World of Sport – September 15, 2018: Wrestling And Romance
IMG Credit: World of Sport
World of Sport
Date: September 15, 2018
Location: Epic Studios, Norwich, England
Commentators: Stu Bennett, So Cal Val, Alex Shane
I’m not sure what to say about this show anymore as we have three episodes left and a grand total of nothing to be excited about. There’s very little life in this place and that hasn’t changed since the first show. It’s settled down to the point where you can tell who everyone is, but I still have no reason to care about these people. Let’s get to it.
Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.
Opening recap/preview.
Ayesha vs. Viper
#1 contenders match. They start with the required power lockup with Viper getting the better of things. Stereo shoulders don’t get anyone anywhere so Viper sends her face first into the buckle over and over. A cobra clutch has Ayesha in trouble and a backsplash gets two. The clutch goes back on (just to mix things up a bit) but Ayesha breaks free and runs her over. A fisherman’s suplex gets two on Viper but seems to tick her off, earning Ayesha a trip into the corner for the Cannonball (becoming way too common these days). The sitout powerslam is good for the pin on Ayesha at 6:49.
Rating: D. I’m not much of a fan of these power vs. power matches and when I still know NOTHING about either of them, it’s a little hard to really care. We’ve seen Kay Lee Ray beat Viper twice now and I have no idea why I should care about seeing it happen a third time. But hey, that’s never stopped them before and it’s not going to in the final few shows.
Post break, Viper promises to win the title.
Will Ospreay/Bea Priestly vs. Stevie Boy/Kay Lee Ray
The entire deal here: they’re couples in real life. Ignore continuity, heel/face alignments and the fact that, again, neither of the couples have actually interacted on TV up to this point. REAL LIFE you see. The men start with Ospreay running the ropes for a hurricanrana but Stevie pops back up for a standoff. The women come in with Ray getting two off a middle rope dropkick and grabbing the choke.
Priestly hits a running knee to the head….in theory at least as they cut away to the crowd before the impact. Wait. So we can have LADDER MATCHES but a knee to the head from one woman to another isn’t allowed? Then why would you book the women on the show in the first place? Anyway Ray is back with another dropkick (allowed to be seen) and it’s back to the men. Ospreay scores with an enziguri but a Falcon Arrow gives Stevie two. A slugout goes to Stevie and everything breaks down.
Rating: C. Well that was a thing that happened. The wrestling was fine but I need a lot more than “they’re dating” to make me want to watch a match. Ospreay is Ospreay but I couldn’t tell you a single thing about any of the other three, aside from Ray being Women’s Champion which means nothing here. This felt like the definition of filler and that’s always annoying.
Iestyn Rees vs. British Bulldog Jr.
Thankfully there’s no Grado with Smith so hopefully that team is already gone. They shove each other to start with Bulldog taking him down without much effort. The test of strength goes to Rees thanks to a kick to the ribs but he can’t get Bulldog all the way down. Back up and they hit some hard running shots to the chest until it’s a double knockdown. The non-delayed suplex gives Bulldog two but Rees sends him shoulder first into the post.
Rees starts working on the arm back inside and we hit an armbar as the fans are entirely behind Bulldog (well duh). A stomp to the arm warrants another cut so Bulldog rolls him over into a cross armbreaker. The armbar goes right back on and a neck snap across the top rope cuts off Bulldog’s comeback.
Rees gets caught on top though and a superplex gives Bulldog two. Some rolling German suplexes give Bulldog the same and a powerbomb with a jackknife cover gets the third straight near fall. Rees spears him for two of his own and can’t believe the kickout. Bulldog hits a quick powerslam for the pin at 11:04, by far the longest match of the series so far.
Rating: C+. Bulldog is better than most people on the roster in the first place so the match being better isn’t the biggest surprise. Iestyn is a decent talent but he needs a slightly better (and easier to pronounce) name to make things work a little better. You can almost pencil in Bulldog and someone else (please not Grado) winning the Tag Team Titles to end the series.
Crater vs. Robbie X
You win by taking off the opponent’s mask. Robbie kicks away to start but a handspring elbow is countered into a release Rock Bottom. A bearhug goes on so Robbie goes for the mask to escape. Crater manages a dropkick (not bad all things considered) and Robbie sells it like death, as he should. Robbie is fine enough to kick him to the floor for a moonsault but Crater runs him over again. A big splash misses though and Robbie hits a springboard cutter, allowing him to pull the mask off for the win at 5:11.
Rating: D. Robbie was fine but what is the point in building up Crater to have him lose in a handicap match and then a mask vs. mask match which is more humiliating than anything else? It still feels like whoever is booking these shows learned wrestling by reading a book instead of hands on experience and that’s not the best idea in the world. Nothing to see here, especially since Crater covered his face.
Post match Crater takes the mask back and puts it on again before leaving in shame.
Bennett has some….breaking news for us. Next week there will be a unique match involving the entire male roster with the winner getting a title shot the following week. Three things here.
1. Justin Sysum still won the #1 contenders match a few weeks back and still hasn’t received his title shot.
2. Bennett said that it’s a match involving the entire male roster for a show at Rampage. Shouldn’t that have been the entire male roster save for Rampage? I know that’s a little picky but with as much of a mess as this place has been, they don’t have much in the way of the benefit of the doubt.
3. The preview for next week shows that it’s pretty much a Royal Rumble. That’s not unique.
Overall Rating: C-. I know I’m not the target audience for this show but I’m really not sure what that audience is supposed to be. Are kids or adults supposed to care about who Ospreay is dating or about Viper getting a Women’s Title match? This show really feels like a rough draft where they threw whatever they thought of first into a series and hoped for the best. It’s certainly not terrible and I’ve seen FAR worse, but it’s a show that needs some more people working on it and a lot of kinks ironed out.
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