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Blitzkrieg Pro “Ruby Soho”
March 25, 2017
Enfield, CT
In their return to Enfield, Blitzkrieg brought in the big gun of independent wrestling in Cody Rhodes. He takes on Donovan Dijak in what should be an outstanding main event. Also, one of the hottest acts on the indies in Joey Janela faces the up and coming Chuck O’Neil one night after facing Scott “Flash” Norton in Ohio.
MATCH ONE: Juan Francisco de Coronado Open Challenge
Coronado got in the ring and said he is fighting for Ecuador, so he challenged any American to come and face him. So wouldn’t you know it…MISTER USA Tony Atlas entered the building. This crowd was electric for the legend.
Atlas is in full Superman gear WITH a cape. He didn’t take it off during the match, either. This match consisted of Coronado bumping and screaming like a girl for hip tosses and body slams. Coronado got the heat on Atlas after an eye rake and worked him over with the dreaded headlock on the ground. Tony made his comeback and finished it with a headbutt. That was an…interesting opener. The crowd went bananas, though.
Atlas got on the mic after the match and thanked the crowd for making an old man feel good. He also said we should all be grateful for being born in this country. He said the real heroes are the firefighters, police officers and military members who serve every day. He then recited the Pledge of Allegiance and thanked the crowd again. That was a promo.
WINNER: Tony Atlas
MATCH TWO: The Batiri v. The Breakfast Club v. The Throwbacks v. East Coast Bastard Crew
The Breakfast Club were two guys dressed like stereotypical nerds. The Throwbacks were dressed like jocks (including Dasher Hatfield who has a mask with baseball stitching on it), The Batiri are demons and the ECBC are hardcore punk rockers. A lot of comedy between the Breakfast Club and The Throwbacks, which included Mr. Touchdown bullying them because they’re NERDS. They ended up doing the old one guy went on all fours while the other pushed him over them gimmick.
Hatfield then pitched a fake baseball to one of the Breakfast Club while he hit tried to hit it with a fake baseball bat. Okay. Jeremy Leary then led the crowd in a Sweet Caroline sing a long then a “This Is Wrestling” chant. Cool. He got himself in an 0-2 hole then hit a dribbler, ran around to all four turnbuckles like they were bases, but was tripped by Mr. Touchdown before getting home in case you were curious.
Lots of top rope spots to the floor. The match ended with a flurry of spots in the ring with one guy after the other taking each other out. Hatfield was going to shake hands with one of the Breakfast Club out of sportsmanship, but Mr. Touchdown shoved his own partner away and started yelling at him. This allowed the Breakfast Club member to roll him up for the win. I’m not sure what I just watched.
WINNERS: The Breakfast Club
MATCH THREE: Narciso Rex v. Isaiah Rex
This is an ongoing feud between two brothers. There wasn’t much to this match. Narciso got annoyed at the ref and gave him a urinage. Meanwhile, Blitzkrieg has a group of four biker gang looking guys in their 50s who stand outside the ring during the whole show pumping the crowd up called the Full Throttle Wrecking Crew. Once the ref went down, they came down and got involved. They took a chair away from Narciso. One of them took their shirt off and had a referee shirt. Why didn’t he call for a DQ right away? This allowed Isaiah to hit a running knee for the win.
Narciso jumped his brother after the match. He went to attack one of them and ate a clothesline, then a couple of other moves to the delight of the crowd. The Wrecking Crew then offered a spot in their gang with Isaiah which he accepted. So I guess the point of this match was to get them over.
WINNER: Isaiah Rex
MATCH FOUR: Penelope Ford v. Skylar
Ford had a gripe before the match because the referee didn’t check Skylar for foreign objects, and damnit, she was right. Back and forth on the mat to start things off, but Ford set the tone with a hard slap on their feet.
From there they went back and forth with a number of hard shots. Ford with a great spot where she did her signature handspring backflips into the corner, but then stopped and poked Skylar in the eyes.
Ford went for a standing moonsault but Skylar moved. She transitioned right into a bridging crossface for the submission win.
Ford continues to show superstar poise and character in the ring whenever I see her. Skylar seemed a little lost at points, but considering she is pretty new, she handled herself well.
WINNER: Skylar
MATCH FIVE: Blitzkrieg Pro Bedlam Championship – Flex Rumblecrunch (c) v. Hammer Tunis (w/ Joseph Denucci) v. Sasha Jenkins
Tunis got over his manager Denucci for making him defend against Flex last month. He ran him down, made Denucci get on his knees, and slapped him in the face. He then told him to go to the back and think about what kind of manager he wants to be, so Tunis is manager-less for this one.
Typical three way in the sense that one man would go down and it would be quick spots between the two standing participants. Jenkins showed decent athleticism, Tunis showed a lot of character and Rumblecrunch is pretty strong.
Flex had it won with a spear on Jenkins, but Tunis pulled the ref out of the ring. Tunis reached under the ring and got handcuffs. He got Flex in his grasp and cuffed him to the corner.
It was down to Jenkins and Tunis. They went back and forth until Jenkins hit a twisting facebuster in Tunis for the win just before Flex could break up the pin after getting free from the cuffs.
WINNER: Sasha Jenkins
INTERMISSION
MATCH SIX: “The Bad Boy” Joey Janela v. Chuck O’Neil
Janela just came out to Psychosis’ WCW theme and I popped like a 13-year-old.
This match had the unfortunate handicap of being on right after intermission when a lot of the crowd was still in line to meet Cody Rhodes in another room in the building.
Janela was telling the crowd how much he hates Connecticut. Janela started the heat on Chuck after going to the floor and posting him. From there, it was a lot of eye rakes and other underhanded tactics to keep Chuck down.
The crowd slowly got back into it as Chuck hit multiple overhead belly to belly and German suplexes. Huge spot on the apron as Janela got Chuck up and hit a Death Valley Driver from the apron to the mat on the floor. Chuck just beat the count back in. Nearfall with a Falcon Arrow by Janela. O’Neil turned it around with a really nice running overhead belly to belly from the top rope.
They traded strikes in the middle of the ring until Janela dropped Chuck with a rolling elbow. He went for a moonsault but landed on his feet when Chuck moved. Janela ran right into a Michinoku for a two count, but Chuck transitioned into an armbar for the submission win. This match could have died a death because of the position it was put in, however, both guys worked hard and got the crowd back into it. Kudos to both guys.
WINNER: Chuck O’Neil
MATCH SEVEN: Scramble Match (New entrant every two minutes) – Anthony Greene v. DangerKid v. Josh Briggs v. Xavier Bell v. Zachary Pierre Beaulieu v. Scotty Wild
Wild and Greene started it out.
Beaulieu came in next. Wild eliminated Greene when he hit a low blow and rolled him up.
DangerKid out next and he ran wild. All three went at it with high spots.
Xavier Bell out next. He ran amok with some nice Biff Busick-inspired running elbows. He showed some nice babyface fire.
Josh Briggs out next with a Bruiser Brody inspired gimmick. He is a legit monster with a D1 football background. He REALLY ran wild and eliminated everyone over the top rope. It was down to him and Bell and it didn’t last long. Briggs finished it with a brutal chokeslam. I’ve been following Briggs for a while and featured him in my story about the New England Pro Wrestling Academy. This was the best I’ve seen him and this personality fits him really well. He did a fantastic job in the role.
WINNER: Josh Briggs
MATCH EIGHT: Chris Dickinson v. Missile Assault Man
So Missile Assault Man came out in head gear that made him look like a mix between a Viking and an ant. Also, the only thing he can say is “Missile Assault Man!” and he yells it.
Good back and forth exchanges between the two on the mat to start things out, including both guys going for submissions. It broke down into trading European uppercuts before MAM raked the eyes.
It was a see-saw battle from that point on. MAM went for the Rocket Launcher, but Dickinson got out of it and went for a Pazuzu Bomb but MAM got out. Dickinson got him on his knees and hit a huge headkick for the pin. Very good match.
WINNER: Chris Dickinson
MATCH NINE: Elimination Rules - JustNeph, JGeorge, Ryan Malice & Johnny Torres v. The 19th Hole (“Top Shelf” Troy Nelson, Johnny Idol, Mark Sterling & McNeil)
Torres was eliminated quickly by Sterling with a sit out powerbomb.
Sterling then eliminated Malice after rolling him up and putting his feet on the top rope.
Sterling accidentally knocked Nelson off the apron. As his back was turned, JustNeph rolled up Sterling to eliminate him. It’s like an episode of RAW with all the roll ups tonight.
McNeil eliminated JustNeph with a DDT, leaving JGeorge all alone in a 3-1 scenario. This didn’t last long as McNeil scored the pin on him to make it a (near) clean sweep.
After the match, the three survivors were interviewed and were asked about what is going on with Sterling. The gist of the interview is that they weren’t sure what was going on with them, but they were staying positive that the group will stay tight like they always have.
WINNERS: The 19th Hole
MAIN EVENT: Donovan Dijak v. Cody Rhodes
This was absolutely tremendous. For any young wrestler looking to learn about how important the small things in a match can be, they should study what Dijak did in this match from bell to bell. After making his entrance and waiting while Cody took his time with his entrance like 1999 RVD in ECW (thanks to Adam Cardoza for that reference), Dijak’s stare NEVER left Cody’s sight. He always made sure he was watching his opponent, especially since the story of this match played off the viral video from a few months back where Cody hit Dijak in the face with a chair and Dijak was looking for revenge.
The two were patient and didn’t rush anything. Everything they did in the ring made sense and built toward the next big spot. As they kept building the match became more intense. A table was left on the floor and they teased going through it from the apron. Then Cody brought in a chair and missed on a swing. Dijak then got Cody down, went to the outside, and got two chairs. He sat Cody down in it and went to hit Cody in the face the same way he did to him months back but Cody ducked. They traded nearfalls on a Feast Your Eyes from Dijak and a Cross Rhodes from Cody which got the crowd WAY up.
They found themselves on the floor and Dijak ended up choke slamming Cody through it. Back in the ring, Dijak hit another Feast Your Eyes for the victory and the crowd rose to the feet for a very well deserved standing ovation. This was definitely a main event worth going out of your way to watch.
After the match, Dijak teased hitting Cody with the chair, but instead dropped it and they shook hands. Cody got on the mic and gave a speech eerily similar to the one I heard him give at Chaotic last week. He said up until very early this morning, he was in Vancouver laying in a pool of his own fake blood with Stephen Amell getting ready to shoot him with a bow and arrow, thinking that he wasn’t going to be able to make it to Blitzkrieg, but then he told himself he HAD to make it and he did. He said he might be an actor during the week, but like his father before him, he is a professional wrestler. He thanked everyone for coming out.
WINNER: Donovan Dijak
Overall, I would say this was an interesting show. Based on the reactions of the audience, it was definitely a crowd pleaser. If you enjoy CHIKARA then there was definitely a lot of stuff that you would enjoy. There were a couple of standout matches, and the main event was an absolute classic.
Check them out on Twitter @Blitzkrieg_Pro and online at blitzkriegpro.com
Check me out on Twitter @HelloCrockett
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