September 14th
On this day in history in ....
1937 - John Pesek was awarded the NWA (National Wrestling Association) World Heavyweight Title when the NWA decided that a $1000 bond would have to be posted by the champion for the title belt. Everett Marshall had been the recognized champion until the meeting where this decision was made, however, when the NWA announced this decision, Pesek was the only contender willing to post the bond (Marshall refused), so he was made the champion! The NWA later reconsidered their decision, and awarded the title to Lou Thesz when he defeated Marshall for the Midwest Association Heavyweight Title three months later.
1977 - Peter Maivia (grandfather of The Rock) defeats WWWF World Champion Superstar Billy Graham via pinfall in a non-title match in Portland, Maine. The two would feud for several months, trading wins via countout, before Graham would pin Miavia in a title match in December in Bangor, Maine.
1980 - Andre The Giant defeated Hulk Hogan in Landover, Maryland when Hogan attempted to slam Andre and fell back with Andre landing on top of him for the pin. The same sequence would become a memorable moment in the opening seconds of their famous Wrestlemania 3 encounter (except in that case, the referee would rule that Hogan kicked out before the three count).
1986 - WWF tapes the seventh edition of Saturday Night's Main Event at the Richfield Coliseum in Richfield, Ohio. The show would air on NBC on October 4th, earning a 9.4 rating. Here are the results of the show:
Aired on SNME:
- World Champion Hulk Hogan defeated Paul Orndorff via DQ when Adrian Adonis attacked Hogan. Roddy Piper, who had an injured leg, made the save, attacking Adonis with his crutch, then leaving the ring after a stare down with Hogan.
- Ricky Steamboat defeated Jake Roberts with a cradle. After the match, Jake Roberts went for his snake, but Steamboat pulled out a kimono dragon and scared off Roberts.
- Roddy Piper defeated The Iron Sheik with a small package in under a minute. Pedro Morales was going to substitute for the injured Piper, but Piper threatened to hit Morales with his crutch if he didn't leave the ring.
- World Tag Team Champions The British Bulldogs defeated Brutus Beefcake & Greg Valentine in a three falls match.
- Kamala defeated Lanny Poffo with a splash.
Matches not aired on television:
- Hercules Hernandez defeated Cousin Luke.
- Koko B. Ware defeated Mr. X.
- The Killer Bees defeated Jimmy Jack Funk & Jose Luis Rivera.
- Dick Slater defeated Steve Lombardi.
1991 - Steel cage matches were the order of the day at WWF shows, as Sid Justice defeated The Undertaker in a steel cage match in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, while The Big Bossman defeated The Mountie in a steel cage match in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
1991 - Chaz defeats The Lightning Kid (Sean Waltman) to win the Global Wrestling Federation Light Heavyweight Title in Dallas, Texas.
1993 - The Quebecers defeat the Steiner Brothers for the WWF Tag Team Title in New York City, ending the Steiners second, and final WWF Tag Title run, at a Monday Night Raw taping at the Manhattan Center. The match was held under "Providence Of Quebec Rules", which allowed the belt to change hands on a DQ.
Other results from that show: Mr. Perfect pinned Tony DeVito, Razor Ramon pinned the Executioner, Doink (Matt Borne) pinned Rich Myers. In other matches held, with some airing the following week, Mr. Perfect pinned Mike Bell, PJ Walker (a rookie Justin Credible) pinned Irwin R. Shyster after Razor Ramon distracted IRS, Scott Steiner pinned Quebecer Pierre Oulette, Bret Hart & Randy Savage defeated WWF champion Yokozuna & Bam Bam Bigelow via DQ.
1993 - Tatanka defeats Jerry Lawler for the USWA Unified Heavyweight Title in Memphis, Tennessee, ending Lawler's 15th title reign. On the same show, Tommy Rich defeats Jeff Jarrett for the USWA Southern Heavyweight Title, ending Jarrett's ninth title reign, and The Dogcatchers defeated The Moondogs for the USWA Tag Team Title.
1993 - The Smoky Mountain Wrestling "Beat The Champ" Television Title changed hands twice on one television taping in Oakwood, Virginia as Robert Gibson defeats Jimmy Del Rey for the belt, only to lose it later that night to Tony Anthony.
1998 - WCW's Fall Brawl Pay-per-view was held in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Here are the results:
- Davey Boy Smith & Jim Neidhart defeated Disco Inferno & Alex Wright when Smith pinned Disco with a powerslam. During the match, Smith was slammed on a trap door in the ring (to be used for the Ultimate Warrior later in the show), suffering a back injury that would plague him for the rest of his career.
- WCW Television Champion Chris Jericho defeated a fake Goldberg with the Liontamer in under two minutes. Jericho then held the WCW TV title belt and the toy WCW World title belt that the imitator had brought to the ring with him over his head as if he had just won the real thing. This program was supposed to eventually lead to a match between Jericho and the real Goldberg, but Bill reportedly refused to work with Jericho.
- Ernest Miller defeated Norman Smiley with a spin kick.
- Rick Steiner vs. Scott Steiner ended in a no-contest. Buff Bagwell tried to interfere, and Rick shoved him from the ring. Bagwell acted like he had seriously injured his neck (Bagwell was legitimately injured months before by Rick in a match) and was taken to an ambulance, as the match was stopped. However, Scott and Buff, after entering an ambulance, popped back out to attack Rick and leave him laying in the parking lot.
- WCW Cruiserweight Champion Juventud Guerrera defeated Silver King with a 450 splash.
- Perry Saturn defeated Raven with a Death Valley Driver.
- Dean Malenko defeated Curt Hennig via disqualification when Rick Rude interfered. Arn Anderson tried to make the save, but Hennig & Rude left Anderson and Malenko laying.
- Konnan defeated Scott Hall with the Tequila Sunrise.
- Diamond Dallas Page won a War Games match in which it was every man for himself (as opposed to the usual team concept) by pinning Stevie Ray (past War Games were submission only) with a Diamond Cutter. The other participants were Bret Hart, Hulk Hogan Roddy Piper, Lex Luger, Kevin Nash, Sting, and The Ultimate Warrior.
1999 - Chris Benoit defeats Rick Steiner for the WCW Television Title, starting his third, and final, run with the belt.
1999 - During an edition of Raw from Anaheim, California, Luna Vachon defeats Intercontinental Champion Jeff Jarrett via disqualification after Ivory hit Luna with Jarrett's guitar. After the match, Jarrett goes nuts over losing to a woman, and puts ring announcer Lilian Garcia in a figure-four leglock for announcing Luna as the victor.
2004 -Kurt Angle and Eddie Guerrero got into an altercation backstage at the Smackdown taping on 9/14 after the final segment of the show. As they came through the curtain, they exchanged words, loudly, in front of everyone at the Gorilla position. It quickly escalated from verbal to physical.
The word was that Angle grabbed Eddie in a face lock and took him down to the ground, incapacitating him, before being pulled off by Johnny Ace and some of the agents. Then, they apparently got into it again further in the back before getting broken up again. From what I was told, Vince McMahon talked to both men about the incident before leaving the building.
The rumor making the rounds was that Eddie missed his cue in the final segment, which made Kurt's character look weak. Given the fact that Eddie hasn't been himself lately, with some people thinking he hasn't fully recovered from his recent concussion, the story I heard is that Angle grew frustrated and told Eddie to basically get his head in the game, and it escalated from there.
In a follow up on the story, a number of people have told PWInsider that while he used to be almost an easy mark as far as backstage politics went, Angle had stepped up his game in a big way since coming back from injury and that was the main reason he is on the bad side of many of his Smackdown co-workers. As we mentioned previously on the site, Angle was now seen as a major league politicker by his peers.
2006 - WWE issued the following:
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., Declares Quarterly Dividend
Thursday September 14, 4:32 pm ET
STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 14, 2006--World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: WWE) announced that its board of directors today declared the Company's regular quarterly dividend of $0.24 per share on all Class A and Class B common stock. The record date for the dividend will be September 30, 2006, and the payment date will be October 10, 2006.
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an integrated media and entertainment company headquartered in Stamford, Conn., with offices in New York City, Los Angeles, Toronto, and London. Additional information on the company can be found at wwe.com and corporate.wwe.com.
Trademarks: The names of all World Wrestling Entertainment televised and live programming, talent names, images, likenesses, slogans and wrestling moves and all World Wrestling Entertainment logos are trademarks which are the exclusive property of World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.
Forward-Looking Statements: This news release contains forward-looking statements pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which are subject to various risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include the conditions of the markets for live events, broadcast television, cable television, pay-per-view, Internet, entertainment, professional sports, and licensed merchandise; acceptance of the Company's brands, media and merchandise within those markets; uncertainties relating to litigation; risks associated with producing live events both domestically and internationally; uncertainties associated with international markets; risks relating to maintaining and renewing key agreements, including television distribution agreement; and other risks and factors set forth from time to time in Company filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Actual results could differ materially from those currently expected or anticipated. In addition to these risks and uncertainties, our dividend is based on a number of factors, including our liquidity and historical and projected cash flow, strategic plan, our financial results and condition, contractual and legal restrictions on the payment of dividends and such other factors as our board of directors may consider relevant.
2006 - TNA broadcast Impact. Richard Trionfo filed the following TV report:
No Surrender is coming in less than two weeks and it is time for the pay per view to take shape. What is next in the battle between LAX and the team of A.J. Styles and Christopher Daniels? What will happen when we have the first "town hall meeting"? What will happen when Raven and Abyss meet in a Hangman's Horror Match? Will we see Brother Runt get involved in this match? What is Jeff Jarrett's next step after failing his polygraph test last week?
We start off tonight's show with footage from James Cornette informing Jeff Jarrett that he failed the polygraph test and that the fans will get their chance to get back at Jeff Jarrett as they will be given leather straps and will surround the ring for Jarrett's match at No Surrender against Samoa Joe.
We are live on tape from Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida and your announcers are Mike Tenay and Don West.
Don and Mike talk about the violence that we will see in the Hangman's Horror Match between Raven and Abyss. While they talk about the match, we see the chains that have been attached to the ropes. Don also talks about the Ultimate X match for the tag team titles.
We have an Ultimate X video package. LAX talks about a new level of violence while Christopher Daniels mentions that the gang warfare will not work because it is about the Ultimate X. Daniels says that the Ultimate X is the great equalizer. We hear Konnan's comments about what is next for Daniels and Styles after they lose. A.J. says that Ultimate X is LAX's test.
Before our first match, we see footage from the fourth Ultimate X match that included Matt Bentley and Frankie Kazarian.
Match Number One: Frankie Kazarian and Matt Bentley versus A.J. Styles and Christopher Daniels
Daniels and Kazarian start things off and Daniels works on Kazarian's arm, but Kazarian reverses. Daniels and Kazarian continue to reverse the wrist locks but Daniels rolls through with Kazarian to maintain the advantage. Daniels with a jumping leg lariat for a two count. Kazarian with a kick to Daniels' head and Bentley is tagged in; but Bentley is met with a hip toss and arm drag from Daniels. Styles tags in and he punches Bentley and then he works on the arm. Bentley with a forearm to Styles followed by punches in the corner. Bentley with a phenomenal drop kick to Bentley for a two count. Daniels is tagged back in and Daniels sends Bentley into Styles' knees in the corner and then Styles drives Bentley chest first into Daniels's knees on the mat as Daniels gets a two count. Bentley escapes a suplex attempt and Bentley and Daniels exchange punches. Daniels comes off the ropes but Kazarian makes the tag and he hits a slingshot clothesline from the apron for a near fall. Kazarian with a snap suplex and float over. Bentley is tagged in and they double team Daniels with a series of kicks and a swinging neck breaker for a two count. We go to commercial.
We are back and Bentley runs Daniels into the corner as Kazarian is tagged in. Daniels tries to fight out of the corner, but Bentley pulls him back and Kazarian hits a standing baseball slide in the corner. Bentley runs Daniels into a bicycle kick from Kazarian but Styles breaks up the cover. Bentley chokes Daniels and he gets a near fall. Bentley with a rear chin lock. Daniels with an STO and both men are down. Styles and Kazarian tag in and Styles with clotheslines and a Death Valley Driver neck breaker followed by a belly-to-back set up into a front driver for a two count. All four men are in the ring and Daniels hip tosses Kazarian over the top rope. Daniels and Styles hit Total Elimination on Bentley and then Daniels hits an uranage on Kazarian. Styles and Daniels go up and Daniels hits the BME followed by a frog splash from A.J. Styles for the three count.
Winners: A.J. Styles and Christopher Daniels
We go backstage and Larry Zbyszko is yelling at Eric Young. Larry wants to know how Eric Young was able to talk Jeff Jarrett into doing those things during the polygraph test. Jeff Jarrett enters the locker room and he talks about how Larry and Eric are complaining, but he has two matches in the next month. Jarrett tells the two morons that they got him into the match, so they need to get him out of it. He calls Eric an idiot and he wants to know what he was thinking by listening to Eric. He tells Eric that he has a job to do and if he doesn't do it, Eric knows what will happen to him. Jarrett tells Eric that he wants him to find Sting so Jarrett can know how he is training. Jarrett addresses Zbyszko and says that during the town hall meeting, he wants Zbyszko to get Jarrett out of the match, and if he fails there will be hell to pay. We go to commercial.
We are back and we see footage from last week when Chris Sabin, Jay Lethal, and Sonjay Dutt were watching Jackass Number Two.
Match Number Two: Alex Shelley versus Chris Sabin
Shelley works on the arm at the start of the match but Sabin reverses. We see Senshi at the top of the Ramp of Heelish Impact to watch the match. Sabin with a side head lock but Shelley with a wrist lock and hammer lock. Sabin returns to the side head lock and a shoulder tackle. Sabin with an arm drag but Shelley returns with an arm drag of his own and a knee. Shelley with a punch to Sabin and an Irish whip but Sabin floats over and he hits a satellite head scissors that sends Shelley out of the ring. Sabin with a suicide dive onto Shelley and they return to the ring. Shelley punches Sabin but Sabin responds with a forearm. They exchange punches and forearms until Shelley rakes the eyes. Shelley with a snap mare and a standing drop kick to the back of Sabin's head for a two count. Shelley with a double leg takedown but Shelley misses a quebrada and both men are down. Shelley sends Sabin to the apron and Sabin with a forearm and a springboard drop kick. Sabin with a running Yakuza kick into the corner and then he puts Shelley in the tree of woe for a drop kick into the corner and he gets a two count.
Over by the Chute of Facial Impact, Johnny Devine is battling with Sonjay Dutt and Jay Lethal; and Dutt has a shopping cart.
We return to the action in the ring and Shelley with a back kick followed by a drop kick to Sabin's head. Lethal and Dutt put Devine in the shopping cart and they push him down the Ramp of Facial Impact into the ring post and Devine goes down; and Shelley is rolled up in a La Magistral for the three count.
Winner: Chris Sabin
After the match, Eric Young comes to the ring with the video camera and he leaves with Alex Shelley.
Don and Mike wonder if Eric and Alex are on their way to get footage of Sting training for the match at Bound for Glory. Mike talks about the card for No Surrender and it is time to discuss a few of the matches. They talk about the Ultimate X match; the Fan's Revenge Match; and Rhino versus Christian Cage. It is time to go to a video package that details the history between Rhino and Christian Cage.
Christian talks about how they have been more than friends and how they have been like brothers. We see old footage of Rhino and Christian together. Rhino says that he shared everything with Christian over the last ten years. Christian says that they broke into the business together and learned the ropes. Rhino mentions that they traveled the roads together and bled together. Rhino says that he stood in Christian's wedding and next to him and his ex-wife, Christian was the first person to hold his daughter. Christian says that there is a funny thing in life. You need to grow, and you cannot carry your friends forever. Sometimes you have to prop them up on their feet and tell them they have to be a man. He gave Rhino that chance but Rhino did not take it. Rhino showed weakness when he refused to hit Christian in the back with the steel chair. To be a champion, sometimes you have to make a tough decision. Rhino says that it is now Christian's time to bleed as he gets his revenge. Christian says that he did it because he cares. Rhino says that their friendship is over. Christian says that Rhino needs him and people who are willing to sacrifice. Rhino says that he sees Christian as one of the people that they used to hate, someone selfish and egotistical. Rhino says that he is going into No Surrender for his revenge. When you turn on a friend that is the last thing you do. Christian says that he is here to make a legacy and he says that everyone should be glad that they get to tag along. We go to commercial.
We are back with comments from Raven about how in 1995, he started his own dysfunctional family. James Mitchell says that Raven stuck his nose where it does not belong for the final time. Raven says that his favorite was the pick of the litter and he did not give Abyss permission to play with him. Raven talks about the narcotic effect of the Hangman's Horror match. James Mitchell says that Abyss will put Raven out of his misery.
Match Number Three: Abyss (with James Mitchell) versus Raven in a Hangman's Horror Match
The match starts with Raven entering the Impact Zone from the bleachers and Abyss meets him in the bleachers as they battle towards the ring. Raven slams Abyss into the stage area and then Raven prepares to send Abyss into the chairs, but Abyss reverses and he sends Raven into the chairs. Raven sends Abyss onto the Ramp of Facial Impact and then Raven runs Abyss head first into the ring post. Abyss with an elbow followed by punches, but Raven with a side Russian leg sweep into the guardrails. The action moves to the ring and the referee rings the bell to start the match. Raven with a series of punches followed by a discus clothesline. James Mitchell gives a peg board to Abyss and he hits Raven in the head with it as we go to commercial.
We are back and Abyss jams a chair into Raven's chest and then he puts the chair on Raven's chest. Abyss tries for a seated splash on Abyss, but Raven turns the chair and it crotches Abyss. Raven with a DDT and then he connects two collars to Abyss. Raven goes outside and he gets a trash can and lid. Raven hits Abyss with the trash can lids followed by a trash can shot. James Mitchell comes into the ring and Raven grabs Mitchell and puts him in the dog collar. Abyss gets out of the collars and he hits Raven from behind. Abyss puts a collar around Raven but Raven with a low kick. Raven gets a chair but Abyss kicks the chair and the impact sends Raven outside the ring to the floor and Abyss chokes Raven and Raven goes out as the referee calls for the bell.
Winner: Abyss
After the match, Brother Runt attacks Abyss with a chair and Abyss goes down. Brother Runt helps Raven get out of the collar, and Runt picks up Raven and then he hits an Acid Drop off the apron.
It is time for the latest video package in the "Wants to Manage Bobby Roode" saga. Bobby opens the car door and it is Colonel Rob Parker. Parker talks about how he ran one of the organizations in professional wrestling. He managed Steve Austin and Cactus Jack. Parker says that he figures that Bobby Roode is the best man in professional wrestling. Parker says that he is 24 carat gold and he wants to lead Roode.
Jim Cornette is walking into the Impact Zone as fans surround the ring for the town meeting. We go to commercial.
We are back and LAX is in the back with Jeremy Borash and some women. Konnan says that they are kicking off the party one week early. Next week they will be celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month and they will do it LAX style. Then they will go to No Surrender to retain the tag titles. From this point out, it is personal and they will be lurking. They will put them through more tables and put more stitches in them as the violence is escalated.
We go to the ring where Jim Cornette is getting ready to start the town hall meeting. Without the TNA fans, TNA would not be around. It would not be successful or on pay per view, so Cornette wants the fans to give themselves a round of applause. Cornette points out that some fans have leather straps with them. Cornette has a few things to attend to. He says that the "I Hate Jeff Jarrett" tapes have been coming in, and he did not realize that Jeff was so unpopular. He says that Jarrett ranks on a popularity poll between Osama bin Laden and crotch rot. Anyone who wants to be one of the fans to strap Jarrett, you can go to the TNA website. One person was exonerated last week. He previously fired Earl Hebner, but Jarrett said that Earl was not involved with what happened at Slammiversary. Jim says that Earl might not be the sharpest knife in the drawer because he is easily swayed. Earl Hebner has been reinstated and he is given one more chance. Jim tells Earl not to screw it up because he might give second chances, but he does not give out third chances. One person who did not get exonerated is Larry Zbyszko. They are going to have a closed door meeting to discuss things. Larry wants to bring out a special guest for the town hall meeting, Samoa Joe. Cornette talks about how he knows Joe will have fun inflicting pain on Jarrett at No Surrender and force Jarrett to leave the ring so the TNA fans can throttle him. Joe says that he has been charged with a mission, and that is to punish Jarrett for crimes against TNA and against the fans of TNA. He tells Jarrett that on September 24th, he may have sold his soul to the devil to keep his title, but his ass belongs to them. At No Surrender, Jarrett will know why he is called the Samoan Submission Machine and why he is the most feared man in wrestling. Joe says that he will own Jarrett.
Larry Zbyszko comes out to the ring and he tells Cornette that it is time to discuss the future. He says that he has had his fill of Cornette in TNA. He says that before Cornette got here, the championship committee had things running like a well-oiled machine. They are on SpikeTV and all Cornette is doing is make one stupid decision after another. How dare Cornette put the champion in a stupid match with fans being able to hit him. Zbyszko says that he is still the head of the championship committee so he demands that Cornette take Jarrett out of the stupid "Revenge of the Nerds" match. He wants to know if Cornette has lost his mind.
Cornette says that he is not taking Jarrett out of the match. He tells Zbyszko that he is a no good stinking crook. Then Cornette says that if Larry is still part of the championship committee, he might have to disband it. Finally, he tells Larry to leave the ring. Zbyszko wants to know what army is going to get him out of the ring. Cornette tells Larry that it would be the army of Samoa. Larry turns around and Samoa Joe whips Larry Zbyszko with a strap as he leaves the ring. Cornette tells the fans that Larry needs some help leaving so Larry is whipped to the back.
Jeff Jarrett comes out with a chair and a fan gets in Jarrett's face and Jarrett whips some of the fans as we go to credits.
2007 - Ring of Honor held "Motor City Madness." Aaron McMann filed the following results:
Aaron McMann called in the following results from the ongoing Ring of Honor "Motor City Madness 2007" in Detroit, Michigan:
Pre-Show:
*Ernie Osyris defeated Dingo.
*Shane Hagadorn defeated Kyle Durden, who was in his first professional bout.
Main Show:
*Davey Richards defeated Silas Young via submission. Silas was said to have looked very good.
*The YRR (Chasyn Rance & Kenny King) defeated Mitch Franklin and Alex Payne. After the match, Rance started touting YRR, which brought out Bryan Danielson, who was wearing an eyepatch. That led to....
*Bryan Danielson defeated Kenny King in under a minute via submission.
*Bryan Danielson defeated Chasyn Rance in under a minute via knockout.
*Eric Stevens won a Four Corner Survival match to earn a ROH World title shot later in the evening, defeating Delirious, Roderick Strong and Kevin Steen
*Jimmy Jacobs (with Lacey) defeated Chris Hero (with Larry Sweeney & Tank Toland & Sara del Ray & Bobby Dempsey). There was a catfight with Lacey and del Ray during the bout. After the match, Dempsey tried attacking Jacobs but Jacobs choked him out.
*Naomichi Marufuji defeated El Generico after Sliced Bread #2.
*Brent Albright and BJ Whitmer defeated Nigel McGuinness and Claudio Castagnoli.
*Jack Evans defeated Rocky Romero in a Street Fight after a double knee off the top rope through a table.
*ROH World champion Takeshi Morishima defeated Erick Stevens.
ROH Tag Team champions The Briscoes defeated Matt Cross and Austin Aries.
2007 - OVw ran Hillview, Kentucky. Mike Garilaco filed the following live report:
Before 85 fans at Hillview Community Center.
Ace Steele pinned Johnny Punch after a snap suplex. Brief war of headlocks. Ace is still as intense as ever. Punch has been hitting the gym and finally ditched his bi-hawk haircut for a much better look.
Serena pinned Roucka after a pretty nasty spear. Rocuka did a lot of ducking into the ropes to get heat. Serena worked over Roucka's left arm most of the match and sold what little offense Roucka generated. When Serena speared Rocuka, Roucka was nearly knocked from the ring.
Jacob Duncan pinned The Ox after a chokeslam. Duncan displayed an inring aggression I have not before seen. It was definitely a plus. Ox did a good job of putting over the power of Duncan and played the role of having the try and cheat to victory by thumbing the eyes and such. Ox thought he was going to finish Duncan off but Duncan broke free of a fireman's carry and chokeslammed him.
Antoni Pulaski pinned Anthony Bravado. Bravado is the body building brawny top babyface from DCW. The story of the match was of course, seeing if he had th strength to actually do anything with Pulaski's mass. Bravado did manage to get Pulaski to the mat early and even hit a suplex for a near fall later in the match. However Once Pulaski got fired up from near defeat he laid out Bravado and hit a top rope splash for a 5-count fall.
Atlas Da Bone pinned Derrik Neikirk with a sunset flip. This was mostly an armlock clinic from Atlas not a lot of offense from Neikirk. Atlas is still connecting with the crowd well seems to be trying to determine where's he going with his in ring moveset right now though.
The Major Brothers defeated The Sons Of Somoa with the Long Island Express. For those who haven't heard yet, Sons of Somoa are Afa JR and Matt Anoi as Matea. They come out dressed similar to Umaga and each sporting half a face of tribal war paint. Matea had control of much of the early going until Brian tagged Matt in. It took double team offense from the Majors to get the Somoans off their feet. Matea then distracted the ref while Afa laid out Brett on the outside and fed him to Matea to begin the quick tagging. Afa set up Brett for a moonsault but no one was in the pool. Hot tag to Brian and all 4 men spill into the ring. Matea gets dispatched and the Long Island Express is hit on Afa JR for the pin. Sons Of Somoa looks incredible in this match.
Colt Cabana pinned Jay Bradley (w/ Roucka). Roucka was at ringside calling Bradley her boyfriend. Colt was up his usual antics in the match such as high-fiving Bradley on rope breaks. Bradley was not amused. Bradley of course targeted the head and neck of Cabana and Cabana tried to work over Bradley's arm to counter his finisher. Colt ended up taking this match with the Apple Bottom, I believe that's what he's calling the old Ren & Stimpy flying Butt Pliers.
Vladimir Kozlov submitted Pat Buck with the Cobra Clutch. Poor Pat Buck, his offense was like the buzzing of flies to Kozlov, not a squash but definitely pretty one sided.
Shawn Spears came out to the ring and demanded the mic. He held up the TV Title and stressed that it was the TELEVISION title meaning he did not have to defend it on house shows. He stated that since everyone had spent their hard earned monthly checks to see him, he hand picked an opponent to face for the evening. He brought out DCW's Ted The Trailer McNailer. Spears and McNailer were hilarious in their exchange. Spears demanded that McNailer thanks him for this match. McNailer then informed Spears he would be facing the "m-m-m-m-manbeast!" Spears was incredulous and asked Timmy Baltimore why he allowed a mental patient into the ring. Spears put down the mic and McNailer immediately schoolboys him for two. Spears is irrate and tears into McNailer with some pretty stiff shots. He throws McNailer out of the ring and tells the ref to count him out. McNailer comes back in and gets beaten from pilalr to post again and Spears pulls him up at 2 count. Colt Cabana comes out to ringside to congratulate Spears. Spears is flabbergasted and unaware that McNailer is now crawling behind him. McNailer this time gets the pin with a schoolboy. Colt and McNailer celebrate a victory Bryan Alvarez cant boast. Spears is so beyond ready for the main roster at this point, he is on fire lately.
The James Boyz & Sweet Steve defeated Terminal Velocity & Goose Mahoney. This was supposed to just be a tag match but Goose refused to ref as The Jomes Boys had shaved his head at TV this week. Terminal Velocity offered to make it 3 on 2 if Goose would join them. The James Boys wanted it 3 on 3 and asked ANYONE in the back to join them. DCW's Sweet Steve answered the call. Sweet Steve is Gorgeous George type character playing off homophobic feelings. Of course The James Boyz were upset that he answered the call so much of the match was them being unnerved by him. Finish came when Goose layed out Steve with a Stone Cold Stunner but before he could cover him KC snuck in and rolled up Goose for the pin.
Mike Kruel retained the OVW Southern Heavyweight Title by submission over Jamin Olivencia. This was a continuation of recent events with Kruel, he selects and opponent that should be a cakewalk for him only to be nearly beaten. Kruel kept offering Olivencia the chance to leave and was real cocky with his early offense. Olivencia then started connecting with offense, keeping Kruel reeling. Kruel incensed finally hit his Death Valley Buster and then the Liberty Lock to retain.
2008 - It was announced that the acclaimed Darren Aronofsky feature film "The Wrestler", which had been a critical smash thus far in its film festival rotation, will be released theatrically in December so it is eligible for the Academy Awards.
2008 - Akira Raijin, who was announced as signing for two years with TNA a few weeks back, collapsed during a bout with All Japan Pro Wrestling (his home promotion) yesterday during a back and forth exchange with Suwama. Raijin regained consciousness after being stretchered from the ring,
2008 - Bryan Danielson captured the Pro Wrestling NOAH Junior title during what would turn out to be the final ROH event in Japan to date. Ring of Honor's Gabe Sapolsky posted the following on the ROH website's message board:
We just rolled in from the show. I wish we could call this one Supercard Of Honor because it was really a supercard in every sense of the term. There was a bigger crowd tonight and they seemed to have a great time. It was really something seeing all these promotions come together on one show. It was my first time meetingSasaki and Nakajima and they are both really looking forward to coming to Philadelphia next week. Everyone is ready to go out so I'll make this a quick update. Here are the results of the show:
1A) In the dark match Tetsuya Naito & Yujiro defeated Genba Hirayanagi & Kotaro Suzuki in a wild match. This will be a bonus on the DVD of tonight's event.
1) The lights went out and the music started and the ROH show was underway. Austin Aries crashed Bobby Cruise's open and after the happenings of last night demanded that his match against Tyler Black start immediately. Aries defeated Black with the Last Chancery, but after the match Jimmy Jacobs put out Aries with the End Time and promised more chaos and said that he would win the World Title in the main event.
2) Kazushi Miyamoto defeated Eddie Edwards when Larry Sweeney's interference backfired. The fans really got into Sweeney. After the match it looked like Sweeney and Edwards might have been on the outs, but they made up with a big hug. The Japanese fans really reacted to that.
3) Taiji Ishimori defeated El Generico in a really athletic match.
4) Davey Richards debuted his new finisher to earn him and Takeshi Morishima a win over Jay & Mark Briscoe. After the match, Jacobs and Tyler Black attacked The Briscoes.
5) Bryan Danielson defeated Yoshinobu Kanemaru to win the GHC Jr. Heavyweight Title in just over 20 minutes. This was a great match and I was fortunate to just sit in the crowd and watch it. The fans were really behind Bryan and when he won they were overjoyed and surprised. It was really a genuine moment when he won as everyone was really happy for Bryan. There aren't a lot of moments like that and I don't know if it will come across on the DVD, but live it was something I'll never forget.
6) Things got turned up a notch after intermission with the dream tag. KENTA & Kota Ibushi went to a 30 minute draw vs. Naomichi Marufuji & Katsuhiko Nakajima. They then went to a 5 minute overtime, which ended in a draw. This was just unreal. I don't want to hype it too much as I'll let you just watch it for yourself. I've never heard kicks like Nakajima's. This was the most over match of the night with the fans. These guys are really the new stars in Japan.
7) Kensuke Sasaki defeated Roderick Strong in a very even match in about 12 minutes.
8) Nigel McGuinness retained the ROH World Title against Jimmy Jacobs in a classic heel/face match that the fans got into. I have to be honest. I feared for these guys. This was a long show with a lot of great stuff on it. I figured the crowd would be tired and knew they would have a tough time. Instead, they told a great story in the match and the fans totally got into it. Hats off to Nigel and Jacobs.
2008 - TNA presented No Surrender 2008 on PPV. Mike Johnson filed the following PPV report:
The 2008 TNA No Surrender PPV opened with one of the company's signature video pieces pushing the talents involved in the Four Way main event. We went right into Mike Tenay and Don West welcoming everyone to the show and pushing the TNA title bouts. As of this afternoon, there was at least one title changed planned. No mention of Booker T not appearing yet.
Sting's music hit and out he came, mic in hand. No baseball bat. Sting played to the crowd like a babyface. The crowd chanted "TNA", so from a live standpoint, it's going to be an easy crowd to get over with. Sting said that it feels "too good to be back in Canada." Every shot of the Arena looked packed. The crowd chanted, "You're a legend." Sting announced he would face the winner of tonight's Four-Way at Bound for Glory next month. Sting said tonight fans will see some of the greatest talent the world has to offer and if you were in the ring tonight, you have talent. He said that if you have talent, that doesn't mean you are at the top of your game or the best of life. He said that a friend once told him that you have to walk the walk and talk the talk, and possess pride, honor, dignity and respect. Sting said that the most important thing that separates the men from the boys is respect. He said on the other side of the curtain there are some men, but also some snot nosed brats. Sting said that he brought his cause to Canada because ten years ago, Bret Hart fought for the same ideals. Big pop for Bret's name, but TNA shouldn't use it if they aren't going to deliver an appearance. Sting said he is fighting for respect and he isn't going to retire until wrestlers like AJ Styles and Samoa Joe understand respect. He told them that tonight is "Showtime!" The promo was decent, but the crowd was turning on it until Bret's name was brought up.
They showed footage of Christian Cage arriving at the venue earlier today, noting he'll be challenging for the World title just an hour from where he grew up.
Mike Tenay and Don West announced that Booker T would not appear due to the effects of Hurricane Ike. Tenay said that TNA did everything in their power to ensure Booker would appear, but they were not able to make it happen. Tenay sent TNA's best wishes to everyone in the Gulf Coast area.
The Prince Justice Brotherhood vs. The Rock N' Rave Infection & Christy Hemme
Super Eric and Jimmy Rave started early doing some comedy spots. Rave bumped out of the ring and Eric hit a running plancha to the floor. Eric hit a missile dropkick into the ring on Rave. Young avoided a Rock and Rave double clothesline and tagged in Shark Boy. Sharky is caught with a knee by Rock, but was able to backdrop Rave when he tagged into the ring. Sharky stomped a shark hole in the corner on Rave. Curry Man tagged in and pulled Rave into a position where he tagged Christy in. Christy grabbed him in a headlock, which Curry was thrilled about because he was in her bosom. Shark Boy tagged in but was backdropped out of the ring to the floor. Rock whipped Sharky into the guard rail on the floor.
They used a flapjack on Sharky, Rock slammed Hemme onto Shark Boy. Shark tagged in Curry Man, who cleaned house on the heels. Curry hit a Tokyo Dangerous backbreaker on Rave. Hemme tried to wrestle Curry Man, who kissed her. Rock dropped Curry down with a slam and Hemme did a split off the ropes, dropping a leg on him for a two count. That was different. Super Eric and Shark Boy hit the ring. Shark Boy hit the stunner on Hemme but was nailed with a big boot. Eric whipped Rock into Rave in the corner, then nails a Death Valley Driver on both at once. Curry pinned Hemme.
Your winners, The Prince Justice Brotherhood!
It was your typical opening style match. Some silliness, a few highspots and OK wrestling. You could see the crowd is hot, but I get the feeling that they didn't properly mic the venue to show that off.
ODB vs. Awesome Kong - Falls Count Anywhere
ODB took a beer from a fan at ringside and chugged it. Raessa Saied attacked ODB at ringside. Kong went right after her, throwing ODB into the ring. Kong clotheslined ODB down, but missed a big splash. ODB went to the outside and pulled out a table. She brought it into the ring and dropped it across Kong. ODB set up the table in the corner. She tried to whip Kong into it but Kong stopped her with a slap and a clothesline. They brawled to the crowd. ODB nailed Kong with a rubber trash can, but Kong nailed an elbow to regain control. Kong tosses ODB onto the entrance ramp, then slammed her atop of it.
King began dragging ODB towards the ring. ODB began fighting back but Kong cut her off and shoved her into the ringpost. Kong missed a running charge and hit the post. Kong hit a Thesz Press off the ring steps to the floor for a two count. ODB wedged a chair between two turnbuckles as Kong recovered. Kong returned to the ring and ODB maneuvered her into charging into the chair, then rolled her up for a two count.
ODB set up the table inside the ring and tried to pick up Kong, but was maneuvered into a powerbomb. ODB landed on her feet but was clotheslined. Kong called for a chair while standing on the ropes. ODB grabbed her and nailed a powerbomb off the ropes onto the table. Something went wrong as they looked lost for a second. ODB covered Kong for a two. Saed pulled ODB to the floor and attacked her, but was sent into the guard rail. ODB caught Kong with an inside cradle for a two count.
Kong hit a running splash in the corner, then nailed the back fist. ODB crumpled to the mat. Saed pulled another table from under the ring. As Kong set up the table in the corner, ODB drank from her flask, then spit it in Kong's face. ODB goes for a Thesz Press but Kong caught her and ran her into the table, scoring the pin.
Your winner, Awesome Kong!
An OK brawl but nothing great.
Lauren interviewed Christian Cage. The story was that Cage is the only person with his eye on the title. He said that this isn't an episode of the Hills but TNA. Cage said that he is a wrestler and sacrificed everything for this business. He said that one hour away is where he grew up and everything he has that is good in his life is due to wrestling. Cage said that he was the kid who had the dream of being a wrestler and everyone laughed at him, but he proved them wrong. He said when he became a wrestler, he was told he'd never make it to the top, but he's a two-time World champ. Cage said when he won the title for the first time, all the long drives and all the nights he slept on a hard floor and ate a can of tuna because he couldn't afford anything more made it all worth it. Cage said the first time he held the title he thought it would never get any better than this...until tonight. Cage promised that in front of his family and friends in his home country, his dreams were going to come true again. Cage said there's No Surrender tonight or ever "for this Canadian." The best Cage promo in many, many months. Good stuff!
Team 3D vs. Abyss & Matt Morgan
Brother Ray and Abyss start off. They battle in a collar and elbow lockup. Devon grabbed Abyss' hair and when he was distracted, Ray pounced. Abyss reversed an Irish whip and caught him with a big boot. Abyss charged in the corner but was hit with an elbow for a two count. Devon tagged in and shoulderblocked Abyss for another two count. 3D teased walking out after being overpowered by Morgan and Abyss. They were attacked in the aisle and all four brawled towards the ring. As they returned to the ring, Ray clipped Abyss' knee from behind. Devon worked over Abyss' leg. Ray tagged in and he and Abyss hit a double clothesline.
Matt Morgan rallied the crowd as Abyss made the hot tag. The crowd booed as they had been calling for tables. He cleaned house on both former Dudleys. He splashed Devon from behind in the corner, then nailed a big legdrop. Morgan walked the ropes, leaping over Ray into a Devon bodypress. Abyss and Ray brawled on the floor.
Morgan nailed a big boot on Devon for a two count but Ray pulled the referee out of the ring. Morgan called for the Hellevator but Johnny Devine hit the ring and nailed Morgan with a chair to the back. Devon covered Morgan, who kicked up at the last second. Team 3D hit a double reverse neckbreaker (incorrectly called a 3D) but Morgan got his shoulder up. Morgan came back with a double clothesline and tagged in Abyss. Devine tried to nail Abyss with a chair but was caught and nailed with Shock Treatment.
Abyss worked over Devon in the corner with punches. Ray came from behind and pulled Abyss on his shoulders. Devon came off the ropes with a clothesline for a two count. Ray and Morgan brawled on the floor. Abyss chokeslammed Devon for a two count. Morgan hit a big boot on the floor. Abyss grabbed a chair but hesitated, allowing Ray to attack him from behind. Morgan pulled Ray out of the ring. Devon went to use the chair but Morgan swung him around the punched the chair into Devon. Abyss hit the Black Hole Slam for a pin.
Your winners, Matt Morgan & Abyss!
Ray lowblowed Abyss, then nailed Morgan with it. Ray put the chair in Abyss' hands, trying to plant the seeds that Abyss had turned on Morgan. The crowd chanted for tables as 3D left. Morgan and Abyss faced off but nothing physical happened.
I don't know what it is about the show so far, but everything feels off so far.
TNA X-Division champion Petey Williams vs. Consequences Creed vs. Sheik Abdul Bashir
Earl Hebner is the referee and you could hear the "You Screwed Bret" chants while Mike Tenay and Don West were previewing this match. Creed came out wearing his Apollo Creed-inspired red, white and blue outfit and got more of a heel reaction than Bashir did.
Williams nailed Bashir, who powdered out. Williams and Creed started out. The Bret chants started again. You know its bad when the most over heel is the referee and its from something that happened over a decade ago. Creed hit a split into a somersault clothesline on Williams. Bashir, Williams and Creed went into an insanely fast three-way back and forth series of spots that was too fast to recap and easily the best thing so far on the show.
Bashir hit a back suplex on Creed but Williams began unloading with chops and punches in the corner. Williams rolled up Bashir but Creed nailed a sunset flip to break it up. Williams hit a knee to Creed, when went to the floor. Williams hit the Sabu dive over the ropes into a hurancanrana to the floor on Creed. Bashir cut off Williams and tried to cover Creed for a two count. Creed came back with an enziguiri.
Williams nailed a dropkick on Creed and several clotheslines on Bashir. Williams nailed a combination side Russian legsweep and STO on both challengers and called for the Canadian Destroyer. He teased nailing it on both but Bashir clotheslined him. Bashir snapped Creed's throat across the top rope. He set up Williams on the top rope for a superplex and nailed it. Creed legdropped both off the top and covered them for stereo two counts. Creed nailed a press slam but Bashir attacked him from behind, then tried to cover Williams.
Creed went for the TKO but Bashir escaped and shoved him into Williams. Williams went for the Destroyer but didn't get it. He locked on a Sharpshooter on Bashir. Bashir, trapped, draped an arm over the prone Creed for a two count. Williams pulled him off to the center of the ring. Creed sprung off the ropes into a bulldog on Williams for a two count. Creed went for a reverse neckbreaker. Williams tried to nail the Destroyed but Creed turned it into a inside roll for a two count. Williams hits the Destroyer but Bashir pulled Williams out of the ring and threw him into the ringpost. Bashir returned to the ring and covered Creed for the pin.
Your winner and new X-Division champ, Sheik Abdul Bashir!
From a story and athletic standpoint, this was the best thing on the show by far. Lots of innovative, athletic stuff here. The first hour of the show felt really plodding, like things that were booked weren't working out in execution like they did on paper. This was a welcome change from that.
They showed Samoa Joe arriving at the venue for his title defense.
TNA Knockouts champion Taylor Wilde vs. Angelina Love (with Velvet Sky and "Cute" Kip)
Wilde took the mic and said (terribly) that she wasn't going to be out here alone while Kip and Velvet were at ringside. She introduced her newest best friend, Rhino. Oh God, they are building to Rhino vs. Kip James??? Taylor and Love brawled to start the bout. Wilde shoulderblocked Love down. They showed Traci Brooks watching and taking notes from the aisle, because apparently there are no backstage monitors in Canada.
Wilde chased Love around the ring, giving Sky the chance to nail her with a makeup kit as Rhino and Kip argued. Love covered Taylor for a two count. Love whipped Wilde across the ring by her hair twice. Love rubbed Wilde's eyes across the ropes. They both grabbed at each other's hair and whipped themselves in stereo. They began chopping back and forth. Wilde hit several clotheslines. Wilde teased a suplerplex but Love dropped her into the ring in a nasty looking bump. Love goes for an uranage but is caught with a rollup. Wilde kicks Love. Kip hit the ring but was gored by Rhino.
Sky hit the ring but was maneuvered into nailing her own partner. Wilde hit a Northern Lights suplex with a bridge for the pin.
Your winner and still TNA Knockouts champion Taylor Wilde!
This was easily the weakest Knockouts showing in forever. I don't know what it is about tonight but TNA isn't hitting any sort of stride.
Ladder of Love: Sonjay Dutt vs. Jay Lethal
They announced Val, at ringside, as "the woman putting her ring and her heart on the line tonight." Seriously. Lethal cleaned house on Dutt early, attacking him and hitting a cartwheel into a dropkick. Lethal hit a release full nelson suplex. Dutt powdered out of the ring but Lethal dove out onto him on the floor. Lethal whipped Dutt into the guard rail. Lethal set up the ladder and sent Dutt into it. The crowd did the dueling chants.
Lethal went for a second ladder but was attacked by Dutt, who tossed him into the ring steps. He tossed Lethal into the ring, then hit a slingshot legdrop. Lethal backdropped Dutt over the top onto the ladder that was bridged across the ring to the railing. There was no give in the ladder at all. Lethal climbed the ladder but Dutt leapt onto the ladder, then yanked Lethal off. They showed an upset Val in tears.
Dutt climbed up the ladder. Lethal came from underneath and slammed him into the ladder then slammed him to the mat. Lethal ascended to the top but Dutt bridged a second ladder from the first ladder and the ring ropes. He pulled Lethal down onto the bridge then hit a flip dive across Lethal. Easily the best thing on the show in terms of spots at this point.
Lethal came back and put the second ladder atop the standing one. Nothing good can come of that. Lethal attempted to slingshot Dutt into the ladder but he missed it completely. The crowd turned on the spot. Lethal set up the ladder across one of the turnbuckles and slammed Dutt into it. He tried to climb the ladder in the center of the ring but was grabbed and crotched on the ladder in the corner, which then fell off the ropes. Lethal hit a dropkick onto Dutt as he climbed the ladder.
Dutt tried Lethal upside down in the corner with Lethal's head being trapped inside a ladder in the corner, then dropkicked it. They brawled onto the floor. Dutt bridged a ladder between two chairs, then hit a reverse neckbreaker onto it by Jay. Dutt set up a ladder in the ring. Lethal set up the second one next to it. They battled atop and Dutt locked on a camel clutch atop of the ladder. Lethal sent Dutt off to the mat and tried in vain to reach the ring. He came off the ladder but caught his leg and was unable to get loose. Val came into the ring to help him. Dutt lost his mind screaming at her to get out of the ring and began climbing the ladder. Lethal consoled her and started up the ladder. Val lowblowed Jay. Dutt got the ring.
Your winner, Sonjay Dutt!
Val and Dutt began making out like ravenous badgers. Lots of cool stunt spots here. The crowd loved the spots but was quiet for the rest. Once again, TNA fans want wrestling, not another WWE-inspired product. I wish the company would realize this and embrace it.
By the way, how lame is it that the ladders have the TNA website address?
Backstage, Jeremy Borash asked Kurt Angle is Booker T not being here threw his game plan off. Angle said that he put the business on the map and tonight, he would erase Samoa Joe's name from the history books and take back what's rightfully his. Angle said that the onyl advantage Christian Cage had was that being in his home country, he'd have a short ambulance ride. Angle then said that he was happy Jeff Jarrett was here tonight because Jarrett cost him his gold medals and he had something planned for Jarrett. Good intense promo. It's insane watching this show as the title bout has been built as this super serious important thing but the rest of the show has been sports-entertainment pap.
They announced during the ladder bout that Jackie Moore had attacked Salinas in the women's restroom and Salinas had been sent to the hospital. I have the full story on that on the main page of PWInsider.com.
TNA Tag Team champs Beer Money Inc. vs. LAX
Homicide and Storm started. Hernandez tagged in with a shoulderblock into the ring. He missed a splash in the corner and was decked by Roode. Roode ran Hernandez into the corner. Roode hit the running snapmare on Hernandez. They worked over Hernandez for a long time. Homicide tagged in, nailed a clothesline and big boot in the corner. He went up to the corner but was cut off by Roode. Homicide gained control and hit a DDT off the ropes for a two count. Storm broke it up but was crotched on the top rope. Hernandez tossed Storm over the top to the apron, then clotheslined Roode to the floor. Hernandez backdropped his own partner to the floor on Roode.
Hernandez teased a dive to the floor but Storm spit beer in Hernandez' face, then powerbombed him into the ring. Outside, Homicide whipped Roode into the ringsteps. Hector Guerrero got the beer bottle from Jackie and Homicide broke it against the ring post. Hernandez hit a dive to the floor on Storm. Homicide and Roode had a nice exchange ending with Homicide going for the Gringokiller. Jackie Moore tossed powder in the face of Homicide and Roode hit the Payoff to score the pin.
Your winners and still TNA Tag Team champions, Beer Money.
Storm was hurt going into this, so you have to grade it with an asterik, but again, really disappointing. Nothing is holding up as well as you thought it might on paper.
AJ Styles vs. Frank Trigg
There are three five minute rounds and can only be won via knockout or submission. Trigg took the mic before the show. He said that it's not the first time he's come to Canada but hopes it's the last. He said the country really does suck, running down the sports teams. Trigg said that he likes to hurt a lot of people and from the look of the fans in attendance, he'd love to beat them up, but he has AJ Styles in mind. Trigg said he's going to do everyone a favor and make Styles an honorary Canadian, because "we don't him." Trigg said that if Styles has the balls to get in the ring, then Trigg has the balls to put him in an ambulance. Trigg wasn't bad on the mic.
Trigg was dressed like a fighter while Styles was in his traditional wrestling gear. They wore mouthpieces. Trigg took down Styles with a judo toss and controlled Styiles with kicks and grappling. Styles shot in with a double leg takedown and they fell to the floor. When they hit the floor, Trigg began taking cheap shots in on Styles. In a "only TNA would let this happen" moment, the crowd started chanting "We want wrestling" and they WENT TO A CLOSE UP SHOT OF THE CROWD CHANTING THIS. The first five minutes felt like 45. They took Styles out of his element and it totally sucked. Trigg took him down and worked over with knees. The "Fire Russo" chant made it's Canadian debut at the first round ended. Styles grabbed an armbar and cinched it in but they ran out of time in the round.
The PPV feed went dead as they were in the rest period. It's out for myself in New York and Richard Trionfo in Florida, so we'll continue coverage when the feed returns. Stay tuned!
When the feed returned, I saw a shot of two lesbians naked, followed by 10 seconds of a Samoa Joe video and then back to live footage of Styles, now with a mouse under his eye, beating Trigg with a singapore cane. He yelled at Mike Tenay that he was a wrestler, so no idea what the finish was. If anyone knows, please email me.
Backstage, Jeremy Borash interviewed TNA champ Samoa Joe. Joe said that Sting was a part of this whether he wants to believe it or not. He said that when Sting came to TNA, he respect him. He said that "we've been bringing TNA to the world" and he was the one working the house shows and the tours, but Sting was nowhere to be found. He said Sting was being one of the highest paid men in the company, sitting at home working the very least. He said when Sting bleeds and works as hard as Joe, spending one day at home before going back on the road, then Joe will respect him. Joe said that he wants Sting to come to the ring tonight and then maybe, he'll learn to respect Sting.
TNA champ Samoa Joe vs. Kurt Angle vs. Christian Cage
After all three made their way to the ring, Sting walked towards the ring. Joe left to meet Sting in the aisle. Sting threw his bat away. Joe punched Sting in the face. He and Sting began brawling. AJ Styles came out and pulled Joe off of Sting and Atlas Security stepped between them. There's your Bound for Glory preview.
They did the long, big fight style introductions with Jeremy Borash. Joe and Cage teamed to work over Angle early. Angle was tossed out of the ring and nearly landed on his head on the apron. Joe and Cage faced off. Joe muscled him into the corner but Cage escaped and locked on a side headlock. Joe shoulderblocked him to the mat. Cage was the favorite in their exchange. Cage slapped Joe and they began brawling in the center of the ring. Joe hits a leg lariat off the ropes.
Angle returned and Joe locked in a choke but Cage broke it up. Angle nailed Cage with a belly to belly suplex. Angle went for the anklelock on Cage, who kicked him off. Angle caught Cage with a belly to belly suplex over the top to the floor. They showed Cage grabbing his knee after hitting the floor.
Joe worked over Angle with kicks and chops before hitting a big kneedrop. Angle came back to cut Joe off and locked in a side chinlock. Joe fought to his feet. Cage grabs Angle and crotches him, pulling him into the ringpost by his legs. Cage hit a cross bodyblock off the ropes on Joe for a two count. He choked Joe against the ropes. Cage went to the top but Joe cut him off. They battled on the top. Joe backed off after Cage bit him on the nose.
Angle caught Joe with a back suplex, then snap suplexed Cage off the ropes. Cage went for the Unprettier but Angle began nailing a series of German suplexes. Angle pulled down the straps. Joe tried to grab him in a choke but Angle reversed it into an Olympic Slam attempt. Joe reversed it into a release suplex. Joe took Cage out. Angle caught Joe with a suplex for a two count. Angle tossed Joe to the floor and lurked behind Cage. Cage reversed the Olympic Slam attempt into an armdrag, Angle teased suplexing cage off the apron the floor. One of these months, they are really going to do that insane spot. Angle finally locked on the Anklelock but Joe rolled him up for a two count.
Angle locked anklelocks on Joe and Cage in stereo but they kicked him off. Joe caught Cage with a musclebuster but Angle grabbed Earl Hebner to prevent him from making the pinfall. Cage finally kicked out. Joe tossed Cage out of the ring onto Angle, then hit a corkscrew dive to the floor on both.
Back in the ring, Joe went for a muscle buster but Angle turned it into an Olympic Slam. Cage dove onto Joe with a frog splash, then tossed Angle out of the ring. He hit the Unprettier but Angle pulled the referee out of the ring and tossed him into the railing. Angle attacked Cage with a chair and hit the Olympic Slam over the top. Angle nailed Joe with a chair and locked on the anklelock.
Jeff Jarrett hit the ring with a guitar. Angle and Jeff had a staredown in the ring and Jarrett nailed him with the guitar. Joe nailed the musclebuster and scored the pin. The Canadian fans, hoping for a Cage win, booed the hell out of the finish as soon as it was apparent Joe was going over. The guitar shot busted open Angle.
They plugged Sting vs. Joe as the main event next month, then aired a Bound for Glory promo with all the TNA stars, including Jarrett, dressed as Gangsters playing off the Chicago theme.
2009 - Hulk Hogan filed a lawsuit against two of his own attorneys today, alleging he was overcharged $1.57 million in legal fees in the civil lawsuit brought against Hogan by the family of John Graziano. Graziano was the former Marine who was left permanently disabled semi-conscious following Nick Hogan's August 2007 crash in Tampa.
Hogan is suing attorneys Morris "Sandy" Weinberg Jr. and Lee Fugate, claiming that he could have been represented in the civil suit for free by his insurance company, Progressive Select Insurance Co. but was never informed of that by the attorneys.
Hogan alleges that letters advising him of such were never sent to him and the attorneys began billing him at $145 an hour.
After billing Hogan for over $400,000, Hogan informed them he was "out of money" according to The Tampa Tribune and the attorneys began seeing reimbursement from Progressive instead. Progressive eventually deemed, "much of the Defendants' billings were grossly unnecessary and grossly inflated" and removed them from the case.
They attempted again to represent Hogan later on on the matter of phone recordings made of conversations between Nick Hogan and his family but Hogan dismissed those efforts.
2009 - Carl De Marco, who for years was the President of WWE Canada, departed the company. It was considered a pretty surprising move since he had been the head of the company's Canadian arm for as long as I can remember.
2009 – WWE broadcast Monday Night Raw. Richard Trionfo filed the following TV report:
We take a look back at last night’s Breaking Point pay per view and in case you missed it something shocking happened, Degeneration X lost to Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes. John Cena also won the WWE Title and he is your new CHAMP.
We are live from Toronto, Ontario, Canada and your announcers are Jerry ‘Nobody Puts Baby in a Corner’ Lawler and Michael ‘Vintage Kids in the Hall’ Cole.
We begin with one of the big returns, but not the one you were thinking about. Batista comes to the ring. We see Batista’s most recent in ring injury at the hands of Legacy. Dave starts off by making an announcement before his announcement. He wants to say thank you to everyone who is in the building tonight and everyone who is watching at home. He says that it has been a rough year and he has suffered a number of injuries. Batista says that he has come back to say goodbye. He thanks everyone for having the time of his life in the ring. Batista says that there have been a lot of rumors about his retirement, but . . .
Randy Orton slithers out and he is about fifteen pounds lighter. Batista adjusts his arm brace as Orton finally says something. Orton says that he is not very happy . . . about losing the WWE Title last night. He says that something that cheers him up is that Dave is retiring. Orton says that this is how it ends for the big bad Animal. It goes out with a whimper. Orton tells Dave to save his speech because nobody cares. Orton asks Batista why it would take so long to decide to retire. Orton says that the retirement is not because of injuries, it is because of Orton. Orton tells Dave to go ahead and cry like he was going to do before Randy came out to the ring.
Batista is laughing and Orton wonders what is so funny about Orton ending Batista’s career. Batista says that there are two things that are funny to him. Batista says that Orton is very predictable; and Batista says that he knows something that Orton does not know. Batista takes off the brace and he slams Orton and clotheslines Orton over the top rope. Batista says that he is not announcing his retirement. He is going to Smackdown. Dave says that he talked to the guest host and he was guaranteed a final match on Raw and it is No Holds Barred and it is against Randy Orton.
We go to commercial.
We are back and apparently Batista moving brands = Wrestlemania moment. We take a look back at the 10 minute anniversary of that segment.
Now it is time to bring out the guest host, Trish Stratus. Trish is on the ramp and she says hello to the people of Toronto. She says that it is good to be home in Toronto and with the WWE. She says that she thinks she will be a good host. She already has Batista vs. Orton. Trish says that Bob Barker did a great job last week, especially when he almost made Chris Jericho cry. Trish says that she knows Raw and she knows what the people want. Trish says that Randy Orton is owed a rematch so she has a little idea. Trish says that Orton will get the rematch at the next pay per view in a Hell in a Cell match. Trish says that she will be back later and it is time for a match.
Match Number One: Kofi Kingston and Primo versus The Miz and Jack Swagger
Before the match starts, we see highlights from the match these four men were in on last week’s Superstars.
Miz and Primo start things off. Miz punches Kofi and then Primo sends Miz into the turnbuckles. Primo with an Irish whip but Primo with a headstand on the turnbuckles. Miz drops Primo to the mat. Miz with boots and then he tags in Swagger. Swagger with a slam for a near fall and then he works on Primo’s back. Swagger with forearms to the back and then he chokes Primo in the ropes and Swagger is with the referee, allowing Miz to kick Primo. Swagger with a hard Irish whip and then Swagger tries for the double jump splash but Primo gets his knees up. Kofi tags in and he hits a clothesline from the top followed by chops and a drop kick. Kofi with a leaping clothesline and then he sets for the Boom Boom Leg drop but Miz tries to distract him. Kofi swings at Miz and then Kofi with a drop kick to Swagger and an STO DDT for a near fall. Kofi leaps into the turnbuckles and Miz takes the title belt, distracting Kofi, allowing Swagger to hit snake eyes followed by a Doctor Bomb for the three count.
Winners: Jack Swagger and The Miz
Meanwhile, Miz walks to the back with the US Title Belt.
We go to commercial.
Mickie James comes to the announce match to see who will be the next number one contender for her title.
Match Number Two: Gail Kim versus Alicia Fox in a Triple Threat Match [Lillian announced it that way]
Alicia with a forearm but Gail with an elbow. Alicia has Gail on her shoulder but Gail with an arm drag and a rana. Alicia goes to the floor and Gail with a baseball slide to the head. Alicia with a tilt-a-whirl back breaker and then she gets a near fall. Alicia with a key lock. Alicia with a Northern Lights suplex and bridge for a near fall. Alicia with a body scissors. Gail with elbows to escape and then Alicia slams Gail’s head into the mat. Alicia with a slam and she misses a scissors kick. Gail with a Japanese neck breaker and both women are down. Gail with forearms and a clothesline or two. Gail with a leaping clothesline into the corner and Alicia tries to send Gail into the turnbuckles but Gail lands on the turnbuckles. Gail with a cross body for a near fall. Alicia sends Gail into the turnbuckles. Gail goes up top but misses a missile drop kick. Alicia with a scissors kick for the three count.
Winner: Alicia Fox
We go to commercial.
We are back and did you know that more people watched Raw than a few other networks last week.
With Batista’s return, it is time to see Randy Orton send Batista’s head through the uprights (with some help from Manu).
Trish is in her office and Beth wants to know why she was not put into a number one contenders match. Chris Jericho enters and he tells Beth not to give Trish a chance to talk about herself because it is only a two hour show. Chris reminds everyone about his fling with Trish in the past. Trish says that it is good that Chris is living in that realm. Beth says that it is easy to talk trash when you don’t have to back it up. At least Chris Jericho is still in the ring and did not retire when some competition came around. Beth says that Chris Jericho has guts. Trish says that she did not retire because she was afraid to face Beth. Trish says that she will face Chris and Beth in a mixed tag match.
In case you missed it last night, we have photos of the Submissions Count Anywhere Match between Degeneration X and Priceless.
Ted and Shawn are walking in the back as we go to commercial.
We are back and Ted DiBiase has a mic and so does Cody. I guess they are going to talk about their big victory last night. Cody asks if everyone is ready and Cody does a darn good Triple H. Cody asks if you are ready for the dawning of a new era in the WWE. Cody says that they didn’t just beat DX, they made them submit. They made DX tap out. Cody asks Ted if he knows who didn’t make DX tap and he runs through the gambit of the greats, including Rated RKO. Cody says that they are the only ones to do it. Ted says that what they did last night was truly historic. It was something that nobody else could do. They might have shocked the world, but what they accomplished did not shock them one bit. It is what they said they would do. They made DX give up. Last night was just the beginning. They will not stop until DX is out of Raw and out of their lives forever. Cody says that as of this moment, they are no longer known as the offspring of Dusty Rhodes and Ted DiBiase. They are known as the fathers of the Legacy.
Shawn and Hunter watch on the monitor in the back and they are walking.
We go to commercial.
Match Number Three: Ted DiBiase with Cody Rhodes and the Legacy Shirt versus Shawn Michaels
They lock up and Ted with punches instead of a clean break. He follows that with kicks and more punches as the referee pulls him out of the corner. Michaels with a knee lift and chop. Michaels with a kick and neck breaker followed by a boot to the head. DiBiase with a power slam and both men are down. DiBiase with punches to Michaels followed by a kick to the head. DiBiase with a back body drop that sucks the sound out of the building. Michaels rolls to the floor in front of Cody and Hunter makes sure that Cody moves along. Cody taps the ring post as Ted brings Shawn back to the apron and he suplexes Shawn back into the ring. Ted with a vintage DiBiase fist drop for a near fall. DiBiase with a reverse chin lock. Michaels with a punch and chop but DiBiase with a standing drop kick and Michaels is down but Shawn kicks out at two. DiBiase with a kick to the head and a near fall. Hunter tries to give Shawn words of wisdom as Ted reapplies the reverse chin lock. Shawn with punches and a chop and then he avoids a drop kick. Shawn tries for a Figure Four but DiBiase blocks it and gets a rollup. Shawn applies the figure four and DiBiase rakes the eyes. Ted punches Shawn in the head as Shawn is staggered. Shawn swings wildly as he appears to have reinjured his eye. Michaels with a desperation round house punch and both men are down. Shawn blocks the Million Dollar Dream but he connects with knees and applies the hold. Shawn runs DiBiase into the turnbuckles to get out of the hold. Ted with a kick and he tries for a piledriver but Shawn back body drops Ted over the top rope to the floor. Hunter gets in Ted’s face and that allows Shawn to hit a reverse atomic drop or two followed by chops. Shawn with the flying forearm and then it is time to kip up with the vintage moves of doom and a Thesz Press and punches. Shawn goes up top for the elbow drop and he hits it. Shawn gets ready for Sweet Chin Music but Cody trips Shawn and the referee calls for the bell.
Winner: Shawn Michaels by disqualification
After the match, Hunter punches Cody and sends him into the ring post. Cody gets in a few shots as Shawn hits a cross body on Ted and they make their way into the crowd. Hunter sends Cody across the announce table. Cody punches Hunter but Hunter sends Cody into the announce table. Shawn and Ted fight in the crowd as Cody is sent into the ring announcer and bell pit. Cody and Hunter fight into the crowd and then Hunter sends Cody into the cameraman at ringside and we lose our feed and I guess we go to commercial.
We are back with a Moments Ago Moment of the continued battle between Degeneration X and the team of Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase.
Match Number Four: Hornswoggle and Evan Bourne versus Chavo Guerrero and Carlito with Rosa Mendes
Hornswoggle and Carlito start things off and Hornswoggle takes the apple. Bourne with a sunset flip for a near fall followed by a drop toe hold and drop kick. Chavo tags in and Bourne with a drop kick. Chavo drops Evan on the top rope but Hornswoggle with a drop kick to Chavo that knocks him off the apron. Bourne with a shoulder and then he comes back into the ring but Chavo with a wheel kick followed by kicks and a Latino Uppercut. Carlito with a kick and punches. Bourne fights his way out of the corner but Carlito stops him and punches and kicks Bourne. Chavo with kicks of his own while Carlito is with the referee. Chavo with a slingshot senton and then he puts Bourne in a reverse chin lock. Chavo with knees but Bourne with kicks to the leg followed by a head scissors and flying elbow. Bourne knocks Carlito off the apron. Bourne with a spinning heel kick for a near fall. Bourne with an enzuigiri to Carlito and then he pulls Chavo into the corner. Hornswoggle is tagged in and since he takes so long, Bourne has to hit a plancha onto Carlito. Hornswoggle bits the apple and then he spits it in Chavo’s face before hitting the frog splash for the three count.
Winners: Bourneswoggle
After the match, Chavo has a mic and he wants to know what does he gotta do. Chavo says that he gives up and then he asks Hornswoggle if he is happy.
We take a look back at Randy Orton’s last match against Batista from Extreme Rules.
We go to commercial.
We are back and Josh Mathews is happy so he must be interviewing John Cena. Josh asks John how he was able to sustain all of the punishment last night to win. John says that there are people who does what they say and then there are some who just talk. Cena says that Orton talked about doing whatever he had to do to keep his title, but at the first sign of jeopardy, he gave it away. Cena reminds us that he said that he would not quit and he did not quit, despite wanting to do so many times. Cena talks about the rematch in Hell in a Cell and that will mean that there will be more promises from Randy Orton. Cena is going to make his promise. He tells Orton if he thought he saw punishment, at Hell in a Cell, he promises a different side of John Cena. It will be a more brutal and more savage side of him. He says that Orton will be lucky to get out of the cell in one piece.
We have a second Hell in a Cell match from the Raw brand as Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes will face Degeneration X at the pay per view.
Match Number Five: Trish Stratus and Montel Vontavious Porter versus Chris Jericho and Beth Phoenix
The ladies start things off and they lock up and Beth runs Trish into the turnbuckles and she punches Trish. Beth with a slam but Trish with forearms and chops. Trish with the Matrix and a kick but Jericho breaks up the cover. Porter with a clothesline and both men go over the top to the floor. Trish and Beth with forearms back and forth while Jericho and Porter fight on the floor. Big Show comes out and he attacks Porter so the referee calls for the bell. Mark Henry comes to the ring and he goes after Chris Jericho.
Winners: Trish Stratus and Montel Vontavious Porter
After the match, Trish says that things aren’t ending that way so it will be a six person tag match.
We go to commercial.
Match Number Five and a Half: Trish Stratus, Mark Henry, and Montel Vontavious Porter versus Chris Jericho, Big Show, and Beth Phoenix
The match is joined in progress and Show has Porter on the mat and the he tags in Jericho. Jericho with a kick to the head and Jericho follows that with a kick to the ribs and he punches Porter in the head. Jericho with a head butt to Porter. Porter with a rollup for a near fall and Porter follows that with a clothesline. Jericho with a kick to Henry on the apron and that allows Jericho to pull Porter into his corner. Jericho with a side head lock but Porter with punches. Jericho with a forearm but Porter with an overhead belly-to-belly throw. Porter with thrusts to the throat and then Beth is tagged in.
Beth wants to deal with Porter and she pushes him and slaps him. Beth tries for a kick but Porter blocks it. Trish is tagged in and Trish with a Thesz Press and punches. Trish tells MVP it is time for some Ballin’ and they hit a tandem elbow drop. Jericho pulls Beth out of the ring but Porter with a pescado onto Jericho. Show trips Trish but Henry takes down Show. Beth tries to get a cheap victory but Trish kicks out. Trish with an Irish whip but she runs into an elbow. Trish with a handstand rana followed by Stratusfaction for the three count.
Winners: Trish Stratus, Mark Henry, and Montel Vontavious Porter
It is time to look back at the last night that Batista was not in a cast on Raw.
Batista is walking in the back as we go to commercial.
We are back and next week Cedric the Entertainer is your guest host.
Match Number Six: Randy Orton versus Batista in a Mutual of Omaha No Holds Barred Match
Orton goes to the floor and he grabs a chair but Batista stops Orton from using the chair. Batista sends Orton back into the ring. Orton tries for the IEDDT but Batista gets back into the ring and he runs Orton into the corner and connects with shoulders. Orton with uppercuts but Batista with a clothesline. Orton looks under the ring but Batista with a clothesline. They are back in the ring and Orton with a thumb to the eye followed by the vintage viper back breaker. Orton with the Garvin Stomp. Orton with the leaping knee drop. Orton gets the chair one more time and he is going to use it but Batista with a spear. Orton goes to the floor again but Batista follows and he sends Orton into the announce table. Batista sends Orton over the announce table. Batista chokes Orton with his boot. Batista with a punch and then he sends Orton into the ring steps.
They return to the ring and Orton tries for an RKO but Batista with an elevated spinebuster. Orton rolls out of the ring and heads to the back but he is stopped by John Cena’s music. Cena forces Orton back to the ring but Cena with a clothesline. Orton turns into a spinebuster and it is time for the Batista Bomb after Batista shakes the ropes. Batista with the three count.
Winner: Batista with an assist from John Cena
2009 - Jack Foley, the father of former WWF and TNA champion Mick Foley passed away at the age of 76. Foley wrote in great detail about his father in his first autobiography Have A Nice Day. The origin of Foley's Cactus Jack ring name actually came from Foley once trying to trick a friend into calling his father "Cactus Jack". Foley passed away following a long illness. He had been scheduled to induct Mick into the Ward Melville High School Hall of Fame the following month.
2009 - UFC issued the following press release:
LESNAR FACES ‘BIGGEST’ TEST TO DATE AGAINST CARWIN AT UFC 106®
PLUS THE RETURN OF FORMER CHAMPION TITO ORTIZ
Live from Mandalay Bay Events Center, Saturday, November 21
Las Vegas, NV (USA) – Brock Lesnar has faced some of the best heavyweight fighters in the world. The Ultimate Fighting Championship® heavyweight title holder dominated seasoned veteran Heath Herring and put away former UFC® champions Randy Couture and Frank Mir. On Saturday, Nov. 21, Lesnar will have to pick on someone his own size when he takes on the undefeated 6-foot-3, 262-pound top contender Shane Carwin at UFC 106: LESNAR vs. CARWIN, live from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nev. Also on the card, one of the brightest stars in UFC history returns, as former light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz battles UFC Hall of Famer Mark Coleman in what promises to be a ground war of epic proportions.
“Brock Lesnar has been tearing through everyone over the last year,” said UFC President Dana White. “But in Shane Carwin, he’s not only fighting someone as big as he is, he’s fighting someone who has ended all of his fights in less than three minutes. This is literally the biggest heavyweight title fight ever and may also be the most explosive.”
Tickets for UFC 106, priced at $1,000, $750, $500, $300, $200 and $100, not including applicable service charges, go on sale Saturday, Sept. 19 at noon PT at all Las Vegas Ticketmaster locations (select Smith’s Food and Drug Centers and Ritmo Latino). To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. Tickets also are available for purchase at www.UFC.com, www.mandalaybay.com, or www.ticketmaster.com.
UFC® Fight Club™ members will have the opportunity to purchase tickets to this event Thursday, Sept. 17 at 10 a.m. PT via the website www.ufc.com. A special Internet ticket pre-sale will be available to UFC newsletter subscribers Friday, Sept. 18 starting at 10 a.m. PT. To access this presale, users must register for the UFC newsletter through www.ufc.com.
UFC 106 will be available live on pay-per-view on iN DEMAND, DIRECTV, DISH Network, TVN, BellTV, Shaw Communications and Viewer’s Choice Canada for a suggested retail price of $44.95 for standard definition or high-definition broadcasts (where available).
A fighter that has dominated the competition in his last three bouts, Brock Lesnar (fighting out of Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.) is a four-time All-American, two-time Big Ten Champion, and 2000 NCAA Division I National Champion college wrestler who has parlayed his amateur successes into a UFC world championship. A gifted athlete with the size, speed and power to impose his will on any opponent, the 6-foot-3 ½, 265-pound champion with a 4-1 professional record earned the UFC heavyweight title with a second-round TKO victory over UFC Hall of Famer Couture, then successfully defended his title at UFC 100 in impressive fashion with another second-round TKO against former UFC champ Mir. Now the 32-year-old Webster, South Dakota native looks to put the first blemish on Carwin’s record.
“I'm excited to get back in the Octagon on November 21st to defend my title,” Lesnar said. “I’m looking forward to fighting Shane Carwin. “He’s undefeated and I’m the man who is going to put an end to that.”
Shane Carwin (fighting out of Denver, Colo.) has done nothing short of destroying his competition. The former NCAA Division II national wrestling champion and All-American college football player has put away all three of his UFC opponents in under two minutes. The 34-year-old from Greeley, Colo. handed TKO losses to Christian Wellisch and Neil Wain before turning heads in the mixed martial arts community with a devastating 69-second knockout victory against title contender Gabriel Gonzaga. The heavy-handed heavyweight remains a perfect 11-0 in his pro MMA career and faces his toughest challenge to date.
“I was extremely excited when I got the news that I was fighting Brock,” Carwin said. “I couldn’t even sleep that night. This fight is going to be different for both of us. We’re not used to facing someone who equals us in size. I can see this fight taking place everywhere. We both have wrestling backgrounds, but hopefully we’ll get into some exchanges on the feet too.”
With the world heavyweight title already on the line, the world’s MMA leader has bolstered the UFC 106 card with the addition of the longest reigning light heavyweight champion in its history, as former 205-pound boss Tito Ortiz (fighting out of Huntington Beach, Calif.) makes his return to the Octagon™ after a year and a half break. With wins over Forrest Griffin, Vitor Belfort, Ken Shamrock and Wanderlei Silva, Ortiz has mixed it up with the best in the world over the course of his career, and the 34-year-old with 14 wins in the UFC is now injury-free and planning to make another run at the light heavyweight title.
“It’s like a homecoming for me,” Ortiz said. “The back is 100 percent and it’s great to be returning to the UFC. Styles make fights and our styles are exactly the same. I expect a war and I expect more excitement from this match than anything else this year. There are a lot of people out there that expect me to succeed and there are a lot of people out there that expect me to fail. But I feel great and I’m expecting to win back my belt.”
Like Ortiz, Mark Coleman (fighting out of Columbus, Ohio) is a former UFC champion who wants to make a run in the light heavyweight division. At 44 years old, “The Godfather of Ground-and-pound” took it to the much younger Stephan Bonnar in July, earning a unanimous decision victory and proving that he has plenty left in the tank. The former NCAA Division I national champion wrestler from Ohio State parlayed that success into a UFC heavyweight championship and now this Hall of Famer looks for the 17th professional win of his storied career.
For more information, or current UFC fight news, visit www.UFC.com; www.UK.UFC.com; www.UFCESPANOL.com or www.GERMANY.UFC.com. All bouts are live and subject to change.
About The Ultimate Fighting Championship®
The Ultimate Fighting Championship® is the world’s leading professional mixed martial arts organization and offers the premier series of MMA sports events. Owned and operated by Zuffa, LLC, and headquartered in Las Vegas, Nev., UFC® produces over twelve live pay-per-view events annually that are distributed residentially through North American cable and satellite providers including iNDEMAND Networks, DIRECTV, DISH Network, TVN Entertainment, BellTV, SaskTel Max™, Shaw Pay-Per-View, Viewers Choice, and WOWOW in Japan, and via the Internet worldwide on Yahoo! Sports, and commercially through Joe Hand Promotions in the U.S. and Canadastar in Canada. In addition to its North American distribution, UFC programming is distributed in over 100 countries and territories throughout the world. For more information, or current UFC fight news, visit ufc.com or uk.ufc.com or ufcespanol.com.
Ultimate Fighting Championship®, Ultimate Fighting®, UFC®, The Ultimate Fighter®, Submission®, As Real As It Gets®, Zuffa™, The Octagon™ and the eight-sided competition mat and cage design are registered trademarks, trademarks, trade dress or service marks owned exclusively by Zuffa, LLC in the United States and other jurisdictions. All other marks referenced herein may be the property of Zuffa, LLC or other respective owners.
2010 - WWE broadcast NXT. Richard Trionfo filed the following TV report:
We are live on tape from Detroit, Michigan and your announcers are Michael ‘I have a message from the General . . . is Jericho around . . . Manager’ Cole and Josh ‘I will give the same effort as the rookies’ Mathews. Your host is Matt ‘Last Comic Standing’ Striker.
Vickie interrupts Michael’s introduction and then Michael shows some love for Vickie. She says that after her rookie Kaitlyn embarrassed her last week, she brought someone to the show to make her proud. Vickie brings out the Intercontinental Champion and the person who is number one in Vickie’s heart . . . Dolph Ziggler.
We see footage from last week when Kaitlyn failed to take care of AJ to Vickie’s specifications.
Match Number One: Dolph Ziggler and Kaitlyn with Vickie Guerrero versus Primo and AJ
The men start off and lock up. Dolph with a punch to Primo but Primo with a drop kick and Dolph tags in Kaitlyn so the women enter the match. AJ with a waist lock and rollup for a near fall. AJ with a side head lock. Kaitlyn with a shoulder tackle but AJ with kicks to the head. AJ with forearms followed by a kick. AJ with a cross body for a near fall. Kaitlyn with a clothesline and Dolph tags in and he knocks Primo off the apron. Dolph stands over AJ as she gets up and then he blocks her exit from the ring. AJ with slaps to Dolph and then Primo with a double sledge from the turnbuckles followed by a cartwheel and a drop kick. Primo with punches but Dolph with an Irish whip. Primo with a clothesline out of the corner and then he takes Dolph down with a leg sweep. Primo misses a splash into the corner and Ziggler hits the Zig Zag for the three count.
Winners: Dolph Ziggler and Kaitlyn
After the match, Vickie does not like the celebration going on in the ring between Kaitlyn and Dolph.
Josh wonders why Cole is so concerned about Vickie.
It is time for a video about Maxine. She says that she is the next WWE Diva. She says that she came from a large family. She went to school for criminology and worked for the State Attorney’s Office. She also did some modeling. She says that her greatest asset is her eyes. She talks about how she enjoys salsa dancing. She says that she wants 100% control. She will do whatever it takes to get it. Power will get your further than sexiness. She says that none of the Divas want it as much as her.
We go to commercial . . . with a brand new Legendary commercial.
We are back and Matt is in the ring with AJ and Kaitlyn. He brings out the other four rookies. We see Naomi’s performances last week to give her the advantage in the battle for immunity.
Matt says that the opening night jitters have subsided so they are ready to show why they are here to become the next Diva. Matt reminds us that the rookie with the most challenge wins will get immunity. The person with the funniest and best joke will win the competition. The WWE Universe . . . Detroit Division will be the judges.
AJ goes first and she says that a blonde, brunette, and red head are running from the cops and they hide in a barn and get into potato sacks. The brunette goes ‘woof’ when the cop kicks her sack. The cop kicks the redhead’s sack and she goes ‘meow’. The cop kicks the sack with the blonde and she goes ‘potato’. Matt thanks Don Rickles for the joke and Josh comments on the era the reference came from.
Aksana is next and she say her joke very popular in Lithuania. She starts in Lithuanian but then decides to tell the joke in English. What is difference between a wife and girlfriend. About forty-five pounds.
Jamie is next and she asks for some help from the people of Detroit. Jamie has a knock knock joke. “Knock Knock . . . Who’s There . . . AJ who . . .” Jamie gets on the turnbuckles to ask the joke again and changes AJ for Aksana and her response is ‘exactly’.
Naomi is next and she says heyyyyyyyyyyyyyy to Detroit. She asks what do you call a dog with no legs. . . It don’t matter what you call it because it ain’t gonna come to you.
Maxine is next. She says that she has five jokes with her in the ring and she will pick one. She goes to AJ Lee and she calls her cute and adorable. She reminds her of a girl scout, but girl scouts don’t last in the WWE. Maxine gives her a twenty dollar bill and she asks for some Thin Mints.
We have a catfight.
Kaitlyn is the final jokester of the night. Kaitlyn says that everyone picks on AJ but now it is her turn. She asks AJ to be her joke for two seconds. ‘Knock Knock . . .Who’s There . . .KGB . . . KGB who . . .’ before we get the punch line, Kaitlyn slaps AJ and we have catfight 2: Electric Boogaloo.
The winner of the competition is Jamie.
Michael Cole has received a message from the Samurai General Manager and he hits the gong a few times. He says that all of the would-be Divas should be gonged. Cole says that Striker should be gonged. He says that everyone who bought a ticket should be gonged. He says that other than him and Josh Mathews, NXT should be gonged.
We go to commercial.
Match Number Two: Jamie with the Bella Twins versus Aksana with Goldust
They lock up and Jamie with a wrist lock into a hammer lock. Aksana with a reversal into a side head lock. Aksana with a shoulder tackle followed by a slam. Aksana misses an elbow drop but Jamie sends Aksana shoulder first into the turnbuckles. Jamie with an arm bar but Aksana gets to the ropes. Aksana pushes Jamie and Jamie pushes back. Aksana throws Jamie to the mat and she follows it with a clothesline or two. Aksana misses a charge into the corner and Jamie with a rollup.
Winner: Jamie
We have a video package for Naomi. She says that she would say that she is spunky, sporty, and spontaneous. Growing up with brothers toughened her up for the WWE. She says that her style is unique from the other Divas. She has been dancing since she was 10. She says that she was a dancer with the Orlando Magic and she was one of the ‘Dunking Dancers’. She says that she has so much to show to the WWE fans. She is going to stand out by doing things that the other girls cannot do. Her message to the other divas is to bring their A games because Naomi is going to win.
We go to commercial.
We are back with the Kane/Undertaker video package that aired for the first time on Smackdown.
Michael talks about the replay on WWE.com and Josh mentions the live chat with Joey Styles. Michael Cole is amazed that Joey is still employed by WWE.
We go to ‘highlights’ from earlier tonight and the moment when Vickie got jealous of Dolph getting too close to Kaitlyn.
Vickie interrupts Dolph and Kaitlyn talking about her win. Vickie tells Kaitlyn that she needs to talk to Dolph. Vickie wants to know what the deal is. He tells Vickie that she was excited that she won. Vickie says that if Dolph pulls that again, he will lose ‘all this’ as Vickie does random hand gestures.
We see the obstacle course around the ring.
We go to commercial.
We are back and it is time for the Diva obstacle course. Kaitlyn goes first, but Vickie interrupts Kaitlyn before she starts. Vickie throws out a number of Excuse Mes. She tells Kaitlyn that since she embarrassed her last week and she used her boyfriend to win tonight, Kaitlyn needs to win the obstacle course. Vickie says that since she is the best pro, she will show Kaitlyn how to run the obstacle course with perfection. Vickie goes first. Matt comments on the amount of time that it is taking Vickie to get ready. Vickie trips after the balance beam and she screams and cries without finishing and she yells at Kaitlyn.
We go to commercial.
We are back with a Moments Ago Moment of Vickie Guerrero versus the Obstacle Course and the Obstacle Course won that battle.
It is now time for the rookies to go. Kaitlyn goes first and her time is 36.5 seconds and she adds some flair by going across the finish line on the container. Aksana is next and she give time of 37.2 seconds. The next participant is AJ and her time is 46.0 seconds. Maxine finishes in 39.1 seconds. Jamie is the next to go and her time is 36.8 seconds. The final person to challenge Kaitlyn is Naomi. Her time is an afterthought at 57.4 seconds.
Kaitlyn lives up to Vickie’s guarantee and Vickie celebrates with Kaitlyn.
Michael Cole channels Alex van Halen and hits the gong. He calls all of this ridiculous. He says that this show violates everything about his journalistic integrity. He says that he was a war correspondent and he is doing this. Cole says that he is done with this show.
2011 - Former WWE and TNA star Matt Hardy was recently arrested on another DWI charge in Raleigh, NC. According to public records in North Carolina, Hardy was formally charged with "driving while impaired."
2011 - Former NWA and WWF star Angelo Mosca Sr. released an autobiography on his life.
2012 - TMZ.com reported that WWE Hall of Famer Tammy "Sunny" Sytch had been arrested three times over the last three days for incidents related to domestic violence. Sytch was arrested on Tuesday 9/11 at 8:55 PM for disorderly conduct after an incident with then boyfriend independent wrestler Damien Darling in his Branford, CT home. Sytch was released on $500 bond the next day, only to be arrested again on Tuesday 9/12 at 4:49 PM after another incident with the same unidentified male and charged with disorderly conduct a second time as well as third degree strangulation and violating a restraining order. On Wednesday 9/13, Sytch was released after posting a $25,000 bond and was arrested at 8 PM that evening for again violating the restraining order against her. Sytch underwent a WWE-sponsored rehab stay the previous month.
WWE released the following comment: "As part of WWE's Former Talent Program, we sent Ms. Sytch to rehabilitation three times, with all costs covered by WWE. Unfortunately, Ms. Sytch continues make poor personal choices. WWE will continue to provide assistance should she want to take advantage of it."
2012 - Pro Wrestling Syndicate presented "Saved By The Ring Bell" in Rahway, NJ. Mike Johnson filed the following iPPV report:
NJ:
Demolition vs. The Powers of Pain.
No, we are not watching a VHS tape from 1988. They are really opening a show in 2012!
Smash and The Barbarian faced off at the bell. Smash began talking trash but was nailed with a series of right hands. They exchanged chops and punches.
They went for a knuckle lock test of strength and both went to kick each other low at the same time. Barbarian worked over Smash's arm. Ax tagged in, as did Warlord.
The crowd began chanting for Demolition. Ax grabbed a headlock and was sent into the ropes. He nailed a shoulderblock. All four began brawling in the ring and then went to the floor before battling back into the ring. Ax grabbed a chair and drilled Barbarian over the back.
Your winners by DQ, the Powers of Pain!
They continued battling back and forth until Demolition cleared the ring with chairs.
Not much in the way of great wrestling but it was fun nostalgia.
The crowd actually chanted for "Five More Minutes." Maybe in 2025?
The Big O vs. ?
O's opponent was a heel wearing a robe that said "God's gift." O is the big muscled up guy from the Zack Ryder web series. He came out with former WWE Diva Ashley Massaro, of all people.
O overpowered Mr. Gift early several times. Gift grabbed a headlock but was sent off into the ropes. O leapfrogged him and nailed an hiptoss and a dropkick that sent Gift out of the ring.
On the floor, Gift grabbed Massaro by the hair. O went to help her but was nailed low and sent into the guardrail. Gift rolled O back into the ring for a two count.
Gift nailed a series of elbows on the floor. O began nailing shots to the mid-section to make a comeback but was stopped. Gift went for a suplex but was small packaged for a two count.
Gift nailed a leg lariat out of nowhere for a two count. He went to the top rope but missed a dive. The crowd clapped for O to make a comeback. He nailed a big backdrop and drilled him with a clothesline that sent Gift spinning into the air.
Gift caught O with a DDT for a two count. O nailed a sidewalk slam for a two count.
Your winner, The Big O!
Ashley Massaro slapped Gift after the match.
Reality Check's Devon Moore and PWS champion Kevin Matthews came to the ring. Matthews bragged about winning the belt at the last show. He introduced Velvet Sky, who was now part of the group. Sky asked the crowd if they missed her. Matthews said that people in the back have said that he couldn't beat Sami Callihan fairly and wasn't man enough to beat him alone.
Sami Callihan came to the ring and said if he has to hear Matthews say one more word, he'd going to blow his brains out. He said they keep talking and talking and he keeps getting upset. He said that it took all of Reality Check and duck taping Sami to the ropes for Kevin to climb a ladder and win the belt. Matthews mocked him for crying about losing the belt.
They got in each other's faces and started screaming. The Saved By the Bell theme played and out came Mr. Belding. He got a HUGE standing ovation and the crowd chanted for him. Belding said he's going to deal with Reality Check in a second but wanted to say it was a pleasure to be with real wrestling fans at a real wrestling show. He said he was happy to see Lex Luger here and that Jerry Lawler was still with us and went into his character going "Hey hey hey!" He listened to their problems and said that they needed a guest enforcer for their match tonight - himself.
Belding then told Devon Moore he was going to wrestle right now. Out came Necro Butcher!
Necro began tossing chairs into the ring and chased Moore out.
Necro Butcher vs. Devon Moore
Moore went for a kick but was caught and tossed over the top to the floor. Necro rammed Moore into the ringpost nuts first and then slammed him with a chair on the floor. Necro chopped Moore hard in the chest.
They battled on the floor with some weapons. Kevin Matthews, who was sent to the back, returned to ringside as Moore crotched Necro with the ropes as Butcher followed him back into the ring. Moore nailed a legdrop off the top. Moore went for a slam but Necro nailed a series of elbows to the back and went for an airplane spin. Moore slipped out and superkicked Necro.
Moore nailed a top rope elbow but Necro moved. Necro went for a double underhook suplex but Matthews got on the apron with a barbed wire bat. Necro chased him off and grabbed the bat. He went to the top as a "We want blood" chant started. Matthews grabbed his leg, allowing Moore to strike him with a chair to the head. He slammed him off the top onto a chair, scoring the pin.
Your winner, Devon Moore!
Good brawl. The Belding angle was super over live with the 500-600 fans here. Who would have thunk it?
The Great Outdoors vs. DJ Phat Pat & Fallah vs. SM Squared vs. ?
The last team I unfortunately couldn't hear over the loud speakers. Equally unfortunately, my netbook decided to load a windows update and lock up on me so I missed pretty much the entire bout but it was a good bout that the crowd was into. SM Squared retained the PWS Tag titles.
AR Fox vs. Rich Swann vs. Starman vs. Apollyon vs. Lucifer Darksyde vs. The Dynamic Sensation in a Suicidal Six Way
The winner gets a PWS Tri-State championship bout. Sensation and Star Man started out and went back and forth. Starman sent him to the outside and teased a dive but Fox tripped him and got into the ring. Star Man got the better of Fox early but caught a dropkick to the back. Swann tagged in and did some really great athletic back and forth stuff with Fox followed by a series of near falls. They faced off and the crowd applauded.
Apollyon hit the ring and clotheslined both, then slammed them. Darksyde tagged in and they faced off. Darksyde nailed a big dropkick that sent off him othe outside. They went into a crazy dive sequence with everyone hitting big dives to the floor. Apollyn tossed Swann over the rail. Everyone brawled into the corner of the venue. Star Man climbed up a poll in the corner and dove off onto everyone.
Back in the ring, Star Man laid out Swann but Fox broke up the pinfall. Fox ducked a clothesline and nailed a leaping kick to the head of Star Man. Fox hit this crazy twisting splash in the corner on Star. Sensation caught him with a superkick for a two count. Apollyon nailed a TKO on Sensation. He and Darksyde faced off. They agreed to team up but were overwhelmed by the other competitors.
Star Man went to the top for a dive but was caught by Apollyon. Two others grabbed Star and they all slammed him down in unison. Darksyde hit a sitdown powerbomb from the muscle buster position for a two count on Sensation. Fox began tagging him with a series of strikes. Darksyde laid him out and nailed a moonsault. Star Man rolled him up and pined Darksyde. The place went nuts for that.
Your winner, Star Man!
Really fun and insane match with some great dives and brawling.
One Warrior Nation vs. Timmy Aiight
Short but not sweet. Nation wins.
They held a student Battle Royal. Literally every family member of every student was at this show. They introduced all the students then had the NYWC wrestlers from Long Island come out and complain they weren't on the show but these students were. This led to brawl that the students won and then they had the Royal. The crowd was really into this as it was a bunch of outsiders vs. their friends. Then they did the Battle Royal and since everyone cared about seeing their friends and family in this thing, it was really heated.
PWS Tri-States champion Tony Nese vs. Matt Hardy (with Reby Sky)
They went back and forth on the mat and exchanged holds. Nese caught him with an inside cradle and locked Hardy in a submission hold. Hardy battled back and slammed Nese into the turnbuckles then nailed him with Snake Eyes. Hardy locked on a cravate. Nese fought back and whipped Hardy into the corner. Hardy reversed but Nese hit the ropes and came off with a bodypress for a two count.
Hardy went to the floor where Nese nailed a dive to the outside. They battled back into the ring where Hardy punted Nese in the gut several times. Hardy nailed a gourdbuster. Hardy locked on a reverse bear hug, trying to force the air out of Nese's lungs. Nese made a comeback and nailed a quebrada for a two count. Hardy ducked a clothesline and was nailed by a Nese leg lariat.
Nese drilled him with a series of kicks in the corner and locked on a rear chinlock. Nese worked over Hardy's back and sent him into the corner but was kicked off during a charge. Hardy teased coming off the ropes but Nese nailed him. Hardy made a comeback with a Side Effect for a two count. He nailed another for another two count. Hardy came off the ropes with a standing elbow for a two count.
Nese went to the top where Hardy caught him. Hardy went for a superplex but Nese pushed him off and hit an awesome 450 splash for a close near fall. Nese was caught in the Twist of Fate at the time limit expired.
Time Limit Draw.
Mr. Belding came out. He said they don't have Zack time outs in the ring and he said they were going to give them five minutes. He then admonished a fan that tossed toilet papaer in the ring.
They battled back and forth with near falls. Hardy locked on his guillotine choke. Nese tried to fight out but sunk down. He fired back and ran Hardy into the turnbuckles. Hardy and Nese battled back and forth. Nese dropkicked him hard in the corner and nailed a running knee strike. He nailed another. Reby Sky got on the apron to distract Nese. Hardy attacked him from behind and went for the Twist of Fate. Nese slipped out and shoved Hardy into Sky, who took a bump to the floor. Nese rolled up Hardy for the pin.
Your winner and still PWS Tri-State champion Tony Nese!
Solid match,. I'd like to see what these guys could do with 30 minutes.
Sky apparently hurt her shoulder taking the bump and was getting checked out by EMTs backstage.
$5 Wrestling champion Freight Train vs. Dynomite.
The Goon and Enhancement Talent hit the ring and attacked them immediately. This led to Shockwave the Robot coming out for the save. Freight Train challenged them to make it a six man tag. They battled back and forth. Finally, all six were brawling until Shockwave rolled up one of the Enhancement.
Your winners, Dynomite & Freight Train & Shockwave.
Exactly what you would expect this to be.
PWS champion Kevin Matthews vs. Sami Callihan - Falls Count Anywhere
Mr. Belding is the ringside enforcer. Velvet Sky is at ringside. They immediately brawl to the top of the bleachers and all around the crowd, whipping each pther into tables and causing all sorts of destruction. I couldn't a lot of it from my sightline but the crowd was going nuts for the spots. After a long brawl, they finally returned to the ringside area.
Matthews brought a piece of guard rail into the ringand bridged it from the apron to another railing. Matthews tried to piledrive Callihan but was backdropped over the top onto the bridged railing. Callihan followed him to the floor and unloaded with a series of rights. They battled back and forth on the floor before returning to the ring.
Matthews caught Callihan with a big boot for a two count. They battled on the top rope, jockeying for position. Callihan went for a sunset flip but Matthews held on. Callihan let go and superkicked Matthews. He went for the Stuff Muffler. Devon Moore hit the ring but Mr. Belding had him thrown out. As this was going on, Sky poured powder in Callihan's eyes.
The ref was buimped so another hit the ring to make the count but Callihan kicked up at two. Matthews hit a powerbomb across the knees for a two count. He went for another but Callihan reversed it for a pinfall combination for a two count. He went for the Stretch Muffler but Matthews used the ropes to break it and roll up Callihan for the pin.
Your winner and still PWS champion Kevin Matthews!
Devon Moore hit the ring to jump Callihan. They put the boots to him. Belding called for help and a bunch of the babyfaces made the save. It all ended with Belding nailing Moore with a move to end the show.
Fun brawl!
That's all from PWS!
2012 - CMLL held their 79th Anniversary show. Kris Zellner filed the following results:
1. Dalis la Caribena/Goya Kong/Marcela beat Amapola/Princesa Blanca/Tiffany
2. Ephesto/Mephisto/Niebla Roja defeated Delta/Stuka Jr./Valiente
3. Angel de Oro/La Sombra/Titan beat Taichi Ishikari/Namajague/Shigeo Okumura
4. Mascara contra Mascara: Puma King defeated Rey Cometa in a helluva match seeing both men hitting big spots especially Cometa who almost took himself out on a dive into the barricade in the 2nd fall. Cometa unmasked as Mario Alberto González, 29-years-old, from Queretaro with 13 years experience. Crowd was more into Puma here and this was a great match.
5. Atlantis/Mistico II/Prince Devitt beat Dragon Rojo/Negro Casas/Ultimo Guerrero with Rojo going over Devitt to take the first and last falls. Rojo wants a NWA Historic Middleweight Title match of course.
6. Caballera contra Caballera: Rush defeated Damian el Terrible with the Martillo Negro (Martinete) to win his hair in a bloody match. the fans were solidly behind Terrible here and Rush was vocally upset afterwards as fans rushed the ring and it took his brother Mistico II to come out to calm him down but he was booed also.
2012 - CHIKARA held their King of Trios tournament 2012 Night One, featuring the following results:
*Team Sendai Girls, Sendai Sachiko, Dash Chisako, and Meiko Satomura, defeated The Colony, assailANT, Green Ant, and Fire Ant.
*The Batiri defeat 3.0 & Gran Akuma.
*F.I.S.T. defeated Osaka Pro's Kikutaro, Ebessan, and Takoyakida.
*Mike Quackenbush & Jigsaw & Manami Toyota defeated The Swarm (CombatANT & deviANT & Soldier Ant) when Toyota pinned DeviANT.
*Team JWP defeated The Throwbacks (Mr. Touchdown, Dasher Hatfield, and Matt Classic
*The Spectral Envoy defeated The Handsome Stranger, Osaka Pro's Mihara and WWE Hall of Famer Tito Santana. The Submission Squad did not appear due to a travel issue. CHIKARA announced the substitution and offered refunds. The replacement team were literally three names "pulled out of a hat at random."
*Team ROH, Mike Bennett & The Young Bucks defeated Meng & The Powers of Pain.
*Team Extreme, Tommy Dreamer & Jerry Lynn & 2 Cold Scorpio defeated Team WWF, Aldo Montoya (Justin Credible returning to his old gimmick), 1-2-3 Kid (Sean Waltman) & Tatanka.
2012 - WWE broadcast Smackdown. Richard Trionfo filed the following TV report:
This week’s show starts off with a look at the devastation of the Brogue Kick and the attempts by Alberto Del Rio, David Otunga, and Ricardo Rodriguez to get Booker T to ban the Brogue Kick. We then see Booker interrupting a match to tell Sheamus that the move he was about to use was banned. Then we go to Monday night when we saw the ‘deposition’ that David Otunga took of Sheamus. Then we go further into the show when Booker T stepped on A.J. Lee’s authority on Raw to ban the Brogue Kick completely and announce that Sheamus would be stripped of the title.
We are live on tape from Kanata, Ontario, Canada and your announcers are Michael ‘Hart Trophy Winner from Monday Night’ Cole and Josh ‘At least I didn’t get Brogue Kicked by Sheamus’ Mathews.
Alberto Del Rio, Ricardo Rodriguez, and Mr. Coffee Otunga. Alberto is the only one without a neck brace, so he will talk. Alberto gives Booker T credit for banning the Brogue Kick at all times. He cannot talk about how his friend Ricardo Rodriguez feels now so he will let Ricardo tell everyone.
Ricardo thanks everyone around the world for their support. Ricardo starts to cry uncontrollably so David Otunga takes the mic.
David says that he would like to take a moment to bring up the irresponsible actions of Raw General Manager A.J. Lee. David says that he is an officer of the court and Sheamus is a brute. . . a reckless hooligan. It was a poor decision from an unbalanced individual. David says that his vertebrae might be ruptured. Just like his client, he will recover handsomely.
Alberto says that Ricardo and David are not the only ones suffering from the Brogue Kick.
We see footage from last year when Sheamus demanded a title match against Christian at Night of Champions, only to see Sheamus connect with a Brogue Kick to the head.
Alberto introduces Christian . . . via satellite.
Christian says that he wants to get this over with. David welcomes him and he asks Christian about his shoulder surgery. He mentions that Christian has not been working at 100% for a while.
Christian says that everyone knows that he is one of the toughest guys. He tells Del Rio that he does not like him and he calls Del Rio a sniveling weasel and he hopes that Del Rio loses on Sunday. Christian says that he is not doing this for Del Rio or himself. He is standing up for the superstars in the back who will not stand up for themselves. Christian says that he was on his way to becoming a three time champion before the Brogue Kick. He has not been the same since that kick. Christian says that he finally needed surgery for the nerve damage. Christian says that he has lost about a year of his career as a result of the injuries.
If he is being 100% truthful, he says that the Brogue Kick should continue to be banned.
Otunga cuts off Christian before he can say anything else.
Alberto says that the Brogue Kick is dangerous and there are serious ramifications. Booker made the right decision. At Night of Champions, he will take the World Title away from that peasant.
Daniel Bryan’s music plays and he makes his way to the ring.
Bryan says No a few times. He came out here to thank everyone and he does not want people to say yes.
Daniel says that he wanted to thank Alberto for bringing this case to light. Daniel says that he has been a victim of the Brogue Kick. David Otunga said that he would recover handsomely. Daniel says that people say that he has a goat face. It is not true, but if it happened, it was because Sheamus kicked him in the face so many times. Daniel wants to thank Booker T for granting him a Wrestlemania rematch tonight of the most embarrassing moment of his entire life when Sheamus used that illegal maneuver to beat him in 18 seconds.
He says that he did not ask for a rematch because the Brogue Kick has been banned. He asked for this rematch because he wanted to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that when Sheamus beat him in 18 seconds was because he beat him by surprise.
It makes sense that the man who had his finisher banned would come out and Sheamus moves to the stage. He asks goat face that if the Brogue Kick had been banned at Wrestlemania, he wouldn’t have lost in 18 seconds. Sheamus says that Bryan did not lose because of the Brogue kick but because of Sheamus. After he beats Bryan tonight and Bertie on Sunday, people will find out that if you don’t learn about history, you are doomed to repeat it.
Otunga goes to the ropes to confront Sheamus and Sheamus rips off Otunga’s neck brace and he throws it into the crowd.
We go to commercial with Sin Cara walking in the back.
We are back and Michael Cole mentions the heart attack that Jerry Lawler suffered on Monday night and an update on his condition as well as how to send your get well messages to Jerry.
Match Number One: Sin Cara versus Miz in a Non Title Match
The bell rings and we get the Official Sin Cara mood lighting and Miz wonders why they lights went down.
Miz with a kick and punches to Cara and the referee warns Miz and pulls Miz off Cara. Miz with a front face lock and suplex for a near fall. Miz kicks Cara and connects with a forearm to the back. Cara with a head scissors take down and Miz goes to the floor. Cara sets for a dive to the floor but Miz with a punch to Cara.
We go to commercial.
We are back and Miz gets a near fall. Miz with a reverse chin lock but Cara with elbows to escape. Miz with a knee to the midsection and then he punches Cara in the head. Miz kicks and punches Cara in the corner and then he sets for the Awesome Clothesline and he connects. Miz goes up top and hits a double sledge to the top of the head for a near fall.
Miz with a reverse chin lock but Cara gets to his feet. Cara with a rollup to counter a knee to the midsection. Miz with the Reality Check and he gets a near fall. Miz pushes Cara into the corner and he tries for another Awesome Clothesline but Cara sees it coming and Miz hits the turnbuckles and holds is hamstrings. Cara with kicks to the inured leg. Cara tries for a springboard back elbow but Miz moves. Cara is able to land on his feet. Miz tries for a running boot to the head but Cara moves.
Cara with a head scissors to Miz. Cara is sent to the apron and then he hits the enzuigiri. Cara has a kick blocked and Miz tries for the Skull Crushing Finale but Cara with an elbow and then Cara tries for La Mistica but Miz blocks it. Cara with a La Magistral for the three count.
Winner: Sin Cara
We go to commercial.
We are back and Miz is walking in the back. Matt Striker asks Miz about his recent losses to Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara as well as what Cody Rhodes recently did to him. Matt mentions that Miz will be facing an unknown opponent and he asks Miz for comments.
Miz throws out a few reallys before Cody Rhodes appears. Miz wants Striker to ask a certain somebody why he attacked Miz from behind. Cody tells Matt to tell the Miz with all of the chaos, that he wanted HIS Intercontinental Title back.
Miz and Cody argue until Rey Mysterio appears. Rey reminds Miz that he pinned him in the tag match so he deserves a shot at the Intercontinental Title. Cody wants to know what Sin Cara wants and Cara points at the belt. Cody tells Cara that you don’t get anything by pointing.
Miz says that everyone wants a title match, but if the title was on the line in those matches, he would have won and retained the title. Cody calls Miz overrated.
Teddy Long interrupts the playas. He says that Miz might be able to beat them all, but can he do it at one time. Teddy tells Miz that he will defend his title at Night of Champions in a Fatal Four Way Match against Sin Cara, Cody Rhodes, and Rey Mysterio.
Josh and Michael talk about the Intercontinental Title situation and then they discuss the tag team situation where Darren Young and Titus O’Neil are no longer the number one contenders. We go to the Anger Management videos.
Doctor Shelby continues to accompany Kane and Daniel Bryan and they are in the back. Kane is squeezing a stress ball and Bryan says that he is doing it wrong. Bryan wants to talk about what happened Monday night. Kane says that he did what he had to in order to become the next tag team champion. They both say that they want to be the tag team champion and the doctor interrupts and points out that they both have balls.
The doctor says that he gave them the balls was so they could feel better as they release stress. Kane points out that his is bigger than Daniel’s. We go to commercial.
Match Number Two: Kofi Kingston versus Kane
Kane misses a punch and Kofi with kicks to the leg. Kofi with a flying forearm but Kane stays on his feet. Kane tries to throw Kofi out of the ring but Kofi bounces off the ropes and Kofi follows with a drop kick. Kane with an uppercut to Kofi. Kane picks up Kofi and punches him in the midsection. Kane with a punch to the face followed by a snap mare and drop kick to the head for a near fall.
Kofi with punches and an Irish whip followed by a clothesline into the corner. Kane with another Irish whip and clothesline into the corner followed by an attempted side slam but Kofi counters with a DDT and both men are down. Kofi sets for Trouble in Paradise but Kane grabs Kofi by the throat. Kofi avoids the choke slam.
Kofi with a pendulum kick and then he goes up top but Kane catches Kofi and hits a choke slam for the three count.
Winner: Kofi Kingston
After the match, Doctor Shelby comes out and he looks disappointed at Kane. Kane turns around and goes back into the ring. Kane picks Kofi up by the throat and he hugs Kofi. The doctor applauds Kane’s hug.
Matt Striker is in the interview area with Randy Orton. Matt asks Randy about his match against Tensai tonight when he has a match against Dolph Ziggler. Randy says that since him and Tensai weren’t doing anything, he figured they could have a good old fashioned brawl. Maybe he wanted a tune up against a 360 pound man.
Randy says that he is looking forward to his match on Sunday, but it is not because Alberto has a chance to win the title for Dolph to cash in the briefcase. Randy says he would get to face Dolph and become the World Champion. Maybe Orton doesn’t like that self righteous punk and he is going to tear him a new one on Sunday.
We go to commercial.
Match Number Three: Randy Orton versus Tensai (with Sakamoto)
They lock up and Tensai backs Orton into the corner. Tensai with a kick and punch followed by an elbow to the head. Tensai with an Irish whip and Orton tries for a clothesline out of the corner but Tensai blocks it. Orton with a back elbow to the head and punches. Orton avoids punches but he misses a drop kick. Tensai misses an elbow drop.
Orton connects with a leaping knee drop followed by more knee drops. Tensai with an uppercut that sends Orton to the mat. Tensai sends Orton into the turnbuckles followed by elbows to the head. Tensai with a kick to the chest and forearms but the referee pulls Tensai out of the corner.
Orton with punches but Tensai with knees and head butts to Orton. Tensai with head butts to the back of the head. Tensai misses a punch in the corner and Orton with punches and a running clothesline or two into the corner. Tensai with a shoulder tackle that sends Orton to the floor.
Tensai goes to the floor and he picks up Orton. Tensai sends Orton back into the ring but Orton with a punch followed by European uppercuts to the back of the head and a drop kick that knocks Tensai off the apron.
We go to commercial.
We are back and Tensai with a splash into the corner and then he goes for a Vader Bomb and he connects but can only get a near fall. We see footage from the commercial when Tensai worked on Orton’s back against the ring post.
Tensai punches Orton in the head and then he goes to the neck for the nerve hold. Tensai goes to the other side of the neck as well. Orton escapes but Tensai with a punch. Orton with two European uppercuts and then he avoids a clothesline and Orton hits a power slam for a near fall. Orton sees Tensai on the apron and he tries for the IEDDT but Tensai holds on. Orton is able to hit the IEDDT and he gets a near fall.
Orton with the Garvin Stomp to Tensai and finishes with a boot to the head. Sakamoto tries to interfere but that does not work. Orton pounds the mat for the RKO but Tensai blocks it and hits the Baldo Bomb. Tensai misses the back senton splash and Orton hits the RKO for the three count.
Winner: Randy Orton
After the match, Vickie Guerrero comes out and she has a few excuse mes for Orton. She says that Dolph did not appreciate what Orton said about him earlier. Dolph had no problem being here tonight, but she advised Dolph to take the night off.
At Night of Champions, Dolph will defeat Randy and Randy will never be a World Champion again.
Randy tells Vickie that he hears her loud and clear but she is wrong. Orton has his back turned so that must mean only one thing. Orton turns around and sees Ziggler trying to interfere. Ziggler heads up the ramp and to the back since the plan failed.
We go to commercial.
We are back and Antonio Cesaro is in the ring with Aksana. He says that he is appalled that a battle royal will determine who he faces at Night of Champions. He finds this a personal insult and It is time to learn a word in five languages. This week’s word is outraged.
Tyson Kidd’s music plays and he makes his way to the ring. Tyson tells Antonio that he can come out here and run his mouth in as many languages as he wants, but he will tell Antonio in Canadian. After Sunday, Antonio will be a former United States Champion . . . eh. Cesaro with a European uppercut and then Cesaro throws Kidd over the top rope to the floor.
Cesaro wants to know if there is anyone else and no one comes out at first but then Brodus Clay makes his way to the ring.
Cesaro tries to calm down Clay but Clay cuts off Cesaro’s attempt to leave the ring towards the stage. Tyson Kidd with an enzuigiri from the apron and Clay with a head butt and splash onto Cesaro.
Clay and Kidd dance in the ring.
We go to commercial.
We are back and Wade Barrett makes his way to the stage. He says that he announced last week that he was open for business. It turns out that either everyone was too scared or too stupid to understand what he meant.
Wade says next week, one lucky person will get to sample the product. After that, business will be booming.
Barrett goes to the back while Cole wonders what ‘sample the product’ means.
Match Number Four: Kaitlyn versus Beth Phoenix
They lock up and Beth with a side head lock and she wants the referee to ask Kaitlyn. Beth with a knee and a rollup for a near fall. Beth with a kick but Kaitlyn with a kick and European uppercut. Beth sends Kaitlyn to the apron. Kaitlyn with a shoulder and she slides in and gets a near fall with a sunset flip. Kaitlyn with a jackknife cover for a near fall while Layla watches from the back.
Beth with a back breaker but Kaitlyn escapes and she hits a flying shoulder tackle. Beth with a kick but misses a clothesline. Beth ducks down when Kaitlyn tries for an O’Connor Roll and Kaitlyn hits the top rope with her throat. Beth with a knee and then she sends Kaitlyn to the mat. Beth rubs Kaitlyn’s face in the mat and gets a near fall.
Kaitlyn with elbows but Beth sends Kaitlyn into the turnbuckles and kicks her. Kaitlyn goes to the turnbuckles but Beth pulls her off and then Beth signals for the Glam Slam but Kaitlyn counters with an inverted DDT for the three count.
Winner: Kaitlyn
We go to commercial.
We are back with Michael Cole providing another update on the medical condition of Jerry Lawler.
It is time for a Raw Rebound.
We go to commercial.
Eve is in the office and Booker enters. She tells Booker that he has made a very tough decision despite the criticism about the Brogue Kick ban. She tells Booker that she supports him 100%.
Teddy Long says that as a former General Manager, he knows that Booker had to make a tough decision.
Eve reminds Booker that they have to go over some things before Sunday after Booker and Teddy have a handshake catastrophe.
Match Number Five: Sheamus versus Daniel Bryan in a Non Title Match
They lock up and Bryan works on the arm but Sheamus reverses. Sheamus with a side head lock and shoulder tackle and Bryan retreats to the corner. We see Rodriguez, Otunga, and Del Rio watching in the back.
Bryan tries to center himself amongst the yeses from the fans. Sheamus with a side head lock and Sheamus with a shoulder tackle. Sheamus catches Bryan on a leap frog attempt and Sheamus with a rolling fireman’s carry slam for a near fall. Sheamus with a forearm to the back but Bryan with a kick and back elbow. Sheamus clotheslines Bryan over the top rope to the floor. Sheamus wants to go to the floor but the referee stops him.
Bryan blocks a kick from Sheamus on the apron and Bryan pulls Sheamus face first onto the apron and then Bryan with a running drop kick to the chest. They return to the ring and Bryan sets for the running drop kick into the corner and he connects. Bryan gets a near fall. Bryan starts to work on the arm for the No Lock. Bryan with a kick to the ribs.
Bryan with more kicks to the chest but Sheamus with punches. Bryan continues to work on the arm and he applies a hammer lock. Sheamus gets back to his feet and he connects with elbows to escape the hold. Bryan with a knee to the midsection. Bryan sets for another running drop kick into the corner but Sheamus moves and Bryan lands on the mat.
Sheamus pulls himself up to the turnbuckles for a flying shoulder tackle and both men are down. Sheamus with two running double sledges and then he hits a running shoulder to the midsection and a knee lift. Sheamus with a tilt-a-whirl back breaker for a near fall. Sheamus sets for the Cloverleaf but Bryan with kicks to the head.
Bryan with a shoulder from the apron but Sheamus with a knee to the head and then Sheamus with forearms across the chest. Bryan with a rollup for a near fall followed by a drop toe hold that sends Sheamus into the turnbuckles. Bryan with a series of round kicks to Sheamus for a near fall.
Bryan with Kicks of No to the chest and he sets for the round kick but Sheamus blocks it and he pushes Bryan into the corner. Bryan with an elbow and Bryan comes off the turnbuckles. Sheamus catches Bryan and sets for the uranage back breaker but Bryan with a guillotine choke to counter. Sheamus tries to get to the ropes but Sheamus with a back body drop. Bryan with a rollup.
Bryan tries for the No Lock but Sheamus avoids it. Sheamus with a uranage back breaker and he applies the Cloverleaf. Bryan tries to get to the ropes but Sheamus pulls Bryan into the center of the ring and Bryan taps out.
Winner: Sheamus
2012 - TNA released British talent Mark Haskins and opted not to renew the contract of former Knockouts champion Winter.
2012 - WWE NXT ran Fort Pierce, FL. Joseph Smith filed the following live report:
WWE NXT LIVE
Fenn Center
Fort Pierce, FL
14 SEP 2012
The show started about 45 minutes late due to getting everyone through the autograph line for Dusty and Cody Rhodes. There were about 800-1000 fans in attendance tonight.
One thing that I found interesting was seeing Charlotte, the daughter of Ric Flair, outside the venue helping with selling posters and programs for fans to sign. Several of us recognized her and asked her to take pics and sign autographs and she was very nice and accommodating to the fans. A very classy young woman and a tribute to her father!
The ring announcer starts the show by stating: "You have seen the Touts, you have read the Tweets and yes folks the Main Event tonight is WWE NXT Champion Seth Rollins vs Cody Rhodes!"
First match:
Jason Jordan defeated Garrett Dylan with a flying neckbreaker. Good opening bout. Both worked the crowd to build both fan support for Jordan and heel heat for Garrett Both showed some good skills. A nice opening match
Next up Kassious Ohno comes to the ring for a promo basically copying C.M. Punks Chicago Raw promo stating that he should be in the Main Event facing either Cody Rhodes or Seth Rollins. He states that since he isn't in the main event that he is taking a personal day and the fans will not have the honor of seeing him compete tonight. Before leaving the ring he states that he will be checking his Twitter to see if #RollinsvsRhodes is trending at all later tonight. (Hmm! I smell a run in during the Main Event)
Second Match:
Aiden English vs Erick Rowan
Rowan wins with a choke slam. This was a typical small guy vs big monster type of match. Some decent back and forth but not much interaction with the crowd.
Richie Steamboat then comes to the ring to promote the raffle for a CM Punk Autographed ringside chair.
Match Three:
Special Grudge Match:
Dean Ambrose vs James Bronson.
Ambrose wins via submission with a modified STF. I have no idea what the grudge was here storyline wise but this was a very entertaining match. Lots of interaction with the crowd. Some wicked bumps and some great back and forth action.
Match Four:
Tag Team:
Mike Dalton and Xavier Woods vs The Bombers.
Bombers win when a member of the team trips Dalton while he was trying to bodyslam the other Bomber while Woods thinking that Dalton was in control was pandering to the crowd.
This was a good match that showed potential for these teams should WWE ever start to take the tag division seriously again. Dalton and Woods had a lot of bromance type of heel heat going and both teams worked hard to deliver a good solid tag match.
Match Five:
CJ Parker vs Roman Reigns.
Reigns pinned Parker with a power side slam. Good solid bout between two faces. A lot of good solid wrestling so far I can honestly say that all of the talents are working hard to entertain the fans in attendance.
Match Six:
Divas Triple Threat
Audrey Marie v Emma vs Paige
This was a very solid divas match and easily better than anything that has been on Smackdown and Raw including PPV's this year. A very entertaining match with a lot of good wrestling and some very interesting three way moves executed. Emma won by pinning Audrey after she landed on her after Paige kicked out of a pinfall attempt by Emma, A very creative ending. It's sad that the WWE doesn't take the divas more seriously when ity comes to actual wrestling because these ladies would have solid futures if they did.
Match Seven:
Tag Team:
Bo Dallas and Trent vs Cory Graves and Judas Delvin??
Dallas wins the bout by Spearing Graves for the pinfall, An excellent tag match featuring many of NXT's top talents and another example of how great the tag division could be if it were taken seriously. Lots of near fall, fast paced back and forth action, hot tags and great interaction with the crowd in attendance, Second best match of the night.
Before the Main Event they gave away the CMPunk chair. Fans booed the winner! They also announced that NXT will be live in Ft Lauderdale in October with Alberto Del Rio appearing for autographs
Main Event:
WWE NXT Champion Seth Rollins vs Cody Rhodes.
Rollins enters the ring and then Cody comes out to a huge monster pop! Cody is over huge here in Fort Pierce. He tales the mic from the ring announcer and thanks her for her introduction of Cody but he wants to do his own and proceeds to put himself over huge which the crowd eats up! Seth responds with a sarcastic clapping and then extends his hand to Cody which he refuses. Match starts and Cody get Seth with two hair pull take downs and the crowd is loving it as the Daniel Bryan 'YES! YES! YES!" make their first loud appearance of the night. Lots of solid wrestling action then begins as Seth shows that he can keep up with Cody. Cody then offers Seth a handshake and he accepts but then Cody smacks him in the mouth for his trouble. Seth retaliates and Cody walks out only to be pursued by Seth and brought back to the ring. Cody then gets the upper hand and proceeds to work Seth over with solid mat wrestling and submission holds. Crowd is into this match huge as the Yes chants and Cody chants are raining loud and proud throughout the Fenn Center. Cody then dumps Seth out of the ring and then grabs the NXT Title Belt and poses holding over his head as he is the new champion. YES chants continue for this. Seth returns to the ring only to get pummeled some more and Cody locks on the figure four. As a huge "TAP!! TAP!! TAP!!" chant breaks out Seth reverses the hold after failing to reach the ropes. Seth regroups to a corner where Cody charges him but misses as Seth ducks out of the way as Seth makes his comeback, The two start trading punches as the BOO...YAY chant breaks out. Seth then clotheslines Cody over the top and dives on to him over the top and throws Cody back in the ring.
At this point we get the suspected run in as Kassius Ohno hits the ring and starts attacking Cody. At this point the music hits "AMERICAN DREAM" as Dusty comes out and says that this should be a DQ win for his son Cody however it's not ending this way and that since Ohno was complaining about not being in the Main Event that he is now and as the Commissioner of NXT this is now a Triple Threat Match!
Ohno continues to pound on Cody however Seth returns to the ring and super-kicks Ohno who then walks right into Cody's finisher. As he attempts to pin Ohno, Seth tosses Cody out of the ring and scores the pinfall
WINNER: Seth Rollins
This was an outstanding match. Excellent crowd heat. The fans were into this match big time! This would be a great rivalry if and when Rollins get called up to the WWE and if they allowed them to work like this on TV and PPV. This would have been an excellent PPV main event if it was booked properly. One ofthe best house show matches I have seen in a long time.
After the match Cody returned to the ring with the NXT belt, handed it to Rollins and shook his hand. Rollins then cut a promo putting over Rhodes as the future of WWE and stating that if you thought Rollins vs Rhodes lived up to the hype them how about Rollins vs Rhodes II, II, IV, V and so on and that he wanted to be a part of Cody being the future of the WWE He also put the crowd over as living up to the hype as well.
Overall a very solid and entertaining show, Most of the matches ran about 10 minutes with teh exception of the last two which the tag match got about 15 and the Main Event about 20-25 minutes. All of the talents worked hard to entertain the fans and put on a great show. There are some solid workers that will make great WWE Superstars someday if they ever make it to the WWE.
2013 - Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson signed on to play the lead character in a feature film adaptation of 1980s action series "The Fall Guy."
On his Twitter yesterday, Johnson linked to an article about the film and wrote, "The unknown stuntman who moonlights as a bounty hunter.. Fired up to play the role. Cool, bad ass & fun."
The original series starred Lee Majors and ran from 1981-1986. Word broke on 9/5 that Johnson was in negotiations for the film.
The film is being co-produced by WWE Studios, making it the first production under that banner Johnson has starred in since WWE created their own Studio.
2013 - Ring of Honor broadcast ROH TV. Richard Trionfo filed the following TV report:
We begin this week’s show with a look back at what happened during the match between Michael Bennett and BJ Whitmer when Whitmer suffered an injury. Nigel says that they will provide updates on BJ’s condition. Since Bennett was able to continue, he will advance to the second round to face Tommaso Ciampa.
Nigel says that the people in Ring of Honor are elite athletes, but accidents do happen.
We are in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and your announcers are Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness.
Match Number One Roderick Strong versus Matt Taven (with Truth Martini, Scarlett and Selezia) in a First Round Match in the Ring of Honor World Heavyweight Title Tournament
They lock up and Taven with a wrist lock. Strong with a reversal and a take down. Taven with a reversal but Strong with a reversal and drop toe hold into a reverse chin lock. Strong with a front face lock but Taven gets to the ropes. Taven retreats to the ropes and then he goes to the floor after Strong spat on him.
Taven returns to the ring and they lock up and Taven with a knee and forearm. Taven with an Irish whip and Strong floats over and hits a drop kick. Strong with chops followed by a back breaker and he gets a near fall. Strong with a forearm to the back fo the head followed by a shoulder in the corner.
Strong with more chops to Taven. Truth grabs the leg and Taven gets a near fall with a rollup. Strong with a drop kick and he suplexes Taven and gets a near fall. Strong with knees and Taven sends Strong to the apron. Strong sends Taven into the turnbuckles. Truth grabs Strong’s leg again and Taven with a drop kick to the head.
Taven punches Strong on the floor and then he sends Strong head first into the table. Taven brings Strong back into the ring and he punches Strong. The referee warns Taven. Taven chokes Strong in the ropes. Taven with a delayed vertical suplex and Taven kips up.
Taven with a springboard senton for a near fall. Taven starts to focus on the leg and he drops an elbow to the leg. Strong with forearms. Strong with a rollup for a near fall. Strong with chops but Taven with a drop kick and he gets a near fall and Strong gets his foot on the ropes.
Strong kicks Taven but Taven with punches. Strong with forearms and Taven stops him. Strong with an Irish whip and Taven with an enzuigiri for a near fall. Taven with a sit out gourdbuster and then he goes up top for a moonsault but Strong gets his knees up.
Strong with a boot to a charging Taven. Strong with chops to Taven followed by a flying clothesline and a spinning side slam for a near fall. Strong with a running knee into the corner followed by a running forearm. Taven with a boot to Strong but Strong with a back body drop and a clothesline that sends Taven over the top rope to the floor.
Strong with a baseball slide through the ropes. Selezia gets on the apron and distracts the referee long enough to allow Truth to hit Strong in the back with the Book of Truth. Nigel says something to Truth. Strong appears to want Truth to stay at ringside. Taven tries to attack Strong from behind, but Nigel pulls Strong out of the way and Taven hits Truth instead.
Strong with a burning hammer back breaker on the apron and then Strong gets a near fall. Strong tries for a back breaker but Taven escapes and he hits a round kick. Taven runs into a boot from Strong and Strong with an enzuigiri. Taven with a round kick and Angel’s Wings for a near fall.
Taven goes up top but Strong with an enzuigiri and then Strong hits a superplex and he gets a near fall but he turns it into the Strong Hold. Taven tries to get to the ropes and he succeeds. Taven sends Strong into the ropes. Taven with Roll The Dice on the top rope and Taven goes up top for a frog splash and he connects but Strong kicks out.
Strong counters the snap mare driver with a back breaker and then he hits a head and leg back breaker followed by a flying kick to the knee. Strong with End of Heartbreak for the three count.
Winner: Roderick Strong (Advances to face winner of Kevin Steen versus Brian Kendrick)
We go to commercial.
Match Number Two: Match Number Eight: Kevin Steen versus Brian Kendrick in a First Round Match in the Ring of Honor World Heavyweight Title Tournament
Kendrick with kicks to the leg and elbows to Steen’s arm followed by a wrist lock. Steen with a punch and reversal into a hammer lock and Kendrick gets to the ropes. Steen with a single leg take down and Kendrick gets to the ropes and Steen breaks. They lock up again and Steen with a waist lock take down.
Kendrick with a waist lock into a side head lock. Kendrick with a shoulder tackle and Steen stays on his feet. Steen wants Kendrick to try again and Kendrick has the same result. Steen tells Kendrick the third time might be the charm. Kendrick ducks a clothesline and he connects with forearms. Kendrick with a float over into a victory roll.
Kendrick with a side head lock and Steen with a shoulder tackle. Steen with a drop kick and he poses. Kendrick goes to the floor and Steen holds the ropes open for Brian. Kendrick takes advantage of the twenty count to return to the ring. Kendrick returns to the ring and then he goes to the floor again.
Steen goes to the floor and he chases Kendrick around the ring. Kendrick gets back into the ring first and he connects with a shoulder. Kendrick goes to the apron again and Steen pulls him to the floor. Steen tries for a power bomb onto the apron but Kendrick escapes and gets onto the apron. Kendrick with an elbow and Steen with a slepper. Kendrick with Sliced Bread #2 on the apron.
The referee checks on both men. Kendrick returns to the ring first and Steen has trouble getting back to his feet. Kendrick with a baseball slide when Steen returns to the ring and he gets a near fall. Kendrick with a camel clutch. Steen backs Kendrick into the turnbuckles to try to get out of the hold. Steen goes to a second turnbuckle but with no luck. Kendrick holds on to the sleeper and Steen falls back to the mat and he escapes.
Kendrick with a forearm and Steen with a forearm. Steen with punches and forearms. Kendrick with a kick to the head but Steen with a lariat and a fisherman neck breaker for a near fall. Kendrick holds on to the ropes and Steen with forearms to the back.
Steen misses a charge into the corner and Kendrick with a drop kick. Kendrick goes for a Burning Hammer but he cannot get Steen up. Kendrick with a jaw breaker. Steen with a back elbow to Kendrick. Kendrick with a forearm and a modified Death Valley Driver for a near fall.
Steen goes to the apron and Kendrick tries to suplex Steen back into the ring. Steen blocks and he tries to suplex Kendrick to the floor. Kendrick with a forearm and Steen with a shoulder and Steen with a sunset flip that rolls into a Sharpshooter but Kendrick fights out of the hold. Steen catapults Kendrick onto the turnbuckles.
Kendrick with a tornado DDT for a near fall. Kendrick goes for Sliced Bread #2 but Steen counters with F-Cinq and Kendrick kicks out at two. Steen sets for the package piledriver but Kendrick escapes and hits a super kick. Steen sends Kendrick into the turnbuckles and hits a Sleeper suplex for a near fall. Steen charges into the corner but Kendrick pulls the referee in front of him.
The referee is moved out of the way and Kendrick with a low blow but Steen grabs Kendrick by the throat and hits a choke slam. Steen continues to hold his groin and Steen hits a Cannonball. Steen with the Sharpshooter. Kendrick taps out.
Winner: Kevin Steen (Advances to face Roderick Strong in the second round)
We go to commercial.
We are back and we see how Jay Lethal and Adam Cole advanced to the second round of this tournament.
Match Number Three: Jay Lethal versus Adam Cole in a Second Round Match (from All Star Extravaganza)
They circle each other for a while before locking up. They lock up and Lethal with a wrist lock. Cole rolls through to reverse. Lethal backs Cole into the corner and he gives Cole a clean break. They lock up again and Cole with a side head lock take down but Lethal with a head scissors and Cole escapes. Cole with another side head lock take down.
Cole with a shoulder tackle. Lethal stops short of a leap frog and he takes Cole down with a side head lock. Cole gets away and he takes Lethal down with a side head lock. Lethal with a chop out of a break in the corner. Lethal with a float over on an Irish whip. Lethal tries for a side head lock take down but Cole stays on his feet.
Cole tries for a La Magistral but Lethal is able to shift his weight and he gets a near fall of his own. Cole gets a near fall. Cole with a side head lock take down. Lethal gets back to his feet and he tries to send Cole off the ropes but Cole holds on to the side head lock. Lethal with forearms and he tries for a belly-to-back suplex. Cole lands on his feet.
Cole tries for a hip toss but Lethal blocks it. Lethal with a hip toss followed by a cartwheel, but Cole knows what is coming so he gets on his feet and he tries for another side head lock take down but Lethal blocks it and Lethal with a drop kick to the head. Lethal gets a near fall.
Lethal with an elbow to the head followed by a back breaker and Lethal gets another near fall. Lethal gets another near fall as he tries to wear down Cole. Lethal sends Cole into the turnbuckles and then he chops Cole. Lethal with more chops. Cole with a forearm and Lethal fires back. Lethal with a knee followed by a belly-to-back suplex and he gets a near fall.
Lethal with a rear chin lock. Cole with punches. Lethal tries for a super kick but Cole blocks it. Cole with a leaping neck breaker for a near fall. Cole with a snap suplex and he floats over and gets a near fall. Cole with a slam followed by a forearm drop and he gets a near fall. Cole with a reverse chin lock.
Lethal with elbows to try to get out of the hold and Cole with a waist lock but Lethal with a rollup for a near fall. Cole has a super kick blocked and Lethal with a back heel kick and snap mare followed by an inverted DDT and Lethal gets a near fall. Lethal puts the legs into a figure four and he elevates Cole. Cole counters and tries for a figure four leg lock but Lethal tries to fight Cole.
Cole applies the figure four but Lethal gets to the ropes quickly and Cole releases the hold. Cole with a forearm that staggers Lethal. Lethal with a punch. Cole with another forearm. Lethal with punches and chops. Cole with forearms. Cole is sent to the apron by Lethal. Cole goes to the floor and he connects with an enzuigiri.
Lethal with a springboard drop kick that sends Cole to the floor and Lethal with a suicide dive onto Cole and both men are down on the floor. The referee starts his count while Lethal and Cole struggle to get back into the ring. Lethal gets back into the ring first, followed by Cole.
Cole and Lethal are on their knees across the ring from each other. They exchange punches and forearms. Lethal with the advantage for a moment but Cole with the advantage. Lethal with punches and chops but Cole with a kick. Cole with a fireman’s carry neck breaker for a near fall.
Cole goes up top but Lethal stops him. Lethal with a chop to Cole and Lethal climbs the turnbuckles. Cole with forearms and punches and then Cole hits a sunset flip power bomb followed by a Shining Wizard but Lethal kicks out. Cole tries for a suplex but Lethal blocks it. Cole tries again and Lethal lands on his feet. Lethal hits the Lethal Combination for a near fall.
Lethal points to the turnbuckles and he goes up top for the elbow drop but Cole pops up. He punches Lethal to stop him. Cole sets for a superplex but Lethal blocks it. Lethal with a punch and head butt to send Cole to the mat. Lethal with a missile drop kick attempt but Cole backs up and Lethal does not connect. Cole tries for a figure four leg lock but Lethal counters with an inside cradle and a near fall.
Lethal with a back heel kick and he calls for the Lethal Injection. Cole grabs Lethal to stop his momentum but Lethal is able to come off the ropes but he is met with a super kick from Cole. Cole with a brainbuster neck breaker for a near fall.
Cole picks up Lethal but Lethal with a jaw breaker. Cole with an O’Connor Roll for a near fall. Cole has a super kick blocked but Cole with an enzuigiri. Lethal with a super kick but he misses a second one. Cole with a leg take down and he tries for a figure four leg lock but Lethal kicks him away. Cole misses a kick to the head and Lethal tries for a rollup but Cole is able to get away from Lethal.
Lethal with another super kick and Lethal goes up top for the elbow drop and he connects. Cole kicks out at two. Lethal tries to pick up Cole but Cole falls to the mat. Lethal tries to pick up the lifeless body of Cole. The referee checks on Cole. Cole with a super kick but Lethal backs Cole into the corner. Cole with a super kick to the back of the head.
Lethal escapes and he hits a back handspring into the Lethal Injection but Cole kicks out at two. Lethal tries to think of what he needs to do to win the match. Lethal picks up Cole and he puts Cole on the turnbuckles.
Lethal goes for a superplex but Cole escapes and he super kicks Lethal’s leg and it crotches Lethal. Cole with a release German superplex followed by a super kick and Florida Key for the three count.
Winner: Adam Cole (Advances to face winner of Michael Bennett versus Tommaso Ciampa in semifinals at Death Before Dishonor)
We go to credits.
2014 - TNA began work this week on a new series "TNA Legends" that featured old footage of different TNA talents and classic matches.
2014 - EVOLVE 35 was held in Brooklyn, NY. Mike Johnson filed the following live report:
Welcome to PWInsider.com's live, ongoing coverage of the EVOLVE 35 iPPV from The Lyceum in Brooklyn, NY.
EVOLVE released the following recap video of last night's EVOLVE 34 in Queens, NY:
Johnny Gargano vs. Drew Gulak
Gulak grabbed a side headlock. Gargano worked to escape and tried to work over Gulak's arm,but Gulak escaped and they faced off. Gargano grabbed an arm and began working it over. Gulak attempted a reversal but failed, but a second reversal succeeded. They faced off again, feeling each other out. They went back and forth with some really nice matwork before shaking hands and showing respect for each other.
Gargano attempted a single leg takedown but Gulak reversed and slipped on a one-legged Crab. Gargano rolled through and was able to grab a side headlock. Gulak reversed and was sent into the ropes. Gargano rolled through but was caught with a sunset flip variation for a near fall.
The pair locked up again, attempting to work over each other's arms. Gulak grabbed an Octopus and turned that into a second sunset flip. Gargano rolled through and turned it into an Indian Death Lock submission. Gulak was able to position his body in a way that Gargano almost pinned himself. Gargano grabbed a series of leglock submissions, controlling Gulak on the mat.
Gulak regained control on the mat, working over Gargano's shoulder. He trapped Gargano on the mat and nailed several strikes to the back, then cinched in a chinlock. They went back and forth with several counters and faced off, then shook hands again.
Gargano and Gulak battled back and forth with several armdrags before Gulak caught him with a stiff dropkick and tied up Gargano on the mat. He applied an anklelock but Gargano rolled through only to be nailed with an uppercut. Gulak missed a charge in the corner but was nailed with a rolling enziguiri. The crowd chanted for Gargano as he stalked and worked over Gulak. The crowd began a dueling chant. Gargano nailed several knees to the face and hit a leaping knee strike to the face before locking in going after Gulak's fingers and wrist.
Gulak was worked over in the corner and nailed with a superplex by Gargano. They battled over a suplex. Gargano won but Gulak landed on his feet and used a reverse roll into a Dragon Sleeper for a submission attempt. Gargano made it to the ropes to break the hold. Gulak was sent into the buckles like a lawn dart for a two count.
They battled back and forth in the center. They go back and forth with several awesome counters. Gulak grabbed an anklelock and dragged him into the center of the ring. Gargano made it to the ropes. Gulak tried to lock it in again but was nailed with several stiff kicks to the face. They went back and forth in a small package with a series of near falls. They rolled around the ring with Gargano finally ending up on top and almost scoring the three.
Gargano went for an enziguiri but Gulak turned that into an ankle lock attempt. Gargano slipped out and tossed him to the floor, the nailed a nice dive to the floor. They battled back in the ring with Gulak grabbing the ankleklocl. Gargano used the ropes to try and escape but missed a kick and was locked in a Crossface. Gargano reversed it and turned it into a Regal Stretch. Gulak tapped.
Your winner, Johnny Gargano!
A really nice back and forth match with some great reversals and near falls.
The two shook hands after the bout. Gulak left and Gargano saluted the crowd.
Su Yung and Mr. A from the Premier Athlete Brand came out. Yung is quite the hottie. She warned Gargano not to get in their way or their would be consequences. He asked if she was going to give him herpes. She ordered Mr. A to attack him. He attempted burt was taken down. Tony Nese and Caleb Konley hit the ring but Gargano slipped out and escaped.
Nese and Konley berated A and sent him to the back before the rest of the Premier Athlete Brand went to the back as well, arguing with some of the fans.
Tracy Williams vs. Timothy Thatcher Nice pop for Thatcher when he came to the ring. Williams was billed from Brooklyn so the crowd obviously loved that. They locked up and Thatcher forced Williams in the corner. They went back and forth on the the mat with some really good wrestling. There was some really crisp matwork and reversals. If you enjoy submission wrestling, this will really be up your alley.
Tracy Williams vs. Timothy Thatcher
Nice pop for Thatcher when he came to the ring. Williams was billed from Brooklyn so the crowd obviously loved that. They locked up and Thatcher forced Williams in the corner. They went back and forth on the the mat with some really good wrestling. There was some really crisp matwork and reversals. If you enjoy submission wrestling, this will really be up your alley.
Williams caught him with a stiff headbutt in between the eyes, which only served to piss off Thatcher. In the end, Thatcher nailed a butterfly suplex and a Fujiwara armbar for the submission.
Your winner, Timothy Thatcher!
Very good showing for each man.
EVOLVE champion Drew Galloway vs. Roderick Strong
The ring announcer accidentally said McIntyre, then corrected herself and said Galloway. She looked like she was beyond embarrassed.
Galloway wanted to put the belt up but the referee said that due to the rankings system, they could not do that. He said that if Strong beat Galloway, he would be in line for a shot. Strong said he would beat Galloway tonight, then beat him for the belt and Galloway would be as big of a failure here as he was in WWE, then attacked him....
The started strong with Strong and Galloway brawling all over the ringside area with stiff shots. Strong nailed a powerbomb onto the apron. He worked over Galloway in the corner, then nailed a big back suplex for a two count.
Strong grabbed a waistlock but Galloway eventually freed himself. He used a Judo throw but was caught with a leg lariat. Strong began arrogantly kicking at Galloway, who charged and nailed him with shots in the corner. He whipped Strong, who reversed and Galloway hit the buckles hard. Strong covered him for a two count.
Strong stretched Galloway on the mat and drilled him with a series of shots across the chest. Galloway battled back with hard shots but was caught with a forearm. Galloway nailed a leg lariat to rock Strong. Strong was caught and worked in the corner with a series of rights. Galloway nailed a tiltowhirl backbreaker for another two count.
Galloway came off the top with a flying clothesline for a two count. Strong nailed him with a big right hand but was nailed with one. Galloway caught him with a Sky High sitdown powerbomb for a two count. Galloway carried Strong, on his shoulders, to the ropes. Strong slipped off and nailed an enziguri. Strong attempted a superplex and nailed it.
Strong was the first to recover and nailed a series of strikes and an Olympic Slam for a two count. Strong picked him up on his shoulder but Galloway slipped out. Strong nailed him with a Gutbuster for a two count and caught him with a Boston Crab. Galloway made it to the ropes. Strong went for the Gibson Driver but Galloway shoved him off and nailed a big right. They traded blows but Strong nailed a leaping knee strike. He went for a move but was tossed into the buckles.
Galloway cut him off with a big lariat that looked awesome. He picked up Strong and went for a cradle tombstone, but Strong kicked up at the last second. McIntyre went for a Razor's Edge but Strong slipped out and nailed a series of knee strikes. Strong nailed the Gibson Driver for a two count. He nailed another but Galloway kicked out at the last second. This is really great stuff.
They continued the battle until Galloway finally scored the pin.
Your winner, EVOLVE champion Drew Galloway!
After the match, Strong grabbed the title belt and nailed Galloway with the belt, laying him out.
Biff Busick vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
Some really nice wrestling early, as you'd imagine. They went into a test of strength with Sabre being forced backwards to the mat as he bridged his shoulders up. Busick cut him off with a headlock and grinded away at him on the mat. They returned to their feet and faced off. They continued some really awesome mat work and reversals. Sabre was far more cocky than I remember him being when he worked for CZW a few years ago. They continued all the back and forth until facing off.
Busick caught Sabre with a several big uppercuts that dazed him. Busick locked him in a figure four headscissors and locked him up on the mat, trying to wear him down. Sabre trapped him on the mat, then forced him hand and arm down in an awkward position before stomping it into the mat. He focused his attack on Busick's arm. He continued the attack, snapping the arm awkwardly into a bad position, teasing that he might have damaged it.
Sabre continued working over Busick's arms as the audience rallied him. Sabre continued to control and forced Busick to the mat. Busick tried to nailed a belly to back suplex but Sabre landed on his feet and grabbed a half nelson for a suplex. Sabre cut him off and nailed a series of uppercuts in the corner, then nailed a butterfly suplex. He nailed a Dragon suplex for a two count.
Sabre came off the top but was nailed with a mid-air European uppercut. Busick finally caught him with the half nelson suplex. Busick placed him on top for a belly to back superplex. They battled on top. Sabre went for a sunset flip powerbomb but Busick held on and nailed him. Sabre took his legs out and nailed a big kick for a two count.
Both men were down and trying to recover as the audience rallied them. Sabre locked in a Kimura while vicing Busick's body. Busick went to the mat, where Sabre tied up his arms. He went for the Backlund Bridge but was grabbed into a rear naked choke. They went back and forth with some nice counters for near falls.
Sabre nailed another Dragon suplex. Busick grabbed a rear naked choke. Sabre tried to fight it out but was choked out.
Your winner, Biff Busick!
Another really strong match with a nice meshing of European and American mat wrestling styles and strikes.
After the match, they showed Timothy Thatcher watching from the crowd. Biff Busick made it clear he wants to see Thatcher in a rematch soon.
DGUSA Open the United Gate champions The Bravados with Moose vs. Anthony Nese & Caleb Konley with Mr. A & Su Yung
AR Fox came out and said that he has the option for any title match he wants. He knows he's a top contender and can get to the DGUSA Open the Freedom Gate title anytime so he's declaring he wants a title shot for these belts right now. The Bravados told him he can have a title shot next time because not only does he not have a partner, he doesn't have a friend. Out came Rich Swann.
So, we have a three-way Elimination.
Fox and Swann attacked the Bravados as the bell rang. Konley and Nese got involved and everyone began brawling. Fox hit a big dive. Swann went for one as well but Moose caught him and powerbombed him on the floor into Fox, which was cool.
The Bravados tried to score several two counts and isolated Swann, beating him down. The battle went all over until The Bravados were eliminated, which means we are going to have new champions. The Bravados, shocked, attacked Swann as the Premier Brand worked over Nese.
The Athlete Brand told the Bravados to leave. Moose got in their face. Mr. A wiped out Moose. Nese began berating him anyway.
Nese covered Fox and scored a two count. Fox tried to fight them off and tagged in Swann. Swann went nuts with all his intense, highflying offense. He was cut off by Konley and nailed with a punch. Konley missed a charge in the corner but was kicked and nailed with a leaping rana off the top. Swann's charisma in playing to the camera has really grown.
Swann went for the handspring stunner but was caught and nailed with a one armed powerbomb in the corner. They went into an awesome series of hot moves and near falls. Su Yung got on the apron to distract Swann. He grabbed her but Nese caught him. Swann went for an enziguiri but Nese ducked and she was nailed and was out.
Swann nailed Nese and Fox caught Konley with a Spanish Fly off the top. Konley blocked it and nailed a death valley driver off the top onto the apron, which was one of the craziest things I've ever seen. Nese nailed a 450 splash off the top on Swann and scored the pin.
Your winners and new DGUSA Tag Team champions, Caleb Konley and Tony Nese!
Just a batshit crazy match. That spot at the end with Konley was nuts.
Open The Freedom Gate champion Ricochet vs. Uhaa Nation
Ricochet was unable to use his speed and finesse to throw Nation off early. Nation cut him off and began suplexing him and throwing him around, but was only able to score a one count. Nation nailed a big gutwrench overhead suplex and locked in a rear chinlock.
Nation suplexed Ricochet again for a two count. He picked him up for an extended vertical suplex. Ricochet tried to escape but Nation's power was too much. Nation went for a move but Ricochet faked him out. Nation stopped on the apron and went for a moonsault but Ricochet moved. He hit the ring and nailed an awesome springboard shooting star press to the floor as the crowd chanted, "Holy sh**."
Ricochet tossed Nation back into the ring and drilled him with a kick. Nation seemed to be favoring his knee, which he once had surgery one. Ricochet drilled him and worked the knee over, using the ropes for leverage. Ricochet backed him into the corner and dropkicked the knee.
Ricochet nailed a springboard knee strike. They battled back and forth. Ricochet caught him with an Ace Crusher for a two count. He charged Nation and nailed a shooting star press for a two count. Ricochet tried to whip Nation out of the corner but he was too strong. Ricochet went for a move but was caught with an enziguiri for a two count. Nation went to the top and muscled him up for a superplex for another two count.
Nation went for a press slam but Ricochet slipped free. He nailed a series of kicks but missed an enziguiri. Nation went for a German suplex but Ricochet landed on his feet. Ricochet nailed a Northern Lights suplex and a big brainbuster. He went to the top for the shooting star press but Nation kicked up.
Ricochet went for a move but it was blocked. Nation missed a clothesline but caught Ricochet with a pair of powerbombs. He pressed and dropped Ricochet then nailed a standing moonsault but Ricochet caught him with a leg submission. Nation made it to the ropes.
Ricochet nailed him but was drilled with a right hand. They battled back and forth with strikes. Nation finally drills the champ with a right hand that sends him to the mat. Ricochet kicked him low in the knee and went for a move but was caught and drilled with a tombstone that looked brutal. Ricochet kicked out at the last second.
Nation went to the top for a big splash but missed. Ricochet nailed a spinning enziguiri. Ricochet went to go for the ropes but Nation cut him off. Ricochet drilled him with a kick to the head and sails with a 630 splash for the pin.
Your winner and still DGUSA Open the Freedom Gate champion, Ricochet!
After the match, Nation handed Ricochet the championship and raised his arm.
Ricochet took the mic and said that despite what you may read, he is here to stay for good. He asked everyone to give it up for Uhaa Nation (who had gone to the back). He said Nation has only been wrestling for four years and is one of the best in the world. He then said that Fox said he wants a title shot and he wants Fox but there's no way Fox is taking it from him either. He closed out by saying he is here to stay not just in EVOLVE and Dragon Gate Japan but Dragon Gate USA. He said he was the best in the world and he was here to stay.
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