We had the last two matches of the first round in the Dusty Rhodes Memorial Tag-Team classic tonight with four teams battling it out for the last two spots. We also had women’s division action plus an epic return by a former WWE Superstar. Read on for more details.
#DIY (Johnny Gargano and Tomasso Ciampa) vs Hoho Lun and Tian Bing
We got another first-round match in the Dusty Rhodes Tag-Team Classic to start us off tonight. Ciampa and Bing started us off tonight with Ciampa failing to make headway with shoulder charges to the much bigger Bing before Lun got tagged in and they hit tandem elbows to Ciampa.
Ciampa managed to tag in Gargano but the boys from #DIY failed to connect with the double-team move. Gargano and Lun traded kicks with Lun managing to get a 2-count after a middle-rope dropkick before Ciampa got tagged back in.
Ciampa delivered a vicious chop and a lariat that almost took Hoho Lun’s head off before Gargano tagged himself in and hit Lun with a slingshot spear through the middle rope. #DIY then hit Hoho Lun with their patented double-team Superkick-knee combo for the win.
#DIY def. Hoho Lun and Tian Bing
Gargano and Ciampa will face The Revival in the next round.
TJ Perkins and Kota Ibushi are backstage speaking to Dasha Fuentes. Perkins says that their epic semi-final match at the Cruiserweight Classic led to a deep mutual respect, and when Hideo Itami was declared unable to compete, he jumped at the chance to tag with Ibushi.
Samoa Joe is backstage talking to Dasha Fuentes. Dasha asks Joe about his failed sneak-up on Nakamura last week but Joe refutes this saying that he’s just evening the odds. He says that Nakamura started the mind games but Joe is in the middle of psychological warfare.
Billie Kay vs Aliyah
Billie Kay and Peyton Royce sent out a warning to the NXT women’s division last week on NXT, and Billie is back this week taking on Aliyah (with Peyton Royce at ringside). Billie Kay took control early and went about trying her best to slap Aliyah around who hit back with repeated forearms followed by a neckbreaker and a running axe-kick to the corner.
As Billie Kay looked to take control with a lariat, Liv Morgan attacked Peyton Royce at ringside, which distracted Billie Kay for a few seconds, allowing Aliyah to roll her up for the pinfall.
Aliyah def. Billie Kay
As Liv Morgan entered the ring and attacked Billie Kay, Royce followed her and jumped her from behind. Kay and Royce pounded Morgan until Aliyah made her way back into the ring to try and even the odds for Liv Morgan.
However, the Aussies got the better of Aliyah and Liv Morgan. Royce took Aliyah out with a running boot to the face before laying Morgan out with a face-buster right on Billie Kay’s knee.
Noah Potjes vs Tye Dillinger
The ‘Perfect 10’ was in action tonight against Noah Potjes. This match was quick, with Dillinger making short work of his opponent in a glorified squash.
Dillinger hit Potjes with his signature 10 stomps on the corner before hitting him with the Tye Breaker for the quick win.
Tye Dillinger def. Noah Potjes
Mike Rose asks Tye Dillinger about Bobby Roode in a post-match interview with Dillinger replying that the only glorious thing Bobby Roode had done in recent weeks was run. An irate Roode attacked Dillinger from behind and gave him a DDT on the entrance ramp, laying him out.
Asuka vs Thea Trinidad
The first thing I noticed from this match was that Thea Trinidad was wrestling with huge earrings on….why?
As you may have predicted, Thea Trinidad got absolutely steamrolled by Asuka who hit her with a running hip attack followed by a devastating German Suplex. She followed it up with a Fujiwara Armbar for a win via tap out.
Asuka def. Thea Trinidad
William Regal came out after the match and announced that he had scoured the globe for Asuka’s next opponent before revealing it to be former WWE Women’s Champion Mickey James. James warned Asuka that she was coming for the NXT Women’s Championship in Toronto and that it’d be an international incident.
Lince Dorado and Mustafa Ali vs Kota Ibushi and TJ Perkins
TJP started the match off against Lince Dorado. They begin by locking up before quickly moving onto an intense high-flying sequence which ended with them shaking hands and tagging in their respected partners.
Ibushi had Ali down in the mat and repeatedly tried to pin him with different variations by Ali powered out eventually and bounced off the top rope which he followed with a dropkick which Ibushi followed with one of his own.
We headed to a commercial after this and came back to Ali and Perkins going at it. TJP went for the knee bar but Ali scratched and crawled to make it to the ropes. Dorado and Ali then went for a double-team on Ibushi who dodged and hit them with a double Pelle Kick followed by a sweet powerslam.
With Ali on the outside, Ibushi hits him with a triangle moonsault to the outside to take him out leaving TJP and Dorado in the ring. Perkins capitalized with a wrecking ball dropkick following which he looked for a kneebar which got reversed into a pin by Dorado for the nearfall. Ali then came back in to take out Ibushi but unfortunately for him Perkins managed to get him into the kneebar resulting in Mustafa Ali tapping out.
Kota Ibushi and TJ Perkins def. Lince Dorado and Mustafa Ali
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