Independent News and Notes: EVOLVE Lives, Plus News On DGUSA, ROH and CHIKARA

After several months of silence, EVOLVE pro wrestling looks to be back on track.

The promotion recently revamped their web site and announced that their seventh show will be taking place on April 19 at the B.B. King Blues Club & Grill in Times Square.

This event marks the debut of the EVOLVE brand in New York City and is the promotion’s first show since November of last year. The DVD release of that show, EVOLVE 6, is also now available for pre-order.

While no matches or talent have been announced for EVOLVE 7, any news from the promotion is good news at this point. Just last week, I wrote this article about the uncertain future of the company.

Gabe Sapolsky, who runs EVOLVE, has been quite busy with his other promotion, Dragon Gate USA.

DGUSA is gearing up for their huge WrestleMania 27 weekend in Atlanta. A handful of matches have been signed for the Atlanta shows thus far, including the first ever defense of the promotion’s new tag team titles, the Open the United Gate Championship.

The champs, Masato Yoshino and PAC of the World-1 faction, will be putting their titles on the line as the main event of the April 3 show. They will face CIMA and Ricochet of the Blood Warriors in what looks on paper to be an outstanding tag team affair.

The Blood Warriors will also be in the main event of the April 2 show, this time in a 6-man tag match. CIMA and Ricochet will be joined by Naruki Doi as they face Chuck Taylor, Johnny Gargano and Rich Swann, who collectively make up the faction known as Ronin.

With plenty of bad blood between these factions following last month’s triple-shot, expect tons of fireworks when these teams hit the ring in Atlanta.

Ring of Honor will also be in town for WrestleMania weekend, but they still have a few more major shows to get through before the events of early April begin to take shape.

ROH makes their return to Internet pay-per-view next Saturday with their Ninth Anniversary Show from Chicago Ridge, Ill.

The event will be broadcast live on gofightlive.tv and features Homicide challenging Roderick Strong for the ROH World Heavyweight Championship as the main event.

The Briscoes will take on Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas in what is being billed as a dream tag team match.

ROH World Tag Team Champions the Kings of Wrestling will also be in action, defending their titles against Rhett Titus and Kenny King, the All Night Express.

The ROH World Television Championship will also be on the line as Christopher Daniels defends against the man he defeated for the title, Eddie Edwards. This time around it will be a 2 out of 3 falls match that promises to be a show stealer.

The night before the iPPV, ROH will be in Dayton, Ohio for a show headlined by a six-man tag team match of epic proportions.

The Kings of Wrestling will team with Roderick Strong to do battle with Davey Richards, Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas.

It will surely be an interesting weekend for ROH fans as the promotion celebrates its 9^th anniversary.

With all the titles on the line, there is a good chance that new champions will be crowned as the top independent promotion going these days looks to keep their streak of top notch iPPV offerings in tact.

Lastly, CHIKARA is preparing for a big weekend in Pennsylvania.

Saturday night marks their return to Reading, Pa. with a show titled “Caught in a Cauldron of Hate.” Mike Quackenbush and Jigsaw will defend their tag team titles against the frightening and mysterious team of Obariyon and Kodama, known as the Batiri.

Quackenbush and Jigsaw have only held the Campeonatos de Parejas since December and this match against the Batiri marks their first defense of those titles.

They have their work cut out for them against Obariyon and Kodama, who have been dominant since showing up in CHIKARA.

Other highlights of Saturday’s card include Frightmare defending the Young Lions Cup against Rich Swann, Eddie Kingston taking on Johnny Gargano and a trios match between the Colony and the Osirian Portal.

On Sunday, CHIKARA presents the “Clutch of Doom” in Easton, Pa.

The main event is a tag team battle, with Fire Ant and Solider Ant of the Colony going up against Claudio Castagnoli and Tursas of the nefarious Bruderschaft des Kreuzes faction.

Jigsaw squares off against Tim Donst of the BDK, Sara Del Rey takes on Madison Eagles in women’s action and a huge trios match will feature the Batiri up against Hallowicked, Frightmare and UltraMantis Black.

It looks to be an exciting weekend for the ever colorful and entertaining CHIKARA promotion.

Check out the respective web sites of each promotion for more information on these events, and keep an eye out for the next edition of news and notes from the independent wrestling scene.