7 Biggest Non-WWE Stories In Wrestling This Week

5. Fighting Spirit Unbelievable

...because the work on the show was absolutely f*cking exceptional.

The usual perfunctory tag contests early on were gifted a small-but-enthusiastic audience for their work, but The Addiction/Bullet Club match bout pitting Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian against Hangman Page and Chase Owens particularly heated as a result of the quartet's Being The Elite/ALL IN success. A Suzuki-gun/Los Ingobernables de Japon clash profiling the Zack Sabre Jr/EVIL rivalry also benefited from Tetsuya Naito's incredible relationship with the US crowd.

The show went up a gear from there. Jay White cut the promo of his career as Wrestle Kingdom title shot rival Hiroshi Tanahashi lay prone, Marty Scurll and Will Ospreay found a brand new way to tell the same old soul-crushing story, whilst The Young Bucks were put to the sword by a Guerrillas of Destiny act in desperate need of a match of the this calibre. Enthused by the action and propped up by the always-informed Kevin Kelly, Jim Ross even had his best night at the NJPW announce desk.

The babyface suffering continued when Cody terminated Juice Robinson's United States Championship reign at the first defence. 'The Grandson Of A Plumber's night wasn't over either. After a scintillating tag team main event exquisitely handled the first US meeting of any kind between Kenny Omega and Kazuchika Okada, Cody interrupted the Golden Lovers to insert himself into their intended IWGP Heavyweight Title match at next week's King Of Pro Wrestling pay-per-view.

Bullet Club may be fine, but The Elite are at it again.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 30 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz", Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 50,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett

Channel Manager
Channel Manager

Andy has been with WhatCulture for six years and is currently WhatCulture's Senior Wrestling Reporter. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.