KB Reviews Indies — page 6

Joey Janela’s Spring Break 3 Part 2
Date: April 5, 2019
Location: White Eagle Hall, Jersey City, New Jersey
Commentators: Denver Colorado, Dave Prazak, Kevin Gill

This is a show I’ve been trying to see for a long time now and I might as well knock it, as well as the rest of the Wrestlemania XXXV weekend series, out while I have the chance. If you have seen something from this series before, this show is going to be complete insanity but often in a good way. Let’s get to it.

DDT Is Coming To America
Date: April 4, 2020
Location: La Boom, New York City, New York
Attendance: 650
Commentator: Trevin Adams, Pat Hill

This is from DDT (Dramatic Dream Team) Pro, a Japanese promotion which has some comedy elements. It’s part of last year’s Wrestlemania weekend series of shows and the only bits I’ve seen from this promotion are other shows from the same weekend. If nothing else, this show has the Ironman Heavymetalweight Title, which is one of the funniest long running jokes in modern wrestling. Let’s get to it.

Evolve 125
Date: April 4, 2019
Location: La Boom, New York City, New York
Commentators: Lenny Leonard, Rob Niemi

This is another one of the shows that I was hoping to see last year but for one reason or another it never happened. That’s where a free month of Club WWN (plus the company putting the show up for free on YouTube) can be handy and that’s why I’m here today. This show seemed to be pretty well received so hopefully it holds up. Let’s get to it.

Mercury Rising 2019
Date: April 5, 2019
Location: La Boom, New York City, New York
Commentators: Lenny Leonard, Ron Niemi

So about a year ago, I decided to try and do twenty Wrestlemania weekend shows. As usual, it takes me a little while but I’m trying to knock out the last four of them (to make it twenty one total) before this year’s Wrestlemania starts. This is the WWN Supershow and I have no idea what to expect on this one. Let’s get to it.

Orange Cassidy Is Doing Something Or Whatever Who Knows???
Date: April 6, 2019
Location: White Eagle Hall, Jersey City, New Jersey
Commentators: Denver Colorado, Sarah Shockey

I think it’s safe to say that this is one of the most unique titles I’ve ever seen. This is a replacement show from Wrestlemania weekend with a one off card to replace the Dragon Gate show after the promotion fell through. It feels like a bunch of shows that I’ve seen from the weekend but Cassidy is entertaining enough on his own. Let’s get to it.

Once Upon A Beginning
Date: April 5, 2019
Location: White Eagle Hall, Jersey City, New Jersey
Commentator: Mike Quackenbush

This is from Chikara and if you haven’t seen or heard of them….I’m not sure what to tell you. Imagine a comic book come to life as a wrestling promotion with the most ridiculous, over the top stories (mind control, cavemen, a colony of various ants and I don’t know where else to keep going) in the history of wrestling. I don’t follow the promotion enough to know what’s going on here so let’s get to it.

Vice Effect
Date: June 8, 2019
Location: Old Ox Brewery, Ashburn, Virginia
Commentator: Jason Heat

Odds are you haven’t heard of this one but a colleague of mine works for the company and asked me to take a look at it. Since I have an issue saying no to anyone (I really need to work on that.), here we are. This is from CRAB Wrestling (Championship Rassling And Beyond) and they might want to change the name. Let’s get to it.

Evolve 10^th Anniversary
Date: July 13, 2019
Location: 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentator: Lenny Leonard

This one is interesting for a lot of reasons, starting with the fact that it is WWE’s first official head to head competition against AEW, which is running Fight For The Fallen at the same time. Evolve is an indy company that has become an unofficial feeding system for WWE, which has even sent some talent there for Evolve shows. This has been hyped up harder than most Takeovers so it could be interesting. Let’s get to it.

On Thursday, I took in Wrestling Night at the Florence Freedom baseball game. It was a pretty simple setup: the wrestlers would throw out first pitches together, do some goofy stuff in the early innings and then sign autographs in the third inning, followed by a Q&A session after the game. Since traffic was a complete nightmare, I missed the first pitches and some of the shenanigans, though I did catch the end of Billy Gunn losing a dance contest. As a bonus, the plate music all night long was nothing but WWE theme songs, so at least they were trying a little extra.

SHIMMER Volume 113
Date: April 5, 2019
Location: La Boom, Woodside, New York
Commentators: Lenny Leonard, Dave Prazak

I’ve seen one Shimmer show in my day and that was about nine years ago so I’m virtually coming in blind. Women’s wrestling has come a very, very long way since then and there’s a good chance that I’ll actually have an idea what I’m watching this time around. If nothing else, it almost has to be better than some of the matches I’ve been watching this weekend. Let’s get to it.

Crockett Cup 2019
Date: April 27, 2019
Location: Cabarrus Arena, Concord, North Carolina
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Jim Cornette, Joe Galli

This is something that actually caught my attention with the card alone and the promotion was secondary. The NWA has been trying to fight back over the last year or two and they’re getting close to making something of quality. In this case we have a tag team tournament to crown the new NWA Tag Team Champions, plus a few bonus matches in what could be quite the tradition. Let’s get to it.

Adventures In Wrestling
Date: April 5, 2019
Location: White Eagle Hall, Jersey City, New Jersey
Commentator: Sarah Shockey, Drew Cordero

This is from Black Label Pro, which I’ve heard of in name only. We’re still in Wrestlemania weekend and that means that, as usual, I have no idea what to expect here. This is one of the rare shows where I’ve heard very few good things about the event. For the show to be considered that bad, I’m almost scared of what is going to happen here. Let’s get to it.

Battle Riot II
Date: April 5, 2019
Location: Melrose Ballroom, New York City, New York
Commentators: Rich Bocchini, Jim Cornette

This is the big live Wrestlemania weekend show and that means we have a major battle royal, which worked well enough last year. I’m not sure what to expect this year as they’ve barely announced any stories for the match, though we do know a good chunk of the lineup. The winner gets a title match at any point they want so at least there’s a big prize. Let’s get to it.

Joey Janela’s Spring Break 3 Part 1
Date: April 5, 2019
Location: White Eagle Hall, Jersey City, New Jersey
Commentators: Denver Colorado, Dave Prazak, Kevin Gill

I mean…why not. Joey Janela is a guy who has blown up on the indy scene in the last few years and I’m not sure if I get the appeal or not. I’ve seen him a few times and while I’ve liked parts of it, other times he just screams indy wrestler to me. Last year’s version of this show got rave reviews so I might as well try both nights of it this year. This is officially under the Game Changer Wrestling banner but it’s Janela’s show. Let’s get to it.

Culture Clash 19
Date: April 6, 2019
Location: NYC Arena, Jamaica, New York
Commentators: Matthew Ryan Shapiro, JD, Ben Venuto

This is Amazing Red’s House of Glory promotion and as usual, I have no idea what to expect from this show as I’ve never seen the promotion before, but that’s the point of the weekend. The card looked good though and that’s enough to get me to check out the show. Hopefully it’s as solid as it looks, but you never can tell. Let’s get to it.

Does Funny = Money?
Date: April 3, 2019
Location: Rahway Recreation Center, Rahway, New Jersey
Commentators: David Sturchill, McKenzie Mitchell

This is from WrestlePro, a promotion I’ve heard about before but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a full show. From the description, it seems like it’s going to be a comedy show and that’s appropriate given that it’s the first show of Wrestlemania weekend. Hopefully the show has some redeeming value to it, but I’m not getting my hopes up. Let’s get to it.

Pancakes And Piledrivers III
Date: April 6, 2019
Location: New York Hilton Midtown, New York City, New York
Commentators: Bork Torkelson, Don Callis

This is from Wrestling Revolves, where the idea is that you get something different every time. There’s a bonus in this show though as if you’re in the crowd, you get free pancakes. That alone should be more than enough to get people to show up but there’s also the whole wrestling thing on the side. Let’s get to it.

Rev Pro: New York
Date: April 5, 2019
Location: New York Hilton Midtown, New York City, New York
Commentators: Andy Boy Simmonz, Kevin Kelly

I’ve seen these guys twice live and had a good time with each of the shows so this was a must for the list. I don’t really follow their stories all that closely but I know enough of the names to keep up. This show will have a mixture of British wrestling and New Japan so it’s going to be quite the combination. Let’s get to it.

WrestleCon: USA vs. The World
Date: April 5, 2019
Location: New York Hilton Midtown, New York City, New York
Commentators: Excalibur, Dan Barry

This is a new one as WrestleCon is running a pair of shows and there’s a theme to this one. It’s a pretty simple idea here and the name alone should explain things. We’ll be seeing some interesting matches here and WrestleCon knows how to do these things quite well most of the time. Let’s get to it.

Slumber Party Massacre
Date: April 4, 2019
Location: White Eagle Hall, Jersey City, New Jersey
Commentators: Matt Wadsworth, The Duke

Who can’t do four full shows in one day anymore? This is another Wrestlemania weekend show and another situation where I have no idea what to expect as I don’t follow Absolute Intense Wrestling. Here’s pretty much everything you need to know: the main event is Scott Steiner vs. Swoggle. We good? Let’s get to it.