Mark Hitchcock Memorial Supershow 2024 4/4/2024

Mark Hitchcock Memorial Supershow 2024 4/4/2024

I didn't get to see Oku/Titan as the finish to this was missing and I wanted to see that before I reviewed it.

Joey Janela vs Nic Nemeth
They lock up and go into the corner. Nic rolls him into pin attempts and they stand off. Nic rolls him up into another pin attempt and does it again. Joey front facelocks him. Joey shoulds him over then Nic double leg takedowns him. Joey chops him then Nic corner splashes him.

Joey hits shots on the ropes and buckles. Nic is sent into the buckles chest first then throws him back by the hair. Joey throws him out and hits chops outside. Joey stomps on him then cravates him. Joey forearms him down then hits a running euros in the corner. Nic angle slams him then bangs his head off the buckles. Joey dragon suplexes him then they trade pin attempts. Joey straight punches him and they trade punches.

Joey superkicks him and Nic hits a dropkick. They fight on the apron then Nic takes a death valley driver on the apron, landing on the hard floor. Nic hits a jumping ddt for 2 then Joey lariats him. Joey hits a big jack knife powerbomb then package piledrivers him for 2. Joey gets caught up top then Nic superplexes him.

They trade forearms on their knees then trade shots while they stand. Joey running euros him then brainbusters him. Nic hits a nasty fameasser and a zigzag to win it.

I thought they did way too much here and didn't sell enough. It also definitely was longer and slower than it needed to be as well.

Los Boricuas (Savio Vega, Miguero Perez Jr and Nathaly Perez) vs Full Blooded Italians (Tommy Rich, Little Guido and Deonna Purrazzo)

Tommy Rich says the FBI is back tonight. He talks about a mystery partner and that is Deonna Purrazzo. Nathaly wants Deonna then Deonna comes in. Nathaly throws Deonna back by the hair then chops her in the corner. Nathaly hits forearms in the corner then Deonna chops her. Deonna pump kicks her.

Perez drops Tommy with a punch then Tommy comes back with punches. Tommy hiptosses and elbows him. Guido and Tommy hit a double back elbow then a double elbow drop. Guido gets stomped outside by the rest of Los Boricuas. The ref catches htem and kicks them out.

Perez slams Guido then Savio hits shots on Guido in the corner. Guido takes a double back elbow then Savio clubs on him. Guido crossbodies Savio then takes an uppercut. Savio pounds on Guido in the corner. Perez hits a nice lariat on Guido then Guido comes off the buckles and bulldogs Perez.

Tommy gets the hot tag in and hits punches. Tommy bangs Savio's and Perez's heads together. The FBI do corner punches then the Boricua's are whipped into each other. Nathaly and Deonna push and forearm each other. Nath hits a big forearm then DP pump kicks her. Nath enzugiri's her then DP russian legsweeps her into a fujiwara armbar. Nath then taps out.

This should have been bad but it was actually good. The Boricua's were moving well here and Tommy's weaknesses were hidden really well here with him just sticking to punches. This really couldn't have been much better than it was and I liked it a lot more than I expected. 

Tommy Rich and Savio Vega hug after. 

Rob Van Dam vs. Mike Bailey

Bill Alfonso came out with RVD. RVD backs him up in the corner and headlocks him. They duck each others kicks and stand off. Mike backdrops him  and RVD holds onto the headlock. Mike headscissors him then RVD shoulders him over. They duck kicks and stand off.

Mike hits chops in the corner then RVD spinning heel kicks him in the corner. RVD slingshot legdrops him as he lays on the apron. RVD hits a kick to head outside and puts him on the rail outside. RVD then spinning legdrops him off the apron while he hangs.

Mike asai moonsaults him outside then kicks him on the rails. Mike hits more kicks against the rails then face kicks him inside. Mike does a handspring back elbow and running ssp's him for 2.

Mike misses a standing moonsault double knee then RVD spinning heel kicks him for 2. Bill Alfonso gets in the ring to complain about the count and the ref Jerry Lynn pushes him down. Mike rolls up RVD for 2 then hits a kick combo. Mike misses a dropkick then RVD misses rolling thunder. Mike top rope dropkicks him then misses a top rope SSP.

Alfonso throws a chair at Mike, Mike grabs it and takes a vandaminator. RVD then top rope frogsplashes him to win it.

This really couldn't have been much better than it was. RVD did take a little breather in the middle here but other than that, this looked like peak RVD. He hit his usual spots here and Mike matches up well against him with his kicks and flying.

The Rascalz vs Matt Riddle and Mustafa Ali

Ridde and Wentz go at it. Riddle throws him down then Wentz trips him. They do some amateur wrestling. Riddle side headlock takeovers him and is headscissored. Wentz rolls him with his legs and flips out of a german. They grab each other by the leg and slap each other. They then bow to each other and tag out.

Trey and Ali go at it. Trey takes him down via the arm. Ali headflips out of a wristlock then flips out of the corner. Ali flying headscissors him then hits an armdrag. Trey headscissors him then does a headscissors and armdrag.

Ali shoulders him over then goes for a pin. Trey rolls him up and Ali bridges out of a pin. Trey kips up and they stand off. Wentz nails Ali from behind then stomps Ali. Wentz superkicks Matt then Matt triangles him over the top. Ali dives through Matt's legs with a tope.

Trey is tripped into a running knee. Matt is then flipped into a corkscrew moonsault onto Trey. Riddle takes kicks then is double stomped on the back. Wentz chinlocks Matt and Matt hits forearms. Wentz pulls down Matt by the hair.

Matt takes a double back elbow, has his legs split then takes a double basement dropkick. Trey handspring enzugiri's Matt for 2. Matt hits a go to sleep on Trey. Ali flying dropkicks Trey off the apron. Ali then slingshots and rolls into a neckbreaker on Trey. Ali double knees Trey in the corner.

Trey comes off the 2nd rope and takes a dropkick from Ali for 2. Ali is thrown hard into the 2nd buckle face first. Ali takes a double team combo then takes a neckbreaker and a running ssp. Ali takes an indian deathlock into a baseball slide. Trey corner lariats Ali for 2.

Wentz chinlocks Ali then ddt's him for 2. MAtt gets the hot tag in and hits kicks. Matt exploders Trey and then Wentz. Matt sentons both opponents then Trey superkicks Matt. Trey backflips but ends up getting caught with a german by Matt. Ali does a nice ddt on Wentz, misses a 450 and takes a cutter from Trey. Wentz uses the ropes to cutter Matt then Matt hits a double cutter on The Rascalz. Matt hits a gotch-style tombstone on Trey and wins it.

Not a classic but I liked it. The Rascalz tried and Riddle always puts out a good performance. They all worked well together and I thought it was a success minus the so-so crowd.

Josh Alexander vs Masato Tanaka

Josh wristlocks him and Tanaka trips him. They do a double knuckle lock and Josh side headlocks him. Josh shoulders him over then takes a corner forearm. Tanaka hits corner punches then Josh northern lights suplexes him. They trade chops and Josh hits corner spears. Josh dragon screws him and hits knees to the body.

Tanaka suplexes him then tornado ddt's him. Josh straightjacket germans him for 2. Tanaka sliding d's him for 2. Tanak superplexes him, Josh basically no sells it then Tanaka forearms him. Josh gets his knees up on a Tanaka frogsplash then puts him in an ankle lock. Josh crossbodies Tanaka while he sits on the apron.

They trade forearms. The feed goes out and Josh powerbombs him on his knee. Josh then hits a jay driller and wins it.

They matched up pretty well but I never really enjoy the random ankle locks from Josh. I'm glad his jay driller actually finished off the match though and that helped this one some.

Team CMLL (Mistico, Averno, Barbaro Cavernario, Villano III Jr., Star Jr.) vs. Team Dragon Gate (Dragon Kid, Shun Skywalker, Kota Minoura, Kzy, YAMATO)

The crowd was quiet and there was only one real dive until Star hit a tornillo suicida where he ended up landing on his head. Things finally picked up some after. Shu knocks Kzy out of the way near the end then he fights with Kzy, face kicking him. Shun then took a top rope double footstomp +a leg and arm hold while Mistico hit la mistica on Kzy. Mistico tapped out Kzy. The ending was terrible here as the Dragon Gate guys just watched their teammates get pinned from the apron. It was really disappointing with nobody giving it their all and them not even really giving us what they would on normal shows. Even if they would have just given their normal efforts, it would have been pretty good, but they weren't in the mood.

Shun was group stomped by Team CMLL after.

Philadelphia Street Fight: Paul Walter Hauser vs. Sami Callihan

Paul poses and gets nailed from behind. Sami talks on the mic then Paul lariats him out. Sami grabs road signs outside and hits Paul on a dive attempt. Sami kendo stick shots Paul then papercuts his fingers with a promo photo. Sami then papercuts his mouth. Sami puts lemon juice on Paul's cuts and Paul looks in serious pain over it. Sami then throws the lemon into the crowd and a fan throws it back.

Sami grabs a pizza cutter and slices Paul with it. Paul bleeds then takes a punches to the head. Sami uses the pizza cutter on Paul and spits on him. Paul throws powder/salt in Sami's face then face kicks him outside. Paul and Sami trade chops outside then then Paul running boots him.

Sami throws a table at him and chops him outside. Sami chops the post when Paul moves then Paul backdrops him on the apron. Paul swaps shirts with a fan and hits Sami with a chair. Sami eye rakes him and Paul goes throguh a door when Sami moves. Sami hits Paul with part of a door.

The two each grab staple guns and they staple each other in the head. Sami staples him in the armpit then Paul takes staple gun shots to the head. Paul staples Sami in the nuts then headbutt drops him for 2. Paul brings tacks out and Sami grabs him by the nuts. Paul samoan drops Sami on the tacks.

Paul misses a 2nd rope elbow drop on the tacks. Sami hits him in the head with a chair edge. A table is set up and Paul grabs Sami by the nuts. Sami powerbombs Paul through a table for 2. Sami kicks Paul in the nuts nd tries to pin him but there's no ref. Bill Alfonso comes out and counts 2 on the pin attempt. Sami and Bill argue then Sami nails Bill from behind.

The Sandman comes out to help Alfonso. He hits Sami with a kendo stick shot then Paul hits Sami with the kendo stick. Paul russian legsweeps Sami with the kendo stick on tacks and wins it.

It wasn't the greatest match ever, but I thought Paul did a good job of being the underdog and selling here. The Sandman and Alfonso coming in was totally out of nowhere though and Sami doesn't come off looking good losing to this guy.

Paul gets on the mic after. He talks about The ECW Arena and says to give it up for the wrestlers. He then thanks the fans.

Overall thoughts: It was a long 4 hour show. RVD/Bailey was much better than I expected as was The FBI vs The Boricua's. The Riddle tag was fine and the Tanaka/Alexander match was mostly fine. The CMLL vs Dragon Gate tag was a major disappointment with them not trying their best and the main was acceptable but not great. I don't think I'd recommend it, but there was some fun stuff on here.