Another trip to Canada then, as we’ve heard some good things about this match from NEW’s second show.
We’re still at the Vancouver Convention Centre in Vancouver, BC, Canada… and we start the match at 1h 30m into the free VOD on YouTube…
Travis Williams vs. Josh Alexander
Williams comes in winless in NEW so far, and he’s been given a mountain to climb if he’s to break that record.
Williams rolls outside at the bell, as he played hit-and-run on Alexander in the early going. A front facelock from Alexander grounded Williams, who’s then ragdolled with a waistlock takedown into the corner as the feeling-out process began in earnest on the mat. Alexander’s having to defend an armbreaker as Williams proceeded to slap him around… only to get swatted down before Alexander dumped him with a slam.
Chops trap Williams in the corner, at least until Alexander got poked in the eye to start a fightback from the “Golden Boy”. More chops stop that, but Alexander misses a charge into the corner as he ends up getting sent to the outside via a springboard dropkick. Back in the ring, Alexander sidesteps a dropkick, then wrecked Williams with a nonchalant back elbow, before Williams escaped a stalling suplex and chop block’d Alexander’s knee.
Capitalising on his new opening, Williams worked the leg briefly, only to get slammed once more before a Boston crab was powered out of by Alexander. On the outside, Williams dropped Alexander knee-first onto the side of the ring, before Alexander powered back with a deadlift Fisherman suplex back inside.
The pair trade strikes as Alexander stayed ahead, flipping Williams into the corner with a back body drop before grabbing an ankle lock. Williams escapes and traps Alexander in the corner with some forearms and a big running dropkick, only for Alexander to hit right back with a running boot to stop him in his tracks.
A snap Finlay roll from Alexander followed, before Williams’ floatover led him to scoop up Alexander into a neat shoulderbreaker for a near-fall. Alexander’s right back with a spinning torture rack slam for a near-fall, then some rolling German suplexes that forced Williams to cling onto the ropes for a save.
After spitting at Alexander, Williams low bridged him to the outside and followed him out with a misdirection dive, following up with a swinging DDT off the apron. A slingshot DDT back into the ring nearly puts Alexander away. Windmill strikes in the corner from a frustrated Williams lead to him slipping on a springboard enziguiri… Alexander just punches him in the face before a fake out superkick saw Williams take out the shins instead.
More thrust kicks are eventually caught as Alexander just grabs an ankle lock, forcing Williams to roll out his way for a near-fall, before a ripcord rolling elbow from Alexander hit back. An enziguiri from Williams keeps him ahead, before Williams headed outside and grabbed a table from under the ring. He takes a whole to take it into the ring, then set it up… which gave Alexander an opportunity to recover as Williams went up top.
A superplex looks to follow, but Williams gets caught and eventually was powerbombed through the table, before a double underhook powerbomb got the win. Williams looked to be on course for the win, but going outside for the table was the self-imposed diversion that cost him in the end. A good showing for Alexander, who gave Williams plenty – but Travis is still looking for that first W in NEW…
Result: Josh Alexander pinned Travis Williams in 20:39 (***½)