WEW Burnin' Down The House Review

WEW puts on their debut show!

WEW Burnin' Down The House

Stowe, PA 9/27/14

So this is the very first show for West End Wrestling. I saw a number of places promoting this show, and the card had a lot of familiar faces on it, so I figured that I would give it a look.

Before the show begins, they do a 10 Bell Salute in memory of Eric “The Actor” Lynch (from The Howard Stern Show, who had recently passed away. I believe the show may have been set up in tribute to him, and I think it's also serving as a charity event/fundraiser for the local fire department (not entirely sure on that). Leonard F. Chikarason & Rob Naylor are the commentators for this show.

1.) Four-Way Elimination Match - “Unbreakable” Andy Harner vs. Aaron Arbo vs. Andy Header vs. Bruce Maxwell: **3/4

These four guys are complete unknowns to me. This is an elimination match being contested under Four-Corner Survival rules. Just to run through the eliminations briefly. Header is eliminated first by Harner. Arbo then eliminates Maxwell after Harner & Arbo hit some double-team moves on him. Finally, Harner eliminates Arbo to win the match. A pretty decent opener here. For four complete unknowns, they really did a lot to show off & get notices. A fun little match.

This match is actually available for free on Youtube, for those who want to see it.

Before the next match, Danny Havoc comes out and announces that he won’t be able to compete tonight against Eddie Kingston, due to an ankle injury he suffered in Japan. He apologizes to the fans. Eddie Kingston then comes out on a crutch, mocking Havoc’s injury. He said that he respects him for all of the hardcore stuff he’s done but asks why he won’t fight him with a hurt ankle. He calls Havoc a bitch, and Havoc shoves him. Kingston pretends to apologize, but then attacks Havoc! He goes after Havoc’s ankle injury until Devon Moore (Havoc's stablemate in the Nation of Intoxication) makes the save with a barbed wire baseball bat. Moore says he’ll gladly fight Kingston tonight. Kingston accepts his challenge.

2.) Hallowicked vs. Oleg The Usurper: **1/2

Here we have a match between two CHIKARA regulars. A fine match here. It wasn't anything special, but it was fine for what it was. Hallowicked would pick up the win in this one.

After the match, while Hallowicked is celebrating, Jaka attacks him! Jaka & Oleg The Usurper (both are part of Sidney Bakabella's Wrecking Crew) double-team Hallowicked until Dasher Hatfield comes out and makes the save! They do a bit of brawling until Dasher Hatfield gets Jaka in the ring, and I guess our next match is underway.

3.) Dasher Hatfield vs. Jaka: ***

Our second match of the night that features two CHIKARA regulars. Pretty solid match. I think it was better than the previous match. Both guys are very solid wrestlers, so it's no surprise that this was good. Dasher Hatfield is eventually able to defeat Jaka with a Mouse Trap Pin.

4.) Amber Rodriguez (with Nyla Rose) vs. Annie Social: **

Those of you might know Annie Social from her tag team with Heidi Lovelace, known as The Social Network. I don't know that much about Amber Rodriguez. This was a decent women's match. Nothing really spectacular, but his served its purpose. Annie Social was able to fight off interference from Nyla Rose and, in the end, is able to defeat Rodriguez.

5.) Chris Dickinson vs. Silver Ant: ***1/2

Now this match was a match that I was REALLY looking forward to when I saw the card. Before the match, Dickinson cuts a promo where he says that Stowe, PA sucks, and that he’s disrespected by the reaction he got when he came out. He then insults some of the fans, and some of Philadelphia’s sports teams. After Silver Ant comes out, he takes off his hoodie to show everyone what a “real man” looks like. This was a really good match, as you would expect. These two are great wrestlers, and together they put together something very enjoyable. Lots of solid action throughout this one. Eventually, Dickinson would put away Silver Ant for the victory.

6.) CHIKARA Grand Champion Icarus vs. Matt Macintosh: ***1/4

Matt Macintosh is someone that I don't know much about, but he's got a big opportunity here against Icarus, who is the current CHIKARA Grand Champion. This was actually a pretty solid match. Macintoish showed a lot in this match. Icarus took a beating, but he was able to mount a comeback, and scored the victory. Again, this was a pretty good match. Macintosh definitely deserves a look from other promotions.

7.) Gran Akuma vs. Lucky 13: **3/4

Now this is an interesting match, as you have one guy who was very associated with CHIKARA, while the other is very much associated with CZW. A nice, even match between these two. Not the best match on the card, but it was pretty solid. Akuma was eventually able to get the win with the Tenchi Crash, which is a pretty cool looking finisher.

8.) Devon Moore vs. Eddie Kingston: **1/2

So, as stated earlier, Danny Havoc can't compete due to an ankle injury, so his Nation of Intoxication stablemate Devon Moore is taking his place. Of course, this match was a brawl right from the beginning, and it was until the end of the match. It was a relatively short match, but it was fine for what it was. Kingston, in the end, was able to pick up the win.

9.) AIW Absolute Title - Hardcore Match – Tim Donst vs. Matt Tremont: ***1/4

So Tim Donst won the AIW Absolute Title earlier in the month, and for this show, AIW allowed Donst to put the title on the line against CZW stalwart Matt Tremont. That's pretty cool. Right at the start of the match, Donst gets the mic and says that he wants this match to be a hardcore match. He goes to the back and gets a barbed wire baseball bat, a kendo stick & other weapons. Tremont takes the mic and says that he’s tired of bleeding for the morons in the crowd. He came to wrestle Tim Donst. In turn, Donst calls out Tremont, saying he’s a chicken. They end up doing some actual wrestling for a bit, until Tremont blocks a dive from Tim Donst with a chair.

From there, things got hardcore. He fakes stapling a dollar bill to Donst’s head, but he buys a beer instead. Donst then comes back, steals his beer, drinks it, and hits a Stone Cole Stunner! Donst then staples a number of dollar bills onto Tremont. We would also see a large bin of Legos dumped in the ring (and Donst would hit several moves on Tremont onto the Legos), as well as the usage of a Thumbtack Bat, Handcuffs & the aforementioned Barbed Wire Baseball Bat. Eventually, Donst is able get Tremont to tap to a crossface using the Barbed Wire Baseball Bat. This was pretty solid for a hardcore match. WEW wanted to end their show on a high note, and it seems like this match accomplished that. 

After the match, Tremont cuts a promo saying how he had wanted to wrestle a straight-up match, but that it seemed like people always want to challenge him at what he does best, which is hardcore wrestling. He says Donst was the better man before leaving. Donst then cuts a promo of his own, saying that Matt Tremont’s a hell of a talent, and thanks WEW for letting him wrestle Tremont. He then talks about WEW putting on this show for a good cause.

Overall: 6.25/10

Even though this wasn't exactly show filled with great matches, I will say that it was an entertaining one to sit through. The mix of talent they brought in was certainly interesting, and it produced a lot of unique matches. Chris Dickinson vs. Silver Ant was definitely the best match on the show, and one worth checking out. You also had some other pretty entertaining matches, like Icarus vs. Matt Macintosh, as well as the Main Event. A pretty easy show to sit through.