UK Wrestling Abroad 2025 – Week 1

Welcome to the inaugural edition of UK Wrestling Abroad, something of a cross-pollination between the TWIST Network and UK Wrestling Archive. Looking at British and Irish wrestlers overseas.

These will mostly be in the form of results however, where source footage is available, short narratives will be provided, where deemed appropriate, rather than full blown reviews.

Wrestling knowledge is an advantage though not absolutely vital. These will mostly be in the form of results however, where source footage is available, short narratives will be provided, where deemed appropriate, rather than full blown reviews.

Results from 1 January – 5 January 2025

All Elite Wrestling: Dynamite #274 – Fight For The Fallen | 1 January 2025 (Click to expand Narrative)

All Elite Wrestling: Dynamite #274 – Fight For The Fallen | 1 January 2025 | Harrah’s Cherokee Center, Asheville, North Carolina, USA | Source: ITV X

The show opens with a promo by the “Death Riders”, specifically Jon Moxley who, while seemingly being confused by which camera he’s addressing, describes Marina Shafir as, among other things “a woman of impeachable character” oops.

‘Hangman’ Adam Page defeated ‘Freshly Squeezed’ Orange Cassidy in an unremarkable match before a couple of post-match Dead-Eyes (I think?) brings the officials tearing out from the back, to largely ineffectiveness, including Christopher Daniels complaining that he’s Page’s friend, as Page beats on him.

The Hurt Syndicate (Bobby Lashley & Shelton Benjamin) (w/ MVP) defeat The Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens & Max Caster). The Hurt Syndicate are polished, The Acclaimed less so, though they are seemingly in the midst of a breakup storyline so that made sense. Hurt Syndicate take the W.

AEW use, at least for this show (I’m not overly familiar with their production) a notably shorter entranceway with 2 tunnels, which I presume is a kayfabe “Face/ Heel” separation McGuffin. Not sold on it but it’s a nice touch, we’ll see if it grows on me.

Jamie Hayter Vs. Julia Hart – Jamie Hayter has what I would call almost a “70’s gimmick”. Not a criticism, merely an opinion-based observation. Julia Hart has a “dark arts” aesthetic. The commentators reference both having time out due to injury and it shows. Both struggled slightly during the match, neither quite being in position a number of times. Julia Hart gets the Pinfall after a very discreet ‘mist to the eyes’ in 5:27.

The former Sasha Banks, Mercedes Moné, has lost so much of that ‘it factor’ which made Sasha Banks a star. The crowd barely cared and why the hell does her entrance theme have a piped ‘CEO’ crowd chant baked in?!

A somewhat awkward ‘Undisputed Kingdom’ promo later and we’re onto a Triple Threat match between Undisputed Kingdom’s Roderick Strong whom the crowd, whether they were sucked of all care by Mercedes Moné or whether they simply don’t care about Roderick Strong were largely indifferent to, Jay White (who I genuinely thought was South African following his promo earlier in the show (he’s not, he’s a Kiwi) and Swerve Strickland, who actually has decent presence but needs to tell Prince Nana to tone it down as it just feels weird when Swerve is being all stoic and Nana looks like he’s at a rave. Unsure if it’s the norm but the crowd just don’t seem to care, staying largely silent throughout. The camera work is odd too, with cameras switching to less optimal angles frequently. Yet another odd moment when a bespectacled Ricochet, from the crowd, hits/ stabs/ somethings, Swerve with scissors and then stares at him for a looooong time, while Jay White gets the Pinfall over Roderick Strong. Worth noting that during and following a considerably more brutal assault than Hangman Adam Page on Orange Cassidy earlier, when AEW officials were there in seconds, eventually only the remaining members of Undisputed Kingdom, who apparently now care about Swerve Strickland (maybe there’s a history i’m unaware of) arrive to chase off the manically laughing Ricochet who, after picking up his scissors and continuing to laugh, slowly leaves through the crowd.

Mariah May thinks the AEW Women’s division is great, almost entirely because she’s in it. Fair.

Jeff Jarrett makes what feels like a Hall Of Fame’ speech as he teases retirement. A notion which he rejects, with the caveat that he wants ‘one more ride’ and has signed his last professional wrestling contract (with AEW).

Backstage promo with former ‘Big Cass’, ‘Big Bill’ and with all due respect to Bryan Keith, what really feels like a stand in Enzo Amore for Bill to bounce off. Bill looks off into the distance to see ‘Cope’ (i’m sorry but truly, truly, awful name. You can’t use Edge and there’s nothing wrong with your given name of Adam Copeland but ‘Cope’?) and FTR (who are seemingly a 3-man stable), standing perhaps 10 feet away. ‘Cope’ proceeds to tell Bill that his face ‘is stupid’. See, it’s funny because Bill looks like a younger (and taller) ‘Cope’.

A taped(!?) MJF promo from last Saturday lets us know ‘a King’ (Jon Moxley) is nothing to ‘a God’ (MJF) whom also refers to himself as ‘a Devil’ so i’m slightly puzzled but it’s fine.

Our main event is up and The Death Riders make their way to the ring (through the crowd) with Moxley simply lobbing a water bottle at a fan because, why not? FTR are next, followed by ‘Cope’ using his ‘Edge’ WWE music, mannerisms and ‘Rated R Superstar’ nickname but the utterly atrocious ‘Cope’.

As the match gets underway, Tony Schiavone references that Sweet Daddy Siki has passed away at 91. Belated condolences to his friends and family. Rest In Peace Sweet Daddy Siki.

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Pro Wrestling NOAH: The New Year 2025 | 1 January 2025 (Click to expand Results)

Pro Wrestling NOAH: The New Year 2025 | 1 January 2025 | Nippon Budokan, Tokyo, Japan | Source: CageMatch.net

Battle Royal Match:
Tadasuke defeated Dump Matsumoto, Harutoki, LJ Cleary, Masaaki Mochizuki, Masao Inoue, Saxon Huxley, Shuhei Taniguchi, Titus Alexander, Yu Owada, Yuto Kikuchi and Zozaya

GHC Tag Team Championship Match:
Team 2000X (Jack Morris & Omos) (w/ Yoshitatsu) defeat Naomichi Marufuji & Takashi Sugiura (Champions) *New Champions*

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Big Japan Pro Wrestling: 2025 New Year Battle Begins At Korakuen Hall | 2 January 2025 | Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan | Source: CageMatch.net

Fluorescent Lighttubes Death Match:
AKIRA, Kazumi Kikuta & Ryuji Ito defeat Abdullah Kobayashi, Daiju Wakamatsu & Jack Bennett

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Pro Wrestling NOAH: New Year Reboot 2025 | 2 January 2025 | Shinjuku FACE, Tokyo, Japan | Source: CageMatch.net

Tag Team Rumble Match:
Masaaki Mochizuki & Takashi Sugiura defeat All Rebellion & Black Menso-re, Masa Kitamiya (Alejandro & Kai Fujimura), Go Shiozaki & Mohammed Yone, Hajime Ohara & Shuhei Taniguchi, LJ Cleary & Zozaya, Naomichi Marufuji & Yu Owada and Titus Alexander & Ulka Sasaki

6-Man Tag Team Match:
Team 2000X ((GHC Tag Team Champion) Jack Morris, (GHC Tag Team Champion) Omos & Yu Owada) (w/ Yoshi Tatsu) defeat El Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr., Galeno Del Mal & Saxon Huxley

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All Japan Pro Wrestling: New Year Wars 2025 – Day 2 | 3 January 2025 | Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan | Source: CageMatch.net

ELPIDA (Ren Ayabe & Ryuki Honda) defeat Hokuto-gun (Hartley Jackson & Jack Kennedy)

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DDT Pro Wrestling: New Year Dream Parade 2025 ~ Answers Will Be Given In A Year ~ | 3 January 2025 | Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan | Source: CageMatch.net

Calamari Drunken Kings (Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi) & Hikaru Sato defeat Keigo Nakamura, Shinya Aoki & Yuki Ueno

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WWE: Friday Night Smackdown | 3 January 2025 | Footprint Center, Phoenix, Arizona, USA | Source: Netflix

Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Andrade

Michin defeated Piper Niven (w/ Chelsea Green)

WWE Tag Team Championship Match:
#DIY (Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa) (Champions) The Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) ended in No Contest

WWE Women’s Championship Match:
Nia Jax (w/ Candice LeRae) (Champion) defeated Naomi (w/ Bianca Belair)

WWE Women’s Championship (Money In The Bank) Match:
Tiffany Stratton defeated Nia Jax (Champion) *New Champion*

The Bloodline (Jacob Fatu, Solo Sikoa & Tama Tonga) defeat The OG Bloodline (Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso & Sami Zayn)

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Awesome Championship Wrestling: Poughkeepsie Rumble | 4 January 2025 | MJN Convention Center, Poughkeepsie, New York, USA | Source: CageMatch.net

NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship Match:
Tommy Dreamer defeated Thom Latimer (Champion) by Disqualification

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Marvelous That’s Women Pro Wrestling: Happy New Year’s Marvelous | 4 January 2025 | Shin-Kiba 1st RING, Tokyo, Japan | Source: CageMatch.net

AAAW Championship Match:
Takumi Iroha (Champion) defeated Nightshade

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New Japan Pro Wrestling: Wrestle Kingdom 19 In Tokyo Dome | 4 January 2025 | Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan | Source: CageMatch.net

IWGP World Heavyweight Championship Match:
Zack Sabre Jr. (w/ Hartley Jackson, Kosei Fujita, Robbie Eagles & Ryohei Oiwa) (Champion) defeated Shota Umino

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Superior Italian Wrestling: System Sword Tournament III – Part 1 | 4 January 2025 | Centro Invictus, Cascina, Tuscany, Italy | Source: CageMatch.net

SIW Sword Tournament III (Opening Round) Match:
Sid Scala defeated Alessio Moro

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Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling: Tokyo Joshi Pro ’25 | 4 January 2025 | Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan | Source: CageMatch.net

Kaya Toribami, Ryo Mizunami & Yoshiko Hasegawa defeat Ivy Steele, Kira Summer & Matcha

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Unlimited Wrestling: Into The Unknown 2025 | 4 January 2025 | Apollo, Bremerhaven, Bremen, Germany | Source: CageMatch.net

Mark Haskins defeated Fast Time Moodo

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All Elite Wrestling/ Consejo Mundial De Lucha Libre/ Ring Of Honor/ New Japan Pro Wrestling/ World Wonder Ring Stardom: Wrestle Dynasty | 5 January 2025 | Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan | Source: CageMatch.net

Kenny Omega defeated Gabe Kidd (w/ Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney)

IWGP World Heavyweight Championship Match:
Zack Sabre Jr. (w/Hartley Jackson, Kosei Fujita, Robbie Eagles & Ryohei Oiwa) (c) defeats Ricochet

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Big Japan Pro Wrestling: Deathmatch King Death | 5 January 2025 | Shin-Kiba 1st RING, Tokyo, Japan | Source: CageMatch.net

Barbed Wire Board Death Match:
Jack Bennett & Yuko Miyamoto defeat Ludark Shaitan & Masaya Takahashi

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German Wrestling Federation: Strike First, Strike Hard 5 | 5 January 2025 | Festsaal Kreuzberg, Berlin, Germany | Source: CageMatch.net

GWF World Championship Match:
Peter Tihanyi (Champion) defeated Mark Haskins

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This was a longer first edition than expected however given the date(s) it can only be expected that these will grow in size. Formatting tweaks will happen, content will be tightened and content will generally be tidied or expanded upon.

If you made is this far, consider leaving a comment. Constructive feedback is always welcome and it needn’t be positive. Don’t like something? Let me know. If you’re looking for more of my ramblings, a more in depth argument, or just want to berate me in a more public setting, consider joining the Infinite Realities Discord server where you can engage with members of the community and follow the general happenings.

Opinions are my own. I am in no way affiliated with/ or incentivised by, any of the promotions or wrestlers referenced. I have no bias towards any single promotion and any suggestion to the contrary is made insincerely, in bad faith, and in ignorance of this stated fact. Any and all links were valid at the time of writing.