By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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Sean Henderson Presents & Labor Of Love “Wrestlejawn”
Replay available via IndependentWrestling.TV
April 3, 2024 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at Attic Brewing Company
There are more than a dozen independent wrestling shows in Philadelphia and neighboring New Jersey this weekend. Veda Scott and Mike Rotch are on commentary. This show is in a small tent, and there are maybe 100 people packed in and bundled up; apparently it is raining and snowing outside.
The opening match is what drew me in. Can the amazing Mike Bailey get a great match out of the 2024 version of Paul London? Like in past years, Bailey has an ambitious schedule of eight or so matches lined up between Wednesday and Sunday. Despite all the wrestling I’ve been watching the past few years, there are a LOT of wrestlers on this show I’ve never seen. And quite bluntly, if I had seen them before, they didn’t make a mark to make me remember them.
1. Mike Bailey defeated Paul London at 12:21. London is literally in his ‘Fat Elvis’ stage of his career; he is bloated and sings (quite badly!) on his way to the ring while wearing an ugly gold lounge outfit. I was such a huge fan of him in the early- and mid-2000s so it’s hard to see him as a shell of who he once was. Bailey grabbed the mic and asked, “is this pro wrestling or is this karaoke?” London hit a knee to the gut while Mike was still speaking. Bailey hit his Speedball Kicks that sent London to the floor, and they brawled on the floor. They got back in the ring with London in charge and he tied up Bailey on the mat.
Bailey nailed his running Shooting Star Press for a nearfall at 6:30. London applied a Figure Four. London grabbed the mic and started SINGING while still having the leglock in place. So, Bailey applied a Figure Four and he grabbed the mic and started singing “American Pie.” London made it to the ropes at 10:00. London hit a top-rope double stomp. Bailey threw a superkick, but he missed the Tornado Kick. He nailed the Ultima Weapon second-rope summersault knee drop for the pin. Entertaining. They shook hands afterward. It felt a bit like a passing of the torch, of a top-5 2004 talent taking on a top-5 2024 talent.
* Scott Holliday replaced Veda Scott on commentary. It sounds like this will be a rotating booth tonight.
2. Curt Robinson, Harleen Lopez, Logan Black, and Vita Von Star defeated Big Callux, The Crusher, Duncan Aleem, and Shea McCoy at 9:12. I’ve seen Curt Robinson before; he is tall and thin and wears Kill Bill yellow gear and jacket. Vita has been paired with AEW’s Dutch in the past. I don’t think I know any of the other six. The Crusher is a woman with short orange hair and a rocker look, and Shea is dressed as Little Red Riding Hood, so each team has two women on their team. All eight brawled at the bell; the four women in the ring and the men on the floor. Robinson’s team worked over Aleem, a tall Black man. I did see Logan Black recently; he’s a taller, heavier version of Sami Callihan.
Shea got in and cleared the ring; she is so much smaller than these guys it’s rather absurd. Callux is masked and with his belly, he can easily be compared to Evil Uno. Callux slammed teammate Crusher onto opponents. Everyone was piled in a corner, and Callux hit a Stinger Splash on everyone at 8:00, and they all fell down like bowling balls. Funny spot. Robinson put Duncan on his shoulders and hit an Electric Chair back-drop for the pin. Solid action.
3. LJ Cleary defeated Bobby Orlando at 8:47. Orlando is the popular dork with his stuffed goat and he competes all over the Northeast. Cleary has long, black curly hair. LOTS of comedy early. Cleary caught him with a roundhouse kick to the head for a nearfall at 6:30. Orlando hit a second-rope flying stunner for a nearfall. They traded rollups when Cleary got the pin. Pretty basic and fit with Orlando’s Colt Cabana-style comedy action.
4. Jimmy Lloyd, The Chad, and Sean Henderson defeated Jaden Newman and “Fresh Air” Junior Benito and Macrae Martin at 6:48. I’m a big fan of Canadian tag team Fresh Air and this is the other match that drew me in. I don’t think I’ve seen Chad before; he wore a blue track suit. Sean is the ultra-short scrawny kid who promoted this show. Newman looks a lot like VSK: I’ve seen him a few times now. Lloyd and Macrae, the biggest men on each team, opened against each other. Newman hit an impressive swinging face plant on Chad at 2:00. Macrae slammed teammate Benito onto Chad, and Fresh Air’s team worked Chad over.
The tiny Sean Henderson got in and cleared the ring. Macrae hit a nice spin heel kick on Lloyd. Chad hit a reverse DDT and a top-rope corkscrew press. Benito accidentally hit a top-rope frogsplash on teammate Newman! Henderson hit a Canadian Destroyer. Lloyd jumped on the prone Newman for the pin. Okay stuff… too short for anyone to stand out.
5. “The Xyberhawx” Dangerhawk, Razerhawk, and Thunderhawk defeated “The Colony” Electro Ant, Ultimo Ant, and Worker Ant at 14:52. I don’t know any of these six. The Colony roster has turned over several times in Chikara and I have no idea if these guys are part of that. The Xyberhawx all look like Power Rangers: yellow, blue and red. One of the Colony wears blue, another in pink, another in black. I’m not bothering to figure out which are which of any of these six. (All of their gear feels like an excuse for wrestlers to sneak in a bonus match under a hood.) The Colony set up for dives to the floor at 6:00 but were cut off; this tent is so small, we haven’t seen anyone do a dive. The Colony put the pink Hawk on their shoulders and marched around the ring with him. The red Hawk climbed onto the shoulders of a partner in the corner and hit a frogsplash for a nearfall at 14:00. The Colony began arguing! The blue Hawk pinned the pink Ant, and the black Ant stood there and didn’t break it up!
6. Dan Champion defeated Ethan Wilde, Eli Isom, Jay Stynes, Ryan Radix, and Travis Huckabee in a six-way scramble to become No. 1 contender at 8:59. Isom was in ROH in the Sinclair era, and I think I’ve seen Champion before but if I have, it’s just once. Wilde is older with some silver hair and a splash of blue. Stynes is white, thin and wore white-and-gold pants. Radix has long black hair and a beard; think Matt Jackson’s current look. Huckabee is older in a black T-shirt and he’s bald. Champion wore blue jeans and a denim jacket with a tie-dye T-shirt and he looks like a rocker dad in his 40s. (I won’t single out who, but there are several guys in this ring that don’t look like they’ve seen a gym in 2024.)
All six brawled at the bell, with Huckabee and Isom trading offense in the ring and the others on the floor. Wilde did a Claudio-style Giant Swing on Isom. Stynes hit a spinebuster for a nearfall at 5:00. Isom hit a double Blockbuster and he was fired up. Radix hit a Sliced Bread. Isom hit a Blue Thunder Driver on Wilde. Champion hit an F5 Slam for the pin. Okay.
7. Colby Corino defeated Clint Magera in a Triple C Death Match at 10:50. I’m a big fan of Corino but I just don’t care for death matches. A tray of forks was slid into the ring and I’m just not into this. Clint wore an Orlando Magic style jersey. Colby put Margera on his shoulders, ran across the ring, and flipped him onto the fork-covered board in the corner, then pinned him. While not my style of action, they didn’t get really bloody or gross, either.
8. Cheeseburger defeated Weber Hatfield at 15:58. Weber is white, thin and fairly muscular on his tiny frame. Cheeseburger wore a multi-color jacket and he got a nice pop; he still has the smallest arms of any pro wrestler. Weber hit a dropkick for a nearfall at 4:30. He hit a senton for a nearfal. Weber put Cheeseburger on his shoulders and hit an airplane spin for a nearfall at 9:30. He nailed a second-rope superplex and they were both down. He hit a Shining Wizard for a nearfall, but Cheeseburger reached the ropes at 11:30.
Cheeseburger fired back with a running stunner and they were both down. They traded forearm strikes while on their knees, then while standing. Weber hit a German Suplex for a believable nearfall at 15:00. Cheeseburger nailed a Shotei palm strike for a nearfall. He hit a second Shotei but Weber kicked out quickly. Cheeseburger nailed a Jay Driller/butterfly piledriver for the pin. Decent stuff. I’m not convinced these two are “main event material” but they put together a solid match.
Final Thoughts: Well, Bailey-London had that feeling of a “one-time-ever” matchup, and Bailey probably got the best match out of London that anyone will have with him these days. I’ll give second-best to the main event. But with that said, if I had this roster and was putting together a show, I would have gone with Corino vs. Bailey and Fresh Air vs. Lloyd and Isom, as those would have been the best two matchups possible. I didn’t hate the action here (other than the death match), but I didn’t see anyone I didn’t know who really caught my eye, either. There are a LOT of good indy shows in coming days, and I don’t think anything that happened here will wind up on anyone’s “top 10 indy matches of Mania weekend” list.
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