Joey Janela’s Spring Break X
Date: April 17, 2026
Location: Horseshoe Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: Veda Scott, John Mosley, Jordan Castle

This has become the biggest independent show of the weekend (or at least close to it) and I kind of find myself looking forward to it. Unfortunately some of that is due to seeing how ridiculous the show can get. That might be what we’ll be seeing here, with the main event featuring Joey Janela vs. a fourteen year old. Let’s get to it.

We open with a look back at the show’s history (I still need to see the first one), which really has become a big deal over the years. And now it’s the tenth edition, which thankfully does use the Wrestlemania X logo.

Opening video, which seems to be a generic GCW video.

Grab The Brass Ring Ladder Match

Vipress, Masato Tanaka, Gringo Loco, Shotzi Blackheart, Bear Bronson, 1 Called Manders, Man Like DeReiss, Sidney Akeem, Charles Manson, Terry Yaki, Vengador

For a guaranteed title shot and I’m sure this will be nice and orderly. DeReiss gets jumped during his entrance and the fight starts on the floor, meaning Loco has to moonsault onto everyone else. Akeem is taken up top for a Spanish Fly onto the pile and everyone is down again. Mason takes Yaki inside for…two, as I don’t think I quite get the rules. Mason stands up and some music plays as Tanaka joins us as the final entrant. DeReiss and Tanaka have a standoff and shout DeReiss’ 01-21 catchphrase until DeReiss grabs a cutter.

Vengador comes in to go after Akeem…and breaks the top rope on a flip attempt. Blackheart comes in and gets slammed by Loco, who goes…well as high up as he can. Tanaka hurricanranas him down but Blackheart dropkicks a ladder into Tanaka’s face. Bronson goes after Mason, who dropkicks him through a door in the corner for two. Tanaka and Bronson take turns blasting the other in the head with chairs (oh dear) and forearm it out until Bronson’s Black Hole Slam gets one.

The two of them brawl into the crowd as Blackheart sets up a ladder. The ring crew comes in to repair the top rope (fans: “SAFETY FIRST!”) and Blackheart climbs the ladder. Vipress joins her so Blackheart…kisses Vipress and removes her shirt before they both dive off. DeReiss goes up to the middle rope (still no top rope) for a 450 but Yaki kind of Angle Slam bombs him for two.

A regular ladder is bridged into the standing one…and Loco base bombs Vengador off one ladder and through the door for the huge crash. Vipress piledrives Mason off the apron and through a door but Christian Napier runs in to take Vipress out. Cue Matt Tremont to go after Napier and brawl with him to the back. Manders (hey he’s in this too) gets cuttered by Vengador, who goes up for a splash off the ladder for two. Manders lariats the heck out of Vengador for the pin at 21:42.

Rating: B-. Well it wasn’t boring. I’m not sure if it was good, but it wasn’t boring. This is their version of Money In The Bank, though they could have done a better job of explaining the rules. In short, a match with a ladder tends to have something to grab above the ring but this was just a weapons scramble match. It’s good enough, but with fifteen people involved, it was a bit much.

Post match San Francisco 49ers star and wrestling superfan George Kittle celebrates with Manders.

We get a video of GCW wrestlers who have passed away over the years. Well that’s depressing.

Atticus Cogar talks about everything he has done to get here and hates that someone is impersonating Hayabusa. This isn’t a game to him and he is the World Champion. The new Hayabusa is just an invader and the mask means nothing. The reality is scars carry rank and the fake Hayabusa is about to learn it. That’s an intense promo and I’m not surprised Cogar is the top heel around here after last year.

Rascalz vs. Marcus Mathers/Bustah And The Brain

Mathers and Reed start things off and miss kicks/clotheslines to start. A pinfall reversal sequence gets two each until Mathers kicks him into the corner. Reed misses a legsweep but comes back with a quick dropkick. Mathers is sent into the wrong corner and the Rascalz get in the rapid fire kicks for two. Price comes in and gets a running start into a jump to escape an early wristlock.

Oliver comes in to double team Xavier into the corner for some triple boots. Xavier is able to get up for a tag off to Wentz though and the unaware Mathers gets taken down. Wentz grabs a chinlock and kicks him down for two before it’s back to Reed. Some shots to the back keep Mathers down before it’s back to Wentz for a slingshot hilo.

Mathers fights up and brings Oliver in to clean house. A German suplex gets two on Wentz and cradles Reed at the same time, followed by an assisted Blockbuster for two. Wentz fights up and brings Reed back in for a slingshot belly to back suplex/neckbreaker combination. Everything breaks down and Oliver hits a springboard clothesline to take over.

Xavier gets double teamed down and Price and Mathers hit a running dive each. Back in and Mathers’ 450 gets two on Xavier with Reed and Wentz making the save. Reed is back up with the running diving cutter and the Cardiac Kick hits Price. A Swanton into a 450 into Spiral Tap finishes Price at 16:04.

Rating: B+. This has been the week of the six man tags and this was yet another rather awesome edition. It’s a good example of a match that takes people and lets them do their thing from start to end, which was quite the treat. The Rascalz are great when they aren’t doing their comedy stuff and I like the other three more than enough for them to carry their side. Very entertaining match.

We get a video on Atticus Cogar vs. Hayabusa. Cogar is the big bad around here and Hayabusa is basically a tribute to the original. Cogar doesn’t think Hayabusa has the heart and scars though so it’s time for Hayabusa to earn them.

Game Changer Wrestling World Title: Hayabusa vs. Atticus Cogar

Cogar is defending. The fans seem to like Cogar a lot, despite him seemingly being the big villain. Cogar tries an early skewers shot so Hayabusa hammers away before avoiding a charge. Hayabusa’s Asai moonsault hits Cogar on the floor but Cogar ties him in the ropes for a moonsault back inside. The chinlock goes on and Hayabusa actually has to go to the ropes, meaning it’s time for the weapons.

Back in and Cogar starts chairing the knee down before getting the skewers for some stabbing. A back elbow gives Cogar two but Hayabusa knocks him off the top for a missile dropkick. Hayabusa’s suplex into a moonsault gets two and he grabs the Figure Four. The rope is grabbed and the fans are split between them, though the opt for Sabu after Hayabusa does one of his dives. Cogar is back up and kicks a chair into Hayabusa’s leg for two so it’s time to open a bunch of chairs.

Hayabusa is laid on the chairs but Cogar’s moonsault stomp only hits said chairs to leave him down. Back up and Hayabusa bridges a door over some chairs and a 450 drives Cogar through it for a slightly delayed two. Cogar pulls him off the top though and the Brain Hemorrhage (bulldog driver) gets two more. With that not working, Cogar grabs the skewers but Hayabusa takes them away and stabs him in the head instead. Hayabusa misses a moonsault (Cogar moved, but he was three feet from where Hayabusa landed anyway) and another Brain Hemorrhage retains at 13:35.

Rating: C+. I hate the skewers thing, but thankfully they didn’t go too crazy with them here. Instead it was more about chairs and the doors, though I never got to the point where I thought the title was in trouble. This felt more like a challenger of the month more than anything else, as they never got into the idea of hurting Hayabusa to cause the scars that Cogar talked about. It’s not a bad match, but I was hoping for more.

We recap Marko Stunt/Jack Perry vs. Sam Stackhouse/KJ Orso. Stunt announced his retirement and Orso attacked him. Orso’s former friend Stackhouse came out to save Stunt and then turned on him, joining Orso on the side of evil. Stunt wanted revenge and Perry was back to team with him, setting up the match.

Sam Stackhouse/KJ Orso vs. Marko Stunt/Jack Perry

Yes Perry arrives in his bus and yes Luchasaurus is still driving despite having one good…I guess it would be an arm. Stackhouse (who weights around 400lbs) is dressed as One Man Gang and Orso is in Ric Flair gear. We get a bunch of posing to start until Perry shoulders Orso down. With that not working, it’s off to Stackhouse, with Stunt wanting to come in as well. Stackhouse even drops to his knees before handing it back to Orso. They run the ropes a bit until Stunt grabs a rollup and scores with a basement dropkick.

Perry comes back in for a slam and has Stunt stand on his shoulders for a big splash. It’s back to Stackhouse for the spinwheel kick in the corner and Perry I knocked off the apron as well. Perry gets dropkicked off the apron as well but Stackhouse misses a charge, allowing Perry to get the tag. A quick sitout powerbomb gives Perry two and it’s already back to Stunt, who gets planted by Orso.

Stackhouse’s basement crossbody hits Stunt for two with Perry having to make the save. Orso dropkicks Stackhouse by mistake so he rakes Stunt in the eyes. Perry is back up with a poisonrana to Orso and a moonsault to the floor to drop Stackhouse. Back in and Stunt gives Orso a heck of a tornado Codebreaker but Stackhouse drops Stunt with ease. Perry is back in with a tornado DDT to Stackhouse, allowing Stunt to hit a 450. Stackhouse is ticked and clotheslines both of them and Stunt gets planted with a fire thunder driver.

Somehow Stunt pops up at two and slaps away at the monster Stackhouse and gives him a Codebreaker. Orso is back up to send Perry into Stunt in the corner and then kicks Perry low for a bonus. The Character Assassination (something like the House Call) gets two on Perry and it’s time to grab Perry’s title. Ring announcer Emil J grabs the title and gets pulled inside, with Perry having to make the save. Stunt dives onto Stackhouse on the floor and J gives Orso a tornado DDT. Perry picks Orso onto his shoulder for a top rope flipping cutter from Stunt and the pin at 16:14.

Rating: B. They played this one mostly straight, with Emil J’s deal being the only thing that was a bit silly. The idea here was to have the fans see Stunt get his revenge with help from his old friend. It’s a great example of a story where they didn’t screw it up and went with what they should have done. I liked this more than I expected to and that’s a nice feeling to have.

Post match Stunt says he’s back.

We recap The Sandman in his retirement match against…the Invisible Man. This involved Sandman on a talk show, attempting to run Invisible Man over, and Man winning matches on the way here. This has…I have no idea what it has really.

Sandman vs. The Invisible Man

Sandman gets to do the full Enter Sandman entrance, complete with beer and cigarettes, which will never stop being awesome. This of course takes its sweet time but hang on because here is Bill Alfonso…to be in Man’s corner. Man knocks the beer out of Sandman’s hand to start and knocks him down, with Sandman begging off to start. Sandman fights out of the corner, gives Man a kiss, and throws the left hands to drop him.

The Singapore cane shots connect but Man is back with a low blow. Sandman fights back but Alfonso gets in for a distraction…and a bunch of zombies come out for revenge of the ECW On Sci Fi debut (WOW that’s amazing and no I’m not being sarcastic). Cue the Insane Clown Posse and Vampiro to take out the zombies (the Outbreak) but the Man rams them together. Richard Holiday comes out to load up a low blow on Sandman, which brings out…someone in overalls named Guy Steel.

Holiday gets beaten up but Steel gets dropped by Man. A Canadian Destroyer takes Steel down so Sandman asks a woman at ringside named Kendra Lust to hand in the cane. Naturally she turns on Sandman, which brings out Missy Hyatt to beat Lust down with her own cane. The women fight off so Man spears Sandman through a door in the corner, only to hit the referee by mistake.

Another referee comes in and Sandman beats him up, which brings out a third referee, who gets beaten up by Man. Five more referees (WHY DO THEY HAVE SO MANY REFEREES???) get taken out and let’s just keep it going, with Sandman and Man pingponging one of them back and forth. Even Fonzie beats up a referee, leaving Sandman and the Man to slug it out. Sandman falls on him for….the biggest group near fall you’ll ever see, as about ten referees count two.

Man kicks a ladder into Sandman’s face…but INVISIBLE STAN is back! Somehow Fonzie gets them to work together….so MICK FOLEY IS HERE TO SAVE THE DAY! After taking out Stan with a double arm DDT, Foley throws Mr. Socko to Sandman and we get a big hug. Stan and Man are back up though and a low blow gives Man the pin on Sandman at 20:49.

Rating: A+. If you don’t get why this was one of the most amazing things I’ve seen in a long time, you need to pay better attention. Where else are you going to see two invis ok never mind on that one. But it had Foley and Sandman, plus a horde of zombies and Bill Alfonso, with Sandman going out on his back. I’m sold.

Post match Man and Stan leave together and Foley says he’s here for free because he and Sandman may not have liked each other, but they meant a lot to each other’s careers. With that, Foley leaves and Sandman toasts the crowd and leaves a beer in the ring for a nice moment.

Sandman might not have been a polished in-ring star, but he was the perfect choice for ECW at that time in front of that audience. He has turned that into a heck of a post in-ring career and this was just goofy fun to wrap it up. I got to be in the ECW Arena for a Sandman entrance once and it’s one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. Sandman deserves this and it’s awesome to see him get this big sendoff.

We recap Effy vs. Allie Katch. They were friends and partners, but Effy lost the World Title and snapped under the pressure, even turning on Katch. She can’t see him like this and now it’s time for them to fight one on one, loser leaves GCW. This is another case where building up characters and relationships makes things feel important. Yes their team was often silly, but this feels important and emotional and that’s great to see.

Effy vs. Allie Katch

Loser leaves GCW. Effy shows off his g-string to start and starts a BUSSY chant, earning him a shot to the face. Katch can’t bring herself to dive after getting hurt doing it before so instead she hits a baseball slide. They go up to the stage with Effy being sent to the floor and taken down with a dive. Back in and a piledriver gives Katch two but Effy is back with something like a full nelson with his legs in the ropes. That doesn’t last long so Effy grabs the chair, followed by a running boot in the corner.

Effy takes too long going up though and gets a chair pelted at him for two. A top rope Fameasser sends Effy’s face into the chair for two so Effy asks her to hit him with the chair. Since she can’t do that, it’s a TKO flipped over into a dragon sleeper to put Katch in more trouble. Effy curb stomps her face first into the chair, leaving Katch busted open. Some hips to the head and a running seated senton gives Effy two.

The door is thrown in and stomped onto Katch but she’s back up with a powerbomb. A Muta Lock has Effy in more trouble but it doesn’t last long. Effy drops his trunks and hits another hip attack to the face, only to get pulled into a Pele Kick. Back up and Effy hits a spear for two before breaking the door over her head. A chokeslam onto a bunch of stuff gives Effy two and it’s time for a screwdriver (which was used on both of them over the years).

Cue the 1 Called Manders so Effy stabs him instead. Katch is back with a splash but the Cannonball misses. Effy grabs the bell so here is Parrow, who gets hit with the bell and stabbed with the screwdriver. Katch is busted open but keeps fighting back so Effy grabs a turnbuckle. Now it’s Dark Sheik coming out to take the wrench from Effy and hit him in the head. She hands Katch the wrench and leaves, so Effy starts begging off. Katch throws it down and hugs him…so Effy headbutts her. The screwdriver to the head has Katch screaming and the piledriver finishes her off at 25:50.

Rating: B. This was all about the emotions and that works because these two have been built up as people we should care about. Yes you had stuff that wasn’t as serious like Effy with his trunks and the screwdriver which is so over the top that it’s hard to care about, but the relationship is there. It’s a case of “personal issues draw money” and that’s why this worked, just like it would anywhere if it was treated as something that mattered.

We recap Steph de Lander/Mance Warner vs. Megan Bayne/??? Bayne had attacked the injured de Lander so Warner made the save and issued the challenge for Spring Break. Naturally, game on.

Mance Warner/Steph de Lander vs. Megan Bayne/???

Warner and de Lander have Las Vegas showgirls with her due to…well we’re in Vegas at a show. Warner jumps Bayne from behind and de Lander hammer away as there’s no partner yet. Bayne is down…and it’s Nick Gage. The brawl is on with Gage taking Mancer out and then giving de Lander a DDT. The introduction goes on as Gage and Bayne beat Warner up, with Gage switching off to de Lander.

Warner is back up to cut Gage off and we settle down to de Lander and Warner taking turns beating on Bayne. That’s reversed and Bayne chops away at de Lander, only to get choked by Warner. Bayne gets back up to fire off the forearms to de Lander and they knock each other down. Gage gets the tag and spears Warner through a piece of a door, followed by stereo falcon arrows to give Gage and Bayne two each.

It’s time for the weapons (you knew they were coming), with Warner chairing Gage down but getting speared by Bayne. Back up and Warner slugs away at Gage, who gets tornado DDT…well not through a door as the thing doesn’t break. The four of them sit in the chairs and slug it out until Bayne is up with a double clothesline. A piledriver onto the chair gets two on Warner, with de Lander pulling the referee. The required pizza cutter sliced Warner up and Bayne powerbombs him into Gage’s piledriver for the pin at 15:00.

Rating: C+. Your mileage may vary here and that’s just how it’s going to work with stuff involving Gage. I’m not big on the guy, though I do appreciate the idea of Bayne and Gage talking backstage to set the team up. The match was the usual violent brawling, though I do still like Warner, even if he does some out there stuff in the ring.

We recap Joey Janela vs. 14 year old Brodie Lee Jr. Lee wanted to wrestle Janela, who wasn’t interested, at least until Lee called him “Megan Bayne’s b****”. That was enough as Janela went hard on him and beat him up. The match was set, with Janela invoking Lee’s father dying to get his mother to sign a waiver for the match. And yes, this is the main event.

Joey Janela vs. Brodie Lee Jr.

Lee has a bunch of wrestlers to fire him up and we’re ready to go. Janela backs him into the corner and then hits a running shoulder, allowing Janela to get in some mockery. Lee rolls out of a wristlock and trips Janela down, earning himself a sucker punch. A headscissors takes Janela down so he grabs a crucifix, only to get caught with a PK. Janela knocks him down again but Lee is back up with a jumping back elbow. The chase is on with Janela decking him on the way back inside.

Janela’s backbreaker connects as Lee is bleeding from the nose. They go outside again where Janela chops the post by mistake and Lee gets two off a sunset flip back inside. Janela knocks him down again and hits another backbreaker, only to miss the moonsault. Lee is back up to stomp away in the corner, followed by the clotheslines. A nice hurricanrana out of the corner brings Janela down and Lee hits a good looking jumping knee.

Lee’s high crossbody gets two and Janela bails out to the floor. That just earns him a diving tornado DDT off the apron and Lee grabs the papers (ala his father) to throw at Janela. A Heatseeker (which Lee says is for MJF) gets two but Janela gets in a chair to the knee. Janela even Pillmanizes the leg, followed by an ankle lock. Lee rolls out and gets two off a rollup before getting his own ankle lock.

Janela makes the rope so the referee starts the five count, despite commentary saying there are no DQ’s in GCW. Janela is back up with a Figure Four but Lee manages to turn it over. They get back up and slug it out, with Janela doing as Lee asks and hitting him harder. Janela’s tombstone attempt is countered into a headscissor driver for two. A Death Valley Driver gets two on Lee…but Janela won’t piledrive him.

Cue Chris Bey, who isn’t allowed at ringside (like everyone else), allowing Lee to roll him up for two. The Death Valley Driver onto the apron is countered into a DDT and they get back inside. The slugout results in them both knocking the other down, but Lee nips up. A sliding kick to the head looks gives Lee two but Janela drops him again.

Janela loads up Lee’s discus lariat, which is countered into a Sister Abigail for two. A cutter hits Janela, who is right back with a piledriver for two. Janela takes Lee up top but a dragon superplex is broken up. Lee rolls into a Cross Rhodes for two on Janela and his father’s discus lariat sets up…another discus lariat. Lee pulls him up at two though and grabs the Sharpshooter (as he was trained in the Dungeon) for the tap at 28:49.

Rating: C. Where in the world do I begin? First of all, no, of course I’m not grading this on a normal scale because Lee is 14 and not a regular wrestler and no I’m not going to say this was some embarrassment to wrestling as I was having a blast with the Sandman and the Invisible Man on the same show. That’s all fine. The problem is the charm of this match wore out its welcome WAY before they wrapped it up, as suspension of disbelief only got me so far. It’s Lee getting to honor his father and the company trying to help him deal with things, which is great, but this needed to be WAY shorter than Janela’s regular far too long matches.

Post match Lee’s mother comes in to hug him and his little brother comes in. Lee’s trainer gets in and the brother says he’s coming for Janela next. Janela’s eyes bug out to end the show (ok they made up for some of it there).

Overall Rating: B. I’m never going to be a full time GCW fan, as they’re a bit too all over the place for me. I’m not big on the death match stuff and a lot of their content is fairly low rent. That being said, every so often, when they’ve had the chance to put something together and have the right people and I’m in the right mood, it can be incredibly entertaining stuff.

I do like the Spring Break shows and they’re the kind of insane fun that only wrestling can provide. This might not be the best wrestling, but it’s some of the most entertaining at times and that’s worth quite a bit. You might love this or hate it, but they know their audience and that’s a good thing to see, as you can get fun nights like this one.

Results
1 Called Manders won the Grab The Brass Ring Ladder Match
Rascalz b. Marcus Mathers/Bustah And The Brain – Spiral Tap to Price
Atticus Cogar b. Hayabusa – Brain Hemorrhage
Marko Stunt/Jack Perry b. Sam Stackhouse/KJ Orso – Elevated top rope twisting cutter
Invisible Man b. Sandman – Rollup
Effy b. Allie Katch – Piledriver
Nick Gage/Megan Bayne b. Mance Warner/Steph de Lander – Piledriver to Warner
Brodie Lee Jr. b. Joey Janela – Sharpshooter

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

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

WrestleCon Supershow 2026
Date: April 16, 2026
Location: Horseshoe Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: Joe Dombrowski, Veda Scott

Here we have one of the featured attractions of the week, with a bunch of independent wrestlers getting together and having a show. That’s the kind of thing that can make for some fun moments, though it can also lead to some absolute headscratchers as well. This could go anywhere so let’s get to it.

We open with the traditional tribute video to Mark Hitchcock, a Highspots employee who died on his honeymoon and as a result, the show has been named in his honor. This year’s also includes some of his friends talking about how much this would mean to Hitchcock.

The ring announcer is ready for the opening match but here is Teddy Long as a surprise. He’s going to make the first match a TAG TEAM MATCH PLAYA! Nice moment there as the surprises can often be good.

Heath/Rhino vs. Headbangers

Hold on as Mosh has a big brace on his arm due to a recent torn bicep so he can’t wrestle tonight. He does however have a replacement tonight in the form of…Headbanger Swoggle! Heath and Thrasher start things off and that’s good for an early standoff. A hiptoss puts Heath down but he’s back up with a flying shoulder. Thrasher is fine enough for a hiptoss but Swoggle wants in. He does indeed come in and thrusts his hips a lot, to the point of wearing himself out.

After not being able to nip up, Swoggle wants Rhino and…no he can’t slam Rhino. Some kicks to the leg don’t work either (Swoggle: “Son of a b****!”) so Swoggle bites the back of Rhino’s tights to send him outside. Heath comes back in and gets sent into the corner for some swats at the top of his head. Thrasher gets to hammer on Heath for a bit before it’s back to Swoggle for the same.

A big boot finally cuts Swoggle down and Rhino comes in to hammer on him as well. Heath even gets in a cheap shot from the floor before coming back in for a clothesline from his knees. Heath’s right hands in the corner are countered into a powerbomb and it’s back to Thrasher to clean house. Everything breaks down and Swoggle chokeslams Heath…but gets Gored by Rhino. Thrasher is right back with a rollup to pin Rhino at 12:00.

Rating: C+. Now this is what I was hoping to see from this show (fair enough on Mosh’s injury as there’s nothing you can do about that) as it’s just goofy fun. They weren’t trying to do anything here besides have a good time and tie back into a story from ten years ago (when Heath and Rhino first teamed together against the Headbangers) and it went as well as it could have. Swoggle was was a great choice for a replacement and I liked this a lot.

Mala Fama vs. Love And Peace vs. The StarMen vs. CPF

That would be, in order, Latigo/Toxin vs. Ben-K/Hyo vs. Starboy Charlie/Starman vs. Danny Black/Joe Lando and this is elimination rules. Starman is a guy in very generic gear (it’s based on an NES character) and has to be someone surprising. Lando and Charlie start things off with an exchange of legsweeps before they trade missed dropkicks. Mala Fama runs in to clear the ring and everything breaks down.

Starman is double teamed down but manages a double suplex into a backsplash. Charlie’s running shooting star press gets two on Ben-K and it’s Mala Fama back in to put Charlie in trouble. Mala Fama collide by mistake though and Charlie is back in with a springboard headscissors. Starman gets to come back in and chop away, followed by a cutter. CPF come in and get dropped by Starman as well but he freezes (ala NES).

With nothing working on him, Charlie picks him up and puts him in the corner before going after Mala Fama. That doesn’t work either so here are Love And Peace to take Mala Fama outside. Starman wakes up but misses a charge into the corner (ignore that no one was in the corner), only to pop up for a moonsault onto the pile. Charlie is sent outside though and Starman gets double kicked in the corner. Black dives onto the floor and Lando’s shooting star elbow finishes Starman at 9:50.

Starman rapidly walks off like he (probably) does in the game as we’re down to three. Love And Peace take over on Latigo, with Toxin making a save. Ben-K spears Toxin though and Hyo adds the middle rope backsplash for the pin at 11:54. So we’re down to CPF vs. Love And Peace and they start fast with a pulling piledriver dropping Hyo before all four collide for a double down. They slug it out from their knees and Hyo hits a middle rope cutter, setting up Ben-K’s spear to pin Lando for the win at 15:44.

Rating: B. Starman of course stole the show (I would bet on that being Joey Janela, as it’s the kind of goofy stuff he would do) and as usual, Dragon Gate guys get to look awesome. The other teams got to showcase themselves as well, which is great to see as they aren’t the most well known teams. The fans get to see some new (or at least new to them) stars and that is a great thing, as it was here.

Here is our official WrestleCon ambassador: Sgt. Slaughter. His job is to basically to tell us to have fun and come see him at WrestleCon. Nothing wrong with that.

Mark Davis vs. Masato Tanaka

Tanaka rams into him to start and gets dropped with an even bigger shoulder. Back up and Tanaka hammers away in the corner but Davis knocks him back down for a big slam. The knees to the chest have Tanaka in more trouble and it’s a backbreaker into a Boston crab. That’s broken up with a rope though and Tanaka snaps off a big suplex. Back up and Davis puts him on the apron for a running shoulder to the floor, followed by another beating in the corner.

Tanaka fights back and grabs a superplex, but Davis pops up for a jumping enziguri. That’s not enough to keep him down either though and it’s a clothesline to leave them both down. Back up and they slug it out, with Davis missing an enziguri and getting caught with a sliding lariat. Tanaka tries it again but gets rolled up for two, allowing Davis to hit another enziguri. A big lariat gives Davis two and the piledriver finishes Tanaka at 8:26.

Rating: B. I appreciate a match where it is exactly what you would expect it to be. This was two guys beating on each other very hard until one of them couldn’t get up again. Tanaka has been around for the better part of ever and it still means something for him to get beat. Davis is getting somewhere with that piledriver and it’s cool to see him win a match like this. The lack of Don Callis helps a lot too.

Subculture vs. The Swirl

Webster and Johnson go to the mat to start, with Johnson grabbing a headlock. That’s broken up and it’s off to Andrews vs. Christian as the pace picks up. That doesn’t last long either as they go to a staredown, with Andrews knocking Christian into the corner. A standing moonsault gives Andrews two and Webster’s imploding Swanton gets two.

Johnson comes back in and Andrews is knocked outside, leaving Webster to get 619ed in the corner. Christian makes Webster clap before it’s an enziguri into a dragon screw legwhip. Webster elbows his way to freedom though and moonsaults onto both of them. That’s enough for the diving tag to Andrews, who Falcon Arrows Johnson for two.

Johnson is sent face first into Christian’s knees in the corner and it’s a top rope flipping Stunner to put Christian down. Webster’s Swanton to the back gets two but Johnson is back in for the brainbuster/enziguri combination. Andrews makes a save of his own and they strike it out until a quadruple clothesline leaves everyone down again. A Meltzer Driver hits Andrews and the Death Valley Driver/top rope double stomp combination finishes Webster at 12:14.

Rating: B+. This got rolling near the end and that’s not a problem. These teams have a history of working very well together, with the Swirl being rather underrated as they almost never get out of Ring Of Honor. On the other hand you have Subculture, who are a rather good team that I would love to see get back in a bigger company. They’re more than good enough to do it and can hang with anyone. If they’re interested, it would be great to see.

Team Mancer vs. Team Beast

Mancer: Mancer Warner, Steph de Lander, Vaughn Vertigo, Gravity, LJ Cleary
Beast: The Beast Mortos, Danny Jones, Derek Dillinger, Jimmy Townsend, Lacey Lane

This is the ten person tag, the show’s signature match. De Lander and Lane start things off with Lane charging into a boot in the corner and getting side slammed for two. Dillinger and Warner come in to chop it out with Warner getting the better of things. Vertigo comes in and avoids a basement dropkick, allowing Townsend to avoid a kick on the apron.

Townsend gets in and is kicked in the chest for the standing moonsault. Jones and Cleary come in, with Cleary begging off from the much bigger Jones, who isn’t impressed. Jones hits a discus lariat and Cleary is right over for the tag to Gravity. It’s off to Mortos for the exchange of armdrags but gets kicked out to the floor.

Lane can’t shoulder Cleary down and he finds the attempt rather amusing. Instead it’s Gravity coming back in to argue with Dillinger before all ten get in for the slow motion Gravity walk. With almost everyone on the floor, Warner teases a dive but goes outside to poke the other five in the eyes. Mortos powerbombs Gravity into a backbreaker but Vaughn plants him with a tornado DDT.

We hit the parade of knockdowns, with Warner hitting his lariat but walking into Jones’ Falcon Arrow. De Lander spears Jones and Warner chairs him in the back a few times. Gravity’s top rope splash gets two but Mortos is back up with the spear to Cleary. The spinning piledriver finishes for Mortos at 19:37.

Rating: B-. This is the usual insane tag match that you would expect in this spot and that’s a great thing to see. What matters the most is that they got some new names in there and it wasn’t just some wild scramble. I liked the match well enough and was surprised at how long it went so well done on not getting dull.

Bandido vs. Galeno del Mal

Bandido’s Ring Of Honor World Title isn’t on the line (of course). We get a nice handshake to start and Bandido is a bit slow to go after the much bigger Mal. They trade headlocks to little effect until Bandido hits a dropkick. A top rope hurricanrana brings Mal down but he sends Bandido to the apron and then out to the floor. Mal sends him crashing into the chairs and then into the post, allowing Mal to grab some water.

A big boot staggers Bandido but he avoids a character to send Mal into the seats for a change. Back in and Mal rips off part of Bandido’s mask, followed by a big boot to put him down again. They trade running corner clotheslines and Bandido scores with a leg lariat. A tornado DDT drops Mal to the floor and Bandido is right there to take him down with a dive. Back in and Bandido rips at Mal’s mask for a change, followed by a high crossbody for two.

Mal mixes it up with a reverse suplex and a discus lariat cuts off Bandido’s comeback. Mal goes up…and gets pulled out of the air for a World’s Strongest Slam (that looked amazing). Somehow Mal is up first for a backsplash for two, setting up a Michinoku Driver for the same. Back up and Bandido shrugs off a big boot and muscles him up for a suplex. The 21 Plex finishes Mal off at 16:27.

Rating: B. I’ve seen Mal a few times now and the guy definitely has something to him. He’s a bigger guy and can go out there and keep up with the athleticism, which isn’t something you would expect. On the other hand you have Bandido, who feels like a star and should be a much bigger deal than he’s presented as being. Like maybe having him defend the title at some point.

Post match Bandido thanks everyone for coming and praises Mal, his former student, calling him the next big Mexican superstar.

Progress World Title: Man Like DeReiss vs. Ethan Allen

DeReiss is defending in a bonus match. They start fast with Allen missing some kicks and going outside to yell at a fan. Back in and DeReiss hits some running shoulders but Allen pulls him off the top. Allen slows the pace down and they fight over a suplex with DeReiss finally getting him up. Allen knocks him out of the corner though and hits a falling top rope elbow. They fight over a pinfall reversal sequence until DeReiss catches him with an elbow to the face. A spinning belly to back suplex sets up a 450 to retain the title at 8:40.

Rating: C+. For a bonus match, I’ve seen far worse. That’s one of the great perks of this weekend, as you can get random matches like this thrown on and it makes things that much more interesting. DeReiss got in a quick title defense and the fans got the cool moment of his entrance. It’s no classic, but it certainly didn’t hurt anything.

Jet Speed/Michael Oku vs. The Demand

Oku and Ricochet start things off with Ricochet flipping over him and blocking an O’Connor roll. They both miss dropkicks until Ricochet sends him out to the floor. Everything breaks down and Jet Speed hit some dives to the floor as they pair off on the outside. Oku is back in to try the Fosbury Flop but Liona kicks him out of the air, with Oku’s leg getting tied in the ropes.

Liona throws Knight through the entrance (off camera) as Oku is taken into the corner for some hard shoulders to the ribs. Ricochet comes in to get the two count as Knight is finally starting to come back towards the ring. Oku gets beaten down in the corner again as the villains get to take more turns on him.

A missile dropkick finally gets Oku out of trouble and Knight is back up for the tag to start the comeback. Some uppercuts knock Liona down and a twisting splash gives Knight two. Back up and Kaun hits a heck of a clothesline, allowing Liona to come back in for a backsplash. Knight gets knocked into the tag off to Bailey for the rapid fire strikes and he avoids a backsplash.

It’s back to Oku for the moonsault as everything breaks down. Liona tosses Jet Speed without much trouble but Oku is back up. We get the parade of knockdowns and Ricochet kicks at Bailey, who moonsaults onto the Gates on the floor. Back in and Oku half crabs Ricochet for the tap but the referee doesn’t see it. The Gates get back in for Galaxy Impact (double Doomsday Device) for the pin on Oku at 18:51.

Rating: B+. These six man tags have been the recurring theme of the weekend and this was another good one. That shouldn’t be a surprise as the people involved are rather good with Oku being more than talented enough to hang in there. The Gates were a good choice as well as they add in something different than just the same people flying around. Rather strong main event here.

Overall Rating: B+. This was a nice flashback to some of the better Supershows as it felt fun. That’s been missing a bit in recent years as this show isn’t supposed to be anything more than a fun night of wrestling. Adding in a bunch of surprises and having one match after another is a good thing and they made that work here. Stuff like Swoggle and Starman and the rather good tag matches made this work, as did having DeReiss as a surprise. I had a great time with this and it’s nice to be able to say that again.

Results
Thrasher/Swoggle b. Heath/Rhino – Rollup to Rhino
Love And Peace b. The StarMen, CPF and Mala Fama last eliminating Mala Fama
Mark Davis b. Masato Tanaka – Piledriver
The Swirl b. Subculture – Death Valley Driver/top rope double stomp combination to Webster
Team Beast b. Team Mancer – Spinning piledriver to Cleary
Bandido b. Galeno del Mal – 21 Plex
Man Like DeReiss b. Ethan Allen – 450
The Demand b. Michael Oku/Jet Speed – Galaxy Impact to Oku

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

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Best Of Mike Awesome
Commentators: Joey Styles, Shane Douglas, Cyrus, Joel Gertner, Tony Schiavone, Mark Madden, Scott Hudson, Mick Foley

It’s another Best Of from the WWE Vault and that has me curious. This isn’t someone you often think of as having a long career, mainly because he didn’t, but he certainly did live up to his name. You can probably figure out some of the matches from here, but I’m wondering what they’re going to use to fill in all of the time. Let’s get to it.

Quick opening video, as usual.

From ECW Heatwave 1998.

Mike Awesome vs. Masato Tanaka

Joey Styles is right there to explain the history between these two, which is a nice way to spend entrances. Awesome runs him over to start and swears a bit before pulling Tanaka out of the air. An overhead belly to belly sends Tanaka flying and a slingshot shoulder puts him down again. Tanaka is sent outside and dropped with a big dive as the fans already want tables.

Back in and a nice looking top rope clothesline drops Tanaka but he pops back up with a suplex. It’s time for a chair (of course), which Tanaka takes down the ramp for a running start and a big shot to Awesome’s head. Awesome is right back up and they head outside for a chair duel (which looks cool despite being rather dumb).

Tanaka is knocked over the barricade so of course Awesome goes up and dives over the barricade to take him down again (that’s just not normal). Back in and the Awesome Bomb gets two, followed by a heck of an Alabama slam into the Awesome Splash. Some absolutely sickening unprotected chair shots to the head knock Tanaka silly and it’s time to set up a table on the floor.

Even Shane Douglas on commentary knows this is stupid so Awesome goes back inside with a top rope chair shot to the head (geez). Some Awesome Bombs through the table are blocked though and Tanaka instead powerbombs him over the top and through the table for a terrifying landing. Somehow that only gets two, as does the Roaring Elbow, leaving commentary stunned. A tornado DDT onto some chairs finishes Awesome at 11:51.

Rating: B. This is going to be a collection where you instantly get the idea of the featured star. Awesome could do things in and out of (and above) a ring that almost no one else could even approach and it looked great. That’s what we saw here and my goodness it was impressive to see. Some of those chair shots were terrifying, but that’s 90s ECW for you.

From Anarchy Rulz 1999.

ECW World Title: Taz vs. Masato Tanaka

Taz is defending and you might notice something missing here. We get the Big Match Intros and Taz, who is set to leave for the WWF, is told that he sold out. Hold on though as here is Mike Awesome in the crowd (with Judge Jeff Jones) and Taz says let him through. Paul Heyman comes in to break it up but Taz wants him in, so Heyman makes it a three way dance.

ECW World Title: Mike Awesome vs. Taz vs. Masato Tanaka

Taz is defending and Tanaka dives through the ropes to take Awesome out before he can even get inside. The two of them fight on the floor while Taz chills in the corner, which is rather funny for some reason. They get inside, where Taz clotheslines Tanaka, who is tossed with a Razor’s Edge. Awesome gets caught on top with a superplex but Tanaka Roaring Elbows Taz. That and an Awesome Splash pins Taz at 2:02, guaranteeing a new champion and rather popping the crowd.

This brings out Paul Heyman with the locker room for a big farewell to Taz as the fans realize what’s going on (though Taz would be around for about another month and a half). So we’re down to one on one with Awesome sending him to the floor for the big dive. The top rope clothesline and sitout Awesome Bomb get two each but Tanaka slips out of another powerbomb. A triangle clothesline sends Awesome outside again and the running chair shot knocks him silly.

Tanaka adds a tornado DDT to send him off the ramp, followed by another onto a chair back inside for two. A tiger bomb gets the same but Awesome is back with an Awesome Bomb over the top through the table at ringside. An Alabama slam into an Awesome Splash gives Awesome two so he cracks Tanaka in the head with a chair over and over. Awesome can’t believe it and charges into a boot in the corner.

Diamond Dust (flipping Stunner out of the corner, which always looks great) gets two on Awesome, who is right back with a spear for two. A table is thrown in and Awesome caves Tanaka’s head in with another chair shot. The table is set up and they head up top, where Awesome hits a super Awesome Bomb for the pin and the title at 13:49.

Rating: B-. This was a bit of a weird one as you had a mini match at first, which was all about getting rid of Taz. Then it broke down into something very similar to the first match, which was kind of the point. Awesome winning the title is a huge moment for him of course as he hadn’t been around ECW for a long time, but now he’s on top as Taz is leaving. That’s pretty awe…cool.

Post match Taz gives Awesome the belt to really put him over.

From ECW On TNN, October 22, 1999.

ECW World Title: Mike Awesome vs. New Jack

Awesome is defending and Joel Gertner does the introduction before bailing out of absolute fear. Well to be fair, he is a rather well educated man. Jack starts fast with an oar to the head and tries to choke with a rope. Awesome slugs back and gets bitten in the face for his efforts. A missed charge in the corner has Awesome in more trouble and they go outside, which can’t go well. The running chair shot from the apron only hits the barricade, followed by a top rope clothesline inside.

As you might expect, Jack comes back with some staple gun shots to the head, followed by a guitar to the same head. Jack goes up top but dives into a chair to the head, allowing Awesome to send him through the table at ringside. The Awesome Splash retains the title at 6:20.

Rating: C+. When you get the fun version of New Jack (work with me here), he’s kind of a blast to watch. There’s something great about having the some playing throughout and the various weapons he’ll use at any time. I don’t think there was much in the way of drama about the title changing, but Awesome having to get through him was good.

From ECW On TNN, December 10, 1999.

ECW World Title: Mike Awesome vs. 2 Cold Scorpio

Awesome is defending and shoulders Scorpio down to start. A superkick gets Scorpio out of trouble and they go outside, with Awesome hitting an ax handle off the apron. Awesome’s big diving clothesline over the barricade drops Scorpio again, followed by a big shoulder back inside. Scorpio gets in a kick to the head for a breather though, setting up a top rope splash for two.

A moonsault gets the same but Awesome launches him with a German suplex. Jazz tries to come in to help Scorpio, who has to save her with a crossbody. Another superkick drops Awesome and a table is set up in the ring. The moonsault takes too long though and the super Awesome Bomb sends Scorpio through the table (in a GREAT visual) to retain the title at 9:26.

Rating: B-. The ending alone boosted this one up, but it’s always fun to see Scorpio out there. He’s a good example of a guy who just worked every time he was in the ring and some of his best work came in ECW. Getting to see him with this kind of a special chance was nice, even though he was little more than a means to make Awesome look better.

From ECW On TNN, December 24, 1999. This is an impromptu match, but I believe it was advertised in advance due to the taping schedule. I was at my aunt’s house and wanted to watch it, but my cousin threw me out of her room for watching that “stupid wrestling”. Instead I went into their attic and sat for two hours without anyone noticing I was gone. Anyway.

ECW World Title: Mike Awesome vs. Masato Tanaka

Awesome is defending in an impromptu match, with Tanaka in workout pants as he takes Awesome outside for the running chair shot. Awesome fights back as he is known to do and runs him over to take it back inside. The sitout Awesome Bomb gets two and Awesome drops him again as we take a break.

We come back with the Awesome Splash getting two and a table being set up in the corner. That takes too long of course and Tanaka suplexes him through the table, followed by the tornado DDT onto the chairs for two. A top rope chair shot gives Tanaka two and some chairs to the head just make him mad.

One of the scariest chair shots to the head I’ve ever seen puts him down, followed by the Awesome Bomb for two. We take another break and come back again with Awesome catching him on top. That’s reversed into a tornado DDT through the table, which allows Tanaka to hit the Roaring Elbow for the pin and the title at 17:02.

Rating: B. These guys fought a lot (as you can tell) and unfortunately it’s not a rivalry that holds up well when you see it over and over. You’re seeing a lot of the same spots here, though at least Tanaka won with his finisher for a change. Tanaka getting the title is quite the step for him, as beating Awesome was a pretty rare accomplishment.

Post match respect is shown. Awesome would get the title back the next week.

ECW World Title: Mike Awesome vs. Little Spike Dudley

Awesome is defending and the idea is that Spike keeps beating giants. Before the bell, Spike loads up a bunch of tables at ringside, even getting a production worker to help him. Spike grabs the mic and calls out Awesome for putting people through tables, including women. And it’s time to fight, which is going to be painful. Spike jumps him to start and gets sent through some tables at ringside, then does it again for a bonus.

They go outside, with Awesome throwing him over the barricade for the big flying shoulder. A slingshot splash gives Awesome two back inside but Spike manages to send him outside. The dive off the apron connects but Awesome throws him around, banging up Spike’s knee in the process. The crowd chants something that warrants an edit to the audio, leaving Awesome to go after the knee again.

Back in and Spike gets in a hurricanrana, only to have Awesome BLAST HIM with a clothesline. Spike knocks him right back down though and it’s a top rope double stomp to crush Awesome again. Awesome fights up with a chair shot and sends him over the barricade, setting up the big springboard dive. The landing sees Awesome slip a bit though and he seems to bang up his (awesome) elbow.

Another table is set up at ringside, with Spike managing a quick Acid Drop to send him through the table. A top rope chair to the head knocks Awesome silly again but he’s fine enough to send Spike over the top and through another table (which Spike barely hits). Awesome sets up another table inside but Spike catches him on top. That doesn’t last long though as it’s the super Awesome Bomb through the table to retain the title at 14:11.

Rating: B. This is not exactly a match designed for everyone, but rather a match where it’s all about seeing Awesome absolute wreck Spike. While Spike got in a few shots, it was hard to imagine him actually winning the title. That doesn’t make it any less entertaining though, as Spike’s pain was quite the sight to behold. Fun match, though the physicality and destruction might be a bit much to take.

From ECW On TNN, March 10, 2000.

Tag Team Titles: Mike Awesome/Raven vs. Tommy Dreamer/Masato Tanaka

Dreamer and Tanaka are defending and Dreamer Russian legsweeps Awesome to start. Raven mocks Dreamer though and it’s a belly to back suplex to put Dreamer down. Raven comes in to hammer away and then run, allowing Dreamer to bring in Tanaka. Awesome runs him over with a clothesline but Tanaka gets in a drop toehold into the corner. The tornado DDT is countered though and it’s back to Raven to slug away in a weird combination.

A running chair shot doesn’t do much to Tanaka, who is back up to bring in Dreamer. Everything breaks down and Dreamer puts Raven in the Tree Of Woe, only to get taken out by Awesome again. The middle rope elbow gives Awesome two and Raven grabs the mic to mock Dreamer (and hit him too). It takes too long and Dreamer gets in a shot of his own, only to have Awesome come back in for some rather physical violence. A table is brought in but Dreamer avoids the Awesome Splash.

The crash is enough for the tag back to Tanaka, meaning a bunch of elbows. Everything breaks down and more tables are brought in, with Dreamer giving Raven a neckbreaker. Back up and Raven pulls Dreamer off the top for a drop toehold through the corner of the table (even the ECW fans know that was rough). The Awesome Splash gets two and the Awesome Bomb through the table gets two, with Tanaka making the save. The Roaring Elbow drops Raven and Dreamer’s DDT gets two, with Awesome making a save of his own. A running Awesome Bomb sends Dreamer through a table for the pin and the titles at 12:11.

Rating: C+. Ok, we get it with Awesome vs. Tanaka. I get that this was a big deal for Awesome to become a double champion, but this is a lot to take in such short order. The match was good enough and it was nice to see some actual tag wrestling before the wildness got going. Things weren’t exactly going well for ECW at this point and Awesome would be gone in about a month.

From WCW Starrcade 2000.

Mike Awesome vs. Bam Bam Bigelow

Ambulance match and Awesome is now That 70s Guy. They start brawling as you would expect, with Bigelow clotheslining him out to the floor. Awesome fights back though and gets in a ring bell shot. Some chair shots to the back put Awesome down and they fight up the aisle with Bigelow chairing him in the ribs a few times. They go up to the ambulance, with Bigelow slamming the door onto him over and over.

Bigelow punches through a window by mistake but he’s fine enough to hit Awesome with the chair again. They go back to ringside with Awesome slugging away but the running…something is countered with a backdrop through a table. They go back up to the ambulance and fight with the lights from the top. A big shot knocks Bigelow through the roof for the win at 7:56.

Rating: C. WCW was obsessed with Awesome having ambulance matches, as he had something like seven of them in about as many months. There was no explanation of a story here, which says a lot for this kind of a gimmick match on a major show. Then again, that’s part of the reason why you don’t see WCW around anymore. See also Awesome getting to WCW in April and apparently doing nothing of note for eight months.

From One Night Stand 2005.

Mike Awesome vs. Masato Tanaka

They chop it out to start and Styles goes on a crazed rant against Awesome for leaving for WCW and more money. You know, because ECW was known for its financial stability. Awesome comes back with a slingshot shoulder and a big dive over the top to the floor (Styles was hoping Awesome would have cracked his head open). Tanaka fights back with a running chair shot but gets powerbombed HARD through a table to knock him silly.

The Awesome Splash connects for two, followed by an even more sickening chair to the head. Tanaka is back with the tornado DDT onto a chair and something like a Conchairto. The top rope rope chair shot drives the chair onto Awesome’s face for two more so Awesome grabs the chair. That means a top rope chair shot to Tanaka and it’s time for yet another table.

Awesome takes too long loading him up though and a tornado DDT sends Awesome through the table for two more. Tanaka goes up but gets Awesome Bombed onto what’s left of the table…for two. Another Awesome Bomb through the table on the floor, followed by a slingshot Awesome Splash, gives Awesome the pin (on the floor, which is apparently legal) at 9:57.

Rating: B. These guys knew how to beat each other up, but seeing some version of it five times in less than two hours was a lot to take. At the same time, Joey Styles was REALLY annoying here, spending so much time complaining about Awesome leaving ECW. There have been reports that Awesome wasn’t being paid on time (which certainly wouldn’t be unique for ECW) but apparently he should have just stuck around. Anyway, another hard hitting fight here in what would wind up being Awesome’s last match.

Overall Rating: B-. Awesome is a VERY interesting case as there was pretty much no one like him at the time, but he never did much of anything outside of ECW. There have been reports that the bigger stars in WCW wouldn’t work with him and his physical style, though that doesn’t exactly excuse the That 70s Guy and the untouched Fat Chick Thriller. The fact that his time in WWE was basically ignored saved for the ECW reunion show is rather telling as well. Awesome was a force while he was around, but he just wasn’t around for that long.

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

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A Tribute To The Extreme 2
Date: April 5, 2024
Location: 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentator; Joe Dombrowski

It’s Wrestlemania Weekend in Philadelphia so you knew something like this was coming. The show is exactly what it sounds like as Battleground Championship Wrestling (local indy) is presenting a special night for ECW. There are various ECW wrestlers on the show and the Dudleys are going into the arena’s Hall Of Fame, which should be special. Let’s get to it.

Here is Team 3D to a hero’s welcome to get things going. The fans thank them but Ray says thank you instead. Ray talks about being in a much worse version of this building in 1997 and hit the first 3D right in here. They went on to become the most successful team in history and it was because of the fans. Thank you for showing up for either Team 3D or the Dudley Boyz. D-Von does the catchphrases and you can tell that they’re both loving this.

Team 3D vs. Atshushi Onita/Tommy Dreamer

Dreamer is a mystery partner but…..it’s the ECW Arena. What was the mystery supposed to be? Believe it or not, Dreamer has something to say before the match. He agrees that this is awesome and this is the point of a place like this. Dreamer is here with Onita because of a talk that Onita, Dreamer and Ray had at WrestleCon in Dallas a few years ago. They talked to Terry Funk on the phone and Onita was given the phone, which left him in tears. Without Funk, there would be no Onita or Dreamer so for that they are bonded forever. With that, Dreamer hits Ray in the head with a microphone and let’s get started.

Believe it or not, it’s a brawl to start with the Dudleyz being knocked down and the referee getting misted by Onita. They fight to the floor to keep up the brawl, with commentary saying Ray and Dreamer are probably fighting about Busted Open Radio. Dreamer’s sends Ray face first into a woman’s chest and then rings the bell on D-Von’s crotch.

A plastic table is brought in and Onita is busted open off something in there. D-Von hits Onita with popcorn as Dreamer hits the Flip, Flop and Fly on Ray for a double knockdown. Back in and the Dudleyz switch places on What’s Up to Onita before it’s time to get the tables. A 3D puts Dreamer through the table for the pin at 7:52.

Rating: C. I don’t think there is any secret to the fact that this wasn’t about having a top level match or really anything close to it. Instead, this was about the Dudleyz getting back in the ring for one more match in the arena where they started. There is nothing wrong with that and while the match was little more than a garbage brawl, that was pretty much entirely the point.

Respect is shown post match. Dreamer grabs the mic (again) and talks about how D-Von and Onita have had health issues but they had to do this one more time. Oh and thank you Paul Heyman for everything. And the fans too. We’re still not done as Onita says….something about ECW.

We pause to clean up the ring, with the ring announcer grabbing a broom as well.

Here is our host for the evening, the Blue Meanie! The fans chant for the BWO, with Meanie talking about how that was supposed to be a one off appearance but the fans made it go on for years. Meanie thanks the fans and Battleground Championship Wrestling and the building which changed wrestling forever.

Shane Douglas vs. CW Anderson

Francine is here with Douglas and seems very happy to be here. Douglas asks the fans to treat them like they did in 1994 and the rather insulting chants almost have Francine crying. Francine hasn’t forgotten everything they’ve sang and chanted at her over the years and she DESERVES RESPECT! They can walk out right now but instead just get Douglas’ opponent out here.

Douglas grabs a headlock to start as commentary talks about how great he was, despite other promotions telling him no over and over. They’re quickly on the floor with Douglas whipping him into the barricade but getting rammed face first into the apron a few times. Francine offers a distraction though, allowing Douglas to get in a low blow on the way back in. Another Francine distraction doesn’t work as Anderson blocks the low blow and hits a basement clothesline. Francine comes in and gets spanked, leaving Anderson to hit a superkick for the pin at 5:39.

Rating: C. As you can probably guess, the wrestling itself isn’t the point of this show. This is about getting people out there in front of the fans one more time and having a quick match to make it a wrestling show rather than a reunion. I’m a bit surprised that a star as big as Douglas lost, but let the fans be happy I guess?

Post match Anderson bows down to Douglas and we get some hugs. Anderson goes to leave but Douglas says hang on. We look at the Hall Of Fame banners as Douglas talks about how this place used to be infested with rats and a terrible place to be, but there was nowhere in the world better for wrestling. Douglas brings up people like Bam Bam Bigelow and Chris Candido, but Anderson showed up closer to the end. Anderson worked hard and got over and, after getting in a quick shot at Vince McMahon, Douglas tells the fans to applaud themselves and give us one heck of an ECW chant.

Crowbar vs. Danny Doring

Crowbar has his lackeys Vanessa and Percival with him. They fight over a lockup to start with Doring hitting a chop, allowing him to strut. A suplex puts Crowbar down and Doring knocks him out to the floor, where Percival cuts off a dive. Vanessa offers a distraction so Doring can get in a cheap shot to take over.

A neckbreaker over the ropes into a slingshot splash gives Crowbar two but Doring drop toeholds him down. The Rings of Saturn is broken up and Crowbar grabs a Sky High into something like a surfboard. We’ll make that a camel clutch, with Doring making the ropes. They head outside with Crowbar hitting a Vader Bomb off the barricade for a big crash.

Back in and they slug it out with Doring no selling some shots to the face. Doring sends Crowbar outside for a flip dive, which takes out Percival as well. Since it’s ECW, we get a chair brought in for some shots to the back, with Vanessa pulling the referee at two. Crowbar clotheslines Vanessa by mistake so Doring plants him, only to have Percival break it up. A northern lights suplex onto the chair gives Crowbar the pin at 13:19.

Rating: C-. Of all the matches on this show to get this much time, they picked a guy who was best known for a comedy tag tam and a guy who is barely remembered in ECW? This was a really weird choice and the match was boring on top of it, making this quite the mess. The other matches at least had some nostalgic charm to them but this one was just mostly dull.

Respect is shown post match. Crowbar says they didn’t spend much time together in ECW but they got to know each other and now they are brothers.

Alvin vs. Jason Knight

Alvin is a rather large Battleground Championship Wrestling guy with no connection to ECW and Missy Hyatt in his corner. Knight on the other hand has been mostly inactive for about nine and a half years and is in rather good shape. Knight grabs a hammerlock into a headlock takeover before firing off forearms to the chest.

Back up and Knight knocks him down a few more times, only for Hyatt to grab the rope. A corner splash gives Alvin two and he sends Knight outside. With that adding nothing, it’s back inside where Alvin hits another splash. The fans don’t like Alvin so he hammers away and goes up, only to miss a middle rope elbow. Hyatt offers a distraction so that Alvin can get in a brass knuckles shot for the pin at 7:23.

Rating: C-. Just like the previous match, this one was lacking the fun or special feeling that made the show fun for the first part. Alvin getting the win over an ECW guy isn’t exactly interesting and it was a slow match to make it worse. I’m not sure what the thinking was here, as it’s fine to push one of your regulars, but doing it at a tribute show is a bit weird.

Post match Alvin gets the mic and is told to shut the f*** up. Alvin: “I HAVEN’T TALKED YET!” Alvin mocks Knight and calls ECW, Knight, the Dudleyz, Shane Douglas and various other ECW legends “myths”. Cue Sandman through the crowd and we get the big Metallica entrance, which is still awesome. Alvin keeps calling him a myth and an f’ing drunk, with Sandman giving a funny “is this guy serious?” look. Sandman whips out a beer and canes Alvin down, then does it again as per the fans’ request. This is the definition of harmless nostalgic fun.

We seem to get an intermission (cut from the recorded version).

Joel Gertner vs. Bill Alfonso

Battleground Championship Wrestling owner Tim Embler (who can’t stand Gertner) is at ringside. Gertner mocks the idea of Alfonso calling it down the middle but says Embler has no idea of how to call it down the middle. Embler wasn’t here for the first half of the show but he’s here now because he’s taking sides. Gertner does his usual limerick about Embler, suggesting that he’s here for Alfonso, with his whistle, due to his fondness of blowing. As a bonus, we have Tod Gordon as guest referee.

We get a weapons check and Gertner has a bottle of ether. And a manicuring set, which is totally not to stab Alfonso. And a pen, which is there to clean his shirt. Alfonso throws the ether at Gertner, who wants a DQ, but the match hasn’t started yet. We’re still not ready to go yet, because Gertner has a note note.

He is unable to wrestle due to a variety of wrestling injuries, such as a broken meniscus in his nasal cavity. The note is from his mother, who apparently knows about Gertner’s swollen groin. Gordon says ring the bell, so Gertner offers money ($1 bills) so Gordon drops down for a trip, with Alfonso getting the win at 32 seconds. Funny stuff here and nothing wrong with that.

Post match Gordon has Embler get in the ring and praises him for what he has done. Embler says he will never allow the flame of the extreme to be extinguished. He hopes Paul Heyman dedicates his Hall Of Fame induction speech to the fans because this doesn’t work without them. Embler and Gordon leave so here is Krisitan Ross (one of Gertner’s goons) to jump Alfonso and bust him open. The fans want Rob Van Dam and Ross mocks the RVD pose but security takes Ross out instead. Well that’s disappointing. Even if you don’t have Van Dam, you don’t have one legend there to make a save?

Rhino vs. Masato Tanaka

This should hurt. Tanaka backs him into the corner to start and we get a clean break. A wristlock sends Rhino into the ropes before he grabs a wristlock of his own. That doesn’t work for them so they head outside, where Rhino’s chop hits the post. Back in and Tanaka slugs away, with Rhino telling him to bring it. Tanaka gets the better of things and grabs a chinlock…but Rhino fights up and hits the Gore for the pin at 9:13.

Rating: C. This was another disappointing match as I was expecting more from two guys who might be a bit older but are still active. I’m not sure I get why they cut this so short, as while I didn’t need some big violent bloody brawl, I could have gone for more of….anything. This could have been worse and Rhino winning is fine, but where was the rest of this one?

Pitbull Revolution vs. Da Baldies/HC Loc

That would be Alec Odin/Gary Wolfe/Traxx vs. Angel/Tony DeVito with Loc. Street fight and it’s a brawl to start, with Wolfe hammering on DeVito as we get the New Jack tradition of having the music playing throughout. They head outside as the fight is all over the place and Traxx FU’s Loc through a chair. It’s time for the box of Legos but Angel saves Loc. Instead it’s Traxx being shoved onto them, with Loc hitting a middle rope elbow for two. Wolfe cleans house with an Anthony Durante (Pitbull #1) flag and it’s time for the ladder around the neck, with a shot to the face finishing DeVito at 6:22.

Rating: C. So that happened. This was supposed to be the big wild, hardcore brawl and it only worked so well with the people involved. I didn’t care for Da Baldies back in the original ECW and watching them almost twenty five years later didn’t make it much better. It was barely a match and rather a bunch of wild spots, which is about all it was ever going to be. You had to have something like this on the show so they might as well get it out of the way.

Samoan Gangsta Party vs. FBI

That would be Samu/Lance Anoa’i (father and son) vs. Little Guido/Tommy Rich. Samu and Rich start things off with the latter working on the wrist as commentary gives us a brief Anoa’i Family Tree history. It’s quickly off to Guido….but Rich would rather have a dance off. Lance busts out a Worm and the FBI does their own version, only to have Lance deck them from behind.

Guido gets knocked to the floor, where he hits Lance in the face with a drink to…well not do much really as Lance takes over back inside. The Samoan drop gives Lance two but the Superfly Splash misses. It’s back to Rich to clean a few of the rooms before going to the floor with Samu. Lance superkicks Guido for the pin at 6:34.

Rating: C. Is it bad that I was wanting more from the dance off? Lance looks like someone who could be something somewhere with some better coaching as he certainly has the look and the lineage. Guido is an older guy who can still do well enough in the ring, while Rich and Samu are the really old guys who are there to make this feel special.

Post match the FBI teases brawling again before hugging, as is their custom.

Juventud Guerrera vs. 2 Cold Scorpio

Before the match, Juventud says this is his last match in the United States. He loves the fans but he is sick of the backstabbing and the politics in this country. On May 18, he’ll have a big show in Mexico and that’s his last show there too, so come check it out. Scorpio grabs the mic and doesn’t buy Juventud saying that he’s going to retire. Eh ok he is lying and drops a bunch of F bombs on the fans.

Scorpio slugs away to start and knocks the mask off before dropping a leg. The slingshot flipping legdrop connects before Scorpio takes him down for a hair pull. Juventud flips out of a sunset flip and hits a basement dropkick. A middle rope crossbody gives Juventud two and a dropkick just annoys Scorpio. Juventud gets knocked down but avoids a moonsault. A running knee finishes Scorpio at 6:02.

Rating: C+. This one at least had a slightly faster pace, but it was still only so good. I’m not sure what the point was in having Juventud lie to the fans, insult them, and then get the win but the people didn’t seem to mind. This was still one of the better matches of the show, mainly due to the talent involved.

Tajiri vs. Super Crazy

The fans rather approve of this as they lock up to start. They fight over wrist control as commentary explains the history between the two, which really was quite nice. Nothing happens on the mat and the fans are rather split. Crazy manages an armdrag out to the floor and Tajiri is happy to take a breather. Hold on though as cue Mikey Whipwreck to ask what the f*** is going on. Forget the chain wrestling because it’s midnight in Philadelphia this needs to be a Mexican Japanese Death Match!

Tajiri takes the hint and they brawl out into the crowd, with Crazy already busted open as they come back to ringside. Some chairs are thrown inside and a piece of a door to the head rocks Crazy again. The ladder is put between Crazy’s legs in the corner for the big chair shot and Tajiri kicks him down for two.

We hit the chinlock for a needed breather (and some near falls) before another kick gets another two on Crazy. They had outside (with Whipwreck very interested) with the beating continuing for a rather delayed near fall. Crazy manages a quick backbreaker and some right hands in the corner but Tajiri is back with the Tarantula. Tajiri misses the Buzzsaw Kick though and Crazy mists him into the rollup for the pin at 11:50.

Rating: B-. This feels like a pairing where they might not have worked together in years (and they hadn’t) and still have a good match because they know each other that well. Of course they weren’t as good as they were twenty plus years ago but this was still the best match of the night and likely would have been with or without the rule change halfway through. Good stuff here, and it did feel like the renewing of a classic rivalry.

Overall Rating: C+. I don’t think there’s any secret to the fact that this show was about the atmosphere and nostalgia rather than the wrestling. In a way that makes sense, as ECW was rarely about the wrestling (with some exceptions) and was mainly about the fans having a good time. That’s what they did here, and while they didn’t have all of the ECW legends (which would have made the show run WAY too long), they had enough to make the whole thing work well enough.

With that being said, this show needed some tweaks, as there is a stretch near the middle that REALLY drags. They might have been better off by closing with the Sandman stuff or the Dudleyz’s match, just for the sake of going out on their biggest notes. In short, the show was good when it focused on ECW and bad when it focused on the non-ECW, which is kind of the point of a show like this one. What we got was good but with another daft of the rundown, this could have been a fair bit better.

However, the important thing here though was to pay tribute to ECW and that is exactly what this felt like. As was said many times on here, it’s hard to believe that a lot of these people are going to be able to get back in the ring again so letting them do this at a pretty well put together show is a nice way to go. The tributes and nice moments were what mattered most, as a lot of the people felt like they were saying goodbye to one of the most important venues in modern wrestling history.

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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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.

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

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Joey Janela’s Spring Break 8
Date: April 5, 2024
Location: Penns Landing Caterers, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Dave Prazak, Veda Scott

This is one of the bigger independent shows of Wrestlemania Weekend and the biggest GCW show as well. The main event if Joey Janela himself challenging the rather unpopular Black Christian for the GCW World Title. As usual this show could be all over the place and that makes it more fun. Let’s get to it.

I only follow GCW to a certain extent so I apologize in advance for missing details about characters or storylines. I’m basically going based off what commentary or the wrestlers tell me.

Note that I was in the arena for this show, sitting in the sixth row with the entrance on my right.

In Memory of Virgil.

Opening video.

Rina Yamashita/Masha Slamovich vs. Minoru Suzuki/Masato Tanaka

Rina and Tanaka start things off with the former’s running shoulders not getting her very far. Suzuki and Slamovich come in but I can’t stop looking at a rather stupid looking fan. Looks like some overrated wrestling reviewer. Slamovich can’t get very far so it’s back to Tanaka to take her down by the arm. The fight heads out to the floor and we go split screen, which is more than most major promotions can remember to do.

Back in and Suzuki stomps away at Slamovich in the corner before Tanaka just slaps her in the face. It’s back to Suzuki who alternates between cranking on various limbs to keep Slamovich down. Slamovich manages a quick suplex and it’s back to Rina to pick things up. We get the “let’s stand here and exchange forearms”, with Suzuki getting the better of things.

Tanaka comes in for a top rope superplex, which he rolls into another suplex. Rina gets away for the tag back to Slamovich, who strikes both guys down. A double powerbomb gets two on Tanaka and let’s get a door. Splash Mountain through the door is broken up by Suzuki, who is sent outside. Tanaka puts Slamovich (mostly) through the table for two but Slamovich is right back with a crucifix for the pin at 13:48.

Rating: C+. This was a nice start as the fans are always going to react to Suzuki and Tanaka was a big enough deal in ECW for the local fans. Other than that, it didn’t get too violent and that left us with a mostly clean tag match. It’s nice to see something like that on a show that has a tendency to get nuts, though I’m sure that’s coming later.

Rock N Roll Express/Kerry Morton vs. East West Express/Mike Bailey

The Rock N Roll (Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson) are legends (as opposed to the East/West of Jordan Oliver and Nick Wayne) and of course good guys but Kerry (Ricky’s son) is a loudmouthed heel. Before the match, Kerry tells the fans to shut the f*** up and asks who all of these people think they are to get in the ring with the. And then the fans BOO HIM??? Kerry jumps the three of them from behind to no avail and it’s a neckbreaker into Bailey’s shooting star press for two.

Wayne and Oliver start working on the arm before it’s off to Ricky, who gets elbowed in the face. Ricky tells Wayne to run the ropes but Kerry gets in a cheap shot, which doesn’t work for Kerry. The fans sing their disdain for Kerry, who doesn’t take kindly to it but does take Wayne down with a slingshot suplex. Wayne manages a running uppercut for a breather and it’s Bailey coming back in to pick up the pace.

Oliver snaps off a double chop and…bounces up and down a lot. The East/West comes in for their double cutter out of the corner but Kerry shoves the referee into the ropes for the break, earning him a big yelling from Ricky. He even slaps Kerry and I guess that’s enough for Ricky to be Legal. A Canadian Destroyer hits Wayne and he dives onto a bunch of people, including Kerry. The Mortons hit stereo dropkicks for two on Wayne as Bailey makes the save. Oliver and Wayne are back in though and it’s the double cutter for the pin on Ricky at 9:21.

Rating: C+. This was more about Ricky vs. Kerry than anything else while also having the Rock N Roll in there. It made for a good enough story, but the action was only so good. You can only get so much out of the Rock N Roll these days and while that’s fair enough, it was smart to keep this relatively short. And of course with Bailey in there, because he comes complete with every Wrestlemania Weekend show.

Dragon Gate Classic vs. Reiwa New Generation

That would be Dragon Kid/Kzy/Yamato vs. Ben-K/Kota Minoura/Shun Skywalker. Yamato and Ben start things off and they go to the mat for the grappling exchange. With that not working, Kzy and Minoura come in and the latter doesn’t think much of what appears to be dancing. That doesn’t work either, so it’s off to the masked Skywalker and the, uh, also masked Kid.

A Stundog Millionaire drops Skywalker so Ben and Minoura come in for an assisted kick to Kid’s face. Ben does his rotating gutwrench suplex to drop Kid again, followed by Skywalker’s suplex to keep Kid in trouble. Minoura comes back in with a Boston crab, sending Kid straight to the ropes.

Kid finally manages to get in a shot of his own and it’s back to Yamato to pick up the pace. Kzy hits a big dive to the floor, leaving Yamato to suplex Ben for two. Minoura gets super hurricanranaed down and Kzy’s frog splash gets two more. Back up and Skywalker monkey flips Kzy into Kid and Yamato but Kzy forearms the heck out of Skywalker. Minoura is back in and gets caught in a crucifix to give Kid the pin at 13:53.

Rating: B. They were doing the showcase route here and that went rather well. It’s a case where you take a bunch of talented people and let them go out there for a bunch of fun spots for a good while. It worked well here with everyone going nuts until someone got the pin. Rather entertaining stuff here and it went exactly as it should have.

Cole Radrick vs. Aigle Blanc vs. Alec Price vs. Arez vs. Leon Slater vs. Marcus Mathers vs. Mr. Danger vs. Myron Reed

Grab The Brass Ring ladder match, with a Sonic looking ring above the ring, meaning the winner gets a shot at any title on demand. It’s a big brawl to start and everyone heads outside and thankfully we go split screen again. Radrick and Blanc grab chairs and go back inside for a duel, with Radrick knocking him right back to the floor. Mathers comes back in to kick the chair into Radrick’s head before it’s Danger coming in for a springboard legdrop to knock a ladder onto Reed’s face.

Now it’s Arez and Mathers picking up a ladder to clear a few people out, only to have Blanc break it up. We get the required ladder around the head (Price’s in this case) so he can spin around rather quickly to knock a bunch of people down. Price is down as well so it’s Microman, who stands 3’3, in with a tiny ladder of his own. He does his own ladder spin, resulting in a bunch of low blows for even more knockdowns. Microman sends Mathers into a ladder in the corner and there’s a headscissors to Price.

Back up and Price nails a clothesline before going up. Arez breaks that up with a springboard cutter so Radrick grabs the ladder, only to have that broken up as well. Mathers shoves a ladder over to send Danger into another ladder. Blanc misses a Swanton onto the ladder, allowing Slater to hit a Swanton 450 (that looks cool) to crush Blanc again. Mathers powerbombs Blanc onto a bunch of people on the floor but Reed pulls him off the ladder.

A F5 onto the top into a Downward Spiral plants Mathers but Price sends Reed face first into the ladder. There’s the big dive to the pile on the floor, leaving Slater to hit the huge dive over the post. A bunch of people check on Slater until Reed dives over the top for a cutter onto the pile. Danger goes up for the huge moonsault onto a bunch of people, leaving the fans pleased and everyone else down. Back in and Danger goes up but Radrick slows him down. Mathers and Price go up as well before going crashing down, leaving Radrick to knock Danger off and win at 17:06.

Rating: B-. This was the big cluster (ok maybe not the best word on a Joey Janela show) ladder match and it worked rather well. It’s the best way to have this many people on the roster at once as the fans get to see a bunch of stars in one match. It helps that there were stakes with this being similar to the Money In The Bank ladder match. There were a lot of people out there, but at least they kept things moving well enough.

Matt Cardona vs. Blue Pain

Cardona, with Steph de Lander and Jimmy Lloyd, is dressed as Macho King (with Queen Steph) and lets us know how lucky we are to have him. He was on TNA AND AEW recently and this weekend, his best friend Cody Rhodes will finish his story. Pain on the other hand is better known as Blue Kane and he’s kind of the Xanta Claus version of Kane: he wears blue, he controls cold instead of fire, he comes out to Eiffel 65’s Blue song, and he weighs two Cease And Desist Orders.

Cardona strikes away to start and gets scared out to the floor, as the flashbacks to the old US Title days are still real (that’s a weirdly clever idea). Back in and Pain uppercuts Cardona right back to the floor, meaning it’s time to stalk Cardona into the crowd. They fight into the balcony (not that high) and Pain loads up a table, only to get hit in the eyes with…something. Lloyd has to make the save but gets put in a chair and sent through the table (call back to Kane vs. Cardona back in WWE).

They get back in, where a de Lander distraction lets Cardona knock Pain off the top, setting up stereo Broski Boots. An Urn is brought in but Cardona hits de Lander by mistake (she urned that one), allowing Pain to hit the top rope clothesline. A chokeslam gets two, with de Lander pulling the referee out.

Radio Silence connects and another referee, dressed like Zack Ryder and coming out to the Zack Ryder theme, comes in to count two but flips Cardona off and kicks him low. Pain fights up with a chokeslam attempt, only to have Ryder hit him low, as Cardona reveals (and drops to the floor) a cup. That doesn’t work either so chokeslams abound until Lloyd is back. A fireball to the face (oddly appropriate) blinds Pain and Radio Silence lets all four villains pile on for the pin at 9:04.

Rating: B-. We can call this the definition of “stupid, goofy fun” and that is not a bad thing. Cardona is a big deal around here and it’s nice to see him getting to do something as silly as beating up a blue version of a monster who messed with him about ten years ago. Sometimes you need to do something ridiculous to give the fans a good time and that is exactly what happened here.

Gringo Loco vs. Amazing Red

This should be fun. Feeling out process to start with neither being able to get anywhere, including Red offering a clean break. They run the ropes and exchange some near falls until Red pauses on a big kick to the head. Loco isn’t having a handshake and knocks him outside, only to have Red snap off a hurricanrana.

The dive drops Loco again and Red sends him into the chairs before going back inside for the chops. Loco fights up and knocks him to the floor this time, only to let Red get back in due to that pesky respect stuff. Back in and a tornado DDT gives Red two more as they’re going back and forth here. Loco’s sitout powerbomb gives him two of his own but a top rope superplex is broken up.

Instead Red sends him down for a top rope faceplant but Loco hits a standing version for two more. Another powerbomb is countered into a hurricanrana to give Red two so they both go up. This time it’s a super Spanish Fly to give Loco another near fall and they’re both a bit winded. Loco loads up…something but gets kicked in the back, allowing Red to take him up top for a super poisonrana. A top rope double stomp into a frog splash into Code Red is enough to give Red the pin at 15:55.

Rating: B. This was a way more straightforward match and it went rather well. After having all of the goofiness before and the violence that is still scheduled, it is nice to have something like this. Red is way past his prime but can still do some rather nice things. Loco is still more than good enough as well and they had a rather solid match here, at least given the circumstances.

Respect is shown post match.

We recap Mance Warner vs. Effy in an I Quit match. The commentary before the video said they’re former stablemates and now hate each other, but we’re not told why or what happened. Warner is rather violent though and apparently stabbed Effy with a drill to the head. As you do.

Effy vs. Mance Warner

I Quit and the fans do not like Warner whatsoever. We even get the Big Match Intros to really make this feel special. Warner hammers away to start and strikes away, only to charge into a German suplex. Effy hits a running boot in the corner and flips into something like a dragon sleeper. That’s broken up so Effy hits a spear to take Warner down again.

It’s time to bring in some chairs, one of which is thrown over the top and onto Warner’s head. Effy chairs him down and loads up a door, but does stop to chair Warner down again in a smart move. Warner is fine enough to spinebuster him through an open chair and a spinning DDT through the table connects. It’s way too early for Effy to quit so Warner chairs him down again.

Back up and Effy sends him through another door for another no, setting up a piledriver onto the chairs. Effy tries a Rough Ryder but is quickly powerbombed down onto the chairs as well. That’s nowhere near enough so let’s steal the referee’s belt to whip Effy over the back. Effy shrugs that off and grabs the belt, which he wraps around his fist to punch Warner in the face.

Some whipping in the corner makes Warner say no again and it’s time to bridge a door between some chairs. Choking takes too long though and Effy gets sent through the door, which is good for another no. They slug it out on the apron, with Effy snapping off a standing Blockbuster. Another door is loaded up at ringside but Warner grabs a chokeslam to send him through it as the violence continues.

Back in and they trade pieces of door shots to the head. Effy gets the better of things again and they trade low blows to put them both down again. Warner whips out a screwdriver to hit Effy in the head and it’s time to bring out some zip ties. The bloody Effy is tied to the top rope and Warner throws a chair at his head. That’s still a no so here is Allie Katch (Effy’s partner) with the drill…but Warner chairs her down and loads up the drill. Effy quits to save Katch at 21:47.

Rating: B-. This was the match that caught my eye more than anything else on the card and it told a story (unlike the story that we weren’t given about how we got here) but it never really got to that next level. Instead it was just a bunch of hitting people with stuff until they did the ending. It wasn’t bad, but I was expecting more in what felt like it could have been one of the best things on the show.

We recap Nick Gage/Maki Itoh vs. Danhausen/Ram Kaicho. Gage was unhappy with Danhausen for costing him a win so it’s time to bring in a partner each.

Nick Gage/Maki Itoh vs. Danhausen/Ram Kaicho

Kaicho appears to be a bit dead and Gage and Itoh have Discount Dewey Donovan with them (he still has a website, where he brags about how little effort he has put into it and has not updated it in about 18 years). The fans REALLY do not like Danhausen during the Big Match Intros and even he seems a bit surprised.

Danhausen and Gage start things off but Danhausen wants Itoh instead. The curse is blocked with a middle finger so Danhausen grabs a headlock. Itoh gets knocked down and Danhausen drops a falling headbutt, a signature Itoh spot. Back up and Itoh knocks him down so it’s off to Kaicho, who uses her….death dust to blind Itoh? With that shrugged off, Itoh hammers away in the corner and hits a running boot for two. Gage comes in and knocks a crossbodying Itoh down and an elbow makes it worse.

Itoh DDTs her way to freedom and hands it off to Danhausen to slug away at Gage, followed by the flying shoulder. Everything breaks down and Gage pulls Danhausen outside, where it’s time to grab a door. All four get inside and it’s a four way knockdown, with Gage grabbing the pizza cutter.

Kaicho blasts him with the dust though and hits a dropkick to put Gage through the door in the corner. Danhausen pizza cutters Itoh and pours the teeth in her mouth, setting up the running booth. Back up and Gage sends Danhausen through another door as Itoh drops Kaicho. Stereo falling headbutts give Gage and Itoh the stereo pins at 13:01.

Rating: C+. What were you expecting here? It was basically a way to have Gage vs. Danhausen and it wasn’t exactly good. Gage is as big of a star as he can be around here and more or less it gave him a way to get on the card. Danhausen has fallen really hard in recent months and while he’s not done yet, it would be nice to see him getting to do something else to freshen things up a bit.

Post match Gage thanks the fans so the winners can leave.

We recap Blake Christian defending the GCW World Title against Joey Janela. No one likes Christian so it’s time for Janela to save the title from a horrible champion. He’s also standing up to Christian for going after Missy Hyatt, because that is a thing that is happening in 2024.

GCW World Title: Blake Christian vs. Joey Janela

Christian, with Shane Mercer, is defending and Missy Hyatt (with Gucci purse) is here with Janela. We get the Big Match Intros and Janela is in the Lex Luger Summerslam 1993 gear, which can’t go badly whatsoever. The mic goes out during Christian’s entrance because even the electronics don’t like Christian.

They fight over a lockup to start and that goes a grand total of nowhere. Janela shoulders him out to the floor but Christian is back in to slug away. A backdrop does a bit better for Janela and it’s time for a door. That takes too long so it’s Christian hitting a dive to send the door into Janela for a change. We hit the hair pull, followed by a chinlock, which isn’t a good sign less than ten minutes into the match.

Janela fights up but gets sent outside, where Mercer puts him into the post. Christian sends him face first through a chair and even busts out a cartwheel inside. Back up and Janela manages a quick cutter into a brainbuster for two, meaning frustration is starting to set in. That takes too long so Christian is back up with a springboard elbow for two of his own.

Stereo clotheslines give us a double knockdown, followed by a DDT to plant Christian onto the apron. The door is set up at ringside but Christian slips out of a Death Valley Driver. Back in and Janela snaps off a German suplex, followed by the Death Valley Driver for two. Janela takes too much time going up and gets knocked down, allowing Christian to hit a springboard 450 for two of his own.

Christian sends him outside for the big flip dive into a Nightmare On Helm Street on the floor. A moonsault press is countered back inside and Janela hits a quick jackknife. Janela grabs a chair to knock Christian down and then wraps the chair around his head. Mercer offers a quick distraction though and it’s Christian coming back with a spinebuster through the chair.

A Stomp gives Christian two and the shock sets in quickly. Mercer throws in a mostly broken door and some chairs but Hyatt comes in, meaning Janela has to make the save. Janela knocks Mercer off the top and through another table at ringside, setting up a superplex through that rather lame looking door.

A top rope stomp onto the door onto Christian gets two but he’s back up with a quick DDT. They slug it out from their knees until Hyatt grabs Christian’s leg (only took her two tries). Christian pulls her in so Janela makes the save…and Hyatt hits Janela with the Gucci bag. A stomp onto the bag retains the title at 29:44.

Rating: D+. Janela has a tendency to go long in his matches and that was certainly the case here. This is a match that could have easily had fifteen minutes chopped off as they just didn’t have much going on here. Christian can do the moves well but he isn’t exactly a thrilling star otherwise. Janela did what he could but they couldn’t have telegraphed the ending any harder. Not a good main event, mainly as it went on WAY too long.

The fans throw in trash (the referee is NOT happy) to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. This show started off well enough but it went on about four hours in total and the fans were just done by the main event. It’s a show where they needed to cut some time off from more than a few matches. I liked the show well enough and a good chunk of it had some of that strong GCW crowd energy, but the main event was rough. It doesn’t help that there is nothing worth going out of your way to see. Spring Break is supposed to be one of the really fun events and this was more forgettable than anything else.

Results
Rina Yamashita/Masha Slamovich b. Minoru Suzuki/Masato Tanaka – Crucifix to Tanaka
East West Express/Mike Bailey b. Rock N Roll Express/Kerry Morton – Double middle rope cutter to Ricky
Dragon Gate Classic b. Reiwa New Generation – Crucifix to Minoura
Cole Radrick won the Grab The Brass Ring Ladder Match
Matt Cardona b. Blue Pain – Radio Silence
Amazing Red b. Gringo Loco – Code Red
Mance Warner b. Effy when Effy quit
Nick Gage/Maki Itoh b. Danhausen/Ram Kaicho – Stereo falling headbutts
Blake Christian b. Joey Janela – Stomp onto a Gucci bag

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IMG Credit: Game Changer Wrestling

Joey Janela’s Spring Break 3 Part 2
Date: April 5, 2019
Location: White Eagle Hall, Jersey City, New Jersey
Commentators: Denver Colorado, Dave Prazak, Kevin Gill

This is a show I’ve been trying to see for a long time now and I might as well knock it, as well as the rest of the Wrestlemania XXXV weekend series, out while I have the chance. If you have seen something from this series before, this show is going to be complete insanity but often in a good way. Let’s get to it.

Here’s Night One if you need a recap.

No opening video here, mainly because the show didn’t start until after 12:30am due to the ROH/New Japan show running WAY late.

Jungle Boy vs. Joey Janela

Janela has Penelope Ford with him and it’s a F*** ROH chant to start things off. Boy starts fast with a running hurricanrana and an armdrag out of the corner. They don’t bother staring it down as Janela hits a chop in the corner, followed by a rather hard superkick. Boy comes back with his own superkick, followed by another exchange of superkicks. That gives us the required Young Bucks/AEW references until Boy turns him inside out with a clothesline.

Boy knocks him to the floor and hits back to back suicide dives into those plastic chairs. Back in and Janela catches him on top for a reverse fisherman’s buster onto the apron. That’s only good for a one back inside so Janela stomps on the ribs. They chop the heck out of each other until Boy spears him through the ropes. The Jungle Cutter (exactly what you think it is) gives Boy two so it’s Ford coming in with a top rope hurricanrana.

Boy isn’t having any of this and gives her a Backstabber out of the corner. Janela is back up with a spinning Trapper Keeper bomb for a very near call so he asks the fans who he is. That means a song that I don’t recognize but Boy runs him over. A Lionsault is countered into a dragon sleeper of all things (that’s not bad) but Boy is in the ropes in a hurry.

The camel clutch is broken up even faster so Boy takes it to the apron for the Death Valley Driver to plant Janela. Boy hits a springboard flip dive to knock out Janela and a bunch of chairs, freaking Ford out even more. Back in and Janela snaps off a Tombstone for two but since no one sells at this show (just how it’s going to work), Boy is already up top but Janela, with the crazy eyes, is up there with him for a top rope brainbuster.

That’s good for one and Boy nips up (Colorado: “WHAT THE F***???”), followed by a superkick for two on Janela. They trade snap German suplexes with both of them popping right back up and then hitting two more each. With that not working, Janela grabs a choke but Boy reverses into something like a raised full nelson to make Janela tap at 13:31.

Rating: C+. One thing to keep in mind on this show is that it isn’t going to be like most regular events. This is all about action and not psychology, so don’t waste your time on a bunch of stuff that isn’t going to be there. Boy looked good here and it isn’t a surprise that he became a thing in AEW. Janela….well it’s his show and you can only be so mean to him so we’ll move on.

They shake hands post match.

I’m assuming they’ve edited out all of the transitional stuff between matches, which is a little annoying given that the show is still full price over a year after it took place but how much could be missing?

LAX vs. Rock N Roll Express

This is the match that made me want to watch the show, just for the pure spectacle. The fans are very glad to see the hometown LAX and then declare the whole thing awesome just after the bell. Gibson and Santana start things off with Gibson claiming a hair pull to take him into the corner. Santana gets taken into the corner as well and that’s good for a standoff.

A hiptoss takes Santana down and Ortiz comes in to get one as well. It’s off to Morton for the right hand to the ribs into the Million Dollar knee lift to send LAX outside. Fans: “NEVER LOST IT!” The Express take over on Santana’s arm and, after drawing Ortiz in, do the fake clap tag, which feels a little wrong coming from them. Ortiz comes in and is armdragged straight into a wristlock but it’s a snap powerslam to put Morton down.

Gibson is told to suck it and that is just wrong on so many levels. A shot to Morton’s arm brings in Gibson for the failed save, allowing LAX to double team in the corner. I can always go for something so simple that still works so well. Ortiz misses a charge in the corner though and it’s a hot tag to Gibson as everything breaks down. The Express is sent into each other but Santana clotheslines Ortiz by mistake.

Ortiz drops a leg on Gibson and adds a top rope splash. Morton dives in for the save and keeps going, landing a Canadian Destroyer on Santana. The threat of the double dropkick sends LAX outside so Morton dives onto both of them. Santana has to dive in for a save and it’s a double superkick to Gibson. A double clothesline drops LAX but Morton gets sent into the corner for an assisted Cannonball and the pin at 8:35.

Rating: C+. This is a match that had no business being any good due to the age situation but the Express came out there and somehow made the thing work. It was a decent enough match and my goodness I can’t believe they almost pulled that off. LAX is a great team and the Express hung in there with them well enough. Good stuff here.

Post match, LAX shows respect, offering hugs and bows. The SPRING BREAK chant breaks out but Ortiz wants a ROCK AND ROLL one instead. They even exchange bandannas in a great moment.

LA Park vs. Masato Tanaka

They chop it out to start with Park knocking him down in the corner and hitting the shaky knees dance. A clothesline drops Tanaka for two and there’s a chair shot to the head. Tanaka no sells it as is his custom and the roaring elbow gives Tanaka two. Park’s snap powerslam gets two, followed by a whip with the belt. Tanaka fights up and knocks him to the floor for the big dive but Park sends Tanaka into the apron.

There’s a chair to the back and a slam onto the empty chairs, meaning it’s time to bring in some doors. Park drives him through one of the doors for two and it’s time to go up. Tanaka is right back up with a superplex, followed by a splash for two. Back up and Park spears him through a table for the sudden pin at 9:40.

Rating: D+. Just a brawl here and something that has been done a lot better elsewhere. Park is someone who is a lot better when he gets to show off his amazing charisma that was only somewhat on display here. Tanaka looks exactly the same as he did back in ECW and I can see why fans would want to see him around some more. Not a terrible match, but nothing that felt like it belonged on a major show.

So we have about an hour and a half left in the show and it’s time for the main event.

The Greatest Cluster****

Oh boy what am I getting myself into. So it’s a Royal Rumble and you are eliminated by pinfall, submission, being thrown over the top (dives DO NOT count), if you leave the arena, or if you die. The Necro Butcher (looking old and very different without a shirt) is in at #1 and, after Butcher eliminates referee Bryce Remsburg, Nick Gage is in at #2. I’m not sure if the bell rings but they lock up and shove each other a bit until Gage is sent to the apron. Shlak and Markus Crane come out together, I guess as #3 combined, who bring in their own door.

Butcher punches Crane down and slugs it out with Shlak, with Gage watching like a fan from the apron. They go to their knees and it’s Georgie Boy, with a rubber chicken, in at #4. Gage and Crane jump him immediately and Gage beats Georgie down with the chicken. The door is set up in the corner and Georgie goes through it, allowing Crane and Shlak to beat him down with the pieces.

Swoggle is in at #5 and superkicks Shlak down. Everyone brawls around the ropes until Arik Cannon is in at #6. Gage is waiting on him for the slugout as Swoggle seems to bite Butcher’s foot. A low blow with the rubber chicken keeps Butcher down as Shlak tosses Georgie out. Cannon is busted so Gage rips at the cut and it’s Joe Gacy in at #7 to go after both of them. Crane can’t hold Gacy up so he goes with a sloppy dragon sleeper instead. Brian Pillman Jr. is in at #8 and brawls with Gage as well, earning himself a sitout powerbomb out of the corner.

Crane and Shlak double belly to back suplex Pillman for two and…..here are Nate Webb and Marko Stunt for a concert from the crowd. They sing/play Teenage Dirtbag as an unnamed man dances around ringside. Pillman dives onto Gacy and some guy in a mask takes Webb out. It’s Maxwell Jacob Friedman, who gets in (at #9, assuming Stunt and Webb don’t count) to go after Pillman as Crane is eliminated.

Swoggle unloads on MJF in the corner as Gage seems to have been eliminated somewhere in there. Joey Ryan is in at #10 (Colorado: “AND VIEWERSHIP HAS SKYROCKETED IN THE LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY AREA!”) and we pause for the full baby oil. Sweet Tooth Music hits Cannon and MJF hurts himself on a low blow attempt. Sexxxy Eddy is in at #11 and he wants Ryan. That means oil on Eddy’s chest as Cannon stops for a beer. The match just stops while Joey and Eddy rub their chests until Effy is in at #12.

Ryan pulls off Eddy’s towel….and no clothes are found under there. Eddy knocks Ryan into the corner and a dropkick sends him into Ryan (you can imagine how this goes), with Effy kicking Eddy into him over and over. Mick Moretti is in at #13 as Eddy manages a moonsault (while managing to keep his hands in a specific place). Cannon rolls Eddy up for the elimination and it’s Marko Stunt officially in at #14. Logan Stunt, who looks even younger than Marko, is in at #15 (or maybe part of #14 as I’m completely lost on keeping the numbers).

Marko saves Logan from Necro and it’s time for the brothers to argue. Butcher gets rid of Logan but can’t quite put Marko out. Team White Wolf are in at #16 (A-Kid and Carlos Romo, who are announced together) and a double superkick gets rid of Pillman. Kobe Durst is in at #17 and goes after White Wolf. That goes nowhere, so it’s Swoggle grabbing Joey’s it….and throwing him out by it in a big upset.

Egotistico Fantastico is in at #18 and the fans seem pleased to see him. Gacy eliminates himself for some reason (I think?) and Egotistico hits a double jump springboard for two on Durst. As you might be able to guess, the eliminations don’t exactly mean much here. G-Raver is in at #19 and busts out the hypodermic needles (yep) to stab Swoggle in the head. Swoggle rips them out and German suplexes Raver, but Cannon superkicks Swoggle for the elimination.

Kikutaro (in a Cleveland Indians jersey for an improvement) is in at #20 as Moretti is out. After sticking his fingers in various areas on various people, he uses the smell to knock them out, only to have Bryce Remsburg put Kikutaro’s fingers in Kikutaro’s mouth. That knocks him out as well and Kikutaro gets dog piled for the elimination. Teddy Hart, with cat, is in at #21 as G-Raver hits a top rope double knee to Shlak.

Cannon brainbusters Romo for the pin and then backdrops A-Kid out as Hart walks around with the cat. Homicide is in at #22 as the cat is taken to the floor. Everyone (include Gacy, who wasn’t out) stops for the Hart vs. Homicide showdown, with Homicide grabbing a wristlock of all things. That’s broken up so Hart spits in his face and fires off an uppercut. Cryme of all people are in at #23 and dang I miss that theme (historical note: this is being written the week of Shad Gaspard’s death so this is kind of hard to see actually).

They slug it out with Homicide and Hart, the latter of whom is low bridged out. Shad and Homicide fight on the floor (without an elimination) and Cannon gets rid of Shlak. Egotistico powerbombs Durst for an elimination and things settle down a bit. Cannon and Fantastico head outside for a breather, leaving MJF, Gacy, Butcher and G-Raver in the ring (there are a lot more still in, though not inside at the moment).

Grim Reefer is in at #24 and he dives off the stage onto someone. Homicide and Shad gets back in with the former hitting a cutter on Reefer. For some reason Homicide goes up and Reefer shoves him out for the elimination. JTG and Cannon get back in and the Ugly Ducklings (Colby Corino, Lance Lude and Rob Killjoy with Coach Mikey) are in at #25. Colby needs two tried to tornado DDT Reefer and it’s Slim J in at #26.

There goes Reefer and Slim J hits a sloppy tornado DDT of his own on Corino. Slim J beats up all of the Ducklings and then hits a huge dive to the floor onto a bunch of people. Facade is in at #27 and kicks away at the Ducklings as well. Lude is put onto Killjoy’s shoulders and Facade’s rope walk kick to the chest makes Lude reverse hurricanrana his partner for a big crash. MJF gets rid of Shad and then JTG to clear the ring a bit, and of course does JTG’s dance on the ropes for a bonus. Butcher knocks MJF down and it’s Gringo Loco in at #28.

Loco hits a Swanton onto Raver and then flips away from Killjoy in the corner. A Spanish Fly hits Killjoy and it’s AJ Gray in at #29. He clotheslines the Ducklings down to continue a pretty funny running gag. Colby gets powerbombed into Killjoy in the corner and there’s a Steiner Screwdriver to Lude. Gray hits a big corkscrew dive onto a bunch of people but here’s Ophidian in at #30 for a Meteora on Gray, followed by the suicide dive to the floor. Now it’s the Ducklings hitting their own running flip dives, giving us a QUACK QUACK chant. Rich Swann is in at #31 and dropkicks Killjoy, followed by a super hurricanrana for a bonus.

Swann adds his own big corkscrew dive, followed by Facade’s springboard 450 onto the bigger pile. Cannon doesn’t bother with a dive so Butcher knocks him down with a right hand. Dustin Thomas (the wrestler with no legs) is in at #32 for a 619 to Fantastico. The Swanton connects to get rid of Fantastico and the NO LEGS chant (to the OLE tune) is on. Now it’s Dustin hitting his own flip dive onto the pile (GET BACK INSIDE ALREADY!) and it’s Stunt vs. Loco. MJF breaks that up and here are Nate Webb and Brendan Brown (lead singer of the band Wheatus, who sing Teenage Dirtbag) in at #33.

Brown kicks MJF low and hits a Diamond Cutter for the surprise elimination. Facade hits another big springboard spinning dive….and literally misses everyone as Parrow and Odinson (two big monsters) are in at #34. They Super Collide the Ducklings and FINALLY throw out Lude’s unconscious body. Killjoy is thrown out as well, followed by Colby in short order. Loco follows the three of them and it’s Shane Mercer in at #35.

Gray gets beaten up and tossed out, followed by a European uppercut Doomsday Device to Facade. He’s out as well and Parrow stomps on Dustin, followed by the elimination. Swann kicks Parrow in the face to no effect as it’s a Fire Thunder Driver to plant him. Mercer, who is rather muscular himself, can’t do much to Odinson and Parrow until he sends Odinson into the corner. Mercer adds a rather impressive delayed vertical suplex drops Parrow (who is built similar to Braun Strowman), followed by a moonsault fall away slam to Odinson.

That’s enough to get rid of Odinson and Parrow as Tony Deppen is in at #36, but first we need some crowd surfing. That takes so long that it’s Jake Atlas and Lucas Riley in at #37. The two of them go after Mercer with some springboard takedowns but Butcher comes back in with a chair. Australian Suicide is in at #38 as Gacy is slammed onto a chair. Commentary says we’re at forty entrants and….again does it matter all that much? Kyle The Beast is in at #39 so Deppen blows his nose on him.

A big powerbomb gets rid of Deppen and Kyle throws Atlas and Riley around without much effort. Mercer and Kyle have the big power showdown and it’s Caveman Ugg in at #40. Kyle Stuns Suicide out and it’s Crowbar (looking ancient yet tough) in at #40. A super hurricanrana gets two on Gacy and Raver armdrags Kyle a few times. Matt Tremont is in at #41 and goes after Butcher as Gacy swings a chair at various people.

Mercer tosses Atlas and Riley as Crowbar suplexes Gacy onto the chair for another elimination. Grizzly Redwood (the Littlest Lumberjack) is in to go after Mercer as Ugg moonsaults Crowbar for another elimination. Tremont runs Swann over with a clothesline and it’s Chris Dickinson and Pinkie Sanchez in at #42. Dickinson needs some time to powerbomb Redwood before stomping on Butcher in the corner.

Michael Blais is in at #43 and he is immediately followed by Kit Osbourne and Frankie Pickard at #44. The two of them start fighting each other in a hurry and a double suplex puts Butcher down. NWO Sting is in at #45 (and towers over most of the match) for some forearms and it’s Tracy Smothers, with cane, in at #46. Chops and right hands abound until Mantaur is in at #47. With nothing going on, Matt Knicks is in at #48. NWO Sting is out and it’s Cecil Nyx in at #49 to lift Swann up, walk him around ringside, and then suplex him. Dickinson dumps Smothers and it’s Jimmy Lloyd in at #50.

Lloyd beats up Nyx, leaving Raver and Tremont to headbutt each other out. Masashi Takeda is in at #51 and immediately goes after Lloyd. Jeff Cannonball is in at #52 as even commentary can’t remember how many people are involved. Mercer is out and Takeda follows him to the floor. Ethan Page is in at #53 and beats up various people until Essa Rios is in at #54 (Denver: “If we dug up Mantaur, why not Essa Rios?”). Nyx gets faceplanted for an elimination and Butcher is tossed after an hour and sixteen minutes.

It’s time for another door as Maria Manic…..is not here actually. Cue about seven women from the crowd (including Ashley Vox, Shazza McKenzie, Allie Kat, Session Moth Martina, Su Yung, Maria Manic and more) as Rios is out. Tremont and Page are put through doors as the women get in to start beating up the men. Raver stares Martina down so she spits beer in his face and hits him with a DDT. Stunt can’t powerbomb Vox, who reverses into White Noise.

Ophidian gets bulldogged onto a table and it’s time to beat up Frank the Clown (who was standing by the entrance). The women take turns kicking him low and it’s Lloyd’s turn to get destroyed. Here are the light tubes, all of which are broken over various parts of Lloyd. The fans want PCO but settle for Dickinson getting beaten up instead.

Two tables are brought in and Maria superplexes Dickinson through both of them. The referees are beaten up and Yung Mandible Claws one of them in the corner. Referee Aubrey Edwards is allowed to leave and here’s Joey Janela himself to get choked on the ropes to end the show, meaning the main event is a no contest at we’ll say about 1:25:00.

Rating: C+. I have no earthly idea what to call this one so we’ll go with slightly above average, even with the….I guess the word is joke (?) ending. Normally my criticism would be that the match was a mess, but looking at the title, that’s what they were going for here. This was definitely more of a match for the live crowd and I can go with that, as one of the best times I’ve ever had at a show was a similar match at the WrestleCon SuperShow. I think I liked this, even though it didn’t have a ton of star power and featured a lot of interchangeable indy wrestlers. It’s a lot of fun, but the ending could be very, very annoying.

Overall Rating: C-. This was definitely the weaker of the two shows, but it’s certainly not bad. The main event is going to be divisive as it feels like they ran out of time to come up with a good ending, which can happen. What we got was memorable, but the first night was a blast and this was more like a show that existed for the sake of having one (very, very) long song and dance to end the indy half of the weekend. It was a good enough show, but the first night is a lot more fun (albeit with a weaker main event).

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IMG Credit: WrestleCon

WrestleCon: USA vs. The World
Date: April 5, 2019
Location: New York Hilton Midtown, New York City, New York
Commentators: Excalibur, Dan Barry

This is a new one as WrestleCon is running a pair of shows and there’s a theme to this one. It’s a pretty simple idea here and the name alone should explain things. We’ll be seeing some interesting matches here and WrestleCon knows how to do these things quite well most of the time. Let’s get to it.

If there was an opening sequence, it didn’t make the feed.

Emil Sitoci (World) vs. Brian Pillman Jr. (USA)

Sitoci was on the WXW show yesterday. Pillman goes right after him to start and sends Sitoci to the apron for a springboard dropkick to the floor. The fans chant for Papa Pillman as Sitoci sends him into the barricade. It’s time to wrap the leg around the post (Excalibur: “The ACTUAL hardest part of the ring ladies and gentlemen.”) so Sitoci can bring him back inside for a knee to the knee.

A spinning toehold sets up a Figure Four as Sitoci certainly knows how to work on a leg. Pillman grabs a rope and they chop it out with a powerslam getting two on Sitoci. A superplex attempt is broken up and Pillman nails a high crossbody to a big reaction. The knee to the jaw sets up a swinging neckbreaker for the pin on Sitoci at 7:55.

Rating: C. Pillman has a lot of potential and is already looking better than he should. He’s been a regular in MLW and right now he’s just in need of ring time. I hadn’t seen Sitoci before yesterday and he’s been a rather nice surprise. He’s not great or someone I want to see being signed to WWE, but he seems to be quite the star in WXW and wherever else he works.

USA – 1

World – 0

Maxwell Jacob Friedman (USA) vs. Ethan Page (World)

Before the match, Page sings You Are My Sunshine in reference to MJF singing it on the Rosie O’Donnell Show as a child in a video that recently made the rounds. MJF freaks out and they fight around the ring with Page dropping him face first onto the apron. Page’s fingers get caught in the turnbuckle hook to make Page scream and it’s time to start in on the arm.

The armbar goes on but Page uses the free arm to start up the song again for the break. MJF goes right back to the armbar and grabs the rope like a true heel. Why is that such a lost art? The referee kicks the arm away and Page swings with the right arm instead. MJF doesn’t seem to mind as he hits a top rope double stomp to the arm and slaps on a Fujiwara armbar. Page makes the rope so it’s a hanging piledriver to put him away at 6:19.

Rating: C-. I hate to admit it, but MJF is growing on me. He’s not too bad at all in the ring and does a nice job of breaking a limb apart in an old school style. I’m starting to see the potential in what he does and while the gimmick has been done before, it’s something that works quite well because it’s a classic. I want to see him get punched in the face and that means he’s doing his job quite well.

USA – 2

World – 0

David Starr (USA) vs. Daga (World)

Daga is a replacement for Susumo Yokosuka, a Dragon Gate talent that got pulled. They start fast with the flipping and near dives into an early standoff. Daga snaps off a hurricanrana to the floor and there’s a suicide dive. Back in and a tilt-a-whirl faceplant into a rolling kick to the head gives Starr two but Daga is right back up with a series of forearms. Starr headbutts the arm for a smart counter so Daga kicks him in the face for two. The brainbuster to the knee gives Starr another near fall and Daga nails a pop up Death Valley Driver.

Starr is right on his feet…and falls straight back down in a funny spot. They slug it out with more forearms until Daga snaps off another hurricanrana for another two. Starr is right back with a DDT onto the apron and a powerbomb into a jackknife rollup gets two more. That’s enough for Starr, who grabs something like a Sharpshooter but only turns Daga half over before pulling up on the arm at the same time for the tap at 6:34.

Rating: B-. Starr is another guy who has grown on me a lot since I started watching this kind of wrestling. He has a charisma that can make whatever he does work and his in-ring abilities are quite good as well. He’s around on almost every show and I like him more every time I see him. That’s hard to do but he’s pulled it off.

USA – 3

World – 0

Darby Allin (USA) vs. Black Taurus (World)

Bonus match. It’s a creepy guy with half his face painted vs. a man in a bull mask. Taurus feels things out a bit before slapping the taste out of Allin’s mouth to send him outside. Back in and La Majistral gives Allin two and he sends Taurus outside for a quick suicide dive. Taurus shrugs it off and hits a Shining Wizard back inside, setting up an armbar.

Allin pops up and hits a bottom rope corkscrew splash, only to get his head taken off by the Rainmaker. Pete Dunne’s Bitter End gets another two but Allin backdrops him to the floor. The Coffin Drop connects but a second attempt hits knees back inside. A spinning sitout brainbuster finishes Allin at 7:18.

Rating: D+. I wasn’t feeling this one, though that might be due to me not being overly familiar with either guy. I’ve seen them both before but neither of them are top stars. It’s nice to get something different involved though and the World side needed a win after such dominance so far.

USA – 3

World – 1

Jiro Ikemen (World) vs. Rich Swann (USA)

The very energetic and flamboyant Ikemen is a replacement for Masato Yoshino. Swann is even wearing the X Division Title but it’s not on the line. Hang on though as Swann walks through the crowd to get to the ring for his own energetic entrance. Ikemen wrestles in his jacket and they dance into a handshake. Swann knocks him down with a shoulder but Ikemen pops up for a pose, including a good look at the jacket.

The flip over Ikemen sets up a dropkick to the floor, where Swann makes sure he’s ok. After the confirmation, he kicks Ikemen in the ribs and tells the crowd that he is NOT ok. They start the chase around the ring with Ikemen hiding under the ring and slipping around to the other side for a running flip dive. Back in and Ikemen slaps on a half crab but makes sure to show off the inner lining of the jacket. A rope is grabbed and Swann is back up for a series of strikes to the face, with a big kick sending Ikemen outside.

Of course that means the flip dive to follow and a frog splash gets two back inside. Swann’s missed charge in the corner lets Ikemen hit an Arabian press for two of his own. A jumping hurricanrana brings Ikenem off the top and Swann’s stepover kick to the face gets a fall so near enough that the referee seemed to have to stop early. They exchange kicks to the leg with Swann’s knee giving out to set up the Figure Four. That’s broken up so Ikemen hits a moonsault for the pin at 9:19.

Rating: B-. Another match that I enjoyed with someone I’ve never seen before. Swann is one of the smoothest talents going today so you knew he was going to be doing his part here. Ikemen’s thing with the jacket is certainly unique so it was a nice mixture here of two people who can do the goofy stuff mixed with the serious wrestling.

USA – 3

World – 2

Rascalz (USA) vs. Robbie Eagles/Adam Brooks/Australian Suicide (World)

Well ok. The Rascalz are Trey Miguel/Zack Wentz/Dezmond Xavier. The Aussies are replacing more Dragon Gate talent who couldn’t make it due to visa issues. Suicide popped up on what is probably the last episode of Lucha Underground. We get some dueling international chants with Wentz doing Jim Duggan’s pose for a funny bit. The Americans flip off the international fans and everyone goes at it to start (I’m sure you saw that coming.) with Miguel sending Brooks outside but having to deal with Eagles. Suicide comes back in for a headscissors on Miguel so it’s off to Xavier for a dropsault to send him outside.

Brooks is back in with a series of Canadian Destroyers and a Meteora to crush Wentz on the apron. The big Fosbury Flop takes everyone down but the Rascalz are right back to take over only to have Suicide come back with a shooting star (not a press because there’s no cover) onto all three of them. Back in and another Canadian Destroyer sends Wentz outside, only to have Dezmond hit his moonsault kick to the head but Brooks comes in for the save. Miguel missile dropkicks him down, setting up Wentz’ top rope double stomp for the pin on Brooks at 6:48.

Rating: C+. It was fun while it lasted but I was hoping for some more of this one. The Rascalz have been a blast since I saw them for the first time in Impact so I was happy to see them on the card. Eagles impressed me yesterday at the Supershow so this was a rather nice match all around. It’s also nice to see the wrestlers finally going somewhere with the US vs. the World theme, which hasn’t been happening yet.

USA – 4

World – 2

LAX (USA) vs. Hart Foundation (World)

That would be Teddy Hart and Davey Boy Smith Jr., meaning Hart brings a cat with him. The Harts (replacing Brooks and Eagles) have been awesome in MLW so this should be a lot of fun. Fellow Foundation member Brian Pillman Jr. is in the crowd cheering instead of walking out with them due to reasons of the Pillman Family being a little odd.

They exchange poses in the corner to start and then shake hands before jumping LAX from behind after a minute and a half of stalling. Santana’s leg gets wrapped around the post and the Hartbreaker from Smith makes it even worse. Hart gets in a suplex on Ortiz and then yells about MLW being better than Impact. They get inside for the first time and Hart hits his moonsault elbow for two as it’s Ortiz in trouble early.

Smith hits a very delayed vertical suplex and it’s off to the chinlock. The surfboard goes on and Smith even kicks Ortiz forward for a crash onto the mat. Hart snaps off a powerslam but stops to yell at the referee before slapping on a Rings of Saturn. Ortiz tells him what he can suck and the hold is broken, triggering a SUCK MY **** chant from the crowd. Ortiz finally gets over for the hot tag as everything breaks down. Santana gets sent outside and an assisted Canadian Destroyer finishes Oritz at 10:39.

Rating: B. I like both teams and they worked a much more standard formula here, which works well when you have such talented people in there. The Harts have been one of the biggest surprises of the last year as the MLW crowd loves them and they’re having some awesome matches. LAX is LAX, so this was a very nice showcase all around.

Post match, Ortiz says that somehow, someday Hart will suck his ****. Hart: “I’m not going to address the sucking the ****.” He swears a lot and thanks the fans while ripping on New York. Hart also puts over Highspots for giving him a chance. He did NOT suck anything for a job here or in any big company. Smith says this is USA vs. the World but we’re all family.

USA – 4

World – 3

Sammy Guevara (USA) vs. Puma King (World)

The announcers can’t stand Sammy, which is rather easy to understand. There’s actually a story here as Sammy went through King’s bag a few weeks ago. They tease a handshake before it’s an exchange of double middle fingers. Sammy heads outside and reaches into the cameraman’s pocket to pull out a middle finger. They trade some flips without much contact and indeed it’s more middle fingers. A double dropkick gives us a double knockdown and it’s Puma being sent outside for the first flip dive.

Back in and Puma hits a superkick but hang on as he needs a mic. Puma tells us to subscribe to his YouTube channel (a Sammy trademark) so Sammy knees him in the face. That’s enough for Sammy to say f*** Puma’s YouTube channel. Now he’s going to go do some more spots and pin him. Sammy sends him to the floor for an apron moonsault and hits a super hurricanrana for two back inside. King is fine enough to hit a pendulum powerbomb for the pin at 8:57.

Rating: D+. This one is going to depend on your tastes and that’s perfectly fine. I get Sammy’s heel stuff and after all of the back and forth technical stuff that we’ve seen tonight, it’s fine to go with some comedy. King has been entertaining every time I’ve seen him and Sammy is certainly good when he’s doing his stuff. I wasn’t wild on the YouTube/middle finger stuff over and over, but it could have been worse.

USA – 4

World – 4

Brian Cage (USA) vs. Masato Tanaka (World)

Tanaka’s shoulder and crossbody don’t work as Cage catches him for some curls. Instead the forearms in the corner work a bit better until a sliding kick to the face take Tanaka down. The corner clotheslines set up a chinlock until Tanaka fights up and grabs a DDT. Cage hits the apron superplex and a top rope elbow for two, followed by the buckle bomb. Tanaka is right back with a brainbuster for two of his own but the frog splash hits knees.

Cage’s dead lift German suplex into a Death Valley Driver gets two more. Tanaka’s rolling elbow sends Cage into the ropes for the rebound lariat and they’re both down again. They trade the hard shots to the face again until Tanaka knees him down for two off the Sliding D. A second attempt is cut off with a clothesline and Cage’s buckle bomb sets up the Drill Claw for the pin at 9:50.

Rating: C+. This was very similar to Tanaka vs. Eddie Kingston from yesterday’s show and that’s not a bad thing. It was two big, strong guys hitting each other in the head until one of them couldn’t get up. Cage winning is fine as it seals the competition for America and while it doesn’t mean much, it’s the smart way to go to wrap things up. Nice hard hitting match here, which is all it should have been.

USA – 5

World – 4

Overall Rating: C. Well that was….short. The whole thing was barely two hours and I’d kind of like more than that for a $15 show. It was perfectly watchable but felt more like a supplement to yesterday’s Supershow. There might be one or two matches in there worth seeing (the Harts vs. LAX was a nice treat) but it’s certainly not worth going out of your way to see. I’m pretty disappointed in this as there was no standout show and the time really hut things.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2000 Monday Nitro and Thunder Reviews Part 1 (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

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ECW on TNN
Date: May 26, 2000
Location: Gwinnett Civic Center, Duluth, Georgia
Commentators: Joel Gertner, Joey Styles

So I got a big start on this series and had twenty episodes to go when I took a bit of a break. That was nearly two years ago so I figured I might as well get back to it and knock the rest of this series out now that it’s on the Network. We’re past Hardcore Heaven and Justin Credible is ECW World Champion. TV Champion Rhino has issued an open challenge for his TV Title for some point in the future. Let’s get to it.

We open with a black and white video on Sandman being destroyed by Rhino. Sandman’s wife was piledriven through a table as a bonus.

Opening sequence.

Joel and Joey do their thing and rip on TNN because that’s how you stay on a network.

Interviewer Steven Prazak goes in to find out if Justin Credible has a concussion problem. Francine and Justin yell at him before throwing Prazak out.

Simon Diamond rants into a mirror about being a comedy act after a year in this company. The Musketeer (exactly what he sounds like) comes out of a bathroom stall to offer his services as a tag partner. That goes nowhere so here’s Johnny Swinger, from Atlanta, with the same offer. Simon is impressed and decides his problem is solved.

Masato Tanaka vs. Balls Mahoney

Tanaka starts in on the arm and they do an awkward looking wrestling sequence to the mat. Yet again we hear about Balls being banned from amateur wrestling in New Jersey for punching out a referee as he takes over with some jabs. That just earns him an armbar as Joel goes on a semi-racist rant about how he can’t date Japanese girls because he’s always hungry again twenty minutes later.

They head outside where Tanaka is whipped into the barricade as Joel wonders how parents in Nutley, New Jersey could name their son BALLS. A chair shot to the back doesn’t have much effect on Tanaka so they head inside for a powerslam on Mahoney. A Ball Breaker (sitout spinebuster) gets two on Tanaka with a frog splash connecting for the same. It’s time to duel with the chairs (a signature spot for them) and Tanaka no sells some shots to the head.

A big shot finally puts him down for two and now it’s Balls’ turn to no sell for a bit. Those shots are terrifying now as they’re just straight chairs to the head with no protection. A tornado DDT onto the chairs is countered into the Nutcracker Sweet (something like a sitout over the shoulder tombstone) for two on Tanaka.

Diamond Dust (a middle rope flipping Stunner) gets two on Balls but he kicks a chair into Masato’s face. It’s table time (because of course) but Balls also has a black bag full of tacks. Ever the scientist, Tanaka reverses a superplex into a tornado DDT through the table, driving himself into the tacks in the process, though it’s enough to put Mahoney away.

Rating: C. This one depends on your taste but it was a hard hitting ECW brawl. Those chair shots are too much for me anymore though. They were fun when we didn’t realize how bad they were but now……yeah they’re hard to sit through. Tanaka is one of the hardest hitting guys you’ll ever see so he was perfect for Mahoney, though that ending is a bit hard to take. Balls can survive several hard chair shots to the head but a tornado DDT through a table knocks him out?

The Sinister Minister is talking about Mikey Whipwreck when Big Sal attacks him. A now crazy Mikey makes the save with a fireball.

Tommy Dreamer beats up Prazak for asking about losing the World Title. Prazak: “BUT YOU’RE A BABYFACE!”

Tajiri vs. Scotty Anton

Former Network vs. Network. That means here’s Cyrus with the rest of his evil Network stable to say Mr. Nielsen is popping off because of Anton’s clap gimmick. The fans want RVD out here to kill Anton (who screwed him at Hardcore Heaven). Joey: “Even for TNN this is disgraceful!” Anton makes sure we know that he’s Scotty and he wants us all to have The Clap. This keeps going WAY too long as we’re waiting on wrestling anytime now. Actually Cyrus says Scotty is off tonight because it’s all about the ratings. Joey: “Then why is Rollerjam still on the air?” Hey I liked that show. Cyrus has a replacement.

Tajiri vs. Jerry Lynn

This could be good. Feeling out process to start with Tajiri dropkicking Lynn out of the air. A tilt-a-whirl backbreaker drops Tajiri and the Network shouts encouragement to Jerry, though he doesn’t seem that receptive. Lynn’s tornado DDT (too common a move around here) is countered with something like a suplex into the corner but Lynn is right back up with a springboard dropkick ala Chris Jericho.

Back in and a hard kick to the head drops Jerry again as Joel goes on an anti-TNN rant, nearly verbatim to one Heyman made around the same time. A powerbomb gets two on Tajiri as this is just a collection of spots so far. Lynn is tired of wrestling and just stomps away before grabbing a chair. Jack Victory trips Tajiri though and the cradle piledriver gives Jerry the pin (it wasn’t clear if he saw the interference).

Rating: C+. Better than you would normally get around this time from ECW with a lot more wrestling and a lot less violence. That’s a smart way to book the show as the opener was violent and this one was more wrestling based. Balancing the show out like that is almost always better than going full on with one style.

Post match Tajiri gets beaten down until RVD makes the save. The weird thing here is the Network has Walk by Pantera edited out but the fans are still seen chanting along. Van Dam is beaten down but Tajiri makes the save with some mist.

Video on Dawn Marie. Nothing special here as it’s really just a reminder that she’s hot.

Prazak asks Raven about Credible’s concussion but Raven is depressed about Francine turning on him. Francine comes in and yells at him (with the camera staying on her upskirt shot the whole time) until Credible lays Raven out. Dreamer’s save attempt fails to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. This is a hard one to grade as nothing major happened but they’re advancing the story at a slow pace, which makes sense given that they have almost two months until the next pay per view. The wrestling was acceptable (again by ECW standards) but this Network feud really isn’t all that interesting. It’s an interesting take on the corporate villains but we get the concept already and they’re not making it any easier by saying the same things over and over.

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After a trip to England it’s back to America with one of the hardest hitting guys you’ll ever find in a wrestling ring: Hulk Hogan’s cousin (by marriage I believe), Mike Awesome.

We’ll start with one of ECW’s most famous shows: The Night The Line Was Crossed. Awesome was a newcomer at this point and this was his highest profile match to date. From February of 1994.

JT Smith vs. Mike Awesome

This would be a squash in the regular ECW. Here it’s going to be a squash but with a different ending. If you want to see an example of why Awesome is so beloved, watch this match as he’s INSANE but great. He never lets up at all and hits a great over the top rope dive to nearly kill Smith. And then the hometown boy rolls him up for a pin in his only offense all night. Referee gets beaten up anyway. He goes for the splash and breaks the freaking ring ropes.

Rating: N/A. Total squash for Awesome and he lost anyway. He would go to Japan soon after and other than one other time in 94, wouldn’t be seen in ECW until 97. He would wrestle five times there and then would go winless in 1998. FINALLY in 1999 Heyman realized he had something amazing and made him world champion.

Awesome would head to Japan for several years in a hardcore promotion that I don’t consider wrestling, so we’ll skip ahead to the late 1990s when Awesome returned to ECW after a year long knee injury. He reignited his feud with Masato Tanaka, who happened to have a title match at Anarchy Rulz 1999 when things changed a bit.

ECW World Title: Masato Tanaka vs. Taz

No intro or anything. Joey just says it’s time for our world title match. The fans throw a TON of stuff into the ring because of Taz. He sold out apparently. No. Heyman screwed up the booking of him because no one cared about him as a face after he whined for a year and Shane Douglas wouldn’t drop the title like he should have. I still say that had as much to do with killing ECW as anything did.

That and not putting the belt on RVD about 5 months before this. Mike Awesome is in the crowd and Taz says send him in there too. Heyman comes out and holds Awesome back. I love how the fans go from YOU SOLD OUT to yelling his catchphrase with him inside of a minute. Remember that officially Taz hasn’t been announced as leaving yet but it’s the worst kept secret in wrestling. Heyman makes it a threeway.

So yeah add Mike Awesome to the title because I’m lazy. Oh and Awesome is in wrestling gear in the crowd. I’m shocked too. They double team him and that doesn’t work at all. Tanaka takes an Awesome Bomb. And then the Roaring Elbow and Awesome Splash puts Taz out in about two minutes. There you go then.

The locker room empties so that everyone can say goodbye to Taz. Yeah this was a total secret right? Awesome hits a sweet Tope (Taker Dive) to the floor to take Tanaka down. This is your standard solid match with these two. Naturally chairs and tables are brought into play but you have to expect that in ECW. Tanaka hits a Tornado DDT on a chair for two.

And Tanaka gets powerbombed over the top to the floor through a table. Top rope splash follows that for two. Ok then. Tanaka no sells three LOUD chair shots and this Diamond Dust which is an awesome move. It’s table time again with Awesome in control again. Awesome hits a top rope powerbomb for the pin. Yeah that works but a chair shot to the head from the top doesn’t? Taz hands him the belt after the match. The roster says goodbye to Taz as no one cares about Axl Rotten. The fans loving Taz now is kind of stupid. Taz tells them to chant for Awesome. Nice touch there.

Rating: B. Usual good stuff here from these two, but at times the no selling gets annoying. Still though, this was a shock to some people and it was a nice touch throwing Awesome in there as people knew Taz was losing, so here we didn’t know who was leaving with the belt. This was good.

Awesome and Tanaka would trade the title over Christmas of 1999 with Awesome coming out with the belt. He would defend that title against the giant killer Spike Dudley at Guilty As Charged 2000 in January.

ECW World Title: Mike Awesome vs. Spike Dudley

This should be going on in the spot of the TV Title match and the TV Title match should come on last. Spike has lost a lot of that ANGER from an hour and a half ago. He starts setting up tables before Mike is even here. Oh well we get to listen to some more AC/DC so I can’t complain. He sets up FIVE tables including two on top of each other before getting into the ring with a microphone.

He talks about how he makes his living getting put through tables. Ok thanks for admitting you’re a glorified jobber getting a title shot at a PPV. Why was Awesome managed by a “judge?” That never made much sense to me but whatever. Spike goes through a table less than 15 seconds in. Ok then let’s go home now as this is rather pointless. There go two more.

We’re MAYBE a minute and a half in and Spike has done nothing at all other than a few punches. Them calling the split screen replay Double Vision is funny. Spike is in the crowd and Awesome dives over the railing to knock him back down. Joey wants the match stopped but then cheers when he kicks out of a splash. Is this supposed to make sense? Oh that’s right it’s Spike Dudley in the main event of a PPV.

Of course it’s not supposed to make sense. Awesome Bomb is blocked and Spike jumps at Awesome and hits something close to an Acid Drop on the guard rail. Spike might have hurt his leg. Wow I wonder how he could have done that. Spike hits a hurricanrana which Awesome (rightfully) no sells and then kills Spike with a clothesline for two.

Spike hits the one move that I’ve never been able to understand how it can be done safely: a double stomp from the top rope. In an INSANE spot, Spike gets on the top rope and hits a springboard clothesline from the ring to the front row. That was impressive and Joey/Cyrus make fun of Hogan for doing such limited stuff. That’s rather amusing as Awesome is actually Hogan’s nephew or something close to that.

Spike hits an Acid Drop from the apron to the floor through a table and chokes Awesome out with a cord to take over. Joey shouting AWESOME IS DEAD over and over after a big chair shot is rather creepy. Spike is thrown through a table and is more or less out cold. Spike then further proves his idiocy by going up when Awesome is on the top rope in front of a table. Of course he goes through it for the pin. He deserved that for general stupidity.

Rating: D-. The problem here is simple: the credibility just wasn’t there at all. Spike is still his size and Awesome is his size. That’s why this didn’t work very well. We get it: Spike can do moves to big guys, but chair shots and a Diamond Cutter from the ropes isn’t enough to make this believable. They tried….kind of, but this just didn’t work that well at all.

Awesome would keep the title for a few more months before showing up on Nitro. This wasn’t out of the ordinary for the time, but it was out of the ordinary when the person was still under contract with ECW, still ECW Champion and had the ECW Title with him. This led to a big lawsuit with ECW making money, WWF wrestler Taz winning the ECW Title at an ECW show from a WCW wrestler, and Awesome joining WCW full time. His first good match was at Slamboree 2000 against Kanyon.

Mike Awesome vs. Kanyon

This is serious Awesome and not the 70s Guy yet. Awesome put Kanyon through a table to set this up. The fans are all distracted by something else to start so Awesome hits a HUGE dive to the floor, drawing an ECW chant. Kanyon sends him into the post as there’s more energy in this match than the rest of the show combined up to this point. Kanyon hits a running front flip dive off the apron to put Awesome down.

Back in and Awesome hits a top rope clothesline for two. Back to the floor and Mike fires off some chair shots to put Chris down. Yes I’m on first name basis with the two dead guys. They fight into the crowd and Awesome keeps the advantage. Back in and we debate the best powerbomb in wrestling with Nash being declared the best. Back to the floor again for about the fourth time and Kanyon gets hit with a chair again. They were using “relaxed rules” at this point which meant they were trying to rip off ECW and the WWF formula in every match instead of just the main events like WWF did.

Kanyon crotches Mike on the top and hits a reverse neckbreaker for two. Another neckbreaker gets two. The fans are getting into this quickly. Samoan Drop into a front face drop gets two. Kanyon tries a powerbomb but gets caught in an Alabama Slam for no cover. There’s the regular powerbomb and Kanyon lands on his head. FREAKING OW MAN.

Awesome, probably trying to let Kanyon figure out if he’s alive or not, goes outside and pulls the pads back. Kanyon is like screw it and fights back but gets caught by a slingshot shoulder block by Awesome. He loads up the over the top powerbomb but Kanyon escapes, only to allow the American to hit a German to the American (Kanyon) and outside we go again. Awesome sets for something and here’s Nash for the run-in. The rest of the New Blood and Millionaire’s Club come in also and it’s thrown out.

Rating: B-. I was liking it but the constant going outside and the stupid ending hurt it a lot. This felt like the main event of Nitro rather than a definitive PPV match. These two had some chemistry together and it was a good match as a result. Keep these two in mind as they’ll be back later on to totally ruin the show in the end.

Mike would eventually become That 70s Guy (just go with it) and the Fat Chick Thriller (again just go with it) before earning a US Title shot at New Blood Rising under Canadian Rules. This one still makes my head hurt.

US Title: Mike Awesome vs. Lance Storm

Let’s see here. This is in Canada so Storm is the hero. He’s the US, Hardcore and Cruiserweight Champion at this point but would give away two of them soon. Now the cool entrance is about the end of the cool aspects of this match. The US Title is the Canadian Title, the Hardcore Title is the Saskatchewan Hardcore International Title (Get it?) and the 100kg and Under Title.

Storm cuts a short promo and might as well be the second coming. Both of these guys left ECW earlier this year. Storm got this, Awesome got the gimmick of That 70s Guy and the Fat Chick Thriller and never won a title in WCW. Storm was just absolutely awesome at this point and this is his big reward for it.

Part of the gimmick Storm had his own rule book and had his own rules. He invokes one of them and says there’s going to be a special referee. We immediately eliminate the chance of it being Bret Hart since a HUGE Bret chant breaks out. It’s Jacques Rougeau, as in The Mountie. We get the Canadian National Anthem and Storm could more or less murder a thousand babies and still get cheered at this point.

There’s a Juggalo here for no apparent reason. Rougeau is the outside referee and there are two titles held up. Pay no attention to whatever the other one is as it’s not mentioned. Awesome dominates early on, hitting a leg drop as a tribute to his far more famous uncle, Hulk Hogan (How many of you knew that one? Awesome’s aunt is married to Hogan’s brother so they’re like step uncle and step nephew or whatever but screw all the technicalities).

We hit the floor and it’s table time. Well they are from ECW to be fair. Madden: “This isn’t wrestling!” Tony: “Of course it’s not!” I still want to know how much annoyance there was in Tony’s statement there. Awesome goes up top and just slips off. Well it happens to everyone I guess. Awesome hits a SWEET Liger Bomb to more or less end Storm.

Then I’m not sure what happens as there’s a three count but Storm gets his arm up at more or less the exact same time. I’m legit not sure if Storm was supposed to kick out there and just didn’t get up in time or if this was part of the upcoming angle. Given the idiocy of this show and the skill of Storm, we’ll say it was intentional. Johnson raises Awesome’s hand to have the crowd on the verge of rioting.

HOWEVER, according to Canadian Rules, you have to get a 5 count to win a title. Awesome gets an Alabama Slam for three and then hooks a Dragon Sleeper. Storm taps out to lose the title again. Oh you know what’s coming. This time it’s you can’t win by submission. Storm gets two off a suplex as we start one more time. The crowd has gone from white hot to DEAD by the way as they’ve seen Storm get pinned and tap in like 6 minutes.

Awesome gets a five count off a Frog Splash and I can’t believe what I’m watching. Storm has a ten count to get up after the original five count. So the US Champion has now lost three times in about ten minutes perfectly clean and they’ve killed one of the hottest crowds I can remember in WCW’s history. The table is in the ring and Awesome clearly slips on the same corner (maybe they should be cleaned guys?) and they both crash through a table.

Rougeau says first man up gets the title and he punches Awesome in the jaw to make sure Storm looks inept. The crowd pops fairly well and just to absolutely cap off the idiocy, BRET HART IS HERE. You know, the guy the crowd was BEGGING for? So let me get this straight.

WCW was too STUPID to get that in Canada, where Bret is pretty much the biggest athlete that isn’t a hockey player in the history of the country (apparently there was a poll done in 2004 where the Greatest Canadians, as in any Canadian ever and not just athletes were ranked. Bret was #39) and where they had him under contract, that instead of using HIM, they paid the Mountie to come in and get the paycheck for the refereeing job while the fans chanted for BRET. This company deserved to go out of business. The Canadians all hug.

Rating: F-. Seriously, was this supposed to be good or something? Am I supposed to be entertained here? I know Russo doesn’t like titles, but if you’re going to kill them at least do it in America where you go more than once. This was just completely idiotic and one of the dumbest things I’ve ever seen.

Awesome would be one of the people brought over in the InVasion and would be the first WCW wrestler to win a match in Madison Square Garden when he interfered in a Hardcore Title match and pinned Rhyno to win the belt. For some reason (Awesome blames politics), he was barely a factor in the whole angle and would job on Jakked and Heat for most of his time in the WWF. After a long stint in All Japan, Awesome would make one final return to the WWE for One Night Stand in 2005 against his old rival Masato Tanaka.

Mike Awesome vs. Masato Tanaka

Awesome is a guy that is HATED by Styles and ECW for jumping ship and trying to throw the belt in the trash on Nitro. Because you know, no one in ECW ever disrespected a belt or anything like that. Joey says that it’s a shame Awesome didn’t take his own life on a suicide dive. That’s true Joey. He took his own life by hanging himself. As for the match, it’s about as intense and stiff as you could ask for.

This was an epic rivalry that went around the world and had them trade the ECW Title. That’s the issue here: Awesome is a traitor to ECW but this match is stealing the show. Let the LOUD chair shots begin. I never liked Tanaka’s no selling of chair shots. Ok we get it: chair shots hurt a lot. Table time and JBL makes fun of it for which I can’t blame him. The jokes about Awesome being wasted in WCW are ridiculously true.

The guy was freaking amazing so we make him the Fat Chick Thrillah and That 70s Guy. And you wonder why they went out of business. The crowd is WAY into this one. Oh look: tables. How original! We get a THIS MATCH RULES chant. And there goes Tanaka over the top rope through a table with a powerbomb. Add in an over the top rope dive onto the concrete and it’s over. Very intense stuff.

Rating: B+. Yep, the show has been stolen. These two had some WARS back in the day and this one was no exception at all. Very intense fight rather than a match but whatever. Fun to say the least. There’s something to be said about two guys just pounding on each other for ten minutes.

Unfortunately that was about it for Awesome as he would take his own life less than two years later. Awesome was another guy that could fly like he was about 100lbs lighter than he actually was and moves so fast in the ring that he had to slow it down outside of ECW so people could keep up with him. He’s a prime example of someone that WCW had and just didn’t know what to do with so they screwed him up completely.

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