Impact Wrestling
Date: November 18, 2021
Location: Sam’s Town Live, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: D’Lo Brown, Matt Striker

It’s the go home show for Turning Point and that means we are likely getting the final push towards the show. There are a lot of things that still need to be fixed up but what matters now is making me want to watch. Impact has gotten a lot better at this sort of thing as of late and one last push could help a lot. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

The opening recap looks at Eddie Edwards becoming #1 contender to Moose’s World Title.

Opening sequence.

Steve Maclin vs. Laredo Kid

If Maclin wins, he’s added to the X-Division Title match at Turning Point. Kid starts fast but gets rolled up for an early two. That means a standoff and the fans are rather pleased with what they are seeing. Maclin is sent outside but switches places in a hurry, meaning Kid is crushed by a big suicide dive. Back in and Kid flips out of a release German suplex but gets tied in the Tree of Woe.

A missed charge sends Maclin outside and that means a BIG dive from Kid for the knockdown. Back in and Kid hits a Michinoku Driver, setting up the multiple moonsaults for two. The top rope moonsault misses though and a running knee gives Maclin two. Kid’s cartwheel DDT doesn’t do much good as Maclin is right back with a running clothesline to put both of them down. Back up and Kid gets caught on top, setting up the spear in the Tree of Woe. Mayhem For All finishes Kid at 6:14.

Rating: C. This was the only way to go with the match as Maclin isn’t going to say that he wants into the title match, get a chance to get into the title match, and then lose. I’m not sure if Maclin is going to win the title, but it would certainly be a career making moment. That being said, Trey Miguel losing so soon after becoming champion isn’t a great idea so I’m not sure where to go. That’s a nice feeling to have so well done on putting something together.

Here’s what’s coming at Turning Point and tonight.

Brian Myers injured Sam Beale’s throat earlier tonight on BTI. Then a Conchairto made it worse.

Rich Swann isn’t happy with what Myers did and swears revenge at Turning Point.

Trey Miguel isn’t happy with the X-Division Title match being a triple threat but he’s ready for anything. He’s going to go out of his way to beat Maclin to retain the title.

Ace Austin isn’t interested in beating Chris Sabin again at Turning Point because, as the shirt says, he already beat Chris Sabin. Cue Chris Sabin to talk him into taking the challenge, but the brawl is on right now. Sabin manages to lock Austin and Madman Fulton in what looks to be a closet.

IInspiration vs. Undead Bridesmaids

Non-title. McKay can’t get very far with Lauren so it’s off to Kimber to take Cassie down by the leg. Back up and Cassie scores with a spinning kick to the head as we take a break. We come back with Kimber jawbreaking her way to freedom and handing it back to Lauren to clean house. A basement dropkick knocks Cassie out to the floor but she faceplants Lauren down. Kimber is knocked to the floor and it’s a belly to back suplex/powerbomb combination to finish Lauren at 9:11.

Rating: C-. Just a match here to give the IInspiration a TV win, which is a good idea. The team has a reputation from WWE but that is mainly for their talking. Let them get in the ring and show what they can do there as well, as it is kind of an important bonus. Now we can get on to the real showdown with Decay, which should be another nice boost for the champs.

Post match here is Decay for the big staredown, which has the IInspiration cowering in fear. Granted Decay surrounding them and screaming doesn’t help.

Flashback Moment of the Week (They still do those?): Rhino/Heath b. Reno Scum at Victory Road 2020.

Earlier this week, Chelsea Green became #1 contender to the Digital Media Title.

Chelsea Green is ready to win the title at Countdown To Turning Point. Matt Cardona is here too and wants the winner of Moose and Eddie Edwards at Turning Point. W. Morrissey comes in to say he’s in Cardona’s way. A Turning Point match is made between the two of them.

Eddie Edwards talks about his history with Moose….who jumps him from behind. They brawl into the arena, with Moose dropping him hard onto the apron twice in a row. Moose loads up a table but takes too long, allowing Eddie to grab a chair for some shots to the back. A running knee puts Moose on the table and it’s time for a ladder. That takes too long as well and Moose bails, with Eddie looking down at him from atop the ladder.

In the back, Moose says Eddie will see what he is capable of at Turning Point. Scott D’Amore comes in to make it Full Metal Mayhem (basically TLC).

Mercedes Martinez says she’s here to dominate the division and at Turning Point, she’s taking out Mickie James to win the Knockouts Title.

Hikuleo vs. Doc Gallows

The rest of Bullet Club and Karl Anderson are here too. Gallows goes right after him at the bell and the fight heads out to the floor. Hikuleo is sent face first into the apron but kicks away as they go back inside. An exchange of clotheslines don’t go anywhere so it’s a Bullet Club distraction, which allows Hikuleo to get in a low blow. That’s good for some near falls but Gallows isn’t having this being chopped thing.

The vest comes down though and now the chops have some more effect, setting up a splash for two more. We hit the chinlock, which is switched into a neck crank in a hurry. Back up and the double clothesline gives us a double knockdown for a double breather. Gallows is up first with a flying shoulder but Hikuleo runs him over as well. Anderson pops up onto the apron for a distraction, allowing Gallows to take the eyes. The chokebomb finishes Hikuleo at 6:35.

Rating: C. Pretty standard power brawl here so they followed an easy formula. That’s all they needed to do and it keeps the champs looking strong going into the title match. Add in some cheating to keep Hikuleo strong and this was pretty by the book stuff. The titles still need to change, though I’m not completely sure that they will.

We get a sitdown interview with Deonna Purrazzo, who is in all black, including large sunglasses, and has very little to say. She is contractually obligated to be here and owes no one an explanation about where she has been. Purrazzo finally goes into a bit of a rant as she says everyone is going to have to see what her next move is.

FinJuice isn’t happy with being knocked all the way back down to the bottom of the ladder. Scott D’Amore pops up to give them a match against Decay at Turning Point.

Eric Young asks what it is like to be truly free. Rhino knew real freedom but then he made a choice. That choice brings consequences and at Turning Point, Young promises to build a monument to violence over Rhino and Heath’s bodies.

Johnny Swinger/Hernandez/Fallah Bahh vs. Decay/Demon

Swinger starts with Black Taurus and yes, he busts out a red handkerchief for the bull charge. Somehow this works twice, but the third time sees Taurus hit Swinger in the face (as bulls tend to do). Crazzy Steve comes in and gets caught in Hernandez’s rocking slam. Bahh drops a big elbow but Steve bites Swinger’s arm, allowing the tag off to the Demon. With the rest of the ring cleared out, the Demon chokes Swinger for the tap at 3:10.

Rating: D+. This was your comic relief of the week and that is exactly why Swinger is in a match. They kept it short and to the point here so it’s hard to get annoyed in any way. Nothing to the match of course and I’m still not sure why the Demon of all people is here, but Swinger is such a charming goof that it’s hard not to smile.

Post break, Swinger passes John E. Bravo in the back, saying this must be rock bottom. Swinger leaves and Havok/Rosemary pop in. They’re willing to help Bravo help Swinger…for his virgin blood.

Jordynne Grace is ready for Chelsea Green. Rachael Ellering lists off all of Grace’s accomplishments.

Mickie James respected Mercedes Martinez but apparently they aren’t friends.

Turning Point rundown.

Minoru Suzuki vs. Josh Alexander

Alexander goes for the arm to start as this is already being declared awesome. That’s switched into an ankle lock and Suzuki is out in a hurry for a standoff. Alexander takes him up against the ropes and offers a clean break, which just feels stupid against Suzuki. Thankfully it’s a kick to Alexander’s ribs but he sends Suzuki outside for a breather. Back in and Suzuki chokes him over the ropes but a security guard takes away Suzuki’s chair. That means a right hand to said guard and we take a break.

Back with Suzuki hitting a running boot on the ramp as the fans continue to be split. They get back inside with Alexander hitting a running boot to the face but Suzuki runs him over again. Some taunting kicks to the head just wake Alexander up but it’s time for Suzuki to chop him in the chest. A big one sends Alexander to his knee, where Suzuki hits him in the face.

The fired up Alexander is chopped right back down and he gets caught in the sleeper. Suzuki lets him go and tries the Gotch style piledriver, which is countered with a backdrop. Alexander hits a top rope knee to the back of the head for two, with the kickout going straight into the ankle lock. Suzuki forearms his way out before going to the sleeper. They trade some very fast counters (that was sweet) until Alexander hits him in the face. The C4 Spike gives Alexander the pin at 13:48.

Rating: B. This started off pretty slowly and then got better near the end, once Suzuki actually started working a bit harder. The first half felt like he was just there and getting by on reputation only, but after that things improved a good bit. Alexander winning a wrestle off and then winning clean makes him look strong, as he should be getting the Hard To Kill title shot in January.

Alexander gets to celebrate with his family in a nice moment.

We go to the back where Johnny Swinger and John E. Bravo run into everyone from Swinger’s Palace. They’re not sure why they’re here, but Decay pops up to say they brought everyone together. Next week, they’re coming together again….in WRESTLE HOUSE 2! Sure why not.

Overall Rating: C+. It was an up and down week, though I can go for the idea of more Wrestle House to go with a good main event. Turning Point got a lot of focus this week and the show should be a pretty eventful one. These monthly shows have done a lot of good for Impact, just for the sake of giving them something to focus on. Another solid week here, and Hard To Kill could start getting some focus next week.

Results
Steve Maclin b. Laredo Kid – Mayhem For All
IInspiration b. Undead Bridesmaids – Powerbomb/belly to back suplex combination to Lauren
Doc Gallows b. Hikuleo – Chokebomb
Decay/Demon b. Johnny Swinger/Fallah Bahh/Hernandez – Choke to Swinger
Josh Alexander b. Minoru Suzuki – C4 Spike

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

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Impact Wrestling
Date: November 4, 2021
Location: Sam’s Town Live, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: Matt Striker, D’Lo Brown

Things are staying interesting after Bound For Glory as Moose is the World Champion and needs some friends to go after his challengers. This time around, that means a guest star in the form of Minoru Suzuki, who will be in for a six man tag. I think that’s enough to hype up the show so let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening recap.

Opening sequence.

Steve Maclin vs. Rohit Raju vs. Laredo Kid vs. Black Taurus

For a future X-Division Title shot and Raj Singh and Crazzy Steve are here too. Maclin and Taurus clear the ring to start and take turns running the ropes until Taurus scores with a clothesline to the floor. The two of them wind up on the floor and Laredo hits a moonsault onto everyone else. Back in and Raju hammers Kid into the corner, setting up a sitout gordbuster for two. Taurus comes back in so Kid hurricanranas out back to the floor, setting up a dive for two. Raju rolls up Kid for two but gets kicked into Taurus, allowing Kid to hit a Michinoku Driver for the pin and the title shot at 5:21.

Rating: C+. Kid is the right choice to get the title shot as a match with Trey Miguel could be excellent. I’m also glad that Maclin didn’t take the fall, as he has still been protected and now they are moving him up the ladder, at least a little bit. Hopefully they figure something out for everyone, as this is becoming a bit more interesting.

Post match X-Division Champion Trey Miguel comes out for the staredown but Maclin jumps him. Kid and Miguel clear Maclin out.

Here’s what’s coming tonight.

Madison Rayne is ready for Mickie James tonight, but she doesn’t know anything about hosting Locker Room Talk on the same show.

Ace Austin shows off an I Beat Chris Sabin shirt and thinks Madman Fulton can do the same.

Here is Violent By Design for a chat. Eric Young talks about how Rhino had a decision to make and made the wrong choice. If you’re Violent By Design, you’re Violent By Design forever. Young has been out of the ring for six months and now it is time to get his hands dirty again. Tonight, the first brick will be laid in the monument to violence.

Eric Young vs. Jay Vidal

The fans know Vidal and Young gives him a chance to introduce himself. Vidal is excited, which Young says is a sign of the sickness. The beating is on in a hurry, including a running clothesline into a powerbomb. The piledriver finishes Vidal at 1:07.

We go to the IInspiration’s locker room (which looks like a hotel) for Locker Room Talk, where the lights go out and Decay haunts them. TURNING POINT is written on a mirror.

Ad for Turning Point.

The IInspiration says they don’t want to do Ghostbusters so Gia Miller tells them to stay away from the Undead Brides. Don’t worry though, because the IInspiration has a plan for them.

Good Brothers vs. FinJuice

Non-title. Finlay grabs Anderson’s arm to start for some early twisting, plus Robinson to come in with an ax handle. Anderson manages to send Robinson outside though and Gallows adds a big boot to send us to a break. Back with Robinson getting crushed in the corner to set up the chinlock. Robinson avoids a chinlock though and it’s back to Finlay to pick the pace way up. A Rock Bottom onto the knee gets two on Anderson but the Doomsday Device is broken up. Everyone collides for a four way knockdown….and here’s the Bullet Club to attack Robinson for the DQ at 10:06.

Rating: C. FinJuice continues to look good in the ring and they feel like an established, regular team over here. I was worried that they were just more guest stars from New Japan but it is nice to have had them sticking around for the time being. Now just get the Good Brothers off of this show for the better part of ever and we’ll be getting somewhere.

Post match the beatdown is on, including a bunch of low blows and title shots.

Johnny Swinger is trying to sell his decorations to raise money for his own casino. Hernandez isn’t interested.

FinJuice is sick of the Bullet Club so Scott D’Amore gives them a match against said Club next week. We’ll make that a #1 contenders match too.

Knockouts Title: Madison Rayne vs. Mickie James

Rayne is challenging and has Kaleb With A K with her. They grapple around the ropes to start before fighting over wrist control. With that not working, Mickie catches a kick to the ribs but gets in a tug of war with Kaleb With A K over Madison. Mickie gets the better of things and goes up, only to get slammed back down for two.

After the rhythmic breathing is covered, Madison starts raking the eyes on the ropes. A hard whip into the corner has Mickie in trouble but she makes the clothesline comeback. There’s a neckbreaker to drop Madison but another Kaleb With A K distraction lets Rayne grab a cutter for two. Mickie is sent outside, where Kaleb With A K slaps the post by mistake. Back in and the top rope Thesz press retains the title at 7:42.

Rating: C. I know Rayne might not feel like a legend at times, but this was actually quite the high profile match for the division. Both of these two should be in the Impact Hall of Fame, as they have held the Knockouts Title more than almost anyone else. Rayne is a veteran who can still have a fine match and James can do well with anyone. Nice job here and a bigger feel than I would have expected.

Post match here is Mercedes Martinez to continue the trend of M named women. She congratulates Mickie on everything she has done, but now she wants her title shot (which she earned by winning the Knockouts Knockdown tournament). The title match is on at Turning Point.

The IInspiration comes up to the Undead Brides and asks them to face Decay on their behalf next week. A discussion on the belief in ghosts ensues.

Josh Alexander, Matt Cardona and Eddie Edwards are ready for the main event.

Chris Sabin vs. Madman Fulton

Ace Austin is in Fulton’s corner. Sabin tries to start fast but his middle rope crossbody is pulled out of the air. With that not working, Sabin goes for the hair, twisting it around like a wristlock. You don’t do that to Fulton, who takes him outside for a Rock Bottom onto the apron. We take a break and come back with Fulton hitting a middle rope crossbody of all things. Sabin manages to low bridge him to the floor for a breather though, setting up a dive. Back in and Fulton is too big for the Cradle Shock but Sabin flips out of a spinning Rock Bottom. A small package gives Sabin the pin at 8:16.

Rating: C. Sabin continues to make almost everyone else look better as his Impact renaissance rolls on. I could go for the next Sabin vs. Austin showdown and they are doing a nice job of setting everything up. Fulton is still a heck of a monster, though they might hold off on having him eat so many pins.

Post match Sabin has to duck Austin’s interference and runs off to fight another day.

Turning Point rundown.

Moose/W. Morrissey/Minoru Suzuki vs. Matt Cardona/Eddie Edwards/Josh Alexander

Alexander and Moose start but it’s off to Suzuki instead for the big showdown. Alexander gives us a token headlock before they slug it out, meaning it’s quickly off to Morrissey. The ankle lock doesn’t last long so Eddie comes in to send the villains outside. A hard dive sends Moose into the barricade and we take a break.

Back with Morrissey kneeing Cardona from the apron, allowing Suzuki armbarring him over the ropes. Suzuki comes in for a Crossface before handing it back to Morrissey. The monsters take turns beating on Cardona, who enziguris his way to freedom. The referee misses the tag to Eddie though and Morrissey gets to beat on Cardona even more.

That lasts all of a few seconds before the real tag brings in Alexander to wreck things. Everything breaks down and Eddie Blue Thunder Bombs Morrissey, leaving Alexander and Suzuki to slug it out again. Suzuki hits the Gotch Style piledriver for no cover, as Eddie kicks him in the face. In the melee, Morrissey hits a powerbomb to finish Eddie at 14:26.

Rating: C+. They managed to make a Matt Cardona match feel important so well done. The evil trio looked good here, even if they are likely a short term team. Edwards is a made man and Alexander is fresh off the run of his career so they both should be fine going forward. Alexander vs. Suzuki alone should be enough to get us somewhere so well done again.

Overall Rating: C+. When the heck did Impact get so competent? This was a well put together show with stories being advanced and characters I care about. I know a lot of people are never going to give them a chance and after so many years of disappointment, I can’t fault them whatsoever. For now though, Impact is one of the more consistently good shows today and I’m starting to look forward to watching it week to week. Nice job, and not something I would have ever bet on being the case.

Results
Laredo Kid b. Black Taurus, Steve Maclin and Rohit Raju – Michinoku Driver to Raju
Eric Young b. Jay Vidal – Piledriver
FinJuice b. Good Brothers via DQ when Bullet Club interfered
Mickie James b. Madison Rayne – Top rope Thesz press
Chris Sabin b. Madman Fulton – Small package
W. Morrissey/Moose/Minoru Suzuki b. Josh Alexander/Eddie Edwards/Matt Cardona – Powerbomb to Edwards

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

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Impact Wrestling
Date: September 30, 2021
Location: Skyway Studios, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: D’Lo Brown, Matt Striker

We are on the way to Bound For Glory and we now have the main event set for the World Title. As a result of Josh Alexander giving up the X-Division Title to set up the main event, we need a new X-Division Champion and the tournament begins tonight. It’s time to get serious around here so let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening recap.

Opening sequence.

X-Division Title Tournament First Round: Laredo Kid vs. Alex Zayne vs. Trey Miguel

The winner goes on to the title match at Bound For Glory. Zayne hiptosses Kid over to Miguel for a hurricanrana but they’re all back up to miss dropkicks and that means a standoff. Kid is sent outside and Zayne hits a running twisting backsplash for two on Miguel. That doesn’t last long as Kid is back in to send Zayne outside but Miguel does the same, setting up a running hurricanrana over the top to flip Kid off the apron.

Back in and Miguel ties Zayne up for the Cheeky Nandos kick and then up Zayne’s legs while suplexing Kid at the same time. Kid is back up with a 450 to break it up so Zayne suplexes Kid down. Miguel takes Zayne down and hits a jumping double stomp to the back. With Zayne down, Kid springboard cutters Miguel off the top onto him for a crash in a cool spot. Miguel is fine enough to go up top and hit the super Meteora to put Kid away at 8:42.

Rating: B-. It worked in WCW and it worked here, as they had three young, talented high fliers go out there and go nuts for a few minutes, which is all you should do in something like this. It’s an idea that is always going to work and it is nice to see Miguel get a win. Now give him the title already!

Miguel is very fired up over his win.

Matthew Rehwoldt was watching that match and wants to attack Laredo Kid’s mask. They’ll fight next week. He was watching the match live and had a pre-tape ready? That’s some fast production.

Sami Callihan has been attacked and suffered a broken ankle at the hands of W. Morrissey and Moose. That’s about the best option they had to write him off for a legitimate injury.

Eddie Edwards is ready to face W. Morrissey in a street fight for revenge. Tonight it ends once and for all, and then Eddie is coming for Moose.

Here’s what’s coming tonight.

Influence vs. Jordynne Grace/Rachael Ellering

For the Knockouts Tag Team Title shot at Knockouts Knockdown and Kaleb With A K is here with the Influence. Dashwood starts with Ellering and we hit the stall button so both teams can pose together. They eventually fight over a wristlock with Ellering getting the better of things and taking her down over and over. There’s a headlock takeover to do it again as Dashwood can’t get anything going to start. Dashwood slides outside, where she trips Ellering down as we take a break.

Back with Grace coming in for some shoulders in the corner to put Dashwood in trouble. A backsplash into a double suplex gets two on Dashwood but Rayne gets in a kick from the apron to rock Grace. Rayne’s knee to the face gets two and the Influence stand on Grace’s hair to make it worse.

Grace fights up in a hurry and brings Ellering back in to clean house. Everything breaks down and Ellering’s STO sets up a Vader Bomb from Grace for two, with Kaleb With A K putting the foot on the rope. Rayne gets in another cheap shot to take over but Ellering kicks her in the head. Kaleb With A K distracts Grace though, leaving Ellering to take a double Stroke for the pin at 12:44.

Rating: C. This might not have been the best match ever or anything but it was a perfectly competent match between two teams who felt like they belonged together. The division is starting to take a little shape and that is because we have some actual teams. You don’t get that very often around here and it is nice to see for a change.

Christopher Daniels is back to deal with Madman Fulton when Josh Alexander comes in. Alexander is glad he’s back, but Christian Cage comes in to say he didn’t need help. Daniels leaves and Christian says Alexander needs to be ready.

Brian Myers teaches the Learning Tree about physical fitness. Sam Beale thinks VSK is being treated better but Myers doesn’t want to hear it. Beale tells the other two to take some notes.

The Good Brothers are still on vacation, where they have been putting themselves over on Twitter and beating up Jon Moxley. They aren’t worried about any of the teams around here. Bound For Glory is coming though and they need opponents, so Bullet Club can face FinJuice for the title shot.

Deonna Purrazzo drives onto Mickie James’ horse farm and jumps her in the stables. Purrazzo hits her with a bucket but Mickie fights back and screams a lot. A pitchfork misses Mickie, who gets in a shot with….something hard. They fight outside where Mickie blasts her with a hose (the white shirt is just a coincidence I’m sure) but gets sent face first into a water bucket (the white shirt is just a coincidence I’m sure). Purrazzo leaves with Mickie down.

FinJuice doesn’t like the Bullet Club having a numbers advantage but Chris Sabin is here to even the odds. Six man next week.

Madman Fulton vs. Christopher Daniels

Ace Austin is here with Fulton. Daniels does get a nice reaction and it feels like a special return. Fulton throws him down to start and grabs an early delayed vertical suplex. Daniels slips out of a powerslam though and hammers away, including knocking Fulton outside. The Arabian moonsault takes Fulton down again but he kicks Daniels in the face to take over again.

Some elbows and choking in the corner keep Daniels in trouble but he comes back with a running DDT. A middle rope hurricanrana sets up the running STO for two on Fulton, who is back with a tilt-a-whirl powerslam (Striker: “Through the wasteland. The water is currency!”). Austin offers a distraction so here is Josh Alexander to cut him off. Angel’s Wings gets one and Daniels is stunned, so he tries a middle rope Downward Spiral instead. That sets up the BME to finish Fulton at 6:58.

Rating: C. I’m not sure I get the point in having Fulton kick out of the Angel’s Wings so easily when he was going to get pinned a few seconds later, but that’s a fairly minor point. What matters here is Daniels looked good and could still be a player around here. The guy seems immune to time and it is cool to see him back here where he was quite the big deal in the company’s glory days.

We go to Swinger’s Palace where Scott D’Amore comes in. Johnny Swinger tries to talk D’Amore out of taking Bound For Glory to Las Vegas but that isn’t happening. Swinger promises to make it the class of Las Vegas, but admits he doesn’t have a gaming license. That’s too bad, because D’Amore has no choice but to have them shut down.

Ace Austin and Madman Fulton go to see D’Amore because they don’t like Christopher Daniels and Josh Alexander. D’Amore makes a tag match…but with Christian Cage instead of Daniels. Makes a bit more sense.

Here is Violent By Design for Rhino’s decision. Eric Young talks about how the team was in full control (it was just the Tag Team Titles) but Rhino let the sickness back in. Now Rhino needs to make a decision because he’s either all the way in or all the way out. Cue Rhino, who looks confused about what to do. Young tells him to make the right decision so he can avoid the violence. Rhino is surrounded….so here is Heath to interrupt. The brawl is on and Heath clears the ring….but Rhino leaves through the crowd without making a decision.

The Digital Media Title is coming, with matches taking place on Tuesdays and Wednesdays on the various web shows. I kind of like that.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

Eddie Edwards vs. W. Morrissey

Street fight as Edwards is out for revenge. Morrissey starts fast by kicking Eddie in the face and it’s time to go outside. It’s already time to bring in the weapons, with Morrissey hitting him with a wet floor sign. Eddie low bridges him to the floor though and hits a heck of a suicide dive. A replica TNA World Title knocks Morrissey silly and it’s time for a table. Morrissey sends him into the steps though and starts taking his time, which probably isn’t a good idea. Eddie manages a drop toehold into the steps (I knew it was a bad idea) and we take a break.

Back with Morrissey hitting a splash in the corner and unloading with trashcan lid shots to the head. Eddie gets in some shots of his own though and there’s a Blue Thunder Bomb onto the trashcan. It’s time for a barbed wire chair but Morrissey kicks him in the face again. Morrissey puts a chair onto Eddie and drives another chair onto him before setting up four chairs, two by two.

A superplex is loaded up but here is Alisha Edwards with a kendo stick for the save. Eddie powerbombs him onto the chairs and unloads with the stick, but Alisha has an idea. She puts the barbed wire chair over Morrissey’s head and the Boston Knee Party finishes for Eddie at 15:18.

Rating: B-. This was what you would want from a match like this and it was entertaining while it lasted. Alisha coming in to help her husband was a good way to go, though Edwards is going to need some help to deal with Morrissey and Moose at the same time. It was a good start to the next leg of the story though, especially when everything had to be reset due to Sami Callihan’s injury.

Post match here is Moose to throw Alisha down and spear Eddie through a table in the corner. The giants grab Alisha, with Morrissey holding her in place as Moose wraps a chair around Eddie’s neck. The chair is sent into the post and Eddie is out to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that Impact being this good feels completely normal. It has been the case for a long time now and the good thing is that it seems like a new era for the show instead of a nice run. Impact has such a terrible reputation and while the idea of it being a player has long since sailed, it is very nice to have the show be such a steady offering. Another positive effort this week as we get close to the biggest show of the year.

Results
Trey Miguel b. Alex Zayne and Laredo Kid – Super Meteora to Kid
Influence b. Jordynne Grace/Rachael Ellering – Double Stroke to Ellering
Christopher Daniels b. Madman Fulton – Best Moonsault Ever
Eddie Edwards b. W. Morrissey – Boston Knee Party into a barbed wire chair

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

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

rSpring Break
Date: April 9, 2021
Location: Cuban Club, Tampa, Florida
Commentators: Emil Jay, Kevin Gill

This is arguably the indy weekend main event and the show is hit and miss to say the least. You never know what you are going to see at something like this and that could go multiple ways. I’ve had a good time at these things before, but those were all the Joey Janela versions. Janela is on the card, but his name is no longer on the show. Let’s get to it.

No entrances or anything, as tends to be the case with a show like this.

Dave Penzer is ring announcer. Well that’s an upgrade.

Starboy Charlie vs. Billie Starkz

Charlie just turned 18 and is billed at 145lbs, which commentary says is AFTER he put some size on. Tony Deppen joins commentary because he worked with both of them before and wanted to see the match. Fair enough reason. In your “that’s not normal” stat, Gill says that Billie is closer in age to his four and a half month old son that she is to Gill himself. Feeling out process to start and they go to the mat for the technical off.

Charlie works on a hammerlock but gets leveraged outside without much effort. Back in and Charlie can’t get a Sharpshooter so Billie kicks him in the head. They trade some rollups for two each until Charlie snaps off an armdrag to take over. A dropkick into a standing shooting star press (Deppen: “If I did that, I’d throw my back out.”) gets two on Billie, who blocks the third Amigo.

Billie rolls some German suplexes, giving us the now ultra rare Chris Benoit name drop. Back up and Charlie gets sent into the corner for a kick to the face and an Ocean Cycle suplex (electric chair dropped backwards into something close to a German suplex) gets two. The eternally teased German suplex off the apron continues to be teased but Charlie takes her down in the corner.

The running corkscrew moonsault gets two and Charlie sends her flying with a t-bone suplex. They trade shots to the face for a double knockdown and a breather. Back up again and Charlie suplexes her into the Tree of Woe, setting up the running boot. Billie gets her knees up to block a 450, only to miss a Swanton. They glare at each other a bit until Charlie snaps off a Michinoku Driver (dropping Billie on her head) for the pin at 9:56.

Rating: C. This was action packed but a VERY indy style match. You could feel that they were trying to figure out where to go next after each spot because it didn’t have much of a flow. It was certainly entertaining, but these two need a lot more seasoning (fair enough given their age). That being said, opening a show like this is a good thing for them as the more ring time they get is going to help them out.

Post match 44OH (Bobby Beverly/Eric Ryan) come in for the double beatdown. That means we need a save, and probably a tag match.

44OH vs. Ironbeast

Ironbeast is KTB/Shane Mercer and this feels like a hoss fight. Mercer picks both of them up to start and KTB comes off the top with a high crossbody for the big crash. KTB feeds Beverly back inside for a powerbomb (over the ropes) to plant him down hard. That’s not enough as Only is put on KTB’s shoulders so Mercer can superplex him into the middle. It’s time for the doors but KTB takes too long and gets knocked outside.

Back in and Mercer gets double teamed with forearms to the back and kicks to the face. A tiger driver gets two on KTB but Mercer breaks up the drive through the table. Beverly Cannonballs Mercer against (not through) the table but KTB sends Only through the table without much effort. KTB hits a big dive to take Beverly out on the floor, leaving Mercer to take Only up.

That means a super gorilla press, dropped into a super flipping World’s Strongest Slam (good freaking grief). That’s not it either as KTB adds a powerbomb before throwing Only into a bridging German suplex to give Mercer (ignore his shoulders being down too) for the pin at 6:49.

Rating: C+. Nearly total destruction here, with 44OH (modern names can be really dumb) only getting in a little bit in the middle. Ironbeast is great for a team at this level, as they can do all of their crazy athletic power stuff without giving up much of anything. This was fun and completely different from the opener, which is what you expect on a show like this one.

Penzer says he’s old so Emil Jay can handle the rest of the announcing. Well that’s a downgrade.

Arez/Gringo Loco/Black Taurus vs. Aramis/Dragon Bane/Laredo Kid

Lucha rules of course and yeah I’m going to get lost in a hurry. The latter team comes out to Clint Eastwood by Gorillaz so they can’t be all bad (or they might not be bad at all). Loco drives Laredo into the corner to start and takes him down with a test of strength. Commentary talks about how this could be similar to what used to happen on Monday Nitro as a great introduction to lucha libre. If you’re watching GCW Spring Break, you know lucha libre and probably most of these people.

Loco cartwheels his way out of a headscissors and we get a staredown. A front flip lets Loco flip off his opponents and everyone comes in for the big staredown. Aramis and company snap off a bunch of headscissors to the floor with Arez getting knocked onto Taurus’ shoulders. That’s fine with Kid and Aramais, who hit stereo suicide dives for the double knockdowns.

Back in and a triple 450 has the villains (I think?) in more trouble but Arez scores with three straight tilt-a-whirl backbreakers. Aramis is fine enough to drop Arez onto the turnbuckle but Loco and Taurus are back in to take over with the triple teaming. Kid’s crazy high springboard is speared out of the air and Loco adds a heck of a moonsault for two. Bane’s save doesn’t work either and the triple stomping ensues.

Somehow he’s fine enough to kick Loco in the head and grab a spinning DDT on Taurus for a breather. Taurus isn’t having that and clotheslines a bunch of people but Bane and Aramais save Kid from something on top. That’s fine for the good guys, who hit a crazy stereo triple dive from the top to the floor. Back in and Aramis chops it out with Arez until Bane hits a brainbuster onto the knee.

Taurus kicks Bane in the head and drops him with a torture rack backbreaker, leaving Loco to hit a super Falcon Arrow to plant Aramis. Kid hits back to back moonsaults on Loco but Arez makes the save. A belly to back backbreaker gets two on Kid and it’s a double Old School, until Kid snaps off a springboard hurricanrana to drop Arez because of course they can do that. Loco walks the ropes for a flying cutter, leaving Aramis to hit a poisonrana on Taurus.

Since they haven’t gone insane enough, Loco puts Aramis on his shoulders with Kid on Aramis’ shoulders for a super cutter from Arez, because DANG. Taurus plants Aramis with a pop up Samoan drop and another one plants Bane. Aramis is back up with a very, very, very long spinning torture rack to Bane, which lasts so long that Kid can beat up Loco and go up top for a moonsault frog splash onto Arez and Bane can hit a springboard corkscrew dive onto Taurus. After THIRTY EIGHT SECONDS of spinning, Armais powerbombs Arez for the pin at 13:46.

Rating: B. Yep, what else are you expecting here? These matches are not designed to be anything more than a crazy exchange of spots coming one after another. There is no way to call something like this other than just listing stuff because these matches are not supposed to have any kind of a story. I had a blast with this though as I kept saying “sure why not” because people shouldn’t be able to do this kind of stuff. Awesome fun.

Post match the money is thrown into the ring to keep with tradition.

Joey Janela has sent Jordan Oliver a creepy Lio Rush tape. Then someone slips a note under Oliver’s door with the date of this show written on it.

Jordan Oliver vs. Lio Rush

Oliver is still called Big Breakfast and I still don’t know why. Rush has a very over the top entrance, with some kind of a contortionist moving around a lot to a rather slow song. Then Rush staggers out to what sounds like a rap he is performing himself and is called the Blackheart. The (few) fans are split before the bell and commentary talks about how they’re scared of this version of Rush.

They stare each other down for over a minute before Oliver kicks him out to the floor. Oliver’s suicide cutter drops Rush hard and we need a breather as they both have to get back up. A standing choke doesn’t get Oliver very far as Rush hits him in the face again. Oliver puts him in a chair and gets a running start around the ring, which takes far too long and lets Rush nail a jumping knee to the face. To mix things up, Rush puts him in the chair and hits his own running dive, which actually connects.

Back in and Rush hammers away, including a boot to the face in the corner. An ax kick gives Rush two so let’s bring in a door (which commentary thinks might be FORBIDDEN). Hold on though as Rush needs to stop and yell at a fan, allowing Oliver to strike away. Some kicks to the head rock Oliver but he’s fine enough to suplex Rush hard through the door for two.

It’s time for another door but Oliver takes too long and gets caught with rolling German suplexes. An overhead belly to belly sends Oliver through the door for a slightly delayed two as commentary doesn’t exactly get emotional with these near falls. Back up and the standing C4 cuts off Oliver’s comeback attempt as commentary hypes up Oliver being undefeated in GCW this year.

A superplex to the floor is broken up and a double knockdown puts them outside at the same time. Back in and they go with the big slugout, with commentary bringing up Karate Fighters. Oliver’s tiger driver gets two and a running kick to the face is good for the same. With Rush down, it’s time for more furniture, this time in the form of doors and chairs. Two of the doors are laid over a quartet of chairs at ringside but Rush stares at Oliver to….I guess possess him?

Either way, Oliver forearms him for two with Rush bridging up for the kickout. Rush is right back with some more rolling German suplexes but Oliver rolls through the last one and grabs a German suplex of his own. Oliver sends him to the apron, where Rush (barely) muscles him over for the Falcon Arrow outside through the doors. Back in and Rush takes WAY too long to set up a frog splash (Oliver was half sitting up) and dives into a cutter.

A springboard cutter gets a very close two on Rush and we get the big shocked face. Another cutter (without much impact) drops Rush onto the apron and they’re both down on the floor again. That’s only good for two back inside with Rush bridging up for the kickout again. Oliver loads up a super cutter but gets shoved off, allowing Rush to nail the frog splash. Something close to a Gargano Escape makes Oliver tap at 22:24.

Rating: B-. This was a very indy style big match, with the tables and a bunch of different versions of the same move. Rush is a bigger star, but Oliver has gotten a lot out of this whole weekend. Given that this loss makes him 3-1 on the day, it is pretty clear that he is putting in the ring time to get a good deal of experience. He is a long way from being signed by a big promotion, but this kind of match will get him some needed notice.

Atticus Cougar (great name, though apparently it is pronounced “Co-Gar”) talks about being a Masada fan since he was a kid and now he’s facing Masada in a death (erg) match. This match has been one of his top priorities and now it is time to prove himself. At some point, Cougar used Masada’s signature skewers on Masada’s head, which seems to be an act of war.

Atticus Cougar vs. Masada

Death match with commentary promising a lot of violence. There are weapons, including barbed wire, all around the ring to start. The brawl is on to start with Masada sending Cougar into a skewer board in the corner. Masada finds a piece of a broken door but Cougar kicks him in the face to break it up. A suicide dive is countered into a belly to back drop onto the apron and Masda doors him. Part of the door is raked over Cougar’s head but he is right back with some kendo stick shots.

Masada is back with a bed of toothpicks, which he puts on Cougar’s back and pounds it in. Said board is raked over Cougar’s head to draw the blood and then pulls some toothpicks out of his back. Something that looks like a kendo stick to the head knocks Cougar down again and it’s time for the skewers to the head. Cougar manages to dropkick him into a skewer covered board in the corner, some of which are then pounded into Masada’s head.

They fight outside where Masada can’t hit a powerbomb so Cougar gets in a shot to the face. Back in and the door is set onto two chairs, but first Cougar stabs him in the shoulder with the skewers. Masada is back with some mini skewers into Cougar’s head (where they stick) and now the powerbomb through the door gets two. The skewers go into Cougar’s mouth for another stomping and that means it’s time for a breather (and skewer removal) on the floor. A few fans try an ULTRAVIOLENCE chant as both guys stand around for a bit.

Back in and Masada grabs a powerbomb into the STF but Cougar uses a piece of wood to the hand to break it up. Cougar’s top rope double stomp gives him his own two so he puts Masada on a chair. It takes too long for him to go up top though and Masada is right there, only to get caught with a super headlock driver onto a chair. Say it with me: for two.

Cougar whips out a board with a gusset plate attached but Masada takes it away and hits him in the arm. A Death Valley Driver gets two and Masada drives said plate into the arm. Cougar hits him low and puts more skewers into the head, setting up the headlock driver to drive the skewers even further in, again, for two. A low superkick sets up a third headlock driver to finally finish Masada at 18:40.

Rating: D-. Somehow, this featured more wrestling than usual in these matches, though that didn’t exactly make it better. This was more mindless carnage and violence with all of the blood they could manage, but they used the skewers so it was awesome (allegedly). As usual, they weren’t exactly building to anything here and kept repeating the same weapons over and over. Yeah they used skewers earlier, but now they’re using them AGAIN! More nonsense and thankfully we get to move on.

Rich Swann vs. Lee Moriarty

Ok this could be good. Swann’s entrance has the fans dancing for a cool visual, with commentary talking about how wrestling brings people together and Twitter tears them apart. I guess we’re to ignore him asking fans to get the show trending on Twitter before the match. Moriarty comes in with taped up ribs and they go technical to start, including an exchange of armdrags.

Both of them try dropkicks at the same time and it’s an early standoff. They trade some flips until Swann hits the dropkick to take over for the first time. An armbar brings Moriarty back to his feet and he grabs a Codebreaker onto the arm. Swann needs a breather on the floor so Moriarty goes after him to sent the arm into various things. Back in and the arm is sent into the corner as commentary talks about the (pretty good) For The Culture show late last night.

Swann grabs a neckbreaker for a breather and the rolling splash gets two. Moriarty is right back on the arm and snaps off a heck of a DDT for two of his own. A double underhook tiger driver drops Swann again but he’s back up with a one armed handspring cutter for a very near fall. The frog splash gets two more so it’s time for the big slugout.

An exchange of kicks to the head puts both of them down and the fans are pleased. They go to a pinfall reversal sequence for multiple two’s each until Moriarty grabs a Fujiwara armbar. That’s broken up as well so Moriarty keeps hold of the arm and nails a lariat for another two. Moriarty takes him up top, where Swann bites the bad ribs (that’s a new one) to take him back down. The 450 finishes for Swann at 12:14.

Rating: B-. Oh sure, these two can only get twelve minutes while a fight over skewers to the head gets nearly twenty. Swann winning is completely fine, though Moriarty continues to be one of the real stars of the weekend. He is going to get a good chance somewhere in the future and matches like this one are only going to make it happen faster.

Chris Dickinson talks about how Joey Janela has been living off of his reputation for years now. He isn’t going to stand for Janela turning wrestling into a circus and now it is time to knock some sense into Janela. The snake’s head is coming off and Janela better come ready to go. Dickinson loves him though.

Chris Dickinson vs. Joey Janela

Janela is in Bam Bam Bigelow inspired gear and they go straight at it with the slugout. Dickinson grabs a powerbomb and then throws in a second to make it worse. Commentary recaps the feud here: they were stablemates and Janela agreed to put up the naming rights for the show for a World Title shot, where Dickinson turned on him, presumably for being too goofy. I’ve heard worse ideas. Dickinson throws in a door, which he breaks in some smaller pieces to go after Janela’s head.

With Janela busted open, Dickinson drives the wood into his head even more, as a proper monster should. The rest of the door goes onto Janela’s head and a running basement dropkick drives the door into him again. A half nelson suplex plants Janela for two so Dickinson takes him up top. It’s desperation time though and Janela grabs a top rope superplex for the much needed breather. Janela stomps away in the corner but Dickinson is back with some hard rolling German suplexes.

Somehow Janela pops back up with a roaring elbow for two of his own, setting up a broken door over the head. Dickinson suplexes him down again as commentary talks about Dickinson getting annoyed at putting in the effort while Janela gets everything handed to him. Dickinson heads outside and asks for a chair so the fans throw in a few dozen, with commentary being VERY against this, as they should be.

A chair to the head in the corner rocks Janela but he comes back with a superkick and DDT (yep, it’s an indy match). Dickinson clotheslines the heck out of him and they’re both down for a double breather. They head up top again, with Janela fighting out of another superplex attempt and hits a tornado DDT onto the pile of chairs. Dickinson rolls outside though, as this needs to keep going. A suicide dive sends the now bleeding Dickinson down again (Commentary: “Dickinson is F*****!”) and a top rope double stomp onto the chest gives Janela two back inside.

Janela blasts him in the head with a chair but Dickinson wants more. The delay lets Dickinson go low, setting up Death Valley Driver onto a chair for one (of course). They slug it out until Janela grabs his own Death Valley Driver for two. Dickinson catches him on top with a super Razor’s Edge toss for two more. Therefore, let’s bring in a ladder and a door, though Dickinson is smart enough to pause for a running boot to Janela’s head.

The really big ladder is set up in the corner and Dickinson bridges the door over four chairs. Janela comes back with a low blow and chair shot before climbing up. Dickinson meets him on top though and it’s a super Death Valley Driver through the door, say it with me, for two. The fans chant for JOEY KICKOUT as Dickinson is favoring his knee. The knee is good enough for some dragon screw legwhips to drop Janela, who shrugs it off to grab a Figure Four. Dickinson almost turns it over but finally taps at 21:57.

Rating: C. It was violent (with the blood thankfully only being a focus at the beginning) and it did tell a story of Janela fighting back against the powerhouse, but EGADS the kickouts were insane. That seems to be Janela’s thing and it works with this audience, though that doesn’t quite make it the easiest thing to watch. The action and high spots were good, but the eye rolling over the kickouts brought it right back down, as tends to be the case with these matches.

Post match Dickinson pulls himself up so Janela offers a handshake, only to have Dickinson spit in his hands and walk away. Janela says he’s back in GCW and gets a rather limited reaction. Some of the fans do seem to like him though, with commentary saying it means the internet doesn’t matter. They then tell us to go get GCW merch online.

Effy vs. Gregory Iron

Iron is a wrestler with cerebral palsy and has Virgil of all people (you knew he would pop up somewhere) with him. Ring announcer: “Being accompanied to the ring by……VIRGIL???”. Iron gives Virgil a big introduction, dubbing him a Spring Break Hall of Famer and the newest member of 44OH. This is billed as Brunch vs. B****, with Effy putting up the naming rights to his Big Gay Brunch (the actual title). Effy’s entrance lets commentary talk about how little Effy cares about what anyone thinks of him and how he is for everyone. He gets in Virgil’s face to start but Virgil has a bottle of vodka.

The distraction lets Iron get in some chair shots to take over in a hurry as commentary wonders how Virgil got that bottle (which is apparently for drinking, not product placement). Effy comes back with some chops in the corner as commentary wonders what Iron would serve at his brunch. Iron is back with a Thesz press and shots to the face as we talk about Iron appearing on Steve Austin’s podcast.

Something like a reverse Fameasser out of the corner gives Effy two, which has Virgil fairly disinterested (as he stands on the apron instead of the floor). A Codebreaker gets Iron out of trouble but Effy grabs a sunset flip and pulls Iron’s trunks down in the process. There’s a backsplash for two on Iron, whose trunks are still down so Effy gives it some spanks.

Virgil comes in for a distraction so Iron can get in a low blow, only to have Virgil hit him in the head with the vodka bottle by mistake (with Virgil flinching before hitting him to make it look pretty awful). Hold on though as Effy grabs some scissors to cut off Virgil’s 44OH shirt to reveal an Effy shirt. The fans are pleased as Iron (still with the trunks down) gets powerbombed for the pin at 5:59.

Rating: D+. I’m not sure how much drama there was here and the match was more about comedy with some action thrown in. Effy seems to be a fan favorite and Iron seems to be quite the nasty heel, so the story worked out well enough. The problem is that it wasn’t very good and felt like a low level TV main event more than anything else. Granted I can appreciate that as we are almost at three hours on this show.

Post match Effy pulls Iron’s trunks back up, making him even more of a face.

A scafflold has to be built for the main event so here are some commercials.

Video on Rickey Shane Page vs. Nick Gage, with Page saying he came here, stole Gage’s manhood and title, so now it’s time to do it one more time.

We pause for a good while to put up enough light tubes to make half of a cage.

GCW World Title: Rickey Shane Page vs. Nick Gage

Page (apparently the leader of 44OH) is defending and it’s a deathmatch with nearly an hour to go in the show (oh boy). The entrances take the better part of ever as commentary REALLY hypes up the war between Gage and 44OH. Gage gets his Big Match Intro and then jumps Page with a light tube during his own, because Gage isn’t that nice. Page is whipped into a wall of light tubes and it’s time for Gage to stab him in the back with a piece of broken tube.

Another whip into the corner sends Page through a sheet of glass and Gage shrugs off a whip into tubes. The Facewash into the light tubes hits Page in the corner as Page is already busted badly. Gage can’t quite get out of the ring but eventually manages a springboard backsplash to drive him through a barbed wire/glass board. Some fans hold up chairs so Gage can send him face first into them as commentary talks about the glory that is Nick Gage. Page is finally able to score with a light tube of his own (my goodness it feels dumb to say things like this) and it’s time to gouge Gage’s forehead.

That’s a bit more than Gage is willing to sell though and Page is whipped through another glass panel. Back in and another light tube goes over Page’s head and Gage does it again for good measure. Gage gets whipped hard into the other wall of light tubes and Page breaks another one over Gage’s face. A comeback is countered with a backdrop over the top and through another sheet of glass, with Gage nearly landing on his head.

Page starts going after Gage’s injured ankle (which has been a problem for months) before taking him to the apron for a toss suplex through a bed of light tubes. That’s only good for two back inside, because it’s only been about 50 light tubes so far. Gage is a bit blinded from….well everything really, and hits the referee by mistake (BECAUSE A REFEREE MATTERS SO MUCH IN THIS THING) setting up a DDT and spinebuster. Another light tube connects with Page’s head and then Gage uses a jagged piece of tube to start carving MDK into Page’s back.

Page climbs the scaffold and here is Gregory Iron to slow Gage down. That earns him a piledriver onto various pieces of glass as Effy comes out to take care of Iron. Cue more 44OH members to go after Gage, with Page directing traffic while down on the scaffold. A table is loaded up and here’s a big package of light tubes wrapped around whatever is inside the thing.

44OH takes forever to load up more glass so here are Joey Janela and some more guys (to Walk by Pantera, making me think that that we were getting a Rob Van Dam cameo) to even things up. Gage gets up and points at Page on top of the scaffold, with Gage following (as we hear a production worker talking about having Gage’s music ready).

Page is tossed through the glass and most of the tubes, completely missing the table they are on. The rest of the tubs are smashed over Page’s back as we have a new referee. Gage finishes carving the M into Page’s back but gets hit low, setting up a chokebreaker for two. The referee gets a chokebreaker as well so here is Atticus Cougar to load up ANOTHER sheet of glass over some chairs.

Some skewers go into Gage’s head and now it’s time to put more chairs and another sheet of glass onto the first sheet of glass. Cue promoter Brett Lauderdale to hit Cougar with some tubes, allowing Gage to powerbomb himself through the two sheets (with Page landing on the mat and Gage going through everything) for two. A chokebreaker gives Gage the title back at 24:37.

Rating: D-. Ignoring the rather sickening worship of Gage by commentary, the insane blood, all of the interference and the ridiculous amount of missed spots, this was full of a lot of the same problems you often have from a deathmatch: it was so repetitive that none of it had any impact. See, they used a light tube, but then they used like A HUNDRED light tubes. They put him through a sheet of glass? Well how awesome would it be if they did it five times??? This was a big story for this audience, but dang these things are not for me and the actual content of the matches is one of the least problems.

Post match Lauderdale hands Gage some spray paint so he can paint MDK on the old belt (which had been painted by Page). Hold on though as some music plays and we have Jon Moxley for the big staredown with Gage. They go nose to nose, with some of Gage’s blood getting on Moxley’s face. Moxley goes to leave but Gage shouts some expletives and now the fight is on (like Donkey Kong, according to commentary).

Moxley lays him out with the Paradigm Shift and then hits another onto the light tubes. Gage is down so Moxley gets to pose a lot and leaves, with Gage popping back up because he doesn’t stay down. Gage asks where his motherf****** gang is and calls Moxley a variety of bad names. He thanks the fans for having his back and worrying about him while he was out with an injury.

What matters is that he is the best deathmatch wrestler in the world and he and Moxley will have a REAL deathmatch. Everything around here is real and none of these weapons are fake so we’ll see who is really tough. Gage hits the catchphrase, wants one of his friends let out of prison, and hits the catchphrase again to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. The thing that needs to be understood here is that there are a lot of good matches on here. A lot of this stuff had nothing to do with the violence or the hardcore and was just about having some solid action. They had a good mixture of action with various kinds of wrestling and a lot of it is watchable at best and very entertaining at worst.

Then you have the deathmatch stuff and simply put, you’re either into it or you’re not and there isn’t much of a middle ground. One thing that does help is that (possible quality aside), there is certainly a main story going on through GCW, with 44OH seemingly feuding with most of the promotion. That’s fine for a story to have going on and it does seem like the deathmatches were set up, but they’re absolutely not my thing and it brings the rest of the show down. If you’re into some rather watchable indy stuff, this is absolutely worth a look, but you might want to have the fast forward ready for two of the longer matches.

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Impact Wrestling
Date: September 16, 2021
Location: Skyway Studios, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: D’Lo Brown, Matt Striker

We’re on the way to Victory Road and ultimately Bound For Glory, which should make for a pair of back to back big shows. The main story this week is a ten man tag with most of the biggest feuds in the company being thrown into one big match. That should be enough to set up Victory Road so let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

The opening recap sets up the ten man tag, as there isn’t anything else worth mentioning on the show.

Opening sequence.

Violent By Design vs. Decay

Rhino/Deaner for the team here, with everyone else at ringside. Rhino jumps Black Taurus to start and it’s already off to Deaner to kick away at the ribs. That’s broken up with an elbow in the corner and Crazzy Steve comes in for a backsplash. Deaner takes him into the corner though and the villains start taking turns in a violently designed way. Steve neckbreakers his way to freedom and bites Deaner in the head so Eric Young gets on the apron. The distraction lets Deaner…accidentally hit Rhino with a flag, setting up Steve’s middle rope DDT for the pin at 3:36.

Rating: C-. This didn’t have time to get going and was all about the storyline anyway. The idea of having Rhino’s troubles with the team continue is only kind of interesting, but Rhino is better than some of the options that Impact has. You know what you’re getting with him, but he still does his thing at a completely acceptable level.

Post match Young yells at Rhino, who isn’t having this. Young goes to turn away but Rhino grabs him by the wrist. That’s too far for the rest of the team and Rhino is beaten down. Seems like the team is minus a member.

We go to Swinger’s Palace, where Johnny Swinger seems happy that they’re heading to Las Vegas. That being said, he thinks Dixie Carter is still running this place and the idea of Scott D’Amore, the guy from Team Canada, being in charge, has to be a rib.

TJP is happy with winning money off of Steve Maclin beating Petey Williams last week. Williams comes in and I think we have a match for later.

Johnny Swinger thinks Billy Corgan runs the company.

Team Christian Cage is ready because none of them are afraid to fight. Chris Sabin tells Josh Alexander that they’re on the same team tonight but that changes at Victory Road. Eddie Edwards and Sami Callihan are willing to work together tonight too. That’s why Cage likes the team. As for Ace Austin, he better be ready, but it won’t be enough.

We run down the Victory Road card.

TJP vs. Petey Williams

TJP goes technical to start but gets taken down into a front facelock. That’s broken up so Williams goes with a headscissors on the mat instead. TJP is back up as well and hangs in the ropes to annoy Williams again, earning TJP a Codebreaker to the floor. Back in and the tilt-a-whirl Russian legsweep drops TJP as we take a break.

We come back with TJP having to fight out of a chinlock and grabbing a DDT out of the corner. The boot scrape in the corner sets up a missed Swanton but Petey can’t hit the Canadian Destroyer. Instead he grabs the Sharpshooter, which sends TJP over to the ropes. TJP loads up la majistral but Petey drops down for the pin at 9:30.

Rating: C+. They were having the near technical marvel you would expect and that is a good thing. Williams can be a fine member of the roster and it is nice to see him do more than just the Canadian Destroyer. TJP can work well with anyone and they had a rather nice, albeit a bit short, match here.

Post match Steve Maclin comes in to wreck both guys.

Flashback Moment of the Week: Chris Sabin wins the X-Division Title on July 4, 2013.

The Good Brothers say Rich Swann might have had a chance in last week’s Bunkhouse Brawl but Willie Mack is still in the hospital. Cue Swann and Mack to take them out in a hurry.

Post break, Mack says he’s back because it’s time to take out the Brothers and win the Tag Team Titles. Scott D’Amore comes in to make the title match for Victory Road.

Here is John Skyler for a chat. Laredo Kid beat him on Before The Impact so he’ll beat him now.

John Skyler vs. Laredo Kid

Skyler swats away a handshake offer to start so Kid slaps him in the face. With Skyler knocked to the floor, Kid takes him down with the suicide dive. Back up and Skyler snaps off a belly to belly before taking Kid inside. Kid manages a double clothesline for a double knockdown, setting up a slugout. Skyler goes for the mask like a villain should, setting up the rollup for the pin at 3:46.

Rating: C-. Another short match here and that’s probably a good thing. I like that they are actually building up someone new with Skyler, as they could use some fresh faces. Even if Skyler isn’t going to break through to the next level, it is nice to see Impact taking a shot at someone. Maybe they get something out of him, but at least it isn’t the same people over and over again.

It’s time for It’s All About Me with co-guests Madison Rayne and Kaleb With A K. Since this show is a little backwards, here is “host” Taylor Wilde, who brings in Rachael Ellering and Jordynne Grace. They don’t seem to like each other but Wilde asks what happened when she and Dashwood wrestled. Dashwood shouldn’t be scared of a match at Victory Road so the match is on.

Earlier today, Matt Cardona jumped Rohit Raju and Shera as they arrived.

Scott D’Amore yelled at Cardona so the match is made for Victory Road, No DQ. That’s cool with Cardona.

Matthew Rehwoldt vs. Trey Miguel

They fight over a lockup to start until Rehwoldt goes after the eyes to take him down. A running clothesline puts Miguel on the floor and Rehwoldt drops him face first onto the apron for a bonus. Back in and Rehwoldt twists him down by the arm for two, setting up some knees to the back for the same.

Miguel fights up and kicks him in the face so a springboard missile dropkick can connect for two. A split legged moonsault misses though and the Director’s Cut gives Rehwoldt two of his own. Rehwoldt misses a Swanton for the big crash and it’s a suplex into the Hourglass to give Miguel the pin at 7:49.

Rating: C. Much like the earlier matches, this was a way to bring in some fresh people and see what they can do. Rehwoldt might not be a top star, but he can go fill in some time on the show without being the same people we’ve seen over and over again. Perfectly watchable match and it’s always nice to see Miguel get a win.

Post match Deonna Purrazzo comes out to hit Miguel low. Mickie James runs in for the save and brawl, setting up the big dive off the top to take out the pile.

Tasha Steelz says she and Savannah Evans didn’t steal the titles because from Decay they had the titles stolen from them at Slammiversary. If the champs want them back, come get them at Victory Road.

We recap Hikuleo showing up last week and attacking Juice Robinson. At Victory Road, it’s Hikuleo/Chris Bey vs. FinJuice.

Bey says he and Hikuleo do whatever they want around here. On Saturday, one shot will be too sweet.

Victory road rundown.

Team Christian Cage vs. Team Ace Austin

Austin: Ace Austin, Madman Fulton, Brian Myers, Moose, W. Morrissey
Cage: Christian Cage, Sami Callihan, Eddie Edwards, Chris Sabin, Josh Alexander

Myers has Sam Beale and his prospects with him. Callihan and Austin start things off with Callihan taking him into the corner and stomping away. Eddie comes in to chop Callihan down and we get the rare Sami/Eddie collaboration. We get the big ten man staredown and that’s enough to take a break.

Back with everyone brawling on the floor until Callihan throws Austin back inside to keep up the beating. Hold on though as Beale comes in, earning himself a low blow, allowing Myers to get in a cheap shot of his own. Fulton sends Callihan into the corner but he gets in a shot of his own to put Fulton down. Sabin and Austin come in to pick up the pace with Sabin taking over. Now Cage is willing to come in to uppercut away at the also legal Fulton.

This lasts all of a few seconds before Cage has to slip out of a slam. Eddie comes in to help take Fulton down but it’s off to Moose, who gets caught in a belly to belly. Moose tosses Eddie outside though and we take another break. Back with Eddie not being able to sunset flip Austin, as Fulton comes in and keeps Eddie in trouble. Morrissey finally comes in to rip at Eddie’s face and the villains keep alternating the beatdown.

A big elbow keeps Eddie in trouble and Morrissey chokes with the boot in the corner. Eddie is fine enough to hit a running clothesline out of the corner and it’s time for the parade of secondary finishers. Austin kicks Christian low and goes up but Eddie catches him on top with a superplex onto the pile. Back in and Christian can’t hit Myers with the Killswitch but Alexander can hit Divine Intervention for the pin at 21:18.

Rating: B. This was about as efficient of a match as you could have as it was taking so many feuds and putting them all together. That opens up a lot of doors, as you can have some fresh matches while also pushing towards what is already set for Victory Road. Good action here too, with the ending sequence building up Alexander as well. Is it that insane to think he might be the Bound For Glory title challenger?

The winners pose to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. Impact has been doing some rather watchable stuff over the last few months, but it has been so far under the radar that it does not get the credit it deserves. This did a nice job setting up Victory Road, albeit partially by rapid firing matches to the card. To be fair, that is often the best way it can go and we had a good show as a result. Nice job again, which has been the norm around here for a long time.

Results
Decay b. Violent By Design – Middle rope DDT to Deaner
Petey Williams b. TJP – Cradle
John Skyler b. Laredo Kid – Rollup
Trey Miguel b. Matthew Rehwoldt – Hourglass
Team Cage b. Team Austin – Divine Intervention to Myers

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

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AND

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Acid Cup 2021 Part 1
Date: April 8, 2021
Location: Cuban Club, Ybor City, Florida
Commentators: Kevin Gill, Various

This is another show from GCW’s the Collective and as you might have guessed, it is part of a tournament called the Acid Cup. While I’m not entirely sure, I would assume that it is held in honor of the late Trent Acid, which I’m sure will be confirmed during the show. Tournaments are about as easy of a concept as you can get in wrestling so hopefully this works out. Let’s get to it.

We’re outside today and it looks like this is in a parking lot for a unique visual. And yes, this is for Trent Acid.

First Round: Calvin Tankman vs. Colby Corino

Corino takes the much bigger Tankman down by the leg to start and works on a wristlock. A lot of bouncing gets Corino out of Tankman’s wristlock so Tankman chops him to little avail. Another one puts Corino down and he seems to be regretting the idea of sticking his chest out for Tankman. Back up and Corino hits an enziguri but his legs give out on an ill advised fireman’s carry attempt. Tankman pounds him down and chops away in the corner as this is staying rather slow to start.

Commentary tells a story about running into Corino in an airport in 2014 as Corino counters a powerbomb and hits a double stomp. A kick to the top of the head gets two on Tankman but he is right back with a clot and something like a Rock Bottom for two. Corino is back up with a spinning kick to the face and somehow manages a Samoan drop for an impressive visual. The middle rope 450 misses though and Tankman’s spinning backfist to the back of the head….only gets two. The Tankman Driver finishes Corino at 8:08.

Rating: C-. Tankman has been all over the weekend here and that is not a bad thing. He is a good sized guy who can do some impressively athletic things in the ring, which is always going to get some attention. Corino was doing what he could here but there is only so much that you can do when you are that small. To be fair though, that was a crazy impressive Samoan drop and I wouldn’t have believe Corino could pull it off.

We now pause for a cleaning of the ropes and a board sticking up in the ring. A bunch of people have to get in to stomp on the ring to try and fix things, complete with a camera shot of the people underneath the ring making repairs. To fill time, commentary makes up fake results of the Showcase of the Independents Family Reunion show. Now they have to lift up the mat and replace a board, which is even sadder given that there is not even a full front row around ringside. A quick Trent Acid discussion is cut off because everything is fine. This took about seven minutes so it could have been much worse.

First Round: Braden Lee vs. Laredo Kid

They start slowly until Kid flips out of an early wristlock. Lee takes him down with a headlock takeover and but Kid bounces back up and hits a running shoulder. Kid gets kicked out to the floor, followed by Lee hitting a heck of a gutbuster for two back inside. A springboard crossbody drops Lee though and it’s time to head outside, where Lee can’t hit a tornado DDT onto the concrete.

Instead, Lee takes it back inside for a good looking 450 for two. Kid is right back with a Michinoku Driver into back to back moonsaults for two of his own. Lee snaps off a running Spanish Fly but misses a shooting star, which would have missed by six feet anyway. Back up and Lee goes up top, only to get caught in….kind of a reverse super Spanish Fly, where Kid had him in a belly to back superplex then flipped backwards to land on Lee’s back as Lee landed on his face. That’s enough to finish Lee at 8:06.

Rating: C+. Total spot fest match here but Kid is someone who has been getting higher and higher profile matches as of late. It makes the tournament feel a little bit bigger because the star power helps it a lot. Pretty nice match here too, with Lee getting to showcase himself a bit before coming up short in the end.

First Round: Dragon Bane vs. KTB

I’m not sure who Bane is but he comes out to Clint Eastwood by the Gorillaz so he can’t be too bad. KTB takes him down with ease to starts so the smaller Dragon goes with a handspring moonsault. Granted KTB just stands there and watches him so it doesn’t mean much. Dragon’s hurricanrana is easily countered into a sitout powerbomb and a running shoulder in the corner gives KTB two.

KTB plants him again for two but Dragon slips out of a powerbomb and strikes away. This goes very badly for Dragon and his chops are rather pitiful looking. A spinning kick to the head and a handspring elbow work a bit better though and KTB is knocked to the floor. Dragon hits a double springboard spinning moonsault to drop KTB again as commentary tries to figure out what he just did.

Back in and they trade Spanish Flies to give KTB two (Commentary: “Isn’t adrenaline crazy?”) but Dragon is back with a poisonrana for a rather delayed two. They chop it out from their knees, with commentary explaining which part of the hand offers the most pain. They trade pump kicks but KTB is back with something like a Dominator into a knee to the face for two more. Back up and Bane suplexes him into the corner, setting up another poisonrana. A shooting star press finishes KTB at 8:15.

Rating: C. I wouldn’t have bet on that so it is rather nice to have a surprise like this. This was a bit of a styles clash as it felt like Dragon was trying to get in all of his spots instead of having more of a flowing match, but that is kind of understandable given how a show like this is supposed to go. Not too bad and the surprise ending helped a good bit.

In a nice gesture, Dragon high fives all of the fans, though to be fair it doesn’t exactly take that long.

First Round: Jordan Oliver vs. Edith Surreal

Surreal is the unmasked version of Still Life With Apricots And Pears (who you might not know). Oliver is wearing Trent Acid inspired pants and it’s a feeling out process to start with Oliver taking him down by the leg and cranking away. That’s reversed into a full nelson with Surreal using her legs to work on the neck, followed by a missile dropkick for two. Surreal starts in on the arm and shrugs off the threat of a Boston crab.

Instead, Surreal gets him down and cranks on the face and leg at the same time, followed by an exchange of rollups for two. A headscissors on the mat keeps Surreal down as commentary talks about how this isn’t the kind of match you would expect from these two. Back up and Surreal gets dropkicked out to the floor so Oliver posts her hard. They head back inside with Surreal taking him down by the leg and cranking on the ankle as the very slow pace continues.

Surreal gets creative with a Figure Four stump puller, but since that is kind of hard to maintain, it’s off to a seated abdominal stretch instead. That’s reversed into a leglock from Oliver, which is reversed into a cradle for two. Back up and Surreal grabs a bulldog for two and it’s time for more rollups for two each. Oliver grabs a Stunner and kicks her in the face (Acid signature) for the pin at 9:52.

Rating: C-. This was a rather slow paced match and it didn’t exactly work. It felt like they were just going from one move/sequence to another with nothing bridging them together, which made for a fairly weak match. Both of them are capable of more so this was fairly disappointing and the lack of drama (Oliver was wearing Acid’s PANTS) didn’t help it either. Not awful, but not much to see here.

Ten minute intermission.

First Round: JJ Garrett vs. Lee Moriarty

Garrett is a substitution for Treehouse Lee and looks like he doing a Scott Steiner cosplay. He is introduced as what sounds like Dot Steiner so I have my early 90s WCW eyes working. They go with the grappling to start with Garrett taking him down but Moriarty sits out and it’s already a standoff. Moriarty picks the ankle and cranks away, sending Garrett to the ropes in a hurry.

Back up and Moriarty sweeps the leg and kicks the arm, followed by a dropkick to send Garrett outside. Garrett comes back in with a bit of a slower pace but this time manages to whip Moriarty into the corner to take over. After a quick discussion of Scott Steiner on Saved By The Bell, Garrett grabs a belly to back suplex for two. Moriarty is back with a running enziguri in the corner and a jumping double stomp to the back of a seated Garrett’s head. And then Garrett starts vomiting and the referee stops it at 5:42.

Rating: C. I’ve seen a lot from Moriarty this weekend and he really does come off as one of the better stars out of the series of shows. He has the technical and in-ring abilities to make it work with just enough charisma to make him more interesting. Throw in the fact that he looks pretty young and already seems fairly polished and he could be on to something. Garrett was just there for a short burst and you are only going to be able to get so much out of him in so little time, though he was fine enough.

We now pause to clean the ring and get some ads, including from a man named Toy Vomit, which might not be the best timing.

First Round: Aramis vs. Arez

Arez appears to be part goat. They fight over a top wristlock to start as one of the commentators can barely be heard. Aramis takes him down and starts tying up the leg but Arez ties him into a ball and puts on kind of a reverse full nelson with the legs, because these guys know some crazy complicated holds. That’s reversed but Arez reverses the reversal into something like Paige’s Scorpion Crosslock.

With that broken up as well, it’s off to a pinfall reversal sequence and the rather rapid fire tumbling into some near falls. They’re still not don so more grappling gives them two each until it’s another standoff for a pretty well deserved standing ovation. A springboard armdrag puts Aramis down but he wristdrags Arez over without much trouble. An exchange of anklescissors sets up a pair of superkicks from Aramis to send Arez outside. One heck of a suicide dive rocks Arez as commentary LOVES the fact that Aramis led with his head instead of just shoving him.

Back in and Aramis kicks him in the face, setting up a running shoulder in the corner as commentary is very pleased with the international flare here. Aramis grabs the arm and climbs the ropes to jump into a victory roll, followed by a heck of a springboard hurricanrana. Rolling Chaos Theory out of the corner gives Aramis two and they’re both down for a needed breather.

They slug it out until Arez grabs the arm and spins over to the apron to tie it around the ropes. Then he does it again with another arm and pulls on it for one of the most unique spots I can remember seeing in a long time. They fight out to the floor with Arez throwing water on him and then drinking some of it himself. Back in and Aramis is sent to the apron where they trade more kicks to the head. Arez kicks him in the chest but hurts his own leg in the process to put them both down again.

We pause for the injury and the referee gives Arez a ten count to get up. Back up and they strike it out rather hard until a double kick to the head (Commentary: “That looked like a d*** game of Karate Fighters!”) puts them both down again. Aramis pumphandles him onto the shoulder for a Dominator into a knee to the face and a torture rack spun into a powerbomb (with a lot of spinning) gets two. Arez has had it with this and comes back with a bridging northern lights suplex for the pin at 13:36.

Rating: B. This is going to be one of those matches where your individual tastes are really going to vary. Yes, this match felt like the most telegraphed match I’ve seen in a very long time but it was a blast as they beat each other up with one spot after another. They weren’t going for realistic here and the flips and holds and counters were crazy fun. Just great luchaing here and if you’re in for a performance instead of trying to make it feel like a competition, have fun with this one.

Money is thrown in and the wrestlers and referee split it.

First Round: Cole Radrick vs. Tony Deppen

Hold on actually as Radrick says Deppen is stuck between Tampa and Orlando so the match isn’t happening. Therefore, let’s do that open challenge thing.

First Round: Cole Radrick vs. Jimmy Lloyd

Lloyd is a hardcore guy and I really hope that isn’t what we’re getting here. Actually hang on again.

First Round: Cole Radrick vs. Jimmy Lloyd vs. Ellis Taylor

It wouldn’t be an indy show without a three way. Radrick is sent outside to start and there’s a dropkick to do it again. A superkick drops Taylor though and Lloyd is left alone in the ring. Radrick comes back in for a clothesline to the back of Lloyd’s head and then heads outside for a Gory Bomb onto the steps. Lloyd throws Radrick into a bunch of chairs at ringside but gets dropped as well.

That leaves Radrick and Taylor to slap it out at ringside before all three head back inside to miss some strikes to the face. Radrick dropkicks both of them down at the same time and it’s some running clotheslines in the corner. An Air Raid Crash gets two on Taylor with commentary comparing it to how Hulk Hogan covered Iron Sheik. Taylor is back up with a poisonrana on Lloyd, followed by a kick to Radrick’s head. Radrick is fine enough to hit a springboard Stunner on Lloyd, followed by something like an abdominal stretch lifted into a powerbomb to finish Taylor at 5:48.

Rating: C. This could have been a lot worse as Lloyd didn’t get to do his nonsense. Radrick is a smaller guy and looked fairly impressive here while he had the chance. They didn’t have time to do much here but the show is running out of time and they have one match left, which is the kind of thing that is going to happen. What we got was fine enough but the time hurt things a lot.

First Round: Nate Webb vs. AJ Gray

Webb is wearing a mask honoring the injured B-Boy. Webb grabs a wristlock to start but gets reversed into a rather hard headlock. A running shoulder drops Webb and it’s time for a breather on the floor. Back in and we hit the headlock again, with Gray taking him down into a front facelock this time. Make that an armbar as we continue the barrage of first gear holds.

Webb gets back up and they talk trash, setting up the exchange of right hands to the face. Gray knocks him down again, with Webb being knocked to the floor this time. They chop it out again and Gray gets suplexed onto the concrete for a rather scary landing. Webb pelts a chair at him and then hits Gray in the back with it for a bonus. Gray gets in his own chair shot and then crushes Webb’s throat with it for a bonus (Commentary: “I don’t think these guys are friends anymore.”).

Some chairs are thrown in, with Gray setting them up and bridging a large door between them for a bonus. What looks like a superplex is broken up and Webb hits a middle rope double stomp to the back, because Gray is a little nuts. The door is moved into the corner and Webb spears Gray through it for the big crash. The running dropkick in the corner (another B-Boy tribute) gets two on Gray but he’s right back up with an enziguri to catch him on top. A top rope superplex plants Webb again for two and one heck of a clothesline gets the same. Emerald Flosion finishes Webb at 9:28.

Rating: C. Not too bad here again and I was rather relieved to see the chair and door stuff kept mostly to a minimum. Webb feels like someone who belongs more in a place like CZW but he was perfectly acceptable here in a mostly normal match so I’ll take being surprised. Gray is one of the more featured people over the course of the weekend and you can see the talent. I’m not sure if he is as good as he is hyped up to be, but he is perfectly acceptable with everything that he does, which is a lot more than you usually get on a show like this.

No brackets for the second round but you don’t really need them for something like this.

Overall Rating: C+. We’ll call this one a breath of air after some of the pretty bad stuff I’ve seen over the weekend. This had watchable to good action throughout and Arez vs. Aramis was a blast. Other than that, there is nothing worth going out of your way to see but if you want a nice sample platter of indy wrestling with no big messy scramble match or a bunch of hardcore/deathmatch nonsense, this is about as good as you are going to get from what I’ve seen over the weekend.

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

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AND

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Dynamite
Date: March 31, 2021
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Jim Ross

I’m not sure what to expect here, as we are on the rather long road towards Double Or Nothing and it is still too early to set things up for the show. Christian might be the next title match for Kenny Omega, but I’m not sure if that is the most interesting match to headline a pay per view. Maybe they have something else in mind though. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Christian Cage vs. Frankie Kazarian

Feeling out process to start with Christian taking over on the arm as the fans tell him that he still has it. Christian gets sent hard over the top and crashes down onto the ramp for some shaking of the head. Back in and Kazarian knocks him off the top to the floor for another breather. Christian’s slide through the legs is broken up and we hit the neck crank.

After Christian fights up, Kazarian takes him back down with a flipping neckbreaker for two. Back up again and Kazarian hammers away but Christian grabs a tornado DDT out of the corner. Some shots to the face have Kazarian in trouble and Christian stands on his back for the choking on the ropes. Christian rains down right hands in the corner and scores with the reverse DDT for two.

The top rope splash only hits mat though and Kazarian hammers away again. He talks a bit too much trash though and gets small packaged for two, which is a bit too much from Christian. The springboard spinning legdrop gets two on Christian but he grabs the top rope to block a superplex attempt.

A headbutt cuts Christian off on top though and the Flux Capacitor connects for two. Christian gets caught in the ropes but manages to snap Kazarian’s neck across the top. Now the frog splash connects for two but Christian has to flip out of the crossface chickening. Kazarian goes shoulder first into the post and now the Killswitch can connect for the pin at 16:33.

Rating: C. That’s being as generous as I can as these guys looked rather old for the most part. They still moved around well enough, but there was about ninety years of age in the ring. Christian as a main eventer is not the most appealing idea in the world for more than a few reasons and this didn’t do him any favors. Not bad, but it was far from inspiring.

Sting and Darby Allin didn’t like what Matt Hardy did to Allin last week. Allin says that Matt’s money doesn’t mean anything to him.

Here’s what’s coming tonight.

Jade Cargill knows she is special and there is nothing Red Velvet can do to stop her.

Cody Rhodes vs. QT Marshall

Unsanctioned exhibition with Arn Anderson refereeing and all kinds of Nightmare Family members at ringside. Feeling out process to start with Cody armdragging him into an armbar. Marshall gets a bit more aggressive to take him down by the wristlock but Cody nips up to his feet.

Another takedown puts Marshall on the mat but Cody won’t stomp him. Instead Cody stays on the arm and we take a break. Back with Cody hitting a slam but not being willing to put on the Figure Four. Marshall misses a crossbody and crashes out to the floor, so Cody holds the ropes open for him. Back in and Marshall decks Arn for the no contest at 7:35.

Rating: C-. Kind of slow and dull, but that was the point of the match. Marshall decking Arn was a surprise, but then two seconds pass and you realize that it’s QT Marshall and the interest goes away. At least they had a bit of a clever way out of the match, even if the angle doesn’t quite have my interest.

Post match Marshall looks distraught at what he did but Aaron Solow, Anthony Ogogo and Nick Conorado (of Marshall’s Nightmare Factory wrestling school) come in and beat down the Nightmare Family. Lee Johnson is powerbombed over the ropes and onto the ramp and Dustin Rhodes is piledriven onto the steps. Ogogo, the Olympic boxer, punches Cody down and Marshall loads up a Conchairto on the steps. Red Velvet runs in for the save and screams a lot. Did we really need another heel group?

Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky are ready to take over.

Post break Red Velvet says she had to protect her partner….and gets taken out by Jade Cagrill.

Jon Moxley can’t get the sound of Eddie Kingston’s ankle being snapped by the Good Brothers. Then you have the Young Bucks, who can’t decided if they want to fight or not. He has the barbed wire scars which make him all itchy and all of this stuff ticks him off. Tonight he has Cesar Bononi, who has a lot of talent and could make some money, but not if Moxley kills him first.

Cesar Bononi vs. Jon Moxley

Bononi runs him over to start but Moxley is right back to work on the leg. Moxley cranks the leg back but Bononi pops up with a suplex for two. We take a break (In THIS match?) and come back with Bononi hitting a running knee in the corner, only to have a knee hit the turnbuckle. Moxley snaps off a German suplex and there’s a superplex to take him down again. Bononi’s partner JD Drake offers a distraction and breaks up the Paradigm Shift, but Moxley grabs the rear naked choke for the tap at 8:00.

Rating: C-. This is where AEW could do with learning how to shorten matches. I know they can do it, but it would be nice to see it happen a bit more often. Bononi is a big guy who hasn’t done anything in AEW, so why is he going eight minutes with a former World Champion? The match wasn’t terrible, but it was longer than it needed to be.

Team Taz has another meeting where Ricky Starks talks about having a great time on Dark. They are a team, but Brian Cage doesn’t seem convinced.

MJF has brought in an interior designer to decorate the Pinnacle’s room….but the Inner Circle is in the bathroom. The big brawl is on, with Sammy Guevara slamming a door on Shawn Spears’ head. Wardlow gets Rock Bottomed through the massage table and Dax Harwood is busted open. Jericho puts MJF’s head into a toilet and then through a Pepsi refrigerator. Jericho declares this their dressing room and puts the Inner Circle’s sign back up. The Inner Circle popping up behind the door was great.

Don Callis comes up to the Young Bucks. Nick doesn’t want to hear it and leaves, so Callis talks to Matt about everything Kenny Omega sacrificed for AEW. Callis wants Matt to get fired up and finally mentions the Bucks’ dad. A slap to the face wakes Matt up but he lets Callis go, with Callis calling him pathetic.

Kenny Omega/Good Brothers vs. Lucha Bros/Laredo Kid

The Lucha Bros say they want the Tag Team Titles and Don Callis is on commentary. They starts fast with a triple superkick getting two on Omega and the big triple dive over the top to the floor. We settle down to Kid striking away on Omega but he gets in a shot of his own and hands it off to Gallows.

The rights and lefts in the corner rock Kid and the triple teaming is on. We take a break and come back with Kid getting over for the tag to Penta so house can be cleaned. A middle rope moonsault into a top rope double stomp into a Swanton crushes Anderson and some running shots in the corner make it worse.

Everything breaks down again and Anderson hits a spinebuster for two on Fenix with Kid having to make the save. The V Trigger gives Omega two on Kid but he escapes the One Winged Angel. An enziguri into a Michinoku Driver gets two on Omega but he’s back with another V Trigger. The One Winged Angel finishes Kid at 14:20.

Rating: B-. Not bad while it lasted, with more of the same dives and flips that you might have expected. Omega might not be the most interesting promo, but he can certain wrestle the fast paced style once the match actually starts. I’m still not wild on the Good Brothers, but dang the Lucha Bros know how to do this style as well as anyone going right now.

Post match here is Jon Moxley, followed by the Young Bucks, for the big staredown.

Britt Baker and Rebel laugh about Thunder Rosa not getting credit for the big win because the match was unsanctioned.

Nyla Rose/Bunny vs. Tay Conti/Hikaru Shida

Matt Hardy and Vickie Guerrero are here with Nyla and Bunny. Before the match, Matt promises Bunny won’t be left out of the title scene any longer. Oh and starting tomorrow, he gets ALL of his money again. Shida runs Bunny over to start, only to get sent outside. That means Rose can squash Shida on the floor and we take a break.

Back with Shida avoiding a charge in the corner and handing it off to Conti for a series of judo throws to Bunny. A running knee in the corner sets up a running knee in the corner, sending Bunny outside. Everything breaks down with the Dark Order getting into it with Matt and company on the floor. That leaves Bunny to take the TayKO for two with Rose making the save. Vickie offers a distraction and Bunny hits Tay with a kendo stick, setting up Down The Rabbit Hole for the pin at 7:01.

Rating: C. Kind of a mess here, but also kind of a fun mess and I’ll certainly take that. I’m really trying to wrap my head around Conti and the Bunny being the next challengers for the Women’s Title, though anything is better than Shida vs. Rose again. Bunny picking up a win should do her some good, but I’m not sure if she is going to be seen as a viable threat to many people.

Here’s what’s coming next week, including Jurassic Express vs. Bear Country in a match sponsored by Kong vs. Godzilla.

Jurassic Express are ready to show Bear Country who is on top of the food chain, but Marko Stunt has a Kong tattoo.

Chuck Taylor/Orange Cassidy vs. Kip Sabian/Miro

This is Arcade Anarchy, meaning there are video games all around the ring. They start fast with Cassidy sending Kip into Whack A Mole. Miro slams Cassidy on the floor and sends him into the same thing, including a shot with the mallet. A barricade is moved around but Miro fights out of a double suplex through said barricade. Instead, Taylor is suplexed onto the steel instead and Miro grabs a chair from the prize table (cost of 20,000 tickets) to unload on Cassidy.

Taylor makes the save and it’s time for more prizes, in the form of a trashcan lid and kendo stick. The beatdown puts Miro in trouble and a barricade shot makes it worse. More prizes are turned on top of Miro and now let’s throw Whack A Mole in there for two, with Sabian making a save. Back in and Taylor busts out a teddy bear full of Legos, but Sabian reverses a superplex into a sitout powerbomb for two.

Cassidy makes the save and hits a DDT into Beach Break for two. The Orange Punch connects but Penelope Ford pulls the referee out. There’s a low blow for Cassidy and Ford loads up a belt….but Kris Stadtlander (oh dang I had forgotten about her) pops out of the alien claw machine. Kris beats the fire out of her and hits a Falcon Arrow off of the apron and through an air hockey table.

Miro is back up with a chair to Taylor but here is Trent’s mom Sue in the van….and Trent is back as well. Miro beats up all three Best Friends and goes after Sue but Trent makes the save. Trent spears Miro through a table and Chuck hits  the powerslam off the stage through the set for the pin at 14:30.

Rating: C+. I know this is going to sound bizarre coming from me, but I wanted MORE carnage and insanity with the games here. It’s like they kept wanting to do something with them and kept pulling back from going too far. That’s kind of a shame as they had a lot of ways to go with them, but the Stadtlander return was a very nice surprise. Now can we please, please get Miro away from this story and onto ANYTHING else?

Post match the big hug, complete with Stadtlander, ends the show.

Overall Rating: B-. I’m not sure what it was but I couldn’t get into the show this week. There was nothing overly bad here but there was nothing on here which got me overly excited. There are still too many stables and too many heels, but at least they had a fun main event and a few moments that have me interested in where things are going in the future.

Results

Christian Cage b. Frankie Kazarian – Killswitch

Cody Rhodes vs. QT Marshall went to a no contest when Marshall punched Arn Anderson

Jon Moxley b. Cesar Bononi – Rear naked choke

Kenny Omega/Good Brothers b. Laredo Kid/Lucha Bros – One Winged Angel to Kid

Nyla Rose/Bunny b. Hikaru Shida/Tay Conti – Down The Rabbit Hole to Conti

Chuck Taylor/Orange Cassidy b. Miro/Kip Sabian – Powerslam through the set to Sabian

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

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Dynamite
Date: March 24, 2021
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Jim Ross

We are coming off of last week’s incredible Britt Baker vs. Thunder Rosa war and that means this show is going to have a lot to follow. I’m not sure how they are going to be able to do that but AEW does have a nice track record with this sort of thing. If nothing else, the build towards Double Or Nothing is likely starting soon so let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Kenny Omega vs. Matt Sydal

Non-title with Don Callis on commentary. Omega works on the arm to start and takes him down into a top wristlock. Sydal’s flip is taken down but he’s right back up with a headscissors out to the floor. Back in and Sydal starts working on the shoulder but Sydal takes him down in the corner for a running knee. Another headscissors out of the corner puts Omega down, only to have him pop back up with a heck of a clothesline.

Omega slaps him in the back but Sydal is back up with some spinning kicks to the head. Sydal snaps off a middle rope hurricanrana into a fisherman’s buster for two. Back up and Sydal sits him on the top but Omega slides through the legs to avoid a super hurricanrana (that’s a new one and a sweet counter), sending Sydal crashing to the mat. There’s the snapdragon on Sydal but he kicks Omega in the face again, setting up kind of a snap Angle Slam for two more.

Omega is right back with the V Trigger for two and the kickout offers some frustration. Sydal grabs a poisonrana and goes up, only to get crotched before the shooting star press can launch. Another V Trigger looks to set up the One Winged Angel but Sydal reverses into a victory roll for a VERY close two. Omega V Triggers him again into the One Winged Angel for the pin at 11:29.

Rating: B. I’m really not big on Sydal but these two had a rather hard hitting back and forth match. As usual, Omega is far better when he is in the ring than on the microphone so this was a good bit better than I was expecting. Omega gave him a lot here and that near fall on the victory roll was outstanding. Awesome opener here and I had a good bit of fun with it.

John Silver is ready to win the TNT Title and the Dark Order helps fire him up. Hangman Page says the team will love Silver no matter what.

Hangman Page vs. Cezar Bononi

Bononi blocks a whip into the corner but misses a big boot, allowing Page to kick him in the face instead. A slingshot dive over the top is caught though and Bononi drops him onto the apron. Back in and Page slugs away but gets sent hard into the corner. That earns Bononi a t-bone suplex into the Buckshot Lariat for the pin at 2:19.

Lance Archer thinks everyone who has ever stepped in the ring has looked up to Sting. I’m sure Brisco is at the top of the list. Archer holds up Sting’s bat and says it makes people respect him now. People are going to remember his name and it is going to be showtime.

We look back at last week’s Thunder Rosa vs. Britt Baker war, with Rosa thanking everyone for believing in her.

Britt Baker (complete with a shirt showing her bleeding face last week) is here with Tony Schiavone and can’t believe that she isn’t getting more applause. She calls the people more disrespectful than Thunder Rosa because Baker is the reason she will be remembered. Then Rosa had the audacity to say that she put the women on the map? If that’s true, then why are so many people talking about Baker?

Mick Foley gave Baker a thumbs up, but she became a hardcore legend in one night instead of twenty years. Tony Khan is looking for every legend when the real legend is right here under his nose. She put AEW on the map last week and those three letters come second to DMD. Baker brought the intensity here. Now do something with it!

Christian Cage is in the back with the Varsity Blondes and Dante Martin when Frankie Kazarian comes up to say Christian hasn’t even said hello to an old friend. They’re cool, but Kazarian wants to know when Christian is going to start working. How about next week? Seems like we have a deal, though Kazarian tells him to check out his match on Monday, since Christian doesn’t do anything that night.

Pinnacle vs. Varsity Blondes/Dante Martin

That would be FTR/Shawn Spears for Pinnacle with MJF, Tully Blanchard and Wardlow at ringside. Spears and Garrison shove each other around to start before Garrison starts working on the arm. Martin gets in some cranking of his own and it’s quickly off to Pillman, who beats up both Spears and Harwood at the same time. Everything breaks down in a hurry with the Pinnacle being sent outside. Wardlow gets in the way of the big flip dives and we take a break. Back with Martin taking a brainbuster and Spears hitting the C4 for the pin at 6:43.

Rating: C. They sped through this one and about half of it was spent in the break. The good thing here was the fact that Pinnacle won, even if they gave up a good bit at the start. You don’t need to do anything more than what makes sense and Pinnacle winning until (maybe) they run into the Inner Circle is the right call. The team looks good and then they won, so that’s all that matters.

Post match Wardlow beats up Pillman a bit more. Wheeler says he doesn’t have any family at home so these men here are his family. Harwood calls out Santana and Ortiz because if you want to measure yourselves in wrestling, come face these men. MJF says the only thing Jericho is going to break is the next chair he sits in. Tony Schiavone tries to get involved but is glared down. MJF has a gift for them next week.

Taz insists his team has no problem and Brian Cage has apologized for praising Sting last week. The team is ready for anything.

QT Marshall talks about the perks of being part of the Nightmare Family. Cody Rhodes taught him the value of putting in the work but Tony Khan is the only person to put in more work than him. Sure there have been some perks, but what about having to make sure Cody’s coffee is hot? Cody is going to go back to the hotel with his wife but Marshall is going to be at work while his wife sleeps alone. The only way to fix this is to have an exhibition with Cody next week.

Now Marshall knows he can’t make Cody do this….but here’s Cody, with the headset on and his arm in a sling, to say the match can be on with Arn Anderson as the referee. Cody promises not to hurt Marshall next week. If he gets the Figure Four on, he’ll let it go or if he hits Cross Rhodes, he won’t follow through with it. Marshall might be his best friend, and they will have this match friend to friend. That’s enough for a handshake and Marshall seems ok. I think you know where this is going and there is nothing wrong with that.

Laredo Kid/Lucha Bros vs. Young Bucks/Brandon Cutler

Nick and Fenix trade wristlocks to start things off with Fenix spinning around into a cradle for two. Nick does the same thing and it’s a staredown, followed by a double tag off to Matt and Penta. A crucifix gets two on Matt but he grabs the Sharpshooter, sending Penta bailing over to the rope. Penta cranks on both arms for two and it’s another staredown. Laredo and Cutler come in with Kid hitting him in the jaw to start. A headscissors sends Cutler out to the floor but the Bucks break up the dive attempt.

Back in and Fenix takes the Bucks down with a very spinning springboard double wristdrag, followed by the springboard flip dive from Penta. Cutler adds his own springboard flip dive and there’s the moonsault from Kid. We settle down to a powerbomb/Sliced Bread combination for two on Kid and we take a break. Back with a double tag bringing in Matt and Penta as everything breaks down. A pop up splash gives Fenix two on Matt, followed by Kid’s springboard hurricanrana on Matt.

Penta adds a double stomp and Fenix’s springboard Swanton gets two with Nick and Cutler making a double save. Fenix superkicks Nick and then nails a spinning kick to the head. A heck of a clothesline drops Fenix though and everyone is down. It’s back to Kid, whose tornado DDT is countered into Matt’s rolling northern lights suplexes.

The Bucks start the double teaming on Kid and Risky Business (Do they have nothing better to do than think up names for moves all day?) gets two. Everything breaks down again and Fenix starts cleaning house, only to get caught in a non-springboard Indytaker. Nick hits a springboard corkscrew dive to the floor and Matt hits a SCARY DDT to plant Fenix hard on the apron. Kid’s Spanish Fly finishes Cutler at 11:28.

Rating: B. Yeah what else were you expecting here? They did all of their flips and dives and that’s why you put them in there. Kid pinning Cutler is the right call as you keep the big teams ready for whenever Pac is back for the Tag Team Title match. These matches don’t exactly stand out a lot of the time, but what they did here was rather entertaining and that is exactly the idea.

Post match here’s Kenny Omega to jump Kid with the microphone and then hit him with the microphone. Omega remembers the first ever Fyter Fest with Kid involved before shifting to the Bucks. He remembers being there three years ago with the Bucks, who were just like his family.

Omega didn’t take the greener pastures of New York because he went with the Bucks to AEW. Then they chose Brandon Cutler instead of Omega, and yeah Don Callis can be abrasive, but Omega is giving them one more chance to throw up the Too Sweet. The Bucks walk away and leave with Cutler, who Omega shouts at on the way out. Hold on though as the Lucha Bros get up and jump Omega for the spike Fear Factor. Cue the Good Brothers for the very late save, even as Omega is bleeding from the mouth.

Jade Cargill thinks Red Velvet has made a big mistake by getting in her face. If Velvet wants to get in the ring with her, she’s getting in the ring with the bad b****.

Cody and Brandi Rhodes are getting a reality show.

Eddie Kingston knows the Good Brothers broke something in his leg but he has had things broken before. Kingston gets fired up but Jon Moxley tells him to sit down because there is going to be war on the streets of Jacksonville. Moxley doesn’t play games but he owes the Young Bucks one from last week. They’re playing with live rounds so if they are willing to be in the game, they better be willing to get their hands dirty.

Tay Conti vs. Nyla Rose

Rematch from the #1 contenders tournament. Rose knocks her down with straight power to start but Conti grabs something like an Octopus which falls down to the mat. Some judo throws take Rose down again as Conti is far more aggressive than usual here. The running knee in the corner is countered into a spinebuster for two and Rose drapes her over the top rope. The top rope knee to the head gives Rose two and we take a break.

Back with Rose grabbing a backbreaker for two but Conti is back up with some strikes in the corner. Some running knees knock Rose silly and Conti hits her own flying knee to the side of the head for a rather close two. Rose gets in a shot of her own but can’t hit the Beast Bomb. The Samoan drop is countered again and Conti hits another running knee. Then another running knee sets up the DDTi (hammerlock DDT) finishes Rose at 9:27.

Rating: C. That’s the kind of thing that they need to do at some point as the division needs some fresh names at the top. Conti is someone with all kinds of potential and maybe she could be one of the next bit things in the division. Just maybe cut down a bit on the running knees. Rose is going to be fine based on her size and power, but you can only beat her so many times before it stops meaning very much.

Post match Vickie Guerrero breaks up the celebration so Rose can go after Conti. Hikaru Shida comes in for the save but Bunny comes out to help beat Shida and Conti down. Matt Hardy and company come up to say the #1 contenders tournament was a sham because Bunny wasn’t in it.

Video on Kip Sabian/Miro vs. Chuck Taylor/Orange Cassidy, who are going to have a match with video games around the ring….and it’s called Arcade Anarchy.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

Scorpio Sky is ready to show us his new side. People need to stop pretending he isn’t a dangerous man. He’s ready to take out Mike Sydal on next week’s Dark: Elevation.

TNT Title: Darby Allin vs. John Silver

Allin is defending. They shove each other around to start and Silver gets the better of a test of strength. Allin reverses into a headlock but Silver is back up with a running elbow to send Allin crashing out to the floor. Back in and Silver tosses him around, including a heck of a toss into the corner. There’s a gorilla press toss into the corner and Silver hits a running knee for two.

We take a break and come back with Silver missing a charge to go over the barricade (possibly dislocating his shoulder in the process). Silver barely makes it back over the barricade so Allin hits a suicide dive….onto Alex Reynolds. The Dark Order surrounds Allin but here is Sting to stare them off. Back in and Silver kicks away at Allin but the German suplex is countered into la majistral for two.

The flipping Stunner is countered into a rear naked choke until Allin flips back into a cradle for two. Allin grabs something like a DDT for two but gets sent outside again. Back in again and Silver fires off kicks to the chest until Allin blocks a bit one. Allin strikes away in the corner but Silver reverses into some beatings of his own. A victory roll gives Silver two and he pump kicks Allin into the corner.

Allin knocks Silver off the top but Coffin Drops onto the Dark Order instead of going after Silver. Back in and Silver hits a kick to the head to catch Allin on top. A super torture rack toss powerbomb gets two, only because Silver hooks the leg into the ropes. Silver loads up the sitout powerbomb but Allin reverses into a Code Red to retain at 14:43.

Rating: B. Silver really is someone who might never be the World Champion but you can feel the energy that he puts into everything that he does. Having him out there working so hard is great to see and while there was not the most drama here, it was nice to see him getting such a showcase. Allin continues to be one of the best things going in AEW and is one of their best home grown stars in the company. Good stuff here, and that shouldn’t be surprising.

Post match Sting and Allin show respect to Silver but Matt Hardy comes in to take out Allin. The Dark Order comes in but here is the Matt Hardy Family Office. Allin hits a big dive onto Hardy to end the show.

Overall Rating: A-. This show had a little bit of everything, with storyline advancement, some very good matches up and down the card, and a high energy throughout the night. I liked this one quite a bit and it is great to see the company following up on last week’s incredible main event. Awesome show here and the kind of show that makes AEW so much fun to watch.

Results

Kenny Omega b. Matt Sydal – One Winged Angel

Hangman Page b. Cezar Bononi – Buckshot Lariat

Pinnacle b. Varsity Blondes/Dante Martin – C4 to Martin

Laredo Kid/Lucha Bros b. Young Bucks/Brandon Cutler – Spanish Fly to Cutler

Tay Conti b. Nyla Rose – DDTi

Darby Allin b. John Silver – Code Red

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

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AND

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Fusion #123
Date: March 3, 2021
Location: Gilt Nightclub, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Jared St. Laurent, Rich Bocchini

This company is on the clock as I’m giving them two more shows to do something interesting to keep me around. I haven’t been impressed by the shows since their return and there comes a point where it’s too much. Hopefully they can shake it up a bit, but otherwise I’m out. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of Contra vs. Injustice to set up Jacob Fatu’s World Title defense against Jordan Oliver.

Opening sequence.

Tag Team Titles: Los Parks vs. Contra

Simon Gotch and Daivari are challenging for Contra and Salina de la Renta is here with the champs. Daivari takes Hijo down into an armbar but everything breaks down in a hurry. With Park and Gotch cleared out, Daivari starts working on Hijo’s knee to take over. Back up and Hijo takes Daivari down by the arm, earning another kick from Gotch. Daivari is back on the leg but Hijo kicks him back.

With Daivari sitting down on the mat, Hijo wraps his legs around his arms (picture the start of a Code Red if Daivari was standing) and then bends back to put Daivari’s head near the mat between his own legs (it’s hard to describe but it looks great), which again draws Gotch in for the save. Park comes in for the brawl but this time Daivari beats on Hijo as everything breaks down, much to Salina’s annoyance.

Back in and Hijo hits a double missile dropkick to put Contra on the floor. That sets up the stereo dives to the floor, followed by a top rope hurricanrana to send Gotch outside. Everything breaks down again with Hijo missing another missile dropkick. Park gets stomped in the corner so here’s LA Park Jr….who is cut off by the referee. That lets Injustice come in to cut off Daivari, meaning Park can hit the spear to retain at 8:21.

Rating: C. The Parks are a weird team as they aren’t much to see in the ring but they are hilarious on the mic and Park has great charisma so it is easy to like them. This part of Contra isn’t exactly interesting, though Daivari has been pretty good since he arrived. Not a good match, but any champion is going to have to deal with Contra at some point.

The Von Erichs talk about how much they want to get their hands on Tom Lawlor. Or maybe a hammerhead shark can do it.

Video on Jordan Oliver.

Salina de la Renta, who has changed outfits in the last five minutes, says she is addicted to gold and suggests that Alicia Atout is rather friendly with Richard Holliday. Anyway, Salina wants the Openweight Title.

Parrow vs. Dugan

Parrow is a monster who was here in the early days. Dugan gets thrown around to start, including a fall away slam into the corner. Parrow hits a chokeslam into a sitout powerbomb (the Murder Bomb) for the pin at 1:37. Total squash and I’ve always liked Parrow so this was a nice surprise.

Post match Parrow says he wants Mil Muertes.

Tom Lawlor is furious at the Von Erichs, who threw him through the window of a truck and cut his back open. He wants either of them or ACH….to face Kevin Ku!

We look back at TJP turning on Bu Ku Dao and not caring much about it.

Dao wants TJP.

Azteca Underground ad.

Jordan Oliver is ready to show that he is a heavyweight, even though Jacob Fatu is going to f*** (uncensored here) him up.

Calvin Tankman vs. Laredo Kid

The much bigger Tankman shoves him down to start but Kid snaps off a headscissors. You don’t do that to Tankman though and he hits a heck of a running shoulder. A toss lets Tankman get two so Kid bails out to the floor. Back in and a suplex gives Tankman two as this is one sided so far. Kid gets his feet up in the corner to block some charges and Tankman is knocked to the floor. That means a big dive to take him down in a heap and Kid gets two back inside. A top rope elbow gets the same on Tankman, who is right back with a heck of a powerbomb. Kid pops back up with a top rope elbow to the jaw but Tankman blasts him in the back of the head. The Tankman Driver finishes Kid at 6:44.

Rating: C+. Tankman is a guy who has some potential but there is something missing from him so far. It might be experience, but at the moment he feels like a few people in the moving big men category. At the same time you have Kid, who went from being in the main event of a major show a few weeks ago to barely surviving against Tankman for a few minutes. That’s doing a good job of making Tankman look good, but do you want to burn what you have in a name like Kid?

Tankman likes the world finding out who he is and wants the World Title.

We look at some of the international attention Lio Rush is receiving for becoming AAA Cruiserweight Champion.

Alicia Atout comes into the men’s locker room to find out why she is being accused of sleeping with Holliday. The Dynasty doesn’t care so she leaves, with Hammerstone accusing Holliday of having a thing for her. He denies it rather quickly, with Bocchini being suspicious.

We look at Injustice taking Jacob Fatu down a few weeks ago.

Contra promises to destroy Injustice for playing in deep water where they don’t belong.

Here are the Top 5 Tag Teams:

5. Dirty Blonds

4. Injustice

3. Violence Is Forever

2. Contra

1. Von Erichs

We look at Gino Medina beating Gringo Loco a few weeks ago and getting in another brawl after the match.

Medina says Loco isn’t a real luchador and he will expose Loco soon.

We look at the Alicia Atout/Richard Holliday stuff again.

Next week: Alex Hammerstone vs. LA Park for the Openweight Title and in two weeks, Parrow vs. Mil Muertes.

MLW World Title: Jacob Fatu vs. Jordan Oliver

Oliver is challenging and commentary isn’t exactly high on his chances. Myron Reed is here with Oliver and Daivari is here with Fatu. Oliver isn’t waiting and dives over the top onto Fatu, followed by a quick posting as we get the bell. Another suicide dive is countered into a Samoan drop to plant Oliver hard and they head inside. Fatu runs him over with an elbow and drops some elbows to crush Oliver’s chest again. Oliver gets in a chop block to the posing Fatu but gets sent hard into the corner for his efforts.

A few shots to Fatu’s head just earn Oliver a superkick so he grabs Fatu’s leg and hopes for the best. Fatu misses a sitdown splash and Reed grabs Fatu’s leg so Oliver can hit a superkick. Another dive is countered into a drop onto the apron and the video starts glitching a bit. Fatu loads up the moonsault but his knee gives out, allowing Oliver to German suplex him off the top. The top rope cutter and a superkick rock Fatu but he’s right back with a pop up Samoan drop. The moonsault finishes Oliver at 9:08.

Rating: C. Oliver was trying here but there is a limit on how far you can go in this situation. They did about as well as they could have and I’ll take what I can get in this kind of a match. Reed would have been a more believable challenger, but I’m not sure that was the point of this one. This wasn’t awful, but Fatu needs a serious challenger soon.

Post match the Sentai Death Squad runs in to beat down Reed and put Injustice in the body bags. Calvin Tankman comes out for the save and Pounces Fatu to the floor to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. Well, it was more interesting, and that ending has me a little curious. I’m not sure if this is going to be enough to keep me around, but this was a nice step up over some previous shows. Above all else, focusing on the World Title and making Fatu seem like he might be in a little danger for once was a welcome change. Now have a good follow up to this and they might be on their way out of their funk.

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

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TripleMania XXVIII
Date: December 12, 2020
Location: Arena Ciudad de Mexico
Commentators: Hugo Savinovich, Jose Manuel Guillen

I’m going to do something that has worked for me oh so well before and watch a show with commentary in a language I barely understand. This is the biggest show of the year for AAA and one of the biggest throughout the year in all of Mexico. That is the extent of what I know about what is coming on this show so let’s get to it.

In case it isn’t clear, I’m coming into this completely blind and only have a tiny bit of Spanish comprehension so I’m going to be completely lost on most of this.

We open with commentary being rather excited and throwing us to some of the family of company founder Antonio Pena and later boss Joaquin Roldan.

Commentary actually switches to English for a bit, giving me the slightest hint of what’s going on for a second.

Poder del Norte vs. Dinastia/Maximo/Mr. Iguana

Poder (Tito Santana (not that one)/Carta Brava Jr./Mocho Cota Jr.) seems to be some kind of paramilitary group. The other team is a weird masked man (Iguana, who crawled to the ring), a mini (Dinastia) and an exotico (Maximo), and thankfully the intros have shots of them with their names superimposed, making me feel like I’m in a bad sitcom opening (assuming a luchador sitcom would be bad that is).

Poder cleans house to start but get dropkicked out to the floor, setting up the double dive from Iguana and Dinastia. We settle down to Maximo hiptossing Cota to start and hitting a monkey flip as commentary switches to English to explain the tagging system. Cota is sent outside for a moonsault from Maximo and it’s off to Dinastia to headscissor Brava. Another armdrag puts Brava on the floor so Santana comes in to deck Dinastia.

Some flips across the ring get Dinastia out of trouble though and it’s Iguana coming in to flip everyone over and whip Santana with….something. Iguana is pulled outside for a crash though and Dinastia is knocked down, leaving Maximo all alone. A metal sheet shot drops Maximo and then Dinastia, leaving Iguana to get chopped against the ropes. Dinastia gets stomped down as well but Iguana saves Maximo from some kind of a triple team. Iguana hits the big dive and Maximo adds one of his own as everyone goes to the floor.

Back in and Poder has to kick out of a triple cover, with the camera cuts making it kind of jarring. Poder gets their own triple near falls, followed by Carta hitting an Air Raid Crash to drive Dinastia onto the apron. Maximo is put through a table, leaving Dinastia to snap off a hurricanrana to Santana. Iguana strikes away with a belt but gets triplebombed, followed by a series of running shots in the corner. A frog splash finishes Iguana at 11:00.

Rating: C. In what is likely to be a theme on this show, I’m not sure what to make of the match from a storyline perspective but it was a fun way to use eleven minutes. Poder feels like a low rent Shield knockoff and as a low rent Shield knockoff, I can think of worse options. The other trio felt pretty thrown together so if they were out there to make Poder look good, it worked out well enough.

The ring is disinfected after the match.

Iguana is still down and seems to have been injured. That’s never good, but neither is someone just picking him up to carry him out instead of using a stretcher.

Someone named El Charro Gonzalez dances to what sounds like an upbeat version of Thriller.

That would seem to be accurate as we see the original La Parka (who used Thriller as his theme music) inducted into the Hall of Fame. I believe the owners of the company talk about what he meant to AAA. Parka was a big deal for the company so this is a little more special than it may seem.

Video on La Parka, featuring a bunch of people doing his dance.

Commentary talks about La Parka.

Tag Team Titles: Lucha Bros vs. Jinetes del Aire vs. Los Mercenarios

That would be Pentagon/Rey Fenix (defending) vs. Myzteziz Jr./Octagon Jr. (the latter of whom has a title of his own) vs. Texano Jr./Rey Escorpion. I’ve seen Jinetes before and they were pretty good. There are no tags to start, just in case I wanted to have a chance to know what is going on. Jintes clear the ring to start and hit some dives but Los Mercenarios hit their own dives.

Back in and the camera starts cutting around so fast I can barely keep track of how Fenix is getting beaten up. It’s Escorpion getting double teamed by Jintes, including a 450 for two with the Bros making the save. Now it’s the Bros beating up Octagon, including Penta suplexing Fenix into him in the corner. Los Mercenarios make the save this time and it’s time to head outside again for the next series of dives.

Myzteziz hits a big shooting star from the top onto the pile and we settle down to Octagon kicking Fenix in the head, setting up a springboard cutter for two. Not to be outdone, Fenix moonsaults over him into a German suplex (cool) but it’s Escorpion and Myzteziz coming in to take their places. They both head to the middle rope with Escorpion snapping off a hurricanrana.

That leaves Texano and Penta to chop it out with Texano’s leg lariat getting two. The referee bothers doing something to calm things down for a change, allowing Escorpion to get in a baseball bat (wrapped in chains and barbed wire) shot to Penta’s leg. Thankfully that’s enough to get Penta taken to the back so it’s time for Texano to go after Fenix’s mask, freaking commentary out. The mask is taken off but Myzteziz springboards in with a double dropkick to Los Mercenarios.

Fenix gets the mask back on but it’s a double powerbomb to put Jintes down. The camera shot goes wide and it’s Fenix coming back in to start cleaning house, including sending Los Mercenarios out to the floor. Fenix and Octagon hit stereo flip dives to the floor, leaving Myzteziz to hit Fenix with a shooting star press. Escorpion pulls the referee out at two but here’s Penta for the save. A superkick, with the bad leg, knocks Myzteziz down, setting up the spike Fear Factor to retain the titles at 14:24.

Rating: B. Yep that’s what you were expecting from this one and that worked out rather well. This was all about flying all over the place with all three teams doing their high flying thing. Penta coming back in at the end was a nice story to tell and they let Fenix showcase himself, which is always a good thing. Awesome high flying match here, which is what you want from lucha libre.

Post match Black Taurus comes in to help Los Mercenarios with a big beatdown but El Hijo del Vikingo makes the save. A big twisting hurricanrana sends Taurus off the top and onto the pile. I’ve liked Vikingo and Taurus when I’ve seen them so cool segment.

Commentary talks for a bit.

Two guys named Daniel Khosravi and Orson Padilla (they might be fans) are in front of two masked female wrestlers, who chop the one standing behind them.

Two female interviewers, Barby Villela and Ana Carbajal, talk about Facebook and the Lucha Bros.

Copa Triplemania Femenil: Gauntlet Match

This is the first ever female version of an annual competition under Royal Rumble rules (one minute intervals, pinfall/submission/over the top eliminations). Lady Maravilla (who has a title, which I believe is half of the Mixed Tag Team Titles) is in at #1 and Lady Shani in at #2. The referee gets a special introduction because lucha libre is rather different than American. A lot of flipping ensues to start and they trade one counts (so it’s more than just over the top eliminations) until Shani knees her into the corner.

La Hiedra is in at #3 and gets hit in the face by Shani. A German suplex sends Shani flying though and the double teaming is on until Faby Apache is in at #4. Apache starts cleaning house and Maravilla kicks Hiedra by mistake. Mamba, who I believe is an exotico, is in at #5 and it’s time to gang up on Apache.

It’s not enough to get rid of her though and here’s Hades (who seems to be cat themed) in at #6. She goes after Apache as well before hurricanranaing anyone she can. With everyone brawling again, it’s Chik Tormenta in at #7 to unload on Hades and get rid of her in a hurry. It’s back to going after but not eliminating Apache until Big Mami (I think you get the idea) is in at #8. The house cleaning doesn’t go at as fast of a speed as usual but Mami does crush Shani in the corner.

A double clothesline drops Apache and Hiedra at the same time as Pimpinela Escarlata (a legend) is in at #9 to complete the field. Escarlata cleans house until a double clothesline puts him down. A double armdrag gets him right back into things and a rope walk armdrag/headscissors puts Shani and Hiedra down again. The battle of the exoticos is broken up and a few people get together to get rid of Mami.

Escarlata gets sent to the apron, where he kisses Mamba, only to get knocked out in a hurry. Mamba is out as well as the ring is clearing out in a hurry. The referee grabs Apache but Tormenta dropkicks him down by mistake. Tormenta gets kicked out and it’s time for a parade of running shots to the face. Hiedra and Maravilla double team Apache and, with help from the referee, manage to get rid of her. That leaves us with Hiedra, Maravilla and Shani with Shani sunset flipping Maravilla.

Hiedra tries….I’m not sure if it’s a double pin or double submission but it doesn’t work either way. They chop it out until Hiedra misses a charge and gets dumped out. That leaves Shani vs. Maravilla in a regular singles match with pin or submission only. Maravilla takes her down into something like an STF but Shani is up in a hurry with a rolling sunset flip for two. Something like a tornado DDT doesn’t work for Maravilla but an enziguri connects for her own near fall.

Maravilla goes up top but it’s an Iconoclasm for two more. There’s a northern lights suplex for the same (with a pretty fast count) so Shani grabs a modified Tequila Sunrise. That lasts all of three seconds before it’s a double underhook pull to keep Maravilla in trouble. Shani ties up one leg and one arm and kind of sits back to pull on both at once, which is enough for the tap and the cup at 23:18.

Rating: D. This didn’t exactly work and I can’t say I’m surprised. It was a bunch of people having some not so quick eliminations, which made for a rather long and dull match. I’m not sure how much difference it would make knowing the stories here, as a handful of the women felt like they were anything serious. Pretty bad stuff here and it was the frist serious miss on the show.

Post match Hiedra runs in to beat on Shani and some unnamed woman joins Hiedra and Maravilla to beat her down. Hades makes a failed save attempt and the evil trio stands tall until Faby Apache makes the real save. Shani does get the cup.

Two guys (Aczino/Lobo Estepario) rap about AAA but and Psycho Clown joins in.

Commentary is rather confused.

Psycho Circus vs. LA Park/Hijo de LA Park/Blue Demon Jr.

The Circus is Psycho Clown/Monster Clown/Murder Clown and Hijo has an unidentified title with him. It’s a brawl to start (duh) and the camera goes wide as Hijo takes Psycho down on the floor. Everyone brawls on the outside until Hijo throws in both Monster and a traffic barrel. There’s a trashcan shot to put Psycho down and Murder is double teamed on the way in.

A double suplex puts Monster through a trashcan but Murder pulls Hijo to the floor to break up a dive. The other Clowns hit stereo dropkicks through the ropes to take Hijo down and a powerslam/spinebuster get two each on Park and Demon. Park gets elbowed down and there’s a triple splash to make it worse. It’s Demon’s turn to take a beating with a backbreaker into a legdrop putting him down. Hijo tries to dive in but gets caught in a swinging Rock Bottom.

Park comes back but gets dropkicked down in a hurry. Demon and Hijo have a bit more success by getting rid of Monster and Murder, leaving Psycho to get double teamed. A slam sets up a top rope splash but Demon and Hijo get in a fight over who gets the pin. Park comes back in to try and break it up, only to get dropkicked outside. The Circus hits some dives but Hijo hits a running Canadian Destroyer for two on Psycho. Not that it matters as Psycho is back up with a super Spanish Fly to pin Hijo at 11:44.

Rating: B-. While this one was a bit obvious, it’s a good sign when you can figure out the story they are telling in a match despite having no idea what is going on. The match was more wild action (probably better than having some of these guys trying for a regular match) and it worked well enough, but some of these things are starting to run together. Park vs. Demon is probably coming at a major show and that should work out well enough.

We get a live performance from a band who isn’t named on screen. Commentary tells us that they are called Molotov. Noted.

Terror Purpura/Venenoide vs. Aracno/Leyenda Americana

So this is one of the cooler nerdy moments in recent memory as Marvel (yes that Marvel) has decided to have some of their characters as wrestlers in AAA (I don’t get it either), meaning this is Thanos (Brian Cage)/Venom (Black Taurus) vs. Spider-Man (Lio Rush)/Daga. The costumes look decent enough (though they do have a bit of a home made feel to them), as you can tell who they are supposed to be, though aside from Cage, you wouldn’t know who is playing them.

Spider (in a hoodie) doesn’t get very far by picking up the pace and is sent into the corner. Back up and a pair of headscissors put Venom down and America comes in for a running Downward Spiral. Thonos comes in to run the ropes with America and nails him with a clothesline. That earns him an enziguri but Venom’s cheap shot lets Thanos his another clothesline to take over.

Spider comes back in to start the double team kicking but Thanos pulls him up for a gorilla press powerslam. It’s back to Venom to go for the mask before settling for a heck of a backbreaker. Commentary gets VERY excited about all of this and Thanos’ release German suplex gets two on Spider. We hit the bearhug for a bit before Spider flips out and nails a spinning enziguri.

The hot tag brings in America to strike away and house is cleaned. A brainbuster drops Venom and there’s the springboard Stunner from Spider to Thanos. The Death Valley Driver into the Final Hour gets two but America pulls Thanos out of the air for a northern lights suplex. A Venom distraction lets Thanos get in a low blow so Spider comes in to clean house. Spider goes up but gets pulled out of the air as well, setting up the Drill Claw to give Thanos the pin at 12:32.

Rating: C+. This was one of the more bizarre things I’ve seen in a bit but it was a pretty fun one too. You had some talented people in there and they got to do their thing in a rather unique setup. I’m not sure if Marvel is going to want to do this again but it was a cool idea for a one off at least, so why not? Throw in a goofy angle and you might have something here for a short term idea.

Post match the lights flicker and Captain Marvel (a woman) appears to clear the ring.

Commentary talks about the best wrestler in the world.

Lady Shani has an interview about her win.

We recap Kenny Omega vs. Laredo Kid for the AAA Mega Title. Omega wants all of the belts in the world and Kid wants to bring it back to AAA.

AAA Mega Title: Laredo Kid vs. Kenny Omega

Omega is defending and Kid’s Cruiserweight Title isn’t on the line. Hijo del Vikingo and Michael Nakazawa are the respective seconds. Omega goes for the arm to start but gets taken to the mat with Kid cranking on the leg. Back up and they fight over a wristlock but Kid bounces around in the corner, setting up a hurricanrana to the floor. The dive doesn’t get to launch so Kid goes outside with him, only to get dropped head first onto the apron.

Back in and a backbreaker gets two on Kid, meaning it’s time for the double arm crank. Kid fights out and dropkicks the knee out before backdropping Omega into a crotching on top. A springboard cutter gives Kid a rather close two and Omega rolls to the apron. Kid makes the mistake of following so Omega grabs a Death Valley Driver onto the apron for a big knockdown.

Omega sends Kid over the barricade and jumps Vikingo, which hopefully sets up his next title defense (granted in AAA that could be in six months but at least he tried). Kid is back up with a kick to Omega and a pair of dives from Kid and Vikingo take out Omega and Nakazawa. Back in and Nakazawa’s interference fails as Omega’s running flip dive takes him out by mistake, allowing Laredo to hit his own big dive.

The Phoenix splash misses though and Omega blasts him with a V Trigger. There’s the Snapdragon to drop Kid again but the One Winged Angel is countered into a poisonrana to plant Omega. Kid gets two off a 450 and it’s time to start in on Omega’s knee. The knee is fine enough to knock Kid’s springboard out of the air though and Omega drops him with a Jay Driller for two. Another V Trigger misses but Lee’s top rope hurricanrana is countered into a powerbomb.

There’s another V Trigger for two on Lee but he catches Omega on top for a northern lights superplex and another near fall. Lee gets creative with a 450 to the leg and a leglock makes Omega scream a lot. The long crawl gets Omega to the rope and he avoids another 450 to leave Kid down.

A buckle bomb into a doctor bomb gives Omega two but the One Winged Angel is countered into Rhea Ripley’s Prism Trap. That’s turned into another leglock on the mat until Omega rolls over to the rope for the break. Lee gets caught on top though and it’s a SUPER ONE WINGED ANGEL to retain the title at 23:39.

Rating: B+. These guys beat the heck out of each other and Omega felt like a star. At the same time, Lee was rather good as well, which has been the case with everything I’ve seen him in so far. If nothing else, after all of the multi-person and tag matches, it was great to see a singles match for a change. I understand that this isn’t how lucha works most of the time and there is nothing wrong with that, but it can be nice to have something different to shake up the card a bit. And Omega only hit a handful of V Triggers so it wasn’t even as repetitive.

Post match Omega isn’t interested in shaking hands.

Psycho Clown has an interview.

We get the rap video from earlier. At least I think it’s the same one from earlier.

We recap the main event of Pagano vs. Chessman in a hair vs. hair match, which was announced all the way back in March. They don’t seem to like each other.

Chessman vs. Pagano

Hardcore rules and Texano Jr. and Lady Shani are the respective seconds. They both miss a bunch of strikes to start until Chessman grabs a release German suplex. Pagano is right back with one of his own and they head outside with Pagano hitting a dropkick from the apron. There’s a suicide dive to put Chessman down again but he pulls up a metal sign to block another.

Chessman hits his own dive before they head back inside to run the ropes. Pagano dropkicks him into the corner and snaps off a hurricanrana to put Chessman on the floor. Of course that means a big dive and they’re both down outside. Back in and a rolling knee to the face gets two on Pagano, followed by a suplex through a surprise table in the corner. Pagano is right back with a running Blockbuster for two of his own but Chessman beats him down with some metal sheets.

A few more shots give Pagano a breather and he heads outside to lean a ladder against the barricade. The big flip dive only hits the ladder though and Shani goes over to check on him. Pagano is busted open so Chessman hits him in the head with another sheet for two. Chessman’s dive goes head first into a pile of chairs for his own nasty crash and he’s down again. Back in and Pagano hits White Noise but here are Los Mercanarios to beat own Pagano and Shani.

Cue Los Jinetes del Aire for the save and a bunch of dives, leaving Pagano to spear Chessman down. They head up top and Chessman drives Pagano down to the floor and through a table. Back in and Chessman tries a super hurricanrana through a table at ringside but Pagano reverses into a kind of spinebuster through it instead.

They go inside again with Pagano beating on him with the broken ladder. The moonsault with said ladder misses but Pagano drives him down for two more. The slugout is on and they fight to the floor with Chessman finding a guitar and blasting Hugo Savinovich, who comes up bleeding. They climb onto the set and it’s a super White Noise to drive Chessman into the rather full bed of a well placed truck for the pin at 23:46.

Rating: C. This felt like a wild brawl and nothing more, which doesn’t exactly feel like a reason for a main event. I know this is the kind of thing that is always going to headline Triplemania, but it didn’t quite click. You can only get so much out of hitting each other in the head with things and putting them through tables and they reached that limit pretty fast. It’s fine enough, but it doesn’t feel like the main event of the biggest show of the year.

Chessman is stretchered back to the ring for the haircut. He even throws the hair at Pagano to show some disgust.

The remaining commentator shouts a lot to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. As someone who has no idea what is going on with this show, I liked it well enough and that’s a nice feeling to have. There is enough good action on the show to make the whole thing work, but the stuff that is bad is pretty bad indeed. Maybe I would get a lot more out of it by knowing the backstories, but for the most part this did not feel all that huge. That could be due to the Coronavirus changes, though what we got was good enough. It doesn’t feel epic, but what does these days?

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