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Esfinge vs. Ultimo Guerrero – Opera Cup Opening match
Oof, that smack Guerrero delivered with his jacket to the back of Esfinge’s spine surprised and confused me. Ha! So random, yet funny, too. The moment Esfinge rolled back inside the ring, he and Ultimo tussled with each other to gain an upper ground on the opposition.
It felt like an equal bout between the two, a lot of back and forth on effectiveness and dominance. Esfinge had Guerrero trapped in the corner as he pounded on the back of his head. Luckily, Ultimo regained control by tripping up Esfinge and delivering a baseball slide kick, followed by high flying maneuvers. This fight naturally led into the crowd’s front row.
Guerrero nearly pinned Esfinge from the second rope, but the sphinx king remained in the match. As payback, Esfinge launched Ultimo to the other side of the ring using his strong legs. He did it twice. That body splash could have ended this if Ultimo hadn’t kicked out. Guerrero turned things around for himself with a massive powerbomb on Esfinge that, unfortunately, didn’t grant him the victory he wanted.
Amazingly, that superplex from Esfinge to Guerrero didn’t finish the job, and it was powerful. Damn… Ultimo came back with the Guerrero Special and won this round.
Winner: Ultimo Guerrero
Blue Panther Jr. vs. Zandokan Jr. – Opera Cup Opening match
A quick, but harsh punch to Zandokan’s face caused the man to stumble off his feet as he reached for the top rope to balance himself. At a given point, Zandokan made a comeback by dragging Panther’s head around the ring, slamming it against the turnbuckles. He tried to use his pirate flag to blind Panther with, but he missed with a Senton as Blue moved out of the way.
Panther had Zandokan in a compromised position as he hammered a couple of fists into the pirate’s skull. Right after Zandokan was sent to the outside, he saw a folded chair on the ground and used it to strike Blue’s head. He took too much time boasting to cover his opponent, so a kick out was inevitable.
Panther momentarily put Zandokan down with a fireman’s carry throw that resulted in a near fall. He utilized three tilt-a-whirls from his arsenal, but it didn’t keep Zandokan to the mat. So, the pirate counted with a suplex. Blue went to charge in and got chopped most heavily. That double chop Zandokan delivered to Blue’s chest awarded him the win.
Winner: Zandokan Jr.
Backstage, MJF was seen talking to Alex Hammerstone. Apparently, MJF couldn’t stand seeing Hammerstone go from being the King of the Colosseum and a beast to a “court jester”. He believed that something was holding Hammerstone back, knowing he’s witnessed that glimmer in the big man’s eyes. Alex was able to gather some helpful things from MJF’s side of conversation. Hammer thought it was about time he hated wrestling and those he fights, so he can continue to climb past how his best matches, like the ones with Jacob Fatu for example, are behind him. Max says there just beginning.
Shoko Nakajima (c) vs. Yuki Kamifuku – World Featherweight Championship match
Commentary reckoned that Kamifuku didn’t expect to be taken by surprise so early in the match when she thought she could taunt Nakajima for a little while longer before nailing into her. Shoko immediately stepped on Yuki’s toes. Literally. As Yuki tried to get her hands on Shoko, the Champion wonderfully avoided every attempt with ease.
Later on, Kamifuku was able to catch Nakajima by the literal tail and deliver a huge kick to the side of the champ’s face. Yuki kept using her long legs to her advantage to choke the Big Kaiju in the corner of the stage. The fast pace that started this match was slowing down as Yuki controlled the fight.
Shoko’s quick movements dodged a much slower and methodical Yuki from grabbing her again. A standing drop kick from the champ stunned the challenger. Kamifuku did a great job countering the Champion, yet that was thwarted when Shoko took to the air with a suicide dive to the outside, where both women bumped their heads against the guardrail.
Yuki caught Shoko in the face, then performed a beautiful superplex from high up. A near fall after a leg lariat almost ended this match in favor of Kamifuku. So, she spiked the champ with some head scissors. Ouch. Once again, Kamifuku nearly won with the Famouser. She came very close.
Shoko regained some strength to perform two Northern Lights on Yuki to retain her Championship. It was a great watch!
Winner: Shoko Nakajima
Alex Hammerstone vs. Matthew Justice – Texas Death match
At the beginning of the match, Hammerstone was the one inflicting most of the pain onto Justice, who hasn’t had a proper response to it. Alex ventured to use the trash can as a weapon, but Matthew performed an effective bulldog to spoil his plans. That damn thing looked a car crash. Just as Matthew was looking for a suicide dive, Hammerstone was waiting with the trash can lid to smack over his opponent’s head. “Justice got clocked!” said Dombrowski.
Alex was using any outside elements to inflict pain on Matthew, who endured most of the punishment. Justice did his best to fight back by tossing the big man in the metal railing in the crowd area. Matthew left to get a table behind the curtains, laid Hammerstone on top of it, then took to the sky by body splashing on Hammerstone to the floor.
Alex said earlier that he didn’t want to use weapons like Justice does often, yet he’s seen using a chain wrapped around his fist as he punches Matthew’s head, that begins to swell and bleed. Justice asked for more as he Hammerstone obliged the request. What the hell was that indeed? Alex retrieved a door covered in bared-wire from under the ring.
Just as Justice was about to use the chain his challenger utilized on him, Hammerstone suplexed Matthew into the bared-wire door. Ouchy. He was stuck in it, too. Blood was everywhere and all of it was Matthew’s. Alex didn’t bleed once. Hammerstone attempted to execute the Midnight Pendulum, Justice escaped it, but not the superplex.
While Hammerstone was setting up a table, Matthew managed to get back to his feet and kept fighting. He almost suicide dived after Alex into that bared-wire door. This may be sadistic of me, but I wish he had. Never mind that, anyway, Justice hoisted Hammerstone onto his shoulders, then drove him into that table he was putting up earlier. He came close to pinning Alex.
After that, Matthew went mad, well, more than usual as he placed a table on the second rope in reverse. The metal steel were on top. The only problem was that Hammerstone came back from his momentary breathing to spear Justice into his own trap. Alex used a part of the broken table to choke Justice with as he performed a successful Midnight Pendulum.
Winner: Alex Hammerstone
Ikuro Kwon vs. Templario – World Middleweight Championship match
This fight for Ikuro is to make sure he brings that title back to CONTRA Unit after destroying another Luchador in his path up the scale. Kwon may be crazy, rabid, but I love him nonetheless. Ha! It’s funny, really. Anyway, Templario continued to demonstrate his quickness and agility towards Kwon’s more ruthless and aggressive attacks.
Ikuro fought back with a shocking uppercut to Templario’s jaw, sending him stumbling backwards to his ass. He instilled further carnage by dropping Templario’s neck on his knee for a near fall. The Luchador made a comeback with a thrust kick, Kwon threw one back in return. A knee strike sent Kwon fumbling, so he used the referee as a shield just as Templario came rushing towards him again.
Regardless of that little mishap, Templario was focused on finishing the match as he delivered a knee to Kwon’s jaw as he fell to the floor. No one was active to do a count out, nor stop the match as the Sentai Death Squad show up in a pair to stomp on the Luchador. As things were getting bleak, Don Gato rushed out to save his fellow Mexican. Templario recovered and became the new Middleweight Champion with a backcracker.
Personally, I wanted Kwon to win. He still might later.
Winner: Templario
Matt Riddle (c) vs. Donovan Dijak vs. Mads Krugger – Triple Threat World Heavyweight Championship match
I thought I was seeing things when Riddle made his entrance, but no, he really did dye his hair red like a pomegranate. I don’t hate it… ish, I just felt like saying that. I was hoping there wouldn’t be any more nonsense that could disrupt this match, but I kind of forgot about Mads Krugger’s briefcase that he can cash-in whenever he pleases. The blowout fight he engaged with Dijak only encouraged him further by showing up before the proceedings started.
He bonked Dijak in the head. Ha! Krugger had decided to cash-in his briefcase, turning this one-on-one fight into a Triple Threat. Mads went straight for Matt with a choke slam and almost won the match then and there if Donovan hadn’t yanked him by the leg. While Krugger and Dijak were fighting outside, Riddle flew and crashed onto them both.
Riddle had Dijak’s arm trapped near the ropes, since he didn’t notice Krugger, he got blindsided by that boot to his face. Donovan wasn’t doing any better as Mads shoved him into the guardrailing. Dijak stayed there, toppled on the back of his neck for some time. Because of that, payback was most definitely coming in the form of a big boot to Mads’ face just as he was aiming his attention towards the Champion.
Krugger and Dijak inadvertently work together to slam Riddle to the mat. After a couple of seconds, Krugger used both men to have them plough into one another to maximize the assault. Nevertheless, they all came close to pinning the other. If anyone else aside from Riddle wins the title, we all lose.
A double cutter from Matt stunned everyone. It was difficult to pin either men if Riddle couldn’t even roll on top of them. If this weren’t a Triple Threat, Donovan kicking Riddle in the crotch would have ended this fight unsatisfactory. Dijak was way too close to winning the gold if Mads hadn’t pulled him off in return.
The only way, Donovan thought, to get rid of Krugger was to gouge the man’s eyes with his thumbs, then attempt to knock him out with his Tag Team title. Dijak wobbled back to the ring as he performed a backflip and got caught into a neckbreaker. Just as Matt accomplished the Brostone, Krugger swooped in, dropped the champ on top of Dijak, then stacked him up for a victory. No… Like I said, we’re all doomed. Despite the match being over, Krugger and Dijak still wanted to ring each other’s bells. For some reason, Hammerstone wanted some as well.
Make sure to be here on Sept 27 for Fury Road. Slaughterhouse on Oct 4.
Winner: Mads Krugger
TOP PHOTO: Krugger pins Riddle. Courtesy of MLW
