House of Hardcore XX – October 15th, 2016
Court Time Sports Center – Elizabeth, PA
Complete results from Nick Lendl with Joe Dombrowski
Photos from Daniel Hooven
- Bull James def. Kevin Thorn
- Chris LeRusso def. Facade to win the vacant IWC Super Indy Title
- Alex Reynolds def. John Silver and Dan Barry
- Bob “Hardcore” Holly def. Ethan Carter III
- Team LaBar (RJ City, Dylan Bostic, & Wardlow) def. Team IWC (Jimmy Vega$, Andrew Palace, & Matt Striker)
- Tony Nese def. M-Dogg Matt Cross
- Tommy Dreamer, Swoggle, & Candice LeRae def. Jessicka Havok Allie, & Braxton Sutter
- Rhyno def. Sami Callihan
What a night it was this past Saturday as IWC presented House of Hardcore 20! Tommy Dreamer brought his popular promotion to the Court Time Sports Center and promised a night full of action and surprises! The event was centered around Rhyno making his final House of Hardcore appearance before returning to WWE full-time to go one on one with the unorthodox Sami Callihan.
Rhyno was ultimately able to pick up the win in a match filled with weapons that spilled out into the crowd to the delight of the fans! If you’ve followed Sami Callihan over the past few years you’re familiar with the different kind of style he brings to the table, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the 275 pound “Man-Beast” from Detroit.
Following the match, Tommy Dreamer made his way to the ring to congratulate both men on what was an unbelievable performance. Rhyno and Callihan embraced in the ring and the crowd applauded as a sign of respect for both men. Dreamer said that whether these guys are wrestling in front of 500 people or 50,000 they always give it their all and that’s what Hardcore is truly all about!
The feel-good moment was short-lived however, as Dylan Bostic and RJ City ambushed Dreamer, Callihan and Rhyno in the ring from behind. The assault continued until Bubba Ray Dudley made the save in perhaps the biggest surprise of the night, culminating in the tag team legend putting Dylan Bostic through a table! The fans inside The Court Time Sports Center erupted as RJ helped Bostic to the back while Bubba, Dreamer and Callihan celebrated and interacted with the fans.
Dreamer took to the microphone, expressing his appreciation, and thanked the fans for their continued support. He announced that he and Justin Plummer will work together again to bring House of Hardcore back in 2017! The crowd chanted “IWC, HOH” repeatedly while Bubba brought in a young fan and gave him a piece of the broken table, the ultimate souvenir for a fan of any age!
It’s no secret that IWC owner Justin Plummer hasn’t gotten along with Justin LaBar from the get-go. The two have always been at odds with each other and with things escalating more and more over the summer, it would finally come to a head at House of Hardcore! Each man selected three individuals to represent them in a Six-Man Tag Team War where the winning team’s captain would select the number one contender for DJZ’s IWC World Heavyweight Title in December at Winner Takes All!
LaBar’s first two representatives came as a shock to nobody: Wardlow and RJ City, two men that have been long-time associates of LaBar. The third man was revealed shortly afterward: Dylan Bostic, the man who earlier this summer was forced out of IWC following a loss to DJZ at Caged Fury! Doing what he does best, LaBar was able to find a loophole and since this technically wasn’t an IWC show, Bostic was legally able to compete in the match.
Justin Plummer went to the core of IWC for his team. He selected Andrew Palace, the IWC Wrestler of the Year in 2015, Jimmy Vegas, the man who’s been in IWC since the beginning, and “Big League” John McChesney, the man who many have called the heart and soul of IWC.
It seemed as though Team IWC would be at a disadvantage from the start as John McChesney appeared on 
crutches in front of the crowd and announced that due to injury he would be unable to compete! The smiles that appeared on the faces of Team LaBar didn’t last long as McChesney announced his replacement: Lucha Underground commentator and former WWE Superstar Matt Striker!
Unfortunately, even having the smartest man in the locker room on their team wasn’t enough for Team IWC as by hook or crook, Team LaBar picked up the victory, spoiling what should have been a feel-good night for IWC owner Justin Plummer. The IWC pride felt by John McChesney was on display as he, even with being injured, slid into the ring to help prevent further damage from Team LaBar after the bell! It looked to be a bad idea for IWC’s franchise as he 
was circled in the ring by LaBar and his goons until the lights went out…
The Sandman appeared, beer in hand, and proceeded to cane Team LaBar right out of the ring! What followed was a moment that will go down in IWC history: The Sandman led Team IWC in a beer bash with the Court Time fans while “Enter Sandman” played in the background. Just another example of why the legacy of ECW will live on forever!
It may have been an embarrassing moment for Justin LaBar to end his night, but when he finally gets the stench of beer out of his leather jacket and way-too white shoes, he still has an important decision to make: Who will LaBar choose to challenge DJZ for the World Heavyweight Title in December?
For ten months, Chris LeRusso has been in pursuit of the IWC Super Indy Championship. From attacking Andrew Palace last December, to beating Gory and Alex Daniels last month in Rural Valley to earn a Title shot, becoming Super Indy Champion has always been the goal.
Things seemed to be continuing to work out in favor of LeRusso as it was announced days before House of Hardcore that current Super Indy Champion Josh Alexander would have to vacate the Championship due to international travel issues. This came as great news for LeRusso’s camp, and manager BC Steele made his way to the ring with LeRusso and “The Human Crime Scene” Bulk 
Nasty to demand Justin Plummer hand the Title over to LeRusso! Plummer refused, claiming he would never tarnish the lineage of the Super Indy Championship by simply “handing it over,” so a replacement was named: former Super Indy Champion, Facade!
To the dismay of LeRusso, the “Neon Ninja” made his way to the ring and hoped to cap off his return to IWC by winning the Super Indy Championship! While everyone was excited to see Facade and Dani back in IWC, the return ended on a bad note as LeRusso was able to score the victory and finally win the Championship he’s been chasing the entire year! Unfortunately for all of us, the victory didn’t render the “Heir Apparent” speechless, as he told us in an interview following the match that after finally becoming Super Indy Champion, he “feels like God!”
Though his hands were full running a live show, that didn’t stop House of Hardcore owner Tommy Dreamer from getting a taste of the action himself. He teamed with Candice LeRae and Swoggle to defeat the team of Allie, Braxton Sutter and Jessica Havok! Tommy was up to his old ways; bringing with him a garbage can full of weapons from the back and even at one point swallowed the loogie spit at him by Jessica Havok!
The crowd loved every second of it, playing along with Swoggle as he conducted his own game of “Duck, Duck, Goose” in the ring as the others were tied up in multiple submission holds! Swoggle eventually hit the tadpole splash on Sutter and picked up the victory for his team in perhaps the most entertaining match of the evening.
Ethan Carter III is the franchise of TNA Wrestling. He’s a 3 time World Heavyweight Champion with victories over guys like Sting and Kurt Angle, and he made sure to remind all the fans of just that before his match at House of Hardcore. EC3 shrugged off his opponent, but if there’s anyone that can match the intensity of Kurt Angle, it’s Bob “Hardcore” Holly, the former WWE Superstar who’s known for his take no nonsense attitude!
Carter may be a big star now, but nothing matches decades of experience in this business. That experience may have been the only advantage Holly had in this match, but it was enough as he was able to pull out the victory that some fans would certainly call an upset!
Hardcore isn’t just about weapons and blood… it’s about passion, and giving the fans everything you have every single night because you love what you do! That’s exactly what Tony Nese and Matt Cross showed everyone this past Saturday night. Cross is a well-traveled veteran, watched every week on Lucha Underground by swarms of fans, and Nese, who refers to himself as “The Premier Athlete,” is coming off the WWE Cruiserweight Classic and is appearing regularly on Monday Night Raw.
The evenly-sided, twenty plus minute match came to a close with Nese scoring the much deserved pinfall victory, not only getting his arm raised by the referee, but by Cross himself as the ultimate sign of respect! We hope to see these two back in an IWC ring sooner than later, but until then, we’ll be satisfied watching them on TV every week!
In other action, Alex Reynolds defeated John Silver and “Detective” Dan Barry in a fast-paced Triple Threat Match and Bull James was able to pick up a victory over former WWE/ECW Superstar Kevin Thorn. The 300 pounder from Brooklyn made a few appearances for Ring of Honor recently and continues to keep his momentum going after his departure from NXT this past summer.
House of Hardcore 20 was truly a night to remember and one that will be talked about for some time. It really had the feel of something special! Next up on the IWC calendar is Clearfield Carnage on November 5th at the Clearfield County Fairgrounds featuring Andrew Palace, Bryan Bowers, Gory, Britt Baker, IWC Super Indy Champion Chris LeRusso and more! Tickets are available now.
For more images from House of Hardcore XX, visit the photo album on Facebook!
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