WrestlingRumors.net

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Ring Of Honor TV Results - June 5, 2019

Posted: 05 Jun 2019 11:34 PM PDT https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/ring-honor-tv-results-june-5-2019/


Ring of Honor

Date: June 5, 2019

Location: The Odeum, Chicago, Illinois

Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Colt Cabana

Things have been going fairly well for the company as of late and that’s rather nice for a change. The problem is I’m not sure how long that can
last, as there are a lot of problems that need to be fixed around here. Hopefully things stay as good as they have been in recent weeks, though
this company doesn’t have the best track record. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Here’s Allure to talk about how they’ve brought credibility to the Women of Honor. They started a revolution a long time ago and it’s time to believe
in then. We hear their resumes and they know how to make an impact. That’s why they debuted at the biggest show of the year in Madison Square Garden.
And for all the Twitter trolls hiding in their mom’s basement, Mandy Leon
is the foundation of the Women of Honor division.

Cue Jenny Rose and Kelly Klein for the brawl with Velvet Sky bailing to the floor. A hairspray blast blinds Jenny and the Allure gets out. Klein wants
to know what the three of them have done lately and the challenge is laid
out for anytime and anywhere.
Bouncers vs. Kingdom vs. Coast to Coast vs. Young Lions

One fall to a finish. LSG shoves Milonas in the face for some reason and is shoved down with ease. Marseglia comes in instead but the chops don’t do
much on the big man. The huge crossbody drops Marseglia so it’s off to Bruiser for some snap jabs. Marseglia gets smart and kicks at the knee
before going after Bruiser’s teeth….which don’t exist.

Alex Coughlin takes himself in and gets Clark Conners to help with a double hiptoss on O’Ryan. The Lions start cleaning house and it’s a Cannonball from Bruiser to take out Coast to Coast. Back from a break with Conners
taking a double flapjack from the Kingdom and a legdrop/backsplash
combination getting two. We settle back down to Ali hitting a slingshot
hilo for two on Conners, followed by a double slam for two more.

Conners finally slips out of a suplex attempt and the hot tag brings in Coughlin to clean house. A missed charge in the corner allows Bruiser to
tag himself in though and everything breaks down again. Marseglia comes
back in to start kicking people in the face but gets sent into a sitout
Boss Man Slam.

Coast to Coast hits a Stroke/Downward Spiral combination on Bruiser but the Lions and Kingdom are back in. House of 1000 Horses drops Conners though
and Ali gets two, with Bruiser shoving LSG onto the cover for the break. Coughlin tries to clean house but gets crushed in the corner, setting up Closing Time to give Milonas the pin at 10:23.

Result: Bouncers b. Kingdom, Coast to Coast and Young Lions Closing Time
to Coughlin (10:23)

Mark Haskins and Tracy Williams are ready for Bully Ray, even though Lifeblood’s numbers are down. PJ Black comes in to offer his services but they walk away.

We look at Colt Cabana winning the NWA National Title and being challenged
by James Storm after the match. The title match is next week in Chicago.

We look back at last week’s show with Silas Young’s exhibition and Kenny King defeating Jay Lethal using Lethal’s own Lethal Injection.

We get a video on Jeff Cobb, who is challenging for the World Title at Best
In The World. He was born in Baltimore but moved to Guam, where he managed
to make the US Olympic team. He didn’t fare well and now he wants to be the best in the world in Ring of Honor.
Josh Woods vs. Maverick Boone

Woods powerbombs him down and hits the Seismic Toss for the pin at 54
seconds.
Result: Josh Woods b. Maverick Boone Seismic Toss (0:54)

Yuji Nagata/Satoshi Kojima vs. Evil/Sanada

The crowd wastes no time in the ALL THESE GUYS chants as Nagata forearms
Sanada to start. They go to the mat and it’s an early standoff. They shake hands and Sanada kicks him in the ribs, which you don’t do to an old wrestler. Nagata kicks at the leg and brings in Kojima for some kicks of
his own. We pause for some chest bouncing between Sanada and Kojima until
Evil trips Kojima to take over.

Sanada ties Kojima up in the Paradise Lock for the running dropkick. Back
from a quick break with Kojima kicking and DDTing his way out of trouble. That’s enough for the diving tag off to Nagata so house the hard kicks can continue. The exploder suplex gives Nagata two and it’s time to forearm it out. Nagata’s big kick is countered but he blocks another Paradise Lock attempt. Instead it’s the Nagata Lock but Evil finally comes in for the break. The freed Sanada hits a springboard dropkick to Nagata and hands it
off to Evil, who gets dropkicked in the knee.

That’s enough for the tag to Kojima for the rapid fire chops to both of
them in the corner. A top rope elbow gets two on Evil but the discus lariat
is countered with a rake to the eyes. Evil gets two off a clothesline but Nagata breaks up the Magic Killer. The Koji Cutter gets two on Evil,
followed by the brainbuster for the same. Evil and Kojima trade standing switches until Sanada comes back in for a dropkick, setting up the Magic
Killer for the pin at 12:16.

Result: Evil/Sanada b. Satoshi Kojima/Yuji Nagata Magic Killer to Kojima (12:16)

Here’s Dalton Castle to talk about what has been going on with him. He has come to terms with the fact that he lost at Supercard of Honor. It was a spectacular loss though because Rush beat him in sixteen seconds. It’s ok though because Rush is a dirty, filthy cheater. That’s why Castle wants a match with Rush…..’s brother Dragon Lee. Rush is going to pay with his family’s health as Castle breaks every bone in Lee’s body.

Cue the Boys, now in regular gear, to beat Castle down and knock him to the floor. Castle fights back though and sends them into the barricade and
various other hard objects. Boy #1 is put on a table and Castle powerbombs
#2 onto him but not through the table. Castle yells a lot to end the show.

Thomas Hall has been a wrestling fan for over thirty years and has seen
over 50,000 wrestling matches. He has also been a wrestling reviewer since
2009 with over 5,000 full shows covered. You can find his work at kbwrestlingreviews.com, or check out his Amazon author page with 28
wrestling books. His latest book is the History Of In Your House.

Get the latest and greatest in professional wrestling news by signing up
for our daily email newsletter. Just look below for GET EXCLUSIVE UPDATES
to sign up. We are proud to offer our popular Wrestling Rumors app and encourage you to download it for an optimized user experience. It is
available for Android and also on iOS. Thank you for reading!

The post Ring Of Honor TV Results June 5, 2019 appeared first on WrestlingRumors.net.


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Major League Wrestling Fury Road Results

Posted: 05 Jun 2019 11:15 PM PDT https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/major-league-wrestling-fury-road-results/


In case youd like to see the show, you can watch it in full right here for free:
[This post contains video, click to play]


Fury Road

Date: June 1, 2019

Location: Waukesha County Expo Center, Waukesha, Wisconsin

Commentators: Jim Cornette, Rich Bocchini

We’re FINALLY done with the Wrestlemania weekend tapings and tonight it’s a live special with the finals of the National Openweight Title tournament to crown an inaugural champion. Throw in a Middleweight Title match and we
have a nice little show here. Hopefully it can turn into a good big show,
but I’m not getting my hopes up. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of last week’s show with Contra dominating a lot of
the roster.

Opening sequence.

World Champion Tom Lawlor is not here yet, either due to weather or traffic issues.
Myron Reed vs. Gringo Loco

Reed has his mouth taped and is holding up the JUSTICE sign again. Rich
rants about Reed being checked for weapons despite never having one….and
then the referee doesn’t check him anyway, making it a moot point. Loco
goes outside early on and it’s a big flip dive to take him down. Back in
and Loco starts the flips before dropkicking Reed’s legs out.

Reed’s hurricanrana is countered with a cartwheel and Reed is rather
stunned. A jumping enziguri hits Reed’s raised arm but puts him down on the apron anyway, only to have him knock Loco down with a forearm. The
slingshot legdrop gets two on Loco and it’s time for Reed to get cocky. We hit the chinlock to slow things down but Loco is right back up. Then he’s right back down after missing a moonsault, leaving Reed to charge….right
into a running Liger Bomb for two.

A super Falcon Arrow (or a “super Falcon Arrow slam thing” according to Cornette) gets two more but since Reed somehow survived that, it’s a springboard cutter for two on Loco. The springboard 450 is good for the
same but the referee accuses Reed of pulling out a foreign object. Since there’s nothing there, Reed has to hit a Stundog Millionaire to block a suplex. Another accusation from the referee has Reed annoyed so Loco grabs
a spinning Tombstone for the pin at 8:35.

Result: Gringo Loco b. Myron Reed Spinning Tombstone (8:35)

Post match Reed pulls out some brass knuckles to knock Loco silly.

Salina de la Renta will be executive producing another episode of Fusion on June 15.

We take a quick look at the Crusher, the Man Who Made Milwaukee Famous.
Next week, he gets a statue in Milwaukee.

Tom Lawlor still isn’t here so he can’t be interviewed.
National Openweight Title: Brian Pillman Jr. vs. Alexander Hammerstone

For the inaugural title. Before the match, Maxwell Jacob Friedman says
Brian Pillman Sr. would be sick at the sound of his own son. With the
seconds gone, Pillman dodges early on and ducks a right hand, setting up a
few chops. Forearms in the corner have Hammerstone in trouble and a running dropkick makes it worse. Hammerstone responds by kicking him in the face as
the fans try to get behind Pillman again.

Pillman avoids a suplex though and dropkicks him out to the floor for a
mostly missed dive. A running start around the ring gets Pillman swung into
the barricade and a powerbomb onto the apron stays on Pillman’s back. Hammerstone runs him over back inside and there’s a hard whip into the corner. A little trash talking lets Pillman hits a superkick for two,
followed by a spinning high crossbody for the same. The Swanton misses
though and the Nightmare Pendulum makes Hammerstone the champion at 8:07.

Result: Alexander Hammerstone b. Brian Pillman Jr. Nightmare Pendulum
(8:07)

Post match Hammerstone says he was putting in the work while Pillman was
riding his dad’s coattails. Now this title is Dynasty.

Austin Aries is still coming.

The announcers are cut off by a video with the Contra feed. Contra seems to have taken over the production truck and we see a video of the team
attacking Tom Lawlor.

Lawlor is bound and gagged but they take the tape off and choke him with it instead. They want him to learn that they can take anything at any time, including Lawlor’s hair, which is quickly cut.

The announcers apologize for making us see that, including the levels of violence shown.

We recap the main event with Jimmy Havoc wanting to end Teddy Hart’s career resurgence.
Middleweight Title: Teddy Hart vs. Jimmy Havoc

Hart is defending and both guys bring chairs, though this isn’t billed as
No DQ. Hart wastes no time in moonsaulting for no reason other than to show
off a bit, which draws a charging Havoc into the corner. Some chair shots
to the ribs are perfectly fine with Cornette saying we have relaxed rules
due to Hart being involved.

Hart forearms him down for two and it’s time to work on the arm as the announcers talk about all the weather and technical issues that have taken place today. We take a break and come back with Hart hitting a Backstabber, followed by a powerbomb Backstabber. The moonsault gets two more as we hear about Tom Lawlor staggering up to the ticket window and asking for help,
though we won’t be seeing it. They head to the apron with Havoc trying an
RKO onto a chair, with Hart’s face not getting anywhere near the thing.

Somehow Hart is busted anyway and Havoc goes with the paper cuts between
the fingers and on the mouth. A suplex onto a piece of barricade makes it
even worse for Hart and it’s time to head back inside. The chair is set up
in the corner but, of course, Hart manages to reverse a whip to send Havoc
into it instead.

Havoc reverses a super hurricanrana and gets the Sharpshooter, sending Hart over to the rope. As Cornette tries to figure out why that works in a match with weapons, Havoc hits a Canadian Destroyer but misses the Acid
Rainmaker. Hart grabs a Canadian Destroyer of his own and it’s the lifting hammerlock DDT onto the chair to retain the title at 11:33.

Result: Teddy Hart b. Jimmy Havoc Lifting hammerlock DDT onto a chair
(11:33)

Post match the Dynasty comes in to beat down Hart, drawing out the Hart Foundation for the big brawl to end the show.

Thomas Hall has been a wrestling fan for over thirty years and has seen
over 50,000 wrestling matches. He has also been a wrestling reviewer since
2009 with over 5,000 full shows covered. You can find his work at kbwrestlingreviews.com, or check out his Amazon author page with 28
wrestling books. His latest book is the History Of In Your House.

Get the latest and greatest in professional wrestling news by signing up
for our daily email newsletter. Just look below for GET EXCLUSIVE UPDATES
to sign up. We are proud to offer our popular Wrestling Rumors app and encourage you to download it for an optimized user experience. It is
available for Android and also on iOS. Thank you for reading!

The post Major League Wrestling Fury Road Results appeared first on WrestlingRumors.net.


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REVIEW: Royal Rumble 2017: When Undertaker Met Goldberg

Posted: 05 Jun 2019 09:31 PM PDT https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/review-royal-rumble-2017-undertaker-met-goldberg/


Welcome to KB’s Old School (and New School) Reviews. I’ve been reviewing wrestling shows for over ten years now and have reviewed over 5,000 shows. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, I’ll be posting a new review here on Wrestlingrumors.net, starting today. It could be anything from modern WWE
to old school to indies to anything in between. Note that I rate using
letters instead of stars and I don’t rate matches under three minutes as really, how good or bad can something that short be?
Royal Rumble 2017

Date: January 29, 2017

Location: Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas

Attendance: 52,020

Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton, Mauro Ranallo, John Bradshaw Layfield, David Otunga, Tom Phillips
Its kind of amazing how much this show has been forgotten in just two
years. Other than AJ Styles vs. John Cena, I can barely remember a single
thing about this show. I know who won the Rumble and who were some of the bigger stars in the match but the rest is kind of a blur, which isnt a good sign for what Im in for here. Lets get to it.
The aisle is crazy long and would require a cart to bring some of the
wrestlers to the ring during the Rumble. There’s something cool about that, on both fronts actually.
Kickoff Show: Naomi/Nikki Bella/Becky Lynch vs. Alexa Bliss/Mickie James/Natalya
This would be the “throw all the Smackdown women into one match” match. Oh and dang I forgot how stupid the four person announcers booth on Smackdown
was. Its almost as stupid as having a 50,000 person dome and having a match
an hour and a half before the show starts because THE PLACE IS FREAKING
EMPTY! Like is anyone going to not watch this show on the Network if there
isnt a match going on the two hour pre-show?
This is mainly about Becky vs. James/Bliss and the rest are there
because.well because the writers dont know how to write singles matches for
the women and still dont do this day. For a secondary story, Natalya and
Nikki are feuding because Natalya is jealous so she said that Cena will
never marry Nikki. You know those are fighting words.
Nikki and Natalya start things off with Natalya doing You Can’t See Me.
That means a slap to the face and there are so few people being so quiet
that you can hear what the women are saying. Bliss comes in and gets caught with a facebuster for two. It’s off to Naomi for half of a double dropkick with Nikki’s part not even coming close. Nikki and company hit a triple suplex to send them outside, followed by a dive from Naomi as we take a
break.
Back with Becky clotheslining Natalya and hitting a running forearm in the corner. They head outside with Mickie getting in a cheap shot to drop
Becky, allowing Natalya to snap a suplex to really take over. Back in and
Becky gets driven into the corner again, allowing Bliss to choke a bit.
Mickie adds a hard kick to the face as the announcers argue over whether or
not cheating is smart.
A Michinoku Driver plants Becky but Natalya can’t get Suplex City (Her
words. Well Lesnar’s words, though JR said it about thirteen years
earlier.). Instead it’s a double clothesline so Naomi can come in and clean house. The still dumb looking dancing kicks drop Bliss as everything breaks down. A kick to the head sets up the split legged moonsault to give Naomi
the pin on Bliss at 9:39.
Rating: C-. The lack of a crowd either in their seats or really interested
in this one hurt it a lot but the work wasn’t terrible. The women’s division had gotten so much better by this point that you could trust them
to go out and have a match like this, though the stories need to be
stronger. I’m really having an issue caring about Nikki never getting to marry her dream husband and complete her fairy tale story but I’m not
exactly the target audience.*
Kickoff Show: Raw Tag Team Titles: Sheamus/Cesaro vs. Anderson and Gallows Sheamus and Cesaro are defending and there are two referees due to some
screwy finishes as of late. The crowd is MUCH better now, making the place
look like there’s an actual audience for the show. Cesaro dropkicks
Anderson at the bell for two and a gutwrench suplex gets the same less than thirty seconds in.
Gallows loads up a cheap shot from the apron but the second referee catches him, making the gimmick actually work. Sheamus grabs a Regal Roll into Cesaro’s jumping double stomp for two more but Anderson is back up with a kick to the face to take over. It’s off to Gallows, who is quickly kicked down so the champs can take him into the corner. This has been mostly one
sided so far but Gallows gets in a backdrop for a breather. Not that the
fans seem to care for the most part though.
A big boot knocks Sheamus off the apron and we take a break. Back (after
the commercial has been cut from the Network) with Cesaro suplexing Gallows
and rolling over to bring Sheamus back in. The ten forearms to the chest
have Gallows in trouble and a top rope clothesline gets two. Super White
Noise gets the same but Gallows shoves Sheamus away and makes the hot tag
to Anderson.
The second referee won’t allow some cheating so Swiss Death gives Cesaro
two. A 619 and a high crossbody give him the same but Anderson kicks him
down again. Sheamus breaks up the Magic Killer and a referee eats a Brogue Kick. The second referee comes in to see Cesaro put Anderson in the Sharpshooter, only to have Gallows break it up with a kick to the face. Everything breaks down again and it’s a Magic Killer for Sheamus, followed
by a rollup with tights to pin Cesaro at 10:28.
Rating: C+. Nice power fight here with both teams hitting each other rather hard. That’s all this needed to be, though I could go for adding a
different style in there. Power vs. power isn’t going to work all that well in the long term but at least they had a good match here. These title
changes didn’t really matter though as it was all going to change when the Hardys came back. No one knew that yet though and at least we had something good here.
Kickoff Show: Nia Jax vs. Sasha Banks
Nia injured her a month or so ago and tonight is about revenge. Sasha
doesn’t have her knee brace on as Nia drives her into the ropes and easily shoves off a headlock. A rope walk springboard goes just as badly as Banks can’t get anything going early on. Jax runs her over and we take an early break.
Back with Sasha trying a standing Bank Statement and having it broken up
with ease. Jax grabs a Brock Lock and swings Banks around until a rope can
be grabbed. Sasha finally avoids a charge to send Jax into the post,
followed by the top rope double knees for two. Sasha comes up holding her
knee though and the pop up Samoan drop puts her away at 5:13.
Rating: D+. This was just a step above a squash and really only served to
keep Nia around. Banks is going to be fine after a loss like this while Nia still doesn’t have the big defining win (which would still be the case a
year later). There was no need for this to be on pay per view though and it could have easily been done on Raw. That’s never a good sign.
And now, a nearly four hour show. I know I say this a lot but I’m almost gassed just watching that Kickoff Show. There’s really no need to do it
this way, especially when you have the horrible empty stadium for the first match.
Completely standard opening video, though they do play in the cool
“Remember the Rumble” tagline to show off a lot of the famous clips. If there’s one thing WWE does well, it’s look back at their own history. The rest of the matches get some time as well with each one having something to remember as well.
Raw Women’s Title: Bayley vs. Charlotte
Charlotte is defending and still has never lost a singles match on pay per view. Bayley gets wrestled down to start as Charlotte grabs a front
facelock. The fans seem split here despite giving Bayley a heck of a
reaction on her entrance. Charlotte heads outside for no apparent reason, allowing Bayley to grab her by the hair and snap her over the middle rope (basically a Stunner) to take over. A headscissors gets two and it’s
already time to hit the stalling.
Bayley makes the mistake of going outside and gets kicked into the steps as
she doesn’t have much of an answer for Charlotte’s power game. Back in and Charlotte slams Bayley’s face into the mat a few times but makes sure to throw in a quick pose (that’s the Flair in her). We hit the chinlock with Charlotte’s hair falling over Bayley’s face, giving us a rather odd visual of Bayley as a blonde. A knee drop gets two on Bayley and Charlotte is
getting annoyed at Bayley sticking around.
Yet another kickout off a neckbreaker makes the frustration even worse so Charlotte does her figure four necklock into the face plants on the mat.
The flips to send Bayley back first into the mat make it even worse as Charlotte is completely dominant so far. Charlotte stops to mock Bayley
though and a heck of a slap cuts the champ off. A battle of the chops goes
to Charlotte (well duh) but Bayley bounces out of the corner with an
armdrag. A springboard crossbody (with a few too many bounces) drops
Charlotte again and a jumping spinning Downward Spiral (not bad) does it
again.
The top rope elbow (which looked awesome on impact) gets a very close two
and you can feel the crowd breathe on the kickout. Charlotte (who might be bleeding from the mouth) kicks the knee out though and the Figure Four goes
on. The referee catches her grabbing the ropes though and both women are
down. Charlotte is up first but her moonsault only grazes knees to give
Bayley two. Bayley goes up but gets shoved off to the floor in a heap. As
she gets back in, Natural Selection onto the apron retains the title at
13:01.
Rating: B-. Bayley was fighting here but came up short, which is exactly
how her character needs to go. For some reason WWE didn’t quite get this
and instead put the title on her two weeks later in a nothing Raw match, ignoring the idea of building her up as an underdog. Charlotte was her
usual awesome self here and that makes for a fun match, though the future didn’t go the way it should have. At least the first match was solid though. The shark cage is lowered. This might require an explanation.
We recap the Raw World Title match. Roman Reigns had come close to taking
the title from Kevin Owens but Chris Jericho interfered to cost Reigns the match. Therefore it’s time for a rematch with Jericho in a one man cage
(the shark cage) above the ring. Jericho is of course scared of heights so
this should be fun. It would be a better idea if they hadn’t done it in NXT not too long before this.
Raw World Title: Roman Reigns vs. Kevin Owens
Owens is defending and this is No DQ. Jericho takes his sweet time getting
into the cage (as he should) and is still not in even when Reigns comes
out. The Canadians try some double teaming and knock Reigns into the cage
all, only to have Reigns fight them off (and the fans are really, REALLY
not pleased) and send Jericho into the cage to get us going. The cage is
raised like a sexy pinata (Jericho’s very accurate term for himself) and Owens jumps Reigns from behind.
They waste no time in fighting out to the floor and then into the crowd
with Reigns hitting him in the ribs with a metal stand. Back to ringside
with Owens being bounced off the German announcers’ table but coming back with a whip into the steps. Owens pulls six chairs from underneath the ring
and sets up four at ringside, two by two. A monitor shot to the ribs sets
up the Cannonball against the barricade and Owens continues to be over like free beer in a frat house.
With Reigns down, Owens sets up two more chairs on top of the four he
already had. One more is placed on top but of course the powerbomb and
suplex attempts don’t work to prevent a broken back. Back in and Reigns
sends him shoulder first into the post before loading up a table. That’s enough to make the fans cheer Reigns (I’m as shocked as you are) but a Backstabber gives Owens two.
Another Cannonball, with Owens mocking Reigns’ spear pose, is countered
into a powerbomb. The apron dropkick rocks the champ again as this has been better than I was expecting so far. They’re beating each other up quite
well and it’s pretty entertaining, despite Jericho being a non-factor so
far. They head outside with Reigns getting superkicked onto a table,
setting up a frog splash from the top to the floor in a big crash.
That’s only good for two (well duh) so Owens dedicates a chair shot to Jericho and gets another near fall. A chair is wedged into the corner
because wrestlers never learn a thing. Owens scores with a superkick and manages to send Reigns into the chair as I’m not sure what to think. It’s not like that’s never worked before but it’s about as rare as Jericho eating crab cakes and goat’s milk.
With that not working, Jericho tosses Owens some brass knuckles but Reigns blocks the Superman Punch. Roman’s Superman Punch gets two and a Samoan
drop through the chair is good for the same. You would think being driven THROUGH A CHAIR would be a big time match but since this is modern
wrestling, something that big is now just a regular move. It’s the price
you pay for all the big spots and violence.
Roman puts another table in the corner before another Superman Punch gets
two. A spear is countered into a Stunner of all things but Reigns kicks out again. We continue the Austin homage with a mudhole stomping and a
Cannonball (not so much Austin) as Owens is getting frustrated. That makes
him do something dumb, like trying a superplex through that pile of chairs. Reigns breaks that up and Superman Punches Owens through the pile instead
for a very loud crash. A powerbomb puts Reigns through the announcers’
table but here’s Braun Strowman to beat the heck out of Reigns. Roman is
sent into the post, followed by the running powerslam through the table in
the corner to retain Owens’ title at 23:27.
Rating: B+. This was better than I was expecting and while it feels like a similar ending to Randy Orton vs. John Cena from Royal Rumble 2015, it’s still a good way to keep the title on Owens for the time being. They had a
very good power brawl and Owens retaining is the right move, especially
with the feud with Strowman getting a big boost. Jericho was barely a
factor and that’s a good thing given that they were about to split in the near future.
When Reigns Hit Owens:
[This post contains video, click to play]
To really fill in time, we’re doing a countdown of the thirty greatest moments in Rumble history, starting with 30-16 (or 30-15 as Cole puts it).
Well kind of as the list is actually 30 facts, which is kind of Rumble By
The Numbers.
30. Bret Hart was the first entrant
29. 870 people have entered
28. 3 women have entered and each has eliminated at least one man
27. 23 people have won, meaning 98% of the entrants are losers
26. 4 Rumbles have been in Texas
25. California and Florida have held 5 Rumbles each
24. 507,102 fans have seen the Rumble
23. Rey Mysterio lasted longer than anyone ever at 1:02:12
22. Edge won the Rumble in 7:37
21. Santino Marella was eliminated in 1 second
20. The longest time in a single Rumble without winning is Bob Backlund
with 1:01:10
19. HHH has spent the most time in the Rumble with 4:06:08.
18. 46 Hall of Famers have competed
17. 9 Hall of Famers have won
16. Mick Foley entered the Rumble 3 times in 1998
Raw boss Stephanie McMahon mocks Raw underling Mick for Strowman
interfering when Smackdown bosses Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan come in.
They roll the tumbler so Sami Zayn can come in and pick his number, which
of course takes some time. Before Sami can open his ball, Dean Ambrose
comes in searching for churros. He gets a number but is off to take a nap
until he’s due in the Rumble. After going to a crowd shot of watching this
in the arena (erg), Sami gets #8.
Austin Aries joins commentary for the Cruiserweight Title match.
We recap Rich Swann vs. Neville. Swann is the Cruiserweight Champion but Neville has declared himself the King of the Cruiserweights. That’s completely accurate and it’s time for Swann to take a heck of a beating and give up a title that doesn’t belong to him. This is about as obvious of an ending as you’re going to get. They throw in some history between the two with Neville mentoring Swann both in Japan and here in America. That’s
better than nothing and more than I would expect from a match like this,
even if Neville winning is pretty much guaranteed.
Cruiserweight Title: Neville vs. Rich Swann
Neville is challenging and stops himself from doing his usual entrance
because the fans don’t deserve it. That’s a nice touch and makes him feel different instead of the same guy who just happens to be a villain now.
Feeling out process to start until Swann flips over Neville and misses a dropkick.
Neville gets sent outside for a dive but is fine enough to drive Swann
right into the corner. A missile dropkick sets up a jackknife cover for two
and Neville stands on Swann’s head. Neville wants to know if this is it and gets crucifixed for two. Back up and Neville forearms the heck out of Swann
for two more and we’re off to the chinlock. The comeback is enough to have Neville take him outside for some whips into the barricade.
Back in and Neville comes up the top, diving straight into a superkick to
the jaw. That one looked awesome and both guys are down. Another kick to
the jaw and a super hurricanrana sets up a Phoenix flip dive to the floor
to put Neville in trouble. They head back inside with Swann hammering away before getting two off something like a Warrior splash.

[continued in next message]

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