Thursday’s Mark Hitchcock Memorial SuperShow took place at the Globe Theatre in Los Angeles, California as a part of WrestleCon. The show opened with Mick Foley coming to the ring to introduce a video package for the late Mark Hitchcock. The video featured pictures of Hitchcock surrounded by a who’s who of the wrestling world. This was followed by a five-minute intermission.
Blake Christian defeated Michael Oku
After an opening handshake, this match quickly devolved into an acrobatics showcase. Christian offered a second handshake; this time, Christian attacked Oku out of the shake, gaining an advantage for the first time.
A kick to the chest let Oku fight back into the match. Christian was quick to respond with a 619 and a springboard kick. Oku responded with a pair of dives, one in the ring and one to the floor. Christian responded immediately with his own dive to the floor. On the floor, the count hit 10, and everyone thought the match was over, but there was apparently a 20 count. Once the count was broken, the pair continued to fight. Christian hit a suplex on the apron to secure a substantial lead late in the match. A second suplex to the apron should have pushed the advantage further, but Oku caught him in a half crab before hoisting Christian to the top rope almost as soon as he landed. From the top, Christian dropped Oku and immediately hit a springboard 450 to win the match.
After the match, the pair shook hands again.
Bryan Keith & KENTA defeated Tom Lawlor & Christopher Daniels
Christopher Daniels in daisy dukes was revealed to be Lawlor’s partner before Ken Shamrock was announced as a surprise special guest enforcer.
Keith and Daniels opened the match with a fun back-and-forth. As the match developed, Lawlor tagged in and prevented Keith from tagging out. Once the tag to KENTA came, Lawlor tagged back out.
KENTA beat down Daniels before passing the torch to Keith. Lawlor and Daniels were able to take the lead back while keeping KENTA away from Lawlor. Lawlor and Daniels eventually knocked each other down, but Lawlor left Daniels to fend for himself after KENTA tagged in.
A double tag to Lawlor and KENTA finally left the pair alone to fight. They traded blows before KENTA dropped Lawlor with a dropkick and double stomp. Daniels blocked the GTS, buying him enough time to steal momentum back.
A scrap on the mat left KENTA in control of Lawlor. Daniels hit the ring and attacked the referee just as Lawlor tried to tap out. Lawlor dropped Keith with a low blow, but special enforcer Ken Shamrock refused to count the subsequent pin. Shamrock dropped Daniels with a strike and pushed Lawlor into KENTA. KENTA rolled Lawlor up and won the match with Shamrock’s count.
After the match, Shamrock put Lawlor in an ankle lock and forced him to tap.
Ultimo Dragon defeated Negro Casas
Before the match, a Chris Jericho video was played. He hyped up both men while sporting a black eye.
All things considered, this was an incredible match.
The opening leg of this match was all seamless back-and-forth grappling. Eventually, Casas climbed to the top rope, where Dragon cut him off with a drop kick that sent the 63-year-old crashing to the floor. Dragon met Casas on the floor, where the pair fought for control. Casas won out, returned to the ring, and climbed to the top rope. Dragon caught Casas on the top and hit a superplex.
A sick smile manifested on Casas after being dropped to the mat. Casas was the first to recover from the high-impact superplex, but Dragon quickly answered with a Dragon sleeper. Casas passed out from the hold, leaving Dragon with the win.
Aramis, Galeno Del Mal & Rey Horus defeated Arez, Laredo Kid & Latigo
This was an incredibly enjoyable match.
Aramis and Latigo opened the match with a lighting-paced sequence of pin attempts. Arez and Horus tagged in for a creative sequence of their own.
A stray strike to Galeno got Arez into a world of trouble. Arez retreated, tagging out to Laredo. Laredo and Galeno had a typical lucha exchange, made all the more impressive considering the size of Galeno.
Arez, Laredo, & Latigo took control by rushing the ring. They were able to isolate opponents, establishing a make-shift numbers advantage for some time.
The babyface trio eventually were able to land tandem superkicks, setting Galeno up for a splash to take all of their opponents out. Aramis, Horus, & Galeno followed up with dives to the floor.
Back in the ring, Arez was able to strike down Galeno. The match broke down after this, as all the men hit the ring as they recovered to retake the lead for their team. Eventually, Galeno hit a bomb from the second rope, dropping Latigo to win the match for his team.
After the match, the crowd tossed money into the ring, and all six men stood tall in tandem.
TJPW Showcase Tag: Yuki Aino, Shoko Nakajima, Yuki Kamifuku, Mizuki, & Hyper Misao defeated Raku, Nao Kakuta, Miu Watanabe, Rika Tatsumi, & Hikari Noa
This was a great look into the world of TJPW. The crowd ate everything up, and everyone was given ample time to shine.
Before the match could begin, Hyper tried to cut a promo. She said she could beat her opponents in two seconds. Instead, they rushed her, leading to a beatdown.
The match then began to escalate with multiple showcase-style exchanges, with most women showing off some of their signature offense/personalities.
Eventually, the two top champions of TJPW came to blows. Rika fell to a Mizuki double stomp and crossbody for a near fall. Rika answered by attacking Mizuki’s legs with the corner post. Watanabe hit the ring to help Rika finish, but Mizuki fought free, landing Whirling Candy to clear the ring. The match broke down again after a tag to Raku.
In the end, Mizuki won the match with a double stomp on Raku.
Shigehiro Irie defeated Speedball Mike Bailey
Everything from this match that made the stream was incredible. Great, great match.
Mere minutes after his Bloodsport match with Kota Ibushi, Mike Bailey made his second appearance against the ever-wonderful Shigehiro Irie.
The match’s opening moments were lost due to a stream failure, but when the feed picked up, Irie was in control after hitting something on the floor. Back in the ring, Irie hit a cannonball to further his early lead.
A strike exchange left Irie in a strong position after he landed a colossal lariat. A follow-up Samoan drop from the top rope seemingly widened his lead, but Bailey was able to fight back after the crash. Bailey flipped out of a suplex and landed a trio of kicks but missed the finish. Irie hit the beast bomber and locked in a choke, but Bailey escaped and answered with a green tea plunge.
A massive cannonball into the ropes and a second beast bomber scored Irie a near fall. Irie locked in another choke. After the brutal struggle for control during the choke, Irie transitioned into elbow strikes. The referee was forced to step in, leaving Irie with a win via referee stoppage.
As crazy as this match was, Bailey’s night is just starting. He has a match with Hiroshi Tanahashi on the NJPWxIMPACT show before he can rest.
United Empire (Jeff Cobb, Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) defeated Time Machine (Alex Shelley, Chris Sabin & KUSHIDA)
This match opened with a reasonably typical feeling-out exchange between the teams. Eventually, UE established control and began to isolate Sabin. Once the tag came to Shelley, he worked with KUSHIDA to fight for control.
The match broke down, allowing UE to take advantage of the chaos. This time they worked to isolate Shelley. Once Shelley tagged to KUSHIDA, he was able to retake the lead.
The match continued to escalate with dives and control segments before a sudden half-and-half suplex to Sabain left Aussie Open free to land Corialis and win the match.
AAA Mega Championship: El Hijo Del Vikingo (c) defeated Komander & Black Taurus
This was a wild encounter. I barely captured any of the wild action in this match, so if you’re at all into hyper-athletic lucha, give this a watch.
Taurus opened the match by clearing the ring of both men, using Komander as a weapon, and landing a massive dive to the floor. Komander and Vikingo were forced to work together to take out Taurus, landing a pair of dives to subdue the giant. The pair then took turns landing moves on Taurus before turning to each other.
After wiping out Komander, Vikingo launched into an insane sequence against Taurus. Once Komander recovered, he led a crazy series of his own against both of his competitors. A pause from Komander allowed Vikingo to take advantage, landing an absolutely insane single-leg springboard dive to the floor.
Back in the ring, momentum spontaneously transitioned between all three men. Vikingo landed an insane 630 to the floor but missed the follow-up in the ring, so he dove to the floor before trying again. On his second attempt, Vikingo hit a wild top rope 630 before pinning Taurus.
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(H/T to Chick Fritts and F4Wonline)
