Hey all! It’s been a while, and I dearly apologize for that. Personal life got in the way, but I’m thankful that the team at Bodyslam is willing to allow me to come back and do my thing here. So we’re once again heading into the House of Honor, and we’ve got a few Pure matches tonight, as the Women’s Pure Title tournament rolls on. No time like now to get to it!
We open up with a backstage interview with MXM TV; it’s a big night for them as Johnny TV faces AR Fox in the main event, and in mixed six-person tag action, Taya will team with MXM to take on the SkyFlight team of Top Flight and Leila Grey. MXM TV tell us how they’ve been on a roll, and will remain undeSEEDed. But as Johnny asks Mansoor about SEED, we reveal the sad truth that he packed it to bring it with him, but “TSA said my load was too big.” As it was over 3.5 ounces, it is now in the custody of the Department of Homeland Security. It doesn’t matter, because they are ridiculously good looking and ridiculously good wrestlers. They touch tips TO TIPTORY as they send it to the opening sequence with Ian and Caprice running down the card.
MATCH 1 – MXM TV (Mansoor, Mason Madden, and Taya Valkyrie) vs. SkyFlight (Top Flight and Leila Grey)
Ian says his heart rate is at 165 after seeing MXM’s entrance. Speaking from experience, if it’s still that way by the end of the match, I’d highly recommend seeing a doctor in a hurry. Also, I always want to spell Leila’s name with an A. Every. Single. Time. No idea why. Leila and Taya start. Leila seems to be moving a lot faster and looks more aggressive, and it really works for her. Top Flight gets some fun double teams on Mansoor before he tags in Madden who just dribbles Dante off the mat like a basketball before deadlifting him into a choke bomb for two. Impressive stuff. Dante uses his agility to take over on Madden, tags out to Darius, and Taya gets in his face. She gets speared out of the ring by Leila. Some double teams from MXM on Darius give them the advantage, but Top Flight is able to send Madden into Mansoor on the top rope. They take out Madden, catch Mansoor off the top with a double superkick coming down and a double team Angel’s Wings finishes.
SkyFlight def. MXM TV (Dante pins Mansoor) in 6:25 with a double team double underhook facebuster.
MATCH 2 – The Workhorsemen (Anthony Henry & JD Drake) vs. Rosario Grillo & Chance Prophet
Two matches in, two failures to follow the Code of Honor. Prophet by the way is a 26 year pro, and has worked for indies from coast to coast, including working a few Xplosion tapings for TNA back in 2004. Grillo throws a few strikes but a pop-up knee, overhand chop and German suplex by Henry get him in control. Drake comes in with a slingshot senton and positively lights up Grillo with chops. Prophet tags in and he can’t really get anything going with Drake either. Henry takes out Grillo, and Working 9 to 5 (jumping enzugiri/elevated flatliner combo) finishes Prophet. He probably should have seen it coming. Get it? Because Proph….yeah, I’ll show myself out.
The Workhorsemen def. Rosario Grillo & Chance Prophet (Drake pins Prophet) in 2:30 with Working 9 to 5.
Post-match, LFI emerges! The Workhorsemen urge them to come down for a fight, but LFI seems perfectly happy to preen at the top of the entrance ramp. More coming from this, no doubt.
Last week, Billie Starkz advanced in the Women’s Pure Tournament with a win over Olympia, and will face the winner of Serena Deeb and Yuka Sakazaki in the semifinals. Both of those women are in action in Pure rules matches tonight, and Yuka is next!
MATCH 3 – Yuka Sakazaki vs. Zoey Lynn – Pure Rules Match
CODE OF HONOR FOLLOWED. It’s a Festivus Miracle. 30 seconds in, Zoey uses a rope break to get out of a hammerlock. Yuka hits a number of quick strikes, with an arm drag and a dropkick to send Zoey outside. A baseball slide dropkick and a clothesline follow before Yuka sends Zoey back in for two. Zoey gets some distance off a charge and hits a nice missile dropkick for two. Yuka uses a tarantula style headscissor choke in the ropes, and Rick Knox opts not to charge a rope break for it. Ian emphasizes that things like that are referee’s choice. Zoey gets a nice mushroom stomp and hits a nasty neckbreaker for two. Zoey misses a charge, Yuka throws some strikes, ducks a kick, throws a question mark kick, and hits a hammerlock spinning slam for the win.
Yuka Sakazaki pins Zoey Lynn with a hammerlock spinning slam in 4:23.
We cut to a vignette of a FRAT HOUSE PARTY at some random house. Their house? It’s not super clear. The Blue Meanie is there, as is Burnard the Business Bear. But the party is broken up as COACH BUZZ STERN shows up, saying that this is an HOA violation, and they need to “cool it.” But when the Frat House steps up to fight him about it we learn that it’s a pun because Coach Buzz Stern’s more well known gimmick was GLACIER. Garrison gets taken out with a thrus to the throat, and Karter gets chokeslammed through the beer pong table. Glacier takes off his mask to answer a call, saying that he “cooled things down” and he’d head back to the office. Vance reminds everyone that win or lose, they BOOOOOOOOZE, before the owner of the house comes out and kicks everyone off his property. Everyone scatters (including Meanie hiding his head in a bucket while he runs away), before Karter wakes up and declares himself “way too sober for this.” It falls into one of my favorite categories of things: dumb, harmless fun. And it’s fun to see Burnard still hanging around.
MATCH 4 – The Frat House (Griff Garrison, Cole Karter and Preston Vance) vs. Nick Hamrick, Casey King & Corey Sparks
Corey is no relation, by the way. During the entrance, Jacked Jameson gives what’s honestly a pretty sad summation of what the Frat House is all about. Basically, they’re not college students, they’re not pretending to be, they’re “grown ass men who like to get blackout drunk and will knock you out and take your girl.” I don’t know, at the risk of editorializing a bit, beyond a certain point, you don’t really hate those guys, you just feel bad for them. I’m not sure that this was a gimmick clarification that was strictly needed. Not much to speak of here as The Frat House attack before the bell and the beat down is on. The Frat House just dominates these three right from the jump. Before I can process who’s doing what, Hamrick gets decked in rapid succession with a spinning elbow from Garrison, a discus lariat from Vance, and eats a 450 from Karter for the fall.
The Frat House def. Nick Hamrick, Casey King & Cory Sparks (Karter pins Hamrick) with a 450 splash in 2:18.
We go backstage to LFI who lay out a challenge for The Workhorsemen. Sammy says The Workhorsemen are winners tonight, but LFI are winning every day. When The Workhorsemen want to step up, they’ll be waiting. Sammy says nobody hits harder than Rush. Rush reminds us that when you mess with the bull you get the horns.
MATCH 5 – Aaron Solo vs. Jay Lethal
Solo attacks Lethal during his entrance including a nice dive to the outside, but Lethal sends him into the barricade and scores with a suicide dive. Lethal sends him back in and we finally ring the bell. We’re now 1-for-5 with the Code of Honor tonight by the way. Lethal tries twice for the Lethal Injection early, but Solo dodges or reverses both times. He also gets two off an inside cradle counter to the Figure Four. Lethal Hail to the King is countered into a crucifix. He goes up for it again, but this time lands on his feet when Solo tries to get the boot up. He goes back and forth before grabbing a Figure Four but Solo quickly makes the ropes. Solo dodges another Lethal Injection and drops Lethal with a clothesline and a big kick for two. Solo goes up top but Lethal traps him. He goes for the superplex, but Solo counters into an avalanche gourdbuster, following with a double stomp for two. Royal Butterfly countered by Lethal into a dragon screw leg whip, and Lethal adds another. As Solo is struggling to get up, Lethal nails the Lethal Injection for the win. Honestly, a decent match with a simple story. Solo is the young hungry kid who watched Lethal for years growing up, and knows how to counter all his usual stuff, so Lethal, the wily veteran, now has to find new ways to set up what he wants to do. It doesn’t have to be Shakespeare to be a story, kids.
Jay Lethal pins Aaron Solo with the Lethal Injection in 4:58.
MATCH 6 – The Premier Athletes (Tony Nese, Aria Daivari & Stori Denali) vs. Cowpoke Paul, Gen Z & Reese Ramone
Before the introductions we get a look back at Denali’s debut last week. Nese says that Sterling almost came with them this week, but decided that he’d rather tear his other bicep than go to West Virginia. The crowd responds by helpfully informing them that the Athletes Suck. This despite Daivari’s CLEAR instructions that they were to say Athletes Rule and NOTHING ELSE. Oh well, there’s always next week. CODE OF HONOR FOLLOWED. Fantastic. Daivari and Gen Z start. Things don’t go well for him against Daivari or Nese, so Cowpoke Paul comes in. Things don’t go much better. Paul gets dropkicked into the corner, and in tags Reese Ramone, bringing in Denali. Ramone tries to work the midsection, and nothing happens. Ramone hits the ropes and eats a big boot. Gen Z eats a jumping big boot/stomp combo. Ian is able to make a joke about what actually is destroying Gen Z. It turns out it’s not climate change, or cellphones, or anything else, it’s Stori Denali. As a sucker for wordplay and silly jokes, I can’t really complain, now can I? Denali grabs both Paul and Ramone, chokeslams Paul, and nails a spinebuster on Ramone for the win.
The Premier Athletes def. Cowpoke Paul, Gen Z & Reese Ramone (Denali pins Ramone) with a spinebuster in 2:58.
A video package on Serena Deeb! She has been here for five years, and has nothing to show for it. She says she’s done waiting and the Women’s Pure Wrestling Title is made for her. She says she’ll beat everyone in this tournament and cement her legacy by becoming the first ever Women’s Pure Champion.
MATCH 7 – Serena Deeb vs. Katie Arquette – Pure Rules Match
Ian hits the wayback machine and reminds us that Katie took part in Serena’s Professor’s Challenge on Dynamite way back in February of 2022, and worked a Dark Elevation taping just before Ian joined the company. Cagematch says it was a loss to Jade Cargill. They also met on another Elevation in August of 2022. Her longest match with Serena to date was clocked at 2:03 on Cagematch. Hopefully she can outlast it. CODE OF HONOR FOLLOWED. Deeb is in total control from the jump, with a mixture of chain wrestling, speed, and striking. Deeb gets a nice hammerlock lariat, and makes Arquette quickly tap out with an Octopus Stretch. There wasn’t much here, honestly, as Yuka’s opponent earlier in the night got a little bit more. Just a squash of a Pure match to set up the upcoming tournament quarterfinals.
Serena Deeb def. Katie Arquette with an Octopus Stretch in 2:26.
Deeb follows the Code of Honor after the match (that also makes 3 for 7 total tonight, by the way), and as she goes to leave, there’s Yuka Sakazaki at the top of the ramp! The two face off, and Serena offers a handshake, which Yuka accepts, before heading to the back. We take one more look at the brackets. The two remaining quarterfinal matches are Deonna Purrazzo vs. Trish Adora (winner meets Queen Aminata) and Serena Deeb vs. Yuka Sakazaki (winner meets Billie Starkz). No word when the finals are, but I wonder if this is a thing they’re going to try to stretch all the way to Final Battle?
MATCH 8 – Billie Starkz & Diamante vs. Alex Windsor & Sareee
Sareee is the reigning IWGP Women’s Champion, which she won by defeating Syuri back in June in STARDOM. Speaking of which, she won her block in this year’s STARDOM 5 Star Grand Prix, only to lose in the quarterfinals to eventual tournament winner Momo Watanabe; this despite already beating Watanabe in block action earlier in the tournament. As far as I’m aware, this is not only the first time she and Windsor have teamed, but the first time they’ve been in the ring together. This is also only the fourth time Sareee has wrestled in the United States since her last match for WWE in the summer of 2022. No Code of Honor as Billie and Diamante choose to shake hands with each other and turn their backs on Windsor and Sareee. Windsor starts with Billie and ties her up before tagging in Sareee who makes her eat a dropkick with gusto. A few more kicks and Windsor tags back in with a couple of double teams. Diamante blind tags off a hammer throw into the ropes, sweeps out Windsor’s leg, and slingshots in with an elbow for two. Diamante sends Windsor into the corner, hammers her down and hits a hesitation dropkick for two. Billie tags back in as a double suplex gets two. The Minions isolate Windsor in the corner, and double team her. Windsor works to fight free only to get caught with a leaping clothesline by Billie, who immediately transitions it into a hanging DDT. Windsor eats a knee and bounces off the ropes into a big headbutt for a double down. Both women tag and Sareee scores a rollup on Diamante for two, and then grabs a Muta Lock, even capturing both arms in the process, for a gorgeous looking submission move. Sareee releases and goes to the second rope for a second rope double stomp, but Billie interrupts with a Swanton to break up the pinfall. Sareee tags in Windsor, but Diamante takes them both out in a fantastic second flurry, culminating in a stunner on Windsor for two. Diamante goes for something but Sareee interrupts with a headbutt and an overhead suplex, and Windsor finishes with a sharpshooter.
Alex Windsor and Sareee def. Billie Starkz and Diamante (Windsor sub. Diamante) with a sharpshooter in 8:36.
We go to some clips from Lee Moriarty’s recent appearance on Close Up with Renee Paquette, available now on the AEW YouTube channel.
MATCH 9 – BEEF vs. Dralistico
I don’t know if it’s supposed to be stylized like that, but I feel like it should be. It feels like a name that should be all caps. Dralistico does not follow the Code of Honor, but I’m willing to allow this, because even in Sinclair Era ROH, I’m fairly sure I remember LFI not following that too often, and it jives with their whole thing as a group. Dralistico quickly takes control on the outside. Dralistico scores with a kneelift while BEEF is draped off the ring apron. Back in the ring, BEEF fires back, but Dralistico fires back with overhand chops. Dralistico drops the TRANQUILO pose in the corner, and BEEF fires up, coming back with some big strikes. Dralistico escapes the mounted corner punches, takes out BEEF’s knees and hits an elevated double stomp for two. A springboard lungblower finishes.
Dralistico pins BEEF with a springboard lungblower in 4:02.
Post-match, LFI continues the beat down, Rush grabs the cable to choke out BEEF but The Workhorsemen interrupt. They run off LFI, and it looks like we have the makings of a feud there.
Backstage, Alex Windsor points out that she recently challenged for the IWGP Women’s Title against Syuri–this was back in June for EVE in the UK. She says that when the match was announced, all Sareee had to say was “Who is she?” Windsor plans on answering that question by challenging Sareee for her title. Honestly, this promo felt weird coming off them teaming and seemingly getting along and having a lovely time earlier in the broadcast but because Ian confirms that Tony Khan confirms that that match will in fact happen NEXT WEEK on ROH TV, I am willing to look past it because Sarreee and Alex Windsor are going to wrestle on ROH TV and it’s going to be very good professional wrestling.
MATCH 10 – Johnny TV vs. AR Fox
Madden is very tired and sore, Taya has a bit of a limp, and Mansoor struggles through the pre-match poses. But they’re able to hold it together for their pre-match pose. Code of Honor followed (bringing the final total for the night of 4-for-10) and Fox takes over quickly with some unexpected offense, as this match feels like it’ll have a lot of unorthodox offense. Multiple times in the early going, Johnny is able to dump Fox to the floor where MXM is able to do more damage. Johnny goes for a dive, but Taya interrupts for a kiss. Taya bends through the ropes to distract Fox, and Johnny then leaps over her with a twisting running plancha. I mean, getting paid to kiss your wife on TV is a solid gig, as Ian and Caprice point out. Back in the ring, Fox is able to take back over with a pendulum DDT and a series of kicks, before a rolling cutter gets two. Fox dodges a slingshot senton by Johnny by diving to the apron, then hits one of his own, before rolling through, hitting a dive onto MXM, then quickly back in for a no-hands plancha onto Johnny on the other side. A Swanton gets a long two. He set Johnny up on the top rope but gets distracted by Taya. Johnny scores with a superkick, goes for his flipping neckbreaker, but Fox escapes and rolls Johnny up for the win!
AR Fox pins Johnny TV with a schoolboy rollup in 6:47.
Post-match, MXM TV are beside themselves, while Fox wisely escapes to the floor. We get a graphic in the corner about next week’s IWGP Women’s Title match and Fox celebrates while Ian wishes us HAPPY WRESTLING, EVERYBODY!
THE NUMBERS
Total Episode Time: 1:20:40
Total Match Time: 45:23 (56.2%)
Average Match Time: 4:32
