And super isn’t too far off.

Last year in Orlando, one of the most entertaining shows I took in was the WrestleCon SuperShow. This is pretty much a big show featuring a collection of old school wrestlers, international stars and young up and comers thrown together for a fun show. There aren’t many storylines and the whole thing is built around just having a fun night of wrestling. Last year’s show was incredible and this one had a lot to live up to. Let’s get to it.

Before we got started PWG’s Excalibur came out and said that going forward, the SuperShow would be named after Mark Hitchcock, who worked for Highspots (the company that helped produce the show) and passed away while on his honeymoon just before this year’s event. This was a cool moment and a nice gesture.

The show started about half an hour late, but that’s to be expected at something like this. As usual, there were several wrestlers outside at their merchandise tables, all of whom were very polite and more than willing to chat with you, even if you weren’t buying anything.

1. Penta El Zero M b. Joey Janela – Pumphandle Driver, 7:52, C.

I’ve never actually seen a Janela match…and I don’t think I get it. He’s a name I’ve heard a lot about over the last year or two but I really don’t get the hype. The match was nothing of note, save for a sick THUD when Janela hit a Death Valley Driver onto the apron….two minutes into the match. A bunch of superkicks set up Penta breaking Joey’s arm (or close to it at least) and hitting the pumphandle driver for the pin. Nothing of note here, but last year’s opener wasn’t great either.

2. Joey Ryan’s Andy Kaufman Intergender Challenge – DQ, 1:23.

Now this was interesting as Ryan is now doing the Kaufman intergender challenge where he’ll fight any woman because a man can beat them. This included Ryan wearing Kaufman’s robe and the exact same ring gear, down to the white body suit and blue shorts. He even did the same soap promo that Kaufman made famous in Memphis about thirty five years ago. The problem is this just made me want to see Jerry Lawler come out and beat Ryan up…..AND JERRY LAWLER ANSWERED THE CHALLENGE!

This was one of those surprise moments that makes this show cool: it felt like the right move and is a cool idea because it’s what makes the most sense in this situation. The problem was Lawler couldn’t use the piledriver in Louisiana, which he didn’t seem to know coming in. Instead he kicked Ryan low, and if you know Joey Ryan, you can imagine the shock on Lawler’s face. A fireball to the crotch got a DQ, but don’t worry because Ryan ensured us that everything down there was fine. Of note: this was thirty five years to the day that Lawler first piledrove Kaufman. Cool moment, barely a match of course.

3. Team Dashwood b. Team Lee – Quintuple submission, 10:23, C.

Tenille Dashwood, Madison Eagles, Nicole Savoy, Shazza McKenzie, Tessa Blanchard

Trevor Lee, Caleb Konley, Zane Riley, Jake Manning, Maxwell Jacob Friedman

This one had A LOT to live up to after last year’s incredible ten man tag. The ten person match was incredible and the most fun I’ve ever had watching a single wrestling match. This year went more with the current theme of the women’s revolution and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Dashwood (formerly Emma) was crazy over and showed more fire than she ever did in WWE with a very energetic entrance. The It’s All About Me character works very well for her and shows how awesome she could have been in WWE if they hadn’t botched it. I’m not overly familiar with most of the women, but I’ve seen Eagles before. She’s easy to remember as she stands about 6’1 and towered over almost everyone on either team.

Before the match, Lee said that if his team won, his three partners other than Konley would be signed to Impact Wrestling. You can imagine how well this went over. What also went over fairly poorly was Konley saying we might as well just start with Dashwood kissing him so he sat in a chair where comedy, in the form of the 300lb Riley accidentally kissing him instead, ensued.

The rest of the match was what you would expect: the women being competitive and using technique while the men lumbered around like idiots (including Manning, the Man Scout, reading his scouting manual while wrestling, as is his custom). There was a great series of dives to the floor and a sequence of at least eight people having a submission on someone at the same time. As in all eight were in one big chain, almost like a submission centipede. Stupid and contrived, but exactly what you would expect from a show like this, which was fine.

The finish saw a quintuple submission with the men all tapping at the same time, which was a very abrupt ending. I was expecting this to go a lot longer, but it proved its point well enough. It’s not a great match but it did its job. Like I said though, last year’s match wasn’t being touched and everyone knew it.

4. Tomohiro Ishii b. Jeff Cobb – Suplex, 15:12, B+.

Ishii is a tough guy from New Japan and Cobb is better known as Matanza from Lucha Underground (very friendly guy who chatted with me about Nintendo 64 vs. Super Nintendo before the show). This was a hoss fight of the highest degree and they didn’t try to make it anything else.

They slugged it out (with an exchange of forearms that lasted over a minute) and threw each other around until one of them couldn’t get up. Cobb made the mistake of hitting him once too often though and Ishii beat the tar out of him, finishing with a suplex that was supposed to be his signature brainbuster. This is what Cobb vs. Lashley from last year should have been and Cobb looked like a star. I wouldn’t be surprised if he wasn’t in WWE by this time next year.

5. Rey Fenix/Rey Horus b. Bandido/Flamita – Falcon Arrow to Bandido, 12:22, B+.

Horus is better known as Dragon Azteca Jr. from Lucha Underground. I’m not even going to try to describe this match as I couldn’t do it justice. This was the most insane, high flying match that I’ve ever seen with everyone doing one crazy dive and flip after another. It was the kind of lucha match you would want to see and is well worth going out of your way to find. The fans threw money into the ring after the match and I can’t say I disagree. Just in credible stuff and easily the match of the night from an entertainment perspective.

6. Mexicools b. Jason Cade/Matt Classic/Teddy Hart – Rollup to Cade, 10:00, C+.

This was Chico El Luchador/Psychosis/Super Crazy with Juventud Guerrera only showing up for the introductions. I’m not sure why A, someone thought we needed a Mexicools reunion and B, why this was put on after the great lucha match before it. It wasn’t a bad match by any stretch but it didn’t really need to be on the show, other than a way to get Cade (big star in last year’s ten man tag) and Classic (Colt Cabana in a mask doing an old school wrestler character) on the show.

7. Will Osprey b. Sammy Gueverra, Adam Brooks and Shane Strickland – Oscutter to Gueverra, 12:34, B.

Ospreay was very, very banged up coming into this, to the point where it wasn’t clear if he would be able to wrestle over the weekend. He did compete (at least twice) but his neck and shoulder were so banged up that you could tell it wasn’t his full speed. This was the third match in a row built around high flying and it was starting to wear on the crowd. Ospreay was a treat to see, but it would have been better if he hadn’t been hurt (not his fault of course).

It was entertaining while it lasted with Brooks playing a great heel and Gueverra always being fun to watch. The Oscutter looked great too and finished one of the better matches of the night. The injuries to Ospreay were just too much though and it was clear that he probably shouldn’t have been in the ring for a little while longer.

8. David Starr/Brian Cage/Minoru Suzuki b. Sami Callihan/Juice Robinson/Hiroshi Tanahashi – Armbar to Callihan, 14:48, C+

Tanahashi and Suzuki were surprise partners and of course got some of the strongest reactions of the night with Suzuki’s in particular being awesome. Cage tore the house down here with some great looking dives, including one to the floor to take everyone down. In short, someone his size shouldn’t be able to do that. Suzuki made Callihan tap to an armbar and beat up Tanahashi post match. That helped a bit as they never actually touched during the match. This wasn’t a great match

9. Golden Lovers b. Chuck Taylor/Flip Gordon – Golden Trigger to Gordon, 13:38, C+

Gordon was a mystery partner after Taylor’s regular partner, Trent Barretta, broke his arm and tore his bicep. The mystery partner was a pretty big factor in the match and Chuck had some swerve options, including the Swamp Monster (a guy in a Cousin Itt (look him up) suit), Dan Barry (didn’t show up), Orange Cassidy (Taylor: “He’s probably asleep.”) and Barretta himself. Rocky Romero came out after Barretta, sending Taylor into a rant about how Romero already stole him once and how much Taylor hated him.

Flip finally came out and said he didn’t want to be his partner as he wanted to hear about being on All In. Taylor said he had been on the phone with the REAL leader of the Bullet Club, Cody. If Flip wins, he’s All In. The match was about what you would expect, with Barretta coming back down and handing Taylor a cigarette and sunglasses in a bit I didn’t understand. The result wasn’t surprising, but that wasn’t the point of course. Entertaining way to end a show that went on too long.

Post match Taylor asked for a match with the Golden Lovers when Barretta was healthy (calling him an idiot for coming back too soon) and Omega thanked us for coming.

Overall, the show might not have been as good as last year’s but it was still very entertaining. They got in a bunch of surprises (Lawler legitimately got me) and some very good matches, but comparing it to last year’s show isn’t exactly fair. It was a very good venue (my seats were looking down at the ring and if I looked over my shoulder I could see the talent on a small balcony before and after their matches) and the crowd was hot all night. Good show, and definitely something I’d take in again whenever I go back to Wrestlemania.

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the WWE Grab Bag (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

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Ring of Honor
Date: October 11, 2017
Location: Sam’s Town Live, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Colt Cabana

It’s time for a new taping cycle as we’re finally able to talk about what happened at Death Before Dishonor. That could mean a multitude of options around here but hopefully we get some actual stories instead of just doing a bunch of one off matches. To be fair though, the last few weeks of TV haven’t been that bad so hopefully the trend continues here. Let’s get to it.

We open with a quick highlight package from Death Before Dishonor.

Opening sequence.

Here are Silas Young and Beer City Bruiser for an opening chat. Young takes his shirt off to show the welts from his street fight with Jay Lethal. Those marks are the proof that he walks the walk to back up his talk. As for now though, he and Bruiser have a goal of winning the Six Man Tag Team Titles but they need a partner.

That brings them to Death Before Dishonor, where they saw another real man. They have a partner now though and his name is Minoru Suzuki and the challenge is officially made tot he Young Bucks and Hangman Page. Cue the champs to say they’re annoyed at Young for interrupting their autograph session. Matt dubs the team the Hung Bucks (just kill me now) and the match is on for the main event.

TV Title: Josh Woods vs. Kenny King

Woods is challenging in his official shot for winning the Top Prospect Tournament. King is the new champion and the hometown boy after defeating Kushida at Death Before Dishonor. I’m not wild on the outsiders winning titles but at least Kushida held it for a long time. Woods takes him to the ground to start for an early two before working on the arm.

That’s reversed into an armbar from the champ but he gets suplexed into the corner as we take a break. Back with Woods having to grab a rope to escape something like a Last Chancery. King kicks him out to the floor and hits a dive and Woods is in trouble. That lasts all of ten seconds as Woods scores with some knees to the head and a string of suplexes, followed by a triangle choke. King is perfectly fine though and stacks Woods up for the pin at 8:59.

Rating: C+. Nice match here as Woods is growing on me. The MMA stuff works fine as he mixes in enough wrestling to make it work. You know what you’re going to get with him but he does it just fine, which is all you can ask for. King is a bit flashier than he needs to be at times but he should be great in this role.

Josh shakes his hand post match and King grabs the mic to praise him a bit. Woods leaves and King says he’s a fighting champion who will defend his title on every show. This brings out Shane Taylor, Chuck Taylor, Punishment Martinez and Mark Briscoe, all of whom King is more than willing to face for the title.

Marty Scurll invites us to a Bullet Club celebration next week.

Six Man Tag Team Titles: Hangman Page/Young Bucks vs. Silas Young/Beer City Bruiser/Minoru Suzuki

Page and the Bucks are defending. Suzuki won’t shake his partners’ hands so I don’t see this team lasting long. Bruiser throws Nick into the corner but Matt comes in to throw his brother into a dropkick. Young comes in before too long and it’s a triple basement dropkick to the face so the fans can cheer the Bucks a bit.

Page wants Suzuki for some reason and it’s time for the slugout with the chops making Page cringe. A quick Kimura has Page in more trouble and the Bucks get one each of their own. Everything breaks down and it’s Young and Bruiser putting on Kimuras of their own. The champs all bail to the floor and we take a break. Back with Young slamming Matt down and Suzuki putting on a legbar over the apron.

Some choking in the corner has Matt in more trouble but he finally gets a boot up in the corner. A flipping cutter off the top takes Silas down but Bruiser breaks up the tag attempt. For reasons of general stupidity, Bruiser gets into a chase and lands in a superkick. The hot tag brings in Page to clean house, including a dropsault for two on Young. Everything breaks down and Suzuki’s piledriver is broken up with a double superkick. Bruiser crossbodies the Bucks and Cannonballs onto Page as the fans are WAY into this (with good reason).

Back in and Suzuki’s piledriver sets up the frog splash for two on Page with the Bucks making the save. We take another break and come back with more superkicks dropping Bruiser but Nick gets caught in Suzuki’s sleeper. That gives us a showdown with Page, who actually wins a slugout. Young comes back in for the Regal Roll but the moonsault is broken up by more moonsaults. Page hits a huge moonsault to the floor and it’s a shooting star off the apron into the Indytaker to kill Young dead. Back in and the Rite of Passage ends Bruiser to retain the titles at 14:40.

Rating: B. As usual, when the Bucks don’t do all the superkicks, they’re a lot of fun to watch. Hence why the best part of the match was the stuff between the breaks, where there were only a few of the kicks. Suzuki still doesn’t do much for me but Bruiser and Young are growing on me more and more every time they get in the ring. Good match here that was starting to look great at times.

Post match Bruiser and Young blame Suzuki so the brawl is on until the referees make the save.

Here’s Jay Briscoe to address his turning on Bully Ray at the pay per view. Before he gets very far, here’s Tommy Dreamer to cut him off. Dreamer talks about cutting off Bully Ray’s cast the night before Barely Legal (I always thought the ankle was broken during the show) and a variety of bar fights.

One time Chris Jericho accidentally knocked Bully out during a match (I believe that was TLC III in 2002) and he couldn’t remember that his mom had died a few months earlier. Dreamer knows how dangerous head injuries can be and he spent another night with his friend in a hospital because of what Jay did. Jay doesn’t say anything and Dreamer leaves to end the show. I’m not big on Dreamer but this was effective and opens a few more doors for this story to continue.

Overall Rating: B+. Really good show here with a lot of storyline advancement to go with a pair of solid matches. Maybe it’s just the show being fresh after a long layoff or just a good night but I had a much easier time watching this than on most weeks. It also helps to have some top names around instead of people like Cheeseburger and the other interchangeable small guys who aren’t all that thrilling. Solid show here and a very nice surprise.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Updated History of the Intercontinental Title in E-Book or Paperback. Check out the information here:

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