TJPW Live In Los Angeles
Date: March 31, 2023
Location: Globe Theater, Los Angeles, California
Commentators: Jonny Loquasto, Thom Fain

This is Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling, a Japanese women’s promotion which I’ve heard some amazing things about. There are going to be some names here you might have seen in AEW or elsewhere over the weekend, but I have no idea what to expect from the show. Let’s get to it.

Note that I don’t follow the promotion so I apologize in advance for not knowing history, characters or anything else.

The ring announcer welcomes us to the show and gives us a quick preview while also plugging the WrestleCon appearances. She also reminds the fans that the wrestlers don’t speak much English and apologize in advance. Fair enough and something often forgotten.

And now, as is tradition, here are three wrestlers (Hikari Noa, Raka and Miu Watanabe, the Up Up Girls) for a song, apparently how they open all of their shows. With the mini concert over, the women greet the fans.

The announcer says some stuff in Japanese, which is apparently the introduction to the first match (almost fifteen minutes into the broadcast).

Daisy Monkey vs. Free WiFi

This would be Arisu Endo/Suzume vs. Hikari Noa vs. Nao Kakuta as I love Japanese team names. In response to why they’re called Free WiFi, the answer is simple: who doesn’t like free wifi? Hikari and Suzume (rather popular) start things off with Hikari quickly being sent into the corner so Endo can come in for a dropkick to her back.

Kakuta gets in a cheap shot from the apron though and Endo gets caught in the wrong corner. What appears to be a double bite of the head has Endo in more trouble and stereo basement dropkicks make it worse. Endo’s dropkick gets her out of trouble though and it’s Suzume back in to pick up the pace.

Hikari pulls Suzume off the top and gets two off a rollup before it’s back to Endo. A choke over the ropes slows Suzume down but she’s back with a running bulldog. Kakuta comes back in with a dropkick into a camel clutch, sending Endo bailing to the ropes for two. Everything breaks down and a double torture rack faceplant finishes Kakuta at 11:41.

Rating: B-. Good start to the show here as they had a fast paced match with some fun action. The ending looked good as well as Kakuta got dropped on her face. Free WiFi (that’s so ridiculous of a name that it’s brilliant) was a nice team but Monkey (these names are fun) looked a bit more complete so the ending felt like the right choice.

Janai Kai vs. Yufi Kamifuku

Yufi dances a lot and gets kicked in the chest to cut him down. A running kick to the back gives Kai two but Yufi kicks her way up from the mat. There’s a pair of dropkicks to send Kai into the corner but she’s right back with a dragon sleeper. With that broken up, Kai hits a spinning kick to the head for the pin at 4:49.

Rating: C. This was more of a showcase for Kai, who had some rather hard kicks in there. At times the best thing that you can do is have someone go out there and kick someone else really hard, which is what Kai has done. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen Kai before and you know what you’re getting going in, which worked well here.

Hyper Misao/Trish Adora vs. Raku/Yuki Aino

Misao is a super hero and you’ve probably seen Adora a time or two. Before the match, Misao officially dubs Adora a superhero as well, giving her her own mask and naming her Hyper Trish. Adora backs Raku into the corner to start and everything breaks down rather fast. The heroes grab stereo submissions but Misao accidentally hairsprays (or whatever it was) Adora in the face.

Then Raku whips out a pillow and puts the heroes to sleep for two before it’s off to Aino. Misao fights up and hands it back to Adora for the power. Aino grabs a gutwrench suplex for two as everything breaks down. Misao sprays them both and a high crossbody finishes Raku at 9:04.

Rating: C+. Mild obsession with the spray can aside (which isn’t very heroic), this was a fun match and was giving me flashbacks to the Mighty Molly or Hurricane days (in a good way). It was designed to be nothing but fun and Adora is someone who feels like she could be a breakout star if she is given the chance. Raku stands out a bit as well, but that might be due to being in on the song earlier.

Wasteland War Party vs. Miu Watanabe/Shoko Nakajima

That would be Max the Impaler and Heidi Howitzer. After getting the streamers out of the ring, we start with Watanabe bouncing off of Max. Nakajima comes in and avoids a charge in the corner but the much bigger Max sends her into the corner. It’s off to Heidi for two off a stalling brainbuster but Nakajima gets over to Watanabe anyway. The pace picks up for a few moments, until Heidi runs Watanabe over again.

Watanabe slugs away at Max and Nakajima comes in to add some running dropkicks. Max is finally knocked into the corner but comes back with the Wasteland. Back up and Watanabe gets Max up for a pretty impressive slam before taking Heidi down as well. Nakajima hits a 619 on Max but Heidi runs her over. An elevated splash (the Master Blaster) gives Max the pin at 11:52.

Rating: C+. The War Party are one heck of a monster team and they were showcasing it here. Watanabe and Nakajima were cowering in fear, or at least looking scared, to put the War Party over. This was a good example of a way to have two stars look like threats and it isn’t a surprise that they were apparently Tag Team Champions until a few weeks ago (if I heard commentary right).

International Princess Title: Rika Tatsumi vs. Billie Starkz

Tatsumi is defending what seems to be the midcard singles title. They go with the grappling to start but Tatsumi gets a bit more serious by ripping at Starkz’ face. Starkz is right back up with a running knee to the back of the head for two, with Starkz getting frustrated by the near fall.

Tatsumi is back up with a hip attack and we hit the Figure Four in the middle. Starkz’ long legs get her to the ropes so Tatsumi hip attacks her again. Back up and Starkz hits a brainbuster onto the knee for two but Tatsumi blasts her with a running hip attack. The Twist of Fate sets up a top rope hip attack to retain Tatsumi’s title at 8:44.

Rating: C+. This was probably the weakest match of the night so far, partially because I didn’t really buy that Tatsumi was in danger. Starkz is very talented for her age but she felt like she was in over her head with this one. It certainly wasn’t bad, but it came off more like Tatsumi just waiting until she could finish Starkz off.

Respect is shown post match.

Princess Tag Team Titles: 121000000 vs. Magical Sugar Rabbits

That would be Maki Itoh/Miyu Yamashita (defending) vs. Mizuki (top singles champion)/Yuka Sakazaki. Miyu misses a big kick (her thing) to Sakazaki to start so it’s Itoh coming in for an elbow to the face and a run around the ring. Everything breaks down fast and the champs headscissor them to the floor, setting up the big stereo dives. Back in and Itoh shrugs off a face first ram into the buckle and hits an assisted splash for two.

Itoh bites Mizuki’s fingers and Miyu comes in for some kicks to the back. A roll over allows Mizuki to bring Mike back in to clean house. Everything breaks down and Itoh hits a….I’m not sure what that was but she follows with a brainbuster for two. Mizuki is back in with a high crossbody for two on Itoh with Miyu making a save.

Itoh goes up but gets superplex right back down. Back up and Itoh pulls her into a kneeling Texas Cloverleaf but the save is quickly made. Everything breaks down again and Miyu knees Itoh by mistake. With Miyu sent outside, Sakazaki hits a top rope splash, followed by Mizuki’s top rope double stomp for the pin and the titles at 16:18.

Rating: B. The title change makes the show feel important and it was after a good match as well. The Rabbits felt like a more complete team and apparently they held the titles at some point before this. It was a solid main event and getting Itoh on the card was a necessity after the attention she got in AEW, though she was mostly playing it straight here.

Post match the new champs thank the and the locker room comes out to the ring for a JOSHI chant. The roster takes a photo and a PLEASE COME BACK chant takes us out.

Overall Rating: B-. The show wasn’t a classic, but I can absolutely get the appeal for a lot of fans. These wrestlers are going to get your attention and the wrestling ranges from good to very good. While I don’t think I’ll be watching regularly, it’s the kind of thing I could see myself watching again once or twice. Nice stuff here, with everyone working hard and having a good time.

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For The Culture 2023
Date: March 30, 2023
Location: Ukranian Culture Center, Los Angeles, California
Commentators: Darien Bankston, D’Lo Brown

This show has become a tradition as the show focuses on Black wrestlers from around the world. That has made for some rather entertaining shows over the years and it features quite the group of talented stars. There is a good chance that it continues this year so let’s get to it.

A rather loud ring announcer welcomes us to the show and we’re starting with a scramble. Well of course.

Ashton Starr vs. Ju Dizz vs. Keita Murray vs. Darius Carter vs. Terry Yaki vs. Devon Monroe Faye Jackson

One fall to a finish. Carter, who seems rather full of himself, goes to the middle of the ring and tells everyone that they are about to lose tonight. Then he shoves Jackson in the face and it’s time for everyone to hit him in a row. Yaki hits a Cactus Clothesline to send Carter outside and it’s time for Dizz to dance with Jackson. That earns him a bunch of superkicks, leaving Starr and Monroe to kick Jackson down.

Starr beats on Monroe, who comes back with a rope walk armdrag but Jackson runs both of them over with a clothesline. Carter and Yaki come back in with Carter not being able to keep up with him. Yaki sends him outside for a dive, with Keita hitting a dive onto both of them. Dizz corkscrew dives onto all of them before Yaki adds another dive for a bonus.

Back in and Keita Boston crabs Yaki until Starr makes the save. Monroe comes back with a super jawbreaker for two but Jackson grabs a bottom rope hurricanrana. Carter piledrives Jackson but Dizz gives him a pumphandle powerbomb for two more. Monroe gives Dizz a twisting high crossbody….and Carter steals the pin on Dizz at 8:03.

Rating: C+. I’m not a fan of scramble matches but this was put together pretty well, with the people getting to do their stuff and not going too long. Carter felt like someone who had the personality to stand out a bit and him getting the win after starting off in trouble works. Also, points to the commentary team here, who kept saying the wrestlers’ names when they were around. A lot of fans aren’t going to be familiar with everyone as they come from all over so very well done on letting us know who we were seeing. So, so many shows don’t get that and it’s great to see for a change.

Willie Mack vs. Billy Dixon

Anything goes. They stare at each other to start before Dixon heads outside to start grabbing the weapons. Since Dixon spends so long getting weapons together, Mack goes outside and hits him in the face to get things going. Dixon punches him into the crowd but Mack shrugs it off and comes back to ringside. Mack walks him around the ring so more fans can hear the loud chops in a rather mean touch.

Back in and they slug it out until Mack scores with a superkick for two. A heck of a chair shot to the back keeps Dixon in trouble but he’s back with a clothesline. Some hard chair shots have Mack crawling across the mat, where Dixon bridges a door over two chairs, with Mack underneath. Mack fights up though and powerbombs him through the door, setting up a frog splash for two.

Dixon is back up with a spear through another door in the corner though and frustration is setting in. One heck of a spinebuster plants Mack, who pops back up with a Stunner. They head back to the floor (Brown: “This match is about as pretty as a rock fight.”) with Mack trying to slam him onto a chair but not exactly making it work. Back in and another Stunner is countered into a backslide to give Dixon the big upset pin at 13:19.

Rating: C-. I wasn’t feeling this one as they somehow managed to make a Willie Mack match boring. That’s very hard to do, but Dixon is a bigger guy who can only do so much. At the same time, they didn’t exactly give us a reason for why these two are fighting. It wasn’t the worst, but this was a long match that didn’t work very well. You need to give me a reason to care and that wasn’t the case here.

West Coast vs. The World

West Coast: G. Sharpe, Kenny King, Mazzerati, Alpha Zo, Midas Kreed
The World: AC Mack, Jay Malachi, JC Storm, Jeffrey John, Suge D

This is an elimination tag with King and Suge as the captains. Mack and Zo start things off with Zo running him over and sending him into the corner. A running kick in the corner misses Mack by about nine inches but Zo grabs a suplex instead. Sharpe and Malachi come in, with Sharpe chopping the heck out of him to take over. Malachi is back with a hurricanrana and dropkick, meaning it’s off to Mazzerati vs. Storm (both women).

It’s Storm starting fast with a pump kick and possibly ripping out an earring. That’s WAY too far so John and Kreed come in with John grabbing a springboard hurricanrana. The fans are split between East Coast and West Coast as Suge and Kenny come in. Suge works on a headlock before his running shoulders have no effect. Instead, Suge switches to the knee to take King down in a smart move.

King is right back up with a hard kick to the head though and Suge is knocked silly. Everything breaks down with all ten coming in and naturally most of them wind up on the floor, with King hitting a big flip dive. Sharpe takes Malachi down inside and hits the big flip dive off the top, leaving almost everyone down. The pile gets back up and heads towards the entrance, with Malachi hitting a HUGE flip dive over the corner. Back in and Malachi and Sharpe kick it out until until Sharpe hits a brainbuster for the elimination at 12:11.

John comes in and grabs a Gory Stretch on Sharpe, which he walks around the ring. Sharpe finally gets over for the tag (without getting out of the hold) to bring Kreed in to pick up the pace. A spinning kick to the head rocks John but Suge tags himself in for the save. Suge elbows Kreed in the head for the elimination at 14:32.

It’s 5-3 as Mazzerati comes in, only to have Suge put his hand on her head. With Mazzerati scaring him away, Suge brings Storm in for another showdown. Mazzerati yells a lot but gets speared down instead. That’s not cool with Mazzerati, who grabs a northern lights suplex for the elimination at 16:46. Then Mack comes in with a pair of Mack 10’s (arm cross Pedigree) to get rid of Mazzerrati at 17:02.

King comes in to slug it out with Mack before it’s quickly back to Suge. A spinebuster plants Suge so John comes in and ducks a spinning kick to the head. King gets cuttered down so it’s back to Zo, who gets caught with an uppercut. John Blue Thunder Bombs Sharpe but King rolls through a crossbody and hits the Royal Flush to get rid of John at 19:17.

It’s 3-2 with West Coast in the lead with Sharpe slugging away at Mack and Suge. The numbers get the better of him though and an assisted Mack 10 gets rid of Sharpe at 20:10. It’s Zo/King vs. Suge/Mack so they go face to face. The slugout is on…and King and Zo get stereo rollups for the win at 21:36.

Rating: B-. I got into this one as they didn’t fly through the eliminations and let the wrestlers show what they could do. You don’t get to see that very often in a Survivor Series match outside of WWE and in this case it worked pretty well. The ending was a nice surprise too and not something I remember seeing before. Throw in commentary telling us what was going on and this worked well.

Bryan Keith vs. 2 Cold Scorpio

They circle each other for about a minute as Keith isn’t overly popular here. A lockup lets Scorpio walk him into the corner but Keith is back with a hammerlock. Scorpio reverses into an armbar to take him down as they’re firmly in first gear (and almost slow motion). Keith armdrags him down into an armbar of his own but Scorpio fights up and hits a quick legdrop.

A belly to back suplex gets two but Mack manages a tornado DDT for the same. Keith ties the legs up in something like a Figure Four (but turned to the side). Scorpio grabs the rope so Keith grabs a very lame looking nerve hold, earning himself a kick to the chest. They trade forearms and then kicks to the face with Scorpio finally going down.

Back up and Scorpio knocks him down, setting up a moonsault for two. Scorpio goes to the top but Keith shoves the referee into the ropes for a nasty crotching. An exploder superplex sends Scorpio flying for the crash, followed by Diamond Dust (love that move) to drop Scorpio again. Back up and Scorpio fights his way out of…something and loads up a powerbomb, which is reversed into a sunset flip to give Keith the pin at 16:55.

Rating: D+. I’ve seen enough of Scorpio over the years to know that this wasn’t him at his best. I’m not sure what was going on here, but they were barely moving out there and it showed badly. Keith has shown some skill in the matches I’ve seen him in before, so this was a rather weird one that didn’t work. I’ll chalk it up to an off night, as both of them are much better than this.

Black Wrestlers Matter Title: Kevin Knight vs. Myron Reed vs. Man Like Dereiss

Reed is defending and Dereiss raps his own way to the ring. Knight is quickly left alone in the ring but busts out a big dive onto Reed. Back in and Reed dropkicks him down, setting up a slingshot legdrop for two. Dereiss comes back in to kick Reed to the floor but Knight grabs the foot.

All three are back in now and Knight takes the other two down. A splash gets two on Dereiss and a hard clothesline drops him again. Reed dives back in to take Knight down, only to get dropped by Dereiss. A double Blockbuster puts Reed and Knight down for two, though Dereiss isn’t sure on that count. Reed starts bouncing around and cutters Dereiss but Knight dropkicks him down for trying another one.

Dereiss and Reed head outside and go into the chairs but Knight dropkicks Dereiss back off the apron. Back in and Knight hits a heck of a DDT on Reed but Dereiss is back in with a 450 to both of them at once. Knight tries to come in off the top with a frog splash, only to have Reed cutter him as he lands on Dereiss. That gets two (might have been a botch) so Reed Air Raid Crashes Knight onto Dereiss for a double pin to retain at 10:07.

Rating: B. This was the kind of high flying, speed based match that you were probably expecting. It was a lot of fun with everyone moving rather fast and hitting one big move after another. The cutter to catch the frog splash looked great and was probably supposed to be the finish. Either way, heck of a match here and probably the best thing on the show so far.

Pan-Afrikan World Title: Trish Adora vs. Calvin Tankman

Adora is defending and Tankman is a rather large man. They start before the bell with Adora being sent outside, where she manages to kick him in the head. Back in and the bell rings, with Adora hitting a quick DDT. Tankman elbows her in the face but gets caught with a German suplex for two. Another elbow knocks Adora silly and you can see her looking rather stunned by the shot.

Adora is fine enough to come back with some forearms, earning herself a hard slam. Tankman starts taking his time but misses a charge into the corner. A shot to the head rocks Tankman but he’s back up with a spinebuster. The big forearm gives Tankman two and he puts Adora up top, only to get sunset bombed back down. Lariat Tubman sets up Cattle Mutilation and Tankman taps at 8:49.

Rating: C. Intergender wrestling is a hard thing to pull off in almost any form and that didn’t take place here. I couldn’t buy the idea that Adora, as good as she is, could do any damage to someone the size of Tankman. It felt like a match where Tankman could have squashed her at any time and that’s not the best way to go. The match was far from bad in any way, but I didn’t buy it and that’s not good.

Post match Billy Dixon comes out for his shot and…yeah that’s not working for Adora.

Overall Rating: C+. This show had enough rather good moments to make up for the weaker points. The talent was certainly there and the triple threat and Survivor Series matches were both quite solid. There was only one bad match on the show and I’m still not sure what went wrong there. Overall it’s worth a glance at just over two hours, making it decent enough and not that long.

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: March 16, 2023
Location: Universal Studios, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

It’s the third week of this show and hopefully the improvements they made last week are taken further this week. Last week’s show was a bit shorter than the debut and also felt like it was more important, with fewer squashes. They need to start announcing some more stuff for Supercard of Honor so let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Claudio Castagnoli vs. Willie Mack

Non-title but a Proving Ground match, meaning if Mack wins or survives the ten minute time limit to a draw, he gets a future title shot. Castagnoli works on the arm to start until Mack armdrags him out to the floor. Mack teases a dive but Castagnoli walks away in time, leaving Mack to pose instead.

Back in and Mack snaps off a hurricanrana for two before hitting a running kick to the chest. A hard clothesline and butterfly suplex give Castagnoli two and we hit the chinlock. With that broken up, the Samoan drop into the standing moonsault gets two on Castagnoli and they forearm it out. Mack goes Sky High for two more but Castagnoli BLASTS HIM with a running uppercut for the pin at 7:12.

Rating: B-. Mack has the charisma and the impressive looking offense but Castagnoli is on another level in there. He shrugged off everything Mack threw at him and then finished it with one heck of an uppercut. It made Castagnoli feel like the bigger star while he beat someone who felt important as well. Good opener and dang that uppercut looked great.

Castagnoli shows respect while Mack is still down.

Mike Bennett vs. Dante Martin

The rest of the Kingdom and Darius Martin are here too. Dante spins out of a wristlock to start and shoulders Bennett into the ropes. They strike it out with Dante getting the better of things, setting up a dropkick to the floor. There’s the big dive to take Bennett out again but a Maria distraction lets Bennett hit a piledriver on the ramp. Dante beats the count and is fine enough for a springboard crossbody.

A package sitout powerbomb gets two on Bennett and they both need a breather. Back up and Bennett grabs a Death Valley Driver into a seated armbar, sending Dante over to the rope. Bennett takes him up top but gets hurricanranaed down, setting up a frog splash for two. The Kimura is reversed into a cradle to give Dante two and a spinning half nelson slam finishes Bennett at 10:02.

Rating: B. This was REALLY fun as they had me wondering who was going to win in the end. It was a back and forth match that had both of them looking good multiple times, as Martin continues to know how to do the comeback well. Cut out the piledriver on the ramp not knocking Dante out cold and this would have been even better. Heck of a match.

Post match Matt Taven comes in to beat on Dante, with Darius making the save.

Trustbusters vs. Metalik/Blake Christian

Mark Sterling is here with the Trustbusters. Christian and Daivari start things off with the former working on the arm and bringing Metalik in to do the same. The rope walk dropkick gets two on Daivari but a Slim J distraction lets Daivari take over. That doesn’t last long as Metalik gets over for the tag to Christian so house can be cleaned.

Back in and Slim J takes Christian down before Daivari drives him into the corner. Christian handspring kicks his way out of trouble and it’s back to Metalik, who gets dropkicked out of the air. Everything breaks down and Christian dives onto Daivari, leaving Metalik to Michinoku Driver Slim J for the pin at 8:50.

Rating: C+. Well thank goodness we got the Trustbusters on for the third show in a row. The good thing is the match was better, though it’s still rather hard to care about anything Trustbusters related as the team is just so uninteresting. Metalik and Christian worked well together for a makeshift team, though I’m not sure how much of a future they’ll have.

Video on Mark Briscoe wanting the TV Title and Samoa Joe’s history of success against the Briscoes.

Mark Briscoe calls the TV Title his destiny but for now, he wants to take out everyone who works for Mark Sterling.

Jeeves Kay vs. Eddie Kingston

Believe it or not, Kay is part of the Trustbusters. Claudio Castagnoli has a seat in the crowd as Kingston grabs a headlock takeover. They head outside with Kingston sending Kay into the barricade, knocking a drink onto Castagnoli’s expensive shirt. The distraction lets Kay get in a shot of his own and a frog splash gets one. Kingston isn’t having that and suplexes him into the Stretch Plum for the tap at 2:36.

The Trustbusters (Are they kidding?) says there were some illegal tags so that loss didn’t count. Oh and Kay gave Kingston his best match in AEW. Daivari is fed up and wants Christian and Metalik in a six man tag.

Athena vs. Hyan

Another non-title Proving Ground match. Athena drops her to start and mocks the fans a bit, only to get kicked in the face for her rudeness. A swinging chokeslam cuts Hyan down again but she fights out of a chinlock. Athena catches her on top and spins into a powerbomb to the floor (ouch). Back in and the Crossface makes Hyan tap at 4:41.

Rating: C. They didn’t have time to do much here and a lot of that was spent on Athena playing to the fans. That powerbomb looked good though and Athena ran through an opponent who shouldn’t have caused her much trouble. This was little more than a showcase for Athena and in that regard, it went well.

Post match Athena sends her face first into the title belt.

Blake Christian and Metalik have AR Fox to help them deal with the Trustbusters.

Silas Young vs. Marcus Kross

This is Young’s first ROH appearance since Christmas 2021. Young grabs a headlock to start but gets pulled into a rollup for two. Back up and a hard whip sends Kross into the corner and we hit the double arm crank. Kross fights up and hits a high crossbody but gets sent into the corner again. The Pee Gee Waja Plunge (handstand into an Arabian moonsault) finishes Kross at 3:07.

Rating: C. Young is a good hand to have around as he is someone with the resume to make a difference around here. I don’t know if he’ll be a star in the new Ring Of Honor but he ties back to the past in a way that could be beneficial. The match was almost a squash and that was a good way to bring Young back.

Post match Young says no one measures up to him but here is Shane Taylor to interrupt. Taylor doesn’t like Young calling himself the most dominant TV Champion ever, so let’s see who is more dominant next week. Young is in.

Athena wants to know where Yuka Sakazaki is because she hurt Sakazaki, who is now staying in Japan to avoid her. Well come challenge for the title at Supercard of Honor.

Six Man Tag Team Titles: Dalton Castle/The Boys vs. The Embassy

The Embassy, with Prince Nana, is defending. Castle and Kaun start things off with Castle wrestling him to the mat without much trouble. Brent comes in and gets taken into the wrong corner with straight power. Toa chokes away and runs over the now legal Brandon. The Boys are back up with stereo basement Downward Spirals, setting up Castle’s splash. That doesn’t last long as the Gates are right back up to take over on Brandon.

The chinlock goes on, before Toa backbreakers Brandon onto the top rope. Cage’s apron superplex gets two and Kaun’s spinebuster gets the same. Brandon gets over for the tag off to Castle, who is promptly kicked down by Cage. Everything breaks down and Nana breaks up the Bang A Rang. The Boys beat up Cage but get crushed by the Gates. A double clothesline (one to the front and one to the back) drops Brent, with Brandon being slammed on top of him for the double retaining pin at 10:26.

Rating: C+. Given that these are the only two teams who ever talk about going after the titles, it would have made some more sense to put this on Supercard of Honor. Then again it would make more sense to drop these titles altogether, but that isn’t likely to happen. It gives Cage something to do though and that at least keeps him from being on Dynamite.

Post match the Embassy beats up Castle and the Boys again until Blake Christian/Metalik/AR Fox make the save. They hold up the titles, because forming together, setting up another match, and then going after the titles in the span of 45 minutes is perfectly normal pacing.

Trish Adora vs. Madison Rayne

They lock up to start, with Madison climbing the ropes and spinning her way out to take Adora down. Adora blocks a crucifix bomb and uses the power to take over. The Lariat Tubman is blocked though and Rayne plants her with a DDT. Rayne is right back with a cutter for two and the crucifix bomb gets two more. Back up and the Lariat Tubman finishes Rayne at 5:19.

Rating: C. Again they didn’t have much time but pushing Adora as a star is far from a bad idea. She’s got the charisma and abilities in the ring to make a go of something so let her see what she can do. If the division is going to work this time, it needs to make some new stars. Adora is a very interesting place to start.

Top Flight isn’t done with the Kingdom so next week, Darius is ready to take out Matt Taven.

Outrunners vs. Christopher Daniels/Matt Sydal

Truth Magnum jumps Sydal to start and Daniels gets planted. Daniels slips away though and brings in Sydal to kick away. A suplex gives Sydal two and everything breaks down. Turbo Floyd is sent outside and the Angel’s Wings into the Lightning Spiral finishes Magnum at 2:42. That worked.

Post match Aussie Open comes out and, after insulting Sydal and Daniels for being old, challenge them to a match. Daniels and Sydal seem in.

Video on Clark Connors challenging Wheeler Yuta for the Pure Title.

Pure Rules Title: Clark Connors vs. Wheeler Yuta

Yuta is defending and they run the ropes to start until Connors tells him to chop away. Yuta pulls him down into a choke and Connors has to use his first rope break. Back up and Connors grabs a brainbuster, only to get pulled into octopus stretch. That’s broken up as Connors falls into the ropes (there’s the second break) so Yuta punches him in the face (not seen). Yuta starts going after the arm by sending him into the corner but Connors comes back with a Pounce.

Another Pounce is blocked though and Yuta scores with his top rope forearm. Back up and Connors flips out of a belly to back and hits a hard spear. Yuta dropkicks him in the arm to break it up and ties the….leg up. Connors has to use his still legal punch for the break but Yuta punches him back (both are warned, meaning another punch results in a DQ). That’s fine with Connors, who grabs the ankle lock to make Yuta burn a rope break. Yuta ties up the arm with something like a Crossface before switching into the Seatbelt to retain at 9:57.

Rating: B-. Yuta cheating is working for the title and Connors was a nice safe title defense for him. Connors isn’t the biggest guy but dang that Pounce and spear looked good. With this out of the way though, Yuta is going to need a bigger name to come after the belt, or at least someone who doesn’t feel like they were drawn out of a hat.

Post match Yuta brags about his win and calls out Katsuyori Shibata for a title match to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. As usual, the show was good and the wrestling isn’t the problem. Even the run time isn’t the problem (still under two hours, which is about as long as a show like this can reasonably go), but rather how much stuff is crammed in here. On this show, you had one story involving a tag match, the losers of that match wanting a six man, the winners finding a partner, the match being made and the winners wanting the Six Man Tag Team Titles. That sounds like about a month of one story and it took place in less than an hour and twenty minutes of one show.

I’m aware that they have a pay per view in a few weeks, but starting the build almost from scratch with about five weeks to go is turning the build into a train wreck. Things are being rushed together as fast as they can and very little is sticking in any way. It will likely get better after Supercard, but this show still feels like they’re racing to cover as much as they can as fast as they can instead of putting on a well polished product.

Results
Claudio Castagnoli b. Willie Mack – Running uppercut
Dante Martin b. Mike Bennett – Spinning half nelson slam
Blake Christian/Metalik b. Trustbusters – Michinoku Driver to Slim J
Eddie Kingston b. Jeeves Kay – Stretch Plum
Athena b. Hyan – Crossface
Silas Young b. Marcus Kross – Pee Gee Waja Plunge
The Embassy b. Dalton Castle/The Boys – Double pin
Trish Adora b. Madison Rayne – Lariat Tubman
Matt Sydal/Christopher Daniels b. Outrunners – Lightning Spiral to Magnum
Wheeler Yuta b. Clark Connors – Seatbelt

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Ring Of Honor
Date: March 9, 2023
Location: Universal Studios, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

We’re still on the first taping of this new show so things are likely to look like they did last week. The wrestling itself was pretty good, but the length of the show was quite the drag. They did offer something big at the end with Eddie Kingston showing up to challenge Claudio Castagnoli, so there is at least a path forward in the main event. Let’s get to it.

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

TV Title: Samoa Joe vs. Tony Deppen

Joe is defending and works on the wrist to start. For some reason Deppen strikes away, earning himself a beating in the corner. Deppen fights back though and hits a running corner dropkick. A knee gives Deppen two more but Joe Rock Bottoms him out of the corner. Joe blasts him with a clothesline though and the MuscleBuster retains the title at 5:26.

Rating: C+. Deppen was trying and they had the action going, but Joe isn’t about to lose to someone who has only made infrequent appearances in his first defense on this show. Joe doesn’t really need to get built up in Ring of Honor again but breaking a bit of a sweat against a former champion is a good thing. Now just get Joe a more serious challenger and we could be getting somewhere.

Post match Joe says that he always runs this place no matter what happens around here. If anyone wants a title shot, come see the champ. Cue Mark Briscoe (good call) to say that title is his destiny, with Joe saying bring it.

Dalton Castle and the Boys want the Six Man Tag Team Titles back. They’ve been moving furniture all weekend and want to face the Embassy. Castle: “Show them your teeth boys!” I have no idea why the Six Man Titles need to exist.

Dalton Castle/The Boys vs. Marcus Kross/Cody Chhun/Guillermo Rosas

Chhun and Rosas are collectively known as C4. Castle and Cross poke each other in the chest to start, with Castle actually being knocked to the floor. The Boys fan him up before one…puts him in a full nelson and the other hits him in the stomach? I guess that is training of some sort as Castle goes back inside to wrestle Rosas down.

Brent comes in for a dropkick (the fans approve) and it’s time to go after Rosas’ knee. Rosas drives him into the corner though and it’s Chhun coming in for a dropkick into a suplex. Brent enziguris Kross though and Castle comes back in to start the house cleaning. Everything breaks down and the Boys are thrown outside for the crashes (that’s always cool). Back in and the Bang A Rang finishes Rosas at 5:30.

Rating: C. Just a squash here with Castle and the Boys proving that they are ready for the Six Man Tag Team Title shot. I’m not sure who else would get the shot, but the idea of throwing three people with little in common together would not be out of the question. Castle and the Boys are a fun team and crowd favorites, so this was a smart addition to the show.

Maria Kanellis introduces the OGK (Matt Taven/Mike Bennett) who say they’re coming for the Tag Team Titles. Maria: “We are the OGK but you can call us the Kingdom.” Or you could just pick one, preferably the Kingdom.

Angelico/Serpentico vs. Rush/Dralistico

Luther is here with Angelico/Serpentico, collectively known as the Spanish Announce Project and Jose the Assistant is with Rush/Dralistico. Rush isn’t interested in a handshake with Angelico as we are officially ready to go. They trade legsweeps into covers for no counts and it’s an early standoff.

Serpentico comes in to chop away at Rush for no avail before Dralistico comes in to take him down. Rush’s running splash in the corner sets up a pair of basement dropkicks to send Serpentico outside as the beating is on. The means a big flip dive from Dralistico and the Tranquilo pose from Rush. Angelico gets whipped with an electrical cord on the floor and Serpentico is draped over the top rope for a legdrop in a painful looking crash.

The double teaming continues until Rush accidentally knocks Dralistico off the apron. Serpentico gets knocked out of the air but Angelico breaks up the Bull’s Horns. With Angelico knocked outside, Dralistico hits a springboard spinning Canadian Destroyer to finish Serpentico at 9:16.

Rating: C. That was a pretty long squash as Dralistico and Rush were never in any real danger. They could wind up being a solid team around here as Rush has the World Title credentials and Dralistico looked good in a bit of a showcase here. Angelico and Serpentico did well as cannon fodder, but that’s all they were.

Post match Dralistico and Rush take Serpentico’s mask.

Trish Adora vs. Billie Starkz

Starkz is an 18 year old prodigy. Adora works on the arm to start and powers Starkz down without much trouble. Starkz gets knocked outside and dropped onto the apron before Adora la majistrals her for two back inside. A delayed bridging German suplex gets two and Adora grabs Cattle Mutilation, with Starkz having to go to the ropes. Starkz gets in a kick to the face but walks into a pump kick for two. They trade running shots to the face and then the big forearms until Starkz lands another kick. That doesn’t seem to matter as the Lariat Tubman (what a great name) finishes for Adora at 5:41.

Rating: C+. This was another near squash as Starkz only got in a few shots while Adora was running her over for the most part. Adora is someone who felt like she was ready to become a breakout star in the original Ring Of Honor, but the women’s division wasn’t nearly strong enough to make that work. The dominance was on strong here and it was already better than most of what Ring Of Honor’s women did in the past.

Christopher Daniels talks about his success around here and wants to win the Tag Team Titles with his new partner….Matt Sydal. Cue Sydal, who is willing to die flying or die trying. That feels like a “we have nothing else for these two to do” and that isn’t a bad thing.

Jake Crist/Jake Manning vs. Trustbusters

Yes the Trustbusters (with Mark Sterling) are back and no I don’t get it either. Manning is the Man Scout, which is like a Boy Scout but….I think you get the idea. Daivari throws Manning’s scout manual (which he reads during matches) outside and brings Manning into the corner for the tag off to Slim J. The Trustbusters start the alternating beatdowns but it’s off to Crist for a springboard forearm. Manning comes back in to hammer on Daivari but J gets in a cheap shot from the apron. The STF makes Manning tap at 2:55. At least it was short.

Post match Ari Daivari brags about beating Metalik on his own last week but Metalik runs in. That earns him a beatdown of his own but Blake Christian makes the save.

Pure Title: Wheeler Yuta vs. Timothy Thatcher

Yuta is defending and has to use a rope break to escape the Fujiwara armbar less than ten seconds in. They fight over arm control on the mat with Thatcher taking over and slamming the fingers into the mat for two. Yuta reverses into an Octopus and Thatcher has to use his first rope break as well. The armbar keeps Thatcher down and a middle rope flying armbar makes it worse.

Back up and Thatcher manages a belly to belly but Yuta is right back with another armbar. Thatcher’s second rope break gets him out of trouble so they trade uppercuts for a change. Thatcher uppercuts him into the corner but gets punched off the ropes, earning an official warning (one more punch and he’s disqualified).

Another armbar sends Thatcher to the rope again and this time he pulls Yuta into the keylock, sending him to the ropes as well. A belly to back gives Thatcher two and he knees away at Yuta’s back, sending him to the ropes for the final break. So now holds and pins in the ropes are legal so Thatcher stomps him to the floor. With the referee holding Thatcher back, Yuta hits him in the face again and slaps on an armbar in the ropes to retain at 12:40.

Rating: B-. This match stood out as it had the talent, the intensity and the different feeling from everything else on the show. Thatcher was doing more stuff here but Yuta cheated just enough to retain the title. The Pure Title isn’t the best thing going in Ring Of Honor but Yuta does well enough to make it work. Giving him an opponent like Thatcher was a guaranteed hit and they delivered.

Post match Yuta complains about the LA Dojo so here is Clark Connors to say the Blackpool Combat Club wished they trained under Katsuyori Shibata (the Dojo’s head trainer). Connors issues the challenge for a title match next week and Yuta is in.

Aussie Open vs. Tracy Williams/Rhett Titus

Titus wrestles Fletcher to the mat to start and it’s Williams coming in to scare Fletcher over for the tag to Davis. A few shots to Davis’ arm seem to wake him up enough to kick Titus in the face and the Aussies take over. Fletcher comes in for a rather delayed suplex, which he passes over to Davis for the actual drop on Titus. A missed charge lets Titus roll over Davis and bring in Williams to clean house.

The piledriver is blocked but everything breaks down, with the Aussies being sent outside. That’s fine with them, as they pick up Titus and Williams for a hard ram together. Back in and Williams gets planted to give Fletcher two but Williams is fine enough to pull Davis into a Crossface.

Titus adds a half crab on Fletcher at the same time but the Aussies go to the ropes to escape. There’s a belly to belly to drop Fletcher and a lariat gets two, with Davis having to make the save. Williams adds a top rope splash for two on Fletcher but he’s back with a spinning Tombstone. Davis pulls Titus from the mat up into a piledriver (that was awesome) and the Coriolis finishes Williams at 10:22.

Rating: B. Now this was a fun one as they cranked up the intensity here with one hot sequence after another. The Aussies needed a win and putting them over some former Ring Of Honor champions worked well. Williams always felt like someone who could move up to the next level and Titus seems to get better every time he’s out there. Very energized match and I had a lot of fun with it.

Respect is shown post match, but the Aussies don’t seem to mean it.

Eddie Kingston vs. Ben Dejo

Suplex and spinning Backfist To The Future finish for Kingston at 40 seconds.

Post match Kingston calls out Claudio Castagnoli to answer his challenge. Cue Castagnoli to say a man without honor will never be champion. Castagnoli leaves and we see Kingston giving chase backstage.

Willow Nightingale isn’t just here to be happy because she wants Athena’s Women’s Title.

Athena isn’t worried about Nightingale and the title isn’t going anywhere.

Women’s Title: Athena vs. Willow Nightingale

Nightingale is challenging and I would have bet on this one taking place at Supercard Of Honor. They fight over wrist control to start with Athena throwing her down and posing. Nightingale is back with a running crossbody for two and Two Amigos into a fisherman’s suplex. Athena gets sent to the apron, where she snaps the arm over the ropes, allowing her to kick Nightingale down.

More kicks let Athena pose again and we hit the seated armbar. They trade rollups for two each until Athena hammers her down. The running baseball slide sends Willow outside, where Athena sends her face first into the steps. Willow’s arm gets crushed in the steps but she still beats the count back in. the running hurricanrana is countered into an apron bomb though and a Death Valley Driver plants Athena on the floor.

Both of them make it back in at 18 (out of 20) and a spinebuster gives Nightingale two. The arm gives out on the doctor bomb though and Athena grabs a crossface. Make that the Fujiwara armbar, which Willow reverses into a rollup for two. Athena plants her for two more and the kickout leaves her panicking. The Pounce sends Athena flying and the doctor bomb gets two more. Athena bails up the ramp, where she grabs a Wasteland to knock Willow silly. Back in and the O Face retains the title at 14:47.

Rating: B. This was a heck of a match and the fans were way into it rather quickly, as Willow is as likable as you can get and Athena is starting to feel it as a villain. They had me thinking they might change the title here and maybe that is what they should have done. I’m not sure why Willow got the shot here and lost, as she could be built up as a potential new star in the division, including as the champion. Also, why not wait to do this at Supercard? Unless they’re running this back, I don’t know how much sense it made here, even as a rather good main event.

Post match Athena sends her arm first into the steps.

Overall Rating: B. Much better show this week as it was a bit shorter (about 15 minutes) and they kept things moving. The action was better as well, with a mixture of different kinds of things up and down the card. Three title matches is a bit much, but the TV Title defense was hardly a big deal.

The show is still too long though and that is going to get them in trouble when the matches aren’t as good. It’s ok to spread this stuff out a bit, but that has long, long since been one of the major problems with Tony Khan’s booking style. For now though, it’s an upgrade over last week, but I’m curious about how the second taping will go.

Results
Samoa Joe b. Tony Deppen – MuscleBuster
Dalton Castle/The Boys b. Marcus Kross/Cody Chhun/Guillermo Rosas – Bang A Rang to Rosas
Rush/Dralistico b. Angelico/Serpentico – Springboard spinning Canadian Destroyer to Serpentico
Trish Adora b. Billie Starkz – Lariat Tubman
Trustbusters b. Jake Manning/Jake Crist – STF to Manning
Wheeler Yuta b. Timothy Thatcher – Armbar in the ropes
Aussie Open b. Tracy Williams/Rhett Titus – Coriolis to Williams
Eddie Kingston b. Ben Dejo – Spinning Backfist To The Future

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Final Battle 2022
Date: December 10, 2022
Location: College Park Center, Arlington, Texas
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

It’s the third or so Ring Of Honor event of the year, assuming you don’t count a good chunk of the Rampages from earlier this year. The main event of the show is (probably) Chris Jericho defending the Ring Of Honor World Title against Claudio Castagnoli, with a bonus feature of FTR vs. the Briscoes in a dog collar match for FTR’s Tag Team Titles. Let’s get to it.

Zero Hour: Mascara Dorada vs. Jeff Cobb

Dorada (better known as Gran Metalik) gets nowhere off a shoulder so a springboard flip is enough to put Cobb on the floor. The dive is pulled out of the air though and Cobb posts him hard to take over. Back in and Cobb stands on his back for a surfing pose, followed by a heck of a shot to the face for two. Cobb misses a charge into the corner though and Dorada sends him outside again, this time for the big flip dive.

Back in again and a rope walk senton gives Dorada two but Cobb knocks him out of the air. A standing moonsault gives Cobb two but Tour of the Islands is countered into a rollup for two on Cobb. Dorada puts him on top for a rope walk bulldog and a near fall of his own, only to get blasted in the back of the head. Tour of the Islands finishes Dorada at 7:04.

Rating: C+. Cobb is a total wrecking ball and he did wrecking ball style things here. They went with the power vs. speed formula and that is something that will work every single time. It’s a fine choice for an opener to get the fans going, though it doesn’t exactly mean much if Cobb isn’t going to be around more than once every few months.

Shinobi Shadow Squad vs. Jericho Appreciation Society

This would be Cheeseburger/Eli Isom vs. Matt Menard/Angelo Parker. Isom and Parker shake hands for a good while to start, trade armdrags, and then shake hands again. Cheeseburger comes in and gets to do the TOO SLOW thing when Parker offers the handshake. Parker insists but then gets his kick to the ribs cut off. It’s off to Menard for a backbreaker with Parker adding a running knee to the head for two as the villains take over.

Parker gets in a Garvin Stomp as the fans want Burger to go. A step up elbow to the back rocks Cheeseburger again but he avoids a charge and brings Isom in to clean house. Everything breaks down and Cheeseburger’s Shotei palm strike doesn’t get the chance to launch. With Cheeseburger outside, a double inverted DDT finishes Isom at 5:54.

Rating: C. Another perfectly watchable match which could have been on any given Rampage. Isom was starting to put something together before Ring Of Honor went on hiatus and it’s a bit sad to see him losing to a pair of comedy goofs. Still though, the Society is far bigger right now and it makes sense for them to get a win like this.

Zero Hour: Willow Nightingale vs. Trish Adora

The fans like Nightingale as she takes Adora down, only to get reversed into a headscissors. That’s reversed into a headscissors from Nightingale, apparently the favorite of both commentators’ wives. Back up and Nightingale sends her into the corner for some running hip attacks, only to have Adora come back with a northern lights suplex.

Adora scores with an enziguri and they both slowly pull themselves up. Nightingale hits some hard chops and a middle rope dropkick gets two on Adora. A powerbomb is loaded up but Adora lifts her up and bends it into a failed submission attempt (that was cool). Back up and Nightingale hits a heck of a Pounce, setting up a Doctor Bomb to finish Adora at 6:15.

Rating: C. I know it’s said a lot but Nightingale is so bubbly and fun to watch every time that it is hard to ignore her anytime she is in the ring. That was the case here, against someone as talented as Adora. Nice enough, hard hitting match here and the fans are always going to be into someone with Nightingale’s charisma.

Zero Hour: The Kingdom vs. Top Flight

Maria Kanellis is here with the Kingdom. Dante sends Bennett into the corner to start and it’s off to Taven rather quickly. That doesn’t exactly go well as Dante gets sent outside, with Bennett hitting a bouncing clothesline to take over again. Back in and Dante drives Bennett into the corner, allowing Darius to hit a kick to the head.

Bennett is fine enough to suplex Darius for two as we slow right back down. A Kimura has Darius in even more trouble but he flips his way out for the escape. Darius slugs away to fire up the crowd, which is cut off with a poke to the eye. A quick Spanish Fly gets Darius out of trouble though and the hot tag brings in Dante to clean house.

Everything breaks down and Bennett Death Valley Drivers Dante, setting up Just The Tip for two. Darius hits a big dive onto Bennett but Taven Flight of the Conquerors both of them down. Dante…slips on his attempt at a dive so Maria yells a lot, earning herself an ejection. Back in and the Hail Mary is broken up, allowing Top Flight to hit a powerbomb/Nose Dive combination for the pin at 11:13.

Rating: B-. Best match of Zero Hour, with Taven’s dives continuing to look good, but not being quite as smooth as Top Flight. Yeah Dante slipped once in there but that’s a bit understandable when you are flying around like a crazy person like that. Good stuff here, and it’s nice to see Top Flight A, winning and B, healthy for once.

On to the show proper.

AR Fox/Blake Christian vs. La Faccion Ingobernable

That would be Rush/Dralistico (his debuting brother). Christian and Dralistico start things off with an exchange of flips before Dralistico punches him down for offering a handshake. Rush comes in to forearm Fox and everything breaks down fast. La Faccion takes it outside and sends them into the barricade over and over for some pain. Back in and La Faccion beats on Christian, even taking turns on him for a change.

Christian finally gets away from a charge and brings Fox in to pick up the pace. That means some running flip dives to take out La Faccion on the floor. Rush is fine enough to send Christian into the barricade, setting up Dralistico’s dive to take them both out. Back in and Lo Mein Pain sets up the middle rope flip DDT to Dralistico. Fox adds a 450 for the pin at 10:32, though everyone seems surprised at the ending.

Rating: C+. That ending didn’t do the match any favors but there is only so much that can be done here. La Faccion losing didn’t feel like the original plan and it doesn’t make the most sense, so maybe we can write some of this one off. It’s cool to see Fox on a show like this though, as he has certainly earned the spot.

Post match La Faccion wrecks Fox and Christian to blow off some steam.

Video on Mercedes Martinez defending the Women’s Title against Athena. Martinez returned from an injury to deal with the bully Athena, meaning it’s time for a title match.

Women’s Title: Mercedes Martinez vs. Athena

Martinez is defending and takes her into the corner for some early forearms to the head. Athena gets fired up and hammers Martinez down, including a backhand to the jaw. Back up and Martinez hits a spinebuster (the fans do not approve) to start the rather early comeback. That doesn’t last long as Athena shoves her off, setting up a basement superkick for two.

Martinez is right back up with some suplexes into a brainbuster for two more. A Prism Trap is broken up though and Athena plants her hard on the apron. They head outside with Athena missing some running knees into the barricade so Martinez can grab a hanging neckbreaker off the barricade. Back in and the Brass City Sleeper is broken up so Athena gets to pull the turnbuckle pad off. A shotgun dropkick sends Martinez into the exposed buckle and the O Face gives Athena the pin and the title at 12:55.

Rating: C. That was the only way to go, as Martinez has been away for a long time but while Athena is in the middle of a rather nice heel turn. Also, Athena had to win something outside of NXT at some point to make her feel more important and this is as good as anything else. Decent match, but the right call is much more important.

Shane Taylor isn’t happy with Keith Lee forgetting him so let’s have a tag team grudge match.

Shane Taylor Promotions vs. Swerve In Our Glory

That would be Shane Taylor/JD Griffey vs. Swerve Strickland/Keith Lee. Swerve and Griffey grapple into the corner to start with Griffey taking him down for a choke. With that broken up, Lee comes in, earning a serenade from the crowd. Lee shoves Griffey around and the fans want Shane. That is what they get, but Swerve tags himself right back in to cut the fans off again. The villains (I think?) take over on Swerve and Taylor hits a huge apron legdrop to crush him hard.

Swerve is fine enough to get over for the tag to Lee and NOW we get the showdown. They forearm it out with Taylor getting the better of things, only to have Lee pull him out of the air. Taylor is sent outside and Lee hits Griffey in the face, only to have him counter the powerbomb/Swerve Stomp combination. Griffey sends Lee outside but Lee pulls the dive out of the air. Swerve yells at Lee for not crushing him, leaving Taylor to catch Swerve in a hanging Stunner for two.

Back in and Griffey hits a brainbuster onto the knee, setting up a triangle choke. Lee looks at them but goes over to just Taylor instead of making the save. With that taken care of, Lee moonsaults onto Griffey for the save and it’s back to Lee vs. Taylor. Actually make that a double slugout, with Lee accidentally forearming the heck out of Swerve. Taylor muscles Lee up for Welcome To The Land. Lee glares up at Taylor…who Griffey accidentally kicks in the head. A quick Big Bang Catastrophe gives Lee the pin on Griffey at 13:35.

Rating: B-. This had a bigger match feel and the Lee vs. Taylor section came off like a showdown. It also had me wondering why we needed Griffey and Swerve in there, but that is more about this being an AEW story than an ROH story. We can get to that showdown later, but for now it was a good match with kind of a weird ending.

We recap the Six Man Tag Team Titles. Dalton Castle and Boys have the titles and the Embassy want them.

Six Man Tag Team Titles: The Embassy vs. Dalton Castle/The Boys

The Embassy (Brian Cage/Gates of Agony, with Prince Nana) is challenging. Castle and Kaun start things off but hold on as Castle needs to run around ringside for a bit. Back in and the Boys trip Cage up to take over. Toa comes in so Castle sends him outside, where the stereo dives are pulled out of the air.

We settle down to Brandon getting caught in the wrong corner so the villains can start taking turns on him. A big toss sends Brandon flying but he’s able to DDT his way to freedom. Castle comes in and starts cleaning house, including a variety of suplexes. It’s back to Brent, who gets pulled out of the air, allowing Toa to Samoan drop both Boys at once, because that’s a thing.

Brent slugs his way out of trouble though and Cage/Kaun clothesline each other by mistake. Everything breaks down and Cage Drill Claws Brent, only to have Castle make a save. Nana offers a distraction though and Toa drives Brent into Castle. Brent gets tossed into a sitout powerbomb from Cage for the pin and the titles at 10:06.

Rating: C+. This is exactly what it should have been as there is no need for Castle and the Boys to have the titles (which don’t exactly need to exist in the first place). Castle is ready to be a breakout singles star (as he has been for a long time now) and the Embassy needed to win something so they wouldn’t come off as even bigger losers. Good enough match with the absolute right result.

Video on Daniel Garcia defending the Pure Title against Wheeler Yuta. Garcia took the title from Yuta recently and it’s time for the rematch.

Top Flight is ready to go but the Jericho Appreciation Society interrupts, setting up a brawl. The four of them come into the arena with Dante hitting a big flip dive. With Top Flight cleared out, Angelo Parker asks why Ring Of Honor died if it was so great. There were too many flippy guys like Top Flight, so it’s going to take Chris Jericho to save it. Menard asks if we know what makes his nipples hard before pulling out Jake Hager’s hat. They promise a clean sweep but Wheeler Yuta cuts them off.

Pure Title: Wheeler Yuta vs. Daniel Garcia

Garcia is defending under Pure Rules. Feeling out process to start before they slug it out with forearms. They’re on the floor fast with Garcia grabbing a suplex. Garcia sends him hard into the post, with commentary making comparisons to Randy Savage crushing Ricky Steamboat’s throat. With Trent Seven watching from the crowd, Yuta is thrown back inside, where he has to use his first (of three) rope break.

A surfboard in the ropes forces Yuta to use another break so Garcia grabs a cravate. Garcia ties up the legs for a curb stomp but Yuta is back up with an enziguri. That’s fine with Garcia, who pulls him into a dragon sleeper, sending Yuta to the ropes for the third time. This time Yuta is up with a top rope forearm to the head but Garcia is right back with the Dragonslayer.

Yuta grabs the head to slam it into the mat for the escape and counters another attempt into a small package for two. They slap it out from their knees until Yuta grabs a German suplex. Garcia is back with a piledriver and Yuta is in more trouble. The Dragonslayer goes on again so Yuta pulls himself into the ropes, which brings Garcia down enough for Yuta to pull him outside for a break. Garcia’s piledriver on the apron is blocked, leaving Yuta to hit his own piledriver for two. Yuta knocks him silly with elbows and the referee stops it to give Yuta the title back at 14:51.

Rating: B. These guys know how to do this stuff very well and that was the case again here. They have figured out the style and know how to work it, even with some slightly odd ref decisions on rope breaks. The title is pretty much just between these two, but if they can keep doing this, I think I can live with it. At the same time, it’s amazing how much more tolerable Garcia is without having him be focused on so often.

Post match Garcia hands the title to Yuta before leaving.

We recap FTR vs. the Briscoes. They’ve fought twice before with FTR winning, so let’s do it again in a dog collar match.

Tag Team Titles: FTR vs. Briscoes

FTR is defending in a double dog collar match. They collar up and we’re ready to go with Harwood and Jay fighting to the floor, leaving the other two to fight on the apron. We go split screen with Cash and Mark fighting on the stage as Harwood and Jay break things in the crowd. We’ve already got blood as Harwood and Jay get back inside, with Harwood snapping off some suplexes.

Mark gets choked on the post but is fine enough to go back inside to slug at Harwood (who might be missing a tooth). Jay wraps the chain around his fist to hammer on Harwood as Cash is down on the floor. The fans are split (like Harwood’s forehead) but Wheeler uses the chair to cut Mark off. Jay gets knocked outside so FTR gets to whip Mark for a bit. Back in and Jay gets caught in a Gory Stretch with the chain until Mark makes the save.

A Froggy Bow with the chain gets two on Wheeler, leaving Mark to set up a table and a pile of chairs on the floor. That takes too long though, allowing Harwood to make a save. Back in and Harwood wraps a chain around his head for the middle rope headbutt to knock Jay silly. Harwood accidentally punches the referee though and even he is busted open this time.

With the new referee in, Mark fights off the table at ringside but the Doomsday Device takes too long. That leaves Wheeler to pull Mark off the top and onto the pile of chairs at ringside (GEEZ). Jay is back up with a Jay Driller onto the chain for a VERY close two to Harwood and we keep going. A hard chair shot to the back rocks Harwood again but he’s back up with a piledriver onto the chair for two of his own.

Harwood chops Jay on top but a super piledriver onto the chairs is broken up (thankfully preventing a nasty case of death). Jay superplexes Harwood down onto the chairs for a rather delayed two. With that not working, Jay wraps the chain around Harwood’s face and chokes him out for the titles at 22:20.

Rating: A. If that isn’t the Match of the Year, it’s pretty close. These teams have some of the best chemistry I’ve ever seen and it feels like they can do no wrong no matter what they’re doing. This was an absolute war and I was cringing at the violent spots, which is entirely the point of something like this one. Outstanding match and a different kind of fight from them, with the Briscoes finally leaving with the titles. Watch this if you’re a fan of violence.

Post match the Briscoes leave, allowing the Gunn Club to run in and beat down FTR. The Gunns promise to kill FTR’s legacies but the Briscoes run in for the save. With Harwood on the mat, he promises vengeance on the Gunns, who aren’t scared. Respect is shown, as it should be.

We recap Samoa Joe defending the TV Title against Juice Robinson. Joe has the title, Robinson popped up to say he wanted it, match made.

TV Title: Samoa Joe vs. Juice Robinson

Joe is defending. Feeling out process to start with Joe working on the wrist but getting caught with the snap jabs to the face. They head outside for a chop off, with Joe peeling back the floor mat. Robinson gets caught in the Koquina Clutch, which is broken up with a hard ram into the barricade. Joe is back up with a ram into the barricade of his own and they head back inside, with Joe looking moderately annoyed.

We hit the neck crank for a bit until Robinson fights up, setting off the slugout. Joe kicks him in the chest but Robinson is back up with chops and punches in the corner. That doesn’t last long as Joe powerbombs him into the STF into the Crossface, sending Robinson into the rope. Robinson knocks him back down but gets crotched on top. The MuscleBuster retains the title at 13:01.

Rating: C+. This match was in a rough spot and they made it work anyway. What mattered here was giving the fans a breather after an epic battle and a lot of that was due to Joe’s popularity. Fans know they are getting something special with him and that kept the energy up. Robinson was pretty much a challenger of the week and even then he was quite fine in his spot. Good match here, but making it work after the previous match is more impressive.

We recap Claudio Castagnoli vs. Chris Jericho for the latter’s World Title. Jericho wants to destroy Ring Of Honor and Castagnoli is fighting for it. I think you can get the rest from here.

Ring Of Honor World Title: Chris Jericho vs. Claudio Castagnoli

Jericho is defending and if he wins, Castagnoli has to join the Jericho Appreciation Society. Castagnoli starts fast and they head to the floor, where commentary is wiped out. Back in and the hammer and anvil elbows have Jericho in trouble but he’s right back up. The Judas Effect misses and the Neutralizer gives Castagnoli two as we’re not even two minutes in. They’re back on the floor with Jericho sending him into some hard objects to take over.

Back in and Jericho makes some rude gestures before suplexing Castagnoli down. Castagnoli goes for some elbows but his back is rather banged up. A whip into the corner and a clothesline have Castagnoli in more trouble before Jericho rains down some right hands. The super hurricanrana is blocked for some forearms to Jericho’s chest (Ocho of them in fact!”) but Jericho pulls him down anyway.

Castagnoli’s back is too banged up for the Swing so they head outside again with Castagnoli being whipped into the steps. Back in and the slug it out until a double clothesline puts both of them down. They slug it out again until another Swing is countered into the Walls. Castagnoli slips out and hits an uppercut but here is the Society for a distraction. Jericho gets in a bat shot for two and the Codebreaker cuts Castagnoli off again. Back up and Castagnoli grabs the Swing, with the fans chanting to OCHO again. The Swing keeps going….and Jericho taps while swinging at 16:53. Well that was clever.

Rating: B. There was only so much drama here as it was a little hard to imagine Jericho winning to end the show built around saving the company. Castagnoli winning kind of gets us right back where we were when the Jericho stuff started, but it was a good main event to wrap things up. Jericho can move on to whatever else and Castagnoli can face challengers in awesome matches, which is better for everyone involved.

Commentary praises Tony Khan for saving the company as Castagnoli gets the big celebration to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. This was a show carried by a few matches but one of them carried it a VERY long way. The Ring of Honor TV material is hardly the most thrilling but as usual, it works a lot better when they are able to get in the ring and do everything else. Granted a lot of that is due to the Briscoes and FTR tearing the house down every time, though the rest of the show was certainly good enough. Not a masterpiece and there were some slow spots, but the top stuff was VERY good and that’s all you needed to make this work

Results
Jeff Cobb b. Mascara Dorada – Tour of the Islands
Jericho Appreciation Society b. Shinobi Shadow Squad – Double inverted DDT to Isom
Willow Nightingale b. Trish Adora – Doctor Bomb
Top Flight b. Kingdom – Powerbomb/Nose Dive combination to Bennett
AR Fox/Blake Christian b. La Faccion Ingobernable – 450 to Dralistico
Athena b. Mercedes Martinez – O Face
Swerve In Our Glory b. Swerve In Our Glory – Big Bang Catastrophe to Griffey
The Embassy b. Dalton Castle/The Boys – Powerbomb to Brent
Wheeler Yuta b. Daniel Garcia via referee stoppage
Briscoes b. FTR – Chain choke to Harwood
Samoa Joe b. Juice Robinson – MuscleBuster
Claudio Castagnoli b. Chris Jericho – Giant Swing

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It’s time to wrap up the Ring Of Honor year with its third event, as Final Battle closes us out. As you might expect, this is mainly going to be about AEW stars as Ring Of Honor is less a promotion than a really big and loosely connected angle on AEW TV at the moment. We have a double main event of FTR defending the Tag Team Titles against the Briscoes in a double dog collar match, plus Claudio Castagnoli challenging Chris Jericho for the Ring Of honor World Title. Yeah that should work. Let’s get to it.

Zero Hour: Jericho Appreciation Society vs. Shinobi Shadow Squad

This is one of the several added matches to flesh out the card, or in this case the card that happens before the card. The Squad is one of those teams who pops up all the time in Ring Of Honor but rarely gets to do anything important. In other words, they are perfect to face a pair of goofs like Menard and Parker in a match with absolutely nothing at stake in a spot like this.

In what is probably going to be a trend, I’ll take the AEW guys to win here as the Society gets to do their catchphrases and such and win early. It’s a match that means nothing, but the Society feels like the bigger stars because they have been around more than once in the last few months. That is about all you can ask for here in another match that is added onto the card for the sake of content.

Zero Hour: Jeff Cobb vs. Mascara Dorada

Cobb is a much bigger deal in New Japan these days and Dorada is better known as Gran Metalik. This is another match with no story that has been thrown onto the show, but power vs. speed is the easiest wrestling formula in the world. It’s always fun to watch Cobb throw someone around and Dorada is good enough to put up quite the fight against him if they can have a little time.

As good as Dorada can be, there is no reason to have him go over someone like Cobb, so we’ll go with the logical choice of Cobb winning. Cobb is someone who could be a star in AEW if he was given the chance, but for some reason he only makes an odd appearance in either AEW or ROH. Maybe it is the Japan schedule, but he should be fine to win here in one of those appearances.

Zero Hour: Willow Nightingale vs. Trish Adora

This is an interesting one as you have two women who have a good bit of charisma each. They’re both fun to watch and catch your attention every time they are in the ring so we certainly shouldn’t be having a boring match. Adora is someone better known for her independent stuff, though she was part of ROH’s women’s division (whatever that might be worth).

In another case of “well, one of them works for AEW”, Nightingale gets the win here as she is around a lot more often than Adora. Nightingale is someone who feels like she is ready to break through to the other side and steal the show in a big match, but for now she can beat Adora and use that incredible charm to give the fans a good time. That is more than a lot of people can do and it should work fine here.

Zero Hour: The Kingdom vs. Top Flight

Now this one is interesting as I could see it going either way. The Kingdom showed up a few months ago and promptly disappeared again, because that’s how AEW works for a lot of people. Top Flight is a team that can put on one entertaining match after another, but they haven’t had the time to really establish anything because of injuries. I’m not sure where this one is going and that is a nice feeling.

Since they need the win more, I’ll go with the Kingdom, as they haven’t actually done anything in a long time. Top Flight is a team that already has some fan support and can absorb a loss a bit better, but the Kingdom could go pretty far in Ring Of Honor’s tag division. In other words, it should be a good match, but sweet goodness I’m lost over whose momentum means what where as the whole thing is so all over the place.

Swerve In Our Glory vs. Shane Taylor Promotions

This was set up on Dynamite as Shane Taylor made a surprise appearance to confront his old partner Keith Lee. Instead of setting up what should have been a pretty easy single match, we’re treated to this instead, as we tie it into the AEW story. That isn’t a bad idea, but it seems like Lee vs. Taylor would be a more logical way to go, as Taylor’s partner (JD Griffey) isn’t exactly a household name in either promotion.

This seems like a good way to introduce Shane Taylor Promotions rather quickly, even if that means Swerve In Our Glory brings the loss on themselves by not being able to get along. We should be in for a nice match either way as a power and speed team like Lee and Strickland can do well against anyone, even a mostly unknown entity like Griffey. Just get to Taylor vs. Lee eventually though and this should work out.

TV Title: Samoa Joe(c) vs. Juice Robinson

The build for this one is more or less non-existent as Joe has been feuding with Wardlow, even taking the TNT Title from him at Full Gear. Robinson on the other hand just showed up (via pretape) and said he was coming for the title, match made. It’s not the best story and while normally I would say it’s better than nothing, I’m not even sure if there is something to this or not.

Give me Joe to win here, as Robinson shouldn’t be beating someone who has gotten as much focus as Joe in recent weeks. Save for Wardlow interfering and costing Joe the title, this should be Joe beating the talented Robinson after a good match. Joe is building up a list of enemies, but he should at least be able to hold onto both of his titles for a little while longer.

Six Man Tag Team Titles: Dalton Castle/The Boys(c) vs. The Embassy

Yes Ring Of Honor has Six Man Tag Team Titles and yes the Embassy is still supposed to be a thing that matters despite them losing so often. Castle has come off like a star every time he has appeared on AEW TV and the Boys are the perfect compliment to him. It makes sense to put him on a show like this, but anyone against Brian Cage and the Gates of Agony is asking for trouble.

You know what? Change the titles here. The Embassy is the most worthless stable in AEW/ROH but at least they’re around on a somewhat regular basis. Castle and the Boys being champions is the most forgotten detail in the entire promotion right now so get the belts off of them and move on to Castle getting to be a solo act with the Boys as his backup. It makes more sense, even if these titles have all the value of an expired coupon for free soup.

Blake Christian/AR Fox vs. La Faccion Ingobernable

This is the match I’ll point to if the show runs long and it just so happens to interfere with NXT. There is no reason for this match to exist, let alone be on the main card, yet here we are as Christian and Fox face Rush and his brother Dralistico (making his debut in either ROH or AEW). Now we’re getting what should be a one sided match, but you never can tell with something like this.

I’ll take La Faccion to win here, as they’re facing Christian and Fox in a match that feels like it belongs on Rampage at best. Rush is someone that has been pushed over and over and maybe this is the spot where he finally starts to click. Other than that you have Fox, who has a lot of talent but needs to actually win something around here. That won’t be the case here, but maybe it can happen somewhere. La Faccion wins here.

Women’s Title: Mercedes Martinez(c) vs. Athena

This match has actually gotten a bit of build, as Athena has turned into quite the bully as of late. Martinez doesn’t seem to like that so now it’s time to fight. Martinez has not been around over the last few months but once she is actually in the ring, things get a lot better rather quickly. The question now is how well that will work with Athena so maybe they have something here.

I’ll go with Athena to win the title, as there is no need to keep the title on Martinez. She is very talented but already has a great reputation. Let Athena win something to establish herself a bit better and then build up a star to take the title from her. That’s the kind of thing that should work well, assuming Athena is actually allowed to win something outside of NXT for a change.

Pure Title: Daniel Garcia(c) vs. Wheeler Yuta

Man Garcia certainly seems to have cooled off a lot in recent weeks, as he was the focal point of multiple shows and now is just kind of there. That being said, if there is ever a way for him to shine, it is by being in a Pure Rules match against someone like Yuta, who can easily hang with him. This should be good if they are given some time, which tends to be the case in a Pure Rules match.

I have long since stopped trying to figure out the thinking behind either of these two so I’ll say Yuta wins, more or less on a coin flip. The Blackpool Combat Club needs a win after everything that happened with William Regal so maybe this is the place where they get something back. Garcia winning wouldn’t surprise me either, but I’ll go with a new champion here.

Tag Team Titles: FTR(c) vs. Briscoes

This is a double dog collar match, as it does seem like the Briscoes vs. FTR is thrown into every major ROH show to pick up the interest. That seems to be the case here and yeah, that’s not a bad idea whatsoever. These teams can do amazing things with each other and have done so throughout all of their matches so far. Now just let them get crazy violent for a change.

I’ll go with FTR winning here, even if the Briscoes need to beat these guys at some point. That being said, the idea of FTR losing one of their titles probably means a big drop off for them as their entire deal is holding all three titles. I’m thinking they’ll keep the titles for now, though a title change wouldn’t surprise me. Either way, this is probably going to be another classic, which isn’t even a surprise here.

Ring Of Honor World Title: Chris Jericho(c) vs. Claudio Castagnoli

So here we go. After two and a half months of Jericho being treated as the greatest thing ever in Ring Of Honor and having him run through one former champion after another, this should be the time where he finally gets what is coming to him. Jericho needs someone to take the title from him and Castagnoli being that man is as good of an option not named Bryan Danielson that they have available.

In case it isn’t clear, Castagnoli wins here, putting things right back where they were before the Jericho reign began. The Ring Of Honor World Title still has some value to it and the Jericho story has been the best thing from the entire ROH universe in AEW. Now give us the big feel good moment to end the show (assuming the dog collar match doesn’t headline) and let everything be done.

Overall Thoughts

This show hasn’t been built well and some of the matches (especially Zero Hour) have been thrown together with little or no story. You kind of have to expect that when there is n TV show, but now they need to execute. Most of the matches, especially the two on top, should go very well, but it’s still a bit hard to get fired up over a bunch of stuff that has been put together either off camera or at the last minute. Either way, we should be in for at least a mostly good show, as tends to be the case with Ring Of Honor.

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Bangerz Only
Date: April 2, 2022
Location: Fair Park, Dallas, Texas
Commentators: Denise Salcedo, Sam Leterna, Veda Scott

This is from Mission Pro Wrestling, an all women’s promotion owned by AEW Thunder Rosa, from over Wrestlemania weekend. That means we should be in for a fun show which likely includes a fair few guest stars. I have no idea what to expect from this show and that is a nice feeling, as it could be a little bit of anything. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Shazza McKenzie vs. Janai Kai

Kai has been on AEW before. They go with the mat grappling to start as Scott can’t remember if she turned on McKenzie when they were teaming together or not (she did). The grapple off goes to Kai, who takes her to the mat for some kicks to the mat. Back up and McKenzie strikes away as well before kicking her in the face. Kai is right back with some kicks of her own to strike McKenzie down as commentary rapid fires what these two have been doing lately.

Something like a seated dragon sleeper has McKenzie in trouble until she fights up for stereo kicks and a double knockdown. McKenzie hits some running knees to the back and ties her in the ropes for kicks to the chest. Back in and Kai sweeps the leg for two but gets caught in the Shamission (seated crossface chickenwing), only to grab the rope. Kai is right back up with a spinning kick to the face for the pin at 8:42.

Rating: C+. This was a fast paced opener and it seems that they are going to be focusing on a lot of striking and submission stuff, making this in fact a modern independent style show. McKenzie has been around for a good while and I’ve seen some of Kai, so this wasn’t exactly a surprise. Good enough here, though I don’t know if it was quite a BANGER(Z).

Allie Katch vs. JP Harlow

So Harlow, with Ayla Fox (evil manager/agent), is a man and therefore a major heel around here. Katch goes after the arm to start and headlock takeovers him down. Ayla grabs a trip from the floor though and it’s enough for Harlow to kick the rope low to takeover. Corner stomping keeps Katch down but Harlow misses a charge, only to backdrop his way out of trouble.

A Death Valley Driver gets two more and it’s time to stand on Katch’s hair. Ayla gets in some choking from the floor but Katch is fine enough to jawbreak her way to freedom. The running hip attack in the corner sets up a Cannonball for two on Harlow but he’s right back with a DDT out of the corner. Back up and Harlow almost runs into an interfering Ayla, allowing Katch to grab a piledriver for the pin at 8:21.

Rating: C. Katch is someone who has been around this circuit for a long time and she does have the abilities to stay interesting in most of the matches I’ve seen from her. Harlow being around was more than a little weird but it does make for a good heel. Giving the fans something to cheer about is a good way to go as they’re continuing with the nice start.

La Rosa Negra vs. Jody Threat

Rosa is rather bubbly and dances to the ring. They go to the mat to start with Rosa rolling her up for two as we hear about Threat eating Big Macs and working out. Rosa’s headscissors keeps Threat in trouble but she reverses into a cross armbreaker, sending Rosa to the ropes. Rosa is right back with her own cross armbreaker, sending Threat to the ropes for her own break.

Threat is sent to the apron and manages to kick Rosa in the face to take over again. Back up and Rosa has to fight out of the corner before elbowing Threat down. An airplane spin and big kick to the head gives Rosa two, followed by a high crossbody for the same. Rosa knocks her to the floor for a suicide dive, then does it again for a bonus.

Threat elbows her way out of a fireman’s carry and hits a running flip attack off the apron. They both beat the count back in and slug it out until Threat’s neckbreaker gets two. Some kicks to Rosa’s face into a German suplex gives Threat two more but Rosa kicks her down. The frog splash connects but Threat rolls her up for the pin at 16:33.

Rating: C. This got a lot more time than the other matches so far and while it turned into a slugfest, a lot of it felt like two people just doing moves to each other until one of them got a pin. There wasn’t anything resembling a story or a flow to it and commentary’s main contribution was to say “that’s why they call Rosa” something in Spanish without actually saying what that means. Good power brawl, but it needed a lot of work.

The ring announcer thanks the fans for helping the show.

Bougie Reality vs. Bionic Kingdom

That would be Madi Wrenkowski/Rache Chanel vs. Jennacide/KiLynn King, some of whom you might know from AEW. Bionic King get guitared to the ring for a nice touch. King and Madi start things off with an exchange of shoulders going nowhere. The bigger King runs Madi over and it’s off to Chanel for a change. Chanel gets taken into the corner so Jennacide can chop away as everything breaks down.

Reality is whipped into each other and stereo facebusters give King an early two. Back up and Reality manages to get them both into the ropes, meaning laughing/choking can ensue. We settle down to Madi working on King’s leg in the corner and we hit the leglock. King fights up and hits some knees but hurts herself in the process, meaning Reality keeps her down in the corner.

A World’s Strongest Slam gets King out of trouble and there’s the much needed tag to Jennacide. Everything breaks down and something like an F5 gets two on Madi. A backbreaker plants Madi but she rakes the eyes to get out of an electric chair. Back up and a Codebreaker into a scissors kick Stomp (the Reality Check) finishes Jennacide at 11:25.

Rating: B-. I liked this one as you could tell a bit more of a story out of the whole thing. Both teams felt like people who had worked together before and they had a nice match at the same time. King and Chanel have both worked on bigger stages and it is easy to see that they are above a lot of the talent on this show. Good match here and the best part of the show so far.

Lindsay Snow vs. Masha Slamovich

Snow is back after a long absence and Slamovich is a monster. They go right to the slugout to start with Snow screaming as she hits a clothesline. Slamovich is sent outside where she kicks Snow in the back a few times before ramming her ribs first into the apron (which may or may not have been due to not being able to pull off an apron bomb). Back in and Snow grabs a kneebar to take over, which is broken up by a rake of the eyes.

Some heavy forearms keep Snow down but she is back up with a DDT for a double knockdown. Snow hits a running knee for two, followed by Slamovich hitting a German suplex for the same. Slamovich kicks her hard in the head for two more and heads up top, where Snow gets in a kick to the head. A MuscleBuster finishes Slamovich at 6:35.

Rating: C+. This was the slugfest match but it just ended all of a sudden. I’m not sure why they went home out of nowhere like that but it did seem like they were wrapping it up. I can go for that with a more physical match like this one but it was still rather quick. Snow is someone I’ve heard of before but never actually seen and she was good enough that I would take another look.

Renegade Twins/Jazmin Allure vs. The Hex/Laynie Luck

The Hex is Allysin Kay/Marti Belle (NWA Women’s Tag Team Champions) while the Renegades (Charlotte/Robyn) are the Mission Pro Wrestling Tag Team Champions. They talk a lot of trash at each other to start until it’s Kay vs. Robyn to get things going. Kay takes her down into an early chinlock, which is turned into a slugout out the mat. That’s broken up so Kay grabs a rollup for two, with Allure making a save.

Everything breaks down and Luck dives onto the Renegades. Allure comes in and gets Three Amigoed by Belle, setting up some running shots in the corner by the Hex. It’s back to Robyn as everything breaks down again, with Belle getting taken down in the corner for a change. The villains (I think?) take turns stomping away, which sets up a Boston crab/camel clutch/running dropkick combination (didn’t quite get the timing right as the two holds weren’t on at once but it was a cool idea).

Belle gets stomped again but manages to counter a double suplex by sending Robyn’s leg into Charlotte. That’s enough to get over for the hot tag off to Kay to clean house with the expected shots to the face. Kay keeps slugging away despite having Allure on her back before handing it off to Luck. Everything breaks down again as Veda thinks this should just be a tornado tag match. Luck full nelson slams Allure for two and everyone is down. We get a crash off the corner, leaving Allure to faceplant Luck and put her feet on the ropes for the pin at 14:24.

Rating: B-. This was an entertaining match as you can see that the Twins and the Hex both work well together. Allure felt like someone who could be a star down the line so giving her the win was a nice way to go. Throw in some cheating for the finish and I liked what we got here, as everyone was putting in the effort and came off well.

Thunder Rosa vs. Trish Adora

Rosa’s AEW Women’s Title isn’t on the line. They fight over an armbar to start before heading to the mat with neither being able to get anywhere. Adora takes her down with a top wristlock so Rosa bridges off the mat over and over. With that not going anywhere, they’re up for a standoff until Rosa kicks her down for two.

Some elbows to the chest look to set up a Gory Bomb but Adora slips out and chops away. Adora takes her down and cranks on both arms, including some kicks to the back. Rosa is right back up with a Rocking Horse (something like a surfboard but with Rosa standing and swinging Adora back and forth) but since that can’t last long, Adora is back up with a running crossbody.

A Stunner rocks Adora and a sliding dropkick against the ropes gets two. Adora is back with a Samoan drop for two before grabbing Cattle Mutilation of all things. Rosa makes the ropes and grabs a Gory Bomb for two, followed by a DDT for the same. They trade rollups for two each until Rosa grabs….well it looks like the ending of a piledriver with Adora sitting on her head as Rosa cranks on the I think neck to make Adora tap at 16:20.

Rating: B. The ending was weird enough (with commentary saying it was a bit confusing) but they were beating on each other and trading big shots for a long time on the way there. It did feel like a big fight and it was billed as a first time ever showdown so it did live up to the hype, even with the kind of confusing finish.

Mission Pro Wrestling Title: Holidead vs. LuFisto

Holidead is defending and this is No DQ. Holidead starts fast by taking her down and dropping a leg for two. That’s enough for LuFisto to send her to the apron though, setting up a running kick to put the champ on the floor. Some hard kicks drop Holidead and it’s time for the first door to be brought in. Rather than use that though, LuFisto sets up a bunch of chairs on the floor instead.

A suplex onto the chairs doesn’t work as Holidead fights back up and forearms away but misses an apron legdrop. Back in and LuFisto elbows away before loading up the door in the corner. Holidead bites at LuFisto’s head and hits a dive onto…LuFisto and the members of the production crew that had been dragged in.

Back in and a swinging Downward Spiral gives Holidead two, only to be sent into the corner. LuFisto hits a Cannonball into a corner and a suplex through the door for two. Holidead’s Samoan drop onto the chairs for two but she can’t put LuFisto through another door. InHolidead kicks a chair into her head and hits a running spinebuster through the door to retain at 17:36.

Rating: C+. This had me worried about it turning into deathmatch and total garbage stuff but I can live with some chairs and doors. They beat on each other well enough and it turned into a good brawl. I’m not sure if that is enough to warrant it headlining over Rosa vs. Adora, but I get the idea of going with the title match/not the owner. Good enough main event, though I’m not sure why this needed to be No DQ.

Post match Holidead puts over LuFisto and thanks the fans. Mission Pro will continue to put on BANGERS ONLY.

Overall Rating: B. Another good but not blowaway show from the weekend, this time featuring a unique roster. It’s still kind of amazing that women’s wrestling has come far enough to be able to run a full on show like this without having anything that was bad, or really even close to it. There are some solid matches on here and the two hours and twenty plus minutes went by pretty fast. I liked this one and if you’re looking for a women’s promotion, you could certainly find worse.

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

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GCW For The Culture 2022
Date: April 1, 2022
Location: Fair Park, Dallas, Texas
Commentators: AC Mack, Suge D, Faye Jackson, Robert Martyr

This is part of GCW’s annual collection of shows and hopefully this year’s is a bit better than last time. Granted not having the show deep into the night in front of a few dozen fans when everyone was already burned out should help. I’m not sure what to expect from the show and I kind of like it that way. Let’s get to it.

No intro for the show, which is normal for something like this.

The unnamed ring announcer introduces us to commentary and it’s time for the opener.

Impact Wrestling Knockouts Title: Big Swole vs. Tasha Steelz

Steelz is defending and commentary really likes her hair. Swole knocks her down to start and it’s a cutter for an early two. They’re already on the floor with Steelz getting in her first shot and taking it back inside. Steelz hits a running kick to the face for two and hits some suplexes for the same.

Swole (eventually) fights out of a chinlock and gets two off an uppercut. That’s fine with Steelz, who slides between her legs but can’t grab a cutter. Swole hits something like Happy Corbin’s Deep Six for two more and they strike it out until Steelz hits a Stunner. Back up and Dirty Dancing drops Steelz to the floor so Swole throws her back in, only to get caught with a cutter to retain Steelz’s title at 8:02.

Rating: C. Commentary is going to be an annoying factor throughout the show as it seems that they are trying to pop each other rather than focus on the match. That being said, this isn’t a show that needs to be treated as the most serious thing so it’s hardly a match killer. Steelz and Swole are talented but they aren’t exactly ready for a match on their own, meaning this was just ok.

Keita vs. Ju Dizz vs. PB Smooth vs. Michael Oku vs. Carlie Bravo vs. Andino vs. Trey Shaw

Well what would a show like this be without a scramble? Everyone goes after the big Smooth to start but he throws everyone but Andino out to the floor. A reverse World’s Strongest Slam into a legdrop gives Smooth two as I try to keep track of who everyone is. Smooth misses a charge and falls out to the apron, setting up Oku vs. Shaw. With Shaw down, Andino takes out Oku, leaving Andino to stare it down with Bravo.

Oku is back in but his half crab is kicked to the floor and it’s Andino cleaning house again. There’s the big dive to the floor, followed by an even bigger flip version from Oku. Smooth breaks up another dive and hits something like a Blue Thunder Bomb for two on Shaw. Everyone goes after Smooth again until Oku missile dropkicks him down. We hit the parade of secondary finishers until Oku misses a Lionsault. Back up and Oku hits some running knees on Shaw, setting up the half crab for the tap at 9:57.

Rating: C. As is almost always the case with these scrambles, I have no idea what I’m supposed to get out of them. The match is all over the place with a bunch of people doing their thing and hopefully someone stands out. Oku and Smooth did to an extent, but I was regularly forgetting who was who here because it’s seven guys trying to stand out in about ten minutes. How could that possibly work?

Shane Taylor Promotions vs. HitMakerZ

That would be O’Shay Edwards/Shane Taylor with Ron Hunt vs. AJ Francis/Tehuti Miles (better known as Top Dolla/Ashante Thee Adonis) with Briana Brandy (B-Fab) of Hit Row fame. Taylor and Francis shove each other to start before fighting over a power lockup. Edwards comes in and gets shouldered hard into the corner, leaving him rather surprised. Commentary bills this as Performance Center vs. the indies for a rather insightful concept.

Miles comes in and gets suplexed by Edwards, who hands it off to Taylor for the actual suplex (that’s always cool). One heck of a beal sends Miles flying and Taylor runs him over for two more. Miles manages to get over for the tag to Francis to clean house but it’s time for the managers to get in a fight. Francis gets caught in the corner and a double superplex is loaded up, only to have Miles turn it into a double powerbomb.

With Edwards thankfully not out cold with Taylor almost landing on his head, Francis hits a standing moonsault to Taylor for the showoff move. That’s not enough though so it’s a World’s Strongest Slam to Taylor and something like a forward Samoan drop/Wasteland to Edwards at the same time, but Taylor isn’t legal so there’s no count (point for a competent referee). The seconds get into it on the floor, which allows Edwards to hit a spinebuster on Francis. Taylor’s running knee into the Marcus Garvey Driver finishes Miles at 11:29.

Rating: C+. This was a pretty decent tag match and I could go for more of both teams. The HitMakerZ are still pretty good minus Swerve Strickland, but neither of them have wrestled so far since this match. I’m still not sure why Taylor hasn’t gotten regular work somewhere, as he is far too talented to go from one independent show to another. Edwards is the same, though he seems to be more of a regular on the indy circuit. Anyway, nice match here and I was getting into it by the end.

Respect is shown post match.

Pan-Afrikan World Dispora Wrestling World Title: Trish Adora vs. MJ Jenkins

Jenkins is challenging and yes that is what the title is called. They fight over a lockup to start and neither can get anywhere. Adora takes her to the mat and works on the armbar, complete with pushups. Jenkins isn’t having that and forearms her down, setting up some running shots to the face in the corner. The Tree of Woe stomping is on, followed by the chinlock to keep things on Adora.

A Backpack Stunner gets her out of trouble though and there’s a Hennig necksnap for two. Jenkins forearms her back and hits a swinging slam for two, meaning frustration is setting in. Lariat Tubman misses for Adora so Jenkins kicks her in the head and loads up her own Lariat Tubman (I like that name more every time I hear it). That takes too long though and Adora hits a Bubba Bomb into a rollup for the pin to retain at 11:31.

Rating: C+. Adora is someone who seems to be one of the potential breakout stars that you see in various women’s divisions so it makes sense to put her on here. Jenkins seemed like a bit of a hoss and having her beat on Adora before getting rolled up at the end made sense. Good match, and Adora continues to grow on me.

Darius Lockhart vs. AJ Gray

Feeling out process to start as commentary talks about this being a dream match. Lockhart gets an armbar on the mat but Gray rolls him into the ropes without much trouble. Lockhart goes right back to the arm so Gray goes right back to the rope before kicking him down. A running backsplash gives Gray two and it’s time to strike it out.

Gray’s powerslam is countered into a crossbody for two (kind of an odd one) and a running knee in the corner gives Lockhart two. Back up and Lockhart grabs a suplex for two, followed by a running shot to the face for two more. A jumping knee to the face connects and Lockhart grabs what looks to be a headlock takeover, which is reversed into a cradle to give Gray the pin at 10:27.

Rating: C. It was nice while it lasted but this didn’t really build anywhere until Gray rolled him up for the pin. Lockhart got in some good shots and those knees were pretty good, but I was expecting at least another five minutes and it was a sudden ending. I’ve seen Gray multiple times before and he’s very good, though this wasn’t the best way to use his talents.

JTG vs. Mysterious Q vs. Zenshi vs. Bryan Keith

One fall to a finish. They stare each other down to start until Q rolls Keith up for two. JTG comes in for the staredown with Q but gets pulled outside. That leaves Kelly to come back in and miss a springboard…something, meaning Q slams Keith. Q calls JTG in for the slugout until JTG hits the reverse Sling Blade for two. Everyone gets back in and it’s a double suplex into a powerbomb to drop JTG.

Zenshi and JTG are sent outside, leaving Q to hit a slingshot corkscrew splash. Q is back up with a spinning torture rack bomb for two on Zenshi with JTG having to make the save. JTG plants Q with a very spinning Rock Bottom but gets low bridged to the floor by Keith. Back in and Zenshi gets buckle bombed by JTG, who takes Zenshi up top. Keith shoves JTG outside and gets Zenzhi in an electric chair, only to have Q run the ropes and hit a springboard….bulldog I think to finish Zenshi at 8:09.

Rating: C. I’ve seen Q be good enough before so he was no surprise, with Zenshi being about the same. Keith didn’t get much of a chance to shine here but was decent enough. Then, as usual, you have JTG, whose physical transformation continues to blow my mind, even a year after I saw it in the first place. The match was your usual “here’s a spot while some people are on the floor, repeat until finish”, which was all you probably should have expected it to be.

The ring is filled with weapons for the death match main event, with the announcer giving the fans directions on what happens if the wrestlers come near them: “Grab your s*** and move!”

Hoodfoot vs. Billy Dixon

Death match and Dixon is a rather large man in overalls. There is talk about these two having a big feud but an explanation of what that feud may be about isn’t important enough to explain. They circle each other to start before going for the light tubes. Dixon ducks the first shot but gets blasted in the head to put him in trouble. They head outside with Hoodfoot hitting him in the head a few times, only to have Dixon get in a shot of his own.

Hold on though as Dixon has to stop to yell at someone in the crowd (who seems to be part of their feud), allowing Hoodfoot to get in a barbed wire 2×4 shot. A powerbomb off the apron and three a table is blocked as Dixon kicks him in the head, meaning it’s time to slug it out on the apron. They both fall through the table to leave them both down, with commentary thinking it might be a countout.

We’re not that lucky as Hoodfoot takes him back inside for a bunch of light tubes to the back. More tubs are put over Dixon’s throat and stomped on for two so it’s time to go up. Since it’s a death match, Dixon is right back up to catch him on top. A chair to the head sets up a slam through a door for two on Hoodfoot and Dixon is warming up. Something like an Unprettier onto the light tube gets two and a spinebuster onto the glass is good for the same.

More light tubs to the back have Hoodfoot down but Dixon stops to pose on the ropes, meaning more light tubes to his back bring him down. Commentary apologizes for the slower pace but hypes up all of the violence. We get some more violence as Dixon is kind of pumphandle powerbombed through a door for one, with Dixon getting all fired up. That’s fine with Hoodfoot, who hits him with a bunch of light tube shots and grabs a Border City Stretch for the tap at 17:01.

Rating: D. This was a lot of the problems with a death match thrown into one match. The guys were both rather large and not exactly moving well and their offense mainly consisted of hitting each other with light tubes. That’s about all of the death match stuff that we had here, as instead of hitting someone with one light tube, they kept using one tube after another. It was slow, it wasn’t interesting violence and the story was barely touched on. Rather awful main event, which shouldn’t be a surprise.

Post match they look at each other but leave without a handshake or the far more important nod of respect. And then the show just ends without much of in the way of fanfare.

Overall Rating: D+. This show was really not very good and I’m not surprised it took me so long to get through it. There were a few ok enough matches but nothing on here stood out and the main event was dreadful. Last year’s For The Culture was a heck of a lot better than this as the show can go well, but this was a big miss and one of the worse shows from Wrestlemania weekend so far.

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Rampage
Date: April 29, 2022
Location: Liacouras Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Excalibur, Taz, Ricky Starks, Chris Jericho

We’re still in the most serious wrestling city in the country and that should play into AEW’s hands rather well. Rampage is the show that is going to focus on the in-ring action more than anything else and hopefully that makes for a good night. Throw in Danhausen calling out Hook and….I’m really not sure what that is going to mean. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Owen Hart Foundation Tournament Qualifying Match: Swerve Strickland vs. Darby Allin

Sting is in Allin’s corner as they start with a wrestle off. Neither can get very far until Allin takes him down by the arm. Make that a chinlock for a bit before Allin knocks him to the floor. The suicide dive is cut off by a jumping knee as commentary talks about how well these two know each other.

We take a break and come back with Allin working on the knee but Strickland fights up. Swerve knocks him down but misses the Serve Stomp. Allin’s Coffin Drop hits raised knees so Strickland kicks him in the head for two. Strickland heads to the apron and suplexes him down onto the floor, because that’s a totally rational thing to do. Cue Ricky Starks off commentary to go to ringside but Sting cuts him off. Allin grabs the Last Supper for the pin at 10:25.

Rating: C+. Annoying distraction finish aside, this worked well while it lasted, even if you factor in the pretty insane suplex to the floor. You could have gone with either winning here, but Allin is a bigger star and a threat to win the whole thing. Strickland needs a win of his own though, as he hasn’t had much success so far around here.

Shawn Spears is excited to see Wardlow get taken out by the big guy next week. They still won’t say who it is though.

Chris Jericho names himself Sports Entertainer Of The Week for attacking Eddie Kingston.

Santana and Ortiz storm the commentary booth and jump Jericho to lay him out.

Baddies vs. Skye Blue/Trish Adora/Willow Nightingale

That would be Jade Cargill/Red Velvet/Kiera Hogan. Blue gets taken into the corner to start so Velvet can choke with the boot. Hogan comes in with a running boot the face but Blue manages a kick. Blue and Hogan both catch a kick at the same time before Hogan kicks her in the head. Adora comes in and gets hit with a step up Fameasser, allowing the tag off to Cargill for jaded and the pin on Adora at 2:40. Total squash.

Darby Allin offers Swerve Strickland another match after the ending but Strickland knows Allin didn’t have anything to do with it. Strickland wants Allin to win the tournament so now he can go find Keith Lee and deal with Team Taz.

Keith Lee vs. Colten Gunn

Gunn looks like he got kicked in the face by a horse, kicked the horse back, and then got kicked in the face again. They shove each other around a bit until Lee takes him into the corner for the Grizzly Magnum chop. We take a break and come back with Lee hitting some running shoulders but missing a charge in the corner. The Fameasser is blocked though and the Big Bang Catastrophe finishes Gunn at 7:00.

Rating: C. As is so often said about AEW matches, this needed a break? The match wasn’t even that good as Gunn was little more than a sacrificial lamb for Lee. I’m still not sure what Lee is supposed to do in AEW, because he has been stuck in minor stories and matches like this for a lot of his time there. The Gunns continue to be watchable though and there might even be some potential upward mobility for both of them.

Jeff Hardy is ready to take out Bobby Fish next week in the Owen Hart Foundation tournament.

The Undisputed Elite laughs off the idea of Jeff Hardy being a threat, with Fish calling him Jeff hardly.

Here is Danhausen, who says SEND HOOK. Cue Hook, with Danhausen thinking that we need to do this at another time. Cue Mark Sterling for a distraction so Tony Nese can jump both of them. Hook fights up and grabs a suplex, allowing Danhausen to curse Nese and Sterling. The villains leave and the fans want Hookhausen, but Hook grabs him by the neck instead, only to leave without getting violent.

The Gunn Club says that isn’t a loss but the Acclaimed comes in to offer some scissoring, complete with hand gestures. The Club wants to go talk to their dad, leaving the interviewer to turn down the same offer.

Mercedes Martinez is ready to take out Deonna Purrazzo and become the undisputed Ring Of Honor Women’s Champion.

Samoa Joe threatens to kill Trent Beretta, while Trent says he’s going to win the ROH TV Title.

Ring Of Honor TV Title: Trent Beretta vs. Samoa Joe

Joe is defending and the Best Friends are here with Trent. Joe knocks him into the corner to start but gets knocked outside, setting up Trent’s Asai moonsault. We take a break and come back with Trent hitting a top rope dive to the floor to drop Joe. Back in and Trent grabs a Saito suplex for two, only to have Joe pull him into an STF. We’ll make that a Crossface but Trent gets his foot on the rope. Jericho: “He’s not dead yet!” Joe blasts Trent with a clothesline, with Jericho switching to “he might be now!” The MuscleBuster is broken up and it’s the Koquina Clutch to make Trent tap at 10:02.

Rating: C+. Joe can have a good match with anyone and the same is true of Trent, making this a fine enough main event. That being said, having a 40+ year old Joe as the midcard champion of a minor league promotion isn’t likely to bring in more eyes to the show. Joe can still draw in some attention, but isn’t there anything bigger that he could do than this?

Post match Jay Lethal, Sonjay Dutt and Satnam Singh come out to interrupt a Samoa Joe interview. Orange Cassidy tries some lazy kicks but gets decked by Dutt. The brawl is on with Lethal and Joe having to be held apart to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. Maybe they were taking a week off this time because of the NBA and NFL events going on, but this wasn’t exactly a great show. It didn’t feel like much of anything on this show mattered and that isn’t a great feeling to have. There is some good enough action, but it continued AEW’s trend of not feeling important without the big stars. Certainly a watchable show, but not worth the time.

Results
Darby Allin b. Swerve Strickland – Last Supper
Baddies b. Skye Blue/Trish Adora/Willow Nightingale – Jaded to Adora
Keith Lee b. Colten Gunn – Big Bang Catastrophe
Samoa Joe b. Trent Beretta – Koquina Clutch

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Ring of Honor
Date: January 19, 2022

We’re still on the road to April and that means it’s time for another Best Of show. These things have mainly been the Best Of the last year and it would be nice to see something different showcased. That being said, we are just over two months away from the relaunch so you might not want to go too deep into the vault. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Quinn McKay…is not here this week, as we will be looking at the women’s division. Uh, great.

We get a video on the women’s division and what it means to everyone involved.

Maria Kanellis-Bennett is ready to interview various women in the Women’s Title tournament. She has done a little bit of everything and now she is part of the Board of Directors. After the Coronavirus pandemic hit, she wanted to build something new and that is what she is doing here.

Some of the women in the tournament are very happy that they were given their Ticket To Gold, meaning their entrance to the tournament. Being in the tournament has helped a lot of them with their confidence as they move forward. They all want to show what they can do and have been waiting for their chance.

Sumie Sakai talks about having the first women’s match in Ring of Honor history and she has stuck around since.

Mandy Leon isn’t happy with Maria leaving the company and then coming back. Now the Allure isn’t going to let her skate by.

Angelina Love doesn’t think there should be a tournament but she’ll win the title.

Danhausen previews the tournament and wants Trish Adora to win.

Maria talks about the different styles of wrestlers in the tournament.

Some of the entrants talk about how wrestling has helped their confidence and to prove themselves. The tournament has even gotten Rok-C to mend her relationship with her mother. Trish Adora wants to win the title for her mother, who has cancer.

We look at the TV taping with the announcement of the tournament and the reveal of the Women’s Title. Chelsea Green debuted as well, though she was injured and couldn’t participate.

Green talks about rising above the haters and trolls while also wanting to provide for her family. And maybe to prove all of those trolls wrong. Green: “Is that bad?”

We look at the first batch of tournament matches. It’s still weird to see these in front of an empty building.

Willow wants to change the perception of women’s wrestling and then lost in the first round.

Chelsea Green wants to face everyone in the tournament.

We look at the rest of the first round, including Quinn McKay beating Mandy Leon in a huge upset.

Maria talks about what a great win that was for McKay, as she got to prove herself.

Mike Bennett talks about how impressed he is with Maria making all of this work.

We look at the second round of the tournament.

Amy Rose has managed a lot of champions and wants to manage Max the Impaler. Then Max got disqualified against Angelina Love.

Allysin Kay is a former NWA Women’s Champion and wants to be the Ring of Honor Women’s Champion. Then Trish Adora beat her in an upset.

The semifinals saw Miranda Alize beat Trish Adora and Rok-C beat Angelina Love. Maria was proud of everyone because it is all about the team.

Then it was time for the finals, with both Alize’s and Rok-C’s families around. We get picks from various wrestlers, who seem to be split.

Rok-C won the title and she was proud.

Overall Rating: C+. I’m not sure what to say about this, as it was really a documentary instead of a regular wrestling show. I know the women’s division has not been the most popular thing (including from me) but it is clear that they are putting in a lot of effort and trying to make it into something worthwhile. That is great to see and you can tell that the work is there. This was a cool change of pace and I can go for that instead of another Greatest Hits show for a change.

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