We’re jumping right into the action this week.
Chase U vs. Tony D’Angelo/Stacks
Match goes longer than it should have.
Chase tries el roll up for two on Stacks. Various exchanges as we establish how even these teams are.
Nice spot as The Family goes for a hip toss into a Tope Con Hilo (not Hiro) to the outside.
Back from P-i-P, Chase U students are leaving the arena, disrupting the teacher.
High Fly Flow nearly gets the win for the champs. Hudson shows he’s so far above this comedy garbage with some wicked offence including a sweet German.
Chase is isolated and beaten down, finished off with a Tandem Flapjack
Winners and NEW tag team champions: The Family
Hopefully Duke Hudson abandons this ship pronto.
Bunch of backstage stuff per usual. I get that the NXTers need this vignette training badly, but as I’ve reflected this is just way too much. Raw and SD have MUCH better flow.
So who’s backstage, you ask? Lita (in a selfie vid) Meta-Four, Dom and Baron Corbin. The latter interaction is almost noteworthy… nah.
Meta is out next and are interrupted by the demoted Alpha Academy. Remember when we thought Chad Gable was going to win the Int’l Title? Pepperidge Farm remembers…
End result is Otis vs. Dar for the Heritage Cup next week.
Roxanne Perez vs. Lash Legend (Iron Survivor Qualifier)
Meta is ejected early after attempted interference. Perez goes for the dreaded roll-up and gets two.
Lash shows off some offence but Perez is too plucky or something. Wheelbarrow slam by Perez gets two.
Interference rears its ugly head as Jackson comes back out, distracting the ref so Kiana James can get into the mix, leading to Lash hitting a Powerbomb for the duke. Awful.
Winner: Lash Legend
More backstage stuff, this time with all the tag teams… yet again… I feel like we get this schmozz every week.
Tea ceremony is next between Xia Li and Lyra Valkyria. Li talks up the ceremony but Valkyria no-sells it. Shockingly, the segment ends peacefully. I totally expected Li to throw the boiling hot tea in Lyra’s face. This doesn’t feel right.
To the back we go for Trick and Melo, then Kiana, Karmen, Ariana and Gigi. Then Bron is talking with McKenzie when Dijak interrupts… oh for…
Trick Williams vs. Joe Coffey (Iron Survivor qualifier)
Trick is rapidly improving.
Lots of blows to start the match. Rights and a few lefts from both combatants. Then we go into grapples and throws, and I’m enjoying this one. Coffey gets a near fall then sends Trick to the outside.
Back from a break, more big meaty men throwing meat.
Senton from Coffey gets two. Trick gets in a swank neckbreaker. More even-Steven.
Melo and Wolfgang cancel each other out on the outside but Melo almost flubs things up for Trick. Some Coffey offence before Trick hits a leaping knee for the W.
Winner: Trick Williams
Even more outside the ring filler with Ilja and Wes Lee, then Lexis and Corbin.
Brawling Brutes vs. Lucien Price / Bronco Nima
10 Beats from the Brutes is the offence for the faces before the heels turn the tide with some help from Scrypts. Bad guys isolate Butch for some classic tag team chicanery. Problem is, Ridge Holland isn’t hot enough to get a pop for the tag.
Holland is next to be the face in peril, which makes more sense. Butch soon tags back in and hits a nice Enziguri. Back-and-forth they go until Nima is isolated and the faces hit a double-team DDT to get the pin.
Winners: Brawling Brutes
More outside-the-ring, this time from Gacy.
Gigi Dolin vs. Ariana Grace
Too short to mean much. Back-and-forth with some good offence from both. Grace tries to get the feet-on-the-ropes win but is caught with her hand in the cookie jar (proverbially of course). Gigi comes in quickly after and hits her finisher for the win. This was less than four minutes, could have had 180 more seconds easily if not for all the backstage BS.
Winner: Gigi Dolin
Video and backstage is next with Stone and Von Wagner. It was supposed to be heartwarming… another part of my body was warmed though…
Then we go into more interview/backstage hell. Thorpe! Chase! More Iron Survivor matches next week! Yay!
Wes Lee vs. Baron Corbin
Wes starts with speed and Corbin slows it down with his strength. Wes comes back with a run of dropkicks for.. one? That’s a rare sight.
Wes hits more kicks but Corbin won’t stay down. Deep Six sends us into the overrun.
More kicks from Wes, Corbin silences him with a short-arm clothesline.
Corbin with strikes, then Wes takes his turn. More kicks and other strikes, including a Missile Dropkick from Wes.
DVD from Corbin slows things back down and a two-count results. Wes gets back into it before Dom makes his presence felt. Distraction helps Corbin eventually get the win with End of Days.
Winner: Baron Corbin
Post-match, Corbin continues to assault Wes until Dragunov comes to defend his friend. End result is Dragunov vs. Corbin for Deadline.
Until next time, Stay Classy.
