BSB 54: What a Week in Pro Wrestling!

By Ryan Joy
Updated: May 14, 2021
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Image Credit: AEW

Body Slam Brigade May 14, 2021

BSB #54 – What a Week in Pro Wrestling

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What a Week!

This weekend caps off a terrific week of wrestling with two major shows from Impact Wrestling and WWE.

Impact Wrestling has Under Siege on Saturday and WWE has WrestleMania Backlash on Sunday. GCW also has a show this weekend out in Vegas. AJ Gray will face Nick Gage for the GCW Championship.

This comes after WWE and AEW both delivered very good shows on Tuesday and Wednesday with NXT and Dynamite.

NXT was full of news including match announcements for the next two weeks of television plus two major title defenses. The night ended with Kushida’s 2 out of 3 falls title defense against the former champion Santos Escobar – a great match with a unique bridging suplex finish.

While Aiden English has long stopped singing about Rusev Day on WWE programming, the man formerly known as Rusev conquered Darby Allin in the main event of this week’s Dynamite to claim his first title outside of WWE. May 12th is now officially Miro Day.

On the same episode of Dynamite The So Cal Uncensored team of Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian wrestled for the final time in a tag team loss to the Young Bucks.

Christopher Daniels went to twitter after the match to say “this might be it.” If that match is the last one Christopher Daniels ever wrestles, then he went out with a bang.

I might have preferred to see Daniels’ lengthy career end on a PPV, but many careers end far away from the cameras after a long downward slope. That’s not going to be the case for Daniels. Having said that, if there is still a little gas in the tank, I would appreciate a Daniels v. Kazarian match to be The Fallen Angel’s final chapter. We don’t need a blood feud. Just a solid competitive match between the two long-time tag partners.

In addition to Kazarian, here are three other wrestlers that I would love to see Christopher Daniels wrestle before he goes for good.

Cody Rhodes – Cody defeated Daniels in 2017 to win the ROH World Championship. Let’s give Daniels one more crack at the American Nightmare.
Scorpio Sky – SCU was a three man team. It just make sense for Daniels to pull the best out of Sky in a one on one match before he hangs it up.
MJF – Give this one a couple of minutes to breathe. I like the idea of MJF trying to push Daniels out the door only for Daniels to get in a few good shots in on the way out. While CD wouldn’t win, he could have the entire locker room behind him.

Just some thoughts that probably won’t happen, but it’s fun to thing about.

New Japan was supposed to run Yokohama Stadium this weekend for a major show, but they postponed both the May 15th Yokohama Stadium and May 29th Tokyo Dome shows. No dates have been provided for those, but this is a reminder that we’re still living in a pandemic.Have a Great Weekend!

Ryan Joy

PS – Keep sending me your choice for topics to [email protected]

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The Internet Wrestling Community Has Serious Issues

Have you had an experience on-line that left you feeling disappointed in the human race?

Well if you’ve ever interacted with a large group of wrestling fans on facebook or Twitter, then I’m sure you’ve dealt with more than your fair share of negativity.

Byron Smith from Border Fuel joined the Daily Wrestling News Show. We spoke about his time as a lapsed fan and what brought him back to Pro Wrestling.

When he came back to Pro Wrestling, he found that the Internet Wrestling Community was a War Zone!

He has three steps that people can take to improve the situation. Listen here so you can help us going forward.

Click the Below Video to Check it Out

Click Above for the interview with Byron Smith!

Sasha Banks by Elbow Drop Art

General News

Jimmy Uso returned on the 5/7 episode of Smackdown. It appears that he’ll be in a longer term story with Roman Reigns and Jey Uso.
Ari Sterling (FKA Alex Zayne) and Ikeman Miro both debuted on 205 Live last week.
Charles Wright (The Godfather) will be a future guest on the Broken Skulls Sessions
Paul Heyman went to Twitter to nominate the ECW Audience for the Hall of Fame.
Smackdown had their best overall rating since January 29th when the 5/7 show brought in 2.282 million viewers.
The next NXT Take Over show will happen on 6/13. It is an In Your House branded show and Todd Pettengill will host.
Jinder Mahal returned to action on Main Event last week, but he made his Raw return on the 5/10 show. Mahal now comes to the ring with Veer and Shanky.
Humberto Carrillo appeared to have been injured in his match with Sheamus on the 5/10 Raw. The injury occurred when Carrillo attempted a sunset power bomb to the floor. Sheamus came down hard on Carrillo’s leg and the referee stopped the match. Carrillo was later reported to be fine.
The Wrestling Observer reported that the Velveteen Dream was backstage at Raw, but there was no real intention of using him on the show.
Bobby Fish made his return on the 5/11 episode of NXT. He made a save for Kyle O’Reilly, but both men agreed that they’re doing their own thing.
Isaiah Swerve Scott introduced his new NXT faction as Hit Row.
John Cena is creating a series for Peacock called “WWE Evil.” The premise of the show is “an entertaining psychological expose on the the minds of the most diabolical antagonists in WWE History, and their impact on mainstream culture”
Las Vegas, New York City, Phoenix, and Texas are all rumored locations for WWE’s SummerSlam. Nothing is official.
Fightful Select reported that Zelina Vega was at the WWE Performance Center this week. Plans for her return to the company have been in the works for some time.

Upcoming:

WrestleMania Backlash on 5/16

The next major WWE Show will be WrestleMania Backlash on 5/16

Drew McIntyre v. Braun Strowman v. Bobby Lashley (c) – WWE Championship Match
Bianca Belair (c) v. Bayley – Smackdown Championship
Rhea Ripley (c) v. Asuka v. Charlotte Flair – Raw Championship
Damian Priest v. The Miz – Lumberjack Match
Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode (c) v. Dominik and Rey Mysterio – Smackdown Tag Titles
Roman Reigns (c) v. Cesaro – Universal Championship

Smackdown on 5/14

Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler v. Tamina and Natalya – Tag Titles

205 Live on 5/14

Ari Sterling v. Tony Nese
Asher Hale v. Ariya Daivari

NXT on 5/17 and 5/24

Gargano v. Bronson Reed – Steel Cage North American Championship – 5/17
Zoey Stark v. Toni Storm -5/17
Kross v. Balor – 5/24
Franky Monet’s World Premiere – 5/24

NXT UK on 5/20

A-Kid (c) v. Tyler Bate – Heritage Cup Title Match
Ilja Dragunov on Supernova Sessions

Results:

Smackdown Results from 5/7

Roman Reigns brings back Jimmy Uso. Jimmy messes up during the Seth Rollins v. Cesaro match. Cesaro’s win leads to a Universal Championship match at WrestleMania Backlash. Rollins and Roman are both ticked off at Jimmy Uso, and Jimmy doesn’t take Roman’s bullying. At the end of the show, Roman told Jimmy to fall in line or go home. As Jimmy goes to leave, Jey runs after him, Cesaro jumps Roman from behind, and Cesaro takes all three out.
Cesaro defeats Seth Rollins – 12:41 – If Cesaro Wins, he’ll face Roman at WrestleMania Backlash
Carmella defeats Ruby Riott – 02:18
Dominik Mysterio defeats Dolph Ziggler – 02:16
Bayley and Bianca Belair had a segment where Bayley got the best of Bianca.
Tamina defeats Reginald – 02:06
Alpha Academy, Crews, Zayn, Corbin defeat Street Profits, Nakamura, Owens, Big E – 10:44

205 Live Results from 5/7

Ari Sterling defeats Samir Singh – 06:12
August Grey and Ikeman Jiro defeat Tony Nese and Ariya Daivari – 10:27

Raw Results from 5/10

Mandy, Dana, Asuka defeat Charlotte, Nia, Shayna – 08:36
Jinder Mahal defeats Jeff Hardy – 03:27
Riddle, Orton, New Day defeats Elias, Ryker, Omos, Styles – 12:08
Sheamus defeats Humberto Carrillo – 09:01 – Referee Stop. Carrillo appears injured.
Shelton Benjamin defeats Cedric Alexander – 04:24
Rhea Ripley defeats Asuka – 12:40
Damian Priest defeats John Morrison – 12:56 – With this win, Damian Priest is allowed to pick the stipulation for his match with Miz on Sunday. Priest selects a Lumberjack Match.
Drew McIntyre defeats Bobby Lashley by Disqualification – 13:25 – Braun Strowman attacked to cause the DQ. Braun stood tall. He powerslammed Lashley and McIntyre multiple times.

NXT Results from 5/11

Karrion Kross defeats Austin Theory – 06:04
MSK defeats Breezango – 10:41
Pete Dunne defeats Leon Ruff – 03:04
Raquel Gonazalez defeats Mercedes Martinez – NXT Championship – 11:56
Swerve Scott Introduces his new group as Hit Row. They rap.
Kyle O’Reilly defeats Oney Lorcan – 09:09 – Pete Dunne and Oney attack post match. Bobby Fish returns and makes the save.
Kushida defeats Santos Escobar – NXT Cruiserweight Championship – 22:10

NXT UK Results from 4/29

Noam Dar defeats Nathan Frazer – Heritage Cup Rules – 12:23
Mark Andrews defeats Levi Muir – 04:35Meiko
Meiko Satomura Wins Gauntlet Match for Number 1 Contender – 16:34 – Satomura was subbed in for Xia Brookside who was not cleared to compete.

Wins and Losses Book Now Available

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Kenny Omega by My Ill Gotten Brain

AEW News

AEW announced that the company will go back on the road with Dynamite broadcasts from Miami, Austin, and Houston on July 7, 14, 21
Miro captured the TNT Championship by defeating Darby Allin on the 5/12 episode of AEW Dynamite. Lance Archer appears to be the first major opponent.
SCU lost their bid to become AEW World Tag Team Champions. Daniels and Kazarian promised that SCU would split upon losing their next match, so it appears that time has come. Daniels wrote on twitter, “That Might Be All.”
Ricky Starks is out of action with a fractured neck. The planned recovery time is 3 months
Fightful Select reports that AEW’s Shawn Dean has a back stage role as an Extras Coordinator. Fightful also reported on the duties that extras must perform as ringside cheer leaders. Each extra has a match or set of matches where they sit ringside. As those matches end, the extra then leaves to go get ready for their match.

Upcoming on AEW Double or Nothing on 5/30

Hikaru Shida (c) v. Britt Baker – AEW World Women’s Championship
Kenny Omega (c) v. Pac v. Orange Cassidy – AEW World Championship
Casino Battle Royal featuring Matt Sydal, Christian Cage, etc.
Cody Rhodes v. Anthony Ogogo
Hangman Page v. Brian Cage
Inner Circle v. Pinnacle – Stadium Stampede. If Inner Circle loses, they must break up. While AEW didn’t officially announce the match, we have to assume it will happen.
Young Bucks v. Moxley and Kingston – Challenge Issued, but match not announced.

Upcoming on AEW Dynamite on 5/19

Christian Cage v. Matt Sydal
Young Bucks v. Varsity Blonds – AEW Tag Team Championships
Anthony Ogogo v. Austin Gunn
Serena Deeb (c) v. Red Velvet – NWA Championship Match

AEW Dark Elevation Results from 5/3

Lee Johnson defeats David Ali – 04:55
Eddie Kingston defeats VSK – 03:43
Scorpio Sky and Ethan Page defeat Baron Black and Fuego del Sol – 03:38
Paul Wight spoke to Danny Limelight about breaking into the wrestling business after a career in the marines.
Thunder Rosa defeats Renee Michelle – 05:16
Chuck Taylor defeats Vary Morales – 02:33
Leyla Hirsch defeats Dani Jordyn – 03:20
Matt Sydal defeats Manny Smith – 03:11
Jade Cargill defeats Reka Tehaka – 01:27
Marq Quen and Matt Hardy defeat Dean Alexander and Dillon McQueen – 04:11
Britt Baker Defeats Rachell Rose – 01:45
Tay Conti defeats Madi Wrenkowski – 03:36
Jurassic Express defeats Chaos Project – 08:59
Alex Reynolds defeats Isiah Kassidy – 08:19
Jon Moxley defeats Dani Limelight – 07:24

AEW Dark Results from 5/4

Kingston and Moxley defeat Milk Chocolate – 00:37
Evil Uno, Alan Angels, Colt Cabana defeat Spencer Slade, Cole Karter, Andrew Palace – 04:37
Lance Archer defeats Angel Fashion – 03:35
QT, Solow, Comoroto defeat Jake Logan, Ryzin, Rick Recon – 03:05
Varsity Blonds defeat Jaylen Brandyn and Traevon Jordan – 04:04
Diamante defeats Willow Nightingale – 02:53
Dante Martin defeats Aaron Frye – 03:30
Nyla Rose defeats Ashley D’Amboise – 01:50
Ryan Nemeth and Cezar Bononi defeats Liam Gray and Adrian Alanis – 04:17
Kris Statlander defeats Julia Hart – 02:22
Jungle Boy defeats Marty Casaus – 05:43
Big Swole and Red Velvet v. MK Twins – 04:43
Preston Vance defeats JD Drake – 08:11
The Acclaimed v. Sonny Kiss and Joey Janela – 11:56
Brian Cage defeats Bear Bronson – 07:03
Powerhouse Hobbs v. Mike Sydal – 03:26

AEW Dynamite from 5/5

Jon Moxley defeats Yuji Nagata – IWGP United States Championship – 08:29
Cody Rhodes announces that he’ll face Anthony Ogogo at Double or Nothing. Cody advises Justin Roberts that it will be Ogogo v. The American Dream.
The Young Bucks (c) defeat SCU – AEW Tag Titles – 13:51
Match ANnouncement: Casino Battle Royal for Double or Nothing.
Orange Cassidy v. Pac Ends with Both Men Unable to Answer the Ref’s 10 Count – AEW World Championship Opportunity – 14:04
Pinnacle comes out for their coronation, but it was interrupted by the Inner Circle (Jericho’s back). Inner Circle used a fire hose to drench the Pinnacle. MJF agrees to a Stadium Stampede match at Double or Nothing, but if Inner Circle loses. . .they need to break up.
Thunder Rosa defeats Jazmin Allure – 01:54
Miro defeats Darby Allin (c) – TNT Championship – 11:32 – Miro is the new Champion

Introducing the Daily Wrestling News Show

The Body Slam Brigade Newsletter comes out on Friday, but if you want news closer to real-time, Body Slam Brigade author Ryan Joy is hosting a new podcast called the Daily Wrestling News Show!

The show is live every day at 10 AM on Facebook and You Tube or you can subscribe to the audio version on Apple, Spotify, or pretty much anywhere else you get podcasts. Use the links below to find the show!

Subscribe on Apple Podcast: Click Here
Subscribe Spotify: Click Here
Watch Live on Facebook: Click Here
Watch Live on You Tube: Click Here

Jon Moxley by My Ill Gotten Brain

General News

New Japan postponed their major Grand Slam Stadium shows.
As of now, NJPW World is still advertising “Road To” shows on 5/24, 5/25, and 5/26.
While the city of Tokyo went further into a lockdown situation, New Japan had a COVID outbreak impacting at least seven talent last week.

Upcoming Show Lineups

Upcoming on New Japan Strong on 5/14

Rocky Romer v. AJZ
Fred Rosser and Lio Rush v. ELP and Hikuleo
Karl Fredericks, Brody King, TJP, Clark Connors v. Tom Lawlor, Chris Dickinson, JR Kratos, Danny Limelight

Major Show Results –

New Japan Strong Results from 5/7

Barrett Brown and Adrian Quest defeat DKC and Kevin Knight – 08:32 – Brown attacked Quest after the match.
Royce Isaacs and Jorel Nelson defeats Misterioso and Jordan Clearwater – 10:21
Jon Moxley and Chris Dickinson defeat Yuji Nagata and Ren Narita – 09:18

Tommy Dreamer by My Ill Gotten Brain

General News

Impact has a show called “Against All Odds” on June 12th.
While Impact is not advertising a July date for their Slammiversary PPV, PW Insider has reported the date as 7/17. Wrestlers that were released from WWE on 4/15 would be eligible to appear at Slammiversary as the 90 day non-compete clause expires just before the 7/17 date.

Under Siege – 5/15

The next major Impact show will be Under Siege on May 15

Six Way Number One Contender’s Match for the Impact Championship: Chris Bey v. Matt Cardona v. Sami Callihan v. Chris Sabin v. Moose v. Trey
Jordynne Grace/Rachael Ellering (c) vs. Fire ‘N Flava – Knockouts Tag Team Titles
Kenny Omega and Good Brothers v. Eddie Edwards and FinJuice
WIllie Make v. W. Morrissey
Deonna Purrazzo v. Havok – Knockouts Championship
Josh Alexander v. ELP – X-Division Championship
Taylor Wilde and Tenille Dashwood v. Susan and Kimber Lee
XXXL v. Ace Austin and Madman Fulton v. TJP and Petey Williams v. Rohit and Shera – Impact Tag Team Number 1 Contender Match

Show Results –

Impact Wrestling from 5/13

Havok defeats Rosemary – 06:06 – Havok advances to face Deonna Purrazzo at Under Siege.
ELP wins the X-Division Scramble – 10:52 – ELP advances to face Josh Alexander at Under Siege.
Scott agrees to give Susan and Kimber a match at Under Siege against Tenille and Taylor.-
Willie Mack defeats Sam Beale – 03:19
David Finlay defeats Karl Anderson – 05:46 – by DQ
Brian Myers defeats Crazy Steve – 07:06
Sami Callihan, Chris Bey, Moose defeats Cardona, Trey, Sabin – 16:01

Essential Wrestling Podcast Episode 53 – Click Here

The Essential Wrestling Podcast airs every Tuesday at 6:00 PM. Join Al Karl, John D’Aconti, John Smith, Gary Mehafy, and Minutes to Bell Time’s Ryan Joy as they take you through the latest in Pro Wrestling. Find out and get the rationale behind who they think wins the week’s matches.

Upcoming

The May 5th episode was the season finale. MLW does not plan to return with programming until the July dates, which will include fans.

ONLY SUBSCRIBERS ALLOWED!

As a subscriber, you can join the private Body Slam Brigade Facebook Group. Click the image above to be taken to the group.

ROH News

Marie Kanellis announced that Trish Adora and Miranda Alize will both be in the ROH Quest for Gold Tournament. Rok-C was previously announced for the tournament.

Upcoming on ROH TV Episode 504

Primal Fear v. Shane Taylor Promotions
Josh Woods v. Silas Young

ROH TV 502 Results

EC3 and Flip Gordan defeat The Briscoes – 12:26
PCO defeats Brian Johnson – 07:03
Angelina Love defeats Quinn McKay – 08:03

Women’s Wednesday – 05/5

Miranda Alize defeats Trish Adora – 9:53

NWA

NWA Powerrr Results for 5/4
- Matt Cross defeats Mims –
- JR Kratos defeats Sal Rinauro – 2:04
- Slice Boogie defeats Jax Dane – 08:00
The next PPV for NWA takes place on 6/6
NWA announced a 14 person battle royal will take place on 5/25 to determine Nick Aldis’ next challenger.
Thunder Rosa has agreed to a match with Kamille. If Kamille wins, then Thunder Rosa cannot compete outside the NWA.

Coastal Championship Wrestling (South Florida)

Luchamania 2 takes place in Nashville, TN on May 15th
- Super Crazy v. Thomas Latimer
- Haley J (c) v. Christi Jaynes – OVW Women’s Championship
- Marina Tucker (c) v. Roma – CCW Women’s Championship
- South American Alliance v. Mims and Migs – CCW Tag Championship
Breakout 2 – May 22 at the CCW Arena in Pompano Beach, FL
Bash at the Brew 5 takes place on June 5th at Unbranded Brewery in Hialeah, FL.
- Will Austin v. Alex Ocean – Last Man Standing
- Vandal Ortugan v. Nick Turner – GWE Latin American Championship
Patriot Games – July 10th at the MidFlorida Event Center in Port Saint Lucie, FL
CCW’s Summer Glory featuring Brian Cage takes place on June 19th at Xtreme Action Park.
- Jackal Stevens (c) v. Davey Richards – CCW Southeaster Championship
- Brian Cage v. Facade
Music City Fight Night – August 28, 2021 – Nashville

Ignite Wrestling (Vero Beach, Florida)

Ignite announced their “Fierce” show will take place on May 15th at Walking Tree Brewery.
- Leon the Terrible (Ignite Champion) will face “Mr. Everything” Victor Andrews
- Dale Springs v. Storm Thomas
- The show will also include a “Women’s Tag Team Tournament” to crown new champions. Teams include Renee Michelle and Sahara Seven, Eliza Haze and Savannah Thorne, Hawlee Cromwell and Aspyn Rose, Kelsey Raegan and Chelsea Durden.
Princess Deathwish, Mosh & Mayhem, Tech, Dale Springs, Victor Andrews, Task Force, Coach Jim Teecher, That Klassic Tag Team and Storm Thomas have all been announced for the show

MCW Pro Wrestling (Joppa, Maryland)

On this week’s MCW Cast, regular hosts Dan McDevitt and Tara Myers welcome Matt Cardona.

Game Changer Wrestling

Also on May 1st, GCW relaunches the JCW brand and runs Opening Day in Atlantic City NJ in the same venue. Announced so far:
GCW runs Draft Day from Las Vegas on May 15th. Announced so far:
- Ricky Marvin v. Jordan Oliver
- Lio Rush v. Starboy Charlie
- Effy v. Dark Sheik
- Jack Cartwheel v. Jimmy Lloyd
- Second Gear Crew v. The Unguided and Eli Everfly
- AJ Gray v. Nick Gage – Death Match for GCW Championship
- Shlak v. Juicy Finau
- Chris Dickinson v. Bad Dude Tito
- Joey Janela v. Allie Kat
Hybrid Wrestling Roll of the Dice – June 4
Tournament of Survival – Atlantic City, NJ – June 5
- Entrants: Nolan Edward, Bam Sullivan
Death Match Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony – Atlantic City, NJ – June 5
- Sick Nick Mondo
- Supreme
JCW – June 5
GCW Show – June 6
- Ninja Mack v. Joey Janela
- Grim Reefer, Nick Gage
Outlaw Mudshow from Laramie, WY – June 19th
Los Angeles Dates Announced: 8/7, 9/17, 10/23

Other General News

CMLL will be running Arena Mexico with fans for the first time in over a year on 5/21. The crowd will be roughly 500 people.
Dark Side of the Ring from 5/13 featured the Story of Nick Gage.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s Jungle Cruise movie is heading to theaters and Disney + Premier Access on July 30th.