This week on 205 Live, Noam Dar faced Cedric Alexander, Mustafa Ali was back in action, and in the main event a cruiserweight title match between TJP and Neville.
205 Live June 6th 2017
1. Noam Dar vs. Cedric Alexander
Before the match, Noam Dar cut a promo explaining that Alicia Fox was at home nursing a neck injury.
Alexander took the early advantage, and the bulk of the offence in the mach. Dar would occasionally cut him off and lock him in submission holds. Alexander hit a springboard clothes for a near-fall, followed shortly after by the Lumbar Check for the win.
After the match Cedric told Noam he was done with him and Alicia Fox and was moving on.
Winner: Cedric Alexander
2. Mustafa Ali vs. Louie Valle
Ali looked to have the match under control and was going to the top rope when Drew Gulak’s siren blared and he made his way to the ring. He had his normal “No Fly Zone” protest sign and was shouting more rhyming phrases about how cruiserweights shouldn’t dive.
The distraction allowed Ali’s opponent to roll-him up, but Ali countered into a roll-up of his own and got the 3 count.
Gulak was pleased with this as Ali won with an actual wrestling move. He would later say that he felt he was really getting through to Ali.
After the match, Ali landed a springboard cannonball onto Gulak.
Winner: Mustafa Ali
A video package of Rich Swann’s latest highlights was shown. He mentioned that he plans on climbing all the way back to the top of the brand, and once again becoming cruiserweight champion.
3. Cruiserweight Championship Neville (c) vs. TJP
TJP finally gets his title shot, his reward for weeks of doing Neville’s bidding, and helping him get through his title defences against Austin Aries.
Despite having turned heel not long ago, TJP wrestled as the babyface here. The story was that Neville getting the majority of the offence, but TJP kept coming.
Neville missed a diving corkscrew from the 2nd rope, which allowed TJP to lock in his knee-bar.
Neville looked as though he was going to tap, but then countered the hold into the Rings of Saturn, and TJP tapped.
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross is fired up about the Samoa Joe vs. Brock Lesnar match-up at Great Balls of Fire. On the latest episode of his Ross Report podcast and in his latest blog at JRsBarBQ.com, JR says it would be an announcer’s dream to call the match.
At JRsBarBQ.com, Ross said he enjoyed Sunday’s Extreme Rules pay-per-view and thought the main event delivered in a big way. “All five men worked diligently and without personal agendas or so it seemed and delivered in a manner that main eventers are supposed to deliver,” he said. “Very proud of the men in this match.”
He also commented on Samoa Joe’s upcoming match against Brock Lesnar at Great Balls of Fire. “Samoa Joe getting his long awaited bout with Brock Lesnar is a stellar booking IMO and one that I endorsed at our RINGSIDE Show the night before WM31 in San Jose when Joe was my guest at our RINGSIDE Show .. I say that the Lesnar-Joe match will receive plenty of talk/hype over the next several weeks and that the two, physically demanding athletes will provide us a tremendous one on one main event in Dallas.”
Ross Hinting That He Is Calling GBOF Main Event
“I am personally looking forward to this match as much as any match I can recall this year and will tell you that it is an announcer’s dream to be privileged to call a bout like this … Yep, I’m fishing here.”
Lucha Underground will air the 21st episode of their 3rd season tonight on the El Rey Network. Last week, Dario Cueto ruled that the “All Night Long” match between Mundo and the Mack, which ended in a tie, will continue under sudden death rules.
In the first part of season 3 we learned Kobra Moon is the leader of the “Reptile Tribe”, presumably one of the seven Aztec Tribes. We also learned that Kobra Moon believes that Drago should worship her as his Queen.
The El Rey Network posted this video of Kobra Moon giving a warning to the current LU Trios Champions:
NXT is a taped show from Full Sail University tonight. Two big matches, including the main event, have already been confirmed. Two other matches are believed to air tonight as well.
Matches For NXT Tonight
No Way Jose vs. Killian Dain (Sanity)
No Way Jose made his return to NXT last week, helping Roderick Strong fend off Sanity.
Hideo Itami vs. Oney Lorcan
Itami was shown getting into a heated confrontation with Kassius Ohno backstage at Takeover. The two were later shown shaking hands in the Performance Centre parking lot. Will Itami’s frustration with his NXT run continue?
On the latest episode of his “Dinner with the King” podcast, Jerry Lawler mentioned WWE needed to make an arrangement with Jerry Lee Lewis over the “Great Balls of Fire” PPV name.
While WWE has shied away from potential legal action from both Ring of Honor and Anthem Sports and Entertainment recently, they were able to successful negotiate an arrangement with Lewis.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkuptd-gInQ
Jerry Lawler’s Comments on “Great Balls of Fire”
On Great Balls of Fire Name:
“It’s ‘Great Balls of FIRE’ not ‘Great BALLS of Fire’. You put the emphasis on the ‘Fire’, not on ‘Balls’”
On Jerry Lee Lewis Legal Action:
“My personal attorney here in Memphis, is Joe Barton, good friend of mine and attorney. I got a phone call from Joe a few weeks ago, and Joe also represents Jerry Lee Lewis. ‘Hey Jerry do you happen to know who I’d contact at the WWE about copyright infringement?’ and I was like ‘what are you talking about?’
‘Well, we understand that they’re doing a PPV called ‘Great Balls of Fire’ and Jerry Lee has that phrase trademarked. He has ever since they recorded the song’.
Lawler said attorney contacted WWE and now they are not only using the name but also the song as well. You can hear the whole podcast here.
Ric Flair injured his hand at the NBA Finals game this weekend. While this is likely just a joke, he seems to be implying he hurt his hand while fighting with a Warriors fan.
One Warrior Fan down! Left hand still good. Be in the Land on Wednesday! Rihanna, Move over and Let the Naitch show you how it is done! pic.twitter.com/QyAC8sWzaK
LeBron and Ric Flair are friends. James grew up a huge Ric Flair fan, and according to Ric, has credited his fan-ship of Flair for keeping him out of trouble.
Flair, who is associated with several sports teams, has been a big supporter of the Cavs this NBA post-season.
Triple H and Stephanie McMahon are often on-hand at Super Bowls to personally deliver customized WWE championship titles to the winning team. WWE also sends championship titles to other championship-winning teams all over the world.
It appears Bray Wyatt has caught the eye of a former Hall-of-Famer, one who appears ready to come out of retirement to face him.
Bray Wyatt opened this Monday’s Raw with a promo on having lost the opportunity to face Brock Lesnar, and slay the beast. He would then lose to Roman Reigns in the 1st match of the night.
DEAR WRESTLING GOD'S PLEASE GIFT ME A MATCH VS. BRAY WYATT. PROMISE TO WORK REALLY HARD AND SURE IT WOULD BE EXTREMELY INTERESTING. #WWE
Jake has talked about coming back for years, but unfortunately, he is 62 years old, and WWE will likely never put him in an actual match again.
The most recent documentary on Jake followed him as he cleaned up his life and attended his Hall of Fame ceremony in 2014. It is said that Jake wanted to make an appearance in the Royal Rumble that year, as other legends have done in the past, but WWE was hesitant.
#BRAY WYATT FAN INTEREST HAS GOT MIND AND BODY ON FIRE. @WWE I'LL EVEN GET WRINKLES OUT OF THE SNAKE!!! STARCH TOO.
As was the case with several other superstars who lost at Extreme Rules, the Hardys were not on Raw last night. Cesaro & Sheamus wrestled, and won, a non-title match against Heath Slater & Rhyno.
The Hardys might have been kept off Raw to sell their loss at Extreme Rules, as was the case with Bayley. Finn Balor only appeared to the live audience after Raw went off the air, and Austin Aries was absent from the show as well.
New Hardy Family Member on the Way?
Earlier this morning, Matt Hardy indicated on social media that the newest addition to the Hardy family might be on their way soon.
David Finlay, Shota Umino and Tomoyuki Oka vs. Hirai Kawato, Katsuya Kitamura and Tetsuhiro Yagi
Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Jushin Thunder Liger, Manabu Nakanishi and Satoshi Kojima vs. Tiger Mask, Tiger Mask W, Togi Makabe and Yuji Nagata
NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Championships Gauntlet Match Los Ingobernables (Bushi, Evil and Sanada) (c) vs. Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Hangman Page and Yujiro Takahashi) vs. Chaos (Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano and Yoshi-Hashi) vs. Suzuki-gun (Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Zack Sabre Jr.) vs. Taguchi Japan (Juice Robinson, Ricochet and Ryusuke Taguchi)
IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championships Roppongi Vice (Beretta and Rocky Romero) (CHAOS) (c) vs. The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) (Bullet Club)
IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championships War Machine (Hanson and Raymond Rowe) (c) vs. Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga and Tanga Roa) (Bullet Club)
Cody (Bullet Club) Vs. Michael Elgin
IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship Hiromu Takahashi (c) (Los Ingobernables) vs. Kushida
NEVER Openweight Championship Lumberjack Deathmatch Minoru Suzuki (c) (Suzuki-Gun) vs. Hirooki Goto (CHAOS)
Kenny Omega was a guest on Live Audio Wrestling recently, and spoke on many things relating to his career.
Omega will be wrestling Kazuchika Okada next weekend at NJPW Dominion. It will be a rematch of their epic Tokyo Dome match from WrestleKingdom on January 4th.
Afterwards, Omega will play a big role at the G1 USA specials from Los Angeles on July 1st and 2nd.
Here are some of the highlights from his interview with the LAW:
On using big moves in his matches:
“I think a lot of people, unfortunately in this day and age, rely too much on the flash of the move itself. So many moves now look prettier than they ever did when they were first performed. The Shooting Star [Presses] of today look so much prettier than the Shooting Stars of the 90’s, but the Shooting Stars from the 90’s arguably meant more because it was always a finish. Now, I can name 25 guys that are doing Shooting Star Presses and a lot of times it doesn’t mean anything. I think that’s sort of the plight of today’s pro wrestling: Our every day athlete has actually gotten better; however, because it’s so easy to rely on your physical ability, the intellect has been sort of ignored […] As a professional wrestler in the position I am in, I would rather have people remember my matches for an emotion or for a certain thought it evoked when they saw it. I don’t want people to look back at my matches and say, ‘When you did that move it was good and I liked it because it was cool,’ I want people to sort of remember a rush of images and the emotion that they felt when they saw it. That’s when I think you have a real masterpiece in your hands.”
On Shibata’s Injury, and “Strong Style” Wrestling:
“Everything we do in general, there’s gonna be a percentage of risk. Me, making my entrance to the ring, there’s actually a percentage of risk I’m going to trip and fall and hurt myself. Me, getting up on the apron, there’s a percentage of risk. It’s [asking ourselves], ‘How do we keep that percentage as low as possible at all times?’ […] Shibata had been battling injury and toughing out tours, probably for a long time. […] When you’re just generally tired and you’re already battling a myriad of injuries, that percentage is naturally going to creep up. […] It’s not something I would ever do. I do feel that Shibata probably felt comfortable in doing it and that he probably felt that, ‘It’s a big match, so I need to express myself in this manner.’ I get that. But, we sometimes as performers don’t even know our limits.”
On What is Strong Style Wrestling Exactly:
“There’s actually a very safe way to do ‘Strong Style’ and it doesn’t necessarily have to be how I see people mimicking it. I see a lot of folks on the indies that don’t quite know the secret to what ‘Strong Style’ really is, and they’re killing each other with elbows, they’re killing each other with head butts, they’re killing each other with kicks as hard as they can, and that actually isn’t the true art form of what ‘Strong Style’ is. What true ‘Strong Style’ really is, is the battle of the heart of man. It’s not about how strong and how forceful you’re throwing your blows. It’s showing the never-say-die attitude of the human spirit. As long as it looks like you’re fighting and giving your all, people will believe.”
On his rematch with Kazuchika Okada at NJPW Dominion:
“Much like I do with all of my matches, I’m not really one to ‘rinse, wash and repeat’ things. I think that rather than trying to force fans into drawing a direct comparison to [ask themselves] which match is better, I would rather give them two completely different stories that they can appreciate on their own. So whether they like the first one better or not, I want the stories to be so different from each other that you can watch them apart and have something that you like [about both of them]. That’s my goal.”
On his future goals in wrestling:
“Right now, I’m 100% content with where I am because I would love to be the driving force behind New Japan in the global market. However, generally, I’m just guided by how I feel, where my heart’s at and where I’m needed, if that makes sense. I’m not gonna lie, there are things that I haven’t been able to do that I would love to do at some point in time. One of those things is, I really feel I need to have a high stakes main event with AJ [Styles]. I really feel I have to. I’m not sure where it will be, I’m just saying that it’s always in the back of my mind.”
The Miz achieved a significant milestone at Extreme Rules, winning his 7th Intercontinental championship. While the statistic of how many times a wrestler wins a title is somewhat flawed, it is treated as important in WWE storylines.
With the win last night, the Miz moves passed Jeff Jarrett and Rob Van Dam for 2nd most IC title wins all-time. He is behind only Chris Jericho, who has won the title on 9 occassions.
Miz and the Intercontinental Championship
The Miz is also moving up the ladder in terms of his “Most Days Spent as Intercontinental Champion” statistics.
Currently the Miz has held the title for 354 total days, ranking him 12th all time. If he gets through Raw tonight as champ he’ll move passed Shelton Benjamin as the 11th most days as champ. He needs just 100 more days to move all the way into the #3 spot.
Top 10 IC champions of all time:
Pedro Morales – 2x champ – 619 total days Don Muraco – 2x champ – 541 total days the Honky Tonk Man – 1x champ – 454 total days Tito Santana – 2x champ – 443 total days Razor Ramon – 4x champ – 437 total days Ultimate Warrior – 2x champ – 432 total days Randy Savage – 1x champ – 414 total days Shawn Michaels- 3x champ – 406 total days Mr. Perfect – 2x champ – 406 total days Wade Barrett – 5x champ – 397 total days Shelton Benjamin – 3x champ – 354 total days the Miz – 7x champ – 354 total days the Rock- 2x champ – 339 total days Jeff Hardy – 4x champ – 329 total days Chris Jericho- 9x champ – 318 total days Dolph Ziggler – 5x champ – 310 total days Jeff Jarrett – 6x champ – 298 total days Bret Hart – 2x champ – 290 total days Greg Valentine – 1x champ – 285 total days Kofi Kingston – 4x champ – 285 total days Cody Rhodes – 2x champ – 257 total days Pat Patterson – 1x champ – 233 total days
Impact Wrestling held a series of tapings last night. The episodes filmed are expected to air on July 13th and 20th.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGDi4Fkk5tQ
July 13th Episode (assuming parts weren’t filmed out of order):
LAX comes out, and Konnan cuts a promo about adding a new solider. He introduces Alberto El Patron, who asks what he is doing. Konnan tells Alberto he should join LAX so they can protect him, and that they can start a Latin revolution. Alberto again says no so the group attacks him. Bobby Lashley makes the save, hands Alberto back his title and then leaves.
Naomichi Marufuji faced Moose for the Grand Championship, but EC3 ran in and hit Marufuji with the belt, busting him open. The match was waved off.
Trevor Lee defeated William Weeks in a singles match, while wearing the stolen X-division title the whole time.
Laural Van Ness won a singles match over Ava Storie. Grado Park asked Van Ness out for some #NetflixandChill, but Kongo Kong ran in and scared him and Joseph Park away.
Bobby Lashley and Alberto El Patron teamed up to defeat members of LAX in a non-title match. After the match El Patron said they made a good team, but then Lashley just left and allowed El Patron to get beaten down by LAX.
July 20th Episode (assuming parts weren’t filmed out of order):
Drago beat Sammy Guevara in a singles match.
Sienna defeated Amber Nova in a singles match (non-title). She cut a promo saying Karen Jarrett didn’t believe in her, which brings Karen out. Allie also came out however and beat Sienna down with a kendo stick. Laurel Van Ness comes out to make the save, then so does Gail Kim. Karen Jarrett announces Rosemary vs. Sienna in something referred to as a “Last KO standing match” next week.
Garza Jr, Laredo Kid and Octagoncito defeated Trevor Lee, Idris Abraham and Demus 3:16.
Matt Sydal pinned Low-Ki and then called out Bruce Prichard to give him a title shot. Lashley came out and said the only one who deserved a title shot was him, and then he speared Sydal.
2 unknown assailants came out of the crowd and attacked Chris Adonis and Eli Drake.
LAX then came to the ring with Alberto’s father, Dos Caras and his 29 year old brother, El Hijo De Dos Caras. Konnan threatened to rip Alberto’s father’s mask off if he didn’t join LAX. Alberto finally relents and puts on the LAX t-shirt. He then attacks LAX, showing he hadn’t actually joined the faction.
WWE has posted a YouTube video of 5 superstars who shocked the world with their first world championship win. Some of the inclusions are a little surprising.
The list is published below if you don’t want to watch the whole video.
Superstars Who Made The List
Diesel – defeated Bob Backlund in 1994 for the WWF title.
Mankind- defeated the Rock in 1999 for the WWF title.
Vince McMahon- September 14th 1999.
Eddie Guerrero defeated Brock Lesnar – No Way Out 2004.
Jinder Mahal was recently interviewed by GQ Magazine. The fashion-based publication was not interested in Mahal’s in-ring work, but rather how he has gotten himself in such good shape over the last year.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BP6tUDkBKCL/
Jinder Mahal GQ Interview Highlights:
On when he started getting in better shape:
“It started almost exactly a year ago. June 1st. I wasn’t signed back to WWE and I was eating a bunch of junk food and drinking too much beer. One day I just decided I was going to quit drinking, focus on my health, and start dieting again. One of the very first things I did was I contacted a meal prep company. It’s called Nutrition Solutions. So I quit drinking, got the Nutrition Solutions going, and just started training hard again. Two months later, I was signed back to WWE.”
On his unique eating schedule:
“I actually started being more consistent with my meals. Before when I was hungry, I would eat a big meal and then not eat for a couple of hours. Maybe have a snack. But what I do now, what’s made the biggest change in my physique, is I eat every two hours and I eat the same portion meal—about 350 to 400 calories, about 30 grams of carbs, and 30 to 40 grams of protein. I eat a meal with that same breakdown every two hours.
When you’re constantly feeding your body like that, it knows that it’s going to be fed again in two hours. So it doesn’t hold any fat. Your body starts to hold fat basically when you’re inconsistent. You might eat a big meal and then the body thinks, “I’m not going to get fed for six more hours,” but then maybe an hour later you eat again. So the main thing has to be consistency. If you eat every two hours, your body doesn’t really hold much fat and it actually speeds up your metabolism. I actually eat more throughout the day now because I’m having seven or eight meals, but I’m leaner because I’m eating those meals so consistently that it speeds up my metabolism.”
Yesterday, WWE posted a preview of their new Collections being added to the Network in June.
WWE’s two scheduled-to-be-released collections were previewed by WWE correspondent Cathy Kelley:
New Collections to the WWE Network
WWE will be honouring longtime WWWF champion, Bruno Sammartino, with the collection: “Sammartino: The Legend Lives”. Sammartino and Vince McMahon Jr. have long had a stormy relationship after Vince Jr. took over the territory from Vince Sr.
Triple H is said to have mended fences between WWE and the 81-year old Sammartino, leading to his Hall of Fame induction in 2013. Amongst other things, Sammartino blames Vince for the influx of steroids into the business, and the impact this had on his son David
The other collection WWE will be adding is “the Ladder Match: Reaching For Glory”, and it will focus on the evolution of ladder matches.
Earlier this week, Vince Russo revealed he has been in contact with Vince McMahon regarding a return to WWE. According to Russo, Vince was not enthusiastic about the idea however, and he is not expecting a job offer from the company.
Jim Cornette, a longtime Russo critic, reacted to to this news on his most recent podcast. He posted his comments on his YouTube channel earlier today:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQAyE7PVRss
Cornette’s Critique of Vince Russo
According to Cornette, Russo contacts WWE on a weekly basis, critiquing Raw and possibly looking for a job.
Cornette and Eric Bischoff appeared on a recent episode of “Table for 3”, where Russo, and their complaints about him, were a topic of conversation.
NXT this week was the brand’s first show taped after NXT: Chicago. Not surprisingly, Tommaso Ciampa came out at the start to explain his actions from the latest Takeover event.
NXT airdate: May 31st 2017 Full Sail University
Tommaso Ciampa Segment
Ciampa was in street-clothes and explained that he felt his knee go out in the middle of his match at Takeover. He knew that after that match he was going to be on the injured list for awhile.
He remembered how after he injured his ankle at a house show the week before Takeover, the fans started to discuss which dream partner they wanted for Gargano. This did not sit well with Ciampa.
He knew that Gargano would team up with someone else while he rehabbed his injured knee, and Ciampa did not want to be a footnote in another team’s history. So, he decided if he was going away for a “long time”, then Gargano was going away for a “long, long time”.
1. Pete Dunne vs. Danny Burch (non-title match)
WWE didn’t post highlights of this match.
Somewhat surprisingly, Burch was on offence for the bulk of this bout. A lot of punches, uppercuts, an exploder suplex and a draping DDT made up his offence for the most part.
Dunne kicked out after a draping DDT, then somewhat out of nowhere, he landed a german suplex into the corner, followed by the Bitter End, and and got the win.
Burch was definitely made to look at, or just below, Dunne’s level.
Winner: Pete Dunne
It appeared as though we were going to be shown an interview with the Velveteen Dream, but the former Patrick Clark declared the ambience on the set was not quite right and walked away.
A highlights package for the Authors of Pain was shown instead.
2. Cezar Bononi vs. Andrade “Cien” Almas
Commentary continued to play up how Almas likes to go out and party all the time.
Bononi is a rare Brazilian pro-wrestler, who made his NXT debut in a losing effort to Aleister Black not long ago.
Almas was on offence for pretty much the entire match, until Bononi pulled off the surprise win with a small package.
The win is Bononi’s first on WWE television.
Winner: Cezar Bononi
After the match, Almas walked to the back and appeared to be laughing the whole thing off.
A short video of Billy Kay and Peyton Royce at the Performance Centre was shown. They were making fun of Ember Moon for being injured, then Moon walked into the room and appeared to sign papers indicating she is now cleared to return.
It was announced that in 2 weeks Asuka will again defend her title against both Ruby Riot and Nikki Cross. This time under elimination rules.
Highlights of Hideo Itami and Kassius Ohno getting into a heated verbal confrontation in the back at Takeover was shown. A further video taken from the Performance Centre parking lot was shown, here we saw the two men talking and shaking hands. Well, I guess they patched things up and we will never hear about it again.
3. Kassius Ohno & Roderick Strong vs. Eric Young & Alexander Wolfe (Sanity)
Early in the match, Sanity was able to take offence on Kassius Ohno and prevented Strong from tagging in.
Killian Dain would get involved several times on the outside, as commentary played up how Sanity has a numbers advantage.
When Strong got his hot-tag, he took everyone out until Young blind-tagged himself in and hit a neck-breaker. Young covered Strong, but he kicked out at 2.
Ohno then took out Wolfe with a discus elbow, but Killian Dain got up on the apron and looked to interfere.
No Way Jose returned (he’d been gone since Takeover: Orlando) and took out Dain, ending Sanity’s numbers advantage.
This allowed Roderick Strong to hit the End of Heartache and pick up the win for his team.
Lucha Underground returned from their mid-season sabbatical last night. Only one match was scheduled for the show: Johnny Mundo defending the LU championship vs. the Mack in an “All-Night Long” match.
Lucha Underground S03E20 airdate: May 31st 2017 Boyle Heights, Los Angeles
1. Lucha Underground Championship
All-Night Long Match Johnny Mundo (c) vs. the Mack
Essentially an Iron Man match, this was scheduled to last the length of the program, most pins and/or submissions by the end of the show is declared the winner and champion.
The Mack earned this title shot by winning the “Battle of the Bulls” tournament during the first part of season 3.
Mundo won the Lucha Underground championship the show after Aztec Warfare III, by cashing in his Gift of the Gods championship for a shot at then-champion, Sexy Star.
The Mack got the first near-fall with a fireman’s carry into a double-knee to the midsection move. Shortly after, Mundo hit Moonlight Drive and End of the World, then pinned the Mack. Mundo leads 1-0.
Mundo would pick up the 2nd fall as well with a roll-up while illegally holding onto the ropes for leverage. Mundo leads 2-0.
After going down 2-0, the Mack started to pick up steam, while Mundo tried to avoid him and hide outside of the ring.
The Mack would get the 3rd fall however, after a sit-down power-bomb to Mundo. Mundo leads 2-1.
Mundo would go back on offence and land a diving corkscrew plancha to the outside. He started clutching at his ankle however, and several LU staff came to check on him. A stretcher was brought out, and Matt Striker indicated the match was being called off.
With the Mack’s back turned, Mundo did a kip-up and hit a low-blow. Mundo then hit a DDT onto the back-brace from the stretcher and pinned the Mack for his 3rd fall. Mundo leads 3-1.
Mundo then did jumping jacks to show his ankle was OK.
He would then go back to avoiding the Mack, and crawled under the ring. It appeared as though Mundo came out a different side of the ring and ran to the back, with the Mack in pursuit. As the Mack ran after him, the real Johnny Mundo emerged from under the ring. Then, who we now could see we was PJ Black, ran back to the ring with the Mack chasing him, allowing Mundo to hit him in the back with a kendo stick.
Black and Mundo double-teamed the Mack until Son of Havoc came out with 2 kendo sticks to even up the odds. Havoc then revived the Mack with some beers that were handed to him by Dario Cueto (Havoc knocked on his office door and asked for them).
The Mack and Havoc beat down the two members of the World Wide Underground and then set up two tables side-by-side on the outside. After briefly losing control of the offence, the Mack gave Mundo a piledriver off the apron and through the two tables on the outside. He then rolled him back in the ring and pinned him. Mundo leads 3-2.
While up 3-2, Mundo would again go on offence. This prompted him to instruct the mariachi band to play some celebratory music for him, which they did.
Then one of the mariachi band members dove off the stage and landed on Black and Mundo. We would then see that it had been Sexy Star all along.
Shortly after, the Mack would hit a Stunner on Mundo inside the ring and pin him to tie the score. Score is tied 3-3.
Both went to the outside to get weapons; Mack got a ladder, Mundo set up a table. With not long to go the Mack set Mundo up on the table and started to head up the ladder.
Ricky Mandel, who has been used as “enhancement talent” on LU previously, hit the ring and grabbed onto the Mack’s leg to prevent him from going up the ladder. Son of Havoc ended up taking him out, but it slowed the Mack up just enough.
The Mack hit a frog splash onto Mundo and through the table. He was finally able to cover him with 2-seconds to go, but the bell rang before the referee’s hand could count to 3.
Result: 3-3 Draw (Mundo retains)
After the match Dario Cueto came out of his office and said there were no ties in his temple.
The match would continue next week under sudden death rules, even if it takes All-Night Long again.
The Mack then gave Mundo a Stunner and celebrated in the ring with the belt to close the show.
Before the match started, Fox and Banks got into a verbal altercation which entered around how each of them wear wigs.
This was a rematch from Monday’s Raw, when Swann defeated Noam. He started off strong this match too, taking the early advantage, until Dar changed the tide with a leg sweep to Swann while he was on the apron.
Swann began to make a comeback and looked to hit Dar with a running dive to the outside. With the ref’s back was turned however, Fox tripped up Swann as he bounced off the ropes. This led to Banks and Fox brawling on the outside, with hair extensions being pulled out and all.
While the melee was going on outside, Dar hit a running knee to the face on Swann and pinned him.
Winner: Noam Dar
2. Cedric Alexander vs. Corey Hollis
Before the match Alexander was interviewed in the back. He said he wasn’t about to waste time with Alicia Fox and Noam Dar, indicating he is no longer involved with that angle.
While the match looked to be a showcase bout for Alexander, Hollis got some offence in by targeting Alexander’s injured knee, the same one which had put him on the shelf for weeks.
Alexander battled back to hit a spinning back kick followed by the Lumbar Check to get the pin. It was clearly established that Alexander’s knee is a weak point for future opponents to take advantage of however.
Winner: Cedric Alexander
3. Mustafa Ali vs. Drew Gulak
Gulak came out with his usual protest sign, declaring 205 Live to be a “No Fly Zone”. Ali hit a diving attack to the outside before Gulak could enter the ring, allowing him to take early control.
Later in the match, Gulak pushed Ali off the top turnbuckle, and Ali clutched his knee when he landed. Later, Ali would gain control again and hit a somersault into a neck breaker, but again clutched his knee afterwards. He then went for a cross body off the top rope, but Gulak rolled through with it to end up on top of his opponent, and pinned him for a 3-count.
Ali went for 2 top-rope moves late in the match and was countered each time. Gulak now has 2 straight victories over Ali.
Winner: Drew Gulak
Austin Aries and Neville Segment
Aries cut an in-ring promo and mentioned he has a book coming out soon, “Food Fight”, available here: AustinAriesbook.com
He replayed the video of him making Neville tap out from Raw on Monday night several times. Aries also said it was the first time anyone made Neville tap.
Unsurprisingly, this brought out Neville.
Neville said he’d “eradicate” Aries once and for all at Extreme Rules.
TJP attacked Aries from behind, which allowed Neville to dropkick Aries’ knee.
Neville then locked in the cross-face on Aries while TJP stomped his injured knee some more.
Referees eventually were able to pry Neville off of him.
Neville stood over-top an injured Neville to close the show.
Fear not, John Cena fans – the ‘Face That Runs The Place’ will be back on WWE television in a little over a month’s time.
Cena is currently taking time off to film his next movie, The Pact, about three parents who try to stop their daughters from following through with a prom night pact to lose their virginity.
Cena announced on Tuesday night that he’ll be back July 4th.
Bittersweet day today as I begin another night in Atlanta. Such a funny movie but #SDLive@WWE is so close! 7/4 can't get here fast enough!
The July 4th return date for Cena means he will have 3 weeks before the Smackdown brand’s “Battleground” PPV on July 23rd. The brand’s July PPV will be WWE’s last until SummerSlam on August 20th.
As plans recently changed on Smackdown due to Jinder Mahal’s title push, it is not clear who Cena will be entering a program with when he returns. Following SummerSlam, WWE has planned live events in India. Jinder Mahal will need a challenger for those shows if he is still champion, and Cena is a likely candidate for the role.
Current IWGP Intercontinental champion, Tetsuya Naito, is slowly tearing apart his championship belt. Naito is saying that the Dominion PPV on June 11th will be his last as champion. If he defends the title successfully against Hiroshi Tanahashi, he will destroy the belt completely.
Check out video of Naito damaging the belt below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yjOrPaM3XM
Why Is Naito Doing This?
This is all part of Naito’s “Un-governable” gimmick he picked up when he joined CMLL’s Los Ingobernables, and then brought the faction to Japan. Some are speculating that NJPW could drop the title after Dominion, seeing as they plan to crown an inaugural “United States” champion on July 2nd in Los Angeles.
Last year, when Naito won the IWGP heavyweight title briefly from Okada, he was also disrespectful to the belt, and even legitimately damaged it.
Lucha Underground returns to the El Rey Network tonight. This 3rd season of the show has been split into 2 parts, the 2nd of which begins airing tonight.
Johnny Mundo is set to defend the Lucha Underground championship against the Mack in an “All-Night Long” match.
Mundo defeated Sexy Star for the championship last season, after cashing in his “Gift of the Gods” title the week after Star had won Aztec Warfare III.
Lucha Underground Season 3, Part II
Lucha Underground will be returning to television for the first time since seasons 1 & 2 hit Netflix earlier this year. The 3rd season is available on iTunes, and new episodes are also available there the day after they air on El Rey.
The company released a trailer for the 2nd part of season 3 earlier this months:
Sean Waltman told reporters yesterday that despite recent drug charges being dropped, he may still be on his way for prison. According to Waltman, he did not go through all the proper legal proceedings from a 2004 DUI charge, and he may have to serve a small prison sentence as a result.
Here is what Waltman told TMZ reporters yesterday:
Drug Charges Dropped
Waltman caused a stir earlier this month when he went radio-silent for a couple of days, and missed some UK bookings. We would later find out he had been picked up by authorities for possession of marijuana capsules and edibles, as well as something the police believed to be methamphetamine.
When the substance was later determined not to be an illegal drug, all charges were dropped.
