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September 26th
On this day in history in ....
1885 - William Miller defeats Clarence Royal in what is believed to be the first ever professional wrestling match in Australia, held at the Royal Theatre in Melbourne.
1935 - CMLL holds their second anniversary show at Arena Mexico in Mexico City, headlined by Carlos Meza defeating Sammy Levine.
1949 - Danny Dusek defeats Pedro Godoy in a tournament final in Tampa, Florida to win the NWA Southern Heavyweight Title.
1952 - El Santo defeats Bobby Bonales to win the NWA World Welterweight Title for the second time in his career.
1972 - Former ROH booker and current DGUSA VP Gabe Sapolsky is born.
1977 - Dusty Rhodes defeats WWWF World Champion Superstar Billy Graham via countout at New York's Madison Square Garden. The grudge match between the two rivals not only sold out the Garden, but drew several thousand to the adjacent Felt Forum to watch the match on closed circuit TV.
1982 - El Canek defeats Riki Choshu in Mexico City, Mexico to win the UWA World Heavyweight Title, beginning his third reign as champion.
1984 - Adrian Street defeats Terry Taylor in Shreveport, Louisiana to win the Mid-South Wrestling Television Title.
1995 - The Gladiator, Mike Awesome, defeats Hayabusa in the finals of a tournament to crown a new FMW World Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Champion in Tokyo, Japan.
1999 - WWF held their Unforgiven Pay-per-view in Charlotte, North Carolina. Here are the results:
- Val Venis defeated Steve Blackman with the Money Shot. After the match, Blackman knocked out Venis with a kendo stick, and Blackman wouldn't leave the ring until he was removed by WWF Head Of Security Jim Dotson.
- D'Lo Brown defeated Mark Henry with a powerbomb out of the corner to win the WWF European Title.
- Intercontinental Champion Jeff Jarrett defeated Chyna after the referee saw that Debra had hit Jeff Jarrett with a guitar to allow Chyna to get the pin.
- The Acolytes defeated The Dudley Bouyz when Stevie Richards interfered and superkicked D-Von, allowing Faarooq to get the pin.
- WWE Women's Champion Ivory defeated Luna Vachon.
- WWF Tag Team Champions Billy Gunn & Road Dogg defeated Edge & Christian when Gunn pinned Edge with a fameasser after the Brood interfered.
- WWF Hardcore Champion Al Snow defeated The Big Bossman in a Kennel From Hell match when he escaped the cage. The structure was a standard steel cage surrounded by the Hell In A Cell cage, with dogs patrolling ringside. The match was a disaster, the dogs hardly ferocious (they were accompanied by handlers) and the bout is considered one of the worst PPV matches in wrestling history. If you're brave enough, you can see the match (with special commentary by Mick Foley and Kevin Kelly) on the Mick Foley: Hard Knocks & Cheap Pops DVD.
- X-Pac defeated Chris Jericho when Mr. Hughes interfered on behalf of Jericho.
- Triple H defeated The Rock, Mankind, Big Show, Davey Boy Smith and Kane to win the vacant WWF World Title in a Six-Pack challenge when he pinned Rock with a Pedigree after Smith had hit Rock with a chair.
2000 - WCW Commissioner Mike Sanders strips Norman Smiley of the WCW Hardcore Title, ending his second reign.
2002 - Major League Wrestling holds their second ever event, "Reload", at the Manhattan Center in New York City. The show sees participation from Mexico's Shocker, La Parka and Super Crazy, as well as rare U.S. appearances by All Japan's Satoshi Kojima and Taiyo Kea. Here are the results:
- Super Crazy defeated Fuego Guerrero (Amazing Red).
- Steve Williams & P.J. Friedman defeated Afterburn & Eric Adams.
- La Parka defeated Shocker.
- Christopher Daniels, Dick Togo, & Ikuto Hidaka defeated Jose & Joel Maximo & Quiet Storm.
- C.W. Anderson defeated Devon Storm.
- Terry Funk defeated Chris Candido.
- Steve Corino defeated Vampiro and The Sandman in a three way dance.
- Taiyo Kea defeated Sabu.
- Satoshi Kojima defeated Jerry Lynn to win the vacant MLW Heavyweight Title.
2003 - Dwayne Johnson's film "The Rundown" opened.
2004 - Marianna Komlos, a former fitness competitor, passed away at the age of 35 following a battle with breast cancer. Komlos had a short run in WWF as Beaver Cleavage's mother. When that character was dropped, she worked under her first name in a storyline where she claimed her boyfriend, Chazz was physically abusing her. The character was written off after she was revealed to be faking it.
2005 - The final episode of Raw to air on SpikeTV took place in Waco, Texas, as the show would be moving back to it's former (and current) home, USA Network. The show would earn a 3.2 rating. In the main event, Carlito & Chris Masters, with help from Kurt Angle, defeat Shawn Michaels & John Cena in a Tables match.
During the opening segment of Monday Night Raw on September 26th, the final edition on Spike TV, Vince McMahon thanked Spike TV for being a "great tag team partner" the last several years, then noted that next week, Monday Night Raw would be going home. When McMahon explained that Raw would be returning to the USA Network, however, Spike TV killed the audio, censoring the name of Raw's new home.
A half-hour into the program, Jonathan Coachman talked about the censoring following a match between Big Show and Gene Snitsky. Coachman sarcastically noted what a "great relationship" WWE has with SpikeTV. Again, the sound dropped out as Coach spoke, presumably when he mentioned USA. However, Coach did say that if you want to see "what Spike censored" go to WWE.com. On WWE.com, there is a countdown clock for the return to USA, as well as an article on the situation.
Spike TV continued to take parting shots at WWE by pushing their Ultimate Fighting Championship block for next Monday, noting there were "no scripts." The commercial did not mention the TNA Impact episode that would air after the UFC block.
Spike TV continued to mute out all mentions of the USA Network as Raw continued, although an exchange between Jerry Lawler and Jonathan Coachman resulted in the two getting the USA Network mentioned several times, and Spike accidentally muting part of a mention of their own network.
After numerous attempts to censor the words "USA Network" during Raw, SpikeTV has threw in the towel during the final half hour of WWE programming on the network.
During the entrances of Chris Masters and Carlito for the main event of the program, announcers Jim Ross, Jonathan Coachman and Jerry Lawler made numerous mentions of Raw moving to USA Network next week. None of the mentions were censored.
In the New York market on Cablevision, there were localized ads promoting WWE Homecoming on the USA Network next week running on Spike. I have been told the localized ads also aired on some Miami, Boston, and New Jersey cable systems as well.
2006 - WWE broadcast ECW on SciFi. Buck Woodward filed the following TV report:
Welcome to our live coverage of ECW on Sci Fi.
The ECW Opening aired, and they went to ringside in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where Joey Styles and Tazz pointed out that Big Show would defend the ECW Title against The Sandman tonight.
Oklahoma's own Jim Ross was then introduced as tonight's "special guest". Ross came to the ring to the Oklahoma fight song, and said it was great to be in Oklahoma. JR thanked Tazz and Styles for inviting him to the show, which resulted in Tazz and Styles each claiming they hadn't, wondering if the other had invited him. Ross was comparing ECW to Mid South Wrestling, when he was interrupted by Matt Striker.
Striker took the mic from JR, and said he had been sent out by Paul Heyman to "educate" Jim Ross. Striker said that he was a New York City school teacher, and that Ross and all the fans "lacked education". Striker ripped on JR for being a "blue collar man" that enjoyed "alcoholic beverages". The Sandman came out, and Striker backed off. Striker looked to JR for help, but got none, and Sandman hit Striker in the gut with his cane. Sandman then offered JR the cane, and Ross took it and hit Striker across the back with it, to a big pop. Striker ran off, and Sandman gave Ross a beer. Ross toasted "the next ECW World Champion", Sandman, and the two chugged a beer together.
A commercial for Eric Bischoff's book aired, with Bischoff pointing out that he didn't edit the "Monday Night Wars" DVD, and that his book would feature his side of the story, unedited. Bischoff then ran down a list of people that will probably be ticked off by his book, including Hogan, Hall, Nash, Austin, Ross and, of course, the McMahons.
A commercial aired for "Extreme Strip Poker" in two weeks.
Hardcore Holly did a promo saying he wasn't going to tell Rob Van Dam what he was going to do, he was going to show him. They aired a clip of Holly attacking Van Dam last week.
Extreme Rules: Hardcore Holly vs. Rob Van Dam
They locked up at the bell, and RVD reversed a hiptoss into an armdrag. Van Dam hit a clothesline and a spin kick in the corner. Van Dam started to pose, but Holly hit him with some punches. Holly went for a backdrop, but Van Dam flipped over it and hit a thrust kick. Van Dam clotheslined Holly and kicked him to the floor. Holly yanked RVD out as well, and they brawled around the ring. Van Dam put Holly across the security wall and hit a corkscrew legdrop off the ring apron. RVD went under the ring and pulled out a table. The fans chanted "We Want Tables". Van Dam set it up at ringside, but Holly attacked him and rammed him face first into the steps. Holly chopped him on the floor and rammed him into the ringpost.
Holly tossed Van Dam back into the ring, then hit a legdrop for a two count. Holly and Van Dam exchanged punches in a corner, then RVD ran into a big boot by Holly. He choked Van Dam against the middle rope, then put him in a camel clutch. Van Dam made the ropes, but it was Extreme Rules, so Holly didn't have to break. Eventually, Holly released the hold and hit some punches. Van Dam tried to rally, but Holly hit a clothesline for a two count. Van Dam threw some punches and backdropped Holly to the apron, but Holly yanked down RVD by the hair. Holly teased suplexing Van Dam off the apron. They teased reversals, and then Holly completed the move, sending both men crashing through the table at ringside as they went to commercial.
Back from the break, we saw that Holly's back had been cut open from the framing around the edge of the table. He had a pretty nasty gash, probably around six inches long, across the left side of his back. However, he was on offense, and he dropped RVD chest first on a chair he set up in the ring. Holly scored a two count. Holly put a chair on RVD's head and hit a second rope legdrop. Holly scored a two count, and looked frustrated. Holly tried for a suplex, but RVD reversed it, sending Holly down back first across the chair. RVD hit a pair of clotheslines, then gave Holly a monkey flip. Van Dam hit a top rope thrust kick. Holly slumped in a corner, and RVD dropkicked a steel chair into his face. Van Dam then hit Rolling Thunder on Holly with the chair for a two count. Van Dam set up for a monkey flip onto a chair, but Holly blocked it and powerbombed RVD on the chair for a two count.
Holly went to ram RVD in a corner, but Van Dam blocked it and kicked Holly in the head. RVD put the chair on top of Holly and went to the top rope. Van Dam went for the frog splash, but Holly threw the chair up, and Van Dam hit it hard with is head. In fact, his head almost got caught in the chair. Holly crawled onto RVD for a two count. Holly went for a Alabama Slam, but Van Dam floated over it into a sunset flip, but Holly broke it up with punches. Holly picked up the chair, but Van Dam dropkicked it in his face. Van Dam then hit the five star frog splash for the pin at the 18-minute mark.
Winner: Rob Van Dam.
As soon as the match was over, a doctor and a trainer got in the ring and started tending to the gash on Holly's back. After the replays, they showed Holly standing up in the ring, and some fans applauded him and there was a faint "Holly" chant. The announcers put over Holly big time.
CM Punk cut a promo about his "straight edge" lifestyle, and that his one addiction was competing in ECW. Punk said he wanted to face the best, naming Rob Van Dam, Sabu, Sandman and Big Show. Kelly Kelly interrupted, and noticing the "four aces" tattoo on his arm, started talking about Extreme Strip Poker. Kelly said she can't get into casinos because she is 19, and wondered if Punk would help her practice for the game. Mike Knox interrupted, asking Kelly (rhetorically) if he wasn't enough man for her. Knox asked Punk if he had his own woman, and Punk said he did, but that Knox shouldn't be concerned with his. Punk delivered a great line about how "the fence" Knox builds around Kelly isn't high enough, "because she keeps jumping into my yard". Knox said he had to straighten out Kelly, and Punk was lucky he didn't have time for him now. Punk didn't back down, noting he'd be waiting for him.
After a great match and a fantastic promo, we then found out John Cena is a great kisser. Yes, they hyped The Marine.
Extreme Cat Fight: Ariel, with Kevin Thorn, vs. Francine.
Ariel got on the mic and said she read Francine's tarot card, and that she'll be "fat, ugly, and pregnant" and dreaming of being with Kevin Thorn. Francine attacked Ariel and ripped off her top, then hiptossed her and began ramming her head into the mat. Thron interfered and grabbed Francine so Ariel could get some shots in. Balls Mahoney ran out and hit Thorn in the gut with a chair, then cracked him across the head with it. Thorn and Ariel retreated while Balls and Francine challenged them to return to the ring.
Result: No contest?
A video package on The Sandman was shown.
ECW World Champion The Big Show was backstage with Paul Heyman. Big Show boasted about beating Sandman tonight, then said he wanted the Singapore Cane to be legal. Then we went to commercial.
Rene Dupree came out of the shower and said he was the "Most Extreme" athlete in ECW. He then opened his towel (the camera was above waist level), looked at his crotch, and smiled.
ECW World Champion Big Show vs. The Sandman - Singapore Cane is legal.
Big Show came out, then Sandman made his entrance through the crowd as they went to commercial again.
Back from break, Sandman was wailing on Big Show with the cane, hitting him in the back and head, then targeting his legs. Show rolled to the floor, but Sandman followed, caning Show across the back of the head. Sandman hit some shots across the back, and Show was bleeding from the forehead. They made it back into the ring, and Show head some headbutts to get on offense. Show chopped Sandman across the chest, then headbutted him to the mat again. Sandman poked Show in the eyes and delivered some punches, but Show downed him with a clothesline. Show slammed Sandman, and kicked away the cane as Sandman crawled towards it. Show punched Sandman to the mat and yelled that no one can beat him. Sandman rallied with some punches, but Show grabbed him by the throat. Sandman avoided the chokeslam and floated around Show, then hit a DDT. Sandman got the cane and hit Show with a shot to the head. Sandman went to the top rope and hit Show with a cane shot as he jumped off. Sandman seemed to hurt his leg on the move. Sandman covered Show for a two count. Sandman went for the cane, but Matt Striker, who had showed up at ringside, pulled it out of the ring. Sandman was distracted by Striker, and Show hit a clothesline. Show delivered the Cobra Clutch backbreaker, then held onto the Cobra, but Sandman wouldn't tap out. Show lifted him off the mat and hit the Showstopper standing legdrop for the pin.
Winner: The Big Show.
Sandman was laid out in the ring, and Big Show walked off, laughing, as the show ended.
During the main event, it was announced that Hardcore Holly needed 24 stitches to close the gash on his back.
2007 - It was announced that WWE Hall of Famer Tito Santana was working on an autobiography, which was released in April 2008, titled "Tales from the Ring."
2007 - The Associated Press released the following article:
Lawyer Wants Out of Benoit Doctor Case
Lawyer for Dead Wrestler's Doctor Wants Out of Case, Says Client Can't Afford Him
ATLANTA (AP) -- The lawyer for Chris Benoit's personal doctor, who faces federal charges of overprescribing medication, asked a judge Wednesday for permission to withdraw from the case because his client can no longer pay his legal fees and expenses.
Phil Astin has pleaded not guilty to federal charges of improperly prescribing painkillers and other drugs to two patients other than Benoit, the professional wrestler who killed his family and himself in June. More federal charges against Astin are expected.
Attorney Manny Arora said in a motion in U.S. District Court in Atlanta that since being placed under house arrest, Astin has been unable to work and foreclosure notices and other liens have been placed on his real estate.
"Astin has become and is currently indigent," Arora wrote.
Arora said the cost of defending Astin would be expensive, running into the tens of thousands of dollars for copying medical documents alone.
There was no immediate ruling by the court.
Prosecutors have said Benoit, 40, strangled his wife with a cord, used a choke hold to strangle his 7-year-old son, placed Bibles next to the bodies and hanged himself on a piece of exercise equipment.
Authorities have said Astin prescribed a 10-month supply of anabolic steroids to Benoit every three to four weeks between May 2006 and May 2007.
Steroid use has lingered as a theory behind the killings, since anabolic steroids were found in Benoit's home and tests conducted by authorities showed Benoit had roughly 10 times the normal level of testosterone in his system when he died.
Some experts believe that use of testosterone can contribute to paranoia, depression and violent outbursts known as "roid rage."
Benoit's father believes years of head trauma his son suffered while in the ring contributed to the killings. Doctors affiliated with the Sports Legacy Institute, who examined Benoit's brain, have said that repeated concussions could have contributed to the killings, but they don't know for sure.
2008 - The Ring of Honor New Horizons PPV debuted. Mike Johnson filed the following PPV report:
Ring of Honor New Horizons PPV report.
New Horizons opened with ROH Tag Team champions The Age of the Fall in the ring. The announcers weren't sure they were on the air and said the champs weren't supposed to open the show. Jimmy Jacobs cut a promo saying that as the new Tag Team champions, it was a new dawn revolution. Jacobs said that they had the power now and thus weren't going to defend the belts, which upset the announcers. Jacobs said that while they have the power to spread their message, they also have the power to decree that they have no legitimate challengers. He said Mark Briscoe was hurt and Steen and Generico were nowhere to be found.
The Briscoes hit the ring and ran off the champs. Dave Prazak and Lenny Leonard said that the Briscoes weren't even supposed to be in Detroit due to Mark's wrist injury. The crowd chanted, "Man Up." Prazak entered the ring to get comments from the Briscoes, who challenged the Tag champs. The Age of the Fall teased hitting the ring, then tried to walk out. Austin Aries attacked Black and Jacobs and brawled to the back with them.
Prazak asked Mark Briscoe what he was doing here. He said he was ready to go and wanted his Tag Team titles back. Prazak said that it didn't look like the champs were coming back and segued to an opening video of highspots while they found "stand by" opponents for the Briscoes.
The Briscoes vs. Mitch Franklin & Silas Young
Jay Briscoe hits a Cactus clothesline out of the ring on Franklin. Young takes down Mark with a rolling Samoan Drop, then hits an Arabian Press. Jay hit the ring and kicked him in the mush. Franklin went for a dive but was caught and thrown off by the Briscoes. The Briscoes nailed a double Beel on Franklin. Young went for a springboard dive but was caught and hit with a suplex. The Briscoes nailed the Doomsday Device for the win. A completely entertaining squash to bring the Briscoes back to the forefront.
This led into a nice video feature on the Briscoes, showing them on their farm and featuring them as old school country boy rednecks, right down the rifles, beer and pitbull. Jay said that perhaps they've gotten a little too flashy for the crowd, so they are going to go back to their roots. He said they might hit some and miss some, but they are going to get the job done. He noted the Age of the Fall claim they have a revolution, but the Briscoes would show them how real men start a revolution, then showed a shot of them firing rifles into the air. If you were a first time viewer, you'd immediately get a sense of who the characters behind this team was.
Ruckus vs. Delirious vs. Erick Stevens vs. Shane Hagadorn - Four Corner Survival
The typical fast paced back and forth style match you'd get out of ROH for this bout. Hagadorn, more or less a lackey for Adam Pearce, really seemed like odd man out here. They did a deal where he tried to leave like a coward once Stevens was stomping him but Delirious and Ruckus didn't let him. Hagadorn then did his Daniel Puder Royal Rumble impression as he was beaten by everyone else in the match. Ruckus nailed an awesome moonsault. In the end, Stevens killed Hagadorn with the Doctor Bomb. Solid for what it was designed to be with lots of action here.
Austin Aries hit the ring and said that everyone who's a wrestling fan knows about the old clichéd blood feud, but what's going on between him and Jacobs transcends a blood feud. ROH interspersed clips of the feud into the "live" promo. Aries said that after what Jacobs did to Lacey, this isn't about one man beating the hell out of the other, but about a level of emotional hatred so deep that most fans will never understand. Aries said that he and Jacobs want each other, so he was calling out Jacobs right now. Jacobs appeared in the aisle and slowly walked to the ring but Tyler Black attacked Aries from behind. Aries took out Black and turned his attention back to Jacobs. MsChif, billed as the SHIMMER Champion on screen, hit the ring and lowblowed Aries from behind. Jacobs hit the ring and The Age of the Fall worked over Aries. Jacobs pulled what appeared to be a wrench out from his tights and nailed Aries in the face with it, busting him open. A logo for the Age's website appeared. When we returned to live action, Jacobs was digging into a bloody Aries' mouth with the wrench. Several undercard wrestlers came out and dragged Aries out.
Hey, since the Briscoes wanted The Age of the Fall so bad they came all the way to Detroit, why didn't they just hit the ring and make the save?
As the Age of the Fall are in the ring, Kevin Steen comes out with a mic. The crowd chanted, "Mr. Wrestling." Steen said that they've shown the world how talented they are at 2 on 1 attacked. He asked when they are going to show the world how talented they are at tag team wrestling and asked when he and El Generico are getting their title shot. Jacobs said Steen thinks he deserves something, but all he does is whine and doesn't deserve anything. He said that Steen needs to prove himself. Steen said that he and Generico prove themselves on every PPV but if they want him to prove himself, he'll do it again by facing them both alone. Jacobs teased he was going to wrestle Steen, but Necro Butcher attacked Steen instead.
Necro Butcher vs. Kevin Steen
Necro beat Steen down on the outside, including nailing him with a guard rail. The announcers told the viewers they've been told this will be a sanctioned match as they were going to roll with it and it's now a No DQ match. Necro continued his assault as the announcers talked about Necro doing the Age of the Fall's dirty work. Steen was tossed into the railing but came back to nail him with the ring bell. Steen went to town on Necro on the outside. Necro began choking Steen with a t-shirt in the aisle. Steen caught Necro and hit a running over the shoulder powerslam on the entrance ramp.
Steen tosses Necro back in the ring, showered him with punches and bit Necro on the forehead. Steen continued to work over Necro, then locked in a Sharpshooter. Necro broke free and punched Steen with a big right, sending him to the floor. Necro went for Steen but was nailed with a chair on the floor. Steen positioned the chair and tossed Necro off the apron through it. Steen dove off the top but Necro got his knees up. Necro tossed several chairs in the ring and bulldogged Steen through one. Steen came back and nailed a Michinoku Driver II through a chair for a near fall. Steen hit his package piledriver, which looked brutal, for the pin.
Fun brawl. A great example of the type of performers who would most likely never get a WWE deal based on the current hiring standards and how short-sided those standards are based on how entertaining the brawl was.
Backstage, Adam Pearce mocked Brent Albright over the fireball Pearce threw in his face on the last PPV. Pearce said that he wasn't allowed to compete tonight and that was his penance and he was fine with that because he was the NWA champion. He said the NWA title was worth more than any measly pay ever could be. He said that he doesn't care about PPV or money, but about leaving a mark. He said he would leave a scar or a black heart and that's why Larry Sweeney came to him. He promised that Sweet N' Sour Inc. will forge New Horizons. He said that Albright knows all about it. As his promo ended, Sweeney called on the phone.
Chris Hero & Go Shiozaki (with Sweet N' Sour Inc.) vs. Roderick Strong & Naomichi Marufuji
They showed clips of Davey Richards turning on Roderick Strong and noted that Sweeney sent Richards on tour in Japan. They said Marufuji was appearing courtesy of NOAH. Sweeney took the mic and said Sweet N' Sour is growing bigger and bigger. He said their newest client, Shiozaki, was happy with his representation and tried to get Marufuji to join his clientele. He offered his hand to Marufuji, who gave him the finger instead. Sweeney said he wouldn't allow his men to wrestle tonight and they all walked out, but former WWE and ECW star Lance Storm came out.
Storm said, "If I can be serious for a minute", and told Sweeney that unless he got past Lance, he wasn't going anywhere. Storm said he came to see the "best damn locker room in the business leave it all in the ring" and said he would stay at ringside to make sure Sweeney kept his nose out of the match. They showed clips of Bryan Danielson vs. Storm from a few years back to show he's no stranger to ROH.
Strong and Shiozaki began chopping the hell out of each other. Strong finally won the exchange with a leg lariat. ROH champ Nigel McGuinness popped up in the announcer's booth saying he was back due to all the demand for it. McGuinness said that as champion, he had decided he would be defending the belt next so he could then watch the rest of the PPV. Hero tagged in for a short time before tagged back out to Go. Strong and Marufuji nail a variation of the Backseat Boys' Dream Sequence. Hero tossed Roderick out of the ring but Lance Storm prevented him from being attacked.
Hero and Shiozaki continued to work over Strong in the corner. Strong finally fought off Go with chops and made the hot tag. Marufuji cleaned house but was nailed with a fisherman's buster. Marufuji came back to cut off Hero and went for a shiranumani (The Kendrick) but Hero blocked it. Strong nailed a Gutbuster on Hero and locked on an armbar but Go broke up the submission attempt. Marufuji superkicked Go. Hero nailed Marufuji with a roaring elbow but Strong tagged himself in and scored with a backbreaker for the pin. Another good match. Lots of fun back and forth athletic stuff here. Marufuji is the most crisp in-ring technician you haven't heard of.
Lance Storm raised the winners' hands. Larry Sweeney attacked Lance Storm as the others laid out Strong and Marufuji. Storm caught Sweeney in the Canadian Maple Leaf. ROH caught an awesome close-up of Sweeney's face. Hero nailed Storm with a roaring elbow, knocking him out. Sweet N' Sour Inc. stood over Storm and cackled.
DC Comics' The Unknown Soldier made his debut. No, wait, that's a bandaged Brent Albright. He said that he's not wrestling on the PPV because of Adam Pearce. He said Pearce threw a fireball in his face. Normally, when he comes home from a wrestling tour, his son runs up to give him a hug but this time his son ran away and asked what's wrong with his face. Albright said his seven month baby girl doesn't understand what's going on and cries while his wife wonders how they will pay their bills if the doctors won't let him wrestle. Albright promised that he was going to make Adam Pearce's face look exactly like his. The promo was OK but didn't seem to hit the emotional plateau you would think given he's talking about the effect of the attack on his family.
They went into a video feature on Claudio Castagnoli, talking about coming to America three years ago to live his dream. Castagnoli said he started from nothing to build his way up. He said Nigel McGuinness did the same thing but Claudio isn't someone with a dream - he's someone who's going to be the new champion. Like the Briscoes piece, a great insight into the character behind the athlete.
ROH champion Nigel McGuinness vs. Claudio Castagnoli
Dave Prazak gave a rundown of all the major names that have put their names in the history books by becoming ROH champion, noting that Claudio wants to do the same. They had Bobby Cruise do in-ring introductions for each competitor, giving it a big-time fight feel.
Before I even go into any moves recap, I'll just state this bout is worth the $10 pricetag for the PPV itself as it's just an excellent start to finish top of the line wrestling clinic. After several minutes of great back and forth matwork and wrestling, they really kicked it into second gear. By the time Claudio kicked out Nigel's Tower of London finisher, the crowd popped huge, believing Claudio was on his way to getting the title. Just great stuff to watch unfold.
Late in the bout, Claudio nailed several finishers including his Ricola Bomb and his bicycle kick for near falls. McGuinness kept trying to rebound off the ropes for his jawbreaker lariat but Claudio ducked and snared him in the Giant Swing for another nearfall. In a lot of ways, Nigel is the most underappreciated top champion right now because most online fans are vocal about his work in negative ways but seem to ignore that in every title defense, the fans live totally believe the challenger has a shot at getting the belt. Isn't that what being a good "World" champ is about? It was for Ric Flair.
Castagnoli went to the top but Nigel nailed him. Nigel went to clothesline Claudio off the turnbuckles while standing on them but Claudio nailed an enziguiri while both were standing on the ropes. Never seen that before! Castagnoli nailed a series of moves but Nigel kept kicking up at the last second. At this point, the only criticism you could make was that these guys were doing far too much and kicking out of it, but at this point, that's the ROH style, for better or worse. Claudio went for the Ricola Bomb again but Nigel blocked it. Nigel was caught going for the Jawbreaker and Claudio finally hit the Ricole for a two count. They were doing an awesome back and forth when Castagnoli kicked out of a rollup. Nigel bounced backwards off the ropes and nailed a jawbreaker lariat for the pin out of nowhere. That may be my favorite finish I've seen anywhere this year. Great stuff here.
They plugged the ROH website.
Bryan Danielson vs. Tyler Black
They mentioned Danielson's last month, including appearing at AAA's Triplemania, the biggest event for Pro Wrestling NOAH and a win over Lance Cade in his WWE dark appearance, which was weird, but hey, if you can say one of your guys beat a pushed WWE performer, why not? I just wonder if some fans are so used to wrestling companies lying that they will believe it. The back story here was that Nigel won't give Danielson a title match again until he beats everyone that Nigel has beaten, so first up was Black, since ROH has been building him as a legitimate player and threat to the top names over the last several months.
Again, another insanely great match. If WWE put two matches of this caliber on any PPV, fans would be screaming it was show of the year immediately. McGuinness returned for commentary to scout the winner and was awesome at it. He ripped on the crowd chanting for Danielson to slap Black again, wondering why they won't do that for him when he hits a lariat.
Black locked in a sleeper but Danielson made his way back, then reversed it into a cross armbreaker. When Black struggled out, Danielson locked on a triangle. With the exception of William Regal, who doesn't get to work that style anymore, no one is more proficient in the fluid European mat-based wrestling style than Danielson. McGuinness got off a great line saying Black should tap because it was more important to save himself than win. Black fought his way out of it by struggling to lift Danielson up while still in the triangle and powerbombing him into the corner. The ropes snapped, which wasn't planned. The place went ballistic for it and the ropes snapping only added to the moment.
They went back and forth with exchanges of strikes but Black suplexed Danielson, then kicked him in the face while he was on his knees. Danielson kicked up. Black nailed a small package driver for another near fall. Back and forth strikes as the crowd exploded like they were having a unified orgasm. Danielson finally got the better of Black with a series of elbows to the face and the referee called it near 30 minutes. Insanely good is the best way to describe this one.
Jimmy Jacobs, who came to ringside during the main event, entered the ring to check on Black. The announcers ran down upcoming dates as Austin Aries, still bloody, hit the ring and attacked Jacobs. Jacobs and Aries brawled in the ring broken ring as the announcers wondered if the bout was official. Aries worked over Jacobs with a series of punches in the corner, then nailed him with a series of dropkicks in the corner. Jacobs went to the floor. Aries went for a dive but missed, hitting the railing. Jacobs placed Aries in a chair and returned to the ring for a dive but Aries evaded it.
They brawled in the crowd, which the cameras weren't really able to capture. The announcers said they they weren't prepared for this to go down, which was a nice cover for the impromptu brawl. Jacobs whipped Aries towards a wall but Aries jumped onto some rolled up mats and hit a flying clothesline. Aries nailed a brainbuster. Jacobs locked in his End Time submission but Aries broke it by running himself into a wall. Jacobs tried for a spear but was kneed and caught in a front facelock. Aries began beating Jacobs into a chair.
Aries set up a ladder and climbed it but Jacobs flung a chair at him and pulled him down. They ended up brawling around and up the ladder until they were on top of it. Necro Butcher hit the scene with a chair. Jacobs instructed Necro to nail Aries while Aries told him not to listen. They foreshadowed this by mentioning Aries had been trying to get through to Necro that Jacobs was using him. Necro, not sure what to do, shoved the ladder over and both crashed through tables that were nearby. Necro disappeared as the brawl between the two continued while the PPV went off the air. A fun, gritty brawl to close the show.
Overall, another fine outing for the company. ROH did their best to use editing and inserts to add a different feel to the PPV. I thought the packages on the talents were an awesome addition to the show and you really can't complain about any PPV with two matches featuring great 20-plus minutes of wrestling on top. If you want to check out some top notch wrestling and logical writing (minus the Briscoes' disappearance), you'll enjoy this show.
2008 - WWE broadcast Smackdown for the last time on the CW Network. The series would move onto MyNetwork TV before shifting again to SyFy in 2010. Michael Grimaldi filed the following TV report:
-WWE Open
-Highlights of Vladimir Kozlov's encounters with both Jeff Hardy and Triple H over the past two weeks
-Smackdown Open
-Jim Ross welcomes us to the show.
-Backstage Chavo is with Vickie and Vickie wants to know what the Undertaker told him. Chavo is nervous and describes how the Undertaker choke him but eventually let go because he wanted Chavo to be a messenger and tell Vickie that he is coming for her this week. Vickie send Chavo to get the Big Show. Jeff Hardy appears and asks for Kozlov, but Vickie tells him that just like she told Triple H earlier, it's not going to happen and that they need to get ready for the tag match. Jeff exits and Big Show and Chavo enter. Chavo is still nervous but Show puts his arm around Vickie and they seem confident.
1. Triple H and Jeff Hardy vs. MVP and THE Brian Kendrick w/ Ezekiel Jackson- Early on they tried to play on the "can Hardy and HHH work as a team" deal, but that was never really a factor in the match. Hardy started against MVP and he (Hardy) and HHH proceeded make a few quick tags in and out. MVP tags out but Hardy gets the jump on Kendrick. Hardy goes for the tip up dropkick in the corner but Kendrick bails to the floor. Hardy follows but 'Zeke distracts him. As Hardy gets back in the ring Kendrick catches him with a kick to gain control. MVP and Kendrick make a tags but they have some communication problems and that allows Hardy to make the tag to HHH. Helmsley comes in and cleans house and clotheslines Kendrick over the top rope and then Hardy and HHH toss MVP out as we go to a break.
Out of the break, the heel have gained control. We are shown a replay of Zeke distracting HHH on the outside and Kendrick hitting a baseball slide dropkick on him during the commercial that led to that advantage. Kendrick tried to wear down The Game, but misses a reverse crossbody off the middle rope that allows HHH to tag Hardy back in. Hardy come in fast hitting a hooking/leaping lariat, a sit out gordbuster and the Twist of Fate before going to the top rope. Ezekiel grabs Hardy's foot and Jeff gets crotched and crashes to the mat. Kendrick covers for a 2 count. MVP comes in and hits a series of knees and drops Hardy for another 2 count. The heels start quick tagging and Kendrick comes off the top with a double stomp on to Hardy. The crowd starts to chant "Let's Go Hardy" but Kendrick catches Jeff with a nice low running drop kick and then applies a camel clutch. Tazz and JR explain that Hardy's resilience has to make Triple H wonder what he'll have to do to put Hardy down (very good, yet subtle job of work there by the announcers). MVP comes in and applies a seated abdominal stretch, Hardy fights out but MVP tags Kendrick back in. Hardy finally comes to life hitting the Whisper in the Wind on Kendrick allowing for the double tag as HHH and MVP come in. HHH is a house of fire (or is it "House on fire?" I never know) and has MVP really. Kendrick tries to intervene but Hardy takes him out with a Cactus clothesline over the top. MVP sets up for the Drive-By Kick but HHH moves, gets to his feet...kick to the gut...pedigree...1...2...3. After the match,, Hardy takes the title belt from the time keeper and hands it to HHH and they shake hands.
Winner- Hardy/HHH via pinfall over MVP/Kendrick
-A video package on The Great Khali is shown.
BREAK
-Back from commercial JR and Tazz take a moment to thank Les Moonves and the CW Network for their years on the network.
-WWE 24/7 moment. March 13, 1992 from MSG with Flair/Sid vs. Hogan/Piper.
-Shelton Benjamin comes out wearing a white buttoned down shirt, jeans and sneakers (there's a point to mentioning this) to talk about how he's the "Gold Standard." Same deal he does every week. He says he is in a class above the rest in and out of the ring, but some in the WWE have no standards...like R-Truth. He says Truth is a joke and just smoke and mirrors, but what he really is, "is street urchin." Truth's music hits and he comes through the crowd as usual doing his deal. Shelton looks an amused. Truth gets in the ring and yells at Shelton into a mic, "What's Up?" So there we have two black men in the ring, both with white shirts, blue jeans and white sneakers...great job wardrobe. I mean, if they're trying to say that Shelton is putting on a front to think he's above another "black athlete" in the WWE yet ironically they really aren't that different, I get it. But most viewers don't put half the amount of thought I just did into that. They just see two guys who kind of look similar. Anyways, Shelton just drops his mic after the "What's Up" and slowly makes his way out of the ring and up the ramp. Truth does some more smiling and dancing and Shelton, for the first time I have ever seen, used something other than his athletic ability to get over. He looked back at Truth with a real look of anger and disdain, that to me, got over more than any of these lame "Gold Standard" promos have.
-Maria and Brie Bella are shown walking "to the ring" backstage.
BREAK
2. Maria and Brie Bella vs. Victoria and Natalya- Basics Smackdown Diva match with Victoria and Natalya dominating with strength while the nice girls tried to use quickness to get away. Ross described a move by Maria being "a great athletic move" a.k.a. "it looked like crap, but you at home probably can't do it." After getting knocked off the top rope to the floor, Brie went under the ring and (Nicole) Bella came from the other side. It was intentionally timed so you could see the legs of Brie while her sister was coming out from the other side. Bella got back in the ring and hit an X-Factor (sadly no Uncle Cracker theme music was used) but only got a 2 count. Bella tagged Maria in who came off the top with an ugly cross body for the pin.
Winner- Bella/Maria over Victoria/Natalya via pin fall.
-Vladimir Kozlov video package is shown.
BREAK
3. Vladimir Kozlov vs. The Great Khali w/ Ranjin Singh- Kozlov trapped Khali's arms and hit a few heatbutts to the massive chest of the giant. Khali came back with the big head chop and sent Kozlov outside the ring. Khali follow but missed a clothesline and hit the post. As Kozlov gather himself and got back in the ring, Triple H's music played and The Game made his way to the ring. When HHH got in the ring Kozlov stepped out. Eventually Khali would attempt to jump HHH but the Helmsley was on the the sneak attack. Kozlov came back in and helped Khali double team HHH till Jeff Hardy made the save. Hardy was quickly stopped by the head chop from Khali and the double team resumed. HHH retrieved the sledge hammer from under the ring and chased Kozlov off. Khali was too slow to bail and took a few shots to the gut with the sledge hammer. Hardy and HHH stood in the ring inviting Kozlov, but Kozlov pointed to the sledge hammer and said "nyet." Triple H gave him a crotch crop.
BREAK
-We see a few Ohio State Buckeye football players in the crowd. Unlike Brian Kendrick, I will not use the word "The" before their name.
-Ross and Tazz run down the No Mercy card.
-Vickie, Chavo and Big Show are still in Vickie's office. Chavo is concerned about the Undertake but Show gets up in Chavo's face asking him what his last name is (Chavo's, not Show's) and if he's going to bail on his family.. Vickie tells Chavo he has a match...next.
BREAK
4. Chavo Guerrero vs. Jimmy Wang Yang- While Chavo was on his way to the ring, a small circle with Gregory Helms popped up telling Chavo that the Undertaker was after him and he should go home. Okay. Not much of a match here, Chavo spent the time selling that he was worried that the Undertake was coming after him. Yang would hit some offense while Chavo would get distracted by his fear, but in the end, Chavo got the pin after a rolling Liger kick. The lights flicked off and then back on and Chavo didn't know whether to run or not.
BREAK
5. Carlito and Primo Colon vs. WWE Tag Team Champions Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder for the WWE Tag Team Titles- They showed footage of last week's Carlito's Cabana where Jesse, Festus and the tag champs got into it along with Primo and Carlito. Primo and Hawkins started out and Primo caught Curt with a quick headscissors before tagging out to Carly. Carlito quickly tagged promo back in and hit a tilt-a-whirl slam on his brother on to Hawkins. Carlito came back in a Tazz talked about how Carlito is known to be smooth (has he ever seen a Carlito match? Michael J. Fox is smoother than Carlito...seriously...it's a joke...calm down). Carlito eventually fell prey to the dreaded Smackdown ring post and the tag champs went to work on his left arm. Ryder comes in and takes Carlito down with a hammerlock. Hawkins tags back in and nails three kicks to Carlito's back followed by a rolling neck snap the applies a cross arm-breaker. After a few teases for the hot tag, Carlito does a "Ricky Morton roll" and makes the tag to Primo who comes in taking out Hawkins in Ryder with some fasted paced offense. Primo hits a missile drop kick off the top rope on Ryder for a two count. Ryder comes back quickly with a school boy from behind while holding the tights. Primo makes a blind tag to Carlito who, unbeknownst to Ryder sneaks in and hits the backstabber and gets the 3 count for the win and the tag team titles.
-As the Colon Brothers celebrate, we see the My Moving Company Van back up from beside the stage.
-Quick cut to Vickie's office where Chavo is scared the Undertaker is coming for him. Chavo asks what they're going to do and Show says "We're going to smoke him out." Big Show does kind of always look stoned. Anyways, Vickie does some bad acting and says that they are going to the ring and Chavo can join them or stay in the office...alone.
BREAK
-During the break Jesse and Festus moved some random stuff and we get to see Kenny Dykstra and Ryan Braddock both still tied up. Dykstra has been tied in the same bubble wrap for 2 weeks? All kinds of disgusting questions to ponder there...Vince rarely turns down a chance to make bathroom humor.
-After a short delay, Show, Vickie and Chavo make their way to the ring. Vickie does her "Excuse me" line a few times and then completely shit's the bed on her promo. She speaks mono-syllabically as she says the line "All-of-us-are-wai-ting-for-you" and then she states that the Undertaker told her that he "swore he would never take her soul." Huh? Then why the beef? She then says, the Undertaker "took nothing." So he lived up to his promise? Vickie stinks. We get a long video of the evolution of the Show/Vickie relationship and the beat down at Unforgiven. Show says Taker isn't going to come save the day because he beat him and ended the myth of the Undertaker. Bell tolls twice...Chavo is gone. We then see Taker choking Chavo out in Vickie's office, apparently "live." Vickie sends Show to get Taker, but the feed cuts out after Show leaves. Tazz says he wants to get a word with Vickie, who is left in the ring alone. As Tazz makes it to the second ring step, the bell tolls again, lights go out and then back on...Undertaker is behind Vickie. Take grabs her by the throat and makes some evil faces at her. Eventually he picks her up and tombstones Ms. Guerrero. Taker poses over Vickie as the show ends.
2009 - Ring of Honor's Glory By Honor VIII took place in New York City, featuring a special appearance from Bret Hart, the farewells of Bryan Danielson and Nigel McGuinness and the return of Jim Cornette. Stu Carapola filed the following live report:
Glory By Honor VIII was easily the best ROH show I've been to since Glory By Honor V Night Two. The show was of course sold out and ended up going five and a half hours, but it was so good that it flew by and nobody really seemed to care. Just one awesome match after another and a couple of surprises as well.
-Colt Cabana defeated Rhett Titus in a solid opener. Comedy match which Cabana won with the Billy Goat's Curse to avenge his defeat the previous evening.
-The Dark City Fight Club squashed Up In Smoke. Unlike the previous evening against the Young Bucks, Up In Smoke got in very little offense and it was almost all DCFC, who are over in a big way in New York.
-Claudio Castagnoli defeated Kenny Omega following a low blow behind the ref's back and a running European Uppercut. Omega beat Claudio in New York back at Final Battle 2008 and I thought at the time that Claudio was as good as done in ROH, but he's come back in a big way this year while Omega has stayed over and has still had good matches, but has hovered around that midcard area.
-Bret Hart came out and put over New York and his history there, waved to the crowd, thanked them for coming and left. Still waiting for that angle.
-Roderick Strong won a Four Corner Survival against Delirious, Sonjay Dutt, and Grizzly Redwood. Dutt had Delirious down and started to pull down his tights to make obscene gestures at Daizee Haze, but Roderick came up from behind him and hit a backbreaker and a Gibson Driver for the win.
-The American Wolves defeated Kevin Steen & El Generico in Ladder War II to retain the ROH World Tag Team Title. This match was just brutal on all four guys, and you need to get the DVD to see what I mean, but there were some sick spots including Generico hitting a sunset bomb on Davey off the top of a ladder and through a table, followed by Edwards backdropping Generico off the top of the ladder through a table. Eddie Edwards is the Man Of The Century for climbing in the ring for this match after the injury he suffered and had a big cast on his arm, but he was the most over guy in the match for toughing it out and earning everyone's respect.
INTERMISSION
-Chris Hero defeated Eddie Kingston. Kingston had the loaded elbow pad he stole from Hero some time back, but Hero had a second loaded elbow pad which he put on and used to knock out Kingston.
-Next up was Austin Aries' Lucky Lottery, and he pulled Bret Hart's name out of the hat, claiming that this proves he's not ducking the quality challengers. Petey Williams came out and told Aries that everyone knows Bret can't wrestle, but he'd be happy to take his fellow Canadian's place and challenge Aries for the title tonight. Aries suckerpunches Petey, leading to...
-Austin Aries defeated Petey Williams by countout to retain the ROH World Title. This was obviously a totally throwaway title defense, but it did look like Petey was going to beat him after hitting a Canadian Destroyer off the top rope (which Aries was insane to take). Aries rolled to the floor and Petey went after him, but Aries gave him a brainbuster on the floor and rolled into the ring to beat the count and retain.
-Before Bobby Cruise could announce the next match, No More Mister Nice Guy started playing and out comes Jim Cornette to a huge ovation. I can't do justice to the promo Cornette did, but the basic idea was that he and TNA had parted ways, it was an acceptable departure for both sides, and the next day he got a call from Cary Silkin offering him a job as the Executive Producer of ROH On HDNet, which he accepted. This brought out Austin Aries who said that, as the ROH World Champion, he's the guy with all the real power around here, and he's going to see to it that Cornette (who Aries says can't play the political game and is impossible to get along with) becomes the first guy to get fired from WWE, TNA, and ROH. I guess he never heard about Teddy Hart. Cornette responded by saying that he's been watching the A Double L Double and is going to guarantee that he's not going to be drawing any more phony challengers out of a hat in some sham lottery, he's going to make sure that Aries is defending the title against the top contenders every single time he steps in the ring.
-The Young Bucks defeated Jay & Mark Briscoe. This was not as off the charts as I would have expected (the Young Bucks-Cheech & Cloudy match from the night before was better), but was still very good. Bucks won clean with the Finlay Roll/450/Moonsault combo.
-Finally, in the most holy match this year, Bryan Danielson defeated Nigel McGuinness in both men's final match in ROH. This was good, but again not as good as Danielson's match against Davey, and I definitely got the impression that Nigel wasn't going to go too crazy and risk himself before going to WWE. They did repeat the "ramming the opponent into the ringpost" spot from Unified (though this time it was Danielson getting rammed in, though his head didn't crack into the post like Nigel did), and they also repeated the spot from Driven where they took turns running off the ropes and headbutting each other (and I could actually hear their heads crack together from the balcony), and then after a lot of close calls, Danielson got the win after locking Nigel in the triangle choke and ramming elbows into his head until the referee stopped the match.
-After the match was over, the entire ROH roster came out around the ring and it was speech time. Nigel was up first and put over the company and Danielson and told the fans to keep supporting ROH before getting down on his knees and kissing the ROH logo in the middle of the mat. Danielson was next and he gave a similar speech, but also thanked the fans, put over Roderick, the American Wolves, and Austin Aries as the best guys in ROH right now, putover Todd Sinclair as the guy who, as much as the fans give him a hard time, is the best ref in the business right now (which actually got the crowd to start a Todd Sinclair chant), and then put over Cary Silkin, saying that ROH would not be around right now if it weren't for him. He told the fans to keep supporting ROH and had the music man play The Final Countdown one last time as he went around and high fived every fan at ringside. I actually saw people crying at ringside as all this was going on.
Terrific, terrific weekend and I highly recommend everyone get the Glory By Honor VIII DVD when it comes out because it was the best top to bottom show ROH has done in a long, long time. The fans were all very respectful and appreciative of Danielson and Nigel all weekend, and I was happy to see there were no BS "you sold out" chants or anything disrespectful.
2009 - TNA ran Chemitz, Germany with the following results:
NA First iMPACT Tour 2009
26.09.2009
Chemnitz Arena, Chemnitz (Deutschland)
Try-Out Match
Steve Douglas defeated Absolute Andy
Singles Match
Suicide defeated Sheik Abdul Bashir
Triple Threat Match
Velvet Sky defeated Awesome Kong and Taylor Wilde
Singles Match
Rhino defeated Hernandez
Tag Team Match
Beer Money, Inc. (James Storm & Robert Roode) defeated The British Invasion (Doug Williams & Brutus Magnus)
TNA X-Division Title Match
Samoa Joe (c) defeated Jay Lethal
Six Man No Disqualification Tag Team Match - Special Enforcer: Mick Foley
Abyss & Team 3D (Brother Devon & Brother Ray) defeated The Main Event Mafia (Kurt Angle, Scott Steiner & Booker T) (w/ Sharmell)
2010 - In anticipation of his WWE release, Matt Hardy was removed by WWE from the Smackdown TV opening.
2010 - Dragon Gate USA debuted in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. JP Nichols filed the following live report:
On September 26th, 2010 (my birthday and one Gabe Sapolsky's for that matter), I got the opportunity to attend Dragon Gate USA's "The Way of the Ronin" show in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
I arrived at the venue at approximately 1:00 (the originally projected belltime for Golden Ringside ticket holders was 1:15.) Everyone in the area was aware of the fact that the ring situation and Gabe Sapolsky was very informative to the fans outside the Miramir Theatre, repeatedly giving updates on the situation with the ring. All of the fans were very forgiving over the situation. The ring arrived at around 1:45. I believe the ring may have belonged to one "Skullcrusher" Rasche Brown, but do not take my word for it. (On the side of the truck, there was a "Krusher" logo, so I am just assuming). At about 2:20, we were informed that we should be let in at around 3:15 to 3:30 at the latest. We were let in at about 3:00 and it did not take long for the show to get started thereafter. The venue for the show was very small, making it a very intimate environment and the crowd was phenomenally more hot than the crowd seen in Chicago the previous night.
Results:
-Aeroform (Louis Lyndon and Flip Kendrick) over Zero Gravity (CJ Esparza & Brett Gakiya).
-CIMA over Chuck Taylor via Meteora.
-Johnny Gargano over Drake Younger after two kicks to the face and two Hurt DonutsBrodie Lee over Rich Swann/Mike Quackenbush/Jimmy Jacobs/Kyle O'Reiley/Silas Young after a running big boot to Swann.
-Dragon Kid over Arik Cannon after a Crucifix Bomb.
Ricochet over Gran Akuma after a 630 Splash.
-Bryan Danielson over Jon Moxley via 10 stomps to the face and a LeBell Lock.
-Kamikaze USA (Shingo, Akira Tozawa, YAMATO) over WORLD-1 (BxB Hulk, Masato Yoshino, and Naruki Doi) after a Stay Dream by Shingo on BxB Hulk.
Aeroform/Zero Gravity was a solid match from two high flying teams. Zero Gravity is a team that I have not seen too much of, but they did really well for themselves tonight. With a bit more experience, I could see them being prominent on the indy scene in the future.
After this match, there was a brief 10 minute intermission before the main show got under way.
CIMA/Chuck Taylor: CIMA is a great spokesman for the company. His promos are always fun to listen to and he is very friendly towards the crowd. He informed the crowd of Ricochet earning a spot in WARRIORS in Chicago yesterday and asked if the crowd felt that Chuck Taylor also deserved a spot to which most booed, then cheered Chuck as he entered. Go figure. I felt that this match was a great choice to open the "main" portion of the show. Both men meshed very well together, displaying some great comedy in the early minutes of the match. There was some great action all around. I'm very happy for Chuck Taylor to be getting more shots like this. In the past year and a half or so, he has really made an impact thanks to places like PWG and Chikara (and IWA in 2006 when he was their champion.)
After CIMA won, Gargano came out to once again continue his quest to gain CIMA's approval. This led to Drake vs. Gargano as Drake attacked while Johnny was talking.
Drake/Gargano: This was more of a brawl than I expected, but it was a very fun brawl. Both of them brawled around the venue a bit, but when they made it to the ring, the action was just as hot. In my opinion, due to how likable he is, Drake is a very easy wrestler to get behind in a match while Gargano (much like Chuck Taylor) can provide good comedy while also getting under the fans' skin.
Six Way Match (Brodie Lee/Rich Swann/Mike Quackenbush/Kyle O'Reily/Silas Young/Jimmy Jacobs): I was very surprised to see Mike Quackenbush come out. My friend and I originally thought that perhaps Arik Cannon had travel issues, hence Mike replacing him. I was informed that Quack said in an interview earlier this week that he was feeling sick going into this weekend, so it was probably the right decision to switch him and Cannon.
This reminded me quite a bit of some of the great 6-man scrambles that Ring of Honor had about three years ago. Action all around, and too many things went on to write down. In my personal opinion, this match was even better than the very acclaimed four way match from the recent Philadelphia PPV between Adam Cole/Arik Cannon/Ricochet/Chuck Taylor. All six men deserve a lot of props for bringing the heat for this one.
Arik Cannon/Dragon Kid: I thought this match was very solid. I felt that there was some communication issues between the two at points, but I am very happy that Arik got to do a big singles match like this. Out of the four coming out of the Philly PPV, I felt that he was the most underappreciated in that match and deserved much more praise. It was not said if this match, like CIMA/Chuck Taylor, was a tryout for WARRIORS, but both did very well for themselves.
Ricochet/Gran Akuma: These two also put on a solid match. Ricochet is a big topic on the independent scene right now, which I feel is very well deserved. On Saturday, Yoshino/Doi/CIMA did a great job with making Ricochet out to be the star of that match, and after this match, Dragon Kid and CIMA continued to help make Ricochet look like a big deal.
Bryan Danielson/Jon Moxley: This match exceeded my expectations quite a bit. I love Jon Moxley, but I questioned the idea of these two working well together. As Danielson promised at the end of last night's Chicago show, this was not going to be a wrestling match. It was going to be a fight. The two of them fought around the ringside area, including Danielson doing a suicide dive into the crowd. Danielson even ended up bleeding, which I was very surprised over. He did not hold himself back at all in his two matches this weekend. Moxley was very over as a heel, pushing around his valet, but eventually succumbed to Danielson's claim: that he (Danielson) was going to kick his ****ing head in. I felt that this was a nice counteract to his match with YAMATO which at points was a very stiff match, but this was reminiscent of Danielson's series with Morishima in the aspect of both him and Moxley just not holding back against one another at all.
The post match I felt was very effective as well, to further establish Moxley as the top heel and further establish Jimmy Jacobs as one of the top babyfaces. Danielson put him over very nicely and was very funny, joking about the fact that because he was bleeding "he would probably be fired tomorrow."
Kamikaze/WORLD-1: As should be expected with these six-man tags, as cliché as it sounds, there is way too much action to call. These six went at it for around 29 minutes and I felt it was a better six-man tag than the one in Phoenix this year (which I still found great). Tozawa is such a great heel who should be REALLY fantastic in the next year or two. The two that particularly stuck out in this match to me were BxB Hulk and Shingo. For those not aware, these two had one of my favorite matches of the year in Dragon Gate in July that saw BxB lose his trademark hair. These two just really seemed like they legitimately hate each other. I would have to assume that since Shingo pinned BxB on this show, he will get a title shot at either 10/29 in Massachusetts or 10/30 in New Jersey which should be another fantastic match between these two. This match is definitely something to go out of your way to see.
Due to the delay, they had the meet and greet with Bryan Danielson after the show who seemed to (as always) be very friendly to his fans.
The show was over at approximately 6 PM. I think someone claimed the total length of the main show was about 2 hours and 15 minutes, and what a 2 hours and 15 minutes it was. Having seen all of DG USA's shows (barring Windsor from 5/7), this in my opinion may be the best show that they have had since the first show on 7/25/09. In fact, this show may have been even better than that one. This show just had a great flow (the lack of intermission probably helped) and I felt that every match delivered. Dragon Gate USA has not been very quick as of late with getting their shows to DVD, but I personally feel that this show should be put out as soon as possible. It is definitely a runner for independent show of the year in my opinion. Everyone involved deserves all of the credit. The wrestlers (who also helped o set up the ring once it arrived), the production crew, Gabe and Sal, and the fans in attendance for being a very hot crowd for what was a very hot show from Dragon Gate.
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