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Csonka’s WWN Supershow Mercury Rising Preview

April 4, 2019 | Posted by Larry Csonka

WELCOME back to column time with Larry! Today, I am going to discuss and preview the WWN Supershow Mercury Rising event. The show is one of over 35 events being held over WrestleMania weekend in the New York City area. So today, I will break down and preview the show; thanks for reading! It’s wrestling, we love it and will disagree. The only rules are “have a take, be respectful, and don’t be a dick.”

Winner Gets WWN Contract – Elimination Match Anthony Greene vs. Barrett Brown vs. Colby Corino vs. Harlem Bravado vs. John Silver vs. TBD : These matches tend to be chaotic fun, and should be used to kick off the show. I expect a fast paced, high-octane match with everyone working hard to impress. It will be interesting to see who they book for the mystery spot, but judging by who we know will participate, Corino & Silver are the easy frontrunners; Corino since he’s part of the Unwanted stable, and Silver because he impressed recently and just fits the roster well. I’m thinking Silver for the win. WINNER: John Silver

Austin Theory & Brandi Lauren vs. Darby Allin & Priscilla Kelly: At EVOLVE 124, Kelly defeated Lauren, but after the match, Lauren attacked her, leading to Allin and Anthony Henry getting involved, brawling and then having their match. EVOLVE has been planting the seeds for the long running Theory vs. Allin feud, with William Regal demanding the two step up and become the next faces of indie wrestling. Kelly was originally aligned with Theory, but once he found success as a champion, he kicked her to the curb, and she ended up with Allin. And that brings up to this match as Allin looks to gain ground on Theory and finally realize his goal of becoming EVOLVE champion. I really fear that they have waited too long to pull the trigger with Allin, as he just doesn’t feel as hot as he was in recent months. He’ll likely run into another roadblock here, as I see his team losing, with Lauren pinning Kelly. WINNER: Austin Theory & Brandi Lauren

FIP World Heavyweight Championship Match: champion Anthony Henry defends vs. Absolute Andy: Anthony Henry defends comes in as the cocky heel champion, battling wXw’s Absolute Andy in a special attraction match. Henry has been a strong and consistent performer for WWN, and I think that Andy will be a good opponent for him. The problem with these special title matches against international talents is that a title change is extremely unlikely, so the work needs to be really good and they have to make the viewers believe Andy has a real chance for them to succeed. WINNER: Anthony Henry

SHINE Championship Match: Champion Allysin Kay defends vs. Miyu Yamashita: Allysin Kay is the current, reigning and defending SHINE champion with over 200 days as champion and four title defenses to her credit so far. Miyu Yamashita is 24 and is part of the DDT talent brought in for the show, and gets to challenge here. Yamashita works a really strong and fast paced offense, and high quality strikes that always look good and brutal. Kay is a good and consistent performer, and it will be interesting to see how her power game plays against Yamashita’s more striking based offense. But again, the possible problem with these special title matches against international talents is that a title change is extremely unlikely, so Kay retains. WINNER: Allysin Kay

WWN Championship Match: Champion JD Drake defends vs. Kazusada Higuchi: JD Drake has done very well as WWN Champion, delivering very good to great matches, and constantly delivering strong performances overall. He may not be the first choice for champion to many, but he’s over and delivers in the spot and that’s all that matters to me. Higuchi is 30 years old and one of the guests in from DDT for this special first time match. Higuchi is a former sumo competitor, and has a judo background. This has potential to be a fun big lads battle. But again, and I hate to be repetitive, but the possible problem with these special title matches against international talents is that a title change is extremely unlikely, so it has to be really good and we have to believe that Higuchi can win for it to work; Drake retains. WINNER: JD Drake

The Skulk of AR Fox, Leon Ruff & Adrian Alanis w/ Ayla vs. Team DDT of Daisuke Sasaki, Tetsuya Endo & Soma Takao: This is the first of two six-man main events, continuing the tradition ROH & Dragon Gate started. WWN has kept the tradition alive, doubling down this year. Fox and his students have been one of the more fun parts of EVOLVE shows and are always out to impress. They’ll have the chance to do that against team DDT here. This should be the more chaotic and fast paced of the two six-mans, and while I am sure the Skulk will thrive, I don’t see them pulling out the win. WINNER: Team DDT

Shane Strickland & EVOLVE Tag Team Champions Eddie Kingston & Joe Gacy of The Unwanted vs. Team wXw of 16 Carat Gold 2019 winner Lucky Kid, Shotgun Champion Marius Al Ani & Unified World Wrestling Champion Bobby Gunns: While the previous match looks to be the more chaotic and fast paced style match, this one should be a more deliberate and hard-hitting match. And that’s the best part of these two matches, the variety, which will only add to the card. While the wXw team is a really good one, I think the Unwanted, as the new stable and tag champions, pull this one off. WINNER: The Unwanted

JOIN 411 AT 3PM ET ON APRIL 5TH FOR OUR LIVE COVERAGE OF THE SHOW.

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– Thanks for reading.

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The 411 on Wrestling Podcast returns to the 411 Podcasting Network for episode 8. On the show, 411’s Larry Csonka is joined by Steven Jefferson Douglas Cook. The guys will discuss the possibility of Smackdown going to three hours, thoughts on Scarlett’s Debut & Allie’s Death on Impact, and then break down WrestleMania 35. The show is approximately 85 minutes long

* Intro
* Smackdown to Three Hours?: 5:35
* Impact Thoughts on Scarlett’s Debut & Allie’s Death: 17:15
* WrestleMania 35 Preview: 26:40