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North East Wrestling
Wrestling Under The Stars IV - 8/1/15
Dutchess Stadium, Fishkill, NY
This is annually NEW's biggest show of the year. They looked to have drawn something in the neighborhood of 2,500-3,500, which is pretty impressive for an indy. Considering the star power on this show it shouldn't be surprising. The stadium big screen was used to show video footage to both hype this show as well as other upcoming shows.
The show opened up with a ten-bell salute to Roddy Piper.
Ric Flair, who was announced as the host of the show, then made his way to the ring. He thanked the fans for being so respectful to both him and the memory of Roddy Piper. He mentioned the great lineup before exiting. He was only in the ring for a few minutes.
BANDIDO JR. vs. MIKEY WEBB (LOSER-LEAVES-NEW MATCH)
Bandido Jr. has improved a lot over the years and is in great shape. I wasn't particularly fond of Webb here but the crowd was into this and Webb received plenty of heel heat. The finish saw Bandido hit a picture-perfect springboard stunner on Webb to catch the win at 9:14. Warbeard Hanson did a post-match run-in and laid out Bandido Jr. Hanson & his manager cut a promo on Matt Taven for their match later on the show.
JOE AUSSANIO, RANDY SHAWN & BIG ANG vs. “MAN SCOUT” JAKE MANNING, DANIEL EVANS & MIKE GALLAGHER
This was a forgettable six-man tag with Shawn hitting a lousy clothesline and nearly killing himself when he overshot on a suicide dive. The finish saw a triple pin at 9:30.
MICKIE JAMES vs. MANDY LEON
Not good and this went on far too long. Mickie pinned Mandy at 12:21 after a jumping DDT, which Leon was not completely there for. Not a good night for Leon but hopefully a learning experience.
MATT HARDY vs. CALEB KONLEY
There was a fan in the crowd with a Fat Hardy sign, which was funny since this fan was rather heavy himself. Matt is slower at this stage in his career, but has great in-ring psychology, which helped against the younger, more athletic Konley. This was a solid match, but not a lot to say about it. Hardy won with a Twist of Fate at 9:41.
RON ZOMBIE vs. BRIAN ANTHONY (FALLS-COUNT-ANYWHERE MATCH)
This is a long-running feud between two NEW fixtures. They are currently going through a series of gimmick matches and this was one more. Anthony got the win here at 8:15 after he put Zombie through a table.
Before the second half of the show started, Lanny Poffo came out to the ring to greet the crowd. He spoke about his late brother Randy Savage and of the recently departed Roddy Piper, referring to Piper as one of his best friends in the business. He then read a poem for both men before leaving. The poem for Randy Savage was one he has read before and the second one, for Piper, was about friendship.
SAMOA JOE vs. DONOVAN DIJAK
This was one of the matches I was most looking forward to on this card when it was announced and it certainly delivered. Coming back from intermission, NEW wanted to start hot on the second half of the show, which they certainly did here. Dijak is a tall, athletic specimen who is being pushed as the next big heel for this company. He towered over Joe which is why when the fans chanted “Joe is gonna kill you!”, Dijak's response was “Really? How? I'm bigger than him!” Dijak has great facial expressions and he sells and bumps very well. Joe went through his sequence of spots, bumping around Dijak a bit. Near the end of the match, Dijak went for a moonsault but Joe moved out of the way. Dijak took an incredible bump missing the moonsault as he landed flat on his face, bounced back up onto his feet and then fell & landed on his back holding his midsection. Joe would get the submission tap out with the Coquina Clutch at 9:17. I could easily see Dijak getting a run with the NEW title down the line. Joe put on a decent performance but no one could be surprised that he didn't go all-out for this one.
MATT TAVEN (C) vs. WARBEARD HANSON (NEW TITLE MATCH)
This was a pretty decent match with Taven in the role of the top babyface for this company and Hanson is one of the top heels. They played off of Hanson's strength & size against Taven's speed & agility. At one point Hanson hit a stiff lariat on Taven for a near fall. When the referee told Hanson it was only a two count, Hanson's response was “What do you mean? I killed him!” Taven would eventually retain the title at 9:35 with a frog splash after interference from Hanson's manager backfired. All throughout this match & even with the finish I couldn't help but notice that Taven seemed to be emulating Hiroshi Tanahashi of New Japan, especially in his mannerisms.
REY MISTERIO JR. & ALBERTO EL PATRÓN vs. YOUNG BUCKS
The crowd seemed hot all night and this main event delivered to end the show on a tremendous note. One thing I might have failed to mention earlier in this report is the fact that several of the wrestlers made their entrances to the ring in different types of vehicles. The Young Bucks came out for this match much like they did last year for this event, standing in a jeep. Yet no one's entrance was any better this year than Alberto El Patrón who drive up to the aisle way in a black limousine.
The Young Bucks taunted the superstar baby faces with their “suck it” poses. Both teams played a lot to the crowd. For those who think that the Young Bucks have formulaic matches, they certainly went against the grain here, working this like an old school Rock & Roll Express vs. Midnight Express. At different times of this match the Bucks cut the ring half and kept either Rey or Alberto in their corner for extended periods of time. The 619 was teased several times before Rey was finally able to hit on both Matt & Nick Jackson. This set up for Alberto to get a cross arm breaker on Matt while Rey hit his Drop The Dime splash off the top rope on Nick for the pin at 16:52.
I thought this show was a lot of fun and would definitely come back next year for this event. One thing I want to mention about this promotion, NEW, is that they sell their DVDs for only $10. They've had some great shows they've put together over the nearly 20 years they've been in business and have had many stars on their shows. I personally bought two of their shows that night. I would certainly recommend buying the DVD of this show when it comes out, if for no other reason than for the last three matches.
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