[Lane]

Would anyone be interested in a TCW show review? I Know a few people here view it. Also I might be able to get to the show this weekend.

[smitlick]

ROH - Border Wars

1. Rhino vs Eddie Edwards
***1/4

2. TJ Perkins & The All Night Express vs The Young Bucks & Mike Mondo
***1/4

3. Tommaso Ciampa vs Jay Lethal
***1/4

4. Lance Storm vs Mike Bennett
***1/2

5. Michael Elgin vs Adam Cole
***1/2

6. Finlay vs Roderick Strong
***

7. Fight Without Honor ROH Tag Title Match
The Briscoe Brothers vs Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team
***1/4

8. ROH World Title
Davey Richards vs Kevin Steen
****

[JoeRulz]

Originally Posted by Matt_Yoda

About damn time, CZW has a growing following so better late than never I say. This can serve as a good buffer between shows and hype events. Going to watch all three shortly. EDIT: If Shane Douglas brings in more up and coming lucha talent from Mexico, I may have to give him all my money.

***Flashback***

EVOLVE 6: Aries vs. Taylor
November 20, 2010- Union City, NJ

Quick Thoughts: This was a solid show, again nothing stood out as spectacular but a consistent card up and down which is more than I could say for EVOLVE 5 at least. The main event was disappointing, as was the relaxed rules match but the post match made up for that. That Moxley promo bending his finger back with a wrench ewwww...

Drake Younger vs. Silas Young- Good opener
Rich Swann vs. AR Fox vs. Tony Nese vs. Scott Reed- Fun 4 way with nonstop action, but that AR Fox botch must've hurt like a mofo.
Bobby Fish vs. Kyle O'Reilly- Very good match, probably on par with their previous EVOLVE match.
Super Smash Bros vs. Up in Smoke- Strong tag match with lots of action and a great finish
Homicide vs. Jon Moxley (Relaxed Rules)- Pretty nothing match, but the post match stuff was excellent.
Adam Cole vs. Ricochet- Alright match but these two could do better, too many drag periods.
Johnny Gargano vs. Jimmy Jacobs- Solid match with good back and forth but a flat finish.
Austin Aries vs. Chucky T- A good match, but disappointing considering this was the most build ever put into an EVOLVE main event by this point. Some good back and forth and some nice spots, but some parts dragged and others fell flat imo. Still the finish was nice and dramatic and the storytelling was on point.
_____

EVOLVE 7: Aries vs. Moxley
April 19, 2011- New York City, NY

Quick Thoughts: Pretty much my same sentiments from EVOLVE 6, top to bottom consistent with a solid main event.

Jimmy Jacobs vs. Shiima Xion- Nice, effective opener introducing Xion to EVOLVE.
Silas Young vs. Tony Nese- Short, decent match with good back and forth.
Johnny Gargano vs. Jon Davis- Smartly worked big man/little man match with some good sequences down the stretch.
CHIKARA Sekigun vs. Facade & Jason Gory- Good tag match with lots of crisp offense from both teams.
Sami Callihan vs. Zack Sabre, Jr.- Very good, intelligent worked match with both guys building the match around their signature submission moves. Didn't remember this being so good.
AR Fox vs. Rich Swann- Fun and short spotty match to bring people back from intermission, they did some crazy shit.
Chucky T vs. Akira Tozawa- Surprising great match with lots of offense squeezed into 11 minutes.
Chucky T vs. Johnny Gargano- Pretty nothing match while good for story purposes could've been done without looking back.
Austin Aries vs. Jon Moxley (Moxley's last indy match)- Very solid main event on par with Aries/Taylor, they worked a par the course ME style match but here it worked and they put on some nice exchanges in the process.
_____

EVOLVE 8: Style Battle
May 20, 2011- Union City, NJ

Quick Thoughts: Ugh, I remember hating the shit out of this show. (At the time) it hardly reflected EVOLVE, no promos, no build, nothing. Most of the show was booked awkardly and the card itself was pretty lackluster and screamed throwaway. Some decent stuff for the first half of the show but then it just went to shit in the most extreme way, the main event was nice but not their best. Definitely the weakest EVOLVE show by far.

AR Fox vs. Rich Swann- This was their EVOLVE 7 match except lackluster and toned down.
Tony Nese vs. Jon Davis- Actually a really good match for the time it got, both played to their styles.
Brodie Lee vs. Sami Callihan- Decent with way, way too many nearfalls for a 12 minute match.
Austin Aries vs. Bobby Fish- Good match, got WAY too much time and they couldn't get the fans into it at times.
AR Fox vs. Jon Davis- Decent match but pretty short and the finish came out of nowhere.
Bobby Fish vs. Sami Callihan- Really short match that made Bobby Fish look like Sami's bitch which is kind of backwards booking wise.
The New Havana Pitbulls vs. The SAT- Pretty nothing tag match and the crowd couldn't have cared less.
FRAY!- Very bland FRAY, Chavis and Pinkie carried most of the load here.
AR Fox vs. Sami Callihan- Alright match, but definitely not their best and really unrealistic in execution; How does Fox take all that blunt damage to the head and just turns around and up and win the match right afterwards WTF?

The thing I like about those shows (and Evolve in general) is undercard just flows so easily and smooth, you'll rarely see a very bad match on Evolve undercards, every match is watchable, and even if it's boring or uninspired, at least it's short. A healthy undercard is the key to be a good promotion.

[Dyer Consequences]

CZW has a growing following?

I doubt that's true and if it is, it can't be a following but a cult.

[smitlick]

Theres a growing exceptance that they actually can put on good matches with good wrestling but their not exactly growing crowd wise

[Matt_Yoda]

More people watch CZW now than in the past 2-3 years so as far as I'm" concerned more people checking out the promotion = a growing following.

Originally Posted by JoeRulz

The thing I like about those shows (and Evolve in general) is undercard just flows so easily and smooth, you'll rarely see a very bad match on Evolve undercards, every match is watchable, and even if it's boring or uninspired, at least it's short. A healthy undercard is the key to be a good promotion.

Yeah, the one thing Gabe can never be accused of these days is booking a clunky show. Most of his shows flows like water and nothing overstays it welcome, making everything easy to sit through. For DGUSA/EVOLVE to be such young promotions, they have definitely found their style in the way they pace their shows relatively quick. Even if you're not guaranteed a MOTYC (Doesn't have to have one every show btw) you're still guaranteed an easy to sit through show with good wrestling and that's what important.

[TaylorFitz]

Originally Posted by JoeRulz

The thing I like about those shows (and Evolve in general) is undercard just flows so easily and smooth, you'll rarely see a very bad match on Evolve undercards, every match is watchable, and even if it's boring or uninspired, at least it's short. A healthy undercard is the key to be a good promotion.

Exactly I never get bored when I watch Evolve or Dragon Gate shows. They are a lot of fun to watch live for the same reason because of how well everything flows. I've liked every Evolve show I've watched/been to and have had fun at every Dragon Gate USA show that I've ever been to.

Originally Posted by smitlick

Theres a growing exceptance that they actually can put on good matches with good wrestling but their not exactly growing crowd wise

I think that has to do with the Arena closing in Philadelphia. They've been forced to find other venues and some of them are in New Jersey and I think that's hurting their attendance. I know I haven't been to one of their shows since the Arena shut down and there were a few that I was in Philadelphia for. Now I'm home for the summer but I missed 3 shows I think because I didn't want to drive out to Jersey to see them. That $5 toll can really be a deal breaker.... Also if people in the city don't have cars they can't get to the venue if it's New Jersey in any type of efficient manner.

[smitlick]

Chikara - The Thirteenth Hat

1. Mike Quackenbush vs Green Ant
***1/4

2. Jigsaw vs Kobald
**3/4

3. Gran Akuma vs Icarus
DUD

4. 3.0 vs Tim Donst & Jakob Hammermeier
**
The crowd were chanting USA when 3.0 are Canadian....

5. Hallowicked vs Archibald Peck
**3/4

6. Hieracon vs Ophidian
**1/2

7. The Colony vs The Batiri
***1/4

[Matt_Yoda]

Is New Jersey really that bad of a pro wrestling state? During 99-06 it seemed to be somewhat of a hotspot with lots promotions running there or stationed there, even through the rest of that decade promotions were still running there although it doesn't seem like many places run in NJ anymore.

[Lane]

TCW show 27
Random notes
-Killer Nikels, Shane Williams, and Greg Anthony might be 3 of my favorite heels
-Dont know when the John Michael storyline started but I love it.
-Dont know when Rivira went heel and started teaming with Shane but its interesting

Sigmon vs Moe Stegall
**1/2-***
I was impressed with Moe up until he fell off the top rope. I dug Sigmon. The anouncers really played it up that Moe had a small chance of winning then he pulls out a suprise BACKSLIDE. VINTAGE. Which I was a fan of. Decent fun match.

Bradford Family segment
We go to the Bradford Familys lockerrom where we see Boyd Bradford, Killer Nikels, and Doink the Clown standing around a sitting John Michael as he talks like Howard Finkel. I apreciate the anouncers givving a bit of a back story so I could kinda of peice togeather what was happening.

John Michael Worthington vs Angel
***
This was nothing more than a extended squash but it really advanced the John Michael storyline and for God sakes the man Hulked up, did a big boot & leg drop (brother), did the Macho Man finger taunt, and locked in a figure 4. Michael gets the win as he trys to leave the ring do to coming out of him "mind control" as Boyd destracts the ref and Nikels hits a chokeslam from hell and Doink comes off the top with a whoopie cushion. They put Michael on top of Angel for the 3.

Shane Williams & Matt Riviera segment
Now when I went to a show back on Dec 3 these two were feuding and had a decent match (Matt tried to throw his bandana to a girl in the front row and it landed on the floor, Shane got out of the ring to a chorus of boos as he picked up the bandana, he helled it out to the girl which made everyone go from boos to awws, she reached for that bandana...and SHANE THREW THAT THING AND STOMPED IT. (Hail Shane)
The segment got a little awkward as they were laying next to each other on seperate masage tables with their shirts off and under sheets. Then they went to get mannys.

This promo was entertaining overall. It delt with Matt being frustraited and Shane being a smartass.

Cheerleader Mellisa vs Mickie James
***
Before the match Cheerleader cuts a promo saying her and Mickie have wrestled before but it will be the first time in the United States. She says this however wasnt her first time in Arkansas as she came to visit the man she loved....BOBBY PATRINO. (I died) The match was very good. I give TCW alot of credit for briging in top femal talents to compete. Women like Cheerleader, Athina, Mellina Hosaka (Before she retired), and Claudia Del Sol. It was a good back and forth match. At one point it looked like they were going to do a top rope suplex but ended with Mickie getting pushed off and Cheerleader hitting a nice dropkick. The finish seemd a little screwd up but overall a good match. Mickie won via her spike ddt.

Overall thoughts
This was a very fun and enjoyable show. I want to see more of both Moe and Sigmon, The John Michael thing is an instant classic for me. The top face of the company hanging out with one of the top heels is very interesting, and the last two matches are both enjoyable.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btoqZ...&feature=g-u-u