Charlotte Flair made quite an impression with her WrestleMania entrance. Her feathered robe caught the attention of some of wrestling’s more notable peacock enthusiasts as well.
Dalton Castle’s “boys” offered to be a part of her next WrestleMania entrance. The offer did not sit well with Castle however.
For those unfamiliar with Dalton Castle, his entrance is very peacock-themed in ROH. He is also often “fanned down” by his boys at ringside with peacock-feathered fans. He has been given the nicknames “the Party Peacock” and “the Peacock of Professional Wrestling” previously.
Castle was not impressed his boys were showing attention to another peacock-ing wrestler. He responded to both via Twitter.
28-year-old Trevor Mann is one of the most talented high-flyers in wrestling today. As Ricochet, Mann has has won over fans in NJPW as part of the junior heavyweight division. He’s also performed for top indies such as PWG, Evolve and Dragon Gate USA.
Additionally, Ricochet performs as Prince Puma in Lucha Underground. He was the promotion’s top star for much of the first two seasons. Unfortunately it is his contract with LU that Ricochet seems to be implying is holding him back.
Judging by the “thumbs down emoji”, it is safe to say Ricochet is not happy with his current predicament.
Ricochet had been rumoured to be leaving the company in the past. He was even “killed” by Mil Muertes in storyline, although he would return from the dead later. It looks as though the company still has him locked up however, and he won’t be going anywhere soon.
Some believe all original LU talents were locked up to 7 season contracts, but Ricochet denies this is the case.
A civil war might be brewing within the Bullet Club. Dissension between Adam Cole and Kenny Omega has started to build in NJPW and ROH as of late. The two were shown arguing in the ring together recently after a tag match on NJPW World.
Then the Elite’s YouTube channel (the Elite is Omega and the Young Bucks) posted a fan captured video of Adam Cole attempting to fire the Young Bucks at a recent set of TV tapings.
Adam Cole also sent out an ominous tweet earlier today
This week’s edition of ROH TV began by showing the footage of Adam Cole trying to fire the Young Bucks at the last set of TV tapings. Cole cut a backstage promo afterwards, but he only talked about Kazarian and Christopher Daniels screwing him out of the ROH world title, with no mention of the Young Bucks.
1. Davey Boy Smith Jr. vs. Ray Rowe
Smith took the offence early, working on the leg of Rowe. He did Bret Hart’s old figure four around the ring post move too. Despite Smith working Rowe’s leg the entire first half of the match, Rowe battled back and hit his “Death Row”, a variation of a GTS, for the win. Winner: Ray Rowe
2. ROH Top Prospect Tournament Semi-Final #1 Brian Milonas vs. Josh “the Goods” Woods
They announced Milonas is the largest competitor ever to compete in the tournament. His opponent, Josh Woods, has an MMA gimmick. This match was similar to an old style UFC bout with a jiu-jitsu guy going against a big powerful giant. Milonas hit various slams and power moves while Woods went for submissions. Woods finally grabbed a hold of a leg lock and didn’t let go until Milonas tapped. Winner: Josh Woods via submission (advances to tournament finals)
The Briscoes announced in a backstage promo that they will team with Bully Ray to take on the Kingdom next week with the 6-man tag titles on the line.
3. ROH TV Championship Kenny King (Rebellion) vs. Marty Scurll (c)
Kazarian was on commentary as he earned a TV title shot against the winner. He won a 6-man match on the same set of TV tapings where he joined the Bullet Club and then swerved them to help Christopher Daniels win the ROH world title. It was an eventful set of tapings for him.
A very technical bout between the two here, with Scurll setting him up for his finish most of the way. Finish of this match was Scurll making King tap to the chickenwing. Winner: Marty Scurll
“I don’t know if this is it for me, because I’m no longer with Impact.” – Aron Rex
This past weekend at the WrestleCon event from Orlando, former WWE Superstar Damien Sandow (Aaron Stevens) announced that he’s done with Impact Wrestling.
Aron Stevens Wrestling Career
Real name Aron Steven Haddad, the former Damien Sandow was signed to WWE developmental in 2002 just two years after beginning his career. He wrestled with Ohio Valley Wrestling until 2007 when he was released. He worked on the indies and in Puerto Rico before once again signing with WWE developmental in 2010. After 2 years wrestling in Florida, Damien Sandow was finally called up to the main roster in 2012, 10 years after signing his first developmental deal.
He was released by WWE in 2016, despite having amassed some popularity after having been the Miz’s comical side kick for a period. He competed as Aron Rex briefly in TNA, including debuting a brand new version of his character in the video below.
On Talking Smack last night, Smackdown Live General Manager Shane McMahon announced that if both teams are still on the Smackdown roster net week, American Alpha will face the Usos.
The match, should it occur, will be a rematch from the March 21st Smackdown, when the Usos won the Smackdown tag team championships.
Will Either Team Switch Brands?
The Usos were the last guests to join Talking Smack this week. The pair were upset with Shane McMahon about not being able to defend their titles at WrestleMania. The Usos have never wrestled on the WrestleMania main card.
Shane then said that if the Usos are still on Smackdown next week, they’ll face American Alpha.
Tozawa started the match by chasing Kendrick and going on offence. Kendrick got some offence in too but his normal tricks weren’t working this match. In fact, Tozawa would use one of Kendrick’s lessons against him by faking an injury and then rolling up Kendrick for the 3-count. After the match he let Kendrick know that Tozawa was now the one teaching the lessons. Winner: Akira Tozawa
2. Oney Lorcan vs. Rich Swann
Lorcan charged right out from the beginning and spend the majority of the match on offence. Swann wasn’t able to sustain any kind of attack until the very end when he hit some kicks and a phoenix splash for the win. After the match Swann admitted he is the one who has been sending Alicia Fox gifts every week. Noam Dar was unable to respond as he is currently out with an injury. Winner: Rich Swann
UK Division Receives the Spotlight
Competitors from the United Kingdom tournament were introduced, paving the way for an upcoming UK brand show to air on the Network.
3. #1 Contenders Fatal 4-Way Match Austin Aries vs. Mustapha Ali vs. Gentleman Jack Gallagher vs. TJ Perkins
The cruiserweight division seems to always hand out title shots to the winner of a multi-person contenders match. This is the third time in the short history of the brand, that such a match is how a new contender is determined. It would once again be Aries earning the title match this time around. He defeated TJ Perkins with a discuss forearm. Aries will now get his rematch with Neville. Winner: Austin Aries (pinned TJ Perkins)
It’s official: Matt Hardy has been #FIXED. During an appearance on “Raw Talk” last night Matt dropped many of the “Broken” mannerisms his character had been using.
Multiple Hardy family members have offered storyline explanations for his reverting back to his old self. It should be noted that Matt has left room for a return of the character at some point however.
The sheer NIRVANA of coming home to that DEAFENING ovation at #Wrestlemania seems to have contained my CONDISHTION.
It appears both Reby and Matt are trying to communicate that Matt’s successful expedition of gold has temporarily fixed his condition. Both are leaving plenty of room for the return of the characters in their tweets.
Why Not Use the #BROKEN Gimmick?
There are two possible scenarios as to why WWE is not going to run with the gimmick immediately despite its popularity. The first, and most plausible scenario, is that Vince would rather just bring back the old Hardys, as they did with the Dudleys last year. The second scenario is that Anthem’s legal challenge on the gimmick has WWE afraid to down that route.
Once the nostalgia factor wears off for the Hardys in WWE, it will be interesting to see where the company goes with both Matt and Jeff.
Raw Talk was delayed last night, as WWE cameras kept their focus on the ring area. Bill Goldberg, who lost the Universal championship to Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania, cut an in-ring promo, addressing his return to WWE these last few months.
Will Goldberg Ever Return to the WWE?
It is believed that Goldberg’s WWE contract has run out, though both sides are leaving the door open for a possible return. Goldberg’s return did great ratings for WWE, which led to his inclusion at WrestleMania 33. With both sides seemingly happy with how things faired this time around, it is safe to assume Goldberg and WWE will look to work together again in the future.
Should Goldberg continue to wrestle a few matches/minutes a year, he would join the company’s expanding roster of part-time attractions.
Fans of Matt and Jeff Hardy who are hoping the brothers will be performing their #BROKEN gimmicks in WWE had their hopes dealt a blow last night. After defeating Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows to retain their Raw tag team championships, the iconic tag team were Renee Young’s guests on Raw Talk.
The Hardy Boyz in WWE?
Despite the undeniable chants of “Delete! Delete!” throughout Amway Arena in Orlando, it appears as though WWE is only bringing back the old “Team Xtreme” version of the Hardys. This could change of course, but Matt had definitely reverted back to his old self in the interview.
On where the Hardys Have Been: “We’ve been everywhere. Truly everywhere. One thing we were doing is we were on an expedition of gold. Where we were going to every federation or promotion that was worthwhile and win the tag team championship. And we did, we won every tag team championship that we went to a promotion and worked for. And to home back and win these, obviously the most prestigious championships there are just concluded our expedition of gold.” – Matt Hardy
“The perfect story. The perfect ending. I’ve got the Hardy girls now and Matt’s about to have the Hardy boys. . I’ve been a father for the last six years and it is the best thing thing ever to happen to me.”- Jeff Hardy
Both brothers would continue to talk about the other tag teams on Raw before concluding their brief appearance on the show.
After WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross returned to the announcer’s booth to call the main event of WrestleMania 33, it appears we could be seeing more of good old JR in the future.
Dave Meltzer appeared on the Live Audio Wrestling radio show last night and expressed his understanding that Jim Ross is negotiating a full-time return to WWE.
Jim Ross’ WWE Role
According to Meltzer the contract negotiations are for a full time gig, but he still doesn’t believe Ross would be on either Raw or Smackdown. It could be that Ross comes in for PPVs, or perhaps just the big four PPVs.
Meltzer also believes a big part of Ross’ deal with WWE comes by way of the company not wanting Ross to be involved with the World of Sport project in the UK. It was also reported by Meltzer that Ross’ current WWE deal should not impact his role broadcasting NJPW on AXS TV.
Several fans in attendance last night at WrestleMania are sending in videos of the stage catching fire. It appears as though the fire started during the pyro for Undertaker’s curtain-call.
It is also being reported that Undertaker’s gloves, hat and coat were all still neatly folded in the ring 30min after the show had ended.
More than 30 minutes after the end of #WrestleMania 33, Undertaker's iconic trench coat and hat remain in the ring. Photo: Steve Argintaru pic.twitter.com/OEHkYQ2QTp
In the last few weeks Matt and Jeff Hardy have played a major role in TNA, ROH and now WWE. The legendary tag team made their return to the company last night after 7 years. The WrestleMania win comes 23 years after Matt first appeared on WWE programming.
WWE posted the following to their YouTube channel after the match:
Will Matt Hardy Be Using the #BROKEN Gimmick?
Judging by the above video Matt Hardy still plans on using elements of his BROKEN character. This could mean they have reached a deal with Anthem, or more likely the case is that WWE isn’t worried about any legal action from TNA’s new owners. A third option is that these were just videos which went out on YouTube, and Matt and Jeff probably just did whatever they wanted.
WWE also posted video of the Hardy brothers before the show.
German wrestling fans will be sad to learn that former national team goalkeeper Tim Wiese is putting his professional wrestling career on hold to return to football.
The 35-year old former Bundesliga star had only recently made his in-ring debut with the company at a November house show in Munich. German media is now reporting that Wiese plans on leaving WWE developmental to return to European football.
Tim Wiese and WWE
At 6ft4in and 260lbs, Wiese has an imposing presence. He claims he received an offer from WWE shortly after retiring from football in 2014. Wiese wouldn’t sign with WWE until 2016 however.
Despite his popularity in Europe, Wiese has opted to return to football. He recently signed with minor league football club SSV Dillingen. While he is only saying he is putting his pro-wrestling ambitions “on hold”, he is already in his mid-30s. A return to WWE developmental down the line seems unlikely considering his age.
Paul Heyman appeared at Axxess yesterday, and as per usual he had plenty to say on a variety of topics. Perhaps the most notable opinion expressed by Brock Lesnar’s advocate was his belief that Charlotte Flair will one day be in the main event of WrestleMania.
Heyman even suggested that Charlotte’s opponent at that WrestleMania could be Ronda Rousey.
Women in the main event of WrestleMania is something which will happen eventually. The goal is, or at least should be, to provide a division for the women which allows them to get over to the same degree the men do. This is what occurred in the UFC, when the company put Ronda Rousey’s first fight with the promotion in the main event of a PPV. The women’s divisions were seen as immediately on par with the mens’.
One of the frequently cited reasons for the Raw women’s division lacking momentum, is it’s small roster. It’s hard for a title to feel important when only a handful of women compete for it. Not to mention with the belt changing hands so frequently, fans of the Raw women’s division have become habituated to seeing new champions crowned.
Dana Brooke is earning praise amongst fans who have had a chance to watch a viral video of her at Axxess. The 28-year-old Brooke was unaware a phone camera was capturing her conversation with a special needs wrestling fan.
Before debuting in NXT in 2013, Dana Brooke was a competitive bodybuilder. From 2011-12 she competed on the IFBB circuit, and has been a competitor in 3 different Arnold Classic bodybuilding competitions.
In NXT she formed an alliance with Emma, before being called up to the main roster in 2016. She had been performing as Charlotte’s protege before recently turning against her mentor in March.
It is rumoured that Brooke and Dolph Ziggler are an item, and they were spotted together at the Hall of Fame on Friday. Ziggler and Brooke were drafted to different shows during the brand-split, through this did not appear to impact them as much as it did Alberto and Paige.
They did not start things slow here. Galloway took the mic away from the ring announcer and cut a promo about how WrestleMania weekend is really “wrestling weekend”.
This match spilled to the floor early and they spent most of their time out there. Eventually Galloway managed to piledrive Riddle through a table. He rolled him back in the ring, gave him a double arm DDT then another piledriver and pinned him. After the match Galloway looked to attack Riddle some more but Chris Dickinson and Jaka came in for the save. Riddle had to be helped to the back. Possibly the reason why Riddle was on first was because he was wrestling 58 year-old Dan Severn on a GCW show later the same evening. Winner: Drew Galloway
2. Chris Dickinson (Catch Point) vs. Timothy Thatcher
During the ring introduction the announcer did a worked flub by almost referring to Thatcher as the champion. This enraged Hathley.
This was Thatcher’s first match in Evolve since losing the title to Zach Sabre Jr. at Evolve 79. He had previously held the championship for 596 days.
Finish of the match came when Thatcher kicked Dickinson in the face and locked in his Thatcher stretch for the tapout. Winner: Thatcher via submission
3. Jaka (Catch Point) vs. Jason Kincaid vs. Lio Rush
Rush wasn’t originally announced as being in the match, but the ring announcer simply stated that Rush couldn’t wait to return to Evolve, so this match was now a 3-way.
Rush will wrestle Galloway at Evolve 81. It was a successful return to Evolve for Rush, he picked up the pin over Kincaid after a frog splash. After the match Kincaid stayed in the ring and meditated and chanted a little. Winner: Lio Rush (pinned Kincaid)
4. “All Ego” Ethan Page w/the Gatekeepers vs. Austin Theory
Page cuts a promo beforehand, basically just saying he demands to be in the Evolve title picture. Finish of the match came when Page hit a series of front kicks and then a Rock Bottom-like side slam for the 3 count.
After the match Priscilla Kelly sauntered down to ringside and just kind of wandered around Page in the ring. Then the camera cut to a large smoky area in the audience, which was never explained. After that, a bunch of people dressed as zombie like medics carried a bodybag, with a body in it, into the ring. Page ordered his two Gatekeepers to slam and beat up the bag until the body stopped moving. They finally unzipped the bag and inside was Darby Allin, who then spontaneously recovered and started hitting everyone with some type of pipe. Afterwards he got on the mic and said there would never be an “era of ego” while his heart was still beating. Winner: Ethan Page
5. Keith Lee vs. King Ricochet
Very good giant vs high flyer match. They did a great job of playing up the power difference between the two, with Ricochet not able to gain an inch in a lock up. Lee dominated early with power moves, but Ricochet fought back into it with kicks, a hurricanrana and even a 619-esque move.
The beginning of the end here was when Lee attempted, but missed, a moonsault. Ricochet then hit a springboard 450 for a 2 count. Then he hit a shooting star press for another 2 count. Ricochet then hit yet another shooting star press but Lee grabbed him by the throat this time and picked him up. Ricochet countered with a series of strikes however, and that set up the 630 senton to give him the win. Winner: King Ricochet
6. Evolve Tag Team Championship Match
Michael Elgin and Donovan Dijak vs. Fred Yehi and Tracy Williams (Catch Point)
Dijak really got to shine early in this match, with commentary putting over his athleticism. Finish of the match started when Yehi gave Michael Elgin the Code Red(Canadian Destroyer for the Petey Williams fans), then Tracy Williams locked Dijak in a crossface for the tapout.
After the match Larry Dallas came out and talked about how Catch Point allowed Riddle to get injured earlier. He tried to stir up trouble and mentioned how 3 members of Catch Point are all entered into the elimination match to crown the first ever WWN champion on Sunday. Tough to tell whether there was dissension or not there with the members of Catch Point. Winners Catch Point (Dijak tapped out to Williams’ crossface)
7. Evolve Championship Match Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs. ACH
This was Sabre Jr’s first title defence since defeating Timothy Thatcher for the belt. After Zack won the title it was ACH who ran to the ring to defend him against Ethan Page, who attacked the new champion after the match. Not surprisingly there was a healthy amount of technical wrestling here. Sabre Jr. kicked out from ACH’s brainbuster and then countered a 450 splash into a triangle. He then transitioned from the triangle to a modified octopus stretch and ACH tapped.
The two opponents shook hands after and were all sportsmanlike about everything. Sabre Jr. cut a promo after the match thanking the fans when Michael Elgin got in the ring. Elgin sort of implied he would like a title shot and then dropped Zack with a backfist. Bit of a heel-ish move from Elgin there. Sabre Jr faces Elgin at Evolve 81. Winner: Sabre Jr. (1st title defence)
MVP was Sean Waltman’s guest this week on his 12360 podcast. The 43-year old Hassan Hamin Assad shared many stories of his career, including training with the Miz and working as Kimbo Slice’s bodyguard.
Sean speaks about a conversation he had with Kevin Sullivan at a PCW event this passed weekend about John Morrison being involved in the main event of RVD VS MVP: “Well, Kevin came up to me, Joey, and forget who else, but they were telling me ‘Should John Morrison come out before the match starts or after’ you know, after the match finishes to challenge the winner…and you know, my intial react, like “they were asking me,” cause Kevin thinks they should do it before hand.”
MVP Talks about being in WWE developmental with the Miz: “I think it’s weird…umm. I’ll give you an example of the Miz. Very successful, very talented has reached of the highest highs, and I have the upmost respect for him. Cause when we were in developmental down in deep south, you had guys that been around, been a few places who were moaning and complaining about the training. I never heard Mike Mizanin complain not once. Ever. He ran the miles, the squats, the bumps never complained about anything.”
MVP on where he was during the earthquake that happened in Toyko, Japan: “I was in Sinbad but it was in Tokyo and uh 200 hundred miles away but even in Tokyo, Dude that shit was fucking insane, watching building rock and cracks open up in the side of the wall. I was in the shrine. My friend Acvio took me there to give me a tour and what not and we went to this under corner, went to this little kya and I had a big tank of beer. We’re eating and talking and like this is my dream come true, like “ I’m in japan, this is amazing”, and quake starts and at first I started smiling like oh shit my first Japanese earthquake this is cool. And then like shit just started falling off the wall, shit was crashing and Japan is like the third most scientifically active country.”
MVP Talks about how he became a bouncer with Kimbo Slice: “Yeah, that was my first job on South Beach(Miami-Florida)… Kimbo was the first guy that walked up and I saw him and he looked a lot different then too though but… I was like, ‘Hey man you guys hiring?’ and he said, ‘hold on let me check.’ I heard him say, ‘he’s a big dude we could probably use him.’ Then the head guy came out and said, ‘yeah come back tomorrow night in a black suit.’”
Waltman does a good job with these shows. You can also subscribe and download the shows on iTunes here.
In what appears to be a publicity stunt for Impact Wrestling, the promotion’s revamped LAX faction is aiming to disrupt non-WWE events throughout the weekend. Jeremy Borash announced the move on Twitter:
Konnan’s LAX stable had previously been a fixture on TNA programming from 2006-08. That version of the stable consisted of Konnan, Hernandez, Homicide and for a period Shelly Martinez. The new stable consists of Konnan, Homicide, Diamante, Angel Ortiz and Mike Draztik.
LAX recently won Impact Wrestling’s tag team championships in a match that aired on last night’s show.
Ring of Honor’ “Supercard of Honor XI” takes place Saturday at 630pm in Lakeland, FL. With over 3000 tickets already sold, the event is officially the biggest in the history of the promotion (in terms of live gate).
The main event will be the first title defence for Christopher Daniels, as he defends against Dalton Castle. It will be interesting to see who the fans cheer for between the loveable veteran, and the cult favourite Dalton Castle.
Cody Rhodes and Jay Lethal’s feud will come to a conclusion in a Texas Bull Rope match as well. In the most talked about match of the evening however, the Hardys will take on the Young Bucks in a ladder match. Could this be the last appearance by the Hardys before they show up in WWE?
Impact Wrestling
March 30th 2017
Universal Studios
Orlando, FL
Karen Jarrett Segment
Karen Jarrett opens the show by cutting a promo on Sienna. Jarrett says she hears Sienna is a bully and she doesn’t like bullies. She then bullies Sienna to leave the ring area. This brings out Sienna’s cousin KM who cuts a promo on Karen. That brought out Allie and Braxton Sutter and a match between KM and Sutter is made for later in the show.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiPklHiu1x8
1. Andrew Everett vs. DJ Z
First match of the show was in the X-division. The finish of the match came when DJ Z went for a DDT but was countered into a rollup by Everett for a 3 count. Speaking of 3-counts, after the match Gregory Helms and Lee came out and cut a promo on Everett. Helms says that next week Everett will have a chance to earn an X-division title match, though he is not told how. Winner: Andrew Everett
Rosemary “Knockouts Burial Celebration”
Member of Decay, Rosemary, also known on the indies as Courtney Rush, has been knockouts champ for 5 months now. She mentioned how many knockouts she has disposed of. This brought out pretty much everyone in the division, starting with ODB. A few more knockouts spoke and then everything broke down into a brawl. The long and the short of it is that there are many potential challengers for Rosemary’s title. Later we find out that next week the knockouts will have a gauntlet battle royal to determine the new #1 contender.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKUc721rgWU
EC3 and James Storm Segment
EC3 cuts a promo and apologizes for his attitude towards Karen Jarrett last week. For some reason, this brings out James Storm, who was without his DCC teammates.
Storm says he built this company while EC3 was in high school or getting up to no good with his fraternity. Finally the two of them decide that the fans should decide who challenges for Bobby Lashley’s championship.
2. Impact Grand Championship Match Moose (c) vs. Cody Rhodes
Before the start of round 3, Brandi Rhodes gives it to Cody and walks out on the match. The judges awarded a split decision to Moose, and he retains his championship. Somehow, I don’t think this match will end the rivalry between the two. Winner: Moose (1st title defence)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INmfxjtxhfM
3. KM w/Sienna vs. Braxton Sutter w/Allie
We get our first look at Sienna’s cousin KM in this match. He came up with an impressive looking win here with a power bomb converted into a backbreaker for the pin.
KM is Kevin Matthews, a 35-year-old independent wrestler who generally competes on indies in the New York/New Jersey area.
After the match Laurel Van Ness, who looks more zombie than distraught bride now, came onto the entrance ramp. She stayed there and looked crazy for a bit until the segment ended. Winner: KM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozbQfaS3c5Y
Before the main event we get an inside look inside LAX. The faction are seen drinking and playing cards. They appear to have made some money marketing 5150 tequila.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djkpGETqMSA
4. Impact Tag Team Championships Decay vs. Reno Scum vs. Graza Jr & Laredo Kid vs. LAX
LAX (Santana and Ortiz) became the new Impact tag team champions by pinning Laredo Kid here. Rosemary attempted to get involved but she was thwarted by Diamante. Finish of the match came when LAX used a powerbomb/flying neck breaker combo to get the pin. Afterwards LAX celebrated in the ring. Winners: LAX (new champions)
This is the second time this week WWE has tweeted out video of old Matt and Jeff Hardy matches and included a subtle reference to Matt’s new character.
Raw Triple Threat Tag Team Ladder Championship Match at WrestleMania
The interactions between the Hardys and WWE’s social media accounts has led many to believe the Hardys are returning soon. It is also interesting to note that a ladder stipulation was recently added to the raw tag team championship match at WrestleMania. The Hardys were apart of the original WrestleMania triple threat ladder tag championship match, along with the Dudleyz and Edge & Christian. Ladder matches have been the signature Hardy match for some time now.
Additionally, King Maxel, tweeted out some photos which could be seen as a clue that his father plans on appearing in that ladder match.
Last night on NXT a new match was announced for the Takeover: Orlando show on Saturday night. This match should be the culmination of the feud between Eric Young’s Sanity faction and various NXT mid-carders.
Sanity (Eric Young, Alexander Wolf, Sawyer Fulton, Killian Dain and Nikki Cross) vs. Roderick Strong, No Way Jose, Tye Dillinger and Ruby Riot
Sanity has been picking fights with NXT’s mid-card good guys for the last couple of months. Now those “good guys” have formed an alliance. Ruby Riot, aka Heidi Lovelace, completed the “good guy” team a week ago and could be beginning a program with Nikki Cross soon.
The 25-year-old had this to say regarding her decision to join the fight against Sanity:
This triple threat singles match was a preview for the DIY vs. AOP vs. Revival match at Takeover. After the Revival appeared to leave ringside it looked as though Akam had the match won after power-bombing Gargano. The Revival returned to the ring area however and Dawson grabbed Akam’s leg from the outside, allowing Wilder to pin Gargano. Winner: Dash Wilder (pinned Gargano)
2. Heavy Machinery vs. Jonathan Ortagun and Mike Marshall
Otis Dozovic and Tucker Knight make up the husky tag-team of Heavy Machinery. The first time we saw this team was in the 2016 Dusty Rhodes Classic, when they lost to Austin Aries and Roderick Strong in the first round. They would also lose to the Revival on NXT television in early January. They picked up their first televised win here however, with a squash match victory over Ortagun and Marshall. Winners: Heavy Machinery
We got another vignette from Aleister Black, this time he gives an ominous preview of his match with Andrade “Cien” Almas at Takeover. Almas has been on quite a win streak, but he’ll be in tough against the debuting Dutch kick-boxer in Orlando.
3. Loser Leaves NXT Match
Kassius Ohno vs. Elias Samson
This match seemingly came out of nowhere. Samson made fun of Ohno for not defeating Bobby Roode for the championship a coupe weeks ago, and things escalated right to a loser-leaves-town match. Samson had apparently got the better of Ohno during a commercial break (it always baffles me they will go to commercial mid-match during a show on the Network..), but Ohno battled back. The finish of the match came when Samson was attempting his dragon sleeper into a neck breaker but Ohno countered with a discuss forearm (just like Aries has been using as his finish) and pinned him for the win.
After the match Samson was refusing to leave, but then asked if he could just get his guitar. Ohno motioned as though he was going to give the guitar back but instead just stepped on it. Winner: Kassius Ohno (Samson gone from NXT)
ROH TV
March 27th (on the Fite App)
Las Vegas, Nevada
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9fUKteazus
Christopher Daniels World Title Celebration
45-year-old Christopher Daniels won his first world championship for a major promotion at the company’s 15 year anniversary show recently. This show was the first for the set of tapings which occurred after the IPPV.
Kazarian and Daniels came out and celebrated with “apple-tinis” to start the show. Daniels declared himself the “world champion…of the world”.
Dalton Castle, who will challenge Daniels this weekend at Supercard of Honor, came out to join in the celebration. He was very impressed with the Apple-tini he was given. The boys even gave him his own glass.
Adam Cole and the Young Bucks came out. Cole said he was screwed out of the championship and promises payback to the Addiction. A 6-man tag pitting Adam Cole & the Young Bucks vs. the Addiction & Dalton Castle is scheduled for later in the show.
* In the back Kenny King challenges Marty Scurll for the ROH TV title. Scurll accepted, so we should get that match sometime soon.
1. ROH Tag Team Championship Match the Hardys (c) vs. the Briscoes The Hardys retained after several near falls. Jay Briscoe kicked out a twist of fate and Matt Hardy kicked out of a froggy-bow. The finish of the match came when Jeff Hardy came in on a blind tag and used his leg-scissor pinning combination on Mark Briscoe for the win.
After the match the Young Bucks came out and challenged the Hardys to make their match at Supercard of Honor a ladder match. Interesting. Winners: the Hardys (2nd title defence)(Jeff Hardy pinned Mark Briscoe)
2. Adam Cole & the Young Bucks (Bullet Club) vs. Christopher Daniels, Frankie Kazarian and Dalton Castle Finish of the match started when the Bucks accidentally superkick’ed Adam Cole. After that Castle clotheslined them both out of the ring, and Daniels hit them with a moonsault. In the ring Dalton Castle gave Adam Cole the Bang-a-rang and pinned him for the win. The idea was the two guys in Saturday’s main event came out looking the strongest here. Winners: the Addiction and Dalton Castle (Castle pinned Cole)
ROH’s Supercard of Honor will be available on IPPV on Saturday at 6pm.
This match was supposed to be Noam Dar facing Rich Swann, however it was announced on the show that Dar is out with injury. Austin Aries defeated Noam Dar on Raw this week, though it is not known if that is where he sustained the injury.
Swann and Dar are starting to feud a bit, as it becomes clear that Swann is the one sending Alicia Fox gifts every week. Fox would be seen in the back later accepting another gift this week, a bottle of perfume. She would also spray the perfume in her mouth at one point, because Alicia Fox is a little unhinged.
Swann didn’t have much trouble with Davairi here, pinning him with a corkscrew 450 splash from the top. Winner: Rich Swann
2. Mustafa Ali vs. Brandon Scott
Ali picked up the squash match victory over Brandon Scott here. He looked good in a loss to Neville last week as well, so he could be one to watch in this division.
Drew Gulak was shown before the match encouraging Ali to not use as many high-risk moves. Ali ignored him however, but there is definitely something growing with Drew Gulak and his disdain for high-flying cruiserweights. Winner: Mustafa Ali
3. Akira Tozawa vs. The Brian Kendrick
Kendrick continues to teach Tozawa lessons. After dominating the match early, Tozawa was outsmarted by the crafty veteran. Kendrick uncovered the turnbuckle and ducked out of the way when his opponent charged at him. Tozawa ran himself into the exposed turnbuckle and Kendrick rolled him up for the pin. Kendrick taught the youngster his 9th lesson, that anything can be used as a weapon. Winner: The Brian Kendrick
Austin Aries and Neville Face-Off Before WrestleMania
Aries and Neville had one last face-to-face interaction before their WrestleMania match. During the segment, Aries would also comment that it doesn’t matter where on the card their match is, a likely reference to their match being moved to the Kickoff show.
