AS I SEE IT 4/4

AS I SEE IT
Bob Magee
Pro Wrestling: Between the Sheets
PWBTS.com

This weekend begins a stretch of three killer shows this April at the ECW Arena.

First, the return of Germany's Westside Xtreme Wrestling, Combat Zone Wrestling's tenth annual Best of The Best tournament, and CHIKARA Pro Wrestling's King of Trios all in April; then concluding with the historic May debut of New Japan Pro Wrestling here in Philadelphia.

Things start off on April 9 with an ECW Arena doubleheader, where Germany's Westside Xtreme Wrestling makes its United States return in an afternoon show to start at 2:30 pm.

No Ropes Barbed Wire Match
"Golden Boy" Drake Younger (Indianapolis, IN, USA) vs. "Crazy Monkey" Jun Kasai (Hokkaido, JAP)

wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship
Chris Hero (Metropolis, USA) vs. Daisuke Sekimoto (Osaka, JAP)

Heavyweight Tag Team Match
Big van Walter (Wien, A) & Brodie Lee (Nebraska, USA) vs. Johnny Moss (Egremont, UK) & Michael Elgin (Atlantic City, NJ, USA)

Singles Match
Bad Bones (Oberhausen, GER) vs. 16 Carat Gold 2011 Winner Sami Callihan (Last House on the Left, OH, USA)

Tag Team Rematch
Adam Cole & Kyle O'Reilly (USA) vs. LDRS of the New School [Marty Scurll & Zack Sabre jr.] (Isle of Sheppey, UK)

Four Way Dance
Brandon Gatson vs. Chuck Taylor vs. Emil Sitoci vs. Johnny Gargano

Singles Match
Karsten Beck vs. Necro Butcher

Visit Westside Xtreme Wrestling's United States site for the latest news and ticket information on wXw's U.S. return!

That evening, Combat Zone Wrestling presents the tenth annual "Best of The Best" tournament, with a scheduled 7:30 pm belltime.

Scheduled first round matches are:

  • Akuma vs. Jonathan Gresham vs. Zack Sabre, Jr.

  • CHIKARA's Johnny Gargano vs. Kyle O'Reilly vs. Adam Cole

  • Sami Callihan vs. AR Fox vs. Jake Crist

  • Big Japan Wrestling's Deisuke Sekimoto vs. Dragon Gate USA's Chuck Taylor vs. Brandon Graston.

    Along with the Best of the Best tournament...

  • Dream Death Match
    The CZW return of "Crazy Monkey' Jun Kasai vs. Danny Havoc

  • A six-man "Ultimate Jeopardy" style match
    CZW Tag Team Champions The Briscoe Brothers and Devon Moore vs. Philly's Most Wanted and CZW Champion Robert Anthony.

    Tickets will be available through the CZW Pro Shop at this link.Tickets are priced at $30 - Front row, $25 - 2nd and 3rd row, and $20 for general admission. Doors open at 7:30PM.

    CHIKARA Pro Wrestling comes to the world's most famous Bingo Hall for King of Trios 2011 on April 15-17. Belltimes are 7:30 pm on Friday and Saturday and 4:30 pm on Sunday for the finals. All 16 trios will be in matches the first night of the tournament, which is Friday, April 23. The surviving eight teams advance into Night 2,and the 4 remaining teams will face off until just one remains on Sunday afternoon, As the participants are confirmed for the tournament, you'll see them listed on this very page. There will also be non-tournament matches featuring wrestlers eliminated from King of Trios on the last two nights.

    First round matches announced thus far:

  • Michinoku Pro's Great Sasuke, Dick Togo, and Jensei Shinzaki (aka Hakushi) vs. Sean Waltman, Arik Cannon and Darin Corbin

  • F.I.S.T (Icarus, Chuck Taylor, Johnny Gargano) vs. IHPW/Australia's Percy, Kabel, and Tama Williams

  • The Colony (Fire Ant, Green Ant, Soldier Ant) vs. Kizarny and the Batiri (Obariyon and Kodama)

  • Dragon Gate's Akira Tozawa, KAGETORA and Super Shisa vs. The Spectral Envoy (Ultramantis Black, Hallowicked, and Frightmare)

  • Tim Donst and two of his fellow BDK members vs. Da Soul Touchaz (Acid Jaz, Marsha Rockett, Willie Richardson)

  • Mike Quakenbush, Jigsaw, and Japanese legend Manami Toyota vs. Amazing Red and The Maximos

  • The Osirian Portal (Amasis, Hieracon, Ophidian) vs. Team 3 Ole' (EL Generico plus the team of 3.0, Shane Matthews and Scott Parker)

  • The Throwbacks (Sugar Dunkerton, Matt Classic, and Dasher Hatfield) vs. Osaka Pro Wrestling's Atsushi Kotoge, Daisuke Harada and Ultimate Spider, Jr.

    Saturday afternoon will feature the fourth annual Fan Conclave at 2:30 pm prior to showtime. Tickets for this year's Fan Conclave are $10 (free to those buying tickets for all three nights) . Along with wrestler autographs and gimmick sales, Stan Bush (who has the official song of King of Trios 2011) will be performing a concert during the Fan Conclave. Tickets for all events are available NOW at the CHIKARA store.

    Finally, on May 15, New Japan Pro Wrestling debuts at the ECW Arena with a full lineup including 2010 Super J Tag League winners Jado and Gedo, Japanese legend Jushin "Thunder" Liger, IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi, 2010 G1 Climax tournament winner Satoshi Kojima, Tiger Mask IV, Shinsuke Nakamura, Ryusuke Taguchi, Kazuchika Okada, Giant Bernard, Karl "Machine Guns" Anderson, Prince Devitt, Kenny Omega, Yujiro Takahashi, Tetsuya Naito, Mitsuhide Hirasawa, Togi Makabe, Toru Yano, and new addition MVP. Fair warning: tickets are not cheap, plus there is a $4 convenience fee for tickets purchased through the website. Tickets are Gold (Row 2/3) $65, Blue (row 4/5) $45 Red (GA) $25 and can be ordered at this site. Fans that purchase a GOLD ticket will receive a special meet and greet with NJPW Superstars at 2:30pm before the doors open, as well as, a commemorative ticket and DVD gift (redeemable with ticket the night of the show).

    Until next time...

    If you have comments/questions/event announcements/results, if you'd like to add the AS I SEE IT column to your website, or if you'd like to add advertising on PWBTS.com (the flagship website of this column), e-mail me at the address above. Advertising consists of banner ads, available for $400 for one year. These ads would appear on each newspage appearing on the newsboard. Cube ads are also available for $200 for one year, which would be placed on the main newsboard page.

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    If you have comments/questions, or if you'd like to add the AS I SEE IT column to your website, I can be reached by e-mail at bobmagee1@hotmail.com)