WHO WILL CHALLENGE BOBBY LASHLEY?

Rumble on the Beach winners are 3-0 in their eventual title matches so today’s opening match represents a major opportunity for its eventual winner. Matt Hardy won the Rumble on the Beach last year and used it to catapult himself into the spotlight when he won the Intercontinental Championship, so who will grab that brass ring this year? Early on it seemed like Drew McIntyre was the heavy favorite as the brutal Scotsman eliminated three men in quick succession but Matt Jackson was able to eliminate the former IC champion. After that early flurry, no one was able to eliminate more than one person for almost the rest of the match. It was one of the most competitive rumbles we’ve ever seen with no clear favorite. Eventually, former World Champion PAC entered at #15 and picked up the mantle of Drew McIntyre, quickly eliminating three more people in his quest to win the GAW Triple Crown. After a fast and furious rumble we were left with four men: PAC, Jay White, Rey Fenix and the last entrant Bandido. The four put on a dizzying display of athleticism as they were all well aware of the stakes of winning the match. It came down to Bandido and Rey Fenix and after a fierce battle, Bandido tossed the Lucha Bros member over the top to win the fourth Rumble on the Beach! Bandido becomes the first man ever to win both the Goldberg Beat the Clock Challenge and the Rumble on the Beach and he did it in consecutive events.

In the final match of the first week of Bash, Dakota Kai put her World Title on the line against Ronda Rousey, the first US Champion in GAW history. Rousey was in a tough situation all match as she had to deal with Kai and a very angry Tegan Nox who lost her US title earlier this week to Bianca Belair. Rousey was able to lock Kai in the dreaded armbar but Kai showed, even though you may not like her attitude, she is an incredibly gifted wrestler as she was able to escape the most dangerous submission in the game. Rousey rolled outside to escape the onslaught of Kai but she was met by the very dangerous Tegan Nox. Rousey made the snap decision to get away from the cheating Tegan Nox and it proved to be fatal. Rousey slid back into the ring where Kai was waiting to hit the Kairopractor and pick up the victory. While Dakota Kai has not reached the level of the woman she dethroned, beating Ronda Rousey is no mean feat.

But we weren’t done yet. In a move that caught everyone by surprise, the recently debuted Omega Woods cut into the broadcast as the world title match finished. Woods asserted he was confident in his decision to wait to make his debut but he’s done waiting now. He cryptically revealed his intentions were made clear by his actions in the six-man tag match on the last episode of Stormchaser. What could that mean?

Next week at Bash at the Beach the action only ramps up! We’ll see Black vs WALTER, Gibson vs Lancelot loser leaves GAW and Yamamoto, Katherine Sakamoto and Lazzara in a two out of three falls main event for the Academy Women’s Championship!