New Japan Pro Wrestling’s November scheduling is usually dominated by the World Tag League shows – and 2018 is no different. This year’s lineup of shows will of course feature some of NJPW’s top stars, but there are some notable exceptions. Some of the shows will be available on NJPWWorld.
The headline grabbers are the of course in the continuation of the World Tag League. Toa Henare and Togi Makabe will be taking on Manabu Nakanishi and Yuji Nagata. Jeff Cobb and Michael Elgin will face Davey Boy Smith Jr and Lance Archer. Toru Yano and Tomohiro Ishii take on Minoru Suzuki and Takashi Iizuka. David Finlay and Juice Robinson will be taking on the Firing Squad team of Tanga Loa and Tama Tonga.
Here’s the full card for the World Tag League in Toyama (11/20):
Yuya Uemura and Ayato Yoshida vs Yujiro Takahashi and Hangman Page
Ren Narita and Shota Umino vs Taichi and Zack Sabre Jr
Satoshi Kojima and Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs Yota Tsuji and Tomoaki Honma
1st WORLD TAG LEAGUE 2018: Tournament Match – Toa Henare and Togi Makabe vs Manabu Nakanishi and Yuji Nagata
2nd WORLD TAG LEAGUE 2018: Tournament Match – Jeff Cobb and Michael Elgin vs Davey Boy Smith Jr and Lance Archer
3rd WORLD TAG LEAGUE 2018: Tournament Match – Toru Yano and Tomohiro Ishii vs Minoru Suzuki and Takashi Iizuka
4th WORLD TAG LEAGUE 2018: Tournament Match – David Finlay and Juice Robinson vs Tanga Loa and Tama Tonga
SHO, YOH, Chuckie T, Beretta and Kazuchika Okada vs Shingo Takagi, BUSHI, SANADA, EVIL and Tetsuya Naito
Kota Ibushi WILL be challenging for the NEVER Openweight Championship.
New Japan’s World Tag League tour is now underway. Two shows in Korakuen Hall and Kanagawa have already taken place and you can check out the results here.
Kota Ibushi took part in yesterday’s Korakuen Hall event in a featured six man bout. Ibushi’s team were successful when Yujiro Takahashi hit the Pimp Juice on Chuckie T. During the bout NEVER Openweight Champion Hirooki Goto appeared to once again challenge Ibushi.
The match is now confirmed. Kota Ibushi will be taking on Hirooki Goto for the NEVER Openweight Championship on December 9th as part of World Tag League. Ibushi finally took the bout after claiming in a backstage interview that he was angling for the bout. Goto also spoke to NJPW in a backstage interview and stated that “I guess when you can’t go right, you gotta go left. I didn’t expect that it would work that easily.” Ibushi also made the following comments; “Was it a trap? Did I fall for Goto’s trap?…actually, I wanted to face him.”
Will Ospreay was originally scheduled to face Taichi for the Openweight belt. Ospreay’s recent rib injury forced him to pull out of the match and Goto took the spot and won the Championship. If New Japan are looking to promote a blockbuster Ospreay vs Ibushi bout then the NEVER title could actually change hands BEFORE January, it all depends on if Ospreay is going to be ready in time for Wrestle Kingdom.
Enzo Amore caused quite a scene at Survivor Series this past Sunday. The former WWE Cruiserweight Champion appeared in the crowd and was quickly ejected by security.
Enzo was spotted ringside during the event at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. He was attempting to disguise himself but WWE fans on Facebook and Twitter quickly realised it was Real1. During the Authors of Pain versus The Bar tag team match, the former NXT and WWE Superstar removed his hoodie, stood on his chair and started to make a scene.
Several stars on the independent scene have given their take but Will Ospreay may have summed it up perfectly. The British born NJPW star mused on Twitter; “Imagine you use to work at Tesco. Then you got fired from Tesco. Then you show up embarrassing yourself at Tesco. Then being kicked out of Tesco by its security team. I genuinely can’t think of anything more tragic. Maybe if you did it in front of 13,000 people on live TV.”
For context Tesco is a supermarket in the UK, along the lines of Walmart.
The WoS/World of Sport promotion will be heading out on tour in early 2019. The ITV show will be taking the stars of Saturday Nights across the UK starting January 18th.
This is an interesting move for the television brand. Whilst the current ratings for the Saturday Night broadcast are repeatedly below the 1 Million mark ITV appear to be keeping their sports entertainment brand ongoing to test the waters for a touring schedule.
WoS has now announced the first two matches for the tour. Rampage will be taking on Will Ospreay at the Beach Ballroom in Aberdeen. Justin Sysum will also be defending his WoS Championship against former Champion Rampage at the Spa Grand Hall in Scarborough on February 1st.
Touring Schedule
Here’s the full schedule:
Friday, January 18 – Southampton O2 Guildhall
Saturday, January 19 – Newport Centre
Sunday, January 20 – Bournemouth International Centre
Friday, January 25 – Stoke Victoria Hall
Saturday, January 26 – Blackpool Tower Ballroom
Sunday, January 27 – Aberdeen AECC
Friday, February 01 – Scarborough Spa Grand Hall
Saturday, February 02 – Northampton Derngate
Sunday, February 03 – London York Hall
With dates across Southern England, Wales and Scotland the company appears to be hitting as much of Mainland UK as they can. Several names have now been announced for the tour including the following:
New Japan’s World Tag League tour is now underway. Two shows in Korakuen Hall and Kanagawa have already taken place and you can check out the results here.
Kota Ibushi took part in today’s Korakuen Hall event in a featured six man bout. Ibushi’s team were successful when Yujiro Takahashi hit the Pimp Juice on Chuckie T. During the bout NEVER Openweight Champion Hirooki Goto appeared to once again challenge Ibushi.
Goto has been goading Ibushi for a shot at the NEVER Title this January. The CHAOS member Goto won the title from Taichi at Power Struggle. Since then Goto has been working towards a bout against the Golden Star Kota Ibushi.
Ibushi unequivocally stated that he ‘refused’ Goto’s challenge for January 4th, although with no confirmed match Ibushi may well be placed in a program with the NEVER Openweight Champion.
Will Ospreay was originally scheduled to face Taichi for the Openweight belt. Ospreay’s recent rib injury forced him to pull out of the match and Goto took the spot and won the Championship. If New Japan are looking to promote a blockbuster Ospreay vs Ibushi bout then the NEVER title could actually change hands BEFORE January, it all depends on if Ospreay is going to be ready in time for Wrestle Kingdom.
Triple H appeared after last night’s NXT Takeover event for his usual media conference. The ‘Game’ make some interesting points regarding the NXT UK brand and even teased a big announcement coming next week.
The COO of WWE stated that “Right now, as far as shows, we are focusing on the UK right now. You’ll see a lot of involvement in them obviously around WrestleMania weekend, whether that be via Axxess and creating content.” There were several UK based stars that appeared at Axxess last year, including Zack Gibson.
Triple H also alluded to news for the start of 2019, stating that “as we come into the beginning of the year, you’re going to see that brand begin to grow again. We’ll have a big announcement coming up.” It was also confirmed that the announcement will be imminent; “we have shows in Liverpool next week. It is hard to keep track, they are coming fast and furious. When we are in Liverpool, we’ll be making a big announcement about the first quarter of the year.”
State of the Brand
Triple H also commented on the health of the fledging brand, saying that “the brand has been wonderfully successful. It took us a while to get it rolling, we wanted it to be right,” The Game continued by stating that “we had a few glitches on our side regarding the timing of it all, but now that it is up and running, Wednesday has been this massive destination site on the Network for NXT UK, NXT itself and 205 Live. The traffic has been amazing, the response to NXT UK is amazing, people love the show. It has the same gritty feel as NXT, yet feels wholly unique. It feels, while still in the same vain of what you love, slightly different, and that was the goal. I’m obviously not happy with everything about it, but we’ll change that. You’ll see that happen towards the beginning of the year.”
New Japan Pro Wrestling’s November scheduling is usually dominated by the World Tag League shows – and 2018 is no different. This year’s lineup of shows will of course feature some of NJPW’s top stars, but there are some notable exceptions. Some of the shows will be available on NJPWWorld.
Here’s the results for the World Tag League in Korakuen Hall (11/18):
David Finlay and Juice Robinson b. Yuya Uemura and Yota Tsuji – Finlay took the win after hitting the Trush Panda on Uemura
Tanga Loa and Tama Tonga b. Ren Narita and Tomoaki Honma – Loa took the win after hitting the Apesh*t on Narita
Satoshi Kojima, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Toa Henare and Togi Makabe b. Shota Umino, Ayato Yoshida, Manabu Nakanishi and Yuji Nagata – Henare took the win after hitting the TOA Bottom on Umino
Yujiro Takahashi, Hangman Page and Kota Ibushi b. Chuckie T, Beretta and Hirooki Goto – Takahashi took the win after hitting the Pimp Juice on Chuckie T
SHO, YOH and Kazuchika Okada b. Shingo Takagi, BUSHI and Tetsuya Naito – Okada took the win after hitting the Rainmaker on BUSHI
1st WORLD TAG LEAGUE 2018: Tournament Match – Davey Boy Smith Jr and Lance Archer b. Takashi Iizuka and Minoru Suzuki – Archer took the win after and Smith hit the Killer Bomb
2nd WORLD TAG LEAGUE 2018: Tournament Match – Taichi and Zack Sabre Jr b. Toru Yano and Tomohiro Ishii – ZSJ and Taichi took the win due to referee stoppage
3rd WORLD TAG LEAGUE 2018: Tournament Match – SANADA and EVIL b. Jeff Cobb and Michael Elgin – EVIL took the win after hitting his namesake move on Cobb
Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW) will be heading to the Assembly in Aberdeen, Scotland on Sunday 25th. Several bouts have already been announced with a treat in store for the ICW faithful…
Former WWE Star Gangrel will be on hand for the event. The former Attitude Era star and leader of The Brood will be taking on Jack Jester in singles action. Jester is one half of the ICW Tag Team Champions alongside his Kinky Party tag team partner Sha Samuels. Gangrel has been extremely active on the independent scene since his WWE departure, his last bout for the company came in 2007 in a 15th Anniversary Battle Royal on Monday Night RAW.
Here is the full card for ICW Granite City Fight Club on November 25th:
ICW Women’s World Championship Match – Viper (c) vs Sammii Jayne
Grado vs Red Lightning
Jack Jester vs Gangrel
Liam Thomson vs Joe Hendry (w/ Leyton Buzzard)
Aaron Echo vs Kid Fite
The Purge (Krobar & Stevie James) & “The Revolutionary” Damien vs Kings Of Catch (Aspen Faith & Lewis Girvan) & Sugar Dunkerton
Just Justice vs Andy Wild
Crusher Craib vs Lionheart
BT Gunn vs Mikey Whiplash
ICW will also be hosting their biggest event of the year in December. Fear & Loathing XI will be taking place from the SSE Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland on December 2nd. You can check out our full coverage leading up to the historic event here.
Posted November 17th, 2018 in News. Tagged: Gangrel, ICW.
NXT’s Takeover: WarGames II takes place tonight from Los Angeles, California at the Staples Center and will air on the WWE Network.
One of the featured bouts sees Johnny Gargano take on Aleister Black in a long anticipated bout. Johnny ‘Wrestling’ turned heel when it was revealed that he attacked Black ending speculation on the long built storyline. The reveal took place back in October. Gargano has been spiralling more and more into the ‘delusional heel’ character with him writing in a recent tweet “The humble hard working kid who fights for what’s right vs The self-entitled guy who sits alone in a dark room filled with Birthday candles. You KNOW who the real hero of this story is and you KNOW what to do, Staples Center.”
You can check out our live discussion and results on the main page tonight.
Gargano sent out a tweet with a short video outlining the feud and hyping the bout, check it out below.
Today's the day.
Gargano vs Black.
The humble hard working kid who fights for what's right vs The self-entitled guy who sits alone in a dark room filled with Birthday candles.
You KNOW who the real hero of this story is and you KNOW what to do, Staples Center. pic.twitter.com/K7VOYHbgea
New Japan Pro Wrestling’s November scheduling is usually dominated by the World Tag League shows – and 2018 is no different. This year’s lineup of shows will of course feature some of NJPW’s top stars, but there are some notable exceptions. Some of the shows will be available on NJPWWorld.
The main headline grabbers are once again the World Tag League bouts themselves. Takashi Iizuka and Minoru Suzuki will be taking on Davey Boy Smith Jr and Lance Archer. Toru Yano and Tomohiro Ishii will also be taking on Suzuki-gun’s Taichi and Zack Sabre Jr. The interesting pairing of Jeff Cobb and Michael Elgin will headline against SANADA and EVIL.
Here’s the full card for the World Tag League in Korakuen Hall (11/18):
David Finlay and Juice Robinson vs Yuya Uemura and Yota Tsuji
Ren Narita and Tomoaki Honma vs Tanga Loa and Tama Tonga
Satoshi Kojima, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Toa Henare and Togi Makabe vs Shota Umino,, Ayato Yoshida, Manabu Nakanishi and Yuji Nagata
Chuckie T, Beretta and Hirooki Goto vs Yujiro Takahashi, Hangman Page and Kota Ibushi
SHO, YOH and Kazuchika Okada vs Shingo Takagi, BUSHI and Tetsuya Naito
1st WORLD TAG LEAGUE 2018: Tournament Match – Takashi Iizuka and Minoru Suzuki vs Davey Boy Smith Jr and Lance Archer
2nd WORLD TAG LEAGUE 2018: Tournament Match – Toru Yano and Tomohiro Ishii vs Taichi and Zack Sabre Jr
3rd WORLD TAG LEAGUE 2018: Tournament Match – Jeff Cobb and Michael Elgin vs SANADA and EVIL
NJPW star Will Ospreay has announced the next show for his Frontline Wrestling promotion.
CHAOS Restored will be taking place on 10th January at the Stratford Circus in London, England. The main event for the show has already been confirmed, it will be Mark Haskins versus David Starr.
Frontline revealed their new On Demand streaming service via the Pivotshare platform earlier this year. The service is available at a $4.99 per month cost and features the first two shows from the company. ‘Build Me An Empire’ and ‘S.P.I.R.I.T’ took place earlier this year and feature a stellar line up of talent.
Bulld Me An Empire is certainly worth the cost alone. The main event featured an outrageous bout between Chris Ridgeway and Japan’s KENOH. Ridgeway is an accomplished ‘strong style’ combatant in his own right but this match at the top of the card will be the bout that catapults him into the upper echelons of both the UK scene and, hopefully, Japan (much like how Ospreay’s bout against Okada for Rev Pro got him on a plane going East). We spoke to Ospreay earlier this year and he discussed his want to bring ‘puroresu‘ to the United Kingdom, this big time main event and the reaction from the crowd in attendance seems to solidify that strong style/puroresu has truly arrived in Britain.
Thursday 10th January 2019 • Stratford Circus, London •
New Japan Pro Wrestling’s November scheduling is usually dominated by the World Tag League shows – and 2018 is no different. This year’s lineup of shows will of course feature some of NJPW’s top stars, but there are some notable exceptions. Some of the shows will be available on NJPWWorld.
Here’s the full results for the World Tag League in Kanagawa (11/17):
Jeff Cobb and Michael Elgin b. Yuya Uemura and Yota Tsuji – Cobb took the win after hitting the Tour of the Islands on Tsuji
Taichi and Zack Sabre Jr b. Ren Narita and Tomoaki Honma – Taichi took the win after hitting the TENSHOJYUJIHOU on Narita
El Desperado, Takashi Iizuka and Minoru Suzuki b. Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Davey Boy Smith Jr and Lance Archer – Suzuki took the win after hitting the Gotch Style Piledriver on Kanemaru
1st WORLD TAG LEAGUE 2018: Tournament Match: David Finlay and Juice Robinson b. Shota Umino and Ayato Yoshida – Finlay took the win after hitting the Prima Nocta on Umino
2nd WORLD TAG LEAGUE 2018: Tournament Match: Manabu Nakanishi and Yuji Nagata b. Satoshi Kojima and Hiroyoshi Tenzan – Nagata took the win after hitting the Back Drop Hold on Kojima
3rd WORLD TAG LEAGUE 2018: Tournament Match: Chuckie T and Beretta b. Yujiro Takahashi and Hangman Page – Beretta took the win after hitting the Strong Zero on Takahashi
4th WORLD TAG LEAGUE 2018: Tournament Match: Tanga Loa and Tama Tonga b. Toa Henare and Togi Makabe – Loa took the win after hitting the Apesh*t on Henare
Shingo Takagi, BUSHI, SANADA, EVIL and Tetsuya Naito b. SHO, YOH, Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii and Kazuchika Okada – Naito took the win after hitting the Destino on YOH
Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW) will be heading to the SSE Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland this December. Fear & Loathing XI takes place on December 2nd and the card is taking shape…
Here’s the card as it stands:
ICW World Championship vs. Career Match – Jackie Polo (c) vs. Lionheart
Noam Dar, Wolfgang & BT Gunn Vs Pete Dunne, Tyler Bate and Trent Seven
Zero-G Championship Match – Mark Coffey vs. Joe Coffey
ICW World Women’s Championship Match – QUEEN OF INSANITY MATCH Viper vs. Kay Lee Ray
ICW Tag Team Championship Match – The Kinky Party vs Alpha Evil
Grado vs. James Storm
Mikey Whiplash vs. Joe Hendry
6 Team #1 Contender’s Tables Ladders & Chairs Match
The Briscoe Brothers vs. P.O.D vs. Kings of Catch vs. The Purge vs. ??? vs. ???
Also confirmed so are Jimmy Havoc & Mark Haskins
ICW has released a hype video for the event, you can check this out below.
New Japan Pro Wrestling’s November scheduling is usually dominated by the World Tag League shows – and 2018 is no different. This year’s lineup of shows will of course feature some of NJPW’s top stars, but there are some notable exceptions. Some of the shows will be available on NJPWWorld.
The headline grabbers are of course the opening bouts of the World Tag League itself. David Finlay and Juice Robinson will be taking on Shota Umino and Ayato Yoshida. New Japan legends Satoshi Kojima and Hiroyoshi Tenzan will be taking on fellow stalwarts Manabu Nakanishi and Yuji Nagata. Chuckie T and Beretta will face Yujiro Takahashi and Hangman Page and Toa Henare and Togi Makabe will take on Tanga Loa and Tama Tonga.
Here’s the full card for the World Tag League in Kanagawa (11/17):
Jeff Cobb and Michael Elgin vs Yuya Uemura and Yota Tsuji
Ren Narita and Tomoaki Honma vs Taichi and Zack Sabre Jr
El Desperado, Takashi Iizuka and Minoru Suzuki vs Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Davey Boy Smith Jr and Lance Archer
1st WORLD TAG LEAGUE 2018: Tournament Match – David Finlay and Juice Robinson vs Shota Umino and Ayato Yoshida
2nd WORLD TAG LEAGUE 2018: Tournament Match – Satoshi Kojima and Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs Manabu Nakanishi and Yuji Nagata
3rd WORLD TAG LEAGUE 2018: Tournament Match – Chuckie T and Beretta vs Yujiro Takahashi and Hangman Page
4th WORLD TAG LEAGUE 2018: Tournament Match – Toa Henare and Togi Makabe vs Tanga Loa and Tama Tonga
SHO, YOH, Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii and Kazuchika Okada vs Shingo Takagi, BUSHI, SANADA, EVIL and Tetsuya Naito
NXT UK continued this week with episodes seven and eight airing on the WWE Network. The shows heavily featured the Coffey Brothers and Wolfgang in their feud against Trent Seven & Tyler Bate.
Here’s the full results from week’s 7 and 8:
Episode 7 Results (taped August 25 at the NEC Arena in Birmingham, England)
Jordan Devlin b. Sid Scala – Devlin hit the Island’s Call in 3 minutes to take the win
Saxon Huxley & Joseph Conners b. Amir Jordan & Kenny Williams – Connors hit Don’t Look Down on Williams to take the win for his team
Tyler Bate b. James Drake – Bate hit the Tyler Driver ’97 to take the pinfall win
Wolfgang (w/ Joe & Mark Coffey) b. Ashton Smith – Wolfgang took the win after hitting a modified fisherman’s suplex into a slam
Episode 8 Results(taped August 25 at the NEC Arena in Birmingham, England)
NXT UK Women’s Title Tournament First Round Match – Dakota Kai b. Nina Samuels – Kai took the win after hitting the Kairopractor to advance to the semifinals
Tyson T-Bone b. Jake Constantino – T-Bone took the quick win after hitting a lariat
Dave Mastiff b. Dan Moloney – Mastiff took the win after hitting a cannonball into the corner
NXT UK Women’s Title Tournament First Round Match – Jinny b. Millie McKenzie – Jinny took the win after hitting a rolling axe kick to advance to the semifinals
Zack Gibson b. Trent Seven – Gibson took the win with a small package, James Drake distracted Seven for the finish
Welcome back to The 3 Count. Last week I discussed Tetsuya Naito and the two ‘mystery men’ that WWE were reportedly looking to sign from NJPW. Every week I will be looking at the hot topic in pro wrestling, this could be WWE or otherwise. This week’s topic should really come as no surprise…it’s The Man, Becky Lynch.
Straight Fire
Becky refers to herself as ‘straight fire,’ now she appears to be setting the entire company on fire. Last night’s RAW ended with the Irish Lass-kicker standing with a bloody nose goading Ronda Rousey. In terms of anti-hero characters they don’t come with much more hype than Becky has right now.
What led to Becky becoming this phenomenon? The fans always had a soft spot for the Smackdown Live Women’s Champion. Live audiences giving her a fair reception on shows with almost Dean Ambrose in 2014 perfunctory cheers and applause.
The Underdog
Something that WWE and wrestling fans have in common is the lure of the underdog. We saw this in the build to WrestleMania 30, with Daniel Bryan finally overcoming the odds and main eventing the biggest spectacle in sports entertainment. Could anyone have predicted that Bryan Danielson of ROH fame would even get to WrestleMania? Could anyone have guessed that he would main event the thing? If you would have told me this in 2005 I would’ve laughed you out of the room. Another thing that wrestling fans seem to enjoy is a good anti-hero, the biggest can be seen referenced in the headline of this article.
When WWE decided to have Becky Lynch ‘turn’ on her friend Charlotte Flair and engage in a feud it is doubtful that they would’ve been building to Lynch vs Ronda Rousey at Survivor Series next Sunday, at least in they way it turned out. When Charlotte stole the win over Carmella at Summerslam the seeds were sown for the feud, but WWE went into this thinking that Flair was going to be the fan favourite…how wrong they were.
Becky Did Nothing Wrong
With WWE pushing Becky Lynch as the antagonist they missed a vital ingredient…Lynch didn’t actually do anything wrong. Fast forward to today and the more that WWE attempted to push Lynch as a vicious heel the more that the audience where drawn to her and got behind the Irish Superstar. Last night’s appearance on RAW solidified Lynch as the ultimate anti-hero, the symbol of a bloodied Lass-kicker in her Smackdown Live shirt on RAW oozed attitude…but let’s not pretend that Becky is just an Austin clone or re-hash. ‘The Man’ Becky Lynch is the perfect attitude and character for 2018’s WWE.
The question is, were WWE extremely tone deaf when it came to the way Lynch was portrayed? Or was this the plan all along, to make the Survivor Series bout a de-facto face vs face match against Rousey? The optimist in me hopes that they had at least somewhat of an idea of Lynch’s popularity, the realist knows that they butchered the push and got extremely lucky.
WWE is now in a very delicate position with Becky. How many times have we seen something completely organic and cool be ruined by the company when they decide to get behind it? Fandangoing, Zack Ryder, Ryback (yes, really)…we all have our own examples. The key here is to just let Becky be Becky and let her natural charisma and vision drive this push, but again the realist in me knows they’ll likely choke all the fun out of it.
How do you think WWE should book Becky Lynch going forward?
PROGRESS held their 78th Chapter event this past Sunday from the O2 Ritz in Manchester. The show was headlined by a huge PROGRESS World Championship between Mark Haskins and Champion WALTER. NXT UK’s Trent Seven, Eddie Dennis, Jordan Devlin,
Eddie Dennis b. Mike Bailey – Dennis took the win to keep his impressive win streak alive. He is the Number 1 Contender to the PROGRESS World Championship
Isla Dawn b. Lana Austin – Dawn took the win over the debuting Lana Austin. Isla Dawn also appeared for ICW over the weekend
Jordan Devlin b. Chris Ridgeway – NXT UK and OTT star Devlin took the win in a hard hitting bout with UK standout Ridgeway
David Starr vs Ilja Dragunov – This bout ended in a Double DQ when former PROGRESS World Champion Travis Banks interfered
PROGRESS Tag Team Championship Match – Aussie Open b. Chris Brookes & Timothy Thatcher – Aussie Open retain their titles at the second time of asking
PROGRESS Atlas Championship Match – Trent Seven (c) b. Zack Gibson – Seven took the win in 5 SECONDS to retain his title. Both men also faced for the belt at the WWE event in Brighton on Friday
PROGRESS World Championship Match – WALTER (c) b. Mark Haskins – WALTER took the win after hitting a Fire Thunder Driver, Haskins had previously kicked out of a Tombstone Piledriver
New Japan recently held two four match shows in Anaheim, California as part of their Lion’s project. Lion’s Break Project took place at Anaheim Expo Center as part of CharaExpo USA 2018.
Here’s the results for the two shows over the weekend:
Saturday November 10th Results
Alex Coughlin vs Karl Fredericks – this bout went to a 10-minute time limit draw
Ryusuke Taguchi b. Rocky Romero – Taguchi took the win with a roll-up
David Finlay b. Jushin Thunder Liger – Finlay took the pinfall win after hitting a stunner
NEVER Openweight Championship Hirooki Goto b. ACH – Goto took the win after hitting the GTR in a non-title match. Jeff Cobb was initially expected to face Goto but this was changed last minute due to travel issues
Sunday November 11th Results
ACH b. Karl Fredericks – ACH took the win with a bridging German Suplex
Jushin ‘Thunder’ Liger b. Clark Connors – Liger took the win via submission
Jeff Cobb & Ryusuke Taguchi b. Rocky Romero & NEVER Openweight Champion Hirooki Goto – Cobb took the win after hitting the Tour of the Islands on Romero
IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega b. David Finlay – Omega hit One Winged Angel to take the win in a non-title match
Insane Championship Wrestling has announced two huge bouts for their December 2nd event. The annual Fear & Loathing event has reached number XI and will be held once again at the Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland.
WWE 205 and NXT UK Superstar Noam Dar will be teaming with Wolfgang and BT Gunn to take on British Strong Style. Pete Dunne, Tyler Bate and Trent Seven were announced for the show previously and their opponents are now confirmed.
ICW has also confirmed that the Kinky Party will be defending their ICW Tag Team Championships against Iestyn Rees and Bram.
ICW has also announced a huge Women’s Championship match for their Fear & Loathing XI event. Women’s Champion Viper will be facing challenger Kay Lee Ray. Both stars are considered to be amongst the World’s best and have been a featured part of the weekly WoS programme on ITV/STV.
Fear & Loathing XI will be taking place on December 2nd at the SSE Hydro. If you’re an ICW fan you know that the ‘Loathing event is ICW’s biggest in the calendar year and last year’s iteration featured Rey Mysterio, Kevin Nash and Rob Van Dam amongst the homegrown talent.
Tickets are available to purchase via Ticketmaster now.
Pro Wrestling: EVE held the opening matches for their upcoming SHE-1 tournament on Saturday. This is the second year of the SHE-1 and is set to be an absolutely incredible event. Current EVE Champion Charlie Morgan won the first iteration of the tournament and went on to beat Sammii Jayne for the belt at Wrestle Queendom.
One of the biggest names confirmed for the tournament is NXT UK’s Toni Storm. The Australian star won this year’s Mae Young Classic at the Evolution Network event. Also confirmed are NXT UK Superstar Jinny, WoS/World of Sport’s Viper, Jetta, Rhia O’Reilly and Joshi wrestling legend Command Bolshoi.
Here’s the full results for Day 1 of the tournament:
SHE-1 Show 1 Results
Viper b. Millie McKenzie – The Scottish star took the win after rolling through a Million Dollar Dream type submission
Charli Evans b. Erin Angel – Evans took the win after hitting a Package DDT.
Jamie Hayter b. Madison Eagles – Hayter took the win after hitting a Curb Stomp
Kris Wolf b. Rhia O’Reilly – Wolf took the win after hitting a Satellite DDT
Command Bolshoi b. Jetta – Bolshoi took the win via pinfall to earn 2 points
Toni Storm b. Kasey – Storm took the win after hitting Strong Zero
SHE-1 Standings after Show 1
A BLOCK: Hayter 2, Viper 2, Eagles 0, McKenzie 0
B BLOCK: Evans 2, Wolf 2, Angel 0, O’Reilly 0
C BLOCK: Bolshoi 2, Storm 2, Jetta 0, Kasey 0
Credit to ProWresLand for the results
SHE-1 Show 2 Results
Viper b. Madison Eagles – Viper took the win after hitting the Viper Driver. Eagles is eliminated
Command Bolshoi b. Kasey – Bolshoi took the win via submission to reach 4 points
Toni Storm b. Jetta – Storm took the win after rolling up Jetta
Charlie Morgan b. Erin Angel – Morgan took the win after hitting the Ace’s Over
Kris Wolf b. Charli Evans – Wolf took the win after hitting a Satellite DDT
Jamie Hayter b. Millie McKenzie – Hayter took the win after Curb Stomping McKenzie on a table
Insane Championship Wrestling will be hosting a show today at Glasgow’s Garage venue. WWE will also be running an event in Glasgow this afternoon.
ICW has confirmed that a WWE Superstar will be appearing as part of their Garage show. The company has not revealed who will be appearing but have confirmed that they will be in action against ICW’s Mikey Whiplash.
Several WWE Superstars have been on the ICW roster. Sanity’s Killian Dain was a huge part of the company and is part of Smackdown Live so he could make an appearance. Kassius Ohno is also a possibility, the former Chris Hero has made appearances for ICW whilst being contracted to NXT. Other possibilities include NXT UK’s Noam Dar, Kenny Williams, Wolfgang or a huge return could be Drew McIntyre. McIntyre is one of the big reasons that ICW exploded in popularity, he joined their Hall of Fame this past February.
Tickets for the show are available via the tweet below:
Revolution Pro held their Uprising 2018 event this past Friday from Bethnal Green’s York Hall. Tomohiro Ishii defended his Rev Pro British Heavyweight Championship in the main event. Ishii defended against David Starr and successfully retained his title.
Zack Sabre Jr and his fellow Suzuki-gun stablemates appeared after the match. Minoru Suzuki and ZSJ attacked Ishii and Zack announced that he wanted his rematch for the British Championship at New Japan’s biggest event: Wrestle Kingdom.
Opinion: This is a huge moment in the history of British wrestling. Having a huge singles bout between ZSJ and Ishii for Rev Pro’s biggest accolade cements the importance and hype being the UK scene right now. Ishii and ZSJ can be regarded as the workhorses of their respected regions. Having the Rev Pro British Heavyweight Championship on the show also adds another dimension to WK. The title can be used as a marquee bout for shows going forward.
If you’re in the UK you can catch Rev Pro on FreeSportsUK. The UK based company will be using the nationwide channel as the home for their new TV show going forward.
You can check out the exclusive interview we conducted with Rev Pro owner Andy Quildan here. When we discussed the timing of the new show Andy confirmed that “WoS had no impact on our decision. In all honesty whilst I watch as much product as possible from WWE, ROH, NJPW, CMLL to all the indies here in the UK, aside from learning best (or at times worst) practice I try not to let what others are doing dictate the way I choose to run my business.”
Revolution Pro Wrestling presented their Uprising 2018 event from the world famous York Hall this past Friday. The Bethnal Green show featured some huge international bouts with the headline spot going to Tomohiro Ishii and David Starr. Starr challenged Ishii to the bout and Rev Pro granted his wish.
Here’s the full results for Rev Pro Uprising 2018:
Taichi b. Chris Brookes – Taichi took the win after Will Ospreay interfered and accidentally hit Brookes
The Great-O-Kharn b. Shane Taylor – O-Kharn took the win after hitting a Chokeslam
Josh Bodom b. Chris Ridgeway – Bodom took the win after hitting a Tombstone on the apron and a Bliss Buster
El Phantasmo b. El Desperado – Phantasmo took the win after hitting his patented swanton and moonsault combination
Satoshi Kojima b. WALTER – Kojima took the win after hitting a Lariat, WALTER appeared to be hurt and the match was quick
MK McKinnan b. ‘Speedball’ Mike Bailey – McKinnan took the win after getting Bailey in a choke and elbowing him till he passed out
Rev Pro British Tag Team Championship – Zack Sabre Jr and Minoru Suzuki (c) b. Aussie Open (Mark Davis and Kyle Fletcher) – Suzuki Gun took the win to retain their titles after Minoru Suzuki pinned Kyle Fletcher with the Gotch Style Piledriver
Rev Pro British Heavyweight Championship Match – Tomohiro Ishii (c) b. David Starr – Ishii took the win to retain his title after hitting a Brainbuster
PROGRESS’ ATLAS division title was defended at a rather interesting venue this weekend. A SmackDown-brand house show took place in Brighton, England on Friday and NXT UK Superstar Trent Seven was in action.
Seven is the ATLAS Champion in PROGRESS. The ATLAS title was designed as a belt for the over 205 pound stars in PROGRESS. Trent Seven won the title at PROGRESS’ Wembley Arena show in September against Doug Williams. The British legend Williams was forced to retire per the stipulation of the match after Seven pinned him with a cross-body.
Zack Gibson was the challenger for the belt in Brighton. Seven took the win and successfully defended the Championship. Trent is due to defend his title today in PROGRESS’ Chapter 78 event ’24 Hour PROGRESS People’ at the O2 Ritz in Manchester.
Pro Wrestling: EVE has announced opening matches for their upcoming SHE-1 tournament. This is the second year of the SHE-1 and is set to be an absolutely incredible event. Current EVE Champion Charlie Morgan won the first iteration of the tournament and went on to beat Sammii Jayne for the belt at Wrestle Queendom.
One of the biggest names confirmed for the tournament is NXT UK’s Toni Storm. The Australian star won this year’s Mae Young Classic at the Evolution Network event. Also confirmed are NXT UK Superstar Jinny, WoS/World of Sport’s Viper, Jetta, Rhia O’Reilly and Joshi wrestling legend Command Bolshoi.
Here’s the card for Show 1 taking place tomorrow afternoon at 2pm:
BLOCK A – Show 1
Jamie Hayter vs. Madison Eagles
Millie McKenzie vs. Viper
BLOCK B – Show 1
Kris Wolf vs. Rhia O’Reilly
Charli Evans vs. Kasey
BLOCK C – Show 1
Jinny vs. Toni Storm
Command Bolshoi vs. Jetta
Here’s the card for Show 2 taking place tomorrow night at 8pm:
BLOCK A – Show 2
Jamie Hayter vs Millie McKenzie
Viper vs Madison Eagles
BLOCK B – Show 2
Rhia O’Reilly vs Kasey
Kris Wolf vs Charli Evans
BLOCK C – Show 2
Toni Storm vs Jetta
Command Bolshoi vs Jinny
Pro Wrestling: EVE also recently released their Wrestle Queendom show on YouTube for free. The event took place on May 5th earlier this year and featured some of the most critically acclaimed bouts in Women’s wrestling in 2018. Japanese legend and Mae Young Classic competitor Meiko Satomura, Aja Kong, Viper/Piper Niven, WoS Star Kay Lee Ray and more can be seen on this incredible card.