Friday night, June 8, 2012, New England Championship Wrestling made an auspicious debut in front of a packed house at the Knights of Columbus in Bridgewater,MA for STRONGER THAN HURT.
The opening contest saw “The Italian Superman” Tony Delfonzo make a successful return to NECW as he defeated newcomer “The Shure Thing” Mark Shurman via submission with his devastating bearhug.
In a rematch from January’s NEW YEAR’S EVOLUTION, “The Real Deal” Brandon Locke defeated “The Statement” Elia Markopoulos via pinfall after two thunderous Locke Downs, despite the interference of “Mr. Fabulous” Tony Ulysses. After the match, Locke was viciously attacked by Brian Fury, who literally came in the back door of the Knights of Columbus.
In a special handicap match, the Giant Pharaoh made quick, emphatic work of the tandem of Ryan and Brandon Matthews, finishing both men with an amazing big splash off the second turnbuckle.
NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion, Colt “Boom Boom” Cabana came to the ring to address the crowd inBridgewater, thanking them for their support and promising to bring the fight later in the evening to his opponent, “Scrap Iron” Adam Pearce.
A six-man tag team battle featured the NECW Tag Team Champions, All Money i$ Legal (K-Pusha and K-Murda) teaming with Slyck Wagner Brown to take on the Mill City Hooligans. As the Hooligans came up with Sean Gorman, they were noticeably missing Matt Logan. Brian Logan explained that he and Chase Del Monte felt they could handle their opponents by themselves and gave Matt the night off. Del Monte then inexplicably announced that they had found someone backstage who would be filling in for Matt and they brought out Scotty Slade. During the match itself, chaos broke out with all six men battling in and around the ring. Amidst it all, Brian Logan was able to deliver a fireman’s carry jawbreaker onto Brown following immediately by a superkick from Del Monte, allowing Del Monte to score the pin on a dejected Brown.
In a return match from last month’s DOUBLE INTENSITY, Johnny Thunder again scored a dubious victory over Julian Starr after countering a sunset flip and using the ropes for leverage.
Next, the rivalry over the World Women’s Wrestling Championship between Alexxis Nevaeh (Champion) and Adrianna (Challenger) came to a head once again. Both women fought furiously and at times both seemed moments from victory. In the end, neither competitor could finish off the other within the time limit and the match was ruled a draw and Alexxis retained the WWW Championship.
Brandon Locke returned to the ring to comment about the events from earlier in the evening, but before he could get a word in, Brian Fury again emerged to assault him. This time, however, Locke was ready and thwarted Fury’s efforts. Locke vowed to get his hands on Fury on Saturday, July 14th, when NECW returns to Bridgewater.
Then, it was time for the much anticipated main event, Stage Two of the Seven Levels of Hate. The NWA World’s Heavyweight Championship was on the line as Colt Cabana (Champion) faced “Scrap Iron” Adam Pearce (Challenger) in a Boston Street Fight. It was clear early on that the ring would not be able to contain this war as the action spilled to the outside and all over the Knights of Columbus. No chair, table, or wall was safe as these two warriors battled to every corner of the building. In the end, a bloodied Pearce fell victim to Cabana’s Billy Goat’s Curse submission hold, and despite not submitting, passed out from the pain and the blood loss, giving Cabana another victory and a 2-0 lead in the best of seven series.
NECW returns to live action in Bridgewater on Saturday night, July 14 with a 7PM bell time for RED, WHITE & BRUISED.