NEW Wrestle & Ride 6/16/2018

Darby Allin takes on JT Dunn in singles action. Josh Briggs battles Jack Swagger. NEW Tag Team Champions Robbie E and Cam Zagami defend against Jerry Lawler and Ryback.

Northeast Wrestling presents Wrestle & Ride
Date: 6/16/2018
From: Jackson, NJ

Opening Contest: JT Dunn vs. Darby Allin: Dunn backs Allin into a corner and slaps his chest before backing away. Dunn is playing the heel role for the match, which isn’t usually the case. Allin slaps Dunn and comes off the ropes with an arm drag to send Dunn to the floor. Dunn taunts a young fan in the crowd and stalls for a few moments outside the ring. Allin decides to hit a suicide dive and hits a springboard crossbody for a two count. Dunn drops Allin with a forearm strike in the corner after the referee got in the way. Dunn drives Allin face first into the corner. Dunn plants Allin on the apron with a back suplex. JT continues to work over Allin with chops on the floor. Back in the ring, Dunn beats on Allin with strikes in the corner. Allin battles back with a few strikes but Dunn is able to drop Darby to the mat. Allin elbows Dunn in the corner a few times. Dunn crotches Allin on the top turnbuckle and hits a superplex for a two count. Dunn gets the crowd to root for Allin and then delivers a boot to the face for a near fall. Allin delivers an elbow strike in the corner but Dunn comes back with a rolling cutter for a two count of his own.

Dunn takes his wrist tape off and taunts Allin telling him to get up. Allin takes Dunn down to the mat and gets control of the left arm with a submission hold. JT struggles for a moment, but reaches the bottom rope to break the hold. Allin kicks Dunn and delivers a Code Red for a two count. Dunn hits a vertical suplex turned into a stunner for a near fall. Dunn sits Allin on the top turnbuckle but Allin fights back with strikes to send JT to the mat. Allin comes off the top with a trust fall splash for the win. (**3/4. An enjoyable start to the show. JT did a great job in his heel role and got the fans to be heavily behind Allin. Allin didn’t really do anything too crazy and it didn’t reach the next level kind of feel. Also, I’m noticing that NEW is doing similar camera work that WWE uses (shaking camera), and that will annoy me a lot moving forward if it continues, which it likely will.)

Second Contest: Kasey Catal vs. Penelope Ford: Well, I’m really confused. Ford has been presented as a heel on the other shows, so this show must not be keeping to any stories they have going on or something. They lockup and they go to the floor rolling around. Catal reaches the ropes and then rejects a handshake. Catal eye pokes Ford and taunts the fans while hammering away on Ford. Ford delivers a handspring shoulder ram in the corner and a handspring elbow strike. Ford misses a boot in the corner and is taken down to the mat by Catal. Catal forearms Ford in the corner but Ford fights back with a kick and a DDT for a one count. Catal bails to the floor to regroup. Catal shoves Ford to the mat and chokes Ford over the bottom rope. Catal sends Ford into the corner followed by a double knee strike and a German suplex. Catal tries for a cover but Ford kicks out at two. Catal dangerously delivers an elevated swinging neckbreaker over the top rope for a two count. Ford fights back with a few splashes in the corner. Ford hits a German suplex into the corner and hits a handspring back elbow. Ford hits a cutter and wins the match. (1/2*. That was mostly boring with Catal not being all that enjoyable controlling the action. NEW deciding to not keep to character traits from previous shows in a random fashion is kind of annoying. There was a few bright spots, but as I stated before, it just wasn’t holding my interest very well.)

Continuing the trend of not paying attention to character traits on this show, Josh Briggs comes out and bullies a few fans. Of course, when NEW is in Bethany, CT, he’s been playing the face role. Jack Swagger got a far bigger reaction than I ever expected him to get.

Third Contest: Jack Swagger vs. Josh Briggs: Early on, Briggs gets in Swagger’s face and lets him know that he doesn’t like Swagger. Swagger comes back with his “We The People” taunt. Briggs gets the early advantage hammering away on Swagger but is met with a shoulder block. Swagger hammers away on Briggs and the camera is doing the annoying zoom in tactic. Swagger tries for a splash off the middle rope but Briggs gets his boots up and then connects with a running boot for a near fall. Briggs keeps control choking Swagger over the bottom rope. Briggs catapults Swagger throat first under the middle rope. Briggs plants Swagger with a swinging side slam for a two count. Swagger battles back with right hands but Briggs stops him with a boot. Swagger clotheslines Briggs in the corner a few times. Swagger plants Briggs with a slam and plays to the crowd. Swagger tries for another splash, but Briggs kicks him away. Swagger boots Briggs in the corner and hits the Swagger Bomb in the corner for a two count. Briggs ducks a clothesline and drives Swagger down with a swinging backbreaker for a near fall. Briggs sits Swagger on top turnbuckle looking for a superplex, but Swagger escapes. Swagger tries for a middle rope back suplex, but Briggs avoids it. Briggs tries for a top rope moonsault, but Swagger moves and gets the ankle lock on. Briggs is forced to submit. (**. I can appreciate the match because they didn’t do any rest holds or anything, but this really didn’t make Briggs look like he could hang with a guy like Swagger. I don’t know if having Briggs in this role to essentially be an enhancement guy for Swagger was the right move. Swagger was certainly over with the crowd. I’d consider this a disappointing match.)

Fourth Contest: Brad Hollister vs. Hale Collins: Hollister controls Collins early on with wrist control and has him on his shoulders before just taking Collins to the mat. Collins backs Hollister backs against the ropes and slaps Brad and is met with stomps in the corner for doing so. Collins drops Hollister with a superkick for a two count. Collins baseball slides Hollister in the corner followed by a scoop slam and an elbow drop. Hollister nearly wins with a rollup and trades pin attempts with Hollister. Collins hits a Fame-Asser for a two count. Collins catches Hollister with a nice slam before going to the top rope. Hollister hits an elbow drop off the top for a two count. Collins tries for another elbow drop but Hollister delivers an uppercut in midair. Hollister splashes Collins in the corner followed by a sliding uppercut. Collins kicks Hollister while on the middle rope but Hollister catches Collins in midair with a slam for a two count. Hollister tosses Collins around the ring with a series of German suplexs. Collins almost wins with a rollup, but Hollister plants Collins with a powerbomb for the win. (**. A decent little match there, but I came out of it liking Collins more so than Hollister. Collins has a style of wrestling that I enjoy watching and I think he should be in a better role in NEW. Hollister is being setup as a likely replacement for Flip Gordon when he moves on from NEW.)

Fifth Contest: Wrecking Ball Legursky Open Challenge: Well, the first guy Wrecking Ball has to deal with is Dexter Loux. Loux has been a heel at all the other shows but he comes out here slapping hands and being friendly. The fans couldn’t care less about him being there. Loux tries for a crossbody and then just bounces off of Wrecking Ball. Legursky finishes Loux off rather easily with his powerslam.

Mike Gamble is the next guy to take on Legursky. Legursky and Gamble trade strikes as Gamble is showing more promise than Loux did previously. Gamble splashes Legursky in the corner but Legursky comes back with a crossbody off the ropes. Legursky slams Gamble and wins the match. (1/2*. I’m not sure this really plays a big factor in putting Legursky over more. Loux and Gamble aren’t top tier talent and it was just filling time, really.)

Mick Foley comes out to confront Jared Silberklet and Wrecking Ball as Silberklet was talking some smack. The interaction leads to Hornswoggle coming out…

Sixth Contest: Jared Silberklet vs. Hornswoggle: Do I have to review this? I guess I don’t so it’s not going to get the in-depth style. As you would expect, Jared mocks Swoggle for being short and does various acts because he knows that Swoggle can’t reach him. So, Swoggle did a nipple twist and bites his butt. Swoggle eventually hits a stunner and Wrecking Ball comes in. However, Mick Foley enters with Mr. Socko and puts it in Wrecking Ball’s mouth. Swoggle spears Jared for the win. (NR. Just your comedy segment of the evening, I guess.)

Seventh Contest: Brian Anthony & The Amazing Graysons vs. Adrenaline Rush (Daniel Evans & Keith Youngblood) & Chris Battle: Evans and Youngblood send the Graysons into each other and all three men hit rolling senton splashes onto Grayson. Anthony and his buddies regroup on the floor until Anthony rolls one of the Graysons into the ring. Evans delivers a few clotheslines and a scoop slam. Evans hits a splash in the corner before tagging in Youngblood. Youngblood tries to get involved and gets decked from behind. Youngblood gets worked over with a snap suplex and is attacked as the referee was distracted. Youngblood gets yanked off the middle rope and crashes to the mat. Anthony comes off the top rope to hit an elbow drop for a two count as Battle breaks up the cover. Youngblood gets kicked by all three men in the corner. Anthony nails Youngblood with a running big boot for a near fall. Anthony hammers away on Youngblood in the corner for a few moments. Anthony misses a running spear in the corner but hits a Codebreaker for a two count as Youngblood got his shoulder up.

Graysons enter to take Youngblood over but they are met with a double neckbreaker instead. Youngblood kicks Grayson away and connects with a step-up kick. Battle enters and drops Anthony with a several strikes and a running boot to Anthony. Battle clotheslines a seated Anthony for a two count. Evans enters and tosses everyone to the floor. Youngblood comes off the top to take Evans and the Graysons out with a crossbody. Anthony gets speared by Battle. Battle gets grabbed by Anthony’s ankle but gets kicked away. Anthony hooks Battle on the middle rope to hit a jackhammer for the three count! (**. I was not expecting the heels to win this match. There were a few decent spots thrown in there and was actually better than I was expecting it to be.)

Prior to the match, Robbie E and Cam Zagami are suddenly cowards and afraid to wrestle against Ryback and Lawler so they get a microphone and stall on the floor.

Main Event: NEW Tag Team Champions Robbie E & Cam Zagami vs. Ryback & Jerry Lawler: This is incredible that Robbie and Cam have stalled for easily five minutes. I know this because when the match was about to begin I was surprised to see that this would go for fourteen minutes. As I write this, the show only has about nine minutes left and they haven’t yet touched. Robbie backs Lawler into the corner and delivers a right hand. Robbie decides to take a moment and dances in the middle of the ring. Lawler decks Robbie in the corner and then taunts him. Robbie hammers away on Lawler and taunts the crowd. Lawler decks Robbie with several jabs. Robbie staggers around and Lawler delivers a standing dropkick. Zagami tags in and tries his luck with Lawler. Zagami gets beat on by Lawler with punches and stomps in the corner. Lawler drops Zagami with a right hand. Cam has a few moments of control and tags in Robbie to keep the advantage. Ryback tries to get involved but the referee stops him and Lawler continues to be worked over. Robbie backdrops Lawler and goes for the cover managing a two count. Robbie comes off the ropes but misses an elbow drop. Ryback gets tagged in and runs over Zagami a few times. Ryback hits a leaping shoulder block and a splash in the corner. Ryback hits a cannonball splash in the corner. Ryback tries for a suplex, but Robbie stops him. Ryback takes Cam and Robbie over with a double vertical suplex. Ryback clotheslines Cam and tries for a Shell Shock. Ryback plants Cam and Robbie with a spinebuster. Ryback is stopped with a low blow by the champs. Lawler gets in the ring and checks on Ryback. They grab the titles and walk out on the match. That’s because they were disqualified. (1/2*. There’s just nothing to see here. Stalling and the usual simple work once anything started to happen.)

Robbie and Cam get back in the ring and attack Lawler with strikes. Ryback clotheslines the champs and along with Lawler they hit their finishers so everyone can be happy.

Final Thoughts:
The show didn’t follow the normal feuds or character traits that NEW has been doing in CT, so I’m assuming this was just a show they ran and made a profit on. Don’t bother seeking this out.

Thanks for reading.