Mike Sempervive, courtesy of Dr. Keith Lipinski’s cell phone

Enthusiastic crowd from the time they got into the building, with several C.M. Punk chants. There are two guys dressed like clowns, with a sign that says “Batista Sucks.” Harley Race (with his hair looking tremendous, reports indicate) is there along with some members of NOAH’s office. Dr. Keith refuses my request to suggest to Harley that he make an appearance in HUSTLE just one time, and proceeds to say that the camera was focusing in on “Fake Hogan.” The camera then panned to someone holding a “Chicago Cubs are Raw” sign, which was roundly booed. Two Cubs pitchers are then shown sitting behind Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler. Also spotted is one of Chicago’s longest reigning alderman, Ed Burke. For the record, Illinois is the about the only place on the planet that still uses the term alderman in politics.

A gong then sounds, and holy crap it’s…..

1. NOAH Heavyweight Champion Takeshi Morishima defeats Charlie Haas in 3 minutes with a missile dropkick.

Yes, they used a gong and some generic Kaientai-type music. Met mostly with “USA” chants, and also some apathy as no one knew who he was, Morishima looked good dominating the match. Hitting a lariat-o and a side slam, before putting Haas away with a missile dropkick.

2. William Regal defeated (Insert blonde generic man’s name here) in six minutes with a running knee out of the corner.

Lillian Garcia sang the National Anthem to a huge USA chant that followed. {plug}