At the same time as WWE RAW airs, hit up their youtube channel to celebrate a true alternative to the often redundant product on television. Click here to go to the page!

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Participating promotions include:

– C*4 –
Twitter: @C4Wrestling
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/C4WrestlingdotCA

– Inter Species Wrestling –
Twitter: @isdub
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/interspecies

– Aaw Pro –
Twitter: @aawpro
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/AAWPro

– Alphaone Rasslin –
Twitter: @A1Wrestling
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/Alpha1Wrestling

– DREAMWAVE Wrestling –
Twitter: @DWWrestling
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/DreamwaveWrestling

– Absolute Intense Wrestling –
Twitter: @aiwrestling
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/aiwrestling

– Smash Wrestling –
Twitter: @smashwrestling
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/SmashWrestling1

– Beyond Wrestling –
Twitter: @beyondwrestling
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/beyondwrestling

– Freelance Wrestling –
Twitter: @FreelanceWres
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/FreelanceWrestling

– Iwa Mid-South –
Twitter: @IWAMidSouth
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/IWAMidsouthWrestling

– Inspire Pro –
Twitter: @InspireProWres
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/InspireProVideo

– Shimmer Women Athletes –
Twitter: @SHIMMERwomen
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/DavePrazak

– Chikara Pro –
Twitter: @CHIKARApro
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/CHIKARAoffice

The post PSA: ‪#‎RAWlternative 2 is May 18th appeared first on BoredWrestlingFan.com.

First match: Andy Dalton vs. “Jiggle-O James Johnson

I walked in as the match was beginning. I’m not sure if they’re doing the “before-the-bell” match as they were previously. You had both firing on all cylinders. Dalton has been working really hard on his physique. The tights were quite loose. Evil Dalton is one of the best things out there. It is hard to describe it, but Johnson has this weird combination of determination and focus that only he can do. It was what you would want in an opener.

Winner: Johnson

We introduced Lance Hoyt who got an incredible reaction. My inner smark never gets over the fact we are looking at a former IWGP tag champ. He cut a great promo about how he was going to win the belt and make it a world title, taking it to South America and Europe and Japan. Out came Scott Murdoch to respond and said that when Hoyt traveled, he would give them the name “Scott Murdoch’s bitch.” This caused a mini eruption, in many ways, a clash of the titans. Out came Franco D’Angelo and the GM’s enforcer. There was a tremendous pull-apart with Murdoch and Hoyt.

Second match: Kristopher Haiden (c) w/Nigel Rabid & Kevin Cross vs. “Irresistable” Eric McDonald

I think this might be my first time to see the mass of humanity known as Kevin Cross accompanying Nigel. The guy is huge, like a building with hair. He has to be legit 6’5 at the least. Haiden came out getting out in the face of fans. McDonald is one of my favorite things in MPX. It is so original, so entertaining and so over with the crowd. It was a nice, full match. McDonald did his standard spots but what was great was Haiden’s reaction to it. Haiden won it with a nice lariat.

Winner: Haiden

Third match: BC & Michael Shafer & JD Kros vs. Tad Wylde & Jerome Daniels

Do Kros and Shafer have a tag team name yet? I believe they were Glamour Hammer, but that worked a lot better when Joshua City was the other member. The first team I would refer to as “Team I Need a Haircut.” BC began with by announcing his arrival. 6’5 my a**. When I think about how far these guys have come since MPX started, one of the guys who’s come the farthest is Ben Wylde. The other tore down the house quite literally later on in the show. Kros has been working on his physique. The crowd was kept in and engaged. The story that happened during this match was Ben Wylde didn’t want to be tagged in but Viktor Tadlock did. The two began to argue. Are we going to have a break-up and feud? And, wow, this isn’t the guy I thought would be heel here. Jerome was left all alone against the 3. I’ve got to give credit to the match that I thought there was a chance Jerome might actually win.

Winner: Team I Need a Haircut

Fourth match:  Carlos Esquivel & Zero the Antihero vs. Mace

I remember seeing Mace from his PCW days. A lady near me asked if this was fair. I let her know that Zero has more testicles than wins. Zero and Carlos sold this spectacularly with lots of fear. It was a great classic squash match, something you would have seen on WCW Worldwide. I just HATE handicap matches.

Winner: Mace

Fifth match: Jason Silver w/Sky de la Crimosa vs. Wally Darkmon

On paper this looked like a really good match. You had two junior heavyweights going at it. Part of me wondered if these two held back for a future event. It was a nice strong style match mixed in with Wally’s trademark psychosis (not to be confused with WCW luchador Psicosis). At one point Wally licked him which I have to admit I haven’t seen too much. Wally did not hold back on the chops though as Silver’s chest was quite red. Sky jumped in and attacked Darkmon

Winner by dq: Darkmon

Silver and Sky proceeded to do an awesome beat-down on Wally. They beat Wally with his iconic cane and mimicked his psychotic laugh. Then Jiggle-O came out to his rescue. They had a face-off followed by a PCW chant. I’m not entirely sure why. PCW is dead company. These people should move on. Now if you need me, I will be chanting “ECW” at Tommy Dreamer.

Sixth match: Steven Kirby w/Nigel Rabid & Kevin Cross vs. Larry Canis

The crowd was delighted to see Canis’ beard. This was our first chance to see the new Steven Kirby after joining the Rabid Empire. Kirby has a very naturally gifted face. He can show off a variety of emotions on his face without resorting to hamming it up. This was a different side of Kirby, slow, methodical. There was never any doubt who was going to win this.

Winner: Kirby

I like the idea of Kirby as a tortured soul, forced to turn this new leaf. I’d like to see more of Nigel taking the role of jaw-jacking with the fans. Kirby doesn’t need that. Matt Andrews and Li Fang came out to talk to the crowd. Li explained his tear and injury. Somebody near me said, “Hey, Li speaks English?” Mace came back out to menace the two. Claudia came out to possibly soothe Mace. GM Kate Carroll came out to make a match between Matt Andrews and Mace for the next show. Gregory James came out for his match and did a lot of complaining. She responded by giving him Matt Palmer.

Seventh match: Gregory James vs. Matt Palmer

Palmer is getting a little bit more recognition on a national stage at Beyond Wrestling. He is now being billed as “The Show-Stealer.” He has earned that name through every show he’s ever done. I put the notebook down for this because I just wanted to sit back and enjoy this as a fan. This match was no dq. I really can’t describe this to perfection because I didn’t take notes but this match was slightly epic. They tore down the ring barriers, fought into the crowd, used lots of plunder. I had to move around a lot to see it. I found myself being caught up in it. It’s nice when I am able to lose myself in a match at this point in my fandom. What really made this match was the near-falls. Every pinfall seemed like that was it. This night the match fell in Palmer’s favor.

Winner: Palmer

Main event: Scott Murdoch (c) vs. Lance Hoyt

This was a great opportunity for Murdoch. There really isn’t a bigger name they could have brought it to establish Murdoch as a legitimate champ. This in many ways was a clash of the titans. These were two guys who beat the snot out of each other. Hoyt can go in a technical match. But he can also go in a brawl and boy did he. This was really wild insane brawl. It just had the unfortunate curse of following Matt Palmer. Both pushed the referee causing him to dq the match.

Winner: Double-dq

Kristopher Haiden came out to cash in his Prospects Championship (which functions a lot like the “Money in the Bank” concept.

Real Main Event: Scott Murdoch (c) vs. Kristopher Haiden

Angry Hoyt took out Haiden before he began this match. The referee started the 10-count and Haiden was able to cover Haiden first and then Murdoch kicked out. Haiden kept on doing every finisher he had and then Murdoch kept kicking out. The story was so good. Murdoch was able to power out and get the win.

Winner: Murdoch

Kirby came out to get involved and then Frankie Fisher came out to attack him. Something tells me this will be one explosive feud. Ring announcer Keith announced that there will be a rematch of Palmer and Greg the next show.

All in all… It was nice to be back supporting some indy wrestling. Palmer-Greg was epic. I’m just curious if two weeks from now is going to be too soon for their rematch. Keith is coming along nice as a ring announcer. Kate is good in her role as GM and Franco as her enforcer. This in many ways is their Season Premeire. I’m intrigued to see where they can go from here.

The post Metroplex Wrestling-Tearing Down the House 1-12-2014 appeared first on BoredWrestlingFan.com.

For weeks, pictures of the elusive Caballo De Misterioso had been circulating the internet from various locations of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Who is this masked warrior? Would he stand tall at the end of the night in an event that promoted a four match card of Luchadors versus American Wrestlers? Meet Caballo De Misterioso.

I arrived at the Calgary Legion 1 building a few hours before the event, and let myself in. The building itself is beautiful and adorned with relics of the past, and a sense of tradition and battle. Appropriate for a wrestling event, I would argue.

After meeting Doc in person for the first time, I was privy to watching how the show was put on, from the ring being set up, watching guys discuss and plan their matches, and veterans giving younger wrestlers advice. This was a part of the experience that one generally does not have as a fan of grapplers of the squared circle, and I cannot thank Doc enough for the opportunity.

I took some photos of the beautiful banners that hung on the main stage facing the ring, as I awaited my fellow team of media to arrive. Professor Salmon and Zwan of BWF Radio fame (as well as the Prof’s flame), joined me at ringside at we dubbed, “The Spanish Announce Table”.

Suddenly it was eight PM, and the doors opened. DJ Tokyo spun as the venue filled up quickly, and the Taco or No Taco line swelled. We were positioned at a media table and armed with cameras and smart phones. We were told to be prepared to back up immediately due to our proximity to the ring, as not to unintentionally become part of the high flying action.

The venue was packed, the lines for tacos and refreshments were long and popular. The atmosphere became very colorful as many fans came dressed in lucha masks or wrestler get ups. As the clock neared nine, the crowd was ready for the show.

Doc began the event, introducing our guest ring announcer, Dynamite Dan. Dan mirrored the sentiment of Doc, welcoming the crowd to the special event lauding the lucha libre style. And it was time for our first match of the evening.

Squiggy Gonzalez Rapido vs Redneck Cooter Skoal. Cooter heelishly entered first, running down the crowd on the microphone and instantly establishing his redneck tendencies (mp3). This is turn led to a positive reception for Gonzalez. The match itself was quick paced, as Cooter attempted in vain to defeat the larger Rapido, who had a belly as jolly as St. Nick. After a show of strength, Cooter would take control. However, he would miss a top rope attack only to turn the tides as Rapido would defeat the dastardly redneck with a top rope slam. The match was 3:40 in duration.

Scotley Crue vs Jose Suervo. Scotley entered first, tossing Milk Bones at the crowd, and even spitting some from his mouth at them. He then cut a scathing promo. Suervo enters by flipping off the top rope with a taco in hand!

This was awesome! Scotley has none of it, as he attacks, landing a suplex spilling said taco.  The two go back and forth briefly, which culminates to Jose hitting a crossbody onto Crue on the outside of the ring. Suervo capitalizes on this attack by returning to the ring, and winning via count out on Scotley Crue in 3:15 minutes.

Scotley is enraged by his loss (mp3), and gets on the microphone and engages in a battle of words with Doc Knight. He demands another match, so a challenge is issued that if Crue can find a tag team partner, he can face Los Blanco Fuego Dragons. Scotley is joined by The Slammer.

Scotley Crue and The Slammer (Crue Sexual Nightmares) vs Los Blanco Fuego Dragons. This was a fantastic bout, and it ran for about 11:30 minutes. The story told was one of solidarity between teams. The Dragons are a unit, whereas Scotley and The Slammer seem to have their own agendas. After much fantastic feats of strength by The Slammer, and acrobatic athleticism by Crue and The Dragons, The Slammer dangled a Dragon with feet upon the top turnbuckle, he slammed him into the mat. Crue immediately tagged himself in, and stole the pin fall victory from his partner. Then like the smarmy heel he is, Crue selfishly implied he was the reason the team won. (mp3) Great match!

CAM!!ikaze vs Andrew Hawk (with the OSW Title on the line). The two both cut promos, and do a fine job. Hawk wants a title shot, but is cowardly trying to dodge tonight’s match, claiming he is ill. The angers Doc Knight, who asks the people to wait for a couple minutes to see if he and Dynamite Dan can come up with a solution. This match is considered null and void. (mp3)

But the solution to this ordeal, I assure you, made me smile. People who know my wrestling tastes would tell you my two favorite things about professional wrestling are high flying and battle royals. Doc announces that we are to have a Battle Royal! Last Man Standing takes the title! (mp3)

The Battle Royal begins with CAM!!ikaze in the ring as Scotley and Cooter run out immediately. Scotley is immediately tossed out, only to be followed shortly after by Cooter!

The action settles down for a little while as the remaining wrestlers splinter off into separate sections of the ring. Slowly but surely, more luchas are sent flying over the ring and are eliminated upon reaching the floor. But not without a valiant effort and numerous teases. Our final four come down to The Slammer, Jose Suervo, Andrew Hawk and CAM!!ikaze. The former two are the next two eliminated leaving us with our originally billed match up of Hawk and ‘Kaze! The two battle for minutes, teasing near eliminations and demonstrating to the now feverish crowd why Original Stampede Wrestling is back! Ultimately, after about 9:02 minutes, Hawk eliminates CAM!!ikaze!

Hawk parades around under the belief that he has won the title, only to be corrected by Doc Knight who refuses to give him the belt. Hawk had his opportunity tonight already to a one on one match, and had backed out. Knight informs Hawk that if he agrees to participate in said match tonight, he will win the title (and get his pay cheque). Hawk reluctantly agrees. (mp3)

CAM!!Kaze vs Andrew Hawk (with the OSW Title on the line). For real this time! This lasts a mere thirty seconds at best, and CAM!!Kaze rolls up Hawk to capture the title! This leaves the crowd happy, full of tacos, cold beer, and a good guy champion. (mp3)

Afterwards, the lucha libre wrestlers come out to celebrate with ‘Kaze to bring the show to a close. Doc thanks the crowd along with Dynamite Dan… and then announces a very special guest. It’s Teddy Hart (with Mr. Money)! Teddy thanks the people of Calgary for their patience and respect of the legacy of the Hart family’s contributions to the city. He notes big things are on their way for 2014 and Original Stampede Wrestling.

All in all, I had a blast. This was one of the hottest tickets in town, and I had the privilege to come down with my team to help cover this event (all of which are true independent wrestling fans). This is something that always needs to be supported, and for this child of the eighties, I am fully endorsing the promotion. STAMPEDE WRESTLING IS BACK!

The post Original Stampede Wrestling Invades Taco or No Taco appeared first on BoredWrestlingFan.com.

Dark match: Dax Daring & Dave Dunnings vs. Regrub & “The Left Hand of God” Matt Andrews w/Kyle Valo

Dunnings was looking a little trimmer. The crowd loved Dax as always. I believe this is the first time I have heard Matt Andrews described as “The Left Hand of God.” Mother Ruff leaned over to me and asked, “Does his hand still hurt?” I still think that woman needs a wrestling podcast. She would put Colt Cabana to shame. It was a nice, short match. It warmed up the crowd, and Dunnings looked back in good condition.

Winner: Regrub & Andrews

We opened up with the actual “live portion” of the night. “The Crowd Killer” James Hawke was getting more of a reaction. But the true measure of a wrestler is not what you get the front row to do. It’s what you get the back row to do. Jiggle-O James Johnson came out first and then was promptly interrupted by Kanoa. There was some good comedy going on, but I’m confused with the direction they’re taking Kanoa. He’s no longer making sense with his promos. He called out Frankie Fisher who came out and they had a stare-down. Then Jerome Daniels came out to join the three-person staredown. I would have loved to see them build up towards a Triple Threat match. Jiggle-O cut a great motivational promo. I think I would like to call up Jiggle-O when I’m at work and hear him give me motivational speeches.

First match: Tad Wylde (c) vs. Glamour Hammer

I think Glamour Hammer’s big title shot might have been a little too premature. The outcome of this match was killed for me when Nobe Bryant came out and said he was still looking for a tag team partner. Obviously heel Nobe isn’t going to be feuding with heel Glamour Hammer. Ben Wylde’s outfit looks like something out of my nightmares. He had a hard time keeping both cheeks in the tights and was more embarrassing than anything. That being said, I think that Glamour Hammer is doing some really innovative things and should really be on more radars. As soon as they get some more matches under their belt, they should be ready to start branching out from just MPX. Also to me, one of the highlights of the night was Tadlock doing a springboard moonsault. I found myself being caught up in the match.

Winner: Tad Wylde

Nobe Bryant came back in with his new tag team partner-Kenny Steele. This is brilliant for so many reasons. Nobe has so much to teach Kenny, both from a storyline standpoint and from a “behind the scenes” standpoint. With one quick segment, I had a reason to care about Kenny once again.

Second match: Zero the Antihero vs. Gregory James

I has streamer duty as did Mother Ruff. She was quite excited that her streamers made it into the ring. The crowd loves Zero as always. There was a “Level up” chant for him. He got to do all his crazy video game spots. Greg is now evil and very deep into his character. He and Zero played a strong “good vs. evil” dynamic. At first I thought it was going to be the usual match where Zero gets killed and sells. Greg gave him more offense than usual. Zero looked pretty good during this match and looked like it wouldn’t be a fluke if he won. I noticed something during this match. The crowd is so invested in Zero that every move, the crowd reacted to, one way or another.

Winner: Gregory James

We had a vignette with Kristopher Haiden talking about how Franco D’Angelo had a setback. Haiden was ridiculing him for being old and crippled. Joe Angelo Garcia got in Haiden’s face as D’Angelo was a mentor of sorts. Looks like we’re setting up a Haiden-Garcia feud.

Third match: Athena vs. Livi La Vida Loca

Usually I just tell you what I think. But thanks to joining the 21st century and now having a smartphone, I bring you the entire match.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gU2MsG6Ra4Q]

Now onto my thoughts on the match. Athena was spectacular as always. What I thought was interesting was that the crowd seemed to be favoring Livi. The thing about the MPX crowd is that a lot of them just watch MPX and maybe the WWE and TNA. They don’t know that Athena is one of the best unsigned women on the independent scene. They don’t know that the woman calls herself a goddess but is treated like a goddess wherever she wrestles. They didn’t know that a prestigious wrestling promotion took in more than $50o in a campaign just to fly to her wrestle for them.  They knew Livi. Livi was who they wanted to cheer for. Athena won for chop of the night. She also won what was a match between two athletic gymnast types.

Winner: Athena

Fourth match: Li Fang w/Nigel Rabid vs. Kanoa

This whole segment was all kinds of crazy and confusing. Kanoa made no sense in what he said last night and at one point said just the word “pudding” which prompted “Pudding” chants the rest of the night. I can only guess that he is doing the Perry Saturn thing where he has taken too many chair shots. (Please no return of Moppy.) We did have some pretty good action and lots of stiff kicks. At one point Kanoa began to no-sell. I didn’t like that. People who should be able to no-sell in MPX: Lance Hoyt. That’s it. I think Li was killed in this match. We did have some funny stuff with Nigel. Kanoa should not be invincible, and that’s how he came across. Li looked like a high school football team playing the New England Patriots.

Winner: Kanoa

During the intermission, they made a huge announcement: Indy journeyman legend Colt Cabana will be appearing in MPX on Feb. 23. There will definitely be “Mark Out Face” aplenty that night.

Fifth match: Frankie Fisher vs. Jerome Daniels

This was one of last year’s hottest feuds. Frankie and Jerome had such great chemistry. When Jerome is out there, he isn’t just a guy wrestling his match. He is one with the crowd and knows exactly what they need. This one told a story. It was about Frankie trying to prove that he had the heart and desire to be strong enough. When Jerome felt the crowd slipping, he reached out to them and got them back emotionally engaged in the story. It was a strong, powerful match that told a great story.

Winner: Frankie

One of the best matches I’ve seen both have. And dare I spoil it, but this is an early Match of the Year contender.

Sixth match: Mike Foxx w/Kyle Davis vs. Steven Kirby in a #1 Contender’s match

This match was a painful reminder how real wrestling can be. There was some really good intensity here in this match. I’m not sure if it was storyline or not, but Kirby’s knee went out several times. Foxx spent the rest of that match working over the knee. The great thing about Kirby is that he never forgets he’s in front of a live crowd. He kept the crowd engaged and in it. The match ended with some great drama. Foxx had Kirby in a Boston Crab. He had to work it over for about 2 minutes before Kirby tapped out.

Winner and #1 contender: Foxx

I am very much looking forward to the Foxx-Barrett Brown match. If they do it right, it could be epic and a passing of the torch, much like Chris Adams did for Foxx more than a decade before.

Main event: Barrett Brown (c) vs. Kristopher Haiden

If I’ve said this before, I apologize. But these two remind me of wrestlers with similar body shapes who always had good chemistry-Rey Misterio Jr. and Kurt Angle. Both guys on paper don’t look like they should gel but they somehow do. Barrett is over like crazy with the crowd and Haiden is equally hated. I just sat back and watched these two guys do their thing. It was a strong title defense that made Barrett look strong yet Haiden lost nothing.

Winner: Barrett

After the match, The Following came out to attack Barrett. Joe Garcia came out to take care of Haiden. A bunch of the boys from the back came out to do a pull-apart with Barrett & Gregory James.

All in all… It was a tough night health-wise. There was one severe injury and I’m sure there were probably a few others. Jerome-Frankie was great. Kirby-Foxx, Zero-Greg, Livi-Athena, Barrett-Haiden were all pretty good. There were a few segments I could have done without. There is some really strong build-up. I am excited about the direction they are taking with the title.

Here’s to hoping 2013 will be a banner year.

To follow me on Twitter, click here. For Facebook, click here.

The post MPX 1-12-13-When Haiden Met Brown appeared first on BoredWrestlingFan.com.

Dark match: Dax Daring vs. Steven Kirby

I was a little confused at first. Who was I supposed to go for? When I say “A Star is Born” I think that was the theme throughout the night.  However, mostly I refer to Daring. He looked great in this match. He had a certain methodical intricacy to his moves. The first time I saw him, he served as a backdrop to Kanoa. The other time I saw him I was ring announcer and had no idea of what was going on in the ring. Tonight was his chance to shine, and boy did he. Later on in the night, he had the whole crowd chanting he was awesome.

Winner: Kirby

I wrote down this is the greatest dark match I’ve ever seen. After the match, Steven grabbed the mic and had the people give it up for Dax. Then Kenny Steele came in the ring and attacked Dax. Before you knew it, Kanoa & Mike Foxx were in there attacking Kirby. And as if Liam Neeson had said it himself, they released the Murdoch. Kyle Valo came out and announced there was going to be a 6-man.

First match: Zero the Antihero vs. Andy Dalton

Zero is crazy over. He’s never won a match. He’s our underdog. We want to see him win but never do. He cut a promo on his video-gaming. I had no idea what he was talking about. Andy Dalton is on fire here. The previous show, he had what I’m calling the match of the year so far. And tonight he was on fire. Zero & Dalton clicked. I saw a lot from Dalton tonight. As a heel, he kept the crowd in it. I like it when a heel encourages the crowd to keep cheering for their favorite.

Winner: Dalton

We were treated with an appearance from Franco D’Angelo. I feel bad for him because the crowd didn’t know who he was. I’ve followed his story of the awful car wreck and then his miraculous recovery. The fact the man was breathing, much less standing in the ring, much less planning a return to the ring, was great. What I give him credit for is changing the flow of his promo to where the crowd was behind him. And if I may take a moment, welcome back, Mr. D’Angelo.

Second match: Jordynne Grace vs. Claudia

Claudia is insane over with the crowd. This was my first time to see Grace as a heel. My previous match I’d kinda seen her in was a 3-way match where she was kind of the tweener. I like her work. The match was pretty decent. The crowd was in it the whole time, engaged. Just like Athena (who was in the crowd) is becoming the new “It girl” on the national stage, I think Grace is becoming a new “It girl” in Texas. Everything clicked well and the crowd stayed in it.

Winner: Claudia

MPX needs more women’s wrestling, and they have a perfect person to build their division around who is always in the crowd. There are some great name in Texas to bring in: Barbi Hayden, Miss Diss Lexia,   Rachel Summerlyn, Reyna Pink, Starr Venus (who is one of the legit nicest people I’ve ever met in wrestling) & Angel Blue. And there are some great names on a national stage I’d love to see come in: Jessicka Havoc, Allysin Kay, Mia Yim, Veda Scott, Marti Belle.

Third match: The Modern Movement vs. Regrub & Matt Andrews w/The Following

This was another match where everything seemed to be firing on all cylinders. Regrub was pretty good with the live crowd. And Andrews is so committed to his character. Regrub & Andrews wrestled good, smart tag team wrestling. And then there was TMM. They are such a good tag team. And I can’t help but feel that when I watch those two wrestle, that I am watching something on the verge of something special. This was such an emotional match, I kept finding myself caught up in the emotion. After 16 years of watching wrestling, not a lot catches me up in my emotions. The match ended when Carrion Arcane walked out and grabbed Kate and took her to the back. Greg of TMM was distracted and Choice got the pin.

Winner: Choice & Regrub

After the intermission, Arcane and Kyle Valo walked out with Kate being led in chains. Since Kate had not pre-approved her outfit, she had a new outfit to wear. It was Princess Leia’s bikini. In the world of “Pic or it didn’t happen,” here is visual proof.

Fourth match: Dax Daring, Steven Kirby & Scott Murdoch vs. Kanoa, Mike Foxx & Kenny Steele

Kanoa & Foxx started before their match with promos. They were going to humiliate the derby girls. The derby girls have become ours now. You don’t mess with them. Kenny took a lot of punishment in this match taking the chops of the night which went to Scott Murdoch. Every time I see Kanoa, I see more and more from him. But the real star of the night was Dax. He had such a great showing. He’s flashy and the crowd was chanting, “Dax is awesome.” During those two matches, Dax went from “Hey, it’s that one guy” to a full-fledged star. Kenny won the match with the Snow Plow.

Winner: Kanoa, Foxx & Steele

Fifth match: Viktor Tadlock vs. Joshua City vs. Danny Saint vs. Carrion Arcane vs. Frankie Fisher vs. Ben Wylde

Last night, I heard one of the competitors refer to this match as a cluster. There were some parts of it that came off as a cluster. But the match itself wasn’t one. Instead of a cluster, I will say “complicated” & “multi-layered.” They did the plancha onto 7 guys with Frankie which looked pretty cool. I hate it when every match has this on the card. But only once per match makes the move seem special, which it did. I see a lot of potential to this Joshua City. He has  a lot of natural charisma and some X-factor stuff you can’t teach. The more I watch Arcane, the more of an unsung hero I see him being. The drama to end the match was great. Saint had Arcane in an arm hold and they milked it.

Winner: Saint

After Saint won, there was a great face-off with Steele. I am now sold on their match. The main event was supposed to be Kristopher Haiden and Matt Palmer in a rematch of the last show where Haiden snuck in to win the title. Haiden walked out wearing his Smackdown suit. Then he announced he had the night off. Instead of the title match we thought we were going to get, we got Matt Palmer vs. Andy Dalton.

Main event: Matt Palmer vs. Andy Dalton

Matt Palmer. Andy Dalton. That is all. You had the two guys deliver an epic match. With one match, Dalton elevated himself in a whole other category. He established himself as an elite heel in this company. This match was filled with near-falls. The story was that Haiden was doing commentary and kept on getting frustrated by Dalton’s inability to beat Palmer. Eventually Haiden went in and interfered.

Winner by dq: Palmer

All in all… A very strong outing from the MPX locker room. Between Dax Daring, Kanoa, Jordynne Grace & Andy Dalton, we are witnessing some very fresh faces doing some great stuff. If you have any of those 4 showing up near you, it is definitely worth watching. It had the right dose of comedy (Kate’s bikini) and drama and intensity. This was a great wrestling product.

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The post MPX-A Star is Born 9-22-2012 appeared first on BoredWrestlingFan.com.

First match: Frankie Fisher & Steven Kirby vs. Joe Angelo Garcia & JD Kros

I was quite pleased with Frankie’s work as a face. To me, Frankie is one of the most natural heels I’ve ever seen. But he does the babyface quite nicely. Steven has so much enthusiasm and natural charisma. Between him and Frankie, they both are great pros at listening to the crowd and reacting. It was Garcia’s first match so he gets immunity on his in-ring work. He looked professional and had a nice look. The crowd decided he looked like Mark Wahlberg, but I thought he looked more like Adam from HBO’s hit show “Girls.” The major thing is if you are a heel, tell your family to boo you. This is pretty much Heel 101. The match itself was fun and the crowd was into it. I didn’t see any botches or anything.

Winner: Kirby & Fisher

Kirby & Fisher have good chemistry together. Garcia walked back like nothing had happened. Sell, sell, sell.

Second match: Danny Saint w/Claudia vs. Kenny Steele

It took the crowd a little bit to warm up with this match. Saint is a good person to pair Steele with. I think he will be good for building up Steele and giving him legit experience. The crowd was weird during this match. They seemed to not care about the chain wrestling/catch-as-catch-can stuff. I liked Claudia in her role with the dynamic she added. At one point Saint had him in a Boston Crab and the crowd was riveted.

Winner: Steele

Since this was the first time these two had wrestled, it’s hard to build up a chemistry naturally. Andy Dalton came out without music. Dalton was ON FIRE with his promo. He called Kate Carroll (the heart and soul of the company) every name one could call a lady in a PG world. Out came Kate’s boyfriend, Gregory James, to defend her honor. They play Macho-Elizabeth so well. Greg and Dalton traded some pretty intense promos. Dalton’s dad was brought up. I wanted more of the dueling promos, not from the dueling promos, which I think is pretty nice praise.

Third match: Kristopher Haiden vs. Barrett Brown

Well, according to Kyle Valo’s rules, Barrett could not go off the top rope or do anything outside the ring. Barrett might have well been tied with both hands behind his back. I was really impressed by what I saw by both of these guys. The momentum was good. I was able to see Barrett have another type of match. Based on in-ring work alone, (aka, no car hood) this is one of the best matches I’ve ever seen Haiden have. The ref was knocked out and when he came to, Barrett was outside the ring at Haiden’s hands. (I think. The night was difficult for me to take notes). Haiden convinced him that Barrett was cheating and the ref disqualified him.

Winner: Haiden

I hated this finish. I hate it any time in wrestling somebody decides to do this. I hated it when Kevin Nash did this on Sid at Starrcade. In football, if you tell a ref there was pass interference, he doesn’t just throw the flag like an idiot. It was insultingly bad.

Fourth match: Andy Dalton vs. “Headbanger” Gregory James in best of 3 falls

Wow. These two guys really brought it. Both guys were firing on all cylinders. There was really nice back-and-forth. I gotta admit I didn’t take too many notes as my chair ripped during the last match and I was standing and it was hard to take notes. Dalton won the first fall. The back-and-forth continued. There was a DDT onto the ring apron that was insane to take by Dalton. Greg went back into the ring and there was a countout. The referee was going to do another 10-count. Dalton crawled back in at 9 and a half. He was also showing off a bloody forehead. And then the match got more stiff and more brutal. There were near-falls galore. But Greg came away with the win.

Winner: Gregory James

If you do not know the name Gregory James, learn it. This is my choice for “Match of the Year” so far. The crowd was into it, there were lots of near-falls and blood happened. I would have just liked to see this match have maybe a month or two more build-up. Zero the Antihero came out, and talked about how he’d never won a match. He was ready to finally win a match. It was easy to see his influence when he sat down legs crossed in the ring. He did a great job of listening to the crowd and cutting a promo in his character. The crowd loves Zero. I think one of the reasons why is that he’s a video game geek and has that connection with the crowd. Zero and Kyle Valo had a dueling promos segment. The crowd loved it. Valo made a match with Zero and James Hawke.

Fourth match: Zero the Antihero vs. James Hawke

I think I’m about to call Hawke “The Crowd-Killer.” I keep on trying to rack my brain on what it is that cools a hot crowd quite like he does. I guess it’s that they just don’t buy him. What I would have him do is take a few months off and then come back fresh. We are at a point where they are shoving him down our throats and with every shove, it makes him harder to come back and the audience care about him. The actual match itself was fine. The two meshed well together. The crowd even popped for the Mortal Kombat spot. Zero looked unable to compete and Frankie came out to his rescue. Kyle Valo ruled him unable to compete.

Winner: Hawke

Fifth match: Kanoa vs. Scott Murdoch w/ Steven Kirby

I’m really liking what I see from Kanoa. You can also tell Murdoch has been working on his physique. Kanoa did a lot of bumping and sold like crazy. Murdoch has a lot of commitment behind his moves. I really like this new chapter of Murdoch’s work here. He is very focused and really brings it. He and Kanoa clicked really well.

Winner: Murdoch

Sixth match: Asian Nation (c) w/Nigel Rabid vs. Tad Wylde

Both teams have connected with the crowd. Tad Wylde is great for the crowd, and the Asian Nation is equally good at keeping them engaged. One thing that I love about Li Fang of the Asian Nation is that his face is so expressive that he doesn’t have to say much. And when he does, it’s in Chinese (or a foreign language I don’t recognize) so it keeps the crowd hating him (because Heel 101 says to speak in a foreign language). One of my favorite spots of the year was Ben Wylde giving “Just” James Johnson what looked like an Atomic Wedgie. It was so entertaining. There was another really awesome looking spot with Wylde doing a double suplex with both members of the Asian Nation. The finish came with Johnson doing his finish on Li by mistake.

Winner: Tad Wylde

I’ve watched Ben Wylde from the beginning of his career, so it’s nice to see how far he’s come. He’s worked really hard to make it to this place. After the match, the Asian Nation were in the ring and Kyle Valo verbally berated them on the mic. Johnson began to fire back on his mic. I dare call Johnson one of the best on the mic in MPX. He kept on going on the mic that he didn’t notice that Li & Nigel had both left the ring. When Johnson turned around to call on their support, Li was standing right at the curtain. He bowed and left. It reminded me of what St. Francis of Assisi once said- “Cut your promo. And if necessary-use words.” (Maybe St. Francis said “Preach the gospel” instead of “Cut your promo” but you get the gist.)

Main event: Matt Palmer (c) vs. The Following in a Gauntlet Match

Palmer was total bumping machine in this match. First up was Matt Andrews. While their match was short, the actual wrestling part of it was very nice. Choice suffered victim to Palmer’s signature maneuver. Then in next was Regrub. Palmer bumped and sold more.  Regrub stopped during his match and pointed me out. So in response, Hi, back to you, Regrub. And then Palmer made pretty short work of Regrub. Then it was between Palmer and Carrion Arcane. Palmer still had no quit in him. Arcane is such a professional and carries so much intensity in and out of the ring. Palmer had Arcane in a submission hold and they just worked the drama. I loved what they did there with the hold.

Winner: Palmer (or so we thought)

After witnessing the carnage and retaining, Kristopher Haiden came out and did a clothesline that best I can figure out, decapitated Palmer. Kyle Valo counted to 3 for Haiden to get the win and win the title from Palmer.

All in all… As a matter of full disclosure, my sister- and brother-in-law are very close to Haiden and his girlfriend. Haiden was usher at her wedding. He’s also the person telling me about this new place he had just started wrestling at 2 years ago, which was MPX. I also thought it was rather odd that he’s been wrestling forever and this was the first time I’d ever seen his parents there. So forgive me for a moment when I say to Haiden congratulations. You have worked your tail off for the past few years. You not only have worked on your game, but you’ve helped make those around you better. You truly deserve this moment.

The reason for my personal disclosure is that I am excited with the direction they can go with Haiden on top. There’s a lot of really credible challengers waiting for him: Greg, Barrett, Frankie, Kirby, Johnson. A lot of feuds were blown off tonight, and some new directions were introduced. Oh, and Jerry Lynn on November 10th.

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photo courtesy of Staci Brown

The post MPX-The Era of Kyle Begins-9-8-12 appeared first on BoredWrestlingFan.com.

It took me a while to sit down and get my bearings. I sat down just in time to see the intros. Kate looked gorgeous and leggy as usual. We were treated to the title match being first.

First match: Frankie Fisher (c) vs. Matt Palmer

The match started, Matt did his finisher on Frankie and pinned him in Sheamus/Daniel Bryan time.

Winner, and new champion: Matt Palmer

Then Frankie started complaining and they restarted the match. I yelled out, “Dusty Finish” (and I usually try not to get involved).  However, they did the exact same thing and Palmer walked out as champion. If you read my writing, you know I’m a huge Matt Palmer fan. Having him as champ adds a certain credibility outside the company. If you do not know the name Matt Palmer, please learn it.

I’m a little mixed on the next segment. There was a trivia contest between the two members of Tad Wylde and the Asian Nation. The build-up was a little different than Guy A beats up Guy B. So it was refreshing that the creative team is trying out new things. However, as I go into cranky old white man mode, I do not go to pro wrestling to watch trivia contests. But they had a little girl come in and clinch the trivia contest. It was about the kids and that’s what mattered.

Second match: James Hawke vs. BC

Hawke is beginning to get a bigger crowd reaction. And BC is great. He understands the crowd and has so much charisma. He has no character; he is just himself. I liked the decision of putting BC here in this match, because as a heel, all you have to be is contrary to him. The work looked a little clunky in places. But BC’s role was to make Hawke look good, and that went well.

Winner: Hawke

They showed a video of Haiden attacking Barrett Brown. Best I can figure out, somebody needs to call the police.

Third match: Kanoa vs. Steven Kirby in a Lumberjill Match

This match was joined by special guests: The North Texas Derby Revolution, whom can be found here. Between the Europa Expo and MPX, they are on an all-out publicity blitz. The match was Kanoa fighting Kirby with the ladies of the derby skating around the ring. Steven Kirby, formerly known as WASP, is going through a transition to being himself. His “self” is apparently very Irish-American. Kanoa showed a little bit of his comedic range. My only thing is was this out of character for him? But the match was pretty decent. When Kanoa got knocked out of the ring, the derby girls would make sure to hit him as they skated by. My major complaint was that this match did not fit the intensity their current feud. It was a showcase for the girls and might have better fit Tad Wylde facing a tag team. I’m not sure who else I would have put in the match with the roller girls. It’s like watching an episode of Mad Men and then one episode of Mad Men is the Harlem Globetrotters playing the Washington Generals. There were some stiff chops and some good work. Mike Foxx interfered followed by Scott Murdoch to force it into a “No contest.”

Winner: No Contest

Everybody wanted it to be a tag team match. I’m glad that it didn’t. They are willing to wait and let the story play out naturally.

Fourth match: $Payday$ (c) vs. Kenny Steele for the Prospects Championship in a Last Man Standing Match

This was a big blow-off to their feud. The guys really brought it in their intensity. They beat the living s*** out of each other. $Payday$ got his first ever “That was awesome” chant with his moonsault off the ring apron onto Kenny. They brawled and ended up at the tires for the crossfit training. Kenny put $Payday$ in the tire and rolled him back to the ring. One thing I liked is that $Payday$ was able to have a different type of match, yet he still found a way to include his athleticism in it. There was a sunset flip onto the ladder that drew $Payday$’s 2nd “That was awesome” chant of the night. At another point there was a spinebuster onto a ladder. For the finish, Kenny did a powerbomb onto the crossfit tire. That drew a first for me: a heel getting a “That was awesome” chant.

Winner, and new Prospects champion: Kenny Steele

For both guys fighting their first Last Man Standing Match, it was a pretty good brawl. I would have liked to seen more drama and focus on winning the match. But end to a very nice feud.

Fifth match: Scott Murdoch vs. Mike Foxx

I love that Mike Foxx is being used as a gatekeeper to build the next generation. I loved Murdoch’s intensity and focus. It was almost Lesnar-like. Foxx had his patented scowl. The first time these two met together, it somewhat lacked in the intangibles. This match did not. Both were firing on all cylinders. There were some chops where I was pretty sure somebody was going to get decapitated. It ended when Kanoa came back in followed by Kirby.

Winner: No contest

Really loving the feud going on with these four. As part of the main event, Zero the Antihero came out and asked to be on the main event team. Now if Mike Dolenz did not have a team ready, should have really been deserving of staying GM? Haiden walked out and beat up Zero, incapacitating him. Since Headbanger and Saint came out to Zero’s rescue, they were asked to be part of his team.

Main event: Gregory James, Danny Saint, Claudia & Frankie Fisher vs. Kristopher Haiden, Matt “The Choice” Andrews, Regrub & Carrion Arcane in an elimination match for control of the company for 90 days:

I was surprised by the choice of Claudia, but it made sense. Frankie didn’t. He had just lost the title. Why was he out there seemed to be a little off to me. This was perhaps one of the top matches of the night for me. There were lots of complex stories going on here. Claudia held her own and even pinned Choice. She also did a moonsault on Regrub earning a “That was awesome” chant. Frankie looked good in the match and even got some chants. I liked how even though he was on the face team, he still wrestled like a heel. It ended up with the last two being Greg & Arcane. Haiden, who had just been eliminated, attacked Mike Dolenz with a chair. It distracted Greg enough to where Arcane was able to get the pin.

Winner: Arcane

Being that he won control of the company, Kyle Valo took the mic and  announced the changes that would be happening.

All in all… I’m liking Valo taking over as lead of the company. He’s better on the mic and entertains the heck out of me. I liked the $Payday$-Steele match. I loved the crossover of the derby girls (my kind of eye candy), even if it didn’t make sense in the bigger picture. And of course Matt Palmer being champion means nothing but good things. Not everything clicked, but they are focused and concentrating on letting the stories play out naturally rather than giving us too much too early. I am very intrigued to see where they go from here.

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The post MPX Back to School-August 18, 2012 appeared first on BoredWrestlingFan.com.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoc6i1HzBEI[/youtube]

The King tells us “To get this thing going, c’mon everybody!” Okay scarecrow. 1600 was murdered by Dread in episode 3. But his teenage growth allows him to come back for more. Or guts? PW3 enters with “Liz” who confronted Stone last week. Being a heel, PW3 jumps the pencil necked geek but also learns there is a little fight in the kid. The rookie gets to surprise the “veteran” with a number of spots only to be punished throughout the bout to start. PW3 gets angry, and finally takes off his pre-match gear utilizing the jacket to choke out the kid! The story continues, as the two deliver a fantastic story and decent match. The kid fights… but PW3 chooses to allow his girl to be a human shield, and PW3 wins. The kid almost won. Great match. Two thumbs up!

Post match, PW3 gets in the camera and tells his twin Buck to get out of town (i.e. Stone). Ryu vs. Ken is far from over.

After Luther is tired of waiting to fight again. Hayashi is angry too and wants to call his shots like Babe Ruth. Dread hurts people. Stone is PW3’s brother, but doesn’t care about that or the Liz character. He tells us he will fight Blade next week.

Loving the series! Two thumbs up!

The post 1600 vs. PW3 – The Underground Ep. 5 review. appeared first on BoredWrestlingFan.com.

This is not a meme. The dude’s name is “Jobs.” Gamer rage is awesome!

Epidode 3 kicks off, reminding us via clips about PW3 w/Liz watching Stone beating down his opponent, Luther, as his Buck Brother looks on. Ryu vs Ken. Anyways, 1600 is sold as a newcomer (that doesn’t look like a fighter) and Dread is a classic. Dread looks like he is 15 at best, though. Certainly not 412 years old. “Look at this kid!” says random announcer, “This guy’s a wrestler?!??”

– We get a cool, but cliche “David vs. Goliath” match here as the teenager is manhandled by the man. But it also serves to build up a Dread as a heel who destroys the baby face. The match looks to be completely over as Dread leaves, and the crowd claps for the kid making it out on his own accord… BUT NO! Dread returns to manhandle him some more? Unlike the usual WWE recycling, this is a fresh take on the normal angle. The crowd gets even more excited as 1600 makes his way to the back… sewing some seeds for a rematch down the line. 1600 is seen backstage talking to Hyashi, then some dude named “Blades” shows up and tells him he debuts next week and walks off… Hyashi calls him a tool…

Episode 3: Dread vs 1600.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4QqvUWZvLs[/youtube]

– Since Steve Jobs is dead, it’s kind of hard to bet against Blades theoretically. He’s a tool, which is better than being dead. Unless zombies are involved in this version of wrestling, which is possible. The Katz project has already tossed a bunch of cliches out the window after all. OH NO, THE AUDIENCE IS FAKE TOO? LOL.

– Stone and Liz have some words backstage about being previous couple. PW3 of course will be mad at this, but Stone needs no protection from him… what about protection from her? Hmm? Hit the intro, where’s the scrawny host at?

– Jobs cuts a promo about innovation with technology, and the like, and once in a while something like the iPhone, etc., comes around like The Underground. Clever, cheesy, but still clever. Match time… Blades is heavily booed in post production. But Jobs is named after a dead guy and wrestlers who lose… so… Blades is sold as a guy here only to hurt people and not concerned with winning money or controlling the Underground, while Jobs is cerebral and all about business. The match is actually very good. It’s a very close match and a questionable referee count has Jobs screaming at the end about his case that it was a 2 count, and goes Captain Charisma a la 2002-3 with a temper tantrum! HA HA!! The announcer thinks it was a 3 count… only one way to decide for yourself. Hit the video below, smarks.

Episode 4: Steve Jobs vs. Blades.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhihPQJlBnY[/youtube]

Post match, PW3 and Stone have a backstage discussion. PW3 is the older brother who stole Stone’s girlfriend Liz away from him. Ryu/Ken continues, I guess.

The post The Underground Episodes 3 & 4: Wrestling You’re Not Watching, Except Also For Maybe NXT… or ROH… appeared first on BoredWrestlingFan.com.

Last chance to watch without spoilers:

[youtube chlTOY80V4E]

The Young Buck Matt Jackson, is called “PW3” and is accompanied to the ring by his girlfriend/valet “Liz.” Yes, I know. Just a little too close to Randy Savage for my liking as well, but don’t let that steer you away. His opponent is Hayashi, who demonstrates his athleticism by doing numerous backflips in the ring prior PW3’s entrance. The area is littered by miscreants, thugs, punks, and their ilk. And the dark ominous vibe is an excellent touch of surreal in Katz debut episode.

PW3 is clearly a heel, and Hayashi a face in this bout. The word “FIGHT!” is super imposed upon the screen as the match kicks off, only further establishing the hybrid of fighter video game and wrestling program genre. As the exchange some catch-as-catch-can take down attempts, Young Buck Jeremy (“The Prodigal Son Stone”) is seen in the audience with blond hair and referred to as “A Blast From the Past” which PW3 will not be happy about. Something tells me this is a nod to Ryu and Ken.

The two men battle back and forth, with PW3 blowing a kiss to Liz after preventing a suicide dive from Hayashi. The soundtrack picks up, and in true form, solidifies the gaming ambiance with electronic rock building the drama. The intensity rises as both men begin to utilize power moves and high spots from the top ropes. PW3’s constant pandering to Liz continually opens up the opportunity for Hayashi to launch lethal attacks on the cocky heel. But Hayashi can not overcome the pretentiousness, as PW3 lands a super kick to finish off his foe while making love to Liz with his eyes as the referee counts three.

The show goes to “The Feed” to introduce some other competitors of the season. We meet “1600” who looks like a prepubescent high school kid (with braces? really?). But that’s his gimmick… he’s an underdog who relies on smarts and speed. Next up is another underdog, “Dread” who describes himself as a runt who has been picked on his whole life. “Jobs” is next, a confident tall fellow with a toothy grin. Yes, as in Steve Jobs, who was an innovator, and this Apple fan plans on being the same thing in The Underground. “Blades” cuts, maims and destroys people. He seems angry and determined (so a thumbs up for this guy).

After this, the host talks to Stone who was in high demand by the fans of The Underground who wanted him back. Stone will face Luther next week.

All and all, this is a great idea. The theme of gaming and wrestling, mixed with the modern technology of the internet and Youtube is brilliant. In fact, it creates a way for viewers to tune in regularly, or once in a while to immerse themselves in mini marathons of the series. While I will likely not review this program episode by episode, I will certainly tune in on a regular basis. Thumbs up!

The post The Underground Ep. 1: PW3 vs. Hayashi appeared first on BoredWrestlingFan.com.

The independent start up, started almost a year ago, as an alternative wrestling program to the current product. It has a definitive start and finish point, and is treated more like a serial rather than an ongoing program.

The show features many familiar faces such as MVP, Colt Cabana and Joey Ryan, to name a few. However, none of these performers will be in their traditional gimmicks. Instead, they will be playing unique characters as wrestlers, as combatants square off against each other in an underground tournament with the payoff being the final episode.

[youtube 2dPu26FoIz0]

The post The Underground Debuts Online Friday, June 22, 2012. appeared first on BoredWrestlingFan.com.

They opened it up with Funaki coming out to speak to the fans. He was interrupted by the Asian Nation who invited him to become a junior member. Good stuff. And of course it went into fisticuffs. I think everybody was involved except for Kate.

First match: Barrett Brown vs. Kristopher Haiden

I of course would like to congratulate Barrett on his recent graduation from high school. This kid is already one of Texas’ best and he JUST NOW graduated high school. Barrett has improved a lot over the past year. He’s adding more and more different kinds of offense into his matches. If you have never seen this guy wrestle before, go look him up on Youtube. Haiden does a great job being the bully. When it comes to being the bully, I think he’s the best in MPX and one of the best probably in Texas. He gave Barrett a clothesline from Hell and got the pin.

Winner: Haiden

Haiden asked to be announced as “The Cruiserweight Slayer.” I like Cruiserweight Crusher better. It’s alliteration. We had angry Headbanger come out because he didn’t have a match. He wanted an opponent. He was given Frankie Fisher AND Jason Silver. I liked angry Headbanger. These past few months, he has gotten to show off his range.

Second match: Tad Wylde vs. Regrub & Matt Andrews w/The Following

Masked Guy (I still haven’t figured out what his stage name is.) is looking a little skinnier. The classiest thing all night was when Tad Wylde thanked the military. What I thought could have added a nice dimension was asking all the military people to stand, but no biggie. They can do that in November. What Choice lacks in size, he makes up for in personality and commitment. He is a good storyteller and somebody you want to get over your story. Tad Wylde is a pretty good tag team. They work well and did some cool double-team moves. Ben played the face in peril very well. One of the biggest moves of the night was Tadlock doing a plancha. For those unfamiliar with Tadlock, that’s like Rhino doing a plancha. Good, fun match with Tad Wylde getting the victory.

Winner: Tad Wylde

I like how they are building up Tad Wylde.

Third match: Scott Murdoch vs. Danny Saint

I like both these guys and they were quite entertaining in this match. I’m going to love a Saint-Murdoch feud. The fans win. The chests of Saint and Murdoch do not. These guys were brutal (in a good way). I wrote down I was really happy to not be either. I also wrote down one word at one point, “Wow.” These guys really laid it on the line. I watched a DGUSA DVD yesterday that had some of the best in-ring work I’d ever seen. This was not that type of match yet still kept just as engaged in it. It was still just as intense and emotional and brutal.

Winner: Double Countout

Can we already name this MPX Feud of the Year? Kyle Davis interviewed Kanoa. “I’m going to beat people. Who’s next in line?” Not a lot of depth to it, but we’ll see where he goes from here.

Fourth match: Bling & Sting vs. Asian Nation

It was nice to see tag team wrestling that meant something. $Payday$ had a great plancha. He’s becoming more smooth and more fluid. There was good comedy. WASP & “Just” Johnson both do comedy really well. I wonder if Nigel might be a little wasted on this tag team. I think James is really good on the mic and doesn’t need any help. I do think Nigel works as an “outside-the-ring” presence. But then again, I’m not sure where you use Nigel if not with the Asian Nation. Anything that keeps Nigel in front of the crowd works for me. I wrote down that it was a fun match with lots of intricate stories. Kenny Steele walked out and stole $Payday$’s belt. $Payday$ went to tag in WASP while he was still recovering after being in the ring for a while. $Payday$ went after him. The two-on-one advantage proved to be too much for WASP.

Winner: Asian Nation

Well, with Tad Wylde, The Following, Asian Nation, Bling & Sting, a possible Cash & Carry return, Dunnings & Red, I believe, MPX, you have a tag team division.

Fifth match: Joshua City vs. Jerome Daniels

This was Joshua’s debut match so he gets “First Match Immunity.” However, I don’t know if it’s Jerome, but this was actually a pretty good match. Joshua has a lot of personality and kind of understands that it’s due-paying time. As I have learned, it’s not easy cutting your first promo. It takes something to listen to the crowd and be reacted to. I’ve seen a few debuts in MPX. Some I wish I could unsee. This is probably the best debut I’ve seen at MPX.

Winner: Jerome

Jerome is supposed to be built-up to be fighting the big match against Frankie and took a little longer than he should have to beat Joshua City, making his MPX debut. James Hawke came out after the match saying that the people were supposed to love him were booing him now. He listened to the crowd and followed them where they took him. This is the John Cena heel turn we’ve all been waiting for.

Sixth match: Nobe Bryant vs. Kanoa

I’ve had the chance to see Nobe since back in the day. The man is a great athlete and has an amazing look. Kanoa has a good arrogance to him. Both guys are really good athletes and  had some good agility for their size. Nobe tried to keep the crowd engaged (which sometimes really needs to happen with this crowd). And with respect to Murdoch and Saint, Nobe won for chop of the night. I wrote down that it was a good, decent match. Kanoa won unexpectedly.

Winner: Kanoa

Looks like they are giving Kanoa a nice push. I’m intrigued to see what he has for us.

Seventh match: Frankie Fisher (c) vs. Gregory James vs. Jason Silver

Well, who wouldn’t want to see James-Silver? I wrote down that I liked the beginning. Frankie is a good smarmy heel. There were some good dynamics. You had James and Silver who are friends but Frankie used that to his advantage. The action was very fast-paced. I was surprisingly able to keep up with most of it. Greg is becoming quite the storyteller. Storyteller + Agility = ∞ limits. Frankie submitted Jason Silver while Greg was outside the ring.

Winner: Fisher

This is definitely the strongest I have seen Frankie looked. He looked like a credible champion.

Main Event: Carrion Arcane w/The Following vs. Sho Funaki

I’m going to try to see how many times I can fit the word “Indeed” into this match. Seriously, it was fun. We had Funaki live before our crowd. Arcane got in a lot of offense. Funaki did what he did best and one of the reasons he was kept around in the WWE for so long. He sold. The match was very well laid out. After a good night of wrestling, we got to see Funaki get a pin out of nowhere.

Winner: Funaki

All in all… The night was pretty decent. The crowd was packed and lively. Some people were worried about it being BYOB for the first time. As Arcane said, “We have a Murdoch.” They left us with some nice questions. That is what a wrestling company needs to be, especially with a lot of people who normally wouldn’t be there. Special props need to go out to Daniel and Anthony the refs. These guys were active and engaged in hot weather doing a very athletic activity for several matches. Joshua had a nice debut. Murdoch and Saint tore down the house. Frankie looked like a real legitimate champion. And I do believe we have the development of a tag team division.

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We began with Kyle Davis and Kody Kox who introduced Kate. She was called the “heart and soul” of MPX. Even MPX’s naysayers say she’s great.

Kate introduced Frankie Fisher who walked out and looked intimidating and jaw-jacked with the fans. And then Jerome Daniels’ music hit. He walked out with a purpose carrying a kendo stick. He has a nice voice and cuts a nice promo. But the promo he cut tonight… I would have to put this up at the top of MPX’s greatest promos: “Just” James Johnson’s heel turn, the Haiden-LaMotta back-and-forth, the promo I cut on Kenny Steele (ok, so I threw that one in there for the fun of it). The promo centered around how he and Frankie were going to have “a moment.” It reminded me of the promo R-Truth cut on Miz on Raw in December. (“I’m going beat you up every night and unwrap this present cause Little Jimmy said it’s okay.”) But this promo was coherent and did not set black people back 20 years.

First match: Matt Palmer vs. Gregory James

Now you’re probably wondering (as was I) how in the Blue Hell this was the first match. So I spent some time thinking about this. The MPX crowd is one boring match away from dying. I believe this match was put here to wake the crowd up. Palmer has some nice new ring gear. He is also looking a little bulkier. I’m not exactly sure what I was expecting. But the match I got was very story-centered. You can’t fight the same match here that you would at Anarchy down in Austin. Palmer had some huge chops. The crowd took a while to get there but they were engaged in this match. I wrote down that there was lots of emotion in this match. And the best part about the emotion was the crescendo it took to get there. Palmer is so expressive that he carries every emotion on his sleeve.

Winner: Headbanger

After the match, they shook hands. I liked the sportsmanship. They had a cute vignette with Viktor Tadlock and Ben Wylde playing putt putt. I love them introducing different characters.

Second match: Dave Dunnings vs. Regrub w/The Following

My main goal as this match started was to not gouge out my eyes. I do like the work of Dunnings plus I get to chant “Double-D.” He’s country and I love the country element. Plus, he’s such a good character. The crowd loved him. The crowd also loved to hate The Following. Regrub did the forearm to the chest. The only problem with that is that Sheamus does it very well and very loud. At first I was expecting a squash and then it wasn’t. It kept going on a little more.

Winner: Dunnings

If Dunnings and Regrub are having a feud, that’s fine. But he’s a tag champ. I’m a stickler for protecting champs. Kyle Valo was well-received with a “Shut up, Kyle” chant.

Scott Murdoch came out to say there was no competition. He worked the live crowd well. You can always tell when somebody has experience with live crowds because he had quite the fun with them in a sadistic “kid torturing an ant with a magnifying glass” kinda way. He sat down in the chair and waited for competition. His back was turned and James Hawke snuck an attack but he did attack him from the front. It was a brutal brawl. Security had a hard time separating them. Hawke was ON FIRE. I’ve done my share of mocking him for being John Cena. This was not John Cena. One angle and MPX fixed him. WWE, why can’t you fix your Cena?

Third match: Kristopher Haiden vs. Danny Saint

One of my favorite guys to watch in wrestling is PAC. I love his high-flying, aerial moves. There were no PAC moves in this match. This was a hot feud. They weren’t fighting from the get-go. Saint crouched in the corner as Haiden walked out. Then when the bell hit, Saint was on fire. I hate it when guys have feuds and they start off with a side headlock. There was none of that here. This was a good feud match. This was simply violent. Two guys who hate each other beat the s*** out of each other. Haiden won with a clothesline from Hell.

Winner: Haiden

After the match, Haiden took the microphone and set up Haiden vs. Headbanger for the next show. During the intermission, the faces came out and mingled with the crowd. It was a good family atmosphere.

Fourth match: Viktor Tadlock vs. Ryan Gauge w/The Following

I’ve never seen Tadlock as a face and I was kinda blown away. He is quite versatile. He can do the angry heel but he can do that monster babyface too. The comparison that comes to mind is Batista, except Tadlock wants to be there and will not injure himself walking to the ring. At first Tadlock was supposed to get Arcane, but Arcane decided that Tadlock wasn’t fighting him. He was going to get Ryan Gauge. Poor Ryan. Tadlock started telling him he wanted no part of him. Gauge slapped him. So Tadlock took him to the turnbuckles and slapped his chest a little. And by little, I mean hard. He got squashed.

Winner: Tadlock

After the match, Arcane told Gauge he was out and then The Following beat on him until he was saved by Tadlock & Wylde. Do I smell a 6-man?

Fifth match: “Just” James Johnson vs. Jerome Daniels

This match had a nice enough premise. Johnson wanted the belt and why should Daniels come in and get a title shot? You can tell these two are veterans who have wrestled each other many times. There were so many “little things” and nuances these guys got right. Johnson spit or something thereby prompting a “That’s disgusting” chant. I told you it was a pretty awesome crowd. The two guys really brought it. Nigel Rabid came out and interfered in full British mode.

Winner by dq: Daniels

Li Fang came out to the rescue. Both Daniels and Johnson were laying down in the ring. Li Fang went up to the top rope. Fang should come to the rescue of Daniels, right? But he attacked Daniels, turning heel. And thus was introduced “The Asian Nation.” I’m not seeing Nigel in it yet, but I will see how it transpires.

Main event: Bling & Sting vs. Kenny Steele & Frankie Fisher

Bling and Sting ($Payday$ and WASP respectively) had matching tights so they looked like a tag team. $Payday$ tried some new moves out. While they did not come out as smoothly or fluidly as he probably would have liked, I like that he’s working on finding himself a wider repertoire. The big knock on John Cena is the “5 Moves of Doom” (or as I say about Davey Richards, the “25 Moves of Doom”). $Payday$ is not content to do the same moves in every match. And the more opportunities to try his moves in front of different crowds, the more successful he will become. One spot I think he nailed was the suplex into the Stunner. WASP was pretty strong with the crowd reaction. He kept them engaged. Somebody in the crowd (or security) started chanting “WASP is gonna kill you.” It caught on. The high moment of the match (and the night, quite frankly) was when Frankie and WASP were fighting over by the merchandise table. I couldn’t see what the move was exactly from where I was sitting but Frankie went through the table. It was a total “Holy s***” moment. It wasn’t like the Spanish announcers table at a PPV where you take bets on which match destroys the table. It was the sacred merchandise table, which is the only table MPX uses. It got a “That was awesome” chant. With those two doing that on the outside it was between Kenny and $Payday$. $Payday$ made the pin.

Winner: Bling & Sting

Frankie sold his table bump like a pro. All the fans had to walk past him on his way out.

All in all… This show was perhaps the best I have seen from MPX. Top to bottom, this was a really good show. There were about 4 good matches. Even the ones that didn’t knock my socks off weren’t bad. There was a really great promo, decent heel turn and a really awesome table spot. While still not perfect, I’m really looking forward to the major show in two weeks.

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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CH3TmsSKddk[/youtube]

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First match: Greg Anthony vs. Heath Hatton

I was really hoping for this guy, but alas, it was not. Anthony had a look and feel of one of the Texas Hangmen from WCW days. Anthony started off with a rather shrill promo. Not that it was bad, but there wasn’t a lot to differentiate him from every other wrestler out there. He would also be better-served to use his lower register for promos. He got the crowd nicely involved though. Hatton was pretty enthusiastic and made time for the fans. It seemed like it took forever for the first match to start. Hatton looks like a pretty impressive athlete. He had some nice vertical to his dropkick. Anthony wrestled a very good heel style. Hatton pulled a small package for the win.

Winner: Hatton

This was a nice opener. The crowd was engaged, and it started the night off on a high note. We had a brief interview with Stacey O’Brien. It sounded like an interview with your local sports team player, which is exactly what it should be.

Second match: Pokerface vs. Matt Cross

Pokerface has an impressive look. And is there a better heel move than coming out to Lady Gaga? And whether I like him or not, Matt Cross has got to be one of the best in-ring workers I’ve ever seen. They told a nice story of Pokerface being frustrated by Cross having an answer for every move. Pokerface eventually pulled a victory out.

Winner: Pokerface

Matt Cross is just a once-in-a-lifetime athlete and is just a sight to behold. Pokerface is very solid, though I haven’t seen “it” from him. It will be interesting to see where he goes.

Pac and Generico were interviewed backstage.

Third match: “Playboy” Paul Rose vs. Billy Hills vs. Jay Spade vs. Justice vs. Bull Bronson

I hated Rose’s look which I think is the point. It fits a heel style really well. Billy seems to be the hillbilly element. Being the Texan that I am, I love hillbilly elements. Spade is a little guy. Bull Bronson looks like a building with hair. He is announced from Tarrant County, but the announcer mispronounced it. The announcer pronounced it like “tar.” It should be pronounced like “tear” as in “tear a piece of paper.” I know that sounds little, but I live in and am from Tarrant County, Texas. It’s the little things. Justice was kind of the middle-sized guy in the match. This was a 5-man Free for All so I really have no idea what happened. Bronson is a nice monster. If you went into the biker bar, he’d be the leader of the rival gang. Spade had nice aerial moves. If this were a Ring of Honor crowd, he would have gotten a “Please don’t die” chant. Justice was sent packing pretty early. If you didn’t know he would come back out again, you have never seen wrestling before. Spade sure can bump. Bronson ended up winning.

Winner: Bronson

Of course I am the only person going for Bronson since he is from my home county.

Fourth match: Bull Bronson & Roscoe D. Harris vs. Money Makin’ Jam Boys

The announcers were asking why Bronson was coming out again. As far as I’m concerned, Bronson can be anywhere he wants to be. Harris’ gimmick is that he looks like he needs a bath. The MMJB are KC Jackson & Mississippi Madman. I’m pretty sure that the Madman has his own zip code. Mr. Zip Code makes Kevin Nash look like Usain Bolt. KC Jackson is a polar opposite so the two have a nice contrast. The more the match went on, Madman reminded me of George “The Animal” Steele sans body hair. I really found myself enjoying this match.

Winner: MMJB

I really like these two as a tag team. Colt Cabana cut a very nice promo about who he is and what he does.

Fifth match: PAC vs. El Generico

Matter of full disclosure: PAC is perhaps one of my favorite wrestlers, perhaps top 3.  I liked that the crowd had Ole chants for El Generico. There was a “That was awesome” chant about 3 minutes into the match. Insane. I can very easily call this the best match I’ve ever seen Generico have. These two are very familiar with each other. They just seemed to kind of release and do what Terry Funk described as “the dance.” I don’t use this word very often, but I dare call this a “great” match. They also earned a “This is wrestling” chant.

Winner: PAC

The fans gave a “Thank you both” chant. And I completely agree. At the beginning of Disc 2, Ax Allwardt cut a quick promo that sounded like he was lip-syncing Hulk Hogan promos. There is a “hit-by-a-car” storyline? If somebody hit me with a car, I would call the police, not wrestle them in a ring.

Sixth match: Stacey O’Brien vs. Rebecca Raze

If Sheamus ever wanted an Irish Catholic female buddy, it would be O’Brien (not because of her skin tone, just the Irish thing going). They were going to present O’Brien with a Female Wrestler of the Year award but Raze attacked her. I was very impressed with Raze’s ring style and power. I was impressed by O’Brien’s style and power too. This match turned out to be really good. O’Brien took the win with a bridge.

Winner: O’Brien

Stacey is a nice face of their women’s divison. And what guy wouldn’t love the green pleated skirt? Also, Raze is a very good heel to complement her. This was a good match I would let my daughter watch. Easily the sleeper match of the night.

Mike Masters cut a promo. I think he thought he was leading basic training.

Seventh match: Colt Cabana vs. 3G Eric Wayne

Matter of full disclosure. I’m an avid listener of the Art of Wrestling (which you can find on iTunes). He looked genuinely happy and enthusiastic to be there. I’ve never seen him “mail it in.” He did the AAA torreador spot with Wayne. Funny stuff. Nobody does comedy better than Colt. Plus I thought Wayne did a nice job of playing straight man to Colt’s comedy. It was difficult to see Wayne’s star amid Colt being Colt. But I did like his aerial style. Wayne pulled out a win with the Spicolli Driver.

Winner: Wayne

Very entertaining match, well-booked. LiveWire cut a very nice promo. He’s a good “man of the people” type guy.

Eighth match: Mike Masters vs. Kevin Hunsperger

There was a nice video package leading up to this match. It looked like they were telling a nice story. Masters had a very nice crowd reaction (of hatred). Hunsperger was allegedly making his pro wrestling debut. So he gets a mulligan. There was a story to be told and he told it very well. It wasn’t PAC-Generico, but it was still very entertaining. Masters is such a good heel, I hated him.

Winner: Hunsperger

I put this in the category of Vince-Shane Wrestlemania 17 as not the strongest technical match but really freaking entertaining. Good feel-good moments and Masters was such a vicious heel, it made the victory so sweet.

Main event: Livewire (c) vs. Ax Allwardt

The commentary was really good and made this match seem important. Livewire moves and acts like the champ. This was a brutal brawl with a lot of emotion. While this was no PAC-Generico, this was a very good brawl. There were some ref bumps, but it made sense in the context of the match. The crowd was very behind this. Livewire ended up hitting the superkick for the win.

Winner: Livewire

All in all… I thought this was a very good DVD. Was it worth the $15? Did I mention PAC vs. Generico? You also get Matt Cross & Colt Cabana. There was enough to get me to tune in, but if it takes those 4 to tune in, it’s going to take those 4 to keep on tuning in. However I found some intriguing wrestlers. I liked Livewire, Mike Masters (as a heel), KC Jackson, Mississippi Madman, Rebecca Raze and especially Stacey O’Brien (possible swoon). All a company needs is a few fascinating characters and a few intriguing storylines.

The biggest strength by far is the crowd. They were genuinely happy to be there and were ready for a wrestling show. The wrestlers also had a lot of enthusiasm and looked like they were happy to be there. The commentary was also really good and helped to put over their talent really well.

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First match: Zach T. w/BC & Viktor Tadlock w/Claudia vs. Li Fang & Seph Annunaki w/James Hawke

As you can tell, this thing was totally on sensory overload. Seph had a much improved ring presence and was a lot more polished in the ring this week. To me, the highlight of the match was Machiko walking out to ringside (*swoon*) and observing yet again. I like Li Fang’s style. He incorporates a certain martial arts style that makes him unique. Unfortunately for the wrestlers the crowd was dead. There was a lot going on outside the ring that I think took away from the match inside the ring. Seph lost when he got CLOCKED by Zach T.

Winner: Zach & Tadlock

Second match: Danny Saint w/Kristopher Haiden vs. Regrub w/Team Kyle

I liked the build-up they are giving the Haiden/Saint vs. Team Kyle tag match. Saint has a great look and, especially with the head shaved, he looks like a wrestler you would see on Raw (hint, hint, WWE). I have seen these two have some not-so-good matches. I thought this one was pretty decent. Regrub had a botch, but I thought the wrestlers played it off pretty well. Choice went over and told him to focus. Then he botched again and Saint put him in a submission hold and Regrub tapped out.

Winner: Saint

There was a brief vignette where Murdoch threatened Barrett Brown in the back. Short and painless.

Third match: $Payday$ vs. Kenny Steele

It has been fun to watch $Payday$ & Kenny Steele grow as workers over the past year or so. This was a fun match. $Payday$ played a great face and Kenny played a great heel. It was everything wrestling should be. This was also the match that the crowd awoke. I also liked the story they told here. I wrote down that I think this is the best match I have seen either have. Kenny cheated by using the ropes.

Winner: Steele

Fourth match: Barrett Brown vs. “Headbanger” Gregory James

I think I can very confidently say that this is Top 5 for best matches in MPX history. They both came out wearing each others’ t-shirts. I liked the little story there of mutual respect. Headbanger is getting so much better in the ring. He is taking every opportunity to wrestle everywhere he can and work on his experience. That’s what is keeping a few other wrestlers in MPX from making it to the next level. You can tell the difference in between where he is now and where he was a year ago. Barrett also took some really sickening bumps. He has so much committed-ness to his work. This was also the best work I have seen come from Barrett. The finish was Frankie coming out and whallopping Barrett Brown in the head with a chair.

Winner by dq: Brown

Really good match. During the intermission, we had the lovely Ms. Valentine (wearing an awful blond wig) handing out Valentines and candy. (Psst… Ms. Valentine is very naturally pretty and doesn’t need a blond wig.) Then Claudia came out and was going to give her a very special gift. She was going to kiss her and moments before we went to Hot Lesbian Action, Claudia attacked her. I liked the attack angle, but Ms. Valentine came out looking like a combination between 1990 Sting and Al Wilson. But I like them having women’s wrestling so I’m looking forward to their feud.

“Just” James Johnson came out after the intermission with “Killer” Kody Kox. He announced that he got a contract for a title shot. All he had to do was beat anybody he chose. So Jason Silver came out (which how is it I’ve still never seen him wrestle?) and accepted Johnson’s challenge. The thing was that Johnson wasn’t going to wrestle Silver. He was going to choose someone randomly out of the crowd a la Andy Kaufman. He played around with the crowd for a little bit before choosing someone.

Fifth match: “Just” James Johnson vs. “Jennifer”

He found this woman om the crowd he chose. She looked annoyed but got in the ring with him. They sized each other up and he swung, she ducked and then did a spinning heel kick. He was out for the count.

Winner: Jennifer

Kate interviewed the mysterious woman in the ring who revealed she had studied martial arts all his life. Fun story, and Mr. Johnson made the rest of us husbands look bad.

Sixth match: Scott Murdoch & Billy Club vs. BC w/Zach T & Zero the Antihero

This was Billy Club’s MPX debut. I was happy to see him since I like what I’ve seen out of him before. Scott Murdoch does not wrestle. He destroys (in a good way). He knows how to use the ring as a weapon and it offers a realistic looking match. BC was upset to be partnered up with Zero. Zero makes the Payton-less Colts look like the ’72 Dolphins. Murdoch started off the match by saying “Say it with your chest.” Then he did the Scott Murdoch chops of doom. Zero did a nice job of putting over his opponent. BC did the heel thing of not wanting to get in there. Murdoch and Club worked really well and then out of nowhere Murdoch turned on him. BC & Zero got the win.

Winner: BC & Zero

Zero won a match, even if it were as part of a tag team. After the match, there was the Arcane-Wylde standoff. Ben had a very funny monologue but he didn’t quite have the crowd hanging on his words. He hasn’t cut many promos before the crowd so it wasn’t bad for a first promo. Gauging the crowd is something that takes time. If Arcane wins, Wylde goes over to his side. If Wylde wins, Arcane goes over to the “Wylde” side. Then Viktor Tadlock took the mic, said Claudia messed up everything and split from Arcane. Tadlock is such a natural heel; I hope he’s not face too long.

Seventh match: Kristopher Haiden w/Danny Saint vs. The Choice Matt Andrews & Ryan Gauge w/Team Kyle

So this was supposed to be Choice-Haiden but it became a handicap match. I hate handicap matches, but I digress. The work was just fine in this match. Haiden has been working on losing that extra holiday weight. The story was pretty fun in that Choice wanted to keep Gauge in the ring and not him. This was good build-up for the tag title match. Andrews won by pulling the tights.

Winner: Andrews & Gauge

Main event: WASP vs. Frankie Fisher

I really liked the feel to this. This match was about revenge. WASP came out with $Payday$ and told him he was serious and to go to the back. He cut a really nice promo about how Frankie had attacked Andy Dalton and he considered Andy Dalton a close friend. And he was going to soften Frankie up for the Headbanger. What is interesting is that I have seen these two wrestle before and they had a completely different match than they did this night. This was a brutal match (but not to watch). The Headbanger distracted Frankie long enough for WASP to take the win.

Winner: WASP

GM Mike Dolenz came out and since Frankie had laid his hands on Headbanger the last show, Headbanger would be able to choose the stipulation. He chose First Blood.

All in all… A good showing from MPX. The main event was good, $Payday$-Steele was good, Brown-Headbanger is equal to anything you might see on an ROH iPPV. The build-up is going pretty good for this “Fight to Survive” show.

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Tonight’s show kicks off with an ad from new ESW sponsors Airport Plaza Jewlers, which is met with a chorus of boos for some reason.  That’s followed by a video package of highlights from the last event.  As ring announcer Justin Tromble got set to introduce the opening contest, he’s interrupted by the ESW Heavyweight Champion, Chris Cooper.  Cooper has some multimedia of his own.  He shows photographs of his history with his challenger tonight, Brandon Thurston.  Thurston was Cooper’s backup in Wrestling, Inc.  Cooper helped Thurston win his first set of tag team titles.  Thurston got a fluke win to capture the tag gold again from Cooper and Will Calrissian, who wound up getting the titles back when Thurston went to Iraq, which Cooper claims he did because he was scared of the champ.  That brings us to tonight.  There is no way Thurston is going to win.  In fact, if he were out here right now, Cooper would destroy him.  Thurston hits the ring and chases Cooper away

“The following contest is scheduled for one fall…”

“The Cock Of The Walk” Will Calrissian def. Maximo Suave

I’m surprised this match is up first as Calrissian has been a major player in the ESW main event scene and Maximo Suave is made out to be a huge deal every time he’s around.  Calrissian made some lame pun on the term “Puerto Rican” but I can’t remember what it was.  Suave put up a decent fight but Calrissian nailed his finisher in the end to pick up the victory.

Freddie Midnight def. Patrick Poison

Unlike the last show, Midnight’s valet (who I’ve come to find out is named “Lady LaLa”) did not get herself overly involved in this match.  Poison, for the second straight show, put up a great fight, and again, did not look like a rookie in the ring, but in the end, he came up short.

The Caesar led Ryot out to the ring, and talked about how tonight will be a huge night for his Legion.  Tommy Mandrake and Superbeast will capture the tag team championships from Kevin Grace and Pepper Parks, and Ryot would finally destroy Jonny Puma, who thought it would be funny to attack Caesar while dressed as Batman.  The old Batman music hit, and out came “Batman,” but he was chased away by Ryot.  Meanwhile, a homeless looking guy came in through the crowd.  Caesar called for security, but the man revealed himself to be Jonny Puma.  Puma hit the Jonny-on-the-Spot on Caesar before bailing out through the crowd.  When Ryot returned from chasing “Batman,” he helped up Caesar, who demanded to know where Ryot was before slapping him.  Ryot returned to subservience to Caesar, holding the ropes for him on the way out.

The Ultimate Warrior’s music hits, and the first thing I think is, “Oh man, Warpath is really taking this Ultimate Warrior thing all the way.”  Well, it wasn’t Primal Warpath.  The wrestler who entered was announced as weighing in at 180 Wrestling Buddies, and billed from Parts Untouchable, and his name was Primal Dewpath.  He wrestled a guy who weight in at “A whole lot of beer,” “Party Guy” Brett Mednik.

Brett Mednik def. “Primal Dewpath” via disqualification

Mednik offered Dewey a beer to start the match, but Dewey had trouble opening it – so he nailed the Warrior Splash on it to get it open.  Mednik attacked him, and stayed on the offensive pretty much through the entire match.  He went to put Dewey away when he was attacked from behind by some Irish guy.  I’m not calling him that because I don’t know his name – I’m calling him that because nobody knew his name.  He’s a newcomer, but dresses like Finlay, so we can easily assume he’s Irish.  Anyways, I digress…

Dewey gets back in the ring after Mednik leaves, and the real Primal Warpath heads down to attack him, but runs right in to a kick in the… um… “Little Warriors.”  Dewey leaves Warpath in a heap on the canvas.

“Inferno” Johnny Adams made his way to the ring, set to defend his ESW Interstate Championship, but his opponent, Barry Hardy, was unable to make the event.  Therefore this match became an open challenge – which was accepted by Danny Danger.

“Inferno” Johnny Adams def. Danny Danger

Freddie Midnight and Lady LaLa made their way ringside for this one.  Danger held his own against Adams, but for some reason did not take advantage of opportunities, despite the title being on the line.  Midnight and LaLa certainly made their presence known as well, but in the end, Adams got Danger up for his finisher, used Danger to knock Midnight off of the apron, nailed his finisher, and managed to get the referee’s attention away from LaLa long enough to pick up the pinfall victory.  Following the match, he offered to put the title on the line at the next show (in January) against Danger and Midnight in a triple threat match.

Caesar, still holding his head from the Jonny-on-the-Spot he took earlier, led Mandrake and Superbeast to the ring to a surprisingly loud chant of “All Hail Caesar.”  Kevin Grace has trimmed back down to a weight of 1.21 Gigawatts, and has moved back to Hill Valley.  His partner, Pepper Parks, still hates being reminded of the fact that he was “Jesse Guyver” in a match against Shad on WWE SmackDown.  Ah well, match time.

Kevin Grace and Pepper Parks def. Tommy Mandrake & Superbeast

Grace and Parks dominated this one.  They even used their opponents as weapons against one another.  After a double bulldog to take down Superbeast, Mandrake was dumped to the outside, allowing Pepper to “go Superfly” and Parks to hit a Swanton for the victory.

Ryot def. Jonny Puma via disqualification

This match was nearly identical to their match back at Overdrive on September 11th.  With Puma on the outside, Caesar grabbed a computer keyboard.  Ryot distracted the referee, but this time, Puma caught Caesar trying to attack him with the keyboard.  He then took the keyboard and bashed Ryot across the skull with it, getting himself disqualified in the process.

Puma went to leave, but stopped when he noticed that Ryot was gushing blood from his skull.  Puma’s words – “If it bleeds, we can kill it.”

The Rochester Recking Crew def. Fast and Furious & Southern Hospitality in a 3 way tag team match.

Alright, so I can keep you guys up to speed here, Rochester Recking Crew is Hellcat and Rob Sweet, Fast and Furious are Tommy Caliber and James Santel, and Southern Hospitality are Cassius Cutcher and Curtis Lee Walker. Southern Hospitality and Fast and Furious started this match, with our favorite country boys putting the big hurt on Santel.  Santel tried to tag in Hellcat a couple of times, but he refused the tag.  In fact, by the time Tommy Caliber put away Southern Hospitaly, The Rochester Recking Crew had yet to be in the match.  Which was great strategy, actually, as they were fresh, coming in against a winded Fast and Furious.  In the end, that strategy paid off, as the Recking Crew managed to walk away with the victory.

Chris Cooper def. Brandon Thurston

Thurston came into this match undefeated in the last two years of competition and seemed a lock to win the ESW Heavyweight Championship.  In fact, he virtually dominated the early going in this one, leaving Cooper reeling and fleeing several times.  At one point when it seemed that Thurston had the match won, Cooper’s usual tag team partner Will Calrissian came out to interfere.  That’s when the sounds of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin'” filled the St. Johnsburg Fire Hall, and rarely seen ESW Commissioner Jimmy Olsen made his way to ringside.  He announced that Calrissian would be banned from ringside, and that the match would continue, because he wanted to see Thurston’s streak continue.  However, once Thurston locked in his armbar submission, Olsen got in the ring and booted him in the face.  The referee, who was down on the canvas and didn’t see any of this, turned around in time to see Cooper hit his finisher and make the cover, pinning Thurston to retain his title.

The best value in entertainment, ladies and gentlemen, is not World Wrestling Entertainment.  See the stars of tomorrow today for way less than the price of a WWE ticket – hit up your local independent local promotion!  I’ve yet to be disappointed by an ESW show.  These guys work hard to even get to the point of getting in that ring on a show.  The next show can’t get here fast enough for me!

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Somebody else was in the audience that night last September.  His name was Mark Oship.  Before the last ESW show, Mark passed away.  Saturday night’s show started off with a video tribute to the longtime fan of WNY Wrestling.

The new ring announcer, who’s name I didn’t catch, stated the rules of conduct for the patrons of the event, and distinctly middle eastern sounding music played out through the speakers.  From the back emerged Sheik Al Qaeda, flanked by two bodyguards.  The Sheik and his men taunted the audience, until Primal Warpath emerged and quickly disposed of the trio, earning what I’d imagine to be an unsanctioned victory as the crowd counted a pinfall for Warpath.

Following the match, Warpath proclaimed the United States to be the greatest country in the world and introduced the national anthem.  An instrumental version over the PA, in lieu of former ring announcer Jordan Olivencia’s rendition.

Not Jordan Olivencia Justin Tromble, the new ring announcer, stumbled his way into the ring ripped his pants, and nervously got set to announce the official opening contest, but he’s interrupted by the sounds of Tommy Lee’s “Fame ’02.”  The World Tag Team Champions, Famous, make their way to the ring and offer Kevin Grace and Pepper Parks the opportunity to back out of tonight’s Tag Team Championship match.  Parks and Grace arrive with a counter offer – Parks suggests we start the match right now.  Famous opts to take off instead.  Our main event for the evening is still on!

The ring announcer finally gets the opportunity to announce an actual match.  An ESW newcomer, “Biohazard” Patrick Poison is set to take on ESW vet Tommy Caliber.

Tommy Caliber def. “Biohazard” Patrick Poison

Either Poison’s been doing this a while or Pepper Parks is one hell of a trainer.  He looked pretty solid in the ring, and held the offense for a good portion of the match.  In the end, Caliber managed to pull out the victory.

Caesar’s Legion (Tommy Mandrake and Superbeast) def. Dalton Castle and Barry Hardy

This match was initially scheduled to have Barry Hardy teaming with his son Brian.  Not sure what caused Brian’s absence.  Hardy started the match for his team and eventually tagged in Castle.  When Caesar’s Legion took liberties with the rules, Hardy started to argue with the referee.  When Castle finally managed to get to the corner, Hardy short-armed him and walked away.  He watched the rest of the match from the aisle, and the Legion made short work of Castle.

Following the match, Caesar took the microphone.  He sent his team to the back, telling them what a good job they did, even telling Mandrake that he’s earned some cookies.  When a “we want cookies” chant broke out, Caesar said that the fans didn’t earn cookies but Mandrake did.  He goes on to say that his favorite acquisition, Ryot, will destroy Jonny Puma later in the night, because the fans look at Puma the way Caesar feels they should look at him.  The theme from Batman hits, and out from the crowd comes a man dressed like Batman.  Caesar feels somebody is playing a trick on him because he kind of looks like The Joker.  It’s no trick, however – Batman dropped Caesar.  It wasn’t Bruce Wayne under the mask, however – it was Jonny Puma, who hits the Jonny On The Spot before telling Caesar that he’ll be the one laughing tonight.

Freddie Midnight has a new valet, and he’s also got himself an ESW Interstate Championship match.

“Inferno” Johnny Adams def. Freddie Midnight by disqualification to retain the ESW Interstate Championship

Midnight’s new valet continually interrupted the proceedings, but it wasn’t her that caused this match to end via disqualification – it was a steel chair to Adams’ skull courtesy of “Bad Boy” Barry Hardy.  Hardy claims that he’s been here for over a year and thinks it’s time he gets a title shot.

“Party Guy” Brett Mednik makes his way to the ring.  He’s scheduled to face Cade Cassidy, however Cassidy has other ideas.  He’s got a couple of party guys of his own – The Young and the Wrestlers.  Mednik is prepared for this however, and he brings out The All-Knighters.  We’ve got ourselves a 6-man tag!

“Party Guy” Brett Mednik & The All-Knighters (Joey Knight and “Sexy Monkey” Robin Knightwing) def. Cade Cassidy the Young and the Wrestlers (Nick Ando & Superbad)

Cassidy never removed his fur coat during this match – nor did he get involved much.  The Young and the Wrestlers were no match for The All-Knighters, who chugged a beer with Mednik following their victory.

Brandon Thurston def. Danny Danger

I’ve got two words for this match – More, please.  These two put on one of those matches.  A good, clean match between two guys who can really go in the ring.  Thurston came back from Iraq as popular as ever, and picked up the victory in a hard fought match.  Afterward, he announced that he’s setting a goal for himself to be the ESW Heavyweight Champion.  (YES!  This match is on YouTube:  Part 1 Part 2)

Ryot has new music this time around, and it’s brought to my attention that it’s the theme from Unsolved Mysteries.

Ryot def. Jonny Puma via count-out

Puma held his own against the much larger Ryot.  After being taken down on the outside of the ring, Puma nearly made the 10 count, however as the referee paused the count momentarily to reprimand Ryot, Caesar smashed something (I couldn’t see what) across Puma’s back, and Puma fell back to the floor and was counted out.

Finally, our main event…

Kevin Grace was announced as hailing from Kodiak Valley and weighing in at one Great White Buffalo, Great White Buffalo, Great White Buffalo.

Kevin Grace & Pepper Parks def. Famous (Will Calrissian & Chris Cooper) to become the new ESW Tag Team Champions

With apologies to the competitors in this match, business obligations kept me distracted with text messages through most of it.  At one point, Calrissian and Cooper tried to take off, which would allow them to keep the titles despite the loss, but the faces in the ESW locker room brought them back out.  Parks and Grace nail their finishers, and pick up both the victory and the ESW Tag Team Championships!

The faces pile in the ring and hoist the new Champions up on their shoulders.  Kevin Grace dances to end the show.

My Thoughts: I love these ESW shows.  I didn’t really get to talk to a lot of the guys this time around.  Only a couple of them came out during intermission.  I was planning on hitting the afterparty, but didn’t make it.  I did get to say hello to my old friend “Inferno” Johnny Adams, who it turns out went to high school with the friend that I went to the show with.  I always look forward to talking with Barry and Brian Hardy, but unfortunately Brian wasn’t there and Barry didn’t come out during the break.  I left the place with Pepper Parks sweat on my hand as I talked to him immediately after his match, congratulating him and pointing out that he has less and less hair every time I see him (via shaving, not balding).

I once again have to give props to the Brandon Thurston/Danny Danger match.  I wish I had a video of it.  It was one of those matches that make you remember why you’re a fan.  They even shook hands after, which made it even better.

I’ve got a few pictures from the show on my phone, but they didn’t come out all that great.  Otherwise I’d post them.

Lastly, I’ve got to say this to all of our readers – if you guys have a local promotion in your area, find out when the next show is and check it out.  These guys on the indy scene bust their ass and put on a way better show, IMO, than the big guys put on TV every week for the enjoyment of the fans.  WWE says they’re the best value in entertainment.  I never paid just $13 for a WWE ticket and been just four rows back from the ring.  I don’t get to go shake Triple H’s hand after a match and become friends with The Undertaker.  Indy shows are the best value.  Find one and go!  Support your local wrestlers!

The post Empire State Wrestling: Overdrive 2010 results appeared first on BoredWrestlingFan.com.

A cool thing about ESW is the fact that they show promo videos at the start of the shows, something that a lot of the indies don’t do.  This show kicked off backstage with Jordan Olivencia interviewing Cade Cassidy, the former Coverboy.  Cassidy’s new gimmick is that he’s got OCD.  In the promo, he was trying to figure out if there were an even or odd number of chain links in the fence behind him.  He said that his match with former partner Tommy Caliber couldn’t happen.  He’d left Caliber in his past, and bringing his past into his present or future would screw up the space-time continuum.  Good stuff, loving the new gimmick.

Next, Jordan interviewed Barry and Brian Hardy.  The Caesar interrupted, then was punched in the face following Barry Hardy’s “magic trick.”  Caesar then challenged the father-son team to find a partner for a six man against himself, Tommy Mandrake, and Superbeast.  Barry said he had somebody in mind.  Brian said he had the tights ready.

The show proper started off with the usual announcements from ring announcer Olivencia, who is, as usual, interrupted by ESW Champion Chris Cooper.  Cooper brags about his victory at WrestleBash in a cage match against Jonny Puma.  The song “Celebration” starts to play, and Cooper’s former tag team partner, Mastiff Will Calrissian, came to the ring, sporting a wig after having his mullet cut by Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake at the last show.  Mastiff says that it’s time to celebrate.  We’re not celebrating the fact that it’s Jordan Olivencia’s last show.  We’re not celebrating the fact that it’s Pepper Parks and Kevin Grace’s birthdays.  No, we’re celebrating accomplishments.  First, we’re celebrating the fact that Cooper is still the ESW Champion.  Second, we’re celebrating the fact that Mastiff’s mullet has “grown back.”  Third, Mastiff has a surprise for Cooper.  The ESW Tag Team Championships have been returned to them (Brandon Thurston, one half of the now former Tag Team Champions, is on duty in Iraq.  Come home safe, Brandon!).

Kevin Grace interrupts the festivities, but when he tries to touch Mastiff’s “mullet,” the Tag Team Champions start to attack.  Pepper Parks hits the ring to chase them off, say happy birthday to a few of the fans at ringside, and welcome us to the show!

Danny Danger def. Josh Thor

Thor is a newcomer here in ESW.  He held his own in this match with Danny Danger, but Danger’s high flying offense proved too much for him, as he hit the Danger Zone for the victory.  Following the match, Thor proclaimed that he’s “never coming back to this stinkin’ town.”

Caesar’s Legion made their way to the ring for their six-man tag against the Hardys, accompanied by Purple.  The Hardys hit the ring, and Caesar demanded to know who their partner would be.  Enter the Western New York Icon, Jonny Puma!

Barry Hardy, Brian Hardy, and Jonny Puma def. Caesar’s Legion

A vintage tag team match here (did I just say “vintage?”  I really need to mute RAW on Mondays).  The Legion kept Brian Hardy away from his corner, but when he finally got the tag to Puma, it wasn’t long before he found himself alone in the ring with Caesar.  Puma nailed the Jonny-on-the-Spot for the victory as the Hardys held off Mandrake and Superbeast (with Mean Mike taking care of Purple).

Following the match, Puma gave Caesar a wedgie, embarrassing him.

Party Guy Brett Mednik def. Jordan Casey

Mednik unveiled a new gimmick for this one – that of a big fat party animal, complete with Hawaiian shirt and beer dispensing football helmet.  He spent the early part of the match drinking a beer while wrestling, until Casey knocked it out of his hand.  Mednik got more aggressive, knocking Casey out of the ring before chugging another beer.  Mednik picked up the win with a powerbomb.

Newly crowned Interstate Champion “Inferno” Johnny Adams issued an open challenge for his title before the show.  The challenge was answered by Chase Taylor, whom my girlfriend has dubbed “The Sort-of Big Show” based on his look.

“Inferno” Johnny Adams def. Chase Taylor to retain the ESW Interstate Championship

Taylor controlled a lot of this match, until Adams managed to nail a Brain Kick and turn the tide.  He hit his finisher to pick up the win and retain his title.

The Bonecrushers def. The Kovacs

Matt and Michael Kovac made a huge mistake – they tried to attack the Bonecrushers before the match.  The twins from Puerto Rico picked up an easy win in this one.

Before the next match, it was announced that an ESW fan had passed away between the time of the last show and this one.  A moment of silence was observed.

Mastiff insisted on an in-ring introduction, which Jordan Olivencia reluctantly read.  Pepper Parks was introduced, and we’re ready for action.

Pepper Parks def. Mastiff

Two extremely capable wrestlers, both of whom were in the PWI 500 for 2009, Mastiff and Parks put on a well executed comedy match.  They started things off seriously enough, but after knocking Parks down, Mastiff yelled out to the crowd “Watch this, I saw this on TV!”  He drops to the canvas and starts pounding the mat a la Randy Orton, but when he goes for the RKO, Parks shoves him off, then nails an Attitude Adjustment.  Parks sets up for Sweet Chin Music, but Mastiff grabs the microphone and says he saw that move on TV, so he’s not getting up.  When he does, he locks up with Parks, who whips him to the ropes and then nails the superkick anyway.  Mastiff kicked out of the subsequent cover, knocked Parks down again, spat water, then went for a Pedigree.  Parks reversed it into a backdrop.  Mastiff started acting like the Ultimate Warrior, and the pair re-enacted the Hogan/Warrior match from WrestleMania VI.  In the end, Cooper came out to help Mastiff, but Kevin Grace rushed the ring with a birthday cake.  The cake was smashed into Mastiff’s face, and Parks scored the pinfall victory.  Awesome match!

Time for intermission while they clean up the ring.  I grabbed a slice of pizza and took a minute to say hello to Barry and Brian Hardy, who both remembered me from last time.  Those guys, along with Pepper Parks, are guys who truly appreciate what the fans mean to this business.  Speaking of Pepper, I made it a point to call him “Jesse Guyver” after his SmackDown match under that name.  I spoke briefly with Jordan Olivencia, who confirmed that this was indeed his last show, though he didn’t want it to be.

Back from intermission, Jonny Puma and several other ESW wrestlers came to ringside to present Olivencia with a gift – a special tribute video to thank him for his time with the company.  As most of the wrestlers made their way to the back, Puma insisted that Olivencia introduce him one last time.  Before he could finish the introduction, however, Ryot appeared behind him and shoved him to the canvas.  Puma tried to attack, but Ryot overpowered him, locking him in a Claw hold.  Caesar took the microphone and said that Puma is going to pay for what he did to him earlier in the night.  He says that the fans worship Puma as a God, but that even Gods can die.  With Puma unconscious at this point, Ryot held him up for Caesar, who painted Puma’s face to look like his own.  Caesar and Ryot left the ring, with Caesar bowing to Puma on his way out.  He stopped to tell a nearby cameraman that “the joke… is over.”  Very cool stuff with The Caesar.  It’s cool for him to go from the jovial, fun loving, happy-crazy character to the dark, demented, cold and calculating character.  I like it.

Tommy Caliber def. Cade Cassidy by Disqualification

Cassidy’s new OCD germophobe gimmick is awesome.  He wears a surgical mask to the ring and sprays sanitizer on everything.  He held his own with Caliber early in the match, but faked passing out when Caliber removed his surgical mask.  When Cassidy’s rollup attempt failed, the match got physical, even resulting in Cassidy bleeding from the mouth.  Cassidy continually attempted to choke Caliber through the match, which ultimately wound up getting him disqualified and costing Caliber his shot at revenge, despite a victory.

Curtis Lee Walker def. James Santel

Santel is another newcomer to ESW, but didn’t really stand a chance against veteran Curtis Lee Walker, who made short work of the rookie.

Chris Cooper def. Kevin Grace to retain the ESW Championship

Mastiff accompanied Cooper for this one, and continually interfered.  For some reason, the referee didn’t bother ejecting him from ringside.  The end came when Grace tried to suplex Cooper back in the ring, but Mastiff pulled his legs out from under him, holding them down so he couldn’t kick out of the pin attempt.

Mastiff and Cooper assaulted Grace after the match, but Pepper Parks once again made the save.  He then told the Tag Team Champions he had an idea (to which Kevin Grace said “I usually like your ideas!”).  At the next show, September 11th, Parks and Grace will challenge Famous for the ESW Tag Team Championships!

I had a great time at this show, and I’m disappointed that the next one is three months away.  These guys always put on a good show.  WWE calls themselves the greatest value in entertainment, but they’re not – this is a much better value.  For $13 at the door I got in to a fantastic show, and for just two bucks more I had a slice of pizza and a Pepsi.  WWE can’t beat that!

The post Empire State Wrestling: Meltdown appeared first on BoredWrestlingFan.com.

A table was set up for Beefcake, but his agent wouldn’t allow anybody to have an autograph signed by or a picture taken with him unless they paid $10.  Well, so much for that autograph – I had less than $10 cash on me.  So, I walked away.

Across the room, former WWF Enhancement Talent Barry Hardy and his son Brian were looking over their merchandise.  I remember seeing Barry on television when I was younger, and so I went up to him and struck up a conversation.  He’s a down to earth guy who appreciates his fans.  He signed an autograph for me, as did his son, and the duo posed with me for a photo.  The father-son team won a match earlier in the night with an awesome finisher – Barry held the opponent up in Hart Attack position, and Brian nailed him with a 360 flip clothesline from the top rope.

On the way back to our seats, my girlfriend and I ran into Pepper Parks.  We’d met Pepper before, and he remembered us – probably because of my goatee.  Pepper took a few moments to thank us for coming out to the show before having his attention diverted by a few kids wanting an autograph.

Former ESW Champion Kevin Grace was standing near the entrance, so we walked over to him.  He was wearing the awesome reflective ring gear that he wore the last time I’d gone to an ESW event, so I had to ask him where I can get that kind of material (I’ve got a show with my band coming up, y’know).  Kevin was a great guy who very much appreciates every single one of his fans and will take the time to sign anything and talk to anybody.  My girlfriend, Caroline, got her picture taken with him and he told me (while signing tons of autographs) that his gear was inspired by EMTs.

Since it was on the way back to our seats, I decided to stop back at Brutus Beefcake’s table and at least shake his hand – after all, I understand the guy’s got to make a living somehow, and I have been watching the guy since I was 8 years old.  We got back to his table as two girls were paying for Beefcake’s autograph.  He looked at his agent and said “did they pay?” before signing it.  He didn’t even look in their direction.  I said that I couldn’t afford the 10 bucks but I wanted to shake his hand.  He didn’t even look at me when he went for the handshake.  After seeing how much of a prick he was to anybody who couldn’t afford to – or otherwise didn’t want to – pay $10, I should’ve left him hanging.  I didn’t.  I shook his hand and went back to my seat.

Now, you may have noticed that I haven’t talked much about the wrestling tonight.  I can’t.  Unfortunately, this show was further away from home and went later than usual, so I missed the last two matches.  It wouldn’t be fair to Chris Cooper, Johnny Puma, or Mastiff Will Calrissian if I talked about the rest of the show and didn’t get to talk about their matches.  I would like to offer my congratulations, however, to my good friend Inferno Johnny Adams, who won a 20 man battle royal to claim the ESW Interstate Championship!  Other participants in the match included a Doink The Clown, the Goldust knockoff Dewdust, and the Warrior ripoff (but otherwise awesome guy) Primal Warpath.

"AHAHAHAHA! Look at all these idiots willing to pay $10 for me to write my name!"

I do apologize to the ESW crew for not having a full review of the show, if in fact any of them read this website, but I do encourage you all to check out ESWwrestling.com for more on Empire State Wrestling!

The post ESW WrestleBash appeared first on BoredWrestlingFan.com.

Last week, we saw more tension develop between Davey Richards and his American Wolves tag team partner Eddie Edwards following a loss to the Dark City Fight Club. Bobby Dempsey, who was the smallest that I have ever seen him, had a decent match. Sara Del Rey destroyed Portia Perez. What happens tonight? We’ll find out at the same time, as I’ve made a point of avoiding spoilers. Onward!

Oh! When you’re through watching ROH, pick up and read the newest offering by the author of “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.” It’s titled “Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter.” It’s the greatest tome ever penned. Greater than “The Great Gatsby.” Better than the Bible. Nine levels of awesome! You have been advised. And now for the wrestling!

We open with video clips of the 8th Anniversary Show and Tyler Black’s World title victory. Black and Jim Cornette argue over Black’s kicking of Roderick Strong during the match. Ex-champ Austin Aries demands a rematch. Roderick Strong demands his promised title shot from owner Cary Silken. Cornette will make an announcement about the World title match tonight. Solid set-up to pique fan interest.

The lovely Reyna Von Tosh (?) brings the new TV title belt to ringside. The brackets are shown in a graphic. The first match of the tournament is –

Kevin Steen (w/ Steve Corino) vs. Rhett Titus: I love Rhett Titus being from “The Temple of Lust” in New Jersey. Mike Hogewood is a terrible announcer, but less terrible than he was when the show first aired. Dave Prazak is good, though. Steen tears up a Rhett Titus sign. Steen and Titus lock up and grapple from corner to corner. Steen misses a punch, and Titus does his “sexy party dance.” Steen slaps Titus, and hits stiff forearms in the corner. Titus monkey flips Steen. Titus is thrown through the ropes to the floor, his shoulder hitting the ringpost. Steen targets the arm and throws Titus shoulder-first into the ring post again. Steen rolls Titus back into the ring, stomping on his head. Titus tries to fight back with punches. Steen continues to work the shoulder with a modified reverse Russian leg sweep onto said shoulder. Steen torques the arm as Titus kneels, but Titus thumbs the eyes. Titus lands some good punches, but Steen grabs the arm again and drove Titus down with the Divorce Court. Titus lands a huge drop kick and flattens Steen. Titus fights back with punches and a corner splash. Titus drops Steen with a bulldog, but Steen kicks out at two. Steen hangs on to the ropes to avoid getting Irish whipped. Titus lands a flipping neck breaker, but Steen kicks out at two. More thrust, and Titus calls for the Muff Driver. Steen counters a leapfrog into a power bomb, but Titus kicks out at two. Steen argues with the referee, and continues to target the arm. Steen climbs to the top turnbuckle, and both men trade punches. Titus gets hung up in the Tree of Woe, and Steen hits a cannonball on him. Steen traps Titus in a crossface, and Titus taps out.

Winner: Kevin Steen

Hog and Prazak talk up the “Big Bang” show.

Jim Cornette sits with Tyler Black, Austin Aries, and Roderick Strong. Corny is sick of doing things for the benefit of other people. He’s going to do what’s best for ROH. Black defends against both Strong and Aries in a triple threat match. Strong takes issue with being promised a title shot and then having to beat two guys, and after lots of yelling, he leaves. Aries tells Black that he should take care of Strong first, and then they can find out who really is the better man. Strong returns, and everything breaks down as violence ensues.

The Kings of Wrestling (Claudio Castagnoli and Chris Hero) vs. The Bravado Brothers (Lance and Harlem): Sara Del Rey and Shane Hagadorn accompany the KOR. I have no idea who the Bravado Brothers are. The announcers call it a tune-up match, and it’s a total squash. Fast tags between Claudio and Hero. Hero drops one BB with an elbow. Claudio chokes the BB on the ropes, and Sara Del Rey attacks him. The Kings of Wrestling will face the Briscoes at the “Big Bang” show for the tag team titles. Hero gets a leg caught by a BB, and the other BB hits Hero with an enziguri. Hero takes a shot in the nose. Claudio is all power as he holds up Lance Bravado for a running elbow from Hero. Claudio follows up with an airplane spin. The other BB gets pinned in similar fashion for the win. Hero has the mic. He says that they will take the titles that are rightfully theirs. “Kings reign supreme!” Great push for the ppv with the two title matches.

Winners: the Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli)

To the back! Prince Nana is with Kyle Durden. Nana says that they will take the tag team titles. Durden asks about the suspended Necro Butcher. Nana doesn’t care. Durden asks about Skullcrusher Raschke Brown possibly joining the Embassy. Nana doesn’t answer clearly.

Skullcrusher Raschke Brown vs. Caleb Conley: This has squash written all over it. Stiff chop from Brown. Conley shoves Brown. Brown hits a Torture Rack and a Burning Hammer for the quick win.

Winner: Skullcrusher Raschke Brown

Kyle Durden is with Colt Cabana. Cabana loves the idea of a tv title tournament, and feels that he would be perfect for it. Durden asks about El Generico. Cabana says that it’s good for Generico to have something aside from Kevin Steen on which to focus. Steve Corino interrupts, telling Cabana to be careful who he stands up for. Cabana is not pleased.

Seriously, THIS is how to properly promote a ppv on a tv show. We know the date, the location, and the details of the top two title matches, and the show is just under a month away. Perfect.

Hog and Prazak discuss the American Wolves and their poor track record recently. We go to a series of video clips of American Wolf losses, and the pattern of Eddie Edwards being the one getting pinned.

Kenny King vs. El Generico: This is another first-round tv title tournament match. Two other matches will take place next week, one involving Davey Richards and Delirious and the other involving Eddie Edwards and Colt Cabana. Lots of streamers thrown for Generico. They shake hands. King tries to rush Generico from behind, but Generico turns and catches him. King applauds Generico. Waist locks and jockeying for position. King controls Generico at first, but Generico starts to work the arm. Chops from Generico. Series of arm drags from Generico. King goes to the floor and catches his breath. King takes his time getting back in the ring, mocking Generico’s entrance as he does so. King gets Generico in a headlock, then knocks him down with a shoulder block. King returns to the headlock. Generico returns to the hammerlock, but King fights out. Generico hits a backbreaker. King yanks Generico’s arm over the top rope, and focuses on it. Boot to the face in the corner from King. King stretches out the left arm and leg drops it. Two count only! Chants of “Ole!” for Generico. Forearm shots to the head from King. King makes the “I want your title belt” gesture. King grounds Generico by controlling the arm. Generico eventually gets a foot on the ropes, and King eventually breaks the hold. King throws Generico into the turnbuckle. King covers Generico, but Generico kicks out at 2 3/4. Generico chops back with his good right arm. King drop kicks the bad left arm. King dances in the ring. Generico clotheslines King with the right arm. Repeatedly. Generico clotheslines King over the top rope to the floor. King sidesteps an attempt at a top rope moonsault, but Generico stops himself on the apron and hits another one when King isn’t looking. Back in the ring, Generico hits a huge top rope crossbody. King kicks out at two. Generico takes King down with a slam, but King kicks out at two. Generico sets up for the Yakuza kick, but King beats him to the punch with double knees. Generico kicks out at two. Generico misses a Yakuza kick. King hits two spinning heel kicks to the face. King gets a two-count only. I missed a few minutes right here, but King grabbed the bottom rope to avoid Generico getting the pin after a high-risk move. King shoves the referee into the ropes to knock down Generico. King hits the Super Royal Flush on Generico to move on to the second round of the tv title tournament.

Winner: Kenny King

See you next Monday!

Peace out,

Drowgoddess

The post ROH Report, 3/8/10 appeared first on BoredWrestlingFan.com.

Photos, thoughts, and a half-assed results list, after the jump!

Tonight’s show started off a little differently from typical ESW shows – it actually started with backstage promos.  First, “The Western New York Icon” Johnny Puma proclaimed that he planned to use tonight’s match against Tommy Caliber as the first step on his way back to the ESW Championship.  Then, Caesar’s Legion cut a hilarious promo (Tommy Mandrake acting up, Superbeast devouring a cake) saying that Kevin Grace’s last birthday will be just that – his last birthday.  A video package followed, which you can check out on EmpireStateWrestling.com (be sure to look for me in my bWo shirt), and then they took the projector away.

Ring announcer Jordan Olivencia performed “The Star Spangled Banner,” and as he went to announce the first match, he’s interrupted, as has quickly become tradition in ESW.  This time, the interrupters were Mastiff and Cooper, the World Tag Team Champions, Famous.

Now, you may recall a few months back, I wrote about ESW and talked about the serious injury that Mastiff suffered, a fractured skull from slipping off the ropes on an Asai Moonsault attempt.  At the last show (which I didn’t write about), Mastiff made his return to action.  Cooper pushes him out for this promo in a wheelchair.

(click image for full size)

The Champions insult the crowd, then invite their opponents, Brandon Thurston and Mike Radski, out to the ring for a face to face.  Thurston and Radski’s music plays but they don’t come out.  Cooper decides to go in the back and get them.  He comes out with two very poorly made, but oddly realistic cardboard cutouts of the challengers.

(click image for full size)

The Champions run down their challengers and then beat up the cardboard cutouts, Mastiff running over one in his wheelchair on the way out.

Olivencia finally gets to announce our first match.  Curtain jerking this evening is one half of the tag team Bigger and Badder, the guy who could give Mark Henry a run for his Kool-Aid Man money, Brett Mednik.

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By the way, Mednik’s usual partner (and the guy accompanying him to the ring this evening), Chance Taylor, kinda looks like a mini Big Show.  My girlfriend likes to call him “The Sort-of Big Show.”  Mednik’s opponent this evening is one half of the tag team Southern Hospitality, Curtis Lee Walker, who’s partner Cassius Cutcher is nowhere to be found.

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Mednik picked up the win in this one with outside help from Taylor.

Next up, it’s “Coverboy” Cade Cassidy, accompanied by his tag team partner Tommy Caliber and bodyguard Mean Mike.

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I didn’t get a picture of Cassidy’s opponent, an ESW newcomer by the name of TKO.  I probably would have tried to, but as he made his way through the curtain, TKO knocked down the lighting rig that adorns the entrance, sending it nearly crashing into the crowd.  I spent most of this match watching the crew scramble to fix the rig, and the referee must have been watching that too, because he wasn’t paying attention to the interference of Mean Mike and Tommy Caliber that led to Cassidy’s victory.

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Colin Delaney isn’t the only member of his family to be a professional wrestler.  His brother wrestles in ESW under the name Freddie Midnight, who is often accompanied to the ring by his valet Helena, who helps him out with keeping his hair in place during matches.

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Last month, Midnight scored an upset victory by disqualification over indy star Pepper Parks, who has an ECW appearance to his credit – though, in his words, “if you blinked, you missed it.”  Parks looks to avenge the loss he suffered in his ESW debut.

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This match ended in a no contest when Midnight brought in his can of hair spray.  Parks avoided being sprayed in the eyes (last month, he’d been sprayed in the eyes and inadvertently hit the referee), then sprayed the hair spray into Midnight’s eyes.  Originally the referee was going to award the match to Midnight, but upon further thought, ruled it a no contest.  Parks can sure go in the ring, but I personally have yet to see him actually win a match.

The Tag Team Championship match was next.  Keeping with the WWE’s trend of damning tradition, the Tag Team Champions, Famous, made their way out first – with Mastiff still being wheeled around.

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Their opponents and challengers aren’t cardboard cutouts, but the real thing, Mike Radski and the ever popular Brandon Thurston.

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The Champions strategy in this one was simple – take out Thurston, who hasn’t been pinned in over a year, and work over Radski.  The plan worked beautifully at first, but Thurston finally managed to get himself involved in the match.  After several near falls, Thurston finally nailed the Suplee for the victory – and the Tag Team Championship!

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At this point, there was a 15 minute intermission.  Looking across the venue, we noticed Pepper Parks out mingling with fans, so we took the opportunity to meet him.

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Why yes, those are BoredWrestlingFan.com “bWf” logo t-shirts we’re wearing in these photos – get yours today!

Mean Mike escorts Cade Cassidy and Tommy Caliber back to the ring as we come back from intermission.  This time around it’s Caliber in action.

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Caliber’s opponent tonight is known as the Western New York Icon, but the only time I saw him face anybody with name value, he got his head shaved by Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake.  True story.  Anyways, his Caliber’s opponent is the extremely popular Johnny Puma.

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It almost looked as though Caliber would pick up the win thanks to interference from Mean Mike and Cade Cassidy – Mike distracted the referee as Cassidy nailed Puma with a wicked superkick.  The referee turned around to find Caliber covering Puma with one foot, but opted not to count.  Turns out that not all referees are as dumb as they look – he proclaimed that Mean Mike and Cade Cassidy had 10 seconds to return to the locker room or Caliber would be disqualified.  The duo complied, and it wasn’t long before Puma hit the Johnny On The Spot for the victory.

After the match, Cassidy and Mean Mike returned.  Cassidy called Caliber an embarrassment, then he and Mean Mike put the beatdown on him.  Fans chanted Caliber’s name as he finally managed to leave the ring.

I got lazy when it came to taking pictures at this point – besides, the next match featured my buddy “Inferno” Johnny Adams!  Adams teamed with Danny Danger to take on Caesar’s Legion members Tommy Mandrake and “The Abomination,” Superbeast.

The match started off hilariously as Adams played patty-cake and did the Hokey-Pokey with Mandrake, whose character is that of a man who thinks he’s a little boy, before clotheslining him.  Danger played tag and red-light-green-light with Mandrake, nailing him every time he stopped at the “red light.”  Superbeast finally yelled “GREEN LIGHT!” at Mandrake, and the tide turned into the Legion’s favor.  Danger was destroyed by the much larger and much more experienced tandem of Mandrake and Superbeast – and interference from Purple on the outside didn’t help his cause either.  Finally, Adams had seen enough, getting involved, and nailing both Mandrake and Superbeast with the Brain Kick, but Danger covered the wrong guy.  In the end, the Legion were victorious.

Following the match, Superbeast and Mandrake continued to assault Adams and Danger.

Up next, another newcomer to ESW stepped into the ring, but sadly I missed his name.  His opponent is a guy who, at the last show, looked like this…

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… and had a theme song that proclaimed “They call me Warrior.”  I called him on it – I said “I call you gimmick infringement!”  I know he heard me – because he posed on the top rope for that picture immediately afterward.  This time around, he came to the ring dressed like this…

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The guy’s name is Primal Warpath, and he beat the new guy with, what else, a Warrior Splash.  I ran into Warpath after the show and asked him if the new look was because I called him Gimmick Infringement at the last show – he said it was, and that he decided to kick it up another level.

And now, ladies and gentlemen, we come to our main event of the evening.  Ryot has been a thorn in the side of ESW Champion Kevin Grace as of late, and it’s come to this – a casket match for the ESW Championship.  Caesar and Purple accompanied the challenger to the ring.

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The Champion came to the ring next – and I must apologize for the quality of these pictures – Grace’s outfit simply did not photograph well with a flash, due to the reflective nature of it.

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It was a battle.  It was hardcore.  Tables, ladders, chairs, traffic cones – yes, traffic cones, not that I’d imagine getting hit with one of those would hurt much.  That said, please don’t hit me with a traffic cone.  Ryot thought he’d had the championship won as Grace attempted a senton splash, but wound up putting himself through the lid of the casket.  The referees told him no – the lid has to be closed on the competitor for the match to be over.  Caesar went to the back and returned with a new lid, but it was too late, Grace was able to battle back.  After hitting the Perfect Stranger not once, but twice, Grace tried to cover Ryot in the casket, but he wouldn’t stay down.  Grace finally decided to put the monster away for good – by beating the holy hell out of him with a steel chair.  The lid was finally placed over an unconscious Ryot, and Grace retained his title!

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Another great show put on by the folks at Empire State Wrestling.  If you’re in the Western New York area, make sure you clear Saturday, April 10 on your calendars and head up to the St. Johnsburg Fire Hall in North Tonawanda to catch the next amazing night of ESW action!

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Back in November, Will “Mastiff” Calrissian fractured his skull when he crashed head first into the ring apron.  We’ll hear from Mastiff later tonight.  Before ring announcer Jordan Olivencia could announce the first match, he’s interrupted by Mastiff’s tag team partner, and one half of the ESW Tag Team Champions, Chris Cooper, who is carrying both tag team title belts.  He promises that at the end of the night, we’ll see him standing over a bloody and battered Johnny Puma.

Match 1:  Curtis Lee Walker def. Col. Sanders III

According to the ESW website, Walker defeated Red Dragon, which can’t possibly be right, because Walker wrestled a guy in a confederate flag mask who was announced as Col. Sanders III.  Walker made short work of Sanders in the opening contest.

Match 2:  Mike Radski & Brandon Thurston def. The Coverboys (Cade Cassidy and Tommy Caliber)

This match was to determine the number one contenders for Chris Cooper’s ESW Tag Team Championships.  Thurston was way over with the fans here.  He and Radski won when Thurston dropkicked Caliber from the top rope off of Radski’s shoulders.

Caesar and Tommy Mandrake made their way to the ring.  He announced that the other members of Caesar’s Legion, Purple and Superbeast, were out taking care of Legion business, but that Superbeast would be replaced in the upcoming match by Flatline.  He then goes on to say that after tonight, ESW will be renamed Caesar’s Empire Wrestling.

Match 3:  Caesar’s Legion def. “Inferno” Johnny Adams, Matt Kovac, and Michael Kovac

The whole reason I started going to Indy shows several years ago is because I’ve known “Inferno” Johnny Adams since high school.  Adams was pinned for his team, thanks to some underhanded tactics by Caesar’s Legion.

“Mastiff” Will Calrissian came to the ring to a standing ovation.  He thanked the fans for allowing him to live his dream of being a professional wrestler before leaving his boots and trunks in the middle of the ring and leaving.

Since Mastiff would have been the number one contender for Kevin Grace’s ESW Championship, that left Grace without an opponent.  ESW Commissioner Jimmy Olsen wouldn’t let us down though, as he’d organized a “Don’t Stop Believin’ Lottery.”  Whoever’s name was pulled out of a bucket (ThinkSoJoE’s note:  It’s a trash-can!  clap clap clapclapclap!) would get a shot at the ESW Championship.  Kevin Grace made his way to the ring and did the honors.  His opponent tonight would be… Freddie Midnight!

Match 4:  Kevin Grace def. Freddie Midnight to retain the ESW Championship

Midnight was accompanied to the ring by an unidentified woman, who sprayed his hair with hairspray before spraying Grace in the eyes with it before the match. This allowed Midnight to take the early advantage, but Grace turned things around quickly and defeated Midnight with no problem.

As Grace was celebrating his victory, the sounds of “Have a Holly Jolly Christmas” played over the PA System.  Grace looked up the aisle to see Caesar and Tommy Mandrake wheeling out a coffin.  Caesar told Grace that it’s the season for giving, and he’s brought him a present.  Grace asked if it was a pony, to which Caesar replied, “Maybe,” before telling him that it was not, in fact, a pony.  Ryot burst through the coffin and attacked Grace, leaving him lying in a heap on the floor of the St. Johnsburg Fire Hall before tossing the ESW Championship down on top of him.

Brett Mednik, Kwan Chang, and Jay Moore came to the ring and Mednik talked about an incident between himself and 103.3 The Edge DJ Josh Potter at a local comedy club where Potter was performing.  He’d challenged Potter to a match, which Potter foolishly accepted.  Potter came to the ring and made fun of Mednik’s weight before asking why Mednik brought friends to the ring.  Potter asked if they’d rather have a tag team match instead, then brought out his partner, Warpath.

Match 5:  Josh Potter & Warpath def. Kwan Chang & Brett Mednik

Warpath is apparently new, because even the commentator at ringside, Captain Dan Glanowski, had no idea what his name was.  Warpath, who was a direct rip-off of Warrior, did the majority of the work, with Potter getting a few slaps in on the heels.  When all hell broke loose, a distraction from Jay Moore allowed for an attempted Singapore Cane shot from Chang, but Potter moved and Chang hit Mednik instead.  Potter’s team, predictably, picked up the win.

Match 6:  Chance Taylor def. David Evans

I actually don’t remember much of this match.  I’ll take ESW’s word for this one.

Match 7:  Johnny Puma def. Chris Cooper in a No-DQ match

In a heated rivalry, Puma and Cooper battled all over the St. Johnsburg Fire Hall.  Tables, chairs, and the ring bell came into play in this one, and both men were bloodied by the end of it.  In the end, Puma put Cooper through a table and picked up the pinfall victory.

As Puma was celebrating his victory, Cooper attacked him from behind.  As he was wailing away at a fallen Puma, Mastiff’s music hit, and Cooper’s apparently former tag team partner hit the ring and threw Cooper off of Puma.  As Mastiff kneeled down to check on Puma, Cooper pulled off his “Cooper” wristband and threw it at Mastiff.  Mastiff smiled, and put the wristband on, as Cooper put on a “Mastiff” wristband (the wristbands have arrows on them, so when Mastiff points at Cooper the arrow that says Cooper points at Cooper and vice versa).  The duo make their signature pose, then Mastiff continues the beating on Puma.  Cooper hands Mastiff his tag team title belt, and Famous celebrate in the ring until Thurston and Radski, the number one contenders for Famous’s tag team titles, run down to the ring to make the save.

ESW’s next show is January 16, 2010 at the St. Johnsburg Fire Hall, and will feature an ESW Championship match as Kevin Grace defends against Ryot, and presumably a tag team title match pitting Famous against number one contenders Thurston and Radski.

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Overdrive featured the culmination of a tag team tournament that was originally supposed to be for the Next Era Wrestling Niagara Tag Team Championships, which were renamed and are now the ESW Tag Titles.  Yours truly was in attendance…

September 19th, 2009
St. Johnsburg Fire Hall

1. Dalton Castle defeated Freddie Midnight.

Wait – that’s not right.  I got these results from empirestatewrestling.com because it’s been a few years since I’ve seen an ESW show and wasn’t too familiar with some of the characters – but I distinctly remember Freddie Midnight picking up the win.  He stole a purse from a plant lady at ringside and used her hairspray to blind Castle, whom he then rolled up and hooked the tights for the win.  Midnight has a gimmick of being gay and continuously insisted that he’d make Castle love him.  And an interesting fact about Midnight – he’s Colin DeLaney’s older brother.

Brett Mednik came to the ring after this match and insulted the legacy of ESW.  This didn’t sit well with Flatline…

2. Flatine defeated Brett Mednik.

Flatline picked up the win, but I don’t actually remember how.  The aftermath was more important anyway…

-Mednik attacked Flatine after the match. (Former ESW wrestler) Shade came out and misted Mednik, followed by (fellow former ESW wrestlers) JP Hawke & “Gutterball” Scotty Roberts coming out to give Mednik the bowling ball.

3. Semi-Final – ESW Tag Team Title Tournament: Famous (Chris Cooper & “Mastiff” Will Calrissian) defeated Southern Hospitality (Curtis Lee Walker & Cassius Kutcher).

This match really got the crowd going.  With the fans solidly behind Southern Hospitality, chants of “Cooper Swallows” rang throughout the St. Johnsburg Fire Hall.  In the end, Famous outsmarted and outwrestled Walker and Kutcher to advance to the finals of the ESW Tag Team Title Tournament.

Following the match, Famous announced that if they didn’t walk out with the tag team titles, they’d strip naked and streak through the St. Johnsburg Fire Hall.

Caesar, Purple, and Tommy Mandrake made their way to the ring, and Caesar announced that he was looking to add another member to his stable.  He called out the Kovac brothers, and ordered them to fight for the spot.  Refusing, the Kovacs chased Caesar off with a steel chair.

4. Tommy Mandrake defeated Matt Kovac.

Yet another very entertaining matchup.  Mandrake got the win with a little help from his friends.

5. Semi-Final – ESW Tag Team Title Tournament: Mike Radski & Brandon Thurston defeated Maximo Suave and Colin Delaney.

Interesting to note that Delaney and Suave’s entrance music for this one was “Man In The Box” by Alice In Chains, perhaps an homage to DeLaney’s former on-screen ECW mentor Tommy Dreamer.  Radski and Thurston were the better team last night, picking up the win.  DeLaney and Suave shook the hands of their victorious opponents.

-After the match, Chris Cooper and “Mastiff” Will Calrissian attacked Radski and Thurston.

6. ESW heavyweight title match: Jonny Puma vs. Kevin Grace ended in a double disqualification when Chris Cooper and “Mastiff” Will Calrissian interfered.

Two of the region’s biggest stars, Jonny Puma and Kevin Grace battled for the ESW Championship in a match that never really took off, as the team of Famous, who claimed earlier in the night that they hadn’t forgot about Puma and Grace, attacked and caused a double disqualification.

Puma and Grace ran off Famous, and then proceeded to have a dance party in the middle of the ring, even paying tribute to the late Michael Jackson, complete with fedoras and sequined gloves.

7. “Inferno” Johnny Adams defeated Superbeast by disqualification.

Adams had Superbeast in a sleeper hold when Caesar hit him with a steel chair, earning his charge, Superbeast, a disqualification loss.

-Superbeast continued to beat on Adams after the match when the Kovacs ran out to make the save.

8. Cade Cassidy defeated Jimmy Andrews.

Andrews is a little guy compared to most of the rest of the guys on the roster.  Cassidy defeated him pretty easily.

The main event of the evening was supposed to be Famous taking on Thurston and Radski for the ESW Tag Team Championships, but due to the beating the duo suffered at the hands of Mastiff and Cooper earlier in the night, they were deemed unable to compete.  Famous thought that would mean they won by default, but the new commissioner of ESW had other plans.  Famous demanded to know who the new commissioner was – and proceeded to throw a tantrum in the middle of the ring when Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin'” rang out through the sound system – and was song along with by the entire crowd.  Jimmy Olsen came out in a suit and announced that he’s the new ESW commissioner, and that he’d found a team to replace Thurston and Radski – Jonny Puma and Kevin Grace!

9. Final – ESW Tag Team Title Tournament: Famous (Chris Cooper & “Mastiff” Will Calrissian) defeated Jonny Puma & Kevin Grace to become new champions.

This was a hell of a main event.  These four guys ooze charisma, and all four are great wrestlers.  After Puma hit a diving axe-handle from the top rope to the outside on Cooper, Mastiff went for an Asai Moonsault, but slipped, landing on his head.  The finish had to be improvised, and saw Cooper nailing Grace with one of the ESW Tag Team Championship belts to pick up the win – and the titles – for his team.

Following the fall, several members of the ESW locker room came out from the back and looked on in as EMTs rushed to the aid of “Mastiff” Will Carlissian.  We were told to exit the building immediately following the match so that they could get help in there for Carlissian.  As of this time, there has been no word released on his condition, other than that he suffered a serious injury.  Here’s hoping that Matiff will be ok.

I had a great time at the show.  I always have a better time at these independent shows than I do at WWE events.  I think at least part of that has to do with the fact that you never know who might be a future member of the WWE or TNA roster – Colin DeLaney, Cody Deaner, and Shawn (Gavin) Spears are ESW alumni, and I used to watch Eric Young in NeoSpirit Pro Wrestling in Niagara Falls, Ontario before he made it to TNA.

I’ve got camera phone pictures, and I will get around to putting them up later on tonight, after TNA’s No Surrender PPV.

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