NEW Brass City Brawl 10/1/2010

Written by: Bob Colling

Northeast Wrestling presents Brass City Brawl
Date: 10/1/2010
From: Waterbury, CT

Opening Contest: Jake Manning vs. Cedric Alexander: Manning cheap shots Alexander and avoids a dropkick in the opening moments of the match but runs into a dropkick by Cedric. Cedric pulls Jake out to the ring after being sent to the floor and he takes Manning out with a nice somersault dive over the top onto Manning, and the fans loved that. Jake avoids a springboard clothesline back in the ring and gets a two count after a swinging neckbreaker. Manning rolls through a roll up and kicks Cedric in the face. Alexander battles through some basic offense by Jake and hits a backdrop to get some brief momentum. Manning gets a two count following a delayed vertical suplex. Alexander delivers a series of kicks, a kneeling Flatliner and a senton splash but Manning kicks out. Manning gets a near fall after a backbreaker/Flatliner combo of his own! Cedric kicks Jake from the apron and connects with a split legged moonsault to win the bout. (**3/4. Alexander provided some excellent offense and got the crowd into the match and they were hot for everything he did. Plus, Manning is a fine talent and he kept his offense interesting but made sure to not over shadow Alexander’s explosive matches. A good start to the show.)

Brian Anthony and Bull Dreadd came out to cut a promo about their tag team match later in the night. Anthony doesn’t like that he was embarrassed by Mike Tripp, who is an officer. Anthony is cutting a basic promo saying they are going to beat both men and take Taven’s championship. Here comes Kurt Adonis. Anthony reminds Adonis that he retired Adonis. This ends up being a swerve as they embrace and Adonis says that the fans don’t deserve to see him in one more match. Adonis believes the fans have forgotten about him over the past two years. Adonis doesn’t want Anthony to end up like him because Anthony is too talented.

Second Contest: Joey Bricco vs. Eddy Latham:

Third Contest: Chris Battle & Caleb Konley vs. Ryan McBride & Vin the Chin: Vin atomic drops Battle a couple of times early on before tagging out to McBride. McBride dropkicks Konley but Battle knees him from the apron. Battle drops McBride neck first across the top rope as well. Konley keeps the advantage with a swinging neckbreaker for a near fall. Battle gets a two count following a butterfly suplex. Konley takes McBride over with an awkward hurricanrana for a two count. Vin gets the tag and he cleans house. McBride tags back in and hits Konley with a 450 splash to win the match. (*1/2. For four guys who are rather new to the business, it was okay. Vin is behind the other three when it comes to performing, but he served well in the match. By the way, Battle was in the Wrestling Road Diaries. Just thought I’d point that tidbit out.)

Fourth Contest: Carlito vs. Robbie E: Carlito frustrates Robbie early on causing the Jersey Shore wannabe to the floor a couple of times early on. Carlito messes up Robbie’s hair and wipes his hands off on the ring announcer. Robbie is rammed head first into all four corners. Carlito gets his apple and spits it at Cookie! Robbie attacks Carlito from behind to get the cheap advantage. Robbie uses really basic offense but that ends when Carlito hits a jaw breaker. Carlito clotheslines Robbie a few times and hits a springboard back elbow. Robbie avoids the Back Stabber and superkicks Carlito for a near win. Carlito blocks a kick and puts Robbie away with the Back Stabber to win the match. (*1/2. Well, they kept it very simple, which is all they needed to do. They are notable names and the fans, which is family friendly, was going to eat up whatever Carlito gave them here. Nothing special of a match here, though.)

Fifth Contest: Tommy Dreamer vs. Ron Zombie in a Hardcore Match: Neither man can get a clear cut advantage early on as weapons are not playing a role in this one yet. They get a few chairs and a kendo stick. Zombie has the stick while Dreamer has the chair and he whacks Zombie over the back with it. Dreamer uses the stick on Zombie as well before tossing him to the floor. Dreamer spits some water into Zombie’s face as well. Tommy has several cans in his hands and he hits Zombie with a can. He gives some fans the soda cans. Dreamer rings the bell on Zombie’s groin. Dreamer misses a spear in the corner and hits the ring post. Zombie leg drops a chair onto Dreamer. Zombie hits Dreamer with an ECW replica championship for a near fall. Zombie drop toe holds Tommy onto the chair to maintain control of this war. Dreamer cuts Zombie off on the middle rope with a kendo stick shot and puts him in the tree of woe. Tommy dropkicks a chair into Zombie’s face. Zombie baseball slides a table into Dreamer and sets the table up in the corner. Dreamer sends Zombie through the table with a Death Valley Driver! Wow, Zombie counters a DDT and leg trips Dreamer onto a chair for the win. (**. Not a fan of the finish since Zombie didn’t really sell the big table spot all that long. Plus, the finish is rather weak since they are both supposed to be hardcore icons and tough guys. It wasn’t a brutal match by any means and it felt like it kind of dragged along.)

Sixth Contest: NEW Heavyweight Champion Matt Taven & Mike Tripp vs. Brian Anthony & Bull Dreadd: I can’t imagine Tripp doing a lot in this match, but you never know. George Steele comes out to be in the corner of Taven and Tripp since Adonis is with Anthony and Dreadd. Taven hits Dreadd with a spinning heel kick and dropkick early on. Anthony enters and wants a piece of Tripp. Tripp showcases his skills with a side headlock. Tripp continues his basic offense with hip tosses and a shoulder block. Tripp scoop slams Anthony and the fans are enjoying this! Taven tags back in and is soon held by Dreadd so that Anthony can hit him with a running kick. Adonis gets a cheap shot in on Taven when the champ is sent to the floor. Anthony hits a middle rope spinning powerslam on Taven but isn’t able to keep the champ down for a three. That was a nice spot. Taven attempts a few quick pin attempts but is soon stopped by Anthony with a spine buster. Taven battles back with a spin kick on Anthony and Tripp gets the hot tag. Tripp hits several clotheslines and sends Dreadd into Anthony in the corner. Taven takes Dreadd and Steele out with a moonsault on the floor! Back in the ring, Tripp spears Anthony and gets the pin. (**. I mean, I don’t know what I was expecting here. I’m not going to hate on Tripp since he isn’t a wrestler and he was very into wrestling and had fun. So, in that sense this was cool. But, it was rather difficult to sit through.)

Seventh Contest: Mickie James vs. Mia Yim: James is controlling Yim early on with neck vice and basic mat wrestling. Yim cheap shots Mickie in the corner to gain the advantage. James ducks under a clothesline to hit a neckbreaker for a near fall. Yim sends James face first into the middle turnbuckle. James quickly fights back with a seated dropkick and Yim rolls to the floor. Yim kicks James as she climbs the top rope. This is starting to get sloppy. James elbows Yim and hits a hurricanrana out of the corner. James hits a top rope Thez Press but Yim kicks out before three! Yim misses a spin kick and James plants her with a DDT to win the match. (*1/4. As the match went along Mickie was huffing and puffing and struggling to get through the match, it seemed. It got rather sloppy and just looked bad. If they kept it short, it wouldn’t have been all that bad.

Main Event: WWE United States Champion Daniel Bryan vs. Shelton Benjamin: Gerry Strauss, the announcer, is promoting this as the biggest match possible. That’s a little over the top, but at least he is putting over the match. Bryan doesn’t have the gold with him. Bryan dropkicks Benjamin after being shoulder blocked by Shelton moments earlier. Benjamin has a headlock on Daniel, but isn’t able to keep it on for too long. Bryan begins to stretch Benjamin out with a hammerlock and steps on Shelton’s free arm. Benjamin counters but is dropkicked to the floor by Bryan. Shelton returns and is monkey flipped by Bryan but lands on his feet. This has been a rather slow bout and for some reason some fans think it has been an awesome match. Benjamin kicks Bryan in the chest and is beginning to act like a heel for the match. Benjamin sends Bryan hard back first into the corner for a near fall. Benjamin plants Bryan with a Samoan Drop for a near fall. Shelton misses a splash in the corner and Bryan clotheslines him. Daniel goes up top but is kicked off by Benjamin! Shelton drops Bryan throat first across the guard railing. Benjamin side slams Bryan but can’t keep Daniel down long enough. Bryan knocks Benjamin off his feet with a running yakuza kick. Bryan delivers a flurry of kicks in the corner and a running forearm smash. Benjamin cuts Bryan off with a jaw breaker, but Daniel flips out of a corner to clothesline Benjamin. Bryan blocks a suplex and spins Shelton around only to be met with a spin kick, which nearly gets Shelton a three count. Bryan hits a missile dropkick off the top rope. Shelton battles back with a few German suplexs but Bryan rolls through a third attempt and pins Benjamin! (***. A fine match to close the show, but I wouldn’t say it’s the best to ever happen in NEW. It started off really slow but once Benjamin took the role as the heel for the match, it picked up. A solid way to end the show.) After the match, they embrace and that’s it.

Final Thoughts:
Sure, there are a few big names on the show, but they didn’t exactly deliver watchable matches. Considering NEW is very much a family friendly show, this would be enjoyed by children who don’t expect much in the ring and are more interested in just the name. There isn’t anything that needs to be seen here. Thus, this show gets a thumbs down from me.

Thanks for reading.