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:

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

AND

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

 

I’ll spare you my bad travel issues.

Thursday

Stardom – I try to take in shows that I won’t get to see otherwise and when else am I going to get to see Japanese women’s wrestling?  I didn’t exactly know much about most of the names but I caught on fast enough and the matches were fun.  Toni Storm showed up in a great bonus moment near the end.  Fun show, but it was really short at only about an hour and forty minutes.

WrestleCon Supershow – It was a very fun show with some great action, but unfortunately I had a bad case of vertigo kick in about ten minutes before the show started and it only started clearing up about halfway through the next to last match of the night.  I could barely focus on the show, so this is going to need a heck of a rewatch.

Now that being said, the big ending was the Sandman making his full entrance, complete with Enter Sandman in the ECW Arena.  I’m far from an ECW fan but the Sandman was the coolest thing ever when I was a kid.  Seeing him getting to do that entrance in that building was one of the coolest moments I’ve ever seen at any show and it was absolutely special.

Related note: I went to Denny’s for supper after the show and a group of CMLL wrestlers were sat next to me.  They were unmasked and wouldn’t say who they were, but Barbero Cavernario was there and confirmed it was in fact them (Mistico was at another show so I definitely didn’t meet him).

Friday

WrestleCon – As usual, this is an insane amount of people in one place but thankfully they were spread out over multiple rooms.  The lines were long, but I did pick up a new book about the early 80s WWF and a gift for the wife.  It was cool to see the bigger names, but I didn’t really talk to any wrestlers due to the amount of fans there.  Granted it also doesn’t help when I’ve met most of them before anyway.

WWE World (Axxess) – Nope.  I’ve been to more WWE events than I can count and I do not remember being more disappointed than this.  It was badly lit, they only had some of the always cool pay per view banners hanging down, the lines were WAY too long to stand in and most of it was just for photo ops.  I actually spent more time walking (20 minutes) from WrestleCon to this than I spent at the event (15 minutes).  This was horrible and if Fanatics is running it again next year, it’s absolutely being dropped from the itinerary.

Progress – I got to this a bit late and knew almost no one on the card, but they pulled me in with everything they did.  This was a very entertaining show with some good action and some absolutely hilarious matches (even Bussy won me over, which I didn’t think was possible).  Fun stuff here and maybe the best mixture of quality and comedy I’ve seen at an indy show in a good while.  Also met a reader (Muffin Top Merkley) which is always fun to see.

Joey Janela’s Spring Break 8 – I don’t follow GCW but I knew enough of the people on this show.  It was the usual rowdy crowd (save for the main event oddly enough) and it worked well enough.  The show was long (as it tends to be) but it went well, with the biggest problem being the seating.  I got a sixth row seat with nothing specified on the ticket other than “sixth row”.  I sat in a seat but was told I had my own seat with my literal name on it, as they were apparently set up alphbetically.  This wound up being true, and I was stuck sitting between two good sized people, to the point where I couldn’t put my arms down for most of the show.  So if a buddy of mine and I buy tickets separately and have different last names, we can’t sit together?  That’s not a great plan.

 

Overall, good stuff so far, but we get to the big stuff tomorrow.

 

KB

WrestleCon Supershow 2023
Date: March 30, 2023
Location: Globe Theater, Los Angeles, California
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Veda Scott

With some independent shows from promotions I don’t know much about out of the way, we now have one of the bigger independent shows of the year. This is one of the best collections of independent talents you’ll see and that should be the case again here. The card is stacked as usual so let’s get to it.

We meet our announce team and here is Mick Foley to welcome us to the show. Foley was backstage earlier and Aja Kong asked for a picture with him so things are going well. He started off as a super fan just like the man this show is named after, Mark Hitchcock. We see a video on Hitchcock’s career (I believe the same one as last year) and Foley wishes us a nice day.

Blake Christian vs. Michael Oku

Christian offers a handshake to start and Oku reluctantly accepts it, with everything being fine. Oku wastes no time in taking him down and going for the leg but it’s too early for the half crab. They both try dropkicks and it’s an early standoff. Christian offers a left handed handshake and this time he tries a cheap shot, only to get dropkicked down.

Oku gets knocked hard to the floor but there isn’t enough room for a dive, meaning Christian has to ram him into the apron instead. A standing flip splash gives Christian two but Oku kicks his way to freedom. Oku’s frog splash crossbody hits Christian but the ribs are too banged up to cover. There’s the Penalty Kick to Christian, who kicks the leg out and hits a 619 between the bottom and middle rope.

A Saito suplex gives Christian two but Oku knocks him to the floor this time. Somehow Oku manages a Fosbury Flop, only to have Christian pop up and hit one of his own. They pull themselves to the apron and slug it out, with Christian grabbing a half and half suplex. For some reason they get back in even faster than after the dives so Christian hits another half and half on another apron. Back in and Christian misses a 450, allowing Oku to grab a half crab. The rope is quickly grabbed so Oku heads up, with Christian following with a belly to back superplex. Now the springboard 450 can connect for the pin at 14:08.

Rating: B. This was the kind of independent match that you would expect from a show like this with these people involved. Oku is someone who has grown on me over the years as he is rather smooth in the ring most of the time. Then you have Christian, who is one of the hotter names outside of the major promotions right now and is getting some shots in Ring Of Honor as well. Good opener, with a rather indy style.

Respect is shown post match.

Bryan Keith/Kenta vs. Tom Lawlor/Christopher Daniels

Daniels is a mystery partner and I think he’ll do. He even has his own Lawlor style cutoff jean shorts over his singlet. We also have a special guest enforcer for this match and it’s…..KEN SHAMROCK! That’s quite the surprise. Daniels shoulders Keith down to start and stomps away in the corner, only to get big booted down. Lawlor comes in and takes Keith into the corner to stomp away as well as Scott says yes, that is in fact Ken Shamrock.

It’s off to Kenta, who conducts the fans chanting his name. Daniels gets struck down and Keith is in for a double back elbow. Back up and Daniels manages to send him into the corner for the tag off to Lawlor. An Angle Slam looks to set up a cross armbreaker before Lawlor takes off his jean shorts to reveal….smaller ones! Daniels suplexes Keith into Lawlor’s Penalty Kick for two as commentary talks about the shorts.

Lawlor accidentally forearms Daniels though and Keith gets in a kick, allowing the tag off to Kenta. A top rope clothesline gives Kenta two but it’s back to Keith, who gets dropped with a double clothesline. Lawlor comes in to slug it out with Kenta until Lawlor gets caught with a hanging DDT.

The running basement dropkick in the corner rocks Lawlor again and there’s the double stomp for two. Daniels breaks up the GTS and Lawlor gets in a few shots for two. Lawlor stares down at Shamrock as he puts on the ankle lock, only to have it reversed into a crossface. Daniels decks the referee though, meaning Lawlor tapping means nothing.

A low blow cuts Keith down so Shamrock comes in….but won’t count. Daniels yells at Shamrock and gets dropped with a right hand, meaning it’s time for the showdown with Lawlor. The distraction lets Kenta roll Lawlor up for the pin (as counted by Shamrock) for the pin at 18:04.

Rating: C. The Shamrock/Lawlor stuff was good but this was more long than anything else. It never quite got to the next level and it followed a pattern: Kenta beat the other two up and then Keith would lose control. That was repeated multiple times and it doesn’t exactly make for the most exciting match. It wasn’t bad, but just kind of there until the end.

Post match Lawlor goes after Shamrock, who suplexes and ankle locks him. Kenta and Keith get to leave in peace.

Negro Casas vs. Ultimo Dragon

Commentary says these two have had 100+ documented matches against or with each other, which is probably closer to 250-300. Before the match, we get a video from Chris Jericho (ok then), who praises both guys and talks about the influence they had on his career. Jericho wants some cheering for these two because we’re in for a treat. Casas backs him into the corner to start and works on the arm until Dragon gets a rollup.

With that broken up, Casas goes back to the arm until a standoff gives them a breather. Dragon reverses an armbar into the surfboard, which is broken up fast because these two are 119 years old combined. We get another standoff and the fans are pleased again. Casas kicks him into the corner but Dragon kicks him out to the floor. The Asai moonsault is broken up so Dragon settles for a superplex instead. The Dragon Sleeper finishes Casas (perhaps by knockout) at 12:00.

Rating: C+. This is one of those “you mean we get to see this???” matches and that is not a bad thing. The idea of this show is giving you matches you won’t get to see elsewhere and at this point in their careers, how likely was it to get to see this match again? It wasn’t even bad as they were both working hard and had a completely watchable match. Nice job, and a special treat for longtime fans.

Respect is shown post match.

Arez/Latigo/Laredo Kid vs. Rey Horus/Galeno Del Mal/Aramis

Why yes, this will be under lucha rules. Latigo offers a handshake to start and promises it’s ok. The ensuing rollup gives Aramis two and they have a stand off, with a middle finger included. Arez (who takes off his mask to reveal the face paint that inspired Finn Balor’s Demon look) comes in to face Horus for an exchange of quick covers. Horus seems to be annoyed so it’s off to the rather large Galeno, with Arez panicking.

Arez hands it off to the Kid, who isn’t pleased at all. Some triple teaming manages to take Galeno down and out to the floor. Kid hits a dive onto Galeno as his partners grab half crabs back inside. Some very loud chops have Aramis in trouble and the crowd wincing, followed by the running strikes in the corner. Galeno has to make a save so he gets triple teamed fight back down. Arez and company manages a triple gorilla press on Galeno for two in an impressive crash.

Horus and Aramis get back up and fight back though, allowing Galeno to go up top for the HUGE high crossbody to wipe out everyone. Galeno LAUNCHES Horus over the top into a dive onto the other three, followed by Galeno’s flip dive over the top (and he sticks the landing). Arez is back in to kick Galeno down but Aramis grabs an Air Raid Crash for two. Horus is back in as well with that very spinning DDT of his, setting up double dives from Horus and Aramis. That leaves Galeno to grab a swinging butterfly superplex to finish Latigo at 11:14.

Rating: B. You know what you’re getting in a match like this and that’s all they delivered on. This was six people going nuts and doing whatever they could squeeze in, with Galeno looking awesome throughout. It’s a lot of fun and you can always count on seeing something like this around this show. Good stuff here and as usual, the flips and dives were a lot of fun.

Post match respect is shown and money is thrown into the ring, as is tradition.

The Tokyo Joshi Pro ring announcer (apparently popular) handles the intros for the next match.

Hyper Misao/Shoko Nakajima/Yuki Kamafuku/Mizuki/Yuki Aino vs. Raku/Nao Kakuta/Miu Watanabe/Riku Tatsumi/Hikari Noa

I apologize in advance for getting the names wrong as there are no name graphics and I’m trying to figure out who is who. Hyper Misao grabs the mic and says since she is a superhero, she can win this on her own in seconds (not even minutes). Misao’s partners are sent to the floor and everyone gets in a running charge on Misao in the corner. Raku runs the ropes, puts her hands next to her head to signal sleep, and then sits on Misao for two. Scott: “She loves trains and she loves naps!”

Misao gets over for the tag to Aino, who hammers away a bit. Raku brings in Tatsumi to pick up the pace. The rather strong Watanabe comes in for a double slam and a double swing (egads) and it’s off to Mizuki (the top champion). A double stomp rocks Yuki and it’s Mizuki coming back in (they’re changing in and out VERY fast), only to get her legs wrapped around the post. Watanabe comes in and reverse Alabama Slams Tatsumi onto Mizuki.

Raku grabs comes in but can’t get a Russian legsweep and everything breaks down for a bit. The second legsweep attempt connects but Mizuki reverses into a Crossface. That’s broken up and Misao comes in with a high crossbody as everything breaks down. Raku Sling Blades Mizuki, who is back with a quick suplex for two. A top rope double stomp gives Mizuki the pin on Raku at 14:20.

Rating: B. It was a lot of fun and it was all fast paced, but the lack of telling us who these people are (Veda Scott shouting names that she is familiar with as us for 15 minutes doesn’t count) made it kind of insane. Now that being said, the athleticism was great and some of the power stuff was hard to believe. I could absolutely see this being a lot more interesting with less going on at once and that means as a showcase, this was a success. Just let us settle in to something (literally) foreign to a lot of us a little better next time.

Mike Bailey vs. Shigehiro Irie

The stream slips up a bit so we go from the end of Bailey’s entrance to Irie hitting a cannonball for two. Bailey fights back with the kicks until Irie blasts him with a clothesline. A powerbomb is cut off though and Bailey hits the standing moonsault knee drop. The tornado kick hits Irie in the corner but the Ultimate Weapon misses. The Beast Bomber lariat gives Irie two and it’s another cannonball into another Beast Bomber to knock Bailey. Some hard strikes to the side of Bailey’s head knock Bailey out for the stoppage at about 10:15.

Rating: C+. From what I could see, this was another hard hitting slugfest, though it’s almost weird to see Bailey losing. Irie is a monster who impressed me before and it’s nice to see him getting a win over a prominent name. If he wants a contract somewhere, I’m sure multiple companies would be willing to sign him, though granted I said the same thing a few years back. Bailey can absorb a loss as I’m sure he’ll have 17 more matches this weekend to make up for things.

United Empire vs. Time Machine

That would be Jeff Cobb/Aussie Open vs. Kushida/Motor City Machine Guns. The fans are split between Aussie Open and the Machine Guns as Hiroshi Tanahashi joins commentary (allegedly, as he doesn’t say anything and isn’t seen, making me think I didn’t hear that right). Kushida takes Fletcher down with a headscissors to start before switching into a kind of surfboard. Shelley comes in to stay on the arm and it’s off to Davis, who gets kicked in the head.

It’s Sabin coming in to double kick Archer down, with Kushida coming in for the double submission and Dream Sequence. Cobb comes in and isn’t about to get sunset flipped. A backbreaker and World’s Strongest Slam have Sabin in trouble for a change but he fights out and brings Shelley back in. Everything breaks down and the Aussies pick the Guns up to ram them together.

Fletcher sends Shelley into the corner, allowing Cobb to come in and stand on the banged up back. Cobb holds the legs down so Davis can stand on Shelley’s hand for a change. A missed backsplash lets Shelley bring Kushida in to clean house as we’re having audio/visual issues. Kushida hits a running palm strike in the corner before rolling into a DDT on Davis. Time machine grabs triple submissions until Cobb escapes and makes some saves.

Shelley and Fletcher slug it out with the former getting the better of things to take over. The Aussies fight back up and clean house, with Kushida having to break up Coriolis. Time Machine takes over with a three man Dream Sequence to Fletcher and Sabin dives onto all three at once. Davis is back in to clean house until he gets Downward Spiraled into the buckle. Sabin tornado DDTs Cobb but the Aussies are back up with Coriolis to finish Sabin at 16:32.

Rating: B+. Yeah this worked again, as all six were rolling and you had an awesome match throughout. The Guns can still hang with anyone and the Aussies are getting better every time they’re in the ring. Kushida’s spot is long established and Cobb is the monster that can work anywhere. I had a really good time with this and it went just as a match like this would have been expected to go. It’s also nice to see the Aussies win a big match for a change as they don’t tend to do so.

AAA Mega Title: El Hijo del Vikingo vs. Komander vs. Black Taurus

Vikingo is defending and I think this might work. Komander and Vikingo shake hands but Taurus is having none of that. Taurus manages a running crucifix bomb to both of them at once before launching Komander over the top and out onto Vikingo. Naturally he follows with a big twisting dive onto both of them as the fans approve. Back in and Taurus hits some running corner clotheslines until the other two get together and pull him outside.

Now it’s a double dive to drop Taurus, followed by stereo rope walk moonsaults to drop him again (awesome indeed). Back in and Vikingo hits his springboard 450 stomp, followed by Komander’s rope walk shooting star for two. That’s enough for Vikingo to go after Komander for daring to try for his title. A top rope hurricanrana takes Komander down but Vikingo has to deal with Taurus in the form of a top rope shooting star hurricanrana (geez).

Vikingo goes right back up top, then to the post, for a rope walk front flip….where he bounces off the top and backflips into an armdrag. Komander springboards a lot (I stopped counting at six) into a hurricanrana to Taurus before flipping Vikingo from his shoulders into a backbreaker. With Taurus on the floor, Komander rope walks into a dragon rana to plant him again, only to have Vikingo jump to the top for a corkscrew dive. Scott: “Taurus, every time he gets back on his feet, a human being keeps falling from the heavens to take him down!”

Back in and Vikingo’s shooting star hits raised knees and Komander spins him into two knees to the chest. Taurus comes back in for a backbreaker on Komander and a pop up Samoan drop makes it worse. Komander hits a springboard poisonrana on Taurus but gets dropped by Vikingo.

A crucifix driver plants Taurus, who pops back up with a spear to put Vikingo down for a three way breather. Taurus and Komander fight on the apron with Komander being dropped hard onto the ropes. Vikingo 630s onto the waiting challengers, followed by some running knees to Taurus in the corner. The 630 finishes Taurus to retain the title at 12:42.

Rating: A-. Much like the six man lucha libre match earlier, you knew what you were getting with this match and that is what they delivered. This was about going insane with one flip after another, plus Taurus doing well with his power stuff as an addition. It was a heck of a fight and I had a blast having my jaw drop over and over. Vikingo and Komander can blow your mind time after time. Great stuff here and nothing was following this one, making it the only choice for a main event.

Respect is shown and money is collected after the match. The three of them pose to end the show.

Overall Rating: B+. This show started a bit slow but once it got going, it was the kind of WrestleCon Supershow that you would have expected. It was a bunch of random matches with one different style after another, allowing all kinds of stars to get the chance to shine. I look forward to this show every year because you get so much out of it and that was the case again, as the show ends with an awesome one two punch. Throw in everything else that worked and this was great, with only one match not being rather good (mainly due to time issues more than quality). Check this out if you get the chance and have a lot of fun.

 

 

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WrestleCon Supershow
Date: April 4, 2019
Location: New York Hilton Midtown, New York City, New York
Commentators: Excalibur, Kevin Kelly

This might be my favorite show of the year and I’ve been looking forward to seeing it again. The idea here is you don’t know most of the card coming in, with just Will Ospreay vs. Bandido in the main event being announced. A lot of wrestlers from Dragon Gate were announced but visa situations have kept them off the show. That leaves some openings on the card and I’m curious to see what we get. Let’s get to it.

We get a YOUR EVENT WILL BEGIN SHORTLY graphic for twelve minutes until the ring announcer says we’re waiting on something from the athletic commission and an ambulance to arrive.

Here’s your WrestleCon Ambassador for the evening: Road Warrior Animal (without facepaint), who goes straight for the LOD chant. He can’t do this job by himself so he introduces….RIC FLAIR, which is quite the surprise. Good thing he’s healed from that Batista beating. Excalibur: “If anyone knows how to fill time.” Flair talks about the places he’s been in New York, including an affair with Leona Helmsley. He says this is a fraternity and puts over the Road Warriors as great competitors. One night in Philadelphia they painted Dusty Rhodes’ face and it was a riot on the way to the ring.

WrestleCon is a great place and there was a time when nobody wanted 200 wrestlers in a hotel. Animal: “There weren’t enough tickets to ride Space Mountain.” Flair has another reason to be here and mentions Sunday night being more important than anything he ever accomplished. The tears are flowing and thankfully the fans don’t boo the WWE reference. This is every bit as big as Hogan slamming Andre and he couldn’t be prouder. Thank you for everything and make sure to come see him tomorrow.

Back to the YOUR EVENT WILL BEGIN SHORTLY graphic.

The widow of Mark Hitchcock, an illustrator who world for WrestleCon died on his honeymoon, thanks the crowd for remembering him.

We’re ready to go 27 minutes late.

Eddie Kingston vs. Masato Tanaka

Tanaka is a former ECW World Champion and might look better now than he did twenty years ago. They go technical to start until Eddie takes him into the corner for a hard chop. Tanaka’s famous elbow sends Eddie outside to hold his jaw, as he should be doing. Back in and Tanaka hammers down right hands before a crossbody gets two. A running STO drops Tanaka and it’s back to the chops.

Tanaka’s tornado DDT works on the second attempt but a spinning Rock Bottom drops him again. Eddie loads up a superplex but gets reversed into Diamond Dust (a flipping Stunner out of the corner, a personal favorite). A frog splash gets two on Kingston and it’s time for the required chop off. Tanaka’s elbows and forearms get the better of it and the Roaring Elbow sets up the Sliding D (sliding elbow) finishes Kingston at 7:18.

Rating: C. This was your “I hit you hard and you hit me hard) match of the night, as WrestleCon is often a show built around doing a little bit of everything. Tanaka still looks awesome and I’m not surprised to see that he can still do something like this. Kingston is hit or miss at best, but having him do something like this fits him well.

Post match Kingston says that this was his dream match after seventeen years and thanks Tanaka in Japanese.

The announcers would love to break down the next match but they don’t know what it is.

Here are the Lucha Bros for the match but before their opponents come out, Fenix thanks the fans and says they’re the best tag team in the universe. They’re here because they’re open to face any tag team and pretty soon, they’ll be facing the other brother tag team. He means the Young Bucks, who are scared of the Lucha Bros and won’t be here tonight. Pentagon swears in Spanish a big (Kelly: “NO TRANSLATION REQUIRED!”) and the fans chant it after him. Since they don’t have a team to face, they can just fight each other.

Pentagon Jr. vs. Rey Fenix

Pentagon goes straight for the rollup to start but gets sent outside for the suicide dive. Back in Pentagon hits the Alberto Del Rio double stomp and yells at the referee for only counting two. Fenix kicks him in the face but walks into the Pentagon Driver for two more. The fans chant for the team, as they should given that it’s a good match so far.

Pentagon gets tied in the ropes and it’s a rope walk kick to the face as only Fenix can do. A Canadian Destroyer gives Fenix two more but he takes too much time rolling forward and gets superkicked in the face. Pentagon one ups him with a middle rope Canadian Destroyer but Fenix is right back up to catch him on top and it’s a super Spanish Fly to finish Pentagon at 6:56.

Rating: B. Oh man that’s it? Maybe they’re running short on time or something but this should have been at least another ten minutes if you wanted to do it justice. These two are as hot as anyone could be at the moment and that’s been the case for well over a year now. I hope they get a big chance in AEW (they will) and maybe even WWE one day. This needed to be more but for what it was, it was really good.

Puma King/Samantha Heights/DJZ/Tajiri vs. Sammy Guevara/LAX/Diamante

This could be…..I have no idea actually. I’ve never heard of Samantha but that’s a common occurrence around here. Tajiri always looks weird without a mustache. Puma just laying on the middle rope for all of the entrances is a rather unique visual. DJZ is ready for Guevara’s cheap shot and let’s hit that horn noise. Puma King comes in and kicks Sammy out but it’s off to Santana for a good moonsault.

Since it’s lucha rules, the fans get to see Tajiri with Kelly talking about how easy of a time Tajiri should have with all of the language issues in the match. The kicks have Puma King in trouble and it’s off to Diamante, who gets a handshake and kneel from Tajiri before he starts chopping her. A Stunner gets Diamante out of trouble and it’s off to Heights, who hits a Sliced Bread.

Ortiz comes in and runs Samantha over before shouting SUCK THESE. I’m not going near that one so I’ll go to Ortiz blocking a monkey flip and turning it into a faceplant. DJZ comes back in and flips forward into a clothesline to send Ortiz outside. Santana comes in with a superkick as everything breaks down. It’s back to Sammy for a jumping knee to the DJZ’s face and LAX adds a double flapjack.

Sammy can’t get over for a tag (Kelly: “Joey Ryan will charge you $30 for that!”) and Diamante gets two off a splash. Sammy does his fireman’s carry squats into a running shooting star press gets two on DJZ with Samantha coming in for the save. DJZ comes back with the always stupid stop of throwing partners into each other and making one DDT another.

That’s enough for a hot tag to Puma King to clean house and a big dive to the floor hits Santana. That sets off the parade of dives with the women hitting stereo dives. Tajiri is left alone in the ring but Ortiz cuts off his dive to become the biggest heel in the match. Ortiz tries a hiptoss but gets misted while in the air (cool), setting up the Buzzsaw Kick to give Tajiri the pin at 12:02.

Rating: C+. For a random assortment of eight people into a match with no connection between the teams, I liked it. That’s the kind of thing you get at these shows and it’s one of the most fun parts. Sometimes you just need to go out there and have some wrestling with a bunch of people having a match and that’s what we got here. It’s a WrestleCon tradition and one of their better ones so well done given the people in there.

Arez vs. Flamita vs. Robbie Eagles

Eagles is Bullet Club (and yes it’s still a thing) and billed as the Sniper of the Sky. Arez gets sent outside early on and it’s a flip off between Flamita and Eagles. Flamita kicks Arez in the head but he rolls forward into a dive outside onto Eagles. Back in and Arez drops a top rope elbow on Flamita, meaning it’s time to yell at the referee for counting slowly. A standing Spanish Fly gives Flamita two on Eagles but a superplex is countered.

Instead Arez tries to climb onto Flamita’s back so Eagles dives with a high crossbody, which is countered into a Spanish Fly (or something, as it was far from a clean landing). Arez takes off his jacket so Flamita can chop him even harder because wrestling is weird. Sliced Bread drops Eagles who DDTs Flamita at the same time and they’re all down. Flamita is up first and missile dropkicks both of them down, setting up a moonsault out to the floor to drop Arez again. Back in and Flamita misses a 450, allowing Eagles to hit one of his own on Arez for the pin at 6:54.

Rating: C. Arez didn’t get to show off very much while Flamita looked like the awesome high flier that he is and Eagles came off as a well rounded star. I can see why he got the win here and he looked like someone who belonged on a stage like this. It was a bunch of spots and that’s all it was supposed to be here.

Revolt vs. Hurricane/X-Pac/Jushin Thunder Liger

See what I mean about these random teams that make the show fun? Revolt (Caleb Konley, Jake Manning, Zane Riley) are mainstays around this show and have been a big deal in PWX from Charlotte. X-Pac is in the standard gear, though with NWO logos on the legs. After the place comes unglued for Liger, X-Pac puts him over as a legend on his retirement tour. Liger and Konley start things off with a battle of poses to the crowd. After being backed into the corner, Konley gets pulled down into the surfboard and you know the fans are going to love that.

It’s off to Riley (300+lb) to face X-Pac, meaning it’s a HALL OF FAMER chant. Riley wants a test of strength but is told to suck it instead. The rapid fire legdrops have Riley in trouble but it’s too early for the Bronco Buster. Manning (he likes scouting) and Hurricane come in for a handshake and a 3 COUNT chant, meaning the fans are cultured. The danceoff begins but the good guys join hands and flip Manning off (well not Liger, who just can’t do it).

The Hurricane pose sends Manning down onto the mat and he needs a timeout to check the scouting manual. It’s enough for a cheap shot to Hurricane and Konley comes in, only to have the heroes get together for a triple suplex. Hurricane gets caught in the wrong corner though and the heat is on. Riley’s choke doesn’t get him very far so it’s already back to Manning, who gets caught with the Eye of the Hurricane.

Liger comes in for the palm strikes but a distraction lets Riley run him over. Konley and Liger hit a double clothesline and it’s off to X-Pac to clean house. The spin kicks abound and it’s back to Liger, who tries to suplex Riley for some reason. Everything breaks down and it’s the palm strike to Manning with a Bronco Buster to Riley. Hurricane chokeslams Konley and the brainbuster finishes Manning at 13:37.

Rating: C+. Am I supposed to criticize this somehow? I was never an X-Pac fan but this was a blast and exactly what it should have been, even with a little more time than it probably should have gotten. With Liger retiring, he deserves to get whatever matches he wants to have and it’s a special treat to get to see someone who has been wrestling longer than I’ve been alive and still looked great. Hurricane and X-Pac were rather good as well, making this quite the entertaining match.

Post match Hurricane and X-Pac pay tribute to Liger again, as they should.

Intermission.

So apparently power to the Fite.TV stream went down during the intermission and we missed Dragon Lee vs. Cavernario. Dragon Lee won and if it’s on the replay, I’ll watch it later and edit it in.

Shane Strickland vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

Well if you insist. They go at each others’ legs to start and it’s Sabre taking him down for the first of what will likely be many leglocks. Strickland escapes and puts on another hold of his own before tying Strickland up in something like an STF. A cravate keeps Strickland in trouble but he comes back with a dragon screw legwhip but a gutbuster cuts Strickland down again.

Bored of the leg, Sabre switches up to the arm and gets in the required stomp to the raised arm. He even stands on Strickland’s head because Sabre is that big of a jerk. The overly cocky kicks to the head tick Strickland off (as they do to everyone) and it’s time for Sabre to tell him to chop. A big one to the leg takes Sabre down because Strickland was smart enough to know an armbar was coming.

The 619 to the ribs sets up the rolling cutter but Sabre is right back with another crank on the arm to take over. Strickland has had it with the shots to the face and tries another rolling cutter, but this time it’s pulled into the cross armbreaker. A triangle choke has Strickland in trouble until he powerbombs his way to freedom. Strickland grabs him by the nose (come on man) and kicks Sabre in the chest again.

A YES Kick knocks Sabre silly but he’s fine enough for a half and half suplex onto Strickland’s head. The head isn’t that damaged though as he hits a rolling German suplex. The Swerve Stomp is countered into the Rings of Saturn with Sabre’s legs and Sabre grabs a half crab for a bonus and the submission at 16:39.

Rating: B. My goodness Sabre is fun to watch. The guy can do whatever he wants in the ring and makes it look easy because he’s just that talented. Daniel Bryan was drooling over him during the Cruiserweight Classic and Sabre has gotten so much better since thin. Strickland is as smooth of a performer as you’re going to get in wrestling these days and it’s no surprise that he’s going to WWE.

Post match Strickland gets the sendoff because he’s NXT bound.

Here’s So Cal Uncensored before their match. Scorpio Sky does his thing about how he hates the town, which I still don’t quite get. Daniels praises the fans and says they want to be the top trio (which he sings for some reason) so let’s see what happens when it’s California love with a New York state of mind.

So Cal Uncensored vs. Orange Cassidy/Best Friends

Cassidy takes both hands out of his pockets and then puts them back in so Daniels grabs a headlock to knock off the sunglasses. The waistlock is countered as Cassidy puts his hands in his pockets and dances out, allowing him to chill on the mat. Cassidy runs the ropes, dropkicks Daniels down, and nips up, all without taking his hands out of his pockets. Trent comes in (Cassidy still doesn’t move his hands as he gets out, but one does come out on the apron) and chops Kazarian, who is rather confused.

Kazarian continues to be frustrated as Trent just stands there….so let’s switch teams. Trent is now part of SCU and Kazarian puts on the vest. It’s off to Sky to face Kazarian and it’s the New Age Outlaws cover with Sky trying a quick cover off a poke to the chest (the Fingerpoke of Doom was a singles match so it’s a completely different thing you see). That’s broken up and the Best Friends hit stereo fall away slams.

Double Razor’s Edges are countered with double backdrops and it’s Trent caught in the corner for a slingshot dropkick. Chuck gets in a cheap shot from the apron so Daniels knocks him down but the distraction lets Trent get in a low blow. Now it’s Chuck coming in for forearms to the back and it’s Cassidy coming in for a walk across the ring into a near hug, which is called a clothesline.

Cassidy walks around so slowly that the Best Friends both get in a few shots before Cassidy even bothers to cover. It’s back to Trent for an abdominal stretch and Cassidy puts glasses on Chuck, who slowly extends his arm for the cheating. So it’s the slacker Too Cool and Rikishi. Daniels puts the glasses on as well and it’s a slow energy fight with Cassidy. A big chop is teased but Daniels goes with a low blow so it’s off to Kazarian to take over and slap on a Figure Four to Trent.

A Backstabber hits Chuck and it’s an assisted tornado DDT on Trent, leaving Cassidy on his own. Daniels KNOCKS CASSIDY’S GLASSES OFF and it’s on in a hurry with Cassidy slugging away and hitting a double hurricanrana on Kazarian and Sky. A good looking double chokeslam takes them down again and Cassidy puts the glasses back on. That means going up top for a fall (intentional) onto Kazarian for two. The Best Friends come in to clean house again and we hit that hug. SCU has had it with this nonsense (of which they have been a part) and it’s the Best Meltzer Ever for the pin on Cassidy at 18:21.

Rating: C+. This one is going to entirely depend on your taste but my issue was it ran too long. That and you really have Cassidy take the pin here? He’s the most popular non-Liger guy on the show and you have him lose instead of say, Trent? His gimmick is fine for this kind of a show, but he’s not going to be able to do much beyond this because it’s a goofy comedy bit. That being said, this is the perfect show for something like that and it was more than good enough here. Cut off some of the time and it’s better, but it was fine for what it was. It’s just not for everyone and that’s fine.

Everyone hugs but Cassidy won’t take his hands out of his pockets for the post.

Will Ospreay vs. Bandido

Bell, Spanish Fly, Space Flying Tiger Drop, shooting star press for two on Bandido, we hit the thirty second mark. Bandido is back up with Swiss Death of all things, followed by a standing backflip World’s Strongest Slam to send Ospreay to the floor. A huge flip dive takes Ospreay down again and Bandido sticks the landing. That’s only good for two back inside and a delayed vertical suplex, including a squat, is good for the same on Ospreay.

The chops take Bandido right back down but he’s right back with the surfboard as an homage to Liger. That’s broken up so Ospreay hits a handspring into a kick to the head to put Bandido down again. A 619 over the top rope hits Bandido in the mask and it’s a delayed basement dropkick in the corner. Pip Pip Cheerio keeps Bandido in trouble and Ospreay swears a lot.

Bandido must not be a fan of swearing (attaboy) so he comes back with a one handed sitout gorilla press slam (egads man) to cut Ospreay off. Ospreay wants him to bring it and they strike it out until Ospreay snaps off a low angle dragon suplex. Stormbreaker is countered with an armdrag and a pop up powerbomb drops Ospreay again. The Robinson Special puts Bandido down again but he gets caught with a reverse hurricanrana off the middle rope (that’s a new one) for another near fall.

Ospreay fights out of something on top and hits the Cheeky Nandos kick before knocking Bandido over the barricade. You know where this is going and it’s the huge crossbody to the floor to send Bandido into the third row. Back in and a missile dropkick to the back of the head sets up Stormbreaker but Bandido reverses into a hurricanrana for two. The Oscutter is countered into a knee to the face for another two and Bandido can’t believe it. Ospreay is right back up with a Rainmaker into the Oscutter and Stormbreaker finishes Bandido at 16:51.

Rating: B+. This was exactly what it was advertised as being: two of the best high fliers in the world doing insane spots to each other for a long time. Ospreay is on another level for someone his size and Bandido is certainly no slouch in everything he does. Great match here and worthy of a main event, even though you could tell the fans were spent.

Post match Ospreay counts the money the fans throw out (Ospreay: “Four dollars! Two Cokes!” Kelly: “Not in New York City.”) and praises Bandido. Anyone who knows him knows that his mental health problems have been worse than ever recently but wrestling is the best therapy you can have. All he has is raw natural ability and they just created an art form. Ospreay thanks everyone and bows to Bandido.

Overall Rating: B. As usual, this is the show where you put your feet up and have a good time watching wrestling because it’s all about seeing what you’re getting and just having a lot of fun. You get all kinds of people coming out of nowhere and having one great match after another. It’s a blast of a show with some excellent matches and a little bit of everything for everyone. Have a good time with it and enjoy what wrestling can be.

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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WrestleCon Supershow
Date: April 5, 2018
Location: Sugar Mill, New Orleans, Louisiana
Attendance: 1,200
Commentators: Excalibur, Marty DeRosa

This is a special show that I took in during Wrestlemania weekend. The idea here is pretty obvious: take a bunch of people and put them into a big show with mostly unannounced matches between announced talent. The main event is the Golden Lovers vs. Chuckie T./a mystery partner due to Trent Barretta being forced out of the match due to injury. This should be a lot of fun so let’s get to it.

I was sitting in the arena in the bleachers, on the right hand side if you’re looking at the entrance (as the hard camera was). Of note, if I looked over my shoulder I could see the wrestlers coming down some stairs to their entrance. Several of them would sit on a balcony at the top of the stairs chatting throughout the night.

The opening is cut off of the version that I’m watching (assuming it was recorded). Excalibur came to the ring and dedicated the show to a man named Mark Hitchcock, who had worked for the company for years and designed this year’s logo. He recently passed away on his honeymoon and the show will be dedicated to him every year going forward. Nothing wrong with that and a nice moment.

The audio is VERY hard to understand, which was an issue in the building as well. Thankfully the commentary is much better.

Joey Janela vs. Penta El Zero M

Janela has a rather fetching woman named Penelope Ford with him. I’ve heard a lot about Janela before but I’ve never actually seen one of his matches. He’s described as a bad boy, seems to like the 80s, and has no physique. CERO MIDEO is incredibly popular here, just as it was last year. The referee calls for the bell….and nothing happens so Bryce Remsburg (a hilarious indy referee and a VERY nice guy) says start it anyway.

Pentagon does CERO MIEDO so Janela flips him off, earning a kick to the ribs. Something close to a low blow puts Janela down and Pentagon goes to yell at Ford. A dive is cut off by a shot to the mask and the Death Valley Driver onto the apron (THUD) knocks Pentagon silly. Pentagon gets sat in a chair in front of the barricade for a bicycle kick but a second is blocked with a superkick.

Back in and Janela bicycle kicks his way out of trouble again as the announcers try to explain the concept of the WrestleCon Supershow with nothing actually on the line other than pride and performances. The package piledriver is teased by both guys as the announcers bring up the piledriver being banned by the Louisiana State Athletic Commission.

There’s another kick to Janela but Ford grabs Pentagon’s foot to set up a not bad superplex. The crashes on those things, especially in such a small arena with a circle of lights not too far above the ring, are really impressive. Pentagon is right back up to superkick Janela out of the air before giving Ford the same thing. Janela gets his arm snapped and the Pentagon Driver is good for the pin at 7:57.

Rating: D+. Just a match to set the ball rolling here and I still don’t get the point of Janela. The announcers spent most of the match talking about how drunk he was the night before and that’s not exactly the most interesting character in the world. Pentagon is still rather awesome, though it’s not as cool as he is in Lucha Underground. Not a bad match, but I need something a little better than this. Then again, last year’s opener was nothing special either.

Here’s Joey Ryan for the Andy Kaufman Intergender Open Challenge. Ryan is in even in the white bath robe that Kaufman wore in Memphis back in the 80s. He yells at the fans to listen to him because he’s from Hollywood (this sounds strangely familiar). Joey pulls some soap out of his pocket and explains how to use it (just add water) with the announcers not even hiding the fact that this is copied from Kaufman. He also has a razor, which some of the women around here could use.

There are some areas where women are better than men: like cooking and cleaning. The robe comes off to reveal the white body suit and blue shorts (again, just like Kaufman) and issues the open challenge to any woman. Now, gender issues aside, the ONLY person who should be answering this challenge is Jerry Lawler. AND HERE’S JERRY LAWLER! Excalibur: “SOMEONE CALL DAVID LETTERMAN!”

Lawler says that he first piledrove Kaufman thirty five years ago today and Joey Ryan is no Andy Kaufman. However, Jerry is fine with allowing Joey experience what the real Andy went through. Ryan agrees, before pointing out that Lawler can’t use the piledriver in Louisiana. Lawler is confused and the bell rings with him pleading his case.

Jerry Lawler vs. Joey Ryan

Hang on a second though, as Ryan is rather confident. He’s so secure that he’s willing to allow Lawler to touch his….yeah. Lawler, still holding the crown, isn’t sure what to think as the fans implore him to do just that. Joey stands in front of him with his legs spread so Lawler kicks him low….for no effect. Fans: “SO BIG! SO STRONG!” With that not working, Lawler reaches out his hand…..AND SHOOTS A FIREBALL AT RYAN’S CROTCH! DeRosa: “SOMEWHERE JIM CORNETTE IS LOSING HIS MINE!” Of course that’s a DQ 2:08.

Lawler is annoyed but holds up the crowd anyway. Oh and worry not because Ryan insists that he’s fine. Fans: “SIX STAR MATCH!”

Team Lee vs. Team Dashwood

Trevor Lee, Caleb Konley, Jake Manning, Maxwell Jacob Friedman, Zane Riley

Tenille Dashwood, Madison Eagles, Nicole Savoy, Shazza McKenzie, Tessa Blanchard

Lucha rules. This is the signature match of the show with last year’s serving as possibly the match of the weekend. This year’s is obviously men vs. women and you might not know everyone here. Lee and Konley are from Impact, Manning is an adult scout who ALWAYS reads his manual, Friedman is just a guy and Riley is 305lbs. Dashwood is the former Emma, Eagles is an Australian woman who stands about 6’2, Savoy has been in Shimmer forever, McKenzie has been on the indies for a good while and Blanchard has popped up in NXT a few times.

Dashwood’s team is out first with the captain showing more energy and fire than she ever showed in WWE. In between entrances, the announcers mock the athletic commission for banning piledrivers but approving brainbusters. DeRosa: “You’ve had Rude’s Brood. You’ve had the Foreign Fanatics. Now you have Trevor Lee and His Dickhead Friends.” Lee brags about being part of Impact Wrestling and promises Friedman, Riley and Manning contracts if they win here.

Friedman thinks there’s no point in wasting time with the match so he and Dashwood should get straight to smooching. He has a seat in a chair but gets slapped, drawing in Riley to check on him. Now if you don’t get where this is going, you haven’t paid enough attention. After Riley is done kissing Friedman (Friedman: “WHAT THE F***???”), Dashwood kicks them both down and we’re ready to go.

Lee gets sent into 619 position and it’s Tessa with a hip attack to the back. Trevor will have none of that though and runs her over with a clothesline, only to run into Eagles (Lee: “OH S***!”). Manning, still reading the manual, locks up with Savoy, who takes the book away to Manning’s panic. Remsburg is nice enough to hold up the book while Savoy grabs a cross armbreaker.

With the hold still on the arm, Zane grabs a chinlock on Savoy, Blanchard grabs a heel hook, Konley puts Tessa in an abdominal stretch, Shazza waistlocks Caleb, Trevor pulls McKenzie’s hair, Emma puts Lee in a dragon sleeper and Eagles puts Zane in an Indian Deathlock. ALL AT THE SAME TIME mind you, with Bryce flipping through the manual to figure out what to do. Friedman breaks things up but runs into Eagles as well, earning one heck of a right hand.

We hit the big exchange of strikes to put everyone down until Dashwood rams Jake’s face into the buckle over and over. There’s the Emma Lock (Tenille Tarantula), followed by Savoy hitting a VERY hard suicide dive onto Manning. Tessa dives onto Konley and Lee and McKenzie crossbodies Zane to the floor. Jake is back up and trust falls onto everyone, only to come back in for the Taste of Tenille.

Riley crushes Dashwood but Eagles GERMAN SUPLEXES HIM in a crazy power display. Friedman is back up with a poke to the eye but it’s Konley with a backsplash to McKenzie. A belly to back suplex drops Savoy but she punches her way out of a Doomsday Device. We get the Tower of Doom (well duh) with everyone landing on Friedman for a good comedy spot.

Rating: B-. It wasn’t last year’s match but that’s not a fair comparison to make. What we got here was a lot of fun though and the women never felt like they were in over their heads here. This was a lot of fun and the wild insanity that it should have been, but it felt really short. You’re only going to be able to get so much out of a ten minute match, especially with this many people packed in. Maybe their time was cut short but it needed more to get to that other level. Still good though.

Jeff Cobb vs. Tomohiro Ishii

Now this could work. Cobb is better known as Matanza from Lucha Underground and is an Olympic wrestler who weighs 270lbs. Last year he and Bobby Lashley had a disappointing hoss match so hopefully this is an upgrade. We start with the logical exchange of shoulders and neither really goes anywhere. Cobb finally knocks him down and it’s time for the forearm exchange, which lasts A FULL MINUTE.

That’s finally enough for Cobb, who scores with a powerslam for no cover. Hopefully no concussions either. Ishii is right back with a powerslam of his own and the fans are right back into him. They fight over a suplex with Ishii stomping on the feet not being enough to get him up. Ishii FINALLY muscles him over for the suplex but can’t follow up. That’s fine with Cobb, who lifts him from the mat into a somewhat delayed vertical and now Ishii is in trouble.

Deadlift rolling German suplexes get two on Ishii and a big release German suplex into the corner gets two. A bridging pumphandle suplex gets the same and NOW we’re firmly in the hoss battle mode. For some reason Cobb thinks it’s a good idea to talk trash, including yelling about strong style. Fans: “YOU F***** UP!” Ishii headbutts the arm and blasts Cobb in the corner before loading up the superplex. Of course that means a slugout on top but Cobb does come down with a big bounce for a double knockdown.

Back up and they both no sell German suplexes, followed by Cobb winning a headbutt exchange but going down as well. An overhead belly to belly gives Cobb two but the Tour of the Islands (swinging powerslam) is broken up. Ishii drops him with a clothesline for two and everyone is stunned at the kickout. Ishii’s sliding lariat is countered into a choke for a throw into the corner. An enziguri rocks Cobb though and the brainbuster (really a suplex due to Cobb’s size) is enough to give Ishii the pin at 15:05.

Rating: B+. THIS is what Cobb vs. Lashley should have been as this really did feel like the hoss battle that these two are great at. They beat the heck out of each other here and it was all about who would survive instead of who won. I had a good time with this one and Cobb looked like a star throughout. Really fun power brawl and both guys looked like stars.

Flamita/Bandido vs. Rey Fenix/Rey Horus

Oh man I’ve been wanting to see this one again. Fenix is of course Fenix and Horus is El Dragon Azteca Jr. Flamita and Fenix start things off with some wrestling, which lasts all of twenty seconds before it’s time to start flipping. Fenix tries a Lethal Injection but Flamita walks on his hands to escape. Neither can hit a strike so stereo dropkicks give us a standoff. Horus and Bandido come in with Horus spinning off the top into an armdrag but it’s off to Flamita for a boot in the corner.

A missile dropkick sends Horus to the floor so Fenix comes in, grabs Flamita by the wrist and walks the ropes. That earns him a chop so Fenix bounces onto the top rope and back to the top (as in he was standing on the middle, dropped onto his back on the top, and jumped back up top for a wristdrag). You know, because OF COURSE HE CAN DO THAT! Bandido comes back in and spins around into an ankle scissors on Fenix, only to charge into a kick to the face. A powerbomb puts Fenix down and it’s time for the chops, which makes Remsburg cringe too.

Fenix gets taken down again and that means some Motor City Machine Guns with the Dream Sequence. A bicycle kick drops Fenix again, FINALLY drawing Horus in for some help. Horus ducks a dropkick so it knocks Bandido outside instead, followed by a standing hurricanrana for two. Bandido is on the floor so it’s a slingshot hurricanrana, followed by a dive from Flamita and a springboard senton dive from Fenix. Bandido corkscrew planchas onto everyone and they’re all down on the floor for a breather.

Back in and it’s a chop off between Fenix and Flamita with the length being worse than the sounds. Flamita DDTs Fenix for two and Horus takes him to the middle rope for a super victory roll and two of his own. Something like a spinning GTS and a powerbomb gives Bandido two on Horus and everyone is down again. Back up and Fenix rolls into a cutter for two before crotching Flamita on the top. Horus is right back up too with a super reverse hurricanrana, followed by a top rope backsplash from Fenix.

Somehow that’s not enough either so Fenix throws Horus at Flamita for a tornado DDT. Horus charges at Bandido in the corner but DIVES over the top onto Flamita in one of the best fake outs I’ve ever seen (I didn’t see what he was planning live or on tape). Back in and Fenix hits a spinning Muscle Buster to FINALLY finish Bandido at 12:23.

Rating: A-. Yep. This was absolutely incredible live and my goodness I can’t believe how well it holds up. These four were going insane out there with a full on lucha libre match and had the fans, myself included, going nuts. Just an incredible performance here with no psychology or flow to it, which is exactly how it should be in this case. You watch these kinds of matches to see crazy flips, dives and spots and that’s what we got here. Great stuff and check this out if you can find it.

The fans throw money in the ring (a lucha libre thing) as we go to intermission.

Actually cancel that intermission, as the show is running long and we don’t have time for that. Thank goodness as this was about 11pm local time and there are four matches left.

Chico El Luchador/Psicosis/Super Crazy vs. Jason Cade/Matt Classic/Teddy Hart

Chico is Rocky Romero and substituting for Juventud Guerrera in the Mexicools reunion that no one wanted. Cade was in last year’s ten man tag and looked like a star. Hart is a member of the Hart Family but a complete jerk and flippy guy. Classic is Colt Cabana under a mask and wrestling like he’s from the late 1940s. Excalibur on the Mexicools: “We didn’t have them come out here on the lawnmowers because we’re not racist dicks.” DeRosa: “And they would cut up the mats.” Excalibur: “And we’re not racist dicks.”

The announcers go over Chico vs. Classic, which predated El Canek vs. Andre the Giant. With Classic continuing his pre-match workouts (neck bridges and Hindu squats) and pulling his trunks halfway up his chest, we’re ready to go with Classic vs. Chico as the rivalry is renewed. Classic throws Chico around as the announcers say this feud has been on a break for about thirty years. Chico grabs an abdominal stretch for a second but Classic is right back with the CLAW, because he gets old school.

That’s escaped with a spin out and Chico grabs a towel to turn this into a bullfight. Classic is knocked outside and Chico strikes a pose before handing it off to Psicosis and Cade. They hit the mat as Classic is still exercising on the apron. That goes nowhere so it’s off to Crazy vs. Hart (Excalibur: “Super Crazy vs. super crazier”) for an exchange of armdrags. Hart rolls out of the corner into a sunset flip before it’s back to Chico for a chop on Classic.

Everything breaks down and Classic gets dropped as everything breaks down. Chico suicide dives onto Cade but Hart moonsauts onto everyone (Excalibur: “YOU DON’T LEARN THAT IN THE DUNGEON!”). Classic gets on the top, then the middle, then the bottom, then just drops off the apron as the fans can’t get their HOLY S*** chants in sync. Back in and Crazy can only hit two moonsaults (they still look great) as Cade moves from the third attempt. Not that it matters as Crazy rolls Cade up for the pin at 9:56.

Rating: D+. Again, what was the point of the Mexicool reunion? Who in the world needed to see that? Classic was a lot of fun and the announcers made his stuff with Chico that much more fun but other than that, this was really skippable. Hart and Cade were just kind of there and there’s nothing much worth talking about. I guess it was just for an ECW reunion and….ok?

Teddy walks around the ring very slowly for the sake of getting on camera more.

Adam Brooks vs. Sammy Guevera vs. Shane Strickland vs. Will Ospreay

I got to chat with Sammy last year and while I haven’t heard much from him since, he was a nice guy while he talked to me and I can’t ask for more than that. Strickland is the International King of Swerve. I’m not sure what that means and….I think I’m good that way. Ospreay is VERY banged up after a botched spot in Japan so he’s looking rather pathetic with a big bunch of tape on his shoulder and neck.

We hit the trash talk to start until Brooks and Strickland knock the other two outside. That means a string of not hitting each other until Guevara and Ospreay come back in for a double dropkick. That means the big showdown (as big as you can get about two minutes into the match that is) and again they speed things up with neither hitting anything until Sammy snaps off a headscissors.

Strickland comes back in for a 619 to the ribs and rolls into a cutter. Brooks slides in for a sliding dropkick as the announcers try to figure out the New Orleans area code. Ospreay gets loaded up for the Cheeky Nandos kick but Brooks pokes him in the eye instead. That’s not cool with Ospreay so he flips over into a kick to the head but comes up holding the shoulder.

Guevera gets caught in the corner, earning himself a backflip kick to the head. That means the mini Tower of Doom with Sammy German superplexing Strickland, who superplexes Brooks into a powerbomb from Ospreay. Sloppy of course, but what were you expecting? Back up and Brooks and Ospreay exchange some hard kicks until a Stundog Millionaire drops Brooks.

Sammy hurricanranas Ospreay though, earning himself a kick to the floor from Strickland. Brooks dives on both of them so Ospreay busts out a space flying tiger drop for the four way knockdown. Guevera’s shooting star to the floor (looks awesome) takes them all out again, even if almost no one catches him. Back in and Brooks kicks Sammy low, setting up a Downward Spiral into the middle turnbuckle. Ospreay springboards back in but messes up his neck again.

A referee distraction sets up another low blow and Strickland has to come in for the save. Just to be evil, Strickland ties Ospreay in the ropes for the Alberto double stomp to the apron, followed by another stomp for two on Brooks. Sammy sends Strickland outside and curb stomps Brooks, only to have Ospreay roll in with the spinning kick to the back. The Oscutter finally finishes Guevera at 12:33.

Rating: B-. Ospreay is always worth seeing but this felt like a match I’ve seen several times before. Some of the dives were cool and the match is entertaining, but nothing that I’ve going to remember. The lateness of the night didn’t help either as the fans were starting to get tired. Having three straight cruiserweight matches didn’t help either as the show needed to be laid out a bit better in this section.

Post match Ospreay seems to apologize to the crowd for his performance but they throw money anyway.

Sami Callihan/Juice Robinson/Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. vs. David Starr/Brian Cage/???

Juice’s gear is rather odd looking, being described as a create a wrestler where you hit random five times. Starr is rather annoyed at the ring announcer not getting his full host of nicknames. He’s greeted by a GO ACE chant and Tanahashi even serenades him with the air guitar because he’s not just an ace but also a music lover.

Starr BREAKS THE AIR GUITAR before listing off his nicknames: the Cream in Your Coffee, Your Favorite Wrestler’s Favorite Wrestler, the Jewish Cannon, the Physical Embodiment of Charisma, the Most Entertaining Man in Professional Wrestling, the Bernie Sanders of Professional Wrestling, Mr. Americanrana, Davey Wrestling, the 104 Minute Man, the Main Event, I’m Really Good at Twitter, the King of Taunts, the Product, David Starr. I didn’t get him at first but he’s REALLY grown on me over time.

Hang on though as Sami has a mic. He sees a genetically modified freak and a walking chia pet, but no third partner. Sami offers a 3-2 beating…..but MINORU SUZUKI is here as the third man to the pop of the night so far. Suzuki, normally rather stoic, shows some solid charisma in playing to the crowd during his entrance. The match starts fast with Cage and Tanahashi fighting against the barricade, leaving Sami to miss a bat shot on Suzuki.

They head outside as well with Suzuki cranking on Sami’s leg, leaving Starr and Robinson to flip around a bit. Juice snaps off the left hands but gets clotheslined to the floor. Tanahashi is in to replace him but Cage tosses him with a release fall away slam. Since Cage is a freak, he hits a 619 but charges into a boot in the corner. Tanahashi’s slingshot dive drops Cage but Starr is right there with a dive of his own. Sami drops Starr with another dive so Juice goes up (Juice: “JUICE IS GONNA DIVE! GET YOUR CAMERAS OUT!”) for a double clothesline to the floor.

Cage, who makes Ryback look small, hits a BIG running flip dive of his own, leaving Suzuki on his own. The big dive is teased but instead he climbs through the ropes, drops to the floor, and smacks Sami in the face like a good crazy old man should. We actually settle down to a regular match with Starr kneeing Callihan in the face to slow things down. Sami offers a distraction and kicks Starr low, allowing the tag off to Tanahashi. A middle rope flipping senton misses but Juice comes in for a double belly to back suplex.

It’s back to Callihan, who is greeted with a GO AWAY chant. It’s amazing what happens when you’re associated with a company like TNA. Robinson and Callihan splash Starr in the corner as the announcers explain that these teams are pretty random and have almost nothing in common. Juice’s backsplash hits knees but he drives Starr back into the corner to block another tag.

Starr finally gets away for the hot tag to Cage and it’s neckbreakers a go-go. One heck of a release German suplex out of the corner drops Robinson on his head and pain starts to set in. Cage loads him up for a World’s Strongest Slam so Callihan comes off the top for a hurricanrana…..and Cage holds him up there at the same time. A powerbomb/World’s Strongest Slam gets two, which is described as Brian Cage doing Brian Cage things. It’s off to Tanahashi to try his luck and a running forearm puts Cage down.

The Sling Blade gets two with Starr making the save, only to be sent out to the floor. Cage neckbreakers Tanahashi and the double tag brings in Suzuki (not exactly a pop but an acknowledgment that pain is imminent) and Callihan (likely indifference). Sami spits on him and the fans know what is coming. A few kicks to Suzuki’s head just make him stick his tongue out and grab the sleeper. Sami bites his arm to escape so it’s a Fujiwara armbar to make Sami tap at 14:38. Suzuki and Tanahashi never interacted unless it was a brief exchange on the floor.

Rating: C+. It was good and the New Japan guys were a treat, but Starr taking the heat for that long wasn’t the most thrilling thing in the world. You could feel the fans getting tired by this point too as it was approaching midnight local time after what was likely a travel day for almost everyone involved. Entertaining match but I kept waiting on the Tanahashi vs. Suzuki showdown and it never came.

Post match Suzuki goes after everyone’s arm but they calm him down. Instead he wants Tanahashi so the fight is on with a headbutt knocking Tanahashi to the floor. Suzuki grabs a headlock and punches Tanahashi to the back as this was one sided. Not really shocking that a fighter can beat up a wrestler like that.

Golden Lovers vs. Chuck Taylor/???

Chuckle’s original partner was Trent Barretta but a bad arm injury has put him on the shelf. The Lovers come out first and my goodness what a reaction from such a small group of people. Taylor has a three man marching band playing him out for a little flavor. Chuck announces his partner as….THE SWAMP MONSTER, a Cousin Itt lookalike, who is sent to the floor in about two seconds.

Actually the real partner is Freshly Squeezed Orange Cassidy! That would be a slacker, who doesn’t show up and is likely asleep. Dan Berry comes out and gets sent outside as well so Chuck says the real partner is Trent because it was a swerve all along. Trent is here with a huge sling but he starts to take it off until Rocky Romero comes out to tell him no. Chuck: “ROCKY YOU SON OF A B**** DON’T YOU TAKE HIM AWAY FROM ME AGAIN! I hate you with every fiber of my being!”

Cue Flip Gordon, a flat Earther who is greeted with an EARTH IS ROUND chant. He’s not here to be Chuck’s partner but rather to ask about getting on All In. Omega is stunned so Chuck says he just talked to the REAL leader of the Bullet Club Cody, who says if Flip wins here, he’s All In. Chuck doesn’t have anyone else in the back so Flip will have to do, meaning ring the bell. Omega and Gordon start things off with a headlock not getting Omega very far.

Instead Flip does his dancing handstand and both Lovers are sent outside. A big flip dive over the top (with Gordon sticking the landing) takes them down again and it’s off to Chuck. Taylor’s really basic (on purpose) offense has Omega in limited trouble and the slow motion slingshot senton gets no cover. Omega slaps on an abdominal stretch and here’s Trent again. Taylor reverses into a stretch of his own as Trent lights up a cigarette. He puts some sunglasses on Taylor and hands him the cigarette before putting it into Flip’s mouth.

Omega uses the odd distraction to hiptoss his way to freedom. An enziguri makes Chuck spit the cigarette out as Trent goes to the back. What in the world was the point of that? I was hoping commentary would explain it but I’ll settle for a tag to Ibushi. Back to back moonsaults get two on Gordon but he hits his reverse fall away slam. The standing shooting star (not so impressive as Ibushi just did one) gets two but the snapdragon puts Gordon down again.

Ibushi’s backflip kick to the head drops Taylor and Gordon, followed by Omega powerbombing Gordon into a German suplex for a cool spot. Gordon is back up to save Taylor from the Golden Trigger and Chuck’s low blow gets two on Ibushi. A high kick drops Taylor and everyone is down. The Golden Shower (seriously) is broken up as Gordon springboards to the top for a superkick to Omega and the 450 gets two on Ibushi. Back to back superkicks rock Gordon and a big running clothesline turns him inside out. The Golden Trigger (double knees to the face) end Gordon at 13:38.

Rating: C+. Just like the previous match, it was good but nothing all that memorable. The idea here was getting to see the Golden Lovers, which is perfectly fine. It was a fine enough main event with little doubt about who was going to win but at least the fans got what they wanted to see. The mystery partner thing was kind of a flop but honestly, what were you hoping to get from this?

Post match Omega wants a hand for Chuck for getting close to pulling off a win, even with the mystery partner. He also praises Flip, who has some wacky theories and has even tried to kill Omega twice. But Flip really thought by coming out here that he would be cheered over the Golden Lovers? Omega: “You really are stupid!” Omega made sure that they would be here tonight and thanks the fans for making it so much fun. He wishes us a great weekend in this beautiful city but Chuck takes the mic.

Taylor asks Trent to come back out here because he wants the match to happen at some point once the injury is healed (Chuck: “In four to six months, or sooner because he’s an idiot.”). Omega gladly agrees and wishes Flip good luck with getting on All In. He thanks the fans for coming out and says goodnight to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. I definitely shortchanged this show live as I was just too tired to really enjoy it. There are some issues with the pacing to this show and some of the matches needed to be adjusted to really make it better but what we got was a lot of fun. The surprises on here were a lot of fun (Lawler genuinely shocked me) and seeing the big New Japan names was a great treat. I’d definitely go to this show again as this one was weaker than last year and still a blast. It’s certainly a show more for the live crowd but it’s still more than entertaining enough on its own. Definitely check out the lucha tag if nothing else.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the WWE Grab Bag (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/03/23/new-paperback-kbs-grab-bag/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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

And super isn’t too far off.

Last year in Orlando, one of the most entertaining shows I took in was the WrestleCon SuperShow. This is pretty much a big show featuring a collection of old school wrestlers, international stars and young up and comers thrown together for a fun show. There aren’t many storylines and the whole thing is built around just having a fun night of wrestling. Last year’s show was incredible and this one had a lot to live up to. Let’s get to it.

Before we got started PWG’s Excalibur came out and said that going forward, the SuperShow would be named after Mark Hitchcock, who worked for Highspots (the company that helped produce the show) and passed away while on his honeymoon just before this year’s event. This was a cool moment and a nice gesture.

The show started about half an hour late, but that’s to be expected at something like this. As usual, there were several wrestlers outside at their merchandise tables, all of whom were very polite and more than willing to chat with you, even if you weren’t buying anything.

1. Penta El Zero M b. Joey Janela – Pumphandle Driver, 7:52, C.

I’ve never actually seen a Janela match…and I don’t think I get it. He’s a name I’ve heard a lot about over the last year or two but I really don’t get the hype. The match was nothing of note, save for a sick THUD when Janela hit a Death Valley Driver onto the apron….two minutes into the match. A bunch of superkicks set up Penta breaking Joey’s arm (or close to it at least) and hitting the pumphandle driver for the pin. Nothing of note here, but last year’s opener wasn’t great either.

2. Joey Ryan’s Andy Kaufman Intergender Challenge – DQ, 1:23.

Now this was interesting as Ryan is now doing the Kaufman intergender challenge where he’ll fight any woman because a man can beat them. This included Ryan wearing Kaufman’s robe and the exact same ring gear, down to the white body suit and blue shorts. He even did the same soap promo that Kaufman made famous in Memphis about thirty five years ago. The problem is this just made me want to see Jerry Lawler come out and beat Ryan up…..AND JERRY LAWLER ANSWERED THE CHALLENGE!

This was one of those surprise moments that makes this show cool: it felt like the right move and is a cool idea because it’s what makes the most sense in this situation. The problem was Lawler couldn’t use the piledriver in Louisiana, which he didn’t seem to know coming in. Instead he kicked Ryan low, and if you know Joey Ryan, you can imagine the shock on Lawler’s face. A fireball to the crotch got a DQ, but don’t worry because Ryan ensured us that everything down there was fine. Of note: this was thirty five years to the day that Lawler first piledrove Kaufman. Cool moment, barely a match of course.

3. Team Dashwood b. Team Lee – Quintuple submission, 10:23, C.

Tenille Dashwood, Madison Eagles, Nicole Savoy, Shazza McKenzie, Tessa Blanchard

Trevor Lee, Caleb Konley, Zane Riley, Jake Manning, Maxwell Jacob Friedman

This one had A LOT to live up to after last year’s incredible ten man tag. The ten person match was incredible and the most fun I’ve ever had watching a single wrestling match. This year went more with the current theme of the women’s revolution and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Dashwood (formerly Emma) was crazy over and showed more fire than she ever did in WWE with a very energetic entrance. The It’s All About Me character works very well for her and shows how awesome she could have been in WWE if they hadn’t botched it. I’m not overly familiar with most of the women, but I’ve seen Eagles before. She’s easy to remember as she stands about 6’1 and towered over almost everyone on either team.

Before the match, Lee said that if his team won, his three partners other than Konley would be signed to Impact Wrestling. You can imagine how well this went over. What also went over fairly poorly was Konley saying we might as well just start with Dashwood kissing him so he sat in a chair where comedy, in the form of the 300lb Riley accidentally kissing him instead, ensued.

The rest of the match was what you would expect: the women being competitive and using technique while the men lumbered around like idiots (including Manning, the Man Scout, reading his scouting manual while wrestling, as is his custom). There was a great series of dives to the floor and a sequence of at least eight people having a submission on someone at the same time. As in all eight were in one big chain, almost like a submission centipede. Stupid and contrived, but exactly what you would expect from a show like this, which was fine.

The finish saw a quintuple submission with the men all tapping at the same time, which was a very abrupt ending. I was expecting this to go a lot longer, but it proved its point well enough. It’s not a great match but it did its job. Like I said though, last year’s match wasn’t being touched and everyone knew it.

4. Tomohiro Ishii b. Jeff Cobb – Suplex, 15:12, B+.

Ishii is a tough guy from New Japan and Cobb is better known as Matanza from Lucha Underground (very friendly guy who chatted with me about Nintendo 64 vs. Super Nintendo before the show). This was a hoss fight of the highest degree and they didn’t try to make it anything else.

They slugged it out (with an exchange of forearms that lasted over a minute) and threw each other around until one of them couldn’t get up. Cobb made the mistake of hitting him once too often though and Ishii beat the tar out of him, finishing with a suplex that was supposed to be his signature brainbuster. This is what Cobb vs. Lashley from last year should have been and Cobb looked like a star. I wouldn’t be surprised if he wasn’t in WWE by this time next year.

5. Rey Fenix/Rey Horus b. Bandido/Flamita – Falcon Arrow to Bandido, 12:22, B+.

Horus is better known as Dragon Azteca Jr. from Lucha Underground. I’m not even going to try to describe this match as I couldn’t do it justice. This was the most insane, high flying match that I’ve ever seen with everyone doing one crazy dive and flip after another. It was the kind of lucha match you would want to see and is well worth going out of your way to find. The fans threw money into the ring after the match and I can’t say I disagree. Just in credible stuff and easily the match of the night from an entertainment perspective.

6. Mexicools b. Jason Cade/Matt Classic/Teddy Hart – Rollup to Cade, 10:00, C+.

This was Chico El Luchador/Psychosis/Super Crazy with Juventud Guerrera only showing up for the introductions. I’m not sure why A, someone thought we needed a Mexicools reunion and B, why this was put on after the great lucha match before it. It wasn’t a bad match by any stretch but it didn’t really need to be on the show, other than a way to get Cade (big star in last year’s ten man tag) and Classic (Colt Cabana in a mask doing an old school wrestler character) on the show.

7. Will Osprey b. Sammy Gueverra, Adam Brooks and Shane Strickland – Oscutter to Gueverra, 12:34, B.

Ospreay was very, very banged up coming into this, to the point where it wasn’t clear if he would be able to wrestle over the weekend. He did compete (at least twice) but his neck and shoulder were so banged up that you could tell it wasn’t his full speed. This was the third match in a row built around high flying and it was starting to wear on the crowd. Ospreay was a treat to see, but it would have been better if he hadn’t been hurt (not his fault of course).

It was entertaining while it lasted with Brooks playing a great heel and Gueverra always being fun to watch. The Oscutter looked great too and finished one of the better matches of the night. The injuries to Ospreay were just too much though and it was clear that he probably shouldn’t have been in the ring for a little while longer.

8. David Starr/Brian Cage/Minoru Suzuki b. Sami Callihan/Juice Robinson/Hiroshi Tanahashi – Armbar to Callihan, 14:48, C+

Tanahashi and Suzuki were surprise partners and of course got some of the strongest reactions of the night with Suzuki’s in particular being awesome. Cage tore the house down here with some great looking dives, including one to the floor to take everyone down. In short, someone his size shouldn’t be able to do that. Suzuki made Callihan tap to an armbar and beat up Tanahashi post match. That helped a bit as they never actually touched during the match. This wasn’t a great match

9. Golden Lovers b. Chuck Taylor/Flip Gordon – Golden Trigger to Gordon, 13:38, C+

Gordon was a mystery partner after Taylor’s regular partner, Trent Barretta, broke his arm and tore his bicep. The mystery partner was a pretty big factor in the match and Chuck had some swerve options, including the Swamp Monster (a guy in a Cousin Itt (look him up) suit), Dan Barry (didn’t show up), Orange Cassidy (Taylor: “He’s probably asleep.”) and Barretta himself. Rocky Romero came out after Barretta, sending Taylor into a rant about how Romero already stole him once and how much Taylor hated him.

Flip finally came out and said he didn’t want to be his partner as he wanted to hear about being on All In. Taylor said he had been on the phone with the REAL leader of the Bullet Club, Cody. If Flip wins, he’s All In. The match was about what you would expect, with Barretta coming back down and handing Taylor a cigarette and sunglasses in a bit I didn’t understand. The result wasn’t surprising, but that wasn’t the point of course. Entertaining way to end a show that went on too long.

Post match Taylor asked for a match with the Golden Lovers when Barretta was healthy (calling him an idiot for coming back too soon) and Omega thanked us for coming.

Overall, the show might not have been as good as last year’s but it was still very entertaining. They got in a bunch of surprises (Lawler legitimately got me) and some very good matches, but comparing it to last year’s show isn’t exactly fair. It was a very good venue (my seats were looking down at the ring and if I looked over my shoulder I could see the talent on a small balcony before and after their matches) and the crowd was hot all night. Good show, and definitely something I’d take in again whenever I go back to Wrestlemania.

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the WWE Grab Bag (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/03/23/new-paperback-kbs-grab-bag/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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

In addition to the Rev Pro show on Friday night, WrestleCon also put on a Supershow in the same room (and with a lot of the same talent). This was the definition of a supershow with a little bit of everything from comedy to violence to dueling chants. To say this was a lot more energetic than most shows is an understatement.

The show was scheduled to start at 8:30 but since Rev Pro went fairly late it wound up starting at about 8:50. There were also well over 1000 people in one room sot he place was BOILING. Prices for a bottle of water (as in a regular one) at the bar: SIX DOLLARS. Realizing this was insane, I went down the street to Walgreens and bought a liter sized bottle for $1.79. At intermission I went and got two more, with all three not combining for the cost of one. I get the idea of making money but those prices would drive customers away.

1. David Starr/Caleb Kenley/Trevor Lee vs. Michael Elgin/ACH/Mascarito Dorado

That would be El Torito at the end. To give you an idea of what we were dealing with on this card, ACH was introduced as “Mr. I Used This Booking To Pay My Bills.” The match was under Lucha rules and it was very clear that this was going to be a very Un-PG show. Dorado did a bunch of speedy stuff, causing Lee to shout the following at his partners: “WHAT IN THE F******* F*** WAS THAT???” Later, when Dorado was in a chinlock, Lee shouted at Kenley to “MAKE THAT MIDGET TAP!”

2. Low Ki vs. Shane Strickland

3. Impact Wrestling World Title: Bobby Lashley vs. Jeff Cobb

4. Flip Gordon/Sammy Guevera vs. Angleico/Jack Evans

5. Team Ricochet (Ricochet/Jason Cade/Sami Calihan/AR Fox/Desmond Xavier) vs. Team Will Ospreay (Ospreay/Marty Scurll/Lio Rush/Drew Galloway/Ryan Smile)

The captains were chosen due to a great match Ospreay and Ricochet had last year in Japan which was called choreographed nonsense. The solution? Give then four partners each (which they say they were allowed to hand pick) and TWENTY TWO MINUTES to do as much choreographed stuff as they could. This included a series of about ten straight cutters, quadruple big boots, a quintuple suplex and a dance off that has to be seen to be believed. As luck would have it, I had a camera on me and filmed the second half of said dance off. Everyone danced but I only got the last few. The one that matters is included though.

Intermission time, which again ran long as the wrestlers were running their merch tables. It also meant time for me to meet some more wrestlers, including Angelico, Lio Rush, Flip Gordon, Sammy Guevera (very nice guy), Desmond Xavier and Moose. As I was coming back from Walgreens for water, I saw Marty Jannetty in the lobby and WOW he was out of it. I shook his hand and he started walking around without letting go while hitting on a woman. As I was heading out of the arena, I also saw Donovan Dijak watching the show as a fan.

6. DDT Ironman Heavymetalweight Title: WrestleCon Rumble

1. Joey Ryan (defending champion)

2. Colt Cabana

Bell rings.

Ryan to Cabana: “GRAB MY D***!”

Fans: “GRAB HIS D***! GRAB HIS D***!”

3. Kikutaro (Japanese comedy character)

4. Underground Luchador

5. Manscout Jake Manning (He reads and beats people up at the same time)

6. George South

7. Suicide (Never unmasked, apparently Caleb Konley)

8. Mr. Hughes (Down probably 100lbs from his mainstream days)

9. Zane Riley (Mr. 305 Live)

10. 2 Cold Scorpio (One of my favorites so this was a treat)

11. Billy Gunn (Easily the biggest pop of the match)

12. Moose (Who had a staredown with Gunn for a bizarre visual)

13. Swoggle

14. Shane Douglas

15. Kevin Thorn

16. Shannon Moore

17. Hurricane (With a bad limp)

18. Abyss (House was cleaned)

19. Gangrel (That music is still SWEET)

20. Marty Jannetty

7. Johnny Mundo vs. Brian Cage

8. Hardys vs. Rey Fenix/Pentagon Dark