House Show/TV tapings random happenings

[air_raid]

Bonus track - here’s Bret Hart vs Ric Flair from a WCW house show in Feb 98. Per the rules when they wrestled, Bret takes his straps down.

https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/18ckejs/bret_hart_vs_ric_flair_wcw_house_show_from_las/

[air_raid]

JULY 2022
The champ is back defending the titles on house shows... well, house show.
MAIN EVENTS
3rd in Tucson it's cross brand and Matt Riddle vs Seth Rollins in a streetfight goes on last, we continue that 9th/10th in Bossier City and Waco, and 16th-17th in Tallahassee and Daytona Beach. On SmackDown, Roman Reigns vs Drew McIntyre for the titles main events 9th in Sacramento (7600) then 10th in Reno it's Drew vs Sheamus and 16th/17th in Estero and Sunrise (suburban Miami) there's swapping positions of a double main (sort of) of The Usos vs New Day for the tag belts and Drew vs Ridge Holland. 23rd-24th in Bridgeport and Utica it's cross-brand again ; still Riddle vs Rollins.

THE CARDS - SMACKDOWN
Drew McIntyre vs Sheamus is the biggest SmackDown match in Tucson which as you read above we repeat in Reno, we also have Gunther vs Ricochet for the ICT which repeats in Sacramento, week 2 we see two instances each of two three-ways with Liv Morgan vs Ronda Rousey vs Natalya for the belt and Raquel Rodriguez vs Shayna Baszler vs Lacey Evans, plus Happy Corbin vs Drew Gulak and Viking Raiders vs Jinder Mahal & Shanky, in Sacramento Madcap Moss vs Humberto and in Reno The Usos vs New Day for the tag belts which bridges us neatly to Florida. By 16th-17th Shanky is beating former boss Jinder, it's Liv, Raquel & Aliyah vs Baszler/Nattie/Evans, Gulak getting his wins back from Corbin and more of Moss vs Humberto and Gunther vs Ricochet. Month end we switch to Usos vs Street Profits, Morgan vs Rousey to a DQ ending in the pair of them vs Shayna & Nattie, plus more of Gunther vs Ricochet.
VARIATIONS
Only in Tucson do New Day face the Raiders and Jinder lose his millionth match with Shinsuke Nakamura. Roman-related shuffle in Sacramento sees the tag title match become Usos vs New Day vs Sheamus and Butch (who has Reno off). 

THE CARDS - RAW
In Tucson we start Bianca Belair vs Becky Lynch vs Asuka vs Carmella for the title and Omos vs Cedric Alexander - that one continues in week 2, where consistent cards see Asuka vs Lynch, Dolph Ziggler vs Austin Theory, Finn Balor vs Dominik Mysterio, Ezekiel vs Tommaso Ciampa, R-Truth vs Veer Mahaan and some 24/7 nonsense that starts with Dana Brooke vs Doudrop. Decent cards in Florida have Dom & Rey Mysterio vs Balor & Damian Priest, Ciampa back with AJ Styles, Belair vs Carmella as a singles titles match, Ezekiel & Street Profits vs Theory & Alpha Academy, Doudrop losing to Alexa Bliss, Omos beating Truth again, Cedric losing to Veer and Brooke vs Tamina vs Nikki ASH. Month end we get Styles vs The Miz and Rey vs Priest one on one plus more of Belair vs Becky vs Mella vs Asuka.
VARIATION
Tucson only has Bobby Lashley vs Theory for the UST. 

MAIN EVENTS - NXT
8th in Citrus Springs it's Bron Breakker vs JD McDonagh for the belt, 9th in Orlando its Breakker vs Tony D'Angelo (battle royal winner) for the belt. Champ's off month end, it's Zoey Stark, Kayden Carter & Katana Chance vs Mandy Rose, Jacy Jayne & Gigi Dolin 22nd in Melbourne and 23rd in Cocoa, on last it's Solo Sikoa vs Wes Lee vs McDonagh vs Von Wagner.
THE CARDS - HIGHLIGHTS
Josh Briggs & Brooks Jensen vs Pretty Deadly for the UK tag title in our only repeat, every show except Orlando. In Citrus Springs there's Apollo Crews vs Xyon Quinn, NAT title with Carmelo Hayes vs Wes Lee vs Ikemen Jiro and the Womens tag of Cora Jade & Roxanne Perez vs Gigi Dolin & Jacy Jayne plus Roderick Strong vs Joe Gacy goes on first. Title defences in Orlando have Mandy Rose vs Ivy Nile and The Creed Brothers vs Gacy & Dyad #1 (James Drake) and Indi Hartwell vs Lash Legend, Giovanni Vinci vs Hank Walker, Nikkita Lyons vs Elektra Lopez and Andre Chase, Bodhi Hayward & Thea Hail vs Grayson Waller, Duke Hudson & Tiffany Stratton complete that show. Melbourne features Hayes vs Axoim for the NAT, Mandy vs Zoey Stark to a DQ, Roddy, Creeds & Damon Kemp vs Tony D'Angelo, Channing Lorenzo, Cruz Del Toro & Joaquin Wilde, Nile vs Arianna Grace, Lee vs Grayson Waller, Solo Sikoa vs JD McDonagh and Wendy Choo & Fallon Henley vs Tiffy & Kiana James. In Cocoa there's Hartwell vs Lopez, Legend vs Henley and Nile & Sanga (Saurav Gurjar) beating Commander Azeez & Cora - sometimes it's getting pretty tough to choose the "interesting" matches or names you'd say have "made it." 

TVs
1st SmackDown in Phoenix (near 8000) Riddle vs Rollins is a dark main then 2nd at the MGM Grand (>9000) in suburban Vegas it's Money In The Bank - Theory loses the UST to Lashley but then continues his Vince-mandated push by winning the briefcase on last.... hmm. Otherwise (topical) Liv wins the Womens briefcase then later cashes in on Ronda. Befitting a cash in where the champ has barely been weakened in a defence over It's Only Natalya, she does he best to lose before winning the 32 second match, which is pretty divisive among her basket case fanbase. Apparently she deserved to win it "properly." OK. Wednesday 5th at the Performance Center its the "Great American Bash" special for NXT 2.0 - Cora & Roxanne win the tag belts from Toxic Attraction, Breakker, Creeds and Hayes all retain. Wednesday and Thursday there are more UK tapings which conclude with Tyler Bate beating Moustache Mountain partner/buddy/mentor Trent Seven to win the vacant UK title. 8th SmackDown in Fort Worth there's Rodriguez vs Xia Li before the show and Lashley vs Theory after it. 11th Raw in San Antonio I'm compelled to mention rare TV sightings for both in Mustafa Ali vs Akira Tozawa for Main Event. Wednesday's NXT has the unstoppable Mandy retain over Roxi, 15th SmackDown in Orlando (7500) there's Raquel vs Sonya Deville and Humberto & Angel vs Ricochet & Gulak before the show then Riddle vs Omos (!) after it. 18th Raw in Tampa (near 9000) Ali and Tozawa are both used for Main Event again in separate matches, then Tozawa appears on Raw in the 24/7 bollocks, technically winning a title on the main roster, I guess. 22nd SmackDown at the TD Garden (Boston, 7000) Ricochet & Gulak get their win back from the Lotharios before the show and Drew beats Sheamus in a dark match in the Coliseum Video main event. 25th we have Raw at MSG (>13,000) which is loaded, including The Bloodline vs Riddle & the Profits. Friday they're in Atlanta (9000+) Raquel vs Shayna goes on first and Georgia hero AJ goes on last with Corbin. Finally 30th at Nissan Stadium, Nashville (40,000+) it's the first July SummerSlam in history - Belair beats Becky again, Miz does a job for Logan Paul, Corbin loses to Pat McAfee, on last Reigns beats Brock Lesnar in a Last Man Standing match in the feud that never ends, and most importantly, The Usos beat the Profits in a match that features The world's greatest singer, the world's greatest entertainer, and as we found out, the world's greatest referee. J E double-F, J A double-R E double-T. That's Double J, Jeff Jarrett. Ain't he great?
NO NON TITLE WHINING THIS MONTH!

DEPARTURE
Probably doesn't count as we covered her wrestling her last match previously but this is the month Paige is released from her contract, she heads to AEW to be used as (occasionally) a wrestler again.

 

Edited September 30, 2024 by air_raid
"This video is private" - wanking, were you??

[air_raid]

AUGUST 2022
The champ again wrestles on the road just once this month.

THE MAIN EVENTS
It's usually cross brand, 6th in North Charleston and 7th in Fayetteville it's Drew McIntyre & Street Profits vs Sheamus & The Usos (huh), same 13th/14th in Salisbury and Atlantic City. Split cards in Canada feature Roman Reigns vs Drew vs Sheamus for the belt 20th in Ottawa (4600) then Drew vs Sheamus 21st in Quebec City (5600), while in Kingston (2400) and London (3600) Seth Rollins vs Matt Riddle no DQ rolls on. Finally 27th/28th in Springfield MA and Manchester NH it's swapping of before-intermission and on last between Rollins vs Riddle and Drew & New Day vs Sheamus, Ridge Holland & Butch.

THE CARDS
The Usos vs Street Profits for the tag belts bookends the month, precluding the six man street fight in North Charleston. In the Carolinas it's twice Gunther vs Shinsuke Nakamura for the ICT and SmackDown Womens title with Liv Morgan vs Natalya plus Dominik Mysterio vs Finn Balor, also Seth Rollins vs Dolph Ziggler starts in Fayetteville crossing over into mid-month - it's Bianca Belair vs Asuka in Fayetteville and Atlantic City, Belair vs Asuka vs Carmella in North Charleston and Salisbury. Mid month we also get Ronda Rousey & Shayna Baszler vs Raquel Rodriguez & Aliyah, Bobby Lashley vs The Miz vs Austin Theory for the UST, R-Truth vs Veer Mahaan and more of Gunther vs Nakamura. In Canada, we move onto Ziggler vs Theory, Balor vs Mustafa Ali, Ronda & Shayna vs Liv & Aliyah, Profits vs Alpha Academy, Ricochet vs Happy Corbin, Sami Zayn vs Madcap Moss, Los Lotharios vs Ridge Holland & Butch, 24/7 nonsense with Dana Brooke vs Nikki ASH vs Tamina, and Nattie vs Shotzi Blackheart... plus more of Gunther vs Nakamura. It's Belair vs one of Damage CTRL and the other pair losing a tag - Asuka & Alexa Bliss vs Dakota Kai & Io Sky repeats in both London and Manchester. Month end, we're back to Usos vs Profits and Gunther vs Ricochet, there's Tommaso Ciampa vs Cedric Alexander and for the US title, Lashley vs Theory vs AJ Styles.
VARIATIONS
In North Charleston it's Lashley vs Ciampa vs Ziggler, in Fayetteville Lashley vs Ciampa. In Kingston it's Belair vs Io and Bliss/Asuka vs Bayley/Dakota, unique to London is Belair vs Bayley and ref Shawn Bennett gets involved winning the 24/7 title brieflt. Finally, Springfield get Kevin Owens vs Gable and Io vs Asuka (damn).
Also - 13th in Inglewood ("Hollywood") the Mania launch party sees Raquel vs Nikki, Theory vs Ricochet and Profits vs Lotharios.

MAIN EVENTS - NXT
5th in Largo we have Bron Breakker & Apollo Crews vs JD McDonagh & Grayson Waller, next night a near 100% different crew in Gainesville (apart from three of the ladies) sees Roxanne Perez, Wendy Choo & Zoey Stark vs Mandy Rose, Tiffany Stratton & Cora Jade. 19th in Lakeland Bron defends against Xyon Quinn, next night in Venice another different crew is topped by the invincible Mandy retaining against Ivy Nile.

THE CARDS
Largo has title matches of The Creed Brothers vs Andre Chase & Bodhi Hayward for the tag belts, Carmelo Hayes vs Nathan Frazer for the NAT and Kayden Carter & Katana Chance vs Lash Legend & Jakara Jackson for the ladies tags, plus Roxanne Perez vs Tiffany Stratton, Wes Lee vs Trick Williams, Nikkita Lyons vs Kiana James and Giovanni Vinci vs Dante Chen. In Gainesville the UK tag belts are defended in Josh Briggs & Brooks Legend vs Pretty Deadly vs Edris Enofe & Malik Blade, LDF of Joaquin Wilde & Santos Escobar vs Channing Lorenzo & Tony D'Angelo, Cameron Grimes vs Joe Gacy, Axoim vs Duke Hudson, Tatum Paxley vs Sloane Jacobs (Notorious Mimi), Alba Fyre vs Indi Hartwell and Fallon Henley & Thea Hail vs Elektra Lopez & Lash Legend. In Lakeland the Creeds retain over Mark Coffey & Joe Coffey, Tiffy loses to Wendy Choo, a mixed six person has Briggs/Jensen/Henley beat Legend & Pretty Deadly, Wilde and Cruz Del Toro lose to "Jagger Reid & Rip Fowler" (latest names for Grizzled Young Veterans), Frazer beats Von Wagner, Indi drops Blair Davenport and the opener is Grayson Waller vs Quincy Elliott. Finally in Venice, Hayes defends against Hank Walker, Kayden & Katana beat Kiana and Arianna Grace, D'Angelo Family beat Chase U, Wes beats Gacy, Waller loses to Apollo Crews, Joe Coffey beats Malik and Grimes beats Javier Bernai.

TVs
1st in Houston (10,000 Raw), we need to discuss the Ciampa push (where did that go?) - he beats Gable and Ziggler in a three way to later face and beat AJ to win a shot at the UST. Wednesday's NXT has Carter & Chance win the belts off Gigi Dolin & Jacy Jayne in a four way. 5th SmackDown in Greenville, Moss vs Holland and Lashley vs Ciampa are the dark bookends to a weak sounding SmackDown. 8th Raw again has no dark matches, but Lashley beats Ciampa and the tourney for the vacant Womens tag titles finally starts. Wednesdays NXT has Apollo go over Roderick Strong - writing's on the wall. 12th in Raleigh, SmackDown has a first match back for Top Dolla & Ashante Adonis (with B-Fab). 16th NXT is "Heatwave" - Bron, Mandy and Hayes all retain. 19th in Montreal 10,000 people come to the 1200th episode of SmackDown, where there's only 3 matches around events such as Ronda appearing back on telly after "suspension," Karrion Kross (ew) showing up, and announcement and face to face for Reigns vs McIntyre in Cardiff. 22nd Raw in Toronto (14,000+) gets better value for money in 8 matches including Main Event, topped by Edge vs Damian Priest as the TV main. 29th Raw in Pittsburgh has Aliyah & Raquel beat Damage CTRL to win the tag title tournament and also Alexa/Asuka/Bianca beat three "local talents" one of whom is Kayla Sparks.
NO NON TITLE WHINING!

DEPARTURES

Nobody of note, really, but an absolute tonne of the NXT:UK guys are let go. Anyone not named GYV, Dunne or Bate, almost. Of note in terms of talent or achievements are my personal friend of the family Dave Mastiff, the superb Nina Samuels, and former NXT:UK Tag champs Mark Andrews & Morgan Webster. OK, Webster is rubbish, but still.

 

Edited July 25, 2024 by air_raid

[air_raid]

Welcome back. Life took precedence, but house shows never end. I mean, they will, but not for several timeframes and promotions further once I catch up on WWE.

SEPTEMBER 2022
Another great month for the part time champ. Yawn.

THE MAIN EVENTS
10th in Colorado Springs a Raw show is topped by Bobby Lashley vs The Miz (REALLY?) while 10th and 11th in Spokane and Wenatchee the Drew McIntyre vs Sami Zayn streetfight continues for SmackDown. 17th-18th in Bakersfield and Oakland is cross-brand, Matt Riddle vs Seth Rollins on last, before 24th-25th in Stockton and Fresno it's Braun Strowman & New Day vs Solo Sikoa & The Usos, while 24th over in Vancouver (8000) the champ shows up without his goons - it's Roman Reigns vs AJ Styles for the belts.

THE CARDS
Bianca Belair, Asuka & Alexa Bliss vs Bayley, Dakota Kai & Io Sky starts in Colorado Springs and continues into Washington. Street Profits vs Alpha Academy bookends the month in Colorado and Vancouver, other repeats inbetween in Washington have The Usos vs New Day for the SmackDown tag title, Sheamus, Ridge Holland & Butch vs Gunther, Ludwig Kaiser & Giovanni Vinci going 1-1, Shinsuka Nakamura vs Happy Corbin and Karrion Kross vs Drew Gulak. It's Liv Morgan vs Natalya vs Shayna Baszler for the SmackDown title in Wenatchee, Stockton and Fresno, crossed with Liv vs Nattie one on one in Spokane, Bakersfield and Oakland. On top of main and the Damage CTRL six-woman the only other repeat on a muddled first pair of CA shows is Shayna and Ronda Rousey beating Xia Li & Shotzi Blackheart. Stockton and Fresno add Ricochet vs Corbin, Raquel Rodriguez vs Xia and Hit Row vs Maximum Male Models, SD Womens title as above, still Brutes vs Imperium and Kross vs Gulak, and Kevin Owens vs Austin Theory occurs in both Bakersfield and Vancouver.

VARIATIONS
In Colorado Springs there's a loaded tag semi-main of AJ Styles & Dolph Ziggler vs Finn Balor & Damian Priest plus Rey Mysterio vs Theory, Matt Riddle vs Omos and some 24/7 bollocks that starts as Dana Brooke vs Nikki ASH vs Tamina and includes a brief reign for ref Eddie Orengo (who used to wrestle as Bandido Jr). Two womens tag title matches in Washington see Raquel & Aliyah vs Rousey & Baszler vs Xia & Shotzi in Spokane then (Ronda's off) then the champs vs Li/Blackheart and Alexa/Asuka (Alexka? Or Asexa!). Unique to Bakersfield, Drew McIntyre tags with New Day to go over Imperium, it's Bobby Lashley vs Tommaso Ciampa for the UST and Ricochet vs Madcap Moss. Next night in Oakland, Drew/Kofi/Woods drop The Usos & Sami Zayn, it's Gunther vs Ric vs Moss for the ICT and Lashley vs Theory. Finally in Vancouver the undercard has Mysterio vs Balor, Riddle vs The Miz and Dana vs Nikki features four swaps including one to ref Aja Smith (formerly wrestler Aja Perera of Shimmer, Shine, Evolve etc, now "Daphne Lashann" (real name Daphanie LaShaunn)).

MAIN EVENTS - NXT
10th in Orlando it doesn't go on last but the biggest match is obviously Bron Breakker, Edris Enofe & Malik Blade vs Joe Gacy, Jagger Reid & Rip Fowler which DOES go on last 24th in Citrus Springs, the night after Breakker & Apollo Crews vs Grayson Waller & JD McDonagh in Fort Pierce.

THE CARDS - HIGHLIGHTS
On last in Orlando is the Mandy Rose, Carmelo Hayes & Trick Williams vs Indi Hartwell, Nathan Frazer & Wes Lee (rare loss for Mandy) with undercard highlights being Cameron Grimes vs Channing Lorenzo on first and a wacky 10-woman of Roxanne Perez, Kayden Carter, Alba Fyre, Sol Ruca & Wendy Choo vs Cora Jade, Arianna Grace, Kiana James, Lash Legend & Jakara Jackson. In Fort Pierce Roxy & Ruca beat Kiana/Arianna (Kiarianna?) and there's Nikkita Lyons & Zoey Stark vs Gigi Dolin & Jacy Jayne vs Ivy Nile & Tatum Paxley. Finally in Citrus Springs there's an opener of Thea Hail, Fallon Henley and Valentina Feroz beating Dani Palmer and Kiarianna, Brooks Jensen & Josh Briggs vs Duke Hudson & Grayson Waller, and second to last, Mandy retains her title against Lyons.

TVs
3rd in Cardiff a whopping 62,000+ turn up for Clash At The Castle which features a loaded card including Rey & Edge beating Judgment Day and one of my least favourite finishes to a World title match ever when Solo debuts to cost Drew against Reigns - honestly, "random hooded bloke we don't know" (excluding people that actually watch NXT) interfering in a main is something my mate used to book in our fed fiction. I hated in when it was pure imagination when we were 17, I hated it even more when it was an actual finish to an actual PPV show. Utter bollocks. Tuesdays NXT is worth mentioning - Roxy has the honour of losing to Meiko Satomura. Nearly 10,000 turn up to Seattle on the Friday for SmackDown on which Ronda earns her rematch with Liv for the next PPV and the champs Rodriguez & Aliyah turn back Toxic Attraction. Monday in Portland (near 8000) they lose the titles to Damage CTRL (Io/Dakota). Next nights NXT has Solo pick up the NAT from Hayes and Pretty Deadly retain against the Creed Brothers in a cage. Not much of note happens until 23rd SmackDown in Salt Lake City where we finally get dark matches back - Ricochet & Moss vs Los Lotharios before the TV and Nakamura & the Profits vs Imperium after it. Week after in Winnipeg, Nakamura loses to Gunther yet again on Coliseum Video.
NON TITLE WHINING
I don't think so.

DEPARTURE
Losing the tag titles is the last match for Aliyah. She hits the bench with an injury, gets cleared, but after nearly a year out is eventually released in September 23 after the TKO merger and mass layoffs. She hasn't wrestled since for anyone, and if you exclude 24/7 and Hardcore title rubbish, you'll struggle to think of anyone else that had 8 years on the books and won a main roster title that had a less distinguished career. They were patient beyond belief, but she never really achieved more than just "there," did she?

w

[Lorne Malvo]

10 minutes ago, air_raid said:

DEPARTURE
Losing the tag titles is the last match for Aliyah. She hits the bench with an injury, gets cleared, but after nearly a year out is eventually released in September 23 after the TKO merger and mass layoffs. She hasn't wrestled since for anyone, and if you exclude 24/7 and Hardcore title rubbish, you'll struggle to think of anyone else that had 8 years on the books and won a main roster title that had a less distinguished career. They were patient beyond belief, but she never really achieved more than just "there," did she?

I only remember her for having the fastest win in WWE history, which will surely be the answer to some wrestling-themed pub quiz question at some point.

[DavidB6937]

I always wondered why they were that patient with her. They got rid of people quicker for far less. 

[air_raid]

2 hours ago, Lorne Malvo said:

I only remember her for having the fastest win in WWE history, which will surely be the answer to some wrestling-themed pub quiz question at some point.

It's truly fitting that it was over Natalya, the most mediocre wrestler to ever be accused of being a "legend" by a bewildering number of deluded fans.

[air_raid]

OCTOBER 2022

THE MAIN EVENTS
1st in Bismarck there's Bobby Lashley, Kevin Owens & Dolph Ziggler vs Seth Rollins, The Miz & Austin Theory (what a trio of twats) while the other crew is in the Great White North where fittingly its Sheamus & Drew McIntyre vs Ludwig Kaiser & Giovanni Vinci 1st/2nd in Regina and Saskatoon. 15th in Phoenix it's Braun Strowman, Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods vs Sami Zayn & The Usos concurrent to (babyface in his home state) Rollins vs Theory for the UST in Sioux City then Rollins vs Matt Riddle 16th in Topeka. 22nd in Fairborn (Nutter Center, suburban Dayton) and 23rd in Pikeville it's Rollins vs Lashley vs Riddle vs Miz, 29th at Arena Monterrey its Rollins vs Riddle vs Theory, and finally a tour starts up 30th/31st with again Braun & New Day vs The Bloodline in Glasgow and Stuttgart.

THE CARDS
Saskatchewan is consistent if a little weak ; there's Liv Morgan vs Sonya Deville for SmackDown's title, Hit Row vs Maximum Male Models (both repeat in Phoenix), Ricochet & Madcap Moss vs Sami Zayn & Solo Sikoa and Natalya vs B-Fab. There's a repeat of Kevin Owens vs Austin Theory in Bismarck and Topeka, both 15th/16th see Bianca Belair vs Bayley for the Raw title and a Womens tag title of Dakota Kai & Io Sky vs Dana Brooke & Tamina impromptu off a 24/7 title match, an oddball mixed tag of Dolph Ziggler & Nikki ASH vs Damian Priest & Rhea Ripley plus a reprise of Omos vs R-Truth. We have Drew McIntyre vs Karrion Kross and Raquel Rodriguez vs Shayna Baszler in Phoenix and Dayton, in Pheonix and Pikeville it's Ridge Holland & Butch vs Ludwig Kaiser & Giovanni Vinci, 22nd/23rd repeat The Usos defending against Kev & Johnny Gargano, new SmackDown champ Ronda Rousey turning back Liv in "Extreme Rules" matches, Bayley & Dakota losing to Belair & Alexa Bliss (which follows another Belair vs Bayley title match in Pikeville) and more of Truth vs Omos. Final repeats have one more Belair vs Bayley in Mexico and, bizarrely, McIntyre vs Kross NOT in Glasgow but taking place in Stuttgart, and both tour dates have Morgan vs Baszler vs Nattie, Sonya doing jobs to Shotzi Blackheart, and more of Row vs Models and Brutes vs Imperium.

VARIATIONS
Unique to the tiny 5 match card in Bismarck are the millionth round of Ziggler vs Miz, Usos defending against Alpha Academy and Belair vs Bayley vs Tamina. There's Shinsuke Nakamura vs Los Lotharios in a handicap in Regina, Saskatoon he's one on one with Angel. Phoenix have Moss vs former boss Happy Corbin. Sioux City get Mustafa Ali & Matt Riddle vs Alpha, Owens has a night off, then in Topeka it's Ali vs Gable, Otis doesn't wrestle. Fairborn uniquely has Sheamus/Holland/Butch vs Gunther/Kaiser/Vinci, in Glasgow it's Kross vs Ricochet and Gunther vs Nakamura, in Stuttgart, Gunther vs Nakamura vs Ricochet. Meanwhile a super show in Monterrey has Lotharios vs Legado del Fantasma, Kev & Gargano vs Alpha, 24/7 stuff starting with Nikki vs Dana and a massive semi main of Rey Mysterio, AJ Styles & Raquel dropping Finn Balor, Priest and Ripley.

MAIN EVENTS - NXT
14th in Largo I'd say the biggest match is third to last - Pretty Deadly vs Edris Enofe & Malike Blade for the tag belts in a streetfight. Next night in Gainesville its Bron Breakker, Josh Briggs & Brooks Jensen vs Joe Gacy, Jagger Reid & Rip Fowler. 28th in Melbourne its the Womens title - the unstoppable Mandy Rose vs Thea Hail (battle royal winner), next night in Winter Haven its Breakker vs Briggs (winning a battle royal) for the big belt.

CARDS - HIGHLIGHTS
Largo has Oro Mensah vs Trick Williams go to a no contest on last then Mensah, Wes Lee and Nathan Frazer beat Trick, Carmelo Hayes and Von Wagner, plus Ivy Nile vs Lash Legend and Indi Hartwell vs Kiana James. In Gainesville there's somewhat of an upset (for me) in Nikkita Lyons & Zoey Stark vs Jacy Jayne & Gigi Dolin. In Melbourne, highlights are Wes vs Channing Lorenzo for the NAT and JD McDonagh vs Andre Chase, in Winter Haven there's Alba Fyre vs Isla Dawn and Ivy & Roxanne Perez vs Legend & Dani Palmer.

TVs
7th SmackDown has a dark match sandwich of Nakamura vs Angel and Riddle vs Priest. 8th has the Extreme Rules PPV where Ronda regains the title from Liv by stoppage ; not quite the finish she pitched which involved Liv refusing to submit while rolling around in thumb tacks. Of note, Balor beats Edge in an I Quit match when Edge quits to prevent Beth receiving the dreaded Conchairto - but Judgment Day do it anyway. Riddle vs Rollins inside a cage with UFC style rules (ref'd by Daniel Cormier) goes on last in the ring, but the show closes with the memorable and emotional return of everyone's (well, someone's) favourite practioner of spooky bollocks, Bray Wyatt. 2 nights later on Raw, teflon Seth wins the UST back from Lashley.  14th SmackDown has Vinci vs Drew Gulak on first, Mysterio earn the next crack at Gunther on TV then Riddle vs Theory dark. 18th NXT is notable for Nakamura turning up to beat Lorenzo, Cameron Grimes, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson beating Schism, Sonya doing a job for Alba, Rhea beating Perez and Cora Jade beating Raquel by DQ. 24th in Charlotte Sal Rinauro (remember him?) gets a cheque as one of four guys losing to Omos. 28th SmackDown there's an Emma sighting, she loses to Ronda. They also tape the week after which includes Gunther vs Rey. Finally 31st in Dallas Io & Dakota lose the tag belts to Asuka & Alexa. Asexka.
NON TITLE WHINING
Beaten on TV this month : Belair (Raw Womens Champion) by Bayley

NO DEPARTURES

Edited July 25, 2024 by air_raid

[air_raid]

NOVEMBER 2022
Holding out for a hero here. So fucking beige. And the lowest number of house shows since lockdown.

MAIN EVENTS
Mini tour concludes with Gunther, Ludwig Kaiser & Giovanni Vinci vs Solo Sikoa & The Usos 1st in Dortmund, then 2nd in Genf (Switzerland) Jimmy, Jey and Sami Zayn lose to Braun Strowman, Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods. 12th/13th in Peoria and Madison, Braun and New Day drop Solo & The Usos. 19th/20th in Allentown and State College its Seth Rollins vs Matt Riddle vs Austin Theory vs Mustafa Ali for the UST, finally 27th in Portland (ME) the four piece Bloodline (no Roman obvs) lose to Drew McIntyre, Kevin Owens, Ridge Holland & Butch. 

THE CARDS
Two European shows have repeats of Drew McIntyre vs Karrion Kross, Hit Row vs Maximum Male Models, Liv Morgan vs Shayna Baszler vs Natalya and Shotzi Blackheart vs Sonya Deville. In the Mid-West we add Seth Rollins vs Bobby Lashley vs Matt Riddle for the UST, AJ Styles & Asuka vs Damian Priest & Rhea Ripley (!), Sheamus, Ridge Hollland & Butch vs Gunther, Ludwig Kaiser & Giovanni Vinci, Kevin Owens vs Austin Theory and Dana Brooke vs Tamina (ugh) plus repeats of McIntyre vs Kross. Ronda Rousey vs Shotzi for the belt occurs only in Peoria and State College, Gunther vs Sheamus for the ICT precludes the six-man in Peoria and continues in Pennsylvania, where there's also Braun Strowman, Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods vs Solo Sikoa & The Usos, Morgan vs Deville, Ricochet vs LA Knight (yeah) and yet more of Drew vs Kross. Allentown and Portland both feature Bayley vs Bianca Belair for Raw's belt which ends in a DQ followed by Belair, Asuka and Alexa Bliss beating Bayls, Io Sky & Dakota Kai.

VARIATIONS
Making up the mix/match cards are Shinsuke Nakamura vs Ricochet, Holland & Butch vs New Day and Braun vs Sami Zayn in Dortmund, then Holland & Butch vs Kaiser (ugh) & Vinci and Gunther vs Nakamura vs Ricochet in Genf - Solo has the night off. Sheamus & Holland vs Vinci & Kaiser (after a DQ in Gunther vs Sheamus) is unique to State College, and one-offs in Portland are new champ Theory vs Rollins vs Riddle vs Lashley, Ricochet vs Kross and New Day vs the Models.

MAIN EVENTS - NXT
11th in Dade City its Bron Breakker, Wes Lee & Odyssey Jones vs Carmelo Hayes, Damon Kemp & Von Wagner, next night in Orlando Bron teams with The Creed Brothers to best Wagner, Veer Mahaan & Sanga, then 19th in Lakeland Pretty Deadly vs Hayes & Trick Williams for the tag belts goes on last.

THE CARDS - HIGHLIGHTS
I don't know who half the people on these cards are. Dade City has Katana Chance & Kayden Carter vs Jakara Jackson & Lash Legend for the tag belts, The Creed Brothers vs Veer Mahaan & Sanga, Indi Hartwell vs Tatum Paxley and Alba Fyre vs Valentina Feroz. Next night in Orlando, Wes Lee vs Kit Wilson for the NAT and Kayden & Katana vs Elektra Lopez & Kiana James are the title matches plus there's Cora Jade vs Ivy Nile and Andre Chase, Duke Hudson & Thea Hail vs Bronco Nima, Xyon Quinn & Valerie Loureda (Lola Vice). Finally in Lakeland there's Nile vs Zoey Stark and Hartwell, Dani Palmer and Sol Ruca lose to the mighty Toxic Attraction.

TVs
5th in Riad there's only 6500 at the latest blood money PPBV which features as much star power as you can imagine, opening with Brock Lesnar beating Lashley and closing with Roman Reigns vs Logan Paul for the belt. 11th SmackDown has a dark opener of Drew Gulak vs Humberto then they tape Tribute To The Troops (Emma sighting!). Survivor Series is fairly low key for a "big 4" PPV but at least Becky Lynch shows up with a phantom face turn to help Belair, Asexka and Mia Yim knock off Rhea, Damage CTRL and Nikki Cross. Plus Roman wrestles in War Games in which the full strength Bloodline beat Drew/Kev/Brutes.
NON TITLE WHINING
Beaten on TV this month : The Usos (SmackDown Tag Team Champions) by Drew & Sheamus

DEPARTURES
The contract expires of Roderick Strong who despite having a good run in The Undisputed Era, always felt a bit of a round peg in a square hole.

Edited August 21, 2024 by air_raid

[air_raid]

December 2022
It's been a while, but let's get back into discussing what we all care about. Boobs. Oh, and house shows.

THE MAIN EVENTS
3rd-4th in Rochester (NY) and Petersburg (VI) it's mixed brand shows with Austin Theory vs Seth Rollins for the UST on last and Bloodline multi-mans (no Roman) underneath. 10th in Wheeling the DQ in the opening tag title match leads to another revolving-door tag on last, with Braun Strowman, Ridge Holland & Butch vs Sami Zayn & The Usos, then next night in Charleston, what a treat for the locals - Solo Sikoa (not the treat) makes up numbers for The Bloodline and they get turned back by the same goodies plus local hero Jamie Noble, out of retirement for one night only. Meanwhile on Raw shows in Saginaw and Kalamazoo, Theory vs Rollins continues. 17th-18th we're still with the same main in Moline and Rochester (MN), Boxing Day at MSG Braun vs Solo goes to a DQ after which Strowman and Kevin Owens beat Jimmy & Jey, while a six match card in Columbus (OH) has Theory vs Damian Priest vs Johnny Gargano in a cage (random) goes on last. It reverts to Theory vs Rollins, also in a cage, 27th in Atlanta (Braun underneath), 28th in Cleveland and 29th in Hershey, while 30th in Toronto Seth's in the cage with Finn Balor. Meanwhile 28th in Greensboro Braun & Ricochet beat the Usos by DQ leading to a six-man with Kev and Sami jumping in (as it was in Atlanta), 29th its a six-man from the start of Strowman, Owens & Sheamus vs Sami, Jimmy & Jey.

THE CARDS
Week 1, Gunther vs Shinsuke Nakamura for the ICT is back on and The Usos vs Ridge Holland & Butch for the SmackDown tag belts goes to a DQ leading to the aforementioned multiman clusters, plus Dakota Kai & Io Sky vs Asuka & Mia Yim for the tag titles sounds yummy. Yimmy. Whatever. There's also tags with Matt Riddle & Elias vs Ludwig Kaiser & Giovanni Vinci and Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson vs Finn Balor & Dominik Mysterio (the OC upsetting their former leader there) plus, completing a very Oceanic look to the card, Emma vs Xia Li. Week 2, Bianca Belair vs Bayley repeats for Raw's title with one finish and one schmozz (see below), Doc/Karl/Mia are beating Dom, Damian Priest & Rhea Ripley, we add big lads clubberin' in Bobby Lashley vs Omos, there's Kevin Owens & Johnny Gargano vs Alpha Academy, a street fight with Liv Morgan vs Sonya Deville, mixed tags with Karrion Kross & Scarlett (really) vs Madcap Moss & Emma, Dexter Lumis vs The Miz, Hit Row vs Maximum Male Models, Raquel Rodriguez vs Shayna Baszler and more of Gunther vs Shinsuke and Usos vs Brutes to a DQ. Last shows before Christmas we move to Gunther vs AJ Styles (!) and Zayn/Uso/Uso lose to Nakamura, Owens and Sheamus. Academy lose to Street Profits, it's now Belair, Morgan and Candice LeRae vs all three of Damage CTRL, our mixed tag and six-person matches continue. After Christmas, one more of Belair vs Bayley in Columbus gives way to four nights of Bianca going to a non finish with Becky Lynch. Plus we have a sad one - Bray Wyatt vs Jinder Mahal gives us the false dawn of the return to house show matches for The Eater Of Worlds. There are four nights of Kross vs Drew Gulak and two nights month end of Kofi Kingston, Moss & Emma vs Legado Del Fantasma & Zelina Vega. Some repeats of Miz vs Lumis with a Miz win or DQ finish then have Miz & Baron Corbin lose to Lumis & Gargano, Morgan vs Baszler takes over as the street fight, and Omos is back squashing Mustafa Ali in Columbus and Toronto. There also more repeats of Lashley vs Omos, Hit Row vs Models and Profits vs Alpha.

VARIATIONS
In Rochester the Bloodline match is an 8-man of Braun/Kev/Butch/Ridge vs Jimmy/Jey/Zayn/Solo, in Petersburg it's a 6-man and Braun and Solo are off. In Saginaw its both Belair vs Bayley and Sky & Kai vs Asuka & Alexa Bliss for the tag belts but in Kalamazoo a DQ in Bianca vs Bels leads to a six-woman of Belair & Asexuka vs Damage CTRL. MSG uniquely have a reprise of Sheamus & Holland vs Imperium to open, a 5-way ladder match (!) of Gunther vs Nakamura vs Kofi vs Moss vs Santos Escobar, and LDF/Vega losing to Hit Row & B-Fab. Columbus alone has Gargano beating Corbin one on one. Only in Atlanta do Sheamus & Holland lose to LDF, and Kingston, Moss & Xavier Woods beat all three Imperium. In Cleveland the Judgment Day six-person has the Club & Mia beat Balor/Priest/Ripley but next night in Hershey Gallows is out but Styles is in, then in Toronto Anderson & Yim beat Priest & Ripley 2 on 2 with Balor upgraded to main event. In Greensboro Gunther vs Sheamus (ouch) is the ICT match, finally in Miami a swap has Ricochet back doing the honours for Gunther and Raquel is losing to SmackDown queenpin Ronda Rousey.

MAIN EVENTS - NXT
2nd in Jacksonville its Bron Breakker vs Apollo Crews vs JD McDonagh vs Von Wagner (won by Crews), next night in Gainesville Bron tags with Wes Lee against Tony D'Angelo & Channing Lorenzo. 16th in Fort Pierce, Breakker/Crews/Lee unite to topples Jagger Reid, Joe Gacy & Rip Fowler, 23rd in Tampa it's back to Steiner Jr & Apollo beating The D'Angelo Family.

THE CARDS
Holy shit, a repeat! Pretty Deadly vs Edris Enofe & Malik Blade happens in both Jacksonville and Fort Pierce either side of Pretty Deadly losing the belts. Jacksonville highlights otherwise have Schism lads Jagger Reid, Joe Gacy & Rip Fowler vs Wes Lee, Josh Briggs & Brooks Jensen, plus Roxanne Perez vs Indi Hartwell, Sol Ruca & Thea Hail vs Lash Legend & Jakara Jackson and Cora Jade vs Tatum Paxley. In Gainesville, the unbeatable Mandy Rose vs Ivy Nile goes to a DQ then Ivy/Perez/Paxley beat the champ, Jacy Jayne & Gigi Dolin. There's also Carmelo Hayes vs Andre Chase, Alba Fyre vs Isla Dawn and Ruca & Fallon Henley vs Cora & Kiana James. In Fort Pierce, Legend loses to Lyra Valkyria, Jade drops Nikkita Lyons, Gigi & Jacy beat Dani Palmer & Kayden Carter and there's the suddenly mononymous Dijak vs Hank Walker and Chase & Hail vs Nile & Brutus Creed. Tampa has Toxic Attraction lose to Roxanne & Wendy Choo, Zoey Stark go over Ruca and Fallon & Valentina Feroz vs Kiana & Elektra Lopez.

TVs
Can you imagine - no PPV/PLE this month?? 12th SmackDown in Buffalo has a sandwich of Nakamura vs Gulak before TV (on which Ricochet wins the "World Cup Final" - LOL) and after it, a mixed 8-person has Braun, Riddle, Moss & Liv beat a rather eclectic Priest, LDF & Zelina. 5th, the Capital One (DC) get Katana Chance (TAFKA Kacy Catanzaro) beating Tamina (yes, still employed) and Cedric Alexander vs Trick Williams before Raw. 6th at the Performance Center there's a dark Reid & Fowler vs Lucien Price & Bronco Nima between Level Up and NXT proper. Monday 12th, Alexander & Ali beat Enofe & Blade and the rudderless Dana Brooke beats Briana Ray before Raw. 13th is a huge episode of NXT as Mandy finally has the belt stripped from her by Roxanne. Friday/Saturday 16th/17th they tape two SmackDowns and Tribute To The Troops but there are zero dark matches. 19th Raw in Des Moines there's Ali vs Axiom and Alexander vs Chase as dark openers, and memorably Rhea beats Akira Tozawa on TV. After the break 30th SmackDown in Tampa features babyface Charlotte trick Ronda into defending the belt against her after going 16 minutes with Raquel - and losing in 16 seconds, John Cena shows up to tag with Kev to beat - also showing his face - Roman Reigns and Sami, and our last dark match of the year has Sonya & Xi losing to Liv and - remember her? - Tegan Nox.
NON TITLE WHINING
Beaten on TV this month : The Usos (SmackDown Tag Team Champions) by Rollins & Owens

DEPARTURE
Let's talk boobs. After losing the belt to Perez, Mandy Rose is let go. Her content on FanTime apparently was too racy for WWE brass (if you can imagine that). It's clearly lucrative for Mand, she hasn't felt the need to wrestle since, anywhere. The hypocrisy is stunning when you look at the similar (albeit marginally tamer) content provided by alleged legend Natalya, often in tandem with sister Jenni, on her OnlyFans, for which she has received no sanction whatsoever. Which reminds me of this exchange :

On 12/15/2022 at 2:20 PM, Jazzy G said:

I think Jenni Neidhart's stuff may be cookery related, as she's a chef isn't she?

 

On 12/15/2022 at 2:26 PM, air_raid said:

Based on what ends up on my timeline, only if she kneads the dough with her tits.

As an aside... I know it's been a while. I know as we get closer to "know" it's not as interesting, there are fewer oddities showing up AND fewer shows than previously. But if we get through this together... I can start the WCW posts, which I've already done a touch of drafting.

Here's Bray's big return to MSG ;

 

Edited September 17, 2024 by air_raid
Band-aids don't fix bullet holes

[Chili]

Thank fuck this is back. Can't wait to see where you go after finishing the WWE stuff @air_raid

[DavidB6937]

Always appreciate the effort, thanks @air_raid! Keep it going if you can

[air_raid]

January 2023

THE MAIN EVENTS
We've really gone downhill fast for volume. 7th in Jackson MS (3700) and 8th in Huntsville (3600) it's Braun Strowman, Sheamus, Ridge Holland & Butch vs Solo Sikoa, The Usos & Sami Zayn. I mean, it's not the best build for Reigns vs Owens at the Rumble, is it?? 14th in Roanoke (<4500) and 15th in Corbin KY (3200) we continue Austin Theory vs Seth Rollins for the UST, then again 21st in Erie (3200) and 22nd in Binghamton.

THE CARDS
Consistency in the South - it's Bobby Lashley vs Baron Corbin, tag title of Dakota Kai & Io Sky vs Liv Morgan & Tegan Nox (Fly Kicks explode!), more of Raquel Rodriguez vs Shayna Bazler, and Street Profits vs Ludwig Kaiser & Giovanni Vinci. Cards are rounded off with Candice LeRae vs Zelina Vega and Kofi Kingston vs one or the other of Pretty Deadly. 9 match cards mid month have a star power boost - Drew McIntyre, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson knock off Gunther and his Imperium lieutenants, the SmackDown Womens title is back with Charlotte vs Baszler, and Candice vs Bayley to a DQ leads to LeRae/Morgan/Nox vs Damage CTRL. Dolph Ziggler vs Corbin is back on as is Omos vs Mustafa Ali, plus Dominik Mysterio vs Butch and Dexter Lumis vs Chad Gable. Finally in New York Dom and Damian Priest beat the Good Brothers, Charlotte turns back Sonya Deville, Braun tags with Shinsuke Nakamura & Madcap Moss to beat Imperium, Gable and Otis lose to Viking Raiders, in Erie one repeat of Kai'n'Sky vs Nox & Morgan leads to a six-woman (see below), both see more of Ziggler vs Corbin.
VARIATION
In Erie the Womens tag title match gives way to a six-woman where the challengers team with Becky Lynch to beat all three Damage CTRL, in Binghamton Raw queenpin Bianca Belair does double duty, doing a non-finish with Bayley before Lynch/Belair/Liv beat the baddies.

MAIN EVENTS - NXT
Nearly as many as the main roster! 6th in Venice its Bron Breakker, Apollo Crews & Axiom vs Carmelo Hayes, Trick Williams & Grayson Waller. Next night in Largo the girls take centre stage - it's Roxanne Perez vs Cora Jade vs Jacy Jayne vs Thea Hail for the belt. 20th in Fort Pierce it's Roxy vs Cora one on one, next night in Melbourne a six-person has Breakker, Perez and Lyra Valkyria drop Waller, Jacy and Gigi Dolin.
THE CARDS
Venice highlights are Wes Lee vs Joe Gacy for the NAT, Cora Jade vs Sol Ruca, Zoey Stark vs Nikkita Lyons and Lyra Valkyria vs Elektra Lopez. In Largo there's Katana Chance & Kayden Carter vs Jakara Jackson & Lash Legend for the tag belts, The Creed Brothers vs Josh Briggs & Brooks Jensen goes no contest after which the Creeds, Ivy Nile and Tatum Paxley beat Briggs/Jensen/Kiana James/Fallon Henley, plus Indi Hartwell vs Lola Vice. In Fort Pierce Bron Breakker & Oba Femi vs Von Wagner & Javier Bernal is quite near the top, Henley & James beat Nile & Paxley second to last, underneath Carter beats Vice, Stark beats Ruca and, back from injury, Tiffany Stratton beats Wendy Choo in the opener. Finally in Melbourne, there's Mark Coffey & Wolfgang vs Brooks & Briggs vs Pretty Deadly, Hartwell beats Stratton, Wendy beats Lopez, Isla Dawn beats Jackson and Tyler Bate beats Charlie Dempsey.

TVs
6th SmackDown in Memphis (a healthy 9000+) Tegan vs Xia Li and Profits vs Imperium are the dark match bread in a sandwich including the largely forgotten Elias jobbing to Solo in a "Music City Street Fight." 20th at Little Caesars Arena - spiritual successor to the Joe Lewis in Detroit - a decent 12,500 get Morgan vs Li as a dark opener before a largely tag match episode of telly. 23rd it's Raw Is XXX at the Wells Fargo (14,500) where a host of legends appear including Kurt Angle reffing Seth & Profits vs Imperium - yes, Kurt was in the ring with Gunther. 28th it's the Rumble and a massive >51,000 inside the Alamodome where Cody Rhodes makes his return to predictably win the Rumble, chock full of everyone you want from the regulars plus Brock Lesnar, Booker T and Edge. Also, Bray Wyatt does his last PPV match against LA Knight (yeah) in the Mountain Dew Pitch Black match - probably not the legacy he wanted to leave behind - Ripley goes coast to coast to win the Womens Rumble, and Roman Reigns beats Kev in a match which sets up Sami turning babyface and delivers superbly.

DEPARTURE
For the sake of not typing "None" - Jinny is released from her deal. Was NXT:UK even still a thing? I always liked Jinny and wish I'd seen where House Of Couture went after I stopped going to Progress, but in WWE the act felt a bit Just Essentials, especially when Tiffy is around being all Extra Special.

[air_raid]

February 2023
Wow, the house show feels a dying breed at this point.

MAIN EVENTS
4th/5th in Columbus GA and Pensacola (Dream territory) it's Cody Rhodes vs Seth Rollins as the Nightmare gets back in the swing of things right where he left off. 25th/26th in Champaign and Rockford we're back to Rollins vs Austin Theory for the UST.

THE CARDS
Down South we have Bianca Belair vs Bayley again which devolves into Bianca and Becky Lynch beating Bayley & Io Sky. There's Charlotte vs Liv Morgan vs Sonya Deville for the other belt and Candice LeRae vs Piper Niven in womens consistency plus Bray Wyatt vs LA Knight in the Pitch Black match, the rest is jumbled. In Illinois, we get great star power with Cody Rhodes vs Finn Balor and a big six man with Braun Strowman, Drew McIntyre & Sheamus vs Solo Sikoa & The Usos plus Lynch vs Bayley and Ronda Rousey & Shayna Baszler vs Natalya & Tegan Nox - you can tell its Mania season. The SmackDown title match is Charlotte vs Deville vs Morgan vs Zoey Stark, Wyatt vs Knight concludes - these, sadly, are Bray's last matches.
VARIATIONS
Jey misses the first two shows. In Columbus Solo & Jimmy beat Ridge Holland & Butch, Braun & Ricochet beat Giovanni Vinci & Ludwig Kaiser and Gunther turns back Sheamus for the ICT. In Pensacola, the Bloodline beat the little and large team of Strowman/Ricochet and all three Brawling Brutes beat Imperium in a six man. Finally, Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows vs Damian Priest & Dominik Mysterio seems unique to Champaign.

MAIN EVENTS - NXT
10th in Tampa its Bron Breakker & Tyler Bate vs Carmelo Hayes & Trick Williams, 11th in Citrus Springs Wes Lee, Nathan Frazer & Axiom vs Joe Gacy, Jagger Reid & Rip Fowler goes on last. 24th in Jacksonville, Bron & Duke Hudson beat Reid & Fowler, then night after in Lakeland Breakker retains the belt against Axiom.

THE CARDS - HIGHLIGHTS
Ooo, repeats!!! Lyra Valkyria vs Stevie Turner happens in both Tampa and Lakeland and Apollo Crews vs Dabba-Kato (Commander Azeez) recurs in Citrus Springs and Lakeland. Title matches in Tampa see Mark Coffey & Wolfgang vs Chase U and Kiana James & Fallon Henley vs Lola Vice & Elektra Lopez, plus Alba Fyre & Isla Dawn vs Sol Ruca & Kayden Carter. In Citrus Springs there are some good name value matches in Trick Williams vs Ilja Dragunov, Ruca, Wendy Choo and champ Roxanne Perez vs Lopez, Vice and Lash Legend, Tiffany Stratton vs Thea Hail and Kiana & Brooks Jensen vs Pretty Deadly (yes, male & female vs two males, how indy). Jacksonville sees Perez vs Legend for the title open, Andre Chase go to a non finish with JD McDonagh, Wes Lee vs Channing Lorenzo for the NAT, Dragunov beat Tank Ledger, James & Henley vs Fyre & Dawn vs Ivy Nile & Tatum Paxley for the titles and.. ooh, what a treat, Tiffy does a job for Meiko Satomura. Finally in Lakeland, The Creed Brothers beat Jinder Mahal & Sanga, Hudson & Thea beat Von Wagner and Mr Stone (a/k/a Robbie E... yes, another mixed tag with only one woman in), Gallus retain over Jensen and Josh Briggs, and Perez, Satomura, Nile and Paxley beat Legend, Vice, Lopez and Stratton.

TVs
3rd SmackDown in Greenville I only mention because at >9750 it looks like gates are picking up, likewise 6th Raw in Orlando (9700) which has a feud-ending Becky vs Bayley cage match and - writing on the wall here - Elias loses a Chamber qualifier to Montez Ford. 10th SmackDown, I had to look up "Montville" CT until I realized its the Mohegan Sun which commonly just goes down as Uncasville - a dark sandwich has Butch vs Vinci open, then two fairly big dark matches with Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods vs Dom & Damian, then Wyatt vs Knight. 13th they crack 10,500 at the Barclays for Raw with a Rollins vs Theory streetfight after the show. 14th NXT I need to mention, Roxy & Meiko drop former tag champs Carter & Katana Chance in the build to Meiko's crack at the title at Roadblock. 17th has a solid pre-PPV Smackers in the Bell Centre the night before the PPV where nearly as many attend (14,000+) - Ronda wrestles, Gunther vs Madcap Moss for the ICT on last. Elimination Chamber has loads of bells and whistles.. Brock Lesnar vs Bobby Lashley fails to settle their issue with a challenge from Wyatt to the winner hanging over their heads, Edge & Beth Phoenix beat Finn and Rhea Ripley, and the molten atmosphere for Roman Reigns vs Sami Zayn needs to be seen to be believed. Shame about the finish. 20th in Ottawa, Theory vs Edge for the UST is not a match I knew happened (interference from Judgment Day). 21st NXT is worth a mention - Bron turns back the challenge of Jinder. 24th SmackDown in Evansville has Cameron Grimes vs Ashante Adonis before the show, Rey Mysterio does a job for Karrion Kross (oh fuck off) and after the cameras stop, Jimmy & Solo beat the Good Brothers and Bray beats Knight again. 27th in Grand Rapids near 9000 see the return to Raw in a wrestling capacity of Lita as she and Big Time Bex beat Io and Dakota Kai for the tag straps and after the show Rollins beats Theory in a street fight. Finally 28th has the last regular TV match for Meiko, beating Stark.
NON TITLE WHINING
I don't think any.

DEPARTURE
Sadly, these are the final matches of Bray Wyatt. More needs not be said.

 

[air_raid]

MARCH 2023
This is hard work now. It's all a bit beige. Thankfully there's a bit of Green to cheer us up.

MAIN EVENTS
Real treat 4th-5th as we have two rosters and in Toronto, even treatier, its Roman Reigns vs Sami Zayn for the belts, then next night in Kitchener Sami teams with Braun Strowman and Ricochet on last against Gunther, Giovanni Vinci & Ludwig Kaiser. Meanwhile in Syracuse and Trenton its Austin Theory vs Seth Rollins no DQ for the US title - that's still our main 11th in Youngstown and 12th at MSG (11,000) inside a cage, and 18th/19th in Milwaukee and Springfield (IL). Meanwhile 18th in Fargo and 19th in Sioux Falls, Zayn vs Solo Sikoa is a bit B show sounding. 25th in Salt Lake City its still Theory vs Rollins, next night in Denver Seth gets a rest and Strowman, Ric and Cody Rhodes beat Solo and The Usos on last.

THE CARDS
In Ontario Gunther vs Ricochet for the ICT leads to a six man (see above and below) and there's Charlotte vs Shayna Baszler for SmackDown's belt, Rhea Ripley vs Raquel Rodriguez and Santos Escobar vs LA Knight after which Knight talks himself into a second match (see below) which he also loses. NY/NJ have Cody Rhodes vs Finn Balor, Asuka, Candice LeRae & Michin vs Bayley, Dakota Kai & Io Sky, Dolph Ziggler vs Mustafa Ali, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson vs Damian Priest & Dominik Mysterio (upset for the OC there), Johnny Gargano vs Baron Corbin (another upset there, I'd say) and Bronson Reed vs Elias. It's the first of Charlotte vs Liv Morgan vs Sonya Deville and still Gunther vs Ricochet at MSG after the latter wins a battle royal, then in Milwaukee and Springfield we get Cody over Knight, Bianca Belair vs Becky Lynch vs Bayley vs Chelsea Green for Raw's title, Bobby Lashley vs Corbin, Ricochet & Braun Strowman vs Maximum Male Models, LeRae & Michin vs Kai & Io, Reed over Gargano and Dom pinning Escobar. Same nights in the Dakotas there's The Usos vs Ridge Holland & Butch for the tag belts, Drew McIntyre/Gallows/Anderson vs Gunther/Ludwig Kaiser/Giovanni Vinci, Viking Raiders vs Legado Del Fantasma and in Fargo only another addition of Ripley vs Rodriguez. Month end Braun/Ricochet/Cody vs The Bloodline is on before intermission in Salt Lake and on last in Denver, both shows have Sheamus, Holland & Butch vs all three Imperium and Asuka & Michin vs Dakota & Io, plus repeats of Charlotte vs Morgan vs Deville and Reed beating Gargano.

VARIATIONS
The six man in Toronto is Strowman, Ricochet and McIntyre vs Imperium with Kevin Owens beating Knight, plus Holland vs Wilde, next night in Kitchener Drew beats Knight and Kev beats the extra body, Solo Sikoa, by DQ - plus Holland vs Del Toro. In Youngstown it's Drew, Sheamus and Rey Mysterio vs Solo & The Usos, Braun & Ricochet vs the Raiders, Candice & Michin beat Kai'n'Sky then later in the show it's Belair, Asuka & Candice vs all three Damage CTRL, Kaiser & Vinci vs Wilde & Del Toro, Morgan vs Baszler and Escobar vs The Miz. At MSG Cody beats Solo by DQ, Strowman drops Knight and there's a 10 woman opener of Lynch, Asuka, Belair, Candice & Nikki Cross vs Damage CTRL, Carmella & Piper Niven. Fargo there's no Liv, so it's Charlotte vs Deville and Shotzi Blackheart upsets Baszler. In Sioux Falls it's Ripley & Baszler vs Morgan & Rodriguez and Charlotte vs Shotzi vs Sonya. Finally in Salt Lake City its Belair vs Lynch vs Green for the belt while in Denver its Bianca and Chelsea one on one, while Austin Theory plus the Rollins-shaped gap in his schedule in a three way with Lashley and Miz.

MAIN EVENTS - NXT
10th in Dade City its Fallon Henley & Kiana James vs Alba Fyre & Isla Dawn vs Ivy Nile & Tatum Paxley vs Katana Chance & Kayden Carter for the tag belts, next night in St Petersburg its Bron Breakker & The Creed Brothers vs Wolfgang, Mark Coffey & Von Wagner. 24th in Fort Pierce we have Breakker vs Andre Chase vs Josh Briggs vs Tony D'Angelo for the big belt, night after in Sanford its a bit B show, Chase wins a battle royal on last.

THE CARDS - HIGHLIGHTS
Valentina Feroz vs Elektra Lopez repeats in Dade City and of interest, in Dade its Tiffany Stratton vs Lola Vice and Thea Hail vs Lash Legend. In St Petersburg - who dis? - it's Dragon Lee vs Eddy Thorpe, Carmelo Hayes vs Hank Walker, Indi Hartwell & Lea Mitchell (Kelani Jordan) vs Zoey Stark & Monika Klisara (Karmen Petrovic), Edris Enofe & Malik Blade vs Brooks Jensen & Josh Briggs, and Legend and Trick Williams lose to Wes Lee & Sol Ruca. Fort Pierce sees a no contest in Fallon Henley & Kiana James vs Alba Fyre & Isla Dawn for the belts, Hail vs Vice, Tyler Bate vs Tiller Bucktrot (that can't be a real ring name??), Hayes & Williams beat Pretty Deadly, Stark vs Mitchell, Thorpe upsets Von Wagner and Dijak vs Myles Borne. Finally in Sanford its Wolfgang & Mark Coffey vs Walker & Tank Ledger for the tag belts, Ivy Nile vs Tatum Paxley, Ruca pins Vice and Kayden Carter beats Tiana Caffey (Jaida Parker).

TVs
Dark before SmackDown 3rd at the Capital One (13,500!!) its Butch & Holland vs Hit Row. 7th at NXT Roadblock we see the last NXT match for Meiko Satomura as she puts over champ Roxanne Perez. 10th in Pittsburgh (10,000+) there's Morgan & Rodriguez vs Deville & Xia Li, Gunther vs Butch and Belair vs Bayley on top of what aired for SmackDown. 24th in Vegas (nearly 10,000 again) Braun & Ricochet beat the Raiders before the broadcast and Cody and Street Profits beat Solo & The Usos after it. Finally 31st at the Crypto.com Arena (former Staples Centre) 13,000 see a dark opener of Tegan Nox vs Lacey Evans before the broadcast where Lashley wins the Andre battle royal.

NO NON TITLE WHINING

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