NEW Wrestlefest XV 1/15/2011

Written by: Bob Colling

Northeast Wrestling presents Wrestlefest XV
Date: 1/15/2011
From: Poughkeepsie, NY

Backstage, Romeo Roselli, Max Bauer and Kurt Adonis cut a promo about their tag match against Sgt. Slaughter and Jeff Starr. Romeo knows that Bauer will take care of Slaughter and he’ll take care of Jeff Starr. Adonis isn’t a fan of the DJ in their corner named Boris. They are going to make this a wrestlefest to remember.

Brian Anthony is interviewed during the meet and greet. Anthony says he’s not ignorant and thinks it is ridiculous that Hurricane thinks he’s a superhero. Anthony is confident that he’ll prove he’ll be the only lime green hero the people need.

Backstage, Mia Yim and Roxxi have an awkward confrontation where they disagree on who will win.

Opening Contest: Brian Anthony vs. Hurricane Helms: Anthony cheap shots Helms with a right hand in the corner and then goes to the ropes to avoid Helms. Helms does his taunt to stop Anthony in his tracks. Anthony bails to the floor to avoid a chokeslam. Helms blocks a cheap shot with right hands followed by a heel kick. Helms dumps Anthony over the top to the floor. Helms takes Anthony out with a slingshot crossbody. Helms heads to the top rope but gets met with a kick to the midsection in midair. Anthony stomps away on Helms to get control. Anthony drops Helms with a spinning back elbow strike. Anthony works over Helms with right hands in the corner. Anthony sends Helms chest first into the turnbuckles. Helms fights out of a headlock and is met with a knee strike followed by a running yakuza kick for a two count. Anthony chops Helms on the floor a few times, but Helms fights back with chops of his own. Helms rolls Anthony back into the ring and hits a swinging neckbreaker for a two count.

They trade right hands in the middle of the ring. Helms clotheslines Anthony several times. Helms uppercuts Anthony in the corner and hits a reverse Un-Prettier for a two count. Helms misses a shining wizard attempt and Anthony nearly wins following a spinebuster. Anthony heads to the top rope missing a moonsault. Helms plants Anthony with a chokeslam to win the match. (*1/2. This felt like a standard house show match you’d see in the WWE. They worked a fine match, but I’d say it lacked a lot of enjoyment and could have been more fast pace.)

Second Contest: Ryan McBride vs. Sabu vs. Tommaso Ciampa vs. Vik Dalishus vs. Hale Collins in a number one contender ladder match for the NEW Heavyweight Championship: Vik and Collins go for the ladder, but Ciampa and McBride slide to the floor and brawl. Sabu baseball slides the ladder into Vik. McBride and Collins are in the ring trading strikes as Sabu works over Ciampa on the floor. Sabu tosses a chair at Vik, but Ciampa gets a few strikes in and slams Sabu face first onto the steps. Ciampa sends Sabu into the guard railing. Collins and Vik hit a side slam/middle rope leg drop on McBride. Sabu works over Vik with strikes in the ring. Ciampa nails Collins with a running knee strike in the corner and Sabu hits Vik with a ladder. Sabu baseball slides the ladder into McBride. Vik smashes Sabu with a chair shot to the face. Vik leaps off a chair to elbow drop Sabu. McBride is laying on a ladder in the corner, but avoids a leaping splash by Collins! McBride sends Vik onto the ladder and Sabu leg drops a chair onto Vik. Sabu jabs Vik several times with the chair. McBride has Collins in an electric chair slam and drops Collins onto the ladder in the corner!

Vik whacks McBride over the back with a steel chair. Sabu sets a ladder up in the middle of the ring, but Collins stops Sabu with a chair shot. McBride is over Vik’s knees and a chair over his chest as Collins hits an elbow drop off the ropes! Sabu splashes McBride in the corner. Vik slams Sabu off the ladder and tries to climb. McBride hits Collins and Vik with chair shots. Ciampa hits a powerbomb backbreaker! Sabu has a camel clutch on Ciampa and Collins kicks a chair into Ciampa’s face! Vik hits a springboard moonsault to the floor onto McBride! Ciampa puts Collins through a ladder with a snap suplex in the corner. Sabu nails Vik with a chair shot on the apron a few times. Sabu grabs a table and slides it into the ring. Collins sets a ladder up in the ring and baseball slides the ladder into Sabu. Ciampa gets a ladder to the face and a chair by Vik and Collins. Sabu hits everyone with chairs before setting a table up. Sabu lays Vik onto the table and goes to the corner with a chair. Sabu hits a top rope Arabian facebuster to put Vik through the table!

Ciampa begins to climb, but Collins stops Ciampa with a chair shot to the back. Sabu stops Vik with a dew right hands. Vik superkicks Sabu in the corner and taunts the crowd. Ciampa gets a wire and chokes Vik over the top rope! Collins kicks Ciampa from behind. Ciampa and Sabu trade strikes in the corner. McBride is laid over a table as Collins climbs a ladder. Sabu delivered a chair shot to Vik. Collins goes to the top of the ladder and puts McBride through the table with an elbow drop! Ciampa hits a top rope moonsault to the floor! Collins gets back in the ring and sets a ladder up in the middle of the ring. Ciampa gets back up and climbs the other side of the ladder. Vik is in the ring and yanks Ciampa off. Vik fights off the other guys allowing Collins to retrieve the contract and win the match! (***1/2. As expected, it was full of big spots and an enjoyable contest that the crowd ate up. It’s rather difficult to make these kinds of matches not fun to watch. It would appear that NEW enjoys making it seem like Hale Collins will win the big match and then not do so. That has happened a few times already.) After the match, NEW Heavyweight Champion Matt Taven appears on the aisle way and holds his championship up.

MVP makes his way out to cut a promo. This is his first post-WWE show. MVP clarifies that he asked to be released from the WWE. MVP puts over the NEW locker room. Tonight, he’s facing Matt Hardy in the main event. MVP mentions their feud on Smackdown and puts over his ability. MVP notes all the titles that Matt held in his career in WWE. MVP says he’s good friends and rivals with Matt. MVP says they are facing off for pride and not championships. MVP promises to be ballin’ tonight.

Third Contest: Mia Yim vs. Roxxi: Well, it’s going to be difficult to follow the previous match. Roxxi starts off with a few clotheslines and a dropkick for the early advantage. Yim chokes Roxxi over the bottom rope for the cheap advantage. Yim clotheslines Roxxi to the mat and chokes Roxxi over the ropes again. Yim yanks Roxxi down to the mat by her hair. Roxxi elbows Yim in the corner and an elbow strike. They trade forearms with Roxxi decking Yim followed by a forearm strike. Roxxi hits a fallaway slam for a two count. Yim hits a head scissors out of the corner followed by a kick to the head for a near fall. Roxxi almost wins with a rollup. Yim delivers a few kicks and strikes. Roxxi tries for a hammerlock slam and avoids a kick by Yim. Roxxi hits an elevated hammerlock sit down DDT for the win. (*1/4. I mean, putting them in this spot was just going to lead to a quiet crowd and lack of interest. Roxxi has a solid finisher, though.)

Fourth Contest: Max Bauer & Romeo Roselli vs. Jeff Starr & Sgt. Slaughter: Starr and Romeo start the match with Roselli controlling the match with an elbow strike. Starr ducks a second one and hip tosses Roselli followed by a dropkick. Slaughter gets tagged in and works over Roselli with an elbow strike. Slaughter tags in Starr, who hits a middle rope axe handle. Slaughter and Roselli trade strikes with Roselli getting the advantage, but Slaughter counters a hip toss attempt and clotheslines Roselli. Slaughter goes for the cobra clutch, but Roselli reaches the ropes quickly. Roselli rams Slaughter head first into the corner and tags in Bauer. Kurt Adonis chokes Slaughter from the floor and Bauer chokes Slaughter some more. Adonis continues to choke Slaughter with his tie. Bauer works over Slaughter in the corner with strikes and a shoulder ram in the corner. Bauer rams Slaughter face first into the corner before tagging in Romeo. Roselli keeps Slaughter on the mat with a sleeper hold. Slaughter fights out with elbow strikes. Romeo counters a backdrop with an axe handle shot and keeps Slaughter on the mat to allow Bauer to get control.

Roselli sends Slaughter into the corner and misses a splash. Slaughter manages to tag in Starr. Starr head scissors Bauer to the mat followed by a spinning heel kick. Roselli is met with a backdrop and superkick. Bauer stops Starr and tosses Starr over the top to the floor in the corner. Bauer holds Slaughter, but Adonis gets knocked out by Boris, the DJ. Slaughter avoids Roselli and Romeo gets a cobra clutch for his struggles. Boris has one on Adonis as Starr hits a swanton on Bauer for the win. (*1/4. Well, that wasn’t very good at all. The main draw here was Slaughter and he didn’t do a whole lot, which had to be expected. Starr didn’t look bad and his offense came across fairly well, I’d say.)

Fifth Contest: Tommy Dreamer vs. Jerry Lawler in a steel cage match: Dreamer backs Lawler into a corner to deliver a punch and simply backs away. Lawler does the same move. Dreamer delivers another strike in the corner and stands in the middle of the ring. Lawler responds with strikes and a kick to the midsection. Dreamer shoulder rams Lawler in the corner and tries to send Lawler into the cage, but blocks it. Dreamer blocks being sent into the cage as well. Lawler beats on Dreamer with several strikes in the corner. Lawler hits a stunner followed by a standing fist drop for a two count. Dreamer sends Lawler face first into the cage a few times and opens the door. Dreamer shoves Lawler out of the cage door and follows to the floor. The match can only be won by pin fall. Dreamer sends Lawler into the cage and has a crutch. Dreamer jabs Lawler with the crutch that a fan has. Lawler whacks Dreamer over the back with a steel chair. Lawler continues to whack Dreamer with a steel chair and chokes Tommy on the floor with the chair. Dreamer spits water into Lawler’s face on the floor. Dreamer slams Lawler’s face first onto a table at ringside. Lawler rams the table into Dreamer’s midsection followed by a chair shot.

Lawler sends Dreamer into the table that was stood up against the cage. Dreamer counters the second attempt and sends Lawler into the table. Dreamer hits Lawler with a kendo stick in the ring right in the groin. Dreamer misses a middle rope elbow drop and lands on a chair. Lawler chokes Dreamer with a rope attached to the ring bell. Dreamer sends Lawler back first into a steel chair in the corner. Dreamer plants Lawler with a piledriver, but Lawler gets his foot on the bottom rope. Lawler low blows Dreamer and ties Dreamer to the cage. Lawler hits Dreamer with a kendo stick. Dreamer drops Lawler with a few right hands and kendo stick shots to the back. Dreamer blocks a chair shot in the corner by throwing a fireball into Dreamer’s face to win the match. (1/2*. Well, there’s a few things I didn’t like about this at all. I didn’t like the match was very slow, which was to be expected. The fact they went outside of the cage was annoying. For there to be a rope break was confusing, as well. It was mostly just a brawl and it wasn’t an entertaining one at all.)

Sixth Contest: NEW Heavyweight Champion Matt Taven vs. Hale Collins: Taven starts off with a dropkick to get the early advantage on Collins. Taven works over Collins arm with several strikes. Taven drives Collins down to the mat with a single arm DDT. Collins tries to fight back with right hands, but Taven cuts Collins off and chokes Hale in the corner. Taven works over Collins with right hands and drops Collins arm over the top rope. Taven controls Collins with an arm lock on the mat. Taven gets out of a rollup and dropkicks Collins to the mat. Taven keeps Collins on the mat with knee drops to the arm. Taven forearms Collins a few times, but Collins takes Taven over with a snap suplex. Collins rolls through to hit a few suplexs. Taven counters and keeps Collins down with a cross arm breaker. Collins refuses to stay down and is met with a kick. Collins kicks Taven a few times and both men are on the mat. Taven keeps Collins on the mat by keeping arm control. Collins hits a leaping Fame-Asser to stop Taven’s momentum.

Collins accidentally superkicks the referee and begins to trade strikes with Taven. Collins connects with a superkick and has the cover on Taven. However, there isn’t a referee to count the fall. Taven low blows Collins and hits a swinging neckbreaker. Taven climbs to the top rope and hits a frog splash. A second referee slides into the ring, but Collins kicks out at two. Collins is out of it as Taven taunts the fans. Collins gets an inside cradle on Taven and wins the match! The crowd is going nuts and Vik Dalishus enters the ring to celebrate with his friend. However, the original referee gets up and disqualifies Collins for delivering a superkick to him earlier. So, Taven retains by disqualification. Collins ends up hitting an elbow drop on the referee. (*1/2. Well, it was a borderline cheap segment. I’m not a fan of the fake finish and the aftermath. Taven working over the arm was the majority of the match and for me it lacked any real excitement. This didn’t feel like the right moment for Collins to win the title, anyway.)

Main Event: Matt Hardy vs. MVP: They shake hands to start the match to show respect for each other. They have a few standoffs in the early moments. Hardy hip tosses MVP and plays to the crowd. Hardy shoulder blocks MVP, but MVP comes back with an arm drag and a kick. Hardy tries for the Side Effect, but MVP counters. Hardy counters the Play Maker, and MVP counters the Twist of Fate. Hardy and MVP go to the floor and quickly return to the ring to continue their standoff with a lockup. MVP kicks Hardy in the corner and runs into a boot in the corner. Hardy tosses MVP to the mat as the match is a bit sloppy. Hardy connects with a neckbreaker and comes off the middle rope to deliver an elbow strike for a near fall. Hardy connects with a swinging neckbreaker for a two count. Hardy comes off the ropes and MVP drops Hardy to the mat gut first. MVP drops Hardy chest first over the railing. Hardy beats on MVP with a few right hands on the floor and they return to the ring. MVP drops Hardy with a clothesline.

MVP connects with a running boot in the corner and nearly wins the match. MVP delivers a modified chin breaker and plays to the crowd. MVP comes off the ropes to hit the Ballin’ elbow drop. MVP hits the Play of the Day! MVP has the cover and Hardy kicks out at two. MVP works over Hardy with a right hand, but Hardy plants MVP with the Side Effect for a two count. MVP counters the Twist of Fate by planting Hardy to the mat face first for a near fall. MVP takes Hardy over with rather poor looking German suplexs. MVP does Benoit’s taunt and then points to the heaven to acknowledge him, which was a bit weird. Hardy stops MVP on the middle rope and hits a press slam. They begin to trade right hands in the middle of the ring. Hardy hits the Twist of Fate managing only a two count. Hardy is ready for another one, but MVP counters with a backslide and wins the match. (*. I was honestly surprised that MVP won here. I probably shouldn’t be since he’s fresh off the WWE run at this point, but I didn’t think Hardy would lose. The match isn’t very good at all and they looked like they both had lost a few steps since their previous feud in WWE.)

Final Thoughts:
Well, aside from the ladder match there wasn’t much going on here this time around for NEW. I had low expectations going in and it didn’t even reach those expectations. This is an easy show to avoid.

Thanks for reading.