 Back in early 2023, I wrote about an independent wrestling promotion near and dear to my heart, Northeast Wrestling, and how a string of shows they produced from 2022 to 2023 set the standard for storytelling on the indies and left me coming back for more every month. As someone who has closely followed N.E.W. for a decade and a half, this was the most excited I had ever been to be a fan of the product, which is saying a lot considering the high quality of content they've produced in that time.
An eight-month-long hiatus put a halt to their hot momentum at the end of 2023, but N.E.W. returned with a bang in April with their Hat City Havoc II event, headlined by N.E.W. Hall of Famer's Brian Anthony's bittersweet retirement match. I was curious to see if the company's creative direction would pick up right where it left off and it surely did not disappoint.
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 AEW Women's World Champion "Timeless" Toni Storm def. Taya Valkyrie in an AEW Women's World Championship Eliminator MatchStorm vs. Mariah May for the AEW Women's World Championship is obviously already set for All In, so there was no way Valkyrie was winning here, but they had a quality contest in the time they were allotted. Storm cut a passionate promo afterward that the crowd was really into. I like that Storm is basically the same character she was as a heel except she's embracing the audience now.
 Orange Cassidy def. Johnny TVMan, is Cassidy really that directionless right now that he's being relegated to fighting Johnny TV? No disrespect to the former John Morrison, but his entire AEW/Ring of Honor run has been a joke. These two had a quality contest, but I would've been perfectly content with Cassidy squashing Johnny instead. Willow Nightingale thwarting Taya Valkyrie's interference might indicate a mixed tag team match is coming soon.
 Darby Allin Won the Royal Rampage Match to Earn an AEW World Championship Opportunity at Grand SlamRoyal Rampage is a cool concept that AEW fans can look forward to on the Rampage after Blood and Guts every year as something different is always at stake. This year, it was an AEW World title shot at Grand Slam. We have All In and All Out before then, so there's no guarantee Allin will be facing Strickland, who he has history with from last year. This was along the same lines as the last two installments of Royal Rumble, but it was well done and Allin winning for the second straight year was surprising since he already has an AEW TNT Championship match coming up at All In.
 Jaida Parker def. Layla DiggsParker is progressing is a lot quicker than I originally expected her to. Her in-ring work still needs fine-tuning, but the feud with Michin helped her a lot and her matches are getting better. To her credit, Diggs has shown signs of improvement as well. I was shocked she was hired in that WWE: Next Gen show that aired earlier this year, but she's gradually finding her footing. This was perfectly fine for what it was.
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