 2. Mone then rolls her up for 2. Mone does a money maker and wins.

Thoughts: I didn't like it. It was the usual Mina match where all the focus was on her opponents knees. Most of Mone's offense is meteora based though so it didn't affect her that much. It also went a bit longer than it needed to. 

David Finlay vs. Brody King

DF rushes him and Brody pushes him off. Brody shoulders him over. Brody facekicks DF. Brody throws him off. Brody misses a corner charge on DF. Brody back body drops DF. Brody chops him down. DF jawbreakers Brody over the ropes. DF hits crossface shots.

DF lariats Brody over the top and goes with him to the floor. DF gets caught on a plancha attempt on him. Brody is sent into the post. DF charges at him and goes into the rails. Brody chops DF then hits a hard crossbody on DF against the rails. 

Brody chops DF in the ring. Brody forearms him. DF is sent hard into the buckles. Brody hits a hard chop on DF. They trade forearms on the apron. Brody hanging sleepers him and DF rakes the eyes to release it. DF flying shoulders him into the rails. DF top rope plancha's Brody on the outside.

DF corner euros Brody. DF is pulled down on the ropes and takes a death valley driver for 2. Brody forearms DF. DF fights back with forearms and Brody flips him with a lariat for 2. Brody piledrivers DF for 2.

DF hits a big spear for 2. Brody corner death valley drivers him. Brody corner spears him. They go up top and DF gets down then alley oops him on the buckles. DF powerbombs Brody then hits overkill for the win.

Thoughts: DF wrestles like a powerhouse despite not looking or really being the part. It's a constant problem in his matches and Brody's not the right person to have that problem with. I didn't like DF hitting a powerbomb on Brody and throwing him around. I do think they got this one mostly right though and I'd say this was good. It was maybe DF's best match yet. He took his bumps here and was thrown around. Brody did his usual big man stuff before losing...and we knew he was losing this.

Claudio Castagnoli vs. Shota Umino

Shota comes out on a motorcycle again. CC then hits him from behind on the ramp. They get in. CC hits euros and they trade forearms. Shota dropkicks CC. CC rams Shota's back into the post then drops him throat first on the rails. Shota is sent into the rails.

CC double stomps him for 2. CC hits a karelin's lift for 2. CC rakes on Shota's face. CC hits euros then running facekicks him. Shota tornado ddt's CC then slingshot ddt's him over the 2nd rope on the apron.

Shota bridging ddt's CC on the floor. Shota then tope dropkicks CC while he's on the mat. Shota reverse ddt lifts CC and hits ignition. CC 2nd rope gorilla presses Shota. CC lariats Shota. 

CC giant swings Shota. CC then sharpshooters him. CC knees him in the gut. CC hits a euro flurry. Shota ddt's CC off the 2nd rope. Shota euros him in the back of the neck for 2. CC hits a pop-up euro and a ricola bomb for 2. Sho double underhook ddt's him and wins. The crowd then boos.

Thoughts: They wanted to have Shota be the underdog and win in this one. Unfortunately, the crowd didn't like Shota and didn't care. The match was okay but the crowd didn't buy it and it just didn't work.

AEW International Title / NEVER Openweight Title Match - Konosuke Takeshita (c) vs. Tomohiro Ishii

KT side headlocks him. They shoulder battle. KT knocks him over. KT hits boots to the gut in the corner. KT running knees him in the corner. Ishii hits chops in the corner. Ishii shoulders KT over. KT facekicks him. Ishii hits a forearm then KT misses a 2nd rope senton. Ishii misses a sliding lariat then KT launches him on a release german. KT sliding d's him for 2. KT blue thunders him for 2.

KT hits a 2nd rope falcon arrow for 2. Ishii hits forearms then KT package tombstones him. KT then wheel barrow germans him. Ishii no sells it then gets lariated for 1. Ishii germans KT then lariats him for 1. 

They grab each other by the waists and trade forearms. Ishii drops him with one. KT forearms him over. Ishii hits a 2nd rope hurricanrana which is a new one. Ishii running lariats him. KT headbutts him. Ishii lariats him then running lariats him for 2. KT brainbusters him. Ishii forearms him over then sliding lariats him. KT hits a poisonrana.

KT pumping knees him then Ishii enzugiri's him. KT forearms him. KT hits a raging fire and wins.

Thoughts: I didn't like it. It was all action with no selling whatsoever and it was a bit rushed. I'm not really surprised by how this one turned out.

IWGP Tag Team Title Three Way Match - The Young Bucks (Matthew Jackson & Nicholas Jackson) vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon (Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito) vs. United Empire (Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb)

HT = Hiromu Takahashi

HT's team takes offense to start. Khan and Naito fight outside. The Bucks are knocked off the apron by Cobb and HT. HT flying headscissors Cobb then is shouldered over. The Bucks apron powerbomb HT. A Buck is popped up into a dropkick on Cobb. The Bucks then do stereo topes.

HT takes a neckbreaker into a slingshot swanton. Cobb dropkicks a Buck out. Cobb takes a double superkick. A Buck uses the other Buck to walk up the ropes and does a corkscrew dive to the outside. The other Buck then takes a double baseball slide.

HT crossbodies a Buck. Naito's head is banged off the mat by Khan. Khan slams HT down. Khan hits double chops on Naito. Khan takes a corkscrew kick and Cobb splashes a Buck. Cobb does his own combinacion cabron on Naito. Cobb takes a slingshot facebuster from a Buck then the Buck moonsaults out. Cobb takes a top rope splash + standing moonsault combo for 2.

Cobb superkicks a Buck. Naito neckbreakers Cobb over the knee then baseball slides him in the back. A Buck hits endless northern lights suplexes on HT then does a double with Naito. HT is bridged on the ropes and takes a springboard swanton. HT belly to belly suplexes one Buck into the other in tree of woe. Naito hits an assisted tornado ddt on a Buck. HT hits a death valley driver on a Buck for 2.

Khan belly to belly suplexes Naito and HT. He then does it to The Bucks as well. Cobb germans Naito and HT then a Buck.  Cobb blocks an EVP trigger. Cobb hits a double german on The Bucks. A Buck takes a standing moonsault from Cobb.

The Bucks hit a double superplex on Cobb then a sliced bread on him for 2. A Buck takes a sunset bomb into Cobb and Naito hits a destino on a Buck for 2. HT hits kicks on Khan.

HT dropkicks Cobb then superkicks him. Naito hits a diamond dust on Cobb. Naito takes an EVP trigger for 2. Khan takes a double superkick. A Buck top rope moonsaults outside then The Bucks hit a Meltzer driver and win.

Thoughts: It went a little longer than it needed to. It was a spotty match as expected with people hitting a spot and then switching out to the next team. I'm not surprised The Bucks won. They don't like to lose, they always want to be featured and they only get away with it because of their position in AEW. It was acceptable for what it was but was totally forgettable.

IWGP Global Heavyweight Title Match - Yota Tsuji (c) vs. Jack Perry

Jack came out with a goat mask and sickle. Yota shoulders him over and side headlock takeovers him. Yota armdrags him and legsweeps him. Jack hits a double up kick. Yota rams Jack's head into the mat. Yota gets dropkicked to the outside. Jack then topes Yota from behind outside. Jack backdrops Yota on the apron.

Jack corner lariats him and basement dropkicks him in the back for 2. Jack chinlocks him then takes a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Yota boots Jack over then gutbusters him for 2. Yota corner splashes him. Jack baseball slides him while he's in tree of woe. Jack then does a double knee to the back and germans him. 

Jack hits forearms. Yota does his curbstomp combo. They go up top and Yota top rope belly to belly suplexes him for 2. Yota goes for a flying spear and takes a flying knee from Jack.

They trade forearms. Jack flying ddt's him for 2. Jack low blows Yota after almost sending him into the ref. Jack torture rack drops him for 2. They run the ropes and Yota flying spears him to win.

Thoughts: It was just okay. There was nothing too great about it and the crowd wasn't that into it. Jack should not be in this position but at least Yota won.

Kenny Omega vs. Gabe Kidd

Gabe is wearing NJPW shorts for some reason. KO came out to some dramatic Japanese music. They miss shots to start. Gabe  side headlocks him and shoulders him over. They facekick each other and trade chops. KO hits punches. Chris Charlton talks about Tony Khan poaching AEW talent and calls him a money mark. KO does a finlay roll into a 2nd rope moonsault for 2. KO kicks him in the gut. KO stomps on Gabe.

KO hits punches and Gabe hits a big slap. Gabe suplexes him over the top and KO goes with him. Gabe rams KO's back into the apron then sends him into the rails. Gabe puts two tables next to the each other. KO baseball slides him as he tries to get in and plancha's him.

Gabe is sent into the rails. KO bangs Gabe's head off the apron. They fight on the apron. KO tries to back body drop him onto the apron, but Gabe flips off the ropes and goes down to the floor. KO dragon suplexes him on the floor.

KO then powerbombs Gabe through the two tables. Gabe seems to have hit his head off the floor. Bryce the ref calls for a stop. Gabe's forehead is busted open somehow out of this. KO then springboard swantons over the rail onto Gabe and Bryce.

Gabe hits KO with a chair outside. Gabe hits chair shots on KO. KO is sent into the post. Gabe brainbusters Kenny on a table. Kenny gets busted open and Gabe bites Kenny's cut. Kenny headbusters Gabe on some chairs in the ring. Gabe superplexes Kenny onto chairs. Gabe chairs Kenny. Kenny dragon suplexes him. Gabe hits chair shots then Kenny chairs him back.

They trade forearms. Gabe hits slaps and they slap each other at the same time. KO hits 2 pumping knees and Gabe lariats him. KO chops him and Gabe chops back. KO hurricanrana's him. KO hits a tope con hilo.

KO top rope dropkicks Gabe in the back of the neck. KO pumping knees Gabe in the back of the neck. KO hits a top rope dragon suplex. KO hits a jay driller for 2. KO hits a pumping knee. Gabe does an abdominal stretch to KO.

Gabe rebound germans Kenny. Gabe running knees him then piledrivers him for 2. Gabe ganso bombs him then does a single leg package piledriver for 2. Gabe enzugiri's him. Kenny knees him in the face. KO powerbombs him and pumping knees him for 1. Kenny hits a kamigoye and does an angel's wings for the wind.

Thoughts: I'm always skeptical when I see a Kenny Omega match get a ton of love. Kenny's a horrible seller and loves to overdo it. As I expected, they overdid it here and the selling was terrible here. Even top rope release dragon suplexes, jay drillers and ganso bombs were enough to put down these two. They were on the right track early with the blood and showing some aggression, but then it just became an indy match with Inoki tributes, table bumps and head drops. Late in the match they were even kicking out of things at only a 1 count. And of course Kenny got the win here.

Tanahashi cries on commentary after.

IWGP World Title - Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs Ricochet

I can't believe they are running this last. Ric couldn't even make NJPW main events most of the time when he was in NJPW and is not even a main eventer in AEW right now.

Zack takes a facekick while posing on the apron. Ric topes him. Ric springboard dropkicks Zack. Ric does a flying space tiger drop then springboard 450's Zack for 2. Ric goes to springboard and takes a euro. Ric is hanging upside down in the ropes and Zack kicks the rope into Ric's head. 

Zack hits euros. Ric moonsaults off the rail and is caught. Zack twists Ric's neck with his feet. Zack indian deathlocks Ric's legs then kimura's him off of it. Zack hits kicks to the chest then twists Ric's head with his feet. Ric flips over Zack's back then handspring back elbows him. Ric springboard lariats Zack then running ssp's him. Ric then does an asai moonsault for 2. Ric is on Zack's back and Zack cannonballs him into the buckles.

Ric flips off of Zack then pump kicks him. Ric hits a big lariat. Ric running lariats him for 2. Ric death valley drivers him. Zack running euros Ric in the corner. Ric handsrpings and is caught with a dragon suplex. Ric no sells and takes another.

Ric forearms him and takes a euro. Ric knees him in the jaw, northern lights suplexes him then holds on for another. Ric then keeps the hold on and suplexes him on the apron. Ric then holds on again and suplexes him on the floor.

Zack hits euros and hits a 2nd rope michinoku driver for 2. Zack then goes for an armbar. Zack stomps Ric's arm. Ric hits high kicks and lifting sitout reverse ddt's him. Ric hits a top rope ssp on Zack for 2. Ric hits another lifting sitout reverse ddt. Zack PK's him then hits a spinning fire thunder driver for 2. Zack pulls Ric's arms back and submits him when he hooks the arm with the leg.

Thoughts: I didn't like it. The selling wasn't that good here and  I thought Zack could have done a better job working the arms. These two also had no real history or anything going into this so it was essentially just a match. Like last night's main, it was one of the weakest Dome main events ever.

Zack says the future of NJPW looks orange and says TMDK will run the place for a long time. Zack says they are TMDK and the mighty don't kneel.

The announcers talk about getting a nasty phone call after this (Chris got suspended after this) and says they might have gotten some heat off of this.

Overall thoughts: It was a weak Dome show. The AEW vs NJPW vs CMLL idea had some potential but they made some poor choices here. They could have potentially gotten Okada, Will, Jay, Jericho, Christian, Copeland or other big names on this show and instead opted for some of AEW's lesser names outside of Omega. I didn't care Zack/Ric. Kenny/Gabe was the usual awful Kenny big match. Finlay/Brody was better than I expected. Yota/Jack wasn't bad. They had the right idea with Claudio vs Shota but the crowd didn't want any of it. Takeshita vs Ishii brought out the worst instincts of both guys. Mone/Mina wasn't that good and Tana/Shibata only got 2 minutes. The NJPW Tag Title match was what you would expect. NJPW just did not have the talent for a 2 day Dome show and I hope they do not try it again next year. I thought both Dome shows were 2 of the weakest Dome shows NJPW has ever done and Zach being in the main for both made for the weakest main events NJPW has ever done. I would not recommend this and would only give it a 4 out of 10.

WWE Monday Night Raw 1/6/2025

WWE Monday Night Raw 1/6/2025

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2024/12/wwe-monday-night-raw-12302024.html

This is Raw's debut on Netflix. Raw just won't be live in the US but will be live worldwide, so there's going to be a ton of people watching this. We won't know how many though unless it's announced because Netflix is private. The one big downfall is that the move to Netflix will make it hard for some fans in more rural areas to watch it as there is nearly no internet in some parts of the US.We are in Los Angeles, CA at the Inuit Dome. Michael Cole and Pat McAfee are on commentary.

We see various wrestlers arrive.

The ring is covered with a warp and we get a video played on the tarp. The video is about the story of wrestling. They say as TV changed so did wrestling and wrestling changed America. Triple H says it's the eternal battle of the face vs the heel. They almost mention "the shoot and the work" and "the real and the unreal". They say every story in wrestling has an element of truth. They say the screen gets smaller but the show gets bigger. They say they are presenting the story of WWE. We then get some fireworks and the tarps fall down.

Thoughts: I didn't like this as they broke kayfabe here.

Triple H is in the ring with a spotlight on him. HHH says we are being seen and heard by the entire globe. He says to tell them this is WWE and we are louder than anything you have seen before. 

HHH asks us if we are ready. He says welcome to Raw and welcome to the Netflix Era.

The Rock comes out. The Rock has his personalized title with him and has grey facial hair now for some reason. Rock said the only way you used to be able to watch wrestling was to buy a ticket or watch on Saturday mornings. He says it's a different story now. He says it's the largest arena in the history of WWE.

Rock says you gotta have the right partners and Netflix loves WWE. We then cut to Netflix people in a box. Rock thanks Cody Rhodes for carrying the company on his back and we see Cody in the front row with a suit on. Rock says to tell Mama Rhodes he says hello. Rock says he wants to acknowledge Roman Reigns. He says Roman is the original tribal chief.

Rock says he will be watching tribal rules tonight and says he's a high chief. He says he loves everyone and says let's get the show on the road. Cody then hugs Rock.

Thoughts: I was expecting more from this. This had nothing to do with any storylines and accomplished nothing.

The ring mat is black and has some advertisements on it. The ref is also wearing a gray and black shirt with two black vertical stripes on it. The video quality is great.

Tribal Combat Match - Solo Sikoa vs Roman Reigns

Roman had his usual super long entrance here. Heyman's going to hold the necklace. We then go to break and return. 

They lock up and Solo is thrown out. They drive each other into the post, rail and apron. Roman's head is banged off the commentary table. Solo lariats him. Solo hits headbutts. Roman lariats him then flying lariats him. Roman hits corner lariats. Roman running facekicks him out. Solo uranages him on the commentary table. Solo hits Roman with a monitor. Solo throws the steps at Roman's head. We go to break and return.

Solo grabs a chair and hits Roman in the gut with it. Solo hits him in the back with it then hits a bunch of chair shots while Roman is down. Solo hits shots and talks trash. Solo puts a chair around Roman's head then misses a corner hip attack.

Roman chairs Solo then bangs Solo's head off the chair. Roman misses a conchairto then Solo low blows him. Solo rock bottoms him on the chair for 2. We get a drone camera shot I think. Solo grabs a table. Roman drive-by kicks Solo while he pulls the table out.

Solo hits Roman with a kendo stick. Solo shoves the stick in Roman's face and says Roman will never love him. Roman powerbombs Solo through a table. Roman goes for the pin and Tama Tonga pulls the ref out. Jacob Fatu comes out. He nails Roman, superkicks him and hits an impaler ddt.

Fatu double jump moonsaults Roman. Solo samoan spikes Roman for 2. Solo then samoan spikes the ref. Sami Zayn and Jimmy Uso finally come out to help Roman after several minutes. Fatu is sent int othe steps and Tama goes into the post. Jimmy superkicks Solo and Sami helluva kicks Solo.

Roman spears Solo and another ref comes down. Roman gets a 2 count. Jimmy and Sami then dive out on Tama and Fatu. Kevin Owens then comes out and stunners Roman. KO tells Solo to pin Roman and Solo gets a 2 count. KO pounds on Roman. Cody Rhodes then comes out and fights KO. Cody hits a cody cutter on KO. They then fight in the crowd.

Roman hits a big spear on Solo then hits another for the win.

Thoughts: It was so-so. It had the usual issues with WWE hardcore matches where you can't have blood so it was limited to table and chair spots. The match was slower paced and didn't really pick up until people started interfering. If you were hoping for some big special epic match, this was not it. 

Paul goes to give Roman the necklace. The Rock then comes out. Rock asks for the necklace. Rock puts the necklace on Roman and they stare at each other. They shake hands and hug. Rock watches Roman pose and they all walk out together.

They announce that The Royal Rumble will be in Saudi Arabia in 2026. I'm not a fan of it as I think PPV's and bigger events should stay in the US and Canada for the most part.

We see Smackdown wrestlers in a suite and some wrestler in the front row like The War Raiders, Rey and LA Knight. 

John Cena comes out. Cena says there's people everywhere here. Cena says the audience just got bigger and says the fans' electricity is felt all around the world. John says he couldn't think of a better way to start the world tour than LA. He said he worked out at Gold's Gym, learned how to wrestle here and lived near the building. He says The Prototype was born here and he won his first world title here.  

John talks about who he may face next, bringing up Logan, Drew, Punk, Gunther and Cody. He says people also ask when he becomes 17x world champ. Cena says he doesn't see it happening though. He says it's been 2,446 days since he won his last match. He says his time is up. He says the 17th championship won't happen. He says it would take a miracle and says he has a better chance at winning an oscar. He says you'd have to win MITB, The Elimination Chamber or The Royal Rumble to make that happen. Cena says maybe he can win The Rumble. He says it's only a lottery ticket but says he should play and maybe he wins. He says then he could make history at Wrestlemania.

Cena says it sounds impossible but nothing is impossible with him. He says we only say never when we say never give up. He says he's not just going to The Royal Rumble, he's going to win The Royal Rumble.

Thoughts: This was a great promo from Cena and got me hyped for The Rumble.

We get a video on Logan Paul. He says he'd hate him too. He says he has never fallen in line or waited his turn. He says it must keeps us up at night that he's been so good at this. He says he's dedicating his life to this. He says there's no more side hustle or BS, he's a 100% WWE Superstar. He says it's beginning of the era of Logan Paul. We then cut to Logan in the front row. 

We see people in the crowd like McCauly Caulkin, Topanga, X-Pac, Bianca, Naomi and Nakamura. 

Women's World Title - Liv Morgan (c) vs Rhea Ripley

They hockey fight to start. Rhea knees her and stomps her foot. Rhea picks her up by the throat and throws her down. Rhea cannonballs Raquel on the outside when Liv moves. Dom trips up Rhea outside and Liv knees Rhea off the apron. Liv tries to flying headscissors Rhea from the apron but is powerbombed onto the commentary table. We go to break and return.

Liv stomps on Rhea in the corner. Rhea pulls her into the buckles. Liv 2nd rope diving facebusters Rhea for 2. Liv bangs Rhea's head off the mat. Liv hits slaps then Rhea short arm clotheslines her. Rhea drops her face first on the mat then running knees her. Rhea suplexes her.

Rhea does a half and half suplex for 2. Liv backcrackers her then throws her into the buckle. Liv tornado ddt's her. Liv step up enzugiri's her. Rhea slides through her legs and hits a riptide for 2. 

Dom throws the title in. The ref takes it away. Raquel brings a chair in and Rhea takes oblivion onto the chair for 2. Liv hits three amigos. Liv hits a top rope splash for 2. Rhea blocks oblivion then hits another riptide. Rhea then goes for another and wins.

Thoughts: It was about average. They didn't go all out here or anything and there wasn't a ton of story outside of basic face vs heel stuff. I liked Rhea sliding through Liv's legs for a riptide. That was a cool spot.

Dom slides in behind Rhea after. Rhea turns around and Dom offers a hug. Rhea teases hugging him and kicks him in the nuts. Rhea then hits riptide. 

Rhea poses in the entrance way and The Undertaker's music hits. Taker rides his motorcycle in and goes around ringside. Taker fist bumps Rhea and they pose together as fireworks go off.

We see wrestlers cheering in a suite and we see New Day just staring at them.

Cathy Kelly wants to talk to Adam Pearce but Adam is talking to Bayley. American Made interrupts before Adam can say anything. Chad says he's an olympian and a valedictorian. He says he will win a single's title this year and will dispel any rumors there are that he can't be luchadores. Chad asks Adam to send the best luchador he has next week. Adam asks if he's sure and Chad says he is. Adam says he will make a phone call.

We see an instagram video of The Rock leaving. He hugs Paul Heyman and Triple H. He then hugs Roman. We see him in the parking lot hugging more people including Cody. He says he'll see us at NXT tomorrow. Rock then commits a DUI on camera as he drinks and drives.

Michele McCool is in the crowd with Lyra Valkyria, who they don't mention. We see Iyo and Dakota in the crowd then they cut back to Lyra.

A rapper named Travis Scott is in the stands and Jey Uso comes out near him. Scott is smoking in the stands which I'm pretty sure is not allowed.

Jey Uso vs Drew McIntyre

The ref is wearing a ref cam. Jey topes Drew before he gets in. Jey is rammed into the apron and takes a belly to belly on the floor. Jey back splashes and step up enzugiri's Drew. Jey goes for an up and over and is kicked. Drew hits chops and forearms Jey. 

Drew hits corner punches on Jey. Jey sitout powerbombs him. Jey hits punches and spinning enzugiri's him. Jey corner hip attacks him then hits a top rope crossbody for 2. Drew neckbreakers Jey and kips up. Jey superkicks Drew on a claymore kick attempt. Jey goes for a top rope splash and Drew gets his knees up. Drew spinebusters him for 2.

Drew sitout powerbombs him for 2. They trade shots. Drew hits a double underhook ddt for 2. Jey spears Drew for 2. Jey hits a superkick then Drew hits a claymore kick for 2. Drew bangs Jey's head off the mat.

Drew wants another claymore but Jey falls down. Jey avoids a claymore and rolls Drew up to win.

Thoughts: It was a bit slow in the finishing stretch and Jey won by surprise. It was okay but not the best match possible. The crowd wasn't great for this one.

We get a Gunther video. He says it's a new era for everyone else but not him. He says people's personal problems and outbursts mean nothing to him. He says he's where wrestlers dreams, hopes and ambitions go to die. He says he's the light at the end of the tunnel as he holds the prize everyone wants. He says he's the world champ. 

Cathy interviews Gabriel Iglesias for some reason. The New Day interrupt. They complain about not having time to explain what happened with Big E. Kofi says they should be interviewing them and not this fluffy babboon. Alpha Academy walk in. Gabe says he has to go and starts a "New Day Sucks" chant.

Paul Heyman talks to Roman Reigns in the back. He says he's the head of the table again and says they need a platform for the whole world to acknowledge him. Roman says to book it on January 27th which will be Monday Night Raw.

Bron Breakker, Tiffany Stratton and Nikki Bella are watching at ringside.

Hulk Hogan's music hits. Hulk comes out with Jimmy Hart, who is waving a USA flag. Hulk's looking real thin. The crowd boos Hulk. Hulk shills his new beer. He says he's had partners like Macho and says WWE's greatest partner is Netflix. He then rips his shirt off and shows a Netflix shirt.

Thoughts: I really don't like Hulk shilling beer. It's not something his on-screen character would do.

Damian Priest fights Finn Balor in a street fight next week. That feud just won't end.

Stephanie McMahon is in the crowd.

Seth Rollins vs CM Punk

They trade shots. Seth lariats him against the ropes then Punk lariats him over the top. Punk misses a slingshot plancha then Seth topes him into the rail. Seth argues with the ref and sends Punk into the rails. Punk back body drops him on the floor. Punk double axe handles him off the rails.

Seth jumps off the rails and takes a shot to the gut. Punk drops the table top on Seth's back. Seth misses a curb stomp. Seth does facewash boots on Punk. Seth argues with the ref. Punk jumping facekicks Seth. Punk drops Seth on the ropes gut first. Punk hits a top rope neckbreaker.

We go to break and return. Seth running forearms Punk in the corner. Punk step up knees him in the corner. Punk hits double axe handles and neckbreakers him. Punk neckbreakers Seth over the top rope. Punk plancha's him outside. Seth rolls through Punk's crossbody off the top. Seth then hits his own go to sleep. Punk then rolls out.

They get back in and Punk curb stomps Seth. Seth hits a go to sleep for 2. Seth misses a curb stomp. Punk's head is banged off the commentary table. They get on the table and Seth pedigrees him onto it. Seth then holds his knee after. Seth then hits a pedigree for 2. 

They slap each other on their knees. They trade shots and Punk high kicks him. Seth buckle bombs Punk then curbstomps him for 2. Seth walks up the buckles and superplexes Punk. Seth holds on and Punk hits a go to sleep. Seth falls onto Punk's shoulders. Punk hits another go to sleep and pins him.

Thoughts: It was a good main event. Both did did more than usual and busted out some rare stuff like the Punk curb stomp and the Seth go to sleep. The crowd was also a little better for this one than usual. I though they did an okay job in conveying the hatred they had for each other as well. I'm curious to see where things go from here.  They were taking a risk here by having Punk jump off the top, jump to the outside and off the rails. The ref had to help Punk up after and hopefully he's not hurt.

Overall thoughts: I had high hopes for this one. It didn't quite live up to expectations. They spent a ton of time on celebs and wrestlers in the crowd which got old fast. The Rock was on the show but did nothing but likely earn a DUI. Roman/Solo was slow and just not that good. Drew/Jey wasn't either guys best work and Liv/Rhea wasn't that great. The main was good though and Cena's promo was good. I also didn't like the opening video breaking kayfabe. WWE really did try to make this special but the work was similar to the work you'd find on a Crown Jewel show where nobody was giving their best. I'd give it a 6 out of 10 overall and I'd say that's disappointing as this should have been a classic.

WWE Superstars 11/15/2013

WWE Superstars 11/15/2013

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2024/12/wwe-superstars-1182013.html

Notes - The quality on this is terrible and it's hard to even see who is who.

The Funkadactyls (Cameron & Naomi) vs Aksana & Alicia Fox

Fox side headlocks Naomi and throws her down. Naomi high kicks her from the apron. It looks like Naomi hit a headhunter on Fox then Naomi flying headscissors Aksana. Cam armdrags Aksana then Aksana takes a double suplex. Fox is pulled over the top rope. Aksana tilt-a-whirl slams Naomi.

Aksana side slams Naomi. Fox side slams Naomi then drives her head into the mat with her leg. Fox chinlocks her. They say Johnny Ace found Fox in a fashion catalogue and signed her. Fox throws Naomi down backwards. Naomi monkey flips her.

Cam comes in and hits lariats. Cam does a bad headscissors her on her then does a split leg drop for 2. Cam pendulum ddt's Fox and wins.

Thoughts: It was ugly. There were lots of sloppy moves and botches here. Fox continues to overdo it on most of the moves she does and turns easy bumps into weird athletic movements.  

The Great Khali & The Usos (Jey Uso & Jimmy Uso) vs The Miz & The Prime Time Players (Darren Young & Titus O'Neil)

The Uso did a haka here as they entered. Miz does the PTP's dance with them.

Jey shoulders over Miz then sunset flips him. They trade pin attempts. Titus hits chops on Khali when they get in. Khali then chops him back with mean sounding chops. Khali lariats Young over and bangs his head off the buckles. Khali bangs Miz's head off the buckles and chops him. Khali throws Miz over the top. We go to break and return.

Khali chops Miz. Jimmy gets his head banged off the buckle by Miz. Miz side headlocks him. Miz goes up and over then hits a lariat. Jimmy takes a double suplex for 2. Young side headlocks Jimmy. Young spinning forearms Jey. Titus fallaway slams Jey off of his crossbody attempt. Miz running boots Jey for 2.

Jey susnet flips Miz. Miz bangs Jey's head off of his knee then neckbreakers him. Titus corner splashes an Uso. Titus misses a corner charge. Young and Jey get in. Young takes lariats, a kick to the gut and a bubba bomb.

Miz breaks up a pin is chopped by Khali. Titus knocks Khali down and off the apron. Jey superkicks Titus then superkicks Young. Jey hits a top rope splash on Young and pins him. 

Thoughts: It got more time than it really needed. It was average. I was surprised to see Khali take a bump to the floor. Khali's chops looked good here. 

Khali dances with The Uso's after.

Overall thoughts: There were only 2 new matches and various recaps on this one. The women's match was bad with tons of botches and sloppy moments. The men's match was average. I would not recommend this one.

New Japan Pro Wrestling 1/4/2025 Wrestle Kingdom 19 in Tokyo Dome

New Japan Pro Wrestling 1/4/2025 Wrestle Kingdom 19 in Tokyo Dome

Pre-Show IWGP World Heavyweight Title #1 Contendership New Japan Rambo Match - Satoshi Kojima vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Yuji Nagata vs. Tomohiro Ishii vs. Tomoaki Honma vs. KENTA vs. Togi Makabe vs. Josh Barnett vs. Toru Yano vs. Taichi vs. Hirooki Goto vs. Yujiro Takahashi vs. SANADA vs. YOSHI-HASHI vs. Great-O-Khan vs. Alex Zayne vs. Oleg Boltin

Khan and Josh do some grappling then get back up. Josh takes him down and Oleg is next in. Oleg grapples with Josh and throws him down. Josh headlock takeovers him. Oleg headscissors him then goes for the armbar. Khan breaks it up. Goto is next in.

Goto lariats Oleg over then suplexes Khan onto Oleg. Josh spinning heel kicks Goto. Yuji Nagata comes in next. Josh lariats Oleg in the corner. Yuji and Josh trade kicks. Oleg tries to dump Josh over the top and both get eliminated.

Togi Makabe comes in. Yuji and Goto trade in the ring. Yuji hits forearms and boots in the corner. Togi chokes khan with a chain then foot chokes him. Yuji hits kicks on Goto and Togi drops Khan with a punch. Togi chinlocks Khan. Kenta comes out next.

Kenta and Yuji trade forearms. Kenta eye rakes him. Yuji facekicks him. Kenta hits punches on Yuji. Kent facekicks him off the apron for the elimination. Yoshi-Hashi is next in. Kenta and Yoshi trade forearms. Kenta stomps on him then rakes his eyes.

Yujiro Takahashi is next in. Yujiro trips Yoshi from the outside. Yujir corner facekicks Yoshi. Yoshi superkicks Yujiro and sends Kenta into him. Yujiro throws Yoshi over the top after Kenta pulls the rope down.

Toru Yano is next in. Yano pushes Kenta into Yujiro then pulls Kenta to the apron. Yano sends Yujiro into Kenta and Kenta is eliminated by falling off the apron. Yano then rolls up Yujiro and pins him for the elimination. Hiroyoshi Tenzan is next in. Khan hiptosses Togi for 2.

Tenzan hits Khan from behind and boots him. Tenzan hits headbutts on Khan. Tenzan hits mongolian chops on him then chokes him. Satoshi Kojima is next in. Yano gets double teamed by Tenkoji and takes mongolian chops from both. Tnzan misses a corner charge and is rolled up. Tenzan lariats Koji on accident and Yano rolls up Tenzan and pins him.

Tomoaki Honma is in next. Goto gets a 2 count on Khan. Honma misses a falling headbutt on Yano. Honma hits chops on Koji. then clubs on him. Koji takes corner attacks. Sanada is next in. Koji boots on and hits machine gun chops on Sanada. Togi hits corner punches on Sanada. Koji and Togi push each other. Sanada low blows Togi. He tries to eliminate Togi but Togi can't get over the top. Snaada low blows Koji and eliminates him.

Taichi comes in. Sanada sends Tai into the rails. Tomohiro Ishii comes in. Ishii and Honma forearm each other. Honma lariats him then hits a falling headbutt. Ishii hits forearms on Honma. Honma headbutts him, goes for a flying headbutt and takes a forearm. Ishii brainbusters him. Ishii pins Honma.

Alex Zayne is the last entrant in. Tai side kicks Sanada. Sanada makes it seem like Taichi low blowed him and the ref DQ'd Tai. This is after the ref saw Sanada do it earlier and did nothing. Tai facekicks Sanda off the apron for the elimination. They fight outside.

Alex hits a cinammon twist on Goto then pulls Yano over the top for the elimination. Khan puts Ishii on the apron. Alex gets put on there too. Khan pushes Ishii off the apron for the elimination. Alex hits a headlock + snapmare takeover then does a double flipping legdrop. Khan lariats Alex off the apron. 

Khan shoulders throws Goto. Khan pump kicks Goto. Khan hits mongolian chops on Goto. Goto hits a GTR on Goto and throws him onto the apron. Goto lariats Khan off the apron and wins.

Thoughts: It was long and not that good. The wrestling was all pretty weak for the most part and it wasn't that clean. This was not a good way to start things off.

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Title Ladder Match - Intergalactic Jet Setters (Kevin Knight & KUSHIDA) (c) vs. Catch 22 (Francesco Akira & TJP) vs. Ichiban Sweet Boys (Kosei Fujita & Robbie Eagles) vs. BULLET CLUB War Dogs (Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney)

Clark and Drila came out with girls. They all fight to start. Knight hits a sringboard crossbody on multiple people in the ring. Kevin jumps over a ladder and Kush dropkicks the ladder into 2 people. Kush then does a standing frog splash onto it.  TJP is chaired and Clark rams a ladder into opponents. Kosei takes a high/low chair shot.

Kush knocks Wardogs off the ladder on a double handspring back elbow. Kevin is pushed off the top rope into the ropes. Kevin jumps off the apron and has a chair thrown at his face. A table is put next to a rail. Drilla tries to do an over the shoulder piledriver onto Kush but misses the table.

Akira is on TJP's shoulders on the apron and he is dropped down into a senton on Drilla through a table. Rob hits a standing sliced bread and takes a springboard lariat from Kevin. Clark is laid on a bridged ladder and Rob springboard 450's Clark there. Kosei is put on Akira's shoulders and takes a flying cutter from a ladder. Rob climbs a ladder, TJP springboards onto it. TJP mists him then final cuts him off the ladder through a bridged ladder.

Akira is on Kush's shoulders and takes a Kevin dropkick. Drilla takes a flatliner into the buckles. Kevin is on top of a ladder. He tries to dive onto Drilla while Drilla takes a neckbreaker but mostly misses. Kush throws Kosei off a ladder and he lands chest first in a dangerous bump.

Rob is on like the 2nd rung of a ladder and Kevin jumping hurricanrana's him.  Kevin climbs a aldder and Drilla pushes the ladder over. Drilla and TJP climb a half-bent ladder together. Drilla is pulled into the ladder and falls off.

4 people fight on the ladders. 2 fall off. Akira takes a dragon sleeper while laying on the top of a ladder and Kosei grabs the titles to win the match.

Thoughts: It was your usual ladder match. They had a lot of dangerous spots here. A lot of them weren't hit that clean and I'll be surprised if nobody ended up injured out of this. 2 people would do a spot, one would go down then 1 or 2 people would takeover for most of this one. I didn't like it that much but it was not was boring. This was a spotfest. 

IWGP Women's Title Match - Mayu Iwatani (c) vs. AZM

I really don't think this one should be on the show. It just doesn't fit in.

The girls trade forearms. Mayu spin kicks her in the gut. Mayu is tripped and takes a PK and basement dropkick. AZM runs up the buckles and dives on Mayu outside. AZM la mistica's Mayu. Mayu rolls up AZM for 2. Mayu basement dropkicks her then hits a top rope splash for 2.

Mayu superkicks AZM. Mayu ends up in tree of woe and is double stomped down. AZM top rope double stomps Mayu for 2. AZM superkicks her then gets superkicked. Mayu flying kicks her then hits a top rope dropkick. Mayu misses a top rope moonsault. 

AZM canadian destroyers her then hits a double underhook canadian destroyer for 2. AZM comes off the top and flies into a double boot from Mayu. AZM la mistica's Mayu then gets a 2 count on her. AZM germans her for 1. Mayu germans her in return. AZM rolls her up for 2. Mayu tombstones her. Mayu top rope moonsaults her for 2. Mayu dragon suplexes her for the win.

Thoughts: I hated this. It was a no sell fest with Mayu taking two destroyers on her head and neither meaning anything. It was also rushed. 

NJPW World Television Title  - Ren Narita (c) vs. El Phantasmo vs. Jeff Cobb vs. Ryohei Oiwa

ELP topes Ren outside to start. Cobb and Oiwa shoulder battle and they double shoulder ELP over. Cobb and Oiwa trade forearms. Oiwa hiptosses ELP then shoulders over Cobb. Ren chokes Oiwa, ELP and Cobb. Ren legbars Cobb then Oiwa falling splashes Ren. Oiwa dumps Ren over the top. ELP flying headscissors Oiwa.

ELP walks up the ropes with Cobb's help. Cobb punches him down and he falls on Oiwa and Ren. Cobb tope con hilos onto his other opponents outside. Cobb does a uranage and lariats Ren into the mat. Cobb standing moonsaults Ren. Oiwa gutwrench suplexes Cobb for 2. 

ELP gets stuck up top. We get a 3 person tower of doom spot that ends with ELP getting superplexed. Ren gets 3v1'd. Cobb headbutts Oiwa then dropkicks him. ELP superkicks Oiwa. ELP is caught off a springboard and takes an F-5 from Cobb off of it. Oiwa lariats Cobb. Oiwa doctor bombs Cobb and Ren pulls the ref out on the count. Ren hits Oiwa with a push-up board. Cobb breaks Ren's push-up board. Ren low blows Cobb. Cobb hits a tour of the islands slam on Ren. ELP breaks it up with a springboard swanton, he then dives on Oiwa outside and springboard splashes Ren to win.

Thoughts: It was your usual 4-way here with mostly only 2 people in the ring at various times and people coming in and out at random. They did what they could with it it was watchable but not great.

Lumberjack Match - Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. EVIL

Evil had someone play music for him on a keyboard in a reaper costume. Tana side headlocks Evil. They pull each other's hair. Tana back elbows him and 2nd rope twisting crossbodies him. Evil sits in a chair and outside and drinks.

Tana is thrown out and tries to skin the cat. Togo interrupts him and Evil bites the leg. Evil hits a dragon screw variation on Tana. Tana gets stomped on by House of Torture outside. Evil puts a chair around Tana's neck and chairs it. Evil spray paints Master Wato outside.

Evil corner lariats Tana then fisherman suplexes him for 2. Tana dragon screws Evil. Tana flying forearms Evil then knocks House of Torture off the apron. Tana goes for a slingbade and Evil retreats to the ramp. Oleg Boltin carries Evil back in. 

Evil eye rakes Tana then Tana hits a twist and shout. Evil pushes the ref into Tana's way. Tana gets attacked by House of Torture and is chopped in the nuts. Everyones buddies fight in the ring. Wato ends up doing a tope con hilo on the heels. Evil lariats Tana twice. Tana hits an everything is evil on Tana then dragon suplexes him. Tana sling blades Evil for 2.

Tana top rope crossbodies Evil. Tana gets crotched on the ropes when the ref is pushed into the ropes. Tana then gets hit with powder. Evil superplexes Tana. Evil hits darkness falls for 2. Evil sharpshooters Tana. Tana lariats him and hits everything is evil. Tana no sells it and pins him.

Thoughts: It was the usual House of Torture BS here. It was all shenanigans from start to finish with little wrestling. The finish was stupid with Tana no selling Evil's finisher to win.

HoT attack Tana and his buddies after. They go to cut Tana's hair and they all back off from Katsuyori Shibata, who returns to help him. Shibata asks Tana for a match tomorrow if he's not tired. Tana says he's never been tired and says let's do it.

AEW International Title / NEVER Openweight Title Match - Shingo Takagi vs. Konosuke Takeshita

Don Callis is with KT. KT and Shingo hold their titles up at each other. They shoulder battle. KT facekicks him then flying lariats him. Shingo hiptosses him and shoulders him over. Shingo hits forearms then KT forearms him down. KT 2nd rope sentons him for 2. KT flying headscissors him. Shingo pop-up death valley drivers him on the floor.

Shingo superplexes him then sliding lariats him. Shingo hits a big lariat. Shingo exploders him and KT germans him. Shingo backdrops him and KT germans him back. They lariat each other at the same time. KT hits forearms. Shingo forearms him back. KT lariats him then hits a package tombtone. KT then wheelbarrow germans him. Shingo then flips him with a lariat. 

Shingo hits a made in Japan for 2. They lariat each other at the same time. KT flying knees him. KT hurricanrana's him off the top then pumping knees him. KT hits a blue thunder for 2. Shingo hits a last of the dragon. KT poisonrana's him. Shingo poisonrana's him but KT doesn't really even land on his head and he no sells it so who knows if it hit. KT forearms him in the back of the head.

They trade forearms. Shingo headbutts him in the chest, takes a pumping knee then hits his own lariat. KT hits a big forearm for 2. KT hits his spinning falcon arrow and wins.

Thoughts: I hated this. They didn't sell squat here. They no sold so bad at one point that I didn't even know if the attack actually hit. It was all action and big shots but none of it meant anything.

KT goes face to face with Ishii after, who he faces tomorrow.

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match - DOUKI (c) vs. El Desperado

Douki had some kabuki guy for his entrance.

Douki flying headscissors Despy out then topes him into the rail. Despy sends him into the rail then tope con hilos him. Despy hits his legs hard on the rails. Douki sends Despy into the rails. They trade forearms outside.

Despy backdrops Douki for 2. They trade shots and Douki step up enzugiri's him. Despy spinebusters him. Douki goes for the douki chokey and Despy cloverleafs him. Douki is caught on a slingshot and hurricanrana's Despy out. Douki top rope sentons a standing Despy into the rail. Douki holds his elbow after and the match is stopped due to injury.

Thoughts: The spot that caused the injury was stupid. There was no need for it and there was a lot of ways it could have gone wrong. The match was short and wasn't much before it ended. 

Despy is mad even though he won. Despy grabs the mic after. He says he won't say sorry and says this is the result when you put your all into something. He says they will do this again and hopes the fans will be there to see it. 

IWGP Global Heavyweight Title Match - David Finlay (c) vs. Yota Tsuji

Yota came out with a red hat. DF came out with a machine gun.

They lock up and DF hits his forearm into his face. They trade forearms. Yota drives DF's head into the mat. Yota tilt-a-whirl backbreakers him. DF catches Yota's tope and drives him into the apron back first. DF flying shoulders Yota into the rails. DF backbreakers him.

Yota armdrags him then hits his curbstomp combo. Yota hits forearms then shoulders him over. Yota splashes him for 2. Yota hits a flying headscissors. Yota then does a dangerous fosbury flop to the outside.

Yota hits forearms then DF lariats him over the top. DF goes with him. Yota's head is banged off the post. DF uranages Yota through the table. DF throws him in the ring then flying euros him in the corner. Yota suplexes him into the buckles. DF hits a 2nd rope powerbomb for 2. DF hits three dominators in a row. DF hits lariats then Yota flying knees him. DF tries a flying spear and runs into Yota's knee.

DF powerbombs Yota then buckle bombs him. DF hits another powerbomb for 2. Yota hurricanrana's him into the buckles. Yota flying pumping knees him then hits a marlow crash for 2. DF cutters Yota then hits oblivion for 2. 

DF hits a big spear then Yota stunners him out of a suplex attempt. Yota spears DF for 2. Yota hits forearms. Yota curbstomps him. DF hits overkill for 2. Yota hits a knee to the face then powerbombs him. Yota spears him and wins.

Thoughts: They didn't sell much here. Yota went throguh a table, took a 2nd rope powerbomb and a multiple dominators and none of them meant that much. At least Yota got the win and has ended Finlay's reign. The match wasn't that good but they worked better together than some of Finlay's other opponents.

Tetsuya Naito vs. Hiromu Takahashi

HT wore some giant monster costume out with giant balls bouncing around. Nait wore a snake head mask out.

Naito armdrags him over and poses. HT misses a basement dropkick on him and then takes one. Naito atomic drops him then ties up his arms and head. Naito stomps on him. HT hits chops and Naito spits at him. HT basement dropkicks him for 2.

Naito armdrags him then forearms him over. Naito baseball slides him. Naito neckbreakers him for 2. HT superkicks him then sunset bombs him on the floor. HT hits a death valley driver in the ring for 2. HT germans Naito. HT lariats Naito.

HT hits a nasty time bomb for 2. HT running lariats him. HT lifts him up and Naito hits a destino out of it. Naito hits elbows to the neck then hits a diamond dust. Naito hits another destino. HT blocks a 3rd destino with an emerald flowsion for 2. Naito hits back elbows. HT rolls him up for 2.

HT shotgun dropkicks him. HT then does his own destino. HT hits time bomb 2 for 2. Naito spinebusters him then hits destino for 2. Naito slams him then brainbusters him. Naito then does another destino and wins.

Thoughts: They pretty much skipped the  middle of the match and started doing big moves from the beginning of this. I didn't like this one that much. They really made Naito's destino look weak and I don't think they got as much story out of this as they could have. Naito ended up winning this one as expected.

Naito wants to do the LIJ fist bump after. HT bows to him then does it. 

IWGP Title - Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs Shota Umino

To anyone checking this out years from now, this looked really weak on paper. Shota was not a main event plyer in 2024 and everyone thought this was not a Tokyo Dome worthy main. Zack wasn't in a much better situation as was seemingly almost randomly allowed to win the G-1 and title. I just blamed it on a lack of other choices and NJPW not respecting people like Goto.

Shota rode in on a motorcycle. They fight for wrist control early and trade wristlocks. Shota water wheel drops him and Zack gets right back up. Shota pulls his arms back and full nelsons him. Shota hits an armdrag, gets headscissored and ends up doing a basement dropkick to Zack. Shota cravates him and hits elbows to the neck. Zack arm whips him down.

Zack splits the fingers and hits kicks on Shota. Zack armbreakers him and hits euros. Zack cobra twists him. Shota hits a dropkick. Shota running euros him and fisherman suplexes him for 2. Zack is tripped into the ropes and Shota slingshot ddt's him on the apron over the middle rope. Shota sends Zack into the rails. Zack boots him off the rails then Shota shotgun dropkicks him. Shota bridging ddt's him on the floor while he's on the rail.

Shota does a coast to coast dropkick then lifting reverse ddt's him for 2. Zack twists the head with his feet and dropkicks him in the back of the head. Zack kicks Shota in the back. Zack hits boots to the head. They go head to head and trade forearms.

Zack rolling armbars him then armbars him. Zack switches to the triangle. Shota lifts him and slams him down. Shota hits a running euro. Zack dragon suplexes him then lariats him. Shota hits a cross rhodes. They trade shots. 

They trade euros. Shota euros him over. Shota overhead exploders him. Zack chest kicks him down. Shota dropkicks him and Zack PK's him. Shota tornado ddt's him then Zack hits a michinoku driver for 2. Shota back body drops him then lifts him in the air and ddt's him.

Shota hits ignition then spinning double underhook ddt's Zack. Zack twists Shota's leg then leg bars him. Zack figure fours the legs and Shota ropebreaks. Zack stomps Shota's legs. Zack hits leg kicks and dropkicks him in the leg. Shota tornado ddt's him.

Shota running knees Zack in the back of the neck. Shota tries to climb the buckles but falls down due to leg pain. Zack hanging guillotine chokes Shota on the buckles. Shota hits a top rope double underhook suplex.  

Shota stomp flurries Zack's back and pushes the ref away. Shota hits forearms and euros him. Zack hits leg kicks. Shota does revers curb stomps. Zack slaps him. Zack boots and foot slaps him. They trade slaps then slap each other at the same time. Zack slaps him down. Shota pumphandle emerald flowsion's him for 2 and euros him in the back of the neck for 2. Zack ankle locks him. Shota rolls him up for 2. Zack slaps him then is lariated.

Zack hits a michinoku driver for 2. Zack does a gotch style piledriver. Zack then does a cross-legged falcon arrow and wins.

Thoughts: It was a midcard match that went 40+ minutes and main evented The Dome. There was nothing special about this one. There was no great story here or any special logic. There wasn't any blood. There wasn't any big spots. There were no weapons used or anything like that. The crowd wasn't  that hot for it. Zack did some submissions but didn't really go too far with them and Shota just did his usual moveset. It was easily one of the weakest Dome matches ever in quality and in effort. This match should have never main evented The Dome. 

Zack says he'll be waiting for Shota after. Zack says happy new year and to enjoy tomorrow.

Overall thoughts: It was easily one of the weakest Dome shows NJPW has ever produced, on paper and quality wise. The talent's not really there and the booking did these wrestlers no favors. The AEW talent raids just killed the company along with NJPW relying on older names for far too long and not developing enough new wrestlers. 

The main went too long and was just a midcard match with no huge moments or anything you'd expect out of a Dome main event. Naito/Hiromu wasn't that good. Yota/Finlay overdid it though they at least worked okay together. Douki did a stupid move and got himself injured 5 minutes in to his match, ending the match completely. Shingo/Takeshita no sold so much at one point that they invented a new form of no selling. Tana/Evil had the usual shenanigans filled HoT match. The four-way was okay but it was a four-way. The selling was awful in Mayu/AZM and that match shouldn't have even been on the show. They tried in the ladder match but it wasn't great. The rumble wasn't any good and was not that serious.

If I had to rewrite this one, I would have cancelled Wrestle Dynasty. Then all the talent could focus on this show. I'd find a way to get people like Okada, Will Ospreay and Jay White on this. I would have gotten Oiwa into a better match and gotten people like Goto and Ishii in bigger matches. I would have gotten Zack out of the main as well.

I'd give this one a 3 out of 10. It was a poor card on paper and was poor in reality as well. Having another Tokyo Dome show the following day hurt the show further as people didn't want to get injured and not be able to wrestle on it.