I’m going to be honest. They did not draw as well as they usually did. So I think I wasn’t expecting that great of a show. But I learned it’s not the size of the crowd. It’s how “on-fire” that crowd is. Less than two weeks ago, we saw how one crowd could carry an entire show at a WWE Monday Night Raw. Tonight, the MPX crowd made the show.

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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So tonight was MPX’s Scars and Tattoos. Right now I’m in reflection mode, but I think this might have been MPX’s best show top to bottom. It was hot. Duh! It’s July in Texas. The crowd was a little out of it because of the heat. There were hand-held fans for the crowd. It was a great idea. The crowd was very kid-saturated. This is a very smart plan because kids will make their parents come back. And at the end of the day, it’s all about them.

There were guard rails. It looked nice and professional. They were held together with bubble gum and chicken wire, but they were there. And they needed to be there. The night began with Kate introducing Mike Dolenz. He wanted to apologize to $Payday$ and Jiggle-O for putting them in a match last month. He was going to make it up to them by giving them a singles match for a title shot. Dolenz has improved nicely on the mic.

First match: $Payday$ vs. Jiggle-O Jim Johnson (for a future title shot)

Payday did his best to try to get the crowd going. The crowd has mass heatstroke so the crowd plants did their best to get the crowd going. The kids really love Payday. He is a great person to start off the night because of the reaction he gets. Payday is kind of like the Kofi Kingston of MPX. He’s always right and good. In this match, I was a little confused. Who do I go for? I like Jiggle-O and Payday.

The story was that they were both friends and just trying to win the belt. Jiggle-O faked an injury. He rolled up $Payday$ for the win.

Winner: Jiggle-O

Payday, being the great human being he is, raised Jiggle-O’s hand and was a good sport about it. Jiggle-O then took the mic and began to cut MPX’s version of “The Promo.” He channeled CM Punk very well. He didn’t give a damn about anybody or anything. He had never had a chance for a title shot. And he called Kate a “skank.” To describe this for anybody who’s never seen MPX, that would be like calling Miss Elizabeth a skank. I think it is the best heel promo I’ve heard in MPX (with respect to Kyle Davis).

Second match: Carrion Arcane w/Claudia vs. Danny Saint

It was nice to see Danny Saint again. He looks like he belongs in a WWE ring (hint, hint, Johnny Ace). He’s got the size and has a certain look about him. The two wrestled a very nice match. Claudia got a little too involved for my taste. As part of their feud, Kris Haiden walked out and abducted Claudia. Claudia is very over with the crowd as a heel. She is probably the number one heel in the company. The match was a little shorter than I would have like to have seen, but we got to see Saint get a nice win.

Winner: Saint

Third match: Cash & Carry (c) vs. Jinn & Lucha Lucha

As Cash & Carry develop more, the more they remind me of the Road Warriors. Now I’m not saying that they are on that level yet. But you have a strong, silent type (Animal) in Zach T and a charismatic, larger-than-life talker (Hawk) in BC. I see them emerging as a top tag team in Texas in the next few years are so. Jinn and Lucha have come so far in their ring work. Jinn is a big student of the game. You can tell he spends a lot of time perfecting his in-ring craft. We had a few “Holy s***” moments (in a good way) just from him. During the match, Kyle Valo walked to the ring and convinced Lucha to join Team Kyle.

Winner: Cash & Carry

After the match, Cash & Carry continued to beat on Jinn and wanted to unmask Jinn. But Lucha got to do it and it was revealed as Seph Annunaki. I understand they used the unmasking to cement a heel turn, but I was kind of hoping for a mask vs. mask match. Maybe I can hope for mask vs. hair?

After that match, Frankie Fisher and Daniel came out to the ring. Daniel had gotten Frankie a birthday present to make up for Frankie losing last month to James Hawke. His birthday present was a match with Lance Hoyt. Note to self: Don’t befriend Daniel. Daniel is pretty good on the mic.

Fourth match: Frankie Fisher w/Daniel vs. Lance Hoyt

Lance Hoyt took the mic and cut a very nice promo getting the crowd up. The crowd was really in to this match.

Hoyt led the crowd in “Happy Birthday to You” while he beat Frankie down. Kudos to Hoyt for being able to go on before the intermission. Of course nobody could have ever followed the main event. You can tell Hoyt has lots of fun coming to MPX and doesn’t phone in anything. I also give props to MPX for being able to involve him in a storyline. He was very well-booked, and I think the crowd really loved this match. One highlight was Frankie hitting Hoyt with the yardstick. Hoyt turned around and no-sold it. Another highlight was Frankie going to the back and Hoyt going back to get him. Daniel held onto Hoyt’s leg and cost Hoyt the match.

Winner: Fisher (by countout)

This was brilliant. So now Frankie can say he has a victory over former WWE/TNA star Lance Hoyt. Ben Wylde debuted a new look with his longer hair (I liked) and Kyle Davis was channeling the Chris Jericho look. It was a good moment. At the intermission, Lance Hoyt signed some autographs and worked the merchandise table. Also, they are now having a fund to bring in Colt Cabana. I did not give because I don’t know if he’ll still be taking bookings in the near future (like, he might be WWE-bound). MPX, you bring him in, I’ll make my donations. If you don’t, there’s always Sunny. (hint, hint)

After the intermission, Mike Dolenz announced there would be a Tag Team Turmoil event in August.

Fifth match: Kenny Steele vs. Matt Palmer

I really enjoyed this match. Kenny seemed like he was focused on this match and didn’t do as much jaw-jacking with the crowd.

This is a pretty hot feud. Both guys have such a magnetic charisma, both Steele as a heel and Palmer in whatever he does. Steele is about 2-3 years from being one of the most talked-about talents in Texas. Palmer is already one of the top names in Anarchy Championship Wrestling in Austin. ROH, Chikara, Dragon Gate USA, go find yourself some Matt Palmer matches on Youtube or www.smartmarkvideo.com. It’s time to see him on a larger platform. Steele hit the referee Tony (who worked 6 of 7 matches last night) who disqualified him.

Winner: Palmer by DQ

After the match, security had to hold them back from each other. Matt Palmer did a plancha on the security guys and Steele earning the first “That was awesome” chant of the night. After that, we were treated to a special Hot Topics featuring Kyle Valo and his new members Regrub and Lucha. Regrub had a nice, sleek-looking outfit, and apparently, of all things, hair. They invited James Hawke to the ring and to become a new member of Team Kyle. This segment got “real” very quickly. They used people’s “real” names without giving away their secret identities. John Cena James Hawke said over his dead body. A match was made between Regrub and Hawke.

Sixth match: Regrub vs. James Hawke w/Ryan Gauge as special guest referee

Regrub at one point took off his straps and that drew out the biggest reaction of the crowd that night. I really liked the finish of this match. Hawke had him in the STFU and Valo went up to the ring apron and distracted Gauge. Hawke went over to talk to Gauge and Regrub held Hawke’s tights. Gauge counted two, noticed he had a hold on his tights and counted to three anyway. He took off his shirt and sure enough, Gauge was wearing a Team Kyle t-shirt. So now Team Kyle is officially a faction. I know I tease James Hawke about being John Cena, but this was definitely not Cena. Really nicely-done angle.

Winner: Regrub

Seventh match: Kris Haiden vs. Viktor Tadlock

This was a very intense stiff match between these two. Any other night, this would have been match of the night. The bell didn’t ring until about 2 minutes into the match. They didn’t get in the ring. Tadlock had a red, “I’ve-Just-Faced-an-Angry-Scott-Murdoch” chest. The two had such a nice intensity and energy. Tadlock took the mic and offered to quit wrestling if he would just tell him where Claudia was. Haiden gave him a Clothesline From Hell that would make JBL impressed.

I’m going to be honest. I don’t remember who won this. I’ll say it was Haiden. There was a fireball from Arcane. They sold this like Arcane had just done a fireball in Haiden’s face. Kyle Davis was angry and ready to take on all of them at once. They helped Haiden to the back and Nemesis (Arcane & Tadlock) went in search of Claudia.

Main event: “Headbanger” Gregory James (c) vs. WASP w/Kyle Valo

Right now, this is MPX’s Match of the Year. This is an example of how a hot crowd can make a match. There was a chairshot from Hell from Headbanger on WASP. (I hope WASP is ok.) The two did their part of brawling in the crowd, but there was also a lot of really good in-ring action. WASP is so big that any move he does that involves agility looks like a Holy s*** moment. During the match, Gregory climbed on the bars that hold the weights up and did a dive onto WASP. This evoked the SECOND “That was awesome” chant of the night. A major highlight of the match was the guitar/mandolin. They kept on building up the drama of who was going to get it. It ended up being WASP who took it and was busted up. We also saw Kyle Valo take a Van Terminator from Headbanger. Headbanger is about a year or two away from being noticed by a Chikara or ROH. Both these guys abused their bodies and I do not think I’ve seen a crowd this much into a match. Headbanger won after using a washcloth soaked in chloroform.

Winner: Headbanger

Top to bottom, I think this is MPX’s best show. Every match meant something and led to something else. Now MPX has left lots of questions open: Will Jiggle-O finally get his chance to win a championship? Where’s Claudia? Do we get to see Seph again? Why did he quit? And why did he come back as Seph? Will Fisher be able to take on Colt Cabana? What about this Tag Team Turmoil?

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