HOG’s annual event, “High Intensity X,” took place on Friday, August 18th, from the NYC Arena in Queens, NY. Here are the match breakdowns and recap of the night:
Matt Travis Memorial Battle Royal:
We open the card with a battle royal in honor of the late Matt Travis. For those who are not familiar with his story, he was an up-and-coming wrestler that started his career at HOG. His future was bright; unfortunately, a hit and run changed all that in an instant back on November 9, 2019, when a garbage truck hit him while riding his bike.
Since this battle royal’s existence, the winner gets a title shot for a HOG championship of their choosing. The final four were Encore, Evander James, J Bouji, and Ken Broadway. J Bouji was eliminated first, followed by Broadway. In the end, Encore was the last man standing when he eliminated James.
The crowd was loud and cheering for Encore’s win. Broadway comes back in the ring to congratulate his partner and then announces they are coming for the tag team titles! Encore did not seem 100% on board with this. Could HOG be teasing a possible breakup and feud with each other? Only time will tell how this will play out.
Steph De Lander vs. Kiki Van Gough:
Steph De Lander is a great heel and generates legitimate heat with the audience. Kiki Van Gough was the crowd favorite. The HOG Women’s Champion Ultra Violette joined the commentating team during this match. This was a good back-and-forth match where both women had moments.
Later in the match, Ultra Violette left the commentator table and came down to ringside. Violette has had confrontations with Van Gough in the past. She pushed Van Gough off the top rope into the ring while the ref was distracted with SDL on the canvas. That interference caused SDL to land an F5 on Van Gough for the three count and the win. It appears they are setting up a program for Violette and Van Gough.
HOG Cruiserweight Title Suicidal Six Way Ladder Match – Joey Silver (c) vs. Super Crazy vs. Nolo Kitano (w/ The Anunnakis) vs. Jordan Oliver vs. Raheem Royal vs. Isiah Kassidy
Isiah Kassidy came out escorted by partner Marq Quen from Private Party, who received a massive welcome from the HOG crowd. Kassidy enters the crowd and gets them even more fired up for the match.
This match was fast pace and high-flying! Kitano had help from The Anunnakis, causing interference during this match. The middle of this match saw a dance-off between Kassidy and Super Crazy.
There were many high spots in this match, especially by Raheem Royal, who stood out to me. Royal had the match in hand until Kitano ran up another ladder and sprayed mist in Royal’s face. Kitano proceeded to grab the title to become the new HOG Cruiserweight Champion.
Matt Cardona (w/ Steph De Lander) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi:
Matt Cardona has made such a big name for himself since leaving WWE, and rightfully so. Just like Steph De Lander did earlier, Cardona played the classic heel. “The Indy God” rilled up the crowd there at the NYC Arena. Advertised as a title match, Cardona got on the mic, stating that it would be a non-title match since the commissioner was not there to override him.
The match was slow-paced and methodical. Cardona tried multiple times to leave the ring and even said the ref could count him out, but Tanahashi had none of it and dragged him back in. As usual, Cardona kept trying to cheat to win this match. In the closing moments of the match, Cardona got his belt. He looked to hit Tanahashi who moved out of the way, and instead he took out SDL, who was behind him. Tanahashi followed with a sling blade and the High Fly Flow for the pin and victory. It was a good match; however, the ending was predictable, being this was made a non-title match.
HOG Crown Jewel Championship – Charles Mason (c) vs. Masha Slamovich:
As previously reported here on PWPonderings, this match was advertised as Charles Mason vs Eddie Kingston. HOG announced on Instagram several hours before the event that Kingston would not be there.
Mason came down and cut a promo on Kingston in front of the crowd. He told the referee to start counting Kingston out. As the count started, Masha Slamovich came out as his replacement.
I always like and look forward to Charles Mason’s matches. They are typically very competitive matches with multiple near falls from both competitors. In the end, Mason trapped Slamovich in a rear naked choke. Slamovich did not tap out; however, she did pass out, causing the ref to call for the bell. Charles Mason has another successful title defense.
The bigger story happened after the match when HOG Commissioner Jason Solomon came out after the match. Solomon being there was interesting, being Cardona just told the crowd in the match before the Commissioner was not there to override him. Solomon tells Mason he did “the right thing” With that, Carlos Ramirez returns and attacks Mason. He hits Mason with multiple power bombs leaving him laid out in the ring as we take a break before our main event.
HOG Tag Team Championship Cage Match – The Bookers (c) (Amazing Red & BXL) vs. The Mane Event (Jay Lyon & Midas Black):
Before the match even started, both teams fought outside the ring and around most of the arena. After several minutes both teams made their way into the cage, and the match officially started.
Ultra Violette came down during the match, opened the cage door, and tried to interfere. Lyons and Black exited the cage with Violette, moving her back to the crowd, where Sam Laterna left the commentary table and was waiting for her in the front row. Violette turned around and Laterna leveled her. After Laterna hit Violette multiple times, Lyons and Black helped Laterna pick up Violette and throw her into the cage.
At the end of the match, Black hit a colossal elbow drop off the top of the cage onto Red, followed by Chopped Cheese to get the pin and become the new HOG Tag Team Champions.
BXL didn’t want to give up his title after the match. Amazing Red snatched it away from him, put it on Jay Lyons, and embraced his students in what was an excellent ending to the show.
[…] Source link […]