Coverage
Mitchell’s WWE NXT Results & Report! (11/18/20)
What will Finn Balor have to say?

What is the future of the top titles in NXT?
On the same night that Io Shirai defends her NXT Women’s Championship against Rhea Ripley, Finn Balor finally returns to speak on his status!
OFFICIAL RESULTS
- NXT North American Championship: Leon Ruff VS Johnny Gargano; Ruff wins by disqualification and retains the title.
- Blindfold Match: Cameron Grimes VS Dexter Lumis; No Contest.
- Candice LeRae & Indi Hartwell VS Kacy Catanzaro & Kayden Carter; LeRae & Hartwell win.
- Arturo Ruas VS KUSHIDA; Kushida wins.
- Toni Storm & Ember Moon VS Dakota Kai & Raquel Gonzalez; Storm & Moon win.
- Timothy Thatcher VS August Grey; Thatcher wins.
- Damian Priest VS ???; No Contest.
- NXT Women’s Championship: Io Shirai VS Rhea Ripley; Shirai wins and retains the title.
PLAY BY PLAY
NXT North American Championship: Leon Ruff VS Johnny Gargano!
It’s been a long road for the biggest underdog in a long time, but he cashed in on the “Gargano Curse” to become a champion! But will he be able to stay a champion when a now extremely furious Johnny Wrestling gets his rematch?
Speaking of, Gargano gets pissed just watching the recap package showing how the world loved Ruff living the dream. “Everybody knows last week was a fluke!” Ruff is just a pawn in Damian Priest’s game to make Gargano look like a fool. Fans chant “Johnny Sucks!” but Johnny says he’s the best. Just look at Ruff! Fans troll “Johnny Failure” but Gargano says Ruff isn’t a real champion. He’s a joke! Tonight, the joke’s over, and the title comes home to Gargano. Gargano then SUCKER PUNCHES Ruff! The ref backs Gargano off and asks Ruff if he still wants this. Ruff does, and the bell rings! Gargano tackles Ruff to the corner, rams his shoulder in over and over, but lets off as the ref counts to then DECK Ruff with a forearm!
Gargano says Ruff is a joke, then whips him corner to corner hard! Fans boo as Gargano pushes Ruff around. Gargano looms over Ruff in the corner, brings him up to throw a JAB and a CHOP and then repeat! Gargano smirks as Ruff grits his teeth. Gargano CHOPS Ruff again and shakes out his own hand. Ruff CHOPS and CHOPS and CHOPS in return! Ruff throws haymakers, body shots but Gargano kicks low. Gargano puts Ruff in a corner but Ruff BOOTS back! Ruff goes to the apron, forearms, hops up and around and then under, but Gargano knows that trick from last time! Gargano back suplexes but Ruff lands on his feet!
Ruff gets around Gargano, rolls, kip up and KICK! Ruff fires up, knuckle locks and CHOPS, then goes up, up, around and huricanranas Gargano again! And then dropkicks him down! Fans fire up with Ruff as Gargano bails out! Ruff builds speed, goes up, and LEAPS! Ruff takes Gargano down and lands on his feet! Ruff puts Gargano in, Gargano flounders around but Ruff says Gargano’s gonna be the joke! Ruff hops on, but Gargano blocks the crucifix to swing Ruff into a LARIAT! Gargano grimaces and he drags Ruff back up. Gargano scoops, aims and LAWN DARTS Ruff into buckles! Gargano smirks as he drags Ruff back up to scoop him again. Gargano then LAWN DARTS Ruff to the other corner!
Gargano asks if Ruff wants to quit, and so does the ref, but Ruff refuses. So Gargano drags Ruff to the center of the ring and dares him to get up. Ruff rises, fans rally but Gargano is about to call upon DIY powers, until he spots Damian Priest on the stage! Priest says not to worry about him, and Ruff rolls Gargano up, TWO!! Gargano whips Ruff, Ruff rebounds and LARIATS! Priest and the fans rally for Ruff as he goes up top, to SWANTON! But Gargano moves and Ruff lands hard! SUPERKICK! Gargano drags Ruff back up, powerbombs him at the ropes, and then sits him up. Gargano goes to the apron, slingshots in for ONE FINAL BEAT! Cover, but Priest drags Ruff out! Priest says, “Sorry kid.” And then he DECKS him!! Ruff wins because of a disqualification!!
Winner: Leon Ruff, by disqualification (still NXT North American Champion)
Priest saved Ruff by punching his lights out! Gargano is furious that Priest used Champion’s Advantage to Ruff’s advantage! Will things continue to be this rough for #TheJohnnyGarganoWay?
Cameron Grimes speaks.
“Last week, I showed that Cameron Grimes isn’t afraid of Dexter Lumis. I mean, after I covered up his eyes, I showed that he’s just a regular man, and Cameron Grimes? He’s afraid of no man!” Grimes is a rocket ship, and after he wins the Blindfold Match, he’s going toooo theeee moooon~! But will Grimes be seeing stars after giving Lumis a fair rematch?
Blindfold Match: Cameron Grimes VS Dexter Lumis!
The Carolina Caveman said his piece, which is enough for both men since the Tortured Artist doesn’t talk much at all. But will Grimes be speechless after he and Lumis battle in this first for NXT?
As Lumis makes his entrance, Grimes makes sure not to look him in those soul piercing eyes. The ref gives each man their blindfold and Grimes wants the ref to put Lumis’ one fast. Grimes pretends to put his on, and then grins as he steps to Lumis. The ref stops him, they both need to be wearing blindfolds for this to be fair! But then how is Grimes supposed to see? That’s the point, Grimes! Fine, fine. Grimes puts his on, the bell rings, and Grimes crossbodies! Only to flop at Lumis’ feet. Grimes has no idea where Lumis is and that alone seems to spook him. Grimes points and threatens Lumis that he’s in the ring with Cameron Grimes! But Lumis is completely in the other direction…
Grimes bumps into ropes blindly and flops backwards. Grimes calls out to Lumis like it’s Marco Polo, but then he runs blindly into buckles! Lumis hasn’t even moved from where he’s standing! Grimes feels around the ropes, the ref moves past him and Grimes takes a swing! Grimes can’t tell it’s the ref and not Lumis! The ref calls out that it’s him so Grimes goes back to searching. Fans cheer as Grimes gets warmer, and warmer, but they mostly troll him into cornering the ref. Grimes gets spooked and DECKS the ref!! And now Grimes is stomping away on him! And kicking him! The ref is out cold and Grimes takes off his blindfold to see what he’s done! Grimes decides to stay very quiet, so that he can sneak away. But then he rushes Lumis!
Lumis avoids the Cave-In, and ROCKS Grimes with a haymaker! Grimes kicks low, grabs Lumis by the blindfold, but then Lumis uppercuts him! The blindfold comes off and those scary eyes stare at Grimes again! Lumis rallies with big haymakers, Grimes flounders about and Lumis DECKS him again! Lumis runs in to clothesline and BULLDOG! Lumis watches Grimes flounder back up, and gets him in the Silence! Grimes elbows free and flounders away but Lumis pursues! Lumis keeps Grimes from running away over the barriers, and whips him into the timekeeper’s area! Grimes flounders around, Lumis follows him past commentary and whips him into more boards!
Lumis continues to stalk Grimes as Grimes crawls around the way. Lumis brings rimes up to whip into even more boards! Grimes makes it to the ramp but Lumis brings him back to ringside, to whip- Grimes goes up and over the cage and boards! Grimes runs away but Lumis’ eyes still stare into the dark. Will Lumis get his hands on Grimes again soon enough?
William Regal talks with Priest backstage.
Regal can’t have Priest getting involved in matches. You can’t just punch someone in the mouth. But Priest knows Regal has to be just as sick watching Gargano have his way all the time. If anything, that was more like a joke. But c’mon, it’s Johnny! Ruff comes by and is hurt to hear Priest say “joke,” just like Johnny was saying. Ruff is the champion. If he can’t retain, then he shouldn’t be champion. Priest says he didn’t mean it like that. Ruff says Priest should just have the belt and Regal can rip up the contract. Regal and Priest say that’s not happening. Priest just thought Ruff needed help because Gargano shouldn’t have the title. Ruff SLAPS Priest! He’s no one’s joke. Regal says that serves Priest right. Priest himself admits he deserved that one. Will Ruff find a way to get people to take him seriously?
Shotzi Blackheart’s in the garage.
She’s collected the pieces. She’s putting in the work. “People like to tear you down. They want to destroy everything. But in life, you rebuild. You rebuild and you rise up.” Candice better get herself an army, because Shotzi knows something she doesn’t. “December 6th, we are going to war!” Shotzi uses fire and steel to build… WARGAMES?! The next TakeOver is the heavy metal tradition come back to life! Will the wild child make this a December to remember?
Candice LeRae & Indi Hartwell VS Kacy Catanzaro & Kayden Carter!
The Poison Pixie’s little helper, Ghost Face, has been the Impressive Indi all along! And now with Shotzi declaring war, it seems Indi is a shoe-in as Candice’s second. Will they prove they are a powerful team against KC Squared?
The teams sort out and Kayden starts with Indi. They tie up, Kayden goes for a leg but Indi pushes her off. “You’re not Impressive!” Kayden and Indi tie up again, Kayden goes after the leg but Indi tries to pick her up. Kayden trips Indi instead, rolls her over and ties up the legs to then sit on her. Kayden shifts to a facelock, drags her over and tags in Kacy. Kacy rolls Indi up, cover, ONE! Kacy keeps on Indi but Indi knees low and whips Kacy to ropes. Kacy boots Indi back, Kayden tags in then heel kicks Indi back! Tag back to Kacy and KC Squared coordinate to trip, dropkick and slingshot senton! Cover, ONE! Candice is relieved but Kacy keeps on Indi.
Kacy has the waistlock, Indi reaches down for a leg but Kacy leap frogs over to then handspring headscissor Indi away! Candice tags in but Kacy drop toeholds and dropkicks her down! Kacy handsprings again but Candice turns that into a GUT BUSTER! Cover, ONE! Candice keeps on Kacy with an armlock. Fans rally up, Kacy fights up and reaches but Candice keeps her from Kayden. Candice whips Kacy hard to the corner then taunts Kayden, then she tags in Indi. Indi and Candice stomp a mudhole into Kacy, then Indi brings Kacy up to whip out and into the corner! Indi drags Kacy back up, Kacy throws body shots but Indi knees low. Indi whips and scoops Kacy for a sidewalk slam! Cover, TWO!
Indi keeps on Kacy by pulling her hair. Tag to Candice, they mug Kacy and Candice brings Kacy up to scoop and slam! Candice grins but fans rally for Kacy. Candice steps up but Kacy moves to avoid the senton! Kacy hurries over, hot tag to Kayden! Kayden rallies on Candice with clotheslines and she BOOTS Indi down! Kayden gets Candice in a hammerlock and CLUBS away on Candice’s chest! Then she COMPLETE SHOTS Candice down! Indi runs in but Kayden dodges to dropkick her down! The ref reprimands Indi, Indi bails out and Kacy LEAPS to wipe her out! Kayden SUPERKICKS Candice and covers, TWO!
Candice flounders, Kayden runs but misses the boot wash! Candice throws Kayden down by her hair, then hits a BRAIN BUSTER! Candice drags Kayden up by her hair, Indi keeps Kacy away, and Indi BOOTS Kacy down! WICKED STEP SISTER!! Cover, Candice and Indi win!
Winners: Candice LeRae & Indi Hartwell, by pinfall
The Johnny Gargano Way at least gets something tonight! Will Candice and Indi recruit two more to their cause in order to fight off Shotzi at WarGames?
NXT hears from Arturo Ruas.
“Fear made me understand how to survive.” Ruas is Destrucao Total, Total Destruction! And he’s back in NXT, next!
Arturo Ruas VS KUSHIDA!
Talk about interesting timing, as Ruas returns to NXT and faces a man also very skilled, and these days, very aggressive. Will the Time Splitter look to send Ruas Back to the Future?
The bell rings and the two feel out the grapple very fast. Ruas gets a leg, then a waistlock, Kushida pries at the hold but Ruas quickly shifts to go after the arm. Kushida gets through the leg block and to his feet but Ruas reels Kushida in by a leg. Kushida kicks Ruas away then gets up to knuckle lock with Ruas. Ruas gets a leg again, then drags Kushida down to go after an arm. Kushida fights up as Ruas tries to use the Kimura! Kushida throws body shots, powers the grip off but Ruas knees low and hard! Kushida KICKS and KICKS back, and has Ruas in a corner! Ruas puts Kushida on the apron but Kushida forearms back! Ruas KNEES Kushida then drags him back in.
Kushida throws big forearms but Ruas body shots and wrings the arm out! Ruas roars, grabs the arm and throws elbows into the elbow! Ruas wrenches, Kushida resists but Ruas wrangles him down. We cut to McKenzie backstage as she says NXT Champion, Finn Balor, has yet to arrive. Regal’s thoughts on Balor’s plans were rather vague, and would only say that “once Finn gets here, he’ll have all the time he needs to address the NXT Universe tonight.” Will Balor need only a few moments or a long stretch of time to tell us everything we need to know?
In the match, Kushida fights up, throws body shots but Ruas wrangles him down again with a chinbar! Cover, ONE! Ruas paces, looms over Kushida and gets the arm to twist the wrist and pull fingers! Ruas SLAMS the arm into the mat, but Kushida gets up to CHOP! And CHOP! And CHOP! Ruas KICKS a leg, gets the arm and uses the wristlock for a takedown! Kushida resists the Kimura attempt, spins around and fans rally as he fights to his feet. Kushida throws body shots, haymakers, but Ruas KNEES hard again! Ruas whips Kushida corner to corner, Kushida comes back to dropkick the legs out! And PENALTY KICK the arm! ENZIGURI! Kushida whips Ruas to hip toss, cartwheel and basement dropkick! Cover, TWO!
Kushida keeps close and grabs the arm to wrench and stand on, to then STOMP! Ruas blocks the Buzzsaw then Eddy Gordo Kicks! Ruas waistlocks, Kushida resists and switches but Ruas elbows out hard! Kushida grabs Ruas in body scissors and wants his own Kimura! Ruas resists but Kushida keeps putting on pressure! Ruas powers Kushida up and over, Kushida waistlocks but Ruas goes to drop toehold. Kushida blocks to make it a figure four cradle! Kushida wins!!
Winner: Kushida, by pinfall
Ruas did not pull off Destrucao Total, and Kushida snatches quite the victory! Will Ruas want a rematch once he’s cooled off? Will Kushida be heading for a title instead?
Backstage interview with Ember Moon & Toni Storm.
They’re teaming up for the first time ever, but clearly the tag match is about the issues Ember’s had with Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez. That’s an understatement. Dakota is perhaps one of the best women in NXT, but for some reason she uses the cop-out that is Raquel, and we’re sick of it. “It’s time Captain Kick and Big Tex get theirs.” And no better way to do it than with Ember’s girl, Toni Storm! Toni is glad to be teaming with Ember tonight, as they’ve both fallen victim to the numbers game. And it stops tonight! But remember: when it comes to the NXT Women’s Championship, there can only be one. Oh you. Let’s just focus on tonight, and then worry about the title later. Deal? Deal. Will the Moon and Storm combine to completely eclipse #CapKota and #BigMamiCool?
NXT superstars weigh in on Shirai VS Ripley.
Ember says it could go either way, but she’ll go with Shirai. Grimes is also on Team Io, but the Road Dogg is Team Rhea, “because this is her brutality~!” HBK is also Team Rhea, but Ciampa is Shirai. Priest says his “little homie” Io takes this. “She’s found a new gear that honestly, I don’t think will ever be stopped.” Kushida also says Shirai, for she is the best, and this is her time! Timothy Thatcher says Shirai. HHH says this could go “down to the wire,” but in the end, it’ll be Rhea. Will we hear “and NEW” or “and STILL” later tonight?
Toni Storm & Ember Moon VS Dakota Kai & Raquel Gonzalez!
NXT returns as Dakota and Raquel are already in the ring. They’ve been able to take advantage of numbers and the element of surprise, but will that all be thrown out the window now that they’re against the evolved Ember and new Toni Storm?
Dakota and Raquel keep rushing the ropes to keep Ember and Toni out, but the ref has them stay back. Toni and Ember get in, teams sort out, and Toni starts with Raquel. They tie up, Raquel throws Toni down and says she’s not ready. Toni runs in but gets run over! Raquel drags Toni up, tags Dakota in and then Raquel whips Toni into the corner for Dakota’s BOOT WASH! Cover, ONE! Dakota clubs Toni but fans rally for Toni. Dakota runs Toni to a corner for a buckle bump, then she digs her boot in! The ref counts, Dakota stops at 3, and then she pie faces and scuffs Toni. Dakota drags Toni to a cover, ONE!
Dakota keeps on Toni but Toni atomic drops back! And CHOPS! Toni whips, Dakota reverses but Toni redirects to basement dropkick! Toni drags Dakota up and snap suplexes her down! Cover, TWO! Toni drags Dakota back up, Dakota throws body shots, then CLUBS Toni on the back. Dakota snapmares Toni, runs and kicks, but Toni blocks to trip Dakota! Toni brings Dakota up, tags Ember, and then whips Dakota into Ember’s clothesline! Raquel runs in but Ember dropkicks her down! Ember and Toni work together, and they double clothesline Raquel out! Ember and Toni are rocking as NXT goes picture in picture!
Ember spots Dakota on the outside and fetches her into the ring. Ember stalks Dakota, brings her up by her hair, but Dakota jawbreakers back! Toni tags in, drags Dakota up and throws European Uppercuts! Dakota flounders, Toni brings her back around for another EuroUpper! Cover, TOW! Raquel creeps over but the ref has her go back. Toni drags Dakota around, brings her up, but Dakota fights. Toni still half hatches Dakota down! Cover, TWO! Toni keeps close to Dakota, brings her around but Dakota shoves her away to SCORPION KICK her down! Cover, TWO! Dakota keeps her focus as she drags Toni up and over to the corner. Tag to Raquel and Raquel stomps a mudhole in!
Raquel drags Toni back up, scoops and swings Toni for a SLAM! Cover, TWO! Raquel drags Toni into a thrashing chinlock! Toni endures, Raquel squeezes tight, traps an arm and shifts to a chinbar. Raquel grinds a forearm in Toni’s face but lets off as the ref reprimands. Toni fights up but Raquel throws her down by her hair! Raquel drags Toni back up, bumps her off buckles, and tags in Dakota. Dakota stomps a mudhole in, then tags Raquel. Raquel stomps, then drags Toni up to scoop. Toni slips out but Raquel CLOBBERS her down! Cover, TWO! Raquel keeps Toni down with a keylock, but Toni fights up as fans rally. Raquel wrangles Toni back down, but Toni fights up again.
NXT returns to single picture as Raquel whips Toni to ropes and CLUBS her on the back! Ember coaches Toni but Raquel whips and CLUBS Toni again! Raquel goes for a third but Toni holds ropes to elbow back! Toni runs to tilt-o-whirl and headscissor Raquel away! Hot tag to Ember! Ember rallies on Raquel with sobat, kick and forearm! Ember DECKS Dakota, too! Ember runs and STOMPS Raquel down then drops a senton! Fans fire up as Ember SUPERKICKS Raquel to a corner! Ember brings Raquel up but Raquel blocks the whip to whip Ember to a corner. Ember goes right up and hits a FLYING CODE BREAKER! Cover, Dakota breaks it!
Dakota gets away but Ember glares at her. Ember gives chase but Raquel BOOTS Ember down! The ref reprimands Dakota and Raquel but Raquel drags Ember up. Raquel scoops Ember up to drop on the apron! Raquel puts Ember in, covers, TWO! Raquel seethes but fans rally up. Raquel gut wrenches Ember to the Canadian rack, and to the Gory Especial stretch! Ember endures being bent back, powers up but Raquel has the chinlock. Ember flips out of the hold, sends Raquel tumbling out, and then heads for her corner! But Raquel gets in to POUNCE Ember away! Cover, TWO!! Ember survives and Raquel is furious!
Raquel whips Ember to the corner, tags in Dakota, and Dakota snapmares to cover. ONE, but Dakota laughs then swings on Toni! Ember reaches up to headscissor Dakota away! Hot tag to Toni! Toni rallies on Dakota, whips but Dakota reverses. Toni slips around to GERMAN SUPLEX! Fans fire up as Toni drags Dakota up for another GERMAN! Toni isn’t done, she drags Dakota back up. Dakota elbows Toni but can’t get free, Toni hits the THIRD GERMAN! Fans fire up, Toni HIP ATTACKS Dakota in the corner! Then fisherman for the PERFECT PLEX! Cover, but Raquel breaks it! Toni HEADBUTTS Raquel, Ember runs in to tilt-o-whirl DDT! Dakota SUPERKICKS Ember then aims for Toni.
Toni and Dakota both throw forearms at the same time! Neither falls so they throw forearms again! And then double clotheslines take them both down! Everyone is down, but inside and outside the ring! Fans fire up as Dakota and Toni get up again. Dakota throws a forearm, Toni returns it, and repeat! Toni fires off forearms and an uppercut! Toni runs, Dakota goes Around the World and BOOTS Toni first! Dakota keeps moving, but Toni BOOTS back! Dakota flounders to ropes, Toni runs in but is put on the apron! Toni shoulders back, knees, but Ember spots Raquel sneaking up on Toni! The ref keeps Ember away, so he totally misses Raquel POSTING Toni! Ember still DIVES and sends Raquel into the desk!
Dakota flounders over, drags Toni around but Toni cradles! Toni and Ember win!!
Winners: Toni Storm & Ember Moon, by pinfall
Numbers and tricks didn’t work this time! Toni and Ember get the better of #CobraKai, but then Candice and Indi attack!? Indi sends Ember into steel steps while Candice puts Toni in the ring for Dakota! Dakota BOOTS Toni down! Raquel gets Ember for the BIG MAMI SLAM! Then they set Toni up for a BIG MAMI SLAM herself! Has Candice found the other two for her WarGames team? Will Toni and Ember sign up for Team Shotzi because of this?
The Kings of NXT arrive!
Pat McAfee says “The show has arrived. We heard that the champ is addressing the crowd. Here’s four guys that are interested in what he has to say.” McAfee leads Pete Dunne, Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch in, will the kings get in the Prince’s way later tonight?
Timothy Thatcher VS August Grey!
Before his run-in with Dexter Lumis, the Professor of Pain was going after #RetroAG to see if he was really a “tough guy.” Will Thatch As Thatch Can teach Grey another painful lesson?
The bell rings and Grey rushes Thatcher, only to be slowed down by Thatcher throwing his jacket at him! Thatcher and Grey go back to brawling, and Grey gest the edge! Grey throws body shots then ROCKS Thatcher with a left! Grey dares Thatcher to get up, Thatcher snarls, but he runs into chicken wings! They fight for backslide control and Grey gets Thatcher down, TWO! Thatcher clinches and BELLY2BELLY SUPLEXES Grey hard! Thatcher kicks Grey just as hard in the back, then snarls as he looms over the “tough guy.” Thatcher smothers Grey with a crossface style chinlock. Grey fights up but Thatcher DECKS him with the EuroUpper! Cover, ONE!
Grey gets to a corner, Thatcher stomps away but lets off at the ref’s count. Thatcher drags Grey up, hammerlocks him against ropes, and CLUBS him in the gut! Thatcher brings Grey up for a hard half hatch! Cover, TWO! But Thatcher has a half nelson to keep Grey down, then he smothers him with his other hand! The ref counts, Thatcher lets off the choke, and covers, ONE! Thatcher clubs Grey, throws EuroUppers, and then more! Grey throws haymakers and CHOPS back! Thatcher EuroUppers, Grey wobbles and falls back! Thatcher RAMS his knee into Grey’s back then goes after the arm! Grey holds off the wristlock but Thatcher grins as he throws a body shot hard into the side!
Thatcher drags Grey up to rock him with another EuroUpper! Grey elbows back, boots but Thatcher catches to knee the thigh! Thatcher clamps on with a heel hook but Grey kicks and kicks and kicks until he’s free! Thatcher snarls but walks into a HARD right hand! Grey keeps firing off fists but Thatcher grabs ears! Thatcher throws Grey to the apron, Grey lands safe to SUPERKICK back! Grey goes up top, tight ropes and springboards, into a EuroUpper! Thatcher drags Grey back up, butterfly suplex! Thatcher drags Grey up by his beard, and tells the “tough guy” it’s done! GROVIT GUILLOTINE! Grey taps, Thatcher wins!
Winner: Timothy Thatcher, by submission
Thatcher surprisingly lets go fast, because the lesson was learned. Thatcher kneels by Grey to says that was another lesson in Thatch As Thatch Can: Don’t pick a fight with someone you can’t beat. But Thatcher doesn’t think Grey’s learned, so he puts on another Grovit! But here comes Tommaso Ciampa?! Ciampa stares Thatcher down, and it seems Ciampa’s mission to sift out the truly tough versus the loudmouths has turned to Thatcher. The two stare down, fans chant, “Daddy’s Home!” Thatcher says he has no problem with Ciampa. Thatcher slowly exits the ring, but will he have to put up or shut up with the Psycho Killer?
Backstage interview with Ciampa.
McKenzie asks what his confrontation with Thatcher was about. “What do you think? I tried to make it obvious. I want to fight Thatcher.” Simple as that! Will Ciampa get that fight?
Damian Priest VS ???
The Archer of Infamy got involved with the North American Championship match for reasons mostly his own, but will he earn his own way back to the title tonight?
Wait, Gargano comes outta nowhere to shove Priest into boards! And then throw haymakers! Gargano is getting his revenge on Priest as they fight into the ring! Priest knees back, but Gargano kicks low. Gargano fires off more haymakers but Priest tosses Gargano to a corner! Priest fires off body shots and ROCKS Gargano with a right! Gargano staggers around, but enziguris back! Gargano walks into a kick, kick and ROLLING ELBOW! Gargano flounders out but Priest pursues! Priest bumps Gargano off the desk, then clears the desk off! Priest drags Gargano up and slams him onto the desk, to then rain down furious forearms! Gargano kicks Priest away, gets up and FLYING FOREARMS back!
Gargano hurries to finish clearing the desk but Priest BOOTS him back! Priest drags Gargano up to put in the ring, then he grabs a chair! Priest goes to the ring, Ruff runs in but Gargano dodges, and the dropkick hits Priest! Ruff dodges Gargano, to tilt-o-whirl Gargano into Priest! Ruff SUPERKICKS Gargano down! Priest gets in, Ruff realizes what he did, and he starts backing up. Priest kicks but Ruff moves, and Priest gets stuck on the top rope! Ruff dodges Gargano, Priest grabs Gargano in a choke grip, but Ruff dropkicks Gargano into Priest! Priest tumbles down and Ruff dumps Gargano out onto him!
Fans fire up as Ruff has proven he can hold his own against two top contenders! But then Ruff sees that they’re both glaring at him. Ruff bails out and runs away! The title is still Ruff’s, and Priest shoves Gargano out of the ring! Will this be settled between all three men soon enough?
Mr. Regal visits Boa.
Regal is concerned because Boa hasn’t reported in at all since last week! What’s he been doing? Boa says he can’t do training at the PC. Why not? He has to come to the Performance Center some time. Boa says “she” is coming, but Regal asks who he means. Does he mean Xia Li? Where has she been, by the way? She hasn’t been seen for two weeks! Boa says Xia is hiding from “her.” What is going on here? Does this have to do with the man known simply as “Shifu” that we saw last week?
NXT Media catches up with Leon Ruff.
But Regal gets in his way first. Does Ruff have any idea what he’s doing? He does! Everyone in NXT thinks he’s a joke, a punchline. But Ruff will face BOTH Gargano and Priest if he has to! The biggest underdog in NXT is aiming high, but will he come crashing down in a match like that?
NXT Women’s Championship: Io Shirai VS Rhea Ripley!
The Evil Genius took the title at TakeOver: In Your House, but that was against both the Aussie Nightmare and the Queen of WWE, Charlotte Flair, in a Triple Threat. Will Shirai be able to retain when it’s 1v1? Or will Rhea join the rarified air that is the two-time champions club?
The introductions are made, tensions grow while the belt is raised, and this main event worthy of its own TakeOver begins!
Rhea and Shirai circle as fans fire up already. They tie up, Rhea throws Shira down then slaps her around. Rhea says Shirai’s the one who called her out, “You think you can stand in the ring with me?” They circle and tie up, Shirai gets around to kick Rhea’s leg out, then she returns that head slap. Rhea gets up and ties up with Shirai. Rhea powers Shirai to a corner, but Shirai goes up and around to arm-drag Rhea way! Shirai runs, dodges and handsprings! Rhea gets clear but Shirai dropkicks her down! Shirai throws forearms and CHOPS, then whips her corner to corner. Rhea reverses, Shirai goes up but slips a little. Rhea scoops Shirai but Shirai sunset flips. Rhea drags Shirai back up and whips her, then follows to run her over!
Rhea dusts herself off, letting the “dust” fall on Shirai. Rhea runs, Shirai stays low and hurdles! Rhea comes back, Shirai kicks but Rhea blocks. Rhea flips Shirai, Shirai lands on her feet, and throws a forearm back! McKenzie pops in again to let us know Finn is moments away and will speak as soon as this title match is over. Shirai dropkicks Rhea out of the ring and then fires up as she builds speed. Rhea ROCKS Shirai first, then drags Shirai out to an Electric Chair lift! Rhea SLAMS Shirai on the apron! The champ is down while NXT goes picture in picture.
Rhea drags Shirai back up, puts her in the ring, then takes her time soaking up the cheers and jeers. The ref checks on Shirai, that apron slam might’ve really rocked her. Rhea shrugs and says something about this is why she should be champ again. Shirai gets to a corner, she says she’s okay to continue, so Rhea drags her up to throw body shots! The ref still wants Rhea to stay back, because he needs to know if Shirai is okay. Shirai insists she is, but her leaning on the ropes might say otherwise. Rhea paces, grows impatient, but the ref tells her she needs to stay back. Rhea goes to the corner to soak up more cheers and jeers, but now medics are checking on Shirai. What happens if a concussion ends this match?
Rhea paces, looks to the crowd, who are rallying up either way. Rhea wants this to hurry up either way, but concussion protocol is serious business. Rhea sits on the top rope while she waits, talks some trash at the same time, and Shirai seems to clear the check. The ref still wants Rhea to wait a minute so Shirai can steady herself. Shirai gets up to throw forearms on Rhea! Rhea throws body shots back, then brings Shirai up to CLUB her down! Rhea looms over Shirai, drags her up by her gear, then straddle attacks her back down. Rhea wraps Shirai up in body scissors to squeeze!
NXT returns to single picture as fans rally. Shirai fights with elbows, turns around and throws more forearms! Shirai fires off on Rhea with fury! Shirai gets free and goes to a corner. Rhea ends up in the other corner, Shirai runs in, but Rhea moves! The Shinkansen hits buckles, and then Rhea back suplexes to SLAM Shirai face first! Rhea stomps Shirai down, dares her to get up, and fans rally up. Rhea brings Shirai up, suplexes and holds her, but Shirai cradle counters! Rhea rocks it back and dead lift suplexes to SLAM Shirai down! Cover, TWO!! Shirai survives but barely! Rhea keeps her focus and she drags Shirai up.
Finn Balor is spotted in the parking lot while Rhea puts Shirai in a seated cobra twist! Shirai endures as Rhea clamps on with a hand to the ribs! Fans rally, Shirai fights up and out, then throws body shots. Shirai powers Rhea to a corner, Rhea CLUBS Shirai back! Rhea hoists Shirai to the top rope and ROCKS her with a haymaker! Rhea climbs up to join Shirai, brings her up to the very top, but Shirai fights out and slips under! Shirai dodges the punch, bumps Rhea off buckles, then hops up to SUPER GERMAN SUPLEX! Fans are thunderous as both women are down! Shirai and Rhea stir, again go to opposite corners, and Shirai runs in to hit a back elbow!
Shirai underhooks but Rhea back drops , only for Shirai to land on her feet! SHOTEI! Wheelbarrow and victory roll to STOMPS! Shirai drags Rhea back up then runs, to basement dropkick! Cover, TWO!! Rhea’s ear is busted open from that shot! Shirai shows no mercy and goes after that side with a CROSSFACE! Rhea endures, moves as best as she can, rolls to a cover, TWO! Rhea BOOTS Shirai down! Rhea checks her lip but that’s not what’s bleeding. She checks her and finds plenty of blood, that she then turns into war paint on her cheek. Rhea drags Shirai up, but Shirai hits an ELBOW BREAKER! And another, and another, and another! Shirai hits an ARMBAR DDT!
Rhea crawls to ropes, shakes the bad arm, but Shirai runs to dropkick the arm! Rhea is clutching her elbow but she refuses to let this end here! Rhea scoops Shirai, but Shirai gets to the apron! Shirai ducks a punch to hotshot the arm! Rhea writhes but Shirai has the arm to slam it over and over on the apron! Rhea refuses to quit but she’s on the apron with Shirai. Rhea throws haymakers with the good arm but Shirai returns the favor. Shirai then has the bad, and there’s a moment of fear on Rhea’s face! Shirai wrings the arm into the apron! Rhea slumps down, shielding the bad arm, but Shirai is right after it again! Shirai throws Rhea into the steel steps, bad arm first! Rhea shouts in pain but NXT goes back to picture in picture!
Shirai catches her breath while Rhea writhes. Shirai CLUBS Rhea, goes after the bad arm again, and has a Disarm-Her! The ref counts, this won’t matter outside the ring anyway! Shirai lets Rhea go and now the ref checks Rhea. Rhea refuses to quit, and she manages to stand. Rhea gets in, Shirai is after the bad arm with a stomp! Shirai is after the arm and grinds it down with an armlock. Rhea endures, fights her way up, but Shirai BOOTS her down! Shirai covers, ONE, but she’s after the arm again! Rhea does her best to resist but Shirai stomps her! Shirai slams the arm down on the mat, then goes up top! Rhea trips Shirai up first! Rhea grits her teeth through the pain and she ROCKS Shirai with a right!
Rhea climbs up to join Shirai, works to get the bad arm moving, but she clubs away with the good arm! Shirai holds onto Rhea but Rhea brings Shirai up. Shirai fights the superplex off again but Rhea clubs away with the good arm! Rhea brings Shirai back up, and NXT returns to single picture as Rhea hits the SUPERPLEX! But she can’t make the cover right away! She has to crawl over, covers with one good arm, TWO!! Shirai survives and Rhea is beside herself! “This is Awesome!” but far from over! Rhea grits her teeth and she drags Shirai up. Shirai throws a haymaker, Rhea gives it back. They throw forearms as they stand, and fans fire up!
Shirai fires up to throw right hand after right hand, but Rhea spins her for a cravat and knee after knee after knee! Rhea snapmares and runs to basement dropkick Shirai down! Cover, TWO! Rhea scowls as she gets back up and looms over Shirai. Rhea gets the legs, ties them up, and with one good arm puts on the PRISM TRAP! Shirai endures, but Rhea SWINGS Shirai and SLAMS her down! Shirai endures as Rhea uses leverage to put on pressure! Shirai crawls, reaches, claws at the mat, and gets the ropebreak! Rhea lets go at 4, then gets up in frustration. Rhea drags Shirai up, pump handles, but Shirai slips around Riptide for an ARMBAR!!
Rhea clasps hands for dear life, but Shirai clubs the bad arm! Rhea moves around, makes it a cover, ONE as Rhea dead lifts, but it’s not enough! Shirai gets Rhea back down, but Rhea gets her legs on the rope! The ref counts, Shirai lets go at 3 and Rhea is free. Shirai runs in, but Rhea ducks the tiger feint! And even the basement feint! But Shirai fires off SHOTEI after SHOTEI after SHOTEI! Rhea flounders onto ropes, Shirai dials it up, TIGER FEINT! Shirai goes up top as Rhea flounders, and Shirai LEAPS, to missile dropkick! Cover, TWO!! Rhea survives and Shirai can’t believe it! But fans rally back up as Rhea goes to a corner. Shirai runs in, SHINKANSEN!
Rhea is in a drop zone, Shirai goes up top, OVER THE MOON- NO! Rhea moves and then LARIATS! Cover, TWO!! Shirai is still in this and Rhea is losing her cool! Rhea stomps Shirai, drags her back up and tries the pump handle again. Shirai turns it into a DDT! Both women are down again and fans are loving this! Rhea gets to the apron, Shirai sees her and runs over, to SUNSET FLIP POWERBOMB Rhea through the announce desk!!! Fans lose their minds seeing that one! Shirai gets up and leaves Rhea behind in the wreckage. Rhea crawls as the ring count is past 5! It’s 8! Rhea is up at 9 and in at 9.9! But Shirai is OVER THE MOONSAULT! Cover, Shirai wins!!
Winner: Io Shirai, by pinfall (still NXT Women’s Champion)
MAGNIFICENT! Shirai and Rhea put everything into this match, including some literal blood, sweat and tears! But in the end, the Evil Genius found a solution to keep the title. And they show each other respect with both handshake and hug! Will Shirai’s reign only grow more historic after this?
Finn Balor is here!
From Women’s Champion to the TOP Champion, “First thing’s first! Io Shirai, congratulations.” But time to get down to business. The last time we saw Finn, he defended his title with his jaw broken in two places. And here he stands before us, three plates in his jaw that say he is a bad son of a- But then McAfee has to go and interrupt! “Excuse me, Mr. Broken Jaw Man. Oh I’m sorry, the Prince.” Or maybe princess? But a lot has happened while Finn was sipping steak smoothies with his jaw wired shut the last six weeks. Finn is in their house now. And he doesn’t watch the industry, the industry watches him.
But while he was sitting at home, nursing that jaw with the wife, he had to have seen what was going on. Drake Maverick, “the tiny little good hair having, bad dancing son of a bit*h, and his Shrek looking friend, DEAD, because of us.” Dunne BOOM kicked the car door into the big hairy bastard’s head! Then Breezango, the NXT Tag Team Champions, dun dun, dun dun- Dunne stops McAfee from doing the Dango. Right, sorry. Breezango: DEAD! They’re the champs now! “Greatest tag team on the entire planet earth and the moon” are Oney and Danny! The Undisputed Era, the group that broke Finn’s jaw, Adam Cole BAYBAY: DEAD! Cauliflower O’Reilly: DEAD! Roddy Strong: DEAD! Stooge McGee Mustache Robert Fish: DEAD! All because of them.
Now Finn is back, his belt on his shoulder, with everyone talking about “What is Finn gonna say? What is Finn gonna do?” As McAfee goes on and on, Dunne has Oney and Danny flank the ring. McAfee tells Finn what he’s going to do. Finn has respect for the business, for NXT, and for Ireland. “You’re gonna hand that title over to the group of men that have been running the show from top to bottom for the last few weeks!” Or else, Finn ends up like the others: DEAD! Finn tells Pat that it’s easy for the mice to play when the cat’s away. But the cat is back. And look what he’s dragged in. “SHOCK! THE SYSTEM!” The Undisputed Era isn’t dead, they’re here! And they rush the ring! They brawl with the Kings!
Kyle has Dunne, Fish has Burch, Strong has Oney and Cole of course has McAfee!! The CWC is all fired up! Dunne whiffs on an enziguri on Kyle, Strong drags Oney out and Fish kicks Burch out! Cole pursues McAfee to BOOT him down!! Dunne clobbers Kyle with a forearm but Kyle comes back to kick and forearm! Cole BOOTS McAfee again! Oney throws Strong into boards, Dunne has Kyle in a wristlock, but Kyle throws body shots! Fish still has Burch in the ring and Cole throws McAfee into boards! The chaos continues but NXT has to go off the air!! Will this battle be put to bed by next week?
My Thoughts:
What an amazing episode! The story of Leon Ruff as NXT North American Champion is great stuff and it really only just started. It was incredibly clever for Priest to use Champion’s Advantage against Gargano, but it makes perfect sense that Ruff would take offense. Ruff has a point that if he can’t win it alone, he shouldn’t win it at all. A Triple Threat of Ruff, Gargano and Priest is going to be a lot of fun, especially since much of it will be Ruff just trying not to lose. Grimes VS Lumis in a blindfold match was pretty hilarious stuff, and clearly these two are not done. Perhaps they’ll bring a stipulation like a bull rope or strap match into this so that Grimes can’t run away and must “overcome” his fear somehow.
Ruas VS Kushida was a great match, even if there wasn’t anything to it other than Ruas’ return to NXT. Kushida gets a great win but Ruas doesn’t look half bad, and at the very least, the North American Championship has plenty more contenders now. August Grey looked great even in losing against Timothy Thatcher, and I suppose Ciampa’s promos could be seen as applying to Thatcher. Thatcher is tough, but he hasn’t been facing tough opponents since Matt Riddle or the NXT North American Championship series. Ciampa VS Thatcher is going to be incredible either way, and can be used to bide time while Finn’s health isn’t actually known in kayfabe.
Speaking of, Finn’s segment coming in right after the amazing women’s title match to set up Kings of NXT and Undisputed Era in that brawl was a clever way of smoothing over Finn’s announcement of his health. It’s pretty clear Finn is staying NXT Champion, he was talking about being a tough SOB and tough SOB’s don’t give up titles. McAfee had a really good promo, the brawl was amazing, and as announced on WWE’s Twitter, IT IS HAPPENING! Kings of NXT VS Undisputed Era, in a WARGAMES MATCH! Not quite the way I was hoping it’d be announced, but since it was obvious, it’s good to get it.
And speaking of, the women are getting their won, Team Shotzi VS Team Candice. Candice and Indi had a really good match with KC Squared, but their attack after Toni & Ember VS Dakota & Raquel makes it clear who is teaming with who now. Candice, Indi, Dakota & Raquel VS Shotzi, Ember, Toni, and I’m going with Rhea. Shirai VS Rhea was an amazing match, truly TakeOver worthy, and it makes a lot of sense that Shirai retains. And Rhea joining Shotzi makes sense given Rhea’s own history with Dakota, Raquel and even Candice. Rhea and Candice won a WarGames together, now they’ll face each other in one, that’s going to be a lot of fun.
My Score: 9.3/10
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Cero Miedo on Cinco de Mayo!
Penta made sure Judgment Day didn’t win the WWE World Tag Team Championships, and now he’ll make JD McDonagh pay for the WrestleMania screwjob!
OFFICIAL RESULTS
- PENTA VS JD McDonagh w/ The Judgment Day; Penta wins.
- Austin Theory w/ Grayson Waller VS Sheamus; Sheamus wins.
- Iyo Sky VS Roxanne Perez; Iyo wins.
- Rusev VS Otis w/ Akira Tozawa & Maxxine Dupri; Rusev wins.
- WWE World Heavyweight Championship: Jey Uso VS Seth Rollins w/ Paul Heyman & Bron Breakker; Rollins wins by disqualification, Jey retains the title.
PLAY BY PLAY
Jey Uso is in the concourse.
The fans are all fired up as the WWE World Heavyweight Champion makes his way out into the crowd! Omaha, Nebraska all YEET along, and even Pat McAfee does, no concern for what Gunther might think. Jey high-fives fans on his way to the ground level, high-fives some more fans on the way to ringside, and Jey daps it up with Pat & Cole. Jey then goes to the ring, and the fans continue to bounce while singing along with Day One Ish! Jey then gets a mic while the fans cheer. Omaha even says, “One More Time! One More Time!” Jey thinks about it, and he figures why not! YEET! Jey and the fans bounce again, then Jey goes back to the mic.
Jey says, “The World Heavyweight Champion, Main Event Jey Uso, is now in your citaaay~!” The fans cheer, and Jey says look. He’s here. He knows Logan Paul’s here. So let’s just stand on business tonight! Where you at, Logan!? But instead, “Ladies and gentlemen…” The Wise Man walks out on stage! The fans boo as Paul Heyman continues his introduction, and he says he cam here tonight not to disrespect the World Heavyweight Champion, Main Event Jey Uso. But he dragged himself all the way to Omaha, Nebraska because he wanted to say something straight to the face of the World Heavyweight Champion, Main Event Jey Uso.
Jey tells OG Heyman, “You got a lotta balls stepping to me after what you just did to my family.” Heyman says wow, Jey is going to lecture Heyman about betraying their Tribal Chief, Roman Reigns? Jey says yeah, he’ll talk to Heyman. Day one, Jey saw past him. He warned Roman about him, and he warned CM Punk about him! Well, a shame that no one warned Heyman. Warned him about his best friend, his BFF, his brother in arms, CM Punk. And while he’s at it, keep your damn boos to yourselves while he’s on the mic! Not one of these fans, or Jey, had to live through what Heyman did.
Heyman’s best friend, CM Punk, put him in a position that 100% absolutely guaranteed it would sabotage him! The fans chant for Punk and Heyman mocks them for it. “They chant his name because they don’t know what’s in the dark heart of that man.” Punk put Heyman in a guaranteed lose-lose situation with Roman Reigns. And let’s talk about Roman Reigns for a minute! The fans chant for “O T C!” and Heyman sighs. Heyman says he had a dream with his best friend, CM Punk, while Roman was still playing high school football. Long before Roman thought about following in his father’s footsteps into pro-wrestling.
And while Heyman helped Punk overcome adversity, what’d Roman think he was going to do? Sell him out to Punk? Why? After Heyman built the Bloodline for five years, why would he do that?! The fans boo more but Heyman sighs again. Heyman found a “stray big dog on the island of irrelevancy, and I turned him into the Tribal Chief and the ruler of the WWE Universe. We were the Undisputed WWE Champion for 1,316 days! And I’m not the one that blew it by getting beat by Cody Rhodes after being distracted by Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 40! HE lost the title! HE lost the title that I spent five years of my life building him up as the champion!
And then what’d he do? He disappeared. He went back to being a big dog licking his big wounds, and left me in the hands of Solo, and Jacob Fatu and those Tongans, who put me through a table at Madison Square Garden and almost ended MY 40 year career. And he didn’t come back toa venge me, he came back to get his ula fala back! But I betrayed Roman Reigns, right? I betrayed Roman Reigns, who couldn’t handle the fact that I just wanted to help out my best friend live out his dream! No, it’s always Paul Heyman! I’m always the liar! I’m always at fault! I’m the betrayer, I’m the double crosser, I’m always the freakin’ scumbag in this situation! NOT THIS TIME! I’M RIGHT! I’M RIGHT! I’M IN THE RIGHT! And you blame me?! Screw you!! And screw each and every one of you for booing me!”
The fans boo more but Jey isn’t sure what to think. The fans chant “You Suck! You Suck!” and call Heyman an a-hole, but Jey takes a moment. Jey asks if Heyman is okay. In fact, is Heyman done? Jey has another question: What does this have to do with Jey? Heyman smirks and says that he does owe an apology. It has nothing to do with Jey. Not that part. He didn’t come out here to talk Roman and Punk. Here is the thing Heyman did come out here to talk with Jey. See, Jey won that title because he wanted that title> But that title is all about power and control. And honestly, Jey doesn’t know how to wield that. Jey doesn’t understand that!
Jey thinks coming out here to YEET with the audience and putting on the best in-ring performance is all it takes. But that’s not what this title is about. So while Jey needs in his heart and wants to be a champion… Seth Rollins has to be a champion. Rollins has to have that power, that control, and Bron Breakker… Well, that is just stage one of the plan. Stage two is the World Heavyweight Championship. But Heyman is out here tonight to do Jey a favor. And we all know how well Heyman’s favors work out> Jey gets to sign his own death warrant. Jey gets to chose the night he loses the World Heavyweight Championship.
Because Seth Rollins hereby challenges Jey to the World Heavyweight Championship! Rollins pinned Roman Reigns at WrestleMania, Rollins deserves to be #1 contender! Jey gets to pick the time and the place, because Rollins will fight Jey for that title any time, and any place. Heyman drops his mic then takes his leave. Jey tells Heyman to hold on, OG. Omaha, can you help him out? Jey asks if Heyman just said “any time,” and “any place,” “any where,” for the world title, against Seth Freakin’ Rollins? Then it’s on TONIGHT! FOUR LETTERS! ONE WORD! UH, UH… YEET!!
Jey had Logan Paul on his mind, but now he is daring the Visionary to put up or shut up! Will Jey turn the tables on Rollins? Or is Jey playing into Rollins’ hand?
Heyman returns backstage.
He finds Rollins & Bron, and Heyman smiles. Heyman says, “He fell for it> I cannot believe he fell for it! He wants to do the match tonight! You were so right!” Rollins asks you know what he loves. He loves to say< “I told you so.” And he tells Heyman, “I told you so.” Heyman says that is true. Bron says Seth Freakin’ Rollins, World Heavyweight Champion… Heyman asks if Bron understands what is going on. Roman Reigns prepared Seth Rollins at Mania, and Rollins pinned the biggest star in the main event. CM Punk prepared with unbridled passion for Rollins at Mania, and Rollins not only beat Roman & Punk, Roman & Punk lost to Rollins in the main event.
Jey Uso is a great champion, don’t take that away from him. He made Gunther tap out! Gunther! Jey is no easy day in the park. But Jey wasn’t focused on Rollins, he was distracted by Logan Paul! And now he has no time to prepare for Rollins. But Rollins is fully focused on Jey because there’s no one left. Rollins is a sniper, and he has Jey in his sights. And tonight, we get handed the keys to the kingdom when the ref hands that World Heavyweight Championship to Seth Freakin’ Rollins…! Bron can see the vision now, but will we all see Rollins burning down the YEET Era?
PENTA VS JD McDonagh w/ The Judgment Day!
The Intercontinental Championship Fatal 4 Way at WrestleMania only went well for “Dirty Dom” because he had an Irish Ace up his sleeve! JD is back, but will Penta make him pay for the part he played? Or will The Judgment Day be able to screw Penta over again?
Raw returns and JD is in the ring. The bell rings, JD and Penta circle while Carlito & Finn Balor watch from ringside. The fans rally for #CeroMiedo as Penta throws it up. But JD kicks low! JD headlocks for the takeover, but Penta headscissors. JD kips free, arm-drags and has the armlock. Penta headscissors again, JD kips free, and then he waistlocks. Penta ELBOWS free, runs, but JD drop toeholds! Penta avoids the basement dropkick, but JD avoids the Penalty Kick to roll Penta up! TWO and JD returns. Penta again avoids a kick but the STANDING MOONSAULT hits! Cover, TWO! Finn argues the count but JD CLUBS Penta.
JD stands Penta up to bump him off buckles, then he CHOPS! Penta CHOPS JD in return! And CHOPS again! Penta runs up to KICK JD’s leg out! The fans cheer while JD hobbles away. Penta CHOPS again, then KICKS the leg out again! The fans fire up with Penta while JD goes to another corner. Penta storms up, but JD puts him in the corner, only for Penta to dodges and CHOP! JD sputters, Penta swaggers, and Penta KICKS the legs out! Cover, TWO! Finn wants a timeout but there’s no such thing here. Penta drags JD up, whips him to a corner, but JD BOOTS in return! JD ELBOWS Penta down, then drags him up to bring him around.
Penta blocks the buckle bump, GAMANGIRIS, then CHOPS! JD leans back, Penta climbs, but JD SLAPS him! And SLAPS! JD shoves Penta down, kicks him, then goes to the apron. Penta blocks the boot, then ENZIGIRIS in return! The fans fire up, but Penta tells Finn to stay back. Finn says he’s just standing nearby. JD fireman’s carries Penta to APRON DEATH VALLEY! JD is in control and Raw goes to break.
Raw returns again and JD has Penta up top. JD pulls Penta into the Tree of Woe, then runs corner to corner, but Penta sits up! JD slides into the POST! Penta is free of the Tree, and then he runs to handstand and SWINGING DROPKICK! JD gets feet right to the face and Penta covers, TWO! JD stays in this but the fans rally behind Penta. Penta fires up, and he counter punches JD! Penta bobs ‘n’ weaves to CHOP, then ROCK JD! Penta fires forearm after forearm, whips, but JD reverses. Penta KICKS in return! Penta runs, ducks ‘n’ dodges, SLING-DOG! Cover, TWO! Penta hurries to stand JD back up and JAB!
Penta puts JD against the ropes to CHOP! The fans fire up and Penta whips. Penta scoops JD to BACKBREAKER! Cover, TWO! JD stays in this but Penta fires himself back up! The fans fire up but Finn distracts on the apron! That lets Carlito pull no Penta’s mask! Penta breaks free to GAMANGIRI! JD runs up but Penta TOSSES him out! Penta climbs, the fans fire up, “CERO! MIEDO!” SUPER CROSSBODY! Down go JD and Carlito! Finn freaks out but the fans rally up behind Penta. Penta puts JD in, but Finn creeps up! JD distracts the ref and Finn YANKS Penta down! Finn puts Penta in, but the ref DOES see it!
The fans fire up as the ref now EJECTS Finn & Carlito! The fans cheer whiel Finn & Carlito freak otu! They apologize, but it’s too late for that! Penta goes up a corner, but CHAD GABLE is here?! Gable grabs at Penta, Penta kicks him away, then Penta leaps over JD! Penta dodges JD to then FLY out onto Gable! Penta drags JD up but JD hits a JAWBREAKER! JD goes up, up, MOONSAULT FLOPS as Penta moves! MEXICAN DESTROYER!! Cover, Penta wins!!
Winner: Penta, by pinfall
Despite all the extra help on the outside, JD could not win! Cero Miedo is victorious, but when will Penta be Numero Uno?
Adam Pearce talks with Grayson Waller.
The Raw General Manager says the Aussie Icon wanted a match, so here’s his match. Yeah, but he didn’t know it’d be against him! Austin Theory finds Waller and Waller says good timing. Waller was talking with Pearce about how Waller’s been a bad friend to Theory, wanting a singles match for himself, but that’s selfish. Waller wants Theory to have the match, it’d be great for him. Okay, Theory is down! Pearce asks if Waller is serious, and Waller says he is! Well, if that’s what they want, fine. Theory has a singles match now. It’s official! Great! But who is it against? Uh, well, it’ll be better as a surprise, but they better get to the ring. #AllDay, remember?
Waller hurries away and Theory wonders what kind of surprise it could be. Well, everyone is wondering that. Who will Waller pass over to Theory to avoid getting brutalized?
Austin Theory w/ Grayson Waller VS ???
Raw returns as A-Town Down Under is already in the ring. And who is Theory’s opponent that was meant for Waller? It’s SHEAMUS! Monday Night Raw is once again Fight Night Raw as the Celtic Warrior is back again! Will Theory regret taking this banger?
The bell rings and the two circle. The fans rally, the two tie up, and Theory waistlocks. Sheamus throws Theory away and the fans cheer him on. Theory brushes that off, resets with Sheamus, and then Theory kicks low! Theory throws hands, puts Sheamus in a corner, but Sheamus ROCKS Theory! Sheamus UPPERCUTS, but Theory ELBOWS back! Sheamus fires a BODY SHOT, an UPPERCUT, then whips. Theory goes up and over, rolls, comes back, and he DROPKICKS Sheamus down! Waller says that’s his best friend right there! But then Sheamus CLOBBERS Theory! The fans fire up, and Sheamus storms up on Theory.
Theory ELBOWS Sheamus, whips, but Sheamus reverses to scoop, IRISH CURSE BACKBREAKER! The fans fire up as Sheamus says one more time! IRISH CURSE BACKBREAKER! Sheamus goes for the legs but Theory kicks at him! Theory reels Sheamus in and throws some hands, but Sheamus stomps Theory down! The fans cheer as Sheamus turns Theory over for a CLOVERLEAF! Theory crawls and has the ROPEBREAK! Sheamus lets go, Theory rolls out, and Waller checks on his friend. But Sheamus climbs up! SUPER FLYING LARIAT! Down goes Theory! The fans fire up, and Sheamus finds a fellow Ginger! The fans cheer more while Raw goes to break.
Raw returns again and the fans rally behind Sheamus. Theory CLUBS Sheamus and throws hands, but Sheamus shoves him and eggs him on! Theory BOOTS Sheamus, but Sheamus just eggs him on more! Theory runs, but into a scoop and POWERSLAM! Theory flounders to the apron and Sheamus storms his way over. Sheamus stands Theory up and Waller stays back, but Theory HOTSHOTS free! Theory slingshots and somersaults, but into the KNEE CAPPER! Cover, TWO! Theory survives but Sheamus stays cool. The fans rally while Sheamus catches his breath, and then Sheamus goes to the apron.
Sheamus glares at Waller, Waller backs away, and Sheamus climbs. Theory avoids the flying lariat but Sheamus comes back! Theory dodges and Sheamus POSTS himself! Theory SUPERKICKS, somersaults, and BLOCKBUSTERS! Cover, TWO! The fans fire up for Sheamus while Theory goes back outside. Theory checks his jaw, shakes out the stars, and Theory climbs. Sheamus ROCKS Theory, fires body shots, and Sheamus climbs. Sheamus brings Theory up, tucks him in, WHITE NOISE! The fans fire up and Sheamus smiles as he’s clearly enjoying this. “This is Awesome!” as Sheamus rises up again.
Waller coaches Theory as Theory crawls to the apron, but Theory asks why Waller did this to him! Sheamus stands Theory up, and the fans cheer on the BEATS OF THE BODHRAIN! The fans count along, Sheamus goes past TEN, and Theory slumps down at FOURTEEN! The fans fire up, Waller is worried, and Sheamus goes to a corner. The fans cheer Sheamus on, and we get a BROGUE! Cover, Sheamus wins!
Winner: Sheamus, by pinfall
The Celtic Warrior made quite the return, and Theory is surely regretting subbing in for Waller. Will A-Town Down Under have a meltdown because of this?
BREAKING NEWS for Backlash!
Penta was so close at WrestleMania, and he got through JD here tonight, so now he will be challenging Dominik Mysterio for the Intercontinental Championship!
Judgment Day regroups in the clubhouse.
They’ve clearly heard the news, and JD storms in asking what happened out there. The ref kicked them out? And why did Gable go out there? That wasn’t on any of them. JD says then Penta and Gable need to get it ASAP! Dom says Penta will be handled at Backlash, but as for Gable- Wait, who is this walking into the clubhouse? It’s A J STYLES! The Phenomenal One nods to Finn, Finn nods back, but Carlito asks how Styles even got here. Oh, R-Truth told him where they were. Plus, it wasn’t that hard to find. But he’s not here to fight or cause trouble. Styles just wants to give a friendly warning. Whether it is Dom or Penta, Styles is after that title.
Dom says whatever, old man. Wow, oh, so hurtful. But Styles tells Dom that it doesn’t matter who wins, he want the title! And then he’ll beat Dom up either way. Dom says this is crazy. Who knew being a champion was this hard. Penta, Styles, his hands are full! Wait, Finn has history with Styles. Can’t he handle Styles for Dom? Oh, what? Now Finn cleans up Dom’s messes for him? Nah, just messing with you. Finn’s got this. They fist bump, but will Judgment Day (not) hold it together without Liv around?
Chad Gable is backstage.
“Freakin’ luchadores. Bloody my nose?” The New Day walk over and Gable says it is not the time for this. Kofi Kingston says hold on, hold on, hear them out. They saw what went down, and that was awful. And they know that it is around time American Made got some respect around here. Xavier Woods says the War Raiders are already talking about getting a rematch, but New Day beat the bejeezus out of them, so that’s a no. What the New Day thinks is that opportunities need to start coming back to American Made. Gable likes what they’re saying. Give him some more ideas like that. But then Becky Lynch pushes through.
Woods tells The Man it was messed up how Lyra Valkyria treated her. Becky thanks him for that. Becky heads to the ring, what will she have to say here in Omaha?
Becky Lynch goes to the ring.
Omaha is torn as The Man has a mic in her hand. Becky says The Man has come around to Omaha, and she’s baffled by the bit of boos and “You Suck” chants she’s getting. Wait, wait, wait. She is very confused. The fans are treating her like she’s the bad guy here? No, she’s the victim! Okay, okay, she took out Bayley, fine. But when she came out to WrestleMania, everyone lost their minds! A woman in the crowd cried tears of joy! No one asked where Bayley was, because no one cared, Bayley is garbage! Becky took out the garbage! The fans were happy the garbage was taken out, but then Becky took credit for it and everyone got mad she took out the garbage!
That’s not what they should say when someone takes out the garbage! You tell that person, “Thank you for taking out the garbage! And what’s more than that, I also took out the recycling! Because that’s what Lyra is! She’s less offensive than garbage, but she’s still garbage! And what is garbage about her is her attitude. She doesn’t have a dream if it isn’t for me! She doesn’t have a title if it isn’t for me! She doesn’t make history if it isn’t for me! She doesn’t even have a freakin’ fiancé if it isn’t for me!!” The fans boo, but Becky says she still gets all this disrespect! But wait, here comes Lyra! Becky says this is what she’s talking about!
Lyra has a mic and asks, “Did you actually just call me recycling? You’re the Queen of Recycling! You’ve been recycling the same moves and the same tired old act for years! But that’s fine, Becky, you do you, I don’t care. What I have a problem with is you acting like you had anything to do with my success. The one thing I want to drive into your skull more than my foot is that you didn’t make me!” The fans cheer, and Lyra says she’ll catch Becky up. Becky went on holiday, and everyone here got better. Becky went on holiday, and Lyra made history of her own. Lyra holds up the Women’s Intercontinental Championship and the fans cheer.
Lyra says, “Oh, but you’re what this championship needs, right? That’s what you said. That’s rich, considering I’ve defended it more times than days you’ve shown up to work this year.” The fans cheer that zinger! Becky paces but Lyra says she sees it now. Lyra sees it so clearly. Becky shattered glass ceilings and Lyra is forever grateful. But Becky left all that broken glass on the ground and the rest of the Women’s Division were supposed to just follow behind because Becky never had any intention of taken anyone to the top with her. Becky says okay, okay, Lyra is right. Becky was gone, and everyone had the best year of their careers.
But that’s only because they didn’t have Becky around to compare themselves to! The fans boo but Becky says no, she didn’t help anybody because she doesn’t like anybody. She didn’t help anyone because her job isn’t to help anyone, it is to beat everyone! And Becky is very, very good at her job! She’s the greatest to ever do it! That’s not just her saying it, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED said so! The fans do cheer that, but Becky tells Lyra it doesn’t matter how great she thinks she is or how great she’ll become, because she will always be the moment after Becky! Wow… Sports Illustrated, huh? Lyra is wrong, she’ll take it back. Please, continue listing the achievements.
What can we say? Becky’s first SmackDown Women’s Champion, first woman to win the main event of WrestleMania, and the first Women’s Intercontin- NO! Wait! That’s Lyra! Becky frowns while the fans cheer, and Lyra says Becky must hate it. Becky must hate that this is Lyra’s first ever. But get used to being second. Becky throws hands but Lyra hits back! The fans fire up as these two brawl, and then Lyra hits a SPINEBUSTER! Becky gets up, Lyra is right on her, but Becky puts her in ta corner! Lyra dodges, RAMS into Becky again and again, then things spill outside! Lyra sends Becky into barriers! And apron! And barriers again!
The fans fire up but refs rush out! Omaha says, “LET THEM FIGHT!” but Becky gets free and throws off her jacket! Becky then gets in the ring and tells everyone, “You see this disrespect?! You see this disrespect?!” Lyra gets free and is back for more! The fans fire up, Becky clinches, but Lyra slips free to fireman’s carry! NIGHTWING DRIVER!! Lyra stands tall over Becky, title in her hand! Will this be the scene this Saturday for Backlash?
Iyo Sky VS Roxanne Perez!
The Genius Women’s World Champion won big last week on NXT alongside Jordynne Grace, but now The Prodigy is back in hopes of returning the favor. Will Roxie prove she’s ready for Raw? Or will Iyo show being a prodigy only gets you so far?
Raw returns and Iyo makes her entrance. The bell rings and the fans rally. The two circle, tie up, and Iyo pushes Roxie back. Roxie puts Iyo on ropes, Iyo turns that around, and the two go around. Iyo clinches, Roxie wrenches, but Iyo headlocks. Roxie powers up and out but Iyo runs her over! Things speed up, Iyo ducks ‘n’ dodges, then whips Roxie. Roxie cartwheels over the dropdown, then SLAPS Iyo! Roxie takes a bow, then dodges Iyo to bail out. Iyo pursues, they go back in the ring, and Roxie dodges again to roll back! Roxie RANAS, but Iyo handsprings through! The fans fire up, things keep moving, and Iyo handsprings again!
Roxie dodges, but Iyo comes back to SHOTGUN! Roxie tumbles out, Iyo builds speed, but Roxie is back to dropkick the legs out! Iyo writhes, but Roxie grabs the leg to stomp it and SMASH it! Roxie wants both legs but Iyo BOOTS her away. Iyo runs, but Roxie puts her on the apron. Iyo ROCKS Roxie first, but Roxie grabs a leg! DRAPING DRAGON SCREW! Roxie builds speed and DIVES! Down goes Iyo at the ramp! The fans boo but Roxie puts Iyo in. Iyo gets moving and she DIVES! Direct hit on Roxie at the ramp! The fans fire up with Iyo, and Iyo hurries to put Roxie in. Iyo aims, springboards, but Roxie SLAPS her down!
Roxie grabs Iyo’s leg, drags her to a corner, and STOMPS the knee against the crossbar! Iyo clutches her leg and slumps to the floor while Roxie leaves her behind, and Raw goes to break.
Raw returns and Iyo has Roxie up top, for a SUPER ARM-DRAG! The fans fire up while both women are down! Iyo slaps her leg into working, then she crawls her way over. Omaha is behind Iyo as she ROCKS Roxie! Roxie ROCKS Iyo, but Iyo ROCKS Roxie back! The forearms keep going, Iyo fires a flurry, then she winds up to SHOTEI! Roxie staggers, runs up, but Iyo FLAPJACKS! And BUZZSAWS! Cover, TWO! Roxie toughs it out but Iyo goes to the apron. Roxie runs up, but Iyo blocks her punch to HOTSHOT the arm! Iyo climbs, Roxie stands, MISSILE DROPKICK! The fans fire up while Roxie flounders, and Iyo kips up!
Iyo goes wild, so do the fans, and all aboard the SHIN- NO, Iyo’s leg bothers her! Roxie runs up, wheelbarrows, but Iyo rolls through to STOMP 182! Cover, TWO! Roxie survives and Iyo is frustrated! The fans rally, Iyo waistlocks, and she deadlift GERMAN SUPLEXES! Bridge, but then a roll through! Roxie fights the second try to SAIDO! Iyo and Roxie stand, Roxie runs up, but Iyo wrenches and hooks her up! TIGER BACKBREAKER! Iyo says time to end this! Iyo CHOPS Roxie, hobbles to a corner, and climbs up! OVER THE MOONSAULT but Roxie moves! Iyo lands out but that jams up the leg! Roxie runs to SPIKE RANA!
Roxie roars, runs, and hits the HANDSPRING KNEE DROP! Cover, TWO!! Iyo survives the Guillotine Knee as taught to Roxie by Meiko Satomura, and Omaha rallies up more. Roxie fires hands, SOBATS, then runs to hop on! Iyo handsprings through, but Roxie blocks the kick! DRAGON SCREW! Roxie then has the arm, LA MAGISTROL BRIDGE! TWO!! Iyo bridges, TWO!! Roxie has the body scissors, O’Conner Roll, TWO! Iyo rolls Roxie up, TWO! Roxie has a lateral press, TWO! Iyo sunset flips! TWO! Roxie high stacks, TWO! Iyo sunset flips again, IYO WINS!!
Winner: Iyo Sky, by pinfall
Roxie is shocked! She tried to match speed with speed and move for move, but she just couldn’t keep up with the Genius! But then Roxie gets in Iyo’s face! Roxie offers a handshake? The fans aren’t so sure, but Iyo takes it. They both bow, and surprisingly, there is now respect here between them. But wait! GIULIA ATTACKS! It was all just so the Beautiful Madness could slip in! Roxie grins and they mug Iyo like they have before! Giulia ties up Iyo’s legs, has the arms, and sets Iyo up for a SUPERKICK and SURFBOARD STOMP!! Rhea Ripley is in Australia, she can’t save Iyo! Giulia sets Iyo up again, for another SUPERKICK and another SURFBOARD STOMP!!
Roxie and Giulia stand over Iyo, will these former NXT Women’s Champions soon run Monday Night Raw?
Rusev VS Otis w/ Akira Tozawa & Maxxine Dupri!
Bulgarian Brute no more, he has been REDEEMED! And now, he feels it is his divine appointment to “fix” all those on Raw who were once like him. Will that mean #TheDozer is going to go through baptism by fire? Or will he simply be crushed?
The bell rings and the fans rally as the two big men circle. They tie up, are in a deadlock, and they break. The fans rally more as the two tie up again. Another deadlock, but Rusev manages to power Oits bac. Otis powers Rusev back, the fans duel, and the big men break again. Rusev nods, perhaps liking what he is seeing already. They tie up again, and Rusev KNEES low, CLUBS Otis and fires hands in the corner! The ref counts, Rusev stomps a mudhole, but stops as the ref gets in there. Rusev storms up on Otis, stands him up, and whips him, only for Otis to reverses. Rusev returns to LARIAT! Otis stays up and shakes his head!
Rusev LARIATS, Otis stays up, so Rusev runs. Otis dodges with a roll! Otis then comes back and he LARIATS Rusev! Rusev stays up, but now Otis runs, and Otis LARIATS again! Rusev shoves Otis, Otis ducks ‘n’ dodges, but the WHEEL KICK comes outta nowhere! The fans are torn while Rusev stands tall, and Raw goes to break.
Raw returns and Otis is down on the outside. Tozawa & Maxxine check Otis and coach him up, but Rusev storms outside. Rusev kicks at Otis, stands him up, but Otis EXPLODER Rusev over the desk! The fans fire up as Otis has more to give! Otis shoves the Hydration Station aside, then drags Rusev up to whip him hard into steel steps! Otis puts Rusev in the ring, but then drag shim out to fire clubbing arms! But then Rusev ducks, Otis’ arm hits POST! Rusev aims, but Otis ducks, so Rusev’s kick hits POST! Otis then CLOBBERS Rusev! Otis puts Rusev in the ring, storms in after him, and SPLASHES in the corner!
Rusev sputters and Otis runs up again! But Rusev MACHKA KICKS him down! Rusev roars and he shouts, “RUSEV! CRUSH~!” Stomp and ACCOLADE!! Otis endures, but he’s turning red! Otis shouts for Maxxine and Tozawa, but he TAPS! Rusev wins!
Winner: Rusev, by submission
Rusev continues to make Otis suffer by holding on, but Tozawa storms into the ring! Tozawa tells Rusev he can’t do that to his friend! They’re gonna fight right here and right now! The fans fire up as Tozawa rips his shirt away! Rusev says hold on now. Rusev did what he came here to do, and he spares Tozawa for tonight. But that’s just to lower Tozawa’s guard! Ruzev storms back in and GUT WRENCH POWERBOMBS Tozawa onto Otis!! The fans boo but Rusev shows no mercy! He POSTS Otis!! Then he drags Otis back in, and sends him into another POST! Otis falls out of the ring, Rusev goes out to drag him back in!
Rusev hits another MACHKA KICK!! And then he turns Otis back over, and he clamps the ACCOLADE back on!! The fans boo but that only makes Rusev want to do this more! Pearce, refs, and security rush out here! They tell Rusev to let go, but he waits until Otis is OUT! The fans boo, Natalya is here to console Maxxine, and Pearce reprimands Rusev. Will Rusev not care what he must do to “redeem” Monday Night Raw?
Raw returns and Adam Pearce is in the ring.
The General Manager hopes that they can get this show back on track. That said, please join him in welcoming to the ring… Pat McAfee! Omaha fires up as Pat hops off the desk, grabs a mic, and joins Pearce in the ring. Pearce also welcomes out Pat’s opponent for Backlash… DER RING GENERAL, GUNTHER! The fans are less excited as Gunther makes his way to the ring. Gunther and Pat keep their eyes on each other as Gunther fetches his own mic. Pearce wants to remind them that they’ve gone over this. They will NOT have what happened two weeks ago happen again. Get what you want out verbally, because Saturday, the time for talk is done.
Pearce says the floor is theirs, but keep it professional. Pearce then steps aside so Pat and Gunther can stare down. The fans cheer Pat on but Gunther says, “Well first of all… Do not worry. I’m not gonna do anything tonight, I’m not going to spoil that for myself. Because luckily for you, unlike you and your friend out there, I am professional.” The fans chant “You Tapped Out!” at Gunther, and he tells them to shut up! He’ll get back to that later, don’t you worry! Pat says he heard Gunther mentioned being professional. And Pat’s friend, Michael Cole, that is a walking, talking GOAT right there! The fans cheer that!
Pat tells Gunther, “For 28 YEARS, every single week of his life, except for three times, he has dedicated to traveling the world for this company. 28 years straight, 52 weeks a year, for this company!” The fans cheer that, too! Pat says Maggle has earned the right to have an opinion. And since that opinion pissed Gunther off so bad, Gunther flipped a switch and felt he had to attack a 60-year-old man, Pat will give Gunther an opinion of the man he’s standing in front of. Pat says it is apropos to be here in Omaha, Nebraska. When he thinks Nebraska, he thinks of the Cornhuskers! Pat shouts out Coach Rhule and his players in the crowd.
Pat says he can’t wait to watch the boys in the Fall rise to the top! And when Pat’s in Omaha, he also thinks of their steaks. Nobody beats this town’s meat! NOBODY! The fans chant “BEAT THE MEAT!” Pat says right across from this very arena is a baseball field that has hosted the NCAA World Series since 1950! The fans cheer that, and Pat says this city is a symbol of working hard and dreams coming true. And Pat feels “dreams” is a good word. They both have that in common. Pat might be from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the USA, and Gunther might be from Vienna, Austria, both men grew up with the same dream.
They both grew up wanting to be in this business, idolizing the superstars of yesterday, and spent hours and hours in front of TV watching pro-wrestling, thinking that is what they were put on this earth to do! The problem with Gunther is, he was at this for 20 years. He has been a champion for 80% of his WWE career. He’s jaded! This is no longer a dream but a job for Gunther. For Pat, every time he walks into an arena, he gets jacked up about life, baby! The fans cheer that! Pat says he thinks about 12 year old Pat, the kids out there in the crowd like him, dreaming in the upper rows to get in this ring and let a-holes like Gunther know that they don’t like what Gunther’s about.
And what Gunther’s about right now, as opposed to the Waltering around stage… Gunther doesn’t want it anymore. He’s too comfortable. It happened against Sami Zayn, it happened against Jey Uso, and it’ll happen with Pat. Pat will prove to Gunther and the fans that this Gunther… is SAWFT. The fans fire up for that! Gunther paces a moment, then he stares Pat down as he says, “Did you enjoy your little daughter’s birthday last week? Two years, right? It’s cute. I bet it was a very special day for you. Because for me, Saturday is a very special day, and you just got me into the right mood for it!
“Because it’s my first match since WrestleMania, and I’m going to show up sharp, I’m going to show up prepared, I’m going to show up more focused than every before. Don’t you worry that I’ll overlook you. Don’t worry that I’ll underestimate you. I promise you, you have my full and undivided attention. Because on Saturday, that bell is going to ring, and I’m going to beat you up! I’m going to MAUL you! I’m going to grab you by the head, and DRIVE it into this mat! I’m going to CHOKE YOU OUT until you drop like a wet towel! Tonight, by my grace, you are untouchable. But on Saturday, trust me when I say this! On Saturday, only the grace of GOD can lift my arms off your throat!”
Gunther shoves his mic into Pat, then he storms off. Der Ring General is ready to reload and unleash his full arsenal upon Pat, will Pat survive to even be part of next week’s show?
WWE World Heavyweight Championship: Jey Uso VS Seth Rollins w/ Paul Heyman & Bron Breakker!
To what Pat McAfee just said, perhaps Gunther did underestimate Main Event Jey Uso, but Jey also managed to bring something out of himself that even he didn’t know was there. But that confidence was preyed upon to give The Visionary his shortcut back to this title. Will Rollins and his A-Team make the plan come together? Or will we bookend the show with some YEET?
Raw returns as Jey makes his entrance, and from the ramp this time. The introductions are made, the belt is raised, and we see who is truly in control!
The bell rings and Jey’s first defense begins. The fans rally behind Jey while he and Rollins stare down. Omaha gets the “YEET! YEET! YEET!” going and Jey is fired up. Jey is already undoing his wrist tape, he wants to throw down! Rollins slowly steps forward, the two tie up, and Rollins waistlocks. Rollins headlocks, spins, hammerlocks, headlocks again and hits the takeover to ghost pin! TWO, and Rollins laughs at how close he had Jey. The fans duel with “YEET!” and “WHOA~ OH~ OHH~!” Jey and Rollins circle, tie up, and Rollins headlocks again. Jey powers up and out, but Rollins runs him over! Cover, ONE!
Rollins sweeps the legs to cover, ONE! Jey kicks, Rollins blocks, and then Rollins ducks the Dragon Whip! Rollins lounges on the top rope and the fans boo. Jey is annoyed but he keeps his cool. Rollins swaggers up, but Jey UPPERCUTS him down! Jey just suckered Rollins! “YEET!” Rollins says okay, and he shoves Jey. Jey shoves back! Rollins shoves again, Jey shoves again, so Rollins CHOPS! Jey fires a haymaker, Rollins fires back, and the fans are torn! “YEET!” wins out but Rollins mule kicks low! Jey avoids the stomp, but Rollins kicks low again. Jey fights off the Pedigree, but Rollins bails out to avoid the superkick!
The fans are torn but Bron & Heyman walk over to check with Rollins. Rollins says it’s alright, Jey is good. Jey is champion for a reason. Rollins goes to the apron, has Bron relax, and then he steps inside. The fans rally behind Jey as Jey and Rollins circle. They feel things out, but then Rollins kicks low! Rollins CLUBS and stomps away on Jey, then stands him back up to bump him off buckles! Rollins stomps a mudhole in, digs his boot in, but the ref backs him off. Heyman sings along, “WHOA~ OH~ OHH~!” and Rollins stalks Jey to the ropes. Rollins drags Jey up, “You think you’re on my level?” Rollins whips, Jey ducks ‘n’ dodges, and then UPPERCUTS!
Jey runs, Rollins blocks the kick, but the DRAGON WHIP hits! Jey runs and LARIATS Rollins up and out! Jey then DIVES, and Rollins is sent over the desk! The fans fire up while both men are down! Heyman & Bron are worried, but Raw goes to break.
Raw returns once more, and Rollins slithers into the ring. Rollins runs corner to corner at Jey, and Rollins forearm SMASHES! Jey falls to his knees but the fans still cheer him on. Rollins says the fans are just like Jey, they just don’t understand. Rollins brings Jey up, but Jey ROCKS Rollins! And ROCKS him again! And again! “YEET!” But Rollins kicks low! Rollins fires off in the corner, the ref counts, and Rollins keeps trying as the ref backs him off. The ref reprimands, but Rollins just goes back to Jey. Rollins puts Jey up top, CHOPS him, then climbs. The fans rally as Rollins brings Jey up, and Jey fires body shots!
Jey HEADBUTTS Rollins down and the fans cheer! Rollins stands, Jey leaps, but Rollins gets under! Jey keeps moving, ducks ‘n’ dodges, but then Rollins runs! DOUBLE CROSSBODIES collide! The fans fire up while both men are down again! “This is Awesome!” as Rollins and Jey go to opposite ends. Rollins storms up, but Jey counter punches again! “YEET! YEET! YEET!” Rollins wobbles, Jey pops, locks ‘n’ winds up to DECK Rollins! Then SAMOAN DROP! The fans fire up again as Jey shakes out the stars. “UCE! OH!” HIP ATTACK! Cover, TWO! Heyman is relieved and Jey grows frustrated.
Rollins slowly rises up, but Jey is there to fireman’s carry! Rollins fights the Samoan Drop and slips out of the ring. Jey pursues, they go around the way, and Rollins slides in. Jey drags Rollins back out, but Rollins BOOTS Jey into barriers! Rollins builds speed and he DIVES! Direct hit and Jey hits barriers! Rollins puts Jey in, goes to the apron, and springboards, into a SUPERKICK! Cover, TWO!! The antiair didn’t end this and the fans can’t believe it! The fans again declare, “This is Awesome!” as Jey and Rollins stir. Rollins rises, Jey aims from a corner, and Jey runs up, but into a KICK! Rollins fireman’s carries, then pops Jey around!
Rollins aims, runs up and BUCKLE BOMBS!! Jey falls, Rollins climbs, and the fans fire up! FROG SPLASH FLOPS as Jey dodges! Jey runs and SPEARS into a PEDIGREE!!! Cover, TWO!! Rollins is furious and Heyman is shocked, but Jey is showing that championship grit! Heyman coaches Rollins up while he goes to a corner. Rollins nods, he knows he has Jey in his crosshairs. Rollins runs back up, but Jey avoids the stomp again! SLEEPER!! Jey has Rollins like he has Gunther, but Rollins throws Jey away! Jey hurries to get moving! SPEAR!!! Cover, TWO!??! Jey is stunned and the fans are shocked, but Bron has a huge smile seeing Rollins’ own grit on display.
Omaha again declare “This is Awesome!” and Jey rises back up. Jey hobbles to a corner and climbs up. Rollins stirs, rises, and he anchors a foot! Jey tries to get free but Rollins CLUBS him! Rollins climbs up now, HAMMERS Jey, but Jey HEADBUTTS! And HEADBUTTS! “YEET! YEET! YEET!” Rollins falls back, but into the ref! Bron grabs at Jey! Jey BOOTS Bron off into the Hydration Station! But that lets Rollins get up and SUPER DUPER PLEX! Roll through and FALCON ARROW! Rollins aims from a corner now, and he CURB STOMPS!!! Cover, TWO!?!?! Jey survives and Omaha is thunderous! Bron, Heyman, Rollins, none of them know how this is possible!
Rollins goes to Bron, whispers something to him, but wait! SAMI ZAYN is here?!? Even after what happened last week!? Bron hurries to the ramp, ready to fight Sami. But wait, Sami LEAPS in from the crowd! The fans fire up as Sami fires hands on Bron! Sami POSTS Bron, then Jey SUPERKICKS Rollins! And a SPEAR!!! Jey hurries up top and Sami cheers him on! USO SPLASH!!! Cover, TWO?!?!?! HOW?!?! Omaha has no idea what to make of that, and neither does Sami! Sami coaches Jey, Heyman coaches Rollins, and the fans rally back up. But Bron SPEARS Sami!!! Bron then slithers away to hide while the fans boo!
Jey asks what happened to Sami and he goes outside to check. Heyman distracts the ref, Bron SPEARS Jey!!! The fans boo even more, and Bron drags Jey up to put him in the ring! CURB STOMP!!!! Rollins crawls to the cover, laughing all the way, but C M PUNK is here?!?! Omaha goes nuts seeing Punk back! Punk CHUCKS a chair at Bron’s face! Then he gets int he ring! Rollins and Punk brawl, there goes the title match!
Winner: Seth Rollins, by disqualification (Jey Uso retains the title)
Punk SMACKS Rollins with the chair, JAMS him up, then SMACKS him again! Bron slides in, but Punk SMACKS away on him! Rollins tries to get back in but Punk runs him off! The fans are thunderous for Punk as he and Sami stand tall! Jey gets back up, and clearly the battlelines have been drawn! Will Rollins’ vision for Monday Night Raw fall apart?
My Thoughts:
A great Monday Night Raw as the go-home to Backlash, but everything with the world title match was both great and curious. No Logan Paul here in Omaha is a mixed bag itself. From the story side, he should’ve, so he and Jey could’ve had a face-to-face. But as a person, I was glad we didn’t have to endure Logan being smug. And quite the audible bringing Heyman out to talk with Jey. Heyman’s passion was great, really adds some stuff to help us understand his side. And I like that they “suckered” Jey into this match. It was definitely an awesome match, even with the overbooking that eventually threw it out.
Sami and Punk showing up was all fine in story, but after what happened last week, I feel like Sami shouldn’t have come back so soon. But that aside, Jey, Sami and Punk make for a good unit to counter Rollins’ team. Though, Rollins will need another member who can wrestle since Heyman won’t be of any use. Here’s hoping it is Austin Theory given how Theory is upset with Waller after that switcheroo. Good return for Sheamus, though I feel like Sheamus has done more returns in the last 12 months than just about anyone ever. Here’s hoping Sheamus still gets in on the Intercontinental Championship story.
Speaking of, great match from Penta VS McDonagh, even with the overbooking. A bit surprising Penta overcame all that to win, but it works since now Dom and Penta are now set for an Intercontinental Championship. And there is room on the card as it doesn’t seem Jey VS Logan is happening for Backlash. Makes me wonder if they started us on a Jey VS Logan feud before they were really ready, as Backlash “isn’t big enough” for Logan’s “star power.” I like that Styles also got in on this, Styles VS Finn is going to be awesome, and can certainly set up the winner as the next challenger. It really depends on what happens with Dom VS Penta.
Gable getting involved as also good, given how he and Penta had their confrontation last week. New Day had a good promo with Gable to gas up American Made. That is to say, New Day is using American Made as a shield against The War Raiders, but it’ll only help Erik & Ivar earn their rematch. Great return match for Rusev with Otis looking strong even in defeat. Rusev doesn’t waste time teasing he’s a Tweener, he goes right to blindsiding Tozawa and beating Alpha Academy down. Not sure who is next for Rusev, as there aren’t as many Faces not really tied into anything on Raw. Maybe whatever WWE Draft we get moves Rusev to SmackDown, or at least moves some names from SmackDown and NXT to Raw so Rusev can face fresh meat.
Great promo from Becky and Lyra to help hype Becky VS Lyra. Good brawl, but now Lyra standing tall makes me think Lyra loses the title. Becky can start on some sort of second Grand Slam or something like that, but also she and Lyra will be 1-1 and the rematch for the Women’s Intercontinental title can be the tiebreaker at like MITB or SummerSlam. Iyo VS Roxie was a great match, but of course Giulia showed up. No reinforcements with Rhea promoting Crown Jewel: Perth, and sadly, Dakota Kai being hurt and now released, no Damage CTRL to help either. But the Heels did need a moment where they stood tall, and one of them could even get a world title shot.
And honestly, Pat and Gunther had an awesome promo to hype their match. Pat put over Maggle, he put over Nebraska, and quite perfectly framed this story as the hungry dreamer in Pat himself and the complacent veteran who has already done so much. Gunther’s response was also great, because now he’s angry enough to get that hunger and that fire back. I would think Gunther wins, as he needs the rebound from WrestleMania and Pat doesn’t really need much. But Pat can get a moral victory of sorts by lasting longer than Gunther or any of us expect. Pat can just keep getting up after every chop, have a false finish or two, but ultimately lose because his body can’t come through for his fighting spirit. Respect for Pat but momentum for Gunther, that’s the best outcome.
My Score: 8.9/10
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Coverage
Mitchell’s NJPW Wrestling Dontaku Results & Report! (5/4/25)
It’s a Wrestling Dontaku Weekend finale!

Who will stand atop the NJPW mountain?
The Goto Revolution finally leads NJPW, but will the Fierce Warrior be conquered by The United Empire as Callum Newman goes after the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship?
OFFICIAL RESULTS
- Kickoff – Ryusuke Taguchi & Katsuya Murashima VS Hitamaru Sasaki & Jet Wei; Taguchi & Murashima win.
- Taiji Ishimori & Gedo VS MENTAI KID & Batten Burabura; Taiji & Gedo win.
- YOSHI-HASHI & Master Wato VS Great-O-Khan & Jakob Austin Young; Hashi & Wato win.
- Six Woman Tag: Maika, Hazuki & Koguma VS Starlight Kid, AZM & Yuna Mizumori; Maika, Hazuki & Koguma win.
- El Phantasmo & Boltin Oleg VS Konosuke Takeshita & Rocky Romero; ELP & Boltin win.
- 10 Man Tag: Hiroshi Tanahashi, Toru Yano, YOH, Ryota Chikuzen & TAJIRI VS TMDK; Tanahashi, Yano, Yoh, Chikuzen & Tajiri win.
- 8 Man Tag: Los Ingobernables de Japon VS Shota Umino, Tomohiro Ishii, Taichi & Taka Michinoku; LIJ wins.
- IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship: Yota Tsuji VS Yuya Uemura; Tsuji wins and retains the title.
- IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: Hirooki Goto VS Callum Newman; Goto wins and retains the title.
PLAY BY PLAY
Six Woman Tag: Maika, Hazuki & Koguma VS Starlight Kid, AZM & Yuna Mizumori!
It’s a Stardom Showcase as The Crimson Cannon Empress, The Wildheart & The High Speed Genius take on The Masked Idol, High Speed Bomb Girl & Kumamoto’s Unsinkable Ship! Which side of Stardom shines brightest in Fukuoka?
The trios sort out and Koguma starts against Starlight Kid. The fans cheer and the two circle. They approach, but Koguma dodges to do her bear taunt. But then Starlight CLUBS her! Starlight whips, Koguma whips but Starlight handsprings over. Starlight whips, runs up, but Koguma puts her on the apron. Koguma runs up, Starlight slips under and sunset flips, TWO! Starlight runs up, but into an arm-drag! Starlight comes back to hit a headlock takeover! Koguma headscissors, Starlight kips free, and the two strike their animal poses! The fans cheer as bear and tiger reset. They tie up, Koguma spins Starlight, then goes for the arms!
Starlight fights free of being made to bear pose! But then Koguma kicks low, runs, but Starlight blows past her to springboard and CROSSBODY! Then SHOTGUN! The fans fire up and Starlight tags Yuna. Yuna runs up to run Koguma over, then fires up as she keeps moving. But Hazuki jumps in and helps Koguma ELBOW Yuna down! Then they double Yuna into Maika’s shoulder tackle! The fans fire up for the TRIPLE DROPKICK! The ref reprimands but Koguma tags Hazuki in. Hazuki rallies the fans while she stands on Yuna! Then she scrubs her with the boot again and again! Hazuka runs to BOOT WASH her!
Hazuka bumps Yuna off buckles, tags Maika, and the fans cheer as Maika scoops and SLAMS! Cover, TWO! Yuna stays in this but Maika kicks her around. Maika eggs Yuna on, but Yuna rises to CLUB Maika in the chest! Maika comes back to DECK Yuna! Yuna flounders, Maika brings her up and whips her to a corner. Maika runs up but Yuna BOOTS her down, somersaults, and SHOTGUNS! Yuna hurries and she tags in AZM! The fans rally up for AZM as she climbs, then leaps, but into Maika’s arms! Maika throws AZM back, kicks her, and she has Koguma help double whip. But AZM sends Maika into Koguma, and Starlight jumps in!
Starlight hits a TAKEOVER HEADSCISSORS COMBO! Then AZM DOUBLE DROPKICKS Maika & Koguma! The fans fire up for Starlight’s team as she and AZK put Maika & Hazuki at the center of the ring. They coordinate, STANDING MOONSAULT and DOUBLE STOMP! Cover, TWO! Maika is tougher than that, but AZM drags her into a drop zone. AZM goes up, DIVING DOUBLE- NO, Maika avoids the stomps to then scoop and POWERSLAM! Cover, TWO! AZM stays in this but the fans rally behind Maika. Maika drags AZM up, reels her in, and suplexes, only for AZM to fight free! Maika kicks and runs, but into a ROUNDHOUSE!
Maika just roars and comes back! Maika spins AZM, suplexes, but AZM has a GUILLOTINE FACELOCK! The fans rally as Maika endures, powers up, and suplexes again! BRAINBUSTER! The fans fire up while both women are down! The fans rally as Maika and AZM crawl, hot tags to Yuna and Hazuki! Hazuki sends Yuna to an open corner, runs up, but Yuna puts her on the apron! Only for Koguma to SPLASH Yuna! Hazuki then goes up and MISSILE DROPKICKS Yuna! Koguma goes up to CROSSBODY! Hazuki hurries to SENTON! Cover, TWO! Yuna survives, but is now in a CROSSFACE! Koguma & Maika intercept AZM & Starlight!
The fans rally while Yuna endures, and then AZM & Starlight break free! They both stomp Hazuki! Koguma & Maika drag Starlight & AZM back out, Hazuki CLUBS Yuna and whips her to ropes. Yuna reverses, Hazuki grabs ropes, then she DUMPS Yuna out! Yuna skins the cat to then LARIAT! The fans fire up with Yuna, she and the others coordinate! TRIPLE DROPKICK at the corner! Yuna then goes out while Starlight goes up! UFO SPLASH! Starlight sets Hazuki up for AZM’s DIVING DOUBLE STOMPS! Yuna adds the fireman’s carry and TROPICAL VALLEY BOMB! Cover, Maika breaks it! The fans fire up, but Starlight runs in and RANAS Maika!
Koguma runs in and spins Starlight around for a DDT! AZM runs up, Koguma blocks the kick to CUTTER! The fans fire up with Koguma as she and Hazuki coordinate. The “Double Crazy” combo DIVE and CROSSBODY!! Everyone is down at ringside and the fans fire up! Hazuki puts Yuna back in and the fans rally up more. Hazuki springboards and MISSILE DROPKICKS! Cover, TWO! Yuna survives but Hazuki keeps on her. Hazuki whips Yuna to a corner, Koguma hits a SPLASH, and then Hazuki adds an ELBOW! Maika adds a LARIAT, then she puts Yuna up top! Now we get Triple Crazy as Maika lifts and the others climb!
The fans fire up for the TRIPLE CRAZY BOMB!! Cover, but Starlight Kid breaks it!! Koguma CLOBBERS Starlight, Maika keeps AZM on the outside, and Hazuki drags Yuna up. Hazuki suplexes, Yuna slips free and she trips Hazuki up! Yuna hammerlocks an arm, turns Hazuki over, TROPICAL CRADLE!! TWO!??! Hazuki escapes, but Yuna runs up! But Hazuki spins her to a suplex and stalling BRAINBUSTER!! Cover, Triple Crazy wins!
Winners: Maika, Hazuki & Koguma, by pinfall
A fast ‘n’ furious fight from three rising stars, and it was the Wildheart that finishes it off! Will we see this Triple Crazy trio soon go for the IWGP Women’s and/or NJPW Strong Women’s Championships?
10 Man Tag: Hiroshi Tanahashi, Toru Yano, YOH, Ryota Chikuzen & TAJIRI VS TMDK!
As The Ace’s Final Road continues to roll on, this is quite the unique stop. Sure, he’s teamed with the Clown Prince and Mr. Direct Drive before, but he is now honored to be teaming with The Makai Love Machine and yes, THE Japanese Buzzsaw! Will Tanahashi & Tajiri add to their legends with this epic team-up? Or will Zack Sabre Jr, Ryohei Oiwa, Robbie Eagles, Kosei Fujita & Hartley Jackson prove that The Mighty Don’t Kneel?
Just as always, Tanahashi shows off the abs, the fans cheer, and Yano even adds a “Sugoi~!” The teams sort out and ZSJ calls out Tajiri! The fans fire up as Tajiri accepts. The bell rings, ZSJ and Tajiri circle, and Fukuoka are strongly behind “TA-JI-RI! TA-JI-RI!” Tajiri and ZSJ feel things out, knuckle lock, and ZSJ rolls to then wrench and wristlock. Tajiri seems rather unbothered, and he slips under ZSJ to then trip him and spread the legs! ZSJ reaches back but Tajiri uses his whole body length! ZSJ pushes up, crawls back, wrenches and hammerlocks, then half nelsons to cravat. Tajiri spins through to wrench and trip ZSJ!
Tajiri has the legs, ZSJ resists then hooks Tajiri to trip him. ZSJ returns the leg sprawl, then has a STRETCH MUFFLER! ZSJ uses it as a means to an end so he can have the BOW ‘N’ ARROW! Tajiri pops free and turns ZSJ over to have a headlock. ZSJ slips out the back, they each want the other’s arm, but then ZSJ top mounts. Tajiri pushes ZSJ away and the fans cheer the standoff! Tajiri and ZSJ feel things out, knuckle lock again, and ZSJ turns Tajiri. Tajiri turns that back around but ZSJ has an arm. ZSJ hammerlocks but Tajiri steps through the ropes, then steps back inside, and he has ZSJ’s arm wrapped around ropes!
The fans cheer, but Tajiri shows respect by respecting the ropebreak. The fans applaud, as does ZSJ, and then they tag out to Yoh and Eagles. The fans join in on “ROBBIE ROBBIE ROBBIE!” but Yoh rolls Eagles up! TWO and Yoh kicks low! Yoh whips, Eagles reverses to go up and around to arm-drag! Things keep moving, Eagles hurdles but Yoh dodges to RANA! The fans fire up but Fujita storms in and CHOPS! The Ichiban Sweet Boys double whip, but Yoh ducks the lariats! Yoh kicks and kicks, but the Sweet Boys CHOP and CHOP! They double wrench, and MAX- NO, Yoh fights free! Yoh crisscrosses the Sweet Boys into each other, and DOUBLE BULLDOGS!
Tag to Yano and the fans cheer, only for the Sweet Boys to double kick! They double whip, but Yano grabs the ropes! Yano then sends Fujita into Eagles, and he SLAPS them both on the heads! Yano then unties the buckle pad! The fans fire up, but Sweet Boys DOUBLE ELBOW, split the wishbone, and DOUBLE KICK! The Sweet Boys BLAST Yano’s corner, then Eagles brings Yano to the Mighty corner. Eagles bumps Yano off buckles then tags in Hartley. Big Hartley UPPERCUTS then ELBOW DROPS! Cover, TWO! Yano is a bit tougher than that so Fujita tags in. Fujita drags Yano up to CHOP! And CHOP!
Fujita whips Yano corner to corner, runs up, but Yano puts him on the apron! Fujita SLAPS Yano back! The fans rally and Fujita aims, springboard for the MISSILE DROPKICK! Cover, TWO! Yano stays in this and the fans rally up. Fujita tags Oiwa and he drags Yano up. Oiwa whips Yano to ropes, then ELBOWS him down! Cover, TWO! Oiwa stays on Yano but Yano pulls on the mullet! Oiwa kicks free, runs, but into an atomic drop! The fans rally up while both men are down, and Yano tags in Ryota! Ryota CHOPS Oiwa! Ryota eggs Oiwa on, but Oiwa fires a forearm! Ryota CHOPS again! Oiwa fires another forearm!
Ryota CHOPS, Oiwa ROCKS him, repeat! The fans rally as Oiwa fires a flurry! ROLLING ELBOW! Oiwa runs, but into a BACKDROP! Fujita runs in, but into a scoop and SIDEWALK SLAM! Eagles runs in, into a scoop and SIDEWALK SLAM! The fans fire up with Ryota, and he invites Tanahashi in! They double whip Oiwa, then DOUBLE SHOULDER TACKLE! And then Ryota says, “Genki de masu!” The fans cheer as Ryota and Tanahashi have energy to spare, and Ryota drags Oiwa up. Ryota reels Oiwa in, but Oiwa fights the lift! Oiwa powers up to BACKDROP Ryota! The fans rally, Oiwa runs, SPLASH DOWN! Cover, TWO!
The fans rally more as Oiwa and Ryota rise. Oiwa whips Ryota to a corner, runs up, but Ryota LARIATS him down! Oiwa is up to LARIAT Ryota! Both me are down now and the fans rally again. Hot tags to ZSJ and Tanahashi! One more meeting between these two after yesterday’s final singles match, and the two dosido in a battle of Cobra Twists! Tanahashi has the COBRA TWIST! ZSJ pries free to have the COBRA TWIST in return! But Tanahashi powers out, has a leg, DRAGON- NO, ZSJ sits down for the ARMBAR! Tanahashi stacks ZSJ, TWO! ZSJ RAMS Tanahashi, snapmares, but Tanahashi UP KICKS!
Tanahashi kicks low, snapmares, and he NECK TWISTS! The fans fire up and Tanahashi runs, but ZSJ catches him to wrench! PELE to the arm! Then a STOMP to the elbow! Tag to Hartley and the fans rally up. Hartley runs corner to corner and SPLASHES Tanahashi against bare buckles! Short arm LARIAT! Cover, TWO! The Sweet Boys BLAST Tanahashi’s corner, then they send Tanahashi to a neutral corner. Fujita runs up to CHOP! Oiwa adds an ELBOW! Eagles adds a FOREARM! Then Oiwa scoops Tanahashi to SLAM him! ZSJ NECK TWISTS! Hartley SENTONS! Cover, Tajiri SLAPS Hartley on the head!
Tajiri scurries away before ZSJ can get him! The fans fire up and now Yoh & Yano mug Hartley. They double whip, but Hartley DOUBLE LARIATS! “Jackson Number One!” Hartley fireman’s carries Tanahashi, but Tajiri slips in and dosidos with the ref! GREEN MIST for Hartley!! Ryota runs up and SLINGBLADES!! Tanahashi hurries up top while his team keeps TMDK out! HIGH FLY FLOW!! Cover, Tanahashi’s team wins!
Winners: Hiroshi Tanahashi, Toru Yano, Yoh, Ryota Chikuzen & Tajiri, by pinfall
Legends working together makes for a classic finish to this match! Will this moment be one to remember as The Ace continues his countdown to the end?
8 Man Tag: Los Ingobernables de Japon VS Shota Umino, Tomohiro Ishii, Taichi & Taka Michinoku!
As Wrestling Dontaku wraps up the weekend, Tetsuya Naito and Bushi have reached the end of their NJPW run. Will they be victorious one last time alongside Hiromu Takahashi & Shingo Takagi? Or will the Roughneck, Stone Pitbull, Holy Emperor & Blue Playmaker make this parting a bitter goodbye?
For one last time, Naito takes his time with the elaborate entrance attire. It also seems rather clear that Bushi is emotional over this being his farewell match. The fans rally and the teams sort out. The fans call for “NA-I-TO! NA-I-TO!” LIJ fust bump, the fans cheer, and Naito steps up for the team. The fans rally behind him more as he starts against Taichi. The bell rings and Fukuoka cheers even harder for “NA-I-TO! NA-I-TO!” But then Naito tags out to Bushi. The Black Mask has the fans on his side, too, and he circles with Taichi. They approach, Bushi kicks low then runs, but into a BOOT! Taichi runs, but Bushi TOSSES him out!
Bushi DECKS Taka, but Shota & Ishii attack! They double whip, Bushi sends Shota into Ishii, then Bushi DOUBLE RANAS! BUSHIROONI~! Taichi is back but Bushi DECKS him! Takagi sets Taichi up but Taka trips Bushi! The fans boo but Taichi storms in and stomps Bushi. Taichi CLUBS Bushi, whips him corner to corner, then runs up, but into a BOOT! Bushi runs up and RANAS! The fans fire up while both men are down! Bushi stands and he tags in Hiromu. Hiromu BLASTS Ishii, then Takagi tags in! Hiromu & Takagi double whip Taichi to DOUBLE SHOULDER TACKLE! Then they flex! The fans cheer the side chest.
Hiromu stands Taichi up to CHOP him to the corner. Hiromu whips corner to corner, runs in and LARIATS, then snapmares, but Taichi RIDGE HANDS! Taichi wrenches and HOOK KICKS! Shota BLASTS Takagi because he can, and Taichi tags in Taka. Taka BOOTS Naito down, then stomps Hiromu around. The fans rally but Taka brings Hiromu up. Hiromu CHPOS, CHOPS, and CHOPS! Taka gets mad, and he pokes Hiromu in the eyes! Taka whips Hiromu to the corner, stomps and knees him, then tags Ishii. Ishii winds up to CHOP! Hiromu grits his teeth and CHOPS back, but Ishii doesn’t budge!
Ishii CHOPS Hiromu and eggs him on! Hiromu stands to CHOP, but Ishii CHOPS back! Ishii gives more trash talk and more mocking kicks. Hiromu stands to CHOP, CHOP, CHOP! The fans fire up as Ishii staggers, but then Hiromu CHOPS again! And again! Ishii ROCKS Hiromu, suplexes, but Hiromu fights free! SUPERKICK! Hiromu roars, reels Ishii in, but Ishii suplexes first! But Hiromu’s right up!? And he dodges Ishii to SNAP GERMAN! Ishii’s right up!? SAIDO! Both men are down and the fans fire up! Ishii hot tags Shota, and Shota BLASTS Takagi again! Shota then runs up on Hiromu, but Hiromu dodges!
Shota hits buckles, hurries after Hiromu, but Hiromu fights the half nelson. Hiromu blocks a kick, and a punch, and then DRAGON SCREWS! Hot tag to Naito! The fans erupt as Naito kicks and CLUBS Shota again and again! Naito whips to arm-drag Shota! And ELBOW him down! And basement DROPKICK! TakaTaichi attack and double whip, but Naito reverses to send Taka into Taichi! Drop toehold for Taichi and Bushi basement DROPKICKS! Naito kicks and whips Taka, Taka reverses, but Naito reverses back to TORNADO DDT! The fans fire up as Naito poses, then he tags in Takagi. Takagi runs up on Shota, blocks a boot, and LARIATS through!
Takagi keeps moving, but Shota SWATS the lariat! Takagi YUKON LARIATS, but Shota roars as he stays up! Shota fires boxing elbows, but Takagi shakes his head! Takagi fires boxing elbows of his own! He ROCKS Shota, runs, but Shota LARIATS at the ropes! Shota runs, Takagi LRIATS! Takagi runs, Shota dodges, DOUBLE LARIATS collide! Shota stays up but the ELBOW and JAB hit! Shota ENZIGIRIS! Takagi SLIDING LARIATS! The fans fire up with Takagi and he whips Shota. Shota reverses to TORNADO DDT! Shota LARIATS Takagi down! But then Shota falls over, too! The fans fire up while both men crawl.
Taka tags in, he BOOTS Naito and BLASTS Bushi! Taka runs, redirects, redirects, and BOOTS Takagi down! The fans rally up as Taka brings Takagi up. Takagi ROCKS Taka! Taichi runs up to RIDGE HAND! Ishii ROCKS Takagi! Then we get a RIDGE HAND BACKHAND COMBO! SUPER K from Taka!! Cover, TWO!! Takagi is still in this but Taka goes to scoop! Takagi is too big, so Taka pokes him in the eyes! Takagi still ELBOWS! JABS! Taka UPPERCUTS, but Takagi PUMPING BOMBERS! Bushi slips in, as does Hiromu, and they double whip Taka to a corner. Hiromu runs up to forearm SMASH! Bushi adds an ELBOW!
Takagi LARIATS, then he snapmares Taka! Naito is in, LIJ hits a QUADRUPLE DROPKICK!! The fans fire up and Takagi says, “TOKI GA KITA!” The fans fire up more as The Rampaging Dragon drags Taka up. Taka fights the lift, and Shota SHOTGUNS Takagi! Hiromu dropkicks Hiromu’s legs! Hiromu dodges Ishii, he and Naito give Ishii TENDEDERO! Taichi runs up, he breaks through the line, but Hiromu sends him into an atomic drop! Takagi BLINDSLIDE BOMBERS! LARIAT in the corner, feed to a SUPERKICK! Naito wrenches Taichi for DESTINO!!! The fans are thunderous after seeing that final Destino!
Bushi then runs in and BLASTS Shota! Bushi keeps moving, for one last DIVE!! Down goes Shota and the fans are thunderous! Takagi has the fans join in for “OI! OI! OI!” Takagi runs, Taka dodges, and Taka BOOTS! Takagi comes back to PUMPING BOMBER! Takagi drags Taka up, pump handles and torture racks, BURNING DRAGON!! Cover, LIJ WINS!
Winners: Los Ingobernables de Japon, by pinfall
Their final battle in Fukuoka, their final battle with their friends, and their final battle in NJPW, it was all victorious! Naito & Bushi stand with Hiromu & Takagi to celebrate this final win. The fans cheer on “NA-I-TO!” as Naito leads the group in one last LIJ fist bump. The wild ride is over for the Uncontrollable Charisma, and he poses with his team one last time. Burn this moment into your memories, for we may never see Naito & Bushi back in a NJPW ring again.
IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship: Yota Tsuji VS Yuya Uemura!
The Gene Blast may be one of the Reiwa Era Three Musketeers, but the Heat Storm vows to be the face of this new generation. A match meant to happen months ago finally does happen, but who will truly be the frontrunner of the future?
The introductions are made, the belt is raised, and we see who is the true global star!
The bell rings and the fans rally up as Yota and Yuya stare down. Fukuoka duels, but the “YO~TA!” sounds stronger than the “YU~YA!” They circle, feel things out, then circle a bit more. They feel out the knuckle lock, then Yuya rolls. Yota keeps him at bay as they clinch, then they go around. Yuya waistlocks, Yota wrenches free and waistlocks in return, but Yuya switches. Yota headlocks, Yuya rolls him to the mat and headlocks in return. Yota keeps his shoulders up, then fights to his feet. Yuya hits a takeover, Yota headscissors, but Yuya kips up. Yuya is fired up and the fans cheer him on.
Yota stands up and the two reset. They circle while the fans duel, and the two tie up. Yuya wrenches to a hammerlock but Yota switches and full nelsons. Then Yota headlocks and grinds Yuya down. Yuya fights up, pries at the hold, but Yota powers it on tighter. Yuya powers up but Yota squeezes the headlock even tighter! The fans applaud while Yuya endures. Yuya fires body shots, then powers up and out, drops down, but Yota avoids the dropkick! Yota dodges but Yuya arm-drags! And arm-drags again! Yuya has the armlock and the fans cheer again. Yota pulls at the hold, then fights up. Yuya grinds the elbow but Yota reaches for ropes.
Yota has the ROPEBREAK but Yuya brings him away from the ropes quickly. Yota fires forearm after forearm until Yuya lets go. Yota runs up but Yuya arm-drags! Only for Yota to drag Yuya down, trap an arm, and SACRIFICE the other arm! The fans cheer while Yuya writhes. Yuya shakes out the bad arm but Yota brings him back up. Yuya fires a forearm! Yota grins so Yuya fires more shots! Yota wrenches and serves up SOLE FOOD to the arm! Yuya staggers away to a corner and the fans rally more. Yota storms up on Yuya, puts him in the corner, and he wraps the bad arm around ropes! The ref counts as Yota pulls, so Yota lets go at 4.
Yota brings Yuya out to snapmare, then he has the bad arm in a top wristlock! Yuya endures, the fans rally, but Yota puts on the pressure! Yuya fights forward, reaches out, but Yota pulls on the arm! Yuya still manages the ROPEBREAK! The fans applaud as Yota legs go. Yota paces while Yuya shakes out the bad arm. Yota comes back to stomp the arm! Yota then wrenches Yuya, KNEES the arm, then KNEES it again! Yota KNEES Yuya into the corner, then paces again. Yuya stands, Yota runs in, but Yuya BOOTS him away! Yota runs back in, Yuya dodges and CHOPS! CHOPS! CHOPS! The fans fire up as Yuya winds up, but Yota dodges! Yota BOOTS Yuya in the corner!
The fans rally as Yota whips corner to corner. Yuya goes up and over, then arm-drags! And DROPKICKS! The fans cheer while both men are down. The fans rally again as Yuya rises up. Yuya roars, the fans fire up more, and Yuya brings Yota up to wrench and BIG back suplex! Cover, TWO! Yota stays in this but Yuya stays focused. The fans rally and Yuya brings Yota up. Yoga fights with elbows, then wrenches to YANK the arm! And YANK! And YANK! Yota whips, Yuya reverses, but Yota RANAS! Yuya tumbles out and the fans rally as Yota aims. Yota builds speed, and he DIVES! Direct hit and Yuya is sent into railing!
The fans fire up while Yuya stumbles and falls, and Yota fires back up! Yota has the fans rally more as he takes a lap. Yota comes back for Yuya, puts him in the ring, and the fans applaud. Yota steps in, stands Yuya up, but Yuya fights the suplex! Yota powers through, but Yuya fights free! Yuya CHOPS, then runs, but into a scoop and BACKBREAKER! The fans fire up while Yota grits his teeth. Yota storms around, goes to a corner, and he aims as Yuya rises. Yota runs in, STINGER SPLASH! The fans fire up while Yota snapmares Yuya down. Yota goes up, up, but Yuya avoids the Marlowe Crush!
Yuya dropkicks Yota’s leg, then has it for a SHIN BREAKER! GROUND DRAGON SCREW! Yuya then hurries to step through, FIGURE FOUR! Yota endures and the fans fire up! Yuya pulls on the main leg but Yota works to turn things over! The fans duel as Yuya fights against that, but Yota does turn the hold over! Yuya endures now, so he hurries to turn things over! Yota uses that to get the ROPEBREAK! The fans cheer, Yuya and the ref undo the hold, and Yuya stands over Yota. Yuya brings Yota up to scoop and SLAM him down! Yuya then goes to a corner, climbs up, only for Yota to GAMANGIRI! Yuya is dazed up top, so Yota climbs up after him!
Yota brings Yuya up, throws forearms, then goes to the very top! But Yuya fires forearms! Yota falls, Yuya adjusts, and Yuya leaps! Yota avoids the crossbody but Yuya rolls through! Yota comes back, Yuya slips around and full nelsons! But Yota powers up to break the hold! Only for Yuya to GERMAN SUPLEX! Yuya runs, but into a BOOT! Yuya comes back and takes a swing, but into the BACKBREAKER! FLATLINER! But Yuya avoids the stomp! Yuya shoves Yota, but Yota DROPKICKS! The fans fire up as Yota keeps moving, and then Yuya DROPKICKS! Both men are down and the fans fire up again!
The two men crawl away to the corners while the fans rally up. Yuya runs in corner to corner, but Yota BOOTS him! Yota runs up, but Yuya clinches! Yota fights free, ROCKS Yuya, and Yuya staggers to the ropes! Yota whips, Yuya ducks ‘n’ dodges but Yota blows past, only for Yuya to get under! URENAGE! Cover, TWO! Yota stays in this and the fans fire up! Yuya shakes out the bad arm, then he stands Yota up for a scoop. Yuya SLAMS, then he fires back up! The fans fire up with Yuya as he climbs again! Yuya is up top, for the FROG SPLASH! But he FLOPS as Yota moves! Yota runs back in, FLYING ARMBAR TAKEDOWN!!
Yuya clasps hands, but Yota breaks the grip! ARMBAR!! Yuya endures, flails, reaches out, but Yota pulls on the bad arm! Yuya fights around, but Yota just keeps after the arm! Yuya uses his core strength to sit up, but Yota PULLS the arm straight! Yuya falls over, fights around, and he turns over. Yota does his best to keep the armbar, even with this mounted angle! Yuya bites his thumb to ignore the pain in his arm! Yuya then reaches out, ROPEBREAK!! Yota lets go in frustration but the fans fire up. Yuya clutches his elbow but Yota paces around. Yota drags Yuya up from the ropes, but Yuya CHOPS! Yota brushes that off, but Yuya CHOPS again!
Yuya can’t put enough power behind the strikes with that bad arm, but he keeps trying! Yota BOOTS Yuya, Yuya drops to his knees, and the ref checks with him. Yuya refuses to let the bad arm cost him again, and he rises up to CHOP! And HEADBUTT! And HEADBUTT! Yota ROCKS him!! And then KNEES him down! The fans fire up while Yota stands tall! Yota goes to a corner, watches Yuya sputter and rise, GENE- DROPKICK to the leg! Yuya hurries to grab that leg, but Yota fires off forearms! Yuya eggs Yota on, so Yota HEADBUTT! But Yuya still DRAGON SCREWS!! Yuya steps through again, FIGURE FOUR!!
The fans fire up as Yota endures again! Yuya puts as much pressure as he can, Yota pries at the hold, but Yuya thrashes around! Yota reaches out, keeps his shoulders up, and he drags Yuya along towards ropes! But Yuya drags Yota back from ropes! Yuya thrashes as hard as he can, we hit 20 minutes, and Yota still endures! The fans rally harder and harder as Yota fights to turn this over! Yota does, but then Yuya turns it back! But this time, Yuya turns back the other way to keep Yota from the ropes! And then he PULLS on the leg! Yota lunges for the ROPEBREAK!! The fans fire up while the ref again frees Yota.
Yota clutches his leg while he crawls away, but Yuya is right on him! Yuya has the leg, but Yota ENZIGIRIS! Yuya falls, but he also manages to waistlock! Yuya drags Yota up, but Yota fires elbows! Yuya still GERMAN SUPLEXES! Bridging cover, TWO!! Yuya holds onto Yota and the fans fire up! Yuya full nelsons, DRAGON SUPLEX!! Bridging cover, TWO!! Yota survives again and Yuya is furious! Yuya roars, the fans are with him, and he reels Yota in! SAIDO BACKBREAKER! Then he puts Yota in the drop zone! Yuya climbs, the fans rally more, FROG SPLASH!! Cover, TWO?!?! Yota survives and Yuya is beside himself!
Fukuoka is thunderous as Yuya rises! Yuya brings Yota up, cording holds one arm, swings to get the other, but Yota STUNNERS free! Yota roars, runs, but into a DROPKICK! Yota just comes back, GENE- ARM-DRAG!! Yuya hurries to lock in those arms, but Yota fights off the clinch! They go around and around, and Yota frees an arm! But Yota brings it back in! DEADBOLT SUPLEX!!! Yuya roars, the fans are electric, GENE BLASTER outta nowhere!!! Cover, YOTA WINS!!
Winner: Yota Tsuji, by pinfall (still IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion)
The Heat Storm was certainly on fire, but Tsuji was volcanic! The gold stays with Yota, will he and those left in LIJ make sure NJPW stays tranquilo?
Speaking of which, the rest of LIJ returns to the ring so they can stand with their guy. Tsuji gets to also have his final photo op with the group as we know it. We also get one last LIJ fist bump with the five of them, and then Naito & Bushi let Yota, Takagi & Hiromu have the ring. Yota hurries to get the mic to tell Naito & Bushi, “Let me have one last word.” The fans applaud, and Naito & Bushi stop to hear him out. “Naito and Bushi leaving could signal the end of Los Ingobernables de Japon. But remember this: We’re ungovernable. We’ll always be connected in our hearts. Until next time.” The fans applaud that! Naito even gives one last fist bump salute.
The fans cheer as the LIJ Era has changed, and Bushi makes sure we see his mask where it says, “Adios.” Then Yota continues to say that he is still IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion, and that he’ll continue to defend the cerulean blue mat of NJPW. The fans applaud, and Yota says he is fortunate to have such a great rival in Uemura. And another in Gabe Kidd. So, who should he defend this belt against next? Well, he said the man’s name, so here comes the Mad Man! The fans bark it up for the War Dog, and Gabe gets right in Yota’s face. Yota says nic eto see him. Should they pick up where they left off?
Gabe takes the mic to say, “You’re an IWGP champion?” No, no, Yota beat Evil and Yuya, but in Osaka… It was a double knockout! Yota never beat Gabe! The fans cheer that point! Gabe says on June 15th… In Osaka Jo-Hall… “Let’s find out who the strongest is!!” The fans love that idea! Gabe heads back out, the fans bark more, and Yota tells Gabe, “Let’s show ’em our NJPW.” The fans also like that, and Yota asks if they’re ready! The fans cheer because they are, but who will make this their Dominion?
IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: Hirooki Goto w/ Yoshi-Hashi VS Callum Newman w/ The United Empire!
The Fierce Warrior finally put the G in IWGP at the New Beginning in Osaka when he won this title. But now, the Prince of Pace is looking to blow right past him as the top guy in NJPW! Will the Goto Revolution stay the course? Or will it be conquered by the United Empire?
The introductions are made, the belt is raised, and we see who’s really the G of IWGP!
The bell rings and the fans rally strongly for “GO-TO-O! GO-TO-O!” Callum doesn’t let that bother him, and he runs up to BOOT Goto! Callum fires forearms, whips, but Goto reverses! Callum ducks ‘n’ dodges to build speed, but then Goto dodges! The fans cheer as Goto is at least agile like Callum. They tie up, then they just fire off forearms! The fans rally as the shots go back and forth, faster and faster! Goto gets the edge, headlocks, but Callum powers out. Goto runs Callum over, but Callum kips up to ENZIGIRI! Callum TOSSES Goto out, then PLANCHAS! The fans fire up while Goto goes down!
Callum fires himself up and the fans cheer. Callum brings Goto up, the fans duel a bit more evenly, and Callum whips. Goto reverses and Callum hits railing! But he comes back to BOOT Goto down! Callum snarls, drags Goto back up, and now Callum sends Goto into railing! Goto comes back but Callum BOOTS him down again! And then PENALTY KICKS! The fans rally, Hashi coaches Goto, but Callum KICKS Goto in the back! Callum puts Goto in the ring, the fans applaud, and Callum sits Goto up again. Callum hits another PENALTY KICK! Callum then goes to the corner and climbs up, calling his shot.
Callum aims, DIVING- NO, Goto dodges! Callum comes back, but Goto dodges! Goto LARIATS, then he clinches for the SAIDO! Callum flounders away and the fans fire up. Callum goes to a corner, Goto runs in, MURAMASA! Then Goto puts Callum up top! Goto climbs up after Callum, just to drag him into a draped position! SUPER DRAPING NECKBREAKER!! Callum flounders out of the ring, Great-O-Khan & Francesco Akira check on him, as does Red Shoes. Callum winches, clutches his shoulder, but he manages to sit up. Callum has speed but Goto is taking advantage of his skinnier frame.
Red Shoes starts the ring count and Goto stays back, which annoys Callum. Callum storms into the ring, but Goto kicks him down! Goto has Callum up for a suplex, and BRAINBUSTER! Cover, TWO! Callum stays in this and the fans fire up, but Goto stays right on Callum. Goto drags Callum up, but Callum clutches his shoulder, so Goto lets him be. We’re only five minutes in as the fans rally up, and Goto stomps Callum around. Callum crawls away to a corner but Goto grabs at him. Callum wants Goto to hold on, and Red Shoes has Goto step back. Callum’s neck and shoulder are really bothering him, but Goto just storms up to stomp him!
Goto drags Callum up, snapmares, then clamps on a chinlock. Callum endures as Goto’s knee digs into the back and neck. Goto then ELBOWS Callum in the head, stomps him around, and brings him up. Goto CLUBS Callum’s neck, but Callum CHOPS! The pain in his shoulders holds Callum back, but Goto clinches for a RUSSIAN LEG SWEEP! And then a GROUND OCTOPUS! Callum endures, reaches out, and the fans rally up. Goto thrashes around but Akira & Khan coach Callum. Callum kicks around but Goto shifts to a headscissor necklock! Callum endures the squeeze, kicks and kicks, and finds the ROPEBREAK!
The fans applaud and Goto lets go in frustration. Goto drags Callum up but he’s a ragdoll again. Goto still brings Callum around, snapmares him back down, then KICKS him in the back! And ELBOW DROPS! Callum sputters but Goto just ELBOW DROPS again! Akira & Khan coach Callum but Goto looms over him. Goto ELBOW DROPS onto Callum’s back! Cover, TWO! Callum toughs it out but Goto is still calm. Goto stands Callum up, kicks him low, but Callum fires a forearm! And another! The pain in the neck holds those back, and Goto CLUBS Callum! Goto runs, but into a DROPKICK! The fans fire up while both men are down!
Khan & Akira coach Callum, Hashi coaches Goto, and both Goto and Callum crawl to the apron. Goto goes to the floor, and Callum smiles. The fans rally as Callum builds speed and FLIES!! Callum does a full 360 to hit Goto and then rolls through more to stand back up at the ramp! The fans are thunderous and Callum fires himself back up! Callum drags Goto to his feet and puts him in the ring. The fans applaud, and Callum hurries back in. Callum aims from a corner while Goto flounders away. The fans rally more, and Callum runs corner to corner. FLYING DROPKICK! Callum then chicken wings for a TIGER SUPLEX!
But the bad neck won’t let Callum bridge! Callum hurries to lateral press, TWO! And we’re just 10 minutes in! The fans rally, Callum fires up with a very Will Ospreay style “OI! OI! OI!” The fans rally behind that, and Callum brings Goto up. Callum reels Goto in, hooks a leg, FIRE- NO, Goto slips free of Firebolt, waistlocks, but Callum fights the lift. Callum runs, Goto follows, but then Callum dodges! Goto dodges, Callum dodges, then Callum hurdles! But Goto fireman’s carries! USHIGOROSHI! Both men are down and the fans fire up for that high speed exchange! Goto has the crowd behind him again as he rises up.
Goto storms up on Callum, stands him up, but Callum fires a forearm! Only to fall to his knees! Callum rises up but Goto DECKS him! Callum is running on fumes, but the fans do rally for him, too. Goto eggs him on and Callum manages to stand. Callum fires a forearm, drops to a knee, but Goto stands him up. Goto DECKS Callum again! Callum shakes out the stars and he snarls! Callum fires another forearm, but Goto DECKS him a third time! Goto eggs Callum on, the fans rally again, and Callum rises. Callum puts his hands behind his back and dares Goto to hit him! So Goto DECKS Callum a fourth time!
Khan & Akira coach Callum on but Red Shoes asks if Callum wants to stop. Callum shakes his head, he’s not gonna stop here. Callum stands again, leans on the ropes, then comes back for more! Callum even SPITS at Goto! The fans boo that, but Goto DECKS Callum for it! Goto watches Callum sputter, and Callum slowly rises again. But then he falls back over! Callum headbutts the mat to fire back up, and the fans rally behind him! Goto winds up and ROCKS Callum! Callum is back to get in Goto’s face! Goto fires a flurry of forearms! Callum CHOPS! Goto feels that one! The fans fire up and Callum roars, but Goto spins him! URA G T R!
Goto goes to run but Callum reels him in! GERMAN SUPLEX! ROUNDHOUSE! Callum runs, but into a fireman’s carry! G T W!! Cover, TWO!! We’re 15 minutes in as Goto stalks Callum to the apron. Goto stomps Callum, then stands him up. But Callum fights the fireman’s carry with elbows! Goto still lifts! Callum flails, slips down, and KICKS Goto! Callum goes up, up, and OSCUTTER 2.0 on the apron!! Both men fall to the floor and the fans fire up! Red Shoes checks, both men are able to continue, so a ring count starts. Khan fans off Callum while the fans rally. The count already passes 7 of 20, then hit 10, but both men are still down!
Callum rises at 13, drags himself in at 17, but Goto is still down! Goto rises up and springs in at 19! The fans fire up as this continues! Callum goes to a corner, runs up, BUSAIKU KNEE! Then he hurries to bring Goto into the drop zone! Callum roars, climbs, and the fans fire up! DIVING DOUBLE STOMPS!! Cover, TWO?!? Goto survives the coup de grace and Callum can’t believe it! Akira & Khan tell Callum to keep going, he’s almost done it! The fans rally and duel as Callum hobbles over. Callum stands Goto up, then runs, but Goto swings, DOUBLE LARIATS collide! Both men stay up, and they DOUBLE LARIAT again!
The fans fire up, Callum returns, and DOUBLE LARIATS collide again! And again! Callum waistlocks, ripcords, RAINMAKER?!? Cover, TWO!!! Goto survives as Callum shouts out the former leader of Chaos! The fans are thunderous, Callum feeds off that energy, and Callum drags Goto up. Callum calls his shot, springboards, OSC- NO, Goto blocks the cutter! DISCUS- NO, Callum dodges and springboards! OSCUTTER 2.0!!! Cover, TWO!??! But Callum hooks a leg! FIREBOLT!!! Cover, TWO?!?! Goto survives again and the fans are electric! Callum is unsure what to do as we pass 20 minutes, but the fans dueling shakes the arena!
Callum drags Goto up, but Goto wrenches out! Goto spins Callum, dragon sleepers, but Callum slips free! Backslide! Goto rolls through, PENALTY KICK BLOCKED! Goto HEADBUTTS Callum, ripcords, RAINMAKER!!! Both men are down and the fans are thunderous again! Goto rises, he brings Callum up, and the fans rally as hard as they can! Goto HEADBUTTS away on Callum, then brings him up to HEADBUTT again! Goto snarls and the fans are thunderous again, as Goto suplexes for SHOTEN KAI!!! Cover, TWO?!?!? Callum survives and Goto cannot believe it! The fans duel harder than ever before, and Goto rises again!
Goto roars and focuses his power! Callum sits up, into a BUZZSAW! But then Goto brings Callum around, but Callum drops to victory roll! TWO!! Callum SUPERKICKS, but Goto LARIATS!! Goto stands Callum up, dragon sleepers, but Callum fires shots from below! Goto blocks that arm, traps it, and G T R KAI!!! Cover, GOTO WINS!!
Winner: Hirooki Goto, by pinfall (still IWGP World Heavyweight Champion)
The Prince of Pace did his best to follow in the Aerial Assassin’s footsteps, but he is still a long way from reaching the top of the mountain. However, if this is how close he came on his first try, will nothing stop Callum Newman from being the future of NJPW?
As for Goto, the belt is put back around his waist, and he watches Callum walk away. Callum takes a moment to bow in deep respect to Goto before he and the Empire leave. Goto then grabs the mic, and the fans cheer him on. “No matter what anyone says, this is MY time!” The fans cheer that! Goto continues, “Who’s my next opponent? As a fighting champion, I’ll take on all challengers!” Wait! Zack Sabre Jr. makes his way back out here! Goto took this title from ZSJ so clearly ZSJ wants a rematch. ZSJ grabs a mic to tell Goto in Japanese, “Good work tonight. That was a fantastic match! Truly fantastic.
“You’ve been on a roll lately! You’re indeed a great champion. But I’m you’re next challenger!” The fans like the sound of that! Goto says, “I accept!” The fans really like that, and the two shake hands on it. Will the Submission Master make sure that- WAIT! Shingo Takagi is here?! He storms into the ring with a mic to say, “Pardon the intrusion!” The fans cheer as Takagi asks, “Mind if I speak my piece? Zack, hold on a moment. OI, GOTO! You really are something. You got a belt, a wife, and kids! And on top of that, you’re in Hontai!” The fans do applaud that with a bit of a chuckle.
Takagi points out that he, on the other hand, has no belt, no wife, no kids. “And now it looks like my faction is done… But that doesn’t mean I need to hang my head. I’ll soar to the top!” The fans applaud, and Takagi says the G in IWGP stands for Goto, right? But oi, oi, oi! You can’t spell “Shingo” OR “Takagi” without a G! He has two G’s, so he wants his shot at the title. At least, he’d like to say that. But he has no objects to Zack. Takagi did lose to ZSJ last time. So then Takagi will wait to challenge the winner of Goto VS ZSJ! The fans like that, too! Takagi says if it’s about G’s, Goto can’t argue Takagi’s point!
The three men all look to each other, and it looks like the deal is struck. Fierce Warrior VS Front Man, and the Rampaging Dragon gets the winner! Who will stand on the summit of NJPW going into the summer? Takagi and ZSJ take their leave, and Goto continues. “Again, thank you very much for coming today!” The fans applaud, and Goto says, “No matter who I’m up against, I will not be defeated. The Goto Revolution is far from over! Follow it until the very end! Let’s end with Goto’s G’s.” The fans chuckle, and Goto says he knows most of the locales had G in their names. But not in Fukuoka…
Even so, Goto still has this IWGP World title around his waist, so no worries there. IKU ZO! The fans cheer, and Goto says, “The G in IWGP is for GOTO!” The streamers fly, and the Fierce Warrior is ready to lead NJPW on! But will things only heat up from here on out?
My Thoughts:
An awesome event for Wrestling Dontaku’s finale, and we’re already building towards Dominion next month. I was rather surprised that the Six Woman Tag was so quick. Well, I feel like a lot of Stardom matches on a NJPW show end up like that… But the 10 Man Tag with Tanahashi’s team beating TMDK, and then the 8 Man Tag of LIJ winning, both of those matches felt just as fast/short. I suppose on some level, they did it because we all had a feeling who was winning. Tanahashi’s team wins because he also had special guests Tajiri and Ryota, so that was just a great moment for some longstanding legends.
LIJ winning was apparently to also commemorate their last match as a faction. With Titan being their CMLL member, we only have Hiromu, Takagi and Tsuji. I suppose a trio isn’t necessarily a faction, but I’m surprised they just sprang this dissolution on us. Great match from Yota VS Yuya, but I think they dragged it out a bit at the start. It got hot by the end, and Yota retaining was a great move. Gabe Kidd calling his shot is also a great move, he and Yota are going to have a great rematch from their time limit draw. And then awesome main event from Goto VS Callum, with Callum looking great even in defeat. Callum is definitely on his way, maybe he’ll really build up his power level in the G1 Climax this year.
Great promo to close, with Goto, ZSJ and Takagi establishing the next couple of title shots. I think Goto VS ZSJ has been made for Resurgence this Friday, so they’re getting that right out of the way so Takagi can face the champion at Dominion. At the same time, they kinda have to because Best of the Super Juniors is going to dominate May. Resurgence would be a wild place for a title change since it’s in the US and it’s a true PPV, so I’m not liking ZSJ’s chances.
My Score: 9.1/10
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