NHB Wrestling Returns

[Guest BrokenWings]

Alright... so Don Callis runs a promotion which tours Canada (Winnipeg and here, Thunder Bay, at the very least) and he usually delivers a solid card with long matches. In previous times, he has brought some big names such as AJ Styles, Jerry Lynn, Sabu and Shane Douglas. For this show, he promises a TNA star, so let's see who he's brought.

 

First match: Chi Chi Cruz -v- Joe E. Legend

 

The star in question is Joe E. Legend?? Bah. I figured it had the possibility of being one of the better stars seeing as how he now works for TNA. And to have him come out to face Chi Chi with hardly any mention of this being the star was disappointing. However, Legend is a solid worker, and this was a decent match. Legend gets the pin after hitting his spinning neckbreaker variation, after a ref bump. Good heat. **1/4

 

Second Match: Kenny Omega / Rob "Ozz" Anderson -v- La Sombre / Some lucha who's name I can't recall.

 

Amazing cruiserweight match. Kenny Omega has got all the makings of a star, from what I've seen. The look, the moves, the charisma. He drew incredible heat. La Sombre is over huge here as well; as far as I know, he's the smallest cruiserweight in the world. He's an inch shorter than Mysterio. So Nameless Cruiser was face in peril for the majority of the match, and when he got the hot tag to Sombre the place erupted. He got the pin after a sunset flip. ***

 

After the match, Crash Crimson came down and attacked the two cruiserweights while Ozz and Kenny Omega danced in the ring, when the lights dimmed. Out came Ivan ( http://www.nhbwrestling.com/images/Wrestle...an/Ivan_BIG.jpg ) and gored the hell out of Ozz and nailed Omega with a stiff lariat.

 

After that, Evil Eddie Watts came down and cut a promo about the four man weapons match he was in [basically the premise of the match is that it's a four way elimination match, and every 3 minutes, a new man with a new weapon enters the match.] to which Crimson interrupted that as well, which eventually escalated into a brawl. Out of the crowd came a man in a mask with a chain who helped Crimson beat down Watts, and eventually revealed himself to be Wavell Star. Now, Wavell Star is an incredible wrestler, but THAT'S the surprise?! He's a local talent who isn't very over, despite his abilities. Callis went 0 for 2 in terms of surprises. Anyways, Wavell announces he's taking Eddie Watts place in the 4 Way, since he's in no shape to wrestle anymore.

 

Third Match: Just before the intermission there was a throwaway match between Johnny Handsome and some newcomer. Handsome goes over, as was expected. Neither man seemed to be on tonight, and the crowd was fairly silent. *

 

INTERMISSION

 

During the intermission, they mentioned how Hotshot Johnny Devine was signing copies of his Best Of tape, and how there was only one left, and then it was sold, and we looked over at the table, and he looked over at us and recognized us as we're regulars whenever they come here, and starts jumping up and down pumping his fist and says "I'm over! I'm finally over!!" Really nice guy in person.

 

Fourth Match: 30 minute iron man match. Highlander -v- Hotshot Johnny Devine. This feud has spanned out over the last six months, and this should be the blow off. How Devine isn't signed to a major company yet is beyond me. He's by far the most over guy on the roster, and has a ton of charisma. He's damn good in the ring as well. Before the match, Devine grabs one of the fans cameras, asks the ref to take a picture, and poses with them. Before the ref can take the picture however, Highlander grabs it, shoves it down his pants, takes a picture and throws it back to the fan. Huge heat right there. Great technical match with Devine working the ankle, while Highlander worked the arm. Ten minutes in, Highlander gets the first pin after planting Devine with a DDT which he rolled through, bounced off the ropes to turn around right into a huge lariat. Amazing spot. Highlander was on the defense from here on out, stalling for time whenever he could. Therein layed the story in the match - Devine doing everything he could to try to get the pin. He hit a combination of spots, and ascended to the top rope to break out a move he's never done before here - The Shooting Star Press. Highlander rolled out of the way at the VERY last moment. They each take their time to recuperate, and with 5 minutes left to go, Devine hit his finisher, a variation of the Osaka Street Cutter as it's called in the Smackdown! games. Anyways, they both get to their feet with two minutes left, cue the ref bump, Devine nails his finisher again, ref slowly crawls over 1..2..ding ding ding.

 

Time limit.

 

Match ends in a draw, Devine wants 5 more minutes, Highlander won't give him the benefit, so at the next show, it's the highly anticipated Highlander -v- Johnny Devine feud blowoff match - a last man standing.

 

Crowd was HOT~! for this entire match, a great effort on both men's parts. Very good match for the indy scene. ***1/2

 

Main Event: 4 way weapons match, Crash Crimson -v- Ivan -v- Wavel Star -v- Juggernaut

 

To start, Crash Crimson and Ivan. Crimson nails Ivan with a variation of a Kendo Stick which breaks in half and falls right at my feet which I gladly pick up. They continue to battle as Wavel Star enters the match, his weapon of choice being the aforementioned chain. Juggernaut is out last, with a chair, with which he NAILS all three guys. Impressive chair shots. Anyone who's seen Juggernaut knows how big is. He's out first as Crash Crimson plants him with an elbow drop through a table on the outside.

 

Meanwhile, Ivan sets up a table near the far corner, and eventually Crimson lays him on the table and goes up for the same elbow which put away Juggernaut, but the table is obviously too far away, and as Ivan leaps off the table and delivers a top rope belly-to-belly, Crimson had to attempt to leap too far and landed on the back of his head through the table in a sick spot. He needed help out of the arena.

 

Now it's down to Wavel Star and Ivan. Each men trade finishers but are too exhausted to get the pin. They begin trading shots before Joe E Legend comes out and plants Ivan with his finisher, allowing Star to get the pin. Solid bout, but your basic hardcore match, all things considered. **1/2

 

They continue the beatdown after the match, which eventually leads to Eddie Watts coming out and attacking Wavel Star while Ivan chases Legend to the back. Apparently Watts is still allowed to win the match, as he lays a beating on Star and pins him for the victory.

 

They announce that NHB will be returning in Feburary and thank us for coming out. All in all, a very solid show from top to bottom, with good-great crowd heat during matches. The surprises were disappointments, but each put on a solid bout when it mattered, so I haven't a major complaint on this show.

 

If anyone is interested, I'll be able to post a few pics from the show in a few days time.

 

I highly recommend checking out this federation if you see them coming to town.

Edited December 8, 2003 by BrokenWings

[Guest trickstyle_360]

Man, I wish there were some solid indies that would run in Toronto on a saturday...all the indies here are so bland, and the good ones run on the weekdays.