The Crash promotion in Mexico is comprised mainly of defecting AAA luchadors.  Many young luchadors left AAA to join Crash, feeling as though AAA was not willing to push un-established names.

Oddly enough, AAA was created by luchadors fed up with CMLL for doing the same thing in the early 90s.

Crash has posted the full match between the Young Bucks and the Lucha Brothers from their Cinco De Mayo event last Friday.

State of Mexican Lucha Libre

The addition of the Crash promotion to the Mexican scene has now extended the war to 3 promotions: AAA, CMLL, & Crash.

Despite losing many stars, AAA Lucha Libre is still going strong. Just recently Johnny Mundo won the promotion’s Mega-Championship. He also holds the Latin American & Cruiserweight championships for the promotion.

Konnan is involved with the Crash promotion, and has suggested he is less than pleased that Jeff Jarrett signed a talent-sharing agreement between Impact and AAA.

Blue Demon Jr. defeated Chavo Guerrero Jr. in the first official Lucha Underground match to air on television. The lucha libre legend is no longer performing for the promotion however, and seems to be disillusioned with what the program has become.

BELIEVERS!! We're coming back – The Mid-Season Premiere of #LuchaUnderground WEDNESDAY MAY 31 8p ET only on @ElReyNetwork! pic.twitter.com/HoQs3nPA5P

— Lucha Underground (@LuchaElRey) April 27, 2017

Ahead of a big Cinco De Mayo show, Blue Demon took some time to speak with reporters from “the Roman Show”.

Translations of Blue Demon Jr. Interview:

His thoughts on Lucha Underground: 

“It was a great experience. We didn’t finish on a good note. There were many things that remained. The writers left a lot on the table and they focused on other things. If you look at Lucha Underground it’s no longer Mexican Luchalibre, which what was intended to be. Since it wasn’t like that I left.”

On returning to the NWA (he is a former NWA champion):

“I think you might see me in NWA. I have a stake in NWA Mexico. I need to speak with the owner to see if we continue with our alliance and we’ll let you know the good news.”

On his relationship with AAA Lucha Libre in Mexico:

“AAA has been controversial. In whatever promotion I am, I try to close my cycle and say my thanks even if I leave with problems. I don’t like to talk about the problems. The relationship you have with a promotion should be private. But it comes to the point were the talent isn’t happy or information is being circulated that isn’t good and then the rumors start. I can tell you it is controversial. It is the lead promotion in Mexico just like CMLL. Everyone has their following.”

Things couldn’t get much worse for the Titus brand. TMZ Sports is reporting that Titus O’Neil is being sued by a former WWE cameraman for injuries sustained during filming of the Network show “Swerved”.

The show featured WWE superstars being pranked, and evidently Titus had the least sense of humour about it. O’Neil received a small electrical zap from a prank on the show, causing him to become upset and kick the camera our of the plaintiff’s hand.

The camera operator is claiming he suffered injuries to his hand and fingers, and is suing Titus for $1.2 million.

Titus O’Neil

40 year-old Thaddeus Michael Bullard Sr. is better known to wrestling fans as Titus O’Neil. He was a standout football player at the University of Florida for four years. He would go on to play several years in the Arena Football League afterwards.

Following his time in the AFL Titus signed a developmental deal with WWE. He was 32 at the time with no wrestling experience, but his size and athletic background was enough to earn him a shot.

O’Neil would debut on the main roster in 2012 alongside Darren Young in the Prime Time Players. The team is former 1x tag team champions.

WWE is continuing to make efforts to increase their exposure in India. The company recently announced that New Day’s Kofi Kingston and Big E will be touring the country next week.

Catch @WWE Superstars @TrueKofi & @WWEBigE spreading the #PowerOfPositivity from 10th to 12th May in Mumbai, India! #NewDayInIndia pic.twitter.com/aHP24uSJjQ

— WWE India (@WWEIndia) May 5, 2017

WWE India Expansion

As previously reported here on SEScoops.com, WWE has been pursuing multiple avenues lately to increase their exposure in India, the world’s 2nd most populated country.

Last month, WWEShop.com products were made available in the country for the first time, a new Vice President of WWE India was named, and Jinder Mahal has received a push to main-event level. Mahal is Canadian, but his family roots are from India.

Kofi Kingston is recovering from ankle surgery, however it will be he and Big on the tour next week. Woods will not be on the short promotional tour.

Bully Ray recently spoke with reporters about his latest stint with the WWE. He revealed that his updated “Bully Ray” character almost debuted for the company, but WWE’s anti-bullying charity work prevented it from happening. Instead the company stuck with his “Bubba Ray Dudley” character. He told ESPN.com,

“We were one day away from becoming Bully Ray in WWE.  One of the problems with having Bully Ray in the WWE was the word bully.

How could they have a guy named Bully when they had the ‘Be a STAR’ program? It was a little too risky for them.”

Bully Ray in Ring of Honor

After their latest contract with WWE ran out, D-Von stayed on with the company as an agent, and Bully Ray signed with Ring of Honor.

https://twitter.com/WWEonESPN/status/860502243824603136

Since debuting in the company, Bully Ray has teamed up with ROH originals the Briscoe Brothers. The trio recently captured the company’s 6-man tag team championships.

“Ring of Honor reached out to me I think the day after I left WWE,” He continued. “They were actually interested in bringing in both me and D-Von into Ring of Honor, which would’ve been insane. D-Von had made a life decision where he wanted to devote a little more time to his family and physically in the ring wanted to slow it down just a little bit. I still have gas in the tank. I think Ring of Honor was the perfect place for me to continue as Bully Ray.”

The full interview can be read here.

Will Ospreay shared an interesting fact on social media while doing his taxes recently. The first ever British wrestler to win the Best of the Super Juniors tournament (2016), plans to write-off £10,169.64 in ring-gear related expenses.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BTtxc1pjFvl/

Will Ospreay in 2016

While his ring-gear expenses seem unusually high, there can be no doubts that Will Ospreay has raised a lot of eyebrows this year. His performance in the Best of the Super Juniors last spring put a jolt into Japan’s junior heavyweight division.

The Ospreay vs. Ricochet match from last year’s tournament is essential viewing for any fan of the division. It caused some controversy however, as the high-spot focussed match drew the ire of many wrestling purists. If you like high-spots however, this match is arguably one of the greatest of all time.

the 23 year-old has been wrestling since 2012, but debuted in both ROH and NJPW last year.

On January 4th, 2017 Kenny Omega and Kazuchika Okada were the main event of WrestleKingdom 11. The match, held in the Tokyo Dome, went over 45 minutes and some experts have referred to it as the greatest professional wrestling match they have ever seen.

At Wrestling Dontaku on Wednesday, Okada called out Omega after defeating Bad Luck Fale. Omega had come down to the ring area to check on his Bullet Club teammate, when Okada issued the challenge. Normally it is the challenger calling out the champion, but in this case it was Okada who wanted the rematch.

That match is now official for NJPW’s June PPV, Dominion. The match will be held on June 11th in Osaka, Japan. Also announced for the show is Tetsuya Naito defending the IWGP intercontinental title against Hiroshi Tanahashi.

?6?11???????????2???????????
“IWGP???????”????????vs????????
“IWGP??????????????”????vs?????https://t.co/wcFtr76ZVN #njdominion #njpw pic.twitter.com/R9XWQNRJm1

— ?????????????? (@njpw1972) May 5, 2017

Kenny Omega vs. Kazuchika Okada

At last year’s G1 tournament, Kenny Omega became the first non-Japanese wrestler (in storyline) to win the tournament. His win may also help the tournament’s popularity in the United States, including in Los Angeles where part of the tournament will be held this year.

The win earned Omega a shot at Kazuchika Okada’s title in the Tokyo Dome. Okada just barely did pull out the victory over Omega, and now he will have to do that again next month.

Lately Alicia Fox has been substituting for a mid-card championship on 205 Live. In absence of a cruiserweight intercontinental championship, Fox has become the prize several 205 Live superstars have been fighting over.

Today is Alicia Fox’s 11th anniversary with WWE.

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

Alicia Fox’s WWE Career

Alicia Fox was signed by WWE as a 19 year-old and has been with the company ever since. At the time of her signing, Fox was a model. John Laurinaitis discovered her in the pages of a fashion magazine, which sums up how WWE scouted female talent at the time.

While today is her 11-year anniversary of signing with the company, her actual debut as a performer occurred on July 1st 2006 in Ohio Valley Wrestling. She first debuted on the main roster in 2008, appearing as Edge and Vickie Guerrero’s wedding planner.

Fox is a 1-time Divas champion, the only African-American superstar to ever win the title. Her younger sister wrestled in NXT and briefly for TNA under the name Caylee Turner. She is now a Tampa Bay Buccaneers cheerleader.

WWE arrived for the European tour recently, they were in Rome yesterday, and Glasgow today. They will have shows in Dublin, Ireland and Cardiff, Wales tomorrow.

WWE.com recently posted this video of the Miz & Maryse touring the Colosseum: 

Other Superstars in Europe

Exploring our WONDERFUL world is a great goal to set for yourself.

You can NEVAH be too cultured or know too much about history. pic.twitter.com/SgGx8HXz4d

— MATT HARDY (@MATTHARDYBRAND) May 4, 2017

@WWEGable, @NaomiWWE, and @JasonJordanJJ had a tremendous day @GCH_Charity in Glasgow! #WWEGlasgow pic.twitter.com/mB26hhcivT

— WWE Community (@WWECommunity) May 4, 2017

https://www.instagram.com/p/BTq6UjqjpQX/

https://twitter.com/WWECesaro/status/860120475095240704

https://twitter.com/NinoVentura8/status/860143173557002240

Ring of Honor announced today that their 6-man champions, Bully Ray & the Briscoes, will defend their titles against the current NJPW 6-man championship team, Los Ingobernables. The match will take place in Dearborn, MI on May 10th as part of the War of the Worlds tour.

Only the Ring of Honor titles will be on the line however.

Bully Ray and The Briscoes defend the 6-Man Titles against Los Ingobernables de Japon at War of the Worlds Dearborn https://t.co/cviYpkfODN pic.twitter.com/OONGyUi279

— ROH – Ring of Honor Wrestling (@ringofhonor) May 4, 2017

NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championships

Bushi, Evil & Sanada won the NEVER Openweight 6-man championships yesterday at Wrestling Dontaku 2017, defeating Tanahashi, Taguchi, & Ricochet.

Gonna be a Detroit Rock City Table Smashin Good Time @ringofhonor ??? https://t.co/cnnt2EyDze

— Bully Ray (@bullyray5150) April 24, 2017

The titles are frequently won and lost however. Only one team, Kenny Omega & the Young Bucks, have ever defended the titles successfully more than once in a row. The titles first debuted in the company at WrestleKingdom 10 on Jan. 4th 2016. The inaugural champions were the Briscoes & Toru Yano.

The rest of the card is as follows:

MAIN EVENT

ROH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

ROH WORLD CHAMPION “ALMIGHTY” CHRISTOPHER DANIELS vs. MATT TAVEN

BULLET CLUB (CODY, HANGMAN PAGE, & ROH WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS THE YOUNG BUCKS) vs. CHAOS (WILL OSPREAY, HIROOKI GOTO & ROPPONGI VICE)

ROH WORLD SIX MAN TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP

ROH WORLD SIX MAN TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS BULLY RAY & THE BRISCOES (JAY & MARK) vs. LOS INGOBERNABLES DE JAPON (BUSHI, EVIL, & SANADA)

SIGNED TO APPEAR

ROH WORLD TELEVISION CHAMPION Marty Scurll

New Japan’s Tetsuya Naito

New Japan’s KUSHIDA

Dalton Castle

Jay Lethal

and more!

NXT
airdate: May 3rd 2017
Full Sail University

1. Killian Dain vs. Danny Burch
Burch got in a little bit of offence, but for the most part this was a showcase match for Dain. The 32-yeear old Irish member of Sanity picked up the win with the Ulster Plantation, a 1-handed electric-chair driver.
Winner: Killian Dain

2. Heavy Machinery vs. Local Talent
The tag-team of Heavy Machinery won a quick squash match here. After the match they said they want to face the Authors of Pain for the NXT tag titles.
Winners: Heavy Machinery

• In the back Bobby Roode is seen giving advice to Kona Reeves, who will face Hideo Itami later in the show
• Also in the back, Team DIY state in an interview that they deserve a match with Authors of Pain next, not Heavy Machinery.

3. Hideo Itami vs. Kona Reeves
Possibly acting on the advice Roode gave him, Reeves attacked Itami before the bell to gain an advantage. It worked for a bit, but eventually Itami battled back, and gave Reeves the GTS for the win.
Winner: Hideo Itami

Who is Roderick Strong? Part II
Last week a video package aired which detailed the troubled upbringing of Roderick Strong. This week’s video focusses more on his adult life.

4. NXT Women’s Championship #1 Contender Battle Royal
The match came down to Ruby Riot, Nikki Cross, and Ember Moon. As all 3 were down, Asuka hit the ring and beat up all 3. She then said “No one is ready for Asuka” and left. William Regal then came out and said since Asuka ruined the match, she would have to face all 3 of the remaining participants in a fatal 4-way for her NXT championship at NXT Takeover: Chicago.
Winner: Riot, Cross, and Ember Moon will all face Asuka in a fatal 4-way

NJPW Wrestling Dontaku 2017
May 3rd 2017
Fukuoka, Fukuoka
Fukuoka Kokusai Center

#njdontaku 'Wrestling Dontaku' Live only on @njpwworld @KennyOmegamanX #theelite #BulletClub #TomohiroIshii pic.twitter.com/Tw1mYGJG8P

— NJPW Global (@njpwglobal) May 3, 2017

Preliminaries:

1. Yoshi Tatsu & Hirai Kawato defeated Tomoyuki Oka & Katsuya Kitamura (Tatsu made Kitamura tap)

2. Yoshi Hashi & Will Ospreay (CHAOS) defeated Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens (Bullet Club) (Yoshi made Owens tap)

3. Togi Makabe, Tiger Mask W, Tiger Mask defeated Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi, Jushin Liger (Makabe pinned Nakanishi)

4. Hirooki Goto, Toru Yano, Jado, Rocky Romero, Beretta (CHAOS) defated Minoru Suzuki, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Taichi, El Desperado, Taka Michinoku (Suzuki-Gun) (Goto pinned Taka)
-After the match Suzuki attacked Goto and there was a melee between the two factions. Mainly it was about Goto and Suzuki though, as Suzuki defeated Goto for the NEVER Openweight title just days ago. Suzuki also gave a hard right hand to one of the young boys at ringside, which Don Callis called “a shoot”. 

5. Cody defeated David Finlay
– After the match Cody called on NJPW to give him a bigger, higher-ranked opponent. 

6. Tetsuya Naito & Hiromu Takahashi (Los Ingobernables) defeated Juice Robinson & Kushida (Takahashi pinned Kushida)
– They teased the idea that Takahashi has Kushida’s number, and mentioned the win streak he is on over him. They’ll be on opposite blocks for the BOSJs, but could potentially meet in the finals. 

Main Card:

7. IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championships
War Machine vs. Guerrillas of Destiny vs. Tencoji
War Machine came out with full medieval knight/Viking helmets, which made for a cool entrance. They hit Fallout on Tenzan for the pin.
After the match they were attacked by Tama Tonga and Tanga Roa, who will probably get a 2-on-2 shot at them next.
Winners: War Machine (1st title defence)(Rowe pinned Tenzan)

8. NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Championships
Tanahashi, Taguchi, & Ricochet (c) vs. Sanada, Evil, Bushi (Los Ingobernables)
Taguchi made Bushi tap to the ankle lock but the referee was down. Bushi then sprayed Taguchi in the face with the poison mist, but couldn’t get the pin.
He then landed a codebreaker from the 2nd rope on Taguchi, followed by another from the 3rd rope, and then finally did get the 3-count. 
Winners: Los Ingobernables (new champions)(Bushi pinned Taguchi)

9.Tomohiro Ishii (CHAOS) vs. Kenny Omega (Bullet Club)
This match started with Ishii beating up Omega around the ring for the first few minutes. Omega only got back on offence when the referee prevented Ishii from using a chair, and the momentary distraction allowed Omega to hit a running dropkick.

Omega would use all of his standard moves, such as a reverse-hurricanrana, a normal hurricanrana, a springboard move to the floor (that he almost over-shot), and many running knees. Ishii responded with his typical hard-hitting style, with lots of hard clotheslines and suplexes.

After they started getting near-falls on each other, Omega started landing moves similar to Ishii’s, such as hard clotheslines and a brain-buster. Then things got really weird when Ishii started landing some of Kenny Omega’s moves, including a reverse hurricanrana. He landed on his head when he did it, but he did it. Then Omega hit the One-Winged Angel and pinned him.
Winner: Kenny Omega 

10. IWGP Heavyweight Championship Match
Kazuchika Okada (CHAOS)(c) vs. Bad Luck Fale (Bullet-Club)
Bad Luck Fale has beaten Okada in the G1 tournament 2 years in a row. He’s beaten many big names over the years, including Tanahashi. The problem is he usually loses in title matches. Though he is a 1-time IWGP Intercontinental champion. 
Before the match they showed clips of Fale in his dome dojo in New Zealand. He spoke to the camera about how he wants to help NJPW expand into New Zealand & Australia, and thinks he’ll do that if he wins the title.
Fale hit Okada with a tombstone for a near-fall. Okada countered the Bad Luck Fall into a hurricanrana. He then transitioned from a backslide to a 2 Rainmaker clotheslines, then a german suplex and into a 3rd Rainmaker clothesline for the win.

After the match Kenny Omega was at ringside and Okada called out to him. Omega got in the ring and they had a stare down while the fans chanted for Omega. He then made the pointed gun motion at Okada before leaving the ring area.

Okada then announced he would defend his championship against Omega at NJPW Dominion in June.
Winner: Kazuchika Okada (5th title defence)

205 Live
May 2nd 2017
Fresno, CA

1. Lince Dorado vs. TJ Perkins
Considering Perkins lost to Aries clean on Raw, they needed him to pick up a win here. While he did use Dorado’s mask to gain an advantage, it was a mostly clean win here for Perkins. Dorado tapped to the knee-bar.
Winner: TJ Perkins via submission

Brian Kendrick and Akira Tozawa Interview Segements
Corey Graves sat down with Brian Kendrick and talked about his rivalry with Akira Tozawa. basically Kendrick said he’s insulted that Tozawa didn’t want Kendrick as a mentor. Tozawa interupts the interview by kicking Kendrick in the face.
Tozawa’s lesson to Kendrick this week: “Always end an interview with impact”.

2. Mustafa Ali vs. Drew Gulak
Gulak has been stocking Ali matches as of late, attempting to get Ali to stop using high-flying moves. This week Gulak again came out with protest signs stating that cruiserweights should not do dangerous high-flying moves.
Finish of the match was fitting, as Gulak got his knees up when Ali came off the top rope. Gulak than rolled his opponent up and got the 3-count. After the match, Gulak said his victory was vindication for his campaign.
Winner: Drew Gulak

3. Rich Swann vs. Noam Dar
After weeks of building this match looked to be the final blow-off for the feud between Rich Swann and Noam Dar.
Dar picked up the surprise win after working the arm for most of the match, gaining a measure of revenge on his rival.
After the match was when the real action happened however. Alicia Fox re-debuted on the brand, and aligned once again with her former boyfriend Noam Dar. Fox skipped into the ring and her and Dar reconciled to close the show.
Winner: Noam Dar

The US Championship was originally a title in Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling. The inaugural title-holder was Harley Race, who won a tournament in 1975. By the late 70s the belt was being feuded over by Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat. Into the 1980s names like Greg Valentine and Roddy Piper also began wrestling in matches for the belt.

As the title moved to WCW, it became a secondary belt, though one which still carried much prestige.

US Championship Since 2015

WWE planned to elevate their secondary titles at WrestleMania 31. On that night Daniel Bryan won the Intercontinental Championship, and John Cena defeated Rusev to win the US Championship. Bryan’s injury would prevent that from happening however.

John Cena – (won the title at WrestleMania 31 from Rusev)
11 Successful Title Defences
147 Days as Champion
Title Defences:
defeated Dean Ambrose- Raw March 30th 2015
defeated Stardust – Raw April 6th 2015
defeated Bad News Barrett – Raw April 13th 2015
defeated Kane – Raw April 20th 2015
defeated Rusev (Russian Chain Match) – Extreme Rules 2015
defeated Sami Zayn (Zayn’s main roster debut) – Raw May 4th 2015
lost to Neville via DQ – Raw May 11th 2015
defeated Rusev (I Quit Match) – Payback 2015
defeated Zack Ryder – Raw May 25th 2015
lost to Cesaro via DQ – Raw June 29th 2015
defeated Cesaro – Raw July 6th 2015
lost to Rusev via DQ- July 13th 2015
defeated Kevin Owens – Battleground 2015
defeated Seth Rollins – Raw July 27th 2015
lost championship to Seth Rollins – SummerSlam 2015 (Rollins earned a statue!)

Seth Rollins
Title Defences: 0
Days as champion: 28
Title Defences:
Lost championship to John Cena – Night of Champions 2015

John Cena
Title Defences: 5
Days as Champion:35
Title Defences:
defeated Seth Rollins – Raw September 20th 2015
defeated Xavier Woods via DQ – Raw September 28th 2015
defeated Seth Rollins (steel cage) – Network Special from MSG October 3rd 2015
defeated Big E – Raw October 5th 2015
defeated Dolph Ziggler – Raw October 12th 2015
lost championship to Alberto Del Rios – Hell in a Cell 2015

Alberto Del Rio
Title Defences: 1
Days as Champion: 78
Title Defences: 
defeated Jack Swagger (chairs match) – TLC 2015
lost to John Cena via DQ – Raw December 28th 2015
lost championship to Kalisto – Raw January 11th 2016

Kalisto 
Title Defences: 0
Days as Champion: 1
Title Defences: 
lost championship to Alberto Del Rios- Smackdown January 12th

Alberto Del Rios
Title Defences: 0
Days as Champion: 12
Title Defences:
lost championship to Kalisto – Royal Rumble 2016

Kalisto
Title Defences: 4
Days as Champion: 119
Title Defences: 
defeated Neville – Smackdown January 26th 2016
defeated Alberto Del Rios (best 2-of-3 falls) – Fastlane 2016
defeated Ryback – WrestleMania 32
defeated Ryback – Payback 2016
lost championship to Rusev – Extreme Rules 2016

Rusev
Title Defences: 7
Days as Champion: 126
Title Defences: 
defeated Kalisto – Smackdown May 24th 2016
defeated Titus O’Neil – Money in the Bank 2016
defeated Cesaro – Smackdown June 28th 2016
defeated Titus O’Neil – Raw July 4th 2016
defeated Zack Ryder – Battleground 2016
defeated Mark Henry – Raw August 1st 2016
defeated Cesaro – Raw August 8th 2016
lost championship to Roman Reigns – Clash of Champions 2016

Roman Reigns
Title Defences: 5
Total Days as Champion: 106
Title Defences: 
double-count out with Rusev – Raw September 26th 2016
defeated Rusev (Hell in a Cell match) – Hell in a  Cell 2016
defeated Chris Jericho via DQ – Raw October 31st 2016
defeated Chris Jericho – Raw December 5th 2016
defeated Kevin Owens – Raw December 26th 2016
defeated Chris Jericho – Raw January 2nd 2017
lost championship to Chris Jericho (2-on-1 handicap match w/Owens teaming with Jericho)- Raw January 9th 2017

Chris Jericho
Title Defences: 1
Total Days as Champion: 83
Title Defences: 
lost to Roman Reigns via DQ – Raw January 23rd 2017
defeated Sami Zayn – February 6th 2017
lost championship to Kevin Owens – WrestleMania 33

Kevin Owens
Title Defences: 0
Days as Champion: 28
Title Defences:
lost championship to Chris Jericho – Payback 2016

Chris Jericho
Title Defences: 0 so far
Days as Champion: 1+ (ongoing)
Title Defences:
None so far

Last night Kevin Owens gave Chris Jericho a DDT on the floor that seemed to be the catalyst for Jericho’s injury angle. Jericho will be touring with his band soon, and an angle was needed to write him off television.

Normally when Kevin Owens injures someone he gives them the powerbomb on the ring apron outside. This begs the question, why change things up here and use a DDT on the floor to explain Jericho’s impending absence?

31 Years Ago Today: Jake Roberts DDTs Ricky Steamboat

It was 31 years ago today that a famous angle played out between Ricky Steamboat and Jake “the Snake” Roberts. Jake gave Ricky the DDT on the floor, resulting in a long stay on the injured list for Steamboat.

Jericho has been known to throw out homages to his favourite wrestlers and moments in wrestling before, and it is possible that’s what he has done here.

** The match was taped on May 3rd 1986, but wouldn’t air until later in June that year. 

28 year-old Marty Scurll’s ascension in pro-wrestling continues, as he has been announced for this year’s Best of the Super Juniors tournament in NJPW. The round-robin tournament kicks of on May 17th.

https://twitter.com/MartyScurll/status/859709893888135168

Best of the Super Juniors 2017

Last year the tournament was won by another Englishman, Will Ospreay, the first time a wrestler from England has won the tournament.

The highlight of last year’s tournament was the well-received Will Ospreay vs. Ricochet match. Not everyone liked the match however, as some, most notably Vader, felt it was too high-spot focussed. Others point out that high-spot laden matches are what the Best of the Super Juniors is all about.

Block A
Dragon Lee (CMLL)
Hiromu Takahashi (Los Ingobernables)
Jushin Liger
Marty Scurll
Ricochet
Taichi (Suzuki-Gun)
Taka Michinoku (Suzuki-Gun)
Will Ospreay (CHAOS)

Block B
ACH
Bushi (Los Ingobernables)
El Desperado
Kushida
Ryusuke Taguchi
Tiger Mask IV
Volador Jr.
Yoshinobu Kanemaru

Sean Waltman has resurfaced after missing a scheduled appearance in the UK over the weekend and growing concern that he had gone missing. Waltman had been scheduled to wrestle for IPW: UK on Saturday, which was billed as his final UK match. When he didn’t show, the promotion released a statement that they were unable to get a hold of him.

After minor updates from Kevin Nash and Waltman’s podcast host stating that he was deal with “issues” – Sean Waltman broke his silence late Monday night and tweeted:

https://twitter.com/TheRealXPac/status/859257064429731841

As it turns out, Waltman was arrested on Saturday (4/29) at LAX Airport in Los Angeles after he was stopped at Customs and officials discovered he was concealing meth and marijuana. Police were called to the scene and Waltman was arrested and taken to jail, where he was booked for possession of a controlled substance. To make matters worse, he had an outstanding warrant stemming from a prior DUI arrest.

• Sean Waltman Suspected Of Selling Meth, Caught by Drug Sniffing Dogs

Waltman was released the following day on $35,000 bond and has a court date later this month (5/25) to address the charges.

The following arrest record sent in by reader Michael Hottle is posted on the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department website (click to enlarge):

NWA President Bruce Tharpe has released a statement on his Facebook page regarding Billy Corgan’s purchase of the promotion. You can read the full statement here.

“As everyone knows by now – Billy Corgan and I have agreed on principle regarding his acquisition of the NWA brand. This decision comes after many weeks of negotiation and deep consideration.”

Current State of the National Wrestling Alliance

The NWA has earned revenue in recent years through their on-demand streaming service NWA Ringside. The service offers on-demand viewing of many classic NWA matches.

There are still several small promoters who belong to the Alliance, although none that were part of the group during their glory days. Tharpe had previously developed a relationship with New Japan Pro Wrestling, which saw the NWA title defended in Japan in 2013.

If Billy Corgan is buying in, he’ll have some type of plan. Corgan hasn’t posted to social media in over a month.

“With the capital and business acumen that Billy Corgan brings to the table – I am confident that he has the ability to take the NWA to the next level. And I have promised to do all I can to help him succeed. I ask you to join me in supporting the new NWA regime in the future,” Tharpe said.

The rubber match in the Chris Jericho vs. Kevin Owens feud goes tonight on Smackdown with the US championship on the line.

Owens defeated Jericho at WrestleMania, but Jericho forced Owens to tap at Payback to win the championship.

https://twitter.com/FightOwensFight/status/859267782961053696

Story-Telling in the Owens vs. Jericho Program

At the Festival of Friendship, Jericho presented Owens with a painting. It was a replica of the “Creation of Man” painting, only with Jericho and Owens playing the roles of God and man. In the painting Owens and Jericho are reaching out their index fingers towards one another.

At WrestleMania, Owens used his index finger to reach the bottom rope while trapped in the Walls of Jericho. Owens then went on to win the match. At Payback, Owens again just used his index finger to grab the bottom rope to get out of a submission. Jericho then smashed Owens’ finger in the steps and locked Owens back in a submission. This time with his index finger injured, Owens had to tap as he could not reach out and grab the rope.

Owens’ index finger is an analogy for their “friendship”. He had used the finger/Jericho’s friendship to win matches. So if Jericho wanted to win he had to break the finger/friendship, which is what he did. Pretty creative storytelling.

Ring of Honor TV
airdate: May 1st 2017 (Fite App)
Baltimore, MD

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJipYcRjQ8Q

1. Coast to Coast (Shaheem Ali & LSG) vs. the Kingdom (Matt Taven & Vinny Marseglia)

They announced on commentary before the match that the winners would face the tag team champions in New York at the War of the Worlds show.
Taven hit a reverse DDT on Ali, followed by a senton by Vinny, but the Kingdom opted not to pin him when they could have. Instead Taven called out ROH world champ, Christopher Daniels, and then hit Daniels’ Angel’s Wings on Ali, and got the 3 count.
Daniels and Taven meet for the title on May 10th in Dearborn Michigan.
Winners: the Kingdom (Taven pinned Ali)

Young Bucks Segment

The Young Bucks came out and tried to quell any rumours that there was dissension amongst them and Adam Cole in Bullet Club. They reaffirmed that Bullet Club was 4-life.
Then they said they were out of challengers in ROH, so they issued an open challenge to any tag team anywhere.
This brough out Mikey and Kenny from the Spirit Squad. They said they were accepting the challenge, but not for next week, they wanted to face the Bucks right now. They ran into the ring and were immediately super-kicked and knocked out by the Bucks. Commentary then announced we’d get the actual match next week.

2. Flip Gordan vs. Matt Sydal

Sydal will challenge Marty Scurll for the ROH TV title at War of the Worlds. While this was a showcase match for Sydal, Gordan got in a fair amount of offence as well.
Sydal wins with the shooting star press.
After the match Scurll ran into the ring and up behind Sydal. He tried to give him the chickenwing but Sydal hit him with a kick that took him out of the ring.
Winner: Matt Sydal

Story Time with Adam Cole Segment

Adam Cole came out and again said there were no problems in Bullet Club, and that he and the Young Bucks have worked everything out. Cole also mentions he will team up with Cody (Rhodes) next week against Dalton Castle and Christopher Daniels.

3. ROH World Title #1 Contenders Match
4-Corner Survivors Match 
Jay Lethal vs. Silas Young vs. Jay White vs. Hangman Page (Bullet Club)

Christopher Daniels was on commentary, he also brought an apple-tini.
I don’t know quite how to describe this, or why I’m describing this but at one point during this match Silas Young spat on Hangman Page. In response, Page wiped the spit off his torso, licked it, and spat it back at Silas Young. It was nothing that should ever be repeated.
Lethal ended up getting the pin on Young after the Lethal Injection. Lethal will now face Christopher Daniels and Cody at War of the Worlds on May 12th for the ROH title.
Cody and Daniels each came down for a stare down session.
Winner: Jay Lethal (added to world title match at War of the Worlds) 

For no reason, here is a video of the Young Bucks super-kicking some kids:

One night after losing the Raw women’s championship in her hometown, Bayley will team up with Sasha Banks to take on Nia Jax, the newly crowned champion, Alexa Bliss.

The match was announced earlier today by a guy Chris Jericho thinks is Tom Phillips:

EXCLUSIVE: @MikeRomeWWE is outside Sacramento's @Golden1Center and has gotten word about a huge tag team match taking place TONIGHT on #Raw! pic.twitter.com/UANssk6Sed

— WWE (@WWE) May 1, 2017

Raw Women’s Division

Raw’s women’s division grew deeper after the Superstar Shakeup. It now consists of: Alexa Bliss (c), Bayley, Sasha Banks, Nia Jax, Mickie James, Emma, Dana Brooke and Alicia Fox. On the roster but currently inactive: Summer Rae, Paige (might not return).

Despite the increased roster size, the division still only had 1 match on the PPV last night.

Tonight’s episode of Raw takes place inside the Golden 1 Centre in Sacramento, California.

New Japan Pro-Wrestling has been taking strides over the last year to increase their english-speaking fanbase. They have increased the amount of shows they bring on an english-announce team for, and have been increasing the amount of foreign stars they feature.

The biggest move the company is making to expand into english-speaking markets however, is bringing their famous G1 tournament to Los Angeles this summer.

The company released the following commercial for the show recently:

Witness the first commercial for the debut of New Japan Pro-Wrestling in the United States#njusa pic.twitter.com/Dq8RU1zfFA

— njpw_global (@njpwglobal) May 1, 2017

Should You Start Watching New Japan Pro-Wrestling?

For those who don’t follow Japanese pro-wrestling, there are some significant differences. NJPW, and most other Japanese companies (not DDT) place far greater emphasis on pretending the sport is real. That is to say they don’t break down the fourth wall as much as WWE does. There is also far less talking, with backstage segments being limited to press-conference question and answer periods.

NJPW also divides much of the year up by holding several tournaments, such as the G1.

The G1 tournament is the main singles tournament of the year (with all do respect to the New Japan Cup). It is a round-robin tournament where wrestlers are split into 2 divisions. The wrestler who finishes with the most points in their division (2 points for a win, 1 for a draw, 0 for a loss) moves on to the finals to face the winner of the other division. Whoever wins in the finals, earns a contract for a title match at WrestleKingdom.

The two G1 shows in Los Angeles will most likely be during the round-robin portion of the tournament.

Last night at Payback, Jinder Mahal and the tag team formerly known as the Bollywood Boyz interfered in the Bray Wyatt vs. Randy Orton match. Their actions ended up costing Orton the bout, though not the championship, as it was not on the line.

The Bollywood Boyz now going by “the Singh Brothers” is a subtle homage to Jinder Mahal’s family history in pro-wrestling. Singh was also the last name given to the members of a controversial faction from the 1980s.

https://youtu.be/WQQ1ywQ5kn8

Karachi Vice

Karachi Vice was the name Bruce Hart gave to the Great Gama Singh’s stable in Calgary’s Stampede Wrestling. Singh’s father had immigrated from India to Calgary in the 1960s. He would play the role of the evil foreign menace in the territory for years. Jinder Mahal is the Great Gama Singh’s nephew.

There were two other Singh’s in Karachi Vice: Makhan Singh (played by Mike Shaw/Bastion Booger) and Vokhan Singh (played by Gary Albright, who married into the Anoai’i family). The stable would feud with the likes of Owen Hart, Bruce Hart, Brian Pillman, and Chris Benoit.

While Jinder’s push has seemingly come out of the blue, the company is full-blown behind it, especially considering what it could mean to their exposure in India.

The “Great Balls of Fire” PPV name has drawn strong reactions from the pro-wrestling community. Several WWE superstars, and other wrestling personalities have commented on the rather oddly titled PPV.

Great Balls of Fire PPV Name Reactions:

Clearly, the most disappointing aspect of no longer being on Raw is knowing I won't be a part of the 1st annual Great Balls of Fire.

— Ettore “Big E” Ewen (@WWEBigE) April 28, 2017

Great balls of Fire?! What the…..

— Rebecca Quin (@BeckyLynchWWE) April 28, 2017

https://twitter.com/LanceStorm/status/858032743569137664

Goodness gracious…. pic.twitter.com/jisilQRPSL

— Austin Creed (@AustinCreedWins) April 28, 2017

Noam Dar wrote this, I’m not sure if it’s related to Great Balls of Fire or not:

https://twitter.com/NoamDar/status/858061395945979905

New Japan Pro Wrestling has a show from the Beppu B-Con Plaza in Yamanotecho, Japan starting at 4am est. tomorrow.

The main event will see Juice Robinson challenge Tetsuya Naito for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship.

Juice goes for the IWGP Intercontinental belt! Can he dethrone the dominant Tetsuya Naito?!https://t.co/kax0ps38R5 pic.twitter.com/ypdN9BsUmy

— NJPW Global (@njpwglobal) April 27, 2017

April 29th 2017 NJPW Lineup:

1. Tomoyuki Oka, Hirai Kawato, Jushin Liger vs. Syota Umino, Katsuya Kitamura, & Tiger Mask
2. Roppongi Vice (CHAOS) vs. El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru (Suzuki-Gun) (non-title)
3. Yoshi Tatsu and Taguchi vs. Bushi and Sanada (Los Ingobernables)
4. David Finlay, Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Yujiro Takahashi, Tanga Roa & Tama Tonga (Bullet Club)
5. Will Ospreay, Yoshi-Hashi & Hirooki Goto (CHAOS) Vs. Taka Michinoku, Taichi, and Minoru Suzuki (Suzuki-Gun)
6. Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii, & Kazuchika Okada vs. Chase Owens, Kenny Omega and Bad Luck Fale (Bullet Club)
7. IWGP JR. HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH
   Hiromu Takahashi (Los Ingobernables)(c) vs. Ricochet
8. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. EVIL (Los Ingobernables)
9. IWGP INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE MATCH
   Tetsuya Naito (Los Ingobernables)(c) vs. Juice Robinson