By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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House of Glory “High Intensity”
Streamed on YouTube.com
August 18, 2023 in Queens, N.Y. at NYC Arena
HOG recently moved its programming from FITE to the Premier Wrestling Network, which I don’t get… so this was a pleasant surprise to see they posted this show for free.
I like this arena and it is absolutely packed with perhaps 600-800 fans. JD, Doc and Mighty Montequilla provided commentary as the show began.
1. Encore won a battle royal at 9:47. Once again, I am not recognizing most of the guys walking to the ring. It appears we have about 20 guys in the ring. Encore got his own, separate entrance. Ken Broadway is in the match; I’ve seen him a few times, too. A snooty guy named Doc (think Damian Sandow) jumped in the ring and used a lot of ‘big words’ in his vocabulary; he’s the heel commentator but he is the final entrant in this match. Doc was immediately thrown through the ropes NOT OVER them. Michael Fain is in this match; I just saw him compete last week, teaming with Broadway. Doc was officially tossed at 1:30, so that means we don’t have him sneaking in at the end and winning a match he doesn’t deserve.
If the commentators know the names of the wrestlers in the match, they aren’t acting like it. Doc rejoined the commentary booth and shouted about a “miscarriage of justice” in his elimination. The heel Detective James in his police flak jacket is in there. The eliminations were rapid-fire, and at 6:00, we were down to five guys. A team dropkick eliminated a black ninja. Just like that, it’s down to James, Broadway and Encore, and the crowd cheered for Encore. Encore accidentally eliminated Broadway at 9:00. The heell commentator said Encore did it on purpose. In a neat spot, James tossed Encore over the top rope and into Broadway’s arms! Was Broadway going to help his partner back into the ring, or drop him? He threw Encore back into the ring, and seconds later, Encore tossed Detective James to win the battle royal. That was a fun and smart finish to a battle royal.
* Note that there were two commercial breaks in that match. I get it; that’s how Youtube makes money, but can’t we have commercials between matches, and not during them? The price ou pay for a free show, I guess.
* Ken Broadway got on the mic and dedicated the night to a deceased friend, Matt Travis.
* Steph De Lander came to the ring and flipped off the fans. She yelled at the fans and swore. She said she should be on Smackdown tonight, not in “f—ing New York.” Meanwhile, Sam Laterna joined commentary.
2. Steph De Lander defeated Kiki Van Gogh at 9:57. Kiki just had her debut, and she is a Black woman with long blue hair, like Kiera Hogan. Before the match began, Ultra Violette walked to the ring, and one of the commentators was irate, saying Violette isn’t part of this match and shouldn’t be out here. Violette joined the commentary booth. In the ring, SDL has the clear height and overall size advantage. They went to the floor, where SDL dropped Kiki face-first on the ring apron at 3:00 and she was loudly booed.
SDL remained in charge as they brawled in the ring. SDL hit a clothesline for a nearfall at 6:00. Kiki tried some clotheslines that had no effect, so she hit a dropkick that dropped SDL. Kiki hit a fisherman’s suplex for a nearfall at 7:30. Kiki hit a spinebuster. Ultra Violette left commentary and she tripped Kiki as Kikki was on the top rope! The crowd loudly booed. SDL nailed a Lesnar-style F5 faceplant for the pin.
* In a cinematic scene, Charles Mason has a man tied up to a chair and duct tape over his mouth, and he was terrorizing him. I don’t know the guys involved here besides Mason, but this had a great ‘movie look’ to it.
3. Nolo Kitano defeated Jordan Oliver, Super Crazy, Raheem Royal, “Sweet Cheeks” Joey Silver, and Isaiah Kassidy in a ladder match to win the HOG Cruiserweight Title at 14:09. Super Crazy got a hero’s welcome. Kitano is the ghetto samurai and he carries his sword with him to the ring. Oliver wore his GCW T-shirt. I don’t think I have seen Sweet Cheeks before; he’s a white guy in a fluffy jacket and he tossed candy to the crowd. A huge pop for Private Party’s Isaiah Kassidy. All six brawled at the bell, and the thin, Black Royal immediately grabbed a ladder. In the ring, Super Crazy hit some clotheslines on Royal at 2:00, then a basement dropkick on Oliver.
Suddenly the music played, and Super Crazy and Kassidy had a dance-off, and the fans liked this silliness. However, Super Crazy kicked him in the stomach to end the fun. Super Crazy tied up Kassidy on the mat, but Kitano hit a doublestomp on Kassidy’s stomach. Sweet Cheeks did an Old School tightrope walk. Royal slammed Oliver onto a ladder in the corner at 6:30. Kassidy hit a Hardy Boys-style Side Effect. Kitano hit a spinning heel kick on Kassidy. Some ninjas suddenly appeared at ringside and attacked Jordan Oliver and Raheem Royal. Kitano started to climb the ladder but Kassidy cut him off. Kitano again climbed the ladder, but Sweet Cheeks tipped it over at 9:30. Another ladder was shoved into the ring. Super Crazy hit a powerbomb on Sweet Cheeks.
Oliver hit a stunner on Super Crazy and was booed! Kitano and Oliver traded offense, with Kitano hitting a backbreaker over his knee. Kassidy hit a Twist of Fate at 12:00; he went to the top rope and did Jeff Hardy’s hand gestures before hitting a Swanton Bomb. Kassidy climbed the ladder but Royal hit a springboard dropkick to knock Kassidy off, earning a “holy shit!” chant. Royal hit a 450 Splash off a ladder onto a bunch of guys on the floor. In the ring, Royal climbed the ladder, but Jordan threw a different ladder into Royal’s back at 13:30. Nolo sprayed a mist into Royal’s face, climbed the ladder, and pulled down the title.
* In a backstage segment recorded a month ago, Matt Cardona was angry that he has to defend his HOG Heavyweight title against Hiroshi Tanahashi. “Who did you beat?” he asked.
4. Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Matt Cardona (w/Steph De Lander) at 14:54. The heels came out first, with Cardona getting on the mic and demanding the fans “show us some respect.” He declared this would be a non-title match, and the crowd loudly booed. “He may be the ace of Japan but I’m the ‘Johnny Ace’ of the indies.” Hiroshi got a huge pop. Funny. Like clockwork… the bell rang and Cardona immediately rolled to the floor to stall. Hiroshi played air guitar and a lucky fan caught it after he threw it into the crowd. Cardona shoved Tanahashi to the mat and immediately bailed again at 2:00. Back in the ring, they traded standing switches.
Cardona rolled to the floor at 6:00, got on the mic and said, “you can count me out, I’m done.” However, Tanahashi caught him on the floor and hit chops in front of the fans. In the ring, Tanahashi hit his Dragonscrew Legwhip. But with the ref out of position, Cardona hit a low blow punt kick for a nearfall at 8:00. Cardona choked Tanahashi and took control of the offense. SDL choked Tanahashi in the ropes. Cardona hit a second-rope missile dropkick for a nearfall at 10:00. He ripped off his T-shirt and choked Tanahashi with it. Tanahashi hit a second-rope summersault senton for a nearfall at 11:30. Cardona hit a Facewash boot to the cheek for a nearfall.
Tanahashi applied a Texas Cloverleaf, so SDL hopped on the ring apron and Hiroshi let the hold go. Tanahashi hit the Twist and Shout neckbreaker, but SDL grabbed Hiroshi’s foot, allowing Cardona to hit a leg lariat for a nearfall at 14:00. Cardona got a title belt; he shoved the ref down. However, he accidentally struck SDL with it. Tanahashi immediately hit a Sling Blade clothesline, then the High Fly Flow frogsplash for the pin. That was a fun match, and I prefer it being non-title, as it creates at least a little mystery over who was winning.
* Another cinematic scene with Charles Mason’s captives.
5. Charles Mason defeated Masha Slamovich in an intergender match at 14:30. Mason wore his black suit and red tie. She hit some snap suplexes in the first minute and a decapitating clothesline for a nearfall. He sprayed something in her face and hit a DDT onto the ring apron. He dragged her by her hair on the floor at 2:30, and he rammed her head-first into the guardrails. In the ring, he tied up her arms and hit a Stomp and was in complete control of the offense. She fired up and hit some punches and she applied a Dragon Sleeper at 6:30 but he powered out, and he put her in a sleeper on the mat. They traded forearm shots. Masha nailed a Saito Suplex, so he hit his own Saito Suplex at 9:00. She hit a spin kick to the head. She nailed a Shining Wizard and they were both down.
She hit a running knee into the corner and a Helluva Kick, then a spinning heel kick for a believable nearfall. He fired back with a short-arm clothesline and a piledriver for a believable nearfall at 11:00. She hit her own piledriver for a nearfall. She applied a rear-naked choke! She hit a cool pumphandle back suplex for a believable nearfall. Mason hit a dropkick into the corner, then his rolling Death Valley Driver for a nearfall. Mason got a title belt but the ref took it. She hit a rolling Death Valley Driver into the corner and a running knee for a believable nearfall at 14:00. The ref got in the way and he hit a piledriver for a believable nearfall. Mason immediately applied his rear-naked choke and she passed out.
* The ‘commissioner’ walked to the ring. Mason offered a handshake. However, Carlos Ramirez attacked Mason from behind, and he choked out Mason with a shirt, then he hit a standing powerbomb on Mason. He hit a second standing powerbomb. The crowd chanted “one more time!” Ramirez instead hit a sit-out piledriver, and he licked Mason’s cheek, earning a “you sick f—!” chant.
* A nice video for the main event, which is “nine months in the making” while the steel cage was erected. Heck, this feud had boiled over into Game Changer Wrestling a few months ago. The rules were shown on the screen, and wins are by pinfall or submission only … none of the stupid WWE “escape the cage” victories. (The dumbest way to end a match ever!) Because this isn’t airing live, the cage was up in record time.
6. “The Mane Event” Jay Lyon and Midas Black defeated “The Bookers” Brian XL and Amazing Red in a steel cage match to retain the HOG Tag Team Titles at 20:11. Red still has a mohawk but it is blue/purple. Lyon dove through the cage doors onto the heels to kickstart the match, and all four brawled on the floor. They brawled all over the floor, and whipped chairs at each other. (This is why I start my stopwatch on first contact, as they never got in the cage so I don’t think this match has ‘officially’ started. They finally got in the ring at 7:30 and we are officially underway! XL suplexed Red onto Lyon in the corner. Midas hit a spear on Red at 10:30. TME applied Boston Crabs on the Bookers. They all got up and traded punches.
Ultra Violette got in the ring at 14:30 but Lyon chased her right back out. Sam Laterna stood up and hit some punches on Violette, and with the aid of TME, Sam powerbombed Violette into the wall of the cage! Kiki Van Gogh, who also was at ringside, put Violette on her shoulders and carried her to the back. Back in the ring, the Bookers were back in charge. Midas and XL fought on the top of the cage, and Midas shoved XL from the cage onto a table at ringside at 18:30, earning a “holy shit!” chant, and XL clutched at his lower leg as he landed. Meanwhile in the ring, Lyon hit a piledriver on Amazing Red. Midas nailed a top-of-cage elbow drop onto Red! TME hit their team X-Factor face plant to pin Red. That was a good, crowd-pleasing brawl. Again, the ‘official time’ of this match is closer to 12:40.
* A commercial aired for the next HOG show, this one on Premier Network, from Sept. 15 featuring El Hijo Del Vikingo and the return of the Vaudevillains as a team.
Final Thoughts: A thoroughly entertaining show, and definitely worth checking out on youtube. I really enjoyed the cage match, and it was well laid out, for best match. I am a sucker for high-flying ladder matches and that earns second place. Tanahashi-Cardona had the crowd engaged, even if it was a bit light on action, it earns third. Charles Mason is just one of those guys I dismiss because he is thin and often wears a suit, but his matches are always entertaining. His match with Masha earns honorable mention.
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