World of Sport – July 28, 2018 (Debut Episode): This Show Dug At My Skull
IMG Credit: World of Sport
World of Sport
Date: July 28, 2018
Location: Epic Studios, Norwich, England
Commentators: Alex Shane, So Cal Val, Stu Bennett
So at the end of 2016, there was a one off British wrestling show called World of Sport, which was a callback to the big British wrestling TV show from the 1970s and 80s. It aired once, wasn’t very good, and was supposed to be the start of a new series. Well that series is now here, only a year and a half (plus) later. It’s a ten episode series so we might as well take a look at them all. Let’s get to it.
Stu Bennett (Wade Barrett) narrates the opening video, talking about how this is the new era and only the but make it to this platform.
The announcers welcome us to the show, with Val replacing Jim Ross from the pilot. I think things are starting to go downhill.
Here’s WOS Executive Stu Bennett for a chat. He again tells us that this is new era and today, British professional wrestling gets put back on the global map. The jokers, the clowns and the professional buffoons are gone…and here’s WOS Champion Grado to make Bennett’s comments look dumb. We get a slightly forced handshake before Grado says he goes to the gym…to walk his dog. Bennett says Grado doesn’t represent the future, so right now we’re going to have a five way elimination match for a title shot tonight.
Rampage vs. Adam Maxtead vs. Sha Samuels vs. Justin Sysum vs. Crater
Elimination rules. Who are these people? Not important enough to mention, but Crater is a huge masked man. I don’t think there is an opening bell as Samuels and Rampage double team Sysum, the smallest guy in the match, to start. Bennett joins commentary as Crater comes in to clean house. Adam can’t slam Crater so Crater gives him a demonstration and chokes on the ropes….for a very quick DQ.
Crater cleans house post elimination and we’re down to four. Now that the announcers have told us that it’s an elimination match, Samuels and Rampage beat on Sysum a little more. Sysum fights back and scores with a middle rope crossbody but is already back in trouble when we come back from a replay. Back with Samuels clotheslining Rampage by mistake, allowing Sysum to get a rollup for the elimination.
Maxtead rolls Sysum up for two but gets dropkicked to the floor, leaving Sysum to try a dive….but he catches his foot on the ropes and comes up way short. That’s enough to get Maxtead counted out (which can happen in a five way) and we’re down to…actually that’s it at about 6:45 (remember no opening bell) as Rampage was on the floor as well, but Samuels threw him back in behind the referee’s back.
Rating: D. Oh this isn’t going well so far. Keep in mind that this is a brand new series. Unless you watched (and remember) that pilot from December 2016 (hopefully they aired it before this first episode), Grado is a complete stranger but he’s the World Champion and these five guys are all fighting for a title shot.
Who are these people? Which one is the blue eye? Why are Samuels and Rampage friends? Where have I seen that Bennett guy before? There are five people fighting at once? I’ve watched a lot of wrestling and knew what was going on, but how many new fans are going to be watching this for the first time and just got totally lost? It’s not a great idea to come charging out of the gate like that and this wasn’t exactly a great match either. What we saw was fine, but it came and went with no one other than Crater getting to stand out, and that was just because of his look. Really rocky start and hopefully it gets better.
Post match, Bennett says that since Rampage beat the count, tonight’s main event is a three way for the title.
Don’t try this at home.
Will Ospreay vs. British Bulldog Jr.
This could be rather interesting. Hopefully commentary explains why the guy with BRITISH in his name who comes out to Rule Britania has a Canadian flag on his trunks. Ospreay wastes no time in flipping around into a dropkick but it’s too early for the big dive. Instead he backflips into the pose, allowing Bulldog to hit a dropkick of his own. Thankfully Bennett mentions Bulldog being half Canadian as Bulldog hits a slam and the delayed vertical suplex (required).
Ospreay slips out of a Brock Lock and kicks Bulldog down as we go to our fourth replay in less than three minutes. A springboard….something (the camera changed angels as he made contact) gives Ospreay two and a standing corkscrew moonsault gets the same. Shane: “Eat your heart out Harry Potter. Will Ospreay is a wizard.” The deadlift German suplex plants Ospreay, who seems to be favoring his knee. Bulldog clotheslines him for two as the replays and camera cuts continue.
A C4 gives Ospreay the same and he reverses the running powerslam into a dragon suplex. The spinning kick to the head gives Ospreay two as the rapid camera cuts continue. Ospreay’s shooting star (cut) hits feet (cut to crowd) and he bounces backwards (cut), allowing Bulldog to suplex him for another near fall. A Batista Bomb gets two more but Ospreay slips out of a superplex to hit the Cheeky Nandos kick. Ospreay loads up the springboard Oscutter but gets caught in a super powerslam (cool) for the pin at 7:50.
Rating: C+. Well, it was better than the opener, but a lot of that is going to be due to having two very talented guys in there and allowing them to do some stuff. Ospreay is the kind of guy who is going to be able to get cheered all day and British Bulldog Jr. is a layup on a show like this. Or any show actually as he’s rather good. The cutting is REALLY annoying though as it’s every ten seconds at most. Slow things down a bit.
There’s going to be a Tag Team Title tournament but Kip Sabian and Iestyn Rees don’t want to hear about the rest of the teams. When you’re as good as they are, you’re the only team.
Tag Team Title Tournament First Round: Martin Kirby/Joe Hendry vs. Iestyn Rees/Kip Sabian
The fans REALLY likes Hendry, or at least they’ve been coached about how to wave their arms to his music. Shane sums up Rees and Sabian as the bully and the big mouth. That’s not exactly an in-depth analysis, but it’s a description that tells you something about these guys and that’s a step in the right direction. Hendry wrestles Sabian down to start and it’s Kirby coming in to work on the arm.
Sabian runs him over a few times and keeps posing but gets taken down by a headscissors. A little cheating from Rees (which Barrett calls skullduggery, because he’s awesome) allows Sabian to score with a springboard dropkick on Hendry. We hit the double arm crank and Hendry gets driven into the corner to keep him in trouble. Hendry’s rollup gets two but the kickout sends him into Kirby, who lands on a cameraman.
A side slam into a slingshot legdrop gets two on Hendry but he gets his knees up to avoid a splash. That’s enough for the tag….or at least it would be if Kirby didn’t walk out on Hendry. Just to show off a bit, Hendry, who isn’t a big guy, gives them both a fall away slam at the same time and it’s an ankle lock to Sabian. Rees breaks it up with a missile dropkick, followed by a powerbomb/top rope clothesline for the pin on Hendry at 7:43.
Rating: C-. Sabian and Reese are a nice heel team and Hendry has more charisma than he knows what to do with, which is a good sign as he now has a built in feud with Kirby. This was a good way to showcase everyone involved, save for maybe Kirby who didn’t really do much here. It’s not a bad match or anything, but it’s more about setting stuff up for the future and that’s fine.
World of Sport Title: Rampage vs. Justin Sysum vs. Grado
One fall to a finish. Grado is defending and Bennett rants about him dancing his way to the ring. Rampage has Samuels and another guy named CJ Banks (had to look him up) with him. Sysum doesn’t have anyone with him but he does wear a cape. Rampage knocks the champ down to start but gets elbowed and punched to the floor. That allows Grado to sidestep a shoulder block, sending Sysum flat onto his face in a cute moment. Grado gyrates a bit and helps Sysum throw the rampaging Rampage over the top to keep it one on one.
Rampage and company pull Sysum to the floor so Grado cannonballs onto them off the apron for a big crash. With Sysum on the floor, Rampage slams Grado for two but here’s Sysum again with a top rope clothesline. Grado kicks him down and adds a cannonball in the corner, followed by a cutter to Rampage. Sysum makes the save and hits a 450 for two more on Grado but Rampage breaks it up. Rampage throws Sysum to the floor and hits an implant DDT on Grado for the pin and the title at 5:22.
Rating: D+. It wouldn’t make sense if we didn’t have another fast match which had some flashes of interesting stuff sprinkled in. The wrestling was ok with Sysum looking good, but the best thing here was getting title off of a comedy guy and onto someone who can be a fine heel champion. Just more rushed stuff here and I didn’t have any kind of connection to anyone involved.
Next week: a ladder match and the first Women’s Champion. That’s kind of a lot for the second week of a series.
Overall Rating: D. I feel like I’ve just watched a three hour show but it was crammed into 45 minutes. There was WAY too much going on here and no time was spent introducing anyone (I only know Grado because of TNA). This was a REALLY bad idea for a first episode, though there are some good things here and there.
You had the good second match, some names who were able to look good while given the chance, and the title change to end the show. The problem is I had to stop and think about those things because none of them were allowed to have the time to develop or sink in. That’s where we get to the biggest problem.
Again though, the problem was presenting this as the debut. They moved in and out so fast and really expected the fans to know who these people were or not care enough about them. I learned something about Grado, Sabian and Rees. Other than that, everyone came and went so fast that I can barely remember their names, including the person who won the title in the main event. Sysum and Ospreay were impressive, but other than that no one’s in-ring work really stuck out.
It’s not a complete disaster, but it feels like no one working on this really knew what they were doing. I really hope this gets better because there is some good stuff here (the set, some of the talent) but the problems (STOP CUTTING THE CAMERA EVERY TWO SECONDS) heavily outweigh the positives.
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