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RICHARD HOLLIDAY, CLASSIC DARBY ALLIN BOUT, JP GRAYSON & MORE: NORTHEAST WRESTLING STUDIO WARS EPISODE 2 ON HIGHSPOTS WRESTLING NETWORK REPORT

Northeast Wrestling "NEW Studio Wars: Episode 2"
Taped in Rhode Island.
Available Now at www.HighspotsWrestlingNetwork.com

Last week, I covered the debut episode of NEW Studio Wars (and it was a good one!) - 

This is episode two of Northeast Wrestling's STUDIO WARS - A new weekly wrestling program that can be found on the Highspots Wrestling Network. Paul Crockett, Jon Roy & Thrillride Jimmy Preston are your commentary team.

Match 1: JP Grayson (w/ Jared Silberkleit & Tommy Grayson) vs RJ Rude

Paul Crockett refers to Silberkleit as a worm. Grayson pounces on Rude as he enters the ring. Rude battles back and tope to the Graysons. Crossbody from the top for two. Grayson trips Rude to the bottom buckle. Grayson going for an unprettier, Rude reverses into a fireman's  carry, Tommy Grayson off the top rope and Ref Quinn calls for a DQ.

Winner (by DQ): RJ Rude

The Grayons lay a beatdown on RJ Rude after the bell, hitting a great looking Gory special/cutter combo. Silberkleit (that worm) holds Rude's tag team championship high before dropping it on his head. This was fun for what it was but this story is clearly not over.

We get a flashback highlights to 2010 when Matt Taven captured the NEW championship from Paul London in a 5-way bout.

Match 2: "Big Bacon" Brad Hollister vs Jay Evans.

Big Bacon is back from injury! Jay Evans doesn't get an on-camera entrance. This dude's dead. Bell rings. Bacon with a running uppercut, urange and immediately muscles Evans up and flattens him with a sitout powerbomb for the immediate pin. 3 moves of doom. Hollister stomps out of the ring, his work here done.

Winner: Brad Hollister

What can I say? Big Bacon is back and I'm here for it. The locker room is on notice. I expect him to crush some fools on his way towards a higher profile matchup in a later episode.

Match 3: Mosh Pit vs Love, Doug

Both these guys are Matt Taven students making thier debut. Doug gets tossed from the ring. Mosh tries to pull him back in and Doug reaches into his trunks and blinds him with a shower of flower petals. Dropkick from Doug and starts dropping bombs while telling the room to "Love me!". Mosh gets a kiss on the head before eating a bulldog for two. A bullDoug? Love Doug with a headlock that Mosh throws knees and elbows to escape. Mosh with a shoulder tackle and dropkick. He's got a reverse-DDT setup. Doug throws a high knee and Mosh drops him. Doug pops up and hits a sliced bread for the pin.

Winner: Love, Doug

Both these guys are newer and it showed. Doug's character work was the star here as it was hard to get a sense of who Mosh Pit was in this mostly one-sided affair. Post-match, Love Doug gets into Thrillride's face at the commentary table and slaps him. Thrillride immediately says he's out of retirement and Love Doug is facing him next week.

Backstage, RJ Rude is nursing his wounds from the earlier beatdown. Traevon Jordan approaches with some words of encouragement and, since they are both down a tag partner, offers to team with Rude against the Grayons...IF Waves & Curls gets a shot at the NEW tag belts when Rude's partner is back. Rude agrees and it looks like we have a match for next week.

Match 4: Christian Casanova vs Darby Allin (replay)

This is a flashback to NEW's 2018 "Long Live the King" event. Both guys testing each other to start, Casanova made to respect Allin's speed and agility (which matches his own). It's super wild to see a full HOT TO DEATH crowd. Casanova traps Allin's arm inside the ring post and goes to work on that elbow, sending him to the outside with an injured limb. Basement dropkick and dropping bombs as Darby struggles back in. Casanova staying on top with a headscissors face plant and frog splash for two but Allin kicks out. Springboard legdrop for two. Casanova is hitting all his heavy offense but Darby will not die. Casnova tripped coming back in and Allin is trying to tear his opponent's arm off. Code red for two! Darby wants a head scissor but Casanova catches it into a powerbomb. DDT for two! Darby up top but Casanova with a back suplex brings him back to earth. Allin with a shotgun dropkick, monkey flip but Casanova send him into Ref Quinn. Casanova wins with an inside cradle after a low blow.

Winner: Christian Casanova

This was great. 10 minutes of fire in front of a raucous crowd. I miss this live experience so much.  

Main Event: "The Red Lion" Christopher Battle vs "The Air Pod God" Richard Holliday

Holliday needs to take out his air pods and threatens the ring announcer, Chris Adonis, if anything happens. Hooliday takes control early, working over the neck and throwing shots. Holliday goes for the 2008 neckbreaker but Battle evades it. Red Lion with some lucha style arm drag, impressive for a man his size. Battle with a headlock into a pin attempt. Battle trying to take out Holliday's arm. Big enziguri but Holliday reverses the followup into an apron clothesline. Chest strike draped on the apron and Holliday is stalking his prey with stomps. Holliday taunting Battle over their shared history at wrestling school. Back suplex from Holliday for two. Holliday running his mouth and the Red Lion fires up with boots, swiping strikes and an exploder suplex. Vicious running claw to the corner. Holliday with a superkick. Battle with a popup knee. Holliday with a spinebuster. He wants the 2008, Battle with a rollup for two. Battle goes for a powerbomb but Holliday reverses into the 2008, finally hitting it for the win.

Winner: Richard Holliday

This was a showcase for Holliday's swagger. Battle got some impressive licks in but really, this was the story of how, not if, Holliday was going to hit that 2008.

And that's it! Clocking in at under an hour again, we told a lot of story this week in the first half. While I loved that Casanova/Allin match as a fan, it definitely put a spotlight and forced a comparison on the different tone of the in-studio matches (especially where this one was shown in full vs the highlight clips from last week). NEW might be better served to also spin up a "Best Of" show for the Highspots Network. They certainly have an awesome back catalog to support it.

Next week looks packed: Thrillride vs Love Doug, Channing Thomas vs Mike Gamble, Elia Markopolous vs MDM, Big Bacon Brad Hollister destroys someone, Wrecking Ball Legursky vs Gio Galvano, Graysons vs RJ Rude & Traevon Jordan. Until then!

 

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