Dan Barry vs Jesse Neal
This was a perfectly ok match. Hadn’t seen anything of Neal
since his TNA days, and he had some good moments here, nice little heel touches
like scraping his boot on Barry’s face and little stomps and kicks. Barry is
someone I’ve seen people talk highly about, but he didn’t really shine here. I
did like the superplex he hit, especially as both guys really fought over it,
but the sloppy flatliner/DDT he hit looked really poor. Barry misses a shooting
star press and Neal spears him for the win.
Tony Mamaluke vs Tyler Murphy
Getting older has allowed Mamaluke to fill out some more, he’s
not as rake thin as he used to be, and it kind of suits him to be working as a
grizzled veteran. Really liked his opening wristlock stuff, and the way
Mamaluke cut off Murphy’s first shot at building momentum with a nasty
clothesline. Mamaluke also takes a few nutty bumps to help put over Murphy. It
was harder to get a read on Murphy, but he looked fine here, really good
looking suicide dive. Murphy gets a single leg crab, and Mamaluke does this
great sell job, frantically grabbing the ropes then clawing at the ref in an
attempt to alleviate the pain. He escapes, but the leg injury causes him to
lose his balance on the top rope, and Murphy locks in another crab. Mamaluke
sells the shit out of it, and just about hangs on for the time limit draw. Dug
this.
The Beaver Boys (Alex Reynolds & John Silver) vs The
Premiere Gods (Tony Nese & Papadon)
I really enjoyed Papadon last time I watched him, and he was
still really fun here. He’s great at playing a loudmouth braggart, yelling at
the ref when things go wrong and stooging magnificently when the faces take him
down, which is the case here. The Premiere Gods take over on Reynolds after
ambushing Silver when all four guys are in the ring, leaving Reynolds isolated.
I like the fact that Silver is so beaten down he can’t even get to the apron
and, when it looks like he might make it, Papadon hurls Reynolds from the ring,
sending him crashing into Silver and the railings, and preventing the tag from
being made. Silver looked good when the hot tag was made, with a great looking
sitout powerbomb on Nese. All four guys end up in the ring, and things break
down a bit, leading to a nice finishing run when Papadon hits a Canadian
Destroyer on Reynolds, followed by Nese hitting a Jig-N-Tonic for the win.
Angelo Andrews vs Drew Gulak
This was face vs face, with Gulak spending the majority of
the bout in control. According to Cagematch, Andrews is very much a rookie at
this point, and Gulak controls him quite easily on the mat. Gulak is always
portrayed as dominant, but it never feels like he’s taking advantage of Andrews
in the ring, just that he’s better. Andrews gets a few nice spots, loved him
catching Gulak’s head as he goes for a second headbutt, and hitting a
neckbreaker, but some of his offence looked light. There was a lot of air shown
on his atomic drop and knee to the face. Loved Gulak’s wristwork, especially
when he contorts Andrews’ wrist in such a way that it’s held down under Gulak’s
bodyweight, leaving his hands free to simultaneously wrench at his head. In the
end, Gulak locks in a Cattle Mutilation, and quickly transitions to a wristlock
for the tap.
Joe Gacy vs JT Kasin
This is for Gacy’s Fusion championship. These are two big
lads, though there’s something odd about the way Kasin looks. He doesn’t have
the movements of a wrestler, he just looks like the local hard lad who’s been
put into the ring for a scrap. Gacy works over the arm of Kasin, amplifying
this after Kasin rams his shoulder into the post. Gacy actually looks pretty
decent throughout, with his armwork looking great, before he gets the tapout
with the Rings of Saturn
Stockade vs David Starr
Stockade is the NYWC champion and this is for his belt.
Stockade is a big, big lad, so it’s an odd game plan for Starr to try and take
him down with shoulder blocks. From then on though, this is a fun match, and it’s
even a bit All Star-ish in places, with simple logical work the order of the
day. For example, after Starr chops the ring post, both guys act like they
should: Stockade grabs the hand and rams it into the railings, whilst Starr
quickly tries to put as much distance as possible between him and the monster.
I liked the little touches they put into the match, like Starr yelling with
exertion when he breaks free from a chinlock. Stockade misses a big top rope
senton, but though Starr fires back, Stockade ends his challenge with a big
clothesline for the win. Good match
Matt Tremont, Blake Morris & Rex Lawless vs DJ Hyde,
Brandon Watts & Randy Summers
Summers and Watts make up the team of Milk Chocolate, so
named because of their mixed ethnicity. This is a street fight, and really is a
match of two halves. The first half, where all 6 guys brawl all around the
building, inside and out, is hard to follow, with the lighting limited. The second
half sees them return to the ring, where things get good. The heels isolate
Morris alone in the ring, and methodically beat him up, knocking Tremont and
Lawless down when they try to save him. It’s well worked, to the point that
Morris grabbing a kendo stick and hitting Watts before getting beaten down is
an effective hope spot. The heels are really cocky, and are able to casually
set up a table in the corner, which they coat in thumbtacks. At this point,
they’ve been threatening the tacks all match, so the crowd has been looking
forward to seeing them come into play for a while. They set up Morris for a top
rope superplex, but Tremont and Lawless have recovered by now, and their attack
leaves Watts perched on the top rope, prone for Morris to powerbomb him onto
the non-breaking tack-covered table. Sick spot, and Watts sells the fuck out of
it. Morris decides to give him another one, again failing to break the table,
which earns the three. The big spot really paid off, and the second half of
this was enough to pay off the first half.
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