WrestlePro was coming into its final event of 2016. A year that they debuted and also a year they made noise on an immediate basis. They’ve traveled to multiple cities including, their home of Rahway, NJ, Cresskill, NJ, Brooklyn, NY, and have secured their spot to be a part of 2017’s WrestleCon in Orlando, Florida during WWE’s WrestleMania weekend! Our final event of 2016 easily saw 1,100 plus in attendance as there was not a seat not occupied. The final event of 2016 kicked off with a special Pre-Show match.

The Amazing Graysons vs Donovan & Blake (The WrestlePanuers)

Blake and Donavan made their way to the ring to a loud “Who Are You?” chant from the crowd. Before the Amazing Grayson’s can even get introduced, Donovan snatched the mic immediately and let the Rahway faithful know his displeasure with having so much experience and winding up on the pre-show. There was a different degree of anger in Donovan’s voice as Blake could be scene making gestures to the crowd with total disrespect. The Grayson’s, who only have about 2 years experience in the ring as a tag team (as opposed to the 20+ combined years from Blake and Donovan) showed a lot of fight in the early going. They were able to execute very quickly with speed and precision to have the veterans rattled however within a matter of moments Blake and Donovan turned the tide. There was a side of aggression and rage that we had not seen yet from them through the majority of the match. However, when the pace picked back up, it was the young Grayson’s who were able to take advantage of the veterans to score the upset victory to the displeasure of Blake and Donovan. Something tells me they will be back sooner rather than later with even MORE anger and frustration.
Your Winners: The Amazing Graysons !

Match 1: CPA vs Habib From The Carwash
I know when you look at this match up on paper, the first thing that may come to mind is Andre/Hogan or Rock/Austin and we got just as much as we expected. These two have competed in the same WrestlePro ring as partners on a few occasions but never have they ever squared off. These two brought two COMPLETE different styles of wrestling to the table. CPA, the slower of the two tried to start this match off with a very Warrior/Hogan WrestleMania 6 test of strength. Both men weren’t willing to give up so fast. CPA showed so much fight that towards the closing moments of the match up did what some can’t say they ever have and that was kick out of “Habibs Knees”! And much like most of CPA’s matches in 2016 and even prior to that, the ol “Fake Clip on Tie” trick was enough to outsmart the man from car wash land.
Your Winner: CPA!

Match 2: Reality Check (Kevin Matthews and Craven Varro) & JTG vs Team Espanikos w/ Coach D
There is no secret if you had to vote for “Most improved” group of 2016, it would easily be Team Espana with their addition of one Nikos Rikos! They have united their respective countries and have taken the trios division by storm! However, ahead of them was the freshly reunited stable of Reality Check with their leader Kevin Matthews and his old buddy Craven Varro. Kevin came out to let the crowd know that he knew Espanikos wasn’t going to make it a fair 2 on 2 fight so to even up the odds, Kevin made a call to a fellow friend from “Brooklyn, Brooklyn” JTG! This call by Kevin was a great one as we saw innovative offense from a brand new version of one JTG! Kevin and Craven gelled as they have in the past and looked to have had the match in control until Espanikos cut the ring in half and worked on a vulnerable Craven Varro. In the closing moments of this match we saw Craven Varro head up to the top rope to pull off his ever so famous “coast to coast” and connected! Just as Kevin was going to attempt the devastating Ego-Driver, Nikos Rikos slipped in the back door and hit him with a vicious back-stabber and Espanikos was able to come away with the HUGE upset to continue their winning ways to close out 2016. They, as a team, secured the win but in their rapid celebration escaped the ring WITHOUT their leader and coach, D Stiffwood! Craven and JTG surrounded coach D and sent him in the ring to a waiting Kevin Matthews. Kevin kicked Coach D right in the gut and gave him quite possibly the biggest Ego-Driver we had ever seen in that building and we still don’t know if Coach D regained consciousness, days later!
Your Winners: Team Espanikos, Your Loser, Coach D !

Match 3: Delroy Alexander vs Colt Cabana
A month ago, we were able to witness a new side of Delroy as it was brought of him by one Mario Bokara. He put up a tremendous fight and even in a losing effort was able to take away a lot and considered it possibly a “Moral Victory”. On this night, Delroy was through with the close calls and knew he needed this win to regain some momentum to end the year. Standing in the way of that, was one of WrestlePro’s best competitors and independent star, Colt Cobana. Delroy once again wasn’t having any of the normal “comedic” ways of Colt as he hit Cabana with a huge clothesline as he was attempting his famous “STOP! Look up!” maneuver. Delroy was trying to show Rahway and the rest of the boys in the back that he was for real on this night. While it looked like Delroy could score the upset, Colt showed his veteran ring presence and hit Delroy with everything he had in his box of tricks for the victory 1-2-3
Your Winner: Colt Cabana

Match 4: Chris Avery Queling (CAQ) vs Giant Leather
On paper this looked to be billed as two monsters colliding and it was just that. CAQ came in, still undefeated fresh off his mauling of Hush “Hands up”, and the Beach Bums on October’s WrestlePro Weekend, was ready to continue his path of destruction vs. a monster from the island, Giant Leather. CAQ had found himself in a few situations where he wasn’t very familiar with but once he turned on his rage there was no going back…again! CAQ hit Giant Leather with multiple hard fists and stomps full of rage until he hit his finishing massive left armed lariat to knock the monster out cold. He hit him so hard that he may have sent him to his island for one last time. The future could be uncertain for him but the future is VERY big and bright for this 2016 Undefeated, Chris Avery Queling
Your Winner: Chris Avery Queling

Match 5: WrestlePro Championship Match – Bobby Wayward © vs Danny Maff (Number 1 Contender)
This match had extreme hype and it lived up to the billing pretty quickly. Within the first moments of the match, the strikes that they exchanged were heard from the rafters of the Rahway Rec Center. Early on, we thought we were looking at a complete domination win by Danny Maff as his chops were heard in near by towns not as “slap” sounds but as loud thunderous thuds through Bobby Wayward’s chest and back! We truly thought we were in line to see a NEW WrestlePro champion as Maff hit a massive dive to the outside and the end was near for Bobby’s run as champion until all hell broke loose. Towards the end of the match, Maff was looking to end it with his finishing and crushing “Burning Hammer”. Bobby had the ring presence and knowledge to quickly and swiftly kick the referee in the face while being held in position to be dropped on his head! Maff looking for the count had no referee. Maff then continued his offense by positioning Bobby in the corner in which we all know, if you have seen a Danny Maff match is a place you don’t want to be! Bobby once again, pulled the barely coherent referee in the way to receive the canon ball in the corner putting this referee out of commission for good. As Bobby then regained his legs and wound up back on his feet… He then quickly found himself on the receiving end of a pop-up power bomb that once again knocked him silly. To the pleasure of the Rahway crowd, a NEW referee appeared to run down the ramp but instead of counting Bobby down for the 1-2-3, he checked on the unconscious referee to the displeasure of Danny Maff! Bobby had enough time to recover to kick out at an early 2 count! Maff, completely fed up with this situation lifted Bobby on his shoulders again and hit the biggest “Burning Hammer” of the night. This match was over. Maff then covered Bobby for the 1….2….??? Kick out? From a knocked out Wayward?! NO! The referee stopped his count at 2 and a half and expressed to the crowd and time keeper that Wayward had kicked out! It was clear as day that he hadn’t. Maff had enough. He grabbed the referee by his collar and shoved him into the corner screaming bloody murder at him for his referee performance. As he was doing this, Wayward was able to come to his senses, crawl over to the corner where Maff was and delivered a low blow to Maff and rolled him up for then the Referee jumped to the ground and proceeded to count Maff’s shoulders down quite quickly to HAND Bobby Wayward this match!
Your Winner: AND STILL, WrestlePro Champion, Bobby Wayward

**After the match**
This is where it’s hard for me to type about because I truly don’t know what came over Maff. We’ve all seen screw jobs before, and sometimes you’re on the losing end but this didn’t sit well with the badass from Bayonne. He went on to say that he built the very building that we were all sitting in. That he was a “Hall of Famer” for other companies and that this shouldn’t happen to guys like him. Using explicit language to express his displeasure he then proceeded to say he was going on protest and the show WOULD NOT go on without answers. This lead WrestlePro to send out a few members of the roster along with a security team to try and reason with this enraged animal. Once one member of this security team laid a hand on Maff, he snapped and lost it and proceeded to destroy everyone in sight. After he laid waste to the security team, Hush “Hands Up” and a few others he made his way to the outside of the ring to the floor. He grabbed ring announcer David Adams by the collar and Adams proceeded to beg for his life until Maff let him run away. During this, Commentator Shining Edward Jackson had also taken the high road through the crowd. We thought Maff was done. Maff made his way towards the ramp and stopped half way up. He turned his rage to the RING GIRL! He grabbed her by the back of the head and rolled her into the ring! I, myself, got off the announce table to try and reason with someone I called a friend, a mentor, and a father like figure of WrestlePro. He then proceeded to slam my head to the ring apron knocking me out as he then made his way into the ring. Without any hesitation we witnessed the worst of the worst and saw Dan Maff launch the ring girl onto his shoulders and hit her with the “Burning Hammer”!!! This prompted WrestlePro owner Pat Buck to come down to try and stop Maff. Maff then left the ring, not before he showed his appreciation to Buck in the form of a middle finger and left the arena while tossing anything in his path towards the back door. There has not been any discipline given out to Danny Maff yet. More to follow as the weeks go on.

Match 6: C-Bunny vs Antoinette Marie
The crowd was obviously still not over what we just witnessed but the show had to move forward. It did just that by giving us a hard hitting womens match featuring two 2016 Rookie women, in C-Bunny and Antoinette Marie! We have seen these two women fight across the ring from each other on a few occasions in multiple women tag team matches but this was their WrestlePro single’s debut! What impressed me the most was the rage and attitude of one Antoinette Marie. She’s clearly letting the fans know that she’s not just another pretty face and that she packs a mean punch! C-Bunny, known for her positivity and dance moves was no answer for Antoinette. Be on the lookout for both of these competitors as they were able to hold their own in front of a massive capacity crowd but in the end there has to be a winner and that was indeed, the rage filled, Antoinette!
Your Winner: Antoinette Marie

 

Match 7: Beach Bums vs Taboo Crew w/ Gino Gotz
The last time we saw the Beach Bums they were trying to rebound off their debut vs CAQ but weren’t able to even make it to the ring. They were attacked by Espanikos and never got that opportunity to bounce back so on THIS night in Rahway, they were able to make it to the ring and have quite the entertaining match with the team that is the definition of “entertainment” the Taboo Crew. If I had to rank the tag teams that have the most momentum going into 2017 it would surely have Craig Steele and Micah Jenkins on the top of that list. Taboo Crew head of security, Gino Gotz has to be very pleased with his guys as they were able to take out a team of 3! Micah Jenkins continues to defy gravity and if I had to pick a favorite finishing move, it would be the Taboo Driver consisting of Jenkins doing a full front flip off a springboard to help drive their opponent to the mat with the force of the Big Deal Craig Steele. This match sure showed that the Crew may take a leap frog to the top of the tag team #1 contendership.
Your Winners: The Taboo Crew

Match 8: Apple Corps (Matt Macintosh, Valerio Lamorte, Maxwell Jacob Feinstein) vs Aesthetic Males (Damian Gibbs, Beefcake Charlie, Mike Del) w/ Jay Enterprise
Previous to the match, we saw a segment on the big screen showing how frustrated Macintosh was with the choice of “gimmicks” in the company. He said there were too many and the Aesthetic Males were just another gimmick but on top of the “hit list” he had created. The males were coming off a huge win in Creskill over The BroMan’s so we knew that they shouldn’t be overlooked. We saw brand new innovative offense from Mike Del and once again saw the repeated brute strength of the big man Beefcake Charlie. Damian Gibbs, who continues to improve each and every time he steps out there also added 4 inches to the height of an already beautiful dropkick. The Males seemed to have had things working in their favor until an unfortunate miscue by Beefcake and the Corps took full advantage. Gibbs then missed a massive moonsault and it lead to a superkick- german suplex- Newton’s law three way combo move to score the victory for the already angry, Apple Corps!
Your Winners: The Apple Corps

Match 9: Mario Bokara vs Anthony Bowens vs Crowbar vs Bull James
This match was a perfect mix of the past, present, and future of pro wrestling. Mario Bokara came into this match riding a massive high and hot streak with victories over Matt Macintosh and Delroy Alexander as he stepped into the ring against 3 worthy competitors and not just one. Anthony Bowens was coming off a huge let down as he dropped the WrestlePro championship last month to Bobby Wayward but not without the help of Wayward’s new “FRIEND” Chris Avery Queling which has found himself in a weird obsession with one, Anthony Bowens. Bull James and Crowbar were last seen with WrestlePro at the Edison fall festival and had their very own respective outings heading into this huge match in Rahway. We saw an incredible Croatian suplex from the second turnbuckle to Crowbar while he was trying to bring down Bowens as well! A match that featured many hard hits took a turn when CAQ made his way down to the ramp to distract Bowens in which the two fought all the way to the back. It then lead into a triple-threat match and Bokara was able to score yet ANOTHER victory in WrestlePro via his devastating crovat-lock armbar submission!
Your Winner: Mario Bokara

**After the match**
I, Dave D-Struction, caught up with Mario in the ring following his very impressive win over wrestling’s past, present, and future. I went on to ask him what was next on his radar. What did Bokara have in store for the fans going forward in 2017 in which the answer was simple. Mario dished out a HUGE challenge for Starland Ballroom in February of 2017… His choice of opponent to the shock and pleasure of the Rahway crowd, CODY RHODES!
Match 10: MAIN EVENT: The Broken Hardys (Broken Matt & Brother Nero) & RyBuck (Ryback & Pat Buck) vs The EJ-5 (The Heavenly Bodies, Buster Jackson, and Chris Payne)

**Note: This elimination match was scheduled in a “WAR GAMES” Rules. The Match would start off with 1 on 1 competition and every 3 minutes a new member of a team would come out until all men were eliminated on one side**

The Match started off with Buster Jackson squaring off against the WrestlePro founder and owner and one half of the WrestlePro tag team champions, Pat Buck. Solid technical wrestling was offered up by Buck as we have come to learn and know that he can wrestle with the best of them. Just when Buck thought he had the upper hand, the 3 minutes ran down and in came Desirable Dustin of the Heavenly Bodies to make it an unfair 2 on 1 advantage to the EJ5. Next , it was FEEDING TIME as Ryback made his way down the ramp to help even up the odds! The Tag champions then did a standing vertical suplex which by the Rahway crowds count exceeded 15+ seconds until they came crashing to the mat. The next member to come out was Gigolo Justin to give the EJ5 the 3 on 2 advantage until it was evened up again with the emergence of one “Brother Nero”, Jeff Hardy! To the surprise of everyone in Rahway the first man eliminated in this match was indeed, owner, Pat Buck! EJ5 then were joined by Chris Payne to make the 4 on 2 advantage. Soon, Buster Jackson found himself eliminated right before broken Matt Hardy made his way to the ring as the crowd erupted in their “DELETE” chants. Before we knew it, It was the Broken Hardys along with Ryback squared off against Chris Payne and Justin. Justin took it upon himself to try and even up the odds with a chair and took it to both Jeff and Ryback. Before we knew it, We found Justin on the receiving end of a DELETION. This left Chris Payne to fend off Both Hardys and Ryback and if you’re doing the math at home, this spelt utter disaster for the officer. Chris Payne was on the receiving end, in a row, of the Twist of Fate, The Shell Shock and then a HUGE Swanton Bomb.
Your Winners and Survivors: The Broken Hardys and Ryback (Or, The “Broken Big Guy”)