Courtesy of ACW

AWESOME CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING DEBUTS IN POUGHKEEPSIE

- Rob Crowther, Editor In Chief

An amalgamation of the best talent in the northeast independents, legends, and current World Champions from multiple promotions all came together for the debut show of Awesome Championship Wrestling at the MJN Center in Poughkeepsie, New York. The show was a love letter to ECW, while also showcasing the future of professional wrestling in front of a sold out crowd of 1,500 fans.

ACW isn't your average independent promotion. In fact, it was run very much like a weekly TV production from top to bottom. Founders Hale Collins and Vik Dalishus of the legendary tag team The Now spent relentless hours promoting locally, appearing on nearly every radio station in town.

In a recent social media post, Vik and Hale shared, "It is very hard to encapsulate what last night meant to us personally and professionally. Our journey throughout this crazy world of Professional Wrestling has come with its share of ups and downs, many of which lots of you have been along for the entire ride to witness.

ACW started out as literally just a wild idea. We were approached several times over the last year to bring wrestling back to Poughkeepsie, but either the timing wasn’t right for some promoters or the thought process of it being a dead market got the better of others. Ultimately, we knew it came down to us, and our love for this area, that building, and the amazing sport of Pro Wrestling.

So, we took a chance.

We had the right partners who we had known for years and were instrumental in getting House of Hardcore off the ground locally 12 years ago. Many meetings were had, many tough conversations took place, lots of ideas thrown on the table.

From setting a date, to choosing a name, designing a logo, settling on promotional direction, booking the talent, choosing the matches, doing appearances to promote, branding, creating the best experience for the fans, learning production and what’s needed to pull off a show like this, catering for our staff, travel, tickets being sold…every step of this process has been memorable and rewarding.

Last night was the payoff. Truly, Thank you. From the bottom of our hearts."

The show was an absolute grand slam with a stacked card from the opening match to the TNA World Championship main event.

The opening match of the evening saw REAL 1 vs. GKM vs. NWA Junior Heavyweight Champ, Alex Taylor for the gold. Great opener here as REAL 1 (fka Enzo Amore) cut a promo chopping down his opponents, saying that GKM was just "KM" because he wasn't a "G". The crowd immediately started CA-Caw-ing ala GKM's battle cry, showing his connection to the fans here in the northeast. HUGE Pop for GKM during his entrance and "CA-caww(s)!" throughout the arena.

Crisp three way dance here with some great suicide dives from The Phoenix, GKM. Real 1 was even able to hit his old finisher, a flying "DDG", which GKM was able to kick out of. Real 1 was able to hit his JawDonzo foot to the face finisher on GKM, but Taylor stole the pin to retain.

Post-match, REAL 1 said he had to cut weight for this match and wanted a slice of pizza. Luckily for him The NEW FBI consisting of Little Guido, Ray Jaz, and Zack Clayton brought a pizza to the ring for the former WWE Cruiserweight Champion. There was only three slices left, so Enzo walked off in a very humorous segment.

The New FBI took on the team of Danny Doring, Dante Casanova, and Landon Hale. Tons of heat for Doring. Great 6-man action here, with an awesome three way leg drop by The New FBI for the win. Huge ovation for the group post-match.

Up next, The Timeless One, Crowbar took on Anthony Greene in a hard hitting match. Greene held his own but Crowbar is just at another level at this point in his career. He truly is Timeless. Crowbar hit a frankensteiner off the top followed by a northern lights suplex WITH a chair for the win. Crowbar continues to test the young lions in the business and put on show-stealing matches, night after night.

The ACW women's match saw a bout between Damian Adams' standouts Tiara James & Kelly Madan. Pre-match Vicious Vicki interrupted with a bit of a new attitude after her breakdown at Pro Wrestling Magic last week. The Vicious one stated that she is THE QUEEN of ACW and will be ringside watching this one. The bout was primarily a technical one with multiple exchanges and reversals between the two competitors. Vicki interfered at the end causing a distraction, inadvertently allowing Madan to get the roll- up for the win.

After the match, the ring announcer let the capacity crowd know that ACW would be back in Poughkeepsie on May 17th!!

The second title match of the evening was between the legend, Tommy Dreamer and the current, reigning and defending NWA World Champion Thom Latimer. Huge ovation for Dreamer with not only "ECW!" chants, but "House of Hardcore" chants as well. You knew this one meant a lot to Dreamer as he explained publicly how much this NWA Championship meant to him. Dreamer even said on Busted Open that he had a bad leg, and that if this was his last match, than so be it.

Latimer is no slouch, and is the real deal. Solid match between these two, as both competitors really dug deep into the arsenal for this one. Unfortunately, NWA stars Joe Ocasio and Alex Taylor interfered in this match, and destroyed any chance Dreamer had of winning the historic Championship. As the NWA stars beat down Dreamer in the ring, the infamous "Enter Sandman" by Metallica played throughout the arena, and well....The Sandman entered.

Sandman made the save with a kendo stick(after pouring a lot of beer into a lot of mouths) and had a really nice embrace with Dreamer in the ring and on the stage. Great moment and nod to Extreme Championship Wrestling.

Up next, ACW founders THE NOW took on the team of Dan Maff & Shawn Donavan, infamously known as Sent 2 Slaughter, in a Tables Match. These are hands down two of the best vet tag teams in the independents today, alongside the likes of The Rep and Meat Locker. THE NOW also had another surprise with a special ring introduction by ECW's Joel Gertner.

THE NOW and S2S have had numerous bouts in the Northeast, particularly in ISPW. You knew this one was going to be good. Tons of tandem offense, low blows, and table spots. The NOW secured the win with a Hale Collins vintage flying elbow from the top through a table on Shawn Donavan.

The sub-main event was up next, where the ACW Heavyweight Championship would be presented by International Pro Wrestling Hall of Famer and Busted Open's own, Dave LaGreca. 20 Competitors would compete in the Poughkeepsie rumble, with the remaining two having a match for the title, on the spot.

The match consisted of indie darlings, legends, and a few surprises. Names in the rumble included the likes of Leo Sparrow, Vargas, Brian Myers, Kerr, Richard Holliday, Wrecking Ball Legursky, The Patriot, Joe Ocasio, Rick Recon, Traxx and more. Big pop for the Brian Myers surprise. Move of the night went to Kerr, not once but twice. First when he lifted Leo Sparrow above his head in a free fall down to the mat AND secondly when he hit his partner in Meat Locker, Wrecking Ball Legursky, with an impressive Fall Away Slam!!

Holliday and Wrecking Ball were the last two standing and coincidentally the first two to enter the match. (Holliday at one, and Legursky at two.) Both men were exhausted from running the proverbial gauntlet but Holliday got Legursky with a well-timed low blow and a lariat for the win to become your inaugural ACW Heavyweight Champion.

After the match, broski and Indie god, Matt Cardona appeared on screen to announce that he'll be challenging for the ACW Championship on May 17th!!

The Main Event saw TNA World Champion Nic Nemeth take on Matt Riddle in a much anticipated match up for both competitors. This was a great match full of cutters, super-kicks, and dropkicks. Literally every one of Nemeth's dropkicks were right in the dome of Riddle. Perhaps one of the best, if not the best dropkicks in the game today. This was a great match reminiscent of some of those NXT Black and Gold TakeOver bouts. The match concluded with RIddle going for a Bro-Derek driver, but was quickly reversed into a rollup by Nemeth to retain.

What a way to end a tremendous night of pro wrestling in New York. The gentlemen from The NOW once again live up to their name after their debut event. Not only were fans treated to a night of top tier pro wrestling action, but independent talent can now work in an environment that is comparable to TV. Kudos to everyone involved.

ACW Returns to The MJN Center in Poughkeepsie NY on May 17th. Tickets will be available at: https://thisisacw.com/