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NJPW New Japan Road “Takashi Iizuka Retirement Match” Results and Review

In a special show, NJPW said goodbye to Takashi Iizuka, giving him a retirement match at Korakuen Hall. Along with the match was a full card of other contests. Let’s look at the event.

Yuya Uemura & Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Robby Eagles & Taiji Ishimori

The show started with a video package showing the past between Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Takashi Iizuka. The first match on the show was Yuya Uemura and Jushin Liger versus Robby Eagles and Taiji Ishimori. Liger got a hot tag in this match, doing a combo of moves on Ishimori which culminated with a Romero Special. Later on, Uemura gave Eagles a Boston Crab, but he eventually made it to the ropes. Eagles did a great looking 450 Splash onto Uemura to end the match while Ishimori beat up Liger outside the ring. After the bell Ishimori continued to fight, taking Liger into the seats. I’ll admit I haven’t seen a ton of Eagles, but he seems pretty good.

Yota Tsuji, Ren Narita, Manabu Nakanishi & Satoshi Kojima vs. Toa Henare, Tiger Mask, Tomoaki Honma & Togi Makabe

The next match was a big matchup between Young Lions and veterans. Satoshi Kojima was on a roll against Tomoaki Honma, doing an elbow drop off the top for a two count. He landed a Cutter but then got a Brainbuster reversed. Honma landed a Kokeshi after Makabe and Tsuji ran in to help their teams. Toa Henare and Tsuji were the next entrants in the match. Tsuji put on a Boston Crab, but it was undone by Tiger Mask who kicked him a few times. Henare and Tsuji traded strikes, ending with Henare landing a headbutt. Henare did a Clothesline and then a Rock Bottom to win the match.

YOSHI-HASHI & Tomohiro Ishii vs. Shota Umino & Yuji Nagata

Tomohiro Ishii had his first match since New Years Dash on this show. Throughout this match, Nagata and Ishii would trade strikes. Umino fought really well in this match. YOSHI-HASHI won the match with the Butterfly Lock. Ishii and Nagata continued fighting after the bell but were separated.

El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. SHO & YOH

The next match was El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru versus RPG3K. Kanemaru did a nice move where he hung up SHO on a barricade and then gave him a curb stomp, jumping off the same barricade. Kanemaru and Desperado brought the fight into the floor seating. Desperado threw SHO into a table at ringside. This brawl outside the ring is what gave the Suzuki-gun team the advantage for a while. SHO was hit with a Deep Impact from Kanemaru, but YOH broke it up. Kanemaru tried for a Moonsault but SHO escaped. SHO landed a German Suplex and then a double team combo of moves with YOH. Desperado stopped a big move that they were planning for until he was dropkicked out of the ring and then given a Crossbody. Kanemaru missed a Satori Surprise on SHO and then was given a lariat. Kanemaru escaped a Powerbomb but was given a 3K when going off the ropes to end the match. This was definitely one of my favourite matches on the show. After the match, Shingo Takagi and BUSHI faced off with RPG3K. YOH said that they will go after the belts on the Anniversary show. Looks like that will be the next IWGP Jr. Tag Team Title match. The two teams brawled after that. The Los Ingobernables duo got the better part of the fight, with both of them cutting a promo afterwards. I forgot that this is one of the last shows where NJPW has the chance to shoot angles for the Anniversary show.

TAKA Michinoku & Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Ryusuke Taguchi & Hirooki Goto

TAKA Michinoku and ZSJ fought Taguchi and Goto in the next match. Early in the match, there was some comedy that revolved around Taguchi. He was struck by his own teammate, and then, later on, he was given some uppercuts to his behind. Goto gave ZSJ a slam onto TAKA at one point. When Taguchi got a hot tag he did his hip attack to Michinoku. They retried their double team spot that messed up earlier and succeeded. Taguchi did a roll-up which got double reversed, giving him the win. It’s nice to see Taguchi rebound after he failed at chasing Ishimori’s belt. I liked the comedy in the match. English commentator Kevin Kelly did a good job at portraying how the team had trouble at the start but eventually got it figured out.

Davey Boy Smith Jr. & Lance Archer vs. Will Ospreay & Hiroshi Tanahashi

Hiroshi Tanahashi made his first in-ring appearance after losing his title in this match. In this match, Archer did a shoulder tackle on Ospreay which he sold amazingly. As ZSJ was trying for a tag he was nearly caught in a Chokeslam but found his way out. Tanahashi got the hot tag on Archer. His momentum was stopped when given a Black Hole Slam. DBS Jr. did a leg drop for a two count. Tanahashi reversed a Vertical Suplex into a Twist and Shout.

Ospreay got tagged back in and did a top rope 619. He did a forearm strike off the top rope. Ospreay was selling one of his legs heavily. He tried for a Hammerlock move on DBS but he escaped. Smith landed a German Suplex and then Hammerlock German Suplex, but Ospreay escaped it and did a Robinson Special. He tried for a Os-Cutter but it got reversed. When going off the ropes he was given a double team slam, but kicked out at two. DBS gave Ospreay a Powerslam off the second rope but Tanahashi broke it up. They tried for a Killer Bomb but it was escaped by Ospreay. Tanahashi landed a Swingblade on Archer and Ospreay gave DBS a Spanish Fly. Ospreay hit an Os-Cutter off the second rope to end the match. Ospreay was heavily carrying the matchup for his team. Nonetheless, a fun bout.

Taichi, Minoru Suzuki & Takashi Iizuka vs. Toru Yano, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Kazuchika Okada

Before the main event, veteran commentator Shinpei Nogami made a special appearance to call this match. Takashi Iizuka made his walk through the crowd one last time. When he made it to ringside he ripped off the tops of Nogami, leaving him just in a tie. Taichi and Minoru Suzuki made their entrances under Iizuka’s music. Suzuki-gun did their world famous jump start to the match. Tenzan was beat up by Iizuka with chairs and did a near count out spot. Iizuka got his mask taken off and bit Tenzan when in the ring. While Taichi tried to undo a corner pad (and failed at it because he took too long), Yano hit Taichi from behind with a corner pad of his own. Yano tore off Taichi’s long pants. Suzuki attempted to give Okada a Gotch Style Piledriver but Okada reversed it into a Backbody Drop. Iizuka got a hot tag onto Okada and bit him in the head. He bit his boot as well. Okada gave him a Neckbreaker after he tried using a chain. Okada went to the top rope and gave him and Elbow Drop and then called for a Rainmaker. Iizuka escaped the Rainmaker and then dodged a dropkick. After a good combo, Okada did two dropkicks and then tried for another Rainmaker but it was reversed into a leg lock by Iizuka. The crowd was very behind Iizuka. Okada picked up Iizuka and did a Death Valley Driver.

Tenzan got tagged in. Tenzan found himself in a sleeper hold but escaped because Taichi broke it up. While the ref was distracted by Taichi, Iizuka brought out his iron glove. Tenzan pleaded him to not use it. Iizuka fought his own hand, trying to fight it. He eventually tried but missed Tenzan. Goto hit him with a low blow, and then Okada did a Tombstone Piledriver. Tenzan went to the top rope for a headbutt and then put a shirt on Iizuka from when they were a tag team. With the shirt was on him, Tenzan did a Moonsault off the top to end the match.

Tenzan cried on Iizuka as his music played. When Iizuka got up, Tenzan tried to bring Iizuka back to his old self. The crowd chanted his name too. Iizuka finally found the power to shake Tenzan’s hand. When Tenzan tried to hug him however, he was bit, and the old Iizuka was back. He grabbed a chair and hit Tenzan with it. Iizuka got to use his iron glove on Tenzan. All of Suzuki-gun came out to be with him. Iizuka started to leave through the crowd. Minoru Suzuki did a ten bell count, and Iizuka’s iron glove was left in the middle of the ring. Taichi was in the ring alone and picked up the iron glove. He teased that he would put it on, but then just left with it. Afterwards the crowd chanted for Iizuka in hopes that he would come back out (presumably). I didn’t follow Iizuka’s career or even have much knowledge about his past, but this felt like a great sendoff for him. I enjoyed this match and this show was pretty good overall.

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AEW Details Unveiled At “Double or Nothing Rally”

In Jacksonville, Florida on Tuesday, All Elite Wrestling held an official “rally” to promote the debut event for the promotion, “Double or Nothing.” At the event, the official details for the first event were unveiled, with the first show set to take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on May 25, 2019. A second event was also announced for Jacksonville, but no date or venue was put out. It was announced that profits from that event would go towards victims of gun violence.

Along with the event reveal was a showing of the talent that is coming to the promotion. The biggest name at the event was Chris Jericho, who closed the press conference. Other names announced were Joey Janela, MJF, Adam Page, Britt Baker, So Cal Uncensored and PAC (formerly Neville). The already announced Young Bucks, Cody and Brandi Rhodes also made appearances at the event. When Cody was on-stage he emphasized that the promotion will be paying all of their talents a good amount. Brandi Rhodes, later on, echoed that statement, saying that the women’s wrestlers will be paid equally.

The first real angle shot for the promotion was PAC and Adam Page both wanting to be the first AEW Champion. PAC appeared at the event in ring attire and carrying his Dragon Gate Open The Dream Gate Championship.

During the show, it was also unveiled that All Elite Wrestling will work with Oriental Wrestling Entertainment, a Chinese based wrestling promotion.

The backers of the soon to debut promotion, Sahid Khan and Tony Khan, were both present at the event. The event was held outside the TIAA Bank Field, home of the Jacksonville Jaguars, which both Sahid and Tony own.

With the promotion’s first event finally having a time and place, the promotion will be launching soon.

UFC 229 Ticket Prices Announced

The long awaited clash between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor does not come at a cheap price. Tuesday AXS announced the price tiers for tickets to the October bout, with the highest level being a hefty $2,505. The other ticket prices were $2,005, $1,505, $1,005, $755, $555, $405, $355, $305, $255 and $205. Tickets go on sale to the general public after five different pre-sales, starting on the 15th and ending the following day. On the 17th the tickets will go public for purchase at 10AM EST. The event goes down at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The card currently has six fights booked, with the most anticipated one being McGregor versus Nurmagomedov. UFC 229 goes down on October 6, 2018.

Bellator 204 Preview

On Friday Bellator visits the Stanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls for Bellator 204, headlined by Darrion Caldwell versus Noad Lahat. Below them are 12 other bouts, three of them on the main card. Bellator’s format is a change of pace from most promotions, particularly the UFC. A four fight main card that goes two hours, and that’s it. Not too long of a show at all. The only part about their setup that detracts interest personally is how they typically do postlims. Most prelims get bumped to postlims after the prelims start 20 minutes late and only get 2 of the 6 undercard fights in. But anyways, from the bottom up let’s see what this card has to offer.

 

The first fight on the prelims is the pro debut for two fighters. Both fighters have had slight experience in the amateur fighting scene. Wyatt Meyer is coming off a win from only two months ago against Andrew Yatskis. He won the fight via Rear Naked Choke. His opponent has a 2-0 amateur record, with his most recent win at LFA 37 with a round 1 stoppage. That’s the only real history with these two guys.

 

The second prelim fight is a battle between a MMA veteran and a guy who’s only a few years in. Lloyd McKinney, who has been on and off fighting for over a decade has racked up 12 wins and 5 losses. He has fought around the Minnesota area for years, making numerous appearances at events put on by Driller Promotions and 3 River Throwdown. He faces Robiel Tesfaldet, a fighter who has been fighting since 2015, but has spent the majority of his career up until now doing amateur fights. He ended his amateur career with a 6-1 record. Moving up to the real deal in 2017, he has won twice and lost once. Both of his wins come from LFA prelim bouts.

 

Despite only being in the sport for 13 months, Romero Cotton is no newcomer to Bellator. His 2-0 record comes solely from his two preliminary victories under Bellator. Looking online it seems that Romero has quite a background in wrestling, doing it throughout college and high school. Very recently MMA-Today.com ran a piece about how he is on a redemption path after having a troubled past. Reading the article, it makes you want to cheer for Cotton and see him succeed. It’s a very well written piece by Ryan Thomas.  He looks to make his Bellator victories a trio as he faces Willie Whitehead. Willie is a dangerous opponent because of the amount of experience that he has. An 8-0 record in amateur fighting and a 2-2 record professionally. Even though he has a shaky pro record, he has experience on his side. On Friday Willie missed weight for the bout, weighing in at 200 pounds for a Middleweight bout.

 

The next bout is a clash of two fighters who have stayed loyal to (nearly) one promotion up until now. Tyler Ray, who has a 2-1 record in LFA is facing Seth Bass, who has a 4-2 record, with most bouts coming from Victory FC. He had an impressive 10-0 record before going pro.

 

Just like Seth Bass, Micah Peatrowsky is also a Victory FC man. Through his pro 2-0 record and 5-0 amateur record Peatrowsky has stayed undefeated. He faces Keith Phathaem, who is in his first pro bout after having a 50/50 amateur record (4-4).

 

In a Lightweight fight we have a classic “two O’s, one’s gotta go” situation. 3-0 undefeated Troy Nawrocki faces 6-0 Omar Morales. Morales returns to the octagon after being absent for 1 year and 9 months. Debuting in 2011, his career has been very spread out throughout the years.

 

The next bout, along with the final two preliminary fights are all in the Welterweight class. With a 8-2 record having many appearances at Titan FC, Demarques Jackson hopes to get his foot in the door of Bellator and defeat Bryce Logan. Bryce Logan is on a 6 fight win streak, having four of those appearances coming from Victory FC.

 

Kingston, Jamaica born Jason Jackson has the charismatic nickname “The Ass-Kicking Machine” is looking to bounce back after his last fight being a loss over a year ago. Jackson lost on the Dana White Contender Series, losing due to an injury in round 2. He trains out of the Blackzilians gym, just like the previously mentioned Tyler Ray. He faces Jordon Larson, who goes into the fight with a 9-4 pro record. His last victory was against a last minute opponent in Darrius Flowers, after Clarence Jordan fell under weight cut difficulties.

 

The final preliminary fight is David Michaud versus Corey Davis. Michaud had a short run in the UFC, losing two bouts and winning one. His last fight in the UFC, which was a loss, was against Olivier Aubin-Mercier. Michaud participated in the 16th Ultimate Fighter season, losing on the first episode and not getting picked on a team. Since then he has been fighting under many promotions, Titan and LFA among them. His opponent Corey Davis has had a successful career up until now, being undefeated through his amateur and pro career. His three pro wins have come through Victory FC.

 

Moving to the main card which will be aired on the Paramount Network, the first TV fight is Ty-wan Claxton versus Cris Lencioni. Claxton has been undefeated 7-0 in his amateur career, and undefeated in his two Bellator performances. His two wins were from striking stoppages. Cris Lencioni has gotten all of his wins via submission moves. He is coming off a loss at Bellator 195 from March, which went the distance. If there is a prediction to make for this fight, it’s that it won’t go all 15 minutes. During the weigh-ins on Friday, Lencioni missed weight, tipping the scales at 148 pounds.

 

Coming from the famous Irish SBG camp, James Gallagher looks to win after having bad luck with injuries cancelling bouts for a year now. His last came on the preliminary of Bellator NYC from 14 months ago with a Rear Naked Choke. As a matter of fact, his past three wins have all been Rear Naked Chokes. It must be his favourite way to end a fight, since he has used it 7 times to win a bout. He walks into his fight with Ricky Bandejas with a 7-0 undefeated record. Bandejas has spent his whole pro career fighting for CFFC, picking up 10 wins and 1 loss.

 

Logan Storley sees himself on the co-main event slot for this card. Before his MMA he started his currently 8-0 undefeated MMA career he was an All American in wrestling. He has been with Bellator since 181, getting one stoppage win and two unanimous decisions. He is set to face AJ Matthews, who has been loyal to Bellator, with a shaky pro record. After losing four times in a row, he saw his first win since 2015 in his January decision victory at Bellator 193.

 

In the main event of the show, Darrion Caldwell defends his Bantamweight belt against Noad Lahat. He won the belt back in November, beating Eduardo Dantas via decision. He has defended the belt once since then, defeating Leandro Higo at Bellator 195. Noad Lahat has been absent since December, when he beat Jeremiah Labiano at Bellator 188. Before then he lost to Henry Corrales. If Caldwell is able to successfully defend his belt, he will tie himself with Julia Budd for current Bellator Champions with most successful title defenses.

 

The card isn’t anything huge, but Bellator has a lot coming ahead. A champion versus champion fight is booked for September 29, when new Bellator employee Gegard Mousasi faces Rory MacDonald. It will take place at the SAP Center, a bigger venue than usual for Bellator. In October the Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix carries on with two legends of the sport, Fedor Emelianenko and Chael Sonnen. The Bellator 204 main card starts at 9PM EST, live from the Stanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

ROH 16th Anniversary Show Results and Review

It’s time to review that Ring of Honor 16th Anniversary show. Let’s get started with the show introduction.

 

The 16th anniversary started with video package recapping some of ROH’s fondest memories in the companies history. It did a good job tying old stuff to the stuff we will see tonight, although the music used in the video made no sense. It sounded very comical. We go to the ring where Bully Ray shouts into a mic which is way too loud on the microphone. By the way, on the pre-show, we could hear Bully explaining to the crowd when to start cheering.

 

Anyways, Bully is hyping up the show in the ring. He finishes his hyping, then that’s it haha. He was good at getting the crowd loud, but this segment meant nothing in the long run. They should have at least tied it into something. Let’s get to our first match.

 

Hiromu Takahashi vs. Flip Gordon

 

Hiromu Takahashi, who has been a huge name for a year now, faces Flip Gordon. An audience member gave Hiromu a daryl stuffed animal, which he carried around the ring. I’ll be completely honest, this is the first that I have seen of Gordon. I liked the somewhat egotistical way he carried himself around the ring. Something about the way he acts when walking around that is so unique and cool. When he sets up for dives and such, he’s never running super fast, just the speed he needs. Early in the match, Hiromu hit Shaka Boots outside the ring. I liked that move. Just another example of how Hiromu throws caution to the wind.

 

He used the Daryl doll as a weapon during the match. Should have been a DQ if we are talking technicalities, but Todd Sinclair cut him some slack. What was adorable about this was that Todd referred to Daryl as a person, telling Takahashi that “he (Daryl) stays there (outside the ring”.

 

Flip was impressive when he hit a Standing (he had a running start) Shooting Star. Hiromu hit a Canadian Destroyer, and Flip Gordon hit him with a Superkick right after. Listen, I love me a Superkick, and I sure love a Canadian Destroyer, but Gordon completely no sold the move. I hate almost any no sell as big as this, because it feels like it almost invalidates the move.

 

Gordon hit a Star Spangled Stunner (which looked great), for a two count. He went right to the top rope after and did a 450 Splash, but Hiromu countered it by putting up his knees. A roll-up was kicked out of by Gordon. Takahashi did a Death Valley Driver into the corner. Gordon tried for another Stunner, but Hiromu countered it with a German Suplex, bridged into a pin. Gordon kicked out. Hiromu hit a Superkick then a great Lariat for a two count. Hiromu hit the Timebomb for the win.

 

I thought this match was an amazing start to the show. As I already mentioned, this was my first time watching Flip Gordon. From this match, I consider him a great wrestler. I can not wait to see him again soon. And as always, Takahashi put on a show.

 

Punishment Martinez vs. Marty Scurll

 

Our second match on the card is a grudge match. Marty Scurll and Punishment Martinez. The camera didn’t catch it, but the fight started before the bell rang. The crowd seemed just as or maybe even more loud for this match. Outside the ring, Marty Scurll was surrounded by security after making a ref flinch. Martinez did a dive over a ringpost, onto the crowd. It was a pretty good dive.

 

Punishment Martinez did a great Curbstomp, on the apron of the ring. Martinez took out a table and set it up. Martinez did a Swanton Bomb outside over the ropes onto the table, but Scurll got out of the way. At some point in the match, Scurll started bleeding in the right eye. Minimal blood, but it looked nasty. Scurll unleashed his more Strong Style of fighting, doing multiple curbstomps to an already downed Martinez. Scurll pretended to throw a bag of powder, but it was nothing. The ref looked away when this happened, giving him a chance to kick Martinez in the groin. This gave him the win.

 

It was a cheap victory, but to be honest, that’s a clever one. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen someone win via making the ref flinch and look away. Not as good as the first match, but still a good match.

 

Silas Young vs. Kenny King (ROH World TV Championship Match)

 

Our first match for gold tonight is Silas Young versus Kenny King. The crowd definitely calmed down for this match, but still showed a lot of energy. They did a spot late in the match where Todd Sinclair was down, delaying a pin for Silas. Silas would have won the match, but King kicked out at 2. King hit the Royal Flush for the win. After the match, a big name shows up. Austin Aries comes to the ramp with a microphone. Aries says that he is collecting belts. He implies that he wants Kenny King’s belt. This match was good but not great. I didn’t dislike it. The Aries segment felt somewhat awkward because it ended with no real satisfying ending.

 

Bullet Club (Young Bucks and Adam Page) vs. So Cal Uncensored (ROH 6-Man Tag Team Title Match) (Street Fight)

 

The Young Bucks and Adam Page, the the self proclaimed Hung Bucks, are defending their ROH 6-Man belts in a street fight. They face So Cal Uncensored. A brawl erupts before the fight officially starts. Streamers from the crowd are all over the ring. The start of this match was absolute mayhem. Everyone was doing crazy spots left and right. Page did a great Shooting Star off the apron onto someone who was being held up. The Bucks get out a table next. We see that Kazarian is completely covered in blood on the forehead.

 

Nick Jackson went for a move onto the table outside the ring, but Jackson gets pushed and goes through the table by his lonesome. Nick gets isolated by himself in the ring and picked up by So-Cal Uncensored. Page and Kazarian traded head blows with the top of a trash can. Looked brutal. Page whipped Kazarian with a belt that has nails on it. Oh my goodness, that was the most painful thing I have seen all week. Wow.

So-Cal Uncensored set up a table that was made out of the metal guard rails. They try to put a Buck through it, but he gets saved. The Young Bucks hit the Double Cease, but Kazarian broke it up. Page hit an amazing Hotshot Lariat. Daniels gets put through the Guardrail structure. Kazarian gets put on a table. Nick Jackson takes out a ladder in attempt at going through the table. Scorpio stops it from happening. Matt Jackson takes out Scorpion, then goes up the ladder himself.

 

He did an Elbow Drop off the top of the ladder. Nick Jackson put a trash can on top of Scorpio Sky then did a 450. He went for the pin, but Shane Taylor came out and distracted Nick. Taylor attacked the Bullet Club. The Bucks did a Piledriver of some sort onto Taylor. Because of this distraction, So-Cal is all healed up and fighting again. Page gets zip-tied to a post. The Bucks start going crazy with Superkicks. Scorpio hit a Cutter into a Dragon Sleeper onto Nick Jackson. Nick taps, giving us new champions.

 

Honestly, I expected the crowd to give So-Cal Uncensored heat, but the crowd fell silent. The match was good, but the Young Bucks losing completely killed the crowd. I feel like a big issue is that The Young Bucks are loved so much, that people aren’t satisfied if they don’t win. I can’t preach a solution to this because I don’t know what to do.

 

A team of some sort attacks people after the match, but this wasn’t emphasized at all. When we came back from an ad, the commentators reacted like nothing ever happened. I didn’t even catch their names.

 

Matt Taven vs. Cody

 

For this grudge match, Cody has Brandi Rhodes and Bury The Bear at ringside. Taven hit a Cross Rhodes for a two count late in the match. The crowd was absolutely dead for this match. I think the match before completely deflated the crowd. As the ref is down, those same two people who attacked The Bucks are back. They kick Cody in the groin, but afterwards we see that Cody was actually wearing a cup. Cody hit a Cross Rhodes for the win.

 

Earlier in the match was rough, but the end was very clever. Even more so when the match ended, the crowd was absolutely dead. I hope that they can pull it together before the main event. After the match, the bear attacks Cody. The bear takes off the mask, and you see that it is Kenny Omega. He hits a V-Trigger on Cody afterwards. This brought the crowd to life. The plot thickens. Brandi is mad at Kenny, but kisses him on the lips. I can only assume this was to further the Ibushi story, even though that’s not a ROH thing. What a crazy way to end this segment. I enjoyed it.

 

The Briscoe Brothers vs. Motor City Machine Guns (Ring of Honor Tag Title Match)

 

Our next match is The Briscoe Brothers and the Motor City Machine Guns. The crowd was near silent for this match. I wasn’t really digging this match either. To be completely fair, these guys had such a disadvantage. They crowd was silent no matter what they did. The Briscoes won, new champs. Not that exciting of a win.

 

Jay Lethal vs. Dalton Castle (ROH World Championship Match)

 

Yes yes, it’s main event time. Jay Lethal challenges Dalton Castle for the ROH World Championship. When Lethal did a dive to the outside, Bobby Cruise took one. Like 15 minutes into this match, this is the only big highlight that I have. This match was slow, boring and bad. The crowd was absolutely dead, and they were working a slow pace, way different than every other match tonight. Late in the match, Lethal tried for a Lethal Injection but Dalton got out.

 

This match for sure picked up near the end. Castle hit a Bangarang for the win, to retain his championship. The final combo of moves at the end of the match was well done. The end of the match was good, but in general I did not enjoy this match. It was very slow, and the crowd slept on it.

 

That wraps up the 16th anniversary show for Ring of Honor. Come to the site later this week for a ROH TV review.

@JackWannan

What I Did This Week: Feb 4-10 2018

Hello! Welcome to the first edition of What I Did This Week. The title sort of explains itself, I’ll just be recapping what I’ve written or worked on in the past 7 days. Nothing too crazy.

Articles this week: 7

February 5 2018:

WrestlingHeads: WWE RAW Preview

WrestlingHeads: WWE RAW Review

February 6 2018:

WrestlingHeads: Smackdown Live Review

February 7 2018:

WrestlingHeads: WWE Mixed Match Challenge Week 4 Results

WrestlingHeads: Jason Jordan Completed Neck Surgery

WrestlingHeads: WWE 205 Live 2/7/18 Results

February 10 2018:

WrestlingHeads: UFC 211 Full Results

@JackWannan

Kevin Harvick Gets First Win Of The Season At Sonoma

Kevin Harvick picks up his 36th career win at Sonoma Raceway, and his first of the season. The Toyota SafeMart 350, which consisted of 110 laps around the Sonoma road course, had Harvick completing the race in first, with Clint Bowyer 8 seconds behind. Section 1 of the race, which was 25 laps, was won by Martin Truex Jr. The second section of the race was won by Jimmie Johnson. The race also included 13 lead changes with 10 different leaders, and 6 cautions.

In victory lane after the race, Harvick said that the win was “worth the wait” after coming up short a few times this season. This was his first win of the season, his best placings before being third at the Food City 500 and also third at the more recent Go Bowling 400.

The next broadcast will be from Daytona International Speedway for the Coke Zero 400. NBC and NBCSN will carry the rest of the season, as FS1 and FOX wrapped up their coverage this week.

@JackWannan

Bellator To Make New York Debut Tonight

MMA promotion Bellator is scheduled to make it’s New York debut tonight in the World’s Most Famous Arena, Madison Square Garden. Wanderlei Silva faces Chael Sonnen in a co-main event of the evening, with quite the amount of animosity between them already brewing. During the press conference on Thursday Silva was asked if the “impulse” for him will be to shake Chael’s hand after the fight, which he responded to with a solid “No.”.

Alongside that main event is 12 other matches that will be broadcasted on many platforms. The prelims, which start at 6PM can be watched online for free on the official Bellator website. The prelims include a Welterweight fight between Haim Gozali (7-3-0) and Ryan Couture (10-5-0), a Lightweight fight between Bradley Desir (9-5-0) and Nate Grebb (3-1-0), two Catchweight bouts between Sergio Da Silva (6-8-0) and Matt Rizzo (9-2-0), and Hugh McKenna (0-1-0) versus John Salgado (4-7-1), and also a Welterweight bout between Anthony Giacchina (1-1-0) and Jerome Mickle (2-1-0).

At 8PM EST the main card for Bellator 180 can be viewed on Spike TV. Now keep in mind, the Bellator 180 main card is different from the Bellator NYC PPV. That is afterwards. Anyways, the card for Bellator 180 is 4 fights. Heather Hardy (0-0-0) faces Alice Yauger (4-5-0) in the Flyweight division, in the Welterweight Division Neiman Gracie (5-0-0) faces Dave Marfone (5-2-0), in the Featherweight Division James Gallagher (6-0-0) goes up against Chinzo Machida (5-2-0), and in the main event of Bellator 180, Phil Davis (17-3-0) defends his Light Heavyweight Championship against Ryan Bader (22-5-0).

At 10PM EST the main card kicks off. You can watch the main card via PPV. The complete list of ways to order can be found here.  The main card is 5 fights. Aaron Pico (0-0-0) faces Zach Freeman (8-2-0) in a Lightweight match to kick off the main card. Michael Chandler (16-3) defends his Lightweight World Title in the second contest of the main card against Brent Primus (7-0). Our third and final title match of the night is Douglas Lima (28-6) defending the Welterweight Title against Lorenz Larkin (18-5). The first of two co-main event’s is Fedor Emelianenko (34-4-0) facing Matt Mitrione (11-5-0) in a Heavyweight Bout. The second main event is Chael Sonnen (28-15) facing Wanderlei Silva (35-12) in a Light Heavyweight Match.

“Only the best promoter in the business, Scott Coker could put together such an incredible blockbuster card, with something for everyone” said Kevin Kay, President of Spike TV and mediator of the press conference on Thursday.

This is Bellator’s first event in the state of New York due to a 20 year long ban of MMA that was lifted just last year in March. UFC has already held many events in New York since the ban was lifted, with UFC 205 being the most notable one. This Bellator event has been proclaimed by many as the biggest one in brand history so far.

@JackWannan