Wrestle Square TV Episode 1
Date: May 13, 2019
Location: W Arena, India
Commentators: Unknown

So this is a promotion that got in touch with me and asked me to take a look at their show. I have no idea what to expect here but given how hard WWE and TNA have tried to break into India, it makes sense for some promotions to start up there. From what I can find, this promotion has been around since 2015 but this seems to be a new show. Let’s get to it.

As usual, I have no idea what to expect coming into this.

Opening sequence, featuring some decent graphics and highlights. I’ve certainly seen worse so we’re off to a nice start.

Promoter Vinayak Sodhi welcomes us to the show and thankfully there are subtitles as his accent is a bit hard to understand. He puts over the promotion and says he’s going on a business vacation to get some new projects ready. Some contracts are brought for his signature and he says to send them to the new General Manager. Three titles are on his desk and the camera gets a good look at them.

The titles are delivered via briefcase to another man at another desk. He opens the envelope with them and signs some papers, seemingly very pleased. The titles are admired and I’m guessing this is the new (unnamed) GM.

The unnamed man brings one of the titles into the arena (which doesn’t seem to have any fans) and introduces himself as RJ the Ring Master. He’s here to bring the action to India and that means people winning titles. One of those will be this Intercontinental Title and let the wrestling begin.

This brings out someone in sunglasses and a Jack Daniels shirt for a begrudging handshake with RJ. He introduces himself as Maxim Risky and apparently doesn’t think much of this place. Risky wrestled here two years ago and he beat up Middle Kingdom Wrestling Champion Black Mamba and Big Sam (hey I know those people), plus he superkicked the Great Angar, a big man, down. Risky is leader of the Curfew but he’s been out of action with a shoulder injury for two years.

That brings him to the title belt, which he promises to make prestigious. RJ….actually goes along with this and makes Risky the new champion. This brings out a masked man who yells at the camera in a speech I can’t understand. Risky and RJ don’t know who he is and the masked man asks how they don’t know. He is the hashtag vision of India, Indostar. Eh I’ve heard worse. He wants to know how Risky can be a champion without winning a match.

RJ agrees and the title match is made….but it’s not that simple. Indostar says that if Risky wins the match, he’s the champion. If Indostar wins though, the title will be decided in a tournament. That’s uh, rather noble of him and a little more complex than things need to be for a first ever match. This took some time but they got their point across.

Intercontinental Title: Indostar vs. Maxim Risky

The title is vacant coming in and only Risky can win it here. The unnamed announcers recap what just happened and their audio isn’t the best. Risky grabs a headlock takeover to start and a faceplant gets one. A slam gets two more but Indostar flips out of a snapmare and hits a dropkick. Indostar misses a moonsault and (after a rather quick camera cut) tweaks his knee to give Risky a target.

A sloppy rollup gives Indostar two, followed by another dropkick for the same as the knee seems fine. Some kicks in the corner have no effect and Risky throws him over the top without much trouble. They head outside and there are is almost no lighting whatsoever. Thankfully they head back to the apron where we can see things, including Risky breaking the count. The announcers (still need some names for them) aren’t happy with Risky being so arrogant so they’re certainly doing their job of painting him as the heel.

Back in and a backbreaker gives Risky two and a roundhouse kick to the head gets the same. Indostar gets two of his own off a sunset flip and a rollup gets an even closer two. Risky goes with another kick to the head, which has certainly worked well so far. The seemingly non-existent fans start an Indostar chant as one of the announcers wants to drink with Risky. Some corner splashes set up a big boot in the corner (Announcer: “That was a kick!”) for a delayed two.

Back up and Indostar hits a springboard elbow to the face, followed by a missile dropkick for another near fall. Something close to a Twist of Fate gives Risky two and it’s time to yell at the referee. With Indostar down in the corner and the referee checking on him, Risky raises Indostar’s leg to make him kick the referee low, which isn’t something you see every day. Another Twist of Fate gets no count (Announcer: “KARMA IS A B****!” Other announcer: “Karma is a girl?”) and it’s time for a chair. Indostar is up for a Van Daminator for a very delayed two as someone pulls the referee out for the DQ at 13:34.

Rating: C. Of course that’s on a sliding scale. The work wasn’t bad though there wasn’t much of a flow to the match and it took me a second to be sure if the ending was a pin or a DQ. Indostar is someone who could be a focal point of the show as he has a good look, albeit with some substandard work. Risky felt like a fine midcard heel, so this was a good way to introduce both guys. Not a great match, but it could have been much worse. And shorter too.

Post match the interfering man, a member of Curfew named Skyler, comes in and beats down Indostar. Risky helps with a DDT/bulldog combination as the announcers drop an F bomb about this injustice. The beatdown keeps going with Skyler dropping a leg on Indicator’s arm and sending it into a chair in the corner. Curfew yells at the audience a bit and it’s hard to understand over all the people talking. After nearly four minutes of beating Indostar up, he fights back and beats up both guys. That’s quite the comeback.

In the back, Risky and Skyler tell Indostar that he shouldn’t mess with Curfew. Skyler is ready to beat Shane the Insane because he breaks limits. That’s not the best threat in the world, though you can tell Skyler isn’t the most comfortable on the mic.

Skyler vs. Shane The Insane

Risky is here with Skyler. Shane has a large pectoral tattoo and some intense eyes. The lights go out for a second and we come back with Skyler uppercutting Shane to take over. A kick to the back gets two and putting on something close to Paige’s Scorpion Crosslock. We hit the chinlock with elbows to Shane’s chest, followed by a dragon sleeper as Skyler is certainly mixing things up.

Skyler’s running splash in the corner is countered into a side slam for two but Shane stops to yell at Risky. Shane chokes on the rope a bit and it’s time to trade strikes in the corner. Skyler legsweeps him down by the arm and it’s off to Tommaso Ciampa’s arm crank. That’s broken up and Skyler hits an atomic drop (called the Manhattan drop here as I guess they’re No Mercy fans) into the Sling Blade for two.

Not only do the announcers call that an AJ Styles move, but they declare Shane insane for kicking out. Shane is back up with an AA for two and a Sliced Bread (Salida Del Sol according to commentary) but Risky comes in for the DQ at 8:20. Ignore the referee having to stop his count because Risky was a bit late.

Rating: C+. I get that the Curfew is supposed to be the dominant force here, but that makes them 0-2 on the night. That’s not the best way to present them on the first show, but at least the match was more entertaining than the first. Skyler and Shane both looked more polished and experienced so the match was a lot more fun as a result. The shorter run time helped a bit too.

Post match the double beatdown is on until Indostar comes in for the save to send Curfew running. Hang on though as Shane beats Indostar down as well for an actual surprise. An unnamed wrestler, in a hat and face paint, comes in to take out Shane. The unnamed wrestler introduces himself as a member of the army named Major X and that he is here to show what honor and power are all about.

RJ is very happy with what happened and tells us to come back next week. Curfew comes in and says RJ wants them to be champion but Indostar keeps stopping them. Then you have Major X (Risky: “The guy with the dirty mask.”) interfering so now Risky wants another title shot. RJ won’t give him a rematch but he has something special planned for Curfew next week. A little yelling is enough for RJ to say that next week it’s Curfew vs. Indostar/Major X for the Tag Team Titles. Dude learn some patience.

Overall Rating: D+. Well….it could have been much worse. The best thing here is that they have some stories going and set up some characters, but it needs a lot more polish. The biggest problem with the show was that it felt long, with the show running about fifty minutes. The first match could have had a few minutes cut out and another story besides the Curfew stuff would have helped. What we got certainly wasn’t bad, but it feels like a show from people who aren’t the most sure with what they’re doing.

Now there is some good stuff here too, with wrestlers who look like they have an idea of what they’re doing in the ring, which is the best thing that you can have in a promotion like this. If your matches look like they’re just barely out of training school, you’re not going to exactly entice people to stay. So there’s passable action and some storytelling, but they need to slow down a bit and give us a little variety instead of throwing in so much of one story with two title matches in the first two shows. I’ve seen far worse though and there is definitely some stuff to grow off of, especially in a first show.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2000 Monday Nitro and Thunder Reviews Part 1 (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

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Middle Kingdom Wrestling
Date: February 17, 2017
Location: Pattaya Boxing Stadium, Pattaya, Chon Buri, Thailand
Commentator: Al Leung

We’re going to wrap up this very abbreviated season and hopefully head back to China where things are a bit better. The first show was a pretty mixed bad with one horrible match and one that was quite entertaining so it’s hard to guess what’s coming this time around. Let’s get to it.

Same opening sequence as last time, which isn’t the worst thing in the world given some of the eye candy in there.

We hear more of Dalton Bragg’s conversation. It’s true that he can’t wrestle but he’s found a replacement named Hayden Pearce, who is something called the Kingdom Wrestling Federation (no idea what/where that is) Champion. Tonight, he’ll defend against the Slam, though the graphic lists Pearce as Hayden Zenith. That’s the kind of thing that needs to be tightened up as I’m not even two minutes into the show and it’s already an issue.

Black Mamba/Big Sam vs. Maxim Risky/Malkeet Brawler

Maxim and Brawler are from India and one of them charges to the ring early, earning a good looking powerbomb from Sam. A boot to the chest drops Brawler but it’s Risky and Mamba starting things off as we hear the second bell. The commentator says this is in China, which doesn’t quite work after the whole point of this show is being in Thailand.

A suplex gets two on Mamba and Sam comes in….for some jumping jacks of course. Well you can’t do those on the apron. Sam comes in again for a regular save before distracting the referee so Mamba can choke. That second one threw the idea off a bit and it would have been a lot better if he had said it was a cramp or he was stretching or something like that. If you do it before and after but not in the middle, it weakens what you did in the first place (which was good).

Back to Sam for a clothesline on Brawler and what looks like a Sid Vicious pose. A gorilla press drop keeps showing off the power (smart) and it’s off to a camel clutch. Brawler makes the ropes so it’s another slam into a one finger cover. Mamba comes in again and plays Bret on something like a top rope Hart Attack but the referee is putting Sam out of the ring instead of counting. What would Danny Davis think of something like that?

Brawler gets in a TKO (love that move) and it’s a double tag to Sam and Risky. Sam takes a DDT and Risky gets in some really, really bad looking right hands in the corner. Follow through with those things. Brawler hits a running Fameasser (called XYZ) on Mamba and a slam on Sam in a fairly impressive power display.

A double suplex is another power display and Risky gets two off a superkick. I’m not sure how wise is it to have your monster getting beaten up and thrown around like this. Mamba sneaks in a low blow (second of the match but the first one meant and changed nothing) and Sam grabs a chokeslam on Risky. Mamba adds a frog splash for the pin at 10:39.

Rating: D+. There’s a LOT to talk about in this one. This is the best example I can think of to show how important psychology and match layout are to making something a success. Let’s look at Sam. He has the most unique look in this promotion (much bigger and Caucasian instead of the mostly Asian roster) and in this match he was acting like the opponents were beneath him (the one finger pin and various times where he acted like he didn’t even need to try). That’s playing to his character and very good. Sam is different and he should act like he is.

His move set made sense too. It was a lot of power stuff like the powerbomb, gorilla press and chokeslam. Back at Wrestlemania XIII, Shawn Michaels said there was no reason for Sid Vicious to deviate from his power game because the power was going to take him wherever he needed to go. That makes a lot of sense for someone like Sid/Sam as their offense is going to be more devastating due to their power so it should be the majority of what they do.

That brings us to the rest of the match, which had some issues. As I mentioned, Mamba hit two low blows. The first one just slowed his opponent down for a bit and then it was right back to where they were going before. Something like a low blow should be a match changer, not something on the same level as a clothesline or a few right hands. If you’re going to do those big spots, use them sparingly. Otherwise they’re just a regular move and people won’t care when they’re used in important spots. If you need proof, look at WWE’s main event style of spamming finishers.

There were good things in the match but there’s also a lot that needs to be tightened up. I didn’t really feel a flow to the match. One team was in control, then the other was in control, then the heels won. The ending felt like it came out of nowhere and the match just ended instead of building up to something. I’d also like to know a bit more about Risky and Brawler. All I know is they’re “stars in India”. How long have they been wrestling? Should I cheer for them? How long have they been teaming? Stuff like that can go a long way.

A big guy covered in tattoos whose name sounded like Humungous says he’s bringing underground wrestling to China.

Eurasian Dragon vs. Humungous

Dragon is the Singapore Champion and Humungous wants to make it a title shot. The request is accepted and we’re ready to go. This was another example of the disappearing and reappearing subtitles.

Singapore Title: Eurasian Dragon vs. Humungous

Dragon is defending and gets driven into the corner as we hear about Humungous wrestling around the world. A few forearms sends Humungous into the ropes like a cowardly heel and he flips Dragon off after teasing a handshake. Dragon misses a Flip Flop and Fly but grabs La Majistral for the pin to retain at 2:28.

Humungous hits him from behind and says he wants a rematch. I’m not sure if debuting someone and having them job immediately is a good idea but Humungous had a good look.

KWF Title: Hayden Zenith vs. The Slam

Slam is challenging and his CWE Title isn’t on the line. One side note here: all of the titles that I’ve seen around here look really good. There are a lot of ugly belts in wrestling but these are all very nice. Granted part of that might be due to the fact that the KWF Title is a WWF Attitude Era World Title replica. Eh if you’re going to use a replica, use one of the best looking of all time.

They start fast (a rarity around here) with Slam sweeping the leg but stopping to pose, allowing Zenith to pull him off the ropes and hammer away. Some loud chops set up a hard Saito suplex on Slam and we get a cocky cover. A hard kick to Slam’s back sends some sweat flying (always a good visual) and we hit an octopus hold. Zenith switches over to a few more submission attempts as this is already by far and away the most polished match of the two shows.

Slam fights up but eats a pair of superkicks (giving us a Superkick Party reference) and they head out to the ramp. Some rather hard forearms knock Hayden back in and Slam’s top rope forearm gets….no cover. Instead Zenith slips out of a Jackhammer and we get a ref bump. Cue Bragg to check on the referee as Slam hits a suplex into a cutter (not a Jackhammer as the announcer puts it). It’s a ruse though and Bragg hits Slam in the head with the crutch so Zenith can retain at 8:33.

Rating: C+. This was the first time I really felt like I got an angle this promotion has tried to run. It’s a very simple idea and I got the point without having to figure anything out. Zenith and Slam were some of the more polished guys and Bragg as the champion who is scared of Slam is a good enough story. Throw in Bragg having a #1 contender in Selfie King and you have the makings for something interesting. I haven’t felt that around here too often and it’s very nice change of pace.

Bragg beats on Slam with the crutch to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. Much like the tag, there’s good and bad on here. Let’s get to the good first: this felt like a more complete show. There were three matches here and each one felt like it served a purpose. The tag match was good and made Sam look like a threat to someone down the line. Dragon vs. Humungous looks to be the start of a feud and Humungous has some charisma to him. Finally you have the main event which felt like a good angle. I’m pleased here and while the show had some quality issues, it had a good structure, which might be more important.

On the other hand, the promotion is still lacking in character development. Let’s take a look at the two shows combined. Other than having Sam in his corner, what separates Ash, Jason and Black Mamba? They have a similar look and wrestle a similar style. I barely know anything about them and they really lose me when I’m trying to remember which is which.

Finally, the offenses need to be varied up a bit. In the first three matches of these two shows, three people used a frog splash. There are a ton of moves to use from the top and just because a frog splash is cool, you can use something else. Drop an elbow, drop a knee, do a spinning splash. Just don’t do the same thing that so many people have done. It was annoying in the Cruiserweight Classic and it’s the same here.

I liked enough of the show and this episode showed some promise but they need to find a way to keep that momentum going. Maybe it was just a lucky night with an angle to help tie things together at the end but they need to build on that instead of having a bunch of one off shows before advancing the story. Have people cut a thirty second promo (throw in subtitles if necessary) and keep things moving. It’ll keep people coming back and that’s the key at this point.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the History of the WWE’s Big Four Pay Per Views, now in PAPERBACK. Check out the information here:

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