Dragon Gate star Akira Tozawa is coming to England! He will face Mark Haskins of TNA/Dragon Gate UK fame at the IPW UK show on Sunday the third of June.
Thoughts: It’s no secret that Tozawa is my favourite wrestler, so I think this is awesome. Unfortunately Sittingbourne is too far for me to get to, but be sure to go if you can!
- Lee
Thanks very much to Tony from the Shining Wizards podcast for this review of Shane Douglas’s Extreme Reunion show, which took place on Saturday (April 28th). Be sure to check out his websites:
http://shiningwizards.wordpress.com
I’ll hand you over to him:
Review of Extreme Reunion
Well, after enjoying some fine cheesesteaks at Steve’s Prince of Steaks in North Philly, Eddie and I made our way to the National Guard Armory. Waited on line for 40 minutes and took part in some funny chants (and the doors opened at 6:30), and then we found out our tickets that were supposed to be at will call weren’t there. After waiting another 30 minutes to work it out we got two tickets for GA for $40 and awesome seats about 7 rows back. So the ticket people did us right. On with the show!
Well, not yet. 7:45 and still waiting. Ugh, I hate this shit. Eddie and I are playing fat to skinny ratio with the crowd. I guess 80% fat. And there’s no audio. So we got to see the old ECW TV intro and a Shane Douglas promo with no sound. Ugh.
So the opening was BLKOUT vs two masked guys. They were awesome, even turning a blown spot into something amazing. Ruckus went for a top rope moonsault and got caught in a rollup by one of the masked guys. Solid little opener.
Two bald guys and an Asian guy came out and yelled a lot. But the meathead that tried to talk on the mic (which no one understood) got his ass handed to him by the other meathead, and the asian guy ran away. It stunk. No one heard a thing.
A bit with Joel Gertner really went nowhere.
FBI vs BWO. Inchworm Rodman is the third for BWO, and no Tracy Smothers. So it becomes 2 on 2 anyway.
Funny spots included thumb wrestling and an attack on the dance contest. That dumb bald idiot from the previous bit stopped Stevie from finishing and the FBI steals one. And then Stevie kicks Rodman. Blech ending.
Al Snow and CW Anderson up next. Both guys are rocking beer guts. Very slow going, a lot of playing to the crowd with head. Someone threw a torso in the ring which got some torso chants. They almost threw the kid out but a “let them stay” chant actually worked. Now it’s just methodical aka boring so a “use the torso” chant breaks out.
Did I mention someone brought an infant here? Man, things have changed.
Anyway, this shit is going on waaaaaaay too long at this point. Terrible.
In a time stalling moment that would make Matt proud, some hooker is in the ring doing a shitty striptease.
In a great moment to make Matt proud, some Asian chick in the crowd showed her how it’s really done, showing some lovely tits not 20 feet from us.
Pukey vs Axl up now. They both bladed in full view of the crowd but it was the usual ECW through the crowd brawl. Axl wins with a ddt, and they hug it out in the end. It was short and inoffensive, well, not totally, but it was fine.
Intermission? It’s 9:37! Fuck me.
It’s 9:58. 20 minutes, my ass.
10:05. DJ Hyde hyped up TOD and Havoc/Gulak. Nice. I start a Gulak chant, and some fans shit on me. They called Gulak a dork. Ha.
Angel from Da Baldies vs the Gangstas 2 on 1 for a bit (oh and I forgot to mention Angel had his blade taped to his pinky in full view, even being 7-8 rows back it was totally noticeable) until BLKOUT came out and laid out the Gangstas. Impressive that the Gangstas sold for the guys, but man the crowd is shitting on this. They even stopped Natural Born Killers about 40 seconds into it. A “refund” and “fuck Shane Douglas” chant breaks out. The crowd really is starting to turn on the show at this point.
Raven vs Gary Wolf. God, more talking. Raven has a flock with a guy in a skull mask, a guido, a skinny guy, and Cripple H, some guy in a handicapped shirt that they used as a dart to hit Gary. He’s really crippled. Like can’t even walk crippled. And here comes the Sandman! And he’s so fucking wasted it’s unreal.
Meanwhile someone hit Cripple H with something from the crowd. And Sandman had a beer in front of us. He’s not in WWE shape anymore. But it was still cool.
So the Guido drops Sandman on his head and Gary hits a spinebuster on Guido for the PIN? Short and shitty. Sandman canes the cripple and he shares a case with Gary and some hot chick that I think is Gary’s girl. Fans are getting invited in to share a brew. It made the rubes happy, but there was no action from Raven and very little from Sandman.
Holy shit! Devon Storm in the house! And he’s taking on Jerry Lynn? Huh? No Justin Credible. Huh. Apparently Justin was wasted before the show, so we were told. Ugh. A “SAVE THE SHOW” chant breaks out.
And they did. Wow did they ever. Very few blown spots, but there was magic, including a top rope hurricanrana by Jerry Lynn to the outside! And there was a suplex by Devon through the guardrail! Oh, and at some point, i think someone was at ringside trying to fight Jerry Lynn and Devon. Couldn’t tell who it was but it was clearly a work.
Tons of chants against Shane Douglas now as he comes to the ring. Man, the crowd completely has turned on him and the show. He announces that Sabu was found unconscious in his hotel room. Then why not tell us at the beginning of the show? And no one told us anything about Justin Credible. So as Shane deals with people yelling and walking out, he announces 2 Cold Scorpio as Sabu’s replacement. Literally, Shane who is never at a loss for words, is watching a mass exodus of people heading for the exits. And that’s when we left.
It started good with the “new” guys, but then just went completely downhill. Jerry Lynn stole the show with Devon Storm, a testament to Jerry as well as Devon, but this could not save the show. The second best thing were the tittes, and she wasn’t even paid to do it.
What a disappointment! A huge one at that. Not much resembled an extreme show at all, and thank God for Jerry Lynn and Devon Storm, but I hope that Shane does the right thing and at LEAST rethinks this whole new promotion. I give him credit, he tried bringing in some young guys to sort of move on to a new generation. Even though these young guys could go, the show just felt like it was too bogged down with advancing stories rather than giving the crowd what they came for. When you sell your show as an extreme reunion, you pigeonhole yourself into what you are providing. Not delivering that is a huge mistake. Just bad decisions on this one.
I don’t think Shane can count on bringing back 2,000 people next time. If he gets 1,000 it will be a small miracle. Ugh.
Last night saw WSU return to the NYWC Sportatorium for a big double DVD taping, the first of which included their annual ‘J-Cup’ tournament, where the winner gets a shot at the WSU World Title. Christina Von Eerie was unable to attend due to flight issues and was replaced by Kimber Lee.
1st DVD taping:
J-Cup, first round matches:
Annie Social defeated Nikki Syxx
Brittney Savage defeated Ezabel Suena
Athena defeated Kimber Lee. Post-match, Rick Cataldo and Ezabel Suena beat Lee down, and Cataldo and Suena vs Lee and a partner of her choice was announced for the next taping.
Alicia and Lexus wrestled to a double count-out, thus giving Athena a bye to the final.
WSU Tag Team Championships: Allysin Kay and Sassy Stephanie defeated The Soul Sisters (Jana and Luscious Latasha) to retain the titles
J-Cup, semi-final: Brittney Savage defeated Annie Social
Uncensored Rules Match: Tina San Antonio defeated Marti Belle
J-Cup, final: Brittney Savage defeated Athena to win a World Title shot at the second taping later that night
WSU World Championship: Mercedes Martinez defeated Jessicka Havok to become the new champion, despite Havok’s foot being on the ropes as the pin was counted.
2nd DVD taping:
WSU Spirit Championship: Jessicka Havok defeated Marti Belle to retain the title
Rick Cataldo and Ezavuel Suena defeated Kimber Lee and Annie Social following interference from Tina San Antonio, who is now part of Cataldo and Suena’s stable.
Jenny Rose defeated Nikki Syxx
Lexus defeated Luscious Latasha
Sassy Stephanie defeated Jessie ‘Bonesaw’ Brooks
Jennifer Cruz defeated Jana
Alicia defeated Allysin Kay. Post-match, Lexus came out and attacked Alicia.
Rain defeated Athena. Afterwards, Rain announced that she will retire if she doesn’t win the Uncensored Rumble on June 15th.
WSU World Championship: Jessicka Havok defeated Mercedes Martinez and Brittney Savage to regain the title immediately, after invoking her rematch clause and making the match a triple threat. Havok vs Martinez in a casket match was announced for the Uncensored Rumble.
Thoughts: I was following the results online as they happened, and my heart sank a little when I heard Havok had dropped the title. Good thing it was just a false alarm. The J-Cup sounds like it was fun, and Rain vs Athena sounds like an excellent match. I’m very much looking forward to the Uncensored Rumble in June now.
Source: http://ringbellesonline.com
-Adrian
The show took place after the CHIKARA show in Chicago last night.
Mike Bennett beat Mike Sydal
All Night Express (Kenny King & Rhett Titus) defeated House Of Truth (Roderick Strong & Michael Elgin)
The Bravados defeated The Young Bucks
No DQ: El Generico & BJ Whitmer defeated Kevin Steen & Jimmy Jacobs
The Colony (Fire Ant, Soldier Ant & Green Ant) of CHIKARA defeated Jay Lethal, TJ Perkins & Adam Cole
Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin defeated Davey Richards & Kyle O’Reilly
ROH Tag Team Championship: The Briscoes retained against Hallowicked & Jigsaw of CHIKARA
Source: http://www.pwponderings.com
If you attended the show, feel free to send a review to indywrestling@hotmail.co.uk and I’ll share it here!
- Lee
This was part of the Ring Of Honor/CHIKARA: Synergy, it took place this afternoon (in Chicago time). The Ring Of Honor show will start soon.
The Colony & Jigsaw defeated The Swarm & The Shard
Mixed Martial Archie (Archibald Peck) defeated Kobald
The Throwbacks defeated The Batiri
17 defeated Tianlong
The Young Bucks defeated Arik Cannon & Darin Corbin
3.0 & The Spectral Envoy defeated Tim Donst, Jakob Hammermeier & The Bravados
CHIKARA Grand Championship: Eddie Kingston defeated Kevin Steen via DQ
Gran Akuma defeated F.I.S.T
Sara Del Rey defeated El Generico
Source: http://www.pwponderings.com
Thoughts: The main event was apparently very good. If you attended, feel free to send a review to indywrestling@hotmail.co.uk and I’ll share it here!
- Lee
Ring Of Honor and CHIKARA will present a double header today at the Frontier Fieldhouse (9807 Sayre Avenue in Chicago Ridge, IL). There will be several inter-promotional matches.
CHIKARA: Hot Off The Griddle
Doors: 1:30 pm, Belltime: 2pm
CHIKARA Grand Champion Eddie Kingston vs Kevin Steen of ROH
8 man tag team match: The Colony (Fire Ant, Soldier Ant & Green Ant) & Jigsaw vs The Swarm & The Shard
El Generico vs Sara Del Rey
Gran Akuma vs Chuck Taylor, Icarus & Johnny Gargano of F.I.S.T
The Batiri vs The Throwbacks
8 man tag team match: Spectral Envoy (Hallowicked & Ultramantis Black) & 3.0 vs The Bravado Brothers of ROH, Jakob Hammermeier & Tim Donst
The Young Bucks vs Arik Cannon & Darin Corbin
Archibald Peck vs Kodama
Note: I’m not sure whether the Young Bucks and El Generico are representing ROH or not, since they wrestle for both promotions.
Ring Of Honor: Unity
07:30 PM
ROH Tag Team Championship: Jay & Mark Briscoe (champions) vs Hallowicked & Jigsaw of CHIKARA
Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team (Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin) vs ROH World Champion Davey Richards & Kyle O’Reilly
The All Night Express (Kenny King & Rhett Titus) vs The House of Truth (Roderick Strong & Michael Elgin)
Kevin Steen & “Zombie Princess” Jimmy Jacobs vs El Generico & BJ Whitmer
ROH vs Chikara Trios Match - Lucha Libre Rules: Jay Lethal, Adam Cole & TJ Perkins vs The Colony (Fire Ant, Soldier Ant & Green Ant)
Tag Team Attraction The Young Bucks (Nick & Matt Jackson vs The Bravados (Harlem & Lancelot Bravado)
Thoughts: It’s going to be a hell of a day! Steen vs Kingston is probably the biggest draw for me. If you attend either, or both shows, feel free to send a review to indywrestling@hotmail.co.uk and I’ll share it here.
For details on the meet and great head to http://www.rohwrestling.com/live/events/2012/apr/28/synergy-meet-greet
- Lee
Adrian here! Sorry for my lack of presence on IWE recently, it’s currently the middle of exam period and my internet connection has diminished to the point where it’s become impossible to even watch wrestling, let alone write about the damn stuff. Nevertheless, we soldier on:
I apologise for the lack of content posted here at IWE this week, we’ve had many visitors but only a couple of new posts. I’m in my final month of university, which would be bad enough, but I have to host a seminar tomorrow, which I discovered on MONDAY, so as you can imagine, I’ve been rather busy. Things will be back to normal tomorrow, and I’m hoping to post a couple of things later today.
Thanks for your patience, and thanks for continuing to visit Indy Wrestling Express.
- Lee
Here is the DVD trailer for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla: DDT4, which took place on Saturday. This trailer features some spoilers.
You can read Chad’s live review of the show here:
http://indywrestling.tumblr.com/post/21567983702/ddt4review
- Lee
Matches have been announced for the upcoming EVOLVE shows in North Carolina. These shows will see the debut of some new IPPV price plans too.
Evolution’s End: Sami Callihan vs AR Fox (No DQ outside the ring)
Johnny Gargano & Samuray Del Sol vs Chuck Taylor & Silas Young
Open The Freedom Gate championship: Johnny Gargano vs Winner of the triple threat
Number one contender’s match: AR Fox vs Jigsaw vs Samuray Del Sol
Sami Callihan vs Chuck Taylor
Both shows will be broadcast on live IPPV at WWNLive.com, with three different price plans:
$9.99 for the live stream only
$14.99 for the live stream _ on demand
$24.99 for the live stream, on demand and the DVD
Thoughts: The price deal is good. It will be interesting to see a new guy in the main event mix, and I’m pleased that the Callihan/Fox feud will FINALLY come to an end. I like both guys, but this has dragged on forever.
- Lee
Thanks to Chad Simplicio for another excellent PWG review! He attended DDT4 last night (April 21st). You can view his photos of the show at the following link:
http://s126.photobucket.com/albums/p99/LordDeArnise/PWG%202012%20DDT4/
Here is the review:
RECAP OF THE 2012 PRO WRESTLING GUERRILLA DDT4 TAG TEAM TOURNAMENT @ AMERICAN LEGION POST #308, RESEDA, CA, USA
By Chad Simplicio
A packed house was on hand for this year’s tournament, complete w/ some hard-hitting action, and Kevin Steen issuing an open challenge for the PWG World Championship. Unlike last month’s “World’s Finest” show, I didn’t take any chances and moved when I felt it was necessary. A few others, on the other hand, weren’t so lucky; even ringside photographer Devin Chen took a vicious shove from Sami Callihan.
Length: Approx. 3 hours
Referees: Rick Knox & Patrick Hernandez
Excalibur’s Guests at the Commentary Table: Rick Knox, Joey Ryan, Kevin Steen, & Roderick Strong
ROUND 1
1 - The RockNES Monsters (Johnny Yuma & Johnny Goodtime) def. The Fighting Taylor Boys (Ryan Taylor & Brian Cage-Taylor) when Johnny Yuma p. Brian Cage-Taylor w/ the Explosive Amnesia team finisher to end a very strong opener to the show.
2 - Future Shock (Adam Cole & Kyle O’Reilly) def. The Dynasty (Joey Ryan & Scorpio Sky) when Kyle O’Reilly p. Scorpio Sky w/ the “High-Low” Double-Lariat. The majority of the crowd on hand really tried to get into Joey Ryan’s head by chanting “L.A. Dodgers” to counter his “L.A. Angels of Anaheim” trunks.
3 - 2 Husky Black Guys (El Generico & Willie Mack) def. Roderick Strong & Sami Callihan when El Generico p. Roderick Strong w/ the Ground Brainbuster, despite Roddy & Sami’s efforts to pick apart Willie’s left knee. Afterwards, Sami Callihan grabbed the mic, and accepted Kevin Steen’s open challenge for the PWG Championship.
4 - The Super Smash Bros. (Player Uno & Stupefied) def. The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) when Stupefied p. Matt Jackson w/ a Reversal Crucifix to surprise everyone in countering the More Bang For Your Buck while ending what was narrowly the best match of the 1st round IMO.
SEMIFINALS
5 - After intermission, 2 Husky Black Guys def. The RockNES Monsters when Willie Mack p. Johnny Yuma w/ the piledriver.
6 - The Super Smash Bros. def. Future Shock when Stupefied p. Kyle O’Reilly w/ the Fatality team finisher. SSB had to work their way out of a pair of submission finishers to get to the final outcome in what was the better semifinal match.
SM - Lone non-tournament match. Kevin Steen successfully defended the PWG World Championship, pinning Sami Callihan w/ the Package Piledriver to end a brutal singles match in which both men beat the stuffing out of each other. Sami Callihan got the “Please come back!” chant from the crowd.
M - DDT4 Final. The Super Smash Bros. def. 2 Husky Black Guys when Stupefied p. El Generico w/ the Fatality in what was the match of the night IMO. Player Uno & Stupefied didn’t have much time to celebrate, though, as The Young Bucks ran in and attacked both finalists, which only drew Kevin Steen to the ring from the commentary table.
If you ask me, the ladder for the PWG World Tag Team Championship should go like this: 1) The Super Smash Bros. in light of them winning this year’s DDT4, 2) The 2 Husky Black Guys, then 3) The Young Bucks. We’ll see where things go in the tag team division, especially as Super Dragon continues to heal up, and see if 1 or 2 more shows are held before July’s 9th Anniversary Show. In the meantime, who knows who will challenge Steen next for the singles title.
Two matches from Showdown In The Sun will be featured on tonight’s episode of Ring Of Honor:
ROH Tag Team Championship: The Briscoes (champions) vs Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas
ROH TV Championship: Jay Lethal (c) vs Roderick Strong
Ring Of Honor have uploaded TJ Perkins vs Fire Ant (from Showdown In The Sun day 2) and episode 29 of their TV show to Youtube. You can find both on the official ROH Youtube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/ringofhonor
Thoughts: It’s great that they are getting more content on Youtube, that’s way more accessible than their website, but they seem determined to air as much of their most recent pay per views as possible for free. That isn’t going to entice people to spend their money on you PPVs in the future ROH.
- Lee
PWG Championship: Kevin Steen will issue an open challenge
DDT4 First Round Match: Sami Callihan & Roderick Strong vs El Generico & Willie Mack
DDT4 First Round Match: Future Shock (Adam Cole & Kyle O’Reilly) vs The Dynasty (Scorpio Sky & Joey Ryan)
DDT4 First Round Match:RockNES Monsters (Johnny Yuma & Johnny Goodtime) vs Fightin’ Taylor Boys
DDT4 First Round Match:The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) vs Super Smash Bros (Player Uno & Player Dos)
Thoughts: It should be a great show. I’m rooting for Future Shock to win the tournament, since I’ve interviewed both of them. Actually, I’ve interviewed Scorpio Sky too, so maybe I should cheer for the Dynasty. But then again, I’ve met and conversed with El Generico, so maybe I should be behind he and Willie Mack. Oh well. I’ll be happy if any of those three teams win. Hopefully we’ll have a review up from Chad in the next couple of days.
- Lee
At a 2CW show on Saturday, former Dragon Gate USA wrestler Brodie Lee announced that he has signed with WWE, then vacated his 2CW title. The news of Brodie’s signing broke over a month ago, but this is the first public confirmation from him.
Source: Wrestlezone
Thoughts: This news is a few days old, but I didn’t get the chance to post it sooner. I’m very happy for Brodie, I’ll think he’ll do great in WWE.
- Lee
Everything seems to be running ok now, so things are back to normal here at Indy Wrestling Express. We’ll have all the latest news (and whatever else I feel like posting) up as the day progresses. To all the people that have visited in past 24 hours, thanks, and sorry for the lack of content.
- Lee
The poster says it all, but I’ll transcribe the matches since the writing is small for some of them:
WSU World Championship: Jessica Havok (c) vs Mercedes Martinez
WSU Tag Team Championship: Midwest Militia (c) vs The Soul Sisters
Uncensored Rules match: Martie Belle vs Tina San Antonio
Alicia vs Lexus
Christina Von Eerie vs Athena
April Hunter vs Nikki Syx
Brittney Savage vs Ezavel Suena
Thoughts: Looks good. I’ve been meaning to check out WSU for the past year, hopefully I’ll get round to doing so soon. Adrian is a fan, and he has several WSU reviews up in the reviews section (click “Reviews” in the column to the left). If you attend this show, feel free to send us a review at indywrestling@hotmail.co.uk
- Lee
Indy Wrestling Express’s loading difficulties are due to some problem with the Tumblr servers in my region. It’s getting better, and hopefully everything will be running properly by tomorrow. I probably won’t post anything until then.
- Lee
Don’t be alarmed by the change of scenery here, I need to fix some stuff so the page will load properly once again. Things will be looking and running as normal soon.
- Lee
CHIKARA: King Of Trios 2012 will run from September 14th to the 16th.
Thoughts: King Of Trios is the biggest weekend in the CHIKARA calendar. No word yet on where the shows will be taking place.
- Lee
