AEW (& NJPW)
What a week it was for All Elite Wrestling. Last Sunday was Forbidden Door, which turned out to be fantastic in terms of matches, despite the multitude of injuries which plagued the event; including at the end of the Fatal Fourway to decide the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. Adam Cole was concussed in the final stages of the match, forcing Jay White to abruptly end the match by pinning him early.
What was your favourite match or moment? The star-making turn of ‘Shooter’ Umino? The debut of Claudio Castagnoli? I can’t wait to see the former Cesaro being actually used to his potential, European uppercuts and all. How about Sting flying or Shibata making the save for Orange Cassidy? The main event itself? What about White’s hilarious post-event promo? The media scrums are almost as enjoyable as the PPVs themselves!
The full results of Forbidden Door were:
Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara, and Minoru Suzuki defeated Eddie Kingston, Wheeler YUTA, and Shota Umino; FTR defeated Jeff Cobb and Great-O-Khan and Roppongi Vice to win IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championships and retain the ROH World Tag Team Championships; PAC defeated Miro, Malakai Black and Clark Connors to win the AEW All Atlantic Championship; Shingo Takagi, Darby Allin, and Sting defeat Bullet Club (The Young Bucks, & El Phantasmo); Thunder Rosa defeated Toni Storm to retain the AEW Women’s World Championship; Will Ospreay defeated Orange Cassidy to retain IWGP United States Heavyweight Championshi; Claudio Castagnoli defeated Zack Sabre Jr; Jay White defeated Adam Cole, Adam Page and Kazuchika Okada to retain the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship; Jon Moxley defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi to win the interim AEW World Championship.
Wednesday’s Dynamite featured BLOOD AND GUTS! in Detroit. The Not-War Games match dominated the show as the Jericho Appreciation Society were defeated by the Blackpool Combat Club. These kinds of matches have never been my brand of vodka, with fire extinguishers and thumb tacks and broken glass and geysers of blood (as well as a nasty knee injury suffered by Santana). Did it float your boat? Elsewhere, Christian Cage continued to be a dick and Luchasaurus has turned into a prehistoric Kane. It’s a damn shame that Tay Conti seems to have been demoted to being “Sammy’s girlfriend (fiancee?)”. When did she even last have a match?!
ROH
It’s still a ways away, but the first PPV of the newly rebranded Ring Of Honor was announced for July 23rd in Lowell, Massachusetts. ROH World Champion Jonathan Gresham, ROH Women’s World Champion Mercedes Martinez, ROH Tag Team Champions FTR, ROH Television Champion Samoa Joe, ROH Pure Champion Wheeler Yuta, and Jay Lethal are featured on the advertising:
What do you think? Is this a promotion too far for Tony Khan? Or will it bring something different to the pro-wrestling table? I’d most likely go if it was in my city (or continent, for that matter). I’ll always have a soft spot for the promotion after they brought The Elite, luchadors Místico, Titán, Último Guerrero (who I saw eating a bag of chips outside after his match), and most importantly Hiroshi Tanahashi and Los Ingobernables de Japon to my town as part of their War of the Worlds tour in 2018. I don’t know if I’ll ever get to see a card like that again.
WWE
Monday Night RAW was centred around the celebration of John Cena‘s 20th anniversary and Vince McMahon’s disgusting piggybacking to try to divert attention from the renewed accusations of sexual assault which have been levelled against him in the past. What other hideous things are yet to be brought to light, one has to ask, and if he will survive them (of course he will; he’s Vince McMahon). Still, the WWE fanbase doesn’t seem to care, with ratings staying strong for the show. Bleh.
The E also announced the John Cena Legacy Title which instantly defeated the Fiend belt to become the winner of the ugliest belt ever made competition:
Only 500 made, people! Rush to order yours!
In other news, Money in the Bank is coming up this Saturday, with the full card being:
- Raw Women’s Championship: Bianca Belair (c) vs. Carmella
- United States Championship: Theory (c) vs. Bobby Lashley
- SmackDown Women’s Championship: Ronda Rousey (c) vs. Natalya
- Unified Tag Team Championship: The Usos (c) vs. The Street Profits
- Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder match: Lacey Evans vs. Alexa Bliss vs. Liv Morgan vs. Raquel Rodriguez vs. Asuka vs. Shotzi vs. Becky Lynch
- Men’s Money in the Bank Ladder match: Seth Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Sheamus vs. Omos vs. Sami Zayn vs. Riddle vs. a final wrestler TBD on SmackDown
So… anything there you think will be worth watching?
ELSEWHERE
This week also featured Stardom’s Fight in the Top event with two cage matches; Tam Nakano versus Natsupoi was absolutely amazing, one of the matches of the year. Highly recommended! Tony Khan mentioned that he had wanted to bring over some of the Stardom performers for Forbidden Door, but availability and Visa issues stymied the idea. Hopefully next year! Here’s a highlight reel (just turn the sound off):
Coming up on July 9 is Tokyo Joshi’s Summer Sun Princess 2022, which will be streaming on Wrestle Universe, which again I cannot recommend enough. The service translates into eight or nine bucks a month and is fantastic value for money. This show will feature Thunder Rosa versus The Pink Striker Miyu Yamashita, which will undoubtedly be great.
Does anyone watch NWA Powerrr? Probably not, but it is available for free each week on YouTube:
Let us know what you watched, and your thoughts! What was your match of the week?
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