IMG Credit: House Of Glory

Culture Clash 19
Date: April 6, 2019
Location: NYC Arena, Jamaica, New York
Commentators: Matthew Ryan Shapiro, JD, Ben Venuto

This is Amazing Red’s House of Glory promotion and as usual, I have no idea what to expect from this show as I’ve never seen the promotion before, but that’s the point of the weekend. The card looked good though and that’s enough to get me to check out the show. Hopefully it’s as solid as it looks, but you never can tell. Let’s get to it.

The announcers welcome us to the show. For some reason, almost no commentators have been shown all week.

Smiley vs. Leroy Green

Casket match (Who starts with a casket match?), with Green seemingly wanting to save Smiley from some evil stable. Green starts fast with a reverse hurricanrana and a regular hurricanrana and it’s already time for the casket. The fans chant for Smiley, which one commentator says is the fans being behind Green. Back in and Smiley takes over as the announcers explain a bit more of the backstory with Green going after the House of Gangone stable, of which Smiley seems to be a member.

Smiley whips him into the casket and pulls out a kendo stick for a beating. Green hits a quick superkick and takes the stick away to beat on Smiley instead. A modified Backstabber sends Smiley outside, where he finds a chair to throw at Green’s head. Smiley puts the chair on Green’s face and beats on it with the stick, eventually breaking it in half. Green is right back up and ties him in the ropes, where Smiley spits in his face. A pull of the ropes sends Smiley into the chair but he’s fine enough to hit a brainbuster onto the turnbuckle.

It’s time to set up a door between the ring and the barricade but Green backdrops his way out of trouble. Smiley is fine enough to hit a pair of buckle bombs and a running powerbomb onto the ramp. Green gets back up again and spears him through the doors for the big knockdown. Back in and Green rips off the mask before pulling out Smiley’s old mask (a smiley face mask), which Smiley puts on. Before we can find out the impact, Green knocks him into the casket for the win at 15:16.

Rating: C-. The action was good but they threw you into what seemed like a big story pretty fast. Commentary explained as much of it as they could though and I wasn’t lost so it could have been worse. Smiley wasn’t very good and while Green was better, neither of them exactly came off as anything special.

House of Glory Title: Anthony Gangone vs. Robby Eagles

Gangone, with his left hand in a cast, is defending and seems to be the top heel in the promotion. He has three belts (the House of Glory Title and both CZW Tag Team Titles since his partner Amazing Red suddenly retired) and a bunch of people with him, including two guys to rap his theme song. Gangone’s minions distract Eagles to start and a thumb to the eye has him in early trouble.

The threat of a right hand makes Eagles duck and Gangone gets two off a DDT. Dreams By The Waterfall (something out of a torture rack) is broken up and Eagles knocks him into the corner for his first offense. What appeared to be Sliced Bread is broken up so Eagles goes with a middle rope Downward Spiral instead. A 450 misses but Eagles slips out of a package piledriver and nails an enziguri. Gangone kicks him in the face again and hits a package facebuster for a rather near fall.

Eagles’ low superkick again looks to set up the 450 but Gangone rolls to the ropes. That’s fine with Eagles as he jumps down and puts on a cross between an Indian deathlock and a Figure four. The goons distract the referee though and the tap isn’t seen but the goons do get ejected. As the goons argue, a mystery woman (the announcers don’t know her name) comes in and kicks Eagles low, setting up Dreams By The Waterfall (torture rack flipped forward into a knee to the face) to retain the title at 9:54.

Rating: C+. Pretty nice match here with Gangone as a good cult style leader. You need a bunch of minions to make something like that work and Gangone had it covered with at least five people helping him out. I wasn’t wild on his in-ring work but he was getting the character stuff down and that’s what matters more.

Post match the goons surround Gangone as he sits in the middle of the ring and talks about all of his injuries. The fans still boo him no matter what he does and now Amazing Red has retired due to a serious injury. WWE even put out a video with wrestlers like Ricochet and Sasha Banks thanking him for everything he’s done. Gangone says he’s going to break character (erg) because Red retiring just showed that he was weak of body and mind. Without Gangone, this place wouldn’t exist and even his house needs to learn that. Gangone yells at his goons, saying none of them matter without him.

That was quite a bit and straight out of the Sting vs. NWO years, complete with a Scorpion Death Drop. It didn’t make a ton of sense but I’m assuming that the story will be addressed on whatever regular shows this promotion does. It’s a lot to throw at you at once and for what is supposed to be a showcase show, I’m not sure it’s the best idea to have commentary saying they don’t get it either.

Juba vs. Ryan Burgandy vs. Evander James vs. Big Daddy Cruise vs. Kai vs. Matt Travis

The winner is the #1 contender to the Crown Jewel (midcard) Title. Burgandy might be five feet tall but his shirt says that he’s really big (and his theme music is a cover of Larger Than Life). Cruise is a big ladies man, because that’s the most original gimmick in the world. Juba, the biggest man in the match, starts slamming people and shoves away everyone trying to get on him at once.

Cruise hits a sitout powerbomb for two on James and Travis hits a heck of a German suplex for two on Cruise with Kai making the save. Travis and Kai go at it for a bit with Kai getting two off a brainbuster. Juba comes back in and starts throwing smaller humans around until Cruise comes in for some better luck. Evander teases a dive but instead just goes to the floor for a right hand to Juba. Travis and Burgandy hit shooting stars off the top to take out everyone else, leaving us with the two of them going inside.

That doesn’t last long as James comes back in with a Meteora to Burgandy in the corner. Kai comes in with a superkick for two but Cruise makes a save. Cruise’s Michinoku Driver gets two with Juba making the save this time. Burgandy manages to German suplex Juba for two and tries a shooting star to a standing Juba….who doesn’t seem to see him coming and they collide. Juba’s spinning fall away slam plants Burgandy but Travis comes in and steals the pin at 8:53.

Rating: C-. Like so many shows this weekend, this was a bunch of people in the ring at once and everyone trying to get in whatever they can in the limited time they have. It’s not a bad match but it could have been better with some more time for the people to shine. Or just less people involved.

Post match a bunch of people from CZW invade and beat down the people from the match. CZW owner DJ Hyde says he’s coming for his Tag Team Titles and if you want a real show, come see their stuff. He’s coming for Gangone and Red as well. Oh and screw the fans. The locker room comes out to chase them off. Ken Broadway, apparently a rather soft spoken guy, swears a lot and says come back and fight. While he has a mic, Broadway asks if he can take Red’s place against Fenix in the main event. That’s an affirmative.

Low Ki/LAX vs. Great Muta/Pentagon Jr./Tajiri

Diamante is here with LAX. Since the curtain doesn’t quite fit in the entrance, you can see LAX walking around before their entrance. Pentagon and Ortiz start things off and the dueling chants are on in a hurry. Pentagon shows him CERO MIEDO and gets sent into the corner for a running elbow. That just means a Sling Blade and the Karate Kid pose, sending Ortiz bailing into the corner.

It’s off to Tajiri vs. Santana for a feeling out process with Santana taking him to the mat. The big kick sends Santana outside and it’s time for Muta vs. Low Ki. Muta takes him down so Low Ki has the legs up to hold him off as the slow pace continues. Muta’s full nelson into a Fujiwara armbar has Low Ki down again and a Kimura sends Low Ki to the rope. The power drive elbow connects and it’s back to Tajiri, who grabs Low Ki by the tie. Well you knew that was coming.

A slap to the back of the bald head ticks Low Ki off enough that he drags Tajiri into the corner as the heat segment begins. It’s a quick heat though as Tajiri kicks at the leg and brings Pentagon back in. Low Ki kicks him down and goes after the mask with Tajiri making the save. LAX goes into their sequence of suplexes and splashes for two, which somehow fires Pentagon up enough for the hot tag to Muta.

A Shining Wizard sends Santana into the corner but Low Ki drops Muta with a springboard kick to the head. Everything breaks down and Low Ki gets triple teamed for a bit and double red mist takes out LAX. Low Ki goes up for the stomp but dives into the green mist, setting up the Shining Wizard for the pin at 16:44.

Rating: C. Oh come on like the quality of the match matters at all here. This was all about Muta and that’s all it needed to be. It’s a great moment as you don’t get to see a legend like that every day. This was a completely acceptable match and the mist at the end made it all the cooler. The rest of the match was fine too, but just seeing Muta was a great treat.

Post match LAX demands their music be played, which goes on for some time.

Crown Jewel Title: Mantequilla vs. Kikutaro

Kikutaro is challenging. Mantequilla (Spanish for butter) has a cape and is called the Lucha Hero. The early exchange of wristlocks (in slow motions) goes to Mantequilla in the form of some armdrags and Kikutaro wants a timeout on the floor. Back in and Kikutaro gets his own armdrags but the third is blocked to give Mantequilla two.

Kikutaro goes with the comedy in the form of a kick and two fingers to the back of the tights. Back in and they trade superhero poses before three armdrags have Kikutaro in trouble. Kikutaro charges into some raised boots in the corner so he throws the referee into the corner for a Stinger Splash on Mantequilla. Another charge into the boot knocks Kikutaro cold so Mantequilla rolls him over, but Kikutaro keeps rolling to stay on his stomach.

Mantequilla finally gets him up into the corner and whips the referee at him for a missed splash. Kikutaro gets two off a sitout AA but he misses a moonsault. The champ misses a Swanton so they trade low blows and rather soft chops. Double eye pokes are both blocked, as are more low blows. A hug is offered and Kikutaro hugs the referee to show his sincerity. Of course he chops Mantequilla, earning himself a crucifix bomb for two. A spinning palm strike retains the title at 16:17.

Rating: D. The World Title match gets less than ten minutes and this breaks sixteen? I’ll give them this much: it actually didn’t feel that long. I don’t think anyone was believing that the title was changing hands here and I could see Mantequilla having a better match against a serious opponent. It wasn’t the worst, but much longer than a comedy match should be going.

Boss Rob Blatt brings out new Women’s Champion Bobbi Tyler for a chat. Rob leaves and Bobbi introduces herself to the crowd, saying she can’t wait to get out of this horrible country. If any of the women in the back want a title shot, they can come to London and get one because she’s never coming back to this disgusting city again. This brings out former champion Sonya Strong, who grabs the title and says Bobbi better understand that no one else is taking the title. A belt shot knocks Bobbi out.

Sonya Strong/Violette vs. Kris Stadtlander/Nikki Adams

Sonya and Violette don’t have the best history together and Kris is an alien. Sonya headscissors Kris down to start and it’s already off to the partners. Violette slaps Nikki in the face and gets pulled down into a choke. Commentary compares Nikki to the crazy people you see muttering to themselves in the frozen food section. That’s certainly some unique character analysis. Sonya stomps away in the corner and blocks a powerbomb out of said corner before handing it back to Violette for some shoulders to the ribs.

We hit the chinlock for a few moments until Adams fights up and gets over for the tag in a hurry. A Blue Thunder Bomb gets two on Sonya and something like Eat Defeat (knee instead of foot) is good for the same. Adams hits a cutter on Violette as everything breaks down. Sonya German suplexes Kris to send her outside but kicks Violette by mistake, leaving Sonya vs. Adams. With Adams tied in the Tree of Woe, here’s Bobbi to distract Sonya again. It’s enough for Kris to kick Sonya in the back of the head, allowing Adams to steal the pin at 8:45.

Rating: D+. This was fairly messy, though it’s a lot better than some matches you’ll see on a show like this. The women were far more polished than others and Kris stood out, even with the rather bizarre ALIEN gimmick. I know this isn’t the most down to earth (no pun intended) promotion in the world, but an alien? Really? It’s certainly unique but it doesn’t exactly fit.

Ken Broadway vs. Rey Fenix

After the wrong music plays, we’re ready to do. Broadway gets rapped to the ring live and makes it rain in the ring. Fenix shakes his hand but doesn’t seem all that impressed so he starts firing off the kicks. A headscissors is countered but Fenix sends him outside for an early breather. Back in and Broadway slams him down for another trip to the floor, this time capped off by a suicide dive.

A missile dropkick gives Ken two (somewhat impressive as Broadway has some size) and a suplex is good for the same. Fenix misses a charge in the corner but spins to the apron, setting up a springboard missile dropkick for two. Broadway gets knocked outside and it’s a suicide dive to send him into the barricade for the big crash. Back in and Fenix hits his several springboards wristdrag but Broadway is right back with a gutbuster.

The Backstabber gets two more but Fenix ties him in the ropes and goes up. In your HE SHOULDN’T BE ABLE TO DO THAT move, Fenix walks the ropes and kicks Broadway in the face, setting up a running Canadian Destroyer. Broadway is on his feet before Fenix though and hits the Currency (Penalty) Kick for the very fast pin at 8:21.

Rating: C+. Well ok then. The ending was as sudden as anything I can remember in a long time as Fenix was making his big comeback and then a single kick to the chest puts him away. That’s not exactly the kind of finisher you would expect from someone called the Self Made Savage or someone of his size. Either way, it’s quite a win for Broadway and Fenix got to be his usually impressive self.

Post match they shake hands and Broadway thanks Fenix for the match. Fenix says Broadway won with honor and thanks the fans. This has been a crazy weekend for Fenix but the fans are a great reason to come here and fight like he did tonight. He’ll be back and he wants a rematch, which gets a handshake from Broadway. After Fenix leaves, Broadway calls out Gangone because the World Title is his.

Private Party vs. Juicy Product

That would be Isaiah Kassidy/Marq Quen vs. JT Dunn/David Starr because DAVID STARR MUST APPEAR ON EVERY WRESTLEMANIA WEEKEND SHOW EVER (not a bad thing as I like the guy)! Private Party has a very energetic entrance and the fans seem to like them. Before the match, Private Party has everyone involved say YEAH very loudly. Starr works on Quen’s arm to a standoff to start. Quen gets taken down by the leg into a rollup for two and gets his lip busted open somewhere in there. Fans: “SAY YOU’RE SORRY!”

Instead, Quen dropkicks Starr in the face and back for one and it’s off to Dunn for some double teaming. A double elbow drops an invading Kassidy and it’s time for the Party to take a breather on the floor. The breather seems to work as they come back in with a camel clutch/stomp combination to Starr, sending Starr and Dunn to the floor. That means a big flip dive to the floor….and Never Gonna Give You Up (the Rick Roll song) starts playing. As everyone dances, Starr and Dunn jump the Party to take over.

The song starts again so Dunn can dance while Starr keeps stomping. Actually make that both Starr and Dunn dancing together, complete with a kiss. And now, with that out of the way, we get back to a normal tag match with Quen being worked over in the corner (Yes, we’re just supposed to go back to a normal match. Why does this surprise you?).

A double dropkick gets two but it’s Quen fighting back with forearms and a double dropkick of his own. The hot tag brings in Kassidy and everything breaks down. A heck of a Swanton gets two on Starr but Dunn comes back in with a top rope double stomp to Kassidy’s back. Kassidy gets powerbombed onto Dunn’s knees but Quen is back up with a bunch of kicks to the head.

Starr blasts Kassidy with a clothesline but a shooting star onto his back puts everyone down. The Party is up first with a pop up Codebreaker on Dunn and another shooting star to the back gets two as Starr makes a save. Starr gets in a knee to Quen’s face to set up an RKO from Dunn for two as frustration sets in. The Party gets back up and Dunn is sat on top for a hurricanrana into a cutter to give Quen the pin at 18:00.

Rating: B. Completely and utterly WHAT THE CENSORED moment in the middle aside, I liked this match more than anything else on the show. Starr continues to live up to his name and Dunn was quite the performer as well. Private Party is a fun team and I could see them going somewhere with some more seasoning. The announcers mentioned that they had wrestled a host of top level teams so there’s clearly something there.

Overall Rating: C. This show was a hard one to rate as you have some good action and VERY deep stories, but that second part is the problem: for newcomers, you’re going to be very lost if you don’t pay very close attention, and even then there’s a lot you’re going to miss. The House of Gangone seems to be connected to everything on the show and there’s a lot of moving parts.

The show itself was a nice mixture of stuff, though they could have trimmed some of the time down by not having so many angles and lost post match sequences. It didn’t feel like a show designed to draw in new viewers, which is kind of a weird choice for a show on this big of a stage. I liked it well enough, but I could use a history lesson to know how all of this ties together.

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:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/02/22/new-book-kbs-monday-nitro-thunder-reviews-volume-vii-january-june-2000/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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

IMG Credit: WrestlePro

Does Funny = Money?
Date: April 3, 2019
Location: Rahway Recreation Center, Rahway, New Jersey
Commentators: David Sturchill, McKenzie Mitchell

This is from WrestlePro, a promotion I’ve heard about before but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a full show. From the description, it seems like it’s going to be a comedy show and that’s appropriate given that it’s the first show of Wrestlemania weekend. Hopefully the show has some redeeming value to it, but I’m not getting my hopes up. Let’s get to it.

As usual: I have no idea what’s going on around here so if I miss storyline/character stuff, I apologize in advance.

The host tries to introduce the first match but McKenzie Mitchell (former Impact backstage interviewer) interrupts. She thinks the host needs a co-host and a fan poll convinces him to let her.

Bobby Wayward vs. Kikutaro

Kikutaro is a Japanese comedy guy in a weird looking mask. Wayward takes him up against the ropes for a clean break and Kikutaro applauds his politeness. Kikutaro does the same and it’s off to an exchange of shoulders. Some armdrags into an armbar has Wayward in trouble until he pulls Kikutaro throat first into the top rope. Hang on though as Kikutaro wants time out. Ever the scoundrel, Wayward stomps him down anyway as the slow pace continues.

With nothing else working, Kikutaro whips the referee into Wayward in the corner. The low blow behind the referee’s back has Wayward in more trouble but he’s fine enough to do the same to Kikutaro. There’s a low blow to the referee as well and everyone is grabbing….yeah. Kikutaro Hulks Up and gets kicked in the face to Hulk him back down. Wayward grabs a fisherman’s suplex for two but the referee collapses before three. The referee gets whipped into the corner but Kikutaro reverses it and the referee clotheslines Wayward. Now the referee DDTs him and a Shining Wizard gives Kikutaro the pin at 9:47.

Rating: D+. Oh I’m in for a long night. This wasn’t exactly my style of wrestling but that’s the point of the show so I should have known what I was getting myself into. Kikutaro doesn’t exactly make me laugh but having him beat up a villain like Wayward is about as good as you were going to get here.

Here’s Dan Lambert (American Top Team owner who showed up in Impact and was the best villain in the company for awhile) with Colby Covington (UFC Champion) and John Harnett to issue a challenge to the locker room. Wrestling today sucks so if Lambert wants to watch good wrestling, he’ll have to watch on YouTube. Lambert lists off some great wrestlers and the fans applaud, which isn’t the best way to go. He was told that WrestlePro was better but after what he’s seen, he knows that his instincts were right: today’s wrestling sucks. Cue Scarlett Bordeaux and we have an answer to the challenge.

Scarlett Bordeaux vs. John Harnett

Scarlett goes straight at him and slaps away in the corner, setting up a running hip attack. An over the back reverse kneeling piledriver finishes Harnett at 55 seconds. Well that proved the point well enough.

Post match Lambert shoves Scarlett down and pulls out a board but Scarlett spears Harnett through it instead.

Pat Buck vs. Santana Jackson

Buck is a big star around here and has a cage around his head. He’s also called the Buzzkiller because he’s beating anyone with any kind of buzz. Buck isn’t having any of Santana’s Michael Jackson dancing (REALLY bad timing with that one) so he tries a test of strength. That’s broken up with more dancing and a dancing top rope wristdrag ticks Buck off so badly that he fires off a clothesline. A spinning Tombstone makes it worse….but Jackson sits up as Thriller starts to play.

Jackson hits a Stunner into a dancing People’s Elbow but Buck gets serious. In something a little different, Jackson grabs Buck’s hand and makes him punch himself low, which technically isn’t illegal. The Moonwalk DDT gets two and Buck bails to the floor, setting up a suicide dive (with Jackson losing a shoe). Buck carries him back inside for an AA over the top, setting up something close to the One Winged Angle (pulling the arm instead of lowering the head) for the pin at 6:14.

Rating: C. Now that was a little more like it as Jackson’s stuff was actually funny at times, with the Thriller bit being an actually good gag. Buck winning is the better move of course as you rarely want a comedy guy going over a top star but at least they did something good here with Jackson getting some strong reactions.

Johnny Clash vs. Anthony Bowens vs. Jake Manning vs. Matt Macintosh

Clash is the Create-A-Pro Champion though I don’t think the title is on the line. The same seems to be true of Macintosh’s WrestlePro Gold Title. Manning brings his tent with him because we need a prop that big. The tent is in the middle of the ring but Macintosh (The Bad Apple. Get it?) throws it out so they can, you know, wrestle. Macintosh sends Manning into the post as Clash and Bowens fight in the ring.

Macintosh’s jumping knee to the head rocks Bowens and he gets tied in the Tree of Woe for a boot to the crotch. Macintosh: “HOW DO YOU LIKE THEM APPLES???” Manning grabs a headlock and reads the scout manual, which has Mackenzie wondering what passage he’s picked. Back up and Macintosh keeps running the ropes as Manning has stepped aside to read in peace. Bowens is back up with a low superkick to Clash but Manning has found….a rope? Clash gets tied up and then untied for some dizzifying effects.

Manning makes it even worse with an airplane spin and then Bowens adds one of his own. A collision puts Bowens and Clash down and it’s time to throw the tent in again. Everyone but Manning gets thrown in and he zips it shut….but gets pulled in as what seems to be a struggle ensues. The fans call it awesome, because this is a shaking tent crowd. Clash dives over the top onto Bowens and Macintosh dives onto both of them.

Manning throws the tent onto them and while he can carry it by himself, three people can’t manage to have it dropped all of a foot and a half onto their raised arms. Back in and Bowens hits a Blockbuster for two on Macintosh with Clash making the save. Manning throws the tent in AGAIN (ok the joke is old now) but Bowens elbows him into it. Manning gets out of the tent and it’s a Tower of Doom through the tent (devastating McKenzie) to give Manning the pin on Macintosh at 10:38.

Rating: D+. The tent was a funny idea but they went back to it over and over to diminishing returns. I was sick of the thing at the end and the whole thing would have been better off if it was about two minutes shorter. The wrestlers were fairly talented though and I could see them moving up to bigger promotions later on. Maybe not Manning as he’s a rather gimmicky character, but the other three have a chance.

Team Tremendous vs. Demon Bunny

Team Tremendous is Dan Barry and Bill Carr (both detectives for some reason) while Demon Bunny is Rosemary/Allie, who are apparently best friends outside of the ring. That’s always cool to see. Team Tremendous steals belts from the crowd, along with the Gold Title which was left at ringside from the previous match, and throws them inside. With that out of the way, Barry and Allie start things up.

Allie works on the arm but Barry dances his way into a wristlock. Some armdrags into an armbar have Barry in trouble and it’s off to Rosemary to stay on the arm. The women keep alternating on the arm as this isn’t exactly funny so far. Rosemary pulls his nose so it’s off to the much bigger Carr, who sticks up his fingers like a gun. As Allie surrenders, Rosemary bites the fingers and it’s back to Barry for a dropkick. Carr can’t bring himself to chop Rosemary though so Barry comes in again, this time to get choked over the ropes.

A top rope DDT sends Barry into the corner and the hot tag brings in Allie. Some forearms have no effect on Carr but he misses a charge in the corner, allowing Allie to hit some sliding elbows. Rosemary comes back in and gets planted for her troubles, followed by a reverse Razor’s Edge toss into a Codebreaker to Allie (cool move). That’s broken up at two and the Doomsday Sliced Bread is broken up as well. Rosemary mists Carr and it’s a Codebreaker into a German suplex for the double pin on Barry at 9:35.

Rating: C-. I like Rosemary and Allie but I really don’t get the comedy here. This wasn’t overly funny and could have been on any given show. Team Tremendous come off as a low level team who don’t have a lot of success and probably bragged about how they would win easily here. Not a bad match, but I have no idea why it was on here.

Fifteen minute intermission.

Shawn Donovan vs. Buster Jackson

Bird Box (blindfold) match and Donovan is billed from the fifth floor of Trump Tower. Hang on as the referee is blindfolded as well to make it even more confusing. They take less time to make contact than Jake Roberts and Rick Martel but Jackson ducks away and Donovan yells at the turnbuckle. Jackson takes him down and hammers away as the announcers spoil Bird Box. The referee has barely left the corner as Donovan gets knocked down but comes right back with a slam.

Donovan grabs the referee, who hiptosses him in self defense. A shoulder puts Jackson on the floor and Donovan follows as Jackson gets back in. Not being able to figure out what’s going on, Donovan grabs a chair and hits the post (ala Roberts vs. Martel) before getting back in as well. Donovan finally gets smart and takes his blindfold off but he’s insane (ala the movie) and tries a Swanton with no one on the mat. Jackson covers and, after the referee crawls over (how he knew there was a cover isn’t clear) and checks the shoulders, counts the pin at 6:50.

Rating: F. And that’s supposed to be funny? This was another dumb idea that just kept going despite being a short match. It’s the same problem any match with this gimmick has and there’s no way around it. This isn’t something that works and it was just stupid instead of entertaining or funny. Also, if you haven’t seen Bird Box (which came out a few months ago and isn’t a big deal anymore), this made no sense at all, especially the ending.

Gauntlet Match

When did gauntlet matches become the hottest thing in wrestling? Grim and Freddie IV (pronounced I V, not Four/Fourth) are in first and the Shook Crew (Bryce Donovan and Max Caster with Bobby Orlando) are in second. Freddie is a hippie and keeps giving people flower necklaces but uses one to pull Caster down to get us started. A double hanging suplex (including a limbo) has Caster in trouble so it’s off to Donovan (Two wrestlers on the roster named Donovan?), who gets chopped by the bigger Grim. We get the required Stink Face and Freddie comes in to drop a backsplash on Caster for a bonus.

A big legdrop gets two and Grim does the Whale (a heavy version of the Worm, consisting of dropping down, standing up and dropping down again), sending the Crew out to the floor. Back in and Grim is so winded that he collapses into the corner for the tag to Freddie. A low blow into a rollup with tights gives Donovan the pin at 4:14.

The Breakfast Club (CPA/Kip Francis Stevens) are in third and thankfully they come out to Don’t You Forget About Me (as they should). Once they get to the ring, Caster has laid out cones to create a safe space (because that’s a thing Caster does). It’s a ruse though (Gee you think?) as Orlando is taking Donovan’s place. Orlando hits Caster by mistake and we get the stupid spot of Orlando DDTing Caster by mistake because he can’t just let go.

We go wide and see Grim still out cold due to exhaustion as the match continues. Things settle down to Orlando suplexing CPA for two and Caster grabbing a chinlock. That’s broken up in a hurry and the villains are knocked into the corner in a Human Centipede pose. The hot tag brings in Stevens for a bunch of clotheslines, including one to the freshly conscious Grim. CPA goes to the apron for a dive, followed by a big one from Kip to knock everyone down. Back in and a Hart Attack gets rid of the Crew at 10:08.

Naturally they beat down the Club until Massage Force (Yes MASSAGE FORCE. Dorian Graves and VSK because all you need are initials instead of a full name these days.) is in fourth. The Club gets neck massages until a double rollup gets a double near fall. We settle down to Graves (the masked man, oddly enough) rubbing Stevens’ neck before it’s off to VSK, who gets a massage from Graves. It’s good enough to bring in CPA for two off a missile dropkick.

Another Hart Attack misses so CPA has to hit a suicide dive on Graves instead. Back inside and VSK kicks Stevens in the face for two, followed by a Backstabber for the same. Massage Force wants the oil and it’s VSK sliding across Graves’ back (just go with it) for a headbutt to Stevens’ crotch. A Shatter Machine gets rid of the Club (Why are an accountant and a guy in business casual called the Breakfast Club?) at 17:17.

Job Security (Big Malcolm and Officer Ronald) are in fifth and try to beat the fun out of Massage Force. The World’s Greatest Tag Team’s jump over your partner onto someone’s back gets two on VSK but it’s quickly back to Graves to massage Ronald. A Swanton/reverse DDT combination hits Malcolm and it’s more oil so Malcolm can get sent into Ronald’s crotch. Another Shatter Machine gets rid of Job Security at 21:18.

KM and Fallah Bahh are in sixth and you can tell these two are rather popular here. They seem to like McKenzie, who sounds touched. Bahh puts VSK in a front facelock and adds a splash….before oiling up KM’s back. The slide is more of a crushing this time and everything breaks down. KM and Bahh both roll over Massage Force and they make the referee do it too. That’s not good enough though as they have McKenzie do it as well. A Banzai Drop finishes VSK at 28:22.

And just in case we haven’t gone over the edge already, the BWO (Nova/Blue Meanie) is in seventh. KM works on Nova’s arm for a good while to start, with the announcers wondering how many times a single arm can be turned around. Nova is back with a big boot that knocks KM out of the ring and up the ramp to the stage. Back in and KM wants Meanie….and then tags out to Bahh for the sumo wrestling collision. They argue over NO NO NO/YES YES YES and it’s Meanie tickling Bahh.

Everyone but Meanie head outside and the big dive is teased, sending the three of them running around the building in fear. Bahh runs so far away that he gets counted out at 37:12. KM asks where Bahh went because he’s riding Bahh’s coattails on TV. KM: “I’m his Marty Jannetty! I need him!” Bahh comes back with hot dogs….for everyone in the ring!

As they eat, Team Espana (Jos A and Jos B, the Tag Team Champions and thankfully with labeled shirts) are in eighth as the final team. Meanie gets beaten down in the corner but it’s off to Nova to throw the right hands. Everything breaks down and Nova’s suplex to B is broken up as A pulls the foot, allowing B to fall on top for the pin at 42:42.

Rating: D-. The only thing I learned from this is that the WrestlePro tag division is awful with some very goofy teams. I was rather bored with most of this because most of the teams barely stand out from the others and they seem to have one note gimmicks at best. I’ll give some credit to KM and Bahh though: they looked like stars compared to the other teams, though that’s not saying much. Crazy long here and there had to be a team or two that could be cut.

The BWO gets cheered out of the ring.

Dan Maff vs. Swoggle

Street fight. Maff weighs over 300lb and is kind of a legend around here. Swoggle brings in his own weapons and they talk trash to start. Some chairs are set up in the middle and they sit down in front of each other for a slap fight at the opening bell. Swoggle gets the better of it until Maff stands up and kicks him down.

The weapons are brought in and it’s a stepladder to Maff’s back. The trashcan goes over his head and Swoggle beats on him with a kendo stick and there’s a big shot to the head, which just annoys Maff even more. An even bigger trashcan shot to the head drops Swoggle and it’s time for the barbed wire chair. Swoggle pours out the building blocks (they’re not Legos) because that’s the big thing these days.

The staple gun doesn’t work for Maff as Swoggle bites him and staples his crotch. A Stunner gives Swoggle two and it’s a side slam onto the blocks. Swoggle kendo sticks him off the top and blasts Maff with the barbed wire chair for two. Maff shrugs it off and loads up the Burning Hammer but lets Swoggle down. Swoggle flips him off though and hits a low blow, setting up a small package for two. That’s it for Maff, who wraps the ladder around Swoggle’s head and pulls back like a camel clutch for the tap at 8:53.

Rating: D+. This was actually tolerable, though just having Swoggle in there didn’t make it funny. The spots were your usual hardcore deals, though the ending was good. Swoggle is a lot more than just a comedy act as he works hard and can have a match, which is a lot more than you would expect from him.

They show respect and trade shirts after the match.

Colt Cabana/Santino Marella vs. Heavenly Bodies

That would be Desirable Dustin/Gigolo Justin for this Bodies incarnation. We get the rapid tags before any contact is made with the first lockup coming nearly two minutes in. Justin bails away from the threat of the Cobra so it’s off to Dustin, who gets made fun of for having a large stomach. The threat of the Cobra makes him run away twice as that lockup is about all that has happened so far. Everything breaks down and it’s a power walk from Cabana and Santino, setting up the double Bionic elbows.

We settle down to Justin’s arm getting worked over with Santino climbing to the top but getting nervous and coming off the bottom rope instead. Colt and Santino can’t get their double teams on the same page and jokingly yell at each other. A sunset flip doesn’t work for Colt as Dustin gets the tag but a tag to Santino doesn’t count because he’s not in the corner. Therefore, being clever, Santino extends the tag rope and stands halfway down the apron while still holding the rope.

A belly to back suplex into a moonsault gets two on Cabana (the Flippy Doo) and Colt stays in trouble in the corner. Cabana’s diving tag lands about three feet short so he tries again, this time with Dustin pulling Santino off the apron. Colt finally shrugs off some stomping in the corner and brings in Santino for his usual comeback. The referee gets bumped and Santino loads up the Cobra but Killer Kross runs in to jump him.

Kross does a Rick Rude impression and says he’s here to prove that funny doesn’t equal money because it’s not best for business. He beats up Colt and Santino while mocking comedy wrestling. Cue Joey Ryan of all people but Kross immediately says he’s not going near it. Kross tries the low blow and hurts his leg so Joey hits a dropkick. The lollipop goes into Kross’ mouth for the superkick and it’s time for the Cobra. Hang on though as Cabana puts a sock on his own hand. We get a double You Plex and a pair of Cobras for the double pin at 16:26.

Rating: D+. I really can’t get mad at this as it kind of went exactly as you would expect it to with the run-ins being the right choices. The ending was never in doubt and it was really just a matter of time before the Cobra got the win. It this had been the featured goofy match at the end of a more balanced show it could have worked better, but you can only get so much after this long of a show.

Overall Rating: D. The one thing I’ve learned from this show is why it’s called comedy relief. The idea behind a comedy match is to give you some breathing room after everything gets serious on a show. By having the entire (over three hour long) card be comedy, and in some cases it’s a big stretch to call it such, it’s really hard to stay in the right mood for it.

This didn’t work and while it’s certainly an idea, it isn’t one that works throughout. By the end it felt like a sketch comedy show that had run out of ideas and they were just throwing stuff out there and hoping it was funny. That’s why this kind of an idea doesn’t work. You need a serious match to look forward to because once the jokes stop working, you’re just watching mostly bad matches.

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:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/02/22/new-book-kbs-monday-nitro-thunder-reviews-volume-vii-january-june-2000/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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

IMG Credit: Wrestling Revolver

Pancakes And Piledrivers III
Date: April 6, 2019
Location: New York Hilton Midtown, New York City, New York
Commentators: Bork Torkelson, Don Callis

This is from Wrestling Revolves, where the idea is that you get something different every time. There’s a bonus in this show though as if you’re in the crowd, you get free pancakes. That alone should be more than enough to get people to show up but there’s also the whole wrestling thing on the side. Let’s get to it.

A rather ridiculous thirty minutes after the scheduled start time, we get a DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME message.

Opening sequence, with a song about the pancake robot coming to town.

The ring announcer introduces Jimmy Jacobs as our host….and he’s accompanied by the Rascalz dressed as pancakes. The Rascalz carry Jimmy around the ring and it’s time to throw out bags of swag. Jimmy explains that the hotel won’t allow them to give you pancakes so the Rascalz are the pancakes instead. They run off and I guess we’ll be seeing them later.

David Starr vs. Moose vs. Brian Cage

Starr, from Philadelphia, is billed from London and doesn’t get his monikers so he’s not happy. He has a card with the names listed, though Jacobs adds his own twists and the arguing continues. Moose and Cage stare each other down and Starr doesn’t like being left out. We get the MOOSE vs. the Terminator clap until Starr tries chopping both of them. Starr can’t slam or suplex either guy so they launch him into the air for a crash, leaving Cage to headscissor Moose.

An exchange of pump kicks goes nowhere but Starr manages to drop them both throat first over the rope. That means a double suicide dive and the brainbuster to the knee for two on Moose. Cage German suplexes both of them at the same time and an F5 gets two on Starr. Moose’s chokebomb out of the corner gets the same on Cage with Starr making a save of his own. A powerbomb backbreaker takes Starr down again and the Drill Claw makes it worse, only to have Moose throw Cage outside and steal the pin at 5:49.

Rating: D+. The story was simple enough and I’m surprised that they didn’t go with Starr getting the fluke win. Starr being in over his head was making me chuckle as he continues to be all over Wrestlemania weekend. I’m guessing the match ran short because of the crazy long delay to start the show, which really didn’t do the show any favors.

Tag Team Titles: Gauntlet Match

The Besties in the World (Davey Vega/Matt Fitchett, who come out to I Knew I Loved You by Savage Garden) are in first and Aussie Open are in second (out of six). Davey walks into a double flapjack to start and a backbreaker into a backsplash gets two. Everything breaks down and the Besties both get an abdominal stretch on Davis at the same time. Fletcher is right back with a standing Lionsault and it’s Vega getting chopped in the corner.

Davey finally gets in a kick to the face and makes the tag with Fitchett hitting a high crossbody for two on Fletcher. A running knee gets the same but it’s Davis coming back in to clean house. Davis picks Vega up for a jumping cutter from Fletcher but a running kick to the face finishes Davis at 7:40.

The Rascalz (Zachary Wentz/Dezmond Xavier this time around) are in third and the Besties are right there to slow them down, including a backflip kick to the head on the apron. Not that it matters as Vega is run over and the shoving moonsault gives Wentz the pin at 9:35. The Lucha Bros are in fourth and it’s a quick exchange of superkicks with the Bros getting the best of things. Wentz gets kicked down and a double superkick makes it even worse. The wheelbarrow splash gets two on Xavier and the Pentagon Driver gets rid of the Rascalz at 12:30.

Hang on though as the Rascalz jump the Bros as LAX (defending champions) is in fifth. The four of them beat the Bros down but LAX superkicks the Rascalz and pin the Bros at 15:36. Team Tremendous (Bill Carr/Dan Barry) are in last with LAX right there to jump them. Barry is right back up for an Asai moonsault onto both of them, followed by a running flip dive from the bigger Carr.

They get inside with Ortiz kicking Barry away and it’s off to Santana vs. Carr. A big clothesline gives Carr two but everything breaks down. Santana superkicks Barry into a cutter for two with Carr making the save. The Street Sweeper is broken up and it’s an electric chair Sliced Bread to finish Ortiz for the titles at 20:54.

Rating: C-. As usual in a gauntlet match, the fast falls didn’t help things but at least they had a surprise ending with what seems to be a fun team winning the titles. There were some awesome teams in there and I really wish we could have seen some of them have some longer segments, but there’s not exactly time for something like that. Not bad, but pretty disappointing.

AR Fox vs. Sammy Guevara vs. Ace Austin vs. JT Dunn

Austin fires off kicks from the apron until Fox gets in a kick of his own. Guevara and Dunn chop it out with Sammy hitting Feast Your Eyes for two. Dunn sends Austin outside and hits a rolling cutter for two on Guevara. Austin throws Guevara into the air for a cutter but Dunn makes the save to put everyone down. Dunn’s rollup with tights gets two on Fox so Fox hits a springboard Downward Spiral to plant Dunn for the same. Ace is back in with a top rope spinning Fameasser for two on Sammy as Fox makes another save. Dunn’s Death By Elbow (discus elbow) finishes Fox at 8:52.

Rating: C+. This was a lot of fun with everyone moving as fast as they could. They weren’t going for anything more than one spot after another and that’s a perfectly good decision in a match like this. Dunn and Austin looked good here, though I’m not sure what the point of the Skulls was. They just came and went and didn’t change anything, so why even have them out there in the first place?

Open Invite Scramble Title: Caleb Konley vs. Jake Manning vs. Ian Maxwell vs. Daga vs. Lance Anao’i vs. Mance Warner vs. Arik Cannon vs. Trey Miguel vs. Jon Skyler vs. Shigehiro Irie vs. Clayton Gaines vs. KTB

Konley is defending and this is one fall to a finish. Daga and Miguel go nuts by hiptossing everyone until the referee hiptosses Miguel for a change. Warner comes back in but gets crotches by KTB, leaving Daga to come off the top with a Meteora to make KTB DDT Mance. Lance superkicks Skyler, who hits a double superkick along with Gaines. Daga runs the ropes to headscissor Maxwell and wristdrag KTB at the same time.

Irie comes in and gets to run everyone over but it’s Mance coming back in to offer Cannon a beer. Gaines comes back in with his energy drink and gets beer spat in his face, though he’s fine enough to clothesline Warner and Cannon down. Konley remembers he’s in the match and powerbombs Maxwell onto the pile but Skyler cuts him down with a slingshot spear. Maxwell and Miguel hit their own running dives, followed by one from KTB off the top.

Back in and Miguel hits a 619 on Maxwell but Manning cuts him off with a backbreaker into a Downward Spiral. Daga comes back in to beat up Gaines and it’s time for Warner to put Skyler on top. That’s not the best idea as it’s a super Regal Roll to drop Warner with Lance coming off the top with a Superfly Splash. Konley and Irie get their turn now with Konley not being able to get a sunset flip.

Irie manages to piledrive Cannon onto Konley, leaving Lance and Miguel to go Coast to Coast at the same time. Hang on though as Manning, the Manscout, needs to bring in a tent. Skyler knocks Manning into the tent but he’s right back up for the Tower of Doom to drive a bunch of people through the tent. Konley rolls Maxwell up to retain the title at 14:38.

Rating: D. I get the idea here but it’s too long and messy to really work. Cut it down to six or so and this would have worked far better than the dozen wrestlers in there at once. It’s a bunch of spots, many of which weren’t all that great in the first place. This definitely wasn’t a terrible match but the concept didn’t work with this many people involved at once.

Jacobs thanks the fans for being so awesome and makes fun of Callis.

Adam Brooks vs. Matt Cross

Cross is better known as Son of Havoc from Lucha Underground. Brooks is replacing Sonjay Dutt for some reason. Brooks gets aggressive to start and catches a running Cross in a Downward Spiral into the buckle. An elbow to the face stops Brooks and there’s the first suicide dive.

Back in and Cross misses a top rope double stomp, allowing Brooks to hit a Backpack Stunner. A double stomp to the ribs works better for Cross but Brooks catches him in a fireman’s carry facebuster. That sends Cross outside for a suicide dive into a sloppy tornado DDT but he’s fine enough to dropkick Brooks down. The shooting star press finishes Brooks at 4:39.

Rating: C-. It was nice to have a singles match for once, though they went through it so fast that it didn’t exactly have a lot of impact. The energy was there though and that helped keep the show going well enough. I could have gone for more of this and that’s about as good of an endorsement as you can have.

Jacobs decides the next match will be for the X-Division Title. Bork: “Can he do that?” Callis: “No.”

X-Division Title: Chuck Mambo vs. Rich Swann

Mambo is “gnarliest wrestler in the world” and seems to like beach balls. Swann, now without facial hair, has Jason Cade of the Crew faction with him. Mambo takes him down by the arm to start before sending Swann into the corner, meaning it’s time to dance. A wristlock makes Swann scream until he bounces out of it as the pace picks up. An inverted Gory Stretch has Swann in more trouble but a Cade distraction lets him slip out. Mambo gets dropkicked out of the air. The stepover kick to the face gives Swann two but Mambo explodes with chops and punches to the chest.

A Blockbuster drops Swann and a springboard Meteora gets two. Mambo gets hurricanranaed off the top but he’s fine enough to superkick Swann to the floor. That means a double jump springboard flip dive onto Swann and Cade for the big spot of the match. Back in and Swann’s Lethal Injection gets two but a second attempt is countered into a Backstabber. Cade breaks up a cover off the springboard splash, which isn’t an ejection for some reason. Mambo chases him inside and gets rolled up for the pin at 10:38.

Rating: C. Mambo’s gimmick was a little goofy but once he got into the actual wrestling, he wasn’t bad at all and the match was pretty good. Swann looks so strange without his goatee but at least he can still have a good match. I could go for more of Mambo and that’s a big reason to watch these shows: you never know who you might see for the first *time.

Ace Romero vs. Fallah Bahh vs. Larry D. vs. Dan Maff vs. Madman Fulton vs. Jacob Fatu vs. Jessika Havoc

Havoc is a surprise surprise entrant and aside from her, Fulton is the smallest at 305lbs. Everyone goes after her and it’s a six way crush to send her outside. Larry powerbombs Fatu and catches Maff’s crossbody until Fulton kicks them both down. Fulton slams Bahh but Romero takes both of them down. Havoc slams the 385lb Romero but Bahh gives her a Banzai Drop with Fulton having to make a save. Fatu superkicks Maff, only to miss the handspring moonsault.

Romero goes to the middle rope for no logical reason, allowing Fulton to hit a Regal Roll but he dives into a Samoan drop from Bahh. With everyone else on the floor, Havok hits a suicide dive but Fatu drives over the top to take all of them out in a more impressive landing. Back in and Maff’s Burning Hammer gets two on Havok with Romero making a save and then diving onto Maff. Fatu moonsaults Havok for the pin at 5:43.

Rating: D+. There were some impressive spots in there and they were very smart to keep it short. If you have these bigger wrestlers going too long, it’s going to get lethargic and sloppy so going with the quick form was certainly the right call. Havoc and Romero were impressive, though I still don’t know how WWE didn’t see the potential in Fulton.

Tessa Blanchard vs. Ricky Shane Page

I’ve never seen Page wrestle but he has some size and smiles a lot. They stall a lot with Tessa not shaking his hand and then slapping him in the face. The lockup finally starts after two minutes, followed by Tessa hitting a good looking tornado DDT. A dropkick to the back of the head has Page in more trouble so he slaps Tessa into the corner. That ticks Tessa off and she unloads with forearms before taking it outside to beat Page up against the barricade.

Page blasts her with an overhand chop but she jumps to the apron to kick Page in the face. A hard suicide dive sends Page into the barricade and Tessa plants him with an impressive Samoan drop. Page shoves her away and hits a splash but gets caught in another tornado DDT for two. Back up and a top rope superplex drops Tessa and a chokebreaker gets two more. Tessa gets taken up top again but counters into a super Canadian Destroyer….for two. Magnum and the Buzzsaw DDT finish Page at 13:26.

Rating: C-. This was longer than it needed to be and the kickout of the Destroyer was ridiculous. If you’re going to finish the match thirty seconds later, why even have the kickout in the first place? Tessa winning is hardly a surprise as she’s one of the best female wrestlers in the world right now and Page is just a big guy who didn’t do anything special here.

Jacobs introduces us to a dog named Nami and tells us to come see her at the Wrestling Revolver booth.

OVE vs. Unwanted

OVE has a loud manager named JT Davidson. The Unwanted is Shane Strickland/Joe Gacy/Eddie Kingston (with Colby Corino) and this is Shane’s final independent match. OVE isn’t having this big entrance and the fight is on in a hurry. We settle down to Eddie STOing Dave but taking a neckbreaker from Jake. Strickland comes in for his anklescissors into a dropkick and a running dropkick to the knee.

Now it’s Sami coming in for the staredown and he doesn’t understand why Shane won’t shake hands after Sami spit on it. Instead it’s a kick to the face but Sami forearms Shane out to the floor. Sami goes outside as well and it’s Gacy diving onto all of them, followed by Dave hitting a dive into a tornado DDT. Colby tries a dive of his own but gets superplexed onto the pile. Not to be outdone, Davidson hits his own flip dive and the referee adds a non-flip dive.

Back in and it’s the Tower of Doom as they’re getting through all of the six man spots in a hurry. Shane nails his snap German suplex on Dave, followed by the rolling cutter. The Cactus Piledriver gives Sami two on Shane and Jake’s cutter gets the same (just a regular cutter as he couldn’t hit the jumping version). With everyone else going to the floor, Sami spits at Shane, who spits right back. Shane snaps the arm back and the Swerve Stomp connects for the pin at 10:32.

Rating: B-. This felt rushed, which is probably the case as they seemed to want to be out by the top of the hour and had to hurry to get done on time. Strickland is going to be a heck of a talent in WWE due to how smooth he can be in the ring. Callihan was his usual vile self and the Crists were every bit as awesome as usual. Gacy didn’t show me much and Kingston was the same brawler he’s been for years, meaning your mileage may vary.

Post match Sami hugs Strickland. The announcers sign off but Sami grabs the mic and says he quit WWE for reasons like this. Sami saw something in him when no one else did and now it’s time for Shane to be the leader of this generation. Shane thanks the locker room because they’re his brothers. It took him ten years to get here and his first WrestleCon was in New York/New Jersey and now he’s leaving here as well. Strickland talks about wrestling in England, where everything just clicked and the confidence started coming in.

That’s where Swerve started to come together and what he wanted to show everyone: confidence. He was in the military as a teenage and had two kids when he was nineteen. Wrestling was in his heart then and it’s in his heart now because he’s traveled the world and met people everywhere. Have confidence in yourself and there is swerve in all of you. Awesome speech and Strickland could be a star in NXT.

Overall Rating: D+. I wasn’t feeling this one as there was just too much stuff going on to make it work. There were too many multi-man matches and trying to cram in as many people as you could. The wrestling was hit or miss, mainly because there wasn’t enough of a chance for anyone to stand out among everyone else. For a wild mess of a show it was passable, but it’s nothing that I’d want to watch again.

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:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/02/22/new-book-kbs-monday-nitro-thunder-reviews-volume-vii-january-june-2000/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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

IMG Credit: Rev Pro Wrestling

Rev Pro: New York
Date: April 5, 2019
Location: New York Hilton Midtown, New York City, New York
Commentators: Andy Boy Simmonz, Kevin Kelly

I’ve seen these guys twice live and had a good time with each of the shows so this was a must for the list. I don’t really follow their stories all that closely but I know enough of the names to keep up. This show will have a mixture of British wrestling and New Japan so it’s going to be quite the combination. Let’s get to it.

Kelly welcomes us to the show and says we’ll be ready to go in just a bit. Fifteen minutes later we’re ready to go.

Owner Andy Quildan welcomes us to the show and says part of the delay was wrestlers at the merch tables (fair enough). We get the traditional requests for the cheering but no “London says they’re louder than you”.

Karl Fredericks/Clark Conners vs. CCK

That would two Young Lions from the New Japan Los Angeles dojo vs. Jonathan Gresham/Chris Brookes. Clark and Gresham go straight to the mat and it’s actually a standoff, which you wouldn’t expect against Gresham. A chop off goes to Conners and the bigger Fredericks comes in to shove Gresham into the corner. Brookes comes in and gets taken down by the smaller Fredericks, as the Young Lions are certainly good on the mat.

Fredericks powers him into the corner and it’s a double leglock from the Lions, drawing Gresham in for a save. Speaking of Gresham, he comes in off a blind tag and catches Conners in a German suplex. Brookes comes back in and slaps on a leglock with Fredericks picking Gresham up and throwing him away to make a save. A dropkick to Gresham’s leg gives us a double knockdown and everything breaks down. Stereo Boston crabs from the Lions are broken up with some kicks from Brookes and we hit the ten minute mark.

Fredericks throws Conners into Brookes and it’s another chop off to put Brookes in trouble. A Jay Driller with Gresham adding a kick to the head gets….two with Conners shoving Clark into the cover for the save. I thought that was it. Clark and Gresham forearm it out until an enziguri into a standing Lionsault has Clark rocked. The ankle lock goes on with Gresham pulling him up into a bridging German suplex for two more. Gresham has had it and it’s a discus forearm….for two more with Gresham being shocked. A spinning kick to the head knocks Conners silly for the pin at 13:35.

Rating: B. Considering that the Lions are trainees, this was a heck of a fight with the rookies more than holding their own here. I had a good time watching it and that’s more than you expect when one of the teams is told to use a limited moveset. Very good opener and far better than I was expecting.

Carlos Romo vs. A-Kid vs. Kid Lykos vs. Flamita

I’m only familiar with Flamita so this is going to be all over the place. Kid and Romo are a regular team called Team Whitewolf. Flamita and Lykos chop away in the corner with Lykos missing a 619 in the corner but snapping off a headscissors. They switch out with the other two but Kid is thrown outside onto Romo, meaning it’s a flip dive from Lykos.

Another one from Flamita takes everyone down but Flamita stops for some posing. Back in and Kid fisherman suplexes Flamita for two, leaving himself open for a kick to the face from Lykos. A split legged moonsault gives Lykos two of his own and a 619 takes Kid to the floor. Romo adds a moonsault but gets caught with a 619 and Backstabber from Flamita. Kid is right back up with a Canadian Destroyer to Lykos but Romo slides in and steals the pin at 7:04.

Rating: B-. This was about as long as they could go at this pace before it stops meaning as much. I do like the fact that they advance storylines on this show instead of just having one off matches as it adds a nice change of pace. Flamita was the most impressive of course but the other three got to showcase themselves as well, which is one of the hardest parts in a match like this.

Michael Oku vs. Brian Cage

Oku is a contender and Cage is a surprise opponent. He starts kicking at the legs and has a tornado DDT easily countered with raw power. A release powerbomb sets up a hard toss across the ring as Oku is already in big trouble. Cage throws him again and makes it even worse with a monkey flip. A little too much posing lets Oku get in a basement dropkick to the back of the head but doesn’t know what to do next, allowing Cage to throw him down again.

The F5 is countered and Oku goes up….for a moonsault that Cage can’t catch. Cage gets sent outside for the flip dive to the floor but it’s too early for a countout. The powerbomb counter into a sunset flip is botched so Oku reverses an F5 into the Canadian Destroyer (WAY too popular a move this weekend) for a delayed two. Well done on not doing the same spot and mixing it up a bit there. Cage’s helicopter bomb gets a rather surprising two and Oku reverses another powerbomb into a hurricanrana for two more. That’s it for Cage as the Drill Claw finishes Oku at 9:39.

Rating: C+. Well that was way better than it had any right to be as Oku is basically trying to get his first big win and has to fight Cage. I’ll give Cage some major points for that much selling as it made Oku look far better than he would have otherwise. Cage is one of those imports who can make for a good guest star and if he can help out the full time people, good for him.

Hiroshi Tanahashi/Will Ospreay vs. Minoru Suzuki/Zack Sabre Jr.

Suzuki/Sabre’s British Tag Team Titles aren’t on the line. Tanahashi and Sabre start things off with Sabre taking him up against the rope with ease. That’s broken up and Sabre skips around the ring and Tanahashi can’t do anything with him. Ospreay comes in and knocks Sabre to the floor but Suzuki grabs an armbar over the ropes to cut off a dive. They head outside with Suzuki forearming the heck out of him, sending Ospreay down in a heap.

Back in and Ospreay lets Suzuki chop him and is stupid enough to let him do it a few more times. Everything breaks down and the villains slap on stereo holds. With those broken, Suzuki goes after the referee because he has to hurt someone. Ospreay’s nose is busted (looks broken) so Suzuki elbows him in the face. I love that kind of meanness. The half crab goes on as the announcers explain that this isn’t about a submission but just about pain.

Ospreay somehow springboards into a kick to the head and the hot tag brings in Tanahashi. They trade abdominal stretches but you know that’s not good enough for Sabre, who slaps on an armbar at the same time. Sabre stomps on the arm and it’s back to Suzuki for the exchange of forearms. Tanahashi knocks him backwards (shocking) and extends his jaw to give Suzuki a free shot.

Suzuki takes him down by the leg but Ospreay makes a save, allowing Tanahashi to get back up for a forearm. Ospreay fires in a long stretch of forearms to knock Suzuki down in the corner for a basement dropkick…..and Suzuki stands up. More forearms give Suzuki that “boy you done messed up look” so Ospreay says bring it. A forearm from Suzuki gives Ospreay that “my goodness that was incredibly painful look” but a spinwheel kick drops Suzuki.

The sleeper has Ospreay in more trouble and Sabre comes in for the Penalty Kicks. Tanahashi makes a save and the villains slap on stereo abdominal stretches. That’s broken up and a dragon screw legwhip sends Suzuki outside. The Sling Blade sets up the picture perfect shooting star press for two on Sabre. Back up and Ospreay tries Stormbreaker but gets reversed into the European Clutch for the pin at 21:17.

Rating: A-. Suzuki is still the scariest human in wrestling history and this was a good example of why you don’t try to hit him in the face. These guys beat each other up quite well and it even helps set up Tanahashi vs. Sabre tomorrow night at Madison Square Garden. This is the best match I’ve seen this weekend so far and that covers some ground, so Rev Pro comes through again.

Intermission.

Rocky Romero vs. Ryusuke Taguchi

I believe Swoggle is in the crowd along the aisle. Taguchi is in his rugby gear to celebrate the upcoming Rugby World Cup. Romero bails from the threat of a hip attack before going with an armbar to take Taguchi down. Back up and Romero offers a handshake, even shaking the referee’s hand to show that it’s legitimate. Taguchi does take the handshake but gets kicked in the ribs, allowing Romero to hit the Eddie Guerrero dance.

A handstand from Taguchi lets him offer a quick dropkick but he’s out of the way so Romero misses for a crash. The hip attack knocks Romero outside but Taguchi spends WAY too much time getting ready, allowing Romero to knock him outside. The suicide dive connects and it’s Romero hitting his own hip attack. That’s not cool with the fans and it’s an exchange of atomic drops….for stereo Flair Flops. A series of hip attacks have Romero in more trouble as this needs to end.

Taguchi rolls some vertical suplexes but Romero is right back with a springboard dropkick to the back. The Forever Lariats don’t last forever and it’s some Forever Hip Attacks until a tornado DDT plants Taguchi. Sliced Bread is countered into a series of rollups for two each because THIS WON’T JUST END. Romero hits some Kawada Kicks to the face and, you guessed it, Taguchi does the same things with hip attacks. Taguchi hits an enziguri and a running hip attack gets two. A double chickenwing faceplant finishes Romero at 15:22.

Rating: D-. WOW this was bad as it felt like it was going on for about three times what we got. It just kept going with about 80% of Taguchi’s offense being that stupid hip attack. This felt like a performance instead of two guys trying to win a match and that made it feel so much longer than anything else. I know Romero is a rather polarizing wrestler and I can easily see how that’s the case. Worst match I’ve seen all weekend and it was nearing torture.

Tomohiro Ishii vs. David Starr

Starr’s Cruiserweight Title isn’t on the line. Starr is always claiming that Rev Pro is against him (that was the case two years ago) so Ishii is pretty much here to kill him. Feeling out process to start and Starr decides it’s a good idea to chop someone called the Stone Pitbull. About five chops have no effect and one Ishii chop takes Starr down. It also fires Starr up as he’s right back on his feet for a hard running shoulder.

Starr stomps him down in the corner and hits a running clothesline for two. Ishii gets annoyed at the chops and forearms and it’s time for Starr’s pain to really begin. A rolling kick to the head drops Ishii to the floor and it’s a suicide dive to give Starr his best chance so far. Back in and a top rope elbow gives Starr two but his German suplex is no sold. A superkick works a bit better but Ishii is right back up with a delayed superplex for two more.

The sliding lariat is countered into a rollup for two and Starr fires off two straight lariats for his own near fall. Another superkick sets up the Tomorrow Driver (the brainbuster onto the knee) for two more as they’re trading covers here. Ishii has finally had it and nails the sliding lariat into the brainbuster for the pin at 13:08.

Rating: C+. They were beating on each other as hard as they could (well maybe not as hard as Ishii could) and that made for a good but not great match. There wasn’t exactly a story to the match and most of it was spent trading forearms and clotheslines until the end. There wasn’t a ton of drama because Starr never tried anything big and you knew that brainbuster was waiting at the end. It was good, but it never got that far out of high gear.

Aussie Open vs. Roppongi 3K

3K’s IWGP Junior Tag Team Titles aren’t on the line. Davis and Yoh start things off with a test of strength taking Yoh down without much effort. Sho comes in to face Fletcher but everything breaks down with Roppongi dropkicking them to the floor for stereo flip dives. Back in and Fletcher gets dragged into the wrong corner but he’s right back with a double toss into the air for two on Sho. A hard clothesline connects for the same and it’s off to Davis to chop and elbow at Sho’s chest.

We hit the reverse chinlock with Yoh making a save as the slow beatdown continues. Fletcher kicks Sho down but can’t get a suplex as we hit the ten minute mark. Sho slips out of a suplex and hits a spear (you don’t see that one very often in Japan). That’s enough to bring Yoh back in for a backbreaker/neckbreaker combination on Fletcher. The Figure Four goes on until Davis comes over for a save.

Everything breaks down and Sho gets kicked on the floor, leaving Yoh to take an assisted cutter for two with Sho diving back in for the save. Fletcher and Yoh trade kicks to the head and back to the to the other two with Sho’s running clotheslines having no effect. A dropkick to the knee into a German suplex works a bit better and it’s Sho coming back in for double jumping knees to the face.

3K is broken up with Fletcher’s high crossbody but the Fidget Spinner is broken up. Yoh comes back in and 3K grabs stereo submissions, broken up by stereo reaching the ropes. Fletcher kicks Davis’ arm by mistake and gets rolled up for two but Sho is sent outside. A stuff piledriver into the Fidget Spinner is good for the pin on Yoh at 20:28.

Rating: C. This was WAY too long again and it hurt the match a lot. Aussie Open is good but it felt like they were extending the match for the sake of extending the match. That’s almost never a good idea and it really hurt things here. I was waiting on the match to end instead of wanting to see the finish and that’s not a good sign. It certainly wasn’t bad, but it was a long match at the end of a long show.

The shake hands to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. This was a great example of a show being cut in half by intermission and the quality dropping off a cliff in the second half. The first half of this show was one of the better ones I’ve seen in a long time but the second was one long match after another and I was checking the clock a lot. There’s more good than bad, but it needed to have about twenty minutes cut to really make it great. Of just don’t do Taguchi vs. Romero at all. Check out that first half but move on to something else after intermission.

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:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/02/22/new-book-kbs-monday-nitro-thunder-reviews-volume-vii-january-june-2000/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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

IMG Credit: WrestleCon

WrestleCon: USA vs. The World
Date: April 5, 2019
Location: New York Hilton Midtown, New York City, New York
Commentators: Excalibur, Dan Barry

This is a new one as WrestleCon is running a pair of shows and there’s a theme to this one. It’s a pretty simple idea here and the name alone should explain things. We’ll be seeing some interesting matches here and WrestleCon knows how to do these things quite well most of the time. Let’s get to it.

If there was an opening sequence, it didn’t make the feed.

Emil Sitoci (World) vs. Brian Pillman Jr. (USA)

Sitoci was on the WXW show yesterday. Pillman goes right after him to start and sends Sitoci to the apron for a springboard dropkick to the floor. The fans chant for Papa Pillman as Sitoci sends him into the barricade. It’s time to wrap the leg around the post (Excalibur: “The ACTUAL hardest part of the ring ladies and gentlemen.”) so Sitoci can bring him back inside for a knee to the knee.

A spinning toehold sets up a Figure Four as Sitoci certainly knows how to work on a leg. Pillman grabs a rope and they chop it out with a powerslam getting two on Sitoci. A superplex attempt is broken up and Pillman nails a high crossbody to a big reaction. The knee to the jaw sets up a swinging neckbreaker for the pin on Sitoci at 7:55.

Rating: C. Pillman has a lot of potential and is already looking better than he should. He’s been a regular in MLW and right now he’s just in need of ring time. I hadn’t seen Sitoci before yesterday and he’s been a rather nice surprise. He’s not great or someone I want to see being signed to WWE, but he seems to be quite the star in WXW and wherever else he works.

USA – 1

World – 0

Maxwell Jacob Friedman (USA) vs. Ethan Page (World)

Before the match, Page sings You Are My Sunshine in reference to MJF singing it on the Rosie O’Donnell Show as a child in a video that recently made the rounds. MJF freaks out and they fight around the ring with Page dropping him face first onto the apron. Page’s fingers get caught in the turnbuckle hook to make Page scream and it’s time to start in on the arm.

The armbar goes on but Page uses the free arm to start up the song again for the break. MJF goes right back to the armbar and grabs the rope like a true heel. Why is that such a lost art? The referee kicks the arm away and Page swings with the right arm instead. MJF doesn’t seem to mind as he hits a top rope double stomp to the arm and slaps on a Fujiwara armbar. Page makes the rope so it’s a hanging piledriver to put him away at 6:19.

Rating: C-. I hate to admit it, but MJF is growing on me. He’s not too bad at all in the ring and does a nice job of breaking a limb apart in an old school style. I’m starting to see the potential in what he does and while the gimmick has been done before, it’s something that works quite well because it’s a classic. I want to see him get punched in the face and that means he’s doing his job quite well.

USA – 2

World – 0

David Starr (USA) vs. Daga (World)

Daga is a replacement for Susumo Yokosuka, a Dragon Gate talent that got pulled. They start fast with the flipping and near dives into an early standoff. Daga snaps off a hurricanrana to the floor and there’s a suicide dive. Back in and a tilt-a-whirl faceplant into a rolling kick to the head gives Starr two but Daga is right back up with a series of forearms. Starr headbutts the arm for a smart counter so Daga kicks him in the face for two. The brainbuster to the knee gives Starr another near fall and Daga nails a pop up Death Valley Driver.

Rating: B-. Starr is another guy who has grown on me a lot since I started watching this kind of wrestling. He has a charisma that can make whatever he does work and his in-ring abilities are quite good as well. He’s around on almost every show and I like him more every time I see him. That’s hard to do but he’s pulled it off.

USA – 3

World – 0

Darby Allin (USA) vs. Black Taurus (World)

Bonus match. It’s a creepy guy with half his face painted vs. a man in a bull mask. Taurus feels things out a bit before slapping the taste out of Allin’s mouth to send him outside. Back in and La Majistral gives Allin two and he sends Taurus outside for a quick suicide dive. Taurus shrugs it off and hits a Shining Wizard back inside, setting up an armbar.

Allin pops up and hits a bottom rope corkscrew splash, only to get his head taken off by the Rainmaker. Pete Dunne’s Bitter End gets another two but Allin backdrops him to the floor. The Coffin Drop connects but a second attempt hits knees back inside. A spinning sitout brainbuster finishes Allin at 7:18.

Rating: D+. I wasn’t feeling this one, though that might be due to me not being overly familiar with either guy. I’ve seen them both before but neither of them are top stars. It’s nice to get something different involved though and the World side needed a win after such dominance so far.

USA – 3

World – 1

Jiro Ikemen (World) vs. Rich Swann (USA)

The very energetic and flamboyant Ikemen is a replacement for Masato Yoshino. Swann is even wearing the X Division Title but it’s not on the line. Hang on though as Swann walks through the crowd to get to the ring for his own energetic entrance. Ikemen wrestles in his jacket and they dance into a handshake. Swann knocks him down with a shoulder but Ikemen pops up for a pose, including a good look at the jacket.

The flip over Ikemen sets up a dropkick to the floor, where Swann makes sure he’s ok. After the confirmation, he kicks Ikemen in the ribs and tells the crowd that he is NOT ok. They start the chase around the ring with Ikemen hiding under the ring and slipping around to the other side for a running flip dive. Back in and Ikemen slaps on a half crab but makes sure to show off the inner lining of the jacket. A rope is grabbed and Swann is back up for a series of strikes to the face, with a big kick sending Ikemen outside.

Of course that means the flip dive to follow and a frog splash gets two back inside. Swann’s missed charge in the corner lets Ikemen hit an Arabian press for two of his own. A jumping hurricanrana brings Ikenem off the top and Swann’s stepover kick to the face gets a fall so near enough that the referee seemed to have to stop early. They exchange kicks to the leg with Swann’s knee giving out to set up the Figure Four. That’s broken up so Ikemen hits a moonsault for the pin at 9:19.

Rating: B-. Another match that I enjoyed with someone I’ve never seen before. Swann is one of the smoothest talents going today so you knew he was going to be doing his part here. Ikemen’s thing with the jacket is certainly unique so it was a nice mixture here of two people who can do the goofy stuff mixed with the serious wrestling.

USA – 3

World – 2

Rascalz (USA) vs. Robbie Eagles/Adam Brooks/Australian Suicide (World)

Well ok. The Rascalz are Trey Miguel/Zack Wentz/Dezmond Xavier. The Aussies are replacing more Dragon Gate talent who couldn’t make it due to visa issues. Suicide popped up on what is probably the last episode of Lucha Underground. We get some dueling international chants with Wentz doing Jim Duggan’s pose for a funny bit. The Americans flip off the international fans and everyone goes at it to start (I’m sure you saw that coming.) with Miguel sending Brooks outside but having to deal with Eagles. Suicide comes back in for a headscissors on Miguel so it’s off to Xavier for a dropsault to send him outside.

Brooks is back in with a series of Canadian Destroyers and a Meteora to crush Wentz on the apron. The big Fosbury Flop takes everyone down but the Rascalz are right back to take over only to have Suicide come back with a shooting star (not a press because there’s no cover) onto all three of them. Back in and another Canadian Destroyer sends Wentz outside, only to have Dezmond hit his moonsault kick to the head but Brooks comes in for the save. Miguel missile dropkicks him down, setting up Wentz’ top rope double stomp for the pin on Brooks at 6:48.

Rating: C+. It was fun while it lasted but I was hoping for some more of this one. The Rascalz have been a blast since I saw them for the first time in Impact so I was happy to see them on the card. Eagles impressed me yesterday at the Supershow so this was a rather nice match all around. It’s also nice to see the wrestlers finally going somewhere with the US vs. the World theme, which hasn’t been happening yet.

USA – 4

World – 2

LAX (USA) vs. Hart Foundation (World)

That would be Teddy Hart and Davey Boy Smith Jr., meaning Hart brings a cat with him. The Harts (replacing Brooks and Eagles) have been awesome in MLW so this should be a lot of fun. Fellow Foundation member Brian Pillman Jr. is in the crowd cheering instead of walking out with them due to reasons of the Pillman Family being a little odd.

They exchange poses in the corner to start and then shake hands before jumping LAX from behind after a minute and a half of stalling. Santana’s leg gets wrapped around the post and the Hartbreaker from Smith makes it even worse. Hart gets in a suplex on Ortiz and then yells about MLW being better than Impact. They get inside for the first time and Hart hits his moonsault elbow for two as it’s Ortiz in trouble early.

Smith hits a very delayed vertical suplex and it’s off to the chinlock. The surfboard goes on and Smith even kicks Ortiz forward for a crash onto the mat. Hart snaps off a powerslam but stops to yell at the referee before slapping on a Rings of Saturn. Ortiz tells him what he can suck and the hold is broken, triggering a SUCK MY **** chant from the crowd. Ortiz finally gets over for the hot tag as everything breaks down. Santana gets sent outside and an assisted Canadian Destroyer finishes Oritz at 10:39.

Rating: B. I like both teams and they worked a much more standard formula here, which works well when you have such talented people in there. The Harts have been one of the biggest surprises of the last year as the MLW crowd loves them and they’re having some awesome matches. LAX is LAX, so this was a very nice showcase all around.

Post match, Ortiz says that somehow, someday Hart will suck his ****. Hart: “I’m not going to address the sucking the ****.” He swears a lot and thanks the fans while ripping on New York. Hart also puts over Highspots for giving him a chance. He did NOT suck anything for a job here or in any big company. Smith says this is USA vs. the World but we’re all family.

USA – 4

World – 3

Sammy Guevara (USA) vs. Puma King (World)

The announcers can’t stand Sammy, which is rather easy to understand. There’s actually a story here as Sammy went through King’s bag a few weeks ago. They tease a handshake before it’s an exchange of double middle fingers. Sammy heads outside and reaches into the cameraman’s pocket to pull out a middle finger. They trade some flips without much contact and indeed it’s more middle fingers. A double dropkick gives us a double knockdown and it’s Puma being sent outside for the first flip dive.

Back in and Puma hits a superkick but hang on as he needs a mic. Puma tells us to subscribe to his YouTube channel (a Sammy trademark) so Sammy knees him in the face. That’s enough for Sammy to say f*** Puma’s YouTube channel. Now he’s going to go do some more spots and pin him. Sammy sends him to the floor for an apron moonsault and hits a super hurricanrana for two back inside. King is fine enough to hit a pendulum powerbomb for the pin at 8:57.

Rating: D+. This one is going to depend on your tastes and that’s perfectly fine. I get Sammy’s heel stuff and after all of the back and forth technical stuff that we’ve seen tonight, it’s fine to go with some comedy. King has been entertaining every time I’ve seen him and Sammy is certainly good when he’s doing his stuff. I wasn’t wild on the YouTube/middle finger stuff over and over, but it could have been worse.

USA – 4

World – 4

Brian Cage (USA) vs. Masato Tanaka (World)

Tanaka’s shoulder and crossbody don’t work as Cage catches him for some curls. Instead the forearms in the corner work a bit better until a sliding kick to the face take Tanaka down. The corner clotheslines set up a chinlock until Tanaka fights up and grabs a DDT. Cage hits the apron superplex and a top rope elbow for two, followed by the buckle bomb. Tanaka is right back with a brainbuster for two of his own but the frog splash hits knees.

Cage’s dead lift German suplex into a Death Valley Driver gets two more. Tanaka’s rolling elbow sends Cage into the ropes for the rebound lariat and they’re both down again. They trade the hard shots to the face again until Tanaka knees him down for two off the Sliding D. A second attempt is cut off with a clothesline and Cage’s buckle bomb sets up the Drill Claw for the pin at 9:50.

Rating: C+. This was very similar to Tanaka vs. Eddie Kingston from yesterday’s show and that’s not a bad thing. It was two big, strong guys hitting each other in the head until one of them couldn’t get up. Cage winning is fine as it seals the competition for America and while it doesn’t mean much, it’s the smart way to go to wrap things up. Nice hard hitting match here, which is all it should have been.

USA – 5

World – 4

Overall Rating: C. Well that was….short. The whole thing was barely two hours and I’d kind of like more than that for a $15 show. It was perfectly watchable but felt more like a supplement to yesterday’s Supershow. There might be one or two matches in there worth seeing (the Harts vs. LAX was a nice treat) but it’s certainly not worth going out of your way to see. I’m pretty disappointed in this as there was no standout show and the time really hut things.

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:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/02/22/new-book-kbs-monday-nitro-thunder-reviews-volume-vii-january-june-2000/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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

IMG Credit: Absolute Intense Wrestling

Slumber Party Massacre
Date: April 4, 2019
Location: White Eagle Hall, Jersey City, New Jersey
Commentators: Matt Wadsworth, The Duke

Who can’t do four full shows in one day anymore? This is another Wrestlemania weekend show and another situation where I have no idea what to expect as I don’t follow Absolute Intense Wrestling. Here’s pretty much everything you need to know: the main event is Scott Steiner vs. Swoggle. We good? Let’s get to it.

No opening sequence, though it might have been cut off.

La Familia de Tijuana vs. Young Studs

Mexican Death Match. La Familia is Bestia 666/Damien 666 and the Studs are Bobby Beverly/Eric Ryan. There are a bunch of forks thrown into the ring and it’s time to go for blood early. I’m thinking I’ve made a mistake with this show. The blood is already flowing from Beverly’s head and it’s time to choke with belts. Ryan gets a chair wrapped around his neck and Damien sends it into the post. Eric is right back with a barbed wire bat to draw blood of his own and it’s time for some doors (they don’t use tables).

A chair gets rammed between Ryan’s legs, followed by the barbed wire being put against his head for some headbutts from Bestia. The Studs’ offense gets them nowhere and it’s a double MuscleBuster for two on Beverly. Ryan throws a chair at Damien to finally get somewhere and Beverly Japanese armdrags Ryan into both of them in the corner. And now, a door covered in forks. That takes a bit too long though and Damien hits a Death Valley Driver to put Ryan through the fork filled door for the pin at 9:34.

Rating: D. Oh yeah I’m not going to be liking this one very much as it’s seemingly trying to be ECW. There was no story mentioned here and it was just four people doing violent stuff to each other. Some of the spots were gruesome enough but there’s only so much you can get out of something like this.

Post match they shake hands and Ryan stabs himself in the head with a fork to a positive reaction.

Dominic Garrini vs. Joshua Bishop

Submission/surrender match. Garrini was on a show earlier today and Bishop (with manager Wes Barker) looks like a cross between Raven and Justin Credible. Garrini doesn’t waste time in kneeing Bishop outside for a double suicide dive. They chop it out as commentary says they don’t quite know why these two hate each other. Well at least they don’t like each other.

Bishop’s kick is caught and Garrini rams the ankle into the post for an F*** NO answer to a question of if he gives up. Bishop gets in a few shots to the ribs and it’s time for railroad spikes with both guys jabbing each other in the head over and over. The bloody Garrini goes for a choke but Barker hits him with a chair. That earns Barker a piledriver on the apron but Bishop chairs Garrini down to take over again.

Another door is set up between some chairs and Bishop powerbombs him through the door and the chairs. Back in and Garrini is alive enough to piledrive Bishop onto a chair for the NO so Garrini hits him with whatever he can find, including a tack covered bat to the face. Some wooden skewers are brought in but Bishop takes them away and drives it into Garrini’s cauliflower ear.

Bishop brings in a bag of tacks but gets front suplexed onto them, setting up a backsplash to make it even worse. Garrini drives the skewers into his head (and they hang there) until Bishop drops him onto the tacks for another no. With nothing else working, Bishop handcuffs Garrini around the post and gets some lighter fluid from Barker. The threat of fire makes Garrini give up at 11:25.

Rating: D+. Well that was sick. It had more of a story than the first match but I have a feeling we’re in for a lot of these matches tonight, albeit with a much more technical match thrown in so they can call themselves a wrestling company. I’m not a fan of this kind of insane stuff and it feels out of the 90s more than anything else.

The students come in to clear out the ring as Garrini is unhooked.

Tag Team Titles: To Infinity and Beyond vs. The Production vs. The Boys From Jollyville vs. The Philly Marino Experience

To Infinity and Beyond (Cheech and Colin Delaney) are defending and I have no idea who anyone else are. The Boys From Jolly (T-Money/Nasty Russ Myers) are also known as the Jollyville F***-Its, the Experience (Philly Collins and Marino Tenaglia seemingly the most popular team here) dance a lot and the Production (Derek Director and Eddie Only) seem like they make movies. Marino dives off the top on the champs and it’s T Money spinning Collins around so Myers can punch him in the face.

The Production’s manager Danhauser comes in and helps beat up Experience, who pops up for some double teaming. The champs come back in and clear the ring setting up a suicide dive from Cheech. Not to be outdone, Myers moonsaults onto everyone but gets caught. Philly goes up as well and moonsaults the pile down.

Sunset Dreams hits Colin for two with the Production diving in for the save. The huge Money Pounces Derek to the floor and busts up Philly’s spine. Russ mostly misses a moonsault for no cover on Derek, leaving Money to dive on everyone. Myers hits a top rope splash on Eddie Only (Derek’s partner) but Colin makes a save with a bad Stunner. Back up and it’s a Codebreaker/hanging DDT to the Producers at the same time. Another Codebreaker to Derek, with Cheech holding him in place for a superbomb from Colin, driving Eddie onto Derek for the pin at 6:58.

Rating: C-. It was certainly fast paced, though again I have no idea who most of these people are, who I’m supposed to cheer for (apparently not the guy in a Toy Story jacket) but that’s not what matters in something like this. A place like AIW is all about cramming in as much stuff as you can into the time you have and not worrying about any kind of flow or storytelling. I get the idea and this was the best thing so far, but it’s much more exciting than good, which can get old after awhile.

Post match the champs tell the fans to shut up and yell about any REAL teams who want to come see them in Cleveland. In other words, this is the only real wrestling.

Eddie Kingston vs. Shinjiro Otani

Otani is a Japanese legend, making me wonder if he got lost coming here. Kingston gets taken down by the arm to start and Otani slaps on a headlock that Eddie can’t break. They go with the loud chop off with Eddie being knocked down into the corner for a very delayed Facewash. A Broski Boot makes it even worse and Otani does it again, kicking his young boys down in the process. It works so well that Otani does it again….and then a third time.

It’s finally enough for two before Eddie gets up and starts in on the knee. Otani’s chops are cut off by another kick to the leg and we hit a half crab. After the grab of a rope gets Otani out, Eddie kicks the leg out all over again, setting up the spinning Backfist to the Future for two. Otani is right back up with a legsweep and a German suplex into a lariat for the pin at 9:47.

Rating: C. Well that was better than I expected, which has nothing to do with the match being an actual wrestling match instead of some violent brawl. Otani is a cool get for the show as he was wrestling all the way back in 1992 (and at Starrcade 1995) so it was cool to see something like this. Not a great match (Otani’s leg being fine out of nowhere was a stretch) but after everything else, I’ll take what I can get.

Post match Kingston praises Otani in Japanese.

Swoggle vs. Scott Steiner

Duke has been replaced on commentary by Colin Delaney. Steiner comes out but says cut his music, because he has some special music for this match. That would be….Short People by Randy Newman. Swoggle flips him off as Steiner conducts the crowd in a funny bit. Steiner swears a lot and rants about being politically correct before ripping into Swoggle with a variety of names that would be censored elsewhere.

He’s too good to face Swoggle here so Steiner has brought in his own short guy: Cabana Man Dan, who hits Swoggle with a flip flop. The German suplexes have Dan in trouble and Swoggle makes him tap to the Recliner. A woman who came out with Steiner gets in the ring so Swoggle kisses her, drawing Steiner in to blast him and get things going. Steiner sends him outside but Swoggle finds a beer to spit in Steiner’s face.

That just earns him a chair to the back and one near the head. Steiner swears a lot and hits him with another chair but it’s Dan’s turn to go inside. Dan spanks Swoggle with the flip flop….and Steiner beats Dan up too. Some belly to belly suplexes send Dan outside but Swoggle is up with a double middle finger. That means a Steiner Line and a belly to belly for two with Steiner pulling him up.

Rating: B. Well what else were you expecting here? I’ll give them some major, major points for actually making this something other than straight comedy and not having Swoggle win for the sake of a feel good moment. This was much more entertaining than it had any right to be (consider who was in there for a second) and I had a good time with it. Well done for a match that should have been an even bigger joke.

Maxwell Jacob Friedman/Ethan Page vs. Colt Cabana/Space Monkey

I know these people! You knew Cabana would be all over this weekend and that’s not a bad thing. Hang on a second as Page says Cabana needs to let his son be his (as in Page’s) partner. Cabana says deal so here’s….MJF for the match in I’m guessing an angle that they’re not bothering to explain. The fans sing YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE, presumably at Friedman, again in something that isn’t explained here.

Monkey shrugs it off and starts cleaning house but Page breaks up the monkey flip. A delayed vertical suplex drops Monkey and it’s off to MJF to stand on the tail. And now, just because, a tail lock. Monkey isn’t having that and it’s off to Cabana for elbows and a spinning spinebuster. MJF jumps on Cabana’s back and rants about Cabana being his father but gets taken down into the Billy Goat’s Curse for the tap at 7:45.

Rating: D+. I shouldn’t be left with a confused look on my face after a match but that’s what we had here. They could have explained the story here but that’s not as important as yelling laughing at Colt’s shtick. The joke seemed funny, but when you’re stuck trying to figure out what’s going on, it doesn’t exactly have the same impact.

Mance Warner vs. Nick Gage

Dang it this wasn’t on the card so it’s an extra match. Warner comes out to Simple Man, making him more awesome than usual. It’s just a cover but a heck of a well done one for a great entrance. Gage gets a hero’s welcome here and they go right with the fighting as this isn’t going to be anything but violence. Both guys get rammed into various things and it’s a chair across Gage’s back.

They fight up to the stage and trade shots to the face until Warner gets thrown off the stage. Gage bites the head and brings Warner and a chair back in but takes a running knee to the head for two. A bulldog onto Cage’s arm onto the chair keeps Gage in trouble but Warner takes too long on the lariat, allowing Gage to DDT him onto a chair. There’s the chokebreaker and a Broski Boot to drive a chair into Warner’s face. Warner’s manager Duke comes in and chairs Warner by mistake, earning a chair shot from Gage. Colin: “See Duke? Now you’re a dead person.”

Gage bridges another door between two chairs but gets chokeshoved off the middle rope through said door for two. A piece of the door hits Warner in the head but he pops up with a pair of lariats for two more. Gage is right back with back to back piledrivers onto a door into a powerbomb for the pin at 11:39.

Rating: C-. The lack of blood helped this a lot as it was more about two hardcore guys hitting each other. I never need to see another weapon shot to the head again and Gage isn’t a wrestler, but that’s not the point of something like this. I’ve really enjoyed what I’ve seen and heard from Warner though and it helped having him here a lot.

Post match Gage thanks the fans and promises to quit when the people stop cheering him, throwing in a small ton of F bombs along the way.

Absolute Title: Pretty Boy Smooth vs. Tim Donst vs. Matthew Justice vs. Tom Lawlor

Smooth is defending and Justice’s Intense Title isn’t on the line. Lawlor has never been pinned in singles competition and dances around the ring for a rather different presentation than you get in MLW. Lawlor is introduced as the 2005 Bob Evans pie eating champion. Smooth is a giant and probably stands about 6’8/9. Everyone goes after Smooth to start but he’s right back up and throws everyone around without much trouble.

Lawlor takes him down and grabs a Figure Four but throws in an ankle lock on Justice for a bonus. Donst makes the save before using Lawlor as a launchpad for an elbow on Smooth. Justice is back up with the suicide dives, plus a running elbow off the apron to send Lawlor into some chairs. Lawlor is right back up and chops it out with Justice, who gets the better of it. A big dive onto the floor takes out everyone for the major crash.

Back in and Justice gets crotched on top, setting up a heck of a superplex. Donst isn’t done and suplexes Justice into the other two for a near fall. Everyone gets a suplex from Donst, who collapses after throwing everyone. Justice is up first and goes Coast to Coast to hit Lawlor, who is then backdropped onto Justice and Smooth. Back in and it’s a series of rollups for two each before it’s a four way slugout from their knees. Donst’s Drunken Driver (Jay Driller) gets two on Justice as this just keeps going.

Smooth’s Call the Coroner chokebomb gets two on Lawlor so it’s time to throw in a bunch of chairs. Six of them are set up in a row but it’s Donst coming in and laying out Smooth. An STO plants Lawlor and a Drunken Driver through the chairs gets two more. The Rings of Saturn (Donst is billed as a mat wrestler and this is some of the first mat wrestling I’ve seen) go on and Justice’s chair shots can’t break it up. A third finally does it and Lawlor is up again, this time grabbing a choke on Smooth for the knockout win at 18:36.

Rating: D+. This was long and came at the end of a long night so it was kind of a chore to sit through. I have no idea why these people are fighting and that has been a problem all night long. Lawlor winning seems to be the smartest move as he’s the only one with any kind of a story. There were some good spots here but for the most part it just went on too long and had WAY too many kickouts.

Post match Lawlor thanks the company for giving him a chance about two years ago. The fans don’t really want to hear this and boo rather loudly. A year ago, he broke his arm in this company and rushed back but didn’t get a title shot. He got it tonight and showed AIW that he’s the best. Lawlor has a beer to end the night.

Overall Rating: D. I think the term “not for me” applies here as I wasn’t into almost any of this. It felt like an ECW knockoff (not all night, but for a lot of it) and that’s not something I was interested in with the ECW talent, let alone a place like this. It was FAR from the worst show I’ve ever seen but I had no idea what the stories were and since the announcers didn’t bother to tell me, you can only really go off of the product itself. That wasn’t very good either and the show felt very long. Not a disaster, but also certainly not worth as much as the WrestleCon Supershow or WXW. I likely won’t be back.

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:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/02/22/new-book-kbs-monday-nitro-thunder-reviews-volume-vii-january-june-2000/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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

IMG Credit: WrestleCon

WrestleCon Supershow
Date: April 4, 2019
Location: New York Hilton Midtown, New York City, New York
Commentators: Excalibur, Kevin Kelly

This might be my favorite show of the year and I’ve been looking forward to seeing it again. The idea here is you don’t know most of the card coming in, with just Will Ospreay vs. Bandido in the main event being announced. A lot of wrestlers from Dragon Gate were announced but visa situations have kept them off the show. That leaves some openings on the card and I’m curious to see what we get. Let’s get to it.

We get a YOUR EVENT WILL BEGIN SHORTLY graphic for twelve minutes until the ring announcer says we’re waiting on something from the athletic commission and an ambulance to arrive.

Here’s your WrestleCon Ambassador for the evening: Road Warrior Animal (without facepaint), who goes straight for the LOD chant. He can’t do this job by himself so he introduces….RIC FLAIR, which is quite the surprise. Good thing he’s healed from that Batista beating. Excalibur: “If anyone knows how to fill time.” Flair talks about the places he’s been in New York, including an affair with Leona Helmsley. He says this is a fraternity and puts over the Road Warriors as great competitors. One night in Philadelphia they painted Dusty Rhodes’ face and it was a riot on the way to the ring.

WrestleCon is a great place and there was a time when nobody wanted 200 wrestlers in a hotel. Animal: “There weren’t enough tickets to ride Space Mountain.” Flair has another reason to be here and mentions Sunday night being more important than anything he ever accomplished. The tears are flowing and thankfully the fans don’t boo the WWE reference. This is every bit as big as Hogan slamming Andre and he couldn’t be prouder. Thank you for everything and make sure to come see him tomorrow.

Back to the YOUR EVENT WILL BEGIN SHORTLY graphic.

The widow of Mark Hitchcock, an illustrator who world for WrestleCon died on his honeymoon, thanks the crowd for remembering him.

We’re ready to go 27 minutes late.

Eddie Kingston vs. Masato Tanaka

Tanaka is a former ECW World Champion and might look better now than he did twenty years ago. They go technical to start until Eddie takes him into the corner for a hard chop. Tanaka’s famous elbow sends Eddie outside to hold his jaw, as he should be doing. Back in and Tanaka hammers down right hands before a crossbody gets two. A running STO drops Tanaka and it’s back to the chops.

Tanaka’s tornado DDT works on the second attempt but a spinning Rock Bottom drops him again. Eddie loads up a superplex but gets reversed into Diamond Dust (a flipping Stunner out of the corner, a personal favorite). A frog splash gets two on Kingston and it’s time for the required chop off. Tanaka’s elbows and forearms get the better of it and the Roaring Elbow sets up the Sliding D (sliding elbow) finishes Kingston at 7:18.

Rating: C. This was your “I hit you hard and you hit me hard) match of the night, as WrestleCon is often a show built around doing a little bit of everything. Tanaka still looks awesome and I’m not surprised to see that he can still do something like this. Kingston is hit or miss at best, but having him do something like this fits him well.

Post match Kingston says that this was his dream match after seventeen years and thanks Tanaka in Japanese.

The announcers would love to break down the next match but they don’t know what it is.

Here are the Lucha Bros for the match but before their opponents come out, Fenix thanks the fans and says they’re the best tag team in the universe. They’re here because they’re open to face any tag team and pretty soon, they’ll be facing the other brother tag team. He means the Young Bucks, who are scared of the Lucha Bros and won’t be here tonight. Pentagon swears in Spanish a big (Kelly: “NO TRANSLATION REQUIRED!”) and the fans chant it after him. Since they don’t have a team to face, they can just fight each other.

Pentagon Jr. vs. Rey Fenix

Pentagon goes straight for the rollup to start but gets sent outside for the suicide dive. Back in Pentagon hits the Alberto Del Rio double stomp and yells at the referee for only counting two. Fenix kicks him in the face but walks into the Pentagon Driver for two more. The fans chant for the team, as they should given that it’s a good match so far.

Pentagon gets tied in the ropes and it’s a rope walk kick to the face as only Fenix can do. A Canadian Destroyer gives Fenix two more but he takes too much time rolling forward and gets superkicked in the face. Pentagon one ups him with a middle rope Canadian Destroyer but Fenix is right back up to catch him on top and it’s a super Spanish Fly to finish Pentagon at 6:56.

Rating: B. Oh man that’s it? Maybe they’re running short on time or something but this should have been at least another ten minutes if you wanted to do it justice. These two are as hot as anyone could be at the moment and that’s been the case for well over a year now. I hope they get a big chance in AEW (they will) and maybe even WWE one day. This needed to be more but for what it was, it was really good.

Puma King/Samantha Heights/DJZ/Tajiri vs. Sammy Guevara/LAX/Diamante

This could be…..I have no idea actually. I’ve never heard of Samantha but that’s a common occurrence around here. Tajiri always looks weird without a mustache. Puma just laying on the middle rope for all of the entrances is a rather unique visual. DJZ is ready for Guevara’s cheap shot and let’s hit that horn noise. Puma King comes in and kicks Sammy out but it’s off to Santana for a good moonsault.

Since it’s lucha rules, the fans get to see Tajiri with Kelly talking about how easy of a time Tajiri should have with all of the language issues in the match. The kicks have Puma King in trouble and it’s off to Diamante, who gets a handshake and kneel from Tajiri before he starts chopping her. A Stunner gets Diamante out of trouble and it’s off to Heights, who hits a Sliced Bread.

Ortiz comes in and runs Samantha over before shouting SUCK THESE. I’m not going near that one so I’ll go to Ortiz blocking a monkey flip and turning it into a faceplant. DJZ comes back in and flips forward into a clothesline to send Ortiz outside. Santana comes in with a superkick as everything breaks down. It’s back to Sammy for a jumping knee to the DJZ’s face and LAX adds a double flapjack.

Sammy can’t get over for a tag (Kelly: “Joey Ryan will charge you $30 for that!”) and Diamante gets two off a splash. Sammy does his fireman’s carry squats into a running shooting star press gets two on DJZ with Samantha coming in for the save. DJZ comes back with the always stupid stop of throwing partners into each other and making one DDT another.

That’s enough for a hot tag to Puma King to clean house and a big dive to the floor hits Santana. That sets off the parade of dives with the women hitting stereo dives. Tajiri is left alone in the ring but Ortiz cuts off his dive to become the biggest heel in the match. Ortiz tries a hiptoss but gets misted while in the air (cool), setting up the Buzzsaw Kick to give Tajiri the pin at 12:02.

Rating: C+. For a random assortment of eight people into a match with no connection between the teams, I liked it. That’s the kind of thing you get at these shows and it’s one of the most fun parts. Sometimes you just need to go out there and have some wrestling with a bunch of people having a match and that’s what we got here. It’s a WrestleCon tradition and one of their better ones so well done given the people in there.

Arez vs. Flamita vs. Robbie Eagles

Eagles is Bullet Club (and yes it’s still a thing) and billed as the Sniper of the Sky. Arez gets sent outside early on and it’s a flip off between Flamita and Eagles. Flamita kicks Arez in the head but he rolls forward into a dive outside onto Eagles. Back in and Arez drops a top rope elbow on Flamita, meaning it’s time to yell at the referee for counting slowly. A standing Spanish Fly gives Flamita two on Eagles but a superplex is countered.

Instead Arez tries to climb onto Flamita’s back so Eagles dives with a high crossbody, which is countered into a Spanish Fly (or something, as it was far from a clean landing). Arez takes off his jacket so Flamita can chop him even harder because wrestling is weird. Sliced Bread drops Eagles who DDTs Flamita at the same time and they’re all down. Flamita is up first and missile dropkicks both of them down, setting up a moonsault out to the floor to drop Arez again. Back in and Flamita misses a 450, allowing Eagles to hit one of his own on Arez for the pin at 6:54.

Rating: C. Arez didn’t get to show off very much while Flamita looked like the awesome high flier that he is and Eagles came off as a well rounded star. I can see why he got the win here and he looked like someone who belonged on a stage like this. It was a bunch of spots and that’s all it was supposed to be here.

Revolt vs. Hurricane/X-Pac/Jushin Thunder Liger

See what I mean about these random teams that make the show fun? Revolt (Caleb Konley, Jake Manning, Zane Riley) are mainstays around this show and have been a big deal in PWX from Charlotte. X-Pac is in the standard gear, though with NWO logos on the legs. After the place comes unglued for Liger, X-Pac puts him over as a legend on his retirement tour. Liger and Konley start things off with a battle of poses to the crowd. After being backed into the corner, Konley gets pulled down into the surfboard and you know the fans are going to love that.

It’s off to Riley (300+lb) to face X-Pac, meaning it’s a HALL OF FAMER chant. Riley wants a test of strength but is told to suck it instead. The rapid fire legdrops have Riley in trouble but it’s too early for the Bronco Buster. Manning (he likes scouting) and Hurricane come in for a handshake and a 3 COUNT chant, meaning the fans are cultured. The danceoff begins but the good guys join hands and flip Manning off (well not Liger, who just can’t do it).

The Hurricane pose sends Manning down onto the mat and he needs a timeout to check the scouting manual. It’s enough for a cheap shot to Hurricane and Konley comes in, only to have the heroes get together for a triple suplex. Hurricane gets caught in the wrong corner though and the heat is on. Riley’s choke doesn’t get him very far so it’s already back to Manning, who gets caught with the Eye of the Hurricane.

Liger comes in for the palm strikes but a distraction lets Riley run him over. Konley and Liger hit a double clothesline and it’s off to X-Pac to clean house. The spin kicks abound and it’s back to Liger, who tries to suplex Riley for some reason. Everything breaks down and it’s the palm strike to Manning with a Bronco Buster to Riley. Hurricane chokeslams Konley and the brainbuster finishes Manning at 13:37.

Rating: C+. Am I supposed to criticize this somehow? I was never an X-Pac fan but this was a blast and exactly what it should have been, even with a little more time than it probably should have gotten. With Liger retiring, he deserves to get whatever matches he wants to have and it’s a special treat to get to see someone who has been wrestling longer than I’ve been alive and still looked great. Hurricane and X-Pac were rather good as well, making this quite the entertaining match.

Post match Hurricane and X-Pac pay tribute to Liger again, as they should.

Intermission.

So apparently power to the Fite.TV stream went down during the intermission and we missed Dragon Lee vs. Cavernario. Dragon Lee won and if it’s on the replay, I’ll watch it later and edit it in.

Shane Strickland vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

Well if you insist. They go at each others’ legs to start and it’s Sabre taking him down for the first of what will likely be many leglocks. Strickland escapes and puts on another hold of his own before tying Strickland up in something like an STF. A cravate keeps Strickland in trouble but he comes back with a dragon screw legwhip but a gutbuster cuts Strickland down again.

Bored of the leg, Sabre switches up to the arm and gets in the required stomp to the raised arm. He even stands on Strickland’s head because Sabre is that big of a jerk. The overly cocky kicks to the head tick Strickland off (as they do to everyone) and it’s time for Sabre to tell him to chop. A big one to the leg takes Sabre down because Strickland was smart enough to know an armbar was coming.

The 619 to the ribs sets up the rolling cutter but Sabre is right back with another crank on the arm to take over. Strickland has had it with the shots to the face and tries another rolling cutter, but this time it’s pulled into the cross armbreaker. A triangle choke has Strickland in trouble until he powerbombs his way to freedom. Strickland grabs him by the nose (come on man) and kicks Sabre in the chest again.

A YES Kick knocks Sabre silly but he’s fine enough for a half and half suplex onto Strickland’s head. The head isn’t that damaged though as he hits a rolling German suplex. The Swerve Stomp is countered into the Rings of Saturn with Sabre’s legs and Sabre grabs a half crab for a bonus and the submission at 16:39.

Rating: B. My goodness Sabre is fun to watch. The guy can do whatever he wants in the ring and makes it look easy because he’s just that talented. Daniel Bryan was drooling over him during the Cruiserweight Classic and Sabre has gotten so much better since thin. Strickland is as smooth of a performer as you’re going to get in wrestling these days and it’s no surprise that he’s going to WWE.

Post match Strickland gets the sendoff because he’s NXT bound.

Here’s So Cal Uncensored before their match. Scorpio Sky does his thing about how he hates the town, which I still don’t quite get. Daniels praises the fans and says they want to be the top trio (which he sings for some reason) so let’s see what happens when it’s California love with a New York state of mind.

So Cal Uncensored vs. Orange Cassidy/Best Friends

Cassidy takes both hands out of his pockets and then puts them back in so Daniels grabs a headlock to knock off the sunglasses. The waistlock is countered as Cassidy puts his hands in his pockets and dances out, allowing him to chill on the mat. Cassidy runs the ropes, dropkicks Daniels down, and nips up, all without taking his hands out of his pockets. Trent comes in (Cassidy still doesn’t move his hands as he gets out, but one does come out on the apron) and chops Kazarian, who is rather confused.

Kazarian continues to be frustrated as Trent just stands there….so let’s switch teams. Trent is now part of SCU and Kazarian puts on the vest. It’s off to Sky to face Kazarian and it’s the New Age Outlaws cover with Sky trying a quick cover off a poke to the chest (the Fingerpoke of Doom was a singles match so it’s a completely different thing you see). That’s broken up and the Best Friends hit stereo fall away slams.

Double Razor’s Edges are countered with double backdrops and it’s Trent caught in the corner for a slingshot dropkick. Chuck gets in a cheap shot from the apron so Daniels knocks him down but the distraction lets Trent get in a low blow. Now it’s Chuck coming in for forearms to the back and it’s Cassidy coming in for a walk across the ring into a near hug, which is called a clothesline.

Cassidy walks around so slowly that the Best Friends both get in a few shots before Cassidy even bothers to cover. It’s back to Trent for an abdominal stretch and Cassidy puts glasses on Chuck, who slowly extends his arm for the cheating. So it’s the slacker Too Cool and Rikishi. Daniels puts the glasses on as well and it’s a slow energy fight with Cassidy. A big chop is teased but Daniels goes with a low blow so it’s off to Kazarian to take over and slap on a Figure Four to Trent.

A Backstabber hits Chuck and it’s an assisted tornado DDT on Trent, leaving Cassidy on his own. Daniels KNOCKS CASSIDY’S GLASSES OFF and it’s on in a hurry with Cassidy slugging away and hitting a double hurricanrana on Kazarian and Sky. A good looking double chokeslam takes them down again and Cassidy puts the glasses back on. That means going up top for a fall (intentional) onto Kazarian for two. The Best Friends come in to clean house again and we hit that hug. SCU has had it with this nonsense (of which they have been a part) and it’s the Best Meltzer Ever for the pin on Cassidy at 18:21.

Rating: C+. This one is going to entirely depend on your taste but my issue was it ran too long. That and you really have Cassidy take the pin here? He’s the most popular non-Liger guy on the show and you have him lose instead of say, Trent? His gimmick is fine for this kind of a show, but he’s not going to be able to do much beyond this because it’s a goofy comedy bit. That being said, this is the perfect show for something like that and it was more than good enough here. Cut off some of the time and it’s better, but it was fine for what it was. It’s just not for everyone and that’s fine.

Everyone hugs but Cassidy won’t take his hands out of his pockets for the post.

Will Ospreay vs. Bandido

Bell, Spanish Fly, Space Flying Tiger Drop, shooting star press for two on Bandido, we hit the thirty second mark. Bandido is back up with Swiss Death of all things, followed by a standing backflip World’s Strongest Slam to send Ospreay to the floor. A huge flip dive takes Ospreay down again and Bandido sticks the landing. That’s only good for two back inside and a delayed vertical suplex, including a squat, is good for the same on Ospreay.

The chops take Bandido right back down but he’s right back with the surfboard as an homage to Liger. That’s broken up so Ospreay hits a handspring into a kick to the head to put Bandido down again. A 619 over the top rope hits Bandido in the mask and it’s a delayed basement dropkick in the corner. Pip Pip Cheerio keeps Bandido in trouble and Ospreay swears a lot.

Bandido must not be a fan of swearing (attaboy) so he comes back with a one handed sitout gorilla press slam (egads man) to cut Ospreay off. Ospreay wants him to bring it and they strike it out until Ospreay snaps off a low angle dragon suplex. Stormbreaker is countered with an armdrag and a pop up powerbomb drops Ospreay again. The Robinson Special puts Bandido down again but he gets caught with a reverse hurricanrana off the middle rope (that’s a new one) for another near fall.

Ospreay fights out of something on top and hits the Cheeky Nandos kick before knocking Bandido over the barricade. You know where this is going and it’s the huge crossbody to the floor to send Bandido into the third row. Back in and a missile dropkick to the back of the head sets up Stormbreaker but Bandido reverses into a hurricanrana for two. The Oscutter is countered into a knee to the face for another two and Bandido can’t believe it. Ospreay is right back up with a Rainmaker into the Oscutter and Stormbreaker finishes Bandido at 16:51.

Rating: B+. This was exactly what it was advertised as being: two of the best high fliers in the world doing insane spots to each other for a long time. Ospreay is on another level for someone his size and Bandido is certainly no slouch in everything he does. Great match here and worthy of a main event, even though you could tell the fans were spent.

Post match Ospreay counts the money the fans throw out (Ospreay: “Four dollars! Two Cokes!” Kelly: “Not in New York City.”) and praises Bandido. Anyone who knows him knows that his mental health problems have been worse than ever recently but wrestling is the best therapy you can have. All he has is raw natural ability and they just created an art form. Ospreay thanks everyone and bows to Bandido.

Overall Rating: B. As usual, this is the show where you put your feet up and have a good time watching wrestling because it’s all about seeing what you’re getting and just having a lot of fun. You get all kinds of people coming out of nowhere and having one great match after another. It’s a blast of a show with some excellent matches and a little bit of everything for everyone. Have a good time with it and enjoy what wrestling can be.

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:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/02/22/new-book-kbs-monday-nitro-thunder-reviews-volume-vii-january-june-2000/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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

IMG Credit: WXW

Amerika Ist Wunderbar
Date: April 4, 2019
Location: La Boom, Woodside, New York
Commentators: Jeremy Grave, Sebastian Hollmichel

This is WXW (Westside Xtreme Wrestling) from Germany and another promotion I don’t know much about. A few weeks ago someone asked me to do one of their shows so I’ll take care of it as part of the Wrestlemania weekend festivities. As usual I have no idea what to expect from this so let’s get to it.

We’re joined in progress with David Star yelling at Lucky Kid, who won the 16 Karat Gold Tournament and gets to face Starr tonight. Kid doesn’t look impressed as Starr leaves.

Opening sequence, featuring some names such as Walter and Toni Storm, meaning I won’t be totally lost.

And now the same opening sequence as I think we’re starting late.

And now, a black screen as the streaming problems seem to be in full swing.

We’re good to go about twelve minutes after the scheduled start, which is pretty good for indy wrestling.

LAX vs. The Crown

The Crown is Alexander James/Jurn Simmons. Thankfully commentary feels us in a bit, saying that the Crown is a relatively new team who stumbled out of the gate. James and Ortiz start with Ortiz claiming a hair pull. Well to be fair there’s kind of a lot of it man. A northern lights suplex gives Ortiz two and it’s off to Santana to kick James in the head.

Simmons comes in for some better luck with the powerful forearms to Santana’s back. The Crown takes over in the corner but Santana slips away and jumps over the ropes with Ortiz tagging in on the way. LAX speeds things up in a hurry with a series of splashes straight out of the Lucha House Party playbook. Simmons is right back up with a hard suplex to take over again though and it’s back to James for something like a triangle choke.

Ortiz finally fights out and rolls over for the hot tag to Santana as the pace picks back up. A sitout F5 takes James down but the top rope double stomp misses. An Alley Oop plants James again and Santana drops a frog splash for two with Simmons making the save. The Street Sweeper is broken up but the Decapitation (whatever that is) is broken up as well. LAX is right back up with the double belly to back faceplant for the pin on James at 11:21.

Rating: B-. LAX is just good and always worth checking out no matter where they are. They kind of came out of nowhere and I can’t imagine they stick around the small pond of Impact Wrestling much longer. They’re that good and a team who could be stars anywhere they go. Hopefully that’s the case in the future as they’ve more than earned it. The Crown was fine for a power team but nothing all that great.

Darby Allin vs. Avalanche

Thank goodness for name graphics, though I’ve seen Allin before in MLW. Avalanche is a monster (duh) though apparently not a Shark or an Earthquake. The smaller (and more dead looking) Allin bails outside to start and Avalanche follows, earning himself a whip into the barricade. Back in and Avalanche takes over as the German chants begin. I don’t speak German but I might have better luck with that than the NXT UK chants.

Allin manages a Code Red for two and a flipping Stunner follows, only to walk into a Samoan drop. A Fujiwara armbar works a bit better for Allin as Avalanche has to get a boot on the rope. Back up and Avalanche uses the power to take over again, this time asking Allin what is wrong with him. A running splash in the corner (the Avalanche) sets up a fall away slam into a Vader Bomb for the pin on Allin at 5:14.

Rating: D+. Just a step above a squash here with Avalanche following the tradition of the German monsters. Allin was trying but there was only so much he could do against a monster like Avalanche. It was a good way to see what Avalanche can do and that’s what makes sense going forward for the company.

Yuu vs. Jordynne Grace

Women’s match with Grace as a replacement for LuFisto who isn’t here for some reason (that’s better as I just saw the face and didn’t remember LuFisto looking like that). Grace takes her down with a headlock to start and runs Yuu over with a shoulder. Yuu’s headlock doesn’t work and it’s a pair of running knees in the corner to set up another Vader Bomb.

Yuu takes her down and grabs a chinlock, which lasts as long as you would expect for a chinlock against someone made of muscle. Grace hits a charge in the corner and a spinning Samoan drop gets two. The Grace Driver (pumphandle driver) finishes Yuu at 7:54. Dropping someone on the back of their head can do that most of the time.

Rating: D+. These two beat each other up but Yuu was clearly a few steps behind. Grace has been impressive in Impact as she looks unique enough to be a monster with some skills, which is more than you might expect from someone her size. Yuu was completely acceptable but nothing too special.

Video on the Shotgun Title (seems like a midcard title) match. The subtitles don’t help all that much but I think the title changed hands recently and the former champion is getting his rematch. Fair enough.

Shotgun Title: Marius Al Ani vs. Emil Sitoci

Sitoci is defending after winning the title from Ani a few days ago. They start fast with Ani grabbing a quickly broken chinlock and getting armdragged down. Back up and Ani sends him into the ropes but stops to pose, allowing Emil to grab a backslide for two. A suplex sets up a double arm crank as Emil can’t keep the momentum going. Ani kicks him in the back of the head and poses some more as they have the face vs. heel dynamic set up pretty well.

Back in and Emil hits a good belly to belly before slapping on a seated abdominal stretch. The split legged moonsault hits Ani’s raised knees but Ani grabs an O’Connor Roll into an ankle lock to put Emil in trouble for a change. That doesn’t last long either as Emil is up with a gutbuster and a top rope elbow to stay on the ribs. A snapmare driver is countered into a quickly broken ankle lock so Ani throws him down with a release exploder suplex. Ani goes up top for a splash but gets pulled down into a super Spanish Fly to retain Emil’s title at 9:02.

Rating: C+. These guys looked better than anyone else on the show so far as they beat each other up and you could see the story of the match. It’s perfectly fine for a title defense and the finish looked good. Emil was referred to as a legend and I could see him being someone who had been a star for a long time around here. Good match and another nice entry on the show.

We see the same argument between Starr and Kid that opened the show.

David Starr vs. Lucky Kid

I think I’ve been watching too much indy wrestling as I now recognize Starr’s music and can recite most of his many nicknames. Kid seems to be rather popular and I don’t think Starr would be a face in his own living room. The announcers recap the story with Starr being jealous of Kid winning the 16 Karat Gold Tournament and not getting the respect he demands.

Kid defeating Walter has something to do with it as well. Kid starts fast and slides between the legs for a dropkick to the head. That leaves Kid in the ring for a little taunting (not good against Starr, who calls himself the King of Taunts), meaning it’s Starr coming back inside to nail him in the head. Starr takes it outside and drops Kid on the barricade, only to get chopped in the corner. A big lariat gives Starr two and it’s time to just hammer away at Kid’s head.

The referee starts a count on the downed Kid but Starr comes over to get him, meaning the comeback is on. Kid can’t get a Crossface so they trade forearms to the head. Starr catches him on top with a belly to belly superplex….which is no sold. Well ok then. With the suplexes not working, Starr hammers away with more shots to the head until Kid grabs a suplex of his own. Starr’s German suplex (how appropriate) and another lariat are shrugged off for something like a powerbomb to put Starr down again.

Kid slaps him in the face and grabs a small package for two but the Blackheart Buster (brainbuster onto the knee gives Starr a very close two. A powerbomb onto the knee gets two more and Starr can’t believe it. Kid is dead so Starr kicks him in the head and yells about making Walter tap out.

That earns him a middle finger from Kid and the fans remind Starr that he never beat Walter. They slug it out with Starr’s lariat staggering Kid. Starr tries it again but gets reversed into a Crossface, which is broken up in a hurry. Sliced Bread puts Starr down and Kid’s 450 goes knees first into Starr’s chest. Another Crossface makes Starr tap at 14:33.

Rating: B+. It takes something special to suck you into a show where you don’t know what’s going on and only know one of the wrestlers. I liked this match quite a bit with Starr’s frustration coming through as Kid managed to survive to continue what seems to be Starr’s descent into madness. Very good match here and I liked it far more than I was expecting.

Post match Starr sits in the corner and grabs the mic, saying that he’s not safe venting his frustrations anymore. This is Wrestlemania weekend, but the fans here have allowed the evil corporation to take over independent wrestling. Starr is independent and there are certain cowards who don’t show up to shows like this. Cowards who tapped out to him at 16 Karat Gold (Walter) and work for companies who don’t provide healthcare or allow them to unionize. These fans were chanting NXT so they’re just as fake as Walter is. Walter won’t face him in a WXW ring so Starr is quitting WXW.

Aussie Open is ready to defend the Tag Team Titles. Works for me as they’re rather awesome. An unnamed guy comes in and doesn’t think much of them.

Absolute Andy vs. Chris Brookes

I’ve heard a lot about Andy before but I’ve never actually seen him wrestle. Andy chills on the floor to start and pulls Brookes outside so the chopping can begin. A suicide dive has Andy in more trouble and Brookes adds a double stomp from the barricade. Andy can’t powerbomb him onto the barricade so Brookes wraps the ring skirt over Andy’s face and hits another stomp. As they get in for the first time, Andy kicks the ropes for a low blow behind the referee’s back to take over. Andy sends him into the corner and we get the opening bell as the four minutes of brawling before didn’t count.

A missed charge in the corner lets Brookes get up top for a backsplash to the back and a suplex gets two on the bigger Andy. A spinebuster plants Brookes right back down but Andy misses a good looking moonsault. Brookes gets two off a slingshot cutter and grabs something close to a Koji Clutch. That’s broken up with a foot on the rope and Andy is fine enough to run the corner for a belly to belly superplex. Andy grabs an F5 but gets reversed into a rollup for a very sudden pin at 5:43.

Rating: C-. It was fine while it lasted but it didn’t last long. Andy seems to be a legend around here, which is rather impressive given his pretty generic physique (he has some size to him but not much in the way of muscles). Brookes is someone I’ve seen elsewhere before but never been all that impressed by him. I could have gone for more of this and I can see either of them giving a better performance with more time.

Tag Team Titles: Aussie Open vs. Workhorsemen

Aussie Open (Mark Davis/Kyle Fletcher, who don’t have their belts for some reason) are defending against JD Henry/Anthony Henry. Fletcher and Henry start things off and the fans are split. Henry takes him into the corner to start and backflips away for some early posing. The Workhorsemen start in on the arm with the rather large Henry (those are some huge trunks) coming in for a Codebreaker into a knee to the head from Henry.

Fletcher muscles Henry over for a suplex though and it’s off to Davis for the power chops. It’s already back to Fletcher, who misses a charge in the corner and gets chopped by Henry. A neckbreaker onto Henry’s raised knees get two on Fletcher and it’s off to a chinlock. Fletcher gets taken into the corner but fights out of it in a hurry, allowing the hot tag off to Davis for the house cleaning.

Henry and Davis slug it out until Fletcher comes in, only to have Henry run both Aussies open. Gibson and Drake are sent outside, leaving Henry and Davis to slug it out. The other two come back in and are chopped down almost immediately. Henry’s sitout slam sets up a moonsault for a VERY close two as the announcers can’t seem to remember which one is Henry and which one is Drake. The Aussies are right back and Drake gets superkicked, setting up a piledriver and a double flipping powerslam (the Fidget Spinner) retains the titles at 15:49.

Rating: B. Another rather good match here as Aussie Open is one of the better indy teams around today. They work well together and this was quite the match from both teams. This is the reason I like watching shows from this weekend as you never know what kind of random pairing you’re going to see with this kind of a result. Good stuff here, as the show is getting back on a roll.

WXW Unified World Title: Bobby Gunns vs. Shigehiro Irie

Gunns is defending and a smoker, described as the King of Smoke Style. Uh, yeah. Gunns takes him down as we hear about Irie pinning Gunns before Gunns won the title. Makes enough sense. Irie gets in a bulldog to put the champ down and a rather early near fall. A cross armbreaker is broken up in a hurry and Gunns kicks him in the back. The arm wringing begins and Gunns stomps on the raised arm ala Shayna Baszler.

An STF is broken up with a rope grab and Irie scores with a quick suplex for two. Irie gets in a good looking top rope splash for two but Gunns pops up from a hard left armed clothesline. Gunns snaps off the German suplex but gets Pounced hard into the corner. They head to the apron with Irie nailing a piledriver to knock Gunns silly, albeit on the floor.

Gunns starts crawling back inside and gets caught with a legdrop to the back. The Cannonball gives Irie two and he blasts Gunns with his Beast Bomber lariat for two, with the bad arm preventing the fast cover. Gunns catches him on top and snaps the fingers ala Pete Dunne (he’s an NXT fan).

Irie is too big to be German suplexed so Gunns pulls him down into the Rings of Saturn. That’s quite the problem so Irie bites the rope for the break. Sebastian: “By the skin of his teeth!” Jeremy: “That was perfect Sebastian.” The Beast Bomber gives Irie two and they flip each other off with Gunns pulling him into a cross armbreaker for the tap at 15:30.

Rating: B-. It was entertaining but it didn’t feel like a major match at all. Gunns isn’t the most thrilling wrestler and I didn’t get invested into this one for the most part. Irie felt like a monster for Gunns to slay and while that’s fine and exactly what Gunns did, it didn’t exactly get overly entertaining and I didn’t buy Gunns’ title as being in jeopardy.

Post match here’s Joey Janela of all people as Gunns lights up a cigarette. Janela does the same and says he wants the belt.

Overall Rating: B. I liked this. I’m not sure how much I’d want to watch it in the future but for what we got here, I had a good time. There were enough good matches to keep the show entertaining with only one or two being less than adequate. I can see why this is one of the better received European promotions and it was better than expected. Well done.

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:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/02/22/new-book-kbs-monday-nitro-thunder-reviews-volume-vii-january-june-2000/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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

IMG Credit: Independent Wrestling.TV

Family Reunion
Date: April 4, 2019
Location: White Eagle Hall, Jersey City, New Jersey
Commentators: Kevin Ford, Dylan Hales

It’s Wrestlemania weekend and that means indy shows a go-go. I’m going to be covering as many of them as I can and we’ll start with this one from IndependentWrestling.TV. I have absolutely no idea what to expect from this show and that’s going to be the case with a lot of events over the weekend. From what I can tell, this is a bunch of promotions getting a showcase under the Independent Wrestling banner. Let’s get to it.

Quick opening sequence based on the old MTV vignettes with the flag being planted on the moon.

Independent Wrestling Television Title: Jonathan Gresham vs. Orange Cassidy

Gresham, challenging here, is a technical wrestler from ROH and Cassidy is a slacker who often sleeps during matches. He’s played to the ring by a woman with a flute and brings the title out of a backpack, which apparently is a thing. Cassidy is billed as being from Wherever and his weight Doesn’t Matter. Oh and he’s Freshly Squeezed, whatever that means.

We get referee instructions and apparently this has a round system (six five minute rounds) and cards for fouls ala soccer. They go low to start and Cassidy, wrestling in sunglasses, almost in slow motion, lays down for a second, with the referee pointing out that under European rules you can’t strike a downed opponent. A graphic with all of these rules before the match would have been a really good idea.

Gresham is annoyed and throws down Cassidy’s glasses to start the second round (as the rounds apparently reset due to a fall). They suddenly start wrestling with Cassidy headlocking him down but getting reversed into a headscissors. Cassidy wiggles out and puts his feet on the ropes for a breather as the odd style is working for him at the moment. Back up and Cassidy walks out of a full nelson.

The hands go into his pockets again and he dances out of a waistlock as the method to his madness becomes a little more clear. Cassidy takes him into the corner as the second round ends. Some rather patronizing pats to Gresham’s chest makes him shove Cassidy down so that’s a yellow card.

Round three starts and Cassidy turns it up to about 14, running the ropes and going technical with Gresham, eventually catching him with a rollup called the Mousetrap (an arm trap crucifix) for the pin at 11:34. That came out of nowhere and the stunned look on Gresham’s face sums it up rather well.

Justin Sane/Kobe Durst/Cody Lane vs. Space Pirates/Brett Michael David

No rounds on this one. These guys are from Alpha-1 Wrestling in Canada and five of them hold all of the company’s titles. I have no idea who these people are so I have no idea what I’m in for here. The referee tries to hold all of the titles but they’re a bit too heavy in a funny bit. It’s a big brawl to start with Space Monkey (and yes he has a tail) moonsaulting onto a bunch of people on the floor.

Sane and David are left alone in the ring for a slugout with Davis blasting him with a clothesline. As assisted moonsault gives Shane Sabre (the pirate of the Space Pirates) two on Sane but it’s quickly off to Lang, the only non-champion in the whole match. Kobe comes in for a Codebreaker on Shane and Lane adds a Swanton, followed by Sane’s frog splash for two with Monkey making a save.

Sabre gets in a DDT for a breather but Sane pulls David off the apron. Shane is fine enough to fight off everyone at once and it’s off to Space Monkey (the Cosmonaut Primate because apparently he’s a Communist) to clean house. Everything breaks down and it’s down to Lane vs. Sabre. Lane gets superplexed down and it’s Monkey adding a moonsault into David’s 450 (with the knees hitting Lane’s shoulders) for the pin at 8:35.

Rating: C-. This was the showcase match and while the titles were all over the place, it was nothing I haven’t seen done better elsewhere. It wasn’t bad at all but it was rather formula based for a six man tag. Monkey is the only one I’ve actually heard of (from Chikara) and no one really stood out all that much. Not bad, but nothing great.

Red Eagle vs. Mike Verna vs. Ethan Page vs. Arik Cannon vs. Mikey vs. Ophidian

This is a six way scramble with one fall to a finish and everyone is from a different promotion. Eagle is from Portugal, Verna is from Italy, Page is from a bunch of promotions, Cannon is from First Wrestling (no country listed), Mikey is from St. Louis Anarchy (he’s rather odd) and Ophidian (you might remember him from the Osirian Portal) is from Demand Lucha.

Thankfully there are tags with Cannon and Eagle starting things off. They trade arm work to start with Eagle whipping him into the ropes for a standoff. A dropkick puts Cannon on the floor and since it’s lucha rules, Verna comes in for a one arm buckle bomb to Eagle. Ophidian tries to come in but gets caught in a slingshot suplex off all four ropes as Verna gets to show off the power.

Mikey comes in to slam a few people but can’t do it to Verna or Page. He sends them into each other though and now the slams work a little better. A top rope splash, with Mikey calling it his finish, completely misses….and the referee slams Mikey for no logical reason. Everything breaks down (yes in this match) and it’s Page getting to clean house for a bit. Cannon’s Total Anarchy gets two on Ophidian with Verna making a save.

The very strong Verna powerbombs Eagle and World’s Strongest Slams Cannon at the same time with Ophidian making his own save. A rather spinning headscissors from Ophidian takes Verna down and it’s Eagle vs. Ophidian for a battle of the masks. They hit the pinfall reversal sequence and Eagle actually gets the pin at 7:30.

Rating: D+. You knew there was going to be something like this on a card promoted by Independent Wrestling. Verna got to show off the power but other than that, no one really stood out and the lack of time didn’t help things. Again it’s not bad, but it’s something that feels like it could be on any indy card. Makes sense, but not exactly inspiring.

The backstage interviewer promotes some other shows as the ring announcer is introducing the next match. Not the best look there people.

Jack Bonza/Mick Moretti/Bel Pierce vs. Unsocial Jordan/Caveman Ugg/Steph Dunander

From Australia. Jordan is from the App Store and Ugg is from the Third Cave On The Left and weighs eight boulders. Bonza and Jordan start things off as the announcers talk about how odd these teams are. Steph (a rather strong woman) and Moretti (the Rapscallion, meaning he’s awesome) trade shoulders with Steph getting the better of things and handing it back to Jordan.

Bonza comes back in to hook something like the third cousin of a Tequila Sunrise on Jordan, who breaks out and kicks Bonza in the face. Bel comes in for the battle of the women and kicks Steph down for a running seated crossbody. It’s off to Ugg for the first time and Pierce throws glitter at him, earning herself a chop to the chest. The announcers yell about how annoying glitter is as we get a big man showdown between Ugg and Bonza, including a loud chop off.

Ugg takes out all three opponents, including a release Boss Man Slam on Pierce. Moretti low bridges Ugg and the announcers mention lucha rules for the first time (Lucha Australia apparently) so Jordan comes in to get ankle locked by Bonza. Ugg saves Jordan from a monkey flip and hits one on Moretti to show off a bit. Steph comes back in for a TKO on Pierce but walks into a Fire Thunder Driver from Bonza as we enter the parade of finishers. Moretti grabs something like a suplex/spinebuster combination to finish Jordan at 9:05.

Rating: C. This was another messy match but I had a good time with the fun gimmicks. It didn’t need to be anything more than it was and as a showcase, I had a good time. If nothing else, those chops from Ugg were worth seeing. This made me think the promotion could be entertaining and that’s exactly the point of something like this so well done.

Isaias Velazquez/Kylie Rae vs. Robert Eagle Anthony/Shottzi Blackheart

From Freelance Wrestling. Rae is basically old school Bayley/Dakota Kai. I’ve heard a lot of good things about Rae who is having a breakout year. Anthony and Shottzi have Frank the Clown (I believe of Noelle Foley fame) in their corner. The women start things off with Shottzi kicking her in the face but Rae gets in a shoulder, setting up a low superkick to the face.

The rather tall Eagle comes in and gets to face Velazquez as things slow down a bit. A dropkick and enziguri have Eagle in trouble so he hands it off to Shottzi for a headscissors. Shottzi hits a basement dropkick which looked very low and the referee just lets it go. Rae comes in and gets caught in a surfboard from Eagle for a weird visual given the size difference.

Shottzi misses a top rope backsplash and the hot tag brings in Rae. That’s not the best idea as Eagle hurricanranas her off the top into the backsplash from Blackheart for two with Velasquez making the save. Rae is fine enough to powerbomb Anthony out of the corner but Frank grabs Velazquez to block something off the top.

Shottzi tries a Sliced Bread on the apron but gets her leg caught in the ropes for a bad looking botch. Eagle’s Death Valley Driver gets two on Rae and Frank gets in the ring to accidentally hit Eagle in the head with a sparkly shoe. Frank takes a double superkick to the best reaction of the night so far and Eagle gets superkicked into a Crossface to give Rae the tap out win at 9:41.

Rating: C-. I can see why Rae is so popular right now as her energy is infectious. This was a rather nice showcase for her and I could see her getting some bigger bookings. I’ve seen Shottzi and Velazquez before so for once, I actually had an idea of what I was watching. Just drop the clown though as it wasn’t working in the slightest.

Action Wrestling Title: AC Mack vs. Fred Yehi

This is from Georgia and Mack is defending. Mack is in a SWAT team vest and declares this his ring while doing his own introduction. Well we certainly have a heel here. Yehi is introduced as “angry, ticked off and short”. Yehi starts fast with an elbow to the face as we hear about Mack’s victories, all of which come in Georgia. Some running forearms in the corner have Mack in trouble and pulls him out of the corner for a crash.

An early powerbomb gives Yehi two and he counters the Mack Ten (looked like a cross arm Pedigree) into a Downward Spiral. The Koji Clutch has Mack in trouble so he goes to the eyes for a smart counter. A standing Meteora and a basement dropkick put Yehi down and Mack is rather cocky in a hurry. Yehi slips out of the corner and seems to hit his head, followed by a quick kick to the head from Mack.

Rating: C+. Probably the best match of the night here even though they were flying through things. Mack has some good charisma and I could see him being something in a bigger promotion down the line. Yehi has been good almost wherever he goes, though I don’t remember him actually winning a big match.

Kris Stadtlander/Solo Darling vs. Jessica Troy/Shazza McKenzie

From Women’s Wrestling Revolution. Stadtlander is an alien and Darling is taller than a stack of pancakes and slimmer than a pint of ice cream. Kimber Lee is on commentary and doesn’t like being brought around to not be in the ring. Troy pounds on Darling to start and it’s quickly off to McKenzie to work on the leg. Darling gets knocked down and kicked in the face to give McKenzie and Troy two each.

The villains chop away at Darling in the corner but a running knee in the corner misses as Lee continues to list off her accomplishments, which aren’t enough to get her on this show. Stadtlander finally gets the tag and starts to elbow away until a kick to the face cuts her off. Everything breaks down and Stadtlander catches a suicide dive from Troy but Darling spends too much time posing and gets baseball slidden to the floor.

Shazza dives onto all three of them and it’s an exchange of suplexes back inside. Stadtlander throws Troy into a Sharpshooter from Darling with McKenzie making the save. Troy’s running Meteora to the back in the corner gets two with Stadtlander diving in for a save of her own. Stadtlander is back up with a kneeling Tombstone for the pin on McKenzie at 8:02 as Darling gets the Sharpshooter on Troy.

Rating: C-. Kind of messy here but I’ve seen a few of these women before and they’re rather solid for the most part. It wouldn’t surprise me to see one or two of them in WWE eventually, but they still have some work to do before they get there. This didn’t overstay its welcome (a common theme tonight) and that’s made the matches a lot easier to watch.

A rather fired up guy named Righteous Jesse from Southern Underground Pro Wrestling out of Nashville introduces the next match and is rather excited to be here.

O’Shay Edwards/Mr. Brickster/Cabana Man Dan vs. Brett Ison/Dominic Garrini/Kevin Coo

The announcers talk about some kind of real life fight that set this match up with some of the wrestlers not wanting to be here. It feels like they’re trying to be some real life promotion and it’s feeling rather out of place. Dan kicks the monster Ison into the corner so it’s off to Garrini who gets rolled up for two. A gutwrench suplex sends Dan flying onto his face and it’s the huge Edwards coming in to clean house.

Edwards deadlift German suplexes Garrini but Ison comes in for a dropkick. Everything breaks down and Garrini dives onto Brickster. Edwards is left alone in the ring against all three so it’s a series of suplexes and some running dropkicks in the corner for two. Brickster and Dan come back in to help triple team Kevin with Edwards hitting a moonsault for two with Garrini making the save. That really should have been the finish is Edwards and company win.

Coo is right back up with a gutwrench Project Ciampa to Dan and Brickster hits a reverse Razor’s Edge into an Iconoclasm but Ison is back with a Jay Driller for no cover. Edwards counters a second attempt into White Noise for no cover again. Garrini gives Edwards a snap piledriver but Dan comes back in with the flip flops to hit Garrini in the face. Coo gets back up and tries a dragon superplex on Dan, which is reversed into a super Sliced Bread for the pin at 9:02.

Rating: D. Yeah this really didn’t work as it felt like they were trying for some ECW inspired stuff and it was rather bad. I have no idea what the story is here or why I should care. It was all over the place and no one got to stand out at all here. Easily the worst match of the show here and the very annoying ring announcer didn’t help.

Jake Parnell vs. Gary Jay

This is from St. Louis and is the culmination of a two year rival so it’s a Last Man Standing match. Why are they feuding? Not worth mentioning apparently. Parnell recently beat Jay in an I Quit match but Jay blacked out and never said he quit so we’re having this match to decide a winner. It’s better than nothing. Jay is slim, not muscular and nearly looks homeless. They exchange chops to start as we hear a bunch of gimmick matches these two have had, including a Last Man Standing match last January.

An exchange of forearms and slaps give us another standoff until Parnell headscissors him to the floor. Back to back suicide dives from Jay have the fans clearing out of the front row but Parnell gets in a clothesline. Parnell hits a suicide flip dive but Jay pelts a chair at his head. They go behind the seats before coming back to ringside with Parnell getting in a posting to take over for a few seconds. A northern lights suplex on the floor gets five on Jay and they head back inside.

They trade chops in the corner, which doesn’t exactly scream hatred to me. Jay kicks him in the face and they head to the apron for more chops. A middle rope DDT plants Parnell onto the apron so Jay goes up, only to get caught with a release belly to back superplex. That means a double count with the referee crossing his arms in the X sign as he counts, which is rather distracting. They both roll outside to beat the count at nine and Parnell climbs onto the stage for a running double stomp to the back, sending Jay face first into a chair.

Thankfully Jay isn’t dead so Parnell sends him head first into the chair again. It’s time for a door (a thing in Game Changer Wrestling, which is using the same arena so it’s actually covered here), which Parnell bridges between some chairs. You know what that means and it’s a Death Valley Driver to send Jay through the door for a big knockdown. Jay doesn’t even bother waiting on the count and finds some wrenches underneath the ring to take off a turnbuckle (callback to a previous match). He takes off all four turnbuckles so we’re down to two ropes.

Back in and Jay can’t get the hook in Parnell’s mouth as Parnell shoves it away and hits a running clothesline. Parnell hooks Jay’s mouth instead and throws him over the top, just as Jay did to him in their previous Last Man Standing match. Also not willing to wait on the count, Parnell pulls out another door as Jay is back in at around eight.

A chair is thrown in as well and Jay gets half and half suplexed through the door in the corner. Parnell still isn’t done and ties Jay’s head in the chair, only to get punched out of the air. Jay ties him in the chair instead and hits a top rope double stomp. A chair shot to the chair around Parnell’s neck for the win at 19:42.

Rating: B-. The violence was good and the ending was rather devastating but this went on too long. It felt like a main event, though I don’t know these people so I don’t know why I should be caring about these them wanting to hurt each other. What we got was good though and it was rather violent, so it was good enough for what it was supposed to be. Nothing great, but a solid main event.

Overall Rating: C. This was kind of a weird one as it wasn’t one promotion but rather a bunch of companies getting together for a series of matches. It’s nothing that I’m ever going to watch again but as basically a sampler of everything that you can see over the next few days, it worked well enough. The stream was good and for ten bucks, it’s mostly worth your money for a quick watch.

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:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/02/22/new-book-kbs-monday-nitro-thunder-reviews-volume-vii-january-june-2000/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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

IMG Credit: Major League Wrestling

Fusion #51
Date: March 30, 2019
Location: Cicero Stadium, Chicago, Illinois
Commentators: Jim Cornette, Rich Bocchini

It’s the last show in Chicago before we head up to New York for Battle Riot. The problem is this show doesn’t really do much to build towards its specials, meaning it’s not going to be much more than a regular episode. That’s not the worst thing in the world though and this week will feature Teddy’s Hart’s open challenge for the Middleweight Title. Let’s get to it.

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

Salina de la Renta sends El Hijo de LA Park somewhere to give someone whatever he wants for an advantage in Battle Riot.

Opening sequence.

We open with a preview of Battle Riot, a two hour special.

Recap of Teddy Hart getting arrested and Dynasty destroying Brian Pillman Jr. last week.

Ariel Dominguez vs. Daga

Low Ki is on commentary due to ripping off Daga’s ear a few months back. The fans are behind Daga as the much smaller Ariel spins out of a wristlock. A headlock works a bit better for Daga and a dropkick puts Dominguez down, getting the fans right back into it. Some running forearms keep Daga in control and the announcers talk about Konnan. Dominguez gets thrown into the air for a big crash to the mat and a running kick to the face gets two.

Dominguez finally gets in a pair of elbows to the face and a springboard tornado DDT gets a delayed two (Low Ki: “COVER HIM! COVER HIM!”). Daga gets sent outside for a dive, with Dominguez barely being able to take him down. Back in and Daga gets some knees up, followed by a right hand to the face to really take over again. A heck of a release German suplex drops Dominguez again and a single arm implant DDT gives Daga the pin at 7:49.

Rating: C-. Dominguez has a lot of fire but he’s small enough that it’s really hard to believe that he could actually pull something like this off. Daga is a bigger star both figuratively and literally, making this feel longer than it needed to. Low Ki vs. Daga should be fine for a hard hitting brawl, and listening to Low Ki is far more fun than it should be.

Post match referees have to break up Daga and Low Ki.

Last week Salina and LA Park’s victory interview was interrupted by Mance Warner, who was beaten down for his efforts.

Myron Reed has accepted the open challenge for the Middleweight Title because he wants a chance. Reed gets straight to the point: he’s taking the belt and heating up Major League Wrestling.

The Hart Foundation isn’t happy with the Dynasty and Teddy promises to throw them into a furnace like coal to keep the fire going.

Ricky Martinez vs. Air Wolf

This is Air Wolf’s (a masked 19 year old from Minneapolis) debut. An early hurricanrana has Martinez in trouble and a springboard dropkick sends him outside. There’s a good looking no hands dive and a Salina distraction doesn’t work, allowing Wolf to kick him in the head. He tries to get just a bit too high flying though and Martinez takes him off the barricade, setting up the Madison Rayne faceplants back inside.

Martinez hits an old Bobo Brazil kick to the head, followed by the Tully Blanchard slingshot suplex and you know Cornette is right there with the historical names. A neckbreaker gets two but Wolf is back with a series of kicks and a 619 over the bottom rope. Wolf’s slingshot DDT is more of a slingshot armdrag though Martinez looks a little dead. Back up and Wolf gets caught on top, allowing Martinez to hit a pop up knee for the pin at 6:26.

Rating: D+. Wolf had some nice stuff but he never really popped in a way that made me care about him. That being said, at 19 years old he’s in need of a lot more ring time so the extra polish is going to help him a lot. Martinez is still very good as a midcard heel like this and he’s a perfect fit as Salina’s muscle.

Recap of Contra’s attacks.

Dynasty is happy with destroying the Hart Foundation (though MJF isn’t happy with Hammerstone’s arm around his shoulder) because they were all frauds. Pillman’s necklace shattered last week because it was cheap, but diamonds like them are forever. They’re going to win Battle Riot.

Battle Riot Control Center with WXW’s Avalanche Robert Dreissker, Jimmy Yuta, Rey Horus, Kotta Brazil, Ricky Martinez, Lance Anoa’i, Myron Reed, Richard Hollday, Rich Swann, Jordan Oliver, Leo Brien, Michael Patrick and Dan Severn, among all the other previously announced names. That’s looking pretty good, though I still feel bad about the destruction of the Dirty Blondes.

Tom Lawlor isn’t sure what to make of Jimmy Havoc but he wants revenge for Havoc being the last man to defeat him. Havoc might as well check into the hospital right now because Lawlor is putting him down and he’s staying there.

Daga wants a rematch with Low Ki and he’s going to kill him.

Salina is on the phone with whomever she sent El Hijo de LA Park to help but Hijo isn’t there yet. LA Park says he’s got this.

Middleweight Title: Teddy Hart vs. Myron Reed

Reed is challenging and Hart is still banged up with bad ribs. We hit the posing on the ropes and Reed bails to the floor as the early stalling continues. They finally lock up over a minute in and Hart grabs the arm to put Reed in trouble. A shoulder drops Reed again but it’s a nipup in short order. Hart goes with the strength in the form of a snap powerslam, which bangs up his own ribs even worse.

Project Ciampa makes it even worse on Reed, though again with the same problem for Hart. The Arabian Press gets two but Reed finally gets smart by going after the heavily taped ribs. Sometimes just kicking a guy in the bandages over and over is the best strategy. Hart can’t come back with a German suplex so Reed hits him in the ribs to keep control. A Codebreaker gives Reed two more and Hart gets thrown outside, followed by a whip into the barricade.

Back in and a top rope splash gets two but Reed spends too much time yelling at the referee and gets taken down for an armbar. The ribs flare up again though and Hart has to let go, instead heading up top. That’s delayed as well and it’s a dropkick into a super hurricanrana for two. Reed walks into something like a hammerlock fisherman’s DDT but the Lionsault hits knees. The kickout means another argument with the referee, allowing Hart to grab a backslid of all things for the pin to retain at 10:59.

Rating: C+. There was a story here and the injury was the only way to make you believe that Reed had a chance. Hart and the Hart Foundation are one of the hottest acts in the company and it’s a good idea to have him overcoming the odds here. It was almost nothing but waiting around until the ending with Hart winning, and really that’s just fine.

Overall Rating: C. This was all it needed to be with a completely watchable show in the vein of a good Ring of Honor episode. They didn’t do much for Battle Riot but that’s the kind of show where one match is going to be more than enough to make the card work. Now just do that show right and we can get on to the stuff they’ve been setting up over the last few weeks.

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