{:class=“restrict-width”}

Pro Wrestling Noah Ariake Triumph – The Return – Pro-Wrestling Love Forever 3 ~ Triumph ~

Even though I was unable to finish up a Progress chapter (I’ll recap it in the next issue by the way), I’m still kicking things off with another Pro Wrestling Noah bonus. Pro Wrestling Noah’s “The Return” (full name “Pro Wrestling Noah Ariake Triumph – The Return – Pro-Wrestling Love Forever 3 ~ Triumph ~”) took place on October 30 at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan; it was the same venue that hosted volleyball during the 2020 Summer Olympics and wheelchair basketball during the 2020 Summer Paralympics.

{:class=“restrict-width”}

Ten matches—eleven if you count the pre-show match—took place that night; on the card—besides the one-on-one match that served as a pre-show bout—were three six-man tag team matches, two regular tag team matches, and five championship matches including one that was under martial arts rules.

There were three matches that I enjoyed when I checked out “The Return.” One was the tag team match between Dante Leon & ICW wrestler Jack Morris and Yo-Hey & Daiki Inaba, and there was very good tag team chemistry from all four competitors as well as fun “looking at the mirror” like moments by Leon and Yo-Hey whenever they clashed with one another.

Another was the main event where Kaito Kiyomiya, for the first time, defended the GHC Heavyweight Championship against Kazuyuki Fujita; Fujita intimidated his opponent a handful of times during this match as well as tried to dissect him—as if he were in biology class minus a scalpel—until Kiyomiya came back regardless of how many times the challenger made it a one-sided affair.

My favorite match of this event involved the legendary Keiji Muto who is continuing his retirement tour. Here, Muto had his third match in his retirement tour as he was part of a six-man tag team bout, teaming with Yoshiki Inamura and Naomichi Marufuji and taking on New Japan wrestlers Tomoaki Honma, Togi Makabe and Hiroshi Tanahashi. All six competitors gave their all in this event, especially Muto and his teammates. He now has two matches remaining come next year; his first match of 2023 will be on New Year’s Day as he takes on WWE wrestler Shinsuke Nakamura!

Good luck wishes go out to Muto on his ongoing retirement tour.

Here are the match results from Tokyo…

Pre-show match: Kai Fujimura defeated Taishi Ozawa with a missile dropkick.

My score: 3/5

Match #1: Hajime Ohara, Shuji Kondo & Manabu Soya defeated Alejandro, Xtreme Tiger & Shuhei Taniguchi.

Like Kondo and Soya, Ohara is also a member of Kongo. While everyone else fought at ringside, Kondo hit Alejandro with a snap powerslam followed by the King Kong Lariat for the win. My score: 3.5/5

Match #2: Dante Leon & Jack Morris defeated Yo-Hey & Daiki Inaba.

After Inaba hit Morris with the Fireball Bomb (blue thunder) before Morris came back with a Bryan Danielson knee, both Leon and Yo-Hey booted each other and then kipped up in stereo before Yo-Hey hit Leon with a missile until Morris broke up the pin. Then, Leon hit Yo-Hey with what looked like a reverse 450 cutter followed by a top rope corkscrew senton for the win. My score: 4/5

Match #3: Yasutaka Yano, Chris Ridgeway & Yoshinari Ogawa defeated Super Crazy, Eita & Nosawa Rongai by disqualification.

ECW original Super Crazy is—like Eita and Rongai—a member of Perros del Mal de Japon; the three gave fans Perros del Mal merchandise to the fans as they headed to the ring. The Stinger members and Yano went after Super Crazy, Eita and Rongai seconds before the bell rang, and all six fought at ringside until Super Crazy and Yano fought back in the ring; during the ringside melee, Ogawa and Eita fought at the ramp. A trashcan and lid came into play courtesy of the Perros del Mal members until their opponents took control of it; the well known saying “If you play with fire, you will get burned” would also come into play as Ogawa hit Eita with the lid, busting him open. Also, during the match, Ridgeway fought Eita at the Japanese broadcast table, putting him in the ankle lock while draped on the barricade. The match ended with Ridgeway holding Eita in an ankle lock and then a sleeper until Rongai hit him with a trashcan, giving Ridgeway, Yano and Ogawa the DQ in. Post-match, Ogawa put Eita in the trashcan and hit him with the lid. My score: 2.25/5

Match #4: Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. & Hideki Suzuki defeated Masa Kitamiya & Masato Tanaka.

Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. wore an orange and black outfit with a pumpkin mask…and yes, I felt like I wanted to say “It’s the great pumpkin, Charlie Brown!” (LOL!) Towards the end, Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. hit Kitamiya and Tanaka—who were fighting Suzuki at ringside—with a tope con giro, then Suzuki fought Kitamiya back in the ring and hit him with a spear for two and then put him in the Prison Lock (a seated cloverleaf) until Tanaka broke up the hold. Then, Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. hit Kitamiya with a delayed sit out powerbomb for two, followed by the Wagner Driver for three. My score: 3.75/5

Match #5: Seiki Yoshioka & Atsushi Kotoge defeated Hi69 & Tadasuke to retain the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship.

Early in the match, Tadasuke wiped out Kotoge with a charging clothesline before he and Hi69 hit him with a double torture rack slam until Yoshioka broke up the pin; Kotoge had—to quote Frank Turner—a “long long road to recovery” at ringside while Yoshioka’s left leg was worked on. Near the end, the Kongo members hit Kotoge—who was finally able to get back in action a minute or so prior—with a dropkick/sidewalk slam combo before Hi69 hit him with a shining wizard for two, a leg lariat for two, and a Michinoku driver for two; Kotoge blocked Hi69’s top rope splash before he and Yoshioka hit him with a roundhouse kick/air raid crash combo for the win. Post-match, Kongo members Hajime Ohara and Shuji Kondo came in and attacked the champions until a masked wrestler ran in and fought the two and Hi69 & Tadasuke out of the ring; the masked wrestler turned out to be Haoh, whom Tadasuke claimed that he ejected, until Haoh—now going by the name Amakusa—vowed to go after him. My score: 3.5/5

Match #6: Ninja Mack defeated Hayata by referee’s decision to become the new GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion.

Hayata took control of the match after kicking away Mack’s Ninja Special, causing him to crash into the barricade before he came back in at nine. The match ended with Mack hitting Hayata with a Ninja Special turned into a sunset flip powerbomb off the apron; Hayata ended up with a left arm injury, and the referee stopped the match and declared Mack the new champion. My score: 3.25/5

Match #7: Masakatsu Funaki defeated Kazushi Sakuraba in three minutes in a martial arts rules match to retain the GHC National Championship.

The only way to win was by knockout, submission or TKO. Funaki won by knockout after incapacitating Sakuraba with a guillotine. My score: 1/5

Match #8: Satoshi Kojima & Takashi Sugiura defeated Katsuhiko Nakajima & Kenoh to retain the GHC Tag Team Championship.

Kojima accidentally booted Sugiura instead of Nakajima, giving the Kongo members the upper hand; Nakajima kicked away Kojima’s Western Lariat and hit him with an open palm strike and a brainbuster for two until Sugiura hit him with an Olympic slam before Kojima won with the Western Lariat. After the match, Funky Express came into the ring and praised Kojima and Sugiura for defeating the strongest and dangerous teams before challenging them for the belts; the champions—especially Kojima who was out of breath—accepted the challenge, then the champions shook hands instead of giving each other a finger shake. My score: 3.75/5

Match #9: Yoshiki Inamura, Naomichi Marufuji & Keiji Muto defeated Tomoaki Honma, Togi Makabe & Hiroshi Tanahashi.

Honma and Makabe are members of Great Bash Heel. Muto had pictures of his wrestling career before his entrance to the ring. During the match, Muto put Tanahashi in a Figure Four until Makabe broke up the hold and then blocked the shining wizard before nailing a grounded dragon screw leg whip and a sling blade; Muto and Marufuji then hit Tanahashi with a shining wizard/ripcord knee combo for two, and then Muto hit him with another shining wizard until—behind the referee’s back—Makabe knocked Muto off the top rope with his chain. Near the end, Honma ended up with a bloody chest after he and Marufuji exchanged chops until Tanahashi hit Marufuji with a sling blade and Honma hit him with the Kokeshi headbutt until Inamura broke up the pin; then, Honma went for a middle rope Kokeshi headbutt until Marufuji countered it with a bicycle kick before Muto and Marufuji hit him with—respectively—a shining wizard and a shiranui for the win. Post-match, Inamura and Makabe went at it at ringside until referees separated the two until all six competitors showed respect to each other. My score: 4.5/5

Main event: Kaito Kiyomiya defeated Kazuyuki Fujita to retain the GHC Heavyweight Championship.

Fujita came to the ring wearing a mask that looked similar to Wild Boar’s mask. Kiyomiya’s legs were worked on during the match. Towards the end, Kiyomiya came back and hit Fujita with a top rope cannonball at ringside until Fujita came back with the Beast Bomb and a Randy Orton punt; Fujita then went for another Beast Bomb until Kiyomiya blocked it before winning with a Frankensteiner. After the match, Fujita shoved the referee down while claiming that one of his shoulders was up (even though both shoulders were still down while Fujita tried to kick out per se). Then, Timothy Thatcher—with Hideki Suzuki in tow—came into the ring and (after Suzuki thanked the fans for coming) claimed that he was undefeated in Pro Wrestling Noah before challenging Kiyomiya for the belt; Kiyomiya nodded, accepting the challenge. As Thatcher left, Kiyomiya thanked the fans for coming. My score: 4/5

Crown Jewel

Now that the bonus is out of the way, it’s time to head to Mrsool Park in Riyadh, Saudi Araba for Crown Jewel!

Not only did this mark the eighth WWE premium live event held in Saudi Arabia, but it also marked the second time that Crown Jewel took place at the venue, back when it was the King Saud University Stadium before it was sponsored by Mrsool; the first Crown Jewel that took place at that venue was this month in 2018.

On the card for this year’s Crown Jewel were two one-on-one matches that involved heavy hitters (and would probably receive either the “Clash of the Titans” or “Alien vs. Predator” treatment), four championship matches including one that was in the form of a Last Woman Standing match, an Extreme Rules rematch that was in the form of a steel cage match (after all hell broke loose in a strap match last month), and a six-man tag team bout.

{:class=“restrict-width”}

This also included an appearance from Bray Wyatt who came into the ring and said that even though he comes from a prestigious wrestling family, he didn’t like making a monster of himself after giving in by wearing a mask and believing that he would be untouchable; Wyatt said that this led to people loving the idea of him instead of Wyatt himself (as well as saying that he too didn’t love himself), and then—after saying that he didn’t like the person that he was in the past—vowed to rewrite the ending of his story. Suddenly, Uncle Howdy—whom we’ve seen on SmackDown in Wyatt’s appearances for weeks—appeared on the screen and said that Wyatt will go too far, and end up giving in to his inner demons if he doesn’t take the mask off. This is indeed an interesting storyline involving Wyatt and Uncle Howdy ever since he returned in Philadelphia last month, and I’m curious to see more of this story even if it means making another appearance at the upcoming Survivor Series—besides select episodes of SmackDown and/or Raw—later this month.

Aside from the Bray Wyatt/Uncle Howdy storyline, this was indeed a very good Crown Jewel from start to finish; not a single match ended up being below average in my point of view. This of course included a match that I was leery about when I first heard it before it ended up being not only my favorite match of Crown Jewel but a great main event as well. That match I’m talking about was the highly anticipated championship bout between Roman Reigns, who defended the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship, and Logan Paul. My first thought about it was that it was going to be a short-lived cakewalk for the champion Reigns besides the fact that this was also Paul’s third match. By the time that this main event occurred, I was proven wrong.

Even though this was Paul’s third match as I just noted, his performance in this championship bout was as good—well, probably even better—than the performance he had in his two matches at WrestleMania and Summer Slam this year. Paul—who revealed that he was trained by Shawn Michaels days prior to Crown Jewel—surprised everyone that doubted that he would throw the champion off his game, even with moments that had me unglued to my seat when I watched it on Peacock that afternoon. Despite Reigns retaining the championship (as well as help for both competitors that occurred as the match was winding down), Paul definitely exceeded the expectations of those that were unsure about how he was going to perform at Crown Jewel. Will he surprise us again just like he did in his three matches? The answer as of now is this well-known saying…only time will tell.

Here are the match results from Riyadh…

Match #1: Brock Lesnar defeated Bobby Lashley.

Lashley blindsided Lesnar at ringside sending him into the steel stairs, and then hit him with a spear before the match began; Lesnar ended up with a wounded left knee due the sneak attack. As soon as both wrestlers got into the ring, Lashley hit Lesnar with a spear, and then as soon as the two were at ringside, he speared the “Beast” again but through the barricade this time. The two then came back in where Lashley hit a fourth spear for a near fall, and then went for the Hurt Lock until Lesnar—bad leg and all—sent him to Suplex City before hitting the F5 for a near fall. After blocking spear and F5 attempts, Lashley locked in the Hurt Lock, and by the time the referee was dropping Lesnar’s arm for the third time, Lesnar powered up, ran up the turnbuckles, and—while in the hold—pinned Lashley for the win. Post-match, Lashley put Lesnar in the Hurt Lock before storming off. My score: 2.5/5

Match #2: Dakota Kai & Iyo Sky defeated Asuka & Alexa Bliss to become the new WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions.

This match was made after Asuka and Alexa defeated Dakota and Iyo for the belts on the Halloween episode of Raw which also served as the go-home episode before Crown Jewel. Before the match, Alexa was surprised to see the Bray Wyatt moth appearing on the screen while she and Asuka were interviewed by Byron Saxton backstage. During the match, Asuka climbed to the top rope until Iyo dropkicked her, causing her to dangle from the top rope before Dakota knocked her off; Asuka’s right knee was worked on afterwards. Towards the end, Dakota hit Asuka with a running corner-to-corner boot for a near fall, then Asuka came back and tagged in Alexa; Alexa attempted to hit Dakota with the Twisted Bliss until—after a distraction from Iyo—it was blocked. Asuka went after Iyo at ringside until the referee intervened; then, behind the referee’s back, Alexa went for Twisted Bliss again until Nikki Cross (you read correctly, she’s no longer “almost a superhero”) came from the crowd and shoved her off the top rope before hitting her with a rope-assisted neckbreaker, leading to Dakota pinning Alexa for the win. My score: 2.5/5

Match #3: Drew McIntyre defeated Karrion Kross (w/ Scarlett) in a steel cage match.

Scarlett wore spikes around her eyes, looking like Pinhead from “Hellraiser.” Seconds before the bell rang, McIntyre—as soon as he and Kross were inside—closed the cage door before the outside referee would do so. After yanking Kross off the top rope while in a tree of woe, McIntyre went for the Claymore until Kross countered it with a Bryan Danielson knee (that was compared to the Claymore by Michael Cole and Wade Barrett for some reason) for a near fall. McIntyre came back including getting a two count after a jackknife pin until Kross put him in the Kross Jacket; McIntyre got out of the hold and put his opponent in a sleeper until Kross got out of it with the Doomsday Saito. Kross went for the Kross Hammer until McIntyre dodged it and hit him with the Future Shock, then went for the Claymore until Scarlett distracted him, leading to Kross putting him in another Kross Jacket.

Near the end, Kross attempted to climb out after striking McIntyre with the Kross Hammer until McIntyre recovered and superplexed him off the top of the cage. McIntyre then attempted to walk out of the cage until Scarlett sprayed him—as well as the outside referee—with pepper spray; Kross attempted to leave until his blinded opponent dragged him away from the door while he had him in an ankle lock. McIntyre took down Kross with the Glasgow Kiss followed by the Claymore, then Scarlett locked the door until McIntyre decided to climb out of it; Scarlett pulled Kross to the door until McIntyre landed on the floor first and won. My score: 3/5

Match #4: Dominik Mysterio, Finn Bálor & Damian Priest (w/ Rhea Ripley) defeated the OC.

Rhea mocked Beth Phoenix by having the same hairstyle as hers. In stereo, AJ Styles hit Bálor with a superplex while Priest hit Karl Anderson with an electric chair and Luke Gallows hit Mysterio with the same maneuver. Then, Styles attempted to hit Bálor with the Phenomenal Forearm until Rhea lifted him up in an electric chair position and dropped him face first into the apron; this led to Bálor hitting Styles with a shotgun dropkick followed by the Coup de Grace for the win. My score: 3.5/5

(NOTE: Two nights later on Raw, the OC added the returning Mia Yim to the team in order to solve the “Rhea Ripley problem.”)

Match #5: Braun Strowman defeated Omos. Omos made the majority of this match one-sided.

Strowman went for the Strowman Express until Omos blocked it with a body block. Omos then went for a chokebomb until Strowman blocked it before being sent into the corner; Omos then attempted to splash him in the corner, but missed, leading to Strowman winning with a running powerslam. My score: 2.5/5

Match #6: The Usos defeated Butch & Ridge Holland to retain the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship.

Jey Uso’s right arm and wrist were taped because—according to Michael Cole—he suffered a possible broken wrist while on WWE’s European tour. Holland paid homage to Sheamus during the match, hitting Jey with 10 Beats of the Bodhran (until Jimmy Uso stopped him at nine) as well as hitting him with White Noise. Towards the end, Butch and Holland threw Jimmy into the crowd, then hit Jey with a roundhouse kick/Northern Grit combo until Jimmy sprinted back in and broke up the pin; the match then ended with the Usos winning with—from the top rope—a 1D to Butch. My score: 3.5/5

Match #7: Bianca Belair defeated Bayley in a Last Woman Standing match to retain the Raw Women’s Championship.

A kendo stick (that almost went into the crowd earlier), steel chairs, a ladder, steel stairs, an equipment case at the entryway, a golf cart, and a table came into play in this bout. During the match, Bayley kicked the steps into Bianca and trapped her behind the steps including covering her with the ladder until Bianca popped out at seven; Bayley then beat down her trapped opponent with a kendo stick until Bianca recovered at eight. Bianca chased Bayley up the ramp with the stick until Bayley hit her with the Bayley-To-Bayley on the stage; then, as soon as the two recovered, Bayley shoved an equipment case into Bianca, causing the “EST” to fall in until Bianca got out of the case at seven.

After going back and forth with the case and Bayley wore down Bianca with an arm-trapped crossface until Bianca got up at seven, Bayley drove a golf cart on the stage until the two fought on the top of the cart; Bianca got down and drove the cart back to the ringside area with Bayley on the rooftop. Bayley grabbed Bianca by the ponytail until Bianca yanked her off the rooftop and onto the table before putting her through the table with a powerbomb until Bayley got up at nine. The two then got back inside where Bayley attempted to hit Bianca with the Rose Plant on an open chair until Bianca countered with the KOD on the chair (that Bayley tried to move out of the way); Bianca then trapped Bayley inside the ladder and propped it under the bottom turnbuckle where Bayley was unable to get out of it and get up at ten. My score: 3.5/5

Main event: Roman Reigns (w/ Paul Heyman) defeated Logan Paul to retain the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship.

Logan was on an elevated podium that lowered him to the stage as he posed to the fans before making his way to the ring. During the match, Logan hit Reigns with his own Superman Punch followed by a top rope crossbody and a standing moonsault for two; he then went for Sweet Chin Music until Reigns caught him and hit him with a Rock Bottom for a near fall.

Logan dodged a Superman Punch while hitting Reigns with a body shot, then hit him with a right hook (“One Lucky Punch” as he called it) and then another Superman Punch for a near fall. Logan then took apart the Arabic announce table, took the cell phone from his “Impaulsive” cohosts Mike Majlak and George Janko, and—while recording it all on the cell phone—hit Reigns with a frog splash through the table! Then, the Usos came and fought Majlak and Janko into the ring until Logan’s brother Jake Paul appeared and took down the Usos while the action returned to the ring where Logan hit Reigns with another frog splash—with no cell phone this time—for a near fall. Then, Solo Sikoa appeared and Jake attempted to fight him until referees and officials separated the two; the Usos closed in on Jake until Logan dove onto them before Logan came back in and was met with a Superman Punch and a spear that gave Reigns the win. My score: 3.75/5

(NOTE: Logan Paul revealed on social media that he is currently inactive due to injury; in the middle of the match, he suffered a torn meniscus and MCL, and potentially tore his ACL as well.)

ICW Fight Club

It’s now time to go to the United Kingdom for ICW Fight Club. This time, it’s not taking place in the Asylum in Glasgow, Scotland; this week’s episode actually took place at the Ironworks in Inverness, Scotland. ICW was on the road prior to Fear & Loathing XIV, holding shows in Inverness as well as Newcastle, England. It also marked one of the final episodes of ICW Fight Club taking place at the Ironworks because the venue is expected to be demolished; it also held MMA events including one where Chris Bungard had his first ever Scottish Hit Squad MMA fight in the venue.

We learned that a tag team championship match was made for Fear & Loathing XIV. “Jackie Polo”, while talking about teaming with Aaron Echo and taking on Sha Samuels & Chris Bungard in this week’s main event, said that he cut a deal by putting K.O.E. in a match at F&L for the ICW Tag Team Championship against the Glasgow Grindhouse. K.O.E has been building their momentum ever since becoming members of “Polo Promotions” as well as picking up a win over Casino Brutale as we saw last week, and if Adam and Marcus King keep doing so, it will indeed help them on their road to tag team gold come F&L.

{:class=“restrict-width”}

Four matches took place on this week’s episode of Fight Club. Out of the four matches, I enjoyed one match that saw a rivalry briefly renewed, and it was back when Dylan Thorn was a member of the Manifesto; fast forward to this week’s episode, Thorn—no longer a member of the infamous group—took on rising star Levi. Thorn showed that he was doing more than just asking for forgiveness; he showed the up-and-comer what he’s capable of in this very good bout. Levi, who wasn’t ready to show respect to Thorn as soon as the match began, also had a very good showing in this match. In the end, it was Thorn that came out on top.

Here are the match results from Inverness…

Match #1: Luke Kyro defeated Theo Doros.

Kyro’s back was worked on in this match. Kyro came back and hit Doros with a slingshot spear for two, then went for the Kyroscope until Doros blocked it before being hit with a Codebreaker for another two. Doros sent Kyro into the corner and hit him with a snap DDT for two, then—after changing his mind about hitting him with the Fall From Olympus—wanted to send a message to Daz Black by hitting Kyro with the Curbstomp; unfortunately, Doros missed, leading to Kyro winning with the Kyroscope. After the match, Kyro—backstage—said that he was hosting an episode of “Vibes” with Mark Dallas as his guest; Kyro is doing this interview to find out why he’s not on the road to Fear & Loathing XIV. My score: 3.75/5

Match #2: Kez Evans defeated “The Outlaw” Stevie James in a non-title match.

James ambushed Evans seconds before the bell rang, then fought the champion out of the ring and hit him with a tope suicida. During the match, Evans went for the Blood Clot Clutch until James backed him into a corner before hitting him with a Saito suplex for two; he then went for a reverse brainbuster until Evans came back with a one-armed spinebuster for two followed by a Garvin stomp. Towards the end, Evans brandished brass knuckles from one of his boots until James hit him with two superkicks and an Impaler DDT for a near fall, then attempted to use the knuckles as a weapon until Evans rolled him up, grabbed the tights, and pinned him for the win. My score: 3.5/5

Match #3: Dylan Thorn defeated Levi.

As soon as the match began, Levi refused to give Thorn a fist bump. Levi blocked the Crown of Thorns before taking him down and hitting him with a shining wizard for two, then Thorn came back and hit him with a top rope blockbuster for two; Thorn then offered a fist bump to Levi again until Levi responded by putting him in an arm-trapped crossface.

Thorn fought back and missed on another Crown of Thorns attempt before hitting Levi with a black hole slam for two, then Levi hit him with a cutter for two, and went for a top rope maneuver, but missed, allowing Thorn to win with the Crown of Thorns. After the match, Levi shoved Thorn who was helping him up, but then gave him a fist bump and hug before raising his arm. Then, Thorn said that he was looking forward to fighting ADM at F&L XIV and talked about his accomplishments while ADM sat and did nothing. Moxie Malone appeared, and Thorn—who was waiting for the rest of the Manifesto to appear—wanted her to tell ADM that he was going to end the Manifesto; Moxie crotched him from behind and said that Thorn will end nothing and will instead prove how much of a failure he is while ADM ends up being the last man standing. My score: 4.25/5

Main event: “Jackie Polo” & Aaron Echo defeated Sha Samuels & Chris Bungard.

All four men brawled before the match began, with Samuels going after “Polo” while Bungard went after Echo; Samuels hit “Polo” with a steel chair before the two fought on the stage at the entryway while Bungard fought Echo in the crowd. Then, Samuels attempted to hit “Polo” with the polo mallet—as if he were Triple H with a sledgehammer—until Mark Dallas appeared and stopped the brawl; he wanted the tag team main event to take place, and if the four continued to brawl, their F&L matches would end up being cancelled. All four followed Dallas’ orders with Samuels bringing “Polo” into the ring to kick off the bout. Towards the end, Bungard had “Polo” in an ankle lock; Echo broke up the hold, and attempted to have “Polo” pin Bungard until Samuels stopped him from doing so. Then, Samuels tagged in and went after “Polo” while Bungard and Echo fought at ringside once again; behind the referee’s back, “Polo” hit Samuels with a low blow followed by the mallet for the win. As “Polo” celebrated after the match, Echo and Bungard fought to the back. My score: 2.5/5

NXT

We now head to Orlando, Florida in the United States for an episode of NXT.

We learned on “The Grayson Waller Effect”, with Bron Breakker and Von Wagner as the guests for that show, that a match for the NXT Championship has been set for next week’s episode.

This occurred after Wagner ran in last week and took down Breakker, after Breakker and Wes Lee took on Pretty Deadly, who has been waiting for who is up next to fight him for the belt. During the segment, Wagner said that he didn’t come to NXT to be popular like Breakker and was only on that brand for the title, and his accomplice says that Wagner is more powerful and dangerous than the champion. Breakker said that he had the honor to be with NXT veterans such as Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa and was in the same spot as past champions such as Seth Rollins and Kevin Owens, then Wagner unnerved him by saying that he didn’t step foot into NXT by showing that he was the next generation of a pro wrestling family like Breakker is. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing this championship match between the dominant rising star Breakker and the hard-hitting powerhouse Wagner next week; this makes me wonder if Apollo Crews, who was mentioned by the champion, will be next to go after that belt at NXT Deadline once Breakker vs. Wagner is in the rearview.

Speaking of which, did anyone catch Wagner say “Pete Dunne” instead of “Butch” during that segment? This makes me wonder if Butch is going back to his previous ring name Pete Dunne soon in the WWE…

Out of the seven matches that took place on this episode, there were two matches that became my favorites; one match involved two NXT UK alumni, and the other was a rematch for the NXT Women’s Tag Team Championship.

The match with NXT UK vibes was between JD McDonagh and Axiom, and yes, I guess you can say that it was a Jordan Devlin/A-Kid rivalry that was renewed for this week only. McDonagh portrays a great heel competitor with a dark side, even when it comes to making everybody’s—including his own—pain his pleasure. Not only that, but Axiom—the former A-Kid of course—is doing very well with not just his superhero character but also his fighting ability as we have seen on both NXT and NXT UK including his best of three matches with Nathan Frazer. The end of the match was similar to how McDonagh defeated Axiom on an episode of NXT UK last year—weeks before they clashed again in a 30-minute Iron Man match—with McDonagh making one of Axiom’s legs bend awkwardly (as well as McDonagh’s way).

The other match that I enjoyed was the rematch for the NXT Women’s Tag Team Championship between Kayden Carter & Katana Chance and Nikkita Lyons & Zoey Stark. Even though it wasn’t as good as their first encounter with the gold on the line (especially with one or two of Katana’s maneuvers getting the “didn’t get all of it” treatment), it was still good enough to be one of my favorite matches of this week’s episode. I wasn’t sure if we were going to see Kayden and Katana retain the belts once again or Nikkita and Zoey finally winning the gold, and I also wasn’t sure if Zoey was going to control her emotions during the match (which she did); in the end, it was the primer, Kayden & Katana defeating Nikkita & Zoey once again.

Oh, and in case you’re wondering, Alba Fyre attacked Jacy Jayne as promised; it occurred as Jacy, while on the cell phone with Mandy Rose, was getting ready to drive out of the shopping mall parking lot. We would then learn that there will be a last woman standing match, between Alba and Mandy, for the NXT Women’s Championship next week. Next week aside, here are this week’s NXT results from Orlando…

Match #1: Joe Gacy (w/ Rip Fowler, Jagger Reid and Ava Raine) defeated Cameron Grimes.

This match was made because Schism was proving that they weren’t done with Grimes just yet. Also, Ava Raine—the daughter of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson—was revealed to be a newer member of Schism a couple weeks ago after we have seen someone in a red hoodie with a yellow mask (that looks like a cross between the “Have A Nice Day” smiling face and the Blink-182 logo where it has the eyes looking like X’s) for weeks. Near the end, Grimes knocked Reid off the apron, then Fowler distracted him until Gacy accidentally crashed into him, leading to Grimes hitting his opponent with a poison rana. Then, Gacy got out of the ring as Grimes went for the Cave In until Grimes hit him and the Dyad with a tope suicida; then, behind the referee’s back, Ava knocked Grimes off the top rope, leading to Gacy winning with the Upside-Down World. My score: 3.5/5

Match #2: Elektra Lopez defeated Sol Ruca in three minutes.

Elektra won with a chokebomb. No score.

Match #3: Charlie Dempsey defeated Andre Chase (w/ Duke Hudson and Thea Hail) in almost three minutes.

Dempsey put Chase in the Regal Stretch, and Hudson attempted to push the bottom rope to Chase until the referee stopped him. Then, despite how close Chase was to the bottom rope, Hudson took Thea’s rally towel and threw it in the ring; the referee saw the towel and declared Dempsey the winner. My score: 0.5/5

Match #4: Stacks (w/ Tony D’Angelo) defeated Hank Walker in three and a half minutes.

Walker fought Stacks in a corner until Stacks thumbed him in the eye and rolled him up for two before winning with a curbstomp-like knee drop. No score.

Match #5: JD McDonagh defeated Axiom by referee’s decision.

Axiom’s right knee was worked on after McDonagh kicked the steel stairs into his legs at ringside. Axiom countered McDonagh’s moonsault with a triangle choke, and McDonagh powered up until Axiom hit him with a hurricanrana for two. He was then unable to hit the Golden Ratio due to his knee, and McDonagh went for the Devil Inside until Axiom countered with a sleeper; McDonagh got out of the hold and put Axiom in a grapevine while bending his right knee until Axiom screamed in pain and ended up being unable to get back on his feet, leading to the referee stopping the match and giving McDonagh the win. After the match, McDonagh bragged about severe strains such as one he claimed to have given Axiom, then dared anyone to get on his level and test him like Ilja Dragunov and Apollo Crews. My score: 3.75/5

Match #6: Damon Kemp defeated Brutus Creed (w/ Julius Creed and Ivy Nile) by disqualification; the match had a five-minute time limit.

Brutus got out of the ring and fought Kemp into the ring before the match. Kemp brought in a steel chair until Brutus swatted it out of his hands; Brutus then took the chair and hit Kemp with it, giving Kemp the DQ win. Brutus gave Kemp one more chair shot afterwards, then he, Julius and Ivy noticed that Indus Sher was watching from the stage. No score.

Main event: Kayden Carter & Katana Chance defeated Nikkita Lyons & Zoey Stark to retain the NXT Tag Team Championship.

After Zoey hit Katana with a half-and-half suplex (ala Oney Lorcan) and a grounded jumping heel kick for two, she charged her opponent until missing and almost hitting Nikkita; Nikkita then moved Zoey out of the way to take the bullet in the form of a double superkick, then Katana hit Zoey with a tornado DDT before she and Kayden won with a neckbreaker/450 combo. After the match, Nikkita and Zoey handed the belts to Kayden and Katana until all of the sudden, Zoey refused to let go of the belt and hit Nikkita with it; Zoey then chased the champions out of the ring and beat down Nikkita some more while yelling at her. My score: 3.75/5

NXT: LVL UP

Staying in Orlando, we wrap things up with an episode of NXT: LVL UP.

There’s nothing much to say about this episode with the exception that (even though NXT: LVL UP is often 30 minutes long) I was expecting more in both tag team bouts—that opened and closed the episode—as well as the second match. Other than that, it was an alright episode; plus, there’s always next week and beyond.

Here are the NXT: LVL UP results from Orlando…

Match #1: Tatum Paxley & Ivy Nile defeated Jakara Jackson & Lash Legend.

After Tatum hit Lash with a crossbody from the apron, Jakara rolled up Ivy twice for back-to-back two counts until Ivy made her submit to the DCL. My score: 1.5/5

Match #2: Javier Bernal defeated Ikemen Jiro.

Bernal swatted away a handshake as the match began. Jiro put Bernal in a Tarantula (ala Yoshihiro Tajiri), and then went for the Ikemen Slash, but missed and it allowed Bernal to roll him up, grab the tights and pin him for the win. My score: 1.5/5

Main event: Edris Enofé, Malik Blade & Odyssey Jones defeated Bronco Nima, Lucien Price & Xyon Quinn.

After Jones hit Price with a bodyslam, Blade hit Price with a frog splash—from on top of Jones’ shoulders—for the win. My score: 1.5/5

Next time…

My usual three shows and—as promised—a belated Progress recap.

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 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 Pro Wrestling Noah, WWE and ICW.)