Mike's Year in Review

I had composed an awesome year in review post and then a few key strokes from my son, on accident of course, deleted it.  Auto saved did it's job and it was gone.  I considered retyping it all but I became to frustrated with the idea of it so this is the abridged version.  

This was best year in attending wrestling events since 2012 as I managed to take in 23 wrestling events this year bringing my all time total to 248 wrestling events.  Not even close though to my buddy Mikey who has taken in over 50 wrestling events a year for the last half decade at least.

For those wondering:

First event: June 4, 1989 WWF at the Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland, Maine

50th event: February 22, 2002 Eastern Wrestling Alliance in Auburn, Maine

100th event: March 29, 2008 the WWE Hall of Fame Ceremony in Orlando, Florida

150th event: March 25, 2012 Big Time Wrestling Augusta, Maine at the Civic Center

200th event: March 19, 2016 Limitless Wrestling in Orono, Maine

At the time of this writing event 250 looks to be Limitless Wrestling in Yarmouth, Maine on January 24, 2020.

I saw 173 matches in person this year in venues ranging from the Fairfield Community Center to Madison Square Garden in three different states and two countries, yes it was Canada but it is another country.  I attended events that were promoted in the United States by companies based outside the U.S. Two New Japan Pro Wrestling events one in New York City and the second in Lowell, Mass, Revolution Pro based out of the UK in New York City, and the Lucha Libre AAA Press Conference held at Madison Square Garden.

The press conference did not feature and wrestling matches but I still count it as a wrestling event because it was an official AAA event where owner Dorian Roldan appeared as well as several AAA talents including Blue Demon Jr, Lucha Brothers, Konnan, and many more.  Footage of Jay, Mikey, & I was used in AAA promotional videos for a few months after that.

My daily consumption of wrestling is greater than it ever has been in the past, of course we have more opportunity to watch wrestling than ever before.  Not just locally but from around the world thanks to the Internet and streaming services.  I watched New Japan on NJPW World, AAA on Twitch, WWE & NXT on the Network, and at the end of the year NWA Powerrr on YouTube and AWE on the TNT app.  Not to mention all the promotions and matches I watched on YouTube and IWTV.

It was an awesome year for professional wrestling all around.

British Tag Team Champions: Suzuki-Gun: Minoru Suzuki & British Heavyweight Champion: Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi and Will Ospreay when Sabre pinned Ospreay at the RevPro UK show on April 5th during WrestleCon was one my favorite matches of the year.  It's the first one to jump to my mind when I think about the topic.  We sat front row, we played air guitar with Tanahashi during his entrance as he stood directly in front of us.  We got to witness close up, Minoru Suzuki physically wreck Will Ospreay not to mention watch ZSJ tie him up like a pretzel.  It was AMAZING!

Before the show we got the opportunity to meet Tomohiro Ishii, Minoru Suzuki, Shibata, and Tanahashi.  Jay, Mikey, & I all get out photos with them and autographs, I got cards signed.  Because of Wrestlecon I got the opportunity to meet and get my photo taken with so many wrestlers like Bob Backlund, Atsushi Onita, WIll Ospreay, Jushin Liger in full gear, and so many more people.

However the one I was most excited about was Faby Apache.  With New Japan touring the US more I thought I'd have more opportunities to meet New Japan wrestlers, but Faby Apache is not in the states often, especially not in my area so this was truly once in a lifetime for me.  I wrote her a nice letter that I had translated into Spanish because I do not speak it.  I also gave her a gift of Japanese wrestling cards of her.  She was very touched by my letter and gift and gave me a hug and kiss on the cheek.  It was awesome!

She was there both days so I found pharmacy with a photo center and had the picture of us printed and got her to sign that the next day. 

I witnessed a lot of other great moments in wrestling this year; attending a sold out Madison Square Garden to witness the first non-McMahon family promoted event since 1960.  It was headlined by Okada reclaiming the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.  

I got to watch Limitless Wrestling grow with near 900 fans attending their anniversary show at the Expo where Anthony Greene defeated MJF to capture the Limitless Wrestling World Championship.  In November at Twilight Zone Limitless streamed live on IWTV and killed it with an awesome card headlined by Ashley Vox & Kris Statlander in a Last Creature Standing Match.  It appears that in 2020 Limitless will be running monthly and I'm excited to be apart of it. 

My favorite show of the year was New Japan Pro Wrestling Fighting Spirit tour in Lowell, Mass.  To me this was a traditional New Japan show, it opened with a young lions match, some great tag team matches, a phenomenal IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship match and finished with a star studded main event.  The crowd was tremendous!  When the Rock n' Roll Express came out it was like we were back in the mid 1980's! 

This three show tour sold out New York and the ECW Arena almost instantly buy Lowell was only a near sell out.  I was concerned that this would prevent New Japan from coming back the next time around however I recently discovered this factoid.  Attendance in Philly 1,030, New York 1,776, and Lowell 2,130!  With the biggest crowd which was loud as hell, tells me New Japan will be back!

I can't even begin to talk about all the great shows and matches that I saw televised this year.  Watching televised live is the best way but I love the availability to watch on demand, it allows me to watch even more wrestling.  

In 2020 my plan is to continue to watch as much wrestling as I can, discover new wrestlers to follow, and stay away from the social media negativity.  

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!

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!

IndyMania: My Wrestling Vacation Part 2

 
Friday morning we were up early to clean up and head out to catch the train at the 34th street station to 7th ave for the first day of the Wrestlecon Convention.  The line started at the doors and went back into the Grand Ballroom.  Alicia Atout came out at 8:30 am with Colt Cabana to talk to the fans and help pass the time until doors opened at 9 am.  MJF also came out and insulted a bunch of fans but left after everyone started singing "You Are My Sunshine" to him.

Once the doors opened everyone got in pretty quick because you've already gone through the are showing your wristband so you aren't being held up with having your ticket's checked.  We all had our lists of who we wanted to see, we had a few pre-sales as well so we went our separate ways at times but constantly ran into each other.  Mikey had the biggest list and he succeeded in completing most of it.

Jay talking with Dan "The Beast" Severn

There was a scheduled show at 11 am that we didn't buy tickets for, we got free general admission with our weekend pass.  However with all our meet and greets and limited times some of them were there the only one that made it to the show was Mikey who watched two matches.

The first meet and greet pre-sale that I bought was for Faby Apache.  Based out of AAA in Mexico I have been a fan of hers for 20 years and I never thought I'd get the chance to meet her in person.  Sadly she wasn't book to wrestle on any shows until April 13th.  I brought three cards for her to sign, two Japanese and AAA panini sticker, and I brought some cards for her as a gift.

In the past when I've meet foreign wrestlers that don't speak English you play this game of simple works and sign language so I wrote her a letter that I had translated to Spanish as she speaks no English.  The vendor that brought her in though also had a translator so you could communicate.

with Faby Apache

She was very touched by the letter, thank me for the cards and even gave me a big hug and a kiss!  What was wicked cool was that she wore her wrestling gear and full headdress for the photo ops.  It's one of the all time best meet and greet interactions that I've had.

I got a lot of trading cards signed during this trip, but I didn't get a lot of photos with wrestlers.  In future posts I'll share all my new signed cards.  The convention was taking place in four rooms, the Grand Ballroom where the matches were, Rhinelander, and American's Hall's 1 & 2, on three different floors of the hotel.

We found the Revolution Pro Wrestling table and they told us the meet and greet with the New Japan talent would be at their table, then we were told two floors down in the Rhinelander room, and then a different spot in the room.  The wrestlers would only be signing for an hour and we didn't want to miss out so we staked out a place in line about 90 minutes before the signing and we were in the first five.  Another reason we missed the 11 am wrestling show.  The signing was slated from 1:30 - 2:30 pm.

It was worth it though as we all got autographs and photos with Minoru Suzuki, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tomohiro Ishii, and Katsuyori Shibata!  I had a Japanese card for all four of them to sign and they were all impressed that I had the cards.

Jay had purchased pro photo ops in advance Suzuki and Tanahashi and he was even able to get those done before the RevPro show started at 3pm.  His photo op with Suzuki was the best, he went up and told him that he was just going to be in fear, once Jay posed Suzuki laughed and played along, threatening him!

We had front row for the Rev Pro show and it was well worth the money for we got to see Minoru Suzuki & Zack Sabre Jr vs. Hiroshi Tanashi & Will Ospreay, my god was that match amazing!  It was the best match of the weekend for me!  It was a thrill for all of us to see the four guys doing what they do better than most in the world so up close.  Suzuki especially isn't given enough credit for how great his facial expressions are.

There were other good matches on the show like Tomohiro Ishii vs. David Starr and getting to see the US Dojo Young Lions Karl Fredericks and Clark Connors in action.  Here is the whole card:

April 5, 2019 Revolution Pro Wrestling  Hilton Grand Ballroom, Manhattan, NY

CCK: Chris Brookes & Jonathan Gresham defeated Clark Connors & Karl Fredericks
Carlos Romo defeated A-Kid, Flamita, & Kid Lykos
Brian Cage pinned Michael Oku
British Tag Team Champions: Suzuki-Gun: Minoru Suzuki & British Heavyweight Champion: Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi and Will Ospreay when Sabre pinned Ospreay
Ryusuke Taguchi pinned Rocky Romero
Tomohiro Ishii pinned David Starr
Aussie Open: Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis defeated Roppongi 3K: Sho & Yoh
post match Suzuki-Gun attacked Aussie Open building towards their match for the tag titles on Friday May 10th in York Hall

I got some really great photos of this show and I want to share them all so they are below at the end of the post.  I also want to take a moment to give a thank you to the founder of RevPro Andy Quildan and his staff for bringing their brand of wrestling here and for just being good guys.  We chatted with them quite a bit while standing in line waiting.

After the show the convention was closed for the day, but we had tickets that night to Joey Ryan's Penis Party.  So we stepped out for some dinner walking a few blocks down to Nathan's Famous Franks.  You can't go to New York City and not get a Nathans!

We headed right back to the Hilton for the show and to meet wrestlers that were not doing appearances at the convention itself and were just at the show.  We had front row again for this show and boy was it a different type of show!  Honestly you really need to see it to believe it!

We got a death match with tag partners that used skewers, staple gun, a door with mousetraps, and more.  We got Ultimo Dragon, huge surprise, we got Timothy Thatcher vs. David Arquette, Penis Druids, bloody tampon druids, a DDT Pro Battle Royal that was the best of DDT in 20 minutes including storytime, cheek to cheek, and an appearance from Yoshihiko winning the Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship.  The show concluded with a crazy six person tag main event where Joey Ryan teamed with Val Venis & Sexxy Eddie against Priscilla Kelly, Scarlett Bordeaux, and Session Moth that featured a human centipede spot.  Yup, you really just need to go to Highspots and watch the show!

April 5, 2019 Joey Ryan's Penis Party  Hilton Grand Ballroom, Manhattan, NY

Ultimo Dragon with Sonny Onoo defeated Black Taurus, Green Ant, Mr. Iguana, Puma King, & Shark Boy pinning Shark Boy
Shigehiro Irie & DJ Z defeated Arez & Bestia 666
Tracy Smothers pinned Su Yung
Demon Bunny: Rosemary & Allie defeated Twisted Sisters: Holidead & Thunder Rosa
Timothy Thatcher submitted David Arquette
Death Match: Bill Carr pinned Dan Barry
Late to the Show Battle Royal: DDT Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship: Yoshihiko defeated Danshoku Dino, Antonia Honda, Maki Ito, Makoto Oishi, Mao, & Sanshiro Takagi
Colt Cabana, Tommy Dreamer, & Mike Babchik defeated Matt Striker and Best Friends: Trent & Chuck Taylor
Impact Champion: Johnny Impact & Impact Knockouts Champion: Taya Valkyrie defeated Lucha Brothers: Pentagon Jr & Rey Fenix
Priscilla Kelly, Scarlett Bordeaux, & Session Moth Martina defeated Joey Ryan, Sexxxy Eddie, & Val Venis

After the show we headed back to the hotel, it was after midnight.  Mikey and I got some slices at Bravo's and because we hadn't seen enough wrestling yet we put Takeover on and watched the first few matches.  I don't recall what time I shut everything down, but I do know it was late and we had another early morning.

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!