Rex Steiner Returns

The winner of the Goldberg Beat the Clock Challenge is back for his Storm debut. Representing the Proper 12 Locker Room, Rex Steiner took on Buddy Matthews to open the show. The terrifying Steiner showed no signs of letting up from the aggression that won him the Nitro challenge, wiping out Matthews with a military press powerslam.

Backstage, William Regal finally confronts Nigel McGuinness with an ominous warning. McGuinness, of course, didn’t listen but it can’t be denied Regal and Drew McIntyre are dangerous men and Nigel could be in trouble.

After pulling himself out of Australia’s first World Cup match and not even showing up in Orlando, Jay White has his first Storm match. He entered to a chorus of boos to fight Kofi Kingston and rightfully so. Unfortunately, things wouldn’t get better. Kingston took over early, White used his typical dirty tactics to get back on top. And when Kingston tried to finish the match with a Trouble in Paradise, it was turned into a Jay White Bladerunner for the win. White’s actions were a sharp contrast with Australia’s breakout star Robbie Eagles, who showed up later to apologize to his former tag team partner Ricochet and share a laugh with his friend.

As if we haven’t had enough incredible debuts and returns to Storm this season, Bobby Roode makes his first appearance in GAW since 2010 as he takes on Angel Garza. It effectively washed away the sour taste of Jay White and Roode brought out all the hits. The crossfaace, the Pay Off, the Roode Bomb and the Glorious DDT all made an appearance in a dominant Roode win.

The main event sees another title tilt between Taiji Ishimori and Bandido, the IWGP Jr Heavyweight Title once again on the line. The match was everything you might expect but it’s the actions surrounding the ring that are the major story here. Halfway through, Swerve Strickland attacked Rey Mysterio from behind. It’s not clear why he did it but it disrupted the whole match. Luckily, Bandido’s former challenger Kota Ibushi was there to save the GAW legend. All the uproar nearly cost Bandido the match as Ishimori tried to roll him up from behind and then put him in the crossface. Bandido survived both attempts and went on to win the match with the brand-new Ace Plex.