A sold out crowd witnessed a historic event as New England Championship Wrestling celebrated its 9th anniversary with BIRTHDAY BASH 9: RAGE IN A CAGE at the National Guard Armory in Quincy, MA, this past Saturday night, August 8th.
Ring announcer, Chris Norman introduced the entire NECW locker room who surrounded the ring. Then, NECW ownership came out to announce the appointment of the first general manager in company history in former WWE/ECW referee and former New England promoter for the original ECW, Paul Richard. Richard hyped up the fans and then announced NECW President Sheldon Goldberg, who dedicated the night’s event to all of the company’s fans. Goldberg introduced a video announcement which was shown on the tron. The fans erupted as they saw NECW’s historic announcement – the signing of a television deal with Comcast SportsNet New England, with a weekly one hour broadcast to air Fridays at 4pm EST starting January 8, 2010.
In the opening contest, “The Heat” Kris Pyro countered NECW Television Champion “Superstar” Ryan Matthews’ Codebreaker attempt to a roll-up to score the pin fall and win the NECW Television Championship. Matthews’ grandfather “The Sports Illustrated Legend” Robbie Ellis was barred from the building for this rematch.
“The Talent” TJ Richter and “The Man No One Can Slam” Mr. Munroe came to the ring for Richter’s match. Richter again challenged the crowd about his body slam challenge. A surprising contender in NECW Ring Announcer, Chris Norman, attempted the slam to the huge cheers of the Quincy faithful. Unfortunately, “Stormin'” Norman was added to the list of those who tried and failed. Norman then brought out Richter’s opponent, “The Upset Kid” Nick Westgate. Westgate lived up to his moniker by pinning Richter with a flying schoolboy pin. Post match, Mr. Munroe grabbed Westgate in a brutal front face lock, swinging him around by the neck and then tossing him like a rag doll over his head. Westgate had to leave the ring with assistance of NECW officials.
In a mixed tag team challenge, Handsome Johnny’s tandem of “Sensational” Scott Levesque and Sammi Lane faced off with Puerto Rican stars Ryan Bisbal and Ivy. All four looked great in this match, with Ivy making a huge impression in her NECW in-ring debut. As the referee was distracted, watching Bisbal and Levesque, Handsome threw Sammi Lane her new Teddy Bear “Hugs”, which she blasted Ivy with. Ivy dropped to the canvas out cold. Sammi easily scored the pin fall after this. It took Ivy a few minutes to really come back to her senses after the match.
The next match was for the World Women’s Wrestling Championship. Reigning champion “The Portuguese Princess” Ariel, with Brendan Michael Thomas defended the coveted red and gold belt against the woman she defeated for the title well over a year ago, Alexxis Nevaeh. Alexxis was able to counter the Dariel into a small package which rolled around the ring as the two tried to score the fall. In the end, Nevaeh was able to hold the pin and regain the World Women’s Wrestling Championship, becoming the first two-time champion in the title’s history. After the match, BMT attempted to super kick Alexxis in anger, but she was able to duck and instead gave her own kick to the lower region of the “Prince of Pink”.
In a triple threat match, the 2009 IRON 8 Champion, Antonio “The Promise” Thomas, faced off with “The Real Deal” Brandon Locke and “The Natural” Scott Osbourne, with his manager “Rock God” Brett Adams. Thomas was able to overcome the onslaught of this duo to pin Osbourne and win the match. After the bell, Adams stated that while Thomas might have won the battle, the war had just begun and pointed to the entranceway announcing his newest client. As “The Promise” called out whomever this new client was, Brandon Locke snuck in from behind delivering a Lockedown. Then joined by Osbourne, Locke began to assault Thomas urged on by the “Rock God”. Adams then announced henceforth that the two would be known as “Real Natural”.
Next was a special Pat’s Pit segment. Pat “The Brat” Piper called out his rival Handsome Johnny, who came out with Sammi Lane. The segment quickly broke down to a contest of “Yo Momma” jokes. (yes, Yo Momma jokes). Piper schooled Handsome Johnny, who claimed he was only bested because he wasn’t prepared. The two agreed to have a rematch, this time in a karaoke-off on September 19th, much to the dismay of Lane.
In a rematch for the NECW Tag Team Championship, the reigning champions The Crown Jewels with “Mr. Fabulous” Tony Ulysses, defended against the team of Davey Loomis and Alex Payne. This time around, Payne and Loomis showed more continuity and gelled as a team. It appeared they had the title won, when Ulysses pulled referee Vinnie Lax from the ring to break up a pin attempt. Lax berated “Mr. Fabulous” and was met by a monumental lip lock! Disgusted, Lax disqualified the Jewels, awarding the match to the challengers, but leaving The Crown Jewels as the NECW Tag Team Champions.
While the steel cage was being set up, NECW Co-Owners Matt & Kyle Storm came to talk to the fans about a new signature NECW event debuting September 19 in Quincy – the 1st Annual NECW Tag Team Classic. This 8-team, single-elimination tournament would feature the NECW Tag Team Champions The Crown Jewels, with the titles on the line throughout the tournament. Also in the event would be Canada’s 2.0, the team of Battletoad (Stupefied & Bash Bison) also from Canada, “The Epic” Mike Bennett & Guy Alexander, and TJ Richter & Mr. Munroe. 3 more teams will be announced.
In the main event for the NECW Triple Crown Championship, a Steel Cage match where pin falls, submissions, or escaping the cage could be used to win, reigning and defending champion “The Enforcer” Max Bauer faced off with top contender “The Golden Greek” Alex Arion with manager Sean Gorman. Special guest referee for the match was former NECW Triple Crown Champion and 4-time NECW Tag Team Champion, DC DIllinger. The brutal cage match featured Arion getting brutalized by Bauer, until Arion was able to find a break and hit the champion with a low blow. The match raged on with both men seemingly refusing to win the match and instead trying to end the career of their opponent. Arion delivered three top tope splashes to Bauer, but was still unable to score the pin. Bauer countered with a number of “Enforcer Bomb” Fireman’s Carry face busters, again to no avail. Sean Gorman then tried to scale the cage to hand a chain to Alex Arion to use as a weapon, but was met at the top by DC Dillinger, a man he had managed to so many titles. Dillinger seemed on the same page with Gorman, until he instead blasted him with a big right hand dropping Gorman some 12 feet to the floor on to officials and referees. Arion was then able to use the chain, knocking out Bauer. “The Golden Greek” then began to make the slow climb over the top of the cage, but as he got to the top, “The Enforcer” sprung to life and met him. The two exchanged punches 15 feet above the fans, when Bauer stopped Arion and threw him on his shoulders delivering his Enforcer Bomb from the top of the cage for the pin fall and the win, retaining his championship and ending the 12-moth feud.
NECW returns to the National Guard Armory in Quincy, MA for the 1st annual NECW Tag Team Classic on Saturday night, September 19th with a 7 PM bell time. Tickets will be on sale Thursday, August 13th online at NECWwrestling.com, KC’s Sports Cards, 33 Temple Street, Quincy Center, MA or by calling 1-800-838-3006.