WWE announced today that the 2023 Royal Rumble has broken the company’s record for largest gate in the event’s 36-year history.
The January premium live event surpassed the $5 million mark over the weekend, taking over the record from the 2017 edition, coincidentally enough held at the Alamodome in San Antonio as well.
Tickets for the Royal Rumble are still available through Ticketmaster.com starting from $65 each plus taxes and fees. WWE already moved over 30,000 tickets for the Rumble and the event is still two months away.
Not the whole Alamodome is being used for the Rumble although WWE opened more sections recently. The event will have a similar feel to what this year’s Rumble had in St. Louis as well as SummerSlam in Nashville.
In a message on social media, WWE producer Jamie Noble wrote that he will be having possibly his last WWE match next month at a non-televised live event in front of his family in Charleston, West Virginia.
Noble, who is from the area, was forced to retire due to an injury but now he’s lucky to have one more opportunity in front of his people, his state, and his family.
“I promise you I will walk out a winner or I will go out on my shield giving the best performance I can give. all the support I can get will be so greatly appreciated to show that I can still go,” Noble wrote.
Noble called WWE “the greatest company of all time” in the Instagram post.
The event will take place on December 11 and this will be his first match since June 8, 2015 when he participated in a two-on-one handicap match, teaming with Joey Mercury to take on Seth Rollins during an episode of Monday Night Raw. His last singles match was actually in 2013.
Former AEW World and Trios champion Kenny Omega will be participating at the NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17 show in January after he challenged rival Will Ospreay via a video which aired at the NJPW x STARDOM Historic X-Over event today.
In the video, Omega blamed the poor crowds at NJPW events on Ospreay and said he was surprised that NJPW called him. He said that for the good of professional wrestling, he has accepted the invitation and challenged Ospreay to a match at WK.
Ospreay accepted the challenge, telling Omega that when he left for All Elite Wrestling, he stayed in New Japan to keep things going. The match will be for the IWGP United States title.
This will be the first time that Omega will wrestle for NJPW since Wrestle Kingdom 13 in January 2019. On that show, Omega lost the IWGP Heavyweight title to Hiroshi Tanahashi.
A few AEW stars are expected to be part of the NJPW Wrestle Kingdom event which will take place at the Tokyo Dome. FTR will be defending the IWGP Tag Team titles on the show against opponents still yet to be determined. Jay White vs Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight title headlines the show.
Wrestle Kingdom 17 is on January 4, a Wednesday, and clashes with AEW’s debut in Seattle at the Climate Pledge Arena.
The new AEW World champion, MJF, cut an expletive-filled promo at the post-Full Gear press conference, turning back to a full-fledged heel after steering towards the babyface side for the past few weeks.
He said that the AEW title is now the most prestigious in this sport thanks to three letters, and that’s not AEW or Mox, but MJF.
“God damn people are f*cking dumb. No offense. You had sympathy for the devil?” MJF said. “Are you f*cking stupid, you f*cking morons.”
MJF said he deserves the title because he’s the best wrestler in the world and everyone knows it. He said no one can touch him and no one is on his level.
“And then, you guys still believed me when I put over this motherf*cker this past Wednesday?” MJF questioned the crowd as he pointed to Tony Khan who was sitting alone at the table. “Grow the f*ck up.”
MJF called the fans “f*cking marks” with “70,000 hardcore marks watching at home jerking off in their grandma’s basement” to his velvet voice.
The champ then said that he was going to shower to remove all Moxley’s disgusting hepatitis A to Z off of him and tomorrow morning he’s taking a jet to his movie set because he’s the only star in the company.
“Anyone got any questions? Just kidding. F*ck you, bye. Champ’s f*cking out, baby,” MJF screamed as he walked off the press conference.
KAIRI, the former WWE star known as Kairi Sane, became the first IWGP Women’s champion after she defeated Mayu Iwantani in the main event of NJPW x STARDOM: Historic X-Over show held at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan.
The pirate princess won the match with her Insane Elbow finishing move after a 25-minute match. The match was the final of a tournament which started on October 2.
KAIRI, who received a first-round bye, defeated Jazzy Gabert in the semi final match while Iwatani went through Mono Watanabe in the first round and Utami Hayashishita in the semi final.
The former NXT Women’s champion left WWE in 2020 and assumed an ambassadorial role for WWE in Japan after she wanted to return home. Her contract with WWE expired late last year and in February of this year, she returned to STARDOM.
Those who missed the 99 cents a month Peacock deal a few months ago have another week to get the same deal for Black Friday!
Peacock is offering a whole year subscription for just $0.99 starting today and ending November 28 with the code SAVEBIG.
Subscribing to Peacock in the United States will give you access to the full WWE Network catalog including the premium live events as well as the rest of the Peacock catalog which right now includes all the games from the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
This subscription is with ads and there’s no option to get the no-ads version for a cheaper price.
If you enjoyed The Elite vs Death Triangle last night at Full Gear you’ll be happy to know that that is match one of a potential seven as AEW announced a best-of-seven series for the World Trios titles between the two teams.
Death Triangle beat The Elite at Full Gear so they now lead the series 1-0. Match two will take place this Wednesday on Dynamite in Chicago and match three follows on December 7 on Dynamite in Indianapolis. A potential decisive match four takes place on Dynamite: Winter Is Coming in Garland on December 14.
If further matches are required, match five happens at the Dynamite: Holiday Bash episode on December 21 in San Antonio, match six at the New Year’s Smash Dynamite in Denver on December 28, and the last match if both are tied 3-3 will take place on January 14 on Dynamite in Inglewood.
The 2023 edition of Revolution will take place on Sunday, March 5 in San Francisco, California.
The date and location was revealed by AEW President Tony Khan last night during the post-Full Gear press conference. The venue is the Chase Center, the home of the Golden State Warriors.
The Chase Center is a massive arena which holds close to 20,000 people in a concert setting and just over 18,000 in a basketball configuration.
AEW will make it’s San Francisco debut on March 1 at the Cow Palace and a live Rampage will follow on March 3 in the same location.
A new AEW World champion was crowned as MJF ended Moxley’s third championship reign after just 59 days last night at AEW Full Gear.
The end of the match saw MJF going for the Dynamite diamond ring and William Regal talked him out of it, with MJF giving Regal the middle finger. Two referees went down and Mox chocked out MJF and MJF tapped. But the referee didn’t see it and Mox thought he won. Regal told Mox to go wake the ref and from behind, Regal slid in the brass knuckles to MJF and MJF clocked Mox in the face.
MJF then covered Moxley with one hand and the middle finger sticking out as Regal slowly moved up the ramp with a smirk on his face.
“William Regal just sold himself to the devil,” Tony Schiavone said on commentary.
Here are the results from last night’s Full Gear 2022 pay-per-view which took place from the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
ZERO HOUR: Orange Cassidy, Trent Beretta, Chuck Taylor, Rocky Romero, and Danhausen defeated QT Marshall, Aaron Solo, Lee Johnson, Nick Comoroto and Cole Karter in a 10-man tag team match; Ricky Starks defeated Brian Cage in the AEW World Title Eliminator tournament semi finals; Eddie Kingston defeated Jun Akiyama.
PPV: “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry defeated Luchasaurus in a steel cage match; Death Triangle defeated The Elite in a six-man tag team match to retain the AEW World Trios titles; Jade Cargill defeated Nyla Rose to retain the AEW TBS title; Chris Jericho defeated Bryan Danielson, Claudio Castagnoli, and Sammy Guevara in a four-way match to retain the ROH World title; Saraya defeated Britt Baker; Samoa Joe defeated Wardlow and Powerhouse Hobbs in a three-way match to become the new AEW TNT champion; Sting and Darby Allin defeated Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal; Jamie Hayter defeated Toni Storm to become the new interim AEW Women’s champion; The Acclaimed defeated Swerve In Our Glory to retain the AEW World Tag team titles; MJF defeated Jon Moxley to become the new AEW World champion.
Full Gear airs live tonight and with a big card there’s a lot of betting odds and numbers to go about. Today we present you with the latest odds for all the matches on the main card.
Remember, odds will likely change by the time the show goes on air.
Will the devil himself be crowned champion tonight? Bookmakers think so as MJF is 1/5 favorite for his first major title win in AEW while Jon Moxley is 10/3 to retain.
The AEW Women’s interim title is up for grabs as Toni Storm battles Jamie Hayter. It’s close, but Storm has the upper hand in the odds with 8/11 to her name and Hayter is at 1/1.
The Acclaimed will be defending the AEW World Tag Team titles against former champs Swerve In Our Glory and the champs are favorite with odds of 1/10 while Lee and Strickland are 11/2 to regain.
The ROH World title is up for grabs in a fatal four-way match with champion Chris Jericho defending against Bryan Danielson, Claudio Castagnoli, and Sammy Guevara. Jericho is favorite with 4/9 odds while his challengers are 3/1, 6/1, and 9/1 respectively.
A second women’s title match will pit Jade Cargill vs Nyla Rose for the TBS title. Cargill is the clear favorite with odds of 1/16 while Rose is a far distant 7/1 for the upset.
It’s been five years but finally Saraya steps back in the ring for her first match since December 2017. The Brit is 2/9 favorite to win against Britt Baker who is 3/1.
Darby Allin and Hall of Famer Sting will team up to take on Jay Lethal and another Hall of Famer, Jeff Jarrett. Allin and Sting are favorite with 2/5 odds while the heels are 7/4.
A steel cage match will feature Luchasaurus and Jungle Boy and Jack Perry is 1/6 favorite to defeat his former tag team partner who is 7/2.
The TNT title will be defended in a triple threat match as Wardlow battles Samoa Joe and Powerhouse Hobbs. Wardlow is favorite with 8/13 odds while Hobbs is 13/8 and Joe is at 7/2.
And last but not least, the return of The Elite. Omega and The Bucks will get a shot to regain their Trios title against the Death Triangle and the odds are in favor of the challengers who have 4/11 numbers backing a win while the reigning champs are 15/8.
Betting on Full Gear 2022 would involve finding a legal and reputable sportsbook or an online betting site like Oh My Spins Casino that offers bets on the event. You would then need to create an account, deposit funds, and navigate to the section of the site where bets on the Full Gear 2022 are being offered. From there, you would need to research the teams or players participating in the event, and place a bet on the team or player you think will win.
Bully Ray will be the next one to get an Impact World title shot after yesterday he threatened to piledrive Josh Alexander’s wife.
At the conclusion of the Over Drive Impact Plus event, Ray attacked Alexander following his victory. He then proceeded to pull Alexander’s wife Jade over the security barrier and was about to piledrive her on the concrete floor.
Alexander, who was tied to the bottom rope, eventually freed himself but Ray told him to stay put and hand him over the Impact World title as he held on to Jade.
Ray will now get his title shot at the Hard To Kill pay-per-view on Friday, January 13, 2023. The show will be live from Center Stage Atlanta.
The Impact Hall of Famer is a former two-time Impact World champion, winning the title in March and August 2013.
AEW President Tony Khan announced that tonight’s Full Gear has crossed the $1 million figure in gate money.
This is the first Full Gear that has topped $1 million and it’s the company’s fourth straight pay-per-view over that mark.
Besides Revolution, Double or Nothing, All Out, and now Full Gear, AEW also had Dynamite: Grand Slam which made over $1 million.
This has been a very successful year for AEW when it comes to pay-per-view ticket sales and it’s the first one without the involvement of CM Punk when it comes to doing over a million dollar gates.
In a report published by Fightful Select, Sean Ross Sapp writes that Detroit, Michigan, is the front runner to host SummerSlam next year.
The city hosted SummerSlam once so far and you have to go all the way back to 1993 for that one. Detroit has been the home to all top four WWE premium live events in the past, with Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, and Survivor Series also hosted there.
SummerSlam is lately being held in stadiums and if they do that next year, Ford Field would be the location. The 65,000-seater Ford Field hosted WrestleMania 23.
Live tonight from the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, AEW presents Full Gear 2022 on pay-per-view. The full card is as follows:
Jon Moxley vs MJF for the AEW World title; Toni Storm vs Jamie Hayter for the interim AEW Women’s World title; The Acclaimed vs Swerve In Our Glory for the AEW World Tag Team titles; Chris Jericho vs Bryan Danielson vs Claudio Castagnoli vs Sammy Guevara in a four-way match for the ROH World title; Death Triangle vs The Elite in a six-man tag team match for the AEW World Trios titles; Wardlow vs Samoa Joe vs Powerhouse Hobbs in a three-way match for the AEW TNT title; Jade Cargill vs Nyla Rose for the AEW TBS title; Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal vs Sting and Darby Allin; Britt Baker vs Saraya; and Luchasaurus vs “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry in a steel cage match.
The Zero Hour pre-show will have Brian Cage vs Ricky Starks in the AEW World Title Eliminator tournament semi finals; Orange Cassidy, Trent Beretta, Chuck Taylor, Rocky Romero, and Danhausen vs QT Marshall, Aaron Solo, Lee Johnson, Nick Comoroto, and Cole Karter in a 10-man tag team match; and Eddie Kingston vs Jun Akiyama.
The pay-per-view will air on Bleacher Report in the United States and Canada and FITE.TV internationally. Zero Hour will start at 7PM ET and airs on Bleacher Report and AEW’s official YouTube channel.
The men’s Survivor Series WarGames match was finally made official last night on Smackdown in a hot show-closing angle as The Bloodline and The Brutes plus partners tore down the house.
Undisputed WWE Universal champion Roman Reigns, Jay Uso, Jimmy Uso, Solo Sikoa, and Sami Zayn will collide with Drew McIntyre, Sheamus, Butch, Ridge Holland, and Kevin Owens.
Owens, who suffered an MCL injury last week, looks to have recovered enough to be part of the match after his participation was in doubt.
Meanwhile, on next week’s Smackdown there will be a WarGames advantage match with Drew and Sheamus taking on The Usos where the winners will give their team the advantage.
The women’s WarGames advantage match will happen on Raw with Rhea Ripley taking on Asuka.
Here are the results from last night’s Over Drive Impact Plus event which aired live from Old Forester’s Paristown Hall in Louisville, Kentucky.
Rich Swann defeated Bhupinder Gujjar, Jason Hotch, Kenny King, Mike Bailey, and Yuya Uemura in a six-way match in the pre-show; The Motor City Machine Guns defeated Ace Austin and Chris Bey to become the #1 contenders for the Impact World Tag Team titles in the pre-show; Bully Ray defeated Moose in a tables match; The Death Dollz defeated Savannah Evans and Tasha Steelz to retain the Impact Knockouts World Tag Team titles; Mickie James defeated Taylor Wilde; Heath and Rhino defeated The Major Players to retain the Impact World Tag Team titles; Trey Miguel defeated Black Taurus to become the new Impact X Division champion; Jordynne Grace defeated Masha Slamovich in a last Knockout standing match to retain the Impact Knockouts title; Josh Alexander defeated Frankie Kazarian to retain the Impact World title.
CM Punk was once again behind the mic at the Cage Fury Fighting Championship 115 event last night which was held at the Horseshoe Hotel & Casino in Tunica, Mississippi.
The former AEW World champion was joking with the other two announcers at one point and it was noted that Punk was nursing his shoulder.
“Everything is hurting, I’m nursing everything,” Punk said laughing before adding, “My hand hurts,” as he joked about punching someone.
His co-host then said that they might do Fury Pro Wrestling next and they’re looking for a big signing, prompting Punk to laugh.
“You don’t want me,” he said point blank, as the other announcer chimed in laughing saying, “Don’t let him do any press conferences, alright?”
Punk seemed to be in good spirits despite everything that happened over the past few months.
The Brawling Brutes and Drew McIntyre are out first. Sheamus said he respects Drew so much he asked him to be his best man at his wedding a few weeks ago. Sheamus then asks Drew to officially be an honorary Brute. Drew said if he had to go to war, he wants to go to war with his brother and Drew and Sheamus shook hands and hug. Then they were getting ready to announce the 5th partner but were interrupted by Sami Zayn who says they don’t care who the 5th one is.
Sheamus tells Sami, their 5th partner is going to be who he least expects.
Ricochet VS. Mustafa Ali in the Smackdown World Cup tournament match
Ali misses with a shooting star press, Ricochet climbs the ropes and waits till Ali is back on his feet and Ricochet hits a 450 cross body block for the win.
Winner: Ricochet
After the match Ricochet helps Ali out of the ring and to the back.
In the back, Jey Uso is arguing with Sami Zayn and Jimmy comes in and tells them to chill they need to be on the same side and the Tribal Chief is on his way.
The New Day are interviewed and Imperium interrupts and say don’t be disappointed, you are still the biggest clowns in WWE. The New Day then offer to find a partner and meet them in the ring. Gunther accepts.
Madcap Moss is shown talking with Emma
Madcap Moss VS. Karrion Kross
Kross picks up the win with the Kross Jacket.
Winner: Karrion Kross
Bray Wyatt is out next. He wanted to apologize to L.A. Knight for what he did to him last week. L.A. Knight comes out and Knight says he doesn’t fear him, but it looks like Bray respects him. Knight got in the ring and slaps Bray in the face and says now we are even and accepts his apology. Bray walks over to the apron and says we are even and reaches his hand to shake Knight’s hand and Knight slaps him in the face again. Bray just gets on his knees and leans on the ropes and stares at Knight.
Jey Uso walks up to Karrion Kross and asks if he is the 5th member and Kross says he is a leader not a follower.
Shayna Baszler VS. Shotzi
Ronda Rousey at ringside tried to distract Shotzi but it didn’t work, and Shayna tried to stomp on Shotzi’s arm but is distracted by Raquel Rodriguez and Shotzi rolls Shayna up for the win.
Winner: Shotzi
In the back L.A. Knight is laid out under a bunch of chairs and stuff.
Imperium VS. The New Day & Braun Strowman
The New Day hit Midnight Hour for the win.
Winner: The New Day & Braun Strowman
Butch VS. Sami Zayn in the Smackdown World Cup tournament match
Butch hits the Bitter End on Zayn as Jey Uso and Sheamus start fighting at ringside and distracted Sami.
Winner: Butch
As both groups start fighting the Tribal Chief comes out. Roman sets up Sheamus for the spear and Kevin Owens’ music hits and Roman is shocked. Owens stomps Roman in the corner then stares down Sami, Roman hits a Superman Punch, Sami gets pulled out of the ring and Roman sets Kevin up for a spear but gets a knee to the face then a Stunner Roman laid out as Smackdown goes off the air.
Last Week’s Rating: 456,000 overall; 0.11 in 18-49 demo
That’s the joint-lowest demo in the show’s history, to go along with its worst ever cable position. After watching last week, not at all surprised.
It’s Friday Night, and you know what that means… it’s time for our Rampage Review!
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JR once again welcomed us to Dynamite. That is not a typo. The guy’s been through some stuff so I didn’t mention it last time but that’s twice in quick succession. Unlike Dynamite, Rampage thankfully came to us from the Prudential Center, because that crowd Wednesday needed an obituary.
Joined by Schiavone, Jericho and Excalibur, they ran down the show.
Lance Archer vs Ricky Starks, Eliminator Tournament 1st Rnd
Backstory: Winner will face Cage in semis, match rearranged after Archer attacked Starks last Weds
(The final of this tournament will now take place next Wednesday, rather than at Full Gear. While the semi vs Cage will be on the pre-show.)
Jericho was the only announcer not surprised that this began backstage despite Starks saying he’d do just that Wednesday. Archer dominated until attacking random people, leaving an opening for Ricky, who led Archer through the curtain and into the arena.
Both were dressed for a fight rather than a wrestling match.
Quickly back on top, Archer dragged the smaller man up the steps into the fans where they continued to brawl until Starks launched himself back over the guard rail via diving forearm.
Reciprocating, Archer pulled off essentially the same move, finally dragging Ricky into the ring as the bell rang. After a brief flurry from Starks, Archer planted him on the apron with a chokeslam to bring the break.
‘You know who’s going to be ROH champion after the show tomorrow?’ began Jericho, who’d barely got the words out when Schiavone deadpanned ‘Bryan Danielson’. These two are great together.
Still well in control, Archer choked the younger guy in the corner before firing in shots as a ‘Let’s go Ricky!’ chant briefly got going. Dangerously close to a Blackout, Starks fired back, freeing himself on the buckle, from where he launched a diving shoulder, following up with a big clothesline to finally take the big guy down. A tornado ddt attempt was blocked; Archer absolutely drilled Ricky with a lariat for a close two.
Schiavone mentioned an interview he’d done earlier with Jericho & Sammy, noting that when it aired he wanted Chris to watch Sammy’s reaction after he walked away. Tony’s out here droppin’ dimes.
To a duelling chant of ‘Let’s go…’, Archer hit a clubbing blow to the back, Starks ducked under a clothesline, this time hitting the tornado ddt for two. Then set up the Rochambeaux; Archer flippantly shook him off, then went for a pounce, which Starks kinda avoided (he was certainly meant to) before hitting a Spear as Archer attempted a big boot, for the win.
Post-match, Brian Cage came out, distracting Ricky and leaving him open to be chokeslamed onto the ring steps by Archer. The former Team Taz-ers will go at it tonight on the pre-show.
This was just there. Not much happened, a lot of brawling in the crowd. Starks never took his shirt off. Suggesting he might not be 100%.
WINNER: Ricky Starks
The aforementioned interview aired – Schiavone with the Sex Gods. The champ reiterated that at some point in the match, the BCC boys will turn on each other, whereas he and Sammy guarantee that the belt will remain with him. Jericho left, Guevara said ‘We’ll see about that.’
On comms, Jericho tried to cover by saying Sammy has a lot of dreams etc.
Lee Moriarty vs Hook
Backstory: Moriarty said last week that it’s time he won gold and Hook just happened to hear
It’s a day ending in ‘day’, so no-one cared about Lee Moriarty or his awful music. El Diablo Guapo got a nice response. This crowd are already far more enthusiastic than on Dynamite.
An aggressive lockup ended with a Moriarty cheapshot, Hook dived for a double leg, thinking submission as Moriarty fought him off and backed away into the corner. When they met in the middle again, Hook landed a judo throw, rolling through looking for a wristlock, maintaining his grip into a northern lights suplex. Very, very smooth.
An elbow to the face shook Moriarty free – very briefly – Hook coming straight back with a float under into a gut wrench suplex, the youngster posing before a receptive crowd. Until Hathaway interfered, leaving him to be blasted by a Moriarty big boot.
Laying in crossface shots to a downed Hook as we returned, Hook then took out Moriarty with a lariat as he rebounded off the ropes, blocked a right, laying in a barrage of bodyshots as the ref called for a ropebreak. A hiptoss followed, back-heel trip, up into a fisherman throw.
This kid really is just so smooth the way he chains things together.
Another cheap shot from Lee bought him space to deliver a diving knee off the top to the back of the head. Racing to cover, Moriarty got two, transitioning straight into the kimura lock. This time Hook got the rope break, Moriarty sweeping him into a cradle as he got up for a second two count.
Then into the Border City Stretch. Hook rolled the hips, out and up into the Redrum. Night night.
Really enjoyed this. Hook absolutely dominated a guy who got more against Moxley last week.
WINNER: Hook
Footage aired of Silver’s interference in last week’s Rush/Bandido match. Leading to Schiavone backstage with Silver, Ten, Rush & Jose. The latter of whom painted it as Silver costing Ten a title shot (Rush had promised him one when he won the Eliminator tournament and then the AEW title).
Silver denied this but admitted to costing ‘Ruuushbag’ a shot. Jose said that Silver didn’t take things seriously, challenging him to a tag. Silver said ‘us two’ will beat you, at which Ten took umbrage – must be having a bad week. Rush then got in Silver’s face, cutting a promo in Spanish.
Madison Rayne vs Athena
Backstory: None
We were shown footage of Athena essentially turning heel over recent Darks by attacking her opponents after the bell.
So, instead of firing her for taking liberties and beating up an enhancement talent, they’ve turned it into a storyline. Interesting decision in a company where discipline has been lax, to put it mildly.
While a Madison Rayne promo aired, Athena had attacked her from behind as she posed on the ropes. The cringing started early as Athena almost dropped Rayne out of a wheelbarrow position, finally managing to fling her into the guardrail.
Then continued as Athena sold after a delayed suplex which she had performed. The commentators had to speculate that Rayne must’ve turned it into a ddt. Rayne then ran through her with a couple weak-looking clotheslines, set up CrossRayne, Athena fought out into a flipping stunner, then hauled her into an off-the-shoulder chestbreaker for the win.
Short and still sucked. Post-match, Athena popped Aubrey in the mush as she tried to drag her off Madison. I repeat, a mid-level, at best, performer took liberties in the ring and they rewarded her with a storyline. Mercedes Martinez then came out to no reaction whatsoever. Athena took a powder.
The only thing the crowd cared about in this whole sequence was Aubrey being cheap-shotted.
WINNER: Athena
Backstage with Renee, the Best Friends and the Factory. We were shown QT piledriving Danhausen on the steps last Friday. Cassidy challenged the Factory to a 5-on-5, QT said there were only three of them as Rocky Romero stepped forward.
Protesting that this was still only four, Chuck handed Renee a videotape – ‘What am I supposed to do with this?’. ‘Watch the spooky video, we’ll see you tomorrow,’ replied Trent.
The video was Danhausen doing some stuff, ending with him dropping a pile of teeth on a table. Chuck handing over a tape was amusing, but this was supposed to be a bunch of people pissed at a guy who’d injured their friend.
…..
Another HOB video – a voiceover talked about a world full of ‘idleness, vanity and complacency’ as footage aired of the four destroying a bunch of people in the dark. ‘Members of the House of Black, please… rise’.
Seems they’re returning sooner than later.
…..
Ortiz spoke for Eddie, saying they were ready and quoting DJ Khaled. Takeshita said it might be a dream match for them but it’d become a ‘nightmare’.
Eddie Kingston & Ortiz vs Jun Akiyama & Konosuke Takeshita
Backstory: Kingston always wanted a match vs Akiyama, who found out and made it happen
Kingston and Takeshita got us going: lockup, back away, ‘Eddie’ chant as they locked-up once more, intensely, Takeshita go-behind, switch to a headlock from Kingston, who slipped out, Takeshita couldn’t budge him with a shoulder block, tried again and ate a belly to belly.
Leaving Kingston to tag his partner then race across the ring to cheap shot his idol Akiyama on the apron. The veteran in via tag, he quickly knocked down Ortiz then reciprocated the cheap shot, sending Kingston to the ringside mats. A couple elbows to the head and a piledriver brought Eddie in to break things up – Akiyama didn’t even wait for the contact, springing up to lock eyes with Eddie as the ref cajoled the illegal man back to the apron.
Takeshita back in, he and Akiyama taking turns attacking Ortiz in the corner, culminating in a combo belly-to-back/reverse-bulldog as Takeshita got a two count. Trying to fight back, Ortiz was dropped with a wicked right from Takeshita as the ads arrived.
An Ortiz northern lights got two slaps of the mat as we returned, quick tag to Eddie, Takeshita fighting, keeping both at bay until hooked into a dragon sleeper then passed to Kingston for a ddt and a close count.
The commentators were by now talking up the fact that Eddie and Akiyama hadn’t faced off and it was distracting Kingston. Who baited the youngster into an exchange of chops, eyeing Akiyama as if trying to impress him – irish whip, Takeshita ducked under before exploding with a leaping clothesline. This guy’s acceleration is up there with Omega & Ospreay.
Both made tags, boot to the face from Akiyama, Ortiz fired up, launching chops and strikes but was big boot-ed once more then hit with a leaping knee as Akiyama motioned that it was over, setting up the Exploder.
Bringing in Kingston as the two finally went at it – forearms and chops to the chest – leading to Eddie being dropped by his idol, who was then taken out by Ortiz, leaving Takeshita to attack but be caught in a powerslam.
Despite this, he popped back up, striking with a blue thunder bomb but being dropped via a Kingston backdrop driver, all four down.
Scrambling to their feet, Kingston & Akiyama were right back to it, each hit an exploder but both popped right back up, Eddie hit an enziguri but was blasted with a knee to the face, taking him outside. Leaving Ortiz to be squashed in the corner with a knee to the back of the head then hit with the Exploder for the 1, 2, 3.
WINNER: Jun Akiyama & Konosuke Takeshita
…..
Added to Full Gear pre-show:
The Factory vs Best Friends, Danhausen & Rocky Romero
Ricky Starks vs Brian Cage
Eddie Kingston vs Jun Akiyama
Next Dynamite:
Eliminator Tournament Final
Next Rampage:
Airs at 4pm EST
…..
Overall impressions
Solid enough hour of wrestling – really enjoyed the Hook match. But this episode highlighted like no episode before that the show’s an absolute afterthought. Because on the company’s last nationally televised broadcast before a ppv, not a single solitary star appeared and outside of Jericho/Sammy, the same can be said for angles.
Almost as if this show exists separately to the important stuff.
