House Show/TV tapings random happenings

[Statto]

4 hours ago, air_raid said:

 Tyler Bate vs Tiller Bucktrot (that can't be a real ring name??),

It's a real real name:

He'd become Trey Bearhill, then get released. 

[air_raid]

11 hours ago, Statto said:

He'd become Trey Bearhill, then get released. 

Definitely a hill to die on.

[air_raid]

APRIL 2023
Welcome to the most depressing month I had as a wrestling fan since... ooooh, probably Mania 12.

THE MAIN EVENTS
After the usual Mania break, 15th-16th in Rio Rancho and El Paso its a fun-sounding Cody Rhodes, Kevin Owens & Matt Riddle vs Gunther, Ludwig Kaiser & Giovanni Vinci. 22nd in Fort Wayne and 23rd in Toledo, Cody is back with Solo Sikoa but unlike DQs prior, now he's beating him. 26th-29th we're off for the European tour where Cody's opposite Finn Balor (ooo) in Birmingham, Manchester, Belfast and Paris, which overlaps a crew 29th/30th in Beaumont and Bossier City topped with the very worth-seeing Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn vs The Usos for the unified tag straps.

Make no mistake - they beat him at Mania 39, but Cody is The Man.

THE CARDS
Mid month consistency in Rancho Relaxo and El Paso has Austin Theory vs Bobby Lashley for the US title (DQ finish) and Bianca Belair vs Asuka vs Piper Niven for Raw's title - after Niven has won an early three way vs Chelsea Green vs Shotzi Blackheart to get added to the match. There's also Shinsuke Nakamura vs The Miz and continuations from last month of both Braun Strowman & Ricochet vs The Viking Raiders and Dominik Mysterio vs Santos Escobar. Week 3 we have the hot rematch of Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn vs The Usos for the tag team marbles, and Escobar now teams with new boss Rey Mysterio against Shelton Benjamin & Cedric Alexander plus there's Natalya vs Shayna Baszler, Shotzi vs Sonya Deville and Ric beats one Raider or the other in singles. On tour, it's four straight nights of Seth Rollins vs The Miz and Alpha Academy vs Maximum Male Models, it's Damian Priest vs Dolph Ziggler everywhere except Manchester and everywhere after Brum its Belair & Asuka vs Bayley, Io Sky & Dakota Kai, which in Belfast and Paris follows a DQ in Belair vs Io. Rick Boogs vs Baron Corbin is a win for Boogs every night except Paris where an inexplicably popular Corbin finally wins one - I believe this was calling an audible. Two more of Theory vs Lashley and also Bronson Reed vs Dexter Lumis are followed by Theory vs Lashley vs Reed in Belfast and Paris where Lumis loses to Dom. Meanwhile in the southern States, there's Solo Sikoa vs Sheamus, Rhea Ripley vs Shotzi and Chelsea & Sonya challenging Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez in title matches, two more of Ricochet vs Erik, Nakamura vs LA Knight, Xavier Woods vs Karrion Kross and Omos vs Elias.

VARIATIONS
In Fort Wayne its Sheamus vs Kross and Knight vs Mustafa Ali, in Toledo Kross gets a turn in the winners circle against Ali and Knight loses to Sheamus. Unique to Birmingham, Corbin talks himself into a second match after his loss to Boogs, and sees his challenge answered by local favourite Butch - who he also loses to. Also, Belair vs Asuka vs Bayley for the belt. Priest doesn't wrestle in Manchester so Ziggler loses to Dom instead.

MAIN EVENTS - NXT
Just two road shows this month - it's Carmelo Hayes & Trick Williams vs Pretty Deadly again 14th in Largo, then 15th in Gainesville Wes Lee vs Edris Enofe for the NAT goes on last.

THE CARDS - HIGHLIGHTS
In Largo, Tyler Bate, Andre Chase & Duke Hudson vs Wolfgang, Mark Coffey & Joe Coffey, Apollo Crews vs Eddy Thorpe, Alba Fyre & Isla Dawn vs Kayden Carter & Katana Chase for the belts, Cora Jade vs Lea Mitchell, Valentina Feroz vs Lola Vice and Sol Ruca & Dani Palmer vs Jakara Jackson & Lash Legend. In Gainesville, Indi Hartwell vs Cora vs Thea Hail for the belt, Mitchell, Feroz & Roxanne Perez vs Tiffany Stratton, Zoey Stark & Monika Klisara, Ilja Dragunov vs Javier Bernal, Noam Dar vs Myles Borne and Gigi Dolin vs Tatum Paxley - I bet that one was worth watching.

TVs
1st at the Staples Center its the next NXT supercard on which Indi and Carmelo win the big belts and dark before the show, Bate/Chase/Hudson/Hail beat the Schism lads and Ava (yes, the one that's Rock's daughter). Fitting that there are big moments for both Hartwell and Corbin this month, since they both got released last month. Of course, the month starts proper with Mania 39 about which I don't need to say much except they threw a lot at it, including John Cena, Brock Lesnar, Edge, Trish Stratus and Lita. Next night on Raw Lesnar turns on Cody as you probably remember, but no dark matches. 7th SmackDown in Portland (10,000+) the show is followed by Theory vs Ziggler and Riddle vs Solo. 10th Raw in Seattle (10,000+) still no dark matches but Trish loses the tag belts for Becky Lynch and Lita, then turns heel on Bex. Finally 28th in Corpus Christi, therer's Shotzi vs Lacey Evans before SmackDown then Solo vs Riddle and Ripley vs Rodriguez after it.
NO NON TITLE WHINING

DEPARTURES
You'd be forgiven for forgetting Eric Young still worked there. The contract finally runs out for Alicia Fox and isn't renewed - she hadn't wrestled for years anyway.

 

 

[DavidB6937]

They really fucking loved Corbin didn't they? It didn't even seem to be some weird ironic support or bizarro thing, unless I completely misread it. They just seemed to like him!

[air_raid]

MAY 2023

Just two weekend pairs of shows for Cody and the crew. Hey, at least they’re consistent.

MAIN EVENTS

13th/14th in Augusta and North Charleston it’s Cody Rhodes vs Finn Balor in a streetfight then the same the weekend thereafter in Fayetteville and Hampton - the Dream would love Cody doing plunder matches in Crockett strongholds.

THE CARDS

Mid month, title matches abound with Austin Theory vs AJ Styles (DQ finish), Gunther vs Johnny Gargano, Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn vs Street Profits vs Giovanni Vinci & Ludwig Kaiser, Bianca Belair vs Asuka and Rhea Ripley vs Tegan Nox. Umm, and Omos vs Dolph Ziggler. Weekend after, Theory now beats Sheamus, Rhea turns back Zelina Vega and Bayley is added to the Raw title match. Styles tags with buddies Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows to beat all three Imperium, there’s now Rey Mysterio & Santos Escobar vs Damian Priest & Dominik Mysterio and Solo Sikoa vs Matt Riddle, and finally Omos now beats Ricochet. Huh.

MAIN EVENTS - NXT

12th in Davenport Wolfgang & Mark Coffey vs Josh Briggs & Brooks Jensen for the tag title goes on last, night after it's Wes Lee vs Luca Crusifino (battle royal winner) for the NAT. 19th in Tampa Wes and Axoim face Noam Dar & Dabbo-Kato then the next night in Orlando its Carmelo Hayes vs Malik Blade for the big belt.

THE CARDS - HIGHLIGHTS

Highlights in Davenport are Trick Williams vs Dijak, Thea Hail & Kelani Jordan vs Cora Jade & Kiyah Saint and Ivy Nile vs Lola Vice. In Sebring Trick teams with Lash Legend against Javier Bernal and Tatum Paxley, and there's Dragon Lee vs Oro Mensah and Fallon Henley vs Tiffany Stratton. Tampa has Dragon, Williams and Bryson Montana losing to all three Gallus, Hail over Jordan and Ivy, Lyra Valkyria and Dani Palmer beating Cora, Lash and Jakara Jackson. Finally in Orlando, Dragon & Williams beat Boa & Dante Chen and Bron Breakker vs Brooks Jensen stands out a bit 3rd out of 10 matches.

TVs

The huge SmackDown in San Juan (15,500+) the night before Backlash, they get Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez vs Bayley & Dakota Kai then Cody vs Balor as extra dark matches. The PPV on Saturday 6th (nearly 18,000) is notable for Cody pinning Brock Lesnar and of course, Priest vs Bad Bunny. 12th SmackDown in Knoxville (>10,000) there are dark matches sandwiching the show of Joaquin Wilde & Cruz Del Toro vs Anderson & Gallows, The Usos vs Street Profits and Belair vs Io Sky. 27th in Jeddah at the latest PPV we're ashamed of, Seth Rollins beats AJ to win his famed Silver Medal World Title, Lesnar evens the score with Cody, and Roman Reigns shows up to tag with Solo and lose to Kev & Sami. Finally 29th on Raw with Liv hitting the bench, the vacant tag belts are picked up by Ronda Rousey & Shayna Baszler. I'm sure that ends well.

NON TITLE WHINING

Beaten on TV this month : Morgan & Rodriguez (Womens Tag Team Champions) by Bayley & Dakota.

DEPARTURES

I don't think so.

 

 

[air_raid]

JUNE 2023

A fair few more house shows this month, goodie! But sod the main roster... it's Tiffy Time.

MAIN EVENTS

3rd/4th in White Plains and Manchester (NH) are topped with Seth Rollins vs The Miz for the Silver Medal. 17th in Cincinannati - fuck me, THE CHAMP comes to work! It's Roman Reigns vs Rey Mysterio for the real belt, then next night Rollins vs new challenger Damien Priest is promoted to main in Charleston WV. 24th in Monroe Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn vs Street Profits vs Sheamus & Butch vs Pretty Deadly goes on last, next night in Mobile the previous nights opener is the main, Charlotte vs Bayley except upgraded to a streetfight. Then, they're back over here with more of Rollins vs Priest 28th-30th in Liverpool, Sheffield and Newcastle, while 29th in Dublin a different crew is headlined by Kev & Sami vs our Kit & Elton vs The Usos vs Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows while they tape SmackDown at the O2.

THE CARDS

Week 1 is pretty loaded, the Cody Rhodes vs Finn Balor streetfight carrying on, Becky Lynch & Bianca Belair vs Bayley & Io Sky plus title matches of Gunther vs Damien Priest vs Shinsuke Nakamura vs Matt Riddle, Rhea Ripley vs Natalya for the ladies' Big Gold Belt, Austin Theory vs Sheamus and Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn vs The Viking Raiders, as well as The Usos vs Ridge Holland & Butch... that sounds a good value card! Week 2 shows both have Priest challenging Seth Rollins, plus Gunther vs Riddle vs Nakamura, Bobby Lashley vs Karrion Kross and continuations of Theory vs Sheamus and in Charleston only, Cody vs Balor. Both week 3 shows have those flip-flopped mains on the corresponding show's undercard, as well as Ronda Rousey & Shayna Baszler vs Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez for the tag belts, Asuka vs Shotzi Blackheart for the (newly) SmackDown/WWE Womens title, Lashley vs Baron Corbin, Omos vs Rick Boogs and Santos Escobar vs LA Knight. Finally on tour we add Dominik Mysterio vs Ricochet, Becky Lynch vs Zoey Stark, Gunther teaming with lieutenants Ludwig Kaiser & Giovanni Vinci vs Riddle & Alpha Academy, Bronson Reed vs Nakamura, Rodriguez beating Piper Niven and continuations of Ripley vs Natalya and (right before intermission) the Rhodes/Balor streetfight.

VARIATIONS

In Cincainnati there's Kev & Sami vs Balor & Dom, Lynch/Michin/Shotzi/Zelina Vega vs Bayley/Io/Stark/Chelsea Green and Academy vs Raiders (Cody and Usos off). Charleston see Rey Mysterio vs Dom in a "Fathers Day Streetfight" (!), Zayn & Owens vs Usos vs Raiders vs Alpha and Lynch/Michin/Shotzi vs Io/Zoey/Chelsea (Reigns (OBVS) Bayley and Vega off). Raquel misses Newcastle so instead of a triple threat, Big Time Bex beats Niven THEN beats Stark as usual in back to back singles. Same night as Sheffield and unique to Dublin, there's Charlotte vs Belair vs Bayley, Theory vs Knight vs AJ Styles, Solo Sikoa vs Escobar, Holland & Butch vs Hit Row, Sheamus vs Kross and Lyra Valkyria vs Scarlett Bordeaux (!). Yes... WWE ran Dublin but sent Lynch to Sheffield instead.

MAIN EVENTS - NXT

9th in Dade City - quite right - Tiffany Stratton vs Lyra Valkyria for the title goes on last, then 10th in Sanford Tiff defends against Thea Hail. 23rd in Fort Pierce its Wolfgang & Mark Coffey vs Malik Blade & Edris Enofe then next night in Citrus Springs, Top Tier Tiffy is back where she belongs, main eventing vs Hail vs Ivy Nile.

THE CARDS - HIGHLIGHTS

Dade has Dijak vs Malik Blade, Thea Hail vs Elekta Lopez and Blair Davenport, Kiana James & Tatum Paxley vs Roxanne Perez, Gigi Dolin & Dani Palmer. In Sanford there's Wes Lee vs Eddy Thorpe for the NAT, Perez, Kelani Jordan & Fallon Henley vs Cora Jade, Jacy Jayne & Stevie Turner and Ivy Nile vs Lola Vice. Fort Pierce has good star power with Bron Breakker vs Thorpe, Dragon Lee vs Oro Mensah and Lyra Valkyria vs Kiana. Finally Citrus Springs is much of a muchness but of a 9 match undercard Tyler Bate vs Julius Creed stands out.

TVs

2nd SmackDown in Wilkes-Barre is sandwiched by Cameron Grimes vs Boogs and Cody vs The Miz. One week later in Des Moines, Rollins vs Priest for the title is a Coliseum main. 12th Raw in Wichita - Riddick Moss sighting, he's losing to Apollo Crews for Main Event. 16th SmackDown in Lexington (nearly 10,000) after the show Dom inspects the lights for Nakamura and Kev 'n' Sami beat #1 contenders Pretty Deadly who just won a gauntlet match on TV. 19th Raw in Cleveland (nearly 11,000) Trish Stratus shows her face and beats Raquel by DQ to gain entry in Money In The Bank. 20th at the Performance Centre a loaded "Gold Rush" show for NXT has Rollins vs Breakker on last. 23rd in Lafayette, dark there's Joaquin Wilde & Cruz Del Toro vs Hit Row before the show, Riddle vs Priest after it, and on TV Rey jobs for Knight (!) and Ronda & Shayna beat Alba Fyre & Isla Dawn to unify the tag belts with the NXT ones. 26th in Savannah the lesser-spotted Emma jobs to Katana Chance for Main Event and Akira Tozawa gets on Raw losing to Dom Dom. Finally a fucking loaded Downers taping in That London (17,500+) has the lWo vs Doc n Karl before the show, and Styles vs Kross and Rey vs Theory after it.

NO NON TITLE WHINING

NO DEPARTURES

 

 

 

 

 

[air_raid]

JULY 2023
Still Tiffy Time.

MAIN EVENTS
2nd in Cardiff, the night after Money In The Bank at the O2, it's the second of two nights of Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn vs Pretty Deadly vs The Usos vs Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows in a somewhat disjointed tour. 15th/16th in Fairfax and Salisbury it's Seth Rollins vs Finn Balor for "that other title," then they're off to Mexico. 22nd at Arena Mexico its the only main that makes sense, Roman Reigns vs Rey Mysterio, 23rd Rollins vs Dominik Mysterio takes centre stage in Monterrey, then its back to Rollins vs Balor 29th-30th in Estero and Coral Gables.
THE CARDS
Fairfax and Salisbury are uniform - Cody Rhodes vs Dominik Mysterio, continuation from Cardiff of Austin Theory vs AJ Styles except now a DQ finish leads to Theory and (random) Kit Wilson losing to AJ buddies Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson, title matches of Gunther vs Matt Riddle vs Chad Gable, Rhea Ripley vs Natalya and Asuka vs Bianca Belair vs Charlotte vs Bayley, plus Omos vs Akira Tozawa. Consistent to both packed Mexico shows are Seth Rollins vs Dom for the belt, Ripley vs Nattie vs Becky Lynch, Cody vs Damien Priest, Asuka vs Charlotte vs Shotzi Blackheart and Ronda Rousey vs Shayna Baszler. Finally in Florida, Riddle, Gable and Alpha Academy partner Otis vs Gunther and underlings Giovanni Vinci & Ludwig Kaiser plus Omos now beats Johnny Gargano, a few fresh names in Katana Chance & Kayden Carter vs Alba Fyre & Isla Dawn, still Rhodes vs Priest, Asuka vs Charlotte vs Shotzi and a reprisal of Theory vs AJ.
VARIATIONS
Unique to Cardiff are the final editions of Mysterio vs LA Knight, Asuka vs Belair and Charlotte vs Bayley as a pair of singles matches, Solo Sikoa vs Santos Escobar, Sheamus vs Karrion Kross and Ridge Holland & Butch vs Hit Row. In Mexico City there's Riddle, Joaquin Wilde & Cruz Del Toro vs the three Imperium lads, next night in Monterrey Rey tags with the other lWo lads and extra body The Miz loses to Riddle. In Estero only, Gunther vs Riddle to a DQ precedes the usual six man.

MAIN EVENTS - NXT
7th in Largo for some reason Carmelo Hayes, Wes Lee & Axiom vs Dragon Lee, Oro Mensah & Nathan Frazer goes on last despite Tiffy defending the title underneath. Next night in Melbourne Hayes vs Joe Coffey goes on last for the title - I'll let them off, Tiff has the night off. 21st in Lakeland its Bron Breakker & Cora Jade vs Duke Hudson & Thea Hail, then 22nd in Gainesville sanity is restored - Tiffany Stratton vs Hail for the belt goes on last.
THE CARDS - HIGHLIGHTS
Tiffany Stratton vs Kelani Jordan is the real main in Largo where there is also Thea Hail vs Lola Vice and Blair Davenport vs Gigi Dolin. Melbourne has Bron Breakker vs Dante Chen, Wolfgang & Mark Coffey vs Andre Chase & Duke Hudson for the tag belts, Trick Williams vs Javier Bernal, Roxanne Perez vs Cora Jade vs Jacy Jayne and Ivy Nile vs Jakara Jackson. In Lakeland - Ikemen Jiro sighting, he beats Bernal in the opener, Nile beats Karmen Petrovic and Vice & Elektra Lopez beat Tatum Paxley and Izzi Dame. Finally in Gainesville, Perez vs Davenport goes to a double count-out, Jackson and Lash Legend beat Valentina Feroz & Yulisa Leon, Dragon beats Axiom, and there's Trick Williams vs Oro Mensah and Lyra Valkyria vs Kiana James.

TVs
1st at the O2 is a monster Money In The Bank PPV - the Bloodline Civil War sees Reigns take an actual televised pinfall for the first time in years, Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez regain the tag titles when Baszler turns on Ronda, and Priest and Io Sky win briefcases, most notable for me being Trish Stratus taking bumps she really didn't need to at this stage. 7th SmackDown is at MSG (13,500+) and features Zelina Vega vs Lacey Evans before the show, Edge (remember him?) vs Grayson Waller on it, and Kev & Sami vs Pretty Deadly and Rollins vs Balor after it. 17th Raw in Atlanta (near 11,500) Liv & Raquel already cough up the tag belts, to Sonya Deville & Chelsea Green, but things don't stay peachy for them either (see below). 18th NXT we have to mention - Dom beats Wes to win the North American title. 21st in Orlando (12,000+) its Tiffy (!!) vs Kiana before SmackDown, and Styles vs Waller and Drew McIntyre vs Kaiser after it. I'm going to mention 24th Raw in Tampa only because 11,500 is another in a series of strong attendance numbers. 30th in Cedar Park TX, NXT do a Great American Bash featuring a dark match where the recently-discussed Meta-Four of Legend, Jackson, Mensah and Noam Dar lose to Dragon/Frazer/Leon/Feroz, Dom retaining the NAT, Hayes turning back Ilja Dragunov and most importantly Tiff beating Hail in a submission match. Finally 31st Raw in Houston (12,000+) there's all manner of sightings, Dana Brooke vs Xia Li for Main Event, Shinsuke Nakamura vs Tomasso Ciampa, Bex vs Trish to a DQ finish and the return to a WWE ring on telly of Sarah Logan as Valhalla losing to the much-maligned Maxxine Dupri.
NON TITLE WHINING
Beaten on TV this month : Theory (United States Champion) by Escobar, Green & Deville (Womens Tag Team Champions) by Charlotte & Belair.

DEPARTURES
None this month but BOY do we make up for that next month.

Here's Mexico City ;

 

[BomberPat]

On 11/28/2024 at 4:13 PM, air_raid said:

DEPARTURE
Meiko Satomura as above, who I still can't believe worked there at all.

It's actually more unbelievable than that - she's still under contract. 

[air_raid]

AUGUST 2023
Few house shows but massive drama.

THE MAIN EVENTS
19th/20th in Ottawa and Laval, it's still Seth Rollins vs Finn Balor in a "streetfight" for the belt even though in Ontario we know that really, the first road matches in forever for Trish The Dish is what draws the gate. 26th-27th in Cape Girardeau and Huntsville, still Rollins vs Balor.

THE CARDS
In Ontario, Becky Lynch vs Trish Stratus & Zoey Stark as a handicap stands out, there's also Cody Rhodes vs Damian Priest plus Drew McIntyre, Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn vs Gunther, Giovanni Vinci & Ludwig Kaiser in headline level tussles plus Rhea Ripley vs Natalya and Io Sky vs Asuka vs Charlotte for the titles and AJ Styles, Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows vs Austin Theory, Shelton Benjamin & Cedric Alexander. Great value shows. Down South, Rey Mysterio challenges Theory for the UST and when that goes to a DQ Rey and Santos Escobar beat Theory and Grayson Waller. Kev & Sami turn back the challenge of Imperium, Stark beats Michin, and there's LA Knight vs Mustafa Ali and more of Cody vs Priest and Ripley vs Nattie.
NO VARIATIONS

MAIN EVENTS - NXT
11th in Sanford its Carmelo Hayes vs Andre Chase for the title, 12th in Jacksonville an 8-person of Dragon Lee, Axoim, Roxanne Perez & Lyra Valkyria vs Oro Mensah, Noam Dar, Lash Legend & Jakara Jackson goes on last. 18th in Citrus Springs The D'Angelo Family vs The Dyad for the tag belts main events, next night in Tampa Carmelo turns back Joe Gacy.

THE CARDS - HIGHLIGHTS
Repeat! Dragon Lee, Axoim, Roxanne Perez & Lyra Valkyria vs Oro Mensah, Noam Dar, Lash Legend & Jakara Jackson is half way up the card in Citrus Springs as well as Jacksonville's main. Among 10 matches in Sanford there's Trick Williams vs Dijak, Tyler Bate & Ravion Heights vs Damon Kemp & Myles Borne, Eddy Thorpe, Hank Walker & Tank Ledger vs Wolfgang, Joe Coffey & Mark Coffey, Thea Hail vs Jacy Jayne and Gigi Dolin vs Kianna James. Jacksonville get Jayne and Blair Davenport beating Fallon Henley & Ivy Nile, Wes Lee vs Malik Blade and Kelani Jordan vs Tatum Paxley. Citrus Springs is notable for Gigi vs Karmen Petrovic, Bate, Duke Hudson & Andre Chase vs Kemp, Borne and Charlie Dempsey and Javier Bernal vs Ikemen Jiro. In Tampa, Trick goes over Bron Breakker, Nile loses to Ava and the real main event has Tiffany Stratton vs Valentina Feroz for the title.

TVs
4th SmackDown at the Nutter Centre there's Odyssey Jones vs Cruz Del Toro before SmackDown and Rollins vs The Miz after it. 5th, nearly 60,000 (!!) turn up at Ford Field for SummerSlam on which Cody wins the rubber match with Brock Lesnar, Shayna Baszler surprisingly beats bestie Ronda Rousey in an "MMA Rules" match, Io cashes in to win the proper title from Bianca Belair, and Roman Reigns retains over Jey Uso when Jimmy Uso turns back to Roman's side.. zzzzzz. 11th in Calgary there's Street Profits vs Ridge Holland & Butch and Ripley vs Nattie (in Calgary) on top of the televised show which features Rey ending the UST reign of Theory. 14th Raw in Winnipeg has Lynch vs Stratus (mysteriously absent from SummerSlam) go to a double count-out, then next night in Toronto (14,000) Cameron Grimes vs Jones opens, Edge celebrates 25 years on WWE TV by beating Sheamus in his last match for the company, and oddly enough they tack on Drew/Zayn/Owens vs Imperium as a dark main. 25th SmackDown is the Terry Funk/Bray Wyatt tribute show, Grimes vs Jones and Rhodes vs Theory  bookend it.
NO NON TITLE WHINING 

DEPARTURES - OH SHIT
Edge has his contract expire after the Sheamus match. He goes to AEW and proves he's got a fair bit in the tank, still.

Brock Lesnar puts Cody over at SummerSlam and, as it stands, that was his last match for WWE. Plans OF COURSE were made for him going into Mania season this year, which would have seen him eliminated by Dominik in the Rumble (chortle) leading to a revenge match at Elimination Chamber and then "the Beast Incarnate" getting finally pointed towards Gunther at Mania 40 itself. However, those plans hit the fan when right before the Rumble, the Janel Grant story broke. WWE promptly removed Lesnar from plans, and he hasn't been back since. In no way am I suggesting one has anything to do with the other, of course.

Ronda Rousey loses to Shayna at Summer Slam and announces she's leaving. Always dejected at the reactions of fans, she'd go on to say of her last match with Baszler, which was the match THEY wanted to do but seemed to bore some fans, "making them sit through it was my last “f**k you” to them and the company." This is only the start of Ronda's takedown of the company over many issues, several interviews and her later memoir would be incredibly illuminating. 

Of Charlotte being inserted into her vs Becky at Mania 35 : "(the sycophants who do Vince’s bidding) dictated that to raise the stakes and overcompensate for us having vaginas, the winner of our match at WrestleMania would lay claim to not just one, but both titles. The concept felt hastily put together at best. The only good part was that now I had turned heel, I didn’t have to pretend that I didn’t think everything was bullshit." On the finish, about which Lynch has claimed she ruined on purpose ; "I didn’t think my shoulders were flat on the ground, so I was trying to scoot to get my shoulders flat because it’s so fucking loud I can’t hear anything. But that’s the difference between a match that got thrown together the night before and the debut match, which is a match that had been put together over weeks with tons of support and practice and opinions and everything like that." On that particular departure ; "They offered to bring (Evolution) back for a second time. They said ‘Ronda if you stay after WrestleMania, we’ll have another Evolution in 6 weeks and have you and Becky as a singles.’ I was like, I promised my family that – first, I was always saying I want to go from WrestleMania until Survivor Series, and then Triple H convinced me to stay from WrestleMania to WrestleMania and I promised my family, like, okay that’s it. I have kids and a husband and a home and I’m gone for weeks on end."

She's also revealed that she'd been told for the Money In The Bank PPV Lacey Evans (who'd helped her a lot) would be the one to win the ladder match then cash in on her later that night. She left a week then told Evans, who was obviously thrilled, only to be told by Paul Heyman “Vince is just feeling Liv this week” the week of the PPV. "I was angry. Angry for Lacey. Angry that WWE had put me in this position. Angry because Lacey probably didn’t even fucking know and was out there walking around excited about a moment that would never come. Angry that this old man with our careers and legacies in his hands put no more thought into his decisions than how he was feeling in the moment. Angry that it wasn’t Liv’s years of back-breaking work, sacrifice, hard-earned fan support, or star power that made this moment happen but the whims of a geriatric billionaire who treated us like action figures. Despite the progress that had been made, our efforts were more frivolous than ever.” Some other soundbytes have included "everybody is being held hostage", "Vince McMahon, John Laurinaitis, Bruce Prichard, they can all suck a dick" and "But Vince being gone really changes things a lot. I love Triple H and I love Steph, I think they are fucking fantastic."

So, outspoken … probably shouldn't be that shocked considering she'd previously posted on Instagram "Imagine what our (tagged Liv Morgan) feud could have been if we weren’t hamstrung by a bunch of octogenarians who still think they know how to be hip while putting less than 5 minutes of thought a week into each women’s storyline" … while still employed there.

Enjoy some vintage bitch Trish
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iSSiZpkhPo

Different view, same match

 

[air_raid]

SEPTEMBER 2023
Still Tiffy Time in my heart. Oh, wait.... Departures.

MAIN EVENTS
9th at the Nassau (<8000, disappointing) then 10th in Charlottesville it's Cody Rhodes vs Finn Balor in a streetfight. 16th/17th its Seth Rollins vs Shinsuke Nakamura for the Silver Medal in Kennewick and Boise. 23rd we're at the 9 month old Acrisure Arena in Thousand Palms CA (Palm Springs/Coachella Valley) with touching distance to 9000 for Rollins vs The Miz which repeats next night in Fresno (near 8000) and again start of a new loop 30th at the Chase Center in San Francisco.
THE CARDS
Week one there's AJ Styles vs Solo Sikoa (Styles wins, somewhat surprisingly and in contrast to TV) and Charlotte vs Asuka, the rest is a little B show - LA Knight vs Austin Theory, Cruz Del Toro/Joaquin Wilde/Zelina Vega vs Hit Row & B-Fab, Ricochet vs Karrion Kross and Omos vs Johnny Gargano. Mid-month there's loads of bodies on hand and lots of star power - there's Cody Rhodes vs Dominik Mysterio in a streetfight before intermission, Rey Mysterio vs Knight vs Theory for the UST, Becky Lynch vs Tiffany Stratton for the NXT title and Finn Balor & Damian Priest vs Wilde & Del Toro for the tag belts. Also, Jey Uso vs Bronson Reed, a remarkable upset in Tommaso Ciampa & Alpha Academy vs Gunther, Ludwig Kaiser & Giovanni Vinci, and Asuka gets the win back from Charlotte. Identical cards on the Cali weekender - right down to match order - have Io Sky vs Asuka vs Charlotte for her title, Gunther vs Gable for the ICT, Reed vs Otis and more of Rhodes vs Dom and Lynch vs Tiffy.
VARIATIONS
In San Fran on top of repeats of Gunther vs Gable and Reed vs Otis, it's Io vs Charlotte one on one, Rhodes vs Priest, Knight vs Theory, Nia Jax vs Zoey Stark and Vinci & Kaiser inspect the lights for Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods.

MAIN EVENTS - NXT
8th in Sebring Tiffany Stratton vs Ivy Nile goes on last, obviously. Next night in Melbourne its Carmelo Hayes vs Dragon Lee for the big one. 22nd in Fort Pierce, Gable Stevenson & The Creed Brothers vs Damon Kemp, Myles Borne & Charlie Dempsey is our main, night after in Orlando Hayes retains against Wolfgang.
THE CARDS - HIGHLIGHTS
Gable Stevenson vs Dante Chen repeats in Sebring and Melbourne. Massive 10-11 match cards include, in Sebring. Dijak vs Tyler Bate vs Nathan Frazer, said to be a contenders match to the Heritage Cup refereed by Noam Dar, Blair Davenport vs Kelani Jordan and Lyra Valkyria vs Jacy Jayne. Melbourne get Valkyria vs Karmen Petrovic, three Gallus lads vs Wes Lee, Edris Enofe & Malik Blade and Roxanne Perez vs Sarah Baer. In Fort Pierce Perez drops Arianna Grace, Jordan beats Jaida Parker and there's Gigi Dolin vs Lola Vice. Finally in Orlando Stevenson beats Myles Borne, Bate & Frazer beat Dar & Oro Mensah and Trick Williams beats Joe Gacy.

TVs
1st in Hershey (near 9000) Butch vs Kit Wilson goes on dark before the SmackDown where Solo beats AJ, then Drew McIntyre vs Kross is the Coliseum main. Saturday 2nd there's over 13,000 in Pitsburgh for Payback, on which Lynch vs Trish Stratus registers as one of the best openers in recent memory inside a cage, John Cena referees Knight vs Miz and Judgment Day win the tag belts from Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn. 4th Raw in Charlotte a no DQ match sees Drew and Matt Riddle (watch this space) lose to Viking Raiders. On Friday 8th you simply must call near 12,000 at the TD Garden (Boston) a triumph - Zelina & Michin vs Alba Fyre & Isla Dawn before the show and both Rey & Santos Escobar vs Street Profits and Cody vs Dom after it. It's a huge triumph because a bunch of names are in Hyderabad, India for Superstar Spectacle (I have no memory of this) - various natives wrestle, Bron Breakker gets a big time look, and Rollins & Cena beat the Imperium underlings on last. 15th SmackDown near 13,000 turn up in Denver, they get Vega/Michin vs "The Unholy Union" then after they're off air, Cena & AJ (!) vs Solo & Jimmy Uso. 22nd in suburban Phoenix (12,000+) Cameron Grimes vs Ashante Adonis opens then after the show there's Cena vs Montez Ford and Lynch vs Stark for the NXT title. 29th in Sacramento (>12,000 again) Cena vs Dom and Rollins vs Gunther for the belt are a hell of dark match combo, and finally 30th in Bakersfield NXT put on No Mercy which features Trick relieve Dom of the NAT, Ilja Dragunov win the big belt from Hayes and on last, Bex beats Tiff.

DEPARTURES - FUCK MY EYE
Dolph Ziggler reaches the end of the road, having been there forever and feeling like he always would be. His career is fairly unique, on the one hand convincing many that he didn't get the time at the top he should have after so many false starts (Survivors 14 being the worst for me), but simultaneously having many people wanting him to just fuck off for ages.

Matt Riddle, having been off TV due to a double ear infection and bronchitis, apparently makes some kind of scene at JFK Airport which he'll later admit to alcohol playing a part, making the 4th September Raw his last TV appearance and confirming his departure on his own Twitter on 22nd. This being after he missed ring time from December to April in part due to a 60 day suspension for a second Wellness violation, which he'll later admit to being a positive test for cocaine. Too many chances blown, that one. Never mind, TNA have taken a punt on him. I thought he was fantastic when I was going to indy shows, but unfortunately despite seeming an affable, likable personality on these occasions, turns out he's a bellend.

Mustafa Ali finally leaves for good after a turbulent tenure. On September 21st, just 9 days before he's scheduled to challenge Dom at No Mercy, Ali announces that he's no longer working for WWE as he's one of several releases that day. Elias is cut, another missed opportunity. Him playing the opening bars of Thunderstruck only to then round on the Aussie crowd, will live with me forever. Having worked a grand total of 13 matches since Mania, all on TVs, mostly back down in NXT, Dana Brooke is let go. Conversely Aliyah is released from her contract without making a single television appearance in 2023. Top Dolla becomes the only member of Hit Row to date to be released twice. Other cuts - Shelton Benjamin, Emma, Madcap Moss, Eric Boogs and Mace & Mansoor.

Finally - losing to Becky inside the cage at Payback is, at it stands, the last match for Trish Stratus. Say what you want about the decision to give a rub to "The Man" who was already made, essentially everything Trish did between returning at the 2018 Rumble and this cage match, was a fucking triumph. What a star she is.

Cena vs Dom -

Seth vs Gunther -

 

 

Edited January 20, 2025 by air_raid
Adrenaline in my soul, added Cody to this post

[air_raid]

OCTOBER 2023

MAIN EVENTS
1st in Stateline NV (Lake Tahoe) it's the second two nights of Seth Rollins vs The Miz. 14th in Kansas City - shit the bed - it's Roman Reigns vs Sami Zayn for the real title then after that Rollins vs Shinsuke Nakamura takes over on last Sunday 15th in Springfield MO before 21st/22nd in Edinburg and Laredo - how B show is this? - LA Knight vs Solo Sikoa in a streetfight has a popular winner, YEAH. It's again Rollins vs Nakamura 25th-28th in Munich, Cologne, Hamburg and Berlin, then a different crew is headlined by Knight vs Solo 29th-31st in London, Nottingham and Glasgow.

THE CARDS
Mid month shows both have Seth Rollins vs Shinsuke Nakamura for the Silver Medal, Io Sky vs Asuka vs Charlotte for the belt and Carlito & Joaquin Wilde vs Street Profits, plus Dominik Mysterio vs Ricochet for the NAT in Kansas City (Dom wins) and non title in Springfield (Ric wins). In Texas, Santos Escobar vs Bobby Lashley to a DQ leads to Escobar/Wilde/Carlto vs Lashley & The Profits, we add Karrion Kross vs Butch and there's repeats of Sky vs Flair vs Asuka. In Germany Dom Dom vs Sami Zayn for the NXT NAT opens every night and after a DQ, Zayn & Jey Uso beat Dom & JD McDonagh. The first half main event is Cody Rhodes vs The Miz, there's also Rhea Ripley vs Raquel Rodriguez for the other Womens belt, Gunther vs Bronson Reed for the ICT, Finn Balor & Damian Priest vs Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods for the tag belts and Alpha Academy vs Giovanni Vinci & Ludwig Kaiser. In Britain, Io vs Charlotte as a one on one resumes from San Fran and Nevada, there's an upset in Shotzi Blackheart vs Bayley (which kicked off in Laredo), Butch and Ridge Holland beat the Profits in London then there's two nights of DQs which lead to "The Pride" losing a six man to Butch, Ridge and Drew McIntyre, Wilde & Cruz Del Toro lose to Pretty Deadly and Escobar beats Kross.

VARIATIONS
Stateline is the second round for Cody vs McDonagh in a streetfight before intermission, LA Knight vs Austin Theory, Nia Jax vs Zoey Stark, Reed vs Otis and Gable, Kingston & Woods vs all three Imperium. Kansas City has Gunther vs Gable, Cody & Jey vs Kaiser & Vinci and Knight vs Jimmy Uso. In Springfield, Zayn & Knight vs Solo Sikoa & Jimmy and Cody & Jey vs Imperium vs Academy. Edinburg only, Shotzi beats Isla Dawn, Raquel upsets Bayley and Theory beats Cameron Grimes. Laredo it's Roxanne Perez & Raquel beating Isla & Alba Fyre and Theory & Grayson Waller beating Grimes & Dragon Lee. Finally no Drew in London, so in a standalone singles, Lashley beats Waller.

MAIN EVENTS - NXT
13th in Largo it's Tyler Bate, Axiom & Nathan Frazer vs Wolfgang, Mark Coffey & Joe Coffey. 14th in Winter Haven, Tony D'Angelo & Channing Lorenzo vs Noam Dar & Oro Mensah for the tag belts. It's new champs Andre Chase & Duke Hudson vs the Family vs Humberto Carillo & Angel Garza 27th in Davenport, next night in Dade City it's Lyra Valkyria vs Tiffany Stratton vs Karmen Petrovic for the Womens title.

THE CARDS
FUCK! Some repeats! Gable Steveson vs Javier Bernal is on the first two shows then Gable vs Luca Crusifino on the second, and - look who it is - Lexis King vs Brooks Jensen repeats in Largo and Davenport. Other highlights - Thea Hail vs Ivy Nile, Humberto Carillo & Angel Garza vs Malik Blade & Edris Enofe and Jacy Jayne vs Karmen Petrovic in Largo, Trick Williams vs Damon Kemp (Gable's brother Bobby), Roxanne Perez vs Lash Legend, Lyra Valkyria vs Kiana James and Gigi Dolin vs Blair Davenport in (random) a lumberjill match. Davenport (Florida, not Blair) sees Karmen win a Halloween battle royal and Nile lose to Tiffany Stratton (yay), finally in Dade City Nile beats Legend, Blade wins a mens Halloween battle royal, Thea beats Jaida Parker and Kemp & Myles Borne drop deposed champs Tony D'Angelo & Channing Lorenzo.

TVs
6th SmackDown there are 10,000+ in St Louis and a bumper Coliseum dark main has John Cena/Cody/Jey/Knight vs Solo/Jimmy/Balor/Dom. 7th in Indianapolis 14,500+ see Fastlane where Cody & Jey relieve Judgment Day of the tag belts and Cena shows his face to tag with Knight to defeat Solo & Jimmy U. 16th Raw in Oklahoma it all feels a bit pointless as Priest & Balor win the belts back when SmackDown's Jimmy turns up and costs his twin to continue their crawl to Mania. 24th at the Performance Centre the first of NXTs "Halloween Havoc" shows has Jensen & Josh Briggs beat Tavion Heights & Riley Osborne in a dark opener and the show proper has the D'Angelo Family/Chase U title chnge and on last, Valkyria wins the belt from Becky Lynch. One week later Nile vs Parker and Jensen beating (topical) Oba Femi are the dark matches.
NO NON TITLE WHINING

NO DEPARTURES OF NOTE

 

[air_raid]

NOVEMBER 2023
Look in my eyes, what do you see? Next time you will listen to meeeeeeeeee………..

MAIN EVENTS
Some real "B show" vibes this month. 4th/5th even with TWO champions (allegedly) around, the ICT goes on top in Rochester and Springfield with Gunther vs Ricochet vs Shinsuke Nakamura on last. 11th-12th in Johnson City and Roanoke it's Seth Rollins vs Drew McIntyre for the "World title" in dress rehearsals as it turns out for Mania, even though they didn't know it then. 18th in Canton and 19th in Saginaw, it's Rollins vs McIntyre vs Nakamura while same nights in Tupelo and Jonesboro it's a VERY B show LA Knight vs Grayson Waller. Sunday 26th in Peoria there's one more of Rollins vs McIntyre vs Nakamura.. still in Phil territory, night after Survivors. Bet Seth was popular.

THE CARDS
Our biggest match for star power (well, one star) in the North East is Becky Lynch vs Natalya. Otherwise, aside from Carlito & Cruz Del Toro vs Street Profits it's a bit crap - Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa vs Ludwig Kaiser & Giovanni Vinci, Butch vs Karrion Kross, Omos vs Akira Tozawa and Kofi Kingston vs Ivar in "Viking Rules" - whatever that is. In the Southern states, support for Seth is strong in comparison ; Cody Rhodes vs The Miz, Gunther vs Sami Zayn for the ICT, Bex vs Zoey Stark, Io Sky vs Bianca Belair vs Charlotte for the title, Jey Uso vs one Judgment Day rat or the other, Kevin Owens vs Jimmy Uso and LA Knight vs Grayson Waller. Mid month Gunther's back with Chad Gable, Cody with Damian Priest, Zayn with Dominik Mysterio, two more rounds of Nia Jax vs Raquel Rodriguez and repeats of Omos squashing Tozawa and in Canton only, Lynch vs Stark. On Knight's cards there's Carlito/Del Toro/Joaquin Wilde against the Profits and Bobby Lashley, Kross losing to Ridge Holland, Shotzi Blackheart vs Bayley, Cameron Grimes & Dragon Lee vs Pretty Deadly and more of Kofi vs Ivar and Sky vs Belair vs Charlotte. Finally in Peoria there are reprisals of Cody vs Miz and Lynch vs Stark plus repeats of Knight vs Waller and Io vs Bianca vs Charlotte.

VARIATIONS
In Johnson City Jey pins Dom, in Roanoke JD McDonagh. Unique to Peoria, a DQ in Knight vs Waller leads to Knight & Kev beating Waller and Austin Theory, plus Lashley/Ford/Dawkins beat Lee/Wilde/Del Toro.

MAIN EVENTS - NXT
10th in Lakeland a huge 10 match card ends with another round of Andre Chase & Duke Hudson vs Tony D'Angelo & Channing Lorenzo for the tag belts, next night in Orlando Gable Steveson, Trick Williams & Josh Briggs vs Baron Corbin, Bronco Nima & Lucien Price goes on last. 17th in Sebring Chase U face Wolfgang & Mark Coffey (earned in Orlando), next night in Venice they tag with Carmelo Hayes, Eddy Thorpe and Von Wagner to beat Bron Breakker, Price, Nima, Noam Dar and Oro Mensah in an eliminator.
CARDS - HIGHLIGHTS
In Lakeland there's Trick Williams vs Joe Coffey, Carmelo Hayes vs Lexis King, Lyra Valkyria vs Xia Li for the belt and Roxanne Perez vs Lash Legend among the 9 undercard matches. Orlando is treated to Bron Breakker vs Eddy Thorpe, Gigi Dolin vs Arianna Grace and Xia & Kiana James beating Lyra & Karmen Petrovic. In Sebring Valkyria retains over Lola Vice, Coffey beats Brooks Jensen, Eddy beats Regal's lad Charlie Dempsey and Petrovic beats Grace. Finally in Venice Josh Briggs vs Oba Femi opens, Tyler Bate checks in to beat Pillman Jr and Arianna loses to Kelani Jordan.

TVs
4th its our latest blood money PPV in Riad - Solo Sikoa knocks off John Cena (!), Roman Reigns comes to work to retain over the increasingly popular Knight, and Rey Mysterio drops the UST to everyone's favourite part-timer, Logan Paul. It's a tough call actually when I think about how many part timers seem to be on the books nowadays. 24th SmackDown at the AllState (16,000)is the first dark matches I find - Kross beats Cedric Alexander before the show and Cody & Rollins vs Dom & McDonagh after it. Next night is of course Survivor Series in the same building (17,000+) where nothing really important happens until Randy Orton returns to a big pop to help Codys team knock off Judgment Day in War Games, before the real main event - CM Punk marches out to a monster reaction and to the surprise of many, including numerous Keffers - but not me. Punk says they rang him the Monday before Survivor Series with a view to coming back for the Rumble assuming he had a no compete, which he didn't. That's funny. It's worth noting that next night on Raw in Nashville (10,000+) the first singles match back for Orton is entrusted to Dom. We'll come back to that next month!
NO NON TITLE WHINING

NO DEPARTURES

 

Bonus track - I have updated the August 2005 entry because Cena/Batista/Hogan vs HBK/Angle/JBL has surfaced ;
https://ukff.com/topic/142250-house-showtv-tapings-random-happenings/page/47/#findComment-3509551
Several fun/rare interactions watching it back. Shawn playing heel flopping around for Batista being my favourite.

Edited January 14, 2025 by air_raid
Look in my eyes, what do you see? This post has been edited by me.....

[air_raid]

DECEMBER 2023
It's Clobbering Time!!

MAIN EVENTS
2nd-3rd in Bangor and Portland, it's still Seth Rollins vs Shinsuke Nakamura for the Silver Medal. Crossing over, 2nd-3rd in Allentown and Newark it's Kevin Owens & LA Knight vs Solo Sikoa & Jimmy Uso after a DQ in Knight vs Uso - which would have sucked as the only main! 9th in Utica and 10th in State College, there's more of Rollins vs Nakamura but then 16th in Moline and 17th in Rochester (MN) it reverts to the three-way with Drew McIntyre. Boxing Day at MSG its a straight singles between Rollins and McIntyre in front of a monster 15,831 though it's not really the Silver Medal that draws the gate (see below). 27th-29th its back to the triple threat in Boston, Laval and Toronto. Meanwhile and somewhat ridiculously, 26th-29th Knight vs Jimmy goes on last in streetfights in Baltimore, Detroit and Houston then a cage match in Paradise NV (suburban Vegas) before a standalone show 30th in Inglewood (suburban LA) the cage match goes on first, Rollins vs McIntyre for the belt is before intermission and Cody Rhodes vs Nakamura as a streetfight goes on last.

THE CARDS
In Maine it's once again Cody Rhodes vs Damian Priest and Becky Lynch vs Zoey Stark, as well as singles opener ending in DQ that leads to Jey Uso & Sami Zayn vs Dominik Mysterio & JD McDonagh. Otherwise we have more of Nia Jax vs Raquel Rodriguez and Omos vs Akira Tozawa, it's Ricochet vs Bronson Reed and a return to Alpha Academy vs Giovanni Vinci & Ludwig Kaiser. In the North East Io Sky vs Charlotte is the biggest undercard match, looks like Montez is injured as there's Bobby Lashley & Angelo Dawkins vs Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson, still an upset in Shotzi Blackheart vs Bayley, plus Butch vs Karrion Kross, Dragon Lee vs Santos Escobar, Cameron Grimes & Odyssey Jones vs Austin Theory & Grayson Waller and more of Kofi Kingston vs Ivar in the "Viking Rules" match. Week 2, a conflation of last weeks situations sees LA Knight vs Solo Sikoa open and go to a DQ, then Knight and Kevin Owens beat Solo and Jimmy Uso. Also we've got Gunther vs Ric vs Reed vs The Miz for the ICT, Jey's now losing to Drew McIntyre, Nia beats Shayna Baszler, Cody vs Priest is now a streetfight, Alpha vs Imperium also continues. Mid-month, Jey now beats Finn Balor, all three Imperium lose to Miz, Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa, Montez Ford is back as the Profits drop Joaquin Wilde & Cruz Del Toro, we add a Womens tag title match of Piper Niven & Chelsea Green vs Kayden Carter & Katana Chance, and more of Rhodes vs Priest, Jax vs Baszler and a reprisal of Omos vs Tozawa.

After Christmas the big story is - back on the road! - it's CM Punk knocking off Dirty Dom at MSG and in LA, we have Cody vs Shinsuke Nakamura in a bullrope match at MSG and a streetfight in Cali as above, there are tag title matches with Balor & Priest vs Jey & Sami in New York and Boston, one more of Jey vs Balor in Inglewood, inbetween in Canada "the Nightmare" is back with "the Archer Of Infamy" but now it's a Last Man Standing or cage match and it's Zayn vs Balor twice (a Last Man Standing in Toronto). It's Kev vs Solo (3/4 are Last Man Standing) in Baltimore, Detroit and Inglewood. AJ Styles is back on the road for four jumbled nights, the closest to a repeat is teaming up with Doc and Karl to beat Pretty Deadly plus one of Theory (Detroit) or Waller (Paradise) with the other losing to Butch ; Butch vs Theory being a repeat from Houston, as is Lashley vs Grimes. Gallows & Anderson beat Kit & Elton 2 on 2 in Baltimore & Houston. There are four nights in a row of in the North East/Canada of Rhea Ripley vs Shayna vs Ivy Nile, Omos vs R-Truth and Kofi vs Kaiser, as well as Io & Bayley losing to Shotzi and Bianca Belair elsewhere - in Detroit and Houston this follows a DQ in a Sky vs Shotzi title match. Plus, Carter & Chance giving Green & Niven the rematch and a return to Ricochet vs Reed on the first four nights of their particular loops and Lynch vs Stark and Profits vs LWO on all five.

Can we touch on that 15,831 at MSG? It knocks spots off the previous visit for a SmackDown, the last Brock Lesnar-headlined visit from March 22, and indeed any Garden attendance since 2015 ; the show featuring Lesnar vs Big Show as a Network special back when Brock being back was still a novelty, and he could still draw big. If you recall my 2008 post regarding a gate within touching distance of Steve Austin's best in the same building, my next sentence should come as no shock. You can credit that number to CM Punk. Kind of interesting that they trusted Dom for his first matches back - a safe pair of hands guaranteed to get booed opposite Punk but who loses little from the loss. Real vote of confidence.

VARIATIONS
In Bangor its Zayn vs Dom that opens, in Portland Jey vs JD. On Boxing Day in Baltimore, Styles vs Theory on first goes to a DQ then "A-Town Down Under" get beaten by - what a treat! - Styles & Randy Orton. Lashley vs Butch is also unique to Baltimore. In Boston only, no Punk shuffles Cody to Dom in a Last Man Standing - there's no spare man as MSG is the only show without Nakamura added to the main. In Laval only, Zayn vs Balor to a DQ leads to Zayn & Owens (!) beating Balor & Dom. Kev doesn't work Toronto the night after... WTF. Flying him to Vegas was more important? With Owens in Quebec, unique to Houston Solo works (and loses to) AJ. Finally the only outlier in Cali is Belair dropping Bayley in singles.

MAIN EVENTS - NXT
1st in Citrus Springs, Lyra Valkyria vs Lash Legend for the belt main events, next night in Tampa it's Tony D'Angelo & Channing Lorenzo vs Myles Borne & Charlie Dempsey for the tag title. 15th in Jacksonville and again 16th in Fort Pierce there's Trick Williams vs Bron Breakker in a table match.

THE CARDS
Amazingly those last two shows have identical undercards as well as mains! Amongst 9 matches the highlights are Tony D'Angelo & Channing Lorenzo vs Lexis King & Dion Lennox for the tag title, Nikkita Lyons, Karmen Petrovic & Adriana Rizzo vs Cora Jade, Blair Davenport & Izzi Dame, Josh Briggs vs Oba Femi and Lash Legend vs Kelani Jordan. Prior to that, in Citrus Springs they saw Trick Williams vs Briggs vs King vs Dijak, Fallon Henley vs Kiana James in a lumberjill match and Nathan Frazer beating Lennox (under real name Andrzej Hughes-Murray) and then in Tampa, Carmelo Hayes, Eddy Thorpe & Trey Bearhill vs Wolfgang, Joe Coffey & Mark Coffey, Davenport vs Jordan, Gable Steveson vs Brooks Jensen and Lyra Valkyria & Kiyah Saint vs Arianna Grace & Valentina Feroz.

TVs
1st SmackDown at the Barclays (12,000+) there's Zelina Vega & Michin vs Alba Fyre & Isla Dawn before the show. One week later in Providence there are dark bookends of P-Deadly vs Cedric Alexander & Ashante Adonis opening then Gunther vs Gable for the ICT and Cody vs Dom after we're off the air. 9th in Bridgeport NXT put on Deadline, notable for Ilja Dragunov retaining the big belt against Baron Corbin. 15th in suburban Green Bay there is both a live and taped SmackDown, plus Cedric vs Axoim and Reed vs Frazer before both. Finally, 18th Raw in Des Moines is where Kayden & Katana win the tag titles from Green & Niven. Very few dark matches reported this month, no PLE.
NO NON TITLE WHINING

NO DEPARTURES

Punk entrance in MSG ;

v2

the match

v2

promo thereafter

Rollins vs McIntyre

Cody vs Nakamura

Punk's entrance in Inglewood

 

 

[air_raid]

JANUARY 2024
Just six main roster house shows this month. Fun fact ; WWE put on fewer shows in 2024 then in 2020. Tells you something, no? Oh well, at least The Rock is back. Wait, what?

MAIN EVENTS
6th-7th in Spokane and Wenatchee it's Seth Rollins vs Drew McIntyre for the Participation Belt, again 13th and 14th in Las Cruces and Rio Rancho, then Seth hits the bench so 20th/21st in Montgomery and Jackson Cody Rhodes vs Shinsuke Nakamura (now a bullrope match) is promoted to main event.
THE CARDS
Cody Rhodes vs Shinsuke Nakamura is continuous, a streetfight before intermission in week 1 and regular match in week 2. Becky Lynch, Bianca Belair & Shotzi Blackheart vs Io Sky, Kairi Sane & Asuka rolls through two loops, following a DQ in Sky vs Shotzi for the belt in Wenatchee/Las Cruces/Rancho Relaxo. Those three shows also see The Creed Brothers vs Dominik Mysterio & JD McDonagh (is Judgment Day losing considered an upset?), week 1 also has LA Knight vs Jimmy Uso, more of Omos vs Akira Tozawa which runs all month, and Nia Jax vs Ivy Nile which is a sandwich month picking back in week 3. New Mexico also starts two consecutive weekends of AJ Styles vs Solo Sikoa and Jey Uso vs Damian Priest (a streetfight week 3) - an odd loss to put on Priest so close to his cash in - as well as resumption of Ricochet vs Bronson Reed. Finally in the deep South, the Creeds start beating Ludwig Kaiser & Giovanni Vinci, Ric starts doing jobs for Jinder Mahal (getting a revived mini push on telly, remember) and in the Damage CTRL six-woman, Belair's out and Michin is in.
VARIATIONS
Sky vs Shotzi doesn't happen in Spokane, the extra match is Randy Orton vs Dom. Without his tag partner, McDonagh loses a singles match to Brutus Creed.

MAIN EVENTS - NXT
5th in Melbourne the tag titles get spotlight again - it's Tony D'Angelo & Channing Lorenzo vs Bronco Nima & Lucien Price. Next night in Sebring Trick Williams vs Bron Breakker feels like the biggest match they have without the big belt. 12th in Dade City the womens title mains in Lyra Valkyria vs Cora Jade, and next night in Fort Pierce its Oba Femi vs Brooks Jensen for the NAT.
THE CARDS - HIGHLIGHTS
Oba Femi vs Brooks Jensen is a repeat, going on second to last in Dade and last in Fort Pierce. Massive 10 match cards every night, in Melbourne there's Trick Williams vs Ridge Holland, another round of Jensen vs Javier Bernal and a mixed six-person with Riley Osborne, Thea Hail & Jacy Jayne vs Oro Mensah, Jakara Jackson & Lash Legend. Sebring follows with Legend winning a battle royal, Hank Walker & Tank Ledger vs Wolfgang & Mark Coffey and Roxanne Perez, Gigi Dolin & Kelani Jordan vs Cora Jade, Kiana James & Izzi Dame. Dade City has Hail & Jayne open beating Jaida Parker & Kennedy Rae, Perez/Jordan/Karmen Petrovic beating James/Elektra Lopez/Arianna Grace, Dijak vs Keanu Carver and Trey Bearhill vs Lexis King. Finally in Fort Pierce Hank & Tank beat Myles Borne & Damon Kemp and Mensah & Noam Dar to earn a tag title shot, Pillman Jr loses to Josh Briggs by count-out, Legend & Jackson beat Jordan & Fallon Henley, Holland beats Joe Coffey and Lopez tags with Lola Vice to lose to champ Lyra Valkyria and Tatum Paxley.

TVs
January 1st in San Diego an 11,000 gate for the "Day 1" Raw teases a former WWE Champ showing up, brings out Jinder for a cracking fake out, then blows the roof off when The Rock turns up. Suggesting he needs to sit "at the head of the table" Dwayne manages to excite everyone for a few minutes, before triggering huge numbers of us that Rock vs Reigns for (no doubt) Mania would thus postpone Cody finally winning the title, which we all agree NEEDS to be from The Tribal Chief. 5th in Vancouver (13,000+) they call SmackDown "New Year's Revolution" and the dark matches include Gable Steveson vs Cedric Alexander opening then Belair vs Chelsea Green, Nile challenging Rhea Ripley and McIntyre vs Ricochet after it. Plus on the show a no contest in Styles vs Orton vs Knight bodes ill for the champ and Pretty Deadly lose to Tyler Bate & Butch. 12th in Lincoln there's again Steveson vs Alexander plus Jey vs Priest and another of Rhodes vs Nakamura. 15th in Little Rock Rollins drops Jinder but does his knee in in the process. 19th in Atlanta (12,000) there's Steveson vs Cameron Grimes opening then Jey vs Finn Balor and yet again Rhodes vs Nakamura afer a broadcast that has the first Knight vs Styles match, Orton pinning Solo and Butch reverting to "Pete Dunne" (but staying a bit crap). 22nd Raw in New Orleans, I find interesting they actually give Valhalla (TAFKA Sarah Logan) a wrestling match for the first time in forever, losing to Nile. 26th SmackDown in Miami it's again Steveson vs Grimes before a show on which Asuka & Sane inevitably relieve Kayden Carter & Katana Chance of the tag titles, followed by Drew vs The Miz and another Uso vs Priest. Saturday 27th 48,000 flood Tropicana Field for the Royal Rumble, where Bayley wins a Rumble notable for another return by Tegan Nox and yearly dusting off of Xia Li both to the usual non-reactions, a decent pop for both the return of Naomi and surprise appearance of Jordynne Grace, plus a super showcase for Jade Cargill (watch this space) squaring up to and dumping Nia. Roman Reigns predictably retains his title in an almost unnecessary four-way and a mens Rumble refreshingly light on gratuitous surprises has Breakker appear in a spot earmarked initially for Brock Lesnar (oops), CM Punk sustains a freak injury doing the GTS on Drew and triggering a remarkable run of trolling from the later, and then gets dumped out by winner Cody to the surprise of few but delight of many of us.
NO NON TITLE WHINING

NO DEPARTURES

 

[HarmonicGenerator]

Surprising* just how few US live events they seem to do these days.
 

*not really surprising given where most of their income comes from