{:class=“restrict-width”}

Better Late Than Never

As promised, I’m back with a belated look back at three shows—with “NXT” in their names—as well as night 2 of ICW Shug’s Hoose Party 7. Off we go!

ICW Shug’s Hoose Party 7—Night 2

Our first stop is the O2 Academy in Glasgow, Scotland in the United Kingdom for night #2 of ICW Shug’s Hoose Party 7!

{:class=“restrict-width”}

Night #2 of SHP7 took place on July 30, 2022; like night #1, night #2 also had eight matches on the card. Those eight matches consisted of a two-out-of-three falls match, three championship matches (including a ladder match), three regular one-on-one matches, and a regular tag team match that was created by Ravie Davie weeks ago.

Out of the four regular matches that occurred that night, my favorite of the four would have to go to a match that—to me—was like a library book that’s past its return date and that’s “long overdue.” That match I’m talking about was Kasey taking on Angel Hayze, and the reason why I said that this match was “long overdue” is because it has been since Barred II that Kasey cost Angel the ICW Women’s Championship—that Molly Spartan won—at that event. I was expecting it to take place shortly on an episode of ICW Fight Club, but it ended up at SHP7. Complaining aside, it was a good one-on-one bout between the two, and it even showed that Kasey had no signs of the metaphoric ring rust after being on the injured reserved list recently; Angel also had a strong showing as well, especially on getting back on track ever since losing the belt to Molly months ago.

My favorite match of night #2 overall would have to go to the ladder match between Dylan Thorn and Daz Black for the ICW Zero-G Championship. Just like their first encounter—belt and all—at Square Go!, this match was also something that made me do the same thing that the fans in attendance did and that’s have me jump out of my seat. Not only did we see the best of both competitors from high flying abilities to action in the ring as well as from the ladders, but also Black not letting the fact that he was outnumbered—courtesy of the rest of the Manifesto at ringside—throw him off track. Besides a great ladder match, what happened afterwards had me surprised as well as whether or not I should regret ranting about the Manifesto being a force to be reckoned with in ICW.

Here are the match results from Glasgow…

Match #1: Andy Wild defeated Jason Reed (w/ Coach Trip)

Near the end, Trip threw a steel chair into the ring and urged Wild to use it, but Wild refused and would hit Reed with a cutter for a two instead. Wild then missed with the Dad Bomb, and Reed was making a comeback until Trip urged him to use the chair as well; like his opponent, Reed also refused before Wild took him down and won with the Dad Bomb. After the match, Trip stormed off to the back while Wild demanded a handshake while telling him “You’re better than this”; both wrestlers shook hands afterwards. My score: 2.75/5

Match #2: “Jackie Polo” (w/ Denise) defeated Saqib Ali (w/ Chris Toal)

“Polo” threw his jacket at Ali before ambushing him seconds before the bell rang. During the match, “Polo” exposed a turnbuckle until the referee covered it back up; behind the referee’s back, Denise exposed another turnbuckle which DCT sent Ali into a minute or so later. Then, Ali took out a glove and put it on before giving “Polo” a crotch claw and then hitting him with a stunner for a near fall. Towards the end, “Polo” attempted to hit Ali—held by Denise—with the polo mallet, but missed and almost hit Denise, leading to Ali hitting his opponent with a Claymore-like knee (known as the Shack Magik, I hope I spelled that right) before Denise put his opponent’s foot on the bottom rope. Then, Denise slapped Toal while “Polo” hit Ali in the groin and forehead with the mallet for the win. My score: 1.25/5

Match #3: “The Outlaw” Stevie James defeated Mark Haskins (w/ Vic Haskins) 2-1 in a two-out-of-three falls match

Something I have never seen in two-out-of-three falls matches occurred as—after Mark hit James with a superplex—both men exchanged pin attempts until the two pinned each other for a 1-1 tie. The two almost gave each other another double pin after a double clothesline before Mark hit James with a Death Valley Driver on the apron; Mark came back in at the count of 11 while James—after Vic’s interference—came back in at 19. Near the end, James pretended that Vic tripped him, and the referee ejected Mark’s wife from ringside; this led to James hitting Mark with a super kick and an Impaler DDT for the 2-1 win. After the match, James—in an interview by Jennifer Louise—said that he will not be overlooked and was on a path to being a champion. My score: 3.75/5

Match #4: Kings of the North defeated Lou King Sharp & Krieger to retain the ICW Tag Team Championship

Krieger threw Sharp into Damian Corvin and Bonesaw before the match, and the two brawled in the audience; Sharp dove onto the champions from a railing before the teams came back, with Krieger and Corvin starting the match. Sharp used his kendo stick as a weapon in this match, and then hit Corvin with the 0141 (or 619 if you’re Rey Mysterio) until Bonesaw broke the pin and attempted to use the stick as a weapon before Krieger stopped him. After the Kings of the North hit Sharp with a 3D-like Codebreaker for two and the challengers hit Corvin and Bonesaw with an assisted cutter for two, Corvin hit Krieger with a hard right hand for the win; Sharp was also hit with a hard right hand after the match. My score: 1.5/5

Match #5: Daz Black defeated Dylan Thorn (w/ ADM, Grant McIvor and Eddie Castle)

…in a ladder match to become the new ICW Zero-G Champion. As soon as the match started, McIvor and Castle threw a chair into the ring to get Black’s attention; the challenger responded by diving onto the two at ringside before the champion brought in a ladder. Later on, as Thorn brought in a second ladder, Black attempted to hit him with the Curbstomp onto the ladder, but missed; this led to Thorn working on his opponent’s left foot even after spinning the ladder into it. Also, after Thorn had Black dangling from one ladder, Black climbed up the other ladder until Black recovered and hit him with a Spanish fly from the two ladders. Black would then bring in a larger ladder until Thorn threw the chair at him; Thorn attempted to hit the chair holding Black with the Crown of Thorns until Black fought back with the chair. Black’s comeback was short lived as ADM came in and hit him with a crucifix powerbomb into a chair that was wedged in a corner; Black fought back, going after all four members of the Manifesto, and then hit ADM with the Curbstomp onto the walkway connected to the ring. Near the end, Thorn climbed up the larger ladder until Black hit him with a cutter from the top rope and then the Curbstomp on one of the two ladders that were brought in earlier; Black then climbed up the larger ladder, grabbed the belt and won. Afterwards, ADM hit Thorn with a chokeslam backbreaker; McIvor and Castle were surprised to see this occur as ADM stormed off, and then the two had no other choice but to follow him while Thorn recovered and got a standing ovation from the fans. My score: 4/5

Match #6: Kasey defeated Angel Hayze

Angel blindsided Kasey, who was posing on the ropes and apron, before the match. After Angel had Kasey in a guillotine, Kasey rolled to the ropes to break the hold before winning with a judo throw. Afterwards, Molly Spartan appeared as she and Kasey celebrated the win. My score: 3/5

Match #7: Ravie Davie & Grado defeated Ian Skinner & Charles Vyce (w/ Thatcher Wright)

According to Billy Kirkwood on commentary, it has been two and a half years since Grado—who was also the host of SHP7—competed in ICW. Thatcher wore a neck brace because of his match with Chris Bungard the night before. During the match, Skinner had trouble hitting Grado with a German suplex, then Vyce attempted to help out his tag team partner until Grado blocked the attempt, making Vyce suplex Skinner. Davie’s left wrist was worked on during the match; while working on the wrist, Skinner used a business card between Davie’s fingers. Grado paid homage to Road Dogg after being tagged back in, then he and Davie won after he hit Vyce with a Death Valley Driver followed by a flying big boot. My score: 2.5/5

Main event: Kez Evans defeated Jack Jester by knockout to retain the ICW World Heavyweight Championship

Jester was equipped with a giant corkscrew, and then—as soon as the match began—brandished a smaller version of Big Shiny which he attacked the champion with. Jester then set up a table at ringside until Evans hit him with a chair; Jester fought back and punched Evans down on the table until the table gave way, before slamming the champion onto the collapsed table and then hit him with a Cactus Jack elbow drop chair shot from the apron. Jester then grabbed a barbed wire wrapped Big Shiny from under the ring until Evans hit him with a low blow and busted the challenger open with the weapon. Both men then attempted to fight each other with the corkscrew until their attempts were blocked, and then Jester fought back before bringing in a bag of thumbtacks. Evans attempted to hit Jester with the Kez Dispenser until Jester hit him with an Alabama Slam onto the tacks followed by a piledriver for two. Jester then went for a Pedigree (that gave him a two earlier) until Evans hit him with the Kez Dispenser for a near fall. Evans then took out brass knuckles and punched Jester with them, causing him to collapse onto the tacks for two. Evans then punched Jester down with the knuckles until the challenger was unconscious, giving Evans the win by KO. Afterwards, EMTs, referees and Scott Reid came to check on Jester while Evans took a page out of Von Wagner’s playbook by saying that ICW is living in his world. All of the sudden, Craig Anthony appeared at the entryway! Jester got up and punched Evans while Anthony came in and dove onto his former friend. Jester then urged Anthony to go after Evans before being helped to the back. My score: 3.5/5

NXT

Now, we head to Orlando, Florida in the United States for NXT!

As I predicted (as well as acted like a kid in a candy store several issues ago), we will see Worlds Collide come September 4, with NXT and NXT UK wrestlers clashing. The dead giveaway occurred on the “Heatwave” episode of NXT where we saw the arrivals of Gallus, Blair Davenport and—a minute or so before the episode went off the air—Tyler Bate. As a result, we will see title unification matches taking place at Worlds Collide.

One will be between Bron Breakker and Tyler Bate in a match where we will see the unification of—respectively—the NXT Championship and the NXT United Kingdom Championship. I’m pretty sure that this is a dream match that fans, including myself, have thought of in the past ever since NXT turned from a black-and-gold brand to a multicolored brand; seeing one of the metaphoric pillars of NXT UK taking on the current heart and soul of NXT’s “2.0” era will indeed be one bout to watch, title unification and all.

The other match will involve the unification of the NXT Women’s Championship and the NXT UK Women’s Championship; this match, a triple threat match, was made after we saw Meiko Satomura—the NXT UK Women’s Champion—appear on NXT this week. Not only will we see Meiko and Mandy Rose have their belts on the line, but—since I noted that it will be a triple threat match—will also have Blair Davenport going after both of the titles at Worlds Collide. I was pretty sure that we were going to see either Mandy vs. Blair for the NXT Women’s Championship soon or—at a later date—Mandy and Meiko fighting in a title unification match of their own, but I’m definitely fine seeing this as a three-way dance even with Blair going for the gold once again.

{:class=“restrict-width”}

Outside the preparations for Worlds Collide (as well as cleaning how much drool I metaphorically made after hearing the announcement for that event), my favorite match of the episode would go to the Lights Out match between Wendy Choo and Tiffany Stratton. After seeing the two compete in one-on-one matches as well as going at it backstage, this match was made to wrap up the ongoing rivalry between the two wrestlers. It was indeed a fun no-DQ match from start to finish, and it showed what Wendy and Tiffany are capable of when it comes to being in matches that are also labeled “main event caliber” including that bout. Wendy showed her aggressive side throughout this match, even when using weapons such as her bed and a large pillow full of Legos. Tiffany had a strong showing as well, just like she did when substituting for the then-injured Nikkita Lyons in the final round of the inaugural NXT Women’s Breakout Tournament where she took on Roxanne Perez (who ended up winning the tournament as we all know). Yes, those two wrestlers that are often mid-card competitors as we have seen early in their NXT tenures (including Wendy’s time as Mei Ying back when NXT was still a black-and-gold brand) did a great job in this main event.

Here are the NXT results from Orlando…

Match #1: Mark Coffey & Wolfgang (w/ Joe Coffey) defeated Josh Briggs & Brooks Jensen (w/ Fallon Henley) by count out

Briggs and Jensen retained the NXT UK Tag Team Championship. Fallon and Lash Legend fought backstage before Briggs and Jensen got to the ring. Extra security guards, including Hank Walker who has worked as a guard as of late, were shown in the audience probably due to Gallus’ appearance—and attacking Diamond Mine—on the Heatwave episode of NXT. Near the end, Lash reappeared and attacked Fallon while Pretty Deadly appeared and brawled with Briggs and Jensen at ringside; this led to Coffey and Wolfgang winning by count out (instead of disqualification for some reason). Afterwards, Diamond Mine ran in and it became a pier six brawl as all four teams in and outside the ring went at it. My score: 2.5/5

Match #2: Cameron Grimes defeated Javier Bernal in two and a half minutes

The Schism—Joe Gacy and the Dyad (Rip Fowler and Jagger Reid) to be more specific—watched the match from a stage. Grimes won after hitting Bernal with the Cave-In. Grimes glared at the Schism afterwards. My score: 1/5

Match #3: Blair Davenport defeated Indi Hartwell in almost four minutes

Indi gave the fans a Dexter Lumis thumbs up while coming to the ring. Blair won with a Michinoku driver. After the match, Blair beat down Indi again, and then declared herself the rightful owner of the NXT Women’s Championship. Mandy Rose appeared and said that Blair was in her ring and world, telling her to add respect to her name. Then, all of the sudden, Meiko Satomura appeared and said that she’s dominant unlike Mandy, and Mandy challenged her to a champion vs. champion match which Meiko agreed to; Blair threw a hissy fit, claiming that she won a shot at the NXT UK Women’s Championship. As noted above, a triple threat match with the unification of the NXT Women’s Championship and the NXT UK Women’s Championship will take place at Worlds Collide. My score: 1.5/5

Match #4: The Dyad (w/ Joe Gacy) defeated Joaquin Wilde & Cruz del Toro (w/ Tony D’Angelo, Stacks and Elektra Lopez)

D’Angelo was angry at Wilde and Cruz using lucha libre maneuvers early in the match (ala Drew Gulak wanting 205 Live to be a “no fly zone”). Rip Fowler and Jagger Reid won after hitting Wilde with the Ticket To Mayhem. My score: 2.5/5

Match #5: Tyler Bate defeated Von Wagner (w/ Mr. Stone) in a non-title match

Bron Breakker watched the match backstage. Bate won with the Big Spiral Boi (corkscrew crossbody). My score: 3/5

Main event: Wendy Choo defeated Tiffany Stratton in a Lights Out match

This was a no disqualification match under dim lighting. Wendy woke up in a bed at the entryway and took off her onesie, revealing that she was fighting in pajamas. Trashcans (including one filled with trash), a tennis racket, a toolbox (including a wrench that was one of the tools inside), Wendy’s bed (sans the mattress), a steel chair, hairspray (from Tiffany’s purse), a large pillow filled with Legos, and makeup powder (also coming from Tiffany’s purse) were used as weapons in this match. Towards the end, Tiffany attempted to use the powder as weapon until Wendy kicked it into her face before slamming her through the bed at ringside. Wendy then won with a reverse splash. My score: 3.5/5

NXT UK

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

{:class=“restrict-width”}

In the next-to-last episode of NXT UK, we saw the semi-final round matches of the NXT United Kingdom Championship tournament as well as the NXT UK Heritage Cup match. Out of the three matches that took place, my favorite match was Tyler Bate vs. Joe Coffey in the tournament. In my honest opinion, Bate and Coffey would have been a great championship match (or a great TakeOver match to be exact) even though both the title was vacant at the time and this was part of the semi-final round per se. Both NXT UK originals had a strong showing in this match, and it ended with Bate coming out on top.

Before I continue, I made a mistake in the last issue saying that Amale, Kenny Williams and Saxon Huxley had their last matches; those were actually their next-to-last matches. I apologize for that.

With that aside, let’s take a look at the match results from London…

Match #1: Trent Seven defeated Oliver Carter in the semi-final round of the NXT United Kingdom Championship tournament

Carter’s left leg—that has been injured a few weeks ago—was worked on during the match. Seven won after making Carter submit to the Figure Seven (Figure Four). My score: 3.75/5

Match #2: Tyler Bate defeated Joe Coffey in the semi-final round of the NXT United Kingdom Championship tournament

After Coffey hit Bate with the All the Best of the Bells for a near fall, Bate hit him with a koppo kick; Coffey went for a pop-up maneuver until Bate countered with a backslide for the win. After the match, Trent Seven appeared at the entryway and stared at Bate. My score: 4/5

Main event: Noam Dar defeated Mark Coffey 2-1 to become the new NXT UK Heritage Cup Champion

After rounds 1 and 2 ended up in draws, Coffey took the 1-0 lead in round 3 after hitting Dar with a running basement back elbow. Then, in round 4, Dar—regardless of how worn out he was—tied it up 1-1 after making Coffey submit to the Champagne Super-Kneebar. After round 5 ended in a draw, the sixth and final round saw Sha Samuels come from the crowd and shove Coffey into a ring post; this led to Dar hitting Coffey with the Nova Roller for the win. Dar and Samuels celebrated afterwards. My score: 3.5/5

NXT: LVL UP

Finally, we return to Orlando, Florida for an episode of NXT: LVL UP.

{:class=“restrict-width”}

The episode started off slow, but got better as we moved from one match to another. Out of the three matches that took place, my favorite would have to go to the main event match between Nathan Frazer and Ikemen Jiro. Even though it looked like something you would see on NXT instead of NXT: LVL UP, it was still a good match from start to finish. Both Frazer and Jiro had a strong showing including exchanging shots and maneuvers, and gave us something that looked like—even though I said it looked like something from NXT per se—something straight out of the now defunct 205 Live, cruiserweight wrestling moments and all.

Here are the NXT: LVL UP results from Orlando…

Match #1: Edris Enofé & Malik Blade defeated Bronco Nima & Lucien Price

The team of Enofé and Blade won after hitting Price with a Samoan drop/jumping neckbreaker combo. My score: 1.5/5

Match #2: Kiana James defeated Amari Miller in almost five minutes with a spinning faceplant

My score: 2/5

Main event: Nathan Frazer defeated Ikemen Jiro

Frazer countered Jiro’s springboard moonsault with a savate kick to the stomach, followed by a phoenix splash for the win. Both men shook hands afterwards. My score: 3/5

Next time…

Again, I will have a recap—in order—ICW Fight Club, NXT, NXT UK and NXT: LVL UP. Belated recaps of other shows that came to Peacock and WWE Network such as Progress and wXw will come in later issues.

For my newsletters as well as any articles that are on the Wrestling With Johners website, the website is wrestlingwithjohners.com/articles

For just my newsletters along on the WWJ website, it is wrestlingwithjohners.com/authors/pro-darin/

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

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