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Bonus Alert!

First of all, welcome to the tenth issue of the Pro-Darin pro wrestling fan newsletter!

Second, remember in the very first newsletter when I introduced myself and explained what shows I would be recapping? At the end of one of the paragraphs in my self-introduction, I said—in parentheses—that I would sneak in a show from a different company and talk about it.

The bonus event that I have selected is Impact Wrestling: Sacrifice.

This event, that took place this past Saturday, is what I’m kicking off the show with. I have monitored what has been going on in Impact Wrestling at times, from peeking in while flipping channels to seeing reports about what has been happening in that company. As a result, I have decided to check out one of their specials events, which is Sacrifice.

Let’s start off the recaps with that bonus event, shall we?

Impact Wrestling: Sacrifice

This Impact Wrestling event, shown on Impact Plus and YouTube (where I saw it by the way), took place at the Paristown Hall in Louisville, Kentucky.

Storylines heading into the event included…

1. The Influence (Madison Rayne and Tenille Dashwood) finally fighting the IInfluence (Cassie Lee and Jessie McKay, formerly known as the IIconics—Peyton Royce and Billie Kay—in the WWE) for the Impact Knockouts Tag Team Championship after their match—originally scheduled for Hard To Kill in January—was cancelled due to COVID-19 concerns.
2. Eddie Edwards stabbing Impact Wrestling in the back by joining Honor No More which consists of past and present Ring of Honor competitors.
3. Moose staying away from Honor No More after Edwards’ actions involving joining that stable and focusing on his Impact World Championship run.
4. Guerillas of Destiny (New Japan competitors Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa) fighting the Good Brothers (Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson) for the Impact World Tag Team Championship at No Surrender and then getting kicked out of the Bullet Club; the Good Brothers would rejoin the Bullet Club afterwards. Then, Violent By Design (Eric Young, Joe Doering & Deaner) wanted a shot at the tag team titles until the Bullet Club declined it before the Guerillas of Destiny attacked the Bullet Club; this would lead to VBD fighting the Good Brothers for the titles at Sacrifice.

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My favorite match of this Impact Wrestling event received the same rating I gave Cara Noir vs. Walter at wXw Anniversary XXI…a five-star rating. That match I’m talking about is between former teammates Jay White and Alex Shelley; that match was made around the same time the aforementioned tag team title match was made for Sacrifice. It was a great amount of action between the two competitors that were in a former Ring of Honor stable, Search and Destroy (along with Jonathan Gresham and Lio Rush). In the end, we saw the Bullet Club member White emerge victorious before the two got a standing ovation.

Here’s what happened in Louisville…

Pre-show match #1: Lady Frost defeated Gisele Shaw with the Frost Bite (corkscrew moonsault)

This was a rematch from a February 17 episode of Impact Wrestling where Gisele was victorious. My score: 3/5

Pre-show match #2: Rich Swann & Willie Mack defeated Matt Taven & Mike Bennett (w/ Maria Kanellis)

Maria joined Tom Hannifan and Matthew Rehwoldt (f.k.a. Tom Phillips and Aiden English respectively) on commentary. Near the end, Taven and Bennett went for the Proton Pack (aided piledriver) until Mack takes down Taven, causing Swann to rollup Bennett and pin him for the win. My score: 3/5

Match #1: Trey Miguel defeated Jake Something

…to retain the Impact X Division Championship with a Meteora. My score: 4/5

Match #2: Eddie Edwards (w/ Kenny King, Matt Taven, Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis) defeated Rhino (w/ Chris Sabin, Rich Swann and Willie Mack)

During the match, the referee saw Maria hand Edwards a kendo stick and sent her to the back. Also, Sabin and King brawled at ringside, leading to everyone at ringside going at it until Swann and Mack dove onto them. Then, near the end, Steve Maclin ran in and hit Edwards with a DDT before hitting Rhino with the kendo stick that Maria brought in earlier. This led to Edwards recovering and defeating Rhino with the Boston Knee Party leg lariat. My score: 2/5

Match #3: The Influence (w/ Kaleb With A K) defeated the IInspiration to become the new Impact Knockouts Tag Team Champions

Kaleb was sent to the back prior to the match. However, near the end, Kaleb returned and threw the titles to Tenille Dashwood (the former Emma) who then hits Cassie with the titles before pinning her for the win. My score: 4/5

Match #4: Jonah defeated PCO

…after the former Bronson Reed (Jonah) powerbombed PCO from the steel stairs to the floor, both men came back in the ring where Jonah defeated him with the Tsunami. My score: 4/5

Match #5: Jay White defeated Alex Shelley

…after countering Shelley’s Shellshock (a swinging flatliner or Falcon’s Fury as Alexxis Falcon calls it) with the Blade Runner (which is also a swinging flatliner). Both wrestlers got a standing ovation afterwards; then, Shelley offered a handshake until White laughed it off and walked away. My score: 5/5

Match #6: Deonna Purrazzo defeated Chelsea Green

…to retain the Ring of Honor Women’s World Championship after making her submit to a Fujiwara armbar; post-match, Mickie James ran in and chased Deonna out of the ring after Deonna refused to let go of Chelsea after winning. Noteworthy, Deonna is also currently the AAA Reina de Reinas Champion in Mexico’s Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide. My score: 3/5

Match #7: Tasha Steelz (w/ Savannah Evans) defeated Mickie James to become the new Impact Knockouts Champion

Early in the match, Savannah attacked Chelsea Green—who was recovering from the last match—until Mickie fought her away, leading to Tasha diving onto her at ringside. After a handful of distractions from Savannah, Mickie knocked her off the apron until—after going for a top rope maneuver—Tasha caught her with a cutter. My score: 3.5/5

Match #8: Eric Young & Joe Doering (w/ Deaner) defeated the Good Brothers (w/ Chris Bey)

…to become the new Impact World Tag Team Champions; after Young crotched Doc Gallows at the entryway, he ran back in and he and Doering hit Anderson with a powerbomb/neckbreaker combo before Doering pinned him for the win. My score: 4/5

Main event: Moose defeated Heath to retain the Impact World Championship

…after a sidewalk slam followed by a spear. After the match, Josh Alexander ran in and attacked Moose, then said that he has a contract to fight Moose for the title at Rebellion. My score: 4.25/5

Progress Chapter 129: I Choo-Choo-Choose You!

Woo-hoo! A Simpsons reference! Sorry, I couldn’t help myself…I admit, I am a fan of “The Simpsons.” But anyway, time for me to say “D’oh!”…and then heading to the United Kingdom for chapter 129 of Progress.

The show took place on February 20, 2022 at the Electric Ballroom in London, England, the same venue where fans returned two chapters prior.

To me, Progress still has the most entertaining matches to date ever since I first checked it out last year along with ICW and wXw. This show didn’t really disappoint me one bit.

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In this chapter, we saw matches that normally go all over the place; they included a four-way dance, a triple threat tag team match, and—for the second time in Progress history—a women’s Thunderbastard match. (Before I put some soap in my mouth for being profane, a “Thunderbastard” match—for those of you unfamiliar with that name—is kind of like the Gauntlet Eliminator that we saw in night #1 of NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver in 2021. Two competitors go at it in the ring until every two minutes or so another competitor enters until all participants have entered the ring; the only way to eliminate a competitor is by pinfall, submission, or disqualification.)

For the second straight time in women’s history on Progress Wrestling, Kanji was able to get a shot at the Progress Women’s Championship (still held by Impact Wrestling’s Gisele Shaw) after winning the Gauntlet Eliminator-like match; the first time she did so was in an empty Theatre Peckham in London back in 2021, back when NXT UK’s Jinny was still the champion before relinquishing it due to COVID-19 protocols. I expected Kanji to win the match, even if it had entertaining and insane moments coming from all seven women in that bout; it was still a good match. I believe that Kanji will fight Gisele for the title at the upcoming 10th anniversary show that will be taking place this month.

Cara Noir’s run as the Progress World Champion is still going strong, even after going face to face with the same wrestler that I first saw in Combat Zone Wrestling as Shane Strickland before stepping foot into the WWE as Isaiah “Swerve” Scott. That wrestler is of course SW3RVE the Realest, who worked as a free agent pro wrestler at that time. (He nowadays competes as Shane “Swerve” Strickland on AEW; good luck wishes go out to him by the way.) It was a pretty good main event, even when SW3RVE worked on his opponent’s left arm later in the match and also had an exposed turnbuckle come into play before Cara Noir came right back, one-armed maneuvers and all. SW3RVE did very well in that match, as did the champion.

The best match of chapter 129 belonged to the triple threat tag team match between Luke Jacobs & Keinen Krishna (who subbed for an injured Chris Ridgeway), the Sunshine Machine, and Charles Crowley & Elijah. Like I said, it was one of those matches that would “go all over the place”, yet I was still able to keep track of what all three teams were doing, even involving double teams, saves, and such. In the end, it was the Sunshine Machine emerging victorious, proving that they are still one of the top tag teams on Progress’ roster—just like they did when they fought the Smokin’ Aces for the Progress Tag Team Championship two chapters ago—and not just a fun-loving team (and yes, I enjoy their “Beachball Mania” entrance).

Here are the match results from London…

(NOTE: Unfortunately, like in chapters 127 and 128 that I wrote about in the fifth and eighth newsletters respectively, I will be skipping a match that I didn’t see in the Peacock broadcast of Progress Chapter 129; that match was Jonathan Gresham retaining the Ring of Honor World Championship over Dean Allmark.)

Match #1: Danny Black defeated “Just” Joe Lando, Maverick Mayhew and Callum Newman in a four-way dance

Malik & Kosta Konstantino mocked the four competitors, including Black who last encountered the two in chapter 127, before the four came to the ring; the two would watch from the balcony as soon as the match began. Black won the match after hitting Lando with a Falcon Arrow from a reverse DDT position. After the match, Malik—with Konstantino in tow—attacked Black until Newman chased them out of the ring. All four competitors got a standing ovation afterwards. My score: 3.5/5

Match #2: Spike Trivet defeated Man Like Dereiss

…after snapping Dereiss’ nose (his trademark maneuver of course), followed by the Birthright and then incapacitating him with the Ascot. My score: 3.25/5

Match #3: Gene Munny defeated Brendan White

During the match, when Munny went for a tope suicida, White blocked the attempt by using a crewman as a weapon. Near the end, after White hit Munny with a ripcord Boss Man Slam for a near fall, both men went back and forth some more, and White went for the same slam again until Munny countered with the Ainsley Lariat and pinned him for the win. Post-match, a hooded man appeared and blindsided Munny before he was revealed to be—also on ICW—Adam “Flex” Maxted! Maxted mocked Munny for not being a “superstar”; he then mocked the fans for lacking of what he has whenever they see him. before leaving. My score: 3.75/5

Match #4: The Sunshine Machine defeated Charles Crowley & Elijah and Luke Jacobs & Keinen Krishna (w/ Chris Ridgeway)

…in a triple threat tag team match. During the match, after Chuck Mambo dove onto his opponents at ringside. Elijah hit them with a dive from the stairway railing while—at the same time—TK Cooper dove into them from the ring with a headbutt. The Sunshine Machine won after hitting Elijah with a reverse Death Valley Driver/dropkick combo. My score: 4.25/5

Match #5: Kanji won the women’s Thunderbastard to become the #1 contender for the Progress Women’s Championship

In entrance order: Session Moth Martina, Charlie Morgan, Lana Austin, Skye Smitson, Kanji, Mercedez Blaze, and Taonga. Lana—who disguised herself as Alexxis Falcon and mocked her—was the first to be eliminated after Martina stole her wig before being rolled up by Charlie. Then, Taonga was eliminated by Charlie after a DDT, and then Mercedez—who felt bad for Taonga—was eliminated by Charlie after a rollup; Mercedez and Taonga beat down the remaining competitors at ringside, including Kanji at the entryway. As soon as all four competitors recovered, Skye eliminated Martina with a sleeper slam, and then eliminated Charlie with the same maneuver. Then, Kanji eliminated Skye for the win after countering the sleeper slam with a rollup. My score: 3/5

Main event: Cara Noir defeated SW3RVE the Realest to retain the Progress World Championship

During the match, SW3RVE pulled Cara Noir’s left arm and stomped it; Cara Noir would fight back with one-armed versions of his maneuvers such as the Madame Guillotine (ushigoroshi) and a sleeper/bodyscissors combo until SW3RVE threw him into an exposed turnbuckle. Near the end of the match, SW3RVE went for a La Magistral until Cara Noir sat down for a counter and pinned him for the win. After the match, SW3RVE showed respect by patting the title on Cara Noir’s chest while congratulating him. My score: 3.5/5

ICW Square Go!

Not only do we stay in the United Kingdom, but we also stay in the month of February 2022. But this time, we head to Glasgow, Scotland and instead of heading to the GPWA where ICW Fight Club takes place nowadays, we head to the SWG3 for ICW Square Go!

Four titles matches and their tenth annual Square Go! battle royal took place that night. Only one of the titles changed hands in the four title matches that occurred, and one future champion ended up winning the battle royal.

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One of my favorite title matches that occurred prior to the Square Go! battle royal was the ICW Zero-G Championship match between Daz Black and Manifesto member Dylan Thorn. Regardless of how many times Manifesto leader Alexander Darwin MacAllan—ADM for short as we all know—got under the skin of Black, it was still a great match that reminded me of something straight out of CZW’s Best of the Best; it was a pretty damn good junior heavyweight bout. As I noted in the previous paragraph, we saw one title change; in the end of this championship match that I liked, it was Thorn who emerged victorious. I would love to see those two go at it once again in the near future, regardless of whether or not the rest of Thorn’s cohorts play a factor in that rivalry.

The rest of the title matches were pretty good as well, which were the Kings of the North defending the ICW Tag Team Championship against the Nine9 in a rematch from Fear & Loathing XIII that was in the form of a casket match, Angel Hayze defending her ICW Women’s Championship against Molly Spartan and Lizzy Evo in a triple threat match, and Kez Evans—being his dastardly self as usual as you’ll see in the results on the next page—defending his ICW World Heavyweight Championship against Mark Haskins who had his wife Vicky in tow.

My favorite match of the night however has got to be the same battle royal that—pending on your point of view unless you didn’t see it—put this year’s Royal Rumble to shame, and that’s the Square Go! battle royal. Even though the match originally said that we would see five weapons used in the match, we saw more than five items used as weapons yet it was still fun to watch; I honestly cannot complain about how many weapons I saw brought into the ring by the wrestlers. Other surprises included the returning mixed martial artist Chris Bungard going after Jason Reed and Coach Trip (Remember their encounter at F&L 13?); Leyton Buzzard and LJ Cleary renewing their rivalry from the aforementioned ICW special event; Molly Spartan taking a page out of the playbooks of Chyna, Beth Phoenix, Awesome Kong (back when she was Kharma during her short-lived WWE tenure) and Nia Jax; Big Damo and Andy Wild continuing their rivalry; Evans getting under Gunn’s skin as the match was winding down; and the Manifesto replacing Martin MacAlistair with ADM (even though I was pretty sure that Grant McIvor and Eddie Castle would take part of that battle royal per se), just to name a few.

Here are the match results from Glasgow…

Match #1: The Kings of the North defeated the Nine9 in a Casket Match to retain the ICW Tag Team Championship

The only way to win was to put both members in the casket and then close it. All four men brawled at ringside before the match started, and would also bring in steel chairs during the match. In the end, the team of Bonesaw and Corvin retained the titles after putting Dickie Divers and Jack Morris in the casket. My score: 2.5/5

Match #2: Dylan Thorn (w/ ADM) defeated Daz Black to become the new ICW Zero-G Champion

After Black hit Thorn—who was dangling from the bottom rope—with a curb stomp, Black thought Thorn back in the ring until ADM distracted him; this led to Thorn hitting Black with the Crown of Thorns bicycle kick before hitting him with a shooting star press for the win and title. My score: 3.75/5

Match #3: Angel Hayze defeated Lizzy Evo and Molly Spartan in a triple threat match

…to retain the ICW Women’s Championship after making Lizzy submit to a guillotine. My score: 2.75/5

Match #4: Kez Evans defeated Mark Haskins (w/ Vicky) to retain the ICW World Heavyweight Championship

During the match, Mark and his wife Vicky set up a table at ringside, and Mark attempted to put Evans through the table from the apron until Evans fought back and booted him off the apron and through the table. Then, both men fought at the entry until Evans took a pencil from the announce table and—back in the ring—stabbed one of Mark’s bare feet with it; Mark fought back and stabbed Evans’ hand and arm with the same pencil afterwards. The referee would be knocked out after Mark catapulted Evans into him, and then when Evans dodged a running back elbow from Mark. While the referee was recovering, Evans hit Mark with a low blow and then the Kez Dispenser (Gotch piledriver) for a near fall; he then took out a pair of brass knuckles, and Vicky tried to stop him until he knocked her down, leading to an irate Mark punching him and then stabbing his forehead with the pencil. Then, Evans hit Mark with the brass knuckles before incapacitating him with the Blood Clot Clutch for the win. My score: 2.75/5

Main event: Leyton Buzzard wins the Square Go! battle royal for a shot at any ICW title of his choosing

Order of entries: Jason Reed, Theo Doros, Jimmy Pierce, Logan Smith, Mr. Charles Vyce, Lou King Sharp (equipped with a kendo stick), Sheikh El Sham, Martin Kirby, Coach Trip (who accompanied Reed to the ring before the bell rang), Chris Bungard, Mr. Ian Skinner, Thatcher Wright (equipped with his Margaret Thatcher book), Ravie Davie (equipped with “Wrapped Cheese Nesbitt” which is a block of cheese with a draw face and a cigarette on the “mouth”), Krieger, Big Damo, LJ Cleary, Leyton Buzzard, Caleb Valhalla, Saqib Ali (w/ Chris Toal), Luke Kyro, BT Gunn, Andy Wild, Molly Spartan (equipped with a steel chair), Aaron Echo (equipped with a pool cue or “pool stick” as I called it one time), “The Outlaw” Stevie James, ADM (originally Martin MacAlistair until Grant McIvor and Eddie Castle attacked him at the entryway), Daz Black, Jack Jester (equipped with “Big Shiny” which looks like a pipe covered in glitter and diamonds), Sweeney, and Levi. My score: 4/5

NXT 2.0 Roadblock

Now, we return to the month of March 2022 as well as the United States; our next stop is Florida for a special episode of NXT entitled “Roadblock.”

It is not the first time WWE had an event entitled “Roadblock.” Back in 2016, WWE had a WWE Network only event entitled “WWE Roadblock”, and it took place on a Saturday night in the month of March, one month prior to WrestleMania 32. Then, in December 2016, WWE had another “Roadblock” event, but this time it was both a pay-per-view event and a WWE Network event and was entitled “Roadblock: End of the Line.” By the time 2016 came to a close, “Roadblock” wasn’t used in any of their pay-per-view/premium live events afterwards until March 7, 2022; instead of appearing as an event for Raw and SmackDown superstars, it became a special episode of NXT like Halloween Havoc and—most recently—Vengeance Day.

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Besides a last man standing match, a tag team title match, and a triple threat championship match made for this special episode, the two matches in the semi-final round of the Women’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic also occurred as did a regular one-on-one match.

Both matches in the semi-final round of the Women’s DRTTC were my favorites of the episode, even though I lean towards the second and final semi-final round match when it comes to favorites despite giving them the same score that you’ll see shortly. In the first match, everybody thought that Raquel Gonzalez & Cora Jade was going to advance to the next round until 2/3 of Toxic Attraction—Cora Jade & Jacy Jayne—rained on their parade during the match, as well as behind the referee’s back. I was sure that Raquel and Cora would advance after Toxic Attraction poked fun of them, as well as Kay Lee Ray & Io Shirai, not too long ago on NXT. On the other hand, I’m okay seeing Wendy Choo and Dakota Kai moving on up right after something that we’ll be familiar with as soon as the 2022 NCAA March Madness begins, and that’s a bracket buster. The other match—Kay Lee Ray & Io Shirai against Kacy Catanzaro & Kayden Carter—was pretty good as well, after seeing that both a newly formed team and a team that has been together since the middle of 2020 showed a lot of tag team chemistry.

The rivalry between LA Knight and Grayson Waller came to a close in the form of a Last Man Standing match, which was pretty good mainly because the fight went all over the place even before Waller’s bodyguard Sanga got involved during and near the end of the match.

We didn’t see the Creed Brothers fight Imperium members Fabian Aichner & Marcel Barthel for the NXT Tag Team Championship this week, mainly because Brutus and Julius Creed were attacked in the parking lot; as a result, MSK made fun of Aichner and Barthel for attempting to take the night off while there were questions about who attacked the Creed Brothers, leading to MSK fighting 2/3 of Imperium for the titles. In the end, the titles didn’t change hands as the Creed Brothers came and wreaked havoc on not just the champions but MSK as well. I believe we’ll see Brutus and Julius fight Aichner and Barthel for the titles at NXT Stand & Deliver, with or without MSK added to the mix.

Onto another match that also references a song by the Fixx which is “One Thing Leads To Another”…not only did we have one tag team replaced with another for a tag team title match, but we also crowned—surprisingly (unless you thought to yourself “Saw that coming”)—a new NXT Champion. Believe it or not, the new champion is a member of Raw, and his name is Dolph Ziggler; Ziggler won the title after, just like two weeks ago, Robert Roode got involved in the match. The rivalry between Bron Breakker and Ziggler—with and without Tommaso Ciampa and/or Roode—is getting interesting, and I believe that we might see them clash for the title one more time at Stand & Deliver.

Before I get to the match results, here are two more things I would like to mention. First, I am definitely looking forward to seeing A-Kid compete on this NXT brand come next week; he will take on Kushida. Second, I would love to see Nikkita Lyons and Lash Legend clash in the ring after their encounter/argument on an episode of the returning “Lashing Out With Lash Legend.”

Onto the match results from Orlando…

Match #1: Wendy Choo & Dakota Kai defeated Raquel Gonzalez & Cora Jade

…in the semi-final round of the Women’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic; all three members of Toxic Attraction watched from their “Toxic Lounge” in the audience. During the match, Cora Jade and Jacy Jayne sneak attacked Raquel, hitting one of her legs with a pipe. Raquel struggled on her comeback near the end of the match, including having trouble hitting Dakota with the Chingona Bomb; this led to Wendy and Dakota winning after a Vader Bomb-like splash from the top rope followed by a top rope double stomp from Dakota. (Speaking of Vader Bombs, congratulations to Vader for being posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame this year with the Undertaker and a few others yet to be announced!) My score: 4/5

Match #2: Fallon Henley defeated Tiffany Stratton

Towards the end, some smoke emerged from the entryway and Tiffany saw it until being blindsided by Sarray who kicked her from ringside; this allowed Fallon to win with a shining wizard, and then celebrate with Briggs & Jensen afterwards. My score: 0.5/5

Match #3: Grayson Waller defeated LA Knight in a Last Man Standing match

During the match, both wrestlers fought up a stairway into the audience until Knight punched Waller off the scaffolding and into the arms of Sanga. Then, Sanga attacked Knight at ringside, and Waller attempted to handcuff his opponent until Knight fought back and ended up handcuffing Sanga with his arms around a ring post. Near the end, both men fought to the announce table until Waller hit Knight with what looked like a shoehorn—taken out of his pocket—before hitting him with an elbow drop through the announce table and having the handcuffed Sanga help him up the table while Knight was unable to get up at the count of ten. My score: 3.25/5

Match #4: Kay Lee Ray & Io Shirai defeated Kacy Catanzaro & Kayden Carter

…in the semi-final round of the Women’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. Mandy Rose watched from the “Toxic Lounge.” (Toxic Attraction originally had guards that looked like they were dressed like Chippendale dancers until Malik Blade and Edris Enofé sneaked attacked them before the match and joining Mandy.) KLR & Io won after KLR hit Kacy with the KLR Bomb before Io hit Kacy with a moonsault. Post-match, Cora Jade came and attacked Mandy before being separated by Blade and Enofé. My score: 4/5

Match #5: MSK vs. Fabian Aichner & Marcel Barthel ended in a double disqualification due to interference by the Creed Brothers

Aichner and Barthel retained the NXT Tag Team titles. My score: 1.25/5

Main event: Dolph Ziggler defeated Bron Breakker and Tommaso Ciampa

…in a triple threat match to become the new NXT Champion. Near the end, after Breakker hit Ziggler with a powerslam, Robert Roode appeared and pulled the referee out of the ring to disrupt the pin count. Then, after Breakker and Ciampa went at it, Roode pulled Breakker out of the ring while Ziggler hit Ciampa with a superkick and pinned him for the win and title. My score: 2.5/5

NXT UK

We stay in the month of March 2022, but this time, we return to the United Kingdom for another episode of NXT UK at the still empty BT Sports Studios in London.

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Three good matches took place on this week’s episode of NXT UK, which were a one-on-one match, a tag team bout, and a Heritage Cup match. Out of the three matches that took place, the opening match—Charlie Dempsey vs. A-Kid—was my favorite. Despite what happened near the end of the match, both Dempsey and A-Kid—in what may be his last appearance on NXT UK before competing in the United States next week as I mentioned earlier (unless I’m wrong)—had a strong showing including exchanging technical maneuvers such as submission attempts left and right. In the end, it was Dempsey who emerged victorious.

The NXT UK Heritage Cup match between Noam Dar and Joe Coffey was almost as good as the opening match, yet both wrestlers had a good run in five of the six rounds that took place in the main event regardless of what happened involving Mark Coffey and Sha Samuels who were at ringside. I’m curious to see what Noam Dar and Sha Samuels have in store next now that all three members of Gallus, especially Joe Coffey, are in the rearview after Dar retained the Heritage Cup. While keeping his cocky heel character intact, Dar is doing very well when it comes to competition, even in matches where he defends the Cup.

We learned that there will be two singles matches prior to Ashton Smith & Oliver Carter fighting Moustache Mountain once again for the NXT UK Tag Team Championship, and it starts off—next week—with Oliver Carter fighting Tyler Bate; I think Ashton Smith fights Trent Seven next week since that wasn’t announced. We also learned that there will also be a match that makes me want to get ahead of myself by thinking if we’ll ever see Worlds Collide events involving NXT UK and NXT 2.0 competitors, and that is Wolfgang fighting Diamond Mine member Roderick Strong next week.

Me losing my mind aside, here are the match results from London, England…

Match #1: Charlie Dempsey defeated A-Kid

Dempsey said that the rest of Die Familie wasn’t accompanying him prior to the match. It turned out to be a lie as, near the end, Rohan Raja appeared behind the referee and shoved A-Kid into a ring post. Dempsey put A-Kid in what looked like a grounded bow and arrow—with the head and right arm extended—and made him tap out. My score: 3.75/5

Match #2: Tyson T-Bone & Primate (w/ Eddie Dennis) defeated Josh Morrell & Danny Jones

…after a backdrop by T-Bone followed by a top rope headbutt from Primate. Post-match, Wild Boar ran in and attacked T-Bone and Primate with a steel chair, then went after Dennis until Dennis was pulled out of the ring. My score: 2.5/5

Main event: Noam Dar defeated Joe Coffey 2-1 to retain the NXT UK Heritage Cup

Joe took the 1-0 lead in round 2 via Glasgow Sendoff (jumping shoulder block into corner), Dar tied it up in round 3 with a rollup, and round 5 ended with Dar hitting Joe with the Nova Roller after Mark fought Samuels at ringside (after Mark caught Samuels putting Dar’s foot on the bottom rope during Joe’s pin attempt). My score: 3.5/5

NXT: LVL UP

Lastly, we return to Orlando for another episode of NXT: LVL UP.

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The three matches that were shown this week ranged from poor to fair, with the main event getting the fair rating from me. That main event I’m talking about is a tag team match between the Grizzled Young Veterans and Josh Briggs & Brooks Jensen. Lately in segments on NXT, Jensen was getting ideas on dating women, even when getting help from Briggs. Jensen getting distracted by a female fan before and near the end of the match not only made me nod my head in disgust, but still gave me a good laugh.

Here are the match results from Orlando…

Match #1: Trick Williams (w/ Carmelo Hayes) defeated Guru Raaj with a running swinging neckbreaker

Hayes joined Sudu Shah and Nigel McGuinness on commentary. My score: 1.5/5

Match #2: Ivy Nile (w/ Malcolm Bivens) defeated Brooklyn Barlow

…after making her submit to a standing dragon sleeper; this was Brooklyn’s debut. My score: 1/5

Main event: Grizzled Young Veterans defeated Josh Briggs & Brooks Jensen

Near the end, Jensen was cleaning house until he was distracted by a female fan that he saw while heading to the ring; then, Jensen attempted to suplex James Drake back into the ring until Drake shifted his weight onto him and—with Zack Gibson pinning down one of Jensen’s legs—pinned him for the win. After the match, Fallon Henley appeared and read Gibson and Drake the riot act until Briggs and Jensen fought their opponents back into the ring. My score: 2/5

Next time…

With ICW Fight Club returning after Square Go!, it’s back to my usual four…one ICW show, and three shows with “NXT” in the titles. Hopefully, the next newsletter is not as lengthy as this one (with or without bonus events of my choosing)!

Thanks for reading! Feel free to comment! I’ll see you next time!

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