Thanks to Ben Newton for the House of Hardcore report from Brisbane, Australia.
1. Colt Cabana d. Ryan Nemeth - Lots of comedy spots in a fun opening match that the crowd was really into.
2. Carlito d. Jack Bonza - Bonza did a state of origin (local sports thing) heel promo. Then in the first surprise of the night, his unadvertised opponent was Carlito. The crowd went absolutely crazy for him. He did the apple spot at the start of the match and after going back and forth, won with the Backstabber.
3. 8 man tag match with a bunch of local wrestlers. The babyfaces won after everyone hit their big moves. Unfortunately I didn't catch any of their names but it was really entertaining and a lot of the crowd were familiar with them.
4. MVP d. Bull James - This was the slowest match of the night and the crowd were a little quiet at times. Bull refused to shake hands and worked heel, but they both wrestled a big man style. MVP won with the Drive By and cut a promo post-match about how much of a pain in the ass Australian Immigration was to deal with and get a visa.
5. Matt Cross d. Andy Phoenix and Robbie Eagles - The crowd was still down at the start from the last match, but really came alive as it built to the finish. Eagles hit a 450 splash but Cross hit a double springboard cutter and then won with a gorgeous Shooting Star Press on Phoenix.
6. Billy Gunn d. Jack Swagger - Both guys got big reactions for their entrances and Gunn joked with the crowd that he was the bigger babyface. They brawled outside the ring a bit and Swagger missed the Swagger Bomb twice. Gunn won with a Fameasser and looked to have tweaked his ankle but walked to the back on his own after a quick post-match suck it promo.
Intermission
7. Mohammad Ali Vaez d. Tommy Dreamer in a Brisbane Street Fight - Tommy was super over with the crowd, thanked everyone for supporting HOH and promised they'll be back again next year. Vaez attacked him to start the match. They brawled all over and did spots with a cup of beer, somebody's crutch, a garbage can, some chairs, the ring bell and a ladder. Dreamer took a horrible looking bump with his right arm on the ladder before the finish. Vaez used a drop toe hold into the chair and then pinned Tommy with his feet on the ropes.
8. The Young Bucks d. The Spirit Squad for the ROH Tag Team Championships and NJPW Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championships - In the other surprise of the night, Mikey and Kenny came out unannounced as the Spirit Squad, followed by the biggest reaction of the night for the Bucks, who came across as huge superstars. The Bucks said they were fighting champions and would put both their titles on the line to make things interesting. Bunch of superkicks to start the match, Matt took the heat in the middle and made the hot tag to Nick. I counted 15 superkicks in total from the Bucks, plus Mikey superkicked Kenny once and the crowd popped huge every single time. Both teams were entertaining as hell and the Bucks won with a Meltzer Driver.
I can't rave enough about this show, it was so well run and such an absolute blast from start to finish. I use a wheelchair and the organisers arranged for an aisle seat in the 3rd row (our ticket category). After the people in front were standing up for the entrances of the first few matches the floor manager moved us to a space in the front row without us even saying anything. It was a much better experience than the WWE shows I've been to sitting in a similar seat.
The line for Young Bucks merch was literally an hour and a half long, by the intermission I think every second person was wearing a Bullet Club or Young Bucks shirt. Again, the show was fantastic. The atmosphere was grungy but still super professional and loads of fun, I'll definitely be back again next year.
