Indy World champ crowned at inaugural Germanfest tournament
"Cowboy" Johnny Mantell's inaugural Germanfest Wringenmiesterschaft Tournament, held April 29-May 1, 2011, in Muenster, Texas, was easily the most ambitious indy show produced over the last few years, and included the crowning of a Indy World Champion in Tim Storm. No...
Variety of intense action delivered at ROH in Toronto
Hundreds of screaming Toronto wrestling fans will always make sure to let everyone know when Ring of Honor is in town. These fans love their wrestling, and would not settle for anything less. "The crowd in the Ted Reeve Arena is just insane," said hometown boy Michael...
Austin Aries pulls a swerve at Dragon Gate USA’s Open the Ultimate Gate 2011
ATLANTA – Austin Aries said all the right things for several minutes on Sunday at Dragon Gate USA's Open the Ultimate Gate 2011. The next few minutes after that were the ones that came as a surprise. Aries had just lost what was billed as his farewell match to Jimmy...
Tag team wrestling on display on second day of ROH’s Honor Takes Center Stage
ATLANTA – This just in: Tag team wrestling is not dead. It may be nearly extinct except for angle-driven matches at the two largest wrestling promotions, but it's alive and well in Ring of Honor. That much was abundantly clear during the second day of “Honor Takes...
‘Raw’ live in Buffalo: Blue-collar appreciation
BUFFALO, NY - A sports-talk radio personality recently pegged sports fans in Buffalo as just a little more down-to-earth than those in other major markets. Buffalo’s economy is understood to be stuck in a dismal state, so when fans fork over their money for the Bills,...
Edge ruffles Ziggler’s feathers in Toronto
World heavyweight champion Edge retained his belt Saturday with a victory over challenger Dolph Ziggler in a Toronto street-fight main event of the WWE's Road to Wrestlemania Smackdown house show at Toronto's Ricoh Coliseum. In front of a packed home crowd, The...
WrestleReunion 5 off to a smooth start
LOS ANGELES - A normal hotel Thursday morning, the atmosphere began to change at the LAX Hilton by Thursday night as fans and wrestlers started to check in for WrestleReunion 5. Despite winter storms in the Northeast, talents made it to the hotel with few problems....
Live report from Raw in Detroit
DETROIT - After a disappointing showing from the crowd when WWE last made its way to Detroit in September, fans in "The Motor City" came out en masse on a cold winter night as WWE's flagship show, "Monday Night Raw" made its return to the city for the first time since...
Emotional Firestorm Memorial show capped by belt presentation
VANCOUVER - There are moments that transcend the politics, ego and character of wrestling, or, put another way, moments that matter. The Adam Firestorm Memorial Show held Friday in North Vancouver was a collection of such moments, a night comprised both of heartache...
Edwards wins 2010 ‘Survival of the Fittest’ as ROH returns to Detroit area
DEARBORN, Mich. — Ring of Honor brought its 2010 edition of "Survival of the Fittest" to the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center on Friday night and it did not disappoint. In front of an excited near-capacity crowd, ROH World Television Champion Eddie Edwards...
Hart-felt return makes lackluster RAW memorable
CALGARY - Before Superstars started taping, Bret Hart's music blasted through the Scotiabank Saddledome and the crowd erupted... only to groan when it turned out to be a commercial for RAW vs. Smackdown 2011. As chants of “We want Bret” echoed through the arena it...
Final IWS show filled with blood, nostalgia and great wrestling
By PATRIC LAPRADE and YVES LEROUX Hardcore wrestling hit a peak in 1999. ECW got a national TV deal with TNN, and the WWE, wanting to capitalize on their little brother's success, had just created a hardcore title and the TLC matches they had were off the roof. In...
Benjamin, Helms, Grenier, Demolition cook up hot T.O.W. show
MONTREAL - T.O.W. seems to have found a winning recipe to attract today's wrestling fans, as indicated by the 1,500 or so that showed up at the Centre Pierre Charbonneau Friday night. The recipe is a little like this: Mix in a few of yesterday's stars, sprinkle in...
Small crowd enjoys self at WWE Detroit taping
DETROIT — Less than two years ago, WWE completely sold out Joe Louis Arena for the Royal Rumble. Tuesday's taping of Smackdown, NXT and Superstars taping was a vast contrast from that January night, as with the exception of a few random rows, the entire upper bowl was...
Machine Guns headline for first time as TNA delivers in Toledo
TOLEDO, Ohio — Saturday was a big night for TNA. It was the promotion's debut effort in Toledo, and it also marked a first for one of the organization's hottest acts as the Motor City Machine Guns had their first main event match. They did not disappoint an hour away...
TNA fan fest a real Hardcore Celebration
ORLANDO, Florida -- For a company that has long since ceased to exist in its original form, ECW continues to attract a fan following unlike any other in wrestling. Many wrestling companies have capitalized upon this loyal fan-base, the latest being Spike TV's TNA...
CHIKARA debuts in Detroit with Danielson in tow
CHIKARA's debut foray into Michigan has taken on added sizzle in the last week. Bryan Danielson will make his return to the independent scene when CHIKARA debuts in Metro Detroit at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Taylor Town Trade Center in Taylor, Mich. Danielson, who was...
Championship calibre matches make PWA Supercard
CALGARY - It seems cliched when a big show is referred to as said promotion's Wrestlemania. Even Starrcade, which started before the WWE's event, was often referred to as WCW's Wrestlemania. While PWA's Night of Champions VIII card in Calgary on June 19th may not have...
Fans and wrestlers connect on day 2 of WrestleReunion 4
LOS ANGELES - When you put legends together, some who haven't seen each other in years, it can be both amazing and distracting. Fans gathered for breakfast early on Saturday morning to listen to a Q&A with Bruno Sammartino, Larry Zbyszko and Stan Hansen and heard...
Giants battle on Rougeau Christmas shows
MONTREAL - It's now a holiday tradition. Each year, Jacques Rougeau's Lutte 2000 promotion runs shows after Christmas. This year, it featured a clash between giants. Essentially, Lutte 2000 shows have been mostly a showcase for Rougeau’s wrestling school students....
Resilient Aries outlasts Omega in Mississauga
MISSISSAUGA, ON -- Ring of Honor World Heavyweight Champion Austin Aries silenced his critics with yet another successful defense against a game Kenny Omega at the International Centre last night. After sizing up the crowd and cheekily noting that Toronto still had...
Kerry Brown tribute show touches family, peers
WINNIPEG -- It was a night of memories and old school wrestling as family, wrestlers, and fans came together at an all-ages tribute show for the late "Pitbull" Kerry Brown two months after his passing. Brown's mother, Bernice Martens, was in attendance at the Skyview...
Cornette returns to ROH as Danielson, McGuinness depart
NEW YORK - The old saying goes "They come and they go." On Saturday night in a sold-out Manathan Center's Grand Ballroom in New York City, Ring of Honor fans saw two of their favourites leave and one major player come back. Everyone knew the show was a chance to say...
Montreal’s TOW show features many past WWE stars
MONTREAL - Friday night in Montreal, the TOW promotion managed to get the longest reigning WWE Intercontinental champion and the very first Intercontinental champion on the same show. Plus add a TNA rising star, a fitness guru and a surprise guest, and it was a major...
Toronto puts its own stamp on RAW
“Hello, Toronto! It’s good to be home!” And with that, seven-time former WWE women’s champion Trish Stratus blessed last night’s RAW. She looked lean and mean, and the capacity crowd responded warmly to her return, despite booing her positive appraisal of previous...
Bob Kapur’s Twitterish WWE tour: Ottawa supershow
OTTAWA -- The WWE wrestlers aren't the only ones on a road trip this weekend through Ontario and Quebec. SLAM! Wrestling's "Bloodthirsty" Bob Kapur and photographer Mike Mastrandrea are hitting each town too. Follow Bob's travels here each day. In this installment,...
Femmes Fatales debut hot in Montreal
MONTREAL -- In a city known for beautiful women, Saturday's NCW Femmes Fatales gala was something altogether different. The gathering of top female wrestlers was a riotous affair, featuring some of the top names in the business and some great matches. At the...
Danielson says his goodbyes at Dragon Gate Chicago
CHICAGO - Two days after making its pay-per-view debut, Dragon Gate USA wrestling made its debut in Chicago this Sunday for its "Open the Untouchable Gate" show. Delivering the hard-hitting, quick-paced style of action that its Japanese counterpart is famed for, DGUSA...
Rougeau has giant plans for Christmas
MONTREAL -- Jacques Rougeau Jr. has always had a vision of what wrestling should really be -- a family buying tickets to a Lutte 2000 event, and leaving the arena with satisfied smiles and memories of great matches without any violence. He believes he has achieved...
Memories of Bearman McKigney flood back after indy show
KESWICK, Ont. -- The memories came flooding back to me Saturday night, as a special card put on by the Great North Wrestling Alliance honoured the one-of-a-kind Canadian wrestling character, Dave "The Bearman" McKigney. The show, billed as the Battle for the Belt, was...
RAW’s Calgary return lacks spark
CALGARY -- It says a great deal about the current state of the WWE when after four years away, the biggest reactions at last night's Monday Night RAW broadcast was for a 60-year-old wrestler long past his prime, and a local hero who wasn’t even in the building. The...
Storm gets emotional after ROH loss to Hero
TORONTO - An emotional Lance Storm took to the microphone last night after a loss to Chris Hero in the main event of Ring of Honor's Death Before Dishonor VII: Night 2. And while he started off serious for a minute, his demeanour soon changed, and he tearfully thanked...
Aries backs up trash talk in Toronto
TORONTO - Austin Aries successfully defended his Ring of Honour World heavyweight championship in Toronto on a night that featured special appearances by Canadian legends Bret "Hitman" Hart and Lance Storm. Aries, who informed the capacity crowd he was "wrestling...
Rain doesn’t dampen Edmonton supershow
EDMONTON - Mother Nature can be the ultimate ribber. While a thunderstorm put a damper, pun intended, on the Prairie Wrestling Alliance's largest show in history, Night of Champions, the end result was incredible matches, death-defying moves, superstar appearances,...
Families make up big part of Toronto WWE audience
TORONTO - The holiday season is here, and for many, it’s seen as a wonderful opportunity to spend some quality time with family. Watching a wrestling show seems to be part of that quality time, judging from the number of families in attendance at last night’s WWE...
ROH ends Detroit show with shock and mystery
When Ring of Honor announced Tyler Black vs. Jimmy Jacobs were to wrestle in a cage, fans expected this to be the end of a long feud between the two. When two men could not find a true winner in the ring, a cage was put around so the fans could see one true winner....
Ouellet makes Nash tap out in grudge match
MONTREAL - In what was billed as the second biggest grudge match in the history of Quebec wrestling, trailing only behind the 1985 match between the Rougeaus and the Garvins, Pierre-Carl Ouellet and Kevin Nash fought once again on Saturday at the IWS 10th anniversary...
Marathon matches bring in 3,000 pounds for food bank
PORT COQUITLAM, BC - It was a particularly rough weekend for Kyle O’Reilly and 19 of his wrestling brethren this past weekend in Port Coquitlam. As a rule, independent professional wrestlers don’t have the easiest schedule on the weekends, but the schedule that 20...
AAA conquers America all over again
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- The Mexican wrestling promotion AAA brought a tight, exciting tour to America this past week, including a stop on Sunday at a nearly-packed, enthusiastic HP Pavilion Arena. The second half of AAA's current American tour restarts April 2nd debuting...
Abdullah the Butcher says adieu to Montreal
MONTREAL - Abdullah the Butcher has been the talk of the town for several weeks now, with his supposed final show in Canada taking place this past Saturday. Needless to say, the match -- a loss to Hannibal -- went down in typical Abby fashion. The main event at the...
Lynn-Black go to the time-limit in Detroit
DETROIT - You can not tell Jerry Lynn that he is too old to have a good match. The 45-year-old stole the Detroit Ring of Honor show on Friday night. Lynn, who has been wrestling full-time for ROH since fall, used old school philosophy in his 20-minute time-limit draw...
Armageddon anything but a downer in Buffalo
BUFFALO -- Google Armageddon and you’ll get everything from an on-line countdown to the end of days, a synopsis of Michael Bay’s asteroid spectacle, and, amongst other things, a recognition that something special happened in Buffalo, New York on Sunday, December 14,...
Jacobs-Aries bloodfest tops ROH in Toronto
TORONTO - Armed with momentum from its first-ever visit to Montreal the night before, Ring of Honor set up shop at the Markham Fairgrounds last night and while the show lacked the aura of Montreal or its Toronto debut back in late July, it delivered the essential...
Great crowd basks in ROH’s Montreal debut
By MICHAEL RYAN - For SLAMWrestling.net MONTREAL - A raucous and capacity crowd jammed the Centre Jean-Claude Malenpart to greet Ring of Honor for their first visit to Montreal. The partisan crowd enthusiastically and quickly picked their favourites, backing them...
Small crowd takes in TNA in London
LONDON, ON -- Total Nonstop Action Wrestling rolled into John Labatt Centre for the first time Saturday night for seven matches the night before it made its Canadian pay-per-view debut in Oshawa. The building, which seats 9,060 for London Knights' hockey games, was...
The Ring of Honor breaks in Detroit, literally
DETROIT - Usually when a wrestling card goes over, they talk about “tearing the house down.” When talking about Ring of Honor’s pay-per-view taping in Detroit last night, you can call it “tearing the ring down.” In a wild spot during the Bryan Danielson and Tyler...
PWC debut in Vancouver a success
VANCOUVER - The much-anticipated debut of Pro Wrestling Canada happened this past Friday with a bang! A solid crowd of 380 people attended and, after it was all over ,fans were dancing in the aisles. PWC has brought together wrestlers from ECCW in Vancouver and other...
PWA entertains in Edmonton
Fans in attendance at the Prairie Wrestling Alliance’s show at the Extreme Zone in Edmonton knew they were in for something special when the main event was announced. During PWA Champion Chris Steele’s October 9th title defense against Tex Gaines the two men battled...
NOAH successfully invades England
Pro Wrestling NOAH invaded the United Kingdom on Saturday evening, for what was said to have been one of the greatest wrestling events ever held in Europe. The Coventry Skydome - which has a capacity of 4,200, though significantly less made available for this event -...
Suede not a gracious Pacific Cup winner
VANCOUVER, BC - The 2008 Pacific Cup is over and a new champion has been crowned. Unfortunately, he wasn't exactly a gracious champion. "Brilliant" Billy Suede wrestled three hard-fought matches to earn the right to call himself this year's Pacific Cup champion and it...
