WrestleCon: USA vs. The World
Date: April 2, 2022
Location: Fairmont Hotel, Dallas, Texas
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Veda Scott

This is about as obvious of an idea as you can get: take a bunch of wrestlers from WrestleCon weekend and put them in a bunch of matches, one country vs. the rest. This show has a tendency to be one of the weaker of the WrestleCon offerings but there are some talented people on the card. Let’s get to it.

Warrior Wrestling Lucha Libre Title: Sam Adonis (USA) vs. La Hiedra (World) vs. Mr. Iguana (World) vs. Golden Dragon (World)

Adonis is defending and this is one fall to a finish. Iguana jumps on Adonis’ back to start, allowing Dragon to hit a superkick. Hiedra goes after Iguana, who fights her off using the magic of his hand puppet. Adonis is back in with a Death Valley Driver as Scott tries to figure out if an iguana is a reptile or an amphibian. Dragon comes back in to clear the ring so Hiedra armdrags him to the floor. Back in and Adonis shrugs off Hiedra chops before dropping her with one shot.

That just earns him a low blow into a DDT, setting up a low bridge to send Adonis outside. Using Iguana as a helping hand, Hiedra walks the ropes to dive onto Adonis for the big crash. Back in and Iguana headscissors dragon down but gets caught with a slingshot reverse suplex for two. Adonis comes back in but Hiedra breaks up a superplex by turning it into a Tower of Doom. Iguana catches Dragon with a spinning DDT but Dragon counters a super hurricanrana into a sitout powerbomb for two of his own. Adonis is back in with a kiss and punch to Hiedra, followed by a 450 to Dragon to retain the title at 8:03.

Rating: C+. This was the kind of lucha four way that you start a show with to crank up the energy and that is what they had here. Adonis is a rather good heel that you want to see get taken down but he escapes with the title while being quite the despicable person. Iguana seems to be quite the popular gimmick star and Dragon is a smaller luchador who should be fine. Hiedra did her stuff quite well too, making this a rather fun opener.

USA – 1
World – 0

Jessica Troy (World) vs. Rachael Ellering (USA)

They shake hands to start and we’re ready to go, with Ellering taking her into the corner without much trouble. With that not being to her liking, Troy takes it to the mat for an armbar and the grappling begins. With an assortment of cranking not working, they get back up, this time with Ellering casually tossing her with a release gutwrench suplex. Troy pops back up and hits a springboard wristdrag out of the corner, setting up some running knees for two.

Back up and Ellering snaps off some chops, which has the fans rather pleased. Troy gets sent into the corner for two as the beating is on. The backsplash gives Ellering two and she might be getting a bit frustrated. Back up and Troy avoids a charge and hits some running shots in the corner, setting up a top rope tornado DDT for two. It’s time to go after Ellering’s arm, including what looked to be a Shayna Baszler style stomp.

The cross armbreaker is blocked though and Ellering is back with a spinebuster for two as the pace is picking way up. Troy grabs a Codebreaker onto the arm and they’re both down again. They strike it out (with Troy wisely staying on the arm) until Ellering has to roll her way out of a Fujiwara armbar. Troy slaps it right back on and cranks even more but this time Ellering sends her outside. Back in and a swinging Boss Man Slam gives Ellering two, leaving her rather annoyed. A powerbomb is countered into another Fujiwara armbar but Ellering counters the counter into a cradle for the pin at 15:00.

Rating: B. Oh yeah this worked rather well and came off as a star making performance from Troy. Both women were working hard here and they had a story with Ellering as the powerhouse and Troy trying to take her down piece by piece. I got pulled into this one and it was a heck of a match which might even be hard for the rest of the show to top. Check out more Troy, as she seems rather good.

USA – 2
World – 0

Davey Richards (USA) vs. Mike Bailey (World)

Respect is shown before the match and they go straight to the mat grappling. The test of strength fight goes on with both of them being flipped over. Richards starts cranking on the arm and chokes a bit, with Bailey flipping backwards into a choke of his own. Bailey cranks on the arm until Richards gets to the ropes and kicks Bailey’s arm into it to take over. A kneebar over the ropes has Bailey in trouble, though the idea of Bailey selling anything on his knee is hilarious.

Back in and Richards grabs a modified Tequila Sunrise to stay on the leg, followed by the hard kicks to the chest. They slug it out until Bailey hits his rapid fire kicks (I knew it) and sends him outside for the dive. More kicks set up the running corkscrew shooting star press for two on Richards but he’s right back up with another leglock. The rope is eventually grabbed so they head to the apron for kicks to the chest.

Bailey gets dragon screw legwhipped in the ropes, but is right back up with a standing moonsault knees to the chest because MIKE BAILEY DOES NOT SELL KNEES EVER BECAUSE THIS IS FREAKING DUMB! Bailey goes up top so Richards joins him for an exchange of headbutts and a top rope superplex brings Bailey back down. Back up and they slug it out, with Bailey firing off more kicks.

Richards pulls one into an ankle lock, which is probably just going to recharge Bailey at this point. With that broken up, Richards hits a top rope double stomp for two, followed by a brainbuster for the same. The ankle lock is broken up and Bailey sends him into the corner for…..bear with me….a double spinning kick to the face, setting up the Ultimate Weapon (shooting star knees to the back) for the pin on Richards at 14:35.

Rating: D. That’s as high as I can go and yes I’m sure I’ll get a lot of eye rolls. I understand the idea of getting your stuff in and MOVEZ but this was a total waste of Richards’ time. He spent the better part of ten minutes working the leg and Bailey is literally up flipping and bouncing around with no trouble or issues whatsoever. Bailey was around multiple times during the week and this might have been the best selling job he did, at least in matches I’ve seen. This was dumb and I feel bad for wasting my time on it.

USA – 2
World – 1

Caleb Konley/Flip Gordon/Gringo Loco (USA) vs. Aeroboy/Arez/Aramis (World)

Gordon and Aeroboy start things off with Aeroboy taking him to the mat for a quickly broken headscissors. Gordon counters a headscissors but gets hurricanranaed down. Aramis comes in so Gordon bounces around with a series of nipups. It’s off to Loco for more flipping but he gets sent outside rather quickly. Arez and Konley come in for an exchange of takedowns and, believe it or not, flips.

A kick to the head drops Konley so it’s Loco coming in, only to get hurricanranaed. Aeroboy comes back in to grab a running cutter as everything breaks down. We settle down to Gordon suplexing Aramis for two and handing it back to Konley for a belly to back. Gordon grabs an STF (Submit To Flip) and his partners grab holds of their own. With that broken up, Aeroboy gets caught in the wrong corner for the triple teaming. Everything breaks down and the World team all hit dives to the floor.

Back in and a double stomp into a Swanton gets a triple cover near fall on Konley, with Loco making the save. The Americans are back up for their own series of dives, including Loco hitting a step up flip dive to the floor. Aramis hits his own flip dive to drop the pile but Gordon kicks him right back down. Back in and Gordon misses a 450, setting up a torture rack powerbomb to give Aramis the pin (as his partners get their own covers at the same time) at 14:56.

Rating: C+. This was the kind of six man insanity that you would expect from a lucha show. The World team looked great and were flying around as well as you could ask them to. Gordon continues to be someone who seemed ready to break through to the next level but it never exactly did. Konley is a good hand anywhere he goes and Loco is rather good as a high flier. Fun match and that’s what it was supposed to be.

USA – 2
World – 2

WorkHorsemen (USA) vs. Extreme Tiger/Bandido (World)

Tiger takes Henry down to start and gets a middle finger for his efforts, which will certainly help American and Mexican relations. Henry takes him down by the leg but gets pulled into a surfboard. That’s broken up as well and they spin up to a standoff. Tiger snapmares him into the corner and Henry is looking a bit frustrated. They go chest to chest before handing it off to Bandido and the bigger Drake.

Bandido gets shouldered down but he’s back up with a flip to annoy Drake a bit. Back up and Drake jumps over Bandido for a change, setting up a hurricanrana to stun the fans. Drake gets sent outside though and it’s Henry coming in to chop at Tiger. Back in and Drake grabs a chinlock for a bit before unloading with chops in the corner. A Shining Wizard gives Henry two but Drake misses the Vader Bomb, allowing the hot tag to Bandido.

That means a top rope twisting dive onto the Drake and Henry, setting up a running hurricanrana to Henry. Tiger comes back in and spins Henry around in a Tumbleweed for two but Drake runs Tiger and Bandido over with a double clothesline. Henry dropkicks Tiger into a belly to back suplex and Bandido’s 21 Plex is broken up. Instead, Bandido grabs a pop up cutter on Henry before chopping it out with Drake. For some reason Drake goes up and Bandido gorilla presses him down (because of course he can do that), setting up the 21 Plex for the pin at 16:08.

Rating: B. This was a nice mesh of two styles as you have the old school southern style team with Drake and Henry (or close to that style at least) against the lucha team. It worked well here, as Bandido’s strength continues to be nothing short of uncanny. Good match here and I was getting more into it than I expected by the end.

World – 3
USA – 2

Calvin Tankman (USA) vs. Big Damo (World)

This is a hoss fight, with Tankman from MLW and Damo being better known as Killian Dain. They go with the power lockups to start and neither get anywhere. The running shoulders don’t work either so Damo kicks him in the ribs for some more success. Back up and Tankman hits a flying shoulder to put Damo on the floor, meaning it’s time for a strike off. They head back inside, where Tankman forearms him into the corner.

Damo is right back with a running dropkick into another corner, setting up the neck crank. Tankman fights up for a slam into a splash for two but Damo hits a running crossbody for the double knockdown. Back up and Damo knocks him into the corner, only to miss another Vader bomb. Tankman scores with a spinning back elbow, setting up the Tankman Driver (over the shoulder piledriver) for the pin at 9:06.

Rating: C. They went with the simple and classic idea here of having two big men beat on each other until one of them couldn’t get up. Tankman is a huge guy but moves very well, while Damo is more of your big pounding brawler. It wasn’t a great match but it was a fun one and that is enough to work.

USA – 3
World – 3

Rev Pro Cruiserweight Title: Michael Oku (World) vs. Rich Swann (USA)

Oku is defending and the fans are split to start. Swann grabs a quickly broken headlock and sticks the landing on a hurricanrana for a standoff. Oku’s headlock works a bit better and he runs Swann over to take control for the first time. Some stomping in the corner sets up a chinlock, which is broken up just as quickly. Swann hits a running dropkick to rock the champ as a NEW CHAMP/OLD CHANT chant off begins.

A running kick to the back of the head gives Swann two and it’s off to something like a seated abdominal stretch. They head outside with Swann putting him in a chair and running around the ring for a boot to the face. Swann tries to do it again but this time gets cut off with a dropkick. Oku can’t follows up and gets chinlocked back inside, which of course triggers the comeback.

A jumping DDT drops Swann and a missile dropkick gets two. Swann kicks him back down and hits a rolling splash for two but the middle rope 450 misses. There’s a springboard moonsault to give Oku two and the half crab (his signature) goes on. Swann bails out to the floor so Oku is right after him with a running flip dive.

Back up and Swann kicks him down from the apron, followed by a spinning kick to the face back inside. They slug it out until Oku hits a spinning kick to the head into a Codebreaker. A frog splash gives Oku two but Swann is fine enough to pull him off the top. Swann loads up a missile dropkick but dives into the half crab for the tap to retain Oku’s title at 19:34.

Rating: B. Main event worthy match here between two bigger names. Oku is someone who has done rather well in the times that I have seen him, even if the half crab is a bit of a stretch as a major finisher. Swann is going to give you a good match no matter what he is doing so they set this up well and then paid it off even better.

World – 4
USA – 3

Respect is shown post match. Oku grabs the mic and thanks Swann for the match while getting the fans to thank him as well. Swann says if someone has heart like Oku, it doesn’t matter where you’re from because you can inspire people with professional wrestling.

Overall Rating: B. Mike Bailey’s no-selling nonsense aside, this was a rather good show and a lot better than I would have bet on. The previous USA vs. the World was little more than a “well, if I have nothing else to do” show but this had multiple matches that pulled me in and got me interested. They put on a good show here with a minimal concept behind it and that’s impressive, so nice job.

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WCPW Pro Wrestling World Cup Finals
Date: August 26, 2017
Location: Sport Central, Newcastle Upon Tyne, England
Commentators: Dave Bradshaw, James R. Kennedy

So back in 2017, What Culture Pro Wrestling (later Defiant Wrestling) set up a massive tournament with wrestlers from around the world taking part. As you can guess, this is the big final, with both the semifinals and finals taking place. This was a cool concept and I didn’t get to see any of it but here’s the big ending. Lets get to it.

Opening sequence.

Semifinals: Kushida (Japan) vs. Joseph Conners (England)

We do get a show of respect to start and they go to the grappling, as commentary talks about Conners being allowed to compete despite working for WWE. The exchange goes to Kushida who grabs a front facelock, sending Conners to the corner for the breather. A test of strength goes nowhere so Conners grabs a headlock takeover, only to have to duck a kick to the head.

More grappling goes to Kushida, who pretty easily gets the better of things before sending Conners outside. Back in and Conners manages a quick powerslam to take over, setting up a clothesline for two. A backbreaker drops Kushida again and Conners bends the back around the post. Kushida is fine enough for a hiptoss into the basement dropkick for two but the Hoverboard Lock sends Conners straight to the rope.

A slingshot DDT sends Kushida to the floor for a heck of a suicide dive. Back in and we hit the pinfall reversal exchange until Conners hits a clothesline to leave them both down. Kushida grabs the standing Kimura, which is reversed into a suplex for the break. Conners goes up but dives into a dropkick, meaning it’s time to slug it out from their knees.

Another Kimura attempt is countered into Don’t Look Down (lifting Downward Spiral) to give Conners two. Back up and Kushida’s handspring kick to the face catches Conners on top, where he gets pulled down into the Hoverboard Lock to give Kushida the win at 17:53.

Rating: B. Kushida was rolling here and it was a heck of a battle until one of them managed to get the win. Conners being in WWE was quite the death knell for his chances to win here, but at least he had a heck of a match in defeat, as I haven’t seen much good from him before. Heck of a match here and Kushida gets a pretty great win on the way to the finals.

We look at how Ricochet and Will Ospreay made the semifinals.

Semifinals: Ricochet (USA) vs. Will Ospreay (England)

Ospreay tries to jump start things but has to avoids the early Benadryller. They trade the flips and headscissors without much contact being made, meaning it’s time to take off the jackets. The slugout is on before both of them miss a bunch of strikes. Ricochet spins him into a sitout powerbomb for two before sending Ospreay outside for a suicide dive.

That’s not enough as Ricochet brainbusters him on the stage and heads back inside. Ospreay charges back to the ring….and gets taken down by a suicide dive for a cool counter. A springboard 450 gives Ricochet two back inside and a heck of a clothesline takes Ospreay down again. There’s a dropkick for an arrogant one and Ricochet hits a 619, only to have Ospreay come back with a handspring kick to the head. A poisonrana drops Ricochet again but a Rainmaker is ducked, allowing Ricochet to blast him with a discus lariat.

Ricochet Codebreakers him out of the corner for two but Ospreay grabs a running flipping DDT for his own near fall. Some rolling German suplexes drop Ospreay, who is able to avoid the Benadryller. A reverse inverted sitout DDT gives Ricochet another near fall but Ospreay counters what looks to be a Rock Bottom into a cradle for the pin at 16:43.

Rating: B. This was all about the flying around and moving as fast as they could, but it was a little weird to see Ricochet playing a bit of the heel here. There was no way the Ricochet was going to be cheered in this spot against Ospreay in England and the result was only so much in doubt, but at least they had a good match on the way there. These two have a history together and it was no surprise to see them do it this well again.

Mike Bailey vs. Penta El Zero M

I can’t escape Bailey these days. We get CERO MIEDO vs. Bailey’s weird bow until Penta hits him in the face to take over. Back up and Bailey flips over him, setting up about 50 (not an exaggeration) kicks to the chest. Penta is fine enough to hit a powerbomb onto the apron to take over as they fight around the floor. They head back inside with Penta kicking the knee out but Bailey kicks him into the corner for some running shots.

A spinning moonsault gives Bailey two and he sends Penta out to the apron. The German suplex on the apron is broken up by the manages to drop Penta anyway. Bailey misses the moonsault knees though and has to fight out of a Fear Factor. With Penta out on the floor, Bailey hits a corkscrew moonsault but walks into some superkicks back inside. The middle rope Code Read is blocked though, allowing Bailey to hit some moonsault knees.

There’s the big kick to Penta for two and Bailey hits his bouncing kicks. A quick Penta Driver gives Penta two as the fans are rather pleased. They roll out to the apron where a Canadian Destroyer leaves Bailey falling out to the floor. Back in and Bailey blocks a super Canadian Destroyer, setting up the super hurricanrana. Not that it matters as Penta hits the Fear Factor for the pin at 14:51.

Rating: B-. Bailey continues to be little more than a moves guy for the most part as his matches kind of run together. This is about the same as you always get from him, as he wrecks his knees and keeps popping up, but there was no way Penta was losing another big match around this time. He was on fire due to Lucha Underground and he was going to roll here, as should be the case.

Rampage vs. El Ligero

This is for Ligero’s Magnificent Seven briefcase, which seems to be the equivalent of Money In The Bank. Ligero fires off kicks to the leg to no avail as the much bigger Rampage (better known as Rampage Brown) shoulders him outside to start and the beating is on fast. Ligero slips out of a powerbomb attempt though and Rampage offers a free shot, which Ligero uses on a crossbody attempt for some reason.

The fall away slam leaves Ligero outside for a chase, which results in a ram into the barricade to keep Rampage in control. Back in and Rampage runs him over a few times but Ligero manages a few shots to the face. Ligero grabs the briefcase so the referee takes it away, allowing Ligero to get in a low blow and small package for the pin at 5:11.

Rating: C-. This one didn’t work as it was a squash until the lame ending. Ligero can do some nice things in the ring and Rampage is a solid power guy, but they didn’t have a chance to do anything here. Ligero didn’t do anything until the very end and it was little more than a cheap win. After an hour of good stuff, this was a bad misstep and didn’t work.

And now, General Manager Adam Blampied is here to praise some wrestlers and announce the first match for Refuse To Lose: War Machine defending the Tag Team Titles against the Young Bucks.

Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Alex Gracie

For the #1 contendership to the Internet Title. Sabre goes after the arm to start (shocking I know) but gets headlock takeovered. They go to the mat with neither being able to get very far so that’s a standoff. The shoving is on until Sabre kicks him in the elbow to take over. Gracie goes simple and hits him in the face before grabbing a slam for two.

A side slam gets the same and Gracie is already getting frustrated. Sabre charges into a boot in the corner, setting up Gracie’s middle rope leg lariat for two. Back up and Sabre kicks him into the corner and starts right back on the arm, sending Gracie to the ropes. Some penalty kicks rock Gracie again but he manages to pull Sabre into a guillotine.

You don’t do that to Sabre, who easily reverses into a leg crank, meaning Gracie needs the rope again. With Gracie still still in a lot of trouble, the Octopus is quickly broken up so Sabre reverses into a choke, followed by a dragon sleeper with a bodyscissors for the submission at 15:10.

Rating: B-. Sabre is nothing short of an artist in the ring and that was what he was getting to showcase here. There is almost nothing he can’t do when it comes to tying someone up and hurting them, with Gracie being the next victim. You will always see some kind of wrestler/grappler on a roster and Sabre might be the best one going today.

We recap Joe Hendry vs. Jack Swagger for Hendry’s WCPW World Title. Hendry seems to have turned heel and taken the title, meaning it was time for him to face some top competition. Swagger will have to do.

WCPW World Title: Joe Hendry vs. Jack Swagger

Swagger is challenging and shoves him hard into the corner to start. The threat of an ankle lock sends Hendry bailing to the ropes so Swagger….stops to pose on the ropes? Swagger tries for the ankle again, sending Hendry right back to the ropes. They head outside where Hendry whips him into the barricade to take over, setting up some whips into the corner back inside.

An elbow and suplex give Hendry two and we hit the chinlock. Swagger powers up and hits a bunch of running corner clotheslines but Hendry hits some regular clotheslines of his own. You don’t do that to Swagger, who takes him down again and grabs another ankle lock. That’s reversed into Hendry’s ankle lock, which is reversed into Swagger’s ankle lock, which is reversed into Hendry’s ankle lock, which is reversed into stereo ankle locks.

With that broken up, Hendry grabs a fall away slam (his odd choice of a finisher) for two, leaving Swagger to ankle lock him again. Hendry reaches the rope and locks both ankles at once (while sitting on the back to make it more like a Boston crab) to finally retain Hendry’s title at 13:28.

Rating: C+. Swagger felt like a bigger star than usual here, but there is only so much that you can get out of trying to make Swagger feel like someone important. He is a bigger star than the WCPW roster, but that hardly means he is some kind of major star. The ankle lock stuff got tiring fast, though at least the ending was a bit different and Hendry got his win.

Pro Wrestling World Cup: Kushida (Japan) vs. Will Ospreay (England)

We get the Big Match Intros and Ospreay, still favoring his neck, is the big crowd favorite. Ospreay knocks him straight to the floor for the twisting dive and they head back inside. That’s fine with Kushida, who sends Ospreay outside for a change and hits his own big dive. Back in and Kushida starts in on the arm, as he is known to do, including something like a LeBell Lock.

The Daniel Bryan Danielson tributes continue with Cattle Mutilation but Ospreay slips out, earning himself another kick to the arm. Kushida uses his legs to crank back on the arm but Ospreay is back up with a boot to the face. A running basement dropkick in the corner sends Kushida outside but Ospreay charges into a Downward Spiral into the barricade (ouch). Ospreay manages to send him into the crowd and there’s the HUGE dive off the top to take him out again.

Back in and Ospreay’s running flipping DDT looks to set up a 450 but Kushida rolls away. A DDT sets up the Hoverboard Lock, which is quickly broken as well, allowing Ospreay to hit a standing Spanish Fly. Kushida pulls him into a cross armbreaker and then a triangle choke for two arm drops. The fans get WAY into Ospreay’s survival and even more so into him sending Kushida into the corner.

The referee is bumped as well so here is Bea Priestley (Ospreay’s girlfriend) to hand Ospreay one of Kushida’s titles. Ospreay doesn’t want it that way so Kushida pulls him into the Hoverboard Lock. The rope saves Ospreay again and the fans are WAY into the save. Back up and Ospreay fires off Kawada Kicks before they slug it out. A hard clothesline drops Kushida and Ospreay stomps away.

Kushida is back up with a bunch of stomps of his own and the Hoverboard Lock goes on again. Ospreay fights up with a Stundog Millionaire and the Cheeky Nandos Kick connects. They fight up top with Ospreay hitting a springboard Oscutter for two so he loads up another. That’s too far for Kushida, who reverses into Back To The Future (kind of a brainbuster small package) for the pin at 18:07.

Rating: B+. This felt like a major showdown for a major prize and outside of Priestly trying to get involved, the whole thing was clean. It is kind of nice to see something like that after expecting all kinds of interference and cheating. The fans were behind Ospreay here, though they seemed fine with Kushida winning the whole thing. Very good match and worthy of a big tournament final.

Kushida shows respect to Ospreay and is awarded the cup to end the show.

Overall Rating: A-. While I have no desire to watch the full six months worth of tournament matches, I can go for a show that runs about two and a half hours with three tournament matches plus some other stuff. This was a rather good show and that isn’t a surprise after the other WCPW/Defiant (what it would turn into) Wrestling stuff I’ve seen. This was much more of a straight wrestling show and they did their thing rather well. Check this out if you’re looking for a little less mainstream taste.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Bangerz Only
Date: April 2, 2022
Location: Fair Park, Dallas, Texas
Commentators: Denise Salcedo, Sam Leterna, Veda Scott

This is from Mission Pro Wrestling, an all women’s promotion owned by AEW Thunder Rosa, from over Wrestlemania weekend. That means we should be in for a fun show which likely includes a fair few guest stars. I have no idea what to expect from this show and that is a nice feeling, as it could be a little bit of anything. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Shazza McKenzie vs. Janai Kai

Kai has been on AEW before. They go with the mat grappling to start as Scott can’t remember if she turned on McKenzie when they were teaming together or not (she did). The grapple off goes to Kai, who takes her to the mat for some kicks to the mat. Back up and McKenzie strikes away as well before kicking her in the face. Kai is right back with some kicks of her own to strike McKenzie down as commentary rapid fires what these two have been doing lately.

Something like a seated dragon sleeper has McKenzie in trouble until she fights up for stereo kicks and a double knockdown. McKenzie hits some running knees to the back and ties her in the ropes for kicks to the chest. Back in and Kai sweeps the leg for two but gets caught in the Shamission (seated crossface chickenwing), only to grab the rope. Kai is right back up with a spinning kick to the face for the pin at 8:42.

Rating: C+. This was a fast paced opener and it seems that they are going to be focusing on a lot of striking and submission stuff, making this in fact a modern independent style show. McKenzie has been around for a good while and I’ve seen some of Kai, so this wasn’t exactly a surprise. Good enough here, though I don’t know if it was quite a BANGER(Z).

Allie Katch vs. JP Harlow

So Harlow, with Ayla Fox (evil manager/agent), is a man and therefore a major heel around here. Katch goes after the arm to start and headlock takeovers him down. Ayla grabs a trip from the floor though and it’s enough for Harlow to kick the rope low to takeover. Corner stomping keeps Katch down but Harlow misses a charge, only to backdrop his way out of trouble.

A Death Valley Driver gets two more and it’s time to stand on Katch’s hair. Ayla gets in some choking from the floor but Katch is fine enough to jawbreak her way to freedom. The running hip attack in the corner sets up a Cannonball for two on Harlow but he’s right back with a DDT out of the corner. Back up and Harlow almost runs into an interfering Ayla, allowing Katch to grab a piledriver for the pin at 8:21.

Rating: C. Katch is someone who has been around this circuit for a long time and she does have the abilities to stay interesting in most of the matches I’ve seen from her. Harlow being around was more than a little weird but it does make for a good heel. Giving the fans something to cheer about is a good way to go as they’re continuing with the nice start.

La Rosa Negra vs. Jody Threat

Rosa is rather bubbly and dances to the ring. They go to the mat to start with Rosa rolling her up for two as we hear about Threat eating Big Macs and working out. Rosa’s headscissors keeps Threat in trouble but she reverses into a cross armbreaker, sending Rosa to the ropes. Rosa is right back with her own cross armbreaker, sending Threat to the ropes for her own break.

Threat is sent to the apron and manages to kick Rosa in the face to take over again. Back up and Rosa has to fight out of the corner before elbowing Threat down. An airplane spin and big kick to the head gives Rosa two, followed by a high crossbody for the same. Rosa knocks her to the floor for a suicide dive, then does it again for a bonus.

Threat elbows her way out of a fireman’s carry and hits a running flip attack off the apron. They both beat the count back in and slug it out until Threat’s neckbreaker gets two. Some kicks to Rosa’s face into a German suplex gives Threat two more but Rosa kicks her down. The frog splash connects but Threat rolls her up for the pin at 16:33.

Rating: C. This got a lot more time than the other matches so far and while it turned into a slugfest, a lot of it felt like two people just doing moves to each other until one of them got a pin. There wasn’t anything resembling a story or a flow to it and commentary’s main contribution was to say “that’s why they call Rosa” something in Spanish without actually saying what that means. Good power brawl, but it needed a lot of work.

The ring announcer thanks the fans for helping the show.

Bougie Reality vs. Bionic Kingdom

That would be Madi Wrenkowski/Rache Chanel vs. Jennacide/KiLynn King, some of whom you might know from AEW. Bionic King get guitared to the ring for a nice touch. King and Madi start things off with an exchange of shoulders going nowhere. The bigger King runs Madi over and it’s off to Chanel for a change. Chanel gets taken into the corner so Jennacide can chop away as everything breaks down.

Reality is whipped into each other and stereo facebusters give King an early two. Back up and Reality manages to get them both into the ropes, meaning laughing/choking can ensue. We settle down to Madi working on King’s leg in the corner and we hit the leglock. King fights up and hits some knees but hurts herself in the process, meaning Reality keeps her down in the corner.

A World’s Strongest Slam gets King out of trouble and there’s the much needed tag to Jennacide. Everything breaks down and something like an F5 gets two on Madi. A backbreaker plants Madi but she rakes the eyes to get out of an electric chair. Back up and a Codebreaker into a scissors kick Stomp (the Reality Check) finishes Jennacide at 11:25.

Rating: B-. I liked this one as you could tell a bit more of a story out of the whole thing. Both teams felt like people who had worked together before and they had a nice match at the same time. King and Chanel have both worked on bigger stages and it is easy to see that they are above a lot of the talent on this show. Good match here and the best part of the show so far.

Lindsay Snow vs. Masha Slamovich

Snow is back after a long absence and Slamovich is a monster. They go right to the slugout to start with Snow screaming as she hits a clothesline. Slamovich is sent outside where she kicks Snow in the back a few times before ramming her ribs first into the apron (which may or may not have been due to not being able to pull off an apron bomb). Back in and Snow grabs a kneebar to take over, which is broken up by a rake of the eyes.

Some heavy forearms keep Snow down but she is back up with a DDT for a double knockdown. Snow hits a running knee for two, followed by Slamovich hitting a German suplex for the same. Slamovich kicks her hard in the head for two more and heads up top, where Snow gets in a kick to the head. A MuscleBuster finishes Slamovich at 6:35.

Rating: C+. This was the slugfest match but it just ended all of a sudden. I’m not sure why they went home out of nowhere like that but it did seem like they were wrapping it up. I can go for that with a more physical match like this one but it was still rather quick. Snow is someone I’ve heard of before but never actually seen and she was good enough that I would take another look.

Renegade Twins/Jazmin Allure vs. The Hex/Laynie Luck

The Hex is Allysin Kay/Marti Belle (NWA Women’s Tag Team Champions) while the Renegades (Charlotte/Robyn) are the Mission Pro Wrestling Tag Team Champions. They talk a lot of trash at each other to start until it’s Kay vs. Robyn to get things going. Kay takes her down into an early chinlock, which is turned into a slugout out the mat. That’s broken up so Kay grabs a rollup for two, with Allure making a save.

Everything breaks down and Luck dives onto the Renegades. Allure comes in and gets Three Amigoed by Belle, setting up some running shots in the corner by the Hex. It’s back to Robyn as everything breaks down again, with Belle getting taken down in the corner for a change. The villains (I think?) take turns stomping away, which sets up a Boston crab/camel clutch/running dropkick combination (didn’t quite get the timing right as the two holds weren’t on at once but it was a cool idea).

Belle gets stomped again but manages to counter a double suplex by sending Robyn’s leg into Charlotte. That’s enough to get over for the hot tag off to Kay to clean house with the expected shots to the face. Kay keeps slugging away despite having Allure on her back before handing it off to Luck. Everything breaks down again as Veda thinks this should just be a tornado tag match. Luck full nelson slams Allure for two and everyone is down. We get a crash off the corner, leaving Allure to faceplant Luck and put her feet on the ropes for the pin at 14:24.

Rating: B-. This was an entertaining match as you can see that the Twins and the Hex both work well together. Allure felt like someone who could be a star down the line so giving her the win was a nice way to go. Throw in some cheating for the finish and I liked what we got here, as everyone was putting in the effort and came off well.

Thunder Rosa vs. Trish Adora

Rosa’s AEW Women’s Title isn’t on the line. They fight over an armbar to start before heading to the mat with neither being able to get anywhere. Adora takes her down with a top wristlock so Rosa bridges off the mat over and over. With that not going anywhere, they’re up for a standoff until Rosa kicks her down for two.

Some elbows to the chest look to set up a Gory Bomb but Adora slips out and chops away. Adora takes her down and cranks on both arms, including some kicks to the back. Rosa is right back up with a Rocking Horse (something like a surfboard but with Rosa standing and swinging Adora back and forth) but since that can’t last long, Adora is back up with a running crossbody.

A Stunner rocks Adora and a sliding dropkick against the ropes gets two. Adora is back with a Samoan drop for two before grabbing Cattle Mutilation of all things. Rosa makes the ropes and grabs a Gory Bomb for two, followed by a DDT for the same. They trade rollups for two each until Rosa grabs….well it looks like the ending of a piledriver with Adora sitting on her head as Rosa cranks on the I think neck to make Adora tap at 16:20.

Rating: B. The ending was weird enough (with commentary saying it was a bit confusing) but they were beating on each other and trading big shots for a long time on the way there. It did feel like a big fight and it was billed as a first time ever showdown so it did live up to the hype, even with the kind of confusing finish.

Mission Pro Wrestling Title: Holidead vs. LuFisto

Holidead is defending and this is No DQ. Holidead starts fast by taking her down and dropping a leg for two. That’s enough for LuFisto to send her to the apron though, setting up a running kick to put the champ on the floor. Some hard kicks drop Holidead and it’s time for the first door to be brought in. Rather than use that though, LuFisto sets up a bunch of chairs on the floor instead.

A suplex onto the chairs doesn’t work as Holidead fights back up and forearms away but misses an apron legdrop. Back in and LuFisto elbows away before loading up the door in the corner. Holidead bites at LuFisto’s head and hits a dive onto…LuFisto and the members of the production crew that had been dragged in.

Back in and a swinging Downward Spiral gives Holidead two, only to be sent into the corner. LuFisto hits a Cannonball into a corner and a suplex through the door for two. Holidead’s Samoan drop onto the chairs for two but she can’t put LuFisto through another door. InHolidead kicks a chair into her head and hits a running spinebuster through the door to retain at 17:36.

Rating: C+. This had me worried about it turning into deathmatch and total garbage stuff but I can live with some chairs and doors. They beat on each other well enough and it turned into a good brawl. I’m not sure if that is enough to warrant it headlining over Rosa vs. Adora, but I get the idea of going with the title match/not the owner. Good enough main event, though I’m not sure why this needed to be No DQ.

Post match Holidead puts over LuFisto and thanks the fans. Mission Pro will continue to put on BANGERS ONLY.

Overall Rating: B. Another good but not blowaway show from the weekend, this time featuring a unique roster. It’s still kind of amazing that women’s wrestling has come far enough to be able to run a full on show like this without having anything that was bad, or really even close to it. There are some solid matches on here and the two hours and twenty plus minutes went by pretty fast. I liked this one and if you’re looking for a women’s promotion, you could certainly find worse.

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Gringo Loco’s The Wrld On Lucha
Date: April 1, 2022
Location: Fair Park, Dallas, Texas
Commentators: Emil Jay, Lenny Leonard

This is one of the theme shows that you get over Wrestlemania weekend as one wrestler is given the chance to run his own show. In this case it’s Gringo Loco (of MLW/GCW fame) with a lucha themed show. There is no story or history coming in so the show is standing completely on its own. Let’s get to it.

Johnny Caballero vs. Jack Cartwheel

Yeah it’s John Hennigan/Morrison/Nitro/Superstar/Mundo/Impact/Elite/Game Changer/Drip Drip/YOU GET THE IDEA ALREADY (and it’s a funny one). Yes he brought the Drip Stick and the fans are moistened before the bell. They grab a lockup to start and cartwheel around for some nice showing off. A fight over a top wristlock lets Johnny armdrag him down, only to miss the standing shooting star press. Cartwheel misses one of his own though and that’s an early standoff.

They grab some gutwrenches and flip around again, until Cartwheel goes outside for some….well for some cartwheels. Back in and they have a Drip Stick duel (complete with taking three steps), with Cartwheel cheating and spraying Johnny in the face. The referee gets wet too, meaning Cartwheel’s Alabama Slam gets no count. Johnny gets in a quick low blow though and the flipping neckbreaker gets a close two. A Muta Lock goes on as we can only hear one of the commentators due to some (acknowledged) technical difficulties.

The reverse Regal Roll looks to set up Starship Pain but Cartwheel rolls him up for two. Johnny sends him outside and puts on a hat, which is knocked off by a hurricanrana to the floor. That sets up the big flip dive (you knew that was coming), followed by a cartwheel into a moonsault for two back inside.

Johnny sweeps the leg though and kicks him down but misses Starship Pain. Cartwheel hits kind of an Iconoclasm faceplant (OUCH) to send Johnny outside, which of course means another dive to the floor. Back in and Cartwheel loads up the Alberto double stomp but gets Drip Sticked in the face. Now Starship Pain can connect to give Johnny the pin at 11:27.

Rating: C+. This was the kind of fun opener that you want to see and it went rather well. That is how you open a show like this as Johnny is someone the fans know and respect while Cartwheel gets to hang with someone way above his pay grade. Cartwheel looked good here, though the constant flips are about as indy style as you can get.

Respect is shown post match.

Tony Deppen vs. Psicosis

Here’s a battle of the generations. Before the match, Deppen yells at him in Spanish and hits a dive to the floor to start fast. Back in and Deppen hits some running knees in the corner for two but Psicosis dropkicks him out of the air. That’s enough to send Deppen outside, where Psicosis can hit a big dive into the chairs. One such chair is sent at Deppen’s head so yes we do get a La Parka reference.

Psicosis channels his inner Tajiri with a Tarantula, allowing commentary to talk ECW. Deppen comes right back with a series of strikes to take over and a slingshot neckbreaker sends Psicosis bailing to the floor. Of course that means a big dive to take Psicosis down again. Psicosis’ belt is taken off for some hard chops to the chest but a top rope elbow misses. Deppen hits a quick Shining Wizard for the pin at 7:37.

Rating: C. This wasn’t much to see and felt more like a way to say “here’s this legend on the show”. Deppen is basically a despicable heel and that isn’t what we got here. Psicosis is still a name and has some nostalgia value, but Deppen’s win was a little flat here. And we didn’t even get the guillotine legdrop!

Aeroboy vs. Octagon Jr. vs. Shane Mercer vs. Golden Dragon vs. Drago Kid vs. Chris Carter

Well OF COURSE there is a scramble match. At least it’s only six names this time so it could be worse. Mercer isn’t a luchador but he’s from Lexington, Kentucky so I can go for more of him. It’s a brawl to start with Octogon, Carter and Dragon left in the ring, setting up the triple dives. Carter gets chopped by the other two though and it’s time to head back inside for the series of flips.

It’s Carter snapping off some hurricanranas to take over but Mercer is right there with a pop up powerslam (Leonard: “I couldn’t even do that with a Wrestling Buddy.”). Aeroboy comes back in for some kicks into a rope walk hanging DDT to drop Mercer. Dragon comes back in and gets choked down, only to come back with a very springboardy rope walk wristdrag.

Octagon comes back in with a spinning dive to drop Dragon and a springboard wristdrag does it again. It’s Drago coming back in to clean house but Carter kicks him in the head to break that up. Carter hits something like a slingshot cutter but Octagon gives him a running Death Valley Driver into the corner. Mercer is back in to belly to belly Drago into Octagon.

One heck of a toss sends Octagon onto a pile at ringside, leaving Drago and Kid to kick Mercer down. For your THAT’S NOT POSSIBLE move, Mercer catches them both on top and hits a super moonsault World’s Strongest Slam to both of them at the same time (GEEZ) for the pin at 8:45.

Rating: C+. Well that ending isn’t being topped anytime soon. Mercer was the outlier in the match and while I’m not sure how much sense it makes to have the non-luchador win on the LUCHA show, he showcased himself very well here. It was a total insanity match but dang that ending was awesome to see.

Pagano vs. Sadika

And now we go extreme, which shouldn’t be a surprise either. Sadika (a woman) is rather popular with the fans. Pagano grabs a headlock to start to make it clear that this is a wrestling match before we get to the violence. Sadika tries a running shoulder to no avail and it’s an early standoff.

Some chops don’t work for Pagano so Sadika strikes him down and grabs the first kendo stick. Those shots are shrugged off and Pagano doesn’t seem overly worried here. Sadika is back with a running dropkick to the floor, where Pagano hits a dropkick off some chairs. Pagano goes for some weapons underneath the ring so Sadika pelts him with a chair to break it up. A light tube is thrown in and a hanging piledriver onto said tube gives Pagano two.

They strike it out on the apron until Sadika suplexes him onto a ladder (and some other stuff) on the floor. Sadika’s dive is broken up and it’s Pagano going back inside for the running flip dive. Some more light tube shots get Sadika out of trouble and a corkscrew splash off the middle rope through a door gives her two. Pagano’s back is VERY bloody so he hits a springboard Codebreaker for the pin at 14:37.

Rating: D+. This isn’t my thing and never has been so I’m not surprised that I wasn’t getting into this one either. The other problem is that they only got so extreme in the first place with a few light tube shots and that flip dive onto the pile of junk. The ending came out of nowhere too, though I wonder if that is due to the bloody back. Nothing to this one, but the time did go by fast.

Respect is shown post match.

The ring is cleared up so we hear about some other upcoming GCW matches.

Abismo Negro Jr./Demonic Flamita/Gringo Loco vs. ASF/Laredo Kid/Rey Horus

At least I know most of these people. It’s a brawl on the floor to start and they’re quickly inside so everyone can run around and hit a few shots here and there. We settle down to Gringo vs. Horus with Gringo flipping him off. A top rope cradle takes Gringo down and it’s off to Flamita for a 619 in the corner. Flamita teases a dive but flips off the fans and drops down instead. It’s off to ASF to start cleaning house but Abismo sends him to the apron and then out to the floor.

Kid comes back in and hits a slingshot hurricanrana to drop Abismo on the floor. A big dive is loaded up but Flamita superkicks Kid down. Loco and company start the triple teaming on Horus and something like a standing What’s Up (with a dropkick instead of a headbutt) makes it even worse. An assisted Codebreaker drops Horus again so ASF comes back in, only to get dropped as well.

Some rudo miscommunication lets ASF come back, including a running headscissors to all three of them, without hitting the ground in between them. That and some stereo dropkick from Horus and Kid have the crowd rather pleased and it’s time for the back to back to back dives to the floor. Back in and Flamita superkicks Kid again and hits a tiger driver for two. ASF Death Valley Drivers Logo and hits a 450 but Abismo makes the save.

Abismo’s super Styles Clash gets two with Horus making the save, setting up the strike off. The satellite DDT plants Loco and another DDT gets two on Flamita. A corkscrew moonsault takes out the other villains but Loco is back up for a big dive of his own. Back in and ASF’s super hurricanrana is countered into a super sitout powerbomb to give Loco the pin at 14:47.

Rating: B. This is what you expect from a lucha six man tag and that is not a bad thing. At the end of the day, they were there to fly around and do all kinds of insane flips and dives and little more. It was a lot of fun and pure junk food wrestling and that is all I would have asked for from the thing, even with the show’s namesake getting the pin.

Post match Loco thanks the fans and talks about the greatness of lucha. Then respect is teased but middle fingers are shown.

AR Fox vs. Ninja Mack

Fox’s wife Ayla is here with him. Mack trips him down to start and misses an early spinning moonsault. Back up and Fox hits a superkick into the ribs and then kicks him into the corner. There’s a slingshot dropkick out to the floor, setting up the required dive. Fox hits another running flip dive but Mack gets in a shot of his own to take over for a change. They head outside again, with Mack snapmaring him on the floor.

Fox shrugs that off and hits a running flip dive of his own. Back in and Fox hits a twisting brainbuster and they’re both down. Mack sends him outside and hits a Sasuke Special but Fox is right back with a trio of springboard cutters/Stunners. A 450 misses and Mack superkicks him, only to miss a Phoenix splash. Now a Now the 450 can connect to give Fox the pin at 8:35.

Rating: B-. Fox is one of those guys who does very well with just about anything he does and that was the case again here. You can see someone being that smooth and it is always nice to watch. Mack is someone I’ve heard a lot of good things about and while he can get around his rather small stature, he wasn’t doing much that blew me away. Still though, it’s nice to have things be a bit less insane after the last few matches so nice job of mixing things up a bit.

Dr. Wagner Jr. vs. Psycho Clown

These two really don’t like each other. Before the match, Clown brings some kids into the ring to pose with him. Commentary talks about how big of a deal this was the first time and lists off its ratings, which is always weird to hear. They don’t get get physical to start and head outside instead with Clown and a kid yelling at Wagner. Back in and they go with some grappling with Clown grabbing a front facelock.

An exchange of armdrags sends Wagner outside and there’s the dive from Clown. Wagner cuts off another dive with a light tube shot, followed by a broom to the back for two. We get the required ripping at the mask and the fans dislike Wagner even more. A door is loaded up and we talk about Steven Segal for some reason. The bloody Clown misses a charge but comes back with a running basement dropkick for two.

They head outside again with Clown hitting a trashcan shot to the head, followed by a broom over the back for two more. Some chairs are brought in, with one being driven into the other to hit Wagner low. Clown hits a snap powerslam for two and it’s time to whip a bunch of people. Wagner is back with a Tower Of London (Commentary: “Not exactly a lucha reference.”) and something like a surfboard choke keeps Clown in trouble.

A tornado DDT plants Clown again and a top rope superplex gets a delayed two. Wagner’s super hurricanrana is countered into a superbomb for two more and it’s time for some more weapons. Clown sends him through a door for two but Wagner kicks him low, pulls off the mask and hooks a small package for the pin at 20:40.

Rating: C+. The most important thing here was the match felt big and that is how something like this is supposed to go. I could have gone without some of the weapons stuff (and by that I mean all of it) but this did feel like a special match. They both came off like bigger stars and that is not something you get to see very often. Kind of a lame finish with the mask (because of course it’s the mask) but it hit the important part.

Post match Wagner brags about his win and talks to I believe a fan who won’t be his translator. Another fan is willing to do it and apparently Wagner says he’ll always go for the mask. Wagner challenges Clown to the mask vs. hair match and the match seems to be set. Clown wants to do it right now but Wagner leaves instead. Clown thanks the fans for coming out to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. One of the things to remember about a show like this is the lack of expectations. There are (mostly) no stories coming in and the action is all that matters. If that part is good, the show is going to be a success and that is pretty much what happened here. It isn’t a must see and there are better lucha shows out there, but there are far worse ways to spend about two hours fifteen minutes.

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All Wheels Wrestling Pilot
Date: June 29, 2011
Location: Red Line Arena, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Don West, Jeremy Borash

So for reasons that I do not want to understand, a group decided that a racing themed wrestling show had legs, so some of the TNA crew put this together. I’ve heard of it for years and finally found a copy of it online. This is the only event the promotion (if it counts as one) ever produced so this has some potential. Let’s get to it.

Various professional drivers explain the concept: the roster is divided into four teams of three men each and the winner gets a cup at the end of the season. You can tell that the drivers have almost no idea why they’re talking about this and the quick edits are rather telling.

Tonight is a Captains Showcase so we meet said captains:

Team Octane (inspired by stock car, open wheel, drag racing) is captained by RPM, a masked Jay Lethal, promises to win by going really fast.

Team Defiance (off road, street racing, drifting) is captained by Dubai (Shawn Daivari) and appear to be the bad guys.

Team 720 (BMX, wakeboard, skateboard) is captained by……sweet goodness…..Schwagg D (Sonjay Dutt) and are into high impact and going extreme.

Team Dyno (monster trucks, supercross, dirt tracks) is captained by Awesome Aaron Aguliera (or Human Cyclone, as he goes by both) and seem to want carnage.

The commentators, plus Hermie Sadler (former NASCAR driver) are in the six sided ring to welcome us to the show and explain the concept: two Speed Matches (five minute Iron Man matches) leading up to the BIG AIR Challenge (Ultimate X).

More drivers talk about how interested they are. Really. They mean it.

Other drivers confirm that you are in fact watching the show you are watching.

Even more drivers talk about fans and strategy for surviving a season. And no, none of the wrestlers have stood out to them yet.

Dubai (Defiance) vs. RPM (Octane)

This is a Speed Match, meaning a five minute Iron Man match….or kind of at least as we have a POINTS SYSTEM.

5 for a tap out
4 for a pin
3 if the match goes to a draw
-2 for a DQ

RPM flips over him to start and hits a running STO (Slingshot) for a pin at 34 seconds. After a ten second recovery period, Dubai jumps him outside and then hard into the steps. Back in the WMDDT (because that’s very racing related) gives Dubai the pin to tie it up at 1:56. The nerve hold goes on but RPM is back up with an enziguri for a breather. The cartwheel into a basement dropkick that Jay Lethal does (but remember, this is RPM) gets two but Dubai catches him on top. A sunset bomb brings Dubai back down for two though and we hit the Boston crab for the tap at 4:51. Time expires at 5:00 with Octane winning 9-4.

Rating: C. Oh boy indeed this is going to be a messy concept. The points system is at least unique and offers something different, but having three falls in five minutes is more than a bit to take. Also, the match wasn’t even that good. Daivari and Lethal are going to give you a competent match, but it wasn’t anything above ok. They are playing into the speed thing and that works, but it doesn’t make for the best wrestling format.

Standings
Octane – 9
Dubai – 4
720 – 0
Dyno – 0

Commentary goes over the scoring system again.

More drivers like this show.

All Wheels Wrestling is like motocross because they both have points!

We get another explanation of how the season points competition works.

A DRIVER TELLS YOU WHAT YOU ARE WATCHING!

Remember how there has been one match with two teams scoring? Here’s the leader board just in case!

Aaron Aguliera (Dyno) vs. Schwagg D (720)

Another five minute Speed Match, so here is the points system again:

5 for a tap out
4 for a pin
3 if the match goes to a draw
-2 for a DQ

Schwagg hits a dropkick to start and then does it again for a bonus. Aguliera is knocked outside so Schwagg hits an Asai moonsault, right in front of Team Octane’s pit box, because Team Octane has a pit box. Back in and Aguliera hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two (count, not points). Aguliera uses his leg to put on something like an abdominal stretch on the mat (that was different) but misses a charge in the corner.

Schwagg’s top rope splash hits knees though and Aguliera gets the pin at 2:32. A chokebreaker gives Aguliera another pin at 3:10 and he does it again for a third pin at 3:34. Schwagg manages a superkick but stops to pose for no logical reason, allowing Aguliera to pull him into a helicopter bomb for the fourth pin at 4:33. Aguliera grabs a full nelson but time expires at 5:00.

Rating: C-. This felt like you were messing around on No Mercy and seeing how many falls you could run up in a few minutes. Aguliera totally squashed him here and made Schwagg look worse than he does by being called Schwagg D. On top of that, given how this show has gone, I fully expect Schwagg to win the main event and come out on top anyway, but at least they went in a different direction here.

Standings
Dyno – 16
Octane – 9
Defiance – 4
720 – 0

Post match Aguliera says that’s good and if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.

The captains talk about how what they need to do to win the Big Air Challenge.

Dubai promises to take Defiance to the pole position and victory lane.

We look at the two Speed Matches. In case you haven’t caught on, this show REALLY shouldn’t be this long.

Schwagg D is ready to use speed to win the Big Air Challenge.

RPM vs. Schwagg D vs. Aaron Aguliera vs. Dubai

Ultimate X, meaning you climb across the ropes hanging (in an X) above the ring to grab the All Wheels Wrestling logo for 20 points. Everyone but Aguliera goes up to start so he pulls all of them down. RPM slugs away at Aguliera before Dubai comes in to dive onto Aguliera on the floor. That lets RPM go for the W but Schwagg springboards in to dropkick him back down. Back up and RPM dives onto everyone else at ringside and we take a break.

Back with….Hermie Sadler conducting a mid-match interview with RPM, who says he knows he has what it takes to win. Well that’s something new. RPM and Schwagg go up but get pulled back down, leaving Aguliera to run the ropes for a spinning clothesline ala Bull Buchanan. Schwagg pulls Aguliera down and a double superkick drops Aguliera again. A Downward Spiral/DDT combination has Schwagg and Dubai down again, leaving RPM as the only one standing. Again, everyone but Aguliera goes up top and wind up fighting from the ropes. RPM and Dubai fall, leaving Schwagg to pull down the W for the win at 14:11.

Rating: C+. It was a simple Ultimate X match with no major spots and nothing out of the ordinary, but even a not so great Ultimate X match is pretty good. The main thing here is that they put 720 back into contention, which was about as predictable as you could have gotten. Aguliera continues to look like a force and the other two were just kind of there, making this a fitting end to the show.

Standings
720 – 20
Dyno – 16
Octane – 9
Dubai – 4

We get a look at the rest of the season, which seems to consist of clips from this show, drivers talking about how excited they are, and racing clips.

Next week: the teams are revealed! As far as I can find, no other wrestlers were ever actually named.

Overall Rating: D+. Where do you start with this one? First of all, no, this isn’t the worst show I’ve ever seen or anywhere near close to it. Instead, it’s one of the weirdest concepts I’ve ever seen, as racing and wrestling do not work together when you move the idea off paper. The Speed Matches were at least a bit of an interesting twist, but the CONSTANT clips from racers and drivers who clearly were just saying what someone told them to say and clips of races, there was nothing here.

This show would have been WAY better at thirty minutes with a lot of the other stuff cut out and maybe a four way as a finale. It is absolutely not a secret as to why this didn’t get picked up because it just wasn’t an interesting idea. The wrestling was completely watchable, but this was an idea that was never going to work and it’s nothing more than a novelty footnote that you don’t need to see.

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Pancakes And Piledrivers II
Date: April 7, 2018
Location: Sugar Mill, New Orleans, Louisiana
Commentators: Rich Bocchini, Jake Manning, Marty DeRosa

This is a show from Pro Wrestling Revolver plus some other companies (AAW/Fight Club Pro), with the show being billed as the Indy Summit. The show took place over Wrestlemania XXXIV weekend and I had a ticket to this show but went to WrestleCon instead. Odds are I made a mistake but let’s get to it.

The opening video looks at the promotions included for a nice change of pace.

Jeff Cobb vs. Shane Strickland

Yeah this is going to be fun, even with Matt Striker as ring announcer. At the very least, seeing Strickland’s Ain’t Nobody entrance is always awesome. Strickland hurts his arm on an early clothesline attempt so Cobb grabs him by the throat. A charge into the corner takes too long though, allowing Strickland to go up top. That’s fine with Cobb, who pulls him out of the air and hits the swinging belly to back toss. The huge beal out of the corner sends Strickland flying again as commentary mocks the building for being filthy but not allowing the advertised pancakes.

Strickland tries to come back with a chop, allowing Cobb to show him how one is properly thrown. They have the same exchange with forearms but Strickland manages a kick to the head into a German suplex. The running kick to the head gives Strickland two and a hard knee to the head makes it worse. The Swerve Stomp gets two but Cobb sends him into the corner for a running uppercut. A headbutt plants Strickland again and the Tour of the Islands gives Cobb the pin at 7:59.

Rating: C+. Nice opener here as we get one of the things that WrestleCon does well: putting together indy (well then indy) stars and letting them have a fun match. Strickland continues to feel like a star and it is no surprise that he has become a bigger deal. Cobb is a monster who can run over anyone and it is always fun to see him throw people around.

Post match Strickland thanks all three companies for putting the show on.

Colt Cabana/Marty DeRosa vs. Joey Ryan/Session Moth Martina

It’s still weird to hear Ryan being treated as some kind of awesome star. Martina on the other hand goes around the ring drinking with fans, which makes her seem rather popular. Grinding on everyone in the ring makes it even better (Better?) as this is going to be an interesting one. This is DeRosa’s, usually a commentator, debut and he has gear very similar to Cabana’s.

Ryan oils up and gives Cabana some for he and DeRosa to share. The bell rings and Ryan tells Cabana to touch it but, after an apology to the crowd, he declines. Ryan thinks DeRosa might do it instead so Cabana brings him in…and has to hold DeRosa back from touching it. DeRosa and Ryan trade wristlocks to start but Ryan still can’t get him to touch it. If that won’t happen, maybe DeRosa will touch Martina’s….uh, yeah.

Cabana is MORE than willing to try (Martina doesn’t seem to mind) but they’ll wrestle instead. Well maybe not as Martina grinds on Cabana to get out of a waistlock and Ryan tags himself back in. Cabana does his STOP, WHAT’S THAT and slaps Ryan in the face and annoyance begins to grow. DeRosa and Martina come in with DeRosa slapping her in the same way, which is NOT COOL with a lot of people. Ryan knocks DeRosa into the corner for a Bronco Buster (the long form) from Martina.

With DeRosa down, it’s time for the lollipop from Ryan’s trunks. Cabana breaks that up and it’s stereo Bionic Elbows to the….villains? DeRosa busts out a super hurricanrana for two, followed by a Figure Four. Cabana puts Martina in the Billy Goat’s Curse at the same time but Martina crawls on top of DeRosa’s face and bounces for the double break.

Then Kiss Me by Sixpence None The Richer starts playing (ok that’s a plus) and romance is teased….until DeRosa and Cabana’s hands are put between Ryan and Martina’s respective legs. There’s the double flip (with the referee falling down too) and Ryan pulls out a sucker/Martina pulls out a prophylactic from their tights, which go into Cabana and DeRosa’s mouths. Stereo superkicks are good for stereo pins for Ryan and Martina at 8:12.

Rating: F. This is the definition of a your mileage may vary match and that isn’t the best thing to see. Ryan’s shtick didn’t work for me before everything came out about him and it’s even more uncomfortable not. The match was pure “comedy” and barely a match, but what else were you expecting here? Absolutely not my thing and the kind of stuff I never need to see again.

Peace is made post match as Jim Cornette insults abound.

Eddie Kingston vs. Juice Robinson

Kingston comes out to David Starr’s music as the result of a lost bet. They go technical to start with Kingston working on a hammerlock before switching into a top wristlock. Back up and Robinson hits a spinwheel kick, setting up a Cannonball in the corner. A high crossbody gives Robinson two as commentary talks about Sami Callihan. Kingston isn’t having that and knocks him outside, setting up the big suicide dive.

Robinson’s piledriver attempt is countered into a backdrop on the floor, setting up a big whip into the barricade. Back in and the waistlock goes on to keep Robinson down, followed by the rapid fire (minus rapid fire) chops in the corner. That’s reversed into some chops from Robinson and a layout powerbomb gets two. Kingston runs him over again and NOW it’s time for the big chop off (which you knew was coming). Robinson gets in another shot and grabs Pulp Friction for the pin at 8:29.

Rating: C. That ending came out of nowhere and it wasn’t exactly a great match in the first place. This felt more like the match where someone said “hey they’ve never fought before” and that was the extent of the planning. Granted there is only so much that you can do with a story on this show, but this was just kind of there for the most part.

Fight Club Pro Title: Meiko Satomura vs. Kimber Lee vs. Jessicka Havok

Satomura is defending and this is the top title of the promotion (out of England, owned by Trent Seven) rather than the Women’s Title. Striker, ever the nitwit, insists that it IS the Women’s Title, even though that title doesn’t seem to have ever existed. Havok clotheslines both of them down to start and does it again to Satomura for daring to fight back.

Satomura and Lee get together and start striking away to take Havok down, leaving Lee to forearm away at Satomura for a bit. Some kicks to the head rock Lee but she’s back with a bridging German suplex for two. Havok is back in though and tosses Lee around with no trouble. Three straight running kicks to the face stagger Lee even more but Satomura forearms Havok away. A DDT sends Havok outside and Lee gets Death Valley Drivered for two. Satomura hits Scorpion Rising to retain at 6:06.

Rating: C. That was rather sudden as Havok never came back in after the DDT. Not having a title changed here isn’t exactly shocking and it was cool to see Satomura getting to showcase herself. Lee is someone I never could get into but she is talented. Havok on the other hand is a total monster that you get as soon as you see her. Perfectly fine match here, but I was expecting more.

AAW Title: Trevor Lee vs. ACH

ACH is defending and Lee’s (probably better known as Cameron Grimes) AAW Heritage Title isn’t on the line. Lee bails to the floor to start and grabs the mic, allowing him to complain about this show taking place at “eleven o’clock in the afternoon”. These people here don’t care that he was out late on Bourbon Street but all that matters is that he is going to win the AAW Title. Not some loser like ACH who can’t even get on another show this weekend, but a real champion.

After bragging about the money he is going to make, Lee gets hit in the face, only to have ACH miss the 450 back inside. A shot to the face knocks out ACH’s tooth or gum but he is fine enough to avoid the Cave In. ACH is back with a superkick into a brainbuster for…..the pin at 3:10!

Rating: C+. Sure why not, as Lee’s promo and then getting getting shut up so fast was funny, but the wrestling was barely half of this. Sometimes you need a fun match like this, even if it was probably a way to cut time on a loaded show. ACH really was a talented guy before he went a bit bonkers, while Lee would go on to a rather nice career.

Post match, Lee reminds us that he is STILL the Heritage Champion.

OVE vs. Brian Cage/Joey Janela/AR Fox

Tornado rules. That would be the Crist Brothers/Sami Callihan, who are billed under both of their names (Ohio vs. Everything and Ohio Is For Killers). Jake Crist isn’t waiting on the bell and flip dives onto everyone, setting up an Asai moonsault as we’re just getting started without a bell. Penelope Ford comes out to watch as Dave takes Fox inside for a wind up DDT. Janela high crossbodies Fox but gets clotheslined by Callihan.

Cage is waiting on him so Callihan spits in his face….which earns Callihan a heck of a discus lariat. Jake knocks Cage outside but his suicide dive is caught in a suplex because Cage can do that. Everyone else heads outside, leaving Janela to hit a big top rope flip dive. Dave goes up so Ford catches him and it’s a superplex onto the big pile. That’s too far for Callihan, who powerbombs Ford onto a slightly smaller pile, which has commentary freaking out. Not over what Ford did, which was more dangerous, but just what Callihan did. Hypocrites.

Back in and a bunch of strikes to the face leave everyone down as commentary talks about Ford’s Gizmo themed gear. OVE is back up with stereo superkicks but charge into superkicks. Fox avoids a charge though and hits a Spanish Fly, setting up a 450 for two. Jake is back in with a Death Valley Driver to Fox, setting up the spike Tombstone (Killing Spree) for….one?

Everyone is back up for the big staredown, with Cage hitting an F5 and Fox hitting a Death Valley Driver of his own, setting up a triple cover. OVE breaks up stereo triple superplexes so Fox knocks Dave down instead. Fox loads up a frog splash but Jake dives from the adjacent corner with a super cutter to knock Fox cold for the pin at 8:45.

Rating: B-. Thank goodness they went to the finish after that cutter because nothing was going to top that one. Fox was knocked silly and there was no reason to try anything else. The rest of the match was your usual insanity that comes with such a stipulation and it went rather well, at least partially helped because OVE is a regular team. That finish looked great though and it carried the match a lot higher.

PWR Scramble Title: Matt Palmer vs. Jake Manning vs. Caleb Konley vs. Trey Miguel vs. Clint Margera vs. Jason Cade vs. Ace Romero vs. Curt Stallion vs. Maxwell Jacob Friedman vs. Myron Reed vs. Connor Braxton vs. Omari

Palmer is defending and this would be your OH COME ON match of the show, as there are TWELVE PEOPLE in this. Everyone but MJF jumps Palmer to start and toss him outside, leaving everyone else to brawl inside. Reed is left alone to dropkick Cade outside so Stallion comes in to dropkick him. Romero hits a dropkick to Stallion but the rather tall Braxton kicks Romero outside.

Palmer and MJF double team Braxton and we seem to have a partnership….until they both poke eyes and kick each other low, which is good for a handshake out of mutual respect. That’s always nice to see. Omari and Margera hit stereo flip dives onto the floor, followed by Miguel’s springboard flip dive. Manning’s top rope trust fall (while still reading his Boy Scout manual, as is his custom) takes everyone down, leaving Romero (nearly 400lbs) to hit his own dive, much to the fans’ delight.

Back in and we get the required Tower Of Doom, albeit with Palmer and MJF teaming together, teasing a split, and then splitting in the span of ten seconds. Braxton and Stallion double team Romero, with the former managing an impressive slam. Manning is back in with a backbreaker into a lifting Downward Spiral to Stallion and we hit the parade of secondary (or maybe primary) finishers. Omari takes Miguel out so MJF tries to steal the pin, only to get rolled up by Palmer (with trunks) to retain at 8:14.

Rating: C. Yeah it was fine and that’s all I can think of to say about it. What in the world are you supposed to do with a dozen people doing spot after spot for about eight minutes? Palmer stealing the pin doesn’t so much prove anything as he just was in the right place at the right time. That is how these matches always go and while they get a lot of people on the show, they almost never do anything for me as no one gets to stand out in the slightest.

Lucha Bros vs. Jack Evans/Teddy Hart

First half of a double main event and it takes a good while for the Bros to get here. As usual, Evans runs his mouth a lot before the match, which will likely continue after the bell. Fenix and Evans start things off and yes Evans is still running his mouth, which is rarely a good idea. They trade their flips until Fenix kicks the leg out for no count before flipping up into a standoff.

Hart and Penta come in and the chop off is on fast before Hart complains about the lack of respect. A Backstabber drops Penta and Evans springboards in to kick Fenix in the head. That leaves Hart to hit a hanging piledriver/DDT at the same time to drop both Bros. Evans does a triple backflip into the corner to poke Fenix in the eye, which he describes as never before seen. The Canadian Destroyer into the moonsault gives Hart two on Fenix but Penta is back in for a change.

The double teaming takes him down as well, only to have the Bros pop up for running corner clotheslines. Penta gives Hart a heck of a superkick into the corner, with Evans being tied in the Tree of Woe to put them on top of each other. Fenix flips Penta onto the pile before Evans is tied up in a surfboard. That’s not enough for Penta though, as Fenix pulls on the arms at the same time.

Since that doesn’t really work nearly as well as the single version would, Evans hangs on until Hart makes the save. Penta Canadian Destroyers Hart for two with Evans making a save of his own. A springboard doesn’t work for Evans as he falls off the top but he’s right back with a middle rope Phoenix splash for two as Fenix makes his own save.

Fenix hits a rolling cutter on Evans as the referee is trying to restore order for whatever reason. One heck of a Project Ciampa drops Fenix and Evans adds the 630 for two more. Penta powerbombs Evans onto his knee for his own near fall, setting up a stereo Pentagon Driver/Black Fire Driver to give the Bros the double pin at 10:34.

Rating: B-. I would call this the “well, what did you expect” special, as you know what you’re going to get when you have a match involving these people. There is nothing else to expect from these four getting into a match and they made it work well. Let them go out there and do their flips and dives to pop the crowd and that’s all you need. Fun stuff of course, despite being total junk food wrestling.

AAW/PWR Tag Team Titles: Besties In The World vs. Aussie Open vs. Rascalz

The Besties (Davey Vega/Mat Fitchett) are defending both sets of titles in a ladder match. The Rascalz (Dezmond Xavier/Zachary Wentz) are debuting their name, having been formerly known as Scarlett And Graves (weird name). That leaves Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher/Mark Davis), who have nothing of note but I needed a reason to say their names. And yes, the Besties are the team who do their entrance to Truly Madly Deeply by Savage Garden and yes it is still amazing.

Hold on though, as Fitchett wants tables and chairs added in to the ladders because they’re hardcore! Vega: “NO WE’RE NOT!” Striker says everything is legal, despite it being a ladder match where everything is legal in the first place. A bunch of weapons are thrown inside as commentary talks about how ridiculous it is to have all of these totally unnecessary things underneath the ring.

Ladders and plywood are placed in the corner and Fitchett and Miguel are knocked into/through them. Vega goes up top and gets caught by a bunch of people who shove him through another plywood board. Aussie Open and the Rascalz slug it out with the bigger Fletcher being the last man standing. Wentz chairs him off the ladder though and goes up, allowing commentary to mock JR’s voice on the famous Jeff Hardy ladder climb.

With that broken up, Wentz hits a big step up dive onto a pile on the floor, followed by Fitchett’s running lip dive. Davis Arabian presses onto a bunch of people, leaving Xavier alone with a ladder in the ring. Instead of going for the belts, he climbs the ladder and shooting stars down onto the pile. Vega has used the delay to put a board over six chairs at ringside and superplex Wentz through it for the next big crash.

Back in and Fitchett kicks Xavier in the face but it’s Aussie Open cleaning house. Davis’ running forearm in the corner rocks Xavier and the Aussies both climb at once (Commentary: “No, no, no.”). Fitchett makes the save and the champs crush Aussie Open with ladders in the corner. The Rascalz are back in to kick the Besties down, including Wentz superkicking a chair into Fitchett’s face. Davis comes back in this time and powerbombs Xavier with one arm (dang) but gets kicked in the face by Wentz as well.

Xavier is back up to kick Fletcher and Fitchett down, leaving everyone on the mat. The Aussies catch Xavier going up and Fletcher dives off the top for a cutter (not quite OVE level but not bad). Wentz chops at the Aussies but gets thrown into a ladder in the corner for his efforts. That’s enough to dent the ladder so Fletcher gets on Davis’ shoulders but the champs turn it into a Doomsday Device. The Besties hit stereo piledrivers on the Rascalz (illegal in Louisiana) and retain the titles at 14:10.

Rating: B. It was a six man indy ladder match and that should tell you everything that you need to know. There were cool spots and a lot of carnage until one of the teams got the titles, which is exactly how something like this was supposed to go. It’s nothing great or memorable but for a big main event on a show like this one, it went well and was probably the best thing on the card.

Post match the Besties say that’s how you win gold together (Fan: “THEY’RE SILVER!”) but they want to call out….DAVID ARQUETTE??? AND HE’S HERE! Arquette pulls out a $100 bill scarf and says the Besties just want his money, before bragging about the big names he has faced. He says he’s a real champion and that WWE ruined WCW. Then he pulls off his jacket and reveals a NEVER BEEN PINNED shirt. Arquette seems to challenge the Besties to a match and leaves through the crowd to end the show on an awkward note.

Overall Rating: B-. I had fun and it only went a little over two hours so it didn’t overstay its welcome. What matters here is getting a bunch of people on a show and popping the crowd over and over. You don’t look for continuity or logic here and what we got here lived up to those requirements. It’s cool to see some of the non-WWE stars out there doing their thing and there is only one match that really didn’t work on the whole card. Fun stuff and I’m kind of regretting not taking it in live.

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AAA Invades WrestleCon
Date: March 31, 2022
Location: Fairmont Hotel, Dallas, Texas
Commentators: Hugo Savinovich, Carlos Cabrera

In case you aren’t getting the hint, this is part of the WrestleCon series of shows over Wrestlemania weekend. This was a show that was included in the Superfan ticket so it was basically a bonus for anyone taking in every day of the convention. AAA doesn’t come stateside very often so hopefully it works out. Let’s get to it.

Note that I don’t follow AAA so I don’t know anything involving storylines and very little involving characters. I was in attendance for part of this show, as I missed the opener, then didn’t feel like sitting through the whole show. Instead I walked through the convention and came back in to see pieces of the show, which is a bit out of my ordinary.

This show is available for free on the company’s YouTube page.

Opening sequence.

Our host/ring announcer introduces commentary and starts a LUCHA chant.

Christi Jaynes/Ryan Kidd vs. Natural Classics

The Classics are Stevie Filip/Tome Filip and Jaynes dances a lot during her entrance. Jaynes’ chops have no effect on Stevie so it’s a kick to the ribs and springboard hurricanrana to bring him down. Kidd comes in for a dropkick and a handspring elbow but a Tome distraction lets Stevie hit a dropkick of his own. Tome’s jumping legdrop gets two on Kidd and Jaynes is shoved off the apron for some good heeling.

Kidd manages to avoid a charge in the corner and Stevie’s dropkick hits Tome in the back by mistake. The hot tag brings in Jaynes but her high crossbody is pulled out of the air. Everything breaks down and Jaynes moonsaults off the top and out onto Stevie. Back in and some running knees in the corner set up what looked to be a top rope elbow to give Kidd a VERY near fall (that might have been a botch). The Classics gets it together though and send Kidd outside, setting up a powerbomb into a Backstabber to finish Jaynes at 6:56.

Rating: C+. Nice opening tag here as Jaynes and Kidd were able to fire the crowd up, though seeing the Classics win kind of slowed down the energy a bit. The Classics seem like a decent enough heel team, and thankfully they dress differently (one tights, one trunks) enough to keep them separated. Jaynes felt like a huge ball of charisma here and she did well in her chances.

La Hiedra/Mini Abismo Negro/Rey Escorpion vs. Micro Man/Nino Hamburguesa/Taya

Lumberjack strap match and this is where I came into the show. Taya is Taya Valkyrie and Micro Man stands 3’3. Micro and Escorpion start things off with Micro being taken down and stomped in the back without much trouble. Back up and Micro headscissors him into an armdrag, setting up a dropkick out to the floor.

That means Escorpion can come in so Hamburguesa can crush him with a basement crossbody. Now it’s Taya coming in to armdrag Hiedra down, setting up a running hip attack in the corner. Hiedra tries to run but gets chased back inside by the lumberjacks. Everything breaks down and Micro gets thrown down, leaving Taya to get taken down for a running legdrop to the back of the head.

Micro gets dropped onto Abismo’s raised boots but Hamburguesa comes back in to clean house. Hiedra gets caught with a 619 from Micro, followed by a bulldog to Abismo. Hamburguesa knocks Abismo outside for a beating from the lumberjacks (oh yeah they’re a thing) before Taya comes in and beats up all three villains. A spinebuster drops Hiedra but Abismo comes back in with a quick piledriver. The frog splash gets two with Abismo making a save but getting crushed in the corner for his efforts. Micro and Hamburguesa hit Cannonballs in the corner, leaving Micro to roll Abismo up for the pin at 13:03.

Rating: C+. I’m never sure what to say about something like this, but if the point was having mostly uncontrolled chaos, this worked rather well. They had fun and the crowd was into it, with Micro being a cool novelty and Taya having more charisma than she knows what to do with most of the time. It was a fun match, even if the lumberjacks mostly disappeared for long stretches.

Post match here is La Empresa (who may be involved with Hiedra and company) to go after Micro, who low blows a few of them. Micro bites the back of Hiedra’s tights and rides on her back like a horse, only to be put in a trashcan and carried off. Serves him right for not bailing when he could.

NWA World Tag Team Titles: La Rebelion vs. Aerostar/Drago

La Rebelion (Bestia 666/Mecha Wolf, with Damian 666) is defending. Drago and Bestia go with some grappling to start but everything breaks down in a hurry. An assisted tornado DDT plants Bestia for two but Drago is sent outside, leaving Aerostar to get kicked down. Drago gets Rock Bottomed onto Aerostar for two, meaning Aerostar is sent outside for a beating from Damian.

Back up and Drago scores with a hurricanrana to Bestia and it’s time to send the champs outside for the dives. Aerostar takes both of them down and hits a corkscrew high crossbody for two on Bestia. Drago’s running Canadian Destroyer drops Bestia and Aerostar’s springboard Codebreaker does the same to Wolf. Code Red hits Wolf as well but he’s right back up for a shot to the face and a four way knockdown. Damian has to offer a distraction for the save and it’s a powerbomb into a Backstabber to finish Drago and retain the titles at 7:45.

Rating: B-. I got into this one more as you had the high flying vs. the power(ish)/cheating from the champs. It was another wild match, which is what you have to expect on a AAA show, but it had more of a story than most. Aerostar/Drago are a team that got a lot of attention during Lucha Underground and they are still good here. It’s hard to fathom that the NWA World Tag Team Titles wound up on La Rebelion, but they seem passable for short term champs.

Abismo Negro Jr./Arez/Faby Apache vs. Aramis/Mr. Iguana/Octagon Jr.

Yeah I’m going to be lost here. Aramis and Abismo (not to be confused with Mini Abismo from earlier) start things off with the usual flips and escapes until Aramis gets a sunset flip for two. A headscissors drops Abismo again but he’s back up with a dropkick to send Aramis to the floor. That means Octagon can come in with some springboard dropkicks to send Abismo outside as well.

We settle down to Iguana armdragging Apache and then using his iguana puppet (oh boy) to wristdrag her as well. Iguana shrugs off some double teaming and armdrags Abismo before doing the same to Arez. Back up and Arez cleans house, including dropping Iguana and knocking the other two off the apron. Apache puts Iguana in a surfboard for a top rope double stomp from Arez so Octagon comes in for a change. More triple teaming has Octagon in trouble as well and Iguana’s save is cut off.

The villains (I’m assuming) take turns BEATING UP THE PUPPET, including a piledriver and a legdrop as Iguana panics on the apron. We pause for the referee to give the puppet CPR (as I realize I made the right call in checking out the con during this match) before extended posing allows Octagon to come back in with a springboard hurricanrana. Everything breaks down and the heroes hit stereo dives to the floor before we settle back down to Octagon chopping Arez.

Abismo comes in and gets anklescissored into a very spinning headscissors to the floor. It’s off to Abismo vs. Aramis in a pose off until Abismo gets armdragged into the ropes. A springboard wristdrag sends Abismo outside so Arez comes in, only to crash outside with Aramis. Iguana is back up with a running dive into an armdrag (he likes those) to Arez on the floor. Octagon and Aramis take down Apache and Arez for stereo near falls before the villains do the same to them. Back up and Apache and Arez are kicked to the floor as well, setting up the required dives. That leaves Iguana to hit a spinning bulldog to finish Abismo at 14:00.

Rating: C+. This one was a bit too ridiculous for my taste, with stuff like the puppet being more than a little much. That being said, Iguana certainly has charisma and the fans liked what they were seeing from him. Octagon felt like a star and Arez/Aramis did well while they were in there. Apache is a name I’ve heard a good bit about before but she didn’t have the chance to do much here, which was also the case for the less famous Abismo. Fun match, but this kind of stuff can get a little exhausting in a hurry.

La Empresa vs. Drago Kid/Jack Cartwheel/Pagano

La Empresa are Gringo Loco (from MLW)/Puma King (from MLW)/Sam Adonis (Corey Graves’ brother and VERY American). Granted the team’s graphic is listed as “La Empresa AND Gringo Loco” but we’ll go with the simple version. Puma King and Adonis are part of the Trios Champions as well, but with DMT Azul rather than Loco so I’m as lost as you are (assuming you are lost in the first place that is).

Anyway, Puma and Pagano start things off with Pagano grinding away at a headlock. Puma reverses into one of his own before dropping Pagano with a flying mare into an armdrag. Pagano is back up with a springboard…drop back down onto his feet before kicking Puma down a few times. Adonis comes in and gets hurricanranaed by Cartwheel, followed by a dropkick to send him outside.

Loco comes in for a showdown with Cartwheel (there’s something I didn’t expect to say) but instead it’s Drago (who is TINY) coming in to pick up the pace. Loco is sent outside so it’s back to Adonis, who gets hurricanranaed again. Puma superkicks Drago to the floor but gets to face both Cartwheel and Pagano at the same time. Well maybe just Cartwheel, as Pagano goes back to the apron, albeit after some intense glaring. That leaves Puma and Cartwheel to tumble around a bit until Cartwheel’s slingshot….something lands on Puma’s raised boots.

Pagano comes back in to strike away at Puma, setting up a scoot powerslam for two. Everything breaks down and Adonis gets hurricanranaed for the third time, with this one sending him into Pagano’s right hand. Puma gets hurricanranaed by Cartwheel but Loco is back in for a cheap shot to take over. Empresa triple teams Drago, including an assisted faceplant, to take over, meaning we get some heelish staring at the crowd.

Adonis hits a 450 on Pagano but Drago makes a save. That leaves Drago to clean house with a bunch of hurricanranas (including ANOTHER to Adonis), setting up a big dive to the floor. Cartwheel comes back in for a more flippy version of the same sequence, leaving Pagano and Adonis for the big (by comparison) man chop off. Pagano gets up top for a hurricanrana before Cartwheel comes back in to….I think forget to go forward on a running shooting star press to Puma (as he did the flip but landed where he started rather than on Puma).

That lets Puma hit a powerbomb and go up top, where Drago hits a super hurricanrana. Drago tires it again on Loco but gets countered into a sitout superbomb for two. Adonis drops Pagano but Cartwheel comes off the top with a shooting star to break it up (mostly missed but he caught Adonis’ legs, which is an improvement in his case). Drago and Cartwheel both hit running flip dives onto Puma and Adonis, leaving Loco to miss a split legged moonsault on Pagano. That leaves Pagano to grab an Air Raid Crash to finish Loco at 17:32.

Rating: C+. It was the biggest of the six person tags so far but MY GOODNESS ENOUGH WITH THE HURRICANRANAS! I know it’s one of the signature moves but they had to have at least twenty of them in there. That was getting more than a bit old, but Pagano and Adonis were there to add some size and make things a bit better. Another fun match in a series, but having so many of the same style match in a row is starting to wear thin.

Post match La Empresa beats Pagano down with a chair and the American flag.

Cruiserweight Title: Bandido vs. Flamita vs. Laredo Kid

Kid is defending and this is the match on the show I wanted to see in person. Flamita gets double teamed to start but is smart enough to bail to the floor for a breather. That leaves Bandido to headscissor Laredo to the floor but Flamita is back in with a superkick to break up the dive. Flamita hits a dropkick/tornado DDT combination to drop the other two and Laredo is knocked outside again.

Bandido is sent outside with him but Laredo is back in with a DDT on Flamita. That means a big dive to the floor can take out both challengers at once, followed by a 450 onto both of them back inside. Back up and Flamita slips out of Bandido’s one armed gorilla press so Bandido puts Flamita in a Gory Stretch.

Then he leans back so Flamita can pick up Laredo on top, setting up a Gory Bomb/powerbomb combination to leave Bandido as the only one standing. Laredo breaks up the 21 Plex and Flamita goes up top for a double moonsault DDT. There’s a powerbomb to Laredo but Bandido springboards in with a West Coast Pop for two on Flamita. Bandido takes Flamita up top, only to get knocked to the floor by Laredo. With Flamita still on top, Laredo hits a super Spanish Fly to retain the title at 8:08.

Rating: B. It was short but energetic, which is what you probably expected from a match like this. I’m wondering if the show was running long, as this felt like the most interesting match on the card and it got very little time by comparison. The spots and stunts are always impressive though and Bandido feels like a star, so this was good stuff all around. Also, just having something that wasn’t a team match for a change was nice and made it stand out that much more.

Psycho Clown vs. Black Taurus

If there is a story here, it isn’t being explained (at least not in English). For some reason it’s just Taurus on the graphic, despite being Black Taurus everywhere else. Granted he’s from AAA so I guess this is right by definition. An exchange of shoulders doesn’t get either of them very far so they try sweeping the legs for two each.

Taurus headbutts him up against the ropes but gets backdropped out to the floor. The flip dive takes Taurus down again but he’s right back with a kick to the head inside. Clown’s snap powerslam gets two and Taurus rolls outside, where Clown hits a middle rope moonsault to take him down again. Back in and la majistral gives Clown two more (just because he’s a clown doesn’t mean he doesn’t know technique) but Taurus is right back with a pop up Samoan drop for two.

Code Red gives Clown another two and a running corkscrew dive to the floor drops Taurus again. Taurus is right back with an over the shoulder backbreaker and it’s time for a table, because that translates around the world. For some reason Taurus goes up top, allowing Clown to whip him with some kind of a belt. A spear through the table gives Clown the pin at 9:14.

Rating: C. It was a hard hitting brawl but the table felt out of place and didn’t really add much. Much like the previous match though, it was nice to see something different and it helped a good bit. Clown’s music alone is worth a listen as it’s really catchy, but this didn’t feel much like a main event. Commentary called it a dream match, but they didn’t really sell that and it hurt a good bit.

Post match La Empresa runs in and beats Clown down, with Jeff and Karen Jarrett joining in. Adonis explains that they are together and someone from the crowd gives Jeff a cane for some shots. Jeff says he is the brains and money behind La Empresa (sounds like a reveal) and choking with the American flag ensues. They even steal Clown’s mask and Jeff calls the fans basura (trash) before posing over Clown (covered with the flag). The villains leave to end the show.

Post show (not shown), Clown got his mask back and, from under the flag, thanked the fans for coming and left.

Overall Rating: C+. The show, or at least what I saw of it in person, was fun and it was cool to get to see an actual lucha libre show live, but it’s not something I would want to watch regularly. It certainly wasn’t bad, but some of the matches got repetitive as you can only have so many six person tags or wild matches before it loses its charm. I did like it and the dives are cool, but it’s more of a one off night than anything else.

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Cemetery Gates
Date: March 31, 2022
Location: Fair Park, Dallas Texas
Commentators: Sam Leterna, Veda Scott

This is from Glory Pro Wrestling out of St. Louis, Missouri and part of Game Changer Wrestling’s Collective as part of the Wrestlemania Weekend festivities. Every year you will see some promotions show up over the weekend for the big weekend and put on a bit of a showcase event. That is the case again, as we have another show with a pretty weird name. Let’s get to it.

As usual, I have no idea what is going on here with regards to storylines, characters etc., so if I miss anything major, I apologize in advance.

Also, this show is available for free on the company’s YouTube page if you want to see what they have.

Myron Reed vs. Shane Sabre vs. Danny Jones vs. Carlos Romo

Reed is a longstanding MLW star, Jones is now in NXT UK and this is one fall to a finish. Romo fires the crowd up to start and everyone is outside in a hurry. Reed takes down Romo and Sabre but gets suplexed by Jones. Back up and Romo leg lariats Jones and hits Sabre with a swinging suplex.

Neither Sabre nor Romo can superplex Jones so they both try at the same time. With that not working either, they launch Reed into a super hurricanrana because JONES MUST BE BROUGHT DOWN. Romo ties up Jones’ legs and dragon sleepers the other two at the same time because that’s something that would happen in a fight. With that broken up, Jones pulls all three of them into a submission each, though he’s nice enough to go one at a time.

Romo DDTs Sabre for two and Jones piledrivers Sabre onto the apron for what should be a knockout. I mean it won’t be, but it should be. Jones chokes Romo on the apron but Reed gets a running start for a super cutter to drop Romo again. Back in and Jones sleeper suplexes Reed but gets caught by Romo’s springboard cutter for a close two. Romo misses a moonsault and gets taken down by Sabre’s slingshot spear. Reed grabs Sabre with a springboard cutter into Captain Crunch (White Noise) for the pin at 8:23.

Rating: C+. The best thing here is that they kept if fast paced and didn’t have so many wrestlers in there that you lost track of what was going on. They kept things moving here and it’s a great way to start the show off. I liked what we got here and Romo stood out, while Reed had a bit of star power for a bonus. Nice opener here.

Midwest Territory Title: Tootie Lynn vs. Janai Kai

Kai is challenging and has been on AEW a few times. They fight over arm control to start until Lynn grabs a headlock takeover. Kai fights out and kicks her in the back before pounding away to take over. Arm cranking ensues but Lynn is back up with an enziguri and a middle rope crossbody connects for two. The strike off goes to Kai and she grabs something like Nightmare on Helm Street for two. Back up and they strike it out again until Lynn pulls her down by the arm and flips over with the armbar ala Tommaso Ciampa for the tap at 7:41.

Rating: C. Not bad here from two women I haven’t seen much of before. What matters is that they had something going with Kai’s striking against Lynn going for the grappling and submissions. That might not be a great or detailed story, but it’s better than nothing and more than you get on a good number of shows these days.

Jake Something vs. Max The Impaler

A big forearm drops Max to start but Something gets run over and slammed down without much trouble. Something hits something like a Thesz press (minus the press) out of the corner and a heck of a right hand gets two. Back to back suplexes set up back to back to back clotheslines, the latter of which just fire Max up (might not make sense but a lot of things in wrestling don’t).

An exchange of clotheslines doesn’t go to anyone until Max runs him over with a clothesline. There’s a spear for two more on Something but he’s back up with a hard forearm to the back of the head. A sitout powerbomb gets two on Max, who comes right back with a spinebuster for two more. Back up and a spear misses for Max, setting up a Boss Man Slam to give Something the pin at 9:34.

Rating: C+. They beat each other up rather well here and it was a nice hoss fight throughout. Something is someone who a good look and some nice power, but my goodness that is one of the most indy wrestling names you will ever see. Fix that and he might go somewhere, but it sounds like a joke that has gone on way too long. Max is a pretty good power brawler as well and could fit in somewhere one day.

Tag Team Titles: Alpha Omega vs. Fly Def vs. Technical Difficulties vs. The Hustle And The Muscle

That would be Camaro Jackson/Kenny Alfonso vs. Warren Johnson/Zack Mason vs. Moses The Deliverer/Rahim de la Suede vs. Karam/Xavier Walker (defending) and I’m going to be lost about ten seconds into this. Thankfully commentary says the same so I’m not alone. Fly Def are from Reality of Wrestling and trained by Booker T. The champs come out to Voodoo Chile and I have some Nitro flashbacks.

It’s a brawl to start as this does not seem to have tags, thereby negating the TAG part of TAG TEAM. Hustle and Muscle clear the ring to start but Technical Difficulties gets together to take Walker outside. Fly Def is back up with a big dive onto the pile but then it’s Alpha Omega getting to clean house.

That doesn’t last long either as everyone gets a quick burst in before Fly Def clears the ring again. Alpha Omega breaks that up and calls Technical Difficulties inside for the showdown. Fly Def breaks that up but Mason is sent outside, leaving Johnson to get pounded in the corner by de la Suede. Hustle and Muscle are back in though and a spinebuster to Mason retains the titles at 7:01.

Rating: C+. What do you say about something like this? It was eight wrestlers flying around and getting in whatever they could without much time to spare. This was the equivalent of a scramble match on this show and it did about as much: offer some entertaining spots and pop the crowd by never stopping. It was fun for what it was, but these matches are going to bleed together and then be forgotten pretty quickly.

We recap Allie Katch vs. Laynie Luck. Katch cheated to survive against Luck but got disqualified anyway. Luck is here for revenge plus a cleaner win.

Laynie Luck vs. Allie Katch

Submission match with No DQ, meaning no rope breaks. Luck goes for the legs to start and gets nowhere so it’s a dropkick to put Katch down instead. Back up and Katch grabs a quick backbreaker, only to get pulled into a Fujiwara armbar. That’s countered into a DDT but Luck is back with a sunset flip, which she rolls over into an STF. Katch is right out of that as well and hits a seated senton out of the corner.

They head outside with Katch not being able to hit a powerbomb but blocking another armbar. Back in and Luck grabs a sick German suplex into a guillotine choke. That’s broken up as well so Luck switches to a Regal Stretch (complete with the arm trap). Katch bites her way to freedom and takes it outside again, this time for a piledriver on the floor.

They get back inside where Luck (completely fine less than thirty seconds after a piledriver on the floor) hits an enziguri, setting up another STF. Another bite of the hand breaks that up so Luck tries a Boston crab. Katch has to get creative by grabbing the referee for the break, setting up her own Boston crab. With the rope break meaning nothing, Katch puts the Boston crab on again in the ropes to make Luck tap at 11:09.

Rating: C-. I wasn’t feeling this of this one as some of the holds were broken way too fast and a piledriver on the floor having no effect was a bit ridiculous. Katch having to cheat over and over again was a way to tie things into their backstory so at least there was a logic there. At the same time, Luck showed some promise here and there, but it just wasn’t that interesting most of the time.

Grindhouse vs. No Remorse Corps

Grindhouse is better known as the Besties In The World (Davey Vega/Matt Fitchett) and the Corps is Davey Richards/Rocky Romero, who were quite the Ring of Honor team way back when. Richards grabs a test of strength with Vega to start before twisting around into a wristlock. That’s reversed into one from Vega, which is broken up with a twist of the arm.

After the standoff, the fans demand and receive Romero, who trades wristlocks with Fitchett. Romero gets in a hurricanrana but Vega tags himself in for a cheap shot. That’s fine with Romero who starts the Forever Lariats, which are cut off by a well timed kick to the head. The double teaming is on in the corner with Fitchett grabbing an armbar and Vega stomping away.

A Grindhouse double team doesn’t work as Romero hits a standing Sliced Bread, allowing the hot tag off to Richards. Stereo rollups get two each on Grindhouse, followed by a leglock to Vega and an ankle lock to Fitchett, again because Davey Richards is apparently a genius. With that broken up, Romero is brought back in for some charges in the corner.

Richards adds a top rope knee to give Romero two but Fitchett is back up for the save. A running knee/kick combination in the corner gets two on Romero but Richards makes Vega DDT Fitchett, because that’s how wrestling works. Richards blasts Vega with a lariat and Moustache Mountain’s torture rack/top rope knee combination is enough for the pin at 12:29.

Rating: C+. Richards’ dominance aside, this was a hard hitting enough tag match with Grindhouse being overwhelmed by a better team. I’ve seen Grindhouse in their previous incarnation before and that was a lot more fun, leaving them as a not exactly unique team here. The Corps isn’t my favorite team, but they are pretty good at this style.

We recap Dan The Dad vs. Kody Lane (set to My Way by Limp Bizkit for a chuckle). Dad is a family man who likes being a good guy while Lane is messing things up. Therefore, it’s Loser Leaves The Neighborhood. That’s a unique one.

Dan The Dad vs. Kody Lane

No DQ. Dan charges in and slugs away as we hear about him not being happy with Lane leaving beer bottles on his lawn. They fight to the floor and the ladder is brought out, with Lane being sent into it for the crash. A trashcan shot gets Lane out of trouble though and they head back inside so Lane can stomp away. Dan dropkicks the knee out and goes for a Figure Four, which is kicked into the ladder in the corner. Back up and Lane kicks him in the face, setting up a backsplash for two.

Veda suggests that the two of them take a lesson from Sesame Street as Dan is sent outside, where he avoids a dropkick through the ropes. Back in and some chair shots to the back make Dan scream but he fights up and strikes away. A floatover DDT plants Lane and a hanging Downward Spiral onto an open chair gives Dan two. Land low blows his way out of a powerbomb though and a Jay Driller onto a ladder gets two more. A Lionsault hits ladder though and Dan crushes Lane’s leg in said ladder, setting up a Figure Four to make Lane tap at 10:19.

Rating: C+. I liked this more than I expected to and I could go for seeing some of the build to the match. Neither are exactly great in the ring but they had a story that made sense and built up well enough. The leg stuff was fine and Lane giving up because Dan wasn’t going to stop no matter what made sense. Nice stuff here with a unique story.

Josh Alexander vs. Warhorse

Feeling out process to start with Alexander breaking up an early headlock. It’s way too early for Alexander’s C4 Spike as he gets tossed outside for a double stomp to the back. They head back inside with Alexander hitting a rolling Death Valley Driver but Warhorse chops away in the corner. For some reason Warhorse turns his back on him though and Alexander gets in a leg dive to the mat so cranking can ensue.

Back up and they slug it out until Alexander rams him head first into the buckle. This has no effect on Warhorse for Warhorse reasons so it’s a flying forearm to drop Alexander. A flying forearm lets Warhorse go up top but Alexander rolls away before anything can launch. Warhorse takes him down by the legs though and the Sharpshooter goes on, sending Alexander straight to the ropes.

They head to the apron and slug it out with Alexander hitting a World’s Strongest Slam. Warhorse is right back up with a heck of a suicide dive, which shouldn’t be much of a surprise in his case. Back in and Alexander pulls him out of the air for an ankle lock, sending Warhorse over to the ropes. Alexander gets caught in the corner for an Alberto double stomp and a near fall. A top rope superplex drops Warhorse but he pops back up with a spinning kick to the face. Back up and Alexander hits him in the back of the head with a forearm, setting up the C4 Spike for the pin at 16:01.

Rating: B. Some of the no selling here was ridiculous but it was one of those matches where it was about giving us a cool pairing and letting Alexander continue to shine. He is one of the better stars outside of WWE and AEW at the moment and it is always cool to see him. Warhorse is a ball of energy so it is fun to see him as well, meaning this was a pretty nice pairing.

Crown Of Glory Title: Mike Outlaw vs. Brian Keith

Outlaw is defending the promotion’s top title. Feeling out process to start with Keith grabbing a headlock takeover, which is broken up for a bit of a frustrated standoff. Back up and Outlaw gets two off a rollup but gets kicked in the face to put him in trouble for the first time. Keith kicks him down again and starts stomping away in the corner as the control is on. Outlaw loses a chop off and Keith grabs a chinlock to keep him down.

Outlaw fights up and grabs a suplex for two, only to get caught in the chinlock again. That’s broken up again as well so Keith hits a fireman’s carry backbreaker for two. A tiger driver gets the same but Outlaw fights his way off the top. Outlaw, still on top, lifts Keith up (off the mat) for a swinging superplex into a release suplex for a heck of a sequence but only a near fall.

Keith gets dragon screw leg whipped and Outlaw slaps on a half crab, with Keith bailing over to the rope. They slug it out again until Outlaw grabs a Stunner, with Keith hitting a quick enziguri. Outlaw goes for the leg again but Keith powers up, only to get caught in a rollup to retain the title at 14:34.

Rating: B-. Not exactly a great match here but they did well enough and it felt like a title match. I’ve seen a bit of Keith before and he was good enough to make me think the title might be in jeopardy. I didn’t get much out of Outlaw, but he had a nice look and worked well, making him seem like someone who could be a top star in a smaller promotion like this one.

Respect is shown to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. Pretty good show here, though nothing that you need to rush out to see. I’ve only heard a bit about Glory Pro before and they did well enough. It might not be a great show, but it was a fine way to spend about two hours, especially when it was free on YouTube. I could go for seeing some one of their regular shows, especially some of those Dan The Dad promos. Not too bad at all and that’s always a nice surprise.

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GCW For The Culture 2022
Date: April 1, 2022
Location: Fair Park, Dallas, Texas
Commentators: AC Mack, Suge D, Faye Jackson, Robert Martyr

This is part of GCW’s annual collection of shows and hopefully this year’s is a bit better than last time. Granted not having the show deep into the night in front of a few dozen fans when everyone was already burned out should help. I’m not sure what to expect from the show and I kind of like it that way. Let’s get to it.

No intro for the show, which is normal for something like this.

The unnamed ring announcer introduces us to commentary and it’s time for the opener.

Impact Wrestling Knockouts Title: Big Swole vs. Tasha Steelz

Steelz is defending and commentary really likes her hair. Swole knocks her down to start and it’s a cutter for an early two. They’re already on the floor with Steelz getting in her first shot and taking it back inside. Steelz hits a running kick to the face for two and hits some suplexes for the same.

Swole (eventually) fights out of a chinlock and gets two off an uppercut. That’s fine with Steelz, who slides between her legs but can’t grab a cutter. Swole hits something like Happy Corbin’s Deep Six for two more and they strike it out until Steelz hits a Stunner. Back up and Dirty Dancing drops Steelz to the floor so Swole throws her back in, only to get caught with a cutter to retain Steelz’s title at 8:02.

Rating: C. Commentary is going to be an annoying factor throughout the show as it seems that they are trying to pop each other rather than focus on the match. That being said, this isn’t a show that needs to be treated as the most serious thing so it’s hardly a match killer. Steelz and Swole are talented but they aren’t exactly ready for a match on their own, meaning this was just ok.

Keita vs. Ju Dizz vs. PB Smooth vs. Michael Oku vs. Carlie Bravo vs. Andino vs. Trey Shaw

Well what would a show like this be without a scramble? Everyone goes after the big Smooth to start but he throws everyone but Andino out to the floor. A reverse World’s Strongest Slam into a legdrop gives Smooth two as I try to keep track of who everyone is. Smooth misses a charge and falls out to the apron, setting up Oku vs. Shaw. With Shaw down, Andino takes out Oku, leaving Andino to stare it down with Bravo.

Oku is back in but his half crab is kicked to the floor and it’s Andino cleaning house again. There’s the big dive to the floor, followed by an even bigger flip version from Oku. Smooth breaks up another dive and hits something like a Blue Thunder Bomb for two on Shaw. Everyone goes after Smooth again until Oku missile dropkicks him down. We hit the parade of secondary finishers until Oku misses a Lionsault. Back up and Oku hits some running knees on Shaw, setting up the half crab for the tap at 9:57.

Rating: C. As is almost always the case with these scrambles, I have no idea what I’m supposed to get out of them. The match is all over the place with a bunch of people doing their thing and hopefully someone stands out. Oku and Smooth did to an extent, but I was regularly forgetting who was who here because it’s seven guys trying to stand out in about ten minutes. How could that possibly work?

Shane Taylor Promotions vs. HitMakerZ

That would be O’Shay Edwards/Shane Taylor with Ron Hunt vs. AJ Francis/Tehuti Miles (better known as Top Dolla/Ashante Thee Adonis) with Briana Brandy (B-Fab) of Hit Row fame. Taylor and Francis shove each other to start before fighting over a power lockup. Edwards comes in and gets shouldered hard into the corner, leaving him rather surprised. Commentary bills this as Performance Center vs. the indies for a rather insightful concept.

Miles comes in and gets suplexed by Edwards, who hands it off to Taylor for the actual suplex (that’s always cool). One heck of a beal sends Miles flying and Taylor runs him over for two more. Miles manages to get over for the tag to Francis to clean house but it’s time for the managers to get in a fight. Francis gets caught in the corner and a double superplex is loaded up, only to have Miles turn it into a double powerbomb.

With Edwards thankfully not out cold with Taylor almost landing on his head, Francis hits a standing moonsault to Taylor for the showoff move. That’s not enough though so it’s a World’s Strongest Slam to Taylor and something like a forward Samoan drop/Wasteland to Edwards at the same time, but Taylor isn’t legal so there’s no count (point for a competent referee). The seconds get into it on the floor, which allows Edwards to hit a spinebuster on Francis. Taylor’s running knee into the Marcus Garvey Driver finishes Miles at 11:29.

Rating: C+. This was a pretty decent tag match and I could go for more of both teams. The HitMakerZ are still pretty good minus Swerve Strickland, but neither of them have wrestled so far since this match. I’m still not sure why Taylor hasn’t gotten regular work somewhere, as he is far too talented to go from one independent show to another. Edwards is the same, though he seems to be more of a regular on the indy circuit. Anyway, nice match here and I was getting into it by the end.

Respect is shown post match.

Pan-Afrikan World Dispora Wrestling World Title: Trish Adora vs. MJ Jenkins

Jenkins is challenging and yes that is what the title is called. They fight over a lockup to start and neither can get anywhere. Adora takes her to the mat and works on the armbar, complete with pushups. Jenkins isn’t having that and forearms her down, setting up some running shots to the face in the corner. The Tree of Woe stomping is on, followed by the chinlock to keep things on Adora.

A Backpack Stunner gets her out of trouble though and there’s a Hennig necksnap for two. Jenkins forearms her back and hits a swinging slam for two, meaning frustration is setting in. Lariat Tubman misses for Adora so Jenkins kicks her in the head and loads up her own Lariat Tubman (I like that name more every time I hear it). That takes too long though and Adora hits a Bubba Bomb into a rollup for the pin to retain at 11:31.

Rating: C+. Adora is someone who seems to be one of the potential breakout stars that you see in various women’s divisions so it makes sense to put her on here. Jenkins seemed like a bit of a hoss and having her beat on Adora before getting rolled up at the end made sense. Good match, and Adora continues to grow on me.

Darius Lockhart vs. AJ Gray

Feeling out process to start as commentary talks about this being a dream match. Lockhart gets an armbar on the mat but Gray rolls him into the ropes without much trouble. Lockhart goes right back to the arm so Gray goes right back to the rope before kicking him down. A running backsplash gives Gray two and it’s time to strike it out.

Gray’s powerslam is countered into a crossbody for two (kind of an odd one) and a running knee in the corner gives Lockhart two. Back up and Lockhart grabs a suplex for two, followed by a running shot to the face for two more. A jumping knee to the face connects and Lockhart grabs what looks to be a headlock takeover, which is reversed into a cradle to give Gray the pin at 10:27.

Rating: C. It was nice while it lasted but this didn’t really build anywhere until Gray rolled him up for the pin. Lockhart got in some good shots and those knees were pretty good, but I was expecting at least another five minutes and it was a sudden ending. I’ve seen Gray multiple times before and he’s very good, though this wasn’t the best way to use his talents.

JTG vs. Mysterious Q vs. Zenshi vs. Bryan Keith

One fall to a finish. They stare each other down to start until Q rolls Keith up for two. JTG comes in for the staredown with Q but gets pulled outside. That leaves Kelly to come back in and miss a springboard…something, meaning Q slams Keith. Q calls JTG in for the slugout until JTG hits the reverse Sling Blade for two. Everyone gets back in and it’s a double suplex into a powerbomb to drop JTG.

Zenshi and JTG are sent outside, leaving Q to hit a slingshot corkscrew splash. Q is back up with a spinning torture rack bomb for two on Zenshi with JTG having to make the save. JTG plants Q with a very spinning Rock Bottom but gets low bridged to the floor by Keith. Back in and Zenshi gets buckle bombed by JTG, who takes Zenshi up top. Keith shoves JTG outside and gets Zenzhi in an electric chair, only to have Q run the ropes and hit a springboard….bulldog I think to finish Zenshi at 8:09.

Rating: C. I’ve seen Q be good enough before so he was no surprise, with Zenshi being about the same. Keith didn’t get much of a chance to shine here but was decent enough. Then, as usual, you have JTG, whose physical transformation continues to blow my mind, even a year after I saw it in the first place. The match was your usual “here’s a spot while some people are on the floor, repeat until finish”, which was all you probably should have expected it to be.

The ring is filled with weapons for the death match main event, with the announcer giving the fans directions on what happens if the wrestlers come near them: “Grab your s*** and move!”

Hoodfoot vs. Billy Dixon

Death match and Dixon is a rather large man in overalls. There is talk about these two having a big feud but an explanation of what that feud may be about isn’t important enough to explain. They circle each other to start before going for the light tubes. Dixon ducks the first shot but gets blasted in the head to put him in trouble. They head outside with Hoodfoot hitting him in the head a few times, only to have Dixon get in a shot of his own.

Hold on though as Dixon has to stop to yell at someone in the crowd (who seems to be part of their feud), allowing Hoodfoot to get in a barbed wire 2×4 shot. A powerbomb off the apron and three a table is blocked as Dixon kicks him in the head, meaning it’s time to slug it out on the apron. They both fall through the table to leave them both down, with commentary thinking it might be a countout.

We’re not that lucky as Hoodfoot takes him back inside for a bunch of light tubes to the back. More tubs are put over Dixon’s throat and stomped on for two so it’s time to go up. Since it’s a death match, Dixon is right back up to catch him on top. A chair to the head sets up a slam through a door for two on Hoodfoot and Dixon is warming up. Something like an Unprettier onto the light tube gets two and a spinebuster onto the glass is good for the same.

More light tubs to the back have Hoodfoot down but Dixon stops to pose on the ropes, meaning more light tubes to his back bring him down. Commentary apologizes for the slower pace but hypes up all of the violence. We get some more violence as Dixon is kind of pumphandle powerbombed through a door for one, with Dixon getting all fired up. That’s fine with Hoodfoot, who hits him with a bunch of light tube shots and grabs a Border City Stretch for the tap at 17:01.

Rating: D. This was a lot of the problems with a death match thrown into one match. The guys were both rather large and not exactly moving well and their offense mainly consisted of hitting each other with light tubes. That’s about all of the death match stuff that we had here, as instead of hitting someone with one light tube, they kept using one tube after another. It was slow, it wasn’t interesting violence and the story was barely touched on. Rather awful main event, which shouldn’t be a surprise.

Post match they look at each other but leave without a handshake or the far more important nod of respect. And then the show just ends without much of in the way of fanfare.

Overall Rating: D+. This show was really not very good and I’m not surprised it took me so long to get through it. There were a few ok enough matches but nothing on here stood out and the main event was dreadful. Last year’s For The Culture was a heck of a lot better than this as the show can go well, but this was a big miss and one of the worse shows from Wrestlemania weekend so far.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Ric Flair’s Last Match
Date: July 31, 2022
Location: Nashville Fairgrounds, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, David Crockett, Ian Riccaboni

We had to get here eventually and I’m not that happy about it. This is a show that I haven’t really wanted to watch since it was announced and that hasn’t changed since. While I absolutely respect what he did in the ring, I’m not the biggest Flair fan and seeing him do something this risky isn’t something I particularly needed to see. The good thing is that this is a full show and the undercard looks pretty awesome, but it’s all leading to one thing and that has me dreading the show. Let’s get to it.

This is billed as a Jim Crockett Promotions event for old times’ sake.

Pre-Show: Ren Narita vs. Yuya Uemura

They go with the grappling to start and get to a standoff as Crockett seemingly has no idea who either of them are. Tony doesn’t either, but at least he seems more interested. Narita gets the better of a chop off (Crockett: “They wish they could be Ric Flair.”) and kicks him in the back a few times, only to run into a dropkick.

A running clothesline in the corner sets up a running bulldog out of the corner before starting in on the arm. Something close to Antonio Inoki’s cobra twist has Narita in trouble but he comes back with a German suplex for two. Back up and they slug it out until Narita counters a charge into a belly to belly suplex with a bridge for the pin at 5:58.

Rating: C. This isn’t designed to be a great match or anything close to it but they were able to go out there and do their moves until one of them got the pin. That isn’t a bad thing and it works very well for a spot like this. Good enough match here as Narita and Uemura continue to showcase themselves well and grow in front of your eyes.

Bunkhouse Battle Royal

Sinn Bodhi, James Storm, Bully Ray, Mance Warner, 1 Called Manders, Gringo Loco, Kommander, Joey Janela, Kal Herro, Big Damo, Blake Christian, Crimson, Jordan Oliver, Rickey Shane Page, Wolfie D, Effy, Matthew Justice, Crowbar

It’s a brawl to start (of course) but after about a minute, here is Nick Gage to lead a GCW invasion, as he promised last night at a GCW show. Storm hits Herro with the Eye of the Storm and tosses him out and there goes Damo as well. Some double teaming takes Crimson out and Loco moonsaults out onto Damo to eliminate himself. Kommander runs the top rope and eliminates himself as well and Janela tosses Wolfie D.

Bodhi whips out a spare ring rope for some choking but gets kicked out. Effy crotches Crowbar on top and plays D-Von in an old What’s Up. The Ray tosses him, as well as Justice, Manders and Oliver in a roll. We’re down to Warner, Ray, Storm and Janela, with the latter two being knocked out. Ray drops Warner and loads up a table, with Warner being powerbombed through. Then Warner tosses him to win at 11:23.

Rating: D+. You’re only going to be able to get so much out of this as it was a pretty fast battle royal with an invasion angle going on in the middle. Warner winning is fine, and it was nice to see them go that route instead of the expected way with Storm or Ray. Not much to see here, but you know what you’re getting with a battle royal.

Warner wins a cowboy boot and belt buckle because of course he does.

Bob Caudle (92 years old on Tuesday) welcomes us to the show and sends us to ringside.

Motor City Machine Guns vs. American Wolves

Scott D’Amore is on commentary and Chris Sabin works on Davey Richards’ wrist to start. Richards spins out and kicks the arm for the break, only to get armdragged into the corner. Edwards comes in but Shelley tags himself in and slaps on a sleeper. The Guns start taking over in the corner with the alternating kicks but Richards comes back in for a cheap shot. Some alternating kicks put Shelley down and commentary starts making Rock N Roll Express vs. Midnight Express comparisons.

Richards puts Shelley down and gets a running start to kick Sabin off the apron. The Wolves grab stereo submissions but Sabin Edwards away and into the other two for the double break. Richards dragon screw legwhips Shelley’s knee onto the ropes but misses a top rope double stomp. Shelley takes both Wolves down at once and the hot tag brings in Sabin to clean house.

The missile dropkick/Downward Spiral combination drops Richards for two but Edwards is back in with a superkick. Edwards’ backpack Stunner sets up the top rope double stomp with Sabin having to make a save. Sabin cutters Edwards and it’s the Dream Sequence for Richards. Skull and Crossbones finishes Edwards at 10:49.

Rating: B-. This was the kind of hot opening match you want to have and it worked well. These teams are going to have a solid match against each other through talent alone and that was on display here. The Guns are one of the best teams of their generation and the Wolves were good if you can handle Richards, making this a fast paced opener, as it was designed to be.

Video on some great moments of Jim Crockett Promotions.

Various wrestlers are here, including Vickie Guerrero, Santino Marella, Al Snow and Mick Foley.

Killer Kross vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr.

This is an MLW showcase. Scarlett Bordeaux is here with Kross, who has hair for a weird look. Smith drives him into the corner for a clean break to start so Kross takes it to the mat. The headscissors is escaped with a nip up and Smith cranks on the arm. The hammerlock goes on and we go to a wide shot for no apparent reason. They trade belly to back suplexes before a slugout goes to Smith. Back up and Kross pulls him into the Krossjacket but Smith flips back to escape. A t-bone suplex drops Bulldog again and it’s the Quickening (running forearm to the back of the head) to finish for Kross at 5:25.

Rating: C. They kept this one quick but the only thing that mattered was the belly to back suplexes. Smith is someone who should have all of the tools to be a top star but the lack of charisma hurts him a good bit. Then you have Kross, who feels like a killer (appropriately enough) and just isn’t that great in the ring. Mix those two together and you have something, but for now it’s two people missing something important.

More legends (Booker T., Shawn Michaels), plus Will Sasso, talk about what Ric Flair means.

Jonathan Gresham vs. Konosuke Takeshita vs. Alan Angels vs. Nick Wayne

The winner gets a future Progress World Title shot and I’ve never actually seen Wayne. He gets A LOT of praise though but I’ve never seen a match. Ian Riccaboni joins commentary to spruce things up a bit. Gresham seems a bit more enthusiastic here than he did at Death Before Dishonor. Angels and Gresham start things off but Gresham is sent outside and since lucha rules (because of course it is), Wayne comes in and sends Angels outside. Takeshita comes in with a running clothesline to put Wayne on the floor but it’s too early for the dive.

Gresham is back in to kick Takeshita down but Angels takes Takeshita’s place. Back in and Takeshita forearms Angels down before blasting him with a clothesline. Wayne grabs a Code Red for two on Angels but has to flip out of Takeshita’s German suplex. The Blue Thunder Bomb drops Wayne for two and everything breaks down. Angels and Wayne moonsault off the top and out to the floor for the big crash. Back in and Gresham drops Takeshita and Wayne, setting up the suicide dive to Angels. Gresham takes Angels back in and, after shrugging off the cradle attempt, tied Angels up for the rollup pin at 5:38.

Rating: C+. This was a fast paced match with so much crammed in that it felt like it could have been twice that long. Gresham is the most successful star here and him going on to the title match makes sense, though Wayne was looking smooth while he was in there. Takeshita was good as usual, with Angels continuing to be fast but small, which leaves him as just kind of a person.

Cody Rhodes sends in a video talking about how great he and his dad both think Flair is.

Rock N Roll Express vs. Brian Pillman Jr./Brock Anderson

That would be Ricky and Kerry Morton with Robert Gibson in their corner to counter Arn Anderson. Pillman and Brock have the 1990s Horsemen shirts to make things extra awesome. Nick Aldis joins commentary as the revolving door continues. I’m not sure if the bell rang but Pillman and Kerry start things off with Pillman taking him down without much trouble. They trade wristlock reversals until Kerry kicks him in the face to take over.

Pillman gets caught between the Mortons and pingponged back and forth with right hands. Brock comes in and wants Ricky, who kicks him into the corner and hammers away. It’s back to Kerry for the double dropkick but Brock takes Kerry into the corner for the tag off to Pillman. Kerry manages to send Brock into Pillman in the corner for a breather and the hot tag brings in Ricky. Everything breaks down and a Pillman cheap shot sends Ricky into a gordbuster to give Brock the pin at 7:39.

Rating: C. I get what they were going for here and the Express vs. Horsemen theme was a good idea, but Ricky and Kerry doesn’t have the same ring as Ricky and Robert. Pillman is someone else who seems to have a bunch of the tools but it hasn’t quite clicked yet. The match was another case where it wasn’t bad, but nothing I’ll remember in about five minutes.

JJ Dillon is here.

Bandido vs. Black Taurus vs. Laredo Kid vs. Rey Fenix

It’s a brawl to start with Taurus clearing the ring early on. Fenix and Kid are left alone with Kid shrugging off a chop and hitting a tornado DDT. A tiger driver plants Fenix but Kid misses a dive. Taurus comes back in and gets kicked in the face in the corner. Bandido is back in as well and gets caught with a rolling cutter from Fenix. Bandido sends Fenix outside and hits the one armed gorilla press on Kid.

There’s the running headscissors on Taurus but Kid knocks Bandido outside. Taurus dives onto everyone at ringside and then beats them up back inside as well. Bandido catches Taurus up top but he’s fine enough to super gorilla press Kid back down. Everyone is staggered and Taurus is sent outside, where Bandido nearly breaks his neck on a dive but manages to turn it into a Destroyer on the floor.

Bandido takes Kid up top for a super backflip fall away slam down onto Taurus and Fenix and everyone is down on the floor again. Back in and Taurus plants Bandido but Fenix makes the save with a top rope double stomp. Fenix’s Samoan driver finishes Taurus at 11:50.

Rating: B. When you put these four on the card, you do it so they can have a match like this. They had a very entertaining match with all kinds of high spots and fast paced action, which is all you would have needed here. It’s not about making sense or having any logic behind it, but rather about popping the crowd every chance they can. As usual, it worked.

Jim Ross wishes Flair well and thanks him for everything.

We recap Impact Wrestling World Champion Josh Alexander defending against Jacob Fatu. This is the match that got my attention more than anything else so this should be a heck of a fight.

Impact Wrestling World Title: Josh Alexander vs. Jacob Fatu

Alexander is defending and Fatu is part of the Anoa’i family with the nickname of the Samoan Werewolf. Tom Hannifan joins commentary this time around. Fatu charges at him to start and Alexander hammers away in the corner. Back up and Fatu uppercuts his way out of trouble, only to get elbowed in the face. Alexander starts cranking on the ankle but Fatu, who is built like Umaga, is back up with a running hurricanrana.

Fatu goes up but gets superplexed right back down. That doesn’t slow Fatu down, as he runs the corner and hits the Whisper In The Wind into a handspring moonsault, because he can do that. The running hip attack misses in the corner though and Alexander is back to the ankle. A powerbomb onto the knee gets two on Fatu, who is sent out to the apron.

Fatu’s slingshot is broken up and the running crossbody to the back puts him on the floor. Fatu is fine enough to run Alexander over and the top rope moonsault gets two back inside. Alexander manages to roll some German suplexes, only to walk into a pop up Samoan drop. Then Mark Sterling and the Major Players run in to jump them both for the DQ at 10:30.

Rating: B. Yeah this worked and the ending was about all they could have done. You don’t want one of the top stars of either promotion losing so doing the run-in is as logical as it gets. I could still go for Fatu to get a spot on a major roster at some point in the future because he is one of those freak athletes you do not find very often. Alexander continues to be one of the best stars going today and having him as the centerpiece of Impact is a great idea. Good match here and I expected nothing less.

Post match the beatdown is on but Diamond Dallas Page of all people runs in and Diamond Cutters Matt Cardona for the save.

An attempt at an interview with Jeff Jarrett finds his father Jerry Jarrett….and Jerry Lawler too. Lawler helped train Jeff so he’s ready to see Flair lose in his last match. Flair stole the strut from Jackie Fargo and ran out of Memphis the first time he faced Lawler, so it’s time to get rid of him for good. Lawler can still cut a fine enough heel promo.

Briscoes vs. Von Erichs

That would be Marshall and Ross Von Erich, Kevin’s sons. Ian Riccaboni is back on commentary as Mark takes Ross down to start. Marshall comes in to slam Mark but it’s off to Jay for a running clothesline. The Briscoes take over on Ross in the corner and the Von Erichs are sent outside for a big dive from Jay.

Back in and Jay hammers on Ross but a shot from Marshall puts the Briscoes in trouble for a change. That doesn’t last long as Jay gets over for the tag off to Mark and house is cleaned in a hurry. A shotgun dropkick sends Marshall into the corner as everything breaks down. Redneck Boogie is broken up and Marshall’s claw slam only gets two. Jay’s neckbreaker sets up the Froggy Bow to finish Marshall at 7:48.

Rating: C+. I haven’t seen the Von Erichs in a bit and they have gotten a bit better since then. It’s nice to see them looking more polished in the ring, which comes with experience. That being said, the Briscoes are one of the best teams of this generation and there is no shame in losing to a team that good. Nice enough match here, but the Von Erichs were overmatched.

Sting is grateful for Ric Flair.

We recap Jordynne Grace defending the Impact Knockouts Title against Rachael Ellering and Deonna Purrazzo. Not much of a story here but we need a women’s match on the show.

Impact Wrestling Knockouts Title: Jordynne Grace vs. Deonna Purrazzo vs. Rachael Ellering

Grace is defending. They trade the rapid fire rollups to start with no one being able to get anywhere. Purrazzo is sent outside so Grace and Ellering shake hands before starting up as well. Grace sends her into the corner and hits the running knees to the back, with Ellering seems to have hurt her ankle. Purrazzo is back up and sent right back to the floor, leaving Ellering to hit an STO into a middle rope spinning legdrop for two on Grace.

Back in and Purrazzo can’t get the Queen’s Gambit on Grace so Ellering comes in to beat on both of them. Grace spinebusters Ellering, who gets caught in a Fujiwara armbar from Purrazzo. With that being a problem, Grace grabs a choke on Purrazzo for the break. Back up and the Grace Driver plants Purrazzo and a rear naked choke makes Ellering tap to retain Grace’s title at 9:11.

Rating: C+. Another match that was fairly fast paced but without a ton of drama for the main event. Grace is a heck of a powerhouse and a good champion while Purrazzo has been the star of the division for a good chunk of the year. That left Ellering there to take the fall and it came at the end of a perfectly decent match.

We recap the main event, which is Ric Flair having his last match because he wanted to do it one more time. Then Jay Lethal no showed a podcast so Flair ripped into him, despite the two of them being friends. Jeff Jarrett wasn’t pleased so he and Lethal beat Flair down, drawing blood, because of course they did. Flair got Andrade El Idolo, his son-in-law, and the tag match is set. If this sounds not so great, it’s because it isn’t.

Undertaker and Michelle McCool are sitting next to Mick Foley.

Ric Flair/Andrade El Idolo vs. Jay Lethal/Jeff Jarrett

Karen Jarrett is here with Jeff and Jay. Jeff even shoves Conrad Thompson during his entrance so you know it’s serious. Flair, wearing the Big Gold Belt (looks to be the original too), uses the WWE version of his theme with the WOO to start. Kid Rock is at ringside (because of course he is) and Flair is wrestling in a sleeveless shirt, which is probably best for everyone at the moment. Flair and Jarrett start things off but it’s off to Lethal before anything big happens.

Lethal takes him down without much trouble and we’re at an early standoff. A headlock takeover takes Lethal over but he’s back up for an exchange of slaps in the corner. Lethal wants Andrade, who springboards in, making this a pretty run of the mill match instead of what we’re here to see. Some elbows to the face put Andrade in trouble but he’s fine enough to hiptoss Jarrett.

Flair comes in so Jarrett bails before hitting that strut. An Irish whip is blocked and Flair does his own strut, plus a crotch chop for fun. Flair chops away and kicks an interfering Lethal low, which is enough to send Jarrett up the aisle for a breather. Back in and Andrade gets in some kicks to Lethal’s ribs, allowing Flair to choke away in the corner. Some chops put Lethal down and Andrade comes back in, only to get taken down as well.

Now Jarrett can come in to stomp away, setting up another strut. Lethal’s Black Machismo (a name that has Crockett VERY confused) ax handle gets two on Andrade and the basement dropkick gets the same. Andrade counters a belly to back suplex from Jarrett but they bump heads for a double knockdown. The tag brings in Flair, who gets a Figure Four on Lethal but Jeff makes the save.

Karen slips in a high heel to bust Flair open, meaning Megan Flair (Ric’s daughter/Conrad’s wife) goes after her for the catfight over the barricade. Flair pokes Lethal in the eye to escape but gets taken back inside, where you can see him being VERY blown up. Lethal hits a suplex with Andrade having to make a save, leaving Lethal to hammer away even more. Hail To The King misses though and the tag brings in Andrade to clean house. A middle rope DDT gets two on Jarrett and Lethal superkicks Jarrett by mistake.

Andrade poisonranas Lethal and the ref is bumped, which is all this match needed. Flair tags in, despite laying on the apron at the time. Flair literally crawls over to Lethal for a cover but there’s no referee, so Jarrett brings in the guitar. That hits Lethal by mistake (duh) so Conrad throws Andrade some brass knuckles. Flair uses them on Jarrett and the Figure Four goes on. Cue another referee so Flair can pin the unconscious Jarrett (in the Figure Four) at 26:48.

Rating: D+. That’s about as generous as I can go as this was one of the hardest things I’ve sat through in a good while. Flair looked every bit of 73 years old out there and that was one of the worst possible outcomes. Seeing him laying on the apron and barely able to move was sad and the match was overbooked beyond belief in ways it didn’t need to be. If this is a ten minute match and they keep things as quick as they can go, it could have worked, but trying for some epic deal was a horrible idea.

The other problem is who was in there with him. I know there is a history/connection with most of them, but you would have go to pretty far down the list of Flair’s history to find Lethal and Jarrett. It comes off more like “here’s the best we can get to say yes” rather than someone special. The other problem is that needing them to be in the ring so long so Flair can recover left us with an only so interesting handicap match.

All in all, this is about what you had to expect: Flair talking up the match rather well and not being able to deliver in the ring. It was a passable match with the other guys in there, but this was all about Flair and at the end of the day, he wasn’t able to make it work. Cut this down to about 10-15 minutes and it could have worked, but it felt like Flair was dragged through this rather than going out on a happy note.

Post match Flair goes to ringside to thank some legends (Undertaker, Foley and Bret Hart, who are sitting together) before talking to Tony Schiavone. Flair talks about how he can’t believe how great this was and he’s in one of the best wrestling towns in the world. Then Kid Rock told him he was here to be entertained, just in case Flair didn’t have enough pressure on him. They’re hitting the town tonight, which isn’t quite how I was expecting such a speech to go.

Andrade hands Flair the Big Gold Belt and Flair hugs Lethal to end the show.

We get some credits, including a montage of Flair photos and Bob Caudle giving us the signoff (as he did back in the day).

Overall Rating: B-. This is a weird one as the main event is awful but that’s the only thing on the show that matters. I’ve heard this compared to a big boxing pay per view where no one watches anything but the last fight and that makes a lot of sense. The rest of the show was quite good and works as a heck of an indy show, but the main event didn’t work and dragged everything else down.

The other problem is the feeling of the show, as it might have been nice to have one more match, but it felt forced in a way. It’s like Flair decided it was time to praise him again and everyone had to line up with their nice things to say. The problem is they did that fourteen years ago on a bigger stage and after a better match. It didn’t feel fun or special, but rather “ok, he got what he wanted so let’s try to have a good time”. The Flair stuff was sad, and as good as the rest was, that’s all that mattered.

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