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dimitrescus-bitch · 3 years

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Asshole (Candice LeRae x Reader)

Your NXT debut had been rumored for months now. NWA had released you and within hours of that announcement, Impact and AEW had tried making claims on you. Instead of indulging them though, you hopped on a plane to Japan, did a quick tour of shows and got some training, and then came right back to the states. NWA hadn’t used you properly, they signed you on the claim of making you a star, but never once had you in a championship match. At NXT, things were going to change though, Regal had made you that promise.

“Oh god, not you.” Candice had been less than thrilled to see you when you’d finally arrived.

“Candi, baby girl, it’s so great to see you,” you greeted her. She rolled her eyes, but you could see the blush on her face when you kissed her hand. “Miss me?”

“No,” she replied coldly. You winced and put a hand over your heart.

“Damn, well I’m not ashamed to admit I missed you. I’ll see you around, I’m pretty hard to miss,” you told her as you walked away from her.

“Fuck me,” Candice muttered under her breath as she watched you leave. Back before either of you were at NXT or NWA, you’d had a little thing going. The two of you had split after an argument that wasn’t worth it in your opinion and well, you’d never really been the same since then. She just happened to hate you now, even though you were still in love with her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Weeks went by and Candice hadn’t really warmed up to you. However, that “stone cold bitch” act that she’d done came crumbling down whenever you got attacked. She had saved you from a hoard of angry women after you’d sort of declared yourself the champion of a new title. The work on being a heel there was way too easy for you, but it’d created a target on your back.

“You saved me,” you said with a sing-song tone. Candice rolled her eyes at you, but you could see the upturn of the corner of her lips. “Thank you Candice.”

“Did you just call me Candice?” she asked and you nodded. “Wow, never thought I’d see the day.”

“It was going to be our wedding day originally, but uh, kinda fucked that one.” Your eyes widened a bit and she shoved your shoulder. “I’m sorry. I really am. I know I’m an ass sometimes, but the feelings were always there. Stuff like that doesn’t go away and if you can fake it, I never learned how.”

“I hate to admit it, but you were always genuine,” Candice said. “You’re gonna need a friend around here to keep that from happening again. Let me protect you Y/n, you weren’t like this before. Can’t help but think it’s a little bit my fault.”

“Rude, but not entirely unfair. I can’t help you if you fall for me though,” you told her and she groaned. You took her hand in yours and glanced down. It was an image you’d been seeking for years and you didn’t want to forget anything about it. “Friends.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“What are you doing?” Candice asked as you stood up. “I wasn’t finished.”

“I told you to stop biting your lip,” you said as she squirmed in front of you. “Hey, you’re gonna be late. Better get out to ringside. I’ll see you later tonight babe.”

“You’re an asshole and I want you to know that it’s very hard to be your friend,” Candice told you as she fixed her ring gear and hair quickly.

“Friends don’t eat other friends out and you know that. We’re not friends baby girl, don’t be foolish,” you told her with a wink. Candice rolled her eyes and ran out to her match. Once you were sure she was gone, you quietly whispered, “Love you.”

#candice lerae #candice lerae imagine #candice lerae imagines #candice lerae x reader #WWE #wwe imagines #wwe imagine #wwe x reader #nxt #nxt imagines #nxt imagine #nxt x reader

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itsadamcole · 3 years

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under the mistletoe

fem!reader x nick jackson

reader and Nick have had feelings for each other for years, and neither have admitted it. Until the two find themselves under the mistletoe ... “did you just kiss me?”

word count: 3k+

warnings: fluffy, nick being cute. a little bit of drinking

— day 5. let’s gooo —

masterlist || request an imagine here

***

You're on the phone with your best friend as you get dressed to go to his house for the annual Jackson Christmas party.

It's a party that Matt and Nick Jackson throw every year, and you've gone every year since they started throwing the party. Their family is invited. Both their families, their blood family and their wrestling family.

You've known Matt and Nick Jackson since June 2016, when the three of you were in Ring of Honor together. You signed with ROH and the first people you met were Matt, Nick, Kenny Omega, Adam Cole, Adam Page, and Cody Rhodes while they were backstage waiting for their segment to start. Kenny wasn't in Bullet Club yet but he was good friends with everyone in the group. Nick was the first person in the group to talk to you.

"Hey, I've never seen you around here," Nick said to you. "You new?"

You smiled and teased him saying, "Maybe. Who's asking? I'm not talking to someone important, am I?"

"You're only talking to a member of the greatest faction in ROH history," Nick said, teasing you back. "Nick Jackson, former ROH World Tag Team Champion." He held out his hand and you shook it.

Smiling, you said, "Y/N L/N, former NWA World Women's Champion."

And that was the beginning of a friendship that's lasted almost five years. You've become close to Nick, Matt, Kenny, Cole, Page, and Cody. You were thinking about forming a new faction with them before Cole left ROH in 2017 to go to NXT. Then the Young Bucks, Kenny, Adam Page, and Cody all signed to AEW. You joined them in AEW, where you're the number one contender for Hikaru Shida's AEW Women's World Championship.

Nick, who's on the phone with you now, asks, "What color are you wearing tonight? It's for science class."

Laughing, you say, "You haven't had a science class in years. Silver, by the way." You're tying the halter top of your dress behind your neck.

The dress you're wearing is silver, obviously. From the waist up is tight, hugging your muscular figure. There's a sparkly design on the top and the neck dips down, revealing the smallest amount of cleavage. The ties to tie the halter top are made of sheer silver fabric. The skirt flares out and ends right above your knees. The whole dress is satin.

"Gotcha," Nick says. "So I'll wear a black suit with a silver tie."

Since you've been invited to the annual Jackson Christmas party, you and Nick have always found some way to match each other while matching that year's theme. This year is formal attire, meaning the women wear dresses and the men wear suits or at least a tie. Last year was ugly sweaters, so you and Nick wore matching ugly Christmas sweaters.

You do your makeup at your desk. Your phone sits on speaker as you do a silver smokey eye look with a dark red lip.

A door opens on the other line and Matt, Nick's older brother, says, "Let me guess. Y/N is wearing something silver."

Nick laughs and says, "Maybe. She's on the phone."

Matt says, "Hi, Y/N. You on your way yet?"

"I'm finishing up my makeup then I am leaving," you giggle. "You two won't have to go much longer without seeing me."

Nick says, "Hurry up, Y/N.

"Makeup is art, Mr. Jackson. It takes more than a few minutes to do," you say, smiling. "I'll be there in a few minutes."

Your best friend laughs and says, "Well, you're only like five minutes away so I expect to see you in about ten."

Finally finishing your makeup, you say, "Make that seven. I'm leaving in two minutes. See you soon."

"Bye, Y/N," Nick says, hanging up the phone.

Just the thought of seeing Nick in a suit makes the butterflies flutter in your stomach. Nick has always looked handsome in a suit and it's honestly making you very excited that you get to see him in a suit tonight, especially in a suit with a tie that matches your dress.

After putting on a pair of three-inch heels, you take your phone and clutch before leaving your penthouse apartment just outside of Jacksonville. The Young Bucks don't live that far away. They don't live together because they have their own families but they live close together too. Within a block or two of each other. You live about three miles away. It's a five-minute drive so you get in your 2-year-old Toyota Corolla and drive to Nick's house.

The drive is extremely short as you try and calm your nerves. You're excited to see Nick but you're nervous about what he'll think of the dress.

You've had feelings for Nick for years. You've never told him. You know he doesn't feel the same way about you. He's had girlfriends, quite a few over the past four years, so if he had any feelings for you then he'd have told you by now.

After you get out of the car, after parking it in the driveway of Nick's house, you walk up to his front door. You knock and wait for someone to open the door.

Matt answers the door. He wears a crazy Christmas suit. You laugh. "Look at you," you say. "Does Dana mind the crazy outfit?"

"She offered to take care of the kids this year at our place," he says. "So she has no idea until someone posts a picture on Instagram or any other social media."

Laughing again, you walk inside.

Matt closes the door behind you and yells, "Nick! Your girlfriend is here!"

Nick calls, "Mel's here?"

You raise your eyebrows at Nick's brother and ask, "Who's Mel?"

"This girl that Nick's talking to," Matt says. "Don't tell Dana but she's kinda hot."

You feel your heart sink into your stomach and all you can say is, "Oh."

Nick walks into the living room and Matt's eyes widen. You blink at Matt as Nick says, "I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long, Y/N. Cole and his boys are on their way. Kenny, Page, and Cody are already drinking all my alcohol in the kitchen. Everyone else will be here shortly."

You look over at Nick and smile. He looks really hot in that suit. He smiles at you. "You look good in the silver tie," you say, trying not to let what Matt said affect you. "Matches me."

Nick laughs and says, "That is kind of the point. We always match."

He hugs you and presses a kiss to the top of your head. Matt looks between the two of you before he says, "I'm gonna make sure that Kenny, Page, and Cody are doing okay." He leaves.

You watch Matt walk away and Nick asks, "What's up with him? He always stays and talks.

"Don't know," you say. "Anyway, I was told that you were talking to someone. Who is she? Tell me!"

Nick laughs and says, "Her name is Mel. She's nice, and hot. I just don't know how I feel about her."

"I should meet her," you say. "The best friend always meets the new girlfriend first."

Nick laughs again and says, "Yeah, that's true."

Matt calls from the kitchen, "Y/N! Come here!"

"I'll be right back," you say to Nick before walking off to the kitchen.

In the kitchen are Matt, Kenny, Adam Page, Cody, and Brandi Rhodes. You approach the group and ask, "Yes?"

The older Jackson says, "So, tell me something, Y/N. How long have you had some kind of feelings for my brother?"

You blink at Matt and say, "I don't."

"That's such bull," Kenny says. "I see it. The rest of us see it."

Matt says, "When I told you about Mel, all you said was 'oh' and your face just completely fell, Y/N."

You cross your arms over your chest and say, "That doesn't mean that I have feelings for him, Matt."

Cody asks, "You haven't told him, have you?"

You shake your head, defeated. Everyone already knows so you say, "Any time I try or I get the chance to, he tells me he's talking to someone new. He has no idea."

Matt says, "Tonight's the night. I know it is."

You start to walk away, wanting to be done with this conversation, and say, "Yeah, right."

You approach Nick in the living room talking to Adam Cole and his Undisputed Era boys. Nick looks over at you and smiles. "Hey," he says. "What did Matt want?"

"He wanted my opinion on the gift he got you for tonight," you lie.

Cole says, "I hope you gave a good opinion on what Matt got his brother." The group kind of laughs.

You smile and say, "I definitely did." There's a knock on the door. "I'll go get that. You guys keep this conversation going."

Nick goes back to talking to the boys and you go answer the door.

When you answer the door, you're greeted by a beautiful girl with long brown hair and hazel eyes. She's wearing a red satin strapless dress. It's short. The skirt ends about halfway down her thighs.

"Hi," she says cheerfully. "I'm Mel. Is Nick Jackson here?"

You give her a kind smile and say, "Yeah. He's in the living room. Silver tie."

She thanks you and walks inside. You shut the door and watch as she embraces Nick, hugging him and kissing him.

After watching that, you walk into the kitchen, rejoining Matt, Kenny, Page, Cody, and Brandi. "I need a drink," you announce. "Like pronto."

Page says, "I can help with that."

More and more people make their way into the house. The lights all come on and Christmas music is being played from a stereo in the living room.

Wrestlers from AEW, WWE, ROH, and other promotions all attend the party. Members of Nick and Matt's family attend as well.

It's about nine, and the party has been going for about two hours now. You're standing in the doorway of the kitchen from the dining room. People are scattered all throughout the house but these two rooms are the least crowded.

You watch Nick and his new girlfriend as they laugh and talk in the kitchen. You sip your drink and can't help but be a little jealous.

While you've been distancing yourself from Nick, he's also made no efforts to talk to you.

Matt walks up and stands beside you as you take a sip of your class of whiskey. "I hope you realize that you're standing under the mistletoe," he says. You glance up and take another sip.

"Well, look at that," you say. "I'm under the mistletoe with no one to kiss."

Both of you laugh and Matt says, "Well, there's one person we both know you'd rather be standing under the mistletoe with. I think he name starts with N and ends with a K."

You sigh at the mention of Nick and say, "He hasn't even tried to talk to me. Like, I might be keeping my distance a bit but he hasn't even checked in on me like he usually does. And we're matching." You pout.

An idea pops into Matt's mind and he says, "I'll be right back." He walks into the kitchen. You watch as he says something to Nick and Mel then leads Mel away. Nick approaches you.

"Hey," he says, leaning against the doorframe opposite you. "You doing okay? I know we haven't been talking as much as we normally do at these thing."

You force a smile and say, "I'm doing fine. I've just been kind of hanging around with Brandi, Britt, and Marina."

Nick smiles and says, "Well, Mel's been wanting for formally meet you. I've been telling her stories about our promos and the they wanted us to be in rival factions in ROH. Plus, I've been kind of introducing her to a lot of people here since she doesn't really know a lot of people. I hope you understand that since you know a lot of people."

That's true and a very valid excuse. You can't complain about that. That thought never even crossed your mind. Mel isn't a wrestler like the other girls that Nick has dated. She may know names but has never met anyone here.

"Yeah," you say. "Of course I understand. I know a lot of people and I'm friends with a lot of people here."

Your best friend says, "I knew you'd understand. Now, how about we go meet Mel. How does that sound?"

You nod, glancing above you at the mistletoe.

Nick starts to walk away. The alcohol you've been drinking gives you enough courage to say, "Hey, Nick? Wait a second."

He turns and looks back at you. You grab his hand and pull him back under the mistletoe. "What's up?" he asks.

Before you can talk yourself out of it, you get on your toes and kiss Nick. Your lips brush against his, unsure of the kiss. You gain some courage and kiss him harder.

The kiss lasts for about two seconds before Nick pulls back. Your eyes search his for any emotion as he asks, "Did you just kiss me?"

"Mistletoe," is all you say. "Look up."

Your best friend looks up and spots the mistletoe. He smiles and says, "Oh."

Anxiety starts to rise within you as you meet Nick's eyes. He leans down and his lips meet yours. You're confused but you kiss him back.

Nick's hands move so they're on your cheeks, cupping your face. You grab a fistful of Nick's suit jacket and he presses you against the doorframe.

Your lips move slowly against Nick's, enjoying the moment. Your heart races in your chest as you realize that this is actually happening. This is a real thing now. Everything you've felt for Nick coming out into the open.

There's a whistle and you look into the kitchen, seeing Kenny, Adam Page, Cody, Brandi, and Britt looking at you and Nick.

"I, um," you stammer. "I need to go get some fresh air." You leave the house from the back door. You step out onto the back deck, which is lit up by a few string of lights above the deck.

You lean against the railing and look out over the backyard. There's a pool and a wrestling ring. A forrest sits beyond the backyard.

You kissed Nick and he kissed you. He kissed back. He's talking to someone and he kissed you while Mel was in the other room.

The door opens behind you and you look back to see Nick. You sigh and say, "I overstepped my boundaries. I know that. I'm sorry."

It's quiet until Nick says, "She left. Mel, I mean. I told her that it was nice to know her and that she's a nice girl, but I also told her that I think I have feelings for someone else."

You raise your eyebrows and you turn around. Nick's about five feet away from you. "So you gave her the speech," you say, teasing Nick.

He laughs and says, "I gave her the speech, yeah." You smile. "Now, here I am. Finally telling you how I feel about you. I like you, Y/N. I have for years. All those girls, I was with them to maybe distract myself from you because you're too damn good for me and I know you don't have feelings for me."

You smile and get flustered as you say, "I never said that I don't have feelings for you, Nick. Actually, it's the opposite. I've liked you since pretty much the day we met. I was almost jealous of all those girls you were talking to or dated. Scratch that, I was jealous of all those girls you talked to or dated because I wish I was them."

A wide smile forms on Nick's lips and he says, "All this time, I could have asked you out and been with you but instead I dated around."

You giggle, "You should have talked to me."

Nick walks up to you and says, "I really should have."

His hands cup your face and he pulls you into a passionate kiss. You smile into the kiss and put your hands on Nick's chest. He smiles against your lips as he slowly pulls back from the kiss.

Your eyes meet Nick's and he asks, "What does this mean for us? We'll never be the same after tonight."

"I want you," you say, staring up at Nick. "Do you want me?"

Nick smiles and nods. "Yeah, I do," he says. "I really want you."

Smiling, you say, "Then I'm yours. All yours. I've always been yours, Nick."

He leans down and kisses you again. His arms wrap around your waist and he lifts you up, spinning you around with your lips on his. You giggle into the kiss.

"Holy shit," you hear from the sliding back door. "It looks like it finally happened."

Nick pulls back and looks behind you. You turn around, standing beside Nick. His left arm is around your shoulder.

Matt, Kenny, Adam Page, Cody, Brandi, Adam Cole, and Britt all stand at the door. Matt has a huge smile on his face. "It did finally happen, didn't it?" the older Jackson asks.

You look up at Nick and he nods. "It finally happened," he says, looking down at you.

"Thank God," Kenny says. "It's about time. We all knew this would happen eventually and it finally freaking happened."

Nick's cheeks get red and you smile. "Guys, stop," you giggle. "Nick's getting all flustered."

Matt smiles and says, "Aw. Nicky's blushing."

You look up at Nick and you say, "It's kind of cute."

His cheeks get even more red and he tries to hide. You reach up and wrap your arms around his neck, and he hides his face in yours. The group laughs and you walk inside, rejoining the party.

#nick jackson imagine #nick jackson fluff #wrestling imagine #wrestling fluff #aew imagine #aew fluff #young bucks imagine #imagines #imagine #fluff imagine #fluff #christmas imagine #christmas fluff #fluffmas

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gdwessel · 3 years

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Jay White, FinJuice Make Surprise Appearances At Impact Slammiversary PPV 7/17/2021, Kojima Does Not; Podcast Recording Today

Last night’s Slammiversary PPV from Impact Wrestling had a couple of NJPW flavored surprises. The biggest one coming at the end of the show, once Kenny Omega retained the Impact World Championship in a No-DQ hardcore match against *spits* Sami Callihan. The lights went out, and Jay White’s entrance theme and video start playing, with Switchblade himself coming to the ring, holding the NEVER Openweight Championship. Once in the ring, Omega, Don Callis and the Good Brothers (”Machine Gun” Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows, who regained the Impact World Tag Team titles earlier in the show) tried to throw Too Sweets at Jay, but did not return the gesture before the closing titles faded up.

Honestly, it would be more interesting if the Bullet Club itself were to war with the Elite once more, because a) they’d already been going that way, mostly on social media, but also on-screen on AEW Dynamite, with KENTA’s infamous “Shut the fuck up” to Omega b) it never had a proper ending the last time, with the Elite just deciding they were done with the feud on the Jericho Cruise in 2018. Since then, of course, there’s been a LOT of alluding and name-dropping of the Bullet Club on AEW and Impact programming, even before the whole “Forbidden Door” thing was made official. We’ll see where this goes. Jay has a win over Omega as it is, going back to 2018, beating Omega for the IWGP US Heavyweight title, in the early days of the Switchblade character.

Earlier in the show, former IWGP and Impact tag team champions Juice Robinson & David Finlay Jr. made a surprise appearance as well, taking on and defeating Madman Fulton & Shera in a very short (1:15) impromptu match. Coincidentally, two of these NJPW surprises have a NEVER Openweight Title match coming up at NJPW Resurgence in about a month’s time, so luckily here’s a venue for them to do some build for that match!

In other related news from this show, NJPW Strong featured wrestler Josh Alexander retained the X Division title, defeating Super J-Cup 2020 participant Chris Bey, Rohit Raju, Petey Williams, Trey Miguel and Ace Austin in an Ultimate X Match. Also, prior to the main event, a teaser was shown for the forthcoming Bound For Glory PPV, which featured the logos of both NJPW and AAA, the lucha libre company that kinda sorta works with Impact. That won’t make NJPW’s Mexican partners CMLL very happy at all. NJPW has all the leverage in that relationship, however, as has been noted before, so CMLL may just have to deal with it if they want to continue that relationship. CMLL already cut ties with ROH earlier this year, more or less on the fly, over talents working for the ultimately-cancelled Federacion Wrestling event, so who knows what they will do.

It should be noted that Satoshi Kojima took no part in this show at all, and there were fans in attendance, Impact’s first such event since the pandemic. I’m not sure if this was pre-taped or not at this point. It would be hard to keep certain spoilers like what we saw here, or like AEW/NWA’s Thunder Rosa appearing as a mystery opponent, under wraps very long.

Myself and @damascenocs will discuss this, and a wholllllllllle lot more, later today, as we record Episode 76 of the Strong Style Story podcast, so stay tuned for that!

#NJPW #new japan pro wrestling #Jay White #juice robinson #david finlay jr.#david finlay #impact wrestling #Kenny Omega #Machine Gun Karl Anderson #Doc Gallows #don callis #josh alexander #aaa #aaa lucha libre #CMLL #cmll lucha libre #Satoshi Kojima

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daleisgreat · 4 years

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Lockdown 2009

Greetings all and welcome to my fifth installment of marching through every TNA/Impact Lockdown PPV. Catch up on the previous entries right here! As I watched this PPV it reminded me of where I was with enjoying Impact in this era of April of 2009 when Lockdown emanated from Philly. Even though this was about a third of the way into infamous head booker Vince Russo’s eight year run with TNA, I think I was near the peak of my TNA/Impact fandom. They maintained a solid X-Division lineup and former X-Division stars were becoming mainstays in the World Title picture like Samoa Joe and AJ Styles. TNA was getting a lot of momentum with its Main Event Mafia faction consisting of former ‘Monday Night Wars’ stars like Nash, Sting, Booker T, Scott Steiner and Kurt Angle. TNA’s ‘Knockouts Division’ they established when Impact went two hours in 2007 put WWE’s then ‘Diva-Search era’ to shame and I feel it was the predecessor to the ‘Women’s Evolution’ era in the WWE for the past few years. This came to a halt when Eric Bishoff and Hulk Hogan arrived in TNA by the end of 2009 and within a year Impact went from must-see programming to becoming a chore and largely ignoring it by the end of 2010. There will be more on that to look forward to in future Lockdown entries. Here are some key takeaways I had from the 2009 Lockdown before I breakdown the matches…. -I think this is the final Lockdown with Don West announcing because Tazz at this time in the midst of his no-compete clause after finishing up with WWE after nine years. Don West did an entertaining short run as a heel announcer a couple months prior although he largely played it straight on this PPV. Sure enough, Tazz debuted in TNA a couple months later and West was gone from the announce desk. West was an affable and authentic voice for TNA in these early years for the promotion and while Tazz was always a solid announcer, I could not help but feel the announce desk permanently took a dip with the removal of West. -This was year two or three of TNA leaving the safety nest of the Impact-Zone Arena at Universal Studios for a bigger arena gate on the road. Lockdown was one of just a handful of PPVs that TNA took on the road per year and it paid off with a big-time atmosphere, especially with this 2009 card taking place in a city known for its passionate fan-base in Philly.

-Yearly props again go out to TNA promo-package voiceover guy, Barry Scott for delivering powerful narrations for all the storyline recaps before most matches yet again. His poignant voice makes any rivalry and PPV no matter how weak or strong at that moment seem must-see. WWE or AEW needs to hire this guy!!! -The 2009 DVD has a decent smattering of just over a half hour of extras. Aside from the pre-show match, there is a recap of the TNA Interaction fan fest, post-match interviews with Sting, Kevin Nash, Team 3D and a in-progress-of-being-stitched-up Mick Foley. Sting has some kind reflections after his match, Nash is a riot enjoying a post-match brewski, and they get so up close to the medical staff working on Foley that they have to issue a graphic content warning. A Smashing Pumpkins music video and a photo gallery I once again borrowed a few pics from for this entry round off the decent amount of extras. -TNA head honcho Dixie Carter made one of her first on-screen appearances for the company giving a quick interview to Jeremy Borash in the pre-show thanking the fans for their support. She started to make some PR appearances around this time to help promote the recently released Impact game on PS3 and 360 and I believe this was her TNA on-air programming debut. Regrettably, Dixie would go on to make more regular appearances in the years to come as an on-air authority figure much to the displeasure of viewers.

-I liked the frequent quick backstage interviews with talent before their matches and them combined with the aforementioned Barry Scott recaps served as a nice refresher on the rivalries going into this, and none overstayed their welcomes unlike a lot of modern WWE rivalry recap packages. I think Lauren was probably the fourth or fifth backstage interviewer for TNA at this point, and she did a fine good job with her reactions and adding in a quick take relative to the storyline’s after most of the interviews wrapped which added a nice ‘fan’s perspective’ view on the feuds. -Also worth noting is future TNA president and current top brass of NWA, Billy Corgan made an early TNA appearance in the music video hype package for the PPV, which is also a DVD extra, with him lending TNA Bullet with Butterfly Wings for use. Speaking of Corgan, you guys should really watch NWA Powerrr!! It and NXT are my current top two shows of the overcrowded 2019 wrestling bubble in America. -Before we begin (I know…sorry), I have to touch on the Suicide character making his Lockdown debut. He was a masked wrestler that debuted in the previously touted Impact videogame. The Impact game was ridiculously over-promoted on TV each week, eventually culminating in the videogame character becoming an actual wrestler. As of this writing, six different individuals have donned the Suicide gear for various stints for the character in TNA up until earlier this year when his most recent run ended. Worth noting is Suicide’s trademark fingers-to-the-temple pose. That same pose would coincidentally become the well-known cover art of the far better performing game, Borderlands when that game first released the following year. Naturally, having fans chant ‘Suicide’ and having him face off against opponents named ‘Homicide’ stirred controversy and TNA answered the criticism and would change his name to Manik…..before ultimately changing it back to Suicide due to presumably fan demand/creative resentment? TNA! TNA!

-Last year I noted how Lockdown 2008 had a shockingly low blade-job count with Brother D-Von being the sole wrestler who bled throughout the card. 2009 exponentially upped that number with six wrestlers donning the crimson mask with Abyss, Matt Morgan, Bully Ray, Mick Foley, Sting and Kevin Nash all doing the honors. Unlike WWE today, TNA did not change the mat canvas after a match if a wrestler bled so gradually throughout the night the mat transformed into a blood-soaked mess as you can see by the cell-phone photo I took with an overhead camera shot of the main event near the end of the PPV. -Ok, enough babbling, onto the matches of this 2009 Lockdown! The pre-show match is included as a DVD extra and has Eric Young squaring off against local Philly radio personality, Danny Bonaduce. Danny tries some slimy antagonist antics against fan favorite EY, and even sneaks in a little offense before Young surprised him with a roll-up for the win. Danny tried to avenge his loss by beating down Young afterwards, but Rhino came in for the save and gore’d the smithereens out of Bonaduce! The first official match on the PPV card was the annual X-Title, X-Scape contest. This saw champ, Suicide defending against ‘Black Machismo’ Jay Lethal, Sheik Abdul Bashir (formerly WWE’s Daivari), Kiyoshi and Consequences Creed (a pre-WWE Xavier Woods). I will give Vince Russo credit for accidentally stumbling into a legit thrilling finish for this X-Scape matc! It is probably one of my favorites of them so far. After a lot of trademark X-Division high-flying and a few pinfall eliminations, it came down to Suicide and Bashir to escape in order to win. Kiyoshi tried to climb the top of the cage to prevent Suicide from climbing over, but security intervened and pulled him down while Bashir attempted to sneak through the door during the distraction. Before Bashir could sneak out however, Suicide surveyed the surroundings and did a dive from the top onto the security and Kiyoshi outside the ring for the instant victory! It played out very convincingly and I was popping just as big for it as the crowd! -The second annual queen of the cage bout took place next between Sojourner Bolt, ODB, Daffney and then-Beautiful People intern Madison Rayne. Rayne would become a big player for the Knockouts division so it was interesting seeing her quite early in her TNA run. Unfortunately the Knockouts could not quite gel in this match and after several minutes of unremarkable action ODB hit a powerslam for the victory. The IWGP JR. Tag Titles match faired much better though with Motor City Machine Guns defending against LAX and No Limit. It was a bit on the spot-fest side of things, but a good one at that with the Guns successfully defending after hitting their Made in Detroit signature finish for the pin.

-Abyss and Matt Morgan squared off next in the uniquely titled ‘Doomsday Chamber of Blood’ that saw its stipulation being a wrestler cannot score a fall unto they make their adversary bleed. With that, we saw the use of tacks, glass shards and chairs resulting in the expected bloodbath. This Lockdown also took place while Abyss was a little ways into his ‘escaped mental facility’ version of his character and he referenced in a pre-match interview seeking therapy to stop weapon violence from one ‘Dr. Stevie.’ That Stevie turned out to be a TNA-debuting Stevie Richards fresh off his WWECW run who distracted Abyss by taking away a chair from him that caused Morgan to hit his finish for the win. This match gets the honors of being my annual induction for being a solid lock for the eventual WWE home video release of ‘Top 50 OMG Moments of TNA/Impact.’ -The Knockouts Title was on the line next in a triple threat with Awesome Kong defending against Angelina Love and Taylor Wilde. Unfortunately a freak concussion happened to Angelina Love a couple minutes in after she took a cross-body from Wilde. She looked on auto-pilot while Wilde tried to bide time with a hold, but eventually they got the call to go home and Wilde took a weak kick from a handcuffed Kong for the awkward sudden victory. Hate to see it whenever this happens, but this was still a few years before the concussion controversies gained steam in the NFL and before WWE and TNA banned head chair-shots, so part of me was surprised TNA did the right thing and quickly ended the match when they realized something was not right, so good on them for that.

-Both the TNA Tag Titles and IWGP Tag Titles were simultaneously up for grabs next between Team 3D and Beer Money. The announcers and promo package did a tremendous job hyping up this match for who would be the king of the tag teams and making this match have the vibe of a homecoming for Team 3D due to their ECW roots. All wrestlers left the cage within seconds of starting the match (they would be among many to do so throughout the night) and did a ECW-esque brawl throughout the crowd for old time’s sake! Eventually the action came back inside and saw a few good highspots that got the crowd and me rolling and finishing with Team 3D getting the feel good win after hitting Roode with a 3D through a table. -TNA’s version of War Games, Lethal Lockdown, happened next. It saw AJ Styles, Jeff Jarrett, Christopher Daniels and Samoa Joe team up against Kurt Angle, Scott Steiner, Booker T and Kevin Nash. Seeing how worn down Kurt Angle looked in his farewell match earlier this year it is remarkable how much better he looked ten years prior. He looks about 30 years younger! Highlights of this Lethal Lockdown see Steiner hitting impressive top rope suplexes and Franken-steiners to a big crowd pop and Scotty responded by doing an aggressive flurry of bird flipping motions to the Philly crowd before they could conjure up a ‘You Still Got It’ chant. After Jarrett entered last and the roof of the cage locked down with weapons on top, AJ and Angle quickly ascended on top of the cage roof with a big spot coming from AJ doing a splash through the roof of the cage onto a few Main Event Mafia members to a big reaction. The finish occurred when AJ got the pin on Booker T when Jarrett hit him with a guitar after Jarrett teased turning on AJ. TNA had another former WWE-debut immediately after the match though with Bobby Lashley having an odd motorcycle-themed tron and theme-song package as he posed to the crowd and did…..nothing else of note. This would be the first of two runs for Lashley in TNA where he eventually evolved into a pretty decent act before he went back to WWE last year.

-The main event saw Sting defend his world title against Mick Foley. I recall not being into Foley’s ‘executive shareholder’ authority figure character here where he was squabbling with Sting for calling him out for being inactive and being portrayed as losing his marbles. He continues that characterization by pounding his forehead to bust himself open at the very beginning of the match. Foley looks like he got himself in decent shape in time for this match, but he could not go like he use to by this point in 2009 as this was mostly a kick and punch affair until in a baffling booking decision, Foley attacks a cameraman for being in his way, only moments later to demand that same cameraman to hand him an out of reach barbed-wire bat from outside the ring, to which the cameraman who just got pummeled by Foley quickly acquiesces to. After beating down on Sting with the bat for a while the two engage in a anticlimactic climbing-over-the-cage affair that Foley gets the best of to become the new TNA World champion in an underwhelming headlining bout. The two put on a good effort, and I hate to slight Foley, but he and the odd booking dragged things down a couple notches to the ‘alright’ quality level. -This was a 50/50 night for the eight PPV matches. On one hand we had the off night for the women and the mediocre Doomsday and world title matches, but on the other we had two standout tag title matches, easily the best X-Scape match yet and better-than-usual Lethal Lockdown bout. Overall I would have to say the good outweighs the bad and will give 2009 Lockdown a solid thumbs-up. Join me next time as we enter the first of four Lockdowns that transpired during the not-so-highly-regarded Hogan/Bishoff run! Past Wrestling Blogs Best of WCW Clash of Champions Best of WCW Monday Nitro Volume 2 Best of WCW Monday Nitro Volume 3 Biggest Knuckleheads Bobby The Brain Heenan Daniel Bryan: Just Say Yes Yes Yes DDP: Positively Living Dusty Rhodes WWE Network Specials ECW Unreleased: Vol 1 ECW Unreleased: Vol 2 ECW Unreleased: Vol 3 Eric Bishoff: Wrestlings Most Controversial Figure Fight Owens Fight: The Kevin Owens Story For All Mankind Goldberg: The Ultimate Collection Hulk Hogans Unreleased Collectors Series Impact Wresting Presents: Best of Hulk Hogan Its Good to Be the King: The Jerry Lawler Story The Kliq Rules Ladies and Gentlemen My Name is Paul Heyman Legends of Mid South Wrestling Macho Man: The Randy Savage Story Memphis Heat NXT: From Secret to Sensation NXT Greatest Matches Vol 1 OMG Vol 2: Top 50 Incidents in WCW History OMG Vol 3: Top 50 Incidents in ECW History Owen: Hart of Gold RoH Supercard of Honor 2010-Present ScoobyDoo Wrestlemania Mystery Scott Hall: Living on a Razors Edge Sting: Into the Light Straight Outta Dudley-ville: Legacy of the Dudley Boyz Straight to the Top: Money in the Bank Anthology Superstar Collection: Zach Ryder Then Now Forever – The Evolution of WWEs Womens Division TLC 2017 TNA Lockdown 2005-2016 Top 50 Superstars of All Time Tough Enough: Million Dollar Season True Giants Ultimate Fan Pack: Roman Reigns Ultimate Warrior: Always Believe War Games: WCWs Most Notorious Matches Warrior Week on WWE Network Wrestlemania 3: Championship Edition Wrestlemania 28-Present The Wrestler (2008) Wrestling Road Diaries Too Wrestling Road Diaries Three: Funny Equals Money Wrestlings Greatest Factions WWE Network Original Specials First Half 2015 WWE Network Original Specials Second Half 2015 WWE Network Original Specials First Half 2016 WWE Network Original Specials Second Half 2016 WWE Network Original Specials First Half 2017

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skelltan · 1 year

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Indie Promotion Round Up - Edition 1 Part 1 - NWA Powerrr

Throughout the years, wrestling has had its peaks and inclines. While you may have Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock and D-Generation X tearing it up in WWE, you may also have your Kennel from Hell, Gerald Briscoe vs Pat Patterson evening gown match or Trish Stratus being force to bark like a dog.

2019 was no exception. I personally think it was a pretty great year to be a wrestling fan, from Kofimania in the WWE, NXT getting favourable reviews, and the inception of AEW. Sure, they weren’t without their hitches – Kofi’s title run ending in him getting squashed by Brock Lesnar or AEW’s growing pains, but I think it marked the start of something great with what would happen in the following years.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I’m not here to talk about WWE or AEW. I’m no even here to talk about NJPW or IMPACT. No, I’m talking about some of the lesser known promotions – namely MLW and NWA.

Both revitalised themselves in 2017, giving the American wrestling scene a few other shows to keep an eye on as they progressed. MLW was a previously short lived promotion that emerged in 2002 as a spiritual successor to ECW, down to having Joey Styles on commentary and featuring the likes of The Sandman, Raven, Sabu and other notable names, while the NWA is a long living promotion who’s history is a bit confusing, but basically, it once had the most prestigious title in all of wrestling, but has since fallen in prestige somewhat. Oh yeah, also, Billy Corgan from the Smashing Pumpkins bought it.

These two companies would have their ups and downs, from NWA featuring talent such as Thunder Rosa, Eddie Kingston and Ricky Starks before they moved onto AEW while MLW had names like Darby Allin, MJF and the Lucha Bros. But where are they now? I’ve heard rumblings about both companies, but never found the time to sit down to watch them and see just what they’re all about. Well, that’s abou to change. Join me as I explore just what is happening in MLW and NWA after the fallout of their (as of writing) most recent PPVs.

I guess I may as well start off with the elephant in the room and have a glimpse at the NWA. They’re coming fresh off their “Hard Times” PPV, where, most notably, they put the world title on Tyrus. Tyrus, for those of you who do not know, is a man who was known for his time in WWE as “The Funkasaurus” Brodus Clay. He was a man who danced and… was a dinosaur. I guess. It’s not as cool as it sounds, trust me. In that role, he was never really relevant, nor was he world champion material – let alone now, 8 years after his “prime”, if you even want to call it that.

He also is a raunch conservative, constantly showing up on Fox News and has a sexual assault allegation against him. So, y’know. Great champion material. Anyways, the NWA has 2 main shows, both streaming on youtube. NWA Powerrr, which is their main show, and NWA USA, which focuses on the junior heavyweights. I think for this series(?) I’ll look at an episode of Powerrr, an episode of MLW Fusion (MLW’s main, and only, show, also youtube exclusive) and an episode of NWA USA.

So, without further ado, let’s dive into NWA Powerrr, season 11, episode 1.

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We’re live from the Sigur Center in Chalmette, Lousiana. Kyle Davis – huh? Is this guy the fused form of Aussie Open? Anyways, he’s an official at NWA, and our host. He welcomes us and brings Tyrus down to the ring. Tyrus himself is from Lousiana so I guess they also wanted him to be a hometown hero.

As he makes his way to the ring, there are some jester masks and such – because it’s Lousiana! I don’t know if this is part of the arena or the NWA themselves designed this but it helps the arena stand out.

We hear from one of our commentators – the commentary team is Joe Galli, Velvet Sky and Tim Storm. Joe informs us this is the start of the “Idolmania Sports Management era”. Well, ok, there’s something I didn’t know. Wrestling legend Austin Idol leads a faction that Tyrus is apart of. I’m guessing they’re the top heel group? Strictly Business was last time I was watching, but Nick Aldis left the NWA, so I guess this is their replacement.

Joe also mentions the Revolution Rumble, which I’m guessing is just the name of this slew of episodes, but also Powerrr Trip? Haven’t heard of it. At this point I glanced at the likes and dislikes and realised they were even, 1.5k a piece. Anyhow, Velvet Sky lets us know Idolmania has all the gold, which made me look it up. As of this episode, two other members of Idolmania held gold – Cyon with the National Championship (which is one of the midcard belts) and Jordan Clearwater with the Television Championship (the other midcard belt). I don’t know why there are 2 midcard belts.

I guess I’ll start a rant. People rant about how AEW or WWE has too many titles, but they serve a purpose. Sure, I’m not a fan of AEW having multiple midcard belts, but at least the ROH are for ROH whenever that relaunches, and the All Atlantic title has a vaguely international theme to it. But the NWA has a world title, two midcard belts, two tag team belts, two cruiserweight belts, women’s belt and women’s tag belts. For a company with a roster as small as the NWA, that’s too many damn belts.

Anyway, rant over. One of these guys is wearing a Ric Flair esque robe, another is a luchador. They don’t look like they fit together. Realizing I’m going to have to listen to a Tyrus promo, I now regret my decision to start this series.

Austin Idol sounds old as fuck and curses out Kyle Davis. He also refers to the Ric Flair looking guy as “the golden boy with the golden toy”. There’s a free innuendo for you. Kyle won me over by saying “I’m glad you found the hard cam” as Austin spins around to face said hard cam as he yells.

The group does a bit of a promo, not a lot to say but Tyrus calls out possible challengers. Matt Cardona, EC3, Thom Latimer. Apparently Cyon and Jordan Clearwater can cash in for the world title at any time? Sounds a bit broken, but ok.

I won’t lie, I wasn’t as bad as I was expecting, but Powerrr only runs for about 40 minutes a week, so luckily they had time constraints as to not overstay their welcome.

We cut to the intro. NWA Powerrr used to have Into the Fire by Dokken as a theme – which actually got me to watch the Nightmare on Elm Street series and got me into horror movies. But now it’s a generic insrumental guitar song. Alright.

Anyways, time for the first match. Mims is here. He’s apparently the number 1 contender for the television title. He has an alright look, I hope he can back it up in the ring. Oh, he’s challenging for the Television Title right now. Alright. Well, it’s Jordan Clearwater, the Flair wannabe who stayed in the ring from the first segment, vs Mims. Maybe Mims can show us why he’s hot.

Joe Galli informs us there’s a 6:05 minute time limit for this match, as there is for all TV title matches? I have no idea if this is founded in history or they just picked a random time limit, but it’s a weird number anyways.

Clearwater is a chickenly heel and tries to run from Mims and stalls for time. Mims pushes him over, though. Clearwater gets back up, does some taunts, and threatens to leave, but Mims takes him by the hair and headbutts him.

Mims charges at Clearwater in the corner but gets a poke to the eye and hits him with… ok, I’m a wrestling fan, I’m not a commentator. I don’t know all the moves, but commentary doesn’t call it, so I’ll just say he slams him.

Clearwater takes control briefly, but Mims gets some hits on Clearwater – though that doesn’t last long as Clearwater takes control again and goes for a pin, but Mims kicks out at 1. Clearwater taunts the crowd to cheer for Mims.

He then whips Mims into the corner. Mims gets some more hits on Clearwater. Clearwater hits Mims with a suplex for a two count. He whips Mims again, but Mims goes for a sunset flip and hits it. Clothesline to Mims, however, for another two count.

Clearwater than gets a headlock on Mims, but Mims fights out. Mims hits a clothesline and back elbow combo and goes off the ropes but gets a big boot from Clearwater. Clearwater goes for the pin, but the time limit runs out.

This counts as a victory for Clearwater and is the 1st of 7 wins which will allow him to cash in the title to challenge for the world title. Ok, so Tyrus didn’t say the rules clearly. Anyways, I thought Mims might get a rematch – and hey, he might – but because of that 7 wins rule, I get the feeling they’re gonna want to move on.

It wasn’t a particularly great showing for either man, though I’ll chalk that up to the time limit. It made the match and having to structure it quite awkward, so we’re left with them trying to work a longer match in a short amount of time, so it doesn’t feel complete. I didn’t really get a feel for Mims as a wrestler and all I gleamed from Clearwater is he’s a coward. Hopefully they have better showings in the future.

There’s an ad for Austin Idol’s wrestling school. Then we’re back to the ring, a match with a 15 minute time limit. Alright, that’s more sensible. Anyways, here’s Ryan Davidson vs Odinson. Ryan looks a bit generic and is apparently from the Wildcat promotion, which they hype up, but I’ve never heard of it, so. His opponent, Odinson, I guess has a Norse mythology gimmick. He looks the part, at least. The chains look a bit out of place, but hey, it stands out.

Joe says he sprayed “the purpose” into his mouth – so I’m guessing he does some kind of green mist variation too? (Hi. This is editor skelltan. Coming back to this, I just realized this is never once relevant in this match.) Ryan here is apparently the longest reigning Wildcat champ, over 900 days. Let’s see how he does, then.

The two lock up. Odinson takes him to the corner, but Ryan fights out and pummels Odinson in the corner. He whips him to the other corner, and spins around – he looks a bit lost, as if he was expecting Odinson to run back and get hit with a back elbow? But continues running, getting hit with a big boot and clothesline. Odin hits an uppercut and sliding lariat on him for a cover and two count.

He lands a knee on Ryan, and two uppercuts in the corner before walking him around the ring for more uppercuts. He charges at Ryan in the corner twice, going for a spear but Ryan dodges. Ryan goes for the Manhattan drop and a scoop slam. He his the ropes and lands an elbow for a one count. Ryan gets Odinson in the corner and atacks him. He then gestures to the crowd, getting them to cheer and continues the attack on Odinson.

Odinson hits Ryan with a forearm and they jockey for position, hitting a DDT (at least according to Velvey Sky) that focuses on Odinson’s arm. Ryan continues working the left arm with a submission. The crowd gets behind Odinson to power out and hit a dropkick. Odinson then sells the arm a bit.

Odinson charges at Ryan in the corner, gets him to the other corner and charges again. He then goes for a torture rack but can’t hold it – Odinson then goes for a big boot and uppercut for a 2. Odinson goes back to the torture rack, but again can’t quite get it – Ryan hits him with a power slam for a 2 count. Ryan takes off an elbow pad and tries to go for something, but Odinson hits him with the pounce for the win.

Ryan looked a little awkward as I alluded to, but Odinson looked pretty good in my eyes. Obviously I’m not saying he’s anywhere near his level, but in terms of in ring style he reminded me a bit of Claudio Castignoli, what with the power moves and uppercuts. There was actually psychology in this match and the pace was much better than the opener and both men got some stuff in. Again, don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a match of the year by any definition, but better than the opener and not that bad.

We then go backstage, where May Valentine interviews a man who’ll be in the main event – Aron Stevens. Like Tyrus, Aron Stevens is a castoff from the 2010s WWE midcard. He was known as Damien Sandow and was a henchman for The Miz and had an impersonation gimmick. I only got into wrestling in 2019, so I never got a chance to see him, but people actually thought he was funny in his impersonator role and thought he had potential – he also held the tag titles once and the Money in the Bank, though he failed to cash it in against John Cena.

Anyways, here’s Aron Stevens. Apparently he’s retired and May Valentine is his girlfriend. I don’t know if this is a work or he’s seriously stepping down from in ring action. He’s a little hammy and mildly entertaining. He’s no Eddie Kingston, but I’ve seen far worse promos.

We get another ad this time for the NWA merch shop.

Aron makes his entrance, but cuts a promo, again stating he’s retired and is a manager now, but is still gonna do this match. Apparently he has to or he’ll lose his manager license? He didn’t get that over in the promos, but alright.

Kratos is announced as “the most swagged”? He looks like a poor man’s Luke Gallows, which isn’t a good look. He’s also got garishly bright Hulk Hogan-esque red and yellow gear. He looks terrible. Commentary alludes to a story – Aron Stevens is friends with a masked wrestler called The Question Mark who’s identity is well known. I think I read Aron played one of them but there was another not played by him and the two fought? I dunno.

Anyways, Kyle says “due to the controversy of the black glove” that Aron Stevens is wearing, he must take off his glove or he’ll be disqualified. Very odd phrasing, but anyways, he takes something out of the glove and into his pockets. Underneath, he has another glove – a rubber one. Aron calls for a time out, though, and claims to not have a professional wrestling license, so he can’t wrestle, and says because he’s a manager, Kratos will be fined, suspended and gone.

Aron then beats down Kratos and then says his wrestler’s license is still valid. Kratos hits Aron with a big knee, though. He rolls Aron out of the ring and atacks him, and continues the atack in the ring. He tries to rip off Aron’s shirt. Kratos hits a release suplex. Some masked guys hit Kratos, and that’s the match.

I wasn’t looking forward to seeing Kratos work, but I didn’t get a chance to, so for all I know he’s alright. But yeah, in terms of in ring action and as our main event, that wasn’t great. But it served for an angle, anyways, so let’s hope it’s a good angle.

The Question Mark 2 comes to the ring – this is the one that faced Aron who was the other Question Mark, I guess, but he gets beat up. Aron puts his glove back on and puts something in the glove – I’m guessing something metal, and punches Kratos. The crew then beat up Question Mark 2 and pose.

So, that’s our first episode of NWA Powerrr in the bag. It wasn’t terrible, but if not for this series/my morbid curiosity, I wouldn’t go out of my way to watch this. We still have to wait for a payoff for the main event angle, and Idolmania were whatever, but Odinson was alright, so I wouldn’t mind seeing more of him. Otherwise, I don’t have much positive to say, other than it wasn’t terrible.

Want to read more? Continue here!

#nwa #nwa powerrr #wrestling #pro wrestling #indie wrestling #my reviews

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wrestlingisfake · 3 years

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Bound for Glory preview

Shit, I forgot this is tonight. Impact Wrestling has always treated Bound for Glory like it's biggest destination event, so they try to go the extra mile with this show. To avoid a schedule conflict with AEW Dynamite tonight, the event begins at 10pm Eastern. You can order the live stream for $39.99 on Fite.tv. Or I guess they're doing iPPVs directly off their Youtube page now, which might be more convenient for some people.

Christian Cage vs. Josh Alexander - Cage is defending the Impact men's world championship. On September 23, Alexander invoked "Option C," a rule introduced in 2012 that grants the X division champion a world title match if he vacates the X title. After a dominating five-month run with the X belt (including a 60-minute iron man match), this was pretty much the only thing left for Alexander to do.

Cage is under contract with AEW, and won the title from AEW's Kenny Omega on an AEW show. When Omega first won the belt, it felt like a major turning point in an AEW/Impact crossover, that would culminate in Kenny dropping the belt at Bound for Glory. Things didn't quite go that way, and now it feels like we're limping to the end of the story with one last loose end to wrap up. Christian is a babyface, and a key figure in Impact's history, but he's still an outsider, and it's high time Impact gets their belt back.

Everything about this match feels like a passing-the-torch moment with two babyfaces, so I don't think it makes any sense for Christian to retain unless he's going to act like a dick about it and go heel. And the only reason I think that's possible is because I smell a heel turn coming for him in AEW, but that could still be months away.

I went to my first indy show ever on September 2, and I had to stand all night, so I was exhausted by the time the main event started. It was Josh Alexander vs. Fred Yehi, and within about 20 minutes I realized they were going to a 60-minute draw. My feet were killing me but it was worth it to stay for the whole thing. So I'm a Josh Alexander fan now, and I hope he has a great match and holds the world title for a long, long time.

Deonna Purrazzo vs. Mickie James - Purrazzo is defending the Impact women's championship. If James wins, she would capture her tenth major-league women's title.

This one started in July when Purrazzo had basically cleaned out Impact's women's division, and James showed up to invite her to appear at NWA Empowerrr. Deonna took offense to Mickie supposedly stepping on her moment, but she eventually agreed to do the show. After that I missed a few steps but eventually Purrazzo wandering onto James's farm and beat the shit out of her, so I guess now they're going to settle it in the ring.

Ordinarily I'd say the legend coming in for a one-off program needs to lose in the blowoff match. But James is only 42 and there really isn't a reason she can't stick around as champion for a few months. More to the point, Deonna has run out of anything else to do--that's literally baked into the premise of this feud. She needs a real rivalry, and unless Gail Kim is coming out of retirement next, you might as well just have her chase Mickie until you can build up fresh opponents. On the other hand, Purrazzo is starting to get in that Okada zone where I just want to pick her to win every time to avoid being wrong later.

Rosemary & Havok vs. Cassie Lee & Jessie McKay - Representing Decay, Rosemary and Havok are the defending Impact women's tag team champions. Lee and McKay used to be Peyton Royce and Billie Kay in WWE, where they teamed as the IIconics (with two I's, because there's two of them, I guess). Now they're the IInspiration (again with two I's, which I kind of hate, but I suppose I'm stuck with it).

Impact only just announced that Lee and McKay are coming into the company, and they're already going to straight to the top of the tag division. It might seem rushed, but I think they've actually got some good buzz on this move. People were genuinely bummed out when WWE broke up the team in August 2020. A lot of sympathy built up for Jessie/Peyton being completely unused after that, and Cassie/Billie got a lot more over than anyone expected with the dumb gimmick they handed her. Fandom was very upset when they were released by WWE in April 2021, but also very excited that they can finally be a team again.

I'm kind of hyped for this personally because I never saw much of Lee and McKay, as most of their IIconics run happened after I quit watching WWE. What I did see didn't interest me much, because it felt like just another WWE Mean Girls gimmick. Their personalities seemed to be buried under a lot of WWE packaging, so if they can come up with something independent of all that it should be pretty different. Also, on paper you wouldn't expect the IIconics to do very well against a team of spooky psycho weirdos like Decay, so the IInspiration needs to show up with than the basic "we're better because we're pretty" stuff.

I actually think a title change is very likely. If Lee and McKay do win, they'd be the only wrestlers to have held women's tag team titles in both WWE and Impact/TNA. And since there haven't been very many women's tag titles, or titleholders, in North America, that would immediately put them in the conversation for the most decorated women's tag team in this part of the world. So that'd be neat.

El Phantasmo vs. Steve Maclin vs. Trey Miguel - This is a three-way match for the X division championship, which Josh Alexander vacated on September 23. Each participant won a three-way match to qualify for this one. Whoever scores the first fall over either opponent wins the match and becomes the new champion.

Phantasmo is the big star of this match, due to his run as a douchebag heel in the junior heavyweight division in New Japan Pro Wrestling. Maclin is best known for his run in WWE and NXT as Steve Cutler of the Forgotten Sons, which was so forgettable that Maclin/Cutler still doesn't have a Wikipedia entry. Miguel may be best known as the guy who used to team with NXT's Wes Lee and Nash Carter as the Rascalz, although he's spent 2021 establishing himself as a singles guy in Impact.

If you're trying to get attention for "forbidden door" crossover stuff, the best move is to put the belt on Phantasmo. If you're trying to emphasize Maclin's push as a killer, he should win this match in dominating fashion. If you're trying to pay off all the work that's gone into building up Miguel as a homegrown talent, now's the time to coronate him. But you can't do all three. So I'm thinking ELP pins Miguel to win the belt, so that Maclin can avoid a loss and move on while Miguel goes on to chase Phantasmo for a few months.

Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson vs. Juice Robinson & David Finlay vs. Hikuleo & Chris Bey - This is a three-way match for the men's tag team title, currently held by Gallows and Anderson. The first man to score a fall over any opponent wins the match and the title for his team.

Gallows and Anderson were mainstays in New Japan's Bullet Club faction years ago, but when AEW and Impact started collaborating they became aligned with the Elite, which broke away from Bullet Club a few years ago. For years people have wanted to see a real feud between the Elite and Bullet Club. I don't think anybody had Gallows and Anderson vs. Hikuleo and Bey in mind. I certainly don't think anybody expected Fin-Juice to be caught in the middle of it. But here we are.

At this point the Impact tag title just feels like toy belts that Gallows and Anderson bring to AEW shows. I don't think they're going to stop appearing on AEW anytime soon, but you could at least put a little more prestige on the title by moving it to another team. I'm not sure it matters which team gets the belts, though, since they're probably just going to keep feuding with one another for a while anyway.

Heath Miller & ? vs. any two members of Violent By Design - This one is a little complicated because I'm not even completely sure who is a member of Violent By Design at this point. The group has consisted of Eric Young, Cody Deaner, Joe Doering, and Rhino, although Young has been recovering from a knee injury for a while. Rhino seemed to get kicked out of the group, but it could be a swerve where they were just teaching him a lesson and he returns in good standing. All we do know is that Heath wants VBD in a two-on-two match, and he's not sure if his old buddy Rhino will be his partner, or in his opponents' corner, or one of his opponents.

Something else to consider: VBD could always introduce some new member to be in this match. So it could be Heath & Rhino vs. Deaner & Doering. Or Young could be healed up and it's Heath & Rhino vs. Doering & Young. Or Young could still be healing, so it's Heath vs. Rhino & Young without Young ever getting in the ring. Or maybe Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman beat the shit out of Heath and Rhino. Who knows?!

I assume this match will end up being Heath and Rhino vs. Deaner and Doering, but they'll probably lay it out so Heath is on his own for like 70% if the match. I think Rhino has to be on the winning side, but that's not much of a pick, so I'll go ahead and say Heath and Rhino win.

Call Your Shot Gauntlet battle royale - This is a 20-person gauntlet battle royale, so two entrants start the match and each additional entrant joins the match at regularly timed intervals. Eliminations can occur at any time when someone exits the ring over the top rope. Once the match comes down to the last two participants left, it turns into a regular match where you win by pinfall or submission. The winner earns a trophy and a future title match against the champion of their choice. I don't know if this match will feature both men and women, but it has in the past so that's a strong possibility.

Usually at least a few participants are announced in advance, but this year I think they've only confirmed Chris Sabin entering at #1 and W. Morrissey at #20. That leaves a lot of room for surprise entrants, but I think it's more likely that a lot of the field is just prelim guys that aren't worth advertising.

If reports are true, and Impact is close to signing Braun Strowman, this is the perfect place to debut him by squashing everybody else in the match. Otherwise, it's really anybody's ballgame.

Chelsea Green vs. Jordynne Grace vs. Falla Bahh vs. John Skyler vs. Crazzy Steve vs. Madison Rayne - This is a six-way set for the pre-show, with the winner becoming the first Impact digital media champion. Whoever scores the first fall an any other participant will be win the match and the new title.

Everybody's dunked on the "digital media championship" name, but basically it's an attempt to modernize the old "television championship" concept. The title is supposed to be defended on Impact's streaming outlets, which seems to guarantee that it'll always be fought over by undercard wrestlers, but okay.

Chelsea Green probably has the most buzz around her out of anyone in the field, but in a way that makes her overqualified for the belt. I'd probably give it to Grace or Rayne if it's only going to be defended on Youtube and Impact Plus.

#impact wrestling #bound for glory #christian cage #josh alexander

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buttdawg · 4 years

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I'm still pissed about Jim Cornette, so I guess I'll write about it here.

I listened to his podcast yesterday to see if there would be any contrition over his Ethiopia joke, and there really wasn't. The closest he got was to express regret for distracting attention away from NWA, which he seems to sincerrly wish to support. Then he offered this conditional apology based on how people reacted to what he said:

1) If you disliked his joke and thought it was in poor taste, he apologizes for what he said.

2) If you're Black and found it offensive, he didn't intend for it to be racist.

3) If you're outraged by what he said, beyond what he thinks is reasonable for a situation like this, then you can fuck off, because he never cared what you think of him anyway.

That's just bullshit, and I'm gonna tell you why. In the same podcast, he admits that he has anger management issues. He's gone on record as saying that if there was a way to do it legally, he would murder Vince Russo in cold blood. He carries a lifelong grudge against Kenny Omega because he wrestled an inflatable doll in Japan several years ago. And yet this guy has the temerity to complain when he thinks people are overreacting to him. "Whoa, whoa, come on, people, it was just a joke. Why are you so bent out of shape over this?" Well the blow up doll was a joke too, but you still want Kenny Omega run out of the wrestling business for it.

I've been listening to a few Cornette podcasts since AEW started, mostly because they were free on YouTube, and because Corny's a lot easier to listen to than the schmucks at Wrestling Observer. I found a lot of his hatred towards AEW unfair, but occasionally he made some valid points. Like the Cody/Dustin vs Young Bucks match going too long. He said it felt like they did three shorter matches in one, and the first leg was the best of the three, so they would have been smarter to wrap it up early and end on a high note. When he said that, I was like "Hey yeah," because I felt the same way but I couldn't put it into words at the time.

But mostly he just hates AEW for the unforgivable crime of existing in spite of his complaints. He respects and likes maybe a third of its talent, but he can't seem to fathom why those guys put up with the two-thirds that he hates. Maybe it's because guys like Cody and Jericho and Hangman Page are smart enough to understand that they're good for business, even if they have different styles in the ring. Cornette's problem is that he's too brittle.

That, and he's a hypocrite. He keeps ragging on wrestlers for exposing the business and not looking enough like real athletes. He craps on guys like Joey Janela for not looking muscular enough, sort of like how he crapped on Kevin Steen before he went to WWE and became a multi-time champion. I'm sure Joey's terrified of suffering the same fate. One of Cornette's talking points is how they don't just sign anyone for the NBA, and they don't just bring fans in to play the Super Bowl because they want to. But that's stupid. Joey and Marko Stunt got signed to AEW. They're legit members of the roster, and they're over. The only downside to these guys is that they don't look like football players, except nobody cares about that, so it isn't a problem at all.

Cornette gripes and gripes about professionalism in wrestling, and how there's no room for cheap gimmicks or bad comedy, except his entire decades-long career in wrestling has been spent acting as an insult comic with a loud suit and a tennis racket. He's probably mad at Kenny Omega for wrestling the blow-up doll because he kind of looks like a blow-up doll, so maybe he took it personally. He cries about kayfabe and protecting the business at all costs, and then he uses every opportunity he has to bury wrestlers and air all the dirty laundry from backstage. Every episode of NWA Powerrr had at least one instance of him bashing AEW as "cosplay" wrestling, which doesn't help anybody. If you don't watch AEW, you wouldn't know what he's talking about, and if you watch NWA and AEW, then he's insulting your taste. It's bad announcing, pure and simple. He's only out there to push his own agenda, not the wrestlers.

I can give him a modicum of respect for resigning from NWA. According to his podcast, he only worked for them to help support their product, because he believes so much in what they're doing. But it's become clear that the controversey he generates is distracting the public from NWA's brand. I read a tweet from Nick Aldis this week where he was very diplomatic and expressed great regret for what Cornette had said. He said it didn't represent what he wanted NWA to be. I like Nick Aldis, because I can tell that he's trying as hard as he can to carry himself like the "Real World's Chamion" in the tradition of Ric Flair and Harley Race. I don't know if he's succeeding or not, but I respect the effort he's putting in, because he wants to make NWA special and he wants to be a champion in a way that Chris Jericho and Brock Lesnar and Bray Wyatt aren't. But as long as Cornette was associated with the brand, his efforts would always be undercut by whatever whackamaroo nonsense he says next.

So maybe Cornette had that in mind when he quit, but from his podcast, I got the sense that it's not like he needed the job, and it wasn't fun anymore, and he was getting fed up with the PR headaches. That explains why he was so flippant on NWA Powerrr. He was showing up to have fun and relive the old days. Nick Aldis ain't there to screw around. He's trying to build a better career for himself and his co-workers.

And it's that flippancy that pisses me off. Cornette stopped giving a fuck years ago, I guess because he's got a successful business selling merch and dvds of old matches and public appearances and such. He doesn't need to "protect the business" anymore because he's got his own business separate from any promotion. His gigs with MLW and NWA are a way for him to promote his stuff, so if he says something shitty on their air, it just drives up hits on his website. That's the worst possible scenario for a color commentator. Cornette cries foul because Excalibur wears a mask on AEW Dynamite, but at least Ex is concentrating on making AEW talent look good. He's not telling racist jokes to fill dead air, or to get more eyeballs on his website.

It's impossible for me to express how stupid that Ethiopia joke was. The racism was so obvious that it makes all the defenses of it especially flimsy. Cornette insists he was mocking starving people, like that makes it okay. He told the story of how he invented the joke and Ray Traylor thought it was hilarious in 1985, and TBS and USA never got in trouble for it, so that somehow makes it okay forever. Cornette's fans talk about how they think the joke's okay, simply because they thought it was funny, like that makes a bit of difference in a PR situation like this.

Then you see people cry about how "sensitive" everyone is these days. Like, no shit, that's how public relations works. If your business does something offensive enough, it hurts your brand and your business suffers. So you have to be mindful of people's sensitivity. Complaining about it is useless. That'd be like going on Twitter after the Notre Dame fire and saying "Wood sure is flammable these days." Well how does that solve anything, dumbass?

It's all a bunch of bullshit. Cornette's using thirty-year old jokes because a dead guy laughed at it once and he's too arrogant to re-evaluate it for the present day. He's mad at wrestling fans for objecting to his behavior, except they're the customers, for fuck's sake. I've never seen anyone so obsessed with protecting the business and simultaneously so insulting towards the people who pay for the product. He hates AEW because he doesn't approve of their methods. Except they do good business and can sell out buildings pretty regularly. There's clearly an audience for how AEW does things. You tell him that, and he'll respond that their audience doesn't count, because they're all 30 or 40 something single men who are probably virgins or they're lose interest when the next fad comes along. So it's not enough to sell out a venue, you have to get x percent old people and y percent women and z percent children, or whatever they used to draw in Mid South in 1987. Dave Meltzer likes AEW, so Cornette now thinks he's an idiot too, even though he's been covering wrestling for decades. He's trapped himself in this binary mindset where the only real wrestling fans are the ones who agree with him and approve of his dated jokes and out-of touch worldview. Everyone else deserves to be shot.

That's why NWA is better off without Cornette. They may not realize it, but he was never on their side, not really. Sooner or later they would have offended his rigid, inflexible sense of What Wrestling Should Be, and he'd turn on them too. At least this way, it's a clean break, and they don't have him talking about fried chicken during Nick Aldis matches or how Trevor Murdoch's beer gut is somehow more athletic than Kenny Omega in a Street Fighter costume.

#jim cornette #nwa #in hindsight i guess the only real reason i listened to cornette's podcasts was because i enjoyed aew so much #that i wanted to get more aew content #even if it was to hear someone complain about it #but yeah i'm done with that shit

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