- 2 days ago
- #njpw
#NJPW
Promotion: New Japan Pro Wrestling
WON rating: ****1/2
Match type: Singles
Event: NJPW STRONG Lonestar Shootout 2023
Promotion: New Japan Pro Wrestling
WON rating: ****1/2
Match type: Singles
Event: NJPW STRONG Lonestar Shootout 2023
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Who can stop the front man?
00:25First ever champion.
00:27Most offenses in New Japan modern history
00:29I've pulled my life into this championship
00:31and that's why I'm going to continue doing it
00:32But today I'm going to be 15?
00:3614 or 15?
00:3715?
00:3815?
00:39And then?
00:405 times?
00:4220 times?
00:43I'd be happy
00:46I'd be happy
00:48It's easy
00:51It's easy
00:53It's easy
00:54Easy peasy lemon squeezy
00:55I am speedball Mike Bailey
00:56Zack Sabre Jr. does not deserve to be the New Japan Pro Wrestling World Television Champion
01:02I bet he doesn't even own a TV
01:04Meanwhile
01:05I wrestle on 4 continents
01:08in 1 month alone
01:09and still find the time to watch over 80 hours of television
01:14every single week
01:17and November 10th at Lone Star Shootout
01:19it won't even take me 15 minutes
01:21to beat Zack Sabre Jr.
01:24and then I will go right up to my room
01:25turn on diners, drive-ins and dives
01:28and watch Guy Fieri
01:29with my new New Japan Pro Wrestling World Television Championship
01:33around my waist
01:43End of Sudden
01:45Day 4
01:46in Freed стать
01:483
01:49in Freed
02:04If that's what it needs, if that's what Speedball takes, if that's the motivation that Speedball needs
02:07to power through Zack Sabre Jr., we'll take it because Speedball only has 15 minutes to win this title.
02:19The NJPW World Television Championship, it's a 15-minute time limit.
02:25And Zack Sabre Jr. likes to be the opponents before them.
02:29Speedball.
02:38So later on, Mike Bailey said it himself, it won't even take me 15 minutes.
02:46Speedball.
02:48Speedball.
02:50Speedball.
02:51Yay!
02:53Follow the people who studies on the Instagram page,
03:10we've got him!
03:12We've got him!
03:13We've got him!
03:14We've got him!
03:14I never die to hold up and shine
03:16So we hope the streets walk to ground
03:19Pushing running to the ground
03:21A thousand times
03:30Zach Sabre Jr. made the declaration earlier in the year
03:34that by the end of 2023
03:35he wants to accomplish 20 successful defenses
03:39of the NJPW World Television Championship
03:42the first ever NJPW World Television Champion
03:45Zach Sabre Jr. walks in to title defense
03:49number 16
03:53He's looking at the most defenses as he said
03:56in the modern era
03:59of New Japan World Wrestling
04:02Hey! Hey!
04:11I gotta tell you I like the smug
04:13I like the boxing of a guy like Zach Sabre Jr.
04:15Someone who's willing to call their shots
04:17and say what needs to be said
04:21The declaration has been made
04:2320 championship defenses
04:24will this be the last of Zach Sabre Jr.
04:28The champion of the NJPW World Television Champion
04:30TMPK
04:31The front row
04:32Zach Sabre Jr.!
04:34TMPK
04:42TMPK
04:43As the watch is happy and the charge is accorded back on the flag
04:47That hollandita
04:48That hollandita
04:49A title of the match is ranked against the champion on the championship
04:52if it's the champion Assassin Jelly, 3-4.
04:56Let's go, 3-4
04:59Let's go, 3-4
05:00Let's go, 3-4
05:00Like we said, 15 minutes in this match
05:03The time letter runs out
05:05It's a draw but Zack Sabre sent time and again
05:09Considered a draw or a loss
05:10Whoa, charging in, but gets caught.
05:13Bailey with a flurry.
05:15You know, 15 minutes means nothing to Mike Bailey
05:17because he said himself that he spends about 80 hours a week
05:20watching television.
05:22And somehow double that wrestling.
05:25There's only 168 hours in a seven-day span.
05:27That's 47% of your week.
05:29Whoa, but with these speedball kicks,
05:31Mike Bailey bends the rules of time and space and television.
05:36Zack Sabre sent to the outside.
05:40That's the question of how a guy like Speedball
05:42could find time to balance home life,
05:4480 hours of television a week,
05:46and how he could defend it out in the New Japan World Television title.
05:50The pump kick sending Zack Sabre Jr. off the apron.
05:54Watch out for Speedball.
05:55Mike Bailey, the moonsault to the outside.
05:59Trying the moonsault, conducting with precision.
06:08Zack Sabre slow to get to his feet.
06:10Speedball, tossing him into the corner.
06:16Oh!
06:19Kick to the face.
06:21These two men have faced off in singles competition in the past.
06:24The last time took place in the year of 2017.
06:28That is a little over a six-year difference,
06:32a six-year period of growth.
06:34Well, Ed Walker, I have to say,
06:35I will be an unbiased journalist at this point in time.
06:38I will also point out that of those three meetings,
06:41Zack Sabre Jr. was the victor in every single one of them.
06:44Speedball does not have a single victory over Zack Sabre Jr.,
06:48who has now rolled across the ring.
06:50And what it sounds like, then, is the entirety of the numbers game
06:53falls in the favor of Zack Sabre Jr.
06:55What does fall in the favor of Mike Bailey?
06:59Well, right now, not much.
07:01But it is the fact that it's been, as you said, many years, six years.
07:06Oh, no!
07:07Oh, snapping the neck!
07:11It's been six years, and honestly, probably Mike Bailey's neck
07:15is in even worse condition these days than it was then.
07:18But, no, it's been six years, which is an advantage, potentially, for speedball.
07:22He is a very different wrestler than he was in 2017.
07:26But right now, Zack Sabre is in control.
07:33Zack Sabre Jr. is a man who will tie you up ten ways to Sunday.
07:37And today, it is Friday evening.
07:38He's still going to do it ten times more.
07:41Oh!
07:44Bending the foot!
07:49Yeah!
07:51Zack Sabre Jr., the bow and arrow stretch.
07:56Adjusting the curvature of the spine for speedball, Mike Bailey.
08:00Bailey was trying to free himself, got launched.
08:05Last time that we saw Zack Sabre Jr.,
08:07he was competing at Power Struggle against Kazushika Okada,
08:11Tomohiro Ishii, and Hiroshi Tanahashi.
08:13The six-man tag team championships, never open weight, were on the line.
08:17TMDK could not get the job done.
08:22Zack Sabre Jr., though, has the opportunity to get back on the winning side of things
08:27and stay New Japan World Television Champion.
08:31Whoa!
08:32Could he do it?
08:37Connecting with that kick to the spine, but that might have just fired Bailey up.
08:46Zack sent back to the ropes.
08:48Bailey!
08:48Oh, gets caught!
08:51Oh!
08:52Nearly stopping the arm, the left arm of speedball!
08:56Handspring again, but gets caught!
08:58Oh!
08:58Caught out!
08:58Caught out in the cross arm breaker!
09:00Bailey's wrenching the fingers, trying to keep the hands together!
09:03That S-like grip of speedball, Mike Bailey,
09:07trying to keep this from being broken,
09:08is Bailey and Zack Sabre Jr. trying to break it.
09:12Bailey's trying to reposition his body,
09:13and they got to the rope.
09:16They got their foot on the rope, finally.
09:26Bailey, though, holding on to that elbow.
09:37Very split fanfare here tonight in Dallas, Texas.
09:40Oh, speedball breaks out!
09:45Bailey, you mentioned that this matchup only has a 15-minute time limit.
09:50A lot of our matches on the evening, 20, 30, 60-minute time limits.
09:53That adds a lot of a sense of urgency in this matchup for Mike Bailey to get the job done.
09:57Absolutely.
10:01Especially when we know that Mike Bailey can go the distance in longer matches.
10:09But Zack Sabre Jr. has the experience clinching it in 15 minutes or less.
10:16Bailey, though, maybe, doing a good job of turning this around,
10:19as I believe that was the five-minute call that we just heard.
10:22It's only been five minutes,
10:24and you look at the redness in the chest of Zack Sabre Jr.
10:29Speedball Mike Bailey is one of the hardest-hitting athletes
10:31that you will find in independent professional wrestling today.
10:38To that point, axe kick to the spine.
10:43Sabre laid out.
10:45Looking for something here.
10:47Standing, shooting star, cover here for Speedball.
10:50Oh, titles are on the line, but titles are not won just yet.
10:55Bailey hooked the leg, but after Sabre kicked out,
10:59you could see that Mike was again shaking out that arm.
11:03Last time we saw Speedball, Mike Bailey was back to destruction,
11:06ended up facing off against Yo and Horomo Takahashi
11:11for the Junior Heavyweight Championship.
11:13Did not exactly go his way.
11:15Hold on a minute.
11:17That worked out a little bit better, though, Bailey.
11:19Sudden impact.
11:20Cover here, too.
11:29Speedball has Zack Sabre Jr. exactly where he wants him,
11:32but Sabre Jr. picking the leg.
11:34Went for it one too many times.
11:35Sabre.
11:36Yeah, this is dangerous.
11:37Dangerous position for Mike Bailey.
11:39Oh, now Bailey.
11:41Snap mirror.
11:42Oh, Sabre ducks the kick.
11:46Consistent back and forth between these two men,
11:48but someone has to lose at the end of the day.
11:54Oh.
11:57Oh.
11:59Well, Veda, anything you can do, I can do better,
12:01and Mike Bailey gets the better of this one.
12:04Penalty kick.
12:06Bailey, the last to connect.
12:09Oh.
12:09Double knees, and oh!
12:12Knee on knee, bone on bone, shin on shin.
12:19That stopped the momentum of Mike Bailey,
12:21but that was a sacrifice on the part of Zack Sabre Jr.
12:25will two specific parts his knees.
12:36You saw it earlier on,
12:37the amount of men that Zack Sabre Jr. has put down
12:40in retaining the New Japan World Television Championship.
12:45Men like Satoshi Kojima,
12:48Christopher Daniels, Tom Lawler,
12:50Tomohiro Ishii.
12:52Men that are all very different in their styles.
12:55Their mantras, their ideas in the squared circle.
13:00Now has to meet Speedball Mike Bailey in the ring.
13:05Fourth degree Taekwondo black belt.
13:08And I'm going to go out here and just say,
13:10a ZSJ has never faced an opponent the like
13:12of Speedball Mike Bailey throughout any of his defenses.
13:16Whoa.
13:17But he may have done an efficient, effective job
13:22of working over the shins of Bailey,
13:23who, hold on a second,
13:27Speedball.
13:28Whoa.
13:29Wow.
13:30Oh, ho, ho, ho, ho.
13:33Super kick.
13:35Bailey with the burst of adrenaline,
13:36but gets stopped.
13:40Unleashing all the energy tonight.
13:44Zack Sabre Jr.
13:45might have got his bell rung there
13:47because you see him grabbing at that left ear.
13:50Oh, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho.
14:11Oh.
14:14Hard to use those knees in combat
14:16when they're grinded to powder
14:19by the way of Zack Sabre Jr.
14:24And keep in mind, with the time limit,
14:27that means Speedball doesn't have any time to recover.
14:31Is Sabre now rolling through?
14:35True submission hat trick is Zack Sabre Jr.
14:40Oh, now trying to trap both legs.
14:45Oh, ankle turned.
14:47Oh, disgusting.
14:49The ankle is not supposed to bend
14:50in that fashion.
14:52Oh, not the shoes.
14:53The lack of protective footwear
14:56coming to bite Mike Bailey in the end.
15:01Arm trap, foot trap.
15:05Speedball is writhing in pain right now.
15:09Bailey's close.
15:11He's nearly there.
15:11He's there.
15:12He's got it.
15:12He's got the ropes.
15:17And that was the 10-minute call right there.
15:23Bailey only has five minutes.
15:26Less than five minutes.
15:31Bailey's still in the ropes
15:32trying to crawl to the outside,
15:33but that heel hook is cinched.
15:37And now to the outside.
15:39Whoa, whoa.
15:40On that apron.
15:41They're going to take a very nasty spill here.
15:44Bailey managing to hold on.
15:47You can hear the sound of those kicks.
15:52Back to the ankle again.
16:10The aggression only beginning to turn up
16:13further and further.
16:14The deeper we get into this matchup,
16:16the less time there is for speedball Mike Bailey
16:18to walk out the new world television champion.
16:21But Bailey isn't going down.
16:22Instead, they're on their feet.
16:28Speedball.
16:30Moonsault knee press.
16:33On the apron.
16:46One of the most impressive athletic maneuvers
16:48that you're going to see
16:50in speedball Mike Bailey, though.
16:52It's all about positioning.
16:53It's all about time.
16:54I thought Mike was,
16:55speaking of time,
16:56I thought Mike was going to go
16:57throw Sabre back into the ring,
16:58but instead,
16:59double jump.
17:10Nobody's got something.
17:11Three minutes left.
17:12Three minutes.
17:12Three minutes left, Mike Bailey.
17:14Yeah, you've got to start thinking about the clock.
17:16You've got to start thinking about
17:17how much time you have left.
17:19Every single wasted second
17:20cannot be had or spared.
17:23Bailey, tornado kick through the pain,
17:25but Zack Sabre got out of the way.
17:28Tornado DDT denied.
17:30This Mike Bailey,
17:32tornado kick.
17:34Sabre down.
17:36Bailey's trying to shake the pain
17:38out of that knee.
17:39Loading it up.
17:40Ultima weapon.
17:41Yeah, there it is.
17:43Ultima weapon.
17:44That's it, new champ.
17:45We get a new champion right here.
17:47This is it.
17:48No, no, no.
17:56There's no time for hot dog
17:58and a grandstand
17:59and you have a championship
18:00to win speedball.
18:01Oh, wait.
18:03Roundhouse kick got caught.
18:04Took a little bit too much time.
18:06A little bit too much time.
18:08Good God.
18:10Good God.
18:11Look what he's done.
18:12Two minutes.
18:14Two minutes.
18:16Two minutes left
18:17in active competition.
18:21The building has come unglued.
18:28They can't fight forever.
18:30They only have two minutes.
18:31Cover here sitting into it.
18:33Oh, Sabre.
18:33Zack Sabre rolling through.
18:35Two.
18:35Bailey escapes,
18:36grabs the legs.
18:38Oh, but cartwheeling
18:39out of the head scissors.
18:40Ducks the kick again.
18:42There it is.
18:42There it is.
18:43Zack Sabre Jr.
18:44Oh, shoulders down.
18:45Cover.
18:46No.
18:46Bailey with the choke again.
18:48Sabre rolls through.
18:49Consistent back and forth.
18:50Clutch, clutch.
18:53Kicked out again.
18:58And there's just no time left.
19:01Very little.
19:02Very little time.
19:03This is the time.
19:04This is the moment.
19:05No.
19:06No.
19:09No.
19:16He scouted the scout.
19:18To the spine.
19:20Good lord.
19:22Mike Bailey,
19:23you have to make the cover.
19:26Bailey.
19:27One more time.
19:28Giordano kicked the center ball.
19:30No.
19:30Wait.
19:31No more pump.
19:32No more circumstance.
19:34Flying armor into a triangle,
19:35but Bailey's trying to fight it.
19:36The triangle choke.
19:38Look at the strike.
19:40Sit out.
19:4130 seconds left.
19:4330 seconds.
19:4330 seconds.
19:44Come on, Mike.
19:4630 seconds.
19:46No.
19:47No.
19:48Omaplata.
19:49Zack Sabre Jr.
19:50He's got this.
19:52We are not seeing a new champion.
19:54There's no way.
19:55The fingers are bending.
19:56Oh, that's disgusting.
20:0010 seconds.
20:0210 seconds.
20:03The pinky.
20:03He just broke his pinky.
20:05Good lord.
20:0610 seconds.
20:07This is over.
20:08This is over.
20:09Good.
20:09Oh, my.
20:10That's it.
20:23I cannot believe what we have witnessed here tonight.
20:30We talked about how Zack Sabre has beaten so many challengers in so many different ways.
20:43This is the first time I've seen him snap a bone.
20:49Oh, my God.
20:50Oh, someone.
20:51Oh, oh.
21:02Despite the loss, Mike Bailey has no ability to hang his head in defeat because he just gave
21:10the absolute greatest testament to Zack Sabre Jr.'s championship defenses that there's ever been.
21:18Number 16 is one you are not going to forget.
21:21We talked about that 15-minute time limit.
21:24That match ended.
21:26I didn't have the timer in front of me, but it sounded like 14 minutes, 59, and maybe a half
21:33second.
21:47What a matchup for Zack Sabre Jr.
21:50And what a showing.
21:52What a standout performance for Speedball Mike Bailey.
22:04As Mike Bailey continues to chase gold in New Japan Pro Wrestling, we have more title action on the line
22:13here, Walker, coming up next.
22:15Exactly, IWGP Women's Championship action coming up after this.
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