Unless the verified social media accounts from Dallas’ American Airlines Centre are trolling everyone for some reason, this does appear to be the name of the new July PPV.
**Update: WWE has now confirmed the new PPV name on their event listings page.
It looks as though “GB of F” will be a Raw-exlusive PPV. As it stands currently, the plan is to limit co-branded shows to the big 4 PPVs.
Hardy started going all-out Broken again on Twitter recently, which led some to report/suggest that a deal with Impact had been struck. Impact has been claiming ownership of the characters despite Matt and Jeff using them on the independent scene as well.
There is no confirmation that a deal with Impact has been reached, but it does appear Matt is confident the character will be on WWE programming shortly.
It could also be the case that the Hardys have received legal advice that they are able to use the characters, and that Impact’s claim to ownership of them is too weak. that seems to be what Reby is insinuating below:
Should a return to the Broken gimmick occur, it could mean the Hardys drop the tag belts on Sunday. In storyline, it was Matt’s successful expedition of gold that contained his condition, so having him lose the belts could let it loose again.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling is building to their big Wrestling Dontaku show on May 3rd. Last night/this morning, the company held a Road to Wrestling Dontaku event in Hiroshima.
Two titles matches were included on the show; the NEVER Openweight title and the junior heavyweight tag titles.
IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championships Taichi and Yoshinobu Kanemaru (Suzuki-Gun)(c) vs. Beretta and Rocky Romero (Roppongi Vice)(CHAOS) Roppongi Vice wins back the Jr. Heavyweight tag team championships after hitting Strong Zero on Kanemaru. After the match Romero cut a promo bashing Suzuki-Gun and calling out the Young Bucks.
Despite their multiple championship wins, Roppongi Vice has only ever defended these titles successfully one.
The Young Bucks have won the titles 5x and defended them 8x.
The best junior heavyweight tag in NJPW history is Gedo and Jado who won the titles 4x and defended them 15x.
In 2nd place is Apollo 55 (Prince Devitt/Finn Balor and Taguchi) who won the titles 4x and defended them 13x. Winners: Roppongi Vice (4x champions) (Beretta pinned Kanemaru)
Yoshi Tatsu, Ricochet, Taguchi, Tanahashi & Juice Robinson defeated Hiromu Takahashi, BUSHI, EVIL, SANADA and Tetsuya Naito (Los InGobernables) (Juice pinned Sanada)
Yujiro Takahashi, Kenny Omega and Bad Luck Fale (Bullet Club) defeated Yoshi-Hashi, Tomohiro Ishii and Kazuchika Okada (CHAOS) (Fale pinned Yoshi-Hashi)
NEVER Openweight Championship Hirooki Goto (CHAOS)(c) vs. Minoru Suzuki (Suzuki-Gun)
Goto was looking for his 4th straight title defence here, which would tie the record for the belt. Masato Tanaka and Tomohiro Ishii each had runs where they successfully defended the belt 4x. Ishii and Shibata are tied for the record at 6 title defences total, Ishii having had 4 reigns with the belt and Shibata 3.
Beginning of the end came here when Desperado hit Goto with a chair behind the ref’s back. Suzuki then hit Goto with a series of strikes, locked in a sleeper, and transitioned into a cradle piledriver for the win. Winner: Minoru Suzuki (new champion)(Suzuki-Gun)
The Elite (Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks) have reached an agreement with clothing store, Hot Topic, for their merchandise to be sold in their retail locations.
The Young Bucks tweeted out their reaction to the deal:
It is believed that Omega and the Bucks are the top merchandise sellers on ProWrestling Tees. They often brag about how many T-shirts they sell at live events as well.
The deal is considerable for the Elite, as currently fans only have the option of buying their clothes online or at a live event (aside from some scattered pro-wrestling specific stores that exist). If the deal leads to similar agreements for other wrestlers as well, it could be a potentially good source of income for non-WWE wrestlers.
NXT
air date: April 26th 2017
Full Sail University
Ruby Riot and Nikki Cross Brawl The show started this week with Nikki Cross coming down to the ring area and calling out Ruby Riot. This brought out Riot and the two brawled until separated by security.
William Regal would later announce the two will face each other in a single’s match later in the show.
1. Andrade “Cien” Almas vs. Drew McIntyre
The former La Sombra used some mannerisms of his old Los Ingobernables stable from CMLL. The same stable Tetsuya Naito belongs to in Japan. He forced Galloway to chase him which led to Almas being on offence for the first bit of the match.
McIntyre eventually got a hold of Almas, and put him away with a running boot to the face for the win. Winner: McIntyre.
Who Is Roderick Strong?
We get a video package for Roderick Strong. In it, Strong details his harsh upbringing and his parents toxic and violent relationship. Pretty heavy stuff.
2. Aleister Black vs. Kona Reeves
Reeves plays up his Hawaiian heritage for a gimmick. He charged at Black to start the match, but Black backed him up with strikes moments later. Black hit him with strikes that knocked him down, then hit him with a spinning back kick to pin him. It was a Goldberg-style squash, if Goldberg was more of a kickboxer. Winner: Black
3. Ruby Riot vs. Nikki Cross
These two women really went all out to showcase an aggressive brawl. Cross jumped Riot from behind and the match never started. They continued to brawl around the ring and stage area until once again separated by security. Result: No-contest
William Regal announces there will be a battle royal next week to determine the next challenger to Asuka’s championship.
4. UK Championship Match Jack Gallagher vs. Tyler Bate (c) A very technical European style match, as you would expect from these two. Finish of the match came when Gallagher was unable to pin Bate after a series of headbutts, and then Bate hit the Tyler Driver 97 for the pin and successful title defence.
At ringside were several UK competitors, most notably Pete Dunne, who looked angry whenever shown on screen. Winner: Tyler Bate
1. Rich Swann & Akira Tozawa vs. Brian Kendrick and Noam Dar Commentary confirmed that Alicia Fox isn’t on 205 Live anymore now that she and Noam Dar have broken up. Fox will most likely be on Raw from here on out.
Battle of the 205 mid-card storylines here. Tozawa pinned Dar after hitting the shining wizard.
After the match, Tozawa tells Kendrick he didn’t pick a good partner. Tozawa’s 4th lesson to Kendrick is to “always choose wisely”. Winners: Tozawa and Swann (Tozawa pinned Dar)
2. Mustafa Ali vs. Tony Nese
Dru Gulak joined commentary to talk about how he doesn’t want the cruiserweights on 205 Live to use high-flying moves, continuing his program with Ali.
Gulak pulled Nese out of the ring to prevent him from being hit with a flying move from Ali. Since Gulak made contact with Nese first the DQ win was awarded to him.
After the match Ali hit a flying cannonball on Gulak and chased him away fro the ring area. Winner: Tony Nese via DQ
3. “Gentleman” Jack Gallagher vs. Neville (non-title) A good technical match between the two of them, but Neville ends up making Gallagher tap to the Rings of Saturn. After the match Aries attacked Neville on the ramp, giving him the Last Chancery and softening him up for their 2nd title match Sunday at Payback. Winner: Neville via submission
Ric Flair asked his fans for prayers of support last night after his fiancee, Wendy Barlow was involved in a serious car accident. Early this morning, Flair shared with his supporters that Wendy is going to be fine.
News that Flair’s fiancee was involved in a car accident reminded many of what happened last month to the Ross family. JR lost his wife Jan after she was struck by a vehicle while riding a scooter.
As mentioned on this site last night, Wendy Barlow portrayed “Fifi the Maid” in several Ric Flair interview segments in the early 90s.
WWE is believed to want to run with Matt Hardy’s Broken character/universe. Unfortunately Impact Wrestling is claiming ownership of the characters. Speculation is that both sides are looking to make a deal which would allow the characters to appear on WWE programming.
Matt sent out the following on social media earlier today, indicating a deal may have been struck:
Previously Hardy had tweeted that his successful expedition of gold had contained his condition. This allowed Matt to perform as the old Matt Hardy from a storyline perspective. Although Matt has continued to lead live crowds in chants of “Delete! Delete!” and occasionally slipped into the character’s accent or manner of speaking.
Matt and Jeff Hardy are scheduled to defend their Raw tag team titles against Cesaro & Sheamus at Payback on Sunday.
Tristar Pictures is set to produce a biopic on the life of Vincent Kennedy McMahon. The working title of the film is “Pandemonium”. Directors/Producers Glenn Ficarra and John Requa (This is Us, Crazy Stupid Love) have signed on with the project already.
The script was written by Craig A. Williams, who also wrote 2007’s Underdog. It is said that multiple companies were interested in producing the film, but Tristar was the most aggressive.
The 71-year old McMahon’s life has played out in front of audiences for the last 30 years, so it’s doubtful the film would produce much content wrestling fans are not already aware of. What will be interesting is to see what areas of McMahon’s life the film chooses to focus on.
Controversial parts of Vince McMahon’s story might have to be cut from the film for time. Owen Hart’s death, Chris Benoit, Snuka’s role in Nancy Argentino’s death, are not all guaranteed to be in the film. In fact, it’s possible none of the above stories are covered.
Current NXT star Roderick Strong and fiancee Marina “the SuperNova from Moldova” Shafir are now the proud parents of a baby boy. WWE congratulated the couple on Twitter earlier today.
The SuperNova from Moldova was the nickname given to MMA fighter, Marina Shafir. The 29-year old was also a member of Ronda Rousey’s “4 Horsewoman” stable that trained out of the Arizona Fight Club in Glendale. Current indy wrestler Shayna Baszler and Jessamyn Duke being the other 2 non-Ronda Rousey members of the group.
Like most other members of the stable, her MMA career is assumed to be over following a string of losses. After going 5-0 as an amateur, and then winning her first pro bout, Shafir was knocked out in just seconds her last two fights. She hasn’t fought in close to 2 years.
Last night was the go-home show for Sunday’s Payback PPV. The show is a Raw-exclusive event, however Kevin Owens and Randy Orton (both from Smackdown) each have matches scheduled.
WWE Payback (Raw)
SAP Centre
San Jose, CA
April 30th, 2017
Kickoff Show:
Enzo Amore and Big Cass vs. Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows
Winner of this match is most likely the next in line to challenge for the tag titles, depending on what happens with the Hardyz vs. Cesaro & Sheamus later.
MizTV Segment: w/ Finn Balor
Balor doesn’t get a match on the PPV, possibly a cautionary move due to his concussion 3 weeks ago.
Main Show:
WWE Raw Tag Team Championship Match the Hardy Boyz (c) vs. Cesaro & Sheamus This will be the Hardyz 2nd title defence, their first coming the night after WrestleMania. Matt beat Sheamus, and Jeff beat Cesaro in the last 2 weeks on Raw.
US Championship Match Kevin Owens (c) vs. Chris Jericho
Probably the final match in a storyline which started before SummerSlam last year.
House of Horrors Match Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt
It is not altogether clear if the WWE championship is on the line in this match. WWE.com does not specifically mention the Orton’s championship being up for grabs, though that doesn’t necessarily mean it isn’t. None of the storytelling leading up to the match has indicated the title is on the line either.
Cruiserweight Championship Neville (c) vs. Austin Aries
Rematch from WrestleMania. Neville won the first bout after raking Aries’ surgically corrected eye to gain an advantage.
Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman
This will be the 2nd PPV match between the two, with Roman having won the first at Fastlane.
Seth Rollins vs. Samoa Joe
Joe made Jericho tap out 2 weeks ago on Raw, and has looked strong ever since debuting on the main roster. If Joe is beating top-level guys clean as a heel on Raw, it means they are high on him.
WWE Raw Women’s Championship Bayley (c) vs. Alexa Bliss
As Payback is in Bayley’s hometown, and no Universal title on the line, there is a high probability that this match goes on last. There’s no guarantee Bayley wins however, as Charlotte beat Sasha Banks in the main event of a PPV which was in Banks’ hometown, so all bets are off.
Alexa Bliss has been a success story since arriving on the main roster. Bliss rarely wrestled in NXT and served more as a manager.
WWE has announced that Neville will face “Gentleman” Jack Gallagher on 205 Live tonight. The two were on opposing sides of a tag team match this week on Raw, when Gallagher and Austin Aries defeated Neville and TJ Perkins (Aries made TJ tap).
205 Live is said to be struggling on the WWE Network at the moment. The brand has yet to find an audience of fans that connect with it in the same way NXT has done. With the recent additions to the division of Neville and Austin Aries however, the cruiserweight division is more visible now than it was initially.
At the moment, WWE seems to be going with Neville, Aries, Gallagher and Perkins as the top 4 on the brand. Behind them there are the mid-card programs involving Rich Swann and Noam Dar (Alicia Fox is probably just on Raw now), as well as the Brian Kendrick and Tozawa. Additionally, Dru Gulak looks to be starting a program with Mustafa Ali.
Ring of Honor TV
airdate: April 24th 2017 (FITE app)
Baltimore, MD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyX33tPtQyk
Christopher Daniels and Cody (Rhodes) Segment Daniels cut a promo about Cody jumping him from behind. He says to Cody that if he wanted a title shot he just had to come and ask for one.
This brings out Cody who wants to face Daniels at War of the Worlds in the Hammerstein Ballroom, but that’s already scheduled to be Daniels defending against the winner of a 4-way match taking place next week. Cody indicates that Daniels and ROH don’t want him to win the title because he’s a part-timer and it would look bad.
1. Lio Rush (Search and Destroy) vs. Shane Taylor (the Rebellion) Shane Taylor recently joined the Rebellion by attacking Lio Rush, so this was Rush’s chance at revenge. Caprice Coleman cut a promo on Rush before the match, just saying Rush should have joined them when he had the chance.
Taylor dominated early, but Rush battled back. In mid-comeback Rush turned his attention to Caprice Coleman however, which allowed Taylor to hit a spine buster for the pin.
After the match Sabin and Shelley came out to attend to Rush but were attacked by Coleman and Taylor from behind. Winner: Shane Taylor
2. 2017 Top Prospects Tournament Final: Josh Woods vs. John Skyler Back and forth match with equal offence between the two. Woods worked his MMA gimmick quite a bit. Skyler ended up tapping to an armbar, earning Woods the victory. Woods now earns an ROH contract and a shot at the TV title.
After the match David Starr attacked Woods from behind. Starr claimed he was the top international star in wrestling (wrestles in Europe a lot but is from Philly). So looks like we’ll get David Starr vs. Josh Woods on ROH TV sometime soon. Winner: Josh Woods (earns ROH contract)
Adam Cole does a pre-recorded interview asking the Young Bucks for forgiveness. Says they need to go back to being Bullet Club.
3. ROH TV Championship: Marty Scurll (c) vs. Frankie Kazarian Scurll went to throw powder in the eyes of Kazarian but got the ref instead. Kazarian then hit the Ace of Spades but there was no ref to count the 3. This brought out Hangman Page who eventually hit Kazarian with a chair, allowing Scurll to get the pin.
After the match Scurll cut a promo about how he was out of competition. This brought out Matt Sydal who indicated he wanted a shot at the ROH TV title. Scurll seemed less than pleased with this and left the ring area. Winner: Marty Scurll
CM Punk is set to star on the MTV series: Champs vs. Pros starting this May. Punk will be on the “Pro” side and is listed as a professional UFC fighter, not a former professional wrestler. The “Champs” will be contestants who have won on previous seasons of the long-running reality show.
Other “Pros” booked for the series include Lolo Jones, Shawne Merriman, and Candice Wiggins. They will face the Champs in a series of athletic contests over the course of a 6 week run. The show will kickoff with a reunion special for the Champs on May 9th.
CM Punk is said to be training for his next bout, though the UFC has given no indication as to when that will be, or even if they are interested in promoting his next fight. While Punk’s debut on PPV at UFC 203 did well for the company, his performance was so abysmal that MMA purists were left in an uproar about him competing in the company at all.
Punk has hinted that a return to pro-wrestling could be in his future however. On numerous occasions, Punk has made it clear he is a fan of the Young Bucks and others who have made a name for themselves in smaller promotions or the indies in recent years.
Sin Cara, whose last match on WWE programming was in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania, debuted new ring gear at house shows over the weekend.
Formerly known as Hunico, 39-year old Jorge Arias had a long run to WWE. He wrestled in AAA Lucha Libre, and briefly in TNA as a member of Team Mexico in the World X Cup competition. He was signed to WWE in 2009.
Arias toiled in developmental until problems began to arise with the original Sin Cara played by the former Mistico from CMLL. After feuding with the original version of the character, Hunico took over the role on a full-time basis in 2013.
You might remember Rey’s son Dominic from the 2010 CM Punk vs. Rey rivalry. It’s now 7 years later and Dominic is about twice the size of his father, and is training for a pro-wrestling career.
The 20 year old, who could go by Rey Mysterio III, started training in early 2017.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BPooJvThCcV/
Rey Mysterio Comments On Son’s Training
Reporters caught up with Rey at a comic convention this weekend, and asked him about his son’s training and how is father’s legacy will impact his career.
“I don’t think it’s hit him yet. That will eventually come, and I hope he understands exactly what he’s going through. My kid is a very smart individual” … “I wanted him to continue with the legacy, so now that he’s here, I just gotta do my job. I just gotta make sure that I prepare him right. Once I do that, I’m sure that he’ll be bigger and better than his old man.”
Dominic Gutierrez is currently training at the Battle U Pro Wrestling school in San Diego.
Former WWE heavyweight champion, Jack Swagger, has announced on Twitter he will be joining Tommy Dreamer’s House of Hardcore promotion. Swagger will be touring Australia with the promotion this June.
The 35 year-old Donald Jacob Hager Jr. singed with WWE in 2006, making his main roster debut on the ECW brand in 2008. Jack Swagger won the world heavyweight championship in 2009, but would fall down the card in later years.
He appears to still be using the Jack Swagger name outside of WWE, which is interesting. Swagger was signed out of college where he was a wrestling and football standout from Oklahoma. He never wrestled on the independents or any non WWE event prior to signing with the company.
Swagger asked for and received his release from WWE in March of 2017.
Last fall Vader let his followers on social media know he had been given only 2 years to live by doctors. He would go public with his diagnosis after a 2nd doctor confirmed his chronic heart conditions were life threatening.
Told by 2.heart Drs at this time that my heart is wore out from footbal&wrestling I have 2 yrs to live , conjestive hesrt failure reality
Since that time however, Vader has been contacted by “wrestler-saver” Diamond Dallas Page, has been posting photos of him losing weight, and has continued to wrestle. Another doctor has since given him a less bleak outlook on his condition.
Vader Collapses After Match
Recently Vader was in Tokyo performing at Korakuen Hall as part of the Fujinami 45th Anniversary show. Reports are that Vader collapsed after the match. Vader clarified on Twitter earlier today.
The main event match@ Koreguen Hall Tokyo in a spot with Fujinamii Iwas dropped on my head which knocked me out giving me a concussion
Women of Wrestling (WOW) might be in a position to make a big splash soon. The promotion has entered into an agreement with MGM television that should increase their production quality and give the brand wider exposure.
WOW is owned and operated by David McLane, creator of the popular GLOW promotion, and Jeanie Buss, owner of the Los Angeles Lakers.
WOW and MGM Partnership
A recent press release sent out by the promotion reads as follows:
“By challenging the status quo in transforming women’s wrestling for the past two years, we feel WOW is now positioned for tremendous growth,” said WOW Owner Jeanie Buss. “We are very excited to have MGM’s incredible management team, headed by Chairman and CEO Gary Barber and Mark Burnett, in place to grow our business model.”
They continued to note MGM Television’s work producing Lucha Underground, and how the experience will help the WOW brand.
“Barry and I witnessed first-hand the enormous global fan base of professional wrestling with our team’s production of Lucha Underground,” Burnett noted. “We were looking to expand on our experience doing Lucha, and WOW felt like a natural progression in the space. We love what Jeanie has developed and share in her vision of transforming this entertainment landscape. Together, we will look to elevate the WOW brand through creative production and enhanced character-driven storytelling.”
About WOW-Women Of Wrestling
WOW is the premier organization and content provider for live events and programming featuring women’s professional wrestling. Its empowered women from all different backgrounds and professions are marketed as “WOW Superheroes” and are the main attraction of every WOW presentation. WOW’s digital ecosystem consists of its owned web, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube channel. Together these systems comprise the ‘WOW World’ customer platforms. To join the WOW World and further information on the WOW Superheroes, its villains and over-the-top characters visit www.wowe.com (http://wowe.com/).
About MGM Television
MGM Television is a leading producer and global distributor of premium content for television and digital platforms, with distribution rights to original productions and a robust catalog of television episodes and feature film titles including such premiere entertainment franchises as James Bond, Rocky, Stargate and “The Hobbit” trilogy. Current scripted and unscripted multi-platform projects include “Fargo” (FX); “Vikings” (HISTORY); “The Handmaid’s Tale” (Hulu); “Get Shorty” (EPIX); “The Voice” (NBC); “Survivor” (CBS); “Shark Tank” (ABC); “Beyond the Tank” (ABC); “The New Celebrity Apprentice” (NBC); “Teen Wolf” (MTV); “The People’s Choice Awards” (CBS); “Steve Harvey’s Funderdome” (ABC); “Beat Shazam” (FOX); “Lucha Underground” (The El Rey Network). Through its finance and distribution entity, Orion TV Productions, the syndicated courtroom series “Lauren Lake’s Paternity Court” is currently airing its fourth season. MGM’s television programming regularly airs in more than 70 countries worldwide. For more information, visit www.mgm.com.
1. Caprice Coleman w/Kenny King (the Rebellion) vs. Chris Sabin (Seek and Destroy)
With the Rebellion having been responsible for Alex Shelley being put on the injured list, Sabin was looking for revenge in this singles match against Coleman. Lio Rush came down to ringside to counter Kenny King’s attempts to interfere.
The finish of the match came when Sabin went for a sunset flip, Kenny King attempted to interfere but Lio Rush kicked him away. Sabin rolled up Coleman for 3. It was the exact finish from the Peyton Royce & Billy Kay match on NXT this week. Winner: Chris Sabin
2. Roppongi Vice (Rocky Romero & Beretta) vs. Cheeseburger and Will Ferrara
The story being told by commentary on this match was that if Cheeseburger and Ferrara could defeat Roppongi Vice they would be in line for the IWGP jr heavyweight titles in Japan due to RV’s history with those belts.
They didn’t win however, Roppongi Vice won the match with their Strong Zero spiked piledriver.
After the match Ferrara didn’t want to shake hands and seemed to be angry with Cheeseburger, so there is some dissension brewing on that team. Winner: Roppongi Vice
3. Jay White, Jay Lethal, Silas Young & Hangman Page vs. Colt Cabana, Lio Rush, Bobby Fish & Hanson
This was the wild card 8-man tag, where each team was drafted at random. The winning team will face each other at a later event in a 4-way match to determine a new #1 contender for world champion Christopher Daniels.
Page refused to accept a tag from Lethal and left his team near the end of the match. He was jumped by Kazarian on the stage area as he did so, so their feud continues.
Lethal and Rush ended up being the final two in the ring and Lethal hit the Lethal Combination for the win. Winners: White, Lethal, Young and Page (face each other to determine new #1 contender)
Here is yesterday’s Ring of Honor update with Ian Riccaboni:
WWE sent out a press release earlier today unveiling a new Vice President and General Manager of WWE India. This comes just 3 weeks after the company announced WWE Shop products will be made available in the country for the first time ever.
Many are speculating that Jinder Mahal’s recent push is due to WWE’s desire to expand their fanbase in the country by creating a local star. Mahal was born in Calgary, AB Canada but is of Punjabi Sikh origin. He is the nephew of Stampede Wrestling alumni Gama Singh.
WWE India Expansion
Sheetesh Srivastava will now be the head of WWE’s expanded operations in the country.
Today’s press release detailed WWE’s plans for increased exposure in the Indian market.
“India is key to the global growth of WWE, and we are confident Sheetesh will successfully help develop our brand and business in this critically important country,” stated the release. “WWE is committed to expanding its presence in India, and we are pleased to welcome Sheetesh to further our efforts in the market.”
India represents WWE’s single largest regional contribution to the brand’s massive social media community of 750 million followers globally. To increase engagement with fans in India, WWE recently launched WWEShop.in, the company’s first-ever local, e-commerce experience in India.
The WWE Network in India was made available in the fall of 2015, close to 2 years after it was made available in other countries.
This isn’t the first time the company has attempted to create a local star in India, having featured the Great Khali on their programming from 2006-2014.
NXT TV Report
April 19th 2017
Full Sail University
Bobby Roode and Hideo Itami Segment
Roode’s promo was directed at people who had been saying nice things about Nakamura following his departure from NXT. Roode reminds fans that Nakamura left because he beat him so badly. This brought out the returning Hideo Itami, who eventually gave Roode the GTS and knocked him out.
Jack Gallagher and Tyler Bate Segment
We get a short segment promoting next weekend’s UK championship match between 205 Live’s Jack Gallagher and the UK tournament champion, Tyler Bate. Things were kept on a sportsmanship level between the two later in the show when they were both interviewed backstage.
Andrade Almas and Drew McIntyre Segment
We see captured video of Drew McIntyre working out with Heavy Machinery when Almas enters the gym and gets in McIntyre’s face. The two will face each other in single’s action next week.
1. Andrade “Cien” Almas vs. Danny Burch
This was a showcase match for Almas, who won with his modified DDT. Almas is gaining steam as a heel, though his loss to Aleister Black at Takeover: Orlando set him back a peg.
He faces Drew McIntyre next week on NXT. Winner: Andrade Almas
2. Liv Morgan and Aliya vs. the Iconic Duo (Billy Kay and Peyton Royce)
The babyfaces pull off an upset here, as Aliyah manages to score the sunset flip pin on Peyton Royce. After the match the Australian heels threw a tantrum in the ring. Winners: Morgan and Aliyah (Aliyah pinned Royce)
3. Steel Cage Match Tye Dillinger vs. Eric Young
Dillinger becomes one of the rare few to leave NXT on a winning note, as he defeated Eric Young in an exciting steel cage match in last night’s main event. Young seemed to get busted up hard-way, but no effort was made to clean up the blood.
Members of Sanity all rushed the cage, but the rest of the mid card babyfaces (Ohno, Strong, Ruby Riot) came out to even the odds.
Young hit an elbow drop from the top of the cage at one point. Dillinger also went off the cage and hit Young and another member of Sanity with a cross body. Finish of the match was Dillinger escaping through the cage door and locking the rest of the members of Sanity inside. Winner: Tye Dillinger
Finn Balor has made another cryptic statement regarding a possible Club reunion on Raw. Balor and Karl Anderson were 2 of the 4 original members of the Bullet Club stable in New Japan Pro Wrestling.
He posted the following to Instagram last night:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BTFg8oUBF66/
Bullet Club in WWE
With Finn Balor health, and Anderson & Gallows still on Raw, many are speculating a Club reunion could take place soon on Monday nights. Originally it was believed that Styles would move to Raw, or that Anderson and Gallows would move to Tuesday nights. Neither of those two scenarios came to pass during the Superstar Shakeup however.
Bullet Club was created during Finn Balor and Karl Anderson’s heel turns in 2013. Balor was the faction’s most visible member until he left NJPW for NXT in 2014. AJ Styles then replaced Balor in the faction until he too left NJPW for WWE in early 2016. Anderson and Gallows followed Styles later in the year.
Jeff and Matt Hardy will be keeping commitments they made to Tommy Dreamer’s House of Hardcore promotion this weekend. Matt also seems to be indicating they will be in their “broken universe” characters for the shows.
*WEEKEND SCHEDULE*
Appearing at HOH on Fri & Sat as @WWE graciously allows us to fulfill commitments.
HOH 24 will be Friday night in New Jersey. The main event for that show will be Tommy Dreamer vs. Matt Hardy in a “New Jersey Delete Street Fight”. Also on the show: Bully Ray vs. Sami Callihan Brian Cage vs. MVP
HOH 25 is Saturday night at the 2300 Arena in Philly. That show is headlined by Matt and Jeff Hardy vs. Tommy Dreamer and Bully Ray. Pentagon Jr. will also wrestling Sami Callihan on that show.
Both shows air live on the FloSlam app for subscribers.
This match continued the storyline between Tozawa and Brian Kendrick, with Tozawa now being the one who teaches Kendrick lessons. This week Tozawa picked up the victory over Nese after Kendrick attempted to get involved, only to have it backfire. Nese then attacked Kendrick. After the attack ended, Tozawa told Kendrick his next lesson was “to have eyes in the back of his head”. Winner: Tozawa
Rich Swann, Alicia Fox, Noam Dar Segment
In a big update to this storyline, Alicia Fox dumped Noam Dar in an in-ring segment, but was made to look a fool afterwards. Swann then revealed to Fox that he had only sent those gifts to Fox in order to get her to make a fool of herself. He continues to say that he was getting revenge for his friend Cedric Alexander, who is currently out with injury.
Fox then snapped in the ring and seemed to get into an off-script argument with the live audience. The camera switched to commercial (on the Network mind you) before the segment ended. Fox may have gone a little off-script there, she’s possibly prone to going rogue.
2. Mustafa Ali vs. Ariya Daivari
They showed clips in the back of Daivari arriving to the arena in an expensive sports car, and commentary played up his “Persian wealth”. Daivari picked up the win here as well. Ali was looking to go for his inverted 450 splash but Drew Gulak came down the ramp protesting high-flying moves. The distraction allowed Daivari to capitalize and get the win. Winner: Ariya Daivari
3. TJ Perkins vs. Austin Aries
With Aries set to get his rematch with Neville at Payback, this week’s main event had him taking on the champion’s new run-in buddy TJ Perkins. The cruiserweight classic winner Perkins had been struggling as of late, leading to the heel turn.
Arise picked up the win with the discus forearm. This brought out Neville, but Aries was ready for him however. Perkins joined in and the bad guys used the numbers advantage to soften Aries up for Payback. Winner: Austin Aries