ROH TV
airdate: May 22nd 2017 (Fite App)
Tokyo, Japan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgEJH88oFA8

This week on Ring of Honor television, matches were from the company’s shows from Tokyo in late February. In addition to wrestlers from ROH, many NJPW stars were featured as well.

1. NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championships
Delirious, Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask vs. Sanada, Bushi, & Evil (Los Ingobernables)(c)

Surprisingly, the only ROH wrestler in this match was Delirious, and he’s actually the ROH booker. He likes to wrestle when they go to Japan though, so he was on the card here.

Sanada and Delirious ended up being the two legal wrestlers in the ring at the end of the match. Delirious looked like he was a little too unorthodox for Sanada, but Evil bashed Delirious in the head with a chair when the refs back was turned.

After that, Sanada put him in the “Skull and Bones” and made him tap for the win.

Winners: Los Ingobernables ( 1st title defence- later lost titles to “Taguchi Japan”)

2. NEVER Openweight Championship
Hirooki Goto (c) vs. Punishment Martinez

35 year-old Luis “Punishment” Martinez is a 13-year pro who is just now starting to get a break. Originally trained at the Monster Factory in New Jersey, Martinez wrestled the indies until heading to Ring of Honor’s school for additional training in 2015. He has since had a short-lived alliance with Kevin Sullivan that boosted his name value some.

He got a big opportunity here in a match against a well-known NJPW champion. While Goto has since dropped the title to Minoru Suzuki, he is a 3x NJPW Cup winner, 1x IWGP Intercontinental champion, and multi-time tag team champion as well.

Goto countered the “South of Heaven Chokeslam” into the GTR to retain the championship.

Winner: Hirooki Goto (1 of 3 successful title defences he had before losing the title to Suzuki on April 27th 2017) 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6IIURNdHlI

3. Kenny Omega, Cody & the Young Bucks (Bullet Club) vs. The Briscoes, Will Ospreay & Kazuchika Okada (CHAOS)

There were lots of really innovative spots between the Young Bucks and Will Ospreay early. When Ospreay was dazed on the apron the Bucks would both super-kick him off, only for him to fall into the arms of Cody and Omega, who placed him back on the apron to be super-kicked again. This happened a few times.

Ospreay ended up taking a lot of Bullet Club offence before making a hot tag into Okada, who cleaned house, followed by Mark Briscoe doing the same. As with most Young Buck matches, there was a lot to keep track of.

Mark Briscoe and Okada gave Omega consecutive elbows from the top, leading to Okada attempting a rainmaker clothesline on his challenger from WrestleKingdom 11. Omega countered the rainmaker with a jumping knee however, but then ran right into a standing spanish fly by Ospreay. Okada tagged in Ospreay and Omega tagged in Cody, and they would be the final two legal wrestlers in the match.

Ospreay hit a hesitation dropkick in the corner followed by a Falcon Arrow for a near-fall. After dodging a diving attack however, Cody countered Ospreay’s springboard cutter into the Cross Rhodes and got the pin.

Winners: Bullet Club (Cody pinned Ospreay)

2 of the original 4 members of Bullet Club will square off tonight when Finn Balor goes one-on-one with Karl Anderson. The match was announced by WWE less than an hour before the star of tonight’s Raw.

BREAKING: @FinnBalor will be in action TONIGHT on #RAW when he goes one-on-one with former #TagTeamChampion @KarlAndersonWWE!

— WWE (@WWE) May 22, 2017

The Original Bullet Club

Anderson and Balor played a larger role in forming the Bullet Club than any other 2 superstars. The name, Bullet Club, comes from a combination of their nicknames at the time: Balor, as Prince Devitt, was “the Shooter”, and Anderson was “Machine Gun” Karl Anderson.

Prince Devitt grew frustrated when he was unable to defeat Hiroshi Tanahashi, as did Karl Anderson for the same reasons. The two “good guys” both turned heel and began bringing the tactics of the nWo into NJPW.

The other 2 original 4 members were Bad Luck Fale, who served as Balor’s “Personal Bouncer” at the time, and Tama Tonga, who is the son of Haku, aka Meng.

We've traveled a lot of roads, cowboy. But this is business, and beating you up is best for business.#BeatUpFinnBalor @WWE #WWERaw tonight

— The Machine Gun (@MachineGunKA) May 22, 2017

Austin Aries will challenge Neville for the Cruiserweight championship on Sunday June 4th at the Extreme Rules 2017 PPV. The event will be held inside Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore, MD.

Recently, WWE announced the title match will be a “submissions match”.

EXCLUSIVE: @AustinAries will meet @WWENeville in a #SubmissionMatch at #ExtremeRules, and the #KingOfTheCruiserweights has some thoughts… pic.twitter.com/Bry6k6h7xj

— WWE (@WWE) May 22, 2017

Austin Aries vs. Neville at Extreme Rules 2017

This will be the 3rd Cruiserweight championship match in a row for Aries. He failed to win the title at WrestleMania, and again at Payback from Neville.

In their 1st title match at WrestleMania 33, Neville clawed at Aries’ eye to gain the advantage and the win. At Payback, Neville got himself intentionally disqualified to save his title, leading to the upcoming 3rd bout at Extreme Rules.

The longest reigning tag team champions in WWE history, the New Day, are expected to debut on Smackdown this week, PWInsider.com has confirmed.

It will be the first appearance on Smackdown since being written off of Raw via an injury angle with the Revival. Kofi Kingston needed ankle surgery, so the Revival was booked to beat the team 2 weeks in a row, injuring Kofi in the process.

New Day on Smackdown

During their sabbatical, Big E and Kofi Kingston did a promotional tour in India, while Xavier Woods focussed on his “UpUpDownDown” YouTube channel, and WWE’s partnership with Rocket League.

The team being moved to Smackdown opens up the possibility for several new storylines. With a heel team holding the tag titles, New Day could move immediately into title contention.

The heel side of Smackdown’s tag division is a little shallow at the moment, with only he Colons and Usos. Expect to either see a babyface team turn heel, or the Singh Brothers to enter the division shortly.

Saturday’s NXT: Takeover Chicago show ended with the sudden betrayal of Johnny Gargano by his longtime tag-team partner Tommaso Ciampa. The story-telling for this angle actually goes all the way back to the Cruiserweight Classic.

Gargano’s real-life spouse, Candice LeRae, who made an appearance on NXT television in a battle royal recently, offered a statement on Gargano’s condition.

https://twitter.com/candicelerae/status/866361676903350273

Ciampa & Gargano Split

Ciampa & Gargano met in the 1st round of the Cruiserweight Classic last year, with Ciampa coming out the victor. In that match, Gargano had second thoughts before using dirt-underhanded tactics to beat his partner/opponent. This allowed Ciampa the opportunity he needed to win the match.

During the match at Takeover, Gargano pushed Ciampa out of the way of a ladder attack, and took the brunt himself. The story is that Gargano is so loyal to his partner that he is willing to take losses and beatings rather than have the same happen to his partner. Ciampa isn’t afraid to do the opposite to Gargano however, even though he does seem somewhat reluctant. While Ciampa’s character might appreciate his longtime partner, he is willing to take him out if it furthers his career.

His approach might remind you of someone:

https://twitter.com/ProjectCiampa/status/866468088170115072

The son of the late- Brian Pillman has recently begun his training to become a pro-wrestler. While he had originally reached out to Lance Storm’s school, it appears he has settled on Ohio Valley Wrestling.

Rip Rogers, who sent out the original “….dive” tweet last week, is the head trainer at the school. OVW is also near Pillman’s hometown of Cincinnati.

https://twitter.com/IanisaGoodDude/status/866299021291278336

Brian Pillman’s Family

Brian Pillman Sr. was 35 when he died. He already had 3 of his own children at the time, and his wife Melanie was pregnant with his 2nd son when he died. Pillman had also adopted two of Melanie’s children.

The 23-year old Pillman Jr. was only an infant when his father died in 1997. Many believe the elder Pillman was far ahead of his time. The “Beyond the Ring” on his life and career is on the WWE Network, and a great watch.

Pillman Jr. posted the following to Instagram yesterday:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BUU33WzDP3N/

Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson hosted Saturday Night Live’s season finale this past weekend. In doing so, he joined the exclusive club of people who have hosted the show 5 times or more.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BUXqjLNlCat/

Check out these highlights from The Rock on SNL:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pPNnkvNTTM

Impact Wrestling
airdate: May 18th 2017
Orlando, FL

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFEmVFi7JV8

1. GFW World Tag Team Title Tournament 
LAX (Santana & Ortiz) vs. Garza Jr. & Laredo Kid 

Lax are already the Impact tag champs, but this tournament is for the GWF tag titles. Garza Jr. & Laredo Kid are two of the young luchadors who left AAA to join Konnan in the relatively newly formed Crash promotion.

Diamante ended up getting involved for Lax, taking out Garza Jr. on the outside. This allowed Sanatan & Ortiz to hit a Doomsday Device type move, but replace the top rope clothes line with a blockbuster into a power-bomb.

Winners: LAX 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9wnncGHcBY

• Bruce Pritchard and Magnus have a confrontation in the back. Magnus is upset that he had to take on El Patron so soon after taking on Matt Morgan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_gqP6Cfz8s

2. Kongo Kong w/Laurel Van Ness vs. Braxton Sutter w/Allie

During this match Matthews mentioned that Impact plans on running live events shortly.

Kongo Kong took the advantage early, but Sutter was able to make a comeback after Kong missed a cannonball in the corner. Sutter tried to take the big man down with kicks, but never was able to. Kongo cut off his comeback with an avalanche in the corner, then followed it up with a side-driver type move and got the 3-count.

After the match, KM and Sienna hit the ring and started laying the boots into Sutter. Van Ness held Allie back. Mahabali Shera made the save. Sutter then challenged Kong and KM to a tag match against him and Shera for next week.

Winner: Kongo Kong

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bxc5lPgTt3M

3. James Storm vs. EC3

Magnus was on commentary for this match. Storm dressed up as a cowboy last week and then delivered a beatdown to Storm with the leather strap to the back.

The leather strap found its way into this match as well, as EC3 lost it mid-match and started using the strap on the referee. This led to Magnus getting involved as well, and eventually Bruce Pritchard came out to confront EC3.

Winner: James Storm via DQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIAqf2Q60e4

• Bruce Pritchard told EC3 he needed to “find his balls”, which caused EC3 to beat him up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIWfq6lfU60

4. Global Force Women’s Championship
ODB vs. Sienna (c)

The 29 year old Sienna has been wrestling since 2008, and is really starting to get her due in Impact as of late. Before landing in Impact, Sienna did tours in Japan and competed for Shine and various smaller promotions. She picked up her first successful title defence here as well.

Sienna got the majority of the offence, and a clean win in this match. She took the early advantage, until ODB was able to make a short comeback. After ODB missed a move from the 2nd rope, Sienna hit the Silencer and got the pin.

Win: Sienna (retains)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jgfZxfkCDc

• Jeremy Borash announced he has obtained a lawyer, and according to his legal documents he is now reinstated on the announce team.

• Turns out JB’s lawyer is Joseph Park, the “brother” of Decay’s Abyss.
• Park informs everyone that Borash is now the lead announcer for Impact.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yKHoY9Xv0Q

• Mathews tells Park he’s Abyss, which upsets him.
• Park than says he will tag with Borash at Slammiversary (July 2nd) against Mathews and whoever he can get to be his partner.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoboBdddMKY

5. X-Division Championship
Ultimate X Match
Low-Ki (c) vs. Trevor Lee w/Shane Helms vs. Andrew Everett

Low Ki is currently 5th in total days spent as X-Division champ. In 11 days he will pass Petey Williams on that list. Chris Sabin is the leader in this category, having spent 432 days as champ over 8 reigns. Austin Aries and Samoa Joe are #2 and #3 respectively.

Low-Ki, who wrestled in a full suit again, pulled out the victory here. Both Everett and Lee scaled the ropes, while Low-KI scaled the metal barrier and kicked both his opponents down. He grabbed the belt and retained his title.

Winner: Low-Ki (retains)

Tommaso Ciampa, 1/2 of Team DIY along with Johnny Gargano, appeared to injure his ankle recently at a house show. The injury caused the referee to give the “X” signal, which normally indicates a performer has been legitimately injured.

On the NXT media conference call earlier, HHH was asked about Ciampa’s status, and confirmed there was no break or fracture to his ankle, and his match at Takeover is still on.

Team DIY challenges the Authors of Pain in a ladder match for the NXT tag team championships at Takeover: Chicago.

Team DIY vs. Authors of Pain

Gargano & Ciampa became the 10th team to wear NXT tag team gold at NXT Takeover: Toronto in November. They defeated the 2x NXT tag champs the Revival in a best 2-of-3 falls match.

They would drop the belts to the Authors of Pain at Takeover: San Antonio back in January however. Since that time, the Revival have been called up, leaving Team DIY as top contenders for the belts.

Also kicking around the tag team division is Heavy Machinery, and members of Sanity.

While promoting the Baywatch movie, Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson appeared on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon last night.

Rock was asked about his comments in GQ earlier this month, stating that his running for President is a “very real possibility”.

The Rock on the Tonight Show

After doing a Baywatch style slow-motion entrance onto the show, Rock answered questions related to a possible Presidential run. When Fallon brought the idea up it received a pop from the live audience.

They talked about a poll that came out recently which showed the Rock would be favoured to defeat Donald Trump in the 2020 election. Here is an article on the poll.

“3 years is a long way away so we’ll see”

Marty Scurll joined Bullet Club at the War of the Worlds PPV event this weekend. The Young Bucks have now released previously unseen footage from backstage at the event.

The Bucks insinuate that Scurll has been with Bullet Club longer than what has been shown on television.

Bullet Club’s “Villain”

At the War of the Worlds PPV, Adam Cole lost a singles match to Hiroshi Tanahashi. After the match the Bucks came out and acted like they were going to super-kick Cole, but then 2-sweeted him instead.

The lights went out and Kenny Omega’s face appeared on the screen. Omega publicly fired Cole, and announced “the Villian” Marty Scurll as the newest member of Bullet Club. The lights went out again, Scurll was in the ring, and the Bucks super-kicked Cole, officially ending his time in the faction.

New Japan Pro-Wrestling is going all-in on their American expansion plans.

The company held a press conference in Los Angeles today, with Kenny Omega, the Young Bucks, and Cody all in attendance.

"The Cleaner" @KennyOmegamanX has arrived in Long Beach! Tune into the press conference live at 4pmPST/7pmESThttps://t.co/1cR44svZ9k #njusa pic.twitter.com/zRwJyvCuS3

— NJPW Global (@njpwglobal) May 18, 2017

Press Conference Highlights

• AXS TV will air the July 1st show live as it happens. Night 2 will just be on njpwworld.com.
• The July 1st & 2nd G1 shows in LA each sold out in under 2 hours.
• The IWGP USA championship will be given to a tournament winner on July 1st & 2nd.
• Hangman Page and Jay Lethal are the only two tournament entries confirmed so far.
• They read through some of the roster that will be at the July 1st and 2nd show. No real surprises there, except they have Yoshi Tatsu and Billy Gunn back. They wrestled in the tag league tournament in December.
• Bullet Club got special attention during the roster unveil portion.
• They introduced Cody, the Young Bucks, and Kenny Omega to come up and take questions.
• They are each asked about their matches at the Dominion event in June. The Bucks are challenging for the junior heavyweight tag titles, Cody wrestles Michael Elgin, and Kenny Omega challenges Okada for the IWGP heavyweight championship. Dominion is on June 11th, so Omega could be champion heading into the G1 shows in LA.
• Kenny Omega was on fire. He reminded Okada that at the last show the fans were chanting for him, because they recognize that Omega is giving his heart and soul for this business.
• Cody has taken bookings during the G1 tournament, leading many to believe he won’t be in the G1. This is just me speculating, but it makes sense for Cody to be in the US tournament on July 1st and 2nd. He could win.
• Each member talks about how they were the reason the events sold out so quickly. Matt Jackson believes this fact will lead to his wife wanting to make love to him, then asks for the remark to be edited out.
• The Bucks talked about how much NJPW has grown over the last 4 years, how big the live crowds are etc.
• Bullet Club then posed for pictures and that was that.

NJPW previously released this commercial for their USA shows:

NXT
airdate: May 17th 2017
Full Sail University

1. Drew Mcintyre vs. Sean Maluta (no highlights available)

Things have really turned out fine for the former members of 3MB. Jinder Mahal is challenging for the WWE championship this weekend, Mcintyre is positioned to be a top guy in NXT, and Heath Slater had a run as tag champ.

Sean Maluta is a member of the legendary Anoai family. He was trained by his Uncle, WWE Hall-of-Famer Afa Anoai. Although he has competed on NXT & 205 Live, he is not signed full time to WWE.

Maluta did get in some offence here, including a codebreaker from the 2nd rope. Mcintyre came back, and landed a hard headbutt which set up the Yakuza kick for the win.

Winner: Drew McIntyre 

• After the match McIntyre is interviewed. He challenged Wesley Blake to a match, since he had been bad mouthing him.

• A highlight video package of Sanity attacking Roderick Strong after his match last week. Young and Strong will now meet at NXT Takeover: Chicago on Saturday.

2. Sonya Deville vs. Lacey Evans

Lacey Evans has an interesting gimmick. She comes out dressed up as though she is going to a fancy tea party. Conversely, Deville’s gimmick is that she is a trained MMA fighter, or something along those lines. One wrestlers looks like an athlete, the other a fashion model.

Surprisingly, these two ended up having a rather unique feeling match, with a heavy MMA influence on it. Deville used MMA style striking and takedown moves, but then so did Lacey a little!

A turning point in the match came when Evans hit a solid right hand punch that dropped Deville. This allowed Lacey to go on offence a bit, until Deville just kicked her in the stomach and then hit a running step-up kick for the win.

Winner: Sonya Deville

3. Kassius Ohno vs. Andrade (Cien) Almas

Both guys recently lost in big matches. Almas lost at the last Takeover to Aleister Black, and then recently to Drew McIntyre. Kassius Ohno lost an NXT title match not longer after debuting, but then defeated the Drifter in a loser-leaves-NXT match. The Drifter is still just hanging around Raw.

Almas got most of the offence early, but Ohno made a comeback with a series of kicks, and a neck breaker. He missed a moonsault from the top which allowed Almas to get back into it however. Almas hit a running double knee in the corner, but was countered when he went for his DDT finish. Ohno got back on offence and hit a discus punch and got the 3-count.

Winner: Kassius Ohno

• Bobby Roode came out to cut a promo on Hideo Itami. He told Itami he would fail in his quest for the title.
• This brought out Itami, and despite the best efforts of security, he got in the ring and took out Roode. Itami then gave members of the security team the GTS while Roode watched. Then Roode got in the ring and got a GTS himself to close the show.

On NXT this week, it was announced that Sanity’s Eric Young will take on Roderick Strong at Takeover: Chicago. The match announcement gives the card 6 total bouts for Saturday.

Strong had a chance to earn a title shot against Bobby Roode last week on NXT, but dropped a match to Hideo Itami. Now, Itami will wrestle Roode on Saturday. After his match last week, Sanity attacked Strong, leading to the recently announced match.

#SAnitY doesn't normally take requests… but they'll make an exception for @roderickstrong! The challenge has been THROWN DOWN! #WWENXT pic.twitter.com/adZufCBryS

— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) May 18, 2017

Updated Takeover: Chicago Card

• NXT Champion Bobby Roode (c) vs. Hideo Itami
• NXT Women’s Champion Asuka (c) vs. Nikki Cross vs. Ruby Riot (Ember Moon removed from match due to injury)
• NXT Tag Team Champions The Authors Of Pain (c) vs. Team DIY (Ciampa & Gargano)
• WWE UK Champion Tyler Bate (c) vs. Pete Dunne
• Eric Young (Sanity) vs. Roderick Strong

This Sunday will be the 13th edition of WWE’s Backlash PPV. It seems fitting then to take a look at some of the biggest moments in the PPV’s history.

Backlash’s Biggest Moments

• The first Backlash took place on April 25th, 1999. On that night Steve Austin successfully defended the WWE championship against the Rock. This was just one month after Austin had defeated the Rock for the title at WrestleMania 15. This was during the Rock’s “Corporate Champ” phase.
• In the 2000 version of the event, the Rock had turned face, while Triple H was now aligned with Vince & Stephanie. Triple H had won the title the previous month at WrestleMania. The corporation tried to help HHH win here, but Austin evened up the odds and helped Rock win the title.
• In 2001, it was one month after Austin’s controversial heel turn. He teamed up with HHH in the main event of this show, and they defeated the Brothers of Destruction.
• Backlash 2002 saw the return of Hulkamania. Hogan received a thunderous ovation at WrestleMania 18 in Toronto, so the company brought back the red and yellow for this event. Hogan defeated HHH in the main event of this show to win the WWE championship.
• Backlash 2003 was the WWE PPV debut of Goldberg. He had been announced as coming to the WWE at the previous month’s WrestleMania. Goldberg started off his WWE career here by defeating the Rock in the main event.
• Backlash 2004 was a rematch of the main event of WrestleMania 20. The same result happened as well, as Chris Benoit defended the world championship in a 3-way match against HBK and HHH. Benoit had won the title at the previous month’s WrestleMania.
• Backlash 2005 saw Batista defeat HHH in the main event, but also a controversial angle with Hogan and HBK teaming up to defeat Davairi and Muhammad Hassan.
• Backlash 2006 featured John Cena successfully defending his newly won world championship against HHH and Edge, who was now the Rated R Superstar along with Lita.
• Backlash 2007 was a multi-brand PPV. Cena defended his title against Orton, Edge, and HBK, while Batista and the Undertaker went to a draw in a Last Man Standing match for the world heavyweight title.
• 2008 was another multi-brand PPV year. Undertaker defended against Edge, and HHH defeated Orton, Edge, and JBL to win the title from Orton.
• Backlash 2009, saw Edge win the title from Cena, as well as Evolution take on Randy Orton’s Legacy faction.
• Backlash then went on a 7 year hiatus until it returned last September.
• In 2016, AJ Styles beat Dean Ambrose to win the WWE championship
• Also, Heath Slater and Rhyno to win the tag titles.
• Becky Lynch won the 6-pack challenge to become the inaugural Smackdown women’s champion.

Bully Ray took to Twitter earlier today to congratulate a graduate of the “Team 3D Academy”, Kennadi Brink. The 25 year old was recently signed by WWE.

CONGRATS @Team3DAcademy grad. @LadyKBrink. We are very happy for you! You earned it. Good luck @WWENXT ? pic.twitter.com/hGj9E8qVps

— Bully Ray (@bullyray5150) May 17, 2017

Kennadi Brink

Some speculation is that WWE has signed Brink as a referee, indicating the company plans on brining in female referees. This could be in preparation for the pending women’s tournament, or just to work as a referee in general.

Brink has competed for Ring of Honor, wrestled a job match on NXT once, and has also competed for Shine and Shimmer. She wrestled WWE and ECW alumni, Jazz, at a show over WrestleMania weekend.

While promotional videos for Lana’s return to WWE don’t seem to indicate this, it appears as though Lana will be wrestling on the main roster when she returns.

As Rusev heals up from his injury, Lana has been at the WWE performance centre in Orlando, and on tour with NXT.

Been at the @WWEPerformCtr training the last month & doing @WWENXT shows & haven't my handsome @RusevBUL in a month! I can't wait to see u??

— CJ Perry (@TheCJPerry) May 15, 2017

Lana On NXT House Show Circuit

Lana hasn’t just been training however, she’s also been competing on house shows. Since April 20th, she has appeared on 9 NXT house shows, winning each match.

She has mainly wrestled people yet to appear on NXT programming, but she also defeated Ruby Riot, and Liv Morgan twice.

Soon… #SDLive @LanaWWE pic.twitter.com/jJiqWFDs4J

— WWE (@WWE) May 17, 2017

Early today, NJPW posted health updates for both Katsuyori Shibata, and Tomaki Honma.

Honma was injured in a match on March 3rd, after taking a DDT. He experienced temporary paralysis in both arms and legs. It is believed he injured his cervical vertebrae.

Shibata collapsed backstage after his April 9th IWGP heavyweight championship match with Kazuchika Okada. He was taken to hospital, where it is said his condition was initially life-threatening.

Shibata and Honma Health Updates

Honma is said to be recovering well, and has regained movement in both arms and legs. He is working on muscular rehabilitation and is exercising. He is able to go for light runs, which also sounds encouraging. It is currently not known when he will be discharged from hospital.

As for Shibata, the forthcoming information doesn’t offer much. He has no trouble walking or talking and has been transferred to the general ward of the hospital. NJPW stated that it is impossible to comment on the potential impacts of his injury. The full release can be read here.

Shibata is said to have suffered a subdural hematoma which required emergency surgery. The cause is suspected to be a combination of a hard head butt he took during the match and dehydration.

205 Live
May 16th 2017

1. Noam Dar w/Alicia Fox vs. Gran Metalik

We are shown a replay of Alicia Fox’s surprise victory over Sasha Banks this week on Raw. Banks had previously lost a controversial singles match to Banks 2 weeks prior, when replay seemed to show Fox’s shoulder was up before the 3-count.

Gran Metalik got the early advantage, sending Dar to the outside. Dar would use Alicia as a distraction to gain the advantage however. From there, Metalik would use several springboard moves, such as a moonsault to the outside and an elbow from the top rope. Dar would use mainly submission moves on the luchador when he got the advantage.

End of the match came when Dar kicked Metalik’s legs out from underneath him while he was going for a springboard move from the 2nd rope. Dar then hitting a running knee and got the pin.

Winner: Noam Dar

• The Brian Kendrick is interviewed backstage. It’s revealed he will face Akira Tozawa in a street fight in 2 weeks. Kendrick said that with a mind as crafty as his, it spells danger for Tozawa. Last week, Kendrick stomped on Tozawa’s head while it was under the steel steps. Kendrick says this street fight might be the end for Tozawa.

2. Mustafa Ali vs. Tony Nese

As Ali is making his entrance, Drew Gulak attacked him from behind. He told Ali he is going to make an example of him, and rammed him in his face. Gulak then held Ali in places as Nese gave him a running kick to the face.

Emblazoned by his new role model, Randy Orton, Gulak has declared 205 Live a “No Fly Zone”.

Result: No Contest (match never started)

• Rich Swann is interviewed backstage. He says he wants to get as far away from Noam Dar and Alicia Fox as he can. A delivery guy than arrives and gives Swann a package which looks similar to the ones which were given to Alicia Fox weeks earlier. Swann tells the guy the package is for Davairi.
• This leads to a debate between Jack Gallagher and Davairi over the package. Gallagher ends up calling him a scoundrel and walking away.
• Davairi opens up the package which is exploding powder that gets all over him. Tom Phillips thought this was just hilarious.

3. TJP vs. Austin Aries

The storyline here is that if TJP can injure Aries, and help Neville retain his title, then he will be awarded a title shot. So we’ll see if Neville is true to his word, though that’s rarely the case when one heel makes a promise to another.

Aries got dropkicked while straddling the ropes, and looked as though he got his knee twisted. TJP then spent the next part of the match working on Aries’ injured knee. He wrapped him in the kneebar and grabbed the ropes for leverage. Once the ref caught him on the ropes and separated them, Aries was able to counter the Detonation Kick into his Lance Chancery and got TJ to tap.

Winner: Austin Aries via submission

• After the match Neville attacked Aries from behind, focussing on his injured knee.
• Neville locked in a modified heel hook until Jack Gallagher made the save with his umbrella!

AJ Styles challenges Kevin Owens for the US title this Sunday at Backlash. As both have over a decade of experience, and competed all over the world, I thought it might be interesting to review their history against one another.

Kevin Steen vs. AJ Styles Outside WWE

Kevin Owens (then Kevin Steen) and AJ Styles competed against each other on the independent scene in 2005-06. Their main battles were in PWG, but they also met for a local Quebec City promotion, Elite Wrestling Revolution.

• AJ Styles & Kevin Steen defeated Christopher Daniels & Excess – January 8th 2005, Quebec City, Quebec – EWR
• Kevin Steen defeated AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels & El Generico – March 12th 205- PWG
• AJ Styles defeated Kevin Steen – 2-of-3 falls, May 8th 2005, EWR
• Kevin Steen defeated AJ Styles – Steen wins PWG title from AJ- August 5th 2005- PWG
• AJ Styles defeated Kevin Steen – 2nd round BOLA 2005 – September 4th 2005
• Kevin Steen defends PWG title successfully against AJ Styles, and Chris Bosh (not the basketball player) – PWG – October 14th 2005
• Joey Ryan defeated Kevin Steen, AJ Styles, and Chris Bosh- PWG – February 4th 2006

The two would meet twice in 2014 as well, for 2CW and Tommy Dreamer’s House of Hardcore:

• AJ Styles defeated Kevin Steen – March 14th 2014- 2CW
• AJ Styles defeating Kevin Steen – June 7th 2014- House of Hardcore V

Kevin Owens vs. AJ Styles in WWE

Kevin Owens and AJ Styles got reacquainted with each other on AJ Styles’ first night in WWE. Owens was responsible for eliminating AJ from the 2016 Royal Rumble, the night AJ debuted in WWE.

WWE match history (house shows not included):

• Kevin Owens defeated AJ Styles – Smackdown March 14th 2016
• Kevin Owens defeated AJ Styles – Raw March 21st 2016
• AJ Styles defeated Cesaro, Jericho, and Owens – Fatal 4-way – Raw April 4th 2016
• AJ Styles & Cesaro defeated Chris Jericho & Kevin Owens – Raw May 23rd 2016
• Kevin Owens defeated AJ Styles – MITB Qualifier – Raw November 20th 2016
• Kevin Owens, Jinder Mahal, & Corbin defeated Styles, Orton & Zayn – Smackdown May 9th 2017

WWE has announced a new match for the Backlash Kickoff show this Sunday. Renee Young broke the news earlier that Tye Dillinger will face Aiden English.

Backlash will be held in Rosemont, Ill, a suburb of Chicago, which is Aiden English’s hometown.

EXCLUSIVE: @WWEDillinger & @WWEDramaKing will clash during the #WWEBacklash Kickoff this Sunday, streaming LIVE on @WWENetwork! #SDLive pic.twitter.com/Pwt9JVU7H0

— WWE (@WWE) May 16, 2017

Tye Dillinger vs. Aiden English

Tye Dilinger is a new edition to the Smackdown Live roster. The 35-year old was originally signed to WWE in 2006, and briefly managed to crack the ECW brand’s roster in 2008-09 as Gavin Spears before he was released from the company.

In 2. He has been wrestling in NXT since 2013, until finally cracking the main roster again earlier this year.

29 year old Aiden English signed with WWE not long after graduation college in 2011. He started in WWE developmental in 2012.

Brie Bella is home resting after what was apparently a difficult birth. Daniel Bryan and Brie Bella welcomed Birdie Joe into their family earlier this month. Nikki Bella spoke with E! News regarding Brie’s experience giving birth recently:

 “She tried to go natural, and it was like eight or 10 hours into it had to get an epidural and then in the end had to get a C-section. Her abs were too tight! Go figure. Leave it to the WWE Superstar, abs too tight!”

Nikki continued to say the experience was not one she is interested in having for herself:

“Being with Brie in labour for 22 hours, I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m fine not doing this, I think I’m okay.’ I saw a lot, and I can’t unsee that.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Gv1e5Y0tzI

Birdie Joe Danielson

According to Nikki Bella, the newborn already bears a striking resemblance to her father:

“Birdie is just so cute. She’s like her daddy. She is like 100 percent her dad, which is so cute.”

Bryan has been absent from social media since May 8th, as the couple prepared for the birth:

https://twitter.com/WWEDanielBryan/status/861632242220638210

WWE has announced the main event for tonight’s episode of 205 Live. The show comes from Manchester, NH tonight after Smackdown Live.

JUST ANNOUNCED: @AustinAries faces @megatjp TOMORROW NIGHT on #205Live, immediately after #SDLive on @WWENetwork! #RAW pic.twitter.com/h51QaSPRtj

— WWE (@WWE) May 16, 2017

Austin Aries vs. TJP

At the moment, the storyline is that TJP (formerly TJ Perkins) is helping Neville retain his championship against the top good guys on the brand, Neville & Jack Gallagher. We’ve heard Neville tell TJP that he will earn a cruiserweight championship match if he continues to help him. Time will tell if TJP gets fed-up with waiting for Neville to grant him a championship opportunity however.

32-year old TJP is on a bit of a role, having won 3 of 4 on TV in May, including a singles win over Gallagher. His only loss this month was on Raw to Aries on May 1st in Sacramento.

As for the 39-year old Aries, he’s 1-1 on TV since defeating Neville via DQ at Payback. He defeated TJP on the May 1st Raw, but lost in the tag match last night.

Tonight’s episode of Smackdown Live take place from Manchester, NH and is the ‘go-home’ show ahead of WWE Backlash this Sunday. WWE is advertising two matches for the show:

• AJ Styles vs. Jinder Mahal

This match pits the two male singles title challengers at Backlash against one another. Jinder takes on Randy Orton for the WWE championship on Sunday, while AJ Styles challenges Kevin Owens for the US title.

• Randy Orton vs. Baron Corbin

As of this writing, Baron Corbin is not booked for a match at Backlash.

Updated Backlash Card

Ahead of tonight’s SmackDown, WWE has confirmed five matches for Sunday’s Backlash PPV:

• WWE Champion Randy Orton vs. Jinder Mahal
• SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos vs. Breezango
• US Champion Kevin Owens vs. AJ Styles
• Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch & Naomi vs. Carmella, Natalya and Tamina Snuka
• Dolph Ziggler vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

ROH TV
airdate May 15th 2017 (Fite App)
Baltimore, MD (taped before War of the Worlds PPV)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PoAoqbUQ3k

1. Will Ferrara & Cheeseburger vs. Chris Sabin & Jonathan Gresham (Search & Destroy)

Alex Shelley cut a promo before the match, talking about how Jonathan “the Octopus” Gresham is one of the best up-and-coming wrestlers in ROH. Gresham would get the win for his team here as well, forcing Cheeseburger to tap to an octopus stretch.

After the match, there was a little teased dissension between Cheeseburger and Ferrara, as Ferrara stormed to the back without his partner.

Winners: Chris Sabin & Jonathan Gresham

• We are shown a segment of Jay Lethal in the back being given a script for an upcoming commercial. Silas Young took offence to this and beat Lethal up, injuring his leg against a locker.

2. Bobby Fish vs. Silas Young w/Beer City Bruiser

Silas Young pulled off a big upset here, but under dubious circumstances. The Beer City Bruiser distracted the referee, and Young hit Fish with his knee brace (which he took of earlier in the match) and pinned him. We should get a rematch from this in the not-too-distant future.

Winner: Silas Young

• Dalton Castle cut a promo backstage about how much it hurt to lose his ROH championship match to Christopher Daniels. Evidently, it reminded him of a blind date that went terribly wrong while in Dubai. He promised to come back stronger and work towards winning the title.

3. 6-Man Tag Team Championships
Bully Ray & the Briscoes (c) vs. the Rebellion (Shane Taylor, Caprice Coleman, Rhett Titus)

Commentary played up how the Briscoes used to ask their Dad to take them to the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, so they could see Bully Ray wrestle. Bully will turn on them eventually, but for right now they are a fun team.

Bully Ray got a hot tag to start the closing moments of the match. He took out everyone and got a big pop. He then tagged in Mark Briscoe who did his Redneck Kung Fu on everyone. Mark took out each member of the Rebellion with a moonsault on the floor, then Jay followed with a suicide dive….dive.

Titus blocked the Froggy-bow from Mark, then missed his own frog splash. Mark then tagged in Jay, they did the 3-D with Bully and pinned Rhett. Commentary mentioned that we never got to see Shane Taylor and Bully Ray go at it, which probably means we will eventually see just that.

Winners: Bully Ray & the Briscoes (retain championships)

After the match, the Briscoes brought out a table, and Bully powerbombed Coleman through it from the 2nd rope. Bully led the crowd in “ROH!” chants, and the 3 held up their titles to close the show.