Going into this show, I was looking forward to seeing what GHW put out, as I thought their second show was one of the funnest shows I've been to in a bit. The show moved at a brisk pace with only 6 matches, but in the 6 matches many stories were told and several angles developed. I was hoping to see another tightly run action packed show. Would we get that? Find out below:

Gung Ho Wrestling
4:20
From Lake Hiawatha, NJ
Refs: Slingblade Carl & Matt Bennett
Ring Announcer: Mike Lewis
Attendance: 50+

Knock-Out Match
Monsta Mack vs Corporal Robinson went to a DOUBLE KO
What a way to kick off the show. This match set the standard for the night, making it impossible for any match to follow this. Mack came out right away, and said he wanted to start the show off with a bang and called Corp out. Corp wasted no time getting to the ring, and both men engaged in a huge and stiff slugfest.

Corp was busted open early in this match, as blood poured from previous wounds. The two brawled outside, but would make their back in the ring. Corp teed off on Mack with several chair shots. Mack would come back with his clothesline from compton. Mack would later catch Corp with a double axe handle, but Corp was able to get up before the ref could count 10.

Towards the end of the match a table was set up on the outside of the ring. It was positioned right next to the guardrail, right next to some fans. Mack and Corp battled more, and eventually Mack pummeled Corp and placed him on the table. Mack then hopped the guardrail, climbed up the near corner, and leaped off the the top rope, over the guard rail and over the fans, and frogsplashed Corp though the table. To say this was the biggest spot of the show would be an understatement.

With Corp suffering the effects of the frogsplash through the table, and Mack holding his ribs (which Corp was bruising the whole match), neither man was able to get up by the time the ref counted 10. The match was ruled a Double KO, and we had our match of the night.

I really enjoyed this match. Mack has stepped up for Gung Ho, battling indy hardcore favorites such as Corp & Necro. Both of his matches in GHW have stole the show. Corp is a great addition to the GHW roster and in his first GHW match, stole the show. The reason this match was placed early on the show was due to Mack having an NWS booking (Check NWS 4/20 results on DOI) later in the night. This might've hurt GHW a bit, because nothing else on the show was really able to top the closing spot. However, what a hell of a way to start the show.

Eddie Kingston came out with Chrissy Rivera. Kingston says he reaggravated his ankle injury and wasn't wrestling tonight. Danny Demanto then came out, who was Kingston's scheduled opponent. Demanto made fun of Kingston's CZW match with Hero, saying that Kingston got injured in a match that didnt' even matter because Zandig stole heat at the end. HEYNOW! Danny then asked Kingston how does his dick taste, an inside shoot on Danny's previous relationship, where he "ratted out" (for lack of a better term) Chrissy Rivera. Kingston looked pissed and said he found an opponent for Danny, and then we got....

Danny Demanto d. Rayza
Demanto started this match on fire. Danny, all jokes aside, really did a great job on this show, as his work in the ring really looked emotional & passionate. You could feel the fight he wwas fighting. Danny killed Rayza to start, with a huge sidewalk slam followed up by a thunderous senton. Rayza would get some offense off, but Danny brushed it aside, as he was trying to prove a point to Kingston, who was watching from the floor. Danny did Kingston's trademark moves, the german suplex followed by the lariat and closing Rayza off with the backhand Shonie Carter punch.
POSTMATCH: Kingston said fuck his injury and challenged Danny to a fight right now. Danny and Kingston then went at it, and the locker room emptied out breaking the two apart. This did a great job of putting heat on for the main event. Excellent work from both Danny & Kingston, making the main event feel important.

Lil Ricky vs Bobby Vee went to a no-contest
Lil Ricky has added tons of size from the NWA NJ days. His look was phenomenal, and he has greatly improved from 5 years ago, when he was just a skinny kid. I gotta say, I also popped for Ricky's "36 Mafia Rocky Balboa" entrance music.

I don't know if Lil Ricky did this on purpose but he has "Lil" right on his crotch. If he played it up more, it could be a great way to generate heat.

Bobby Vee, who was playing Kurt Angle for the evening, used Kurt Angle's moveset and dressed like him. Vee even mimmicked Angle's mannerisms. I guess if you're gonna idolize someone's ring skills, you can do no better than Angle. After going back and forth, with Vee hitting suplexes and Ricky getting off his superkick, Rockin Rebel & Sgt. Smith ran out. Both men attacked Ricky & Vee. Lil Ricky ate three deadly Rebelizers. From the looks of it, it looked like Ricky suffered a concussion, as after the show, his eyes looked glassy & was missing a tooth. After Rebel & Smith shitcanned everybody, Rebel turned his aggressions on Smith, who he's having a 6-month Iron Man Match with.

As Rebel & Smith fought, Vee and Ricky popped right back up and started fighting each other towards the back. It kinda took away the importance and power of the beatdown.

Rockin Rebel vs Sgt Smith was just a brawl with no referee. Rebel beat the crap out of Smith then cut a classic Rebel promo. I haven't heard a Rebel promo in a while, so I forgot how funny he was. He was hilarious, ripping apart the crowd and singing some of his favorite X-rated lullabyes. Rebel hijacked the show here, and that was a good thing. Despite what people might say about him politically, he is still one of the best workers on the microphone today. He always has your attention when he's talking.

Pinkie Sanchez d. Ruckus w/Robbie Mireno & Rivera
This was probably the best Pinkie match I've seen since his push in the AWA 3 years ago. Maybe because he was against someone with alot of talent like Ruckus, but Pinkie did well here. Pinkie started the match like a house of fire diving on Ruckus & Mireno. Ruckus would come back with some of his trademark offense, that only he can pull off with style and grace.

A funny spot in the match saw Ruckus, who was working on Pinkie's knees, put Pinkie in a figure four. Mireno grabbed Ruckus's arms for the leverage, and then Mireno grabbed a fans hand on the outside for more leverage. What then ensued was about 12 fans and Mireno giving Ruckus leverage with the figure four. Sure it's silly, but it was very entertaining and got the crowd involved, which is what wrestling is all about.

However, what I thought didn't make any sense at all, after being put in that figure four twice, Pinkie was able to get right back up and jump off the top rope at Ruckus, showing no ill-effects of the knee damage. That would be the only true gripe I had with the match. Pinkie would go on to win this match with a surprising roll-up, shocking the favorite Ruckus & his BLKOUT clique.

Vachons w/Liz Savage d. Salvation 2K7
This was a match that wasn't needed on the show. The show was kinda long, and this match didn't fit. Placing this match on the show was like putting a square peg into a round hole. Nothing against the guys involved, it just wasn't that exciting and didn't fit in with the theme and hard hittingness of the show. This was mostly a back and forth match, with the Vachon and the Vachon for the night, Hamilton, hitting a spinebuster/splash combo on Salvation 2k7 for the win.
I know what kind of rub the Vachons are trying to get from their name, but what the fuck is a Salvation 2K7? Again, this match wasn't terrible or anything, but it also wasn't great. I don't think anyone outside of the wrestlers would've been upset if it was cut off the show.

INTERMISSION
Bad placement of intermission in my opinion. If anything, Ruckus/Pinkie, who had a good showing, should've been the match to lead to intermission, with Vachons/Salvation taking up the popcorn spot.

2 Tuff Tony d. Joker w/Kingston & Rivera
This was a good back and forth match. Tony showed some color in this match. I liked Tony's entrance, as he did a Sandman thing, but instead of pouring beer down fans throats, he punished their livers with Bacardi Limon. It's one of the better flavored Bacardis, for those who are wondering.

This match went along fairly well, with both guys kicking the shit out of each other. All of a sudden though, Danny & Kingston came brawling through the arena, taking some focus off of the match. While everyone was watching Kingston/Danny, 2 Tuff Tony lit his fist on fire and punched Joker. Tony then picked up the pinfall victory, with the ref not seeing the fire punch.
This was a good match, with both guys having impressive debuts. I understand the Danny/King stuff was done to take attention away from Tony lighting his fist on fire, but it did take away a bit from a good match. Danny/King run-in could've been done in a so-so match like the Vachon/2K7, rather than in a marquee match. Plus, the fire fist is fucking cool, and I think some fans might've missed it with everything going on.

Kevin Matthews d. The Grim Reefer
For the second week in a row, these two did battle in the ECPW arena, however this match was a bit more serious than last week, with the abscence of the indy icon, Rocksha.

These two seemingly have an indy-wide feud out of nowhere, wrestling in VPW, PWH and now GHW. This was a sound match, featuring several key spots, such as superplex from Reefer to Matthews. Reefer applied his chronic crossface during this match, with Kevin being able to break the first one by getting to the ropes. Kevin, who wasn't able to get off his patented egodriver, was able to turn the tables on Reefer, by reversing a second chronic crossface by rolling into the ropes, then holding the ropes for leverage to get the 3 count on the man who celebrates 4:20 the most.
Depending on your taste, this was probably the best match out of the 3 matches these two have had, as the first one had a finish that ruined the match and the second one was a pure brawl mixed in with a bit of comedy. This was the best WRESTLING match they've had, and was a good match for this show.

Kevin Steen d. Gran Akuma
I've only seen Steen live a few times, mainly in JAPW. I don't know if it's a new thing he does or because the attendance wasn't booming like a JAPW, but Steen was fucking on tonight. It was like he got a shot of charisma through his body. Steen was just the fucking man, and what a great return to GHW. I've never seen Steen show so much personality, and he really added to this event.

Steen started things off by not coming through the entrance way, rather than coming from the side, where he snuck up on the Green Lantern Fan. Everyone who reads these reviews knows who GLF is, so I don't need to write down some of his previous incidents in the wrestling world. GLF was waiting at the aisle way to great Steen with some middle fingers. Steen astutely snuck up on GLF, tapped him on the back and gave GLF a pair of birds himself. GLF looked thoroughly embarrassed, one-upped and pretty much just owned by "Mr Wrestling" himself. Funny stuff.

Steen throughout the match would play off the fans. When fans went to the bathroom, he screamed out, "COME ON STAY, I'M DOING MY BEST." Steen then played off good-guy and notorious indy-fan, mask guy Paul. Paul, who is probably better known as the "GIVE IT TO HIIIIIIIIM" fan, gave some of his masks to Steen, including his pig-faced mask. Steen played off the masks and hit some big moves to Akuma.

Akuma, who wasn't outshined as he played his role well, took a beating in this match. He was able to get off the Red Star Press, but in the end, S Steen pinned Akuma cleanly after a package piledriver.
This match was really fun and worth going out of your way to see.

MAIN EVENT
KNOCKOUT MATCH
Eddie Kingston w/Chrissy Rivera d. Danny Demanto
This match, just like the first match, was a kickass affair, and bookended this show nicely. The match opened up with a open hand slapfest. For those wondering, Chrissy Rivera, who's been nicknamed "Hands Mahoney" by several, didn't use her hands in the opening spot. Danny & King wailed away at each other, and you could see the black eyes forming with every shot.

After stiffing the crap out of each other, Demanto grabbed the pigmask and looked like a walking Boars Head Ham. However this wasn't fun and games, as both guys continued beating the crap out of each other. Demanto teased his hogsplash, but Chrissy Rivera ran in and shaked the ropes, crotching Demanto in the process.

Kingston eventually would bust Danny up in the face, bloodying Danny up badly. Danny seeing his own blood, was riled up and screamed "FUCK DAN MAFF" and hit Kingston with a half nelson back suplex.

Joker than ran in on the match, but Danny hit a suplex. Kingston regained his compusure, and crowned Danny with a wicked lariat. Danny then ate the Shonie Carter back punch. Danny tried getting up, but like Apollo Creed in Rocky II, Danny fell back down at the count of 9. It was a move that made you respect Danny and put over how strenuous this fight was.
POSTMATCH: Demanto challenged Kingston to a barbed wire cage match at the next show. That could be incredible if it happens.
Overall, this was a really kick ass main event, and I was impressed with Demanto stepping up in this main event role, with a proven indy main eventer in Eddie Kingston.

Final McWord
I thought this was a solid show, although I enjoyed the second show more. There were some matches not needed, and several matches were no-contests. However, there was a good bulk of matches here, with the bookend matches, KM/Reefer, Steen/Akuma & Joker/Tony. Bobby Vee, who was fired from the AWA in early 2007 due to ego-problems, looked ok in his NJ indy return.

For the most part, this show was a step in the right direction. Several key angles and elements were pushed.

Other wrestlers in attendance watching the show, was PWU Champion Devon Moore and recent CZW-defect, CJ O'Doyle. On a related CJ O'Doyle note, I got reports from several wrestlers that his g/f, Chrissy Rivera was not well recepted in the locker room and refused to take a bump in the Kingston/Demanto match. There was also a backstage incident where Kevin Matthews called her "a fucking rat" right to her face, alluding to her past relationships with several wrestlers simutaneously, popping the locker room. Now that this story is online, it could make a good future angle for GHW, who thrives on controversey. However early reports state that Chrissy won't be back.

I was very impressed with Demanto's outing with Kingston. He looked like a car wreck after the show and really left it all in the ring. For fans following the CZW drama, when Demanto popped his one line about Kingston's "meaningless" CZW match with Hero, Kingston smirked.

All in all, a very solid effort from the GHW crew, and it was a shame more people didn't get to experience it live. I think that GHW's fanbase would be bigger if they ran on Saturday nights as opposed to Friday nights.

Overall
A fun night at the matches.

For more info on GHW, visit GungHoWrestling.com, and keep it here on the DOI for more.

To view past GHW shows, check out DOIVideo.com

Sean "The MiC" McCaffrey
BULLSMC@aol.com