WWN offered New York its ‘Supershow’ as Mercury Rising once again was a part of the Wrestlemania Weekender. With WWN having access to a raft of different promotions talent, they were in a position to put on an intriguing card from top to bottom, alongside some storyline development for their home promotions.
FIP World Heavyweight Championship Match: Absolute Andy versus Anthony Henry ©
What I know: I love Andy in wXw, but without the affordances offered by being ‘the guy’ in his home promotion, I don’t know how well he translates. Henry was good in the wXw Tag Team Title match as the wXw show.
Match: It is worth noting that the sound was awful, just like it was for wXw, whilst Andy has a fair few fans in the crowd it seemed. Some early shoulderblocks highlighted the power advantage for Andy, as did him catching Henry on a suicide dive and launching the champ into the ringpost. Methodically, Andy worked over Henry with impactful offense that kept the crowd behind Henry at all times, before a fiery comeback had Henry target the legs of Andy, including with a missile dropkick to the knee. The signal briefly cut out, returning to Henry trying to gain a submission with an ankle lock. Henry couldn’t halt Andy it seemed, though was able to kick out of a spinebuster and avoid an F5. The second time he avoided that move, Henry went into a crossface and an anklelock for the win.
Verdict: A good match that worked a very simple heel/face big/small style dynamic. Pleasantly surprised.
Six Way Elimination for a WWN Contract: Cyrus Satin versus Barrett Brown versus Anthony Greene versus Colby Corino versus John Silver versus Harlem Bravado
What I know: Outside of Colby Corino appearing with the Ugly Ducklings, these are all new to me.
Match: The match turned into a seven way elimination as Shotzi Blackheart added herself to the contest and immediately eliminated Satin with a leaping DDT. Fought under scramble rules, the most notable early exchange was Silver absolutely destroying Corino with slams and suplexes before Blackheart took out a number of the wrestlers with a senton to the outside. More hard hitting action with Silver continuing to impress ensued, with ‘The Meat Man’ German suplexing Bravado as Harlem had two men on his shoulders! Unfortunately, Corino eliminated Silver with a schoolboy and a handful of tights.
Brown’s reluctance to fight Blackheart cost him as he was the next eliminated following a top rope senton. An allegiance between Bravado and Corino was designed to try and eliminate Blackheart in particular, a successful endeavour as Bravado hit Straight Cash Homie for the pin. Corino isn’t long for the match though as Greene wiped him out with a springboard Unprettier. A double foot stomp put Greene through a chair, but Bravado was unable to put him away with the 2K1 Bomb, with Greene taking advantage with the springboard Unprettier for the win.
Verdict: An all-out contest that saw everybody looking to impress. Just good fun.
Tokyo Princess of Princess Championship versus Shine Championship: Miyu Yamashita versus Allysin Kay
What I know: Both new to me, so I look forward to seeing them in action – especially Yamashita.
Match: Pre-match, Mercedes Martinez came out to challenge Kay for a title shot in the future.Yamashita is apparently known as the ‘Pink Striker’ and we see this early as she lays in with some kicks and forearms, though Kay more than holds her own. Strikes that Kay threw Yamashita’s way only seemed to rile up the PoP Champion, whilst Yamashita targeted the leg to try and cut Kay down to size. Neither woman was able to maintain control for long, with myriad reversals and fighting spirit to work through strike exchanges. Close falls saw Kay hit a Kudo Driver and Yamashita show impressive strength to land a German suplex. The finish was designed to give Kay a bit of an out as the referee stopped the contest with Yamashita holding Kay in a clutch that the Shine Champion was unable to get out of.
Verdict: Befitting a match for two titles, this felt important and the match was exciting enough pretty much from bell to bell. A good match.
Austin Theory and Brandi Lauren versus Darby Allin and Priscilla Kelly
What I know: Have already professed my enjoyment of Allin, but the other three I know little of, outside of the obvious Kelly spot that went viral a few months back. Austin’s name of the chyron is ‘Anthony’.
Match: As befits a grudge match, the four started with brawling the moment the bell sounded. Allin and Kelly have initial success until Theory caught Allin with a dropkick from the blindside. If there was supposed to be, there are no tags at all as Theory and Lauren take their cue from Allin and Kelly as they both remain in the ring to beat on Allin. Lauren saved Theory by hitting a low blow on Allin during a brief comeback flurry, whilst Kelly continued to get kicked off of the apron to keep her out of the match. This did at least build to a fired up comeback by Kelly that included a rolling senton off of the apron onto Theory. Suddenly, Lauren hit a rolling neckbreaker off of the second rope and pinned Kelly for the win as Allin had wiped out Theory with a suicide dive.
Verdict: A little disjointed, but considering it was an actual WWN feud that was being presented, it kinda worked. Post-match, Josh Briggs came out to the ring in order to stop a further beatdown on Allin.
The Unwanted (Shane Strickland, Joe Gacy and Eddie Kingston) versus Marius Al-Ani and the Crown (Jurn Simmons/Alexander James)
What I know: This match was originally due to be Al-Ani teaming with Bobby Gunns and Lucky Kid, so I wonder what happened to that booking. This is a step down from that trio if I’m being completely honest.
Match: The six man tradition of WWN was turned on its head somewhat as these were not six flippy guys, but some big brutes in the ring. However, Al-Ani did show he could fly if necessary with a dive over the top rope early on. It was the former Shotgun Champion who was isolated by the Unwanted in illegal fashion more often than not, making the wXw trio of heels unlikely babyfaces. Quick tags kept the fresh man in, but Kingston’s bravura attitude cost his team as Al-Ani landed a spinkick and tagged to MASSIVE Simmons who did some brilliant hot tag offense alongside double chokeslams for all with James. It looked like James was about to win with a submission on Gacy, only for the ref to realise that Strickland was the legal man. With both legal men back in, Strickland put Al-Ani away with a JML Driver.
Verdict: A better match than I had expected – Simmons looked like a monster whilst the trio of the Unwanted worked their heat section well to build to some good finishing exchanges.
WWN Championship Match: Kazusada Higuchi versus JD Drake ©
What I know: I’ve always liked what I’ve seen from Drake as part of the Workhorsemen, but I’ve never seen Higuchi.
Match: A hoss fight is in the reckoning as these are two big men and that is clear from the start as they bounce off of each other with shoulderblocks before unleashing brutal chops. Higuchi earned the first real nearfall with a brutal powerslam that only served to highlight his power, whilst Drake’s athleticism as he jumped into a shining wizard belied his size. A chop exchange rightly brings the crowd to their feet and the men briefly repeat the slug fest but this time with clotheslines. Drake kicked out a Doctor Bomb, hit three stunners and finished Higuchi off with a moonsault.
Verdict: Great hoss match. Strike exchanges are overdone, but their chops made it sound like people were firing shotguns in the building. Whatever feel good moment was created by a handshake was ruined by The Unwanted hitting the ring to put a beatdown on Drake.
Damnation (Daisuke Sasaki, Tetsuya Endo and Soma Takao) versus The Skulk (AR Fox, Adrian Alanis and Leon Ruff)
What I know: One of the few things I really got out of last year’s shows was how much I love AR Fox and the Skulk. As for the DDT guys, another blindspot for me so look forward to rectifying it.
Match: With the opening moments all about speed and reversals, I do enjoy it when Sasaki entered the match and raked the eyes of Ruff. Ruff’s ropework is very impressive, whilst having Alanis in this also adds another element as he is the power option for the Skulk as they looked to isolate Sasaki. They aren’t entirely successful as Fox ended up getting tripped whilst rope running, leading to Damnation controlling the leader of the Skulk with some of the language barrier issues played up to let them bend the rules.
Tempers were frayed as Ruff ended up getting pushed off of the top rope by Sasaki, before Fox missed a huge apron legdrop as well. Ruff was now the face in peril and the Damnation trio worked well at cutting the ring in half. This helped to build up to a tag to Alanis that had him take out all three of his opponents. All six men got to work at this point, including several dives to the outside that pretty much wiped out the front row of chairs on one side. Endo ended up wiping AR Fox out with a DVD off of the second rope that bumped Fox off of the top rope in a wild spot. Having struggled with his power before, Damnation were able to isolate Alanis, with Endo finishing him off with a shooting star press.
Verdict: A wild main event to finish the show. The two heat segments for the de facto heel team worked nicely to build to the more crazy final moments of the match. It isn’t entirely my graps, but I would understand why people might consider this quite highly.
What I now know: Mercury Rising was another good show on this Wrestlemania Weekender, with a good mix of talents from different promotions coming together on a show that felt ‘big’ at the right moments. If this is what you have dubbed your ‘Supershow’, then you have delivered on that.
Best match: JD Drake versus Kazusada Higuchi may not be for everyone, but I loved it.
Less good: Austin Theory and Brandi Lauren versus Darby Allin and Priscilla Kelly, though it is only here due to the strength of the overall card – it was a perfectly fine contest.
