Source: PWInsider
– Today’s episode of the syndicated Inside Edition will feature a story on the Daniel Bryan burglar incident from last week.
– As noted, WWE will hold an earnings call tomorrow and reveal the latest WWE Network subscriber count. We’ve also noted how mass layoffs are expected.
The number being mentioned the most is that 10% of WWE’s employees will lose their jobs.
The mass layoffs could be announced to keep Wall Street happy.
Vince Russo revealed on his Twitter that he is officially done with TNA. He had been secretly working as a consultant, however was outed when he accidentally sent an email with creative instructions to Taz and PWInsider reporter Mike Johnson, which was intended for Mike Tenay.
“Officially DONE w/TNA,” Russo wrote on his Twitter. “Today they ‘suggested’ a break, I declined. Finality was better for me. Details coming pyroandballyhoo.com”
Taz noted on Twitter earlier this week that he unfollowed Russo and wanted him to go away. He wrote:
“I unfollowed Russo earlier, he’s annoying & all about HIS BRAND. #GoAway”
Well my friends, we’ve seen a little bit of everything, a drunk Giant, a drunk hippie, a LIKELY drunk Texas bully get some comeuppance, and we’ve even seen the man who may have killed TNA, Vince Russo, stir up a mess of legal trouble, but now we move on to our #1 Greatest Unscripted Disaster in Pro Wrestling History.
In a sport where there are few legit tough guys left, those remaining, or at least those who thought they were, signed up for a little diddy in the late 90’s that we fondly remember as the “Brawl For All”. A shoot fight style tournament to declare the legit baddest man in professional wrestling.
And before we get started, of course this wouldn’t be possible without John Cheese and his Magic Pimp Bus, so I have to send a big thanks out to him first and foremost. And with that out of the way, let’s get down to it my friends.
#1. WWE Tries Out Actual Real Fighting, Proves Wrestlers Suck at It
So what do you do when your sport is based on fake fighting, but real fighting is stealing your audience? That was the situation in 1998 that resulted in the Brawl for All, and it was universally considered to be the single stupidest fucking idea the WWE ever let go past the “drunken dare” stage. At the time, the UFC and tough man competitions were getting huge, and not being satisfied with just dominating the wrestling world, the WWE thought, “Let’s directly compete with them by pitting untrained fighters against each other in real hand-to-hand combat. What could possibly go wrong?”
Well, other than shattering the illusion that these guys could actually fight. For example, one of the bigger stars in wrestling at the time was “Dr. Death” Steve Williams, and he was marketed as a brutal tough guy. They were about to give him a big push, which means he would have gotten a major storyline, some extremely important matches, and the spotlight. In fact it’s said this entire event was created specifically to get him over. What happened instead was that he got his ever-loving fucking ass kicked by a guy named Bart Gunn … the same guy in the above video. Not only did he get knocked out, but he injured his knee in a takedown. And just like that, Dr. Death’s actual wrestling push was over and the creative team was pissssssed off.
“Not in the face! Not in the face!”
The second thing that went wrong was that several wrestlers ended up legitimately injured. See, it turns out that when you get a bunch of 300-pound untrained dudes taking haymakers at each other, it tends to fuck up the human body. Who could have known?
A countless list of guys suffered a variety of injuries, some minor, some permanent. Some of the men on the injury list included LOD Hawk, The Godfather, Dr. Death (as mentioned), Henry Godwinn, and the guy who got it worst was Savio Vega (who received a permanent neck injury from the fight).
They kept this thing going forfuckingever, and it was so painful to watch. The crowd would chant “boring” during the matches (you can hear them doing it in that Dr. Death fight). The punches were as much awkward and clumsy as they were dangerous. No one knew what the hell they were doing. And worst of all, the people in the audience didn’t pay for a real fight — they paid for some good old-fashioned fake-ass wrestling. But they kept Brawl for All rolling regardless, right up until Wrestlemania, where the winner of the tournament, Bart Gunn, won the honor of fighting a real professionally trained boxer, Butterbean. Finally, we can see what happens when the best wrestling has to offer takes on a mediocre, overweight boxer! Surely this won’t ruin any childhood illusions!
You know what’s coming next. Here’s Butterbean knocking Gunn’s soul completely out of his fucking body in the first round of that fight:
That’ll teach you to try and get over in a shoot fight without our permission! So now you see what happens in a world where scripted rasslin’ tries to book a storyline in the real world.
And that my friends, was the Brawl For All. Needless to say, there was never a second season. I hope you’ve enjoyed this countdown of the 5 Greatest Unscripted Disasters in Pro Wrestling History. If you have other disasters you would have liked to seen on this list, tough, write your won. 🙂
Date: July 23rd, 2014
Location: Aomori Prefectural Budokan
Announced Attendance: 3,000 (Super No Vacancy Full House)
The G1 Climax continues rolling along. This is an interesting card as there are a lot of unique pairings, some wrestlers that I don’t think have ever had singles matches before or at least not in a long time (Gallows/Tanahashi, Tenzan/Okada, Ishii/Kojima), so it should be fun to watch. That is why I love the G1 Climax, New Japan is so tag team wrestling based that we just don’t get to see these guys go at it one on one very often unless a title is on the line or it is a special attraction match. Going into the event, here are the standings:
| Block A: | Block B: |
|---|---|
| Bad Luck Fale [2]
Hiroshi Tanahashi [2] Katsuyori Shibata [2] Satoshi Kojima [2] Shelton Benjamin [2] Davey Boy Smith Jr. Shinsuke Nakamura [0] Tomoaki Honma [0] Tomohiro Ishii [0] Yuji Nagata [0] |
Hirooki Goto [2]
Hiroyoshi Tenzan [2] Kazuchika Okada [2] Toru Yano [2] Yujiro Takahashi [2] Lance Archer Karl Anderson [0] Minoru Suzuki [0] Tetsuya Naito [0] Togi Makabe [0] |
Today’s matches:
– Block A: Satoshi Kojima vs. Tomohiro Ishii
– Block A: Bad Luck Fale vs. Shelton Benjamin
– Block B: Hirooki Goto vs. Yujiro Takahashi
– Block B: Lance Archer vs. Tetsuya Naito
– Block A: Tomoaki Honma vs. Yuji Nagata
– Block A: Davey Boy Smith Jr. vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
– Block B: AJ Styles vs. Toru Yano
– Block B: Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Kazuchika Okada
– Block B: Karl Anderson vs. Togi Makabe
– Block A: Doc Gallows vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
Straight to the review.
Satoshi Kojima vs. Tomohiro Ishii
Tie-up to start, side headlock by Ishii, Kojima Irish whips out of it but they collide with both men staying up. Both wrestlers go off the ropes and Kojima hits a shoulderblock. Ishii gets back up and they trade elbows, Kojima goes off the ropes but Ishii hits a powerslam. Kojima rolls out of the ring, Ishii goes out after him and throws Kojima into the guardrail. Ishii does it a second time, he gets back up on the apron but Kojima hits him in the legs with a lariat. Kojima gets up on the apron with Ishii and drills Ishii right onto his head with a DDT. Kojima gets back in with Ishii slowly following, Kojima picks up Ishii and chops Ishii in the chest before elbowing him in the back of the head. Kojima applies a reverse chinlock and elbows Ishii in the face. Kojima picks up Ishii and hits a modified neckbreaker. Stomps by Kojima and he chops Ishii into the corner, rapid fire chops by Kojima but Ishii absorbs them and returns with elbows. Kojima switches positions with him and hits more chops, Irish whip, and he hits the jumping elbow strike in the corner. Kojima goes up to the top turnbuckle and hits the diving elbow drop, cover, but it gets a two count. Kojima picks up Ishii and they trade chops, Ishii chops Kojima into the corner, Irish whip, and Ishii hits a lariat. Ishii puts Kojima onto the top turnbuckle and joins him, hitting a delayed superplex. Cover, but it gets a two count. Ishii picks up Kojima and goes for a suplex but Kojima lands on his feet and hits the Koji Cutter. Kojima picks up Ishii and throws him into the corner, Kojima sits Ishii on the top turnbuckle and joins him, hitting an avalanche Koji Cutter. Cover, but it only gets two. Kojima takes off the elbow pad and goes off the ropes, but Ishii ducks the lariat and hits a release German suplex. Ishii picks up Kojima and hits a powerbomb for a two count cover. Ishii waits for Kojima to get up and goes off the ropes, hitting a lariat. Ishii picks up Kojima and goes off the ropes again but Kojima kicks Ishii in the stomach and hits another Koji Cutter. Kojima goes off the ropes but Ishii knocks his arm away, punches by Ishii but Kojima hits a roaring elbow. Back up, elbows by Ishii and they trade shots, headbutt by Ishii and he goes off the ropes, hitting a lariat. Kojima doesn’t go down however and he snaps off a DDT. Kojima picks up Ishii and hits a brainbuster, cover, but it gets a two count. Kojima goes off the ropes but Ishii ducks the lariat, headbutt by Ishii and he hits an enzigieri. Lariat by Ishii, cover, but Kojima gets a shoulder up. Ishii grabs Kojima and nails a brainbuster, cover, and he picks up the three count. Your winner: Tomohiro Ishii
Match Thoughts: A really good match, Ishii can almost do no wrong, I am curious to see what he does against some of the other wrestlers in this tournament. Kojima can be an annoying relic of the old days, when wrestlers were worse about going out of their way to get in long spots just to pop the crowd. Ishii doesn’t really play to that and is more of a lariat/headbutt kind of guy, which is more of what I like in a wrestler. Aside from some moveset issues from Kojima the action was constant, they didn’t waste hardly any time with submission holds or anything else. And some of the moves were sick, such as the DDT on the apron where Ishii decided to spike himself on his head and also at some point Ishii got his mouth busted open. Good stuff. Score: 7.0
Bad Luck Fale vs. Shelton Benjamin
They face-off to start and they trade elbows, Benjamin gets the better of it and hits Fale back into the corner. Kick to the stomach by Fale and he throws Benjamin in the corner, hitting him repeatedly in the stomach. Clubbing blows by Fale and he stands on Benjamin’s back near the ropes. Fale puts Benjamin on his shoulders but Benjamin gets out of it and kicks Fale in the leg before hitting a DDT. Cover, but it only gets a two count. Benjamin applies an ankle hold but Fale gets a hand on the bottom rope. Mounted punch by Benjamin, he picks up Fale and elbows him back into the corner. Irish whip by Benjamin but Fale reverses it and hits a body avalanche in the corner. Samoan Drop by Fale and he hits a body press for a two count. Fale waits for Benjamin to get up and goes for the Grenade but Benjamin gets out of it and hits a side slam. Fale charges Benjamin and hits a lariat but Benjamin doesn’t go down. A second one by Fale, and he hits a third as Benjamin lariats him as well and both wrestlers go down to one knee. Lariat by Benjamin and he goes for the Paydirt but Fale pushes him off and hits a lariat. Cover, but it gets a two count. Fale picks up Benjamin and goes for the Bad Luck Fall but Benjamin gets out of it and hits a swinging kick. Superkick by Benjamin and he nails the Paydirt, cover, and he picks up the three count. Your winner: Shelton Benjamin
Match Thoughts: Not good. For such a short match there were quite a few miscommunications, these two just didn’t really gel very well at all. The only good thing is the continued protection of finishing moves in this tournament, Kojima never hit a clean lariat in the last match, Styles never hit his big moves on the 21st, etc. which is a trend I like. But this was rough, they just weren’t on the same page at times and the match ended really quickly even though Benjamin hadn’t done a lot to weaken the IWGP Intercontinental Champion. Not impressed with the Fale or Benjamin matches so far. Score: 3.0
Hirooki Goto vs. Yujiro Takahashi
Takahashi avoids Goto to start and kicks him in the stomach, Takahashi applies a side headlock, Goto reverses it into a hammerlock and then into a side headlock but Takahashi bites his hand. Stomp by Takahashi and he kicks Goto to the ground, chops by Takahashi and he kicks Goto in the stomach. Elbow by Takahashi, Irish whip, but Goto hits a hiptoss. Shoulderblock by Goto and he stomps Takahashi in the back. Goto picks up Takahashi, Irish whip, but Takahashi bails out of the ring. Goto goes out after him but Takahashi knees Goto and tries to throw him into the rail, but Goto reverses it and Takahashi goes into the steel instead. Goto charges Takahashi but Takahashi picks him up and drops him onto the guardrail. Takahashi picks up Goto and throws him into the guardrail. Takahashi slams Goto into the ring post and gets back in the ring, but Goto beats the count. Takahashi picks up Goto and throws him into the corner, stomps by Takahashi and he chokes Goto with his boot. Takahashi picks up Goto and hits a scoop slam before applying a reverse chinlock. Sliding kick by Takahashi, cover, but it gets a two count. Takahashi kicks Goto with his boot and slaps him, elbows by Goto, Takahashi goes off the ropes but Goto catches his kick and hits a lariat. Goto charges Takahashi in the corner and hits a heel kick followed by a backdrop suplex. Cover, but it gets a two count. Goto picks up Takahashi and puts him on his shoulders but Takahashi rakes his eyes. Goto picks up Takahashi and knocks him into the corner, Irish whip, and Takahashi delivers a big boot in the corner. Irish whip by Takahashi, reversed, boot by Takahashi and he hits a Fisherman Buster. Cover, but it gets a two count. Takahashi waits for Goto to get up and goes off the ropes, but Goto hits a lariat. Takahashi returns with his own lariat, Takahashi goes off the ropes but Goto gets Takahashi on his shoulders and hits a fireman’s carry takeover onto his knee. Goto picks up Takahashi but Takahashi goes down his back and hits Takahashi into the corner. Big boot by Takahashi, kick by Goto and he goes off the ropes but Takahashi drops Goto throat-first on the top rope. Lariat by Takahashi, cover, but it gets a two count. Takahashi picks up Goto and hits an Olympic Slam, cover, but again it gets two. Takahashi picks up Goto and goes for a powerbomb but Goto back bodydrops out of it. Elbow by Takahashi but Goto elbows him back and they trade blows. Takahashi gets the better of it and he hits a German suplex hold for a two count. Takahashi picks up Goto and Takahashi puts Goto on his shoulders, Goto slides down his back and knocks Takahashi back before hitting a lariat. Cover by Goto but it gets a two count. Goto picks up Takahashi and nails the Shouten Kai, cover, and he picks up the three count. Your winner: Hirooki Goto
Match Thoughts: I appreciate New Japan trying to build up new wrestlers, but something with Yujiro is just missing with me. Maybe the heel persona feels off or something, but his character just doesn’t ring true, and his offense just doesn’t look that strong. There was an over-abundance of back-and-forth in this match, so a lot of the moves didn’t seem to have any impact. They were on the same page, no noticeable miscommunications, but it just felt like they were taking turns hitting moves with no structure. Not a very good match. Score: 4.5
Lance Archer vs. Tetsuya Naito
Archer charges Naito to start the match but Naito moves out of the way. He does it again, kick by Naito but Archer knees Naito in the stomach. Clubs to the back by Archer, Irish whip, but Naito delivers a dropkick. Archer doesn’t go down, Naito goes for a crossbody but Archer catches him and throws Naito into the corner. Archer charges Naito but Naito kicks him back. Naito goes up to the second rope but Archer trips him, sending Naito crashing to the mat. Archer picks up Naito and he hits a lariat. Cover, but it gets a two count. Archer picks up Naito, Naito pushes him off and hits a few elbows, he goes off the ropes but Archer hits a press slam into a powerslam. Cover, but Naito kicks out. Archer applies a submission hold on the mat, but Naito get a foot on the ropes. Archer picks up Naito and he hits a scoop slam. Archer rubs his boot onto Naito’s face, Archer picks up Naito, Irish whip to the corner and Naito collapses. Archer elbows Naito in the corner and he hits Naito to the mat. Archer charges Naito and he hits a lariat, cover, but it only gets two. Archer rakes Naito in the eyes, he picks him up and he hits a vertical suplex. Archer goes for a splash but Naito rolls out of the way. Naito elbows Archer but Archer knees him in the stomach, Archer goes off the ropes but Naito catches him with an elbow. Running kick by Naito, snapmare, and Naito hits a somersault senton. Naito kicks Archer in the corner and hits a slingshot dropkick. Naito goes up to the top turnbuckle and hits a missile dropkick, cover, but Archer kicks out. Naito waits for Archer to get up, knees by Archer and he goes for a chokeslam, but Naito gets out of it and hits an overhead kick. Irish whip by Naito, reversed, but Naito hits a jumping elbow smash. Naito goes for a kick but Archer catches his leg and flings Naito to the mat. Archer picks up Naito and puts him on his shoulders, but Naito slides down his back and hits a reverse DDT. Naito goes up to the top turnbuckle but Archer rolls out of the way of the Stardust Press. Archer picks up Naito but Naito wiggles away and hits an enzigieri. Irish whip by Naito, reversed, Archer goes for a chokeslam but Naito blocks it. Release German suplex by Archer, he picks up Naito and hits a chokeslam. Archer picks up Naito and goes for the full nelson slam but Naito sneaks in a small package for the three count! Your winner: Tetsuya Naito
Match Thoughts: Oof. This match was no better than the last one, not a good start to Day 2. Archer is probably my least favorite gaijin in this tournament… he isn’t horrible but he just doesn’t bring a lot to the table. He is a one dimensional power wrestler, which requires the other wrestler to do much of the work. Which Naito does, and the match has its bright moments, but for the most part it just plods along. The ending was fine as there didn’t appear to be any other way that Naito was beating Archer the way the match was going, it just wasn’t overly exciting. Score: 4.0
Tomoaki Honma vs. Yuji Nagata
Tie-up, they trade wristlocks but Nagata kicks Honma back. Side headlock by Nagata into a takedown, Honma gets back up and applies an armbar, but Nagata gets away. Kick by Nagata and he throws Honma into the corner, elbows by Nagata, Honma switches positions with him however and slaps Nagata. Honma elbows Nagata down in the corner, he picks up Nagata, Irish whip, and Honma hits a back elbow. Honma picks up Nagata and hits a scoop slam, he goes off the ropes but Nagata rolls out of the way of the headbutt. Irish whip by Nagata but Honma hits a shoulderblock. Again Nagata avoids the headbutt attempt, knee by Nagata and Nagata kicks Honma in the head. Nagata picks up Honma and he hits an armbreaker. Kicks to the arm by Nagata and he applies an armbar, but Honma gets a foot on the bottom rope. Nagata picks up Honma but Honma slaps him back, knee by Nagata, Irish whip, and Nagata knees Honma in the stomach. Stomp to the stomach by Nagata, cover, but Honma is in the ropes. Nagata picks up Honma and punches him in the stomach. Another punch to the stomach by Nagata, chops by Honma but Nagata knees him, Irish whip and Nagata hits a knee to the stomach. Cover, but it only gets a two count. Nagata picks up Honma and elbows him in the back of the head, kick to the chest by Nagata and he kicks Honma again. Nagata goes off the ropes and hits a boot, elbow by Nagata and he goes for a suplex, but Honma blocks it. Honma hits a vertical suplex of his own, Honma chops Nagata into the corner, Irish whip, and Honma hits a jumping elbow followed by a face crusher. Falling headbutt by Honma and he applies a single leg crab hold. Nagata gets to the ropes to force a break, Honma picks up Nagata and goes for a slam but Nagata slides down his back. Waistlock by Nagata, Honma shakes him off and hits a lariat. Honma picks up Nagata and goes for a brainbuster but Nagata blocks it and applies a seated armbar. Honma eventually gets a hand on the ropes to get the hold released, Nagata picks up Honma and he goes for a backdrop suplex but Honma lands on top of him to block it. Nagata kicks Honma into the corner and goes for a jumping knee, but Honma catches him and hits a sitdown powerbomb. Brainbuster by Honma, cover, but it gets a two count. Honma puts Nagata in front of the corner, he goes up to the top turnbuckle but Nagata rolls out of the way of the headbutt attempt. Honma charges Nagata, kick by Nagata but Honma kicks him back. Elbows by Honma, he goes off the ropes but Nagata boots Honma in the head. Honma and Nagata trade elbows, punches by Nagata but Honma rolls up Nagata for a two count. Waistlock by Nagata and he hits a release German suplex. Boot by Nagata and he hits the brainbuster. Cover, but Honma kicks out at two. Nagata picks up Honma and knees him in the chest. Nagata picks up Honma again and he hits a backdrop hold for the three count. Your winner: Yuji Nagata
Match Thoughts: Some progress finally as this match was solid. The structure was a bit off, as Nagata had issues sticking with one body part until he finally concluded the stomach/chest area was the way to go. I am concerned Honma will get a bit exposed having so many singles matches in a row, I like him but his move set is pretty limited. Take away his falling headbutts and he doesn’t have a lot going on. But since the crowd likes him as well, and he is wrestling the upper end of New Japan wrestlers he doesn’t usually get to wrestle there is definitely an extra sense of excitement as everyone wonders if Honma is going to be able to score the big upset. He doesn’t, but the quest to get there was still fun to watch even if the middle section was a bit disjointed. Score: 6.0
Davey Boy Smith Jr. vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
Tie-up, Smith pushes Nakamura into the ropes and he gives a mostly clean break. High kick by Smith and he flexes for the crowd, takedown by Smith and he applies an arm submission. Nakamura gets back to his feet but Smith applies a kimura, wristlock by Smith but Nakamura reverses it. Knee by Nakamura, snapmare, and Nakamura hits a kneedrop. Front facelock by Nakamura, he pushes Smith into the ropes and he gives a clean break. Irish whip by Nakamura, he knees Smith but Smith fires off a lariat. Nakamura rolls out to the apron but Smith knocks him down to the floor. Smith goes out after him and throws Nakamura into the guardrail. Smith punches Nakamura before slamming his head into the apron. Smith slides Nakamura back into the ring and gets in as well, cover, but it gets a two count. Neck grip by Smith and he clubs Nakamura in the face. Stomp to the stomach by Smith, Smith picks up Nakamura and hits a belly to belly suplex. Cover, but it only gets a two count. Reverse chinlock by Smith, he picks up Nakamura, Irish whip, but Nakamura knees Smith in the stomach and hits a kick to the side of the head. Nakamura and Smith trade elbows, knee to the stomach by Nakamura and he hits an enzigieri. Nakamura picks up Smith, he puts him in the corner and hits a running kneelift. Cover, but it only gets a two count. Stomp by Nakamura and he goes for an inverted suplex but Smith elbows out of it and hits a powerslam. Smith elbows Nakamura but Nakamura elbows him back and they trade blows. Kick by Smith and they trade elbows, which Smith gets the better of. Double underhook by Smith and he hits a suplex. Smith picks up Nakamura and hits a rolling vertical suplex but Nakamura gets out of the second one and delivers a jumping knee strike. Nakamura picks up Smith and delivers the inverted powerslam. Nakamura goes for the Boma Ye but Smith moves out of the way and levels Nakamura with a lariat. Cover, but it only gets a two count. Smith picks up Nakamura and hits a backdrop suplex. Cover, but it only gets two. Smith waits for Nakamura to get up but Nakamura pushes him back and hits a backstabber. Nakamura goes for a cross armbreaker but Smith blocks it, Nakamura goes for a triangle choke but Smith powerbombs out of it. Smith grabs Nakamura and hits a tiger suplex hold, but Nakamura gets a shoulder up. Smith picks up Nakamura and goes for the powerbomb but Nakamura punches out of it. Nakamura kicks back Smith, he goes up to the second turnbuckle and delivers a jumping knee strike. Nakamura goes off the ropes and hits a Boma Ye, cover, but Smith barely kicks out. Nakamura waits for Smith to get up and hits a second one, cover, and this time he picks up the three. Your winner: Shinsuke Nakamura
Match Thoughts: Smith is getting a lil tubby. In all seriousness this was a pretty fun match. Nakamura is entertaining and Smith did hit his power moves really well, and joke aside he didn’t get blown up or anything. Nakamura took a whole lot more damage than Smith, I guess it is just a pecking order thing where Smith went down a lot easier than Nakamura was in the match. But still an entertaining striker vs. power wrestler match. Score: 6.5
AJ Styles vs. Toru Yano
Styles and Yano circle each other to start, Yano asks for a handshake but Styles won’t give him one and elbows him instead. Stomps by Styles, he picks up Yano and hits a series of elbows. Yano pulls Styles down by his hair but Styles is back up and elbows him again. Lariat by Styles, he picks up Yano but Yano rakes him in the eyes. Yano goes off the ropes but Styles hits a dropkick and Yano falls out of the ring. Styles goes off the ropes and hits a dropkick between the bottom and the middle rope, with Styles ending up on the floor as well. Styles slides Yano back into the ring, and Styles hits a slingshot elbow strike. Cover, but it gets a two count. Styles grabs Yano and applies the Muta Lock, he releases the hold after a moment and twists on Yano’s neck, but Yano gets into the ropes. Styles picks up Yano and slams him into the turnbuckle a few times, Yano unties the turnbuckle pad while Styles isn’t looking and moves when Styles charges in, sending Styles into the steel. Yano gets a chair and tries to hit Styles with it, but Styles ducks and hits a drop toehold. Styles charges Yano but Yano moves and Styles goes face-first into the steel buckle. Cover by Yano but it gets a two count. Yano picks up Styles, but Styles kicks Yano and suplexes him into the exposed corner. Yano falls out of the ring, Styles goes off the ropes but Yano moves, Styles slides out of the ring but Yano hits him in the head with the steel chair. Styles gets up on the apron, Yano grabs him from the ring and goes for a suplex, but Styles blocks it and snaps Yano’s neck on the top rope. Styles hits a swandive elbow smash, cover, but it gets a two count. Styles picks up Yano and hits a Northern Lights Suplex, cover, but it only gets a two. Styles picks up Yano and goes for the Styles Clash, but Yano blocks it. Styles clubs Yano in the back, he goes off the ropes but Yano hits an atomic drop before monkey flipping Styles into the exposed corner. Powerbomb by Yano, cover, but Styles gets a shoulder up. Yano picks up Styles and puts him on the top turnbuckle, Yano joins him but Styles punches him off. Styles dives off but Yano moves, he hits a low blow and rolls up Styles for a two count. Yano picks up Styles and goes for a powerbomb but Styles rolls through it and hits the Styles Clash. Cover, and Styles gets the three count. Your winner: AJ Styles
Match Thoughts: An odd match. This was more of a Yano match than a Styles match, but I liked the moves focusing on the exposed corner and Yano almost sneaking out a win against the IWGP Heavyweight Champion on a few different occasions. There were a few miscommunications, which isn’t shocking since these two aren’t too familiar with each other and have really different wrestling styles, but nothing terrible. I went in with low expectations but they kept it short, which was a good idea, and by making it a “Yano match” it made the match a lot more believable. Not too bad, but still lacking in some areas. Score: 6.0
Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan
Tie-up to start, Okada gets Tenzan into the ropes and Okada gives him a clean break before posing. Tie-up, side headlock by Tenzan, Okada Irish whips out of it but Tenzan hits a shoulderblock. Mongolian Chops by Tenzan and he chops Okada in the throat. Okada rolls out of the ring, Tenzan goes out after him and gives Okada a headbutt. Chops by Tenzan, he goes for an Irish whip but Okada throws Tenzan into the guardrail and then hits a DDT. Okada gets back in the ring with Tenzan slowly following, Okada picks up Tenzan and hits a scoop slam. Okada goes out to the apron and hits a slingshot senton. Okada covers Tenzan but it barely gets a two count. Okada picks up Tenzan and delivers a neckbreaker, cover, but it gets a one count. Okada applies a reverse chinlock, snapmare by Okada and he hits a sliding kick. Cover, but it gets a two count. Okada picks up Tenzan, snapmare, and Okada cranks on Tenzan’s neck. Tenzan elbows out of it, knee by Okada and he goes off the ropes and Tenzan hits a heel kick. Tenzan stomps Okada in the back, Mongolian Chops by Tenzan and Tenzan headbutts Okada in the corner. Irish whip by Tenzan and he hits a lariat in the corner, Tenzan goes up top and hits the calf branding. Cover, but Okada kicks out at two. Tenzan picks up Okada and he hits a vertical suplex. Cover, but it gets a two count. Stomp by Tenzan to the back, he picks up Okada but Okada elbows him and they trade shots. Okada goes off the ropes but Tenzan hits the Mountain Bomb. Tenzan charges Okada in the corner but Okada gets Tenzan on his shoulders and hits the Schwein onto his knee. Okada picks up Tenzan, scoop slam by Okada, he goes up to the top turnbuckle and he hits a diving elbow drop. Okada grabs Tenzan and goes for the Rainmaker but Tenzan headbutts Okada twice. Tenzan picks up Okada and hits the TTD. Cover, but Okada barely gets a shoulder up. Anaconda Vice by Tenzan and he hits the Anaconda Buster. Cover, but it gets another two count. Tenzan goes up to the top turnbuckle and hits the diving headbutt, cover, but Okada kicks out. Tenzan picks up Okada, he slams Okada in front of the corner and goes up to the top turnbuckle, but Okada rolls out of the way of the moonsault attempt. Big boot by Okada, he tries to pick up Tenzan but Tenzan blocks it. Elbows by Tenzan, Irish whip, but Okada reverses it and delivers the dropkick. Okada picks up Tenzan but Tenzan ducks the Rainmaker and hits a lariat of his own. Tenzan picks up Okada but Okada elbows him off, Mongolian Chops by Tenzan but Okada hits a dropkick. Okada picks up Tenzan and hits the tombstone piledriver, he picks Tenzan back up and he delivers the Rainmaker. Cover, and he picks up the three count. Your winner: Kazuchika Okada
Match Thoughts: This is the best singles match of Tenzan’s that I have seen in a good while. These two clicked really well together, everything looked so crisp from the chops to the reversals and everything else. Tenzan busted out all of his big moves which showed the importance of the match, and Okada was right there with him, but once the Rainmaker was hit that was game over. Love the way that New Japan is protecting that move. A really entertaining match from start to finish and a must-see for any Tenzan fan. Score: 8.0
Karl Anderson vs. Togi Makabe
Anderson kicks Makabe in the stomach to start the match, punches by Anderson and he hits an uppercut. Side headlock by Anderson, Makabe Irish whips out of it but Anderson re-applies the hold. Makabe pushes Anderson back into the corner but Anderson punches him in the jaw. Side headlock by Anderson, Makabe Irish whips out of it and he hits a shoulderblock. Makabe throws Anderson out of the ring and tosses Anderson into the guardrail. Makabe picks up Anderson and goes to throw him again, but Anderson reverses it. Punch by Anderson and he slams Makabe into the guardrail. Anderson gets back in the ring with Makabe following, and Anderson chokes Makabe with his boot. Mounted punches by Anderson, he picks up Makabe and hits an uppercut. Anderson rakes Makabe’s face with his boot, and he applies a reverse chinlock. Makabe elbows out of the hold, Anderson chops Makabe in the chest but Makabe chops him back. Anderson punches Makabe in the jaw, he goes off the ropes but Makabe catches him with a lariat. Makabe charges Anderson in the corner and hits another lariat, then he hits a second one before hitting mounted punches. Northern Lights Suplex by Makabe, but it only gets a two count. Makabe picks up Anderson, Anderson goes off the ropes but Makabe catches him with a lariat. Cover by Makabe but it gets a two count. Makabe goes off the ropes but Anderson hits a spinebuster. Cover, but it gets two. Anderson gets Makabe on his shoulders but Makabe elbows out of it, Anderson ducks Makabe’s lariat attempt in the corner and hits a jumping big boot. Anderson picks up Makabe and hits the Swivel Gun Stun, cover, but Makabe gets a shoulder up. Anderson goes for a cutter but Makabe pushes him off and hits the lariat. Powerbomb by Makabe, but it gets a two count as well. Makabe goes up to the top turnbuckle but Anderson delivers a jumping kick to the face. Anderson joins Makabe up top, he gets Makabe on his shoulders and nails an avalanche Swivel Gun Stun. Cover, but Makabe barely gets a shoulder up. Anderson picks up Makabe and gets him up on his shoulder, but Makabe gets off and lariats Anderson in the back of the head. Makabe puts Anderson up on the top turnbuckle and joins him, eventually hitting a Spider German Suplex. King Kong Kneedrop by Makabe, cover, and he picks up the three count. Your winner: Togi Makabe
Match Thoughts: Makabe looked a bit off in this match, wonder if he is still smarting from his match on Day 1. Anderson was busting out everything he had to beat Makabe but ended up going down pretty easily. Anderson hits the big version of one of his signature moves but a few moves later he was getting pinned for the three count. Makabe stills spams his lariat a bit but it wasn’t as bad here, it just seemed like the wrong guy won as Anderson is a former champion in New Japan and it should have taken a bit more to put him away. Score: 5.0
Doc Gallows vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
They circle each other to start, tie-up, Gallows pushes Tanahashi into the ropes but Tanahashi switches positions with him. Gallows pushes Tanahashi to the mat to get him away, Gallows goes for a lariat but Tanahashi ducks it. Side headlock by Tanahashi but Gallows grabs Tanahashi by the hair. Tanahashi re-applies the side headlock and takes Gallows to the mat, but Gallows grabs Tanahashi by the hair again. Back on their feet, Gallows asks Tanahashi to lock knuckles, Tanahashi jumps up to the second rope, Gallows charges him but Tanahashi jumps off. Tanahashi goes for a crossbody but Gallows catches him and hits a fallaway slam, sending Tanahashi crashing out of the ring. Gallows goes out as well and he throws Tanahashi into the guardrail. Gallows sets up a chair at ringside, he sits Tanahashi in the chair and hits a big boot, which sends Tanahashi over the guardrail. Gallows grabs a steel chair and hits Tanahashi in the back with it. Gallows applies a side headlock and punches Tanahashi in the head while he brings him back to ringside, and Gallows throws Tanahashi into the rail. Gallows chokes Tanahashi with his boot, he gets up on the apron but Tanahashi pulls him back off and slides into the ring. Gallows slides in as well, he picks up Tanahashi and Gallows puts Tanahashi onto the top turnbuckle. Gallows puts Tanahashi in the Tree of Woe and he hits a running dropkick. Gallows punches Tanahashi in the head a few times and elbows Tanahashi in the chest. Gallows hits an elbow drop and a second one followed by a third. Cover, but it only gets a two count. Gallows applies a reverse chinlock, Tanahashi elbows out of it but Gallows punches Tanahashi in the midsection. Tanahashi punches him back and they trade punches, Gallows throws Tanahashi into the corner and Tanahashi collapses upon impact. Gallows goes up to the second turnbuckle but Tanahashi gets his knees up when Gallows goes for a reverse splash. Tanahashi goes off the ropes and he hits an elbow smash followed by a dropkick to the knee. Jumping elbow smash by Tanahashi and he goes for a scoop slam but Gallows slugs him off. Gallows goes for a slam but Tanahashi slides down his back, Tanahashi goes off the ropes but Gallows punches him in the face. Modified spinebuster by Gallows, he charges Tanahashi in the corner, Tanahashi gets his foot up but Gallows blocks it and hits a backbreaker. Cover, but it gets a two count. Gallows waits for Tanahashi to get up and hits a big boot followed by a high kick, cover, but Tanahashi gets a shoulder up. Gallows grabs Tanahashi by the throat but Tanahashi kicks him off, Gallows tries to throw Tanahashi out of the ring but Tanahashi skins the cat and hits the Sling Blade. Cover, but Gallows quickly kicks out. Gallows pushes Tanahashi back into the corner, Irish whip, reversed, and Tanahashi hits a second Sling Blade. Tanahashi goes up to the top turnbuckle and hits the High Fly Flow to Gallows’s back, he then rolls him over, goes back up top and hits a second High Fly Flow. Cover, and he picks up the three count. Your winner: Hiroshi Tanahashi
Match Thoughts: This was solid… not great or memorable but nothing really wrong with it. Gallows dominated much of the match but I never felt like he was on the verge of winning, I mean Tanahashi wasn’t going to get pinned by Gallows after a high kick. It started slow but picked up a bit by the middle, I just think Tanahashi should have gotten in a bit more offense since it was the main event and all. But a decent match nonetheless. Score: 6.0
Current Standings:
| Block A: | Block B: |
|---|---|
| Hiroshi Tanahashi [4]
Shelton Benjamin [4] Bad Luck Fale [2] Katsuyori Shibata [2] Satoshi Kojima [2] Shinsuke Nakamura [2] Tomohiro Ishii [2] Yuji Nagata [2] Davey Boy Smith Jr. [0] Doc Gallows [0] Tomoaki Honma [0] |
Hirooki Goto [4]
Kazuchika Okada [4] AJ Styles [2] Hiroyoshi Tenzan [2] Tetsuya Naito [2] Togi Makabe [2] Toru Yano [2] Yujiro Takahashi [2] Karl Anderson [0] Lance Archer [0] Minoru Suzuki [0] |
Final Thoughts:
Best Match: Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan. This was a great match, I didn’t know that Tenzan still had it in him. Okada is great, we all know that, but Tenzan stayed on his level during the whole match and my younger inner self did mark out a bit at Tenzan looking as good as he did. A really entertaining match that in some ways saved this event as otherwise there wasn’t a lot special here.
MVP: Hiroyoshi Tenzan. I hope that Tenzan’s body is able to survive this tournament as so far he is really owning it. While I expect Nagata and Kojima to still be able to pump out good singles matches, due to his past health issues I wasn’t expecting a lot from Tenzan, yet here he was busting out moonsaults and TTDs like it is 1997. There were other good wrestlers on the card, notably Ishii and Okada, but Tenzan was the one that stood out the most.
Overall: This event had a few bright spots, but was generally a disappointment. None of the matches were very long/in-depth, and many of the new pairings just fell flat. I realize from the matches this was seen as a bit of an off day, and there really weren’t any upsets aside from possibly Ishii beating Kojima. There were some really good matches, with Okada/Tenzan standing out, but too many of the matches hovered around the ‘average’ line. Judged as a full show, this will probably end up being one of the more skippable one of this G1 Climax, which is just one of the issues of having so many wrestlers in the tournament that there are going to be some duds out there. Not every event is going to be a winner.
1996-08-17 at Sportsfest in Staten Island, NY
World: Raven
TV: Shane Douglas
Tag Team: Gangstas
ECW makes their debut in Staten Island to a packed crowd Tod Gordon is introduced to open the show. He gets on the microphone and talks briefly about the trip to Japan last week. Bill Alfonso comes out to interrupt. Alfonso says that ECW doesn’t belong in NY because they are in the WWF’s territory. Alfonso is gong to throw them out of the building himself. Gordon attacks Alfonso and they brawl until a bunch of wrestlers and referees pull them apart. Little and Big Guido remain in the ring and Little Guido gets on the mic. He calls Kiss out to the ring. Pablo Marquez replaces Don E. Allen tonight on drums. Sandman hits the ring and canes everybody. Sandman calls out World Champion Raven who comes out to the ring on crutches with Lori Fullington. Stevie Richards gets on the mic and says there is no way he man Raven is going to defend the title tonight. Gordon comes back out and tells Sandman he will be getting a title match tonight and that Richards will be defending for Raven. Gordon gets nailed with a steviekick and then Sandman canes Stevie. Stevie goes to leave but Missy Hyatt grabs him by the groin in the aisle and brings him back to the ring.
Stevie Richards (defending the World Title for Raven) vs. Sandman (w/ Missy Hyatt) ref Jim Molineaux
Sandman canes Stevie then hits a top rope leg drop. Sandman goes for the cover Meanie tries to break it up with a top rope moonsault but Sandman moves and it hits Stevie. Cover again Nova now comes off but misses a top rope leg drop. Marques comes in and gets dumped to the floor. Raven comes in hits Sandman with his crutch then hits a DDT. Stevie gets 2. Lori and Missy now come in the ring and brawl. Stevie holds Missy down and Lori canes her. Sandman lets Lori cane him a bunch in the face. He gets up and goes after her but Raven nails him from behind and gets the pin in 2.40.
“The Shah” Hack Meyers vs. Louie Spicolli
Hack hits a few basic moves so Louie bails to the floor. Back in the ring he sidesteps a charge and throws Hack to the floor. He rams Hack into the ring apron. Back in the exchange some blows with Louie getting the upper hand. Hack ducks a clothesline and fires away. Spicolli reverses an irish whip and hits a spin buster for 2. Spicolli with a bridging german for 2. Flying forearm again gets 2. Spicolli locks in a chinlock. Hack fights back and hits the ropes but gets drop kicked for 2. Spicolli goes to a front headlock on the ground. Hack fights back and hits a back elbow of an irish whip. Corner whip and he follows with an elbow to the back of the head. Spicolli placed over the bottom rope and Hack hits a legdrop from the apron. Hack hits the his top rope finisher the coup de grace but hurts his knee and can’t get a cover right away. He goes for it again but Spicolli knocks him down. Spicolli breaks out the Spicolli driver for the first time in ECW and gets the 3 count in 8.42
Buh Buh Ray Dudley (w/ Sign Guy Dudley) vs. Devon Storm (w/ “The Godfather of Extreme Damien Kane & Lady Alexandra) ref John “Pee Wee” Moore
Buh Buh grabs the mic as the fans chant “what’s your name” to him. He says it with no problem and we get the opening bell. Buh Buh with a monkey flip of on irish whip but then he charges and Storm pulls down the top rope and he falls to the ground. Storm goes for a dive but his knee gets caught on the middle rope and he crashes to the floor. Buh Buh nails him a few times with a chair. Storm comes off the top rope with a drop kick but Buh Buh is not fazed by it. He lands a Bud Buh slam and gets 2. Avalanche in the corner and then he throws Storm out of the ring. Back in the ring Storm goes low to gain control of the match. Storm takes Buh Buh to the floor and lands a dive. Kane goes to hit Buh Buh with a chair but he moves and it hits Storm instead. Back in the ring Storm with a head scissors and a diamond dust off the top rope. Storm puts a chair on Buh Buh and climbs the ropes but misses a moonsault. Buh Buh slams the chair across Storm’s back. Storm goes for a sunset flip but Buh Buh drags him back up and powerbombs him. Kane comes into the ring and suffers the same. Lady Alexandra now in the ring Buh Buh grabs her but she points behind him and as Buh Buh turns D-Von is there to hit him with a chair. Buh Buh blocks the third one and now turns the chair onto D-Von a few times. Storm drop kicks the chair into Buh Buh and then goes up top but gets slammed off. D-Von, Storm and Kane work over Buh Buh in the ring now as Sign Guy runs to the back. He returns with Big Dick. Dick chokeslams Kane and Storm. D-Von walks off after they yell at each other a bit. Buh Buh hits another powerbomb on Storm and gets the pin in 10.33. Storm and D-Von talk on the floor and Buh Buh hits a plancha onto them.
Kronus vs. Mikey Whipwreck ref Paul Richards
Kronus pushes Mikey to the mat and he rolls out to the floor twice. Kronus backs Mikey into a corner and starts hammering away on him. He sits Mikey on the turnbuckle and Mikey jumps over him hits a few arm drags and a clothesline that sends them both over the top rope. Mikey goes back in and gets a baseball slide and somersault plancha. Mikey stays on the offense but Kronus overpowers him and hits a super butterfly suplex for 2. Heandspring elbow and a tilt awhirl slam get 2 for Kronus. Mikey tries to make a comeback but Kronus gets him off and hits a pump handle fall away slam. Kronus on top of Mikey and they go to the floor where he hits a suplex and rams Mikeys into the post. Kronus leans Mikey against the post but misses a spin kick hitting his leg and ankle on the post. Mikey takes advantage and starts working over the area. Mikey doesn’t have control for long as Kronus is simply to powerful for him. Mikey fights back with a frankensteiner off the top rope that brings Kronus over the top to the floor. Mikey then with a slingshot frankensteiner on the floor. Back in the ring Mikey comes off the top with a cross body for 2. Mikey ducks a clothesline but Kronus hits a spin kick and body slam. Kronus goes for a somersault leg drop but Mikey moves. Mikey goes up tope and hits another top rope frankensteiner this time getting the big upset in 13.09. The crowd goes wild as Saturn hits the ring. They land total elimination on Mikey.
Saturn vs. 2 Cold Scorpio ref Jim Molineaux
Scorpio spends a painfully long time in the aisle before the match dancing. Scorpio gets on the mic and spends lots of time stalling there and makes someone come in the ring to sweep it. FINALLY we get a bell. They feel each other out for the first few minutes. Saturn gets in some stiff kicks that send Scorpio to the outside. Back in the ring Scorpio with some monkey flips. Saturn goes to the floor and Scorpio hits a really nice looking running plancha over the top rope. Back in the ring Saturn with a standing moonsault of the top. Scorpio goes for a tilt awhirl but Saturn lands on his feet and hit a spring board drop kick and then a lionsault for 2. They go to the floor and Scorpio sends Saturn into the guardrail and then charges but gets back dropped. Saturn goes up top and comes off to the floor with a body block. Ten minutes into the match and not much is going on. Scorpio with the advantage now in the ring with a pump kick to the face and he sets up a power bomb. Scorpio follows that up with a second rope leg drop. He goes for another powerbomb but Saturn rolls through into an arm drag and then hits a falcon arrow. Top rope headbutt gets 2. Scorpio fights back with another kick to the face. Body slam and top rope moonsault get 2. Scorpio puts Saturn on the turnbuckle but Saturn front suplexs him off and then comes with a top rope sunset flip for 2. Scorpio about comes back and comes off the top with a splash for 2. Saturn with a super frankensteiner for 2. Top rope elbow by Saturn for 2. Scorpio with a tombstone and 450 for the win in 14.41
“Primetime” Brian Lee & Stevie Richards (w/ Pablo Marquez, Super Nova, Blue Meanie & Miss Patricia) vs. Tommy Dreamer & Terry Gordy (w/ Beulah) ref John Finnegan
Lee and Dreamer start off but Stevie tags in and asks for Gordy. Gordy tagged in and he over powers Richards to start and hits a suplex. Gordy tags in Dreamer and they double shoulder tackle Richards. Dreamer with a powerslam but the pin is broken up by Lee. Richards is sent to the buckle. He goes to the second rope and jumps to go for a frankensteiner but Dreamer catches him and drops backwards clotheslining Richards on the top rope. Richards goes to the floor and Gordy holds a chair in front of his face as Dreamer baseball slides it. Back in the ring Richards reverses an irish whip but ducks his head to soon and gets DDTed. Lee breaks up the pin and they fight it out. Richards hits a steviekick as Dreamer is distracted. Lee stays in the ring now and he and Dreamer go to the floor for a minute. Back in the ring Lee with a powerslam and he tags out. Power bomb by Richards for 2 and he tags out. Lee goes for the big boot but Dreamer moves and it hits Richards. Lee able to stay in control. Nova now comes in and holds Dreamer. Marquez comes off the top rope but hits Nova with a drop kick by accident. Dreamer DDTs Pablo. Lee chokeslams Pablo to the floor. Dreamer hits a double clothesline on Lee and Richards. Richards comes off the top with a knee drop. Dreamer fights back and makes the tag. Gordy with a drop kick floors Richards. He has Lee and Richards in opposite corners and clotheslines them both. Dreamer comes in and they hit a double big boot on Lee. Gordy with a power bomb on Richards but Lee breaks up the pin. Dreamer DDTs Lee. Dreamer and Gordy spike piledriver Richards and Gordy covers for the win in 10.34. After the match Meanie and Patricia come in. Gordy DDTs him and Dreamer piledrivers her. They turn and Lee chokeslams them both then drops a knee between their legs.
The Pitbulls come out for an interview. Pitbull 1 discusses his injury and says Ptibull 2 is going to Shane Douglas’ ass tonight.
TV Champion “The Franchise” Shane Douglas (w/ Francine) vs. Pitbull 2 (w/Pitbul 1) ref John “Pee Wee” Moore
Douglas gets on the mic before the match and gets the crowd all crazy. Pitbull fired up to start presses Shane above his head and drops him across the ropes. A brainbuster is followed by a neckbreaker. The crowd chants “break his neck” and Pitbull locks in a reverse chinlock. Shane fights out of hit but then gets drops with a DDT. Shane fights back with a low blow and goes to the apron to jaw at Pitbull 1. Shane gets dragged back into the ring by his neck. Now they go back outside and Shane gets slammed against a table a few times. Neckbreaker on the floor. The crowd is really behind Pitbull. Pitbull with a chair to the back of Shane. Pitbull is picking Shane back up and a fan hits Shane in the back with something. Shane completely stops selling and punches the fan who has turned around in the back of the head and jumps over the rail to go after him. Luckily for the fan Pitbull grabs Shane allowing the fan to run away and gets him back on track. Pitbull drags Shane back to the ringside area and DDTs him on the floor. Back in the ring Shane with a low blow to take control. Inverted atomic drop and then a regular atomic drop. Shane gets Pitbull in the corner for a bit but then dugs his head allowing Pitbull to get in a suplex. Shane rolls to the floor and when Pitbull follows Shane takes over. Shane drops Pitbull’s stomach on the guardrail. Shane locks on a camel clutch as we get loud “Pitbull” chants. Pitbull stands up and brings Shane on his shoulders then drops him on the turnbuckle. Both men down and Pitbull puts on a sleeper once they get up. Francine gets in the ring to stop the ref from dropping Shane’s arm a third time. Pitbull 1 starts to get on the apron so Francine tells the ref to stop him. She takes out a chain and hits Pitbull 2 in the head with it. He no sells it and keeps on the sleeper. Shane kicks off the turnbuckle and has the pin but only gets 2. Press slam by Pitbull clothesline he goes after Francine. Shane gets the belt and hits Pitbull with it but only gets 2. DDT onto the title also on 2. Pitbull starts pound on his chest and gets himself fired up. Another press slam by Pitbull he chokes Shane and throws him into a corner where he chokes him more. Running powerslam but Francine jumps on the ref to stop the 3 count. Pitbull goes after her but Shane chop blocks him. Belly to belly but Shane gets thrown off before a 1 count! Shane hits another one and puts his feet on the ropes to get the win in 14.04. Pitbull 2 goes after Joel Gertner as he announces Douglas as the winner. The ref tries to stop it so he gets a super bomb. Gertner laughs but gets caught and superbombed himself.
ECW Tag Team Champions The Gangstas vs. The Samoan Gangsta Party (w/ Damien Kane) ref John Finnegan
Kane is on the mic before the Gangstas come out and says stuff. Gangstas hit the ring and the brawl begins. New Jack seems particularly fond of beating the shit out of Kane which is ok with me. After 4.33 the Gangstas hit the running powerslam 187 combo for the win.
Sabu vs. Rob Van Dam, ref Jim Molineaux
After a few minutes of some mat wrestling and feeling out process Sabu hits a clothesline. Van Dam goes for a back drop but Sabu flips out of hit and hits a dropkick and spin kick that send Van Dam out of the ring. Sabu with a somersault plancha to the floor. Sabu sets up a table on apron and rail and puts Van Dam on it. He goes for the triple jump but Van Dam has moved off the table and into the crowd. Sabu leaps and hits Van Dam in the crowd which gets an “ECW” chant going. Back in the ring Sabu misses a triple jump moonsault. Van Dam throws a chair at Sabu and drops a leg. He locks in a submission but releases it and hits some forearms and a kick that floors Sabu. Van Dam goes for a leapfrog but stumbles and Sabu drop kicks him. Van Dam rolls to the apron and jumps back in and slingshot DDTs Sabu. Double underhook suplex but Van Dam instead falls forward with it in a pedigree type of move. Sabu goes to the floor and Van Dam leaps over the top rope with a somersault body block. Back in the ring Van Dam hits the ropes rolls and then leaps up into a splash. Sabu fights back and hits a springboard leg lariat and split legged moonsault. Air Sabu misses and Van Dam crotches Sabu on the top rop and then hits a springboard kick. Sabu hangs his head outside of the ring and Van Dam puts a chair on his face and leaps over the top rope and leg drops it. Van Dam moonsaults off the guardrail onto a standing Sabu. Back in the ring Van Dam goes up top but Sabu throws a chair at him. Sabu runs up the chair and hops to the top rope and then lands a superrana for 2. Sabu goes up top but Van Dam cuts him off and goes for the super fisherman buster. Sabu pushes him off and goes for a cross body but Van Dam steps back and Sabu lands stomach first on Van Dam’s knee. Van Dam with a monkey flip onto a chair as we cross the 15 minute mark. Van Dam goes up top and attempts a splash but Sabu throws a chair at him on this way down. Sabu with a triple jump DDT for 2. Sabu goes for a suplex but Van Dam jumps down to the floor and clotheslines Sabu on the top rope. Top rope splash by Van Dam for 2. Van Dam puts a chair on Sabu and goes for the split legged moonsault. Sabu opens the chair and puts it on its side and rolls out of the way. Van Dam lands with the open chair into his ribs. It looks very painful and gets a nice reaction from the crowd. An Arabian face buster and triple jump moonsault later and Sabu has the victory in 17.02.
My thoughts on the show…
I like what they are doing with Raven being injured but still defending the title. Although I wonder how injured he actually is since he just officially defended in Japan. One would think that Big Dick Dudley would realize he should just come to ringside with Buh Buh for his matches by now since D-Von shows up every single time. The Kronus /ikey match had an insanely boring five or so minutes in the middle but a pretty exciting start and finish. I can’t begin to describe how terrible the Scorpio Saturn match was. Nothing flowed or made any sense, but I feel that way about most Scorpio matches. TV title match was very good as was the main event. Thumbs in the middle as it was really only those two matches worth watching but the crowd was up and loud for the whole thing which really added to it.
Credit: Marc Middleton
– Tonight’s episode of WWE Main Event kicks off with Byron Saxton and Tom Phillips from Corpus Christi, Texas.
– We go right to the ring and out comes Dean Ambrose. Ambrose says he’s back and he’s in a foul mood. Ambrose says let’s cut the crap and calls Seth Rollins to the ring to get his teeth knocked out. Ambrose takes off his jacket and he’s ready to fight. Ambrose waits but Rollins isn’t coming. Ambrose says he’s going to go through every Superstar The Authority puts in front of him until he gets to Rollins. He says he will make Rollins pay the price for selling out. Alberto Del Rio’s music hits and out he comes to the stage. Del Rio walks to the ring and cuts a promo on Ambrose. He says Ambrose should worry about him, not Rollins. They come face to face. Del Rio says he’s going to take Ambrose’s arm home with him tonight like a trophy. Del Rio kicks Ambrose’s injured arm out of nowhere and flees the ring. Ambrose recovers and Del Rio looks on from the stage as his music plays.
– We get hype for Cena vs. Lesnar.
– The Usos are backstage walking as we go to commercial.
Ryback and Curtis Axel vs. The Usos
We come back and Ryback comes out with Curtis Axel. We see Big E, Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston at ringside. Xavier is on commentary. WWE Tag Team Champions The Usos are out next for a non-title match. Back and forth match to start. Ryback and Axel end up taking control of Jey Uso and keeping him grounded near their corner. Jimmy Uso finally gets the tag and kicks Ryback off the apron after working over Axel. Axel knocks Uso off the top and nails a Fisherman’s suplex for a 2 count as Jey makes the save. The Usos take out Ryback. Axel rolls Jimmy up from behind for a close 2 count. Jimmy nails a superkick and tags in Jey. Jimmy leaps out onto Ryback. Jey nails the big splash for the win on Axel.
Winners: The Usos
– Still to come, a recap of Brie Bella and Stephanie McMahon’s fight on RAW. We go to commercials.
– We get a recap of Stephanie and Brie on RAW.
Titus O’Neil and Heath Slater vs. Zack Ryder and Tyson Kidd
We go to the ring and out comes Heath Slater with Titus O’Neil. We go to commercials. We come back and get a sidebar from Slater Gator. Zack Ryder and Tyson Kidd are out next. Ryder starts off with Slater and they go at it. Ryder gets the upperhand first. Slater fights back but Ryder takes control and tags in Kidd. Kidd with a move and a 2 count. Ryder and Kidd with some double teaming. Ryder nails a dropkick from the top for a 2 count. Titus comes in and levels Ryder. Slater comes in but Ryder turns it around. Kidd tags in and unloads on Slater. Kidd with a big dropkick. Kidd runs into an elbow. Kidd turns Slater upside down in the corner. Ryder hits a Broski Boot on Titus while Kidd nails Slater in the other corner. Kidd with a 2 count on Slater. Kidd goes to the top. Titus goes for him but Ryder jumps on his back. Titus sends Ryder into the barrier. Slater with a powerslam off the top for the win.
Winners: Heath Slater and Titus O’Neil
– We get a look back at Kane, Roman Reigns and Randy Orton on RAW.
Dean Ambrose vs. Alberto Del Rio
We go to the ring and Dean Ambrose is out first. Alberto Del Rio is out next and they immediately start going at it. Ambrose turns it around and goes after Del Rio’s eye.
Del Rio comes back and hits a big enziguri in the corner. Del Rio drops knees on Ambrose’s injured shoulder now. They go to the floor and Ambrose sends Del Rio into the barrier. They bring it back in the ring and Ambrose keeps Del Rio grounded using his own arm. Ambrose charges in the corner and misses, hitting the ring post. Del Rio knocks Ambrose’s head into the ring post. Del Rio with a big shot off the top now. 2 count by Del Rio. Del Rio goes back to work on the shoulder. Ambrose digs at Del Rio’s eye to make a comeback. Ambrose nails a missile dropkick. Del Rio turns it around and sends Ambrose to the floor as we go to commercial.
We come back and Del Rio stops a comeback. Del Rio with a clothesline for a 2 count. Ambrose makes a big comeback and Del Rio sends himself out to the floor. Ambrose nails a big dive. Lots more back and forth. Ambrose blocks a cross armbreaker and hits a big clothesline. Seth Rollins makes his way out to boos. Rollins and Ambrose start brawling at ringside for the disqualification.
Winner by DQ: Dean Ambrose
– After the bell, they brawl around ringside. Rollins works over Ambrose on top of the announcers table. Ambrose sends Rollins hard into the barrier. They come back in the ring and Ambrose clotheslines Rollins right out. Del Rio tries to attack from behind but Ambrose hits him with Dirty Deeds. Ambrose’s music hits as he stares down Rollins. Main Event goes off the air.
– UFC president Dana White finally came through with a super-fight, announcing Anderson Silva vs. Nick Diaz for UFC 183 this January. The bout will take place from Las Vegas on January 31 as part of the UFC’s annual Super Bowl weekend event.
“The fight that the fans have been waiting for,” said White, appearing on ESPN’s SportsCenter Tuesday. “We have made Anderson Silva vs. Nick Diaz. It will be the main event and it will be five rounds.”
Silva (33-6) will be fighting for the first time in over a year after suffering a gruesome broken leg against Chris Weidman last December for the UFC middleweight title. After winning his first 16 Octagon bouts, he has lost his last two to Weidman.
Diaz (26-9) lost his last two after putting together an 11-fight win streak, falling to Georges St-Pierre last year for the UFC welterweight title and to Carlos Condit in 2012 for the interim belt. He recently signed a new three-fight deal with the promotion.
– Joe Riggs, who recently signed back on with the UFC to face Paulo Thiago in Brazil, has been removed from the fight after his hand gun accidentally discharged on him. Riggs was looking to return to the Octagon for the first time since 2006.
“We were made aware that newly-signed UFC competitor Joe Riggs was involved in an unfortunate accident last night. While cleaning his permitted firearm (a pistol), the gun discharged, injuring his hand and upper thigh,” the UFC said in a released statement. “Riggs was transported to a nearby hospital in Arizona where he is being treated by physicians. We wish Joe a speedy recovery.”
The promotion has already found an opponent for Thiago, tabbing Sean Spencer to face him at UFC Fight Night 51.
– Rob Van Dam recently spoke with News.com.au to promote WWE’s Australian tour and talked about how nobody does sports entertainment better than WWE and their longevity:
“I’ve been doing this so long that I am privy to a lot of changes. When I started out there were many different companies … you could leave and go to a different territory and there were so many different styles. What we have now is WWE has survived the test of time and all the other companies have fallen off the face of the earth … now the WWE is a hybrid of all the different kinds of wrestling. I kid you not, it really is the cream of the crop, the best in the business. If you’re not in the WWE and bouncing around in the Indy shows you’re not with the best.”
– PWInsider reports that there is a lot of talk within WWE this week that more cuts will be announced on Thursday or Friday, following Thursday’s earnings call and WWE Network subscribers announcement.
