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wanted to send in a report from a show I attended last night In Harrisburg PA. The company is Called Pro Wrestling Empire and they ran out of the Zembo Shrine in Harrisburg, where the WWWF and WWF ran in the late 70's and 80's. What was particularly unique about the show was the attendance; by guesstimate on and report from staff they had just over 2,000 in attendance for an Indy show. The floor held about 500 to 60 people and was full and the balcony and upper level holds 2,000 and was about 75% full. Rich Flair was there doing a VIP meet and greet before the show and opened the show with a welcome and a few words.
Match results were:
1)Kevin Murphy deleted the Mercenary in a Chamber of Hell(Hell in a Cell Match)- Yeah a Cell match on an Indy show. Kevin Murphy is the leader of the local lead Heel Faction Hollywood's Finest, who are a strong act with an evil preacher type in Andy Vineburg as manager and Council, The underrated Eddie Smooth who can go with anyone, the up and Coming Lazlo Arpad who gets better every time we see him and CM Sereyni who rounds out the group, The Mercenary is an old adversary of Murphy's from past companies who really only wrestled in one group(UPW). As one would expect the match contained lots of gimmicks, chairs, ladders, trash cans, tacks and tables were all used. As Andy Vineburg interfered, and Kevin Murphy took out two referees, Colin Bright, the legit owner of the company came out after being "attacked" earlier in the day and evened the odds. He eventually set Vineburg up on a table, climbed to the top of the structure via a ladder and leaped off at least 18 feet onto the table as VIenburg got out of the way!! Crazy spot for anyone, particularly a guy I do not believe has any wrestling experience. CM Sereyni then came down to help Murphy and the final person coming to the cage was another longtime Hollywood's Finest enemy RIchie Nightmare, who turned and joined with them attacking the Mercenary and helping Murphy win the match and ownership in the company for his associate "The Perfect Owner" Jason Smith. Crazy spectacle of a match where everyone worked hard to entertain and tell a story.
2) Amasis def. Ophidian
These two Chikara mainstays put on a great high flying match and really wowed the crows with their athleticism. After a quick back and forth match, Amasis picked up the win.
3) Tessa Blanchard def. Renee Michelle
These two have wrestled before, particularly in the PA,MD, and NJ areas and have great chemistry. One of the best matches of the night, Blanchard is polished and ready for big things, and MIChelle has grown so much over the past two years and is right there with her. Blanchard gets the win and the two hug after the match.
4) Gladiator Games Battle Royal(think Royal Rumble)
This match was dedicated to a young man named Chance Armstrong who lost his battle with a rare form of Cancer earlier in the year and was a big wrestling fan. The winner would get the last spot in a six way match for the first PWE title. The match was advertised as a 30 man rumble but by my count there were 33 entrants, many of who were local talent looking for spots. It came down to CZW's DJ Hyde, Lance A'noai(son of Samu and cousin of the Usos), Louis G Rich a local heel favorite, and Facade. Of the participants these were the 4 that should be in at the end. It came down to the two fan favorites A'noai and Facade, with Facade getting the win and advancing to the six way elimination match for the title later that night.
5). There was a post intermission match I missed where the team of HorrorCore def. two guys I did not catch the names of, quick match.
6) The Star Lords def Heros for HIre and The Regulators in a ladder match for the PWE Tag Title
AL. Three teams are local teams and the arch moved well and all three teams worked well together. The Starlords were able to knock out both other teams and climb the ladder to win the titles.
7) Vanity def. Lufisto and Tess Valentine for the inaugural Women's title match
Somewhat of a surprise result, Valentine has been undefeated in PWE and Lufisto has a great combination of experience and talent, but Vanity pulled out the victory.
8) Tony Deppen def. John SIlver
This was a showcase match for another local company Legacy Wrestling who run out of Manheim, PA. And who put on great shows throughout the year that I can not recommend enough to for anyone in the area. Silver the CZW and other Indy vet showed great strength in throwing around the smaller in stature Deppen, including one of the best Hip tosses I have ever seen as far as distance. Deppen is awesome, a super serious intense character whose small stature does not stop him from being hyper aggressive. Deppen picked up the win in the End.
9) Facade def. Eddie Smooth, Lazlo Arpad, Sean Carr, Jason Gory and Kai Kantana to be the first PWE Heavyweight championship.
Very good match, all 6 competitors are great in the ring. Carr was a replacement for Matt Cross. Gory was eliminated first, followed by Kai Kantana who was taken out by Arpad's Sword of Attila clothesline. Facade and Carr teamed against the Hollywood's finest partners, but were taken out . As Smooth held Facade for Arpad's Clothesline, Facade ducked Arpad hit Smooth and then was taken out by Facade and eliminated. Carr then eliminated Smooth in a bit of surprise, leaving the two crowd favorites Facade and Sean Carr. They went back and forth, both just missing their signature moves a few times before Facade got the upper hand and pulled out the victory. Well deserved for a guy who works so hard in the ring, has great skill and is super great with fans. Afterwards Eddie Smooth came out and made his previously booked match at Legacy Wrestling in December with Facade a title vs title match.
The show ran a bit long and it tired the crowd out a bit,, but the wrestling was solid. Their were some logistics issues with the Flair signing, as the line moved slowly and was very long for those who brought VIP passes to met him, but the staff worked hard to get as many people through as possible. They announced Eric Bischoff for their next show in February.
