By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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House of Glory “The Beginning”
Streamed on FITE TV
February 3, 2023 in Queens, N.Y. at NYC Arena
This venue is a night club setting, and attendance is perhaps 300. This is a tribute show to Jay Briscoe, so the event opened with the 10-bell salute in his honor, and the crowd began chanting, “Dem Boys!”
* It is worth reminding readers that the Briscoes just lost their HOG tag titles last month to the Mane Event. After that match, Amazing Red and Brian XL turned heel and beat up the Mane Event. So, naturally the show starts with “The Bookers” Red and BXL hitting the ring to loud boos, and they have the tag title belts. BXL, a Black man, got on the mic and taunted the crowd. They wore nearly identical studded jackets. Mane Event came out and demanded their match begin right now.
1. “The Mane Event” Midas Black and Jay Lyon defeated “The Bookers” Amazing Red and Brian XL via disqualification at 10:33. Red and BXL jumped the babyfaces to start the match. The Boookers worked over Midas early on. Lyon, who I always compare to Evil Uno, attacked Brian XL on the floor. Lyon finally got the hot tag at 8:00, and he hit a uranage on Red, then a Lionsault for a nearfall. Midas hit a spear on XL, but Red pulled XL from the ring before the three-count.
Lyon and Midas hit simultaneous dives to the floor. In the ring, they hit their team X-Factor faceplant on Brian XL. However, Red hopped in the ring and hit The Mane Event with chairs, causing the DQ. The crowd loudly booed the cheap finish. An okay match. The Bookers kept hitting the champs with chairs after the bell, until Ultra Violette came out and put her body over the champs to protect them. BXL and Red left with the tag title belts.
2. Mighty Mante defeated Nolo Kitano (w/two masked ninjas) to retain the HOG Cruiserweight Title at 9:04. Kitano, a Black man, wore a samurai outfit to the ring, including a sword. He just turned heel on Mante at a recent show. Mante dove onto Kitano to start the match, and he began beating up the ninja disciples. Mante dove over the guardrail and crashed onto Nolo, who was seated on a chair in the crowd. They got in the ring and the bell sounded at 1:30. (I always start my watch at the bell or first contact, whichever comes first.) Nolo hit a dive to the floor; he dragged Mante back in the ring and got a nearfall. However, he jawed at the crowd.
In the ring, Nolo hit a top-rope Phoenix Splash for a believable nearfall at 6:30, and Nolo argued with the referee. (HOG does a great job with in-match replays.) Mante hit a top-rope frogsplash for a nearfall. The referee ejected the ninjas from ringside. Nolo drank some fluid, but he accidentally sprayed it in a ninja’s face! Mante hit a chokeslam, then a Code Red for the pin. Decent match. The commentators agreed that he basically won a three-on-one handicap match.
3. The Ultra Violette defeated Viva Van to retain the HOG Women’s Title at 11:08. This is Viva’s HOG debut; she typically wrestles on the West Coast and Mexico. As you would imagine, Violette has purple hair and a purple outfit. Standing switches to begin, and Violette hit a dive between the ropes at 3:00. They brawled on the floor, hitting chops to the chest in front of the fans. In the ring, Van hit several hard chops in the corner, and she tied Violette in a Tajiri-style Tarantula in the ropes.
Viva hit a snap suplex for a nearfall at 6:30. They hit simultaneous spinning back fists, then simultaneous Mafia Kicks, and they were both down. Van hit a German Suplex with a bridge for a nearfall. Van hit a back suplex for a nearfall at 10:00. They traded rollups, and Violette got a pinfall out of nowhere. Solid match.
* The Black Hand (Michael Fain, Blackmon, Kiki Van Gogh) hit the ring, and the commentators agreed they looked like radical militants. Kiki said HOG has never had a Black woman as champion. Blackmon said they are here to fight back. They raised their fists together, then they left the ring.
4. Encore defeated Lio Rush, Darren Richardson, Raheem Royal, Ichiban, and Smiley in a six-way at 13:19. Encore is talented and reminds me of a young Ron “the Truth” Killings. Richardson also is a Black man, looking a bit more like Max Caster. Raheem also is Black and he wore a red outfit. Ichiban wore a mask similar to El Generico’s mask. Smiley wears a yellow mask and he’s a bit heavier; this is NOT Norman Smiley. Lio Rush was a surprise, unannounced participant, coming out last, and getting a huge pop. (Glad to see him back in action; he missed the PWG BOLA last month after an injury in Japan.)
Darren hit a flip dive to the floor, and suddenly, just Encore and Lio were in the ring. They traded quick reversals and had a standoff; they appear to be about the same height. Encore hit a nice delayed vertical suplex at 2:30. Ichiban and Smiley traded offense in the ring. Royal hit a springboard dive onto everyone on the floor, and one of the comemntators called him “the captain of the sky.” Smiley tied up two men in the ring. Lio dove through the bottom ropes, barreling into everyone at 7:00.
Encore hit a dive to the floor on Lio. In the ring, Richardson nailed a spin kick. Ichiban hit a Canadian Destroyer for a nearfall, and suddenly everyone was down. Lio and Smiley fought on the top rope. Lio hit a top-rope frogsplash on Smiley. Richardson hit a standing backflip senton; it looked cool. Encore hit a spinebuster on Richardson. Royal hit a Lungblower move to Ichiban’s jaw. Encore hit a Death Valley Driver on Royal, then a uranage to pin Royal. Really good scramble.
* We go to intermission, and they aired a really nice, short video of Jay and Mark Briscoe, with some of their HOG highlights, set to “Ricochet” by Lil Ugly Mane (thanks Shazam!). We then headed to some fun backstage skis with Low Ki, who was wearing his button-down-shirt and tie “Hitman” outfit. In a different segment, the police say they need a “Bounty Hunter,” and it flips to Bryan Keith, who opens a “wanted” poster of Charles Mason. I liked everything about these segments.
5. Low Ki defeated Detective James at 9:58. James, a bald Black man (think Scorpio Sky) wears a HOG PD T-shirt and a flak jacket like The Shield, or D-Lo Brown. Low Ki wore the Hitman outfit. Low Ki attacked him at the bell and laid in some hard chops. They brawled to the floor, and the commentators say Low Ki doesn’t care about winning, he just wants to beat up James. Back in the ring, James hit some chops, and he’s bigger than Ki. He choked Ki in the ropes and he kept Ki grounded.
Ki fired up and hit some chops at 7:00. Detective Jones put handcuffs on Ki, in front of his waist (not behind his back.) Ki hit a kick and tried to figure out how to get out of the handcuffs. James accidentally hit the ref with a Taser. Ki nailed the shotgun dropkick into the corner (the handcuffs broke apart on the move.) Ki then nailed the top-rope double stomp to the chest to score the pin. Good match.
* A video aired on the screen, showing Kushida is headed to House of Glory on March 10. Ki seemingly accepted the challenge.
6. Charles Mason (w/Carlos Ramirez) defeated Bryan Keith to retain the Crown Jewel Championship at 17:41. Keith wore his cowboy hat and Mexican baja jacket to the ring; he’s been on a role and apparently had a good showing at the PWG BOLA. Mason wore his suit. They opened with standing swtiches, and Mason applied a chokehold on the mat. They brawled to the floor, with Keith beating up Mason in front of the fans by the guardrail.
In the ring, Mason hit some Moxley-style elbow strikes to the side of the head at 8:00. Keith nailed a T-Bone Suplex, then an Exploder Suplex into the corner. Mason hit a Meteora running double knees into the corner, then a Death Valley Driver, and they were both down at 11:00. They got up and traded forearm shots, then Mafia Kicks. They brawled on the ring apron, where Keith nailed a Rock Bottom uranage, and they both fell to the floor at 13:30.
They brawled over the guardrail and into the crowd, fighting over to the wall and near a bar. Keith hip-tossed Mason off a stage and onto a horizontal guardrail. Keith then jumped on Carlos Ramirez and beat him up too. They got in the ring; Keith went for a cover but Ramirez pulled the ref out. Mason grabbed a tie and choked out Keith. The ref didn’t see the tie under Mason’s arms; he called for the bell after determining Keith had passed out. Good match.
* Mason and Ramirez kept beating up Keith after the match.
7. Jacob Fatu defeated JTG to retain the HOG Heavyweight Title at 12:00. If you haven’t seen JTG since his WWE run, he is just in incredible shape. He has his hair in dreadlocks and looks like Booker T during his title runs. An intense lockup at the bell. They brawled to the floor, and Fatu hit a Samoan Drop on the floor at 3:30, and they continued to brawl on the floor. In the ring, Fatu shoved JTG shoulder-first into the corner at 7:00, and he began working over the shoulder. Fatu hit an Arabian Press for a believable nearfall.
JTG hit a clothesline, and they were both down. JTG nailed a swinging Rock Bottom uranage for a believable nearfall at 10:00. JTG set up for a Razor’s Edge, but Fatu escaped and hit a pair of superkicks, then a pop-up Samoan Drop. Fatu then nailed the double-jump Best Moonsault Ever for the clean pin. Good big-man matchup.
Final Thoughts: I have enjoyed watching the HOG shows that are available on Fite+. I have been a huge fan of Low Ki’s in-ring work for 20 years, and just the intensity he brings to every match, and HOG is pretty much the only place you can see him. HOG has some promising young wrestlers, notably Encore and Carlos Ramirez.
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