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What a coincidence!

I don’t really have much to say for the intro in this newsletter, except that it’s a coincidence that I’m doing—like in the last one—four shows in the fourth newsletter. Okay, I’m done with confusing readers, numerology and corny jokes (or “dad jokes” as we nowadays call them)…

let’s get to the newsletter, shall we?

ICW Fight Club

The episode took place inside an empty Glasgow Pro Wrestling Asylum; there was no fans because of, sadly, a COVID outbreak that occurred in Scotland. However, ICW still has Square Go! as scheduled despite the company making select empty arena episodes of ICW Fight Club starting with this one.

One of the current storylines outside those involving championships and the upcoming Square Go! is DCT’s rivalry with the currently absent Jaxn, and then portraying as Jaxn’s former alter ego “Jackie Polo.” Not only is he the thorn on Jaxn’s side, but also on Luke Kyro’s side.

As much as I’m not a big fan of current “talk shows” that occur in pro wrestling such as Noam Dar’s Supernova Sessions on NXT UK or Lash Legend’s Lashing Out on NXT, Luke Kyro’s Vibes—regardless of how new his show is—has grown on me. Unless all hell breaks loose like many “talk shows” do, Vibes is definitely fun to watch when it comes to checking out segments like this in independent pro wrestling.

Back to his rivalry with “Jackie Polo”, Kyro was supposed to go face-to-face with him this week on ICW Fight Club. However, “Polo” didn’t fight him this week because a contract for that matchup “wasn’t completed in time”; as a result, the replacement for “Polo” was Caleb Valhalla, whom Kyro was able to defeat despite size vs. strength coming into play.

I wonder if they’re going to have a match on either a later episode of ICW Fight Club or at Square Go! as that rivalry, with or without Jaxn, rolls on.

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Also rolling along is Angel Hayze’s run as the ICW Women’s champion. She had an excellent non-title match this week with Lizzy Evo, whom we have also seen on Progress last year participating in the Revelations of Divine Rose tournament (where the winner becomes the #1 contender for the Progress Women’s championship).

Lizzy had a strong showing in her matchup, even if Angel came out as the victor. I look forward to seeing more of Lizzy in competition, whether it’s on Progress, ICW, or another European indie show.

Here are the match results from Glasgow…

Match #1: The Nine9 defeated Woke Academy in a few minutes with the Nikolai Driver;

in case you don’t know who the Woke Academy are, it’s the team of Robbie Balfour and Ross Hunter whom we have seen lately. No score.

Match #2: Aaron Echo defeated Mikey Divine (w/ Rabu Romero)

with a pumphandle fallaway slam; post-match, Echo attacked both Divine and Romero before throwing them out of the ring and announcing that he’s entering the Square Go! match. My score: 1.75/5

Match #3: Angel Hayze defeated Lizzy Evo with a Code Red-like faceplant in a non-title match;

both women shook hands afterwards. My score: 4.25/5

##Match #4: Logan Smith defeated Ian Skinner (w/ Thatcher Wright and Charles Vyce). Near the end, Vyce tripped Smith from ringside before being sent to the back. Then, Thatcher attempted to help Skinner until Lou King Sharp appeared and attacked Thatcher with a kendo stick before chasing him away, leading to Smith defeating Skinner with a running spinning neckbreaker. My score: 3/5

Main event: Luke Kyro defeated Caleb Valhalla (w/ “Jackie Polo”) with the Kyroscope.

My score: 3.5/5

NXT

From the Glasgow Pro Wrestling Asylum to the arena that’s no longer named the Capitol Wrestling Center in Orlando we go…

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The 2022 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic is still going strong, especially with an excellent opener that kicked off the second half of the quarterfinal round. I would have been happy with either result of MSK vs. Jacket Time…Ikemen Jiro and Kushida dethroning Wes Lee and Nash Carter like the Los Angeles Rams did to last year’s Super Bowl champions the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the playoffs this weekend, or MSK becoming the first team to win back-to-back DRTTC tournaments. In the end, it was MSK being victorious.

Also victorious in the quarterfinal round was the inaugural NXT UK Tag Team champions Grizzled Young Veterans over Andre Chase & Bodhi Hayward. I kind of expected the team of Zack Gibson and James Drake to keep moving forward, even if they’re no strangers to competing in the DRTTC tournament.

Now, we have four teams getting ready to go at it in the semi-final round…MSK, Edris Enofé & Malik Blade, the Creed Brothers, and Grizzled Young Veterans. In addition, we learned that the final round of that tournament will take place at NXT Vengeance Day which is no longer what WWE nowadays calls a “premium live event” (f.k.a. Pay-Per-Views and NXT TakeOvers to be more specific); it is nowadays like New Year’s Evil and Halloween Havoc, meaning that it will be a special NXT episode come the day after Valentine’s Day. (Speaking of tournaments, I’m curious to see what teams will take part of the women’s DRTTC tournament come February since we didn’t see the brackets for it yet.)

From tournaments to championships, it appears that Santos Escobar will be the next challenger for the NXT championship, currently held by Bron Breakker. This week, we saw that Legado del Fantasma attempted to outnumber the champion until Breakker was able to outsmart Joaquin Wilde and Raul Mendoza by beating the two down in the ring. Then, as soon as the episode was coming to a close, the three men in Legado attempted to play the numbers game again until they retreated as soon as the previous NXT champion Tommaso Ciampa appeared! Looks like we may see Ciampa and Breakker take on Escobar, Wilde, and Mendoza (with Elektra Lopez in tow) in 2-on-3 action next week, and probably the NXT championship on the line come February 15.

I honestly think that we’re going to see all of NXT’s titles on the line at NXT Vengeance Day; besides the NXT championship, it looks like we’ll also see Indi Hartwell & Persia Pirotta take on Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne for the NXT Women’s Tag Team championship, ditto Kay Lee Ray fighting Mandy Rose for the NXT Women’s title. I think of those match predictions because of their six-woman tag team match that occurred this past Tuesday; it appears that the three have been eyeing on Toxic Attraction for the titles around their waist, especially the idea of KLR vs. Mandy ever since Mandy distracted her in her match against Ivy Nile last week.

The only title I didn’t mention was the NXT North American title because we all saw that Cameron Grimes, after defeating Tony D’Angelo in the main event this week, will fight Carmelo Hayes for that title at NXT Vengeance Day.

Putting what matches should take place in February aside, not only did I like the opening match as well as the closer and the six-woman tag team match, but I also liked the No Disqualification/Falls Count Anywhere match between Solo Sikoa and Boa (unless hardcore/extreme rules matches aren’t your cup of tea). Good to see Sikoa continuing his undefeated streak on NXT, even after going toe-to-toe with the power-possessed Boa in and outside the ring (as well as in and outside the venue, damaged grate and all).

Here are the match results…

Match #1: MSK defeated Jacket Time in the quarterfinal round of the DRTTC;

Kushida went for the Hoverboard Lock until it was blocked, leading to Wes Lee and Nash Carter defeating him with a spinebuster/top rope blockbuster combo. My score: 4.5/5

Match #2: Solo Sikoa defeated Boa in a No Disqualification/Falls Count Anywhere match

after Sikoa hit Boa with a top rope splash through the table at ringside. My score: 3/5

Match #3: Duke Hudson defeated Guru Raaj with a crucifix powerbomb;

Afterwards, Dante Chen ran in and fought Hudson until—while the referees were separating the two—Hudson hit Chen with a chop block to the previously injured leg. No score.

Match #4: Kay Lee Ray, Indi Hartwell & Persia Pirotta defeated Toxic Attraction;

Near the end, KLR chased Mandy to the back with her baseball bat while—back in the ring—Persia defeated Gigi Dolin with a spinning sitout faceplant. My score: 2.75/5

Match #5: Grizzled Young Veterans defeated Andre Chase & Bodhi Hayward in the quarterfinal round of the DRTTC

…after Zack Gibson and James Drake hit Hayward with a double Codebreaker; after the match, Von Wagner (with Robert Stone who lifted his suspension and paid his fine as we learned) ran in and attacked Chase and Hayward. My score: 1.75/5

Match #6: Io Shirai defeated Tiffany Stratton with a bodyslam followed by a moonsault.

My score: 1.5/5

Main event: Cameron Grimes defeated Tony D’Angelo to become the #1 contender for the NXT North American championship;

Near the end, as Tony was taking a breather, Pete Dunne—equipped with a cricket bat—scared him back into the ring, leading to Grimes defeating him with the Cave In. My score: 3.75/5

NXT UK

It was no disqualification/falls count anywhere week in the NXT Universe.

Not only did we see that type of matchup between Solo Sikoa and Boa on NXT in Orlando, but Ilja Dragunov and Jordan Devlin ended up competing in one this week with the NXT United Kingdom championship on the line. Only this time, it was an Empty Arena match.

That match went all over the place (pun intended), from in the ring where Devlin struck Dragunov with a headbutt prior to the bell being rung, to the empty crowd as soon as Dragunov crashed Devlin through the barricade prior to crashing through a table due to a failed Torpedo Moscow attempt, and then back in the ring where Dragunov put Devlin through a table—after blocking Devlin’s Devlin Side attempt through the table—with a Death Valley driver for a near fall.

It looked like we would see “The Irish Ace” crowned as the new champion due to Dragunov’s eye injury from the pre-match headbutt as well as Devlin using zip ties to put his opponent’s hands behind his back until Dragunov made him say otherwise by kicking him away before defeating him with a Torpedo Moscow-like headbutt to retain the title.

Out of both no DQ/FCA matches that occurred this week, Dragunov vs. Devlin was slightly better than the one that occurred in Orlando.

Speaking of no DQ/FCA, I’m definitely excited to see the rematch between Meiko Satomura and Blair Davenport for the NXT UK Women’s championship; we learned on NXT UK this week, that their rematch will be a Japanese Street Fight.

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I enjoyed the opener between Die Familie and Gallus, regardless of how much the trio of Teoman, Rohan Raja and Charlie Dempsey had up in their sleeves while fighting the trio of Mark and Joe Coffey and Wolfgang. It could have gone either way, a Gallus win or a Die Familie win. Plus, it was noted by the commentators—Andy Shepherd and Nigel McGuinness—that it was two down and one to go for Dempsey making Gallus members lose to him; Dempsey defeated Joe Coffey in the past and then made Wolfgang submit, and he has yet to clash with Mark Coffey in another matchup (one-on-one, tag team, etc.).

Here are the results of the matches that occurred in London…

Match #1: Die Familie defeated Gallus;

Near the end, Mark Coffey and Wolfgang attempted to double team Dempsey until Rohan Raja pulled Mark out of the ring while Teoman ran in and chop blocked Wolfgang, leading to Dempsey making Wolfgang submit to a modified STF. My score: 3.75/5

Match #2: Jinny defeated Amale;

Amale went for the Hope Breaker until Jinny blocked it before taking her down and, using the ropes for leverage, pinned her for the win. My score: 1.5/5

Main event: Ilja Dragunov defeated Jordan Devlin in an Empty Arena match

to retain the NXT United Kingdom championship with a Torpedo Moscow-like headbutt while his hands were still zip tied behind his back. My score: 3.5/5

205 Live

Finally, we return to Orlando for Evolve…I mean, 205 Live.

Before getting to the matches, good luck wishes go out to Sudu Shah who is a new addition to WWE; he worked with Nigel McGuinness at the announce table on this week’s episode. Onto the matches which were, like last week’s 205 Live matches, so-so…

Match #1: Josh Briggs (w/ Brooks Jensen) defeated Damon Kemp with a Clothesline From Hell (ala JBL);

Briggs stopped Jensen from attempting to interfere during the match. My score: 1.5/5

Match #2: Yulisa Leon & Valentina Feroz defeated Amari Miller & Lash Legend.

This match was mostly tainted by miscommunications and arguments by the team of Amari and Lash; the two argued near the end of the match until Yulisa rolled up Amari and pinned her for the win. My score: 1.25/5

Main event: Joe Gacy (w/ Harland) defeated Draco Anthony with a handspring clothesline.

My score: 1.5/5

Next time…

Two words…Royal Rumble. That’s what kicks off the next newsletter along with the usual ICW and WWE shows of my choosing.

Actually, Royal Rumble isn’t the only thing that I’m kicking off the next newsletter with. I’m also adding a look back at the first Progress chapter of 2022! Yes, I’m starting off the next newsletter with a one-two punch of special events…one from WWE and one from Progress.

Thanks for reading! I’ll see you next time!

(Photos shown in the newsletter are from WWE and ICW.)