Wrestle Square – May 13, 2019 (Debut Episode): The Boss Spoke
IMG Credit: Wrestle Square
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.
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.
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