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Northeast Wrestling “Spring Slam”
Bethany, Connecticut
April 21, 2018
After last night’s events at Lucha Mania, we are back in Bethany for another event for NEW. In the two biggest matches of the evening, Flip Gordon defends his NEW Title against Wrecking Ball Legursky, and JT Dunn takes on “Big Bacon” Brad Hollister.
MATCH ONE: Ron Zombie v. Hale Collins (with Kasey Catal)
Last night at Lucha Mania, Collins superkicked Zombie and cost him a six-man tag match, so this is based off that angle.
They started off hot by not even having entrances and spilling into the ring from the lobby brawling. The match lasted about a minute before Catal got on the apron and sprayed Zombie in the eyes with hair spray for the DQ. After Catal jumped to the floor, she was confronted by NEW staff member Adira, who is not known for getting involved. Adira then hit Catal, got in the ring and speared her for a huge reaction from the loyal NEW crowd.
After the match, Zombie cut a promo saying it’s not over with Collins, and Adira cut a promo saying in June, the “Zombie Apocalypse” is going to take Catal and Collins down.
I really liked this start to the show. It was different, unexpected, and is a great way to build to a gimmick match.
WINNER: Ron Zombie
MATCH TWO: Josh Briggs v. Brian Milonas (with Jared Silberkleit)
Having known Briggs for a while and seen his progression, the one thing I always want to see him do more is slow down and work bigger. In this situation, he didn’t really have a chance to work bigger because, well, he was working Milonas. But he did get to do a lot of selling, work slower, and tell a simple but classic story. He also got to show off some athleticism. While this match didn’t set the world on fire, it was good, entertaining, and got a genuine emotional reaction at the finish, so in that regard, it was really well done.
Briggs got the win when he hit a moonsault to a standing Milonas after he hit a running headbutt right before.
WINNER: Josh Briggs
MATCH THREE: Sam Adonis v. “Red Lion” Chris Battle
Adonis cut a great heel promo, calling the people of this town white trash and ugly. It sounds cliché, but his execution was fantastic. He said he’s going to beat someone from this horrible town, which is hometown boy Battle.
Thanks in part to the solid heel work of Adonis, this match was decent. It was in a position where it was meant to make the hometown happy and it did just that. Battle spend most of the match selling and after a comeback and some nearfalls, he got the win with a spear.
WINNER: “Red Lion” Chris Battle
MATCH FOUR: Jawselyn v. Penelope Ford
A couple of things about this match. While I think Ford was supposed to be the heel, it didn’t come off that way until very late after an eyerake in the match and it seemed more like a babyface/babyface dynamic, so the crowd didn’t know who to get behind. Then take into account that the match just never seemed to click and there were a few miscues, including the finish where a Ford missed on the springboard cutter but still got the pin, and this match overall didn’t work. The crowd was polite, however, and cheered despite the miss.
WINNER: Penelope Ford
Christian Casanova came out and cut a promo. He said he tore the house down with Rey Fenix the night before and deserves the same respect as Josh Briggs and Flip Gordon. He also said he’s top talent and deserves the same. This brought out crowd favorite Buddy Costa, who comes out to the “My Buddy” commercial song and does a hug gimmick. Costa wanted a hug and the crowd was chanting for one. Instead, Casanova dropped him then unloaded his top moves on him. He then spit on Buddy and called out Flip for the title before leaving.
This was a solid segment. It got Casanova over as a heel at the expense of a comedy character and showcased that Casanova is improving in poise and on the mic.
MATCH FIVE: “The King” Brian Anthony v. “Man Scout” Jake Manning
The stipulation coming in was that The King’s Court (The Royal Graysons) are banned from ringside.
Manning is over huge with the NEW audience due to his adult Eagle Scout character and his hard work in all of his matches (which also include zero wins). They have rallied around him and he always gets a big reaction when he comes out.
A lot of over the top, 80’s WWF cartoon heel work from Anthony as the King, but it was good and the crowd was into it.
The match itself was fine. Lots of heat on Manning before his eventual comeback. He was on his way to a win when The Royal Graysons snuck up on the ref and took him out before he could see them. They tried to take Manning out but he got them first and literally threw them out of the building. As Manning was ready to go back in the ring, Anthony Battle, who looks about 300 pounds, emerged from the back and gave Manning a running body block that looked brutal. He rolled Manning in the ring and Anthony got the pin.
This was good as an angle to continue sympathy for Manning to lead to Manning’s eventual win and payoff for the crowd who has rallied behind him.
WINNER: “The King” Brian Anthony
MATCH SIX: NEW Tag Team Titles – Robbie E & Cam Zagami (c) v. Adrenaline Rush (Daniel Evans & Keith Youngblood)
This is a return bout after Adrenaline Rush dropped the belts to Robbie & Cam via a schoolboy with a handful of tights.
As Evans & Youngblood were making their entrances, Robbie & Cam jumped them in the isle. They then went on to beat them both down. They ended up crotching Evans and damaging his leg to where he needed to be carried out. Youngblood then asked for 2-on-1 and the match was on.
Youngblood sold and sold until Evans made a limping return to the ring and got a hot limping tag. He ran wild and tagged in Youngblood who hit a swanton and had the win until Robbie pulled the ref out. Cam went to use the belt on Evans, but Youngblood cut him off and hit Cam with the belt. The ref saw it, though, and called for the bell.
This was a good match that told a basic story, but was effective in its execution and was a finish I haven’t seen in ages, so I was into it. Well done.
WINNERS: Robbie E & Cam Zagami
MATCH SEVEN: NEW Heavyweight Title – Flip Gordon (c) v. Wrecking Ball Legursky (with Jared Silberkleit)
Giant monster heel with an obnoxious manager against the high-flying, white meat babyface. A classic story that was executed perfectly by everyone involved. Excellent match. Flip’s selling and fire has come a long, long way and has been fantastic to see.
After tons of selling, Flip made his comeback, hit the 450…only for Legursky to kick out at one and the crowd lost their mind. He then hit a running sidewalk slam for a nearfall. The ref got bumped. Jared went and got a chair and went to hit Flip, but he ducked and he nailed Legursky in the chest. Flip then hit his springboard Stunner, a superkick and a 450 for the win. Legursky had been undefeated in NEW, so the crowd exploded for the finish. This goes to show was well done, long term booking can do.
After the match, Legursky flipped out on Jared, who begged off and cut a promo saying he’d make this right and asked Flip for a rematch. Flip asked the crowd if they wanted a rematch and they said no. Flip then said he’d grant a rematch, but only if he got 5 minutes alone in the ring with Jared if he won. Jared was unsure, but Legursky accepted by simply screaming into the mic. Good segment.
WINNER: Flip Gordon
MATCH EIGHT: Inzanely Rude (RJ Rude & Zane Bernardo) v. The Perfect Gamble (“Degenerate” Dexter Loux & “American Sumo” Mike Gamble)
The story of this was the dissention between Loux and Gamble. Loux’s character is that he’s a degenerate gamble who has no respect for anyone, whereas Gamble is a respectful sumo, so they couldn’t get on the same page.
Loux has a lot of charisma and personality. If he can work more and fine tune things, he has potential to be something.
The finish saw Gamble hit Loux but accident and get dumped out of the ring. Rude & Bernardo then hit their finish for the win. The match was okay. There were a lot of hiccups, but all of these guys are super inexperienced, so it’s a place to build from.
After the match, Loux and Gamble argued until Loux slapped Gamble. Gamble then hit him and flipped out before Loux ran off.
WINNERS: Inzanely Rude
MAIN EVENT: JT Dunn v. “Big Bacon” Brad Hollister
Really good match. This gave Hollister a big win to continue his climb as a popular babyface in the promotion. Dunn went for a Death By Elbow, but Bacon ducked out and hit a sit out power bomb for the victory.
WINNER: “Big Bacon” Brad Hollister
This was a really good night of storytelling from NEW. Here’s the biggest issue I have with the show: the title match should have been on last. Not only from a tradition standpoint, but between Legursky losing his undefeated streak and the build to their next match, added with the genuine explosion of emotions from the crowd with the match, it needed to be the last thing the crowd saw. Other than that, I really like the booking of NEW and I would recommend their shows to anyone.
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