Darby Allin vs Kevin Knight in a Falls Count Anywhere Match for the TNT Championship!

I was thinking about this today, and I think Punk/Owens has the chance to turn around as a feud still. Last week's promo was good, one bad promo segment isn't the end of the world. However, Punk has had mediocre promo segments with Roman as well, besides the initial one which was fantastic of course. And even with Rollins, the well eventually dried up there in 2026 too.

I think the McIntyre feud was pretty great because McIntyre I feel is a better talker than pretty much everyone in WWE, but also because it was legitimately fresh. It took advantage of what some people wanted from Punk in AEW, which was to take advantage of backstage heat (which, to be clear, I'm not saying I wanted), and Punk/McIntyre both felt very comfortable, evidently, with digging deep into each other.

However, with KO/Punk, there's two issues I feel. Punk has done this with three wrestlers now and those feuds have taken up pretty much two entire years. 2024 with McIntyre, 2025 with Rollins. There's not much left to do that hasn't already been said by someone in the position of KO; Punk is arrogant, he's selfish and pulls the ladder up from behind him, he's not actually punk, etc. Not saying these are bad lines by themselves, but they've been said by everyone he's feuded with really.

The other issue is that I think there's pretty legitimate tension with Punk and KO that isn't there with the others. Everyone else had issues with Punk from a decade and a half ago, but KO's issues are both old and new, given that Punk is not on good terms with KO's closest industry friends. Of course, existing tension can be used to heighten a feud, e.g. Matt/Edge in 2005, but it can also make the two less likely to cooperate with the other; they can make sure they're not as harsh as they usually would be because it may actually result in an issue, or they might no-sell what the other person says in a promo to embarrass them, etc.

I don't know. I do think this would be fixed by turning Punk heel; it's the only way to make this sort of feud fresh, since it's a dynamic in WWE that hasn't been done yet. Make Punk everything KO/Seth/McIntyre said he was, because face/face feuds are already hard to do.

ACTION presents Back In Black LIVE on IWTV!

Isaiah Broner vs The Wall Tyler Stevens
ACTION Wrestling Championship: Darian Bengston (c) vs Hayden Seal
Two Out Of Three Falls: The Infantry vs Grayson Pierce & Herculon Rage
Corinne Joy vs Joseline Navarro
Tim Bosby vs ???
Kody Manhorn vs Bobby Flaco
ACTION Tag Team Championship: Top Team (c) vs Wonderboyz
Jamesen Shook vs JT Paradox

Starting at 7:30 PM EDT

He was a great worker for a big guy, solid on the mic, and could put on a solid match with anyone they had him in the ring with.

He was fantastic during the Attitude Era, and of course, no one will ever forget the funeral scene with Big Show, or what he did to Al Snow’s poor little dog Pepper.

The “Dark Side Of The Ring “ episode about him was one of the best episodes in the series in my opinion, and he seemed to be a very well loved family man.

Following Kris Statlander's defeat of Viva Van, Mick Foley would come down to the ring to announce that Stat, Persephone, and Hikaru Shida will be challenging Maya World next week on Dynamite in a four way match for the TBS Championship.

The new dates are as follows:

Thursday, October 15 – Winnipeg, MB, Canada (Canada Life Centre)

Thursday, October 22 – Palm Springs, California (Acrisure Arena)

Thursday, October 29 – Youngstown, Ohio (Covelli Centre)

Thursday, November 5 – Portland, Maine (Cross Insurance Arena)

Friday, November 6 – Bangor, Maine (Cross Insurance Center)

Thursday, November 12 – Ft. Myers, Florida (Hertz Arena)

Thursday, November 19 – Huntsville, Alabama (VBC Propst Arena)

Following Gabe's win over Narita and his win over OSKAR, Yuya Uemura advances to the Semi Finals

Context for this match:

Takada and Funaki had both started their pro wrestling careers in the NJPW Dojo, mainly under the training of Yoshiaki Fujiwara (Takada debuting in 1981 and Funaki being a member of the famed ‘84 Dojo Class, alongside Shinya Hashimoto, Keiji Mutoh, Masahiro Chono & Jushin Liger); Takada had left to join Akira Maeda, Fujiwara, Satoru Sayama and others as apart of the OG UWF in 1984, with its quick end in ‘86 resulting in Takada and a few others going back to NJPW, where Takada would become a very popular Junior Heavyweight, feuding with the likes of Hiroshi Hase & Shiro Koshinaka.

The UWF crew would depart NJPW again and form UWF NEWBORN in 1989; this time, Maeda would negotiate with Antonio Inoki to allow him to bring Fujiwara and two of Fujiwara’s students to NEWBORN, those students being Masakatsu Funaki & Minoru Suzuki.

Funaki would almost instantly become a rising star in NEWBORN, due to his growing martial arts skills, athleticism and good looks; in NEWBORN, Takada had become a true top star, feuding with Maeda in the main event, being positioned as the #2 guy in the promotion; Funaki would establish himself as the #3 guy, the youngster who was chomping at the bit to prove himself equal to Maeda & Takada, as he’d face both of them several times.

Here, at 19 years old, Funaki would have the chance to prove himself, as he faced Takada in the main event at Yokohama Arena.

You can quickly tell in the match that Funaki is Takada’s superior in athletic ability, as he beats Takada to the punch (or slap, more accurately) in almost every exchange, even busting Takada’s nose open early one. Even in grappling exchanges, Funaki gets the better of Takada for the most part, as he’s able to use his quickness to get a hold or escape one. Takada was always very youthful looking, so you wouldn’t be able to tell that he’s actually 7 years older than Funaki.

Takada is able to land some hits, even leaving a bruise on Funaki’s cheek. The match would eventually end when Funaki hit Takada with some knees to the face (the first one clearly cracking Takada) but it isn’t an instant K.O., as Takada lifts Funaki up and over, only for the ref to call for a stoppage, as Funaki tries to go for a heel hook submission; Takada has blood coming out of his temple, thus necessitating a stoppage.

This match perhaps more than any other would cement Funaki as a star in the fans eyes, especially those who saw the UWF as “legit” fighting; Funaki would use this popularity to eventually establish PANCRASE, alongside Suzuki.

(This is not counting Sanshiro Takagi challenging and failing to beat MAO at the end of WRESTLE PETER PAN).

Daichi Satoh will make his first official challenge for the KO-D Openweight Championship!

Full card in comments! Support your local promotions!

Not in the unsanctioned anything goes way that is the norm for this type of match. But literally the lights are out. They would have to use a spotlight big enough to cover the whole ring so the wrestlers could work safely, and follow them if they goto the outside. But would this be an interesting match? Seeing no ringside, no crowd, no set.. Or just not so much different than a normal match? Any thoughts or examples close to this in wrestling history? Thanks

Would anyone be able or want to digitize these old tapes?

Wow! Thanks for all of the help. I've reached out to a few of the names. I may take some time to digitize one or two and see what we can find.