 Jake Strong def. Aerostar, Dante Fox, King Cuerno, Big Bad Steve, PJ Black and Hernandez in a Seven to Survive Match to Win the Gift of the Gods ChampionshipI really like it when Lucha Underground devotes an entire episode to just one match. It makes it feel special and allows the action to breathe a bit, especially when there are as many competitors involved as there were here. All seven stars had their time to shine and I largely agreed with the order of the eliminations. It was smart to get a guy such as Hernandez out early, while leaving the likes of Aerostar, Cuerno and Fox in there until the end. It was an exciting affair on the whole, though I can't say I'm a fan of the aggressive push Strong is getting. I wasn't surprised he won the title, but he simply isn't an interesting future Lucha Underground Championship challenger to me as of now. Overall ShowAs noted, it's cool when the full hour of Lucha Underground is taken up by one match. You can't do that all the time, but on occasion, it's a treat. This was a fun multi-man match that I'm glad had a show dedicated to it instead of it being shoehorned into Ultima Lucha 4, which is already stacked. Speaking of Ultima Lucha 4, the two-part season finale kicks off next week and I'm extremely excited for it. If past installments have been any indication, it should be a blast.
0 Comments
 Mike Kanellis def. Lince DoradoWhile Dorado was probably a good first opponent for Kanellis on 205 Live, I was surprised by how competitive this ended up being. It should have been an extended squash for Kanellis in order to allow him to showcase his skills, but Dorado actually had the stronger showing between the two. Obviously, I'm glad Kanellis picked up the victory, but he could definitely do better and should have made more of an impact in his in-ring debut for the brand. Mustafa Ali def. Hideo Itami in a Falls Count Anywhere MatchThese two have had a hell of a feud over the last few months and the storytelling has just been spectacular. They've done a terrific job of playing up their bad blood for each other and, as always, Ali makes it incredibly easy for fans to rally behind him. This was easily the best bout these two have had together and they more than made the most of the stipulation by taking their fight all around ringside. The finish was especially fantastic with Ali delivering a 450 Splash to Itami through a table, definitively putting their rivalry and earning himself a spot in next week's No. 1 Contender's match against Tony Nese in the process.
 Ligero def. Mike HitchmanI got my first glimpse of Ligero in this year's WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament and I was impressed by what I saw. He brings a unique Lucha-esque style of wrestling to the NXT UK brand and he had a nice little match here with Hitchman. Speaking of whom, he had plenty of aggression and fared well for himself, but he didn't do much to stand out as special in my eyes. This was a good way of kicking off the show. Dakota Kai def. Killer KellyI was wondering why Kai has away from NXT TV in recent months. Perhaps it's because there simply isn't anything for her creatively at the moment, but it also could be due to her slowly becoming more of a fixture on the NXT UK brand. I hope she continues to appear on both brands because she was picking up real momentum in NXT's women's division earlier this year. Anyway, this was a solid match between her and Kelly, who had a strong showing in this year's Mae Young Classic. During a post-match promo, Kai staked her claim at the NXT UK Women's Championship, which I'm sure will be instituted soon.
 #AskGSM is a weekly Q&A video where I, Graham "GSM" Matthews answer fan questions from Facebook, Twitter and YouTube in regards to the world of wrestling. Nothing is off limits, and this week’s edition touches upon a variety of topics including:
 ROH World Tag Team Champions The Briscoes def. Coast to CoastCoast to Coast have been on quite the roll in tag team action throughout 2018 and recently returned to action on ROH TV. Unfortunately, I don't think the crowd once saw them as threats to the tag titles considering they hardly reacted to the nearfalls, but this was a really nice opener, nonetheless. I was pleasantly surprised that Coast to Coast scored as much offense as they did before being defeated. Here's hoping this isn't the last time we'll see them in the title picture. Jeff Cobb def. Punishment Martinez to Win the ROH World Television ChampionshipI wouldn't be shocked if Ring of Honor planned on stretching this feud out for a while but were forced to rush it due to Martinez's ROH contract expiring (he has since reported to the WWE Performance Center). Thus, they wasted no time in getting the belt on Cobb, which led to a big reaction from the live crowd. Honestly, I was a bit disappointed that we didn't end up getting the great match from these two that I know they're capable of, but I don't blame ROH for wanting to book Cobb like an unstoppable beast and having him squash Martinez on his way out.
|
Categories
All
Archives
July 2025
|
RSS Feed