AEW Dark
Date: October 15, 2019
Location: Liacouras Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Excalibur, Taz
Host: Tony Schiavone

It’s time for another week of dark matches on Dark, because the show’s title is as appropriate as you can get. One thing that has surprised me is how big these matches have felt. Normally a dark match is going to be about five minutes long and nothing worth seeing. Last week’s main event was 25 minutes and pay per view quality, which was WAY more than I would have bet on. It’s always nice to get a surprise like that and I was rather pleased. Let’s get to it.

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

Tony welcomes us to the show and runs down the card.

Brandon Cutler vs. Joey Janela

Joey soaks in some cheers to start as guest commentator Taz is getting right back into the analysis here. A headlock takeover brings Janela down so Cutler reverses into a handstand, which Cutler breaks up in a hurry. Janela shoulders him down and goes to the corner to pose, allowing Cutler to kick him in the head.

The chinlock goes on for all of a few moments before it’s time to strike it out again. Cutler’s DDT gets two and the fans are behind Janela in a hurry. A hard clothesline drops Cutler to the floor and there’s the suicide dive, followed by a dive off the steps. Back in and Cutler’s springboard is broken up, allowing Janela to hit a super brainbuster (looked more superplexish) for the pin at 8:32.

Rating: C-. Janela is one of those weird stars who needs the more extreme elements to really make things look that much better and he didn’t showcase himself all that well here. Instead we got a perfectly watchable match, but it wasn’t anything that made me think Janela was a star. I liked it well enough, but Janela doesn’t work that well in a standard match like this.

We get a sitdown interview with QT Marshall, a former wrestler who works backstage now as a producer. Cody hypes him up and Marshall talks about how he made it to Ring of Honor but was treated like nothing there. Then he had neck surgery and shifted to a backstage role. Now he does a little bit of everything around here.

Leva Bates vs. Nyla Rose

The shhhing makes its Dark debut. Peter Avalon mocks the Philadelphia Phillies and Bates isn’t sure if this is the best course of action. Bates knocks her into the corner to start and a DDT gets one. That’s enough for Rose, who snaps off a powerbomb for a knockdown of her own. A kick to the face rocks Rose but she’s fine enough to hit a Death Valley Driver. Avalon offers a distraction though, only to have Rose knock Bates away from a rollup attempt. Rose throws Bates onto Avalon and then swings her into the steps for a bonus. The sitout powerbomb finishes Bates at 3:42.

Rating: D. Rose getting a win is a good thing and having the Librarians get beaten up is better but this wasn’t very good. It just kind of came and went with nothing interesting aside from a decent powerbomb finisher. That being said, it’s hard to get overly annoyed at a three and a half minute squash, but neither of them looked very good here.

We run down tomorrow’s Dynamite card.

Video on the Dark Order. I wouldn’t recommend that one.

We look back at Scorpio Sky jumping in to replace the attacked Christopher Daniels in the Tag Team Tournament.

SCU isn’t happy but they’re ready to face the Dark Order in the semifinals. They’re coming for the Lucha Bros too.

A bloody Pac swears vengeance on Jon Moxley.

TV ads. They’re going around the country now and that’s a good sign.

We recap Darby Allin vs. Chris Jericho from Dynamite.

Strong Hearts/Private Party vs. Young Bucks/Dustin Rhodes/Cody

Cima and T-Hawk can’t get past Private Party’s velvet ropes until Private Party makes their entrance for a funny bit. MJF and Brandi are here with Cody and company. Cima and Cody start things off, with commentary saying not many wrestlers can say they have an experience advantage over Cody. Half of the people in this match can so that’s not the most accurate statement. Cima rolls him up for two so Cody bails to the floor for a breather and a kiss.

Back in and Cima gets in a shot to the face, drawing in all eight for the staredown. Things settle down and it’s Dustin coming in to face T-Hawk with a chop sending Dustin into the corner. Back up and Dustin hits some shoulders and a clothesline before the Bucks come in for an assisted kick to the chest. T-Hawk is right back with a sitout spinebuster to Nick, only to have Matt grab his face. Cody tries to make a save and gets chopped so hard that it hurts T-Hawk’s hand.

Private Party remembers that they’re in the match and comes in to stomp Matt in the head, allowing Cima to come back in for a freaky looking hold on Matt’s…..legs? Maybe? Private Party knocks Cody and company off the apron but Matt is back with the rolling northern lights suplexes to send Quen into the corner. It’s back to Nick to start striking away, including the stomps from the apron to everyone on the floor. Well all of the members of the opposing team that is as he didn’t stomp his partners or the fans.

The slingshot X Factor drops Quen and the moonsault to the floor takes down the Strong Hearts for a bonus. Back in and Nick gets caught with Gin and Juice to set up Cima’s Meteora for a fast two. Cima chops T-Hawk by mistake though and gets superkicked for his efforts, allowing the hot tag to Dustin. The snap powerslams abound but hang on because Dustin needs to catch his breath before hitting one more on Kassidy.

Cody dives off the top onto Cima but Private Party hits their stereo flip dives. The Bucks do the same but Brandi hits a flip dive off the apron to take everyone down. MJF even teases his own dive but instead runs the ropes and makes a rather rude gesture to the fans. Back in and we get the big showdown between the Bucks and Private Party. The Superkick Party is on to put Private Party back on the floor, but they come back in….and get quadruple superkicked. A four way Shattered Dreams sets up the Final Reckoning to finish T-Hawk at 15:03.

Rating: B-. This is the kind of match I was hoping for when this show was announced. It isn’t going to matter in the grand scheme of things, it didn’t have a big surprise ending or some kind of a twist, and it was exactly what it was supposed to be. The wrestlers went out there and did a bunch of stuff for fifteen minutes and the fans got to cheer a lot. It’s a great way to send the fans home happy and that’s what they did here. Good ending and the kind of thing that fits the idea very well.

Tony wraps it up.

Overall Rating: C. The show is still a perfectly fine supplement to AEW, though I’m not sure we need all the recaps from Dynamite in there when those could just be a secondary video. Either way (and either way would be fine), this was a completely entertaining use of an hour and lets you see the stars of the promotion without having to have the weight of the storylines on top of it. That’s a good idea as some fans want one or the other and that’s what you got here. Good enough show that serves its purpose just fine.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

Dynamite
Date: October 9, 2019
Location: Agganis Arena, Boston, Massachusetts
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Jim Ross, Excalibur

It’s the second week and that means we are in for something that might be more important than the debut episode. You can have as good of an opener as you want, but if you don’t get the fans to stick around, it isn’t going to matter all that much. The ratings and audience are going to be interesting after this week so let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

The announcers welcome us to the show.

Video on Private Party vs. the Young Bucks, the first match in the Tag Team Title tournament.

Tag Team Title Tournament First Round: Young Bucks vs. Private Party

Private Party weigh 27 ounces of vodka cranberry and come from a place you need an invitation to. Isaiah Kassidy and Nick Jackson start things off with neither being able to hit a superkick. Nick spits his gum in Kassidy’s face so Kassidy flips out of an atomic drop attempt. Kassidy gets caught in a backbreaker/flipping neckbreaker combination to put the Bucks in control. A dive misses though and Kassidy hits a Lionsault to take him down.

Marc Quen comes in and starts busting out his own dives to a BIG reaction (as he deserves). A 450 gets a VERY close two on Matt but Nick is back in to start the Superkick Party. Nick sunset bombs Kassidy, with the powerbomb onto the ramp for a nasty landing. Back in and a powerbomb/Sliced Bread #2 combination gets two on Marc, setting up the Sharpshooter to work on the back even more.

With Kassidy down, it’s a top rope double stomp/backbreaker combination for two more on Quen. A spear gets two more on Quen as Kassidy gets pulled back off the apron. Quen gets over for the tag a few seconds later though and Kassidy comes in with a missile dropkick. He comes up holding his back but is fine enough to hit a double hurricanrana. Matt rolls the northern lights suplexes to bang up the back quite a bit before suplexing Quen at the same time for two.

The buckle bomb/kick to the head in the corner sets up another Sharpshooter, with Nick adding a facebuster. The tap seems near but Kassidy rapid fire crawls over for the tag. Quen makes a blind tag though and it’s the hurricanrana into the cutter (Gin and Juice) to rock Matt. The perfect shooting star press gets two on Nick and that should have been the finish. The Meltzer Driver is loaded up but Kassidy breaks up the springboard, allowing Quen to roll Matt up for the pin at 13:47.

Rating: B. They had one too many false finishes in the end though I’m happy with Private Party winning. That could have gone either way though, as you can either give Private Party the rub now or give the rub to whoever beats the Bucks in the finals. As long as the Bucks didn’t win though, as there was no need for that to happen. Good match too, with Private Party looking like an incredibly polished team right out of the box.

Post match Private Party celebrates in the crowd all through the commercial.

Here are Chris Jericho and his whole group of friends for a chat. Jericho takes credit for all of Dynamite’s success last week and gets a thank you chant. That’s not what he wants though and he says that we are now. Yes they’re still together and yes they have a name. Jericho introduces the team, starting with the sexy Spanish god Sammy Guevara. Now Sammy is on his list. Then you have Santana and Ortiz, who are going to be nastier than ever before, which Jericho likes. Jericho: “Viva la raza.” Nice touch on Eddie’s birthday.

Then we have Jake Hager (which Jericho pronounces as Hagar) so we get a WE THE PEOPLE. Jericho: “We the people sucks and it’s dead and buried. It was a bad idea from bad creative and all that’s dead and gone.” Jericho brags about Hager’s undefeated MMA record and he’ll fight any boxer, fighter, wrestler, bare knuckle fighter or whatever. The team is dubbed the Inner Circle and they are taking over.

Jericho goes on to Cody, who is part of a family Jericho never liked. Dusty was a jerk, he’ll beat up Dustin and he’ll beat the s*** out of Cody at Full Gear. That promo is going to get people talking and it’s a good thing to have a big story going on like this. Good stuff here, though they better be able to back up the shots at WWE.

Darby Allin vs. Jimmy Havoc

The winner gets a shot at Jericho for the title next week. During the entrance, Havoc says he likes the pain and the violence. Darby grabs a quick cradle for two and dropkicks Havoc into the corner. A bottom rope suplex doesn’t work as Havoc bites the fingers and Falcon Arrows Allin out to the floor in a big crash.

Havoc starts working on the fingers before choking in the corner to cut off a comeback attempt. A suplex puts Allin on the floor and we take a break. Back with Allin being Death Valley Driven into the corner and stomped in the head to keep him down. The Acid Rainmaker is broken up with a bite to Havoc’s fingers and it’s a knockdown into the Coffin Drop for the pin at 10:02.

Rating: C-. I wasn’t feeling this one as Allin didn’t do much for most of the match, came back and hit his finisher for the win. What bothers me a bit more than that though is AEW talking about how they want to incorporate win/loss records and that puts Allin at 2-2-1. It’s not a big deal, but they might want to work on that if they want records to matter that much.

Bea Priestly/Sakura vs. Britt Baker/Riho

Riho starts with Sakura and charges into a powerslam, only to pop back up with a dropkick. Her back is banged up and Sakura blocks a slam without much effort. A very screaming surfboard works on the back even more and it’s off to Priestly, who gets in a fight with Baker on the floor.

Riho is down in the corner so Sakura goes outside to help with a double suplex. A Riho dive takes them down though and we take a break. Back with Baker in trouble until Riho sneaks in for a double stomp to Sakura. Baker’s swinging neckbreaker gets two on Sakura and it’s off to the Rings of Saturn. Baker adds the Mandible Claw at the same time for the tap at 8:45.

Rating: C. I’m trying to care about the women’s division but Baker is the kind of star who can be a big deal based on every aspect you could want. Priestly feels like a good villain and Sakura is fine enough. Riho….it’s not a complete miss but there are just better options to pick from other than her. Maybe I’m just not enough of a wrestling fan to get it, but it’s not working just yet.

We see a video of the Best Friends hugging.

The Best Friends are in the front row and asked about how they’re doing. They defer to Orange Cassidy, who gives them a thumbs up.

Jon Moxley vs. Shawn Spears

Tully Blanchard is with Spears and Pac is on commentary. Moxley gets right in his face and chops away before dropping Spears with a clothesline. Spears bails to the floor so Moxley knees him in the back and chokes away, with Tully’s interference not working whatsoever. As JR wonders how that isn’t a DQ, Moxley jumps off the apron with a forearm to the face but gets sent into the steps. The fight on the floor continues (they’ve been out there a long time now) with Spears Death Valley Drivering him into the barricade for a double knockdown.

Back from a break with Spears putting on a half crab but Moxley breaks it up in a hurry. Moxley sends him outside again for back to back suicide dives and scores with a running knee for two. The slugout it on but the Paradigm Shift is countered into the fireman’s carry backbreaker. Another fireman’s carry is countered into the Paradigm Shift to give Moxley the pin at 12:44.

Rating: C. I still don’t get it with Spears, though he is better than he was in WWE. He’s just a guy at this point and the chair stuff feels out of place after the Cody feud wrapped up. Tully is a cool addition, but it doesn’t matter if the guy keeps losing. It’s far from too late for him, but he didn’t shot me much here.

Post match here’s Kenny Omega, carrying a barbed wire bat and a barbed wire broom. He throws Moxley the bat but Pac runs down with a chair shot to the back of Omega’s head. Moxley looks at Omega but drops the bat and walks away.

Dustin Rhodes/Hangman Page vs. Chris Jericho/Sammy Guevara

Hager is here with Jericho and Guevara. One good sign: I can already recognize Jericho’s music after the first few notes. Impact took years to make that happen and still have a lot of trouble making it work. Dustin goes after Jericho on the floor to start and gets in a posting with a thud. We settle down to Page fall away slamming Sammy and handing it back to Dustin for a hard whip into the corner.

A belly to back toss sets up Page’s running shooting star press with Jericho having to make a save. Guevara gets in a knee though and fireman’s carry drops Page onto the top turnbuckle for two. Back from a break with Jericho posing until Page gets in a hard shot to the face. Sammy is right there to block a tag though and Jericho slaps Page in the face. The Lionsault hits knees though and Page scores with the big lariat, allowing the hot tag to Dustin.

Everything breaks down and Dustin dives onto Jericho and Sammy with Page adding a moonsault to the floor. Hager runs Page over though, leaving Dustin to hit a Code Red for two on Jericho. The powerslam takes Sammy down but the referee checks on him, allowing Hager to save Jericho from Shattered Dreams. Jericho hits the Judas Effect for the pin at 13:57.

Rating: C+. The extra time helped a bit here and they did a good job of making Hager look like the monster. That’s the key here as everyone (save for Sammy) is pretty established and they need to make Hager stand out as a monster. This was the standard idea of taking parts of a stable and letting them fight, which is always going to work just fine.

Post match Hager goes after Page, who pelts a chair at Hager’s head. They fight to the back and the lights go out. It’s Cody laying out Sammy with Cross Rhodes but here are Santana and Ortiz to take Cody out. Maxwell Jacob Friedman runs out as well and teases turning on Cody, only to chair the Inner Circle down. Cue the Young Bucks for the real save and the fans are rather pleased. Jericho escapes but Allin skateboards down and beats Jericho up to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. This was another good outing, though a step down from last week. That has to be expected though after last week’s big debut, which isn’t going to be the norm. It’s a good idea to slow things down for a week while still making things seem like a big deal. I’m curious to see where things go with some of these stories and that’s a nice feeling. The wrestling itself wasn’t bad at all here and the atmosphere is still what matters most around here. It felt big and if they can do that when it’s not even a big show, they’re in a solid spot two weeks in.

Results

Private Party b. Young Bucks – Victory roll to Matt

Darby Allin b. Jimmy Havoc – Coffin Drop

Britt Baker/Riho b. Bea Priestly/Sakura – Rings of Saturn/Mandible Claw combination to Sakura

Jon Moxley b. Shawn Spears – Paradigm Shift

Chris Jericho/Sammy Guevara b. Dustin Rhodes/Hangman Page – Judas Effect to Rhodes

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

AEW Dark
Date: October 8, 2019
Location: Capitol One Arena, Washington DC
Commentators: Excalibur, Jim Ross

So this is something new (the second new show of the day) as AEW is releasing its dark matches (as “dark matches” enters a new definition) as a stand alone show on YouTube. Normally this is something that wouldn’t make a lot of sense but in this case, AEW needs to get their talent out there in front of an audience and that is what they’re doing here. There shouldn’t be any storylines here and it’s a pure wrestling show, which is nice for a change. Let’s get to it.

Tony Schiavone welcomes us to the show and explains the concept. He really is great at something like this and the voice is exactly the same as it was back in the 90s.

Darby Allin vs. Cima

Darby takes a bit too long looking into the crowd and gets caught with some double knees in the corner. That’s fine with Darby, who is right back with a springboard armdrag to the floor, followed by three straight suicide dives. Back in and the Coffin Drop completely misses, allowing Darby to dropkick him into the corner. Something like a Brock Lock on the mat keeps Darby down but he’s fine enough to crotch Cima on top.

That means a Tree of Woe with headbutts to the knee for a pretty unique set of offense. More shots to the knee have Cima in trouble but he’s right back with a tornado DDT for two. Back up and Cima offers him a chance for some chops, demanding Darby’s best shots. Instead Darby hits him in the face and flips over his back into a Stunner for two.

The Coffin Drop onto the knee bangs them both up a bit more so Cima is right back with the Perfect Driver for two of his own. A top top rope Meteora to the back of Darby’s head gets two more, only to have him get the same off a Code Red. That’s enough to set up the Coffin Drop, which finally connects as it’s supposed to, for the pin at 6:57.

Rating: C. I’m still not sure what to make of Allin, who is such a different kind of performer that it takes some time to get the idea of him down. The Coffin Drop comes off as rather stupid, though it fits into the kind of person Allin seems to be. Cima is someone who can have a fine match with anyone, though I’m not overly wild on either guy.

Tony explains the Tag Team Title tournament.

Lucha Bros/Hybrid Two vs. Private Party/Best Friends

Hybrid Two is Angelico/Jack Evans. Orange Cassidy is here with Private Party and Best Friends to a ROAR. Hang on though as Evans needs to yell about how he and Angelico are the A half of their team but a bunch of superkicks break that up in a hurry. Fenix dives onto the Best Friends and Quen gets sent over the top onto Evans and Angelico as I have a bad feeling about trying to keep track of all this stuff. Evans is already ranting about having to make saves until we settle down to Isaiah punching Angelico in the face and screaming.

A cheap shot from Evans takes Isaiah down so the Lucha Bros come in and try some double teaming, only to have Isaiah score with some enziguris for a breather. Evans and Angelico come in to beat on Isaiah instead as tagging is more of a suggestion here. Isaiah is fine enough to hurricanrana Angelico into Evans in the corner, which allows the tag off to Taylor as extra audio is bleeding through commentary.

Isaiah hits a heck of a flip dive to the floor but the Bros are back in to kick Quen in the head. With Fenix on the floor, Taylor finds his own sunglasses but stops to hug Barretta. That sets up the stereo suicide dives, leaving Cassidy to go up for the hands in pockets dive to the floor. Isn’t that a bit much energy for him? Back in and Fenix saves Pentagon from Strong Zero and a kick to the head sends Taylor into a Backstabber. Fenix hits a big corkscrew dive, leaving Pentagon to finish Taylor at 8:46.

Rating: B. That’s about as high as any of these matches can get and they did exactly what they were suppose do. This was designed to be complete and utter chaos with everyone involved looking rather good in the process. As a bonus, Excalibur was perfect for commentary here as he can rattle off all of those names. JR on the other hand…..well he tried, but he lost the battle of the generations here.

Post match the winners argue over who gets to pose.

Quick look at the women’s division.

Britt Baker/Allie vs. Penelope Ford/Bea Priestly

Priestly shoves Baker on the apron to start so Allie snaps off an armdrag. Hold on though as Priestly wants Baker, which is exactly what she gets. That sends Priestly over to Ford, as you probably expected. Baker gets two off her own armdrag but Ford sends her into the corner for a Great Muta handspring elbow (that’s more JR’s speed). A northern lights suplex gives Ford two but she gets sent into the corner as well, this time allowing the tag to Allie.

The sliding forearm in the corner gives Allie two and it’s time to strike away at Ford. Priestly gets in a cheap shot on the floor though and the villains take over. A stomp onto Allie’s arm keeps her down but Ford misses a second handspring elbow. Baker comes back in to trade forearms with Priestly, followed by the fisherman’s neckbreaker for two. Priestly’s belly to back suplex gets two but Baker kicks her down and hands it back to Allie for a rollup. Everything breaks down and Priestly kicks Baker in the head.

Allie Death Valley Drives Priestly for two before heading to the floor, leaving Allie to DDT Ford for two more with Priestly diving back inside for the save. They head outside again though, leaving Baker to Paige Turn Ford into the Rings of Saturn. With that still on, Baker grabs something like a Mandible Claw (makes sense) at the same time for the tap at 11:11.

Rating: C-. If they want Riho and Nyla Rose to be the stars of the division, they might not want to showcase these four like this. The match was more interesting, easier to get into and just all around more fun. Riho vs. Rose did tell a good story and was better from a technical standpoint, but they’re hardly head and shoulders above these four and that was very apparent here.

We look at Chris Jericho and company taking over at the end of Dynamite.

Here’s a look at the Tag Team Title tournament with Twitter users picking their winners.

Preview for this week’s Dynamite.

Full Gear ad.

Jurassic Express vs. SCU

Jurassic Express now has a rather awesome entrance, complete with steps making a glass of water shake. Daniels has a mic on a stand with him so he can shout SCU. Daniels and Stunt start things off and Stunt can’t do much outside of spinning around into a small package. A stomp onto the back sets up the Floss Dance (ERG), with Daniels countering with his own. Jungle Boy and Kazarian come in to trade near falls off some rollups and cradles until Kazarian knocks him down for the springboard spinning legdrop.

It’s off to Sky to get in a boot to the head but Boy gets over to Luchasaurus and you can feel the fans getting more into things. That’s a bit too good though and it’s back to Stunt, who gets flipped onto Daniels into a splash for two. Boy comes back in for a chinlock but Daniels is right back up with a tilt-a-whirl side slam for two of his own. Stunt’s crossbody bounces off of Sky so Luchasaurus comes back in. Some strikes have no effect for Sky but a DDT puts Luchasaurus down….and he nips right back up.

Stunt and Boy dive onto Daniels and Sky, leaving Kazarian to get chokeslammed and moonsaulted for another near fall. A headscissors faceplant of all things (because Luchasaurus can just do that) sets up Stunt’s running shooting star press as everything stays broken down. Luchasaurus gets sent outside though and it’s Celebrity Rehab on Boy and a powerbomb/Backstabber combination finishes Stunt at 9:17.

Rating: C. They weren’t going for anything more than a fun match here, though they did get in enough stuff to make it feel different than the eight man tag. Stunt taking the pin was the right call if SCU has to win, though it is beyond ridiculous to see him out there with no muscle definition or anything close to being a realistic threat to any of SCU. Even Jungle Boy, who is small, is more believable than Stunt. Let him be a mascot or something, but having him wrestle is a step too far.

Tony wraps us up in a hurry.

Overall Rating: C+. This is a situation where you need to consider the point of this show. It isn’t meant to be anything more than a supplement to Dynamite in a way to get the wrestlers in an AEW ring. You don’t need to see anything here and as long as they keep it that way, this is the most inoffensive thing you could ask for. It doesn’t need to be around permanently as you don’t need so many people featured every week, but for a few months, this is a fine idea.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

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/

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