For The Culture 2024
Date: April 5, 2024
Location: Penns Landing Caterers, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Big Swole, AC Mack

This has become a tradition from GCW over Wrestlemania Weekend and the shows tend to be pretty good more often than not. The show focuses on Black wrestlers and there is quite a bit of talent on the card. GCW can do rather well when they try and hopefully that is the case again here. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Team Myron vs. Team Dolla

Myron: Myron Reed, Ruckus, Devon Monroe, Darian Bengston, Calvin Tankman
Dolla: AJ Francis, Isaiah Broner, Keita, Mr. Danger, Terry Yaki

Francis yells at Reed to start with Reed not being able to do the test of strength. Instead Reed hits him in the face but gets taken down with a single shoulder. Tankman comes in for the rather large lockup with Francis taking him into into the corner but missing the big chop. Back up and Tankman hits something like a Pounce to send Francis into the corner. It’s off to Monroe for a bouncing hurricanrana to send Broner outside.

Keita comes in and kicks Monroe into the corner for a suplex right back out of it. It’s off to Bengston to take Keita down by the arm but Danger comes in with a springboard moonsault. Francis cleans house and everything breaks down, as you probably expected it to do. We get back to back stereo dives to leave almost everyone down.

That leaves Francis to tease a dive, only to flip the fans off instead. Danger busts out a big springboard corkscrew moonsault and NOW Francis busts out the big dive. Back in and we get the parade of big knockdowns until a hanging F5 hits Broner, followed by a sitout powerbomb from Ruckus to give Reed…the pin (it wasn’t quite clear) at 11:48.

Rating: C+. The problem here is there were so many wrestlers in there at once that it was hard to keep track of what was going on. It doesn’t help that they had so much going all over the place, with no one really getting to stand out. Francis was the biggest name in the whole thing and was only featured part of the time. Fun enough match, but not exactly focused.

Thick N Juicy vs. Kings Of The District vs. Killionaires Club vs. The Mane Event

That would be Brooke Valentine/Faye Jackson vs. Eel O’Neal/Jordan Blade vs. J Boujii/PB Smooth vs. Duke Davis/Ganon Jones Jr. Hold on though as we need to see if Jackson will give Smooth (a 6’9 giant) a Stinkface. That won’t be happening so it’s Blade starting with Valentine instead. Blade snapmares her down for a dropkick to the back before it’s off to the test of strength.

That goes nowhere so they trade running shoulders to limited avail. A double knockdown gives us a double tag to O’Neal and Jackson, with O’Neal’s headlock not getting him anywhere. Jackson runs him over with a shoulder and sits on his chest for two and O’Neal, dubbed Bad Brain, goes into the wrong corner in a not so bright move. Thick N Juicy hit running hip attacks on the Kings, who seem to approve. Stereo Cannonballs crush the Kings again but the Club comes in to clear the ring.

We get the big Club vs. Event showdown, with Boujii not being able to do much against the rather large Duke. Almost everyone heads to the floor, allowing Jones to hit a big dive onto the pile. Back in and Blade manages a German suplex on Jones but the Kings Club clears the ring again. O’Neal strikes away at Jones to limited success. Jackson goes up (taking over a minute due to a bunch of slipping) and dives onto almost everyone else, setting up a Banzai Drop to pin O’Neal at 12:45.

Rating: C+. This was a bit easier to keep track of than the opener, though that might have been due to having four teams instead of two. There were some short form showdowns in there and that helped a bit, though again there is only so much you can get out of a match with eight people involved at once. Thick N Juicy were the focal point here, which is impressive given a giant like Smooth being involved.

Man Like DeReiss vs. Sonny Kiss

Kiss grabs the wristlock to start and flips around to start to slip away. Some hip shaking has DeReiss out on the floor but he comes back in for some dancing of his own. Back in and Kiss does Naomi’s headscissors to ram him into the back of the trunks, only for DeReiss to hit a hard shoulder.

DeReiss works on the arm until Kiss flips out of a belly to back suplex and strikes away. A German suplex and a hard clothesline give DeReiss two and they trade rollups for two each. Natural Selection gives Kiss two but DeReiss is back with a sitout powerbomb for another near fall. Kiss gets up and manages a gorilla press (that’s impressive) into a torture rack Stunner for the pin at 9:03.

Rating: C. While it was rather nice to have a singles match and both of them have a good bit of charisma, the action was nothing special. It was mainly a power vs. speed match, though Kiss’ gorilla press at the end was quite the surprise. Perfectly fine match, but nothing that stood out much for what is supposed to be a special show.

Janai Kai vs. Jada Stone vs. Joseline Navarro vs. Maya World vs. Mazzerati vs. Tiara James

Elimination rules…or not actually as the ring announcer says there is a change of plans, making this one fall to a finish. It’s a brawl to start with Maya, Mazzerati and Stone hitting stereo dropkicks to the floor. Maya and Mazzerati hit dives, followed by Stone’s corkscrew moonsault onto the pile.

Back in and Stone strikes away on Maya until a German suplex drops Stone for two. Mazzerati comes in and gets kicked in the head and hits a sliding clothesline to the back of the head. Navarro avoids a charge in the corner and hits a basement DDT to put Mazzerati down. James comes back in and gets kicked in the face but catches a returning Kai with a gutbuster.

Everyone gets together for a suplex attempt, with Mazzerati, Maya and Stone managing to get the others over. Mazzerati goes for covers on a bunch of people but can’t get anywhere. Well she can get to two but that’s it. Everyone is back up Mazzerati hits a hurricanrana to send Kai into everyone else. We hit the parade of suplexes and throws until Navarro hits a running crossbody in the corner to pin Mazzerati at 10:32.

Rating: C+. Much like the first two matches, there was so much going on here with so many people that you can only get so much out of it. No one had a chance to stand out and it felt like who managed to get a pin first rather than whoever won. That’s the problem with these scramble matches and it was on full display again here.

2 Cold Scorpio vs. Jah-C

They shake hands to start and fight over arm control, with Jah-C powering out of a top wristlock. We get a standoff, allowing Jah-C to yell at a woman in the crowd, which seems to be a bit of an overreaction. They go to the mat with Scorpio grabbing a front facelock, which is reversed into an armbar. Jah-C takes him down and seems to tell Scorpio to bring it, which works for him. An armdrag puts Jah-C down before Scorpio lures him into a fake handshake.

Scorpio kicks him down and grabs the chinlock, which doesn’t last long. They slug it out until Scorpio leverages him outside without too much effort. Back in and Scorpio kicks him down, setting up a springboard moonsault for two. Jah-C rakes the eyes though and hits his own springboard moonsault for his own two. Scorpio drops him and busts out the Tumbleweed for another near fall but Jah-C kicks him down again. A Lionsault gives Jah-C and a superkick finishes Scorpio off at 10:43, with Scorpio kicking out at 3.1 in a bit of a weird look.

Rating: C+. I’m always going to be interested in seeing Scorpio as I’ve been a fan for over thirty years. The guy has such a natural charisma and while he can’t quite go like he used to (as he’s 58), he still has enough ability to put on a good match. I’m curious about that ending though, as it definitely did not seem to go as it was supposed to.

Post match Scorpio gets to dance a bit.

Pan-Afrikan World Diaspora Wrestling Title: Suge D vs. Alex Kane

Kane is challenging and has Faye Jackson with him. The much bigger Kane blocks a whip into the ropes to start and Suge realizes he needs to do something else. Suge hits about ten straight running shoulders but can’t get anywhere, so he stomps on the foot and then runs Kane over. Back up and Kane shrugs off a shot to the face and grabs a German suplex. Kane fires off some knees to the head but Suge is back with a facebuster for two.

That just annoys Kane again as he ties Suge in the ropes for a running boot to the face and two of his own. Some rolling German suplexes set up a t-bone suplex to send Suge into the corner but Suge talks trash as he comes out. Some running clotheslines and forearms stagger Kane and Suge grabs his own German suplex. They trade more suplexes until Suge gets two but Kane is back up with a Crash Landing. A spear gives Kane two but Suge hits his own, setting up a piledriver to retain at 12:07.

Rating: C+. Suge seems to be more of the scrappy brawler while Kane is there to throw suplexes. It turned into a hard hitting fight and that helped a good bit, making it perhaps the best match on the show so far. Kane is a bigger deal in MLW so he has some status here, which made him feel like a stronger threat to take the title. Nice match here.

Darius Carter vs. Billy Dixon

Darius Lockhart is the guest referee. Commentary says this is five years in the making though doesn’t exactly explain how we got here. Carter shoves him to start and gets pummeled out to the floor, where Carter manages a quick posting. Back in and Dixon kicks away, setting up a middle rope elbow to the face for one. Carter’s dropkick puts Dixon down again though and the pace slows a lot.

Carter starts going after the leg and grabs a Hartbreaker, despite Lockhart’s protests. The Figure Four goes on back inside but Dixon makes the ropes in a hurry. That’s fine with Carter, who takes it to the apron for a piledriver, which is countered into a backdrop. Back in and Carter starts in on the finger so he can stomp away in the corner. For some reason Lockhart helps Dixon up and tells him to fight back, which is exactly what Dixon does. The comeback doesn’t last long as Carter knocks him outside but Dixon beats the count.

Carter hammers away at the forehead but Dixon runs him over with a shoulder. Dixon sits up ala Undertaker and gets two off a middle rope Thesz press. Another shot drops Dixon but Carter stops to yell at Lockhart, allowing Dixon to grab a Pedigree for two. Carter picks the leg again though and we hit the Figure Four again. Dixon fights up but gets his fingers snapped to put him back down…and he passes out for the pin at 19:14.

Rating: C. This is a match where commentary really hurt things, as it felt like it was supposed to be this big grudge match and we were never given any reason why. Was there some significance to the Figure Four? Or why do Lockhart and Carter not like each other? This was the main event and something treated as bigger than the rest of the show but you would never guess it based on most of the presentation.

Overall Rating: C-. For The Culture has been hit and miss over the years and this was on the latter side. The biggest problem here was a focus on quantity over quality, with three of the seven matches being multi-person messes in one form or another. The main event, while not bad, didn’t feel overly important and that hurt things even more. On top of that, the show didn’t start until around midnight so the main event was starting around 2:30 in the morning. Overall, this wasn’t a great show and it needed to be laid out a good bit better to really improve.

 

 

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Island Vibes
Date: March 30, 2023
Location: Common Space Brewery, Los Angeles, California
Commentators: Megan, Aloysius Gibergenes III

Time for another promotion you have probably never heard of with All Caribbean Wrestling. It’s another case where I have no idea what is going on here but they are running a show in Los Angeles over Wrestlemania Weekend so it’s time to look. If nothing else, when are you going to see a wrestling promotion from Trinidad & Tobago? Let’s get to it.

Note that I am coming into this completely blind so I have no idea what to expect here. I’m sorry in advance for missing any story notes, character history etc. Granted this is the third event the promotion has ever presented so there isn’t much to know.

Commentary welcomes us to the show and that is as close as I can get to the man’s name. He even makes a joke about how fast he can say the it.

Jay Malachi vs. Diego Hill

Malachi (I think, as there are no graphics and the sound is far from great) jumps Hill to start but blocks the springboard cutter (the Malacutter). They bounce and flip to counter a bit more until a stomp to the back keeps Malachi down. A standing shooting star press gives Hill two but Malachi is back up with some right hands out of the corner.

Malachi gets two off a springboard clothesline (the camera cuts are REALLY weird here as one angle him pulling back for the springboard and the next showed the move landing). Hill pulls a springboard out of the air though and hits a spinning Samoan driver for the pin at 2:33. Well that was quick after a very gymnastic match.

FEW Flares Title: Mazzerati vs. Brooke Havok

This appears to be another promotion’s Women’s Title and Mazzerati is defending. Mazzerati also comes out with another, unidentified title. Havok gets stomped down in the corner and Mazzerati hits Eat Defeat from the apron. Choking with what looks to be a glove ensues and a snap suplex gives Mazzerati two but Brooke jawbreaks her way out of trouble. A basement dropkick gets two on Mazzerati but she’s right back with a rollup and trunks for the pin to retain at 4:02.

Rating: C-. This was quick and to the point but not exactly great stuff. There is only so much that you can get out of something like this as Mazzerati beat her up, got caught for a few seconds, and then cheated to win. That isn’t exactly an exciting match, though what were they supposed to do with about four minutes?

Los Nuevos Gringos Locos vs. Diablo Azteca/Rockero/???

This is under lucha rules and Locos aren’t given individual names (or maybe they did, but the sound quality on this is pretty dreadful). Rockero (thank goodness for names on boots) starts with the bald Loco and sends him to the apron. The bald one is sent outside, meaning it’s off to the big one vs. Azteca. A quick headscissors puts the big one on the floor so the one with hair (Pistolero according to his tights) comes in and gets headlocked by….I think commentary said Diaz so we’ll go with that.

The bald Loco (Fabuloso Pelon, which is apparently the nickname of a Jason Styles) gets in a cheap shot though, allowing Pistolero to hit a clothesline. Rockero comes back in and gets beaten down, only to avoid the big one’s middle rope moonsault. Everything breaks down and Rockero victory rolls the big one (Maskara Infernal) for the pin at 5:04.

Rating: C. I’m not sure which is worse: the fact that the most entertaining part of the match was trying to figure out their names or the fact that we are twenty two minutes into the match and this is the longest match so far. It was a pretty basic six man lucha match with wrestlers who aren’t that high up on the totem pole, but again, you can only be so bad or good with so little time out there. Completely watchable match if you aren’t looking for anything to blow your mind.

Commentary talks….and the camera cuts back to the ring mid-sentence. Come on they’re not that bad.

Isaiah Bronson vs. Elijah Burke

The heck is the Pope doing on this show??? Bronson is a very tall guy and shoves Burke down hard to start. A shoulder does the same as Burke needs to think this out. Burke sends him face first into the corner and hammers away, only to miss a running splash. Bronson starts working on the arm, including dropping some hard knees.

A boot to the arm cuts off a comeback attempt and Bronson lifts him by said arm for more cranking. Bronson’s chokeslam is countered into a DDT and after a breather, Burke gets to rain down some right hands in the corner. Burke gets sent to the apron but flips back in and hits a low superkick. Bronson pops back up and tries a Tombstone, which Burke reverses into one of his own. The top rope elbow gives Burke the pin at 9:26.

Rating: C+. It was definitely the best match on the show by a mile, but that could be to either the talent involved or having some extra time. Burke is clearly a lot better than anyone else around here so far and it was nice to see him get some time here. Bronson is a big enough guy that he might get a look down the road, but for now he’s just tall.

Sidenote: the camera cuts that go back or forward a second were FAR worse in that match as I kept thinking my internet was messing up. Stop doing that.

FEW Tag Team Titles: Nu Nation vs. Bollywood Boyz

The Nation (Oba Zo/Prince Agballah) is defending and the Boyz dance with the ring announcer before the champs come to the ring. Gurv and Zo start things off with the much bigger Zo shoving him down. A headlock works a bit better for Gurv and it’s off to Harv to work on the arm. The legdrop onto the arm sets up an armbar and it’s Gurv coming back in for his own armbar.

Zo finally sends him into the corner and it’s Prince coming in for a running splash. Gurv gets sent into the corner and his back is bent over Prince’s knee. Zo (whose gear looks to be inspired by Kamala’s stomach) comes back in to crank on the neck but misses a charge in the corner. The hot tag brings in Harv to clean house, including an atomic drop to put Zo down. A top rope elbow connects but Prince’s distraction lets Zo get in a belt shot to retain at 8:07.

Rating: C. The string of ok but really basic matches continues as the Boyz, who can do a bit more than this, didn’t have much to work with here. The Nation are a pair of big guys who did basic power moves while the Boyz were out there to pick up the pace. It also doesn’t help that the Boyz are some of the bigger names on the card and they might as well have been any speed team. I’m running out of ways to say “this wasn’t bad but it came and went” because that is the theme of this show.

Commentary: “What happened?” “I do not know.” I….don’t think they can make it much more obvious.

Post match the Boyz grab the mic to say the champs suck and volunteer to face them next month in Trinidad. The match seems to be made.

Intermission.

Jada Stone vs. Ameera Rose

Rose jumps her to start and the fight is on fast. Stone Matrixes away from her though and sends Rose into the corner for the running knees. Back up and Rose sends her face first into the middle buckle and gets two off a full nelson slam. Kicks to the back keep Stone in trouble but she avoids a charge. Stone misses a moonsault though and Rose suplexes her into a chinlock. Back up and Rose forearms her way out of trouble, setting up a splits Stunner for the pin at 3:43.

Rating: C. And now we’re back to where we were before, with the short matches that don’t have time to get anywhere. Neither of them really stood out and it felt like another match that was there to fill in time on the card. Then again if that’s the case, you would think the match would have broken four minutes. If they can’t do more than that (though they very well could), I’m not sure why they’re on a show.

Juicy Finau/Juice Kross vs. Kimo Killer/Big Fonz

Kross (at least I think that was his name) is a martial artist. Finau, who weighs over 400lbs, powers around Kimo (again, I think that’s his name, as commentary is almost impossible to hear a good chunk of the time). Fonz (also called EOC) comes in and dropkicks Killer down, meaning it’s Finau coming back in to run him over. Double teaming doesn’t work as Finau splashes Kross by mistake, allowing Fonz to drop him with three straight clotheslines. Kross comes back in and gets kneed in the face, setting up a top rope double stomp/reverse fireman’s carry slam combination for the pin at 5:03.

Rating: C-. Finau is a rather big man who certainly stands out but the other three involved didn’t in any real way. As has been the case almost all night, this came and went so fast that nothing about it stood out. Getting four people involved in about five minutes can be done but they didn’t make it work very well here, meaning it’s another match that I’ll have forgotten about in a few minutes.

JC Storm vs. Amera

Storm has cotton candy with her. They trade fast rollups for two each until Amera (or Tower of Power as they keep calling her, despite not being very tall) dropkicks her into the corner. A running uppercut into a sidewalk slam gets two on Storm but she starts going after the back. Amera’s belly to back suplex gets a pair of near falls and some hard forearms make it worse. Storm is right back up with a ripcord Downward Spiral for the pin at 4:35.

Rating: C-. At least Amera did some power stuff to make half of her nickname make sense. The cotton candy on the other hand did nothing for Storm, which would have made things more interesting. Other than that, you had two women trading some moves, though Amera was trying with a different style.

Alan Angels vs. Malik Bosede

Angels is “representing the Design” because I can’t escape those people. They fight over a lockup with Angels taking him into the corner to get under Malik’s skin. Malik shoulders him down and grabs a rollup for two before hitting a quick Sling Blade. A twisting splash out of the corner gets two more so Angels bails to the floor, where he uses the ring skirt to trip Malik down.

Back in and we hit the chinlock for a bit to slow things down. Malik fights up and hits a spinebuster, followed by a bulldog. Angels crotches him in the corner though and hits a running dropkick for two. They chop it out with Angels hitting a clothesline for two, leaving him stunned. Malik is back up with a tiger bomb though and a 450 finishes Angels at 8:39 in quite the upset.

Rating: C+. Angels is a name that some might recognize and it can mean a lot for one of the promotion’s stars to get a win like this. While I don’t think Malik is going to be on Angels’ level anytime soon, this is going to make a difference for the ACW shows in the future. It helps that it was one of the better matches on the show, which granted might not mean much.

Commentary plus the next show and we’re out.

Overall Rating: D+. You know what this felt like? A good portion of it came off like a badly written sitcom where the cast forgets that they need to put on a show and then throws everything together with an hour to go. Save for the matches with bigger names, this show didn’t feel incredibly planned out, with all kinds of stuff being cut short. The whole show runs about an hour and thirty minutes (not counting a ten minute intermission) and has nine matches. Cut out about three of those and let something else get some time and this could have been better, but for now it feels like something slapped together to meet a requirement.

There was also very little that made this feel unique, as I would expecting more from a promotion called All Caribbean Wrestling. This could have been from anywhere and you wouldn’t have noticed the difference. They also REALLY need to work on their audio, as I could barely understand the ring announcer or commentary for most of the show. You could hear their voices, but they were either low or drowned out, leaving me wondering who I was watching. It’s not the worst and nothing on it is downright horrible, but the overall presentation didn’t work, especially with some of the talented people on the card.

 

 

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Impact Wrestling
Date: July 28, 2022
Location: Old Forester’s Paristown Hall, Louisville, Kentucky
Commentators: Tom Hannifan, Matthew Rehwoldt

We are on the way to Emergence and now we have a main event set. This time it is going to be Alex Shelley getting his shot at Josh Alexander and the World Title, but odds are we are going to have more Violent By Design interference on the way there. Kushida is here too and that should help. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of Alex Shelley becoming #1 contender but getting beaten down by Violent By Design, with Kushida running in for the save.

Eddie Edwards vs Ace Austin

Kenny King and Chris Bey are here too. Austin teases him with the posing to start so Edwards unloads on him in the corner. That earns Eddie a takedown and a playing card cut between the fingers in a spot Austin hasn’t used in a bit. King offers a distraction though and Edwards runs Austin over, setting up the choking on the ropes.

Austin is sat on top for some chops but comes back with a series of strikes. Back up and Austin sends him outside, setting up the big running flip dive. A springboard spinning Fameasser gives Austin two but Edwards’ Backpack Stunner gets the same. King and Bey get in a fight on the floor, meaning it’s a double ejection as Edwards and Austin knock each other down.

We take a break and come back with Edwards striking away before cutting Austin off with a clothesline. Austin gets back up with a springboard spinning kick to the head for two but the Fold is countered into a quick butterfly powerbomb. The Die Hard Driver finishes Austin at 15:34.

Rating: B-. This is the kind of match where you put two talented stars together and have them put on a good match. It works every time and that is what they did here, as Honor No More gets a victory for a change. Austin and Bey are in the Bullet Club to take the losses so this was a logical use of TV time.

Here’s what’s coming at Emergence and tonight.

Heath is ready to keep on Honor No More, like he did to Vincent on Before The Impact. I’m not sure hitting one finisher is taking them out but it’s better than nothing.

We look at Raj Singh and Shera cutting off Josh Alexander from making a save for the Motor City Machine Guns last week.

Alexander is ready for Shera tonight. Alex Shelley comes in to say being big and strong doesn’t make the best wrestler, so Alexander has to face the smartest wrestler around.

Laredo Kid/Trey Miguel vs. Johnny Swinger/Zicky Dice

Swinger seems to think Kid is Bob Seeger and fails to jump him to start. Dice comes in and is rather happy at dodging a charge, only to get double dropkicked out to the floor. That means it’s time to put on the dungeon masks, only to have Miguel take Swinger out with a dive. Dice drops Miguel to take over but a handspring kick to the face gets Miguel out of trouble. The hot tag brings in Kid for a high crossbody, setting up a quick frog splash to finish Dice at 4:00.

Rating: C. I know they’re nothing that matters but my goodness Dice and Swinger can be funny. Impact knows what they have with the two of them and they have some of the most entertaining moments on the show. Kid and Miguel aren’t much of a team but having them beat up the resident goofs isn’t a bad thing.

On Before The Impact, a fake Heath distraction helped Bhupinder Gujjar beat Vincent.

Brian Myers still doesn’t want to face Bhupinder Gujjar but Decay comes in to say Black Taurus will get the Digital Media Title shot instead.

Tiffany Nieves vs. Jada Stone

This is an OVW showcase match with Tasha Steelz, with Savannah Evans, on commentary. Nieves takes her down to start as Steelz rants about not being Knockouts Champion. Some kicks send Nieves into the corner but she misses a Cannonball. A rollup, with a grab of the rope, gives Nieves the pin at 2:06.

Post match Killer Kelly comes out to wreck Nieves and Stone, which doesn’t have Steelz very impressed.

Eric Young doesn’t want Deaner’s excuses for failing last week. First up it’s the Motor City Machine Guns and then Kushida.

Video on Alex Shelley becoming #1 contender for the first time, including a surprise video from Johnny Gargano, who praises Shelley as well.

Josh Alexander vs. Shera

Non-title and Raj Singh is here with Shera. Alexander gets blocked by the power to start but hits three straight clotheslines to knock Shera over the top. Shera wins the quick brawl on the floor and sends Alexander back inside, where Alexander hits the running crossbody to the back. Singh offers a distraction but Alexander is fine enough to ankle lock Shera for the tap at 3:15.

Rating: C. They didn’t have time to get anywhere here but my goodness it’s nice to stop pretending that Shera is going to be some big deal. This version of him is a lot easier to take than the dancing schmuck of years past but now he’s just a big guy who loses important matches. Alexander is always worth a look though and that’s part of how the champion should feel.

Moose says there is no alliance between himself and Steve Maclin. If anyone should be mad at Maclin, it’s him, who didn’t need help to beat Sami Callihan.

Honor No More wants to know what Scott D’Amore is going to do for them and want their Tag Team Title shot. Noise is heard though and Mike Bennett is gone.

VXT is preparing for Deonna Purrazzo’s bachelorette party when Jessika comes in to invite herself. She’s quite the life of the party but Rosemary and Taya Valkyrie come in to say that’s not happening.

Raj Singh is in the ring to complain about what happened to Shera. Cue Sami Callihan with the Cactus Driver 97 to drop Singh. Callihan says he’s going to take care of Steve Maclin and Moose on his own.

Ric Flair Flashback Moment of the Week: Flair forms Fourtune but Jay Lethal interrupts with his amazing impression.

Mia Yim is ready for Jordynne Grace but the video signal breaks up.

Commentary talks but the video signal breaks up.

Scott D’Amore finds Honor No More messing with the TV truck and is sick of this. They want their title shot so at Emergence, it’s five on five. If Honor No More wins, they get the Tag Team Titles but if they lose, they disband (with D’Amore bringing up Jim Cornette forcing Team Canada to do the same back in the day).

Rich Swann vs. Kushida

Kushida is billed as the Timesplitter and this is a first time ever match. Respect is shown before the bell as Kushida takes him down by the leg to start. Kushida takes him down again, which sets up a standoff. Back up and they run the ropes with neither getting very far, setting up stereo missed dropkicks. Kushida works on a wristlock and sends Swann outside for some posing as we take a break.

We come back with Kushida working on the arm but Swann knocks him into the corner. A running basement dropkick puts Kushida on the floor on the floor and Swann kicks him in the head back inside. The chinlock goes on for a bit but Kushida is back up for stereo crossbodies. The comeback is on for Kushida, including a running armbar takedown out of the corner.

Kushida gets the cross armbreaker but Swann gets his foot on the ropes pretty quickly. They strike it out with Kushida going for the arm but getting knocked down anyway. There’s a neckbreaker to drop Kushida again, only to have Swann miss the Phoenix splash. Kushida takes him down by the arm again but Swann snaps off a super hurricanrana. Swann goes up but gets pulled down into the Hoverboard Lock for the tap at 19:04.

Rating: B. Kushida is my favorite New Japan wrestler so it’s nice to see him on a show like this. Swann can go with anyone and beating him still means something so this was a great way to make Kushida seem like a big deal out of the gate. I’m curious to see what he is going to do and this is already a bit more than he ever did in NXT, so there is some hope to be had.

Overall Rating: B. Impact’s roll continues and I can certainly take that. The good thing here is that they are setting things up and making me want to see them, with Alex Shelley making more than a better fit in the main event than Violent By Design. Other than that, Honor No More’s issues continue to grow and we are getting a resurgence of Sami Callihan for a bit of fresh blood. I’m starting to look forward to seeing this show every week and that is not something I have not expected to say for a long time now.

 

 

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