FAN REPORT & PHOTOS FROM PWS SUPERCARD NIGHT 2
- 04/14/2013 (11:42:09 pm)
- Bob Mulrenin
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Hello everybody; Here is a quick report from my first-ever visit to Pro Wrestling Syndicate in Metuchen,New Jersey. It was held on april 5, and titled Super Card night 2.We arrived at the arena 30 mins before the fan fest was to start, and right from the begining we knew the event was well-staffed and organized, as there were people all around the parking lot telling us where to park, something I personally never saw at an indy event. There was a long line outside, but we didn't wait long, and it moved quickly enough.
Once inside, the ring, the chairs and the vendor tables were all on a soccer turf floor, which must have been hell to clean up after the show. Not all the wrestlers were there at 6h00, but most were, and the line for Bret (who was sitting in the ring) was already as long as I expected it to be. We started with the Rock n Roll Express, who were the main reason why I went to this show. I never tought I would finally meet them one day, It was a big thrill for me. And they were actually cheaper than everybody else, at 20$ for a tag-team photo and an autograph from each. Morton was real friendly, even though this Frenchie had a hard time understanding his southern drawl ! Meanwhile, Gibson was pushing his DVDs and T Shirts.
The my son got to meet (again) one of his favourite, Sunjay Dutt. He was pretty much alone at his table, so we had lots of time to chat with him, and remind him we met him 5 years ago, and that now my son was taller than him! He invited us to come see him again five more years from now.
It was a big thrill for me to meet Billy Graham, another guy I had given up on seeing live on the east cost. I must say that he didn't feel like talking at all, so we quickly went to another of my son's idol, John Morrison. He had a pretty long line, but still was friendly. Another friendly guy wasThunder Liger,another one I just can't pass by, event if it was my 3rd time meeting him, I still had to meet him again, and try the little Japanese I words I know.
And then there is The Iron heik. What a character. The guy handling his gimmick had a hard time getting his attention long enough to sign the trading card I had brought for the occasion, and we had to take 3 shots in order to have him look into the camera. All the while, he was cursing another wrestler and making sweet talk with a pretty girl. His handler must have been spent after the night was over. We also saw him in the parking lot during intermission. He was with a group of young men, who were cheering him on as he was kissing a girl while they snapped photos. Disturbing stuff.
On the other side of the arena, I met Sabu, another dream of mine. I must admit I was a bit disapointed in his behavior however. I won't get into details, but let's just say he was more into looking at having a good time than talking about his favourite matches. Jake Roberts, on the other hand, was surprisingly looking in good shape. He didn't feel like talking much, but it was still a good experience meeting him, as he was a lot taller than I expected.
While my son had his photo with Hurricane signed, I had a chat with Doink (Ray Appollo) who recognized me from the last 2 Amsterdam,NY Hall of Fame induction week-ends. To my surprise, he learned from me that his little partner Dink had cancelled his WrestleCon appearance for tomorrow. Miscommunication I guess. Tommy Dreamer recognized me as well, and even signed my autograph book for free. What a class act this guy is. Carlito also was a lot friendlier than when we met him in Springfield, Mass. a year ago.
We also got to meet Lita, who is a lot smaller than I tought, and very nice to the fans.She was charging 20$, 5$ less than at Wrestlecon, so I guess the Convention people took a 20% share of the money. It was a good thing that we got to meet all those guys before the saturday convention, because we never would have enough time to meet them all at Wrestlecon. Even then, we missed some, as I failed to meet Tom Pritchard to get his new book.
There were also 3 members of Aces & Eights, which would have been cool, but I had already reached the limit of my budget for that night. Rosita, New Jack, Eugene, Nova, Chris Chetti, Kevin Sullivan and Shelly Martinez were there also but I had to skip.
Finnaly, we made the line for Bret, as bell time was approaching. I had him sign my 97 Survivor Series chair, but this time, we were rushed and barely had the time to shake his hand. Fortunately, it was not the first time we met him.
Matt Hardy and Nunzio did't show up, but other guys like Marty Jannetty & Greg Valentine were there unnanounced to make up for it. There wasn't as much merchandise as I expected, but I still found some old issues of PWI I was looking for.
Just before the matches started, we had the chance to meet with MVP, who nicely posed for free with us before leaving fot the dressing room. I expected the card to start about an hour late with that many wrestlers, but all in all they weres just 10 minutes late.
the results have already been posted, so I will just share some quick toughts here.
Best match: Kevin matthews vs Anthony Nese to me stole a show that was already filled with great matches, so that's saying something. The finish, a power bomb turned into an backstabber, had me jump off my chair like I hadn't done in years.
Honorable mention to: Liger vs Morrison, who was the match I came to see, and featured just the perfect blend of high flying and mat grappling. Trent Barreta vs Alex Reynolds blew away my expectations and had a match that kept us on the edge of our seats, but was ruined by a poor run-in finish. And Necro vs New Jack is not my cup of tea, but it didn't go too long and as a main event didn't seem out of place. If that is really Jack's last match, it will come out as a historic night.
Dutt vs Anoai was a very good opener who could have gone longer. Anoia may be a futur superstar, time will tell. The Vader match we could have gone without, just a power bomb would have been enough. The Sheik-Volkoff angle was kind of cool, but the Sheik's nephew may be the worst wrestler I have seen in 30 years of watching wrestling. I guess he's lucky to have that great physique.
To me it was a great thrill to see the Rock n Roll Express in the ring, but the new heavenly bodies have a lot of work to do to live up to their name. Dreamer vs Pat Buck was entertaining. The tag match with Chetti and his whole family that came to see his last match was real nice. Sick DDT on Starman, who his kind of goofy but fun to watch.
All in all no bad match, and a great night of wrestling by PWS. Thanks to everybody involved in a night we won't soon forget.
thanks for reading!
Frank
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