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I Apologize…

Unfortunately in this newsletter, I did not watch wXw We Love Wrestling 27. The reason why I didn’t is because the wXw event did not make it to Peacock (where I normally watch those shows except for NXT which is on USA Network) as it was scheduled; it is however scheduled to appear on Peacock next week.

I will however recap my four usual shows—ICW Fight Club, NXT, NXT UK, and NXT: LVL UP—this week. Off we go!

ICW Fight Club

Our first stop is the GPWA in Glasgow, Scotland, UK for an episode of ICW Fight Club.

This episode was much better match wise than last week’s post-Square Go! episode. This time, the storylines got better even with matches made for ICW Barred II at the Garage in Glasgow on April 24. (The Peacock/WWE Network airdate for that event is yet to be announced.)

One match made involves Daz Black and three competitors of his choosing facing all four members of the Manifesto, including Dylan Thorn who defeated Black for the ICW Zero-G Championship at Square Go! The Manifesto is currently my favorite heel stable on ICW, showing how intimidating those four can be, even when going toe-to-toe with one competitor or one two-man team at a time. Plus, I was pretty sure that Daz Black was looking to win back the Zero-G title, but honestly I cannot say that I can blame him for going after all four members of the Manifesto in that storyline with or without teammates of his choosing.

Another match made for Barred II is Jason Reed against—once again—mixed martial artist Chris Bungard; this time, it is Bungard’s favorite type of environment which is a steel cage (with the exception that it’s surrounding a squared circle instead of an octagon like in MMA). We saw that the rivalry between Reed and Bungard was renewed at Square Go! when he competed in the battle royal with Reed and Coach Trip, as well as injuring Trip at that same event. Even though the score appears to be 1-1 (Bungard winning at Fear & Loathing XIII, and Reed eliminating Bungard from Square Go!), it appears that Bungard still has Reed’s number in the storyline.

The third match made for Barred II in the episode is BT Gunn fighting Kez Evans for the ICW World Heavyweight Championship. Evans does indeed do a good portrayal of a sinister heel especially as a champion, mind games and all. BT Gunn on the other hand is doing well, especially on his road to the championship even after putting aside how many times Evans injured him in the past as well as before I started watching ICW.

Speaking of Gunn, he and Martin Kirby had an excellent matchup in the main event, as did Sheikh El Sham and Andy Wild in the opener. The opening match between El Sham and Wild was a pretty good “tough guy” battle between the up-and-comer El Sham and the veteran Wild. In the end, it was El Sham who emerged victorious and then told Veronica LeStrange in a backstage interview that he would climb to the top as the “top player” of ICW; I honestly would love to see El Sham continue his run in ICW, even if it means eyeing on gold in the future.

Back to BT Gunn, he and Martin Kirby—like I said—had a great main event that was as good as the opening match that I mentioned just now. In the end, it was Gunn who would pick up another win while thinking about going after his rival Kez Evans for the ICW World Heavyweight Championship.

Plus, I’m thinking the same thing as commentators Billy Kirkwood and James R. Kennedy…somewhere Leyton Buzzard is planning on cashing in that Square Go! briefcase, and my guess would have to be at ICW Barred II come April.

Here are the match results from Glasgow…

Match #1: Sheikh El Sham defeated Andy Wild

After getting a two count from spearing Wild, El Sham would pick up the win after a second spear. My score: 4/5

Match #2: The Meat Wagon defeated Mikey Devine & Rabu Romero

In case you don’t know who the Meat Wagon are, they are Sinergy (Anderson Daniels and Troy Ryan); interestingly, they came into the ring with the Sinergy entrance video and walked out with the Meat Wagon entrance video. The Meat Wagon won after hitting Romero with the Sinergizer. My score: 1/5

Match #3: Molly Spartan defeated Lana Austin

The last time Lana competed in ICW was against Kay Lee Ray in 2017, back when KLR was the ICW Women’s Champion. Near the end, as Lana was kicking Molly away while on the top rope, Molly lifted her up and hit her with a powerbomb for the win. Post-match, Molly read Lana the riot act while she was unconscious, telling her “Know your place.” My score: 3/5

Match #4: Jason Reed (w/ Coach Trip) defeated Che Monet

Trip’s arm was in a cast courtesy of Chris Bungard at Square Go! Reed won after making Monet submit to a cross armbreaker. Post-match, Reed challenged Bungard to a match at ICW Barred II. My score: 1.5/5

Main event: BT Gunn defeated Martin Kirby with a basement enzuigiri

After the match, Gunn called out Evans who appeared with two guards. Gunn demanded a match for the ICW World Heavyweight Championship until Evans said “no.” Then, Mark Dallas appeared and made the match for ICW Barred II, then Gunn attacked Evans until the guards stopped him. My score: 4/5

NXT

Up next, NXT in Orlando, Florida.

Not only are we closing in on WrestleMania weekend, but also NXT Stand & Deliver which is part of that weekend. More matches have been made, and more competitors have been added to the S&D card.

Two more qualifying matches to compete in a ladder match for the NXT North American Championship at S&D took place this week. One was a pretty damn good battle between Roderick Strong and Solo Sikoa. This match could have gone either way…Strong being victorious after proving that he has a strong showing (pun intended) not just in NXT but outside it including NXT UK where we saw him fight Gallus member Wolfgang last week, or Sikoa being victorious while moving on after his undefeated streak came to a close courtesy of Imperium member Gunther not too long ago. In the end, it was Sikoa that emerged as the winner. The other qualifying match was between Grayson Waller and A-Kid, who is still competing on NXT UK before competing on the American multicolored brand more often; in the end, Waller won in a few minutes.

There is one more qualifying match to enter the aforementioned ladder match next week, but unlike what we saw on this week’s episode and last week’s episode, it’s not a one-on-one match; instead, it will be a triple threat match involving the non-winners of the qualifying matches, who are Cameron Grimes, Strong, and A-Kid.

Other storylines that occurred this week on NXT include the couples Dexter Lumis & Indi Hartwell and Duke Hudson & Persia Pirotta continuing to 1up each other, especially when Lumis and Hudson were in action (as well as getting TMZ time as we learned prior to Lumis’ match). I think we’re going to see mixed tag team action between those two couples either at S&D or a future episode of NXT since this rivalry continues to heat up.

Bron Breakker still looking to win back the NXT Championship over Raw’s Dolph Ziggler is also another storyline occurring while heading to S&D, even after we saw Breakker fight the former NXT Champion Robert Roode this week.

Also occurring, regardless of whether or not this mystery team is part of the tag team title picture, is the Creed Brothers going after 2/3 of Imperium—Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel—for the NXT Tag Team Championship instead of being preoccupied with who blindsided them in the parking lot a couple weeks ago; it will be interesting to see if the mystery attackers end up like MSK, which is becoming a roadblock for the Creed Brothers’ journey to tag team gold or not.

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My favorite match of the night belonged to the final round of the Women’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Tournament, which consisted of two teams that worked like well-oiled machines; one is the team of Kay Lee Ray & Io Shirai that formed a week or so before the tournament and after KLR was unable to defeat Mandy Rose for the NXT Women’s Championship, and another is the team of Wendy Choo & Dakota Kai that are like TV characters (from before my time) Felix Unger and Oscar Madison, an odd couple. In the end, it was the fairly new but dominant team of KLR & Io winning the trophy.

However, KLR & Io surprised us after the match, saying that they were going after the head of the snake—in the form of Mandy Rose—all along instead of Gigi Dolin & Jacy Jayne; like Rob Van Dam announcing his cash-in of his Money In the Bank briefcase for the WWE Championship against John Cena at the 2006 ECW One Night Stand, KLR & Io announced that they’re cashing in their Women’s DRTTC victory for a shot at the NXT Women’s Championship at S&D, thus making the NXT Women’s Championship match a fatal four-way match (Cora Jade against KLR, Io, and Mandy). I’m curious to see if another team will go after the rest of Toxic Attraction for the NXT Women’s Tag Team Championship while KLR and Io are eyeing on Mandy’s title just like Cora is; my prediction is that Wendy and Dakota are going after the tag team gold since they appear to be working well, regardless of how dysfunctional those two can be storyline-wise.

Here are the match results from Orlando…

Match #1: Solo Sikoa defeated Roderick Strong (w/ Malcolm Bivens)

…to qualify for a spot in the NXT North American Championship ladder match at NXT Stand & Deliver; Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams joined Vic Joseph and Wade Barrett on commentary, and Santos Escobar watched from ringside. Sikoa won after thwarting Strong’s superplex attempt by pushing him off the top rope before hitting him with a top rope splash. My score: 4/5

Match #2: Tony D’Angelo defeated Dexter Lumis (w/ Indi Hartwell, Duke Hudson and Persia Pirotta)

Near the end, Hudson distracted the referee, and D’Angelo attempted to grab his crowbar until Indi took it from him. Then, Persia and Indi had a tug-of-war with the crowbar until D’Angelo swiped it from them as the crowbar struck Lumis unbeknownst to the referee; D’Angelo would then win after hitting Lumis with a snap swinging neckbreaker. Post-match, D’Angelo vowed to end Tommaso Ciampa’s NXT tenure with a win at NXT S&D until Ciampa ran in and attacked D’Angelo before saying that he’ll write his own “damn ending.” My score: 3.5/5

Match #3: Elektra Lopez (w/ Joaquin Wilde and Raul Mendoza) defeated Fallon Henley (w/ Josh Briggs and Brooks Jensen)

Wilde, Mendoza, Briggs, and Jensen brawled out of the arena towards the end of the match, then a minute or so later, Elektra won after hitting Fallon with a blue thunder bomb. My score: 1.5/5

Match #4: Bron Breakker defeated Robert Roode (w/ Dolph Ziggler)

Roode came to the ring with his “Glorious” entrance from his NXT tenure. During the match, Ziggler pulled Roode away from Breakker who charged at him before crashing into the corner; the referee saw this occur and ejected the NXT Champion to the back. Minutes after Roode scored a near fall after hitting Breakker with the Glorious DDT, Roode went for a top rope crossbody until Breakker caught and defeated him with a powerslam. After the match, Ziggler hit Breakker with a superkick at the entryway. My score: 4/5

Match #5: Grayson Waller (w/ Sanga) defeated A-Kid

…to qualify for a spot in the NXT North American Championship ladder match at NXT Stand & Deliver; Sikoa watched from ringside. Waller won after hitting A-Kid with a running through-the-ropes cutter. After the match, Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams appeared and made one more qualifying match for next week, which was a triple threat match involving the “losers” of the qualifying matches Cameron Grimes, Strong, and A-Kid; Williams then turned to A-Kid and said that A-Kid won’t be “A-Champion” and then vowed to go after “A-Mama” until A-Kid fought him out of the ring. My score: 0.75/5

Match #6: The Creed Brothers (w/ Ivy Nile and Malcolm Bivens) defeated Grizzled Young Veterans

Zack Gibson and James Drake denied accusations of attacking Brutus and Julius Creed two weeks ago before attacking them before the match. The Creed Brothers won in four minutes after Brutus hit Drake with a torture rack slam followed by a basement clothesline. Post-match, the mystery attackers appeared on the screen graffitiing Diamond Mine’s locker room, tearing the banner down, and sending text messages—on screen—to the team; they appeared to have attacked Roderick Strong who was seen slumped against the wall during that segment. My score: 0.5/5

Match #7: Gunther (w/ Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel) defeated Duke Hudson (w/ Persia Pirotta and Indi Hartwell) with a powerbomb

Indi gave Gunther a thumbs up ala Lumis afterwards. Post-match, Gunther was angry over LA Knight’s actions until Knight came into the ring; Gunther accused Knight for “lots of action” and having “very little skill” until Knight challenged him to a match at S&D. Then, Imperium attacked Knight until MSK ran in and fought Imperium out of the ring. My score: 1.5/5

Main event: Kay Lee Ray & Io Shirai defeated Wendy Choo & Dakota Kai in the final round of the Women’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic

Toxic Attraction watched from the Toxic Lounge that was next to the announce table instead of in the crowd like in the past episodes. Wendy used her pillow to block Io’s tiger feint kick to Dakota during the match (wasn’t disqualified for some reason). KLR & Io won after the KLR Bomb followed by an Io moonsault to Dakota. Post-match, KLR & Io challenged Mandy for the NXT Women’s Championship at S&D, inserting themselves into the women’s championship picture; Toxic Attraction attacked KLR & Io until Cora Jade ran in and attacked Toxic Attraction out of the ring. My score: 4.5/5

NXT UK

Now we return to the United Kingdom, but this time, we head to the BT Sports Studios in London, England for NXT UK.

The NXT United Kingdom Championship will be on the line in two weeks on NXT UK; after seeing Roderick Strong challenge Ilja Dragunov to a match, the champion accepted the challenge. It’s not the first time we have seen American competitors go after the UK title; Johnny Gargano fought Pete Dunne (or “Butch” as he’s known as on SmackDown nowadays) for the title years ago, and last year—at NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver—Tommaso Ciampa fought Walter (before the name change) for that exact title. Strong versus Dragunov will not only be a good title match to watch, but also a good hard-hitting battle or slugfest.

Not only are we preparing for a post-WrestleMania episode of NXT UK, but also next week’s episode of NXT UK. Ashton Smith will fight Trent Seven in another one of the one-on-one matches Moustache Mountain made, as the team of Smith and Oliver Carter is now 1-0 over Moustache Mountain after we saw Carter defeat Tyler Bate while Smith and Seven argued at ringside. I still think there’s going to be a heel turn coming from one of the teams during the rivalry for the NXT UK Tag Team Championship.

Also taking place next week is Noam Dar defending the NXT UK Heritage Cup against Mark Coffey; Dar looks to go three-for-three after defeating both Wolfgang and Joe Coffey in the past in both Heritage Cup defenses. I got a gut feeling that Dar will pull this off as well as accomplish this feat of defeating all three members of Gallus in three Heritage Cup defenses, regardless of whether or not he has his insurance policy in the form of Sha Samuels in tow; he does make a good cocky heel besides a good performer.

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Speaking of defending championships, the best match of the episode is the NXT UK Women’s Championship match between Meiko Satomura and Isla Dawn. It was not a “saw that coming” for me at all, even after seeing Meiko defeat—coincidentally—Isla in her NXT UK debut last year, back when Kay Lee Ray was the NXT UK Women’s Champion. It was still a good battle between the two, even with Isla trying to pull something up her sleeve in that bout. In the end, Meiko retained the gold which would end up being stolen by Isla just like the items Isla stole in the past before handing them back to competitors she would defeat weeks later (Dani Luna, Emilia McKenzie, and Jinny to be more specific).

Onto the match results from London…

Match #1: Rohan Raja & Charlie Dempsey defeated Saxon Huxley & A-Kid

…near the end, Teoman yanked A-Kid off the top rope and threw him out of the ring while Dempsey distracted the referee, then Raja hit Huxley with the Seek and Destroy (jumping faceplant that may or may not be a Metallica reference). My score: 2.5/5

Match #2: Wild Boar defeated T-Bone (w/ Primate and Eddie Dennis) in around four minutes

Wild Boar came from the crowd and attacked T-Bone and Primate before the match. Despite interference from the rest of Symbiosis, Wild Boar would then—after knocking Primate off the apron near the end of the match—score the win after hitting T-Bone with a jumping DDT; he then chased Dennis to the back afterwards. No score.

Match #3: Jordan Devlin defeated Danny Jones with a brainbuster

After the match, Devlin claimed that he’s still “the ace” regardless of who is walking around with a championship. My score: 1.5/5

Main event: Meiko Satomura defeated Isla Dawn to retain the NXT UK Women’s Championship

Towards the end, Meiko went for a cartwheel knee drop, but missed before Isla hit her with a DDT for two. Then, Isla lifted Meiko onto her shoulders until Meiko got down and rolled her up for the win. Post-match, Isla took the title away from the referee that attempted to hand it to Meiko, and then escaped through the crowd with it. My score: 3.5/5

NXT: LVL UP

Finally, we return to Orlando for NXT: LVL UP.

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Out of the three matches that took place this week, the main event tag team match between Jacket Time and Edris Enofé & Malik Blade was my favorite of the three. I expect a lot more for both of those teams after seeing that match, especially the winning team of Enofé & Blade; even though—in the storyline—they still have the hots for Toxic Attraction (especially Mandy Rose), the fairly new team of Enofé & Blade have been impressive in NXT’s tag team division. As for Jacket Time, like I said, they too are impressive in tag team competition besides singles competition; they may not have won on this episode of NXT: LVL UP, but—like Enofé & Blade—expect the team of Ikemen Jiro and Kushida to move on up in future episodes of both NXT and NXT: LVL UP.

Here are the match results from Orlando…

Match #1: Joe Gacy (w/ Harland) defeated Quincy Elliott

Elliott was last seen on an episode of NXT where Gacy invited him and two other competitors (one female) to participate in an “all-inclusive” handicap match prior to fighting Roderick Strong for the NXT Cruiserweight Championship at NXT War Games. Before the match started, Gacy not only too credit for converting 205 Live into NXT: LVL UP, but also for giving Elliott a chance to compete. Near the end, Harland distracted Elliott, leading to Gacy kicing him from a tree-of-woe position before defeating him with a handspring clothesline. My score: 1/5

Match #2: Ivy Nile (w/ Malcolm Bivens) defeated Kiana James

…by submission with a standing dragon sleeper; this was Kiana’s debut. My score: 1.5/5

Match #3: Edris Enofé & Malik Blade defeated Jacket Time

…with a sidewalk slam/powerbomb combo; both teams showed sportsmanship to each other afterwards. My score: 3.5/5

Next time…

As promised, I will look back at wXw We Love Wrestling 27 besides my four usual shows.

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

(Photos shown in the newsletter are from WWE.)