Northeast Wrestling presents Spring Slam
Date: 4/18/2008
From: Newbury, NY
Opening Contest: Jeff Starr vs. Brian Anthony
FINISH: Starr picks up the win following a top rope swanton bomb
Bob’s Take: Typically, Starr is presented as a heel in NEW, or at least that’s all that I can remember when reviewing this show. However, he displayed a lot of charisma that I don’t recall ever seeing from him before. Starr looked to be quite comfortable in a babyface role and knew how to get the crowd behind very well. Anthony has long been a fantastic heel for NEW, so this is a strong opener before any action took place. For the most part, there wasn’t anything too spectacular during the bout, but they worked a standard match and the crowd was amped for the show in general. At one point, Starr took a nice bump over the ropes in the corner to the floor, but that was a bit all there was in terms of notable bumps before the finish.
Match Rating: **
Second Contest: Michael Sain vs. Billy Swift
FINISH: Sane wins following a sit out Death Valley Driver.
Bob’s Take: As soon as I saw Swift make his entrance, I knew this was going to be a massacre. At this point, Sane has been a solid heel talent for NEW for about two years. He’s gotten fairly better in the ring, but it could have been the much smaller opponent making him look even better. Regardless, this was an enjoyable quick squash for Sane.
Match Rating: *1/2
Third Contest: THE NOW (Hale Collins & Vik Dalishus) vs. The Night Riders (Billy Bax & Rob Eckos)
NOTE: Before the match, Bax and Eckos insult New York since they are from New Jersey. They also insulted a local DJ that is with The NOW saying he sucks.
FINISH: Late in the match, the local DJ distracted Eckos allowing for the NOW to hit their double team neckbreaker for the win.
Bob’s Take: Eckos and Bax were also known as the Valedictorians in the ECWA, which is actually how I became aware of the duo. Early on, it was obvious that the Night Riders are a seasoned team, not to say the NOW aren’t, because they have plenty of experience. Night Riders just seemed to be a bit more polished and Eckos especially looked like he’s a star. Portions of the match were a formula based tag bout, but there were also moments of impactful offense to liven up the crowd. The local DJ getting involved was not a shocking development. Despite the interference, I though this was a solid tag team bout.
Match Rating: **1/2
Fourth Contest: Tony DeVito vs. Lou Santiago
FINISH: DeVito countered a slam attempt with an inside cradle to win the match.
Bob’s Take: It’s always a bit weird to see DeVito presented as a babyface after having watched him in ECW as part of Da Baldies and being a solid heel for the promotion. I guess he was also a babyface for ROH as part of the Carnage Crew, though. Santiago did a good job of keeping interest in the match when he had a substantial amount of time to carry the match action wise. I enjoyed this far more than I ever expected to, and they deserve some credit for that.
Match Rating: **
Fifth Contest: TNA Knockouts Champion Awesome Kong vs. Kurt Adonis, Roxxi Cotton & Talia Madison — Gauntlet Match
FINISH: Kong wins the gauntlet by defeating Cotton first, followed by Adonis, but loses to Talia by disqualification because Kong wouldn’t stop choking Talia.
Bob’s Take: As you’d expect, Kong didn’t have any trouble with the opponents in this gauntlet match. Kong is a dominate performer and comes across as a monster very well. Talia tried to portray herself as an underdog, but there was never a doubt as to who the better wrestler was. The finish is a big cheap, but I guess Talia needed to be protected in some way for the NEW crowd. This was a quick match, so it didn’t overstay its welcome.
Match Rating: *1/2
Sixth Contest: NEW Heavyweight Champion Xavier vs. Jason Blade
FINISH: Xavier retains the title following a neckbreaker.
Bob’s Take: I remember Blade being a top prospect on the indies, but I haven’t seen a lot of his work for the most part. The crowd seemed to be invested in the action since these two have history in NEW. Blade reminds me of a Eddie Edwards from an appearance aspect. Their styles meshed rather well as Xavier worked a more suplex/power base attack and Blade displayed some aerial offense. They approached this as being a big-time match for the NEW Heavyweight Championship, and I’d say they delivered a quality match. Blade takes a backdrop through a table at ringside, which is a great spot. I think it may have been a bit shocking that Blade didn’t win the title since this is the fourth time he’s lost to Xavier and Xavier has been champion since December 2006. Xavier has been a good champion, but Blade probably would have done well as a babyface champion from a match quality mindset, too.
Match Rating: ***1/2
Main Event: TNA World Champion Samoa Joe vs. Kurt Angle
FINISH: Joe forces Angle to submit to the chokehold to retain the title.
Bob’s Take: Joe had just won the TNA World Championship from Kurt Angle at Lockdown five days ago and their rematch on Impact wasn’t airing until the following week. So, this is their first match against each other since the title change. NEW has managed to book some interesting matches and I’d say this is a steal for them to claim the first encounter after the title change. It’s an abbreviated match compared to what they’ve done in TNA, but it’s still enjoyable and Angle tapping out cleanly is refreshing to see instead of a cheap finish on an indie show.
Match Rating: ***
Final Thoughts:
I’m going to consider this an average show. The two title matches were enjoyable and the tag match on the undercard was fun. The live crowd had good energy throughout and for a two hour show, it wasn’t an awful experience.
Thanks for reading.