411’s WWE LFG Season Three Report: Episode Nine

-Written: 6.21.26
-Source: A&E
-Run Time: 1 Hour (w/ commercials)

-Happy Father’s Day to all the days out there and the moms that have to be Dad as well.

-Joe Tessitore is our narrator.

-Kevin Owens, Booker T, Nattie, and Bubba Ray Dudley are our Legends. Matt Bloom is the head trainer at The PC and Shawn Michaels is in charge of NXT.

-Then! Now! Forever! Together!

-We start in Medical at The PC as Carlee Bright is having issues with her lower back. It seems it’s just from normal wear and tear. She states she is nervous because she has been off so long. She wants to learn to be comfortable with the uncomfortable. Mike Tomlin loved saying that!

-Show opening!

-Matt Bloom is at the desk with Booker T, Bubba, and Terry Taylor.

-Matches tonight: Booker gets Harlem Lewis vs. Braxton Cole and this is the first time they put out the idea that Lewis can be a face (which he’s been doing on Evolve in recent weeks).

-Terry Taylor gets Zena Sterling (who showed off a new look on Evolve this past week) vs. Sirena Linton. Bubba says Zena does not understand the emotion of anger or aggression. Matt: “Coach Terry makes a lot of people angry.”

-Main Event belongs to Bubba and it’s Apollo Crew and Elijah Holyfield vs. Jaime Garcia (Romeo Moreno) and Malik Blade. Booker notes that Malik has been here a long time and is on the bubble. Bubba knows Apollo will be a great leader for Elijah.

-Booker meets with Harlem and Braxton and they work out in the ring. Booker gives some pointers on how to be a heel without having to go full out heel all the time. Psychology basically and you can see a light go off above Cole’s head as he understands.

-Commercials!

Braxton Cole vs. Harlem Lewis

-Funny enough, these two are involved in a feud on Evolve and have a no DQ match coming up. The crowd chants nerd at Braxton. Wrestling fans chanting nerd at someone is interesting. I say that as a wrestling fan and known nerd in high school. Booker isn’t pleased with the weak lockup. Harlem controls with a side headlock. Braxton shoves off, but gets run over with a shoulder tackle. Slam from Harlem, but he runs into a stun-gun. Neckbreaker follows for a two count. Cole with a snap suplex and Lewis rolls to the corner. He catches Cole coming in with a back elbow, but can’t follow up. Cole sets Lewis up top and throws forearms to the back. Hangman’s neckbreaker gets two. Booker and Bubba are digging what they are doing so far. Lewis punches his way out of a headlock and starts rolling. Clothesline followed by a modified Michinoku Drive for two. Cole goes back to another neckbreaker as he is staying on task. He goes for book to use, but the ref catches him. Cole is cool with that as it gets the ref out and place and he goes for a low blow, but Lewis catches the leg and gets a roll-up for the pin at 4:35.

Winner: Harlem Lewis via pin at 4:35
-I suspect their upcoming no DQ match will be better. This was fine and accomplished what the coaches wanted. **

-Commercials!

-Booker gives them feedback backstage. He compliments them on not rushing and is happy they did what he asked. He gives them some nitpicking but is pleased overall. This is the stuff I like.

-Bloom is a little tougher as he tells Cole his selling and creativity around the character is behind more than he thought it would be. Cole thinks he needs to self-reflect. Bloom tells him this is a TV show and you gain fans and lose fans. They need him to step up as they have more people coming in behind and they can pass him by. He has more praise for Lewis.

-Zena says she hasn’t worked much with Sirena, so she isn’t sure about the chemistry. They have both been on this show since Season One. Terry gives them advice and wants Sirena to work an injured body part. Hey, Norman Smiley cameo! BIG WIGGLE! Taylor notes people pay to see these larger than life characters in conflict. They want more than a color by numbers wrestling match. Sirena says she learned “we are storytellers first.”

-Commercials!

Zena Sterling vs. Sirena Linton

-Linton’s entrance is kind of cool. Lockup and Zena shoves Sirena back in the corner. Sirena lands a SLAP to the face. She charges out, but Zena catches her and lands a slap of her own. She takes Sirena down with a side headlock as we see all three Legends watching backstage. Clothesline from Zena gets a one count. Back to the headlock! Zena with a slam after a rope running sequence. Zena misses a charge in the corner and I think that was where she was supposed to injure the shoulder, but that didn’t happen. Sirena with a modified Bronco Buster and hits a Kevin Sullivan double stomp for two. Body scissors. Zena shifts her weight and that forces Sirena to release or be pinned. Zena starts her comeback and wins a striking contest. She fires off chops and hits a clothesline and another. Suplex! Running back splash in the corner and she follows with a tilt-a-whirl slam for the pin at 4:30.

Winner: Zena Sterling via pin at 4:30
-They kind of rushed through that ending and we never got Linton working an injured body part as they discussed. Still solid though. **

-Terry meets with both ladies backstage and notes they should have stayed in the body scissors longer. He talks about selling long enough to get the crowd into the match. He tells them the criticism doesn’t undo what they accomplished.

-Bloom tells them that he really enjoyed the match and appreciate Linton being aggressive. He also goes over taking a bit more time in the submission and giving the fans a chance to get into it.

-Bubba meets with the four men in our Main Event. Jaime is pumped to be in a tag match with Bubba coaching them. Malik notes that he and Jaime were on the same page quickly even though they have never teamed. Apollo loves the look of Elijah and thinks Elijah can feed off his experience.

-Bubba and Booker don’t want Elijah wasting his punches since an uppercut is his finisher. Less is more in this case. Makes all the sense in the world. Bubba coaches the before the match and knows they only have six minutes, but they don’t need to go 100 million miles an hour. “Just goo 99 million miles an hour.”

-Commercials!

Jaime Garcia and Malik Blade vs. Apollo Crews and Elijah Holyfield

-As noted Garcia is on Evolve as Romeo Moreno. Blade and Crews were released post Mania and Holyfield suffered his first loss last week in Evolve (to Brooks Jensen). Bubba thinks they can tear the house down if they have the match they are capable of having. Holyfield shoves Blade on his ass off a lockup to start. Blade goes to the arm and tags Garcia into the match. He gets caught with a slam and a tag is made to Apollo. The crowd pops as Apollo is the biggest star to ever work a match in LFG. Gorilla Press Slam, but Garcia slides off. He makes a blind tag and Blade just waits. He comes off the top with a clothesline and then decks Holyfield on the apron. Cool! Suplex gets a one count. Double leap frog leads to a Blade dropkick that knocks Crews back into a roll-up from Garcia for two. Crews elbows his way out of a waistlock, but gets cut off from making the tag. Bubba is very pleased with what Malik is doing this week. Blade with a splash off the top, but Garcia misses a moonsault. Hot Tag to Elijah and he runs wild. Running clothesline to Garcia and one to Blade. Good aggression! Blade gets dumped to the floor. Elijah eats a boot and we have Garcia and Crews left in the ring. Garcia gets a rolling dropkick that sends Crews to the floor. Garcia leaps off the ropes and hits a splash to the floor on the pile. Nice! Garcia goes for a springboard dropkick back in the ring, but Holyfield avoids and lands the uppercut for the pin at 4:56.

Winners: Elijah Holyfield and Apollo Crews
-Props to Crews for letting both guys get some work in on him and then letting Holyfield get the shine. Sucks he was released as they seemed to be building a solid team. **1/2

-Bubba gives his feedback and wants Elijah to work to the back of the house. He offers praise to Blake and Garcia for the small things they did in the match. Apollo offers more advice for Hoyfield and they seem happy to be a team. Man, they should have given them a chance.

-As I noted every week, this is the format I love for this show. It’s not a forced reality competition. It’s men and women having real matches with Legends giving them advice before and criticism and praise after the match. It may not be as exciting for casual people watching, but for me it’s been wonderful. All three matches were solid so no LFG BANGERS this week, but that’s okay. I do weep for not getting APOLLO HOLYFIELD as a team on Evolve, NXT, or wherever. Thanks for reading!