The Delco Elbow Drop


Thursday, November 20, 2014

Indy Minute - Your weekly source for independent wrestling news


NXT
  NXT TV opens with a recap of the Ascension attacks on Hideo Itami until he brought in his friend, Finn Balor, to even the odds against the longest reigning NXT tag team champions. I hope these four actually have a match sometime because that could be pretty good.
  Finn Balor opens the show this week. He has a pretty theatric entrance, which will definitely help him get over. The crowd gets behind him chanting “Finn” before he even speaks. But before he can say much, he’s interrupted by Tyson Kidd with Natalya (who is looking amazing).
  Tyson says he was brought into this business as a Hart and one of the first things they are taught is respect, something Balor clearly lacks. Justin Gabriel joins him and echoes his sentiments. He says he sick of every week, a new international talent arrives and thinks he’s “the guy.” Tyson and Gabriel get in the ring and corner Finn but Hideo Itami makes his way to the ring to have Balor’s back. Kidd and Gabriel back off but a ref shows up and it seems like this is going to be a tag match now.
  (It seems like Alex Riley, Rich Brennan and Jason Albert are always on commentary now.)
  Itami and Gabriel in first but he quickly tags in Kidd who goes for an arm ringer. Itami reverses and tags in Balor to a big pop. Kidd tags out quick and Balor nails Gabriel with a dropkick. Goes up top for a stomp and Kidd pulls Gabriel out but Balor hits them both with a tope con hilo.
  Kidd and Gabriel take advantage of Balor after keeping him off balance and tagging in and out quickly. Balor hits a big Pele kick and finally manages to tag Itami, who starts lighting up Kidd with kicks. After hitting double basement dropkicks into the corner, Balor nails Gabriel with a double stomp from the top rope for the win. He got some huge air on that one and really drove it into Gabriel. Balor’s music is pretty badass too and a lot more unique than most WWE themes these days.
  Backstage, Sami Zayn is with Devin Taylor. He says tonight feels different from opportunities he’s had in the past. He feels like this is his destiny.
  Up next, Sasha Banks takes on Alexa Bliss. I think Bliss has new music. No more “Did it all for the bling bling” or whatever that was. Still using the “Glitter blizzard” that Stardust tried to steal, which is good to see.
  Sasha on Bliss quickly with hard shots and lays her across the second turnbuckle and drops the double knees on her midsection followed by the Kyle O’Reilly rebound slap. Then locks Bliss in a bow and arrow which Bliss reverses into a cover.
  Bliss gets some momentum with a rebound headscissors and a yoshi tonic (sunset flip bomb) out of the corner. Bliss gets a bloody nose (which I think she got earlier in the match when Sasha smashed her face in the mat) and the crowd chants “E-C-Dub.” Banks hits a dropkick followed by the Bank Statement for the win. I hope we get to see Bliss more often going forward. Her style in the ring is a lot different from the other female wrestlers and with only four female wrestlers usually in competition on NXT (five if you count Carmella who has had a few short matches), there’s definitely room for more competitors for the Women’s championship.
  Adrian Neville is backstage with Devin. Says He says Sami is a good friend of his and an incredible competitor. But the difference is that Sami can’t win the big one, which will be proven again when Adrian leaves with the title and Sami leaves disappointed. This is like the third or fourth week in a row where Neville reiterates that Zayn can’t win the big one. Not making his mic skills seem very strong.
  The Lucha Dragons are up now to take on Wesley Blake and Buddy Murphy (I refuse to call them Team Thick unless anyone besides Renee actually does).
  Murphy and Blake have terrible theme music. Dubstep is the worst. Despite that, I feel like they are going to be big stars in NXT if not WWE. They are solid in the ring and both are really strong. Plus, once the Ascension goes up there is an open spot for another regular tag team.
  Blake and Murphy keeping Kalisto grounded early, using their strength and power moves to keep him on the mat.  Kalisto finally has an opening, using his speed to escape Blake and Murphy and tag Sin Cara. Cara takes it to both Murphy and Blake, displaying some impressive strength with a power bomb before a swanton for the win. Kalisto also hit a ridiculous step up corkscrew plancha to the outside before the win, which like commentary said, I don’t think anyone has ever done in WWE.
  The Vaudevillains backstage with Devin. She asks about how they feel about the Lucha Dragons win. Aiden English and Simon Gotch give them a sarcastic golf clap of congratulations. Gotch says they should keep the gold shined and leather oiled because the belts won’t stay with two children but will go home with two men.
  Sami Zayn is out first for the main even NXT title match. Zayn is ridiculously over. Everyone loves this guy and I’m confident that even if he wasn’t Generico before, people would still love him cause he just has a natural charisma. Dude is gonna be huge. A “Sami’s better” chant breaks out with a faint “No he’s not” response.
  In the early goings, Sami seems to have the advantage, getting the best of every encounter. He knocks Adrian Neville outside and goes for hilo but Adrian moves and he rebounds off ropes and moonsaults to center with a loud “Ole” chant. Sami holds the ropes open for Adrian to get back in but he flips over the top rope instead. Adrian nails a series of kicks and a stiff low drop kick off the ropes.
  Adrian with the clear advantage now, weathering the early offense by Sami and using his speed and strength to keep Sami off balance and on the mat. Sami fights back and clotheslines him over the top and hits a hilo on Adrian on the outside. Sami rolls him back in and goes to the top rope for a cross body but Adrian counters with knees to the chest followed by a quick standing shooting star press but only gets a 2 count.
  Neville sets up for a power bomb but Sami blocks and catches a forearm. Sami reverses out and Adrian springboard to Sami shoulders spins around and wants a rana but Sami hits a p bomb for a 2. Sami hits two German suplexes in a row followed by a half and half (which he did all the time as El Generico but hasn’t pulled it out much in NXT) but only gets a 2 somehow.
  Sami charges into the corner for a Helluva Kick, Adrian gets the boot up and staggers Zayn. Sami tries to go for an exploder but Adrian counters in a victory roll for two. Adrian hits a head kick and looks for a Red Arrow as the crowd chants “NO” and Sami rolls away at the last second. Neville clutches his knee on the mat after the miss as Sami sets up for a Helluva Kick and looks unsure about what he should do. The ref throws up the crossed arm X and Sami looks concerned and checks on Neville. As he does, Neville rolls him up for the three count. Sami looks devastated and Neville drags himself over and pats Sami on the back. A trainer comes out to check on Adrian and Sami is still slumped in the same spot, in disbelief.
  Though I’d like Neville to be a more clearly defined heel in this feud, I like how they are successfully walking the line between Neville “winning cheaply” and “doing what he needs to do to stay champion.” I think in the long run, however, it would be more beneficial if they were to have Neville act more obviously evil in this instance. As amazing of an athlete as he is, Neville doesn’t have much going for him in the charisma department. He lacks whatever trait Sami has that makes him naturally likeable and in this feud he just seems like more of a jerk than an overt heel and in wrestling, playing the middle ground often isn’t as powerful as being naturally likeable and over-the-top evil.

  Finn Balor has been getting praise not only from WWE and NXT fans, but from all around the world. Here he is keeping kayfabe strong on Twitter with New Japan’s Yuji Nagata:

Lucha Underground
  This week’s episode of Lucha Underground showcased several luchadores from Mexico and featured a lot of incredible, high-flying action. In the first match, Mariachi Loco faced minis wrestler Mascarita Sagrada. Loco started the match making fun of Sagrada’s height but ended up losing when Sagrada surprised him with a cradle. Chavo Guerrero then attacked Sagrada after the match.
  In a segment following the match, Konnan told Chavo that Mexico knows what he did to Blue Demon Jr. and it will only be a matter of time before they find out about Sagrada and come after him. Next, Mil Muertes defeated Ricky Mandel and the main event featured three luchadores, Fenix, Drago and Pentagon Jr.
  Next to Puma versus Mundo from week one, this was one of the best matches Lucha Underground has put on so far. Drago was eliminated first after two piledrivers and Fenix pinned Pentagon Jr with a reverse hurricanrana.
  I’m planning on putting up a short article soon about my thoughts on Lucha Underground as a whole so be sure to be on the lookout for that.

  Also, I just saw this on Twitter – apparently The Young Bucks are in negotiations with Lucha Underground. They’d be a perfect fit for LU so let’s keep our fingers crossed:

Ring of Honor
  ROH hosted one of their final live events of the year this past weekend before heading into their biggest show of the year, Final Battle in NYC in December. This past weekend at “Glory by Honor XIII” in San Antonio, TX, fans were treated to some great action as well as setting up a huge match for Final Battle.

Glory By Honor XIII results
Nov 15, 2014
San Antonio, TX
(Attendance was said to be between 700-800)

Jay Diesel defeated Shane Taylor
(Seems like they are using Jay Diesel more often these days. Not sure if he’s a student or just a journeyman wrestler, though. When I saw ROH live in Philly a few months ago, Diesel helped the House of Truth attack Matt Taven so I wouldn’t be surprised to see him join with Truth Martini in the future)

Tommaso Ciampa defeated Romantic Touch with the Sicilian Stretch
(I liked that Ciampa has been involved with Nigel in a sort of “loose cannon” angle but that seems to have died down a bit. Hopefully he can get into the TV or World title scene again.)

Hanson defeated Mark Briscoe, BJ Whitmer, and Moose
(Raymond Rowe was said to be at the show with his arm in a brace and after the match. It seems like Hanson is getting a pretty good push on his own, though I did like War Machine a lot. They seemed to be starting a feud with The Briscoes before Rowe was injured and hopefully that will be revisited when War Machine is back in action)

Frankie Kazarian defeated Roderick Strong
(Undoubtedly a great match between two vets. It seems like they have been pitting The Decade and The Addiction against each other recently which will help both groups. Each team could easily be ROH tag team champions but I don’t see reDRagon losing any time soon)

reDRagon retained the ROH tag team titles against The Kingdom (Matt Taven and Michael Bennett)
(reDRagon has been on a tear lately. I don’t see them losing the ROH belts anytime soon and being the IWGP Junior Heavyweight champions is a huge honor as well. I like the whole Kingdom gimmick but Taven and Bennett isn’t the most exciting team in the world)

Will Ferrera defeated Adam Page
(Seems like there is trouble in The Decade. I read reports that Roderick Strong distracted Page leading to Ferrara getting the win and that after the match, Strong and Ferrara beat up Page and Whitmer. Will definitely have to see how this plays out heading into Final Battle)

Jay Lethal retained the ROH TV Title again RD
(Well, #TheNewStreak is over folks. It was a great ride but all good things must come to an end. Lethal retained after Moose accidentally hit Evans with a spear. I read that the crowd was split for both guys, though, so at least Evans is getting over. He’ll win that belt someday, mark my words)

Adam Cole defeated Christopher Daniels
(Cole defeated Daniels with the Jay Driller, no doubt sending a message to ROH Champion Jay Briscoe. This match was probably awesome as Cole is one of the most talented rising stars in wrestling and Daniels is at the top of his game despite debuting over 20 years ago)

Jay Briscoe retained the ROH World title against ACH
(It’s cool they gave ACH a title shot in his home town though they haven’t exactly been building him up as a main event star lately. I’d love to see his feud continue with Jay Lethal for the TV title. After the match, Briscoe put over ACH as the future of wrestling)


It was also announced that at Final Battle, Adam Cole versus Jay Briscoe for the ROH World Championship will be a fight without honor.

  This weekend, ROH will host “Tag Wars ‘14” in Baltimore, MD, its final show before Final Battle in December. The card so far is:

Adam Cole vs Brian Kendrick

Tommaso Ciampa vs Cedric Alexander in a No DQ grudge match

In the Tag Wars tournament, six qualifying teams face off with the winners entering into a four way elimination match against reDRagon for the ROH Tag Team Championships. The three qualifying matches are:

Matt Sydal and ACH vs The Young Bucks
Jay Lethal and J. Diesel vs The Briscoe Brothers
The Addiction vs The Decade (BJ Whitmer and Jimmy Jacobs)


WWNLive in China
  The final WWNLive show on the tour of China at the MasterCard Arena in Beijing drew 10,500 spectators.
  Johnny Gargano defeated Ricochet to win the Open the Freedom Gate championship as well as became the first CITIC Guoan Cup winner. Gargano is also the first two-time Open the Freedom Gate champion. His first reign was 873 days long with 21 successful defenses until losing it to Ricochet on April 4, 2014. His reign was 226 days.


Also, I found this link from LeTV where you can watch then entire final event in Beijing for free:
http://www.letv.com/ptv/vplay/21223675.html

House of Hardcore
  House of Hardcore 7 at the ECW Arena on Saturday was an amazing show. Jigsaw, Davey Richards and EC3 were unable to compete but there were many surprise appearances from wrestlers like Stevie Richards, The Sandman, Spike Dudley, The Dudley Boyz, TNA World Champion Bobby Roode and Alberto Del Rio with Ricardo Rodriguez making his first appearance in America since leaving WWE. Visit DelcoElbowDrop.blogspot.com for full results from the show.
 
Chikara
  Chikara hosted the final two shows of Season 14 before “Tomorrow Never Dies” which is being held at the ECW Arena.

On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
November, 15
Haverhill, MA

Jakob Hammermeier, Nokken and Oliver Grimsley defeated 3.0 and Jervis Cottonbelly (3pointcheery0)

Missile Assault Ant defeated Princess Kimber Lee

Worker Ant defeated Prakash Sabar

Spectral Envoy (Frightmare, Hallowicked and UltraMantis Black) and The Batiri (Kodama andObaryian) defeated The Flood (Shard, 17, Jimmy Jacobs, Volgar the Unknown and Ducaleon)
(Frightmare defeated The Shard in this match. It sounds like Deucalion is losing his mind and control over The Flood heading into “Tomorrow Never Dies.” Deucalion tried to kill Frightmare but 17 turned on The Flood and saved him and both escaped. Deucalion threatened Jimmy Jacobs and he threw The Shard under the bus and Shard was killed with a choke breaker.)

Shynron defeated Proletariat Boar of Moldova

Juan Francisco de Coronado defeated “Smooth Sailing” Ashley Remington

Wrecking Crew (Jaka and Oleg the Usurper and Devastation Corporation) defeated Golden Trio (Icarus, Dasher Hatfield and Mark Angelosetti) and the Osirian Portal



For Your Eyes Only
November 16
South Windsor, CT

Four Corner Elimination Tag Team Match (point are in play)
– The Bloc Party (Prakash Sabar and Proletariat Boar of Moldova) eliminated Ashley Remington/Jervis Cottonbelly
– The Batiri (Obariyon and Kodama) eliminated The Bloc Party (Prakash Sabar and Proletariat Boar of Moldova)
– The Devastation Corporation (Blaster McMassive and Max Smashmaster) eliminated the Batiri and have 3 points
(The Devastation Corporation are on a tear in Chikara lately. Sydney Bakabella’s monsters won the King of Trios tournament and seem to be next in line to hold the Campeonatos de Parejas. It seems like the rudos are gearing up for some big things at “Tomorrow Never Dies.”)

Hallowicked defeated Worker Ant
(Apparently Soldier Ant appeared out of nowhere and attacked Worker Ant)

Nokken defeated Shynron
(Lots of BDK interference in this one. The BDK is undergoing big changes now that Jakob is at the helm. Once he revealed himself to be the Cosby Sweater Dr. Cube with ownership of The Eye of Tyr, he took control of the group and kicked out Ares. And at this show, he kicked out Milo Schnitzler, former owner of Wrestling is Cool. It also seems like Pinkie Sanchez made his return to Chikara and is part of the BDK once again)

(Word is that Jimmy Jacobs showed up with the masks of all the fallen heroes. Icarus interrupted him and called out Deucalion and challenges him to a match at “Tomorrow Never Dies.” Not sure if it’s for the title, though)

The Osirian Portal defeated The Wrecking Crew (Jaka and Oleg the Usurper)
(The Portal have two points now apparently)

Eddie Kingston defeated Snow Troll

Jimmy Jacobs defeated Ultramantis Black

Frightmare defeated Juan Francisco de Coronado
(Coronado hit three German suplexes on Frightmare but Ashley Remington made the save allowing Frightmare to get the roll up win)

Los Campeonatos de Parejas 2/3 Falls match
The Throwbacks (Dasher Hatfield and Mark Angelosetti) defeated 3.0 (Shane Matthews and Scott Parker)
(The Throwbacks retained the belts in two straight falls. Afterward, Bakabella comes out and tells the champs to keep the titles warm)

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Monday, November 17, 2014

Hardcore comes home – House of Hardcore debuts at the ECW Arena


On Saturday, November 15, Tommy Dreamer’s promotion House of Hardcore made its debut in the building that Extreme Championship Wrestling made famous – the ECW Arena in South Philadelphia. Despite several announced wrestlers not being able to compete on House of Hardcore 7, the fans in the sold out crowd got their money’s worth with numerous unexpected wrestlers appearing and putting on an amazing show from top to bottom.

I was lucky enough to score front row tickets to House of Hardcore 7 and I’m glad I did because it was a show I won’t soon forget. I say “lucky” because the Arena was packed – I haven’t seen that many people in the ECW Arena since CZW’s Cage of Death 4 or 5, which was about 10 years ago at this point (I was too young to have gone to ECW in its prime). The show was a complete sell-out with an additional 200 standing room tickets sold at the door.

I’ve been to several shows at the Arena since it reopened (an Extreme Rising show in Dec. ’13 and Masked Mania in April) but neither had crowds as big as House of Hardcore 7.

Despite several wrestlers having to pull out of the show at the last minute, House of Hardcore 7 was still an amazing show – perhaps even better than the originally announced card. Davey Richards (with Eddie Edwards, who were to face Killer Elite Squad), Jigsaw (to take on Eddie Kingston) and Ethan Carter the 3rd (who was to face Tommy Dreamer) all were unable to compete at HOH 7.

Also, Matt Striker, former WWE Superstar who now does commentary for Lucha Underground, was on commentary for House of Hardcore 7 with another commentator.

Danny Doring opened the show taking on the first surprise of the night – Stevie Richards, who was dressed in full bWo attire! Richards got the win with a Steviekick and got a great reaction from the hot crowd and plenty of “Welcome back” chants. During intermission, I saw Blue Meanie at the merch table and I was a little surprised we didn’t see him during the actual show with Stevie.

In the next match, Christian York defeated Brian Myers, formerly WWE Superstar Curt Hawkins, with a swinging neckbreaker. This was another really solid match with some big moments, like York hitting a moonsault off the guardrail. After the match, Myers got on the mic and said he wasn’t leaving until he got another match. All of a sudden, Ricardo Rodriguez in full tuxedo appeared from the entrance way and the crowd couldn’t believe it.

Alberto Del Rio surprises the crowd
at House of Hardcore 7. Photo by Joe Arcidiacono.
Ricardo got to the ring to introduce “Albertoooooo” and the crowd finished “DEL RIOOOOO” and the recently released WWE Superstar Alberto Del Rio, now known as El Patron Alberto, made his first ever appearance in the former ECW Arena. I’m also pretty sure it was the first appearance Del Rio has made in America since leaving WWE. Del Rio looked genuinely thrilled to be in the ECW Arena and said that in HOH “we aren’t sports entertainers but f***ing wrestlers!” Myers went for a sneak attack but Del Rio caught him in a cross arm breaker which sent Myers running to the back. Del Rio got a great reaction from the packed crowd at HOH and it would be amazing to see him actually work a match in the former ECW Arena someday.

Next up was a six-man match between three guys who I think are House of Hardcore students (Anthony Greene, Vik Dalishus and Ben Ortiz) and Team Tremendous with Little Guido (another surprise appearance). There wasn’t much heat at the start of this match, as it seemed not many were familiar with Team Tremendous or the opposing team. But the crowd quickly got into it because these six guys tore the roof off the ECW Arena. Even the ref got involved. Carr hit a big tope con hilo over the top rope followed by Dan Barry hitting a dive of his own. Guido set up for a dive but the ref, who was getting pushed around by Greene, Ortiz and Delishus all night, stopped him and hit a moonsault from the top rope to the floor. I might be a little biased but Team Tremendous really stole the show with their double team maneuvers and mix of high flying (though it was odd seeing Bill Carr with his hair cut short). Tremendous and Guido got the win when Guido rolled up Greene.

Eddie Edwards and Eddie Kingston had to follow the six-man match and though their match was really good and really hard-hitting, I think the crowd was still overwhelmed by the tag match and never really got behind this match. Kingston came out to what sounded like a cover of “Walk” by Pantera then laughed at all the fans who thought it might be Rob Van Dam. Edwards tapped Kingston with a single leg Boston Crab. I also read that Kingston injured his ribs in this match after Edwards hit a series of topes through the ropes which caught Kingston hard in the chest.

Following this match was a three way dance elimination match between Lance Anoaia, Alex Reynolds, and Tony Nese. Anoaia was dressed exactly like one of the Uso brothers in WWE and was getting “Uuu-Sooo” chants all match long and eventually was starting them himself. Lots of high flying and big spots in this match. Anoaia was eliminated first and Nese earned the win with a reverse hurricanrana from the top rope.

After that, Killer Elite Squad (Lance Archer and Davey Boy Smith Jr.) hit the ring. They cut a promo about how Davey Richards has a tummy-ache, which is carny for “he’s too scared to fight.” I had been wondering who the replacement team would be, but I never expected it would Bully Ray and D-Von, The Dudley Boyz! The Dudleys got a huge pop from the crowd with “Welcome back” and “Get the tables” chants. Bully got on the mic and said KES was in the wrong place at the wrong time and for some reason the crowd started a “We want fire” chant, which Bully explained to them meant “They want us to douse you in lighter fluid and set you on fire and since this is Philadelphia, they mean it!” 

The Dudley Boyz return to the ECW Arena! Photo by Joe Arcidiacono.

This match was a crazy brawl all over ringside and though KES are the current NWA World tag team champions, they never stood a chance against the Dudleys in the ECW Arena. Bully Ray and D-Von hit both Archer and Smith with 3Ds and put Archer through a table for the win. Afterward when the fans were chanting “Welcome back,” Bully Ray got on the mic and said “Don’t welcome back Team 3D…welcome back The Dudley Boyz!” With Bully Ray out of TNA and the future of that company still up in the air, it was an interesting thing for Bully to say and we’ll have to wait and see what’s next for The Dudley Boyz.

After this was intermission and Ricardo Rodriguez and Alberto Del Rio took pictures with the fans in the ring and even shook hands with people at ringside. It was such a huge surprise to see them there, I still almost don’t believe it.

After intermission, in the first of three main events, Austin Aries faced the man who accepted his open challenge – former WWE Superstar Drew Galloway. The Scottish wrestler has been making waves in the world of independent wrestling since leaving WWE, winning the ICW Heavyweight Championship as well as the Evolve Championship. Aries was giving up a considerable amount of weight and height to Galloway and it showed as Galloway battered Aries for most of the match. But Aries didn’t back down in this hard-hitting match, using his speed to keep Galloway off balance and eventually earned the win with a brain buster.

TNA Champion Bobby Roode put his
title on the line at House of Hardcore 7.
Photo by Joe Arcidiacono.
In the second main event, Tommy Dreamer was originally slated to face TNA star EC3. With Dreamer was his wife, Beulah McGillicutty, and this was advertised as her final appearance in professional wrestling. Since EC3 suffered an injury (or pulled out of the event, if you read his Twitter, because he hates marks) and wasn’t able to compete but Dreamer pulled some strings and got another completely unexpected surprise wrestler – TNA World Heavyweight Champion Bobby Roode!

Before the match, Roode said there was no one who deserved a title shot as much as Tommy and put the belt on the line in an old school extreme rules match. While there wasn’t many crazy spots in this match, Roode was only the first of many surprises. After brawling inside the ring and out, Velvet Sky ran to the ring and low-blowed Dreamer which prompted Beulah into the ring and we have a cat fight on our hands! Soon after, CW Anderson runs in to attack Dreamer and stands over him until “Enter Sandman” plays and the crowd explodes as Sandman makes his way to the ring with a beer and trademark Singapore cane. He cracks the beer and hits Anderson with the cane once but CW ducks another swing and puts down Sandman with a superkick. But right after, “Highway to Hell” hits and Spike Dudley (sporting a bald head) runs to the ring and hits Anderson with the Acid Drop. Not long after, Rosita hits Dreamer with a moonsault but he no sells it and piledrives her. Roode retains the TNA title after all the shenanigans with a DVD onto a barb wire board.

Afterward, Dreamer cut a short promo on how the last few weeks of TNA have been some of the best wrestling on TV and that this show couldn’t have happened if TNA didn’t allow Dreamer to use their guys. He also said how he was born in Yonkers but Tommy Dreamer was born in the ECW Arena. Beulah even said a few words about how she truly appreciates all the love she’s gotten from the fans over the years and will never forget it. They even brought out their twin daughters and Dreamer told them this is the building where he met their mom. It was a really great moment.

In the main event, the Young Bucks took on the Hardy Boyz in an outstanding match. The crowd was split for both teams and were chanting nonstop for both teams. Both teams went all out and it was easily one of the best matches I’ve seen in a long time. The Hardys hit a More Bang For Your Buck sequence of their own and the Bucks even did a Twist of Fate/Swanton sequence and there were too many superkicks to count – including a crazy superkick to Jeff Hardy as he did a headstand on the ropes.


The Young Bucks won the match with a More Bang For Your Buck and afterward, the Hardys wanted a handshake as a show of respect. The fans booed it, perhaps sensing what was to come, but the Bucks accepted. Sure enough, the Hardys tried to kick the Bucks but both ate superkicks. That brought out the Dudley Boyz who attacked the Bucks and hit them both with a 3D. Bully Ray started putting over the Bucks, saying it’s obvious the crowd loves them but if there’s one thing he won’t stand for, especially in the ECW Arena, it’s disrespect (a point I didn’t get cause the Bucks won, went to shake hands, the Hardys were the ones who doublecrossed them on the show of respect but somehow the Bucks were being disrespectful?).

But Bully segued into how great a promotion HOH has become and said it’s because of the fans – that the fans want something different and they are giving it to them. Dreamer also talked about wanting to do more HOH shows next year, maybe 8 instead of just 4, and even hinted at trying to get on TV. The night ended with wrestlers filling the ring and drinking beers – provided by Sandman, of course.

Sandman, the Hardys, Tommy Dreamer and the Dudleys share a beer. Photo by Joe Arcidiacono.

Overall, House of Hardcore 7 was an incredible show. The wrestling was great, the atmosphere was amazing and the surprises kept everyone on the edge of their seats because you never knew what might happen next. It was a night filled with numerous memorable moments and great athletic performances which is exactly what professional wrestling is all about.

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Friday, November 14, 2014

Indy Minute - Your weekly source for independent wrestling news



NXT TV, 11/6
  NXT TV opens with a recap of Sami Zayn’s road to redemption, his challenge to Adrian Neville and his win over Tyson Kidd as well as his win over Titus O’Neill last week.
  As the show opens, Tyler Breeze makes his way to the ring. I guess his match with Zayn is opening the show. Alex Riley, Rich Brennan and Jason Albert on commentary.
  Zayn is apparently 0-2 against Breeze. Breeze starts the match getting a lot of near falls from roll ups and quick pins and Zayn looks tentative to tie up.  Zayn hits an arm drag, Manhattan drop and body slam and Breeze rolls out of the ring. Hangs up Zayn on the rope and gets a two on a roll up. Breeze keeping Zayn grounded, locked in rear chin lock. Kind of a slow pace in this match, not what I would expect from either of these guys.
  Seems like all of these matches the emphasis has been on having an opponent get on top of Zayn and having him fight from behind. Breeze reverses a Blue Thunder Bomb. Zayn goes up top but Breeze heads him off and climbs the turnbuckle. Sami goes for a high crossbody and Breeze gets some big air and hits a dropkick as he comes down.  Breeze tells Zayn to just give up but Zayn hits a flatliner and goes for a Koji Clutch. Rolls through to block and Zayn ducks a Beauty Shot. Breeze hits a Supermodel Kick and gets a close 2.
  Breeze whips Zayn to the corner and runs in. Sami puts the boot up and Breeze catches it, throws it down and Zayn throws him into the corner with the exploder suplex followed by a Helluva Kick for the win. Zayn’s first win over Breeze ever.
  Backstage Renee talks to Neville about Zayn beating Breeze. Says he’s impressed and that Sami is his friend and has a title shot any time, any place but that he can’t win the big one so he’s not too worried.
  Dash Wilder to the ring with an actual entrance and music, which is kinda surprising. He usually tags with Scott Dawson in The Mechanics, though they haven’t done much lately. He’s up to take on Tyson Kidd.
  Starts off exchanging arm ringers. Wilder knocks Tyson down with a big shoulder block and Tyson into the corner. Jason Albert seems pretty confident in Dash Wilder. Tyson pummeling Dash in the corner and catapulted Dash into bottom turnbuckle. Tyson keeping him on the mat with a chin lock. Tyons hits an inzugari on the apron as Dash rushes in then hits a swinging fishermans suplex. Kidd locks in the Sharpshooter for the win.
  What the hell is this? Marcus Louis taped segment, seething in the backstage about how people won’t stop making fun on him. Looks like I was right, Louis is just gonna keep getting crazier.
  Renee talks to Sami Zayn. Feels great, that he feels like the Count of Monte Cristo, whatever that means. That he feels he’s avenging himself, that he’s righting wrongs. Apparently his title match against Neville will be next week.
  Tag match next - Bayley and Charlotte versus Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch. Sasha Banks out first and Becky who seems to have some heavier music now. Maybe? I can’t tell. Bayley out next with another iteration of her streamer gear, now it’s just attached to her wrist gauntlets. Finally, Charlotte makes her way out with her stripper remix of Flair’s music.
  Bayley and Becky start off first. I guess Bayley wants Sasha more, but shouldn’t she be more immediately pissed at Becky for backstabbing her last week? But if Sasha was in first, then that would make Becky look like the more important person in the duo, when Sasha is the mastermind and the one with the title shot coming up.
  Anyway, Becky and Bayley start things off with a tie up. Bayley goes off on Becky, looking more aggressive than usual. Becky overpowers her and tags in Sasha, but Bayley takes over and body slam followed by a knee drop. Charlotte begs to be tagged in and when she is, Sasha runs to her corner and tags in Becky. Charlotte handling Becky easily.
  Charlotte throws Becky into her corner and yells at Sasha to tag in but she doesn’t want to get in the ring with Charlotte. Sasha runs away, Becky heads Charlotte off and pulls her down by the hair then Sasha tags in once Charlotte is down, but quickly tags back out to Becky, who has been taking most of the offense in this match.
  Becky and Sasha taking control of Bayley now, tagging in and out and keeping Bayley on the ground with punches and stomps. Bayley reverses a suplex and runs Becky out when she tries to break up a pin but Sasha takes control again. Becky distracts Charlotte and Sasha clotheslines her. Bayley rolls her up and Sasha reverses and grabs the tights to get the three count. Riley calls them “BFFs the sequel.”
   To close the show, The Ascension call out Hideo Itami. They say they tried to be patient with Hideo but that he just doesn’t understand, they he doesn’t get the message. They tell him to come out so they can finish what they started.  Hideo hits the stage and is followed by Finn Balor, the former Prince Devitt, who has some awesome theme music. Jason Albert goes nuts before anything even happens.
  They rush the ring and go toe to toe with Ascension. Balor and Itami beat them into the corner and nail two running basement dropkicks. Balor stomps Konnor from the apron to the outside, hits a Pele kick on Viktor and Itami hits the busaiku knee kick (you know, the move Daniel Bryan uses that he invented).  Itami and Balor easily take advantage of the Ascension and Itami goads Konnor into getting up as Balor hits a double stomp from the tope rope.
  I was kinda hoping for a match and it just turned out to be Itami and Balor beating up The Ascension. I would hope that Ascension go to the main roster soon after this because they are looking pretty weak getting owned by two new guys over and over again.

  Solomon Crowe returned to the ring this past weekend at an NXT live event in Daytona Beach, defeating Enzo Amore. This was his first match back after suffering a knee injury several months ago.


Lucha Underground
  On Lucha Underground, Johnny Mundo and Prince Puma team up to defeat the Crenshaw Crew, Cortez Castro and Cisco, with dual 450 splashes. Afterward, Konnan tells Puma to stay away from Mundo and that Konnan is the only friend he needs.
  We also find out that Lucha Underground owner Dario Cueto has brought in Mil Muertes to deal with Blue Demon Jr. Next, Chavo Guerrero Jr and Sexy Star defeat Son of Havoc and Ivelisse in a tag team match.
  In the main event, Mil Muertes defeats Blue Demon Jr. and continues to attack him until Chavo runs in to seemingly make the save, only to hit Demon with a chair. Chavo takes out other wrestlers who try and stop him until Sexy Star comes out to plead with Chavo and he blasts her with the chair too. Demon gets taken away by an ambulance as the episode ends.

  In other Lucha Underground news, Alberto Del Rio, known now as El Patron Alberto, will be joining the promotion sometime in 2015. In an interview with the British show “WrestleTalk TV,” Del Rio said that Mexican lucha libre promotion AAA is doing great business and is really excited to be joining their new project, Lucha Underground, “next year.”
  It should also be noted that the second episode of Lucha Underground did bigger ratings than the first episode, which is a good sign. The first episode did about 21,000 viewers and the second earned about 29,000 according to Nielsen ratings. That’s a great improvement for a new show on a network that isn’t in many homes. In Delco, I don’t get El Rey through Verizon FiOS and I know people with Comcast who also say they don’t have El Rey. It might be on some package I don’t subscribe to but as far as I can tell, not many people have El Rey.


Ring of Honor
Survival of the Fittest, Night 1 results
Columbus, OH
RD Evans and Moose defeated Jay Diesel and Jake Dirden
Tommaso Ciampa defeated Will Ferrara
Roderick Strong defeated Tadarius Thomas
Adam Cole defeated Delirious
Hanson defeated Jay Lethal (nontitle)
The Addiction defeated The Decade (Jimmy Jacobs and BJ Whitmer)
Matt Sydal defeated ACH
Adam Page defeated Cedric Alexander
The Kingdom (Matt Taven and Michael Bennett) defeated The Briscoes

Survival of the Fittest, Night 2 results
Toledo, OH
Jay Lethal retains TV title against Cedric Alexander
RD Evans and Moose defeated The Decade (Jacobs and Whitmer)
Michael Bennett defeated Will Ferrara
ACH defeated Matt Taven
Tadarius Thomas defeated Romantic Touch
The Briscoes defeated The Addiction
Adam Cole defeated Adam Page, Roderick Strong, Tommaso Ciampa, Matt Sydal and Hanson to win the Survival of Fittest tournament and has earned a shot at Jay Briscoe’s Ring of Honor World title at Final Battle on December 7 in New York City.

  This weekend, ROH will present “Glory by Honor XIII” from San Antonio, TX. Slated are:
ROH World title match
Jay Briscoe (c) vs ACH

ROH TV title match
Jay Lethal (c) vs RD Evans

ROH World tag team titles
reDRagon (c) vs The Kingdom (Matt Taven and Michael Bennet)

Four way dance
BJ Whitmer vs Moose vs Hanson vs Mark Briscoe

Adam Cole vs Christopher Daniels

Roderick Strong vs Frank Kazarian

Adam Page vs Will Ferrara

  I also wanted to take a moment to talk about how awesome RD Evans will be as the new TV champion. #TheNewStreak is still going strong, with Evans and Moose earning tag team wins on both nights of Survival of the Fittest. Evans is one of the most unique wrestlers in ROH, because he is so unlike the rest of the roster. He’s great in the ring but his strength isn’t in how hard he can kick or how stiff he can chop but in his personality and acting. He’s got a much stronger, much more developed character than almost anyone else in ROH and if anyone deserves gold, it’s Evans.
  Also, I found this amazing video about what other ROH stars think of RD Evans:


  ROH World tag team champions reDRagon won the IWGP Junior Heavyweight tag team titles from The Time Splitters (Alex Shelley and KUSHIDA) at New Japan’s Power Struggle over the weekend. Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish will defend the ROH tag titles against The Time Splitters at Final Battle on December 7 and will defend the IWGP Jr titles at Wrestle Kingdom 9 in Tokyo, Japan on January 4 against The Time Splitters, The Forever Hooligans and The Young Bucks.

  Speaking of Wrestle Kingdom, Global Force Wrestling announced on Tuesday morning that WWE Hall of Famer and legendary announcer Jim Ross will be calling Wrestle Kingdom for the North American broadcast of the show. Rumor is that talks are still ongoing in regards to who will join JR on commentary.


Also, many matches have been announced for Wrestle Kingdom 9:
-The returning Kota Ibushi takes on Shinsuke Nakamura for the IWGP Intercontinental title

-Kenny “The Cleaner” Omega, who will be competing full time for NJPW now, takes on Ryusuke Taguchi for the IWGP Jr Heavyweight title. (Omega also apparently joined Bullet Club at Power Struggle, appearing after Taguchi retained against Taichi to challenge for the title. From VoicesofWrestling, Omega debuted and cut a promo in English that he’s only there for the money and he lied about wanting to join the New Japan team, siding with Bullet Club and wants the IWGP Jr title)

-reDRagon defends the IWGP Jr Heavyweight tag team titles against The Time Splitter (Alex Shelley and KUSHIDA), The Forever Hooligans and The Young Bucks.

-Tomohiro Ishii defends the NEVER Openweight title against Togi Makabe

-Kazushi Sakuraba takes on Minoru Suzuki

-Hiroshi Tanahashi defends the IWGP Heavyweight title against G1 Climax 24 winner Kazuchika Okada

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An avid gamer and long-time pro wrestling fan, stay tuned to Grizzly Gaming and the Delco Elbow Drop for game reviews and pro wrestling news.

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