On November 7, Gran Guerrero won the CMLL World Heavyweight Championship. But it happened on a non-televised show, reinforcing my suspicion that it’s not the top belt in the company. But it’s still not clear to me that any title is particularly important in that company, so this will be the end of me covering CMLL’s title changes.

November 12, 2022 – Crown Point, Indiana

Billie Starkz def. Calvin Tankman {BLP Heavyweight Championship Match}
From BLP Slamilton. Tankman had just wrestled and defeated Levi Everett in a title match. Everett then laid out Tankman with his butter churn and then beat him up with a chair. Starz came out with a golden megaphone that I assume she received after winning the BLP Rumble, and exchanged it for an immediate match with Tankman. She won in seconds with one foot on Tankman’s chest. The Money in the Bank trope is the worst thing in wrestling and devalues every title it touches. N/A

November 12, 2022 – Chalmette, Louisiana

Tyrus def. Trevor Murdoch and Matt Cardona {NWA Championship Triple Threat Match}
From NWA Hard Times. All three of these guys were never in WWE at the same time (though Ryder’s longer run overlapped with both), so we’ll never know where this matchup would have appeared on a WWE card. But to suggest that it wouldn’t have the star power to be on the undercard of any PPV would not be controversial. Even if you ignore Tyrus’s bad politics and that he allegedly harassed female cast members on the set of Netflix’s GLOW, he’s still an old man who has never been good in the ring. Why are so many wrestling companies centering men who are deep into middle age? There’s no long-term strategy, just desperate grabs for headlines in niche publications. This wasn’t the worst match I’ve ever seen, thanks in large part to Tyrus not being required to take center stage for more than a minute at a time. The throughline of the match was Murdoch’s desire to punish Cardona for taking the title from him back in February. And then Tyrus, after mostly just getting his ass kicked, pops up and interrupts Murdoch’s revenge to hit the Tongan Death Grip Chokeslam for the win at 10:03. Why did he wrestle the whole match as a babyface only to win the title like a sneaky heel? This was the main event title change of a supposedly big PPV, but it played out like a TV opener that would lead to a (hopefully) more interesting main event. **

November 19, 2022 – Newark, New Jersey

MJF def. Jon Moxley {AEW World Championship Match}
From AEW Full Gear. Moxley decks MJF at the bell. You don’t see that a lot, which is too bad because I liked it. The story the commentators tell is that MJF is at a huge disadvantage here, because the last time he challenged Moxley for the title he lost even though Moxley wasn’t allowed to use the Paradigm Shift; now Moxley has no restrictions. MJF injured his knee going for a piledriver, and from there it became pretty clear they were going for a sympathetic babyface turn for MJF. Moxley relentlessly attacked the knee as the crow rallied behind MJF. And then they turned on Moxley. I can relate to this vibe. MJF survived an avalanche Paradigm Shift too, and then opts out of using the Dynamite Diamond Ring at William Regal’s insistence (or in spite of him). Two referee’s get knocked out, during which time Moxley makes MJF tap to the Bully Choke. Regal distracts Moxley and gives MJF brass knuckles, which MJF uses to knock Moxley out for the title at 23:09. I was a bit annoyed that MJF tapped because it seemed to fly in the face of his babyface performance, but then Regal’s heel turn and MJF’s reversion occurred seconds later, so it all felt of a piece. I enjoyed this a lot. MJF deserves to be champ and I hope his reign is a good one. Lord knows AEW needs something interesting. ****

November 20, 2022 – Glasgow, Scotland

Leyton Buzzard def. Kez Evans, Craig Anthony, and Stevie James {ICW World Heavyweight Championship Elimination Match}
From ICW Fear & Loathing XIV. Anthony and James weren’t just non-factors in this match, the portions of this match that were only between them were bad. This was all about the exchanges between Buzzard and Evans, and it was silly to have the other two guys in this. I say this knowing nothing about the storylines going into this match, but based on what was presented here I feel very comfortable in my opinion. I guess Evans press slamming Anthony off of the balcony was a pretty wild spot. I very much like that they didn’t show where he landed so that the illusion wasn’t broken by seeing a bunch of wrestlers waiting to catch him. That Evans didn’t then drag Anthony to the match and pin him is mystifying, though. Evans slugs James with brass knuckles to eliminate him a couple minutes later. ANd right after that, Anthony is totally recovered from being tossed off of the balcony. Fuck that. Automatically, this match will not exceed three stars because of that alone. Buzzard hurts his leg missing a Shooting Star Press on Anthony. He immediately sells better for that than Anthony did being tossed from two stories high. Evans punts Anthony to eliminate him. Yep, a single kick was stronger than a defenestration. Evans spends the next few minutes attacking Buzzard’s leg, and the crowd is alive for Buzzard. Evans gets distracted yelling at Buzzard’s mother and gets hit with a Shooting Star Press. Buzzard kicks out of Evans’ piledriver and brass knuckles shot. It wasn’t particularly believable, so the crowds’ pop diminished with each subsequent kick out. Buzzard catches him with a low blow, a brass knuckles shot of his own, and the Buzz Killer for the win at 24:44. So much of this match was two guys out two guys in was pretty annoying. And Anthony is bad at wrestling. It’s a shame, because Buzzard and Evans put in a good effort, and James was also there. **¾

I’m feeling myself running out of steam reviewing these title changes, so here’s hoping December brings a lot of great stuff.