Smackdown
Date: April 24, 2026
Location: Dickies Arena, Fort Worth, Texas
Commentators: Wade Barrett, Joe Tessitore

It’s the first Smackdown after Wrestlemania and that means it’s time to deal with both the fallout and the start of the new season. That probably means some debuts, some big twists and hopefully a new challenger for Cody Rhodes, who retained the World Title over Randy Orton on Saturday. Let’s get to it.

Here is Wrestlemania if you need a recap.

Long Wrestlemania recap.

Danhausen arrives in the Danhausenmobile and scares Trick Williams off.

Here is Jacob Fatu to get things going. Fatu talks about how he told Roman Reigns how much he needs the World Title, with Reigns saying Fatu isn’t ready. That’s what he’s heard his whole life, but Reigns needs to get in the ring with him and prove it. Cue the Usos to interrupt, with Jimmy liking the idea of Fatu wanting to make his family better.

Fatu can do all that…by beating Cody Rhodes, who is already banged up. Run the play with the family. These people out here aren’t going to help him make it happen so don’t listen to them. Jey on the other hand says it’s gone too far already and Fatu is going to have to face Reigns. Cue Solo Sikoa and the MFT’s, with Sikoa saying he brought Fatu to WWE. What did the Usos ever teach him? How to Yeet?

Fatu is going to need an army to beat Reigns and that’s what Sikoa has…but Tama Tonga grabs the mic. He asks why they’re wasting time on a lost cause like Fatu? Tama: “You think he’s going to beat Roman? He can’t even beat you.” Fatu superkicks Tama, who is held back as Fatu wants to talk to Reigns. Oh and he wants to face Sikoa tonight.

Giulia knows there is pressure when she is ready to defend the Women’s US Title against Tiffany Stratton and feels pressure. Kiana James does NOT like these questions though.

Women’s United States Title: Tiffany Stratton vs. Giulia

Giulia, with Kiana James, is defending. Stratton flips around to start and hits a discus lariat, followed by a pinfall reversal sequence. Giulia headbutts her into the corner and breaks up a quick Prettiest Moonsault Ever. A neckbreaker onto the floor drops Stratton and we take a break. We come back with Stratton hitting a handspring elbow into the corner but Giulia catches her up top.

A butterfly superplex gives Giulia two but Stratton is back with a kick to the chest. James’ distraction doesn’t work as Stratton grabs a Regal Roll but the Prettiest Moonsault Ever is countered into a double arm neck crank. With that broken up, Giulia hits a running knee to the face, only to get Alabama Slammed. Now the Prettiest Moonsault Ever gives Stratton the title at 8:58.

Rating: B-. As usual, Giulia can look incredibly smooth in the ring, but there is only so much to her in the charisma/interest department. That’s where WWE has dropped the ball with her, as she basically just came in, became a champion and…that’s it. Now she’s lost the title and I have no idea what is next for her. If she’s going to be a bigger star, WWE has to find a way to make the fans care about her because it hasn’t happened yet.

We look back at Danhausen, and the Mini Hausens, beating up Kit Wilson and the Miz at Wrestlemania as John Cena thought “I got out of this stuff just in time.”

Earlier this week, Danhausen snuck in Miz’s house and then vanished inside of it, somehow winding up in Miz’s pool. Miz insisted that there was no course and then wound up flying into the pool as well.

We look at Paige and Brie Bella of all people winning the Women’s Tag Team Titles at Wrestlemania.

Tiffany Stratton is happy to not be the runner up for a change but here are Brie Bella and Paige to interrupt. Stratton leaves as the other two head to the ring for a chat. Brie talks about how great it is to be here as a champion and while she was sad to not be there with Nikki, she’s here with someone she sees as a sister. Paige: “I’m back.” It’s been a long road to get back here but this is Paige’s house. They aren’t going anywhere and cue Charlotte/Alexa Bliss to interrupt. The two of them reluctantly welcome the champs back and then get right to the challenge. It’s on so get a referee out here.

Women’s Tag Team Titles: Paige/Brie Bella vs. Alexa Bliss/Charlotte

Paige and Bella are defending and we’re joined in progress with Bliss taking Bella down. It’s off to Charlotte to work on the leg but Bella kicks her away. The tag is loaded up…and NXT’s Jacy Jayne debuts to send Paige into the steps for the DQ at 1:57 shown.

Post match Fallon Henley and Lainey Reid (the rest of Jayne’s Fatal Influence faction) run in to beat down Bliss and Charlotte. This is hardly a surprising callup for Jayne, though I wasn’t sure if the other two were coming up with her. Jayne has been in NXT for the better part of ever so it was time to try it or let her go, which would feel like a huge waste.

We look at Cody Rhodes retaining over Randy Orton, only for Orton to lay him out after the match.

We look at Royce Keys returning to his hometown in an effort to inspire kids.

Here is Cody Rhodes, complete with a black eye, for a chat. Rhodes talks about leaving the stadium at Wrestlemania because that’s what he was supposed to do as champion. He wanted to leave through the entrance because he wanted to send a message that he wasn’t done. It was a message to Randy Orton, because he wasn’t done after the Punt.

It was a message to Sami Zayn, who called him the Golden Boy and nothing bad ever happens to him. And it was a message to those outside forces who want to take him out because you are 0-3 so MIND YOUR D*** BUSINESS! It is the Smackdown after Wrestlemania and he is easy to find but hard to beat. Kind of nothing here, but if he’s not physically cleared, this was all they could do.

We look back at Fatal Influence’s debut.

Solo Sikoa sends the MFT’s to get the Tag Team Titles back. He’ll take care of Jacob Fatu.

Tag Team Titles: Damian Priest/R-Truth vs. MFT’s

JC Mateo/Tama Tonga, with Tonga Loa, are challenging. R-Truth and Tama start things off with Tama knocking him down but missing a dancing elbow. Priest comes in but gets pulled down to the floor for the crash as we take a break. We come back with Priest fighting out of trouble and hitting a rebound lariat, allowing the tag off to R-Truth. That means the John Cena sequence is initiated but Tama gets in a cheap shot and Mateo grabs a German suplex. Tama misses a charge into the post though and Mateo goes into a lifting Little Jimmy to retain the titles at 8:18.

Rating: C+. Priest and R-Truth continue to play with the house’s money as they have no business being a long term team but are having a perfectly nice title reign. It’s not like the other teams on the show were doing anything in the first place so see what you can get out of them. If nothing else, anyone who takes a title from R-Truth is going to feel like a big time heel so it’s hardly the worst idea.

Back at Miz’s house, Miz gets out of the pool and Danhausen (who is changing clothes between appearances) plays with Miz’s golf simulator and accidentally hits Miz low with the club. Then he steals and breaks a Slammy and has some chocolate on the way out. Danhausen opens the door and sees Maryse….and Miz accidentally throws chocolate on her. Danhausen escapes by stealing their daughter’s bicycle. This is so stupid that it’s hilarious.

Here is Trick Williams, with Lil Yachty and a person in a gingerbread man costume, for a championship celebration. The fans seem happy to see him and Yachty says he’s here to stay. Williams makes it clear that he’s not doing the US Title Open Challenge anymore…but the gingerbread man jumps both of them. It’s Sami Zayn, who hits a gingerbread Helluva Kick and does a bit of dancing as the fans boo this out of the building.

Royce Keys is happy with winning the Andre Battle Royal last week but he’s just getting started. Solo Sikoa comes in and says it’s a good win. There’s always room for Keys in Sikoa’s family. Sikoa leaves without getting a yes or a no.

We get a Tale Of The Tape for Miz vs. Danhausen, with each getting some special stats.

Danhausen has a curse success rate of 100%, is a personal friend of John Cena and very strong merchandise sales.

Miz has an active curse status, his last win is under review and he has never been on a blimp. I love these goofy things.

Danhausen vs. The Miz

Danhausen has the Danhausenmobile, which has Tessitore surprised even though it was shown earlier tonight. Kit Wilson is here with Miz as Barrett lists off Danhausen’s crimes thus far. Wilson steals Miz’s Slammy back from Danhausen’s car, even as Danhausen snaps off a middle rope hurricanrana. That’s enough for Miz to bail out to the floor but he comes back in to stomp away. Miz and Wilson pose but Danhausen curses them. Pyro goes off and Miz gets rolled up for the pin at 1:43.

Post match Danhausen tries to use the flash paper to escape but Miz is waiting on him. Miz and Wilson collide and Danhausen escapes. This was goofy slapstick stuff, which is Danhausen’s thing.

Blake Monroe is coming. Yeah that’s another expected callup but I’m not sure where she fits in.

Here is new Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley for a chat. She’s champion again and she’s a fighting champion so let’s do an open challenge. Cue Fatal Influence, but the fans don’t want to hear from Jacy Jayne. She welcomes the booing because she loves it and goes on to introduce the team. Ripley says the attack earlier was impressive, but stop while you’re ahead. Fallon Henley threatens Ripley, who says take your shot. Jayne says they’re always ready to throw hands so here is Nick Aldis to make Jayne vs. Ripley for right now.

Jacy Jayne vs. Rhea Ripley

Non-title. Jayne chills on the ropes to start and gets sent face first into the mat. Back up and Jayne grinds away on a headlock but Ripley gives her a running shoulder into the corner. Ripley sends her to the apron for a forearm to the floor, and it’s an electric chair onto the apron. The rest of Fatal Influence offers a distraction though and Jayne gets in a kick from the apron as we take a break.

We come back with Ripley fighting out of a chinlock and firing off some clotheslines. Jayne fires off a superkick though and a pump kick puts Ripley down for two. The Rolling Encore (discus forearm) misses for Jayne though and Ripley goes up, only to get crotched down. Ripley is right back with a Razor’s Edge and running knee for two in a pretty impressive kickout from Jayne. The Riptide is loaded up but Fatal Influence runs in for the DQ at 10:55.

Rating: B-. That ending was a relief as it was the way out of the match. I was worried that they were going to have Jayne get pinned here but instead they went with the logical result instead. At the same time, it’s rather awesome to see Fatal Influence being thrown into the deep end. They’ve been built up in NXT and it’s not crazy to think that they’re ready for this. Let’s see how good they can be.

Post match the beatdown leaves Ripley laying.

We look at Roman Reigns and Jacob Fatu on Raw.

The Usos tell Jacob Fatu that they have his back in the main event. Fatu doesn’t want it, which doesn’t surprise Jey.

Charlotte and Alexa Bliss are in the trainer’s room when Rhea Ripley comes in. Ripley and Charlotte have a staredown and Charlotte doesn’t like Jacy Jayne. She’ll get her hands on Jayne next week, unlike Ripley this week.

We get the Brock Lesnar tribute video from Raw.

Ricky Saints is coming next week. He didn’t have much else to do in NXT so why not.

Solo Sikoa vs. Jacob Fatu

The MFT’s are here with Sikoa. Fatu shrugs off a headlock and they trade shoulders for a standoff. Sikoa hammers away in the corner but Fatu is right back with a running elbow. Back up and Sikoa sends him outside, where the MFT’s get in a cheap shot to take over. Cue the Usos, but Fatu is not happy because he doesn’t want them here.

Sikoa gets in a cheap shot and we take a break. We come back with Sikoa snapping off a suplex but Fatu is right back up for a slugout. Fatu gets the better of things and hits a running backsplash to put Sikoa in trouble for a change. The headbutts in the corner have Sikoa in more trouble and the running Umaga Attack connects.

Fatu superkicks him down and goes up, which has the MFT’s up for a distraction/interference. Sikoa’s rollup gets two but Fatu is back up with a dive onto the MFT’s. Spinning Solo and the Superfly Splash give Sikoa two each but the Samoan Spike misses. Fatu gives him the pop up Samoan drop and the triple jump moonsault finishes Sikoa at 10:59.

Rating: B. This was about making Fatu look like a killer who smashed through Sikoa and his goons to make him feel like more of a threat for Reigns. That worked well here, as Fatu had some trouble but came out on top in the end. It’s a good way to go, with Fatu clearing out the lower parts of the family on his way to the bigger members. Good main event here, with bigger ramifications.

Post match the MFT’s run in and beat Fatu down so the Usos come to the ring, only for Fatu to beat the MFT’s down on his own. Fatu hits running Umaga Attacks into chairs in the corner and puts Tonga Loa through the announcers’ table. Back in and Fatu glares at the Usos, saying he’ll see Roman Reigns on Raw to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. I’d call this an upgrade over most recent Smackdowns, which granted isn’t the highest bar to clear. What matters the most is that they kept my interest and focused on the biggest story, with Fatu vs. Reigns being advanced. Rhodes didn’t do much, though Fatal Influence’s debut went well and more new recruits are on the way. It’s not a classic, but I’ll take it over what we’ve been getting in recent weeks.

Results
Tiffany Stratton b. Giulia – Prettiest Moonsault Ever
Paige/Brie Bella b. Alexa Bliss/Charlotte via DQ when Jacy Jayne interfered
Damian Priest/R-Truth b. MFT’s – Lifting Little Jimmy to Mateo
Danhausen b. The Miz – Rollup
Rhea Ripley b. Jacy Jayne via DQ when Fatal Influence interfered
Jacob Fatu b. Solo Sikoa – Triple jump moonsault

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

Impact Wrestling
Date: April 23, 2026
Location: Upstate Medical University Arena At The Oncenter War Memorial, Syracuse, New York
Commentators: Tom Hannifan, Matthew Rehwoldt

It’s World Title time, as Rich Swann is getting a shot at Mike Santana and the gold. That should be enough to carry the show but we still have a bit of fallout from Rebellion to deal with this week. If nothing else, the Hardys still want revenge on the Righteous, as their feud is somehow still going. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Bear Bronson vs. Nic Nemeth

The rest of the System is here and Ryan Nemeth is on commentary. Bronson chokes in the corner to start and gives him a rather enthusiastic slam. Nic fights back but Bronson sits down on his chest, allowing Alisha Edwards to get in a cheap shot from the floor. The side slam gives Bronson two but Nic fights up and hits a quick Fameasser.

Bronson chokebombs him for two more, only to get sent into the post. The running DDT and superkick give Nic two more but Bronson knocks him outside. The System surrounds him but KC Navarro comes out to offer a distraction. Nic hits the superkick into the Danger Zone for the pin at 8:27.

Rating: B-. This actually wound up being pretty decent, which isn’t a surprise as Bronson has completely exceeded his expectations in his time around here. The interference likely sets up another tag match down the line and I’m digging Nic as a good guy. You could put him into the World Title scene rather easily and that will likely be the case down the line, though going after the System is a good way to start.

Rich Swann, with BDE, is very excited for the main event and wants to do this alone. BDE doesn’t seem to mind.

Here is…well it’s supposed to be Elijah for a concert but it’s obviously Frankie Kazarian with a fake beard (which commentary does recognize). He has a bad case of the blues because he can’t beat Kazarian and he has written a song called Kaz Is My Daddy. Cue the real Elijah to choke Kazarian out and announce a guitar strap match. Then he sings about how horrible Kazarian is. I’ve heard worse ideas for a gimmick match.

EC3 has a chair and is ready to end Eric Young.

Tessa Blanchard, Victoria Crawford and Mila Moore are back from the Undead Realm and next week, they’re fighting Rosemary and company in their world. Sidenote: I know it’s (probably) not intentional but Moore’s “Hotter Than Her” shirt with an arrow pointing at Crawford is hilarious.

Dutch vs. Matt Hardy

Their partners are banned from ringside. Hardy wastes no time in setting up a table at ringside and spray paints SACRIFICE on top. Dutch jumps him inside for the opening bell and blocks an early Twist Of Fate attempt. The Side Effect connects and they go outside, with Hardy ramming Dutch’s head into the steps over and over.

We take a break and come back with Dutch charging into a side slam and grabbing a chinlock. That’s broken up and Dutch misses an elbow, allowing Hardy to hit a DDT. Dutch is sent outside for a middle rope elbow…which breaks one of the table’s legs but not the table itself. Hardy suplexes him through the table but since it was set up before the match, it’s not a DQ. As I try to get my head around THAT logic, Vincent pops out from underneath the ring and slides a chair inside. The distraction lets Vincent shove Hardy off the top into Death Walks to give Dutch the pin at 10:15.

Rating: C. The idea here was that Hardy wanted revenge, but at the same time the stuff with the table didn’t exactly work. This feud feels like it should have ended a few times now and odds are we’re going to the Hardy Compound sooner than later. Dutch getting a win is a surprise, though it was only an ok match.

Post match Vincent sits in a chair as Dutch beats on Matt. Jeff Hardy runs in for the save, which is treated as a surprise because…well because villains in wrestling are dumb.

The Elegance Brand have Mr. Elegance show off his physique to convince Daria Rae to give him a match next week. Yeah sure. She’s rather confused as the team leaves. This could be funny, which might be due to Rae not using her terrible catchphrase.

Here is a rather upset looking Lei Ying Lee for a chat. After apologizing for her English not being great, she says she loves her friends and TNA but doesn’t know why Xia Brookside did that to her. Cue Brookside, now in a leather jacket, to say they aren’t best friends because if they were, they would have stood together at Rebellion. Lee is in tears as Brookside says she has the pressure of being a second generation star and being all alone.

Lee talks about being alone out here but then she met Brookside and tried to help her. She apologizes to Brookside and promises to be right by her side. Brookside says she made a mistake and that Lee has been by her side. She knows Lee will be champion again and they make up with a big hug. Then Brookside glares at the camera and lays her out. Perfectly fine stuff here, though Brookside as a heel might be hard to make work.

Elayna Black vs. Katie Arquette

Black knocks her down to start and then trips her onto the apron. Back in and Black knocks her into the corner, setting up the Blackout for the fast pin at 2:29. Total squash.

Mustafa Ali, with Order 4, welcomes us to the International Title summit, where a random country is selected to have a representative get a title shot. The lucky country is Australia and the challenger is….Chris Brookes! He’s thankful for the chance and calls Ali a “bloke”, which Ali doesn’t understand.

Bear Bronson is ticked off about his loss and Cedric Alexander wants Leon Slater and the X-Division Title. Eddie Edwards says the System will fix this.

TNA World Title: Rich Swann vs. Mike Santana

Santana is defending and Swann is in remarkable shape as that has never been his thing before. They shake hands to start and we’re ready to go. Santana goes after the arm to start and wrestles him down, with Swann popping up for a standoff. They go to the test of strength and head to the mat with neither being able to get the advantage.

Back up and they both miss dropkicks, followed by Swann catching Santana with a dropkick to send him into the ropes. That has Santana rethinking things and hitting a dropkick of his own. A belly to back faceplant drops Swann and Santana hits a backsplash for two. They go outside, where Santana sends him face first into the floor (ow) as we take a break. We come back with Swann hitting a running kick from the apron and putting Santana in a chair next to the barricade.

Some running kicks to the face have Santana rocked but he comes back with a superkick. They get back inside, where Swann superkicks him out of the air and goes up as well. That earns Swann a top rope superplex, though he might have countered in some way as they both stay down. Santana fights up and strikes away, setting up the Rolling Buck Fifty. The Cannonball and a sitout powerbomb give Santana two but Swann scores with a rolling clothesline.

Swann misses a middle rope 450 but connects with the handspring cutter. A super hurricanrana into a frog splash gives Swann two and they need a breather. Back up and Santana tries a sitout powerbomb but gets reversed into a Canadian Destroyer for a rather near fall. Swann hits a superkick but Santana pops up with a heck of a Spin The Block to retain at 19:06.

Rating: B+. Yeah this worked, as they beat the fire out of each other and Swann looks like he’s back after a weird few years. That’s great to see and he has clearly put in the work. At the same time, Santana continues to be the man and it’s great to see that he is feeling like the A-list star of this promotion. TNA has been needing that as even Joe Hendry felt like he was a rental before he could get to WWE. Santana doesn’t feel that way (though WWE would snatch him up as soon as they could if possible) and that’s good to see for the promotion.

Respect is shown to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. The main event is rather good, though there was only so much worthwhile on the rest of the show. Right now there isn’t a big show set up so until we start building towards whatever is next, we’re in something of a holding pattern. Granted having that good of a main event helps, but it’s the only thing really worth your time this week.

Results
Nic Nemeth b. Bear Bronson – Danger Zone
Dutch b. Matt Hardy – Death Walks
Elayna Black b. Katie Arquette – Blackout
Mike Santana b. Rich Swann – Spin The Block

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

Ring Of Honor
Date: April 23, 2026
Location: WJCT Studios, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

Last week was a big one as we actually had some qualifying matches for Supercard Of Honor. The show is in less than a month and I’m wondering what we’re going to get on the way there. Multiple title matches are already set and that’s a bit out of the ordinary for this place. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Brandon Cutler/Angelica Risk/Terry Kid vs. Premiere Athletes

Denali and Risk start things off, with only about a foot of size difference. Risk gets pulled down with ease and forearmed in the corner, followed by the knees to the ribs. It’s quickly off to Cutler to strike away on Daivari, including a springboard crossbody. The men fight out to the floor, leaving Denali to chokeslam Risk for the pin at 2:35. Of all of the Athletes’ six person tags that I’ve seen, this was the most recent.

Mark Davis vs. Beef

Beef grabs a headlock to start and knocks Davis out to the floor with a running shoulder. Davis fires off the chops and knocks Beef off the apron, where he sits on Beef’s chest for a unique crash. Back in and Davis chops away some more but Beef scores with a dropkick. Beef strikes away, only to charge into a German suplex.

The big clothesline puts Davis down again but he catches Beef on top with a superplex. The running forearm connects in the corner for two but Beef reverses the piledriver attempt into a rollup for two of his own. Davis chops him down but still can’t hit the piledriver, allowing Beef to hit a belly to back suplex. The Swan Dive misses though and Davis hits a big clothesline for the pin at 7:22.

Rating: C+. So to recap: last night on Dynamite, Davis beat Will Ospreay, the resident AEW superhero, but here he went move for move with freaking BEEF and couldn’t even hit his finisher. Now in theory, since this show is taped in advance and this match advances nothing for either of them, one might think it could have been cut or aired at another time, but nah. Instead it NEEDED to air here because no one pays attention to this show so doing something dumb is fine.

We look at Johnny TV losing his hair in CMLL about two months ago. He’s appeared without his hair in ROH since then so….why are we seeing this?

MxM TV vs. Main Man Oro/Keagan Garland/Angel Fashion

Garland is the son of Scotty 2 Hotty. Fashion and TV start things off with the latter knocking Fashion into the corner to hammer away. Oro comes in to kick Mansoor in the head and Garland comes in to run the ropes. A Hart Attack (leg lariat version) puts Garland down, with Mansoor yelling that he just beat up Scotty’s son. An Alabama slam lets the villains pose but Fashion and Oro break it up.

Garland pounds on Madden in the corner but Madden walks out to hit a powerbomb/double chokeslam at the other two (ok that was nice). TV hits a suicide dive onto all of them but Garland ducks the Flying Chuck. The Worm almost connects but Madden cuts it off at the last second. The Glossy Centerfold finishes Garland at 3:58.

Rating: C. I was worried this was going to go even longer but this was more “hey Scotty 2 Hotty’s son is wrestling”, which was a nice little bonus. You can definitely see the resemblance and while it’s too early to tell how it’s going to go, it’s nice to see Garland getting a shot. Other than that, MxM TV is exactly what they have always been.

We look back at Lee Moriarty beating Marshall Von Erich to retain the Pure Wrestling Title last week.

Caprice Coleman sits down with Moriarty and asks him about being all honorable and then part of Shane Taylor Promotions. Moriarty says he’s the best Pure Wrestler in the world and it’s him being himself. He and Shane Taylor won’t always get along but they work well together. Moriarty is also apparently a talented painter and says it’s similar to being an artist in the ring.

On one hand, I definitely do appreciate these interviews as ANYTHING giving these people some more personality is a good idea, but my goodness maybe build up some people to take the title from him? Or just drop the title altogether because it stopped feeling important years ago?

Diamante vs. Rachael Ellering

Pure Rules. They fight over wrist continue to start and the threat of a Fujiwara armbar sends Ellering straight to the rope. An ankle lock sends Ellering to the ropes again so Diamante starts working on the leg (why Ellering being in the corner doesn’t count as a rope break isn’t clear). Another ankle lock means Ellering is out of rope breaks but she comes back with a big clothesline. Diamante is right back with a top rope double stomp to the back, setting up another ankle lock to make Ellering tap at 5:34.

Rating: C-. Yeah wow that was thrilling. Someone burned off their rope breaks and then gave up. This felt like someone playing No Mercy and wanting to get through Championship Mode while using the same hold to get a submission. That might make for a logical path and match under these rules, but dang it doesn’t make for much in the way of excitement.

Frat House vs. Colons/Spanish Announce Project

Orlando backs Garrison into the corner and it’s off to Eddie for a quick dropkick. It’s off to Karter, who gets hit with a slingshot crossbody into a backbreaker. Angelico comes in to hiptoss Serpentico onto Karter but he knocks Serpentico into the corner to take over. Garrison grabs a suplex DDT on Serpentico but misses a top rope backsplash (making him lose his hat).

Serpentico Dudley Dogs Vance and Angelico comes back in to clean house. Everything breaks down and Garrison’s torture rack powerbomb gets two. Coleman says that he’s finishes a lot of people with that move. I’d love for Coleman to name say….three. Angelico and Serpentico get stereo holds on Jameson and Vance for the double tap at 7:25.

Rating: C+. This was a very Ring Of Honor match, as it featured people who pretty much don’t work on any other shows in any meaningful ways and wrestled the same match they have almost every time they’re on this show. None of these wrestlers have moved up or down the card in months and that is likely going to be there case for the next several months. The match was perfectly acceptable wrestling but it changes nothing. The problem with Ring Of Honor is that a lot of their shows are comprised of that exact same kind of match. It can get exhausting in a hurry and that is definitely happening here.

Billie Starkz vs. Hyan

They fight over a test of strength to start and Starkz bites her hand to escape. Starkz misses a charge though and gets knocked to the floor, where she sends Hyan crashing into the barricade. Back in and Starkz strikes away in the corner, though Hyan does manage a sunset flip for two.

A belly to back suplex gets two more and Hyan takes her up top for a superplex, followed by a falcon arrow for the same. They go to a pinfall reversal sequence for two each until Starkz Alabama Slams her into the corner. The Swanton only gives Starkz two as she pulls Hyan up. Instead it’s the pancake to finish Hyan at 9:15.

Rating: B-. Hyan has come a long way since her debut around here and it’s nice to see someone developed like that. At the same time, it was nice to see Starkz get a win, even if she is still only so much of a star. Granted a lot of that is due to having Athena dominate the division for such a long time and making everyone else look secondary.

Survival Of The Fittest rundown.

Swirl vs. Adam Priest/Tommy Billington

Tornado Tag and at least this has been a feud for a good while now. It’s a brawl to start fast with Johnson getting slammed on the floor and Christian, still in his robe, getting beaten up inside. The Swirl fights back by sending Priest into the steps, allowing Christian to hit a Blockbuster off the steps.

Back in and Billington gets double teamed, including in the Tree Of Woe. Priest is knocked to the floor again and Billington gets beaten down in the corner again. A chair is brought in and a running shot to the head knocks Billington silly for two. Billington fights back though and manages to load Johnson up in a Tombstone, with Priest coming off the top to spike him down (with a sick sound) for two.

Christian’s handspring kick to the face hits Johnson for two and Priest drops Johnson with a DDT. They go to the corner for a Tower Of Doom with a super Spanish Fly off the top for an even bigger crash. The Swirl wins a chop off but Priest clotheslines both of them down. The top rope elbow only hits chair though and the top rope double stomp/Death Valley Driver combination finishes Priest (Johnson gets the pin of course) at 12:03.

Rating: B. This was by far the best match on the show and it felt like it was the culmination of a big feud. It also boosts up the Swirl as a team, which is a good idea. Of course it isn’t as good of an idea as having Christian wrestling some singles matches (he hasn’t had one since December) to build him up for his World Title match in less than a month or talking about it or something. But insert complaints about Ring Of Honor being a disaster here.

Overall Rating: C+. While it’s hardly a big surprise, it’s becoming more and more obvious that this stuff is thrown together with the important matches being added later. That’s fine enough, but it also feels like the regular matches are made without any connection to the bigger matches. It makes these shows very frustrating as the wrestling is fine, but it feels completely disconnected from what is being talked about and promoted. In other words, PUT SOME EFFORT INTO THIS THING ALREADY!

Results
Premiere Athlete b. Brandon Cutler/Angelica Risk/Terry Kid – Chokeslam to Risk
Mark Davis b. Beef – Clothesline
MxM TV b. Main Man Oro/Keagan Garland/Angel Fashion – Glossy Centerfold to Garland
Diamante b. Rachael Ellering – Ankle lock
Colons/Spanish Announce Project b. Frat House – Double submission
Billie Starkz b. Hyan – Pancake
Swirl b. Tommy Billington/Adam Priest – Top rope double stomp/Death Valley Driver to Priest

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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Dynamite
Date: April 22, 2026
Location: Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Portland, Oregon
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Nigel McGuinness, Excalibur

Well last week was a pretty big deal and now we get to see where things are going. That’s what we’re going to be finding out as Darby Allin is the new World Champion. We’re also about a month away from Double Or Nothing and now we get to see what might be coming up on the show. Let’s get to it.

Here is Collision if you need a recap.

We open with a quick look back at Darby Allin winning the World Title last week.

Here is a ticked off MJF to get things going. He isn’t like the paper champion Darby Allin and demands respect. Last week was the Seattle Screwjob because he was three days removed from a war with Kenny Omega (which he won of course) and then Allin hit him low to start the match.

Allin can’t beat him if the playing field is even but here is Kevin Knight to interrupt. Knight says it’s the same old MJF out here whining like a little b****. He had MJF pinned a few weeks ago so if anyone was screwed it was him. MJF mocks what Knight said, as well as thinking it’s “socially acceptable” to be friends with Mike Bailey.

It’s so amusing to think think Knight is a star but the TNT Title suits him well: a title for someone with a ceiling. Knight threatens him with a slap and says some of the best in the world have held that title so it’s no wonder MJF never held it. We have a challenge for a fight and MJF says Knight has talked him into it so get a referee out here. Said referee comes out and holds up the title….but MJF rolls outside and says we’ll do it next week.

The Demand and Chris Jericho are in the back and Ricochet mocks the idea of them having a six man tag against Jericho. That makes Jericho laugh but he does show off his new shirt, which features a statement about regularly getting beaten up by the Demand. Jericho will just find someone who doesn’t like Ricochet.

Brody King vs. Lio Rush

Rush talks to himself in the corner so King pulls him out and gives him a slam. King sends him outside for the big chops but the running crossbody hits barricade. Rush posts him and we take an early break. We come back with King blocking the springboard Stunner and hitting a heck of a running clothesline.

Back up and Rush hits a Stunner over the middle rope but he has to escape a powerbomb. Rush does his weird crawl around the ring and hits a suicide dive, followed by the big dive to the floor. Back in and a frog splash to the back gives Rush one but King is back with a swinging Boss Man Slam. The Ganso Bomb finishes Rush at 9:25.

Rating: B-. Rush’s problem continues to be this ridiculous gimmick, as it’s distracting from his great athleticism. That should be enough to make Rush stand out but he has to do all of the weird, creepy stuff instead. The match was a pretty good back and forth match, but the over the top Rush stuff brought it back down as it kept getting brought back up.

Post match King implies he wants the winner of tonight’s World Title match.

Tommaso Ciampa (challenging for the World Title) says he is a father, a husband and a son. Tonight is about proving that glass ceilings can be shattered and no one has been more prepared than him. Darby Allin says he wants this, but Ciampa needs it. This was really good and I bought what he was saying.

Adam Copeland wants another Tag Team Title shot against FTR and they can make it a street fight. If FTR wins, Copeland and Christian Cage will retire as a team.

Hikaru Shida vs. Mina Shirakawa

Kris Statlander is here with Shida, who says something about Shirakawa in Japanese before the match. Shirakawa grabs a headlock to start and gets thrown down by the hair. That earns her Shirakawa’s dance and a Sling Blade before they go into a pinfall reversal sequence. Shida hits a running knee and we take a break. We come back with Shirakawa grabbing a headscissors into a basement dropkick.

Shirakawa starts in on the leg but the Figure Four is blocked. They go out to the apron with Shida hitting a belly to back piledriver and a top rope Meteora gets two. The falcon arrow is escaped and Shirakawa scores with a discus forearm. The top rope Sling Blade gives Shirakawa two and now the Figure Four goes on. With that broken up, Shirakawa grabs the kendo stick but Statlander takes it away. Shida knees her down and hits the falcon arrow for the pin at 11:50.

Rating: B-. It turns out that two talented wrestlers are able to have a good match when they’re given the chance. It worked well here and the idea of Shirakawa getting frustrated enough to try to use the cane. That being said, it’s not a great sign that Shirakawa lost again as she is just kind of there at the moment. I’m not sure how that’s going to change, but she doesn’t have the brightest future right now.

Video on Kazuchika Okada vs. Konosuke Takeshita.

We look at the Death Riders helping the Dogs attacking the Rascalz and Young Bucks. The result is an eight man tag on Collision.

Will Ospreay vs. Mark Davis

Davis jumps him before the bell as Don Callis joins commentary. Ospreay fights back and knocks him outside for a slingshot hurricanrana. Back in and Davis blocks a piledriver attempt and knocks him down with a single chop. That’s enough to send it back to the floor, where Davis fires off some knees. Ospreay is able to get back up for a running flip dive off the stage and we take a break.

We come back with Davis breaking out of a choke and grabbing a neckbreaker. Ospreay is able to hit a handspring kick to the head, followed by a top rope forearm to the back of the head. Davis crotches him on top and scores with a head of a clothesline. Something like a reverse Angle Slam gets two but the piledriver is escaped.

They trade kicks to the head and Ospreay Spanish Flies him for two. Davis hits a pair of belly to back suplexes and an enziguri, only for Ospreay to hit a quick Hidden Blade. The slightly delayed cover only gets two and Davis pulls him into the piledriver. Ospreay gets the foot on the rope so Davis piledrives him on the apron. That’s enough for the referee to call it at 15:32.

Rating: B. Well first of all, big points for not having Ospreay beat the count or pop up to his feet after that devastating of a move. The foot on the ropes after the regular version is acceptable enough but having Ospreay get up after the souped up piledriver would have killed the move. Outside of that, they beat each other up rather well, with Davis turning into a heck of a midcard monster over the last few months. Well done indeed.

Post match Davis teases another piledriver but gets the Death Riders run in to cut him off, albeit without getting physical. The Riders take the out cold Ospreay with them.

Alex Windsor and Persephone want the Triangle Of Madness on Collision. This was hard to understand because some fans kept yelling and a mic in the arena was picking it up.

Samoa Joe vs. Cody Chhun

Chhun gets out of a wristlock to start but gets pulled into an armbar. Joe unloads with the snap jabs into the corner and then walks away from a crossbody. The MuscleBuster finishes Chhun at 2:43.

Post match Hook comes out for a fist bump with Joe.

Video on Darby Allin, set to a song about how “I gotta be me” and showing some of his odd behavior. And winning the World Title.

Chris Jericho has found some partners in the Hurt Syndicate.

Here is Darby Allin for a chat. Allin lays the title in the middle of the ring and looks at it before talking about how his first match was right here in Portland. Everything could end as soon as Tommaso Ciampa comes out here. This title is for his beautiful fiance and the people…but here is MJF to interrupt. Allin turns down the rematch request…until MJF puts something on the line. Allin: “So get your a** out of my ring!” That would be easier if MJF wasn’t standing on the ramp. Anyway here is Ciampa and we’re ready to go.

AEW World Title: Tommaso Ciampa vs. Darby Allin

Ciampa is challenging and kicks him in the face in the corner to start. Willow’s Bell is blocked so Ciampa whips him into the barricade. We take a break and come back with Ciampa catapulting him face first into the bottom of the ring. Ciampa misses a running boot so Allin goes up and dives with a clothesline into the timekeeper’s area. Ciampa comes up and is VERY busted open, with Allin hitting a suicide dive as a bonus.

Back in and the Coffin Drop is broken up, with blood splatters on the camera. Allin is back up with a Scorpion Death Drop but Ciampa rolls away before the Coffin Drop can launch. Ciampa catches him on top…and hits a super Air Raid Crash to the floor, with nothing to break the fall (good grief). We take another break and we come back again with Ciampa chopping away.

Allin catapults him into the corner, with Allin bouncing back out with a double stomp. A running knee hits Allin, who pops right back up for a knockdown of his own. The Coffin Drop lands in a choke though, followed by a running knee for two. Another running knee gets another two but Ciampa can’t get a Scorpion Deathlock. Allin reverses into one of his own and, after quite the struggle, gets the tag at 18:02.

Rating: B+. This was a match where I was expecting it to be good but I wasn’t expecting them to go this hard. These two beat the living daylights out of each other and it felt like a war. It’s a good example of a match with pretty much no drama about the result but it was incredible watching them beat each other up until Ciampa gave out. Awesome main event.

Respect is shown after the match. Ciampa leaves but here is Brody King to issue the challenge for next week. Allin is in to end the show.

Overall Rating: B+. Yeah this was another great show, with the stories progressing well enough and a heck of a main event to go with the rather good Ospreay vs. Davis match. I’m not sure what we’re going to get at Double Or Nothing but we can figure that out in the next few weeks. Dynamite is on a bit of a roll right now and if they can keep it up going into Double Or Nothing, we should have a heck of a pay per view coming up.

Results
Brody King b. Lio Rush – Ganso Bomb
Hikaru Shida b. Mina Shirakawa – Falcon arrow
Mark Davis b. Will Ospreay via referee stoppage
Samoa Joe b. Cody Chhun – MuscleBuster
Darby Allin b. Tommaso Ciampa – Scorpion Deathlock

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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Evolve
Date: April 22, 2026
Location: WWE Performance Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Peter Rosenburg, Blake Howard

We have a new Women’s Champion in the form of Wendy Choo as things have been shaken up a bit around here. That is likely to continue as we have some fresh faces, which should open up some new options. In addition, we have quite the grudge match already set for this week so let’s get to it.

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

Cappuccino Jones says Brooks Jensen woke him up with that cowbell shot so it’s time for revenge in the bullrope match.

Jensen is ready to beat Jones up.

Opening sequence.

Here is Wendy Choo to get things going. She can’t believe she went from being in therapy just a few months ago be being Women’s Champion. The work begins now and the women’s locker room is deep and Foreman Thatcher has agreed to let her pick her first challenger. Therefore, she is picking someone like her, in the form of Laynie Luck.

Cue Luck, who is very excited as well as honored to be offered this spot. This brings out Nikkita Lyons, who wants to be the first challenger after finishing runner up in the gauntlet. She has received divine messages because she is the Divine Feline but here is Sloane Jacobs to jump Choo and Luck from behind. Choo and Luck clear the ring in a hurry. Lyons getting involved in this is hardly the most thrilling detail.

We meet Romeo Moreno, who wants to create moments and his legacy. He speaks some Spanish about wanting to create and spray paints on a wall.

Kam Hendrix/Harley Riggins vs. Tate Wilder/Luca Crusifino

Wilder and Crusifino jump them in the entrance and the brawl is on, with Wilder and Crusifino hit some dives. Security come out to break it up but we do start things off with Wilder hammering on Riggins. We take an early break and come back with Riggins spearing Wilder and sending him into the corner so Hendrix can hammer away. Back up and Riggins’ basement dropkick gives Hendrix two and a running forearm drops Wilder again. It’s back to Riggins to knock Wilder down again and we hit the chinlock.

That’s switched into an armbar and Hendrix is right there to cut Crusifino off the apron. Hendrix drops Wilder a few times but a high/low leads to a collision. Crusifino is back in to clean house with some running elbows in the corner. A blind tag brings Wilder back in for the Wilde Ride but Riggins makes the save. Wilder flips out of a double belly to back suplex so Crusifino goes up, only to get pulled down Higgins. Lights, Kam, Action finishes Crusifino at 8:39.

Rating: B-. That’s hardly the most surprising result as Crusifino was as thrown out there of a partner as you could get for Wilder. I’m sure the feud will continue and that’s a good thing as Wilder is getting something out of this stuff. Riggins and Hendrix are kind of the remnants of the PC stable but it’s working well enough for a pair of bullies.

Harlem Lewis is ready to accomplish his goal and win the Evolve Title. Now Braxton Cole is involved too and Lewis is going to take him out too. Lewis talks about growing up poor and having to help raise his family. Maybe that makes him sound aggressive, but it’s who he is. Next week it’s a triple threat so he has two targets to take out and become champion. Usually I like this kind of thing but Lewis as the silent, angry force might have been a better presentation for him.

Layla Diggs vs. Kali Armstrong

Masyn Holiday is here with Diggs. Armstrong doesn’t care for these two being funny so it’s time for a beating. Armstrong knocks her into the corner to start but Diggs grabs a rollup for two. A legdrop keeps Armstrong down but Diggs’ moonsault hits raised knees. The Kali Connection finishes for Armstrong at 1:48.

Post match Armstrong calls out Tyra Mae Steele, who comes out but is cut off. Timothy Thatcher comes out to say this isn’t happening tonight because these two are better than this. They can fight but they’re doing it next week and doing it properly.

Braxton Cole talks about being raised with a lot of privileges, but when you live like this, it comes with expectations. Harlem Lewis wasn’t expected to do anything special while Cole is supposed to be the next big superstar. It’s a different kind of pressure and neither Lewis nor Aaron Rourke understand that. This was fine for a pretty simple character like Cole.

Tate Wilder says this isn’t over because he knew Harley Riggins and Kam Hendrix would cheat. Uh, didn’t Wilder and Luca Crusifino jump them before the bell? Anyway, if Riggins and Hendrix are so scared, they should just admit it, because they know they’ll get a beating. This isn’t over until he says it is.

Aaron Rourke says everyone is talking about how he’s putting his title on the line in a triple threat match. Harlem Lewis is talking about his childhood and Aaron Rourke is talking about everything he did to get here. They both think they knew what it takes to be champion but Rourke knows what he has what it takes. Next week, he’ll prove it. Rourke continues to be pretty good on the mic.

Brooks Jensen vs. Cappuccino Jones

Bullrope match with pinfall or submission. Jensen jumps him before they’re even roped up to start but Jones wants to go and the bell rings. Jensen hammers away but gets dropkicked out to the floor. The tug of war lets Jones hit a suicide dive and he pounds on Jensen outside. A cowbell shot misses for Jensen so he crawls underneath the ring, with Jones giving chase.

Jensen stomps away but goes to yell at the wrestlers in the VIP Section. Jones is sent into said section but comes out with a clothesline as we take a break. We come back with Jones grabbing a neckbreaker for two but Jensen pulls him off the top. A cowbell shot to the face sends Jones outside but he uses the ropes to pull Jensen into the post. Back in and Jones hits a running clothesline in the corner, followed by a high crossbody for two.

Jones starts using the cowbell to go after the arm and grabs a Fujiwara armbar, even using the rope to bend the fingers back. With that broken up, they slug it out until Jensen pulls the rope into Jones’ mouth to pull him up. That’s escaped as well and Jones goes up, only to miss an elbow. A sitout chokebomb gives Jensen two and it’s time for a table. Jensen, minus a boot, goes up top but gets superplexed through the table for the big crash. Max Abrams, who was in the VIP section, gets in the ring as Jensen gets up. Abrams’ cowbell shot knocks Jones silly and Jensen gets the pin at 11:51.

Rating: B-. This was a big main event style match and while they telegraphed the finish, it works well enough. Jensen shouldn’t be beating Jones without some help so this was the right way to go, with Abrams getting something to do as well. The rest of the match was good as well, with Jones getting to be a bit more serious and not having everything be a bunch of coffee puns.

Post match Abrams stomps on Jones, with Santi Rivera and Jacari Ball (the other VIP guests) come in to join. It’s Gal comes out to pose with them but CJ Valor runs in to take Gal out and end the show. And we have a new heel stable and…well that makes sense as there isn’t much that makes any of them stand out right now.

Overall Rating: B-. This show was about setting up things for the future more than anything else, with the main event angle setting up some new top heels. Other than that you had a set of promos for the triple threat title match and it boosted things up a bit. I liked this show as it continued Evolve’s streak of having a goal and focusing on it, which makes things feel so much more coherent.

Results
Harley Riggins/Kam Hendrix b. Luca Crusifino/Tate Wilder – Lights, Kam, Action to Crusifino
Kali Armstrong b. Layla Diggs – Kali Connection
Brooks Jensen b. Cappuccino Jones – Cowbell shot

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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NXT
Date: April 21, 2026
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Booker T.

We’re back here for something of a finale with Revenge Week 2, as Joe Hendry and Sol Ruca are both freshly on the main roster. They both have to wrap things up in NXT, which will likely happen this week. Ethan Page is also already on Raw, though we might also be saying goodbye to some people who are heading to Smackdown this week. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening recap.

North American Title: Myles Borne vs. Dion Lennox

Borne is defending and the rest of Darkstate is here with Lennox. They charge at each other to start with Lennox taking him down for an early two. Borne is back up with a suplex for two and knocks Lennox outside for the big dive. Back up and Lennox knocks him off the apron for a change and then drops him onto it again as we take a break.

We come back with Borne firing off some clotheslines but getting clotheslined outside. Lennox drops him onto the steps for two but Borne makes another comeback. An AA onto the knee gives Borne two so it’s Darkstate up with a distraction. Lennox gets in a superplex for two more and they slug it out until a double clothesline drops both of them. Darkstate gets up for a distraction but Borne shoves Lennox into Shuggars and grabs Borne Again for the pin at 11:21.

Rating: C+. This was more about furthering the issues between Shuggars and Lennox and that makes sense, as it also gave Borne a title defense. I’m not sure if the team is splitting, but they do seem to have already hit their high point. Borne is starting to become quite the star with the title, though I’m not sure who is going to be his next big challenger.

Blake Monroe is looking at her custom Women’s North American Title while the Vanity Project seems to ignore her. If she needs anything though, she can text them.

Saquon Shuggars tells Robert Stone that Darkstate needs one more chance but Stone says walk with him.

Shiloh Hill gives Tatum Paxley a pep talk before the casket match. He’s ready for Ricky Saints next week too.

Joe Hendry vs. Keanu Carver

Hendry has to slip out of an early slam and Carver charges into a boot in the corner. Carver shrugs that off and whips him hard into the corner over and over, followed by an over the shoulder backbreaker. Hendry manages to send him outside for a breather and we take a break. We come back with Carver snapping off a German suplex and hitting a big backbreaker. Carver’s charge hits the post but he cuts off the spinning pose. Carver unloads with right hands and Hendry is out, with the referee calling it at 9:14.

Rating: C. Hendry is on his way to Raw and he did more than go out on his back, as he got the fire beaten out of him here. That’s a great way to make Carver look like a smashing machine and I could go for seeing more of this version of him. Hendry is going to be fine on the main roster but dang he got rocked here. He could have a rematch, though maybe this is it, which would be a big way to go out.

Lizzy Rain, a heavy metal rocker, is debuting next week.

Speed Title: Lexis King vs. EK Prosper

For the vacant title and Birthright is here with King. Prosper grabs a flipping backslide to start fast and bounces off the ropes to set up a dropkick. A slingshot Fameasser gives Prosper two as we’re a minute into the five minute time limit. Birthright offers a distraction though and King takes over inside.

Back in and Prosper fights back with some right hands and a leg lariat gets two. King hits a Backstabber for two and we have two minutes left. The Coronation is broken up and they head out to the apron to chop it out. Prosper sends him outside and moonsaults down onto the pile with a minute to go. Arianna Grace offers a distraction though and the Coronation finishes to make King champion at 4:32.

Rating: C. It’s good for King to win a title as it gives him something to do, but at the same time it’s just the Speed Title. The title hasn’t meant a thing since it was introduced and that’s likely going to be the case again here. At least he won the thing though and that’s a step in the right direction.

Jackson Drake is waiting for a date to show up when the rest of the Vanity Project comes in. Apparently Drake got stood up and they’re ready to leave. A woman comes in and says she heard Drake got stood up. Oh dead.

Saquon Shuggars tells Darkstate that they are getting another shot at the North American Title. Dion Lennox is happy….but it’s Shuggars getting the shot. Lennox is still happy. Right.

We look at Zaria costing Sol Ruca her Raw debut last night.

Women’s North American Title: Blake Monroe vs. Tatum Paxley

Paxley is defending in a casket match. They slug it out to start and Paxley sends her straight into the casket. Monroe panics (as you should) and the fight heads outside. Monroe takes over and teases a headscissors into the casket, with Paxley blocking it without much trouble. Paxley whips out the dollhouse but gets dropkicked into it (ouch) and we take a break.

We come back with Paxley hitting an enziguri and they fight back to the apron. They trade strikes to the face and crash into the casket, which closes. That doesn’t count so they get back onto the apron and slug it out on top of the casket. The Glamour Shot is countered into a Spanish Fly to plant Monroe on the floor and they’re both down again.

Monroe is back up with a fire extinguisher shot and hits the Glamour Shot, which knocks Paxley silly. That’s enough for Monroe to put her in the casket…but Paxley gets the belt up in time to avoid it being closed. Back in and Monroe beats on her with the belt and pours out the bag of diamonds. That earns her a Cemetery Drive, followed by a kick to the head to send Monroe into the casket to retain at 11:45.

Rating: B. I liked this more than I was expecting to and there is a good reason that this sends Monroe up to the main roster. I’m not sure how much sense that makes but at least she might get another fresh start. Paxley on the other hand has become one of the more solid stars in the division and that’s great to see. Let her see what she can do and maybe even move up higher.

We go back to Jackson Drake, who is sitting with the woman who interrupted him. Apparently she used to dissect horses with her bare hands. Oh and she points out that the woman he was supposed to meet seems to be an AI bot. Shiloh Hill is blamed but they leave together and she slaps a man away, which Drake thinks is a good thing. And the rest of the Vanity Project can come with them. Ok then.

Here is Lola Vice for a chat. She talks about all of the good things Jacy Jayne did for the women’s division but now it’s time for her moment. Last week she saw a bunch of women coming after her to make their own moments. Vice is ready for them because she’s a fighting champion ready for anyone. You don’t just walk up to Vice City and come up to her but all it’s going to get you is knocked out and danced on.

Cue Izzi Dame with the Culling, with Dame saying she is indeed a threat, but has Vice started to feel the change yet? The women are going to look at her differently and waiting on her, just like Dame is doing. Vice is ready to fight but the Culling offers a distraction, allowing Dame to boot her in the face. There’s your next challenger and they’re not being subtle with it.

Lexis King is happy with his title win but Dorian Van Dux and EK Prosper come in to say King couldn’t win on his own. A tag match seems likely but Arianna Grace says they have a party to plan.

We get a long form look at Kendal Grey. She was a successful wrestler, including against boys in high school. She kept getting scars over the years, including taking a foul ball at a Yankees game. While she wanted to tell us something about herself, she wants the Women’s Title. Good stuff here, just for the sake of getting to know her a bit.

Robert Stone checks on Lola Vice but Ricky Saints has attacked Shiloh Hill.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

Tony D’Angelo comes up to Robert Stone and has been sent him a box with a character on it. Keanu Carver comes up and D’Angelo thinks it was him. No, because if he wanted the title then he would take it, but that character means “war”.

Zaria vs. Sol Ruca

Last Woman Standing with Zaria sneaking up on her but getting taken down with a Thesz press. Ruca sends her outside for a quick dive but Zaria is back with a trash can toss. They trade kicks, with Ruca’s hitting a trashcan, and they’re both down. Zaria chokes her with a camera cable but Ruca is back up with the kendo stick shots. A sunset bomb onto the announcers’ table is blocked and Zaria kicks her in the face. An F5 is escaped as well so Ruca spears her through that wooden wall which is broken every few months. They both need a second and we take a break.

We come back with the two of them slugging it out on the barricade until Zaria hits a release F5 to send her crashing through the table. Somehow that’s not enough so Zaria sets up a table, only to get German suplexed on the floor. A running knee puts Zaria down and the table is set up on the floor. Zaria is back up and sets up a second table next to it but Ruca hits her with the cover of the announcers’ table.

Ruca goes up onto the platform, only for Zaria to follow her, right into the Sol Snatcher. Zaria beats the count (again) and they slug it out on the platform with Zaria almost being knocked down. Ruca pulls her back though and Zaria thanks her as this doesn’t seem bright. They hug and apologize…and of course Zaria shoves her off the platform and through one table, with Ruca’s head slamming into the table which doesn’t budge. Thankfully isn’t dead but she is down for the ten count to give Zaria the win at 14:55.

Rating: A-. Well that was outstanding. These two beat the living daylights out of each other and it felt like a fight between two people who were desperate to defeat the other. Zaria gets her revenge and Ruca proves that she’s ready to be a top hero because she couldn’t have looked dumber. This is the biggest win of Zaria’s career and while I’m not sure where she’s going, she had got there in a great match.

Overall Rating: B+. This show was about writing off some of the departing stars and setting up some new things. That’s a hard thing to do but it’s one of the issues that comes with a show like NXT. For now though, they had a heck of a main event and the casket match was good as well, making for a pretty awesome show. It’s one of the better NXT’s in a pretty long time and that has me wondering what is next, which means they’re doing something rather right.

Results
Myles Borne b. Dion Lennox – Borne Again
Keanu Carver b. Joe Hendry via referee stoppage
Lexis King b. EK Prosper – Coronation
Tatum Paxley b. Blake Monroe when Paxley closed Monroe in the casket
Zaria b. Sol Ruca when Ruca couldn’t answer the ten count

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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Monday Night Raw
Date: April 20, 2026
Location: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

We’re done with Wrestlemania and that means it is time to have a big fallout show. That’s what we’ll be covering this week and I’m curious to see where the whole thing goes, as there are a lot of doors to cover. One of the biggest around here is that Roman Reigns beat CM Punk to win the Raw World Title. Let’s get to it.

Here is Wrestlemania if you need a recap.

We open with the traditional long Wrestlemania recap.

Here is Oba Femi, who soaks in a lot of cheers. He says The Ruler Has Arrived and drops the mic to hit his pose. That’s all he needed to say, because his actions yesterday spoke for him. It worked for Roman Reigns nine years ago and it worked for Femi here.

Asuka says it didn’t have to be this way with Iyo Sky. Now it’s time for revenge, with Kairi Sane not looking happy about any of this.

Iyo Sky/Rhea Ripley vs. Kabuki Warriors

Sane and Sky go to the mat to start with Sane pulling her down by the hair. A headscissors takes Sky down and Sane goes over to Asuka to make sure she approves. Sky is back up with a butterfly backbreaker and it’s Ripley coming in to drop Sky onto Sane for two. Asuka comes in for the big strike off but Ripley’s handstand kick to the head get two more. A cheap shot cuts Ripley off though and Sane hits a great looking Insane Elbow to take her out on the floor.

We take a break and come back with Ripley still in trouble. That’s broken up as Ripley fights back and brings Sky back in. Sky kicks away, with Sane knocking Asuka down by mistake. Sky gives them a double dropkick and hits some running Bullet Train Attacks in the corners. A kick to the head gets two on Asuka and Ripley gives her the Razor’s Edge. Sky adds a missile dropkick for two and it’s Riptide to Sane. Over The Moonsault gives Ripley the pin at 11:33.

Rating: B. These teams work well together and it’s nice to see the new champion getting a win, even if it’s in a tag match. The Warriors can go off to do something else, though they might be splitting soon anyway. Sky is going to be coming after Ripley and the title one way or another and it might be soon, which is a good thing.

Post match Asuka yells at the mostly out of it Sane.

Adam Pearce congratulates Penta on his win last night. Je’Von Evans comes in and wants a title shot. Penta seems interested and leaves. Ethan Page, the former NXT champion, debuts as Raw’s newest star and doesn’t think much of Evans. Pearce makes the match for tonight.

Here’s a rather serious looking CM Pun for a chat. He talks about how he lost his MMA trainer and dog Larry in a short span. Then it felt like every few weeks, someone behind the scenes in WWE was passing away. Those are the real heroes and the kind of people who make this place runs. Then Punk lost the title and it took away the anchor that kept him from falling apart over all his losses.

It’s not quite the same, but he knows the people will help him get through it again. He was never supposed to be champion again but he won it for three minutes, which was quite the cherry on the sundae. After that, he could have gone home to eat donuts and spend time with his hot wife. But then he stayed ready and got a #1 contendership match. If he wasn’t ready, you would be talking to Jey Uso right now. The thing is, he’s still the best in the world and he proved it last night. He gave it everything he had but it wasn’t his night. He’s not going home because you never know when a title match could fall out of the sky.

Cue Cody Rhodes to interrupt, with quite the limp and one heck of a black eye, to interrupt. Punk asks if he went over his time but Rhodes says no because this is Raw. Rhodes says this wasn’t what he expected, with Punk asking if Rhodes expected him to freak out. Rhodes: “….yeah.” Punk: “That’s fair.”

Rhodes brings up the idea of feeling like a loser and Punk seems to think Rhodes is saying that Punk should feel like one too. Punk praises Rhodes for what he did on Saturday with his win. The path for Rhodes is to keep being champion while Punk just has to stay ready because you never know when a championship opportunity is going to fall out of the sky (he says with some long looks at Rhodes’ title). Punk leaves and Rhodes says “just say when”, which makes Punk smile. That very well could be Wrestlemania next year, or maybe Summerslam, but it’s going to be a big one.

Finn Balor says Dominik Mysterio brought it at Wrestlemania but the Demon put him down. He’s not done with the Judgment Day though, including JD McDonagh. Balor remembers McDonagh coming to his gym as a kid and now McDonagh has chosen Mysterio. Now it’s time to take him out.

Ethan Page vs. Je’Von Evans

Evans starts fast but Page cuts him off without a ton of trouble. Page clotheslines him down and we’re already in the chinlock. Back up and Evans hits a dropkick, followed by the bouncing hurricanrana to send Page outside. The big no hands die follows and Evans chills with the fans as we take a break.

We come back with Evans (still wearing his shirt for some reason) hitting another dive but getting placed on the top. Page slams him back down and pulls him into a powerslam for two. Evans loses his shirt to reveal a bunch of medical tape and they head outside, with Evans hitting a superkick. Cue Rusev to go after Evans for a distraction, allowing Page to break up the OG Cutter. The Twisted Grin (Twist Of Fate) finishes for Page at 9:45.

Rating: C+. That’s a good way to go, as you give Evans an out to escape the loss while also having Page win his debut and actually having Rusev on the show. I’ll take some actual feuds and stories in this part of the card and Page diving right into the title picture is a good sign for him. I like this debut, as there was nothing else for Page to do in NXT.

Post match Rusev stays on Evans but Penta runs in for the save. Page knocks Penta off the top though and Rusev grabs the Accolade…and the title.

Paige and the Bella Twins are here.

Here is Judgment Day for a chat. Liv Morgan says the YOU DESERVE IT chants are the smartest things these people have said all day because she is the greatest of all time. She thanks the Judgment Day for being her rock and promises to be even more trouble than she ever was before. This brings out Sol Ruca (Ruca: “Hey Liv.”) to say Morgan has been an inspiration to her for years. She knows Morgan is the top woman in the division but Ruca is coming for her. Morgan doesn’t sound scared and a fight is teased, with Adam Pearce bringing out a referee to start it right now.

Sol Ruca vs. Liv Morgan

Non-title and we’re joined in progress with Ruca flipping out of a headscissors. A dropkick sends Morgan into the corner but she knocks Ruca out to the apron. Back in and Ruca fires off some forearms but Morgan takes her right back down. The front facelock goes on for a bit until Ruca fights out and rolls into an X Factor. Ruca sends her outside for a middle rope moonsault and we take a break.

We come back with the two of them slugging it out and Ruca getting the better of things. A middle rope dropkick sets up a running knee to give Ruca two but she dives into a Codebreaker. Ruca escapes the Oblivion and kicks Morgan in the head, setting up the Sol Snatcher, which sends Morgan rolling out to the floor. Ruca’s dive takes out all three of the women at ringside…and here is Ruca’s NXT enemy Zaria to take her out. Back in and oblivion finishes for Morgan at 11:43.

Rating: C+. I’m not sure what to think here, as Ruca is ready for the main roster, but having her lose in her debut match is kind of a strange choice. At the same time, you don’t want the new champion to lose so soon either. This was the best case scenario if they had to have the match so I’ll go with it, even if it might not be Ruca’s best starting option.

Post match here is Stephanie Vaquer for the staredown with Morgan.

We get a video on Brock Lesnar’s career, set to I Stand Alone of all things. This feels like the big retirement tribute, though I’m sure there will be more.

Here is the Vision, with Paul Heyman talking about how much the opening of this show changed him. Earlier today he heard CM Punk praising the production staff, but Brock Lesnar is still in the NOW section of the opening of the show. It is time for him to move to the FOREVER, because that is where he belongs. Heyman had some fire in this one, as you can tell he cares about Lesnar.

As for the now, you have the Vision as the reigning Tag Team Titles and are leading a renaissance of tag team wrestling around here. Logan Paul takes the mic and gets drowned out by the crowd. He blames IShowSpeed for their loss at Wrestlemania but says Speed left Wrestlemania with a piece of fist in his face. Just like they left Wrestlemania with the titles.

Heyman says he’s ready to talk to Gunther about repayment at any time, but the real MVP of Wrestlemania is this man right here: the returning Bron Breakker. Heyman is glad to have him back but Breakker says that it’s ironic that he came the leader of the team one year ago in this very building. Breakker loved taking the win from Rollins at Wrestlemania and hopes Rollins is watching tonight, because he’s going to make Rollins…and here is Rollins with a chair from behind.

Cue the Street Profits of all people (Cole: “REALLY?”) for the save and the brawl takes the Vision into the crowd. Rollins cuts Breakker off with a superkick and Breakker is busted open. He’s fine enough to avoid the Stomp and hit a Super Spear. Breakker screams at Rollins for causing all of this himself and another Super Spear knocks Rollins cold. I can definitely go for the Profits in this spot, as they’ve had nothing to do for months. Let them have a fresh start and it might go well for them. It’s a ready made title feud and that’s a good start. Rollins vs. Breakker has been ready for months so this didn’t change much for them.

JD McDonagh says he and Finn Balor were supposed to be family but Balor has changed. What about the guy who stood behind Balor for twenty years?

Finn Balor vs. JD McDonagh

Balor jumps him before the bell and beats McDonagh into the crowd. The beating goes back to ringside and they get in for the opening bell. McDonagh manages to avoid the Coup de Grace though and we take an early break with Balor in trouble. We come back with Balor missing his shotgun dropkick and getting dropped with the big headbutt. McDonagh’s moonsault hits raised knees and now the dropkick connects. The Coup de Grace finishes for Balor at 6:15.

Rating: C. This was pretty much a formality, as Balor wasn’t about to lose the night after his big win at Wrestlemania. I’m not sure how much longer he’s going to go after the Judgment Day, but Balor actually winning some matches is good to see. He needs to finish the team off and move on, which is what seems to be happening.

Post match Dominik Mysterio runs in to go after Balor but gets knocked into the corner. McDonagh gets Mysterio out of there.

Gunther says there is nothing with he and Paul Heyman. All that matters is getting his World Title back, but LA Knight comes in to say he didn’t need help winning at Wrestlemania. You mean other than his partners?

Here’s what’s coming next week, including the debuting Joe Hendry, who is now full time on Raw.

Rhea Ripley and Iyo officially split up because Ripley has to go be on Smackdown. Sky leaves and Ripley walks past Liv Morgan, who says enjoy Smackdown. Ripley says she’s looking forward to it.

Roman Reigns arrives and does the big long walk through the back. He meets the Usos at the Gorilla Position and invites them out with him.

After a break, here are Reigns and the Usos for a chat. Reigns said that he was going to keep things simple by talking about the title and the future, but then he ran into his cousins. He misses how things went when they worked together and did business as a family. Jey Uso has some rapper mocking him, but he’s the man who changed everything. We stop for the YEET chant before Reigns talks about how they ran things when they were together. He’s not asking them to serve him, but to be his blood and stand with him.

Jimmy says he speaks for his brothers when he says they’re the ones and the Usos do the pose. Reigns loads up his own pose…and it’s Jacob Fatu interrupting. Reigns says Fatu must be here to acknowledge him. That’s not right, so Reigns says it must be that Fatu wants the title. Fatu doesn’t want it, because he needs it. He doesn’t want to be the Tribal Chief but he needs everything that the Tribal Chief has. He needs the shoe deal, he needs the private jets, he needs the Rolex and to put his kinds in better schools.

At Backlash, he’s leveling up his household and Reigns will now Fatu is all gas and no brakes. Reigns isn’t sure about this because he doesn’t know if Fatu is ready if he wins. He’ll get back to him next week. This was good stuff, as they could hand pick anyone to come after Reigns first and Fatu fits that mold. He’s a different kind of opponent and Reigns is going to have to fight back, which he knows how to do. Throw in the Usos and it should be interesting.

Overall Rating: B. This is one of the annual shows where the wrestling isn’t the point. This show is all about dealing with what happened over the last two days and seeing where we go from here. There were a few directions taken and some new names debuted/were announced. They did what they needed to do here while also taking a bit of a deep breath. Good show here, with the regular stuff starting again next week.

Results
Iyo Sky/Rhea Ripley b. Kabuki Warriors – Over The Moonsault to Sane
Ethan Page b. Je’Von Evans – Twisted Grin
Liv Morgan b. Sol Ruca – Oblivion
Finn Balor b. JD McDonagh – Coup de Grace

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

Joey Janela’s Spring Break: The Immortal Cluster****
Date: April 18, 2026
Location: Horseshoe Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: John Mosley, Veda Scott, Jordan Castle

Ah this show. I have no idea what to expect from this show and that is what makes it so fun. This show is more or less the big song and dance medley to end Wrestlemania Weekend as there are probably 50 or more people thrown into a totally ridiculous battle royal, which will probably last about an hour and a half at minimum. Other than that there is a violent cage match and that’s the whole card. Let’s get to it.

Here is Night One if you need a recap.

The opening video looks at Otis Cogar attacking Matt Tremont, who swore revenge. Tonight, they’re in a cage.

Opening sequence.

Ultraviolent Title: Otis Cogar vs. Matt Tremont

Cogar is defending in a cage with a bunch of weapons available. They slug it out to start instead of going for the weapons, with Cogar being sent into a pane of glass. Cogar is whipped face first into some light tubes and it’s already time for the fork to the head. It works so well that Tremont does it again and again but Cogar gets in a light tube shot. Tremont gets sent through a barbed wire board and then has a pane of glass broken over his back.

Some plastic baseball bats, covered with tacks, whack Tremont some more to draw even more blood. Cogar whips out a blade to pick the tacks out of Tremont’s head and then slices the webbing of Tremont’s fingers. The chair is put on Tremont’s head and Cogar goes up, only to get knocked back down. Cogar is Death Valley Drivered through a door and Tremont tapes him to the rope.

Tremont breaks a bunch of light tubes over Cogar’s head, which brings out Atticus Cogar and Christian Napier. The former’s distraction lets Napier get inside to chair Tremont down. Tremont fights back but Otis chairs Tremont in the head. Otis goes up top but misses a moonsault into the glass. Atticus and Napier get taped into the corner and Tremont chairs them in the head for a bonus. Tremont puts a bundle of light tubes on Otis’ chest and hits a frog splash for the pin and the title at 16:25.

Rating: D+. Yeah…not my thing. It was pretty much exactly the kind of stuff I can’t stand with this with blood and gore for the sake of blood and gore. That’s exactly how it was advertised, but dang this stuff plays into every stereotype this genre has. Tremont is a big star in this world and it’s a big win for him, but it’s just not for me.

Since cleanup takes a long time, we look at a bunch of stuff from Spring Break X, including:

The Invisible Man defeating Sandman in Sandman’s retirement match

Marko Stunt/Jack Perry beating KJ Orso/Sam Stackhouse, with ring announcer Emil J getting involved

Effy beating Allie Katch to end her GCW career

Atticus Cogar beating Hayabusa to retain the World Title

Brodie Lee Jr. beating Joey Janela in the main event

We get highlights of Bear Bronson winning the Nick Gage Invitational over Otis Cogar in December 2025.

We look at John Wayne Murdoch beating Vipress in a death match in March 2025.

We look at shows from last year.

We look at Brodie Lee Jr. winning last year’s Cluster.

We look at a six person tag in July 2025 with Megan Bayne beating up some men.

We look at 1 Called Manders losing a match in Japan in July 2025.

We look at Bustah And The Brain winning the Tag Team Titles last year at Spring Break.

We look at more of the six person tag.

We take a quick look at one match in the two day JCW vs. GCW war.

We look at the last two Tag Team Title changes.

We look at a six person lucha tag from December 2025.

We look at Jordan Oliver vs. Frankie Kazarian from September 2025.

The Tournament Of Survival is coming.

We look at a show in Japan in July 2025.

We look at a show in Japan in August 2024.

We look at another show in Japan in August 2024.

We look at the first Cluster.

We look at a third show in Japan in August 2024.

We look at a show in Japan in July 2025.

We look at the first August 2024 Japan show again.

And now, about fifty minutes after the previous match ended, we cluster.

Immortal Clusterf***

There are an unknown number of entrants with unspecified times. You are eliminated via pinfall, submission, over the top, leaving the building or death. Also note that the numbers are likely to be all over the place as you’ll see groups of wrestlers enter together. The eliminations will be a mess too as you’ll see people sitting around for long, long stretches without doing anything and then getting back in.

Man Like DeReiss is in at #1 and Marcus Mathers is in at #2, with the former rapping himself to the ring and the latter being carried. They go with a pinfall reversal sequence for one each before running the rope rather quickly. Mathers hits a dropkick and they both go through/underneath the ropes to the floor. Sam Holloway, with Alex Abrahantes, is in at #3 and starts kicking away. Bustah And The Brain are listed at #4 and come in about ten seconds after Holloway.

Everyone but DeReiss goes after Holloway and knock him to the floor as the Backseat Boyz are in at #5. The tag teams get in a double brawl as Holloway beats Mathers around the arena. JP double Blockbusters Bustah And The Brain as the Boyz’s manager gets inside. She moonsaults onto a bunch of people on the floor and Tom Shire is in at #6. A double chokeslam gets rid of the Boyz and it’s Holloway vs. Shire as Shotzi Blackheart is in at #7. Mathers clotheslines Holloway out and Blackheart gives DeReiss an X Factor.

Brick Savage, also with Abrahantes (who says almost the same thing) is in at #8. Savage beats up DeReiss and Mathers before powerbombing the heck out of Blackheart. Shire comes back in to boot Savage in the face and everyone is down as Nate Webb is in at #9, meaning we get the Teenage Dirtbag entrance, always a highlight of this thing. He’s just getting going though and it’s B3cca and her tag team in at #10 to beat up Webb. Kingsley and I want to say Shay Kassidy are in at #11 and do their own singing entrance to cut off B3cca’s song.

Ro and Jui (Mariachis) are in at #12 to clear the ring and give B3cca a swinging Boss Man Slam. DeReiss grabs the mic and asks what in the name of gimmick infringement is this. Kingsley says they need to stop fighting because they’re all in this together. And then they sing We’re All In This Together from High School Musical. KJ Orso is in at # 13 and says no one wants to hear them sing and dance so everyone beats on him. Blackheart knocks DeReiss out by mistake though and it’s Sam Stackhouse in at #14.

Ro Jui are out, with Stackhouse also getting rid of B3cca’s goons. B3cca eliminates herself and Orso gets rid of Webb. Kingsley and Kassidy are out, the latter off a kick to the head/piledriver combination. Savage comes back in to plant Orso but Stackhouse dumps Savage out. Savage is back up to get rid of Stackhouse though and it’s 1 Called Manders in at #15. Manders and Shire get in the ring as a bunch of people get back in, including Bustah And The Brain. The teams slug it out and it’s Flyin Ryan O’Neil in at #16 to beat up Orso.

Wyatt/Wayne Rhodes, the nephews of Cody/Dustin Rhodes, are in at #17. They start fast with Shattered Dreams to O’Neil and Mathers before staring down Manders and Shire. Fans: “COWBOY S***!” O’Neil keeps messing with them and gets tossed out, with Stackhouse still there to catch him. Mathers is out and it’s Bustah And The Brain beating up the Rhodes, with Wyatt eliminating Wayne by mistake. An assisted Blockbuster pins Wyatt and the Rhodes are gone.

Brook Havok is in at #18 and strikes away at Shire. Manders is back in to take Havok down and it’s Dark Sheik in at #19. They team up to beat on Manders, stop to kiss, and then beat up Orso. Matt Mako is in at #20 to strike away at Orso, with an elbow getting two. A powerbomb gets two on Sheik and Beastman is in at #21. Beastman powerbombs Havok onto Mako for a double pin and Sheik’s top rope dive bounces off of him. Sheik manages to knock him to the apron though and a 619 to the back of the head gets rid of Beastman.

Sean Ross Sapp of all people is in at at #22 and yells at Bryan Alvarez, who is in the front row. Alvarez is in at #23 and chops away at Sapp. Alvarez hits a superkick to pin Sapp but Orso kicks Alvarez for the pin and then throws him over the top (Emil J: “Bryan Alvarez has been eliminated. Twice.”). Blackheart kicks Orso low and tosses him out and it’s Stunt Marshall (from freaking Power Slap) in at #24.

Juicy Finau is in at #25 and teases a slap off with Marshall, who pokes him in the eye. That earns Marshall a slap out of the ring so Manders gives Finau a slap on the back of the fights. Finau eliminates Manders and Hollyhood Haley J is in at #26. Marshall gets back in to eliminate Finau and Killer Kelly is in at #27. Airica Demia is back in at #28 and goes after Sheik as Gisele Shaw is in at #29. The women all get together to kick each other down, with Shaw getting up first to toss Demia.

Kelly gets up and starts biting people before leaning over the ropes to offer herself for some biting as well. The other four oblige her but also eliminate her, which shouldn’t be a surprise. Shaw and Sheik eliminate each other and it’s Jazzy Yang/Terry Yaki/Jay Lucas/Bobby Flacco in at #30. Alex Abrahantes is back and introduces his third entrant: thee Invisible Man.

The Man beats up Yang and company before tossing out Bustah And The Brain. Manders gets lariated and tossed as well but Shire gets Man in the airplane spin. A big boot misses though and Shire is tossed. Man drops Yang for the pin and tosses Lucas out before getting rid of Flacco as well. The Man flies through the air for a DDT to Yaki for the elimination. Helix/Channing Decker/Ian Maxwell/Emily Jaye are in at #31 and get beaten up by the Man, who knocks Maxwell out.

Helix is tossed but Jaye hits Man low. Jaye and Decker double team the Man but he ducks a shot, causing them to kiss. A rollup finishes Jaye and a chair shot gets rid of Decker. Enter Sandman starts up but it’s Joey Janea in at #32 instead. Janela slams the Man down and a brainbuster onto the turnbuckle gets two. Man is back with four straight Canadian Destroyers for two. Janela says I’m sorry, I love you and superkicks Man for the pin.

Starman, who was at the WrestleCon Supershow and seemed to be portrayed by Janela, is in at #33. Starman gets frozen though and gets unmasked as Starboy Charlie, which wakes him up. A kick to the face and standing corkscrew moonsault gets two on Janela. Charlie’s standing hurricanrana pins Janela as Blackheart comes back in. A powerbomb plants Charlie for two and it’s Jimmy Lloyd (who is apparently rather different than usual) to beat up Charlie and flip him down for the pin.

Don Freeze is in at #34 and crushes Lloyd in the corner, followed by a northern lights suplex. Maya World is in at #35 and puts some sunglasses on Freeze but can’t roll him up. World hits a superkick and moonsault for two on Freeze as Lloyd is back in. LJ Cleary is in at #36 and hits Freeze low. Monomoth is in at #37 and hits a Thesz press on Cleary to hammer away. D’Lo Brown, doing guest commentary, is in a #38 and eliminates Cleary. The Sky High plants Freeze and Brown tosses him out.

Monomoth says he doesn’t know Brown, which isn’t working for Brown, who tosses Monomoth out. Brown isn’t sure what to do with World, who slaps Brown in the face. She tries a hurricanrana, which is blocked at first but eventually gets rid of Brown, leaving World alone in the ring (I have no idea who else might be left). Nixi XS is in at #39 and kicks World out underneath the ropes.

Sleepy Ed is in at #40 and everyone starts whispering as he takes his nap. XS tries to cover him but has to fight out of his sleeper (I sense a theme here). Then she tells him to wake up and stomps in the corner as Sam Osborne and about five others from Australia are in at #41. Blackheart is back up as the team is already fighting among themselves. And now…here are three dinosaurs in at #42.

The dinosaurs slug it out with the Aussies and toss two of them before pinning Osborne. Thee other Aussies are out and Ed is up to spit Nyquil at two dinosaurs. A third tries a full nelson but doesn’t have the arms. Instead Ed Nyquils that one too and “the dinosaurs have gone extinct.” Parrow is in at #43 so Ed goes to sleep. That leaves Parrow to slowly roll him over for a VERY quiet near fall. Logan Cavazos is in at #44 as “the twink gauntlet” (their words, not mine) has begun.

Juni Underwood is in at #45 and pokes Parrow in the eye to little avail. Anakin Murphy is in at #46 (Parrow: “GIVE ME ANOTHER TWINK!”) and Cass (I think) is in at #47. Emil J: “THE TWINKS HAVE BEEN UNLEASHED!” They go after Parrow, who tosses them all in a row. Classy Ali is in at #48 and is tossed just as fast. Sal Mistretta, with his football, is in at #49 and gets the same treatment. Cereal Man (with a head made of box of cereal) is in at #50. Parrow gets some Frosted Flakes poured in his mouth but Cereal loses his gear and gets tossed.

XS comes in to go after Parrow’s nipples and hits some gyrating knees in the corner. Parrow tosses her as well and it’s CPA in at #51. Parrow goes to toss him but only steals his tie. CPA puts a tie on Parrow’s tights and is quickly knocked down. Bear Bronson is in at #52 for a Black Hole Slam to Parrow and it’s Debbie Forza in at #53. They get together and dump Parrow, with Forza kissing Bronson and then Jackhammering him for the pin. Haley J (Remember what I said about people doing nothing for long stretches?) is back in to knock Forza down and it’s 25 Cent in at #54.

A stomp to Haley’s foot lets Cent roll her up for the pin and it’s Jimmy Lloyd (The…original? Commentary is confused too.) in at #55. A Michinoku Driver gets rid of Cent…and the other Lloyd gets in for a fight. A flipping slam pins the “real” Lloyd (the one who was in first) and it’s Heath in at #56. The Zig Zag gets rid of “the fake Jimmy Lloyd” and it’s Mullet Man in at #57. Heath kicks him down and hits a big boot and legdrop for two. Tombstone Jesus (oh dear) is in at #58 and teams up with Mullet Man to get rid of Heath.

Forza gets back up to spear Jesus out and Shotzi helps her get rid of Mullet Man. Vipress is in at #59 and kisses Blackheart while loading up Sister Abigail. Forza breaks that up so Vipress and Blackheart kick her down as Frank The Clown is in at #60. Since he’s one of the most annoying commentators I’ve ever heard, he gets a mic to complain about how he’s been treated so badly over the years. The three women hit him low and give him a big stomping as Slade is in at #61. Slade throws Frank in a trashcan and Frank is declared “dead”.

Slade goes after CPA (who takes off his first shirt) and a team called the Production is in at #62. The three women toss them out rather quickly and then jump Slade. Tara Zep is in at #63 and grabs a chair to beat on the bleeding Slade. Zep DDTs her way out of Forza’s gorilla press and it’s Toby Klein in at #64. That means a slow entrance and it’s Connor Claxton, with his own chair, in at #65.

Claxton slams Zep for the elimination and it’s Dr. Redacted, with his barbed wire board, in at #66 as the final entrant. Commentary says he’s #69 and after almost two and a half hours, I’ll go with that. Redacted gets rid of Claxton and hits Forza with a chair. Forza is out and Redacted goes up to dive…and eliminates himself. CPA loses his second shirt and gets kicked low, with Blackheart being chokeslammed onto him. Slade tosses CPA and Vipress, leaving him alone with Blackheart. Some chair shots to the back have Blackheart in trouble but she tosses him out for the win at 2:30:00.

Rating: B-. I mean…it’s the Cluster. What in the world do you want me to say about something like this? The whole point is just to have every wrestler or gimmick that they can find and throw them out there and yeah of course it works. It’s just goofy fun and while it goes on for the better part of ever, I still enjoy it every year. Fun stuff, as always, with the winner being little more than a detail.

Overall Rating: C+. Again, this isn’t a show where the rating means a single thing and I think you know that by now. The point of this show is to do something ridiculous as the big GCW show was over last night. I had enough fun with this and that’s all I can ask for. It’s nothing that would work most of the time but in this spot, it worked rather well. If you like this stuff, you’ll like this and if not, I totally get it.

Results
Matt Tremont b. Otis Cogar – Frog splash onto a bundle of light tubes
Shotzi Blackheart won the Immortal Clusterf*** last eliminating Slade

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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Joey Janela’s Spring Break X
Date: April 17, 2026
Location: Horseshoe Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: Veda Scott, John Mosley, Jordan Castle

This has become the biggest independent show of the weekend (or at least close to it) and I kind of find myself looking forward to it. Unfortunately some of that is due to seeing how ridiculous the show can get. That might be what we’ll be seeing here, with the main event featuring Joey Janela vs. a fourteen year old. Let’s get to it.

We open with a look back at the show’s history (I still need to see the first one), which really has become a big deal over the years. And now it’s the tenth edition, which thankfully does use the Wrestlemania X logo.

Opening video, which seems to be a generic GCW video.

Grab The Brass Ring Ladder Match

Vipress, Masato Tanaka, Gringo Loco, Shotzi Blackheart, Bear Bronson, 1 Called Manders, Man Like DeReiss, Sidney Akeem, Charles Manson, Terry Yaki, Vengador

For a guaranteed title shot and I’m sure this will be nice and orderly. DeReiss gets jumped during his entrance and the fight starts on the floor, meaning Loco has to moonsault onto everyone else. Akeem is taken up top for a Spanish Fly onto the pile and everyone is down again. Mason takes Yaki inside for…two, as I don’t think I quite get the rules. Mason stands up and some music plays as Tanaka joins us as the final entrant. DeReiss and Tanaka have a standoff and shout DeReiss’ 01-21 catchphrase until DeReiss grabs a cutter.

Vengador comes in to go after Akeem…and breaks the top rope on a flip attempt. Blackheart comes in and gets slammed by Loco, who goes…well as high up as he can. Tanaka hurricanranas him down but Blackheart dropkicks a ladder into Tanaka’s face. Bronson goes after Mason, who dropkicks him through a door in the corner for two. Tanaka and Bronson take turns blasting the other in the head with chairs (oh dear) and forearm it out until Bronson’s Black Hole Slam gets one.

The two of them brawl into the crowd as Blackheart sets up a ladder. The ring crew comes in to repair the top rope (fans: “SAFETY FIRST!”) and Blackheart climbs the ladder. Vipress joins her so Blackheart…kisses Vipress and removes her shirt before they both dive off. DeReiss goes up to the middle rope (still no top rope) for a 450 but Yaki kind of Angle Slam bombs him for two.

A regular ladder is bridged into the standing one…and Loco base bombs Vengador off one ladder and through the door for the huge crash. Vipress piledrives Mason off the apron and through a door but Christian Napier runs in to take Vipress out. Cue Matt Tremont to go after Napier and brawl with him to the back. Manders (hey he’s in this too) gets cuttered by Vengador, who goes up for a splash off the ladder for two. Manders lariats the heck out of Vengador for the pin at 21:42.

Rating: B-. Well it wasn’t boring. I’m not sure if it was good, but it wasn’t boring. This is their version of Money In The Bank, though they could have done a better job of explaining the rules. In short, a match with a ladder tends to have something to grab above the ring but this was just a weapons scramble match. It’s good enough, but with fifteen people involved, it was a bit much.

Post match San Francisco 49ers star and wrestling superfan George Kittle celebrates with Manders.

We get a video of GCW wrestlers who have passed away over the years. Well that’s depressing.

Atticus Cogar talks about everything he has done to get here and hates that someone is impersonating Hayabusa. This isn’t a game to him and he is the World Champion. The new Hayabusa is just an invader and the mask means nothing. The reality is scars carry rank and the fake Hayabusa is about to learn it. That’s an intense promo and I’m not surprised Cogar is the top heel around here after last year.

Rascalz vs. Marcus Mathers/Bustah And The Brain

Mathers and Reed start things off and miss kicks/clotheslines to start. A pinfall reversal sequence gets two each until Mathers kicks him into the corner. Reed misses a legsweep but comes back with a quick dropkick. Mathers is sent into the wrong corner and the Rascalz get in the rapid fire kicks for two. Price comes in and gets a running start into a jump to escape an early wristlock.

Oliver comes in to double team Xavier into the corner for some triple boots. Xavier is able to get up for a tag off to Wentz though and the unaware Mathers gets taken down. Wentz grabs a chinlock and kicks him down for two before it’s back to Reed. Some shots to the back keep Mathers down before it’s back to Wentz for a slingshot hilo.

Mathers fights up and brings Oliver in to clean house. A German suplex gets two on Wentz and cradles Reed at the same time, followed by an assisted Blockbuster for two. Wentz fights up and brings Reed back in for a slingshot belly to back suplex/neckbreaker combination. Everything breaks down and Oliver hits a springboard clothesline to take over.

Xavier gets double teamed down and Price and Mathers hit a running dive each. Back in and Mathers’ 450 gets two on Xavier with Reed and Wentz making the save. Reed is back up with the running diving cutter and the Cardiac Kick hits Price. A Swanton into a 450 into Spiral Tap finishes Price at 16:04.

Rating: B+. This has been the week of the six man tags and this was yet another rather awesome edition. It’s a good example of a match that takes people and lets them do their thing from start to end, which was quite the treat. The Rascalz are great when they aren’t doing their comedy stuff and I like the other three more than enough for them to carry their side. Very entertaining match.

We get a video on Atticus Cogar vs. Hayabusa. Cogar is the big bad around here and Hayabusa is basically a tribute to the original. Cogar doesn’t think Hayabusa has the heart and scars though so it’s time for Hayabusa to earn them.

Game Changer Wrestling World Title: Hayabusa vs. Atticus Cogar

Cogar is defending. The fans seem to like Cogar a lot, despite him seemingly being the big villain. Cogar tries an early skewers shot so Hayabusa hammers away before avoiding a charge. Hayabusa’s Asai moonsault hits Cogar on the floor but Cogar ties him in the ropes for a moonsault back inside. The chinlock goes on and Hayabusa actually has to go to the ropes, meaning it’s time for the weapons.

Back in and Cogar starts chairing the knee down before getting the skewers for some stabbing. A back elbow gives Cogar two but Hayabusa knocks him off the top for a missile dropkick. Hayabusa’s suplex into a moonsault gets two and he grabs the Figure Four. The rope is grabbed and the fans are split between them, though the opt for Sabu after Hayabusa does one of his dives. Cogar is back up and kicks a chair into Hayabusa’s leg for two so it’s time to open a bunch of chairs.

Hayabusa is laid on the chairs but Cogar’s moonsault stomp only hits said chairs to leave him down. Back up and Hayabusa bridges a door over some chairs and a 450 drives Cogar through it for a slightly delayed two. Cogar pulls him off the top though and the Brain Hemorrhage (bulldog driver) gets two more. With that not working, Cogar grabs the skewers but Hayabusa takes them away and stabs him in the head instead. Hayabusa misses a moonsault (Cogar moved, but he was three feet from where Hayabusa landed anyway) and another Brain Hemorrhage retains at 13:35.

Rating: C+. I hate the skewers thing, but thankfully they didn’t go too crazy with them here. Instead it was more about chairs and the doors, though I never got to the point where I thought the title was in trouble. This felt more like a challenger of the month more than anything else, as they never got into the idea of hurting Hayabusa to cause the scars that Cogar talked about. It’s not a bad match, but I was hoping for more.

We recap Marko Stunt/Jack Perry vs. Sam Stackhouse/KJ Orso. Stunt announced his retirement and Orso attacked him. Orso’s former friend Stackhouse came out to save Stunt and then turned on him, joining Orso on the side of evil. Stunt wanted revenge and Perry was back to team with him, setting up the match.

Sam Stackhouse/KJ Orso vs. Marko Stunt/Jack Perry

Yes Perry arrives in his bus and yes Luchasaurus is still driving despite having one good…I guess it would be an arm. Stackhouse (who weights around 400lbs) is dressed as One Man Gang and Orso is in Ric Flair gear. We get a bunch of posing to start until Perry shoulders Orso down. With that not working, it’s off to Stackhouse, with Stunt wanting to come in as well. Stackhouse even drops to his knees before handing it back to Orso. They run the ropes a bit until Stunt grabs a rollup and scores with a basement dropkick.

Perry comes back in for a slam and has Stunt stand on his shoulders for a big splash. It’s back to Stackhouse for the spinwheel kick in the corner and Perry I knocked off the apron as well. Perry gets dropkicked off the apron as well but Stackhouse misses a charge, allowing Perry to get the tag. A quick sitout powerbomb gives Perry two and it’s already back to Stunt, who gets planted by Orso.

Stackhouse’s basement crossbody hits Stunt for two with Perry having to make the save. Orso dropkicks Stackhouse by mistake so he rakes Stunt in the eyes. Perry is back up with a poisonrana to Orso and a moonsault to the floor to drop Stackhouse. Back in and Stunt gives Orso a heck of a tornado Codebreaker but Stackhouse drops Stunt with ease. Perry is back in with a tornado DDT to Stackhouse, allowing Stunt to hit a 450. Stackhouse is ticked and clotheslines both of them and Stunt gets planted with a fire thunder driver.

Somehow Stunt pops up at two and slaps away at the monster Stackhouse and gives him a Codebreaker. Orso is back up to send Perry into Stunt in the corner and then kicks Perry low for a bonus. The Character Assassination (something like the House Call) gets two on Perry and it’s time to grab Perry’s title. Ring announcer Emil J grabs the title and gets pulled inside, with Perry having to make the save. Stunt dives onto Stackhouse on the floor and J gives Orso a tornado DDT. Perry picks Orso onto his shoulder for a top rope flipping cutter from Stunt and the pin at 16:14.

Rating: B. They played this one mostly straight, with Emil J’s deal being the only thing that was a bit silly. The idea here was to have the fans see Stunt get his revenge with help from his old friend. It’s a great example of a story where they didn’t screw it up and went with what they should have done. I liked this more than I expected to and that’s a nice feeling to have.

Post match Stunt says he’s back.

We recap The Sandman in his retirement match against…the Invisible Man. This involved Sandman on a talk show, attempting to run Invisible Man over, and Man winning matches on the way here. This has…I have no idea what it has really.

Sandman vs. The Invisible Man

Sandman gets to do the full Enter Sandman entrance, complete with beer and cigarettes, which will never stop being awesome. This of course takes its sweet time but hang on because here is Bill Alfonso…to be in Man’s corner. Man knocks the beer out of Sandman’s hand to start and knocks him down, with Sandman begging off to start. Sandman fights out of the corner, gives Man a kiss, and throws the left hands to drop him.

The Singapore cane shots connect but Man is back with a low blow. Sandman fights back but Alfonso gets in for a distraction…and a bunch of zombies come out for revenge of the ECW On Sci Fi debut (WOW that’s amazing and no I’m not being sarcastic). Cue the Insane Clown Posse and Vampiro to take out the zombies (the Outbreak) but the Man rams them together. Richard Holiday comes out to load up a low blow on Sandman, which brings out…someone in overalls named Guy Steel.

Holiday gets beaten up but Steel gets dropped by Man. A Canadian Destroyer takes Steel down so Sandman asks a woman at ringside named Kendra Lust to hand in the cane. Naturally she turns on Sandman, which brings out Missy Hyatt to beat Lust down with her own cane. The women fight off so Man spears Sandman through a door in the corner, only to hit the referee by mistake.

Another referee comes in and Sandman beats him up, which brings out a third referee, who gets beaten up by Man. Five more referees (WHY DO THEY HAVE SO MANY REFEREES???) get taken out and let’s just keep it going, with Sandman and Man pingponging one of them back and forth. Even Fonzie beats up a referee, leaving Sandman and the Man to slug it out. Sandman falls on him for….the biggest group near fall you’ll ever see, as about ten referees count two.

Man kicks a ladder into Sandman’s face…but INVISIBLE STAN is back! Somehow Fonzie gets them to work together….so MICK FOLEY IS HERE TO SAVE THE DAY! After taking out Stan with a double arm DDT, Foley throws Mr. Socko to Sandman and we get a big hug. Stan and Man are back up though and a low blow gives Man the pin on Sandman at 20:49.

Rating: A+. If you don’t get why this was one of the most amazing things I’ve seen in a long time, you need to pay better attention. Where else are you going to see two invis ok never mind on that one. But it had Foley and Sandman, plus a horde of zombies and Bill Alfonso, with Sandman going out on his back. I’m sold.

Post match Man and Stan leave together and Foley says he’s here for free because he and Sandman may not have liked each other, but they meant a lot to each other’s careers. With that, Foley leaves and Sandman toasts the crowd and leaves a beer in the ring for a nice moment.

Sandman might not have been a polished in-ring star, but he was the perfect choice for ECW at that time in front of that audience. He has turned that into a heck of a post in-ring career and this was just goofy fun to wrap it up. I got to be in the ECW Arena for a Sandman entrance once and it’s one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. Sandman deserves this and it’s awesome to see him get this big sendoff.

We recap Effy vs. Allie Katch. They were friends and partners, but Effy lost the World Title and snapped under the pressure, even turning on Katch. She can’t see him like this and now it’s time for them to fight one on one, loser leaves GCW. This is another case where building up characters and relationships makes things feel important. Yes their team was often silly, but this feels important and emotional and that’s great to see.

Effy vs. Allie Katch

Loser leaves GCW. Effy shows off his g-string to start and starts a BUSSY chant, earning him a shot to the face. Katch can’t bring herself to dive after getting hurt doing it before so instead she hits a baseball slide. They go up to the stage with Effy being sent to the floor and taken down with a dive. Back in and a piledriver gives Katch two but Effy is back with something like a full nelson with his legs in the ropes. That doesn’t last long so Effy grabs the chair, followed by a running boot in the corner.

Effy takes too long going up though and gets a chair pelted at him for two. A top rope Fameasser sends Effy’s face into the chair for two so Effy asks her to hit him with the chair. Since she can’t do that, it’s a TKO flipped over into a dragon sleeper to put Katch in more trouble. Effy curb stomps her face first into the chair, leaving Katch busted open. Some hips to the head and a running seated senton gives Effy two.

The door is thrown in and stomped onto Katch but she’s back up with a powerbomb. A Muta Lock has Effy in more trouble but it doesn’t last long. Effy drops his trunks and hits another hip attack to the face, only to get pulled into a Pele Kick. Back up and Effy hits a spear for two before breaking the door over her head. A chokeslam onto a bunch of stuff gives Effy two and it’s time for a screwdriver (which was used on both of them over the years).

Cue the 1 Called Manders so Effy stabs him instead. Katch is back with a splash but the Cannonball misses. Effy grabs the bell so here is Parrow, who gets hit with the bell and stabbed with the screwdriver. Katch is busted open but keeps fighting back so Effy grabs a turnbuckle. Now it’s Dark Sheik coming out to take the wrench from Effy and hit him in the head. She hands Katch the wrench and leaves, so Effy starts begging off. Katch throws it down and hugs him…so Effy headbutts her. The screwdriver to the head has Katch screaming and the piledriver finishes her off at 25:50.

Rating: B. This was all about the emotions and that works because these two have been built up as people we should care about. Yes you had stuff that wasn’t as serious like Effy with his trunks and the screwdriver which is so over the top that it’s hard to care about, but the relationship is there. It’s a case of “personal issues draw money” and that’s why this worked, just like it would anywhere if it was treated as something that mattered.

We recap Steph de Lander/Mance Warner vs. Megan Bayne/??? Bayne had attacked the injured de Lander so Warner made the save and issued the challenge for Spring Break. Naturally, game on.

Mance Warner/Steph de Lander vs. Megan Bayne/???

Warner and de Lander have Las Vegas showgirls with her due to…well we’re in Vegas at a show. Warner jumps Bayne from behind and de Lander hammer away as there’s no partner yet. Bayne is down…and it’s Nick Gage. The brawl is on with Gage taking Mancer out and then giving de Lander a DDT. The introduction goes on as Gage and Bayne beat Warner up, with Gage switching off to de Lander.

Warner is back up to cut Gage off and we settle down to de Lander and Warner taking turns beating on Bayne. That’s reversed and Bayne chops away at de Lander, only to get choked by Warner. Bayne gets back up to fire off the forearms to de Lander and they knock each other down. Gage gets the tag and spears Warner through a piece of a door, followed by stereo falcon arrows to give Gage and Bayne two each.

It’s time for the weapons (you knew they were coming), with Warner chairing Gage down but getting speared by Bayne. Back up and Warner slugs away at Gage, who gets tornado DDT…well not through a door as the thing doesn’t break. The four of them sit in the chairs and slug it out until Bayne is up with a double clothesline. A piledriver onto the chair gets two on Warner, with de Lander pulling the referee. The required pizza cutter sliced Warner up and Bayne powerbombs him into Gage’s piledriver for the pin at 15:00.

Rating: C+. Your mileage may vary here and that’s just how it’s going to work with stuff involving Gage. I’m not big on the guy, though I do appreciate the idea of Bayne and Gage talking backstage to set the team up. The match was the usual violent brawling, though I do still like Warner, even if he does some out there stuff in the ring.

We recap Joey Janela vs. 14 year old Brodie Lee Jr. Lee wanted to wrestle Janela, who wasn’t interested, at least until Lee called him “Megan Bayne’s b****”. That was enough as Janela went hard on him and beat him up. The match was set, with Janela invoking Lee’s father dying to get his mother to sign a waiver for the match. And yes, this is the main event.

Joey Janela vs. Brodie Lee Jr.

Lee has a bunch of wrestlers to fire him up and we’re ready to go. Janela backs him into the corner and then hits a running shoulder, allowing Janela to get in some mockery. Lee rolls out of a wristlock and trips Janela down, earning himself a sucker punch. A headscissors takes Janela down so he grabs a crucifix, only to get caught with a PK. Janela knocks him down again but Lee is back up with a jumping back elbow. The chase is on with Janela decking him on the way back inside.

Janela’s backbreaker connects as Lee is bleeding from the nose. They go outside again where Janela chops the post by mistake and Lee gets two off a sunset flip back inside. Janela knocks him down again and hits another backbreaker, only to miss the moonsault. Lee is back up to stomp away in the corner, followed by the clotheslines. A nice hurricanrana out of the corner brings Janela down and Lee hits a good looking jumping knee.

Lee’s high crossbody gets two and Janela bails out to the floor. That just earns him a diving tornado DDT off the apron and Lee grabs the papers (ala his father) to throw at Janela. A Heatseeker (which Lee says is for MJF) gets two but Janela gets in a chair to the knee. Janela even Pillmanizes the leg, followed by an ankle lock. Lee rolls out and gets two off a rollup before getting his own ankle lock.

Janela makes the rope so the referee starts the five count, despite commentary saying there are no DQ’s in GCW. Janela is back up with a Figure Four but Lee manages to turn it over. They get back up and slug it out, with Janela doing as Lee asks and hitting him harder. Janela’s tombstone attempt is countered into a headscissor driver for two. A Death Valley Driver gets two on Lee…but Janela won’t piledrive him.

Cue Chris Bey, who isn’t allowed at ringside (like everyone else), allowing Lee to roll him up for two. The Death Valley Driver onto the apron is countered into a DDT and they get back inside. The slugout results in them both knocking the other down, but Lee nips up. A sliding kick to the head looks gives Lee two but Janela drops him again.

Janela loads up Lee’s discus lariat, which is countered into a Sister Abigail for two. A cutter hits Janela, who is right back with a piledriver for two. Janela takes Lee up top but a dragon superplex is broken up. Lee rolls into a Cross Rhodes for two on Janela and his father’s discus lariat sets up…another discus lariat. Lee pulls him up at two though and grabs the Sharpshooter (as he was trained in the Dungeon) for the tap at 28:49.

Rating: C. Where in the world do I begin? First of all, no, of course I’m not grading this on a normal scale because Lee is 14 and not a regular wrestler and no I’m not going to say this was some embarrassment to wrestling as I was having a blast with the Sandman and the Invisible Man on the same show. That’s all fine. The problem is the charm of this match wore out its welcome WAY before they wrapped it up, as suspension of disbelief only got me so far. It’s Lee getting to honor his father and the company trying to help him deal with things, which is great, but this needed to be WAY shorter than Janela’s regular far too long matches.

Post match Lee’s mother comes in to hug him and his little brother comes in. Lee’s trainer gets in and the brother says he’s coming for Janela next. Janela’s eyes bug out to end the show (ok they made up for some of it there).

Overall Rating: B. I’m never going to be a full time GCW fan, as they’re a bit too all over the place for me. I’m not big on the death match stuff and a lot of their content is fairly low rent. That being said, every so often, when they’ve had the chance to put something together and have the right people and I’m in the right mood, it can be incredibly entertaining stuff.

I do like the Spring Break shows and they’re the kind of insane fun that only wrestling can provide. This might not be the best wrestling, but it’s some of the most entertaining at times and that’s worth quite a bit. You might love this or hate it, but they know their audience and that’s a good thing to see, as you can get fun nights like this one.

Results
1 Called Manders won the Grab The Brass Ring Ladder Match
Rascalz b. Marcus Mathers/Bustah And The Brain – Spiral Tap to Price
Atticus Cogar b. Hayabusa – Brain Hemorrhage
Marko Stunt/Jack Perry b. Sam Stackhouse/KJ Orso – Elevated top rope twisting cutter
Invisible Man b. Sandman – Rollup
Effy b. Allie Katch – Piledriver
Nick Gage/Megan Bayne b. Mance Warner/Steph de Lander – Piledriver to Warner
Brodie Lee Jr. b. Joey Janela – Sharpshooter

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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Strangle-Mania: Viva Las Violence
Date: April 17, 2026
Location: Horseshoe Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: Joe Dombrowski, Mark Roberts, Zac Amico,

Why not end it with some Juggalo Championship Wrestling? This is the last indy show of the week that I’ll be covering and I’m coming into it completely blind. Vince Russo is now a big force in this company and that means if I’m going out, I’m going out on a ridiculous show. Let’s get to it.

A car with Texas license plates arrives and drops someone in a body bag out of the trunk before driving off.

The opening video looks at gambling.

Then we play the two videos again, with the audio fixed.

The regular opening video shows us some of the bigger names set for the card.

Here is half owner Violent J to get things going. J welcomes the fans and we’re ready with the opener.

In the back, Jasmin St. Clair yells at Vince Russo, who says the Monster Corporation is split up if they lose tonight. St. Clair is their manager so she’s issuing a challenge for a six person tag against some legends.

George South/Rock N Roll Express vs. St. Clair Monster Corporation

The Corporation is Beastman/Kongo Kong/Mr. Happy. And yes South has his face painted like a clown. The Monsters jump them to start as commentary says the legends have something like 130 years experience. That actually might be true and that’s insane. Beastman gets staggered with a knee lift and Kong is taken into the corner for some alternating wristlocks.

Kong gets knocked down but comes back with a shot to Morton. Happy comes in and knocks Kong out by mistake, leaving South to fight back on Beastman. Kong is back up but crashes into his partners as everything breaks down. Kong and Beastman crash into each other in the corner with Happy (who isn’t that bright) thinking it’s a game. He splashes both of them and Kong falls down for the pin at 4:41.

Rating: D+. This was a comedy match and I think you know where this show is going. The match was the mess you would have expected, though it’s always nice to see the Express. Thankfully they kept this short, with Happy being little more than a comedy goof and the other two not being much better.

Commentators preview the rest of the card.

Kerry Morton says he is Mr. JCW and knows Mickie Knuckles wants to face him. Vince Russo wants to get rid of him because no one can hang with him. Knuckles is getting in the ring with a Japanese legend as Morton was on a Japanese tour.

Here is Claude, an odd artist, as played by Wrestling With Wregret’s Brian Zane. He doesn’t like the fans and they don’t like him either but he’ll be here for the next match.

Mickie Knuckles vs. Kerry Morton

And apparently Claude is guest referee for this Kamikaze Death Match. Before the match, Morton tells the fans to shut the f*** up while he talks. He sees some women here for a change and some of them are actually good looking. Morton can’t believe he has to look at TWO women in his sport, meaning Knuckles and the ring announcer.

Now he’s going to show the men what it’s like to whip a woman. Knuckles slugs away to start and knocks him outside where Morton gets in a cheap shot. The weapons are already thrown in but Knuckles grabs him low to cut him off. Some trashcan shots to the head have Morton staggered but he gets in a hard shot of his own to take over again. Knuckles bites him low (“It’s not the biggest target but Mickie found it!”) and it’s a running hip attack in the corner.

A running dropkick sends a trashcan into Morton’s face and Claude is ordered to help set up some weapons. That takes too long and Morton fights back again, only to spend too much time thrusting his pelvis in her face. Knuckles shoves him through a door…but Claude stops to sneeze. Morton knees Claude down by mistake and Knuckles rolls some suplexes for two. Knuckles thrusts back at Morton and gets sent through a door, with the rest being broken over her head. A trashcan shot gets the pin at 8:58, with Morton using the rope.

Rating: C-. This was the weapons mess you would expect and that’s all it needed to be. Morton is great at being a jerk and the fans want to see him get beaten up. Knuckles got to do that and then Claude was able to make it even worse, which is exactly the idea. It wasn’t a good match, but the angle was fine.

The Outbreak don’t do well in their urine test. Yep. Because they’re zombies.

Outbreak vs. Brothers Of Funstruction

The Outbreak (again, zombies, named Abel and Jacksyn, with Barnabas The Bizarre) are apparently addicted to cocaine, hence the drug test. The Brothers (Ruffo and Yabo, a pair of clowns) bring in a bunch of balloons…and hang on as here is Violent J to make it a triple threat.

Outbreak vs. Brothers Of Funstruction vs. Backseat Boyz

The Outbreak goes after the Boyz to start fast and they take out Abel before moving on to the Brothers. That earns the Boyz a double atomic drop but the Outbreak are up to fire off elbows in the corner. The Boyz come back with a top rope G9 to Jacksyn but the Brothers make the save with their balloons. We pause for some tickling but it doesn’t work on the undead Outbreak. As Above So Below (Skull & Bones) finishes Ruffo at 7:45 (counting the two on two tag part).

Rating: C. This was all about the insanity and ridiculous gimmicks and that’s exactly what it came off as, which is…good? I guess? It’s certainly memorable and while “cocaine addicted zombies” might not be the most traditional gimmick, it’s better (I think) than some of the terrible ideas we could be seeing.

Post match the Outbreak celebrate with cocaine. Of course they do.

Big Vito (yes that Vito) pays off PCO to help him in the main event against Vampiro. PCO isn’t in but Vito has another idea.

American Title: Disco Ray vs. Mikey Avalon vs. Mecha Wolf vs. Ninja Mack vs. Facade

Facade is defending and goes to the floor as the other four do a test of strength. Ray starts dancing and Wolf is mesmerized by the hips. Some tambourines to Avalon (the Man Of 1000 Gimmicks) have him in trouble for a change and it’s Facade back in to take over on Ray. That leaves Facade to do a handstand in the corner and then kick Ray down. Wolf slugs away at Facade and Avalon pushes Mack off the top.

Avalon is back in with his surfboard, which he throws at Facade’s head followed by…a surfboard. Wolf gets in a frog splash for two, with Ray making the save. Avalon side slams Wolf for two but Wolf is back with some mist. Mack backflips into a dive to the floor and Ray Downward Spirals (Panic At The Disco) Facade. Hold on as Ray’s Ring Rat (yes that’s her name) comes in to hit him low. Facade chairs Ray down and hits a Sabu Triple Jump Moonsault to retain at 10:21.

Rating: C+. This is pretty easily the best match of the night thus far, mainly because it was more about a wrestling match than all of the ridiculous stuff. Yes you had the stuff with the Rat (because her name is Ring Rat) and the mist, but I’ll take that over the other stuff we’ve seen thus far. The athleticism was certainly good.

Post match the Rat leaves with Steven Flow.

Violent J and Big Vito yell at the Vampiro retirement match. Vince Russo comes in to ask what happened to Vampiro’s honor and Vito yells a lot. With Russo and J gone, Vito pays someone off to do…something. The guy calls Vito horrible and Vito says don’t you forget it or it could be you next.

Here is the Green Phantom. He doesn’t do anything, but he’s here. Then he leaves.

Women’s Title: J-Rod/Nyla Rose vs. Alice Crowley/Dani Mo

Crowley is defending and yes it’s a tag match for the singles title (whomever gets the fall gets the pin), with Katie Forbes as guest referee. After a long weapons check, it’s Crowley suplexing J-Rod to start and hitting an Emerald Flosion for an early two. Mo comes in to kick J-Rod in the head but Crowley tags herself in to face Rose.

The usually bigger Crowley gets thrown around by Rose, so Mo tags herself in and gets powerslammed for two. J-Rod comes back in to strike away on Mo before it’s back to Rose, with Mo giving her a Code Red for two more. That doesn’t get her very far as it’s J-Rod with a running elbow in the corner. Crowley is drawn in and a double chokeslam gives J-Rod the pin and the title at 8:12.

Rating: C. As usual, the stipulations don’t make a ton of sense and the reason for them being added didn’t really get explained. That’s where things get complicated because it leaves you wonder why you’re watching this. I wanted to see more of Crowley, who has impressed me in the limited time I’ve seen her, while J-Rod looks like an amazing prospect. At the same time, it’s nice to see Rose, as she’s too good to leave sitting on the sidelines.

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2 Tuff Tony/Rob Van Dam/Willie Mack vs. Kenta/Good Brothers

Tony’s entrance takes forever and Van Dam (who does not age) has Bill Alfonso with him. Anderson and Tony start things off with Tony stopping for a drink. It seems to work, with Anderson shouldering him down and Gallows coming in to face Mack. The power exchange doesn’t get either of them very far so it’s off to Kenta vs. Van Dam.

Believe it or not, Kenta runs his mouth before getting pulled into the corner for the tag off to Tony. Everything breaks down (I’m shocked it took that long) and we settle down to Mack Stunnering Anderson. Gallows is back in to strike away but he gets caught with a Van Daminator. Not to be outdone, Tony lights something on fire and knocks Gallows down. The Five Star finishes for Van Dam at 8:59.

Rating: C. They were probably better off keeping things a bit nuts here rather than trying to do a regular match. Van Dam continues to defy all things involving time and aging as he’s still about the same as he was ten years ago. The others didn’t really add much here but the Good Brothers kind of come packaged in with a show like this one.

Vince Russo gives Caleb Konley (Russo’s chosen one) a pep talk, telling him to be less relaxed. Konley says he’s done everything Russo has asked him to do and now he gets yelled at again. That’s what Russo wanted to hear.

JCW World Title: CoKane vs. Matt Riddle vs. Nic Nemeth vs. Caleb Konley

CoKane, a cocaine addicted Kane enthusiast, is defending and this is elimination rules. Hold on though as here is Jeeves to bring out EC3 as guest referee. Because that’s a thing that he can do. And apparently Jeeves and EC3 are cousins. Konley has Vince Russo with him and Nemeth has his face painted. Actually Russo jumps on commentary because of course he does.

Konley drops to the floor to start and it’s Riddle coming in to clean house. CoKane kicks him down but gets suplexed for his early efforts. Konley comes in and has to block the straws to the head. CoKane’s rope walk is cut off and Konley elbows him in the back of the head. Nemeth is back in to knock Konley down and drops the big elbow. Nemeth’s superkick puts CoKane down but Konley kicks Nemeth low.

A Burning Hammer pins Nemeth at 5:20. Riddle is back up to kick away, with a fisherman’s buster getting two on CoKane. A Broton hits CoKane as Konley heads outside again. Riddle Tombstones CoKane but Konley kick Riddle low, with another Burning Hammer finishing him off at 7:21.

We’re down to one on one as Russo rants about commentary not praising Konley enough. Konley knocks the referee down by mistake and gets caught with CoKane’s Lethal Injection. The cocaine is loaded up but Steven Flo takes it away. The Burning Hammer only gets two and Russo is ticked. CoKane sits up, has some cocaine, and hits a chokeslam to retain at 11:21.

Rating: C-. The cocaine stuff is dumb and I don’t know how else to say it. Maybe they’re going for the idea of “well we don’t know exactly what it is” but it’s still just a dumb story no matter how they present it. CoKane is at least a funny character, but to have him as the top name in the company is…yeah there’s a reason this place isn’t taken the most seriously. Throw in Russo being his usual self on commentary and this wasn’t going to work.

Post match Russo gets in the ring to yell and it means nothing.

We recap Vampiro’s retirement match. Vampiro returned to help Violent J and then wanted to retire. For some reason Vito hates him and is sending PCO to get him. Vito wants to get rid of him as well and…yeah I’m not sure if this makes sense either. Eh you take what you can get.

Vampiro vs. Big Vito vs. PCO

Vito, wrestling in most of a suit, insults the crowd and the ICP fans, which is more complicated as the ICP come out with Vampiro. Before the match, Vampiro thanks the fans for staying around and thanks the ICP for working with him for so many years. PCO has him scared and he doesn’t know Vito very well (Then why is he here?) so let’s fight. Vampiro chops away at PCO to limited avail so PCO helps him knock Vito down.

They go outside with PCO and Vito being sent into the post before the brawl heads out into the crowd. They come back to ringside with Vampiro being knocked into a chair, leaving Vito’s shots to PCO to not have much effect. J gets in and cue the man Vito paid off earlier (Shane Mercer), who hits Vito by mistake.

PCO is back in with a headbutt to Vito so Vampiro comes in to steal a cover. Vito’s crossface goes on so PCO makes the save and stomps away on Vampiro. Vito yells at PCO for trying to go after Vampiro and gets chokeslammed for his efforts. Vampiro cuts PCO off and it’s the Nail In The Coffin to finish Vito at 10:42.

Rating: D. I watched this show and I’m not sure if I know why these people are fighting or what is going on. That’s something that might make sense after a big time World Title match, but this was a simple retirement match. Why do we have this much going on in Vampiro’s retirement match? Ah yes: Russo is booking and it’s a bunch of people who were past their primes decades ago (ok maybe not PCO) so what else were you expecting?

Post match Vampiro gets the streamers and a trophy to end the show.

Overall Rating: D. Yeah this was as bad as you would have expected, with some fun/funny ideas in there but so much stuff that was just either bad or made no sense. I still don’t get the idea of running angles during what should be your biggest show of the year but that’s always been a Russo thing. This really did not work and while the weekly show might be better, this had way too many of the Russo issues and tropes dragging it way down.

Results
Rock N Roll Express/George South b. St. Clair Monster Corporation – Splash to Kong
Kerry Morton b. Mickie Knuckles – Trashcan to the head
Outbreak b. Brothers Of Funstruction and Backseat Boyz – As Above, So Below to Ruffo
Facade b. Disco Ray, Mikey Avalon, Mecha Wolf and Ninja Mack – Triple jump moonsault to Ray
J-Rod/Nyla Rose b. Alice Crowley/Dani Mo – Double chokeslam to Mo
Rob Van Dam/2 Tuff Tony/Willie Mack b. Good Brothers/Kenta – Five Star Frog Splash to Gallows
Vampiro b. Big Vito and PCO – Nail In The Coffin to Vito

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