Monday, January 13, 2014

National Pro Wrestling Day Round Up PLUS HUGE First Match Signed for WrestleCon

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Hallowicked is IN
Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein

The roster for National Pro Wrestling Day has grown since the last update, by five wrestlers to be exact. The names skew heavily towards Chikara/Wrestling Is with some Beyond Wrestling flavor as well.

Hallowicked is the first name announced, which is both not a shock and definitely an encouragement. Hallowicked is a Chikara original and usually good for a solid in-ring performance. However, his appearance at this show is important with the Chikara rebirth theory. Right now, he's Icarus' only ally outside of random Wrestle Factory students. He's an important piece in this puzzle.

Frank "Dont Call Me Francis" O'Rourke has been called "the next Bryan Danielson" in terms of his match quality. He has torn up the indies, either as O'Rourke under the Wrestling Is banner or Biff Busick everywhere else, in 2013, and I'm excited to see against whom he will be placed.

The Brown Morning of Belarus and the Proletariat Boar of Moldova were also both announced. I imagine Mr. Azerbaijan can't be too far behind either. With both the Lithuanian Snow Troll and the Estonian Thunder Frog also announced, I wonder if the final battle between the Baltic Siege and the Polar Baron's Union will go down here. I hope so, actually. The feud has been uneven but overall pretty cool so far, and a trios match for all the rubles would be a great pre-intermission "main event" or a sub-main event overall.

Eric Corvis is the last name announced for now. Corvis is a long-time veteran of Jersey All-Pro Wrestling, but he's found new life as one of the Beyond Wrestling regulars, where he's adopted quite the nasty dick-heel persona with a speciality in misogyny. His Wrestling Is appearances so far have been more noble in flavor. I guess since this show is more a Wrestling Is juncture, I wouldn't be surprised to see him play up the Dr. Who/Indiana Jones strains in his character and play for pops.

In addition to the NPWD news, a huge match announcement has been made a bit further down the road. The folks at WrestleCon have announced their first match for their big supercard WrestleMania weekend. In one corner, will be Mr. Independent himself, Kevin Steen. Across the ring from him will be none other than former ECW World Champion and puroresu cult icon Masato Tanaka. I've been vocal in my support for the creme de la creme of the indies to get these dream matches, and this particular pairing excites me especially since I hear Tanaka's still nearly as good as he was 15 years ago. This match is a coup of an announcement, and one that has got my attention for the non WWE happenings on WrestleMania weekend.