CLAIMS DEPARTMENT
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WRESTLING So, I spent the weekend Wrestlemania appeared in the city of my birth watching ‘rasslin’... just not WrestleMania. Yeah, I saw it on Pay-Per-View, but I went to the shows at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds in San Jose. They were the shows of the WWN Wrestling Experience, and it was an absolute blast. I saw 7 shows in 3 days and they were all awesome. I took pics, and that’s what you’re gonna see in this issue!
NIGHT 1 EVOLVE 39 MARCH 26TH, 2015
Results
Drew Gulak beat Timothy Thatcher **** Biff Busick beat Tommy End *** Chris Hero beat Ethan Page ** 1/2 Uhaa Nation/Ricochet/Rich Swan beat Premiere Athlete Brand (Caleb Konley & TJ Perkins) and Brian Cage ***/4 Dragon’s Gate USA Champion Johnny Gargano beat A.R. Fox *** EVOLVE Champion Drew Galloway pinned PJ Black *** 2
DREW GULAK PINNED TIMOTHY THATCHER IN AN AMAZING MAT-BASED WRESTLING MATCH. THATCHER IS MY NEW HERO! LITERALLY, THEY TOOK ONE BUMP IN THE MATCH THAT WENT ALMOST 20 MINUTES AND IT WAS FASCINATING!
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BIFF BUSICK VS. TOMMY END 5
The first two matches were really good. Tim Thatcher is a really strong wrestler, as is Gulak, but Thatch has something that no other wrestler I’ve seen in years has. He can work a match and make it seem real, and at the same time, make people care about what’s going on. That’s not typical of guys who work that sort of style. The opener was a great way to set the stage for a show that promised to be very different from what you’d see on TV. The second match wasn’t as good, but it was worked seriously, between a striker and a mat wrestler. Tommy End, the striker, has a great look for Indies, but I can’t see the WWE buying into him. Busick is a Chikara wrestler under a mask (one of the Colony, along with Gulak) and he’s really talented. The two had a really strong match against each other.
Tommy End (far) and Biff Busick (near)
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Chris Hero vs. Ethan Page
If I had to pick a least favorite wrestler on any of the shows I saw, it would be Chris Hero. Yes, he’s an indy superstar, one half of one of the best tag teams of the early part of this decade with Claudio Castignoli, and he’s got a great t-shirt, but really, I find him kinda slow and plodding. He’s got some talent, but I think he’s just not featured in a way that lets him shine. Plus, after Thatcher and Busick, no one could really stand up. The best part of this match was the pre-match mic time with Ethan Page. He was funny saying that he was the guy no one had heard of, being from Canada, and he was a really charismatic interview, in a “Golly, I’m so excited to be here” sort of way. Still, my least favorite match of the night. Th
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THE PREMIER ATHLETE BRAND (CALEB KONLEY, BRIAN CAGE & TJ PERKINS) W/SO CAL VAL & ANDREA VS. RICH SWANN, RICOCHET & UHAA NATION
The opening of this match was great. The Premiere Athlete Brand is kinda bland save for So Cal Val, one of my favorite managers. The real highlight for me was Uhaa Nation, Ricochet, and Rick Swan entering the ring. Swan sang the entirety of All Night Long by Lionel Ritchie. The whole thing. Adult Contemporary R&B from the 1980s appears in wrestling! It was so much fun as the entire audience was singing along. The match itself was a festival of high-flying, which is always fun. Ricochet is a blast, and Swan is good, but the highlights was watching Uhaa go. The man’s big, looks a lot like Bobby Lashley, and he can fly with the best of ‘em! Cage is another big flyer as well, but Uhaa is so good. He’s signed to NXT, as I understand it, which is exactly where he should be!.
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JOHNNY GARGANO VS. A.R. FOX
I love Johnny Gargano. He’s a part of Team F.I.S.T. (Friends in Similar Tights) along with Icarus and Chuck Taylor. He’s the Dragon’s Gate USA Open The Freedom Gate champion here and he’s facing AR Fox. I really don’t enjoy Fox. I mean, he’s a decent flyer, but when you look at his style when compared to someone like Ricochet, he’s just not there. Still, he gets a push and has OK matches. This match was just OK, some good flying, but Gargano was awesome, as always!
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DREW GALLOWAY VS. PJ BLACK 12
The Main Event
Drew Galloway is the Evolve Champion. He’s a really good wrestler who was Drew McIntyre in the WWE for a while, where he never really connected. PJ Black used to be Justin Gabriel, and was a part of the best thing the WWE did in the early part of this decade. the first NXT Invasion which brought Wade Barrett, Daniel Bryan and others to the show. This match promised to be pretty good. And that’s exactly what it was. Those first two matches really set the stage, and while there was some really good stuff, it didn’t get close to Thatcher vs. Gulak or Busick vs. End. It was a good match between good wrestlers. As a whole, the show was very good. The matches were all at least decent, got plenty of time, and the crowd was hot. This was an excellent start to an excellent weekend!
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DAY MARCH 27TH, 2015
FIRST SHOW 1PM BELL TIME EVOLVE 40
Drew Galloway defeated Uhaa Nation ** 1/2 Timothy Thatcher defeated Tommy End **** 1/4 Drew Gulak defeated TJ Perkins ** 1/2 AR Fox defeated Ethan Page ** Chris Hero defeated Biff Busick *** 1/2 Caleb Konley and Brian Cage defeated Rich Swann and Johnny Gargano * 1/2 Ricochet defeated PJ Black *** 15
Uhaa Nation vs. Drew Galloway Drew defends his title against Uhaa in a decent little match that started out kinda slow. I love Uhaa, and he’s a flying machine, and Drew’s really good. He did some microphone work ahead of the match, and it wasn’t great, but overall, the entire presentation of the match and interview came out pretty good. The one thing about this match that I was really excited about was seeing how much more impressive a highspot is when it’s done by a big dude
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TOMMY END VS. TIMOTHY THATCHER
One of the best matches of the Weekend and one of the best I’ve ever seen live! Definitely a Thatcher Fan now!
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TJ Perkins vs. Drew Gulak
Not my favorite match, though Gulak is one of those guys who’ll always put on a good match, but a solidly worked match from two good workers. To be honest, I barely remember what happened in this one, except that there was a clean pin in the middle.
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A.R. FOX V. ETHAN PAGE
Premiere Athletic Brand vs. Johnny Gargano & Rick Swan
AR Fox vs. Ethan Page was only OK. I really don’t find much interest in Fox’s matches, and PAge is a decent worker, but kinda plain. Fox did do some good flying, but I was running out of camera space, so I didn’t get nearly enough pics of his match, nor the following match with Johnny Gargano and Rich Swan vs. Brian Cage and Caleb. Which is a shame as this was an important match. You see, it was building to be a good little match, when Swan got hurt and had to be taken out of the arena. His singing entrance was awesome, though not nearly as good as the night before. Still, I really wish this match had gotten to go all out because it was looking good!
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PJ Black vs. Ricochet
This was a decent little match between high-flying dudes. Black is really good, and he should have had a longer run in the WWE. Ricochet is a superball of a human and I love his matches. A decent match to Main Event with, and it did leave the crowd on a higher note. All in all, it was another good show, though I didn’t get any pics of Busick vs. Chris Hero. It had everyone psyched for the other shows that were happening throughout the day!
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SECOND SHOW KING OF INDIES NIGHT 1
Rey Horus defeated Lil Cholo ** Jeff Cobb defeated Rik Luxury * 1/2 Adam Thornstowe defeated Shaun Ricker @ 8:00 via pin *1/2 Vincenzo Massaro defeated El Mariachi 1/2* JR Kratos won the 20 Man Battle Royal @ 12:00 * Brian Cage defeated B-Boy **1/2 Willie Mack defeated Jody Kristofferson *** Luster the Legend defeated Jeckles 1/2* Timothy Thatcher defeated Dylan Drake **** 24
~ Ricochet defeated Joey Ryan and Matt Cross *** 1/2
REY HORUS V. LIL CHOLO 25
Jeff Cope vs. Rik Luxury
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ADAM
THORNSTOWE VS. RICKER
Vinny Massaro vs. El Mariachi
Of all the shows, this was my least favorite, at least for the first half. The opener was decent, the second match featuring Jeff Cope, a local-ish guy who does an amateur gimmick that’s pretty cool, had an OK match, and from there, the only bright spot was Timothy Thatcher again lighting the place on fire. The Thornstowe vs. Ricker match was pretty basic, and the Massaro vs. El Mariachi match was awful, but mostly, they were just sorta there.
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BATTLE ROYAL!!!!
BRIAN CAGE V. B-BOY
WILLY MACK VS. THE WAR PIG JODY KRISTOFFERSON (KRIS’ KID!)
LUSTER THE LEGEND VS. JECKLES (WORST MATCH OF THE WEEKEND)
TIMOTHY THATCHER VS. DYLAN DRAKE
EASILY THE BEST MATCH OF THE KING OF INDIES!
The Main Event, which was not a tournement match, was Ricochet vs. Matt Cross vs. Joey Ryan. Ryan wasn’t in it much, but Ricochet and Cross did a great job. I really think Cross will be a big star somewhere. He’s very talented! The Tournament format probably worked against this show almost certainly, as did the two earlier shows. I mean, you had Uhaa Nation, Rick Swan, Ricochet, Drew Gulak, Biff Busick, Uhaa Nation. No that’s not a typo. They had UHAA NATION and they didn’t put him in the tourney. Why not? Well, there were likely deals made with All Pro Wrestling, who did the first King of Indies tourneys that launched guys like Bryan Danielson and Christopher Daniels, and there were likely other reasons (like guys not wanting to work too many shows all weekend!) but really, I would have given anything to see Uhaa instead of Rik Luxury. Or Jeckle. or any other worker other than Tim Thatcher, really.
RICOCHET VS. MATT CROSS VS JOEY RYAN
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THIRD SHOW KAIJU BIG BATTEL
I had a chance to see the very first Kaiju Big Battel, a party held exceptionally close to my dorm room senior year. I didn’t get to go. I am the bummed. I finally got to bee it performed... but I couldn’t stay up that late. It started at Midnight, but I was bushed and had a 45 minute drive back home to the mountains between Santa Cruz and San Jose. I am glad I went, though. There was a guy from Japan who was sitting next to me who has made the Timekeeper for the evening because I pointed him out. it was AWSUM! He was so happy to ring the bell Third Show
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KAIJU BIG BATTEL IS PERFORMANCE ART MEETS WRESTLING IN A RING THAT LOOKS LIKE A CITY! IT’S RAD!
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Chris Hero is Un... uh... un-cubed masquerading as the diabolical Dr. Cube!
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THE FOLLOWING IMAGES ARE MOST DISTURBING
THE AFTERMATH THE HORROR... THE HORROR...
3 DAY
MARCH 28TH, 2015
SHIMMER CHICKFIGHT TOURNAMENT
Evie def. Portia Perez ** 1/2 Nicole Savoy def. Candice LeRae ***1/2 Nikki Storm def. Cherry Bomb ***1/2+++ Kay Lee Ray def. Kimber Lee *** Mia Yim def. Athena **** Cheerleader Melissa def. Havok *1/2 Round 2: Evie def. Nicole Savoy ***. Kay Lee Ray def. Nikki Storm *** Cheerleader Melissa def. Mia Yim ** Finals: Kay Lee Ray def. Cheerleader Melissa and Evie in a ThreeWay Elimination match. **1/2 SHIMMER Championship match: Nicole Matthews def. Tomoka Nakagawa ***
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EVIE VS. PORTIA PEREZ
NICOLE SAVOY V. CANDACE LERAE
THE BEST IN THE GALAXY NIKKI STORM!!!!!
Easily the best part of the weekend was discovering two incredible talents. Tim Thatcher, the second coming of Billy Robinson, was the first, and strictly for his in-ring brilliance. The second was in the third match of the night - NIKKI STORM! You see, while the first two matches were really good (especially Nicole Savory and Candace having a really good match!), there was no one who had the charisma of Nikki Storm anywhere. She was hilarious on the mic as she declared herself “The Best in the Galaxy” and then she had this really fun match with Cherry Bomb (who is really good!) that mixed good comedy with action. There was one botched spot, where they both basically sold a mis-timed neckbreaker, but even that worked! They really worked well together and Nikki has basically become my new Ric Flair! This was a really fun match, and there’s not another match from the weekend that I’d rather watch again. There’s a few really good Nikki matches on YouTube as well!
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KAYLEE RAY VS. KIMBER LEE
Two really good athletes! I had seen a fair bit of Kimber before on YouTube, and Kaylee was new to me, and she was pretty good. While neither are Nikki Storm-level charismatic, they’re both well-worth searching out more from. This tourney format worked better than the King of Indies. Matches had to be shorter, and that meant that the women worked a bit harder to pack in big moves and tell smarter stories. These two did that very well!
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MIA YIM VS. ATHENA!
Everyone was raving about this match, and it was very good. I’ve seen Yim, I think teaming with my favorite Leva Bates, but Athena was new to me and she was great! A really strong match, probably the third best of the weekend!
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CHEERLEADER MELISSA VS. HAVOC
NICOLE SAVOY VS. EVIE Evie and Nicole Savoy had a good little match. Savoy really impressed me, as she reminded me of one of the women who used to work for All Japan Women Pro Wrestling - Debbie Malenko. She had the combination of throws and strikes and was just really athletic. I’m surprised NXT hasn’t swiped up either of these women!
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NIKKI STORM VS. KAYLEE RAY
A REALLY GREAT MATCH! THESE TWO HAVE WRESTLED SEVERAL OTHER TIMES, AND OF THE ONES I’VE SEEN ON YOUTUBE, THIS ONE WAS THE BEST. KAYLEE’LL BE IN THE WWE SOMEDAY SOON, BUT NIKKI. WOW. SHE’S JUST AMAZING! NIKKI’S GOT NXT WRITTEN ALL OVER HER. THEY WERE BOTH ON THE TNA BRITISH BOOTCAMP, WHICH I SOMEHOW MISSED.
CHEERLEADER MELISSA VS. MIA YIM
NICOLE MATTHEWS VS. TOMOKA NAKAGAWA You may have noticed that I haven’t talked about any of the Cheerleader Melissa matches. I was utterly uninspired by them. I mean, they were OK, but I was bored, and her storyline with Havoc was over-powering the entire show. Their match in the first round was only OK, but it denied us a finish in the second round. I would much rather have seen them cost Melissa the match and have Yim go on to the three-way finals match, but I get why they didn’t. Melissa’s a local, and she’s probably the biggest star that Shimmer has, so what are you gonna do. The Shimmer Championship match was decent. I’m not sold on Matthews in the ring, though she’s an excellent heel champ. In fact, I’d say she’s one of the best performers in Shimmer, though far from the best worker. I had never seen Nagagawa, I don’t think. She would fit in with Shimmer full-time! The Main Event? It was OK once the Melissa-Havoc stuff played itself out. Evie and Kay Lee are both very talented and when it was just them, it really came together. Folks said that this was the best show of the weekend. It certainly came close for me, but the one thing is was missing - NIKKI STORM WINNING IT ALL!!!
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CHEERLEADER MELISSA VS. KAY LEE RAY VS. EVIE
SECOND SHOW WWN SUPERSHOW MERCURY RISING
Ethan Page defeated Kaleb Konley ** Mia Yim, Kimber Lee & Cherry Bomb defeated Andrea, Nicole Matthews & Portia Perez ** 1/2 Evolve Champion Drew Galloway pinned Johnny Gargano *** 3/4 TJ Perkins defeated Drew Gulak, Biff Busick and Tommy End *** PJ Black defeated AR Fox *** Timothy Thatcher defeated Chris Hero****½ Austin Aries & Roderick Strong defeated Ricochet & Uhaa Nation *** 1/2 68
Rick Swan showed up after his injury (which was more like he was seriously shaken up than too hurt) and did his singing to the ring, which brought out Premiere Athletic Brands. It was a nice little segment that led to Ethan Page making the save and having a match with Konley, which was not great, but it did what it had to. It was a decent way to open the big show.
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MATTHEWS/PEREZ & ANDREA VS. YIM AND KIMBERBOMB
JOHNNY GARGANO VS. DREW GALLOWAY
So, Drew had to catch a plane. Yes, he had to catch a plane in the middle of the biggest night of the weekend. That happens to Indy guys, I guess, so the match they’d spent the weekend building up had to go on in the middle of the show. Go figure. As a match, it was pretty darn good, especially with a significant section of brawling in the crowd. The match had decent flow, and it was pretty darn memorable. Drew went over, which was the result everyone expected.
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For some reason, I didn’t get any photos of the Four-Way match with Busick, Gulak, End, and Perkins, and I remember it being pretty good! The PJ Black vs. AR Fox match was better than I expected with Fox involved! The next match, Tim Thatcher vs. Chris Hero, was the best match of the weekend as far as I’m concerned, including the Wrestlemania main event. Thatcher was a master of playing off Hero’s style and they went back and forth working to each other’s strengths The crowd was split, probably leaning towards Hero, but what can you expect. The first part of the show was good, though not great. After the Thatcher match, it got better and better. That was really a turning point.
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TIMOTHY THATCHER VS. CHRIS HERO
AUSTIN ARIES / RODERICK STRONG VS. UHAA NATION / RICOCHET
THIRD SHOW KING OF INDIES NIGHT TWO
Jeff Cobb defeated Brian Cage ** 1/2 Timothy Thatcher defeated Vincenzo Massaro @ 7:00 via pin *** Adam Thornstowe defeated Luster the Legend *** Willie Mack defeated Rey Horus @ 10:00 via pin ***Âź Ultimo Dragon defeated Juventud Guerrera ** 3/4 Adam Thornstowe defeated Timothy Thatcher **** Willie Mack defeated Jeff Cobb @ 12:00 via pin ** 1/2 Earl Cooter defeated Grappler III @ 5:00 via pin 1/2* APW Tag Team Title Match: Champions The Classic Connection defeated Sir Samurai and Bobby Hart, Marcus Lewis and Famous B and The Rocknes Monsters @ 12:00 via pin ** KOTI Finals: Adam Thornstowe defeated Willie Mack @ 17:00 via pin ****
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JEFF COBB VS. BRIAN CAGE
TIMOTHY THATCHER VS. VINNY MASSARO
THORNSTOWE VS. LUSTER
REY HORUS VS. WILLIE MACK
You will notice that I haven’t said much about this show. Honestly, it wasn’t my favorite. Yeah, it wasn’t bad, but after two great shows, each with at least one blow-away match, this couldn’t compete. Not that the King of Indies wasn’t good, but there was filler in the tourney, and the guys I really wished I could have seen in it weren’t in it. The standouts were Willie Mack and Tim Thatcher, and Jeff Cobb was good as well. The rest of the card... well... The APW Tag Title Match was, at times, a mess, but I actually enjoyed it, especially when the styles of the two folks in the ring didn’t quite jibe. There was a singles match with Mr. Wrestling IV that was pretty lame. Getting to see Ultimo Dragon and Juventud Guerrera wrestle was awesome, too! Jeff Cobb vs. WIllie Mack was good, as was Thornstowe vs. Thatcher, and the finals were decent as well, but it was hardly the way I wish my 3 days of wrestling would have ended 85
ULTIMO DRAGON VS. JUVENTUD GUERRERA
JEFF COBB VS. WILLIE MACK
GRAPPLER III VS. EARL COOTER
ALL PRO WRESTLING TAG TITLE FOUR WAY (AN ODDLY FUN LITTLE MATCH!)
KING OF THE INDIES FINAL
MACK VS. THORNSTOWE
All photos taken by Christopher J Garcia, sitting either third row on the aisle, or front row. Every pic was taken with an iPhone 5S, 16G, which somehow filled up at least five times.
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OFFICE SUPPLY PUBLISHING 2015