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Impact Wrestling 6/29/23 Results

Here are the quick results from tonight’s Impact Wrestling in Atlanta, GA:

This episode was taped last Friday & Saturday as part of 2 days of TV tapings dubbed Summer Sizzler.

The YouTube pre-show match was Johnny Swinger vs. Bhupinder Gujjar.

Match 1: Impact X Division Champion Chris Sabin beat Trey Miguel by DQ to retain the title. Zachary Wentz returned and interfered on Miguel’s behalf and the Rascals (sp?) were reformed. Heel beatdown but Alex Shelley quickly came out to make the save.

Miguel/Wentz promo backstage.

Deonna Purrazzo joins commentary for the next match.

Match 2: Trinity beat Jai Vidal by submission. Gisele Shaw & Savannah Evans beatdown on Trinity immediately afterwards while Purrazzo just watched as she walked around the ring for a bit then made the save.

Pre-show match highlights. Zicky Dice was the referee and helped Johnny Swinger beat Bhupinder Gujjar by a fast 3 count. 1 on the Road To 50. Until…referee Chad Pinder interrupts. Per Santino Marella, of course the win doesn’t count. And if Dice does it again he’ll lose his referee license. Back to 0!

Match 3: Lio Rush (Impact Debut) beat Jack Price. Glorified squash.

Dirty Dango promo from social media earlier this week. Santino responds afterwards. He talks like he’s going to face Dango at Slammiversary.

Frankie Kazarian confronts Eddie & Alisha Edwards backstage.

Match 4: Masha Slamovich beat KiLynn King. Taylor Wilde interfered multiple times but at the end Killer Kelly came out and choked out Wilde with a dog collar chain to help Slamovich. Afterwards, Kelly & Masha teased a potential alliance as they wrapped the collar/chain around each other and left together.

Scott D’Amore promo. Several Impact wrestlers talk about his earlier career days. Tommy Dreamer puts him over as inventor of the Canadian Destroyer. D’Amore interviewed backstage afterwards. Darren McCarty has been added to his Slammiversary match as guest enforcer. The Good Hands then interrupt. They try to talk D’Amore into a match before then, but he says he’ll talk to Santino Marella and try to make The Good Hands vs. PCO in a handicap match for next week.

Match 5: Kenny King beat Yuya Uemura. Before the match begins and they go to commercial, Joe Hendry is seen in the production area backstage telling producer Josh Matthews to cue up some music and video footage. Hendry comes out after the match and cues up a new one of his corny music videos called “The Kenny King Story”. Yes, this was pure comedy and “Stripper Kenny” got a very loud reaction from the crowd.

Added to Slammiversary on 7/15 is Ultimate X with Mike Bailey, Jonathan Gresham, KUSHIDA, Kevin Knight and Angels for an X Division Championship match when they want it.

Nick Aldis comes out. With microphone. He asks Alex Shelley to come out to explain his actions and he promptly does. Shelley with microphone. He tells Aldis this is his ring as champion but Aldis complains about what Shelley did to Jimmy Jacobs last week as they banter back and forth. Shelley takes Aldis’ advice and steps out of the ring to sit in the crowd with the fans. The bantering continues. Aldis says he now has to not only beat Shelley for the Impact World Championship at Slammiversary but also humiliate and embarrass him. They finally start going at it with Aldis using an eye rake to take control and manhandle Shelley all over the place. Aldis goes for a belt shot with the title but Chris Sabin makes the save. But as Aldis goes to leave, Lio Rush sneaks in and ambushes Sabin from behind and the beatdown is on. Aldis then gets the belt shot in on Shelley and Rush does the same to Sabin with the X Division title belt. They pose with the belts to end the show.

Next week: Jonathan Gresham vs. Angels and Eddie Edwards vs. Frankie Kazarian.

Next up are 2 live events tomorrow & Saturday in Wagga Wagga, Australia as part of Impact Down Under 2023. Both events are available live on FITE for $14.99 each or as a combo pack for $24.99, and you also get unlimited on demand replays. Live streaming for both events will begin each day at 2 AM PT/5 AM ET with on demand available immediately after the events end. Results for tomorrow will be posted late that evening after I have a chance to watch the replay. Saturday’s results will be up around midday PT.

AEW Rampage 6/30/23 Results (SPOILERS!)

Here are the quick results for tomorrow’s AEW Rampage in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada (SPOILERS!):

Continue reading “AEW Rampage 6/30/23 Results (SPOILERS!)”

AEW Dynamite 6/28/23 LIVE Results

Here are the quick results from tonight’s AEW Dynamite in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada:

Updates will begin at 8 PM ET/5 PM PT.

Live updates below.

Match 1: Jon Moxley vs. Tomohiro Ishii (New Japan). 30 minute time limit
Result: Jon Moxley beat Tomohiro Ishii

Adam Cole interviewed backstage as he arrives. MJF arrives at the same time too. He shows off a new t-shirt for their Blind Eliminator Tag Tournament pairing. Per MJF it’s now available on ShopAEW.com!

BREAKING: The Britt Baker-Ruby Soho Owen Hart Cup match tonight is now off. Baker illness. She caught what Adam Cole had. Postponed to next week. Soho will now face TBA tonight.

Match 2: Orange Cassidy. Keith Lee & El Hijo Del Vikingo vs. Daniel Garcia, Angelo Parker & Matt Menard
Result: Orange Cassidy, Keith Lee & El Hijo Del Vikingo beat Daniel Garcia, Angelo Parker & Matt Menard. Lee pinned Menard after a powerslam.

The TBA for The Young Bucks & Adam Page as their opponent tonight will be Dark Order, as revealed in a taped promo from earlier today.

Match 3: Dark Order (Evil Uno, John Silver, Alex Reynolds) with -1 vs. The Elite (The Young Bucks, Adam Page)
Result: The Elite beat Dark Order. Page pinned Silver after Buckshot Lariat.
After the match, BCC beatdown on The Elite and Eddie Kingston culminates in Jon Moxley challenging The Elite to BLOOD & GUTS, which will happen on 7/19 in Boston, MA.

Jungle Boy promo. He turns full heel and states his intent to beat and take the FTW Title from Hook, also taking shots at Taz on commentary (Hook’s real-life father). Hook comes out and Jungle Boy bails as Hook chases him through the crowd and backstage until Jungle Boy dives into a waiting SUV to bail.

Before that last part of the chase, commentary starts to announce that Dynamite Grand Slam will return to Arthur Ashe Stadium at the US Open in New York later this year. They didn’t get to announce a date yet.

Match 4: Ruby Soho vs. TBA, which is Alexia Nicole (local wrestler)
Result: Ruby Soho beat Alexia Nicole by submission. Squash.

Main Event: Chris Jericho & Sammy Guevara vs. Darby Allin & Sting in a Tornado Tag Match (no rules, all 4 are legal at all times, finish must come in ring)
Result: Darby Allin & Sting beat Chris Jericho & Sammy Guevara. Sting beat Jericho with Scorpion Deathlock.

The show was fine but the crowd came off HORRIBLE on TV tonight and really weighed the presentation down a lot. Were they really not that hot or was it just how TV presented then?

Friday on Rampage: Matt Hardy & Brother Zay vs. Marshall/TV, Hikaru Shida vs. Taya Valkyrie, Shawn Spears vs. The Blade (THE TOP DRAW!) and ROH World Champion Claudio Castagnoli vs. Komander for the title.

Saturday on Collision: AEW TBS Champion Kris Statlander vs. Lady Frost for the title, 3 Owen Hart Cup Men’s Tournament matches and MJF vs. TBA. Commentary said it’s live but this week’s episode will be TAPED (taping tomorrow).

Next week: Blind Eliminator Tag Team Tournament begins with Keith Lee & Swerve Strickland vs. Orange Cassidy & Darby Allin and Baker-Soho Take 2.

Injury Report: Another DDT Double Whammy

The injuries have been piling up in DDT lately, and add 2 more to the list today coming out of Sunday’s event-although he didn’t mention it at yesterday’s press conference Sanshiro Takagi is the first one. Torn left calf muscle. Out about a month but scheduled to return at WRESTLE PETER PAN on 7/23. The other injured wrestler is Rukiya. Chest (cracked sternum). Out indefinitely. Changes for this coming weekend’s events have been made.

More as it becomes available.

Dragon Gate 6/26/23 Results

Dragon Gate wrapped up the Rainbow Gate 2023 Tour today with the final event of the month.

Today’s event was held at Sendai Sun Festa in Sendai. There is/was no live or on demand broadcast.

The paid attendance has not yet been announced. (Update: The announced paid attendance was 372)

Match 1: Madoka Kikuta & Yuki Yoshioka beat KAI & H-Y-O. Kikuta pinned H-Y-O after a rolling lariat.

Match 2: Yasushi Kanda & Genki Horiguchi beat Kagetora & Problem Dragon. Kanda pinned Dragon after Ryu’s.

Match 3: Shun Skywalker, Diamante & ISHIN beat Ultimo Dragon,, Strong Machine J & JACKY “FUNKY” KAMEI. Diamante pinned KAMEI after Vuelta Finale.

Match 4: Masaaki Mochizuki & Susumu Mochizuki beat Dragon Kid & Ryu Fuda. Susumu Mochizuki pinned Fuda after Yokosuka Cutter.

Main Event: YAMATO, Kota Minoura, Ben-K & BxB Hulk beat Kzy, BIGBOSS Shimizu, Jason Lee & U-T. YAMATO pinned U-T after Gallaria.

The next event is Kobe Pro Wrestling Festival 2023, the promotion’s biggest annual event, Sunday at Kobe World Hall in Kobe. Live streaming on DRAGONGATE NETWORK will begin Saturday at 11 PM PT/2 AM ET. It will also be available as a PPV in Japan. A special pre-PPV fan event will be held Saturday at Kobe Art Center and will be streamed LIVE FOR FREE on DRAGONGATE NETWORK beginning at midnight PT/3 AM ET.

DDT News: Deathmatch Set For 9/9, More

At a press conference earlier today for their 9/9/23 major event at Ota City General Gum in Tokyo, DDT possibly made an Atsushi Onita exploding deathmatch for the event. Onita & Sanshiro Takagi discussed this at the presser-it took quite a bit to make it happen because the match will be indoors (usually these matches are outdoors or in partially open venues due to smoke and other issues) but Onita had a further demand-that Jun Akiyama be the opponent or Takagi FIRE him. The FIRE part resulted in some DDT comedy because that’s Takagi’s catchphrase/slogan and presumably Onita wanted Akiyama fired if he didn’t accept the match. Takagi said he’ll talk to Akiyama. According to DDT, the last time an indoor deathmatch happened in Tokyo was in 2015. It becomes the second official match for 9/9 along with a KO-D Openweight Championship match. Who defends will depend on the 7/23 result and opponent is TBA.

Also at the presser were MAO & TAKA Michinoku ahead of their match at WRESTLE PETER PAN on 7/23. This is their first meeting since their first in May 2017, which TAKA won. TAKA, now coming up on 50, currently splits his time between his Just Tap Out (JTO) promotion and New Japan.

All-Japan 6/26/23 Results

All-Japan continues the Dynamite Series 2023 Tour today with their last event of the month.

Today’s event was held at Shin-Kiba 1st Ring in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on AJPW.TV. You can also watch the first 4 matches FOR FREE on YouTube.

The paid attendance has not yet been announced. (Update: The announced paid attendance was 285)

There were last-minute changes to the first match because Oji Shiiba was injured in practice earlier in the day or in recent days. Meniscus. Out indefinitely. Kenichiro Arai was the replacement. (Update: Right knee according to a press release from GLEAT today noting Shiiba is off their event Saturday)

Match 1: Hikaru Sato & Dan Tamura beat Kenichiro Arai & Black Menso-re. Tamura pinned Menso-re after a powerbomb.

Match 2: Rising Hayato vs. Yutani (GLEAT) went to a 15 minute time limit draw.

Match 3: Manabu Soya (Pro Wrestling NOAH) beat Takao Omori.

Match 4: Takuya Nomura, Fuminori Abe & Ryo Inoue vs. Naruki Doi, Naoki Tanisaki (Independent/Freelancers) & Hokuto Omori went to a 20 minute time limit draw.

Match 5: Kento Miyahara beat Kotaro Suzuki.

Match 6: Daisuke Sekimoto (Big Japan) & Suwama vs. Jun & Rei Saito went to a double countout.

Main Event: Yuji Nagata, Master Wato (New Japan) & Ryuki Honda beat Yuma Aoyagi, Atsuki Aoyagi & Yoshitatsu. Nagata beat Yoshitatsu with Nagata Lock 54.

The next event is Sunday at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. Broadcast plans TBA but I expect it to be live on AJPW.TV, if so it will begin Saturday at 7:30 PM PT/10:30 PM ET and there will be live results.

Injury Report: Top AEW Pro Hurt At PPV (Updated 6/27)

Forbidden Door may have been another major success for AEW last night but there was major injury news breaking at the post-event media scrum: Bryan Danielson announced he was injured in his win over Kazuchika Okada. Fractured arm. Out 6-8 weeks. That makes him extremely questionable for All In UK which is in 9 weeks. The 6-8 weeks is an estimate from trainers.

More as it becomes available.

UPDATE: According to Danielson’s wife, the former Brie Bella in WWE, x-rays indicate the injury is worse than first thought. Now makes him sound doubtful and perhaps out for All In UK and All Out. May be done for the year too.

Sumo-July 2023 Banzuke Announced

It’s that exciting time again for sumo fans-we’re now 2 weeks away from the next tournament which means it’s time for the July 2023 Banzuke Announcement. Here are the new rankings for the top 2 tiers (Note-(*) indicates name change since May Tournament):
Makuuchi (Top Tier):
Yokozuna-Terunofuji (May Tournament Champion)
Ozeki-Kirishima (*), Takakeisho
Sekiwake-Hoshoryu, Daieisho, Wakamotoharu
Komusubi-Kotonowaka, Abi
Maegashira 1-Nishikigi, Tobizaru
Maegashira 2-Shodai, Mitakeumi
Maegashira 3-Midorifuji, Meisei
Maegashira 4-Asanoyama, Ura
Maegashira 5-Hidenoumi, Onosho
Maegashira 6-Hokuseiho, Oho
Maegashira 7-Takayasu, Tamawashi
Maegashira 8-Sadanoumi, Nishikifuji
Maegashira 9-Takanosho, Hokutofuji
Maegashira 10-Kinbozan, Myogiryu
Maegashira 11-Kotoeko, Tsurugisho
Maegashira 12-Chiyoshoma, Wakatakakage
Maegashira 13-Gonoyama (May Juryo Champion), Kotoshoho
Maegashira 14-Daishoho, Shonannoumi
Maegashira 15-Ryuden, Takarafuji
Maegashira 16-Endo, Bushozan
Maegashira 17-Aoiyama, Hakuoho (*)

Juryo:
Juryo 1-Kagayaki, Atamifuji
Juryo 2-Roga, Mitoryu
Juryo 3-Ichiyamamoto, Shimazuumi
Juryo 4-Oshoma, Tohakuryu
Juryo 5-Tamashoho, Kitanowaka
Juryo 6-Fujiseiun, Azumaryu
Juryo 7-Hakuyozan, Churanoumi
Juryo 8-Takakento, Akua
Juryo 9-Daiamami, Tomokaze
Juryo 10-Chiyosakae, Shimanoumi
Juryo 11-Chiyomaru, Tsushimanada
Juryo 12-Shishi, Hidenoumi
Juryo 13-Kiho (*), Shiden
Juryo 14-Yuma, Chiyonoumi

Early notes:
First, there are quite a few new shikona (ring names) after some name changes since May-starting at the top with Kirishima, the former Kiribayama and new Ozeki. At the bottom of the top tier, Hakuoho is the former Ochiai, the super-prospect of former yokozuna Hakuho (now Miyagino) who has reached the top tier in just his 4th career tournament. In Juryo, Kiho is the former Kawazoe, the popular human slinky also from Miyagino Beya.
Now to ranking notes-Asanoyama’s stated goal is to get back to Sanyaku and in particular Sekiwake by the end of the year. He could get there after this tournament as he made a huge move up to M4. The only change in Sanyaku was Abi returning at Komusubi following Wakatakakage being demoted from Komusubi after missing the May tournament due to injury. He will miss July as well and fall out of the top tier after being at M12 this time. Takakeisho is out of kadoban status thanks to 8 wins in May and is a full-fledged Ozeki again, important given we’re not sure what shape his knees are in after injuries cost him a chance at yokozuna promotion in March. Gonoyama, the May Juryo champion, and Hakuoho (Ochiai) reach the top tier after both went 14-1 in May and there remain high expectations for the latter, who many think is a future yokozuna. In the meantime, we’ll soon see if he’s managed to grow enough hair to have a topknot! Endo took a huge fall almost to Juryo due to withdrawing in May and finishing the equivalent of 0-15. And following a slump after the retirement of stablemate Tochinoshin, Apiyama barely hung on to his top tier spot, down to M17 at the very bottom.

Ozeki Watch: Each of the 3 Sekiwake mathematically has a chance to reach the secondary criteria for consideration of promotion to Ozeki, which is at least 33 wins over 3 consecutive tournaments, all with winning records (the primary criteria is win 2 straight tournaments, both criteria must be achieved at Komusubi or Sekiwake). Daieisho has the best chance to make it as he needs a minimum of 11 wins to reach the required 33 wins over the last 3 tournaments, while Hoshoryu and Wakamotoharu both need at least 12 wins. It should be noted that of the 3, only Daieisho has a top tier championship. He almost won #2 in March, losing in a playoff to Kiribayama/Kirishima. If any win the tournament that may do it as well as, among recent Ozeki, Kirishima and Mitakeumi were both promoted after championships.

Terunofuji won the May Tournament and will be going for his 9th Emperor’s Cup. He stated his goal for the year (and before perhaps considering retirement) was to get to 10 championships and he’s got 3 more chances. He went 14-1 in May in his return from a nearly year-long injury absence, losing only to Meisei.

Demoted to Juryo were Ichiyamamoto and Kagayaki while, despite going 13-2, Atamifuji just missed a top-tier return and will be at J1. He was at J8 in May and was simply a numbers game victim with Gonoyama & Ochiai both going 14-1. Shishi, Yuma and Kiho (former Kawazoe) are Shin-Juryo this tournament, Shishi being the first rikishi from Ukraine to reach the top 2 tiers and perhaps setting up a slightly awkward late-tournament match against Roga, at J2 who is from Russia. Shishi has gained a lot of fan support the last couple years because of the Ukraine-Russia war. Shiden is Sai-Juryo this tournament, his prior Juryo debut attempt didn’t happen due to withdrawal/absence and he went back to Makushita but he’s back for a second Juryo chance. Chiyonoumi is also returning to the second tier. Notably missing from Juryo is fan favorite Enho, who withdrew during the May tournament (injured) and finished the equivalent of 0-15. If he can go in July he’ll be at Makushita 1. May Makushita Champion Kiryuko moved up to Makushita 2, on the verge of reaching Juryo. May Sandanme Champion (and now YouTube celebrity thanks to SUMO PRIME TIME) Sazanami moved up to Makushita 27.
The Sandanme has the new-normal 90 rankings The Jonidan has 107 rankings with 214 participants, and notably near the bottom is Satonofuji, the day-ending bow-twirling performer from Terunofuji’s Isegahama Beya. A demotion this time would probably send him down to Jonokuchi. Finally, the Jonokuchi has 22 rankings with 43 total participants, which actually will be 42 because although he retired on June 1, Ishiura-who is now Magaki Oyakata (the name formerly taken by Hakuho when he retired before he took over Miyagino Beya) was ranked at Jonokuchi 15 for July. He was forced to retire after being out about a year now due to injuries. Should he not have retired and sat out July he almost certainly would have fallen off the rankings completely.

The July Tournament begins on 7/9 at Aichi Prefectural Gym in Nagoya.

Dragon Gate 6/25/23 Results

Dragon Gate continued the Rainbow Gate 2023 Tour today with the second half of a weekend doubleheader in Saitama.

Today’s event was held at Espowa Isanonuma in Saitama. There is/was no live or on demand broadcast.

The paid attendance has not yet been announced. (Update: The announced paid attendance was 306)

Match 1: Madoka Kikuta & Yuki Yoshioka beat Jason Lee & JACKY “FUNKY” KAMEI. Yoshioka pinned KAMEI after Inferno.

Match 2: KAI beat Ryoya Tanaka.

Match 3: Kzy & U-T beat Genki Horiguchi & Problem Dragon. U-T beat Dragon with a ground cobra twist.

Match 4: Kota Minoura & BxB Hulk beat Susumu Mochizuki & Yasushi Kanda. Hulk pinned Kanda after South Road.

Match 5: YAMATO & BIGBOSS Shimizu beat Ben-K & Minorita. Shimizu pinned Minorita after BIGBOSS Press.

Main Event: Ultimo Dragon, Dragon Kid & Strong Machine J beat Shun Skywalker, Diamante & H-Y-O. Kid pinned H-Y-O after Bible.

The tour-ender is tomorrow at Sendai Sun Festa in Sendai. There will be mo live or on demand broadcast.

For next weekend, the special 7/1 event in Kobe at Kobe Art Center will be broadcast LIVE FOR FREE on DRAGONGATE NETWORK. The start time will likely be 3 AM PT/6 AM ET although there is an event there at midnight PT/3 AM ET. Probably the latter will be free, which will feature all participating 7/2 wtestlers and signing ceremonies for all title matches on 7/2. There also have been some changes for the 7/2 event:
Fallout from the Kenoh 15th Anniversary Event in Pro Wrestling NOAH: The second match, Masaaki Mochizuki & Don Fujii vs. Kenoh & Shuji Kondo match has been changed to Mochizuki & Kenoh vs. Fujii & Kondo.
Also, pre-show match 2, which is KAI & H-Y-O vs. TBA-a rookie selection team-is set. The rookie selection team will be Mochizuki Jr. & Ryoya Tanaka.
The 7/2 event will be available live on PPV in Japan and DRAGONGATE NETWORK outside Japan.