Juice Robinson and Blake Christian lock horns as the Detonation tour got underway.
Quick Results
Rocky Romero & Adrian Quest pinned Virus & Atlantis Jr. in 10:33 (***¼)
Homicide pinned Danny Limelight in 11:14 (***½)
Juice Robinson pinned Blake Christian in 9:33 (***¼)
Here’s me thinking we’re moving away from the Vermont Hollywood… nope, we’re right back there with Ian Riccaboni and Alex Koslov on the call. Blake Christian interrupts the opening this week as he’s invited in to build up his main event with Juice Robinson…
Atlantis Jr. & Virus vs. Rocky Romero & Adrian Quest
We’re under lucha rules here, so no tags needed. Like most tag matches these days, am I right?!
Rocky and Virus start us off, as a waistlock takedown briefly had Virus on the mat… only for Virus to trip down Rocky in response. Headscissors on the mat had Virus on the defensive, but he rolled out and rolled up Rocky for a two-count before Virus tagged out to Atlantis Jr. Quest comes in too, hitting a wheelbarrow armdrag and a crossbody to take down Atlantis… only for the masked one to come back with a superkick to send Quest to the outside.
Atlantis fakes out a dive, as Rocky came in against Virus again. Rocky’s kicked in the ropes by Atlantis, then sent to the outside… Quest fills in quickly, only to take a double back elbow, then a double big boot, leading to a tope from Atlantis to both of his opponents. Back inside, a see-saw sunset flip left Quest open for a diving kick as Quest got dumped outside.
Rocky’s back as we’re continuing the double-teaming from the rudos, only for Rocky to return with a tijeras to Atlantis, then some Forever clotheslines to Virus… who stopped the party with one of his own. Adrian Quest slips in as Rocky rolled out, taking down Virus for a two-count, before a running shooting star press almost got the win.
A Falcon arrow from Romero and a springboard Whisper in the Wind from Quest adds another two-count, as Quest proceeded to trade chops with Virus… only to get swatted down. Virus chop blocks the front of the knee as he focused on Quest… who rolled out, so in comes Rocky to trade again.
Rocky’s running Shiranui surprises Virus for a near-fall, while Atlantis Jr.’s monkey flips out of the corners had Rocky flying. Those almost win the match too, as Quest quelled Atlantis briefly, only to go down to a dropkick… he’s back with a back suplex and a dive to Atlantis on the outside, as Rocky and Virus renewed rivalries again, leading to a snap powerslam for a near-fall from Virus.
A rewind enziguiri caught Virus off guard for a near-fall, before Rocky came in with a Magistral cradle for a near-fall. Virus tries to come back with a Figure Four, but gets cradled as Rocky snatched the win. This was a nice change of pace from what’s usually on Strong – but I also wouldn’t expect this to be a regular thing here. ***¼
Danny Limelight vs. Homicide
This one came up after Homicide’s recent win over Tom Lawlor – with commentary bringing up Limelight’s past as part of LAX. Or at least, the rebadged LAX in MLW…
Homicide beats Limelight into the corner to start us off, charging in with shoulders before a cutter out of nowhere earned Homicide a dropkick from Limelight. Heading outside, Homicide clotheslines Limelight, then threw him into the railings as the front row got an up-close view. Breaking the count was a bad idea for Homicide, as Limelight’s gamengiri and Blockbuster turned the match on its head.
Back inside, a crossbody off the top from Limelight looked to keep him ahead, but a belly-to-belly from Homicide puts Limelight back outside. Another gamengiri stops a tope from Homicide, who eats a stomp to the back as Limelight proceeded to get distracted by the crowd. We’ve a neckbreaker from Limelight for a two-count, before Homicide thwarted his attempt at the Three Amigos.
An eye rake from Limelight stops Homicide’s suplexes, but again his posturing costs him as Homicide cut off Limelight on the top rope. A superplex from Homicide takes Limelight down from the ring post, before Homicide blocked and monkey flipped Limelight into the corner pad. Homicide’s Exploder nearly wins it, as did a double underhook suplex, before Homicide went rather less technical with some biting.
Limelight’s mouth gets hooked by Homicide in the ropes after that, while a backbreaker looked to lead to a Boston crab. Limelight gets free, but is quickly tripped into a STF that led to some more biting. Homicide goes for a tornado DDT, but gets blocked as Limelight hits a flying tornado DDT off the top for a near-fall instead.
Homicide teases a Cop Killa, but Limelight escaped… another flying tornado DDT misses, allowing Homicide quickly back in with a nasty Cop Killa, and that’s your lot. ***½
Post-match, Homicide goes hunting under the ring for some plunder, throwing out suitcases and toolboxes before… Bobby Fish appeared to stop him? Fish attacks Homicide and bounces him off the ropes with an Exploder. He gets the mic to throw out what I guess is his new slogan, as he gets muted a LOT while he appeared to affiliate his “Fish Tank Fight Club” with Team Filthy.
Emily Mae is backstage with the Motor City Machine Guns, who won the Strong tag titles at the Rumble on 44th Street pay-per-view… of which, this’d be the first you’d know of if you only watch Strong. They’ll be defending against Misterioso and Barrett Brown of the Stray Dog Army on these shows.
Blake Christian vs. Juice Robinson
This was set-up by Juice interfering a few weeks ago in a tag match… with Christian getting his revenge last week.
Juice powdered outside as Christian charged him at the bell, then again when Blake teased a dive… but Juice loses sight and ended up getting tope’d. Christian hangs up Juice in the ropes ahead of a slingshot flip senton from the outside in… which took Juice back outside ahead of moonsault off the apron, which Juice caught as he proceeded to jump Christian onto the railings.
Christian sidesteps a clothesline as Juice connects with the ring post, something that Christian exacerbated as he dropped Juice’s arm over the guard rails. Back inside, Juice was able to forge a way ahead with chops and a spinebuster for a two-count, while Christian’s attempted fight-back was stopped with a flapjack.
A back senton from Juice follows, as did some headbutts and mudhole stomping… which led to the trademark Juice cannonball in the corner for a near-fall. Christian’s whipped into the corner, but he’s able to fend off Juice ahead of a springboard forearm that took the former US champion down. Kicks from Christian continue to target Juice’s head and shoulder, but Blake decides to head up top to finish things… but Juice rolls away from the corner.
Christian heads onto the apron for a wacky rolling thunder frog splash on the edge of the ring, before he caught Juice with an Arabian press on the outside. A slingshot, rolling single-arm DDT takes Christian ahead as a Fujiwara armbar looked to stop Juice, only for Juice to drag his way to the ropes to force the break.
Out of nowhere, Juice clocked Christian with a Left Hand of God, but wandered into a Victory roll that saw Blake nearly win it… Juice rolls back on it though, and despite the pair being in the corner, the ref counts and misses Juice grabbing the ropes as the Bullet Club man took home the win. ***¼
Next week: Jay White, El Phantasmo, Royce Isaacs & Jorel Nelson vs. Hikuleo, Tama Tonga, David Finlay & Alan Angels…
This was the usual solid start to the new “tour” – and we even had a little bit of week-to-week bleed through with the main event. Well worth your hour, if only for the variety across the three matches on this week’s episode.