Posts Tagged ‘Aussie Open’

ROH TV Champ Kyle Fletcher Unable To Compete in the U.S. Due to Visa Issues

One of Ring of Honor’s top stars is currently unable to compete in the ring in the United States due to ongoing issues with their visa. 

Kyle Fletcher has not been able to compete for weeks in either Ring of Honor or All Elite Wrestling due to these issues, according to Fightful Select. The reigning Ring of Honor World Television Champion, Fletcher’s most recent match was against Chris Jericho on the January 31, edition of AEW Dynamite. Jericho would get the pinfall victory in this non-title match. 

A Change of Plans

Fletcher’s visa issues have led to all plans for the ROH World Television Champion being left up in the air. The report adds that Fletcher was poised for a program with Ethan Page over the ROH World TV title. It’s unclear if Ring of Honor will continue with this plan when Fletcher can compete again. 

Backstage Perception

AEW management has been very happy with Fletcher’s performance since he began competing for the company. As part of Aussie Open, Fletcher has been thrust into several high-profile spots, including matches with ally Will Ospreay. More recently though, Fletcher has been embarking on a singles run as his longtime partner Mark Davis has been sidelined with an injury. 

Kyle Fletcher in Ring of Honor

In addition to his current TV title reign, Fletcher is a former Ring of Honor World Tag Team Champion. In 2023, he won ROH’s Survival of the Fittest tournament to win the vacant ROH World Television Champion. Previous Survival of the Fittest winners include Bryan Danielson, Seth Rollins, Adam Cole, and Roderick Strong. 

NJPW Royal Quest Results

NJPW’s first ever non-co-promoted event in the United Kingdom takes place today at the Copper Box Arena in London: it’s Royal Quest!

This event cannot be watched live on NJPW World. Rather, it is streaming live exclusively on Fite TV for $24.99 USD. English and Japanese commentary streams are available. Start times: 9:30AM Pacific, 12:30PM Eastern, 5:30PM UK, 2:30AM East Australia

Royal Quest Match Card

Roppongi 3K (SHO, YOH & Rocky Romero) defeated Ryusuke Taguchi, Shota Umino & Ren Narita
The crowd was hot for everyone in this opener, especially Shota Umino, who received repeated “Shooter!” chants. Unfortunately, preduction issues caused this match to lack commentary in either language as well as cut out intermittently. SHO pinned Ren Narita after a powerbomb lungblower.

Kota Ibushi & Juice Robinson defeated Bullet Club (Yujiro Takahashi & Hikuleo)
Hikuleo is currently undergoing something of a learning excursion in England and looks faster than he did when he was in Japan. Kota Ibushi pinned Hikuleo after a Boma Ye followed by the Kamigoye.

CHAOS (Will Ospreay & Robbie Eagles) defeated Bullet Club (Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo)
Will Ospreay pinned Taiji Ishimori after a double-team top rope Spanish fly with Robbie Eagles. Ospreay got on the microphone, dubbed himself and Eagles as “The Birds of Prey” and said they want to challenge for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships.

Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito & SANADA) defeated Bullet Club (Jay White & Chase Owens)
Jay White got the loudest boos of the night so far, while Naito got arguably the loudest cheers. SANADA submitted Chase Owens with the Skull End. After the match, Jay White continued attacking LIJ and was given a chair by Gedo. White hit SANADA with the chair, but Naito evaded it and hit White with a Destino, then tapping his own three-count on the mat.

IWGP Tag Team Championship Match: Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa) (c) defeated Aussie Open (Mark Davis & Kyle Fletcher)
There were dueling G.o.D. and Aussie Open chants which lasted for multiple minutes long, rather impressive for a match that no build besides Aussie Open winning a number one contenders tournament. Tama Tonga pinned Kyle Fletcher after a top rope powerbomb from Tanga Loa. Guerrillas of Destiny make their fifth consecutive defense of the IWGP Tag Team Championships. Their reign is currently 189 days long.

NEVER Openweight Championship Match: KENTA defeated Tomohiro Ishii (c)
KENTA was roundly booed by the audience due to his new association with Bullet Club. Starting off, KENTA was reluctant to face Ishii head-on, stalling on the outside for a prolonged period. When KENTA mimicked Katsuyori Shibata’s running front kick followed by the corner dropkick, he was booed once again. Ishii took everything KENTA had and asked for more. KENTA went for the diving double foot stomp followed by the Go 2 Sleep but Ishii powered out. Then, Ishii attempted the vertical brainbuster but KENTA stuffed it. The Guerrillas of Destiny interfered in the match but Ishii fought them both off, only for them to pull the referee out when Ishii went for a pin. G.o.D. hit Ishii with the Magic Killer, but couldn’t finish Ishii off. KENTA pinned Ishii with the Go 2 Sleep and became the 27th NEVER Openweight Champion. Tomohiro Ishii’s reign lasted 89 days with 0 successful defenses.

British Heavyweight Championship Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Zack Sabre Jr. (c)
Despite Zack having the home field advantage, the crowd response seemed fairly evenly split for him and Tanahashi. This was a ground-based fight with submissions and pin attempts as each of them worked to immobilize the other with joint attacks. In particular, Zack targeted Tanahashi’s arms, but he was still able to block multiple attempts at the Zack Driver. Tanahashi went for the High Fly Flow but Sabre got the knees up. Following a bridging dragon suplex and sling blade, Tanahashi went for the High Fly Flow once more. Hiroshi Tanahashi pinned Zack Sabre Jr. and became the 22nd RevPro British Heavyweight Champion. Zack Sabre Jr.’s reign lasted 235 days.

IWGP Heavyweight Championship Match: Kazuchika Okada (c) defeated Minoru Suzuki
Okada and Suzuki were both wildly over before the bell rang. The match began with wrestling on the mat, then transitioned into standing up fighting as Suzuki lost his patience. Suzuki took a steel chair from under the ring but the referee told him not to, and Suzuki threatened to hit him with the chair. Suzuki laughed at Okada’s strikes and began to dominate the match, working over Okada’s right arm. Okada put his hands behind his back and beckoned Suzuki to hit him, but forearms to the face sent Okada crashing down. Suzuki headbutted Okada multiple times and looked to follow up but Okada stopped him with a dropkick and then put him in a sleeper hold, which the crowd didn’t like. Okada hit the Rainmaker followed by another, but Suzuki stopped his rampage with many slaps to the face and body. Suzuki went for the Gotch-style piledriver, but Okada struggled out of it. Kazuchika Okada hit the Rainmaker once again and defeated Minoru Suzuki by pinfall. Okada makes his third defense of the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.

After the match, Okada cut a promo that was partially in English, thanking Suzuki and the fans. SANADA came out and made it clear that he would be next to challenge for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, and said he would be the Champion by the time he returned to London.

NJPW Royal Quest: Guerrillas Of Destiny’s Opponents Confirmed, Updated Card

To determine who will face the IWGP Tag Team Champions Guerillas of Destiny at Royal Quest, Revolution Pro Wrestling held the Road to Royal Quest tournament on Friday.

Aussie Open (Mark Davis & Kyle Fletcher) defeated Josh Bodom & Sha Samuels in the finals of the tournament at RevPro’s Summer Sizzler event at York Hall in London, England on Saturday to earn the title shot against the Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa) for the NJPW event set for today. The champs made an appearance after the match and had a stare-down with the challengers.

NJPW’s Royal Quest will take place today on August 31, 2019 at the Copper Box Arena in London, England and will be streamed live on FITE TV at 2:30 p.m. EST/ 5:30 p.m. BST.

Here is the full updated card for Royal Quest:

  • Six-man tag team match: Ryusuke Taguchi, Shota Umino and Ren Narita vs. Roppongi 3K (Rocky Romero, Sho and Yoh)
  • Kota Ibushi and Juice Robinson vs. Bullet Club (Yujiro Takahashi and Hikuleo)
  • Chaos (Will Ospreay and Robbie Eagles) vs. Bullet Club (Taiji Ishimori and El Phantasmo)
  • Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito and Sanada) vs. Bullet Club (Jay White and Chase Owens)
  • IWGP Tag Team Championship Match: Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa) (c) vs. Aussie Open (Mark Davis & Kyle Fletcher)
  • NEVER Openweight Championship Match: Tomohiro Ishii (c) vs. Kenta
  • RevPro British Heavyweight Championship Match: Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
  • IWGP Heavyweight Championship Match: Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Minoru Suzuki

Roppongi 3K Announced For Rev Pro WrestleMania Weekend

Revolution Pro (Rev Pro) Wrestling has announced a big tag match for their WrestleCon event in April. Sho and Yoh of Roppongi 3K will be taking on Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis).

The show will be taking place on Friday April 5th from the Hilton New York Midtown Ballroom. Already announced for the show are Will Ospreay, PAC, Tomohiro Ishii and CCK (Chris Brookes and Jon Gresham).

Ospreay and PAC will be teaming to take on Brookes and Gresham. The two men had an incredible time limit draw at the recent High Stakes 2019 event in York Hall, Bethnal Green. Brookes and Gresham interfered during the bout which has lead to this match. There were originally rumors that Ospreay would be facing PAC as a way to give Rev Pro one of the ‘best’ in ring bouts of WrestleMania weekend.

Ticket information for the show can be found here.

Swords of Essex vs Aussie Open Announced For PROGRESS Chapter 84

PROGRESS has announced a huge Tag Team Title match for their upcoming Chapter 84 event.

Swords of Essex (Will Ospreay and Paul Robinson) will be defending against Aussie Open. Ospreay and Robinson shockingly won the titles at Chapter 82: Unboxing. The Unboxing show is an annual event where the card is a complete mystery to fans. Ospreay appeared alongside his longtime friend/rival Robinson just days before Wrestle Kingdom in January. Ospreay and Robinson then took the titles off of Aussie Open, ending their first reign with the belts. Aussie Open won the Championship back at the PROGRESS Wembley show last year.

This will be the Sword’s second defence of the titles, having defeated CCK back at Chapter 83: Remove Child Before Ironing. Ospreay and Robinson defeated Chris Brookes and Kid Lykos in a great match to retain their new belts.

Aussie Open recently defeated the Do Not Resuscitate team to earn this shot at the tag team Champions. Mark Davis and Kyle Fletcher have been an electric tag team ever since they joined the UK scene just a few years ago. The two men arrived in England as singles competitors but quickly joined forces to become one of the most beloved tandems in the UK scene.

Aussie Open vs CCK for DEFIANT Unstoppable 2019

DEFIANT Wrestling has announced their first PPV of the year. The UK based company will be heading to the Manchester Academy on Saturday February 9th for ‘Unstoppable.’

Tickets are now available to purchase as of Wednesday 12th December. The first match of the show has finally been announced. DEFIANT Tag Team Champions Aussie Open will be defending against CCK (Chris Brookes and Kid Lykos).

DEFIANT also recently announced the return of ‘Loaded.’ The show is a free-to-air programme that features many of the top talent from the UK independent scene. The show has seen many iterations over the past few years. DEFIANT sent out the following press release for the return back in September:

Loaded previously ran for 33 episodes between July 2016 and October 2017, amassing over 25 MILLION views on YouTube. Loaded, at that time, ran under the WCPW (What Culture Pro Wrestling) banner, with WCPW since rebranded as Defiant Wrestling in late 2017 following a diversification from the What Culture brand.”

The company also recently announced that PAC will be making his debut for the company in 2019. The former WWE Cruiserweight Champion is confirmed for the first two dates of 2019’s ‘Loaded’ tapings. It is not confirmed if PAC will be part of Unstoppable but it would be a huge opportunity to get the former WWE Champion on PPV.

Two More Confirmed Matches for Rev Pro’s Summer Sizzler 2018 feat. Former WWE Tag Team Champion

Revolution Pro Wrestling (Rev Pro) has announced two more bouts for their upcoming Summer Sizzler 2018 event which takes place Friday August 17th from the historic York Hall in Bethnal Green, London.

The first is a tag team bout pitting the New Japan Pro Wrestling/Pro Wrestling NOAH team of Davey Boy Smith Jr and Lance Archer (Killer Elite Squad) against one of the most praised duos in all of the UK scene: Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis). The second bout sees CMLL’s Titan and El Soberano in a bout between two of the globe’s finest high flyers.

This joins the news that former British Heavyweight Champion and legend of the New Japan Pro Wrestling promotion Tomohiro Ishii will be taking on former PROGRESS ATLAS and wXw Unified World Champion WALTER.

Ishii recently lost his British Heavyweight title against Minoru Suzuki at the Strong Style Evolved this past weekend, after the match WALTER appeared and attacked the ‘Stone Pitbull’ to set up this huge bout at the ‘Sizzler.

WALTER has been heavily rumored for a move to WWE over the past year, his work as part of the Ringkampf stable in wXw and his breakout year on the UK scene for the likes of PROGRESS have earned him worldwide acclaim and a chance to appear for PWG and quite possibly New Japan in the near future.

wXw Confirm First Participants in World Tag Team League 2018

Germany’s top independent promotion Westwide Xtreme Wrestling (wXw) has announced the first four teams for their upcoming World Tag Team League 2018 tournament which takes place October 5th-7th from Turbinhalle, Oberhausen. The teams are as follows:

  • Daichi Hashimoto & Hideyoshi Kamitani (Big Japan)
  • Aussie Open (PROGRESS, Rev Pro, Attack! and Fight Club: Pro)
  • CCK (PROGRESS, Rev Pro, Attack! and Fight Club: Pro)
  • Rey Fenix and Penta El Zero M (Lucha Underground and IMPACT)

For longtime readers of the UK/European sections of the site Aussie Open will not be a unfamiliar name. We added them to our ‘Top 3 Emerging Tag Teams on the UK Scene’ list back in February; comprising Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis, Aussie Open are one of the most dynamic and exciting teams to emerge from the UK scene in the past year. Having first formed in the ATTACK! promotion back in August they have been challenging for titles in the likes of HOPE, Rev Pro, IPW:UK and CZW which is an absolute testament to their talent and ability to gel so quickly as a unit. Aussie Open have a strong big man/little man dynamic almost akin to that of an early Hart Foundation, the stacked Mark Davis provides a powerful hot tag whilst teammate Kyle Fletcher has an agile flair to his in ring approach.

Tickets for the show are available to purchase now from wXw-Shop.com 

https://twitter.com/wXwGermany/status/1008378747429539840

Final Match Announced for Frontline Wrestling feat. WWE UK Superstar

Will Ospreay’s new promotion Frontline Wrestling has announced the final match for their upcoming debut show ‘Build Me An Empire.’

WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament competitor Travis Banks will be teaming with his CCK stablemates Kid Lykos and Chris Brookes to take on Aussie Open (Fletcher & Davis) and Adam Brooks.

As we already announced on the site last month: Pro Wrestling NOAH and Japanese legend Kenoh will be facing one of the UK’s standout talents; Chris Ridgeway in the main event of the show. Ridgeway is one of the most hard hitting and impactful performers on the scene today and his style meshes perfectly with the ‘British Puro’ aesthetic that Frontine are looking to bring on their cards. Company owner Will Ospreay mentioned in an exclusive interview with SEScoops that he wanted to bring Strong Style to Great Britain in a way that was authentic to the Japanese wrestling culture but still highlighted some of the stellar talent that is being produced on UK shores.

Here is the full card for the event:

  • Chris Ridgeway vs KENOH
  • Rampage Brown vs Rob Lynch
  • Naoki Tanizaki vs Mark Haskins
  • Toni Storm vs Bea Priestley
  • M&M vs The 198 (‘Flash’ Morgan Webster and Wild Boar)
  • Damian Dunne & Kip Sabian vs El Phantasmo & Kelly Sixx
  • CCK vs Aussie Open & Adam Brooks

Will Ospreay and Aussie Open Announced for DEFIANT ‘Built to Destroy’

DEFIANT Wrestling have announced two names for their upcoming ‘Built to Destroy’ PPV event, one a returning champion and the other one of the hottest tag teams currently on the UK independent scene.

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay will be making his long awaited return to the company, his opponent has not yet been named. The ‘Aerial Assassin’ is due to perform in New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Best of the Super Juniors tournament from May 18th and you can catch his first round bout against Ishimori for free on NJPWWorld.com on night 1.

Aussie Open are the other confirmed name for the PPV, Comprising Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis, Aussie Open are one of the most dynamic and exciting teams to emerge from the UK scene in the past year. Having first formed in the ATTACK! promotion back in August they have been challenging for titles in the likes of HOPE, Rev Pro, IPW:UK and CZW which is an absolute testament to their talent and ability to gel so quickly as a unit. Aussie Open have a strong big man/little man dynamic almost akin to that of an early Hart Foundation, the stacked Mark Davis provides a powerful hot tag whilst teammate Kyle Fletcher has an agile flair to his in ring approach, this team is certainly one to look out for.

Frontline Wrestling (UK) Announce First 5 Competitors for Debut Show 6/28

Frontline Wrestling has announced the first 5 competitors for their upcoming debut show from Stratford Circus on June 28th. Company owner Will Ospreay released the names earlier today and they include some of the finest performers on the scene.

PROGRESS World Champion Travis Banks, ‘Flash’ Morgan Webster, Chris Ridgeway and tag team Aussie Open lead the way for the new ‘sports orientated’ Frontline company who are looking to bring the Japanese ‘Puro’ style to British shores in a way that has never been seen before. This announcement with these incredible athletes shows that the company is going full bore on ushering in a new era of Strong Style in Great Britain.

Tickets for the debut event can be purchased via the official Frontline site now.

DEFIANT Announce Tag Team Title Match for Friday’s Loaded

DEFIANT Wrestling has announced a huge Tag Team Title match for their upcoming episode of Loaded this Friday. Champions Jimmy Havoc and Primate will be defending against arguably the best emerging team on the UK scene: Aussie Open.

This Friday marks the last Loaded show before DEFIANT’s ‘Lights Out’ pay per view on March 19th, which will be available to view via DEFIANT’s On Demand service. Some of the names already announced for ‘Lights Out’ are Christopher Daniels, Rampage, Jimmy Havoc, Martin Kirby, Joe Hendry, Primate, Mark Haskins, Aussie Open, Kay Lee Ray and Millie Mckenzie.

You can check out DEFIANT’s weekly Loaded show through their dedicated YouTube channel.

3 of the Best Emerging Tag Teams On The UK Scene

Wrestling on British shores has been booming for the past few years, companies such as PROGRESS, ICW, Rev Pro, Pro Wrestling: EVE, OTT and Riptide have been growing exponentially to the point that shows in arenas such as Wembley and the SSE Hydro in Scotland are no longer fantasy but an absolute reality.

Alongside this boom in the UK scene there has been a steady growth in the quality of Tag Team wrestling. PROGRESS in particular has seen it’s share of teams go on to great success in WWE UK, World of Sport and beyond. We’ll be looking now at 3 teams who are currently rising the ranks in PROGRESS and becoming the ones to watch in the Tag scene:

Aussie Open

Rev Pro Chosen vs Aussie Open

Comprising Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis, Aussie Open are one of the most dynamic and exciting teams to emerge from the UK scene in the past year. Having first formed in the ATTACK! promotion back in August they have been challenging for titles in the likes of HOPE, Rev Pro, IPW:UK and CZW which is an absolute testament to their talent and ability to gel so quickly as a unit. Aussie Open have a strong big man/little man dynamic almost akin to that of an early Hart Foundation, the stacked Mark Davis provides a powerful hot tag whilst teammate Kyle Fletcher has an agile flair to his in ring approach. If you are able to catch this team during Wrestlemania weekend in New Orleans (they will be performing on at least one card that weekend for Fight Club Pro) then you absolutely must, they are a force of nature and have no clear end in sight for their ability.

Never Say Die

Never Say Die PROGRESS

Alex Cupid and Dillon D’Angelo are the next team that you must check out. The duo have been blazing a trail in PROGRESS since their debut at the very first episode of Freedom’s Road back in 2016. Since that event they made their PROGRESS Chapter debut at ‘Fate Loves The Fearless’ (in a losing effort to our next team on the list) and have appeared at HOPE, RCWA and ACW building upon their now well established chemistry. The team were graduates from the PROGRESS ‘ProJo’ and are a fine example of the quality that the British scene has been producing. Whilst the team are now being established again on PROGRESS’ Live at The Dome side shows they are absolutely destined to grace the main Chapter events going forward, certainly names to remember for the future.

Grizzled Young Veterans

Grizzled Young Vets

Zack Gibson and WWE UK’s James Drake are actually a team that I would never had expected to put on this list when they were first paired off to defeat Never Say Die back at PROGRESS’ ‘Fate Loves The Fearless’ event. Gibson had previously been part of an extremely successful team alongside Nathan Cruz known as ‘The Origin’ and their seemingly dissolved team came as a shock to the PROGRESS fans and a real shame considering their ability. James Drake was a newcomer to the promotion and had a successful but uneventful run in his early tenure, but the team he formed alongside Gibson saw them capture the PROGRESS Tag Team Titles and catapult them into an outrageous exciting run against Moustache Mountain (Trent Seven & Tyler Bate). As a member of the WWE UK Division Drake has already proved his ability, maybe it is time that his tag partner Gibson made the jump over too?

You can check out all of these teams on Demand PROGRESS right now for ¢7.49 per month.

Matt Riddle and Jeff Cobb Announced for Rev Pro ‘Epic Encounter,’ Could This Lead to a NJPW Run?

The ‘Chosen Bros’ tag team of Lucha Underground’s Jeff Cobb and EVOLVE/PROGRESS’ Matt Riddle will be making their way to Rev Pro’s ‘Epic Encounter’ event on May 11th from the world famous York Hall in Bethnal Green, London. The team were expected to be part of New Japan’s World Tag League event last year but plans were allegedly nixed once NJPW officials became aware of Riddle’s previous drug history. Jeff Cobb still made an appearance in the tournament alongside Michael Elgin.

With Rev Pro’s strong working relationship alongside New Japan there is always the chance that Riddle could be brought into the fold, he is regarded as one of the top independent stars on the planet and could be a huge asset to New Japan, especially considering their US expansion plans.

Riddle and Cobb will be taking on one of the best up and coming teams on the UK circuit right now, Aussie Open. Comprised of Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis, Aussie Open have been tearing through the United Kingdom’s tag ranks ever since they joined forces in 2017. Incredible bouts through PROGRESS against the likes of Mark Haskins & Jimmy Havoc, CCK and Moustache Mountain/British Strong Style have garnered the Australian stars a huge following on UK shores. This bout will surely be Aussie Open’s biggest test yet and a massive opportunity to test themselves against two of the world’s best.

The two main event bouts for the card have also been announced and they are as follows:

  • Revolution Pro British Tag Team Championship Match – Suzuki-gun (RPW British Heavyweight Champion Zack Sabre Jr & IWGP Intercontinental Champion, Minoru Suzuki) vs CCK (Chris Brookes & Travis Banks)
  • WWN World Champion Keith Lee Vs Tomohiro Ishii