AEW Rampage 9/29/2023

AEW Rampage 9/29/2023

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2023/09/aew-rampage-9222023.html

AEW Trios Title - The Acclaimed and Billy Gunn (c) vs The Hardy Boyz and Isaiah Kassidy

Bowens and Kassidy go at it. Kassidy flips out of a submission then is shouldered over. They armdrag each other. Bowens blocks an armdrag then Kassidy armdrags him out of the wheelbarrow position. Kassidy hurricanrana's him and starts humping the mat.

Kassidy is flipped and kicked in the body. Bowens jumps over his back and legdrops the back of his neck. Bowens is thrown out. Matt gets in and Max takes a Kassidy neckbreaker. Jeff 2nd rope splashes Max for 2. Jeff neckbreakers Max then Jeff spin kicks Max.

Billy and Matt get in. They do "suck it" and "delete" taunts. Billy shoulders him over and has his head banged off the buckles. Jeff jumps off of Matt's back for a splash on Billy then Kassidy does it as well. Kassidy is slammed and tqakes a 2nd rope legdrop to the nuts.

We go to PiP break and return. Max dropkicks Kassidy. Billy stomps on Kassidy and then decks Matt on the apron. Billy misses a corner splash then does a Flair flop. Billy and Kassidy are both down. Jeff gets in and cleans house. Jeff lariats billy over the top then russian legsweeps Bowens. Jeff legdrops Bowens into a pin attempt for 2.

Jeff hits whisper in the wind on Max and Bowens. Billy takes a twist of fate. Jeff hits a top rope swanton on Billy for 2.  Matt takes running corner shots then Max powerslams Matt. Bowens spinning forearms Jeff. Kassidy 2nd rope twisting flatliners Bowens. Kassidy asai moonsaults Billy outside. Kassidy takes shots from The Acclaimed then takes a double team high michinoku driver. The Acclaimed and Billy win.

It wasn't a bad opener at all. It went a little longer than it needed to but there was nothing wrong with this. They also hid Jeff's weaknesses well here.

Eddie Kngston does a promo. he is fighting Rocky Romero tonight. He says he has nothing but respect for him tonight. Sonjay Dutt and friends then come in. Lethal says Eddie has 2 titles and that's worth respecting. Jay said he can't get over him Eddie is ROH champ. He said he put his life into that and said he made sure everyone who challenged for it was a pure athlete, but Eddie is not. Jay says Eddie is unfit to be the ROH champ. Eddie says he has to go beat up Rocky and leaves.

Andrade El Idolo is interviewed. He is asked about Juice Robinson interfering in his match with Jay. Andrade said he had that ivctory and asks if Juice has a problem with him. He says he will see Juice on Saturday in Seattle on Collision.

NJPW Strong Openweight Title - Eddie Kingston (c) vs Rocky Romero

Eddie grabs a waistlock after the lock up. Rocky wristlocks him then hits a nice dropkick. Rocky dances then shoulders him. Rocky piefaces him then hurricanrana's him. Eddie rolls out and Rocky topes him. Rocky topes him again and is caught and suplexed on the 3rd tope try.

We go to PiP break and then full break. Rocky hits a knee to the head and a jumping knee. Rocky slaps Eddie while he's stuck between the ropes. Eddie slaps him back then Rocky 2nd rope dropkicks him for 2. Eddie corner lariats Rocky then hits machine gun chops.

Rocky hits a top rope shiranui for 2. Rocky corner clotheslines him then takes two urakens. Eddie puts him in the stretch plum and wins via tap out.

They matched up better than I expected and it was watchable. I didn't love the finish and I don't think anyone expected Rocky to win here.

Katsuyori Shibata comes out after and shakes Eddie's hand.

Aussie Open does a promo. Mark says he's tired of hearing FTR lie about being best in the world. Kyle says everything they have done in the last year is to get back to FTR. He said he wants to make them feel his pain of being a failure. He says they will take the tag titles and burn down the legacy of FTR. Kyle says they will prove that they are the best tag team in the world.

The Righteous (Vincent and Dutch) vs Caleb Crush and Gunner

 

Dutch does a stiff running lariat on both to start. Vincent hits punches on Crush then Dutch hits a black hole slam. Vincent hits another black hole slam, this time on Gunner. Dutch helps Vincent with a spinning cutter and Vincent grabs the win.

This was just a quick squash.

We get clips of Mike Santana and Ortiz's history. 

We get a Christian Cage video with some clips of his sit-down talk with Darby and JR. 

Nick Wayne talks. He says Darby's actions will speak louder than his words at WrestleDream. Nick says he doesn't want to be at ringside for that much, but says him and Lucha need to finish their business. Nick says he doesn't get why Christian thinks he can be a father figure. Nick says he has a debt on Lucha for chokeslamming him on a skateboard at Wembley. He says he will pay back the debt on WrestleDream Zero Hour and hand him his receipt.

Zack Sabre Jr. is interviewed. He says he just got off a flight from Tokyo. He said a strong gust of wind will knock Bryan Danielson over. Zack says Bryan doesn't have a year retirement tour, he has a weekend one. He says Bryan retired once in Seattle and he will retire him the 2nd time in Seattle.

#1 Contenders Match - Ruby Soho vs Hikaru Shida

Ruby pushes her and side headlocks her. Shida shoulders her over. Ruby slips out of corner punches and stalls outside. Ruby grabs Shida by the hair and then hits corner spears. Shida forearms her in the corner then hits Ruby slips out of corner punches again. Shida hits terrible corner punches then 2nd rope twisting crossbodies her. Shida does more corner punches then 2nd rope dropkicks her.

We go to PiP break and return. They trade forearms and Ruby hits a forearm flurry. Shida flying knees her then suplexes her or 2. Ruby goes out and Shida dropkicks her off the steps. Shida racks her on the floor and walks up the ramp with her. They fight on the ramp and Ruby headbutts her.

They both run back to the ring. Ruby hits a headbutt then knees and backdrops her. Ruby grabs Shida's stick. Ruby then tries to spray her in the eyes with spray paint. The ref gets knocked over. Ruby headbutts her then hits a blade runner but the ref is down and out of the ring. Ruby grabs the stick again. Shida blocks the shot, hits her with it then does a spinning knee. The ref is still out but Aubrey comes down.

Shida misses a top rope meteora. Ruby sto's her and tries for a top rope senton but Shida gets her knees up. Shida hits a falcon arrow for 2. Shida hits a spinning knee and wins it.

This was not good. Shida's corner punches were so bad. We also had the usual weapons shenanigans here and a ref bump as well.

Saraya walks down the ramp after and they argue with each other from afar.

Overall thoughts: Eddie/Rocky and the trios matches were okay but the main stunk. I wouldn't recommend it, but it could have been worse.

WWE NXT Level Up 9/29/2023

WWE NXT Level Up 9/29/2023

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2023/09/wwe-nxt-level-up-9222023.html 

Next week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2023/10/wwe-nxt-level-up-1062023.html 

Fallon Henley vs Arianna Grace

Grace is back from injury. She's wearing a tiara and a sash that says, "Miss NXT". She says this is the moment we have all been waiting for. Grace says she is back and says while it was hard to be sidelined by her injury, she knows it was harder for the mans to deal with the pain of missing her. She says she's back and is true beauty queen. She says she will now be known as Miss NXT. She says she will teach humility to the classless brute, Fallon Henley.

Fallon grabs the arm and armlocks it. Grace grabs her by the hair and is armdragged. Fallon tells her to kiss her hand. Grace is almost hit in the face and covers up. Fallon puts her down and kicks her in the side of the face. Fallon then slides out and punches her.

Grace hits her in the back then whips her hard into the buckles. Grace hits a punch and yanks her off the ropes. Grace kneels on her back and pulls her chin. Grace straightjacket chokes her then Fallon shoulders her over. Fallon spin kicks her in the gut then lariats her. Fallon misses a splash and Grace tries to use the ropes to pin her but is caught. Fallon then rolls her up and wins it.

Not awful, but it was a very basic match and wasn't impressive at all. There were legit like no highlights here. I didn't like Grace losing in her return.

Riley Osbourne is interviewed. He takes on Myles Borne. He says he has been on top of the world and said the world only got to see a glimpse of the energy he brings. He said he is so excited and says it will be a hard scrap against Borne. He says it will be another win in the life of Riley.

Riley Osbourne vs Myles Borne

Riley poses on the ropes and flips off of them. Borne has Kemp, Gulak and Dempsey out with him. Borne wristlocks him and Riley rolls and kips-up. Riley steps off his knee to get out. Borne hits two punches in the corner then is shouldered over. Riley flips out of a hiptoss and hits an armdrag. Riley dropkicks him and comes off the 2nd rope, jumping into a Borne dropkick.

Borne does some nice belly to belly suplexes. Borne euros him and takes a backslide. Borner powerslams him for 2. Borne has him on his shoulder and drops him down on his body. Borne side headlocks him then Riley hits flying forearms. Riley knocks him out of the ring then does a fosbury flop onto the outside.

Borne goes up top and Borne gets out of the way on his ssp. Borne flips him with a lariat then sits on his back with a dragon sleeper. Borne wins via submission.

This was good as expected. The two matched up well and did some fast paced and nice technical wrestling. It was nice to see Borne get the win here for a change. These two are way too good to be on this show.

Tavion Heights vs Oro Mensah

Tav = Tavion Heights

They lock up and Tav waistlocks him. Oro upkicks him from the mat then Tav hits a nice suplex by grabbing the inner thigh. Oro punches him and Tav rides him on the mat. Oro throws him off by grabbing the hair then superkicks him in the head. Oro elbows and boots him.

Oro snapmares him and kicks him in the back. Tav rolls him up and takes knees, a double axe handle and some clubs. Tav takes him down and hits bolo punches then Oro slides down his back over the middle rope. Oro hits a top rope rider kick for 2. Oro hits some downward elbows. The crowd chants Tav's theme song lyrics then Tav does a nice overhead suplex.

Tav hits some stiff forearms to the face and a stiff knee to the gut. Oro goes to springboard and is release german suplexed. Tav does a twisting powerslam for 2. Oro hits a stiff jumping knee then superkicks him in the jaw for the win.

This felt like a shoot at times with the two being pretty violent and aggressive. I think the finish got messed up as nobody seemed ready for it. I still liked this rough one though and thought it was an interesting watch.

Overall thoughts: The main seemed like a shoot at times and the two were pretty rough with each other. I think the finish was messed up, but it was an interesting watch either way. Osborne vs Borne was very good as expected and Fallon/Grace wasn't good as expected. I think the semi-main is worth a watch and maybe the main just to see something different.

Ring of Honor on HonorClub 9/28/2023 Episode #31

Ring of Honor on HonorClub 9/28/2023 Episode #31

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2023/09/ring-of-honor-on-honorclub-9142023_26.html

Josh Woods vs Brayden Erving

 

Woods backs him up in the corner and hits a knee flurry. Erving dropkicks him then takes a release german. Woods twisting suplexes him into the buckles and wins it.

This was a quick squash with Woods looking good.

The Embassy are interviewed. Lexi says Nana seems agitated. Nana says The Embassy are ready for tonight and says he doesn't like these lollygagging questions. Nana says the Embassy is back on track and they are starting tonight. Cage says they are tired of watching these sloppy joes while they take a backseat. Cage says that changes tonight. Nana says everyone will know The Mogul Embassy is in the money.

Scorpio Sky vs Tony Nese

Nese gets on the mic and says he cannot point to Grand Rapids on a map. He puts his hand up and says to point where it's at. Nese says it's at the fattest part of Michigan. Nese says we found the root of the problem and says now we will do group training. Sky interrupts as expected.

Nese hits him before he even gets his gear off and Sky lariats him. Sky hits a back body drop then drops down and trips him into a roll-up. Nese walks up the ramp but Sky throws him back up. Mark Sterling touches Sky then Nese puts the ring skirt on Sky's head and kicks him.

Sky is thrown into the steps and Sterling gets some cheapshots outside. Sky is put in tree of woe then Nese does the crunch bicycle kicks. Nese pulls his neck down over the top rope then legdrops him. Nese backdrops him for 2 and body scissors him. Sky backdrops him then hits a knee lift and clothesline. Sky hits a sky high for 2.

Nese rolls into a palm strike on him on the ropes. Sky sunset flips him off the ropes and takes a spin kick to the head. Nese flips out of a german then kind of dropkicks him on the mat. Sky fisherman suplexes him then does a TKO for the win.

This got quite a bit of time and was an average match. 

Gravity vs Lee Johnson 

Grav = Gravity

Lee takes Grav down backwards then Lee rolls and kips up out of a wristlock. Grav shoulders him over thne takes armdrags. Grav uses the ropes to flip into an armdrag. Lee dropkicks him and throws him into the buckles hard. Lee then does push-ups and gets the crowd to count for them somehow.

Grav forearms him off the apron then Grav does a double springboard on him outside. Grav armdrags Lee off the 2nd rope. Lee backrolls him then takes a powerslam. Grav standing moonsaults him for 2 then Lee blue thunders him for 2.

Lee superkicks Grav then Grav rolls him up for 2. Grav superkicks him and suplexes him. Grav top rope splashes him and wins it.

They had lots of time but neither one really went all out here and it was an average match. Lee's offense did look good though with everything being on target. 

Gravity vs Lee Johnson

The Outrunners are interviewed. Truth said they don't care who the best tag team in the world is, as they are the best tag team in the universe. Truth's partner says they are the biggest and baddest in ROH. They say if you haven't seen The Outrunners, you haven't seen nothing yet. 

Lady Frost vs Billie Starkz

Frost knees her in the gut then Starkz elbows her in the gut. Frost is thrown out, Athena blows a whistle at her and Starkz topes her. Athena tells Starks to send Frost into the stairs. Starks spins her around and sends her in the ring, saying she was dizzy and didn't know where she was. They argue and Frost kicks her form the apron.

Frost hits a step up knee in the corner. Frost cartwheels over her back and then dropkicks her back. Starks spinning high kicks her then does an attitude adjustment for 2. Frost cartwheels on her and does an schwein off of it. Frost hits a top rope corkscrew moonsault and Starkz somehow kicks out. Athena blows her whistle outside then Starks hits a straightjacket drop on Frost's chest to win it.

Athena pounds on Frost after and throws her out. Athena swings her into the rails then throws her into the rails. Starkz tries to stop her then pulls the belt away so Athena can't bang Frost's head off of it. Athena and Starks then stare down and Athena tells her not to tell her what to do. Athena gets in her face and yells.

They had the time for the match but it lost its momentum during the middle of it and couldn't get it back. I didn't like Starkz beating Frost here or Frost getting beaten up by Athena like a jobber after.

Allysin Kay is interviewed. She said she likes talking trash but is not delusional. She said she's on a losing streak and says Mercedes Martinez is a bigger vet than she is. Allysin Kaysays she's not going down without a fight and says A-K don't play.

Action Andretti and Darius Martin vs The Outrunners

AA = Action Andretti, DM = Darius Martin

AA armlocks Truth then DM armdrags him. Turbo gets a pop for tagging in then shoulders over AA. AA headlocks Turbo and back body drops Truth. The Outrunners take stereo dropkicks outside. DM goes into the steps hard and the Outrunners block AA's outside dive.

AA gets slammed and The OR's pose. AA cradles Truth but the ref is distracted, then Turbo rolls Truth over to the person on top. Truth kneedrops AA then Turbo suplexes AA. DM gets in and cleans house then hits an atomic drop into a bulldog over the 2nd rope. DM top rope crossbodies Truth for 2. AA asai moonsaults onto Turbo then Truth takes a shotgun dropkick into a german. Truth takes some kicks then is swung backwards onto the mat for the AA and DM win.

The match ended up being okay but the faces had trouble maneuvering The Outrunners around for some reason and it lead to things not being hit clean. I'm thinking they were just too big for them.

Griff Garrison is interviewed then Maria and Cole Karter walk in. Maria asks if tonight will be any different from last week. Cole says Griff cost them the win last week. Griff says he felt like he lost a step, but the truth is he feels 100%. Griff says this can work and has to work. He says he was just given a partner when he first got here and it worked fine until it didn't. Griff says that could be him or Cole. Griff says let's just do it the right way. Maria and Cole agree. This made Griff look like a total loser.

Leyla Hirsch vs Laynie Luck

Luck wants a handshake. Maria comes out on the ramp and Leyla kicks Luck's hand away. Luck facekicks her from the side then suplexes her. Luck starts dancing then is german suplexed. Leyla then armbars her and wins it.

This was a waste of time.

Leyla says she's 11-0 and deserves a match with Athena after.

Mercedes Martinez and Diamante are interviewed. MM is angry that Lexi called her a former champ. MM says she's wrestling Kay tonight and says she's been losing in ROH. MM asks her if she's tired of losing and says tonight won't be any different. She then says pinky fingers down.

Jimmy Jacobs vs Shane Taylor 

Jimmy Jacobs is calling himself "The Zombie Princess" and wearing a tiara. I really don't get why it's so hard for male wrestlers these days not to wear women's clothes or do other feminine things. I don't think I'm asking a lot here.

Shane pushes Jimmy over then Jimmy slaps him. Jimmy hits punches and they trade chops. Jimmy bites him and throws Shane out. Jimmy topes him and catches him with a guillotine. Shane drives him into the post then suplexes him on the floor.

Shane throws him and corner splashes him. Shane headbutts him and hits a uranage. Shane then splashes him for 2. Jimmy lariats him over after taking a kick. Jimmy does a tornado suplex type of move off the ropes. Shane punches him then hits a lariat. Jimmy spinning headscissors him from the mat. Jimmy goes for a sliced bread then takes a spinning fire thunder for the Shane win.

It was a decent squash and I had no issues with it. Jimmy looked good.

Maria is interviewed and Leyla Hirsch walks in. She asks if Maria should focus on managing Griff and Cole since they have been losing and seem to need it the most. Leyla says she's 11-0 and did that without Maria's help. Leyla said she asked Maria to get her a match with Athena and says Maria thinks she's not ready for it. Leyla said the Board of Directors think differently and said she's fighting Athena for the ROH Women's Title next week.

This didn't really work because we didn't see the behind the scenes stuff they were talking about nor did they really explain why Maria thinks Leyla isn't ready.

Dalton Castle and The Boys vs Ren Jones, Trenton Tormenta and Xavier Walker

Brent step up enzugiri's Ren then dropkicks him. Brent is beaten up in the corner. Xavier hits punches on Brent. Dalton gets in and hits all 3 opponents. Dalton slams down Xavier hen splashes him for 2. Trenton is pulled down over the top and takes a big bump for it. Dalton bangarang's Xavier then kind of drops a split on his back to win.

I don't know what Dalton's finishing move here was but it sucked. This was too short and I don't think Brandon got more than a move in. 

Cole Karter and Griff Garrison vs The Infantry (Shawn Dean and Carlie Bravo)

Bravo gets out of a wristlock and does a wiggle. Griff shoulders him over then hiptosses him. Griff hits a facekick then Cole hits gut kicks in the corner. Bravo rolls out of a lriat and hits a back elbow. The Infantry do a kick > back splash > splash sequence. Bravo comes off the 2nd rope, gets hit in the gut then is clotheslined.

Bravo is whipped into the ropes, Griff drops down then Cole dropkicks Bravo. Maria, Griff and Cole argue. Dean hits a nice back body drop on Cole then spinning laraits Griff. Dean does a floatover ddt on Cole. Dean lariats Cole over the top rope and lands on the apron then top rope crossbodies him. Bravo does his fakeout crossover punch on Griff then Cole takes a sandwich forearm. Cole takes a russian legsweep + facekick combo then Griff is plancha'd on outside.

Maria distracts the ref. Dean goes up to her and tells Trish Adora to "hit her with the deal". Cole then rolls up Dean using the ropes and wins it.

There wasn't anything wrong with this and it made sense. The Infantry look better and better each week and this one seems like it's definitely leading to a rematch.

Ethan Page is interviewed. Lexi says he's on a hot streak. Page says he has big plans in ROH. Rohit Raju then walks in and says you can't spell Rohit without ROH. Rohit said he saw the door open at ROH and walked on in. Rohit asks Page how he is. Page says Rohit p!ssed him off and says he will kick his butt as fast as possible tonight. He tells him to finish the interview while he wamrs up. Rohit asks if Page is upset and says, "good" when Lexi says he is.

Mercedes Martinez vs Allysin Kay

Mercedes Martinez = MM

They shake hands. Kay flapjacks MM on the apron outside then drops her with a forearm. Kay spinning backdrops her. Kay throws her out, Diamante throws MM in. Diamante then grabs Kay's leg and MM forearms her off the apron.

Diamante cheats again on the outside and Kay is down after a shot from MM. MM hits corner forearms then a low dropkick in the corner. Kay germans her then neckbreakers her. Diamante gets on the ropes and is facekicked off. MM superkicks Kay against the top buckle then Diamante cutters kay. MM fisherman suplexes Kay and wins it.

There was a lot of interference here and probably as much interference as there was actual wrestling.

Lexi interviews Billie Starkz. Lexi congratulates her on the win. Billie said she's happy to do this on her own. Lexi said Athena helped her. Billie disagrees and then Athena walks in and asks if she has something to say. Athena said it seems like Billie doesn't like the way she handled business after the match. Athena said it sounds like we need more minion training and says Lexi and her are trying to pull her out of the gutter. Athena says she needs to be lead by example and says she will set an example for this family next week against Leyla Hirsch.

The Gates of Agony vs The Iron Savages

Kaun shotgun dropkicks Bronson then uranages him. Kaun hits vicious mounted punches then Bronson shoulders and exploders him. Boulder and Toa get in. They shoulder battle then lariat battle. Toa is thrown out then Kaun irish whips tora into Boulder outside. The GoA kind of catch Bronson on a dive and double slam him on the ramp.

Kaun sentons Bronson then Bronson takes corner spears and chest clubs at the same time. Bronson 2nd rope crossbodies Kaun. Boulder gets in and sideslams Kaun. Toa tries to crossbody him but is caught and powerslammed. Bronson top rope splashes Toa for 2. Bronson goes to the 2nd rope and is pushed over. Bronson calls of the savage sauce then Prince Nana grabs it from Jacked Jameson. Jacked comes off the steps and Toa pounces him. Kaun fireman's carry gutbusters Bronson then Bronson takes an "open the gate" double forward slam and is pinned.

It was a good tag as expected with the heavyweights doing big man stuff and the two teams matching up well together. I wish this would have been 10 minutes longer. Nana stealing the jacked juice was fun too and is hopefully leading to something.

Ethan Page vs Rohit Raju

Always happy to see Rohit Raju around. He's a good talent. Raju's irish whip is blocked by Page. Page shoulders him over hard then running suplexes him. Page cobra clutches him and hooks his leg before slamming him. Raju rotates around him and ddt's him. Raju corner forearms and corner facekicks him. Page hits a facekick then cutters him off the bottom rope to win it.

It was a short squash but it was entertaining. This really could have used 5-10 more minutes though to make it a better match.

Brian Cage vs Metalik

Metal = Metalik

Metal is thrown into the corner and hits a step up enzugiri. Metal walks the top rope, springboards and is caught. Metal spinning headscissors him then Cage powerbombs him into the post outside.

Cage stomps on him inside and running euros him. Cage release germans him and they each hit forearms. Cage lariats him then hits a 619. Metal springboard hurricanrana's him then does a slingblade bulldgo. Metal walks the 2nd rope and springboard dropkicks him.

Metal walks up the ropes and dives on him outside. Metal then springboard splashes him inside. Metal superkicks him then stands on his back and turns it into a code red. Metal walks the top rope and Cage moves on his springboard swanton. Cage then sitout powerbombs him for 2. Metal back rolls and ends up taking a fire thunder. Cage gets the win.

I didn't like Cage's 619 but it was okay otherwise Metal did his flying and Cage did his big man stuff prior to the finish.

Overall thoughts: This show was 2 hours long uninterrupted which was tough to sit through. There were 13 matches here plus a lot of various interviews. I thought it was a good show overall that followed up some storylines and there was some decent wrestling. As usual though, the champions of this show were nowhere to be found and we have no matches set-up for next week.