WWE has already announced that the SmackDown Tag Team Title Match that will see Luke Harper and Erick Rowan defend the straps against Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows will air on the Money in the Bank Pre-show this Sunday.
Harper recently hyped the match by bringing up Anderson’s wife and if she would be at the show for their match. Anderson responded by writing the following:
As seen on this week’s episode of SmackDown Live in Memphis, TN at the FedEx Forum on the USA Network, WWE Hall of Famer Jerry Lawler made an appearance.
He interviewed WWE Champion AJ Styles about his title defense against Shinsuke Nakamura in a Last Man Standing Match at the upcoming WWE Money in the Bank pay-per-view event. After the show, Lawler commented on the appearance by writing the following:
WWE Elimination Chamber 2018 now has two tag team matches and one of them has gold on the line.
The Bar (Sheamus & Cesaro) will defend their Raw Tag Team Championships against Titus Worldwide (Titus O’Neil & Apollo) on the main card. It’s an interesting match-up as Apollo teased a split from Titus on a recent edition of WWE’s Mixed Match Challenge. Could the full turn come to fruition on Sunday night?
“Since solidifying themselves as an elite tandem, Raw Tag Team Champions Cesaro & Sheamus have claimed, “We don’t set the bar; WE ARE THE BAR!” At WWE Elimination Chamber, however, that bar may very well be cleared when the reigning titleholders go to war against Titus Worldwide.”
That’s Not All
As far as the pre-show match goes, that slot belongs to The Good Brothers (Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson) vs. The Miztourage (Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel). This of course will be part of the WWE Elimination Chamber Kickoff show. That announcement can also be seen below:
“Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson have never called someone a nerd and not wanted to beat them up, and the former Raw Tag Team Champions will get just such a chance when they face the two most meddlesome enforcers on the Raw roster — The Miztourage — at WWE Elimination Chamber Kickoff.”
– WWE posted the following video of Seth Rollins cutting a great backstage promo to hype this weekend’s Elimination Chamber match. Rollins talked about originally not having a match for the pay-per-view (PPV) event, but now being a part of the biggest Elimination Chamber match of all time. He vowed to win the match, go on to WrestleMania 34, and slay “The Beast” – again – to win the Universal Title. Check it out:
– WWE has been teasing an upcoming feud between RAW Tag Team Champions The Bar (Sheamus and Cesaro) against The Revival, perhaps for a title match at Elimination Chamber. WWE posted a backstage video of Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson calling out The Revival, calling them a pair of “NERDS!” Could this lead to a title eliminator match between the two teams?
– Alexa Bliss took to Twitter to react to getting her own Mattel doll. Bliss recalled telling her former teacher she wanted to grow up to be a Barbie Doll:
When I was 5 I said when I grew up I wanted to be a Barbie Doll … here’s to my teacher who said I couldn’t ???? pic.twitter.com/Jugt1JKciU
– A fan recently took to Twitter and called Karl Anderson a “sell out” for leaving Japan in favor of WWE. Here’s how Anderson responded to the comment:
Define “sell out”….. Just entertained thousands of fans all over Europe and Tuesday get to go home to my family.. I win, #NEEEERDhttps://t.co/oBWWtFItje
– Tonight’s episode of Monday Night RAW from England will feature a “Guitar On A Pole” match between Elias and Jason Jordan. WWE posted the following video of Elias’ message to Jordan prior to their match-up:
With SmackDown Live’s AJ Styles stepping in tonight (Sun. October 22, 2017) against Finn Balor at the WWE’s Tables Ladders and Chairs (TLC) pay-per-view (PPV), there have been rumors going around that The Club could use this opportunity for a reunion. Karl Anderson took to Twitter to respond to a fan’s question about a possible reunion, saying he will be enjoying the PPV from Green Bay on the WWE Network like everyone else:
Former WWE Universal Champion Finn Balor recently did an interview with Al Arabiya English where he talked about one of his fellow wrestlers advising against using face paint for his “Demon” character. Balor said the first time “the Demon came,” it wasn’t referred to that yet, but was just something he was trying out to get more heat with fans.
“The first time I did that, I said to my best friend Karl Anderson that I’m going to do this thing,” Balor recalled. “I explained to him what I was doing and he said, ‘Do not do that, you’re going to be laughed out of the building.’ Obviously this didn’t happen. The whole Demon character was designed for people to hate me more and to be scared of me, and it kind of backfired in the sense that people kind of like it now.”
Balor says leaving New Japan Pro Wrestling and entering the WWE Universe changed him, and he points out that now in every country he goes to there are kids painted up like the Demon.
“When we go to anywhere—when we go to Germany, or any country we go to, there are kids that look up to you, that are wearing your face paint, wearing your t-shirts, making signs,” he said. “The reach that WWE has through its television, its social media, and the WWE Network—that WWE Universe that we speak about—all the fans—that’s what drives me now. Reaching those, and influencing those people, and to give them something to cheer for, in a way. Before, I was wrestling for me, but now I feel like I’m wrestling for other people, and I feel like that’s much more important.”
Maria once cost Gallows & Anderson the IWGP heavyweight tag team championships. They lost the titles to the Kingdom, Matt Taven and Mike Bennett, who were managed by Maria at the time.
The storyline, which was pretty out there by NJPW standards, was that Karl Anderson was so infatuated with Maria that he would never pay attention to his matches with the Kingdom.
News that Maria is once again in the same promotion as him has seemed to surprise Karl.
35 year old Maria Kanellis-Bennett was with WWE from 2004 to 2010. She was discovered in the 2004 Diva Search.
Maria is someone to keep an eye on. When she was in OVW she impressed Paul Heyman with her mind for the business, to the point that she is said to have been contributing booking ideas at the time.
Since leaving WWE, Maria has performed for NJPW, ROH and Impact. She most recently completed a degree in Sports, Entertainment, and Event Management, which seems relevant.
2 of the original 4 members of Bullet Club will square off tonight when Finn Balor goes one-on-one with Karl Anderson. The match was announced by WWE less than an hour before the star of tonight’s Raw.
BREAKING: @FinnBalor will be in action TONIGHT on #RAW when he goes one-on-one with former #TagTeamChampion @KarlAndersonWWE!
Anderson and Balor played a larger role in forming the Bullet Club than any other 2 superstars. The name, Bullet Club, comes from a combination of their nicknames at the time: Balor, as Prince Devitt, was “the Shooter”, and Anderson was “Machine Gun” Karl Anderson.
Prince Devitt grew frustrated when he was unable to defeat Hiroshi Tanahashi, as did Karl Anderson for the same reasons. The two “good guys” both turned heel and began bringing the tactics of the nWo into NJPW.
The other 2 original 4 members were Bad Luck Fale, who served as Balor’s “Personal Bouncer” at the time, and Tama Tonga, who is the son of Haku, aka Meng.
We've traveled a lot of roads, cowboy. But this is business, and beating you up is best for business.#BeatUpFinnBalor@WWE#WWERaw tonight
WWE Possibly Reuniting The Club, Changing the Women’s Division
WWE will be having a Superstar Shake-Up next week. PWInsider.com is reporting that WWE is currently considering the idea of moving AJ Styles to Raw so that he could reunite with Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson. It has also been suggested that Gallows and Anderson move over to Smackdown and having The Club reunite on the Blue Brand.
On a recent episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer speculated that Alexa Bliss and Charlotte may switch brands during next week’s Superstar Shake-Up. PWInsider is reporting that was an actual pitch made last week. Sasha Banks has also been rumored to switch from Raw to Smackdown.
Corey Graves Did Not Know The Hardys Were Returning To WWE
WWE tried their best to keep the Hardys return a secret at Wrestlemania 33. Corey Graves was asked by a fan on Twitter to describe his reaction when he found out the Hardys were coming back to WWE. Graves responded with the following:
WWE Superstar Lana was a guest on Busted Open on Sirius XM and provided an update on her husband Rusev’s shoulder injury. Lana revealed that Rusev had shoulder surgery and has just recently started working out again. Lana stated that Rusev will return to WWE in 2-4 months.
— SiriusXM Busted Open (@BustedOpenRadio) April 5, 2017
.@LanaWWE on @RusevBUL injury "He got shoulder surgery, just started working out again. He'll be back in 2-4 months" #RAW
— SiriusXM Busted Open (@BustedOpenRadio) April 5, 2017
Karl Anderson Vows To Get Revenge On Hardy Boyz
Karl Anderson took to Twitter to congratulate the returning Hardy Boyz on winning the Raw Tag Team Championships at Wrestlemania 33. The Hardy Boyz defended the titles against Gallows and Anderson the following night on Monday Night Raw. Matt and Jeff Hardy once again got the best of Gallows and Anderson and won the match. Anderson vowed to get revenge in a post on Twitter.
Hardys beat us on #WWERaw ,so what.. We will get our revenge, always do.. Congrats to them on returnin to New York..
RAW Tag Team Champions Anderson & Gallows disrupted a #1 contender’s match between Enzo & Cass and Sheamus & Cesaro on tonight’s RAW, leading to a Triple Threat for the championships being made for WrestleMania 33 in Orlando.
It was also announced on RAW that Big Show is now official for the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal. This means the planned match with NBA legend Shaq won’t be happening.
Below is the updated card coming out of tonight’s RAW:
– Goldberg defends the WWE Universal Championship against Brock Lesnar
– Bray Wyatt defends the WWE Championship against Randy Orton
– The Undertaker goes to war with Roman Reigns
– Bayley defends the RAW Women’s Championship against Charlotte and Sasha Banks
– Alexa Bliss defends the SmackDown Women’s Championship against every available woman on the SmackDown roster
– Chris Jericho defends the WWE United States Championship against Kevin Owens
– Gallows and Anderson defend the RAW Tag Team Championships against Enzo and Cass, Sheamus and Cesaro in a Triple Threat
– The 4th Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal with Mojo Rawley, Apollo Crews, Big Show and other Superstars to be announced
WWE tag team champion Karl Anderson appeared on the Busted Open radio show earlier this week. Karl discussed his relationship with his partner Luke Gallows, their first tour of Japan together, coming over to the WWE and tells a great story about Stephanie McMahon commenting on how much oil Gallows has been using. Karl also discussed how he feels they have been booked since coming stateside, how they helped AJ Styles morph into his current character and comments on the comedy sketches they were involved in this year.
Karl went in depth about the transition from working in Japan for New Japan Pro Wrestling to now the grueling road schedule of the WWE. He comments on how even though the travel is more intense, he still gets 2-3 days with his kids a week and that means a lot to him.
Finally, an interesting quote from Karl on AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura and the talent the WWE has been accumulating:
“I’ve been in the ring with Shinsuke. He’s one of my best friends and one of the best, and they’ve got AJ Styles who I feel is the best. It’s so cool what the WWE has done. It started when they hired Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens. And then they brought in Fergal Devitt [Finn Balor] and then the brought in AJ and myself and Shinsuke and Gallows. They’re just racking up all the best performers in the world, its just really cool. If you get a chance to see AJ and Shinsuke Nakamura in a Wrestlemania someday, it doesn’t get any cooler than that. There’s so many great performers in WWE right now, it’s such a cool time to be a part of it.”
Busted Open can be heard weekdays from 2p-4p Eastern Time only on SiriusXM Rush Channel 93 and any time on the SiriusXM App.
– Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson talk about how they were cheated & robbed by RAW Tag Team Champions Cesaro and Sheamus in this new backstage video from last night’s show.
– Below is a promo for tonight’s SmackDown Women’s Championship steel cage match with Alexa Bliss defending against Becky Lynch:
– Tyson Kidd called out Sami Zayn on Twitter this week but it appears he may have been confused by Sami’s original tweet. As seen below, Sami commented on H.C. Dyer using a modified Blue Thunderbomb in the WWE UK tournament this weekend. Sami wrote, “Why imitate when you can create?”
Kidd then responded but it appears he may have misunderstood what Sami was trying to say. You can see their tweets below:
– Paige’s WWE Wellness Policy suspension ends this Friday. No word yet on if WWE plans to bring her back on the road for Total Divas filming but she likely won’t be wrestling as she had neck surgery in October.
– A new episode of WWE Story Time premieres tonight on the WWE Network after RAW. Below is a preview with Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows telling a story:
– The Bella Twins had their YouTube account suspended for several hours today but everything was restored by mid-afternoon. Below is a new video of Nikki Bella backstage at TLC:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsqC9t_zbKs
– Becky Lynch is already looking ahead to her rematch against new SmackDown Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss as she wrote the following on Twitter today:
I lost the match and I pitied myself. When I get a rematch, I pity you. @AlexaBliss_WWE
Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson defeated Goldust and R-Truth on tonight’s RAW to become the new #1 contenders to RAW Tag Team Champions The New Day, who retained over Sheamus and Cesaro tonight.
The Club vs. The New Day with the titles on the line will take place on next week’s RAW from Charlotte, NC. It appears The New Day will be defending each week until they break Demolition’s record, which is in 26 days.
WWE has confirmed another championship match for next week’s RAW as Charlotte will defend the RAW Women’s Championship in her hometown, against Sasha Banks.
Monday Night Raw took place last night in Glasgow, Scotland. Raw is advertised as a wrestling show. My apologies, a “sports entertainment” show. The only problem with that is last night’s Raw contained less than 40 minutes of actual wrestling. One of the matches in the less than 40 minutes of in-ring action was between the Shining Stars and Golden Truth. Now, you can consider that a wrestling match. I’d like to call it a train wreck and a waste of everyone’s time. The crowd was silent for most of the match but mustered the energy to chant “boring!” in the middle of it.
Raw is supposed to be a three hour show but it typically goes about 15 minutes long. Lets just say that a typical episode of Monday Night Raw is between 180-190 minutes. It is completely ridiculous for a wrestling program of that length to have less than an hour of in-ring action. It could be excusable if the promos were actually entertaining. The issue is that they usually are mind-numbingly stupid and bore everyone to tears.
Last night, there was a 15 minute promo featuring the New Day dressed in kilts and bringing bagpipes down to the ring. I guess because the show was taped in Scotland that was supposed to be hilarious. Big E then recited a speech from the film Braveheart to pump up the Raw team for Survivor Series. The rest of the promo was everyone cracking jokes at the expense of Sheamus. The promo wound up leading to a quick match between the New Day and Gallows & Anderson. Amazingly, Gallows and Anderson picked up a clean victory over New Day. The WWE has conditioned their audience to view Gallows & Anderson as a joke for the past few months. All of the sudden, they are mowing through the Tag Team Champions. I don’t understand it but that is a whole other discussion.
The main point is that the match was short and hardly competitive. Big E was dominated throughout and the match. The only momentum the New Day had was when Kofi was tagged in and he got in some offense. Gallows & Anderson picked up a quick victory via the Magic Killer. There was no drama and nobody really had any reaction to Gallows & Anderson winning. It just seems like week after week, people are randomly winning matches and it is building towards absolutely nothing. The painfully unfunny promo that proceeded this match was four times as long as the match itself.
Every single promo feels like the Superstars are reading from a teleprompter. There is no life in anything they are saying. It is like the creative writing process in the WWE is to google corny jokes and assign a few of them to every Superstar to regurgitate during the show. R-Truth mistook Jimmy Buffett’s name to mean an actual buffet last night. Braun Strowman had to say the line “I’m on Team Braun!” and try to sound like a monster while doing so. It sounded ridiculous. Wouldn’t it have just been better if Strowman got up in Kevin Owens’ face and told him to get the hell out of his locker room?
Every single segment is overwritten. The idea may be humorous at first but it goes through a bunch of people with their own thoughts and what comes out is a watered down version of the original idea. There are no intense feuds anymore. The entire build to the Hell in a Cell PPV was based around jokes and lists. How was Seth Rollins going to defeat the chubby champion? Was sparkle crotch going to interfere? Rusev and Reigns had several lame promos in which people were getting tossed into a wedding cake or Rusev was showing a slideshow of his family. Meanwhile, the WWE was billing the Hell in a Cell as this demonic structure with a life of it’s own. How were people going to convince themselves they were going to see this brutal battles when the build to the show was the equivalent to a bunch of fart jokes?
I do not understand who the target audience is for Monday Night Raw. It can’t be wrestling fans because there is not enough wrestling. If it is children, why is the show three hours and what child is cracking up at a Jimmy Buffett joke? For that matter, what adult is cracking up at a Jimmy Buffett joke in 2016? It appears that the WWE is trying to cater their product to everyone. They are trying to produce a show that appeals to every gender and every age. I just picture a gigantic chart and empty suits placing segments on the chart. They put the Golden Truth in the kids section of the chart and then the main event in the adult section. They probably figure that by the time the main event airs most of the children will be asleep and the adults will be wide awake to see the match. The problem with that logic is that the ratings go down every hour because adults are changing the channel due to how awful the show is. In their quest to create a show that caters to everyone, what the WWE is left with is a show that very few people enjoy.
– After attacking The New Day during their in-ring celebration last night on RAW, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson cut a promo backstage talking about how The Club now runs RAW and SmackDown. They said New Day are nothing but jokes and The Club and they’ll days as WWE tag team champions are numbered. The two teams will likely settle their differences at SummerSlam and will be facing each other at WWE live events through September.
– After finally making his main roster debut last night on RAW, Finn Balor asked his Twitter followers if the debut was worth the wait. Balor has been trolling fans for months, constantly teasing that he’d be showing up on WWE television.
Here are highlights from Karl Anderson’s recent interview with Amarillo.com to promote this weekend’s live event:
WWE SmackDown Going Live & The Brand Extension:
“The brand extension is going to offer different opportunities. What they did back 2001 or 2002 or whenever it was I think John Cena ended up on Smackdown and ended up turning himself into a global superstar. One of my best friends Finn Balor is in NXT and when he gets up to either Raw or Smackdown we’ll get to see him. He’ll be amazing and there are other superstars from NXT that will get to come up that the world needs to see. There is a ton of depth on the roster and we’re all excited for the opportunity. It’s going to give everyone a chance to grow.”
Making a Name For Himself In Japan:
“Myself and Finn Balor formed the Bullet Club in 2013 with some other guys. It exploded and became this really cool thing. Then Finn Balor ended up signing with the WWE before anyone else so we ended up bringing A.J. Styles in the Bullett Club followed by Luke Gallows, and it just got bigger and bigger. It was organic and it was cool. We all love being pro wrestlers and we love to entertain the fans. It also helped us all come to the WWE.”
Dream Matches In WWE:
“Being in the WWE is a dream in itself. Being in the ring with John Cena on Monday night was something crazy. I’d love to get in the ring with Randy Orton. Roman was cool to be in the ring with, Dolph Ziggler would be really sweet. But I think Randy Orton right now would be pretty cool for me. He’s somebody I look up to. We’re about the same age but he’s been on TV for a long time so it’d be pretty cool to get in there with him.”
Kevin Kelly provides voiceover for a Bullet Club video package, “A faction reeking havoc overseas has found its way into ROH Wrestling. This week we look at Bullet Club, from its founding members to its newest recruits.”
KK introduces the show from backstage, “Red hot, super controversial, and more dominant than ever, for the next 60 minutes, it’s all about BC. What BC did at Global Wars has the entire wrestling world talking, but we will also take you back in time and show you how the club formed, how it has changed through the years, and how it’s now poised to become stronger and more dominant than ever. Since BC was formed in 2013 in New Japan, they have been popular, but have also seen members come and go. But one thing that has remained the same, BC is always trying to put everyone’s buttons to gain every edge they possibly can. They made their presence felt In New York City, at War of the Worlds 2014. At the time, their leader was Machine Gun Karl Anderson. He and Gallows were IWGP tag team champions, but how they would fare against the 8 time ROH Tag Team Champions, Dem Boyz, the Briscoes?”
Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson (Bullet Club) vs. The Briscoes (IWGP Tag Team Championship Match from War of the Worlds 5/17/14)
When we pick up the action, uppercut by Anderson on Jay, Jay returns with a fist, Gallows back body drops Mark on the floor, whip from Anderson to Jay, but Jay meets him with a boot, Jay hooks for the Jay Driller, but Gallows comes in and slaps him in the face. Anderson with a running kick to the face, Gallows with a back shoulder block, clothesline by Gallows, sitting senton by Anderson, splash by Gallows, Gallows picks him up into a fireman’s carry, Anderson comes off the ropes and kicks him in the face, cover, kick out.
Gallows and Anderson set up for the Magic Killer, until Mark comes in with a kick to Gallows, 3 Mongolian chops to Gallows, a fury of Kung Fu chops to the shoulder, then a running clubbing blow knocks the big man down. Mark tags in officially, and then goes after Anderson. Mark misses with a chop, hits a bunch of Kung Fu chops to the chest, push kick to the chest, running kick to the chest by Jay, clothesline by Mark, spinning forearm by Jay, and then Mark goes off the top and nails the Froggy Bow, but Anderson kicks out.
The Briscoes call for their springboard Doomsday Device, but Gallows runs off the ropes with a boot to the chest of Jay, Mark comes off the top rope, Anderson catches him mid-air and nails the Ace Crusher, and then a sitting slam by Gallows on Jay, BC pick up Mark, hit the Magic Killer, and this one is over, 1-2-3.
Winner and still IWGP Tag Team Champions: Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson (Bullet Club) (War of the Worlds 5/17/14)
On WotW commentary, KK says, “For the first time tonight, BC is victorious over RPH.” MW3 replies, ”You jinxed it.” KK says, “I might have.” MW3 says, ”You dummy, you blew it for Briscoe!”
After the commercial break, KK says, “If you love throwing them up, or too sweeting your friends, or joining a superkick party, then this is the hour for you, because we’re talking all about BC. The wars between BC and ROH didn’t begin at this year at Global Wars, in fact last year at the big event in Toronto, it was an amazing 10-man tag, BC taking on the ROH All-Stars.”
AJ Styles, Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows, Young Bucks (Bullet Club) vs. Strong, War Machine, The Briscoes (ROH All-Stars) (Global Wars 5/15/15)
When we pick up the action, Hanson sets up for a front flip onto everybody and lands it. MW3 says, “Holy… you know the rest!” Hanson rolls Matt back into the ring, then throws in Anderson. Strong delivers knees to Matt, AJ, and Anderson. Strong hits the running knee to Matt, hooks Matt for the superplex and nails it. Strong with running knee to AJ, hooks AJ for the superplex and nails it again. MW3 says, “Jeez Louise!” Strong hits the running knee on Anderson, hooks Anderson for the superplex, MW3 says, “Cheese and crackers, Roderick Strong is on fire!” and nails it for the third time. Strong hits a running knee on Gallows, set him up for a 4th superplex, MW3 says, “No way!” Nick comes up on the apron and pulls Strong down, Strong fights out with forearms and a kick to Nick, Gallows tumbles to the floor, Strong then sets up Nick for a 4th superplex but in the direction of the floor, MW3 says, “Guys guys, too dangerous, oh for god’s sake!” then launches Nick onto the floor onto everyone and the fans go berserker.
Gallows is up first, he climbs back into the ring with Hanson, spinning back heel kick by Hanson, sit down chokeslam powerbomb by Gallows, hits the ropes but Rowe with a sidewalk slam, Anderson with a cutter and AJ with a suplex. “Did AJ styles just curse? I think he cursed!” AJ hooks Rowe for the Styles Clash, but Strong runs the ropes and delivers a kick to AJ, Anderson gets thrown to the outside, MW3 says, “We need 32 camera angles for this.” Nick gets knocked off the apron, Matt gets superkicked by Jay, flipping backbreaker by Strong, and then Jay hooks for the Jay Driller before Mark comes off the top rope with Froggy Bow to Matt, 1-2-3, and the ROH All Stars win.
Winners: Roderick Strong, War Machine, The Briscoes (ROH All-Stars) (Global Wars 5/15/15)
KK continues backstage, “You can’t talk about the BC and their dominance in New Japan Pro Wrestling without focusing on the fact that they have held every belt in that company, and most recently capturing the newly-minted NEVER Openweight 6-man Championship at Honor Rising.”
Kenny Omega & Young Bucks (Bullet Club Elite) vs. Toru Yano & The Briscoes (c) (NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship Match from Honor Rising 2/20/16)
Before the bell, Hall comes in with blatant interference and takes out the Briscoes from behind. Yano is alone in the ring with all four men and scared, they stomp him down. The referee throws Hall out of the ring. KK says, “Red Shoes doing all that he can to send the son of the bad guy out, now the bell sounds, now it’s an official contest.”
Nick jumps over turnbuckle and runs the apron with a kick to Yano. Elite pose in the middle of the ring before the Briscoes come in and nail YB from behind. Mark with forearms to Omega, kicks to the gut, whip reversal into the corner, Mark jumps over, rolls through, and then suplexes Omega. Jay throws Matt into the other corner, splash, snapmare takeover, running dropkick to the chest, and then Mark throws him out of the ring. Yano throws Nick back into the ring, Nick turns around slowly, and then gets kicked by the Briscoes. Mark with a punch, Jay with a headbutt, and then they launch him with a front flip up-and-over the top turnbuckle onto the floor as he crashes into on Hall, Omega, and Matt (but mostly Hall), very impressive.
Omega gets back in at 14, he tries to punch Yano, but Yano ducks in the ropes like Yano does, the crowd chants, “Break!” Hall grabs him by the legs, holds him on the ropes and the YB superkick him. Nick crawls out and rolls Yano and his shenanigans back in the ring, Omega throws him out the other side, and then The Elite too sweet each other, before doing synchronized suicide Triple Toffee dives. Nick looks at the camera and says, “The best on planet Earth.” Omega says, “I never knew that one. My God, that was good.” The fans chant, “Young Bucks!“ Matt crotch chops along with the chants, punches to Jay, Nick throws Yano back in the ring, Omega covers, kick out. Omega slams Yano on his head into the turnbuckle, kick to the gut, and then pushes a boot to the jaw, but the referee calls for the break. KK tells us, “Toru Yano is a very interesting athlete, you wouldn’t know it from looking at him. He even ran a marathon, and then wrestled that night. He had a decent time 5-6 hours, but still would take me 5-6 days.” Matt does a You Can’t See Me to Yano while he’s laying in the corner, drags him back to the center of the ring, stomps him in the back and shoulder, drops a forearm, leg drop, cover, kick out, and we go to commercial.
When we return, Omega has an abdominal stretch on Yano, he grabs Hall who is holding Matt’s hand on the outside, while Matt is holding the rail, and all three of them stretch Yano. Cover by Omega, kick out. Omega positions Yano face-first standing against the turnbuckle while Nick and Cody hold him, and then Omega rolls through and rakes his back. Nick does a handstand somersault flips over and rakes Yano’s back. Matt comes in and says, “Come on Yano, what do you got Yano, what do you got Yano, nothing nothing,” and punches him in the face, picks him up off the mat and runs his head into Nick’s foot, pushes him to the turnbuckle, and Nick tags in. YB whip Yano into the corner, Nick runs in, Yano throws them up and over, and then Omega lands a running back shoulder block, while the YB superkick him.
Yano begins to tear off the turnbuckle, Matt holds Briscoe while Nick runs over and kicks him, Yano gets up slowly, YB stomp the mat for the superkick, but he turns around with the turnbuckle, blocks both kicks, baseball swings the turnbuckle and takes both of them out. Omega kicks him in the gut, whip reversal off the ropes, and then he baseball swings Omega with the turnbuckle. Yano crawls over and gets the hot tag to Mark.
Mark with a running corner turnbuckle kick to Nick’s jaw, sets Nick on the turnbuckle, grabs him by the hands and flips him over the top for a suplex, cover, Matt comes in the break it up. Matt fights out with forearms, Jay comes in, they whip him to the corner, and then they kick Matt to the mat. Forearms by Mark to Nick, Mark slides under, give him the Kung Fu pose, goes to kick him, Nick flips him, he grabs Nick’s foot, and then Omega comes in with the superkicks assist. Jay runs in with a boot to Omega, a boot to Nick, closed hand punches to Omega, whip reversal off the ropes, and then Jay connects with a shoulder to the gut, Jay hooks Omega for a neckbreaker, but Matt comes in and superkicks Jay. Omega tags in, Matt with a running turnbuckle bomb into the corner on Mark while Nick kicks him in the back of the head. Omega with a running back elbow, Matt with a cannonball in the corner, then Matt holds Mark on the ropes while Nick swantons onto him, Omega covers, but Mark kicks out. Matt pulls Mark to his feet, snap dragon suplex by Omega, and then all 3 of them superkick Mark, Omega covers, but Jay comes in to break it up. Omega picks up Mark by his hair, knife edge chop, whip off the ropes, flips Mark over his shoulder, he lands on his feet and tags in Yano.
Yano comes in, Omega kicks him in the gut, Matt kicks him in the gut, another kick, and then all three of them setup to whip Yano into the exposed turnbuckle, Yano pleads for mercy, they send him in, but he stops himself, Matt runs into the exposed turnbuckle as Yano gets out of the way, Yano atomic drops Nick with a knee to the crotch, Omega misses a clothesline, Yano ducks a second clothesline, kicks Omega. Omega runs up the exposed turnbuckle, leaps over Yano, Yano gets out of the way, drop toehold sends Omega’s head into the exposed turnbuckle, and then Yano nails a double low blow to the YB, Yano shrugs and looks surprised like “What did I do?”
Hall comes in with a full nelson, Omega uses the spraycan but Yano ducks and Omega spraycans Hall, Yano covers, kick out. Omega with a double clubbing blow to the arm, Yano reverses into a roll-up cover, but Omega spraycans him in the face. Then Matt spraycans both Omega and Nick in the crotch and his own as well.
Jay and Mark comes in with kicks and forearms to Omega and Matt, Jay with 2 headbutts, uppercut to Omega, while Mark nails Matt, and then they hit the ropes, but Elite kick Briscoes, then Omega and Matt set up for dual Indytakers/ Meltzer Drivers as Nick springboards of the top rope and connects. The YB kick the Briscoes out of the ring, Omega with the rolling fireman’s carry slam, handsprings off his head to the ropes, moonsault off the ropes, Nick swantons, Matt hits a 450 splash, and then Omega covers for the victory on Yano.
Winners and NEW NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champions: Young Bucks & Kenny Omega (Bullet Club Elite) (Honor Rising 2/20/16)
After we return from commercial, KK says, “BC has certainly had their fair share of transition, members coming and going over time. When one leaves someone else steps up, but what would happen when 2 members would leave at same time? We want to show you from Honor Rising, 2 of the mainstays of BC, the last match for machine gun Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows, 8-man tag team action.
Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows, Tama Tonga, & Bad Luck Fale (Bullet Club) vs Katsuyori Shibata, reDRagon, & Hirooki Goto (Honor Rising 2/20/16)
BC are out first, Fale shoves down the ring announcer before the introductions are made. KK says Anderson and Gallows “definitely want to go out on a winning note here tonight.” The softly-beginning punk music for Shibata, ‘Takeover’ by Low IQ 01 (awesome song), leads the faces to the ring.
Anderson kicks a young boy in the back, knocking him off the apron and then jaws at O’Reilly. BC attacks before the bell, Anderson stomps O’Reilly, whips him into the corner, O’Reilly jumps over, rolls back to his feet, runs the ropes, kicks to the gut, kick to the chest, and a leg sweep puts Machine Gun to the mat. Armbar by O’Reilly, then a pump handle. KK mentions that “BC has seen the likes of the former Prince Devitt and AJ styles come and go.” Goto tags in and we go to commercial.
When we return, Fale slams Goto to the mat, and then sits on him for a cover, but Goto kicks out. Gallows tags in, pushes Goto to the corner, punches to the gut, and then an uppercut to the jaw, snap suplex by Gallows, cover, kick out. Gallows drops 3 elbows to the chest, cover, kick out again. KK says, “Not many men that size can move with that agility.” Gallows runs Goto’s head into the corner, and tags in Anderson. KK reminds us that “Of course, Karl Anderson had a tag team partner, before the formation of BC actually, Giant Benard. Able to plug in Doc Gallows, 3-time champs.” Snapmare takeover, headlock, Goto gets to his feet and fights out with elbows to the gut, runs the ropes, but Anderson with a jumping leg lariat, cover, kick out, cover, kick out, cover, kick out. KK says, “Marty Asami’s arm is getting worn out.”
Anderson tags in Tonga, 3 punches to the gut, runs around, slides around, jumping forearm to the chest, and then jumping dropkick to the chest, cover, but Shibata comes in to break it up with a kick to the back, Shibata then kicks his tag team partner Goto in the back to wake him up and for a little motivation, Goto looks pissed. Tonga with a stomp, punch to the chest, whip reversal, and Godo nails a clothesline, goes over to his team’s corner, Shibata asks for the tag, but Fish tags himself in instead.
Fish hits a kick to Tonga, and then clubbing forearms knocks the rest of the BC off of the apron, go behind by Tonga, but Fish backs him into the corner, and then reDRagon do their running kicks into the corner, Fish flips him up over his knee, and O’Reilly comes off the top rope with a stomp to Tonga, Anderson comes in to break up the pin. O’Reilly throws him to the outside and then does a crossbody over the top rope onto the floor. Back in the ring, Fish with 3 forearms to Tonga and then a kick to the leg, runs in, Tonga picks him up into a fireman’s carry, Fish fights out with a forearm to the jaw, punch to the gut, kick to the leg, whip but Tonga reverses into a fireman’s carry, and then a spinning airplane face slam by Tonga to Fish, Fish gets the tag to Shibata and Gallows tags in as well. Shibata throws Gallows into the corner, connects with a bunch of forearms, drops him to the mat, he runs in, but Gallows gets to his feet, and uncoils right hand to the jaw, throws Shibata off the ropes, but Shibata kicks the legs, knocking the big man to the mat, Shibata goes to lock in a figure four, but Anderson breaks it up. Anderson then lands blows to the head of Shibata (about 10 of them), dares Shibata to hit him, and Shibata returns with one big strike that knocks Anderson down.
Anderson, Fale, and Tonga come in and clear the ring, Tonga with a splash on Shibata, Anderson with a running kick, Fale with a splash, and Gallows with a splash, Gallows and Anderson nail the reverse neckbreaker, KK says, “It’s not the Magic Killer, but is it a win?” Pin attempt, but everybody comes in, it’s a melee, Gallows sets up Fish between his legs, but O’Reilly kicks Gallows, Tonga takes O’Reilly out with a back shoulder elbow, and then Fish lands a fireman’s carry backdrop on Tonga. Fale with a clubbing forearm to Fish, then Goto with a forearm to Fale, knocking him to the outside. Anderson with an uppercut to Goto, Anderson and Gallows hook Shibata for the Magic Killer, but Goto breaks it up. Anderson goes for the Gun Stun, but Goto fights out, runs the ropes, Anderson jumps over then ducks, goes for another Gun Stun, but Goto fights out again, hooks into a fireman, and then Goto nails a neckbreaker to Anderson, Gallows with a boot to Goto.
Gallows and Shibata in now, right hand by Gallows, Shibata runs the ropes into a boot from Gallows, but Shibata won’t go down, Shibata runs the ropes a second time, meets another boot, finally he goes down. Gallows picks him up with a sitting slam, cover, and Shibata kicks out. Gallows picks him up for a vertical suplex, but Shibata transitions into a rear naked choke, and Gallows begins to go to sleep, Shibata drops him to the mat, and then nails the PK Penalty Kick for the victory.
KK says, “Bullet Club has certainly raised a lot of thoughts in the minds of wrestling fans throughout the world. Were they looking to take over and have a good time? Or were they setting a course to take over the entire world professional wrestling? After what expired at Global Wars, I think we might have some insight of what the future of BC is all about.”
When we pick up the action from Colt Cabana vs. Jay Lethal, Cabana has an Boston Crab on Lethal, Hendrix pulls the referee Todd Sinclair to the outside, and then YB superkick ref and superkick Hendrix. MW3 yells, “I’m going to get the shirt!” They roll into the ring, hold up two Bullet Club shirts, offer them to Lethal and Cabana. MW3 says, “But I’ve worked so hard!” Suddenly, the lights go out, and when we return Adam Cole is in the ring wearing a BC T-shirt and chewing gum. “That’s Adam Cole! Adam Cole! He’s got a BC shirt on!” He yells, “Adam Cole baybay!” and then the YB superkick both Lethal and Cabana.
He grabs the mic and say, “My name is Adam Cole baybay! And we are the BC! Breaking news ladies and gentleman, this is our house, bitches!” and then he and the YB stomp a mudhole in Lethal. Three security guards run to the ring and gets superkicked, then Cole does the crotch chop. One of the security stands up and get super kicked again, Lethal gets superkicked. Guerrillas of Destiny come out, they continue to beat up security and ring crew, Nick with a Indytaker on the floor, another superkick.
GoD spraypaint BC on the table, and then powerbomb a security guard through the table. YB connect with a superkick to the back of the head of Kevin Kelly. MW3 stands up and yells, “KK’s down, KK’s down, woohoo!” and then gets superkicked himself. YB put on the headset, Matt imitates Jim Ross, “Oh dear God, dear God, every one of these people have families, for the love of God, for the love of God, for the love of God! Oh my goodness what does he have, he has the title belt!” Cole knocks Cabana off the apron, Tonga zipties Lethal to the ropes. “I can’t believe it King, what do you think of this, look at these guys with the face paint.” Cole with 3 superkicks to Lethal, picks up the belt and runs around the ring.
We cut to later on, the BC look at the cameraman, he asks to put the camera down first, they wait for it, then superkick him. BC crawl down on the mat, and look at the camera. Cole says, “This is our world now, this is our world now, nobody can touch us, nobody can stop us”, as YB kiss him on the cheeks.
Present day, Cole cuts a backstage promo, “This, this has been a long time coming. Because unlike those kids in the Kingdom who are trying to play catch-up, myself and the BC, we have a lot in common. We do what we want, we say what we want, and we take what we want. Speaking of taking Jay Lethal, this one is for you, because you’ve been spilling lies lately, you’ve been saying there are no more challenges left for you, come on Jay. Jay you know, the fans know, everybody in this locker room knows, that I’m the guy here, and it’s only a matter of time before I get my ROH Championship back, so how about you grow a set champ, and give me a shot. Just know, if you do, I will take the championship from you, and why? Because I can,” he smiles and the show ends.
– John Cena’s first match back from injury takes place on the May 30th edition of Raw in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
According to the official website of the Resch Center, Cena will team up with WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose to take on the team of AJ Styles, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson. This will likely be a dark match.
– According to this week’s issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, there is talk within WWE of finding a woman to team with Kalisto to face Rusev and Lana in mixed tag team matches. Lana has been wrestling more frequently at live events in case the idea transpires.
Lana made her NXT in-ring debut at last Friday’s show in Lakeland, Florida. Teaming with Mandy Rose, the blonde bombshells lost to Carmella and Daria Berenato.
– WWE Hall of Famer Kevin Nash got a lot of heat on Twitter yesterday with this photo showing support for United States Presidential candidate Donald Trump:
Welcome to another edition of Ring of Honor, Kevin Kelly and Mr. Wrestling 3 introduce us to the Honor Rising events taped back in February from Korakuen Hall. KK tells us that Korakuen Hall was built in 1962 and has housed every great pro wrestler throughout the years.
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Michael Elgin, Moose and Tomoaki Honma vs. Bad Luck Fale, Cody Hall, Tama Tonga and Yujiro Takahashi (Bullet Club) (8 man tag team match)
Moose comes down to the ring, making his New Japan debut. Next out is Big Mike, KK says, “Moose wants to be where unbreakable Michael Elgin is, a former ROH World Champion, a great pro wrestler all around the globe.” MW3 says, “Seems like Elgin has found a new home here in NJPW.” Honma is third out, KK describes him as “the true underdog, what an overachiever he has been.” Finally, Tanahashi, MW3 describes him as, “the number 1 star of the last 10 years in NJPW,” KK asks, “Is he still the ace?” MW3 replies, “Absolutely.” KK informs us Tanahashi is nursing a shoulder injury caused by The Elite. MW3 says, “His shoulder is all taped up, but he can still play an air guitar. Now, all 4 members of Bullet Club, the more Japan-based members, walk down the aisle making their ROH TV debuts. MW3 reminds us, “2 second generation superstars in Tonga and Hall, Takahashi has basically renounced his Japanese citizenship, and Fale is a former rugby star. He is really the equivalent of Moose.”
Moose and Fale start it off. Both men hit the ropes, double shoulder block, and they stare at each other. Moose hits the ropes, another double shoulder block, and they stare at each other again. Fale hits the ropes, a third double shoulder block, and third stare down. Punch to the gut by Fale, forearm to the face, clubbing elbow to the back, hits the ropes, and then a standing dropkick by Moose. MW3 says Moose, “gave a little shimmy. That’s how babies are made.” Fale lands a knee to the midsection and tags in Tonga, Moose tags in Honma, Tonga hits a dropkick on Honma, and we go to commercial.
When we return, Tonga has Honma on the mat, Tonga goes for a jumping back elbow but misses, and Honma tags in Tanahashi. Double whip by Honma and Tanahashi off the ropes, double shoulder block on Tonga. Now everyone comes in, the faces clear the ring, and all 4 flex like Hulk Hogan. Tonga crawls back in, Tanahashi hits back elbow, 2 forearms, whip reversal, Takahashi kicks Tanahashi in the back. Now everybody brawls, the fight spills to the outside, Takahashi runs Tanahashi into the steel rail and then nails him with a chair, Hall knocks Honma down, Takahashi chokes Tanahashi with the chair, then crawls back in the ring, the ref starts the count, and Tanahashi gets back in at 16.
Fale tags in, stands on Tanahashi, picks him up by his neck, throws him into the corner, and tags in Hall. Hall enters by jump stomping over from the second rope as he does, back elbow, short arm shoulder tackle, short arm elbow, puts Tanahashi’s arm on the ropes, and then kicks him in the elbow, clubbing blows to the chest, pin attempt, but Tanahashi gets his foot on the ropes. MW3 tells us, “One of Hall’s best moves is the iron claw, very Kerry Von Erich-like.”
Hall tags in Tonga, 2 forearms to the jaw, whip reversal off the ropes, Tonga slides and skirts around on the mat, and then delivers a standing dropkick, steps on his face, tags in Takahashi. Tanahashi fights out with 3 elbows, Takahashi rakes the eyes, tries for a running boot, but Takahashi catches him and then a dragon screw leg sweep takes him to the mat.
Tanahashi gets the hot tag to Elgin, his tag team partner here in New Japan, and Elgin gets a lot of cheers from the crowd. He climbs to the top turnbuckle, flying shoulder on Takahashi, runs into the corner with an elbow, Irish whip reversal into the corner, German suplex, rolls through for a second one, but Tonga comes in and pulls Taka to safety. Elgin picks Tonga up in the air with a one handed overhead press, and we go to commercial.
After the break, Elgin picks up Takahashi into a stalling vertical brainbuster, Hall comes in and kicks Elgin in the gut, but Elgin does not break the hold, Hall pulls down Taka, clubs Elgin in the back, Bullet Club go for a double suplex, but Elgin reverses into a double suplex of his own. Elgin hits a deadlift German suplex on Takahashi, bridge cover, kick out. Takahashi with a kick to the gut, Elgin screams, standing switch, goes for suplex, Takahashi grabs the referee Tiger Hattori, and looks like Elgin’s going to suplex both of them, but the ref wiggles out, while Takahashi hits a low blow.
Moose and Hall in, Moose ducks a clothesline, hits his Moose punches, and then Hall with a fall away slam, stands up turns around and meets a lariat, cover, but Hall kicks out. Moose lines up for the spear, but Hall connects with a knee to the head, picks up Moose, tries for the Razor’s Edge, but Moose slides out, and then Hall hits a spinning lariat. Bullet Club comes in and takes out the faces, gut punches by Tonga, running boot by Takahashi, splash by Fale, a splash by Tonga, Hall nails a chokeslam, cover, kick out. Hall goes for the Razors Edge again, but Honma comes in and nails Hall with the Kokeshi, Takahashi with a fisherman’s buster, Elgin with a double suplex on Tonga and Takahashi, Tanahashi comes in with a running dropkick knocking Fale off the apron, and then Elgin throws his partner Tanahashi onto all three members of the Bullet Club. Moose is left alone in the ring with with Hall, Moose runs in with a splash, whip reversal, Moose runs to the top turnbuckle and lands a cross body slam. Moose nails Hall with the spear, and this one is over, 1-2-3.
Winners: Hiroshi Tanahashi, Michael Elgin, Moose and Tomoaki Honma
KK asks, “Can we say a star is born here at Korakuen?” MW3 responds, “I think he was a star already in Ring of Honor, but now he’s a star in the Land of the Rising Sun.” and it’s time for our sponsors.
After the break, we are shown a video package of Jay Lethal and Truth Martini walking around outside, Lethal says, “Tokyo, Japan. I can’t wait, I can’t wait to get one of those massages we talked about, right?” Martini replies, “Yeah yeah, and especially if we’re going to get one of those endings that are kind of happy.” Lethal pulls out some change, “I brought some money, I got some yen here, do you think this is enough to get a nice massage?” Martini says, “Champ, that’s not enough for the kind of ending I’m talking about.” And they laugh, Truth says, “Let’s go. I got it.”
KK talks about Leo Rush winning the Top Prospect Tournament by defeating Brian Fury and getting a shot at the ROH contract and a guaranteed shot at the ROH TV Championship. He tells us that match was scheduled to take place at SuperCard of Honor X in Dallas, Texas, but because ROH TV Champion Tomohiro Ishii had other commitments in Japan, Nigel McGuinness instead gave Rush the rare opportunity for a world title match in his first official ROH match, and we see the closing moments of that match.
Lethal is out cold, draped across the top turnbuckle, slap to the chest by Rush, Rush climbs up for a one-man Spanish fly that he calls Rush Hour, forearm, Lethal has his eyes closed, but out of nowhere, Lethal reverses and delivers a top rope cutter, then Lethal Injection, cover, and pin.
After the match, KK says ROH fans saw “the long-awaited, some say long-overdue return of a ROH pioneer.” Lethal is on the mic, “Someone go tell Nigel McGuinness, KK go tell him NM, JL said there’s nobody left. Do you hear me? There’s nobody left. This is ridiculous.” And Colt Cabana’s music hits. Cabana walks down the aisle, climbs in the ring, “You say that there’s nobody left JL, you say it now, you say it on TV, and it makes me think about myself, about my legacy, what I want to be remembered as. Sometimes you have to look yourself in the mirror, and know exactly what you want to be. I don’t, I don’t want to be known as somebody’s friend. I love what I’m doing, I love that I’m an independent wrestler, I love that I’m DIY, nobody owns me, nobody’s tells me what to do, JL. Everybody still wants to see me, Jay. I’m still booked, I’m still doing what I do, and you know who can’t fire, and you know who can’t reject me? These people. And I should have done it a long time, I should have been kicked out, I should have been gone, but the reality is I’m not, because they’re still chanting my name.” And the fans chant “Colt Cabana!”
Jay gets on the mic, “Woah woah woah woah, let me stop you right there, because the fact of the matter is, these people here can’t make you the greatest wrestler in the world. This does.” He holds up the title, “This does Colt, and I have it. In fact, you haven’t been here in 5 years. For 5 years, you’ve been avoiding this place, because you know I’m the greatest. For 5 years, you’ve traveled the world on small local indie shows in India, in Germany, all over the world, but you avoided this place for 5 years, because you know why, because I’m the greatest. But there’s another reason, and it’s because me and that entire locker room, and whether they believe it or not, they don’t want you here and neither do I.”
Cabana responds, “I like what I’m doing, I like going to India, I like going to Japan, I like going to Germany. I travel all over, and these people are from all over the world, and I don’t make them come to me. I have literally been to every single place, where everybody single person has been, so I can wrestle as an independent wrestler, Jay. It’s not cuz of the money and it’s not cuz of the TV, because when I look back on my career a long long time, and I won’t be able to live with myself unless I’m able to wear that around my waist.” He points at the ROH World Title.
KK tells us, “The world champion was furious. The following day, Lethal claimed that because of Cabana’s 5 year absence, he didn’t deserve a title shot. He went on to claim Cheeseburger as a more worthy challenger, and gave him a world title match on the spot. After the match, Cabana comes down to the ring, “You’re dressed and ready to go, I’m dressed and ready to go, the idea is, we do it right now. Truth might have said no, but the reality is you’re seg now, because you can’t call your own shots. Do you think you can beat me, because I don’t think you can beat me.” Lethal replies, “You want, you want a match right now damn it, you got it,” and Lethal punches him, they exchanged blows, fast forward to later in the match, kick by Lethal, small package roll up, and Cabana wins. KK informs us, “As a result of that impromptu match, live on Global Wars in his hometown of Chicago, IL, Colt Cabana returns to challenge for the one title that has eluded him his entire career. Cabana vs. Lethal for the ROH World Championship.” Commercial.
Martini and Lethal are outside the massage parlor door, “Champ, it’s time to get what you deserve.” Lethal replies, “I’m a little nervous there’s no pictures around. Seems a little shady,” “No, it’s alright, this is a special kind of place.” Lethal says, “I got the end you were talking about, I’m tired of talking,” and then Delirious comes out of the massage parlor. Martini says, “He looked pretty happy to me,” and they laugh. Back outside, Lethal says, “This is it, we came all this way? This is a great NJPW door? Look at that stupid picture by the awning. Where’s my picture? They have Okada up there? If you want a picture of the greatest wrestler in the world, where’s the picture of the ROH World Champion?” Martini says, “Think of it this way, we are overseas and if everybody doesn’t recognize you as the best, they are overseeing that you are the #1 wrestler in the world. That means we’re over, see?” Lethal says, “You know what, I’m just going to go break all of Okada’s stuff right now.” Martini replies, “Champ, hold on, give me one second, I gotta grab this real quick,” and then he bumps a vending machine and an item falls out. “It works every time,” Video of Jay Briscoe and Dalton Castle exploring Tokyo Dome City. Martini and Lethal are in a mask shop, Lethal says, “This is a pretty cool store, look it’s dedicated to everybody I beat. Look at this, I beat him twice, i definitely beat him, oh I remember beating him pretty badly.” And then we see Delirious’s head among the masks on the rack. Moose taking pictures. Lethal recaps, “Champ and Truth Martini, we got one of those happy massages, we destroyed some stuff in the New Japan store, and that’s what they get for not having my pictures in there. Look at this sign you can’t smoke here,” Martini replies, “Champ, I can’t read Japanese.” Roderick Strong and Mark eating. Martini looks at the no smoking sign with a line through it, says “They ruined a perfect picture of a cigarette.” Dalton Castle playing with cats.
Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson (Bullet Club) vs The Briscoes
MW3 says, “You have the Multi time IWGP Tag Team Champions, Machine Guns, against the greatest tag team in ROH history, The Briscoes. They got their work cut out for them here tonight. But Gallows and Anderson know Japan, they’ve been here a long time.” Anderson says, “Look, this is my hot Asian wife, here in the front row.” MW3, “Of course, that is Karl Anderson’s hot Asian wife, as he says.” Gallows has on a mask and face paint and a singlet that says #bizcliz. The camera shakes as Anderson shoot his gun. Out next are Dem Boys, KK tells us, “At the time of these events, The Briscoes were two-thirds of the NEVER Openweight 6-man Champions.” MW3 says, “With Yano. Ya know, they’re looking to regain those titles.”
Before the bell, as Briscoes pose on the apron, Machine Guns attack, Anderson and Jay to the outside, Gallows with 2 punches to Mark, running knee by Mark, Jay comes back into the ring and clotheslines Gallows over the top rope to the outside, Mark hits the ropes and baseball slides through the middle rope on Anderson, and then hits a swinging neckbreaker blockbuster off of the apron onto the floor, and commercial.
Gallows with a punch to the jaw, runs Jay into the barricade, Mark throws Anderson back into the ring, Jay kicks Gallows, Mark with a stomp to Anderson, forearm, knife-edge chop, kick to the face, Irish whip reversal, Mark jumps over, rolls back to his feet, redneck kung fu, Anderson goes for cutter but flips him, and then standing kick by Mark, cover, but Anderson kicks out. Mark hits a Mongolian chop, kicks Anderson, another kick to the gut, tags in Jay. Jay with a headbutt, suplex, cover, kick out.
Tags in Mark, Mark with a punch to the ribs, Russian leg sweep, cover, kick out. 3 forearms, runs the ropes, Gallows trips him, kick to the head by Gallows, and then a leg drop on the apron by Anderson. MW3 says, “Size 24 boot by Gallows.” KK protests, “24?” MW3 replies, “I’m guessing, is that wrong?” KK says, “I’m not going to argue with either you or him, certainly do not want to take a measurement.” Jay comes over, Anderson takes him out, Gallows throws Mark through the barricade, opening up the gates, throws a chair to his back as they fight in the crowd. Jay comes over, kick and a punch by Gallows, MW3 says “Oooh, scary face Gallows,” the referee begins to count, but Mark gets back in.
Anderson sets him up on the ropes, rakes the eyes and neck, tags in Gallows. Kick by Mark, and then close handed strikes by Gallows, the referee tells him to stop it, he runs over knocks Jay off the apron. MW3 notes, “It’s an interesting tradition that the announcer always says the numbers English. It’s not just because it’s a ROH event, it’s a tradition in Japan to count in English. As you said earlier, Korakuen Hall opened in 1962, started to house boxing in 1964 for the Summer Olympics, every major wrestling from Hulk Hogan and beyond has been in Korakuen Hall.” Kick by Gallows, shoulder block by Mark, headbutt by Gallows, runs the ropes, drops an elbow, cover, Mark kicks out. Headlock by Gallows, and we go to commercial.
Gallows throws Mark in to corner, Mark fights out, knocks Anderson off the ropes, enziguri to Gallows, knocks Anderson off the ropes again, flips over Gallows and rolls through tags and Jay. Jay nails Anderson off the ropes, forearms to Gallows, runs the ropes, forearm to Gallows, but can’t knock him down, ducks a clothesline and then a boot finally knocks the big man off his feet. Fireman’s carry by Jay, Death Valley driver, red shoes in position, kick out. Headbutt by Jay, whip reversal off the ropes, kick by Gallows to the face, tags in Anderson. Anderson with a running back elbow knocks Mark off the apron, jumping kick by Anderson on Jay, splash by Gallows, and then a back drop neck suplex by both men, Mark comes in to break up the pin. Gallows throws Mark out, fireman’s carry by Gallows on Jay into a front face plant, cover, kick out.
Machine Guns go for the Magic Killer, Mark breaks it up, right hand by Gallows, runs in but Mark holds the ropes sending the big man to the outside. Gallows goes for a Gun Stun, Jay pushes him away, Gallows goes for a second Gun Stun, Jay blocks, Jay goes for Jay Driller, but Gallows breaks it off, and then Mark with a one-legged dropkick off the top rope. Anderson misses a clothesline, Jay goes for the double-arm hook, but Anderson gets out and then gets lariat by Jay. Neckbreaker by Jay, Froggy Bow by Mark, Mark makes sure that Gallows doesn’t come in the ring, and Jay gets the pin on Anderson.
Winners: The Briscoes
Young boy attendees come in with the ice packs for Gallows and Anderson. KK says, “It is clear that the fans here in Japan love the stars of Ring of Honor, but the stars of Ring of Honor also love the fans in Japan.” Another video package is shown of fans getting their picture taken, buying merchandise, and getting autographs from the ROH stars. Lethal says, “Every time I step into the ring, I prove that I’m the greatest wrestler in the world.” More shots of fans cheering and meeting ROH stars, and that’s the show folks.
Kevin Kelly and Mr. Wrestling 3 introduce us to the show, “Re-living all the great action from the Honor Rising events, taped back in February from Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan. As we ramp up towards Global Wars, Sunday May 8, live on pay-per-view.”
Jay Lethal (with Truth Martini) and Tetsuya Naito (with Bushi and Evil) vs Chaos (Kazuchika Okada and Yoshi-Hashi) (with Gedo)
Tetsuya Naito is out first, taking his time on his way to the ring with Evil and Bushi, Naito messes with Red Shoes. Out next is the ROH World Champion Jay Lethal, Truth Martini follows behind holding the Book of Truth. KK, says, “After Naito came back from CMLL in Mexico, he brought back a bizarre attitude, seeming like he doesn’t want to work with anybody.” MW3 tells us, “In this match, we have the two most important world champions in professional wrestling.” Next out is Yoshi-Hashi and Okada with his manager Geto. MW3 says, “Okada is one of the most popular athletes in Japan right now and maybe the entire world.”
Lethal and Naito argue about who will start the match, Lethal wins the argument. The two world champions start it off, they circle each other, collar-and-elbow tie up, wrist lock by Lethal, armringer by Okada, Lethal rolls through back flips and locks in the wrist lock again, Okada rolls through and locks in an armringer again. Lethal with a snapmare takeover, goes for the rear chinlock, Okada counters into the hammerlock, Lethal to his feet, transitions into a side headlock, Okada with two shots to the gut, throws Lethal off the ropes, shoulder tackle by Lethal, Lethal runs the ropes, Okada ducks under leapfrog, but catches a boot to the gut. Lethal goes for the Lethal Injection, but Okada pushes out, Okada goes for Rainmaker, but Lethal ducks out, and the fans cheer. Okada with 2 forearms, Lethal with an armdrag, cartwheel dropkick, cover, but Okada kicks out at 2. Lethal goes for the tag, but Naito does not want to tag in, and we go to commercial.
When we return, Naito tags in, delivers stomps to Yoshi-Hashi, but as Lethal exits the ring, Naito slaps him on the back, tagging Lethal right back in. Lethal with a suplex on Yoshi-Hashi, but Yoshi-hashi kicks out. Lethal tags in Naito, Naito shoos him away, Lethal gets out of the ring, Naito whips Yoshi-Hashi into the corner, running push kick to the chest by Naito, jumps over the top ropes for a basement dropkick, cover, Yoshi-Hashi kicks out. MW3 asks of Evil, “He looks familiar. Do we know him?” KK, “That’s Takaaki Watanabi, he used to wrestle for ROH.” MW3 says, “Oh, I wasn’t in the company back then.” KK replies, “I would have hoped Corino would have given you some notes.” MW3 says, “He did, he said he likes Subway, kind of a jerk.” Yoshi-Hashi to his feet, 3 forearms by Yoshi-Hashi, 1 forearm smash by Naito, Yoshi-Hashi goes for a kick, get caught, hits him with the second kick, and then nails a codebreaker, and both men are down.
Yoshi-Hashi gets the tag to Okada, running forearm to Naito, Okada takes out Lethal, kick to Naito, Lethal with a shot to the back, and then Okada hits a running DDT on Lethal. Okada hits a running back shoulder into the corner on Naito, kick to the gut, DDT spikes him, Okada springboards back to his feet, Okada with a running uppercut, pin attempt, but Naito kicks out. Okada picks up Naito, bodyslam to the mat, climbs to the top turnbuckle for the elbow, but Naito to his feet, Okada jumps over him, meet a double boot from Naito, back elbow by Okada, inverted Atomic drop by Naito, tornado DDT by Naito, and both men are down.
Naito tags in Lethal, Lethal with a bodyslam to Okada, climbs to the top turnbuckle, jumps off and catches Okada’s foot, and then rocks him with a roaring elbow, runs in, meets a boot from Okada, and then a Lethal Combination by the champion, cover, but Okada gets his shoulders up. MW3 says, “Both of these men would love to score a fall on each other, because both believe they are best in the world, bost believe their title is the most important title in professional wrestling right now. Naito whips Lethal to the ropes, Okada comes out gets caught in a full nelson, Lethal goes for a kick, but kicks his partner. Okada with a clubbing blow to the back of Lethal, throws him off the ropes, and then hits a dropkick that staggers Lethal, and he crumbles to the mat.
Okada tags in Yoshi-Hashi, Yoshi-Hashi with forearms, knife edge chop, whip reversal off the ropes, Lethal misses a back elbow, and then a swinging neckbreaker from Yoshi-Hashi. Yoshi-Hashi sets him up for the brainbuster, Lethal lands on his feet, and then Yoshi-Hashi reverses into back neckbreaker, Yoshi-Hashi covers, Lethal kicks out. Okada tags in, whips Lethal to the corner, whips Yoshi-Hashi into Lethal and then runs in with a back elbow of his own, Yoshi-Hashi comes off the top rope with a reverse neckbreaker, Naito breaks up the pin attempt, Okada sends him to the outside and runs him into the steel rail.
Back in the ring, Yoshi-Hashi goes for a suplex, but gets backdropped by Lethal, Martini throws in The Book of Truth to Lethal, he swings and misses, and then a running lariat from Yoshi-Hashi, quick slams Lethal to the mat, climbs to the top turnbuckle, Martini holds onto his leg, but Yoshi-Hashi kicks him out of the way. Evil climbs up onto the apron while Bushi is distracting the referee, and Lethal dumps Yoshi-Hashi to the mat, Naito hits Okada with the Book of Truth, Lethal nails the Lethal Injection on Yoshi-Hashi, and this one is over.
Winners: Jay Lethal and Tetsuya Naito
After the match, Naito reads the Book of Truth, MW3 says, “Well it is in Japanese.” Naito climbs into the ring and beats down Yoshi-Hashi with the Book of Truth as the bell rings. The referee raises the hands of Naito and Lethal, they stare at each other, Lethal points at Naito, Naito puts on his hat, Lethal offers a handshake, Naito fakes a punch, and then shakes his hand. They pose and fist bump in the middle of the ring. Naito puts his hat on Lethal, Lethal hands Naito the Book of Truth, they pose, and it’s time for our sponsors.
Kushida vs Frankie Kazarian
Out first is the “Heavy Metal Rebel” Frankie Kazarian, one half of The Addiction. KK says, “No stranger to New Japan, and no stranger to getting fined by the front office I understand.” MW3, “A foul mouth on this guy.” Kushida’s music hits, and KK says, “There is no language barrier when understanding the motivation, the popularity of Kushida.” He comes out to the ring in his purple life preserver. MW3 tells us, “Kushida is a lifelong fan of NJPW, it was like a dream to finally be a contracted wrestler with NJPW, trained with Tajiri, spent alot of time in the Hustle promotion, met his wife there, she was an office employee, living the true professional wrestling dream.” The referee is Tiger Hattori, who KK tells us has 40 years in professional wrestling.
The two wrestlers size each other up, finger lock. MW3 says, “Kazarian looks like he missed a spot when he shaved this morning,” Kazarian and Kushida exchange leverage in the test of strength, Kushida bridges down, Kazarian puts his knees on Kushida’s midsection pressing down with the weight, Kushida goes for the hoverboard lock, but Kazarian meets the ropes. Kushida with a go behind, Kazarian reverses into a pickup suplex, Kushida with a headlock, Kazarian tries to get out, but Kushida keeps holding on and rolling through, Kushida spins around his back several times, and then slaps him in the back of the head, and we go to commercial.
When we return, Kazarian is on the outside, climbs to the apron, duck a shot by Kushida, pokes him in the eye, snaps his neck on the ropes, jumps over the rope and nails a DDT on Kushida. Kushida holds his neck and shoulder in pain. Kazarian kicks him in the shoulder, picks him up by the hair, whips him into the corner, Russian leg sweep, and Kazarian grinds his crotch to the fans. MW3 “I don’t know what that was, but it’s better than usual stuff that Kazarian says.” Kazarian chokes Kushida on the ropes with his foot, picks him up, runs him into the corner, sets him on the middle of the rope, and then a double knee backbreaker, cover, but Kushida kicks out.
Kazarian smacks Kushida in the head, Kushida fights out, knee to the gut, goes off the ropes, sunset flip, but Kazarian drives a knee to the neck. Kazarian whips Kushida into the corner, runs in but meets a boot, runs in again meets another boot, Kushida flips over the rope to the apron, and then a kick to the head, springboard missile dropkick, knocking Kazarian out of the ring. Kushida climbs to the top turnbuckle, hits a front-flip on Kazarian to the floor, then Kushida stands on the apron and grinds to the fans like Kazarian. MW3 says, “Riding the pony, feeling the flow.”
Kushida picks up Kazarian, throws him back into the ring, runs into the corner, but Kazarian gets out of the way, kick to the gut by Kazarian, goes over the top rope for a DDT, but Kushida catches him in a cross-armbreaker, syncs in the triangle choke, Kazarian tries for the deadlift twice, but Kushida rakes the eyes. The two men exchange forearms, Kazarian doubles up, Kushida hits four or five kicks, then a right hand knocking Kazarian to the mat, whip reversal, handstand, execution chair drop, Kazarian pin, bridges, but Kushida kicks out. MW3 asks KK, “Who is your favorite Japanese baseball player?” KK answers, “I’m not well-versed in Japanese baseball, I’m an American baseball fan.” MW3 replies, ”If Corino were here, we could talk Japanese baseball.” KK says, ”Corino is a New Japan announcer now, he got a well-deserved opportunity.”
Both men climb to the top turnbuckle, Kazarian goes for the suplex, Kushida with shots to the ribs, goes for the flux capacitor, hits a flying Divorce Court off top rope, Kushida with a kick to the face, hits the ropes, tilt-a-whirls around his shoulder, rolls through, syncs in the hoverboard lock, Kazarian tries to fight out, but Kushida rolls him back to the center of the ring, adds pressure and extra leverage, there is no escape for Kazarian, and he taps out.
Winner: Kushida
KK says “Great effort by Kazarian.” MW3 says next, “It’s going to be a SUPERKICK PARTY (with Kenny Omega).” and we go to commercial.
Mark Briscoe is walking around the streets of Japan. “We’re so close to finding him, I can smell him, he must be around here somewhere. Oh this way, excuse me sir, question, have you seen him, no you have not seen him, Godzilla? Have you seen him, Godzilla, have you seen him? No, the search continues, I don’t know where he could be, I thought that guy would know. Time to eat in Japan, what do I want? The noodle, the noodle, the noodle, the noodle, the rice, the rice, the noodle, noodle, noodle, the rice, the rice, the noodle? I think I’ll go with the rice.” Mark continues to ask people on the street, “Thank you. No they don’t know, they’re scared of Godzilla. Little known fact, the historic legendary Mount Fuji was actually named after the historic legendary professional wrestling manager Mr. Fuji. Japan is great, Japan is fun, Japan is okay, but sometime Japan can be dangerous, sometimes there are earthquakes that hit Japan, but everybody here knows, what do you do in case of earthquakes?” And he hides under the bus stop terminal. “Maybe this fellow would know, arigato excuse me you know dojo, redneck kung fu?” A pedestrian points to the New Japan sign and we get a tour of inside the New Japan facilities. Back outside, “Oh my Lord.” Mark looks at a sign showing chickens. “How do you say home in Japanese?”
The Elite (Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) vs Katsuyori Shibata and reDRagon (Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly)
When we return, Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks make their way to the ring to Omega’s spooky horror music. They give the fans headbands and too sweet gestures. The ring announcer announces YB, and MW3 says, “Oh, The Jacksonsons.” KK says, “That’s not Bobby Cruise is it?” MW3 says, “Thank goodness, no. He still waiting for his flight.” Out next is the NEVER Openweight Champion Shibata to entrance music that has a somewhat punk rock sound, he stands in the ring and Omega shows him the IWGP Intercontinental belt. Out next is reDRagon, the three-time ROH World Tag Team Champions, and multi-time IWGP Junior Tag Team Champions. MW3 says, “You love that Bobby Fish don’t you?” KK, “He’s great on commentary, he’s a great wrestler.” MW3 says, “This is why Corino used to get upset.” Kushida joins on Japanese commentary. MW3 continues, “You would probably enjoy him joining our commentary, sitting with you too. You’re that type of guy.“ KK says, “I invited Kushida to join us for commentary.” MW3 explains, “This is a two man team.” KK suggests, “Maybe we’ll have Kushida for Global Wars.” MW3 says, “He’s busy.”
All 6 men go at it, Shibata takes Omega to the outside, double kick by the YB on reDRagon, Omega runs Shibata into the dressing barricade, reDRragon syncs in double cross arm breakers on YB. Omega comes in, kicks to O’Reilly, kicks to Fish, but Shibata gets a cross armbreaker on Omega. Matt picks up O’Reilly and throws him on Fish, then Omega throw Shibata on O’Reilly, Nick with a baseball slide kick to O’Reilly, Matt with a baseball slide kick to Fish, Omega goes for baseball slide but Shibata ducks out of the way and then takes out Omega. Shibata climbs back up to the apron, YB take him out with a handstand by Matt kick by Nick, then YB do a dual suicide dive on the outside to reDRagon. Omega is in the ring, the YB pat the mat, 12-345, Omega runs the ropes and frontflips with some crash-and-burn onto reDRagon. Omega takes off his shirt, grinds his hips and two sweets the camera, and we go to commercial.
When we return, Omega has Fish in the ring, Nick wraps a t-shirt around his head, Nick does a Road Dogg dance along the apron, Omega tags in Matt. Omega hits Fish with a backbreaker drop onto the knee, Nick holds Fish, Matt hits a swinging neckbreaker, Nick with a pin attempt on Fish, but Fish kicks out. Nick rakes the back, kicks Fish in the gut twice, suck it, stomp, suck it, stomp, suck it suck it suck it to the crowd, and then does a bunch of suck its to the ref. Nick tags in Matt, YB whip Fish to the corner, he catches himself, swings with one kick that misses, then kicks Matt in the gut, kicks Nick in the gut, and then toss suplexes Matt into Nick. Fish gets the hot tag to O’Reilly, O’Reilly runs in with the clubbing forearm, Fish with the clubbing forearm, O’Reilly with the running knee, backbreaker on Matt, O’Reilly with a stomp to the chest off the top rope, pin attempt, but Matt kicks out, O’Reilly goes for Chasing the Dragon, but Nick trips Fish and pulls him to the outside, and both men are down.
Shibata and Omega come in, Shibata with 10 elbows to Omega, and then Omega with a flying back elbow, and 8 forearms to Shibata, Shibata stands up and asks for more. Omega rakes the eyes, boot pushes Shibata to the corner, Shibata comes out with a flying boot to Omega, and then pushes a boot into Omega’s face, switches feet and another boot into the face. Shibata runs the corner and nails a running dropkick to Omega, picks him up, snapmare suplex, MW3 says, “I like to call that the Andre the Giant suplex,” pin attempt, but Omega kicks out. Shibata with a rear-naked choke on Omega, YB come in and club him in the back, but he won’t break the hold. YB look at each other like WTF, and then Shibata stands up and then nails them both with a bunch of forearms, runs the ropes, sets up for the Penalty Kick, and gets superkicked. Omega up and now Shibata gets superkicked by all three men, Omega stacks him for the pin, but Fish in to break it up. YB send Fish to the outside, Nick with a tornado DDT from the apron but bumps his own elbow on the railing, Omega sets up to the One Winged Angel, but Shibata with a go behind, Omega with 3 back elbows, runs the ropes, Shibata with a standing dropkick, and O’Reilly pounds the turnbuckle wanting the tag.
Hot tag to O’Reilly, forearms to YB, Matt goes for a kick, leg whip into Nick, and then a double dragon screw leg whip and both YB are down, running forearm into the corner on Omega, running kick to Omega, goes for the rope assisted DDT, but Omega drops him on his head. YB with a superkick to Fish off the apron, Nick goes to superkick O’Reilly, he gets out of the way, and Omega gets superkicked instead. Kicks by O’Reilly, Nick backflips, O’Reilly catches his kick and swings it into Matt. O’Reilly with kicks to the back, superkick by Matt, and then a double lariat by O’Reilly, but Omega hits a running knee. Omega puts O’Reilly up on his shoulder for the One Winged Angel, but O’Reilly gets a guillotine headscissors, Matt comes in with shots to O’Reilly’s head, he won’t break the hold, rear naked choke on Matt by Shibata, superkick by Matt to Shibata. Nick throws the spraycan to Matt, he sprays O’Reilly in the face, YB nail the Metzler Driver, now Omega with a deadlift pick up, O’Reilly tries to fight out, but can’t, Omega nails the One Winged Angel, cover and O’Reilly is finished.
Winners: The Elite
KK talks about upcoming episodes, “Next week more Bullet Club action, as Honor Rising continues, you’ll see Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson, the Machine Guns, back on ROH TV, they will tangle with The Briscoes. Plus we’ll also see a huge 8 man tag team match, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Michael Elgin, Moose and Tomoaki Honma vs. Bad Luck Fale, Cody Hall, Tama Tonga and Yujiro Takahashi. Coverage from Honor Rising continues next week,” and the end graphic rolls.
– As seen last night on RAW, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson wore jackets with the phrase “#GB 4 Life.” written on the jackets they wore to the ring. In response to social media speculation regarding what “GB” stands for, Gallows’ wife Amber confirmed that it stands for Good Brothers.
– Bray Wyatt checked in on Tuesday with an update about his looming return. The Eater of Worlds is recovering from a calf injury and should be back in action before next month’s Extreme Rules pay-per-view.