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House of Hardcore drew 400 for their debut in Freehold, NJ and 900 for their return to the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, PA. Tommy Dreamer specifically did not announce matches for the Philly return as he was happy with the early advance and wanted to see what would happen if he took the old ECW route of not announcing anything ahead of time. There is no set return yet for Freehold, but the promotion loved the venue and the infrastructure iPlayAmerica provided. They will return to the Arena on 11/18.
The Philadelphia event felt less like a wrestling card and more like a TV taping as there were a number of angles that built heels for future storylines. Joey Mercury was brought in for a big angle in a segment where Dreamer introduced him as someone who was away from wrestling for several years to deal with his personal problems and was someone Dreamer saw as a star when he met him at 17 and personally hired into WWE. Mercury came out and gave a good promo about everything he had been through in building himself to being Triple H's right hand man including mentioning that the last time he was in the building, he was teaming with Dreamer (December 2000 for ECW) and should have savored the moment. He said he wanted to savor tonight and then kicked Dreamer in the groin, attacked him and bloodied him. Dreamer wore a white shirt to accentuate the blood and dared Mercury to return to the ring. They had a brief brawl that was stopped due to Dreamer's "excessive bleeding by the Athletic Commission." It was one of the best booked segments in the history of the promotion and had a great old school grit to it.
During a speech prior to the Mercury segment, Dreamer noted they were not on iPPV. Flosports did not carry the shows, which was Dreamer's decision. He said he was working on a "larger platform" for the shows to be seen and promised when they returned in November, they would be on a "larger platform." That led a number of wrestlers on the show to begin to theorize HOH had gotten some sort of PPV or TV deal, but I've heard nothing to support that. Dreamer has had discussions with a number of potential partners over the years but has never found the type of deal he wanted for the company. Whether he has or will, stay tuned.
The promotion also worked hard to build Nick Aldis, aka former GFW and TNA champion Magnus as a heel. The promotion had Shane Douglas come out under the guise of this would be his last year as an in-ring wrestler and he wanted to say goodbye to the audience. Aldis came out and put over Douglas but then attacked him. He then quickly beat Bull James after James and several officials made the save. Later on, he attacked and laid out Matt Striker and Dan Barry during a match.
Mike Maraldo aka the former Ace Darling from WCW, WWF and Northeastern independents was visiting at the show on Friday with his son. I have to say it was great to see him as he was always a nice guy and very underrated in the ring. Shane Douglas was also in New Jersey, but did not appear on the show.
Behind the scenes, MVP, Dreamer, Bully Ray and Joey Mercury were pulling younger talents aside after their matches to give them advice and pointers.
The promotion will make its Chicago-area debut this Saturday in Geneva, Illinois at Northwestern Medicine Field featuring Matt Cross vs. Sami Callihan, Tommy Dreamer & a mystery partner vs. The Squad, Angelina Love vs. Jessicka Havok, the first ever House of Hardcore Basebrawl Match where any objects used in a baseball game are legal plus MVP, Bull James, Jay Bradley and more to be announced. For tickets, visit www.HouseofHardcore.net.
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