Weekend 3 Count 1/15/17

By Brandon Albright, @B_Rock1978

Wrestling Lockup with Brandon, brought to you by Triple Threat CLE brings you the Weekend 3 Count. W3C brings you wrestling news, rumors and recaps from around the wrestling world. You'll find news and recaps involving WWE, NXT, TNA, ROH, Lucha Underground, GFW, NJPW, House of Hardcore and any Indy promotion that I find an interesting story or a cool discovery in. Be sure to check out the W3C every Sunday afternoon at @TripleThreatCLE

*** WWE ***

- Chris Jericho Wins The WWE United States Championship: If you missed RAW last Monday night, head on back to my RAW Recap this week and check out how Chris Jericho became the new WWE United States Champion.

- Chris Jericho Making History For Himself: With Chris Jericho winning the WWE United States Championship last Monday, Jericho has now held every single title ever invented in the WWE. Since WWE owns all of the rights to WCW I guess you can include the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, WCW Cruiserweight Championship and WCW Television Championship to this list too? Maybe? WWE wise, Jericho has won the WWE Undisputed World Championship, World Heavyweight Championship, WWE Intercontinental Championship, WWE United States Championship, WWE European Championship, WWE Hardcore Championship, WWE Undisputed World Tag Team Championship and the WWE World Tag Team Championship.

- The Undertaker Returns: This past Monday on RAW, The Undertaker returned to officially announce that he will be entering this year's Royal Rumble match and looking to main event Wrestlemania 33.

- Brock Lesnar On RAW Tomorrow: Last Monday, WWE officially announced that The Beast Brock Lesnar will be on RAW tomorrow night. Lesnar will more than likely be hyping his involvement in this year's Royal Rumble match.

- Brock Lesnar and Goldberg Face To Face: WWE recently announced that the RAW show in Cleveland one week before the WWE Royal Rumble will have both Lesnar and Goldberg on the show. WWE originally were going to save Lesnar and Goldberg from meeting each other again until the actual Royal Rumble match, but it looks like that idea has changed.

- Triple H Comments On NJPW's Kenny Omega: NJPW's Kenny Omega has been the major topic throughout the whole month of January so far. Omega's contract with NJPW is set to expire at the end of January and many rumors are pointing at Omega arriving in the WWE soon. Triple H was recently asked about how he felt about the Omega, who has solidified a name for himself over in Japan and if he'd want Omega in the WWE. Triple H stated the following:

"As far as Kenny Omega goes, I'm just interested in talent, period. If somebody is talented as a performer and they wanna come work for the WWE, if they wanna come to the largest platform in the world where they can truly show what they do off on a global basis, then WWE is the choice for them. If they wanna come work for us and they're very talented, then I'm interested in talking to them, and that's across the board. To me, anytime anybody questions me on a talent, am I interested in them? The fact that you're questioning me on them means that person is probably pretty talented, so, yes, I'm interested."

- WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament Brackets Revealed: The WWE revealed the official 16 man tournament bracket this past Tuesday for the upcoming WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament. The winner of the tournament will be crowned the first ever WWE United Kingdom Champion.

- WWE United Kingdom Championship  Reveal: Triple H recently revealed the new WWE United Kingdom Championship, which the winner of the United Kingdom Championship Tournament will take as their prize.

- WWE Hire A New Announcer: One of our own sports announcers in Cleveland was just hired on as a WWE Announcer this past week. According to PWInsider, WWE hired announcer Vic Travagliante. Vic will reportedly use the name Vic Joseph. Vic has been the voice of House of Hardcore and has previously worked for the Cleveland Browns Network, CBS Cleveland and was heard on 92.3 The Fan on Cleveland radio.

- Hall Of Fame News: Last week it was officially announced that Diamond Dallas Page and Ravishing Rick Rude have been chosen for the 2017 Hall of Fame. According to Brian Alvarez from Wrestling Observer Radio, the following names are being talked about possibly going into the Hall of Fame this year: NXT GM William Regal, Christian, Mike Rotunda (I.R.S.) and The Natural Disasters.

-- 205 Live Recap --
Tonight's main event saw WWE Cruiserweight Champion Rich Swann battle Tony Nese in a one on one match. Jack Gallagher also held his Parley with Ariya Daivari to try to bury the hatchet.

-- Noam Dar vs. Cedric Alexander: The match closes out with Dar countering the Lumbar Check and nails Alexander with a handspring kick for a near fall. Dar rolls up Alexander, grabs his trunks and gets another near fall. Alexander goes to the top rope, but Dar shoves him off into the ring post. Alexander regains himself and goes for a moonsault, but Alicia Fox pulls Dar out of the way. Dar hits a running kick and scores the pinfall. After the match, Alicia kisses then slaps Dar in the face.
Winner: Noam Dar, by pinfall.

-- Brian Kendrick vs. Sean Maluta: The match closes out with Maluta hitting a DDT, but misses Rolling Thunder on Kendrick. Maluta kicks Kendrick, hits two suplexes and then a core buster. Maluta goes to the top rope, but Kendrick counters a frog splash by getting his knees up. Kendrick applies the Captain's Hook submission and forces Maluta to tap out.
Winner: Brian Kendrick, by submission.

- Backstage, Cedric Alexander kicks Alicia Fox to the curb and Alicia snaps into Crazy Alicia.

- Jack Gallagher and Ariya Daivari's Parley: Gallagher and Daivari meet in the ring. Gallagher says this little scuffle between them needs to end. Daivari says he's not a gentleman, he's here to squash guys like Gallagher and Gallagher should be here to surrender. Gallagher challenges Daivari to an I Forfeit Match, which Daivari accepts. Gallagher and Daivari start brawling and are separated by officials.

- Rich Swann vs. Tony Nese: The match closes out with Nese countering a Tiger Bomb by Swann, unloads a fury of strikes and then a double stomp on Swann, for a near fall. Swann plants Nese with the Tiger Bomb on the next attempt and gets a near fall. Swann hits some chops and then finally the Swann Song to score the pinfall. After the match, Swann mocks Neville, calls 205 Live his show and says that he's still the champ. Neville arrives and he and Swann take verbal jabs at each other. Neville challenges Swann for the title at the WWE Royal Rumble and Swann accepts to end the show. 

*** NXT ***

- Talent Name Changes: WWE announced that they have changed the ring names of two of their up and coming NXT talents. Tommy End has  changed his name to Aleister Black and Big Damo has had his name changed to Killian Dain.

- Is It Time To Debut Samoa Joe On The Main Roster?: As of this writing Samoa Joe has no match signed for NXT Takeover: San Antonio, leaving many to believe that Joe may finally make his main roster debut in the WWE in the Royal Rumble Match. Right now in NXT, Joe just ended his fall/winter long feud with Shinsuke Nakamura and looks to have nothing left to prove in NXT, after becoming the first 2 Time NXT World Champion. Many fans are thinking that the debut is finally here and RAW and Smackdown Live will be fighting over Joe's services for their show.

- Shane Thorne Injured: WWE recently announced that Shane Thorne of TM61 will be out of action for several months as he will be getting surgery on his knee. Thorne suffered the injury in a tag match against The Revival which was taped at the beginning of January and will air on NXT TV on January 25th.

- First Look At Kassius Ohno and Kimber Lee: With Kassius Ohno (Chris Hero) returning to NXT and Kimber Lee currently training at the Performance Center for a future NXT debut, I figured I'd give you a first look at both superstars for those of you not firmiliar with the independent wrestlers.

Chris Hero vs. Kimber Lee at Beyond Wrestling:



*** TNA ***
-- TNA Impact Recap --
A double main event highlighted TNA Impact this week. The Broken Hardy's defended their TNA World Tag Team Championship against The Wolves. Bobby Lashley battled Ethan Carter in a Last Man Standing Match with the winner becoming the #1 Contender to the TNA World Heavyweight Championship.

-- Backstage, The Broken Hardy's promise to delete The Wolves tonight.

-- Ethan Carter Promo: EC3 says that all he ever wanted was a fair title match, but it seems that The Wolves are colluding against him. EC3 calls out The Wolves but Bobby Lashley arrives instead. Lashley says the difference between he and EC3 is Lashley will do anything to win the title. Lashley handed EC3 a steel chair to use on Eddie Edwards last week, but he refused, so it's EC3's problem that he lost. Lashley challenges EC3 to a Last Man Standing Match with the winner meeting Eddie Edwards for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. EC3 accepts, a brawl breaks out between the two and security separates both men.

-- "Last Man Standing, #1 Contenders Match": Bobby Lashley vs. Ethan Carter: The match is made official and starts now. The match closes out with Lashley hitting a spine buster on EC3 then lays EC3 on a table. EC3 counters a spear, hits the One Percenter and then spears Lashley through the table. Lashley rolls to the floor where EC3 grabs a steel chair and unloads on Lashley with it. Lashley is laid out, but gets up at a 9 count. EC3 applies a sleeper hold on Lashley while on the apron. Lashley falls backwards with EC3 on his back and both men crash through two tables at ringside. Lashley just beats the 10 count to win the match and become the #1 Contender.

-- Backstage, Eli Drake and Tyrus disrupt the TNA staff.

-- Aron Rex and Rockstar Spud Promo: Aron Rex and Rockstar Spud appear with new gimmicks. Rex has on a long white fur coat and rings on his fingers and Spud is dressed like a chauffer. Rex says that people don't pay to see him wrestle, they just pay to see him. Robbie E interrupts Rex and Spud and make fun of their new gimmick together. Rex and Spud beat down Robbie E and leave him laid out.

-- Backstage, Maria Bennett yells at Allie because she's still hanging out with Braxton Sutter.

-- The Decay vs. The DCC: The match closes out with Abyss splashing Bram and Eddie Kingston in the corner. James Storm distracts Abyss as Crazy Steve suicide dives onto Bram and Kingston. Abyss and Storm start to brawl and then Storm hits Abyss with a bottle of water. The referee throws out the match. After the match, The Decay and The DCC brawl to the backstage area.
Winners: No Contest

-- Backstage, Davey Richards says he feels naked without a belt. Eddie Edwards says that'll change tonight when they beat The Broken Hardy's.

-- TNA announces that former TNA Knockouts Champion Brooke Tessmacher will return next week.

-- Mike Bennett vs. Braxton Sutter: The match closes out with Sutter hitting a spine buster and a flying neck breaker off the ropes for a near fall. Maria Bennett distracts Sutter, which Bennett uses to hit the Miracle In Progress. Maria demands Bennett to finish Sutter off. Bennett with a piledriver on Sutter and then he celebrates with a kiss on Maria. Allie hits the ring, distracts Bennett and Maria both and Sutter plants Bennett with a jack knife into a pinfall for the win. 

-- Backstage, Maria is furious and blames Allie for Mike Bennett's loss.

-- Rosemary Promo: Rosemary says every Knockout on the roster will decay. Jade interrupts and says that she's still here and she's not leaving until she gets a rematch for the TNA Knockouts Championship. Rosemary accepts, but it has to be in a Monsters Ball Match. Jade accepts as Rosemary tries to attack. Jade kicks Rosemary and goes for a piledriver, but Rosemary escapes.

-- "TNA World Tag Team Championship Match": The Broken Hardy's (c) vs. The Wolves: The match closes out with The Wolves in control on Matt. Matt hits a Side Effect on Richards and tags in Jeff. Jeff with a near fall leg drop, followed by Whisper in the Wind on both Wolves. Edwards shoves The Hardy's into each other and then The Wolves drop Jeff with a superkick/brainbuster combo. The Wolves have Jeff pinned, but Matt stops the pinfall. The Hardy's hit Extreme Combination on Richards, but Edwards stops the pinfall. The Wolves go for a german suplex/superkick combo, but Matt grabs Edwards' foot. Jeff sneaks behind Richards and scores the rollup pinfall to retain the titles. Impact closes up with possible tension continuing to grow between The Wolves. 

- Jeff Jarrett's Official Position In TNA: Last week the new TNA owners, Anthem Sports and Entertainment officially announced that former TNA owner Jeff Jarrett was being brought back into the company, playing a major part backstage. The TNA Hall of Famer is reported to be assuming the position of an executive consultant at TNA and also returning to Impact Wrestling TV tapings. Former TNA President, Dixie Carter has stepped down from her position and remains on as a shareholder.

*** RING OF HONOR ***
-- ROH TV Recap --
This week the Decade of Excellence Tournament continued, with two more matches taking place. In the main event, it was Chris Sabin of the Motor City Machine Guns battling Colt Cabana.

-- "Decade of Excellence Tournament Match": Jay Briscoe vs. BJ Whitmer: The match closes out with Whitmer executing an exploder suplex on Briscoe. Kevin Sullivan slides Whitmer the golden spike foreign object. Whitmer goes to hit Jay, but Mark Briscoe hits the ring, stops Whitmer and then leaps on top of Punishment Martinez at ringside. Jay dodges another Whitmer attempt with the golden spike, hits the Jay Driller on Whitmer and scores the pinfall to advance to the semifinals. After the match, Whitmer promises that their will be a sacrifice next week.

-- "The Last Real Man" Silas Young and The Beer City Bruiser vs. Alex Reynolds and Jon Silver: The match closes out with Silver and Reynolds double teaming Young. Young tosses Reynolds outside, as Bruiser attacks Silver from behind. Young and Bruiser double team Silver and then Bruiser hits a Yokozuna Splash on Silver from the middle ropes. Young with a jack knife pinfall for the win. After the match, Young announces that he and Bruiser want to make a run at the ROH Six Man Tag Team Championship and announces Bull James (NXT's Bull Dempsey) as their new third partner. Young and Bruiser then change their mind and beat down James when he gets inside the ring. Bruiser hits a top rope splash on James and James is left laid out by the duo.

-- "Six Man Tag Team Match": The Kingdom (Matt Taven, TK O'Ryan and Vinny Marseglia) vs. Cheeseburger, Will Ferrara and Joey Daddiego: The match closes out with Cheeseburger hitting the Shotei on Tavern, but Cheeseburger gets raked in the eyes. The Kingdom all hit their finishers on Cheeseburger while he's blinded. O'Ryan hits an over the shoulder driver, followed by a swanton bomb by Marseglia, and then a frog splash by Taven for the pinfall.

-- The Young Bucks Promo: The Bucks brag about the huge contract they just signed with ROH and brag that they are the best tag team in ROH history. The lights suddenly go out and Broken Matt Hardy's drone Vanguard One appears. Vanguard One flies out to the ring and lowers by The Bucks. The Bucks double super kick Vanguard One out of the ring and do crotch chops as the fans chant "delete".

-- "Decade Of Excellence Tournament Match": Colt Cabana vs. Chris Sabin: The match closes out with Cabana hitting a leaping hip attack on Sabin and gets the near fall. Dalton Castle's Boys suddenly hit ringside and distract Cabana. Sabin small packages Cabana on the distraction and scores the pinfall to advance to the semifinals.

** Decade of Excellence Semi Finals Tournament Bracket **
- Chris Sabin vs. Christopher Daniels
- Jay Briscoe vs. Jay Lethal/Jushin Thunder Liger Winner

*** Lucha Underground ***
-- Lucha Underground TV Recap --
This week was the mid season finale of Lucha Underground. The main event saw Dragon Azteca battle Matanza Cueto in a Death Match.

-- Inside Dario Cueto's office, Cueto is meeting with LA City Councilman Delgado. Both share a chat about being Gods. Dragon Azteca arrives and asks for a match with Matanza Cueto in a Death Match. Dario accepts and books it as the main event.

-- At the commentary table, Vampiro  sends a message to Mil Muertes that it won't be tonight, but Vampiro will get Muertes back for his attack last week. 

-- El Texano vs. Joey Ryan: The match closes out with Joey taking control, hits a pump handle bridge suplex and then hits the Sleaze Kick for a near fall. Ryan goes for Texano's bullrope in the corner, but Famous B stops Ryan. Beautiful Brenda meanwhile slides Texano a horseshoe, while Texano uses to hit Ryan with to score the pinfall. After the match, Texano shoves Famous B, but shows interest in Brenda.

-- Johnny Mundo Promo: Lucha Underground Champion Johnny Mundo is in the ring. Mundo says Lucha Underground is an upstart fight league, he's the only star in the promotion, he saved the company, insults the fans and the only believers are PJ Black and Jack Evans. Mundo next mocks The Mack and says it's an insult to have to share the ring with Mack. Mack suddenly hits the ring and attacks Mundo from behind. Evans and Black try to help, but get hit with Mack Stunners. Mundo screams for security and security hits the ring to hold back Mack. Mack unloads punches and Stunners on security as Mundo escapes. Mack says he's taking Mundo's title and beating his ass all night long.

-- Cage vs. Veneno: The match closes out with Veneno getting in some high flying offense. Cage finally takes out the new comer with the Delayed Reverse Driver and scores the pinfall. After the match, Cage puts his Gauntlet glove on, snaps and grabs the referee. Cage comes back down from his power high and leaves the ring.

-- Sexy Star Attacks Veneno: Sexy Star hits the ring and begins to beat down Veneno and accuses him of being her spider stalker over the past month due to Veneno wearing a spider mask. 

-- Backstage, Prince Puma is training and hears the voices of his old mentor Konnan in his head, driving Puma nuts. Catrina arrives and says it's never the same when you die, you can't stop the voices when you cross over to the spiritual realm and Catrina claims to hear voices too. Catrina says the future holds blood and pain from Mil Muertes for Puma. Puma puts a kendo stick to Catrina's neck, but releases her and goes back to training.

-- "Death Match": Dragon Azteca vs. Matanza Cueto: The match closes out with Matanza and Azteca brawling into the crowd and onto the stair case. Azteca with a hurricanrana on Matanza. Matanza fires back with head butts and forearms. Matanza grabs Azteca and choke slams him off the side of the stairs and through a wood surface behind the bleachers. Smoke rises where Azteca landed and the match is called off by the referee. Dario Cueto appears and celebrates Matanza's victory with his brother. 

-- Rey Mysterio Attacks: After the match, Rey Mysterio hits the ring, looks for Azteca's body and then goes after Matanza. Rey and Matanza start brawling in the crowd and Matanza tosses Rey up to the top of the stairs. Matanza gets Rey on his shoulders and tries to toss Rey into The Temple's steel structure. Rey goes for a hurricanrana, but Matanza counters and tosses Rey into a wall. Matanza and Rey brawl into a cage where Matanza charges at Rey. Rey counters and sends Matanza over the railing and through a wood structure down below. Dario Cueto starts ringing the bell and demanding everyone to get out of his Temple now. Cueto officially closes The Temple as Rey Mysterio stands tall.

-- Outside The Temple, Marty The Moth Martinez appears to be stalking ring announcer Melissa Santos. Someone places a bag over Marty's head and takes him hostage. Marty is next show tied up and his kidnapper reveals themselves as Marty's sister Mariposa. Mariposa says that Marty has her attention and maybe Marty has seen the light. Mariposa slaps Marty. Marty laughs and says "I did good" several times as the show closes.

- Lucha Underground Season 3 News: This past Wednesday was the mid season finale of Lucha Underground Season 3. Lucha Underground will return with the second half of Season 3 in the summer of 2017.

*** NEW JAPAN PRO WRESTLING ***

- Kenny Omega's Status: Last week, Kenny Omega tweeted out that he was stepping away from NJPW for the time being. Rumors have already begun that Omega may be WWE bound. John Cena has been tweeting teaser tweets about Omega turning up in the WWE. Some think that Omega is just messing with everyone and that he will be back in NJPW sometime in 2017. Omega's current contract with NJPW expires on January 31st. Omega was asked about what he thought of John Cena tweeting out possible spoilers of Omega arriving in the WWE. Omega stated that he has nothing but huge respect for Cena and everything he's done in the business and thinks it's an honor that Cena would go out of his way to tweet rumors about wanting Omega in the WWE. I will keep you posted on where exactly The Cleaner turns up.

- New Japan Fighting Back Against The WWE: With the WWE currently trying to sign as much talent as they can in all the major promotions, NJPW has changed up their contract offers. NJPW is now offering their talent multi year contract deals to try to keep their talent on lock and keep them from jumping ship to the WWE.

*** Full Impact Pro ***

-- FIP Everything Burns Recap --
Full Impact Pro Wrestling returned to FloSlam, the current channel that offers EVOLVE, House of Hardcore and Shine, with new not kid friendly wrestling action. The huge wrestling fans like myself know that guys like CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, MVP, Colt Cabana, Homicide and Tyler Black (Seth Rollins) all got their starts at one time in Full Impact Pro and went on to make names for themselves. This new era of FIP promises to bring you the new future talent much like the old FIP did.

-- "Get The Contract Fight For All Match": Teddy Stigma ended up retrieving the contract to pick up the victory. Stigma was granted a FIP World Championship Match later tonight against the champion Fred Yehi for the win.

-- “American Viking” Alexander Rudolph vs. Billy Barboza: The match closes out with Rudolph applying a choke hold on Barboza and then executing a german suplex to score the pinfall.

-- Dezmond Xavier and Sammy Guevara vs. OI4K (Dave Crist and Sami Callihan): The match never starts as Darby Allin comes out to the ring and asks if anyone knows who Uncle John is. Crist and Callihan say they know Uncle John, but Xavier and Guevara have no clue. Allin, Crist and Callihan proceed to beat down Xavier and Guevara.

-- "Triple Threat Match": AR Fox vs. Jason Cade vs. Jason Kincaid: The match never starts as Darby Allin, Dave Crist and Sami Callihan come to the ring and ask if anyone knows who Uncle John is. Fox says he does, but Cade and Kincaid have no clue. Fox, Allin, Crist and Callihan all join forces and beat down Cade and Kincaid.

-- Aria Blake vs. Priscilla Kelly: The match closes out with Blake executing a folding press on Kelly and scoring the pinfall.

-- Austin Theory vs. Anthony Henry: The match closes out with Theory executing a folding press on Henry and uses the ropes for leverage to score the pinfall.

-- "FIP Florida Heritage Championship Match": Martin Stone (c) vs. Jon Davis: The match closes out with Stone grabbing a steel chain, wraps it around his hand and knocks out Davis with a steel chain punch to retain the title.

-- "FIP World Tag Team Championship Match": The Hooligans (Devin and Mason Cutter)(c) vs. Drennen and Parrow: The match closes out with The Hooligans hitting a double team spike piledriver to score the pinfall to retain the titles.

-- "FIP World Heavyweight Championship Match": Fred Yehi (c) vs. Teddy Stigma: The match closes out with Yehi grabbing barbed wire and locking in a Koji Clutch submission on Stigma with the barbed wire wrapped around Stigma. Stigma taps out and Yehi retains the title.

-- Uncle John’s Friends (AR Fox, Darby Allin, Dave Crist and Sami Callihan) vs. Dezmond Xavier, Jason Cade, Jason Kincaid and Sammy Guevara: The match closes out with Fox hitting the Fox Catcher on Xavier to score the pinfall to end the show.

And that's this week's W3C! Join me every Sunday afternoon as I bring you news, recaps and rumors all around the wrestling world!