Connect with us

Coverage

Mitchell’s WWE NXT Results & Report! (7/27/21)

Can Adam Cole survive the Colossal?

Published

on

NXT Coverage 2021

NXT has breakouts, badasses, and Bronson Reed VS Adam Cole BAYBAY!

While Tommaso Ciampa & Timothy Thatcher want to bruise the Bruiserweight & Oney, Adam Cole looks to show us all why NXT is still HIS brand! Who gets torn up and who gets washed away by a Tsunami?

OFFICIAL RESULTS

  • Tommaso Ciampa & Timothy Thatcher VS Pete Dunne & Oney Lorcan; Dunne & Lorcan win.
  • NXT Breakout Tournament 2021 Opening Round: Carmelo Hayes VS Josh Briggs; Hayes wins and advances to the next round.
  • Kacy Catanzaro & Kayden Carter VS Franky Monet & Jessi Kamea w/ Robert Stone; Catanzaro & Carter win.
  • Hit Row VS Imperium; Imperium wins.
  • Adam Cole VS Bronson Reed; Cole wins.

PLAY BY PLAY

Tommaso Ciampa & Timothy Thatcher VS Pete Dunne & Oney Lorcan!

When it comes to being badass, when it comes to being technically sound, Old Man Ciampa and #ToothlessTimmy are each of those things. But the Bruiserweight says he’s the top in both categories, and the Boston Brawler is willing to back him up on it! Will Ciampa & Thatcher make Dunne & Oney put their money where their mouths are?

The teams sort out, Dunne is ready and starts with Thatcher. Fans fire up, the two tie up, and Dunne puts Thatcher on ropes. Thatcher brings Dunne away to get the wristlock. Thatcher shifts to a hammerlock, Dunne works on an escape with his leg to then get a leg. Thatcher stays up to slap Dunne but Dunne turns Thatcher over to tie up the legs! Thatcher turns back over, they knuckle lock and Thatcher gets up. The test of strength bends Dunne back but he bridges! Thatcher sweeps a leg to get a cover, TWO as Dunne bridges again. Thatcher stands on Dunne’s face then gets the ARMABAR! But Dunne slips right out to get the legs again!

Dunne twists, Thatcher tries to kick Dunne away but Dunne lets off. Fans rally and duel as the two stand off. Dunne and Thatcher knuckle lock again, Thatcher turns to wrench but Dunne drops to drag Thatcher into a triangle! Thatcher stays up, and gets a leg for a HALF CRAB! Dunne rolls, gets Thatcher’s leg for a heel hook, but Thatcher makes it a cover. TWO, Thatcher boots Dunne away and Ciampa tags in! Fans cheer but then Dunne tags out to Oney! Oney and Ciampa tie up, Ciampa headlocks and holds on as Oney tries to power out. Ciampa grinds, Oney powers up but Oney still can’t power out!

Oney pushes Ciampa to a corner with fingers in the face. The ref counts and Oney lets off at 4, and Oney CHOPS! Ciampa CHOPS and CHOPS, SLAPS Oney on the back, then throws him through the ropes to KNEE off the apron! Fans fire up as Ciampa stares at Dunne. Ciampa goes out to get Oney, mocks the shrug, then puts Oney in the ring to stomp him! Tag to Thatcher, Thatcher knees Oney at the ropes. Thatcher wrenches Oney’s arm to a double wristlock, throws Oney down with it and has the arm mounted for a short arm scissor. Oney endures, clasps hands, but Thatcher drags him away to tag in Ciampa. Ciampa stomps Oney, wrenches the arm and then isolates it.

Ciampa mocks Dunne’s fist-to-jaw pose, then stomps Oney’s arm! Oney scrambles away to tag in Dunne! Dunne and Ciampa tie up, go around, and Ciampa wrenches an arm. Dunne whips, things speed up, and Dunne CLOBBERS Ciampa! Dunne gets an arm and wrenches it to twist the wrist and bend the fingers. Ciampa snapmares Dunne down, clamps on a chinlock, and Thatcher intercepts Oney! They both CLUB away on Dunne’s and Oney’s chests! The ref reprimands, Oney turns things around on Thatcher and they fall out of the ring. Dunne gets Ciampa’s finger to bend it, but Ciampa throws Dunne out! Dunne and Oney both get tossed into boards!

Ciampa and Thatcher sit on the announce desk as Ciampa applauds himself and pats himself on the back! Fans fire up as NXT goes picture in picture.

Ciampa and Thatcher go back to get Dunne and Oney, and Ciampa CHOPS Dunne against barriers! Thatcher does the same to Oney, but Dunne CHOPS Ciampa back! Ciampa RAMS Dunne into the barriers then CHOPS him again! Ciampa gets Dunne in the ring, whips him to ropes and CLOBBERS him with an elbow! Thatcher leaves Oney behind to tag in, and Thatcher gets Dunne’s arm to stomp it down! Thatcher gets Dunne on ropes, the ref counts, but Thatcher lets off with a snarl. Dunne sucker punches Thatcher down! Then dropkicks him! Dunne gets Thatcher up to CHOP him to the corner! Tag to Oney and they double wrench and double CHOP Thatcher down!

Oney gets Thatcher back up for EuroUppers, but also keeps Thatcher from Ciampa. Oney RAMS Thatcher in the corner with shoulders, then tags Dunne in. Dunne gets a leg, brings Thatcher down with a toehold and then hooks up the legs into a TRAILER HITCH! Thatcher endures and Ciampa coaches him, but Dunne shifts to get an arm. Thatcher clasps hands to avoid a Fujiwara Armbar and then he rolls Dunne. Dunne rolls Thatcher back, drags him away, and tags Oney while keeping Thatcher down. Oney stomps Thatcher, drags him up and bumps him off buckles. Oney CHOPS, stomps, and brings Thatcher around to DECK him with a EuroUpper!

Oney paces, then gets Thatcher’s leg for a standing heel hook. Thatcher holds onto Oney’s leg to prevent the Crab, but Oney fights through that to still turn Thatcher! Thatcher crawls to a ROPEBREAK as NXT returns to single picture. Oney stands on Thatcher, tags Dunne and Dunne hooks up the legs. Tag back to Oney, Dunne gets Thatcher up in a surfboard and Oney CHOPS away! The ref counts Dunne but he lets go as Oney CHOPS Thatcher a fourth time! Oney dares Thatcher to tag Ciampa but Thatcher EuroUPpers! Oney EuroUppers and rocks Thatcher! Thatcher and Oney each grab each other by the ears! Thatcher blocks a chop to CHOP Oney!

Oney wobbles, Thatcher grabs at him but Oney grabs Thatcher by the chin! SLAP! SLAP! SLAP! Thatcher breaks the half nelson to ENZIGURI! Hot tags to Dunne and Ciampa! Ciampa rallies on both Dunne and Oney! Ciampa starts up the endless clotheslines in the corner! Dunne, Oney, and back again! Ciampa ducks the retaliation from Dunne and Oney to hit a DOUBLE CLOTHESLINE! Thatcher gets in, he and Ciampa fire each other up, and they unleash endless clotheslines and EuroUppers! But Oney CLOBBERS Thatcher! Ciampa comes back to DISCUS Oney! Dunne ROCKS Ciampa but Ciampa comes back with forearms!

They go back and forth, Dunne wobbles but sidesteps Ciampa to SNAP GERMAN! Dunne STOMPS the hands, then BUZZSAWS! Pump handle, BITTER- NO! Ciampa drags Dunne down to the FUJIWARA ARMBAR! Oney grabs Dunne’s hand but Thatcher drags Oney out with an ANKLE LOCK! But then BLAM! RIDGE HOLLAND is back!? And he clobbered Thatcher?! Oney breaks Ciampa’s hold on Dunne but Ciampa KNEES Oney out! Dunne rolls Ciampa up, TWO!! Pump handle, BITTER END!! Cover, Dunne & Oney win!

Winners: Pete Dunne & Oney Lorcan, by pinfall

Northern Grit gets in the ring with Dunne & Oney! Ridge got hurt because of Oney all those months ago, but he’s on their side now?! They beat down Thatcher & Ciampa! Ciampa is made to watch as Ridge scoop SLAMS Thatcher into ropes! And then again! Then they feed Ciampa to Ridge’s uppercut! “You like that, Tommaso? You like that?!” Fans chant, “YOU SUCK!” as this new trio, will they be the new Kings of NXT?

 

NXT hears from Carmelo Hayes.

Just 26 years old out of Boston, Massachusetts, he doesn’t wait for opportunities. He took Kushida to the limit, stepped right up to Adam Cole, all opportunities he took. This tournament is THE opportunity, and there will be only one man that comes out on top. And you’re looking at him, the brightest star of them all!

 

Samoa Joe arrives.

And in his hands is a very formal folder. What business proposition is inside? We’ll find out after the break!

 

Hit Row speaks.

Swerve says last week, they produced a bop, courtesy of Joaquin Wilde’s back. Swerve’s been after Santos Escobar for so long now, but spooky season has arrived. It’s a Hit Row Summer. B-Fab talks trash on Legado in Espanol, and translation: if you didn’t know, now you know. Swerve plays the guitar, and if Wilde’s back had no back-up cuz his boys left him flat. Top Dolla knows Spanish, too, as he says Escobar may be El Jefe, but he ain’t in charge in NXT. Hit Row are the kings of the jungle, and Adonis says there are still jokers like Imperium talking real spicy. So pause, rewind, and watch your mouths. Talk that talk again, and y’all gonna get knocked out!

Maybe Hit Row needs to speak Imperium’s language so they can understand. Dolla talks with a European accent to tell Imperium that if they’re gonna pop off, they’ll get popped. If you didn’t know, now you know.

 

Samoa Joe heads to the ring!

Joe gets a table and a chair out the second he hits ringside, and sets it all up in the middle of the ring. Joe gets a mic to say, “Karrion Kross! I could come out here and bark about you until I’m blue in the face, but I’m well aware you’re too much of a gutless coward to be in the building right now.” So instead, Joe was proactive. Mr. Regal, please join Joe in the ring, sir. William Regal does walk out to the ring and Joe offers him the seat. Regal stays standing and Joe understands Regal’s anger. Joe sees the rage in his eyes and Joe understands. What Karrion did was reprehensible and wrong, and tonight, Regal wants to fire Kross. But Joe wants Regal to listen to his “much better solution.”

We can all be satisfied in three easy steps. Step one: Joe tenders his resignation as management effective immediately. Step two: Joe is reactivated as an NXT Superstar! Fans love the sound of all that! Regal takes the pen, and signs Joe to the roster! And that leads us to step three: making Kross VS Joe for the NXT Championship at TakeOver 36!! Fans really love the sound of that! Regal signs that and it is done!! Fans chant, “Thank You, Regal! Thank You, Regal!” and Joe secures the paperwork. The clock is ticking on Kross’ time, will Mr. Doomsday be the one to face the apocalypse?

 

NXT hears from Josh Briggs.

From Nothing, Arizona, he will go through Hayes to reach his destiny. There will be bodies and dreams left broken as his hand is held high as this tournament’s winner.

 

NXT sees that LA Knight went golfing.

Cameron Grimes asks how long Knight needs him to wash his balls. Grimes, don’t shout that! Just let him see. Okay, these are fine. They go on and Grimes asks Knight for his driver. Grimes IS his driver. No, the club! Grimes grabs the club, but this is the sand wedge. Grimes mishears it as “sandwich” and thinks Knight is hungry. Grimes, as the caddy, you need to know each and every one of the clubs in the bag. The driver is the big, long one! Right, Mr. Knight, sir. Knight lines up but Grimes makes a bet that Knight hits the ball into the trees. Knight tells Grimes to stand off to the side and Grimes moves over. But Grimes then interrupts the swing by saying this should be a $5000 bet.

Knight is trying to concentrate so shut up! Right, sorry, Mr. Knight. Knight hits the ball, and wouldn’t you know? It goes into the trees. Grimes says Knight owes him 5 grand! Knight doesn’t owe Grimes a thing, and tells him to go fetch the ball. Yes, Mr. Knight. Knight is heated and not just from the summer heat. Will he get through nine holes with Grimes opening his mouth every time?

 

NXT Breakout Tournament 2021 Opening Round: Carmelo Hayes VS Josh Briggs!

The opening round is in the second half and we see if Hayes has any hope of getting past big, bad Briggs! Who faces Duke Hudson in the semifinals?

The bell rings and fans are on Hayes’ side as he stares down with Briggs. They tie up, Briggs scoops and SLAMS Hayes, then tells him to just leave. Hayes gets up, gets away from Briggs, but Briggs scoops him again. Hayes slips off to fire forearms and chops! Briggs blocks the whip, whips Hayes, and then catches Hayes’ springboard into a BEARHUG! Briggs clubs Hayes, Hayes fights out and BOOTS Briggs to a corner! Hayes fires off hands, Briggs shoves him away. Briggs runs in but Hayes dropkicks a leg out! Briggs hits buckles, Hayes swings to throw in a knee! Fans fire up for Hayes as he runs but Briggs TOSSES him up and out!

Hayes is down on the outside and a ring count begins. Briggs goes out after Hayes at 5, puts Hayes back in, but Hayes gets Briggs in the ropes to kick him! And kick, and kick, and kick! Hayes then springboards for IMPLODING LEG DROP! Cover, TWO! Hayes clamps on with a chinlock but Briggs fights up. Hayes clubs Briggs, Briggs fights up and lifts Hayes, but Hayes makes it a GUILLOTINE! Briggs endures, reaches out, clubs Hayes on the back, but drops to a knee. Hayes holds on, Briggs pries free so Hayes fires off forearms! Briggs shoves Hayes and CLOBBERS him with a back elbow! Fans boo but Briggs scowls as NXT goes to break.

NXT returns and Briggs grinds Hayes down with a chinlock and a knee in the back. Briggs CLUBS Hayes, and we see that Duke Hudson has joined commentary to watch this closely. Hayes fights up, throws body shots, but Briggs scoops Hayes for a SIDEWEALK SLAM, and a BIG SPLASH! Cover, TWO!! Hayes survives and Brigg scowls but fans fire up. Hudson says Briggs is a big boy, tall as a tree, but Hudson can cut trees down. Briggs gets Hayes up but Hayes fights the bomb! Hayes RANAS Briggs to a corner! Briggs comes back, blocks a boot but Hayes ENZIGURIS! And ENZIGURIS again! Hayes dodges Briggs to springboard, FLYING HEADBUTT!

Fans fire up as both men are down! Briggs and Hayes go to opposite corners. Hudson says whoever win this will have it tough against him next round. Briggs storms after Hayes but Hayes dodges to cravat KNEE SMASH and then again! Briggs staggers but he choke grips Hayes! Hayes slips out of the slam to CODE BREAKER! Cover, TWO!! Briggs survives but Hayes keeps his focus. Fans rally up, Hayes gets Briggs up and reels him in, but Briggs tosses Hayes away! Hayes comes back to BOOT Briggs in the corner! Hayes rolls, returns, but Briggs BOOTS Hayes in return! Choke grip, CHOKE SLAM!! Cover, TWO?!! Hayes lives and shocks Briggs!

Fans rally up even harder as Hayes stirs. Briggs gets up, runs, but Hayes dodges! Briggs finds him in the corner to BOOT him, and then scoops him, but Hayes tilt-o-whirls out of the slam to hit a take down! Hayes runs and hits another tilt-o-whirl takedown! Hayes then goes to a corner, climbs up and leaps, FLYING LEG DROP!! Cover, Hayes wins!!

Winner: Carmelo Hayes, by pinfall (advances to the next round)

The brightest star outshines Briggs, and Hudson looks forward to this one. But will Hudson have as easy of a time as he thinks? Or will Hayes topple another tower on the way to the top?

 

Backstage interview with Franky Monet.

She has Jessi Kamea and Robert Stone by her side as McKenzie congratulates her on another victory. But what is the exact relationship with the Robert Stone Brand? Franky says there are so many possibilities. She could merge with them, making them more powerful than ever, or he could rebuild them from the ground up. Maybe she and Jessi could go after the tag titles! Stone loves that but Kayden Carter & Kacy Catanzaro walk in. O M G, Franky thinks it’s that easy to just walk in here and be champions~? It’s not! Franky can’t just throw together chemistry. KC Squared is a unit, in and out of the ring. They even finish each other’s- sentences! Right! So Franky, get your ass to the back of the line!

Franky says she’s sHaKiNg in her boots. But seriously, their spunk is cute, but now it’s just super annoying. Jessi says it’s definitely annoying. They leave and Stone quickly agrees that KC Squared is annoying. But will La Wera Loca overlook them and be left behind in the title race?

 

NXT checks back in with Knight and Grimes.

Knight checks the grade of the green, Grimes does commentary. “Mr. Knight steps up to a miraculous par three here with a lot of confidence.” Knight gets annoyed and tells Grimes to shut it. Grimes does commentary a little quieter but it still throws Knight off, and he hits right into the water hazard. Grimes laughs and says that’s TEN thousand Knight owes him now! Knight asks if Grimes can swim. Yes, he can. Then go get the ball! What? Grimes throws off the cowboy boots and as a man of his word, a man has to do what a man has to do. Grimes was only a few feet in when he grabs the ball.

Ted DeBiase rides up!? What’s he doing here?! Grimes is asking him that? What’s GRIMES doing in the water? Getting a golf ball. DeBiase tells Grimes that “guys like Knight, all they’re ever gonna do is hang you out to dry. But why are you doing this? You’re better than this!” Grimes is a man of his word, though. He thought DeBiase would be m ore upset if he didn’t do this. What DeBiase knows is Grimes wasn’t born to be a butler. He was born to be a champion! Grimes, don’t lose your pride. Fight for what you believe in! And the Grimes that DeBiase knows is a fighter! Think on that. Grimes does think, but will he step up to the Million Dollar Megastar?

 

NXT Media catches up with Ridge, Dunne & Oney.

Why did Ridge Holland attack Thatcher & Ciampa tonight? It’s none of our business. Thatcher’s not the first person Ridge has smashed up, and he won’t be the last. Ridge rolls on with Dunne and Oney, who else will be mangled by Northern Grit?

 

Raquel Gonzalez and Dakota Kai head to the ring!

The NXT Women’s Champion and her partner in crime are back after Ricky Desperado dominated and damaged Xia Li in last week’s title defense. Raquel gets a mic to say,  “I crushed one of the most feared superstars in the Women’s Division. I have dominated every single person who has stepped up to the plate.” Who is next? Raquel is THE greatest women’s champion in WWE today! And all she has to say is, “Keep ’em coming.” Dakota says 18 months ago, Raquel debuted. And she’s been unstoppable ever since. Dakota tells people that her best friend, Big Mami Cool, is the most dominant woman in NXT history! More dominant than Charlotte Flair, Asuka, Shayna Baszler.

Raquel defeated great champions such as Rhea Ripley, Io Shirai, Ember Moon, and that list will go on and on! “Do you know why the NXT Women’s Division is one of the greatest? It’s because of one woman.” NXT TakeOver is four weeks away, so Dakota will ask this: Who is woman enough to challenge Raquel? Any takers? Huh? Who knows in their soul they can walk down the ramp, stand in the ring and face Raquel? Anyone? Anyone at all? We’re waiting~! None! No one! Dakota and Raquel have been through so much together. As long as they have each other’s back, Raquel will always be champion! Raquel agrees and fires up as she gets up on the corner.

But as Raquel hops back down, Dakota BOOTS her down!! #CobraKai strikes again! She holds the belt up as she stands over Raquel and fans are fired up for Dakota! Dakota says SHE is woman enough! The first shot has been fired, but who shoots the last at TakeOver 36?

 

Adam Cole speaks.

“Lately, everybody has been trying to attach themselves to yours truly. Last week, you’ve got Kyle O’Reilly screaming my name like an absolute maniac. And then also last week, Bronson Reed. He’s talking to Wade Barrett, he’s talking about how Adam Cole is gonna be his rebound? Are you kidding me?” Adam Cole is not someone’s rebound, he is at the top of the mountain. And tonight, Cole makes Reed fall off the mountain. There is a reason Reed lost his North American Championship: he’s not good enough. Cole couldn’t give a DAMN about Reed’s 14 year journey, because tonight will be another very sad chapter, written by Adam Cole BAYBAY.

 

NXT Media watches Io Shirai finish training.

But as she exits, Zoey Stark walks over to say she no longer has to train alone. They’re the NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions now! They should train together, create a bond, a relationship! Relationship? Like a friendship? Yes! No thanks. Oh, okay, hold on. Maybe not friends, but teammates. They should hang out, get on the same page. Shirai respects Stark but she doesn’t like her. Yes, okay, she doesn’t like her yet. This can be good for them. They can hang out, and if Shirai trusts Stark, it’ll work out. Fine… Okay! Stark promises Shirai won’t regret this! But will Stark be able to keep up her end of the bargain?

 

Mandy Rose is spotted talking with other female superstars.

Mandy is trying to get Gigi Dolan and Jacy Jayne to agree to something, but Jacy points out the camera. Mandy shoos the media, this is a private conversation. But then, what is it about?

 

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

KC Squared told #BougieBad that a team isn’t just two people put together. But will Franky give them her brand of bad in her tag team “premiere?”

The teams sort out and Kayden starts with Jessi. They circle while Wade Barrett defends Robert Stone’s “men’s clutch bag,” aka murse. Kayden dodges Jessi, fans cheer her own, and Kayden does a little dance to taunt Jessi. But Jessi taunts Kayden back by calling for a test of strength, and pointing out the height difference. Kayden dodges the kick to give a kick, and then she waistlocks to O’Conner Roll! ONE, Kacy tags in and Kayden dropkicks Jessi! Kayden whips Kacy so she can trip Jessi, then Kayden adds another dropkick! Kacy gets up to slingshot senton Jessi back down! Cover, ONE!! Kacy keeps on Jessi, facelocks, and Kayden tags in. Kayden rolls Jessi up, TWO!

Jessi gets up and BOOTS Kayden down! Jessi drags Kayden but Kayden kicks her away. Franky tags in to cool things off. Kayden dodges, Eddy Gordo kicks, then runs in, but Franky dodges. Kayden back elbows but Franky blocks a kick to put the legs in ropes, for a DDT! Kayden flounders in a daze but Franky gets her up. Franky TOSSES Kayden to the corner, fires herself up and runs in, DOUBLE KNEES! Tag to Jessi, Franky gets Kayden up and whips her into the corner. Franky back elbows, Jessi SPLASHES! Jessi snapmares and covers, TWO! Stone says it’s all good as Jessi tags Franky back in. Jessi stomps Kayden, Franky KICKS Kayden in the back!

Franky CLUBS Kayden, but Kayden SLAPS back! Franky KICKS Kayden’s leg, then gets her at the ropes to whip her into the corner. Kayden DECKS Jessi! Then BOOTS Franky! Kayden hurries but Franky throws her down by her hair! Franky rains down furious fists, “I AM LA WERA LOCA!” Stone wants Franky to use his murse to finish this?! This is why Aliyah ditched him! He throws the shoe in, it gets Franky in the side! Franky is upset, Kayden tags Kacy and SUPERKICKS Franky! Kacy is up top, 450 SPLASH BREAKER!! Cover, KC Squared wins!!

Winners: Kacy Catanzaro & Kayden Carter, by pinfall

And Franky is FURIOUS! Her record has a blemish on it in the shape of Stone’s tacky man purse! Is this going to hurt the brand’s chances of working with Franky? Or is it just going to hurt Stone’s physical body?

 

Wade Barrett interviews Roderick Strong & Malcolm Bivens.

The minds behind the Diamond Mine sit with him, and he asks Strong how this came about. After the Undisputed Era exploded and fell apart, Strong quit NXT and disappeared, so how did he come into contact with Bivens? Strong says, “When you compete at the level that I do, this game is 90% mental and 10% physical.” Bivens agrees. Strong says his 10% is better than everyone else’s 100. But the fact is, all that drama was just something he couldn’t break through, until he got a call from Bivens. Bivens reminded Strong of exactly who he is, and so he knew the Diamond Mine was for him.

Bivens says that Strong is one of the greatest performers of this generation. That isn’t opinion, that’s fact. Not fourth, not third, or second. He is THE ONE, because he is a leader! And who would’ve thought, in the year 2021, it’d be Malcolm Bivens who brought Strong back to NXT? Even our esteemed GM, William Regal, couldn’t do that. That is true, and it seems on the meantime, they are trying to manufacture an opportunity against Kushida for the Cruiserweight Championship. But it also seems Bobby Fish is making noise. Would they agree then that the next big match up for Diamond Mine is Strong VS Fish?

Bivens says that’s a good idea. Does Wade like money? Of course. Bivens says that whoever said, “Money can’t buy happiness” is a liar and broke, Money gets you happiness, and there IS a big money match up in Strong VS Fish. Let’s get that money! Strong says next week, when he finishes “Bob,” it is over between them. Will it be that easy to sink Fish and move on to Kushida’s gold?

 

NXT shares the big news for TakeOver 36!

As first said on NXT UK, Walter VS Ilja Dragunov was delayed due to Walter injuring his hand. But management has decided that this rematch is so big, this should be seen by the entire world! It will happen at TakeOver 36!! Will the UK Championship’s return to the States be big for the Ring General or the Moscow Madman?

 

NXT Media catches up with Dakota Kai.

Can she explain her actions in attacking Raquel tonight? Dakota storms out into the parking lot without an answer. Maybe her actions spoke for her. Will Raquel have an equally brutal response by next week?

 

Hit Row VS Imperium!

It may not look it to Marcel Barthel & Fabian Aichner, but the NXT Tag Team Division is getting serious again with all these teams targeting MSK! Will Top Dolla & Ashante “Thee” Adonis educate Imperium real quick? Or will the mat be sacred tonight?

The teams sort out, Adonis starts with Barthel but Barthel rushes Adonis. Adonis slips away, they tie up, and Barthel headlocks. Adonis powers out but Barthel comes back to knee low. Barthel whips, Adonis reverses, things speed up and Adonis AirDrops Barthel down! Adonis gets Barthel up but Barthel whips him away. Adonis ducks but Barthel pops him up to CHOP, kick and CLUB! Barthel whips again, scoops and SWINGING SLAMS Adonis down! Adonis slowly gets up at the ropes but Barthel is after him. Tag to Aichner, Imperium whips and arm-drags Adonis down. Aichner gets Adonis up right to a fireman’s carry! Adonis fights free and CLUBS Aichner down!

Aichner shoves Adonis away, Adonis turns it around for a Rude Awakening! Cover, TWO! Adonis facelocks, CLUBS Aichner, Aichner throws body shots and EuroUppers. Adonis knees low, Aichner blocks the whip to reverses it, but he also blocks a boot to CLOBBER Adonis! Fans duel as Aichner paces around Adonis. Aichner grabs Adonis’ ear, stands him up, but Adonis jawbreakers back! Tag to Dolla and Aichner clotheslines, but Dolla doesn’t budge! Dolla shoves, catches Aichner’s crossbody to a fireman’s carry! Aichner fights out, CLUBS Dolla, then runs into Dolla’s JUMPING KNEE! Dolla talks smack and fans chant “HIT~ ROW~!”

Dolla gets Aichner up, tags in Adonis, and then Dolla pops Aichner around, AIR DROP BACK SUPLEX! Cover, TWO! Aichner is still in this but Adonis gets him up. Aichner throws body shots, Adonis CLUBS him, but Aichner turns neckbreaker into a BIG back suplex! Tag to Barthel and he gets Adonis up to bump off buckles. Barthel puts Adonis in the ropes,. Imperium meets at the corner but Swerve is in Aichner’s way! B-Fab also swipes at Barthel, and the ref reprimands Swerve. Adonis gets around to block Barthel’s boot, fire off forearms, then roll Barthel to a whip and SPINEBUSTER! Cover, TWO! Barthel is still in this but Adonis soaks up the heat as we go to break.

NXT returns and now Imperium hits their double corner dropkick! Adonis flops out, Aichner covers, but Dolla breaks it! Adonis gets to ropes, Aichner goes after him but Adonis throws body shots! Aichner knees low, tags in Barthel, and then SPINEBUSTER to PENALTY KICK! Aichner gets Adonis up, Barthel climbs, but Adonis RANAS Aichner away! Barthel still leaps but into a body shot! Adonis hurries for the Hit Row corner, but Barthel grabs a leg! Adonis kicks Barthel away but Barthel still anchors him! ANKLE LOCK! Adonis endures, stands but Barthel ducks the enziguri! Barthel drags Adonis back, Aichner tags in and Aichner drops an elbow! Cover, TWO!

Aichner stomps Adonis, CLUBS him down, then drag him up to scoop and BACKBREAKER! Cover, TWO! Aichner grows annoyed but he drags Adonis back up to tag Barthel. Adonis throws body shots but Aichner knees him down. Barthel gets Adonis up but Adonis throws hands. Barthel hits a BUTTERFLY SUPLEX! Cover, TWO! Adonis survives but Barthel clamps on a chinlock. Adonis fights up and moves around as fans rally, but Barthel drags him away from Dolla. Adonis throws Barthel out! Adonis hurries, Aichner runs in but Adonis dumps him out! Swerve and B-Fab coach Adonis on, but Barthel slides in to intercept, only to get a back drop! Hot tag to Dolla!

Aichner tags in but Dolla rallies on Imperium, CLOBBERS and ROCKS Barthel, then kicks and runs to KNEE LIFT! Aichner gets in, Dolla puts him in the corner to SPLASH! One arm SIDEWALK SLAM! And a kip up! “Who hotta than Top Dolla?” NOT NADA! Dolla does his own little dance for a BIG elbow drop! Cover, but Barthel breaks it! Dolla tosses Barthel, gets Aichner up and tosses him to the corner. Tag to Adonis, Dolla feeds Aichner to a FLAPJACK! Adonis kips up now and fires up, but EL LEGADO jumps Swerve! They POST him, then talk trash to B-Fab! But Dolla CLOBBERS them both! Escobar stays away but Imperium as Adonis!! EUROBOMB!!! Cover, Imperium wins!

Winner: Imperium, by pinfall

Dolla rushes back but Legado jumps him now! Dolla shoves Wilde & Mendoza away but they DOUBLE SUPERKICK him! They get Dolla back up, but Dolla BOOTS Mendoza down to avoid the double team! Dolla DECKS Wilde, but Escobar leaps in to missile dropkick Dolla down! Legado gloats then beats Dolla down with stomps in a corner! Swerve returns with a chair!! Swerve runs Legado off, but this fight is far from over! Will Legado pay for ruining Hit Row’s run?

 

The Way talks backstage.

Johnny Gargano doesn’t know where Austin Theory is, and Candice LeRae is quick to blame him for it. How is it his fault that Theory ran away from home? Indi Hartwell doesn’t want to talk to Candice so she tells Johnny to tell Candice this is Candice’s fault. Candice hears Indi, she doesn’t need Johnny to be a middle man. There’s a knock at the door and Johnny is optimistic that it’s Theory. It isn’t, it is someone delivering a gift for Indi Hartwell. Did Johnny & Candice get her something to apologize? No, it’s from DEXTER! Dexter Lumis drew himself as part of The Way! Indi loves it but Johnny & Candice don’t! Dexter doesn’t deserve Indi! Why doesn’t Indi get that?

Why don’t they give Dexter a chance? He doesn’t deserve a chance! He’s a bad boy with a stupid face! Everyone deserves a chance. No! No chance! Then how about a match? Johnny VS Dexter. Why!? Because if Dexter wins, The Way has to give him a chance. At what?! A chance with Indi! Uh, um… Fine! But if Johnny wins, #InDex is DONE! Yeah! No more Dexter! Deal. Indi goes to talk with Regal about it! Johnny says go ahead, and tell him Johnny says hi. But do NOT put that drawing on the fridge! The fridge is too nice for that art. But will Johnny take care of nipping #InDex in the bud?

 

NXT checks in with Knight & Grimes again.

Grimes and Knight work on their form but the Grizzled Young Veterans show up? They ask what’s the hold up, and Knight says, “I thought the standards were a little higher around here.” Zack Gibson tells Knight to watch his mouth. Just hit the ball into the pond again so these VIP’s can play through. Grimes says he’s the caddy, and he won’t let anyone rush Knight. Yes, Knight hit it into the water, and yes he did hit it into the trees, and yes he owes Grimes $10 thousand, but not even Grimes will let GYV disrespect the Million Dollar Champion. If GYV wants to play, start back at the first hole.

Well if we’re talking gambling, how about a side pot? Next person to sink the ball into the hole doubles that 10 grand. Grimes is in! He’ll take that bet any day of the week! Knight tells Grimes to never talk for him again, ever. But yeah, challenge accepted! They’ll take GYV’s money. Knight hits but ends up in the water again… The GYV say, “Absolutely rotten!” Knight blames Grimes and gives him the club. Grimes gets his golden golf ball on the tee, reels back and gets Knight in the nuts! But also hits the ball, and then BOPS Knight on the back swing! The golden ball flies, and it is IN THE HOLE!! That’s $20,000 for Grimes! Oh, Mr. Knight, what happened?! Look what GYV did to him!

GYV run away before Knight can get up and demand money or payback. Grimes says he loves golf. “Who knew it could be this fun?” But which will come first? GYV coming through on the money? Or some kind of in-ring revenge?

 

Adam Cole VS Bronson Reed!

The Panama City Playboy said his peace but Auszilla is looking to turn him into a golden springboard back into the title scene. Will the Grand Slam BAYBAY be too much for even the Colossal Bronson? Or can nothing withstand a Tsunami?

The bell rings, Cole and Reed circle and fans rally and duel. Cole waistlocks, Reed smirks and throws Cole right off! Reed eggs Cole on and Cole tells him to shut up. Cole and Reed circle again, feel out the grapple, and Cole headlocks. Reed stays up and powers up but Cole thrashes the hold. Reed throws body shots and powers out to run Cole over! Fans rally and duel as Cole clutches his head. Reed scoops but Cole slips out to chop block a leg! Cole fires off forearms and kicks, then gets the leg on the ropes. Cole kicks the leg, the ref reprimands but Reed shoves Cole down! Things speed up, Cole tries to hurdle but Reed SWATS him out of the air!

Reed gets Cole up to a military press! And he DROPS Cole, to then drop an elbow! Cole gets to ropes, Reed stalks up behind him and Reed gets Cole up. Reed whips Cole but Cole sunset flips, only for Reed to SIT on him! Cover, but Reed’s foot is under the rope. Reed shrugs and stands up, and Cole gets out to the apron. Reed gets Cole up and to a corner to bump him off buckles. Reed climbs, drags Cole up to join him, and fans duel as Reed throws hands. Cole resists and throws body shots, then bumps Reed off buckles. Cole sunset flips but he can’t bring Reed down! He avoids the punch to SUPERKICK the legs out! Reed falls and flops out of the ring as NXT goes picture in picture!

Reed clutches his leg but Cole goes out after him. Cole kicks the leg, brings Reed around to throw forearms, then whips him into barriers! Cole gloats and soaks up the heat as he refreshes the ring count. Cole goes after Reed again but Reed blocks the steel step bump! Reed elbows Cole, Cole knees Reed and shoves him in the ring. Cole dusts off his hands, gets in the ring, and has Reed in a corner. Cole stomps the bad leg, gets it back on ropes, and the ref reprimands but Reed CLUBS Cole away. Cole BOOTS Reed down! Cole throws clubbing crossface forearms then lets off to stalk Reed. Cole pushes Reed to drop an elbow on the knee! Cole drops a splash on the bad leg!

Cole flexes to mock Reed, then he has a standing kneebar. Reed endures, keeps his shoulders up, and NXT returns to single picture as Cole goes after the knee more. The fans rally and duel more as Reed throws hands! Cole shifts to DDT the foot! Cole watches Reed slowly stand up, and he gets the leg for a DRAGON SCREW! Cole taunts Reed, stomps him, and fans rally as Reed gets to ropes. Cole gets the bad leg, puts it through ropes again and kicks it! The ref counts, Cole stops at 4, and he drops down on it! Cole paces while fans cheer and jeer, but he comes back to set the leg back on the ropes. Cole jumps for another drop down!

The ref checks on Reed, Reed refuses to quit here. Reed crawls, Cole says he’s still king of NXT. Cole gives toying kicks but Reed throws body shots. Cole throws forearms, Reed throws them back! They brawl, fans fire up, and Reed ROCKS Cole! And JABS, and CHOPS, and repeat! Cole is in a corner, Reed whips him corner to corner, then SPLASHES! Reed whips and CLOBBERS Cole! Fans fire up as Reed drops a BACK SENTON! Cover, TWO! Reed keeps cool as he gets Cole back up. Reed suplexes but Cole knees free. Cole dodges and PELES! Reed stays up, Cole goes to suplex but Reed suplexes first, for a SAMOAN DROP! Cover, TWO!!

Cole survives, fans rally and duel, and Reed gets back up. Reed drags Cole up, reels him in and gets him up, but Cole throws hands to get free! Cole elbows Reed from a corner, but Reed ROCKS him with a right! Reed runs into the corner but Cole SHINING WIZARDS him down! Cover, TWO!! Cole is frustrated but he gets up and BOOTS Reed! Reed stays up but Cole BOOTS him again! Cole blows a kiss to Reed but Reed blocks the superkick! Reed CHOPS Cole back! And CHOPS again! And again! And again! The ref counts, Reed CHOPS until 4 then lets off. Cole mule kicks the bad leg! Cole hops up, leaps, PANAMA SUNRISE!! Cover, TWO!?!

Reed survives and fans are thunderous as Cole is shocked! Cole thinks what he has to do now and he brings down the knee pad. Cole finger guns, runs, but into a LARIAT! Reed drags Cole up to a POWERBOMB! But he isn’t done here, he goes to a corner! Reed climbs, aims, and TSUNAMI FLOPS!! Cole dodges the splash to SUPERKICK and LAST SHOT!! Cover, Cole wins!

Winner: Adam Cole, by pinfall

Cole grins because he won just as he said he would, but that was a close one! Will Reed be able to rebound from this? Is Cole going to use this to reestablish himself as the top dog? But then KYLE O’REILLY attacks Cole with a chair!!! Kyle digs the chair into Cole’s neck!! No more Cool Kyle, this is KILLER KYLE, and he pulls steel steps apart! Kyle wants to finally give Cole payback from months ago, BRAINBUSTER TO THE STEPS!!! Kyle stands over Cole as Cole did over him! Has Kyle given up his soul yet again in order to finally crush Cole?


My Thoughts:

Another great NXT again, as always, even with stuff that felt inevitable and obvious, but done in a way that was still a lot of fun. For one, Samoa Joe resigning as enforcer and returning to action and getting his title match against Kross at TakeOver, all awesome stuff. If Kross is going to go to Raw full time, then Joe is definitely someone who he can lose to in an epic battle and it wouldn’t hurt him at all. Of course, the way Vince is booking Raw, that will hurt Kross, as it already kinda has in some people’s eyes, but that’s on Vince and Raw, not on Kross himself. Dakota turning on Raquel was another one of those obvious but awesome moments, that promo was the perfect set-up to it, and that title match is another awesome one that win or lose, neither woman looks bad.

There were some not so obvious things, too, and they were just as great. No offense to Hayes but I honestly thought Briggs was going to win tonight. It is great that Hayes breaks through to the next round and changes things up so it isn’t all big men. Next week’s closer to the opening round could still see another big man get through as Joe Gacy takes on Trey Baxter, but Baxter could get his own surprising win so that we get two parallel match-ups of Cruiserweight VS Big Man. Another surprise was Franky & Jessi losing, but at the same time, Robert Stone is shooting his own brand in the foot. Though, it probably won’t be his much longer.

But that win was great for KC Squared. They are again a team that could’ve been moved to RawDown because they’re a fairly complete package, but it is great for them to still be here because now they actually might get a title match. Shirai and Stark had a good segment together, I hope they give us whatever this “hanging out” will be, and we’ll have to see if it works out for them to become a closer team. And it works here for story, where one team has been a team longer than the championship team and are going to test them. It’s like what Raw has tried to do with their men’s teams but better because NXT is better.

Mandy Rose being seen talking with newer women in NXT is a good detail for her story. She’s been watching Robert Stone Brand, watching other women matches, she could be trying to make a stable to counter Robert Stone Brand and follow in the footsteps of Absolution with Paige. We got a decent interview promo from Diamond Mine to finally make it known that this was Bivens’ idea, improving upon his essentially failed “Bivens Enterprises” and using Strong as the face of that endeavor. Strong VS Fish is going to be a very good match, and I bet the winner is seen as contender to Kushida’s Cruiserweight Championship.

I loved a lot of what we got out of Knight and Grimes tonight. Grimes as the optimistic yet inept butler is still gold, there’s great slapstick comedy with that golf club hitting Knight, and GYV getting involved, they might be trying to turn this into a buddy comedy style tag team where Grimes and Knight unite over fighting common enemies. At the same time, I don’t want that to work out, we’re already getting enough “two singles guys become tag team” these days. It is more in Knight’s character to turn on Grimes the moment they lose, we get another rematch for the Million Dollar Championship and Grimes wins it this time, at TakeOver 36.

Ciampa & Thatcher VS Dunne & Oney was a great match, and Ridge Holland making his return was surprising. Ridge being on Dunne’s side is also rather surprising, because last we saw, he got hurt brawling with Oney. But maybe they’re making up for what was meant to be his story if he wasn’t hurt, where Pat McAfee was the one paying Ridge to do the brutalizing of Undisputed Era, meaning Ridge has always been on the side of Dunne and Oney or something like that. Ridge against either Ciampa or Thatcher is awesome stuff, can he tag with Dunne to be in the first-ever Tag Team Fight Pit against them?

Hit Row VS Imperium was good stuff, as was Legado interfering because of the story for the North American Championship. We’re only getting a 2v2 not a Six Man, feels like missed opportunity, but that doesn’t change that Swerve VS Escobar is going to be part of TakeOver. Cole VS Reed was a great match, Reed looked awesome even in losing, and Kyle attacking with that brutality was great. Don’t pay attention to how the crowd reacted there, though, they weren’t liking Face Kyle all that much compared to Cole, this is not a double turn. This is all within the story that Kyle has to go back to being a heartless monster in order to win against Cole. If anything, they’re both Tweeners and you decide what they are in your own head.

My Score: 9.1/10


Powered by RedCircle


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

Coverage

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

Talk about a Big Time Raw!

Published

on

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


Powered by RedCircle


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

Coverage

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


Powered by RedCircle


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

Sports

Entertainment

Sports Entertainment

Buy A Chairshot T-Shirt!

Chairshot Radio Network

Trending

WP Twitter Auto Publish Powered By : XYZScripts.com