IT’S WEDNESDAY NIGHT. YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS!
Heya folks! We’re in the homestretch on the road to Double or Nothing, which means we’re one step closer to finding out who the very first winner(s) are of the Owen Hart Foundation Memorial Tournaments! Just “last week,” Samoa Joe and Kyle O’Reilly advanced to the semifinals on the men’s side. Speaking of semifinals, Adam Cole beat Jeff Hardy in their semifinal match to win his side of the bracket and advance to the finals at Double or Nothing! Has anybody heard from Giant Gonzalez lately?
POP: Caged Animal
It’s almost over. And I’m excited about that. We get Special Guest referee MJF (complete with his scarfed referee shirt) out to the ring first. He’s followed out by Shawn Spears, who is wearing a mask very similar to the last Chairman of a wrestling company. Of course, Wardlow gets his customary handcuffs with no music entrance. Alternatively, MJF somehow couldn’t find the handcuff key so Wardlow gets the shit kicked out of him by MJF and Spears for the first few minutes.
As a human being, I don’t know if I’d let someone spit in my face. Granted, Wardlow is making good enough money but hey, when MJF spits in his face, he busts the handcuff chain and is now free to use his hands. The best part of this is that he wrestled the entire match with his hands still in handcuffs. He just didn’t have a chain connecting them. After Spears accidentally whacks MJF’s head off with the chair (heh), he eats a vicious Powerbomb Symphony and Bryce Remsburg runs down to count the three! As one would expect, Wardlow beats the hell out of all the security guards and the next time we see MJF and Wardlow, they’re going to be ready to fight each other!
POP: Passion Promos
I don’t have much to say on this one. Just watch this segment between AEW World Champion Hangman Adam Page and #1 Contender CM Punk. Both men did a good job of setting up the match on Sunday but my god, Adam Page was on a completely different level here. When he punches CM Punk? *Chef’s Kiss* I’ll take passionate promos about anything 100% of the time. Love me some good ol’ passion!
BOTCH: Private Beating – Party of Two
Oh man. This is an unfair match straight out of the gate. William Regal and Chris Jericho (with his Appreciation Society) are on commentary while Jon Moxley and Eddie Kingston team up for the first time since September of last year. They jump Private Party right on the ramp, and the beating is on. Regardless of the small offense Private Party gets in, it’s over before you know it. Naturally, the Society of Jericho Appreciators jumps Moxley and Kingston, which brings out Pride & Powerful. Daniel Bryanson shows up too and the stage is set for Anarchy in the Arena this Sunday at Double or Nothing!
POP: FT Roppongi
Roppongi Vice comes out for their match against Ring of Honor (and AAA) tag team champions, FTR. At first I was confused. Are they wrestling under Roppongi Vice because Chuck Taylor, Kris Statlander, and Orange Cassidy wouldn’t let them use the Best Friends name? Are they even best friends at all? I mean, if I was Chuck Taylor, I’d be pissed that my best friend is out here traipsing around with another partner.
There’s no doubt that Roppongi Vice have teamed together, and rather well at that. Their chemistry against FTR is evident from the start. They almost got the win a couple of times. They were even able to hit Strong Zero on Dax but with no luck, as Cash is able to break up the pin. Right after that, though, two large, angry men run down to cause the disqualification. Apparently, Jeff Cobb and Great-O-Kahn are pissed and demolish FTR about it. The segment ends with United Empire holding the Ring of Honor tag titles aloft!
BOTCH: Dancing. But Three Ways.
In a preview of Sunday’s Triple Threat Tag Team Championship match at Double or Nothing, we get Ricky Starks, Swerve Strickland, and Jungle Boy representing their respective teams in a three-way dance. Wow. That was a lot of words. Anyway, this match doesn’t move my needle at all. All three men give it hell throughout the entire match but it’s a match on the card just to show that one team “could” win. Now, historically, we know that if you win on the go-home show, you’re not likely to win on Sunday so we’re about to find out which team is starting in the hole!
It turns out, that team is Swerve In Our Glory…or whatever they’re calling themselves as a tag team! Swerve stomps the shit out of Starks from the top rope and gets the W on behalf of he and Keith Lee. Then the fireworks start. Hobbs comes out to attack, which brings out Luchasaurus. This, in turn, brings out Keith Lee. My goodness is Keith Lee a giant man. The hosses stand toe-to-toe before throwing fists at each other. Keith Lee even hits a slingshot attack on the other two on the outside. Swerve In Our Glory stands tall heading into Double or Nothing! Bummer for them.
POP: Hart-Fought Contest
Here we go! High stakes women’s match to see who advances to the finals of the Women’s Owen Hart Foundation Memorial Tournament! Tonight, we get Dr. Britt Baker (say it with me — D.M.D.) and Toni Storm. These are two of the very best women’s wrestlers on the planet right now, even if both of their stars have dimmed (Baker losing the women’s title and Storm being grossly under-utilized in the other company). Baker doesn’t care about any of that though. She damn near broke Storm’s nose by throwing her into the stairs. Storm’s nose would be bloody throughout the rest of the match.
Unfortunately for her, she doesn’t have friends willing to come down and help her. Baker, however, absolutely does. Jaime Hayter runs down to distract Storm, which briefly works. When she goes for the Storm Zero, Baker counters it into an Air Raid attempt then drops onto Storm’s arms when she wiggles out. Baker gets the three count and we have our first finalist on the women’s side for Double or Nothing! So yes, that means the first two finalists in the tournaments are famous celeb couple Dr. Britt Baker and Adam Cole (baybay!). They wouldn’t, would they…..?
POP: Hartless
Here we go! Let the fireworks begin. We get a match I’ve personally never seen before in rising star Kyle O’Reilly and absolutely 100% established, Samoa Joe. The commentary team is really selling Samoa Joe’s shoulder injury from last year. They do a good job explaining why O’Reilly is focusing on it, which helps enhance the match. This match, however, needed no further enhancing. These two go after each other from bell to bell and it felt like they didn’t hold a single thing back.
I feel like O’Reilly’s urgency was in hopes of proving to the world that he could face his Super Elite partner Adam Cole and win. Samoa Joe had other plans for Kyle O’Reilly, though. He slips behind O’Reilly and puts him right to sleep. That means on Sunday, we are going to get Samoa Joe one-on-one against Adam Cole at Double or Nothing! Cole’s music hits and he comes out to talk shit to Joe as the show goes off the air!
Double or Nothing is going to be insane, you guys. We have a hell of a card. I can’t wait to (finally) watch! I plan on seeing you guys next week for the Double or Nothing P&B as well as a HUGE announcement! Stay tuned!
I hope you enjoy your week, everyone! Feel free to leave a comment below (good or bad, I’ll answer them all!) and share the column with your friends, family and followers. And seriously, join the Discord for good talk with good people. You can find me on there, Instagram or Twitter (all are @robbywardshow). Please hit me up with what you liked, what you hated, what you think I can change. I’m all ears! Wrestling united!
