The first House of Hardcore boasted a fun mix of former ECW talent, WWE cast-offs, and some of the biggest names currently on the independent scene. It was a show that seemed to delicately balance the line between using too many legends and allowing some of the current talents to showcase their own abilities. What impressed me most of all was the name value of Tommy Dreamer as they managed to draw a big crowd despite the tough circumstances facing the wrestling scene these days. It was in this mode that I found myself interested in reviewing the second House of Hardcore event, a show with a number of matches I genuinely wanted to see and a solid group of talents who could have made this show worthwhile. Unfortunately, there were some issues and some matches which did not live up to the hype.
The balance of power was not nearly as well executed on show two as show one. Never was this more evident than the John Morrison/2 Cold Scorpio match, something I was looking forward to based on work I had seen this year. Scorpio has looked fantastic or at least good in many of his performances lately. Morrison could easily take nights off when he does these indy dates, but I’ve enjoyed the majority of the matches he’s put on in places like DG USA and Resistance Pro. Let’s take this disaster step-by-step and look at the art of a DUD wrestling match. First, there’s the in-ring promos taking place after the bell has rung. Not a big fan but fair enough. Scorpio starts talking, and I couldn’t understand a word he said because the microphone apparently wasn’t connected in a way where the audience streaming at home could hear. Keeping in mind this was one of the main matches, they then had a dance-off after a token wrestling sequence. Some people began to get restless. Then for the next 18 or so minutes, they wrestled back and forth in slow motion. Lots of stalling and their offense just looked off. Messed up spots and miscommunication also abounded as they struggled for 23 minutes. I hesitate to make this comment, but Scorpio honestly looked to be in an altered state of some sort. I know it’s Philadelphia, but the fact that they turned on this match and amused themselves with chants wasn’t a positive sign. Morrison finally won with Starship Pain, but the damage was done. This match failed in every conceivable way, both from an artistic and fan standpoint.
A match that wasn’t nearly as much of a disaster but still presented some of the same problems was Tommy Dreamer and Lance Storm. For two 40-year-old, this was pretty solid. Storm remains in incredible shape and can have a good match effortlessly. He’s someone I have the utmost respect for as an in-ring competitor Regardless of what I think of Dreamer in certain ways, he seems to genuinely love the business and is willing to put on these shows. That being said, everything involving Terry Funk and Sean Waltman just seemed unnecessary and desperate ploy to get over. Funk is 69 years old and has tested the boundaries of his physical limits many times. Do we really need to see him becoming physical, even if it is only punching and a step over toehold? Dreamer won with the help of Funk as they administered a DDT to Storm.
If the previous two matches had happened in a bygone era of ECW, the internet would be buzzing and I think people would have loved what they had done. In 2013, matches like this and the one involving Guido against Vic Dalishus are passe. Guido is of course a veteran who’s been on the scene for almost 20 years. He dominates Dalishus in what appears to be a borderline squash until a quick roll-up out of nowhere (with a hold of the tights for good measure) gives Dalishus the win. He then challenges a former ECW roster member on the microphone. I only know this because the Blue Meanie walks out. Not only could the promo not be heard, but the announcers talked over the promo, which is one of my biggest pet peeves in wrestling and something that should never be done in any company. Meanie comes in and begins dancing. Clothesline. Guido drops Dalishus only for a gray-haired Sandman to come out and have some fun with the valet, Monique. He dances with her (to Fandango’s music no less) and rips the poor girl’s wig off. Sandman at least redeemed the segment slightly by caning Larry Dallas. There was a time when ECW innovated and changed professional wrestling. Sadly, so many of the performers have become the very thing that was railed against in the 1990s.
The ECW style booking also made its way into a match where there were no former ECW performers. Carlito defeated Mike Bennett in a match that was honestly going perfectly well until Maria Kanellis and Rosita (formerly of TNA fame) became heavily involved. The beginning of the match was kind of amusing with Bennett executing a move and then making out with his fiancee. Tough to blame him for that. Maria eventually enters the ring at one point to interfere. Rosita stands outside forever before engaging in a cat fight. Carlito spits apple in Maria’s face. Rosita moonsault Bennett. Both Carlito and Rosita cover… okay, Carlito tries to have anal sex with Rosita as they both cover Bennett. If they were going to do all of this anyway, why not just have a mixed tag instead of stretching the rules and making the referee look like a goof for not disqualifying anyone?
In a couple of other mundane matches, Crowbar apparently worked his final match against Hale Collins. This was the opener of the show and wasn’t all that great. Crowd seemed ready to turn on Collins minutes in after a couple mess-ups. I feared for men’s lives as Crowbar hit a top rope hurancanrana. Another match I felt similarly about was the Steiner Brothers against Eddie Kingston and Homicide. Three of the four guys in this match likely could not care less about professional wrestling, and it showed as they had a seven minute contest with little flow or energy. Another “I’m scared for this man’s life” moment came when Kingston took a top rope bulldog from the Steiners. This also did not look good. Funny enough, the person who appeared to be enjoying himself was Rick Steiner.
Although I was overall not impressed what I saw from this show, there were individual matches I enjoyed. For whatever reason, Sami Callihan seems to do his best and most controlled work with guys from WWE. I think back on his matches with Finlay and John Morrison as examples. The match he had with MVP may not have been as strong as those, but this was the first contest on the show that felt like it had some intensity, energy, and meaning behind it. There was some crowd brawling with chairs and tossing into barricades. There was also hard-hitting action even as they went into the ring. Callihan worked the leg and even managed a stretch muffler. In the end, MVP won with a boot to the back of the head in a bit of an anti-climactic finish. Despite the finish, I liked what MVP brought to the table. His offense is very different from his WWE days, and he has varied his style in such a way I’m not sure he could ever go back. Give him a ton of credit for exiting WWE and improving himself, changing the way he wrestles to suit the needs of the places he wrestles for (primarily Japan).
Another solid match featured Petey Williams in a three way match with Alex Reynolds and Anthony Nese. Watching Nese wrestle, you get the sense he’s going to be a huge star in professional wrestling and it’s only a matter of time before WWE signs him. He’s been the break-out star of 2013 and is getting more and more chances to show why TNA royally messed up not using him. I get that his lack of a personality hurts him at times, but his ability as in-ring performer should make him an automatic top prospect in this business. He was probably the best performer in the match, which made it so surprising that he was eliminated first by Reynolds. I get there’s a certain amount of hate in some circles, but Reynolds is a fairly solid, if somewhat annoying, wrestler. I think he does his job as a midcard heel well. He shoouldn’t be beating someone like Nese, but I don’t think he’s offensive. Williams won with the Canadian Destroyer because when Williams wins, that’s sort of what happens. Given his name value, I understand why he was booked to win.
Saving the best for last. Of course, the Young Bucks were involved. In a rematch from the first show and the first Kurt Russelreunion, they wrestled London and Kendrick in a very good tag team match where both teams looked motivated. London showed no ill effects from the concussion he suffered at Border Wars. Kendrick showed minimal wear and tear from the neck injury he suffered at FWE the night before and looked one million times better than he did against Shane Hollister the last time I watched one of his matches. There were some cool spots involving a superkick marathon and London planting Matt Jackson with a tombstone piledriver on the hardwood floor. Great symmetry as the Bucks hit a tandem spike piledriver on London. Kendrick broke up the count, but the Bucks hit their finish and won the match seconds later. A solid match for the first half turned into a great match in the second half. I’ve seen a lot of Young Buck matches, so it’s tough for me to give something like this four stars, but I can see someone thinking of this as even better. I did enjoy the performances from both teams and hope a fourth match can be the ultimate.
If House of Hardcore can find a way to produce solid matches with the bigger names and keep the gaga to a minimum, I could see this become a solid venture. Honestly, the Sandman/Blue Meanie stuff is acceptable if it’s the only instance on the show of it taking place. When you get those type of things happening in three other matches, that’s when it becomes a problem. This was at times a frustrating show to watch because there is a lot of potential for the concept to work. Not a show I would go out of my way to see though.
Grade: C-
-Taped from Philadelphia, PA
-Commentators: Vic tor Travilagante, Jordan, and Danny Doring
-Crowbar defeats Hale Collins by submission with the dragon sleeper /7:23/**
-Vik Dalishus (Larry Dallas and Monique Dupree) defeats Guido Maritano/3:59/*
-MVP defeats Sami Callihan with a boot to the back of the head/17:11/***1/4
-Carlito Colon defeats Mike Bennett (w/Maria Kanellis)/7:42/*
-Petey Williams defeats Alex Reynolds and Anthony Nese in a three way eliminator. Reynolds eliminated Nese with a cutter. Williams wins the match by pinning Reynolds after a Canadian Destroyer/11:34/***
-The Steiner Brothers (Rick and Scott Steiner) defeat Eddie Kingston and Homicide. Scott pins Kingston after a double team bulldog./6:46/*1/2
-FWE Heavyweight Championship: John Morrison (champion) defeats 2 Cold Scorpio with the Starship Pain/23:08/DUD
-The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson) defeat Paul London and Brian Kendrick by pinfall after More Bang for your Buck/16:42/***3/4
-Tommy Dreamer defeats Lance Storm (w/Terry Funk)/12547/**1/4
For more information on House of Hardcore, including ordering information for both the stream and DVD, check out their website. You can also find them on Twitter.