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April 5th
On this day in history in ....
1945 - Sika Anoa'i is born in Leone, American Samoa.
1953 - Bobby Bruns and Bobby Managoff defeats Al Kashey and Tom Rice to win the NWA Hawaii Tag Team Title in Honolulu, Hawaii.
1956 - Diamond Dallas Page is born in Point Pleasant, New Jersey.
1961 - Bobby and Don Fields defeat The Mysterious Medics in Mobile, Alabama for the Gulf Coast NWA Southern Tag Team Title, beginning their fourth reign.
1961 - Skull Murphy defeats Guy Mitchell in Columbus, Georgia to win his third Georgia NWA Southern Heavyweight Title.
1968 - Spoiler #1 (Don Jardine) defeats Fritz Von Erich for the NWA American Heavyweight Title in Houston, Texas, ending Von Erich's third reign.
1968 - Harley Race defeats Sonny Myers to win the NWA Central States Heavyweight Title in St. Joseph, Missouri. This ended Myers' 14th and final run with the title.
1974 - Pat Barrett and Tony Kontellis win a tournament in Sydney, Australia for the NWA Austra-Asian Tag Team Title.
1976 - Big Bad John and Bill Dundee defeat Roger Kirby and David Schultz in Memphis, Tennessee for the Mid-America NWA Southern Tag Team Title.
1978 - The Assassin and Ernie Ladd defeat Ray Candy and Steven Little Bear to win the Tri-State NWA United States Tag Team Title in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
1978 - Steve Grey defeats Bobby Ryan in a tournament final for the British Lightweight Title in Blackburn, England.
1980 - Ralph "Ruffy" Silverstein dies at age 66.
1980 - The WWF held an event at the Boston Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. The results:
- Mike Duggan defeated Fred Marzino.
- Pete Doherty defeated Joe Crugnale.
- René Goulet defeated Baron Mikel Scicluna.
- Bobby Duncum defeated Dominic DeNucci.
- WWF World Tag Team Champions Ivan Putski and Tito Santana defeated The Wild Samoans (Afa and Sika) by disqualification after The Wild Samoans attacked guest referee Pat Patterson.
- Larry Zbyszko defeated Bruno Sammartino by disqualification.
1980 - Roger Mason defeats Steve Travis to win the NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Title in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
1982 - In their famous match at the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis, Tennessee, Andy Kaufman defeats AWA Southern Heavyweight Champion Jerry Lawler by disqualification, after Lawler hit Kaufman with a piledriver, a banned move. After the match, Lawler gave Kaufman a second piledriver, with Kaufman being wheeled out on the stretcher.
1984 - Jerry and Ted Oates win their second NWA Central States Tag Team Title in Kansas City, Kansas, defeating The Grapplers (Tony Anthony and Len Denton). This was a rematch from the tournament final a week earlier in which the Grapplers used a loaded boot in winning over the Oates. Marty Jannetty also began his career that night.
1985 - La Fiera defeats Gran Hamada to win the NWA World Middleweight Title in Mexico City, Mexico.
1986 - Riki Choshu ends Stan Hansen's second run with the NJPW PWF Heavyweight Title in Yokohama, Japan.
1986 - Chigusa Nagayo defeats Dump Matsumoto for the vacant AJW All Pacific Title in Tokyo, Japan. The title was vacated on December 12 when Devil Masami won the WWWA World Singles Title.
1987 - Stampede Wrestling held a tournament for its International Tag Team Title in Calgary, Alberta. The title was vacated in January after Fumihiro Niikura, who held the title with Hiroshi Hase, went back to Japan in December. The results were:
First round:
- The Cuban Assassin and Ron Starr defeated Ben Bassarab and Johnny Smith.
- Bruce Hart and Brian Pillman defeated Michael Hammer and Beef Wellington.
- Kerry Brown and Duke Meyers defeated Bill Kazmaier and Ron Ritchie to advance to the final match.
Semifinals:
- Bruce Hart and Brian Pillman defeated The Cuban Assassin and Ron Starr.
Finals:
- Bruce Hart and Brian Pillman defeated Kerry Brown and Duke Meyers to win the vacant Stampede International Tag Team Title.
1991 - Bill Dundee wins his second USWA Texas Heavyweight Title from Eric Embry in Dallas, Texas, ending his second reign. At the same event, Jeff Jarrett defeats Tom Prichard for the USWA Heavyweight Title, beginning his fourth reign.
1992 - The WWF held WrestleMania VIII at the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis, Indiana, before 62,167 fans. The event got a 2.3 buyrate. WrestleMania VIII, in addition to all the matches, featured the respective WWF television debuts of Lex Luger and Paul Ellering. The results were:
- In a dark match, The Bushwhackers (Butch and Luke) defeated The Beverly Brothers (Beau and Blake).
- Shawn Michaels (with Sensational Sherri) pinned Tito Santana with a bodypress after reversing a bodyslam attempt.
- The Undertaker (with Paul Bearer) pinned Jake Roberts after a Tombstone Piledriver on the floor.
- Bret Hart pinned WWF Intercontinental Champion Roddy Piper to win the title after pushing off the turnbuckle with his foot to roll over Piper's sleeperhold. This began Hart's second reign as Intercontinental Champion.
- The Big Bossman, Jim Duggan, Sgt. Slaughter and Virgil defeated The Mountie, The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags) and Repo Man, when Virgil pinned Knobbs after Sags accidentally hit Knobbs with Virgil's protective face mask.
- Randy Savage (with Miss Elizabeth) pinned WWF Champion Ric Flair (with Mr. Perfect) with a roll-up and a handful of tights to win the title, and begin his second reign as WWF Champion.
- Tatanka pinned Rick Martel after a flying crossbody.
- The Natural Disasters (Earthquake and Typhoon) defeated WWF Tag Team Champions Money, Inc. (Ted DiBiase and Irwin R. Schyster (with Jimmy Hart)), after the champions got intentionally counted out. Money, Inc. retained their title.
- Owen Hart pinned Skinner with a roll-up.
- Hulk Hogan defeated Sid Justice (with Harvey Whippleman) by disqualification after Whippleman interfered. After the match, Papa Shango ran in to help Sid assault Hogan. Hogan was rescued by the Ultimate Warrior, making his first appearance since August's SummerSlam.
1992 - Satanico defeats Lizmark for the NWA World Light Heavyweight Title in Mexico City, Mexico, beginning and ending both men's fourth reign.
1997 - Carlos Colón wins his 21st WWC Universal Heavyweight Title in Caguas, Puerto Rico, by defeating Jim Steele in a rematch from their March 22 meeting in Yabucoa, when the title was held up.
1999 - The Monday Night War continued, with WWF RAW is WAR beating WCW Monday Nitro, 5.8 to 4.3 in the ratings.
The 306th episode of WWF RAW is WAR was taped on March 30 at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York. The results:
- Kane and X-Pac defeated WWF Tag Team Champions Owen Hart and Jeff Jarrett (with Debra) to win the title.
- Al Snow defeated Hardcore Holly.
- The New Age Outlaws (Billy Gunn and Road Dogg) defeated Edge and Gangrel.
- Ken Shamrock vs. Viscera ended in a no-contest.
- Mankind defeated Val Venis.
- WWF Intercontinental Champion Goldust (with The Blue Meanie) fought The Godfather to a double-countout to retain the title.
- Big Show defeated The Rock and Triple H (with Chyna and Shane McMahon) by disqualification in a handicap match.
WCW Monday Nitro's 186th edition was live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The results were:
- Hak (with Chastity) defeated Kendall Windham in a Kendo Stick match.
- Konnan defeated Lizmark, Jr.
- Scott Steiner defeated Meng in a WCW United States Heavyweight Title tournament semifinal match.
- Jim Duggan defeated Lenny Lane.
- Stevie Ray defeated Brian Adams, Horace and Vincent in a battle royal to win leadership of the black and white nWo.
- Raven and Perry Saturn defeated WCW World Tag Team Champions Billy Kidman and Rey Mysterio, Jr. by disqualification. Kidman and Mysterio retained the title.
- Booker T defeated Chris Jericho in a WCW United States Heavyweight Title tournament semifinal match.
- Buff Bagwell defeated Bam Bam Bigelow.
- Goldberg defeated Diamond Dallas Page, WCW World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan in a four-way match. Flair retained the title.
1999 - Silky Boom Boom defeats Lord Humongous for the NWA Georgia Heavyweight Title in Loganville, Georgia.
2002 - Ricky Banderas and Shane the Glamour Boy defeat The Starr Corporation (Chicky Starr and Victor the Bodyguard) to win the IWA World Tag Team Title in Manatí, Puerto Rico, ending the Starr Corporation's fifth reign.
2002 - Bruce and Teddy Hart defeat Apocalypse and Dave Swift in a tournament final for the Stampede International Tag Team Title in Calgary, Alberta.
2002 - Havoc defeats Seth Knight in a tournament final to win the NWA Pacific Northwest Junior Heavyweight Title in Chehalis, Washington. Tony Kozina had vacated the title earlier in the year.
2002 - OVW held "Spring Breakout", its first-ever event at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom in Louisville, Kentucky. The results:
- Leviathan pinned both Chris Cage and Johnny Jeter in a handicap match.
- Flash Flanagan and Trailer Park Trash defeated Big Bad John (Heidenreich) and Bull Buchanan, when Flanagan pinned Buchanan. The guest referee was Mark Henry.
- The Dogg Pound (Shelton Benjamin and Redd Dogg) and Nidia defeated The Disciples of Synn (Damien and Payne) and Synn, when Nidia pinned Synn.
- Danny Davis and The Lords of the Ring (Rob Conway and Nick Dinsmore) defeated Victoria and OVW Southern Tag Team Champions Doug Basham and Damaja, when Davis pinned Basham.
- David and Ric Flair defeated Sean O'Haire and OVW Heavyweight Champion The Prototype, when the Flairs made their opponents submit with double Figure Four Leglocks.
2003 - The East Coast Wrestling Association held the seventh-annual Super 8 Tournament at Saint Matthews Parish Hall in Wilmington, Delaware. The results were:
- Frankie Kazarian defeated Chris Sabin in a Super 8 Tournament first round match.
- Spanky defeated Chris Cage in a Super 8 Tournament first round match.
- Chance Beckett defeated Sedrick Strong in a Super 8 Tournament first round match.
- Paul London defeated Alex Arion in a Super 8 Tournament first round match.
- ECWA Tag Team Champion Matt Striker and The S.A.T. (Joél and José Maximo) defeated ECWA Tag Team Champion Ace Darling, Mega and Prince Nana by disqualification.
- Paul London defeated Frankie Kazarian in a Super 8 Tournament semifinal match.
- Chance Beckett defeated Spanky in a Super 8 Tournament semifinal match.
- ECWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Champion The Japanese Pool Boy won a 19-man ECWA Summit Battle Royal to earn an immediate ECWA Heavyweight Title match. The other participants were: The Amazing Red, Billy Bax, Cheetah Master, Ace Darling, Mozart Fontaine, Mike Kruel, Joél Maximo, José Maximo, Joey Maxx, Johnny Maxx, Tyler Mayne, Mega, Mr. Ooh La La, Prince Nana, Roughhouse Rivera, Matt Striker, Trinity and Venom.
- ECWA Heavyweight Champion Christopher Daniels defeated ECWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Champion The Japanese Pool Boy to retain his title.
- Paul London defeated Chance Beckett to win the Super 8 Tournament.
2003 - Ray Gonzalez wins his second IWA World Heavyweight Title from Ricky Banderas in Bayamón, Puerto Rico, ending his fourth reign.
2003 - Billy Kryptonite wins his second Chaotic Wrestling New England Title from Vince Vicallo in Methuen, Massachusetts. At the same event, Luis Ortiz defeats John Walters to win the CW Heavyweight Title, and begin his second reign.
2003 - Papi Cholo defeats The Jett for the NWA Hawaii Junior Heavyweight Title in Kaneohe, Hawaii, ending his second reign. At the same show, Lightning Leni wins the NWA Hawaii Hardcore Title by defeating Sick Dog.
2003 - Ebessan defeats Pero to win the Osaka Pro Wrestling World's Best Attraction Title in Osaka, Japan, beginning his second reign.
2003 - Trik Nasty defeats Max Power and Rocky Reynolds in a three-way match to win the NWA Tri-State Heavyweight Title in Parkersburg, West Virginia.
2003 - Tommy Capone defeats Jeff Daniels in Columbia, Tennessee to become the first NWA Main Event Television Champion.
2006 - K.C. James and Roadkill defeat The Untouchables (Deuce and Domino) for the OVW Southern Tag Team Title in Louisville, Kentucky.
2006 - Handsome Joe and Yasu Urano defeat Shiori Asahi and Makoto Oishi to win the Kaientai Dojo Strongest-K Tag Team Title in Tokyo, Japan.
2006 - Mike Lee, Jr. and Mr. X defeat Apple Miyuki and YOSHIYA for the WEW Hardcore Tag Team Title in Tokyo, Japan.
2010 - The TNA vs. WWE Monday Night War continued with Raw scoring a 3.2 rating and averaging 4,598,000 viewers. Impact did a 0.85 rating, with 1,195,000 viewers.
Here is Stu Carapola's original TNA Impact report:
Welcome to PWInsider.com's live coverage of TNA Impact!
The show opens with a video package recapping the formation of Team Hogan for Lockdown and Jeff Jarrett's addition to the team.
We go backstage to Christy Hemme, who details the rules for a TNA Knockouts Lock Box Showdown tonight. Christy is joined by the Beautiful People, who say that they plan on getting three of the four boxes and winning the TNA Knockouts Title. Lacey comes out in a towel and says that tonight will be a night nobody will forget, because they're going to see Lacey parading around in her bra and panties. I guess we shouldn't be surprised that she considers that more important than the Knockouts Title.
Hulk Hogan comes out to the ring with Abyss and Jeff Jarrett to kick off the festivities. Hogan says we've got some horsepower behind Team Hogan, and Ric Flair has shown his colors over and over, but if he wants to be the big dog and run with the big dogs, he needs to take on Team Hogan because he can't be a big dog unless he beats Team Hogan. Abyss says Flair may be a legend, but he has never dealt with the likes of Abyss, and at Lockdown, when they're locked in the cage, only then will he realize the definition of pain and suffering. It makes no difference who the other members of Team Flair are, because Team Hogan is going to kick their ass. This brings out Ric Flair, being wheeled out of the back by Chelsea, and joined by Desmond Wolfe, Sting, and Beer Money Inc. Flair says if that's Hogan's team, then look at Flair's team. He says there's more history between Flair and Sting than there is in the entire wrestling world. Flair says there's one more thing: he's got his Hall Of Fame ring on because he is the Hall Of Fame, and in St Louis, he's going to shove that ring down his throat. Hogan tells him to shut up, he sees what Flair's got on stage and he feels the power of Team Hogan, but tells Flair not to ever sell him short, because he's got a full team and he's going to find out who that team is when the time is right. Flair says everyone wants to be with the Nature Boy, and if he's got a problem they'll come down right now and see what Hogan's team is all about. Team Flair slowly approaches the ring, but Jarrett tells everyone to hold on because he wants to ask Sting to step in the ring without the bat and answer one question. Sting hands the bat to Wolfe and comes in to face Jarrett. Jarrett says he and Sting have known each other for over 20 years and have a storied history, so he has just one question for Steve: why now? Why now has the dark side come out of him? Yeah, because it's not like they haven't tried turning Sting heel 20 times since he's been in TNA. Sting says nothing, so Jarrett says he may not deserve an answer, but the people in the Impact Zone deserve an answer, and he again asks why now? Sting doesn't respond, so Jarrett slaps him, and Sting drops Jarrett with the Scorpion Deathdrop while Hogan and Sting just stand there. Wolfe comes in and lays Abyss out with the bat and then he and Beer Money stare down Hogan, and all of a sudden Rob Van Dam and Jeff Hardy come out of the crowd to brawl with Team Flair. Wolfe is left alone in the ring with all four men and gets beat up to end the segment as we go to commercial.
We come back from commercial and we're joining a match in progress...
Rob Van Dam vs James Storm
Van Dam gets a monkey flip for 2, then backdrops Storm to the apron and catches him with a springboard jumpkick to send Storm to the floor. Van Dam goes for a baseball slide, but Storm catches the legs and swings him into the guardrail. Storm goes back in the ring and hits a second rope DDT for 2. Storm with a vertical suplex and wastes a bunch of time before covering for 2 and then we HIT THE CHINLOCK! RVD fights his way out and gets a schoolboy rollup for 2, then a spinkick to the jaw. They go toe to toe until RVD hits another spinkick to the jaw. RVD with a clothesline and Rolling Thunder for 2. Storm catches RVD with an enziguiri and the Eye Of The Storm for 2. RVD blocks a ram into the corner and kicks Storm, slams him in the corner, and hits the split legged moonsault for the win.
Winner: Rob Van Dam
Storm comes from behind after the match and hits RVD in the head with the beer bottle and then, as security tries to help RVD, Storm attacks him again. Security finally drags him away and we go to commercial.
We're back with a replay of the beer bottle attack from before the break, and then we see Storm mocking RVD from the ramp, when suddenly Jeff Hardy runs out and attacks Storm from behind before going to check on RVD, but now Robert Roode comes out and attacks Hardy from behind and gives him a spinebuster.
We go backstage to Tara, Angelina Love, Hamada, and . Tara says tonight's competition is a joke, and they're using her to get ratings. She's going out there to do her best and pin someone. Angelina says that sometimes life is a bitch, but with the Knockouts Title on the line she's going to go out there and win. ODB says there's a lot of PMS going on, and she's going out there to win the contract to wrestle anyone because she wants AJ. Hamada says something in Japanese, and we go back to the ring.
Global Title Match: Rob Terry vs Homicide
Holy crap, Homicide still works here! Rob Terry's new nickname is "The Freak". Homicide jumps Terry before the bell, but Terry clotheslines him down, goozles him up to the top rope, and chokeslams him off the top. Terry misses a charge and Homicide lays in some more shots, but goes for a monkey flip and Terry just shoves him off. Terry press slams Homicide, Beels him across the ring, then hits a shoulderblock and goes for a powerslam, but Homicide slips out the back and gets some shots in. Terry eats boot on a charge, but catches Homicide out of a bodypress and hits a powerslam for the win.
Winner: Rob Terry
Homicide attacks Terry from behind with a chair after the match, but Homicide no sells, so Homicide cracks the chair over Terry's head, but Terry no sells that also and chokeslams Homicide as blood starts to run down his forehead. Then the lights go out and Orlando Jordan comes out, pours some kind of cream down his face and chest, and we go to commercial.
We're back, and it's time for the Knockouts Lock Box Challenge!
Knockouts Lock Box Challenge: Tara, Angelina Love, ODB & Hamada vs The Beautiful People & Daffney
Let's see if the guy who runs Lacey's website steals my recap of her match this week, too. Angelina starts with Madison Rayne, then tags out to Tara. Rayne kicks Tara down, then humps her head into the mat. Rayne goes up top, but Tara comes out with the Widow's Peak and eliminates Rayne. Tara wins the first key and we're down to 3-on-3 as we go to commercial.
We're back, and during the commercial, Daffney pinned Hamada to earn a key, so we're down to 2-on-2. Velvet Sky has a chinlock on ODb but ODB fights out and splashes Velvet in the corner. ODB with a fallaway slam on Sky, but only gets 2. Sky slips out of a fireman's carry and gets a DDT to pin ODB and win a kep, and we're down to Lacey and Angelina. Angelina with a flying clothesline and then pounds on Lacey. Angelina whips Lacey into the corner, but Lacey gets her boot up on a charge and goes for a moonsault elbow and drops the elbow even though Angelina moved like five seconds earlier. Angelina with a Flatliner on Lacey for the win.
Winners: Tara, Daffney, Velvet Sky, Angelina Love
As a reminder, each key unlocks one locked box which contain Tara's tarantula, the TNA Knockouts Title, an open contract for a match with anyone, and a contract to have to do a striptease. Now back to the ring for our next match...after a commercial!
Ladder Match: Ken Anderson vs Kurt Angle
We're back from break, and the match is already in progress as Anderson hits a Finlay Roll on Angle. Anderson goes and gets the ladder and brings it in the ring. Anderson suplexes Angle onto the ladder, then sets the ladder up in the corner but Angle now suplexes Anderson into the ladder. Angle takes the ladder out and sets it up in the middle of the ring then goes back to pounding on Anderson, but Anderson whips Angle into the ropes and then rams the ladder into him coming back. Anderson sets up the ladder and goes up top to grab the key, but Angle hits an Angle Slam off the ladder. Angle kicks Anderson out of the ring and slowly climbs back up the ladder, but Anderson comes in and shoves him over the top and Angle takes a really nasty bump to the floor after getting caught on the top rope. Angle's okay though, and Anderson sets up the ladder and goes up, but Angle goes up top and dropkicks the ladder over. Angle with a German Suplex on Anderson, then lays the ladder down, puts Anderson on top of the ladder, goes up top and hits a moonsault onto Anderson on the ladder. Angle fires Anderson into the ringpost, then sets up the ladder and climbs back up, but Anderson grabs Angle's warrior medal and uses it to choke Angle from behind. Angle keeps fighting though, and climbs up to grab the key, but finally he loses consciousness and Anderson goes up and grabs the key.
Winner: Ken Anderson
Anderson gets on the mic after the match saying that he has a bottle of bubbly waiting for him backstage to celebrate not his victory tonight, but his victory at Lockdown, which he just secured, and the only person he's going to be partying with tonight is Mr Anderson...Anderson.
We go backstage to JB with Hulk Hogan, and JB says that Eric Bischoff went into business for himself last week, and is wondering if Hogan has any comment on the situation. Hogan says he's not happy about everything Eric's done since being in TNA, but it stays between them and he's not going to talk about it in public. Bubba the Love Sponge comes in and Hogan tells him he's making a choice to run with the wrong crowd (meaning the Band), and Bubba says he's having a better time than he was with Hogan, so Hogan tells him to have a good time and Bubba says he will and leaves. Jay Lethal comes in and says he has Hogan's back and he's going to find the Megapowers tights.
The Band is just arriving at the Impact Zone, and we're off to commercial!
We're back, and Christy Hemme is backstage with Matt Morgan, who says he's now THE tag team champions. He almost lost the title because of Hernandez, but because of an unfortunate accident a couple of weeks ago, Hernandez is out of action. Morgan says you're looking at the TNA Tag Team Champions: Matt Morgan. Hemme says next week, he's going to have to defend the TNA World Tag Team Title against the winner of the next match.
Motor City Machine Guns vs Team 3D
Sabin and Bubba do a wristlock sequence to start, but Sabin with a series of kicks to Bubba and Bubba responds with a boot to the face. Sabin ducks another boot and hits a springboard bodypress for 1. Tag to Shelley and the Guns get a double team kick to Bubba, but that just made Bubba mad because he smacks Shelley in the face and tags in Devon, who lays Shelley out and hits a diving headbutt. Devon with a bearhug, then drops Shelley with a headbutt. Shelley nails Devon on a backdrop attempt and tags in Sabin, who comes in and cleans house. Sabin off the top with a double dropkick to 3D, and Bubba accidentally nails Devon when Sabin ducks a clothesline. Guns with a sandwich enziguiri and Guns with a double team neckbreaker for 2. Bubba clotheslines both Guns from behind and 3D with the Whazzup, and it's time to get the tables...but wait, the Band comes out and attacks 3D, and the referee calls for the bell. The Band tosses Bubba into the ring with the Guns and they lay everyone out as we go to commercial. Let's call it...
No Contest
We come back and it's time to hear from the Band. Bubba The Love Sponge comes out to join the Band in the ring. Nash says he's got a message: they might not be signing the checks, but they are running the show. He says Hogan's worried about Flair and Bischoff, but that's the least of his worries, because he's looking at his worst nightmare. They've been carrying Hogan for 15 years, but now they're the show and people may not like them, but Nash has three guys in the ring who like him. The Wolfpac music hits.
We go back to JB with the Pope, who is going to attempt to avenge his loss one week ago to Desmond Wolfe. Pope says he's going to make history when he wins the TNA World Title, but even though Wolfe got one over on Pope, tonight's going to be a different story. Desmond Wolfe interrupts and says where he's from, people don't get second chances. He thinks he should get the title shot at AJ at Lockdown. Pope says that if Desmond beats him tonight, he can have the title shot at Lockdown.
Tara is backstage, and she's...STRESSING! We're going to commercial.
Doug Williams comes to the ring and takes the mic from Dave Penzer. He wants to make the point that the days of the acrobats and trapeze artists stinking up the X Division are over, and they need to go back to the circus with the performing monkeys. You tell 'em, Doug! There is an alternative: they can go back to wrestling school and learn how to wrestle. Doug thinks of himself as the master, and because of that would like to be referred to henceforth by his full name Douglas Williams. He's arranged a gauntlet match tonight with himself and Generation Me, and we're going to go right to that match now.
Gauntlet Match: Doug Williams vs Generation Me
Williams starts with Jeremy, and Williams gets a single leg takedown and catapults Jeremy into the corner, but Jermy springboard out onto Williams for 2. Jeremy with a facebuster for 2 and then a high kick to the face for 2, but Williams gets the Chaos Theory to eliminate Jeremy. Now it's Max's turn, and he dives in with a crossbody for 2, then a dropkick for another 2. Max whips Williams into the corner and follows in with an elbow, then a slam and a legdrop gets 2. Max goes up top but Williams knocks him off and gets a guillotine choke and Max taps.
Winner: Douglas Williams
Williams won't break the choke, so Shannon Moore runs out and chases Williams off. Moore says there's no place in the X Division for boring wrestlers like Williams, then challenges Williams to put the X Division Title on the line at Lockdown.
Christy is backstage with Team 3D looking for comments, and Team 3D says there's no reason for the attack they suffered from the Band. Team 3D says their paths have never crossed, but next week they will because they want the Band in the ring.
Desmond Wolfe vs D'Angelo Dinero
Wolfe goes after Pope on the rampway, but Pope fights him off and tosses him back in the ring. Wolfe nails Pope coming back in and gets a flying hammerlock. Wolfe puts Pope up top and goes for the Tower of London, but Pope fights his way out. Pope ducks a lariat and fires away with some quick punches, then hits his version of the Codebreaker for the win. That was quick.
Winner: The Pope
Pope is celebrating on the rampway after the match and AJ Styles comes out and attacks him, then tosses him back in the ring and hits the Styles Clash, then gets in his face and starts shouting at him. Abyss' music hits and out comes the big man, and AJ backs off, but Wolfe attacks Abyss from behind and while he's got Abyss' attention, AJ comes back in and clips Abyss' knee from behind. Wolfe has a fire extinguisher and nails Abyss with it as we go back to commercial.
We're back, and it's time to reveal the contents of the Lock Boxes! I can't believe this is in our main event segment. Velvet opens hers first, and she gets...the open contract! Tara's up second, and her prize is...her tarantula! But unfortunately, this means she's no longer the Knockouts Champion. And it comes down to Angelina and Daffney. They open their boxes at the same time, and our new Knockouts Champion is...Angelina Love! So now Daffney has to go to the ring and strip, and if she doesn't she'll be fired on the spot. Surely this violates some kind of sexual harassment law. Daffney makes her way to the ring and looks none too happy, but she must have picked something up during her time with the YRR. Daffney proceeds to do the worst, least enthusiastic striptease I've ever seen, and with horrible music at that, but out comes Lacey Von Erich, who lays Daffney out with the ugly stick, then she starts stripping as Tara and Angelina start fighting up on the rampway over the Knockouts Title. They start fighting into the ring and brawl on the mat right in front of Lacey...who keeps on stripping. Velvet Sky takes the mic and says that Lacey's turned up the heat, but rule #1 of the Beautiful People Club is that no Beautiful Person shall upstage another Beautiful Person, so Velvet's going to cash in her open contract next week against Angelina in a Leather and Lace match. Angelina makes mad faces at her as we go off the air.
Here is Richard Trionfo's original Raw TV report:We are live from Moline, Illinois and your announcers are Michael ‘Don’t make fun of his name’ Cole and Jerry ‘Make Me’ Lawler.
It is time for the World Champion Jack Swagger to come to the ring and Lawler and Cole talk about how it was the shortest turnaround for someone to cash in the Money in the Bank briefcase. Cole and Lawler also talk about the attempt by Swagger to cash in last week only to take it back.
Swagger tells someone in the back to ‘roll it’ and we see the footage from Smackdown when Jack Swagger took advantage of what Edge did to Chris Jericho to attack Edge and then cash in the Money in the Bank briefcase.
Last Friday on Smackdown he made history by cashing in the contract to become the new World Champion. Before he begins with the State of the World Heavyweight Championship Address, he has a few opening remarks. Last week, he was considering cashing in the contract on WWE Champion John Cena, but he thought that if he is truly going to be recognized for what he is and who he is, a champion, he needed to face a competitor better than John Cena. A competitor who says that he is the best in the world at what he does. That man was Chris Jericho. Swagger says that he would have beaten Cena faster than the nine seconds he needed to beat Chris Jericho. Swagger says that he needs to think about being exclusive to Smackdown because nobody on Raw compares to his abilities.
Before Swagger can continue, John Cena’s music plays and he comes to the ring and he has his WWE Title belt with him.
Cena starts off by congratulating Jack on his victory and calls him the luckiest man in the world. He cashed in a briefcase to become the World Heavyweight Champion. He says that is the easy part. He says that the people don’t care about what you have done. Part of being a champion is the fans looking forward to what you are about to do. Cena says that Swagger said that he is going to Smackdown. Cena says that everyone will be so sorry to see him leave. Cena says that the World Title belongs on Smackdown, but Jack said that nobody could compete with him.
Cena says that there is one Raw superstar in the ring, wearing orange, who is calling Swagger a liar. That Raw superstar is noticing Swagger sweating and he says that Swagger is not championship material. Cena says that he earned the title but Swagger hasn’t earned a thing. He calls Swagger a weasel behind all of the bravado. Cena says that Swagger probably wants to shut him up. Cena challenges Swagger to a match tonight. Cena says that he is so sure what he is going to do to Swagger what he did to Batista (make him tap out) that he is going to put the WWE Title on the line.
Swagger says that does not work for him.
Before he can tell us why, Randy Orton comes out to the ring. Orton tells Cena that Swagger is a competitor so he would want to face the man who beat him last week and that man was him.
Before Swagger says anything, the Shiz comes out and they have a lot of title belts with them. Miz throws out a few ‘reallys’ and suggests that Orton and Cena are trying to steal the spotlight. Miz says that the show isn’t about Orton, Cena, or Swagger. This show is about the Unified Tag Titles.
Before Miz can finish his ‘awesome’, tonight’s Guest Host David Otunga comes out and he lets us know who he is. He says that he is the ‘A List’ and ‘Mr. NXT’. He says that he is the most promising rookie on NXT, but tonight, he is the guest host. He says that tonight’s show will be top notch and ‘A List’ all the way around. Otunga tells Jack Swagger that he will face the man who pinned him last week, Randy Orton. Otunga tells Show and Miz that they will defend the Unified Tag Titles against Batista and John Cena.
Before we go to commercial Orton tries to RKO Cena, but Cena pushes him off and Orton hits an RKO on Swagger. Orton and Cena have a staredown. We go to commercial.
Match Number One: Kofi Kingston versus Sheamus
They lock up and Sheamus with a forearm to the back and then he tries for a power slam but Kofi escapes and he kicks Sheamus but Sheamus catches Kofi on a cross body attempt and he hits a uranage back breaker. Sheamus with a boot to the ribs. Sheamus picks Kofi up and hits a short arm clothesline and gets a near fall. Sheamus with an arm bar and cross face on Kofi but Kofi with punches. Sheamus with a forearm to the back followed by an Irish whip. Sheamus sends Kofi to the apron and he chokes Kofi in the ropes. Kofi with a round kick to the head and then Kofi with a springboard cross body followed by a series of chops. Sheamus with a kick and then he tries to throw Kofi out of the ring but Kofi bounces off the ropes and hits a drop kick. Kofi leaps into the corner and punches Sheamus but Sheamus with a few kicks to Kofi. Sheamus hits the Celtic Cross for the three count.
Winner: Sheamus
After the match, Sheamus finds his pipe under the ring and he brings it into the ring and he hits Kofi in the back of the head with the pipe.
We see Triple H walking in the back and Sheamus knows that he is coming so he shows some fear. We go to commercial.
We are back with the Slam of the Week: Sheamus’ attack on Triple H on last week’s Raw.
Sheamus is still in the ring and he has a mic in the hand not holding the pipe. Sheamus says last week, we saw the 25 year career of Shawn Michaels end, but he took eight years to win his first WWE Title. Sheamus says that he won his first title in six months. Sheamus says that he was supposed to end the greatest debut year with a win at Wrestlemania, but that was taken away from him by Triple H. Sheamus says that he took something away from Triple H. He attacked him with a steel pipe from behind. Sheamus says that he knows that Triple H is here. Sheamus says that instead of getting revenge last week, Hunter came out and cried for Shawn Michaels. Sheamus says that Shawn ended his career so he wouldn’t have to face him. At Wrestlemania, Triple H and Shawn Michaels had one great match left in him but Shawn hung it up before he could face Sheamus. Sheamus says that he doesn’t believe that Hunter has one more match left in him. Sheamus wants to know if he will have his head held high or will he be taken out in a wheelchair.
Triple H comes out to the ring and he takes his jacket off and spits some water before getting on the apron. Sheamus wants Hunter to get into the ring, but Hunter stays on the apron and then goes to the floor and backs away. Sheamus says that he didn’t have it in him. Hunter goes under the apron and gets the GameHammer. Sheamus hits the GameHammer with the Irish pipe. Hunter hits Sheamus with the sledge hammer. He misses with another shot and hits the announce table. Sheamus goes into the crowd and Hunter returns to the ring.
Hunter says that it is just like a silly Irishman to bring a pipe to a Sledgehammer fight. Hunter poses on the turnbuckles with Gamey.
We go to commercial.
We are back and Maryse is at the announce table in a Chanel dress to watch the Dress to Impress Match.
Match Number Two: Divas Dress to Impress Battle Royal featuring Kelly Kelly, Gail Kim, Nikki Bella, Brie Bella, Jillian Hall, Alicia Fox, Rosa Mendes, Eve Torres, and Katie Lea Burchill for a Divas Title Match
Rosa is already eliminated as the Bellas get rid of them. One Bella is gone and the other one is eliminated by Aliciia. Gail goes to the apron and Katie with a shoulder. Gail and Katie fight on the apron and Kelly with a drop kick to eliminate both of them. Alicia attacks Kelly from behind while Jillian has Eve on the turnbuckles. Kelly with a tilt-a-whirl head scissors on Alicia. Jillian eliminates Kelly. Alicia and Jillian work together as they try to weaken Eve. They sends Eve into the turnbuckles. Alicia and Jillian with a double suplex on Eve and then they send her into the turnbuckles. Alicia hits the ring post and then Eve eliminates Alicia. Jillian sets for the handspring elbow but Eve gets on the shoulder. Alicia tries to eliminate Eve but she stays on the apron. Jillian charges at Eve and dives at Eve but Eve moves. Jillian hits the floor and Eve wins the match.
Winner: Eve Torres
We go to commercial.
We are back and did you know that Raw was the number 1 show on cable last week.
Jerry and Michael talk about David Otunga being a part of NXT and we have the video package that we have already seen twice on NXT.
We go to comments from David Otunga. He says that he is going to win. He says that he is a touch above since he is from Hollywood. He mentions that he is the fiancée of Jennifer Hudson and he has been to Hollywood parties and has been to the White House. David says that he has no flaws. He compares himself to The Rock, Triple H, and John Cena. He also mentions that he went to Harvard Law School. He says that he doesn’t care what the people think about him. He says that he is not going to fail. He says that he will be the next WWE Superstar.
David is with his minions and he says that he is Raw and then says that he is so raw that you could get food poisoning standing next to him. He mentions the 427 green M&Ms. Santino stops by and he looks for ‘The A Team’. Otunga corrects him and says that he thought Mr. T was going to be here because he is the vice president of the A Team Fan club. Santino does his Mr. T impression. We see Hornswoggle playing with the M&Ms. Hornswoggle leaves and Otunga’s minions follow. Santino says that he loves it when a plan comes together and then he leaves.
Show and Miz are walking in the back and we go to commercial.
Match Number Three: The Shiz (Big Show and Miz) versus Batista and John Cena
Cena and Miz start things off and Cena works on the arm and snap mares Miz and puts him in a reverse chin lock. Miz with elbows but Cena with a drop toe hold but Miz escapes the STF attempt. Show makes the tag and Cena punches Show but Show with a head butt. Show with a punch to the midsection and then he gives Cena a hard Irish whip. Show with a chop in the corner and then Miz tags in and he kicks Cena and punches him. Miz with an Irish whip and he sets for the running clothesline into the corner but Cena moves and Batista goes to the floor and refuses the tag. Batista goes to the back. Cena clotheslines Miz and then Cena goes after Batista and Cena punches Batista. Batista goes to the back and Cena and Batista have been counted out.
Winners: Big Show and Miz
After the match, our guest host comes out and says that Show and Miz are not going to get off that easily. They will be defending their titles again tonight. Since Cena and Batista can’t get along, Cena’s new tag team partner will be him.
We go to commercial.
We are back with a Moments Ago Moment of Batista costing him and John Cena a shot at the tag titles by getting into a fight on the ramp leading to a count out loss.
We take a look at last week’s Legends Lumberjack Match between Ted DiBiase Junior and Christian and the brawl between the legends on the floor. Then we see Ted walk away from his dad.
Ted has a mic and he says that last week at Wrestlemania, his dad was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. Ted says that prestigious honor had a profound effect on his father because he did something that he never did before. He tried to act like a father. Ted tells his dad that one act of random kindness doesn’t make up for the lost years of games, parties, and graduations that he missed. Ted says that his dad knows better than anyone how to win him over and it isn’t through his heart, but through his bank account. He thanks his dad for the trust fund. He says that it is good to be the fortunate son.
Match Number Four: Ted DiBiase with Million Dollar Belt versus Christian
Ted misses a punch but Christian does not miss with his punch. Christian with a back body drop and then he stands on Ted’s back before slingshoting to the floor. Ted is sent to the floor and then Christian with a hesitation drop kick to Ted and then he hits the double jump cross body and both men are down on the floor. Christian tries to get back into the ring but Ted hits a swinging neck breaker and he punches and kicks Christian while the referee warns him. Ted punches Christian and then he hits a running back elbow and gets a near fall. Ted with a reverse chin lock on Christian as he tries to weaken his opponent. Christian punches Ted and hits him in the head but Ted with the follow up clothesline for a near fall. Christian punches Ted but Ted punches him back. DiBiase with an Irish whip but Christian moves when Ted charges into the corner. Christian with a pendulum kick followed by clotheslines. Christian puts Ted on the ropes and goes to the floor and connects with a punch. Christian with a cross body for a near fall. Christian sets for the Killswitch but Ted punches him. Ted misses an attempt at Dream Street. Ted with a snap mare but Christian avoids a kick. Ted blocks a tornado DDT attempt and Christian is sent into the ring post when he charges into the corner and Ted hits Dream Street for the three count.
Winner: Ted DiBiase
We go to commercial.
We are back and the draft is 3 weeks away and it will be a three hour Raw.
It is time to take a look back at Shawn Michaels’ farewell video package.
Cole and Lawler briefly talk about Triple H and what Sheamus did to him last week. Then we go to what happened when we saw that an Irish pipe is no match for the GameHammer.
Randy Orton is walking in the back as he gets ready for his match with Jack Swagger.
We go to commercial.
Match Number Five: Jack Swagger versus Randy Orton
Swagger with a kick and punches to Orton and then he connects with a shoulder in the corner. Swagger with another punch and kick followed by an Irish whip and running clothesline into the corner. Swagger with another Irish whip but Orton moves when Swagger charges into the corner. Orton with a kick and then it is time for the Garvin Stomp followed by a leaping knee drop to the head and he gets a near fall. Orton punches Swagger in the corner but the referee pulls him away. Swagger with a drop down and then he hits a power slam from a dead lift and then he sends Orton to the floor and we go to commercial.
We are back and Orton punches Swagger to get out of a hold and then he hits a series of European uppercuts that sends Swagger to the floor. Orton goes to the floor and he hits a running clothesline on the floor. Orton rolls Swagger back in and then he takes too long to get back into the ring and Swagger drops Orton on the top rope and then Swagger with a running shoulder tackle that knocks Orton off the apron into the ringside barrier. Swagger Irish whips Orton into the ring post. Swagger sends Orton back into the ring and then he hits a belly-to-back suplex for a near fall. Swagger with a suplex to Orton as he continues to wear down Orton and gets a near fall. Swagger puts Orton in an abdominal stretch to work on the back some more. Orton tries to get out of the hold but Swagger holds on and then he locks the arm. Orton with a kick but Swagger tries for a another abdominal stretch but Orton is able to avoid the hold and he sends Swagger to the floor. Orton gets to his feet and then he kicks Swagger as Jack tries to get back into the ring. Orton sets for the IEDDT and hits it. Orton has Swagger covered but Swagger gets his foot on the rope to stop the count. Orton with clotheslines to Swagger followed by a power slam. Orton looks around and he hits the Orton back breaker and then he thinks about the RKO and it is time for the push ups. Orton tries for the RKO but Swagger sends Orton into the ropes and hits a boot to the head but Swagger can only get a two count. Swagger goes for the double jump Vader splash and hits it but he can only get a two count. Swagger waits for Orton to get up and then he tries for another double jump Vader Splash and hits it. Swagger waits for Orton to get up and he tries for the Doctor Bomb but Orton escapes the hold and hits the RKO for the three count.
Winner: Randy Orton
After the match, Orton poses but Swagger is still the champion.
Cole and Lawler talk about the tag title match that David Otunga set up earlier tonight and we have highlights. We see Batista leave the ring and cost them the match by count out.
We go to commercial.
We are back and we are reminded that David Hasselhoff is our host next week.
Match Number Six: The Shiz (Big Show and the Miz) versus David Otunga and John Cena for the Unified Tag Titles
Cena and Miz start things out again and they lock up with Cena kicking Miz in the arm. Otunga does something that Batista didn’t do and he tags in. Otunga with a side head lock and shoulder tackle or two. Otunga with another shoulder tackle for a near fall. Cena tags in and he punches Miz. Cena sends Miz into the turnbuckles and hits a bulldog out of the corner and gets a near fall. Cena with another Irish whip but Miz with an elbow. Show hits the referee while Miz distracts the referee. Miz punches Cena in the head and the referee admonishes Miz. Miz with a kick to the head for a near fall. Miz with a front face lock and Show tags in and punches Cena in the ribs. Show with another punch. Cena with punches to the gut and then he tries for a flying shoulder tackle but he bounces off Show. Show stands on Cena’s chest in the corner. Show chokes Cena with his knee and the referee warns him. Miz punches Cena while Show was with the referee. Miz tags in and then Show sends Miz into Cena in the corner and Cena holds his ribs. Miz goes for the running clothesline into the corner and he hits it this time and gets a near fall. Miz with a rear chin lock as he works on Cena’s neck and back. Cena gets to his feet and Otunga wants to tag in but Miz keeps Cena on his half of the ring. Miz with a rear chin lock but Cena gets to his feet and powers out of the hold. Miz with a knee to the back and then they each hit clotheslines and are down in the center of the ring. Cena tries to make the tag and Otunga pulls a Batista and leaves the apron. Show tags in and punches Cena and gets the three count.
Winners: Big Show and the Miz
After the match, Batista enters the ring and he picks up Cena and hits a Batista Bomb.
Batista gets a mic and demands his spotlight.
David Otunga is on the stage and he says that he is still the guest host and he says that Batista has an announcement to make.
Batista stands over Cena and says that he is invoking his rematch clause at Extreme Rules in a Last Man Standing Match.
2011 - WWE officially announced The Rock vs. John Cena as the main event of Wrestlemania 28 one year in advance.'
2011 - WWE broadcast NXT. Richard Trionfo filed the following:
We are live on tape on the internet and your announcers are Todd ‘At least Ariane told Austin a WWE match’ Grisham and William ‘Couldn’t she have mentioned one of my matches’ Regal. Your hosts are Matt ‘Can I have my blackboard back’ Striker and Maryse.
Maryse welcome us to NXT and Matt reminds us that the rookies have been in past seasons of NXT but they are competing to be a part of NXT Season Six where they can choose their pro.
Titus O’Neill has 9 redemption points and Darren Young has seven redemption points. This challenge is worth four redemption points.
Maryse says that tonight, the rookie have to answer the question correctly. Matt likes the way that Maryse explained the rules. It is Hot Seat Trivia where the rookies will go down the line for answers. The category is Wrestlemania 27 winners. Darren Young goes with Bret Hart and he is a year off and is eliminated. Byron goes with The Undertaker and is right. Jacob Novak guesses Randy Orton and is correct. Conor O’Brian guesses Snooki and is right. Lucky Cannon decides to ask Matt if he knows where is girlfriend was last night and that is an incorrect answer. Titus O’Neill guesses Cody Rhodes. Saxton goes with Edge. Novak goes with Miz. O’Brian guesses nobody.
Titus gets the next question and it is an inductee into the Hall of Fame. He guesses Jim Duggan. Saxton goes with Shawn Michaels. Novak goes with Sunny. Titus goes with the Road Warriors. Saxton goes with Bullet Bob Armstrong. Novak doesn’t have an answer and he loses.
The next question is an NXT Rookie from the past five seasons. Titus guesses himself. Saxton guesses himself. Titus goes with Alex Riley. Saxton goes with Michael McGillicutty. Titus guesses Husky Harris. Saxton goes with David Otunga. Titus goes with Daniel Bryan. Saxton guesses Wade Barrett. Titus guesses Eli ‘Mustache’ Cottonwood. Saxton guesses Brodus Clay. O’Neill guesses Johnny Curtis. Saxton guesses Derrick Bateman. O’Neill guesses Saxton but that is a prior answer. Saxton is your winner and he moves into third place with four redemption points.
We go to commercial.
We are back and we see Vladimir Kozlov with his arm in a sling after his attack by The Corre over the weekend.
Match Number One: Conor O’Brian with Vladimir Kozlov versus Jacob Novak with JTG
They lock up and Novak pushes O’Brian away. Conor with a leg take down and then he puts him in a wrist lock. O’Brian drops a knee into the arm and works on the wrist. O’Brian slams the wrist into the mat and he gets a near fall. O’Brian with a side head lock and shoulder block. O’Brian blocks a hip toss and he takes Novak down with a drop toe hold. O’Brian with a front face lock followed by an Irish whip. He runs into a boot and then Novak biels O’Brian into the turnbuckles and Novak lands awkwardly. Novak with kicks in the corner followed by a knee to the upper chest. Novak with an elbow drop for a near fall.
Novak with a kick to O’Brian followed by a leg drop. Novak with a knee across the throat and then he hits a neck breaker and gets a near fall. Novak with a reverse chin lock. Novak with knees to the back and then he returns to the chin lock and then he turns it into a front face lock. Conor with a back body drop and both men are down.
O’Brian with a punch and European uppercut. Novak blocks a kick and he hits a boot to the chest. Novak misses a running boot into the corner and O’Brian with a rollup for the three count.
Winner: Conor O’Brian
After the match, JTG has something to say to his rookie.
Johnny Curtis is walking in the back and he wanted to apologize to Yoshi for what he did last week. Yoshi tells Lucky that he should apologize to Maryse. Lucky says that Maryse is all his and he heard that Maryse likes Yoshi so he should ask her out.
Yoshi sees Maryse and he says hello before asking her out. Ted DiBiase stops by and answers for Maryse and says no. Ted attacks Yoshi while Maryse screams in French. Ted tells Maryse that he will deal with Lucky Cannon later. He asks Maryse if Yoshi will pay for the day spas, the Louis Vuitton bags, and all of the shoes she never wears. Ted tells Maryse that he has a match with Yoshi and wonders if Maryse is coming with him. Ted walks away.
Maryse thinks about it and goes to Ted. She walks over Yoshi as she leaves.
We go to commercial.
We are back and Did You Know that this was the most watched Hall of Fame ceremony? We have footage from the ceremony.
Regal talks about Triple Haitch’s induction speech about how Shawn is Mr. Hall of Fame. Todd says that he is looking forward to the Hall of Fame next year, the night before John Cena faces The Rock at Wrestlemania 28.
Vladimir Kozlov is talking to JTG about their rookies. JTG wants to know how Conor is representing Vladimir. He says that wins are not enough. JTG says that Conor needs some flava. JTG says that Conor looks like a rat. Vladimir says that Jacob looks like a geek. JTG and Vladimir have a bet on who does a better job changing their rookie.
We go to commercial.
We are back and Regal puts over how Titus is helped by the leprechaun vote.
We go back two weeks when Chavo helped Darren but it backfired and cost him the match when Hornswoggle bit Chavo’s ankle.
Match Number Two: Titus O’Neill and Hornswoggle versus Chavo Guerrero and Darren Young
Young and O’Neill start things off and Young with a side head lock into a cravate. Young returns to the side head lock and then he kicks Titus. Titus with a shoulder tackle and then Chavo tags in but Titus does not tag in Hornswoggle.
They lock up and Titus backs Chavo into the corner. Chavo with punches to Titus and the referee warns him. Titus with a back elbow but Chavo with a drop kick. Hornswoggle tags himself in and he says he wants Young. Chavo agrees to tag in Young. Young doesn’t know what to do with the smaller opponent.
Young gets down on his knees and Hornswoggle is in dibelief. Young wants a Greco Roman knuckle lock but his arms are too high. Hornswoggle with a kick and then he stomps on the hand. Hornswoggle kicks Cavho on the apron and then Titus is tagged back in. O’Neill with shoulder tackles followed by an Irish whip and power slam. Titus barks and Regal wonders what he is doing with his arms. Chavo tags in and Young with a shoulder tackle.
Chavo goes up top but Hornswoggle bites his ankle and Hornswoggle goes under the ring. Young tags back in while Chavo goes after Hornswoggle. Young with forearms to the back but O’Neill with Sky High for the three count.
Winners: Titus O’Neill and Hornswoggle
Titus and Hornswoggle celebrate in the ring.
We go to commercial.
We are back and it is time to see the confrontation between John Cena and the Rock on Raw.
Maryse assumes her position at ringside while she applies some make up.
Match Number Three: Yoshi Tatsu versus Ted DiBiase
Ted with a kick and forearms to Yoshi. Ted with punches and kicks but the referee stops him. Yoshi with chops to Ted followed by a spinning heel kick. Yoshi runs Ted into the corner and he connects with a forearm and a slap. Yoshi with an Irish whip but he runs into a boot from Ted. Ted comes off the turnbuckles and then he kicks Yoshi. Ted continues the attack with knee drops to the head. Ted with a hard Irish whip and the referee checks on Yoshi.
Ted sends Yoshi into the turnbuckles and then he kicks Yoshi until the referee pulls him out of the corner. Ted chokes Yoshi with his boot and then he continues the attack with more kick and punches. Ted refuses to listen to the referee and he calls for the bell.
Winner: Yoshi Tatsu by disqualification
Ted continues the attack and Maryse gets on the mic and she yells at Ted in French. Ted tells Maryse that she has had enough fun on NXT and he is sick of it. Ted tells Maryse that it is ‘NXT or me’ and she has a week to decide.
Ted leaves the ring and we go to credits.
Holy crap, Homicide still works here! Rob Terry's new nickname is "The Freak". Homicide jumps Terry before the bell, but Terry clotheslines him down, goozles him up to the top rope, and chokeslams him off the top. Terry misses a charge and Homicide lays in some more shots, but goes for a monkey flip and Terry just shoves him off. Terry press slams Homicide, Beels him across the ring, then hits a shoulderblock and goes for a powerslam, but Homicide slips out the back and gets some shots in. Terry eats boot on a charge, but catches Homicide out of a bodypress and hits a powerslam for the win.
Winner: Rob Terry
Homicide attacks Terry from behind with a chair after the match, but Homicide no sells, so Homicide cracks the chair over Terry's head, but Terry no sells that also and chokeslams Homicide as blood starts to run down his forehead. Then the lights go out and Orlando Jordan comes out, pours some kind of cream down his face and chest, and we go to commercial.
We're back, and it's time for the Knockouts Lock Box Challenge!
Knockouts Lock Box Challenge: Tara, Angelina Love, ODB & Hamada vs The Beautiful People & Daffney
Let's see if the guy who runs Lacey's website steals my recap of her match this week, too. Angelina starts with Madison Rayne, then tags out to Tara. Rayne kicks Tara down, then humps her head into the mat. Rayne goes up top, but Tara comes out with the Widow's Peak and eliminates Rayne. Tara wins the first key and we're down to 3-on-3 as we go to commercial.
We're back, and during the commercial, Daffney pinned Hamada to earn a key, so we're down to 2-on-2. Velvet Sky has a chinlock on ODb but ODB fights out and splashes Velvet in the corner. ODB with a fallaway slam on Sky, but only gets 2. Sky slips out of a fireman's carry and gets a DDT to pin ODB and win a kep, and we're down to Lacey and Angelina. Angelina with a flying clothesline and then pounds on Lacey. Angelina whips Lacey into the corner, but Lacey gets her boot up on a charge and goes for a moonsault elbow and drops the elbow even though Angelina moved like five seconds earlier. Angelina with a Flatliner on Lacey for the win.
Winners: Tara, Daffney, Velvet Sky, Angelina Love
As a reminder, each key unlocks one locked box which contain Tara's tarantula, the TNA Knockouts Title, an open contract for a match with anyone, and a contract to have to do a striptease. Now back to the ring for our next match...after a commercial!
Ladder Match: Ken Anderson vs Kurt Angle
We're back from break, and the match is already in progress as Anderson hits a Finlay Roll on Angle. Anderson goes and gets the ladder and brings it in the ring. Anderson suplexes Angle onto the ladder, then sets the ladder up in the corner but Angle now suplexes Anderson into the ladder. Angle takes the ladder out and sets it up in the middle of the ring then goes back to pounding on Anderson, but Anderson whips Angle into the ropes and then rams the ladder into him coming back. Anderson sets up the ladder and goes up top to grab the key, but Angle hits an Angle Slam off the ladder. Angle kicks Anderson out of the ring and slowly climbs back up the ladder, but Anderson comes in and shoves him over the top and Angle takes a really nasty bump to the floor after getting caught on the top rope. Angle's okay though, and Anderson sets up the ladder and goes up, but Angle goes up top and dropkicks the ladder over. Angle with a German Suplex on Anderson, then lays the ladder down, puts Anderson on top of the ladder, goes up top and hits a moonsault onto Anderson on the ladder. Angle fires Anderson into the ringpost, then sets up the ladder and climbs back up, but Anderson grabs Angle's warrior medal and uses it to choke Angle from behind. Angle keeps fighting though, and climbs up to grab the key, but finally he loses consciousness and Anderson goes up and grabs the key.
Winner: Ken Anderson
Anderson gets on the mic after the match saying that he has a bottle of bubbly waiting for him backstage to celebrate not his victory tonight, but his victory at Lockdown, which he just secured, and the only person he's going to be partying with tonight is Mr Anderson...Anderson.
We go backstage to JB with Hulk Hogan, and JB says that Eric Bischoff went into business for himself last week, and is wondering if Hogan has any comment on the situation. Hogan says he's not happy about everything Eric's done since being in TNA, but it stays between them and he's not going to talk about it in public. Bubba the Love Sponge comes in and Hogan tells him he's making a choice to run with the wrong crowd (meaning the Band), and Bubba says he's having a better time than he was with Hogan, so Hogan tells him to have a good time and Bubba says he will and leaves. Jay Lethal comes in and says he has Hogan's back and he's going to find the Megapowers tights.
The Band is just arriving at the Impact Zone, and we're off to commercial!
We're back, and Christy Hemme is backstage with Matt Morgan, who says he's now THE tag team champions. He almost lost the title because of Hernandez, but because of an unfortunate accident a couple of weeks ago, Hernandez is out of action. Morgan says you're looking at the TNA Tag Team Champions: Matt Morgan. Hemme says next week, he's going to have to defend the TNA World Tag Team Title against the winner of the next match.
Motor City Machine Guns vs Team 3D
Sabin and Bubba do a wristlock sequence to start, but Sabin with a series of kicks to Bubba and Bubba responds with a boot to the face. Sabin ducks another boot and hits a springboard bodypress for 1. Tag to Shelley and the Guns get a double team kick to Bubba, but that just made Bubba mad because he smacks Shelley in the face and tags in Devon, who lays Shelley out and hits a diving headbutt. Devon with a bearhug, then drops Shelley with a headbutt. Shelley nails Devon on a backdrop attempt and tags in Sabin, who comes in and cleans house. Sabin off the top with a double dropkick to 3D, and Bubba accidentally nails Devon when Sabin ducks a clothesline. Guns with a sandwich enziguiri and Guns with a double team neckbreaker for 2. Bubba clotheslines both Guns from behind and 3D with the Whazzup, and it's time to get the tables...but wait, the Band comes out and attacks 3D, and the referee calls for the bell. The Band tosses Bubba into the ring with the Guns and they lay everyone out as we go to commercial. Let's call it...
No Contest
We come back and it's time to hear from the Band. Bubba The Love Sponge comes out to join the Band in the ring. Nash says he's got a message: they might not be signing the checks, but they are running the show. He says Hogan's worried about Flair and Bischoff, but that's the least of his worries, because he's looking at his worst nightmare. They've been carrying Hogan for 15 years, but now they're the show and people may not like them, but Nash has three guys in the ring who like him. The Wolfpac music hits.
We go back to JB with the Pope, who is going to attempt to avenge his loss one week ago to Desmond Wolfe. Pope says he's going to make history when he wins the TNA World Title, but even though Wolfe got one over on Pope, tonight's going to be a different story. Desmond Wolfe interrupts and says where he's from, people don't get second chances. He thinks he should get the title shot at AJ at Lockdown. Pope says that if Desmond beats him tonight, he can have the title shot at Lockdown.
Tara is backstage, and she's...STRESSING! We're going to commercial.
Doug Williams comes to the ring and takes the mic from Dave Penzer. He wants to make the point that the days of the acrobats and trapeze artists stinking up the X Division are over, and they need to go back to the circus with the performing monkeys. You tell 'em, Doug! There is an alternative: they can go back to wrestling school and learn how to wrestle. Doug thinks of himself as the master, and because of that would like to be referred to henceforth by his full name Douglas Williams. He's arranged a gauntlet match tonight with himself and Generation Me, and we're going to go right to that match now.
Gauntlet Match: Doug Williams vs Generation Me
Williams starts with Jeremy, and Williams gets a single leg takedown and catapults Jeremy into the corner, but Jermy springboard out onto Williams for 2. Jeremy with a facebuster for 2 and then a high kick to the face for 2, but Williams gets the Chaos Theory to eliminate Jeremy. Now it's Max's turn, and he dives in with a crossbody for 2, then a dropkick for another 2. Max whips Williams into the corner and follows in with an elbow, then a slam and a legdrop gets 2. Max goes up top but Williams knocks him off and gets a guillotine choke and Max taps.
Winner: Douglas Williams
Williams won't break the choke, so Shannon Moore runs out and chases Williams off. Moore says there's no place in the X Division for boring wrestlers like Williams, then challenges Williams to put the X Division Title on the line at Lockdown.
Christy is backstage with Team 3D looking for comments, and Team 3D says there's no reason for the attack they suffered from the Band. Team 3D says their paths have never crossed, but next week they will because they want the Band in the ring.
Desmond Wolfe vs D'Angelo Dinero
Wolfe goes after Pope on the rampway, but Pope fights him off and tosses him back in the ring. Wolfe nails Pope coming back in and gets a flying hammerlock. Wolfe puts Pope up top and goes for the Tower of London, but Pope fights his way out. Pope ducks a lariat and fires away with some quick punches, then hits his version of the Codebreaker for the win. That was quick.
Winner: The Pope
Pope is celebrating on the rampway after the match and AJ Styles comes out and attacks him, then tosses him back in the ring and hits the Styles Clash, then gets in his face and starts shouting at him. Abyss' music hits and out comes the big man, and AJ backs off, but Wolfe attacks Abyss from behind and while he's got Abyss' attention, AJ comes back in and clips Abyss' knee from behind. Wolfe has a fire extinguisher and nails Abyss with it as we go back to commercial.
We're back, and it's time to reveal the contents of the Lock Boxes! I can't believe this is in our main event segment. Velvet opens hers first, and she gets...the open contract! Tara's up second, and her prize is...her tarantula! But unfortunately, this means she's no longer the Knockouts Champion. And it comes down to Angelina and Daffney. They open their boxes at the same time, and our new Knockouts Champion is...Angelina Love! So now Daffney has to go to the ring and strip, and if she doesn't she'll be fired on the spot. Surely this violates some kind of sexual harassment law. Daffney makes her way to the ring and looks none too happy, but she must have picked something up during her time with the YRR. Daffney proceeds to do the worst, least enthusiastic striptease I've ever seen, and with horrible music at that, but out comes Lacey Von Erich, who lays Daffney out with the ugly stick, then she starts stripping as Tara and Angelina start fighting up on the rampway over the Knockouts Title. They start fighting into the ring and brawl on the mat right in front of Lacey...who keeps on stripping. Velvet Sky takes the mic and says that Lacey's turned up the heat, but rule #1 of the Beautiful People Club is that no Beautiful Person shall upstage another Beautiful Person, so Velvet's going to cash in her open contract next week against Angelina in a Leather and Lace match. Angelina makes mad faces at her as we go off the air.
2012 - Hacksaw Duggan's autobiography was officially released.
2012 - TNA and Spike announced they had signed a new deal to keep Impact Wrestling on the cable network. The official press release reads:
SPIKE TV AND TNA ENTERTAINMENT ANNOUNCE MULTI-YEAR EXTENSION TO ITS STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP
The Highly-Rated “Impact Wrestling” Maintains Its Home On Spike TV On Thursday Nights
New York, NY – April 5, 2012 – Spike TV and TNA Entertainment have agreed upon a multi-year extension on their strategic partnership, maintaining Spike TV as the exclusive U.S. television home of the emerging sports-entertainment property.
The deal was announced today jointly by Kevin Kay, Spike TV President and Dixie Carter, TNA Entertainment President. TNA wrestling debuted on Spike TV in July, 2005. Over the last seven years, the ratings for TNA’s “IMPACT Wrestling” have grown from an average of 700,000 viewers at launch to nearly two million today.
“Dixie Carter and her team at TNA have done a phenomenal job in developing stars for an exciting, high-action brand that resonates with Spike’s audience,” said Kay. “We are excited to further our partnership and will continue to build and invigorate the franchise together.”
“We are thrilled that Spike TV will be IMPACT Wrestling's home for years to come,” said Carter. “The dedication that Kevin Kay and the network have shown us in building our brand is what makes this announcement even more meaningful for me. And look for some exciting things to happen on IMPACT in the near future."
TNA’s flagship series, “IMPACT Wrestling,” airs weekly on Spike TV and is one of the network’s top-rated series. The show has evolved into must-see-tv on Thursdays with young men and currently ranks among the top shows on cable in its timeslot with Men 18-34.
The roster features many of the biggest names in wrestling including Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Jeff Hardy, Kurt Angle, Booby Roode, Sting, James Storm, Rob Van Dam the lovely and lethal Knockouts.
About Spike TV:
Spike TV is available in 99.8 million homes and is a division of Viacom Media Networks. A unit of Viacom (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB), Viacom Media Networks is one of the world's leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. Spike TV's Internet address is www.spike.com and for up-to-the-minute and archival press information and photographs, visit Spike TV's press site at http://www.spike.com/press. Follow us on Twitter @spiketvpr for the latest in breaking news updates, behind-the-scenes information and photos.
About TNA Entertainment:
TNA Entertainment, LLC is a privately held sports entertainment company based in Nashville, Tennessee that specializes in events, products, numerous TV properties, merchandise and music, as well as, the management and promotion of professional wrestlers. In addition, TNA produces monthly PPV events and over 100 live shows a year. The product is the world’s most innovative experience in professional wrestling and is broadcast in over 120 countries. For more information, please visit www.impactwrestling.com.
2012 - WWE champion CM Punk was interviewed by Mike Jones on Washington DC 101 Radio to promote this Monday's Raw. Highlights:
*On Brock Lesnar, Punk played up that he didn't know yet why Lesnar had returned and that even if he knew, he wouldn't give the storyline away.
*Regarding Wrestlemania, Punk said that he wasn't nervous when it came time for the match against Chris Jericho, but when you arrive ready to go at 12 Noon and have all day to wait, nerves do come up.
*Punk stated that it had been some time since he had an opponent he could match up with like Chris Jericho and hoped he'd be able to get a few more PPV matches out of it.
*The one opponent he never got in the ring with that he wanted was Shawn Michaels and right now he's hoping for Steve Austin.
*Punk told a story of Iron Sheik being wheeled out to the crowd to watch Punk vs. Jericho at Wrestlemania and loving the chance to talk with Roddy Piper for some time after the PPV. He said that he doesn't feel right about being endorsed by so many legends but is humbled by it and feels it happens because of his work ethic and his love of the business. He said that he can't get behind it completely because it would be too egotistical.
2012 - TNA broadcast Impact Wrestling. Stu Carapola filed the following TV report:
Welcome to the Impact Wrestling Report on PWInsider.com!
We start off with a look back at last week when Hulk Hogan accepted the job as the new GM of Impact Wrestling, and we go to the Impact Zone where Dixie Cartner has called all the wrestlers out to the ring for a meeting as she again introduces our new GM. Hogan reiterates how he would have never taken the job back if it weren't for Sting watching his back and he thanks Dixie Carter for another chance, and he says that he met with Creative and they have a bunch of new segments that are going to be coming, but right now he has some Lockdown business to take care of. Hogan makes Matt Morgan vs Crimson for Lockdown, then says he's had a hard time figuring out who the #1 contender to Gail Kim ought to be, so tonight, we're going to have a Knockouts Challenge to determine who challenges Gail at Lockdown. There's one other thing he needs to handle right now, and he wants Eric Bischoff to come out right now. Ric Flair said Bischoff's not here and he can't tell anyone anything, and Hogan says he had better get here.
Bobby Roode's music hits and he comes out with his lawyers, and Hogan doesn't appreciate him showing up fashionably late. Roode says he can show up whenever he wants, and that Hogan better ask the last GM how things go when he gets pushed too far. Nothing is going to stop him from being the most dominant champion in the history of TNA, and his only obligation from this point forward is Lockdown, where he will embarrass James Storm and successfully defend his title. Until then, the champ's outta here. Roode turns to lead, but Hogan tells him that things are changing around here, and he calls Ken Anderson into the ring. Hogan says everyone wanted Mr Anderson back, and the fans want to see Anderson take on Roode tonight. Roode loses his mind and tells his legal team to tell him no, but it looks like the match is set.
Hogan also has a message for Kurt Angle, who says he won't wrestle Jeff Hardy at Lockdown, and that's true, because he's going to wrestle him tonight and, by the way, the match is happening right now.
Kurt Angle vs Jeff Hardy
Hardy takes control early with shoulderblocks and armdrags, Angle manages to escape the armbar but Hardy keeps taking him back down and keeps control of the arm. Angle goes to the eyes and tries to shake his arm out, but gets caught with a flying headscissors and rolls out to the floor. Hardy hits a baseball slide through the ropes and Angle visibly cracks the back of his head on the barricade. Angle is busted open hardway and blood starts running down his head as Hardy slams his face into the ring steps, but Angle catches him with a big right hand and a snap suplex gets 2. Angle goes for another cover, but Hardy is out at 2 again so Angle tries to wear him out with a rear chinlock. Hardy fights his way free and hits the ropes, but Angle catches him coming off with a back elbow and Hardy goes down again as we go to commercial.
We're back from commercial, and Angle charges Hardy in the corner and runs right into Hardy's boot, and then Hardy does the Whisper In The Wind and barely grazes Angle, but Angle is nice enough to sell it anyway. Hardy with a forearm off the ropes and goes for the Twist of Fate, but Angle shoves him off into the ropes and catches Hardy in a waistlock as he comes back, trapping Hardy's arm as well, and hitting a trio of rolling German suplexes. Angle waits for Hardy to get to his feet and goes for the Angle Slam, Hardy slips out and hits the Twist of Fate, then goes up top for the Swanton. Angle pops up and runs up the corner, suplexes Hardy into the middle of the ring, and covers for 2. Angle pulls the straps down and hooks on the Angle lock, Hardy fights his way to the ropes, but Angle drags him back out to the middle of the ring and yells at Hardy to tap. Hardy again begins the arduous crawl to the ropes, and finally manages to kick Angle off and hit an inverted enziguiri. Hardy goes up for the Swanton again, but Angle pulls the referee in the way and Hardy drops off the top rope to go after Angle. Angle shoves the referee out of the way and goes for a low blow, but Hardy catches his fist and nails another series of clotheslines. Hardy goes for the Twist of Fate, but Angle disengages and heads for the hills. He bails out to the floor and backs his way up the ramp to take the intentional countout loss.
Winner: Jeff Hardy by countout
Hogan is backstage applauding Angle as he comes through the curtain, and he tells Angle that he can't run and hide anymore, so now he's booking Angle to face Hardy in the cage at Lockdown.
Ric Flair is backstage on the phone with Eric Bischoff and tells him it's going down and he's got to get to the building because Hogan's doing stuff they need to address right away. Bischoff says he's on his way, and Flair reiterates that this is an emergency and he needs to get here right away.
The Mystery Cameraman asks Bully Ray for his thoughts on James Storm vs Bobby Roode at Lockdown, and Bubba says that his name is Calfzilla and he's trending on Twitter even though he's not even on Twitter. He doesn't care about Storm and Roode because he's going to be the next World Champion, and right now he's going to the ring to take care of a bigger problem. Actually, it's a really small problem named Austin Aries, and he'll see him out in the ring.
Bully Ray is in the ring with the microphone, and he wonders why a little guy like Austin Aries would want to piss off a monster like him. Bubba says he's taken craps bigger than Aries, but now Aries' music hits and the X Division Champion makes his way out to the ring to have a word with Bubba. Aries shushes the crowd, then bashes Bubba in the skull with the microphone and starts just unloading on Bubba with punches in the corner. Aries tears his jacket and the belt off and goes back after Bubba, but Bubba just picks him up, carries him across the ring, and powerbombs Aries hard onto the mat. Bubba picks up the belt and microphone and asks Aries if he knows who he is, then drops the mic and the belt onto Aries and walks off.
Joseph Park is backstage looking all over catering for his brother, the caterer says he hasn't seen his brother Chris, so Joseph hands him his card and says to call him if he hears anything.
AJ Styles is backstage saying he thinks Storm will have the advantage over Roode at Lockdown, especially if he can hit the Last Call. Storm comes in and says that Hogan told him that he needs to have a match tonight since Roode has one, and he needs someone Phenomenal to help him get ready for Lockdown. AJ says that he'll do it, but wants to warn Storm that he's way faster than Roode, but Storm says that's fine because, if he can hit the Last Call on AJ, he knows he can hit it on Roode.
Knockouts #1 Contender Match: Mickie James vs Winter vs Angelina Love vs Tara vs Madison Rayne vs Velvet Sky
Tara and Winter start us off and trade wristlocks, but Tara slams Winter and hits a standing moonsault, she goes for a cover but all four of the other girls come in to break up the pin. Angelina tags herself in and goes face to face with her time-traveling lesbian lover. They circle one another, but Winter tags out to Mickie rather than fight Angelina, and Mickie rolls over Angelina with a shoulderblock. Mickie cartwheels past a shot from Angelina and connects with a dropkick. Angelina Tullys Mickie into the second rope, but Mickie ducks another wild swing and hits a neckbreaker. She makes a cover and Madison tries to come in and break up the fall, but Mickie moves out of the way and Madison hits Angelina instead. Velvet tags in and plows over her former partner Angelina with a series of shoulderblocks, but Velvet catches a back elbow to the midsection, followed by a front powerslam from Angelina that puts her down for 2. Madison and Tara tag in and Tara shoves Madison into Angelina, knocking her to the floor, then destroys Madison with a big boot and spinning side suplex. Winter breaks up the cover at 2 and allows Madison to thumb Tara in the eye, and Velvet tags in and tries an O'Connor Roll on Madison. Madison holds the ropes and catches Velvet with a clothesline before hitting her wacky neckbreaker, but now Angelina comes in and gets a funky backbrekaer of her own. Tara comes in and hits the Widow's Peak on Angelina, Winter comes in and hits a spinning uranage backbreaker on Tara, Mickie hits the leaping DDT on Winter, and finally Velvet hits the sitout Pedigree on Mickie for the win.
Winner: Velvet Sky
Ken Anderson is backstage saying that instead of worrying about what's going to happen to Roode at Lockdown, we ought to worry about what's going to happen to him tonight when he faces Anderson. Roode comes in and they have words and almost get into it backstage, but Anderson suggests saving it so they can do this in front of everyone later tonight.
It's time for Eric Young's bachelor party, and instead of strippers, he's got a bunch of laptops set up so Eric and his friends can play fantasy baseball. ODB comes in and says that there's no girls allowed, but she brought fried chicken and cigars, then asks if they can get porno on his laptop. She tells EY that after they're married next week, every night will be a bachelor party for him, then she rubs his face in her boobs.
James Storm vs AJ Styles
They tie up and do some back and forth chain wrestling and Storm goes for the Last Call early, but AJ rolls out of the way and tells Storm he's not going to get him with that. AJ shoots Storm to the ropes, Storm comes off and hits a shoulderblock, he hits the ropes again and AJ goes for a dropkick as well but now Storm holds the ropes. AJ with a go behind and Storm goes to the ropes, but AJ goes for the dropkick again and hits it this time. Storm backdrops AJ to the apron and goes for a shot at him, but AJ drops to the floor and out of Storm's reach. AJ comes in and goes for a kick, Storm catches the foot and shoves AJ down, then floats right into a side headlock. AJ tries to roll Storm to his back, but can't quite get him all the way over, so he gets back to his feet and they have a chop exchange. AJ gets a side backbreaker on Storm for a 2 count, then hits a slam and comes off the ropes with the fancy kneedrop. AJ goes after Storm's legs, but Storm pulls away so AJ goes to a chinlock instead. Storm elbows his way out and goes for Last Call again, but AJ dodges to the side and unloads on Storm with forearms to the skull. AJ goes for a whip, but Storm reverses and sends AJ hard into the corner. Storm with a leaping enziguiri and then he goes up to the top rope, but AJ recovers and hits a leaping Pelle kick. AJ climbs up top with Storm and goes for a Frankensteiner, but Storm drops down to the mat and gives AJ the Eye Of The Storm. Storm goes for the Codebreaker, but AJ blocks and gets Storm in the figure four leglock, and yells at Storm that he can't throw that kick now. Storm makes it to the ropes, so AJ breaks and goes to a half crab instead. Storm again kicks AJ off, but catches another Pelle kick. AJ goes for a leaping forearm in the corner, but Storm dodges and AJ lands face first on the top turnbuckle with an audible THWACK, and Storm quickly connects with the Last Call, which AJ sells better than anyone else in history, and Storm covers for the win.
Winner: James Storm
Storm helps AJ to his feet and sticks his hand out, and AJ takes it and they shake hands before AJ picks up the beer bottle and hands it to Storm. Storm gets a microphone and tells Roode next week, he wants Roode to come out to the ring and look in his eye one last time before he kicks his teeth down his throat.
Hogan is backstage telling Sting to go home and get better because he'll need him at 100% to help him do what he needs to do. Sting says it's not easy having the doctors not let him in the ring, but Hogan says he has things for now and just needs Sting to get healthy.
James Storm's guys who did his entrance music are backstage being happy when Bobby Roode comes in to introduce himself. He says he was Storm's buddy too until he cracked the beer bottle over Storm's head. Roode spits water in one of the guys' face, leading to a pull apart brawl.
Motor City Machine Guns vs Mexican America
Let's see, the MCMG got entrance music and Mexican America didn't. Guess we know how this is going to go. Shelley and Anarquia start us off as Sabin gets "welcome back" chants from the crowd. Shelley beats the crap out of Anarquia and stomps him out in the corner before throwing his gum at him, then drags Anarquia over to his corner and tags in Sabin, who comes off the second rope with a double axhandle and goes for an arm wringer. Hernandez tags in, but takes a kick to the midsection and Sabin goes for a sunset flip. Hernandez blocks and yanks Sabin up by the neck, but Sabin ducks a clothesline and hits a bulldog for 2. Shelley tags in and they hit a series of double teams in the corner on Hernandez, and Shelley goes for a tornado DDT, but Hernandez just shoves him off and Shelley flies clear across the ring. Hernandez bulldozes over Shelley with a shoulderblock, then tags out to Anarquia, who misses a leapfrog splash in the corner. Shelley takes out Hernandez with a leaping enziguiri and tags out to Sabin, who works Anarquia over with kicks and a leaping elbow in the corner. Sabin hangs Anarquia up in the Tree of Woe and hits a delayed basement dropkick. Hernandez breaks up an attempt at the cradle shock driver, Shelley saves Sabin from the Border Toss, then they hit the skull and crossbones for the win.
Winners: Motor City Machine Guns
Geez, they made it look so easy, didn't they? Sabin gets a microphone and says they are the Motor City Machine Guns, and they want one thing: the TNA World Tag Team Title.
Ric Flair catches up to Eric Bischoff backstage and tells him what Hogan's doing, and Bischoff says Hogan needs to know that Flair is a two time Hall of Famer, and he's going to put Hogan back in his box.
Hulk Hogan says that a little birdie told him that Eric Bischoff has arrived after being conveniently absent earlier, and invites him down to the ring. Eric comes to the top of the ramp and says it's ironic that they wound up at opposite ends of the spectrum after all they've been through together. He never would have thought they'd wind up trying to undermine each other, but it makes sense because there's too many differences between them to name, and the biggest one is that Hogan's not a leader, he doesn't havea vision for others to base their lives and careers on, he's an opportunist who tags into situations he's most likely to benefit from while Bischoff is a true leader. Hogan says he's the leader of blowing hot air on and on and on, and since Eric's such a great leader, we're taking care of all the Lockdown business right here. Instead of Garett and Gunner in the cage, how about Eric puts together his finest team, Garett puts together a team of his own, and all the business gets taken care of at Lockdown. If Eric's team wins, Garett never wrestles in Impact Wrestling again, but if Garett wins, then Eric is going to hit the road and will never be allowed to use the Bischoff name again. Bischoff says we got a deal, so Hogan says that at Lockdown, this thing between Eric and Garett ends one way or another.
We see another video package hyping up Storm vs Roode at Lockdown, with this one featuring Storm's family talking about how much it hurt Storm to have Roode turn on him like that, and what Roode's in for at Lockdown.
And with that, it's main event time!
World Champion Robert Roode vs Ken Anderson
The referee kicks Roode's security crew out of the ringside area, and then Anderson nails Roode and tosses him into the ring to jump start the match. Roode catches Anderson with a knee to the breadbasket and a vertical suplex, followed by a leaping kneedrop for 2. Roode dishes out a chop in the corner and rams Anderson's face into the corner turnbuckle, then whips Anderson hard across the ring and Anderson collapses to the mat where Roode covers him for 2. Anderson comes back with a series of clotheslines and a BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK BODYDROP for 2, then the referee inadvertently gets bumped. Anderson hits the Finlay roll and makes a cover, but no referee. Anderson goes to check on him, but Roode grabs a beer bottle...um, from a kid at ringside. Yeah, that's Florida. Roode cracks the bottle over Anderson's head and makes the cover, and the referee doesn't seem to notice the blood on Anderson's head of the broken glass all over the mat as he counts 3.
Winner: Bobby Roode
James Storm and Hulk Hogan come marching out to the ring, Roode heads for the hills but Hogan announces that he's reversing the decision and making Anderson the winner of this match. Okay, then.
Winner: Ken Anderson by DQ
Roode says screw Hogan and he can kiss his championship ass.
2013 - TNA broadcast their taped Xtravaganza PPV. Richard Trionfo filed the following results:
Match Number One:
James. X Division Xscape Match: Matt Bentley versus Alex Silva versus Sam Shaw versus Lince Dorado versus Puma versus Jimmy Rave versus Christian York
The match is an elimination match until the final two when it becomes the first to escape the cage.
Christian York wins the match by escaping the cage. The final two were Jimmy Rave and Christian York.
The order of elimination was:
1. Lince Dorado
2. Puma
3. Sam Shaw
4. Alex Silva
5. Matt Bentley
They announced that Samoa Joe will face Austin Aries on this show.
Match Number Two: Kid Kash and Douglas Williams versus Tony Nese and Rashad Cameron
Williams and Kash get the victory after Williams hit Chaos Theory on Nese.
Connected by DROID on Verizon Wireless
Match Number Three: Robbie E versus Chavo Guerrero
Before the match, Robbie says that he invented the X Division and is the greatest X Division champion of all time.
Chavo comes out and says that the X Division came from the Cruiserweight Division which came from lucha libre which was created by Gory Guerrero.
Chavo tells Robbie he has a guest referee and it is Joseph Park.
Chavo wins with a frog splash.
After the match, Robbie hits Joseph and the switch goes off and Park with a shoulder tackle to Robbie.
Match Number Four: Ultimate X Match featuring Zema Ion, Rubix, Kenny King, and Mason Andrews
Kenny King wins the match. Rubix grabbed the X from the cables but when he tried to get to the mat, he landed on King's shoulders. King took the X and hit an Electric Chair drop.
Before the match, it was announced that the winner had to have the X and have both feet on the mat.
Match Number Five: Frankie Kazarian and Christopher Daniels versus Sonjay Dutt and Petey Williams
Daniels and Kazarian get the victory after Kazarian hits Fade to Black and Daniels hits the BME on Dutt.
After the match Kazarian accidentally clotheslines Daniels when Dutt moves and Williams gives Kazarian the Canadian Destroyer.
Match Number Six: Rob Van Dam versus Jerry Lynn in a No Disqualification Match
Rob Van Dam wins with a Five Star Frog Splash. Before hitting the frog splash, Van Dam kicked Lynn off the top turnbuckle and through a table on the floor.
After the match Rob and Jerry hug and each man raises the other's hand.
The locker room comes out to the stage to salute Lynn.
Match Number Seven: Samoa Joe versus Austin Aries
Austin Aries wins the match after countering a muscle buster with a rollup.
2013 - EVOLVE crowned their first champion at EVOLVE 19. Stu Carapola filed the following live report:
Welcome to PWInsider.com's live coverage of EVOLVE 19, featuring the tournament to crown the first EVOLVE Champion! You can find information on ordering the iPPV by clicking on the poster above.
The iPPV is starting late due to a technical issue with the building's internet connection, so Rich Swann comes out to the ring with his opponents for the four way, first round tournament match and asks the crowd if they're ready for Wrestlecon. He gets the crowd fired up and asks if they're ready to party all night long because he's ready to go. He starts leading the crowd in song and gets them clapping along, but then Lenny Leonard gets on the house mic and says that what the fans really want to see is some wrestling, so it looks like we're ready to get the tournament started!
EVOLVE Title Tournament First Round: Sami Callihan vs Rich Swann vs Samuray Del Sol vs Jigsaw
All four men are going all out as the match starts, and within a minute they all take turns taking each other out with dives to the floor. They all slowly make their way back into the ring and charge into a gigantic collision in the middle of the ring, with Swann and Del Sol going down and leaving Jigsaw and Callihan alone to trade chops in the middle of the ring. Jigsaw catches callihan with a boot and a flying headscissors, but runs into Callihan's boot on a charge. Jigsaw sweeps Callihan's legs and double stomps him for 2. Del Sol is in and gets backdropped out to the floor, but nails Jigsaw with a leaping enziguiri and a springboard, corkscrew armdrag. Now Swann is in and has a fast paced back and forth with Del Sol, who springboard headscissors Swann and they wind up at a stalemate. Callihan takes them both out with a double clothesline and then counters a leapfrog by Jigsaw to a Death Valley Driver. Callihan flattens Jigsaw with a springboard lariat that sends him out to the floor, and Callihan follows him out with a dive. He's up, but falls victim to a twisting senton by Rich Swann. Del Sol is alone in the ring, he catches himself when the opponents on the floor try to dodge his dive, but he catches them on the second pass and all four men are down. Calihan is in and covers Del Sol for 2, but Del Sol catches Callihan with a sole butt, Callihan responds with a leaping enziguiri, then hangs Del Sol from the Tree of Woe, sits Swann on top of him on the top rope, bicycle kicks Jigsaw off the top of the opposite corner, tries to superplex Swann, but Del Sol sits up and German suplexes Callihan, superplexing Swann in the process, and Jigsaw nails Del Sol with a coast to coast and tries pinfalls on all three opponents, but can't get a pinfall on anyone. Swann gets a handspring Ace Crusher and a DDT for 2 on Jigsaw, then goes at it with Del Sol before blocking a hard kick from Callihan. Swann tries a handspring move but Callihan catches him in midair and dumps him on his head with a backdrop suplex. Callihan gets a series of bicycle kicks on Swann in the corner, but Swann superkicks his teeth down his throat and gets a flying headscissors for 2. Del Sol comes in and trades forearms with Swann, then takes him out with an unassited Sliced Bread #2 for 2. Jigsaw is in and counters a springboard move from Del Sol to a German suplex for 2. Jigsaw gets ready to put Del Sol away with a superkick, but Callihan superkicks him, Swann superkicks Callihan, Del Sol superkicks Swann and hits the Rising Sun for 2. Del Sol with an inverted Frankensteiner on Callihan and then he goes to the apron for a springboard move, but Callihan catches Del Sol and traps him in the stretch muffler and Del Sol taps.
Winner: Sami Callihan
Hell of an opening match, they went a lot harder than you would have expected given that Callihan at least has to come back later in the night.
Lenny Leonard gets in the ring and introduces the newest signee to the WWNLive family, Tony Nese. Nese comes out in a fancy suit and says what you can do in the ring doesn't matter worth a damn, because it's all about building your brand and shaking hands. Starting this weekend, Nese is going to build a clear path to the top of EVOLVE and Dragon Gate USA because the Premiere Athlete brand is here, so we should get used to it.
EVOLVE Title Tournament First Round: Jon Davis vs AR Fox
For the record, in my preview I picked the winner of this match to take the whole thing. Davis is just hunkering down in his corner and waiting for Fox to come to him. He waits for Fox to let his guard down and charges him, Fox tries to use his speed to duck around Davis and has some success, getting a twisting Stunner and a leaping enziguiri. Davis slumps onto the ropes and Fox catches him with a vertical drop and a dropkick that sends Davis out to the floor. Fox takes Davis out with a pair of dives through the ropes, then a third, somersault dive over the top rope. The crowd is going nuts for Fox as Davis rolls back inside, but Davis shuts that down pretty quickly as he catches Fox trying a springboard move and nearly drives him through the mat with a spinebuster. Now Davis is using his power to his advantage, repeatedly slamming Fox to the mat and then dumping him out to the floor. Fox lays in a couple of hard shots, rams Fox's back into the ring apron, and goes for a bicycle kick. Fox dodges and Davis gets his leg caught on the apron, giving Fox an opening to lay in a barrage of shots. Fox makes the ill-advised decision to take a charge at Fox and gets hiptossed right onto the ring apron with a sickening thwack. Now Davis is laying in the punishment to Fox's back with kicks and then dumps him onto the barricade. They head back inside where Davis lays in some clubbing blows to the back of Fox, then hits a neckbreaker for 2. Fox fires back with a series of forearms, but Davis easily shrugs it off, powers Fox up, and drills him into the corner with a buckle bomb for 2. Davis drags Fox to the apron so he's slung over the side and hammers down hard forearms to his chest. Davis tries to press slam Fox into the ring, Fox lands on the apron and tries a springboard, but Davis grabs his ankle and yanks him to the floor. They go back to the apron and Davis goozles Fox, but Fox blocks the chokeslam and DDTs Davis instead. Fox springboards onto Davis with a somersault dive to the floor, then goes back to the top rope as Davis rolls into the ring and tries a Swanton, but Davis gets the knees up and then drills Fox with a running kneestrike for 2. Fox counters Three Seconds Around The World to a flying headscissors, hits an Ace Crusher, and tries a springboard Ace Crusher, but Davis blocks and hits a wheelbarrow suplex, then hits Three Seconds Around The World, but Fox kicks out at 2. Davis brings a table out from under the ring and sets it up in the entranceway, then comes back inside and stalks Fox slowly before drilling him with a big right hand. Davis goes for the Awesome Bomb, but the referee pulls Fox down and stops Davis from completing the dastardly plan. Fox ducks a clothesline and Davis flattens the referee, getting a round of cheers that makes it appear that he's suddenly become the most popular man in the building. One person he apparently didn't become popular with is the referee, who calls for the DQ.
Winner: AR Fox by DQ
Davis is understandably upset at this turn of events since the referee was in the way and he didn't hit him intentionally, and picks the referee up to powerbomb him through the table. Another referee comes in and tells Davis that he'll be suspended for the rest of the weekend if he does that, and Davis says that if this is the way things are going to be, he's going to wreak havoc for the rest of the weekend.
Brian Kendrick & Open The Freedom Gate Champion Johnny Gargano vs Drew Gulak & Orange Cassidy
Cassidy tries to wake himself up as he slowly circles an incredulous Gargano. They tie up and Cassidy falls asleep, so Gargano goes for a quick cover and Cassidy kicks out at 2. Cassidy staggers into Gargano for a weak shoulderblock, then gets a side headlock and falls into Gargano with another weak shoulderblock. He tells Gargano to hit the ropes and goes for a couple of wild swings, but Gargano knows they're coming and manages to avoid them. Gulak tags in and asks for Kendrick, then plays mind games by ducking around Kendrick's shots and then nailing him from behind when Cassidy distracts him. Cassidy, Gulak, and the Swamp Monster triple team Kendrick to no apparent repercussions from the referee, so Kendrick gets a microphone and tells Gulak and Cassidy to stop wasting his time and to hit him in his face. The Gentlemen's Club fires up and beat Kendrick down, but whip him into his own corner and he tags Gargano in. Gargano ducks down and sends Cassidy out to the floor, then nails Gulak with a kick to the head and a spear through the ropes before charging across the ring and wiping Cassidy out with a dive through the ropes. Gargano springboard back inside with a DDT on Gulak for 2, Gulak gets a chinbreaker and nails Gargano with a clothesline, then takes a swing at Kendrick before tagging Cassidy in. Cassidy slams Gargano and then stumbles off the ropes into a cover on Gargano for 2. Gulak comes in and slams Gargano onto the ropes for 2, then Cassidy comes in with what can only be described as a passing-out headbutt to Gargano for 2. Gargano gets away from the Gentleman's Club and tags in Kendrick, who cleans house on both Cassidy and Gulak. Kendrick whips Gulak into Cassidy and then gives Gulak an FU, then picks Cassidy up in a Torture Rack, Gargano superkicks Cassidy in the head, and Kendrick hits a Burning Hammer for 2. Gargano gets a charging clothesline in the corner, then takes Gulak out as Kendrick hits a frogsplash for 2. Kendrick puts Cassidy on the top rope, but Cassidy fights him off and then nearly kills himself diving onto Gargano on the floor. Cassidy goes back up top for a passing-out top rope splash for 2, Gulak suplexes Kendrick into the corner for 2, Gargano comes in to try and make the save but gets dumped right back out to the floor. Kendrick slips out of a double suplex attempt, Gargano comes in and takes both men out with a DDT/Flatliner combo, but charges Cassidy in the corner and eats Cassidy's boots. Cassidy hits a top rope DDT and then Gulak German suplexes Gargano. Cassidy hits a Michinoku Driver on Kendrick for 2, gets the head vice, but Gargano superkicks Cassidy in the face and then lawn darts him onto the second turnbuckle. Gargano charges Cassidy and gets the orange mist in the face, then Gulak comes in and chokeslams Gargano into a backbreaker. Kendrick comes in and goes after Gulak, Gulak gets a backslide for 2 and then a victory roll for 2, the Swamp Monster has Kendrick from the outside, but Gargano takes him out with a dropkick. Cassidy charges Gargano and gets dropkicked out to the apron, and Gargano takes both him and the Swamp Monster out with a somersault dive. Kendrick hits Gulak with Sliced Bread #2, and that's all she wrote.
Winners: Johnny Gargano & Brian Kendrick
This was a LOT better than I expected it to be, this is the best Gulak and Cassidy have looked since they've come to the company and there was more than one point where it looked like they could have won. I liked how Kendrick's tongue lashing brought the intensity out of them, hopefully this is the start of a new direction for them.
2013 - ROH held Supercard of Honor 7. Stu Carapola filed the following live report:
Welcome to PWInsider.com's live, ongoing coverage of Supercard of Honor VII!
Note: I hit traffic on the way opener and missed the first few minutes of the opener.
ACH & Tadarius Thomas vs QT Marshall & Barrister RD Evans
We join this match in progress, as Marshall and Evans have Thomas in trouble. Marshall hits a side backbreaker and holds Thomas there so Evans can hit a rolling neckbreaker over Marshall's knee. Thomas tries to fire back, and eventually gets away and tags in ACH, who cleans house and gets Evans in a Texas Cloverleaf, but instead of turning it over right away, he uses it to give Evans a giant swing and then turns Evans over. Marshall comes in to break toe hold, Evans charges at ACH and gets hiptossed out to the floor, then ACH clotheslines Marshall over the top of the other side of the ring. ACH baseball slides Evansas he tries to make his way back inside, then wipes Marshall out with a somersault dive. Thomas prepares to hit one of his own, but Evans hits him with a leg lariat and then tries a dive onto ACH that ACH easily evades. Thomas follows that up with a Space Flying Tiger Drop that takes Evans and Marshall out, and the crowd is on their feet with an ROH chant. ACH and Thomas bring Marshall inside and try to double team him, Marshall backdrops Thomas to the floor, then Evans hits an inverted Styles Clash on ACH for 2. Marshall picks ACH over his shoulder as Evans goes to the top rope, but Thomas breaks that up, cartwheel kicks Evans to the floor, then he and ACH hit a series of kicks to Marshall's head before ACH hits a sitout DDT for the win.
Winners: Tadarius Thomas & ACH
Hell of an opener, ACH and Thomas have great chemistry as a team, and Marshall looked a lot better here than I've seen him in any of his previous outings.
Shelton Benjamin comes out to the ring and says that he has good news and bad news. First, Charlie Haas isn't here tonight, and then he has some worse news: on the biggest weekend in wrestling, he doesn't have a match. Shelton calls Cheeseburger, the ROH student Charlie Haas roughed up a few weeks back, and he says that he knows Charlie can be a real asshole sometimes, but he respects Cheeseburger for standing up to Charlie. Mike Bennett's music hits, and out he comes with his new fiance Maria and Brutal Bob. Bennett gets a good reaction, and he says it's typical of the ROH fans that he takes three months off, then comes back and suddenly they love him. He's on the same page as Shelton, because he doesn't have a match tonight either. He has wrestling companies, record labels, and everything else trying to give him a deal because he's the greatest thing ever. Cheeseburger finally gets tired of listening to Bennett and grabs the microphone out of his hands, then makes the mistake of cursing Bennett out. Bennett knocks Cheeseburger into next week, and Benjamin says he guesses he found his match, and he and Bennett start brawling.
Mike Bennett vs Shelton Benjamin
Benjamin beats Bennett up all around ringside, then brings him back in and hits a nasty running kneestrike into the corner and goes for a powerbomb. Bennett sits out of that and they trade forearms in the middle of the ring until Bennett lays Benjamin out with a clothesline. Bennett whips Benjamin to the corner and nails Shelton with a back elbow for 2. He gets Shelton in a rear chinlock, Benjamin fights his way out so Bennett goes for the TKO, but Shelton escapes that as well and snaps Bennett backward into a backbreaker. Now they're on their knees trading right hands, and continue doing so all the way up to their feet. Shelton hits a flying forearm and then kips up, hits an inverted atomic drop and a running forearm. Hmmm, I've seen that combo somewhere before. Shelton hits the Stinger Splash and t-bone suplex, but Bennett is out at 2. Bennett catches Shelton charging in and hits the Box Office Smash, Shelton kicks out at 2, so Bennett hits a running high knee in the corner a la CM Punk (for whom the fans were chanting) and then goes for the Go To sleep. Shelton slips out and gets Bennett in a half crab, but Maria distracts the referee so Brutal Bob can run in and spear Shelton. Bennett staggers over to the corner, climbs up top, and hits a Massachusetts Jam. Instead of going for the cover, he stops to make out with Maria and gives Shelton a chance to recover. Bennett slowly picks Shelton up, falls victim to the spinning leg lariat as Maria gyrates to the crowd, not realizing that Shelton is the man she reaches back and grabs. Bennett tries to superkick Shelton, Shelton moves and Bennett nails Maria, Shelton superkicks Bennett and hits a German suplex for 2. Shelton hits another suplex and goes for the kill, but Bennett rolls him up and holds the ropes for 3.
Winner: Mike Bennett
This was good, Bennett has improved a lot and Shelton worked really hard given that this looks like the last time we're going to see him for now. The crowd gives him a nice reaction on his way out, and he actually stops and bows to the fans to thank them for the support before he leaves.
#1 Contender Match: Jay Lethal vs Michael Elgin
The winner of this one gets a future shot at the ROH World Title, and the crowd seems pretty split over who they want to win. They have a fast paced, back and forth sequence as they trade pinfall attempts, both men also go for their finishing moves but each manage to escape the other's grasp. Elgin tries to lift Lethal into a suplex, but Lethal evades his grasp and catches Elgin with a leg lariat off the ropes for 2. Lethal is in firm control, hiptossing Elgin and cartwheeling into a dropkick for 2. The crowd is split 50-50 as Lethal fights his way out of Elgin's grasp, Lethal boots Elgin in the face as he charges, Lethal goes out to the apron and tries a springboard move, but Elgin catches him coming back in and powerslams him for 2. Elgin lifts Lethal up in a vertical suplex and holds him there for 30 seconds, even as Lethal tried punching his way out, before dropping him and covering for 2. The crowd chants "that's impressive" at Elgin as he picks Lethal up and goes for the powerbomb, Lethal slips out the back but Elgin takes him right back down and catches him in a Crippler Crossface. The crowd actually starts a Chris Benoit chant as Lethal makes it to the ropes to force the break and then rolls out to the ring apron. Elgin goes out after Lethal and tries to German suplex him, Lethal tumbles into the ring and knocks Elgin to the floor with a leaping enziguiri, then nails Elgin with two consecutive dives through the ropes, Elgin tries to get onto the apron to block a third, but Lethal sees him and changes to a springboard dropkick to knock Elgin back to the floor, then hits the third dive. Lethal rolls Elgin back into the ring and connects with a springboard dropkick, he picks Elgin up and plants him with a Death Valley Driver and then goes to the top rope for Hail To The King. The crowd chants for Randy Savage and Lethal stops to soak it in, but gives Elgin too much time to recover and Elgin climbs up to try and superplex Lethal. Lethal uppercuts Elgin repeatedly in the ribs and knocks him to the mat, but Elgin pops right back up and hits a leaping boot that knocks Lethal to the apron. Elgin climbs to the second rope and superplexes Lethal off the apron and into the ring for 2. They're both back to their feet and face to face now, exchanging right hands because they both want the title shot so bad. Both men look like they should be going down, but refuse to give up and keep going until Elgin overwhelms Lethal with a quick flurry of right hands. Elgin blocks a suplex, whips Lethal to the corner, no-sells a boot to the face and drills Lethal with a pair of corner clotheslines and a Black Hole Slam for 2. Elgin dodges a charge, hits a roaring forearm to the back of Lethal's head, then German suplexes him into the corner. Elgin goes to the top rope for the twisting senton, but Lethal gets the knees up, then pops Elgin up in a back suplex into a neckbreaker for 2. Lethal goes to the top again, Elgin is up and tries to charge him, but Lethal dodges Elgin, hits a flatliner, and gets him in the Koji Clutch. Elgin easily drags himself to the ropes, so Lethal goes for the Lethal Injection, Elgin catches him and goes for Chaos Theory, Lethal blocks it twice, reverses the second attempt to a victory roll for 2, and gets drilled with a spinning backfist frm Elgin. Elgin hits the bucklle bomb, Lethal superkicks Elgin twice, Elgin superkicks Lethal, gives him a bicycle kick, and turns him inside out with a short clothesline. The crowd is on their feet as Elgin covers for 2, then he gives Lethal another buckle bomb, but Lethal reverses the sitout powerbomb to an inverted Frankensteiner and htis the Lethal Injection, but Elgin pops right up. Lethal hits the Combination and Hail To The King, Elgin kicks out at 2, Lethal puts Elgin up top and chops him, and sets up for a top rope Ace Crusher. Instead, Elgin picks Lethal up and hits a sitout powerbomb off the top rope, drills him with another spinning backfist, powerbombs Lethal into the corner again, and hits another sitout powerbomb to finally pick up the win.
Winner: Michael Elgin
The crowd is chanting "that was awesome" and I find it hard to disagree. This is far and away the match of the weekend so far, but SCUM runs in and attacks both men before they can enjoy it too much. Steve Corino says that they just fought their hearts out for nothing, then says that it's time for ROH to meet their doom and come face SCUM, because they're here to kill this company.
Rhett Titus, Rhino, Jimmy Jacobs, Jimmy Rave & Cliff Compton vs BJ Whitmer, Mark Briscoe, Mike Mondo, Caprice Coleman & Cedric Alexander
This is just a mess, as all ten men brawl around ringside before Mondo winds up back in the ring and trapped in the wrong corner. Rave and Jacobs double sweep his legs and clubber him, then yell stuff at the ROH team to draw Whitmer into the ring so they can hit some illegal offense behind the ref's back. Jacobs rams a series of kneestrikes into Mondo's skull, but Mondo blocks a suplex and reverses to one of his won. Titus comes in and nails Mondo with a sliding kick, then tags Compton in and he turns Mondo inside out with a hard clothesline for 2. Compton drags Mondo to the corner so Rave and Jacobs can clubber him some more, but Mondo dodges a charge from Rave and makes the tag to Whitmer, who comes in and immediately starts tearing through the SCUM team. Coleman and Alexander wipe some of the SCUM members out with a dive to the floor, then Mark Briscoe takes out Rhino and Jacobs with a top rope crossbody before wiping more SCUM members out with a dive over the ropes. Titus is unloading on Whitmer now, Compton flattens Coleman with a Michinoku Driver, Alexander comes in and gives Comption a pop up backbreaker, Jacobs gouges Alexander's eyes and gives him a Pedigree, Mondo hits a Silver Slice on Jacobs, Rhino clotheslines Mondo, Briscoe shotgun dropkicks Rhino, Rave hits Ghanarhea on Briscoe, Whitmer puts Rave in the corner and unloads with several chops, Rave slides out to the floor and Whitmer nearly breaks him in half with a dive through the ropes. Steve Corino, who was apparently at ringside doing commentary, suddenly decides to beat up Kevin Kelly's color commentator (whose name escapes me), BJ Whitmer goes after him, and this leads to a series of spots where Mondo gets powder thrown in his eyes, Alexander gets laid out with a chain from Jacobs, and then Rhino gores Coleman into next week and covers him for the win.
Winners: SCUM
That was a HELL of a brawl, and exactly what they needed to give them some much-needed heat. Steve Corino gets a microphone after the match and says that the fans are cheering the wrong team, and not only will Matt Hardy win the TV Title tonight, but SCUM will ensure that Kevin Steen walks out of New York City still the ROH World Champion. SCUM attacks Whitmer (who I just noticed was handcuffed to the bottom rope) on their way out as Kevin Kelly runs to the back to check on his broadcast partner.
INTERMISSION
Roderick Strong vs Karl "Machine Gun" Anderson
I've really been looking forward to this because, to put it lightly, they're gonna beat the ever loving crap out of each other. Feeling out process to start, but it doesn't last long before Anderson bowls over Strong with a double axhandle and takes him down with a side headlock. Strong gets back to his feet and sends Anderson to the ropes, barely clears him on a leapfrog, and drills him with a dropkick. Strong with some hard chops in the corner (and an extra at the request of the crowd), but hecharges right into a boot from Anderson, who dropkicks Strong's leg out from under him and then starts putting the boots to his knee. Anderson rams Strong's knee into the ring apron and then wraps his leg around the middle rope so he can dropkick it, then they head out to the floor where Strong gives Anderson a butbuster onto the barricade, then they come back inside where Strong continues dishing out the punishment. Strong straddles Anderson in the corner Shattered Dreams style and nails him with a running kneelift. Anderson dodges a second and goes for a high knee of his own, but Strong dodges and nails him with a leaping enziguiri for 2. They trade chops in the middle of the ring, Strong hits Anderson with a leaping enziguiri, but charges right into a spinebuster that Anderson uses to get 2. Strong drills Anderson with a running boot for 2, he goes for the Stronghold but Anderson kicks him off, so they go out to the apron and trade forearms until Anderson drills Strong with a bicycle kick. Strong rolls inside where Anderson nails him with a top rope neckbreaker for 2, then hits a sitout powerbomb for a very close 2. Strong nails Anderson with the Sick Kick, but Anderson is out at 2 so Strong hits the gutbuster and Sick Kick for another 2. Strong with another series of chops and forearms, Anderson with a bicycle kick, Strong with a kneelift, Anderson with a sitout Tombstone for 2. My goodness. Strong blocks the Ace Crusher, hammers Anderson with a series of elbowstrikes, but Anderson catches him with the Ace Crusher for the win.
Winner: Karl "Machine Gun" Anderson
Yep, I was right about that one! These guys DESTROYED each other, great stuff and a great re-debut for Anderson. Strong even follows the Code of Honor out of respect for his opponent.
ROH TV Title Match: Matt Taven vs Adam Cole vs Matt Hardy
Hardy has an ENORMOUS amount of heel heat in this town, and it only gets louder when Corino tells him not to worry about the fans because he has over 800,000 Twitter followers, and he's slept with so many Divas that he would make their hero CM Punk jealous. Corino then does a prematch introduction for Matt Hardy of which Apollo Creed himself would be jealous. Matt tries to throw his t-shirt out to the crowd like a good babyface, but the crowd keeps throwing it back at him and then chants "Reby swallows" at poor Matt as Cole wipes him out with a dive to the floor. Taven tries one of his own, but Cole nails him with a leaping enziguiri, stops to ram Matt into the barricades a couple of times for good measure, then gets kicked in the head by Taven, who then takes him out with the dive he was trying for before. Taven brings Cole back inside and covers for 2, then hits a side backbreaker for another 2. Taven tries a dropkick through the ropes, but Hardy catches his feet and yhanks him down to the floor before coming in and laying Cole out with a clothesline and hitting the howling legdrop for 2. Cole fires back on Matt Hardy, knocks Taven off the apron, then gets Hardy in the figure four. Taven gets a top rope splash on Cole to break up the hold and gets 2, Hardy clotheslines Taven in the corner and tries to bulldog him, but runs into a superkick from Cole. Taven covers Matt for 2, then Cole gets him up and hits a brainbuster onto his knee for 2. Cole puts Matt on the top rope for a superplex, Hardy fights him off into the Tree of Woe, and Taven superplexes Hardy into the ring. Cole goes for a figure four on Taven, but Taven kicks him off into a Side Effect from Hardy that gets 2. Hardy rams Cole into the ringpost, then hits Taven with the Twist of Fate, but Truth Martini is distracting the referee, so he comes back face-to-face with Cole, who kicks Hardy low and small packages him for 3.
It's down to Cole and Taven, and the crowd really went nuts for that one, no pun intended. Cole goes to knock Corino out, but he winds up tangling with Taven. He gets an O'Connor Roll on Taven, but Taven kicks him off into Corino and then hits something I don't catch and pins Cole to retain.
Winner: Matt Taven
Good match and I liked Cole playing off the finish of the Final Battle match to pin Hardy here, but I really wish one of these elimination matches wouldn't have both eliminations happen within a minute or so of each other.
ROH World Tag Team Title Match: reDRagon vs American Wolves
Davey and O'Reilly start us off, Davey bowls O'Reilly over with a shoulderblock and they do a quick mat wrestling sequence before Edwards and Fish tag in. Edwards gets Fish back in the Woves' corner, Davey kicks O'Reilly off the apron, then they hit a double boot to Fish for 2. O'Reilly tags in and he starts hammering Eddie with kicks, but Eddie catches his foot and takes him back to the Wolves' corner so Davey can tag in and put O'Reilly in the Texas Sunrise. Fish comes in to try and help, but then Eddie comes in to give Davey an assist when the ref turns his back to get Fish out of the ring. O'Reilly makes the tag and Fish lays Davey out, then nails him with a slingshot senton for 2. O'Reilly comes in and catches Davey in a bodyscissors, but Davey easily reverses to a seated surfboard until Fish comes in and kicks Davey in the back, then O'Reilly drags Davey back to the reDRagon corner but can't hold him for long before he makes the tag to Eddie, who boots O'Reilly off the apron and starts a flurry of offense that puts Fish on the defensive. Eddie ducks a charge and both members of reDRagon sail over the top rope where the Wolves take them out with stereo kicks and then stereo suplexes and stereo dives to the floor. The Wolves don't retain the advantage for long before reDRagon leave them both in a heap on the floor after wiping them out with stereo dives, including a dive over the ringpost by Fish. Now the champions are in control and hammer Edwards with stereo kicks, but that only gets 2. They keep up the punishment, but Edwards trips O'Reilly and then suplexes Fish on top of him, and he makes the tag to Davey, who comes in with a double missiledropkick and then hammers both champions with machine guns martial arts kicks in the corner. Davey hammers O'Reilly with a charging forearm, gives fish a running boot, then hits a knockout kick and a German suplex on O'Reilly for 2. Eddie gets a second rope Codebreaker on O'Reilly and then Davey rolls him up for 2, O'Reilly gets a flurry of open hand strikes to both Wolves and double legdrags both of them. O'Reilly goes for a running punt, Davey catches the leg and gets him in an anklelock, Fish tries kicking Davey off of his partner but Davey won't drop the hold, so Fish tries a running kick and Davey trips him and gets him in an anklelock as well. Wolves hit a double team Alarm Clockbut Eddie accidentally superkicks Davey, and then all hell breaks loose as both sides destroy each other with martial arts stuff. Eddie and Fish fight out on the floor and Fish sends Eddie into the barricade, Fish goes up top to stop Davey from superplexing O'Reilly, but Eddie gets up and gives him a flying headscissors, then Davey superplexes O'Reilly and the Wolves give him a brainbsuter with a knockout kick. Davey punts fish to the floor, then they hit top rope double stomps to O'Reilly, but only get 2. Davey goes for an O'Connor roll on O'Reilly, but Fish pops up and kicks him in the face, then O'Reilly gets the rollup and pulls the tights for the win.
Winners: reDRagon
Awesome, awesome match and now the champions have scored wins over both the Wolves and the Briscoes, two of the top teams in company history.
It's main event time!
ROH World Title Match: Kevin Steen vs Jay Briscoe
They do an extended feeling out process to start, Jay tries a shoulderblock and gets nowhere, Steen goes right after the bad arm but Jay drills him in the face with a big boot. Jay charges Steen in the corner and runs right into Jay's boot, Jay charges and Steen ducks down and Jay sails out to the floor. Steen goes for a piledriver but gets backdropped, then Jay brings Steen back inside and bowls him over with a charging double axhandle that gets 2. Steen goes back to the bad shoulder and DDTs Jay for 2. Steen gets Jay in the corner and unloads on him as the crowd chants Steen's name. Jay gets a big boot and a roaring forearm that puts Steen flat on his back, then picks him up and gives him a big bodyslam. Jay keeps the pressure up, but Steen hammers Jay's shoulder with elbow smashes and rams the shoulder into the post before wrapping Jay's arm around the ropes and cranking on it. Steen gets a hammerlock suplex for 2, and the crowd is torn chanting for both men as Steen hits a pump handle neckbreaker for 2. Steen gets a cross armbreaker, but Jay is too close to the ropes and forces the break. Jay catches Steen coming into the corner and hits a Blockbuster-style neckbreaker, Jimmy Jacobs runs out ot interfere but Mark comes out to fight him off and herds him to the back so Jay can get back to his feet and go toe to toe with Steen before hitting a DVD for 2. Jay goes to the top but Steen yanks his arm down onto the top rope and hits a cannonball in the corner for 2. They go to the apron and Jay tries for a Jay Driller on the apron, but Steen drops down and powerbombs Jay onto the ring apron. Steen rolls Jay in and goes for a swanton, but Jay gets the knees up and hits a neckbreaker. More members of SCUM run out, but more members of the ROH roster fight them off and we're back to Jay and Steen. They go toe to toe, Steen goes for the F5, Jay slips out and they wipe each other out with a double clothesline. The ROH roster comes out and surrounds the ring, Jay escapes a package piledriver attempt, but Steen hits a sleeper suplex and a package piledriver on the second try, Jay kicks out at 2. SCUM tries to run out and interfere, ROH fights them off, but Matt Hardy sneaks in through the crowd and goes for the Twist of Fate on Jay, but Steen kicks him in the gut and tosses him out of the ring, then Jay hits him with the Jay Driller for 2. The crowd is going nuts as Jay goes for another Jay Driller, but Steen counters to the Crippler Crossface. He has Jay right in the middle of the ring, but Jay rolls Steen to his back for 2, German suplexes him, turns him inside out with a clothesline, and hits another Jay Driller, and we have a new champion!
Winner and new ROH World Champion: Jay Briscoe
Wow, I thought it would be a good idea, but I wasn't sure I expected them to actually do it! The crowd is off their gourds cheering for Jay, and the Briscoe family, including Papa and Mama Briscoe, Jay and Mark's wives and kids, and Uncle Jethro come into the ring to celebrate. Steen gets a microphone and goes face to face with Jay, and the crowd chants "thank you Steen" as the former champion drops the microphone and shakes Jay's hand, then hugs his family and leaves as the fans chant ROH and then chant "you deserve it" at Jay. Jay gets a microphone and says that he's been saying all along to make SCUM die, all you needed to do was chop the head off. He tells the music guy that he knows they have the new music, but just this one time to do it old school and play some Skynyrd, and the sounds of Gimme Back My Bullets start playing as Jay holds the belt high.
This was a blowaway show, and the title change in the main event was the perfect ending to a terrific show top to bottom. There was nothing bad on here, and I highly, highly recommend you buy the replay at www.rohwrestling.com because this is a must-see show.
2014 - WWE inducted their 2014 Hall of Fame Class. Dave Scherer filed the following report:
The show opened with a great video of the class and the members already in the Hall. Tonight we celebrate, and they showed the inductees. I am pretty sure they put them in the order of: Razor, Carlos Colon, Paul Bearer, Mr. T, Lita, Jake Roberts and then Warrior. I may have missed the order though.
Jerry Lawler then came out, as he is our emcee. Tonight it going to be a celebration. It's an honor to share the stage with them. He then send us to a WWE promotional video package to a Kid Rock song. It was a good piece, especially for long time fines as you got to see footage of some great ones. It really put over the company and the stars from outside of wrestling that have been part of the company at various times.
Lita is the first inductee. They open with a video package and Superstars talking about how great she was.
Trish Stratus came out to induct Lita. Jerry put her over well. Trish came out, with her now trademark brown hair. She was happy when "Amy" asked her to induct her. She referenced that Amy is the Godmother of her child. She said that their careers paralleled. Her first and match were against her, and they debuted within weeks of each other. They had that chemistry and you can't ask for anything more. Because of that, they got to share so many great moments including main eventing Raw. She said Amy was cool and did things we never saw from a woman. She was relatable and girls saw something in her that they saw in themselves.
She is best know for her time in Team Extreme. She wasn't a side dish, she was an equal part of that group. She had the "I want to hang out with this chick" quality. They are still really, really tight to this day. She is a pretty awesome chick. Trish ran down her accolades, and they were pretty damn impressive. She noted that Amy is making her long dress debut, her bestie Lita. Great speech by Trish.
Lita came out in a long red dress, to a great reaction from the crowd. She said she was just going to take it in for a minute. She said the wrestling crowd is a different arena. She took in the moment and said she was "super into it". A Thank You Lita chant broke out. She thanked them back. She asked if she ever heard about the time she called a travel agent. She wanted to go to Mexico. She had almost no money or plan. She made sure to keep a 20 in her bra, and she still does that. She pulled out a twenty from her bra. She was asked for more information and she asked the agent where Lucha Libre is most popular, that is where she wanted to go. The woman didn't know, so Amy asked what was the biggest city was. It was Mexico City. She told a story about going there to pay her dues and become a wrestler and tied it into how it hooked her, and we will see it tomorrow at WrestleMania XXX. She talked about her first TV bit which she did with Sean Morely/Val Venis. They did a pre-tape with Rayo De Jalisco Jr. and he left his mask and she took it. She pulled it out and showed us, she still has it.
She then talked about being a mark for Rey Mysterio Jr. (and if you didn't see him back in the early to mid 90s, he was freaking awesome for AAA. She talked about what a mark she was for him, including having his name on a personal license plate. It led to her supposed to get a meeting with Rey and Arn Anderson got involved. Rey finally met Rey so she owned Arn Anderson a Miller Lite. She brought out a Miller Lite for Arn and Rey. Her and Trish drank some wheatgrass. Arn chugged a beer. He has Rey's. Lita said Arn was double fisting so he took Rey his beer and they drank and saluted Lita.
After that, she ended up in ECW for six months. That led to an ECW chant. Her first PPV was Heat Wave 1999. She was with Danny Doring and Roadkill. Doring proposed to her with a condom, not a ring. She then went on to her marriage to Edge. It was the most Slutacular Wedding Dress ever. Then she was with Kane. She relayed how crazy the stuff with Kane was, then topped it with her run with Snitsky. She then told a story about how Kane isn't a monster. They really mean no time limits this year. This one has gone on too long.
She talked about how doing the season finale of Dark Angel she got dropped on her head. She knew something was wrong. She went to doctors and found out that she had a broken neck. She put on a hard collar because it was the release date of her bobble head. She went to the hospital instead of Raw and was told she needed emergency surgery since her neck was broken in three places. It mean her career was over. She asked to talk to Steve Austin. They showed him and he smiled. She said this is the bubble we live in. She doesn't want to talk to the doctor, she wants advice from Steve Austin. He said go to Dr. Youngblood, who did a lot of neck surgeries for WWE workers back in the day. She had many more successful years because of it.
She then started thanking people. There were a lot. I won't list them all but will mentioned a few. She thanked Tommy Dreamer and it took a while for the camera to find him. She thanked Victoria (Tara) as they did the first steel cage match. She thanked Manami Toyota for being awesome, and damn she is right about that. She thanked Essa Rios, who she was a big fan of. She thanked Team Extreme, huge honor to work in the TLC crew with The Hardy Boys, Dudley Boys and Edge and Christian. She then thanked the crew and her bestie Trish Stratus. Their friendship will last the ever and that means the most to her. She thanked her Mom and Brother for their support. She said she loved them. She thanked Monster Jock and Anthony, as well as the punk rock and hardcore scene. They have made her who she is today. She encouraged people to find you punk rock, you lucha and it will lead you to where you want to be.
Jake Roberts is up next. We see a video of his work. Man, his stuff was awesome. He is an all time great promo.
Jerry brings out Diamond Dallas Page to present. DDP got a great pop and a chant. He deserves it. What he has done for Jake is amazing. He said there is some kind of divine intervention but tonight is his 58th birthday....which got a chant. He can't think of anything better than having two of his boys rising up and receiving the recognition they both deserve. He said "thank you Hunter, very cool". He put over Dusty Rhodes for all that he did for him. And he had two of the greatest of all time to be his mentor. The other was Jake. He got fired when he was hurt, but a negative turned into a positive. Dusty believed in him and Jake called him to check on him. He said to his ex-wife Kim, why not let Jake stay with us. He can teach me. She said OK with one condition. No snakes in the house. Of course not DDP said. He told a story about how Jake brought a 12 foot cobra into his house and lost it. Of course. Then he said that Jake always prepared him and it's a debt he has been working on paying back ever since. He got emotional and said "BREATHE". He put over his great feuds with Steamboat, Rude and Savage. He talked about taking Jake into the Accountability Crib. A roller coaster ride. He said dreams can come true as long as you put the work in. Never underestimate the power you give someone by believing in them. He then introduced Jake. AWESOME intro by Page.
Jake came out and was serenaded with a "Thank You Jake" chant. He was choked up and said, "all of the sudden I forgot what I was going to say". He then said he always loved professional wrestling (and hated ties). They are special men, a breed of their own. He saw many greats on his way up. They had a love and passion for what they were doing. He hated wrestling because his father wrestled and he never saw him. He thought it was wrestling's fault. It wasn't the truth. It was the man, he was hellbent on being a wrestler.
He said he would hate for wrestling for that and damn if he didn't do the same thing. He walked away from the responsibilities of family and didn't have a minute to spare for them because he loves wrestling. He said he should have spent his time more wisely but when it comes down to it, he loves wrestling and there is nothing like it. He made a joke about young girls having fathers when they look at you with that smile. He almost said something he shouldn't, then he said it but I missed what it was due to a phone ringing. He said you don't understand what the high of being a wrestler is like. He is 58, he won't lie like Dallas (which was funny). He said it hurts that he can't work anymore. He can still do a few things and hit a DDT, and then called out Steamboat.. Then said just kidding. The fans chanted you still got it and he said no, I don't. He said his heart and mind still want it, but it reaches a point where you can't do it justice. When he fell in love with the woman he called the ring, he couldn't cheat on her. But he did, he was a rotten son of a bitch. Someone laughed and he said it's not funny. He talked about wanting to medicate his pain with his drugs and alcohol. The pain wasn't from the ring but the pain you did to your family. You are tired of lying to your children. You don't want to carry on. Your career is gone and all you have in your heart is pain and shame. You have nothing left. And when you are alone you make bad choices. He was jealous of his friends that were gone, why not me? He didn't want to kill himself. Some assholes yelled stuff. Idiots. But then, one person stuck their hand out, DDP. It wasn't a job anyone could do, he didn't want to live. But DDP is sorry stubborn sorry happy son of a bitch. Dallas saved his life. He knows it and he is grateful. He mentioned that he needed surgery and Dallas got the fans to pay for it. He said he had wasted the money in drugs. The fans chipped in 30 grand overnight and it woke him up. It told him somebody does care. He said God gave him a lot of talent and he is ashamed he wasted most of it, but he is happy tonight. He has special people here, called family. He has a hero, he is 18 months old. He brings up a baby. He was small at birth, as was his sister. He will be at Mania in 50 years Vince. He got emotional. He asked his family to stand up and said they were his heroes. He loves them and they gave him a second chance. God bless them and WWE because they did too.
That was a freaking awesome, awesome speech. Wow.
Jerry Lawler came out and for some reason they did a stupid segment where Hornswoggle and El Torito came out and Torito rammed Lawler in the nuts. Why, I have no idea. Anyway, next up is Mr. T. They showed a video.
Time for Tutti Fruity as Mean Gene is inducting Mr. T. I am cool with that. Gene was funny about time marching on and chasing him with a shovel. Gene said T was his friend. He talked about Mania 1 and their match. It is funny he mentioned the people in that match and the only one that isn't here is Mr. Bitterful Paul Orndorff. Tomorrow will be a day to remember. He talked about T and then brought out T's son T Jr. to introduce his dad.
T came out to the A Team music. He came out looking like T. He seem humbled by the reaction and thanked the fans. He is grateful, honored and humbled to be here. He thank God for making it possible and did a prayer. He paid tribute to his mother and thanked us for indulging him. It means a lot to him. He hopes he doesn't bore you. He then told his story. His mother was great and all mothers are. He believe God expresses himself through mothers. He was very respectful and loving about his mother.
He did a great great speech and as he was thanking his kids, they played Kane's music and he gave him the hook. Not for nothing, T was awesome. Lita went way too long. That sucked. But if you have the Network, watch T's speech. It was really uplifting. He was awesome. Atleast to me. It was a good message, even if he went long.
Kane said he was sorry to run off T talking about his momma but he had to talk about his daddy. Paul Bearer, Bill Moody.
I was eating dinner when Kane spoke so there is no big recap. Watch it, Kane was awesome. He did Percy solid. At the end he talked about about Percy passing last year. He said we lost a great one, and he was right. He was the best. He said that Percy was what everyone who entered the business aspired to be, an international superstar. Kane made reference to him being referenced at Mania 29 and said he would loved it. And he would have. Kane was ridiculously great in his tribute.
Kane brought our Percy's sons, Michael and Daniel Moody. They thanked us for appreciating their father. Michael said we can't leave before this and did OH YES, just like his dad. The lights went off, the gong hit. Undertaker came out. A graphic in memory flashed on the screen. Taker brought out the urn and raised it to the graphic. It was freakin' awesome. Perfect, which my wife just said. Seriously, watch that. Get the Network. That was awesome, totally awesome.
Next up is Razor Ramon. They did a really good intro package. Kevin Nash is inducting.
Nash started out by saying the Bible says gray hair is a sign of wisdom, referencing Mr. T. He said that the guy in charge says speed it up. He talked about giving up being Vinny Vegas to become Diesel. He said as the bodyguard he had a ringside seat to watch two of the greats of all time make magic. He also got to watch the process play out in the car on the road. He talked about how his first program was with Razor, and he was the Jolly Green Giant and they had to draw money. He used about 1000000000 inside terms. Well not that many, but you get it. He said that Hall was a mentor. Shawn, Razor and he travelled the road together. No one liked them so they all stayed together. He said he thought when Shawn got inducted he never thought anything would be more emotional. He said he has a biological brother, but this business gave him four more. Shawn got him to the beach, but Scott Hall kept him there. He said that this is more emotional than Shawn. He is putting in another of his brothers tonight, Razor Ramon.
Hall came out and did the Wolfpac signs. He hugged Nash, who kissed him.
Hall said he fell in love with wrestling when he was 8. He had his first match in his 20. No matter how his life was going, when he went through the curtain he had some power and control and he dug it. He learned he could have a relationship as a performer with the audience and he has always treasured it. He thanked the fans here and all the fans watching around the world. The fans chanted Thank You Razor. He thanked all of the people who helped him along the way and got a little emotional. He said that hard work pays off. Dreams come true. Bad times don't last, but bad guys do. They played his music and he looked shocked it was done. But it wasn't. Nash, Triple H, Shawn Michaels and Sean Waltman came out and they redid the Curtain Call from MSG. They all did the Wolfpac symbol as it ended.
As Jerry was about to do the next intro, he got interrupted by Wade Barrett who said this is as close you wannabes will get to the Hall. Jerry then ran a video package for Carlos Colon. Primo, Epico and Carlito will do the induction. Jerry said they were all his sons. Ouch.
Carlito said he is used to working in bingo halls so this sounds nice. Carlito said we got our time cut, it's like I never let. He then said this about my dad, I love him so much. Primo talked about how Carlos grew up in NYC and talked about the greats he saw wrestle. Carlos started training at 14. He promised he would graduate high school. He did, on a Monday, and the next day he was in the ring wrestling. Primo talked about all the places Carlos worked. He said finally Carlos came back home to Puerto Rico and founded Capital Sports promotions. He brought in great workers. Epico remembered that Carlos is his uncle and mentioned how he sold out places everywhere. Primo talked about all of the places Carlos sold out. He then said Paul Heyman got his ECW ideas from Carlos Colon in Puerto Rico. Primo then brought out his dad (and Carlito was done talking).
Carlos hugged the Matadors, then Carlito (who acted goofy). Carlos talked about family and talked about all of the greats that he worked with. He is honored to join this great group, along with his countryman Pedro Morales. He then spoke in Spanish. He said he loved his mother (I think, he pointed to someone). That was it.
And now, the one we have all been waiting for, The Warrior. They started by showing a video recap. Inducting him will be Linda McMahon.
She said that Warrior called her to induct him. She said that this is her favorite night of the year. Warrior is a motivation speaker and she thinks he will inspire the people tonight with his special way. She talked about how he changed his name to Warrior because he believes in living his life that way. She said she loved the way he went to the ring. She made a joke that he got so much speed running to the ring that he had to run around the ring because he couldn't stop his momentum. She talked about how he was a loner and wasn't always easy to work with. She said when he came back for his last run, he asked that Linda be his personal contact because she understood his way of looking at things. She said there were times when he would boil over he would call her. And when he is agitated, he tends to yell. She said she would put the phone on speaker and let him vent, and that is what he needed. After that, they would have great conversations. She said one time he called her Mom. She said he was acting like a child and if he was there, she would put him over her knee. And they both laughed. She said he has no tolerance for whiners or excuses, but he will always help and coach. He is a devoted husband, father and patriot. He thinks if your first thought of the day is you can't, you won't. Warrior was escorted by his daughters.
Warrior came out and took it all in. He then did a Warrior grunt into the mic. He got a pop and took it in. He talked about how this is the most anticipated speech in Sports Entertainment. He then told his wife she came in his life in 1996 when he got back into wrestling. Things fell apart but not with them. They have a great family. He told his mom he is glad she was there tonight. He talked about how his dad walked out on them and Mom didn't skip a beat. She worked hard for the five kids. He got his work ethic and self discipline from her. He told his daughters they weren't alive when he was Ultimate. He said he told them that Mr. McMahon and WWE do incredible stuff, just like he told them. He said the most awesome thing he will ever do will be their father.
He said he was glad Linda mentioned sweat because he sure does. He already is. He said sitting in the back before this, he was shocked when he realized that this was going to happen. He said a kid in the back said sir this is awesome you are getting into the Hall Of Fame. He said no, he is talking about DDP Yoga kid. I am finally getting into it. He said for second he thought he was watching a DDP informercial. Then he said he was kidding and it's inspiring to see him help people fix their self destructive ways, playing off of the DVD. He was joking. He put over Triple H, who he called Paul, for making this all happen. He talked about H's comments that he only spent five minutes with Warrior and knew he was a tool. Warrior told him that H learned a lot in those five minutes. Great line.
He said if you want to do something great in your life, practice his brand of Self Destruction. He said even after 18 years of exile, you can still come back and be the headliner at the landmark 30th WrestleMania. The fans chanted one more match. He said now you're being kind, and that's cool. He said that is not going to happen, but other things are. He wanted to thank some people.
He said even people who told him what he didn't want to hear taught him something. He mocked his little training from Red Bastien (that it was noticeable he wasn't a long term student, not a shot at Red). He mentioned learning with Sting, Steve Borden. He talked about going to work in Memphis and all the great people he met there. Then, on to Watts and UWF and all they learned there. He told Ted DiBiase he fashioned his clotheslined after him. He said that Ted wanted him and Sting to go home, and his clotheslines to his throat sent that message.
He talked about what he learned in WCCW, doing Dingo Warrior, and all the great people there. He talked about George Scott coming into WCCW to help him out. He said WWF and it was bleep. He said he wished they could put the F back in. The fans chanted YES. He said he couldn't believe Jerry McDevitt got his ass kicked by the wildlife people. He said that Scott and Bronco Lubich told NY about him. He said he was green but it got him into NY.
He talked about working with Jose Estrada making him press him 16 times to see if he was blown up. He said he was blown up way before that. He put over Steve Lombardi for taking his "green punishment". He said that the boys have a pretty good BS factor. He said that the DVD said he wasn't welcome and he was an a hole. He said when he saw the DVD it made him mad, but also broke his heart. He said that anyone who couldn't deal with the Bulldogs crapping in your highly secure bags, you didn't stay long. He said a legend said he was a good guy and he is a good guy. When those kinds of things were said about him......and fans clapped.
He then said he wanted to thank all the people who work behind the scenes. They are the superstars who make it happen. The ring guys, for all they do. He said they were great and he will never forget them. He said they are what make the company work, the thirtieth WrestleMania tomorrow. He said at the office you are already on to 31, and it will make it to 75. He said it would happen when Vince wasn't around, but he will live forever. He said that there should be a behind the scenes wing of the HOF. The first one should be Jimmy Miranda, who was a great merchandise guy back in the day.
He said he wouldn't be here tonight, and it sounds cliché, but he wouldn't be here without you Ultimate Warrior fans. He said he is Warrior but they are Ultimate Warrior fans and you are legendary. You waited all the years, fighting for this. You fought the lies and you didn't let them reprogram your memories. He is here tonight because of you. They chanted thank you Warrior. He said NO. They chanted YES! He said you taught me something, I have been out of the business way too long. He thanked them for all they did to allow him to just be me.
He said that he has always been respectful. Him and Sting got where they did because they already showed respect and appreciated the veterans who let them in the business and give it a try. It's good to know that what he put into it has now paid off. He would already respect the older guys. When people told him stop shaking the ropes, the one person who never told him to stop was Vince McMahon. Vince allowed him to be himself and be himself. He said that the boys used to say that they would tell Vince how they felt and they all walked out of meeting with Vince bobbling his head. He talked about Bad New Brown being upset. He was tough and thought he would take Vince down. Nope, he was Bad News Bobblehead.
Warrior talked about how he kept a journal and notes. He wasn't on TV. He said that he told Vince he had ideas for how he could make him money. Vince fought back laughter but he respected it too. He got a meeting with Vince whenever he wanted after that.
He talked about that in the business there are few legitimate tough guys. "The rest of us get to play that role". He talked about how great it was to be able to do that, and to play hero. He said it hit him the first time he did a Wish. He then put John Cena over for the awesome work that he does with Make a wish. He said he also know Cena is an Ultimate Warrior mark. Cena nodded. He said that making that wish come true was amazing to him. He talked about Ray Lewis and Rock being Ultimate Warrior fans. He said wrestlers don't put on other sports gear on, but the athletes do put wrestling gear on. That is how powerful it is and how great it is to be a role model in WWE.
He said if you get to be able to play a tough guy in WWE, you should be able handle life. He said it's great when you get to present that picture to people outside of the right. He said people say he doesn't respect the business. Not true. He thinks about it every day. The business gave him everything he needed to make his life work. He appreciates it. He said he also appreciates blowing up. Guys would mock him, and still do. He is blown up now. But his entrance blew him up, but he kept going. Being able to experience pushing his body that far is what he misses the most. You can do so much more than you think you can. He remembers blowing up so badly that he could only hear his heart beating. He would give up some of the few years he has left to experience it again.
He said people wondered what he would do and say tonight. A lot of people say he doesn't know where to draw the line between the work and his real life. He said everyone today with social media works their gimmick, but his gimmick was his. He said his gimmick is still popular today due to the message. He said if the gimmick inspires the people, what is wrong with using it to inspire yourself? People wondered what he would say. All he can say is that when he was in the business, no one ever said stuff to his face. He was respectful. The DVD was wrong, that's all. It made him angry and it was hurtful. The fans cheered.
He said he was honored to be with the other inductees. He is proud to be here this evening. He is also proud to be an ambassador for the company in a multi-year deal and he is looking forward to that too.
There are a lot of great characters in this business and it makes it work. Ultimate Warrior was one. And he is proud. He then said he forgot something. He pulled out a check from 1991 and talked about the letter Vince wrote him. He joked and asked if the check was gonna bounce. He said that Vince said that he thought he was a legend in his own mind. He said he wasn't, he was a young kid finding his way. But Vince, he is a legend now! He said is proud of everyone who fought for that.
After a one more match chant, he said no. He said that it isn't easy to walk away when you are an athlete, but he said that the business needs older guys to step up and help the next generation. RVD is in the audience by the way. He told the young guys your time will come and go. He said but make sure to go out in life and do what needs to be done. He thanked everyone for coming and said goodnight.
To say Warrior was awesome would be an understatement because he was so much more than that. He was amazing. Freakin' amazing.
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