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The crowd was the usual 100-something made up of locals from the neighborhood and diehard independent wrestling fans.
*Brian XL pinned JT Dunn (with David Starr) in a first round HOG title tournament bout. Starr and Dunn work as the Juicy Product in CZW and lots of other Northeastern promotions. XL started step and ran Dunn off with stiff dropkick. Dunn regained the offensive on the floor and worked over XL. Dunn played a lot to the crowd. XL made a comeback and scored a two with a splash off the ropes. Joey Janella and Anthony Gangone came out to ringside. XL took them out with a dive but ate a super kick when he returned. XL made a comeback and scored the pin with a sitdown powerbomb. Good opener. Gangone and Janella destroyed XL after. The idea was that he wasn't going to be able to continue.
*King Ricochet defeated Marq Quen in a first round HOG title tournament bout. This was Ricochet's debut here and since the crowd is mostly locals he went into the ring with the majority unfamiliar with him. Quen actually got a bigger pop coming out because of it. Quen got some really strong offense early as they went back and forth. Crowd was loving it early. Ricochet gained control and drilled him with stiff kicks and submission moves. Ricochet went for a hangman's neck breaker but Quen flipped over and turned it into a DDT. Ricochet came back with a hot flurry of moves and scored a two count with a suplex. He finally scored the pin with a knockout kick to the head. Good bout amid one that allowed Quen to get some ring time with Ricochet, who's had a ton of international experience. They shook hands after the bout. The crowd chanted,"HOG" after the bout. Quen is going to be a hell of a hand.
*Drew Gulak defeated Shane Strickland in a first round HOG title tournament bout. They sent out Strickland without music and then played his music for Gulak so Drew danced his way to the ring. Not to be undone, Strickland returned behind the curtain and did his ring entrance again. That was pretty damn funny. Lots of good matwrestling and counter wrestling early on. Strickland came back with some good kicks and took Gulak down with a leg lariat. He nailed some stiff shots and used a big backbreaker. They went back and forth win some chops and forearms. Strickland caught him with a stunner and went to the top for a double stomp. He missed and Gulak locked in an ankle lock for the submission. Real good match.
*Anthony Gangone defeated Dan Maff by countout in a first round HOG title tournament bout. Gangone was billed as "From none of your damn business." Maff was a surprise replacement for Jay Lethal who had a last minute conflict. Gangone tried to attack him but ended up getting chopped to death. Maff pressed and dropped him then nailed a big back .senton splash. He teased a dive but was kicked in the face. Maff came back with an exploder. Maff missed a cannonball in the corner but Gangone rolled out of the way. Gangone tossed him to the floor. Joey Janella worked him over on the floor. Gangone nailed a series of knew strikes. Maff mounted a comeback. Janella grabbed his leg as he rebounded off the ropes, allowing Gangone to drill him. Gangone drilled him top with a knee to the face off the top for a two count. Maff's facial expressions were great. Maff came back with a series of hard chops that rocked Gangone. Maff killed him with the cannonball in the corner and nailed a muscle buster for a two count. Maff called for the Burning Hammer but Janella got on the apron and challenged Maff. Maff followed him out. He returned to the ring but Janella low lowed him and ran him into a metal pole on the floor. Maff was counted out. Crowd didn't like the finish and chanted,"Bullsh**." The crowd chanted, "Thank you Maff" after he recovered.
*Drew Gulak defeated Brian XL in a semi-final in the HOG Title Tournament. They teased XL wasn't coming out and they were going to count him out for not coming to the ring, XL finally came to the ring and was immediately attacked and savaged by Gulak. Gulak kept working him over and scoring two counts. XL went to the floor and Gulak followed him jabbing him like a boxer. XL fought back but was whipped into the wall hard. Gulak tossed him back in the ring for a two count, XL fired back with an enziguiri and. a clothesline. XL was nailed with a hard forearm as he rebounded off the ropes and was knocked out. The referee called for the bell. Strong way to put over Gulak, having him KO the guy who promotes.
*King Ricochet defeated Anthony Gangone. Another bout designed to have the HOG trainees with some potential to work with a world class talent. Ricochet controlled early but Janella got on the apron to distract. That backfired as he ate a kick to the head but it allowed Gangone to gain the offensive over Ricochet. Gangone locked on a chinlock and used the ropes for leverage. He and Ricochet went back and forth. Gangone drilled him with a vicious clothesline. He continued the assault but was caught and drilled with a hard kick to the abdomen. Ricochet came alive with a ton of offense and went to the too for a big flying elbow for a two count. He went back to the top and drills Janella when he tried to interfere but was sent to the floor when Gangone drilled him. Janella worked him over on the floor. Ricochet just barely made it back into the ring to beat the Countout, playing off of athe finish earlier. Ricochet came back with a kick to the head and a big suplex for a two count. Ricochet scored with another kick and got the three count.
*Smiley, a masked HOG trainee, won a Royal Rumble for the first HOG title shot. This was mostly populated by HOG trainees. It was typical Battle Royal type stuff most of the way through. Some of their cult characters including Panda Man got big pops coming out. Red was a late entrant in the match. In a shock, he was tossed out. Larry Dallas from EVOLVE worked as a manager here. It came down to Smiley, Joey Janella and Mason at the end. Crowd was soundly behind Smiley as he fought off the two heels. Smiley went through the ropes and to the floor. Mason and Janella battled and ended up on the apron. Smiley returned and knocked them off so he gets the title shot. A little long but the live crowd loved it.
*Ricochet defeated Drew Gulak become the first House of Glory champion. Gulak attacked him at the bell. He tied up Ricochet on the mat and focused on his knee. Ricochet tried to fight back with kicks but his leg was too best up. That allowed Gulak to regain control. Ricochet came out of nowhere with an RKO. The locked room emptied and began beating the mat as they went back and forth. Ricochet nailed a suplex and went to the top for a shooting star press but only got a two. They really turned it into quite the moment as the crowd was super into everything. Ricochet went for a kick but Gulak caught e leg and applied the ankle lock that brought him wins earlier. Ricochet finally broke free and caught him with a kick but Gulak counted out. Gulak was nailed again and pinned.
HOG Notes: As noted, they drew their usual standing room only sellout although this time there was far more standing as a good portion of the chairs no showed. No that is not a joke. The van carrying the rented chairs broke down. They pretty much cleared the locker room of every chair possible and thankfully some of the chairs had already arrived....Ricochet left immediately to catch a flight from JFK Airport to Mexico City for AAA Triplemania....They return here on Friday 9/19 headlined by Smiley challenging for the HOG title.
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