Coverage

Andrew’s Ratings & Review: ROH Best In The World 2018

Published

6 years ago

June 30, 2018

Well if you’ve heard any podcasts I’m on, I’m not a huge fan of ROH. Usually the wrestling and presentation feels like the minor leagues for New Japan since most of the major players, we see over there anyway. Honestly, my only interest is the main event, but might as well watch the whole thing while I’m at it. Long passed are the days when ROH would stand on it’s own, but maybe we could see a change tonight?

Three of the title matches involve Bullet Club members, and I’m assuming 75% of the audience will have on Bullet Club merch. Does ROH cave to the fans like they have for the last few years? Or do we finally see them try to keep some legitimacy with their roster?

ROH Six Man Titles: EVIL, SANADA & Bushi vs The Kingdom (c)

Taven and O’Ryan gang up on EVIL early, but a few well placed Shoulder Tackles put an end to that. Then Taven tags in, as does SANADA, and we get to see a Moonsault, a bunch of standing switches and then SANADA flips out of a back drop, into a casual tag by Bushi, who calls out Vinny. Snapmare from Vinny and he immediately goes for Bushi’s mask, to a bunch of boos, and then a big scrum from all six men. Taven feigns a big dive to the outside but does Naito’s Tranquilo pose, and SANADA takes offense and goes after them. LIJ chants fill the crowd as EVIL gets tagged in, hitting a Senton for 2.

Vinny back in legal after a tandem move, tags back to O’Ryan for tandem chops into a near fall. The Kingdom keeps control of EVIL in their corner as tags rotate between Vinny and O’Ryan. Spinebuster/Flying Headbutt combination for The Kingdom lead to another 2 count, EVIL desperately needs a tag. EVIL fires up a bit knocking down the outside Kingdom members, blocks a few strike attempts and tags in SANADA to go against Taven. Beautiful dropkicks over and over by SANADA, as he then catches Taven’s foot and puts him in the Paradise Lock. O’Ryan tries to do it to SANADA but instead ends up putting himself into the move. Double Dropkicks to the butts of Taven and O’Ryan break the Paradise Locks.

Yeah, that's a tranqui-NO there, buster. #ROHBITW #HonorClub

➡️ https://t.co/mNpVzZkjg8 pic.twitter.com/DVLJHjuXvN

— TDE Wrestling (@totaldivaseps) June 30, 2018

Vinny pops a balloon in SANADA’s ear, they go for a big tandem move, but the rest of the LIJ members stop it, and then Taven stops the Magic Killer. So a lot of timely counters, as Taven hits a Shining Wizard for only 2. Taven tweaks his knee, SANADA hits a low dropkick and tags in Bushi. Bushi hits a Missile Dropkick, does a Bushirooni and O’Ryan comes in to try and stop things, but fails. EVIL slides in and LIJ hits some nice combination moves to keep advantage.

But The Kingdom make the save and start some nice combinations on Bushi, but EVIL breaks it up. Bushi tries to mist Taven, but misses and hits Vinny, however O’Ryan and Taven hit Rockstar Supernova for the win.

Winner: The Kingdom via Rockstar Supernova

Rating: ** 1/2

Bully Ray vs Flip Gordon

Two quick Superkicks and then a spear into some ground and pound has Flip start off fast. Flip hits a Plancha to the outside and Bully keeps reeling. Another outside dive, Tope con Hilo, onto Bully. Bully tries to move away, but a Springboard Bodysplash still catches Bully anyway, and Flip continues the pressure and keeps wailing on Bully.
Finally brings him back in the ring for Samoan Pop, Standing Shooting Star Press, into corner Moonsault, for 2. Bully still has yet to land an offensive move, but catches Flip with a sudden and heavy lariat. Pulls him to the corner for a Vader Bomb, but misses.

Flip went for the Star Spangled Stunner, came up short and Bully catches him between the uprights. Todd Sinclair ends the match.

How do you stop a bully? Just give 'em a superkick like @TheFlipGordon! #ROHBITW #HonorClub

➡️ https://t.co/mNpVzZkjg8 pic.twitter.com/s4lnSwS1KO

— TDE Wrestling (@totaldivaseps) June 30, 2018

Winner: Flip via DQ

Rating: * 3/4

WOH 8 Woman Tag: Kagetsu, Hana Kimura, Hazuki & Kelly Klein vs Sumie Sakai, Tenille Dashwood, Mayu Iwatani & Jenny Rose

Kagetsu and Sumie start off, but it’s kinda awkward, slow and telegraphed. Hana tags in, calls out Tenille and mocks her with the “All about me” line.

It's all about @hanadayo0903! #ROHBITW #HonorClub

➡️ https://t.co/mNpVzZkjg8 pic.twitter.com/4uWytUOORT

— TDE Wrestling (@totaldivaseps) June 30, 2018

Jenny Rose comes in, gets a near fall on Hana, but Hana manages to land a drop kick and tag in Kelly Klein. Kelly hits the Klein Line, for 2, and then there’s some sloppy roll up attempts and we get tags for the women who haven’t been in yet. Mayu hits a Slingblade and tags in Sumie, and then the match devolves to all of them in the ring. Hazuki and Kagetsu have a beautiful tandem round kick into senton combination. Then we get the Oedo Tai signature three foot pose on Sumie’s face while Hana seems to add a little bit of a twerk to her pose.

Kelly lays in a few strikes and gets a near fall on Sumie. Vertical Suplex into Northern Lights attempt from Kelly, but Sumie hits a counter DDT. Tenille gets the hot tag and she clears Oedo Tai off the ring and hits a Neckbreaker on Kelly. Hana and Kagetsu try a double team, but Tenille counters them, stacks them up in the corner for a double Taste of Tenille and the camera man falls down. Flying Crossbody from Tenille, for 2 as Kelly makes a desperation tag to Hana after Kagetsu interferes.

Mayu gets tagged in, landing a Splitlegged Dropkick. Tenille Butterfly Suplexes Hana, Mayu with a Frog Splash, but Hazuki and Kagetsu break it up. Hana goes for a Brainbuster but Mayu sinks in a Guillotine, but Hana powers through and stalls into a Brainbuster for a dramatic near fall. Kagetsu tries to hit Mayu with their sign, but hits Hana instead, then we have more of a breakdown where everyone attacks each other. Mayu takes advantage of all the chaos and Hana being hit with the sign, so she lands her Dragon Suplex Hold for the victory.

Sloppy, but the energy picked up and it managed to stay entertaining throughout some of the hiccups.

Winner: Iwatani via Dragon Suplex Hold

Rating: *** 1/4

Austin Aries vs Kenny King

Collar and Elbow tie up, moves to the ropes with a fairly clean break from Aries, rinse and repeat from Kenny. Test of Strength attempt, but Aries takes the short cut and stays on King with a front facelock. A little jawwing and grand standing, until Aries chops him and goes off the ropes for something, but both men start countering each other’s moves. King finally lands a backbreaker into a lariat. A leg sweep sends Aries crashing on his face, and King does it again at the behest of the crowd.

He bows to the crowd, Aries goes for the Roll Up, Kenny kicks out and hits another leg sweep.Going to the outside, Aries stalks King thinking he has the advantage, but again, another leg sweep. Aries tries to slide in and out of the ring for space, walks over to him, for a sweep again. I guess some find that funny, but it just seems stupid to get caught with the same move 5 times in the course of 2 minutes. Kenny goes for a Springboard from outside in, but Aries dropkicks the rope to send King flying, and then a Triangle Forearm smash, finally gives Austin a small bit of momentum. Rolling King back in the ring, Aries hits the Slingshot Senton for 2.

Aries hits a multitude of his signature moves for a few different near falls, but nothing seems to land hard enough for anything significant. Austin tries to send Kenny out of the ring, it looks awkward, I’m not sure what goes wrong, but a Springboard Blockbuster, into a Hip Attack followed by a T-Bone Suplex from Kenny makes the botch irrelevant.

Royal Flush attempt gets countered and Aries sinks in the Last Chancery. King gets to the ropes, and then they tease a lot of stuff on the apron. Austin his a Neckbreaker into the middle rope, sending Kenny reeling to the outside.

Low-pe attempt from Aries, gets met with a King Enzuigiri. Seems like Aries is out, but he pie faces King and then spits on him, pissing off Kenny. King is about to do something on the outside, but Aries screams “I’m your friend” and it stops Kenny and he rolls him in. Kenny playing conflicted face, while Aries is taking any angle possible to try and get an advantage.

Royal Flush lands, Aries grabs the bottom rope then tries to take his belts and walk away. King lands a big Corckscrew Plancha into Aries and walks around with the Impact Wrestling World Title. Kenny doesn’t hit him with the belt, and gets caught with a Brainbuster on the outside.

“You Killed Kenny, You Bastard” chant starts. Aries rolls in King, King tries a quick rollup, but Austin kicks out and then lands a Discus Forearm and one more Brainbuster for the win.

Winner: Aries via Brainbuster

Rating: *** 1/4

Jay Lethal vs Kushida

Kushida opts not to shake hands at the beginning of the match, which is odd since he’s usually a happy babyface. Lethal controls the first exchange with a top wrist lock, as Kushida then chain a few moves together, before they both pop up and stare each other down. After bumping off eachother with mirrored shoulder tackles, Lethal hits a single leg takedown, and then Lethal locks in a front facelock and holds it for a little bit. Lethal went for Kushida’s hip toss/cartwheel dropkick combo, but misses, Kushida hits one of his own and takes the advantage.

Then we see Kushida mimic Lethal a little by going for 3 Tope con Hilos in a row, as he then comes down with a Double Axe Handle from 3 corners and even poses similarly to how Lethal does it. So this is defintely a match to prove they know each other well and Kushida being a little more heelish is interesting. Both men try to lift the other for Vertical Suplexes, way too many times. Kushida slides out of one and then tries for a Lethal Injection, but Jay kicks the hands out from under Kushida and starts working over Kushida’s knee.

Jay continues the knee breakers, and Kushida lands a few desperate chops, but it’s all Lethal at the moment.Lethal drives Kushida’s knee into the top turnbuckle and gets a fairly long 2. Lethal then just sits on Kushida with some odd Cloverleaf kind of submission. Jay keeps slamming Kushida’s knee into his own, hyper extending and smashing the knee joint. Another pin attempts gets 2, and then an uppercut leads to a Figure Four attempt, but Kushida kicks off. Lehtal keeps the advantage, Triangle Dropkick to send Kushida to the ouside, and then we get Lethal’s Triple Suicide Dives. But Lethal gets caught on the third by Kushida into a Fujiwara Armbar.

Jay tries to get a single leg on Kushida, but he continues to move his leg and kick Lethal in time. But the Lethal Combination slows things down and gives Lethal a chance to catch his breath. Figure Four attempt number two, is stopped because now Lethal wants a Macho Man style elbow drop. Lethal seesm to be stuck between all of his old gimmicks. Flair, Black Machismo, Heel and himself.

An inverted Torture Rack, gives Lethal the opening to go for the Elbow Drop again, but Kushida catches him in the Triangle Armbar. Lethal manages to counter it into a pin attempt and then slaps on the Figure Four, but Kushida gets to the ropes. Fighting spirit moment as both men tell the other to strike the injured areas. Kushida gets the best of the exchange, Paintbrushes Lethal and then shakes his hand while he’s dazed. Pump Kick from Lethal, Pele from Kushida, another Pump Kick from Lethal leads to an attempted Lethal Injection. Kushida catches him into a Hoverboard Lock, but Lethal works out of it, Back to the Future attempt, into locomotion cradles and counters.

Both men struggle to get up, but Lethal finally hits the Lethal Injection, for pinfall victory.

Winner: Jay Lethal via Lethal Injection

Rating: **** 1/4

World TV Championship Street Fight: Punishment Martinez (c) vs Hangman Page

Page goes after Martinez quickly, almost takes out Bobby Cruise in the process. They roll to the outside, Punishment rolls Page back in, but Page hits a Suicide Dive immediately and then whips him around the outside into the barricades. Hangman starts looking under the ring for something, but doesn’t find it fast enough and Martinez catches him, but then Page finds a chair and throws it into Punishment’s face. Back into the ring, Page wedges the chair in the corner and flings Martinez back first into the chair.

Then we see Hangman prop a table against the ring post and go back to trading strikes with Martinez. Shooting Star Shoulder Tackle was missed, Apron Powerbomb took a while to actually hit, as Martinez then Chokeslams Page into the guardrail. Punishment throws Page into the guardrail and sets up a few chairs. Hangman recovers, and manages to fight away from the assortment of chairs, before Punishment throws him into the guardrail again. Punishment misses a Big Boot over the guardrail, so Page hits a Superplex onto the outside mats. Page lands a few big strikes in the corner, before Martinez rocks him with a lariat and goes to get a chair. Page counters a Tombstone on the chair, into his own Cradle Piledriver into the chair, for a 2 count.

Rite of Passage attempt on the apron is counter by Martinez and he keeps trying to drive Page’s head into a chair. Punishment finds a zip tie and ties up Hangman’s hands. Page tries to fight back, but with the tied up hands, he can’t block the Curb Stomp into the chair, but still kicks out at 2. Martinez sets up a table, Page spits in his face and manages to break the zip ties and spear him sloppily on the outside. That whole going to the outside sequence was awkward or sloppy.

Now we see Page go for his Moonsault, and hits it decently on Martinez. But when he poses on the apron, Martinez kicks him into the chairs from earlier. Instead of going for the finish, Martinez finds a bag of tacks and he lays them out. Attempted powerbomb onto the tacks gets countered into a Back Body Drop from Hangman. Page tries to Rite of Passage him into the tacks, but Martinez counters into South of Heaven chokeslam through the table.

Sloppy, oddly paced, clunky at best match.

Winner: Punishment via South of Heaven Chokeslam

Rating: ** 1/2

ROH Tag Team Titles: The Young Bucks vs The Briscoes (c)

Nick hits the Lucha Style Arm Drag and Twist, and keeps his momentum going through tandem attempts from the Briscoes. All four men get in the ring, attempt tandem moves and then just square up and talk shit to each other. Bricoes get a little momentum and then get caught by stereo Superkicks, followed by the over head toss split legged drop kick, as the Young Bucks look strong. Bucks look to continue their advantage, but get caught by Jay Briscoe and a Redneck Boogie, nearly ends the match right there.
Marc takes the opening finally to lay into Matt, as he tags in Jay and we see the Briscoes finally lay in their more deliberate strikes. Sliding Dropkick from Jay gets a 2 count as they keep Matt in their corner. Matt slides out of the ring, acts like he’s going to Nick, just to Superkick Jay. Miscommunication on the Biscoes as Jay manages to pull out Matt, but gets Dropkiced by Marc. Matt hits an Apron Blockbuster to give him the opening to tag in Nick for his Triangle Corkscrew Splash.

Bulldog/Dropkick combination from Nick on the outside, as he and Matt hit their stereo dives, and Nick throws Jay back in. Marc pulled down Nick with a Chokehold and then takes out Matt with a running Blockbuster. Froggy Elbow from Marc allows Jay to pin Nick for a very close 2 count. Avalanche Redneck Boogie countered by the Bucks and Matt comes in, knocking Marc Briscoe down multiple times. Jay comes in to break things up, and somehow just powers through a double clothesline. Matt keeps running and gets caught with a Spicoli Driver while everyone slowly gets back up. Jay stomps on Matt’s head, but eats a Superkick. Then the Briscoes hit two Superkicks, the Bucks hit Superkicks, and the Briscoes land flying lariats.

Jay Driller lands flush on Matt, but Nick manages to break it up. Doomsday Device attempt, Springboard Cutter and Victory Roll nearly win the match for the Bucks. The Bucks hit a Springboard Doomsday Device for a near fall. More Bang for Your Buck on Jay, but Marc lands the Froggy Elbow on the referee. The Bucks Superkick Marc, and look to Meltzer Driver Jay, but Marc breaks up the pin. Melzter Driver attempt two, but Marc throws a chair at Nick, Jay Driller on Matt one more time on the chair, for only 2 again.

Avalanche Redneck Boogie, finally puts away Matt Jackson. So the Briscoes retain!

Winner: Briscoes via Avalanche Redneck Boogie

Rating: **** 1/2

ROH World Heavyweight Championship: Cody vs Dalton Castle (c) vs Marty Scurll

Cody tells Burnard to leave, Marty clips Cody immediately, Cody then Rhodes’ Uppercuts Marty and Disaster Kick’s Castle to the outside. After a little bit of jawing, Marty and Cody both go after Dalton. Throwing Cody into the guardrail, then a twisting Frankensteiner on Marty gives Dalton the advantage. Near fall on Marty, then Scurll and Cody try to work together, but the Springboard Dropkick misses Castle and hits Marty.

Marty with the apron Superkick on Castle, followed by a Tornado DDT onto Cody to give Marty a moment to shine. Cody begs off Marty, Marty signals to the crowd to break his fingers, but instead there’s a strike exchange between the two. Front Facelock Release Suplex by Cody onto Marty, gives Castle a small opening. Dalton manages to land strikes on both other men, until Cody catches his foot and slams him face first into the mat. But Dalton catches Cody going to the top rope and hits an Avalanche throw for a near fall. Chicken Wing and Indian Deathlock simultaneously on Castle, but he doesn’t tap out. Cody and Marty face off, Cody goes for the Powerslam, but Marty anticipates it and makes Cody look dumb.

fake @MartyScurll #ROHBITW pic.twitter.com/gBdiSKlhQt

— HWAN (@sh6867) June 30, 2018

Cody goes for a low blow after distracting Sinclair, but Marty catches him. And sets up Cody for a Shattered Dreams even with the Goldust breath in pose. Brandi causes a distraction, Cody kicks Marty in the balls and gets the near fall. Brandi gives Cody the ring, Cody makes Marty kiss the ring, but Marty breaks Cody’s fingers and takes the ring. Dalton hits a Bang-a-Rang from nowhere, but Nick Aldis pulls out the ref. Cody dives onto Aldis, but Brandi and Cody both pull out Sinclair after Marty hits Dalton with the title belt. Sinclair then kicks everyone out. Makes you wonder if Burnard will play a role, since he wasn’t kicked out by Sinclair since Cody sent him home early. All three begin trading strikes, rollup attempts and everyone ends up down at some point.

Cody gets baby powder, but Marty hits it into Cody’s face. Cody hits Crossroads on Marty, Dalton dumps out Cody for the pin, but Marty kicks out. Bang-a-Rang number two gets countered and Marty sinks in the Chicken Wing. Cody tries to Crossroads Marty, but gets it countered. Dalton then hits Bang-a-Rang on Marty for the pinfall victory. Dalton Castle retains.

Winner: Castle via Bang-a-Rang

Rating: *** 1/2

Thoughts:

The first thing that sticks out to me about this show, is that Bullet Club went 0-3 in their matches. Bucks failed, Page failed and Cody went into tonight expecting a Triple Crown run, but now because he lost this match, he no longer gets an NWA Championship match at All In. Also it seems like Tenille made a motion to challenge for the WOH title, Jay Lethal was insinuated to be the next number 1 contender for the World Title and SoCal Uncensored came out to help the Young Bucks, reasons not exactly clear. So we did see title pictures continue to expand out, and with mostly ROH talent.

I’m not sure if this is just a crossroads for the popular Bullet Club members, or if ROH is finally putting stock in their more exclusive talent. As for the show, it, much like Bullet Club, was fine. A lot of the matches lacked fluidity, spots just seemed strung together or rushed and the story telling was really only relevant in the two matches I ranked highest.

The better matches were positioned later, so at least the card build kind of made sense. Still nothing extremely special, just an okay, solid enough show.

Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!

Related Topics:Best in the World Cody Dalton Castle Featured Featured Big Jay Lethal Kushida Odeo Tai ROH The Briscoes

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Mitchell’s WWE SmackDown Results & Report! (4/19/24)

Prepare for Backlash!

Published

2 hours ago

April 19, 2024

Steven Mitchell

Did you know that challenger in French is still “challenger?”

In a WrestleMania rematch, AJ Styles takes on LA Knight in a #1 contender’s match, to challenge WWE Champion Cody Rhodes at Backlash in France!

OFFICIAL RESULTS

Undisputed WWE Championship #1 Contender’s match: AJ Styles VS LA Knight; Styles wins and will challenge Cody Rhodes for the title at Backlash.
SmackDown/WWE Tag Team Championships #1 Contenders Fatal 4 Way: The Street Profits VS New Catch Republic VS The Authors of Pain VS Legado Del Fantasma; win(s) and will challenge A-Town Down Under.
WWE Women’s Championship: Bayley VS Naomi; wins and

PLAY BY PLAY

Undisputed WWE Championship #1 Contender’s match: AJ Styles VS LA Knight!

After fighting their way through Triple Threats, the Phenomenal One and the Mega Star meet again, YEAH! It’s a WrestleMania Rematch, the winner moving on to Backlash, YEAH! Will AJ Styles avenge his loss at the biggest WrestleMania ever? Or will everyone from here to France know whose game it is?

The bell rings and the two step to each other. The fans in Pittsburgh “YEAH! YEAH! YEAH!” and Knight lets Styles know it. Styles snarls, they tie up, and they go around. Knight puts Styles in a corner, the ref counts, but Knight lets off slowly. Styles kicks low! The fans boo but Styles headlocks. Knight pulls hair, throws body shots, then headlocks in return. Styles pushes Knight to ropes, powers up and out, then hurdles, drops and DROP- NO, Knight avoids the dropkick to BOOT, and LARIAT! Knight then TOSSES Styles out of the ring, storms out after him, and brings him to commentary. Knight SMACKS Styles off the desk! And again! And again!

The fans chant “YEAH! YEAH! YEAH!” with every SMACK, then Knight tops it off with one last SMACK! Knight drags Styles up and into the ring, storms in, but Styles KICKS Knight in the ropes! Styles reels Knight in, but Knight back drops Styles up and out! Styles flounders on the floor, Knight runs to WRECK him with a dropkick! Styles hits desk again and Steel City is loving “L! A! KNIGHT, YEAH!” as SmackDown goes to break.

SmackDown returns and Styles soaks up the heat as he taunts Knight. Styles brings Knight up, but Knight fires haymakers! “YEAH! YEAH! YEAH!” Knight backs Styles down, whips, but Styles ducks ‘n dodges! Knight ducks ‘n’ dodges, then DOUBLE CROSSBODIES collide! Both men are down and the fans fire up. Both men slowly sit up, crawl around, and then stand. Styles fires a shot, but Knight gives it back! The haymakers go back and forth, “YEAH! BOO! YEAH!” Styles staggers but he still ROCKS Knight! Knight ROCKS Styles again and again, but Styles throat chops! Styles fires off the Phenomenal Blitz, but Knight ducks the lariat!

Knight JABS, JABS, JABS, and DECKS Styles! Knight stomps a mudhole in at the corner, “YEAH!” Knight then runs corner to corner to KNEE Styles down! The fans fire up, Knight puts Styles up, and Knight ROCKS Styles. Knight climbs, but Styles ROCKS him back! Knight staggers away, but returns to spring right up! SUPER DUPER PLEX! Cover, TWO!! Styles survives that crash but both men are down again. The fans rally as Knight rises, and he brings Styles around. Knight reels Styles in, suplexes, but Styles slips free! Styles goes to a corner, ELBOWS Knight away, then goes up to QUEBRADA DDT! Cover, TWO!

The fans fire up as Knight stays in this and Styles starts losing his cool. The fans rally for Knight but Styles looms over him. Styles brings Knight up and in, but Knight RAMS him into a corner! Knight then scoops Styles, but Styles slips free to roll up, TWO!! Knight escapes, swings, but Styles dodges to PELE! Knight ends up in a corner, Styles runs in, but Knight puts Styles on the apron! Styles ROCKS Knight, springboards, but Knight gets under! Styles comes back, into a scoop and POWERSLAM! Then JUMP ELBOW DROP! The fans fire up with with Knight as he storms around. Styles rises, Knight winds up, B F- NO, Styles bails out!

The fans boo but Knight storms over. Knight drags Styles up but Styles HOTSHOTS him! And pokes him in the eyes! Then ROCKS him! And springboards, to PHENOMENAL FOREARM!! Cover, Styles wins!

Winner: AJ Styles, by pinfall (NEW #1 Contender to the Undisputed WWE Championship)

Styles bent the rules, but a win is a win! He will get his shot at the American Nightmare in Lyon, France, will this year’s Backlash be phenomenal?

The Bloodline arrives backstage.

The car pulls up, Solo Sikoa steps out in a suit, and Paul Heyman is there to greet him. Nice threads, Solo. Tama Tonga walks over and Solo says meet the newest member of The Bloodline, Solo’s MFT. The Wise Man is stunned. But Solo cuts him off to ask if Kevin Owens is here. Heyman hesitates and Solo asks again, is Kevin here? If he is, he’s probably already in the locker room. Then take them to him. Heyman obeys and leads on. There have already been changes to the chain of command, is there about to be a change to the landscape of SmackDown, too?

Nick Aldis is in the ring.

In a familiar scene to Monday Night Raw, there is a podium with something under a satin sheet. The SmackDown General Manager welcomes to Pittsburgh the Chief Content Officer, Paul “Triple H” Levesque! The fans fire up as The Game makes his way to the ring! HHH joins Aldis in the ring, gets a mic, looks around at the crowd as he revels in the cheers, then says, “On the heels of the biggest, most epic, history making, record breaking, epic, unbelievable WrestleMania of all time, we are here tonight, sold out, 15 thousand strong, Pittsburgh, PA! So let me say, welcome to SmackDown!” The fans cheer that!

HHH wants to take a moment to say that he thinks Adam Pearce and Nick Aldis are both doing great jobs at leading their respective brands into the future. Thank you to both of them. And when we talk about the future, we have to talk about the history made coming into the future. So when history is made, HHH wants it to be represented here befitting of those that make it. So Aldis, if we could, let us bring the… champions out here. Aldis says without further ado, the NEW SmackDown Tag Team Champions, Austin Theory & Grayson Waller. The fans boo as A-Town Down Under make their way, blue belts in hand.

Theory & Waller join Aldis and HHH in the ring, mics already in hand, and they soak up the heat from Steel City. Waller says this is huge. Monday, we saw the second place champions get new belts. And now A-Town Down Under will be presented new titles! Theory says speaking of truth, didn’t Truth think HHH was a magician? Well, who knows what magic trick HHH has to make these guys look better than they already do, but hey, give it a try. HHH says congratulations on becoming tag team champions, so he will show them what they will wear going forward. From now on, they will be the WWE Tag Team Champions.

Reveal! In the style of the Attitude Era and Ruthless Aggression Era belts, the solid gold shines. HHH offers a handshake, but Waller leaves him hanging to shake Theory’s hand! Aldis makes it clear to them. They ever pop off and disrespect HHH like that, here’s a real magic trick: A-Clown Down Under will disappear, permanently! The fans like the sound of that! Aldis snatches the blue belts away since they won’t need them, and speaking of disappearing, there’s a chance one of the following four teams will make their title reign disappear. That #1 contenders match starts right now! The fans fire up, but which team defies the odds to get some golden tickets to France?

Backstage interview with Naomi.

Kayla Braxton is with The Glow and says last week, she beat Tiffany Stratton to get this title opportunity tonight. Will the friendship with Bayley get in the way of this match? Naomi says no, of course not. Bayley’s her sister, and she needed help against Damage CTRL, so Naomi was more than happy to help. But in no way will friendship get in the way of this opportunity. It has been over two YEARS since Naomi’s last WWE singles championship match, and there is nothing that will get in the way of making the most of this moment. Now last week, Tiffy Time felt the glow, so that same energy keeps going tonight.

Naomi is also looking forward to next week’s WWE Draft, where she will walk in the NEW WWE Women’s Champion. Naomi is ready, but will she be able to best Bayley in Bayley’s first title defense?

WWE Tag Team Championships #1 Contenders Fatal 4 Way: The Street Profits VS New Catch Republic VS The Authors of Pain VS Legado Del Fantasma!

SmackDown returns as Legado makes their entrance, followed by Akam & Rezar with the Final Testament. Waller & Theory are on commentary, Waller admitting he wants any team but AOP, and Theory saying these teams are fortunate to have real superstars leading their division. In this form of Fatal 4 Way, only two teams are active, so the Big Strong Boi, Tyler Bate, starts against Montez Ford. They circle, tie up, and Ford headlocks. Bate powers up to pry at the hold but Ford clamps on tighter. Bate powers up and out, drops, but Ford leaps over! The fans cheer, things keep moving, Bate feints high to drop low!

Bate shows knuckle lock, Ford obliges, but Bate wrenches, baits and double pump handles to FLIP Ford! Cover, TWO! Ford gets up to sweep and cover, TWO! Bate steps over, La Magistrol, TWO! Ford gets up, dropkicks cancel out, and both men kip up! The fans fire up and the two reset. But then Humberto Carrillo sneaks a tag, before he DECKS Bate with a sucker punch! Ford dodges Humberto but Angel Garza holds the ropes open! Ford tumbles out, Garza tags in, and Humberto sits Ford up. Garza runs in to KNEE Ford down! The fans boo, Garza drags Ford to a cover, TWO! Garza back suplexes, Ford lands out!

Ford tags Dawkins and he dodges Garza to FLYING ELBOW! Garza tags out to Akam, but then the Bruiserweight, Pete Dunne, tags in off Dawkins! Rezar tags, Dunne runs up but Akam LARIATS him down! Rezar DECKS Dawkins, then the AOP start clearing the corners! But Ford goes up to leap, but into an URENAGE! The fans boo but the AOP roar and soak up the heat. Waller’s worst case scenario might end up reality, but SmackDown goes to break.

Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!

Coverage

Andrew’s TNA iMPACT! Results & Match Ratings: 4.18.2024

Motor City Machine Guns either go out on their backs, or head to Rebellion as champs! Lets see how they finish their current run in TNA!

Published

24 hours ago

April 18, 2024

Andrew Balaz

No burying the lead here! The Main Event is The System versus Motor City Machine Guns, and it’s the Go Home episode before Rebellion! So we’re guaranteed a damn good tag match, and we should get either new wrinkles, or ways to keep the storylines cooking going into the Pay-per-View.

With all the rumors and innuendo about the Guns being on their way out, I think we all assume that MCMG is losing, but my inner fanboy is still excited.

Part Three: Acceptance @TheJonGresham #TNAiMPACT pic.twitter.com/NE9FPzCCz2

— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) April 19, 2024

Ratings:

Little Guido w/New FBI vs Hammerstone: Hammerstone wins via Torture Rack – SQUASH
LSG vs Joe Hendry: Hendry wins via Standing Ovation – SQUASH
Mustafa Ali & GYV vs Cody Deaner, Jake Something & Rhyno: Ali wins via 450 Splash – ** 3/4
Rosemary w/Havok vs Jody Threat w/Dani Luna: Rosemary wins via Spear – ***
Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley) vs The System (Eddie Edwards & Brian Myers) w/Alisha Edwards: System wins via Roster Cut + Knee Party – *** 1/4

Results:

So we kick off the match with Josh coming out to commentary again to watch Hammerstone’s match. They really need a new way to try and keep heat without reusing the same tired gimmick of “ring side seat” to a Squash match.

Little Guido w/New FBI vs Hammerstone

Guido tries to shoot the half, but Hammerstone shrugs him off, lifts him like a child and runs him into a corner, few short shots and then just tosses him across the ring. Hammer gets a little distracted talking smack to Josh and eats a foot, but then tosses Guido with the ole Sack of Shit move and keeps working over Guido.

Hammer shoves Clayton, and provokes him to push him back right in front of the referee. She ejects them, Guido tries to take advantage but when he goes for the pinfall Hammer kicks out immediately and presses Guido out of thing through the ropes. Continues to dog walk Guido, puts the head gear on the ECW Original and then Torture Racks him while staring directly at Josh, and of course picks up the submission victory.

.@XiaBrookside and @Ashamae_Sebera face off NEXT WEEK on #TNAiMPACT! pic.twitter.com/Q0S3wSRpeu

— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) April 19, 2024

LSG vs Joe Hendry

Hendry cuts a little promo, mentioning the Fat Uncle Phil joke…something about shopping at the TOP Dollar Store. Solid mic work.

LSG is a damn good local talent, he’s been seen in ROH and AEW in the past (perhaps others, but that’s what comes to mind immediately for me), but we all know this is an enhancement match. A few nice chain wrestling spots early, but Hendry uses his power to stop the smaller wrestler, Sack of Shit into Standing Ovation and the match is over quickly.

Mustafa Ali & GYV vs Cody Deaner, Jake Something & Rhyno

Well okay, having Deaner ask the crowd if they wanted a 3v2 or their third member…RHYNO…is pretty much a no brainer in Philly. But at least the gimmick isn’t quite as cringe as I expected.

Jake starts with Zack Gibson and throws him around. Jake goes for the tag and Deaner asks the crowd who Jake should tag, and the crowd picks Rhyno. Rhyno Whips Gibson into a corner, Drake actually softens the impact, allowing Gibson to fire back, tag out, but Rhyno levels both GYV members and then even knocks Ali off the apron. Rhyno tries to call to the crowd to tag in Deaner and that goes over like a fart in church. He tags him in anyway, and the crowd is kinda dead and doing whatever it wants after the obvious ECW chants when Rhyno tagged in.

GYV take a couple lumps but they of course start to work over Deaner and capture some momentum. Solid tandem work from GYV, they cut off Deaner from making a tag and goad Jake a little to cause the ref to block off the babyfaces so the heels can take a few shortcuts. Cody eventually makes the tag to Rhyno, hot tag, he tries to set up the Gore but the GYV manage to stop him in his tracks and hit an Enzuigiri to daze the Man Beast, he falls to his corner and Jake tags himself in. Jake literally runs them all over, tags in Cody and Launches him from the Top Rope into Zack Gibson. Ali makes the save and Jake tries to get his hands on Ali, but the GYV keep throwing themselves at him, literally. The triple team finally gets the best of Jake, they hit 3 Dives and then post Jake, so they gather around Cody like hyenas.

They forgot about Rhyno, he’s set up for a Gore, he Gores Drake, Gibson and Ali take out Rhyno, but then Cody starts to fight back. Ali stops Deaner’s offense with an Avalanche Sunset Bomb, then hits his 450 Splash. Jake barely misses being able to break up the pin.

.@TheEricYoung channels "The Sickness" as he prepares for FULL METAL MAYHEM with @FrankieKazarian at #Rebellion! #TNAiMPACT pic.twitter.com/tm1TqxZBLo

— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) April 19, 2024

Rosemary w/Havok vs Jody Threat w/Dani Luna

Jody tries to start quickly with Shoulder Tackles, Lariats and Scoop Slams, and it does seem somewhat effective. Rosemary is having trouble finding offense against the intensity, but she keeps kicking out. Shotgun Dropkick finally gives Rosemary an opening, she goes into full mount and rains down strikes. Rosemary shoves Jody into a corner and Bites her in the corner. Jody tries to fight out, they go across and Rosemary catches her with the legs and puts her in the Upside Down. Splash in the corner from Rosemary, Exploder Suplex and Jody is eating a lot of offense.

Rosemary looks like she’s caught after she gets tripped up into the ropes and Jody goes for her Rope Knee into the German, but Rosemary dodges. Rosemary hits her own suplex and pulls out a beautiful Last Chancery! I haven’t seen her do that in a long time. Jody manages to fight to the ropes, Rosemary is a little slow to capitalize and eats a Pump Kick. Rosemary goes flying into the ropes, Jody hits the Double Knees into the German this time for 2, and they trade a few haymakers after that. Jody folds Rosemary with a low Lariat, Zombie rise spot a few times, Jody goes for a pinfall and Rosemary kicks out.

Havok jumps up on the apron, Dani meets her and they decide to step down, but the distraction was enough. Jody turns around and eats a Spear. Rosemary wins!

Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley) vs The System (Eddie Edwards & Brian Myers) w/Alisha Edwards

Eddie and Shelley start off, and its a very simple slow start. Mostly an early stalemate, the typical Japanese style the TNA seem to love to employ. Starters tag out, but then Shelley with the blind tag, Sabin Baseball Slides out, picks Eddie’s ankle and sends his face bouncing off the apron, while Shelley sneaks up being Myers and they hit a tandem move before we cut to commercial. Off of the commercial it looks like Eddie and Myers regained control. But a nice Jawbreaker from Shelley sends Eddie falling back into the MCMG corner. Dragon Screws to both legs from Sabin and Shelley, and we get the Dragon Screw dissection spot for the Guns.

Myers gets sick of things, tries to get involved, but Simultaneous Figure Fours from the MCMG makes The System look silly. Alisha does the classic “push the rope forward” gimmick to assist Eddie in breaking the hold. She keeps chirping at Shelley until she finally grabs his foot. Shelley doesn’t take kindly, tries to grab her by the hair but she gets away, Shelley eats a strike and falls back to the ropes so Lish can just throttle him with the rope, Sabin walks over and acts like he’s going to PK her and the look of disgust on her face is hilarious, like “how dare he threaten to kick her”. Would I be mad is Masha decides to team with Lish and they win the Knockouts Tag titles? No, because the Knockouts Tags are trash. But I still prefer Lish as valet/manager.

Shelley starts fighting back after another commercial break, Eddie tries to cut him off, but Sabin clocks Eddie and Shelley manages to make the tag and Sabin comes in. Lights up both System members, Kick off Tornado DDT, into a Running Gamengiri. Eddie tries to counter but Shelley assists, tandem strikes, Double Baseball Slide into the classic MCMG spot 5 Hole Dive! Keeping up with the classics Shelley stacks the System members on each other and hit the Missile Dropkick/Flatliner spot. As the Guns are rolling, Sabin accidentally catches Sabin with his foot and The System take control! They hit their pieces of the System Overload spot, but Sabin kicks out. Roster Cut attempt from Myers, but Shelley is back. High Speed Dirt, Machine Gun Sandwich, but Lish grabs Shelley’s foot when they’re setting up Skull and Bones. Shelley gets dropped on the turnbuckle and thrown out, Sabin eats the Roster Cut followed up with Boston Knee Party and System retains!

Its a little weird to have had the two commercial cuts and the fact there’s still Nic Nemeth to follow. So it feels a little flat, I hope this wasn’t their swan song match, because it was nice to see some classic spots, but it was entirely too abbreviated.

Nemeth comes out, goes into the crowd and finds a kid with a kendo stick and borrows a beer from someone, so he does a bit of a Sandman tribute. Moose cuts off his promo basically immediately. He throws out the “can’t beat the system” line again, and Nic rolls with the punches well. Moose uses a few cute analogies about Nic having a failure laden past, but Nemeth bites back and its really damn good. He says he can see it in Moose’s eyes that he thinks he’s getting in the ring with Dolph Ziggler, but no, there is no more old Dolph Ziggler, just the new Nic Nemeth. And Moose’s cool seems to be slightly shaken after those words. Good promo.

Overall Score: 6.5/10

So this was okay, if it didn’t end as strongly as it did, I would’ve rated this much lower. Two squash matches in the beginning, reusing the Josh comes out to the announce table to watch trope is boring, hell even Clayton’s shove to Hammerstone was super lame looking. The Deaner match was luke warm at best, but things picked up around the Rosemary match.

Lets also not overlook the segments with ASH & Xia, Jonathan Gresham’s whole deal and EY having to return to the violence/sickness/world class maniac, whatever you want to call it, were all great building blocks. This definitely wasn’t what I would call a strong Go Home, but it didn’t hurt things for Rebellion. The whole injury of Cardona was addressed, which honestly sounded weird since Jordynne basically said she was expecting them to have a backup plan so she has a backup plan. I don’t really like how that video package came across.

But who knows, all I know is, this wasn’t an awful episode, it just wasn’t really strong either. Here’s to hoping Rebellion Saturday is still strong.

Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!