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Road Report (ICW NHB and Gorilla Monsoon’s Grave) 1/22/2022 - Newark, NJ
Five hours after finishing up the night in DC and we are on the road to Newark. We could have left a bit later but Mean Mark wanted to get on the road even though I offered to pay for the parking for an extra few hours. So after a quick stop at whatever the name of the Krogers is out here for a Naked juice and some water and we are leaving the District of Columbia.
I love my pilgrimages and this road trip was going to be no different. For years I had thought that the Murphy Rec Center, the sight of some of the most formative matches of my teenage years, had closed down or been torn down. To my surprise though, I recently found out the Murphy Rec is alive and well and the basketball court still exists. Walking inside gave me goosebumps although at first we couldn’t even tell if they were open. Walking in we weren’t even sure if the place was supposed to be open when a head poked out of an office and asked if we needed anything. Luckily the man allowed us to walk freely into the gymnasium and just wow. The Murphy Rec was such a small part of Ring of Honor’s history but I’ll never forget being 15 and watching matches like Low Ki Vs Red, Michael Shane Vs Paul London, Doug Williams Vs Bryan Danielson and all of the other iconic bouts hosted in this small gymnasium which ended up being a block down the road from the ECW arena surrounded by houses.
After several minutes of just taking in the gymnasium, we went around the corner and got a quick look at the 2300 arena before getting Tony Lukes (Cheesesteak with Whiz and Salt and Vinegar fries) before getting back on the road. There was one more stop we had to make and that was to the Lakeview Memorial Park in Cinnaminson, New Jersey to pay our respects to Gorilla Monsoon and Joey Marella. It was only supposed to be a 5-10 minute detour that nearly took an hour because it turns out that finding Gorilla Monsoon’s grave without speaking to the people at the cemetary is a chore. I feel like Gorilla spent a good while ribbing us and turning us around before I forensically examined the single YouTube video of his grave to finally find it.
As we stood there though, it was crazy to think that a guy who wrestled Muhammad Ali, commentated the biggest matches of my childhood including Hulk Hogan Vs Andre the Giant, and was loved by millions of wrestling fans had a grave that could barely be found and wouldn’t have been found if you were casually looking for it. I guess it really makes you think about life and what happens to even the best of us after you’re gone.
We made it to Newark by 2 PM and dropped off the rental car at the airport after checking into our hotel. A quick nap and we were on the rode to the Heart Ballroom. The venue doesn’t have much around it so the early dinner is a Coke and a chocolate doughnut. Luckily getting inside reveals a small food area but apparently it is BYOB for better or for worse. In our case worse because we didn’t know.
The venue has two levels and luckily we get in early enough to get right up against the railing on the balcony. Tickets were sold as front row, second row, and general admission but only front row and second row got chairs. Doors opened at 6:30 PM with a pre-show starting a little while after. The pre-show didn’t consist of much for the live crowd and a few people followed it on IWTV on their phones. More people filed in and filled up all the standing room on the floor as well as migrating to the balcony area. The show was sold out at around 300 people.
The fans were excited for this show and reacted to everything in anticipation for the show to start. Danny Demanto did his normal open to the show and 300 people were going crazy and chanting ICW. He hands the show off to Larry Legend and we are off!
Akira beat Clint Margera
Mean Mark has never seen a full death match show and begins inquiring about whether the steak knives have been dulled or how they manage to wrestle with them. I shrug and say “welp, guess we will find out.” The last time I saw Clint Margera live was in Wolverhampton against Dunkzilla where they claimed before the show they would be the next Joe/Necro and came pretty damn close to delivering so needless to say I was ecstatic to see him and Akira one on one. The fans are absolutely bloodthirsty as all stabbings with weapons on any side of the ring results in other sides of the rings to start chanting “OVER HERE!” They trade a lot of moves but not in a “your turn, my turn” way which is something I’m glad was not on this show so they quickly have me hooked. Akira stabs Margera in the arm with the steak knife and also slices at his shirt. Good, hot opener to get the crowd going.
Colby Corino beat Brandon Kirk
Brandon Kirk came out wearing the Living Dangerously 2000 Steve Corino gimmick and looked so much like Corino that Mean Mark initially thought he was Colby Corino having not seen Colby before (we will blame it on the pandemic and him not being able to get into the country but I will still shame him a bit). One thing I love about the Kirks is how much they revel in being hated. The fans are mercilous with Brandon and Kasey as the match starts. Colby wastes no time hitting Brandon with everything he can get his hands on. These two were using anything and everything not so much to end the match but seemingly to end each other. Light tubes, chairs, doors, Kasey running interferance. Darren McCarty makes the save for Colby who got low blowed by Kasey when he spears Kasey through a door. Corino attempts to put Brandon through a door set up on tables but doesn’t get all of it and then goes crazy hitting Brandon with doors before Kasey has to throw in the towel. Brandon wasn’t willing to quit but his wife knew better than to let Corino punish him any more.
Shane Douglas beat Danny Demanto
Demanto was getting in the chains with his idol but Douglas got in and immediately ran down New Jersey saying that it was no Philly and shitting on everyone. Demanto took offense but Shane got the first shots in. While Douglas isn’t as mobile as he once was, he took a lot more punishment and weapons than everyone expected him to. Demanto set Douglas up on a table on the outside and climbed to the platform on the ring post and dove off with an elbow drop through a table. He also caught Douglas with a hard chair shot across the back. Demanto took some of the more utraviolent spots like the light tube shot and getting the belly to belly suplex onto a door with cut in half soda cans on them but got to put Douglas through tables twice during the match before taking the loss.
Post-match, Douglas said he wanted their next match IN THE PIT!
Krule beat Justin Kyle
This is the superfight. Justin Kyle is a different beast and Krule is intersting to say the least. I love when Kyle steps into the chains because he makes no qualms about it, he is going to prove to the crowd that he is real. If Krule feels pain then he does not show it. Kyle drives him through numerous doors and while slower with each door smash he gets back up. The one spot in the match that noticeably slows him down sees Kyle lawn dart him out of the ring through the middle ropes and has him suicide dive into an empty row of chairs and then the ground. The entire crowd were more shocked by this than anything and collectively wince. These two guys harken back a bit to that style of yesteryear where you have just two badasses that are noticeably strong but don’t have that “body guy” physique but will beat someone up on a moments notice. I miss those types of wrestlers and glad to see it is alive and well in this match. Absolute hoss battle here.
Satu Jinn beat Casanova Valentine
You want the textbook definition of a deathmatch? It is this match. Gusset plates, light tubes, and can I talk about the firecracker bats? There was a firecracker bat in the Corino/Kirk match and another one here. I have to know how much these things hurt because they sound SO brutal! The crowd was hooked on this match. They went out there looking to stab the other into incapacitation and when that didn’t work attempted to hit each other with blunt objects until the other got knocked out. Casanova’s arm was a mess and gushing blood from the gusset plates and getting stabbed while Satu bled like a stuck pig from his forehead. This match felt like I was watching a match in the Carribean in the 80s. Satu and Casanova carry themselves so well and have such unique looks, they are both breathes of fresh air in the deathmatch wrestling scene and independent wrestling in general.
Mickie Knuckles and Ludark draw
The last match threw a little caution to the wind in terms of how liberally they threw their weapons around but Mickie Knuckles and Ludark had no care about anyone elses well-being much less their own. Chair situated in bar fight position broke down into them smashing a dozen light tubes over each other’s heads with the particles and broken halves flying into the crowd. In the case of a deathmatch show I guess that is part of the price of admission for someone choosing to be on the floor so you can’t complain but so many people were dodging flying weapons throughout the night. People were literally running and ducking for cover throughout this match, it was like Leatherface and Jason walking through a crowd in Japan in the 90s. A lot of hard shots to each other and they beat each other with everything they could find including a beer bottle that Ludark broke and attempted to stab Mickie with it only to have the tables turned on her. The end section where the two rolled around getting two counts until they ended up pinning each other for the draw was interesting. Neither of them liked this result though to the near detriment of the referee who had to run for cover.
Big Joe beat Hoodfoot
This match looked like a murder scene. It didn’t help that Big Joe wore a white button up shirt but by the end it was covered red with most of the blood being Hoodfoot’s. The only bathroom in the venue was shared between wrestlers and fans and Hoodfoot even after the show was still trying to seal up cuts and stop bleeding from this match. Joe kept attempting to hide his face from taking light tubes which resulted him taking a lot of tubes to his quads and thighs. Joe traded in kind by using every weapon on Hoodfoot’s face and head, turning Hoodfoot’s head nearly completely red. The ring would get covered in tube remnants along with shards of glass dumped into the middle of the ring and both getting dropped back first into it. Post-match, Joe would drape the Union Jack over Hoodfoot and Demanto would come out noting how impressed he was with Joe and tell him he was booked for Chicago.
Demanto would then go on to announce that ICW NHB would be running WrestleMania week… In New Jersey. The locals were ecstatic but as a person who is going to be in Dallas WrestleMania week, it is going to be disappointing not seeing ICW NHB have that amazing Then and Now show in Tampa, it is disappointing they can’t get out to Texas.
Reed Bentley beat John Wayne Murdoch to win the American Deathmatch Championship
It took a bit to set this match up as they had to clean the ring then hang the tubes along with the styrofoam with saws in it and the other one with knives in it. Both guys get out to the ring and the fans were all over this one. Both guys just destroyed each other with weapons. They also made their way up the balcony right in front of us and attempted to throw one another off of the balcony unsuccessfully but created great suspense on whether it would happen or not. For these two being friends, they pulled out all of the stops in the struggle over the American Deathmatch Championship. Boxes upon boxes of light tubes were smashed over their bodies during the match. The crowd were hooked by every near fall and every time one of the guys would hit a big move. This again was the case where the two built up the match without taking a “Hit me and now I hit you with something approach”. The finishing sequence had people out of their chars and screaming and booing and cheering as they teased the end until they finally got there and shocked everyone in attendance.
The show went around 3 hours, ending right around 11. Getting out of the venue was not hard but there were so many light tube shards on the ground that it sounded like you were wading through sand. Once outside we called the Uber who get there surprisingly quick and we headed out to rest up for tomorrow’s show.
Overall the show was great. ICW NHB has a great, dedicated fan base who is into everything they do and willing to come out and support them. They feel right now like they have figured out what works for them and are using that to grow their brand. These shows have just been getting better and better so it will be amazing to see where they go from here. Mean Mark who experienced his first deathmatch show with this show is now hooked and claims it is one of the best shows he has ever seen live so ICW NHB has added another convert to their style of professional wrestling.
But now it is time to get a good night’s rest because tomorrow is GCW at the HAMMERSTEIN and the debauchery of Janelapalooza!
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