My 400th Live Wrestling Event

 

On Thursday November 5th I attended the WWE House show event at the Cross Insurance Center in Portland, my 400th live wrestling event, and my 44th WWE promoted event. A few months back WWE announced two shows in Maine, 5th in Portland and 6th in Bangor, I was extremely surprised. The last time they had been to Maine was in December 2023.

WWE had essentially stopped doing house shows in 2024 except for outside the United States, they slowly started doing them again in large markets in the US. Maine is definitely not a large market, and the fact they dates were on a Thursday and Friday were odd, as SmackDown is live on Friday's. Shortly thereafter WWE announced Crown Jewel on Saturday November 7th in Saudi Arabia.

My friends and I speculated we would have a C roster show, we were wrong, thankfully. When tickets went on sale the prices were absurd!! $700 for VIP, and seats off the floor over $400. Cheapest tickets were $60 with the fees, I guess long gone are they days of family friendly pricing.

WWE is not my favorite brand of wrestling. I just don't care for their presentation, I have not for a long time, because I like wrestling matches, and their shows are full of talking segments, video packages, and video packages recapping the talking segments from earlier in the show. I also don't like the arena presentations with all the LED ring post covers and just everything over all. I follow the results and watch certain matches, but I don't sit and watch a full show.

About two weeks before the show they announced a 2 for 1 deal on tickets, that's when Mikey and I bought our seats, ended up being $44 each, which for the view we had was a great price, however, I never would pay $89 for that seat. I will say as the event drew closer they lowered prices and had more deals. I know friends that bought tickets off of third party sellers for $19.

Day of the show, it rained most of the morning, but I headed down arriving about 5pm, Mikey was already down there trying to get his Mania program signed, but no one had arrived. While I know many people try to get photos and autos before and after the shows, I had only done that before earlier this year in May when AEW had their debut in Maine at this same venue.

Seems like I got there at the right time as that is when everyone starting showing up. I didn't get anything signed, I brought some cards, but not the right ones, but I did manage to get some photos with some people.

Candice LeRae

Chad Gable

Joe Hendry

Johnny Gargano

Lainey Ried

There were two areas where people were standing to try and meet the wrestlers, some only went to one area or the other some went to both spots. Punk went to the other side and signed a few and took a few pictures. Someone was filming Chad Gable when he came to our area, that footage was used later when they played a video package at the beginning of the show, like they do before their TV show, showing wrestles walking in the back of the arena, Gable signing autographs, and ect. That's right we got a video package at a house show.

You can see Mikey and I in the Gable footage from the video

The venue set up was basic and I loved it! No LED wall, ring skirt, or ring post covers. a small video wall entrance way, a basic lighting rig, and they used the house sound system for announcing and entrance music. They did have a hard camera and a handheld as well.

I took pictures from my seat, but they look as good as you would expect from a cell phone. Let's get to the matches:

Big Cass pinned Joe Hendry

Basic match, Joe came out first tried to play his guitar, but it didn't work. He rolled with it though and did his signing with the crowd bit. Big Cass interrupted him and the match got underway.

AAA World Cruiserweight Champion: Rey Fenix defeated Johnny Gargano with Candice LeRae

Candice interfered several times before she finally got caught and the referee threw her out. Almost immediately after Fenix did his run across the top rope and kicked Gargano and then finished him off with a frog splash.

Stephanie Vaquer, IYO SKY, & Lola Vice defeated Fatal Influence: Fallon Henley, WWE Women's United States Champion: Jacy Jayne & Lainey Reid when Vaquer pinned Henley

I was shocked that Vaquer was on the show, she last wrestled on October 17th and last we knew was out indefinitely for an unknown reason. VERY solid match, the ladies really went at it and put on a great match.

WWE Men's United States Champion: Trick Williams pinned Damian Priest

Trick is over, Priest is overrated, this was very much a going through the motions match that I anticipate at house shows.

Triple Threat Match: WWE Intercontinental Champion: Ethan Page defeated Chad Gable and Dominik Mysterio pinning Gable

It wasn't a bad match, but I did anticipate a lot more from these three. Gable was wicked over, as was Dominik. Page got the pin on Gable after a low blow and his finisher.

The 946: Bronco Nima & Carmelo Hayes with Jaida Parker & Royce Keys defeated The Usos: Jey & Jimmy when Nima pinned Jey

This was supposed to be a six man tag, with Solo teaming with the Usos and Lucien Price with 946 but neither were there. I was very shocked that 946 got the clean pin on Jey clean in the center of the ring after a combination of moves from both Hayes and Nima.

This match was also very much guys just going through the motions and a lot of "yeeting".

CM Punk wrestled Kevin Owens to a double count-out

Street Fight: CM Punk pinned Kevin Owens

What was interesting was after the entrances and introductions they shut off the video screens and there was no handheld camera. They didn't turn the video screens on until after the match was over. We got the typical short brawl with the match thrown out after a couple minutes before they restarted with the street fight.

Some outside the ring brawling, they used a kendo stuck, chairs, and tables. It was a solid match, Punk got the win after he hit a GTS, and then two elbow drops through a table for the pin. The first big elbow didn't get the job done, needed a second to break the table.

After the show I waited around a bit and got a couple more photos, with Jacy Jayne and Kevin Owens.

Joe Hendry was extremely generous with his time before and after the show going down the entire line of people signing anything, taking photos.  He made a lot of kids nights and that was very cool.  I was already in the venue when Kevin Owens arrived, but after the show he went also was very generous with his time, he went all the way down the lines taking photo's and signing.

Over all I had a lot of fun and was glad I went to the show.  It was great seeing several wrestlers live for the first time, and to see other again like Kevin Owens and Stephanie Vaquer.  Getting so many photos with the wrestlers was very cool as well!

For those wondering

Show 100: March 29, 2008 UXW Pro Wrestling Central Florida Fairgrounds, Orlando

Show 200: January 30, 2016 Limitless Wrestling, American Legion Hall Brewer, Maine

Show 300: February 25, 2023 NAWA The Community Center, Fairfield, Maine

The same day as Show 100 I went to the 2008 WWE Hall of Fame.

It took 19 years to get to show 100,  another just under 8 years to get to show 200, another 7 years to get to show 300, but we also had COVID in there so..., finally it took only 3.5 years to get to show 400.  

I wonder when I'll hit show 500, or 1000 for that matter! 

Thank you for reading, please leave a comment, check out my other posts, and if you want like my blogs Facebook page.  You can also head over to Amazon and pick up a copy of my book the 2024 Limitless Wrestling Almanac, or any of my other books.

Until next time! 

March 29, 2008

UXW Pro Wrestling Central Florida Fairgrounds Orlando, FL

Mike Tobin defeated Little Greatness, Naphtali, Wade Koverly, Chris Jones, & Craig Classic

Francisco Ciasto w/ Ron Neimei pinned “Lifeguard” Darren Smythe

Skull Von Crush pinned Vordell Walker to win the vacant United States Championship

Extreme Triple Threat Match: Ray Beez defeated Aaron Epic & Sideshow

Raymond Snow won a 6 way match

Jake “The Snake” Roberts pinned Kenny Kendrick with a DDT

2 out of 3 Falls Match: The Heartbreak Express: Sean & Phil Davis w/ Amy Vitale defeated Jon Davis & Bruce Santee 2 Falls to 1.  Fall 1: Double Dog Collar Match, Fall 2: I Quit Match, Fall 3: Last Man Standing.  Jon Davis required 16 staples to close a wound on his head.  

Lou Cypher pinned Jason Sorrow

Abdullah the Butcher defeated Lou Cypher

January 30, 2016

Limitless Wrestling American Legion Hall Orono, ME

Ace Romero pinned AR Fox

Fatal 4-Way Elimination Match: House of Glory Tag Team Champions: Private Party: Marq Quen & Isiah Kassidy defeated Cuban Rum Crisis: “Top Shelf” Troy Nelson & George, Alexander Lee & DangerKid, and Herbal Corps: Rembrandt Lewis & Adam Falcon last eliminating Cuban Rum Crisis

House of Glory Elite Champion: Anthony Gangone defeated Sonya Strong

“Firebrand” Brian Fury submitted Xavier Bell

The Influence: Mike Montero & Jason Devine defeated M1nute Men: Devin Blaze & Tommy Trainwreck

Fatal Four Way: “White Delight” Scott Wild defeated Kris Pyro, Christian Casanova, & Ken Broadway

Brick Mastone pinned “Carnivore” Alex Mason

Zack Sabre Jr. pinned Chris Hero in 24 minutes 10 seconds

February 25, 2023

North Atlantic Wrestling Assoc. (NAWA) The Community Center Fairfield, ME

“Rugged” Rick Daniels pinned “Flash” Nick Mckenna

Bomb Squad: John Bryar & Crash Landing defeated The Sea Wolves: Levi Spade & Dylan Nix when Crash pinned Nix 

Lee Miller with Mark Moment and Santone defeated Dunky Boy Bandit

Johnny Primer pinned Blade Bandit

Jason Maverick with Coach pinned “Roadhouse” Jordan Cross

Mark Moment with Lee Miller and Santone defeated Cousin Larry

Signed Trading Cards: Jim Steele Part 2?

Back in  November 2018 I reached out to James Rocha on Facebook asking if he would sign some trading cards for me.  James Rocha wrestled for many years and is probably best known as "Jungle" Jim Steele from early 1990's WCW.  He later wrestled in Japan where he had wrestling trading cards released under the names The Lacrosse, Wolf Hawkfield, and James Steele.

He graciously agreed to sign them for me, so I mailed them out and on December 26, 2018 I got them back in the mail signed, and they look great! What I thought then, which I also think now, who else has all three of these signed? In February 2019 I wrote a blog about it: Signed Trading Cards: Jim Steele.  

He did not have any of the cards, so I mailed him the extras that I had at that time.  Later in July 2020 I acquired more of his cards and I mailed them off to him.  We chatted briefly about COVID and that was it, the end of the story, or so I thought.

On November 2, 2026 I get an envelope in the mail, with the return address from Florida.  I still occasionally mail out cards to get signed, and I include a return envelope each time, and this was not one of my envelopes that I filled out.

I'm shocked to find when I open the envelope a signed The Lacrosse and Wolf Hawkfield.  There is no note, nothing at all just the cards.  He even dated them 10-24-26. 

I'm not sure why nearly 8 years after I mailed him these cards to keep, he sent them back to me signed, but he did.  Anyhow, if anyone is interested in adding these to your collection, let me know! 

Thank you for reading, please leave a comment, check out my other posts, and if you want like my blogs Facebook page.  You can also head over to Amazon and pick up a copy of my book the 2024 Limitless Wrestling Almanac, or any of my other books.

Until next time! 

Real Action Wrestling Lunenburg, Nova Scotia

In the Spring of 2026 my wife's cousin asked if we would be interested in going on a couples long weekend to Nova Scotia or Prince Edward Island as they had never been to either before.  Kate and I have been to both but it's been a while since we've been to Nova Scotia.

My first thought was, I hope I can attend a wrestling show while we are there, as I've never been to wrestling in PEI or Nova Scotia before.  I went to the Facebook and checked out Kaizen Pro Wrestling's page and saw they had listed their October date of the 10th and as that is a holiday weekend for us being Indigenous People's Day on the Monday the 12th, we booked and Airbnb for that weekend.

As card is subject to change, so is date of the show when your venue pushes you out for another event.  A couple months out I noticed that Kaizen's show was moved to October 3rd.  I search a few Maritime Wrestling groups and found another show on the 10th.  In September I saw Rudy Lockhart at a Limitless show in Portland, Maine who told me about Real Action Wrestling on the 9th in Lunenburg, and he said that would be the better show of the weekend.

The 4 of us headed out on Friday morning bright and early to make the 541 mile or 872 km drive to our Airbnb in Bedford, Nova Scotia.  After getting set up and having dinner, Jason and I headed out to make the hour long drive to Lunenburg for the show. 

I had never heard of Real Action Wrestling before, and I have seen a few of them wrestle before , but I'm always excited to see new wrestlers for the first time because even with as much wrestling as I watch, there are thousands of wrestlers that I have never heard of and finding a new favorite is always great!

The venue was easy to find, had ample parking, and the area where the ring was set up looked great.  They have an entry way with lights and even a walkway to the ring!  The only upsetting thing, is no one took a bump on the walkway. 

We paid the $30 general admission, but we were able to get front row on the far side of the ring, not sure why no one else has made their way around to that spot, because there was plenty of people in there ahead of us.

VIP Doors opened at 6pm with a bonus match, VIP was $35, but we didn't get there until quarter of seven.  I'm not sure what the bonus match was.  Before the show I chatted with Ryan Schimmel, cool guy we had a great conversation about what we love about wrestling.  

Let's get to the matches:

Fantana pinned Wesley Pipes

I have seen Pipes wrestle in Maine a few times in the past. This was, the best match of his that I have seen to date.  He dominated most of the match with Fantana using his high flying to do some damage to the bigger Pipes.  Fantana reversed a possible razors edge into a roll up for the pin. 

Ryan Schimmel

SEBBY

Sebby submitted Ryan Schimmel with a fujiwara armbar

This was my favorite match of the night.  As with every match, I was not sure what to expect as I'm not familiar with either wrestler.  I had seen SEBBY back in 2025 when he wrestled for Limitless at Crunch Time but it was in a Battle Royal and you don't really see what someone can do in a battle royal.  

The match opened with some comedy bits and seeing who the crowd with cheer for.  Then they started getting serious, Ryan working Sebby's leg and Sebby doing damage to Ryan's arm through-out the match.

The match flowed back and forth with them both going back to the body part they were working.  They took their time, the didn't rush, but at no time did the match feel like it dragged.  Near the end they started getting fired up withe some strong strikes back and forth getting the crowd fired up.  Ryan locked in the Texas clover leaf and almost got the submission, by Sebby rallied back and got the submission with the fujiwara armbar. 

It was a great match, my hats off the both of them for going over 20 minutes and keeping at it.  I'm going to be looking for more matches of them on the YouTube and IWTV once I get home. 

Mixed Tag: Ronnie Payne & Matt Kerr defeated Sierra Stone & Anthony Deuce Harlem when Payne pinned Stone

Ronnie came out, as the home town girl she was looking for match but didn't have an announced opponent.  Sierra Stone came out and sat on the walkway until Harlem came out, he took an envelope of money from Stone, and they both hit the ring.  Matt Kerr then ran out and we got ourselves a mixed tag team match.

Solid match where Harlem and Stone got the best of Kerr for quite a bit until he finally was able to tag in Ronnie who turned the tide for her team.  There was some miscommunication between Stone and Harlem which lead to them colliding and Ronnie getting the pin on Stone. 

Next up was intermission, I went and told Ryan and Sebby how I felt about their matches, grabbed photos with them and Ronnie Payne.  Ryan and Sebby were both grateful for my comments, Sebby asked if I knew Rip Byson, of course I do, he said he was going to Grind later this month.

Ronnie told me that she has wrestled in Maine before in Franklin, I believe for Maine Event Wrestling.

Dawson James pinned Bobby Boyette with a spinebuster after Joey White interfered

It was Bobby's birthday and he's clearly a big fan favorite here.  Dawson looks great in the ring, not sure how long he's been at it, he reminds me of a Stan Hansen style of wrestler.  I saw him wrestler in November 2025 for Limitless at the Queen City Expo, it was a 4 way tag team match.  

He looked good tonight, has a hell of a lariat and nice looking spinebuster.  The RAW Champion Jack White came out and used a staple gun on Boyette while the ref was distracted by Dawson.  Dawson then hit the previously mentioned spine buster for the pin.

White then cut a promo that he was not defending the title tonight, however the owner of RAW came out and informed him that he would be putting the gold on the line.

Hollywood Cole pinned RAW Heavyweight Champion: Joey White to win the championship

I had seen White before a couple of times at Limitless, in the previously mentioned Battle Royal and singles match with Perry Von Vicious at the Queen City Expo in a short match that ended in DQ. 

This was a decent match, lots of back and forth, spilling on the floor for a bit as well.  Dawson had stayed at ringside, and even tried to help White retain hitting that spinebuster on Cole whole the referee was distracted but to no avail.  Cole came back and got the pin, history was made, as Gorilla Monsoon would say as we had a new champion!

Let's give it up to the referee Isiah Brooks for officiating all five matches.  I'm sure he was tuckered out at the end of the night.

It was a great night of wrestling, I mean I really enjoyed myself.  Jason had never been to a live wrestling show before and he really like it as well.

If you get a chance, check out Real Action Wrestling, and also support all independent wrestling in Nova Scotia.

If you want, you can read my blog post all about your weekend away: Cousin's Couples Weekend to the Canadian Maritimes

Thank you for reading, please leave a comment, check out my other posts, and if you want like my blogs Facebook page.  You can also head over to Amazon and pick up a copy of my book the 2024 Limitless Wrestling Almanac, or any of my other books.

Until next time!