Middle Kingdom Wrestling
Date: May 11, 2016
Location: CWE Gym, Dongguan, China
Commentators: Eddie Strong, Cam Ferguson

This promotion is in a kind of weird place as they haven’t had much storyline stuff this season but the standalone shows have been more fun and definitely better presented than a lot of the stuff from last season. I still like what I’m seeing and the shows are still short enough to make these easy sits. Let’s get to it.

Standard opening sequence.

Len Bai says something to someone named Tony Trivaldo but I could barely make any of it out. I’m not sure if I was supposed to understand this but if I was, they REALLY need to work on their audio.

Trivaldo, a French wrestling champion, is here to go after Bai for hurting Dalton Bragg’s arm.

In something you don’t see every day, we cut back and forth between the two as they respond to each other. Bai isn’t scared and Trivaldo promises to make Bai regret this. Then Bai bites into something that looked like a piece of chicken.

Len Bai vs. Tony Trivaldo

Trivaldo is definitely the face here and does a decent enough job of playing to the crowd early on. Some armdrags take Bai down to start but he blocks the third as Strong talks about how this has been brewing for some time but thankfully Ferguson points out how weak of a line that is. A dropkick puts Bai on the floor but he comes back with a snapmare and basement dropkick for two as the announcers keep bickering.

Off to a reverse cross armbreaker but Trivaldo powers him up into a sitout powerbomb before nipping up and completely failing to get the crowd to clap with him. Well at least he’s trying. Bai counters a backdrop into a DDT and fires off strikes to cut off a comeback (During which Trivaldo tried the clapping thing again and got NOTHING. This time he even looked at the crowd as if to say “come on work with me here.” Again, the fact that he’s trying is what matters.). A running basement dropkick in the corner before we hit the Figure Four Neck Lock on Trivaldo.

Back up and Tony uppercuts him before trying to get a chant going, only to have a few fans tell him he sucks. Bai grabs a guillotine choke so Tony throws him with a northern lights suplex. Back up and a German suplex sends Bai flying and he pulls off the turnbuckle pad for a cool visual. Apparently Eddie kicks the turnbuckle pad away, thereby screwing up the audio in the process. Well he can’t do everything around here. Bai sends him head first into the exposed buckle setting up a spinning fisherman’s brainbuster (minus most of the busting) to give Bai the pin.

Rating: C. I was liking the match and there’s something cool about seeing people who you’ll never likely see otherwise getting a chance to show off in something like this. It also helps to have two people who clearly have some ring experience as it can be kind of tiresome watching people who aren’t entirely sure what they’re doing. The turnbuckle thing was fine for an ending, though I really hope they don’t get rid of Ferguson like they were suggesting in the annotations on Youtube, as he’s pretty regularly the most entertaining thing about the show.

We recap the events that set up the six man that has been shown in the opening sequence on every episode of this season. Ash is still mad at Da Li Sam for costing him his tournament match last season by sending him into the post. Then Black Mamba cost Ash a match against Jason…..and then it gets a bit confusing. There’s something about a mystery partner and Andrew Tag, a champion from another promotion. One of Ash’s partners seems to think he’s a superhero. I think Sam and Mamba are teaming with the other champion and Ash’s partner (along with the superhero) is still a mystery.

Overall Rating: C+. Yeah I know there was only one match on the show but the key thing here was the addition of the storylines. The match had a story and there was a story setting up the match next time (as confusing as it was). I know they’re not the most interesting stories in the world but it’s better than “here’s a tournament match”. I still don’t know the characters well enough but even the simplest stories are a step up.

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Middle Kingdom Wrestling Episode 4
Date: October 12, 2015
Location: CWE Gym, Dongguan, China
Commentator: Eddie Strong, Cam Ferguson

Back to the east again with the latest offering from a company that I like for reasons I can’t put my finger on. We’re moving forward in the tournament but it’s been a long time and I might not remember everyone involved. Hopefully they have a decent recap, along with a better announcer. Let’s get to it.

The opening sequence has changed a bit but the recap is still the same. They still need to get a better graphic though.

We open with a recap of Black Mamba being ejected from the tournament for cheating and getting to face the Slam as a result. That right there is all I needed for a recap so far as it took less than a minute and summed up the big story. Well done.

Ash isn’t pleased with being cheated out of the tournament by Black Mamba and Da Li Sam. After implying that Sam is a prostitute for fat women, he talks about ripping the stitches out of his head with chopsticks. I think that deserves a HE’S HARDCORE chant. He’s back earlier than the doctors recommended and he wants the Slam’s top student Jason. Therefore, Jason needs to go tell Slam that he’s tired of taking out the trash and buying toilet paper and wants to face Ash instead. The delivery wasn’t the best but he definitely had some charisma to him and was comfortable in front of a camera.

Ash vs. Jason

This is billed as a special challenge match. Ash has an American flag on his jacket so I’m guessing he’s the heel here. He comes out with a good looking woman so he can’t be all bad. We have a new commentator named Cam Ferguson who apparently has a Masters in Confucianism and is clearly a heel.

Jason hides in the corner to start as Eddie recaps the story so far in that annoying voice of his. A dropkick gets two on Jason and Ash messes with the hair. Ferguson says that’s typical American bullying but Eddie says he’s supposed to be hitting him in a wrestling match. Ferguson: “So it’s ok to kick him in the stomach?” A quick belly to belly puts Ash down and Ferguson accuses Ash of hitting low.

We hit a chinlock from Jason (Or a rear naked chin hold according to Eddie. That sounds like the Matt Striker school of “here’s a WAY more complicated name than you need.”) as Ferguson accuses the referee of being a traitor to the Communist Party. Ash comes back with some forearms and a middle rope kick to the chest (think RVD) for two, followed by a Boston crab for the win.

Rating: C. You can really tell which people in this promotion have the ring experience. Ash isn’t great but he clearly has a much better idea of what he’s doing. There was even a little story here and it helped the match move on a lot. Also they’re starting to go longer and I’m not bored so things are definitely improving.

MKW Title Tournament Semi-Finals: Dalton Bragg vs. Len Bai

Bragg has comically skinny arms. Bai doesn’t like Dalton taking his time on the floor and dives over the top, only to crash down in front of him. It doesn’t really matter as the ring is only about three feet above the ground but it was still quite the crash. Bragg gets in a cheap shot form behind to take over and we get a ridiculously slow motion Irish whip into a monkey flip to Bai.

Back up and they trade chops (with Bai’s lacking any follow through) until Bragg asks a little girl to rub his hand to make his stronger. Bragg’s cross body is countered into a backbreaker for two and Strong is somehow still on my nerves. After Bai hasn’t done anything flashy all match, he slaps on Cattle Mutilation of all things. Where did he learn that? A fisherman’s buster gets two on Bragg but he pops up and hits a nice middle rope Codebreaker to advance to the finals.

Rating: C-. Not the best match here but you can see that Bai is still new out there. Bragg isn’t anything worth watching either though he definitely has more experience and looked more comfortable. The Cattle Mutilation and Codebreaker looked good and the right guy won though so it’s not the worst in the world.

Post match Bai breaks Bragg’s arm in a surprisingly big heel move.

After the credits, Black Mamba and Da Lip Sam say they’re not worried about the Slam. Bai promises to take care of the tournament final too.

Overall Rating: C-. The tournament is coming to a close as we’re wrapping up the first season but this wasn’t their strongest show. You can clearly see the difference between the talent levels and it can be a bit tiring watching the people with next to no experience. The show is still watchable at less than half an hour but I’m hoping it picks up a bit in the final.

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Middle Kingdom Wrestling Episode 2
Date: September 17, 2015
Location: CWE Gym, Dongguan, China
Commentator: Eddie Strong

This show wasn’t terrible the first time I looked at it and maybe the second show is going to be better. If nothing else I’m kind of interested in seeing which of the two matches from the first show is the more accurate indicator of what this promotion is about. Maybe the commentator won’t be as annoying this time either. Let’s get to it.

I’m not sure what the deal is with the dates but I’m going with when they’re posted on Youtube.

The intro is the same last week, down to the same video packages and captions.

The Slam (CWE Champion. For the first time it’s confirmed that CWE and MKW are different things) is in the ring and wants to talk to the MKW GM about why he isn’t in the title tournament. The unnamed GM isn’t sure what to say so Slam demands a match against a big man in the future, which is granted. So we have another angle.

MKW Title Tournament First Round: Jason vs. Dalton Bragg

Bragg’s entrance is in fast motion. I’m digging the way they’re doing things differently like that as it’s not something you see in most promotions. Before the match we get a video on American Dalton Bragg, who brags about his success in America. I’m more interested in his South Park tattoos. He knows he’s better than everyone in the tournament, including the Slam. That’s still kind of confusing and they need to clear it up. Maybe with a bracket or something.

The match is joined in progress with Bragg kicking Jason in the head for two. A Codebreaker gets the same as we’re told that Jason is Slam’s student. Jason comes back with a PerfectPlex and a Boston crab but Dalton rolls through for two. Bragg can’t get Jason up for what looked like a powerbomb and drops him into something like a Dominator instead for the pin. Too short to rate but Bragg is more polished and has a better presence than anyone else so far.

This show is already better than the first one and we’re not even half done.

MKW Title Tournament First Round: Ash vs. Black Mamba

Kobe Bryant is in this tournament? Ash has an American flag on the back of his vest but there are no videos this time. Instead Mamba grabs the mic and says he knows he’s underrated but he has a secret plan. He brings out someone named Da Li Sam as a coach and I guess we’re supposed to know who that is. Mamba is another of Slam’s students and it seems that a lot of these people wrestle in CWE. Ash drops Mamba but Sam pulls his……whatever Mamba is to him to the floor for a conference.

Back in and Da Li trips Ash up but Ash runs Mamba over anyway. We get a chase on the floor and Mamba finally takes over with an ax handle on the way back in. A lot of choking from both Mamba and Sam sets up an STO (not STF commentator) for two on Ash. Mamba grabs a camel clutch (called a signature move) but Ash fights back with a Stinger Splash and backbreaker but Sam shoves Ash into the referee. The brawl is on and the much bigger Sam (his head is over the top rope while he’s standing on the floor) sends Ash into the post for a long countout.

Rating: C. The wrestling wasn’t great but there was a far more important key here: I got the idea they were trying to present even though I have no idea who these people are and know nothing about them. It’s a sign of better storytelling and that’s the most important thing in wrestling. You really should be able to tell what’s going on no matter what and they covered that here.

The credits and a preview for next week take us out.

Overall Rating: B. Again on the sliding scale but this was WAY better than last week. There’s definitely better wrestling here with the stories being more well rounded and the ideas being easier to understand. I’ll keep watching this as it’s only twenty minutes and I can go for a change of pace to the simple stories and basic booking. Much better show this week though the commentator is still annoying.

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