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Cue “Roads” by Portishead

WWE is now on a road to WrestleMania after going through Elimination Chamber (that took place outside the United States for the first time ever), ICW was on a road to Square Go! after going through empty arena episodes of Fight Club (the Peacock broadcast will be shown on March 5 by the way, hence saying “was” instead of “is”), and Progress is on a road to the 15th Anniversary show. If getting ready to see those events that will or have occurred don’t tickle your fancy, I don’t know what would.

Here’s what happened this week!

Elimination Chamber

We’re now going to cue “Astronaut In the Ocean” by Masked Wolf, because we’re heading to the Jeddah Superdome in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia for what Michael Cole on commentary called “the last stop before WrestleMania”, and that’s Elimination Chamber.

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Not only did we see two EC matches—one for men and one for women—but we also saw a clash of generations in two title matches; one match was Roman Reigns and Goldberg fighting for the WWE Universal Championship, and another was—made two days after Royal Rumble—Becky Lynch and Lita fighting for the Raw Women’s Championship. Also on the card were two tag team matches (one not occurring as you’ll see in the results shortly), and a Falls Count Anywhere match that was marred by interference that occurred throughout the entire bout (even though I have nothing against Extreme Rules/Falls Count Anywhere/no DQ matches, regardless of the pros and cons, per se).

My favorite matches of the premium live event are those that involve the women of WWE’s Raw roster, and yes that includes Lita who fought for the Raw Women’s Championship that night. All six women in the Elimination Chamber match did very well, especially those keeping their characters and their storylines in tact such as Nikki A.S.H. being a self-centered heel ever since parting ways with Rhea Ripley the hard way, Alexa Bliss coming back from therapy and showing no signs of ring rust, and so forth. In the end, it was Bianca Belair heading to WrestleMania, but with Becky Lynch as her WM opponent this year.

Becky Lynch vs. Lita for the Raw Women’s Championship was indeed as good as the women’s EC match, hence the reason why I’m giving a thumbs up to the women on Raw’s roster. Regardless of how one-sided the match was courtesy of Becky, we saw Lita coming real close to winning the title especially when she announced two nights after Royal Rumble that she had—in her words—one more title match left in her; the dead giveaway was showing that she still has what it takes to compete, not only by hitting Becky with the Twist of Fate followed by the Litasault (that Becky failed to attempt during the match by the way), but also pay homage to another competitor from the same generation as Lita by hitting Becky with Trish Stratus’ Stratusphere. In the end, it was Becky that came out on top, retaining that title.

The other Elimination Chamber match, for the WWE Championship, was good as well even with one of the six wrestlers being dominant on the same day Corey Heim led most of the 80 laps in the first ARCA Menards Series race of 2022 in Daytona Beach, Florida. Not only did we see a new champion emerge from the same concept that Eric Bischoff thought of during his time as the General Manager of Raw back in late 2002, but we also saw a competitor get taken out of the match due to an injury before stepping foot out of a pod and into the ring. Bobby Lashley is out of action due to shoulder problems that are not related to the EC match; it appears that he ended up with nagging shoulder injuries after defeating Brock Lesnar—who won the title in the EC match by the way—for the title. Get well wishes go out to Bobby Lashley.

Here are the results of the matches that occurred in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia…

Pre-show match: Rey Mysterio (w/ Dominic Mysterio) defeated the Miz. Near the end, the Miz attempted to bring a chair to the ring until Dominic stopped him from doing so before pretending that Dominic hit him. Then, as soon as the referee ejected Dominic from ringside, the Miz charged at Rey before missing and crashing into the corner, leading to Rey rolling him up and pinning him for the win. Post-match, the Miz blindsided Rey until Dominic ran in and he and his father Rey beat down the Miz with a double 619, followed by back-to-back Froggy frog splashes (ala the late Eddie Guerrero). My score: 2.25/5

Match #1: Roman Reigns (w/ Paul Heyman) defeated Goldberg to retain the WWE Universal Championship

After the first spear, Goldberg attempted to hit Reigns with the Jackhammer until Reigns countered with a Rock Bottom for a near fall. Later on, Goldberg speared Reigns for the second time, and went for the Jackhammer again until Reigns countered and incapacitated Goldberg with the Guillotine. My score: 2/5

Match #2: Bianca Belair defeated Doudrop, Rhea Ripley, Nikki A.S.H., Liv Morgan and Alexa Bliss in the Elimination Chamber

…to become the #1 contender for the Raw Women’s Championship at WrestleMania. Nikki was eliminated first by Rhea via Riptide, Doudrop was eliminated by Liv after a top rope sunset flip powerbomb, Liv was eliminated by Alexa via Twisted Bliss, and then Rhea followed by Alexa were eliminated by Bianca via K.O.D. My score: 3.5/5

Match #3: Naomi & Ronda Rousey defeated Charlotte Flair & Sonya Deville

Ronda, who competed in a Gi, was ordered to compete with one arm tied behind her back. As soon as the bell rang, Sonya took off her cast to reveal that her arm recovered. (Ronda injured Sonya by putting her in an armbar days after the Royal Rumble on SmackDown.) The team of Naomi and Ronda won after Ronda was able to make Sonya submit to the same armbar that injured her a couple weeks prior. My score: 2/5

Match #4: Drew McIntyre defeated Madcap Moss (w/ Happy Corbin) in a Falls Count Anywhere match

As noted, Corbin mostly interfered in the match. During the bout, Moss landed on his head after McIntyre hit him with a reverse Alabama Slam; he still able to continue however. The match ended after McIntyre shooed Corbin away with his sword Angela before defeating Moss with the Claymore. My score: 1/5

Match #5: Becky Lynch defeated Lita to retain the Raw Women’s Championship with the Manhandle Slam

My score: 3.5/5

Match #6: The Viking Raiders vs. The Usos for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship never occurred

…after Jimmy and Jey Uso ambushed Erik and Ivar at ringside; the Usos are still the SmackDown Tag Team champions. No score.

Main event: Brock Lesnar defeated Bobby Lashley, AJ Styles, Riddle, Austin Theory and Seth Freakin Rollins

…in the Elimination Chamber to win the WWE Championship. During the match, Rollins hit Theory with a buckle bomb through Lashley’s pod, injuring Lashley who would then be taken out of the match afterwards. Later on, Lesnar broke out of the pod in frustration after refusing to wait for the countdown clock to run to zero (the interval for another competitor to enter the ring is five minutes) and fought everyone that was competing. Lesnar—in order—would then eliminate Rollins, Riddle, and Styles with the F5, and then—after chasing Theory that tried to escape—hit Theory with an F5 from the top of a pod to the floor before pinning him for the last elimination. My score: 3.25/5

Progress Chapter 128: Technique

Now that Elimination Chamber wrapped up in Saudi Arabia in Asia, we head to another continent. The continent is Europe, and we go to Manchester, England in the United Kingdom for the 128th chapter of Progress entitled “Technique.”

Yes, I am a huge fan of Progress ever since discovering it last year one month before WWE Network in the United States entered the Peacock era. Like the last chapter, this chapter didn’t disappoint me one bit.

The last time Progress was at the O2 Ritz in Manchester was on October 13, 2019 when Cara Noir was feuding with now-NXT UK wrestler (and NXT United Kingdom Champion) Ilja Dragunov. Here in Progress’ first Manchester appearance of 2022, we had decent title matches on this episode, as well as two surprising returns. One of the title matches had a crazy start, brawling in and out of the ring and into the crowd which will be mentioned in the results shortly.

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My favorite out of the title matches that took place was Cara Noir vs. Dean Allmark for the Progress World Championship. Even though it had a “saw that coming” ending to the match (since Cara Noir is scheduled to defend the title against Warren Banks at the 15th Anniversary show), it was still one of my favorites for the episode. We have seen prior to this match that Dean Allmark currently has a pretty good win/loss ratio; his lone loss of course came last year in the 119th chapter of Progress in an empty Theatre Peckham in London, fighting Cara Noir for that title. Allmark definitely impressed me in that matchup, even while going toe-to-toe with the dominant Cara Noir; I expect even more from Allmark in the near future, especially while he’s eyeing on gold in Progress.

I was pretty sure that Gisele Shaw was going to lose the Progress Women’s Championship to Rhio now that Gisele is on Impact Wrestling. The “Quintessential Diva” made us say otherwise, even in front of the audience—as well as North West Strong members Chris Ridgeway and Ethan Allen—that night. It was still a good match for the title however; I would still like to see Rhio win gold on Progress as well as ICW after seeing her run in both of those shows. On the other hand, I got nothing against Gisele holding the Progress Women’s Championship as long as she can, even if her run in Impact began this year per se.

Here are the match results from Manchester…

(NOTE: Unfortunately, like in the last chapter that I wrote about in the fifth newsletter, I will be skipping a match that I didn’t see in the Peacock broadcast of Progress Chapter 128; that match was Jonathan Gresham retaining the Ring of Honor World Championship over Chris Ridgeway.)

Match #1: The Smokin’ Aces defeated Lykos Gym to retain the Progress Tag Team Championship

Kid Lykos and Kid Lykos II came into the ring with the belts they stole in the last chapter until the Smokin’ Aces ran in and fought them out of the ring and into the crowd. During the pre-match brawl, Lykos Gym attempted to blind the champions with powder—one of their calling cards of course—until they saw that Charlie Sterling and Nick Riley were wearing goggles. Also during the pre-match brawl, Sterling and KL attempted to throw each other off the balcony in the crowd. The match finally began as soon as Riley and KL2 fought into the ring. During the match, Lykos Gym attempted to use the titles as weapons until the ring crew appeared and stopped them from doing so; unbeknownst to them, Riley dove onto Lykos Gym and Sterling from the balcony! Towards the end, Lykos Gym brought a chair into the ring and as the referee was putting it away, they attempted to use trays as weapons—another calling card of theirs—until the Smokin’ Aces had powder of their own. A minute or so later, the Smokin’ Aces would win after hitting KL with the Smokin’ Ace Crusher. My score: 3/5

Match #2: Big Guns Joe defeated Scott Oberman by submission with a Boston crab

This was Oberman’s Progress debut, and he was representing North West Strong. My score: 3/5

Match #3: Alexxis Falcon defeated Lana Austin

Before the match, Lana coerced a fan to use his chair to help her get into the ring, and minutes later, disrupted the introductions by Simon Miller to mock Alexxis losing in the Revelations of Divine Love tournament until Alexxis mocked Lana for losing to her in the same tournament. Alexxis won after hitting Lana with a rope assisted Falcon’s Arrow (Sister Abigail minus the kiss). Post-match, Lana hit Alexxis with a headbutt, and then brought a chair into the ring before hitting her with a Randy Orton DDT onto the chair. My score: 3/5

Match #4: Spike Trivet defeated Luke Jacobs in a No Disqualification match

Steel chairs, tables, and Trivet’s belt came into play, as did the contents of a bag that he brought to the ring. Trivet worked on Jacobs’ right arm during the match, including giving the arm a Conchairto, as well as bending his fingers inside a turnbuckle. As I noted, tables were also used; Trivet hit Jacobs with a top rope sunset flip powerbomb through one table in the ring, and Jacobs hit Trivet with a piledriver from the apron through another table at ringside. Near the end, Jacobs took the bag from Trivet and inside was a bottle of lemon juice and thumbtacks. Jacobs made Trivet drink some of the juice until Trivet took a page out of Pete Dunne’s playbook by snapping his fingers before hitting him with an exploder suplex into the thumbtacks and then spitting the juice onto the thumbtack covered back of Jacobs. Then, after a Birthright (double underhook ushigoroshi) gave Trivet a two count, he put Jacobs in the Ascot chokehold, incapacitating him while stomping on the worked-on fingers. My score: 3.25/5

Match #5: Cara Noir defeated Dean Allmark to retain the Progress World Championship

After mirroring each other in pin attempts and monkey flips as well as some “anything you can do I can do better” moments earlier in and during the match between the two, Cara Noir hit Allmark with a headbutt before defeating him with a package piledriver. After the match, the lights went out, and when they came back on, Ilja Dragunov—NXT United Kingdom Championship and all—was in the ring! Dragunov said that he was on a “personal journey” before saying that he was coming back for Cara Noir once again. My score: 4.75/5

Main event: Gisele Shaw defeated Rhio (w/ Chris Ridgeway and Ethan Allen) to retain the Progress Women’s Championship

Rhio was representing North West Strong in this match. Towards the end, Gisele had Rhio in a Fujiwara armbar and as Rhio was attempting to grab the ropes, Gisele choked Rhio with her opponent’s own braids before rolling her back to the center of the ring and reapplying the armbar; Rhio tapped out, and Gisele retained the title. Post-match, Gisele said that there was no one left to fight her for the title until all of the sudden, the previous champion Kanji returned as she appeared at the entryway! Kanji called Gisele her “stand-in”, before saying that Gisele shouldn’t call herself a champion until Gisele beats her. My score: 4.5/5

ICW Fight Club

Not only are we staying in Europe, but also in the United Kingdom; this time, we’re heading to Glasgow, Scotland.

And this time, there were fans in attendance at the GPWA.

Pieces of the Square Go! puzzle kept falling into place, including who would enter the 30-man/five-weapons battle royal as entrant #30. It was revealed to be Sweeney’s protégé Levi who won in a four-way dance to determine who would get that spot as we’ll see in the results shortly.

We learned that Kasey would be unable to fight Angel Hayze for the ICW Women’s Championship at Square Go! due to injury; the winner of a match that took place this week—Lizzy Evo vs. Molly Spartan—would become Kasey’s replacement for that championship match, and the result of the match would surprise you. All I can tell you is that it’s going to be another good chapter in the fairly new rivalry between Lizzy and Molly come Square Go!

Speaking of championships, it was good seeing Mark Haskins entering the ring on ICW Fight Club this week (even though he wasn’t in action this week per se). Haskins was looking forward to officially become “best of the best” by defeating Kez Evans for the ICW World Heavyweight Championship at Square Go! Haskins and Evans were pretty good on the microphones, talking about which one of the two would walk out as the champion, even before BT Gunn joined the party and revealed that ICW management won’t allow Gunn to touch Evans until after Evans vs. Haskins. It looks like we’re got another good rivalry—which is Evans and Gunn—in our hands, as well as a good buildup for Evans vs. Haskins.

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Regardless of how the main event ended, I liked the main event match between Luke Kyro and DCT who is still appearing as Jaxn’s former alter ego “Jackie Polo.” Also, in case you’re wondering, I like that DCT gets ticked off once someone—including Kyro—calls him “DCT” instead of “Jackie Polo”, thus making him Incredible Hulk angry which is something that the late Marvel Comics founder Stan Lee may approve, with or without his catchphrase “Excelsior!”

One more thing, I wonder if the Manifesto got ideas from Joe Gacy after they vowed to make ICW “inclusive and justified” in their promo. Just saying…

Okay, putting guessing games aside, here are the match results from Glasgow…

Match #1: Levi (w/ Sweeney) defeated Jimmy Pierce, Logan Smith and Aaron Echo

…in a four-way dance to earn the #30 spot in the Square Go! match. Near the end, Echo hit Pierce with a pumphandle fallaway slam and read the fans the riot act until Levi dropkicked Echo out of the ring before pinning Pierce for the win. Post-match, Sweeney dared Echo to fight him after Echo got mad at Levi, but instead Echo decided to take his frustrations out on Smith and—thrown out of the ring by Levi—Pierce. My score: 2.5/5

Match #2: Thatcher Wright (w/ Mr. Charles Vyce and Ian Skinner) vs. Ravie Davie in a Scheme Rules match

…ended in a no contest after the rest of Thatcher’s Cabinet ran in and triple teamed Davie before Lou King Sharp and Krieger made the save; Krieger would then make this match a six-man tag team match. No score.

Match #3: Ravie Davie, Lou King Sharp & Krieger defeated Thatcher’s Cabinet in a six-man tag team match that was under scheme rules

During the match, Davie, Sharp and Krieger found hammers under the ring—Davie and Krieger each equipped with a sledgehammer, and Sharp with two regular hammers—until all three members of Thatcher’s Cabinet gave them low blows. A kendo stick, a steel chair, a ladder and Skinner’s business card—used to give Davie papercuts—came into play as well. Near the end, Davie took a page out of Shelton Benjamin’s playbook by running up a ladder that was leaning in a corner and dove onto his opponents before Krieger and Skinner came back in the ring. Afterwards, Krieger won for his team after hitting Skinner with a sidewalk slam. My score: 1.5/5

Match #4: Jason Reed (w/ Coach Trip) defeated Saqib Ali (w/ Chris Toal)

Reed returned to action after his left arm—worked on by Ali most of the match—was injured by Chris Bumgard at Fear & Loathing XIII. After Trip caused trouble at ringside, Toal—near the end of the match—caused trouble of his own before hitting Trip with his megaphone. Ali saw Toal take down Trip until Reed rolled up Ali and pinned him for the win. Regardless of how much trouble the managers caused at ringside most of the match, it still had funny moments. My score: 0.5/5

Match #5: Lizzy Evo vs. Molly Spartan for a shot at the ICW Women’s Championship at Square Go!

…ended in a double countout after both women brawled into the audience. Post-match, both women came back in the ring and argued while closing in on another physical altercation until Angel Hayze appeared and said that both women “[f-bombed] up”; Angel then decided to face both Lizzy and Molly, with the title on the line, in a three-way dance at Square Go! My score: 2.5/5

Main event: “Jackie Polo” defeated Luke Kyro

Towards the end, DCT snuck a polo mallet in the ring while Kyro was putting him back in, and then DCT struck him with the mallet before pinning him for the win. My score: 3/5

NXT

We now move from one continent to another. This time, the continent is North America as we head to Orlando, Florida for another episode of NXT.

We learned that NXT Stand & Deliver will take place hours before night 1 of WrestleMania in Dallas, Texas in early April. Expect Bron Breakker, the NXT Champion, to defend the title against a competitor who is not on the NXT roster but on the Raw roster, and his name is Dolph Ziggler.

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Not only did he add himself to the title picture before, during and after Breakker’s Vengeance Day title match against Santos Escobar, but because he fought Tommaso Ciampa for a shot at the title this week. (It was my favorite match of the episode as you will see in the results.) For a while, we thought that Ziggler would put his Raw tag team run aside while eyeing on the title until what happened near the end of the match made us say otherwise. Bobby Roode, a former NXT Champion and nowadays Ziggler’s tag team partner on the main WWE roster, disguised himself as a cameraman and—behind the referee’s back—struck Ciampa with the camera before Ziggler hit Ciampa with a superkick and pinned him for the win. This makes me wonder if Roode will be a factor in the upcoming NXT Championship match between Breakker and Ziggler at NXT Stand & Deliver come April; I wouldn’t be surprised if he’ll pop up out of the blue during that championship match that day.

The Women’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic began this week with the first half of the quarterfinal round; out of the two matches that took place, I liked Kacy Catanzaro & Kayden Carter vs. Tatum Paxley & Ivy Nile more, mainly because the first quarterfinal match of the night—Kay Lee Ray & Io Shirai vs. Lash Legend & Amari Miller—lasted for between two and three minutes. Even though the now-multicolored brand known as NXT 2.0 often does short matches for both men and women, the last time I checked, this is 2022 and not 2002 or early 2012; I expected longer matches for the women like we’ve seen in the men’s DRTTC this year.

Okay, I’m done throwing a hissy fit like I have at times…but on a lighter note, I’m ready to see Raquel Gonzalez & Cora Jade as a team, even after watching their fun workouts this week and last week.

I believe we might see Cameron Grimes fighting Carmelo Hayes for the NXT North American Championship after losing to Hayes last week; the dead giveaway was Grimes fighting Trick Williams this week while Williams and Hayes dealt with Pete Dunne in the ring. Otherwise, it might be a triple threat match if he gets involved in next week’s North American title match between Hayes and Dunne.

Onto the match results from Orlando…

Match #1: Grayson Waller (w/ Sanga) defeated LA Knight

Near the end, Knight went for the BFT headlock driver until Sanga grabbed Waller’s arm from ringside to block that attempt, leading to Waller rolling up Knight, grabbing the tights and pinning him for the win; post-match, Knight beat down Waller and Sanga before giving Waller a BFT. My score: 2.5/5

Match #2: Kay Lee Ray & Io Shirai defeated Lash Legend & Amari Miller

…in the quarterfinal round of the Women’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic; Toxic Attraction watched from the “Toxic Lounge” in the crowd. KLR & Io won after KLR hit Lash with the KLR Bomb (Gory bomb), then she and Io hit her with back-to-back moonsaults (with KLR’s moonsault getting the “didn’t get all of it” treatment from Vic Joseph and Wade Barrett). No score.

Match #3: Duke Hudson defeated Dante Chen

Chen blindsided Hudson before the match until Hudson came back and won with a crucifix powerbomb. Moments later, Hudson made out with Persia Pirotta until Indi Hartwell caught the two; then, as Persia left, Hudson talked about dating Indi in the past until Dexter Lumis heard the conversation and walked off disappointed. My score: 0.5/5

Match #4: Cameron Grimes defeated Trick Williams (w/ Carmelo Hayes) with the Cave In.

My score: 2.5/5

Match #5: Nikkita Lyons defeated Kayla Inlay after a jumping heel kick followed by a leg split leg drop

This was Nikkita’s NXT debut. My score: 1.5/5

Match #6: Kayden Carter & Kacy Catanzaro defeated Tatum Paxley & Ivy Nile (w/ Roderick Strong)

…in the quarterfinal round of the Women’s DRTTC; Toxic Attraction once again watched from the “Toxic Lounge.” Kacy and Kayden won after hitting Tatum with a neckbreaker/450 splash combo; post-match, Ivy got mad at Tatum by putting her in a standing dragon sleeper. My score: 1.5/5

Main event: Dolph Ziggler defeated Tommaso Ciampa to become the #1 contender for the NXT Championship at NXT Stand & Deliver

Near the end, after Ciampa hit Ziggler with an air raid crash on the apron, he put Ziggler back into the ring until Robert Roode—disguised as a cameraman—hit him with the camera before Ziggler defeated Ciampa with a superkick in the ring. Afterwards, Ziggler and Roode attacked Ciampa until Bron Breakker ran in and fought them out of the ring before challenging them to a tag team match next week and then brawling (with referees trying to separate them) as the episode came to a close. My score: 3/5

NXT UK

Now we return to the United Kingdom because it’s time once again for NXT UK at the BT Sports Studios in London, England. (Unlike this week’s episode of ICW Fight Club, this week’s episode of NXT UK didn’t see fans returning to the venue.)

It was an alright episode of NXT UK this week, especially when it came to watching three matches and a celebration that went awry.

Amale is doing very well during her babyface run, even after picking up a win over Xia Brookside in a match that was made after Xia got upset over Amale’s hope promos last week. Both women are doing very well on NXT UK when it comes to their characters, Amale being a hopeful—pun intended—competitor and Xia being a spoiled brat (“Do you know who my daddy is?” catchphrase and all) heel.

Sticking with the women of NXT UK, it appears that we will have Isla Dawn become the next contender for the NXT UK Women’s Championship. As Meiko Satomura was celebrating her title reign, Isla disrupted it and encountered the champion until Meiko told her to “just ask” when it comes to wanting a shot at the title. Isla said that she doesn’t ask but takes shots before taking down the champion with a roundhouse kick as well as taking a bouquet of flowers—that commentator Andy Shepherd handed her earlier—and eating some of the petals from it. You have got to love Isla’s dark magic character, even with her odd mannerisms added to the mix.

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I liked the main event of this week’s episode which was the long-awaited tag team match—for the NXT UK Tag Team Championship—between Moustache Mountain and Ashton Smith & Oliver Carter. Despite the result that looked controversial as we’ll see in the results shortly, Smith and Carter have proven that that have transformed from an underdog tag team to a team that is proving that they can be championship worthy not just this week but any week. I look forward to seeing more progress from Smith and Carter, even in future episodes of NXT UK. As for Moustache Mountain, regardless of the soon-to-be mentioned end of the match, Tyler Bate and Trent Seven are still having a good run during their reign as NXT UK Tag Team Champions; they proved months ago that they can be champions on NXT UK just like they have back when NXT UK was a new WWE brand, and also at the time that they won tag team gold on NXT before NXT turned from black-and-gold to multicolored.

Here are the match results from London…

Match #1: Amale defeated Xia Brookside with the Hopebreaker

My score: 2.5/5

Match #2: Rohan Raja (w/ Teoman and Charlie Dempsey) defeated Danny Jones

…after a backcracker followed by a jumping flatliner; post-match, all three members of Die Familie beat down the Progress Wrestling competitor. My score: 1.5/5

Main event: Moustache Mountain defeated Ashton Smith & Oliver Carter to retain the NXT UK Tag Team Championship

Towards the end, after Bate took down Smith with the Bop & Bang punch, Smith had his foot on the bottom rope until—unbeknownst to both the referee and Bate—Seven blew by and knocked the foot off the rope as the three count was made. My score: 3/5

NXT: LVL UP

Finally, we return to Orlando for the second episode of NXT: LVL UP.

It wasn’t as good as the first episode in my opinion, and it has nothing to do with how dominant and victorious the heels were in their matches. I expected more coming from the competitors—both face and heel—in the three matches that looked like they would be mid-card matches for an episode of NXT. I’m not saying that it was a waste of time at all, and besides there’s always next week.

Anyway, here are the results of the three bouts that occurred this week…

Match #1: James Drake (w/ Zack Gibson) defeated Xyon Quinn

Near the end, Gibson got on the apron and distracted Quinn, leading to Drake rolling him up, grabbing the tights and pinning him for the win. After the match, Quinn went after Drake until Gibson pulled him out of the ring. Then, Quinn brought Gibson into the ring and hit him with a Death Valley driver. No score.

Match #2: Elektra Lopez (w/ Joaquin Wilde and Raul Mendoza) defeated Sarray

Towards the end, Sarray went for the Sun Ray, but Wilde moved Elektra out of the ring and took the bullet, leading to Elektra defeating Sarray with a Full Throttle (ala Chuck Palumbo). My score: 1/5

Main event: Joe Gacy & Harland defeated Jacket Time

…after Gacy hit Ikemen Jiro—startled by Harland—with a handspring clothesline. My score: 1/5

Next time…

Going back to my fairly new usual four…ICW Fight Club and three shows that are NXT sanctioned (2.0, UK, and LVL UP).

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

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