The rivalry that, several months ago, both sides agreed wasn't a rivalry at all certainly became the talk of the CT wrestling scene this past weekend when a series of events unfolded at Saturday nights NEFW BATTLEGROUND event in Chicopee, Massachusetts.
Before we get into the drama and nonsense surrounding the controversial goings-on at BATTLEGROUND, I feel it's important to talk a bit about the event itself. That's really why you're here, right? Results are straight off of theburninghammer.com (by NE Indy Hype):
Quick results -
Pre-Show
Ian Griffin def. Randy Guerrero
Main Show -
Lineage (Mark Shurman & Chris Envy)w/Fenris Fortune def. The Boys Next Door (Mike Graca & Cam Neely) w/Ms. Mecca
In a student showcase match, the team of Valkyrie, Mike The Anvil Kreegan, Baby Rex and Phantom def. Executioner #16, Steven Bouquet, and Sven Hoeck.
Bobby Ocean w/ JJ Alexander def. Frankie Arion after a ref distraction and a low blow.
Amazing Red & Brian XL def. Homicide & Eddie Kingston to retain the tag team championship.
In the Barbershop Segment featuring Brutus Beefcake, jimmy Snuka and The Big O, Ian Griffin interrupted and ultimately got his head shaved.
As the 25 man battle royal for a future NEFW title show was set to begin, Defiant Inc's music hit and Jimmy Meaz called out Shady about his Tough Guy Championship. He then introduced Defiant Inc's newest member, Big Jim Sullivan. Sullivan decimated Shady with a series of lariats and an emerald fusion through 2 steel chairs. jimmy Meaz then pinned Shady and became the new Tough Guy Champion. As they were leaving and the battle royal was set to finally begin, a surprise final entrant came out which was none other than Brian Anthony!
Brian Anthony went on to win the 25-man battle royal after eliminating The Big O last.
JT Dunn w/Fenris Fortune def. Chuck Taylor to retain the US Championship.
Smiley def. Scotty Slade
In the 8-man tag for the vacated NEFW Championship, Team NEFW was victorious after all chaos broke loose outside the ring and Dirt Dawg Jeremy Leary was able to gain the upper hand on a stunned Dave Cole and secured the pin, thus becoming the new NEFW Heavyweight Champion. After the match the NEFW locker room cleared out to run off Defiant inc. and celebrate with the new champion.
NEFW returns August 3rd with "Cruel Summer 3." Talents already announce to appear are Johnny Gargano and Chris Masters.
Not surprisingly, people at the show seem to be calling JT Dunn/Chuck Taylor the clear match of the night. The Juice is on such a tear and is without question one of the most fun performers to see live in New England. Should be interesting to see where he will fit in the upcoming Wrestlefudge ULTIMATE 25! Sullivan's arrival is interesting yet not all too shocking. The Defiant Inc. stable is easy to hate and fun to watch. Brian Anthony's appearance was said to get a FANTASTIC reaction. Dirt Dawg gets the strap and the heels are on the run. I like the idea of Defiant Inc. continuing to chase that belt. For now.
Another little subplot going into and around this show was Kristian Frost. Frost, the former NEFW Heavyweight Champion, was recently stripped of that championship and booted from the promotion shortly after appearing at a CTWE event with the NEFW belt in tow. Frost filmed a series of vignettes Saturday night with him basically "stalking" the show. Decent stuff here, I suppose. A lot of vitriolic stuff all over Frosts and NEFW managements personal social media pages back and forth. No love lost. Meanwhile, Frost is seemingly continuing to appear at CTWE events; most recently at Bricco-Mania V.
However... The talk of the weekend, undoubtedly, is what I can only refer to as GreenGate. Here is what is out there and what has been personally communicated to us:
CTWE Owner Joey Bricco, along with friend Steve Fiano, decided they would attend the NEFW BATTLEGROUND event. They bought tickets. However, they were "in disguise". On Facebook, Bricco asserts quite adamantly that he simply wanted to enjoy the show. Take a look at this photo floating around Facebook:
Once NEFW staff realized who the two Green Guys were, Bricco and Fiano were asked to leave the building immediately. Both sides took to social media to make their positions known. Personally? I like that Bricco wants to attend other promotions shows and am aware that it isn't rare for him to do so. I can appreciate that he was aware of the simmering hostilities between the two promotions and thought a disguise would be a good idea. (Maybe? Struggling with that one.) But clearly he wasn't trying to fly under the radar. I can only imagine how much of a distraction they might have been. I don't blame NEFW for asking them to leave - should they have refunded them on the spot instead of publicly posturing with a "you come and GET the refund, anytime, anywhere" type of attitude? Absolutely! That was a gaffe on their end.
All of this being said; we weren't there. That's important to note. All of the above is just what I know from the snippets out there on the interwebs and from several emails/text messages received.
I'm having a hard time thinking Bricco and Fiano DIDN'T know this wouldn't go smooth.
What is encouraging, I suppose, is that Bricco is talking about it. I'm hopeful that the possibility exists that we can have Joey on WrestlefudgeTV LIVE once we return from break to address this further. Hell, we'd be down to hear from all sides on this. Where's the beef?!? Why the drama?!? Who does it REALLY serve?
Have an opinion? Join the conversation: add a comment below, find us on Facebook, or take it to Twitter! We're just looking forward to getting back to talking about WRESTLING!
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