World of Sport
Date: August 4, 2018
Location: Epic Studios, Norwich, England
Commentators: Alex Shane, So Cal Val, Stu Bennett

I’m really not sure what to expect here, even though the two big matches were announced in advance and I know some of the cast. Last week’s debut episode really wasn’t anything to see but hopefully things get better as they keep going. If they at least introduce the people and tell me something about them, things will at least be a bit better. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of the “fall of the people’s champion” Grado last week.

The announcers talk about Grado losing the title last week.

Bennett talks to the crowd about Grado losing the title last week. Tonight we’ll be having a Women’s Title match, but first we need to have a championship celebration. Cue Rampage, CJ Banks (actually named this week) and Sha Samuels. Samuels says no one has the guts to fight Rampage but here’s Joe Hendry to interrupt. According to his music, he’s on a title quest and wants a shot right here tonight. Bennett: “RING THE BELL!”

World of Sport Title: Joe Hendry vs. Rampage

Hendry is challenging and headlocks him down before getting two off a fireman’s carry. That’s enough to send Rampage bailing to the floor where his goons distract Hendry. Rampage gets in a few cheap shots from behind and it’s an elbow drop into the chinlock. A shot to the throat cuts off the comeback and Rampage jumps on his back for a quickly broken sleeper. Hendry gets two off a neckbreaker and the ankle lock (which Hendry learned from Kurt Angle) goes on. That’s broken up as well and another distraction lets Rampage hit an implant DDT to retain at 6:00.

Rating: D+. Just like last week, this came and went so fast that it didn’t have time to take much effect. Hendry has a great personality and charisma but we barely know anything about him. Rampage on the other hand is I guess the top villain on the show but he’s in that spot because he has two goons, not because he’s some mastermind. This was another instance of “eh, it was ok I guess”, which might as well be the subtitle for the whole promotion.

Liam Slater vs. Robbie X vs. Gabriel Kidd vs. Lionheart

Ladder match for a “big opportunity”. They’re all in the ring for the introductions and Robbie wears a mask. Robbie clears the ring until Lionheart dropkicks him down. Lionheart brings the ladder in but gets sent face first into it for his efforts. Slater and Lionheart fight over the ladder until Slater pins him into the corner.

Robbie gets superplexed down and Slater goes up, allowing Kidd to make a save. Kidd goes up and drops an elbow on Slater, leaving Robbie to moonsault off the ladder onto the two of them (with two camera cuts on a single move). With Robbie going up, Lionheart shoves the ladder over for the crash to the floor. Slater gets the big ladder (required in a ladder match) but Lionheart pulls him down. Kidd shoves Lionheart off though and steals the briefcase to win at 7:56.

Rating: D+. This felt like every run of the mill indy ladder match that you’ve ever seen. There was little drama to be found, due to a combination of the match not even lasting eight minutes but more because it was another four random people that we don’t know anything about in a match. That’s been the case with both shows so far and it’s really not getting any better. Give us a ten second promo from them or let the announcers talk about them or just ANYTHING that gives me a reason to care about them or who they are.

Post match Kidd talks about how great it is to win this contract. What is the contract for? Not important. He’ll get it next week though.

Tag Team Titles Tournament First Round: Adam Maxted/Nathan Cruz vs. Doug Williams/HT Drake

At least the wrestlers get their names on the screen so I have an idea which is which. Cruz mocks Williams to start and is pulled down without much effort. Williams gets caught in a quickly broken chinlock before he armdrags Cruz into an armbar. The rapid fire camera cuts begin their nauseating switches again before Drake comes in to hurricanrana Maxted. A quick double team goes nowhere and it’s Cruz hitting a slingshot belly to back suplex for two on Drake.

Maxted comes back in for an Irish whip and pushups, followed by another chinlock. That lasts as long as you might expect and the hot tag brings Williams back in a few seconds later. A double Regal Cutter hits Cruz but a Codebreaker sends Williams outside. With Maxted shoving Drake away, Cruz grabs a springboard Blockbuster for the pin at 7:39.

Rating: D+. Take the same complaints I’ve made about most of the matches in the first two shows and use it here. This was the same problem that has been taking place on the entire series and I don’t see that changing as we move forward. I know Williams from TNA and Maxted was around earlier, but who is everyone else and why should I boo or cheer them? Get this stuff together.

Women’s Title: Viper vs. Kay Lee Ray vs. Bea Priestly

The title is vacant coming in. Viper is better known as Piper Niven from last year’s Mae Young Classic and probably outweighs the other two combined. That’s not an insult though as she moves around incredibly well. The only bio we get on any of them: Priestly is Will Ospreay’s girlfriend. They trade rollups to start and Viper throws Kay into the corner. Viper slams both of them down and hits a running low crossbody for a double knockdown. A buckle bomb drives Kay into Priestly and a Vader Bomb gives Viper two.

Priestly breaks up a cover off a hard clothesline and the camera cuts get so insane that it almost has to be editing something out. No one could be that all over the place with something so simple. Anyway some double teaming puts Viper down and Bea hitting an Alberto Del Rio double stomp for two.

Rating: C+. I actually liked this one more than most of what I’ve seen so far. I mean, I still know nothing about any of these people but they told a nice story with Viper as the unstoppable monster and the other two having to fight her off. Kay winning with the big clean win over Viper was a nice touch and the match was pretty good. That seems to be as good as it’s going to get so I’ll take what I can.

Overall Rating: D+. Maybe it was the lack of Grado as a featured player or maybe it was actually accomplishing a few things but the show wasn’t as annoying as last week’s. It’s still far from a good show and thank goodness it’s a limited series as I can’t imagine it would have gone better in the long term. They’re starting to build up a story or two but it’s still a long way from good. The cameras were even more annoying this week though, especially with the longer shots. Not the worst show, but it’s still not worth your time.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2003 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/07/23/new-book-kbs-complete-2003-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

World of Sport
Date: July 28, 2018
Location: Epic Studios, Norwich, England
Commentators: Alex Shane, So Cal Val, Stu Bennett

So at the end of 2016, there was a one off British wrestling show called World of Sport, which was a callback to the big British wrestling TV show from the 1970s and 80s. It aired once, wasn’t very good, and was supposed to be the start of a new series. Well that series is now here, only a year and a half (plus) later. It’s a ten episode series so we might as well take a look at them all. Let’s get to it.

Here’s the pilot episode.

Stu Bennett (Wade Barrett) narrates the opening video, talking about how this is the new era and only the but make it to this platform.

The announcers welcome us to the show, with Val replacing Jim Ross from the pilot. I think things are starting to go downhill.

Rampage vs. Adam Maxtead vs. Sha Samuels vs. Justin Sysum vs. Crater

Elimination rules. Who are these people? Not important enough to mention, but Crater is a huge masked man. I don’t think there is an opening bell as Samuels and Rampage double team Sysum, the smallest guy in the match, to start. Bennett joins commentary as Crater comes in to clean house. Adam can’t slam Crater so Crater gives him a demonstration and chokes on the ropes….for a very quick DQ.

Crater cleans house post elimination and we’re down to four. Now that the announcers have told us that it’s an elimination match, Samuels and Rampage beat on Sysum a little more. Sysum fights back and scores with a middle rope crossbody but is already back in trouble when we come back from a replay. Back with Samuels clotheslining Rampage by mistake, allowing Sysum to get a rollup for the elimination.

Rating: D. Oh this isn’t going well so far. Keep in mind that this is a brand new series. Unless you watched (and remember) that pilot from December 2016 (hopefully they aired it before this first episode), Grado is a complete stranger but he’s the World Champion and these five guys are all fighting for a title shot.

Who are these people? Which one is the blue eye? Why are Samuels and Rampage friends? Where have I seen that Bennett guy before? There are five people fighting at once? I’ve watched a lot of wrestling and knew what was going on, but how many new fans are going to be watching this for the first time and just got totally lost? It’s not a great idea to come charging out of the gate like that and this wasn’t exactly a great match either. What we saw was fine, but it came and went with no one other than Crater getting to stand out, and that was just because of his look. Really rocky start and hopefully it gets better.

Post match, Bennett says that since Rampage beat the count, tonight’s main event is a three way for the title.

Don’t try this at home.

Will Ospreay vs. British Bulldog Jr.

This could be rather interesting. Hopefully commentary explains why the guy with BRITISH in his name who comes out to Rule Britania has a Canadian flag on his trunks. Ospreay wastes no time in flipping around into a dropkick but it’s too early for the big dive. Instead he backflips into the pose, allowing Bulldog to hit a dropkick of his own. Thankfully Bennett mentions Bulldog being half Canadian as Bulldog hits a slam and the delayed vertical suplex (required).

Ospreay slips out of a Brock Lock and kicks Bulldog down as we go to our fourth replay in less than three minutes. A springboard….something (the camera changed angels as he made contact) gives Ospreay two and a standing corkscrew moonsault gets the same. Shane: “Eat your heart out Harry Potter. Will Ospreay is a wizard.” The deadlift German suplex plants Ospreay, who seems to be favoring his knee. Bulldog clotheslines him for two as the replays and camera cuts continue.

A C4 gives Ospreay the same and he reverses the running powerslam into a dragon suplex. The spinning kick to the head gives Ospreay two as the rapid camera cuts continue. Ospreay’s shooting star (cut) hits feet (cut to crowd) and he bounces backwards (cut), allowing Bulldog to suplex him for another near fall. A Batista Bomb gets two more but Ospreay slips out of a superplex to hit the Cheeky Nandos kick. Ospreay loads up the springboard Oscutter but gets caught in a super powerslam (cool) for the pin at 7:50.

Rating: C+. Well, it was better than the opener, but a lot of that is going to be due to having two very talented guys in there and allowing them to do some stuff. Ospreay is the kind of guy who is going to be able to get cheered all day and British Bulldog Jr. is a layup on a show like this. Or any show actually as he’s rather good. The cutting is REALLY annoying though as it’s every ten seconds at most. Slow things down a bit.

There’s going to be a Tag Team Title tournament but Kip Sabian and Iestyn Rees don’t want to hear about the rest of the teams. When you’re as good as they are, you’re the only team.

Tag Team Title Tournament First Round: Martin Kirby/Joe Hendry vs. Iestyn Rees/Kip Sabian

The fans REALLY likes Hendry, or at least they’ve been coached about how to wave their arms to his music. Shane sums up Rees and Sabian as the bully and the big mouth. That’s not exactly an in-depth analysis, but it’s a description that tells you something about these guys and that’s a step in the right direction. Hendry wrestles Sabian down to start and it’s Kirby coming in to work on the arm.

Sabian runs him over a few times and keeps posing but gets taken down by a headscissors. A little cheating from Rees (which Barrett calls skullduggery, because he’s awesome) allows Sabian to score with a springboard dropkick on Hendry. We hit the double arm crank and Hendry gets driven into the corner to keep him in trouble. Hendry’s rollup gets two but the kickout sends him into Kirby, who lands on a cameraman.

A side slam into a slingshot legdrop gets two on Hendry but he gets his knees up to avoid a splash. That’s enough for the tag….or at least it would be if Kirby didn’t walk out on Hendry. Just to show off a bit, Hendry, who isn’t a big guy, gives them both a fall away slam at the same time and it’s an ankle lock to Sabian. Rees breaks it up with a missile dropkick, followed by a powerbomb/top rope clothesline for the pin on Hendry at 7:43.

Rating: C-. Sabian and Reese are a nice heel team and Hendry has more charisma than he knows what to do with, which is a good sign as he now has a built in feud with Kirby. This was a good way to showcase everyone involved, save for maybe Kirby who didn’t really do much here. It’s not a bad match or anything, but it’s more about setting stuff up for the future and that’s fine.

World of Sport Title: Rampage vs. Justin Sysum vs. Grado

One fall to a finish. Grado is defending and Bennett rants about him dancing his way to the ring. Rampage has Samuels and another guy named CJ Banks (had to look him up) with him. Sysum doesn’t have anyone with him but he does wear a cape. Rampage knocks the champ down to start but gets elbowed and punched to the floor. That allows Grado to sidestep a shoulder block, sending Sysum flat onto his face in a cute moment. Grado gyrates a bit and helps Sysum throw the rampaging Rampage over the top to keep it one on one.

Rampage and company pull Sysum to the floor so Grado cannonballs onto them off the apron for a big crash. With Sysum on the floor, Rampage slams Grado for two but here’s Sysum again with a top rope clothesline. Grado kicks him down and adds a cannonball in the corner, followed by a cutter to Rampage. Sysum makes the save and hits a 450 for two more on Grado but Rampage breaks it up. Rampage throws Sysum to the floor and hits an implant DDT on Grado for the pin and the title at 5:22.

Rating: D+. It wouldn’t make sense if we didn’t have another fast match which had some flashes of interesting stuff sprinkled in. The wrestling was ok with Sysum looking good, but the best thing here was getting title off of a comedy guy and onto someone who can be a fine heel champion. Just more rushed stuff here and I didn’t have any kind of connection to anyone involved.

Next week: a ladder match and the first Women’s Champion. That’s kind of a lot for the second week of a series.

Overall Rating: D. I feel like I’ve just watched a three hour show but it was crammed into 45 minutes. There was WAY too much going on here and no time was spent introducing anyone (I only know Grado because of TNA). This was a REALLY bad idea for a first episode, though there are some good things here and there.

You had the good second match, some names who were able to look good while given the chance, and the title change to end the show. The problem is I had to stop and think about those things because none of them were allowed to have the time to develop or sink in. That’s where we get to the biggest problem.

Again though, the problem was presenting this as the debut. They moved in and out so fast and really expected the fans to know who these people were or not care enough about them. I learned something about Grado, Sabian and Rees. Other than that, everyone came and went so fast that I can barely remember their names, including the person who won the title in the main event. Sysum and Ospreay were impressive, but other than that no one’s in-ring work really stuck out.

It’s not a complete disaster, but it feels like no one working on this really knew what they were doing. I really hope this gets better because there is some good stuff here (the set, some of the talent) but the problems (STOP CUTTING THE CAMERA EVERY TWO SECONDS) heavily outweigh the positives.

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2003 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/07/23/new-book-kbs-complete-2003-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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