Friday, January 24, 2014

Any Shows This Weekend? Warm up with Wrestling!

Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug
Matt Hardy will be among those on the potential receiving end of Chris Hero strikes this weekend
Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein

The weekend is here, and despite the dreaded POLAR VORTEX rearing its ugly head again, wrestling is still happening all around this great land. I urge you to be brave and go out in order to get to the venue of choice, because a whole bunch of great wrestling shows are happening across the world. You can find out which ones are going down by heading over to Pro Wrestling Events, but if you want the skinny on the big shows this weekend, check below, why don't you.

FRIDAY

AAW will be kicking off its year with The Chaos Theory, live from the Berwyn Eagles Club in Berwyn, IL. The doors open at 7 PM local time, and when you get in there, you'll be treated to a main event for the AAW Heavyweight Championship. Shane Hollister, with Scarlett Bordeaux by his side, will defend against scene veteran Jimmy Jacobs. Also on the show, Michael Elgin will team up with fellow Canadian Ethan Page to take on the debuting tandem of Ricochet and Uhaa Nation. Matt Cage defends the Heritage Championship against former titleholder ACH, while Team Ambition (Davey Richards and Kyle O'Reilly) face off against the team of Louis Lyndon and Marion Fontaine. Also making appearances on this show will be Eddie Kingston, Colt Cabana, Juntai Miller, Silas Young, and Jonathan Gresham.

SHINE 16 will be occupying the Orpheum in Ybor City, FL tonight. Tickets are still available live, but even if you're not in America's hanging dong, you can hit up WWN Live for an Internet pay-per-view broadcast at 9 PM Eastern Standard Time. The main event will pit two members of the feared Valkyrie stable against each other for the SHINE Championship. The challenger is Ivelisse Velez. The Champion is Rain. The two swear that the challenge will not tear the group asunder from within, but time will tell. One group that is all but imaginary in the SHINE Universe is the Midwest Militia, which is good since two of the principles in the stable, Jessicka Havok and Allysin Kay, will be looking to tear each other limb from limb in a no disqualification war. Their last match ended in stalemate. This one will look to rectify that end. Also on the show, Taylor Made will face her biggest challenge yet as she battles The Amazing Kong, Angelina Love tangles with Leah von Dutch in a battle of Canadians, Neveah will grapple with the cosplaying wonder Leva Bates, and Serena Deeb makes her SHINE debut against Santana Garrett. Amber O'Neal, Mercedes Martinez, Heidi Lovelace, Sassy Stephie, and Su Yung will also be making their presences felt at this show.

SATURDAY

Ring of Honor will get Pittsburgh warmed up for the Royal Rumble with a huge show from the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. World's Finest will kick off at 7:30 PM local time, and the main event will throw three tag teams into the mix. World Champion Adam Cole has his personal hired muscle Matt Hardy by his side, defending against three of his pissed off former-and-future challengers and a crazed practitioner of redneck kung fu. Two of those challengers, Michael Elgin and Chris Hero, will team up, while the other one, Jay Briscoe, teams with his brother Mark. Also on the show, Cedric Alexander will get the opportunity of a lifetime as he goes one-on-one with Paul London. Alexander will take the place of an injured Roderick Strong. Tomasso Ciampa defends his Television Championship against both Matt Taven and Jay Lethal, while Kevin Steen nuts up against one-half of the ROH Tag Team Champions, Kyle O'Reilly. Jimmy Jacobs and BJ Whitmer tangle with ACH and TaDarius Thomas, and Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis will also be in the house.

NWA Houston will play host to a third match for the NWA Women's Championship between Kay Cee Carlisle and Barbi Hayden. The match will main event the show, which will kick off at 7:30 PM local time from the VFW Post 8905 in Cypress, TX. In addition to the title match, Scot Summers and Byron Wilcott among others will be on the card.

Anarchy Wrestling will hold serve from the Anarchy Arena in Cornelia, GA, at 8 PM local time. Scheduled to appear at this show will be Iceberg, "The Temptation" Shaun Tempers, Corey Hollis, the Washington Bullets, "Hit for Hire" Bobby Moore, and of course, Anarchy Champion Mikael Judas.

Empire Pro Wrestling also has some Southern fried Georgia rasslin' at their titular arena in Rossville, GA. Doors will open at 7 PM local time. Among those scheduled are the reunited Wyld Stallyns, KT Hamill, and Tank.

East Coast Wrestling Association will present New Year's Resolution III at the Greater Newark Boys and Girls Club in Newark, DE. The doors open at 6 PM local. AMong those scheduled to appear at the show will be ECWA Champ Kekoa the Flyin' Hawaiian, Bobby Shields, Azrieal, and the ever-popular Mr. Ooh-La-La.

New York Wrestling Connection roosts in the NYWC Sportatorium in Deer Park, NY, doors opening at 6 PM local. Mikey Whipwreck will battle Mike MOndo in the main event. Alex Reynolds and John Silver will engage in a rematch, while Chrissy Rivera takes on Marti Belle. Francis Kipland Stevens and Stockade are also scheduled to appear.

SUNDAY

SMASH Wrestling's Any Given Sunday 2 is the main indie show for Sunday. They will invade the E-Zone in Ebitocoke, ON, for a 4 PM belltime. Their HUGE main event will pit AJ Styles against Chris Hero. Also on the show is a match that could main event any other arena in America, Michael Elgin battling Johnny Gargano. Matt Cross, Kyle O'Reilly, and "Hacker" Scotty O'Shea will engage in three-way war, while Seleziya Sparx will rematch against Veda Scott from the US vs. Canada women's series earlier in 2013. Gregory Iron battles Tyson Dux, while Josh Alexander is also scheduled to appear.

Vanguard Wrestling All-Star Alliance will round out the events for this weekend with Resolution 7 at the Addison Community Center in Addison, IL. Among the wrestlers appearing for this 4 PM bell time will be the Estonian Thunder Frog, Gary Jay, the Proletariat Boar of Moldova, Brown Morning of Belarus, Bolt Brady, Tripp Cassidy, Reed Bentley, and making their VWAA debuts, the Hooligans.

Rain or shine, heat or cold, clear day or apocalypse, wrestling is perfect accoutrements for any condition outside. It can only grow, however, if you help support it. Go and see a show near you this weekend, especially if you've never gone to one before. You never know; you might find the favorite promotion or wrestler you didn't know you had when you do.