Ok. Why the hell am I watching this? Because Muta, Tajiri, Pentagon, Fenix, LAX, Low Ki, and others. Plus, this is just a random buy for one of the independent shows for the WrestleMania 35 weekend. I'm going to butcher names since I don't know most of the roster. So, be patient. And let's have some fun.
HOG Culture Clash 19
New York City, New York
4/6/19
1) Casket Match
Smiley vs. Leroy Green
Green shows some good thleticism early on including a good Reverse Rana. Green tries to put Smiley into the casket early on, but he can't close the lid. Smiley gets sent over the casket into the guard rail. Then he gets sent into the ring. Smiley gets the advantage in the ring and hits a couple big senton like moves on the back of Green's back. A kendo stick is brought out by Smiley and used on the back of Green. Smiley assaults him with the Kendo Stick over and over again. Green finally gets the Kendo Stick and starts hitting Smiley with it. Green tries to dive through the ropes onto Smiley, but he gets hit with a chair for his trouble. Steel Chair on the face while Smiley smacks the body of Green with a Kendo Stick. Green ties up Smiley on the ropes and sends him face first into a Steel Chair.
SMILEY HITS A BRAINBUSTER INTO THE TURNBUCKLE ON GREEN! (What the literal hell was that?!). Doors (I literally mean wood doors) are placed in a diagonal crossed position up and down across the opening between the ring and the guard rail. Green avoids getting powerbombed through the doors. But he gets Buckle Bombed in the ring a couple times. He then gets hit with a Running Powerbomb from the ring to the runway. Green gets up and spears Smiley down into the stacked area of doors!!!! Green brings Smiley into the ring and rips his mask off. He gives Smiley the "good mask" for him to put on. Smiley begs off, but Green pushes him into the casket and closes the casket.
(Good opener here with both men telling a decent story of revenge and one character trying to bring another character to the light.)
(So far, this show has an ECW type feel to it. That doesn't mean that it will stay this way, but it is what I'm picking up. Again, I'm not too familiar with this promotion.)
2) HOG World Title
Anthony Gangone (c) vs. Robbie Eagles
Gangone comes out with rappers performing for his theme. He's coming out with masks and a hood on with spikes from a teenager's Shredder costume. He seems to have disciples in his stable as other men are in the ring kneeling.
Gangone seems to be rule-breaker as he thumbs the eye of Eagles. Gangone chops Eagles in the corner. Eagles tries to go for a Figure Four, but Gangone reverses the attempt and suckers Eagles in for a DDT. Eagles seconds later hits a Springboard Dropkick to the knee of Gangone and hits a Suicide Dive to Gangone's cronies on the floor. Shining Wizard by Eagles to Gangone. Eagles hits the running knees into the corner on Gangone, but he only gets a 2. A Top Rope Flatliner is followed up with another DDT by Eagles. 2 count. (The FITE stream is terrible for this show.) Suplex into a Ushigaroshi for a 2 count by Gangone. Package Piledriver avoided by Eagles. Series of kicks to Gangone. Gangone kicks Eagles in the back of the head. Package Shoulder Breaker. 2 count only as Eagles kicks out.
Eagles hits a superkick to Gangone. 450 TO THE KNEE! REVERSE FIGURE FOUR TO GANGONE! Gangone taps out, but the referee is pulled out by Gangone's cronies. They get kicked out of the building. Eagles is distracted. A woman low blows Eagles and hits a DDT behind the referee's back. Eagles gets hit with Gangone's finisher (A Torture Rack into a Go To Sleep). 1-2-3.
(Good enough match here. This wasn't anything mind-blowing or anything. But the athleticism was there.)
Gangone gets a mic. He demands respect while he speaks. He puts over working with a broken hand and dislocated shoulder. He talks about Amazing Red retiring. He talks about the WWE talent who talked in a video about how awesome Amazing Red was. He decides to "break character." His retirement only proved that he was weak in body and in mind. Everyone in the building should be thanking him. Without him, House of Glory does not exist. It should be #ThankGangone. He then cuts a promo on his own followers, including Smiley from earlier on the show. He demands the fan stand up and clap for him.
A few men in masks get into the ring. They keep coming in. More and more. They all have the Smiley masks. A brawl breaks out, and the masked men are cleared from the ring quickly. Another man comes out behind Gangone who has sent his followers out. Gangone punches the masked man. Scorpion Death Drop. Gangone's followers get knocked out as well. Suicide Dive by the masked man on the followers. The woman attacks him, and she gets piledriven by him. A Gotch Style Piledriver by the man. (FITE buffers... again.) We return to find out who the attacker was. I guess that was Smiley. Smiley poses with the title and has turned on Gangone.
(I'm enjoying the show so far for what they're doing, but I hate this stream.)
3) Scramble Match
#1 Contendership for the HOG Crown Jewel Championship
Juba vs. Evander James vs. Bryan Burgundy vs. Big Daddy Cruise (he comes out to Smooth Operator... Lol.) vs. Kai vs. Matt Travis
They all gang up on Juba. Things breka down until it's James and Cruise in the ring. Pearl River Plunge by Cruise gets a 2. Matt Travis goes after Cruise, and he gets Cruise up for a Dragon Suplex. Kai gets in and stops the pin. Travis and Kai go at it. Travis calls for a Brainbuster, but he gets hit with one. Burgundy breaks up a pin. Burgundy and Juba are left in the ring now. Juba just propels Burgundy into the corner. Travis and Burgundy suffer a Double Fall-Away slam. Cruise and Juba go at it in the ring. Cruise gets dumped to the floor. Evander psyches out everyone by teasing a dive, but he just goes through the ropes and decks Cruise in the face. Burgundy and Travis climb up and hit STEREO SHOOTING STAR PRESSES TO THEIR OPPONENTS ON THE FLOOR.
Burgundy and Travis fight it out in the ring. Evander James comes in and roughs up Burgundy. A Backstabber only gets a 2 as Kai (I still don't know if that's the right spelling) breaks it up. Kai hits a couple superkicks. Cruise comes in and breaks up the pin. Cruise hits a Sit-Out PowerSlam on Kai, but the pin gets broken up. Rinse and repeat with Juba and Burgundy. Burgundy gets Juba up for a German Suplex. 2 count. F-5 by Juba. Travis runs in and gets Juba off the pin and pins Burgundy instead.
(Decent enough match again. But there was little psychology going on. It was a cluster. And the stream issues again continue to plague my enjoyment of this show.)
The CZW crew comes in and invades the show beating down on the wrestlers in the ring. Apparently, Gangone has the CZW Tag Team Titles. He tells Red, Gangone, and the fans to go (bleep) themselves. The HOG Locker Room clears out with chairs and chases off CZW. Someone gets on the mic and calls out CZW to finish the brawl in the ring.
Ken Broadway (I guess that's his name) wants Amazing Red's spot versus Rey Fenix. The owner of the company approves the match. It's on.
4) 6 Man Tag Team Match
Low Ki and LAX vs. The Great Muta, Pentagon Jr., and Tajiri
Low Ki comes out. NO Salina. :( . (The storyline is that Low Ki of course hates Konnan and LAX, but the money was right for the opportunity to take on Muta.) LAX is put over hard by the announcers. Pentagon and Tajiri get good reactions, and Muta gets a lot of respect (as he should). Tajiri, Pentagon, and Muta share a spit pose in their corner.
Ortiz and Pentagon start off the match. Kicks exchanged by both men. Corner attacks by both men. These guys continue counter attacks against the other until they break. Pentagon tags in Tajiri. Santana comes in for LAX/Low Ki's team. Both men start wrestling a technical style until Tajiri gets the advantage and sends Santana to the floor. Muta is tagged in. Low Ki gets tagged in as well. Muta works on the ankle of Low Ki. Muta gets a Kimura Lock on Low Ki, but they're in the ropes. Low Ki gets a Hangman's Armbar on Muta over the ropes and continues to work on Muta's arm in the ring. Muta gets out and drops an elbow on Low Ki.
Tag to Tajiri by Muta. Tajiri uses Low Ki's tie to his advantage and goes on the attack. But Tajiri gets backed into LAX's corner, allowing Santana and Ortiz to double-team Tajiri with frequent tags. Ortiz rakes the back of Tajiri several times, but Tajiri kicks the legs of Ortiz over and over again. Pentagon gets tagged in, and he kicks Ortiz a few times. Ortiz escapes and tags in Low Ki. Low Ki goes after the mask of Pentagon, but that gets broken up by Tajiri. Pentagon spends the next few minutes getting beaten down by LAX/Low Ki. Pentagon escapes the attacks and tags in Muta. Muta leg whips everyone and hits a leg attack in the corner.
Low Ki and Muta are legal now. Springboard Single Leg Lariat by Low Ki. 2 count. Muta gets Triple-Teamed in the ring. Low Ki gets tossed off the top rope by Pentagon. Now, Low Ki gets triple teamed. It's chaos now as all 6 men are in the ring. RED MIST BY PENTAGON AND TAJIRI TO LAX!!!! Low Ki does the handspring kick to Muta. He goes up top! MIST IN THE EYES OF LOW KI AS HE COMES DOWN!!!!! SHINING WIZARD BY MUTA!!!!!! 1-2-3!
(Very fun match here. All 6 men brought something cool to this match. Low Ki and LAX were awesome with the moves that they pulled out. Pentagon is a monster for working the schedule he has over this weekend (same could be said for LAX). Tajiri and Muta were there for nostalgia, but both of them did what was expected for them and then some. Muta may not be able to do what he could 10 (let alone 30) years ago, but it is always a treat to see him perform in whatever condition he can. This was worth the money for the show alone.)
LAX and Low Ki pose for the crowd before going to the back.
5) HOG Crown Jewel Championship
Mantequilla (c) vs. Kikutaro
Kikutaro is proclaimed the "King of Comedy." Oh boy.
The bell rings. He's screaming while in an armbar. His mask is patently ridiculous. Some comedy spots continue with Kikutaro complaining about a lot of things to the ref. Meanwhile, Mantequilla hits a nice arm drag to Kikutaro. Kikutaro goes to the floor to call for a time out. He comes back in and suckers Mantequilla in for a headlock. But Mantequilla proves too athletic for Kikutaro on a few occasions. Kikutaro uses the simplest things to catch his opponent, including stomping on his opponent duing a float over. Kikutaro does something disgusting with his fingers with Mantequilla's body that I'm not going to repeat here. I felt like I was watching Oz for a second.
Mantequilla continues to arm drag the hell out of Kikutaro. (This match sucks.) Kikutaro throws the referee into Mantequilla in the corner. Mantequilla hits Kikutaro, and he does a Ric Flair bump. Now, Manteqilla can't turn over Kikutaro for a pin attempt. He even has the ref try to turn him over, but he can't. The referee throws Mantequilla into the corner of Kikutaro, but it backfires. Kikutaro kicks out of a pin attempt. A pair of Superkicks by Kikutaro followed by a Sit-Out Attitude Adjustment. 2 count. Kikutaro climbs up and goes for the moonsault. Mantequilla avoids it. A Swanton by Mantequilla misses. Saito Suplex by Kikutaro. 2 count. Kikutaro uses a low blow behind the referee's back, which is returned by Mantequilla. Both men try to Three-Stooge- the other. They catch each other's legs and put them down at the count of 3. Kikutaro wants a hug. Kikutaro hugs the referee. Now, Mantequilla hugs Kikutaro. Chop by Kikutaro. Crucifix Roll-up only gets 2 for Mantequilla. Shotei by Mantequilla gets the 3.
(God, I hated that match. This is the difference between good comedy and bad comedy. This match made me want to apologize for every bad thing I've ever said about Yano. I just can't adequately describe how much this sucked in my opinion.)
Kikutaro shakes Mantequilla's hand and walks out with him.
Bobbie Tyler, the new Women's Champion of the promotion, comes out. She can't wait to get out of this (bleep)-hole country. Fans: "Take me with you!" The former champion, who Bobbie Tyler beat yesterday in 5 minutes, comes out. She calls out Tyler for her tactics. She's ok with it, but she tells her she's not going to call out anyone else. She (Sonya Strong I guess is her name) decks Tyler wtih the belt.
6) Sonya Strong and Violet vs. Nikki Adams and Trish Stratlander
Violet and Nikki Adams turn this into a slugfest with slaps and punches. Nikki gets beaten up in the Strong/Violet corner as they team up on her. Sonya and Nikki mess up a move in the corner. Violet and Sonya continue to tag up and double team Nikki. Nikki gets a Gutwrench Suplex in. Stratlander and Strong are legal. Sonya gets a shoulder up after a DDT. Stratlander drags Sonya to the corner and tags in Nikki. Eat Defeat and a Codebreaker get a 2 count for their team. Violet hits a cutter on Stratlander. Nikki gets a cutter on Violet. Enziguri by Sonya to Stratlander. Release German now to Stratlander. Nikki avoids a kick by Sonya which hits Violet by mistake. Sonya and Nikki go at it in the ring. Chops by Nikki. Sonya and Nikki go up into the corner. Sonya slides under and puts Nikki in a Tree of Woe. Bobbie Tyler comes out for the distraction. Ax Kick by Stratlander allows Nikki to pin Strong. Adams and Stratlander win.
(This was ok. It was better than some Women of Honor matches I've seen. But it was nothing special by any stretch of the imagination.)
7) Rey Fenix vs. Ken Broadway
Broadway is coming out with a rapper too.
Fenix and Broadway throw bombs early on at the other. Kicks by Fenix. Back and forth exchange by both men, but Broadway thinks better of the situation and goes to the floor. Fenix gets dropped on his hip in the ring. Suicide Dive by Broadway to Fenix on the floor. Missile Dropkick back into the ring on Fenix by Broadway. 2 count. Broadway takes advantage and starts beating down on Fenix. Superkick to Broadway by Fenix. Springboard Moonsault off the corner by Fenix on Broadway. Somersault Suicide Dive through the ropes to Broadway sends Broadway and Fenix back into the guard rail. GEEZ!
(This has helped redeem this show for me.)
A great sequence to an arm drag by Fenix off the corner. Broaduway hits a Pumphandle Gutbuster on Fenix. 2 count. Fenix gets assaulted in the corner. Backstabber to Fenix out of the corner. 2 count. Fenix at one point hits an awesome soccer kick while running the top rope. CANADIAN DESTROYER TO FENIX! KICK BY BROADWAY! 1-2-3?!!!!! Wow!
(A very good impromptu match here. Fenix and Broadway put on a very good show that redeemed this show in my opinion. I was starting to feel down on the show with the last two matches. But thankfully, this reminded me of some of the good matches that were on the beginning of the show.)
Fenix and Broadway shake hands and hug in the ring. Fenix holds up Broadway's hand. Broadway gets on the mic and thanks Fenix. He gives Fenix the mic. Fenix honors the career of Amazing Red. He thanks Broadway and the fans. Fenix wants a rematch with Broadway in the future. He promises to win next time he comes back. They shake on it. Broadway tells the HOG World Champion that that title is his.
8) The Private Party vs. Juicy Product
David Starr's ridiculously long introduction is hilarious. The Juicy Product are Starr and JT Dunn. They are taking on Private Party who consist of Marq Quen and Isiah Kassidy. I have only seen Starr wrestle before. So, I really don't know what to expect here. I'm going to just sit back and enjoy it.
Private Party gets on the mic and hypes up the crowd.
Quen's lip gets busted early on. The crowd wants Starr to apologize. Starr wouldn't. So he gets dropkicked in the mouth. Dunn and Starr double team Quen and Kassidy when he runs in to save Quen. Kassidy and Quen show off some great tag team wrestling with some nice double team moves including a Step-Up Dropkick and a Camel Clutch into a Double Stomp. Then, Quen hits a Swanton Bomb to Juicy Product on the floor. All of a sudden, "Never Gonna Give You Up" plays on the stereo. Oh God, Dunn and Starr start gyrating to the music and run in to attack Private Party. We've been Rick Rolled!!!! They are dancing in the ring to this damn song now while Private Party are recovering below them. Now, they pull out Kid and Play. Dunn and Starr kiss in the ring to the song Dirty Dancing style. Wow.
(I'm literally speechless. And honestly, that was good comedy. Weird, but much better than what I saw earlier.)
Quen is double teamed by Juicy Product for a few minutes. Juicy Product actually do a good job as a team here isolating Quen from his corner. Quen gets disrespected by Starr's private area. Launching Double Dropkick by Quen to Juicy Product. Quen gets the tag to Kassidy. Kassidy goes on the Hot Tag Offense. Kassidy impresses by jumping all over the ring attacking his opponents. Private Party dive in and out of the ring. Moonsault to the floor by Kassidy on Dunn. Swanton to Starr in the ring. 2 count. Superkicks by Juicy Product.
(As goofy as this match has been, it's also been very entertaining.)
Powerbomb LungBlower by Juicy Product to Quen. 2 count. Dunn kicks Starr by accident. Pele Kick by Quen. Starr gets hit by several kicks. He hits a lariat on Kassidy, but he gets hit with a Shooting Star Press by Kassidy. A "This is Awesome" chant breaks out. Dunn and Kassidy are the legal men. A Backbreaker into a Standing Shooting Star Press by Private Party. Starr breaks up the pin attempt. Cutter by Dunn. 1-2-Quen Kicks out. Snap Dragon by Starr and a Roaring Elbow by Dunn to Quen. 2 count only!!! Dunn is on the corner and gets FRANKENSTEINERED INTO A CUTTER! 1-2-3!!!! Private Party wins!
(That was the best match of the evening. For two teams that I've never heard of, Juicy Product and Private Party just put on a 20 some minute show for everyone. The comedy spots were fun for what they were, but once that part of the match ended, the two teams were able to just work a solid back and forth match with a lot of crowd-pleasing moves.)
Juicy Product refuse to shake hands after the match.
Overall, I feel like I got my money's worth for this show. It felt like an old ECW show or what ECW would have morphed into if it had survived for the last 20 years. There was some crassness involved (I'm looking at you, Kikutaro.) and some hardcore action. But there was also a lot of good action involved as well. It was great to see Muta and Tajiri perform with some of today's big Indy stars. And there's a few people I will be keeping an eye on going forward, including Private Party, Juicy Product, and Ken Broadway.
Until next time, take care of yourselves. Spread some awesomeness.
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