Impact Wrestling
Date: June 25, 2026
Location: National Western Center, Denver, Colorado
Commentators: Tom Hannifan, Matthew Rehwoldt

It’s time for the last show before Slammiversary and as usual in that case, the show is mostly set. The World Title match is actually getting built up well enough, with Nic Nemeth getting under Mike Santana’s skin. Other than that, we have some more matches to build up, which should make for an engaging enough go home show. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening recap.

Opening sequence.

Here are the Broken Hardys to get things going. Matt talks about the Wicked Garden changing them but that is a good thing, as they have now ascended. They have been rebroken by fate and they will get the titles back at Slammiversary. This brings out the Righteous, who talk about how they have beaten the Hardys over and over. Here they stand more enlightened, but Matt threatens more violence.

Cue the System, who mock the whole idea of the weird stuff the other teams are talking about. Matt promises to retain the titles at Slammiversary and the big brawl is on. The Hardys throw in a ladder and Jeff climbs up, sending everyone running before he can dive. Sweet goodness the idea of another ladder match, or even more of the Hardys vs. Righteous, sucks the life out of this story.

In the back, Order 4 comes up to Daria Rae, who doesn’t like what Santino Marella has been doing. As a result, the Great Hands are now in the Tag Team Title ladder match. Well that was random, but that’s what the ladder match needed: more people!

Ash By Elegance vs. Mara Sade

Indi Hartwell is on commentary and the Elegance Brand is here with Ash. Hold on though as Ash has to freak out over the fans calling her a mark and she needs a mental health break RIGHT NOW. Actually M By Elegance can have the match for her. Cue Elayna Black to watch from the stage as Sade hammers away and low bridges M to the floor. The chase is on and Sade gets in a shot to cut M off. Back in and M grabs a hanging cutter out of the corner before grabbing a quickly broken chinlock. Sade hits a superkick and everyone gets in a fight on the floor. Sade’s tornado DDT looks to set up something off the top but Black decks her for the DQ at 5:30.

Rating: C-. So the idea here was basically a bait and switch, I’m assuming as Ash isn’t ready to get back in the ring yet. Fair enough, though her having issues due to fans calling her a mark is hardly the best story. Hopefully Ash can actually get back in the ring sooner than later (her wrestling in headphones or something could be amusing) and Sade getting a bigger win would be nice as well. Maybe do the two of them at the same time?

Post match the brawl is on with Hartwell and the Elegance Brand getting in. The Undead Realm runs in for the real save.

Eric Young tried to show Ricky Sosa how things worked and was disrespected. It’s a test and Sosa will learn at Slammiversary.

AJ Francis vs. Manny Lemons

Lemons tries a shot from behind to start and gets AA’ed for his efforts. A running knee in the corner lets Francis mock Elijah’s version of Old School. The TFL and Down Payment finish Lemons at 3:10.

Rating: C. This was just a squash but seeing Francis doing Old School, just like Elijah, doesn’t it impressive as much as it makes it seem like a lot of people can do it. Other than that, Francis continues to be decent as a big man as he has come a long way in a short while. TNA is probably his ceiling, but given where he was, that’s not half bad.

Post match Elijah pops up on screen to say he and Francis are fighting at Slammiversary with his name and likeness on the line. I’m not sure if that’s how contracts work.

Harley Hudson vs. Xia Brookside

Brookside jumps her to start fast but has to block a backslide attempt. Hudson knocks her back down and does some pushups on Brookside’s back, only to get stomped in the corner. Brookside kicks her into the corner and cranks on the arm before kicking her face first into the mat. Hudson fights up for a running hip attack in the corner and a fall away slam gets two. The middle rope elbow misses though and Darkside finishes Hudson at 5:54.

Rating: C+. Hudson has grown on me a bit in recent months and she could wind up being a nice addition to the midcard going forward. On the other hand you have Brookside, who almost has to win the title on Sunday as otherwise, what else is she supposed to do? It’s been set up perfectly well and it’s not like Lee is some top level champion. Just go with the logical move here and figure out what is next.

Post match Brookside goes after Hudson again but Lei Ying Lee….quickly walks to the ring for the save. What a sense of urgency.

Earlier today we had a sitdown meeting between Nic Nemeth and Mike Santana before their title match. Nemeth talks about how Santana has had a great year but Nemeth has had 23 great years. Santana goes through everything he has faced over the years and the title is his reward for the whole thing.

Yes Nemeth has done everything over the years and he deserves credit, but Santana was the one who put this company on his back and carried it forward. People thought Nemeth was going to be that guy but Santana actually was that guy. Nemeth brings up Santana’s daughter, which makes Santana take his sunglasses off. Santana decks him and the brawl is on, with Ryan Nemeth offering a distraction so Nic can send Santana into the title on the table.

Here is Moose, with JDC, for a chat. Moose is ready for the No Surrender match on Sunday, where you win when the other person’s cornerman throws in the towel. He suggests that payback is a b****, just like Alisha Edwards, which brings out Eddie and Alisha to interrupt. Eddie talks about rebuilding the System into a better version but JDC says that wrestling has made Eddie sick in the head.

JDC brings up their daughter and Alisha gets in his face before yelling at Moose for getting played. She calls Moose a coward as he leaves, which brings him back in but they avoid the violence as Moose and JDC leave. That’s two segments in a row where someone’s daughter was brought up. Maybe come up with something else?

Video on Ricky Sosa vs. Eric Young.

Mr. Elegance/Frankie Kazarian/Cedric Alexander vs. KC Navarro/Leon Slater/Giovanni Vinci

Alexander does the eternally fresh and never overdone “tag out at the bell” deal and Vinci takes over on Elegance to start. Navarro comes in to strike Elegance down for two and a slingshot dropkick hits Kazarian in the ropes. Everything breaks down and the good guys all hit dives for quite the positive reaction.

Back in and Elegance stomps on Slater hand before driving in some knees to the ribs. Alexander comes in and knocks Slater outside, where Kazarian gets in some cheap shots before sending him back inside. Slater fights up but Kazarian pulls his partners down, which is always a smart move.

A spinning crossbody takes Kazarian out though and it’s back to Vinci to clean house. Elegance saves Kazarian from a Doomsday Device and Navarro’s high crossbody is pulled out of the air. Everything breaks down and we hit the parade of strikes to the face and knockdowns until Slater hits Elegance with the Swanton 450. Kazarian is right there to roll Slater up for the pin at 13:54.

Rating: B. I love a good fast paced six man tag and it was a lot of fun here as a nice preview for Ultimate X. That match is going to be all about going nuts and doing one crazy spot after another and we more or less got this here. Throw in Amazing Red on Sunday and it should be even more fun with all kinds of craziness, which is the point of such a match.

Here is Nic Nemeth for a chat. He doesn’t think Mike Santana will be at Slammiversary so let’s just make him the World Champion right now. Nemeth wants Carlos Silva out here to give him the title but Ryan Nemeth falls through the entrance and a bloody Santana shows up for the beating. Security comes in to hold them apart and Santana goes into the crowd to end the show. They’ve taken a pretty much nothing story here and turned it into a hot feud. That’s impressive and it had to be done given how big of a show they have coming up.

Overall Rating: B. The best thing I can say about a go home show is that it made me more interested in the pay per view than I was coming in. They made that happen here and now I want to see how things go on Sunday. The main event match and the big segment at the end were both good and I’m interested in Slammiversary. This weekend is going to be packed and TNA needed to step it up to not get overlooked. This show did a good job of going in that direction and hopefully they can deliver on Sunday. Nice job here.

Results
Mara Sade b. M By Elegance via DQ when Elayna Black interfered
AJ Francis b. Manny Lemons – Down Payment
Xia Brookside b. Harley Hudson – Darkside
Mr. Elegance/Frankie Kazarian/Cedric Alexander b. KC Navarro/Leon Slater/Giovanni Vinci – Jackknife rollup to Slater

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Global Wars: Cincinnati Week Two
Date: June 25, 2026
Location: Andrew J. Brady Music Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

We’re back in Cincinnati for the second of what I’m assuming is two weeks of the show. It’s another case of the international stars showing up, along with AEW stars, who apparently count as guests. These things can be a lot of fun and hopefully it lives up to what we got last week. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

I was in attendance for some of this show, sitting in the ninth row on the floor with the entrance to my right.

Opening sequence.

AEW National Title: Ace Austin vs. Mark Davis

Davis is defending. Austin grabs the arm to start so Davis gives him a heck of a running shoulder. Back up and Austin low bridges him to the floor but Davis is right back in with a hard slam. A backsplash crushes Austin and he realizes he’s in trouble with this kind of power. Davis sends him hard out to the floor and Austin seems to come up favoring his hand, only to come back in with some chops anyway.

Davis’ charge only hits the corner though and Austin Russian legsweeps him into a legdrop. The Death Valley Driver with a squat gives Austin two and he kicks Davis in the head to cut off the running clothesline. They crash out to the floor and Davis hits the post but the Fold is blocked. A bridging cradle gives Austin two more but the big clothesline connects. Davis’ piledriver retains the title at 9:18.

Rating: B-. This was starting to roll at the end and it’s good to see Austin getting a chance. It would be better to see him win something, but at least he’s in a spot like this instead of sitting on the bench. What matters is that he’s getting in the ring and Davis gets to continue a rather nice roll.

Viva Van/Lacey Lane vs. Harley Cameron/Mina Shirakawa

Cameron is rather pleased with fans holding Mini Mones, which were somehow only made available after all these months. Lane and Shirakawa start things off with Lane taking her down into a front facelock. With that broken up, Van holds Shirakawa in the ropes for a running dropkick but Lane misses a charge in the corner. It’s off to Cameron with a high crossbody and a Shining Wizard gets two on Van.

Lane comes back in to catch Cameron in the corner with a running dropkick, setting up an armbar. That’s reversed into a belly to back suplex and it’s back to Shirakawa to clean house. A top rope double dropkick puts Lane and Van down and it’s off to the parade of knockdowns. Van kicks Shirakawa out of the corner and stereo running shots in the corner give Lane two. Shirakawa makes a quick running tag to Cameron though and That’s Her Finisher takes Lane out at 8:26.

Rating: C+. Cameron and Shirakawa are doing well enough as the team of two people whose partners left them and they happened together. It’s not like either of them have anything else going on so this is as good of an idea as they have. Give them a title shot and let them lose so we can move on to something else.

We recap the Women’s Owen Hart finals, with Athena helping Mercedes Mone attacking Maya World.

Billie Starkz vs. Syuri

They fight over a waistlock to start and Syuri hits a running knee in the corner. A running boot in the ropes knocks Starkz silly and her suicide dive is cut off with a forearm. Starkz is back up with a hanging Eye Of The Hurricane and a suplex gets two. A slap in the corner seems to wake Syuri up and it’s already time to trade the forearms. What was supposed to be a wheelbarrow bulldog doesn’t go very smoothly for Syuri but she’s able to grab a cross armbreaker.

With that broken up thanks to the ropes, Starkz plants her on the ramp but misses the Swanton. Back in and they trade rollups for two each but Syuri gets the cross armbreaker again. Starkz makes the ropes so Syuri kicks her in the head. The Electric Chair is broken up and a Last Shot gives Starkz two. The Swanton hits raised knees though and Syuri gets something like a reverse Octopus for the tap at 10:36.

Rating: B-. This was the match designed to give Syuri her win back after last week’s loss to Athena. The problem is it came against Starkz, which only means so much. At the end of the day, Starkz is little more than Athena’s lackey who loses just about every big match she has. Syuri is good, but she needs a bigger opponent.

Lio Rush is still creepy, but he’s now the TV Champion.

We look at the title match.

Action Andretti rants about how Rush shouldn’t have been in the match. Rush needs to enjoy his time with the title because Andretti is coming for it.

Premiere Athletes vs. The Opps

Nese poses at Bowens to start and Bowens is fine with posing right back. Bowens chops away in the corner and gets two off a quick suplex. Hook comes in and gets hit in the throat, allowing Beef to come in for a dropkick. A release northern lights suplex sends Beef flying before Shibata suplexes him on the apron and floor. Back in and Shibata grabs a Figure Four, with Beef grabbing the rope.

Nese comes back in and pulls Bowens outside for the group stomping. Back in and Daivari grabs a chinlock but Bowens is right back up with a running jumping Fameasser. Shibata gets to strike away as everything breaks down. Nese stomps Hook and Beef’s top rope splash gets two on Shibata. Some chops just wake Shibata up so he dropkicks Beef in the corner. The Athletes walk out and it’s the sleeper into the PK to finish Beef at 9:59.

Rating: C. Why was this on Global Wars? That’s been the question with three of the four matches on the show thus far, as Syuri has been the only star from outside AEW/ROH. Unless I’m supposed to believe that AEW is some big outside promotion, this has been quite the useless second week of a special in a long time. It doesn’t help that the Athletes feel like they’ve been in the same place since the start of ROH and the Opps are just sad without Joe.

Sammy Guevara brags about his success in Mexico with the Beast Mortos and he’s heading back to CMLL. Mistico can pick a partner and get a Tag Team Title shot. This will air next Friday on ROH, because apparently there’s an ROH show on Friday.

We look at Zack Sabre Jr.’s time in ROH.

Aaron Solo vs. Mike Nicholls

Like Sabre was going to be on this show. Nicholls starts fast and takes him outside for a drop onto the apron. A basement clothesline cuts off Solo’s comeback but he’s able to get in a suplex. Solo’s top rope double stomp gets two but Nicholls is back with a Deep Six for the pin at 4:25.

Rating: C-. This is a match that took place and I have no idea how this was the best use of someone like Nicholls. He won a squash match over someone who has never done anything important around here. It’s a case where the best thing that can be said is at least it was short, which isn’t a good sign in the slightest.

We recap Dalton Castle/The Outrunners vs. the Lethal Twists.

Dalton Castle and the Outrunners don’t think much of the Twists. Castle: “What the heck?”

Queen Aminata vs. Hanako

Aminata backs her up against the ropes to start and they trade shoulders to no avail. A shot to the leg takes Hanako down for the hips to the face and Hanako isn’t happy. They grasp hands and trade forearms until Hanako knocks her outside for the beating around ringside. Back in and Hanako Falcon Arrows her into the Boston crab, sending Aminata over to the rope. Aminata’s comeback is countered with a swinging suplex for two but Aminata kicks her in the face. The running kick in the ropes finishes for Aminata at 6:55.

Rating: C. Well, at least someone on her way to a title match in AEW didn’t lose this nothing match. I guess this counts as an international star having a big match against an AEW/ROH star as it’s not like there is much to compare it to. Aminata winning is a good thing, though it’s another ice cold match on a show full of them.

The Opps want a Trios Titles shot on Collision. These guys continue to feel pathetic.

Women’s Pure Rules Title: Deonna Purrazzo vs. Olympia

Purrazzo is defending under Pure Rules. They fight over wrist control to start until Olympia nips up and armdrags her down. Purrazzo realizes the power is an issue and goes with the wrestling, meaning it’s the Fujiwara armbar. Olympia makes the rope for the first break and knocks her into the corner for the slingshot Bronco Buster.

A basement dropkick gets two on Purrazzo and Olympia cranks on both arms. Purrazzo fights up and hits some running shoulders, setting up another Fujiwara armbar. That’s broken up as well and Purrazzo catches her up top, only for Olympia to gorilla press her down. A Last Chancery sends Purrazzo to the rope for her first break and the Fujiwara armbar retains the title at 8:52.

Rating: C+. Well thank goodness Olympia got the win here. It’s a smart thing to do when she’s on the way to a big title shot on a much bigger stage in three days. She’s been around AEW and ROH with middling results at best so giving her a win over someone like Purrazzo and establishing her as someone who matters and can win in an upset over a dominant champion is a great idea. Imagine how dumb you would have to be to have her lose in a taped show after giving her a title shot on the upcoming AEW card. That would just be plain ridiculous, so it’s great that she absolutely won here.

Overall Rating: D+. This was one of the biggest wastes of time that I have seen in years in wrestling. The matches were mediocre for the most part, the guest stars were barely a factor, the matches were ice cold and the ending result was idiotic. There was zero need to have this be a two week event, as a bunch of the matches here were just regular ROH matches that could have been on any given week. This was absolutely nothing and a big waste of the Global Wars name.

Results
Mark Davis b. Ace Austin – Piledriver
Mina Shirakawa/Harley Cameron b. Lacey Lane/Viva Van – That’s Her Finisher to Lane
Syuri b. Billie Starkz – Reverse Octopus
Opps b. Premiere Athletes/Beef – PK to Beef
Mikey Nicholls b. Aaron Solo – Deep Six
Queen Aminata b. Hanako – Running kick to the face
Deonna Purrazzo b. Olympia – Fujiwara armbar

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Summerslam 1989
Date: August 28, 1989
Location: Meadowlands Arena, East Rutherford, New Jersey
Attendance: 20,000
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Jesse Ventura

It’s the second edition of the show and again the main event is a tag match featuring Hulk Hogan and his best friend of the moment. In this case it’s Brutus Beefcake, teaming with Hogan against Zeus and Randy Savage. Other than that, the big story is Ultimate Warrior challenging Rick Rude for the Intercontinental Title. Let’s get to it.

Commentary welcomes us to the show and hypes up the main event.

Opening video, which might as well be any weekly TV show, albeit with some people doing….I guess you could call them Summery things.

Brainbusters vs. Hart Foundation

The Busters’ (with Bobby Heenan) Tag Team Titles aren’t on the line because they won the titles after the contract was signed, which is kind of a stretch to put it mildly. Hart and Tully start things off and Ventura acknowledges how good these two are in the ring. Anderson comes in with a drop toehold but Hart is right back on the arm. A hammerlock slam has Anderson in more trouble and it’s off to Neidhart.

The Harts take turns working on the arm but Anderson gets over for the tag…which doesn’t count as Blanchard’s foot was on the bottom rope. That’s not something you see very often. Anderson kicks Hart away and brings Blanchard back in, only for Hart to catch his kick to the ribs. The Harts start in on Blanchard’s arm for a change and even change behind the referee’s back as the referee is arguing with Anderson.

Blanchard’s chops have no effect and it’s back to Hart to work on the arm as Ventura can’t believe how one sided this has been so far. Blanchard reverses into a top wristlock but Hart bridges up (that’s impressive) and then flips away when Anderson grabs a double top wristlock (that’s impressive too). The Busters are double armdragged to the floor and Heenan wants a conference.

That doesn’t work for Neidhart, who throws Blanchard back in for a slugout with Hart. Blanchard manages to make a blind tag to Anderson and Hart is knocked down, but a Vader Bomb misses. Everything breaks down and the Busters are knocked outside again. Back in and Blanchard is sent face first into Neidhart’s boot and everything breaks down again. Neidhart is sent chest first into the buckle and Anderson gets to talk some trash. Blanchard grabs a reverse chinlock until Neidhart powers up, only for Anderson to come back in off another blind tag.

Back up and Anderson and Neidhart collide for a double down. That’s enough for Neidhart to bring Hart back in to hammer on Blanchard in the corner. Everything breaks down and Hart collides with Blanchard. Neidhart powerslams Hart onto Blanchard but Heenan has the referee. Anderson hits a middle rope ax handle and covers (while covering his head so the referee can’t tell he’s the illegal man in a brilliant move) for the pin at 15:57.

Rating: B+. Awesome match to start the show here with two all time great teams having an excellent match. The idea here was that the Harts were the better team, at least on this night, but Heenan (and then Anderson) cheating at the end was enough to turn things around. This was about two teams who knew what they were doing getting the chance to showcase themselves and believe it or not, it worked great.

Dusty Rhodes, in a snazzy hat, is ready for his match against the Honky Tonk Man. He hasn’t been this excited since his first date with Sally Good. Honky Tonk Man has been saying that Rhodes can’t wrestle and it’s time to prove that wrong. Rhodes was clearly having a blast here.

Dusty Rhodes vs. Honky Tonk Man

Jimmy Hart is here with Honky Tonk Man. Believe it or not, there is some stalling to start with both of them dancing a bit. Rhodes backs him into the corner about a minute in and hits a backdrop but it’s way too early for the big elbow. Back in and Rhodes works on the arm before messing with Honky Tonk Man’s hair. The atomic drop sets up an elbow to the head as it’s all Rhodes thus far.

Rhodes cranks on the leg a bit but Honky Tonk Man gets out and fires off some right hands. That’s broken up so Hart tries a distraction, which fails miserably as Rhodes chases him off. The distraction does let Hart slip Honky Tonk Man the megaphone for a shot to the ribs and the villain takes over. Hart gets in a bit of choking (Ventura: “Don’t you just love him Tony?”) and we’re off to the chinlock.

This stays on for a LONG time, with Ventura getting in a rant about how Rhodes is one of those annoying wrestlers who gets inspiration from the fans. Rhodes finally fights up and slugs away, looking a good bit like Apollo Creed in the process. Honky Tonk Man sends him into the referee so he calls for the guitar. Hart hits Honky Tonk Man by mistake though and Rhodes drops the big elbow for the pin at 9:42.

Rating: C+. I remember not liking this match very much before but, aside from the LONG chinlock, it really is a lot of fun. Rhodes knows exactly how to play to the crowd and make something like this goofy fun. The dancing turned it into a funny enough comedy match and I liked it more than I did in previous viewings. Fun stuff.

Post match Honky Tonk Man talks about Priscilla and Lisa Marie. He has a concert to do so someone help him find the stage. Yeah he’s fine.

Demolition and Jim Duggan (who is the King, meaning he has an American flag, the crown, a Demolition mask and an American flag 2×4 with a crown of its own) are ready for the Twin Towers and Andre The Giant. They’ve been flipping cars over and now it’s King Demolition, because Duggan wants to break things. Duggan’s look was so insane that I had fun with this.

Red Rooster vs. Mr. Perfect

They shove each other to start until Rooster right hands him back. Rooster’s slam falls backwards though and Perfect hits a heck of a dropkick. Back up and Taylor sends him outside for the slugout. Back in and Perfect grabs a PerfectPlex for the win out of nowhere at 3:25. Rooster hurt his ankle/knee or something in there, hence the short match.

Rating: C. Yeah there’s only so much you can do here with so little time and Rooster getting hurt in the middle. They didn’t have a choice but to go home in a hurry and that’s the best option they had. At the same time, Perfect was on the ascension around this time and you would be seeing even more of him in the coming months.

Rick Rude promises to make Ultimate Warrior into the Ultimate Liar. Bobby Heenan promises to do whatever it takes to retain the title. This wasn’t the original version that aired, as the Summerslam sign originally fell down, causing Gene Okerlund to swear. The wrong tape was played live and Tony and Jesse were caught completely off guard. Instead, it’s just a generic heel promo.

Rockers/Tito Santana vs. Rick Martel/Rougeaus

Slick and Jimmy Hart are here with the villains and there is a lot of talent in this one. Santana wants to start with Martel but gets Jacques instead. Everything breaks down in a hurry, with Santana and the Rockers hitting dropkicks to send the other three outside. Back in and Jannetty punches Jacques out of the air but a superkick cuts him off. Jannetty fights back up and brings Santana in to face Martel, who bails outside (for some hair rubbing from Jacques).

They get back in and a shot to the knee takes Santana down. A double back elbow has Santana in more trouble, with Martel firing off some shoulders in the corner. Santana gets two off a quick sunset flip but Martel chokes him back down. It’s back to Raymond for the Boston crab before Jacques adds an abdominal stretch. The villains take turns switching without a tag and Ventura, of course, loves it. The chinlock goes on but Jacques eventually misses a running knee to Raymond.

Michaels comes in off the tag and the fans go NUTS as he cleans house. Jannetty gets backdropped onto Martel and Jacques elbows Martel by mistake. Everything breaks down and Santana forearms Martel out to the floor. The Rockers and Rougeaus brawl on the floor and Hart offers a distraction, allowing Jacques to knee Jannetty in the back. Jannetty reverses that as well but Martel gets in a cheap shot and steals the pin on Jannetty at 14:58.

Rating: B+. This was an absolute hidden gem, with everyone involved working hard with a hot finish. The fact that I’ve seen the match multiple times and was genuinely expecting Jannetty to get the pin before the last second save tells you a lot about how good this was. You had some outstanding talent in there and they had a killer match here.

Long recap of Ultimate Warrior vs. Rick Rude. Warrior lost the Intercontinental Title to Rude at Wrestlemania thanks to some cheating from Bobby Heenan so Warrior wants revenge. Rude attacked him early, with Andre the Giant playing security but not realizing that Warrior fought back. Later on, Warrior jumped Rude and beat him up for a change, only for Rude and Andre to beat Warrior up a few weeks later in quite the scary visual.

Warrior shouts a lot about the eighth wonder of the world and eating Rick Rude alive.

Intercontinental Title: Rick Rude vs. Ultimate Warrior

Rude, with Bobby Heenan, is defending. They circle each other to start with Rude realizing that he might be in trouble. Rude slugs away to no avail so Warrior clotheslines him out to the apron. Warrior knocks him to the floor, sending Ventura into a rant about how none of this is legal and how Schiavone is dumber than Gorilla Monsoon. Back in and Warrior hits a top rope ax handle for two.

The atomic drop gives us the required funny sell from Rude, with Warrior doing his own hip swivel. Rude gets in a cheap shot to the back and starts hammering away, setting up a suplex for two. We hit the reverse chinlock to stay on the bad ribs but Warrior is fine enough to block the Rude Awakening. Rude tries a sleeper instead, with Warrior countering but taking out the referee by mistake. Warrior hammers away and hits a powerslam but there is still no referee.

A piledriver gets a VERY delayed two thanks to the foot on the ropes. Warrior hits another running powerslam but the splash hits raised knees. Rude is back up with a piledriver of his own (though he knees forward like a Tombstone for a weird twist) for two of his own and he drops a top rope fist for the same.

Cue Roddy Piper (already having issues with Rude) as Rude hits another piledriver for two more (geez and I thought AEW killed that move)…and Piper distracts Rude by lifting up his kilt. Warrior German suplexes him off the middle rope and hits a flying shoulder into the gorilla press and Warrior Splash for the title at 16:03.

Rating: B-. While it’s not quite as good as the Wrestlemania version, this was another good match from two guys who certainly worked well together. That’s all it needed to be, with Warrior getting the title back on the way to his main event push. Rude didn’t feel like a flash in the pan and got a lout out of being champion, with what feels like an awesome feud against Piper coming up.

Sean Mooney is in the crowd and thinks this is awesome, even as Ventura rants about Piper.

Mr. Perfect calls the Red Rooster a stepping stone.

Roddy Piper laughs at Bobby Heenan’s loss and blows his nose before praising the Ultimate Warrior. OF COURSE he cost Rude the title. Why would you have expected anything else?

Ronnie Garvin, in a tuxedo, says he has a special assignment tonight but Bobby Heenan comes in to rant about how Piper had NO REASON to be at ringside. Rick Rude comes in and does NOT like being called the former champion. Rude rants about Piper and promises to be the champion again. Heenan wants the match started again and can’t even speak from being so upset.

We get a five minute intermission, thankfully cut out on Peacock.

We get a recap of Hulk Hogan vs. Zeus, which started back in May when Zeus beat him down before a cage match on Saturday Night’s Main Event. The idea was that Zeus was the villain in the movie No Holds Barred but wants a real life fight. Naturally he’s called Zeus (the character’s name) rather than anything else, because Hogan, real person, is fighting Zeus, the movie character. Maybe it’s better if you don’t think about it too much. Anyway Hogan hit Zeus with a chair to no effect but maybe he can make it work in a tag match.

Demolition/Jim Duggan vs. Twin Towers/Andre The Giant

Bobby Heenan and Slick are here with the heels (Big Boss Man and Akeem as the Towers if you’re not familiar). Duggan even has the American flag face paint in case the other four things weren’t enough. Demolition work on Akeem’s arm to start and pound him down as they are known to do. Ax elbows Akeem down but it’s quickly off to the Boss Man, who gets chopped in the head.

It’s back to Ax to hammer away but Boss Man manages a few shots of his own in the corner. Duggan comes in to start on the arm but Ax allows the tag to Andre, meaning it’s time for the real beating to begin. That’s broken up rather quickly and it’s off to Smash, who (rather easily) slams Akeem, only to get dropped by a single shot from Andre. The splash connects but Duggan blasts Akeem with the 2×4 to give Smash the pin at 7:29.

Rating: B-. I’ve long since been a Demolition fan and this was a good example of why. There was something so fun about watching them hammer people down, as they lived up to the idea of demolishing them. Good effort here, even if it was clear that Andre’s body was breaking down in a hurry.

Ted DiBiase, with Virgil, is ready to beat Jimmy Snuka.

Greg Valentine vs. Hercules

Ronnie Garvin is guest ring announcer, having been suspended as a wrestler and referee, and doesn’t think much of Valentine. Garvin introduces Valentine as “his so called opponent” with a pipsqueak of a manager named Jimmy Hart, who claims to be from Seattle, Washington and who Garvin thinks is overweight by about 30lbs. Oh and his robe is covered with cheap rhinestones and you can’t tell if he’s coming or going.

Hercules slugs away to start and knocks Valentine to the floor, including a beating in the timekeeper’s area. Back in and Valentine slugs him down but the figure four is broken up. A suplex goes to Hercules and he hammers away in the corner, only for Valentine to sweep the legs and get a cheating rollup for the pin at 3:04.

Rating: C. Despite my eternal dislike of Garvin, the feud with Valentine was funny and if he could have done a better series of insults to start, it would have been even better. The match itself was nothing, but dang it was funny watching Valentine getting angrier and angrier at Garvin. Fun stuff here, with the match being an afterthought.

And hang on as Garvin calls Hercules the winner, and after some consultation, Hercules is indeed named the winner by DQ. Valentine decks Garvin and slugs it out with Hercules but Garvin gets up and drops Valentine with the big right hand.

Randy Savage, Sherri and Zeus are around a cauldron and promise to destroy Hulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake. Sherri sees Hogan and Beefcake defeated and Savage sees…uh, the same thing. Oh and Elizabeth will be destroyed too. This is still one of the weirdest promos I’ve ever seen.

Ted DiBiase vs. Jimmy Snuka

Virgil is here with DiBiase, who brags about ending Jake Roberts’ career. DiBiase jumps him to start but Snuka fights back for a knock out tot he floor. Virgil gets decked as well and an atomic drop sends DiBiase over the floor (with one of his always great bumps). Back in and DiBiase shrugs off a ram into the buckle and hammers Snuka into the corner.

Snuka fights back until he charges into a hot shot, followed by a backbreaker. The falling elbow misses though and Snuka hits a top rope headbutt. Instead of covering he goes up though, allowing Virgil to offer a distraction. DiBiase is back up with a posting for the countout at 6:26.

Rating: C. Not much to this one, as it was little more than a midcard match between two guys who weren’t as big as they used to be. It seemed like more of a filler match to get us to the main event, which isn’t a great sign for someone who headlined this show last year. Not bad, but you could cut this from the card and not lose a thing.

Post match Snuka jumps both villains and hits the Superfly Splash on Virgil.

Sean Mooney is still in the crowd and still doesn’t have much to say.

Hulk hogan and Brutus Beefcake talk about….Moses and the parting of the Red Sea? Brutus talks about the sharpness of his blades and Hogan talks about some sexy legs wrapped around his motorcycle. Somehow, less weird than the cauldron. Not much less, but less.

The Genius reads a poem about Hogan and Beefcake losing because they don’t have the cards.

Randy Savage/Zeus vs. Hulk Hogan/Brutus Beefcake

Sherri is here with Savage and Zeus so Hogan has Miss Elizabeth introduced, freaking Savage out all over again. With that out of the way, Zeus chokes Hogan down to start and grabs the bearhug, with Savage adding a top rope ax handle to the back. Savage grabs a sleeper before it’s back to Zeus for the bearhug.

That stays on for a good while until it’s back to Savage, who gets suplexed down. It’s finally off to Beefcake for the running knee and a sleeper but Savage sends him into the buckle. Zeus comes back in so beefcake rakes his eyes and grabs the sleeper again. Sherri slips in the loaded purse though and Savage gets in the big cheap shot. The slow beating ensues with both villains getting in some choking.

Beefcake finally gets in a shot of his own though and it’s back to Hogan, who boots Savage to the floor. Zeus drops Hogan again so Savage comes in for the elbow….and Hogan pops up. Hogan slugs away on Zeus and a clothesline finally puts him down on one knee. Sherri tries to come in but Elizabeth shoves her in. Beefcake shoves Savage, with the purse, off the top. The loaded purse to the face rocks Zeus and Hogan slam him down. The legdrop finishes for Hogan at 15:12.

Rating: C. Maybe it’s the lack of Jesse Ventura as the referee, or a monster who knew what he was doing in the ring (not Zeus’ fault) but this falls pretty far from last year’s similar main event. I kept losing interest in this one and that’s not a good sign for the main event. If nothing else, it didn’t feel like some big blowoff, even with Hogan getting the pin on Zeus. Not much of a main event here, but to be fair they only had three wrestlers doing the work of four.

Post match Hogan and Beefcake hold them off with the sheers and CUT SHERRI’S HAIR. Posing ends the show.

Overall Rating: B. This show starts off great and then kind of sputters out near the end, but I had a lot more fun this time around than I was expecting. That was a nice surprise and at just over two and a half hours, it certainly doesn’t overstay its welcome. That first six man is more than worth a look and the opener is a genuine dream match from this era. It’s not an all timer, but it would have been very close with a better main event.

Ratings Comparison

Original: B+
2013 Redo: B
2025 Redo: B+

Honky Tonk Man vs. Dusty Rhodes

Original: F
2013 Redo: D-
2025 Redo: C+

Mr. Perfect vs. Red Rooster

Original: C+
2013 Redo: D
2025 Redo: C

Rick Martel/Fabulous Rougeaus vs. Tito Santana/Rockers

Original: B+
2013 Redo: B
2025 Redo: B+

Ultimate Warrior vs. Rick Rude

Original: A-
2013 Redo: B
2025 Redo: B-

Jim Duggan/Demolition vs. Andre the Giant/Twin Towers

Original: C+
2013 Redo: C
2025 Redo: B-

Hercules vs. Greg Valentine

Original: F-
2013 Redo: D
2025 Redo: C

Ted DiBiase vs. Jimmy Snuka

Original: D
2013 Redo: D
2025 Redo: C

Hulk Hogan/Brutus Beefcake vs. Randy Savage/Zeus

Original: B-
2013 Redo: D+
2025 Redo: C

Overall Rating

Original: B-
2013 Redo: C+
2025 Redo B

Yeah it’s better than I said, especially Rhodes vs. Honky Tonk Man.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Evolve
Date: June 24, 2026
Location: WWE Performance Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Peter Rosenberg, Blake Howard

It’s time for another big show here with Succession III. As usual that means we have a pair of title matches, with Nikkita Lyons challenging Wendy Choo for the Women’s Title and Aaron Rourke defending the Evolve Title against Max Abrams. In addition, we have some fresh names debuting here, which should be interesting. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Aaron Rourke and company arrived, saying he owned Succession.

Max Abrams and the Mog Squad seem to disagree.

Nikkita Lyons, with Sloane Jacobs, is ready to win her first title.

Wendy Choo is ready to retain.

Opening sequence.

Women’s Title: Nikkita Lyons vs. Wendy Choo

Lyons, with Sloane Jacobs, is challenging. They fight over a lockup to start and even go to the mat without breaking it up. Choo switches over to a headlock to grind away but Lyons gets up and sweeps the leg. Back up and Choo gets in a Thesz press to hammer away, followed by a hurricanrana out of the corner. Choo sends her outside but Jacobs gets in a distraction, allowing Lyons to get in a kick to the head as we take a break.

We come back with Lyons fighting out of the corner but getting caught with a heck of a DDT. They get up and strike it out until Choo fires off some clotheslines. A hammerlock lariat sends Lyons into the corner and a neckbreaker back out of the corner gets two more. The sleeper is blocked though and Lyons hits an overdrive of all things for two of her own. Choo’s full nelson slam gets two more and the Dirt Nap goes on.

They fall outside with the hold not being broken so Lyons rams her into the steps for the break. Back in and a super Michinoku Driver of all things gives Lyons another near fall. Lyons punches her down and tries a Vader Bomb, which is countered into a powerbomb. The Dirt Nap goes back on so Jacobs puts the title on the apron. Jacobs’ distraction means the referee doesn’t see Lyons tapping so here is Laynie Luck to cut Jacobs off. Choo cuts off a belt shot and rolls Lyons up for two so Lyons hits her with a crystal. The spinning kick gives Lyons the pin and the title at 11:14.

Rating: C+. The match was ok enough and while I don’t get the appeal, it was pretty much now or never with Lyons. She has been around for a long time now and hasn’t won anything and that could only go on for so long. The match had enough shenanigans to protect Choo but she never felt like a top level champion anyway. Lyons gets her chance to do something though and that could be quite the run, one way or another.

Video on how important a title can be for an Evolve star.

KevOnStage, next week’s guest GM, talks about being a big fan his entire life but It’s Gal interrupts. He wants a match next week so Kev gives him Cutler James.

Kai Kavari vs. Kale Dixon

Dixon is hyped up as a veteran of THIRTY MATCHES in NXT and shoves Kaivari around to start. That includes some trash talk before Dixon gives him a reverse gordbuster before stomping away in the corner. A clothesline lets Dixon swivel his hips a bit and he drops Kaivari with a superkick for two.

The chinlock goes on, allowing commentary to make vegetable puns. Kaivari fights up and strikes away, with a dropkick knocking Dixon into the corner. A blonde woman (commentary doesn’t recognize her) pops up for a distraction and Dixon hits the 96 (a discus forearm) for the pin at 3:38.

Rating: C. Of all the people who get their names changed because a tag wrestler on another roster might have the same last name, the man named after a vegetable can’t get a name change. He can be as talented as he wants but that is a heck of a mountain to overcome. The match itself was fine, with Dixon seemingly getting something of a push in his debut. I’ve heard worse ideas, including naming a wrestler “Kale”.

We get a vignette of a woman whose face is all glitchy. She describes herself as the voice that keeps you awake at night and the nightmares you can’t wake up from. Evolve will fear the unknown and she is already here. Her face is imposed over a bunch of rather creepy images as she keeps talking about fearing the unknown. I’ve seen worse.

Evolve Title: Max Abrams vs. Aaron Rourke

Abrams, with the Mog Squad, is challenging and hang on as KevOnStage says all the Squad has is hair and muscle. They have a match against the ID team next week and it’s going to be an elimination match. What a time to make an announcement. After the Big Match Intros, and seeing Harlem Lewis in the VIP area, Abrams misses a running kick to start and gets stomped in the corner.

Abrams goes outside for a meeting with the Squad but gets taken out by a dive. Back in and Rourke cuts off a leapfrog with a flapjack before chopping away in the corner. That lets Rourke strut a bit (makes sense in his case) but the Squad trips him down on the apron. A flipping neckbreaker gives Abrams two and we go split screen for an interview with Lewis, who doesn’t like the interference.

Lewis acknowledges that Rourke is tough, but Rourke has never pinned him. When Lewis is done with Braxton Cole, Rourke is next. We take a break and come back with Abrams getting two off a missile dropkick but the Main Objective is blocked. A release Rock Bottom out of the corner drops Abrams again and Rourke scores with a corner dropkick. Abrams knocks him back and goes up but gets super powerslammed back down.

Rourke stomps away but bangs up his knee and gets sent face first into the middle buckle. Abrams catches Rourke up top and pulls him into a neckbreaker for two and it’s time for the yelling while punching. Rourke forearms his way out of trouble and catches him with a spinning kick to the face. Abrams gets in a shot of his own and falls on top for two, leaving them both down.

Back up and Abrams drives him into the corner and the referee gets kicked down by mistake. Rourke’s kick connects for no count so the Squad comes in. Lewis is there to cancel them out but Braxton Cole is here to pull Lewis outside. The Squad gets in a belt shot to give Abrams a rather close two and here are the ID stars to even things up. Abrams takes Rourke up top but gets dropped down, setting up the Molly Go Round to retain the title at 13:44.

Rating: B. This got better near the end when things went insane but it was only so interesting until then. Rourke has come a very, very long way and feels like the top star around here, which is a heck of an accomplishment. I was expecting Abrams to win here but it should let Rourke go on for a bit, even if Lewis seems to be waiting for him in the end.

Post match the ID guys and Squad have a staredown but security come in…and lay out everyone to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. This definitely felt like a big show and that is nice to see, as the whole point is giving Evolve a special show. The good thing is they haven’t run these things into the ground, which can often happen with WWE specials. The main event got better as it went along and the ending is intriguing, especially with Thatcher gone next week. Good show here, odd vegetable man’s name aside.

Results
Nikkita Lyons b. Wendy Choo – Spinning kick to the head
Kale Dixon b. Kai Kavari – 96
Aaron Rourke b. Max Abrams – Molly Go Round

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Dynamite
Date: June 24, 2026
Location: Rio Rancho Events Center, Rio Rancho, New Mexico
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Excalibur, Taz

It’s the last Dynamite before Forbidden Door and the finals are officially set for the Owen Hart Cups. That means we need to have the big hype segments for Sunday’s final showdowns. As for tonight, Zack Sabre Jr. is here again to face Jack Perry in his Forbidden Door warmup match. Let’s get to it.

Here is Collision if you need a recap.

Jon Moxley gives the Death Riders a pep talk. Will Ospreay gets in their bouncing circle and falls down. Well of course he did.

Death Riders vs. Brodido/Mistico

Yuta grabs Bandido’s arm to start and they trade takedowns. Back up and Bandido snaps off a running headscissors before headlocking Moxley. That earns Bandido a trip into the corner, meaning Castagnoli can stomp him down. Bandido shrugs that off and brings Mistico in to get a rather spinning headscissors to take Castagnoli down.

It’s off to King for the big man slugout and of course King can run the ropes to springboard into a double wristdrag to Castagnoli and Moxley. The Riders are sent outside for a triple dive and we take an early break. We come back with Bandido still in trouble and Moxley getting two off a suplex.

Bandido gets in a running kick to the chest and Mistico gets the much needed tag. That means house can quickly be cleaned, including a quick sunset flip for two on Castagnoli. Bandido muscles Castagnoli over for a suplex but Marina Shafir offers a distraction. That’s enough for Moxley to get in a belt shot and roll King up for the pin at 12:19.

Rating: B. This was a good, hard hitting opening match with King getting to showcase his impressive athleticism. At the same time, this doesn’t make Bandido look strong going into his title shot and Mistico has his upcoming tag match and this…really had nothing to do with that either. It’s a weird way to go, though Bandido getting a pin here would have made a bit more sense.

Post match Bandido has a quick staredown with the Riders.

The Conglomeration is ready to fight in the cage at Forbidden Door. Darby Allin is ready to fight and the team promises to load up their backpacks. The rest of the team leaves and Orange Cassidy looks a bit annoyed but insists he’s fine. Renee Paquette doesn’t seem convinced.

Survival Of The Fittest Qualifying Match: Marina Shafir vs. Harley Cameron

Cameron is in Supergirl inspired gear and gets kicked in the ribs to start fast. Shafir mounts her but Cameron is right out into a half crab. That’s broken up as well and Cameron knocks her outside for a crossbody off the steps. Back in and Shafir gives her an AA and we take an early break. We come back with Shafir snapping off some judo throws but Cameron manages a belly to back suplex. Cameron hammers away in the corner until Shafir knees her right back. The half crab is broken up again so Shafir flips her into a choke, only to have Cameron backflip into a cradle for the pin at 7:52.

Rating: C+. This was a nice surprise victory for Cameron but what matters the most here is that Cameron is going to be in next week’s match. I’m not sure if she’s going to win the title and she probably won’t, but at least she’s going to bring her rather amazing charisma to the whole thing. She’s a good bonus to the match and could even win the whole thing, which is kind of stunning considering where she was when she first came to AEW.

Video on Maya World vs. Mercedes Mone in the Women’s Owen Hart Cup finals.

Will Ospreay vs. ELP

ELP (El Phantasmo) works on the arm to start and runs Ospreay over with a shoulder, earning him a nip up. Ospreay sends him outside without much trouble and hits a slingshot dive but ELP is back up with a quick drop onto the apron. One heck of a moonsault takes Ospreay down again and we take an early break.

We come back with Ospreay hitting an enziguri, only for ELP to grab a tornado DDT. Ospreay’s forearms make ELP laugh and they trade kicks to the head until Ospreay grabs a standing Spanish Fly. ELP gets in a superkick for two of his own but Ospreay flips over into a Styles Clash. The Hidden Blade pins ELP at 10:42.

Rating: B-. It was another entertaining match with Ospreay getting to do all of his stuff, though again I’m not sure how well this did to make Ospreay look great. It did a good job of building up ELP, who hung with Ospreay for a good while before getting taken out. That’s something that happens quite a bit during this season and it’s kind of annoying as Ospreay is in the likely main event of Forbidden Door and ELP isn’t likely going to be here beyond tonight.

Post match Swerve Strickland and Prince Nana come out for a staredown, with Ospreay leaving through the crowd.

Swerve Strickland vs. Daniel Garcia

Garcia walks in from outside and…how long has he been waiting out there? Strickland runs him over to start so Garcia pops up to get in Strickland’s face. That’s not a good idea as Strickland shoves him down and stomps away, setting up a running boot to the floor. This time Garcia pulls Strickland down for a hammering but takes too long yelling at a fan. Strickland kicks him in the face again and we take a break.

We come back with Strickland missing a Swerve Stomp to the apron and getting his leg dragon screw whipped. Strickland’s leg is fine enough to roll over and drop Garcia with a suplex. Garcia’s clothesline is shrugged off so he kicks out the leg instead. The ankle lock has Strickland in more trouble but he backbreakers his way out. A powerbomb is spun into a powerslam (cool) to plant Garcia, who pops up with a Styles Clash for two of his own. Strickland House Calls him for two, followed by a Hidden Blade to finish Garcia at 12:25.

Rating: B. Much like the previous match, this was a good way to build up someone who has nothing going on while the person set for a big match on Sunday is going 50/50 with Garcia. If protecting Garcia is that important (and I’m sure it is for whatever reason), don’t put him in the match. Strickland and Ospreay should have looked like killers in their matches and instead they’re just out there taking 10+ minutes to beat stars beneath them.

Post match Strickland goes after Garcia’s arm so Ospreay runs back in for the brawl. Nana offers a distraction though and Strickland gives Ospreay the House Call. A Vertebreaker drops Garcia and Ospreay chases Strickland off with a chair.

Video on Team Ospreay vs. Team MJF.

Don Callis and his Family are ready to win but MJF cuts them off to rant about Mark Briscoe. The reality is that Briscoe has never beaten MJF and that isn’t going to change. MJF thinks the two sides haven’t been on the same page but Callis whips out a shirt for TEAM DCMJF and yes the image is of them muscular and in limited clothing. MJF and Callis love it but the Family is less than impressed.

Jack Perry vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

Sabre takes him down with a cravate and shrugs off Sabre’s attempt to go after the leg. They fight over a double arm crank until Perry rolls him up for some near falls. A very near fall sends Sabre outside but he’s fine enough to start in on the arm, including snapping it over the top rope.

We take a break and come back with Perry hitting a Sliced Bread but getting sent outside. Sabre grabs a cross armbreaker on the floor but has to let it go, allowing Perry to hit another Sliced Bread on the apron. A moonsault to the floor takes Sabre out again, only for him to grab a triangle choke back inside. Perry reverses into a sitout powerbomb for two and the Snare Trap has Sabre in trouble for a change. Sabre twists the arm around to escape so Perry grabs a package powerbomb for two more. That earns him a double arm crank, with Sabre using his leg to pull Perry’s arm down for the submission at 13:12.

Rating: B-. This was a good example of Sabre getting to take Perry apart, which boosts him up on the way to facing Kenny Omega on Sunday. Granted we saw Sabre do something similar in his most recent match around here so it was only so necessary. It’s certainly fitting the theme for the night though and we’ll get the big match with Omega soon enough.

Young Bucks vs. TMDK

Tito jumps Matt from behind to start fast but the Bucks are right back with their stereo running bulldogs. A double clothesline puts TMDK on the floor for the stereo dives, followed by some back elbows to the face back inside. Matt gets crotched on top though and Nick gets pulled out of the air, with a spinebuster getting two on Matt in a big crash. Matt flips away from both of them though and grabs a DDT, allowing the tag off to Nick. House is cleaned and the Superkick Party is on, setting up the Meltzer Driver to pin Nicholls at 4:20.

Rating: C+. It was fun while it lasted and I’ll take this over the rest of the matches, as the Bucks get a pretty nice win over a team who doesn’t have anything going on. That’s a good way to go here as there was no reason to have the Bucks in any serious trouble. Nice enough job here and I’ll take that just about all the time.

Post match TMDK jumps the Bucks and Kenny Omega makes the save. Forearms are exchanged with Sabre and TMDK bails. Omega says may the best man win on Sunday and he certainly will.

We look at Thekla invading a Stardom show and attacking the owner.

Survivor Of The Fittest Qualifying Match: Red Velvet vs. Queen Aminata

Velvet’s ROH Women’s TV Title isn’t on the line. Velvet rolls over her into a sunset flip for an early two and then wristdrags her down again. Aminata is right back with a snap suplex for one but the big headbutt misses. Aminata’s right hands in the corner are countered into a powerbomb and we take a break.

We come back with Velvet grabbing a sitout bulldog for two but Aminata gives her a slingshot reverse suplex to leave them both down. The running boot in the corner sets up a middle rope double stomp for two on Velvet. Back up and Velvet flips her off the top, setting up a frog splash to the back for two. Velvet kicks away and, after an apology, misses the big kick to the head. Aminata knocks her into the ropes and hits a PK for the pin at 10:17.

Rating: C+. And of course a reigning champion loses clean in a qualifying match. I’m sure there was absolutely no one else available to take this loss, but it’s just Ring Of Honor anyway, which has been treated like nothing since it was brought back from the dead to create a promotion of cannon fodder. This is the kind of stupid stuff that drives me crazy in wrestling and it doesn’t need to happen but here we are anyway.

The Young Bucks are ready to superkick their opponents at Forbidden Door but Adam Copeland and Christian Cage brawl through with the Dogs. They brawl into the makeup area and Connors blinds Copeland with some hairspray to take over. The Dogs choke them both out. And we get a five second pose, complete with Cage’s old over the top sunglasses.

International Title: Konosuke Takeshita vs. Ricochet

Takeshita is defending and the Gates Of Agony are here with Ricochet. An early cheap shot knocks Takeshita outside and the big flip dive hits him as well. Back in and a springboard 450 gives Ricochet two as he’s certainly starting fast. Takeshita is back up but misses a charge in the corner, allowing Ricochet to hit a 619. The springboard clothesline and a running shooting star press give Ricochet two and we take a break.

We come back with Ricochet striking away in the corner and knocking him out to the floor. The shooting star off the apron is countered into a suplex though and they’re both down. Back in and a Blue Thunder Bomb gives Takeshita two before they trade kicks to the head. The wheelbarrow suplex drops Ricochet, who is right back up with Vertigo for two.

A shooting star press gives Ricochet two but he flips out of a German superplex. Takeshita’s Last Ride gets two but Ricochet uses the referee to cut off the running knee. A kick to the head sets up a Ricosault for two and Ricochet is stunned on the kickout. Takeshita drops him with a clothesline though and it’s the running knee and Raging Fire to retain at 13:48.

Rating: B. I don’t think anyone is going to be surprised that these two had a fast paced match together and they made it work here. Ricochet getting a somewhat random title match is hardly a stretch and it’s fine as a main event for a bit of an odd show. Takeshita gets a nice title defense as well and that’s a good thing as he looks for his next big challenger.

Here is Mark Briscoe with something to say about MJF. He and his friends are ready to fight in the cage on Sunday and he brings up their history in Blood & Guts. That was all about the thrill of the fight but this has some more consequential implications. Briscoe agrees that he and MJF are nothing alike (and he thanks God for that) but he knows he can beat MJF if they get a chance. On Sunday, he’ll be fighting with his friends while MJF has some hired stars who don’t care about him.

Cue Don Callis for a distraction so MJF can jump Briscoe from behind. Briscoe fights back and we get the parade of people running in one at a time to hit a single big move. Andrade has to save MJF from the Jay Driller but they go face to face. Callis cuts that off and MJF loads up the ring, only to accidentally hit Andrade. The Jay Driller lays MJF out to end the show. This was pretty much what you would have expected, though they do have some stories in the big cage match, which does help things.

Overall Rating: B-. This is a good example of a show where it’s perfectly fine from a quality standpoint, but it’s not something that interests me. A good chunk of this show was built around setting up Forbidden Door matches for wrestlers who aren’t likely to be regulars around here in a few days.

They aren’t regulars coming into this show either and it made for a less than thrilling show. Forbidden Door isn’t doing much to get my attention this year, though they’ve done an effective enough job with what they had. Not a bad show at all here (though another champion losing in a qualifying match makes my head hurt), but not my taste for the most part.

Results
Death Riders b. Brodido/Mistico – Rollup to King
Harley Cameron b. Marina Shafir – Cradle
Will Ospreay b. ELP – Hidden Blade
Swerve Strickland b. Daniel Garcia – Hidden Blade
Zack Sabre Jr. b. Jack Perry – Double arm crank
Young Bucks b. TMDK – Meltzer Driver to Nicholls
Queen Aminata b. Red Velvet – PK in the ropes
Konosuke Takeshita b. Ricochet – Raging Fire

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Summerslam 1988
Date: August 29, 1988
Location: Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York
Attendance: 20,000
Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon, Billy Graham

The main event here is Hogan/Savage vs. DiBiase/Andre in a match billed as Mega Powers vs. Mega Bucks. Allegedly the plan was to have Ric Flair jump from the NWA and challenge Savage for the title but Flair backed out, giving us the tag match instead. Other than that we have Honky Tonk Man defending his title against a mystery opponent and the Hart Foundation challenging Demolition for the tag titles. The card wasn’t exactly stacked for this show. Let’s get to it.

The opening video has what would become the Royal Rumble theme song set over shots of the four guys in the main event plus their managers, Virgil and Miss Elizabeth.

Fabulous Rougeaus vs. British Bulldogs

These two teams could not stand each other behind the scenes, eventually reaching the point where the Bulldogs left the company as a result. Davey jumps Jacques to start and rams him into turnbuckle after turnbuckle to put him down. Smith throws Jacques over to Raymond for a tag in a nice display of bravado. Off to Dynamite for a quick headbutt and a slam to keep Raymond in trouble.

Off to an armbar by Dynamite Kid before Davey comes back in for one of his own. Dynamite comes back in with a wicked clothesline to take Raymond’s head off. Chris Benoit idolized Dynamite and you can see so many of Benoit’s moves when you watch Dynamite’s matches. Davey comes in and trades some snappy rollups before it’s back to Dynamite to continue cranking on the arm.

Davey comes in again but Jacques trips him up to shift control to the Canadians. It’s off to some leg work now as Jacques kicks away at Davey’s hamstring. The Rougeaus start tagging in and out with Ray coming in to drop some knees on the hamstring before Jacques comes back in to pull on the leg. Ray comes back in sans tag to pull on the leg before Jacques puts on a spinning toehold. Davey finally gets back up and monkey flips Ray down, allowing for the tag to Dynamite.

The Kid speeds things way up and sends Ray out to the floor, triggering a brawl between Davey and Raymond. Back inside and Davey hits the powerslam but Jacques breaks it up before a one count. Dynamite comes back in for the headbutt but Jacques drills him with a belly to back suplex for two. Off to an abdominal stretch by Jacques followed by a camel clutch from both Rougeaus. Kid fights up and rams Ray into the buckle to escape but it’s right back to the abdominal stretch by Jacques.

Dynamite finally fights up again and headbutts Jacques down to bring in Davey. Jacques immediately grabs the rope to avoid a dropkick but gets caught in a gorilla press onto the top rope. Everything breaks down and Davey picks up Dynamite to launch him into a headbutt on Jacques, but the time limit expires before there can be a cover.

Rating: C+. This was a solid opener as the fans were staying hot throughout the extended rest holds. The parts with both teams brawling and getting to move around made for a much better match, but you can’t do that for twenty minutes when you’re going for the draw. Draws were much more commonplace back in the 80s so this was nothing that odd to see.

We see Ron Bass attacking Brutus Beefcake and busting him open with a spur. The big red X saying CENSORED which doesn’t actually cover the cut on Brutus’ head is hilarious. Brutus won’t be able to challenge Honky Tonk Man for the Intercontinental Title tonight but there’s an unnamed replacement.

Bad News Brown vs. Ken Patera

Patera is a former Olympic weightlifter who has seen far better days. Bad News is a former Olympian as well, having won a bronze medal in Judo. Brown goes right after Patera during Ken’s entrance and drops a quick elbow for no cover. Patera comes back with a clothesline and takes his jacket off to really get things going. A back elbow puts Bad News down but an elbow drop misses. Brown stomps away on the apron as we’re firmly in punch and kick mode here.

Patera blocks a backdrop with a kick to the chest and gets two off a bad backbreaker. Off to a bearhug by Patera but Brown pokes him in the eye to escape. Patera can’t get his full nelson on in either attempt at the hold so he botches a charge into the corner instead, hitting the post shoulder first. The Ghetto Blaster (enziguri) is enough for the pin by Brown.

Rating: F. Patera was terrible by this point, not even being able to run into Brown’s elbow in the corner properly. Even the announcers were suggesting that he retire at this point, which I believe he did soon after. This match was nothing more than punching and kicking which doesn’t make for a very entertaining few minutes. It’s a product of the times on house shows that, which for all intents and purposes is what this show is: a big house show with a big main event.

Ad for a boxing PPV which had some kind of promotional deal with WWF.

The Mega Powers (Hogan/Savage/Liz) are hyped up for the main event and say that Liz is their secret weapon.

Rick Rude vs. Junkyard Dog

Just like in the previous match, the good guy is jumped during his entrance. This time though Rude is backdropped down and headbutted to the floor for a hug from Heenan. Back in and Dog misses a headbutt, allowing Rude to hit Dog with a top rope axhandle. Rude pounds away on the head as Graham shouts that it won’t work. Instead it’s off to a chinlock by Rick as the match slows way down.

Back up and Dog pounds away in the corner but stops to go after Heenan. A Russian legsweep puts Dog down, and Rude goes up top. Instead of immediately diving off though, Rude takes his own tights down to reveal another pair with Cheryl Roberts (as in Jake’s wife) on them. Jake charges in for the DQ as you would expect him to do.

Rating: D. The match sucked but it’s miles ahead of the previous match. If nothing else Dog had some great charisma and kept the crowd in it, as opposed to Patera who put the crowd to sleep seconds after the bell rang. The Dog was just a jobber at this point and would be in WCW by the end of the year.

The Dog is mad post match but nothing comes of it.

Honky Tonk Man, like the dolt that he is, doesn’t want to know the identity of his mystery opponent. He says he wants to be surprised.

Powers of Pain vs. Bolsheviks

The Powers (Barbarian and Warlord) are still faces here and have the Baron (Von Raschke) with them. Just like in the previous two matches the brawl is on as soon as the good guys hit the ring. The Powers double clothesline Boris Zhukov as Volkoff tries to sneak in for a cheap shot. Barbarian easily catches him coming in and sends him flying until we get down to Barbarian vs. Boris to start things off.

Boris puts his head down and…..something happens (it looked like a choke but it’s not really clear) before it’s off to Warlord for a gutwrench suplex on Zhukov. Both Russians double team Warlord but they can’t even get him down to his knees. Nikolai chokes away before Boris puts on a chinlock. The Russians have a double backdrop broken up and it’s off to Barbarian again. Everything breaks down and it’s a double shoulder followed by a swan dive to Boris for the pin.

Rating: D. Another lame match here but the Powers looked decent. The Baron would be gone in a few weeks as the company wasn’t pleased that a dark character was getting cheered, so they turned Demolition and their evil S&M looking gear face instead. Also did the Russians ever actually win a major match?

Ad for Survivor Series.

Here’s the Brother Love Show with a bell ringing to start it for some reason. After a minute or two of talking about love, he introduces his guest: Hacksaw Jim Duggan. Duggan says that he loves the country and that Love is a fake. Love thinks that Dino Bravo knows the meaning of love and loves his country (Canada), but Duggan says that the people of Canada don’t respect Bravo. Duggan says this isn’t Sunday school and he’ll police this company if need be. Love says he doesn’t see a badge on Duggan, but Jim says his 2×4 will do just fine. Duggan gives him a five count to leave and Love is gone at four. This was pointless.

Same boxing ad as earlier.

Intercontinental Title: Honky Tonk Man vs. ???

Honky says to get him someone out here to wrestle and he doesn’t care who it is. After a few seconds, the Ultimate Warrior charges to the ring, pounds Honky with right hands, hits a shoulder block and splashes him for the pin and the title in thirty seconds. The crowd ERUPTS, as this is what they’ve been waiting over a year to see.

So why was this so awesome? This was one of the most perfectly told stories the WWF ever produced and they nailed it every step of the way. Back in 1987, Ricky Steamboat was Intercontinental Champion but wanted to take some time off. The solution was to put the title on the comedic newcomer the Honky Tonk Man, who cheated to win the belt. Honky viewed as a total joke as champion due to his lack of skill and his gimmick of a wrestling Elvis impersonator.

The fans looked at him as someone who would lose the title the first time he defended it against someone far more competent than he was so it wasn’t that big of a deal. This is where Vince had the fans: what if Honky just didn’t lose the title? If there is one thing pure fans hate, it’s seeing a guy who doesn’t deserve a title holding onto it against people they like. Honky did this for the next 18 months by coming up with every way imaginable to cheat, ranging from getting counted out, disqualified, having Jimmy Hart interfere, walking out of matches and all points in between.

Honky continued to hold the title against far better talent, such as Jim Duggan, Randy Savage, Jake Roberts, Ricky Steamboat and Brutus Beefcake, with the idea being “he has to lose eventually.” All of a sudden, Honky was one of the biggest draws around because people would pay their money to see him get beaten up, thinking that the lucky streak couldn’t go on much longer. Well the streak DID keep going, stretching into the longest title reign in the history of the belt which still stands to this day and will likely never be broken.

This is why having Warrior out there was so brilliant. Warrior was the last guy on earth that you would expect to pull off something clever, but he did what everyone else had overlooked: he didn’t bother trying to outsmart Honky, but instead just ran over him and beat him in thirty seconds. This is EXACTLY what the fans had wanted to see for over a year and they got it to perfection. That’s the kind of storytelling that you never get anymore which is a shame.

Regis Philbin is here.

Survivor Series is coming, so here’s a four minute highlight reel from last year’s show. This must be intermission.

Sugar Ray Leonard, one of the boxers in the advertised show, thanks Vince for promoting his fight.

Video on Leonard and his opponent in the fight Donny Lelonde.

Lelonde talks a bit as well.

Leonard says he’ll win.

We see the intro video from the beginning of the show again.

Bobby Heenan comes up to the announcers’ booth and says that DiBiase is counting his money while Andre reads the Wall Street Journal. The Mega Powers are currently cowering in their locker room.

Dino Bravo vs. Don Muraco

These two fought at Wrestlemania earlier in the year as well. This is power vs. power so they shove each other around to start. Some armdrags put Bravo on the floor before heading back in for a hiptoss. Off to an armbar by Muraco but Bravo comes back with an atomic drop to take over. A Russian legsweep puts Bravo down but Muraco has to go after Bravo’s manager Frenchy Martin. The referee gets kicked but nothing comes of it, allowing Bravo to hit his side slam for the pin.

Rating: D-. Somehow that match ran five and a half minutes. Muraco would also be gone soon before the end of the year and it’s not hard to see why. He was nowhere near as bad as Patera earlier but it was clear that his best days were behind him. Bravo would become Earthquake’s lackey soon after this and have the most productive time of his career.

Another Survivor Series ad.

Jesse Ventura says that he’s going to be impartial as the guest referee in the main event despite taking money from DiBiase.

Tag Titles: Hart Foundation vs. Demolition

Demolition is defending and the Harts don’t even get an entrance. The champions have Mr. Fuji and the Harts’ former manager Jimmy Hart with them. Bret and Ax start things off with Ax pounding Hitman down like he’s nothing. Bret avoids an elbow drop and it’s off to Anvil (Jim Neidhart) vs. Smash with Neidhart taking over. Ax hits a knee to Jim’s back from the apron and the champions take over again.

Neidhart gets in a punch to Ax’s face and it’s off to Hart vs. Smash again. Smash will have nothing to do with this selling stuff and whips Bret shoulder first into the post as the champions get their first extended advantage. Bret’s bad arm is caught up in the ropes and both champs pound away on the injured limb. Smash bends Bret’s arm around his own leg Off to Ax for more cranking on the arm. Bret is shockingly not selling it all that well.

Smash sends the arm into the post again and Bret is in big trouble on the outside. Back in and Ax pounds away while Graham is SCREAMING at Anvil to do something. Bret comes back with a clothesline with the injured arm but the referee misses the tag. Smash charges into a knee in the corner and now the referee sees the tag. Anvil comes in and cleans house, even slingshotting over the top onto Smash on the floor. Back in and Bret throws Anvil into Smash in the corner for two before everything breaks down. Neidhart goes after Fuji, allowing Ax to hit Bret in the back with the megaphone to retain.

Rating: B-. This took some time to get going but once Bret got in and started selling, it was all awesome. Demolition would hold the titles for nearly another year in the longest tag title reign in company history. These teams would go at it again in two years in one of the most entertaining tag matches ever. This was good stuff, but they were capable of much better.

Boxing ad.

Honky is going NUTS in the back, ranting about how this isn’t fair.

Big Boss Man vs. Koko B. Ware

Boss Man is brand new here. This wasn’t included on the home video version for reasons that I’ve never figured out. It was probably a time thing though. Koko fires away to start and staggers the very fat Boss Man with a dropkick. Boss Man is one of the best cases of weight loss you’ll ever see as he lost probably 100lbs in a year and a half, making him MUCH smoother in the ring.

Koko charges into a front facelock and Boss Man pounds him down with a forearm to the back. A splash in the corner crushes Ware but Boss Man pulls him up at two. Off to a surfboard hold but Koko rolls forward and kicks Boss Man in the face. A stiff right hand puts Koko down again but Boss Man misses a top rope splash. Boss Man misses another splash in the corner and a missile dropkick gets two for Koko. Ware charges again but gets dropped face first onto the post, followed by the Boss Man Slam for the easy pin.

Rating: D. This went WAY too long for a squash early on in Boss Man’s run with the company. The match wasn’t terrible and Koko looked good with the high flying stuff, but therein lies the problem: there’s no reason to have Koko look so good here. He should have gotten destroyed in about three minutes as opposed to being somewhat competitive in twice as long.

Boss Man hits Koko with the nightstick post match.

Survivor Series ad. Again.

Ultimate Warrior celebrates in the back and talks about it being like a comic book tonight. He’ll be on the next spaceship to Parts Unknown.

Jake Roberts vs. Hercules

Jake goes for the snake but it’s merely a ploy to get in some quick right hands. A knee lift puts Herc down but Jake can’t hook the DDT. Instead it’s a headlock and Hercules can’t even break it with a belly to back suplex. Herc escapes and drops some elbows for no cover. Off to a chinlock on the Snake as Graham says you can use this to talk to your opponent. In non-announcer speak: it’s a nice way to call spots. A lot of spots could be called here as Herc keeps the hold on for well over a minute.

Jake finally fights up and tries a hammerlock but gets elbowed in the face for his efforts. Roberts pulls Herc from the apron to the floor, only to have his neck snapped across the top rope as Hercules comes back in. We hit the chinlock again but Jake immediately jawbreaks his way out of it. The short clothesline looks to set up the DDT but Hercules backdrops out of it. Herc drops an elbow for two but Jake slips out of a slam and knocks Hercules out lukewarm with the DDT for the pin.

Rating: C-. The match was nothing special but it certainly wasn’t bad. The DDT looked great and the fans went nuts for it so you can’t say they didn’t get what they wanted. Hercules was fine for a role like this as he was strong enough to be a threat to anyone but rarely won anything. Decent little match here actually.

We recap the buildup to the main event. Andre seemed to be challenging Savage for a world title shot but DiBiase jumped Randy from behind, allowing Andre to choke Savage down. The Mega Bucks challenged Savage to a tag match which Savage accepted, saying that he would announce his partner later. If you didn’t know who that was from a mile away, you fail as a wrestling fan. Jesse Ventura, long time Hogan hater, is guest referee for no apparent reason. Andre intimidated Jesse and DiBiase paid Jesse off so the fix is in.

Mega Powers vs. Mega Bucks

Jesse sends all three managers (Virgil, Heenan and Liz) to the floor but not to the back. He also makes the teams change corners for no apparent reason. Savage gets to fight Andre to start but it’s quickly off to DiBiase. He wants Hogan and gets both Hulk and an atomic drop into a right hand from Savage. Hogan pounds DiBiase as well and it’s off to Savage for some double elbows. A top rope ax handle gets two for Savage off a slow count from Ventura.

Andre comes in to beat Hogan down but Jesse is with Liz. Now the Giant comes in legally and sits on Hogan’s chest a few times before putting on a nerve hold. With DiBiase coming in sans tag, Andre chokes away with his singlet. Ted comes in legally for a near fall off a clothesline before dropping those trademark fists of his. Off to a chinlock which Gorilla swears is a choke. Hogan finally elbows his way out of the hold but a double clothesline puts both guys down.

The hot tag brings in Savage to pound away on DiBiase with right hands and a backdrop. A top rope ax handle puts DiBiase down again but Ted rams him into the top turnbuckle to change momentum again. DiBiase clotheslines Savage down and it’s off to Giant again. Andre sits on Savage in the corner which is a lot more devastating than it sounds. Back to DiBiase who gets two off a suplex. Ted goes up for a middle rope elbow, but Savage uses all of his flying elbow experience and rolls away.

Hulk comes in again off the real hot tag and cleans house on both Mega Bucks but Savage jumps into Andre’s boot. Hogan puts DiBiase in a sleeper but Andre makes the save with some headbutts. The Mega Powers are down, but Liz gets on the apron and in the most famous part of the match, takes off her skirt to reveal a bikini bottom and some nice legs. The distraction lets the Mega Powers do their big handshake and Hulk Up as one. A top rope ax handle to Andre, a flying elbow and legdrop to DiBiase later and things are pretty much done. Jesse only counts two, so Savage has to shove his hand down for the three.

Rating: B-. Much like the original Wrestlemania main event, there isn’t much to see here but it’s a fun match. It gave the fans exactly what they wanted and the Liz bit was a big surprise as she NEVER did anything sexual up to that point and rarely did after. Hogan and Savage were obviously going to win, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a fun moment and a decent main event.

Hogan lifts Liz (who remember is rather scantily clad here) onto Savage’s shoulder for the post match celebration. Savage gives him a look that says “Dude, NOT COOL!” You could see the seeds being planted even back then.

Overall Rating: D+. This is more of the start of a historical series than a good show itself. The only things people remember are Liz’s legs and a thirty second squash and it’s really not surprising. The rest of the show is a bunch of boring matches with nothing of note to them at all. It’s certainly not a terrible show as there are some good tag matches and some decent singles matches, but nothing on here is must see television and nothing is really significant. For a big house show though, not too bad.

Ratings Comparison

For each of the reviews, I’ll be posting a comparison of the original reviews to the redos as I always do. Summerslam was one of the first set of reviews I ever did so the original ratings are going to be very interesting.

British Bulldogs vs. Fabulous Rougeaus

Original: B
Redo: C+

Bad News Brown vs. Ken Patera

Original: D+
Redo: F

Rick Rude vs. Junkyard Dog

Original: D
Redo: D

Powers of Pain vs. Bolsheviks

Original: C+
Redo: D

Ultimate Warrior vs. Honky Tonk Man

Original: A+
Redo: N/A

Dino Bravo vs. Don Muraco

Original: B-
Redo: D-

Demolition vs. Hart Foundation

Original: B-
Redo: B-

Big Boss Man vs. Koko B. Ware

Original: D
Redo: D

Jake Roberts vs. Hercules

Original: C-
Redo: C-

Mega Powers vs. Mega Bucks

Original: B
Redo: B-

Overall Rating

Original: D+
Redo: D+

How could I have possibly liked Muraco vs. Bravo? There’s NOTHING there!

Here’s the original review if you’re interested:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2011/07/23/history-of-summerslam-count-up-1988-liz-has-some-nice-legs/

Mid-South Wrestling
Date: November 2, 1984
Location: Irish McNeil Boys Club, Shreveport, Louisiana
Commentators: Joel Watts, Jim Ross

I took a look at the first one and had a good time so let’s do the second. This is the week after the previous show and it’s fun to get some fallout. The big stories coming out of last week are the destruction of Jim Duggan and Ricky Morton, which won’t end well. There is also a new North American Champion in the form of Ernie Ladd and that feels secondary. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

This is billed as presented in the most complete form possible, which makes me think there are some music issues.

Opening sequence.

Ernie Ladd is at the commentary desk (and refers to Jim Ross as “Mr. TV Announcer”, a trademark of his) and says that Magnum TA might be younger and faster, but Ladd is older and smarter and won the title fair and square. We look at the title change, which involved Ladd choking with some tape. Back in the arena, Ladd talks about how he’s the champion because he’s that smart. Ross runs down the rest of the card, with Ladd glaring at him.

We look back at Jim Duggan’s bloody promo from last week. The more I look at him, the more impressive he is, as he looked like he got hit by a bus and bounced along the road. He blames Ted DiBiase and swears revenge before being taken away.

Steve Williams vs. Gary Cortinelli

Cortinelli is better known as the Italian Stallion. Williams runs him over to start and shouts for Duggan while pulling Cortinelli up. The bearhug goes on and Cortinelli fights out, even managing a hiptoss. Williams isn’t having that and finishes with the Oklahoma Stampede at 1:50.

Hercules Hernandez vs. Thomas Ivy

Hernandez has the masked (due to baldness) Jim Cornette in his corner and doing his entrance. Said entrance also includes a request for Skandor Akbar to handle some negotiations. On the other hand, Ivy looks like he took third in a Mr. T. lookalike contest. Ivy works on the arm to start and Hernandez kicks him down without much trouble. The big clothesline sets up a chinlock on Ivy as Cornette approves. That’s switched into a cobra clutch and Ivy is out at 2:03.

Earlier today, Skandor Akbar and Buddy Landel were in the ring, with Akbar wanting results from Landel, which he apparently promised. Landel says some people call Akbar’s money “blood money” but he wants some more of it. Akbar pulls out a gold watch and that see to be payment enough, though he wants results next week. With Landel happy, Akbar offers threats about Ted DiBiase being back. Just as Jim Duggan about it.

Buddy Landel/Butch Reed vs. Steve Brinson/Mike Jackson

Jackson grabs a headlock takeover to take Landel down before doing it again with a running shoulder. Back up and Landel grabs a rather high hiptoss but gets kicked down, allowing Brinson to come in for a headlock. Jackson comes back in for a headlock of his own but Reed gets in a knee from the apron. Landel stomps away and grabs a backdrop, followed by Reed’s middle rope fist to the head. It’s already back to Landel, who misses a knee drop but Brinson gets suplexed. The gorilla press drops Brinson and Landel begs to come back in so the corkscrew elbow can finish at 4:16.

Rating: C. Landel is someone who was around in a lot of these promotions back in the day and it’s easy to see why. When he was on, he was rather worth having around, especially if you needed Dollar Store Ric Flair. His stuff with Akbar should be interesting soon enough, especially when we find out…whatever it is that he’s doing.

Ted DiBiase vs. Master G.

Master G. is the future George Wells (well also current and past it’s his real name) and I’m guessing the edit is to his music. Skandor Akbar and Butch Reed are here with DiBiase as he and G. back each other into the corners. G. fights back and hits a big backdrop to send DiBiase outside. Back in and DiBiase goes for a piledriver but gets knocked away, only for DiBiase to go after the leg. The Figure Four is blocked though and DiBiase is kicked out to the floor. Reed offers a distraction though and DiBiase gets in the loaded punch, allowing the Figure Four to finish G. at 4:28.

Rating: C+. DiBiase and that black glove are always worth something, as it was built up for a long time and became established as a big deal. It’s good to have him back, as he instantly feels like one of the biggest stars on the show. As for G….uh yeah he’s certainly a person who is here too. He was fine enough as a warm body here, but I didn’t get much out of the four or so minutes we got from him here.

Post match DiBiase won’t let go and it’s a DQ instead. Magnum TA, Bill Dundee and Brickhouse Brown run in for the save.

Magnum TA vs. Missing Link

Skandor Akbar is here with Link, who does right to the eyes to start. Magnum knocks him outside so Link rams his own head into the steps. Back in and Magnum strikes away but gets caught with a headbutt. Link’s middle rope headbutt has Magnum in more trouble but he fights back, with Akbar getting on the apron. Link runs into him by mistake and Magnum grabs the belly to belly for the pin at 2:02. Well that was fast.

TV Title: Adrian Street vs. Bill Dundee

Street, with Miss Linda, is defending. Dundee takes him down by the legs to start and there’s the catapult into the corner, with Street being more than over the top in the crash. Street rolls away to get out of a wristlock and chops away in the corner. Some shots to the face let Street take him down again and an elbow to the jaw gets two.

Back up and Dundee gets in a hard shot to the face before sending Street crashing out to the floor. A shot to the throat takes Dundee down again but he fires off the right hands to the face. An airplane spin has the referee knocked outside so Linda comes in to count. Dundee gets distracted and Linda sprays him with perfume, allowing Street to hit a running forearm for the pin at 4:15.

Rating: B-. Street, with Linda, is another act that makes me want to see more and more every time he’s in the ring. He wasn’t exactly doing something ground breaking, but he did it so well and had the ability to back it up in the ring. This was a fun main event, as Dundee was trying to figure

Commentary previews next week’s show.

Roll credits.

Overall Rating: B-. This was more about the fallout from last week and that worked well, with Williams getting to do something and TA getting some heat back. DiBiase continues to feel like one of the biggest stars around here and that went well with Ladd’s rather good promo to start the show. I could absolutely go for more from Mid-South as it definitely lives up to the hype.

Results
Steve Williams b. Gary Cortinelli – Oklahoma Stampede
Hercules Hernandez b. Thomas Ivy – Cobra clutch
Buddy Landel/Butch Reed b. Steve Brinson/Mike Jackson – Corkscrew elbow to Brinson
Master G. b. Ted DiBiase via DQ when DiBiase would not release the Figure Four
Magnum TA b. Missing Link – Belly to belly suplex
Adrian Street b. Bill Dundee – Running forearm

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

NXT
Date: June 23, 2026
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Wade Barrett

It’s the last show before the Great American Bash and that means we’re in for a big one this week. Actually two, as it’s a DOUBLE CONTRACT SIGNING, with both the NXT and Women’s Title matches officially being signed. That’s about all you could ask for in a single show, with the wrestling being a bonus to TWO, count em TWO contract signing. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Tony D’Angelo isn’t happy that Naraku hasn’t signed the contract for the Great American Bash but Robert Stone tells him to be on good behavior. Aaron Rourke comes up and D’Angelo wishes him good luck tonight. An appreciative Rourke wishes D’Angelo the same.

Evolve Title: Aaron Rourke vs. Tristan Angels

Rourke (who is rather flamboyant) is defending. They trade headlocks to start with Angels switching over to a cravate (how English of him). Rourke flips over him out of the corner and hits a quick dropkick but Angels gets in a forearm to the back. The nerve hold doesn’t last long and Angels misses a charge to the floor. Angels trips him down onto the apron and we take an early break.

We come back with Angels working on the arm but Rourke fights up and strikes away. A fall away slam puts Angels down again as we see D’Angelo looking for Naraku. Rourke hits a middle rope Codebreaker for two but takes too long stealing the Mr. NXT sash, earning him an enziguri out to the floor. Angels seems to be pulled underneath the ring though and comes out looking terrified. The Molly Go Round retains the title at 8:53.

Rating: C+. This was fine as a way to do something of an Evolve showcase. Angels has been around for a bit before so this was more about Rourke, who did well enough. Rourke is someone who takes some time to grow on you but he definitely has the talent to get somewhere. Let the fans get to know him a bit more and it could work out rather well.

D’Angelo finds Naraku in the parking lot (uh oh) and Naraku presents him with the signed contract. D’Angelo opens it…and a fireball explodes in his face. Robert Stone panics while Naraku laughs.

Post break an ambulance arrives and D’Angelo is taken away as Stone is still worried.

Here is Saquon Shuggars for a face to face meeting with Dion Lennox. Shuggars cuts him off to talk about Darkstate throwing him through a table five weeks ago. Lennox was the one acting like the leader and calling Shuggars an independent wrestler. Shuggars is indeed a wrestler but Lennox says Shuggars wasn’t supposed to be on the team. Darkstate got what they needed out of him and then moved on, with the final beating coming on Sunday

Shuggars insists that there is no Darkstate without him. Shuggars says the other two are lost without him and if Lennox put on Shuggars’ jockstrap, it would be a bad fit. Lennox says Shuggars is a facade and he would disappear just before it was go time. Dropping Shuggars wasn’t a mistake because it was a correction. Lennox is ready to finish him off at the Bash. This was an intense showdown but it’s still members of a not so interesting team fighting.

Hank & Tank talk to comedian Matt Matthews, who might be ready to get in the ring. The Vanity Project is in the background.

Myles Borne talks about being someone who has always been uncomfortable but he has grown to live with it. He started to get comfortable in the No Quarter Catch Crew and got even better. Tavion Heights talks about their time together and now they’re fighting for the title on Sunday.

Wren Sinclair can’t calm Heights down because he doesn’t have a title. Kendal Grey comes in and gives the now healthy Sinclair a pep talk. Cake is teased.

Birthright vs. Hank & Tank

The rest of the team and Matt Matthews are here too. Hank works on Connors’ arm to start and Stacks gets armdragged down as well. A cheap shot puts Hank into the wrong corner though and the villains go to stomping. Hank clotheslines his way to freedom and a double slam sends Connors flying for two. Everything breaks down and Matthews has to be saved, meaning Hank & Tank can hit stereo dives as we take a break.

We come back with Hank getting powerbombed out of the corner for two but he ducks a clothesline. The diving tag brings in Tank to clean house and it’s back to Hank, who gets Stunnered over the top rope. Stacks adds a top rope elbow for two as everything breaks down again. Hank plants Stacks but Connors hits a big Swanton. Matthews manages to take out the rest of Birthright on the floor and the powerslam/running neckbreaker combination finishes Stacks at 12:02.

Rating: C+. I still don’t get the appeal of Hank & Tank, but I really hope they drop this comedian sooner than later. Matthews isn’t particularly funny or memorable and he’s been on the show for a few weeks now. Odds are it’s just some mandate from the CW because otherwise, what in the world are they thinking? If nothing else, what does the rest of Birthright do now that they got beaten up by a rather tiny non-wrestler?

Shiloh Hill says he’s healthy, both in body and mind, and wants to beat up Tristan Angels at the Great American Bash.

We look back at Tony D’Angelo being burned.

We go backstage for the Women’s Title contract signing. Kendal Grey says she hit Lola Vice by mistake but Vice doesn’t want to hear it. She has Grey’s style figured out but Grey talks about her own amateur wrestling style. Grey is going to raise the bar even higher on Sunday, though Vice doesn’t think Grey is doing anything Vice hasn’t done in the first place. Vice promises to retain and they both sign.

Keanu Carver vs. EK Prosper

Carver runs him over to start and gives Prosper a big throw out of the corner. Prosper is back up with a springboard missile dropkick, only to get gorilla pressed down. A springboard moonsault connects on Carver, who knocks Prosper hard to the floor and we take a break.

We come back with Carver pulling him out of the air for a hard slam. Quite the release German suplex puts Prosper down again but he gets in some kicks to the head. The Shining Wizard rocks Carver again and Prosper hits a heck of a springboard moonsault to the floor. Carver isn’t having that and blasts him with a clothesline, followed by the Pounce. A powerbomb is…reversed into a sunset flip to give Prosper the big upset pin at 9:53.

Rating: C+. I’m not wild on the idea of having Carver lose like this but points for giving another of the newcomers a big win. Prosper is a heck of an athlete and there’s always room for a high flier like him, though getting a better name would help him a lot. Carver losing is a bit of a risk, but they did at least try something with Prosper and I’ll take that.

Post match Carver lays him out with a running clothesline and a powerbomb puts Prosper through the announcers’ table.

Zaria is ready for Tatum Paxley, who couldn’t let Zaria enjoy her own success. Their title match is set for the Great American Bash.

Robert Stone tells Naraku that he might have just cost himself the title shot. Keanu Carver comes in and gets yelled at but he doesn’t seem to mind.

Izzi Dame vs. Arianna Grace

For the Women’s Speed Title shot and their respective friends are here too. Dame kicks her in the face at the bell and a Sky High gets two. Grace gets in a kick to knock Dame out of the air though and goes up, only to take too long. Another shot to the face gives Grace two as we have a minute left. Dame gets in a knockdown of her own but Shawn Spears insists on a hand slap, allowing Grace to get the small package pin at 2:19.

Wren Sinclair comes out for the showdown as Dame doesn’t want to hear it from the Culling.

Robert Stone says there are going to be some AAA stars at the Great American Bash and we’ll get an update on the NXT Title match before the end of the night. The Vanity Project comes in and want to be part of the Great American Bash. Stone doesn’t seem to have time for this.

NXT Origins video on Alexa Bliss. I believe this is the third time this has aired in a week.

Jaida Parker is upset but doesn’t seem to want to talk to OTM about it. Lucien Price seems to be fine with Bronco Nima joining Los Perros del Mal in AAA.

The Culling vs. Dorian Van Dux/Sean Legacy

Spears takes Legacy into the corner for the hard chop, only to get caught with a double stomp to the back. It’s off to Dux to stay on the arm, who gets forearmed in the jaw for his efforts. Vance comes in and gets sunset flipped for two, with Dux going off to his arm for a change. Legacy gets taken down but kicks Spears in the head without much trouble. Everything breaks down and the Culling takes over as we take a break.

We come back with Vance taking a shot to save Spears, allowing Dux to come back in and wreck the villains. Everything breaks down and an assisted swinging DDT gets two on Legacy. Dux moonsaults onto Vance on the floor and it’s Legacy’s 450 into Dux’s shooting star press to pin Spears at 11:33.

Rating: B-. Not too bad here, though I still don’t get the appeal of Legacy. He’s just kind of there for the most part, with Dux at least looking like a monster who could do a lot of damage. At the same time you have the Culling, who haven’t exactly done anything in a long time, which doesn’t seem likely to be changing.

Post match Vance turns on Spears and chokeslams him through the announcers’ table. Izzi Dame approves.

Great American Bash rundown.

Here is Robert Stone to explain the NXT Title situation. He brings out Naraku, who says if Tony D’Angelo is out, he’ll just take the title. Cue Mason Rook to say he’ll fight Naraku for the title. Now it’s the Vanity Project to interrupt, saying they want in on the title match. Rook takes the Project out so Naraku says give him the title. Stone says it was always going to be someone else for the title match…and here is D’Angelo to clear Naraku out.

One more Great American Bash rundown ends the show.

Overall Rating: B-. They definitely did a bunch of to set up the Bash here, even if it felt like a last ditch effort. They added in a few more matches to pad the show out a bit, though it still feels like it’s missing a big match to really carry things. Hopefully the show lives up to the hype, which did get stronger here, though it was starting fairly low in the first place. Good stuff here, with the D’Angelo vs. Naraku ending being a relief over what they were teasing just a few moments before.

Results
Aaron Rourke b. Tristan Angels – Molly Go Round
Hank & Tank b. Birthright – Powerslam/running neckbreaker combination to Stacks
EK Prosper b. Keanu Carver – Sunset flip
Arianna Grace b. Izzi Dame – Small package
Sean Legacy/Dorian Van Dux b. The Culling – Shooting star press to Spears

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Mid-South Wrestling
Date: October 27, 1984
Location: Irish McNeil Boys Club, Shreveport, Louisiana
Commentators: Bill Watts, Boyd Pierce

Sure why not. The Vault has released some of these shows and Mid-South is a bit of a dark spot for me, especially in its heyday. While I know a good bit of its history, I haven’t actually seen a lot of it and that needs to change. We might as well check out what is available so let’s get to it.

Opening sequence. Oh sweet goodness how 80s can you get?

Commentary runs down the card and announces that Terry Taylor is going to be out of action for about a month due to an injury. Watts moves on to Jim Cornette and his tennis racket, which is just part of the wild violence around here. The promotion is going to get rid of just about everything that could, you know, KILL PEOPLE, but they’re going to let a lot of the rest go. Well that’s intense.

Steve Williams has a football helmet and is ready to face Jim Duggan (or Doogan as Watts always called him) in a football helmet match. Williams goes on a rant about how he’s going to bury Duggan in the dirt.

Duggan has his helmet on too and it’s giving him flashbacks to his gridiron days. It’s time to fight Williams again.

Skandor Akbar (as interviewed by a rather young looking Jim Ross) is looking for great weapons for his army and he has found an incredibly underrated wrestler in Buddy Landel. It’s time for Landel to deliver whatever Akbar has paid him to do which is….not specified.

Missing Link vs. Mike Jackson

Jackson is around 35 here and about ten years into what is (thus far) a fifty plus year career in the ring. Link goes nuts by ramming his own head into the corner a few times but Jackson is up with a dropkick that misses by about a foot (even Watts calls out that they didn’t connect). A headbutt puts Jackson down and another sends him out to the floor. Back in and a World’s Strongest Slam into a middle rope elbow to the back finishes Jackson at 1:23.

Jim Duggan vs. Steve Williams

This is a football helmet match…and there is no Duggan. Instead here is Ted DiBiase (returning after an absence and looking bizarre with no facial hair) with Duggan’s SMU helmet to say Duggan won’t be wrestling tonight. Apparently Duggan jumped him from behind and tried to hit him with the helmet. DiBiase avoided it though and knocked him out with one punch. Ross doesn’t seem to buy it as DiBiase’s clothes aren’t even messed up. Commentary isn’t sure about this either but there’s no match at the moment.

During the break, Duggan was found and is described as “in bad shape”.

We get an interview from last week with a masked Jim Cornette (due to getting his head shaved) saying that he was ready to take out a member of the Rock N Roll Express. His mother has sent in a check for $25,000 and all it will cost them is a Tag Team Title shot. The Rock N Roll Express can even name the stipulation so if they’re not scared, sign on the dotted line and get paid.

Butch Reed vs. Brickhouse Brown

Brown snaps off some armdrags but gets taken down with a headlock takeover. A headscissors works a bit better for Brown and it’s Watts’ chance to complain about the WWF, which was a common subject for him. Reed wins a test of strength but Brown spins out (that was snazzy) into an armbar, which has Reed fuming.

One heck of a clothesline out of the corner drops Brown and the legdrop connects as well. A neckbreaker drops Brown again but Reed pulls him up and two and sends him outside. Brown starts going after the knee and follows with a backdrop, only to miss a missile dropkick. Reed’s gorilla press and legdrop finish at 6:22.

Rating: C+. Brown had a good look and it’s easy to see why he would get more than a few chances. At the same time though, Reed felt like a star and had the look to go with it, which is why he was such a star for so long. This was a fun match and Brown got to show off a bit, which has me wanting to see more of him.

Jim Duggan has crawled into the arena and he is a bloody mess. He talks about how he went down to get his bag out of his car and three or four guys jumped him. Someone hit him with a slapjack though and he went down. The only face he saw was Ted DiBiase, who beat him with the slap jack. He said he’d be here though and stand up for everything (technically he’s not standing at the moment but close enough) but he can’t keep going and has to be helped out. Heck of a promo from Duggan here, who was a totally different star outside of the WWF. He looked like he was near death here and it was rather outstanding.

Post break, Watts praises Duggan for getting through all of that. Duggan is going to the hospital.

North American Title: Magnum TA vs. Ernie Ladd

Magnum is defending. Ladd runs him over with the size and power to start but gets knocked out to the floor. Magnum is back in with a front facelock but a forearm cuts that off rather quickly. Back up and Magnum strikes away and hits a backdrop (eventually), followed by a middle rope dropkick. The referee gets bumped though and Magnum’s elbow drop gets a delayed two.

Another shot knocks the referee outside and Ladd chokes Magnum down with some tape as another referee comes out to check on the first one. The second referee comes in and Ladd picks Magnum up but falls backwards to give Magnum two. Watts explains that Ladd is trying to fool the referee into thinking that Magnum is still fighting (if that’s what they were going for, that’s brilliant) and Ladd finishes with a double legdrop at 5:29.

Rating: B-. The more I see of Ladd, the more I wish I could see even more. He knew how to be a big man in wrestling, which is a hard thing to make work. The good thing is that we should be seeing something else from him going forward as you know, he won the title and all that such. The faking out the referee at the end was great and added a layer of realism that you don’t often see. It’s not a great match but I liked it well enough.

Here are the Rock N Roll Express to answer Jim Cornette’s challenge. Ricky Morton is sick of Cornette interfering and busts out a straitjacket, which is how they’re going to cut Cornette off in the title match. For some reason Morton puts Robert Gibson in the straitjacket and ties it up (oh dear) and, because Morton has apparently never watched wrestling, or had a functioning brain before, here is the Midnight Express to jump them.

The huge beatdown ensues with Cornette getting in some shots of his own and….yeah the Rock N Roll deserved all of that. How stupid can you…oh yeah it’s Morton. A bunch of good guys make the save. That was another level of stupid from Morton, who might not have been the brightest guy in the world but….how can you be this dumb?

Ted DiBiase vs. Johnny Mantell

DiBiase (with Skandor Akbar) starts fast and hammers away, including a running shot in the corner. Mantell fights back and strikes away, including a monkey flip out of the corner but a second is blocked. The falling fish (with the black glove) sets up the Figure Four to make Mantell give up at 1:28.

Post match DiBiase says he’s ready for Master G. next week. G. has some kind of special hold but DiBiase has the Figure Four.

Watts is distraught at what has happened this week and recaps the show.

Roll credits.

Overall Rating: B. There’s a reason that classic Mid-South is nothing short of beloved and you could see it here. I pretty much jumped into this cold and felt like I got every story that was going on with nothing leaving me unsure or confused. The action was good, but the point here is the whole atmosphere, as it feels like an exciting show with people moving around and getting into issues. That Duggan promo was a heck of a sight and I want to see where this is going. This lived up to the expectations and I’ll absolutely take that.

Results
Missing Link b. Mike Jackson – Middle rope elbow to the back
Butch Reed b. Brickhouse Brown – Legdrop
Ernie Ladd b. Magnum TA – Double legdrop
Ted DiBiase b. Johnny Mantell – Figure Four

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Monday Night Raw
Date: June 22, 2026
Location: 02 Arena, London, England
Commentators: Michael, Corey Graves

It’s the last Raw before Night Of Champions and the two tournament finals are set. That means we’re going to be seeing something in the way of the last push towards the finals, which could make for some interesting showdowns. We also have some titles on the line and that should make for a hot crowd. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

We open with a video on the King and Queen Of The Ring and what winning the tournaments mean.

Here is Oba Femi to get things going. He loves hearing the fans chant his name but moves on to destiny having his back for years. Lady destiny has been very kind to him over the years and it will continue to do so this Saturday. But who should he come after? The fans seem more interested in Femi vs. Roman Reigns, which brings out Jey Uso to interrupt. This means the full, and very long entrance as Femi just kind of glares at him.

The fans want him to run it back and Femi says he’s putting an end to that, so of course Uso does it anyway. With that out of the way, Uso talks about how people are saying he can’t win King Of The Ring, but he knows how to overcome mountains. On Saturday, he’s winning the crown and then at Summerslam, he’s taking Cody Rhodes’ title.

Femi tells him that if he shoots, he better not miss because if he does, Femi will destroy him. Femi: “And if you don’t miss, I will still destroy you.” The thing is Uso isn’t the member of the family he is worried about, so give Roman Reigns the bullets. Teasing Femi getting into the main event scene, especially against Reigns, is a big deal but that Brock Lesnar shaped shadow is an even bigger roadblock

We look back at Jacob Fatu attacking Eric Andre last week.

Adam Pearce is on the phone and runs into LA Knight, who thinks Pearce is on the phone with the Bloodline so they can give him orders. Jimmy Uso comes in to complain about Knight hitting him with a chair last week. Pearce tries to break it up but knight tells him to shut up. Pearce makes the match between them tonight. Knight says that’s a terrible idea and suggests…himself vs. Jimmy tonight. Uso: “THAT’S WHAT HE SAID!” Knight doesn’t care because he didn’t listen to Pearce so the match is on. Pearce’s confused face at Knight made this whole thing worth it.

Women’s Tag Team Titles: Lyra Valkyria/Bayley vs. Paige/Brie Bella

Valkyria and Bayley are challenging and we hear from them in the back, with Valkyria saying this is the time after all of their losses. Everything breaks down rather quickly and Paige hits the knees to Valkyria on the apron. Bayley’s hanging twisting Stunner drops Bella with Paige having to make a save.

We take an early break and come back with Paige having to save Bella again and firing off the suplexes. Valkyria gets in the Nightwing but Bella makes the save this time. Paige rolls Valkyria up for two but gets planted with a fisherman’s buster. Valkyria tries another instead of covering though and gets reversed into Rampaige to retain at 8:01.

Rating: C. The title reign continues as we get one step further away from the Bellas eventual big crowning moment. I’m still not sure how I’m supposed to believe that Paige and Brie are this good together but these titles have always been a bit weird. Bayley and Valkyria need something else to do, though I’m not sure if that is going to include them being together.

Post match Valkyria is ticked off so Bayley hugs her and get jumped as a result. Valkyria slaps her in the face a few times and sends her throat first into the middle rope. Some agents come in but Valkyria hits Nightwing anyway. Yeah that kind of had to happen.

Post break Valkyria has nothing to say.

Here is Chad Gable for a chat. Gable talks about how everything has been going crazy for him lately with the loss of his mask in Mexico. There are some people he needs to apologize to face to face though so he asks for the Alpha Academy to come out here. All three of them come to the ring, with Gable praising Maxxine Dupri for winning a singles title, which Gable has not done. He apologizes for how he treated her and it is all his fault.

Akira Tozawa is the definition of fighting spirit with the heart of a lion and Tozawa didn’t deserve that either. That leaves Otis and, after a heavy sigh, Gable says Otis was the most loyal friend he could ever have. Gable threw all of that away for a chance at singles gold and after all of that, he owes them all an apology.

We get the formal I’m sorry and Gable extends his hand. Otis isn’t sure what to do but goes to shake Gable’s hand, only for Dupri to get in between them. Dupri says everything Gable has said and done is a lie. She knows Otis and Tozawa have the biggest hearts and want to give him a second chance but she doesn’t.

Dupri goes on a rant about all of the things Gable did to them because it has always been about him. Now they’re going to leave him like he left them: alone. Dupri and Tozawa leave, with Otis eventually joining them. They’re doing a heck of a job with getting the fans behind Gable. If he sticks with this, it could be a huge moment for him. Or if he eventually goes evil again, it could be all the bigger.

Dragon Lee gets some encouragement from Rey Mysterio and Penta before his match tonight.

Dragon Lee vs. Ethan Page

Lee starts fast by firing off the kicks, including a hard one to knock Page down in the corner. The running dropkick in the corner gets two but Page turns the mask around and kicks him out to the floor. We take a break and come back with Lee getting two off a tornado DDT. Page gets two off a boot to the face but Lee is back with a hard elbow to the head. Page is knocked outside for a heck of a flip dive onto the announcers’ table and they head back inside. The Styles Clash is broken up with what looked to be an intentional low blow (Graves isn’t convinced) and the Egoplex gives Page the win at 9:58.

Rating: C+. Page continues to get over mainly on attitude and mannerisms, as his in-ring style is still rather basic. That’s not a bad thing though, as there is nothing wrong with a basic style if it is well executed, which his certainly has been. He could be on his way to something around here and I’m interested in where it’s going.

Video on the Vision vs. the Street Profits for the Tag Team Titles tonight.

The Vision are in the back (with only Theory in wrestling gear) and Logan Paul talks about how he is healing faster than any human in history (Bron Breakker pops out of camera, presumably due to laughing too hard). They’re ready to win tonight, with Breakker being ready to crush Seth Rollins on Saturday.

Video on Sol Ruca, who is a thrill seeker.

Here is Iyo Sky for a chat. She is so grateful to have gotten here and she can’t wait to face Liv Morgan for the crown. This brings out Morgan to interrupt, saying she’s going to win on Saturday to crush Sky’s dreams for good. Sky asks if the crown can fit on Morgan’s big head and rants in Japanese. Morgan is cleared out without much trouble. This wasn’t much, but the tournament is screwy anyway.

The Usos are ready in the back when Jacob Fatu interrupts. Jey asks where Fatu has been all night or why he was on Smackdown. Fatu says he doesn’t answer to Jey and the Usos can sit and wait to find out what is happening next. This doesn’t sit well with the twins.

The Judgment Day comes up to see Danhausen, who want their money back after he didn’t curse Oba Femi. He has already spent the $100,000 on experiments, so they threaten violence. That earns JD McDonagh a cruse and he electrocutes himself on some of Danhausen’s equipment, allowing Danhausen to escape. Oh that wacky…whatever Danhausen is.

LA Knight vs. Jimmy Uso

They start slugging it out early, with Uso knocking him to the floor for a ram into the steps. Knight is back up with his usual collection of face first plantings into the announcers’ table. Back in and Uso hits a Whisper In The Wind for two and they’re right back to the floor. This time Knight is sent hard into the barricade and we take a break.

We come back with Knight dropping him onto the apron to bang up Uso’s ribs. They head back inside with Knight slowly working on the back, at least until Uso gets in a suplex. Knight’s torture rack neckbreaker is broken up and Uso superkicks him for two. Knight takes Uso up top but here is Solo Sikoa to Samoan Spike…Uso. The confused Knight (who saw what Sikoa did) grabs the BFT for the pin at 12:25.

Rating: B-. This was another instance of the Bloodline doing whatever, as Sikoa is now here from Smackdown to cause issues for Roman Reigns and company. At the same time, Knight getting a win is good to see, as he almost has to get at least a title match at some point in this whole big story. Either way, there is something going on here, though I have no idea where it is leading. Unfortunately I’m not sure how much I care either.

Bayley is getting medical treatment but has nothing to say.

Roxanne Perez and Raquel Rodriguez are happy for Liv Morgan but want something of their own to celebrate. Dominik Mysterio and JD McDonagh come in, with McDonagh not recognizing them. Morgan comes in to rant about how unfair that was to her, with Rodriguez having to put her in her place. Morgan tries to calm things down but has nothing for Perez as they take McDonagh to the medical area.

Earlier today, Corey Graves sat down with Seth Rollins, who says things have not been going his way but they would be even worse without the Street Profits having his back. Rollins knows the risks of getting inside a cage with Bron Breakker but he has to prove he can still do this. Then he can get back to regaining the title that he never lost.

Chad Gable talks to Adam Pearce about a possible match with Penta but Judgment Day comes in. Dominik Mysterio says he’s facing Penta first but he also wants his apology from Gable as well. Gable says Mysterio sent him to Mexico in the first place and he doesn’t just hand out apologies. If Mysterio wants an apology, he can try to beat it out of him. Mysterio says Gable can face JD McDonagh next week but Pearce wants the doctor to clear McDonagh first. McDonagh thinks Pearce is the doctor and he’s off to medical.

Night Of Champions rundown.

Raw Tag Team Titles: Street Profits vs. The Vision

The Vision, with Logan Paul, is defending and jump the Profits to start fast. Dawkins comes in for a dropkick to Theory and it’s back to Ford for a shoulder. Dawkins suplexes Ford onto Theory for two as the fans are rather mocking of the champion. It’s off to Breakker for the really big running clothesline though and a suplex drops Dawkins.

We take a break and come back with Ford still in trouble. Breakker knocks Ford down again and it’s back to Theory for a chinlock. Ford flips out of a suplex though and it’s off to Dawkins to clean house. A spinning Stinger Splash and enziguri put Breakker down in the corner and the Silencer hits Theory. The Doomsday Blockbuster gets two on Theory, with Paul putting the boot on the rope.

That’s enough for an ejection and the distraction lets Ford bring Dawkins back in. Breakker cuts off another Doomsday Blockbuster and hits the diving clothesline to the announcers’ table as we take a break. We come back again with Breakker cutting of a tag attempt and Theory getting to grab a chinlock.

A wishbone has Dawkins down again and Breakker mocks Ford, with Cole saying Breakker has a screw loose but Cole won’t be explaining that to him. Dawkins strikes back but it’s a double clothesline to leave both of them down. Ford comes back in to clean house, at least until Breakker knocks him down. A powerslam sets up the Steiner Bulldog for two, with Dawkins having to make the save.

Paul tries to come back in with the brass knuckles but here is Joe Hendry to chase him off, sending the fans straight into song in the process. Theory goes to get the knuckles and of course here comes Seth Rollins to use said Knuckles to knock Theory cold. Breakker gives chase (jumping the barricade in a scary impressive display) and Ford hits the frog splash for the pin and the titles at 19:38.

Rating: B. It felt like a pretty safe bet that one of the titles were changing hands this week and this is a good enough way to go. We were pretty much at the breaking point for the Profits, as they had to win or there wasn’t much left for them to do otherwise. At the same time, the champions were a replacement team anyway so it isn’t like this is some big lost opportunity. It’s a good match too, with the Profits hopefully getting to be built up for some fresh set of challengers.

Overall Rating: B. The hot crowd helped as always, with the Femi vs. Uso segment standing out as well. I’ve gotten more interested in Night Of Champions in the last week so at least the final push has been good. This show was up and down at times, but I liked the Valkyria turn and the Profits getting the titles back is a good choice. There were quite a few positives here, with stories advancing and solid action so I’ll call it a pretty strong show.

Results
Brie Bella/Paige b. Lyra Valkyria/Bayley – Rampaige to Valkyria
Ethan Page b. Dragon Lee – Egoplex
LA Knight b. Jimmy Uso – BFT
Street Profits b. The Vision – Frog splash to Theory

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6