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Cubed Circle Newsletter

This week we cover a great go-home show (with ), RAW, NXT, the future of ROH and more. You can subscribe to the newsletter and get it sent straight to your inbox every week by either emailing [email protected] or visiting cubedcirclewrestling.com.

The Future of

There are times in not only , but in life where you view something pretty special at any given time as simply mundane. When in actual fact if you were to look back it was anything but. This can be said for a lot of things, whether it be the presence of competition in some form even during WCW’s darkest days, or the WWE product in 2009. There is are many things I feel that way about this year, but the one that we are going to focus on today is Ring of Honor.

Looking back at a time when the product wasn’t necessarily white hot, but had a deep roster despite what other people may have said. During years like 2009, 2010 and even parts of 2011, guys such as , Tyler Black, and even the freshness of some current guys like Richards were taken for granted. One by one people left and big fresh young stars weren’t built, while people never even realized it was happening.

When the talent left people thought that things would be okay, because of an abundance of young mainevent talent like Richards, Edwards and Strong. Things were looking up to a very large degree due to the rise of , who many people thought should have won the championship at 2010 against the defending . However it turned out that an interim champion was crowned in . This ultimately led to a far better pay off with Richards defeating Edwards for the title on June 26 th of 2011 at the iPPV.

I had their match as second on my match of the year list last year, underneath and CM Punk from . However not only was it a great match and show, but Best in the World 2011 was the last iPPV before the first set of TV tapings in . These were the TV tapings that got many people interested in the future prospects of ROH, particularly in regard to TV; however these hopes for one reason or anther died down.

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Best in the World was a show that featured some of the last appearances on iPPV of the talent that had been taken for granted for a long time as roster staples. Even guys that are still heavily active on the like and El Generico are no longer active with the company. Not even counting wrestlers like Hero and Castagnoli. But, even with missing talent the ROH machine jugged along throughout the year with some interesting developments like the Steen angle. In spite of developments like those of Steen, the fire that was sparked with Richards/Edwards hasn’t been rekindled since.

When ROH were in a weakened state they delivered what will most likely be the best match of the year with Davey Richards defending his ROH world championship against in the mainevent of the second Showdown in the Sun show on WrestleMania weekend this year. This for me at least was a sign of a breakout star and it could be looked back on that way in the future.

Despite the fact that Elgin and Richards put on an absolute classic, creatively things remained relatively unchanged. We have seen the Wrestling’s Greatest vs. either the All Night Express or the Briscoe Brothers for a copious amount of times and a tried, tested and true mix of midcarders for almost all of the shows this year. That isn’t to even say that many of those problems were the complete fault of ROH, because many of the problems that they faced were completely unavoidable. But, prolonging some stale angles certainly didn’t help things this year.

Many of those problems stemmed from talent leaving, which isn’t ROH’s for the most part. They also suffered many technical difficulties that led to some angry customers and that coupled with a not so hot product ultimately led to a temporary loss of business.

Even with the issues that ROH has had in the past few months there are things that they could have helped. They could have for one not let guys like Cabana and Generico go, moves like those led to a decline in the roster and the second problem would stem from creative choices. Still even with these problems it feels like many people within the company care deeply about the product and it is the circumstances rather than some of the people in the company that are to blame.

Of course you could say that ROH is still in a transition of sorts. They are no longer a DVD sales based company with a very small TV deal on HDNet. They are a semi- national mainly TV and iPPV based company that is owned by the telecommunications company Sinclair. This means that the SBG is ultimately in charge of the company’s direction and they are steering the ship. And the fact that Sinclair has complete control has caused some problems in its own right.

Many of the old fans of the ROH product from the past few years have become disgruntled and this was to be expected in a certain way. The company has moved far away from the days of Gabe Sapolsky’s booking and it has been that way for a long time now. But, because the focus of the product has changed to such a degree I am sure that many fans want the old product back –because they viewed the old ROH, which was still a number three promotion as one that could one day reach big things.

2 Stars like , CM Punk, Bryan Danielson and Nigel McGuiness don’t come around all that often and ROH was lucky to have them all present at one time. Now that all of these guys have gone there are no more guys in the company that fans can get behind thinking that they are superior to TNA or WWE talent. Richards is a very good wrestler and can at times be great, but he isn’t the best promo in the world and the inverse can be said for Steen to a greater extent extent.

The New York fans that were offbeat at this year’s Best in the World when it came to participating with the product on its own; obviously feel that they are watching a different product than whenever they started watching and you know what? They are. But, the exact same can be said for the Sinclair viewer. The few that purchase an iPPV because of the TV would probably be pretty shocked at the discrepancy in the products, because there certainly is one.

ROH could get the ball rolling once again, but I think that they will need to light something on fire booking wise and I don’t think they have that as of right now. Of course that could all change and they got to where they are now not from great wrestling alone, but from great booking too and promos too. My major concern at this point is the stagnation of their talent pool and if it continues to thin then they may have a problem.

There are guys that they could bring in that are good both in ring and on the mic, but the problem lies in ROH’s perceived vision of themselves, along with the two groups of fans’ very different views and ultimately Sinclair who provides the finance.

WWE Monday Night RAW July 2 nd 2012 Laredo, Texas

Overall Show Thoughts

This show was better than it has been the past few weeks, however it was way too AJ centric for my liking. There was a good mainevent, but the finish was ruined by interference from AJ – granted it was a TV match so I was fine with it, but that is exactly what is going to happen at the pay-per-view. The opening segment was also rather dull and dreary and the fact that it all came down to who stole whose catchphrase just comes across as stupid to me. All in all it was an average show, nothing more and nothing less.

John Cena came out for what was set up to be your typical one million men come out segment. He said that the crowd was fired up after seeing what Jericho and Show did to him last week. He said that he should have been vengeful, but he thanked Show and Jericho. This was the sought of statement that really makes things seem meaningless within the promotion and makes the Cena character come across as unlikeable. He said that it was true that he had never been in a Money in the Bank before, but at the pay-per-view it would be his crash course. He said that the fans had to be like him – prepared for anything. He followed this by saying that would go home as an empty-handed “sewage baby” and he would grab the contract becoming the next WWE champion. Bryan interrupted coming out screaming “yes!”

3 Cena said that Bryan even agreed with him. Bryan said that he never even realized that Cena was out there, because Cena wasn’t relevant to him. However he said that at Money in the Bank he would defeat CM Punk and become the new WWE champion. He said that if Cena won the Money in the Bank then his relevance would be as the first person to cash in the Money in the Bank briefcase and lose. Cena said that those were strong words, but he could think of at least one person that disagreed.

Punk came out and said that he could think of more than that. He asked Cena, Lawler and people in the crowd if they disagreed and they said yes. Bryan began to shout that it was enough and he was begging someone to have one original thought without stealing his catch phrase. Punk said that he had an original thought and that thought was that AJ would count his shoulders to the mat. Punk said that if Cena won the briefcase then it would just come down to Punk and Cena again.

Jericho came out. He said that Bryan wasn’t the only one that had his catch-phrase stolen, referring to Punk and the best in the world gimmick. Punk proceeded to call Jericho Bon Jovi. I found the best in the world line pretty funny since Jericho and Punk were bickering over who used it first, when in actual fact the man that began to use it first, Bryan just stood there. Jericho wanted everyone to “shut the hell up” and welcomed them to RAW is Jericho. He followed this by saying that no one in the ring would “ever ever be the same again”. Jericho said that Cena needed to be prepared, because he would win the match that he invented the Money in the Bank ladder match and he dared someone to say otherwise.

Kane came out and said that he thought otherwise, but just as he said that the Big Show came out. Cena wanted Big Show to get to the ring quicker, which led to Bryan attacking Cena from behind and a brawl broke out. Punk high kicked Jericho who was attacking and Jericho then took out Punk. Kane went back to Jericho, but Big Show took Kane out with shots to the ribs. At the end everyone was down either on the outside or in the ring except for the Big Show.

They announced that Charlie Sheen would be the social media liaison on the 1000 th episode of RAW. Cole followed this by saying that he hoped his anger management issues were under control, which was odd.

1. , Titus O’Neil, Darren Young & David Otunga vs. Christian, , R-Truth &

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Christian and Darren Young started off. They went back and forth up until Christian landed a for two and tagged in Truth. Truth did some break dancing landed a shot and tagged in Kingston who came in with a flying forearm. Kingston went for the boom drop, but O’Neil dragged Young out of the ring. This resulted in Kingston landing a topé on Young. He was then taken out on the outside by Rhodes who landed a clothesline. After the break Rhodes had Kingston in a submission and the heels continued to get the heat on Kingston. The crowd got behind Kingston and he landed a kick on O’Neil and made the tag to Marella. Marella unloaded on the freshly tagged in Otunga, he unloaded with shots very similar to the cobra that did nothing. He then landed a stunner for the count of two. The prime time players were dropped to the outside and fled. Marella landed a hiptoss, but Otunga rolled out before the headbutt. Otunga went for the tag, but Rhodes left. This led to Clay coming out complete with lights. Otunga slid out, but he was thrown back in by Clay and Marella landed the cobra for the win. After the match Christian landed the unprettier and Clay landed a big splash.

Teddy Long was backstage dancing to Clay’s music. He was approached by Del Rio and Rodriguez. Del Rio said that he was happy that Long was the interim general manager, but Long didn’t look convinced. Del Rio said that he had earned a championship opportunity months ago and he had gotten hurt, but he wasn’t awarded a true title shot. He said that he wanted what he deserved – a WWE title shot. Long said that he thought Del Rio didn’t deserve anything, but the board of directors made him the number one contender. However Long said that he had made a match for that night and Del Rio’s opponent would be a surprise. Stephanie McMahon’s favourite RAW moment was shown. It was when Shane trained Vince.

2. vs.

Cole uttered the following before the match “One of the most famous lucha libres ever in Mexican history” referring Sin Cara. Del Rio attacked Sin Cara from behind before the bell rang and Sin Cara couldn’t get his outfit off. Cara was thrown to the outside where Del Rio landed a stomp off of the apron and locked in the cross armbreaker. He had it locked in until two officials pulled him off.

AJ was backstage admiring the straight X and tape on her hand. Bryan approached her with a rose in hand. He said that he has always cared about her and he had only broken up with her because he was frustrated about his loss. She asked if his choice to come back to her had to do with her being the guest referee and Bryan said it didn’t. She said that Bryan never cared about her and she couldn’t wait to win her match so that she could run into the arms of the person that the “WWE Universe” believed was her true soul mate. She then tore the top off of the rose with her teeth and walked off.

Paul Heyman appeared “via satellite”. He said that would announce his decision to the world at the 1000 th episode of RAW – delivering it straight to ’s face. He said there was no doubt that Triple H wanted the match, but not for the reason that everyone was anticipating. He said that he wanted to use the money to combat the lawsuit, but he said there was more than that. He said that Triple H had never had a face beating. He said that he wanted to take the match so that Lesnar

5 would take him out of action permanently so that he could be an executive, heir to the thrown and a husband. Then everyone would tell him how he went down in a blaze of glory, he said if Lesnar faced Triple H it would be more of a mercy killing than a match. He began to chuckle to close off a really good promo.

3. Dolf Ziggler & Vicky Guerrero vs. & AJ

Sheamus had to drag AJ to their corner before him and Ziggler started off. Ziggler began to land shots to the arm of Sheamus, but Sheamus landed a front body drop for the count of two. Ziggler landed a bicycle kick on Sheamus whose head was sticking through the ropes and landed a spike DDT. Ziggler ran at Sheamus, but he ran into a huge elbow and Sheamus landed the belly to back over the shoulder piledriver. He went for the brogue kick, but Ziggler dived to his corner and made the tag to Vicky. This led to Ziggler being brogue kicked off the ropes and AJ landing a shining wizard on Guerrero for the win. She then started a yes chant, which is beginning to get very annoying.

AJ approached Punk who was on the phone backstage. She wanted to know who he was talking to and forced him to end the call to his sister. She wanted to know if Punk had seen her match, but he said that he hadn’t because he was on the phone. AJ proceeded to weep, because Punk wasn’t paying attention to her.

4. vs. Doink the Clown

They aired a package of Slater’s matches and encounters with Vader, Piper and Sid. He said that it wasn’t funny and he was the one man band – he is not a clown. This led to Doink (The Brooklyn Brawler not Matt Borne) coming out. Doink locked in a headlock and wrist lock and proceeded to slap Slater. However Slater proceeded to land some shots and a knee. Doink stomped on the foot of Slater and landed a shoulder block, but Slater landed a for the win.

After the match DDP came out, suffice to say he looked better than Sid – must be the DDP Yoga. The crowd chanted DDP and he offered Slater the hand shake, but pulled him into the diamond cutter.

There was a commercial for the remastered edition of No Holds Barred. However it was handled in a more comical sense than anything else.

5. No Disqualification Match Big Show vs. Kane

Big Show landed a shoulder block knocking Kane to the outside. He began to pull Kane back in by the head, he was hung up on the top rope, but Show responded by knocking Kane off of the apron. Show went for a big boot, but he was hung up on the barricade. Kane was Irish whipped into the steps and both men went for through the table, but Show slammed Kane’s head into the table and landed a super kick! Show grabbed a chair, but Kane landed some shots and a DDT once both men were back in the ring. Kane went to the top, but Show ducked swiftly. Kane grabbed a chair, but he was caught with a spear from Big Show which injured the arm. Show

6 then landed a on the chair in the ring for the win. The match was fun for a big man match, although the crowd was dead.

Long was backstage when he was approached by a returning Eve. He stuck a name tag onto her, saying that was how people would remember her. Long walked off which led to Eve tearing the name tag off in anger. She was greeted by AJ and Eve said that AJ had been busy while she wasn’t present. Eve said that AJ should leave mind games to grownups and she should have gone to a corner and cried like a little girl. AJ said that Eve would do anything for attention and she asked who Eve was going to “brown nose” next. AJ said that Eve wanted to be a movie star and she would do anything to get there, but she said that she would show Eve how to get attention – show all of them. They then showed Del Rio’s favourite RAW moment which was DX invading WCW.

6. Tensai vs.

Tensai shoved Kidd into the corner and landed some headbutts, but Tensai ran into the turnbuckle and Kidd got the schoolboy for the win. Tensai responded by destroying Sekimoto, slapping him and throwing him to the outside and clawing at his eyes. I wouldn’t be surprised if they have Kidd win the Money in the Bank. The crowd did not care one bit about Tensai or Sekimoto.

Chris Jericho was approached by Bryan, who said that he hoped Jericho wouldn’t wear his “stupid jacket”. They began to insult each other’s outfits and exchange catch phrases. They cut to Cena and Punk. Punk said that Cena should follow his lead and Cena agreed by saying that he would just listen to Punk. Kidd was about to be interviewed by Matthews, but he was attacked by Tensai who threw him into the lockers.

7. CM Punk & John Cena vs. &

Punk and Bryan started off. They had an athletic exchange, which Punk got the better of landing a and tagging in Cena. Bryan tagged in Jericho which led to a rematch from the previous week. The crowd was hot. Jericho was elbowed off of the apron to the outside, but Punk and Jericho were in control after the break. Cena started to make a comeback, but he was taken down with an elbow. Jericho went for a lionsault, but Cena moved, this resulted in both Cena and Jericho going for the tag. The crowd responded really well to this. Bryan cut Cena off at the very last minute and began to land the yes kicks in the corner. The crowd exchanged Cena and Cena sucks chants, while Jericho had Cena in a front face lock. Cena went for the AA, but Jericho countered and landed a DDT. Jericho hung his leg up on the middle

7 rope and both men edged forward for the tag and Cena finally made the tag to Punk. The crowd exploded and Punk ran wild on Bryan. Punk locked in the anaconda vice, but it was broken up by Jericho. Cena took Jericho to the back, which allowed Punk and Bryan to go at it in a great exchange culminating in Bryan landing a roundhouse kick followed by the buzzsaw for the count of two. Bryan went to the top, but he was caught by Punk who landed a superplex for two. The crowd was really hot, but AJ came out with her presence and music distracting from the entire exchange. She stood on the apron while both men exchanged strikes and collided with a crossbody. AJ grabbed a table from underneath the ring while both men lay down for an uncomfortable amount of time. She proceeded to go to the top rope and attempted to dive through the table, but Bryan got in her way and Punk stopped her. This resulted in AJ kissing Bryan and pushing him through the table onto Bryan and chanted yes.

The match was good. However the post match was drawn out and not needed. Yes, it adds supposed drama, but it distracts from what’s most important – the WWE championship.

WWE NXT July 4 th 2012 (Taped May 17 th 2012) Orlando, Florida

Overall Show Thoughts

This was another decent edition of NXT. The Ohno segment together with the Wyatt vignette and mainevent were enjoyable, with everything else on the show being pretty much missable. I don’t think that Bateman should have lost to Mahal and the crowd was really thinning out by this point. In fact people were leaving during the actual taping – hopefully this was close to an intermission, because if not we may be in for some very dreary TV over the next few weeks. Regal did his disappearing and reappearing act just like on the previous show which was just as strange. However it did seem like they spliced together clips from different parts of the show so that could be an explanation as to why Regal’s appearances were so disjointed.

1. Sofia Cortez vs.

Cortez landed some shots in the corner. She was slapped by Paige, who was caught with a kick from Cortez. Cortez locked in a straight jacket, but Paige countered and landed some chops. Cortez landed a kick to the head and a big DDT for the win.

2. vs. Camacho

Rollins landed some shots to the gut of Camacho, but as Rollins came off of the ropes he was caught with a big clothesline. Rollins got a schoolboy for two and landed a leg sweep for another nearfall. Rollins landed some shots, but Camacho brought Rollins down to the mat and began to stomp and kick him in the corner. Camacho got a quick cover for two followed by a backsuplex for another nearfall. Rollins was taunted by Camacho, but he caught Camacho with a pelé. He followed this with a yuranagi in the corner and a running single leg dropkick. He went for a move in the corner, but Hunico interfered which resulted in Hunico being kicked to the floor. Camacho took control, but he was shoved sloppily into Hunico, which allowed Rollins to land the black out for the win.

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After the match Hunico jumped Rollins from behind. A beat down ensued from Camacho and Hunico, until came running down to make the save. This resulted in a match being made later on in the show.

3. & Jake Carter vs. CJ Parker & Nick Rogers

Corey Graves and Jake Carter (who is the son of Vader) seem to have some sort of hipster gimmick. Parker got some offense in, but Carter and Graves took advantage with some double teams in their corner. Graves locked in a neck vice but Parker began to make a comeback with a bodydrop. This led to Graves and Parker making the tags to their respective partners. Carter took control witch led to Graves and Carter landing a neckbreaker Emerald Flowsion combo for the win.

A Kassius Ohno vignette was shown. Ohno said that pain is what he inflicts – pain that can be seen, felt and heard. He finished by saying that he is Kassius and he hurts people.

4. Kassius Ohno vs. Mike Dalton

Mike Dalton (trained by ) was overpowered by Ohno, but Ohno was taken down with a drop toe hold. However Dalton was hung up and Ohno landed a dropkick. Ohno proceeded to shout “Oh no!” and landed a big splash in the corner followed by a modified running clothesline. He landed a chop and big kick in the corner. Ohno locked a hold in on the neck, but Dalton made his way out and landed a leg lariat for two. Ohno then landed a roaring elbow with Dalton coming off of the ropes for the win.

Ohno cut a promo after the match. He said that he would speak slowly so the people could understand him. He said that he knocks people out and that’s why when people hear Kassius that say “oh no”.

There was another vignette. It started with Wyatt asking what people could do to someone who doesn’t hurt and is not afraid of them. He said to his followers (including an intently staring ) that he had gone through hardships. He finished by saying that when they (his opponents) discover that they can’t hurt him they will run. This was a good vignette that looks like it’s building to an interesting idea.

5. Derrick Bateman vs.

Bateman landed a northern lights suplex followed by a clothesline that knocked Mahal to the outside. Batman proceeded to land a topé suicida, but when Bateman began to make his way back into the ring he was hung up from the inside out by Mahal who took control. Bateman got a backslide for two, followed by a cradle for two. Batman got another near fall with a schoolboy and began to make a comeback with some forearms and a flapjack. Bateman followed this with a neckbreaker in the first real nearfall of the match. Bateman was caught with a knee to the back of the head and Mahal locked in the camel clutch for the submission. Mahal proceeded to lock the camel clutch in after the match. This really felt like a pointless match and

9 really a pointless loss for a young talent, delivered by a man that is not over and will not get over.

6. Seth Rollins, Tyson Kidd & Bo Dallas vs. Michael Mcgillicutty, Hunico & Camacho

The reason behind the match was that had made the match because of the interference, which makes me really wonder why it just wasn’t placed on next week’s show. All of a sudden Regal was back on commentary again, so I really don’t know what the deal was there.

Kidd and Hunico started the match off. Kidd landed a hurricanrana, but he was quickly cut off by Hunico who locked in the Gory Special which transitioned into a pinning predicament. This led to an athletic exchange and the tag was made to Rollins. During the athletic exchange said that it felt like he needed to catch his breath because of the speed of the exchange. Regal respond to him with “I have told you a million times – don’t exaggerate.” Which I was surprised that they didn’t edit out. For some reason they had the Del Rio 1000 th episode of RAW segment in the middle of the match, but when they came back Camacho was working on Rollins. Rollins began to make a comeback, landing a monkey flip on Hunico into his corner and making the tag to Bo Dallas who ran wild. Dallas was thrown into the bottom turnbuckle hard by Camacho, and Mcgillicutty got a very close nearfall where the referee was distracted while he had the cover. While this was going on Regal and JR were putting Mcgillicutty over really strong on commentary. Mcgillicutty made the tag to Hunico who landed a for two and the fans got behind Dallas. Regal proceeded to tell an absurd story about how Camacho and Hunico became friends, which involved Camacho being stabbed and then biting a man’s nose off. Mcgillicutty was back in and landed a backbreaker and locked in a side headlock. Dallas made the tag to Kidd who came off with a springboard dropkick and knocked Camacho and Hunico off of the apron. He landed a big dropkick for two, Hunico broke the pin up, but he was thrown to the outside by Dallas. Rollins went to the top attempting a dive on all three men – Dallas was way out of place and had to come running to catch Rollins together with Hunico and Camacho. Kidd went for a topé, but his leg was clipped by Mcgillicutty, who landed a neckbreaker on Kidd for the win and the end of the show.

TNA Impact July 6 th 2012 Orlando, Florida

Overall Show Thoughts

This was one of the best pieces of professional wrestling TV I have seen in weeks. Not only did it build to a great mainevent segment, but it hit all of its main points without any clutter and had a great mainevent match. It built to the pay-per-view and next week’s TV well and there was no over powering Lynch segment this week. In fact, the Styles segment with Daniels was just good old-school wrestling. Honestly Impact is really the only weekly show that I look forward to anymore and if you are wondering why, there is no better example in this year than this show.

10 Bully Ray came out. He said he had a huge announcement to make; it was that he was going live on , which I would assume was semi-parody. He said that they think that he sucks, but he said he would be trending world wide and then he sent out his first tweet. He said that Park had the audacity to slap him in the face and that Park couldn’t tell him what to do he would tell Park what to do. He said that he knew that Park was there and asked if he was a coward and out came Park. Ray asked Park if he had anything to say, because he was bigger, badder and tougher than Park. He followed that by saying that he accepted Park’s challenge. Park said that he normally doesn’t offer free legal services, but he said that precedent is a rule established under a previous circumstance. He said that meant that he had beaten Ray at and that Ray could either put up or shut up. Ray attempted to interject, but Parks shouted and said that he wasn’t finished talking. He said that everyone had been watching Ray bully people for long enough and everyone was sick of it. He said that he would continue the precedent by beating Ray again. Ray said that next week on Impact there would be an anything goes match, which confused me at first. He pulled out a restraining order and said that if interfered he would be arrested and rot in jail for the rest of his life (I guess that murdering his parents was his first offence). On Ray’s way out of the ring he hit Park.

Hogan was in his office with Aries. Hogan said that they were three days away from the biggest day of Aries life and Aries said that it wasn’t just a big day in his life, but also in the company’s life. Hogan said that he needed the belt from Aries. Aries said that he had until Sunday. Hogan said that he wanted to take it away and that what happened at Destination X would determine the direction of the company. Aries finished by saying that everyone must get on his back, because there is a jet attached to it.

A recap was shown of the mainevent segment from last week and the “big reveal” from Daniels. Dixie was interviewed backstage. She said that she hadn’t talked to Styles or Lynch and that the questions were enough.

1. Devon vs.

Devon was attacked from behind by Crimson who got two cradles for two nearfalls. He got a pin with his feet on the ropes for two and landed some shots in the corner. Devon caught Crimson with a big shoulder block and took him down with some elbows. He landed a big splash in the corner and came off of the ropes, but he was caught with a clothesline from Crimson. Crimson pinned Devon and had the pants, but when it was turned over they accidentally knocked into Hebner. Devon then landed a spine buster for the win. The match was fine for the time that it was given, although I find it slightly off-putting that Crimson lost again after having such a long win streak – it just makes the whole streak feel like an absolute waste of time.

Madison Rayne came out, obviously after Hebner. She got into the ring and looked like she was staring down Devon, but in actual fact she pushed him aside and French kissed him in the corner. The crowd popped big for this.

Chris Sabin was shown walking backstage on crutches. After the break he made it into the ring and asked for a microphone. He said that he had a lot on his mind over the past few weeks. He said that ever since he was a little kid all he wanted to do was

11 be a wrestler. It was a supposed to be his dream, but he said that it was turning into a nightmare. It wasn’t until he talked to his loved ones and they said that he should consider retiring and find something else to do that it struck him. He said it wasn’t only that, but when he made his trip to the doctor, he said that after two torn ACLs the doctor suggested that he find something new to do with his life.

Bobby Roode came out and grabbed the mic out of Sabin’s hands. He said that it was a tragic and emotional story and they had known each other for a long time. However he said that seeing him on crutches and weeping behind his sunglasses was pathetic – pathetic just like every other wrestler that moans about their injuries. He said had a broken neck and all the X division wrestlers take all the risk, but no reward. He said that speaking of risks the “poster child” of the X Division Austin Aries is going to risk it all, but when he gets in the ring, like Sabin he will walk away with nothing. Sabin became angry, but Roode kicked his crutches out from under him. Sabin attempted to fight back, but Roode stomped on the leg and mocked Sabin by shouting “oh that hurt!” at Sabin. Aries rushed out and made the save. Roode fled which led to Aries pointing at the title that lay on the ground.

2. Dakota Darsow vs. Flip Cassanova

This match was for an opportunity in the X Division title tournament. Cassanova landed some elbows, but Darsow cut him off. Cassanova landed a dropkick to the face and some strikes. Darsow was caught with a sloppy springboard crossbody and Cassanova landed a standing rotating sitout senton. Darsow cut him off with a dropkick and began to land some strikes to the face of Cassanova on the ground. Cassanova landed a springboard dropkick and head scissors take down followed by a corkscrew Asai to the outside. Cassanova landed a crossbody, but Darsow rolled through and landed some knee drops followed by a missed moonsault. Darsow was busted open from what I presume was the moonsault and he was taken down with a flying takedown. Cassanova went to the top rope where he landed a shooting star into a sitout bodypress which looked like it hurt. Honestly I would say it was a reckless move, but after watching Dutt’s moonsault into a double foot stomp I can’t say that.

Tara and Brooke Tessmacher were backstage. Tessmacher was asked about Kim’s legal defences. Tessmacher said that it was a joke and that it was fine with her because it resulted in her teaming up with Tara. Taeler Hendrix was interviewed on her reactions to the Gut Check challenge the week prior together with a recap.

3. Brooke Tessmacher & Tara vs. &

Rayne took Tessmacher out before the bell and rammed her into the barricade on the outside for an in-ring count of two. Rayne tagged in Kim who landed a kick to the gut of Tessmacher followed by a slap and a clothesline for two. Tessmacher landed some shots to the face, but she was cut off by another kick from Kim and crossbody which Tessmacher dodged and used as an opportunity to make the tag. Tara ran wild on Rayne and landed a suplex followed by an F5 neckbreaker. Tara went for the Widow’s peak, but Kim came running in. Tara kicked Kim while having the Widow’s peak locked in. I guess Tara was supposed to hold on, but she fell down in the

12 Widow’s peak. Tara landed it anyway which set up a tag to Tessmacher who landed the lariat take down for the win.

James Storm was interviewed about his loss at Lock Down. He said that it was about him and his family and he knew that Hardy would bring it and so would he. He was then shown warming up.

AJ Styles came out to explain Daniels’ accusation from the previous week. He said that first Daniels’ accused him of having an affair with the president and even provided photographic evidence. He said that every one of the words the picture told were wrong. He said that now he was accused of being the father of Claire’s unborn child, this led to Daniels coming out with Kazarian. Kaz said that AJ didn’t get it and he had gotten a “junky whore” pregnant. He said that even after last week where he tried to knock sense into AJ’s redneck skull, AJ couldn’t get it. Styles responded by saying that “this redneck” would rip his head off. Daniels said that the time for dancing around the truth was over and the whole time that he and Kazarian said that there was something going on they had proof. Styles told Daniels to shut his mouth and said that the whole problem between the two of them started with a match that they had the previous year at Destination X. Styles said that his hand was raised proving that Daniels was a “jealous prick”. This led to Daniels becoming infuriated shouting “did you just call me a prick!” Styles said that the difference between this year and last year is that Styles asked for the match and it isn’t just any match, it is a last man standing. Styles finished by saying that the “kicker” was that Daniels is no man and at Destination X he would prove it and shut Daniels up once and for all.

Hulk Hogan was being interviewed on Roode vs. Aries when a man came past and dropped a letter on his desk. The letter was from the men that attacked and the letter had Aces and Eights attached to it. The staple is knows as The Aces and Eights and for what its worth they have a twitter account for the time being at https://twitter.com/#!/TheAcesAnd8s . The funny part of the whole thing is that they are only following Sting. They aired a small Hardy video package with him saying that he would put an end to the “selfish generation”.

4. Kenny King vs. Lars Only (Johnny Yuma)

King locked in a side headlock, but Only locked in a wrist lock. King landed a big armdrag followed by an air guitar, Only slapped King and landed an armdrag and splash. This was followed by a kick to the face for two, King was bridged to the outside and Only went for a topé, but he was caught with the windmill kick from King. Only got a small package for two, but King caught him with a big clothesline. Only landed another slap on the outside, but King landed a snake eyes on the apron. King then springed off of the apron going for a corkscrew moonsault, but Only put the knees up for no apparent reason which

13 looked like it was due to some miscommunication. King caught Only with a pelé, but King had to force the shoulder up which was sloppy. King went for a legdrop, but Only moved and began to land some clotheslines and a hurricanrana sending kind to the outside. He followed this with a hurricanrana off the post and onto King on the outside. Only got a small package for two and went for a tornado DDT, but King countered. They botched a spot and I couldn’t really work out what it was. Only went to the top, King followed and he was slapped by Only, however he responded by leaping up to the top and landing a big kick. This was followed by a Shouten looking manoeuvre from King for the win.

King was interviewed by Hemming. He said that he didn’t come to play any games and was there to be noticed. He said he had a lot riding on “this” (no kidding) and if they think they saw something there they didn’t see anything yet.

They then aired one of the best things on the show, if not the best. Aries was riding a bike while saying that what separates champions from pretenders is what they do outside the ring. He said that he wasn’t blessed with best genetics in terms of size, but when he started in the business and was 150 pounds he became dedicated to learning about nutrition and working out. He said being in the ring with so many people and finishing them with the was different from Roode who finishes people with the bottle. He said that he is never satisfied and always uses his biggest accomplishments as stepping stones to the next. However he said that there was no bigger accomplishment than being TNA World Heavyweight Champion. This was an amazing segment in around three minutes it made Aries look like a star, a credible contender, made the match feel important and made the TNA title seem like the most prestigious prize in wrestling.

Aries was backstage and King greeted him which was nice to see since King and Titus were Aries’ “apprentices” in ROH. Aries was interviewed on when he would relinquish the championship. He said he would do so and become the new TNA champion.

5. vs.

Hardy went for the twist of fate, but Storm quickly pulled out. Storm went for the super kick, but achieved the same result. Both men went back and forth with an exchange back up to the feet. Hardy landed a front kick and went for the twist of fate again, Storm went for the superkick, but he was halted as well. Storm was knocked off of the apron by Hardy and Storm spent a while on the outside, which actually fired the crowd up. After the break Storm made it out of a headlock and Storm landed some shoulder blocks. Hardy landed a fuzzy hurricanrana and a legdrop for two. Storm landed some shots, but was knocked back down. Storm landed some clotheslines, but Hardy responded with some of his own. He followed this was an atomic drop and leg drop to the groin for two. Storm landed an elbow and a tornado reverse DDT from the top rope for two. Hardy made it to his feet and Storm was backdropped to the outside, which allowed Hardy to land a baseball slide and a plancha. Both men made it back in and Hardy was caught with a big lariat. Both men made it back to their feet, but Storm missed a splash in the corner and was caught with the double boots to the face in the corner. Hardy went to the top going for the swanton, but Storm moved and he himself went to the top and landed a dropkick for the count of two. Storm prepared to hit the

14 superkick, but Hardy’s leg crumbled beneath him. Storm brought Hardy back up and went for the superkick, but Hardy countered it into the twist of fate for the win. This was a very good TV match.

After the match Storm and Hardy shook hands. A recap was shown of the Samoa Joe and segment from years ago, which led to the for Destination X being previewed. The location for was revealed – Phoenix Arizona.

They aired an awesome package with Anderson and Angle talking about one another. The package was intended to build to next week’s mainevent between the two and it did an excellent job. Angle said that Anderson is a real winner that will raise your game and not only that, but if you can beat Anderson then you could be world champion. Anderson said that it was important for him, because he said that you either win or go home. He proceeded to talk with no “asshole” gimmick just completely straight up, saying that his father says if you can’t do something then don’t bother. Brooke Tessmacher vs. Gal Kim was announced for next week together with Ray vs. Park

Hogan came out. He said that it was great to see the “Impactmaniacs” so hyped for Destination X and he said that he normally only hears them that loud for Hardy, Storm and Aries. Aries was brought out, but Roode came out instead. Hogan said that Roode better not “cross the line”. Roode told Hogan to shut up, but Hogan interjected asking if Roode wanted Aries. Roode said that Aries is not a real world champion and the only reason that he has the opportunity was because Hogan bought into Aries. He said that option C will be a failure and Hogan only gave false hope to Aries and the X Division. Roode said that at Destination X he will maim the entire X division and the blood of Aries will be on Hogan’s hands. Aries came out.

He called out “Robert”, “Bobby”, “Bob”, he said that he recognized a recurring theme in Roode dictating the show. He said that was maybe what world champions could do so he would let Roode bask in it for three more days, because that Sunday he said that he would become champion. He said there were two ways to handle the situation. Option A where he left peacefully and handed the title to Hogan later on in the night or option B where he stepped into the ring and handed Hogan the belt calmly. Or he said they could choose option C and not wait until Sunday and finish what they had started last week. Aries said that he would not back down and that he was not scared of Roode, because it was the last time Roode would be champion. Aries tore his shirt off and Roode took off his jacket, but Roode said that Aries wasn’t worth it. As Roode was walking off he

15 went for a belt shot, but Aries ducked it and landed a shot with the X title. This resulted in Aries lifting both titles and handing the X title to Hogan to finish off an awesome segment and a great show.

Bits & Pieces

The Kenny King Situation

On the July 5 th edition of TNA Impact Kenny King, one half of the ROH Word Tag Team Champions showed up. Not only that, but he appeared as himself and won a slightly below par match against Johnny Yuma. This according to ROH was in violation of a verbal agreement between King and Ring of Honor made after his contract expired a short while back. ROH clearly put the brunt of the guilt onto King, however I doubt that is the whole story.

King was apparently allowed to negotiate with other companies for a period of time, as newly crowned ROH Tag Team champion, however the deal was that he basically wasn’t allowed to sign without passing the deal through Ring of Honor for a counter offer.

King was probably offered something good by TNA; because he has progressed in the X Division title tournament and with the way things are going I wouldn’t be surprised if he became the new champion. After all it would make sense, since King would have to put something major on the line to join TNA in the first place, so at very least they must have given him a permanent contract.

I like Kenny King as a performer and I hope that everything works out for both him and ROH. I find it sad that ROH was to loose yet another part of the roster and a staple part of their tag team division in this manner. However in contrast this might be a good break for King who also had some contact with Aries on that same night.

Chael Sonnen/Anderson Silva II Prime Time Special

16 I don’t want to harp on this subject too much, because by the time that you are reading the event is already over and if Chael Sonnen didn’t win then the feud is most likely over. However I would like to mention that the UFC Prime Time Special for Chael Sonnen and Anderson Silva II was one of the best pure twenty minutes for building a match that I have seen in a very long time. Granted not many people saw it, but it was still quite the spectacle.

Chael was on top form for the show producing such quotes as "This will all be for nothing, this will all be a failure if I don't win that belt on the 7th of July." And with a more comical tome "Your ribs have the same problem that your hands and feet have they are attached to a cowardly charlatan named Anderson Silva.” We were honestly treated this week when it came to this weekend’s shows and their builds between Destination X and UFC 148.

We will have more on UFC 148 next week.

Next Week’s Newsletter

Next week we cover TNA Destination X, the go-home show for Money in the Bank, Impact, NXT and more!

Contact

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