Pages

Collections

Tuesday, April 30, 2019

Signed Trading Cards: Joey Ryan, Christian, Black Taurus, Jake Manning, & More

This post is highlighting the cards that I acquired during my IndyMania Wrestling Vacation in New York City April 3rd - 6th, 2019.

The theme of this post is, all the rest! Seriously this is my seventh post about the cards I got signed this week.

Joey Ryan

These cards I got signed on Friday April 5th at the Wrestlecon Convention.  The first card is technically a Bar Wrestling card released by High Spots in 2018, but Ryan owns and operates the promotion so it works.  The second card is from the All In set released in 2018 from Highspots in conjunction with the All In event.  The third card was released in 2017 by Pro Wrestling Loot.

I previously had two cards signed by Joey Ryan, you can see them here.

Christian

I got this card signed on Saturday April 6th at the Wrestlecon Convention.  This card is both Edge and Christians first card released in 1998 by BBM,  They wrestled as Adam & Jay The Canadian Rockies for Tokyo Pro Wrestling.

Black Taurus

I got these cards signed on Friday April 5th at Joey Ryan's Penis Party at the Wrestlecon Convention.  The first card was released in 2019 by Superstars of the Squared Circle and the second in the 2016 AAA Panini sticker set

Sawyer Fulton

I got this card signed on April 6th before the Pancakes & Piledrivers III at the Wrestlecon Convention.  This card is part of the 2015 WWE Topps NXT subset and is Fulton's rookie card.  I bought it from Fulton for $5

Caleb Konley 

I got this card signed on Thursday April 4th before the Wrestlecon Supershow.  This card appears to have been released in 2018 by AML.  I bought it directly from Konley for $5.  My buddy Brandon who lives in North Carolina and has been to several AML shows has never heard to the cards.

Chase Owens

I got this card signed on Saturday April 6th at the Wrestlecon Convention.   This card was produced and released by Chase Owens himself in 2019.  The front of the cards features different color borders, this card is numbered 12 of 75 and has a piece of ring worn trunks in them.


Shane Strickland

I got this card signed on April 6th before the Pancakes & Piledrivers III at the Wrestlecon Convention.  This card was released in 2016 by Legacy Wrestling.

Dave Crist

I got this card signed on April 6th before the Pancakes & Piledrivers III at the Wrestlecon Convention.  This card was released by Highspots as part of their monthly wrestling crate, not sure what year.  I bought this card directly from Crist for $5.


Jake Manning

This card I got signed on Friday April 5th at the Wrestlecon Convention.  This card was made by FSCW: Fantasy Super Cosplay Wrestling and the man in the Deadpool costume is the Man Scout Jake Manning.  Manning stated that after this picture was taken they got a new nicer Deadpool costume.  Back in 2009 I got a card from the South Carolina based indy promotion Champions With Attitude  signed by Manning.

"Monster" Michael Todd

I got this card signed on April 6th at Madison Square Garden.  The World Arm-Wrestling League had a booth set up with Michael Todd there and an arm wrestling table.  I "challenged" him, and I lost.  They were giving away cards so I got one signed.

Thanks for reading, please leave a comment, read my other posts, and like my blogs Facebook page and while you're at it check out my weekly podcast The Wrestling Insomniac on the Nerdy Legion Podcast Network. 

Later Readers!

Monday, April 29, 2019

NWA Crocket Cup Live Recap – April 27th, 2019 (Concord, NC)


This past weekend I attended the NWA’s revival of The Crockett Cup. It has been thirty-one years since the last Crocket Cup tournament and I was thrilled that I was able to attend such a historic event.

If you follow the Ten Pounds of Gold or pro wrestling in general, you’ve probably already seen the results of this event. So, instead of going match-by-match and recapping I’ve decided to break down the experience of attending an NWA event in 2019 by dividing it into two categories (The Good and The Bad).

The Good

The Match Quality
Nick Aldis put on the best match of his career, but more on that in a bit.

Overall the matches were good to very good. The tournament was set up well with some interesting matchups (Rock N Roll Express vs. The Briscoes, Flip/Bandido vs. Guerrero Maya Jr./Stuka Jr) and two of the three championship matches were worthy of their respective championships.




There was a great mix of international talent, ROH talent, legends, and surprises. The matches were diverse enough that there was something for just about everyone in attendance to enjoy whether you liked hard hitting brawling style matches or high flying flippy stuff. I was very satisfied with how it played out.

The Throwback Set
Seeing the classic NWA ring apron and very minimalistic 80’s style set was awesome. For a guy like me who loves all things retro I couldn’t have asked for something better. It truly felt like I was walking into an NWA event circa 1986. 


My favorite part was the huge banners that hung down that were straight out of Rocky.




My only minor qualm about the throwback set was it did seem a little counterintuitive to the NWA’s mission of bringing wrestling up-to-date for a modern wrestling fan. But then again, their mission statement isn’t really any of my concern and I liked feeling like I was at a classic NWA event.

James Storm
James Storm’s arrival at The Crockett Cup was a pleasant surprise. I’ve always been a huge James Storm fan and he came out looking great and cut a fantastic promo. I loved how he set up his reasoning for crashing the party was to win the National Championship that way he could climb the ladder to the World Title since management had it out for him. That type of gimmick and reasoning works well for him and I think it could breathe some fresh air into Ten Pounds of Gold if you have a wrestler who feels like the NWA is out to get him and he’s having to claw his way back in.



Blood
There is a major lack of blood in wrestling these days. I believe the demand for family friendly wrestling has really pushed promoters away from busting up their wrestlers. Well, The Crockett Cup decided to go back to heyday of the NWA and we saw two matches with blood. The first was The Rock N Roll Express vs The Briscoes where Ricky Morton got color. The second was the main event, where Nick Aldis was busted open big time and bleed all over the place. It was a fantastic prop for storytelling and was no doubt done in order to help create sympathy for a wrestler that is clearly not over with the fans. 



It was hard not to respect Aldis after the main event, because he did bleed and he bled a lot. Here is a great shot of the ring after the match. 



The Main Event Delivered
More often than not, the main event doesn’t deliver. When you have a card full of talent from around the world that features the likes of Flip Gordon, Bandido, Nagata, Kojima, The Rock N Roll Express, etc., it’s hard to create a main event that isn’t overshadowed by one of those amazing talent’s earlier matches. Heck, I’m struggling to come up with a live event that I’ve been to where the main event was the best match on the card. However, at The Crockett Cup, the main event delivered. It was the best match on the card and it told a cohesive story that really put over Nick Aldis as champion. I believe most in attendance were disappointed with the outcome, but Aldis came off as a better champion after the match then the one he went into the match with and definitely earned the respect from the crowd.

The Bad

Nick Aldis
The belt needs to come off Nick Aldis. He has a phenomenal look, but he just doesn’t have what is needed to take the NWA to the next level. If anything is holding back the NWA it’s telling the fans that Nick Aldis is the best in the world when clearly he is not.

Here is a photo I took of Marty Scrull and Nick Aldis’ meet and greet lines.


The World Champ should have the longest line or at least someone in line.

I actually met Nick Aldis at this event and got a photo with him. I was second in line (of three people) and it was one of the more unpleasant experiences I’ve had meeting a wrestler. He didn’t seem like the wanted to be there; he barely spoke to me, and so I tried to tell him this touching story and he could have cared less. I understand if he was tired or had a huge line in front of him, but there was one person behind me and he had taken just one quick photo beforehand.

In comparison, Marty Scrull’s line was massive and he took time with every fan to chat, smile, and interact. Obviously, I don’t run a promotion, but if I did, my belt would be one the guy who acts like a World Champion and seems like he wants to be there.

Meet and Greet Price Gouging
The NWA set up two neat fan interaction opportunities over The Crockett Cup weekend. The first was a dinner with the Marty Scrull, Nick Aldis, Willie Mack, Kamille, and David Lagana. For $150, you got to spend three hours with the wrestlers, eat food, get a pin, and take photos with all the wrestlers.

The second was a VIP Experience the day of the event that lasted from 11 AM to 4 PM. For $150, you got to meet a majority of the wrestlers for the event, attend four panels, take photos and get a single autograph from each of the wrestlers, take your photo with Billy Corgan and The Crockett Cup. Overall it wasn’t a terrible deal, but $150 is a lot of money and it’s even worse if you attend the event with someone who doesn’t necessarily care about meeting all these wrestlers like I did and have to pay double.

I don’t have any issue with VIP Experiences and in fact, I like them. It’s a great opportunity for the fans and the promoters to make money. However, I do have an issue when these “Experiences” are used to price gouge the fans.

The NWA waited until just two days before The Crockett Cup to release any information on any additional meet and greets, a standard at most wrestling events. Once they finally released the “limited number of meet and greets,” terminology they were using over and over to push fans to do the VIP Experience, we discovered that almost all of the wrestlers would be available with exception of the ROH wrestlers like Flip, Bandido, and The Briscoes. Marty Scrull was available as discussed above.

The prices started off around $30 and went up to $40 for bigger stars like Aldis and Scrull. This is roughly double what it would cost to meet Marty Scrull at a ROH event or Aldis anywhere else.

It was clear that the inflated prices and the restriction of information were put in place to push fans into buying the VIP Experience, which from the pictures on Instagram was not worth it.

This was the NWA’s third event and between the way the Meet and Greets were handled and Nick Aldis general unpleasantness, the whole fan friendly appearance the NWA puts on in its Ten Pounds of Gold series and social media presence really came off like a farce. Putting up a massive paywall between the fans and meeting the wrestlers really is a bad way to go about doing business in the wrestling world in 2019.

The Women’s Match
Madusa was a last minute addition to the card and she was scheduled to present the NWA Women’s belt to the winner of the vacated title. It was clear when Madusa came out that she wasn’t prepared. She kept looking at her phone for notes and well… it was one of the worst parts of the show. She struggled to complete sentences and the fans even began to heckle her. 


Then came a match with two capable women, who just didn’t click. There was no build up for this match (since Jazz dropped out a week before) and it just came off flat. The crowd was basically silent and I think it might have been smarter to scrap the Women’s Title Match and maybe set up a tournament in the future to build in some reasons to actually watch and take the time to develop some characters.

The Wild Card Tag Team
A tag team consisting of Royce Isaacs and Thomas Latimer (formerly known as Bram) won the Wild Card Battle Royal that began the show and this earned them a spot in The Crockett Cup Tournament. It was one of those situations where since they were unknowns, you’d just assume they would move onto the next round and be eliminated rather quickly. Instead, Isaacs and Latimer ran the board and managed to make it into the finals (though various cheap tactics) which only infuriated the fans.

Now, smart booking says this is great. You get a tag team that everyone hates, watch them cheat their way to the top, and the fans will boo and enjoy it. However, Isaacs and Latimer came across like a couple of jobbers with no charisma, personality, or even noticeable talent. They seemed like two perfectly capable workers, but not someone you want to see running the board and beating talent like Flip Gordon and Bandido.

I was happy with them defeating The War Kings in first round because honestly, I thought the NWA was going to go the predictable way and put the belts on them. So I was legitimately shocked when Isaacs and Latimer won that match. However, that should have ended their run and they shouldn’t have been allowed to continue to win since it really put a drag on the show. The only other time the crowd truly died was in the finals of The Crockett Cup because it looked like Latimer and Isaacs were going to pull this off and not a single soul in the audience cared. Thankfully, that isn’t what happened. But before the NWA starts spotlighting Latimer and Issacs on The Ten Pounds of Gold, I’d recommend they find a way to make to them interesting and not look like two generic indy wrestlers just starting off.

Final Thoughts

Overall I had a blast at The Crockett Cup. The majority of the card was fantastic and I loved all the nods to the NWA’s past with the legends in attendance and the set design. There is still room for a lot of improvement for the NWA including figuring out to enhance the fan experience without being greedy and developing some stars of their own. 



Would I attend another NWA event? Definitely, but I would go into it knowing that I’d just be there for the wrestling and none of the extras that I look forward to at other promotions like AML or Ring of Honor.

Signed Trading Cards: Pentagon, Ospreay, ZSJ, David Starr, & More

This post is highlighting the cards that I acquired during my IndyMania Wrestling Vacation in New York City April 3rd - 6th, 2019.

The theme in this set are PWG cards!

Pentagon Jr

These cards I got signed on Friday April 5th at the Wrestlecon Convention.  The first cards is from the 2016 PWG Battle of Los Angeles set and the second is from the AAA 2016 Panini sticker set.  I was excited to finally meet Pentagon, not only did I get my cards signed and my picture taken with him but I got to see him wrestle 4 times during the week.

Will Ospreay

I got these cards signed on Thursday April 4th before the Wrestlecon Supershow.  The first card is from bushiroad 2016 King of Pro-Wrestling set and the second 2016 PWG Battle of Los Angeles set.  Ospreay is another I was excited to see for the first time, and I got to see him wrestle three times including in what I thought was the best match of the weekend.

Zack Sabre Jr

I got these cards signed on Thursday April 4th before the Wrestlecon Supershow.  The first card is from the 2016 PWG Battle of Los Angeles set and the second from the 2017 PWG Battle of Los Angeles set.  I have a rule about not getting the backs of the cards signed but we were talking about his trip to Limitless Wrestling and he signed them quickly.  He such a super nice guy to talk to both times that I met him.  I have one card previously signed by Sabre, you can see it here.

Adam Brooks

I got this card signed on April 6th before the Pancakes & Piledrivers III at the Wrestlecon Convention.  This card is from the 2018 PWG Battle of Los Angeles set.  After meeting him Limitless Wrestling announced he would be appearing at their May 10th show, I'm hoping for a better outing.  He wrestled Matt Cross at this show and it just okay.

Sammy Guevara

I got this card signed on April 6th before the Pancakes & Piledrivers III at the Wrestlecon Convention. This card is from the 2017 PWG Battle of Los Angeles set.  Sammy was super cool to chat with, he seems like a genuine laid back guy.  He was filming his vlog and you see him signing my card in it.  I'd like to see him again in Limitless.



Chris Brookes

I got this card signed on Friday April 5th after the RevPro show at the Wrestlecon convention. This card is from the 2018 PWG Battle of Los Angeles set.  I only saw Brooks on the RevPro show and he teamed with Jonthan Gresham as CCK defeated Clark Connors and Karl Fredericks, the US Dojo Young Lions, in an excellent match.  I enjoy Brookes in Progress and hope to see him again.

David Starr

I got this card signed on Wednesday April 3rd at Beyond Wrestling Uncharted Territory episode 1 from the Electric Haze in Worcester, Massachusetts.  This card is from the 2018 PWG Battle of Los Angeles set.  Starr is one of my favorite guys on the indies right now, he has amazing passionate promos and can work any style in the ring. I saw him wrestle three times this week including matches with Tomohiro Ishii and Masato Tanaka.

I have had cards signed by Starr in the past and you can see them here.

Thanks for reading, please leave a comment, read my other posts, and like my blogs Facebook page and while you're at it check out my weekly podcast The Wrestling Insomniac on the Nerdy Legion Podcast Network. 

Later Readers!

Sunday, April 28, 2019

Signed Trading Cards: Barry Windham, Ronnie Garvin, Lex Luger, & Magnum TA

This post is highlighting the cards that I acquired during my IndyMania Wrestling Vacation in New York City April 3rd - 6th, 2019.

The theme in this post that links the wrestlers together is the NWA: National Wrestling Alliance.  All these wrestling in this post were prominently featured in that promoting during the heyday of Jim Crockett Promotions.  The NWA Wonderama cards are among my all time favorite to get signed.

Barry Windham

These cards I got signed on Friday April 5th at the Wrestlecon Convention.  The first card is from the 1988 Wonderama set for Jim Crockett Promotions, the second card is from the WCW 1991 Championship Marketing set.  Previously I had gotten a WWF card signed of him and Rotunda at the US Express.  Windham is one of my all time favorites, he was so good in the ring especially for a man his size.  His flying clothesline was tremendous!

Ronnie Garvin

These cards I got signed on Friday April 5th at the Wrestlecon Convention.  The first card is from the 1988 Wonderama set for Jim Crockett Promotions.  The second card is from the 1989 WWF Classic set released by Game Time Inc.  I recently wrote a blog about Garvin and you can about it here: Ronnie Garvin: His NWA World Championship Matches

Lex Luger

These cards I got signed on Friday April 5th at the Wrestlecon Convention.  My intention was to get three cards signed and I brought the extra and ask if he would like them.  I gave away many cards to wrestlers on this trip.  Luger at first said thank you, but then signed them all and gave them to me saying he had boxes of them at home.

Cards 1 - 3 are from the 1988 Wonderama set for Jim Crockett Promotions, cards 4 & 5 are from the WCW 1991 Championship Marketing set.  Card 6 is from the 1993 Merlin set that was released in Germany.  The final card is from the 1999 WCW Topps Embossed set.  These seven cards really show the progression of his career.

Magnum TA

This card I got signed on Saturday April 6th at the Wrestlecon Convention.  I bought the card direct from Magnum TA. It is in the style of the 1982 & 1983 Wrestling All Stars trading cards but this one is not part of either set and the back is white and blank.  I had gone over to his table just to tell him that his I Quit Steel Cage match with Tully Blanchard is one of my all time favorites.  I'm really glad that I picked it up!  Previously I had gotten an NWA Wonderama card signed by him.

I spoke with David Peck http://www.1982wrestlingallstars.com/ an expert on the Wrestling All Stars trading cards.  He let me know that a Wrestling All Stars calendar came out in 1984 for Mid-South Wrestling and that this image of Magnum TA is from January in that calendar.  This explains why the back is white and there is no traditional text.

You can watch his You Tube video on the calendar here: 1984 Wrestling All Stars Calendar


Thanks for reading, please leave a comment, read my other posts, and like my blogs Facebook page and while you're at it check out my weekly podcast The Wrestling Insomniac on the Nerdy Legion Podcast Network. 

Later Readers!

Friday, April 26, 2019

IndyMania: My Wrestling Vacation Part 3


Saturday April 6th we slept getting up at seven am to start our day.  It was a gorgeous morning walk to the subway station unlike last yesterday where it rained all day with a high of 43 degrees.  Today was sunshine and clear skies hitting the lower 70's.

We got to the convention hall about 8:30 am just in time for the Ohio Valley Wrestling press conference announcing the Al Snow Wrestling Academy Combine coming this June.

Once again when doors open people were able to file in at a quick pace.  Mikey and Jay headed off to who they needed to see and I found myself only needing to meet Christian, my final presale.  I got him to sign a Japanese card of him and Edge as The Canadian Rockies.  He commented that he didn't see that card often at all.

I went down the the Rhinelader room and saw Magnum TA sitting at his table with no line so I went up to thank him and to tell him how much I love his match with Tully Blanchard from Starrcade 1985 the infamous I Quit steel cage match.  While there I saw he had a stack of what looked like a trading card based on the 1982 - 1983 Wrestling All Stars set, the back of it was blank.  I bought the card and had him sign it.  Check out my post about the card here.

I left the hotel looking for a instant photo machine, which the concierge told me was just down the street.  I headed down the road and it was even nicer outside looking for the Duane Reade pharmacy, which I saw across the street.  Entering the pharmacy I didn't see a photo machine and when I asked the clerk she pointed out the window saying, "We don't have one but the Duane Reade across the street does."  Yup.  So I crossed back over and went in where for $4 I was able to print and 8 x 10 of Faby Apache and I from Friday.  It came out nice.

I headed back to the convention getting my picture signed by Faby and she took another photo with me.  She remembered me and thanked me again for the cards and letter.

I met Jay and Mikey in the grand ballroom for Wrestling Revolver's Pancakes and Piledriver's III with a bell time of eleven am.  Before the show I bought cards from Sawyer Fulton and Dave Crist and got cards signed by Chris Brookes, Adam Brooks, and Sammy Guevara.  I even made Guevara's Vlog in a montage of him signing for fans.


The show started a little late to accommodate the 1200 fans that needed to file into the ballroom.  We had front row once again for this show, in the same section as both shows yesterday, just different seats.


There were nine matches on the card but featured 50 wrestlers on the show!  The best match on the card and the one of the best matches of the weekend was Ricky Shane Page vs. Tessa Blanchard.  It went on second to last and stole the damn show!  I cannot say enough good about this match!


This was my first time seeing RSP in person, I love his entrance and his balance on the top rope is crazy good! You could tell that he led this match and he did a phenomenal job.  The match told a great story and featured Tessa giving RSP a Canadian Destroyer off the top rope!!


They had a Hoss fight and it was cool to see Ace Romero on the show.  Jessicka Havok entered herself and took a wicked beating including a top rope splash from winner Jacob Fatu.  She is one tough lady.



Main event featured Shane Strickland's final match on the indies as he has signed with NXT.  Here is the rest of the card:

April 6, 2019 Wrestling Revolver  Hilton Grand Ballroom, Manhattan, NY
Pancakes and Piledrivers III

Moose Defeated David Starr & Brian Cage
Pro Wrestling Revolver Tag Team Gauntlet:  The Besties in the World: Davey Vega & Mat Fitchett eliminated Aussie Open: Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis; The Rascalz: Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz eliminated The Besties in the World: Lucha Brothers Pentagon Jr & Rey Fenix eliminated The Rascalz; LAX: Santana & Ortiz eliminated Lucha Brothers and Team Tremendous: Dan Barry & Bill Carr defeated LAX winning the Tag Team Championships
JT Dunn defeated AR Fox, Ace Austin, & Sammy Guevara
PWR Open Invitational Scramble Champion: Caleb Konley defeated Clayton Gainz, Daga, Ian Maxwell, Jake Manning, Arik Cannon, John Skylar, Kyle the Beast, Lance Anoa'i, Mance Warner, Try Miguel and Shigehiro Irie to retain the championship
Matt Cross pinned Adam Brooks
Impact X - Division Champion: Rich Swann pinned Chuck Mambo
Jacob Fatu defeated Larry D, Ace Romero, Jessicka Havok, Dan Maff, Fallah Bah, & Madman Fulton pinning Havok after a splash from the top rope
Tessa Blanchard pinned Ricky Shane Page
The Unwanted: Shane Strickland, Joe Gacy, & Eddie Kingston defeated OVE: Sami Callihan, Dave Crist, & Jake Crist

After the show I stopped to tell RSP how awesome his match was.  Mikey and Jay hit the convention to meeting a few more wrestlers before we headed out around three.  Once outside there was a Tartan Parade that featured some really good bagpipe music.

We stopped at Shake Shack one last time and along with my burger we had some of their chicken nuggets which are amazing!  The place was packed to the gills and we were lucky to find a table.

We ended up being able to rest up at the room for about an hour before heading out to Madison Square Garden, the reason this trip was thought of the begin with.  Mikey had never been before so we made sure to stop on the main concourse to show him the WrestleMania I display.


Just before the display the World Arm Wrestling League was setting up a booth and giving out free trading cards of their champion "Monster" Michael Todd who was accepting all challengers...I did not win.


Our seats were in the front row of the balcony and we had a good view, my only complaint is that my legs were a bit cramped.  Also the show itself from dark match to main event almost six hours, so we were sitting in our seats longer.  During the ladder match I had to get up and stretch my legs.  I was able to watch it from the concourse because they have bar seat openings.  For the main event I took my seat again.

The show opened with a women of honor six woman tag team match dark match that will probably be on the DVD release.  The pre-show featured the 30 man Honor Rumble battle royal and was included on the New Japan broadcast.


During the Honor Rumble we got a lot of New Japan talent that weren't on the main card including Jushin Thunder Liger, and Ishii and Suzuki squaring off with some stuff shots to each other.



A surprise entrance in King Haku, and a Delirious who rarely wrestles anymore and typically just on the Ring of Honor shows in Japan and the UK.  The biggest surprise of all was entrant number 30 THE GREAT MUTA!!  I legit lost my shit and am surprised I didn't explode my throat I yelled so loud.

I remember reading more than once over the years that the one thing Muta hasn't done in his career but wanted to was wrestle in Madison Square Garden.  When New Japan first announced the show in July 2018 Muta has just had double knee replacement surgery in May and I thought, I wonder if he'll try to get on the show in a tag match.


In the coming months he was announced to appear at House of Glory, then that he was wrestling in a six man tag, then he was appearing at WrestleCon.  I held on a hope that he just might appear at the Garden.  I don't know why I was so happy about it, but I just wanted Muta to check that box so badly.  We saw a lot of wrestlers make their garden debut on this night but the one that is the most exciting is that we saw the Madison Square Garden debut of The Great Muta.

Here is the entire card:

April 6, 2019 NJPW/ ROH G1 Supercard at Madison Square Garden

Dark Match

Odeo Tai: Kagetsu and Hazuki & Jenny Rose defeated Hana Kimura, Sumie Sakai, & Stella Gray

Pre-Show

Honor Rumble: Kenny King won outlasting Minoru Suzuki, Cheeseburger, Beer City Bruiser, Sho, Shingo Takagi, Bushi, Yoh, Shaheem Ali, Rhett Titus, LSG, Ryusuke Tagushi, Will Ferrara, Chase Owens, Rocky Romero, Brian Milonas, Bad Luck Fale, Jonathan Gresham, Tracy Williams, Yoshi Hashi, PJ Black, Jushin Thunder Liger, TK O'Ryan, Vinny Marseglia, Delirious, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano, Colt Cabana, Hirooki Goto, King Haku, & The Great Muta

Main Card

ROH World Television Champion: Jeff Cobb pinned NEVER Openweight Champion: Will Ospreay to win the championship
Rush pinned Dalton Castle with The Boys in 15 seconds, post match Dalton turned on The Boys
Kelly Klein defeated Woman of Honor World Champion: Mayu Iwatani to win the championship
New York City Street Fight: Flip Gordon and Lifeblood: Juice Robinson & Mark Haskins defeated Bully Ray, Shane Taylor, & Silas Young
Dragon Lee defeated Bandido and IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion: Taiji Ishimori to win the championship
IWGP Heavweight Champions: Guerrillas of Destiny: Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa with Jado defeated ROH World Tag Team Champions: Villian Enterprises: PCO & Brody King, Los Ingobernables de Japon: Sanada & Evil, and The Briscoe Brothers: Mark & Jay to win the championships
British Heavyweight Champion: Zack Sabre Jr with Taka Michinoku submitted Hiroshi Tanahashi
Kota Ibushi pinned IWGP Intercontinental Champion: Tetsuya Naito to win the championship
Ladder Match: Matt Taven defeated Marty Scrull & ROH World Champion: Jay Lethal to win the championship
Kazuchika Okada defeated IWGP Heavyweight Champion: Jay White with Gedo to win the championship for fifth time

The show really felt like it was two different shows in one, Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling.  And the ROH side of the card wasn't very good at all, except the ladder match.  The Woman of Honor title match was bad and the introduction of Angelina Love and Velvet Sky post match was meh.  Enzo and Cas jumping the rail in an apparent worked shoot was ridiculous and if you watch the show they aren't shown or even mentioned.  The street fight was just okay.

The New Japan half of the card was tremendous!  Ibushi vs. Naito was one of the best matches of the weekend.  Okada vs. Jay White was a classic Okada paced match, and we got to see the top two titles in New Japan change hands.


I really think that New Japan needs to distance themselves from Ring of Honor and do their North American expansion on their own.  I definitely think that they can do it on their own.

After the show we grabbed some slices at Bravo's, running it Flip Gordon, and headed back to the room.  I'm so glad that we got to see this historic card at Madison Square Garden, the first wrestling promoter to run a show at the world's most famous arena since 1960 that wasn't a McMahon.


I know Jay & I said this last year, but I really don't need to go back to the Garden anytime soon, unless I want to take my sons someday.  I happy going to indy shows and their intimate settings or going to WWE here in Maine.  I don't feel the need to go to huge arena shows.

The next morning we took the train back to Providence where Amy picked us up.  We stopped on the way back picking up big sandwich fixings and other snacks.  Back at Jay's we watched more of Takeover until the WrestleMania preshow started.  We made big sandwiches, they were excellent!  We took in WrestleMania from his couch and it was perfect.


Jay wasn't feeling well so he went to bed early with Amy, Mikey and I stayed up and watched all of Mania, I dozed off during the main event but caught the finish.  All in all it was a very good WrestleMania card.

Monday morning Mikey and I headed back north, it rained heavily most of the way and once we got back into Maine it turned to snow and the roads got pretty bad to closer to Gardiner that we got.  We stopped on the way home in Mass to get Kate a Jimmy John's and we passed time during the driving recording a podcast about the weekend.  You can download it here: Our Indy Mania Weekend!

I'm going to make one more post that summarizes the week with my favorite moments, matches, and highlights.

Thanks for reading, please leave a comment, read my other posts, and like my blogs Facebook page and while you're at it check out my weekly podcast The Wrestling Insomniac on the Nerdy Legion Podcast Network. 

Until next time!