Wrestling News and Forum- eWrestlingNews.com - Blogs - Itchypanda http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/blog.php?10353-Itchypanda Wrestling News and Discussion - eWrestlingNews.com Community en Fri, 24 May 2013 09:47:34 GMT vBulletin 10 http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/images/misc/rss.jpg Wrestling News and Forum- eWrestlingNews.com - Blogs - Itchypanda http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/blog.php?10353-Itchypanda Alternatives to WrestleMania, Part 2 http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?41205-Alternatives-to-WrestleMania-Part-2 Mon, 26 Mar 2012 21:29:43 GMT You can spend *$60* on decently stacked 4-hour WWE card on April 1st or you can spend less than that (*$37*) for four events. I have a limited... You can spend $60 on decently stacked 4-hour WWE card on April 1st or you can spend less than that ($37) for four events.

I have a limited budget with two young sons, a wife, mortgage, bills and etc. I love the WWE but I have been watching since 1983 and I can wait for the DVD for WrestleMania and enjoy this later. This is only a suggestion to seek alternatives for WrestleMania. I'm sure if you order WWE's event, you'll be thoroughly entertained. Consider the events below and support the future stars of wrestling because they are putting up some of the greatest matches I've seen in a decade. At least try the $1.99 event here: http://www.wwnlive.com/event-dgusa-3-30-12.html It's cheap and you can judge for yourself.

The events I'm talk about are Ring of Honor's Showdown in the Sun, airing March 30th and March 31st for one modest price of $19.99.

Showdown in the Sun can be purchased here: http://www.gfl.tv/Events/Fight/Wrest...BOTH_DAYS/1333

Pros: 2 nights for $20 , a stacked card, once you purchase the event you can watch it as many times as you please on gofightlive.tv., some familiar WWE/TNA talent names won't keep the new viewer lost (Lance Storm, Shelton Benjamin, Charlie Haas, Maria Kanellis)

Cons: You have to watch on your computer (unless you own a Roku player or watch on your tablet computer), you are unfamiliar with independent wrestling.

The Showdown in the Sun card as follows:

MARCH 30th:
-ROH champ Davey Richards vs. Eddie Edwards vs. Roderick Strong
-El Generico vs. Kevin Steen
-ROH Tag Team champs The Briscoes vs. TMDK (Mikey Nicholls & Shane Haste)
-Lance Storm vs. Mike Bennett with Maria Kanellis
-Young Bucks vs. All Night Express in a street fight
-ROH TV champ Jay Lethal vs. Kyle O'Reilly
-Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin vs. Caprice Coleman & Cedric Alexander

MARCH 31st:
-ROH Blind Destiny Challenge - Three matches but only one will be for the ROH title:
-Blind Destiny: Eddie Edwards vs. Kevin Steen
-Blind Destiny: Roderick Strong vs. Jay Lethal
-Blind Destiny: Davey Richards vs. Michael Elgin
-ROH Tag Team champions The Briscoes vs. Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin
-Young Bucks vs. All Night Express ina tornado tag match
-Kyle O'Reilly vs. Adam Cole
-TJ Perkins vs. Fire Ant

Also in the last blog, I mentioned DGUSA's $1.99 deal (March 30, Open the Ultimate Gate 2012) but they have a second iPPV show for $14.99 (March 31, Mercury Rising 2012). For those of you unfamiliar with DGUSA, the booker for DGUSA is Gabe Sapolsky (the old booker for Ring of Honor during the golden days of CM Punk, Samoa Joe, Bryan Danielson, Christopher Daniels and many others). Gabe has put another stable of young talented wrestlers from Japan and the United States and the UK (specifically, PAC). DGUSA is currently having their talent picked up heavily by WWE. Catch them before they are diffused into the media giant.

Here is the DGUSA card:

Friday 3/30 Open the Ultimate Gate 2012:
-PAC vs. Low Ki
-Masaaki Mochizuki vs. Akira Tozawa
-Rich Swann vs. Masato Yoshino
-Street Fight: Sabu & Jon Davis vs. Arik Cannon & Pinkie Sanchez
-Sami Callihan vs. BxB Hulk
-DGUSA Tag champions CIMA & Ricochet vs. Johnny Gargano & Chuck Taylor.
-AR Fox vs. Uhaa Nation
-Also scheduled to appear are Bobby Fish, The Scene and more.

Saturday 3/31 Mercury Rising 2012:
-Low Ki & Akira Tozawa & BxB Hulk vs. CIMA & Ricochet & Masaaki Mochizuki.
-Sami Callihan vs. Sabu.
-Pac Invitational Aerial Match: Pac vs. Rich Swann vs. Lince Dorado vs. more competitors to be announced.
-AR Fox vs. Arik Cannon.
-Bobby Fish vs. Jon Davis.

 ]]> Itchypanda http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?41205-Alternatives-to-WrestleMania-Part-2 Alternatives For WrestleMania Weekend! http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?41129-Alternatives-For-WrestleMania-Weekend! Sun, 18 Mar 2012 21:27:13 GMT The Rock vs. Cena & HHH vs. Undertaker in Hell in a Cell are strong selling points for WWE's granddaddy PPV this year. I don't blame you if you order this. I will catch this on DVD eventually.

If you are like me, paying $60 for one event seems excessive, let me offer a great alternatives during that same weekend.

The iPPV is only $1.99. Why only $1.99? Well instead of me touting what a deal this is, here is the actual words from the promoter's newsletter:

Gabe Sapolsky:

"We don't have corporate suits with no idea about wrestling telling us what we can or can't do. There are no politics. We don't have to cater the masses by bringing in washed up names to try to get ratings. Really, we don't have to answer to anyone. We can put out the product we want with the interest of best serving you.

However, the negative is that it's tough to gain exposure and get new eyeballs on DGUSA and EVOLVE without the backing of a TV network and/or major sponsorship."

The BEST offer:

DRAGON GATE USA:

If you love high-flying, quick matches with some of the WWE's best future talent, I highly suggest you order the $1.99 iPPV on March 30, 2012: Open the Ultimate Gate 2012.

Pros: Great wrestling with young, rising talent. (Brodie Lee was recently signed by WWE/FCW); it will NOT interfere with WrestleMania because it will air the day before; for $1.99, you CANNNOT BEAT THIS PRICE.

Cons: You have to watch the iPPV on your computer. (Don't let this deter you, watch the event live and enjoy!); You don't know the wrestlers (true, but imagine that these are new characters that the WWE are introducing for the first time); You're already watching the ROH PPV (next blog I'll go into details, but mainly, this event is for one viewing only, so watch this and you can watch the ROH replay later, since you'll watch it through gofightlive.com)

Order at this link: http://www.wwnlive.com/event-dgusa-3-30-12.html

Here's the cardDragon Gate USA
Open the Ultimate Gate 2012
March 30, 2012
Belltime: 8pm EST
Miami Beach, FL

Price:
Live iPPV & Video on Demand $14.99 (meaning you can watch it live or wait until later to watch it on replay)
One Time Only Live Showing $1.99 (one time show only)

Attachment 1814

Main Event #1 – Open The United Gate Title Match
CIMA & Ricochet defend vs. Chuck Taylor & Rich Swann

Main Event #2 – First Time Ever Dream Match
Low Ki vs. PAC

Main Event #3
Masaaki Mochizuki vs. Akira Tozawa

Special Challenge Match
Masato Yoshino vs. Rich Swann

Stable Shootout Match #1 - Street Fight
Sabu & Jon Davis vs. Arik Cannon & Pinkie Sanchez

Stable Shootout Match #2 - Fox Picks Callihan's Opponent
Sami Callihan vs. BxB Hulk

Stable Shootout Match #3 - Callihan Picks Fox's Opponent
AR Fox vs. Uhaa Nation

Seriously, if you were one of those people who wondered where CM Punk and Daniel Bryan rose from, heard the fabled ladder match between Evan Bourne and Beth Phoenix (yes, this happened!), who CM Punk is referencing during his twitter tweets...it's the new independent wrestlers. You'll see them in WWE some day, but why wait to be a fan of them later when they are having some of their greatest matches now.

My next blog will be about ROH's weekend event: Showdown in the Sun...during the same weekend and why you should pick up the Dragon Gate USA events (the one listed above and their $15 Sunday show) AND the ROH events. ]]> Itchypanda http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?41129-Alternatives-For-WrestleMania-Weekend! Hulk Hogan: Cursed? http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?40717-Hulk-Hogan-Cursed Thu, 16 Feb 2012 04:19:06 GMT First off, this isn't a blog to tarnish Hulk Hogan's image. I grew up watching him in the 1980's and have fond memories of seeing the Hulkster "hulk up" and come back to beat monster heels.

It used to be a standard tradition that when you left an area (or organization, to make things simpler), a wrestler would lose his last match before moving on to another area (organization). Not doing so, would draw the ire of the locker room, the promoter(s) and/or the fans. It's an age-old tradition that had been upheld since the 1950's. Not doing so, would label a wrestler as "difficult to work with".

Now why did I choose Hulk Hogan? It seems Hulk doesn't hold up this tradition very well.

The first time Hogan left WWF, he dropped the belt to Yokozuna in 1993 and was defeated.
Hogan toured through New Japan and in his last match vs. Tatsumi Fujinami, he won in 1994.
At the end of his WCW run, he was the champion, but he refused to drop the belt (a work then ended up a shoot, according to Bischoff and other sources) in 2002.
He returned to the WWE and ended his run with a victory over Randy Orton in 2006. He made sporadic appearances in 2007 with his final appearance fending off the Great Khali from Hornswoggle.
Hulk Hogan's TNA tour is still continuing and many assumed it would mark the end of his career when he lost to Sting. Hogan returned just recently and was victorious over Roode, Bully Ray and Kurt Angle with teammates Sting and James Storm in 2012.

1 decisive loss, 3 wins and to be continued in his current promotion.

For those who don't know what I'm talking about the tradition of losing your last match is called "giving back to the business" by building young talent. There is an argument if it's the last match in an area or just the wrestler's last match.

Hogan has drawn big matches and made money for various promoters but has he ever quite "given back to the business"?
Will he lose his last match of his career?
Is it the promoters, his need for money or his ego that drives him forward?
Is he cursed for not following tradition? (Not just losing the last matches, but refusing to drop matches to Jeff Jarrett, Shawn Michaels and refusing to lose to Yokozuna cleanly in his WWE loss).

Just food for thought from an old Hulk Hogan fan. ]]> Itchypanda http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?40717-Hulk-Hogan-Cursed Independent Wrestlers That You Must See... http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?40687-Independent-Wrestlers-That-You-Must-See Mon, 13 Feb 2012 08:10:29 GMT This list is inspired by the recent signings of Chris Hero and Claudio Castignoli to the WWE. I was very happy to pay a small amount of money to... This list is inspired by the recent signings of Chris Hero and Claudio Castignoli to the WWE.

I was very happy to pay a small amount of money to see them before they were signed to the media giant. This is a list of wrestlers you must see at your local independent wrestling before they are signed to WWE or TNA. (I'm leaving Ring of Honor off this list because many indy wrestlers pass through their organization).

1. Kevin Steen - Amazing wrestler and he can cut the best promos in the business. Yes, I think he cuts better promos than CM Punk. His recent work with Cornette (boss vs. disgruntled worker) is rather inspired and he carried the "feud" to the ROH message boards. He works many other organizations including PWG (Pro Wrestling Guerilla) in Southern California, Evolve in the Northeast, mainly New York and many Canadian organizations. His finisher is the packaged piledriver and it is a work of art.
My recommendation for a DVD starring Kevin Steen: Steen Wolf (Pro Wrestling Guerilla) Kevin Steen vs. El Generico for the PWG belt in a Ladder War.

2. Ricochet - Probably the premiere high-flyer on the independent circuit. Not the greatest person on the mic but his in-ring heel persona is top-notch. It's unheard of for an American to go to Japan and win one championship during his first year. He won 3 championships. The Japanese DO NOT reward on looks or promos. His speed, aerial and basic fundamentals bore him the accolades. Working mainly through Dragon Gate USA and Dragon Gate Japan. He makes sporadic appearances in Evolve and PWG. He had a recent run with the Chikara wrestling organizations.
My recommendation for a DVD starring Ricochet: Freedom Fight 2011 (Dragon Gate USA) Ricochet vs. PAC. Wild match that ended their feud in 2011.

3 & 4. Madison Eagles or Sara Del Rey. Best female wrestlers on the planet. Beth Phoenix has been neutered since joining the WWE. Eagles and Del Rey do not have to censor or be nearly as "safe" as Phoenix. At 6'1" and a lean, athletic frame, Madison Eagles dominates most matches with great ring work and decent promo work. Del Rey is just an incredibly gifted wrestler that often tangles with men and women. Del Rey is stronger on the mic. Eagles and Del Rey wrestle for SHIMMER. They have also appeared in Heartland Wrestling Association, World Class Extreme Wrestling, EGO Pro Wrestling, New England Championship Wrestling, ACE, Ring of Honor, Combat Zone Wrestling and Chikara.
My recommendation for a DVD starring Madison Eagles: SHIMMER VOL. 35. Madison Eagles vs. Jesse McKay. Great back and forth. Del Rey is on this tape, as well, but her opponent is a bit green.
My recommendation for a DVD starring Sara Del Rey: Sara Del Rey vs. Mercedes Martinez. Watch this on youtube for free.

5. Mike Quackenbush. This guy has lived and breathed wrestling since 1998 and it shows. He has either trained, wrestled or helped book matches with every wrestler during this time. He's rock-solid in the ring and carries Chikara on his back with a bevy of wrestlers he has helped trained.
My recommendation for a DVD starring Mike Quackenbush: High Noon (Chikara) Grand Championship Match: Eddie Kingston vs. Mike Quackenbush. Overall great DVD quality and fun match to watch. Mike has had better matches but few on which the DVD is entertaining from beginning to end.

I realize I'm leaving out quite a few wrestlers: El Generico, PAC, Davey Richards and on and on. Please don't be offended by my list. This is simply to inform people for the small price of $10 to $30 a ticket, you can have an entertaining night with your independent wrestling organization in your local area. Please support independent wrestling. Pick up the DVD's listed on this blog and tell me your honest review. I promise you, you will discover many, many more wrestlers on your own.

The WWE or TNA will pick up these wrestlers soon and you may have a short time to see them locally. Use the internet. It's there for a reason. ]]> Itchypanda http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?40687-Independent-Wrestlers-That-You-Must-See