I enjoyed Mahal’s grand entrance tonight. That was cool. Kinda sounded like some in the audience wanted to cheer him too.
OK, Jinder won me over. He’s got the regal bearing, spiteful facial scowls, and his Bollywood entrance was fucking amazing. The Singh brothers are his Matthews and Noble. Not bad for somebody who had to draw off Heath Slater’s heat a few years ago.
Are they doing an India tour soon? I want to say I heard that.
Because if they are, and you are angry over Jinder being champion, than you need to quit at whatever you’re doing in life and go back to damn school
Meant to say this too. Line of the night last night goes to Ms. Cups.
They did the first of the PiP commercial breaks and I said “hey look they’re doing the new commercial break” (she was cooking at the time). So she looked at the screen and said: “I like this new format, this way I don’t have to listen to JBL.”
Can’t say I disagreed…
That might not be the best feature of the PiP commercial breaks, but it’s in the Top Two.
What a wonderful article that I wish many of the podcasts would read and not immediately dismiss.
At least now I know it wasn’t a Bollywood entrance…
I listened to Mahal on Talk is Jericho, which was done before he won the SD title. He said that getting let go by WWE after his 3MB days was the best thing that ever happened to him. He eventually started reading power of positive thinking books, stopped drinking and went back to a proper diet/weight training system. He said he had actually gotten interest from TNA, then got a call from WWE a day later.
He also talked about the Punjab province, his Sikh religion, and booking for Great Khali, who’s essentially the Hulk Hogan of India, famous in the mainstream. He talked about how Vince has been writing his promos for him, which is how he’s been getting so good on the mic lately. Apparently, Vince does occasionally know what he’s doing. Always interesting to hear about what goes on behind the scenes.
Indy show recap time!
For a promotion that’s been around for less than a year, DEFY has been getting a lot of attention. They’ve gotten mentions in Wrestling Observer, they’ve made deals with a number of streaming services, and just this week they’ve signed a talent-sharing agreement with CZW (more on that later). Tonight they returned to Washington Hall in Little Saigon, Seattle for their third show, and it was their most stacked card yet, featuring champions from four promotions.
I got a ringside seat as usual, which meant I got to go into the early meet & greet with John Morrison & Taya. I got a pic with them that I’ll get in a few days and some signed 8x10s. John complimented me on my first name (same as his own) and my Cornette Face t-shirt, after trying to sell me one of his own to wear over it so nobody would think I was associated with Cornette. I also got an 8x10 of Joey Ryan - I wanted to get a picture with him just for the ironic value of him and Cornette side-by-side, but he wasn’t doing pics.
The opening match, after ring announcer and local hard rock DJ Steve Migs explained that the first rule of DEFY is “WE GET LOUD”, was Tacoma’s Mike Santiago, who we’ve seen at the last two shows, vs. Moose. Moose, who entered to a remix of Macklemore’s “Can’t Hold Us”, is the reigning Impact Grand Champion and wore the belt to the ring, but this was a non-title match. Pretty strong opening match, lots of good back and forth. There was an outside-the-ring sequence where Moose ran the entire way around the ring to build up momentum for a superkick. Moose eventually getting the win off a powerbomb. Partway through the match, one of the plywood beams on the edge of the ring broke and bulged upward from the mat. The ring techs tried to push it back into place but couldn’t do so, so the wrestlers just worked away from that side of the ring for the rest of the first half.
Up next were the undefeated Los Sexi-Mexis vs. the Cunninghams, the British Columbia-based team of kayfabe brothers Big Jack and Carl the Catch. The Mexis entered with La Avispa, who joined forces with them at DEFY 2. They didn’t even make it to the ring, though, before the Cunninghams ran out and attacked them, powerbombing Avispa onto the hardwood floor after which she was carried out, with the ref reluctantly ringing the bell after everyone was in the ring. Most of the match was Carl working over Sonico, with Ave Rex occasionally tagging in for a change in momentum. Big Jack did a great job playing the invulnerable man-mountain who couldn’t be knocked down by anything. The Cunninghams eventually got the win via rocket launcher on Ave, breaking their undefeated streak.
Last match of the first half was Davey Richards vs. Lio Rush. Remember that talent-sharing deal I mentioned earlier? Well, Lio won the CZW world championship two weeks ago, and as part of that agreement, this match was now a title defense. Lio had a new entrance routine where he zombie-walked his way to the ring to a goth-metal cover of “Paint It Black”, in all white and silver gear, with a black heart painted on his chest and black-and-white veins stretching across his body. The match started with a lengthy stare-down, which triggered an ironic “FIGHT FOREVER!” chant from the crowd. Lots of great back and forth here, some insane acrobatics, constant reversals and back-and-forth. After three unsuccessful attempts, Davey managed to lock in his ankle lock and Lio TAPPED, making Davey the new CZW World Heavyweight Champion.
I literally jumped out of my seat and started screaming when the tap happened, because this is not the kind of thing that happens. This is like the WWE title changing hands at a house show - it’s just not done, so it’s the last thing you expect to happen, so when it does happen, you lose your shit. Angelina Love came out to celebrate with her husband afterward. Davey started cutting what sounded like a heel promo, saying that he speaks for all of Seattle, for all of Washington, for all of the world of wrestling, when he says to Lio - “Thank you, please come back.” Lio shook his hand, picked up the title belt, handed it to Davey, and raised his hand. Davey then looked directly into the camera and cut a promo on CZW - “You want your belt back? Fly out to the Emerald City and take it.”
Migs asked Angelina to stay in the ring because he had an announcement to make - at DEFY 4 next month, the promotion’s first Tacoma show, there will be a four-woman competition to crown the first-ever Tacoma Women’s Champion, and Angelina has been named as one of the four competitors. Angelina was eager to find out who she’d be facing, and out came “Queen Midas” Kate Carney, who we’ve seen at the last two shows. She announced she’d be in it. While she and Angelina were promo-ing on each other, Derek Drexl (who attacked her at the last show) creeped to ringside carrying a chair, crept up behind her, and attacked her with the chair, knocking her flat. He went to sexually assault her like he did at the last show, but before he could, Angelina grabbed the chair and took him out for the save.
After the intermission, during which the ring crew had to take apart two sides of the ring to replace the broken beam, was “Muscle Confucius” Mr. Fitness vs. Joey Ryan. You may have seen Mr. Fitness when Braun Strowman mashed him into a fine pink paste on Raw this February. He was accompanied to the ring by “Simply the Best” Steve West. Joey got one of the biggest pops I’ve ever seen - he entered to “The Pina Colada Song” and started to cut a pre-match promo which was interrupted by an audience member asking if his Blow-Pop was blue raspberry. He responded “Yes, it is. Blue raspberry is my favorite flavor, and it’s not a standard flavor either - it doesn’t come in the variety pack, which just shows how fucking far I will go for Seattle.” He then explained that he’s allowed to say “fucking” because this is a 21-and-over, R-rated show ,and because Davey Richards already said it like five times. This prompted the crowd to start pointing their middle fingers in the air Daniel Bryan-style while chanting “FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!”, which lead him to wonder how many fucks they’re allowed before they go into NC-17 territory. Having digressed, he proceeded to comment on how it seemed unfair that Fitness had a cornerman and he didn’t, and then began to ask himself “Who do I know in Seattle?” Just like that, “Livin’ On a Prayer” hits and out comes Eddie Van Glam! The King of Dong Style and the King of Thong Style, side-by-side! (There was a chant of “WE WANT BUTT STUFF!” at this point, which cracked Joey and Eddie up.) Joey then tossed his Blow-Pop to a guy in the crowd, proceeded to oil up his chest and thighs, and poured the rest of his oil down his trunks before the match started.
This match was pure comedy, but it was good comedy. The match opened with Joey challenging Fitness to “Touch my dick!”, which elicited chants of “TOUCH HIS DICK!” and “JUST THE TIP!” from the crowd. There was an extended sequence of the two of them running the ropes and missing each other about a dozen times, before Joey got winded, called for a time-out, and fished a mini-bottle of whiskey out of his trunks and drank it. (Fitness was taking this time to do jumping jacks and display the quality of his cardio.) At one point Fitness accidentally kicked Joey in the crotch and sold it as if he’d just kicked a brick wall. A significant portion of the match was built around Joey trying to lock in the dick-plex, which he eventually did as the crowd went wild. He went for the pin, but Steve West jumped up on the apron and distracted the ref, allowing Fitness to get in a dirty move and a German suplex. His pin attempt was then foiled by Eddie. Joey reached into his trunks and pulled out another unwrapped Blow-Pop which he stuffed into Fitness’ mouth, paralyzing him and allowing Joey to superkick him for the pin.
Our women’s division match was up next - Taya vs. Christina Von Eerie. Eerie wrestles for Impact and is a former GFW women’s champion, and was accompanied to the ring by her fiancée Scotty Mac, a veteran and co-owner of the Vancouver-based ECCW and billed by Steve Migs as “the most decorated wrestler in the history of the Pacific Northwest”. Taya entered in a long red train with a silver crown, wearing the AAA women’s championship belt (which she’s held for nearly three years now), though this was a non-title match. Pretty solid match, brutal for a women’s fight, if a little bit of a breather after the half-hour of insanity that was Joey Ryan. There was a point where Eerie looked like she was setting up a Pedigree before Taya reversed it into a suplex and got the pin.
The main event was Shane Strickland vs. John Morrison. Morrison made his entrance to “Any Way You Want It”, wearing red-white-and-blue bedazzled jeans, but he was definitely the heel here against the hometown boy. He cut a pre-match heel promo about how Seattle smells like nerdy hipsters and his house in LA smells like movie stars. Morrison was announced as the Lucha Underground Champion, but he didn’t have the belt with him, and this naturally was also a non-title match. Pretty intense clash of styles here - Shane is a top-notch acrobat and Morrison is more of a heavyweight, though he didn’t hesitate to pull some flips of his own. The match wound up outside the ring at one point, with Morrison crawling under the ring to hide. Shane ran around the ring peeking under the apron trying to find him before Morrison ultimately emerged behind him and attacked. Shane had Morrison knocked out from a superkick at one point, and was about to win the match when Taya ran out, grabbed the ref’s ankles, and dragged him out of the ring to stop the count. During the distraction, Morrison managed to land the End of the World and go for a pin of his own, which Shane somehow kicked out of. Taya jumped on the apron and held up the AAA women’s title belt for Morrison to slam Shane’s face into, but at the last minute he kicked the belt out of her hands, Irish-whipped Morrison towards her so he’d stop just before hitting her, then went for another superkick which Morrison ducked out of the way of, causing him to KO Taya instead. Shane followed up with a top-rope foot-stomp on Morrison and then locked him into an armbar, tapping him out for the win.
An impromptu dance-off finished off the show, in which Morrison and Taya showed off their moves to Shane and his (girlfriend, I think?), who’d been working security for the show. Morrison had some pretty impressive breakdancing moves and even managed to pull off the worm, but I think the crowd agreed that Shane won. 
Including a half-hour intermission, the show ran about three hours from beginning to end. One of the most stacked cards I’ve ever seen live, not a single bad match, all the performers got a chance to shine. I only have two real complaints. One, that a floodlight was shining in my eyes the entire show and gave me a raging headache. The other, that it turns out that 110-year-old dancehalls in a part of the country that used to be a lot colder than it is now tend not to have air conditioning, and the place was sweltering hot. They at least left the windows open for ventilation, but all that meant was that the smoke from the hot dog truck in the parking lot was billowing through the room all evening and the whole place stunk of simmering onions all night. (At least the fire alarm didn’t go off this time.)
I already have my ringside seats for DEFY 4 and 5, the two-night event next month at which we’re set to see Cody Rhodes vs. Pentagon Jr., the Tacoma Women’s Cup, Penta and Fenix defending the PWG tag titles against Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish, and the crowning of the first-ever DEFY Champion.
Very looking forward to it.
Round trip from RDU airport to Seattle $450+
Two night pass $135
Maybe Smapti will let me sleep on his couch…
SOLD OUT!
Well, shit.
File this one under #orlandoliving
Crossed the lagoon at Magic Kingdom last night with Johnny Wrestling and his wife, along with a random friend of theirs.
Johnny Garbanzo was decked out in all WWE stuff. A hat, an ultimate warrior shirt and his friend had on Tapout stuff.
Ms Cups was wearing her Royal Rumble shirt but he never noticed. Beats seeing Noam Dar at an Ikea…
What was Noam shopping for at Ikea? Clooooooooocks?
Haha no idea, but I like that idea
Good god. Now I want to hear Noam Dar’s scottish accent reading horribly translated Ikea instructions.
No one would have any clue what he was saying. 
If you’re serious about wanting to come out and see the shows, they’re not completely sold out - just the VIP passes. You can still get 2nd/3rd row, balcony, or standing room.
(No sleeping on my couch, though. My roommate just barely tolerates when my cat does that.) 
I doubt I’ll actually fly out to see DEFY. I can always buy their stream for $10 instead. I still haven’t gone to a RoH show in Concorde 120 miles away because I don’t want to drive that long.
RAM had a decent show last night. They started a whodunit storyline with Enzo getting beat up (what else is new) backstage and The Revival being the obvious suspects. Dean teamed up with the Hardyz vs Mizaromus, after appearing on Talk is Jericho with Jeff because they sound alike. The five soon-to-be-fatal participants have been set up to thoroughly back stab each other repeatedly at the PPV. They figured out the best way to keep Sasha out of competing with Bailey for top babyface is to migrate her over to 205 Live so she can feud with Alicia Fooooooooooox instead. R Troof is being repackaged as Jules Winnfield from Pulp Fiction, complete with bogus bible verses.
WWE doesn’t want to buy Broken Hardyz creative, and Matt unsuccessfully tried to trademark it, so it’s probably going to die a quiet death. Too bad. I would have loved to see some WWE roster get dunked in the Lake of Reincarnation, like Bray Wyatt/Husky Harris, Cesaro/Ice Cream man, and 2010’s Golddust/1990’s Golddust.
Anybody else wanna bet that it’s been Big Cass all along who’s been beating up his own partner Enzo? (A la Triple H/Michaels back in '02?)
Makes sense, Cass is fed up with always having to rescue Enzo’s greasy ass. and slaps him around backstage. Either that or it was Kurt Hawkins with his majorette stick.