For The Culture 2024
Date: April 5, 2024
Location: Penns Landing Caterers, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Big Swole, AC Mack

This has become a tradition from GCW over Wrestlemania Weekend and the shows tend to be pretty good more often than not. The show focuses on Black wrestlers and there is quite a bit of talent on the card. GCW can do rather well when they try and hopefully that is the case again here. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Team Myron vs. Team Dolla

Myron: Myron Reed, Ruckus, Devon Monroe, Darian Bengston, Calvin Tankman
Dolla: AJ Francis, Isaiah Broner, Keita, Mr. Danger, Terry Yaki

Francis yells at Reed to start with Reed not being able to do the test of strength. Instead Reed hits him in the face but gets taken down with a single shoulder. Tankman comes in for the rather large lockup with Francis taking him into into the corner but missing the big chop. Back up and Tankman hits something like a Pounce to send Francis into the corner. It’s off to Monroe for a bouncing hurricanrana to send Broner outside.

Keita comes in and kicks Monroe into the corner for a suplex right back out of it. It’s off to Bengston to take Keita down by the arm but Danger comes in with a springboard moonsault. Francis cleans house and everything breaks down, as you probably expected it to do. We get back to back stereo dives to leave almost everyone down.

That leaves Francis to tease a dive, only to flip the fans off instead. Danger busts out a big springboard corkscrew moonsault and NOW Francis busts out the big dive. Back in and we get the parade of big knockdowns until a hanging F5 hits Broner, followed by a sitout powerbomb from Ruckus to give Reed…the pin (it wasn’t quite clear) at 11:48.

Rating: C+. The problem here is there were so many wrestlers in there at once that it was hard to keep track of what was going on. It doesn’t help that they had so much going all over the place, with no one really getting to stand out. Francis was the biggest name in the whole thing and was only featured part of the time. Fun enough match, but not exactly focused.

Thick N Juicy vs. Kings Of The District vs. Killionaires Club vs. The Mane Event

That would be Brooke Valentine/Faye Jackson vs. Eel O’Neal/Jordan Blade vs. J Boujii/PB Smooth vs. Duke Davis/Ganon Jones Jr. Hold on though as we need to see if Jackson will give Smooth (a 6’9 giant) a Stinkface. That won’t be happening so it’s Blade starting with Valentine instead. Blade snapmares her down for a dropkick to the back before it’s off to the test of strength.

That goes nowhere so they trade running shoulders to limited avail. A double knockdown gives us a double tag to O’Neal and Jackson, with O’Neal’s headlock not getting him anywhere. Jackson runs him over with a shoulder and sits on his chest for two and O’Neal, dubbed Bad Brain, goes into the wrong corner in a not so bright move. Thick N Juicy hit running hip attacks on the Kings, who seem to approve. Stereo Cannonballs crush the Kings again but the Club comes in to clear the ring.

We get the big Club vs. Event showdown, with Boujii not being able to do much against the rather large Duke. Almost everyone heads to the floor, allowing Jones to hit a big dive onto the pile. Back in and Blade manages a German suplex on Jones but the Kings Club clears the ring again. O’Neal strikes away at Jones to limited success. Jackson goes up (taking over a minute due to a bunch of slipping) and dives onto almost everyone else, setting up a Banzai Drop to pin O’Neal at 12:45.

Rating: C+. This was a bit easier to keep track of than the opener, though that might have been due to having four teams instead of two. There were some short form showdowns in there and that helped a bit, though again there is only so much you can get out of a match with eight people involved at once. Thick N Juicy were the focal point here, which is impressive given a giant like Smooth being involved.

Man Like DeReiss vs. Sonny Kiss

Kiss grabs the wristlock to start and flips around to start to slip away. Some hip shaking has DeReiss out on the floor but he comes back in for some dancing of his own. Back in and Kiss does Naomi’s headscissors to ram him into the back of the trunks, only for DeReiss to hit a hard shoulder.

DeReiss works on the arm until Kiss flips out of a belly to back suplex and strikes away. A German suplex and a hard clothesline give DeReiss two and they trade rollups for two each. Natural Selection gives Kiss two but DeReiss is back with a sitout powerbomb for another near fall. Kiss gets up and manages a gorilla press (that’s impressive) into a torture rack Stunner for the pin at 9:03.

Rating: C. While it was rather nice to have a singles match and both of them have a good bit of charisma, the action was nothing special. It was mainly a power vs. speed match, though Kiss’ gorilla press at the end was quite the surprise. Perfectly fine match, but nothing that stood out much for what is supposed to be a special show.

Janai Kai vs. Jada Stone vs. Joseline Navarro vs. Maya World vs. Mazzerati vs. Tiara James

Elimination rules…or not actually as the ring announcer says there is a change of plans, making this one fall to a finish. It’s a brawl to start with Maya, Mazzerati and Stone hitting stereo dropkicks to the floor. Maya and Mazzerati hit dives, followed by Stone’s corkscrew moonsault onto the pile.

Back in and Stone strikes away on Maya until a German suplex drops Stone for two. Mazzerati comes in and gets kicked in the head and hits a sliding clothesline to the back of the head. Navarro avoids a charge in the corner and hits a basement DDT to put Mazzerati down. James comes back in and gets kicked in the face but catches a returning Kai with a gutbuster.

Everyone gets together for a suplex attempt, with Mazzerati, Maya and Stone managing to get the others over. Mazzerati goes for covers on a bunch of people but can’t get anywhere. Well she can get to two but that’s it. Everyone is back up Mazzerati hits a hurricanrana to send Kai into everyone else. We hit the parade of suplexes and throws until Navarro hits a running crossbody in the corner to pin Mazzerati at 10:32.

Rating: C+. Much like the first two matches, there was so much going on here with so many people that you can only get so much out of it. No one had a chance to stand out and it felt like who managed to get a pin first rather than whoever won. That’s the problem with these scramble matches and it was on full display again here.

2 Cold Scorpio vs. Jah-C

They shake hands to start and fight over arm control, with Jah-C powering out of a top wristlock. We get a standoff, allowing Jah-C to yell at a woman in the crowd, which seems to be a bit of an overreaction. They go to the mat with Scorpio grabbing a front facelock, which is reversed into an armbar. Jah-C takes him down and seems to tell Scorpio to bring it, which works for him. An armdrag puts Jah-C down before Scorpio lures him into a fake handshake.

Scorpio kicks him down and grabs the chinlock, which doesn’t last long. They slug it out until Scorpio leverages him outside without too much effort. Back in and Scorpio kicks him down, setting up a springboard moonsault for two. Jah-C rakes the eyes though and hits his own springboard moonsault for his own two. Scorpio drops him and busts out the Tumbleweed for another near fall but Jah-C kicks him down again. A Lionsault gives Jah-C and a superkick finishes Scorpio off at 10:43, with Scorpio kicking out at 3.1 in a bit of a weird look.

Rating: C+. I’m always going to be interested in seeing Scorpio as I’ve been a fan for over thirty years. The guy has such a natural charisma and while he can’t quite go like he used to (as he’s 58), he still has enough ability to put on a good match. I’m curious about that ending though, as it definitely did not seem to go as it was supposed to.

Post match Scorpio gets to dance a bit.

Pan-Afrikan World Diaspora Wrestling Title: Suge D vs. Alex Kane

Kane is challenging and has Faye Jackson with him. The much bigger Kane blocks a whip into the ropes to start and Suge realizes he needs to do something else. Suge hits about ten straight running shoulders but can’t get anywhere, so he stomps on the foot and then runs Kane over. Back up and Kane shrugs off a shot to the face and grabs a German suplex. Kane fires off some knees to the head but Suge is back with a facebuster for two.

That just annoys Kane again as he ties Suge in the ropes for a running boot to the face and two of his own. Some rolling German suplexes set up a t-bone suplex to send Suge into the corner but Suge talks trash as he comes out. Some running clotheslines and forearms stagger Kane and Suge grabs his own German suplex. They trade more suplexes until Suge gets two but Kane is back up with a Crash Landing. A spear gives Kane two but Suge hits his own, setting up a piledriver to retain at 12:07.

Rating: C+. Suge seems to be more of the scrappy brawler while Kane is there to throw suplexes. It turned into a hard hitting fight and that helped a good bit, making it perhaps the best match on the show so far. Kane is a bigger deal in MLW so he has some status here, which made him feel like a stronger threat to take the title. Nice match here.

Darius Carter vs. Billy Dixon

Darius Lockhart is the guest referee. Commentary says this is five years in the making though doesn’t exactly explain how we got here. Carter shoves him to start and gets pummeled out to the floor, where Carter manages a quick posting. Back in and Dixon kicks away, setting up a middle rope elbow to the face for one. Carter’s dropkick puts Dixon down again though and the pace slows a lot.

Carter starts going after the leg and grabs a Hartbreaker, despite Lockhart’s protests. The Figure Four goes on back inside but Dixon makes the ropes in a hurry. That’s fine with Carter, who takes it to the apron for a piledriver, which is countered into a backdrop. Back in and Carter starts in on the finger so he can stomp away in the corner. For some reason Lockhart helps Dixon up and tells him to fight back, which is exactly what Dixon does. The comeback doesn’t last long as Carter knocks him outside but Dixon beats the count.

Carter hammers away at the forehead but Dixon runs him over with a shoulder. Dixon sits up ala Undertaker and gets two off a middle rope Thesz press. Another shot drops Dixon but Carter stops to yell at Lockhart, allowing Dixon to grab a Pedigree for two. Carter picks the leg again though and we hit the Figure Four again. Dixon fights up but gets his fingers snapped to put him back down…and he passes out for the pin at 19:14.

Rating: C. This is a match where commentary really hurt things, as it felt like it was supposed to be this big grudge match and we were never given any reason why. Was there some significance to the Figure Four? Or why do Lockhart and Carter not like each other? This was the main event and something treated as bigger than the rest of the show but you would never guess it based on most of the presentation.

Overall Rating: C-. For The Culture has been hit and miss over the years and this was on the latter side. The biggest problem here was a focus on quantity over quality, with three of the seven matches being multi-person messes in one form or another. The main event, while not bad, didn’t feel overly important and that hurt things even more. On top of that, the show didn’t start until around midnight so the main event was starting around 2:30 in the morning. Overall, this wasn’t a great show and it needed to be laid out a good bit better to really improve.

 

 

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For The Culture 2023
Date: March 30, 2023
Location: Ukranian Culture Center, Los Angeles, California
Commentators: Darien Bankston, D’Lo Brown

This show has become a tradition as the show focuses on Black wrestlers from around the world. That has made for some rather entertaining shows over the years and it features quite the group of talented stars. There is a good chance that it continues this year so let’s get to it.

A rather loud ring announcer welcomes us to the show and we’re starting with a scramble. Well of course.

Ashton Starr vs. Ju Dizz vs. Keita Murray vs. Darius Carter vs. Terry Yaki vs. Devon Monroe Faye Jackson

One fall to a finish. Carter, who seems rather full of himself, goes to the middle of the ring and tells everyone that they are about to lose tonight. Then he shoves Jackson in the face and it’s time for everyone to hit him in a row. Yaki hits a Cactus Clothesline to send Carter outside and it’s time for Dizz to dance with Jackson. That earns him a bunch of superkicks, leaving Starr and Monroe to kick Jackson down.

Starr beats on Monroe, who comes back with a rope walk armdrag but Jackson runs both of them over with a clothesline. Carter and Yaki come back in with Carter not being able to keep up with him. Yaki sends him outside for a dive, with Keita hitting a dive onto both of them. Dizz corkscrew dives onto all of them before Yaki adds another dive for a bonus.

Back in and Keita Boston crabs Yaki until Starr makes the save. Monroe comes back with a super jawbreaker for two but Jackson grabs a bottom rope hurricanrana. Carter piledrives Jackson but Dizz gives him a pumphandle powerbomb for two more. Monroe gives Dizz a twisting high crossbody….and Carter steals the pin on Dizz at 8:03.

Rating: C+. I’m not a fan of scramble matches but this was put together pretty well, with the people getting to do their stuff and not going too long. Carter felt like someone who had the personality to stand out a bit and him getting the win after starting off in trouble works. Also, points to the commentary team here, who kept saying the wrestlers’ names when they were around. A lot of fans aren’t going to be familiar with everyone as they come from all over so very well done on letting us know who we were seeing. So, so many shows don’t get that and it’s great to see for a change.

Willie Mack vs. Billy Dixon

Anything goes. They stare at each other to start before Dixon heads outside to start grabbing the weapons. Since Dixon spends so long getting weapons together, Mack goes outside and hits him in the face to get things going. Dixon punches him into the crowd but Mack shrugs it off and comes back to ringside. Mack walks him around the ring so more fans can hear the loud chops in a rather mean touch.

Back in and they slug it out until Mack scores with a superkick for two. A heck of a chair shot to the back keeps Dixon in trouble but he’s back with a clothesline. Some hard chair shots have Mack crawling across the mat, where Dixon bridges a door over two chairs, with Mack underneath. Mack fights up though and powerbombs him through the door, setting up a frog splash for two.

Dixon is back up with a spear through another door in the corner though and frustration is setting in. One heck of a spinebuster plants Mack, who pops back up with a Stunner. They head back to the floor (Brown: “This match is about as pretty as a rock fight.”) with Mack trying to slam him onto a chair but not exactly making it work. Back in and another Stunner is countered into a backslide to give Dixon the big upset pin at 13:19.

Rating: C-. I wasn’t feeling this one as they somehow managed to make a Willie Mack match boring. That’s very hard to do, but Dixon is a bigger guy who can only do so much. At the same time, they didn’t exactly give us a reason for why these two are fighting. It wasn’t the worst, but this was a long match that didn’t work very well. You need to give me a reason to care and that wasn’t the case here.

West Coast vs. The World

West Coast: G. Sharpe, Kenny King, Mazzerati, Alpha Zo, Midas Kreed
The World: AC Mack, Jay Malachi, JC Storm, Jeffrey John, Suge D

This is an elimination tag with King and Suge as the captains. Mack and Zo start things off with Zo running him over and sending him into the corner. A running kick in the corner misses Mack by about nine inches but Zo grabs a suplex instead. Sharpe and Malachi come in, with Sharpe chopping the heck out of him to take over. Malachi is back with a hurricanrana and dropkick, meaning it’s off to Mazzerati vs. Storm (both women).

It’s Storm starting fast with a pump kick and possibly ripping out an earring. That’s WAY too far so John and Kreed come in with John grabbing a springboard hurricanrana. The fans are split between East Coast and West Coast as Suge and Kenny come in. Suge works on a headlock before his running shoulders have no effect. Instead, Suge switches to the knee to take King down in a smart move.

King is right back up with a hard kick to the head though and Suge is knocked silly. Everything breaks down with all ten coming in and naturally most of them wind up on the floor, with King hitting a big flip dive. Sharpe takes Malachi down inside and hits the big flip dive off the top, leaving almost everyone down. The pile gets back up and heads towards the entrance, with Malachi hitting a HUGE flip dive over the corner. Back in and Malachi and Sharpe kick it out until until Sharpe hits a brainbuster for the elimination at 12:11.

John comes in and grabs a Gory Stretch on Sharpe, which he walks around the ring. Sharpe finally gets over for the tag (without getting out of the hold) to bring Kreed in to pick up the pace. A spinning kick to the head rocks John but Suge tags himself in for the save. Suge elbows Kreed in the head for the elimination at 14:32.

It’s 5-3 as Mazzerati comes in, only to have Suge put his hand on her head. With Mazzerati scaring him away, Suge brings Storm in for another showdown. Mazzerati yells a lot but gets speared down instead. That’s not cool with Mazzerati, who grabs a northern lights suplex for the elimination at 16:46. Then Mack comes in with a pair of Mack 10’s (arm cross Pedigree) to get rid of Mazzerrati at 17:02.

King comes in to slug it out with Mack before it’s quickly back to Suge. A spinebuster plants Suge so John comes in and ducks a spinning kick to the head. King gets cuttered down so it’s back to Zo, who gets caught with an uppercut. John Blue Thunder Bombs Sharpe but King rolls through a crossbody and hits the Royal Flush to get rid of John at 19:17.

It’s 3-2 with West Coast in the lead with Sharpe slugging away at Mack and Suge. The numbers get the better of him though and an assisted Mack 10 gets rid of Sharpe at 20:10. It’s Zo/King vs. Suge/Mack so they go face to face. The slugout is on…and King and Zo get stereo rollups for the win at 21:36.

Rating: B-. I got into this one as they didn’t fly through the eliminations and let the wrestlers show what they could do. You don’t get to see that very often in a Survivor Series match outside of WWE and in this case it worked pretty well. The ending was a nice surprise too and not something I remember seeing before. Throw in commentary telling us what was going on and this worked well.

Bryan Keith vs. 2 Cold Scorpio

They circle each other for about a minute as Keith isn’t overly popular here. A lockup lets Scorpio walk him into the corner but Keith is back with a hammerlock. Scorpio reverses into an armbar to take him down as they’re firmly in first gear (and almost slow motion). Keith armdrags him down into an armbar of his own but Scorpio fights up and hits a quick legdrop.

A belly to back suplex gets two but Mack manages a tornado DDT for the same. Keith ties the legs up in something like a Figure Four (but turned to the side). Scorpio grabs the rope so Keith grabs a very lame looking nerve hold, earning himself a kick to the chest. They trade forearms and then kicks to the face with Scorpio finally going down.

Back up and Scorpio knocks him down, setting up a moonsault for two. Scorpio goes to the top but Keith shoves the referee into the ropes for a nasty crotching. An exploder superplex sends Scorpio flying for the crash, followed by Diamond Dust (love that move) to drop Scorpio again. Back up and Scorpio fights his way out of…something and loads up a powerbomb, which is reversed into a sunset flip to give Keith the pin at 16:55.

Rating: D+. I’ve seen enough of Scorpio over the years to know that this wasn’t him at his best. I’m not sure what was going on here, but they were barely moving out there and it showed badly. Keith has shown some skill in the matches I’ve seen him in before, so this was a rather weird one that didn’t work. I’ll chalk it up to an off night, as both of them are much better than this.

Black Wrestlers Matter Title: Kevin Knight vs. Myron Reed vs. Man Like Dereiss

Reed is defending and Dereiss raps his own way to the ring. Knight is quickly left alone in the ring but busts out a big dive onto Reed. Back in and Reed dropkicks him down, setting up a slingshot legdrop for two. Dereiss comes back in to kick Reed to the floor but Knight grabs the foot.

All three are back in now and Knight takes the other two down. A splash gets two on Dereiss and a hard clothesline drops him again. Reed dives back in to take Knight down, only to get dropped by Dereiss. A double Blockbuster puts Reed and Knight down for two, though Dereiss isn’t sure on that count. Reed starts bouncing around and cutters Dereiss but Knight dropkicks him down for trying another one.

Dereiss and Reed head outside and go into the chairs but Knight dropkicks Dereiss back off the apron. Back in and Knight hits a heck of a DDT on Reed but Dereiss is back in with a 450 to both of them at once. Knight tries to come in off the top with a frog splash, only to have Reed cutter him as he lands on Dereiss. That gets two (might have been a botch) so Reed Air Raid Crashes Knight onto Dereiss for a double pin to retain at 10:07.

Rating: B. This was the kind of high flying, speed based match that you were probably expecting. It was a lot of fun with everyone moving rather fast and hitting one big move after another. The cutter to catch the frog splash looked great and was probably supposed to be the finish. Either way, heck of a match here and probably the best thing on the show so far.

Pan-Afrikan World Title: Trish Adora vs. Calvin Tankman

Adora is defending and Tankman is a rather large man. They start before the bell with Adora being sent outside, where she manages to kick him in the head. Back in and the bell rings, with Adora hitting a quick DDT. Tankman elbows her in the face but gets caught with a German suplex for two. Another elbow knocks Adora silly and you can see her looking rather stunned by the shot.

Adora is fine enough to come back with some forearms, earning herself a hard slam. Tankman starts taking his time but misses a charge into the corner. A shot to the head rocks Tankman but he’s back up with a spinebuster. The big forearm gives Tankman two and he puts Adora up top, only to get sunset bombed back down. Lariat Tubman sets up Cattle Mutilation and Tankman taps at 8:49.

Rating: C. Intergender wrestling is a hard thing to pull off in almost any form and that didn’t take place here. I couldn’t buy the idea that Adora, as good as she is, could do any damage to someone the size of Tankman. It felt like a match where Tankman could have squashed her at any time and that’s not the best way to go. The match was far from bad in any way, but I didn’t buy it and that’s not good.

Post match Billy Dixon comes out for his shot and…yeah that’s not working for Adora.

Overall Rating: C+. This show had enough rather good moments to make up for the weaker points. The talent was certainly there and the triple threat and Survivor Series matches were both quite solid. There was only one bad match on the show and I’m still not sure what went wrong there. Overall it’s worth a glance at just over two hours, making it decent enough and not that long.

 

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Ring Of Honor
Date: March 23, 2022

We continue the road to the relaunch and this time around we are looking at one of the most important people in the company’s recent history. The next two weeks will look at Jonathan Gresham, the reigning World Champion, including his rise through the company. Gresham has been one of the best things about Ring Of Honor for a long time now so let’s get to it.

Quick video on Gresham.

From Final Battle 2021.

Ring of Honor World Title: Jonathan Gresham vs. Jay Lethal

For the vacant title, as Bandido is out with Coronavirus. The fans are rather happy with this one as they trade wristlocks to start with no one getting anywhere. A headlock takeover doesn’t do much for Lethal either as they’re certainly starting technical. Gresham manages to send him outside and catches Lethal with a kick in the arm on the way back in. A headlock takeover with an armtrap keeps Lethal down but Lethal cartwheels into the basement dropkick to get a breather.

Lethal slams him down to work over the back a bit more but Gresham small packages him for two. A slap to the face drops Gresham and a flapjack does it again. It’s too early for the Lethal Injection and the Figure Four, as Gresham rolls him up for two more. Another kick to the arm cuts Lethal back down and Gresham needs a breather. They chop it out with Lethal getting the better of things but telling Gresham to chop him again.

A ripcord powerslam plants Gresham again but he catches Lethal on top. What looked to be a superplex is broken up so Lethal tries Hail to the King. Lethal is ready for Gresham’s raised knees but can’t get the Figure Four either. Instead it’s a reverse Regal Roll to set up Hail to the King to give Lethal two more.

Gresham is right back on the arm and grabs a crossface chickenwing. Lethal flips forward for a cutter and they’re both down again. That means it’s time for the locker room to come out and watch as Gresham hits some running forearms for two each. The arm gives out and Gresham hits another forearm for two. The Lethal Injection is countered into a rollup for two, setting up the Octopus to make Lethal tap at 15:35.

Rating: B. Gresham absolutely had to win here as that is the story that has been set up for months. I can imagine that this would have been the ending whether Bandido had been around or not and that is the right way to go. Gresham has been the workhorse of the company since its return and going with the Pure Rules wrestler as the final shot at the final show is a smart move.

The celebration is on, including Gresham’s wife, Jordynne Grace, getting in the ring.

Gresham talks about what Lethal means to him and how much it meant to win the title from Lethal.

From GCW Blood On The Hills on December 17, 2021.

Ring Of Honor World Title: Jonathan Gresham vs. AJ Gray

Gresham is defending and this is under Pure Rules. Gray grabs a lockup to start and takes him to the mat to hammer away but Gresham is back up to start in on the leg. Another shot sends Gray outside and there’s the big flip dive through the ropes. Back in and Gresham slaps on a Figure Four but Gray escapes.

We’re clipped to Gray getting pulled down into an ankle lock before a German suplex gives Gresham two. Gray is right back with a powerbomb into a lariat for two. Gresham is right back up with the Octopus and pulls him down to the mat for the rapid fire right hands to the face. That’s enough for the stoppage at 11:10 (total match time).

Rating: C+. We didn’t get to see much here but they were beating each other up fairly well. Gray is someone I’ve liked before and I could go for seeing more of him in the future. Gresham is someone who can work well with anyone in any promotion and it was nice to see him having another one of his matches here rather than doing more of a brawl as you might expect from GCW.

From New South Wrestling’s The Dump Sanders Holiday Special on December 22, 2021 (not 2022 as the graphic says).

Ring Of Honor World Title: Jonathan Gresham vs. Adam Priest

Gresham is defending and we’re joined in progress with the two of them fighting over wrist control. That’s fine with Gresham, who takes him to the mat and cranks away on the foot. Priest reverses into a Figure Four as we get a rare edition of Gresham losing a grapple on the mat. Gresham grabs a rope for his first break before pulling Priest down by the legs to take over.

With that broken up, we’re clipped to Priest suplexing him down but Gresham reverses into an Octopus. Priests uses his first break to escape so they lock hands and chop away at each other. That’s good for a double knockdown and we’re clipped again to Priest hitting a top rope superplex but their legs interlock to give Gresham two. They go to the mat again with Gresham grabbing a few rollups, with the second one getting the pin to retain the title at 16:34 (total match time).

Rating: C+. This was another match that seemed like it could have been a lot better if I could have seen the whole thing. I’ve seen Priest a bit before and he is often treated as one of the bigger deals in southern independent wrestling. It was weird to see someone getting the better of Gresham on the mat, but that makes him look better when he comes back and retains the title on the mat in the end.

From Impact Wrestling’s Hard To Kill on January 8, 2022.

Ring of Honor World Title: Chris Sabin vs. Jonathan Gresham

Gresham is defending and it is under Pure Rules, meaning each wrestler only gets three rope breaks, closed fist punches are not allowed (warning for the first, DQ for the second) and 20 counts on the floor. Gresham flips out of a wristlock to start as they’re going technical early. Sabin flips him over and that’s good enough for a handshake. A takedown lets Gresham work on the leg but Sabin pulls him into a cradle for two.

You don’t do that to Gresham, who ties up the arms and cranks on the leg at the same time. Back up and Sabin sends him outside, setting up a hard kick to the chest to drop Gresham hard. They get back inside and fight over a backslide until Sabin plants him with a DDT for two. A hanging swinging neckbreaker drops Gresham again so he uses his first rope break to escape.

Gresham is fine enough to moonsault Sabin down and stomp on the arm, setting up the armbar with elbows to the head. Sabin has to use his first rope break to escape an armbar so Gresham slaps on the Octopus. That’s broken up as well and Sabin hits the Cradle Shock for three….but Gresham’s foot is underneath the rope for the second break. After the premature celebration ends, they lock hands to trade a bunch of chops. Make that overhand chops to the chest before they exchange enziguris. Sabin tries another enziguri but Gresham pulls him down into something close to a European Clutch to retain the title at 12:40.

Rating: B. That’s the kind of match you can expect from Gresham and it was another good one. He can work with anyone and the fact that it was someone like Sabin, who can hang in there with that style very easily made it even better. It’s so nice to see the Ring of Honor World Title sticking around, though I’m still not sure what the future holds for the whole thing. This was quite good though and a nice bonus for the pay per view.

From GCW Say You Will on January 15, 2022.

Ring Of Honor World Title: Jonathan Gresham vs. 2 Cold Scorpio

Gresham is defending and this should be good. Joined in progress with Scorpio getting the better of a test of strength before they go to a short pinfall reversal sequence. Scorpio flips away though and we’re clipped again to Gresham losing a chop off. Gresham tries to slap him in the face and is chopped right back down.

A rather loud yell sets up a forearm to drop Scorpio so Gresham snaps off a German suplex. We’re clipped again to Scorpio snapmaring him off the middle rope but Gresham grabs a choke. That earns him a flip into the corner for the break but Gresham pulls him into the rear naked choke for the win at 13:58 (total match time).

Rating: C. I could go for more of these two but that might be due to being a Scorpio fan for about thirty years. He’s definitely beyond the peak of his career but he is still looking good enough in a match like this. It’s more along the lines of a legends fight for Gresham and that is not a bad thing, as it would certainly get my attention more than Gresham fighting most current stars.

From Terminus: All Roads Lead Here on January 16, 2022.

Ring Of Honor World Title: Jonathan Gresham vs. Josh Alexander

Gresham is defending and this is under Pure Rules. They fight over wrist control to start (seems to be a common idea) and it’s an early standoff. We’re clipped to Alexander headlock takeovering him down and Gresham can’t get a headscissors to escape. Another technical off gives us another standoff and we’re clipped again to Gresham armdragging him out of the corner. A dropkick puts Alexander into the corner but he’s back with a running big boot. Alexander cranks on the foot on the ground and the ankle lock sends Gresham to the rope.

We take a break and come back with Gresham going after the knee and putting on a Figure Four. That means Alexander needs his first rope break so Gresham snaps off a springboard hurricanrana. Another Figure Four attempt is broken up with a right hand to Gresham’s jaw and we’re clipped to Alexander not being able to hit the C4 Spike. Clipped again to Gresham hitting the leg again and hitting a springboard moonsault to a standing Alexander.

Another moonsault is countered into a Tombstone for two on Gresham but Alexander’s knee is banged up. We’re clipped again to Alexander countering a Figure Four attempt into the ankle lock, which sends Gresham to the ropes. That means nothing this time though as he is out of rope breaks, meaning Gresham has to pull Alexander throat first into the ropes to escape instead. Alexander takes him to the middle rope and hits a superplex but the two of them interlock their legs and it’s a double pin at 16:52 (total match time), meaning Gresham retains in a draw.

Rating: B. Just hearing that it is Gresham vs. Alexander is all you need to hear as there was almost no way that it was going to be bad. Both guys can work well with anyone and they were able to do some very good stuff here. Then again there is only so much that you can get out of a match with this much clipping involved. Good match from what I could tell though, and that shouldn’t be a surprise.

Overall Rating: B+. Now this was a very different way to go and I liked it quite a bit. They went outside of the Ring Of Honor here and showed a bunch of different stuff, which is a lot more interesting than seeing the same promotion over and over. Gresham really is a star today and he is able to overcome the size issues to the point where you forget that they are there. Great show here and I’m looking forward to the second part next week (because there is a second part next week).

 

 

 

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Violence X Suffering: Lucid Dreams
Date: April 9, 2021
Location: Cuban Club, Ybor City, Florida
Commentators: Various

We’re back with another midnight show from GCW’s the Collective and that could mean a lot of things. I don’t know anything about this promotion or anything about this show, so as usual I’m coming in blind. That is kind of the point of a show like this, but hopefully they aren’t on until almost 3am again. Let’s get to it.

So the show is delayed due to the prior event running long and did not start until 1am.

Opening sequence.

Nick Gage says this is Violence X Suffering motherf*****.

The ring announcer screams and swears a lot. Oh yeah this is going to be a really long night. This goes on for a good bit as he keeps wanting us to be louder.

Here’s Rich Swann, whose entrance takes a good while because he gets in a lot of dancing. Then a fan calls him a fake Kofi, earning him a “F*** THIS GUY” from Swann. Apparently Tony Deppen isn’t here tonight so Swann is substituting, meaning it’s open challenge time.

Rich Swann vs. KTB

The much larger KTB grabs a waistlock to start but Swann slips out, only to be taken to the mat in an Oklahoma roll. That makes Swann look up at KTB as commentary keeps making music reference. Swann is back up with a dropkick into a hurricanrana for two but KTB is back with a chop in the corner. A running shoulder into a falling headbutt to the ribs gets two on Swann.

Some strikes to the face have KTB rocked but Swann dives into a spinebuster for two. We hit the chinlock but Swann fights up and nails a quick dropkick. The middle rope 450 gets two on KTB but Swann has to pull himself up. KTB catches him off the top for two more so Swann busts out the Lethal Injection for two. The frog splash gets the same so KTB gets up and drops him again, setting up a Lionsault for two of his own. Swann has had it with this and enziguris him down, setting up the middle rope Phoenix splash for the pin at 11:30.

Rating: C+. This was about as they could have done under the circumstances. It wouldn’t surprise me if the promotion found out that Deppen couldn’t be there and they just found whomever they could to fill in. Swann is a talented enough name with enough star power to make something like this work so they did everything they could and the match wound up working.

Respect is shown post match and we pause to sanitize the ropes.

Someone named Masa Slamavich is at ringside and doesn’t seem to be on the schedule.

AJ Gray vs. Daniel Garcia

Pure Rules, meaning three rope breaks, only one closed fist to the face and a much more technical focus. Both of them have seconds as well. They go with the grappling to start with the bigger Gray taking him down without much trouble. Back up and Gray’s shoulder doesn’t do much good so Garcia takes him down into a leglock. Gray reverses that into some kind of a weird Figure Four variation to put Garcia in trouble.

Garcia uses a rope break so Gray is right back with a very big backsplash to crush him again. They get up again and Garcia goes for the leg again, meaning Gray needs his own rope this time around. Garcia slaps on a front facelock and switches into a bodyscissors, meaning Gray needs another rope break. The chinlock goes on but Gray isn’t having this and powers up for a heck of a Death Valley Driver to drop Garcia.

A pair of powerbombs plants Garcia twice in a row but somehow he is back up with a Shining Wizard. Garcia grabs a Crossface and Gray’s escape means he is out of rope breaks. Back up and Gray smashes him with a lariat so Robert Martyr, Garcia’s second, puts Garcia’s hand on the rope. With that broken up, Gray grabs an STF and Garcia is in trouble. Martyr gets creative by pulling the rope back so it smacks Gray in the face (not a DQ because reasons) to stun him fairly well. The Sharpshooter, with Garcia leaning all the way back and pulling on the leg, makes Gray tap at 13:09.

Rating: C. This was a much more technical match and it was only so interesting in the first place. I’ve seen a few Garcia matches this weekend and they aren’t the most thrilling things. He is rather skilled with the technical stuff but he isn’t exactly interesting. It’s another case of someone just kind of being there and that doesn’t keep much attention. Gray is a hard hitter who can grapple and has some good charisma, which is a nice combination.

Post match Garcia doesn’t let go so Gray’s second comes in, earning a Sharpshooter of his own as Garcia isn’t seeming that nice. Martyr yells at Garcia, earning himself a piledriver and a Sharpshooter of his own. Masa Slamavich comes in and tells Garcia to hit her so Garcia tries, only to have to bail from a quick piledriver attempt.

KC Navarro/Marcus Mathers/Andy Brown/Ninja Mack/MV Young vs. TJ Crawford/Gabriel Sky/Ken Broadway/Myron Reed/Dante Leon

Elimination rules. It’s a big brawl to start with Ninja Mack hitting a big corkscrew dive off the top and back to back big flip dives off the middle/top ropes. Leon is back up with a reverse Spanish Fly off the middle rope to plant Mack. Sky and Navarro fight off to the side as no one is in the ring. They start throwing stuff at each other and you can barely see what is going on. Sky climbs onto a wall and flip dives onto everyone.

People keep walking around in the dark and hey we bother going back to the ring where Young powerbombs Sky into a half crab. That’s broken up and Sky hits a running knee to the side of the head. Young spears him out of the air for two as you can hear a fan explaining who the wrestlers are. Sky hits a top rope double stomp to get rid of Young at 7:47. Brown comes in and gets caught with an enziguri but someone crotches Sky on top. An AA into a Backstabber gets rid of Sky at 8:52.

A package piledriver gets rid of Leon at 9:45 so here’s Broadway to strike away at Brown. Broadway muscles him up with a German suplex and a bridging German suplex finishes Brown at 10:39. Navarro comes in and small packages Broadway for the pin at 11:04. Crawford grabs a sitout powerbomb on Navarro and a distraction sets up a brainbuster to pin Navarro at 12:34.

Mathers and Mack come in to kick away at Crawford with Mathers being sent outside in a hurry. Crawford hits a running kick in the corner and backdrops Mack out to the floor. Back in and Mack kicks him in the head but the middle rope Phoenix splash hits raised knees to give Crawford the pin at 15:23. I believe we’re down to Mathers vs. Crawford/Reed so Crawford hits a double underhook faceplant (think a double underhook Dominator) to drop Matters.

They fight to the apron with Mathers hitting a piledriver and Crawford is right back up in about ten seconds. Mathers gives him a low superkick and a flip DDT gets rid of Crawford at 18:40 and we’re down to Mathers vs. Reed. They slug it out and Mathers hits another flip DDT for two. Reed is sent outside but catches a dive and hits his hanging F5 off the apron onto the concrete. Back in and an Air Raid Crash finishes Mathers at 20:59.

Rating: D. The action was fine but commentary was perhaps the worst that I have ever heard. It wasn’t even commentary as much as one guy (the second was fine) did nothing but shout over and over again, probably screaming EAT THAT about 30 times, including after every single big move. This already isn’t my style of wrestling and then everything else about it is driving me crazy. They had a 20+ minute spot fest with the first ten minutes being spent walking around in darkness. The match itself was acceptable but my goodness commentary was a nightmare.

Brian Cage vs. Chris Dickinson

Well the star power just went up. Dickinson looks like he can barely walk due to some kind of a leg injury but he slugs away anyway. Cage is right back with a powerbomb and Dickinson is in trouble early. We go intelligent with the Indian Deathlock to stay on the leg but Dickinson crawls to the floor.

Cage follows him outside and hammers away as he is getting to pick his spots here. Dickinson is busted open and commentary starts making fun of his mom’s accent. Back in and Cage works on the leg again but Dickinson fights up and strikes away. A belly to back suplex sends Cage flying and they fight outside again with Dickinson hitting him in the ribs with a door. Back in and Dickinson manages a missile dropkick into a nip up but Cage is right back with a sitout powerbomb.

Dickinson knocks him down again and hits a running kick to the chest, followed by a delayed vertical suplex for two. Cage is right back with a shot to the knee though and the Figure Four goes on. That’s turned over so Cage blasts him with a clothesline, only to get caught in a dragon screw legwhip. Dickinson grabs his own Figure Four but Cage powers out of that as well. Cage runs him over and grabs another Figure Four for the tap at 14:42.

Rating: C. Who would have bet on some psychology in something like this? Granted when you have Dickinson barely able to walk to start it isn’t that hard to figure out, but this wasn’t what I would have expected. Nice stuff here, though it went longer than it needed to, especially given the injury and this time of night.

2 Cold Scorpio vs. Eli Everfly

This is Lucha Rules meaning….well I guess we’ll find out. Scorpio laughs at the smaller Everfly and dances a bit at the bell. Everfly is driven into the corner but comes out with a wristlock, which sends Everfly down without much effort. The armbar has Everfly in more trouble but he’s back up with a chop and a very springboardy headscissors.

Scorpio isn’t having this and hits a quick wheelbarrow German suplex to send him flying. A big clothesline drops Everfly again but he gets up top. That doesn’t work for Scorpio, as his fall away slam sends Everfly sailing. The half crab goes on but Everfly eventually slips out as commentary continues its worship of Scorpio, now trying to get him on Wrestlemania. Back up and a wheelbarrow Stunner gets two on Scorpio and Everfly kicks him to the floor.

One heck of a top rope moonsault takes Scorpio down again, even if Everfly’s legs hit him in the head. Back in and Everfly hits a top rope cutter for two more and they’re both down again. A running clothesline drops Scorpio again and a sunset flip is good for the same. Scorpio hits something like a Pele into the Tumbleweed for the pin at 11:54.

Rating: C+. The ending was a bit flat but they did a nice job of telling the story of Scorpio not taking him seriously enough and almost getting caught. Everfly can do all of the flips and you are only going to be able to get so far at that size. The story and action were good though and I can always go for some more of Scorpio.

Jordan Oliver vs. Jimmy Lloyd

This is billed as Ace vs. Ace. Oliver slaps him in the face to start and they get into the brawl. Lloyd gets driven into the corner for the chops and a running spinwheel kick makes it worse. Another shot sends Oliver outside but his suicide dive is cut off by a chair to the head. That puts Lloyd down and egads there is a lot of broken glass under there. Egads that’s from Spring Break that I’m watching later isn’t it? Back in and Oliver hits him with some chair shots to the head for two but Lloyd, now bleeding, gets in a few shots of his own.

Oliver sends him face first into a chair in the corner as commentary goes onto a rant about how worthless referees are. The turnbuckle pad comes off but Oliver is sent into it instead, drawing more blood. Lloyd sends him into a chair but Oliver is back with a series of strikes to put both of them down. Commentary can’t remember Oliver’s name, even as they knock each other down again. Oliver hits a German suplex but Lloyd is back with a pumphandle driver for two as one person tries the THIS IS AWESOME chant.

It’s time to bring in a third chair so Oliver uses the distraction to grab a German suplex for two more. A clothesline gives Oliver another near fall and it’s time to adjust the chairs. They get on the chairs until Lloyd piledrives him through the chairs for two. Well of course that’s only two. Oliver is back with a double underhook piledriver for a near fall of his own. With nothing else working, Oliver goes up for his super cutter but Lloyd hits him low for the pin at 14:44.

Rating: D+. This was another one those matches where they do a spot, then sit around, then do a spot, then set up some kind of a weapon spot, then do a spot, then we finally get to the point. Throw in the commentary being able to do very little that swear a lot and say EAT THAT and it was quite the long sit. Oliver is getting better in the ring in MLW, but Lloyd felt like one of those not so great hardcore guys and that made for a messy match.

They brawl to the back.

JTG vs. Dr. Cube

No DQ. Cube is a guy with a cube for a head from Kaiju Big Battel. JTG dives onto Cube and his people to start, with Cube losing his cube (as in the box around his head) early on. A powerslam gives JTG two with one of Cube’s lackeys making the save. Cube slaps away and whips JTG into the corner, where the turnbuckle pad falls off. JTG gets sent outside so the goons can stomp on him so he powerbombs one onto the rest of them.

Back in and Cube hits a top rope knee to the back of the head for two and commentary keeps swearing about how bad the referees are. Cube’s goons come in again and set up a bunch of tables and doors, with a double chokeslam putting JTG through one such door. One of the goons hits a twisting shooting star to give Cube two. Now the goons bring in the light tubes to break over JTG’s back and he is cut BADLY. My eyes jumped up at how much blood was on his back but he comes back to clean house.

A double light tube shot to the back hits Cube but it’s time for the goons to come back in and beat JTG down again. Cube grabs the mic and gets in a shouting match with commentary…..and it’s freaking Big Cass coming in for the save. Cass cleans house and leaves JTG with Cube, who pours out thumbtacks. JTG hits him low and powerbombs him into the tacks, followed by a second for a bonus. A running Razor’s Edge into a powerbomb (close enough) finishes Cube at 14:04.

Rating: F. Nope. As amazing as JTG’s transformation is, this is every stupid hardcore trope that gives indy wrestling a bad reputation (whether it is deserved or not). Throw in the same EAT THAT commentary guy and the other one who wouldn’t shut up about how much he hated everything and this was about as irritating as it could have been. Just get on with the show already, and stop with the horrible commentary, please.

And now, a Lio Rush music video. Or at least part of one.

Low Ki vs. Lio Rush

I’m not big on either of them, but at least we should be in for a heck of an upgrade after the previous match. Feeling out process to start but the pace picks up in a hurry with Rush doing his running dodges. A kick to the face puts Rush on the floor and he needs a breather. Back in and a test of strength goes to Ki, who kicks him into the corner and hammers away. Ki suplexes him down for two but Rush fights back up as commentary says this is the White Ranger (Rush) vs. a bus boy (not Rush).

Rush’s comeback is cut off and Ki grabs a chinlock to keep him down. Back up and Rush slides into the corner to counter a whip as commentary (apparently Joey Janela of all people) starts singing. A handspring elbow drops Ki and a hurricanrana gives Rush two. Rush loses his shirt and a Falcon Arrow gets two on Ki as Janela talks about liking veal.

They go up top with Rush snapping off a super hurricanrana but Ki rolls through into a double stomp. Commentary talks about eggplant as Rush fights out of the Ki Crusher. Rush hits a hard DDT for two but misses Rush Hour. Ki gets up top for the double stomp and the pin at 10:09.

Rating: C. Yeah this was fine. It was late and they were rushing around, but it’s not like it mattered at this point. Granted when commentary is ignoring the match to talk about anything else that comes to mind, there isn’t much that the wrestlers can do no matter what. Completely acceptable wrestling and that’s all it needed to be to be an upgrade.

Overall Rating: D+. There were good parts to this, but the bad outweigh the good so badly that it completely ruins anything positive that could come out of the show. Ignoring the extreme/hardcore nonsense and commentary completely ruining more than one match, it just wasn’t that good in several parts. You really can tell the difference in the talent levels though, as the bigger name wrestlers were on a different planet in almost every possible way. There are worse shows, but the bad stuff is some of the stuff I can’t stand the most on this kind of show.

 

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For The Culture 2021
Date: April 8, 2021
Location: Cuban Club, Tampa, Florida
Commentator: Big Perc

We continue the Wrestlemania weekend run with our first offering from the Collective. This is from Game Changer Wrestling which has some rather unique options at times. They have a rather solid collection of talent from what I’ve seen so far, which could make for a pretty awesome show. Let’s get to it.

No intro video (as expected with an indy show) and we’re already on the ring.

AC Mack vs. Mysterious Q vs. D-Rogue vs. Rob Martyr vs. Alpha Zo vs. Troy Hollywood

Scramble match, meaning one fall to a finish. Mack isn’t happy with not getting to do his own entrance so he handles it himself and we starts in a hurry with only Mack being named. Mack gets knocked down to start and Q takes nails a running hurricanrana. We settle down to Mack not being able to hit his weird Pedigree on Martyr. Instead he elbows Martyr to the floor but Q is back in with a German suplex.

Zo comes in to suplex Q for a change as I keep trying to figure out who all is in this. Rogue starts to clean house with a bunch of slaps and the big dive takes everyone out on the floor. Commentary gets in the eternal debate over whether the apron or the post is the harder part of the ring (it’s the post) as Zo and Martyr get inside on their own. Martyr German suplexes Zo down but Rogue is in with a heck of a clothesline to take Martyr’s head off.

Rogue loads Martyr up in an electric chair but here is Q with a springboard cutter, which mostly makes contact. Hollywood is back in for the running knees in the corner, followed by a frog splash for two on Q with Mack and Zo making the save. Zo blasts Mack with a rolling forearm but Q is back up with a torture rack airplane spin before changing directions to powerbomb Zo for another near fall. Hollywood gives Q a fireman’s carry gutbuster for the pin at 8:22. Commentary is STUNNED at the result.

Rating: C. What are you supposed to say here? They had six people flying around all over the place and it isn’t like anyone really got to showcase themselves. To be fair though, it was not supposed to be anything more than a bunch of spots with one person after another getting to do their thing. It might not be the highest quality, but it was an entertaining match and that’s all it was supposed to be.

Thick N Juicy 2.0 vs. Fire N Flava

Fire N Flava’s Impact Knockouts Tag Team Titles aren’t on the line and this would be Willow Nightingale/Brooke Valentine vs. Kiera Hogan/Tasha Steelz. Before the match, Fire N Flava insult the other two, including Faye Jackson, who is injured and planning to retire. Actually they’ll even do us a favor and make this a title match.

Knockouts Tag Team Titles: Fire N Flava vs. Thick N Juicy 2.0

Fire N Flava is defending and jump Thick N Juicy before the bell. Some big boots put the champs down and Hogan is slammed onto Steelz for two. Nightingale grabs a front facelock on Steelz as we hear about how strong Nightingale is. Commentary: “The hood version of that: she will f*** anybody up.” A very delayed suplex gets two on Steelz but she is back up with some chops in the corner.

Nightingale kicks her in the face for two more and some running hip attacks in the corner crush Steelz again. Hogan comes in and rakes the eyes to take over and a neckbreaker gets two on Valentine. A running basement dropkick in the corner hits Valentine for two more and we hit the chinlock. That’s broken up so Steelz tags herself back in, allowing Valentine to fall away slam Hogan into her. Steelz catches her and since Valentine is laying down on the mat, Hogan gets dropped onto her for a splash.

Valentine powers out of a camel clutch into an electric chair and the hot tag brings in Nightingale to clean house. A Pounce sends Steelz outside and gives us a record for Monty Brown references in a five second span. Valentine spears Steelz in half but Hogan is back with a kick to the head. A Death Valley Driver plants Hogan but Steelz is back with a cutter for two on Nightingale. Hogan superkicks Nightingale and the fisherman’s neckbreaker is enough to retain the titles at 10:00.

Rating: D+. This was pretty messy and that should not be such a problem with a team from Impact. It doesn’t help that Fire N Flava are only so good in the first place and were in there against two women who have never teamed before. The match wasn’t terrible but they really needed to cut out about two minutes to make it work a good bit better.

Fire N Flava dance A LOT to celebrate.

PB Smooth vs. Jon Davis

Smooth is about 6’9 and a playboy while Davis is a monster and formerly part of the Dark City Fight Club a LONG time ago. They shove each other around to start as commentary puts over a battle of the generations, which is a lot more than you would expect to get out of a one off indy show. Davis gets the better of things and stomps him down, setting up the big clubbing shots to the back.

Smooth manages to get in a heck of a big boot to drop Davis and some kind of slam gets two on Davis. Some big shots to the head rock Smooth and Davis grabs a heck of a spinebuster (with commentary quoting Batista’s theme song for a nice touch). Smooth can’t hit a chokeslam but he can hit a claw STO for two, followed by a sitout chokebomb for two. Back up and Davis slugs away, including a stomp to the head to break up a sunset flip. A piledriver finishes Smooth at 8:17.

Rating: C. It wasn’t meant to be anything more than a power brawl and that’s what we got. They even told a story with Smooth being too cocky to deal with the much more seasoned and serious Davis. The piledriver at the end was a bit scary as Davis didn’t have him incredibly secured, but it was a nice change of pace after everything else they have been doing for the rest of the show.

Calvin Tankman vs. Andy Brown vs. Myron Reed vs. Jah-C

Tankman and Reed are both from MLW. The rather large Tankman shoves people around to start but some triple teaming puts him down. Reed dropkicks Brown to the floor and Jah is back in with a dropkick to Brown. That gives us the staredown between Reed and Jah with Reed missing a double stomp but hitting something like a reverse Sling Blade. Tankman is back in to clear the ring in a hurry but Jah manages to superkick him down.

Two more superkicks have Tankman in trouble so he rolls to the floor for a breather. Brown is back in with a Superman forearm to Jah but Reed knocks him to the floor. Reed’s suicide dive drops Brown again and he brings Brown back in for an F5, with Brown’s feet (intentionally) getting caught on top to make it a hanging drop.

Brown is right back up with an AA into a backbreaker for two on Reed but Jah spears Brown to the floor. They head to the apron with Brown hitting a piledriver but Reed is back with a slingshot cutter. Back in and Reed misses the 450, leaving Tankman to spinebuster Brown, setting up the spinning backfist to the back of the head. The Tankman Driver (something like a Steiner Screwdriver) finishes Brown at 8:43.

Rating: C. I can see why Tankman would get this much of a push as the guy is a monster who can move and you will always see someone like that get pushed. Reed is going to get a job somewhere a lot bigger than MLW one day with the potential he has and that was on display here. Fun match, but again you’re only getting so much out of a four way like this.

Bryan Keith vs. Darius Lockhart

Keith misses a big right hand to start and Lockhart waves his finger no. Lockhart takes him down into an armbar and they go to an exchange of submission attempts on the mat. Back up and Keith blasts him with a kick to the chest to take over. A Rock Bottom backbreaker gives Keith two as we hear about the wrestlers these people have faced before.

More kicks have Lockhart in crumbling in the corner but he comes back with a chop. A heck of a clothesline drops Keith again and the comeback is on in a hurry. Back to back t-bone suplexes send Keith flying and a high crossbody gets two more. An enziguri sends Keith into the corner but he comes out with a DDT. Lockhart hits a running knee in the corner into a belly to back flipped into a faceplant for the pin at 11:28.

Rating: C+. Nice stuff here and probably the best match of the night so far. Lockhart is rather smooth in the ring and Keith looked rather good as well. It was nice to see a run of the mill and much more traditional match after all of the fast paced stuff so far and that is what we got here. I could go for a bit more of both of these guys and that is after seeing Keith twice today.

Post match, Keith won’t shake hands but he will give the black power salute, a Lockhart signature.

Tre LaMar vs. Eli Knight

LaMar starts in on the arm but gets knocked down, allowing Knight to load up a superkick. Said superkick doesn’t actually launch though as Knight pats him on the head instead. LaMar is ready for a dropkick so Knight enziguris him to the floor again. Back in and LaMar kicks him down, setting up a quick splash for two. A seated abdominal stretch has Knight in more trouble but he counters a crossbody into a gutbuster.

An exploder suplex puts LaMar down again but Knight is favoring his back. They strike it out until Knight hits a springboard moonsault press. LaMar sends him outside for a suicide dive but Knight is back in with a springboard dropkick from the bottom rope. That sends LaMar outside again and there’s the running flip dive. Back in and Knight hits a moonsault for two and he doesn’t seem sure what to do next.

LaMar nails a Pele kick for another double knockdown and they both seem a bit banged up. They go up top with Knight being backdropped down but sticking the landing, allowing him to hit a running enziguri. A super poisonrana doesn’t work as LaMar lands on his feet (mostly) and hits a running Mushroom Stomp. LaMar puts him in a torture rack into a backbreaker, setting up a Liontamer for the pin at 11:50.

Rating: C+. These guys were working hard and putting in the effort, which worked out rather well for both of them. They are both rather young but they did their things well enough and the ending with a submission was kind of a surprise. It was nice to see them mix it up a bit, even if most of the match was your usual indy fair.

JTG vs. AJ Gray

You probably would not recognize JTG here as he is in regular gear and has put on all kinds of muscle. This is Gray’s show and he starts fast with a heck of a clothesline for two. JTG needs a breather on the floor because he does not seem to know what he got himself into. Back in and JTG takes him down to hammer away with right hands to the face. A hard whip into the corner drops Gray again and JTG drives in some shoulders to the ribs in the corner.

There’s the reverse Sling Blade for two and JTG starts hammering away. The chinlock doesn’t last long so JTG tries it again, only to have Gray jawbreak his way to freedom. Gray is back with a few right hands to set up a nice moonsault for two more. Back up and JTG hits a ripcord lariat for two of his own but Gray slips out of a Razor’s Edge. An enziguri sets up a leg lariat and Gray nails a superplex for two more. Another lariat blasts JTG for one so Gray hits another. That’s not enough for a cover as Gray grabs an Emerald Flosion for the pin at 13:55.

Rating: B-. I’m sorry what now? JTG could do this and looks like that? I’m not sure I can get my head around something like this and I’m rather confused by the idea that the only thing they could do with him is the Cryme Tyme stuff. His employment was a running joke for years and then he can pull off a match like this while looking like that? I really don’t get it and that’s a nice feeling to have.

Post match, one of the commentators named Billy gets in and chairs Gray down. They’re facing each other at another show this weekend so Billy yells about Gray disrespecting him by not being in some match. Billy rants about Gray not paying attention to the right talent and wants to prove that the Truth (Gray) is a lie. This was a fine way to set up a match, but it’s 2am and we have two matches left so can we pick up the pace a bit?

Lio Rush vs. Lee Moriarty

Moriarty is a heck of a technician. Feeling out process to start and they take their time to get going here. Moriarty grabs the hammerlock and Rush can’t spin his way to freedom. Rush makes the rope instead and heads outside for a breather. That makes Moriarty give chase and they change places, with Rush hitting a dive. Back in and Moriarty starts going after the arm but Rush starts doing his rather cool dodges.

Moriarty manages to get hold of the arm and ties his legs around it for some cranking. The cranking continues with Moriarty using his own arms for a change and then bending backwards to pull on the arm even more. Rush comes back with some shots to the face and a belly to back suplex puts Moriarty down again. An ax kick has Rush in trouble but Moriarty hits a sliding kick to the face to break up a handspring.

Rush uses a Tajiri style kick to send him to the floor though and a VERY fast suicide dive connects (which scaring the heck out of a fan on their phone). Back in and Rush’s springboard Stunner is countered into a rear naked choke, which is broken up again so Rush can hit a cutter. Back up and they slug it out, with Rush looking very frustrated that he can’t put Moriarty down.

Moriarty grabs the arm and pulls him into a mousetrap for…..well about seven or eight but the referee says no. You can hear the fans booing as Rush goes up top and kicks Moriarty down, setting up the Rush Hour frog splash for two. Moriarty is right back with a rather aggressive rollup for the pin at 16:50.

Rating: C+. This was a match where you could see both guys being at a higher level than most wrestlers on the show. Moriarty winning is a good idea as it isn’t like Rush is going to be hurt by losing a competitive match on a show like this. Rush is someone who has been a star on the big stage and will be fine in the future. On the other hand, Moriarty needs some attention and given how talented he is, odds are he will be getting it sooner than later.

2 Cold Scorpio vs. Rich Swann

The entrances involve a lot of dancing, as you might expect. Scorpio drives him up against the ropes and dances away a bit. They settle down again and Scorpio spins around into a cravate as commentary tries to figure out why Scorpio doesn’t have a coaching job somewhere (fair question).

Swann is sent outside and the hip swiveling begins from Scorpio, which has commentary rather excited. Back in and Scorpio works on a headlock to grind Swann down a bit. Swann sends him outside for a change and it’s time for some Alex Wright style dancing. Back in again and Swann grabs a DDT to take over, followed by the required armbarring.

Scorpio fights that off and nails some German suplexes to send Swann flying, followed by the two count. One heck of a clothesline drops Swann again and there’s a spinwheel kick to put Swann down again. The flipping legdrop sets up a middle rope Tumbleweed for two. Swann is back up and manages to knock Scorpio outside, setting up something like the Phoenix splash to the apron.

Back in and a frog splash gives Swann two more but Scorpio knocks him down again. The Tumbleweed, with Scorpio landing on Swann’s face, only gets two. Swann has had it and kicks him down, setting up a middle rope 450 for two. The Phoenix splash to the back finishes Scorpio at 17:45.

Rating: C. This was a good main event in a battle of the generations but there is something to be said about matches that start before 2:30AM. You could tell that the crowd was completely done, even though they were seeing something special. I have been a fan of Scorpio for the better part of thirty years and it is always cool to see him, especially when he can still go pretty well in the ring. The match was longer than it needed to be though and that hurt things a good bit.

Overall Rating: C+. I had a better time than I was expecting with this show and there was some good stuff throughout. You had cool stuff like Scorpio to the downright bizarre like JTG looking like/having a good match and that’s a nice mixture for any show. Again though, starting it at midnight was a bit too much, as things didn’t wrap up until nearly 3AM and that’s a bit late to be having a match. Good show though, and I had some fun with the whole thing.

 

 

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SuperBrawl III
Date: February 21, 1993
Location: Ashville Civic Center, Ashville, North Carolina
Attendance: 6,500
Commentators: Jesse Ventura, Tony Schiavone

This is a one match show and it is all built around Sting vs. Vader. That’s one of those matches that is going to work no matter what, it’s the White Castle of Fear strap match. In other words, we might be in for some special mini movies, which are always, uh, something. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of Vader whipping Sting and abusing him with the strap to set up the main event. This is about as low key of an opening as you can get.

Eric Bischoff and Missy Hyatt welcome us to the show and announce that Maxx Payne is replacing Ron Simmons in the US Title match. Hyatt will be handling interviews tonight but won’t say who she’ll be interviewing. Eric brings out Johnny B. Badd (with the snappy sailor’s hat) to run down the card….and that’s it.

Tony Schiavone and Jesse Ventura run down the card because we might not know what we paid to see.

Maxx Payne plays a rock rendition of the Star Spangled Banner.

Hollywood Blonds vs. Marcus Bagwell/Erik Watts

Bagwell is the Rookie of the Year and it always seemed like he held that title forever. Austin and Bagwell lock up to start and the fans are behind Bagwell for one of the few times in his career. Bagwell armdrags him into an armbar before powering Austin down with a pair of top wristlocks. Back up and Steve punches him down, only to get knocked hard to the floor. That doesn’t last long as Austin is thrown inside for a double backdrop, plus a double clothesline to Pillman.

Watts comes in for an armdrag (which doesn’t work that well) on Pillman and a quickly broken armbar. Bagwell comes in for a crossbody and the headlock takeover puts Austin in trouble. It’s back to Watts and the fans boo him out of the building, including as he puts on an abdominal stretch. The announcers debate the merits of cheating (Jesse: “Always take the easy way out. That’s for all you kids out there.”) as Jesse notes the Watts booing.

A bad looking Boston crab has Austin in trouble so Pillman comes in to kick Watts in the face for the break. Pillman gets pulled down into the STF but he’s in the ropes in a hurry. They head outside with Pillman’s dive off the apron missing to send him crashing into the barricade. Austin is back up to beat Watts down on the floor, with the fans being rather pleased. Back in and Pillman breaks up a sunset flip attempt so Watts can be choked on the rope.

The double teaming is on with Austin luring Bagwell in for some double choking. The Rocket Launcher is blocked with raised knees but Austin is back in with a suplex to break up the tag attempt. Austin misses a running crotch attack on the ropes though and it’s a hot tag to Bagwell to clean house. Everything breaks down and Watts is sent outside but makes the mistake of trying to get back in. That leaves Bagwell to Yellowjacket (fisherman’s) suplex Pillman but Austin comes in off the top to break it up and give Pillman the pin at 16:35.

Rating: C+. It’s rare to see a match with two teams having such different levels of talent in one match. Bagwell was getting better but had a pretty firm ceiling. Watts…..no. I get that he was thrown in WAY over his head, but that doesn’t change the fact that he was WAY over his head. He was so tall, lanky and awkward (not his fault mind you as he had no idea what he was doing at this level) that the fans just did not want to see him.

The Blonds getting cheered like that was awesome to see, mainly because they were one of the best tag teams of the 90s and deserve any cheers they get. Better than expected, but almost all because of the Blonds. They just couldn’t get much more out of these two and it was very obvious.

We get a quick clip of the Sting/Vader White Castle of Fear mini movie, featuring Sting flying to the Rocky Mountain.

Bischoff and Badd confirm that Ric Flair will be here tonight.

Flair arrives but Missy Hyatt is escorted away by security while trying to get an interview.

2 Cold Scorpio vs. Chris Benoit

Well ok then. Jesse picks Benoit for his killer instinct, and I’ll go straight to Benoit elbowing Scorpio in the face to get away from that as fast as I can. Benoit stomps away but Scorpio is back up with a spinning high crossbody. A kick to the face puts Benoit on the floor and it’s an armbar back inside to keep Benoit in trouble. Scorpio goes with the hammerlock with his feet and drops backwards to crank on the arm, which does look rather painful. Back up and a Japanese armdrag sends Benoit outside in a huff.

Benoit gets back in for the test of strength with both using some good looking bridges. Scorpio takes him down by the arm again and drops a leg but misses a dropkick. Benoit misses an elbow though and the armbar goes on again. Back up and Benoit ducks a spinning kick to the face and hits that nasty clothesline of his. The backbreaker lets Benoit bend Scorpio’s back over his knee before we hit the chinlock.

Benoit drapes him ribs first over the top and kicks Scorpio outside. A shoulder to the ribs has Benoit staggered but he’s able to avoid the missile dropkick. The chinlock goes on again and it’s off to something rather close to a Liontamer. For some reason Benoit lets go of the hold and grabs another chinlock as we hit the fifteen minute mark about thirteen and a half minutes in. With the holds not working, Benoit takes him up top for a belly to back superplex.

The very delayed cover gets two and a Russian legsweep gets the same. Benoit powerbombs him for two with three minutes left. An enziguri drops Benoit and Scorpio adds a clothesline to send Benoit into the corner. The spinning splash in the corner connects and the twisting splash (which would today be known as Twisted Bliss) gets two. With forty five seconds left, Benoit blocks a victory roll and drops a middle rope leg for two more. Benoit is getting desperate but Scorpio grabs a rollup for the pin at 18:20 (or 19:59 officially).

Rating: B. The good start to the show continues in a much less surprising result. How were these two not going to have a good match? The timing makes sense here as it adds more drama and given that they were only off by about a minute and forty seconds is a minor miracle. I can always go for some Scorpio and while Benoit wasn’t at his greatness yet, you could see all the tools there, waiting to be developed.

Maxx Payne is replacing the injured Ron Simmons in the US Title match. He and his guitar (Norma Jean) have a song ready for champion Dustin Rhodes and of course we hear a little bit….of Taps.

Bill Irwin vs. British Bulldog

Irwin is an evil cowboy and the Bulldog gets a ROAR on his in-ring debut. Smith shoves him down with ease to start and the fans are behind Smith the whole way. Irwin’s shots against the ropes don’t do much good as Smith runs him down with ease. A hard clothesline puts Irwin on the floor and it’s a gorilla press back inside to make it worse. Back in and Irwin kicks away at the ribs as Tony tries to figure out what Jesse means when he talks about Bulldog’s cornrows.

A cover gets one with Smith pressing launching him on the kickout so the chinlock goes on instead. That’s broken up in a hurry and Smith sends him into the corner for a running shoulder. Jesse: “How come they call it an Irish whip? Is it from Ireland?” Tony: “Uh yeah 1863 in a wrestling match there.” Jesse: “….that’s amazing.” I have no idea if Tony made that up on the spot or not but Jesse had NOTHING in response. Anyway Irwin gets up a boot in the corner but dives into the running powerslam for the pin at 5:43.

Rating: D+. Not much of a match here but it was fine enough for an introduction to Smith. A lot of people already knew who he was but you need to let him come in there and beat someone up. That being said, it wasn’t exactly thrilling and Smith looked like he was already getting old and slow. Go while you have the chance I guess, but it wasn’t exactly good.

Vader is waiting for Sting in the White Castle of Fear.

Smith wants the World Title and is ready to eat Vader up.

Badd and Hyatt are ready for the UK tour.

Paul Orndorff is ready for Cactus Jack….who is right here to start their match in a hurry.

Paul Orndorff vs. Cactus Jack

Falls Count Anywhere and Jack chases Orndorff through the entrance with a shovel. Orndorff chokes with an electric cord but Jack slams him onto the concrete. The mats are pulled back for the elbow off the apron and the super sunset flip to the floor for two. They go inside with Orndorff ripping at Jack’s mouth but that’s enough so they fight outside and over the barricade.

Tony FINALLY explains the story here, as these two fought to team with Vader in a cage match but Vader jumped Jack. That made Jack get the shovel and he’s been swinging it since. Back to ringside with Jack being sent into the barricade, followed by a top rope ax handle to the head back inside. Orndorff starts going after Jack’s bad knee, taking the brace off in the process, and then suplexes him over the top and onto the apron (that’s a new one).

The Figure Four goes on and Orndorff grabs the rope. For some reason the referee yells at him but Jack punches Orndorff in the face for the break instead. Makes sense. They head outside again with Orndorff sending him knee first into the concrete. The knee brace to the head sends Jack to the floor again and Orndorff unloads on the leg with a chair. Orndorff calls for the piledriver but Jack channels his inner Old Man Marley and hits him in the face with the shovel for the pin at 12:17.

Rating: B+. Now that was a lot of fun as these guys beat the living heck out of each other for twelve minutes. It takes something special to hang with Jack in a fight like this for so long and that’s what Orndorff was. He’s grown on me a good bit over the years and they had a really, really good brawl here. Orndorff looked awesome and Jack was crazy over with the fans so what more do you need?

Rock N Roll Express vs. Heavenly Bodies

This is part of the Smoky Mountain Wrestling talent trade with WCW, meaning Jim Cornette is here with the Bodies. The idea is now former WCW boss Bill Watts brought out the Express as the SMW Tag Team Champions but Cornette came out with the Bodies and said not so fast. A feud was set off and it’s time to fight here, with Bobby Eaton out with Cornette and the Bodies.

So yes, Eaton and Stan Lane are against the Express and unfortunately we couldn’t get one last WCW match between the famous teams. The Express of course gets a crazy reaction and the fans can’t stand Cornette, partially because he talks about how ugly the fans are. It really isn’t all that hard you see. Eaton gets ejected before the bell (Cornette hugs him goodbye) and it’s Prichard driving Gibson into the corner to start.

A flying headscissors takes Prichard down though and it’s off to Morton for the hurricanrana. Lane comes in off a hot tag and is immediately armdragged into an armbar as the Bodies can’t get much going early on (because these people know how to book a southern tag match). Morton works on Lane’s arm and sends him into Prichard in the corner and Gibson comes in to do the opposite. Cornette and company need a breather on the floor, with Jesse making a thinly veiled gay joke.

A double backdrop puts Prichard down but he gets Morton into the corner. Morton is out in a hurry though and it’s a four way standoff. Morton and Lane hit the crisscross but Morton drops to the floor to chase Cornette. Back in and the Bodies get caught in a double noggin knocker and a right hand drops Cornette off the apron. Cornette gets a grab of Morton’s foot though and the Bodies FINALLY take over.

A swinging neckbreaker gets two on Morton and the chinlock goes on. The referee catches Lane trying to sneak in and breaks it up but Cornette distracts the referee as Morton grabs a sunset flip. Lane makes the save so Prichard can hit the powerbomb for two. A double DDT gets Morton out of trouble and the hot tag brings in Gibson to clean house.

Everything breaks down and it’s a double dropkick to Prichard but the illegal Lane and Morton distract the referee. Cornette comes in to distract Gibson though and Prichard is up with a bulldog. Morton is back up to take Prichard down for two but Cornette has the referee AGAIN. Cue Eaton, but he hits Prichard by mistake, allowing Gibson to get the fast pin at 12:53.

Rating: B. This is the old southern style tag match with five people who could do this match int heir sleep and then did it rather well indeed. It was a great flashback to a long gone era and that’s the point of something like SMW. Granted that didn’t work long term, but for a one off like this, it was pretty awesome.

Sting isn’t sure what to make of the White Castle of Fear.

US Title: Dustin Rhodes vs. Maxx Payne

Payne is challenging and substituting for an injured Ron Simmons. We even get a quick rule explanation and we’re ready to go. Dustin knocks him to the floor and then clotheslines him outside again. Back in and the armdrag sends Payne outside for a third time in less than two minutes. The armbar slows Payne down but he fights up, only to get caught in a running armdrag into another armbar.

Back up and Payne misses a charge into the corner, meaning we hit the armbar all over again. Payne fights to his feet again, misses a shot, and gets kneed in the arm again. Dustin charges into an elbow but gets up a boot in the corner. With nothing else working, Payne hits Dustin in the face and grabs…his own armbar. Egads can these people do anything else?

The Payne Killer (yes, another armbar) is blocked so Payne puts a knee in the chest instead. Some forearms put Dustin on the floor and a backdrop puts him down back inside. Dustin’s comeback thrills the people who haven’t left their seats and Payne misses an elbow drop. A running clothesline puts Payne down and a suplex gives Dustin two. The abdominal stretch goes on but Payne breaks it up, sending Dustin into the referee for the DQ at 11:29.

Rating: D. Egads what a mess this was. It was a bunch of armbars until they had a sloppy brawl and a bad ending. They really couldn’t come up with anyone better to challenge Dustin than Payne? I know Simmons wasn’t available but come on already. At least find someone who looks like a threat or you could pin.

Vader and Sting finally meet. These clips are less than ten seconds each and that might be for the best.

Here’s the returning Ric Flair to do commentary on the NWA World Title match. Flair is all fired up and reminds us that he never lost the title.

NWA World Title: Barry Windham vs. Great Muta

Windham is challenging and yes, we’re supposed to care about the NWA in 1993. Muta has Hiro Matsuda with him. We get the introductions and the WE WANT FLAIR chants are on again. Oh and the NWA allows you to come off the top, because the NWA and WCW had different rules and fans were supposed to be interested in all of this stuff. Feeling out process to start and Windham easily gets the better of a test of strength.

That’s broken up and Muta headlocks him to the mat, with Windham at least trying to fight up, which is something you don’t see often enough in a situation like this. Windham fights up for a belly to back suplex attempt but can’t escape yet. Back up and Muta scores with a dropkick so the headlock can go on again. Windham still can’t suplex his way out and we’re told it’s ten minutes in, even though it’s been less than seven.

Muta snaps off a suplex and drops the power drive elbow. The headlock stays on, they fight up, the headlock takes them down again. Another dropkick misses though and Windham hits a DDT for no cover. Windham knocks him outside as Jesse talks about Flair’s intimidating security team at ringside. Back in and Windham drops some knees to the head for two before grabbing the sleeper.

That stays on for a good while as the rather slow pace continues. Some feet on the ropes make it clear that Windham is the heel here, though I have a problem believing that the fans are going to be interested in anyone but Flair. Back up and Windham gets two off a gutwrench suplex before sending Muta outside. That lets Muta get fired up and the slugout is on with Windham getting the better of it and grabbing a chinlock. Muta fights up with some shots to the face but can’t get a sunset flip.

Windham’s piledriver attempt is countered with a backdrop so he knocks Muta right back down. The superplex is broken up though and now the comeback is on, including the handspring elbow. Muta misses the moonsault (as pretty as ever) but he’s fine enough to hit a belly to back suplex. Another moonsault attempt hits knees and Windham hits the implant DDT (or close to it as Muta was still on his feet while Windham landed) for the pin and the title at 24:09.

Rating: D. Well that didn’t work and the reason was Ric Flair. Ok so maybe that was part of it, along with Muta apparently having the flu. At the end of the day though, the fans only cared about Flair and were stuck waiting almost five more months before he would win the title. I’m sure there’s a logic to it, but having anything involving the NWA at this point was a waste of time.

Vader and Sting strap up.

The hosts make their main event picks.

Vader vs. Sting

Vader’s World Title isn’t on the line and it’s a strap match (four corners version) with Harley Race in Vader’s corner. They take their sweet time setting up the strap, allowing Jesse to point out how hard it’s going to be for Sting to pull Vader anyway. Vader uses the strap to pull him down to start and then does it again to set up the story of the match in a hurry. Sting is down again so Vader drops an elbow to the ribs as commentary explains the always hazy “broken momentum” rule.

A middle rope splash crushes Sting but he’s back up with those shots to the face that only he could make work. An enziguri of all things puts Vader down but Jesse points out that you can’t drag Vader around when he’s on the mat. The top rope splash makes the problem worse but Vader starts rolling around. Sting starts whipping away, including a shot to knock Race off the apron.

It’s time to go outside with Vader being pulled hard into the post and there’s a slam to put Vader down on the floor. Sting gets two buckles (posts actually) out there but gets sent hard into the barricade to break that up. Vader’s back is bleeding after that whipping so Sting makes it worse with a Samoan drop back inside. The standing body splashes put Sting down but he backdrops his way out of a powerbomb to show off the strength. Sting misses a top rope splash and gets crushed by Vader’s version.

There’s a Samoan drop to Sting to even the score and the Vader Bomb has Race celebrating. Now it’s time to whip Sting, with Jesse saying it’s like Tony whipping his children. A super Samoan drop knocks Sting silly but Vader can only get two buckles. The Vader Bomb misses and the fans are all happy again. The breather lets Sting crotch Vader on top and a slam brings him back down.

Vader is up first again though and hits Sting in the face, only to have Sting do it right back. A superplex takes Sting down again for three buckles but Sting ties his leg around the ropes. Sting drops Vader again and the momentum is broken. You don’t tick Vader off though so he unloads with rights and lefts in the corner. Vader uses the strap to pull him in so Sting uses a Liger kick to get a knockdown.

There’s a DDT but the referee gets bumped. Sting doesn’t seem to mind as he picks Vader up in a fireman’s carry for three, only to trip over the referee. Sting is exhausted so Vader sits on his chest and ties him up for three, but Sting isn’t done. He is however eternally stupid though and kicks Vader into the corner to give him the win at 20:54.

Rating: A-. Like these two could ever do anything wrong. Vader’s back was SCARY out there as he was covered in blood and looked like he had fallen on glass. This was what you would expect out of Vader and Sting, even if the White Castle deal was pure early 90s WCW stupidity. Ignoring that though, it’s a heck of a fight and makes me want to watch them go at it again, which they would do for a long time to come.

Post match Sting whips Vader to the floor.

Barry Windham joins the hosts and promises to win all the titles.

Tony and Jesse wrap us up.

Roll credits.

Overall Rating: B+. There are bad things on the show but the stuff that works are more than enough to make up for them. This is an awesome show and a true hidden gem that no one ever talks about. Aside from the White Castle stuff and thinking the NWA still mattered (I’m still surprised it even existed) at this point, they let the wrestling speak for itself here and that is often a very good idea. Make a few changes and this is an all time classic, but as it is, it’s just a heck of a show and worth seeing if you clip some stuff out.

 

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November To Remember 1994
Date: November 5, 1994
Location: ECW Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 1,000
Commentator: Joey Styles

This is one of the promotions I can’t escape no matter how hard I try. It’s a requested show that was just dropped on the Network a few weeks back and since it’s ECW’s flagship event, it’s probably worth a shot. In theory that is as ECW is one of the most unpredictable promotions in the world. Let’s get to it.

This must be the full version as we even see the ring announcer coming to the ring. He lists off some of the names on the card but only one specific match. In something that feels rather un-ECW, he throws some hats to the fans, followed by presenting an “extreme version” of the National Anthem. A guy in an event staff shirt plays the song on an electric guitar and this is always weird to see/hear.

It goes so badly that Paul Heyman and his bodyguard 911 break it up with 911 chokeslamming the guy. Heyman grabs the mic, complains that it doesn’t work, and has 911 chokeslam the guy again. We’re not ready to go yet though as Heyman sends 911 after the ring announcer. That means another chokeslam, with Heyman saying that the guitar playing was terrible and he always hated the ring announcing.

We’re STILL not done though as Heyman hits the announcer with his phone and has 911 hit another chokeslam. We hear Joey Styles asking if the mic is hot and if he is on as Heyman and 911 leave. The announcer has to do a stretcher job as the fans want CPR. We’re clipped to the announcer being taken out and now, over ten minutes in, it’s time for the opening match. I’m sure the live fans liked this but it just kept going.

JT Smith vs. vs. Hack Myers

Myers is something close to a biker and kind of a cult favorite. Smith is from Philadelphia but the fans don’t seem to like him very much. An early hiptoss and fall away slam on the much bigger Myers give Smith two but he misses a dropkick. Myers hits his left hands so the fans can shout SHAH on each one for some reason. A running splash to Smith’s back connects in the corner and it’s a legdrop across the bottom rope.

The first chair shot of the night has Smith in more trouble as we’re waiting on the comeback. That’s some great timing as Smith hits a dropkick on the floor and drops an elbow with the chair. Smith’s running splash sends them over the barricade as Joey talks about how extreme this is. Back in and they trade some rollups for two each, followed by Smith’s bridging northern lights suplex for the pin at 4:03.

Rating: C-. Just a match as Smith clearly didn’t have a future in the company. He was just a guy in trunks who could wrestle well enough and that’s not what this company is all about. Myers was popular but there is only so much you can get out of someone as standard as he was. This probably should have been a dark match but it wasn’t that bad.

Post match Joey again asks if the mic is hot and wants a mic stand.

Bad Breed vs. Pit Bulls

That would be Ian/Axl Rotten and the fight is on before the bell. Pit Bull #2 kicks away at Axl inside but Axl is right back with a clothesline. Ian is sent into the barricade and beaten down with a chair and #2 gets two off a suplex. #1 comes in for a snap suplex on Ian and a flying shoulder puts Ian down again. We actually get a tag to #2 (Was #1 ever legal in the first place?) and it’s right back to #1 for a slingshot shoulder. The SuperBomb finishes Ian at 3:09. It’s as sudden as it sounds.

Rating: D. This was nothing and felt more like an extended segment than a match. The Pit Bulls were a hard hitting team though I never cared for them all that much. They’re far better than the crazy violent Rottens though and I’ll certainly take a short match rather than the nonsense stuff that they would do most of the time.

Post match Axl makes the save with a chain and the Bad Breed beats the Pit Bulls up.

Mr. Hughes vs. 2 Cold Scorpio

A midcard match on any indy show over a period of about seventeen years! Hughes shoves him away without much effort to start and then does it again to prove his point. Styles talks about how Undertaker found out that he can’t go toe to toe with Hughes and it’s so strange to hear another company discussed like this. I know ECW did it all the time but it’s still weird. The fans call Hughes the Shoe Shine Boy as Scorpio can’t get anywhere off a wristlock.

Hughes busts out a leapfrog of all things and starts stomping away to keep Scorpio in trouble. A big clothesline drops Scorpio again and it’s off to a neck crank. Scorpio grabs the tie for a breather and is promptly thrown into the air for a crash to the mat. Back up and some dropkicks put Hughes on the floor but Scorpio leaves a baseball slide VERY short. The fans catch onto it so Scorpio hits a quick dive to get them back. Hughes hits a side slam back inside and drops an elbow to the face for two. Scorpio is back up with some boots to the face out of the corner. The 450 finishes Hughes at 7:38.

Rating: D+. They told a simple story here and while it wasn’t the most interesting thing in the world, you could figure out exactly what they were trying to do. Scorpio is one of my all time favorites though and seeing a 450 in 1994 is insane. They did the comeback in a hurry and Hughes was a monster for Scorpio to slay, so it was a nice enough story. Not well done that is, but nice enough.

Post match Hughes destroys Scorpio and says that’s what happens when you mess with him. Hughes leaves and Scorpio calls him Mr. Shoe Shine Boy and says he just lost. The fight is on again for the second time in a row. Styles: “Can anyone stop Mr. Hughes???” Uh yeah, I think his name is Scorpio.

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Tommy Dreamer vs. Tommy Cairo

Winner gets the name Tommy. Ok not so much but would that stipulation surprise you around here? Cairo is one of the holdovers from the old days of ECW and mocks the recently blinded Sandman (blinded by Dreamer in an accident). Dreamer is fighting for the Sandman and the fight is on with Dreamer going right at him while the music is on. A spinwheel kick puts Dreamer on the floor and Cairo hits another out there.

Dreamer gets in some chair shots and takes him back inside for a rather delayed piledriver. They head outside again with Dreamer being handed a canoe paddle. I’ve seen far weirder things around here. Cairo seems to miss a dive off the barricade as they fight into the crowd. A running wooden pallet shot drops Dreamer, who is right back up with a pallet shot of his own.

They get back inside with Dreamer hitting a neckbreaker and taking off his shirt (egads) for some choking. Cairo is right back up with a standing flapjack (I kind of like that) but stops to mock Sandman again. It’s Singapore cane time but Dreamer takes it away and canes him in the head. The blood starts to flow and Dreamer hits him low (with Joey’s voice going higher). Dreamer licks the blood off of his hand as Cairo is mostly dead, meaning the referee stops it at 8:23.

Rating: C-. This was much more of a wild brawl and that’s where it makes more sense. There is a story behind this one as Dreamer is fighting for Sandman, who had issues with Cairo. It ties into the backstory and that makes the violence mean something. That’s one of the places where ECW missed the point a lot of the time and it caught up to them, but it made sense in a situation like this one.

Post match Dreamer gets in a few more shots and Cairo isn’t moving, meaning it’s another stretcher job. Cairo isn’t being carried out though and walks off.

ECW World Title: Shane Douglas vs. Ron Simmons

Simmons is challenging and says he’s never liked this city, but he’s taking the title. The fans chant something negative about Ric Flair, much to Shane’s delight. Simmons goes straight after him but gets dropkicked down for an early two. Douglas gets chased to the floor and it’s time to hit the stall for a bit. Back in and Simmons headbutts him down in the corner, sending Shane back outside for another breather.

Shane is back in again with a crossbody as we hear about those cowards Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan not answering Shane’s open challenge for an ECW Title shot. The staredown is on outside with Shane hiding behind a photographer. Simmons swings at him (and over her) anyway, followed by a clothesline on the floor. Back in (again) and the powerslam plants Shane, followed by a gutbuster as the slow beating continues. A top rope splash misses so Simmons hits a chokeslam of all things. The fans want 911 but Shane is right back up with a crucifix to retain at 6:46.

Rating: D+. Nothing to see here other than a minor novelty as, just like in Scorpio vs. Hughes, it was mostly one sided until the finish. It’s not a good sign that we’ve had the same match structure twice in about an hour but Heyman wasn’t always the most versatile in-ring booker of all time.

Post match the beatdown is on again with Scorpio running in to help Simmons beat Douglas down (Simmons being known as someone who needs help in fights) and hitting the moonsault. Simmons and Scorpio leave but Cactus Jack, who doesn’t like Shane, of all people comes out to check on him. Shane takes a LONG time getting out of the ring.

Here’s the still blind Sandman, helped to the ring by owner Tod Gordon, for a chat. Styles is choking up at how sad it is for Sandman to be like this. Gordon is sad as well, as a cameraman gets in the ring for a closeup but we stay on the regular shot, meaning we can see the whole cameraman but about half each of the other two (it looks like some bad student film).

Thankfully he leaves and Sandman talks about having to retire at 31, but he’s beaten the daylights out of Tommy Cairo and he’s taken Tommy Dreamer to an inch of his career. He wouldn’t change a thing though, even if he’s lost everything. One of the things he’s lost is his wife, which is all thanks to Nancy Sullivan (Woman). We hear about some of the things he’s done to his wife and Cairo, who stole her, can’t accomplish those same things.

Cue Sandman’s wife Peaches, who doesn’t know if she should slap him or kiss him. She says she’s changed a little since he last saw her, which he thinks means she’s put on weight. A reconciliation seems possible but here’s Nancy to interrupt. She wants to introduce her newest client but canes Peaches in the head first. Sandman punches Gordon by mistake and here’s Dreamer to calls Nancy off.

As Dreamer yells, Sandman takes the bandages off of his eyes and canes Dreamer because he is Nancy’s new client. That should be a heel turn but the fans seem rather pleased. Nancy mocks Dreamer’s recent emotional speeches about Sandman and Joey is aghast. Sandman gets in some whips with his belt as Nancy is having a ball gloating over this. Oh and in case it wasn’t clear: Nancy is managing Sandman. What we got here was good, though I can imagine it having a much stronger impact if I had seen all of the build.

Joey brings out Shane Douglas for a chat. Shane, holding a phone, talks about never feeling anything like what he has felt tonight. His career was unparalleled in ECW but then he saw entertainers in Chicago destroying what he spent fourteen years building. That would be a person named Terry Bollea, who is already on Social Security. Part of his success in ECW is because of blood, sweat and tears, but it was also due to a beautiful woman.

Tonight he fought someone who was the first black heavyweight champion but that means nothing to Shane. Then 2 Cold Scorpio got involved after Shane beat Simmons. Now it’s time to rebuild the Franchise and that’s why he has Sherri on the phone. He wants her back here two weeks from tonight and Sherri says it’ll be great to be with a man again. On top of that, he’s bringing in a partner to deal with Simmons and Scorpio: Stunning Steve Austin. Shane isn’t losing to an ex-WCW Champion.

Dean Malenko vs. Tazmaniac

Dean’s TV Title isn’t on the line and of course that is the future Taz, though he is still kind of a caveman here. He does have TAZ on his singlet though. We get Big Match Intros, including one for Dean’s manager Jason. They fight around the ropes to start with Taz taking him down and hammering away, setting up the first northern lights suplex. Dean is right back up with a release tiger bomb and the Boston crab goes on, with the fans seemingly grunting for Taz.

That’s broken up with some power so Dean stomps away instead. They trade full nelsons until Taz hits a t-bone suplex. Dean comes back with a victory roll for two but an attempt at a second is countered into a German suplex to put them both down. It’s Dean going up (Huh?) and getting crotched, only to elbow his way out of a German superplex attempt. Jason tries to get in a few cheap shots and gets whipped into the barricade for his efforts. The distraction lets Dean grab a towel to cover Taz’s face, which is enough for the pin at 5:40.

Rating: D+. I really wasn’t feeling this one as it was more of a collection of matches with a finish instead of anything that tied together. Malenko was a good choice for this role and offered a different style, though you could see that they wanted to do something with Taz. Maybe under a better gimmick and after a horrible neck injury.

Taz is out and needs help as there was something on that towel. Medics come out and Joey smells chloroform. Some smelling salts wake Taz up and he wrecks a bunch of stuff.

Tag Team Titles: Public Enemies vs. Cactus Jack/Mikey Whipwreck

Jack and Whipwreck are defending and it’s a weird set of rules where you have to put someone down for ten before you can go for the regular pin. Also after the ten count, you can use baseball bats. That’s quite the complicated rules, though Johnny Grunge grabbing his crotch takes away some of my focus for a few seconds. Mikey is of course scared to death, as tends to be his custom.

Hang on though as we need to have Rocco yell at the crowd a bit, followed by some standing around. There’s no contact for the first two minutes, though they are at least going through with the pretense of a tag match to start. The stalling continues as Public Enemy decides to walk so the referee starts the ten count. They come back so Mikey’s shoulder block can fail, giving us the first action at just shy of four minutes.

Mikey gets sent into a boot in the corner and a middle rope elbow crushes him. Grunge isn’t about to let the referee count so he drops a headbutt and kicks Mikey low. A gordbuster drops Mikey again so it’s Cactus coming in to save him from a bad case of destruction. Cactus whips Mikey into both of them as Mikey continues to be little more than a toy here. Mikey is so beaten up that he collapses for an eight count, leaving Cactus to clothesline both of them down at once.

Rock kicks Cactus low and Grunge crotches him on the barricade for a bonus. That leaves Mikey all alone and it’s a reverse DDT into a Swanton (the Drive By) for nine. As the count goes on, Cactus comes in and cleans house with a chair. A double arm DDT isn’t enough for the ten count so Public Enemy comes up with powder into Cactus’ face. Mikey fights back with forearms to both, including the bloody Grunge.

The blind Cactus DDTs Mikey by mistake though and that’s good for a ten, meaning it’s time for some baseball bats. Mikey gets laid out with the bat but all four walk up the aisle and fight over to some nicely placed tables. Two of them are stacked up on top of each other but Sabu breaks up a flip dive to put Mikey through them. 911 and Heyman come out, with Sabu sending Rock through the tables.

Mikey is back up and uses a chair to beat on the pieces of tables near Rock. Cactus and Grunge are back as well with Cactus suplexing Rock onto a table. The running elbow off the balcony puts Rock through the table and everyone is done. We hear about Mikey diving onto Grunge and let’s head back to the ring for some fun. Grunge sunset flips Mikey for two, followed by a top rope baseball bat shot to the face for the pin and the titles at 15:15.

Rating: C. I liked this more than I thought I would, even if there was nothing involving tagging or wrestling for the most part. The dives and carnage were good enough though and the fans cared about Public Enemy. Mikey and Cactus were a good oddball team and it made both guys look better than I was expecting. Nice enough here, assuming you’re not a traditionalist.

Gordon runs down the card for the next show, including Dreamer vs. Sandman with Cairo as guest referee. Hang on though as Cactus comes in to say how tough Mikey is. He’ll be back in two weeks also, with Kevin Sullivan as his partner to challenge for the titles. Also, Tazmaniac/Sabu vs. Dean Malenko/Joe Malenko. Plus the aforementioned Austin/Douglas vs. Scorpio/Simmons.

Sabu vs. Chris Benoit

This is an infamous one. They go right at each other with Benoit kneeing him in the ribs and dropping him ribs first onto the top rope. Then Benoit lifts him up and drops him down on top of his head, breaking Sabu’s neck (for the first of two times in ECW). Since HE BROKE HIS NECK, the match is stopped at around 1:40. Of note: that is how Benoit got the name the Crippler.

As medics tend to Sabu, here’s 911 to keep Benoit away from him. Benoit says he wants to fight Sabu and never signed to fight 911. We get some major stalling until Benoit jumps 911 from behind but can’t knock him down. A chokeslam plants Benoit for a pin but here’s Public Enemy with the baseball bats to take 911 down. Cactus comes in to go after the two of them as 911 gets back up. A double chokeslam (with all of four inches of lift) plants Public Enemy.

A bunch of people come out for a big brawl (including Taz looking downright bizarre in flannel) with Taz getting a bat to take out just about everyone. Eventually it’s Benoit and Taz in a standoff as 911 gets a beaten down Heyman out of dodge. Joey signs off but Benoit wants a mic. When that doesn’t work, Public Enemy holds up his arms as the mic is fixed. Benoit wants to know what happened to the great Sabu so here’s Scorpio again. If Benoit wants a fight, he’s right here.

2 Cold Scorpio vs. Chris Benoit

Public Enemy jumps Scorpio from behind and Benoit gets two off a powerbomb despite the lack of a bell. There’s the snap suplex as Public Enemy is still messing around at ringside. Scorpio gets in a superkick to send Benoit outside, meaning it’s time to beat up Public Enemy again.

There are even more people at ringside now, making this a glorified lumberjack match. Benoit hits a top rope superplex but Scorpio counters a belly to back superplex with a crossbody. Scorpio gets two off a super victory roll and nails a superkick but they fall out to the floor. Benoit throws him into various things and it’s a double countout at about 5:45.

Rating: D+. I can’t get mad at this one as they were making it up on the fly and had nothing planned. It wasn’t terrible or anything as they’re talented enough to make something work, though it went about as well as it realistically could have. This kind of heel Benoit is just weird to see but he did it very well and I could go for more of it.

Post match Scorpio says we should do that again.

Joey signs off again but we’re STILL not done as Cactus says his thoughts are with Sabu. That FINALLY ends the show.

Overall Rating: C-. This is the kind of company that I can see having a cult following, ESPECIALLY in 1994 when wrestling was entering the dark ages. ECW is best known by the masses for the late 90s when wrestling had recovered, but this was a completely different feeling where you could see how effective it could be. It’s certainly not for everyone (including me) but I get the idea here and some parts of the show were really interesting. The hardcore felt more well timed here and it didn’t dominate the night. Not a great show by any means, but you can see the magic that people got swept up in around here.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s History Of In Your House (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

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Scorpio got his start in Japan in the late 80s but got his first American exposure in WCW, debuting at Clash of the Champions 21 as a mystery partner for WCW World Champion Ron Simmons.

Cactus Jack/Tony Atlas/Barbarian vs. Ron Simmons/Too Cold Scorpio

Ok so Simmons is world champion and is feuding with various guys because they wanted to make Simmons seem like he had something to do while making the WCW Title a midcard title so that guys like Great Muta and Chono, NWA guys, could be the REAL focus of the show. Simmons vs. Barbarian was the WCW Title match at Halloween Havoc. Let that sink in for a bit.

This is Scorpio’s debut and the good guys sprint to the ring with the announcers having no clue what Scorpio’s name is. This match with having only one white guy in it is Watts’ attempt to make the company believe he’s not racist and of course he made the black dude worthless and the title a joke until Sting saved it. Jack is legit injured here so he was a manager for the most part. Somehow injured he was miles ahead of the guys he managed.

Atlas looks like a freaking tank here. There was supposed to be some guy named Robbie Walker as Simmons’ partner. Considering this is Scorpio when he was young and in awesome shape and totally mind blowing, I think he upgraded. Yeah he’s 27 here as is Jack so both guys are young and just awesome. Scorpio misses a moonsault completely and kicks Jack in the head so he has to tag.

Jack and Simmons now as Barbarian was in there all of 10 seconds. Remember: Jack is badly hurt here but he’s the only credible guy on his team. Ah, it’s the #1 contender: Barbarian. Yes that Barbarian. It’s weird hearing them constantly saying “Simmons’ partner” because they really don’t know who he is. Atlas comes in and is just old. He’s still ripped though so that helps.

Barbarian beats on him a bit but then Jack has to be the one to get kicked in the head. Hot tag to Scorpio who blows the roof off the place. He was SO far ahead of his time it’s not even funny. Barbarian misses the big boot to Simmons which kills Atlas and with Simmons holding the other two off, Scorpio unleashes the 450 which is more or less the national debut of it and you can’t hear Ross’ commentary (which is more or less him losing his mind) over how loud the fans are. Naturally that gets the pin.

Rating: B-. This was to do two things: further the Simmons vs. Jack’s team feud and the bigger one: make 2 Cold Scorpio look AMAZING. To say the very least regarding the second one, JACKPOT. The fans loved him as more or less he was a 240 pound Rey Mysterio and keeping in mind this is 1992, this was completely revolutionary stuff. Awesome debut and everything worked like a charm. Match sucked when him or Jack wasn’t in there though.

Scorpio would become a big deal on his own as a singles guy, including receiving an NWA World Title shot at Clash of the Champions 23.

NWA World Title: Barry Windham vs. 2 Cold Scorpio

This could be bad but it could be good. Windham was just holding the title for a little while before Flair got it back in about a month. Jesse asks what kind of name Scope is. Jesse brings up that he was in the Navy and Norfolk is a naval town so he’s happy here. No one believes Windham has any chance of losing here as Scorpio was young, talented and over so of course the NWA can’t let him have the belt. That’s Flair’s belt blast it.

Jesse wants to know who Jordan is betting on tonight. That’s a great line. Scorpio kicks out of a leaping, and I use that term loosely, DDT. Hey! Wanna know how Badd is? Call the Hotline and find out! Yes, we’ll not only give out private medical records, we’ll charge you for them! Windham punches the heck out of Scorpio and this is pretty one sided.

On to the tag team division that Scorpio was best known for. He would hook up with Marcus Bagwell for a Tag Team Title show on the October 23, 1993 episode of WCW Saturday Night.

Tag Titles: Marcus Bagwell/2 Cold Scorpio vs. Nasty Boys

We hit the abdominal stretch from Brian but Sags comes back in for some elbows on the bad ribs. Scorpio tries to fight back but gets caught in a bearhug to keep things slow. He finally fights out of it with something resembling a bulldog and an enziguri is enough for the hot tag to Bagwell. Marcus fights off both guys and everything breaks down. Sags and Scorpio are whipped into each other but Jerry gets up fast enough to drop a top rope ax handle on Marcus, only to pull him up at two. Sags lifts him up for a slam but Scorpio dropkicks them both down, putting Bagwell on top for the pin and the titles.

NWA World Title: Shane Douglas vs. 2 Cold Scorpio

And we get no entrances or anything like that. Joey said a quick thing about this is it and we cut to the bell ringing. I’m fairly certain that Shane is heel here but it’s not incredibly clear. Yeah he definitely is. The locker room is out to watch this. They try to tie this into the classic NWA guys like Race and Thesz, but for some reason the WHOMP There it is chant hurts the credibility on that one.

They do some decent stuff but it’s a tad sloppy which hurts it a bit. I wonder what Shane is thinking as he knows what he will be doing in about fifteen minutes. They lock up for about the fifth time in two minutes. We get it guys. You can do the most basic move on the planet. They do a bunch of small packages and reversals that aren’t bad but it’s hardly the masterpiece that Joey wants you to think it is.

To change the pace a lot, we have a lock up. A top rope cross body gets two and we hit a chinlock. You can really tell how far the title has fallen when it was eleven years before this when Starrcade aired and the company hit its peak. A top rope dropkick puts Shane on the floor and we have a sign that says I’ve Got Crabs. You can really feel the spirits of Thesz and Kiniski here can’t you?

They really do try to put this over as a classic. Well give Joey a point for trying of course. What they don’t point out most of the time is that Douglas beat Terry Funk for the ECW Title coming into this. Barely Legal was far from Funk’s first title reign. We get back in the ring with Shane somewhat in control.

It amuses me that this was supposed to be the biggest match of all time according to Joey, but that weekend we had Owen vs. Bret in a cage at Summerslam. Anyway, Scorpio misses a moonsault and Shane hits a belly to belly for the win. Scorpio says that Shane was better tonight but he’ll be back. Nice job on stealing the spotlight there buddy.

Rating: C+. This was nothing entertaining at all really. It’s just a match with limited heat and not very good wrestling. I get that this is supposed to mean something in the long run, but dang man, there was just nothing to talk about here at all. It’s not bad but there are about a million better matches.

Then some other stuff happened after the match.

Tito Santana/Pegasus Kid/2 Cold Scorpio vs. La Parka/Blue Panther/Jerry Estrada

This is IWC vs. AAA. Pegasus Kid you know as Chris Benoit and yes that’s the same Tito Santana you’re familiar with. Estrada is a brawler, Panther is a masked guy and captain and La Parka is La Parka. Scorpio is starting us off but Estrada and Parka fight over who starts. Instead it’s Panther who takes Scorpio to the mat to a HUGE pop. I’m a big Scorpio and Santana fan so I think you know which team I like here.

Off to Benoit vs. Parka. The Parka team is WAY more popular as they’re technically the hometown team. Santana comes in but Estrada and Parka fight over who gets to face Santana. Tito in black trunks is an odd sight to see. Also this is just Tito, not El Matador. Mike says Tito is clearly the weak link on his team. That’s not exactly what I’d say but he’s the Professor.

Parka won’t tag in, ticking Estrada off even more. Benoit and Panther come in to speed things way up and Benoit hits a huge suicide dive to the floor. Benoit is the captain of his team so if he loses it’s over. Scorpio and Parka come in and try to out overdo it. They slug it out but neither guy can take over. Parka fakes taking a low blow and both guys hit the floor. That allows Estrada vs. Santana to come in. Remember that’s legal here.

Estrada is sent to the floor and it’s off to Benoit vs. Panther again. They’re both in blue so that works out well. Benoit hooks the snap suplex but an elbow misses. Parka is tagged in and he walks along the apron for a bit first. The Canadian hits a German on the Mexican and it’s back to Panther again, this time against 2 Cold. They look like their chemistry is way off at times in this.

A powerbomb puts Parka down but Estrada comes in, breaks it up, kicks Parka a bit for good measure and now the heels can’t figure out who to get in. Ok so now it’s Tito vs. Panther. Benoit comes in but misses the swan dive. Scorpio misses his huge moonsault as well. I get why Panther is a champion. La Parka and Estrada fight over who gets to cover Scorpio so it’s back to Panther again.

Parka sends Santana to the floor and sets to dive but hits Estrada of course. Scorpio hits a big dive to take everyone out. Panther misses a moonsault so Benoit hits a Matt Hardy legdrop for two. Panther tries a powerbomb on Chris but Benoit rolls through into a rana for the pin and ZERO reaction, which also might be a cultural thing.

Rating: C. I liked it a little better than the previous one but it’s no classic or anything. The idea here was two different styles and in that theory it worked. At the same time though, the tagging thing isn’t something I can get used to inside of an hour, which is how long this has been going on. It was fine but it’s something I think I’d like a lot more if I watched lucha libre more often.

In 1995, WCW held a show in North Korea which had an audience of, I kid you not, 180,000 people. Scorpio was on the card, facing Wild Pegasus.

2 Cold Scorpio vs. Chris Benoit

Benoit is named Wild Pegasus here. Eric talks about how the lives in Korea are as so much is closed off to them and they have never seen anything like this. This really is something to see. New Japan is co-promoting with WCW here so you’ll see a lot of puro in this. This is a pretty choreographed and gymnastics based match to start which the fans applaud.

It’s so strange to see a totally new audience see something like this. If nothing else it’s cool to see their reaction to seeing something like this which they’ve never seen before. Onoo is playing a heel here that only likes the Japanese guys. His voice is very hard to hear as he’s really soft spoken. Benoit hits a jumping tombstone and the headbutt hits on Scorpio for the pin.

Rating: C+. These are hard matches to grade. There are no angles or anything to them as this is really just an exhibition and an attempt to expose wrestling to a brand new audience, even though they’ll hardly ever see it again. That being said, I’m not expecting much from these matches, but it’s nice to see. The grades will be far less harsh based on how these matches are going to be drawn up.

Back to ECW, where Scorpio would win the Tag Team Titles in a singles match against Rocco Rock. He would choose Sandman as his partner and defend the titles at November 2 Remember 1995.

Tag Titles: 2 Cold Scorpio/Sandman vs. Public Enemy

Woman manages Scorpio and Sandman who are champions (along with Scorpio being TV Champion) and come out to Whomp There It Is. Whoever gets the fall here faces Mikey Whipwreck later in the show for the world title. Woman is kind of hot actually. She could look rather good at times. Scorpio dances a lot while we’re waiting on the Public Enemy to get here.

I have no idea what the face/heel alignment is here but I think Public Enemy is face. According to Gertner the TV Title is on the line here also. Yeah apparently Sandman and Scorpio are the heels here. Sandman is billed from…..Utah? Seriously? Scorpio is doing a thing where he says he doesn’t weigh as much as he really does. He does have a gut on him.

Public Enemy is leaving soon after this for ECW apparently. Scorpio offers them a chance to leave so let’s have a dance off. Uh…..ok? Scorpio cuts a rug and Joey dances too. The camera catches him and his reaction is great. Rocco does a robot which isn’t horrible. Scorpio does one also and destroys him. And now we set dancing back about a thousand years with Sandman dancing too. Joey: “Yes but can he walk a straight line?” They want Woman to dance and it’s very short. Crowd is WAY into this.

The champs jump the dancing morons but Public Enemy clears the ring quickly. AND IT’S TIME TO DANCE! The music is still playing as I think we have a comedy match on our hands. Just a hunch mind you. Ok so now we’re ready to go with Sandman vs. Grunge. Sandy grabs a headlock but is sent to the floor. Everything breaks down quickly and they all head to the floor.

Everyone grabs a chair and gets back in the ring for a good old fashioned duel. Sandman and Grunge are thrown to the floor and Scorpio follows. They fight up the aisle and a fan offers 2 Cold a frying pan. He steals someone’s prosthetic hand instead. Well why not? Sandman goes into the crowd and Grunge is busted open. He hits a splash for two on Scorpio as we’re bordering on having a regular match.

Rocco hits Sandman with a pumpkin pie and Sandy is in the crowd again. Woman pulls Sandman out of the crowd. Sandman tags himself in and he jumps over the top (!!!) with something like a dropkick. Rocco comes in and hits a headscissors to take over. Slingshot legdrop by Sandman but he doesn’t cover.

Off to Scorpio who hits a slingshot splash for two. Scorpio vs. Rock at the moment if you’re all lost. Rock avoids a dropkick and escapes a tilt-a-whirl, only to miss a moonsault. The fans chant for SD Jones for some reason as Scorpio hits a double underhook powerbomb which is broken up at two.

Standing moonsault eats knees and it’s off to Sandman. Rocco (they’re Rocco Rock and Johnny Grunge if you’re totally confused by me changing named) still can’t bring in Grunge so Grunge comes in and pounds on Sandman. Woman cracks Rocco with a kendo stick and Sandman dives over the top to take out Grunge. Sandman gets backdropped onto a table which doesn’t break. FREAKING OW MAN.

Grunge finally goes through the table and everything breaks down even further. Rock hits a big moonsault to the floor as they need to end this soon. A broom handle is brought in from somewhere with Scorpio taking over with it. There it goes though so 2 Cold settles for a Stinger Splash and moonsault for two on Rocco. We’re tagging again now and Grunge gets the hot tag. Sandman comes in sans tag but Public Enemy screws up their finisher and Sandman falls on top for the pin.

Rating: D. Yeah this went too long. These guys aren’t the ones you want having seventeen minutes. This was better as a comedy match but then again I might have just wanted to see Woman dance. Either way, not much here and Sandman getting the pin was pretty much the only logical choice since he lost the title to Mikey in the first place.

After a few more months in ECW it was off to the WWF where Scorpio would become a pimp in a zoot suit named Flash Funk. One of his first big matches was at In Your House 12.

Leif Cassidy vs. Flash Funk

 

They trade wristlocks until Flash spins around and grabs an armbar on the mat. Cassidy spins up but a flying snap mare takes him right back down. Funk flips out of a Boston crab attempt and takes Leif down into a headlock. Back up and Flash tries to go up but slips off the ropes, only to pop back up and hit a cross body to set up another armbar. A headscissors out of the corner is countered into a reverse powerbomb by Cassidy and the Rocker takes over.

 

 

Rating: B-. This took awhile to get going but for its time, this was pretty awesome. Funk is a personal favorite of mine who could fly like few other mainstream guys at this time. Cassidy was no slouch either but it would take an absurd gimmick to get him noticed, which is a shame at the\\\ end of the day.

Continuing the international theme, Flash was on the March 3, 1997 episode of Raw, held in Germany.

Sultan vs. Flash Funk

Sultan is Rikishi. Jim Ross has joined us on commentary. Lawler calls in and yells at Vince for having ECW guys on Raw. Didn’t Jerry invite him? If the ECW guys show up next week, Lawler will finish the fight. After a break the match is joined in progress with Sultan running him over. Flash does his usual flying around the ring to get in some offense but Sultan hooks him in a sleeper. Heyman calls in to say Lawler is over the line. The challenge is accepted but it might not be next week. Standing rana sets up a top rope moonsault for two by Funk. Sultan counters a headscissors and the camel clutch ends this quick.

Rating: C-. This match was fine but it’s by far and away the weakest of the matches as far as star power goes. Good match here as Funk is always someone I love watching. Sultan was a dead end gimmick and more or less stopped meaning anything after Mania when Rocky beat him in the IC Title match.

To England, from One Night Only, a one off show (appropriately enough) from Birmingham in September of 1997.

Flash Funk vs. The Patriot

Flash Funk is more commonly known as 2 Cold Scorpio and is a pimp without the name of being one. Patriot showed up a few weeks before this and somehow had a title shot at the previous PPV which went nowhere. Naturally he “came within an eyelash” but that didn’t mean anything after that show.

Patriot has Angle’s old music which it’s just odd to hear in 1997. He’s more or less a heel here since he comes out with the American flag. Patriot says he wears a mask because he represents the face of every American. I don’t know that many men that have golden skin like that. Flash is wearing a freaking zoot suit. This isn’t as good of a match as it could be but it’s ok I guess.

It’s about as generic as you could get but that’s fine. Vince calls Flash the Funkmeister. I’m done. Patriot was just annoying as he never went anywhere. He wasn’t that good at all but was built up to be this great worker which he just wasn’t at all. They keep saying the reason they’re not being all violent and crap is because they don’t hate each other. That’s better than nothing I guess.

If nothing else this should tell you everything you need to know about Patriot: his finishers are a full nelson slam called the Uncle Slam and a top rope shoulder block called the Patriot Missile. Funk’s finisher is called the Funky Flash Splash. A full nelson slam ends this. That was a waste of time.

Rating: C-. Again, this was just there. It wasn’t particularly good or bad, but Patriot got some decent heat which is really all you can ask for. Funk went for a big move from the top and it missed for the Uncle Slam. That’s better than nothing I guess. It could have been a lot worse I guess, but this just wasn’t the best choice of a pairing.

In 1998 there was a quick cross promotional story with WWF and ECW that saw Flash go to ECW for a night at Living Dangerously 1998 against Rob Van Dam.

Rob Van Dam vs. 2 Cold Scorpio

Van Dam is still a huge heel here but it’s lightening up a lot. Scorpio is over at least. He’s Flash Funk at this point but here he’s just the simple 2 Cold Scorpio and therefore much better than he was in WWF. The more I hear the more I think Van Dam is already a face. They start with a long feeling out process which is fine as they do some decent technical stuff.

 

However, we of course get a botch because it’s ECW. Those things just suck the life out of a lot of matches. I understand that they are going to happen and at least here they covered it up a bit. In the previous match they just assumed no one noticed and thought it would be fine. That’s just freaking dumb. We get a very nice reversal sequence with a lot of monkey flips that ends with a standoff.

 

Very nice indeed. We hit the floor and Van Dam is in the crowd. Well you knew it was going to happen sooner or later I \guess. I think they’re going for the big epic match here but the fans aren’t all happy with it which can’t be a good sign. To be fair though, most of the time not all fans are going to love the thing. The fans want Sandman apparently. That sums up ECW crowds pretty well.

 

We’re given a high flying technically mostly sound match, and the fans want weapons and blood and tables. So many times these fans were just ridiculous and stupid and this is one of them. Scorpio hits a SWEET moonsault. The Five Star which isn’t called that yet gets knees or what are called knees I suppose as it looked like it hit pretty well to me. We hit the ramp for awhile and the Van Daminator is more or less no sold. Hint for how to counter: HIT HIM WITH THE CHAIR. Seriously dude, use some freaking intelligence.

 

A piledriver on the ramp and Van Dam is hurt. And there goes the referee because in a no DQ match we need a referee for…? Van Dam tries to steal the 450 and would have missed completely anyway. Scorpio mostly hits the 450 and here’s Sabu to up the workrate. An Arabian Facebuster gets two. Sandman comes out to chase off Sabu. Van Dam gets a SWEET jumping rollup for the pin. Post match Van Dam acts very cocky and offers a handshake but Scorpio nails him to a big pop.

 

Sabu comes back with a table so they try to put Scorpio through it. Naturally this doesn’t work as Sandman makes the save. In a stupid moment, as Scorpio is laying on it and Sandman makes the save, he pops up as soon as Sandman is here. Yeah that didn’t look dumb at all. Sandman tries a hurricanrana from the top through the table on Sabu. Guess what happens. Go ahead and guess. Anyway, the two faces share a beer after the match. Sandman dances. This is disturbing.

Rating: B-. This was good, but it suffers from the same problem that it always does: Paul Heyman overbooking it. Can ANYONE explain to me why Sabu and Sandman had to come in there? I know RVD and Sabu are partners, but he had no business coming to ringside at all. Just let him be Scorpio.

O Canada! From Breakdown 1998.

Too Much vs. Scorpio/Al Snow

 

Snow is completely insane and carries a mannequin head with him. Too Much is Brian Christopher and a newcomer named Scott Taylor. The fans get all over Too Much, sending Taylor into a fit before he starts with Scorpio. Feeling out process to start with Scorpio cranking on a wristlock before dropping him with a spinwheel kick. Taylor flips around and takes Scorpio down with a dropkick, only to have Scorpio in his face by the time Taylor nips up.

 

Snow moonsaults Christopher off the apron before heading back inside to slam Taylor. Scorpio goes up top but takes too long, allowing Brian to crotch him down to the floor. Taylor hits a nice springboard dive to take Scorpio down again. Things settle down with Too Much hitting a double backdrop on Scorpio but Christopher stops to dance.

 

Snow comes in sans tag with Head to clean house, only to hit Scorpio by mistake. The referee checks on Scorpio, allowing Al to hit Taylor low for a close two. The save is botched a bit with Christopher coming off the top late and the referee just stopping his count. Scorpio makes a save of his own (also a bit late) but Snow pops up and Snow Plows (scoop brainbuster) Taylor for the pin.

 

2 Cold Scorpio vs. Julio Fantastico

Julio is more commonly known as Julio Dinero in case you’ve heard of him in ECW or old school TNA. Scorpio I’m sure you’ve heard of. If not, imagine a Godfather/Luchador combination. Yeah he was a weird one. Why is Julio on this show again? I have no idea either but whatever.

Why do these two and two tag teams have music but Steele and Valentine didn’t? Oh I guess it’s because they sucked. Scorpio is carrying a replica WCW Title belt. I know that because I see it, not because it’s mentioned or anything like that. This match might have potential to be something close to decent. Can’t you hear my enthusiasm in this show?

Lou Albano comes out for commentary for absolutely no apparent reason. I think he just wandered in here and needed a place to sit down. Albano, having no apparent power or anything, has the authority to give both announcers raises. You know, for the one night show, they’re getting raises for next week.

Albano babbles a lot but if you listen to him, he seems like he knows his stuff. Of course he does, but it’s so much rambling it’s hard to say. Can we just let him talk all night? He’s FAR more entertaining and interesting to listen to. He’s not bragging the whole time and he’s actually offering some insight and says that it’s a dropkick instead of a flying leg kick.

He then offers this and I had to listen at least three times to get all this. He says this about Randy: he’s a nice guy but he looks like he’s got the brain of a dehydrated baby if they put him in a pigeon pack and had him fly backwards. Ladies and gentlemen, this man was responsible for what became Wrestlemania. Apparently Lou looks like a pitbull in heat next to Dinero. This is making the show, hands down.

The match is very sloppy as Scorpio is having to carry this, but that’s the best choice I guess. There’s some decent stuff in there though but it’s just sloppy. We see Scorpio holding the ropes and pulling back for something but we go to a shot of Dinero and just see him being crashed on. Nice one guys. Scorpio’s hair is braided by the way.

Dinero isn’t bad at all actually and it was this match that got him a job with ECW of all things. In other words, Heyman or someone under him actually watched this and scouted talent from it. What does that tell you? Dinero takes a nice backdrop over the railing onto the floor.

They fight into the crowd and we can’t see crap because of the lighting and an annoying kid in a 49ers jersey. And the announcers point out that they don’t know what’s going on. Nice one guys. The referee sees a low blow and is fine with it of course. Dutch: we have a 2 count. The referee counted two. THANKS FOR THAT.

Albano gets on Randy for the leg kick thing again which is kind of amusing I guess. This needs to end like NOW. Dinero shoves the referee into the ropes to crotch Scorpio and that’s fine too.

Scorpio hits Trouble in Paradise which Dinero was going down from before it hit but whatever and a 2nd rope Tumbleweed (Harlem Hangover) hits then he goes up for a moonsault where he twists into another leg drop. He misses by a foot and a half, but that’s decent here.

Rating: D-. By FAR the best mach so far. This got something close to entertaining if you can believe that. The sloppiness just freaking kills it though as Scorpio just can’t do anything at all without botching it at all. There was something close to a decent match here though so that’s better than nothing.

ECW World Title: Mike Awesome vs. 2 Cold Scorpio

Awesome (the champion) runs Scorpio over to start and Scorpio isn’t sure what to do. Scorpio knocks him to the ramp (the arena is strange as the aisle to the ring is on the level with the ring but the ring itself is in a kind of a pit) and hits a flip dive to take over, but back in the ring Awesome suplexes him to the floor. Scorpio is launched into the crowd and the champion dives over the barricade with a clothesline.

A chair to the back puts Scorpio back at ringside and a charge into the chair into Scorpio gets two back in the ring. Another tackle puts 2 Cold down and a clothesline knocks him inside out. This has been a total squash so far. Scorpio grabs a quick cradle for two and “hits” a superkick to set up a big top rope splash for two. A moonsault gets the same but Scorpio walks into a modified powerbomb for two.

Awesome hits a sweet release German suplex and it’s table time. It is ECW after all. Jazz, Scorpio’s manager, gets in and Scorpio has to save her from being powerbombed through the table. There’s another superkick to Awesome but Scorpio takes too much time to go up top and a HUGE powerbomb through the table kills 2 Cold dead to keep the title on Awesome.

Rating: C. I like both of these guys so I was a fan of this match before it started. This was when Scorpio was a shell of his old self when he was flying all over the place back in WCW in the early 90s. Good stuff here though as Awesome was moving around like Scorpio used to despite being bigger and taller than Scorpio ever was. Fun stuff.

15th Anniversary Battle Royal

THE FINK does the intros. We’ve got Al Snow, Bart Gunn (man, where did they drag him out of?), DOINK THE CLOWN, Repo Man, Steve Blackman (in far better shape than he ever was when he was a regular), Pete Gas of the Mean Street Posse, BOB FREAKING BACKLUND (58 years old here and looking to be in better shape than most of the roster), Gangrel, Goon, Skinner, IRS, Flash Funk, Scotty 2 Hotty, Jim Neidhart, Sgt. Slaughter and Gillberg, who gets a full entrance with guards and pyro sticks and canned chants. That’s AWESOME. This is supposed to be a 15 man battle royal but there are 16 in it. Eh who cares?

Gillberg is ganged up on and tossed immediately. Backlund is out quickly and the point of this isn’t who wins but is just for fun. A Head shot by Snow puts Doink out. Same for Gangrel. HEAD CHEESE EXPLODES!!! Skinner is called a fabulous one (haha) and there go Bart, Flash and Blackman. Repo Man puts Goon out and Skinner puts Repo out. Final Four are Slaughter, IRS, Skinner and Scotty. IRS gets his briefcase but gets it knocked into his face so we can see the Worm. Skinner puts Scotty out but walks into the Cobra Clutch. Slaughter dumps Skinner but IRS dumps Slaughter in the same ending from X7?s Gimmick Battle Royal.

BUT WAIT! Here’s Ted DiBiase, who is officially in the battle royal also. However, he says that IRS has his price so IRS dives over the top, making DiBiase the winner! And that my friends, is why Ted DiBiase is better than your favorite heel. We even get the evil laugh! The match isn’t worth rating because that’s not the point. The ending made me smile a lot though.

CW Anderson vs. 2 Cold Scorpio

You know, because these two have SUCH a history together. They keep calling it the original era because they can’t say ECW, even though they do anyway. Oh this is wrestling. Just to be clear I guess. Amazingly enough, there’s next to nothing to talk about here. Scorpio was great in his time, but he was old in 99 and he’s very old now. This is kind of back and forth and really isn’t bad for the most part. Spinebuster gets two and the Tumbleweed ends it.

Rating: C-. This was actually ok. They had a nice back and forth thing going here with a solid clash of styles going. I liked Anderson to an extent and I always liked Scorpio so this worked well for me. Somehow I have a feeling this is going to be the best match of the night. This wasn’t bad at all though and has me in a better mood.

Scorpio is a guy that is remembered as being awesome but was more of a traveling attraction than anything else. He had some singles success in Japan and ECW but was mainly a tag team guy that made his partners look better most of the time. The stuff he was doing was insane back in 1992/3 and wouldn’t have been seen anywhere else in America. He’s a fun character and worth checking out if you’ve got the chance.

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