NXT
Date: October 7, 2025
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Booker T.

THEY’RE HERE! Granted they’ve been here for the last few months, but tonight is the big showdown between NXT and TNA. We have four matches between the two of them, including a pair of Survivor Series matches, a regular title match and a winner take all Tag Team Title match. I’d call that a loaded show so let’s get to it.

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

The opening video looks at the origins of both NXT and TNA while talking about how this seemed impossible for years. Then TNA showed up here and the fight was on, with tonight’s show being set up.

TNA Tag Team Titles/NXT Tag Team Titles: Hardys vs. Darkstate

Title for title and yeah the fans still know the Hardys and the Dudley Boyz are in the crowd. All four members of Darkstate run in for the brawl though and are quickly dispatched by the Hardys but they’re right back up. Shugars and James are sent to the back though and it’s Lennox getting taken down with the Spin Cycle for an early two. A Poetry In Motion clothesline hits Lennox but Griffin gets in a cheap shot.

Darkstate can’t get a double clothesline right and Griffin manages to miss a legdrop despite Jeff not moving. Booker: “Did he miss that?” Jeff dodges another one (at least on purpose this time) and knocks Griffin down, allowing Matt to come back in. A few rooms of the house are cleaned but Lennox knocks him down again as we take a break.

We come back with Lennox hammering on Jeff and throwing in a jumping splash. Griffin chokes on the rope but Jeff fights up and hits a better Whisper In The Wind to take them both down. The tag brings Matt back in to clean house and a Plot Twist gets two. Everything breaks down and Matt slips out of a Doomsday Device, setting up the Twist of Fate to Lennox. The Swanton gives Jeff the pin and the titles 10:48.

Rating: C. There were some rough spots in there but the Hardys getting to add yet another title to their incredible resume is hardly a stretch. They likely won’t hold them that long and (probably) get to be double champions heading into Bound For Flory. Darkstate will likely get a rematch and maybe even get the belts back. For now though, this is a nice result as TNA needed to win something for a change.

Team NXT vs. Team TNA

NXT: Jacy Jayne, Lola Vice, Jaida Parker, Sol Ruca
TNA: Kelani Jordan, Cassie Lee, Jessie McKay, Mara Sade

Survivor Series rules and Jordynne Grace is guest referee. Jayne knocks Kelani down to start so it’s off to Vice, who gets taken down by the IInspiration. Sade comes in and has to be saved from a double suplex. Everyone comes in and they have the big staredown into the big brawl. They head outside and Ruca hits a dive, followed by another one from Kelani as we take a break.

We come back with Sade dropping a knee and it’s back to Jayne for a middle rope flipping splash. Parker drives McKay into the corner and stacks Lee on top of her for the hip attack. Sade breaks it up and totally overshoots a moonsault, with her hands grazing Parker. A Falcon Arrow gives Parker two as Kelani breaks it up with a top rope splash. Everything breaks down again and we get the parade of knockdowns until Sade drops Parker for the pin at 12:50. Ruca is up with Sol Snatcher gets rid of Sade at 13:02 and we take another break.

We come back again with Vice cleaning house with the kicks, plus the running hip attacks. Lee and Vice trade missed kicks to the head until Vice hits the spinning backfist for the pin at 17:00. A triangle choke makes McKay tap at 17:10 with Kelani not being able to make the save. We’re down to Kelani vs. Jayne/Ruca/Vice but the Lee and McKay pull Ruca and Vice down. Kelani hits One Of A Kid for a rather delayed two on Jayne, leaving Kelani to argue.

Jayne’s rollup gets two more and she hits a nasty kick from the apron to Kelani on the floor. Jayne seems to have hurt her foot as Vice tags herself back in, so Kelani shoves them together. An Angle Slam gives Kelani the pin on Vice (with the ring announcer being confused about it being an elimination rather than the final pin) at 20:18. Ruca comes in and gets planted down, allowing Kelani to go up top, where Ruca kicks her in the head. A super Spanish Fly plants Ruca but a 450 hits raised knees. The Sol Snatcher kind of connects but Jayne tags herself in to get the final pin on Kelani at 23:09.

Rating: B-. I’m not sure if the TNA stars are nervous or what but it’s been a pretty sloppy night. At the same time, it’s not a good sign when the final four women in the match are all from NXT, as it doesn’t quite make the TNA women look good. Grace wasn’t much of a factor but she’ll probably be going after Jayne soon enough. Either way, nice long match here, with the ending being a logical way to go.

Matt Cardona comes in to see Ava and doesn’t mind that he made Josh Briggs mad. Briggs comes in, doesn’t see Cardona, and gets a match with him next week. Briggs leaves and Cardona says he loves this place.

North American Title: Mustafa Ali vs. Ethan Page

Page is defending. They fight over wrist control to start and Ali spins him around into a backslide for two. The rolling neckbreaker into a standing moonsault gives Ali two so Page bails out to the floor. The chase is on and Page gets in a cheap shot as we take a break. We come back with Ali hitting a sunset bomb, which seems to shock him more than anyone else. Page crotches him on top and one heck of a pump kick gives Page two, with Ali bridging out to leave Page stunned.

Ali’s tornado DDT gets two and he goes up top, only to miss the 450. A hurricanrana and superkick have Page in trouble and the Twisted Grin is countered into a rollup for two. Page is sent outside for a VERY hard suicide dive, sending both of them over the announcers’ table. Ali goes up again but gets his foot caught in a microphone cord, allowing Page to shove him down to the floor. That’s enough to set up the Twisted Grin to retain the title at 14:02.

Rating: B+. This was a heck of a match as Ali knows how to leave it all in the ring when he’s given the chance. I’m glad that they let him be the good guy version of himself as it works so much better in the ring. I didn’t think the title would change hands, but at least the loss came after an awesome performance from both.

El Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. wants Ethan page but Lexis King interrupts and says there is NO doctor named Wagner anywhere in Mexico. King thinks it’s Tavion Heights under the mask and Heights pops up behind him.

The NXT women’s team is technically happy with their win but Zaria comes in to still not be happy. Ruca apologizes for Zaria not being on the team and says they’ll be Women’s Tag Team Champions. Blake Monroe comes in and says Zaria will never be champion if Ruca holds her back. Monroe suggests she’s coming for the Women’s North American Title.

Team NXT vs. Team TNA

TNA: Mike Santana, Frankie Kazarian, Moose, Leon Slater
NXT: Ricky Saints, Trick Williams, Myles Borne, Je’Von Evans

Survivor Series rules again and Joe Hendry is guest referee. Kazarian and Williams start things off with Williams slugging away and hitting a big dropkick. Borne comes in for a neckbreaker and everything breaks down with Borne hitting a big flip dive to the floor. Back in and Borne hits a flipping neckbreaker but walks into a slingshot cutter to give Kazarian the elimination at 2:21.

We take a break and come back with Kazarian working over Evans and getting mad at Hendry’s count. Slater comes in and gets beaten up by Williams, who throws his jersey away before chopping Slater in the corner. That’s broken up and Santana comes in for the Bound For Glory preview…but Williams tags Evans in instead. Evans is up with the flip dive but Moose pulls him out of the air. A hurricanrana sends Moose flying but Slater rolls Evans up for the pin at 11:21.

It’s 4-2 and we take another break, coming back with Williams fighting back against Moose. Williams won’t tag so Saints has to do it for him to kick Moose in the head. Slater comes in with a Blue Thunder Bomb and Saints goes for the tag…but Williams drops to the floor and walks out. That leaves Saints alone, but he reverses Kazarian’s crossface chickenwing into a rollup for the pin at 17:50.

Slater’s frog splash gets two on Saints and he hits a running dropkick in the corner. The Swanton 450 (as cool as it sounds) hits raised knees though and Saints pins Slater at 19:03. Moose comes in to take over and hit a backsplash but Saints fights back again. It’s back to Santana to kick away at Saints, followed by a belly to back faceplant for two. Everything breaks down and Moose spears Santana by mistake for a rather near fall. Spin The Block misses and Moose gives Saints a powerbomb. Spin The Block finishes Saints at 22:49.

Rating: B. Well the ending was a bit surprising, but TNA had to win here after losing the women’s match. I was worried about Saints pinning another TNA star after he pinned a pair of champions in less than two minutes but Santana kicking out was the right way to go. Williams leaving Bad News Brown style is perfectly fitting for him and Saints went down fighting before losing to TNA, so it all made sense.

Ava and Santino Marella are in the back and Ava invites some Knockouts to be in next week’s battle royal for the #1 contendership to the NXT Women’s Title. Marella accepts to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. The show felt big, though I was waiting for some huge moment to end the show and it just never happened. This isn’t the ending to the story and it makes enough sense as it keeps a lot of fresh talent coming into NXT. I liked the show well enough and it lived up to the hype, with Bound For Glory getting enough of a boost as well. Good show, though it could have been better with some kind of a big angle or moment.

Results
Hardys b. Darkstate – Swanton to Lennox
Team NXT b. Team TNA last eliminating Kelani Jordan
Ethan Page b. Mustafa Ali – Twisted Grin
Team TNA b. Team NXT last eliminating Ricky Saints

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

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

Monday Night Raw
Date: October 6, 2025
Location: American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas
Commentators: Joe Tessitore, Wade Barrett

It’s the last Raw before Crown Jewel and that means it’s the last Raw without anything important involving the World Title. Seth Rollins continues to have doubts about whether he can beat Cody Rhodes, which is probably a fair issue to have. Odds are we’ll get some more towards that and everything else here, with the possibility of another match or two being added. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of Roman Reigns returning last week.

Here is Reigns to get things going and yeah the fans still seem to like him. He takes a bit to soak in the cheers before allowing Dallas to acknowledge him. With that out of the way, here are Paul Heyman and Bronson Reed to interrupt. They stare at each other and Reigns asks if Heyman has something to say. Heyman doesn’t know who has been wisemanin Reigns since he broke Heyman’s heart and tells the fans to acknowledge the Tribal THIEF.

Heyman knows that Reed is the one man that Reigns fears as Reed is the only person to ever cause Reigns to leave on a stretcher. Not in WWE, not in college football, not in the drunken Samoan barbecues where a battle royal broke out. Reed talks about how Afa and Sika were never stretchered out, so how would they feel to see it happen to Reigns at Reed’s hands. Reigns says Reed didn’t know Afa and Sika, but Heyman did.

What does Reigns think Sika would say? That would be “fight him now”, which Reigns is ready to do, but Heyman says not so fast. Reigns knows what Heyman is saying about waiting, but the reality is Reigns is levels ahead of Reed. Just pick the time and the rules because Reigns will be there to show why he’s the Tribal Chief. Heyman says it’s going to be an Australian street fight and goes to leave, but Reigns says they’re walking out like a couple of b******. That brings Reed back to the ring for the brawl, with Reed being knocked over the barricade before they’re separated. Good enough here, if a bit long.

We recap the Kabuki Warriors vs. Rhea Ripley/Iyo Sky.

Asuka is not happy and demands that Adam Pearce makes Sky vs. Kairi Sane tonight. Pearce needs a drink and Sane is upset about having to do the match. Asuka yells at and slaps her in the face.

Becky Lynch vs. Maxine Dupri

Non-title. Dupri takes her into the corner to start and slaps her in the chest a few times but Lynch is back with a knockdown. A Thesz press and some bad right hands have Lynch in trouble, followed by a dropkick to….somewhere on Lynch sends her outside. Dupri hits a dive off the apron but Lynch Bexploders her into the barricade as we take a break.

We come back with Dupri hitting some knees and clotheslines. Dupri takes the straps down and grabs an ankle lock, only to be sent into the buckle. Some right hands in the corner have Dupri in more trouble until she comes out with a sitout powerbomb for two. Lynch’s cross armbreaker is countered but so is Dupri’s ankle lock. A spinning kick to the head gives Dupri two and the fans are WAY into this.

Lynch’s rollup with trunks gets two so Dupri grabs her own rollup and puts her feet on the ropes for two of her own. They go outside, where Lynch taps her with the big Prime bottle. Lynch sends her into the announcers’ table a few times and stops to yell…but forgets to get back inside and Dupri wins by countout at 13:45.

Rating: B-. To be clear, no, the wrestling here wasn’t particularly great and yes Lynch did most of the important work here, with Dupri being in over her head in this spot. What worked here was the fans getting into the story of the match, as it’s something anyone can appreciate. The idea here was an underdog is in there fighting for all she’s got against a champion who doesn’t respect her. Dupri didn’t so much beat Lynch as much as catch her making a big mistake and that’s a great way to finish this. I got into this after not wanting to see it at first, so well done on having this go so well.

Roman Reigns runs into the Usos, who say they have his back at Crown Jewel, though they both say it individually rather than as a team. Reigns says that Jey should be focused on the opportunities that are available. Jey says CM Punk is talking at the top of the hour. Reigns: “Not you.” Jey leaves and Reigns asks Jimmy why Jimmy doesn’t like Jey taking Reigns’ advice. Jimmy doesn’t say anything.

Bayley scares Lyra Valkyria and asks to be in her corner tonight. Valkyria is a bit scared but agrees.

Lyra Valkyria vs. Roxanne Perez

Bayley and Raquel Rodriguez are here too. An early slap wakes Valkyria up and they go into the corner with Perez having to fight her way out. A head shove puts Valkyria down but she grabs an armbar. Perez can’t armdrag her way out of the armbar but she sends Valkyria into the corner. A springboard knee to the arm has Valkyria in trouble and Perez stomps said arm in the corner.

We take a break and come back with Valkyria fighting back, though she can’t hook the leg on a fisherman’s suplex due to the bad arm. Rodriguez offers a distraction but Bayley holds Valkyria on top. That leaves Perez to crash down and Valkyria’s splash gets two. Rodriguez kicks Bayley in the face, leaving Perez to hit a diving tornado DDT to the floor. That sets up Pop Rox to pin Valkyria at 9:25.

Rating: C+. This was another step in the story between Bayley and Valkyria and odds are we’ll see the four of them in a tag match sooner than later. That being said, I have no idea where they’re going with this as Bayley being all over the place is a bit of a strange one to come back from no matter what they do. Also, at what point do we acknowledge that Judgment Day has been beating these two for a long time now and are getting nowhere as a result?

Post match Bayley grabs Valkyria by the hair and takes her to the back, saying they need to get them.

Video on AJ Styles vs. John Cena, which does have quite the history.

Styles is asked about the match with Cena but the Judgment Day interrupts. Dominik Mysterio mocks the idea of Styles beating Cena and Finn Balor says he’s heard rumors of Styles and Dragon Lee wanting to team up to challenge for the Tag Team Titles. Styles says he’ll find a third guy and we’ll have a six man tag tonight.

CM Punk is on his way to the ring and passes an arguing Rusev and Adam Pearce.

AJ Styles and Dragon Lee recruit Penta, who happens to be here in his full gear. Before he can answer, we cut to a fight between Bayley/Lyra Valkyria and the women of the Judgment Day. Adam Pearce comes in and blows a gasket again.

Here is CM Punk for a chat. After singing a Texas song (yep), Punk thanks the fans for giving AJ Lee a welcome return to WWE. We’re coming up on Crown Jewel and while he has a lot of things to deal with involving Seth Rollins, but he is going to let Cody Rhodes finish up with him first. Punk has beaten Rollins this year and he’s going to get his title back, just like a sign in the crowd says he should.

Cue LA Knight to interrupt and says he hasn’t gotten the World Title shot that he deserves. Knight agreed with some of what Punk was saying but there were some omissions. Punk is the creator of the Pipe Bomb, but lately he’s been known as a husband. That’s not an insult and everyone needs love (Punk gives a great “where is this going” face). While Punk is a great husband, he’s a pretty bad champion.

Punk was champion for five minutes and then Rollins pinned him at Summerslam. Then he did it again at Clash In Paris, which has never happened to Knight. Punk says that’s the same guy who has never been World Champion. Knight admits that’s true and says he’ll be the next man to pin Rollins, but here is Jey Uso to interrupt. Uso gets to the point by saying he’s the next challenger for the World Title.

Knight isn’t impressed and mocks Jey’s loss last week, which brings out Jimmy Uso. Knight says that’s not what he was trying to say and Knight turns to look at Punk, only to get superkicked by Jey. Punk assumes that he’s cool with Jey and he’s cool with Jey wanting the title. Punk wants Jey to stick with the tag stuff, because he likes Jey, but doesn’t like Little Roman. Jey tries a superkick but Jimmy cuts him off. Punk drops Jey but walks into a superkick from Jimmy. This is one of the best things to have in a title story: people fighting to get a shot, because that’s what matters the most.

Iyo Sky talks about her history with the Kabuki Warriors and how she and Kairi Sane looked up to Asuka. Then Asuka changed and everything went bad. Asuka has helped her, but she isn’t the only reason Sky became champion. They are not family anymore and is ready to fight at Crown Jewel.

Iyo Sky vs. Kairi Sane

Asuka is here too and Sky dives onto her before the bell. That has Sane breaking it up and Asuka tells her to get back inside. The bell rings and Sky takes her down with a headscissors before they try dropkicks at the same time. Sky’s dropkick sends Sane outside for an Asai moonsault and we take a break. We come back with Sane putting on an upside down triangle choke in the ropes.

Sky fights up and hits some palm strikes into a flapjack. The missile dropkick sends Sane into the corner and allows Sky to do her crazy dance. A nice bridging German suplex gives Sky two but Sane slips out of a sitout Pedigree. Sane slams her down and tries the Insane Elbow, which hits raised boots (and thankfully doesn’t break Sane’s legs). The running knees in the corner connect but Asuka breaks up the Over The Moonsault. Sane grabs a rollup (and Asuka’s hands) for the win at 9:45.

Rating: B. They had a good, hard hitting match here as Sky is on her own against two women, which is enough of a good way to protect her with the loss. The tag match should be big enough, as Ripley adds in some nice extra drama. Asuka being able to be such a force without even wrestling here makes it all the more impressive.

Post match the beatdown is on, including the Insane Elbow. The fans chant for Rhea Ripley, though it has been established that she is doing media in Australia and therefore isn’t here.

We get another video on Cody Rhodes vs. Seth Rollins, this time focusing on how they came together to take Roman Reigns down but have since split up and gotten in a variety of fights of their own. Now Rollins doesn’t think Rhodes will be able to lead this company. It’s a big story, but it’s still hard to buy that this match is important.

Seth Rollins is all focused while Becky Lynch rants about Maxxine Dupri, Adam Pearce, the refereeing, and pretty much everything else. Lynch leaves and Rollins says he and Paul Heyman should talk. Rollins says he has to win on Saturday, which Heyman says will happen. Rollins asks what happens if he doesn’t win. Heyman: “But you will beat Cody Rhodes.” Heyman finally gets to the point and explains what happens: Rollins loses the locker room, everything he has built with the Vision, and shows that the Netflix Era has been built around a fraud while only being a secondary champion. So don’t lose.

Rollins pulls him back and asks what it means for Heyman if Rollins loses. Heyman says if Rollins loses, he has to ask why he picked Rollins in the first place. That gives Rollins something to think about. This was good stuff from Heyman as usual, but at the same time, I’m going to need to see one of these matches have any real consequences before I can buy this sort of a promo.

Jey Uso is ranting to Roman Reigns when Jimmy comes in. Jey wants to know why Jimmy was out there because now they have to face CM Punk and LA Knight tonight. Is Jimmy protecting Punk? Jimmy needs to decide whose side he’s on. Jey is gone and Jimmy tells Reigns that he sees everything is going on. Reigns has Jey thinking a certain way and needs to accept that the Usos are nothing like him. Reigns says Jimmy should listen to this: when Jey won the World Title, he became more like Reigns and less like Jimmy. If Jimmy wants to help Jey, sometimes he should get out of Jey’s way. As the Bloodline continues to turn.

Penta/AJ Styles/Dragon Lee vs. Judgment Day

Balor headlocks Styles to start but gets caught with the drop down dropkick. Everything breaks down and Judgment Day is cleared out to the floor, meaning it’s time for some quick dives. The good guys get to do a triple Penta strut and we take a break. We come back with McDonagh getting sent into the wrong corner, with Lee grabbing a dragon screw legwhip. McDonagh fights out of trouble though and it’s off to Mysterio, to quite the reception. Mysterio takes Lee down and McDonagh elbows him as we take another break.

We come back again with Lee still in trouble but getting over to Penta for the tag. A Spanish Fly drops McDonagh and the big tag brings Styles in for the house cleaning. Mysterio manages to send him throat first onto the top…but cue Rusev to cut off a 619 attempt. That’s enough for the Styles Clash to finish McDonagh at 14:05.

Rating: B-. The match was fine, but this felt like a way to get Styles on the show for the sake of reminding you that he’s facing John Cena on Saturday. At the same time, Rusev seems to be coming for Dominik Mysterio again, which should be a fine way to go, but I’m still not sure I can picture him winning the title. It’s not a bad story at all, though Lee continues to feel like the most “he’s there too” member of the roster these days.

Post match Styles says his match with John Cena doesn’t need a story because it writes itself. They will leave it all in the ring and it will kick a**. Yeah that’s fair for this one.

Crown Jewel rundown.

CM Punk and LA Knight agree that they don’t want the match but they’ll do it anyway. Knight tells him to not get pinned.

LA Knight/CM Punk vs. Usos

Knight and Punk charge in to start the brawl and we settle down to Knight stomping Jey into the corner. The running knee connects and Knight basically chops Punk for a tag. Punk works on the arm and then gives Knight the same kind of tag. It’s off to Jimmy, who gets hit in the face before Jey comes back in. Jey sends Knight into the steps and we take a break.

We come back with Knight still in trouble with Jimmy hitting a running forearm in the corner. A Demolition Decapitator drops Knight again and the running Umaga Attack connects. Knight finally gets in a shot of his own though and it’s off to Punk to make the comeback. Jimmy superkicks him right back down though and Jey’s Superfly Splash connects, with Knight making the save. Everything breaks down and Jey spears Punk but Knight is there again. The GTS hits Jey, only for Knight to tag himself back in and steal the pin at 9:40.

Rating: C+. This was more of a storyline advancement than a big time match, which isn’t a surprise given who was involved. It still feels big to have Punk in the ring and he’s going to have something to say to Knight going forward, which is where the magic should come from. At the same time, I could still picture Knight turning heel rather soon and there is a good chance that it leads to him getting something big in the near future.

Punk is not pleased to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. The good action and some focus on things outside of the Crown Jewel Title matches helped this one a lot and it wound up being pretty good. The Women’s Title didn’t get any attention at all and Rollins had the best promo in the whole build towards his match with Rhodes. Other than that, the rest of the card got some attention and that was rather needed. Now just get done with Crown Jewel and let the top stars do something with their titles and it should be even better.

Results
Maxxine Dupri b. Becky Lynch via countout
Roxanne Perez b. Lyra Valkyria – Pop Rox
Kairi Sane b. Iyo Sky – Rollup with assist from Asuka
AJ Styles/Dragon Lee/Penta b. Judgment Day – Styles Clash to McDonagh
LA Knight/CM Punk b. Usos – GTS to Jey

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

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

Monday Night Raw
Date: September 22, 2008
Location: US Bank Arena, Cincinnati, Ohio
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler

We’re coming up on No Mercy, and as has been the case in recent months, Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho is absolutely carrying the show. Now we’re coming up on a ladder match for Jericho’s World Title at the pay per view, which should be a great way to go. As a bonus, this is the 800th episode so expect some celebration. Let’s get to it.

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

Here is Chris Jericho to get things going, with the World Title above the ring and a ladder between them. Jericho climbs the ladder and sits on top with a smirk before saying Shawn Michaels is trying to rewrite history. Michaels has convinced Mike Adamle to make their match at No Mercy a ladder match. The dumb fans are going along with Michaels’ claims of revolutionizing the ladder match, even though Michaels can lie.

The truth is that Jericho has won a lot more titles and high profile ladder matches than Michaels could ever hope to. At No Mercy, all you’ll see is this, and he pulls the title down. Jericho is going to leave as champion because he’s just too good. Cue Randy Orton of all people to interrupt, saying it doesn’t matter who wins at No Mercy, because they’ll be champion on borrowed time. Jericho threatens to hit him in the mouth, but Orton isn’t worried because he’s still protected, meaning anyone who touches him is suspended. Orton says he gets what he wants, but Jericho says he gets the same and tells Orton to get well soon.

With Jericho done, Orton says he’ll be champion soon and throws the ladder into the aisle. Cue a ticked off CM Punk to go nose to nose with Orton and then hit him in the face. Mike Adamle runs out and suspends him…which brings out Shane McMahon of all people. After the usual dancing, McMahon says Punk gave Orton “a receipt” but he’s here for something else. Punk’s suspension is lifted, though no one can touch Orton going forward. As for tonight, we’ll also have Michaels/Batista vs. JBL/Jericho. For now though, Punk can have a match of his own.

CM Punk vs. Cody Rhodes

They fight over a lockup to start with Rhodes grabbing a headlock, only to get hit in the face and dropped. Rhodes manages to send him outside so Punk fires off a hard kick to the chest. Back in and Punk rolls through a high crossbody for two but gets whipped hard into the corner. Rhodes has to bail out from a GTS attempt though and we take a quick break. We come back with Rhodes working on Punk’s leg, which is reversed into an ankle lock. Rhodes makes the rope so Punk strikes away, followed by the running knee in the corner. The GTS finishes Rhodes off.

Rating: C+. Rhodes is still figuring out the being a top level guy and he has almost no experience in being a singles star either. That being said, it helps to be out there against someone like Punk, who can work well with anyone. That’s what we got here and it made for a nice match as Punk is on his revenge tour against Orton and company.

Post match Ted DiBiase and Manu run in for the beatdown but Kofi Kingston makes the save.

Smackdown Rebound.

Shane McMahon is in Mike Adamle’s office when Kane comes in. Kane wants Rey Mysterio and gets him at No Mercy. That makes Kane laugh, and he tells Shane to say hi to his mom. Adamle doesn’t know the story so Shane explains the whole thing in one of those “this only works in wrestling” moments.

Beth Phoenix, with Santino Marella, yells at Kelly Kelly about laughing at the injured Marella. For some reason Marella mocks Batista, who pops up to scare him off. Phoenix warns Kane not to interfere, or Marella will beat him up.

Here is Santino Marella to announce that he is only 59 weeks behind the Honky Tonk Man’s record…and he’s interrupted by a surprise name.

Santino Marella vs. Deuce

Non-title. Marella says this is what he’ll do to Batista, so watch what he does to Fonzie over here. Deuce hammers away at Marella’s masked face and knocks him down for a quick two. Marella is back up with an accidental headbutt to stagger Deuce and a sunset flip gets the fast pin.

Post match Beth Phoenix comes out to check on Marella.

Rey Mysterio wishes Evan Bourne good luck.

Evan Bourne vs. Kane

Yeah Bourne might need it. Bourne fires off some forearms to start but can only get so far as Kane hits him in the face. A crucifix attempt is cut off with a punch to the face (there’s always something about keeping it that simple) but Bourne avoids a big boot. Bourne sends him outside for a moonsault so Kane drops him with a pop up uppercut. An Oklahoma Stampede of all things drops Bourne and the chokeslam finishes him off.

Rating: C+. That’s all this needed to be as Bourne was able to do his thing for a bit, only to get destroyed by Kane, as he should have been. Kane is warming up by destroying another cruiserweight, but Mysterio is different enough to make it interesting. They were also smart enough to keep it short, which makes this a rather nice piece of business.

Post match Kane stays on Bourne but Mysterio comes out for the save. That means Kane gets to beat him down as well, as a monster tends to do. Kane says Mysterio is just like everyone else.

Jamie Noble asks Shane McMahon for a rematch against William Regal but Dolph Ziggler comes in to introduce himself again. Randy Orton comes in and doesn’t like CM Punk’s suspension being lifted and they compare family histories.

Beth Phoenix vs. Kelly Kelly

Non-title and Santino Marella is here with Phoenix. Kelly gets powered into the corner but comes out working on the arm. A bouncy armdrag out of the corner drops Phoenix, who buckle bombs her right back into the corner. Phoenix works on the arm a bit but Kelly is right back with the clothesline into the middle rope crossbody. Marella’s distraction doesn’t exactly work though as Kelly gets the rollup pin for the upset.

Rating: C. It was more of an angle than a match but what matters is Kelly is feeling like someone who is a bit more than the usual Diva. Both the Raw and Smackdown women have made some strides in recent weeks and it’s nice to see the efforts paying off. We’ll have to see how it goes, but at least they’re actually having serious matches for once. That’s so nice to see after the drek that they had been doing for so long.

Post match the villains go after Kelly but Batista comes out for the save. Marella ACTUALLY HITS him and…well you can probably guess.

We recap the Dirt Sheet (Miz/John Morrison) vs. Word Up (Cryme Tyme) in a battle of web series. Naturally this resulted in Miz and Morrison doing a rap video, because what else could it result in? Morrison: “You’re not street Shad. I met your dad. He wears a sweater vest.” The Dirt Sheet was absolutely hysterical at times and it won here hands down.

Miz/John Morrison vs. Cryme Tyme

Morrison and JTG start things off, with Morrison mocking JTG’s dancing, which is really not that nice. That earns him a right hand, which allows JTG to dance a bit more (as you might have expected). Morrison comes in and gets hit in the face as well, allowing Gaspard to come in and clean house. A big boot drops Miz and JTG drops both villains on the floor as we take a break. We come back with JTG fighting out of an armbar and getting two off a rollup.

Miz is right back with the corner clothesline into the chinlock before pulling JTG into the corner. Morrison takes him down and grabs the chinlock, allowing Cole to talk about how many pyro displays the show has had throughout its history. Is that really supposed to be impressive? I know it’s one of those factoid things, but come on. JTG fights up and dives over for the tag, allowing Gaspard to come in with a powerslam. Everything breaks down and Morrison pulls JTG outside, leaving Miz to roll Gaspard up for two. Gaspard gets two off a suplex, but Morrison kicks him in the back of the head to give Miz the cheating pin.

Rating: C+. They could only do so much here, but at the end of the day, the only thing that mattered here was the pre-match stuff. This is the kind of feud that is going to get over based on everything with the microphones and the wrestling is secondary. That’s a fine way to go and thankfully the match was good enough, even with a kind of weak finish.

Chris Jericho, with Lance Cade, comes in to see Mike Adamle and suggests that Shane McMahon has ulterior motives. He has an idea for the main event, which we don’t get to hear.

No Mercy rundown.

Earlier today, Charlie Haas was at Dave And Busters and did some less than successful versions of Perfect’s sports bits. Ok that’s clever. Oh and get the new Mr. Perfect DVD.

Chris Jericho/John Bradshaw Layfield/Lance Cade vs. Batista/Shawn Michaels

So there’s the idea. Cade and Michaels start things off with Michaels yelling a lot before hammering away in the corner. Michaels pounds him down again but JBL gets in a cheap shot from behind so Jericho can come in to hammer away. A belly to back suplex sets up a chinlock, followed by an enziguri. JBL adds a neckbreaker and we hit the abdominal stretch to keep Michaels in trouble.

Cade comes in to choke in the corner before it’s right back to JBL for a big boot. The fall away slam is countered into a DDT though and they’re both down. The tag brings in Batista to clean house, including a powerslam to Jericho. Michaels comes back in but has to break out of a Walls attempt. Batista spears JBL down on the floor to even things up a bit. Jericho bulldogs Michaels but misses the Lionsault, allowing Michaels to beat on Cade. The threat of the superkick sends Jericho outside but Cade hits a sitout Rock Bottom to pin Michaels.

Rating: B-. This was a pretty standard match and that worked well enough, as it boosts up both matches for No Mercy. There’s something rather nice about putting two stories together into one, especially when they’re pretty much the only things going on with this show. It’s not a good sign when most of the show is in one match, but it got the job done.

Overall Rating: C. The main event summarized the whole show, as Michaels vs. Jericho is the only thing that really matters, with Batista vs. JBL a rather distant second. Shane McMahon being back is a good thing though, as Adamle being around is just so dull. I get that’s the point, but it’s only going to work for so long. Other than that, the only interesting part was the Dirt Sheet, which isn’t even part of the show. Not great stuff overall, but Michaels vs. Jericho certainly is.

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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Lucha Libre Hidden Gems Collection
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Scott Hudson, Jim Ross, Brian Pillman, Hugo Savinovich, Carlos Cabrera, Jim Cornette, Dio Maddin, Aiden English, Vic Joseph, Larry Zbyszko, Josh Matthews, Santino Marella

So here we have a look at one of the things that WCW really did right. The introduction of the cruiserweights, mainly those from Mexico, gave them a unique feeling and it made for some outstanding matches in the process. That should make for some interesting options here, as there were so many of these things that it’s easy to forget how great some of them were. Let’s get to it.

From WCW Saturday Night, May 8, 1999.

Psychosis vs. Blitzkrieg

Psychosis works on the arm to start as we hear about his Cruiserweight Title reign only lasting a week after being Blitzkrieg in a four way. Blitzkrieg slips out of a wristlock to start and sends Psychosis outside, meaning we get a quick breather. Back in and Blitzkrieg misses some dives, only to get kicked in the mask. The chinlock doesn’t last long and Blitzkrieg’s hurricanrana doesn’t work very well.

The fans get on the crooked referee Charles Robinson as Psychosis hits a quick hiptoss. An elbow sends Blitzkrieg into the ropes but he dropkicks Psychosis to the floor. That means a big running flip dive for the first really big spot, only for Psychosis to dropkick him out of the air back inside. A handspring elbow connects for Blitzkrieg but a top rope superplex is broken up. The guillotine legdrop finishes for Psychosis at 6:13.

Rating: C+. This feels more like a match that was included for the people involved, though I never got much out of Blitzkrieg. The big flip dive looked good, but it’s not like there was anything here that wasn’t done better by others. That being said, I always thought Psychosis was underrated so it was nice to see him get a win here.

From Shotgun Saturday Night, April 5, 1997.

Discovery/Ludxor/Super Nova/Venum vs. Abismo Negro/El Mosco/Histeria/Maniaco

The best known name here in America is Histeria, who would become known as Super Crazy. Nova and Maniaco start things off and of course the fans are chanting for USA. Maniaco faceplants him to start and hits an electric chair as commentary talks about Ken Shamrock. Nova is back up with a fireman’s carry slam into a slingshot elbow before Maniaco misses a charge into the post.

Brian Pillman, on commentary, says he would have no trouble putting these guys in custody if they messed with the school lunch program. I’m going to assume that’s a topical line as Ludxor comes in to take over on Mosco. We get a LENGTHY period of dead air on commentary as Ludxor clotheslines him out to the floor for a twisting dive, meaning it’s Negro coming in to kick Discovery down. Pillman: “Translation: he’s abysmally black.”

We’re clipped for a commercial to Venum knocking Histeria down and hitting a top rope hurricanrana. Histeria is sent outside for a big flipping dive before Nova grabs a spinning armdrag. Venum gets a hurricanrana and Negro hits a big running flip dive as even commentary is impressed with the athletics. Ludxor hits a super armdrag and loads up a Sharpshooter on Maniaco…but leans forward for a pin instead at 7:31 (that’s a new one).

Rating: B-. This was almost fascinating in a way, as commentary clearly had no idea what they were watching and it was just a bunch of people flying around. That being said, it was rather entertaining and WAY out of the norm for this period in the WWF. The fans didn’t have much of a reason to care but they got into it by the end, which is a good sign.

From Super Astros (the WWF’s lucha libre show), May 2, 1999.

Hardy Boyz vs. Papi Chulo/El Merenguero

Chulo is better known as Essa Rios and Mereguero would be Jesus Castillo of Los Boricuas. Jeff and Chulo start things off with Jeff kicking away but getting sent outside, where he pulls Merenguero face first onto the apron. Chulo joins them so Matt hits a big running flip dive to take everyone out. Back in and the Hardys hit their double elbow into the fist drop/flipping backsplash combination. Matt slugs away at Merenquero and gets two off a top rope moonsault.

Jeff’s springboard moonsault gets two but Chulo’s cheap shot from the apron lets the rudos take over. A double suplex drops Jeff and he rolls outside, where Chulo is right there with a big running flip dive. Back in and Merenguero misses a charge into the post, allowing Matt to come in and clean house. Everything breaks down and Chulo hits a pop up dropkick to send Jeff outside, where Mereguero hits a suicide dive. Back in and Chulo hits a spinning faceplant to drop Matt, setting up a shooting star for the pin at 5:13.

Rating: B-. This had a bunch of spots together though they didn’t really reach a point where things got to a different level. You could see the Hardys turning into the kind of team that would quickly get to the top of the division, while Chulo and Mereguero didn’t exactly do much to stand out. This was included due to the Hardys, which is an acceptable enough reason.

From WWC, January 6, 2001.

Mascarita Sagrada/Octagoncito vs. Pierrothito/Piratita Morgan

Sagrada and Octagoncito take it to the floor to start but get sent into each other for the collision. A backbreaker has Sagrada in more trouble and they all get inside with Morgan going after Sagrada’s mask. That doesn’t work so it’s a reverse Beverly Bomb to keep Sagrada in trouble instead. A double dropkick hits Sagrada as well before Pierrothito beats up Octagoncito in the corner.

We settle down to Sagrada on the apron, where he watches Octagoncito get beaten down like a moron. Sagrada comes in and gets double teamed until Pierrothito kicks Morgan by mistake. Octagoncito comes back in with a top rope hurricanrana and then a standing version to send Morgan outside. Pierrothito comes back in with a superkick to Sagrada, who comes back with a quick armdrag.

Sagrada’s hurricanrana gets two on Pierrothito but Morgan is back in to go after Sagrada’s mask again. Sagrada strikes away at Morgan and drops Pierrothito but the rudos are up with a double backdrop to Octagoncito. Back up and Octagoncito grabs the back of the villains’ tights, which makes them accidentally hit the referee. Pierrothito kicks Morgan to the floor by mistake and Octagoncito is there with a running flip dive off the apron. That leaves Sagrada to la majistral Pierrothito for the pin at 7:14.

Rating: C. This is one of those matches that is kind of hard to follow as it’s more of a special feature that only fits for certain kinds of wrestling. The size difference made it easy to get behind Sagrada and Octagoncito, though the match was kind of messy in various parts. They were playing it serious though and I’ll definitely take that over the comedy that you often get with such matches in America.

From Superstars, February 9, 1997.

Hector Garza/Octagon vs. Fuerza Guerrera/Heavy Metal

Metal takes Garza down to start as commentary talks about Metal’s father being the referee. Guerra comes in for a running dropkick to Octagon as Ross tries to tell us what he can about both, which is limited at best. Octagon sends Guerrera outside for a suicide dive into the barricade, leaving Garza and Metal to slingshot in for a showdown. A handspring elbow hits Garza but Metal seems to slip off a springboard moonsault.

It’s back to Guerrera for a slam on Octagon and a Samoan drop lets Guerrera go up. Octagon catches him up on said top and brings him back down as there is a disturbing amount of empty seats opposite the hard camera. A super armdrag brings Guerrera down and Octagon grabs a Black Widow. That’s broken up so Garza hits a top rope moonsault press for two on Metal.

Commentary gets lost on which team is which and we go split screen to Paul Bearer talking about Vader vs. Steve Austin later in the show. Back to full screen and Guerrera dropkicks Garza outside and then clotheslining him back inside. Garza hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two with Metal making the save. Metal sends Garza outside for a big flip dive but Octagon crucifixes Guerrera for the pin at 7:56.

Rating: C+. As usual, the athleticism is rather impressive and you can tell everyone in here knows what they’re doing. The problem is it rarely feels like the matches are building to anything and it comes off more as a collection of moves until the ending. That being said, it’s nice to have something fresh and different on the shows, though the lack of fans in the stand is not a good sign.

From 205 Live, September 24, 2019.

Humberto Carrillo vs. Angel Garza

They’re cousins who don’t like each other, though Aiden English is fairly obsessed with Carrillo. Commentary mentions that it’s Garza’s birthday, sending English into a rant about all the presents he would get Carrillo for his birthday (fruit baskets are discussed). They go to the mat with Garza working on the leg as English is going on about buying WWE2K games and surfboards and Browns tickets and Circuit City gift cards, as the gag is going on so long that it’s becoming funny again.

An exchange of armdrags goes to Carrillo but Garza pops up and it’s a standoff. We pause so Garza can TAKE OFF HIS PANTS, allowing him to dropkick Carrillo outside. A middle rope moonsault takes Carrillo down on the floor and Garza slowly hammers him down back inside. Carrillo gets tied in the Tree Of Woe for a running dropkick to the knee and we’re off to something like a seated abdominal stretch.

Back up and Garza dropkicks a handspring elbow out of the air for two and it’s back to the abdominal cranking. Carrillo fights up and backflips into a moonsault for two, followed by a high angle springboard armdrag. A missile dropkick hits Garza for two but he’s back up with some dropkicks of his own for two of his own.

Carrillo’s top rope back elbow drops Garza right back and it’s off to a rocking horse. Garza reverses into one of his own, which is broken up as well, leaving them to collide for a double down. Back up and Garza misses a charge into the post, allowing Carrillo to hit the Aztec Press for the pin at 13:44. English: “I’ll get him snacks, I’ll get him sodas!” Maddin/Joseph: “IT’S NOT HIS BIRTHDAY!” English: “Well it will be someday!”

Rating: B. Oddly commentary was the big feature part here, which is a nice thing to see as the action was quite good. 205 Live is a show that was never going to be a big deal because the cruiserweights were considered unimportant, but the wrestling itself was usually awesome. That was the case here, with two guys who knew each other rather well getting some time and coming close to tearing the house down.

From WCW Pro, December 21, 1997.

Juventud Guerrera vs. El Dandy

Feeling out process to start before they trade some shots to the face, with Dandy getting the better of things. Guerrera is right back with a springboard hurricanrana to the floor but Dandy fights back and hits a middle rope legdrop. A kick to the mask and a headbutt between the legs have Guerrera in more trouble but he gets two of his own off a sunset flip. Dandy slams him down and goes up, only to miss a dropkick. A springboard…I guess flipping dropkick finishes Dandy at 3:39.

Rating: C. This is one of the weirdest, or at least least accurately named, collections from the WWE Vault as there have not been many “gems” in this set. That was the case again here, with two guys just having a short match that didn’t stand out in any real way. I don’t get why this was included, though there is something to be said about having Dandy anywhere.

From Saturday Morning Slam (I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a match from this show), November 3, 2012.

Sin Cara vs. El Local

Local would be Ricardo Rodriguez under a mask. Cara takes him down to start and Local runs, with Marella saying Cara’s flips remind him of dancing in high school. A hurricanrana sends Local to the floor, where Cara hits a slingshot dive. Back in and Local manages to send him into the corner and grab a waistlock as Marella goes through a rather extensive list of muscles used in jumping. Cara sends him outside without much trouble though and we take a break. We come back with Cara fighting out of another waistlock and hitting the rope walk armdrag. A corkscrew hilo sets up the springboard Swanton to pin Local at 4:52.

Rating: C+. Weird lighting aside, this was perfectly fine, which was the case with most of what Cara did. It was odd to see Local getting in the ring, as he was mainly an NXT house show guy. This isn’t exactly a gem, but it was certainly something hidden, as Saturday Morning Slam is one of the more forgotten shows you’ll see.

From Super Astros, December 20, 1998.

El Hijo del Santo/Negro Casas vs. Apolo Dantes/Jose Estrada

Casas throws Dantes down to start and it’s off to Santo, who gets kneed down by Estrada. That’s enough for Dantes to come in and stomp Hijo down in the corner. The array of downward kicks continue until it’s back to Estrada. Some double teaming keeps Hijo in trouble, only for Dantes to miss a top rope backsplash. The rather needed tag brings in Casas to clean house, including a running clothesline. Everything breaks down and Casas is sent into Hijo. The rudos are sent into each other as well, leaving Hijo to hit a Swanton, immediately followed by a suicide dive. La majistral finishes Estrada at 6:16.

Rating: C+. This was another case of having important names included, as Hijo and Casas are worth including. At the same time, it was nothing more than a generic tag match, with the rudos offering pretty much nothing of note. I still like the Super Astros stuff being included, even if it was light years behind what WCW was doing.

From a Monterrey, Mexico house show, April 3, 2004.

Cruiserweight Title: Rey Mysterio vs. Chavo Guerrero

Mysterio is challenging and Chavo Classic is with Guerrero. We’re joined in progress with Guerrero stomping away and then faceplanting Mysterio for two. The bodyscissors keeps Mysterio down and Guerrero even goes for the mask, with Chavo Classic offering a distraction. We get some VERY loud spot calling (granted in a handheld camera shot match at a house show) until Mysterio makes the rope.

A rollup gives Mysterio two but he gets elbowed right back down. Classic goes for the mask again, which seems to fire Mysterio up enough to fight back and sent Guerrero outside. The referee cuts off a dive though, only for Mysterio to flip dive onto both Chavos. Back in and Guerrero dropkicks a springboard out of the air for a double down.

Guerrero’s sunset flip doesn’t work as Mysterio gives him a basement dropkick and goes up top. The sunset bomb is blocked so Guerrero gives him an over the shoulder backbreaker for two more. Mysterio slips out of a second attempt though and hits a hurricanrana before taking out Classic. A Code Red gives Mysterio two but the 619…I’m not sure as the camera misses it, but Guerrero is up with a Gory Bomb…for the pin at 9:30.

Rating: C+. What in the world? It’s a house show in Mexico and Mysterio LOSES? I get that the title is on the line but make it a non-title match or have it be a countout. Just don’t have Mysterio, who was in Mexican flag themed gear, lose. It’s a guaranteed way to kill the crowd, which was all because the result was wrong. Heck make it a handicap match or something but let Mysterio win at the end.

Overall Rating: C+. I really wasn’t as into this one as previous editions, mainly due to how bizarre some of the choices wound up being. I get the idea of putting on some random matches, but egads there was nothing else that could have ramped up the quality a bit? It’s not like they’re bad matches for the most part, but calling these “Hidden Gems” is a big stretch in most cases. Not their best work, though there is some interesting variety here. Oh and it’s described as “90 minutes” but it only runs 75. What’s up with that?

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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Fatal Four Way Collection
Commentators: Jim Ross, Tazz, Joey Styles, Vince McMahon, Jerry Lawler, Cyrus, Joey Styles, Byron Saxton, Renee Young, Tom Phillips, Nigel McGuinness, Vic Joseph, Aiden English, Jim Cornette

I have no idea why this is something that was necessary, though if you can run a pay per view about it, you can do this too. In this case, I’m not sure how interesting this is going to be as the concept can get tiring rather quickly. Hopefully the action is enough to keep things moving for over two hours so let’s get to it.

From Rebellion 2000.

WWF Title: Kurt Angle vs. Rikishi vs. The Rock vs. Steve Austin

Angle is defending, no countouts or DQ’s and this is Evil Rikishi. The fact that Angle comes out second tells you about where he’s standing at the moment. The brawl is on to start fast with Rock and Rikishi fighting out to the floor, leaving Austin to hit a spinebuster for two on Angle. Rikishi pulls Austin outside so we can switch off a bit, leaving Rock to Samoan drop Angle for two more.

Back up and Rock sends Angle flying over the top as Rikishi and Austin come back in. That means Rikishi gets caught between the superheroes for a bunch of right hands, followed by some double stomping. Angle tries to leave, which doesn’t work for Rock, even if that’s not the wisest move. Austin Thesz presses Rikishi for the right hands and Rock sends Angle back in for a Thesz press from Austin as well.

Angle and Austin head to the floor again with Austin using a cable to choke on the announcers’ table. Rikishi crushes Rock in the corner but the Stinkface is blocked with a well timed low blow. The People’s Elbow gets two, with Angle having to come in for the save. We slow down a bit as the heels take over in something of a mini tag match. As you might expect, Rock and Austin fight back rather quickly and it’s time for the big staredown.

Austin gets the better of things but Rock punches his way out of the corner. That just earns him a Stunner for two with Angle making another save. Tazz: “I cannot believe that Austin just Stunned the Rock.” As I try to figure out why that would confuse him, Austin stomps Angle down in the corner.

That takes too long though and it’s a Rock Bottom for two, with Rikishi pulling the referee out. Back in and the Angle Slam gets a VERY delayed two on Rock but here are Edge and Christian to help Angle. Austin beats them up and it’s a Rock Bottom to Rikishi, with Edge making the save. Cue the Radicalz as Austin Stuns Rikishi for two, with Saturn making the save. Another Angle Slam pins Rikishi to retain the title at 8:50.

Rating: B-. It was fun while it lasted but it didn’t last very long. Rikishi as a big time heel never worked and he was clearly going to be the one to take the fall the second he was introduced. That’s not a terrible thing though, especially for a special England only pay per view in the first place. The rest of the match was your usual stuff and given the circumstances, that was acceptable enough.

From ECW On Sci Fi, August 28, 2007.

The Miz vs. CM Punk vs. Big Daddy V vs. Boogeyman

For a future shot at the ECW Title. V jumps Boogeyman so Miz and Punk jump V, who shrugs all three of them off at once. We get the Boogeyman vs. V showdown but Miz pulls Boogeyman outside. That leaves Punk to dive on V, who throws him outside for the big crash. V beats on Miz and Punk outside but misses a charge and crashes over the barricade.

Punk gets sent into the steps though and Miz is there to jump Boogeyman back inside. Miz’s running corner clothesline gets two on Punk and we hit the chinlock, which is kind of nutty in a four way. Punk is back up with the running knee and bulldog, followed by the top rope clothesline for two. The GTS finishes Miz at 7:07.

Rating: C. This was a really weird choice as it basically turned into a singles match with about three minutes to go. Boogeyman and V just vanished from the thing and never showed up again. I kept waiting for one of them to do something but instead it was just punk shrugging off Miz’s offense and beating him. That’s a fine way to go, but what a weird way to get there.

Post match V beats up Boogeyman as they magically reappear.

From Capital Carnage.

Steve Austin vs. Mankind vs. vs. Kane vs. Undertaker

Yeah that’s a lineup. Gerald Brisco is guest referee and Big Boss Man is guest enforcer. Kane goes after Mankind before the other two come to the ring but the lights go out for Undertaker’s rather slow paced entrance. The brawl continues throughout the lengthy entrance, with the camera on Undertaker because the wrestling itself is just a detail. They finally stop fighting but Kane knocks Mankind into a chokeslam from Undertaker, leaving the monsters to brawl.

Kane is sent outside and here is Austin as the fight is on again. Undertaker and Austin fight on the ramp and then come back to ringside as Vince McMahon is rather nervous on commentary. With Austin down, Undertaker switches off to Mankind but Austin (still in his vest) is back up and sent inside. Undertaker joins him and gets hit in the face, followed by some choking with the vest.

The jumping clothesline hits Austin (Vince: “YEAH BOY!”) for two as Mankind keeps punching Kane on the floor. Paul Bearer goes JJ Dillon with a shoe to Austin’s head but Austin is back up with a Thesz press to Undertaker. Austin covers and Brisco hurts his knee (doesn’t feel like a screwjob), allowing Kane to make the save. All four finally get inside for the first time a mere seven minutes in and Undertaker and Mankind are outside seven and a half minutes in. The other two go outside and Vince gets mad at Mankind for not attacking Austin.

Back in and Kane chokes Undertaker in the corner while the other two are down. Kane goes after Mankind as JR and Vince get in a spat over Austin. Old School is broken up and Undertaker gets crotched on top, sending the two of them to the floor. Mankind offers Austin a handshake but gets kicked in the ribs, meaning it’s time for the Mandible Claw. Undertaker crotches Mankind against the post and Austin gets double teamed by the giants. We’ll make that triple teamed but Austin fights back, with a chair being brought in.

Mankind breaks up a spoke Tombstone onto the chair but gets his head cracked by Undertaker’s chair shot. Austin covers but Brisco just stops counting. Mankind and Undertaker go outside so Austin hits the Stunner on Kane. Brisco needs to know the time, so Austin decks him down. Undertaker is back in with chokeslams to Austin and Kane, with a regular referee coming in to count as Mankind makes the save. Austin Stuns Kane again for the pin at 16:11.

Rating: B-. This was longer than it needed to be and dragged in the middle, but it felt like a pay per view main event rather than a spruced up house show match. Austin winning is of course the only way to go, though I was expecting Mankind to take the fall. Good enough stuff here, though trimming off three minutes or so would have helped.

From ECW Heat Wave 2000.

Little Guido vs. Psicosis vs. Yoshihiro Tajiri

This doesn’t fit the bill so here is Mikey Whipwreck to make it better.

Little Guido vs. Psicosis vs. Yoshihiro Tajiri vs. Mikey Whipwreck

Yeah that works. They start by kicking each other in the head (shocking I know), with Guido kicking Tajiri out to the floor. Whipwreck hurricanranas Guido and Stuns Tajiri, followed by the running flip dive to the floor. Cue Tony Mamaluke, who gets taken down by Whipwreck. For some reason, Whipwreck dives onto the 500lb Big Sal and is quickly posted. Psicosis hits the guillotine legdrop and Guido pins Whipwreck for the elimination at 1:36.

So that leaves us with the original match, with Tajiri hurricanranaing Psicosis. Guido pulls Psicosis to the floor so Tajiri can hit a nice Asai moonsault onto the two of them. Back in and Tajiri superplexes Guido so Psicosis can hit a somersault legdrop for two (that’s a surprising kickout). An Unprettier hits Psicosis and Tajiri’s bridging German suplex gives Tajiri the pin at 4:28.

We’re down to Guido vs. Tajiri, with the latter kicking him down and getting two off another suplex. The handspring elbow connects and it’s time for a chair (of course). Guido fights back with a Sicilian Slice and kicks Tajiri outside. That lets Guido flip off the fans but the Unprettier is broken up as well. Instead Tajiri kicks him down and hits the brainbuster onto the chair for the pin at 9:18.

Rating: C+. I’m not a huge fan of the “let’s add someone in just so we can eliminate them in a hurry and then get back to the original match”. It just makes me wonder what the point of the addition was in the first place and that was the case here. At least Psicosis was there instead of Super Crazy, as that three way dance had been done to death.

From Insurrextion 2001.

Hardy Boyz vs. X Factor vs. Dudley Boyz vs. Edge And Christian

Elimination rules. Albert is here with X Factor and grabs Bubba’s leg to start, allowing Credible to hammer away. That works in a grand total of no way as Bubba fights back and knocks Credible into the corner. Matt and Christian come in with Christian getting the better of things until Matt neckbreakers his way out of trouble. Jeff comes in to quite the reaction and crossbodies Edge for two.

It’s off to X-Pac to take over on Jeff, who snaps off a headscissors and it’s back to Matt. X-Pac is right back with a crotching against the post, followed by a Bronco Buster. Matt double clotheslines X-Factor down and Jeff comes in to clean house. Everything breaks down and Jeff misses Poetry In Motion. Matt gives X-Pac the Twist Of Fate and, after Albert misses a splash, Jeff drops a Swanton for the elimination at 5:48. X Factor beats up Matt, leaving Christian to Unprettier Jeff for the pin at 6:03.

We’re down to Edge And Christian vs. the Dudleys with the Canadians being whipped into each other. D-Von powerslams Christian for two but gets caught with a backbreaker. It’s off to Edge for a hard whip into the corner but D-Von manages a middle rope clothesline. The referee doesn’t see the tag to Bubba though and Christian is right back with another backbreaker.

The reverse inverted DDT plants Christian though and NOW we get the big tag off to Bubba. House is quickly cleaned, including What’s Up to Edge. It’s time for a table, which knocks Edge And Christian down, only for Rhyno to run in and Gore Bubba. Edge steals the pin at 13:21.

Rating: B-. Speaking of matches that had been done to death, I present you with the tag division from this period. As great as the three main teams were, there comes a point of GET SOMEONE ELSE ALREADY. X-Factor wasn’t much of an addition as they were out in about five minutes, leaving us with the same stuff we’ve seen for WAY too long. The action was fine as usual, but mix it up a bit.

Post match the table is set up but Spike Dudley is here to cut Rhyno off.

From NXT Takeover: Fatal Fourway.

NXT Title: Adrian Neville vs. Tyler Breeze vs. Sami Zayn vs. Tyson Kidd

Neville is defending and it’s one fall to a finish. They’re rather tentative to start with no major contact in the first minute. We pair off with Kidd hammering on Neville and Zayn fighting out of the corner to beat up Breeze. That’s broken up and it’s down to Zayn vs. Neville, which is what people seem rather interested in seeing. The other two come back in to break it up and everyone goes outside for a slugout.

Zayn stops for a quick photo with Breeze’s phone, which he throws inside. Kidd switches off and takes Zayn inside, where Zayn is right back with a Koji Clutch. Breeze breaks that up and a double suplex puts Neville down on the stage. It’s Zayn coming in to cut Kidd off, earning himself a double suplex onto the ramp. Back in and Zayn gets double teamed as we slow down a good bit. Neville tries to make the save and gets kicked outside but Kidd sends Breeze outside as the alliance is done.

Kidd keeps knocking people out to the floor before kicking Zayn in the back for two. A legdrop in the ropes gives Kidd two and Neville gets knocked off the apron as a bonus. Kidd’s running dropkick in the Tree of Woe gets two on Zayn and we hit the chinlock. Neville finally comes back in to break it up (because a chinlock needs to be broken up) but Breeze takes Neville down. Zayn is back up as Neville hits a top rope springboard moonsault to take out the villains.

Neville’s big handspring elbow is countered into…I’m not sure but it’s kind of a backdrop. Kidd catapults Zayn into Neville but can’t get Zayn in the Sharpshooter. He can however kick Zayn in the head, only for Breeze to come back in with some Supermodel Kicks for two each. Breeze takes Neville up top, with Kidd joining Breeze, meaning Zayn can come in to make it a Tower Of Doom.

Zayn gets two and then erupts on Kidd in the corner. Neville gets a boot up to stop a charging Zayn in the corner, setting up the Red Arrow. Breeze steals the cover for two and the freak out on the near fall is great. Kidd is back up with a Sharpshooter on Breeze, with Neville having to dive in to stop the tap, leaving Zayn to make the save. Zayn exploders Kidd into the corner before sending Neville over the barricade. The diving DDT takes Breeze out on the floor again and the Helluva Kick hits Kidd…but Neville pulls the referee at two. Neville takes Zayn out and the Red Arrow retains the title at 24:12.

Rating: B+. I was kind of expecting this one to be included and I’m glad that it was. This was around the time when NXT was becoming a major force and that made for some interesting matches such as this one. If nothing else, it makes me sad to see how far Tyler Breeze fell, as he should have been a much bigger deal than he was after such a great run on NXT.

From the 2019 Royal Rumble Kickoff Show.

Cruiserweight Title: Kalisto vs. Akira Tozawa vs. Hideo Itami vs. Buddy Murphy

Murphy is defending and they trade the early rollups to start. Tozawa gets a Black Widow on Murphy but Kalisto is in for a rather springboardy hurricanrana. Murphy blocks it with raw power but gets dropkicked outside by Tozawa. Back up and Murphy pulls Kalisto’s dive out of the air for a suplex onto the floor.

That leaves Itami in the ring for the showdown, with Murphy coming in to trade kicks to the back. Itami wins a slugout and stomps him down in the corner, meaning it’s time to scream a lot. Tozawa and Kalisto are back up with some dives to take Murphy down, leaving Itami as the only one standing. Kalisto is back up to catapult Tozawa onto Murphy on the floor for quite the landing.

Back in and Kalisto strikes away for two on Itami as things slow back down a bit. Tozawa and Murphy take their place with Murphy down, only for Itami to break up the top rope backsplash. Tozawa’s hurricanrana driver plants Itami and Tozawa follows with a big dive to the floor. Murphy is back up with a big running flip dive onto everyone else, followed by a nasty sitout powerbomb to Kalisto.

Tozawa makes the save but Murphy rolls through a high crossbody. That’s fine with Tozawa, who poisonranas Murphy for two, with Itami stealing the near fall. The Salida Del Sol gives Kalisto two on Itami, meaning it’s time for the four way slugout. Itami and Murphy are left standing with Murphy getting the better of things, including Murphy’s Law to retain at 12:04.

Rating: B. This was a good choice for the last match before the show started as it was about throwing a bunch of people out there and letting them go nuts. Murphy was feeling it as champion at this point as he didn’t wrestle like a cruiserweight and that made things all the better for him. Tozawa wasn’t a total goof yet either and Kalisto had some chops of his own, making this a nice mixture of talent.

From Monday Night Raw, December 1, 1997.

D’Lo Brown vs. Miguel Perez Jr. vs. Chainz vs. Recon

Elimination rules. This is from Gang Warz so there are all kinds of people at ringside. Brown hammers on Chainz to start but Chainz is back with some elbows. Recon (Bull Buchanan) comes in with a hurricanrana, which has Cornette impressed. Brown comes back in to drop Recon and it’s back to Chainz to hammer away a bit. A big boot staggers Recon and Brown punches him into Chainz’s Death Valley Driver for the pin at 2:09.

Brown comes in and gets clotheslined down so it’s off to Perez, who is knocked down just as fast. A quick rollup gives Perez the pin on Brown at 3:14 and we’re down to one on one. The Death Valley Driver connects but everyone comes in and the match is thrown out at 3:37.

Rating: D+. What in the world was the point of adding this? I was thinking the collection was ending with the cruiserweight match and then some angle but instead we get this tacked on mess which doesn’t even have a winner. It’s such a weird way to go and it’s not like this was anything memorable. It’s certainly out of nowhere though and that’s kind of the fun from something like this.

The big brawl ends the show.

Overall Rating: B-. This was MUCH better than I was expecting, as it was one of the collections that I was dreading and it wound up being a lot of fun. The thing that makes these collections work is how much they mix things up and that’s what you got here, with some stuff from different promotions and a variety of eras. I had fun with this and it was one of the nicer surprises. It’s not my favorite format, but they made this work, even without an entry from the FATAL FOUR WAY pay per view. Even WWE forgot about that mess.

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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Collision
Date: October 4, 2025
Location: RP Funding Center, Lakeland, Florida
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Nigel McGuinness

We’re two weeks away from WrestleDream and some of the matches have been put together in recent days. This includes Hangman Page defending the World Title against Samoa Joe, which could make for quite the brawl. Other than that, it’s time to build up some other matches, which might start here. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Stokely Hathaway, Kevin Knight, LFI, Eddie Kingston, Anna Jay, Orange Cassidy and the Paragon are ready to fight. Pac comes up to Cassidy and says he has six months of pent up frustrations to get out. The challenge is issued for Dynamite and Cassidy is on, after guaranteeing it’s one on one.

We run down the card.

Death Riders vs. Jay Lethal/Adam Priest/Tommy Billington

Lethal cartwheels into the basement dropkick to Garcia to start but Billington gets backdropped out to the floor. Back in and the Riders take over on Billington in the corner but he dives over to Garcia, who comes in and hammers on Moxley. Castagnoli cuts off the suicide dive though and gorilla presses Priest into the barricade. We take a break and come back with Lethal trying to make a save but getting stomped down for his efforts. Garcia rains down the right hands to Priest in the corner and Castagnoli unloads with uppercuts.

Castagnoli’s charge hits the post though and it’s off to Billington to start the comeback. A missile dropkick hits Garcia and the diving headbutt gives Billington two. Stereo crossbodies leave both of them down and Lethal gets to come in to face Moxley. The Lethal Combination looks to set up Hail To The King, which is countered into a rear naked choke. That’s escaped so Garcia tags himself in, with Moxley hitting a quick cutter. The Dragontamer, with a Stomp from Moxley, finishes Lethal at 11:08.

Rating: C+. The Riders winning is fine, though it’s kind of odd to see Priest and Billington continue to get what amounts to a push for them. They’re good enough at what they do, but they’re a fairly small team and are just getting a lot of TV time out of nowhere. With as many people as there already are on the roster with nothing to do, it’s quite the odd choice.

Post match Matt Menard yells at Daniel Garcia, who asks if Menard can take a hint. Garcia says Menard was like a brother to him but Garcia lost when they were friends, because Menard is a loser too. If he stayed around Menard, he would wind up a parasite like Nigel McGuinness (who doesn’t like those words, though we do cut to a closeup of Moxley who says “d***” in a funny reaction). My goodness can we please just stop with these two? With all the people sitting on the sidelines, we have time for this?

Video on Darby Allin vs. Jon Moxley.

Nick Wayne is going to be out another 6-8 weeks. He doesn’t accept this diagnosis and says he’ll go find a real doctor.

Anna Jay vs. Jamie Hayter

Hayter headlock takeovers her down but gets shouldered over without much trouble. Back up and Hayter rams her into the buckle a few times but charges into a Downward Spiral. We take a break and come back with Jay fighting out of a chinlock, followed by some running forearms. The Queenslayer is broken up and Hayter hits a middle rope dropkick. A backdrop driver gives Hayter two but Jay is back with a DDT for the same. Jay’s middle rope Blockbuster gets another near fall but another Queenslayer is countered into Hayterade for the pin at 10:07.

Rating: C+. As usual, Jay can hang with the bigger names before losing in the end. I’m not sure what is going to happen with her in the future, but you can almost guarantee Jay and Tay Conti getting a run in whatever competition we have for the Women’s Tag Team Titles. One might wonder why she’s losing here if that’s the case, but one issue at a time.

Max Caster is happy with having won a match but Bryan Keith and Big Bill come in to mock him. Cue Anthony Bowens, who has a bunch of his own covers and awards. A match is set up, but they are NOT the Acclaimed.

Video on Sareee defending the IWGP Women’s Title against Alex Windsor next week on Ring Of Honor. Hokey smoke they actually acknowledged it.

La Faccion Ingobernable vs. Shayne Stetson/Cha Cha Charlie

The ROH Tag Team Titles aren’t on the line and LFI is Sammy Guevara/Rush with Dralistico. Charlie dances to start so Rush comes in and hits him in the face. Rush beats up Stetson on the floor, followed by the Bull’s Horns to Charlie. Guevara adds a Swanton for the pin at 1:48.

Eddie Kingston vs. Dralistico

Sammy Guevara is on commentary and Hook is here with Kingston. Dralistico grabs a headlock but it gets broken up as Kingston takes the leg out to send Dralistico outside. A running knee has Kingston down and we take a break. We come back with Dralistico working on the knee but Kingston is back with an STO. Dralistico’s springboard Codebreaker sends Kingston outside…and he comes back in with the spinning backfist for the pin at 8:17.

Rating: C-. I’m not sure if he’s just shaking off the rust or what, but Kingston’s return has been rather dull to put it mildly. Granted he hasn’t exactly had much to do thus far, but this was another match where he didn’t do much until the finish. Hopefully he shakes it off, because this is going to get rough if he keeps it up.

We look back at the return of Andrade El Idolo on Dynamite, where he laid out Kenny Omega and joined Don Callis. Hologram’s clone joined the team later in the night.

Here is MxM TV to issue an open challenge.

MxM TV vs. Don Callis Family

Takeshita and TV start things off and everything breaks down in a hurry, with the Family cleaning house. Back in and MxM TV manages a double clothesline but stops to pose, allowing the Family to drop them again. Fletcher hits a big dive onto Madden but TV hits Alexander with the Flying Chuck. Mansoor avoids a Helluva Kick from Fletcher, who pops up to belly to back superplex him down. A C4 Spike into the brainbuster finishes Mansoor at 3:13.

Rating: C+. It was certainly not dull, though the comedy team got in a bit more offense than they should have against one of the big heel teams. At least the right team won, as the Family gets to run through some people. I’m not sure why that needed to be a comedy heel team, but the match could have been much worse.

Dalton Castle and the Outrunners want the Trios Titles. Castle isn’t so sure though, because they have to top their amazing performance from last week. The pressure is crashing down on him, so the Outrunners pick him up and carry him off. Castle thinks he’s in good hands.

The Triangle Of Madness jump Jamie Hayter and Queen Aminata.

Dax Harwood vs. Kevin Knight

Cash Wheeler, Stokely Hathaway, Mike Bailey and Willow Nightingale are here too. Harwood hammers away to start but gets knocked outside, only to come back in and get chopped rather hard. A knee that looked a bit low cuts Knight off but he’s able to send Harwood outside for a slingshot dive. Knight backdrops out of a piledriver on the apron and dives onto Harwood to send him over the barricade.

We take a break and come back with Knight grabbing a rolling DDT for two but his reverse frog splash hits raised knees. Back up and Knight manages a Sky High before they trade headbutts on the mat. Harwood’s slingshot powerbomb is countered into a sunset flip for two. Another attempt connects for two on Knight, who is right back with a springboard clothesline. Wheeler offers a distraction but gets taken out by Nightingale and Bailey, leaving Knight to hit his spinning frog splash for the pin at 13:50.

Rating: B-. Two weeks ago, FTR did what was supposed to be something totally heinous to Beth Copeland. Then her husband just walked out and now they’re losing a singles match to half of Jet Speed. I’m really not sure I get that, but FTR has been booked in some rather bizarre fashions for a long time now.

Post match FTR has to save Hathaway from Nightingale so here is Megan Bayne to take Nightingale out.

Skyflight wants the ROH Six Man Tag Team Titles. Shane Taylor Promotions are in.

Here is Kris Statlander to call out Toni Storm for a chat. Naturally they lay on the mat with their heads next to each other, with Statlander talking about how they have never faced each other. They’re having the match because they’re both fighting champions, but Statlander is going to fight even harder.

Statlander is going to knock her back into black and white. Storm has always been impressed by Statlander and now she gets to see what kind of a woman Statlander is. There is no one she would rather lose to, but there is no one she would rather beat. They can do this right now and the fight is on, with the Triangle Of Madness running in to jump them both. Harley Cameron runs in for the save and the Triangle is cleared out. And yes, the six woman tag is set before the segment even ends.

Video on Hangman Page vs. Samoa Joe.

Don Callis Family vs. Paragon/Orange Cassidy

O’Reilly and Hechicero go to the mat for some grappling, with O’Reilly working on the leg. The grappling continues and Hechicero actually has go to over to the rope. Romero comes in so Strong powers him into the corner, meaning chopping can ensue. That’s broken up by Archer, who clears the ring and we take a break.

We come back with Cassidy coming in for a staredown with Archer, who gets low bridged out to the floor. Romero comes in and gets hit with the lazy forearms but Cassidy starts firing off some more serious shots. The Stundog Millionaire hits Romero and it’s back to O’Reilly to strike away on Hechicero. Archer comes back in and gets triple teamed down, leaving Romero to get caught with a tornado DDT. The cross armbreaker makes Romero tap at 10:54.

Rating: B-. Even with Romero out there, I’m surprised to see Paragon actually win what passes for a big match for them. The team is not likely going to be anything important, but if they’re going to put so many other teams over, they need to win now and then. Not a bad main event at all here, with the ending being a surprise.

The rest of the Don Callis Family comes out for the staredown to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. The wrestling was fine and there aren’t any real complaints about it, save for maybe Kingston. The problem here was how dull the whole thing felt. This was like the show you get when everyone that matters is either gone or not doing anything important. There was pretty much nothing important here (even the storyline developments that took place didn’t feel like they mattered) and it was a heck of a chore to get through this thing. It just felt like a show that didn’t matter in the slightest and that made for a very tedious two hours.

Results
Death Riders b. Jay Lethal/Adam Priest/Tommy Billington – Dragontamer to Lethal
Jamie Hayter b. Anna Jay – Hayterade
La Faccion Ingobernable b. Shayne Stetson/Cha Cha Charlie – Swanton to Charlie
Eddie Kingston b. Dralistico – Spinning backfist
Don Callis Family b. MxM TV – Brainbuster to Mansoor
Kevin Knight b. Dax Harwood – Spinning frog splash
Paragon/Orange Cassidy b. Don Callis Family – Cross armbreaker to Romero

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

Smackdown
Date: October 3, 2025
Location: Heritage Bank Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
Commentators: Michael Cole, Booker T.

We’re just over a week away from Crown Jewel, meaning it’s time to keep going with the build to the champion vs. champion matches. In this case though, we have Cody Rhodes teaming up with Randy Orton to face the Vision, which should make for a heck of a big time match. In addition, we have a contract signing and you know those always go well. Let’s get to it.

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

Here is Cody Rhodes for a chat. Rhodes asks what the fans want to talk about but gets cut off by Paul Heyman, with the Vision. Randy Orton runs in to even things out a bit but Heyman hits the catchphrase instead of sending in the monsters. Heyman says they’re here to talk to Orton, who is a hard man to reach.

They knew that they could get Orton here by cornering Rhodes and, after mocking the RKO chants, Heyman moves to tonight’s tag match. Heyman wonders how it’s going to go, as Orton will either be thinking he could be a better champion than Rhodes or Rhodes will wonder where Orton was when they lose. Rhodes vs. Orton is going to happen someday and Wrestlemania wouldn’t shock me.

Miz yells at Carmelo Hayes for not helping him last week. Hayes tells them that this is done, and Miz should be happy because Hayes usually shoots first.

US Title: Sami Zayn vs. ???

Zayn is defending against…Carmelo Hayes, who says they’ve done this before but this time there is no one holding him back. Cue Miz with a Skull Crushing Finale to Hayes though and it seems we’ll need a new challenger.

US Title: Sami Zayn vs. Aleister Black

Zayn is defending and snaps off some armdrags to start fast. Back up and Black scores with a kick to the face to take over, followed by another to the chest. We take a break and come back with Zayn striking away in the corner and clotheslining him out to the floor. A springboard moonsault drops Black again and a Michinoku Driver gives Zayn two. Black goes with another kick though and gets two off a bridging German suplex.

The Blue Thunder Bomb is blocked and Black sweeps the leg into an Oklahoma roll for two. Zayn catches him on top though and gets in a superplex as we take another break. We come back again with Black kneeing him out of the air for two before striking away in the corner. Zayn misses a quick Helluva Kick attempt and gets Meteoraed down for two more. Cue Damian Priest for a distraction though and it’s the Helluva Kick into the Blue Thunder Bomb to retain Zayn’s title at 15:19.

Rating: B. You can almost pencil in Zayn for a good match every time he does one of these things and that’s the right idea. Black is a nice choice for something like this and the ending should set up at least one more big Priest vs. Black match. At the same time, I’m curious to see where Miz vs. Hayes goes, along with whomever Zayn gets to face next.

Post match Priest sends Black through a table.

Chelsea Green and Alba Fyre interrupt Sol Ruca and Zaria with Nick Aldis. Green wants them in the Secret Hervice but gets a match against them instead.

Chelsea Green/Alba Fyre vs. Sol Ruca/Zaria

Fyre backs Zaria into the corner to start but gets choked for her efforts. Zaria’s middle rope clothesline drops Fyre and it’s off to Green, who has about the same luck. Ruca gets two off an X Factor but Fyre gets in a cheap shot so Green can kick Ruca in the face. A gordbuster into a basement superkick gets two on Ruca, who pops right back up with a Sol Snatcher to pin Green at 3:49.

Rating: C+. Oh they know what they have with Ruca, who is coming off as more and more of a star every time she’s out there. She has the look, the athleticism and the charisma to become a big deal. If that continues to build, we very well could be in for a heck of a star run from her in the coming years. Zaria is a bit harder to figure out, but WWE seems to be ready to give Ruca a chance, as they should.

Charlotte and Alexa Bliss are impressed and sure, Ruca and Zaria might get a title shot one day.

We look back at Roman Reigns’ return on Raw.

Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton are cool with each other.

Here is Nick Aldis to run the contract signing between Tiffany Stratton and Stephanie Vaquer. They stare at each other a bit and Vaquer says may the best woman win. Stratton says she’ll win because it doesn’t matter where they are, as it will ALWAYS be Tiffy Time. They both sign and Aldis hypes up the match before Stratton leaves. Cue Kiana James and Giulia to jump Stratton and say Vaquer isn’t a superstar just yet. James offers to represent Vaquer but Stratton is back up to pull James to the floor. Vaquer goes after Giulia, who escapes an SVB attempt.

Earlier today, Je’Von Evans talked to Nick Aldis, who thinks Evans has a big future on Smackdown. Rey Fenix came in to talk to Evans but Los Garza came in to mock them. A tag match was set for tonight.

Jacob Fatu is tired of hearing people whining, which is why he interrupted Drew McIntyre last week. He’s going to the top and McIntyre isn’t stopping him.

Je’Von Evans/Rey Fenix vs. Los Garza

Evans springboards into a rollup for an early two on Berto, who comes back with a dropkick for two of his own. Angel gets a blind tag and catches Evans with a kick to the head but Fenix comes in for a heck of a running flip dive. Evans hits an even bigger dive and we take a break.

We come back with Fenix slipping away from Angel and hitting him with a running shot to the face. Everything breaks down and Los Garza hit a powerbomb/World’s Strongest Slam combination for two on Evans. Back up and Evans kicks both of them down, including knocking Angel outside. Berto’s rollup with the ropes gets two but Fenix makes a blind tag. Evans’ top rope cutter drops Angel, leaving Fenix to hit the MMB for the pin on Garza at 9:09.

Rating: B-. I’m not sure what is next for Evans, but he’s another case where WWE seems to think quite a bit of him and that means he is likely going to be getting a lot more focus sooner than later. While it might be a bit too early for him, he is living up to the hype thus far and that is impressive. Fenix on the other hand is just kind of “the guy who teams with everyone else” and that’s only going to get him so far.

Damian Priest says he is the consequences for Aleister Black. Kit Wilson, in his wheelchair, comes in to call Priest out for his toxicity. Priest sends the wheelchair crashing into various things. He’ll also face Black next week, Last Man Standing.

Tala Tonga loves Solo Sikoa, who thinks there is still something missing.

The Street Profits, with B-Fab, are ready for the Wyatt Sicks next week and they’re fighting for each other. The Wyatts pop up on a screen behind them to point out the issues the Profits have been having.

Randy Orton/Cody Rhodes vs. Vision

Paul Heyman is here with the Vision. Orton and Breakker start things off with Breakker being knocked outside. We take an early break and come back with Orton fighting out of Reed’s chinlock. Reed gets sent shoulder first into the post, allowing the tag off to Rhodes. The Disaster Kick into a suicide dive connects but Reed is up at one back inside.

Breakker gets in a cheap shot from behind though and Rhodes is in trouble for a change. Reed knocks him down again and mocks Roman Reigns’ pose as we take another break. We come back again with Breakker powering Rhodes into the corner for some shoulders to the ribs. Breakker mocks the fans’ RHODES chants before raining down some right hands, mainly because Breakker is an awesome villain.

Rhodes slips out though and drops Reed, allowing the diving tag off to Orton. Powerslams abound but Reed catches Orton with the Jagged Edge. The Tsunami is broken up though and Orton gets in a superplex to Reed, with Breakker breaking it up. Breakker also breaks the barricade with a spear to Rhodes and take him out. Cue Seth Rollins to Stomp Orton, meaning Reed can hit the Tsunami for the pin at 15:16.

Rating: B. This was a good way to go with the main event and it felt like a main event tag match. Rollins coming in to screw Rhodes over makes sense, even if it came by attacking Orton. That’s a logical way to go and now we could be in for Orton getting some revenge sooner than later. Or maybe after Crown Jewel, which is the big deal that WWE is focusing on at the moment.

Post match Rollins wants to go after Rhodes again but Heyman says no, as Rhodes is in his head. Rollins goes in anyway and is promptly Cross Rhodesed to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. This week saw a nice mixture of up and coming stars, plus some matches that helped boost the bigger stories around here. If nothing else, it was nice to see less of a focus on the Crown Jewel Title matches, as those are both pretty much set. The ending was a nice way to go and boosted up Rhodes vs. Rollins without hammering it into the ground again. Rather nice show here, and the future is looking nice around here.

Results
Sami Zayn b. Aleister Black – Blue Thunder Bomb
Sol Ruca/Zaria b. Chelsea Green/Alba Fyre – Sol Snatcher to Green
Je’Von Evans/Rey Fenix b. Los Garza – MMB to Garza
Vision b. Randy Orton/Cody Rhodes – Tsunami to Orton

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: October 2, 2025
Location: Edmonton Expo Centre, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Commentators: Tom Hannifan, Matthew Rehwoldt

We’re done with Victory Road and that means a few new champions, including Frankie Kazarian as the new International Champion. The biggest news is that we have a new Knockouts Champion in the form of NXT’s Kelani Jordan as Ash By Elegance was forced to vacate the title. Let’s get to it.

Here is Victory Road if you need a recap.

Long Victory Road recap.

Santino Marella tells Mike Santana that he can’t touch Trick Williams outside of being physically provoked.

Opening sequence.

Here is Frankie Kazarian for the King’s Speech. There are a bunch of people coming for his title so he’s ready to fight. First though, he’s ready to wait here for his standing ovation. Kazarian talks down about various other champions before bringing out new Knockouts Champion Kelani Jordan.

Kazarian tells her about how evil the other Knockouts can be and suggests that Jordan is a fluke. Jordan lists off what she’s done but Kazarian says he doesn’t like the NXT stars as champions. That includes Trick Williams, who wouldn’t have beaten Kazarian. Cue Williams, who wants some respect on his name.

Williams brings up Mike Santana, but gets interrupted by Matt Hardy, who talks about why this company is on fire. Kazarian brings up how Jeff Hardy isn’t allowed in Canada but here is Leon Slater to defend his mentors. Jordan talks about herself instead so here is Indi Hartwell, to say she’s a different kind of challenger. Cue Santino Marella to try and calm things down. And make a six person tag, with Santana on commentary.

Frankie Kazarian/Trick Williams/Kelani Jordan vs. Indi Hartwell/Matt Hardy/Leon Slater

Mike Santana is on commentary. Hartwell and Jordan trade rollups for two each to start before Kazarian comes in. Hardy works on his arm and it’s off to Slater to hammer away in the corner. The women are already back in as we hear about TNA vs. NXT Showdown. Some knees to the back set up a bodyscissors on Hartwell, which doesn’t last long as Hartwell brings in Slater. Some running kicks in the corner put Williams down but he’s back with a full nelson as we take a break.

We come back with Kazarian hitting Williams by mistake, allowing the tag back to Hardy. The Side Effect gets two on Williams but Kazarian comes back in. Kazarian can’t get the chickenwing, instead having to settle for a slingshot cutter to Slater. Hartwell shoulders Kazarian down though and hits a top rope elbow as everything breaks down. Kazarian knocks Williams into Santana so the beatdown is on, with Slater hitting a big running flip dive to take Kazarian out. The Swanton 450 gives Slater the pin at 12:56.

Rating: B-. Slater’s rise continues and that is rather nice to see. The guy is one of the most talented stars in the company and he is holding up when it comes to the bigger challenges. You don’t see that very often, though I’m not quite sold on seeing the new champion take a fall less than a week after winning the title.

The TNA Showdown teams, plus some other stars, come out to the stage, with Tommy Dreamer getting to do the big pep talk.

Video on Mara Sade (Or “Kay…Mara Sade.” according to Kelani Jordan this week on NXT).

We look at the big TNA vs. NXT brawl earlier this week.

Angel Warriors vs. Kat Von Heez/Ava Lawless

Lawless pulls Lee by the hair to start and it’s already off to Brookside as everything breaks down. Stereo right hands in the corner have Heez and Lawless in trouble and it’s off to Heez for a big legdrop. Brookside fights out of Lawless’ chinlock as everything breaks down. Thunderstruck sets up an assisted Brooksie Bomb for the pin on Heez at 4:06.

Rating: C. Just a step above a squash here and that’s how you get a new team over. The Warriors aren’t anything revolutionary but I can go with actually building up a new team to come after the titles. Just let them do this again a few more times and they’ll be set, as it isn’t like there is much of a division in the first place.

Joe Hendry is happy with beating Eric Young when Santino Marella comes in to make Hendry vs. Young next week, No DQ.

We get another Mike Santana video as Amazing Red (TNA legend) talks about all of the people who have paved the way for him to get here. He has faced disappointment after disappointment and now Santana needs to succeed. Trick Williams has come into his house and it’s time for Santana to fight back for all of them.

Nic Nemeth vs. Hometown Man

Ryan Nemeth is here too and offers an early distraction so Nic can take over. Man fights back but gets neckbreakered down, allowing Nic to drop the elbows. Some choking on the ropes lets Nic go after the mask, which triggers a comeback. A dropkick and running elbow set up Sliced Bread #2 for two on Nic, with Ryan putting a boot on the rope. Man dives onto Ryan and gets his mask back from Victory Road but he walks into a superkick. The Danger Zone gives Nic the pin at 4:19.

Rating: C. That’s Man’s first loss and it’s not exactly a terrible moment to lose to one of the biggest stars in the company. The same thing has happened to a bunch of people on the roster and there is a good chance that this continues for a few more weeks. Man’s deal isn’t exactly high concept stuff, but it’s working well enough.

Post match the beatdown is on but Matt Cardona makes the save. Where was he five minutes ago?

Gia Miller has allowed Tessa Blanchard’s suspension to be lifted and now they’re fighting at Bound For Glory. Miller doesn’t even care if she wins or loses, as long as she gets to beat Blanchard up. That’s the best they have for Blanchard at the biggest show of the year?

Tasha Steelz vs. Alisha Edwards

Their respective stables are here too. Edwards hammers away to start but Order 4 offers a distraction. Steelz chops her around and pounds Edwards down into the corner. A Falcon Arrow and superkick give Steelz two each and it’s time for everyone to argue on the floor. In the melee, Steelz gets a kendo stick but Edwards takes it away. One good shot and a Pedigree finish Steelz off at 4:23.

Rating: C. This was a good example of “it was exactly what it needed to be” as they gave us a nice preview of the Hardcore War at Bound For Glory. You don’t often see Edwards getting in the ring but she can handle herself in there and what little time she got here went well. They’re setting this story up well and that’s a promising sign.

Post match the brawl is on again.

Tessa Blanchard talks about helping Gia Miller, who stormed off and went to train with Mike Jackson. She’s fine with beating Miller up again.

Knockouts Tag Team Titles: IInspiration vs. Elegance Brand

The Brand is defending. McKay clotheslines Heather down to start and Lee quickly comes in for a double hiptoss. Heather sends her into the corner though and it’s off to M for a running boot to the face. Lee hurricanranas her way out of the corner and stomps away on Heather as everything breaks down.

Stereo corner clotheslines allow the IInspiration to pose but Heather sends Lee into the corner. It’s back to M to stomp away and a suplex gets two as we take a break. We come back with M’s running backsplash getting two but McKay breaks away. Thankfully M is right there to pull Lee off the apron, meaning there’s no tag just yet.

A big boot gets two on McKay and it’s off to the double arm crank. That’s broken up and the tag brings in Lee to clean house. Lee’s Blue Thunder Bomb gets two on Heather but M is there with a superkick to give Heather two of her own. The Personal Concierge gives Heather some champagne, which goes into M’s face by mistake. The Idolizer gives the IInspiration the titles back at 14:17.

Rating: B-. They didn’t have much of a choice here, as there was little reason to keep the Elegance Brand together after Ash went away. The IInspiration are a great example of a team who can give the titles some stability before they drop them down to another team. If nothing else, this shows that the IInspiration still has it rather than living off their past successes, which was rather needed.

Overall Rating: C+. In theory all sights should be set on Bound For Glory but that is only going to happen after Showdown next week. That makes for a bit of rushed build, though the stuff with NXT will give TNA even better exposure. They need to get to the Bound For Glory build exclusively though, which hopefully will be the case next week.

Results
Leon Slater/Matt Hardy/Indi Hartwell b. Frankie Kazarian/Trick Williams/Kelani Jordan – Swanton 450 to Kazarian
Angel Warriors b. Kat Von Heez/Ava Lawless – Heaven Sent to Heez
Nic Nemeth b. Hometown Man – Danger Zone
Alisha Edwards b. Tasha Steelz – Pedigree
IInspiration b. Elegance Brand – Idolizer to M

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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Ring Of Honor
Date: October 2, 2025
Location: Marshall Health Network Arena, Huntington, West Virginia
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

We continue our usual deliberate pace around here, which likely won’t include another match in the Women’s Pure Rules Title tournament. One of those took place last week so we’re probably months away from seeing the next step. Other than that, we need some new challengers for various titles so let’s get to it.

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

MxM TV is ready for a big night but apparently the TSA took away Mansoor’s giant load of Seed. It’s ok though because they’re still ridiculously good looking and ridiculously good wrestlers.

Opening sequence.

We run down the card.

MxM TV vs. Skyflight

Grey and Valkyrie start things off and shove each other a bit until Valkyrie misses a charge into the corner. A knee to the face staggers Valkyrie and it’s off to Darius vs. Mansoor, with the latter grabbing a headlock. That’s broken up and Darius mocks Mansoor’s pose, allowing Dante to come in, only to get dropped by Madden. A chokebomb gives Madden two and Mansoor’s running backsplash hits Dante.

Valkyrie even gets in a running hurricanrana so Madden can add a running hip attack for two more. Dante gets up and manages a springboard flip dive and it’s back to Darius as everything breaks down. Madden gives Darius a fireman’s carry flipping slam for two but he accidentally crotches Mansoor on top. Top Flight’s double double arm DDT finishes Mansoor at 6:25.

Rating: C+. I know they don’t have a chance to do anything going forward but it’s nice to see Skyflight, or in this case Top Flight, actually winning something. It’s better than nothing, as they’ve been running on a treadmill for so long that it feels like they’ll never get a chance. The villains were their usual funny selves and that’s all they needed to be here.

Workhorsemen vs. Chance Prophet/Rosario Grillo

Grillo works on Henry’s arm to start but Henry gets in a pop up knee to take over. Drake comes in and gets his eyes raked so it’s off to Prophet, who gets slammed down and headbutted. A Downward Spiral/enziguri combination finishes Prophet at 2:32. This was in fact a Workhorsemen match and there was nothing you haven’t seen them do before.

Post match LFI comes out for a staredown with the Workhorsemen. Of all the teams who might get a title shot…the Workhorsemen? That’s the best you have.

Yuka Sakazaki vs. Zoey Lynn

Pure Rules and of course it’s not a tournament match. Sakazaki works on the arm to start and Lynn uses her first rope break less than forty seconds in. A dropkick puts Lynn outside and Sakazaki gives her a clothesline on the floor for two. Lynn gets in a high crossbody for two and a middle rope stomp to the back gets two more. Sakazaki kicks her in the face and grabs a spinning hammerlock slam to finish Lynn at 4:23.

Rating: D+. As a regular match it was fine, but it’s another case where the Pure Rules adds absolutely nothing. It’s adding in a match (and don’t worry because there’s another one tonight) for the sake of having Pure Rules and that’s a waste of time. The whole tournament is but we’ll be seeing it for months on end because this tournament, which was announced in April and started in August with two matches in two months, has to exist.

We go back to the Frat House, with Blue Meanie, as they get yelled at for making too much noise. The complaint comes from GLACIER, in his Coach gear. Then we cut to Glacier, in his Glacier gear, beating up some of the team. With Glacier gone, the team decides to drink anyway. What in the world am I even watching?

Frat House vs. Nick Hammer/Casey King/Corey Sparks

The House jumps them to start fast and beat up the very tall King. Sparks comes in and gets sent into the corner for a double kick to the face. That doesn’t last long either as Hammer comes in and gets to slug away but gets dropped with a discus lariat. The 450 gives Karter the pin at 2:19. If you ignore the team getting taken out by the 61 year old Glacier about five minutes ago, the Frat House can be so dumb that it’s fun. They also had a nice enough squash here.

LFI is willing to give the Workhorsemen a Tag Team Title shot at any time.

Aaron Solo vs. Jay Lethal

Solo knocks him off the top during his entrance but Lethal is right back up with a triangle dropkick. The suicide dive drops Solo again and now we ring the bell. Some kicks to the head stagger Solo but he’s able to reverse the Lethal Injection into a small package for two. Lethal hits a superkick but gets cuttered and they’re both down.

Hail To The King is countered into a rollup for two more and the Figure Four is blocked…so Lethal quickly switches legs and puts the Figure Four on the other leg (that was great). Solo escapes and hits a spinning enziguri for two, followed by a top rope double stomp. Lethal shrugs that off and the Lethal Injection finishes at 4:58.

Rating: C+. The match was the usual back and forth trading of moves with very little standing out, though that quick switch on the Figure Four was rather smart. Lethal continues to be good at just about anything he does, though he’s not going to be doing anything of note anytime soon. At least he had a nice enough match here.

Premiere Athletes vs. Cowpoke Paul/Gen Z/Reese Ramone

Daivari gives Z a rough handshake and gets shoved away to start. Z gets taken into the corner and stomped but it’s off to Paul to…well get dropped just as fast. Denali comes in and Ramone slugs away, which works about as well as you would expect. Paul gets chokeslammed and a spinebuster finishes Ramone at 2:58. Remember last week when the Athletes squashed a team? They did it again here.

Video on Serena Deeb, who wants the Pure Rules Title.

Serena Deeb vs. Katie Arquette

Pure Rules. Deeb easily wins a battle over the arm to start and a neckbreaker over the middle rope drops Arquette. Why that isn’t a rope break isn’t clear but that’s the least of this concept’s problem. A hammerlock lariat cuts Arquette off again and a Black Widow makes her give up at 2:27.

Post match Yuka Sakazaki comes out for a staredown with Deeb.

Diamante/Billie Starkz vs. Alex Windsor/Sareee

Windsor backs Starkz into the corner to start and takes her down with a headlock takeover. Sareee comes in and hits a dropkick, followed by a Mega Powers elbow for two on Starkz. Windsor misses a charge though and gets tripped down by Diamante, who comes in to take over. A double snap suplex gets two on Windsor and Diamante gets to choke her in the corner.

Starkz’s chinlock doesn’t last long as Windsor forearms her way out of trouble and it’s back to Sareee to pick up the pace. A Muta Lock has Diamante in trouble…and Sareee just lets it go. Diamante fights back and makes Windsor Stun Sareee, who pops back up with a suplex. Windsor’s Sharpshooter makes Diamante tap at 8:36.

Rating: C+. This was right back to the same issues that have plagued AEW when it comes to international stars. Rather than let us see what Sareee can do, it’s basically “she’s AWESOME” and then she has a pretty mediocre match. Outside of a pretty nothing run in NXT, Sareee is hardly that well known around here. Show us what she can do rather than tell us.

We get a preview of a sitdown interview with Lee Moriarty.

Beef vs. Dralistico

Dralistico rolls outside at the bell but the rest of LFI offers a distraction so he can take over. A running knee hits Beef on the apron and Dralistico gets to pose on the buckle. Beef comes back with a dropkick and hammers away in the corner, only to get caught with the top rope double stomp. Riccaboni declares that “Beef is ground” and a top rope Codebreaker finishes Beef at 4:03.

Rating: C. So Beef was set up with some kind of a story with Lance Archer, which was mentioned at the start of the match, and then he loses to perennial midcarder Dralistico. Why would I want to see Beef going on after this? Actually why would I want to see Beef in the first place?

Post match the beatdown is on but the Workhorsemen make the save.

Alex Windsor is happy with teaming with Sareee but challenges her for the IWGP Women’s Title for next week.

We take a quick look back at the opening video.

Johnny TV vs. AR Fox

The rest of MxM TV is here too. TV kicks him into the corner to start but Fox is right back with a spinning suplex. Mansoor offers a distraction and Fox is pulled outside, followed by a running shooting star press to give TV two. The chinlock goes on for a bit before Fox is sent outside, where the other villains get in a stomping.

Valkyrie gets in to kiss TV, who gets two off the Flying Chuck. Fox fights out of a chinlock and hits a pendulum DDT, followed by an enziguri. A rolling cutter gets two and Fox takes out the rest of the villains with a flip dive. The Swanton gets two on TV but Valkyrie offers a distraction. That doesn’t exactly work though as Fox reverses a neckbreaker into a rollup for the pin on TV at 6:47.

Rating: C+. I can go with the result, as Fox has not been having much success in recent months but has been putting in all kinds of solid performances. I have no reason to believe he’s going to become a big deal, but I’ll take a win over doing nothing. It’s not much of a main event, though there is something to seeing Fox overcome these odds.

Overall Rating: C-. My goodness I can’t believe what I just watched here. This was one of the least interesting, most useless shows I’ve ever seen. The wrestling was completely adequate, but in an hour and twenty minutes, absolutely nothing interesting happened. It was a bunch of matches from the same people who are here most of the time, naturally including TWO Pure Rules matches because that STILL has to be a thing. I haven’t been so bored during a show in a long time and unfortunately I don’t expect it to get any better anytime soon. Or ever.

Results
Skyflight b. MxM TV – Double double arm DDT to Mansoor
Workhorsemen b. Chance Prophet/Rosario Grillo – Downward Spiral/enziguri to Prophet
Yuka Sakazaki b. Zoey Lynn – Spinning hammerlock slam
Frat House b. Nick Hammer/Casey King/Corey Sparks – 450 to Hammer
Jay Lethal b. Aaron Solo – Lethal Injection
Premiere Athletes b. Cowpoke Paul/Gen Z/Reese Ramone – Spinebuster to Ramone
Serena Deeb b. Katie Arquette – Black Widow
Alex Windsor/Sareee b. Diamante/Billie Starkz – Sharpshooter to Diamante
Dralistico b. Beef – Top rope Codebreaker
AR Fox b. Johnny TV – Rollup

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: October 1, 2025
Location: Hard Rock Live At Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood, Hollywood, Florida
Commentators: Excalibur, Bryan Danielson, Taz

It’s a special event as we have the sixth anniversary of Dynamite. Naturally that means the show is an extra half hour longer, because if there is one thing AEW knows how to do, it’s go long. The big draw this week is a six man tag as Kenny Omega is back, though we also need to start getting ready for WrestleDream. Let’s get to it.

Here is Collision if you need a recap.

We run down the card.

Earlier today, Matt Jackson had an idea for a big entrance, but Nick Jackson lost their money at a casino.

Young Bucks/Josh Alexander vs. Bandido/Brody King/Kenny Omega

The Bucks are now introduced as the Broke Bucks with an account balance of 0.00. Don Callis joins commentary as Omega and Alexander start things off. A running shoulder takes Omega down as the fans do not approve of Callis. Matt and King come in, with King getting to fire off some clotheslines. Bandido ducks a bunch of superkicks and starts to dance but the Bucks flip out of a springboard armdrag.

The Bucks’ dance is cut off with a double hurricanrana and Omega comes in for his own dancing. Omega and Bandido hit some dives before King slams various people onto Alexander. Not to be outdone, Bandido slams King onto Alexander in a nice bit. Alexander is able to come back with a needed backbreaker and the Bucks can connect with some superkicks. We go to a weird overhead camera shot as Omega fights back on the Bucks, who cut off a big dive. The Bucks are sent to the apron but catch Omega with a triple dive, including an assist from Alexander.

We take a break and come back with Omega avoiding More Bang For Your Buck and bringing King back in to clean house. Bandido comes back in off a blind tag as Callis is hiding from Omega. Everything breaks down and Omega hits a big running flip dive. Back in and a triple Tombstone gives Bandido two but Alexander starts German suplexing Omega.

The double superkicks let Alexander German suplex King and a superkick into a double Neutralizer gets two. More superkicks don’t do much as Omega is back up with the snapdragons. The poisonrana into the V Trigger hits Alexander. King hits a dive and it’s the 21 Plex into the One Winged Angel for the pin on Alexander at 15:41.

Rating: B. They basically stopped with the tagging part in the middle, making this rather perfect for a big time AEW show. The Bucks got to do a lot of their stuff, including the spamming of superkicks, but at least Omega was able to be in the ring. Like him or not, he’s one of the biggest stars AEW has ever had and it means a lot to have him around when he’s healthy enough.

Post match Omega has to be turned around for the pose at the camera. Bandido and King leave and we get the tease of a reunion with Omega and the Bucks…but Alexander breaks it up before anything can happen. The beatdown is on and the Bucks aren’t sure what to do. Cue the Jurassic Express to take the Bucks out, leaving Jack Perry and Omega to argue a lot.

Perry keeps going after the Bucks and Omega is left alone. Omega talks about the journey that it took to get here and he’s glad to have fans who have been here since the beginning or who are just starting out. He hits the catchphrase and the lights go out….and Andrade El Idolo is back to lay Omega out. And yes, of course he’s with Callis.

We look back at the last six years of Dynamite. That’s a nice touch and there have been some great highlights.

Mark Briscoe says this is a night for celebration and reflection. The last few weeks have seen his life consumed by MJF, who let Mark’s brother’s name out of his mouth. He recaps the TNT Title situation and will be happy to see Orange Cassidy win the title tonight, while MJF will still be pulling tacks out of his a**.

TNT Title: Kyle Fletcher vs. Orange Cassidy

Cassidy is challenging and blocks some early brainbuster attempts. A backslide attempt doesn’t work so Cassidy just stops running on an Irish whip attempt in a funny bit. Fletcher knocks him outside but Cassidy runs back inside for a suicide dive. Cassidy gets knocked outside though and we take a break.

We come back with Fletcher kicking away but Cassidy makes a comeback, only to get kicked in the head. The lawn dart is countered into an armdrag though and Fletcher is sent into some buckles. A high crossbody is countered into a Michinoku driver to give Fletcher two but Cassidy grabs a Stundog Millionaire.

Fletcher’s powerbomb attempt is countered into a DDT for two but Cassidy’s rollup is countered into a tombstone for the same. They trade superkicks until Fletcher kicks him in the head on the top. Don Callis gets up for a distraction so here is Hologram (that is not Hologram), who chases Callis off and then crotches Cassidy on top. Fletcher brainbusters Cassidy onto the turnbuckle for the win at 14:15.

Rating: B-. This was good enough, though the “that’s Hologram” deal was straight out of the “THAT IS STING” from the Nitro days. At the same time, I’m not sure how smart it is to have Cassidy lose so soon after his return. It helps Fletcher, but maybe build up a match like this and put someone else in there instead?

Post match the beatdown is on as Hologram seems to have joined Callis as well. The Paragon runs in for the save. The rest of the Family runs in, with Hologram revealing that he is in fact the Clone.

We look back at Andrade joining the Don Callis Family. Callis has been around for almost the entire first hour of the show.

Mercedes Mone is still wanting her tenth belt but she’s willing to defend her TBS Title next week on Title Tuesday. She wants to face someone local in Florida but we’ll figure out who that will be. Mone is asked about the Women’s Tag Team Titles and needs a partner, so here is Harley Cameron, with the Mone puppet. Arguing ensues, as Mone isn’t interested in Cameron’s pitch.

Death Riders vs. Hangman Page/Samoa Joe/Powerhouse Hobbs

Castagnoli charges in at Joe to start fast and gets taken into the corner so Joe can easily slug him down. Moxley comes in and knocks Joe into the wrong corner for some knees to the face, allowing Garcia to choke on the ropes. That’s broken up and Joe backsplashes Garcia, allowing the big tag off to Page.

House is quickly cleaned and Page sends Garcia outside for a slingshot dive. Hobbs comes in and fires off the shoulders and clotheslines to drop the villains again. Moxley gets crushed in the corner and slammed onto the apron as we take a break. We come back with Hobbs in trouble and striking it out with Castagnoli. A gutwrench suplex drops Hobbs for two and Castagnoli knocks Page off the apron.

The distraction lets Hobbs get in a powerslam, allowing the tag off to Page for the comeback. Moxley slips out of a Deadeye attempt and grabs a piledriver, followed by a big running uppercut from Castagnoli. Hobbs is back in for the save and Joe knocks Garcia off the apron. A Paradigm Shift drops Joe and Castagnoli clotheslines Page for two. Page is right back up with the Deadeye into the Buckshot Lariat to pin Castagnoli at 14:32.

Rating: B. This was the kind of hard hitting brawl that you would expect, with everyone working with the effort to make it work. I’m not sure who is next for Page, but it doesn’t seem like it is going to be another member of the Death Riders. The team seems to be shifting away from Page, which is what needs to happen. On the other side…well it’s not like the Trios Titles mean anything anyway.

Post match Joe gets in Page’s face, apparently mad that he didn’t get a tag in the match. Security (and Hobbs) break it up. Joe says Page never beat him (aha) and that seems to be a WrestleDream title match.

Willow Nightingale and Jet Speed want to take out FTR and Stokely Hathaway, with a singles match coming on Collision.

Post break Hangman Page is very confused by what Samoa Joe did (which was apparently about handing him a title). Page knows it’s about the World Title and he has it partially because of what Joe did at All In. If Joe wants a title shot, we can do it at WrestleDream, but don’t come at him like that again.

Toni Storm vs. Tay Melo

Storm is in a trench coat and fedora and looking a bit shaken up. We get a handshake to start as Storm is in more regular clothes and not gear. Storm hits a running shoulder and basement dropkick to set up a backbreaker. Melo sends her outside but gets dropped onto the apron as we take a break.

We come back with Melo hitting some running boots in the corner but Storm grabs a running faceplant. They slug it out until Storm grabs a DDT, only to miss the running hip attack. Melo kicks her in the face in the corner but Storm snaps off a German suplex. The hip attack sets up the Storm Zero to pin Melo at 7:59.

Rating: C+. It’s nice to see Storm win a short match instead of going long, as she should be able to run through someone at Melo’s level. Storm is likely going to be facing Kris Statlander in a singles match for the title so boosting her up again like this is fine. Then again, you never know with Storm as she can be a bit, shall we say, out there.

Post match Storm, in black and white, says she heard a silence at All Out and it completely gobbled her up. What is she without the title? She’s not finished with Kris Statlander so she’s ready anywhere, anytime.

Sammy Guevara is ready for Eddie Kingston on Collision….to face Dralistico.

Kingston doesn’t speak Spanish but tells Dralistico to not let Guevara speak for him.

Samoa Joe isn’t surprised by Hangman Page because maybe they aren’t friends. He has been so distracted by the Death Riders so maybe it’s time to get back to what he is. Page is all about cowboy s*** but if he messes with Joe, welcome to the world of deep s***.

Gates Of Agony vs. Swirl

Ricochet is here with the Gates and sits in on commentary. Johnson slips out of Liona’s suplex to start so Kaun comes in for a rather loud chop. Christian comes in and gets caught with a fireman’s carry gutbuster as we take a break. We come back with Christian getting planted for two but he fights out and brings Johnson back in. Everything breaks down and Johnson hits a big running flip dive, with Christian adding a dropkick. The Gates are right back up to drop Christian, followed by some running shots in the corner to drop Johnson. Open The Gates finishes Johnson at 7:59.

Rating: C+. You know what you’re getting with the Gates and that’s what you got here. They beat up a team that is beneath them and didn’t have much trouble doing so. The Swirl might mean something in Ring Of Honor, but they don’t mean much of anything in AEW and that was on display here.

Post match Ricochet gives Christian a Spirit Gun but here is the Hurt Syndicate to interrupt. MVP asks if there are any Miami locals around here and then apologizes to his partners for getting pinned at All Out. Maybe he isn’t as good as he used to be, but he knows he can still fight. That’s why he wants a street fight rematch next week. Ricochet says it’s on.

Kris Statlander says she has never faced Toni Storm one on one so they can do it at WrestleDream. Harley Cameron comes in to approve, but hides Mini Mone.

Don Callis, with Kazuchika Okada and Konosuke Takeshita, says the two of them will be facing Bandido/Brody King next week. They don’t seem thrilled, but Callis assures them it will be fine.

Darby Allin/Kris Statlander vs. Death Riders

Tornado Tag and Allin/Statlander jump them during their entrance to start the fight in the crowd. Statlander jumps off a wall to take Shafir down, leaving Allin to chair Yuta in the back at ringside. A big dive only hits chair though, leaving Shafir to strike away at Statlander as we take a break.

We come back with Statlander faceplanting Shafir, who is right back with a headscissor driver onto the apron. Yuta German suplexes Allin onto the pile of chairs but Allin pops up for a top rope superplex onto the pile of chairs. Back up and Yuta drops Allin onto the apron and whips out the bag of thumbtacks.

Yuta Angle Slams Statlander, who suplexes him onto the chairs. Shafir comes after Statlander but gets dropped feet first onto the tacks. Allin ducks powder from Yuta, which goes into Shafir’s eyes. That leaves Shafir to choke Yuta, leaving Statlander to hit a 450 onto both of them at once. The Coffin Drop finishes Yuta (with Statlander covering too) at around 12:30 (the bell didn’t ring to start).

Rating: B-. Good, wild main event here and it was something that had to be on the show for the sake of AEW’s history. Allin gets a win over the Death Riders (rough night for them) on the way to facing Jon Moxley at WrestleDream while Statlander gets to do more with whatever she’s doing with Yuta.

Post match Toni Storm comes out to brawl with Statlander. With the two of them gone, Allin whips Yuta with a belt but Pac runs in to beat Allin down. Moxley says Allin can’t make him quit and while he doesn’t know how he’ll do it, he’ll make Allin quit at WrestleDream.

Overall Rating: B. While I’m not sure if this needed to be a special extended show, it did a nice job of getting things ready for both next week as well as WrestleDream. The action here was mostly ok, though I could go a long time without seeing the Don Callis Family or the Death Riders. The latter seems to be on a downward trend while the Family is somehow getting even bigger. Good enough show here, though they really need some better top heels.

Results
Kenny Omega/Bandido/Brody King b. Josh Alexander/Young Bucks – One Winged Angel to Alexander
Kyle Fletcher b. Orange Cassidy – Brainbuster onto the turnbuckle
Hangman Page/Powerhouse Hobbs/Samoa Joe b. Death Riders – Buckshot Lariat to Castagnoli
Toni Storm b. Tay Melo – Storm Zero
Gates Of Agony b. Swirl – Open The Gates to Johnson
Darby Allin/Kris Statlander b. Death Riders – Coffin Drop to Yuta

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