The Wrestling Roundup is here to bring you all the news and rumors you need to know in one place.
NXT Results:
After an awards show on New Years Day, NXT is back with an all-new show this week. There was a fatal four-way number one contenders match and two first round Dusty Classic matches. All the results from NXT for January 8th:
- Rhea Ripley, Toni Storm & Candice LeRae def. Bianca Belair, Kay Lee Ray, & Io Shirai
- Imperium def. Forgotten Sons in a Dusty Rhodes Classic first round match
- Austin Theory def. Joaquin Wilde
- Undisputed Era def. Gallus in a Dusty Rhodes Classic first round match
- Mia Yim def. Kayden Carter
- Keith Lee def. Dominik Dijakovic, Cameron Grimes, and Damian Priest to become Number One Contender for the NXT North American Championship
NXT Takeaways:
KUSHIDA’s Dusty Classic partner was revealed, and to the delight of many it is Alex Shelley. The Timesplitters have reunited in NXT! They are two-time IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions, and had a good run together between 2012 & 2015 in New Japan. It may be an overstatement, but Shelley & KUSHIDA may have just become the odds-on favorites in the tournament.
YES.He is coming… @fakekinkade
Because it's 2020 pic.twitter.com/UknJGWVIYf— KUSHIDA (@KUSHIDA_0904) January 9, 2020
Chelsea Green, fresh off of her Raw debut, attacked both Mia Yim and Kayden Carter after their match. It was revealed she was the new client of Robert Stone, a.k.a. Robbie E. Stone will be an entertaining manager, and it’s nice to see the roles flipped from the usual male wrestler-female manager. Green will benefit from Stone at ringside, and if he forms a full stable (maybe Deonna Purazzo & Taynara Conti) it could be huge for NXT.
Two new matches were set up for the next two weeks, and one for NXT TakeOver: Portland. After five different women came out to challenge Rhea Ripley for the NXT Women’s Championship, a battle royale has been arranged for next week to determine her next challenger. It will be Io Shirai, Kay Lee Ray, Bianca Belair, Candice LeRae, Toni Storm, and more members of the women’s division all in a battle royale.
Keith Lee gets his shot at Roderick Strong’s NXT North American Championship the week after. Finally, at TakeOver: Portland it looks like Johnny Gargano will finally face off against Finn Balor after their promos Wednesday night.
AEW Dynamite Results:
Dynamite didn’t take New Years Day off, and are in the build-up for Revolution. Did Jon Moxley join the Inner Circle (no, but more on that below). First, the results from the show:
- Kenny Omega & Adam Page def. Private Party
- Riho (c) def. Kris Statlander to retain the AEW Women’s Championship
- Sammy Guevera def. Christopher Daniels
- Cody & Dustin Rhodes def. Lucha Bros.
- Jurassic Express def. Best Friends & Orange Cassidy
AEW Dynamite Takeaways:
We’ll start with the end of the show. Jon Moxley hit the Inner Circle and the fans with the old switcheroo. He sold joining the Inner Circle really well, playing up how Jericho is the greatest and how he wanted to run things with the group. Moxley’s turn at the end, hitting Jericho with the bubbly and high-tailing it out of Memphis was very Austin-esque. This feud is heating up and Moxley has really come into his own as the anti-hero WWE always painted him to be.
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Just kidding! #AEWDynamite pic.twitter.com/eJ1kUtcbTK
— All Elite Wrestling (@AEWrestling) January 9, 2020
Dr. Luther debuted on AEW. Who, you ask? Well he’s the strange bald man from the Nightmare Collective group. That’s Awesome Kong & Brandi Rhodes group, in case you had trouble keeping all the creepy groups separate. While I’m not familiar with Luther, some hardcore fans on Twitter were extremely excited. Fans will be willing to give this group time to really show what their plan is, but they won’t give them forever.
Japanese Deathmatch Legend Dr. Luther (@RasselinDoc) has arrived with the #NightmareCollective.
Watch #AEWDynamite NOW on @TNTDrama 8e/7c #AEWonTNT @AEWonTNT pic.twitter.com/8twpP7Yrr0— All Elite Wrestling (@AEWrestling) January 9, 2020
AEW even tweeted out some supplemental information. I like that it shows they’ve learned some lessons from the debut of the Butcher & the Blade.
Just a little more information on the Protector. Luther is a Legend of Japanese Death Matches for both the FMW & IWA Promotions. While a great addition to the #NightmareCollective, it may not be so great for the Stars of #AEW. pic.twitter.com/ohlEo45qhj
— All Elite Wrestling (@AEWrestling) January 9, 2020
DDP was on the show as well, stepping up to MJF. He hit a few Diamond Cutters, and will be in action next week against MJF, Butcher & Blade. Positioning DDP as someone close to Cody that MJF can get heat on is smart. No one expects DDP, Dustin Rhodes & QT Marshall to win next week. The real question will be how much damage does MJF and his crew do to the older trio?
.@the_MJF getting in the face of @RealDDP. Watch #AEWDynamite NOW on @TNTDrama 8e/7c #AEWonTNT @AEWonTNT pic.twitter.com/SQzivVelDk
— All Elite Wrestling (@AEWrestling) January 9, 2020
Io Shirai Unhappy In NXT?
According to Dave Meltzer (h/t WrestlingInc), Io Shirai is unhappy in NXT. She may be moved to Raw or SmackDown to keep her happy and increase her pay. She has heavy interest from Stardom in Japan to come back to Japan. Stardom is also interested in Kairi Sane. There is no indication that either are leaving, but it will be interesting to watch going forward.
One for the Road:
Enjoy this amazing threat of 1960s French wrestling that looks like the precursor to some of the amazing high-flying we have today. Worth going through the whole thread.
That's it, I'm gonna keep posting GIFs of old french pro wrestling until the INA uploads the rest of this stuff. Eat your hearts, flippy wrestlers of today! pic.twitter.com/9GeBZ6ZjHQ
— Ryuma Go Memorial Account (@secretwrestlin1) January 7, 2020
