By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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House of Glory “Mike Santana’s Puerto Rican Weekend”
June 8, 2024 in New York, N.Y. at NYC Arena
Streamed on the TrillerTV+
Numerous fans were waving Puerto Rican flags. JD from New York and Jesse Solomon provided commentary. The building is packed with maybe 400 people.
1. Pedro Dones defeated Jarrett Diaz, Eden, Chris Cage, Matt Awesome, Corey Mack at 5:12. Many new faces for me in this one, and no on-screen graphics. Eden is under a mask and a blue and black singlet. Cage is bald and wore dark sunglasses. Awesome has big dreadlocks and is a bit heavier than the others in this match. All six fought on the bell. Cage hit a dive to the floor. Diaz hit a flip dive to the floor onto everyone at 2:00. Awesome hit a Michinoku Driver. He hit a uranage on Dones. Dones hit a spear to pin Mack. Okay action.
2. Mercedes Martinez defeated Tasha Steelz and Diamond Virago in a three-way at 11:14. This was supposed to be a singles match, but Diamond was added to the match, presumably to eat the pin. Mercedes immediately hit some punches on Virago; Steelz pulled Martinez off, but Steelz then hit some blows on Virago! Steelz hit a huracanrana on Mercedes at 3:00. Mercedes hit rolling snap suplexes on Virago, with the last one being a brainbuster for a nearfall. Steelz hit a Lungblower to Mercedes’ chest at 6:30. Mercedes hit a spinebuster on Virago, but Tasha immediately hit a running knee on Mercedes, and all three were down. Mercedes set up for a Razor’s Edge, but Tasha escaped, and Tasha hit a stunner. Mercedes hit a running knee on Virago. She tied Virago into a Dragon Sleeper, and Diamond tapped out. Good action.
* Ultra Violette consoled Virago in the ring, and the crowd booed them. Violette gave Virago the “Legacy women’s title,” which she apparently just created. More boos from the crowd. The babyface commentator pointed out that usually someone earns a belt, and it is not just given to them.
3. Charles Mason (w/Raheem Royal) defeated Dan Maff at 17:35. Huge size advantage for the rotund, ROH original Maff. The commentators said this is Mack’s first HOG match since 2016. Mason bit Maff’s forehead, so Maff did the same. They traded chops and I think this won’t end well for Mason. They bit each other’s fingers! Maff hit a series of sentons at 2:00. He hit a dive to the floor! They brawled at ringside, and Maff whipped him into a guardrail at 4:30. Mason flipped Maff against the guardrail. Maf slammed Mason onto the ring apron.
They bit each other again in the ring. “This is savage! This is animalistic!” a commentator said. Maff hit some Sheamus-style blows to the chest at 8:00 as fans counted in Spanish. Mason sprayed something in the eyes. Raheem Royal hit a missile dropkick on Maff while the ref was distracted! Mason removed his shirt and hit some clotheslines and kicks. Maff hit a spear and they were both down at 11:30. They got up and traded more chops. Maff hit a D’Lo Sky High powerbomb for a nearfall. Maff hit Royal.
Mason hit a running Meteora in the corner, then a rolling Death Valley Driver or a believable nearfall at 14:30. Maff whipped Mason into the corner, then he hit a Rainmaker-style clothesline for a believable nearfall. Maff nailed the Burning Hammer for the visual pin, but Royal pulled the ref from the ring. The ref ejected Royal! It allowed Mason to hit a low blow uppercut. He choked Maff out, using a Puerto Rican flag, and the ref called for the bell. Maff is really ageless; I feel like this match would have looked identical if this took place in 2003.
4. “The Mane Event” Midas Black and Jay Lyon defeated Orlando “Epico” Colon and Eddie “Primo” Colon to retain the HOG Tag Team Titles at 11:53. This is the HOG debut for the Colons. The commentators said TME have already worked in 10 different promotions this year. They all shook hands. Lyon and Eddie (dressed in black today) opened. Orlando entered at 1:30 and he wore a blue T-shirt, and he battled Midas. TME hit some quick team moves on Orlando. Lyon hit his dive through the hoop to the floor at 4:30. In the ring, Lyon hit a neckbreaker on Orlando for a nearfall, and TME worked Orlando over. TME hit a uranage on Orlando for a nearfall at 7:30, and Midas hit a swinging neckbreaker for a nearfall.
Orlando hit a DDT-and-Flatliner combo and the crowd rallied for him. Eddie made the hot tag and hit punches and chops on Lyon and Midas. He monkey flipped Lyon but he couldn’t hit a Lungblower to the back, so he hit one to the chest for a nearfall at 9:30. Eddie and Lyon traded chops. The Colon’s hit Lungblowers to the back and chest. Midas hit the Throwing Knife spear. TME then hit the Grand Finale/team X-Factor face plant to pin Eddie. Good match; it felt like the finish came out of nowhere.
* Raheem Royal and Charles Mason ran into the ring and beat up The Mane Event! A masked man ran in, too, and also attacked TME. He took off his mask, and it’s Nolo Kitano. The commentators sold the shock that Nolo is joining Mason’s “Cold-Blooded Killers” faction.
* We were about to head to intermission. Someone came up dressed as “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan with the black NWO shirt and a belt that he used to play air guitar. A fake Kane in the full red outfit and red mask hit the ring. This brought out a fake Bubba Ray Dudley and a fake D-Von Dudley; this D-Von is quite tall and thin. The Dudleys hit a 3D through a table on the fake Hogan. The crowd was amused by this. The fake Kane chokeslamed fake Bubba, then fake D-Von. I found all of this rather pointless.
5. Carlos Ramirez defeated Homicide to retain the HOG Crown Jewel Title at 11:49. An intense lockup; Ramirez has a significant height advantage (again, think Damien Priest with Big Bill’s build.) Carlos hit some chops in the corner. Ramirez dropped him back-first on the ring apron at 2:00. Homicide choked Ramirez with the mic cord and whipped him into the guardrail. In the ring, Homicide hit a clothesline at 5:00, then a snap suplex, then a backbreaker over his knee, then a Boston Crab, and he kept Ramirez grounded.
Ramirez hit a modified Flatliner for a nearfall at 8:30. Homicide countered with an Exploder Suplex for a nearfall. Ramirez hit a standing powerbomb for a nearfall, then a bodyslam at 10:00. Ramirez missed a Best Moonsault Ever (wow!) and Homicide immediately hit a stunner for a believable nearfall. Ramirez hit his flipping piledriver for the clean pin. Good action but the winner was never in doubt. Homicide is proving to be a good gatekeeper at this point in his career.
6. Mike Santana defeated Amazing Red to retain the House of Glory Title at 24:19. Red wore his black bib overalls; I hate those because he looks like a car mechanic in them. A MASSIVE pop for Santana and the Puerto Rican flags are really waving in the crowd. The fans were so loud and animated, it took forever for this to get started. They shook hands and Santana bowed. Nice. They traded deep armdrags and a really fast-paced exchange with a standoff at 2:30. Choreographed? Perhaps, but it looked great. Red hit a huracanrana and a dive to the floor, then a top-rope missile dropkick. Santana hit a dive through the ropes. I can’t state enough how LOUD this crowd was. Red was down on the floor and the ref checked on him as Santana backed off and got in the ring at 6:00.
Red crawled in the ring and demanded the match continue. He slapped Santana in the face to get him ‘back in the game.’ They traded forearm strikes and they pushed the ref to the mat so they could continue fighting. The announcer told the crowd this match is now no-DQ; I see Red was bleeding from the forehead. They brawled back to the floor at 9:00 and over to merchandise tables, far from the ring. Santana struck him with a chair across the back. They finally got back in the ring, where Santana hit some loud chops at 13:00. Red hit a huracanrana and a satellite DDT for a nearfall, then a swinging Flatliner, and they were both down at 16:30.
Red went for a second-rope Code Red, but Santana blocked it and Mike hit a stunner for a nearfall. Red blocked a discus clothesline. Santana put Red on his shoulders and hit a faceplant to the mat, then a running knee for a nearfall at 18:30. They traded forearm strikes while on their knees, then while standing. They hit simultaneous clotheslines, then simultaneous spin kicks and were both down at 20:30. Santana hit a pair of decapitating clotheslines. Red nailed the Code Red for a believable nearfall! He hit a top-rope doublestomp to the chest, then a frogsplash for a nearfall. Santana hit an enzuigiri then another clothesline for a believable nearfall but Red popped out. Santana hit one more hard clothesline for the pin. That was tremendous. “I’ve never heard it this loud in this building before,” a commentator said.
* Everyone from the locker room came out and celebrated in the ring. The commentators made clear that many of these wrestlers wouldn’t be here today without Red’s influence and training, etc. Santana got on the mic and thanked the fans, then asked, “who is ready for this again next year?” and that got a pop.
Final Thoughts: What a fun show with a stellar main event. I can’t reiterate enough how HOT this crowd was and how much this atmosphere added to that main event. Santana has been on a great run in 2024 here and in other indies, but this might be the best match I’ve seen from him this year. No, I didn’t think he would lose, but these two were just on the same page the entire match. I’m not a big fan of Maff, but seriously, he is unchanged for two decades; you can’t convince me that match is any faster/different/better than if he faced a similar opponent 15 years ago. My only complaint is that the addition of Diamond Virago to the women’s match gave a cop-out so neither Mecedes Martinez nor Tasha Steelz had to lose. This show is highly recommended, and the entire show gets a thumbs up.
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