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.
#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.
Stereo Cheeky Nandos kicks have Stevie and Ray in trouble but Stevie hits a top rope hurricanrana. I mean, Ospreay flips forward and lands on his feet but Stevie did his part fine. The guys are sent to the floor for stereo suicide dives from the women, who then go back inside for the big staredown. That…goes nowhere as they head outside, go halfway around the ring and then fighting on the floor instead. Back in and Ray gives Ospreay a reverse hurricanrana so Stevie can get two off a Canadian Destroyer. Ospreay is fine enough for the running C4 and Stormbreaker for the pin at 8:04.
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.
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:
Mercury Rising 2018 Date: April 6, 2018 Location: Pontchartrain Convention & Civic Center, Kenner, Louisiana Attendance: 1,000 Commentators: Lenny Leonard, Ron Niemi
This is the WWN (World Wrestling Network) Supershow, which is a bunch of smaller promotions (Evolve, Shine, Full Impact Pro and more). The thing is, I’ve never actually seen anything from the majority of them. I’ve always wanted to check them out but the schedule never worked or I was just too busy to get there. This year though I’ve done a little bit of everything from almost every big promotion over Wrestlemania weekend so I might as well try it now. Let’s get to it.
I’m coming into this virtually blind as I only somewhat follow this promotion, meaning I’m likely not going to know a lot of people and stories.
Ad for Club WWN, their version of the Network.
Host Trevin Adams is in the ring to welcome us to the show and run down the card. There’s a pretty good sized crowd if nothing else.
DJZ/AR Fox/Trey Miguel vs. Austin Theory/Travis Banks/Zachary Wentz
Lucha rules so I hope I can tell who everyone is. If I’m right, Theory is the current FIP (Full Impact Pro, a promotion under the WWN banner) and WWN (as in the whole thing, kind of like the NWA World Champion, which he won earlier in the night) Champion while Banks is the Progress World Champion. Commentary just jumps in and starts talking about the history of six man tags on this show without even saying hello or saying who is who.
Theory tells DJZ to play his horn to start and forearms him in his distracted face. Fox and Wentz come in with Wentz snapping off a hurricanrana, meaning it’s Miguel replacing Fox as the fast start continue. With the announcer saying they haven’t seen either guy before, it’s off to Banks for a running knee but DJZ comes back in for an Indian deathlock, including the horn from the floor. DJZ sends Theory to the floor for a big springboard dive but Wentz dives onto everyone else.
Miguel hits another dive of his own so Fox follows him with a springboard imploding 450. Now maybe it’s just the audio, but you would expect a much stronger reaction (or at least a louder one) than any of those dives received. Fox brings Theory back in and it’s a human centipede of dragon sleepers. Miguel comes in and kicks everyone down and it’s a bit of a breather.
Banks is up first with kicks to Miguel and Fox, followed by a Cannonball to both. Miguel 619s Banks in the ribs but misses a top rope double stomp, only to hit a….springboard crotch to the face? It was either supposed to be a seated senton, a hurricanrana or reversed into a powerbomb but it didn’t really resemble any.
Theory is back with a powerbomb to Fox but DJZ gives him one of his own. Banks gets in a spinning fisherman’s driver as the pace has gone through the roof. Wentz drops Miguel on his head and a Roll of the Dice sets up a Swanton to give Fox two. DJZ hits a 450 on Wentz as Fox and Miguel nail suicide dives for the pin at 8:24.
Rating: B-. Some insanely fast paced offense but they’re not doing a great job of laying things out for a new fan. I was trying to keep track of who was who and why they were fighting each other but that’s the case with most shows at this level. Still though, very fun opener and the kind of match you want on a show like this. I’d assume this sets up some sort of a title shot down the line, or else why have a double champion’s team lose?
Indeed, Fox motions that he wants the title.
Jason Kincaid comes out for a match but Jarek 1:20 jumps him from behind and beats him down. That’s not it as Jarek handcuffs him to the barricade, meaning it’s time to mention the Louisiana State Athletic Commission. Jarek kicks him in the face and chokes a lot as Kincaid screams a lot. Apparently this is part of a heel turn as Jarek wants to be a bigger deal around here. Makes enough sense and the announcers explained it to us so well done, though telling us a bit more about Jarek and/or Kincaid would have helped.
Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Munenori Sawa
Sawa is a striker/shoot submission guy who is back after a fairly lengthy retirement. Sabre on the other hand is a submission master who does things that I can’t even describe most of the time. He also lost the Evolve Championship the night before so he’s on a bit of a downswing. Sawa slaps him in the face to start and we’re ready to go in the technical style match of the night.
The announcers explain Sawa’s Japanese pedigree (good) as Sabre takes him down into a double armbar which is quickly escaped. They grapple on the mat and Sawa has to bail to the ropes again. Both guys head outside for a slap off, which isn’t exactly Sabre’s strong point. Sawa knocks him into and out of a chair before they fight over abdominal stretches back inside. Very technical so far and it’s mostly even in the early going. Sawa starts in on the leg but Sabre slaps his way out of an early leglock.
A power drive elbow (ala Great Muta) has Sabre in more trouble and it’s time for the rapid fire strikes in the corner. They head to the apron with Sawa grabbing an ankle lock but getting reversed into a nasty armbar. That’s broken due to the ropes so Sawa is right back on the leg. Sabre isn’t about to be out technicaled so he pulls Sawa into an STF and then a headscissors with an armbar.
Another rope break saves Sawa so it’s off to an Octopus Hold with Sabre having to fall into the ropes for the break. Sabre counters a punch into a cross armbreaker (with a middle finger to the fans, as is his custom) but Sawa reverses into a choke of his own. That earns Sawa a Pele and a leglock/Brock Lock on the mat (Orienting With Napalm Death. Seriously, though not the same move with the same name from Strong Style Evolved) for the tap at 13:22.
Rating: B. Sabre fascinates me more every time I watch him as some of those holds defy the laws of physics. I can see why he’s such a star on shows like this as he’s just a treat to watch. Sawa isn’t someone I’m overly familiar with but he was fine here, albeit not someone who really stood out.
Post match Sawa gets the big ovation. It wasn’t that great of a match.
The End vs. James Drake/Anthony Henry vs. Tracy Williams/Dominic Garrini
Street fight and the End is Odinson/Parrow. I have no idea who any of these people are so I’m going to be in some trouble here. Williams and Garrini, part of the Catch Point stable (albeit with Garrini as hired muscle and not a full member), seem to be faces and have former ROH manager Stokely Hathaway with them. Stokely says he accepted this match to show how great Catch Point is a national treasure and takes a seat at ringside. Actually hang on as Drake and Henry come out, sending Stokely running to the back.
The End, with their unnamed manager, comes in and starts the brawl with Catch Point (seemingly the feud the match is built around) but Garrini hits a big flip dive off the top to take everyone down. The announcers recap the backstory (Drake/Henry challenged the End and Catch Point jumped in to get their hands on the End) as the End’s theme song goes on for a long time. Garrini gets beaten down inside and Williams sets up a table on the floor. Williams and Garrini get back up and double team Henry in the corner but the End come in and take over.
A ladder is brought in to cut Odinson off and another shot drops Parrow but the manager (Drenin) gets inside. That earns him a kick to the head and some running chops in the corner to get us back to the regular six. Williams and Henry slug away on the End but Williams makes the save with a chair. The huge Parrow takes the chair away from Williams but gets powerbombed onto (not through) the table at ringside. There’s another table in the ring and a double suplex puts Odinson through for another near fall.
Garrini’s armbar on Williams is quickly broken up and Henry and Anthony put his bare feet in the ladder for a series of chair shots. Williams saves Garrini from a double superplex but the End comes back in for stereo Towers of Doom. They’re not done though as it’s a Super Collider for two each on Henry and Drake. Another table is loaded up in the corner and a Pounce puts Garrini through it in short order.
The End takes Williams down with Henry making the save before taking Drenin out again. The good sized Drake hits a nice moonsault but Drake wants more violence instead of the pin. That means a bunch of chair shots and yet another table being brought in because we haven’t had one of those in a while. Henry hits a Coup de Grace onto Odinson through the table (well kind of as the legs broke but the middle held) for the pin at 13:24.
Rating: D+. Well that happened. This was far from good with only some energy throughout the whole thing. I still have very little idea of who these people are or why they’re fighting in the first place. Again, I know the regular fans know who they are but could we get a little more for the new fans? On top of that, the action wasn’t very good with no real story and very few near falls. It just felt like people hitting each other with weapons for the sake of hitting each other with weapons, which has been done far better before.
We take a quick break for the sake of clearing the ring. This includes the ring crew sweeping, earning a SWEEP FOREVER chant. So they’d rather watch sweeping than the wrestling they paid for? Indy fans are weird.
Shine Championship: LuFisto vs. Holidead
Shine is an offshoot of Shimmer and LuFisto is defending. Holidead is something like a zombie and has appeared in ROH and Impact. LuFisto heads into the corner to start but misses a charge and gets rolled up for two. A missed big boot allows LuFisto to tie her into the Tree of Woe for a Cannonball (looks better with the upside down part). It’s time to work on the knee with Holidead’s leg being wrapped around the post, followed by a rather long chinlock.
Holidead fights up and slugs away with a neckbreaker getting two. To mix things up a bit, she licks LuFisto’s face and gets two more off a side slam. A spinebuster plants LuFisto again but she takes her into the corner for a quick Facewash. Holidead is right back with a Samoan drop but LuFisto is back on the knee with a spinning toehold and an inverted Figure Four. That means a rope break and Holidead is right back with something like White Noise for two more. A guillotine legdrop misses (would have missed no matter what happened) and LuFisto grabs a Burning Hammer to retain at 8:13.
Rating: D. This was two women doing moves to each other for eight minutes until one person hit a big move for the win. It’s not a good match with neither of them really standing out and both of them just kind of being there instead of doing something special. I don’t know if this is a big draw for the show, but this did nothing for me whatsoever.
Post match LuFisto says she’s tired of Barbie dolls and is going to hold this title until she retires. She wants to fight someone special at Shine 50 so cue Kimber Lee (formerly Kimberly Frankele/Abbey Laith in NXT) and the match seems to be made.
Keith Lee vs. Daisuke Sekimoto
I’ve heard of Sekimoto (a big guy named the Muscle Monster) before but, again, have never actually seen him. Lee is a big deal around here (losing the WWN Championship earlier in the day) so this is probably one of the biggest matches on the show. They trade big shoulders to start with Sekimoto going back a few steps.
Lee, who makes Big E. look small, snaps off a passable hurricanrana because he can. An exchange of forearms has Sekimoto down and we hit a neck crank. Back up and a hard right hand rocks Sekimoto so it’s time for the big, heavy slugout. Sekimoto muscles him up for a slam and we hit an abdominal stretch as the video and audio are out of sync.
A big suplex sets up a missile dropkick to rock Lee for two but he’s back up with a crossbody for two. Lee grabs a sitout Sky High for the same and hits middle rope moonsault….hits? It grazed Sekimoto but apparently he moved in time. A bridging German suplex puts Lee away at 13:38.
Rating: B. Now that was fun in the hoss battle sense with both guys beating the heck out of each other. Sekimoto has a great look and is far more muscular than most guys you would see on a show like this, making him all the more entertaining to watch. I could have gone for more of this and that’s a good thing. Well done and I’m not surprised that Lee signed with WWE.
Post match hardcore “wrestler” Nick Gage comes in to clean house. He’ll be in the parking lot if anyone wants a fight. Gage leaves and Lee gets up as the fans….kind of cheer? Lee is ready to face Gage at an upcoming show.
Evolve Tag Team Titles: Chris Dickinson/Jaka vs. Ringkampf
Dickinson and Jaka (part of Catch Point with Hathaway at ringside) are defending and Ringkampf is Walter (not doing the all caps thing) and Timothy Thatcher (the longest reigning Evolve Champion ever. Walter is another guy I’ve never actually seen wrestle before and is a monster by comparison at 6’4 and probably 300lbs. Thatcher and Jaka start things off and it’s already time to go after Jaka’s arm.
That’s broken up so Thatcher goes after the leg and draws Dickinson in, allowing the tag to Walter. The challengers take turns on Jaka’s arm with Walter kicking Dickinson off the apron. Hathaway is arguing with the fans as Jaka gets chopped into the wrong corner. A missed charge allows the hot tag off to Dickinson so the pace can pick up a bit. Dickinson hits a running corner clothesline for two and the champs start taking turns on Thatcher in the corner.
A rather twisty leglock keeps Thatcher in trouble so Walter comes in for the save like a good partner should be doing. Thatcher gets away with a belly to belly and the tag brings the monster back in. That means big old chops and a big boot to Dickinson. Walter and Dickinson slug it out with Dickinson even gyrating the hips a bit. Thatcher and Jaka come back in with Jaka missing a very fast spinning kick to the head. A double knockdown leaves us with Walter kicking Dickinson in the face but taking a Falcon Arrow for two.
Dickinson gets in a tornado DDT to keep Walter down but he’s right back up with a butterfly suplex. Walter sleepers Dickinson until Jaka dives in with a top rope splash for the save in a good looking crash. The hot tag brings in Thatcher but it’s the Death Trap (Doomsday Device with a chokeslam instead of a clothesline, which didn’t look nearly as cool as it sounded) to retain the titles at 15:27.
Rating: B. This felt like a team getting the win because they were a better team, which you don’t see happen very often. It’s nice to see some good tag action like this and you can almost pencil in Walter for NXT in the next few years. Good match and something that was easy to follow on its own, even in another case where I didn’t know most of the people.
Post match Catch Point is here with Williams saying the team is doing great but there’s a problem. Hathaway has caused issues as the businessman so he’s out. That’s not how things work though, as it turns out Hathaway’s contract puts him in control of the entire team, so Williams is the one who has been fired. This brings out Garrini to lay Williams out and the team takes his Catch Point shirt.
Evolve Title: Matt Riddle vs. Will Ospreay
Riddle is defending (having won the title yesterday and again, I’ve never seen a match of his) and this is under Riddle Rules, meaning no rope breaks. Ospreay is VERY banged up coming in, with a bad neck and shoulder thanks to injuries suffered in Japan. So Riddle is known as the King of Bros and really, it’s kind of the perfect name for him. You would get the same vibe if you looked at him so well done.
Riddle takes his time going around shaking hands with fans and is wrestling barefoot, as is his custom. They do the Big Match Intros and Riddle misses a jumping knee to the face so it’s a Helluva Kick and release German suplex from Ospreay but Riddle pops to his feet. A dropkick puts Riddle on the floor for a suicide dive as Ospreay is throwing everything he has at him early on due to the injuries taking his stamina.
They head to the apron and you can see the crazy look in Ospreay’s eyes. Riddle German suplexes him on the apron though and Ospreay is already near death. Back in and an exploder has Ospreay down again and some rolling gutwrench suplexes get two. Riddle slowly kicks at him as the fans are begging him to hit Ospreay in the bad shoulder. That just ticks Ospreay off and he sends Riddle into the corner for the hesitation dropkick.
Riddle powerbombs the heck out of him though and flips Ospreay over for a hard knee to the face. A kick to the shoulder cuts Ospreay off and it’s a sleeper suplex (cool) for two. The Bro-Mission (an abdominal stretch on the mat with a leg trap) goes on and Ospreay’s already in trouble.
Somehow he gets up and climbs to the top for a sleeper superplex, which is enough to need the medics. Well more referees in this case and Riddle is told to stand in the corner. Ospreay tells the referees to let it go so it’s a running knee to the back of the head and a Tombstone (how illegal) for a very close two, meaning Riddle is ticked. He takes the tape off of Ospreay’s neck and drops a backsplash to the upper back.
A running knee to the face gets one and Riddle isn’t having something like this. He loads up a cradle piledriver but Ospreay reverses into a triangle choke of all things and a hard lariat puts Riddle down. Riddle’s next knee strike is countered into a sitout powerbomb (with Ospreay nearly dropping him) for two. The Oscutter (springboard cutter) is pulled into the Bro-Mission though and Ospreay taps at 13:53.
Rating: B+. I completely get it with Riddle as he has a great look and made the MMA stuff look as natural as you could have hoped. The idea of a killer like that beating on an already injured Ospreay made for a very emotional match and if Ospreay had just a few more close calls, this would have been a classic. As it is though, it’s a very good story and a heck of a match worthy of being a big show’s main event.
Post match Riddle says that was an awesome performance from Ospreay and praises the fans. A little posing and a catchphrase end the show.
Overall Rating: A-. I know I say this a lot but this is a great example of a show where the good is really good and the bad is either short or not terrible. The action itself was strong and there were people I’d want to see again. As mentioned though, the biggest problem was trying to figure out who these people were or what they were doing. Maybe a supershow was a bad place to come in for something like that, but they need to do a better job of welcoming in new viewers. What we got was good though and the string of rather good matches is more than enough to make this worth a look. Surprisingly awesome show.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the NXT The Full Sail Years Volume III (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:
One more indy show, just in case I haven’t had enough of them quite yet. Last year in Orlando I took a shot at the Revolution Pro Wrestling show despite not having known much about the promotion. The lineup looked good though and the show wound up being a lot of fun. It was enough to get me to go again this year and again, it wound up being a good afternoon of wrestling.
Ring announcer and owner Andy Quildan started things off and, just like last year, challenged us to be louder than the London crowd. It’s a simple idea and yet it’s also a great way to start off a show.
1. David Star b. Martin Stone – Rollup with feet on the ropes, 11:40, C.
Stone is also known as Danny Burch in NXT, a line which got him a lot of flack from Starr. It’s taken some time but I’ve started to come around on Starr, who has about fifteen nicknames, which he insists be read every time he comes to the ring. Starr also claimed a conspiracy against him, which he would overcome just because he’s that good at professional wrestling. The match was fine for an opener with a loud exchange of chops, one of which had Stone, the face, asking for a second to recover. Nothing great but it did all it needed to do.
2. Adam Brooks b. Brian Cage – Low blow into a rollup, 11:06, B-.
This was more of a standard formula with the monster Cage (a face here) dealing with Brooks’ rampant cheating. Brooks looked very good here, showing that he knew how to deal with someone like Cage. As usual, Cage is one of the scariest athletes you’ll ever see, flying around like someone a third of his size and still showing off the crazy power game. It’s a fun match with both guys looking good, though I’m assuming Brooks is more of a full timer so it makes sense to give him the win.
3. Rocky Romero/Will Ospreay/Chuckie T. b. Shane Strickland/Flip Gordon/Kota Ibushi – Oscutter to Gordon, 22:17, B+.
This was all about Ibushi vs. Ospreay and there was no hiding the fact, or really an attempt to hide it. They took their time setting up the match and both teams got to showcase their talents. As mentioned though, this was ALL setting up the showdown between Ospreay and Isbushi, which completely delivered. They beat the heck out of each other to leave all six laying in an exchange that has to be seen to be properly appreciated. I’m looking forward to seeing this match again and if Ibushi doesn’t get another chance to challenge Osprey for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title in the near future, I’ll be stunned.
During intermission, I was able to snag this.
4. Minoru Suzuki b. Jeff Cobb – Sleeper, 9:43, C+.
I would have liked this match a lot more if I hadn’t seen Cobb vs. Tomohiro Ishii in an even better match. Much like the Ishii match, this was all about beating the heck out of each other with Cobb managing to suplex Suzuki, only to push his luck by hitting Suzuki in the face a few too many times. Suzuki got all fired up and destroyed Cobb, giving him a heck of a beating. Cobb got in one more suplex but ultimately fell to the sleeper, oddly tapping out instead of passing out.
5. Hiroshi Tanahashi/Juice Robinson b. Aussie Open – High Fly Flow, 16:10, B.
Aussie Open is Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis, a team I’ve never heard of but showed off a lot and looked rather awesome. Robinson was a big star in his own right but this was ALL about Tanahashi, as you might have expected. The fans were begging to see him come in and do all of his signature stuff, which is exactly what he did. As cool as that was, Aussie Open needs some attention as well as they got to showcase some very real talent. I could see them getting a spot in a bigger promotion down the line, especially since Fletcher is only 18. Think about that: you’re 18 years old and you’re in the ring with Tanahashi. That’s not bad.
6. British Heavyweight Title: Tomohiro Ishii b. Zack Sabre Jr.(c) – Brainbuster, 20:07, A.
There’s no other way to put this: these two had an outstanding match and they sucked me completely into everything they were doing. This is all about Ishii’s never say die attitude vs. Sabre’s absolutely incredible technical skills and ability to destroy one arm after another. Sabre got to work on the arm and put on a long series of too complicated to describe holds. Ishii made the ropes over and over again with one great save after another. He finally fought up and got in a suplex, followed by the brainbuster for the pin and the title to end the show.
This was an EXCELLENT main event as the fans were buying into every single thing the two were doing. It told a great story and made you want to see them keep going until Ishii managed to hang on and end Sabre’s year long title reign. It was incredible stuff and another match I can’t wait to see again.
Overall, Rev Pro did exactly what they did last year: deliver a solid show (six matches felt short though) with great action and some nice guest stars that made you feel like you were getting to see something special. I had a blast at this show and everything went very well. Check out the main event if you can find it and go take a look at more Rev Pro, which puts on rather good shows.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the WWE Grab Bag (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:
Ring of Honor TV – January 17, 2018: He’ll Be Your Hero and He’ll Be Your Villain
Ring of Honor Date: January 17, 2018 Location: 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Colt Cabana
We’ve got a stacked show this week, including something resembling a dream match (I use that term kind of loosely) between Jay Lethal and Will Ospreay. In this case dream means more like “it should be very good”, which is certainly not a bad thing to say about a match. Other than that there’s probably more from new World Champion Dalton Castle so let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Jay Lethal vs. Will Ospreay
Ospreay’s IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title isn’t here yet so non-title. They fight over a wristlock to start and it’s Jay being flipped over off a wristlock. Jay pops back up and shows Ospreay how to do a wristlock but the cartwheel into a basement dropkick is cut off. Lethal gets sent outside but is ready for Ospreay’s handspring dive, grabbing his hands to take Will down.
The three straight suicide dives send Ospreay over the barricade and it’s Marty Scurll coming out as we take a break. Back with Marty on commentary, explaining that he won at Final Battle because he brought out the old Lethal. Marty also demands a World Title match and that works very well for me. Ospreay knocks Lethal into the corner and lights up his chest with a chop.
A tilt-a-whirl backbreaker gets Lethal out of trouble and he scores with an uppercut. Ian: “To the European himself.” Marty found that one HILARIOUS and….eh I love easy jokes but not really. Back up and Ospreay kicks Lethal in the chest, followed by an enziguri in the corner. Will sends him outside and the Flying Space Tiger Drop (cartwheel into a moonsault over the top) crushes Jay as we take a second break.
Back again with the Oscutter being caught in a torture rack (Marty: “THE LETHAL EXPRESS!”). Jay rolls it forward like a reverse Regal Roll (Ian: “HE’LL BE YOUR HERO!”) for two and Marty is losing it on these near falls. Ospreay is right back with a reverse Impaler for two of his own, only to walk into the Lethal Combination. Jay’s Figure Four is countered into a small package but Jay counters the Oscutter into a cutter of his own. The Lethal Injection puts Ospreay away at 16:37.
Rating: B. Yep it was a very good match and again, that’s all you need on something like this. They were trading the big bombs here but they also played up the idea that they knew each other very well, which makes for a nice story. The Oscutter into the cutter was a very cool counter and Marty wanting to face Jay again could set him up for the title shot in New Orleans.
It’s time for Coleman’s Pulpit with guest Jonathan Gresham, who is in a much higher chair. Because he’s not that tall you see. Coleman starts in with the short jokes but Gresham talks about being trained by Mr. Hughes in Atlanta. We hear about Gresham’s not great win/loss record and Coleman laughs a bit. Gresham talks about mastering his style and the rules he would like for people like him. Sounds like a return of the Pure Rules format. And that’s it, ending another, ahem, thrilling, Coleman’s Pulpit. This is one of the lamest interview segments in wrestling history and it’s not getting any better. Just drop it already.
Kenny King vs. Brian Milonas
Milonas is the big fat guy who was pretty terrible in the Top Prospect Tournament. Brian throws him into the air but King lands on his feet out of a hiptoss. A kick to the head doesn’t do much to Brian but Kenny low bridges him to the floor with some more success. The corkscrew dive barely connects but let’s stop for a picture with a fan. Back in and King chops away to little avail as the big splash in the corner cuts him off. A twisting sunset flip out of the corner doesn’t work but King avoids the sitdown splash. King kicks him in the head and finally drops the big man. The springboard Blockbuster ends Milonas at 3:54.
Rating: C-. There’s only so much you can do in something like this and Milonas isn’t exactly much besides a tree to be knocked down. King needs to be built back up, especially for what seems to be a rematch for the title in King’s hometown of Las Vegas for the Anniversary Show. Not a terrible match and about as good as it could have been.
Post match King wants to fight Silas Young and gets his wish, only to get jumped from behind by Milonas. Beer City Bruiser gets back in for the beatdown, meaning Milonas is Bruiser’s partner as they go after the Tag Team Titles. I’ve….well I’m sure of a worse sounding team somewhere, though Bruiser has been growing on me.
So Cal Uncensored is in the ring for a chat. Before they can get very far though, ROH COO Joe Koff comes out to say the fans don’t want to see him. They want to see the best wrestlers, but that’s not what So Cal Uncensored is. They’re the most disruptive though and Koff should just fire them right now. Daniels threatens to go to TNA or WWE and tell his new bosses all of Koff’s plans for expansion. Koff isn’t worried because Daniels’ contract expires in a year. Therefore, at Final Battle 2018, the Addiction is done. ENOUGH WITH THE CORPORATE STUFF! It’s annoying in WWE and it’s even worse elsewhere. Cut it out already.
The Briscoes want their titles back.
The Kingdom vs. Dalton Castle/The Boys
O’Ryan and Castle start things off with the champ taking TK down without much effort. Back up and a ducked clothesline allows Dalton to hit the peacock pose, only to get jumped by the now legal Marseglia. Boy #2 (according to Ian, after a debate) tags himself in and it’s #1 springboarding in with a crossbody for two. Taven comes back in and demands to face Castle as we hear about him wanting the title. Egads please don’t do that as I can’t handle the promos.
Castle wrestles him down again but can’t get a German suplex. Taven scores with a running enziguri though, only to be sent outside. Castle loads up a dive but stops for that long striding strut of his. #2 dives in with a stomp onto Marseglia’s arm as we take a break. Back with #1 being sent into the barricade twice in a row to really put him down.
A good looking double flapjack sets up a backsplash/legdrop combo for two as the beating continues. Taven tells O’Ryan to let the Boy go and a missed charge allows #1 to get over to Castle for the hot tag. Dalton gets to clean house until he tries a Tombstone on Taven, leading to seven or eight reversals, capped off by Castle planting Matt. The Bang A Rang drops Taven again and the Julie Newmar (close to a crossface chickenwing) makes Marseglia tap at 11:53.
Rating: C. The match was fine, though my complete lack of interest in all things Kingdom isn’t changing anytime soon. It doesn’t help that O’Ryan and Taven look alike, but it’s just Taven and two goons, which doesn’t help the fact that Taven isn’t very interesting on his own. Castle continues to look like a star though and I’d actually be really interested to see him vs. Scurll down the line. The star power is there and I’m glad they took a chance on him at Final Battle.
Overall Rating: B-. Pretty good show here with only the worthless Coleman’s Pulpit holding things down. It’s too early to start worrying about the next pay per view but for now, things are looking fairly solid around here. Castle is an energetic champion, the Briscoes are looking more awesome by the week and King vs. Young could be a nice feud. I’m liking things around here right now and that’s not something I can say around here very often.
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Ring of Honor TV – June 21, 2017: They STILL Don’t Get It!
Ring of Honor Date: June 21, 2017 Location: 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Colt Cabana
This is the go home show for Best in the World which means….well I have no idea what it means actually. We’ve actually had a good build to the main event with Christopher Daniels defending the World Title against Cody but the rest of the show is a combination of a mystery or really poorly built. Let’s get to it.
Jay Lethal welcomes us to the 300th episode. It feels like just yesterday that he was winning the TV Title on the second episode yet here we are. He’s ready for 300 more episodes.
Opening sequence.
Silas Young/Beer City Bruiser vs. Jay Lethal/Bobby Fish
Fish and Bruiser get things going with the big man easily running him over. Bobby is smart enough to make Bruiser run the ropes over and over, eventually leaving Bruiser bent over sucking wind. Fans: “HE’S BLOWN UP!” Well at least they know the lingo. It’s off to Lethal to do the same thing with Bruiser taking a knee next to the ropes. Young offers him a beer, so Young and Fish make him run the ropes again, causing the beer to be spat through the ropes.
Back from a break with Young taking a beating for a change until Bruiser clotheslines Jay down. Bruiser takes a Samoan drop from Fish as everything breaks down. Young gets double teamed but Bruiser makes a diving save. A wheelbarrow suplex of all things drops Fish and it’s Misery to put Lethal away at 9:12.
Rating: C-. I can appreciate them mixing the formula up a bit (Coming back from the break with the faces in control?) and Lethal vs. Young has potential. The problem continues to be Bruiser, who still feels like a glorified comedy character. Throw in Fish seemingly still finishing up with the company and it’s hard to get into a good chunk of this match.
Daniels is ready to retain his title and carry ROH into the future.
Jay Briscoe is STILL livid about losing that eight man tag (dude get a therapist) so Bully Ray and Mark Briscoe calm him down. They couldn’t have done this weeks ago?
Kingdom vs. The Boys
Kingdom jumps the Boys in the aisle and beat the heck out of them with the beatdown being on in full. They pull back a ringside mat so Matt Taven can load up a piledriver on the concrete but Dalton Castle comes out for the save. The Boys recover and grab a rollup just after the bell, followed by a double dropkick on Vinny. Things settle down with Taven getting in a cheap shot from behind to really take over. A reverse superplex drops Boy #1 and Marseglia’s Swanton gives him the pin at 1:34.
To recap: Kingdom is having a challenge match against two guys from CMLL while the Boys are challenging for Ring of Honor Titles. The match was a complete squash, including the pre-match beatdown to make the Kingdom look great while the Boys look like the jobbiest jobbers this side of Brooklyn Brawler and Barry Horowitz. I don’t know if they think the CMLL team is more important or what but this was really, REALLY stupid.
Post match Jay Briscoe comes out to yell at Dalton but Mark and Bully break it up.
Video on Punishment Martinez.
Punishment Martinez vs. Joey Daddiego
Daddiego is easily shoved away and a clothesline takes him down again. A springboard flip splash crushes Daddiego again and the sitout chokeslam is good for the pin at 1:58.
Post match Daddiego’s buddies Cheeseburger and Will Ferrara come out for the save but get beaten down as well. Jay White comes out to brawl with Martinez and clotheslines him to the floor. Good angle, though it does nothing for the pay per view as neither is on the card.
The Briscoes are fired up about 300 episodes.
Kevin Kelly and Cody have replaces Riccaboni on commentary.
Will Ospreay/Gedo/Hirooki Goto vs. Addiction/Hiroshi Tanahashi
Well….two of them are on the pay per view. Neither of their opponents are but NEW JAPAN right? Ospreay and Kazarian start things off and fight over a wristlock as we take a break less than a minute in. Dang it Ring of Honor that’s not something you do! Back with Daniels cleaning house but Ospreay breaks up his springboard moonsault.
Ospreay and company take over on the floor and it’s Goto chopping at Daniels in the corner. Something like a cutter into the middle buckle drops Goto though and the hot tag brings in Tanahashi. Ospreay and Gedo take stereo elbow drops but Goto is right there with a clothesline to break it up. Ospreay comes in with a Phenomenal Forearm and a standing shooting star gets two.
Tanahashi Sling Blades him though and we take a break. Back again with Ospreay diving onto Kazarian and Tanahashi, leaving Gedo to take a Blue Thunder Bomb. Everyone gets back inside again and the Oscutter hits Goto by mistake. A Rock Bottom to Gedo sets up the High Fly Flow and the Best Moonsault Ever for the pin at 11:12.
Rating: B-. Well that happened. It does nothing for the pay per view, it wasn’t exactly a memorable match and the biggest star in the match won’t be doing anything more than special appearances for the company. The wrestling was good enough but, as usual, this felt like it was there for the live crowd instead of the TV audience, which is quite further up the food chain.
Post match Hangman Page comes in to jump Kazarian while Cody comes in to hit Daniels with Angel’s Wings. Cody holds up the World Title.
We get some quick promos for the pay per view.
Marty Scurll is ready to take back the TV Title.
Jay Lethal needs to beat Silas Young.
Dalton Castle is outraged by the lack of Six Man Tag Team Titles.
Hangman Page promises to hurt Kazarian.
The Kingdom calls the CMLL guys Melvins.
The Young Bucks promise to superkick War Machine.
Christopher Daniels is ready to find out who is the Best in the World.
Overall Rating: D. So let’s see: four matches, one of which actually built to the pay per view, two title challenges getting destroyed in the second, one that has nothing to do with the pay per view, and a showcase of New Japan wrestlers. Throw in a good chunk of the build taking place in the last two minutes thanks to some twenty second promos and you would almost never know that this was supposed to get you to want to pay $34.99 for a pay per view where I can barely tell you three matches. As usual, Ring of Honor doesn’t seem to have any idea how this stuff works, which really is hard to believe after so many years.
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Rev Pro – Orlando: England Comes to America….with a Bunch of Americans
Rev Pro: Orlando Date: March 31, 2017
Location: Wyndham Orlando Resort, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Andy Quidlan, Gilligan Gordon
Somehow I hadn’t gotten around to this one. This is another Wrestlemania weekend show that I got to take in live and the only regular wrestling show I went to all weekend that wasn’t run by WWE. I’ve never seen a Rev Pro show before this so I’m coming in entirely blind. All I know is a little about their roster and that they’re usually in the UK. Let’s get to it.
Ring announcer Andy Quidlan (also a commentator) welcomes us to the show and thanks us for coming out. He also dedicates the show to Kris Travis, a British wrestler who died one year ago to the day. This was a major theme tonight and there’s nothing wrong with that.
Sami Callihan vs. Jay White
White is billed as the Death Machine and odds are you’ve seen him if you’ve watched any indy show in the last year or two. You might have seen White in Ring of Honor where he had some outstanding matches with Jay Briscoe. Callihan starts the clapping, which normally would imply that he’s a face, even though he’s against a guy named White who wears white.
Sami kicks him in the face at the bell and sends Jay outside for a suicide dive. White hits one of his own and they take turns sending each other into the barricade for running shots to the face. Callihan does the clapping again but in a more mocking tone. So now he’s the heel? Or is this one of those indy companies where there are no faces or heels? Sami sends him into the barricade and does a full run around the ring before crashing into Jay. He tries it again but this time White follows him around and scores with some chops.
Jay FINALLY gets back in, over three full minutes after he went to the floor. Now the referee starts counting, which had the fans around me wondering why he was even bothering at this point. Back in and Jay grabs a Muta Lock, only to have Sami bite the finger for the break. They chop it out again until Callihan puts him in the corner for some running kicks to the face. A Death Valley Driver into the corner puts both guys down, even though Sami hasn’t really hasn’t had anything done to him in a good while.
White slugs away and hits a running forearm for his comeback, followed by a suplex into the corner. Since it’s a British promotion, it’s time to fight over some submission attempts. A deadlift German suplex plants Sami but he comes right back with a sitout powerbomb into the Stretch Muffler (Brock Lock). Jay is right next to the ropes so Sami tries it again, only to be reversed into a Boston crab for the submission at 12:04.
Rating: C. This one didn’t do much for me as it was mainly two guys hitting each other over and over. I didn’t get any kind of a story out of this and that’s not the best way to open up a show. It certainly wasn’t bad but the match was pretty forgettable, which isn’t something you want to be, especially not in this spot. The match was fine but just there.
Jeff Cobb vs. Martin Stone
Stone, possibly better known as Danny Burch in NXT, is a big deal in the promotion and a former two time British Heavyweight Champion. Cobb is better known as Matanza in Lucha Underground, making this power vs. technical. Jeff takes him to the mat to start as the announcers praise Cobb for his wrestling abilities. The technical sequence goes to a stalemate and the sequel does exactly the same.
Cobb tries to take him down into a headscissors but Martin pops up and shakes a finger in his face. After a bit of a standoff, Cobb throws him up into a delayed vertical suplex for two, which the announcers refer to as “ginormous”. It’s off to a waistlock on the mat, followed by a standing moonsault and standing shooting star press from the slightly rotund Cobb. Stone comes back with a dropkick and a SUCK IT (which feels incredibly out of place) into a clothesline for two.
To crank up the evil (despite seeming like a face), Stone snaps the finger and chops away in the corner. You can see the sweat flying off of Stone as Cobb chops him back and grabs a swinging belly to back. Stone shouts OUTTA NOWHERE and hits an RKO for two, because WWE is still the most influential force in wrestling companies that want to be independent from it.
A bad looking t-bone suplex and a hard right hand give Stone two and it’s off to a Crossface, which was used in the previous match. Cobb drops him with a headbutt but misses a charge to the apron, allowing Stone to hit a hanging DDT (London Bridge) for the pin at 10:37.
Rating: B-. This is a match where commentary helped a lot as the announcers told the story of Stone needing a big win after time away from the company. Cobb doesn’t seem to have much of a history with the promotion but he was treated as a big opponent for Stone, making the story easy to follow and something that helped a lot. Good match too.
They shake hands after the match because a broken finger is nothing between friends.
The ring announcer gets us ready for the next match when Lord Gideon Grey staggers out to the ring, looking like a zombie. He even bounces off the barricade, seemingly not knowing that it’s there. He’s introduced anyway, even though he’s not supposed to be here at the moment. Grey introduces himself to the crowd and says his whole life has fallen apart since Swoggle has brought Colt Cabana back into his life. People had started taking him seriously and now it’s gone. That means a challenge for Swoggle.
Lord Gideon Grey vs. Swoggle
Swoggle kicks him in the knee and gets a Stunner for two less than fifteen seconds in. That’s followed by a bite to the trunks area with both Swoggle and the referee getting in on things. Grey misses a charge and Swoggle does Suplex City (Announcer: “He’s going to take him to Suplex Village!”), including a Brock Lesnar dance. Grey gets up and hits a sitout powerslam (50 Shades of Grey) for the pin at 2:07.
Grey’s mental health seems to go up by roughly 15 points with the win.
Ricochet vs. Marty Scurll
Ricochet is a King and Scurll is a villain. Marty gets one heck of a reaction and it’s easy to see why he’s becoming such a big deal so fast. The announcers are smart enough to agree that it’s going to be the match of the evening, which isn’t really that big of a surprise. The fans are split as a technical sequence goes to a standoff.
Scurll shoulders him down but Ricochet nips right back up. Scurll: “THAT WAS SWEET! I’m going to try!” A front flip into a nipup freaks the fans out but Ricochet isn’t dumb enough to go for a handshake. That turns into a YES chant with Scurll leading the way. Marty dances and offers a left hand instead, only to have Ricochet ready to block the eyepoke from the right hand.
Scurll bails to the floor so Ricochet handsprings into the ropes and backflips into a kneel. Back in and Ricochet bends him over his back and rams Marty’s head into the buckle over and over, setting up Tye Dillinger’s cartwheel into TEN. A spinebuster sets up the People’s Moonsault (exactly what it sounds like) and Ricochet grabs a front facelock, only to stop to yell at a single fan in the crowd.
Ricochet couldn’t understand what he said (I couldn’t either) so he sends Marty outside but misses a moonsault. Naturally he lands on his feet anyway but Marty pops back to the apron for a superkick. Back in and Scurll loads up the Villain’s Elbow but stomps away instead of dropping an elbow. Now that’s a villainous thing: set up something the fans want and then go the other way. A kick to the face sets up a chinlock, only to have Ricochet flip over into one of his own.
It’s time to crank it back up with Marty being sent outside for a big flip dive, followed by a running cutter into a standing shooting star for two back inside. They both miss some strikes until Scurll kicks him in the knee and grabs a brainbuster for two. Ricochet starts the flips again but gets cut off by another kick to the chest. A cutter from the knees drops Marty again and a running shooting star headbutt has Scurll stunned.
Both guys are winded so they slap it out with Ricochet getting the better of it, including a knee to the face to avoid some broken fingers. Well that’s one way to do it. The top rope shooting star press misses though and Scurll grabs a piledriver for two more. Now the finger is snapped and a piledriver into the chickenwing has Ricochet in trouble. The hold isn’t all the way locked though and Ricochet kicks him in the head, only to moonsault into the full chickenwing for the tap at 16:42.
Rating: A-. This was the match that the show needed with both guys looking awesome in a great back and forth match. There was a great blend of comedy and action here with Ricochet finally trying to get a bit too high and getting caught in the hold to wrap it up. Marty’s star is rising through the roof at this point and this was a big win for him over another top indy name.
Post match Marty says matches like these are why he loves professional wrestling. He thanks Trevor (Ricochet’s real name) and then calls him Prince before saying he’d love a rematch anywhere anytime. Marty dedicates the match and show to Kris Travis before leaving. Ricochet says he doesn’t remember his first Rev Pro show but he remembers Andy (the company’s owner) and Marty opening their arms to him. He thanks everyone for everything he’s gotten to do and mentions the merch tables being set up at intermission.
Speaking of intermission, it ran about half an hour (announced as being fifteen minutes) and there were indeed a host of wrestlers outside. During the break, I got to meet Ricochet, Colt Cabana, Will Ospreay, Marty Scurll, Swoggle, Brian Cage (that man has huge arms), Jay White, Martin Stone (picture any stereotypical incredibly polite British man), Jeff Cobb, Fenix, Pentagon Dark and Shane Strickland. Everyone was very nice, which is always a perk.
Interim British Cruiserweight Title: David Starr vs. Josh Bodom
Bodom is defending and this title exists because the regular champion Will Ospreay was touring Japan. Starr’s schtick is that he has about fifteen nicknames (Your Favorite Wrestler’s Favorite Wrestler, the Cream in Your Coffee, Davey Wrestling, the 104 Minute Man and so on) which the ring announcer has to read off a card. Bodom is a big time heel who makes sure to do his own introduction where he calls himself the REAL Cruiserweight Champion. Since Ospreay won’t defend his title, Bodom isn’t either. Well to be fair he didn’t even bring the belt with him. Starr: “Hey Slim Shady. Where’s the strap?”
David Starr vs. Josh Bodom
The bell rings and I think this is now non-title. Starr trips him down and it’s an early crotch to the face. An Emma Sandwich gives David two but Bodom slams him head first into the mat to take over. They trade some not great chops as the announcers talk about various wrestlers Bodom and Starr have come close to beating. Yeah that’ll make us care about two guys who aren’t that familiar.
Starr unloads with chops and punches in the corner until something like a tilt-a-whirl Big Ending sends Bodom to the floor. Bodom is sent outside for some dives with Andy declaring Starr “very good at professional wrestling”. Josh comes right back by sending him into the barricade and going to the top for a flip dive off the post (that always makes it look better, even when the dive mostly missed) to drop Starr again.
Back in and a superkick sets up the running shooting star (too common of a move anymore) for two. Gilligan: “Who does Starr think he is???” Starr avoids what looked like a Swanton and hits a draping DDT onto the apron (that’s a new one). Not that it matters as Bodom comes right back with a powerbomb into a backbreaker for a near fall of his own. The big chops send sweat flying but a ref bump allows Bodom to get in a low blow.
Bodom grabs what looks like a pipe but a second referee comes in and takes it away. The distraction allows Starr to hit Adam Cole’s Last Shot for a close two. Back up and Starr runs the ropes, only to eat a superkick. Bodom grabs a Bliss Buster (picture Orton’s hanging DDT but he jumps on the back of the head to turn it into a piledriver) for the pin at 12:15.
Rating: B-. This was much better with the commentary explaining how evil Bodom is and Gilligan basically playing Michael Cole to Bodom’s Miz. That’s quite the benefit when I have no idea who either of these people are and it made the match a lot easier to watch on the second viewing. Good match here as it’s nice to have another storyline based match instead of all the specials.
Rey Fenix vs. Will Ospreay
Ospreay’s British Cruiserweight Title isn’t on the line. Fenix takes his sweet time coming through the curtain. These guys are both very high fliers so this should be quite the spectacle. Fenix takes him down by the knee to start as the announcers suggest this might be “era defining”. Oh be quiet.
Both guys flip out of wristlocks and spin around a bit until Ospreay leaves a dropkick a bit short so Fenix can pose at him. Ospreay stops a charge and looks off into the crowd. Fenix looks too and is quickly headlocked in a spot that is far too simple to work as well as it did. They head outside with Fenix kicking at the chest, followed by something like the Rings of Saturn back inside.
The hold doesn’t last long as Fenix gets up and kicks him down, setting up a Swanton for two. Ospreay handsprings into his signature pose, only to have Fenix right there with a cutter to drop him again. Smart move there. Another superkick sets up another running shooting star, followed by Ospreay’s middle rope flip dive (something like a Phoenix splash into a Spiral Tap) for his own near fall.
They trade kicks to the head as the pace picks WAY up in a hurry. A reverse hurricanrana drops Ospreay but he pops up with one of his own to put both guys down. They try the same kicks and clotheslines at the same time with Ospreay knocking him to the floor. That means a Flying Space Tiger Drop (cartwheel into a flip dive and still perhaps the coolest name for a move ever) to Fenix, followed by a Phenomenal Forearm.
This is where commentary comes in again as the announcers had mentioned Ospreay facing AJ Styles a little over a year ago and learning from him. I can always go for commentators adding to a match like that and it helps a lot here. Fenix takes him up top for a super Spanish Fly, only to get shoved down for an Essex Destroyer (Canadian Destroyer with a DDT instead of a piledriver). A very high Phoenix Splash gets two and Ospreay is getting frustrated.
The Oscutter (backwards springboard cutter) is blocked and a middle rope stomp to the face gives Fenix two. Ospreay is staggered so Fenix swings around into a flip piledriver for two more. It worked so well that Fenix tries it again but Ospreay flips out and knees him in the face. His really spinny kick to the back of the head sets up the Oscutter for the pin on Fenix at 12:38.
Rating: B+. This was the indy flippy style done quite well with Ospreay looking like a killer out there. Fenix more than hung with him and it’s always cool to see some Lucha Underground people in person instead of on extreme tape delay. It might not be as good as Scurll vs. Ricochet but that’s hardly a criticism. Really fun match.
Unbreakable F’N Machines vs. Ryan Smile/Shane Strickland
That would be Brian Cage/Michael Elgin. I’m not too familiar with Smile but Strickland is Lucha Underground’s Killshot. Smile and Cage start things off with the massive Cage towering over him. Ryan flips off the ropes over Brian and tells him to suck it before offering a test of strength. Thankfully Smile is smart enough to kick him in the ribs and headscissor him into 619 position, only to have Cage take his head taken off with a clothesline.
Now it’s Cage hitting a 619 of his own and both guys try dropkicks into nipups. I mean Cage’s nipup doesn’t work but he tried. With the fans laughing at the nips, Elgin comes in for a front flip into a nipup, followed by Strickland mocking Cage’s failure. That’s fine with Elgin, who busts out a Worm. Strickland: “NOPE!” And he grabs his jacket and walks out. He’s back a few seconds later as the fans cheer for Big Mike.
It’s off to Elgin, who gets caught in an ankle scissors. Everything breaks down for a second with Strickland and Smile hitting dropkicks to the side of Cage’s head. That earns them a clothesline to the floor but Strickland gets right back up and kicks Elgin in the head. Mike is staggered so Strickland uses his huge chest for a springboard into a….well a mostly missed moonsault but it was a cool launch.
Back in and a pop up Big Ending gets two on Smile, followed by the delayed vertical suplex. That’s not enough though as Elgin hands Smile off to Cage to actually drop him. Smile finally remembers what planet he’s on and brings in Strickland for a series of dropkicks and a suicide dive to Elgin. A high crossbody gets two on Cage as the fans are oddly silent for this sequence.
For some reason, Smile and Strickland put Cage in his own corner for a kick to the face but Elgin comes back in to take them out. Perhaps for reasons of general bad psychology. Mike holds Smile upside down for a basement dropkick, followed by a powerbomb onto Cage’s raised knees but Strickland makes a save. The Machines aren’t done so they hit a double clothesline (one to the front and one to the back) followed by a double Hellevator but Strickland makes ANOTHER save.
Shane has worn out his welcome so it’s a superkick into a German suplex into a wheelbarrow neckbreaker to send him outside. That leaves Smile to take a super Elgin Bomb and an F5 from Cage….for two. The fans IMMEDIATELY call that BS and I can’t say I blame them. There’s no reason for Smile (or anyone not named Hogan in 1987) to kick out of something like that.
Elgin gives Smile a spinning backslap to the face before hitting a Samoan drop/fall away slam at the same time. Somehow Smile has the nerve to get up and powerbomb Elgin off the middle rope with Strickland adding a top rope double stomp. Shane dives on Cage and Smile adds a frog splash to end Elgin at 16:18.
Rating: D+. This match was already going long and that kickout was pretty much inexcusable. Unless Strickland was late making a save (which wouldn’t have made sense after the big moves he took), there’s really no reason for him to kick out there. Then again, they kind of gave away the ending when it was announced that Smile and Strickland were getting a future Tag Team Title shot. If that’s the case then, don’t have Smile take such a big sequence, unless his partner is there for the save. There was good action here with Elgin being a highlight as always but that kickout was just awful.
Undisputed British Heavyweight Title: Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Penta El Zero M
Sabre is defending and also brings his Evolve and PWG World Titles. I’m pretty sure Sabre is a heel, as he has a custom rap entrance theme, talking about how great of a technical wrestler he is. A sample line: “If Dean Malenko has a thousand, he’s at fifth thou.” As expected, the fans sing a song about him but it’s quickly drowned out by CERO MIEDO. They circle each other for the first minute as the announcers talk about Sabre joining a the Suzuki-Gun faction in New Japan.
Sabre starts in on the arm but Pentagon takes him down and stretches the neck a bit. Something like an Indian Deathlock has Pentagon in trouble and Zack throws in some middle fingers as a bonus. Pentagon is right back with a modified Haas of Pain and it’s another standoff.
Back up and Pentagon grabs a surfboard with a chinlock only to let go and shout CERO MIEDO. Armdrags and a superkick send Zack to the floor for a posting. Pentagon hits the post by mistake though and Sabre sees a target on the arm. Sabre sits on the apron and throws up a peace sign as the fans serenade him a bit.
Back in and Zack stomps on the arm and cuts off a comeback with a penalty kick. A double underhook piledriver sets up a modified cross armbreaker. Pentagon makes the rope and pops right back up for a package piledriver onto the apron. Sabre is mostly dead but still manages a Canadian Destroyer into a triangle choke into a very modified Rings of Saturn to knock Pentagon out and retain at 15:43.
Rating: B. Sabre is one of the best technical guys I’ve ever seen and there’s something very cool about a character who is quite the jerk because he knows how much better he is than anyone else. Throw in the way he tortures people’s arms and it’s really hard to not be entertained by him in at least some way.
A quick goodbye takes us out. On the way out, I got to shake hands with Sabre Jr. as well.
Overall Rating: B. I had a good time with this show despite not knowing any of the stories coming in. The version with commentary is much better and it cuts out a lot of the dead time between the matches and intermission, thereby shortening the show by the better part of an hour. The wrestling is good and I’d check out another show from the promotion, which is about as high of a bit of praise as you can get.
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This is something I’ve heard about for a few years now and when I saw the card, there was no question about taking it in. Basically this is a HUGE indy show with talent from all over the world working one show tied together with the incredible WrestleCon convention. I was in the crowd for this show and I’m really curious to see if it holds up on a second viewing. Let’s get to it.
No real intro for the show, likely because the show was already starting late.
Michael Elgin/Mascarita Dorada/ACH vs. David Starr/Trevor Lee/Caleb Konley
This is under Lucha Rules, meaning tags aren’t required. ACH is billed as “Mr. I Paid My Bills With This Booking” in a funny bit. It should also be noted that a lot of these matches weren’t announced in advance so these teams were total surprises. Dorada is better known as El Torito. The announcers talk about this being the fifth of Elgin’s TEN matches over the week (it was his second of the night) compared to John Cena only wrestling one. Oh yeah it’s going to be that kind of a show and that’s a good thing here.
ACH and Starr run the ropes to start and it’s already time for the dropkicks with all three heels (Starr and company) getting knocked outside. Starr offers ACH a free chop but gets hit low for his efforts with Konley getting one of his own. Lee blocks it though and a double superkick puts ACH on the floor. That means Dorada can come in for a triple armdrag and we have some heel miscommunication. Lee: “WHAT IN THE F****** F*** WAS THAT???” You can imagine the laugh that line got.
None of the villains can do a thing with Dorada, who grabs a headscissors on Konley but spins around him ten times before sending him down. Elgin takes a lap around the ring as Dorada collapses, finally allowing Lee to get in a hard shot on Dorada. I believe Dorada takes a thumb to the eye (the camera work is shaky at best and the arena is already dark so it can be a bit difficult to follow some of the action) and all three villains come in for some rhythmic clapping and a triple crotch to the face.
That actually doesn’t have any effect on Dorada so it’s a triple low blow and a hot tag to Elgin. Konley and Lee get suplexed at the same time and a Falcon Arrow gets two. That’s not enough strength so he German suplexes Konley and Lee at the same time for a bonus. ACH, now in a hat, remembers that he’s in the match as everything breaks down. Dorada is launched over the top onto all three but ACH’s followup dive is countered with a superkick. Not that it matters as ACH grabs a brainbuster, setting up Dorada’s moonsault for the pin on Konley at 11:53.
Rating: B. About halfway through this match, I knew this show was going to be a blast. This was the perfect choice for an opener with the heels really just being there to give the fun good guys something to do, which made this feel a lot more fun than serious. That’s likely to be the case with everything tonight and there’s nothing wrong with that.
The winners dance post match with Elgin doing the Worm.
Shane Strickland vs. ???
Strickland is better known as Killshot in Lucha Underground. The lights go out and we’ve got a surprise opponent with……Low Ki. This was a punch to the stomach for me as I’m REALLY not a fan of Low Ki so hopefully this one doesn’t last too long. The announcers basically say Strickland is screwed here and I can’t imagine we’re in for much of an upset. Feeling out process to start with Low Ki working on the arm and kicking Shane away. I have a feeling you’ll hear that more than once tonight. Say ten to fifteen times for a low number.
Strickland starts cranking on both arms to take over as the announcers praise Laycool with Low Ki’s success. DeRosa: “Somewhere in a parallel universe Killshot is wrestling Kaval.” We go to a test of strength with Strickland being driven down into a bridge. That just earns himself a hard kick to break things up, followed by even more kicks for two. Things slow down as Low Ki grabs a headscissors before chopping the heck out of Strickland’s chest.
Back up and Low Ki flips him into the ropes, setting off one heck of a counter sequence capped off by Strickland spinning around Low Ki and nailing a dropkick. Strickland has to bail out of a flip dive but lands on his feet, only to eat a hard dropkick through the ropes. Back in and Strickland easily counters a waistlock (likely because it’s a waistlock) into a catapult but Low Ki bounces right back off the ropes into a middle rope double stomp. Strickland won’t stay down though and comes back with a 619, followed by a jumping cutter (Strickland: “GOTCHA!”) for two.
A slingshot double stomp to the back gives Shane two and the announcers seemed stunned that Low Ki is in trouble. Both guys head up top at the same time and there’s no way this is going to end well. Strickland gets knocked down into a Tree of Woe over the apron, setting up a HUGE double stomp to the chest (think Del Rio’s bad finisher done well) onto the apron. Low Ki throws what used to be Strickland back inside for the pin at 13:03.
Rating: C+. Like I said, I’m certainly not a Low Ki fan but this was a VERY hard hitting match and the ending looked awesome. Strickland isn’t someone you see very often (save for Lucha Underground of course) and he got to show off quite a bit here. You knew there was going to be a kick based match on the card somewhere and this is as good of a place as you’re going to get.
Impact Wrestling World Title: Jeff Cobb vs. Lashley
Lashley is defending and the fans IMMEDIATELY break into a F*** THAT OWL chant. Cobb is better known as Matanza in Lucha Underground but he’s just a big athletic monster here. Now for the oddest part of the show, Lashley is announced and a country song comes on. There’s no Lashley so they hit his entrance again and he’s still not here. Fans: “F*** THAT OWL!”
Lashley appears through the crowd and we’re ready to go. I actually got to talk to Lashley the next day at WrestleCon and there was a very simple explanation: they didn’t have his song for some reason so he came to the ring anyway, knowing he was going to be the heel no matter what. Apparently it’s a BIG offense if you come out to someone else’s music so Lashley wasn’t about to make his entrance to the country song.
We get some Big Match Intros and Cobb holds up the title to really rub it in. Fans: “F*** THAT HEADBAND!” The good thing is that Lashley is really soaking it all in and relishing the whole thing, as he almost has to do. Lashley goes for a single leg takedown but Cobb muscles him up onto his shoulders to block. A hard shoulder drops Cobb and it’s time to slowly pound away in the corner.
Cobb gets in a clothesline to send Lashley outside but the champ whips him into the barricade, only to stop to argue with a fan. Back in and a neckbreaker sets up a chinlock as this is going really, really slowly. Lashley shows off a bit with a delayed vertical suplex, only to have Cobb muscles him up with a throw of his own.
It’s off to a triangle choke on Cobb….who lifts him up for a powerbomb to break. That’s the kind of thing they needed to do all match. Cobb gets athletic with a standing moonsault followed by a standing shooting star press for two. A deadlift German suplex gives Cobb two more but the spear just ends him for the pin at 10:45.
Rating: D+. This was ok but really felt like a major disappointment. It was billed as and should have been a battle of two monsters hitting each other really hard but instead it was more of a technical power match. You don’t see those very often and it made for a pretty slow match which didn’t work very well. Not horrible by any means but it could have, and should have, been better.
Sammy Guevara/Flip Gordon vs. Angelico/Jack Evans
I actually hadn’t heard of Guevara and Gordon, both of whom are apparently pretty talented guys from the northeast. Angelico might be my favorite guy from Lucha Underground so this was one of the matches I was looking forward to the most. Gordon and Angelico start things off with Angelico handling the early flipping. A roll through into an ankle lock sends Flip over to the ropes so it’s time for some handstand dancing. As is so often the case you see.
Gordon won’t shake his hand but he will bring in Guevara to face Evans. Jack wants a mic but can’t get one that works. Instead he just shouts a lot, saying that he can’t believe he’s getting to wrestle Justin Bieber (who Sammy resembles). Evans even offers to lay down if Sammy will sing a bit. That just gets him a superkick because it’s been too long since we’ve had one.
Sammy and Flip start stomping away in the corner, followed by a standing moonsault followed by a standing shooting star for two. Guevara gets a running start and flip dives onto Angelico and Evans for a nice pop despite being the heels here. Back in and we hit some fireman’s carry squats on Evans, who quickly reverses into an ankle lock.
Sammy shouts that he has a good one and grabs a crossface chickenwing. That goes as far as it’s going to go without Marty Scurll involved so Evans goes up top for a double Blockbuster. The hot tag brings in Angelico for the long legged knee shots as everything breaks down. Everyone kicks everyone until Evans does a ridiculous flip dive to the floor, leaving Angelico to hit the Fall of the Angels for the pin on Gordon at 13:02.
Rating: B-. Gordon and Guevara looked GREAT here and I could easily see them being a heel team in either NXT or TNA. Evans and Angelico were the bigger names coming in and while I’m a fan of the latter, I thought they were out shined here. Good match and I had a lot more fun watching it the second time around.
Hands are shaken post match.
Team Ricochet vs. Team Ospreay
Ricochet, Jason Cade, Sami Calihan, AR Fox, Desmond Xavier
Will Ospreay, Lio Rush, Drew Galloway, Ryan Smile, Marty Scurll
The ten man tag has become a staple of WrestleCon weekend and this might have been the most anticipated match of the show, if not the entire weekend. It’s fallout from the infamous match earlier in the year that saw the captains do an incredible match with all kinds of choreography. Just a hunch but I have a feeling that it’s going to be a lot more of the same here. The teams were only partially announced in advance and the members weren’t announced in the arena so this was a bit confusing.
Ricochet charges at Ospreay and they’re on the floor less than three seconds in. Everyone other than Scurll and Calihan join them less than fifteen seconds in before it’s off to Smile and Xavier for a double headbutt. They’re FLYING in and out of here so I’m not even going to be able to try to call everything here. Cade DDTs Smile to the floor but Galloway comes in and launches the much smaller Cade into the corner for some chops.
Fox tries some springboards on Galloway but gets thrown down in a big crash. Rush comes in to speed things up even more with those rapid fire kicks of his, only to have Sami come in with a cat mask on. Apparently it’s called space cat and as Rush says, “I F****** HATE SPACE CAT!”. Ospreay comes in and rips the mask off, only to have Ricochet come in as well. Now, I don’t usually do this, but I flat out admit I can’t do the following justice. Therefore, just watch.
And the version I filmed myself for a bit of a different angle.
Some of you might not get this and that’s fine but that’s for you Sally. I wish you could have seen it.
Anyway, we’re down to Ricochet vs. Scurll in the ring (for the second time tonight after their great match at the Rev Pro show) for all of five seconds before Cade and Smile come in for HUGE dives to take out a pile of people each. Ospreay gets superkicked by Cade and Xavier who follow it up with stereo flip dives out to the floor.
Fox goes even crazier with a springboard imploding 450, thankfully not killing himself when his head bangs into the barricade. Now it’s Galloway with a running flip dive (Marty: “He can dance! He can fly!”) but the captains won’t be outdone, meaning it’s Ospreay taking Ricochet to the top. Me from the crowd: “Oh they’re going to die.” Ospreay hits a HUGE C4 onto the eight others and everyone is of course out cold.
Back in and it’s Cade being put on top of a Tower of Doom with the superplex sending him into a sitout powerbomb from Galloway. Marty gets all fired up for the chickenwing on Calihan….who punches him in the face instead. Team Ricochet gets up first and puts four opponents in a corner each, only to charge into four stereo boots. They come back with superkicks but they all get stuck on top with their heads tucked on the buckles.
That means stereo superkicks, followed by everyone missing charges and taking similar superkicks of their own. We’re still not done yet though as Team Ospreay is down in front of a corner as four members of Team Ricochet goes up top. We get a completely ridiculous quadruple dive off the top (shooting stars and 450s you see) with Calihan hitting something like a package Tombstone on Galloway for a quintuple near fall and a huge gasp from the crowd.
The announcers talk about how Dave Meltzer is in the crowd tonight and needs another notebook from Walgreens, which is probably the fourth plug of the night for the store. Seriously it’s a great Walgreens. With nothing else left, it’s time for a long exchange of strikes, starting with six straight superkicks just because they can. Then they upgrade things a bit with a series of Diamond Cutters, including Smile blocking ones by just putting his hands out.
Rush jumps into his and does Orton’s pose on the ropes. Calihan flashes the Diamond Cutter sign and pulls Rush down (Marty: “Calihan yoga classes tomorrow morning!”), only to eat a Stunner, complete with middle fingers, from Galloway. It’s back to the Diamond Cutters, capped off by Ricochet going to the top but getting caught in a crazy springboard cutter from Ospreay.
Everyone goes after Ricochet with Galloway hitting a piledriver to set up a dog pile pin. Four people dive in for a save at two and this somehow keeps going. Fox and Ospreay slug it out until Scurll snaps AR’s fingers. You really can hear the noise in the arena and it’s impossible to not cringe. Calihan powerbombs Smile but gets dropped by Galloway.
It’s back to Ospreay vs. Ricochet with their series of counters until Will hits the Stundog Millionaire (spinning Stunner) into a springboard cutter…..for two. Excalibur: “Why would that be it? We’re having too much fun!” Ospreay hits a 630 but walks into a Canadian Destroyer from Cade. Jason follows it up with a West Coast Pop to FINALLY put Ospreay away at 22:05.
Rating: A+. Much like the match, this might be a bit long. I’ve been accused, and probably accurately so, of being a bit of a wrestling snob at times. It’s certainly true that I do tend to go a bit too hard towards the artistic side of wrestling where I need things to make sense and follow a logical progression or I get a bit annoyed at it. During and after this match, I started thinking about something.
In addition to being obsessed with wrestling, I’m also something of a movie geek (by last count I’ve seen I’ve seen just shy of 1400). I love old movies with the big sets and big performances but I’m also never going to miss a James Bond movie or anything from Marvel. Of course there’s stuff in there that doesn’t make a bit of sense sometimes but that’s completely missing the point. Those movies mainly exist to entertain and just be awesome. Now why can’t that be the case with wrestling as well?
I loved this match and after watching more live wrestling over the course of about a week than I had in my entire life, this was the match that stuck with me the most. This was incredible stuff with ten guys doing everything from action to comedy to emotion in more time than almost anything else got all night.
Of all the shows and all the matches I’ve ever been to in my life, I have never had more fun watching a single match that this one, including anything from any Wrestlemania I’ve ever been to. I got completely lost in this match and I nearly collapsed when it was finally over. Outstanding stuff here and a total blast, which is a lot more than I was expecting from what looked to be just another spot fest. Find this match if you can and just have fun watching some wrestling.
The fans chant ALL THESE GUYS as all ten sit in the ring and shake hands. Ricochet gets the mic and says that one year ago today, a British wrestler named Chris Travis passed away. That was a big deal at the Rev Pro show and it clearly meant a lot to them. As for this match, the captains actually got to pick their guys and it’s clear who is on Ricochet’s team because all of his guys are black (not quite) and all of Ospreay’s guys are British (Rush, from Baltimore: “Ello governor!”). Ricochet thanks everyone, including Vader, who he certainly loves.
Intermission, during which I met most of the people on the card so far, plus several who haven’t been on the show yet. I also ran to the fabled Walgreens and bought two big bottles of water because there were well over 1,000 people in a hotel conference room. That and the fact that a can of soda was SIX DOLLARS at the concession stand. I also saw Donovan Dijak watching the show as a fan, which is something you almost never see outside of something like this. The video actually includes intermission, which is just a still shot of the ring with no sound.
Ironman Heavymetalweight Title: Battle Royal
Now THIS was a treat. I’ve heard of this title for years but it’s almost always been in Japan. Basically it’s a parody of the Hardcore Title as it’s defended in battle royals but someone always jumps the champ after it’s over to win the title. Now I know that sounds like something you would see in WWE but oh not quite.
The belt has changed hands well over 1200 times (including once via dream sequence) with champions including a sex doll, a cameraman, a baseball bat, a ladder, the title itself, a young girl with the power to chokeslam adults, Vince McMahon’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (someone was in a hold and tapped out on it, which meant that they tapped out to the star) and of course Joey Ryan, who is defending here.
This is basically a Royal Rumble with one minute intervals and the title can change hands via pinfall or submission. However, pins and submissions don’t count as eliminations and the only way to be eliminated is by being thrown over the top. Got all that? Good as I want to see Joey come out to the Pina Colada Song because it fits him so perfectly.
Colt Cabana is in #2 and we have one minute intervals. Here’s how this thing starts: Bell, Joey: “Touch my d***!” Instead Cabana pulls out some chest hair, which you can see fall out of his hand. A low blow has no effect on Joey so the fans chant KING OF DONG STYLE. Thankfully Kikutaro, a Japanese comedy character, is in at #3 and tries to go in slow motion. A Shining Wizard gets two on Joey and they take turns kicking Joey low, only to keep hurting themselves.
The Underground Luchador is in at #4 and there’s no hiding the fact that it’s Matt Striker. Luchador rolls Ryan up for the pin and the title before revealing himself to be, in fact, Matt Striker. Kikutaro grabs him low and spins around so Joey can eliminate him, meaning he’s the new champion. The Manscout Jake Manning is in at #5 and goes to the corner to read his scout manual. Everyone charges at him but he raises his boot every time without looking away.
It’s time for #6 and Welcome to the Jungle starts playing. Excalibur: “This could literally be any indy wrestler from twenty years ago.” It winds up being George South of all people and the fans…..don’t seem to care. For those of you who don’t know, South is a former NWA jobber who Ric Flair thought he could have a classic with if they were given time. That never happened but South is kind of a mini legend as a result.
Suicide (apparently played by Caleb Konley) is in at #7 and the fans don’t like the owl again. As you might be able to guess, there’s nothing to the wrestling here as this is all about the entrances and wondering who comes out next. Speaking of which, Mr. Hughes is in at #8 with no music and missing about 140lbs. South is eliminated off camera and it’s Zane Riley in at #9. He’s a big guy named Mr. 305 Live and grabs various people by the tights. 2 Cold Scorpio (one of the reasons I wanted to go to this show) is in at #10, thankfully rocking the Flash Funk gear.
Billy Gunn of all people is in at #11, complete with his most famous song. Riley takes a Fameasser and gets tossed, followed by Kikutaro, Manning and Cabana. Moose is in at #12 and we have Moose, Gunn, Hughes, Scorpio and Ryan at the moment. We get something of a bizarre staredown between Gunn and Moose, which Marty describes as the staredown he never knew he wanted.
Nothing happens until Swoggle is in at #13 as I wonder if this counts as a DX reunion. Swoggle is shoved down so Moose and Gunn can fight with Moose scoring off a dropkick. Shane Douglas, unfortunately not in a Target uniform and thankfully not in gear, is in at #14. Gunn gets rid of Hughes and Swoggle low bridges Suicide out. Kevin Thorn is in at #15 to scare Swoggle half to death. Shannon Moore is in at #16 but Gunn drops him with a side slam.
Hurricane is in at #17, complete with the full WWE entrance, to a huge reaction. That means chokeslams, including one to get rid of Thorn. Another one plants Gunn but he can’t lift up Billy’s dead weight. Abyss is in at #18 to get rid of Shane as Gunn was tossed off camera. Another chokeslam is enough to get rid of Scorpio before Hurricane’s chokeslam is swatted away.
Gangrel is in at #19, complete with that still rocking entrance music. Moore and Helms use the power of 3 Count to get rid of Abyss as Gangrel spits the liquid. A clothesline actually gets rid of Hurricane as Swoggle hits a pop up powerbomb on Moore. Marty Jannetty is in at #20 and Jake Roberts might be passed on the “how out of it can you be while still working a match” scale. I actually got to shake Marty’s hand in the lobby during intermission and mentioned that we had the same birthday. He didn’t actually say anything but just walked away….without letting go of my hand.
Anyway we have a final group of Ryan, Gangrel, Jannetty, Moore, Moose, and Swoggle. Marty starts dancing as Moore is tossed out. To make sure you know how bad it is, Jannetty takes Gangrel down and the announcers can’t keep straight faces over how gone he is. The fans think Marty is wasted (DeRosa: “That chant was true twelve hours ago.” Excalibur: “We’re going to have to have Sting come out here and give him a DDT to pin him.”) and Gangrel throws him out to get us down to four. Moose gets rid of Gangrel and starts the pump jabs on Ryan.
I’m not going to try to spin what happens next so here’s as literal of a play by play as I can give: Joey grabs Moose’s hand and puts it on his crotch, which causes Moose extreme pain. Moose goes down, tries to Hulk Up, gets cranked right back down, and is tossed out of the ring, all due to the power of Joey’s crotch. Swoggle runs up and throws Joey out for the win and the title at 25:00.
Rating: D. I think you can grasp (like Moose grasped Joey) that this wasn’t about the wrestling or the action but just getting some older wrestlers (I hesitate to call most of these people legends) out there and wondering who was coming through the curtain next. The anticipation here was outstanding and I really did have a great time finding out who they were dragging out of mothballs for each entrance. It doesn’t hold up but this is the definition of a thousand times more fun live than watching it later.
Joey grabs a rollup to get the title back less than thirty seconds later. Since we need something else to get fired up about, Joey makes the mistake of saying he’s the greatest champion of all time and issues an open challenge. In a moment that actually made me jump to my feet in shock…….ENTER SANDMAN starts up and we get the full on ECW entrance, complete with beer, cigarettes and the fans singing the song. I wasn’t a huge ECW fan but I LOVED the Sandman’s entrance so this was one of the coolest moments of my entire weekend.
Sandman drinks a lot of beer with the announcers ensuring us that he has personally checked every ID in the building. Excalibur gets to the obvious question: WHY IS RYAN STILL IN THE RING? Now it’s off to the other side of the arena with Sandman actually holding a full twelve pack of beer. At least you know it’s going to be a long entrance. Excalibur: “This entrance has lasted longer than Marty Jannetty’s sobriety!” Sandman gets in the ring, offers Joey a beer, and canes him in the head for the pin and the title.
And of course a fight breaks out as Sandman leaves.
Brian Cage vs. Johnny Mundo
This is a TLC match for no apparent reason with Melissa Santos and Taya Valkyrie as the respective seconds/girlfriends (both looking great). Melissa even does Cage’s entrance for a little Lucha Underground flavor. The announcers immediately start making fun of Lucha Underground’s, shall we say, hit and miss taping schedule as Cage misses a charge to start. Mundo misses a dive but hits the Flying Chuck for two.
We get the first chair but Cage snaps off a release German suplex instead. Something like a Van Daminator knocks Cage outside so Johnny can spit on a fan. Taya gets in a few stomps of her own as Johnny goes over to find a ladder. Mundo throws it at Cage to send him into the chair as we’re somehow five minutes into this.
The ladder is laid across the middle rope so Johnny can jump over it, only to have Cage dropkick it into his ribs. A backdrop sends Mundo into the ladder again and it’s FINALLY time for a table. Cage takes too long going up though, allowing Taya to grab his foot. Mundo gets knocked to the floor so Taya tries a hurricanrana…..right in front of a table. One heck of a superbomb ends Taya so Mundo, without checking on Taya for very long, completely misses Starship Pain onto the ladder onto Cage.
We get another table set up in the corner but Cage is up and holding a chair. Ever the villain, Mundo grabs Melissa for a distraction so he can kick Cage low. For the first time that I can ever remember, Melissa gets physical with a kick to the head, earning herself the safest spear through a table ever as Johnny turns around, basically driving himself through instead. Cage is livid and basically murders Johnny with a Steiner Screwdriver onto the chair for the pin at 14:05.
Rating: D. Easily the weakest match of the night here, mainly because it was billed as a TLC match. This would have been better off as a street fight or something like that as the ladder was barely ever used (not climbed once) and the rest of the weapons were just kind of there. It wasn’t so much bad as much as it was really disappointing, which is often a much worse case scenario.
We pause to clean the ring a bit before the main event with the broom guy getting a nice ovation. He even poses a bit because everyone is a ham at this show.
Hardys vs. Lucha Bros
That would be Pentagon El Cero M (Pentagon Dark in other words) and Rey Fenix, another pair of real life brothers and the PWG Tag Team Champions. The Hardys get an incredible reaction (as incredible as you’re going to get at nearly 12:30 at night) as they might not be playing the Broken Hardys…..but they’re playing the Broken Hardys. The anti-owl chants begin again as we have the Big Match Intros. This turns into dueling DELETE/CERO MIEDO (zero fear, Pentagon’s catchphrase) chants and for a little while, Cero Miedo is actually a bit stronger.
The dueling chants continue after the bell until the Lucha Bros take over with some kicks to the face. Pentagon picks Fenix up in a wheelbarrow slam but gets flipped forward into a 450 onto Matt in a cool spot. A double low blow gets two on Jeff but Fenix eats a Side Effect for the same. Matt and Pentagon clothesline each other and all four are down. Pentagon heads outside but Fenix misses a dive and takes his brother out by mistake.
That means a dive from Jeff to take both of them out and all four are down again. Back in and stereo Twists of Fate give the Hardys two before Pentagon loads Fenix up in a Gory Bomb but jumps forward for a backsplash/splash combo. There’s the Twist of Fate to Pentagon, followed by another to Fenix to bring him down onto his brother. The Swanton to both Brothers gives Jeff the pin at 7:22.
Rating: D+. The time killed this one and there’s no way around it. The show was pushing four hours at this point, meaning it was almost 1am. Couple that with the ten man tag and the battle royal and there was almost no way that anyone, even the Hardys, could make this work. They were probably smart to keep the match short as I don’t think the fans would have been able to handle anything that much longer.
The announcers sign off but Matt grabs the mic and say these are the fans that make wrestling great. They come here to get good wrestling and that’s what they get. Matt says the future of tag wrestling is safe with teams like the Lucha Bros, the Young Bucks and the Briscoe Brothers. If companies try to get rid of teams like them, they’ll fade away and classify themselves as obsolete. Fenix thanks the crowd and the Hardys to finally end the show.
Overall Rating: B. This is a show where the right expression is “you got what you paid for”. The Supershow isn’t about angles or stories, but rather bringing together some of the top indy talent in the world for one show in a series of dream matches. I can easily get why this show wouldn’t be for every wrestling fan but if you just love having fun with wrestling, there’s almost no way you won’t have fun with this. I’ll definitely be taking this in every year and it was a major highlight of the weekend. Go out of your way to see the ten man tag and just have a good time watching the show.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the NXT: The Full Sail Years Volumes I and II, now in PAPERBACK. Check out the information here:
Took in the Rev Pro Wrestling Show (And a Bit of Annoyance at WWE)
As part of the Wrestlemania week festivities, I took in the Revolution Pro Wrestling show. They’re a British company with major names like Ricochet, Will Ospreay, Marty Scurll and Zack Sabre Jr. so I had to take in a card with that kind of talent included. This was part of the WrestleCon weekend events so the show was only about fifteen minutes from my hotel.
Before we get to the show though, there were two rather annoying wrestling related issues earlier in the day. At 1pm, Charlotte was doing a free signing at a Cricket Wireless store roughly ten minutes away from my hotel. Of course I went and when I got there a bit after 1, the line was wrapped around the building, down the alley behind the building and around part of another building. The fact that the line was so long isn’t an issue as people are going to flock for something that’s free. Cricket had also put up a sign saying “all guests after this point are not guaranteed to meet Charlotte”. I was standing right at the sign.
After about an hour in line, the sign was moved about 50 people forward. One of the workers came by and I asked if things were moving really slowly. It turned out that they were, because several people had upwards of ten items for Charlotte to sign. In other words, because a bunch of people just HAD to get her to sign things so they could throw them on Ebay, we were stuck standing in line even longer. Naturally this caused the line to go so slowly that it was cut off at 2:55 before I could get in. To be fair, it was a free event so I didn’t lose anything but time (and patience).
No worries though as Bayley was having a signing at the Orlando Eye, which was about fifteen minutes from Cricket. This was a bit better as I had already bought a ticket ($35, but you got a free trip on the Eye, which I had no interest in due to not being comfortable with heights) so I figured it would go better.
And of course not as the signing went until 4 and at 3:50, the Orlando Eye people cut it off because Bayley had another event to go to immediately thereafter. I got a refund, but these events tell me two things:
1. Maybe WWE shouldn’t schedule the same people for multiple events back to back. They have a ridiculous roster and I find it hard to believe they can’t stagger these out a bit better, just for something like this.
2. LEARN TO CALL THE THINGS OFF EARLIER WHEN IT’S CLEAR YOU’RE NOT GETTING EVERYONE IN! When you have over 100 people left, do you really need to wait until there are 10 minutes left to realize that not everyone can get in? Also, how long can it possibly take when there are signs everywhere saying no autographs? I know people want to talk to Bayley but it needed to be a few words, obligatory hug, photo, out. That should be 40 seconds at most but for some reason we get this instead.
So anyway, I get over to Rev Pro at 4:10 (thankfully it’s less than a mile from the Eye) and luckily it hadn’t started yet (indy shows almost never do). The show wound up starting at 4:25 with a bunch of empty seats on the floor, though they were mostly filled in by the third or fourth match.
1. Sami Calihan vs. Jay White
I’ve liked White since his first match with Jay Briscoe so I was looking forward to seeing him live. This wasn’t the best match in the world though as they didn’t have a lot of chemistry. They fought outside for two minutes early on before the referee FINALLY started counting, which got a rather jeering reaction from the crowd. The best spot was Calihan trying a powerbomb but getting blocked over and over. Instead of trying again, he pulls White up and punched the heck out of him before getting the powerbomb. White won with a Boston crab in about 12 minutes. D+.
2. Martin Stone vs. Jeff Cobb
Stone is also known as Danny Burch from NXT and Cobb is Lucha Underground’s Matanza. This was technical ability vs. power/athleticism and that’s what you got for about ten and a half minutes. Stone is just a guy in trunks but he looks very polished and kept shrugging off all of Cobb’s power stuff. Martin got in a hanging DDT for the pin. C+.
3. Lord Gideon Grey vs. Swoggle
This is a storyline heavy match as Grey seemed to be a comedy/lower level guy who was just starting to turn the corner until Colt Cabana brought Swoggle to the company and somehow ruined his life. Grey walked to the ring like a zombie, even bumping into the barricade because he kept staring straight ahead. Then he wrestled a mostly normal match which saw Swoggle do a series of German suplexes and Lesnar’s bounce back and forth. Grey hit a sitout powerslam for the pin in about 2:00 with a bunch of standard comedy spots. This was fine.
4. Marty Scurll vs. King Ricochet
Scurll’s ROH TV Title was acknowledged but not on the line. Scurll was easily the most over guy on the show so far and he knew it, despite being billed as the Villain. You could tell these two knew each other really well and that’s always going to help. There was some comedy as Ricochet did a bunch of flips into a nip-up.
Scurll, who isn’t the most athletic guy in the world, said very loudly “THAT WAS SWEET! I WANT TO TRY!” He then did a front flip into a nip-up for a huge reaction but Ricochet didn’t buy into the idea of a handshake. This gave us the YES/NO treatment for a big reaction. They both did their own versions of a People’s Elbow with Ricochet doing a moonsault and Scurll doing an Austin style stomp and a double middle finger. Ricochet also did Tye Dillinger’s cartwheel into a dropkick, followed by TEN.
They started taking things a bit more seriously by the end with Scurll teasing a big spot on the floor and then throwing Ricochet back in to annoy the crowd (because he’s a villain you see). Eventually Ricochet tried a handspring elbow but got caught in the chickenwing for the tap out at just shy of seventeen minutes. Really fun stuff here and easily the best thing all night. B+.
Post match, Scurll said he loved working with Ricochet and dedicated the to a fellow wrestler who passed away one year ago to the day in a nice moment. This was repeated multiple times so this was pretty clearly a big deal to everyone.
Intermission, which was billed as 15 minutes but ran closer to 30. However, a lot of the roster was out in the lobby selling merchandise, meaning I got to meet a host of wrestlers, including:
Ricochet, Colt Cabana (who I didn’t recognize at first), Will Ospreay, Marty Scurll, Swoggle, Brian Cage (the biggest arms I’ve ever seen), Jay White, Martin Stone (very polite), Jeff Cobb, Fenix, Pentagon Dark and Shane Strickland (Killshot on Lucha Underground).
5. Interim British Cruiserweight Title: David Starr vs. Josh Bodom
Bodom was defending but didn’t have his belt for some reason. I’ve never heard of either guy and there wasn’t much to talk about here, though Starr had about fifteen nicknames that the announcer had to read off a card. It was clear that neither guy was the biggest name as the fans didn’t seem to know who they were. It was fine but nothing you haven’t seen before.
This was your standard cruiserweight style match with a bunch of flips, the third standing shooting star press of the night (more on that later), a bunch of strikes to the head (the indy staple), a great looking front flip from the top to the floor and a hanging piledriver (picture Orton’s hanging DDT but the guy jumps onto the back of your head to make it a piledriver) for the pin on Starr at 12:30. C-.
6. Will Ospreay vs. Ray Fenix
Ospreay is a high flying machine and one of the top stars in the promotion though his Cruiserweight Title wasn’t on the line. This was a much more standard high flying match and for some reason Fenix took his sweet time coming through the curtain and didn’t seem happy for a lot of the match, or after for that matter.
Ospreay flew around a lot even tricked Fenix by asking what something was out in the crowd to grab a headlock. They dove around a lot (and botched multiple things, though nothing too bad) with a Canadian Destroyer DDT as one of the cooler looking spots. Ospreay hit a big springboard cutter to win at just under thirteen minutes. This was a lot of fun but really botchy at times, which you have to expect. B-.
7. Michael Elgin/Brian Cage vs. Ray Smile/Shane Strickland.
This was power vs. speed, though Elgin and Cage got to show off a lot of athleticism. One very funny spot was Strickland doing a nipup, only to have Elgin come in and do a good looking Worm. Strickland said he was out, grabbed his jacket, walked up the ramp and through the curtain. He was back a few seconds later but it was rather funny. Other than Elgin grabbing a delayed vertical suplex and passing Smile off to Cage in mid-air to complete it, there wasn’t much here. Well not much original at least.
We did have our 5th cutter of the night, as well as the fourth person saying SUCK IT with a crotch chop. Smile also got up a bit too many times, including kicking out of a superbomb into an F5, which the fans REALLY thought should have ended the match (they were right). Instead, Strickland got Cage up for a powerbomb with Smile adding a top rope double stomp. A not great frog splash put Cage away at about 13 minutes. The match was longer than it needed to be and got too repetitive with the big power spot from Elgin/Cage and then a head kick from Strickland/Smile. C-.
8. British Heavyweight Title: Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Pentagon Dark
Pentagon is WAY over with Cero Mideo (Zero Fear) being the loudest chant of the night. The fans absolutely cannot stand Sabre, who is the British Champion, the Evolve Champion and the PWG World Champion (and came out wearing all three belts like a good heel should). This was all about trading arm holds with Pentagon surprising Sabre with some sweet stuff of his own. Sabre kept countering like the master that he is though and worked Pentagon’s arm half off.
Near the end Pentagon got his package piledriver onto the apron and unfortunately, Sabre was back on his feet in less than a minute. That REALLY hurt things as it should have been a pin (if there was any chance Sabre was losing here) but was just a big spot instead. Sabre got his crazy armbar to end things a few minutes later at just shy of 16:00. This was really solid stuff, save for the lack of selling. Sabre’s technical stuff is must see. B+.
As I was leaving, I got to shake hands with Sabre in the lobby for a nice way to wrap things up.
Overall the show was fun with two very good matches though not much to support them. I certainly can’t complain for a $25 general admission ticket, especially with the amount of huge British names I got to see, along with the names that I got to meet at intermission. Rev Pro is certainly not bad and I had a fun time at the show. Overall: B-.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the NXT: The Full Sail Years Volumes I and II, now in PAPERBACK. Check out the information here:
Ring of Honor TV – January 25, 2017: The ECW Formula
Ring of Honor Date: January 25, 2017
Location: 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Kevin Kelly
Tonight we’re looking at the Brits as the TV Champion Marty Scurll and his archnemesis Will Ospreay are both here tonight. It would be nice if that doesn’t turn into something about Japan for a change but Ospreay is part of the Chaos stable so I don’t have my hopes up. Let’s get to it.
We open with a video on Scurll and Ospreay for a really good visual of how different they are.
Opening sequence.
Jonathan Gresham vs. Marty Scurll
Non-title. Marty sends him into the corner and of course tells him to bring it on, which might have included some rather rude British hand symbols. Gresham works on the arm for a bit before getting chopped in the corner for his efforts. Scurll bounces out of a headscissors on the mat and sends Gresham outside for a hard superkick to the head. Back from a break with Marty standing on Jonathan’s legs and ripping on his nose. That really is villany.
They trade strange chokes on the mat until Marty is sent to the apron, only to miss a slingshot….something. Some very fast standing switches allowing Gresham to grab la majistral for two. A rollup gives Gresham another very close two but Scurll slams him onto the ropes. Marty superkicks him into a broken finger, setting up the crossface chickenwing to retain the title at 11:26.
Rating: C+. Gresham is a pretty dull guy but he can go out there and wrestle a very solid match when he’s given the chance. I had more fun with this one than I was expecting and Scurll is a solid choice for a heel champion, especially when he gets to be evil with stuff like breaking the fingers. Good little match here, which is surprising.
We get clips of Adam Cole winning the World Title back from Kyle O’Reilly at Wrestle Kingdom.
Jay Lethal is ready to beat anyone left in his quest to get the World Title back.
Jay Briscoe is ready for the other Jay….which means Lethal of course and not Jay White or any other Jay that I can’t remember around here.
Decade of Excellence Semi-Finals: Christopher Daniels vs. Chris Sabin
Kazarian is on commentary. Feeling out process to start with neither guy being able to get anywhere off a wristlock. Sabin sends him outside by the leg and hits a quick suicide dive, followed by a chinlock which doesn’t exactly fit with a speed guy. Chris takes him outside and gets sent head first into the barricade to send us to a break.
Back with Daniels putting on a chinlock but Sabin hurricanranas his way out of the Angel’s Wings. A running flip dive from the apron to the floor drops Daniels again and some more kicks have him in more trouble. Not that it matters as he grabs the Koji Clutch for a breather. That goes nowhere of course so Sabin misses a charge into the corner and takes the Best Moonsault Ever to give Daniels the pin at 11:47.
Rating: C+. Another good match here and that’s the best thing that you can get out of Daniels right now. He’s been on a roll since right before Ladder War and I’d love to see him get a quick title reign, just for the sake of all those years that he’s spent stuck in the midcard. It would be a cool moment and while I don’t think they’ll do it, there’s always a chance and that would be awesome.
Daniels helps Sabin up.
Kevin Sullivan’s Dark Army is standing around a barrel of fire with Sullivan being angry at Corino. Steve can get out of trouble if he brings Sullivan the golden one. Laughter ensues.
Dragon Lee vs. Will Ospreay vs. Kushida
One fall to a finish and sweet goodness I’m not even going to try to keep track of what’s going on in this thing. Everyone flips and spins around to start and it’s a big standoff for a standing ovation. Back from a very early break with….more clips of Cole vs. O’Reilly. Back to the actual match, Kushida gets in a shot to Will’s arm to keep him on the floor, only to have Lee pull Kushida into an STF.
Kushida, with light-up shoes on, cranks on Lee’s arm until Ospreay comes back in. Lee is sent to the floor as Ospreay gets caught in an armbar, only to have Ospreay come right back with a handspring into a kick to the face. Ospreay dives out to the floor to take Kushida out but Lee dives onto both of them for a huge crash.
It’s time to crank it up with Ospreay trying a shooting star off the apron and landing on his feet outside. Lee takes both of them out and we head to another break, this time with no Cole vs. O’Reilly. A suplex into a powerbomb gives Lee two on Kushida but Ospreay tries two moonsaults, only to switch up into a standing shooting star for another near fall on Kushida.
Lee muscles Kushida up in a German suplex but Ospreay drops Lee and all three are down. Back up and Lee snaps off a reverse hurricanrana on Ospreay and there’s the Hoverboard Lock on Will. That goes nowhere so Ospreay tries a springboard cutter, only to get caught in another Hoverboard Lock. One heck of a spinning DDT plants Ospreay and Kushida FINALLY puts Ospreay down for the pin at 14:43.
Rating: B. Now this was more like it with the Super Crazy vs. Tajiri vs. Little Guido formula from ECW. There’s just something cool about watching three talented high fliers spin around and do all kinds of spots that only the three of them can do. This was entertainment for the sake of entertainment and there’s nothing wrong with that.
We see the end of Cole pinning O’Reilly to win the title to end the show.
Overall Rating: B-. This was the kind of entertaining show that it needed to be with a lot of entertaining wrestling and some moderate story progression. I like the idea of having some new characters brought in and everything was a lot of fun. Just do more stuff like this instead of doing the same boring stuff that this show has a tendency to put on.
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