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FLIP GORDON VS. PENTA 0M & MORE: NORTHEAST WRESTLING 'LUCHAMANIA' IN WATERBURY, CT LIVE REPORT

By Pau Crockett on 2018-04-21 00:44:00

Northeast Wrestling “Lucha Mania”

Waterbury, CT

April 20, 2018

It’s a huge main event as Flip Gordon defends the NEW Heavyweight Title against Penta El Zero M.  In addition, Ray Fenix will be taking on Christian Casanova.

Tenille Dashwood came to the ring and said she got word that she’s not cleared to compete tonight.  As she went to apologize, Kasey Catal cut her off and came to the ring.  Before she could say anything, Tenille said “I’m sorry, who are you?” which got a big reaction.  Tenille said she wanted to come out and at least meet the fans, but that she had dates marked down for future NEW dates.  She also said she found a replacement to kick her ass.  This brought out Karen Q.

MATCH ONE: Kasey Catal vs. Karen Q

This match was on its way to being a really fantastic opener.  Karen Q’s work was absolutely outstanding, as she is clearly one of the best female workers on the independents anywhere in the world.  Toward the end, however, it seemed Katal may have lost her way and the finish got a little messed up.  She went for a roll up with the ropes but that got botched.  She did it right away again, and that time it worked and that was the finish.  Katal is very new to the business, so I’m not saying all of this to be negative, it’s just how it happened.  Things happen and hopefully she learns from it.

WINNER: Kasey Catal

MATCH TWO: Bull Dredd vs. “Red Lion” Chris Battle

Try as they did, this one was never able to find its flow.  Both guys were trying hard and gave an effort, but it was a bit clunky.  The idea behind what they were doing was fine, with Battle working over Dredd’s arm to make him unable to hit his finish, it’s just the execution was off.  Battle got the win with a spear.

WINNER: “Red Lion” Chris Battle

MATCH THREE: Sam Adonis vs. “Man Scout” Jake Manning

Adonis cut a great heel promo before the match, running down the crowd with some great and quite frankly brutal lines about the locals.  Well done.

Manning has been doing a gimmick where he never wins.  He came out and got a MONSTER reaction from the crowd, so he has done well to get over here at NEW.

Adonis was doing tremendous crowd work, getting a genuine negative reaction from individual people he was pointing out and running down.

This match wasn’t Malenko-Guerrero, but it didn’t need to be.  It was simple, effective and exactly what the crowd was asking of it.  Manning hit a flurry of moves toward the end for nearfalls before Adonis hit the Falcon Arrow for the win.  This was classic, 80’s style fun at its best.

WINNER: Sam Adonis

MATCH FOUR: Rey Fenix vs. Christian Casanova

I’ve been able to watch Casanova a lot over the last couple of years.  His biggest flaw has always been slowing down and not moving too fast.  Obviously, against Fenix, that may have been a factor.  Not at all.  He took his time, worked Fenix over well, had great facial expressions and held his own against an outstanding Fenix.  Hats off, because I’m always rooting for Casanova to expand beyond New England and hopefully this can help him.  He still has improving to do, but this was his best work to date.

The story early on was Casanova telling the crowd he was working at his pace and slowing it down to let Fenix sell, but eventually, it broke down into a back and forth, high flying and hard hitting match.  The finish saw Fenix hit a spinning Michinoku Driver for the win.  The match got a well-deserved standing ovation.

WINNER: Rey Fenix

INTERMISSION

MATCH FIVE: The Royal Graysons (Tommy & JP) & “King” Brian Anthony v. Adrenaline Rush (Daniel Evans & Keith Youngblood) & Ron Zombie

The Graysons and Anthony do a King & His Court gimmick.  It’s a bit campy, but the crowd was reacting to it.

Typical six-man tag in the heels got heat on both Evans and Youngblood before Zombie got the hot tag and cleared house.  This lead to some less than clean highspots to the floor.  Zombie teased a dive to the floor before Casey Katal came to the ring and distracted Zombie.  From the crowd, Hale Collins, who has been feuding with Zombie, came in and superkicked him.  This allowed Anthony to hit a top rope elbow drop for the win.

Not the cleanest of matches to put it mildly, but it got a big reaction from the crowd, so that’s pretty important.

WINNERS: The Royal Graysons & “King” Brian Anthony

MATCH SIX: Brian Milonas & Wrecking Ball Legursky (with Jared Silberkleit) v. Josh Briggs & “Big Bacon” Brad Hollister

There were a few positives on display here in this match.  Number one: Hollister has a ton of charisma and fire.  If he can put that together with his in-ring work, he has major star potential.  Number two: the hoss fight to start off the match got a great reaction from the crowd.  Number three: Briggs’ selling was improved during the heat.  It’s something that’s tough for a bigger man to do and get sympathy, but it continues to improve.

The finish saw Silberkleit get on the apron and attempt to throw powder in Briggs eyes, but Briggs pushed it in his face.  This lead to Briggs walking into a sidewalk slam from Legursky for the win.

WINNERS: Brian Milonas & Wrecking Ball Legursky

MAIN EVENT: NEW Heavyweight Title – Flip Gordon (c) v. Penta El Zero M

This was the main event everyone wanted.  Lots of super athletic moves, mixed with hard hitting (including Penta almost killing Flip with a running dropkick to the gut) and an insane spot on the floor.  Flip hit a 450 from the top through a table outside.  Wild.

The finish saw Flip win with a springboard Stunner.  The thing that set this apart was the intensity Penta brought.  I’m used to seeing Flip with less aggressive opponents, so seeing him dig deep, get really tough and put in a gusty performance made him a stronger champion and performer because of it.  This was a super impressive match.

WINNER: Flip Gordon

Overall, this was another fun show from NEW.  While one or two matches missed, overall, this was a fun show that left the crowd satisfied.

Check them out online @newwrestlin1.

Check me out @HelloCrockett.

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