Rampage
Date: May 11, 2024
Location: Rogers Arena, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Nigel McGuinness, Matt Menard

We’re still doing the back to back Collision/Rampage Saturday nights and again, Rampage has a hard act to follow. This show has a tendency to not be the most important offering from AEW but the matches themselves can more than make up for it. Hopefully they do that again here, though you never can tell what to expect with this show, regardless of time slot. Let’s get to it.

Here is Collision if you need a recap.

We open with Adam Copeland and Kyle O’Reilly hugging after their Collision match. Copeland won’t let go of O’Reilly’s wrist though and O’Reilly has to force his way out before Copeland walks off. Please tell me this is just him getting burned out with all of the title matches and not Malakai Black controlling him or whatever.

Claudio Castagnoli is asked about leaving the ring while Bryan Danielson talked after their tag win earlier tonight. Castagnoli is scared of Danielson being in Anarchy In The Arena again and wants nothing to do with it at all.

Trent Beretta vs. Dalton Castle

The Boys are here with Castle, who backs him into the ropes for an early break. Castle wrestles him to the mat before hitting an elbow to the face to send Beretta outside. A running knee to the face sends Beretta to the floor, only to have him come back with a headbutt. Beretta hits a hanging DDT onto the apron and we take a break.

Back with Castle rolling through a super hurricanrana into a sunset flip for two, followed by a double clothesline. The Bang A Rang is loaded up but Beretta reverses into a piledriver for two more. Castle blocks a tornado DDT and powers him up into a release German suplex. Beretta is right back up with a running knee into the gogoplata to finish Castle at 9:38.

Rating: C+. This was Beretta getting some momentum back after losing to Orange Cassidy on Dynamite before their likely violent rematch at Double Or Nothing. As for Castle…I have no idea why he isn’t getting a better spot than he’s in here, but this is about all he’s going to be doing. At least put him in a prominent position on Ring Of Honor instead of the nothing he’s been doing in recent weeks.

Deonna Purrazzo thinks Thunder Rosa is dodging her but she has been told to keep her front towards her enemy.

Video on Rush, who wants to kick people in the face.

Bryan Keith vs. JD Drake

Keith can’t slam him to start but a shot to the face puts Drake on the floor instead. Back in and Drake hits a running boot to the face for two and Keith is a bit rocked. A running shoulder connects for Keith though and he manages the slam. Diamond Dust gives Keith the win at 2:45.

Adam Copeland is standing behind a piece of a cage with barbed wire around. He wants the full version with Malakai Black at Double Or Nothing. Well that escalated quickly.

Deonna Purrazzo vs. Lady Frost

Purrazzo grabs a headlock takeover to start before shouldering Frost down. Frost nips up and is almost immediately dropped again. An anklescissors out of the corner sends Purrazzo outside, where she knocks Frost down again as we take a break. Back with an exchange of kicks to the head leaving both of them down.

Frost sends her into the corner for a flipping Cannonball but Purrazzo Russian legsweeps her into the Fujiwara armbar. The rope is grabbed so Frost goes up for a corkscrew crossbody and a near fall. Frost heads to the top again but gets tied in the Tree of Woe for spear (as used by her husband Steve Maclin) for the pin at 8:13.

Rating: C+. This was a good way to boost Purrazzo back up before what seems to be a heated feud with Thunder Rosa. That being said, Purrazzo needs to win a match that matters as she has been portrayed as someone who tends to choke under pressure. Maybe she beats Rosa in their big showdown, but that’s far from a guarantee.

Post match Thunder Rosa runs in with a chair but Purrazzo skedaddles.

We get a new music video from the Acclaimed and Billy Gunn, mainly proclaiming their awesomeness.

Scorpio Sky talks about recovering from an injury and with him, the sky is the limit.

Pac vs. Johnny TV

Johnny has Taya Valkyrie with him. Hold on though as Johnny has to disgrace a Vancouver Canucks jersey to start, earning a beating from Pac in the corner. Pac’s missile dropkick sends Johnny to the floor and there’s a springboard moonsault. Taya offers a distraction though and Johnny fires off some strikes in the corner as we take a break.

Back with Johnny going outside to kiss Taya, allowing Pac to strike away as well. Johnny’s flipping neckbreaker gets two more, only to miss Starship Pain. Commentary ignores the match to run down the Dynamite card but stop to notice Taya’s distraction breaking up the Black Arrow. Pac sends Johnny into her and grabs the Brutalizer for the win at 9:43.

Rating: B-. Much like Dalton Castle, TV is someone who could be doing at least a bit more but he is mainly going to be used to make others look good. That was the case here, as Pac needed a win to help rebuild himself after the Dynasty loss. Pac looked like a killer again here and that is likely to be the case with whatever he does next.

Post match the Bullet Club Gold pops up on screen to tell Pac to mind his own business to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. And that is Rampage in a nutshell: the wrestling is decent at worst, but the biggest story is Adam Copeland challenging Malakai Black and demanding an answer on Dynamite. The rest of the show ranged from mid to lower midcard stories and while it wasn’t bad, the show could not feel much less important. It’s the definition of a supplement, and when Dynamite is so crammed full, it makes me wonder why they can’t put at least a little more of importance on this show. The usual fine but not required viewing this week.

Results
Trent Beretta b. Dalton Castle – Gogoplata
Bryan Keith b. JD Drake – Diamond Dust
Deonna Purrazzo b. Lady Frost – Spear in the Tree of Woe
Pac b. Johnny TV – Brutalizer

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Ring Of Honor
Date: May 9, 2024
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

We’re back with another show in Daily’s Place and that should make for a fun atmosphere. Last week’s show looked great with the sunset over the ring but what made the show work so well was how short and focused it was for a change. It kept the show from being bogged down and it would be nice to see that happen again. Let’s get to it.

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

The Undisputed Kingdom isn’t pleased with Angelo Parker and Matt suggesting that they’re coming for the Tag Team Titles. They’re even referred to as Melvins, before Mike Bennett says he prays that Parker is a better dad than he is a wrestler.

We run down the card.

Taya Valkyrie/Mercedes Martinez/Diamante vs. Leyla Hirsch/Lady Frost/Abadon

Valkyrie and Frost start things off with Frost snapping off a headscissors and handing it off to Abadon. It’s quickly off to Diamante, who gets elbowed in the face, meaning Martinez gets a chance instead. Martinez slugs away for a fast two but Abadon bites her way to freedom and hands it of to Hirsch as the fast tags continue.

A quick cheap shot from the apron lets the villains take over on Hirsch, setting up Taya’s running knees in the corner. Hirsch is sat on top but manages a quick spinning German suplex for freedom. The rolling tag brings in Frost to clean house as everything breaks down. Abadon hits a flip dive on the floor, leaving Frost to go up. That takes too long though and it’s a sunset bomb to give Diamante the pin at 8:22.

Rating: C+. I can always go for a good six person tag as it lets you have a bunch of options for combinations and keeps things fresh. That’s what we got here and it made for a nice match. The villains winning is a bit of a surprise, but Diamante getting a bit of momentum isn’t a bad idea at all.

Anthony Ogogo vs. Zicky Dice

Shane Taylor is here with Ogogo. Dice grabs a headlock to start and is knocked down just as fast. Ogogo kicks him in the head and hits a big right hand for the knockout at 1:43.

Post match Ogogo talks about how awesome he is and lists off his boxing accomplishments.

Rachael Ellering smells desperation in the air and thinks it could go somewhere. Maria Kanellis comes in to mock Ellering for her losses. Maria realizes women’s wrestling doesn’t sell tickets but Ellering doesn’t sell anything.

Kiera Hogan vs. Ashley D’Amboise

Hogan takes her down to start but runs into a powerslam for two. A suplex lets D’Amboise dance a bit but she misses a charge into the corner and gets rolled up for another near fall. Hogan hits a middle rope dropkick and a baseball slide in the corner gets two. Some kicks to the chest set up Face The Music to finish D’Amboise for the pin at 5:28.

Rating: C. Pretty basic match here with Hogan getting a win over someone who got in some offense. Hogan has managed to stay a bit above the middle of the pack but she’s still not up to the higher level. Granted that isn’t going to change if she keeps losing every big match she has, which is quite the big problem.

Nick Comoroto praises Jacoby Watts, who comes in to ask us to join him in his crusade.

Lance Archer/Righteous vs. Nikki Eight/Parker Lee/Tommy Mars

The villains jump them before the introductions and Archer chases we’ll say Eight into a Boss Man Slam from Dutch on the floor. Orange Sunshine sets up the Blackout for the double pin at 1:12. Total dominance.

Billie Starkz vs. Dream Girl Ellie

Non-title Proving Ground match, meaning if if Ellie can win or last the ten minute time limit, she gets a future title shot. Ellie powers her into the corner to start and we get a clean break, followed by Starkz doing the same, minus the clean part. A big chop against the ropes sets up a kick to Ellie’s back but she knocks Starkz outside. That means a neck snap across the top and Starkz stomps away with some more aggression. Ellie is tied in the Tree of Woe for more stomping, followed by a fireman’s carry neckbreaker for the pin at 4:00.

Rating: C+. Ellie got in some more offense than I was expecting but the result was the norm for a Proving Ground match. It kind of makes me wonder why they don’t bother making it a title match or not rather than something in the middle but it doesn’t make a big difference either way. What matters is Starkz is feeling like more of a killer, which is what she needed to be here.

The Premiere Athletes want competition. And the Tag Team Titles.

Griff Garrison/Cole Karter vs. Spanish Announce Project

Maria Kanellis is here with Garrison/Karter. The brawl starts on the ramp with the Project taking over on Garrison to officially start. A suplex/neckbreaker combination gets two on Garrison and a swinging Downward Spiral drops him again. Maria offers a distraction though and Karter trips Serpentico from the floor to take over. Garrison’s sidewalk slam gets two and then mocks Angelico’s dance. Serpentico elbows his way out of trouble and kicks Garrison away, allowing the tag off to Angelico to clean house. A bunch of kicks to the head drop Garrison for two as everything breaks down. Angelico rolls Karter up at 6:27.

Rating: C+. The match was fine enough and all that but it’s really hard to care about Serpentico, who is one of the lowest of the low around here, getting his mask back. This feud has felt like absolutely nothing for a long time now and hopefully this wraps it up, because neither of the teams has gotten anything out of it.

Post match Maria throws Serpentico’s mask back…but Garrison and Karter jump the Project and send Serpentico into a chair. Maria takes the mask back to end the show. And that right there is one of the reasons Ring Of Honor is in the place it’s in. This story has been going on for the better part of six months and it STILL feels like we’re right where we’ve been for most of that. Because of course we are.

Overall Rating: C+. The shortened runtime helped here (again) and it felt like they were getting some focus on a few people. The problem is the main event, mainly because it felt so unimportant and then the result was erased anyway. This show being behind a paywall is still ridiculous as it is made for YouTube, but at least they kept it short here.

Results
Taya Valkyrie/Mercedes Martinez/Diamante b. Leyla Hirsch/Lady Frost/Abadon – Sunset bomb to Frost
Anthony Ogogo b. Zicky Dice via knockout
Kiera Hogan b. Ashley D’Amboise – Face The Music
Billie Starkz b. Dream Girl Ellie – Fireman’s carry neckbreaker
Lance Archer/Righteous b. Nikki Eight/Parker Lee/Tommy Mars – Double pin
Spanish Announce Project b. Cole Karter/Griff Garrison – Rollup to Karter

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Ring Of Honor
Date: April 18, 2024
Location: Truist Arena, Highland Heights, Kentucky
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

The show has been doing well enough in recent weeks and I could go for seeing more of what they have going on. What matters here is keeping things moving as the shows with all of the filler are by far the weakest. It also helps to have some star power around here and there is no way of knowing what you are going to be seeing. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Mark Briscoe isn’t scared of the House Of Black because he fears no man. Bring the violence.

Aaron Solo vs. Bryan Keith

Solo slaps him in the face to start so Keith sweeps the legs and pulls him down to hammer away. A rather delayed suplex puts Solo down so he rolls to the floor for a breather. Keith follows and gets sent into the steps as things slow down a bit. Some knees to the back keep Keith in trouble and Solo chokes away in the corner for a bit.

Keith shrugs it off and hits a running boot in the corner, setting up a t-bone suplex for two. A fireman’s carry backbreaker onto the knee gives Keith two but Solo is back with a t-bone of his own for two of his own. Back up and an enziguri staggers Keith, who knocks Solo out of the corner. Diamond Dust finishes for Keith at 7:14

Rating: C. Keith is someone who has been around AEW and ROH so much lately and a good chunk of his appearances have resulted in losses. Giving him a win here and there keeps him looking a bit stronger, even if it is over someone like Solo. I’m a sucker for Diamond Dust too so having Keith bust it out makes things that much better.

Lance Archer/Righteous vs. Jon Cruz/Savion Truitt/Damian Chambers

Vincent powers Chambers into the corner to start and drops him with a running forearm for two. Truitt comes in and gets to face Archer, who looks rather enthusiastic to wreck a human. Archer easily takes him into the corner for a hard chop and Dutch adds a t-bone suplex. A Side Effect from Vincent sets up a legdrop from Dutch but Truitt crawls over to bring in Cruz. Autumn Sunshine plants Cruz in a hurry and Truitt it Blackouted onto Cruz to give Archer the pin at 4:15.

Rating: C. Total and complete destruction and that’s all it needed to be. Archer and the Righteous wrecking people can be fun and that was the case again here, with the villains being little more than cannon fodder. They kept it fast too and that is what it needed to be given what was going on here.

Mark Sterling hypes up Tony Nese.

Sterling, with the Premiere Athletes, brags about how awesome his team really can be. They won at Supercard Of Honor and Sterling promises gold by the end of the year.

JD Drake vs. Lee Johnson

Drake powers him away to start and Johnson slows things down a bit. A slam puts Johnson down again so he takes Johnson down to slow him up a bit. Drake isn’t having that and comes back with Snake Eyes, only to miss a sitdown splash. Back up and Johnson sends him to the floor, setting up the big running flip dive. A high crossbody gives Johnson two and he avoids a Cannonball back inside. Johnson knocks him off the top and hits a frog splash for the pin at 9:24.

Rating: C+. Drake is a good example of a person who is talented and good at what he does but he’s been around so long around here that it’s hard to get interested in what he’s doing. You know what you’re going to get with him and watching Johnson take ten minutes to get there isn’t going to make for the most thrilling match. Technically fine, but not that thrilling.

Abadon vs. Allysin Kay

Abadon bites the arm to start but gets taken own with a clothesline. Kay hits a running splash in the corner but Abadon is back with a running faceplant. A high crossbody into the Black Dahlia finishes for Abadon at 2:17.

Taya Valkyrie says Johnny TV is off rehabbing his abs so stop asking her questions.

Iron Savages vs. Infantry

Jacked Jameson is here with the Savages. Boulder knocks Bravo into the corner to start but Bravo is back up with a dropkick. A double dropkick sends Boulder into the corner for the tag to Bronson, who is quickly knocked out to the floor. Jameson offers a distraction though and it’s Bronson taking over back inside. Boulder is sent into Bronson’s chest though and the hot tag brings Bravo back in to clean house. Everything breaks down and Jameson’s Savage Sauce is sent flying. Boot Camp finishes 4:55.

Rating: C+. Nice match and nothing that we haven’t seen from these teams over and over. It might be against different opponents, but the Infantry getting a win and going nowhere as a results isn’t a surprise. They got their one title shot and now they’re back to where they were before. Nothing to see here, as the Savages still aren’t that interesting.

Post match the Premiere Athletes come in for the beatdown but Mark Briscoe, Bryan Keith, Lee Johnson and Dalton Castle of all people make the save.

Taya Valkyrie/Leila Grey/Diamante vs. Leyla Hirsch/Kiera Hogan/Trish Adora

Taya powers Hogan into the corner to start but gets sent throat first into the middle rope. The running hip attack to the back gives Hogan two but Diamante comes in for a running dropkick in the corner. It’s off to Adora, who gets Russian legsweeped for two, allowing Taya to hit the running knees.

Adora’s kneeling German suplex allows the tag back to Hogan, who dropkicks Diamante. Grey gets dropkicked as well but Taya hits something like a Blue Thunder Bomb for two. Everything breaks down and Grey’s running Sling Blade gets two on Adora. Lariat Tubman hits Diamante and Hogan grabs Face The Music to pin Grey at 7:53.

Rating: C+. They went with the regular wrestling for a bit until it was all chaos with Hogan getting the win. In theory this would set things up for a future title shot or something close to it, but odds are it’s just a match that comes and goes. The action was nice enough though and a parade of finishers is always worth at least a look.

Griff Garrison and Cole Karter, with Maria Kanellis, have no interest in giving Serpentico’s mask back. This feud feels like it has been going on for months now, which is months too long.

Nick Comoroto vs. Beast Mortos

Mortos can’t shoulder him down to start so he goes after Comoroto’s arm to take over. Comoroto hits a hard clothesline and hammers away, setting up a splash for two. Mortos fights up and runs him over, setting up a corkscrew moonsault for the pin at 3:20.

Rating: C. Quick and to the point here as Mortos might be the next monster around Ring Of Honor. I’ve heard worse ideas, as getting some fresh blood is nice to see. That being said, this was just one match and he’s going to need something that makes him stand out or he’ll just be another name on a long list.

We look at Queen Aminata seemingly setting herself up as the next challenger to Athena.

Lady Frost vs. Marti Belle

Belle runs her over to start but Frost is back up with the rapid fire chops in the corner as commentary makes fire vs. ice comparisons. Belle gets in some boot choking but Frost elbows back up. A Cannonball in the corner hits Belle, who is back up with a hard forearm for two. Frost isn’t having that and kicks her in the head, setting up Frost Bite for the pin at 5:35.

Rating: C. I still think there is something to be done with Frost if she is given the chance and while this might not have been a big deal, it was better than a loss. If nothing else, Frost could be a nice first challenger for the Women’s TV Title, as Billie Starkz could use some fresh opponents. Belle is someone who has been around for a bit but this might be her high point around here.

Nick Comoroto is interrupted by Jacoby Watts, who offers to turn Comoroto’s career around.

Dark Order vs. Zak Patterson/Frank Milano

Milano headlocks Uno to start but is quickly pulled into an atomic drop. Silver comes in and poses before elbowing Patterson in the face. A charging Milano gets sent outside, allowing Patterson to come back with a dropkick. Patterson gutwrench suplexes Silver but charges into a boot in the corner. Silver’s suplex allows the tag back to Uno to clean house. The Stunner into the German suplex into Something Evil finishes Milano at 5:07.

Rating: C. Well at least it was short. Having Silver out there does take away a lot of the dullness that comes with Uno, as Silver is such a ball of energy. While I don’t think there is much of a use for the Dark Order in AEW, there are worse ways to go than having them pop the crowd in a match like this. Not much to see here, but Patterson and Milano weren’t completely destroyed.

Dynasty rundown.

Mark Briscoe vs. Griff Garrison

Non-title Proving Ground match, meaning if Garrison (with Cole Karter and Maria Kanellis) wins or survives the ten minute time limit, he gets a future title shot. Garrison tries a sunset flip but gets headlocked on the mat for his effort. The threat of Redneck Kung Fu has Garrison in the corner but he comes out with some uppercuts.

Briscoe isn’t having that and knocks him to the floor for a flip dive. The Bang Bang Elbow connects but Karter offers a distraction, allowing Garrison to get in a cheap shot. A big boot give Garrison two and a torture rack powerbomb is good for the same. Briscoe is back up and sends him outside for the slingshot dive, followed by a hard clothesline. The Jay Driller finishes Garrison at 5:41.

Rating: C+. It was nice to have the World Champion around here as the star power alone helped a bit. That being said, Briscoe started the show talking about his match at Dynasty rather than anything he was doing here. When he’s already fighting half of a low level tag team who is in a story that should have ended forever ago, it didn’t make for the most thrilling match.

Overall Rating: D+. Oh just no. This was every lame thing about Ring Of Honor rolled into one. It was about an hour and a half of matches that didn’t feel like they were going anywhere and had no stakes while not being anything special. It makes for one heck of a dull show and I can’t imagine sitting through this, Collision and Battle Of The Belts in the same night. Ring Of Honor can be a fun show but this was a nightmare to get through as there was just nothing worth seeing. They were on a nice little roll for a few weeks and then hit the way hard here in a huge disappointment.

Results
Bryan Keith b. Aaron Solo – Diamond Dust
Righteous/Lee Johnson b. Jon Cruz/Damian Chambers/Savion Truitt
Lee Johnson b. JD Drake – Frog splash
Abadon b. Allysin Kay – Black Dahlia
Infantry b. Iron Savages – Boot Camp to Bronson
Trish Adora/Leyla Hirsch/Kiera Hogan b. Leila Grey/Taya Valkyrie/Diamante – Face The Music to Grey
Beast Mortos b. Nick Comoroto – Corkscrew moonsault
Lady Frost b. Marti Belle – Frost Bite
Dark Order b. Zak Patterson/Frank Milano – Something Evil to Milano
Mark Briscoe b. Griff Garrison – Jay Driller

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Collision
Date: March 30, 2024
Location: Budweiser Gardens, London, Ontario, Canada
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Nigel McGuinness, Tony Schiavone

It’s tournament time this week as we have two first round matches in the Tag Team Title tournament. Other than that, we have about three weeks to go before Dynasty and it is time to start hammering out the rest of the card. There is a chance we could see some of that tonight so let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Here is TNT Champion Adam Copeland for his Cope Open open challenge and he loves the crowd reaction. He’s done with Christian Cage and now it’s time for the title to be on the line.

TNT Title: Adam Copeland vs. ???

Copeland is defending and the open challenge is answered by….the returning Matt Cardona. They trade knockdowns into kickoffs and it’s an early standoff. An exchange of dropkicks give us a standoff as Schiavone runs down the card. Copeland gets him to the floor to take over but the Impaler on the apron is blocked with a rake to the eyes.

We take a break and come back with Cardona holding a chinlock with a knee in Copeland’s back. That’s broken up and stereo big boots leave them both down again. Cardona goes up but gets pulled down by the leg for his efforts. This time Copeland goes up and hits a top rope bulldog for two, followed by an Edge O Matic for the same.

Cardona bails to the floor so Copeland gives chase, only to get kicked low on the way back in. An Impaler gives Cardona two but Radio Silence (Rough Ryder) is countered into a buckle bomb. A sitout powerbomb gives Copeland two but the spear is countered into Radio Silence for two more. Cardona loads up a spear, only to have Copeland hit one of his own to retain at 13:26.

Rating: B-. This was a nice surprise though it’s still weird to me to see the serious Cardona. He deserves amazing credit for reinventing himself like this and turning a spot that cripples a lot of careers into something totally new. They were playing up the “we know each other really well” idea here but Copeland was just that much better. Good opener and Cardona was a bit of a treat as the challenger.

Post match the lights go out and Malakai Black is here, with Buddy Matthews jumping Copeland from behind. Mark Briscoe and Eddie Kingston run in for the save. The House vanishes and commentary hypes up Briscoe vs. Kingston for the Ring Of Honor World Title at Supercard Of Honor next Friday. This marks one more appearance than they’ve had together in Ring Of Honor this year so well done?

FTR isn’t sure if they’re the best team anymore but they want to be the first three time ROH Tag Team Champions. That means going through the Cinderella team of The Infantry tonight and so be it.

Tony Schiavone brings out Billy Gunn and the Acclaimed (rap not included) for a chat. Schiavone gets to the point of Bullet Club Gold invading Billy’s home on Rampage. Billy is ticked off and says White is always bragging about selling out Madison Square Garden. Billy: “I’ve done that so many times I’ve lost count.” Next week on Dynamite it’s vs. Billy, with Max Caster saying the Acclaimed and the Gunns should stay in the back. Bowens can’t blame White for running from Billy’s wife because she would have slapped the hair off his face. They’re ready for the Club.

Tag Team Title Tournament First Round: FTR vs. The Infantry

Wheeler takes Dean down to start but Dean is back with some armdrags into an armbar. Bravo comes in to face Harwood, who gets dropped by some dropkicks. The Infantry clears the ring so we settle down to Dean chopping away at Wheeler. A jumping elbow gets two but Wheeler powerslams a leaping Bravo out of the air for a nasty crash. Harwood’s top rope superplex drops Bravo and we take a break.

Back with Harwood chopping the soul out of Bravo but Dean is fine enough to hit a hue dive onto all three of them. Back in and Bravo’s high crossbody gets two on Harwood, followed by another high crossbody for another two on Harwood. Wheeler is back in with a powerbomb into a German suplex from Harwood into a rollup for two. Back up and the Infantry superkicks FTR into a neckbreaker for two on Wheeler but Harwood is sent into Dean to knock him outside. FTR collides with each other but Wheeler flips over Harwood to set up the Shatter Machine for the pin at 12:23.

Rating: B. The Infantry brought it here, which makes their near squash by the House Of Black all the more confusing. If you’re willing to let them have a close match against a great team, why not give them some more against the House? Anyway, this was an interesting one as you had FTR having trouble keeping up with the fast young team, only to eventually catch them. You could see Harwood’s face almost saying “gotcha” right before the Shatter Machine and that’s a great story, as the veterans take out the young upstarts by catching them rather than beating them.

Big Bill and Ricky Starks aren’t looking past Top Flight but they’re really not worried. They’ve beaten FTR before so they can do it again and prove just how great they are.

Adam Copeland, Eddie Kingston and Mark Briscoe are ready for the House Of Black at Dynasty. Briscoe is down but wants a dogfight from Kingston at Supercard Of Honor. Kingston is ready to make the House spit up blood and teeth.

Kyle O’Reilly vs. JD Drake

Drake grabs an early cobra clutch before hitting a dropkick for two. A Vader Bomb misses for Drake though and O’Reilly strikes away. O’Reilly kicks him down and grabs the cross armbreaker for the tap at 2:36. It’s nice to see a fast match like that, as this didn’t need to go long and made O’Reilly feel that much more dangerous.

Post match the Undisputed Kingdom comes out to celebrate with O’Reilly, who just kind of goes with it.

We get a preview of Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Will Ospreay on Dynamite.

Tag Team Title Tournament Quarterfinals: Big Bill/Ricky Starks vs. Top Flight

Darius wrestles Starks down into an armbar to start and a snap suplex puts him down again. A slingshot hilo gives Darius two but it’s off to Bill, who has Darius a bit nervous. With the solo efforts not working, Top Flight dropkicks both of them to the floor. Starks offers a distraction though and a big boot drops Dante as we take a break.

Back with Bill missing a charge into the corner, allowing the tag off to Darius to pick up the pace. A Pele kick out of the corner catches Starks and a rollup gets….two, despite Starks not really moving. Darius uses Dante as a launchpad for a tornado DDT to pin Starks at 9:40 (about ten seconds after the weird near fall so someone seems to have gotten screwed up there).

Rating: C+. The ending was a bit odd but they recovered just fine and got the result they needed, which is all that matters. Top Flight moving on despite Bill and Starks’ confidence is a good way to go and FTR should have their hands even fuller with the more established team. Good match here, though Starks and Bill seemingly being finishes so fast is a bit disappointing.

Christopher Daniels wants Malakai Black on Rampage.

Thunder Rosa vs. Lady Frost

They go to the mat for some grappling to start until Rosa shoulders her down. Frost is back up with chops and boots in the corner but Rosa hits a hard clothesline as we take a break. Back with Rosa wining a slugout and hitting another clothesline. Rosa scores with the running dropkick against the ropes for two but Frost scorpion kicks her way out of trouble. Rosa isn’t having that though and hits a Backstabber, setting up the Tijuana Bomb for the pin at 8:50.

Rating: C+. There is nothing wrong with a match between a big star and a lower level opponent where said opponent gets in some offense before coming up short. That’s what we got here and it should move Rosa up a bit more before her likely title match at Dynasty. Frost continues to be someone who might not be moving up the ladder but she’s a solid enough opponent for a spot like this. That’s not a bad place to be and AEW seems to get that.

Post match Rosa shouts at the camera and demands respect from Toni Storm.

We go to the back with Toni Storm being told that next week it’s Thunder Rosa vs. Mariah May for the title shot at Dynasty. Storm turns to May, asks if this is what she has been planning all along….and then kisses her, saying she was a genius. Storm: “I see myself in you and I love me. What do you think about that eh Lightning Daffodil?” Everyone seems confused to wrap it up.

Here’s what’s coming on various shows.

Video on Will Ospreay.

Blackpool Combat Club/Katsuyori Shibata vs. Lance Archer/Righteous

Shibata strikes away at Archer to start and then kicks him down as commentary talks about Bobby Heenan. Dutch comes in and requests/receives Castagnoli, who he runs over with a shoulder. Castagnoli is back up with a rather impressive slam and it’s of to Danielson to strike away. The rapid fire kicks in the corner connect but Dutch runs him over without much trouble.

Danielson slugs away on Vincent (not Dutch, Tony) and hits a suicide dive on Dutch (yes Dutch, Tony). That earns him a whip into the barricade though and the villains take over as we take a break. Back with Danielson not quite being able to pull Dutch into the LeBell Lock. Instead Dutch pounds him down into the corner, only to miss a charge. Archer and Dutch take turns slamming each other onto Danielson for two but he manages t knock Dutch off the top.

A missile dropkick allows Danielson to get over for the tag off to Castagnoli for the showdown with Archer. Everything breaks down and Castagnoli and Shibata double team Archer. The Swing has Archer in more trouble and Castagnoli grabs the Sharpshooter. Orange Sunshine hits Danielson but Shibata makes a fast save. Archer chokeslams Castagnoli so Vincent can hit a Swanton for two. Shibata suplexes Vincent but Dutch breaks up the cross armbreaker. Shibata’s sleeper takes Vincent down and the PK finishes at 16:47.

Rating: B-. This was another showcase match for most of the Club plus Shibata, which only made for the most interesting main event. Archer and the Righteous continue to feel like a team who should be something of a deal but mainly serve to beat up jobbers and lose to bigger teams. That’s not a bad role for them, but it did make for a fairly long match before we got to whichever of the good guys got the win.

Overall Rating: B. This show felt like it was trying to have more in the way of importance, but it still feels like it pales in comparison to Dynamite. AEW could use a bit more of a balance between the two shows, but this was one of the stronger Collisions in a bit. Dynasty still doesn’t feel like the most important show, though Danielson vs. Ospreay will be enough to carry a lot of it. Good show here, with the wrestling overcoming the other issues, as usual.

Results
Adam Copeland b. Matt Cardona – Spear
FTR b. The Infantry – Shatter Machine to Bravo
Kyle O’Reilly b. JD Drake – Cross armbreaker
Top Flight b. Big Bill/Ricky Starks – Tornado DDT to Starks
Thunder Rosa b. Lady Frost – Tijuana Bomb
Blackpool Combat Club/Katsuyori Shibata b. Lance Archer/Righteous – PK to Vincent

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

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AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

Ring Of Honor
Date: March 14, 2024
Location: Gas South Arena, Duluth, Georgia
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

We are less than a month away from Supercard Of Honor and it should be time to announce some matches. That could make things all the more complicated as there isn’t much time left to build up the card. Then again ROH has a tendency to just throw things together and that will probably be the case again here. Let’s get to it.

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

We run down the card.

Women’s TV Title Tournament Quarterfinals: Diamante vs. Billie Starkz

They trade rollups to start until Diamante knocks her into the corner for a running dropkick. The beating heads outside with Starkz being knocked into the barricade. Starkz is right back with a hurricanrana off the steps to take over. Diamante drives some shoulders in the corner and we hit the neck crank. Starkz fights up but gets splashed for two, only to kick her back to the floor.

There’s the suicide dive, followed by two more to make it worse. Back in and a suplex onto the knee gives Starkz another near fall, followed by a faceplant to plant Diamante on her face. Diamante is back with a rolling Chaos Theory out of the corner for two, only to have Starkz blast her with a clothesline. They forearm it out (of course) until Diamante grabs a quick Stunner. A standing Sliced Bread #2 gives Diamante two but Starkz kicks her in the face. The Swanton gets two so Starkz goes for a half nelson crossface for the tap at 11:38.

Rating: B-. This got rolling near the end and I was digging what they were doing. The tournament matches have been made a good bit more exciting s there is SOMETHING for these people to fight over. The fact that there was a pretty obvious winner in Starkz but they had me wondering on some of those near falls is proof that they were doing something right. Good stuff here and one of Starkz’ better matches to date.

Lee Johnson vs. Aaron Solo

They trade arm control to start until Johnson grabs a headlock takeover. That’s broken up and Solo gives him a sarcastic handshake. Solo is sent outside and shakes the fans’ hands but runs into a dropkick back inside. Back up and Solo sends him hard into the ropes with Johnson seemingly hitting his throat on the top rope to cut him down fast. A suplex gives Solo two and we hit the chinlock.

Johnson fights up and sends him throat first into the ropes to even things up with a double knockdown. The Blue Thunder Bomb gives Johnson two but the Big Shot Drop is broken up. Solo kicks him down for two and a top rope double stomp gets the same. A butterfly powerbomb is countered into a hurricanrana from Johnson, who lawn darts Solo into the buckle. The Big Shot Drop finishes Solo at 10:22.

Rating: C+. Lee Johnson is being pushed, with six straight wins coming into this match. This was near his hometown of Atlanta. It took him ten minutes to beat a perennial jobber in Solo. There was little reason for this to be anywhere near as competitive if Johnson is supposed to be something important. In theory he is on the way to a title shot, but why should I believe he can beat someone important if it is this hard to beat Solo?

Robyn Renegade vs. Lady Frost vs. Kiera Hogan vs. Leyla Hirsch

Renegade gets triple teamed down to start, leaving the other three to fight in the ring. Frost sends Hirsch into the corner but gets legdropped by Hogan for two. Robyn comes back in but gets choked by Hirsch, only to have Hogan break it up with some kicks to the head. They all slug it out until Frost sends them into the corner for a pair of flipping Cannonballs. Hogan is back up with a running hip attack against the ropes to Renegade, followed by Face The Music for the pin at 5:26.

Rating: C. Hey look: another four way match where the winner is no further ahead than she was before the match. It also didn’t get a ton of time so they didn’t have the time to shine or get anything going. The action was fine enough, but these things coming and going every week have taken away almost all of their interest.

Griff Garrison and Cole Karter are ready for their big match but Maria Kanellis-Bennett comes in to blame their lack of Collision appearances on Garrison’s loss to Adam Copeland. Don’t disappoint her.

Athena vs. Aisha

Non-title Proving Ground match, meaning Aisha gets a title shot if she survives the ten minute time limit or wins. Athena starts fast with a toss suplex but Aisha kicks her into the corner. They head outside with Athena sending her into the barricade a few times. Aisha comes back with a spinebuster for two inside but Athena grabs the Codebreaker. Something like an abdominal stretch makes Aisha tap at 4:29.

Rating: C. This is what you get from an Athena Proving Ground match and there isn’t much to be gained from them. The good thing is they got through the match rather quickly and Aisha didn’t put up much of a fight. Athena needs a new challenger and we’ll probably get that sooner than later, but for now there isn’t much for her to do.

Post match Athena keeps up the beating and runs down the city of Atlanta. Cue Hikaru Shida to interrupt and we seem to have a challenger for Supercard of Honor. That would be another person from outside ROH getting the title shot because the division has been wrecked so badly by this Athena title reign that could have ended months ago without her losing a thing. But then again it’s not like this show matters in the slightest so why should I expect it to be well put together?

Top Flight/Action Andretti vs. Iron Savages

Before the match, we get a drink off between the Savage Sauce and Andretti’s water. Andretti wins and we’re ready to go, with Top Flight/Andretti hitting dives out to the floor. Back in and Dante kicks away at Bronson and everything breaks down again. Dante avoids going into a hairy chest and brings Darius back in to clean house.

Darius gets knocked down in the corner but Bronson spends too much time on pelvic thrusting and misses the moonsault. A kick to the face out of the corner allows the tag to Dante, meaning things pick up again. Everything breaks down and Jameson gets caught with a shooting star press followed by a frog splash to give Dante the pin at 6:01.

Rating: C+. Nice six man here with Top Flight and Andretti continuing to work well together. That being said, it’s another case where a team is floating around from win to win without getting much of a chance to go anywhere. Granted it might help if the Six Man Tag Team Titles had been defended here but that hasn’t happened on this show since September.

Lee Johnson is just getting started.

Workhorsemen vs. Jacoby Watts/Nick Comoroto

The Workhorsemen jump them from behind to start and Comoroto is knocked into the wrong corner. Comoroto slugs his way out of corner but Henry kicks him down for two. Everything breaks down and Drake suplexes Comoroto, setting up Henry’s top rope double stomp for the pin at 3:41.

Rating: C. This is a good example of a match that was fine but since it didn’t really add anything, it probably didn’t need to be on a show that is running over two hours. The Workhorsemen have been around here for months and don’t seem to be going anywhere, which again might have something to do with the champions almost never being around here (with their one title defense since winning the titles in December).

Post match Watts holds the ropes for Comoroto and they take their time leaving together.

Lance Archer vs. Darian Bengston

Jake Roberts bothers to show up for once. Archer misses a charge into the corner but pulls Bengston out of the air without much trouble. Another missed charge lets Bengston strike away but Archer plants him with a chokeslam. The Blackout finishes for Archer at 2:17.

We look at Dalton Castle losing the Boys to Johnny TV/Taya Valkyrie two weeks ago.

Taya Valkyrie is thinking about buying the Boys matching outfits but Dalton Castle comes in to say he can smell them. They shout at each other over the boys diets (sushi vs. tater tots) until security drags Castle away. This was amusing.

Women’s TV Title Tournament Quarterfinals: Mercedes Martinez vs. Abadon

Abadon slugs away to start and hits some running knees in the corner. Martinez is knocked outside and taken down again, only to come back with a big boot. Back in and some rolling butterfly suplexes have Abadon in trouble and a clothesline gives Martinez two. Abadon fights up and hits a running Codebreaker for two, only for Martinez to come back with a hard suplex.

The half crab has Abadon crawling over to the ropes for the break, followed by a quick cutter to send Martinez outside. Martinez is back up with a hard knee on the apron, setting up a hanging neckbreaker to the floor. Back in and Abadon grabs a quick DDT for two…but someone pops out from under the ring to deck Abadon. The fisherwoman’s buster gives Martinez the pin at 9:46.

Rating: C+. This wasn’t as good as the opener but it was still a nice showdown between two talented stars. Martinez going forward is a good choice as she is at least a minor threat to win the title but also someone who can be beaten to give someone a rub. I’m curious about the interference, as it’s at least a fresh ending for one of the tournament matches.

And it’s Diamante as the interfering scoundrel.

The final four:

Billie Starkz
Mercedes Martinez

Red Velvet
Queen Aminata

Slim J vs. Jack Cartwheel vs. AR Fox vs. Komander

Oh this is ROH in 2024 all right. J isn’t interested in a handshake and instead flips everyone off before heading to the floor for the bell. Fox takes him out with a dive, as he won’t stand for that kind of disrespect. That leaves Komander to miss a charge in the corner so Cartwheel hits a flipping elbow for two. J is back in to hit Fox low and another one cuts off Cartwheel, setting up a running cutter for two more. Fox flips J off the top and steps through into a cutter of his own for two of his own.

Komander has to make a save before kicking J down in the corner. Komander’s backbreaker puts Fox down before going to the top with Cartwheel. A middle rope Codebreaker on the apron rocks Cartwheel but J is there with a suicide dive to drop Komander. Back in and a top rope reverse DDT gives J two on Fox before Cartwheel and Komander go flipping up (and down) the ramp. Komander gets the better of things, setting up Cielito Lindo to finish J at 8:20.

Rating: B-. Remember the women’s version of this match earlier, where it was more or less the same kind of match that they’ve had for months and it is mainly just flashy yet meaningless? Same thing here, but with the men instead. It was entertaining enough, but when you’ve seen it over and over again for weeks, it’s hard to get interested again.

Eddie Kingston says Mark Briscoe was supposed to get a World Title shot last year. He can have it this year at Supercard Of Honor instead. There is no mention of anything but the ROH World Title on the line. Naturally this had to be a pre-tape because the champ isn’t going to be on the regular show.

Cole Karter/Griff Garrison vs. Trent Beretta/Orange Cassidy

Maria Kanellis Bennett is here with Karter and Garrison so Chuck Taylor is here to cancel her out. Karter misses an armdrag attempt to start so Cassidy puts his hands in the pockets to take over. Beretta comes in to hiptoss Garrison, setting up a quick double suplex for two. Cassidy sends Garrison face first into the buckle over and over but Karter is back in with a snap suplex.

Cassidy manages to kick his way to freedom though and there’s the hot tag to Beretta. A dive to the floor takes out Garrison but some double teaming puts Beretta in trouble for a change. Karter misses a 450 though and Beretta suplexes Garrison, allowing the real tag off to Cassidy. A bunch of kicks put the villains down and Garrison gets high crossbodied. The tornado DDT gets two on Karter but Maria offers a distraction, meaning it’s time for an exchange of kicks to the head. Maria gets up for another distraction and offers a hug, but Beretta would rather hug Chuck. The Orange Punch finishes Karter at 10:58.

Rating: B-. Nice match here, even if it is near impossible to care about Karter and Garrison no matter what they do. They have been up and down for months and still seem to be going nowhere as I still wonder why Maria is stuck with them. Cassidy and Beretta were the big guest stars and it makes perfect sense to close with them, even if they needed better opponents.

Post match the Spanish Announce Project comes in to get Serpentico’s mask back but manage to get beaten down. Cassidy and Beretta make the save and pose with the Project to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. And we’re back to the old format with two hours of stuff, much of which could have easily been dropped with absolutely nothing being lost. The four ways feel like little more than ways to get people on the show and when they feature a lot of the same people week in and week out, it’s rather hard to care. Other than that you had a bunch of the usual stuff, with the tournament matches at least feeling important. So yeah, it’s back to what makes ROH annoying after weeks of having it be what it should have been.

Results
Billie Starkz b. Diamante – Half nelson crossface
Lee Johnson b. Aaron Solo – Big Shot Drop
Kiera Hogan b. Robyn Renegade, Lady Frost and Leyla Hirsch – Face The Music to Renegade
Athena b. Aisha – Abdominal stretch
Top Flight/Action Andretti b. Iron Savages/Jacked Jameson – Frog splash to James
Workhorsemen b. Jacoby Watts/Nick Comoroto – Top rope double stomp to Comoroto
Lance Archer b. Darian Bengston – Blackout
Mercedes Martinez b. Abadon – Fisherwoman’s buster
Komander b. AR Fox, Slim J and Jack Cartwheel – Cielito Lindo to J
Orange Cassidy/Trent Beretta b. Griff Garrison/Cole Karter – Orange Punch to Karter

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

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

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

Collision
Date: February 24, 2024
Location: Great Southern Bank Arena, Springfield, Missouri
Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Nigel McGuinness, Tony Schiavone

We are just over a week away from Revolution and the card seems pretty much set. That allows the remaining shows to focus on some other things, which will be the case again here. In this case we have Bryan Danielson facing another Japanese legend in Jun Akiyama, which should be awesome. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Sammy Guevara vs. Powerhouse Hobbs

No DQ and all of the Don Callis Family is barred from ringside. Guevara tries a knee to the face to start and it’s a Cactus Clothesline out to the floor. Hobbs misses a charge into the barricade but pulls a diving Guevara out of the air. The World’s Strongest Slam onto the steps plans Guevara and Hobbs does a bunch more of them onto the apron. Hobbs feels creative and goes over to steal Kevin Kelly’s belt (various threats are made), meaning Guevara takes a whipping.

Guevara is back up with some chair shots but Hobbs easily tosses him over the barricade. Back in and Guevara sends him onto the steps and it’s time for a pair of tables. Guevara takes too long though and it’s a spinebuster from the apron through the two tables as we take a break.

We come back with Hobbs missing a charge into the corner and getting pulled into the GTH for two. A monitor to the head knocks Hobbs fairly silly and it’s time for another table. Guevara’s springboard is pulled into another World’s Strongest Slam though and Guevara is rocked again. Another table is loaded up and we’ll make that two but Guevara manages a posting for a breather.

A beer bottle to the head puts Hobbs on the table and Guevara breaks a second over Hobbs’ head for a bonus. Now it’s a ladder being set up in the ring so Guevara climbs up and Swantons him through the two tables. Back in (less than a minute after the crash) and Guevara sets up another table but Hobbs shoves the referee to crotch Guevara. The World’s Strongest Slam from the middle rope through the table finishes Guevara at 17:03.

Rating: B-. Jake Roberts once asked why he should bother using the DDT on someone if hitting them with a sledgehammer doesn’t put them down. Hobbs got hit in the head with two beer bottles and took a Swanton from a ladder in the ring through two tables at ringside but was back on offense about a minute and a half later. Why should I believe that any move is going to be able to pin him now? The match was your usual weapons fest with both of them doing whatever they could think of until one move was enough for the pin. It was garbage fun, but not much more than that.

The Blackpool Combat Club talks about how the team came together, including Claudio Castagnoli walking twenty miles from an airport to a gym. They’re not cool with a time limit draw against FTR so they’re in for Revolution. Castagnoli talks about FTR wanting to bring back the past but the Club is the future. Good promo here with the ending tying it together.

FTR vs. Shane Taylor Promotions

Harwood and Moriarty start things off but it’s quickly off to Wheeler, who chases Moriarty into the corner. An elbow to the face sets up an armbar on Moriarty before it’s off to Harwood vs. Taylor. Harwood picks up the pace with a slide between the legs but a hard clothesline puts him down. Moriarty is back in for a chop off with Harwood but Taylor runs him over as we take a break.

Back with Harwood fighting out of a bearhug, only to have Taylor knee him in the face. Taylor’s middle rope splash though and a diving tag brings Wheeler back in to clean house. Wheeler’s jumping neckbreaker gets two on Moriarty so Taylor punches Wheeler in the face. Harwood makes a blind tag though and it’s a powerbomb/top rope combination to finish Moriarty as Wheeler cuts off Taylor at 10:19.

Rating: B-. That was one of the slickest finishing sequences I’ve seen in a good while as the whole thing from the blind tag to Wheeler picking Moriarty up to the pin was one motion. That is where tag team wrestling can be so fun to watch and FTR does it as well as anyone has in a very long time. Good stuff here as the Promotions were good villains to be vanquished in not quite short order.

Post match FTR talks about how the Blackpool Combat Club can’t get rid of them that easily. People are scared of Jon Moxley but Harwood thinks Moxley is mad because FTR isn’t scared of him. They’ll have to kill FTR to beat them so see you at Revolution.

Video on Bryan Danielson vs. Jun Akiyama as Danielson’s final year tour continues.

Thunder Rosa vs. Lady Bird Monroe

Rosa wrestles her down to start and fires off some chops in the corner, complete with yelling at the camera in Spanish. Monroe’s chops don’t get her anywhere as Rosa hits a running dropkick against the ropes and grabs the Tijuana Bomb for the pin at 2:07.

Stokely Hathaway doesn’t like what Julia Hart and Skye Blue have been saying about Willow Nightingale and Kris Statlander. Never mind though as Statlander cuts him off and wants to beat up Blue next week.

Colten Gunn/Jay White/Billy Gunn vs. Iron Savages/Jacked Jameson

Max Caster botches his rap this week and just drops it halfway through. Billy pokes Boulder in the yes to start but run over, only to shove the Savages into each other. Colten comes in but misses the Stinger Splash, earning himself a face first drop onto the top turnbuckle. Boulder comes in for some dancing, only to be low bridged to the floor.

The diving tag brings in White (with Colten bypassing Billy) to clean house, with Bronson accidentally splashing Jameson. Billy comes in with the Fameasser to Bronson….who stands up and jumps over the top rope in one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever seen. Anyway, White grabs the Blade Runner to finish Jameson at 4:45.

Rating: C-. That bizarre moment from Bronson alone is enough to bring this down as there was only so much good in the first place here. The big thing would seem to be Colten tagging in White instead of Billy, as the two sides of the team might be having issues. That still needs to build towards the unification match at Double Or Nothing, as the titles need to be unified and the show’s name couldn’t be more perfect.

Bryan Danielson puts over Jun Akiyama as one of the best ever. Akiyama is Eddie Kingston’s hero but Danielson doesn’t respect Kingston. If Kingston was doing this promo, he would ramble on and then storm off. Kingston had all of the potential and has wasted it until the last year, which is why Danielson is going to beat him at Revolution. Danielson doesn’t get this fired up very often and it worked.

Malakai Black vs. Bryan Keith

This is Black’s first singles match in AEW since June 2022. Black takes him down by the leg to start but Keith is right back up for a standoff. A suplex into a knee drop gets two on Black, who elbows Keith out to the floor. We take a break and come back with an exchange of forearms until Keith makes the clothesline comeback. A tornado DDT plants Black and they’re both down for a breather.

They slug it out again and go up top, with Black shoving him down. A top rope double stomp into a German suplex gets two on Keith and frustration is setting in. Black Mass misses and Keith Tiger Drivers him for two of his own. Back up and Keith charges into Black Mass (which may be called The End) for the pin at 10:58.

Rating: C+. It was nice to see Black back in the ring on his own for a change and Keith is someone who has been built up as enough of a star to make it feel like something of a challenge. The match was the usual back and forth stuff you would expect from a match like this one but that spinning kick still looks great. Nice return to singles action for Black here, and it would be cool to see it continue.

Post match the lights go out and here is Mark Briscoe with a kendo stick. Briscoe grabs the spike but stabs the turnbuckle pad by mistake. The rest of the House Of Black comes in to beat Briscoe down.

Video on Darby Allin/Sting vs. the Young Bucks.

Serena Deeb vs. Lady Frost

Frost trips her down to start and they go to a test of strength on the match. Deeb reverses that into a cross arm choke and we’re off to a staredown. A dropkick to the back puts Deeb down but she ties up the leg into something of a reverse Figure Four. Frost makes the rope and we take a break.

Back with Deeb snapping off a dragon screw legwhip to stay on the leg before firing off some left hands. A swinging neckbreaker gives Deeb two but Deebtox is broken up. Frost hits something like a spinning Break for two but Deeb hits a hammerlock lariat. A half crab makes Frost tap at 8:42.

Rating: C. The commercial break during the sub-ten minute AEW women’s match has become something of a running joke and unfortunately it isn’t that funny. They weren’t having a classic or anything but it’s annoying to have so much of a match missed due to a commercial. This happens almost all the time and it keeps me from wanting to see what they are doing, which is just hurting the energy of the show.

Bryan Danielson vs. Jun Akiyama

Eddie Kingston is on commentary. They go with the standing grappling to start as Kingston talks about how much he loves and respects Akiyama. Danielson takes him up against the ropes for a clean break so Akiyama comes back with some running shoulders. With that not working, Danielson goes after the knee and twists it around on the mat. Akiyama’s cross armbreaker is broken up and Danielson is right back to the knee.

The Muta Lock goes on so Akiyama rakes the eyes for the break. Danielson fights up and sends him outside but the suicide dive is cut off by an elbow to the face. We take a break and come back with Akiyama dropping a knee on the apron but Danielson hits a missile dropkick. The running corner dropkicks connect but Akiyama blasts him with a clothesline. Danielson grabs the LeBell Lock, sending Akiyama straight to the ropes.

Back up and Akiyama knees him out of the air for two but a running knee is countered into a half crab. A German suplex drops Akiyama again, only to have him grab a not locked in guillotine choke. Danielson kicks him in the head and grabs a German suplex, only to have Akiyama exploder suplex him down. Back up and they both try running knees, meaning it’s another double knockdown. Danielson scores with a hard knee to put Akiyama down, setting up the running knee to finish at 15:57.

Rating: B. I don’t think there was much of a surprise here as Akiyama is a legend and Danielson has done rather well with this kind of a match during his current run. It was also nice to have Akiyama tied into the Danielson vs. Kingston feud rather than a random one off match. Akiyama did well here, and it wouldn’t shock me to see him win a quick match elsewhere on AEW just to give him a nice moment.

Respect is shown post match but Danielson flips off Kingston. That’s not cool with Akiyama so Danielson kicks him low. Kingston runs in for the brawl and it’s Claudio Castagnoli running in to beat Kingston down. FTR runs in for the save and yes indeed Tony Khan makes a six man tag in all of three seconds’ notice for Dynamite.

Overall Rating: B-. There was good action here, but a lot of it felt like it was about setting up things for later. That’s a good idea with Revolution just over a week away and I’m getting more excited for the show, meaning things are going well. As usual, Collision was more wrestling based and it went well, with the main event being the highlight, also as usual.

Results
Powerhouse Hobbs b. Sammy Guevara – Super World’s Strongest Slam through a table
FTR b. Shane Taylor Promotions – Powerbomb/top rope clothesline combination to Moriarty
Thunder Rosa b. Lady Bird Monroe – Tijuana Bomb
Colten Gunn/Jay White/Billy Gunn b. Iron Savages/Jacked Jameson – Blade Runner to Jameson
Malakai Black b. Bryan Keith – The End
Serena Deeb b. Lady Frost – Half crab
Bryan Danielson b. Jun Akiyama – Running knee

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

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

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

Collision
Date: January 27, 2024
Location: Brookshire Grocery Arena, Bossier City, Louisiana
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Nigel McGuinness, Kevin Kelly

This is the show opposite the Royal Rumble and that means there are two distinct options. The first choice would basically be to punt and wait for next week, or to load it up with something big in the end. AEW has chosen the second, with FTR/Daniel Garcia vs. the House of Black in an elimination cage match. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Jon Moxley/Claudio Castagnoli vs. Shane Taylor Promotions

The brawl starts on the floor with Moxley choking Taylor and Castagnoli beating up Moriarty. They get inside with Moxley kicking away at Taylor’s leg but getting knocked into the corner for his efforts. A missed charge allows Castagnoli to come in for the hard uppercuts but Moriarty breaks up the Swing. Everything breaks down again and Taylor sends Moxley into the steps.

Back up and Taylor hits an apron legdrop onto Castagnoli as Moxley is favoring his hand. A regular legdrop gives Taylor two on Castagnoli, who suplexes Taylor with some impressive power. Moxley comes back in to clean house, including a running knee to rock Moriarty. Castagnoli Swings Moriarty, who asks for time out, until Taylor makes the save. Moxley can’t get the rear naked choke on Moriarty, who is back with a European clutch for two. A Hart Attack hits Taylor and Moxley chokes him out for the pin at 9:56.

Rating: B-. This was a match that feels like it almost would have been better off taking place before the singles matches, as Moxley already beat both of them on his own. I’m not sure why that makes a tag match more interesting, as adding Castagnoli doesn’t exactly give me hope in the Promotions. Good enough match, but they might have gone one match too far with the story.

Undisputed Kingdom suggests they help Komander win the International Title so he can hold it for five weeks before Roderick Strong wins it at Revolution. Strong shakes his hand and says “deal” but it doesn’t seem like Komander understood.

International Title: Orange Cassidy vs. Komander

Komander is challenging. They trade rollups for two each to start and it’s already a standoff. Komander won’t let Cassidy get his hands in the pockets and they fight over an inverted Gory Special. Cassidy gets his hands in his pockets, misses a dropkick, and nips up anyway. With Komander on the floor, here is the Undisputed Kingdom as we take a break.

Back with Cassidy superkicking him into the corner to set up the stomping but Komander gets up again. A middle rope head fake sets up a middle rope Canadian Destroyer for two on Cassidy and a frog splash gets the same. Komander kicks him in the face a few times but charges into the Beach Break for two more. Back up and Komander snaps off a hurricanrana but stops to dive onto the Undisputed Kingdom. The distraction is enough for the Orange Punch to retain the title at 10:12.

Rating: C+. I’m running out of ways to say “this is the same thing that Cassidy does in all his title defenses”. The match was perfectly fine but it feels like Cassidy has beaten most of the AEW roster at this point. There is nothing left for him to do but yet we have over a month before his serious title defense. I could go for doing the title match sooner, but it looks like we’re waiting for Revolution.

Post match Strong grabs the title and throws it at Cassidy.

Daniel Garcia has been attacked and left bloodied. That’s a bad sign before the main event.

We get a rant from Toni Storm after Dynamite about Deonna Purrazzo. She’ll even show up with Mariah May….but not in Bossier City. Something about race horses being put down.

Mariah May vs. Lady Frost

May fires off the forearms to start but Frost chops her against the ropes. A running flip neckbreaker takes May down but she’s right back with a running dropkick. We take a break and come back with May cutting off a comeback attempt but getting dropped on her head with a German suplex. May is fine enough to hit a shotgun dropkick, only to be sent into the corner for a Cannonball. Frostbite (moonsault) is broken up though and May Day gives May the pin at 6:59.

Rating: C. May is in a weird place as she’s kind of waiting for Storm’s story with Purrazzo to wrap up before anything she’s doing with Storm can really take off. For now it’s just May slowly getting frustrated with Storm, even though they barely had a relationship in the first place. It’s a weirdly put together story, but at least they’re setting May up in a way.

Swerve Strickland picks Toa Liona for Hangman Page on Dynamite.

Page won’t say who he’s picking for Strickland…but hints at Rob Van Dam.

Eddie Kingston vs. Willie Mack

Non-title Proving Ground match, meaning that if Mack wins or survives the ten minute time limit, he gets a future title shot. Mack knocks him straight into the corner to start and a brainbuster gets two on Kingston. There’s the Cannonball into the standing moonsault to give Mack two more but Kingston takes him down and strikes away.

Back up and Mack kicks him in the face before trying the moonsault, only to come up favoring his knee. Kingston exploders him for two but Mack’s knee is fine enough to hit a sitout powerbomb. They strike it out until Mack hits a Stunner, only to have the Six Star frog splash hit raised knees. Kingston’s spinning backfist finishes Mack at 6:02.

Rating: C+. This was a nice win for Kingston, even though Mack has lost so often that it’s hard to get interested in his matches. Kingston is starting to feel like he belongs at this level and that’s almost hard to believe given what kind of a career he had had. For now though, Kingston letting people he deems worthy have a chance is very in character for him and this made sense.

As Kingston is leaving, Bryan Danielson comes to the ring for his match but doesn’t even look at Kingston.

Yuji Nagata vs. Bryan Danielson

Eddie Kingston is on commentary. Feeling out process to start as Eddie praises Nagata and Nigel yells about Danielson. A early armbar doesn’t work for Danielson so Nagata takes over with a test of strength. We take a break and come back with Danielson working on the leg, including a running kick to the leg in said corner. The leg is wrapped around the post and Danielson adds a missile dropkick for two.

Nagata goes after the arm and hits an exploder before pulling Danielson into the crossface. That’s broken up as well and they strike away until Nagata takes him up top. A superplex is broken up but Nagata is fine enough to hit a super exploder. Nagata grabs what is better known as a Disarm-Her but Danielson slips out and grabs a dragon screw legwhip. They kick it out until Danielson hits a big one to the head. Danielson’s running knee finishes at 15:22.

Rating: B-. Nagata is a good example of someone I never quite “got”. He was boring during his WCW run and his time after, while much better, still isn’t something that makes me want to see more. It’s certainly not a question of his talent as he’s quite good at what he does, but there’s something missing from him that keeps him from being interesting and it was on display again here.

Post match respect is shown but Kingston doesn’t buy it.

FTR doesn’t know if Daniel Garcia is ready to wrestle but Mark Briscoe comes in to say he’s there if FTR needs him. FTR appreciates that and they’ll keep him in mind. Well that was quick.

Brian Cage is upset with losing the ROH Six Man Tag Team Titles but doesn’t know why people are talking about Hook. Cue Hook, who seems interested in giving Cage an FTW Title match. Well that was quick too.

Serena Deeb vs. Robyn Renegade

This is Deeb’s first match in about fifteen months. Deeb wrestles her to the mat to start and easily takes it into the ropes. They trade full nelsons and slaps to the face until Deeb hits a running clothesline. A neckbreaker over the middle rope drops Renegade and the Deebtox sets up the Serenity Lock to make Renegade tap at 2:58. Good, dominant return for Deeb.

Post match Deeb asks the fans if they missed her and it feels good to be back. She wants the title because this is what she does and she is back.

Some CMLL stars will be here next week.

FTR/Mark Briscoe vs. House Of Black

In a cage with escape only elimination rules (which is different than last week, when it was just elimination rules). Hold on though as here is the House to jump Briscoe during the entrances and send him off the stage. The big brawl is on outside the ring, with King crossbodying Wheeler against the barricade. Cue Daniel Garcia, with his head bandaged and swinging a chair for the save but the House takes him down as well.

Harwood and Garcia are sent inside with Wheeler left on the floor, meaning it’s 3-2. King gives Harwood a chokebomb but Garcia fights up…as Wheeler DIVES OFF THE CAGE onto everyone for a huge crash. We take a break and come back with Harwood spinebustering Black but Matthews kicks Garcia down. The House cleans house but it’s too early for any of them to escape.

The good guys fight back up and could leave….until Garcia opts to beat on the House even more. Wheeler Stomps Matthews but a brainbuster leaves everyone down again. Harwood and King go up and chop it out on the ropes until Harwood superplexes him down. That lets Harwood go to leave but King spears the door at him and they fall out at the same time. We take another break and come back with Matthews’ top rope Meteora connecting to leave all four down again.

Matthews and Wheeler go up and over, with Wheeler being bounds off the cage and through a table for the elimination. Hold on though as Matthews tries to go back up, only for Garcia to ram the cage to send him through another table at ringside. We’re down to one on one with Garcia vs. Black, with a referee being nice enough to tell them “three minutes”.

Garcia’s ankle lock is broken up and they’re both down again. Garcia tries to go up but cue Julia Hart with the mist. With Garcia blinded, Black goes to leave, only to have Garcia say come finish him. Black obliges and is promptly piledriven onto a chair. Garcia goes up as Black goes for the door, which Mark Briscoe slams onto his head to give Garcia the win at 22:54.

Rating: B. Yeah this was good, with the Briscoe interference not exactly feeling like cheating after Hart got involved. The elimination only thing was a little weird but I like the elimination stuff a lot more than someone getting a fluke fall. Garcia continues to do well in his supporting role, but there is always the chance of pushing him too hard, too fast. He looked rather strong here though and it was a violent, hard hitting match with the House going down to hopefully wrap up the feud.

Celebrating ends the show.

Overall Rating: B. The main event is the best part of the show but the rest was good enough. They feel like they’re starting to set the stage for Revolution and that is a great thing to see, as they’re timing it well. This was a good show, but it’s one that isn’t likely to draw a big audience due to what it’s up against. The main event is unique enough to be worth a look and the rest is fine, though you might want to have the fast forward button ready.

Results
Jon Moxley/Claudio Castagnoli b. Shane Taylor Promotions – Rear naked choke to Taylor
Orange Cassidy b. Komander – Orange Punch
Mariah May b. Lady Frost – May Day
Eddie Kingston b. Willie Mack – Spinning backfist
Bryan Danielson b. Yuji Nagata – Running knee
Serena Deeb b. Robyn Renegade – Serenity Lock
FTR/Daniel Garcia b. House Of Black – Garcia escaped the cage

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

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Ring Of Honor
Date: January 25, 2024
Location: Chaifetz Arena, St. Louis, Missouri
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

The very slow build towards the yet to be announced Supercard Of Honor continues, including what is likely to be another build towards the Women’s TV Title tournament. We still don’t have anything for a start date for the tournament, or any other details for that matter, but maybe we can find out something this week. Let’s get to it.

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

Commentary runs down part of the card.

Righteous vs. Camaro Jackson/Anaya

Dutch shrugs off a shoulder from Jackson to start and takes him into the corner so Vincent can come in. Jackson manages a suplex but Vincent sends him into the corner, with Dutch coming in for a splash. Vincent’s low Downward Spiral connects but his elbow hits raised knees. Anaya comes in and drops Vincent for two, only to have Dutch come in to set up Autumn Sunshine for the pin at 3:44.

Rating: C. The Righteous looked dominant enough here as Jackson and Anaya only got in so much offense before falling short. It does help having the Tag Team Titles around here again, as the Righteous, while not on the top of the list of challengers, have something to fight over. That being said, if you have the Righteous as the weird cult people, why not have them doing….cult stuff?

Nyla Rose vs. Laynie Luck

Rose crushes her hand in the Code Of Honor and hits a clothesline. Luck’s kicks don’t get her anywhere as Rose sends her into the ropes for some far harder kicks. A powerslam cuts off Luck’s running headscissors and the Beast Bomb finishes at 2:00. Exactly as it should have gone.

Zak Knight vs. Aaron Solo

Solo hammers away to start and manages a dropkick out to the floor. Back in and Knight hits a clothesline, followed by a toss across the ring. Knight hits a delayed vertical suplex, with some squats thrown in, but Solo breaks up a springboard. Solo hits his own clothesline for his own two and we hit the chinlock.

Back up and Knight catches him on top for a delayed vertical superplex, followed by a Samoan Driver for two. As Ian says Knight usually makes short work of his opponents (his shortest ROH match is 4:15), Knight misses a Swanton, allowing Solo to hit a double stomp for two. Knight has had it with him and hits the Razor’s Edge bomb into the corner, followed by the running forearm for the pin at 8:02.

Rating: C+. I’m assuming the idea is for Knight to be in the ring longer to get a better look at him, as there is pretty much no reason to have Knight take eight minutes to beat Solo. On top of that, Solo got in quite a bit of offense before Knight took him out, which is kind of a weird way to go. I could still go for more of Knight though and it’s nice to see him getting more shots out there.

We recap Griff Garrison/Cole Karter vs. the Spanish Announce Project.

Griff Garrison/Cole Karter vs. Spanish Announce Project

Maria Kanellis-Bennett is here with Garrison and Karter. Angelico and Garrison start things off with an exchange of wristlocks until Angelico pulls him to the mat. That’s enough for Garrison to bail to the floor before coming back in to shoulder Angelico down. Karter gets to stomp away in the corner and then does it again for good measure. Angelico breaks that up and hands it off to Serpentico for a top rope stomp to the arm. Serpentico knocks them both to the floor for the big dive but Maria offers a distraction.

That lets Garrison send Serpentico’s long injured knee into the steps so the villains can take over again. Karter comes back in but Serpentico jawbreaks his way to freedom, allowing the tag off to Angelico. A breakdancing kick to Garrison’s head gets two and we hit the leglock. With that broken up, Karter offers a cheap shot and spinebusters Serpentico for a bonus.

Everyone is down for a breather, allowing Angelico to get over for the tag to Serpentico. A running cutter drops Garrison but Maria’s distraction lets Garrison clothesline Serpentico down. Maria tells them to try something, which results in heel miscommunication. Not that it matters as Karter steals Serpentico’s mask and Garrison hits a discus forearm for the pin at 11:09.

Rating: C+. On one hand, it’s nice to have a match with a feud and something of a history to it. On the other hand, forgive me for not getting interested in an eleven minute match between Serpentico/Angelico and Griff Garrison/Cole Karter. There’s a reason they were at the bottom of the AEW totem pole and have been more or less relegated to Ring Of Honor. The match wasn’t bad, but it’s between four people who aren’t that interesting and it was showing here.

Post match Angelico covers Serpentico’s face but gets beaten down anyway.

Outrunners vs. Blake Christian/Willie Mack

Christian starts with Floyd, who runs him over with a shoulder. An exchange of headlocks doesn’t do well for Magnum, who gets shouldered down by Christian. Magnum is sent outside and there’s the Fosbury Flop to put him down again. Back in and it’s off to Mack for the house cleaning, including a double noggin knocker. The dancing moonsault gets two on Floyd and the Stunner into the frog splash is enough to give Mack the pin at 5:14.

Rating: C. This was very much in the “we have to get them on the show” style and it didn’t exactly do much beyond that. Mack and Christian are another thrown together tag team and they beat one of the goofy regular teams. It’s not a bad match, but when a show is over two hours and fifteen minutes long, this isn’t exactly must see content.

Lady Frost/Kiera Hogan/Trish Adora vs. Taya Valkyrie/Leila Grey/Diamante

Johnny TV is here with Valkyrie and company. Valkyrie shoves Hogan into the corner to start but she’s back up with a right hand. The basement superkick drops Valkyrie, who comes back with a knee to the face. Adora comes in to crank on Grey’s arm, meaning it’s quickly of to Frost for a sunset flip on Diamante.

Frost gets taken into the corner and Grey takes her down with a Sling Blade. Something like an STF goes on but Frost fights up and brings Adora in to clean house. Everything breaks down and Valkyrie is low bridged to the floor. Frost goes up top and moonsaults onto Valkyrie and Grey, leaving Diamante to hit the rolling cutter for the pin on Adora at 6:58.

Rating: C. This was the latest match between people who are probably going to be in the TV Title tournament or competition or whatever it is, but at some point it would be nice to start the thing. I’m assuming they’re setting up the finals for Supercard Of Honor, but that is a heck of a long time to stretch things out. If nothing else, give us something resembling details about the whole thing, as these tag matches are feeling more and more like filler every week.

Leyla Hirsch and Rachael Ellering have been working on chemistry by going to dinner and even joining a book club. They’re both ready to try to win the TV Title though. For now though, sushi.

Iron Savages/Jacked Jameson vs. Infantry/Lee Johnson

Johnson and Bronson start things off with Bronson blocking an armdrag to start. Jameson comes in so Bravo starts working on his arm. Boulder breaks that up and cleans house, with Dean being sent face first into the chest hair. Dean slips away and brings in Bravo to pick the pace way up. A TKO Stunner gets two on Bronson and it’s off to Jameson, who gets caught with a reverse inverted DDT to give Johnson the pin at 5:36.

Rating: C. The Iron Savages are rapidly reaching the point where I don’t need to see them again for a long time. It’s the same stuff every week and they lost again here, at least with the manager taking the fall. That’s one of the biggest problems with Ring Of Honor: you see the same people so often and it stops mattering when they’re on the show week in and week out. That’s the case with the Savages, who only had so much to go on in the first place.

Red Velvet vs. Heather Reckless

They fight over a lockup to start with Velvet sending her to the apron. Reckless kicks her away though and hits a shot off the top for two. Velvet shrugs it off and hits The Mix for the pin at 2:22.

Nyla Rose throws away/steals a bunch of Athena’s stuff. Lexi Nair comes in to ask what she’s doing so Rose lists off her resume. Rose declares herself the new Minion Overlord because Athena isn’t coming back. She has Nair grab the camera and then powerbombs the cameraman through a table. So is Rose the heel in all of this? Because making Athena the face is a weird way to go.

Billie Starkz vs. Tootie Lynn

Starkz takes her into the corner to start and pulls her back out, setting up a kick between the shoulders for two. More kicks put Lynn down and a Swanton finishes for Starkz at 3:04.

Rating: C-. Just a quick match here as Starkz, another name in the mix for the TV Title, gets a spotlight. At this rate the tournament is going to have all kinds of stars in there, though Starkz might have to help Athena deal with Nyla Rose. Starkz is starting to get a bit of a build back up after Final Battle, which is exactly what she needs here.

Ethan Page vs. Kody Lane

Page grinds away on a headlock to start but gets dropkicked into the corner. Ego’s Edge is broken up and Lane knocks Page down, only for Page to come back with Ego’s Edge for the pin at 2:00.

Dalton Castle interrupts Jerry Lynn and demands to face Johnny TV. Cue TV out of his locker room to say not until Castle is TV ready. Then TV slides away on his knees (with an assist from Taya Valkyrie).

Abadon vs. Robyn Renegade

Abadon headbutts Renegade down to start and hits some running knees in the corner. Renegade is back up with a kick to the head for two and a face first drop onto the turnbuckle. A Codebreaker gives Renegade two but Abadon is back with a Stunner for two more. Sean O’Haire’s old Widowmaker gives Renegade two more but Abadon grabs the Black Dahlia for the pin at 3:54.

Rating: C. Hey look: another match where commentary talks about building momentum towards the TV Title tournament. It might have meant a bit more if not for the three other times I’ve seen it in the last 40 minutes or so. Abadon seems to be one of the heavy hitters/big stars on the way to the tournament and that isn’t exactly instilling me with hope.

Jon Cruz vs. Jack Cartwheel

Cartwheel starts with cartwheels and flips, with one of them including a kick to the head. A missed flip of the top lets Cruz run him over, while asking where Cartwheel’s cartwheel is. Cruz hits a side slam for two and we hit the seated abdominal stretch. Back up and Cartwheel sweeps the leg and hits a slingshot flipping splash before flipping into a standing corkscrew moonsault for two. Cartwheel takes him down again and hits a top rope corkscrew Swanton for the pin at 4:34.

Rating: C+. When commentary is counting the number of cartwheels you’re doing in a match, it might be time to vary things up a bit. One of the common criticisms of modern wrestling is that it’s built on a bunch of flips, but Cartwheel is leaning all the way into it. He’s quite acrobatic, but my goodness can we just end this show already without cramming in everyone they can find?

Action Andretti vs. Anthony Henry

They fight over a lockup to start with Henry going after the arm. Andretti is sent outside and the arm goes straight into the steps as Henry has an early target. Back in and Andretti hits a corner splash and rains down some right hands, followed by a springboard clothesline for two. Henry hits an enziguri but misses a top rope double stomp. Instead Andretti is back with a Spanish Fly, only to have Henry crank away on the arm again. They forearm it out until Andretti hits a shotgun dropkick into the corner. The split legged moonsault finishes for Andretti at 7:33.

Rating: C+. They had one of the better matches of the night here as Henry worked over the arm and Andretti had to fight from underneath. Andretti is still one of the better high fliers, but when his match comes after Jack Cartwheel, it loses some of its impact. I’ll take what I can get here though as this was a step up from recent matches.

Slim J vs. JD Drake vs. Rocky Romero vs. Josh Woods

Woods and Drake clear the ring to start and trade heavy forearms until Woods grabs a German suplex. The two of them go outside with Romero and J following them with stereo dives. Woods suplexes J on the floor, leaving J and Romero to beat up Woods inside. Drake gets kicked back to the floor so Romero takes down Woods and J at the same time. With everyone else on the floor, Romero dives onto all three but gets suplexed by Woods back inside. Drake suplexes Woods and hits the moonsault, with J making the save. Romero is back in with the running Sliced Bread to finish J at 7:27.

Rating: B-. It was the fun, almost all action match and that worked out well here. Romero getting the win isn’t shocking as he’s the biggest star in the match and feels like an important name. At the same time, it’s not like Romero is going to go anywhere, so this was just another match for the sake of putting four people in the ring.

The Kingdom vs. Gravity/Gringo Loco

Non-title Proving Ground match, meaning if Gravity and Loco win or survive the ten minute time limit, they get a future title shot. Taven jumps over Loco to start and hits a dropkick, followed by a springboard armdrag. Loco takes Taven into the corner though and it’s off to Gravity for two off la majistral.

The champs are sent outside and the non-champs both hit dives. Taven takes over on Loco outside though and a running flipping neckbreaker drops him inside. Bennett adds a clothesline and spinebuster but Loco gets over for the tag. Gravity takes Bennett down and a moonsault gives Loco two. Bennett superkicks Loco though and the Hail Mary is good for the pin at 6:52.

Rating: C+. You know, it is ok for the Kingdom to squash someone every so often. So far, the Kingdom has mainly had difficulty against thrown together teams rather than destroying someone, but that might make the Undisputed Kingdom dominant or interesting or something like that. The match itself was fine, but I have no idea what the deal is with the Undisputed Kingdom, because introducing a new monster heel group and then having them struggle in matches like this one is bizarre.

Overall Rating: D+. This show was one of the worst presentations I’ve seen from a company with a budget. The wrestling was completely fine and even good in parts. The problem with this whole thing is it’s not an interesting or well put together show. The show just keeps going and going with matches that either don’t advance anything or have a bunch of people who have nothing going on.

Two hours into a show is not a good time to have a four way between random wrestlers with nothing on the line, which came two matches after a Jack Cartwheel match. I have no idea why this show is supposed to be entertaining, either for fans watching at home or watching in the arena, but this was a wretched setup for a show and a waste of some good action. Fix this already, because this was a big negative despite the positives from the wrestlers.

Results
Righteous b. Camaro Jackson/Anaya – Autumn Sunshine to Anaya
Nyla Rose b. Laynie Luck – Beast Bomb
Zak Knight b. Aaron Solo – Running forearm
Griff Garrison/Cole Karter b. Spanish Announce Project – Discus forearm to Serpentico
Willie Mack/Blake Christian b. Outrunners – Frog splash to Floyd
Diamante/Leila Grey/Taya Valkyrie b. Lady Frost/Kiera Hogan/Trish Adora – Rolling cutter to Adora
Infantry/Lee Johnson b. Iron Savages/Jacked Jameson – Reverse inverted DDT to Jameson
Red Velvet b. Heather Reckless – The Mix
Billie Starkz b. Tootie Lynn – Swanton
Ethan Page b. Kody Lane – Ego’s Edge
Abadon b. Robyn Renegade – Black Dahlia
Jack Cartwheel b. Jon Cruz – Corkscrew Swanton
Action Andretti b. Anthony Henry – Split legged moonsault
Rocky Romero b. Slim J, Josh Woods and JD Drake – Running Sliced Bread to J
The Kingdom b. Gravity/Gringo Loco – Hail Mary to Loco

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

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Ring Of Honor
Date: January 18, 2024
Location: Chartway Arena, Norfolk, Virginia
Commentators: Caprice Coleman, Ian Riccaboni

We’re back with another week but there is a twist this time: the Tag Team Champions are ACTUALLY HERE! For the first time since early August, the titles will not only be on the show but also on the line. It’s a tiny victory but I’ll take the little things that I can get here and there. Let’s get to it.

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

Here’s what’s coming this week.

We look back at Nyla Rose attacking Athena at a training school.

Billie Starkz and Lexi Nair don’t get how this happened but Nair suggests herbal tea and Friends. Starkz on the other hand wants the Women’s TV Title. These two are still great together.

Nyla Rose vs. Erica Leigh

Leigh chops away to start but is dropped with a single chop. They go outside with Leigh being rammed ribs first into the apron and then into the steps as the fans approve of Rose. Back in and Leigh gets in a kick, earning herself a “HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND” and a chokeslam. The cannonball and Beast Bomb finish for Rose at 2:57.

Tag Team Titles: Iron Savages vs. The Kingdom

The Kingdom is defending and Bennett chops Bronson into the corner to start. Bennett’s right hands don’t get him very far as Bronson backdrops him down and hands it off to Boulder for a swinging side slam. Bennett sends the Savages into each other though and Taven comes in for a spear. A running flipping neckbreaker gives Taven two on Bronson as commentary talks about the Kingdom’s history.

Taven’s chinlock doesn’t last long so it’s back to Bennett for the chops in the corner. A splash misses for Bennett though and it’s Boulder coming in to pick up the pace. Slams and corner splashes keep the Kingdom in trouble, with a powerbomb/World’s Strongest Slam combination getting two. Taven low bridges Boulder to the floor but Bronson sends Taven outside for the dive. Back in and a Sky High gives Bronson two but it’s Just The Tip into the Death Valley Driver into Just The Tip to give Taven two. Hail Mary (spike piledriver) retains the titles at 6:54.

Rating: C+. That’s something the show has been missing for a long time now. This wasn’t some epic match, but the champs being here and putting the titles on the line gives the other tag teams a reason to fight. There’s a prize to be won now and there might be a reason to having all of those tag matches now. It’s not so much a great match, but it’s an important event that needs to happen every so often.

Robyn Renegade, Taya Valkyrie, Leyla Hirsch and Rachael Ellering are ready for their eight woman tag match as a preview for the Women’s TV Title tournament.

Claudio Castagnoli vs. Bryan Keith

Castagnoli powers him into the corner to start and adds a nice shove. It works so well that Castagnoli does it again, this time for some rights and lefts to make it more violent. Keith is able to send him outside and follows with…actually some strikes rather than a dive. Back in and Castagnoli grabs a chokeslam of all things, setting up an elbow drop for two.

Some stomps in the corner have Keith in more trouble and Castagnoli grabs a slam to cut off the comeback attempt. A gorilla press into the corner sends Keith outside again but he’s back in with a tornado DDT. They head outside again with Keith firing off some kicks to the chest but Castagnoli uppercuts his head off.

Back in and Keith hits a running knee for two of his own and a Death Valley Driver onto the knee gets the same. Castagnoli has had it though and grabs the Swing for two of his own. The big uppercut gets two more so Castagnoli grabs a swinging sleeper into a rear naked choke to finish at 12:46.

Rating: B. This started off slowly but they got into a groove and were tearing the house down by the end. Castagnoli going into wrecking ball mode is great to see as there isn’t much that can stop him when he gets going like that. Keith held his own here too and I was into this by the end, which is a great sign for any match.

Respect is shown post match.

Billie Starkz/Queen Aminata/Kiera Hogan/Lady Frost vs. Taya Valkyrie/Robyn Renegade/Leyla Hirsch/Rachael Ellering

Starkz and Renegade start things off, with Starkz hitting a hard shot to the face. Frost comes in to flip over Hirsch and dropkick her in the back, allowing Ellering to come in. Aminata comes in as well as commentary hypes her up as a major prospect. Ellering wins a strike off so Aminata takes her down for a kick to the back.

Hogan gets to strike away at Ellering, who casually picks her up and drops her into the wrong corner. It’s Renegade coming in for a change, with Hogan hitting a running hip attack to the back. Renegade kicks her out to the floor for two, followed by Taya’s sliding clothesline for the same. Ellering’s backsplash gets two more and Renegade gets to grab a reverse chinlock as the fast tags continue.

Hogan grabs a jumping neckbreaker to get her way out of trouble and it’s Frost coming back in to pick up the pace. A cartwheel hip attack in the corner gets two on Valkyrie and things settle a bit. Everything breaks down (you knew that was coming) and we hit the parade of secondary finishers. Starkz grabs the Starkz’s End for the pin on Renegade at 9:15.

Rating: C+. As usual, there is only so much that you can do in a match with this many people involved. What matters is that they’re setting up the TV Title tournament, though it would be nice if the thing actually, you know, started. Starkz would seem to be a favorite to win the thing but you never know in something like this.

Post match Abadon comes out to stare everyone down again.

We look at Bullet Club Gold winning the Six Man Tag Team Titles on Dynamite.

Top Flight give Action Andretti a ride in a golf cart before his shot at El Hijo del Vikingo later tonight.

We’re off to Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Florida for a bit.

Butcher and the Blade vs. Top Flight

Dante throws Blade into the corner to start and a running Downward Spiral brings him back out. Butcher comes in but gets dropkicked into another corner so Blade tries his luck again. Blade finally takes Darius into the corner and Butcher hits a heck of a clothesline to take over for the first time.

The chinlock doesn’t last long but Butcher cuts of the tag attempt. That doesn’t last long either as Darius gets over for the tag to Dante so the pace can pick up in a hurry. Everything breaks down and an assisted tornado DDT plants Butcher. Darius drops Blade and Dante’s top rope splash finishes at 7:03.

Rating: C+. Another nice match here with the power vs. speed formula. Butcher and the Blade are a team who always feels like they could move up to the next level but then they lose here. In theory this is Top Flight getting some momentum back, though I could go with it not being at Butcher and the Blade’s expense.

Mark Briscoe vs. Serpentico

Briscoe takes him down to the mat without much effort but Serpentico is back up with a hurricanrana out of the corner. A running boot to the face puts Serpentico outside and Briscoe gets to stomp away back inside. Briscoe’s suplex gets two and they chop it out. Serpentico grabs a jumping cutter for two more but Briscoe knocks him to the floor for a dropkick through the ropes. Back in and the Jay Driller is countered into a jumping Downward Spiral for two, only for Briscoe to come back with the Driller for the pin at 6:22.

Rating: C+. They had another nice match here in a streak of them this week. Serpentico has gone from little more than a comedy goof to someone who can hang in there with some bigger names and that is nice to see. Briscoe continues to just kind of float around, and unless that’s what he wants to do, I have no idea why he’s being used this way.

Lexi Nair is annoyed at Nyla Rose for attacking Athena, with Rose saying she’ll be the new head of the Minions….and then doing a Cartman impression for a bit of charm. Rose wants Athena but for now, she’s looking for Billie Starkz.

Diamante vs. Dream Girl Ellie

Diamante starts fast and hammers away, setting up an early chinlock. Ellie is back up with a scream, only to get taken down by a clothesline. Something like Reno’s old Roll of the Dice finishes Ellie at 1:27.

Johnny TV, with Taya Valkyrie, isn’t going to fight Dalton Castle, who he calls Macho Man Randy Average. Cue an enraged Castle to chase TV into a locker room and almost cry about how much he needs to beat TV.

TV Title: Kyle Fletcher vs. Christopher Daniels

Daniels is challenging. They circle each other to start until Daniels takes him down by the arm. Back up and Fletcher runs him over with a shoulder for two, only to get pulled into an armbar. Fletcher goes after the arm as well, including a slam while holding onto said arm. A quick Downward Spiral and belly to back suplex get Daniels out of trouble and he hammers away in the corner.

The middle rope Downward Spiral gives Daniels two but Fletcher’s brainbuster gets the same. Daniels manages a quick Angel’s Wings for two and the fans find this awesome. Back up and Fletcher hits a running knee to the back, setting up the kneeling piledriver to retain at 9:15.

Rating: B-. This was the wrestling match of the show and it worked well enough all things considered. At the end of the day though, Daniels losing over and over again is only going to get him so far. It’s more or less all he does most of the time and while it’s still working, it’s starting to lose some of its impact.

Ethan Page wants a title but he has to make specific goals. That’s why he’s looking at Kyle Fletcher and winning the TV Title. He’s ready to earn his way there too.

AAA Mega Title: El Hijo del Vikingo vs. Action Andretti

Andretti is challenging. They trade rollups for two each to start and flip to a standoff, with the fans approving. After a handshake, Vikingo hits a dropkick into a headscissors out to the floor, only to have Andretti come back with a Falcon Arrow. A basement dropkick gives Andretti two and we hit the chinlock.

With that broken up, Andretti’s bicycle kick gets two and the chinlock goes on again. Vikingo grabs a quick Death Valley Driver for two of his own and goes up top for a heck of a twisting moonsault. Andretti gets sent outside for a heck of a moonsault but he comes back in with a springboard clothesline and a near fall. They trade rollups until Vikingo stacks him up to retain at 10:08.

Rating: B-. This was the high flying match with both of them doing their big moves until one of them got the pin. It’s an entertaining match, but it’s the kind of thing that I’ve seen so many times that it stops having that much impact. They had an entertaining main event and that’s all that matters here, as it was just a thrown together match at the end of a long show.

Overall Rating: B-. This was a show that would have been outstanding if you cut it off after the eight woman tag. The problem is that the show keeps going for over an hour after that and it went downhill a bit after that. The show was far from bad and it was down to under an hour and forty five minutes, but it did drag in places. I’ll definitely call it an improvement over recent weeks, but they still felt like they were just filling time for a good while and that’s not good.

Results
Nyla Rose b. Erica Leigh – Beast Bomb
Kingdom b. Iron Savages – Hail Mary to Bronson
Claudio Castagnoli b. Bryan Keith – Rear naked choke
Billie Starkz/Queen Aminata/Kiera Hogan/Lady Frost b. Taya Valkyrie/Robyn Renegade/Leyla Hirsch/Rachael Ellering – Stark’s End to Renegade
Top Flight b. Butcher and the Blade – Top rope splash to Blade
Mark Briscoe b. Serpentico – Jay Driller
Diamante b. Dream Girl Ellie – Rolling cutter
Kyle Fletcher b. Christopher Daniels – Kneeling piledriver
El Hijo del Vikingo b. Action Andretti – Rollup

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

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

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

Impact Wrestling
Date: January 11, 2024
Host: Tom Hannifan

We’re almost back to normal shows for the first time in months, but for now it’s time for one more Best Of show. That can be quite hit or miss, but the question becomes what constitutes “Best Of” this week. Hopefully they get to the right part of the vault this week so let’s get to it.

Hannifan welcomes us to the show and talks about this being a preview for Saturday’s Hard To Kill.

From Hard To Kill 2022.

Chelsea Green vs. Tasha Steelz vs. Lady Frost vs. Jordynne Grace vs. Alisha vs. Rosemary

It’s the first ever women’s Ultimate X match and the winner gets a Knockouts Title shot. Alisha is a last minute addition, replacing Rachael Ellering for no given reason. Everyone stares at each other for a bit before Steelz and Grace go straight for the X. That’s broken up of course and it’s time for a bunch of quickly broken climbs. Grace and Rosemary are left alone in the ring as Savannah Evans (Steelz’s partner) comes to the ring.

That doesn’t matter as Havok gives Rosemary a boost towards the X, only to have Green break it up with a missile dropkick. Green and Alisha climbs the same structure but then dive down onto everyone else instead of going after the X. Frost hits a dive of her own but Grace is right there to cut off a climb. Grace goes for the X instead so Frost jumps on her…to no avail as Grace hangs on. Well of course she’s that strong.

Rosemary’s powerbomb to Frost is countered into a hurricanrana though, meaning Steelz has to pull Grace down instead. Green goes for the X this time but falls, landing on Steelz for a scary crash. Alisha whips out Kendra and beats up a variety of people before going up herself. Rosemary cuts that off with a spear, which winds up being a flapjack as Alisha lands face first.

Steelz goes up but Grace goes with the chase to pull both of them down at the same time. With everyone else down, Frost goes up and moonsaults off the structure onto a bunch of people (who can be seen checking on each other). Back up and Grace, Steelz and Green all go up, with Grace falling down in a crash. The X is pulled down but it’s Steelz crashing down with possession for the win at 9:13.

Rating: C+. This was about making history and having the women get the chance to do something like this for a change. The spots were big, but there are only so many things you can do in a match like this one. Steelz winning is a big of a surprise, but she could be fine as a one off challenger on a monthly special. They had a good first time here though and it’s cool to see the women getting a chance in a match like this.

We look at ABC retaining the Tag Team Titles at Final Resolution but getting jumped by the Rascalz after their win.

Later in the night, the ABC cost the Rascalz a match against Trent Seven and Mike Bailey.

The Grizzled Young Veterans are debuting at Hard To Kill and they’re already in a four way Tag Team Title match. Cool. As Zack Gibson talks to the camera, someone bumps into James Drake so he goes off to pummel them. Cool as well.

From Impact, November 9, 2023.

Digital Media Title: Tommy Dreamer vs. Crazzy Steve

Dreamer is defending. They lock up to start and fight out to the floor before Steve takes it back inside for some chopping. A neckbreaker and knee lift get Dreamer out of trouble but Steve knocks him right back down and sings him a lullaby. Dreamer shrugs off some ripping at the face and slugs away.

A reverse DDT gives Dreamer two but the Dreamer Driver is broken up. Steve hits a Cannonball and goes for the fork but Dreamer bites the arm. Dreamer hits a cutter and stabs him with the fork instead. More stabbing has Steve running away and cackling as the match just kind of ends at about 7:15. I’d assume it was a DQ but I didn’t actually hear a bell.

Rating: C. Well, at least Dreamer didn’t win. I would hope that we are going to be seeing a rematch where Steve wins the title as there is no reason for Dreamer to be a long term champion. Dreamer going violent to even things up is fine, but he needs to drop the title to Steve, who is doing some good stuff right now.

Video on El Hijo del Vikingo.

From Impact, August 10, 2023.

Mike Bailey vs. Kushida

Kushida drops to the mat and tries to pull Bailey down before settling for a wristdrag. A kick to the chest drops Bailey again but the fans are split. The bouncing kicks don’t do much to Kushida, who sends Bailey outside. Back in and we hit the surfboard to keep Bailey in trouble a bit longer. They chop it out until Bailey is knocked outside for a shoulder first ram into the post.

We take a break and come back with Kushida tying up the legs and cranking away with an Indian deathlock (with commentary pointing out that since Kushida had taken out the arm, Bailey would start using his legs so Kushida is staying ahead of him). Back up and the leg is fine enough to hit a springboard moonsault (of course), only to miss something off the top.

Bailey strikes him down and tries the standing moonsault but gets caught in an armbar. That’s reversed into a cross armbreaker but Kushida makes the rope. Bailey kicks him in the face so Kushida hits him in his, only to have Bailey knee him in the face for two. The tornado kick looks to set up the Ultimate Weapon but Kushida pulls him down and hits Back To The Future for the pin at 17:55.

Rating: B. This is one of those setups where you know it is going to be at least good give all of the circumstances. That being said, Bailey’s knee nonsense continues as Kushida worked it over and then bailey was right back up with the springboard moonsault. Other than that, Kushida seems to be on the road to an X-Division Title showdown and that should be very good whenever it happens.

From Hard To Kill 2022.

Josh Alexander vs. Jonah

They stare each other down until Alexander kicks him in the face to start. Alexander hammers away in the corner but gets knocked down for his efforts. Jonah’s backsplash misses so Alexander knocks him outside, where Jonah scores with some hard chops. Alexander ties the leg in the ropes and stomps down to take over, sending Jonah back outside. That goes badly for Alexander again, as Jonah drives him ribs first into the apron.

Back in and Jonah drops him ribs first onto the top turnbuckle before tossing Alexander around with ease. Neither of them can get a backslide so Jonah drops him ribs first across the top rope instead. The over the shoulder backbreaker stays on the ribs but Alexander slips out to chop away. Some slaps to the face earn Alexander a heck of a forearm, but he’s fine enough to start kicking at the leg.

Alexander dumps him over the top, with Jonah landing on his leg again. A hard right hand knocks Jonah into the front row and Alexander hits a huge dive to take him down again. That’s only good for a nine so Alexander goes right back to the knee. Alexander takes way too long going up so Jonah crotches him down.

One heck of a top rope superplex drops Alexander again before a powerbomb plants him hard. Jonah’s clothesline turns Alexander inside out and a brainbuster gets two more. Some headbutts have Alexander busted open but he’s able to avoid a moonsault. Alexander manages a powerbomb before stomping on the ankle. The ankle lock makes Jonah tap at 17:07.

Rating: B. This was the best way to have the match go, as Alexander fought through an injury to overcome the monster. Alexander needed this win after dropping the World Title in about five minutes, so while it’s annoying to see Jonah lose so soon, it is probably the best outcome. Alexander vs. Moose is going to happen at some point and this should clear the path for the April pay per view. Good match too, as Alexander can do no wrong at the moment.

From Slammiversary 2022.

Knockouts Title: Jordynne Grace vs. Tasha Steelz vs. Mia Yim vs. Deonna Purrazzo vs. Chelsea Green

Steelz, with Savannah Evans, is defending in Queen Of The Mountain and Mickie James is guest enforcer. Steelz has Mickie themed gear describing herself as “The Greatest Who Beat The Greatest” for a nice touch. The bell rings and Steelz bails to the floor to grab a table with Evans. Yim takes both of them out with a dive and Green hits her own flip dive (thankfully not breaking her arm for a change).

Purrazzo adds her own dive and Green rolls Steelz up to become eligible and send her to the penalty box for two minutes. Mickie sends Evans into the box as well, leaving Grace and Yim to beat up Purrazzo. Steelz and Evans are out with Steelz getting to strike away. Evans gets back inside and is ejected by Mickie, leaving Steelz to kick green down. Yim makes the save and suplexes Green for the pin/eligibility/penalty box time.

Green isn’t happy and hits Mickie with the door as Purrazzo has to cut off Yim from hanging the title. With Yim going up anyway, Steelz comes off the top with a cutter to pull her back down. As Purrazzo armbars Steelz, Green is released and takes Grace down with a spear. Steelz taps so Purrazzo can be eligible but it’s time to go after Grace. A Backstabber sends her outside as Green sends Yim into the corner for two. Green holds up the title as Steelz is released from the box.

The ladder is laid up against the ropes and it’s Yim coming off the penalty box to dropkick Green into said ladder. Yim hits a big dive to take out a bunch of people, setting up a package piledriver on the floor to pin Grace (remember Yim was already eligible). Green headbutts Steelz down and goes up but James is back in to break it up in an act of rather unprofessional revenge.

Purrazzo powerbombs Yim onto a ladder and goes up at the same time as Green. As Grace is released, Yim shoves the ladder over to put both Green and Purrazzo through the table. Yim gets dropped and double pinned by Grace and Steelz, meaning everyone is eligible. Steelz goes up but Grace hits her with a MuscleBuster for the pin, allowing Grace to hang the title for the win at 18:24.

Rating: C+. What do you say about a match like this? It’s total insanity and the rules are such a mess that it is quite the chore to keep track of everything that is going on. Grace was the monster throughout the match and it makes sense to have her win, as she hasn’t been around the title in a long time. Granted Masha Slamovich seems to be waiting on whoever won the title, but Grace winning is nice to see.

We look at Moose winning his first World Title by cashing in on Josh Alexander at Bound For Glory 2021.

We look at Alex Shelley winning his first World Title by defeating Steve Maclin at Against All Odds 2023.

We get a face to face sitdown interview between Moose and Alex Shelley before Moose challenges Shelley for the World Title at Hard To Kill. Shelley is feeling confident going into the title match but Moose says he’s coming in as Moose and leaving as World Champion. We get some questions from various members of the media, with the first being if Shelley is facing more pressure than usual. Shelley says he’ll do the same thing he’s been doing, while Moose says he doesn’t need to scare anyone.

The next question is about the rebirth of TNA, with Shelley saying Moose wasn’t around for the original so should be Shelley on top. Shelley is ready to be the champ who defends the title around the world, while Moose wants to be the first champion in TNA as everything changes to the new era.

Another question for Moose: he brought back the TNA World Championship, but did he ever think he would really hold the title? Moose says the company needed someone but Shelley wasn’t there. They go face to face and both say they should be champion to end the show. This was a good idea, but it went on one or two questions too long. I’ll certainly take some hype over the title match over none though so this was at least something.

Overall Rating: B-. There was a theme here and it made the show feel more important. It was still kind of all over the place with its match choices, but at least they were getting to the build for the big return. Hard To Kill is going to be in a weird place, though things will be back to normal starting next week. This was a glorified preview featuring previous matches to set things up, so for what they were trying to do, we’ll call it a good enough success.

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

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

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.