Nakamura and Tanahashi have faced each other a number of times before in New Japan Pro Wrestling, and were considered the top rivals in the company.
Both of them have main evented Wrestle Kingdom, in 2008 and 2014 for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and Intercontinental Championship respectively.
Another Match Added To Chris Jericho’s Cruise
Ring of Honor Wrestling has announced that their Sea of Honor Tournament on Chris Jericho’s upcoming Rock ‘N’ Wrestling Rager cruise will feature another match. “Hangman” Adam Page will go against Kazarian in singles action:
In the latest edition of the Elite’s Youtube series “Being the Elite”, Omega and the Young Bucks play a “harmful rib” on Masa. They also welcome Flip Gordon to the Ring of Honor roster.
Cody and Frankie Kazarian also appear on this episode:
Being the Elite
The Bucks and Omega have now posted 57 episodes of the show, which often includes other members of Bullet Club.
Flip Gordon, who took part in Ring of Honor tapings back in June, only started his career back in 2015.
The Young Bucks recently won the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championships at Dominion, and are scheduled to defend those titles against former champions, Roppongi Vice, at the NJPW Los Angeles show on July 1st. The Bucks are also ROH tag team champions, and will most likely face War Machine soon.
Kenny Omega most recently wrestled to a time limit draw with Okada at Dominion. He is scheduled to participate in the IWGP U.S Championship tournament on July 1st and 2nd.
ROH star Frankie Kazarian was a guest on the Wrestling Epicenter this week and spoke about his new band Vex Temper, his messy ending with TNA Impact Wrestling, Ring of Honor and his wife, former TNA Knockout Traci Brooks. Here are some highlights of what Kazarian discussed with host James Walsh
His band performing The Addiction’s ROH Theme Song:
“We certainly did. When Christopher Daniels and myself turned heel and changed our attitudes, the company sent us a link to a site with stock music that they have the rights to use. I asked boldly, “I have a band. If I could get something written and recorded. This is me, I know what kind of swagger we should walk to the ring with.” That night, I got my guitar which I don’t do often because I am a bass player and I came up with the riff. I came back, told the guys and they were excited about having our music being heard by a lot of people. I wrote “Get Addicted.” The funny thing is, that song, style wise, is quite different our usual style. It has a little more swing to it, it has a greasy little riff. It is definitely more accessible than the rest of our music you’ll hear on the album. We’ve got a 9 and a 10 minute song in there. You can’t really consider us radio friendly! (laughs)”
How he ended up teaming with Christopher Daniels:
“We’ve been friends and travel buddies for many years. We have been friends since 1998. We were singles wrestlers, Fortune had just broken up, Bobby had just turned on James. AJ and Daniels had just finished their feud. They weren’t doing anything with Chris after that. They certainly weren’t doing anything with me. I was just the last guy in Fortune running around. The tag division was, in a word, weak at the time. The Machine Guns, Alex Shelley was hurt. Beer Money had just broken up. We said, “You know what? We could be a formidable team.” We knew we could be an exciting tag team in terms of our in ring wrestling not to mention us feeding off each other in terms of our personalities. We pitched it, they gave it a shot. The Bad Infuance thing wasn’t supposed to last. It was only supposed to last only a couple of weeks. We fought for it. I have no trouble saying it. We were the most entertaining thing on the show! We were white hot. Again, kind of had our legs cut out from under us at the end of the run considering what we could have been.”
Working for ROH:
“Ring of Honor is awesome, man. I’m not just saying that because I am on the roster. What we do, especially in the ring, is just unmatched. Since we got here in 2014, I’ve never seen a company with such positive up-swing. We’re just riding that wave! I’ve had some of the most fun and exciting matches of my career here. A lot of guys that were once Impact Wrestling wrestlers are now gone and have come to Ring of Honor or gone to WWE. It is a shape that you look at the roster and see that the company had all these guys. But, it is great that they are all now spreading their wings and showing the world what they’re all about!”
ROH’s in-ring style:
“It is about working smart instead of working hard. Some of the things, short of pulling out a firearm and shooting someone, it is hard to imagine something more spectacular. You just learn to work within it, work around it, and work smart!”
Being part of the Bullet Club:
“Hey, man. It is a difficult thing to get over as huge as those guys have. I’m definitely happy to be a part of the squad. It is a new chapter in my career. We’re going to see where it goes!”
Posted March 11th, 2017 in News. Tagged: Kazarian.
Ring of Honor have announced several high profile bouts for their ‘Honor Reigns Supreme’ event that takes place February 4th in Dallas. The announced bouts are:
2/3 FALLS (1st PINFALL, 2nd LUCHA TAG, 3rd NO DQ)
Young Bucks (NICK & MATT JACKSON) vs Mark & Jay Briscoe
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.
After the intro video package, the fans pop from Sam’s Town Live in Las Vegas, NV. Mr. Wrestling 3 and Kevin Kelly are here, and we kick off the hour with a World TV Title match.
BJ Whitmer is out first. We are reminded that Whitmer picked up the controversial victory at the ROH 14th Anniversary show over Adam Page. The “Stone Pitbull” Tomohiro Ishii makes his way next. Bobby Cruise goes to make the announcement, but is interrupted by Veda Scott. Veda on the mic, “I’m just here to introduce myself to the new ROH TV champion. I’m Veda Scott and it is my job to ensure that my client Cedric Alexander gets every opportunity he deserves, one way or another. So BJ Whitmer, let’s talk. I just want to propose a slight change of plans. In this envelope, I have a certified check and it’s all for you on the express condition that you surrender your TV Title opportunity to Cedric Alexander right now. Let me speak! This is Vegas, you could cash this check you could have the best day, the best week of your life, and have a whole lot left over. You’re a wise man BJ and I know you’re going to make a wise decision.” BJ responds, “You mean to tell me that you think BJ Whitmer is the type of man who can be bought off?” The fans chant “Yes! Yes!” while Whitmer looks at the check. “Well, you would be absolutely correct in that assumption.” They shake on it, Whitmer takes the deal and gives up the TV Title opportunity. Kelly wonders, “How much money are we talking about?” And we go to commercial.
Cedric Alexander vs ROH TV Champion Tomohiro Ishii
Back from the break, they lock up collar-and-elbow, Cedric Alexander backs Ishii to the ropes. Forearm from CA, Ishii is unfazed. CA delivers another 3 forearms, Ishii still unfazed. Ishii throws CA off the ropes and they run into each other. Ishii challenges him to go at it again, CA bounces, Ishii bounces, and CA falls to the mat. 3 forearms from CA, then a chop by Ishii to the throat and CA is down again. Ishii picks him up and delivers a series of chops, headbutt, then throws him off the ropes but CA reverses and Veda Scott pulls the foot of Ishii before CA hits a dropkick. CA delivering stomps to Ishii, forearm to the back to the head, chops, snapmare takeover, dropkick to the side of the head. Pin attempt, 1-2, Ishii kicks out, another cover Ishii kicks out again. CA stomps on Ishii’s head, headlock, Ishii tries to fight out but gets an elbow to the head. The fans chant Ishii, CA walking around the ring hitting and kicking Ishii in the head. Ishii gets angry and stands up. Shrugs off 7 or 8 forearms and even starts leaning into them. He finally returns with a forearm of his own, then a splash in the corner, chop forearm chop forearm chop forearm. Irish whip, reversal, Ishii explodes out of the corner and turns CA inside out with a shoulder block. Vertical drop brainbuster, cover, 1-2, CA kicks out. Ishii goes for powerbomb, but CA blocks and flips Ishii. Ishii getting to his feet, CA sizing him up, Ishii gets out of the way, but CA turns with a kick off top rope. Michinoku driver, cover, but Ishii kicks out, CA is shocked. CA gets up, hooks Ishii by the tights, but Ishii syncs in a headlock and delivers some elbows, CA gets in kick, kick, spinning kick until Ishii returns a hard (and loud) headbutt. Slinging lariat, CA caught him, backslide pin attempt, Ishii kicks out. Ishii with a lariat, but CA kicks out. Ishii growls to the crowd, picks up CA and nails a second vertical drop brainbuster, 1-2-3, and that’s it.
Winner and still ROH TV Champion: Tomohiro Ishii
Ishii stands over top of CA yelling and holding the title in his face. Mr. Wrestling 3 wonders if Veda Scott will ask for a refund. Ishii stops by the announce table and continues yelling. Kelly says “You’re the man. You’re the champion.” Mr. Wrestling 3 translates what Ishii said, “He said nobody can beat him.” And we’re off to commercial.
When we return, the Addiction’s music hits. Kelly tells us Addiction has a bone to pick because recently the ROH 14th Anniversary show turned into an unlikely reunion for Motor City Machine Guns.
Kazarian on the mic, “Big news! The MCMG are back together again. And while it may give all of you a warm fuzzy feeling, it makes us, the men who were betrayed, sick to our damn stomachs. Chris Sabin..” The fans chant “Motor city!” “Chris Sabin… you silly stupid little turd. Out of the goodness of our hearts we rescued you from the bowels of obscurity and made you relevant once again. Without us, you’d be as bad as Detroit’s economy. What do you do? You betray us and run to Shelley, into the safety of your MCMG buddy, pointing at your stupid hands. And it’s only fitting it happened here in Las Vegas, Nevada. It can be said this is world capital for bad decision making. Go ahead chanting, because lions don’t lose sleep over opinions of sheep. So Sabin, I’ll chalk this up to bad decision making, but what you owe us is an a apology.” Daniels interrupts on the mic shouting, “No no Frankie, that’s not the way a friend treats you. I expect that from Ring Of Honor cuz they’re jealous and trying to hold us back. I expect that from these simple-minded fans because they’re them and not us. Yeah, I’d hate to be you (fans), trust me. It’s not a big deal, it’s a blip on the radar, cuz everything about tag team in ROH begins and ends with the Addiction. Machine Guns, I don’t care if you consider yourselves the younger generation, the new generation, or the next generation, cuz we are generation killers and we are going to end this reunion before it even starts.” Shelley’s music and entrance graphic hits, and out come Sabin and Shelley. The fans chant “Motor City!” Sabin speaks up, “So anyway, from the looks of things, you 2 seem to be a little confused. Its simple, I’ll explain to you, in this moment I’ve come to realization that you 2 are nothing more than bitter douchebags. That’s the only reason I’m standing with my best friend Alex Shelley and not you guys anymore. So from the sounds of it, seems like 2 you are trying to pick a fight. So if you want to do this, we could do it right here, right now, what do you think?” MCMG take off for the ring, but Addiction hightails it out of Dodge. Daniels says “So wait, what you’re telling me is, what you’re telling me is, you want to fight us right here, right now? You simple-minded sheep want so to see MCMG against the Addiction right now? I’m sorry, that’s not how it works. Children don’t tell adults what to do, adults tell children what to do. So you young kids understand, the vets will decide when this match goes down, and it’s up to us. You can stand here and point your hands and these douchebags can cheer all you want. You don’t deserve our attention one bit.” Commercial.
Truth Martini and Jay Lethal cut a prerecorded promo on Hirooki Goto. Truth says, “Goto you’re going 1-on-1 against the greatest ROH heavyweight champion that ever lived. If life don’t check you, I will.” Lethal jumps in, “Goto, when we meet, you will ‘go to’ the hospital. See what i did there? I’m going to send you back to the Land of the Rising Sun with a notebook and that notebook will read one thing, Jay Lethal is the greatest.” Commercial.
The Briscoes vs. Reno Scum
We’re back. Tag team action, Reno Scum is out first in their leather jackets, weighing a combined total of 462 pounds. Adam Thornstowe and Luster the Legend make their way to the ring. The Briscoes music hits and the fans go nuts. Out come Dem Boys to a raucous ovation. The bell rings, MW3 wonders if Reno Scum the same S.C.U.M. from a few years ago. Kelly tells him no, that was a brief time in ROH history. Bell rings, lock up, whip to the corner. Mark leapfrogs, snapmare takeover, dropkick, tags Jay in, and they tag team a multiple headbutt combo. Thornstowe gets a clothesline from Mark, clotheslines from Jay takes him to the outside. Mark hits a baseball slide diving through middle rope. Thornstowe is thrown back in ring, Jay sends him off the ropes, hits a dropkick, goes for the pin, 1-2, kickout. Jay tags Mark in, Mark delivers shots to ribs, Thornstowe fights back, knocks Jay off the apron rope, but Mark catches him. Mark hits Thornstowe, sends him to corner, reversal, then a spear on Mark in corner, elbow, and Thornstowe tags in Luster. Together Renco Scum split Mark’s legs, drag him to corner, elbow, cover, pin, kick out. They drag Mark over to the corner again, both men slam him into turnbuckle, then deliver blows to the back and yell to the crowd. Mark tries punch out, more punches, Thornstowe sends Mark to turnbuckles and tag in Luster. Thornstowe stands on the apron pointing his fingers like a gun when Luster slaps Mark loud like a gunshot. Snapmare takeover, headlock, and the fans chant “Man up.” Mark tries to fight out, but whip corner, still throwing punches, Mark hits a jumping enziguri, but then Luster catches him and runs him into corner, puts him on his shoulders, but Jay into break it up. Luster tags in Thornstowe and they cut off the ring. They hold Mark’s arms over the ropes and hit a chest splash, Thornstowe tags in, whip to corner, Luster goes for spear but misses. Thornstowe takes out Jay, then catches Mark on the ropes but Mark lands on his feet after a flip and makes the hot tag to Jay. Jay comes in like a storm hits 3 huge clotheslines, then the redneck uppercut, headbutt off the ropes kicks and forearms but Death Valley Driver, neckbreaker, cover, 2 but Luster kicks out. Chops from Mark, runs into a boot, but Mark counters with a Mongolian chop. Suplex on Luster, then Mark uses his head to push and roll him out of the ring. Thornstowe in by himself, splashes in the corner, Mark picks him up, Jay hits a running neck breaker, pin attempt, but Thornstowe kickout at 2. Mark gives the “finish him” sign and Jay sets him up for Jay driller but Luster comes back in and pushes Mark into Jay, forcing a collision. Luster hits a german suplex and double stomp to the heart on Mark, goes for the pin, but Jay breaks it up. Jay and Luster exchange blows, goes for Jay Driller, can’t hook it and then a thunderous clothesline. Thornstone catches Mark, but Mark bounces upside down on his head, lands on his feet, and climbs to the top rope. Mark hits the Froggy Bow, Luster tries to break the count, but Jay stops him 1-2-3.
Winner: The Briscoes
Jay yells at camera, fans chant “Man up.” Both teams are shown in the ring shaking hands and showing respect.
Dalton castle cuts a pre-taped promo, “Silas Young, isn’t this exciting? It’s kind of like getting the band back together. One last rendezvous, one last sadie hawkins dance. Why are the boys not here? Will the boys be there when I face you? I don’t want them there. I don’t want them exposed to what i’m going to do to you. They’re sensitive, they have sensitive ears, sensitive eyes. They can’t handle a fight without honor.”
“Unbreakable” Michael Elgin and Hiroshi Tanahashi vs The Young Bucks
After comercial Kelly says “Its main event time.” MW3 says, “No, its not. Its PARTY time!” And the Young Bucks come out to big cheers from the fans. Kelly tells us “The YB are the hottest act in pro wrestling today.” The fans litter the ring with streamers, Nigel McGuinness joins us on commentary, and we learn that in 2 weeks, we’ll see Addiction vs MCMG. Next out is Unbreakable Michael Elgin. They tell us Elgin has been saying “Hey, make sure when you talk about tag teams in ROH, don’t leave us out of the conversation either. He means himself and his tag team partner” …and out comes Hiroshi Tanahashi, wrestling out of Ogaki, Japan. The announce team gives us the backstory, “What a great tag team they are (Elgin and Tanahashi). There’s a lot of animosity between the YB and both men, because when Tanahashi faced Kenny Omega for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship, it was YB that assisted Omega. Elgin came down and physically removed both the Bucks.”
The tale of the tape shows Elgin and Tanahashi have the weight advantage at 494 lbs vs YB at 382 lbs. Fans chant YB. Kelly, MW3, and McGuinness debate which team has the overall advantage, “This team that came together in 2015 (Elgin and Tanahashi) has ambitious plans in 2016.” Kelley thinks YB have advantage because of experience. McGuinness says “Advantage Big Mike and Tanahashi.” MW3 says “I’ll give advantage to YB, but I think their arrogance might cost them.” YB refuse code of honor. Fans chant “2 sweet”, bell rings, and we’re off.
Elgin calls for the test of strength, Nick asks the fans, then raises his arm, but holds up the Wolfpack sign instead and pokes Elgin in eye. Nick off ropes, shoulder block, Elgin flexes and yells “Come on!” Nick hits Elgin, Nick bounces off Elgin and Elgin gives him chop chop. Nick thrown to the ropes, but he jumps over and flips, Nick spinning kick, goes to throw him, reversal, counter, jockeying for position, Nick slides over his back and tags Matt. Matt throws Nick off him then hooks Tanahashi with an upside down head scissor handstand at the ropes while Nick connects with a kick. Matt baseball slides through the ropes, and while Matt halfway skins-the-cat, Nick leaps over top of him to the outside. The crowd is going nuts for the Spot Monkeys and we go to commercial.
Matt is on the top rope, crossbody but Elgin catches him, lifts him up on his shoulders, Matt gets out and goes for a superkick but gets stopped. Tanahashi tags and they set up Matt in the corner, then Elgin running boot, spins and forearm also takes Nick off the apron. Tanahashi has Matt on the floor, delivers a forearm to back of Matt, European uppercut, then throws him back in ring and tags in Elgin. They both pick him up and hold him upside down in a delayed suplex, then finally back body drop. Nick is on apron and yells “What’s your problem?” Both Elgin and Tanahashi yell “suck it” as the give the crotch chop to Nick, and Tanahashi flicks his hand under his chin in insult for good measure. Kick to Matt, Tanahashi sends him to corner, while from the outside Elgin hooks Matt’s arms on the ropes. Nick tries to get in, but the ref stops him, and Tanahashi knocks him outside. Tanahashi goes to blast Matt in the corner, but stops short and rakes his fingernails down Matt’s back. The announce team tell us “Tanahashi is taking a play out of the YB playbook, rubbing salt in their wounds.” Elgin tags in, delivers a clubbing forearm to the back of Matt’s neck, and picks him up for another delayed suplex. Fans count up to 13, while Big Mike holds Matt in the air, before Nick runs into break it up, but instead Elgin hooks Nick and slams them both. Elgin goes for the cover, 1-2 kick out. Elgin picks Matt up, rams his head into the turnbuckle, tags in Tanahashi and the fans chant “Tanahashi!” Matt counters off the ropes, but Tanahashi traps him in an abdominal stretch. Dueling chants from the fans, “Let’s go Hashi! Let’s go Bucks!” Tanahashi plays some humain air guitar on Matt while stretching him. Matt drives an elbow to the knee, hip toss, goes for tag but Tanahashi gets him by the foot, and syncs in a headlock. Nick is yelling from top rope, Tanahashi yells “suck it” and Nigel says they really need to copyright that. Matt breaks the hold, gets in an elbow to Tanahashi, then to Elgin, back to Tanahashi, delivering right hands, until Elgin drags him out and meets a superkick, Matt slides under the legs and gets the hot tag to Nick. Nick delivers 1 dropkick, 2 dropkicks, 3 dropkicks, Nick is running the ropes, catches Elgin on apron. Running the ropes again, “Hey Tanahashi, suck it” and a face-plant from Nick. Nick is flying all around, over top rope, face first powerbomb, then a tornado DDT on the outside. The fans go nuts, Nick give a “2 sweet” to the camera and we go to commercial.
We’re back, senton from Nick, cover, hooks the leg, Tanahashi kicks out at 2. Matt up on the apron now, tags in, the fans chant “SUPERKICK!” Matt punches Tanahashi, Irish whip to corner, but runs into elbow, cross body off 2nd rope, and Tanahashi gets the tag to Elgin. Elgin delivers forearms to Matt, theN Nick, then Matt, then Nick, then Matt, then Nick. Splash to Nick, then Matt, then Nick, then Matt, suplex but Nick is there to catch Matt. Nick goes for a superkick but Elgin send Nick’s kick into Matt, then Elgin picks them both up, holding them in his arms, and hurls them across ring for a double suplex. Elgin pounds the turnbuckle the fans clap along. Elgin delivers a deadlift superplex Falcon Arrow on Matt, 1-2 but somehow, someway Matt found the strength to kick out. Buckle bomb, but Matt gets out, counter, Nick kick, up to the top rope, flip, Matt catches him, slam Elgin, tag team combo and MW3 asks “What on earth was that?” Then SUPERKICK! Matt says “see you later”, spin flip, Nick spin flip. Throws Tanahashi out. Fans chant “This is awesome!” Matt climbs to top rope, Kelly starts to say More Bang, but realizes he called the wrong move and stops himself, before Matt flips off top rope, Nick flips off top rope. Next Tanahashi tags, but Nick takes out Elgin, dragon screw leg sweep, SUPERKICK!, but Tanahashi runs through it and a clothesline turns Matt inside out. Tanahashi gives two thumbs up, climbs the turnbuckle, gets on Elgin’s shoulders, bends backwards and a whip slam onto Matt. Nick SUPERKICK!, Matt joins in for double SUPERKICK! and then another double SUPERKICK! MW3 sings SUPERKICK! in 3 different octaves, he loves SUPERKICKS! Matt picks up Tanahashi and yells “5 Star”, Nick yells “Meltzer Driver”, Matt goes for it, but Elgin catches him, Matt throw Tanahashi off, Tanahashi runs through slingblade on Matt Elgin picks him up and delivers a powerbomb. Tanahashi to the top rope, hits the High Fly Flow, it’s over folks, 1-2-3.
Winners: Michael Elgin and Hiroshi Tanahashi
Kelly says, a small measure of revenge for Elgin and Tanahashi. While Omega is still the IWGP Intercontinental Champion, at least they got the Bucks. He tells us “This is the best professional wrestling in the world today. Fans next week on ROH, the World Title is on the line, Hirooki Goto challenges Jay Lehal. You can’t miss it see you then.” Tanahashi hugs the fans on his way out.
Former TNA and current Ring Of Honor performer Frankie Kazarian recently appeared as a guest on The Two Man Power Trip Of Wrestling podcast. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On The Addiction as a team and working with Christopher Daniels: “It is hard to put in one short answer. The guy is my best friend, I’ve known him for pretty much the better part of the 17 years of my career. It’s great having somebody that you can rely on not just in the context of a wrestling match but also on the road, traveling here and there. We are best friends, tag team partners, our train of thought is very similar when it comes to wrestling matches and the whole business. It’s a real confidence booster knowing he’s there and takes a lot of stress off knowing how professional he is and knowing where we both are going to need to be. It’s almost like we are on cruise-control at this point, we know each other so well. When it comes to tag team wrestling all those thing make an awesome package.”
On being revealed as the KRD, what makes this story different: “If I can say that one thing Ring of Honor is not lacking, but is not necessarily focused on is angles like the KRD one and Ring of Honor is top notch in every aspect, especially match quality and there is nothing to compare it to. But, angles being played out like that is something you necessarily saw a lot on Ring of Honor previously and being a fan of cool well put together angles I was psyched to be a part of it. I was thrilled to become tag team champions that way and I hope that now on Destination America we can continue to do some outside-of-the-box kind of things in terms of Ring of Honor’s previous business model.”
On if he prefers to work babyface or heel: “Without question we are in our wheel-house when are bad guys. The act really got some steam when we were doing dastardly things over in TNA in 2012. It really fits our personalities so much better portraying the bad guys, it’s just right and it’s us. We got a lot of real positive reactions when we came to Ring of Honor and I think because people were happy to see us but after a while it’s going to wear off and if any team is going to be the working heels and the bad guys of the company I can’t think of anyone better then Chris Daniels and myself.”
On working Samoa Joe’s final Ring of Honor match in NYC with AJ Styles and Daniels: “Those three gentleman stood up with me at my wedding. That says it all right there. Those are three guys that I’ve traveled with and known longer than anyone else in the business and are my three best friends in the business. We all have come up together, all of our families know each other so it was a very special moment. The match we knew match quality wise was going to be there but it was afterwards really taking it in and I got to share the ring one last time with my three best friends in the business for Ring of Honor especially it was really cool and I was very aware because I used to take moments like that in my career for granted. The whole day was a great moment, especially after the match when Ring of Honor gave Joe the sendoff that he so richly deserved.
Check out the complete interview at Podomatic.com.
– Ring Of Honor TV will not only air as the lead-in to TNA Impact Wrestling each Wednesday night on Destination America, but a replay will also air immediately following Impact.
The episodes will premiere on Saturdays on Sinclair affiliates prior to the Wednesday broadcast/replay on Destination America.
– With ROH now airing on cable television, there’s already speculation that WWE will nix his appearances in the promotion. The same rule would likely apply to Rhyno and other talents if they handle the Joe situation that way. Joe is currently booked to appear on the 6/20 edition of ROH TV, teaming with AJ Styles to take on Kazarian and Daniels, however that could change due to ROH’s new deal with Destination America.
The following are some quotes from Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian speaking on their TNA departures in a new shoot interview with RF Video:
Daniels: “You can’t look at the act we had going on and say we weren’t over. You can’t look at us and say we aren’t good wrestlers and we weren’t entertaining. So, the reason behind letting us go at this point is mind-boggling. I have no idea why they thought that was a good business decision.”
Kazarian: “Still to this day we haven’t gotten a straight answer. Other than being told, ‘we’re going in different directions,’ telling different stories.”
Daniels: “Our story isn’t good? I don’t understand that. They decided to go with the Bro-Mans. I like Robbie and I like Jessie but I’ll say this right now, we’re a better team than them. We’re a better team. We’re more entertaining and we’re better wrestlers. That’s it. I love them to death. Jessie’s worked really hard to get where he’s at right now and he’s learning by leaps and bounds. But side by side, we are a better team than them. And they decided to go with them. That’s a personal decision.”
Kazarian: “You start to think, like, does somebody not like us? You always hear that. I would even ask, ‘did we piss somebody off, does somebody just not like us?’ It’s, ‘no you guys are doing great.’ Then every once and a while, we hear like, ‘well you wore your own shirt to the ring that one time.’ That was like in August of last year and we haven’t done it since so is there heat or not heat?”
The following are highlights of a new v2 Wrestling Podcast interview with Christopher Daniels:
On whether Frankie Kazarian will be departing TNA soon: “I can’t really confirm 100% but I can tell you that the odds are very good that rather soon the both of us will be doing what we want to do in the world of professional wrestling.”
On why he was released by TNA: “I’m not sure what their reasoning was. It wasn’t money, we never even got to (talking about) money. Part of me takes it personally. Anybody that is in some sort of entertainment field where they are their own product, when you’re told “No, we don’t want you”, of course a little bit of you takes it personally.”
On rumours that Vince Russo is back in the TNA fold: “I never saw Vince, and the creative team never said one way or the other. They’re denying it now, but when I was backstage, Frankie and I never saw any hint that Vince was there.”
On the likelihood of working with Jeff Jarrett’s new promotion: “I’m certainly hoping to work with Jeff Jarrett, I think he’s a great mind. I think that if someone could take something and make it out of nothing, I think it’s Jeff Jarrett.”
On breaking kayfabe: “I definitely respect the business enough to try and protect it as much as possible. When I came up, kayfabe was solid, but now I’ve seen the change in the mentality. The curtain has been pulled back and it’s hard to unring that bell now the word is out. It’s one thing for everybody to be in on the gag, but you don’t want to make people aware of it while they’re watching the product. Like, people know there’s a gimmick to magic, but they never really know what the gimmick is. You want them guessing what they’re watching.”
There is major concern backstage in TNA right now about the financial future of the company.
At this past week’s TNA Impact Wrestling tapings from Orlando, members of the production staff were going to walk out in the middle of the tapings due to the company being behind on paying them. TNA caught wind of the situation and immediately cut checks to the production staff to cool them off.
There was a lot of tension behind the scenes last week, with money being tighter than it ever has been.
TNA has been cutting talent since last summer, with Frankie Kazarian being the latest casualty. He is no longer with the company because TNA did not want to (or could not) continue paying him what he was making.
Instead of keeping veterans like Kazarian and Daniels on board, TNA will be signing younger talent that will work for half of what Kazarian was making.
– There will be no WWE SmackDown post-show on the WWE Network tonight. There will, however, be a SmackDown pre-show before this week’s episode begins.
– WWE Hall Of Famer Ric Flair is scheduled to appear at a wrestling convention at the Newark Memorial High School in Newark, California on May 17th. Also scheduled to appear are Scott and Cody Hall, Chris Masters, Ezekiel Jackson, Molly Holly, Daniels and Kazarian.
– For statistic junkies out there, Daniel Bryan and Kane have had nine singles matches against each other on television over the past two years. Of those nine, Bryan has won seven, with two of those wins coming by way of disqualification. One of his losses was also by disqualification. Bryan has won their last six meetings, as Kane’s last victory over the current WWE World Heavyweight Champion came back in June of 2012.
– Brittany vs. Angelina Love was taped for TNA Xplosion at last night’s Impact Wrestling tapings.
– Knux’s new stable in TNA is being called The Menagerie.
– TNA has officially moved Christopher Daniels from their roster page to their alumni roster. Daniels’ Bad Influence partner Kazarian is still on the roster, but his contract expires in May.
– TNA stars Kazarian and Abyss will be taking on The Great Muta and Tajiri at the May 4th Wrestle-1 event in Tokyo, according to a report at PWInsider.com.
– TNA star Bully Ray was recently interviewed by Xpose Entertainment and spoke about his desire to get into acting:
“I’m looking into films and other things right now … I am looking to branch my career out a little bit more into acting … I think I fit certain roles, I’ll use as an example a guy like James Gandolfini in ‘The Sopranos’. I think that type of role I could pull off real well, just with my natural personality.
I just did a television show for Nickelodeon. The show is called ‘See Dad Run’ and it stars Scott Baio and it’s on nick@nite. So I did an episode with him and it went really well and I had an extremely positive experience out there in Hollywood, I was there about a week working at Paramount Studios, I got to work with Scott Marshall and Garry Marshall, and I got to work on the same set as ‘Happy Days’. It was a tremendously positive experience.”
The original plan for Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards debut in TNA was for the two to win the TNA Tag-Team Titles from The Bro Mans right out of the gate.
According to one source, TNA changed the plan because creative writer Dave Lagana feels the company has finally gotten The Bro Mans over as a tag-team.
As things stand now, Richards and Edwards are set to work a program with Christopher Daniels and Kazarian.
As seen Thursday night on Impact Wrestling, Madison Rayne made her return to TNA Wrestling. Establishing herself as a babyface, the four-time TNA Women’s Knockout Champion saved ODB from an attack from Lei’D Tapa and her former partner in crime, the reigning TNA Women’s Knockout Champion Gail Kim. The 27-year-old is back on the company website’s official roster and has also been talent roster for January’s tour of Europe.
Those scheduled for the tour are Magnus, Rockstar Spud, Kurt Angle, Bobby Roode, Christopher Daniels, Kazarian, Ethan Carter III, Bully Ray, Mr. Anderson, James Storm, Gunner, Samoa Joe, Chris Sabin, Austin Aries, Eric Young, Joseph Park, Robbie E, Jessie Godderz, Zema Ion, Gail Kim, Lei’D Tapa, Velvet Sky, Madison Rayne, ODB and Sam Shaw.
Brooke, Knux and Manik have been pulled from the announced lineup. Other notable admissions include AJ Styles, Jeff Hardy, Sting, Chavo Guerrero and Hernandez.
The following are highlights from a recent interview with TNA Wrestling tag-team Bad Influence:
On their favorite TNA theme songs of all-time …
Kazarian: “Currently, our song is my favorite because Chris Daniels and I had a lot of input on that. We knew exactly the feel of the song, we knew exactly the rhythm. We knew exactly, exactly what we wanted and Dale OIiver was gracious enough to really hear us out. He’d give us something and we wanted a couple things changed and he changed them for us and the finished product really, really suits our characters. Over the years, there’s been many, many songs that have been either mocked or sung in the locker room or just the rhythm of it, sung along. There’s been some pretty memorable ones like Abyss’s famous one. There’s been so many ones that have stuck with us over the years.”
Daniels: “Yeah, I’m definitely a big fan of our stuff. I’ve been fortunate enough, not just with the current one that I have, but the last two themes that I had with Dale, I talked it out with him and sort of figured out what I wanted to do. The one I had before the one Frankie and I use now, I actually hummed the bars. It was a song that I had sort of come up with myself. I had sort of a theme that I wanted, so I basically called Dale up and hummed the bars over the phone and he played it on his guitar and that ended up being my theme song for a very long time. As far as other people’s stuff, AJ Style’s music has been pretty good as far as sticking with his character. And I was a big fan of D’Angelo Dinero’s music when he had it. I thought it fit his character and it certainly fit his entrance. Also, another one that sticks out, it’s one of those songs that gets an immediate reaction is the former Beautiful Peoples’s/ Velvet Sky’s music. When that hits, people know who’s coming. I think that’s a big factor when it comes to wrestling entrance music, knowing exactly what’s coming. I think that can be said for our music as well.”
On where Kazarian was the first time he did an impression of AJ Styles …
Kazarian: “Probably in the locker room or in a car or in a hotel room. And it was probably years ago. When you spend so much time with someone, you start emulating them, good, bad, or indifferent. We always just kind of crack on each other and AJ’s got that Southern accent, it was easy fodder for Chris and myself. So probably sometime in the early 2000?s in a locker room or a hotel or a car, I couldn’t tell you, man. But I guess just spending so much time with the guy over the years, I just kind of picked it up as a second language, really.”
On Billy Corgan …
Kazarian: “He was at a live event in Chicago this past March. I know Chris and I had a chance to sit down and chat with him and again, such a fan of our business that he actually started up his own promotion, which is doing very well. Billy, like me, his first passion is music and obviously, his second is wrestling. Both worlds are very and he’s done a great job with his promotion and he’s very knowledgeable, very respectful of us, and he’s a huge, huge musician. So that’s really cool for those worlds to mesh again.”
Daniels: “Yeah, he’s definitely somebody that you can talk the history of wrestling with and the stuff that got him involved as a kid. It still effects what he likes to do, what he watches today, and how he runs his promotion. So he’s definitely very knowledgeable about wrestling and you can tell when he’s sitting backstage at our show in Chicago this year, he was watching the show just very interested to see what everybody was doing, how the promos went and how the matches went. He’s definitely someone that has a real appreciation for wrestling.”
On the rumors that Hulk Hogan originally auditioned to be a bass player for Metallica …
Kazarian: “That’s as silly today as it is the first time I heard it. I think he had said something to the effect of Lars wanted him to replace Cliff on bass or to join the band. I can’t take that out of context. (laughs) I read an interview that Lars responded and laughed it off like, “No, that didn’t happen!” I don’t know why Hulk would say that. I mean I know Hulk did play bass, I’ve actually talked to him about that. But that’s about as ludicrous of a rumor as can be, but if it gets people talking about you, whatever. I’m all for it.”
– In a battle of former TNA World Tag Team Champions, Bad Influence square off against Chavo Guerrero and Hernandez on this week’s edition of TNA Xplosion.
– TNA Wrestling is throwing a Christmas party for fans in the United Kingdom, the company announced on Facebook.
The event will take place in London, England on Sunday, December 22 from 3:00 to 7:00 p.m. with Magnus and Rockstar Spud in attendance. The party is being hosted by Jeremy Borash and will be filmed for broadcast on Challenge TV.
Admission is free but solely limited to those who have purchased tickets for next month’s TNA Maximum Impact VI Tour. Additional details are available here.
The official YouTube account of TNA Wrestling has released two new “#IMPACT365” videos featuring Bad Influence and Velvet Sky.
In this video, Curry Man goes in search of Christopher Daniels.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snly2NE2KqE
Velvet Sky says she forgives Chris Sabin for his harsh treatment of her.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xACMm5EwCk
ShopTNA.com is celebrating the twelve days of Christmas and for the next twelve days, are giving away one free item with each order on each day. Eric Young explains the offer in this video.
-TNA has added some new “#IMPACT365” videos to their official YouTube channel. In the following video, TNA wrestler Kazarian talks about flying out of LAX after the major shooting incident this week. Check out the video below:
http://youtu.be/zIY0ZRoeZuM
-Another new “#IMPACT365” video has been added as well, which features Brooke Tessmacher showing Miley Cyrus her “Twerk Out.” Check out the video below:
-The next TNA “One Night Only” pay-per-view theme will be that of a tournament among past TNA champions to determine the “best champion in TNA history.” Matches include: James Storm vs. Mr. Anderson, Samoa Joe vs. Jeff Hardy, Austin Aries vs. Kurt Angle, Bobby Roode vs. Sting and Bully Ray vs. James Storm in the first round.
-The latest edition of the TNA Podcast is now online and features Jeff Hardy, Kazarian, Taz, Mike Tenay and more. Fans interested in checking that out can do so online at TNA2Go.com.
-Following the TNA Bound For Glory pay-per-view on October 20th, the next TNA Impact Wrestling television taping will be held on October 24th at the Maverik Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.
– In June, inactive TNA Wrestling star Zema Ion’s fundraising campaign following an emergency appendectomy was futile as it failed to raise the needed $30,000 he was hoping to raise—it only raised $6,648, which he did not receive. Ion recently appeared on The Pain Clinic (listen here) and revealed that he became depressed after being informed he may have cancer, not to mention that he owes thousands of dollars in medical bills. He dubbed the ordeal “a really dark time,” but says he’s feeling better these days.
– In the latest edition of the “Impact Wrestling Podcast” hosted by Jeremy Borash and Christy Hemme, Breaking Bad fans Bad Influence, Mike Tenay, Taz, Jeff Hardy and Gunner offer their predictions on tomorrow night’s season finale on AMC.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QO2h1D7EMeY
– According to WrestlingFigs.com, TNA Women’s Champion ODB will participate in an autograph signing at Wrestling Universe 34-29 Francis Lewis Blvd. Flushing, New York, on Sunday, October 6 from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.
According to live fan reports, a crazed fan attempted to attack TNA wrestler Frankie Kazarian during the TNA non-televised live event on Saturday night in Tucson, Arizona.
According to reports, as Kazarian and tag-team partner Christopher Daniels were leaving the ring, a fan threw a beer at Kazarian and attempted to go after him. Eye-witness accounts note that Ronnie Lang’s Atlas Security was right on top of things, as the fan was quickly subdued before and removed from the venue as soon as he became unruly.
Additionally, James Storm, perhaps realizing the incident was taking place, quickly jumped on the microphone and began cutting a promo to the crowd to attempt to draw attention away from the matter.
We should have a full live report from the TNA event in Tucson up on the website shortly.
TNA Wrestling issued a statement this afternoon through its company website concerning tonight’s Bound For Glory Series matches on Impact Wrestling since tournament leader Magnus will be not be appearing on the show “due to an unforeseen issue.”
The British grappler was scheduled to compete against Jeff Hardy and as a result of his absence, they have announced the following changes to the show.
“Magnus, due to an unforeseen issue, will not be appearing on tonight’s Impact Wrestling on Spike TV. Magnus currently has competed in 5 matches and was scheduled to face Kazarian on Xplosion this week and Jeff Hardy on Spike TV tonight. Due to the circumstances, TNA officials have met and made the following decision:
“Magnus will stand with his current total of 39 points. Jeff Hardy and Kazarian will face each other tonight on Impact Wrestling on Spike TV to make up their originally scheduled match with Magnus. Also the originally scheduled Kazarian vs. Hernandez match will move to Xplosion this week.
“Must Win Thursday“ tonight will now feature three matches with serious implications on the BFG Series Final Four scheduled for No Surrender in St. Louis; Austin Aries vs. Christopher Daniels, Jeff Hardy vs. Frankie Kazarian, and AJ Styles vs. Bobby Roode. Tune in tonight at 9/8c for all this and the return of Hulk Hogan on Spike TV.”