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Mitchell’s WWE NXT Results & Report! (2/17/21)

Fallout from Vengeance Day!

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NXT Coverage 2021

There was triumph and heartbreak felt at TakeOver!

NXT is still trying to calm down from the history made by Dakota Kai & Raquel Gonzalez as well as the shock of Adam Cole SUPERKICKING Kyle O’Reilly!!

OFFICIAL RESULTS

  • Shotzi Blackheart & Ember Moon VS The Way’s Candice LeRae & Indi Hartwell; Blackheart & Moon win.
  • Isaiah “Swerve” Scott VS Leon Ruff; Ruff wins.
  • Kacy Catanzaro & Kayden Carter VS Jessi Kamea & Aliyah w/ Robert Stone; Catanzaro & Carter win.
  • Tyler Rust w/ Malcolm Bivens VS KUSHIDA; Kushida wins.
  • Zoey Stark VS Valentina Feroz; Stark wins.
  • Six Man Tag: Finn Balor, Roderick Strong & Kyle O’Reilly VS The Kings of NXT; The Kings of NXT win.

PLAY BY PLAY

Kyle O’Reilly goes to the ring!

No music, no introductions, he just wants a mic. “You all saw what happened Sunday at TakeOver. I keep replaying the moment over and over in my head in my head, trying to make sense of it, but I can’t.” Kyle is shocked, confused, pissed off and disappointed. The Undisputed Era was supposed to be unlike every other group that ever came and went in the business. They were special and you ruined that for all of us, Adam Cole. Cole kicked Kyle in the face but stabbed him in the back. The thing is, Cole is still Kyle’s brother, and so that is why he’s giving Cole the benefit of the doubt. Kyle needs Cole to come out and explain himself. And when it’s done, Kyle might punch Cole in the face, but he’s willing to hear Cole out.

Kyle waits, and the UE music plays for Cole’s entrance. Wait, no, it’s Roderick Strong coming out! The UE IS special! But Kyle, they both know Adam. Strong is speaking for himself, he says Cole did that out of emotion. But right now, in this moment, Strong knows Cole regrets it. Kyle doesn’t need Strong to say it! He needs Cole to say it! Stop wasting everyone’s time! Strong and Kyle argue but Kyle tells Strong to stay out of the ring. Not that Kyle doesn’t trust Strong, but maybe it is! Kyle doesn’t know who to trust! Kyle says it one more time: He doesn’t need to hear Strong’s BS, he needs COLE to be here! “Adam Cole, get your ass out here!!”

But instead, it’s Finn Balor who makes his way out! Kyle is angry because he’s not here for Finn, but Finn is angry because he IS here for Kyle. If Kyle wants Cole, he has to get in line behind Finn! Finn and Kyle have business to address. On Sunday, Kyle offered Finn a hand in friendship. Finn shouldn’t have accepted but he did, and then we saw what happened! Strong defends Kyle to Finn, Kyle had nothing to do with what Cole did. But then wait! The Kings of NXT attack! They throw Finn and Strong around, then Kyle goes out to get mugged by them, too! The brawl is all over ringside but the referees hurry out to stop it! But they can’t, The Kings of NXT just blow past them to go after Finn, Kyle and Strong!

Fans boo as Dunne, Oney and Burch finally let off, only for Dunne to go after Finn again! Dunne finally stops stomping the NXT Champion to leave with the NXT Tag Team Champions. Will they all be back for more soon enough? And what about Adam Cole’s explanation?

 

William Regal has an update on tonight’s match card.

He received a message from Santos Escobar: Escobar was to be in a match with Kross, and Kross made threats to Escobar, but no one threatens Escobar. Escobar says he will… GO HOME! The NXT Cruiserweight Champion won’t do this on Regal’s time but his own! Regal says the match won’t happen this week, but it will happen next week. And though the title is not on the line, if Escobar stays away again, he will be suspended AND stripped of the championship! As for tonight’s new main event, it will be a Six Man Tag! Finn Balor, Roderick Strong & Kyle O’Reilly will take on the Kings of NXT to settle the scrap we just saw!

 

Shotzi Blackheart & Ember Moon VS The Way’s Candice LeRae & Indi Hartwell!

Johnny Gargano accompanies Mrs. Wrestling & Indi to the ring, and they all have missing person posters for Austin Theory, because no one has seen or heard from him since TakeOver! Is there no way for The Way to focus with a part of their family missing?

Gargano also joins commentary to say there is an ATAPB, Austin Theory All Points Bulletin. The teams sort out, Shotzi and Candice start, and Shotzi dodges Candice to shotgun dropkick her down! Shotzi runs in to corner clothesline, tags in Ember, and Ember runs in to back body block! Tag back to Shotzi, Ember runs side to side to dropkick Candice! Shotzi runs side to side to WRECK Candice with a dropkick! The Way is reeling as NXT goes picture in picture.

Ember throws Candice back in for Shotzi, cover, TWO! Shotzi keeps on Candice with clubbing forearms, then brings her around to tag in Ember. They mug Candice, Ember drags Candice up and snap suplexes, una amiga! Ember snap suplexes again for dos amigas, then covers, TWO! Ember keeps on Candice with another facelock but Candice shoves her away. Candice runs back to her corner to tag in Indi, so Shotzi tags back in. They tie up, Shotzi wants a leg but Indi holds her off with a gut wrench. Shotzi rolls Indi to a cover, TWO! Shotzi keeps Indi down with a facelock, clubbing forearms, and then brings her over to tag in Ember. Ember rolls Indi, TWO!

Indi crawls away and tags in Candice. Ember dares Candice to bring it, and then dodges her to waistlock and throw her around. Tag to Shotzi, Ember whips Candice for Shotzi’s sweep, then Ember adds a basement dropkick! Shotzi runs to drop an elbow and cover, TWO! Gargano gets worried on commentary as Shotzi puts on a headlock. Candice pulls hair and powers Shotzi to a corner, but lets off as the ref counts. Candice RAMS into Shotzi, and again, and again! Candice digs her shoulder in, lets off as the ref counts, then snapmares Shotzi to neck snap! Cover, TWO! Candice keeps on Shotzi, tags in Indi, and The Way stomps her at the ropes.

Indi drags Shotzi from the ropes to stomp the legs, then covers, TWO! Indi keeps her eyes on Ember, has Shotzi at the ropes, but Shotzi hits back with body shots. Indi clubs Shotzi, tags Candice, and Candice runs in to back elbow Shotzi in the corner. Tag back to Indi as NXT returns to single picture, and Indi scoops. Shotzi slips off and shoves Indi to ropes. Candice runs in but Shotzi shoves her to ropes, too! Shotzi tags Ember and the two coordinate, BALL PIT ENZIGURI COMBO! Then a KNEE for Indi! Ember slingshot SPLASHES, covers, TWO! Ember drags Indi up, tags in Shotzi, and they mug “Indi Freakin’ Wrestling.” Gargano claims there was a semifinal screwjob as Shotzi covers, TWO!

Shotzi tags Ember back in, they coordinate again, and Ember wrenches Indi to feed to Shotzi’s HANGING HEADSCISSOR! Candice CLOBBERS Shotzi on the outside, Indi BOOTS Ember down! Tag to Candice and she hurries to cover Ember, TWO! Candice facelocks Ember and grinds her down, but Ember endures as fans rally up. But wait, there’s a van pulling in outside? A familiar white van… Candice and The Way see it on screen, and Ember back drops but Candice sunset flips! TWO, Candice CLOBBERS Ember! Cover, TWO! Candice kicks Ember, Ember shoves back. Candice DECKS Ember, stomps away on her at the ropes, then tags in Indi.

Indi drags Ember up, brings Ember around to whip and CLOBBER her! Cover, TWO! Indi grows frustrated, she drags Ember up but Ember hits back. Indi bumps Ember off buckles, RAMS shoulders into her over and over, then hoists her up to a fireman’s carry. Ember slips off, shoves Indi to the corner, but Indi catches up to Ember for a SIDEWALK SLAM! Cover, TWO! Indi drags Ember away, tags Candice, and Candice stomps Ember down! Candice drops down on Ember, then stands on Ember’s back. Candice grabs the arms and pulls Ember back into a half surfboard. Fans taunt The Way with “Where is Theory?” but Gargano tells Indi to ignore them.

Ember endures and fights her way up but Candice throws her down by her arms! Candice whips Ember into the corner, tags to Indi, but Ember fights back! Indi kicks and ROCKS and CLUBS Ember, then stomps her to the corner. Ember fights back again with big forearms, but Indi smothers Ember to whip her to the apron. Indi EuroUppers Ember in the ropes, tags Candice and then BOOTS Ember to the floor! Candice goes out to springboard CROSSBODY Ember down! But back to that van, Gargano is getting annoyed that it’s just idling outside. Gargano leaves commentary to go investigate, and NXT goes to break.

NXT returns and Ember enziguris Candice away! Hot tags to Indi and Shotzi! Shotzi enziguris Indi to a corner! Shotzi runs in, blocks the boot and elbows Indi down! Shotzi rolls and comes back, SHINING WIZARD! Shotzi snapmares Indi to hit a SLING-DOG! Cover, TWO! Shotzi is after Indi’s arms, and gets CATTLE MUTILATION! Indi endures, Candice gives Shotzi a step-up senton! Ember gets in, blocks Candice’s kick to get her with a half hatch suplex! Indi hits a SPINEBUSTER on Ember! Shotzi hits a ROLLING ELBOW, but Indi comes back with a LARIAT! All four women are down, and Gargano has found the van!

Gargano shouts for Theory but is anyone even in this van? There isn’t a driver so who brought it here?! Back to the match, Shotzi and Indi rise, and Indi brings Shotzi over. Tag to Candice, Indi chicken wings Shotzi for a GLAM SLAM! Not the prettiest, but Candice adds on with a SUPERKICK! Cover, TWO!! Shotzi survives and fans fire up! Candice brings Shotzi up, Shotzi jawbreakers free! Tag to Ember, Shotzi fireman’s carries Candice, but Indi runs in! Shotzi uses Candice’s boots against Indi, then hits the swinging STUNNER, and Ember gut wrenches for the AK CODE BREAKER! Cover, TWO!! Candice survives and fans fire up again!

Shotzi and Ember coordinate and go to opposite corners. They climb up, but The Way trip them each up! Tag to Indi and Candice hurries up top. Indi sets Ember up, but Gargano has FOUND Theory! What is he wearing? Ember gets Indi with a roll up and bridge! Ember and Shotzi win!!

Winners: Shotzi Blackheart & Ember Moon, by pinfall

The Way is 0-2 against the wild child and Shenom, but they don’t even seem to care because at least they have Theory back! Will Shotzi and Ember move on towards bigger and better things? Will The Way make sure Dexter Lumis does not get away with what he did to Theory?

 

NXT hears from Pat McAfee.

“Hello, Internet Wrestling Community. It’s your favorite wrestler of all time,” on his plane to travel to warmer climates. But he says we finally saw what he’s known all along: We were bamboozled that Adam Cole “protecting wrestling” form McAfee was a scumbag all along! And McAfee knows fans are way too dumb to know that so he is here to tell us all. #PatWasRight, and Cole will be a bum while McAfee will always be the greatest thing to happen to wrestling. He’s going to go get some sun and some Mai Thais while all the fans stay stuck inside like a bunch of bums.

 

Backstage interview with Kushida.

The Time Splitter is in the trainer’s room after the epic match with Johnny Gargano. What are his thoughts about his NXT North American Championship match at TakeOver? Kushida says it was an honor to compete at TakeOver, but he’s not done with Gargano or the North American title. Bronson Reed walks over and asks if Kushida is alright. He is. Good, because Kushida had one hell of a match at TakeOver. And while Bronson knows Kushida isn’t done with Gargano, Bronson isn’t, either. Bronson wants another shot at the North American title, and if it comes down to him and Kushida, Bronson will cross that bridge when they get there. For now, heal up and get better. They fist bump, and Bronson takes his leave.

But also in the trainer’s room, as if waiting for this moment, is Malcolm Bivens! He wonders what Kushida is doing here. Bivens is a big fan, Kushida was very impressive going 25 minutes with Gargano. But do you know what would be even more impressive? Competing here tonight! And Bivens has the perfect opponent in mind! Bivens asks the trainer if Kushida is medically cleared for tonight. He is. Then Bivens is very excited to talk with Mr. Regal about his match idea. Is Bivens trying to serve up a banged up Kushida to his client for an easy win?

 

Isaiah “Swerve” Scott VS Leon Ruff!

The Capital Wrestling Center again becomes Swerve’s House as the contender’s race continues! But will Swerve have a rough go of handling Ruff, who is just as hungry for another shot of gold?

The bell rings and the two circle. Ruff and Swerve tie up, Swerve puts Ruff in a corner but lets off as the ref counts. Swerve fakes Ruff out and then laughs at him. Swerve puts up his dukes and dares Ruff to take a shot. Ruff starts swinging but Swerve starts weaving, then he gets Ruff in a elbow ‘n’ collar. Ruff uses that to arm-drag Swerve, then arm-drag again! Ruff runs in but Swerve dodges, only for Ruff to land on ropes and go up and over! Swerve avoids the arm-drag to have another little laugh. Swerve rolls, brings Ruff up and whips him to a corner, but Ruff goes up and out and ROCKS Swerve! Ruff goes up, around, under and dropkicks Swerve to the corner, then arm-drags again!

Ruff clamps onto the arm as fans fire up, and he cranks on the shoulder. Swerve scuffs Ruff and gets to his feet. Ruff forearms and whips but Swerve reverses. Ruff dodges but runs into a JUMPING KNEE! Swerve drags Ruff up, POWER BREAKER! Ruff writhes and Swerve swaggers about. Swerve runs around the world to dropkick Ruff out of the ring! Ruff flounders around, Swerve aims from the apron, and Swerve BOOTS Ruff back down! Swerve smirks as he drags Ruff up and puts him in the ring. Cover, TWO! Swerve slaps Ruff around, sits him up and reels him in for a body scissors! Swerve hooks Ruff’s face but the ref reprimands.

Swerve squeezes tight, Ruff elbows at the leg, then CHOPS Swerve! And CHOPS again! Swerve shoves Ruff away and taunts Ruff. Ruff throws body shots, some chops, but Swerve CHOPS Ruff back! Swerve full nelsons, Ruff breaks it and elbows back hard! Ruff kicks low, throws forearms, then starts rallying! Ruff whips, Swerve reverses but Ruff twists to rebound and LARIAT! Ruff headlocks, Swerve powers out of the bulldog but Ruff goes up for a FLYING CUTTER! Cover, ROPEBREAK! Ruff goes to the corner again, climbs up, but Swerve yanks him back. Ruff throws forearms, Swerve throws body shots! Swerve is seething but Ruff throws more forearms!

Swerve shoves Ruff, fakes him out to kick out the legs, but Ruff avoids the House Call to DOUBLE STOMP Swerve down! Fans fire up but Swerve grits his teeth as he CLOBBERS Ruff! Swerve whips, reels Ruff in, but Ruff rolls up and around to a crucifix takedown! Cover, RUFF WINS!!

Winner: Leon Ruff, by pinfall

Swerve is shocked that he got caught! Swerve manages to smile and laugh it off, perhaps impressed that Ruff got the better of him. They shake hands, but then Swerve DECKS Ruff! Swerve rains down fists and stomps away on Ruff, and fans boo how sore of a loser he’s being! Swerve drags Ruff up because he’s not done with him. Swerve drags Ruff up by his face to a fireman’s carry, and gives him a CORNER DEATH VALLEY! “I’m tired of you getting handed everything, while I’ve gotta scratch and claw for everything!” Swerve says this isn’t just his house, this is his time! What will Swerve do to get what he wants?

 

Kacy Catanzaro & Kayden Carter VS Jessi Kamea & Aliyah w/ Robert Stone!

KC Squared are back to not just rebound from their loss in the Women’s Dusty Rhodes Classic, but the loss of their friend, Xia Li, to the dark side that is Tian Sha. Will they be able to break through against the Robert Stone Brand and worry about Xia later?

The teams sort out and Kacy starts with Jessi. They circle, approach, and Kacy gets around to waistlock. Jessi throws Kacy off and then taunts little Kacy. Kacy tries a toehold but Jessi stays standing. Jessi drags Kacy up to reel her in, but Kacy slips out of the bomb lift to arm-drag Jessi to the corner! Kacy storms over, tags in Kayden, and KC Squared whip Jessi into the ropes! KC Squared to the apron to DOUBLE BOOT Jessi back in! Kayden covers, TWO! Kayden brings Jessi up but Jessi knees low and whips Kayden away. Kayden holds ropes, boots Jessi, then tags in Kacy. Kacy shoulders into Jessi, then uses her gymnastics to slingshot headscissor! Cover, TWO!

Kacy tags Kayden back in, but wait! Boa is lurking in the shadows! Jessi sucker punches Kayden, drags her away and tags in Aliyah. The Brand mug Kayden, then Aliyah fires off in the corner. Tag back to Jessi. they coordinate to wheelbarrow CUTTER! Cover, TWO! Jessi drags Kayden into a chinlock but Kayden rolls her off. Kayden hits a jawbreaker, then ROCKS Jessi with a right! Hot tags to Aliyah and Kacy! Kacy trips Aliyah, fires off in the corner, but Aliyah shoves her away. Kacy comes back to A-List Lariat! Then handspring AX KICK! Cover, TWO! Kacy tags Kayden in and they coordinate, NECKBREAKER SPLASH! Cover, KC Squared win!

Winners: Kacy Catanzaro & Kayden Carter, by pinfall

But now Xia Li is on stage! She and Boa storm down to the ring, and Kayden is ready to fight! Kacy keeps Kayden calm and wants to talk to Xia. This doesn’t have to be this way! They’re just friends worried about her! But Xia grabs Kacy’s arm, to mark it with black ink! The same warning Xia and Boa were given! “Next week, I will hurt you!” Xia has given her former friends an ultimatum, what is going to happen to Kacy on behalf of Tian Sha?

 

Malcolm Bivens speaks.

“It has already been established that at TakeOver, Kushida was impressive. But do you know who is even more impressive? Tyler Rust.” Kushida is great but Rust is a superstar that only comes once in a generation. Kushida doesn’t have Rust’s determination or ambition. And Kushida may not be 100% but he’s cleared. Bivens says Rust will take good care of Kushida. Rust isn’t a rookie, he’s a #DiamondintheRust. But will Bivens’ client be able to take advantage of a sore Super Junior as easy as he thinks?

 

NXT returns and Beth Phoenix is in the ring!

She stands with THE Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic trophy as she quotes Dusty, “When you’re a walk-behinder, the view never changes.” What that means is that to be great, you have to take risks, step up, and lead. And we can all agree every single team in the Men’s and Women’s Dusty Cup tournaments did just that. Phoenix cues up the highlight reel of both tournaments from this year. Raquel Gonzalez was dominant and Dakota Kai was savvy, while MSK were surely #MustSeeKids. And in the end, in epic battles with equally impressive teams, history was made both ways! Kai & Gonzalez win the first-ever while Carter & Lee go 4-0 from debut to winners!

“Two tag teams stood head and shoulders above the rest,” so now we welcome out the winner of the 2021 Men’s Dusty Cup, MSK! Nash Carter & Wes Lee apologize to Beth but they need a moment. They run around and Carter says this is the best feeling ever! The trophy is so beautiful! They hug Beth, admire the boots and the plaque, and say they are THE 2021 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic CHAMPIONS! That feels good to say and great to hear! And what makes it even better is the opportunity they have. Carter tells Danny Burch and Oney Lorcan that on March 3rd, they will step in the ring with MSK with the NXT Tag Team Championships on the line!

Lee says that does feel good. But it’ll be even better when we hear… “AND NEW~ NXT Tag Team Champions…! M S K!!” Okay, back to you, Beth. Beth says that does sound great, but let’s all welcome two women who have etched their names in history for ever: The inaugural Women’s Dusty Cup winners, Dakota Kai & Raquel Gonzalez! #CapKota and #BigMamiCool make their entrance and MSK are gentlemen enough to hold the ropes for them and hand over their mics. Beth welcomes them here and the fans chant, “You Deserve It!”

Beth asks how they’re feeling, and Dakota says they feel awesome! Crushing the competition always takes our breath away, but a moment like this is why they do this! And they were clearly the best tag team in the tournament by far! So it is no surprise that- Shayna Baszler & Nia Jax are here?! Well, as WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions, they are allowed to be on any show they want. The Queen of Spades says, “Look! It’s Dakota Kai and Raquel. They just won the first-ever Women’s Dusty Cup. On that night, they were on the right side of history.” So now they get to face the women’s tag champs for the titles!

MSK again hold ropes as gentlemen as Nia and Shayna enter the ring. Nia and Shayna say on that night, Kai and Gonzalez will be on the wrong side of history. Dakota knows Raquel wasn’t here when these two were, here are introductions. Nia is big, and beats people up. And Shayna… Well she still has fans, apparently. Shayna ran away after Rhea beat her ass! Oh, the same Rhea that Raquel beat in a Last Woman Standing? Yep, one in the same! MSK has some popcorn to watch this one, and are sharing with Beth. Shayna says this is the same ol’ Dakota that cried and whined, scared of Shayna after she broke her arm.

Dakota smirks and says she’s not the same person she was then. But if Shayna wants to find out, Dakota will happily kick her head off! Raquel says it’s been a long time since Shayna left, and she doesn’t run this anymore! It’s Raquel and Dakota. And in two weeks, when they face off for those titles, they will make sure Nia & Shayna know that! Nia says they should all take it down a notch. This is really feisty right now. Nia just came here to honor the late, great Dusty Rhodes. Nia worked with Dusty while she was in NXT, and when she closes her eyes, she’ll never forget how he’d say, “Babay, you are one big, beautiful badass bitch.”

And Dusty was right: Nia is the biggest, baddest bitch. And Shayna and Nia are the most dominant force in all of the WWE. Raquel tells Nia that Dusty, God rest his soul, never got to meet Raquel! Oh? Well yeah, duh. Shayna says either way, in two weeks, March 3rd, the tag champs come to the challengers’ home turf to humiliate them! Double mic drop and the champs head out! But Raquel tells “hermana” Nia, “Be careful what you say.” Raquel is gonna take that silver boot and shove it up Nia’s hole! MSK is dead from that line! Will Ricky Desperado and Cobra Kai end the most dominant reign in the Women’s Tag Division? And what of MSK going after the One Two of Lorcan & Burch?

 

NXT Media spots Strong and Kyle arguing in the parking lot.

Clearly there’s a lot for the UE to sort out with Adam Cole and the main event tonight, but is this just going to add to the team falling apart?

 

NXT encores the Cameron Grimes Wrestle & Flow music video.

It’s still just as ridiculous as the first time. Will Grimes take them GameStonks #ToTheMoon? Oops! Grimes went and done wrecked his lambo! But that’s okay, he can just buy another!

 

NXT shares photos from after TakeOver.

Specifically, it was the post match photoshoot with Io Shirai, as she is still NXT Women’s Champion! But one of her challengers came back for revenge and it was Toni Storm! Toni BOOTS Shirai down, goes after her more, and referees hurry to pull her away! Is the Lightning From Down Under doing to strike twice and go after the Evil Genius again?

 

Tyler Rust w/ Malcolm Bivens VS KUSHIDA!

Bivens Enterprise’s best (and only) client is going to take on one of the best in the world, but while he’s not at his best! Will the damage done by Johnny Freakin’ TakeOver be too much for even Kushida to overcome?

The bell rings and fans are fired up already. Rust and Kushida circle, feel out the grapple, and tie up with knuckle locks. Rust rolls, gets a leg, and shifts. Kushida slips away and resets with Rust. They tie up again, Kushida gets an arm but Rust gets the ropebreak. Rust gives a swipe as the two break and go again. Kushida wants a leg but Rust backs away to a corner. Rust and Kushida circle, tie up, and Rust wrenches to a wristlock. Kushida rolls, wrenches back, but Rust spins and spins and rolls to wrench back. Kushida rolls with the momentum and he holds that elbow. Rust and Kushida go again and Kushida starts throwing big kicks!

Kushida leap son, body scissors and knuckle locks to then wrench Rust. Rust spins and slips around to get an arm-drag takedown. Kushida endures, fights up, works against the hold and hammerlocks Rust. Rust gets around to hammerlock back, but Kushida gets to the ropes. Kushida then waves Rust into the ropes and kicks the ropes to jam the arm! Bivens protests but Kushida and Rust tie up again. Rust headlocks, Kushida shifts to his own headlock, Rust powers out but Kushida handspring back elbows Rust down! Kushida hurries up to arm-drag Rust around but Rust headscissors. Kushida kips free, drops under the boot and double pump handles to the EuroClutch, TWO!

Kushida argues how close that was but Rust ROKCS him with that sucker punch! Rust throws EuroUppers, Bivens coaches him up, and Rust whips Kushida to ropes. Kushida holds ropes, boots Rust back and goes to the apron to enziguri back! Kushida has the arm, wrenches, and hotshots it! Rust clutches that elbow, Kushida climbs up top, but Rust trips him up! Kushida tumbles hard against buckles, Rust is right on him with an omoplata and armbar! Kushida endures, fights but Rust rolls him to body scissors. Rust has the sleeper, but Kushida has the ropebreak! The ref counts, Rust lets go and Kushida gets out, clutching his shoulders while NXT goes to break.

NXT returns and Rust grinds Kushida with a cravat. Fans rally up and Kushida fights out with body shots. Kushida arm-drags Rust, then hits an atomic drop to a whip. Hip toss and cartwheel to basement dropkick! FAST BALL! PENALTY- No, Rust dodges the kick but Kushida wrenches the arm to the ARMBAR BULLDOG! Bivens is panicking as Kushida drags Rust up. Kushida gives Rust Kowata Kicks, then reels him into underhooks. Rust resists but Kushida adds a hammerlock. Rust back drops free, Kushida staggers over into Rust’s BOOT! Rust reels Kushida into a sleeper, then shifts around to a guillotine, SNAP SUPLEX!

Rust AX KICKS the neck, covers, TWO! Kushida has the ghost pin, TWO! Rust switchblade kicks and BUZZSAWS Kushida down! Cover, TWO!! Kushida is still in this and Bivens is fuming! Rust grits his teeth as Bivens coaches him and fans rally for Kushida. Rust drags Kushida up to a waistlock dead lift, but Kushida elbows free! Kushida switches to lift but Rust resists. Kushida full nelsons, Rust breaks it, rolls, EuroClutch but Kushida switches it to his own! Rust makes it a REAR NAKED CHOKE! Kushida grabs at Rust’s hands but Rust clubs away with crossface forearms! GROUNDED BOW ‘N’ ARROW!? Kushida endures Rust’s innovation, and he shifts to a cover! TWO!!

Kushida dropkicks the arm! Rust swings but misses, PENALTY KICK! Kushida fires up, runs in, but Rust gets around to waistlock. The bad arm is no good, Kushida swings, but Rust fireman’s carries! Kushida wants the bad arm, Rust has to drop Kushida and Kushida drags Rust down to a mounted double wristlock! HOVERBOARD!! Bivens starts waving at the ref but Rust taps, Kushida wins!

Winner: Kushida, by submission

The Time Splitter wins but Bivens claims he was protecting his investment in Rust. Either way, Kushida wins, so how much better will he be back at 100%?

 

NXT Media catches up to LA Knight.

He asks what the hell they want, but then says while the cameras are here, he wants to speak. It was only a few days ago that Knight showed up at TakeOver to put NXT on its ear. With the signing of Knight, people are already wondering if he’s the greatest NXT star of all time. If you knock on his door again, he’ll knock your damn head off. But everyone who comes in as “the hottest free agent,” if they’re not Knight, they aren’t it. Knight is going to claim his perch, and who is gonna stop him? NOBODY! NXT already belongs to Knight. No one can take it from him, not because they’re not good, but because he won’t let you! It’s the Knight’s Game now!

 

Zoey Stark VS Valentina Feroz!

Though she didn’t get out of the first round of the Women’s Dusty Cup, the newest addition to the Women’s Division did impress. Now she has her 1v1 debut, will she impress even more with a win? Or will Feroz’s own debut overshadow Stark’s?

The bell rings, the two circle and tie up, and Stark waistlocks to a slam! Starks stays on Feroz with a facelock and hard snap suplex! Stark picks Feroz up to RAM her into the corner, stomps her then reels her in to CLOBBER her! Fans rally, Stark wrenches an arm but Feroz throws a forearm! Feroz uses ropes to flip through then she gets a headlock. Stark powers out but Feroz comes back to sunset flip! Stark stays up but Feroz avoids the stomp to kick Stark to the corner! Feroz fires up to judo throw Stark down and cover, ONE!! Feroz is furious, Stark throws big knees and clubs away on her as she fires up in return!

Stark drags Feroz up, suplexes, but Feroz slips off to shove her away. Feroz runs but into Stark’s arms for a SNAKE EYES! Stark SUPERKICKS Feroz and then reaches a boiling point. HALF ‘N’ HALF!! Feroz writhes, Stark runs and SLIDING KNEES Feroz back down! Stark grins as she looms over Feroz. Stark says this is done, and she hoists Feroz up for a flip and a knee, GO TO STARK! Cover, Stark wins!

Winner: Zoey Stark, by pinfall

Ferocious and without slowing down, Stark dominates in her singles debut! Will Stark storm up the ranks sooner rather than later?

 

Karrion Kross and Scarlett Bordeaux speak.

“You like to play games, Santos?” Playing with time is not Escobar’s forte. Escobar doesn’t have that power. “There is no pause button on this nightmare.” Kross tells Mr. Santos that his destiny has already been decided and there’s no going back. Escobar has a big decision. A) Escobar shows up next week, stands in the ring like he was supposed to, and Kross takes his arm to drive it through Escobar’s head. B) Escobar doesn’t show up, he loses his title, and then Kross still finds him to leave him wherever he finds him. There is on easy way out, just the hard way. Tick-tock. What happens when Escobar’s time is up?

 

Six Man Tag: Finn Balor, Roderick Strong & Kyle O’Reilly VS The Kings of NXT!

While the Prince and the Undisputed Era tried to sort things out, Pat McAfee’s boys pounced! But will the Bruiserweight and the BritAm Bruisers come to regret that move?

NXT returns once more, the teams sort out, and Kyle starts with Oney. They tie up, fans fire up already, and Oney puts Kyle in a corner. Kyle dodges Oney’s chops to fire off forearms! The ref counts, Oney turns things around but Kyle turns them right back around to fire off more! Oney headlocks, Kyle powers out but Oney runs him over! Things speed up and Kyle kitchen sink knees Oney down! Strong wants the tag but Kyle tags Finn! Finn and Kyle mug Oney, Finn wrenches Oney’s arm then tags Kyle back in. Kyle hops up and drops ax handles on Oney’s arm! Kyle wrenches the arm to elbow breaker, then he tags Finn back in. Finn hops up, he drops an ax handle now!

Finn wrenches Oney’s arm to drag him down as fans rally up. Oney fights up, Burch tags in, but Balor fights back! Finn snapmares Burch to the armlock and fans fire up. Burch fights up, Strong tags in and he goes after Burch. Strong wrenches to hit an elbow breaker! Burch endures, fights up, and pulls on Strong’s ear to put him on ropes. The ref counts, Burch lets off but Strong has to worry about Oney. Burch ROCKS Strong, tags in Dunne and Dunne wrenches Strong’s arm to twist the wrist and elbow! Dunne grinds the elbow into Strong’s shoulder, Strong gets up but Dunne wrangles him back down. Strong whips Dunne away to dropkick him down! Cover, TWO!

Strong keeps on Dunne, Dunne resists the lift to get the ropebreak. The ref counts, Strong lets go, Dunne DECKS him! Dunne drags Strong up but Strong CHOPS and CHOPS! Dunne throws Strong out, sucker punches Kyle, and then the tag champs pull steel steps apart! They throw the top half away and then go after Strong. Strong fights them off, the ref reprimands but Strong gets up to hotshot Dunne! Strong runs but into Dunn’s kick! Dunn brings Strong in but Strong slips out of the suplex to HALF NELSON BACKBRAEKER! Hot tag to Kyle and Oney! Kyle BOOTS Kyle, rallies with kicks, but Oney blocks to ROCK Kyle!

Tag to Burch, but Kyle dodges to fires off strikes! Leg sweep and Burch goes rolling away! Dunne tags in but Kyle gets the leg for a DRAPING DRAGON SCREW! Then DRAPING DRAGON SCREW to Oney! Kyle is on the apron, he leaps but Burch dodges and Dunne BLASTS Kyle with a forearm! The ref goes out to check on Kyle while NXT goes picture in picture.

Dunne stomps Kyle, the ref reprimands, and Dunne drags Kyle up and into the ring. Dunne has Kyle on the apron, wrenches the arm and pulls, but the ref counts. Dunne stops at 4, goes back in the ring and he wrenches Kyle’s arm around to pull on it from finger to elbow. Kyle endures, Dunne stomps him on the back! Dunne wrenches, tag sin Burch, and wrenches again to hand off to Burch. Burch hits the elbow breaker, then wrenches again to chinbar and wrangle Kyle down. Burch stomps the arm! Burch drags Kyle back up, tags in Oney, and they double wrench to double CHOP Kyle! Oney snap suplexes Kyle and covers, TWO! Oney gets in Strong’s face before going back to Kyle.

Oney drags Kyle up to CHOP him to the Kings’ corner. Tag to Burch, Burch brings Kyle around to throw EuroUppers, but Kyle hits back! Burch drop toeholds Kyle down and clamps onto the arm! Dunne tags in, he gets the legs and hooks those up to then go after Kyle’s arms. Kyle endures, Dunne digs knuckles into his ribs and shoulders to then STOMP both legs! Dunne clamps onto Kyle with a chinbar and cranks hard on the neck as NXT returns to single picture.

Fans are fired up as Kyle endures and Dunne pulls harder. Kyle fights up, throws body shots, but Dunne ROCKS him! Dunne sucker punches Finn and Strong, but Kyle gets Dunne with a DRAGON SCREW! Hot tag to Burch and he drags Kyle away to throw EuroUppers! Kyle counters to a backslide, TWO! Burch gets Kyle’s leg and drags him down to a HALF CRAB! Tag to Dunne, Dunne stomps Kyle back down! Dunne goes after Kyle’s legs again, ties them up then tags in Burch. Burch stomps Kyle, brings Kyle up and whips him corner to corner. Kyle boots back and throws an elbow, but DOUBLE CLOTHESLINES take both men down!

Fans fire up as Burch and Kyle slowly crawl. Hot tag to Dunne, and Dunne DECKS Strong! Dunne drags Kyle back by a foot for an ANKLE LOCK! Kyle flails, reaches, rolls and kicks Dunne away! Kyle kicks Dunn’s leg, Dunne ROCKS Kyle with a forearm! But Kyle yo-yos, dodges Dunne and tags in Finn! Finn rallies, Dunne reveres but Finn dropkicks the legs out! Finn CHOPS Dunne in the corner, Oney runs in but Finn trips and DOUBL ESTMOPS him! Finn goes after Burch, then he trips Dunne up! Dunne counters to a cradle, TWO! Dunne runs, Finn gets around, elbow drop DDT! Cover, Lorcan breaks it!

Strong throws Oney into Burch then WREWCKS them with a dropkick! Burch DECKS Strong, fans are thunderous and Finn drags Dunne up by his leg. But Dunne is after Finn’s fingers! Finn gets free but gets an ENZIGURI for it! Dunne pump handles, but no Bitter End as Finn facelocks. Dunne rams Finn into a corner but Finn BOOTS back, then SLINGBLADES! Finn takes aim from the corner, but Burch gets in with a title belt! The ref is busy going after Burch, Finn shotgun dropkicks Dunne into the ref! Finn DECKS Burch, climbs up top and aims at Dunne, but Adam Cole is here!! He SHOVES Finn into the ref! Fans boo but then Cole BOOTS Kyle down!

Cole drags Kyle over to the steel steps that the Kings set up, to BRAINBUSTER Kyle onto them!! Cole snarls as he storms off, but we still get no answers as to why! Oney crawls into the ring but Strong hurries after him! Oney has the belt but gets a STRONG KNEE! Strong has the belt, he goes over to Finn but Finn PELES out of instinct! Finn had no idea who it was, of course, but the damage is done! Dunne gets Finn with a BITTER END!! Cover, The Kings of NXT win!!

Winners: The Kings of NXT, by pinfall

The Bruiserweight finally pins the NXT Champion! But it was far from fair with everything going on! Is this still grounds for another battle between Finn and Dunne? And what does this mean for Cole’s friendship with Kyle and Strong? Wait, Cole returns to SUPERKICK Finn!! The Prince just got blindsided, and Cole stands over him and Kyle! Cole picks up the NXT Championship, because he clearly wants it back. Is Cole moving on from being undisputed to being the only one at the top?


My Thoughts:

This was a very intense episode and a great follow-up to TakeOver. I’m a little disappointed we didn’t get more out of Lumis abducting Theory, and that the white van pulling up overlapped with the tag match. I guess it was a way to keep The Way strong while losing to Shotzi & Ember, and it did save time on the episode, but I feel like we would’ve gotten a lot more fun if the tag match was allowed to end cleanly, and if we got messages from Lumis about where he put Theory and what he was doing to him. Lumis’ art skills should’ve been used to create illustrated ransom letters, where Lumis will return Theory only once Gargano gives him a North American Championship match.

The Dusty Cup Trophy Presentation being a segment tonight was interesting. The winning teams got to see the trophy during the entire tournament and at TakeOver, but I suppose pointing out the names on the plaque was kayfabe reason enough to have this happen. The real reason was to formally announce when the tag title matches would be happening, and to give us a great promo segment. It seems NXT is already planning counter programming for March 3rd, aka AEW’s go-home to Revolution. Two tag title matches in one night as just the beginning of the card is a great move either way, and the timing makes it clear why it’s happening.

Dakota and Raquel did great being Faces with Attitude, as they’d be the Faces by comparison against Nia & Shayna anyway. MSK also did a good job playing support to the women’s tag teams, Wes Lee’s reaction to the line about Nia’s hole was a great detail. KC Squared VS Robert Stone Brand was pretty good, and KC Squared wins to have momentum going into what I’m sure will be a series of matches with Xia Li. I still say this ends up with a tag match where “Tian Sha” has her in-ring debut, meaning Karen Q and Xia Li are going to be a tag team. Surely this all stems from the match we saw of Xia Li VS Karen Q back in the second Mae Young Classic, and I think they’re going to be a great addition to the Women’s Tag Division.

Swerve VS Ruff was good, and Ruff winning and Swerve being a sore loser, this is just the start of what already feels like a really good feud. Escobar basically chickening out of his match with Kross tonight is a bit lame but Kross has a good response promo. The one disappointment is that, at least to me, it feels like the only reason Escobar still has the belt right now is to use it against him in this story. And I noticed Curt Stallion’s feelings after losing were just a video on social media when they should’ve been aired somewhere on programming. I still say the title should’ve been handed off to Stallion while we have this Kross VS Escobar non-title story.

Bivens trying to take advantage of a less than 100% Kushida was very clever, and we got a great match between Kushida and Rust. I was a little confused at the end there but it seems Bivens threw in the towel without having a towel, but it also felt like he was trying to distract the ref so Rust’s tap-out wasn’t noticed and the match could continue. I’m thinking the Bivens-Rust story goes until Bivens gets fed up with Rust always falling short, he gets a new client, and Rust beats the new client to prove he didn’t really need Bivens, or something similar. Zoey Stark had a good singles match with Feroz, but it seemed pretty clear Stark was going to win with how they hyped her up tonight.

The main story with the Undisputed Era and NXT Champion was very good stuff. Kyle wants answers, Finn wants answers, Strong defends Cole only to be proven wrong, and all the while McAfee’s guys take advantage because they don’t like any of them. The Six Man was a lot of fun, Cole’s interference was pretty logical since he hates Kyle and Finn equally now. The only downside is that after everything was said and done, Kyle suffered a seizure and had to be rushed out of there. I had a feeling something was wrong with that steel step spot, but that’s very scary stuff. On behalf of The Chairshot, I hope Kyle makes a speedy recovery.

My Score: 9.4/10


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Coverage

Mitchell’s WWE Raw Results & Report! (3/18/24)

Talk about a Big Time Raw!

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Will The Man be the Last Woman Standing?

Becky Lynch and Nia Jax want to finally put this to an end, so tonight on Raw, it will be a Big Time Last Woman Standing match! Will the Irresistible Force force the WrestleMania 40 match to change?

OFFICIAL RESULTS

  • Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship Ladder Match Qualifier: #DIY VS The Creed Brothers; DIY wins and advances to WrestleMania.
  • Candice LeRae & Indi Hartwell VS Kayden Carter & Katana Chance; Candice & Indi win.
  • Dominik Mysterio w/ JD McDonagh VS Ricochet; Ricochet wins.
  • Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship Ladder Match Qualifier: The Awesome Truth VS Indus Sher; The Awesome Truth wins and advances to WrestleMania.
  • Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship Ladder Match Qualifier: The New Day VS The Alpha Academy; The New Day wins and advances to WrestleMania.
  • Last Woman Standing: Becky Lynch VS Nia Jax; Becky wins.

PLAY BY PLAY

Jey Uso is here!

North Carolina State University fires up and bounces along with Main Event Jey, and Pat McAfee plays a dangerous game standing on the armchairs! From Bret VS Owen to Matt VS Jeff, we’re about to get Jey VS Jimmy in the third-ever Brother VS Brother WrestleMania grudge match! Jey gets the mic as fans chant “YEET! YEET! YEET!” Jey welcomes us to Monday Night Raw, and wants us to check this out. He knows his brothers are somewhere in the building. He knows The Bloodline’s in the building. He knows how the Bloodline rolls! SO Big Brother Jimmy, where you at?! Where you at, Uce!?

Jey waits for someone to show up somewhere, and the crowd spots them first! Fans boo as Jimmy & Solo make their way from the back of the stands. Jimmy gets a mic and goes to the apron while Solo paces around the outside. Fans chant “YEET! YEET! YEET!” again as Jey puts the sunglasses aside. The Usos stare each other down, the fans now chant “UCE! OH! UCE! OH!” Jey wants to say something, hesitates, but then says these two would always get to it but they always knew how to shake right back to this. But now it’s different. Regardless of what happened, the bad blood between them, Jey misses his brother. He does.

Jey knows Jimmy will say what he wants, but Jey doesn’t talk to him no more, doesn’t ride with him no more, doesn’t even see him no more! Jimmy can just come back. Jimmy says he never left! He protected Jey! Jey’s so dumb, he can’t see it! Jimmy is protecting Jey! It was Jey’s idea to leave The Bloodline, but Jimmy helped because he is Jey’s brother. So yeah, Jey leaves, and what happens? Lil’ Bro becomes the BIGGEST star on the Raw roster! Lil’ Bro becomes the top merch seller! Lil’ Bro goes off to become a tag team champion without Jimmy, but with CODY RHODES!? Who left who, Uce?

Jey forgot Jimmy! Everything Jey did that was big was cuz of Big Bro Jimmy! Everything! So listen loud and clear. The biggest moment in Jey’s career, the BIGGEST moment, is because of Jimmy! Jimmy stares Jey down, but Jey says no. Jey’s biggest moment in his career is going to be his dream match at WrestleMania 40: Jey VS Jimmy, and Jey knocks the yeet out Jimmy’s ass! Jey DECKS Jimmy, DECKS Solo off the apron, but then Jimmy SUPERKICKS Jey down! The fans boo but now Solo storms in and looms over Jey. Solo drags Jey up so Jimmy can look him in the face and tell him that Jey needs to get it right! JIMMY made Jey!

But here comes Cody Rhodes! The fans fire up as Cody DECKS Jimmy, then gets in to springboard and CODY CUTTER Solo!! The American Nightmare said he was gonna be a Bloodline Hunter, and he made sure they didn’t take out Jey! Cody tells The Bloodline it is only a matter of time before they lose it all at WrestleMania! Will Jey prove that younger or older doesn’t matter when he is the BETTER brother?

 

Adam Pearce is on the phone.

He’s telling Nick Aldis to stop being a hypocrite, telling Pearce to keep his roster in check when this is happening. But then Paul Heyman walks over and Pearce says he’ll call Aldis back. Pearce then asks Heyman what was all that, and Heyman says he owes Pearce an apology. He is sorry. That was not authorized by The Final Boss nor The Tribal Chief, and certainly not by Heyman. Jimmy & Solo went into business for themselves so Heyman apologizes. But listen, Pearce knows that there have been flight delays all day. Even private jets like theirs. Heyman is barely even dressed for TV, let alone has his make-up!

Pearce says those two were ready. Yeah, well, they got in on a different flight. But Roman Reigns is a chief of his word. Those two are already gone, out of the arena, and Pearce has Roman’s word. Call his bluff, put out a search party. Pearce knows Heyman is here on official business, which Heyman will handle, and then be gone. That is it. But when Heyman does his official business… everyone will be caught off guard. “And Mr. Pearce, sir, that’s not a prediction. That’s a spoiler.” The Wise Man heads out and calls Roman, but just what is Heyman teasing?

 

Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship Ladder Match Qualifier: #DIY VS The Creed Brothers!

Unlike SmackDown’s mini-tournament, Raw and Adam Pearce say it’s win and you’re in! Tommaso Ciampa & Johnny Gargano want one more shot at Judgment Day, but so do Julius & Brutus! Will the Sicilian Psycho & Johnny Wrestling prove that when it comes to Mania Moments, you gotta do it yourself? Or will the Creeds be bringing golden tickets to the Diamond Mine?

Raw returns as The Creeds make their entrance. The teams fist bump to show respect, then the teams sort out. Julius starts against Ciampa, they circle and tie up. They’re in a deadlock, Ciampa goes for a waistlock but Julius facelocks. Julius wrangles Ciampa to the mat, flips him over, ONE, and Ciampa keeps moving. They trade facelocks, gator roll, and Julius gets another lateral press. ONE, but Julius gator rolls Ciampa around. Ciampa fights up, puts Julius on ropes, and the ref counts. Ciampa lets off, then CHOPS! Julius shoots in for the takedown! Julius has a leg, Ciampa fights but Julius turns him for the ANKLE LOCK!

Ciampa scrambles to the ROPEBREAK, and Julius lets off cleanly. Ciampa bails out, shakes it off, and he gets back in. They go again, Julius hits a fireman’s carry takeover! Tag to Brutus, and Julius feeds Ciampa to another fireman’s carry takeover! Brutus cording holds but Ciampa endures. Ciampa fights up, but Brutus facelocks. The fans rally as Brutus switches and rolls Ciampa. Ciampa fights up, headlocks, then ROCKS Brutus! Brutus DECKS Ciampa, then whips him to ropes. Ciampa ducks ‘n’ dodges, tag to Gargano! Ciampa slides, CHOPS, Gargano LARIATS and Ciampa JAWBREAKERS! Wrench and LARIAT!

Julius runs in, Gargano kicks and Ciampa gives him the boost for SLICED BREAD! The Creeds bail out, but DIY DOUBLE PLANCHA! Down go the Creeds, and DIY applaud and pat themselves on the back. The fans fire up and Raw goes to break.

Raw returns again and Ciampa has Julius in a chinlock. The fans rally, Julius fights up to throw body shots, but Ciampa hits a back suplex! Julius lands out of it, but Ciampa elbows him away. Ciampa drop toeholds Julius, gets legs, but Julius BOOTS Ciampa away! Hot tags to Gargano and Brutus! Brutus rallies on DIY, TOSSES Gargano, then blocks Ciampa’s kick to get under and POWERBOMB him! Brutus sees DIY regroup, then he runs in to SPLASH them both! O’Conner on Ciampa, but Gargano runs up! NORTHERN LIGHTS! Brutus has a DOUBLE BRIDGE, TWO!! Tag to Julius and he gut wrench SLAMS Brutus on Ciampa!

Brutus helps Julius flip up and over to SPLASH onto Ciampa! Cover, TWO! The fans rally up as Julius drags Ciampa up. Ciampa throat chops! A bit dirty but Ciampa wants that win! Ciampa storms up on Julius, but Julius basement stalling suplexes!! The fans are thunderous, Gargano runs in, but Brutus intercepts! Brutus suplexes Gargano now, stalls, and then the Creeds SLAM and kip up! Then they both STANDING MOONSAULT! Cover, TWO! Ciampa stays in this for DIY but the Creeds keep cool. Julius stomps Ciampa, tags Brutus, and they KNEE Ciampa around! Then they DOUBLE GUTBUSTER! Ciampa sputters but Brutus tags Julius in.

Julius drags Ciampa up, tags Brutus back in, and Brutus climbs. Julius Electric Chair Lifts, but Gargano makes the save! Gargano ROCKS Julius, Brutus ROCKS Gargano! Ciampa BOOTS Brutus, Gargano swings on Julius but is sent into Ciampa! Ciampa pushes Gargano back so he can ELBOW Julius! DIY set up again but Brutus stops the Sliced Bread! Julius DECKS Ciampa, KNEE into the WIDOWMAKER! Julius scrapes Gargano out, Brutus POUNCES Ciampa over the desk! Pat fires up with Brutus and so do the fans! The Creeds say they run this now, and then Brutus drags Ciampa up while Raw goes to break.

Raw returns again and Julius has Ciampa in a chinlock. Ciampa fights up, and he JAWBREAKERS free! Ciampa ELBOWS Brutus down, BOOTS Julius, then runs up, only for Julius to catch him and toss him back! But then Ciampa catches Julius for a REVERSE DDT! The fans fire up while both men are down and crawling! Hot tag to Gargano! Gargano slingshots to KICK Julius, then he CLOBBERS Brutus! ENZIGIRI for Julius, then he runs to DOUBLE KNEE Brutus! BULLDOG LARIAT COMBO! The fans fire up with Gargano while Julius ends up in another corner. Gargano runs in but is put on the apron!

Gargano GAMANGIRIS Julius, SUPERKICKS Brutus, then SLINGSHOT SPEARS Julius! Cover, TWO! Julius survives but Gargano puts him in a corner. Gargano CHOPS, then hoists Julius up top. Tag to Ciampa, Ciampa CHOPS Julius while Gargano DIVES onto Brutus! Ciampa CHOPS Julius again, goes up top, and fireman’s carries! Ciampa then tucks Julius in for the SUPER AIR RAID CRASH! Cover, TWO!! Julius survives again and shocks Ciampa! The fans are just as stunned, but Ciampa and Julius sit up. Ciampa stands, and he CHOPS! And CHOPS! Julius sits back up as Ciampa puts some stank on the CHOP!

Julius brings the straps down! Julius fires a forearm, Ciampa hits back, and the fans fire up as the shots keep going! They go faster and faster, harder and harder, meaner and meaner! The fans fire up as this just turns into a brawl of haymakers and SLAPS! Ciampa then gets around, ripcord and HAYMAKER! ROLLING- TACKLE from Julius! And then the ANKLE LOCK!! Ciampa reaches out, moves around, but Gargano runs up! Julius kicks him, then gets him up with one arm to POWERBOMB! Then it’s back to the ANKLE LOCK on Ciampa! Brutus gets in to get Gargano for an ANKLE LOCK of his own!

The fans are thunderous as DIY endures! Ciampa and Gargano fight, turn things over, SICILIAN CROSSFACE and GargaNO Escape!! The fans are thunderous as The Creeds power up and lift both DIY! They fireman’s carry, then TOSS DIY into each other!! The fans are thunderous as Julius goes up to MOONSAULT onto Ciampa! Brutus MOONSAULTS, too! Cover, TWO?!?! Ciampa survives and the fans are loving this! Julius tags back in, Brutus climbs up! “This is Awesome!” as Julius Electric Chair Lifts Ciampa! But Ciampa VICTORY ROLLS to get under the Brutus Ball!! Cover, Brutus tips it! Gargano TOSSES Brutus then SUPERKICKS Julius!! Ciampa has the cover, DIY WINS!!

Winners: DIY, by pinfall (advance to WrestleMania)

Julius can’t believe it! He kicked out at 3.1, but a loss is a loss! And for the first time ever, DIY is going to Mania! Will Philadelphia soon be historic for a DIY championship victory?

 

Judgment Day meets backstage.

Rhea Ripley is with Dominik Mysterio, Finn Balor & JD McDonagh, but also Andrade. Dom says he’s always liked Andrade’s style, but things have changed since the last time he was in the WWE. The Judgment Day runs Raw now. Rhea says yeah, and they don’t extend invitations to just anyone. Judgment Day is very exclusive. JD says very exclusive. But if Andrade continues to impress them, they’ll see about making things happen. And Finn says he just heard that Andrade has a match next week, so the Judgment Day will be watching him. Sounds good. See you next week. But then in steps Damian Priest.

The Punisher says hello to El Idolo, and El Idolo says hello to Senor Dinero. Andrade heads out, will he quite literally win his way into the club? But as for Priest, Finn asks him what he was up to. Priest was getting a closer look at that DIY VS Creeds match. DIY won, but whatever, they can handle those guys. But JD, they thought he could handle Ricochet last week, and run the gauntlet, and then go to WrestleMania to bring even more gold back to Judgment Day. JD says he did he belonged in there. But also, he battered Ricochet, who got lucky at the end there. Right, Finn? Finn hesitates, and Rhea says Priest is right on this one.

Ricochet made a fool out of JD! A fool? Yes. A fool? Yes. That’s why tonight, Dom will make it right. Right, Dom? Yeah, Mami. Let’s go talk to Pearce to make it official. Dom & JD head out, and the others are confident Dom’s got this. But does he, though? Or will the One and Only have two wins over Judgment Day in as many weeks?

 

Candice LeRae & Indi Hartwell VS Kayden Carter & Katana Chance!

The Poison Pixie certainly lived up to that name last week when she bullied Maxxine Dupri as part of beating her and Ivy Nile last week. Will Candice’s toxic tongue strike again? Or will the party not be stopped by her harsh vibes?

The teams sort out and Candice starts against Kayden. Candice rushes up, Kayden gets around and O’Conner Rolls, TWO! Kayden springboards to basement dropkick! Cover, TWO! Kayden stalks Candice, Candice ELBOWS her away then tags Indi. Kayden dodges Candice to SUPERKICK, but Indi BOOTS Kayden! Cover, TWO! Indi drags Kayden up, tags Candice back in, and they mug Kayden. Candice CLUBS away on Kayden, fires off furious fists, then covers. TWO, and Candice grows frustrated already. The fans rally, Candice steps up but Kayden avoids the senton! Tags to Katana and Indi! Katana blasts past Indi, comes back and BULLDOGS!

Katana keeps moving, ducks ‘n’ dodges, then SHOTGUNS Indi to a corner! The fans fire up as Katana stomps away on Indi! Indi shoves Katana, Katana runs corner to corner to A-LIST LARIAT! Katana shoves Indi down, runs up, but into a back suplex! Katana lands out, but her leg jams! The ref and Kayden check, then the ref keeps Indi back. Indi says okay, and she stays by Candice. But Candice tags in to WRECK Kayden! And she SLAMS Katana’s leg into the post!! HALF CRAB and DEEP! Katana taps, Candice & Indi win!

Winners: Candice LeRae & Indi Hartwell, by submission

Candice smiles and celebrates with Indi, but Indi doesn’t want to. Candice says a win is a win, but just what is going on in her toxic mind?

 

Cody Rhodes makes his way to the ring.

NC State fires up again as The American Nightmare walks down the ramp, and this time the fans can sing along with the song, “WHOA~ OH~!” Cody gets his pyro then gets the mic. “In less than three weeks time, I will stand opposed for the second year in a row, in the main event, with the lights on brightest, I will challenge for the WWE Undisputed Championship, against the greatest champion in all of sports, The Tribal Chief, Roman Reigns. And this Friday on SmackDown, Roman and I are going to have a little conversation, if you will. But there are… complications. Factors, elements, combustible elements, namely… The Rock.”

Fans boo but Cody says The Rock took to Instagram on Friday, and followed it up with “extremely entertaining” concert. Too bad The Rock didn’t wanna be here tonight. Something Cody took from the Instagram post: The Rock referred to himself as “Our Favorite Heel.” A bit of an inside term, but we’re not dumb, we know that means he’s the “bad guy.” Cody has known Heels. Bobby Heenan, Arn Anderson, Michael Hayes, “Superstar” Billy Graham, “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair! Fans “WOO~” and Cody says he doesn’t think The Rock is a Heel. He’s just an assh*le. The fans go nuts hearing that!

Cody doesn’t want Rock getting upset, he doesn’t want the “seven bucks team” to get upset, he doesn’t want anyone getting emotional. Cody knows how Rock feels about emotions, he poked fun at Cody tearing up at discussing “finishing the story” with good friend, Michael Cole. There’s no crying in pro-wrestling, Jimmy Dugan, we get it. But hasn’t The Rock been crying behind the scenes this whole time? Once that hashtag came out, once fans chanted something else, The Rock cried to his buddies on the TKO board and said “Hey, this is gonna be some good PR for The Rock! I need to save WWE!” God knows, look at this house. They sure needed “saving,” huh?

The fans cheer but Cody says Rock wanted great PR. Until it wasn’t. TKO said OMG yes, put on the Gucci shirt, get those muscles looking big. It’s because they are Yes People, they are enablers, they won’t dare tell The Rock like it is, so Cody’s going to. Cody tells The Rock, “You’re a lot of things. You’re a lot of wonderful things. You are the Braham Bull, you are The Great One.” Cody still has shoes with The Rock’s logo on it! The Rock is the only guy Cody honestly feels is a Mount Rushmore wrestler. But he is also a terrible salesman, a carny succubus, and for those who don’t get what that means, The Rock is “a whiny b*tch!”

Fans lose their minds again but Cody says The Rock has been convinced otherwise. But don’t think that for two seconds this locker room needs The Rock more than The Rock needs it! That’s a rule of wrestling, nobody is bigger than the business! And sure, Cody brought up his mom, so it is fair game for The Rock to use that. But Cody knows The Rock’s mom. Here’s what Cody will tell us about The Rock’s mom. She is a wonderful lady, salt of the earth, she helped Cody chop Kevin in a dark match. Cody has nothing but respect for The Rock’s mom, something The Rock should’ve echoed back towards Cody’s mom.

But see, The Rock was talking about whipping Cody, handing a bloody weight belt to Cody’s mom, and normally someone as powerful as The Rock, Mama Rhodes would tremble. But The Rock doesn’t know Cody’s mom. Cody was more scared than she was, because she ain’t scared of nothing. This is the same woman who once jumped out of her chair at a Willie Nelson concert and beat up an undercover cop! She ain’t afraid of The Rock! Cody has been asked, April 6th, biggest tag match of all time, Rock & Roman VS Cody & Seth. Seth Rollins, the World Heavyweight Champion, a man The Rock should respect because that man has carried The Rock’s company!

How will Cody get past that match? How will April 7th look? Will it be a fair fight? Cody can tell us honestly… He doesn’t know. Cody does not know if it will be Bloodline Rules or not. Hell, he might not #FinishTheStory. “But Dwayne… What do you know? How can you be so sure of your own self, right?” The Rock hasn’t been in the ring in real action in years! April 6th, the bell is gonna ring, and what happens then? Is The Rock gonna bring The Great One, the hero we all had growing up? Is he bringing that #BigDwayneEnergy? Or is it gonna be LDS, Little D*ck Syndrome?! The fans chant “L D S! L D S!”

Cody says The Rock has referred to himself as The Final Boss. Kudos for that nickname, maybe he really is that. Maybe Cody is too naive to see it. But at WrestleMania, Cody doesn’t think The Rock will be The Final Boss. At WrestleMania, he’s just Roman’s side chick. But then ladies and gentlemen, his name is Paul Heyman, and he serves as The Wise Man to Your Tribal Chief, the reigning! Defending! Undisputed! WWE Universal Heavyweight Champion, Roman… Reigns! And as Special Counsel to the Bloodline, Heyman is here to say to Cody that the ideals that Cody and Heyman share are far greater than the interests on which they conflict.

By example, don’t you hate it when someone comes out to demand an apology? Not that Cody’s done that, but Heyman is still going to do that. Heyman came out here with some “friends” of his, and he apologized. For a Wise Man, that was pretty freakin’ stupid. One: because it didn’t work. Two: because it was just dumb. And for that, Cody, to you and the fans, Heyman humbly apologizes. Cody says whoa, whoa, whoa. He didn’t ask for an apology, and he certainly knows Heyman wants permission to be in the ring. Heyman is a Hall of Famer starting this year, if he wants into the ring, be Cody’s guest.

Heyman thanks Cody for that but he’s fine on the apron. He carries with him a message from The Tribal Chief, Roman Reigns. Talk about Heels… You may think of Heyman anything negative you want, and that might be understanding the obvious. Heyman is not trustworthy, but Roman is a chief of his word. Heyman assures that this Friday on SmackDown, Roman will be face to face with Cody. American Nightmare, Tribal Chief, challenger and champion. And when they are face to face, there will not be a single other member of The Bloodline in sight. Except for Heyman, but he is no physical threat.

Heyman holds the title belt, the beads, whispers things in Roman’s ear, such as his love and respect. But Cody has Roman’s word that if he shows up on SmackDown, Roman will show up alone. Cody says Roman shows up alone, no Bloodline outside of Heyman, it’s a deal. They good? Heyman has some jet lag, he forgot one little point. And don’t boo him, he’s talking to Cody! Cody says yes they’re booing, and he’s about to go full Homelander and rip Heyman’s throat out if he doesn’t get to the point. Fans like the reference. Heyman composes himself and says if Roman Reigns shows up alone this Friday on SmackDown, then Cody must show up to SmackDown alone, too.

Cody steps closer to Heyman and Heyman is a bit nervous. Cody tells Heyman, “Deal!” They shake hands, and Heyman smiles. The Wise Man negotiated a purely one-on-one meeting between his Tribal Chief and American Nightmare, but can we trust Heyman was telling the truth about Roman telling the truth?

 

Nia Jax speaks.

“You know what I’ve realized? Becky Lynch has never beaten me. And after tonight, she never will. Because after I break her face again, I will be taking her spot at WrestleMania. I will finish business with Rhea Ripley, and not only will I walk out the Last Woman Standing, but I will become Women’s World Champion.” The Irresistible Force is ready for the Big Time, but will she A-Nia-late her?

 

Cody Rhodes returns backstage.

And Jey says there he go! But real quick, Cody can’t be going to SmackDown alone. Cody says he gave them his word. But The Bloodline isn’t gonna play fair! They’re all gonna be there! If Cody needs Jey, Jeys’ got him. Cody hears that, but he knows what he’s dealing with. They shake hands and Jey heads out. Will Cody be able to have that fair, one-on-one meeting? Or does Jey have a point about The Bloodline?

 

Dominik Mysterio w/ JD McDonagh VS Ricochet!

It seems Pearce agreed to the idea that Dirty Dom should try and clean up The Irish Ace’s mess. Will Dom be able to get revenge on Ricochet? Or will Ricochet be the One and Only person holding their head high tonight?

Raw returns and Dom has made his entrance. The bell rings, Dom and Ricochet circle, and they tie up. Ricochet waistlocks, Dom fights the lift and grabs ropes. The ref counts, Ricochet lets off, but Dom ELBOWS him away! Dom fires hands, soaks up the heat, then storms up, but into haymakers! Ricochet CHOPS, kicks then flexes on Dom. Ricochet whips, Dom reverses, but Ricochet goes up and over. Ricochet ducks ‘n’ dodges to then handspring back elbow! The fans fire up while Dom bails out! JD is there to coach Dom up, but Ricochet runs in! JD gets Dom to safety, but Ricochet handsprings to hero land!

The fans fire up, Ricochet then goes to ropes to TORNILLO PLANCHA! Direct hit on Dom and Ricochet tells JD to back off. Ricochet puts Dom in, Dom distracts the ref, but JD grabs Ricochet’s leg! Ricochet kicks JD away, but then Dom WRECKS Ricochet with a dropkick! Dom soaks up the heat and Raw goes to break.

Raw returns again and Dom has Ricochet up top. Dom climbs but Ricochet throws body shots! The fans rally behind Ricochet as he sends Dom staggering. Ricochet hops down as Dom comes running back, and Ricochet GAMANGIRIS him away! Ricochet then springboards, but Dom trips him up! Ricochet flops to the mat, then Dom kicks and FACEBUSTERS! Cover, TWO! Ricochet is still in this and JD argues the count. Dom looms over Ricochet, scuffs him around, then mockingly cheers him on. Fans boo but Dom brings Ricochet up. Dom gives some Latino Heat, then suplexes! Uno Amigo, but fans boo.

Dom gets Ricochet up but Ricochet suplexes Dom instead! And then fireman’s carry, DYNAMITE KICK! Cover, TWO! Dom is still in this and JD coaches him but the fans rally for Ricochet. Ricochet stands, storms up on Dom, but Dom shoots around to roll him up! With tights! TWO, Ricochet blocks a kick and KICKS Dom down! Ricochet hurries up top, the fans fire up, but Ricochet has to bail out of the 450 as Dom moves! Dom runs in again, but into a SUPERKICK! JD gets on the apron, so Ricochet triangle jump DROPKICKS! But then Dom DROPKICKS Ricochet onto ropes! Dom dials it up but Ricochet ducks!

Dom spins around, into the RECOIL!! Cover, Ricochet wins!

Winner: Ricochet, by pinfall

But then JD runs in! Ricochet dodges, goes up and around, BOOTS JD away, then BOOTS him again! Ricochet even flips up and out of the ring at the same time! Ricochet gets the better of Judgment Day again, just how disappointed is Mami going to be in her Latino Heat this time?

 

Sami Zayn is backstage.

He finds Chad Gable and wants to talk with him. Last week’s match, that was an honor. Sami hasn’t been pushed like that in a long time, it could’ve gone either way. Gable says yeah, it was great. Thanks. Is Gable alright? Yeah, he’s fine. Kinda feels like not… Gable says he’s fine, so leave it at that. C’mon, man, how many years have they known each other? Sami knows when something’s bothering Gable, so he should just say it. Gable says look, last week, the WrestleMania opportunity, the whole thing, it just meant more to him. Sami says he’s been hearing Gable say that for weeks, and it is really unfair.

Does Gable really think he’s the only one this title opportunity matters to? Sami has a family, too! Sami’s kid cries when Papa loses a match, too. Sami has people he’s let down and is trying to make proud. After all the years put into this, Gable can’t tell Sami what matters more because he doesn’t know Sami like that. Gable has Sami calm down, and says he knows all that. But it isn’t all about that. Then what is all this? Gable says Sami can’t beat Gunther. Gable then leaves, and Sami is at a loss for words. Is this bitter side of Gable only going to get worse as we go down this Road to WrestleMania?

 

Adam Pearce is in the ring.

Raw returns with the GM by a table, and he welcomes us to a contract signing to make official the Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship for WrestleMania! The fans cheer, and Pearce introduces first, the challenger, Sami Zayn! The Great Liberator makes his entrance and the fans sing along with his song. Sami still looks troubled by what Gable said just moments ago, but he still high-fives fans and gets in the ring. Then Pearce introduces the longest reigning Intercontinental Champion of all time, Der Ring General, GUNTHER! The fans boo as Gunther walks in, having reached Day 647!

Gunther smiles as Sami watches him make his way down the ramp and into the ring. Pearce says we know how this works, but Gunther says before we proceed, let us call this what it is: the most important contract signing for the most important match in the history of this championship. And why, why, why is the challenger dressed no better than any of the bums in the audience? Fans boo but Sami just shrugs that off. Sami gets a mic to say that Gunther keeps sitting there all smug, and it’s really starting to piss Sami off. Gunther thinks this is just another day at the office, that he’ll steamroll through Sami like any other contender.

But with all respect to Gunther, he really has. He has beaten everyone that has come his way, and has done it on his own. Gunther doesn’t believe Sami can do it. A lot of people didn’t believe Sami at many points in his career. They didn’t believe he’d even make it to WWE, let alone win championships and main event a WrestleMania. And if you ask The Usos, they didn’t believe Sami would be one of the guys to end the longest tag title reign in WWE history, but he did! And one year later, he will make history again by ending the longest Intercontinental title reign in WWE history! Sami signs his part and pushes the contract over to Gunther.

The fans cheer Sami on but Gunther waits it out. Gunther tells Sami, what Sami should do is listen to his new friend, Gable. Gable doesn’t believe Sami can win. The people here cheer Sami, they probably even love Sami. But even they don’t believe Sami can win. And y’know, when Gunther looks Sami in the eyes, and if Sami was honest with himself, even Sami doesn’t believe he can win. So what Sami is doing right now is standing on Gunther’s doorstep and begging him to get the beating of a lifetime on the Grandest Stage of Them All! So whatever Sami has to do, from training to believing, just keep doing that. Because at WrestleMania, Sami’s dreams will meet reality.

Gunther grins and signs his part, and it is now official! Gunther then stands, title on his shoulder, and takes his leave. The fans boo, but then Sami tells Gunther to wait. Gunther steps back inside to hear Sami as Sami turns around. Gunther looks in Sami’s eyes and believes Sami doesn’t believe? Sami stands to get in Gunther’s face and dares him to look again. Get a good long look, because these are the eyes of the man who will take you down at Mania! The fans fire up, and now Sami leaves first. Gunther still just grins, but will Sami use a Helluva Kick to wipe that smile off his face?

We follow Sami as he storms backstage, right past DIY and The Awesome Truth. Truth asks what’s up with Sami, but The Miz says that is the mindset of WrestleMania right there. That’s what they need. DIY wishes Awesome Truth luck. Awesome Truth knows DIY is into the ladder match, and they are gonna have their own qualifier. Miz & Truth just need to beat… Indus Sher. Jinder Mahal tells Veer & Sanga to warm up for the match. They head out, and Truth says he feels sorry for whoever has to face those guys. Miz stares at Truth, and he has DIY hold off. Miz will explain. The Awesome Truth heads to gorilla, their match is next!

Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship Ladder Match Qualifier: The Awesome Truth VS Indus Sher w/ Jinder Mahal!

Miz wants a remix of the theme song but Truth says to just follow his lead. NC State knows what’s up, but will the Awesome Truth finally reach the top of the tag division 13 years after they first teamed? We’ll see, after the break!

Raw returns as Indus Sher makes their entrance, the Modern Day Maharaja by their side. The teams sort out and Truth starts against Sanga. The fans echo “WHAT’S UP?!” but Sanga roars! Truth is scared now so he tags Miz. Truth fires Miz up, Miz runs up and dodges Sanga to fire off haymakers! Miz kicks, whips, but Sanga blocks! Sanga whips and CLOBBERS Miz! Jinder nods as Sanga then scoops Miz and brings him over. Veer tags in, Sanga SLAMS Miz, then Veer ELBOW DROPS! Indus Sher say “NAMASTE!” but the fans say “WHAT’S UP!?” with Truth. Veer HIP DROPS Miz, then looms over him.

Veer eggs Miz on, drags him up with shoulder claws, and then steps over Miz for the neck wrench! Miz endures as Veer still digs a claw into his shoulder. The fans rally for Miz, Miz fights up and throws body shots! Miz reaches out but Veer knees low! Veer SHOVES Miz to the corner, runs in, but Miz BOOTS! Miz ELBOWS Sanga, but Veer catches him! Veer puts Miz back int he corner, but Miz ducks the boot to tag Truth! Truth dodges Veer and starts up the shoulder tackles! Truth gets around Veer to SPIN-OUT BOMB! The fans fire up as Truth shouts out Cena with “You Can’t See Me!” Truth runs to Five Knuckle Shuffle!

Jinder is not happy now as Truth fireman’s carries! But Veer slips free! Truth drop toeholds to the STF!! The fans fire up but Sanga stomps Truth! Miz fires off kicks on Sanga, then body shots! Truth joins in, they mug and whip Sanga, to DOUBLE DROPKICK! Sanga staggers around, Veer runs up, but into a full nelson! Truth and Miz combine for a SKULL CRUSHING LIE DETECTOR!! But Sanga whips Miz away! Miz WRECKS Jinder with it, but Sanga runs up! Sanga knocks Miz down, Miz anchors Sanga, Sanga ELBOWS Truth, Truth falls onto Veer for the cover! Awesome Truth wins!!

Winners: The Awesome Truth, by pinfall (advance to WrestleMania)

The fans fire up, and Truth doesn’t even realize what happened! Miz celebrates with Truth and Truth puts it together! They’re now one of the six in the ladder match! Will this combination of teamwork and luck be just what they need to take those titles from Judgment Day?

 

Sami confronts Gable now.

Sami tells Gable to tell him why. Why what? Why does Gable think Sami can’t beat Gunther? Well you just saw why! With Gunther, it isn’t just physical, it is mental. Sami made his career out of being the underdog that crawls his way out of any hole he’s in, right? Just like last week! Sami found the window of opportunity to get out of a bad situation any time he can. Gunther’s on a different level! You gonna sit and wait for that window to appear? It doesn’t happen with Gunther! He’s a different beast, a different animal. If Sami doesn’t change his mentality, then he can’t beat Gunther. Gable leaves Sami with a lot to think again. Is there a way Sami can change enough to defeat Der Ring General?

 

CM Punk speaks.

“Do I plan at being in WrestleMania? WrestleMania is in Philadelphia, what’re the first four letters in Philadelphia? Phil. You can’t have WrestleMania Philadelphia without Phil. Whether I’m invited or uninvited, Punk will be there.” And next week in Chicago, Punk returns to Raw! Will the Second City Saint find a way to be part of the biggest WrestleMania ever?

 

Drew McIntyre is here!

The Scottish Terminator, or as his new shirt says, “The Savior of WrestleMania,” makes his way to the ring, NC State a bit torn about seeing him. But then Seth Rollins is here, too!? McIntyre is upset but the fans sing along, “WHOA~ OH~ OHH~!” as The Visionary struts his way out. Rollins swaggers right past McIntyre in his green storm pattern suit, and steps into the ring first. McIntyre frowns as he follows Rollins in, and sits in a corner. The fans continue to sing, which Rollins revels in for a moment. Rollins has the mic to then say, “RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA~! Welcome to Monday Night Rollins~!

“And Drew, hah, sorry, I didn’t even see you there. I was too busy, uh, y’know, soaking up the spotlight, right?” McIntyre has a mic to say, “Alright, here we go.” Here goes what, Drew? McIntyre says no, no, get it all out of your system, he knows Rollins has more! McIntyre can stay in the back while Rollins enjoys the spotlight, because after WrestleMania, that spotlight’s all McIntyre’s. Hey, hey, c’mon. Rollins is here with an honest cause. Rollins doesn’t like McIntyre, he thinks he’s stupid, a hypocrite, has said a lot of dumb things lately, but Rollins is here to admit that one thing McIntyre said is absolutely right and he wants to say it to McIntyre’s face, right here in Raleigh, in front of the fine people.

Now, they always say the first step to recovery is the hardest, so bare with Rollins. He has been working on this all week, but… “My name is Seth Freakin’ Rollins, and I’m a spotlight junkie.” The fans chant “Spotlight Junkie!” and also sing, but McIntyre says everything is just a joke to Rollins, isn’t it? Look at Rollins! He’s a parody of himself at this point. But honestly, McIntyre doesn’t care. He tried reasoning, he gave the answers, and now he only cares about their match and the world title. And you wanna know the real punchline, funny man? “What?” McIntyre says they say that because they’re happy McIntyre sidelined Punk, thanks for remembering!

But the punchline is when McIntyre beats Rollins for that title. The fans chant for “C M PUNK!” but McIntyre says don’t be ridiculous. Punk’s waiting until next week to return because he’d never show up in a place like Raleigh. The fans boo but McIntyre says see, they’re booing Punk! Punk is only getting off his couch to be at his local arena. Rollins tells McIntyre to shut up already. Oh, seems McIntyre got Rollins’ attention. Rollins takes off the sunglasses to say yeah, McIntyre has his attention. Because this isn’t a joke! When Rollins says he is a junkie, it isn’t a joke! He’s been doing this for 20 YEARS! Just like McIntyre!

And every time Rollins comes out of the curtain, that’s his fix. And it gets better and better every single time. Rollins comes out here, lays it all on the line, and it just gets better and better! When he hears the fans sing the song so loud, Rollins can barely speak, “WHOA~ OH~ OHH~!” That’s Rollins’ fix! That is the spotlight he craves, and y’know what? Rollins wants the spotlight as bright as it can possibly be. So yeah, McIntyre’s been busy online entertaining people with memes, so he hasn’t been listening to Rollins. So Rollins will get this through McIntyre’s thick skull: Night One, Rollins takes the biggest star in Hollywood and his side chick, and makes them his b*tches!

Then on Night Two, the biggest spotlight possible will be shined down on McIntyre and Rollins and the World Heavyweight Championship! McIntyre says all hail the savior, Seth Rollins! This is what McIntyre wanted! The passion and desire, not the stupid laughing and dancing. Rollins had McIntyre all the way to the finish. Rollins has done this 20 years, just like McIntyre. They’ve given their lives to this industry, and that is what the title is about! The wrestlers’ title, the workhorse championship! Rollins had McIntyre with him until he mentioned the bigger spotlight and how Rollins pins one of the biggest stars in the world.

Why can’t it just be about Rollins’ hard work to make that title, and all of McIntyre’s hard work to get this chance? Why can’t that be the reason they’re getting the biggest spotlight!? Rollins has had his priorities all backwards, McIntyre has been giving him all the answers. McIntyre said he is over the BS, and all he cares about is Rollins making it to the ring on Night Two. And if Rollins can’t walk, then McIntyre will wheel him down. If not, McIntyre will carry Rollins down. At Mania, McIntyre doesn’t get the moment he deserves. He gets the moment he has bloody EARNED. The fans do cheer that!

Rollins smirks and says, “Ah, Drew. There it is. That’s right, you wanna call me a spotlight junkie, but you want the spotlight just as bad as I do, don’t you? You’re an addict, just like I am. And you’ve been begging for spotlight for the past four years, because you won the WrestleMania main event. You did, back in 2020, in an empty warehouse. And all we’ve been hearing from Drew McIntyre for the past four years was how that wasn’t good enough. You’ve been whining and complaining and bitching and moaning that you deserve better, that you deserve more. The problem is, Drew, when everybody came back around, and the lights got bright again, what happened? You fumbled the ball.

“And that’s the difference between you and me. When the lights are the brightest, I shine, baby. I shine bright. And at WrestleMania 40, the lights are gonna be as bright as they have ever been. And you are gonna find out you are not as good as you think you are.” Rollins drops the mic, but this time McIntyre smirks. The verbal battle continues, but who will put their money where their mouth is once this one finally happens?

 

Becky Lynch speaks.

“I’m a wanted woman, and I don’t even have the title. Yet. But we’re less than three weeks away from WrestleMania, so why would I risk it all? Because I don’t know anything else. All I know is taking risks. All I know is fighting. And all I know is tonight, I’m gonna be the Last Woman Standing.” Becky is fired up to finally do what she hasn’t done in the most extreme way possible. Will she be the immovable object to Nia’s irresistible force?

 

Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship Ladder Match Qualifier: The New Day VS The Alpha Academy!

Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods have been W, W, E, World, Tag, Team, CHAMPIONS~, but they’ve never been a part of a title match as big as this Six Pack Ladder challenge! Will they look to be part of history once again? Or will Akira Tozawa & Otis say “A THANK YEW~!” for this golden opportunity?

Raw returns as the Academy makes their entrance. The teams sort out and Woods starts against the tree trunk, Otis. The fans rally for “NEW! DAY ROCKS!” Otis and Woods tie up, but Woods kicks low then headlocks. Otis powers up and out then runs Woods over! Otis storms up on Woods, GUT RAMS him back down, then brings him back up. Otis GUT RAMS Woods again, then runs to CLOBBER Woods! Otis swivels his hips, the fans echo “Oh~ yeah!” Otis tags Tozawa and the Academy mugs Woods. Tozawa brings Woods around but Woods CHOPS! Woods tags Kofi, he and Kofi double whip Tozawa but Tozawa holds ropes!

Tozawa fires hands, dodges Woods then BOOTS Woods down! Kofi kicks low, whips Tozawa to a corner, but Tozawa BOOTS Kofi away! Tozawa goes up to FLYING RANA! The fans fire up as Tozawa sees New Day regroup outside. Tozawa runs to DIVE! Direct hit on both New Day, and Otis joins in for “A THANK YEW~!” The Academy stands tall as Raw goes to break.

Raw returns again and Tozawa fights a chinlock. Tozawa reaches for Otis but Woods back suplexes. Tozawa lands out to then DROPKICK Woods down! The fans rally as Woods and Tozawa crawl, hot tags to Otis and Kofi! Otis CLOBBERS Kofi, CLOBBERS him again, then whips him to ropes. WRECKER ELBOW! Woods runs in, Otis dodges, to LARIAT! Otis sees Kofi leap off the corner, and catches him for a WORLD’S STRONGEST SLAM! Otis rips the shirt off, winds up the hips, and then starts up the CATERPILLAR! ELBOW DROP! Cover, TWO! Kofi survives but Otis hurries to step on him! Tag to Tozawa, and Otis goes up!

Otis VADER BOMBS but FLOPS as Kofi moves! Tozawa hurries up top while Kofi SUPERKICKS Otis! Kofi turns around into the CROSSBODY from Tozawa! Cover, TWO! Tozawa SUPERKICKS Kofi but Woods tags in! Woods GAMANGIRIS Tozawa, then steps in to TORNADO DDT! Cover, TWO! Tozawa toughs it out but Woods grits his teeth as he goes to the corner. Woods climbs, but Tozawa rises! Tozawa throws body shots, Woods CLUBS Tozawa! Tozawa throws more hands and climbs up! The fans rally as they brawl up top! Tozawa brings Woods up but Woods fights the lift! Woods throws body shots in return!

Woods shifts position to get under Tozawa for a fireman’s carry! But then Tozawa pops up to SUPER STEINER!! Tozawa rips off his shirt, climbs back up top, SUPER SENTON!! Cover, Kofi breaks it! The fans fire up but Otis drags Kofi out! Otis whips Kofi at steps, Kofi goes up and jumps off the steps to TORNADO DDT to the floor! Kofi hurries back up to the apron but Tozawa SCREW HIGH KICKS him down! Tozawa dodges Woods, pop-up, but Woods blocks the rana to then SPINNING POWERBOMB! Woods sees the WrestleMania sign, hurries up the corner, and he tightrope walks! LIMIT BREAK ELBOW!! Cover, New Day wins!

Winners: The New Day, by pinfall (advance to WrestleMania)

The New Day are the ones saying A THANK YEW~ as they put their names down for the Six Pack Ladder Match! Will they once again climb to the top of the WWE Tag Team Division and bring home those championships?

 

Liv Morgan confronts Becky Lynch.

Becky asks if she’ll have to watch out for Liv as well. Well, you should always #WatchMe, but no, not tonight. Nia is all Becky’s. Liv just wants Becky to kick Nia’s ass. Liv leaves, will Becky kick ass and then some?

 

Cody walks with his dog, Pharaoh, backstage.

Rollins finds him and brings up Friday. One on one? One on one. Rollins nods and says he loves Pharaoh’s bandanna. The Visionary trusts the American Nightmare can handle himself, but will we be able to trust The Tribal Chief?

 

Last Woman Standing: Becky Lynch VS Nia Jax!

From the origins of “The Man” in WWE to the aftermath of Elimination Chamber: Perth, these two have battled, but never as brutally as this! They’re able to go anywhere and do anything, but who will be the Last Woman Standing this close to WrestleMania 40?

The bell rings and the two rush in! Becky DROPKICKS Nia and Nia goes to a corner. Becky runs in but Nia puts Becky on the apron. Becky ROCKS Nia, goes up a corner, then leaps to MISSILE DROPKCIK! Nia stumbles and tumbles out of the ring, so Becky WRECKS her with another dropkick! Becky then goes to the apron for a FLYING FOREARM! Nia stays up, Becky tries again, but Nia dodges! Fireman’s carry and Nia POSTS Becky, to then SAMOAN DROP her into barriers! The ref counts as Becky is down, but she stands at 4 of 10. Nia CLOBBERS Becky and wants the count! The count climbs but Nia is impatient.

Nia clears off the desk, Becky stands at 5 of 10, and she leans against barriers. Becky comes back with body shots and haymakers, but Nia ROCKS her with a forearm! Becky staggers away as Raw goes to break!

Raw returns and Becky is bringing out a table! The fans fire up as Becky sets that up ringside. There’s been a lot of chaos during the break according to commentary, from chairs to kendo sticks to even a copy of Becky’s book, The Man: Not Your Average Average Girl! But Nia storms over to stop Becky and SMACK her off the desk! Nia puts Becky in the ring, takes that table for her own and sets it up. The table doesn’t cooperate and fans boo, but Nia goes for chairs instead. She slides those in the ring, Becky manages to stand at 7 of 10, and she grabs at those chairs. Nia ditches the table, it just doesn’t wanna work.

Nia storms in but Becky JAMS her with a chair, SMACKS her with it, then clinches! Nia fights the slam, fireman’s carries Becky, and FULL METAL SAMOAN DROPS!! Becky writhes from hitting chairs but Nia looms over her. Nia soaks up the heat as she counts along. Becky flounders to ropes and drags herself up at 7! Nia sits a chair up, fans want a table, but Nia scoops Becky. Becky slips around to a SLEEPER! Nia RAMS Becky into buckles again and again until Becky lets go. But then Becky BULLDOGS Nia off the chair! Nia is down for the count now, and Becky leans against ropes to stay up herself.

Nia stirs at 5, stands at 8, but Becky is up top! Becky leaps, into a CHAIR SHOT! Nia SMACKS Becky again and again and again! The fans boo but Nia finally stops. Nia puts that chair aside and goes out to get some kendo sticks! Nia puts those in, but Becky grabs one! Nia snatches it from her to SMACK! And SMACK! And SMACK! Becky sputters and staggers, Nia clinches and scoops! Nia SLAMS Becky onto chairs! Then Nia runs to drop the leg, brother! Nia wants the count and the count begins! Becky sputters as we reach 5 of 10. Becky grabs that kendo stick but Nia SMACKS Becky with a chair! And again!

Nia kicks Becky around, then uses the chair to take a seat on Becky’s body!! The fans boo as the count begins, but Becky SMACKS Nia with the kendo stick! And again and again and again, even in the butt! Nia stands up, into more shots! Becky stands and she fires away until Nia scurries out of the ring! Becky pursues but Nia CLOBBERS her! Nia pulls the steel steps apart now, and takes that top half to RAM Becky down! Becky flounders, Nia hauls her up and puts her in the ring. Becky’s on the apron and Nia takes aim! Nia runs up, APRN LEG DROP only gets apron! Becky avoids disaster, then has Nia by the steps! DDT onto the steel!

Nia is down again and the count begins. Nia stirs at 5 of 10, sits up at 6, but Becky SMACKS her off steps! Nia falls over again and the count resets. Becky hurries to go looking for things while Nia rises again. Becky has a new table! The fans fire up as Becky gets that in the ring. Nia stands at 7, staggers after Becky, and Raw goes back to break.

Raw returns once again and Nia mugs Becky against barriers! Nia puts Becky on a table, and surprise! There’s a ladder set up now! Nia climbs the ladder?! She also demands Pat support the ladder. But Becky gets off the table so now Nia has no reason to be up there. Nia storms after Becky, but gets a FIRE EXTINGUISHER BLAST!! The fans fire up as Becky cools Nia off, then JAMS her with the canister! Becky puts Nia in the ring, and there’s a table waiting in a corner! Becky lines up the shot, and runs in, but Nia SAMOAN DROPS Becky through the table!!! Both women are down in the wreckage and the count begins!

Nia flounders away from the wreckage but she still needs to stand. Nia is up at 5, and she isn’t satisfied with this! She drags Becky all the way to another corner and puts her in the drop zone! Nia climbs up, for the A-NIA-LATOR!! Nia shouts for the count, the count begins, and Nia storms around as she points to the Mania sign. Becky is still down at 5 of 10, only starts stirring at 7, and she slumps out of the ring to stand up! Nia is furious, goes out after Becky, and kicks things aside to keep after her. Nia asks if Becky’s vision is blurry. Nia fireman’s carries Becky up the steel steps and along the apron, aiming for that other table!

The fans freak out but Becky fights with elbows! Becky CLUBS away on Nia and the fans are thunderous! Becky then clinches, for a MANHANDLE SLAM through the table!!! Both women are down int he wreckage again, and the count begins! Becky sits up at 4 while fans are still losing their minds! We pass 5 of 10, then 7! Nia sits up at 8 and stands at 9! But then she slumps back over! The count starts again, Nia flounders around and stands at 5. Becky goes up the ladder! Becky sees Nia approaching the desk, and then SUPER MAN’S LEG DROP through the desk!!! The fans lose their minds again while both men are down in more wreckage!

The count is 5 of 10! Becky flounders and crawls, drags herself up at 9, but Nia is still down! BECKY WINS!!

Winner: Becky Lynch

The Man conquers truly one of the most intense challenges in her career! But then here comes one of the most intense champions! The fans fire up as Rhea Ripley makes her way out, Women’s World Championship in hand. She goes right to the ring and looks at Becky. Rhea “congratulates” Becky for winning, but then Becky gets in Rhea’s face! The fans fire up, and now there are no obstacles in the way of Mami VS The Man! Who will be the champion after WrestleMania 40?


My Thoughts:

A great Raw right here, though the in-ring action kinda dipped down until that awesome Last Woman Standing main event. This is one of the times I wish they’d done picture in picture so we as the TV audience could see even more action. Great win for Becky, of course, but I also like that Becky had a moment with Liv just before, and of course she had a moment with Rhea to close out the night. Great promos with Sami and Gable that also blended into the contract signing from tonight. And I suppose Gable has a point that Sami, the comeback kid, can’t do that when Gunther has an arsenal of moves that would be “finishers” given all the different ways Gunther has won over the years.

And speaking of that contract signing segment, I really liked the segue they did in following Sami so that he’d cross paths with Awesome Truth at gorilla and we’d get their segment going into their match. WWE has been doing some really creative stuff in this newest era where Vince is truly out and apparently even Kevin Dunn has moved on. Awesome Truth had a really fun but also really quick tag match with Indus Sher, and then New Day VS Alpha Academy was solid stuff, but DIY VS Creeds was such an awesome match. For a moment, I thought Creeds were gonna take this one but DIY still found a way, and I like that DIY is in. Honestly, I’m liking that the HHH favorites are getting in, because we also have New Catch Republic on the other side that can still win into the match.

Judgment Day had good stuff tonight, too. Good group promo with Andrade to tease El Idolo possibly joining, but who knows if he does. Depends on how things go for Priest. He was watching the qualifiers, he’s not worried, but maybe he should be. Granted, he still has the MITB briefcase, he could go from losing the tag titles to taking the world title, who knows how the Judgment Day’s story is going to go as we move past Mania. Dom VS Ricochet was a really good match, and Ricochet winning was the right move to keep this feud going. I think there’s going to be Ricochet VS McDonagh next week as a rematch from the gauntlet, that’ll be great stuff, too.

Candice’s Heel turn slow burn continues as she takes advantage of the “hurt” leg. Indi also does a good job of being very conflicted about this. There’s a WWE YouTube exclusive where Ivy Nile confronts Candice so that’ll be a match, and then maybe when Candice again goes too far, Indi steps in and we get a match of Candice VS Indi at some point. Good little update promo from CM Punk, he’ll have a great homecoming moment in Chicago, but also probably McIntyre coming after him. McIntyre had a great promo segment with Rollins, and with all these continued moments where the other person gets the mic drop moment, it feels like McIntyre has to win the title.

And of course, great stuff with the Bloodline story even on Raw. Jey and Jimmy have great promos in their confrontation, and of course it turns into a brawl. Good segue from that to Heyman being here, and Heyman confronting Cody during Cody’s great promo segment. Cody really went off on The Rock, that was some wild stuff. But the supposed promise of “one on one and no one else aside from Heyman” might be kept, and we get a strong promo segment on SmackDown in a foreshadowing of the fair-and-square 1v1 match. Or it is a trap and that’s more a foreshadowing of Bloodline Rules where they can do whatever they want. Guess we’ll have to wait and see.

My Score: 8.9/10


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Mitchell’s NJPW New Japan Cup Results & Report! (3/18/24)

The semifinals are here!

Published

on

We’re just one step away from the Cup!

Cold Skull faces The Fierce Warrior, and Gene Blast faces The King of Darkness, and when the smoke clears, we will have our New Japan Cup finalists!

OFFICIAL RESULTS

  • Boltin Oleg & Shoma Kato VS Zack Sabre Jr. & Mikey Nicholls; ZSJ & Mikey win.
  • Six Man Tag: El Desperado, Tomohiro Ishii & Togi Makabe VS Just5Guys; Just5Guys win.
  • Tanga Loa & Ryusuke Taguchi VS Great-O-Khan & Callum Newman; Loa & Taguchi win.
  • Six Man Tag: YOSHI-HASHI, Toru Yano & Hiroyoshi Tenzan VS Bullet Club; Bullet Club wins.
  • 8 Man Tag: Shota Umino, El Phantasmo, Hikuleo & YOH VS The House of Torture; Shota, ELP, Leo & Yoh win.
  • Six Man Tag: Los Ingobernables de Japon VS The United Empire; LIJ wins.
  • 2024 New Japan Cup Semifinals: Yota Tsuji VS EVIL; Tsuji wins and advances to the finals.
  • 2024 New Japan Cup Semifinals: SANADA VS Hirooki Goto; Goto wins and advances to the finals.

PLAY BY PLAY

2024 New Japan Cup Semifinals: Yota Tsuji VS EVIL w/ Dick Togo!

The Gene Blast overcame the tricks Ren Narita tried, but that’s because the House of Torture was saving all the good stuff so they could slay the Rampaging Dragon. Will the deck be even more stacked to make sure Everything is Evil’s? Or will Yota be one step away from LIJ VS LIJ at Sakura Genesis?

Well, Dick is making his way out here, but where is Evil? Oh, there he is. No tricks just yet it seems. But then Yota DIVES onto Evil! The fans fire up but Dick attacks Yota! Dick whips, Yota stops himself, and then scoops Dick for a BACKBREAKER! The fans fire up and Yota wants the bell. The ref says yes, ring the bell, and this is on the record! Yota stomps and CLUBS Evil, then whips, but Evil reverses! Yota hits railing, and then Evil whips him into more railing! Evil CHOKES Yota against the railing, Yota fights back, but the ref gets knocked aside! Evil puts Yota in so he and Dick can stomp away!

The fans boo but here comes the rest of the House already! Narita, Yujiro, Kanemaru and Jack all stomp away on Yota, but here come Bushi & Hiromu! It’s a replay of yesterday as LIJ fights off the House, but the numbers are still against them! The ref rushes in to tell everyone to stop! Evil shoves the ref out of the ring, Yota fires off on him, but Evil CLAWS Yota’s eyes! The House CHOKES LIJ, but the ref says stop! The bell rings, but what is the decision!? NO CONTEST!?

No Contest

What does this mean!? Someone has to advance, right? The finals aren’t until the 20th, how can there be a no contest? The House started this, where’re the consequences?! Yota gets up but Evil TOSSES him back out! LIJ regroups and Yota asks for a mic. Yota tells Evil that he’s sick and tired of this! They ARE gonna finish this match! The fans like the sound of that! All the refs come out, including Red Shoes, to discuss how this will be handled. For starters, they tell all the extras to get outta here! LIJ is cool with that, and Hiromu tells the House to come along. Evil says fine, and Jack, Kanemaru, Narita, Yujiro and even Dick reluctantly exit.

The announcement is officially made, and the bell rings! Yota and Evil rush in, Evil kicks low but Yota CLUBS away on Evil! Evil CLAWS the eyes! Evil kicks, runs, RAMS, but Yota rebounds to run Evil over! Then run and SPLASH! Cover, TWO! Yota fires up and the fans are with him! Evil bails out but the fans rally for Yota. Evil wants Yota to stay back, then he slides in, only to slide right out! Yota runs out after Evil, but Evil kicks him! Evil RAMS Yota into the timekeeper! Abe-san and his table go flying! Evil gets the mic to tell Yota that this is what he gets! The fans boo but Evil tells them off, too! Evil stomps Yota then soaks up the heat.

Evil unties the blue buckle pad himself, then waits in the ring. The ref checks Yota and the fans rally up again. The Young Lions help Abe-san while Yota drags himself up. Yota slides in, the fans cheer, but Evil pulls on Yota’s hair! Evil wrenches the hair, then wrenches it again! And again! Evil CLUBS the hair! The ref reprimands but Evil just dusts off his hands. Evil covers, but the ref refuses to count! Evil is furious but he’s the one up to no good! The ref still says no, so Evil stands on Yota’s head. The fans rally up, Yota rises, and he grins as he winds up to ROCK Evil with a forearm! And ROCK him with another!

Yota ROCKS Evil again, but Evil whips him into the bare buckles! Yota falls and the ref reprimands about the missing buckle pad. Evil stomps Yota, covers, TWO! The fans cheer but Evil is annoyed. Evil scuffs Yota, taunts him, and drags him up. Evil CHOPS, Yota drops to his knees, but Evil stands him back up. Evil CHOPS again and Yota grits his teeth as he drops to his knees! Evil stands Yota up again, to fake the chop to CLAW the eyes! The ref reprimands, Evil lets off, and then Evil stands on Yota in a corner. The ref counts, Evil lets go of the ropes but that’s not the problem! Evil steps away, drags Yota up but claims he’s dead weight.

The ref checks, Evil stands Yota up and wrenches an arm. Evil whips Yota into a corner, runs in, but into a BOOT! Evil runs in again, blocks the boot, but Yota brings Evil in for the STOMP! The fans fire up while Yota rests on the mat. The fans rally up and Yota rises again. Evil’s in the corner, runs out, but into the BACKBREAKER! COMPLETE SHOT! STOMP! The fans fire up again as Yota stands back up. Yota runs, to CURB STOMP!! Yota roars and the fans fire up again! Evil flounders while Yota aims. Yota runs in, but the ref is used as a shield! Evil kicks Yota low, then uses the ref in MAGIC KILLER!

All three men are down while the fans rally up again. Evil stands, he brings Yota up, and the ref also rises. Evil whips Yota into the bare buckles, then clotheslines him in! Then FISHERMAN BUSTER! Cover, but Evil lets off?! Evil wants to torture Yota but it’s hard to say if Yota is still even in this. Yota opens his eyes, rises up, but Evil fireman’s carries! DARKNESS FALLS! Cover, TWO!! Yota survives, the fans fire up, but Evil is furious! Evil slashes his throat and vows to end this now! Evil drags Yota up, spins him around, but Yota fights the STO with elbows! Evil kicks low, whips again, but Yota stops from hitting buckles!

Evil runs in, Yota dodges and Evil hits the buckles! SUPERKICK!! Both men are down again and the fans fire back up! We’re only ten minutes into this new match but this is on top of the madness from earlier. Evil drags Yota up, but Yota ROCKS Evil! Evil fights Yota’s fireman’s carry and CLUBS him, but both men wobble. Evil LARIATS, but Yota stays up! The fans fire up but Evil swings to LARIAT again! Yota drops to a knee, but he grins through the pain! Evil says alright, and he throws off his elbow pad. Evil runs to LARIAT! Yota grits his teeth to stay up! V-TRIGGER! Yota brings Evil in, suplexes, ORANGE CRUSH! Cover, TWO!!

Evil is still in this but the fans rally behind Yota again. Yota rises, drags Evil up, and then goes to the corner. Yota goes up and up and Evil moves the ref into the way! The ref takes the FLYING CURB STOMP!!! And now the House returns! The fans boo as Kanemaru, Dick, Yujiro, Narita & Jack all stomp away on Yota again! The fans tell them to go home, again, but these guys don’t care! They just put one out on Yota. They whip Yota to a corner, then DIck runs in to ELBOW! Kanemaru ELBOWS! Yujiro BOOTS! Jack SPLASHES! Narita ELBOWS! Then they snapmare and set Yota up! Dick climbs for the DICK CHOP!!

The fans boo but the House applauds their own dirtiness. But here come Bushi & Hiromu again! But they just get mugged again! They set Hiromu up for the DICK CHOP, while Bushi gets a JACK CHOP! The House then slithers away before a replacement ref rushes out here. Evil drags Yota up, winds up and runs, to LARIAT!! Cover, TWO!!! Yota survives and the fans are thunderous! Evil is at a loss for words, but he slashes his throat! He vows to end it for real, and he reels Yota in. EVERYTHING IS- Yota flips through!? And HEADBUTTS!! The fans fire up as Yota reels Evil in for a fireman’s carry! 70 CROSS!! Cover, TWO!!

Evil survives the swinging spinebuster and the House cheers! Yota drags himself to a corner, drags himself up with the ropes, and roars as he takes aim! Evil rises, but Yujiro distracts! Dick runs in, but gets a V-TRIGGER! The ref sees Dick, but misses the LOW BLOW! Then Evil RAMS Yota into the ref! That’s the second ref this match! Narita gets his push-up bar! The others set Yota up, but here comes SHINGO TAKAGI! The Rampaging Dragon has seen enough, and he’s still pissed from yesterday as it is! He dodges Narita to PUMPING BOMBER! Kanemaru & Yujiro kick Takagi, double whip, but he DOUBLE PUMPING BOMBERS!!

Jack gets in, but he gets ELBOW, JAB and YUKON LARIAT! Evil runs up but Takagi SWATS Evil’s lariat to JAB! Then feed to Hiromu’s SUPERKICK! Hiromu & Takagi set Evil up for Bushi’s BLACK MIST!! Evil can’t see, the PUMPING BOMBER turns him inside-out!! The fans are thunderous as LIJ helps Yota up! Red Shoes hurries out here, and Yota aims at Evil! GENE BLASTER!!! Cover, Yota wins!!!

Winner: Yota Tsuji, by pinfall (advances to the finals)

The House of Torture ran out of tricks, and now there is light at the end of the tournament! Will Yota do LIJ proud and bring home the Cup?

 

2024 New Japan Cup Semifinals: SANADA VS Hirooki Goto!

One down, one to go. Yota Tsuji has made it through, now we see who joins him in the finals! Will the Cold Skull or Fierce Warrior be the one that steps closer to former glory?

The bell rings and the fans duel between “GO-TO-O!” and “SA-NA-DA!” Red Shoes measures the levels, and it seems to slightly favor Goto. Goto and Sanada circle, tie up, and are in a deadlock. Goto gets some leverage to put Sanada against ropes, but he lets off slowly. Goto pats Sanada on the shoulders and the fans cheer. The two reset, circle again, and tie up again. It’s another deadlock, but again Goto finds a way to put Sanada on ropes. Sanada turns things around, lets off slowly, and also pats Goto on the shoulders. The fans applaud and the two reset again. They feel things out, knuckle lock, then move to a clinch.

They fight for control, Sanada starts pushing Goto towards a corner but Goto slips away. They feel things out, knuckle lock again, then break. They tie up collar ‘n’ elbow, Goto waistlocks, but Sanada wrenches to wristlock. Goto rolls, wrenches, wristlocks, but Sanada spins, wrenches, only for Goto to roll! Goto gets a leg to trip Sanada up, and he has a toehold. Sanada fights back with a chinlock but Goto pulls on the leg. Sanada uses his free leg to hook Goto into an ARMBAR, but Goto clasps hands! Goto moves around, pops free, then headlocks. Sanada fights up, Goto grinds the headlock, but Sanada throws body shots.

Sanada powers up and out, but Goto runs him over! The fans rally as things speed up, and Goto counters hip toss with hip toss! Goto runs and he clotheslines Sanada up and out! The fans fire up and Goto slides out after Sanada. Goto stomps Sanada, drags him up, then CLUBS him on the neck! Sanada staggers, Goto CHOPS him, then kicks him, then CLUBS him! Goto whips but Sanada stops himself from hitting railing! Goto runs in but Sanada drop toeholds him into the railing! Goto goes down in a heap, but Sanada opens the gate. Sanada brings Goto through, then to the crowd! PILEDRIVER to the bare floor!

The fans are stunned but Red Shoes reprimands. Sanada leaves Goto behind and slides into the ring. The fans rally for Goto as the ring count begins. Goto crawls at 5 of 20, finds his way to ringside at 10, but still hobbles and crawls. He stands at 17 to slide in! The fans cheer, but Sanada stomps Goto. Sanada drags Goto up, CLUBS him on the neck, then brings him back up to CLUB him again. Goto CHOPS! And CHOPS! Sanada eggs Goto on so Goto CHOPS again! Goto whips, Sanada reverses to RUSSIAN LEG SWEEP! Cover, TWO! Sanada keeps cool and sits Goto up into a chinlock. Goto endures and the fans rally again.

Goto kicks forward, reaches out, but Sanada cranks on the hold! Goto keeps fighting, and has the ROPEBREAK! Sanada lets go cleanly, but then he stomps Goto while he’s down. Sanada then stands Goto up to CLUB him on the neck. Goto CHOPS in return! And CHOPS, and CHOPS, and has Sanada in a corner! Goto CHOPS again, then whips corner to corner. Goto runs in, but Sanada BOOTS first! Sanada runs, Goto follows, and Goto LARIATS Sanada down! The fans fire up and Goto rises, clutching his neck. Goto stands Sanada up to fire off forearms, then he whips corner to corner. Goto runs in, MURAMASA!

Sanada wobbles, into the SAIDO! Cover, TWO! The fans fire up while Goto grits his teeth. Goto drags Sanada up, fireman’s carries, but Sanada fights free! Sanada waistlocks, Goto throws elbows, then runs. Sanada hurdles, hurdles, and DROPKICKS! Goto tumbles out of the ring, Sanada PLANCHAS him down! The fans fire up and Sanada encourages them to get louder. The fans get louder and Sanada appreciates it. Sanada then goes back for Goto, brings him up and puts him in the ring. Sanada fireman’s carries but Goto throws elbows! Sanada turns around into Goto’s fireman’s carry, but then slips out into the dragon sleeper!

But Goto arm-drags free! Sanada kicks low, runs, but Goto follows! Sanada dodges this time, runs again, but Goto still follows! Sanada sidesteps this time, but Goto holds ropes to avoid the hurdle! Goto runs in, but Sanada fireman’s carries! T K O! Cover, TWO! Goto is still in this and the fans rally up! Sanada goes up the corner, ROUNDING BODY- NO, Sanada has to land out as Goto moves! Sanada runs in, but into the fireman’s carry! USHIGOROSHI! Both men are down and the fans fire up again! They cheer on “GO-TO-O!” but the “SA-NA-DA!” chants are still there. Red Shoes checks them both, and both men slowly rise.

The two crawl towards each other, and Goto fires a forearm! Sanada shakes his head, eggs Goto on, so Goto throws another! Goto eggs Sanada on, so Sanada fires a forearm! Goto fires a forearm back, and the two stand. Sanada UPPERCUTS! Goto comes back to forearm! Sanada UPPERCUTS again, and Goto drops back to a knee! The fans rally, Goto stands again, and he forearms! UPPERCUT, forearm, repeat! Goto growls, fires a flurry of forearms, and he ROCKS Sanada! Sanada drops to his hand and knees but Goto powers up! Goto KICKS but Sanada blocks! Goto fires more forearms, then waistlocks, but Sandaa fights free!

Sanada runs, but Goto fireman’s carries! And he throws Sanada into the dragon sleeper! But Sanada turns around and suplexes, for MAGIC SCREW! Both men are down again and the fans fire back up! Sanada roars as he rises up, and he aims from a corner. Sanada wants Goto to get up, and Goto sits up, into the SHINING WIZARD! Sanada then dragon sleepers, for the SKULL END!! Goto endures, flails, reaches out, but he’s caught in the body scissors! Goto fights around but he’s fading! The fans rally, Goto’s hand drops! Sanada lets him go to then climb! ROUNDING BODY PRESS! Cover, TWO!!

The fans fire up as Goto survives but Sanada storms around. Sanada drags Goto up, reels him in and clinches, but Goto slips free to shove Sanada away! Sanada forearms, ROLLING- HEADBUTT from Goto! The fans fire up and duel, and Goto drags Sanada up. But Sanada breaks free! Goto HEADBUTTS again! Sanada falls back down and Goto steadies himself. Goto roars, the fans are with him, and Goto sits Sanada up. Goto runs to PENALTY KICK! Shoutout to Shibata and the fans fire up more! Sanada grits his teeth as he sits back up but Goto takes aim! BUZZSAW! And then he hauls Sanada up to dragon sleeper! G T- BACKSLIDE COUNTER! TWO!!!

Sanada and Goto hurry up, Sanada dodges to O’Conner BRIDGE!! TWO?!!? Goto escapes and shocks everyone! Sanada resets, runs in, SHINING WIZARD!! The fans are thunderous as Sanada roars and drags Goto back up! Clinch and DEAD- NO, Goto slips around to ripcord and fireman’s carry! G T W!! Cover, TWO?!?!? Sanada survives but Goto is all fired up! The fans are thunderous as Goto dragon sleepers for G T R!!! Cover, GOTO WINS!!!

Winner: Hirooki Goto, by pinfall (advances to the finals)

Don’t call it a comeback, Goto’s been here for years! Sanada’s hopes of being IWGP World Heavyweight Champion again have been delayed, how long must he wait for another chance?

As for Goto, he’s going back to the New Japan Cup Finals for the first time since 2016, and his seventh overall! But before he can get the mic to speak, Yota makes his way back out here. Yota steps into the ring and he gets the mic first. Yota tells Goto, “In order to open the door to a new era, we must do this.” The fans applaud that, and Yota continues by asking Goto, “Are you ready?!” Yota drops the mic at Goto’s feet, and Goto stands up to speak. “I also have something I want to show you. As a three-time New Japan Cup Champion, I will show you my strength.” The fans like the sound of that!

The Fierce Warrior stares down with Gene Blast, a true generational showdown on the horizon! Will Goto return not juts to former glory, but finally ascend to top of NJPW? Or will Yota make it LIJ VS LIJ for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship?


My Thoughts:

A great semifinal round for this tournament, with quite a surprising main event. Sanada VS Goto was great stuff, and while I felt Sanada wasn’t winning the Cup, I didn’t think he’d be out this round. Yota VS Evil was rather creatively put together, too. I did not think the House would get so involved that at first it was a No Contest but then they restart under a ringside ban. Takagi making sure Yota won was good stuff, too, maybe we can get Takagi VS Evil for the NEVER Openweight Championship if they’re not gonna circle back to more Shota Umino VS House of Torture stuff.

Goto VS Yota is going to be great stuff, and Goto is clearly a top utility guy. He’s had so many New Japan Cup finals appearances, certainly among the most ever, but I don’t think he gets a fourth Cup win against Yota, one of the “new era Musketeers” that NJPW clearly loves. Yota VS Naito is definitely the title match for Sakura Genesis.

My Score: 8.9/10


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