I have never and will never understand what the hell goes through Eric Bischoff's bleached brain, or how the hell one man can contradict himself on such a regular basis. He's a walking controdiction.
First of all, he constantly insults srestling fans. How the hell is that going to help TNA get more viewers? After the miserable 0.97 rating TNA got last week, shouldn't old Uncle Eric be kissing my ass mercilessly in an attempt to get me to turn on TNA's atrocious product for fifteen minutes, so they can raise the quarter hour rating for 1/8 of Impact? Well, even if Bischoff did start treating the fans with any sort of respect, who would believe it? He's been such a merciless bastard to "the marks" for so long that nothing out of his mouth could ever be taken as anything more than backhanded and fabricated.
Second, isn't Eric the guy that says "controversy creates cash" or whatever his stupid little manta is? Okay, Eric, if you want controversy, why is it that everytime fans start to criticize you on your Facebook page, you call them "trolls" and run and hide. How does that make any marginal sense? Eric can handle the mormal "fuck you" and "you're an asshole" postings in his page, because even he can't help but admit they're true. Those things roll right off his fat sweaty back, but when a fan starts to ask intelligently constructed, well thought out questions in an attempt to get legitimate answers and enlightenment, Bischoff responds with something like "I'vee been in the business for so long..." or "People who haven't been in the business don't know...". I'll tell you one thing, I don't have to have ever booked a wrestling show to know that a good ninety-five percent of every angle TNA is booking these days is recycled WCW crap. I don't have to have any experience in the wrestling business to know what I want to see on my television when I turn on pro wrestling, and what I don't want to see. I don't want to see old-timers. I don't want to see matches that last less than seven minutes. I don't want to see junked out Jeff Hardy. I don't want to see the lazy, arrogant moron that RVD has become. Let's face it, he was always arrogant, but at least ten years ago, he could back that up in the ring. No so thing these days. I don't want to see cartoon versions of formerly entertaining wrestlers (a la Abyss). I don't want to see any of the garbage that TNA wants to shovel down my throat.
Despite the flaws in logic that I've just pointed out, and the flaws that others continually point out, Bischoff and his little pal Eric Hurvey (another idiot that got into the wrestling business by "knowing somebody: and has no right or reason to be there(, and all the other Hollywood wannabe morons in TNA (including Queen Dixie of the country of Dumbassadonia) keep doing the same crap week in and week out. I'm no longer willing to even watch TNA PPVs for free on the Internet, let alone turn on their Thursday night crapfest on Spike.
Somebody please do me a favor and knock me unconscious for the next year and a half. Maybe after that period of time, when Hogan and Bischoff's contracts are up, we can get back to professional wrestling as it should be, as it used to be in TNA. I expect the company to go belly-up like a malnurished Guppy before then...ut I guess I can still hope right?
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Linda McMahon Again Trying to distance Herself
It seems that Linda McMahon is again trying to distance herself from professional wrestling. This time she did it no less offensively than she has in the past. Upon being asked about the recent death of Lance Cade, Linda's exact words were, "I may have met him once." She then went on the compare his situation and how it relates to the WWE with Heath Ledger's death, saying that WWE was no more responsible for Cade's death than a movie studio would be for the death of a film star.
Let's compare and contrast those two situations.
The movie business is not one that takes a tremendous physical tole on a person's body. About the only time anyone ever gets hurt in the movie business if if they do their own stunts, which not many people are allowed to or choose to do anymore. Professional wrestling is a tremendously physical business. Even the idiots that refer to pro wrestling as "sports entertainment" know that. It's why they add the word sports in front of entertainment, because there is a large physical element to the business. Heath Ledger's using sleeping pills because he was performing a disturbing film role is very different from the situation of any professional wrestler. These guys are constantly getting dropped on their backs, necks, heads, and any other body part you can think of. The risk of physical injury is much higher for them...and what is it that doctor's prescribe most for injuries of a physical nature? That's right boys and girls...pills, painkillers to be precise. Vicodin, percocet, lortab, norco, that's what you get for pain, that and a "check back in a few weeks". The extremely physical nature of the business makes just about anyone involved complicit, inculding the wrestlers themselves, so I guess the WWE really can't be blamed for that part, at least not in full, because wrestlers make the choice to get in the ring themselves.
However, the lack of any sort of company insurance in WWE or any of the corporate wrestling companies that have existed up to this point might show some complicity in the growing numbers of wrestlers dying from substance abuse related causes. The WWE organization signs all their wrestlers under contracts that state them to be "independent contractors". They are then technically employees of WWE, subject to all sorts of rules and restrictions, but not entitled to any sort of company provided benefits. That's a nice little loophole that allows World Wrestling Entertainment Incorporated to maximize profits while bringing down their overhead considerably, and with the way that they have been losing money in the past year or two (and will probably continue to lose money due to their increasingly poor product), it's not surprising that they haven't yet yeilded to the demands of wrestlers for such benefits. Just ask Scott Levy (aka Raven) who sued WWE and lost. They've got deep pockets and high-priced lawyers. Who's going to beat them?
Also, the salary of an actor with as much recognition and renown as Heath Ledger is much higher than that of a WWE imposed midcarder like Lance Cade. Cade was making probably a decent six figures each year. Ledger was making several million--that's with six zeroes after it--dollars per picture. With Ledger making that kind of money, he could afford tons of personal insurance. In the wrestling business, a corporate entity like WWE will not allow a man to step in the ring without insurance. It would make them liable to any injury that man might suffer. But of course, they don't supply any sort of insurance through their organization.
WWE obviously recognizes and acknowledge's the problem, because they pay for wrestlers to go into rehab. That being said, their is no sort of proactive approach being thaken or planned for guys like Lance Cade, Chris Kanyon, or anyone else. WWE's funding for wrestlers in rehab is a half-assed way for them to cover their bases. It is a way for them to be able to say that they acknowledge the issue and try to take some sort of marginal responsibility for it.
I realize that I've been repetitive in my last couple posts, but these issues bear repeating and rehashing. I guess my whole point here is that Linda McMahon has been the recipient of quite a bit of money from the wrestling business, just as much as Vince, Shane, or Stephanie, and what she pulled was a tasteless and borderline vulgar political trick in order to cover her own ass. Not that I'd ever expect anything less of a politician...or a McMahon.
Let's compare and contrast those two situations.
The movie business is not one that takes a tremendous physical tole on a person's body. About the only time anyone ever gets hurt in the movie business if if they do their own stunts, which not many people are allowed to or choose to do anymore. Professional wrestling is a tremendously physical business. Even the idiots that refer to pro wrestling as "sports entertainment" know that. It's why they add the word sports in front of entertainment, because there is a large physical element to the business. Heath Ledger's using sleeping pills because he was performing a disturbing film role is very different from the situation of any professional wrestler. These guys are constantly getting dropped on their backs, necks, heads, and any other body part you can think of. The risk of physical injury is much higher for them...and what is it that doctor's prescribe most for injuries of a physical nature? That's right boys and girls...pills, painkillers to be precise. Vicodin, percocet, lortab, norco, that's what you get for pain, that and a "check back in a few weeks". The extremely physical nature of the business makes just about anyone involved complicit, inculding the wrestlers themselves, so I guess the WWE really can't be blamed for that part, at least not in full, because wrestlers make the choice to get in the ring themselves.
However, the lack of any sort of company insurance in WWE or any of the corporate wrestling companies that have existed up to this point might show some complicity in the growing numbers of wrestlers dying from substance abuse related causes. The WWE organization signs all their wrestlers under contracts that state them to be "independent contractors". They are then technically employees of WWE, subject to all sorts of rules and restrictions, but not entitled to any sort of company provided benefits. That's a nice little loophole that allows World Wrestling Entertainment Incorporated to maximize profits while bringing down their overhead considerably, and with the way that they have been losing money in the past year or two (and will probably continue to lose money due to their increasingly poor product), it's not surprising that they haven't yet yeilded to the demands of wrestlers for such benefits. Just ask Scott Levy (aka Raven) who sued WWE and lost. They've got deep pockets and high-priced lawyers. Who's going to beat them?
Also, the salary of an actor with as much recognition and renown as Heath Ledger is much higher than that of a WWE imposed midcarder like Lance Cade. Cade was making probably a decent six figures each year. Ledger was making several million--that's with six zeroes after it--dollars per picture. With Ledger making that kind of money, he could afford tons of personal insurance. In the wrestling business, a corporate entity like WWE will not allow a man to step in the ring without insurance. It would make them liable to any injury that man might suffer. But of course, they don't supply any sort of insurance through their organization.
WWE obviously recognizes and acknowledge's the problem, because they pay for wrestlers to go into rehab. That being said, their is no sort of proactive approach being thaken or planned for guys like Lance Cade, Chris Kanyon, or anyone else. WWE's funding for wrestlers in rehab is a half-assed way for them to cover their bases. It is a way for them to be able to say that they acknowledge the issue and try to take some sort of marginal responsibility for it.
I realize that I've been repetitive in my last couple posts, but these issues bear repeating and rehashing. I guess my whole point here is that Linda McMahon has been the recipient of quite a bit of money from the wrestling business, just as much as Vince, Shane, or Stephanie, and what she pulled was a tasteless and borderline vulgar political trick in order to cover her own ass. Not that I'd ever expect anything less of a politician...or a McMahon.
Dead Wrestlers, Substance Abuse, and the Company That Leads Them There
Kevin Kelley recently wrote an exclusive article for Wrestlezone.com about the number of wrestlers that continue to die from substance abuse related causes. He suggested, admitting that his idea was implausible, that WWE should hire personal assistants to travel with their wrestlers in order to keep them from making the poor decisions that lead to substance abuse and--for some--their subsequent releases, and later their deaths. Let me make clear right now that this post is not meant to attack Kevin Kelley's idea, nor Kevin himself. I think Kevin is just as frustrated as anybody about the amazingly high number of substance related deaths in pro wrestling these days. In fact, Kevin is probably more frustrated than fans like myself, because he is in the business and has had exposure to some of the people who have died recently.
I think that maybe the only solution here is to cut to the heart of the problem. I think there would be a sizeably lesser amount of substance related deaths in wrestling...if Vince and all of the morons that work for him in the backstage stop driving the talent to drink or to do drugs. You don't have to be a"in the business" to understand that working for the WWE may not be worth it, not even for the potential millions of dollars a wrestler could make while doing so. Any educated fan, one that takes information from credible sources from "in the business" can see the correlation between the WWE and substance related deaths in the wrestling business. Vince, Johnny Ace, (that freaking moron) Kevin Dunn, and all the half-assed writers in the back who were possessed of too little talent to be hired to write for any self-respecting comic book company or television network turn potential superstars into has-beens or never-wills in their mid 20s. For a guy like Lance Cade--the most recent wrestler to die from substance related causes--who had both the size and skill to make it big in the corporate wrestling world, it must have been torture having to put up with the ridiculous Hollywood garbage that the WWE writers and bookers come up with. It's no wonder the guy started to drink so heavily. He had to be on the road for a large majority of the year, taking part in angles so ridiculous that nobody over the age of twelve could take them seriously.
Of course, WWE now pays for wrestlers to go into rehab. They are now funding Scott Hall's most recent--but probably not final--trip to rehab. Instead of trying to attack to problems after they have already begun, how about the WWE takes a more proactive approach? Is it too much to ask that they treat their wrestlers (not sports entertainers!!!) with the least bit of dignity and respect that they deserve? How about they stop playing stupid little political games in the backstage? How about they attempt to return to the ways of a wrestling business where guys could succeed as opposed to being tossed away like garbage before they've even had a fair shot?
That's what I'd recommend, but what the hell do I know? I'm just a mark right?
I think that maybe the only solution here is to cut to the heart of the problem. I think there would be a sizeably lesser amount of substance related deaths in wrestling...if Vince and all of the morons that work for him in the backstage stop driving the talent to drink or to do drugs. You don't have to be a"in the business" to understand that working for the WWE may not be worth it, not even for the potential millions of dollars a wrestler could make while doing so. Any educated fan, one that takes information from credible sources from "in the business" can see the correlation between the WWE and substance related deaths in the wrestling business. Vince, Johnny Ace, (that freaking moron) Kevin Dunn, and all the half-assed writers in the back who were possessed of too little talent to be hired to write for any self-respecting comic book company or television network turn potential superstars into has-beens or never-wills in their mid 20s. For a guy like Lance Cade--the most recent wrestler to die from substance related causes--who had both the size and skill to make it big in the corporate wrestling world, it must have been torture having to put up with the ridiculous Hollywood garbage that the WWE writers and bookers come up with. It's no wonder the guy started to drink so heavily. He had to be on the road for a large majority of the year, taking part in angles so ridiculous that nobody over the age of twelve could take them seriously.
Of course, WWE now pays for wrestlers to go into rehab. They are now funding Scott Hall's most recent--but probably not final--trip to rehab. Instead of trying to attack to problems after they have already begun, how about the WWE takes a more proactive approach? Is it too much to ask that they treat their wrestlers (not sports entertainers!!!) with the least bit of dignity and respect that they deserve? How about they stop playing stupid little political games in the backstage? How about they attempt to return to the ways of a wrestling business where guys could succeed as opposed to being tossed away like garbage before they've even had a fair shot?
That's what I'd recommend, but what the hell do I know? I'm just a mark right?
Monday, August 9, 2010
Tyler Black/WWE Rumors and More
It has been very recently rumored that ROH World Champion Tyler Black has signed some sort of contract with WWE. No details are available, so as of now, I am treating this as pure speculation.
In fact, this video gives a bit of contradictory evidence. This is Tyler Black addressing his fans and critics from a recent addition of ROH on HDNet. ROH posted this video on their Facebook page after the news on Black/WWE broke. So either they're trying to kill an untrue rumor, or their trying to play down the truth.
Either way, check out the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bImFCwvSN0
Here's my thoughts on the whole deal. I'm not sure that Tyler Black signing with WWE would work out. While they have showed in recent months that they are willing to push people that would not normally get a push in the WWE (for instance: Evan Borne), I'm not sure if Black would work out. Black is an amazing in-ring competitor. Of that there is no doubt. However, I doubt that Black is sharp enough on the microphone to make it in corporate wrestling...or at least in WWE. Though that argument could be contradicted by anyone citing Miz's recent and ongoing push. Miz sucks on the mic too...maybe even literally, but that's his business and his business alone. My point is, I hate hearing him cut a promo. He sucks at it...but he kisses Vince McMahon's ass mercilessly. So maybe if Black can lower himself to that level, he might make it out of FCW and onto the big roster for a short-lived push.
I also don't want anyone to think that I have a low opinion of Tyler Black, or that I doubt his ability to evolve and improve. Since I first saw Tyler Black back in 2003 in IWA Mid South, he has grown in leaps and bounds. He has become a more complete wrestler, and he has certainly gained experience and added competence on the mic, but I'm not sure he's got enough experience at this point to go corporate. At least he stopped doing the "I Hate My Parents" dance. If you've been a follower of the indies in the last decade, and in particular, a follower of Tyler, you might actually get that reference, but maybe I'm dating myself on that one.
The bottom line is, I hope he doesn't go corporate. I want to see ROH succeed, and I want them to do it with Tyler Black on their roster. Although with the ever-developing events leading up to the premiere of the Wilpon Group's wrestling product in October, who knows what could happen. Many people are writing the Wilpon product off before it has even been seen. I am not willing to do so, at least not yet.
I'll have a more detailed post with all the details I have heard up to this point on the Wilpon product in the near future. I'm also hoping to start a sort of Guest Booker column. If things go as planned (and who the hell knows if they will), this feature will appear once per week on this blog. Think of it as fantasy wrestling of sorts. My collaborator and I will be picking a roster of names to be included in our fictional promotion, and then showing you how we would book those people. Feel free to send in any comments or suggestions via the comment links on this page.
Okay, guess that's all for now. Hope to be back soon.
In fact, this video gives a bit of contradictory evidence. This is Tyler Black addressing his fans and critics from a recent addition of ROH on HDNet. ROH posted this video on their Facebook page after the news on Black/WWE broke. So either they're trying to kill an untrue rumor, or their trying to play down the truth.
Either way, check out the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bImFCwvSN0
Here's my thoughts on the whole deal. I'm not sure that Tyler Black signing with WWE would work out. While they have showed in recent months that they are willing to push people that would not normally get a push in the WWE (for instance: Evan Borne), I'm not sure if Black would work out. Black is an amazing in-ring competitor. Of that there is no doubt. However, I doubt that Black is sharp enough on the microphone to make it in corporate wrestling...or at least in WWE. Though that argument could be contradicted by anyone citing Miz's recent and ongoing push. Miz sucks on the mic too...maybe even literally, but that's his business and his business alone. My point is, I hate hearing him cut a promo. He sucks at it...but he kisses Vince McMahon's ass mercilessly. So maybe if Black can lower himself to that level, he might make it out of FCW and onto the big roster for a short-lived push.
I also don't want anyone to think that I have a low opinion of Tyler Black, or that I doubt his ability to evolve and improve. Since I first saw Tyler Black back in 2003 in IWA Mid South, he has grown in leaps and bounds. He has become a more complete wrestler, and he has certainly gained experience and added competence on the mic, but I'm not sure he's got enough experience at this point to go corporate. At least he stopped doing the "I Hate My Parents" dance. If you've been a follower of the indies in the last decade, and in particular, a follower of Tyler, you might actually get that reference, but maybe I'm dating myself on that one.
The bottom line is, I hope he doesn't go corporate. I want to see ROH succeed, and I want them to do it with Tyler Black on their roster. Although with the ever-developing events leading up to the premiere of the Wilpon Group's wrestling product in October, who knows what could happen. Many people are writing the Wilpon product off before it has even been seen. I am not willing to do so, at least not yet.
I'll have a more detailed post with all the details I have heard up to this point on the Wilpon product in the near future. I'm also hoping to start a sort of Guest Booker column. If things go as planned (and who the hell knows if they will), this feature will appear once per week on this blog. Think of it as fantasy wrestling of sorts. My collaborator and I will be picking a roster of names to be included in our fictional promotion, and then showing you how we would book those people. Feel free to send in any comments or suggestions via the comment links on this page.
Okay, guess that's all for now. Hope to be back soon.
Possible Site Change
I have recently become aware that there is an online wrestling radio show called "Low Blow Radio". Along with my collaborator in this blog, I had planned to eventually transition this blog into a podcast format, while still including written content through this site. As it stands now, it looks like there will need to be a name change. I am currently unsure if the site of this blog will change when we actually get around to starting the podcast. For now, keep checking this site for new posts. I will once again have regular internet access in a little over a week, and will hopefully be posting articles and commentaries more frequently, though it will depend on what my class schedule allows.
PWG Sells Out Volume ONe DVD Review Part 1
Okay, this is the first part of my review of the three disc PWG Sells Out Volume One DVD. Gotta say, on the whole this is a pretty damn good set of matches from the close to eight year history of SoCal's top indy promotion. I'll be posting this review one disc at a time. Otherwise it's a whole lot to digest at once. The review is complete with background information about the wrestlers. This took a lot of time, so stroke my ego and tell me how damn well-written it is. There's plenty of good karma in it for you if you do. ;-P
On the final portion of this review, I'll include the links to all of my online sources for the background information on the wrestlers...which was mostly wikipedia, so if you don't want to wait, you can look them up yourself.
PWG Sells Out DVD Review
Disc 1
Match 1:
Samoa Joe vs. “American Dragon” Bryan Danielson
From PWG The Musical
April 17, 2004
Samoa Joe has eleven years of experience in the pro wrestling game. He was trained by the UIWA (United Independent Wrestling Alliance) West Coast Dojo and got his first titles in UPW (Ultimate Pro Wrestling)--(where he also had a fued with a young John Cena. Since then Joe has gone on to fued with some of the best in the business in the independents and in TNA. He has battled Bryan Danielson, Necro Butcher, Homicide, both Briscoe Brothers, C.M. Punk, Christopher Daniels, Kurt Angle, Sting, Scott Steiner, and more.
Joe debuted in TNA at Slammiversary 2005. He was later signed to a TNA contract. He has had some notable matches in TNA, but lately has been in a bit of a slump. As of now, he is suspended from the active roster due to a backstage incident involving Jeremy Borash.
Among his list of titles are the UPW Heavyweight Title, ROH (Ring of Honor) Pure title, ROH World title, TNA (Total Nonstop Action) X Division Title, TNA Tag Titles, and TNA World title.
Joe is as agile as he is large. He is able to execute a variety of maneuvers, many of which would not be expected from a man his size. He is fond of using a huge jumping kick as well as a vicious back senton to a downed opponent. He also likes to utilize strikes, mostly stiff kicks chops, and headbutts. Joe can finish an opponent with the Muscle Buster, Island Driver (Emerald Fusion), or the Catina Clutch (Rear Naked Choke). Despite Mark Madden's low opinion of Joe (and really, who gives a crap what that fat never-was has to say?), Joe has a varitable legion of fans who love to im him put the beatdown to anyone he steps in the ring with.
Call him “American Dragon”. Call him “The Best Wrestler in the World”. His name is Bryan Danielson and he is one of the biggest independent stars of all time. His viscious kicks and wrenching submissions make him a force to be reckoned with on any level of the professional wrestling game. Born on May 22, 1981 (and yes it is bitchin’ to share a birthday with American Dragon) in Aberdine, Washington, he was trained by four of the best: Shawn Michaels, William Regal, Masato Tanaka, and Rudy boy Gonzalez. In his eleven years in wrestling, Danielson has feuded with some big names, including Samoa Joe and Nigel McGuinness. He has wrestled worldwide and held both the ROH Pure Title and World Heavyweight Title, as well as the TWA (Texas Wrestling Alliance) Tag Titles with Brian Kendrick, The PWG (Pro Wrestling Guerrilla) World Heavyweight Title (2 times), the IWGP (International Wrestling Grand Prix [New Japan Pro Wrestling])Junior Heavyweight Tag Titles with Curryman, and the GHC (Global Honor Crown) Junior Heavyweight Title. He was recently signed to a WWE contract and was part of their NXT show with some other FCW rookies, though his experience probably outnumbers all of theirs combined. Danielson was fired several months ago for doing nothing more than being a good wrestler and selling an angle more superiorly than any of the other so-called Nexus "superstars". Besides, who doesn't want to choke the hell out of that twit Justin Roberts with his own tie? I know I do.
This match was a war of technical skill and striking. Both Joe and Dragon employed stiff kicks and chest-blistering chops. Danielson pounded Joe with European uppercuts and Joe returned with headbutts. They brawled from the ring to the floor and back again. Joe nailed Danielson with the Ole Kick, and Danielson used a rare springboard Tope Con Hilo. At the end of the thirty minute time limit, neither man had gained a pinfall or submission.
After the match, Joe suckered Danielson by pretending to want five more minutes. Instead Ricky Reyes and Rocky romero (friends of Danielson and fellow members of the NJPW (New Japan Pro Wrestling) Los Angeles dojo) attacked Danielson for teaming with Teddy Hart and Jack Evans in Canada a few weeks earlier.
After being beaten into the mat for a while , Danielson got up and went on to cut a promo on Joe and Reyes, in which he declared Joe a scumbag, Reyes a pussy, and himself a far superior dancer than Joe. Hilarious.
Match 2:
Super Dragon vs. CM Punk
From The Reason for the Season
February 12, 2005
Super Dragon trained with Martin Marin, the owner of WPR (World Power wrestling). In 1997 he had his first match. Also in the late 90s, he and friend Blitzkreig wrestled a dark match for WCW (World Championship Wrestling), but only Blitzkreig went on to be used again. After a reconstructive surgery, Super Dragon returned in 2001 to win the Revolution J tournament in RPW (Revolution Pro Wrestling), competing with wrestlers like Excalibur and Disco Machine (or as my friends and I like to call him...Ass Tassle). He defeated B-Boy in the finals of that tournament. Around this same time, Super Dragon and Excalibur wrestled some matches for Rob Blacks XPW (Xtreme Pro Wrestling) promotion. During his time in RPW, Dragon evolved his style from high flying to more of a brawling style. From 2002 to about 2006 he competed in CZW (Combat Zone Wrestling) and participate in the CZW vs. ROH war. He also claimed the CZW World Heavyweight Title.
In 2003 Super Dragon, Disco Machine, Excalibur, Joey Ryan, Scott Lost, and Top Gun Talwar founded the PWG promotion in Los Angeles. Since then PWG has become the largest promotion in southern California.
With his array of devastating maneuvers like the Psycho Driver, Psycho Driver II, Psycho Driver III, Psycho Driver IV, Violence Party, and Curb Stomp (which Super Dragon innovated and many have since stolen) Super Dragon has captured the PWG Heavyweight Title once and the PWG Tag Titles five times.
On May 17, 2008 Super Dragon suffered a concussion which he has not returned from.
Since he first began his training in Chicago with Ace Steel, Danny Domain, and Kevin Quinn in the late 1990s, CM Punk has worked and turned himself into an international superstar. He earned his first independent titles in SDW (Steel Domain Wrestling) in Chicago and went on to hold gold in numerous indy federations, including the IWA-MS (Independent Wrestling Association Mid Soutbh) Heavyweight Title many times by defeating wrestlers like B.J. Whitmer, A.J. Styles, and Eddie Guerrero (yes, that Eddie Guerrero). He has also held the ROH Tag Titles with his friend (and former WWE colleague) Colt Cabana. He had one of the most controversial runs of all time as the Ring of Honor World Champion. In calendar year 2003, Punk had a fantastic fued with former ECW star Raven. The fued spanned multiple promotions and continents. Punk and Raven shed blood in both the United States and England. Their fued spanned MLW (Major League Wrestling), ROH, FWA (Frontier Wrestling Alliance) in England, and TNA.
Also in 2003, Punk wrestled several dark matches in WWE. In 2005, Punk signed a developmental deal with WWE. He wrestled in their OVW (Ohio Valley Wrestling) developmental federation for over a year before premiering on ECW. On June 24, 2006—while he was still OVW World Champion—Punk debuted in ECW (Extreme Championship Wrestling [the new Vince McMahon owned version])defeating Stevie Richards at a house show. Since his debut in ECW, Punk has gone on to hold the now defunct ECW Title, WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) Intercontinental Title, WWE Tag Titles (with Kofi Kingston), and WWE World Title.
CM Punk has the distinction of being the only wrestler in recent history to wrestle under the gimmick of being Straight Edge. He has used this gimmick throughout his indy and corporate careers. He has been known to say during promos that “being Straight Edge means I’m better than you”. His current Straight Edge Society gimmick in WWE is regarded as great by some and vehemently hated by others.
Punk is a consummate technical wrestler, as well as a submission specialist of sorts. He employs devastating kicks and martial arts strikes . His Devil Lock Lariet (Hammerlock Lariet), Springboard Clothesline, Welcome to Chicago (Double Underhook Backbreaker), Anaconda Vice submission, and Go to Sleep finishers are all able to put out any opponent that steps into the squared circle to face him.
Some people have said that Super Dragon is not a “real” professional wrestler. This match should prove them wrong. For the first twenty minutes of this twenty-five plus minute match, Dragon and Punk tried to put each other out with brute force. The chops and kicks hit hard and fast. It was a brawl, with a few intermingled technical or flying spots thrown in. Each man pulled out many of their signature moves to try to put the other away. Punk played heel hard in this match, using Super Dragon’s own Curb Stomp maneuver on him three different times. Dragon reciprocated with three Curb Stomps of his own, including one into the bottom turnbuckle that made my face hurt just watching it. The ending spot was well-placed and executed. Punk went for a Shining Wizard and Dragon reversed it into a Supernatural Driver, dumping Punk right on his head and picking up the victory in devastating fashion.
Match 3:
“The Future” Frankie Kazarian vs. “Scrapiron” Adam Pearce
PWG Heavyweight Title
Steel Cage Match
From The Reason for the Season
July 10, 2004
Frankie Kazarian is aptly referred to as “The Future”, because it is wrestlers like him that will make up the future superstars of the business (if guys like Hogan and Flair ever decide to finally hang it up). His arsenal of amazing maneuvers, including the Flux Capacitor (Top Rope Backflip Sidewalk Slam), Future Shock, and the Wave of the Future, make him an exciting and formidable competitor. Frankie has wrestled in the independent and corporate wrestling circuits. Kazarian has friendships with both Samoa Joe and John Cena that date back to their days in UPW (Ultimate Pro Wrestling). Kazarian has held both
tag and singles gold in the independent circuit, including the UPW Tag Titles with Nova, the EWF (Empir Wrestling Federation) Heavyweight title, and the JAPW (Jersey All Pro Wrestling) Light Heavyweight Title. He was also the first ever PWG Heavyweight Champion. Frankie wrestled in TNA and obtain the X Division Title before he signed a deal with WWE. His time with Vince McMahon’s promotion was short-lived. He wrestled some dark matches for the Smackdown brand, but then asked for his release.
After his WWE release, he returned to TNA and wrestled with Raven’s Serotonin faction. He also won the TNA Tag Titles with Eric Young, but was immediately stripped of the belts. Most recently, Frankie wrestled in TNA under the mask and moniker of Suicide, but has now dropped the mask and is wrestling again as himself. He is currently one of the wrestlers along with A.J. Styles that are getting screwed in Ric Flair's Fortune faction. Though I have not confirmed this fact formally, I believe that Kazarian may have been a student at the ECW House of Hardcore, and even competed in the company a few times before it's 2001 demise.
“Scrapiron” Adam Pearce was trained by Sonny Rogers and former TNA employee “Rockin” Randy Ricci. From 1997 to 1999 Adam Pearce appeared numerous times on WWE television as a jobber named Adam O’Brian. Adam has made the rounds in the United States indy circuit. He has wrestled in SDW in his hometown of Chicago, as well as in the Northeast and West Coast scenes. He has held The UPW and PWG World Heavyweight Titles. He has also held the prestigious NWA (National Wrestling Alliance) Heritage and World Heavyweight titles. Adam has also been involved with Ring of Honor in both a wrestling and booking capacity. He is known for his old school style, but can hang with wrestlers that employ a more fast-paced style as well. His devastating Rack Powerbomb and Jumping Piledriver finishers, combine with his size (6’2, 232 pounds) make him an opponent not to be taken lightly--pun intended.
Before the match, Pearce cut a prime indy heel promo. He ragged on the crowd mercilessly. He added a very funny touch when he put his face directly in front of the camera and said, “And fuck you at home on DVD too.” It was great heel work.
This match was a bloodbath, as you might expect from a Steel Cage Match. It was the culmination of a year long fued between Frankie and Adam Pearce over the PWG Title. The match started out as a brawl. The two men fought all over the arena and eventually brought the fight back into the cage. Since the cage had no door, the only ways to win were by pinfall, submission, or climbing out over the top of the cage. Pearce took the beating to Kazarian early and made an attempt to climb out, but Kazarian recovered and hit him with a Flux Capacitor. Adam Pearce turned to his trademark Jumping Piledriver but could not put Kazarian away. After twice hitting The Wave of the Future and three times nailing Pearce with Piledrivers, Kazarian picked up the win. By special stipulation, not only did Pearce not win the title, but he had to leave PWG forever.
Match 4:
“The Prince of P-Town” Jack Evans vs. “The Fallen Angel” Christopher Daniels
From Free Admission (Just Kidding)
November 13, 2004
Jack Evans is without a doubt one of the most impressive high-flying wrestlers in the world today. He was trained by Brian “Chico” Alverez, Tim “Street Fighter” Flowers, and also trained alongside T.J. Wilson (Tyson Kidd), Harry Smith, and his long-time tag partner Teddy Hart at the Hart Family Dungeon. He has wrestled as himself and as the masked Blitzkrieg 2 . As far as I can find, Evans has held only two titles to date: the JAPW Tag Titles with Teddy Hart, and the Pinacle Wrestling Heavyweight Title. While his title history is very short, Jack Evans proves himself everytime he sets foot in a wrestling ring. He has competed in JAPW, MLW, CZW, WSX (Wrestling Society X), ROH, and even TNA. He and tag partner Teddy Hart were part of TNA’s World X Cup in the past as part of Team Canada. With incredible high-flying maneuvers like the Corkscrew 630, Standing 450, Reverse 450, and Phoenix Splash, Jack is not only great to watch, he is an opponent to be taken seriously.
Though he was born in North Carolina (so-called Flair country), Christopher Daniels got his professional wrestling start in Chicago. He was trained by Sam Deciro, Mike Anthony, and Kevin Quinn in the Windy City Championship Wrestling promotion. He has wrestled and held gold all over the world. The list of federations he has competed in includes WCCW (Windy City Championship Wrestling), 3PW (Pro Pain Pro Wrestling), ECW (Extreme Championship Wrestling [the original Paul Heyman owned version]), WWC (World Wrestling Council), NWA, Zero-1 MAX (Japan), NJPW, MPW (Michinoku Pro Wrestling [in Japan]), ROH, and TNA. He also wrestled as a masked wrestler in WWF (World Wrestling Federation [now WWE])called Conquistador Dos and in TNA and Japan as Curryman. Daniels also occupied the role of Suicide for a time while Frankie Kazarian was recovering from an arm injury. His time in the wrestling business has seen him hold independent and corporate gold. He has held the EWF Heavyweight Title, UPW Heavyweight Title, NWA Florida title, ROH Tag Team Titles, FWA heavyweight title, TNA Tag Titles, IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Titles (as Curryman), and the TNA X Division title. Most recently, he was released from his TNA contract (not surprisingly) and is back in Ring of Honor.
As should be expected, both men were extremely impressive in this match. Jack Evans threw out a great performance in his debut match in PWG against the ring veteran and PWG regular, Christopher Daniels. Jack Evans was able to counter many of Christopher Daniels’ intended maneuvers, as well as hitting some outrageous diving moves of his own. However, Daniels had some great reversals of his own. At one point in the matchup, Evans went for a Sky Twister Press from the top buckle to the floor, but Daniels caught him in a Powerbomb. Jack Evans looked to be in prime position to end the match with his 630 Splash, but missed the move and Daniels capitalized with a wicked backbreaker leading into his double jump moonsault, known as the Best Moonsault Ever. After the BME, it was all O-V-E-R for Jack Evans.
Match 5:
Super Dragon bs. Samoa Joe
PWG Title Match
From All Nude Review
February 12, 2005
Super Dragon came into this match as the PWG Heavyweight Champion, but was out to avenge a previous countout loss to Samoa Joe. He attempted to attack Joe preemptively and take an early advantage. He was unsuccessful. Joe stopped Dragon’s momentum by taking his legs out with a sweep. From there, Joe went to work on Dragon’s back, trying to make sure Dragon would not be able to get him up for the Psycho Driver (not that anyone thought that such a thing was very likely to begin with). The momentum shifted back and forth during this match, with each man hitting very impressive high-impact maneuvers. Both men hit suicide dives. Joe hit a series of vicious boot scrapes in the corner and Dragon returned the favor with a Curb Stomp to Joe. Super Dragon even broke out an old school Senton Bomb (Back Senton off the top rope) on Joe. In the end, Super Dragon was incredibly able to lift Joe onto his shoulders (despite the seventy plus pound weight difference between the two men) and blast him with a Psycho Driver. Joe had the presence of mind to roll out of the ring onto the floor. Super Dragon was unable to get a near unconscious Joe back into the ring before the twenty count finished and the match ended in a countout. Super Dragon retained his PWG Heavyweight Title and though he was not able to pin Joe, he showed his critics once again that he is able to hang with the biggest and best in the indy scene.
After the match, an imposter super Dragon came out and attacked the real Super Dragon. This imposter hit Dragon with a Curb Stomp. The imposter was later revealed as Kevin Steen, who had been contracted by Excalibur to take out Super Dragon.
Match 6:
“The Phenominal” AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe
#1 Contenders Match for the PWG Heavyweight Title
From All Star Weekend Night 1
April 1, 2005
AJ Styles has been deemed “The Phenominal One” in his eleven years as a professional wrestler, and for good reason. Styles hails from and was trained in Georgia. He began his career in NWA Wildside in the year 1999, after being trained by Rick Michaels. He earned his first title in NWA Wildside as well, defeating K-Krush (Ron Killings). He lost the belt but later regained it by beating Air Paris. Styles also held the NWA Georgia Heavyweight Title during his time in NWA. Later, he and Air Paris went to WCW (World Championship Wrestling) and worked both as a tag team and in a singles fued against one another. After WCW folded, Styles worked for WWA (World Wrestling Allstars), becoming their Cruiserweight Champion after defeating Nova. In 2002, Styles became one of the founding members of the TNA X Division. He had incredible matches with Jerry Lynn, Psicosis, Low Ki (now known as Kaval on WWE’s NXT show), and many more. At that time TNA was associated with the NWA and Styles won the X Division Title, the NWA Tag Titles, and NWA World Heavyweight Title early in TNA history. He would later go on to hold the TNA Tag Titles and World Heavyweight Title after TNA split from the NWA. He would regain the X Division Title multiple times as well. While wrestling during the early days of TNA, Styles would also capture the ROH Tag Titles and the PWG Heavyweight Title.
Styles fueds have been numerous, including a great one with Crristopher Daniels in TNA. Styles is well known for wrestling a series of matches with former WWE talent Paul London. Several of these matches lasted 45 minutes or longer. He has also feuded with Kurt Angle, Jeff Jarrett, Abyss, Sting, and many more. He uses his phenomenal (hence the nickname) agility and unexpected power to humble his opponents. Styles is best known for his Pele Kick, Styles Clash, Spiral Tap (Corckscrew Legdrop off the top rope), and Superman (Springboard 450 Splash) moves, though his arsenal is certainly not limited to these moves, or to any one style of wrestling.
Aside From his prowess in the squared circle, Styles is also touted as one of the nicest and most humble men in the wrestling business today. He is said to hold strong to his Christian roots and to regard others as his equals on all levels. This, as you may know, is a rare occurance in the wrestling business.
This match began with Styles trying to show Joe and the PWG crowd that he is more than just a high-flier. He hit the 280 pound Samoan Submission Machine with a body slam, suplex, and backbreaker in short succession toward the beginning of the match, giving him an early advantage. That advantage was short lived. Joe retreated to the outside and Styles went to follow him, but Joe kicked Styles’ legs out from under him on the apron and that was all Joe needed to gain the advantage. From that point, Joe pressed his advantage hard, taking it to Styles with strikes, power moves, and even an Elbow Suicida. The match continued this way for several minutes, until Styles was able to hit a Pele Kick and stun Joe. Momentum swung back and forth between Styles and Joe, with Styles uncharacteristically avoiding the usage of high-flying maneuvers. Joe attempted to make Styles submit via an STF, but AJ escaped and came back with an incredible Torture Rack Powerbomb on the Samoan giant. As the match finished up, Styles was able to reverse Joe and hit him with the Styles Clash for the pin.
This match showed an entire different side of AJ Styles than many people had seen at the time it took place. People were used to seeing AJ flying around the TNA ring as a star of the X Division, but he showed that he was a much more complete wrestler than may have been thought. With the exception of one spot in this match, every move was executed crisply and succinctly.
Match 7:
“The Phenominal” AJ Styles vs. James Gibson
PWG Title Match/NWA title Match
From Guitarmageddon
June 11, 2005
James Gibson may be better known as Jamie Noble. He began his training with Bill Weaver, but was then signed to WCW. His first run in WCW saw him receive more training, this time with Dean Malenko. That run was short lived. Gibson did some work in the indy scene but later returned to WCW to be part of the three man team The Jung Dragons with Jimmy Yang and Kaz Hayashi. During his second run in WCW, The Jung Dragons feuded with Three Count—Evan Karagias, Shane Helmes (The Hurricane), and Shannon Moore. Later Karagias split from Three count and Noble split from The Jung Dragons. The two formed their own tag team and participated in what was undoubtedly the greatest ladder match in WCW history at Starcade 2000.
After WCW fell apart, Gibson—along with many former WCW stars—was signed to WWE. He wrestled under the name of Jamie Noble, as he had done in WCW after splitting with The Jung Dragons. In WWE, Gibson feuded with Billy Kidman, Yoshihiro Tajiri, and Rey Mysterio Jr. He went on to win the WWE Cruiserweight title in 2002. However, he would later lose the belt and be released from WWE.
After his WWE release, Gibson went back to work on the indy circuit, wrestling in promotions like PWG and ROH. In fact, he gained his only other major title when he became Ring of Honor World Champion on August 12, 2005 by beating CM Punk. He would hold that title for over a year, proving to wrestling fans everywhere that James Gibson was more than what they had seen in WCW or WWE.
Throughout the years James Gibson’s style evolved from a Japanese/Lucha style to a more technical/scrapping style of wrestling. As a member of the Jung Dragons he regularly used maneuvers like the Hurricanrana and Flying Headscissors. When he went to WWE, he began wrestling a more ground-based technical style of wrestling, though he also employed some lucha style moves at times. He continued to use this “ground and pound” style of wrestling for many years, through his run in ROH and on into his second run with WWE.
Gibson later returned to WWE, but was not used as anything more than a jobber for several ears. As of today, James Gibson has retired due to a nagging neck injury.
This match was a contest of technical skill. It was a match of both old school nuances and new school impactful maneuvers. The match started out with both men very much even. Styles and Gibson traded holds on the mat and countered one another time after time. Gibson controlled the head and neck of AJ with a wrenching headlock for severl minutes. Eventually, AJ’s size and height advantage put him in control of the match, but James Gibson was not to be counted out. Gibson was able to avoid a baseball slide dropkick on the outside and slam AJ’s chest into the ring apron to switch the momentum back in his direction. He then went back to work on Styles’ neck. The pendulum of momentum continued to swing back and forth in the match. AJ would hit an impactful move. Gibson would counter him. Gibson would go for a move of his own and hit it. Gibson blasted AJ with his signature Fireman’s Carry Gutbuster, and Styles utilized the Pele Kick. The match closed as Gibson went for his own version of the Tiger Driver. Styles reversed the move into a Styles Clash and picked up the three count.
On the final portion of this review, I'll include the links to all of my online sources for the background information on the wrestlers...which was mostly wikipedia, so if you don't want to wait, you can look them up yourself.
PWG Sells Out DVD Review
Disc 1
Match 1:
Samoa Joe vs. “American Dragon” Bryan Danielson
From PWG The Musical
April 17, 2004
Samoa Joe has eleven years of experience in the pro wrestling game. He was trained by the UIWA (United Independent Wrestling Alliance) West Coast Dojo and got his first titles in UPW (Ultimate Pro Wrestling)--(where he also had a fued with a young John Cena. Since then Joe has gone on to fued with some of the best in the business in the independents and in TNA. He has battled Bryan Danielson, Necro Butcher, Homicide, both Briscoe Brothers, C.M. Punk, Christopher Daniels, Kurt Angle, Sting, Scott Steiner, and more.
Joe debuted in TNA at Slammiversary 2005. He was later signed to a TNA contract. He has had some notable matches in TNA, but lately has been in a bit of a slump. As of now, he is suspended from the active roster due to a backstage incident involving Jeremy Borash.
Among his list of titles are the UPW Heavyweight Title, ROH (Ring of Honor) Pure title, ROH World title, TNA (Total Nonstop Action) X Division Title, TNA Tag Titles, and TNA World title.
Joe is as agile as he is large. He is able to execute a variety of maneuvers, many of which would not be expected from a man his size. He is fond of using a huge jumping kick as well as a vicious back senton to a downed opponent. He also likes to utilize strikes, mostly stiff kicks chops, and headbutts. Joe can finish an opponent with the Muscle Buster, Island Driver (Emerald Fusion), or the Catina Clutch (Rear Naked Choke). Despite Mark Madden's low opinion of Joe (and really, who gives a crap what that fat never-was has to say?), Joe has a varitable legion of fans who love to im him put the beatdown to anyone he steps in the ring with.
Call him “American Dragon”. Call him “The Best Wrestler in the World”. His name is Bryan Danielson and he is one of the biggest independent stars of all time. His viscious kicks and wrenching submissions make him a force to be reckoned with on any level of the professional wrestling game. Born on May 22, 1981 (and yes it is bitchin’ to share a birthday with American Dragon) in Aberdine, Washington, he was trained by four of the best: Shawn Michaels, William Regal, Masato Tanaka, and Rudy boy Gonzalez. In his eleven years in wrestling, Danielson has feuded with some big names, including Samoa Joe and Nigel McGuinness. He has wrestled worldwide and held both the ROH Pure Title and World Heavyweight Title, as well as the TWA (Texas Wrestling Alliance) Tag Titles with Brian Kendrick, The PWG (Pro Wrestling Guerrilla) World Heavyweight Title (2 times), the IWGP (International Wrestling Grand Prix [New Japan Pro Wrestling])Junior Heavyweight Tag Titles with Curryman, and the GHC (Global Honor Crown) Junior Heavyweight Title. He was recently signed to a WWE contract and was part of their NXT show with some other FCW rookies, though his experience probably outnumbers all of theirs combined. Danielson was fired several months ago for doing nothing more than being a good wrestler and selling an angle more superiorly than any of the other so-called Nexus "superstars". Besides, who doesn't want to choke the hell out of that twit Justin Roberts with his own tie? I know I do.
This match was a war of technical skill and striking. Both Joe and Dragon employed stiff kicks and chest-blistering chops. Danielson pounded Joe with European uppercuts and Joe returned with headbutts. They brawled from the ring to the floor and back again. Joe nailed Danielson with the Ole Kick, and Danielson used a rare springboard Tope Con Hilo. At the end of the thirty minute time limit, neither man had gained a pinfall or submission.
After the match, Joe suckered Danielson by pretending to want five more minutes. Instead Ricky Reyes and Rocky romero (friends of Danielson and fellow members of the NJPW (New Japan Pro Wrestling) Los Angeles dojo) attacked Danielson for teaming with Teddy Hart and Jack Evans in Canada a few weeks earlier.
After being beaten into the mat for a while , Danielson got up and went on to cut a promo on Joe and Reyes, in which he declared Joe a scumbag, Reyes a pussy, and himself a far superior dancer than Joe. Hilarious.
Match 2:
Super Dragon vs. CM Punk
From The Reason for the Season
February 12, 2005
Super Dragon trained with Martin Marin, the owner of WPR (World Power wrestling). In 1997 he had his first match. Also in the late 90s, he and friend Blitzkreig wrestled a dark match for WCW (World Championship Wrestling), but only Blitzkreig went on to be used again. After a reconstructive surgery, Super Dragon returned in 2001 to win the Revolution J tournament in RPW (Revolution Pro Wrestling), competing with wrestlers like Excalibur and Disco Machine (or as my friends and I like to call him...Ass Tassle). He defeated B-Boy in the finals of that tournament. Around this same time, Super Dragon and Excalibur wrestled some matches for Rob Blacks XPW (Xtreme Pro Wrestling) promotion. During his time in RPW, Dragon evolved his style from high flying to more of a brawling style. From 2002 to about 2006 he competed in CZW (Combat Zone Wrestling) and participate in the CZW vs. ROH war. He also claimed the CZW World Heavyweight Title.
In 2003 Super Dragon, Disco Machine, Excalibur, Joey Ryan, Scott Lost, and Top Gun Talwar founded the PWG promotion in Los Angeles. Since then PWG has become the largest promotion in southern California.
With his array of devastating maneuvers like the Psycho Driver, Psycho Driver II, Psycho Driver III, Psycho Driver IV, Violence Party, and Curb Stomp (which Super Dragon innovated and many have since stolen) Super Dragon has captured the PWG Heavyweight Title once and the PWG Tag Titles five times.
On May 17, 2008 Super Dragon suffered a concussion which he has not returned from.
Since he first began his training in Chicago with Ace Steel, Danny Domain, and Kevin Quinn in the late 1990s, CM Punk has worked and turned himself into an international superstar. He earned his first independent titles in SDW (Steel Domain Wrestling) in Chicago and went on to hold gold in numerous indy federations, including the IWA-MS (Independent Wrestling Association Mid Soutbh) Heavyweight Title many times by defeating wrestlers like B.J. Whitmer, A.J. Styles, and Eddie Guerrero (yes, that Eddie Guerrero). He has also held the ROH Tag Titles with his friend (and former WWE colleague) Colt Cabana. He had one of the most controversial runs of all time as the Ring of Honor World Champion. In calendar year 2003, Punk had a fantastic fued with former ECW star Raven. The fued spanned multiple promotions and continents. Punk and Raven shed blood in both the United States and England. Their fued spanned MLW (Major League Wrestling), ROH, FWA (Frontier Wrestling Alliance) in England, and TNA.
Also in 2003, Punk wrestled several dark matches in WWE. In 2005, Punk signed a developmental deal with WWE. He wrestled in their OVW (Ohio Valley Wrestling) developmental federation for over a year before premiering on ECW. On June 24, 2006—while he was still OVW World Champion—Punk debuted in ECW (Extreme Championship Wrestling [the new Vince McMahon owned version])defeating Stevie Richards at a house show. Since his debut in ECW, Punk has gone on to hold the now defunct ECW Title, WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) Intercontinental Title, WWE Tag Titles (with Kofi Kingston), and WWE World Title.
CM Punk has the distinction of being the only wrestler in recent history to wrestle under the gimmick of being Straight Edge. He has used this gimmick throughout his indy and corporate careers. He has been known to say during promos that “being Straight Edge means I’m better than you”. His current Straight Edge Society gimmick in WWE is regarded as great by some and vehemently hated by others.
Punk is a consummate technical wrestler, as well as a submission specialist of sorts. He employs devastating kicks and martial arts strikes . His Devil Lock Lariet (Hammerlock Lariet), Springboard Clothesline, Welcome to Chicago (Double Underhook Backbreaker), Anaconda Vice submission, and Go to Sleep finishers are all able to put out any opponent that steps into the squared circle to face him.
Some people have said that Super Dragon is not a “real” professional wrestler. This match should prove them wrong. For the first twenty minutes of this twenty-five plus minute match, Dragon and Punk tried to put each other out with brute force. The chops and kicks hit hard and fast. It was a brawl, with a few intermingled technical or flying spots thrown in. Each man pulled out many of their signature moves to try to put the other away. Punk played heel hard in this match, using Super Dragon’s own Curb Stomp maneuver on him three different times. Dragon reciprocated with three Curb Stomps of his own, including one into the bottom turnbuckle that made my face hurt just watching it. The ending spot was well-placed and executed. Punk went for a Shining Wizard and Dragon reversed it into a Supernatural Driver, dumping Punk right on his head and picking up the victory in devastating fashion.
Match 3:
“The Future” Frankie Kazarian vs. “Scrapiron” Adam Pearce
PWG Heavyweight Title
Steel Cage Match
From The Reason for the Season
July 10, 2004
Frankie Kazarian is aptly referred to as “The Future”, because it is wrestlers like him that will make up the future superstars of the business (if guys like Hogan and Flair ever decide to finally hang it up). His arsenal of amazing maneuvers, including the Flux Capacitor (Top Rope Backflip Sidewalk Slam), Future Shock, and the Wave of the Future, make him an exciting and formidable competitor. Frankie has wrestled in the independent and corporate wrestling circuits. Kazarian has friendships with both Samoa Joe and John Cena that date back to their days in UPW (Ultimate Pro Wrestling). Kazarian has held both
tag and singles gold in the independent circuit, including the UPW Tag Titles with Nova, the EWF (Empir Wrestling Federation) Heavyweight title, and the JAPW (Jersey All Pro Wrestling) Light Heavyweight Title. He was also the first ever PWG Heavyweight Champion. Frankie wrestled in TNA and obtain the X Division Title before he signed a deal with WWE. His time with Vince McMahon’s promotion was short-lived. He wrestled some dark matches for the Smackdown brand, but then asked for his release.
After his WWE release, he returned to TNA and wrestled with Raven’s Serotonin faction. He also won the TNA Tag Titles with Eric Young, but was immediately stripped of the belts. Most recently, Frankie wrestled in TNA under the mask and moniker of Suicide, but has now dropped the mask and is wrestling again as himself. He is currently one of the wrestlers along with A.J. Styles that are getting screwed in Ric Flair's Fortune faction. Though I have not confirmed this fact formally, I believe that Kazarian may have been a student at the ECW House of Hardcore, and even competed in the company a few times before it's 2001 demise.
“Scrapiron” Adam Pearce was trained by Sonny Rogers and former TNA employee “Rockin” Randy Ricci. From 1997 to 1999 Adam Pearce appeared numerous times on WWE television as a jobber named Adam O’Brian. Adam has made the rounds in the United States indy circuit. He has wrestled in SDW in his hometown of Chicago, as well as in the Northeast and West Coast scenes. He has held The UPW and PWG World Heavyweight Titles. He has also held the prestigious NWA (National Wrestling Alliance) Heritage and World Heavyweight titles. Adam has also been involved with Ring of Honor in both a wrestling and booking capacity. He is known for his old school style, but can hang with wrestlers that employ a more fast-paced style as well. His devastating Rack Powerbomb and Jumping Piledriver finishers, combine with his size (6’2, 232 pounds) make him an opponent not to be taken lightly--pun intended.
Before the match, Pearce cut a prime indy heel promo. He ragged on the crowd mercilessly. He added a very funny touch when he put his face directly in front of the camera and said, “And fuck you at home on DVD too.” It was great heel work.
This match was a bloodbath, as you might expect from a Steel Cage Match. It was the culmination of a year long fued between Frankie and Adam Pearce over the PWG Title. The match started out as a brawl. The two men fought all over the arena and eventually brought the fight back into the cage. Since the cage had no door, the only ways to win were by pinfall, submission, or climbing out over the top of the cage. Pearce took the beating to Kazarian early and made an attempt to climb out, but Kazarian recovered and hit him with a Flux Capacitor. Adam Pearce turned to his trademark Jumping Piledriver but could not put Kazarian away. After twice hitting The Wave of the Future and three times nailing Pearce with Piledrivers, Kazarian picked up the win. By special stipulation, not only did Pearce not win the title, but he had to leave PWG forever.
Match 4:
“The Prince of P-Town” Jack Evans vs. “The Fallen Angel” Christopher Daniels
From Free Admission (Just Kidding)
November 13, 2004
Jack Evans is without a doubt one of the most impressive high-flying wrestlers in the world today. He was trained by Brian “Chico” Alverez, Tim “Street Fighter” Flowers, and also trained alongside T.J. Wilson (Tyson Kidd), Harry Smith, and his long-time tag partner Teddy Hart at the Hart Family Dungeon. He has wrestled as himself and as the masked Blitzkrieg 2 . As far as I can find, Evans has held only two titles to date: the JAPW Tag Titles with Teddy Hart, and the Pinacle Wrestling Heavyweight Title. While his title history is very short, Jack Evans proves himself everytime he sets foot in a wrestling ring. He has competed in JAPW, MLW, CZW, WSX (Wrestling Society X), ROH, and even TNA. He and tag partner Teddy Hart were part of TNA’s World X Cup in the past as part of Team Canada. With incredible high-flying maneuvers like the Corkscrew 630, Standing 450, Reverse 450, and Phoenix Splash, Jack is not only great to watch, he is an opponent to be taken seriously.
Though he was born in North Carolina (so-called Flair country), Christopher Daniels got his professional wrestling start in Chicago. He was trained by Sam Deciro, Mike Anthony, and Kevin Quinn in the Windy City Championship Wrestling promotion. He has wrestled and held gold all over the world. The list of federations he has competed in includes WCCW (Windy City Championship Wrestling), 3PW (Pro Pain Pro Wrestling), ECW (Extreme Championship Wrestling [the original Paul Heyman owned version]), WWC (World Wrestling Council), NWA, Zero-1 MAX (Japan), NJPW, MPW (Michinoku Pro Wrestling [in Japan]), ROH, and TNA. He also wrestled as a masked wrestler in WWF (World Wrestling Federation [now WWE])called Conquistador Dos and in TNA and Japan as Curryman. Daniels also occupied the role of Suicide for a time while Frankie Kazarian was recovering from an arm injury. His time in the wrestling business has seen him hold independent and corporate gold. He has held the EWF Heavyweight Title, UPW Heavyweight Title, NWA Florida title, ROH Tag Team Titles, FWA heavyweight title, TNA Tag Titles, IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Titles (as Curryman), and the TNA X Division title. Most recently, he was released from his TNA contract (not surprisingly) and is back in Ring of Honor.
As should be expected, both men were extremely impressive in this match. Jack Evans threw out a great performance in his debut match in PWG against the ring veteran and PWG regular, Christopher Daniels. Jack Evans was able to counter many of Christopher Daniels’ intended maneuvers, as well as hitting some outrageous diving moves of his own. However, Daniels had some great reversals of his own. At one point in the matchup, Evans went for a Sky Twister Press from the top buckle to the floor, but Daniels caught him in a Powerbomb. Jack Evans looked to be in prime position to end the match with his 630 Splash, but missed the move and Daniels capitalized with a wicked backbreaker leading into his double jump moonsault, known as the Best Moonsault Ever. After the BME, it was all O-V-E-R for Jack Evans.
Match 5:
Super Dragon bs. Samoa Joe
PWG Title Match
From All Nude Review
February 12, 2005
Super Dragon came into this match as the PWG Heavyweight Champion, but was out to avenge a previous countout loss to Samoa Joe. He attempted to attack Joe preemptively and take an early advantage. He was unsuccessful. Joe stopped Dragon’s momentum by taking his legs out with a sweep. From there, Joe went to work on Dragon’s back, trying to make sure Dragon would not be able to get him up for the Psycho Driver (not that anyone thought that such a thing was very likely to begin with). The momentum shifted back and forth during this match, with each man hitting very impressive high-impact maneuvers. Both men hit suicide dives. Joe hit a series of vicious boot scrapes in the corner and Dragon returned the favor with a Curb Stomp to Joe. Super Dragon even broke out an old school Senton Bomb (Back Senton off the top rope) on Joe. In the end, Super Dragon was incredibly able to lift Joe onto his shoulders (despite the seventy plus pound weight difference between the two men) and blast him with a Psycho Driver. Joe had the presence of mind to roll out of the ring onto the floor. Super Dragon was unable to get a near unconscious Joe back into the ring before the twenty count finished and the match ended in a countout. Super Dragon retained his PWG Heavyweight Title and though he was not able to pin Joe, he showed his critics once again that he is able to hang with the biggest and best in the indy scene.
After the match, an imposter super Dragon came out and attacked the real Super Dragon. This imposter hit Dragon with a Curb Stomp. The imposter was later revealed as Kevin Steen, who had been contracted by Excalibur to take out Super Dragon.
Match 6:
“The Phenominal” AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe
#1 Contenders Match for the PWG Heavyweight Title
From All Star Weekend Night 1
April 1, 2005
AJ Styles has been deemed “The Phenominal One” in his eleven years as a professional wrestler, and for good reason. Styles hails from and was trained in Georgia. He began his career in NWA Wildside in the year 1999, after being trained by Rick Michaels. He earned his first title in NWA Wildside as well, defeating K-Krush (Ron Killings). He lost the belt but later regained it by beating Air Paris. Styles also held the NWA Georgia Heavyweight Title during his time in NWA. Later, he and Air Paris went to WCW (World Championship Wrestling) and worked both as a tag team and in a singles fued against one another. After WCW folded, Styles worked for WWA (World Wrestling Allstars), becoming their Cruiserweight Champion after defeating Nova. In 2002, Styles became one of the founding members of the TNA X Division. He had incredible matches with Jerry Lynn, Psicosis, Low Ki (now known as Kaval on WWE’s NXT show), and many more. At that time TNA was associated with the NWA and Styles won the X Division Title, the NWA Tag Titles, and NWA World Heavyweight Title early in TNA history. He would later go on to hold the TNA Tag Titles and World Heavyweight Title after TNA split from the NWA. He would regain the X Division Title multiple times as well. While wrestling during the early days of TNA, Styles would also capture the ROH Tag Titles and the PWG Heavyweight Title.
Styles fueds have been numerous, including a great one with Crristopher Daniels in TNA. Styles is well known for wrestling a series of matches with former WWE talent Paul London. Several of these matches lasted 45 minutes or longer. He has also feuded with Kurt Angle, Jeff Jarrett, Abyss, Sting, and many more. He uses his phenomenal (hence the nickname) agility and unexpected power to humble his opponents. Styles is best known for his Pele Kick, Styles Clash, Spiral Tap (Corckscrew Legdrop off the top rope), and Superman (Springboard 450 Splash) moves, though his arsenal is certainly not limited to these moves, or to any one style of wrestling.
Aside From his prowess in the squared circle, Styles is also touted as one of the nicest and most humble men in the wrestling business today. He is said to hold strong to his Christian roots and to regard others as his equals on all levels. This, as you may know, is a rare occurance in the wrestling business.
This match began with Styles trying to show Joe and the PWG crowd that he is more than just a high-flier. He hit the 280 pound Samoan Submission Machine with a body slam, suplex, and backbreaker in short succession toward the beginning of the match, giving him an early advantage. That advantage was short lived. Joe retreated to the outside and Styles went to follow him, but Joe kicked Styles’ legs out from under him on the apron and that was all Joe needed to gain the advantage. From that point, Joe pressed his advantage hard, taking it to Styles with strikes, power moves, and even an Elbow Suicida. The match continued this way for several minutes, until Styles was able to hit a Pele Kick and stun Joe. Momentum swung back and forth between Styles and Joe, with Styles uncharacteristically avoiding the usage of high-flying maneuvers. Joe attempted to make Styles submit via an STF, but AJ escaped and came back with an incredible Torture Rack Powerbomb on the Samoan giant. As the match finished up, Styles was able to reverse Joe and hit him with the Styles Clash for the pin.
This match showed an entire different side of AJ Styles than many people had seen at the time it took place. People were used to seeing AJ flying around the TNA ring as a star of the X Division, but he showed that he was a much more complete wrestler than may have been thought. With the exception of one spot in this match, every move was executed crisply and succinctly.
Match 7:
“The Phenominal” AJ Styles vs. James Gibson
PWG Title Match/NWA title Match
From Guitarmageddon
June 11, 2005
James Gibson may be better known as Jamie Noble. He began his training with Bill Weaver, but was then signed to WCW. His first run in WCW saw him receive more training, this time with Dean Malenko. That run was short lived. Gibson did some work in the indy scene but later returned to WCW to be part of the three man team The Jung Dragons with Jimmy Yang and Kaz Hayashi. During his second run in WCW, The Jung Dragons feuded with Three Count—Evan Karagias, Shane Helmes (The Hurricane), and Shannon Moore. Later Karagias split from Three count and Noble split from The Jung Dragons. The two formed their own tag team and participated in what was undoubtedly the greatest ladder match in WCW history at Starcade 2000.
After WCW fell apart, Gibson—along with many former WCW stars—was signed to WWE. He wrestled under the name of Jamie Noble, as he had done in WCW after splitting with The Jung Dragons. In WWE, Gibson feuded with Billy Kidman, Yoshihiro Tajiri, and Rey Mysterio Jr. He went on to win the WWE Cruiserweight title in 2002. However, he would later lose the belt and be released from WWE.
After his WWE release, Gibson went back to work on the indy circuit, wrestling in promotions like PWG and ROH. In fact, he gained his only other major title when he became Ring of Honor World Champion on August 12, 2005 by beating CM Punk. He would hold that title for over a year, proving to wrestling fans everywhere that James Gibson was more than what they had seen in WCW or WWE.
Throughout the years James Gibson’s style evolved from a Japanese/Lucha style to a more technical/scrapping style of wrestling. As a member of the Jung Dragons he regularly used maneuvers like the Hurricanrana and Flying Headscissors. When he went to WWE, he began wrestling a more ground-based technical style of wrestling, though he also employed some lucha style moves at times. He continued to use this “ground and pound” style of wrestling for many years, through his run in ROH and on into his second run with WWE.
Gibson later returned to WWE, but was not used as anything more than a jobber for several ears. As of today, James Gibson has retired due to a nagging neck injury.
This match was a contest of technical skill. It was a match of both old school nuances and new school impactful maneuvers. The match started out with both men very much even. Styles and Gibson traded holds on the mat and countered one another time after time. Gibson controlled the head and neck of AJ with a wrenching headlock for severl minutes. Eventually, AJ’s size and height advantage put him in control of the match, but James Gibson was not to be counted out. Gibson was able to avoid a baseball slide dropkick on the outside and slam AJ’s chest into the ring apron to switch the momentum back in his direction. He then went back to work on Styles’ neck. The pendulum of momentum continued to swing back and forth in the match. AJ would hit an impactful move. Gibson would counter him. Gibson would go for a move of his own and hit it. Gibson blasted AJ with his signature Fireman’s Carry Gutbuster, and Styles utilized the Pele Kick. The match closed as Gibson went for his own version of the Tiger Driver. Styles reversed the move into a Styles Clash and picked up the three count.
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Detailed Evolve 1 DVD Review
Backstage Segment:
Davey Richards/Kota Ibushi Training for Match
I don’t think there is a whole lot to be said about these segments. Davey Richards is certainly no actor, but that’s not what people pay to see him do. If you buy this DVD for the quality of the acting instead of the wrestling, you’ve come to the wrong place.
Match 1:
Kyle O’Riley vs. Bobby Fish
Bobby Fish has a good amount of experience in both the United States indy circuit and Japan, including in ring of Honor, Chikara, and NOAH. In fact, his nickname is “big in Japan”. While he has not yet held any titles, his in-ring work is solid and his style incorporates a good mix of Japanese Puroresu and Lucha Libre Styles, as well as Catch as Catch Can.
While Kyle O’Riley is stilla fair newcomer to the wrestling business, Davey Richards had a pretty big hand in his training, and anybody trained by Davey has got to have something to offer the business.
O’Riley vs. Fish was a solid match. It certainly seemed to get the crowd’s juices flowing and prepare them for a night of awesome indy action. Both men showed off an impressive array of maneuvers from stiff strong-style forearms and kicks, to springboards. Despite Bobby’s best efforts, O’Riley was able to connect with a combination rope assisted tornado DDT into a brainbuster for the win. It was a very impressive finishing spot, and was executed well.
Match 2:
Cheech vs. Chuck Taylor
Cheech has wrestled in the indys for several years now, having one of his most notable matches with his friend and tag team partner Cloudy at the CZW Cage of Death 7 show a few years back. The team of Cheech and Cloudy—sometimes referred to as Up in Smoke—has wrestled recently in Ring of Honor against the Dark City Fight club (also featured on this show) The Young bucks, and the House of Truth. While Cheech is not the largest of athletes, he is very impressive at times.
Chuck Taylor has been around since about 2003. He has held several titles, all in IWA Mid South )the promotion owned and runned by former ECW wrestler Ian rotten). Taylor has beaten “Mr. Insanity” toby Klein to win the IWA-MS Heavyweight title, Mickie Nuckles (who was scheduled to wrestle in the second season of the short lived Wrestling society X promotion on MTV) to win the IWA-MS Women’s Title, and Brandon Thomaselli to win the IWA-MS Junior Heavyweight Title. His finishers include the Awful Waffle and the Omega Driver.
Minus one sloppy spot from Cheech, this was a good match. It was nothing spectacular, but entertaining enough. It seemed that the crowds had a mixed reaction to chuck Taylor. Some liked him and some hated him, but Cheech didn’t get a whole lot of attention one way or the other. Chuck Taylor reversed Cheech into an awful Waffle for the win.
Afterwards Chuck Taylor cut a short promo about how he was not formally invited to participate in Evolve’s singles division and about how somebody in the Evolve office must not like him very much. It was most likely to set up a future angle between Chuck and whoever Gabe Sapolski picks for chuck to compete with—which will most likely be Ricochet.
Match 3:
Ricochet vs. “the Anarchist” Arik Cannon
Ricochet—known as the “Future of Flight”--made his professional wrestling debut in 2004. His small size makes it possible for him to perform a range of high-flying maneuvers, including his well-known double rotation moonsault. His most notable fued has been a long-time one with Chuck Taylor in IWA-MS, as well as other promotions. He has also wrestled under the name Helios in Chikara, and won the 5th Young Lions Cup under that moniker.
“the Anarchist” Arik Cannon has been in wrestling since approximately 2004. He has wrestled for and held titles in numerous independent wrestling promotions including chikara and IWA-MS, as well as being part of the short-lived Wrestling Society X as the tag team partner of “viscious” vic Grimes. He has also been part of the Kings of Wrestling faction in Chikara with Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli, which led him to win the 2006 Chikara Tag Grand Prix with Claudio as his partner. He also won the Chikara 4th Young Lions Cup and held the IWA-MS Heavyweight title. Recently, he has been wrestling some shows for Ring of Honor.
This match showed a great contrast of styles. Ricochet is an extremely impressive high flyer, while Cannon has a great submission and ground game. Cannon hit many of his signature spots in the match, including the swinging neckbreaker, Exploder suplex (into the turnbuckle), and even the Total Anarchy, but ricochet was able to pick up the win with a 630 splash from the top rope.
After the match Chuck Taylor, long-time rival of Ricochet, came out to challenge Ricochet to “one more match”. Ricochet accepted with no hesitation.
Match 4:
The Dark City Fight Club (John Davis and Corey Chavis) vs. Aeroform (Louis Lindon and Flip Kendrick)
The Dark City Fight Club is a fairly recently formed tag team consisting of John Davis, who has wrestled in indy promotions including USACW and ROH, and Corey Chavis. Chavis has most recently teamed with Davis in Ring of Honor, but has also wrestled some job matches and dark matches in TNA a few years back as well.
Aeroform is also a recently formed tag team. They do not have much of a list of accomplishments up to this point. They have wrestled in both Chikara and CZW. Flip Kendrick has wrestled some singles matches in Jersey All Pro Wrestling as well. I was unable to find any further information about Louis Lindon.
This was a match much like the one that came before it. There was a great contrast not only of styles, but of sizes between DCFC and Aeroform. This was my first time seeing either Kendrick or Lindon wrestle. They were impressive and I will certainly be looking for more footage of them. DCFC worked as a finely-tuned machine in this match, much as I have seen them work in Ring of Honor. There could be a bright future for these two if tag team wrestling ever again becomes a priority of corporate wrestling. For most of the match, DCFC had control, tossing around Kendrick and Lindon like rag dolls. The boys from Aeroform were able to get in some pretty impressive spots. The match did a lot to reinforce the dominance of DCFC, while introducing the fans to Aeroform and putting them over as underdogs. DCFC came out with the win after they hit their double team Project Mayhem finisher.
Match 5:
Mercedes Martinez vs. Mya
Mya is a newcomer to the professional wrestling world, and I was unable to find any information about her.
Mercedes Martinez was train by former ECW star Jason Knight. She broke into the business in the New England area. She has held numerous independent titles including the WXW Women’sTitle, WXW Cruiserweight Title, and the GMW Women’s title. She was also the first NECW Women’s Champion and first ever NECW North American Women’s Champion. She is the current WSU (Women Superstars Uncensored( World Champion.
This match was a planned squash, designed to showcase the skills and dominance of Martinez. Hopefully they will bring in some more formidable female (or even male) talent to face her in the future. She has previously had fueds with Sumie Sakai, Nikki Roxx (Roxie LaVeaux), and Sara Del Ray. It would be great to see Gabe bring in any of those women to face her in the future. I think Mickie Knuckles or MsChif would also be a good choice of competitors to put Martinez in the ring with.
Mercedes Martinez dominated this match, slinging Mya around like she was nothing. She picked up the easy win with her Fisherman Buster finisher.
Afterward, Martinez cut a promo saying that Evolve was not just a mens’ promotion and that she was there to evolve. She isn’t that good on the mic, but her in-ring work is really all I care about, and that makes up for her lack of mic skills. After all, this isn’t WWE.
Match 6:
Brad Allen vs. Silas Young
Brad Allen hails from North Carolina. He was trained Both in the CWF and FCW promotions. FCW is now the WWE’s developmental federation and Allen was once under developmental contract with WWE. I have a fuzzy recollection of him being released from such a contract a while back. He has also been known as Brad Attitude and “Campus Legend” Brad Allen (in FCW). Allen has held the FCW Tag Titles with Nick nemith as wellas the FIP (Full Impact Pro) Florida Heritage Title. He has also wrestled a couple matches in Ring of Honor, including one against Austin Aries.
Silas Young hails from Milwaukee (the same area as Austin Aries). He has previously held the NWA Wisconsin Heavyweight Title. He has wrestled throughout the Midwest, pitting himself against stars like Jerry Lynn, Jimmy Jacobs, and Ace Steel. Most recently Young has wrestled in Ring of Honor. He is known for his impressive Finlay Roll into Headstand Moonsault finisher.
This match was one of my favorite on the DVD. Silas Young reminds me very much of Austin Aries in his brash in-ring attitude. I have seen some of his previous work, including some of his matches on the Ring of Honor television program, but this was my favorite of all those matches. While I had never before seen Brad Allen wrestle (this was his first outing in the Northeast) and am skeptical of WWE developmental talents that have not had an extensive indy background, he impressed me very much. Brad Allen is not a small man, but shows a great deal of agility and skill in high-flying maneuvers. He hit a very impressive corkscrew crossbody maneuver off the top rope during this match. He also showed that he can hit hard. While he has apparently had no Japanese experience, he and Young incorporated some Japanese style into this match as well. Young was impressive as always. Allen picked up the win with his Attitude Adjustment finisher (not to be confused with the finisher of John Cena that bares the same name). It speaks a lot about Gabe Sapolski’s opinion of Allen that he was booked to beat Silas Young not only in his first match in Evolve, but his first match ever in the Northeast region.
Post-match, Brad Allen expressed his gratitude to Gabe and the fans for giving him the opportunity to come and wrestle in the Northeast. He also challenged Chris Hero to a match at the next event, stating that he wanted to be one of the big guys in Evolve, and that he knew he would have to beat a big name to do so.
Match 7:
Jimmy Jacobs vs. Ken Doan
Jimmy Jacobs is truly an independent wrestling superstar, thanks mainly to his work in Ring of Honor. He has also wrestled with former tag partner Tyler Black both in WSX—as the emo team of DIFH (Doing It For Her)--and ROH—in the Age of the Fall faction with Necro butcher, Delirious, and later Brody Lee. He has had notable fueds with both Colt Cabana (one that culminated in a brutal Street Fight) and with his former tag partner Tyler Black, as well as Austin Aries. He has held numerous titles throughout the independent wrestling world, most notably the PWG and ROH Tag Team Titles.
Ken Doan may be known better as Kenny Dykstra, fromer member of WWE’s Spirit Squad. He is the son of referee Jack Doan. Doan has been favorably compared to Triple H. This makes sense, since both men were trained by the legendary Killer Kawalski. He has held only two titles in his career but one of those was the WWE Tag Team Titles (in tandum with the other members of the Spirit Squad) and the other is the OVW Television title. Doan’s size and skill make him a great talent for any promotion to have on their roster.
I liked this match very much, though the fans did not seem all that impressed. I was very impressed with Doan’s heel work here. He wrestled a very slow-paced, technical style of match. The fans heckled him mercilessly for it, but instead of kicking it up, he played heel hard and just kept wrestling that way. Jimmy Jacobs got all of the pop in this match, hitting many of his signature maneuvers, including his rope assisted double stomp/legdrop spot. The match ended controversially. Doan hit a gigantic legdrop off the top but then cheated to get the pin. Tommy Dreamer (who I was not surprised to see, as he is a personal friend of Evolve and Dragon Gate USA booker Gabe Sapolski)came out from the backstage and made the referee aware of what Doan had done. The ref ordered the match restarted and Jacobs was able to slap on his End Time (guillotine choke) finisher to make Doan tap out.
Afterward Tommy cut a prime face promo and got a great pop. Jacobs interrupted him and tore into him verbally, saying that Dreamer had embarrassed himself by crying on national television (of course referring to his farewell address on the final ECW broadcast) and also calling Dreamer a washed-up has-been. The un kindest cut came when Jacobs compared Dreamer to guys like Hogan and flair. Tommy took unkindly to Jacobs remarks and lit his ass up. The short brawl ended in Dreamer hitting his patented DDT and the crowd loving every second of it.
Match 8:
Johnny Gargano vs. Chris Dickenson
Johnny Gargano has competed in several indy federations over the last few years. The list includes CZW as well as Josh Prohibition’s Pro Wrestling Ohio promotion.
Chris Dickenson has wrestled in Jersey All Pro Wrestling
This match was primarily striking based. The two wrestlers traded some wicked shots, including a kick to Gargano’s face that made me cringe. The match also featured some well-placed technical and high-flying spots, including a huge springboard elbowdrop by Dickenson and a Lawndart into the second turnbuckle by Gargano. The match ended when Gargano hit a full nelson into a Flatliner, a move that he calls the Hurts Donit.
Match 9:
TJP vs. Minenori Sawa
T.J. Perkins is still young but he is a veteran of the wrestling business. He began wrestling at age 15 and was later picked up by the New Japan Los Angeles dojo with his friends Ricky Reyes and Rocky Romero, as well as Bryan Danielson. While in Japan, he adopted the moniker of Puma, which he used later in TNA. Since his debut, Perkins has wrestled in numerous federations including EWF (Empire Wrestling Federation), NJPW (New Japan Pro Wrestling), MLW (Major League Wrestling), WSX (Wrestling Society X), PWG (Pro Wrestling Guerilla), ROH (Ring of Honor), and TNA (as Puma). He has held titles including the EWF Tag Titles, NWA Heritage Championship, and the UWA Canadian championship. Pro Wrestling Illustrated also ranked him #179 in their Topp 500 best singles wrestlers of the year in 2005.
I found it difficult to find information about Minenori Sawa. I do know that he has wrestled in the National Wrestling Alliance in the United States, and obviously in Japan as well.
While T.J. Perkins’ style is based more around ground and submission wrestling, he slugged it out pretty well in this match against Sawa. There were two particular spots that stood out to me in this match. One was a T.J. Perkins Northern Lights Suplex into a Cross Armbreaker. The other was a wicked punch by Sawa, followed up bya kick to Sawa’s face by Perkins, which led to both men falling on their faces. It was one of those spots that you see and just can’t help but love. My only criticism of this match is that the ending was a bit anticlimactic. Sawa made Perkins tap out to an octopus hold, but it just didn’t seem to be set up properly.
Match 10:
Team Frightning (“Lightning” Mike Quackenbush, Hallowicked, and Frightmare) vs. Akuma’s Army )Gran Akuma, Brody Lee, And Icarus)
“Lightning” Mike Quackenbush is a seasoned veteran of the pro wrestling game. Mike has held numerous titles including the IWA-MS Heavyweight Title, the PWE (Pro Wrestling Entertainment) Heavyweight title, NWA Junior Heavyweight Title (defeating Tiger Mask), CZW Junior Heavyweight Title, and others. He is the owner of Chikara.
Hallowicked is in the eighth year of his career as a professional wrestler, but has held only one title to date, the NAWF (North American Wrestling Federation) Tag Titles. He has also been winner of the Chikara Young Lions Cup and Tag Grand Prix tournaments. He was trained by some great names in Mike Quackenbush, Wreckless Youth, and Chris Hero. He also has a variety of impressive moves including a moonsault double stomp and his Graveyard Smash finisher, which is a Fisherman Lift into a Sitout Spinebuster.
Frightmare has just over one year of pro experience. He has competed in both CZW and Chikara in that year. His list of innovative maneuvers includes a Standing Moonsault into a Double Kneedrop.
Gran Akuma is one of the top heels in Chikara. He was trained by Mike Quackenbush and premiered in 2002. Since then he has captured the PWE and Chikara Tag Titles with his partner Icarus.
Icarus is the long-time tag partner of Gran Akuma. Like his partner, he was also trained at the Chikara camp.
“Big Rig” Brody lee is a 6’5, 280 pound monster. He has been NWA Empire Heavyweight Champion, NWA Upstate Heavyweight Champion, and NWA Upstate Tag Champion. He has been part of the Age of the Fall faction in Ring of Honor, as well as part of the faction CloudLee (with Cloudy) and The Miracle Ultraviolence Connection in CZW.
Chikara always does a great job of showcasing a great cross of Puroresu and Lucha Libre styles in their matches. This match was no exception to that rule. Each man was able to hit one or more of their signature spots, including a Black Tornado Slam by Quackenbush, a Standing Moonsault/Double Knee Combo
By Frightmare, and a Venus Palm Strike by Quackenbush. There was plenty of flying in this match as well. Quackenbush did a great job in his first match back after yet another back surgery. He did not hold back, executing both a top rope Swanton bomb and a Tope Con Hilo over the ropes to the floor. Hallowicked was able to pick up the victory with his Graveyard Smash finisher.
My only complaint here is that I would like to see any one of these guys do some wrestling outside of the Chikara ranks. I think that Quackenbush is an excellent singles wrestler in addition to his perfection of the tag team wrestling craft, and that he should be going up against some big name guys like Austin Aries or Chris hero.
Match 11:
Davey Richards vs. Kota Ibushi
Davey Richards was the most talked about independent wrestler of the year 2009, and for damn good reason. Davey was trained by Tony Cozina and premiered in 2004. He has wrestled extensively in Japan and in the United States, with promotions like PWG and ROH. Davey is the three time PWG Tag Champion, 2 time ROH Tag Champion (once with Rocky Romero and once with Eddie Edwards), and winner of PWG’s Battle of Los Angeles 2006 tournament. In the last year Davey has had a series of incredible matches with Kota Ibushi in Japan, not to mention his great tag work with Eddie Edwards in ROH. He has established himself as a true top competitor in the independent circuit, and undoubtedly a future star.
Kota Ibushi is a top contender in the Japanese DDT promotion. He has also wrestled for Big Japan Wrestling and more recently gained mainstream exposure by wrestling for Pro Wrestling NOAH. He has also toured the United States wrestling for ROH and Chikara. Ibushi also wrestled in New Japan Pro Wrestling’s 2009 super Juniors tournament, losing to Prince Devitt (who went on to win the tournament). Ibushi has tagged with the likes of Naomichi Marifuji and Austin Aries. Ibushi’s finishers include the golden Star Bomb and the amazing Golden Star Press (a spiral 630 degree senton off the top rope).He also employs the golden Star Press ’07 (a springboard into a spiral 450 degree splash). Ibushi won the 2009 Rey de Voladores tournament in Chikara. He has been the DDT Openweight Champion, a DDT Tag Champion with Kenny Omega (using the double 450 splash maneuver they termed the Golden Shower to get the win), the DDT Ironman Heavymetalweight Champion, Independent Junior Heavyweight Champion, and IMGP (International Muscle Grand Prix) Heavyweight Champion.
I cannot say enough about this match. It is undoubtedly the best singles wrestling match I have seen in a very long time. There are reasons people in the United States and Japan are talking about Davey Richards and Kota Ibushi. This match is one of those reasons. The match featured an amazing mix of flying, submission, technical wrestling, and striking. Both wrestlers hit many of their signature spots: Richards with the Alarm Clock and DR Driver, and Ibushi with his Bridging Evasion Kick and Somersault Moonsault Kick. Davey hit an amazing German Suplex off the top rope as well. I could go on listing spots all night if I wanted to. The bottom line is that these two men put on a better match in front of 400 people than many high paid professional wrestlers put on in front of 40,000.
Final Thoughts:
While the asthetics of this show were lacking, I thought it was a solid first outing for Evolve. The lighting was poor, the entrance music was generic, and the mic kept cutting out during people’s promos, but the work done in the ring made up for things like that. I was not looking for a glitzy WWE style show anyway. What I was expecting was hard-hitting indy action, and that’s what I got. Gabe Sapolski has done a great job of putting together a roster of young and talented Professional wrestlers )not sports entertainers).
Unfortunately he lost Davey Richards when Davey was offered and signed an exclusive contract with ROH. I wonder if the backstage bigshots in ROH (the former employers of Gabe Sapolski) offered Davey the contract just to spite Gabe. It wouldn’t surprise me. The fact is though, Davey Richards is the most talked about indy talen of the last year and it was smart business for ROH to lock him down. It was also smart business for Davey to take the contract.
I am definitely going to be keeping up with Evolve’s DVD releases in the future. Evolve 2: Hero vs. Hidaka wil definitely be joining my DVD collection sometime soon.
References
Arik Cannon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arik_Cannon
Brody Lee
http://indywrestling.wikia.com/wiki/Brodie_Lee
Kota Ibushi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kota_Ibushi
Ricochet
http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Ricochet_(wrestler)
T.J. Perkins
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T.J._Perkins
All Other Wrestlers
http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com
Davey Richards/Kota Ibushi Training for Match
I don’t think there is a whole lot to be said about these segments. Davey Richards is certainly no actor, but that’s not what people pay to see him do. If you buy this DVD for the quality of the acting instead of the wrestling, you’ve come to the wrong place.
Match 1:
Kyle O’Riley vs. Bobby Fish
Bobby Fish has a good amount of experience in both the United States indy circuit and Japan, including in ring of Honor, Chikara, and NOAH. In fact, his nickname is “big in Japan”. While he has not yet held any titles, his in-ring work is solid and his style incorporates a good mix of Japanese Puroresu and Lucha Libre Styles, as well as Catch as Catch Can.
While Kyle O’Riley is stilla fair newcomer to the wrestling business, Davey Richards had a pretty big hand in his training, and anybody trained by Davey has got to have something to offer the business.
O’Riley vs. Fish was a solid match. It certainly seemed to get the crowd’s juices flowing and prepare them for a night of awesome indy action. Both men showed off an impressive array of maneuvers from stiff strong-style forearms and kicks, to springboards. Despite Bobby’s best efforts, O’Riley was able to connect with a combination rope assisted tornado DDT into a brainbuster for the win. It was a very impressive finishing spot, and was executed well.
Match 2:
Cheech vs. Chuck Taylor
Cheech has wrestled in the indys for several years now, having one of his most notable matches with his friend and tag team partner Cloudy at the CZW Cage of Death 7 show a few years back. The team of Cheech and Cloudy—sometimes referred to as Up in Smoke—has wrestled recently in Ring of Honor against the Dark City Fight club (also featured on this show) The Young bucks, and the House of Truth. While Cheech is not the largest of athletes, he is very impressive at times.
Chuck Taylor has been around since about 2003. He has held several titles, all in IWA Mid South )the promotion owned and runned by former ECW wrestler Ian rotten). Taylor has beaten “Mr. Insanity” toby Klein to win the IWA-MS Heavyweight title, Mickie Nuckles (who was scheduled to wrestle in the second season of the short lived Wrestling society X promotion on MTV) to win the IWA-MS Women’s Title, and Brandon Thomaselli to win the IWA-MS Junior Heavyweight Title. His finishers include the Awful Waffle and the Omega Driver.
Minus one sloppy spot from Cheech, this was a good match. It was nothing spectacular, but entertaining enough. It seemed that the crowds had a mixed reaction to chuck Taylor. Some liked him and some hated him, but Cheech didn’t get a whole lot of attention one way or the other. Chuck Taylor reversed Cheech into an awful Waffle for the win.
Afterwards Chuck Taylor cut a short promo about how he was not formally invited to participate in Evolve’s singles division and about how somebody in the Evolve office must not like him very much. It was most likely to set up a future angle between Chuck and whoever Gabe Sapolski picks for chuck to compete with—which will most likely be Ricochet.
Match 3:
Ricochet vs. “the Anarchist” Arik Cannon
Ricochet—known as the “Future of Flight”--made his professional wrestling debut in 2004. His small size makes it possible for him to perform a range of high-flying maneuvers, including his well-known double rotation moonsault. His most notable fued has been a long-time one with Chuck Taylor in IWA-MS, as well as other promotions. He has also wrestled under the name Helios in Chikara, and won the 5th Young Lions Cup under that moniker.
“the Anarchist” Arik Cannon has been in wrestling since approximately 2004. He has wrestled for and held titles in numerous independent wrestling promotions including chikara and IWA-MS, as well as being part of the short-lived Wrestling Society X as the tag team partner of “viscious” vic Grimes. He has also been part of the Kings of Wrestling faction in Chikara with Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli, which led him to win the 2006 Chikara Tag Grand Prix with Claudio as his partner. He also won the Chikara 4th Young Lions Cup and held the IWA-MS Heavyweight title. Recently, he has been wrestling some shows for Ring of Honor.
This match showed a great contrast of styles. Ricochet is an extremely impressive high flyer, while Cannon has a great submission and ground game. Cannon hit many of his signature spots in the match, including the swinging neckbreaker, Exploder suplex (into the turnbuckle), and even the Total Anarchy, but ricochet was able to pick up the win with a 630 splash from the top rope.
After the match Chuck Taylor, long-time rival of Ricochet, came out to challenge Ricochet to “one more match”. Ricochet accepted with no hesitation.
Match 4:
The Dark City Fight Club (John Davis and Corey Chavis) vs. Aeroform (Louis Lindon and Flip Kendrick)
The Dark City Fight Club is a fairly recently formed tag team consisting of John Davis, who has wrestled in indy promotions including USACW and ROH, and Corey Chavis. Chavis has most recently teamed with Davis in Ring of Honor, but has also wrestled some job matches and dark matches in TNA a few years back as well.
Aeroform is also a recently formed tag team. They do not have much of a list of accomplishments up to this point. They have wrestled in both Chikara and CZW. Flip Kendrick has wrestled some singles matches in Jersey All Pro Wrestling as well. I was unable to find any further information about Louis Lindon.
This was a match much like the one that came before it. There was a great contrast not only of styles, but of sizes between DCFC and Aeroform. This was my first time seeing either Kendrick or Lindon wrestle. They were impressive and I will certainly be looking for more footage of them. DCFC worked as a finely-tuned machine in this match, much as I have seen them work in Ring of Honor. There could be a bright future for these two if tag team wrestling ever again becomes a priority of corporate wrestling. For most of the match, DCFC had control, tossing around Kendrick and Lindon like rag dolls. The boys from Aeroform were able to get in some pretty impressive spots. The match did a lot to reinforce the dominance of DCFC, while introducing the fans to Aeroform and putting them over as underdogs. DCFC came out with the win after they hit their double team Project Mayhem finisher.
Match 5:
Mercedes Martinez vs. Mya
Mya is a newcomer to the professional wrestling world, and I was unable to find any information about her.
Mercedes Martinez was train by former ECW star Jason Knight. She broke into the business in the New England area. She has held numerous independent titles including the WXW Women’sTitle, WXW Cruiserweight Title, and the GMW Women’s title. She was also the first NECW Women’s Champion and first ever NECW North American Women’s Champion. She is the current WSU (Women Superstars Uncensored( World Champion.
This match was a planned squash, designed to showcase the skills and dominance of Martinez. Hopefully they will bring in some more formidable female (or even male) talent to face her in the future. She has previously had fueds with Sumie Sakai, Nikki Roxx (Roxie LaVeaux), and Sara Del Ray. It would be great to see Gabe bring in any of those women to face her in the future. I think Mickie Knuckles or MsChif would also be a good choice of competitors to put Martinez in the ring with.
Mercedes Martinez dominated this match, slinging Mya around like she was nothing. She picked up the easy win with her Fisherman Buster finisher.
Afterward, Martinez cut a promo saying that Evolve was not just a mens’ promotion and that she was there to evolve. She isn’t that good on the mic, but her in-ring work is really all I care about, and that makes up for her lack of mic skills. After all, this isn’t WWE.
Match 6:
Brad Allen vs. Silas Young
Brad Allen hails from North Carolina. He was trained Both in the CWF and FCW promotions. FCW is now the WWE’s developmental federation and Allen was once under developmental contract with WWE. I have a fuzzy recollection of him being released from such a contract a while back. He has also been known as Brad Attitude and “Campus Legend” Brad Allen (in FCW). Allen has held the FCW Tag Titles with Nick nemith as wellas the FIP (Full Impact Pro) Florida Heritage Title. He has also wrestled a couple matches in Ring of Honor, including one against Austin Aries.
Silas Young hails from Milwaukee (the same area as Austin Aries). He has previously held the NWA Wisconsin Heavyweight Title. He has wrestled throughout the Midwest, pitting himself against stars like Jerry Lynn, Jimmy Jacobs, and Ace Steel. Most recently Young has wrestled in Ring of Honor. He is known for his impressive Finlay Roll into Headstand Moonsault finisher.
This match was one of my favorite on the DVD. Silas Young reminds me very much of Austin Aries in his brash in-ring attitude. I have seen some of his previous work, including some of his matches on the Ring of Honor television program, but this was my favorite of all those matches. While I had never before seen Brad Allen wrestle (this was his first outing in the Northeast) and am skeptical of WWE developmental talents that have not had an extensive indy background, he impressed me very much. Brad Allen is not a small man, but shows a great deal of agility and skill in high-flying maneuvers. He hit a very impressive corkscrew crossbody maneuver off the top rope during this match. He also showed that he can hit hard. While he has apparently had no Japanese experience, he and Young incorporated some Japanese style into this match as well. Young was impressive as always. Allen picked up the win with his Attitude Adjustment finisher (not to be confused with the finisher of John Cena that bares the same name). It speaks a lot about Gabe Sapolski’s opinion of Allen that he was booked to beat Silas Young not only in his first match in Evolve, but his first match ever in the Northeast region.
Post-match, Brad Allen expressed his gratitude to Gabe and the fans for giving him the opportunity to come and wrestle in the Northeast. He also challenged Chris Hero to a match at the next event, stating that he wanted to be one of the big guys in Evolve, and that he knew he would have to beat a big name to do so.
Match 7:
Jimmy Jacobs vs. Ken Doan
Jimmy Jacobs is truly an independent wrestling superstar, thanks mainly to his work in Ring of Honor. He has also wrestled with former tag partner Tyler Black both in WSX—as the emo team of DIFH (Doing It For Her)--and ROH—in the Age of the Fall faction with Necro butcher, Delirious, and later Brody Lee. He has had notable fueds with both Colt Cabana (one that culminated in a brutal Street Fight) and with his former tag partner Tyler Black, as well as Austin Aries. He has held numerous titles throughout the independent wrestling world, most notably the PWG and ROH Tag Team Titles.
Ken Doan may be known better as Kenny Dykstra, fromer member of WWE’s Spirit Squad. He is the son of referee Jack Doan. Doan has been favorably compared to Triple H. This makes sense, since both men were trained by the legendary Killer Kawalski. He has held only two titles in his career but one of those was the WWE Tag Team Titles (in tandum with the other members of the Spirit Squad) and the other is the OVW Television title. Doan’s size and skill make him a great talent for any promotion to have on their roster.
I liked this match very much, though the fans did not seem all that impressed. I was very impressed with Doan’s heel work here. He wrestled a very slow-paced, technical style of match. The fans heckled him mercilessly for it, but instead of kicking it up, he played heel hard and just kept wrestling that way. Jimmy Jacobs got all of the pop in this match, hitting many of his signature maneuvers, including his rope assisted double stomp/legdrop spot. The match ended controversially. Doan hit a gigantic legdrop off the top but then cheated to get the pin. Tommy Dreamer (who I was not surprised to see, as he is a personal friend of Evolve and Dragon Gate USA booker Gabe Sapolski)came out from the backstage and made the referee aware of what Doan had done. The ref ordered the match restarted and Jacobs was able to slap on his End Time (guillotine choke) finisher to make Doan tap out.
Afterward Tommy cut a prime face promo and got a great pop. Jacobs interrupted him and tore into him verbally, saying that Dreamer had embarrassed himself by crying on national television (of course referring to his farewell address on the final ECW broadcast) and also calling Dreamer a washed-up has-been. The un kindest cut came when Jacobs compared Dreamer to guys like Hogan and flair. Tommy took unkindly to Jacobs remarks and lit his ass up. The short brawl ended in Dreamer hitting his patented DDT and the crowd loving every second of it.
Match 8:
Johnny Gargano vs. Chris Dickenson
Johnny Gargano has competed in several indy federations over the last few years. The list includes CZW as well as Josh Prohibition’s Pro Wrestling Ohio promotion.
Chris Dickenson has wrestled in Jersey All Pro Wrestling
This match was primarily striking based. The two wrestlers traded some wicked shots, including a kick to Gargano’s face that made me cringe. The match also featured some well-placed technical and high-flying spots, including a huge springboard elbowdrop by Dickenson and a Lawndart into the second turnbuckle by Gargano. The match ended when Gargano hit a full nelson into a Flatliner, a move that he calls the Hurts Donit.
Match 9:
TJP vs. Minenori Sawa
T.J. Perkins is still young but he is a veteran of the wrestling business. He began wrestling at age 15 and was later picked up by the New Japan Los Angeles dojo with his friends Ricky Reyes and Rocky Romero, as well as Bryan Danielson. While in Japan, he adopted the moniker of Puma, which he used later in TNA. Since his debut, Perkins has wrestled in numerous federations including EWF (Empire Wrestling Federation), NJPW (New Japan Pro Wrestling), MLW (Major League Wrestling), WSX (Wrestling Society X), PWG (Pro Wrestling Guerilla), ROH (Ring of Honor), and TNA (as Puma). He has held titles including the EWF Tag Titles, NWA Heritage Championship, and the UWA Canadian championship. Pro Wrestling Illustrated also ranked him #179 in their Topp 500 best singles wrestlers of the year in 2005.
I found it difficult to find information about Minenori Sawa. I do know that he has wrestled in the National Wrestling Alliance in the United States, and obviously in Japan as well.
While T.J. Perkins’ style is based more around ground and submission wrestling, he slugged it out pretty well in this match against Sawa. There were two particular spots that stood out to me in this match. One was a T.J. Perkins Northern Lights Suplex into a Cross Armbreaker. The other was a wicked punch by Sawa, followed up bya kick to Sawa’s face by Perkins, which led to both men falling on their faces. It was one of those spots that you see and just can’t help but love. My only criticism of this match is that the ending was a bit anticlimactic. Sawa made Perkins tap out to an octopus hold, but it just didn’t seem to be set up properly.
Match 10:
Team Frightning (“Lightning” Mike Quackenbush, Hallowicked, and Frightmare) vs. Akuma’s Army )Gran Akuma, Brody Lee, And Icarus)
“Lightning” Mike Quackenbush is a seasoned veteran of the pro wrestling game. Mike has held numerous titles including the IWA-MS Heavyweight Title, the PWE (Pro Wrestling Entertainment) Heavyweight title, NWA Junior Heavyweight Title (defeating Tiger Mask), CZW Junior Heavyweight Title, and others. He is the owner of Chikara.
Hallowicked is in the eighth year of his career as a professional wrestler, but has held only one title to date, the NAWF (North American Wrestling Federation) Tag Titles. He has also been winner of the Chikara Young Lions Cup and Tag Grand Prix tournaments. He was trained by some great names in Mike Quackenbush, Wreckless Youth, and Chris Hero. He also has a variety of impressive moves including a moonsault double stomp and his Graveyard Smash finisher, which is a Fisherman Lift into a Sitout Spinebuster.
Frightmare has just over one year of pro experience. He has competed in both CZW and Chikara in that year. His list of innovative maneuvers includes a Standing Moonsault into a Double Kneedrop.
Gran Akuma is one of the top heels in Chikara. He was trained by Mike Quackenbush and premiered in 2002. Since then he has captured the PWE and Chikara Tag Titles with his partner Icarus.
Icarus is the long-time tag partner of Gran Akuma. Like his partner, he was also trained at the Chikara camp.
“Big Rig” Brody lee is a 6’5, 280 pound monster. He has been NWA Empire Heavyweight Champion, NWA Upstate Heavyweight Champion, and NWA Upstate Tag Champion. He has been part of the Age of the Fall faction in Ring of Honor, as well as part of the faction CloudLee (with Cloudy) and The Miracle Ultraviolence Connection in CZW.
Chikara always does a great job of showcasing a great cross of Puroresu and Lucha Libre styles in their matches. This match was no exception to that rule. Each man was able to hit one or more of their signature spots, including a Black Tornado Slam by Quackenbush, a Standing Moonsault/Double Knee Combo
By Frightmare, and a Venus Palm Strike by Quackenbush. There was plenty of flying in this match as well. Quackenbush did a great job in his first match back after yet another back surgery. He did not hold back, executing both a top rope Swanton bomb and a Tope Con Hilo over the ropes to the floor. Hallowicked was able to pick up the victory with his Graveyard Smash finisher.
My only complaint here is that I would like to see any one of these guys do some wrestling outside of the Chikara ranks. I think that Quackenbush is an excellent singles wrestler in addition to his perfection of the tag team wrestling craft, and that he should be going up against some big name guys like Austin Aries or Chris hero.
Match 11:
Davey Richards vs. Kota Ibushi
Davey Richards was the most talked about independent wrestler of the year 2009, and for damn good reason. Davey was trained by Tony Cozina and premiered in 2004. He has wrestled extensively in Japan and in the United States, with promotions like PWG and ROH. Davey is the three time PWG Tag Champion, 2 time ROH Tag Champion (once with Rocky Romero and once with Eddie Edwards), and winner of PWG’s Battle of Los Angeles 2006 tournament. In the last year Davey has had a series of incredible matches with Kota Ibushi in Japan, not to mention his great tag work with Eddie Edwards in ROH. He has established himself as a true top competitor in the independent circuit, and undoubtedly a future star.
Kota Ibushi is a top contender in the Japanese DDT promotion. He has also wrestled for Big Japan Wrestling and more recently gained mainstream exposure by wrestling for Pro Wrestling NOAH. He has also toured the United States wrestling for ROH and Chikara. Ibushi also wrestled in New Japan Pro Wrestling’s 2009 super Juniors tournament, losing to Prince Devitt (who went on to win the tournament). Ibushi has tagged with the likes of Naomichi Marifuji and Austin Aries. Ibushi’s finishers include the golden Star Bomb and the amazing Golden Star Press (a spiral 630 degree senton off the top rope).He also employs the golden Star Press ’07 (a springboard into a spiral 450 degree splash). Ibushi won the 2009 Rey de Voladores tournament in Chikara. He has been the DDT Openweight Champion, a DDT Tag Champion with Kenny Omega (using the double 450 splash maneuver they termed the Golden Shower to get the win), the DDT Ironman Heavymetalweight Champion, Independent Junior Heavyweight Champion, and IMGP (International Muscle Grand Prix) Heavyweight Champion.
I cannot say enough about this match. It is undoubtedly the best singles wrestling match I have seen in a very long time. There are reasons people in the United States and Japan are talking about Davey Richards and Kota Ibushi. This match is one of those reasons. The match featured an amazing mix of flying, submission, technical wrestling, and striking. Both wrestlers hit many of their signature spots: Richards with the Alarm Clock and DR Driver, and Ibushi with his Bridging Evasion Kick and Somersault Moonsault Kick. Davey hit an amazing German Suplex off the top rope as well. I could go on listing spots all night if I wanted to. The bottom line is that these two men put on a better match in front of 400 people than many high paid professional wrestlers put on in front of 40,000.
Final Thoughts:
While the asthetics of this show were lacking, I thought it was a solid first outing for Evolve. The lighting was poor, the entrance music was generic, and the mic kept cutting out during people’s promos, but the work done in the ring made up for things like that. I was not looking for a glitzy WWE style show anyway. What I was expecting was hard-hitting indy action, and that’s what I got. Gabe Sapolski has done a great job of putting together a roster of young and talented Professional wrestlers )not sports entertainers).
Unfortunately he lost Davey Richards when Davey was offered and signed an exclusive contract with ROH. I wonder if the backstage bigshots in ROH (the former employers of Gabe Sapolski) offered Davey the contract just to spite Gabe. It wouldn’t surprise me. The fact is though, Davey Richards is the most talked about indy talen of the last year and it was smart business for ROH to lock him down. It was also smart business for Davey to take the contract.
I am definitely going to be keeping up with Evolve’s DVD releases in the future. Evolve 2: Hero vs. Hidaka wil definitely be joining my DVD collection sometime soon.
References
Arik Cannon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arik_Cannon
Brody Lee
http://indywrestling.wikia.com/wiki/Brodie_Lee
Kota Ibushi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kota_Ibushi
Ricochet
http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Ricochet_(wrestler)
T.J. Perkins
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T.J._Perkins
All Other Wrestlers
http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Why Does Styles Stay Loyal?
On this week’s TNA Impact broadcast, we saw “The Whole F’n Show” Rob Van Dam beat A.J. Styles for the TNA World Heavyweight Title. While I am not going to say that RVD is unworthy of the belt, I am going to question the timing of such a move.
Rob Van Dam has been in TNA for all of two months now, if that long. Yes, he is a veteran of the wrestling business, and he is a former world champion—not that his one title reign really counts for that much since he got screwed out of it anyway. Well, Styles is also a former World Champion, Tag Chhampion, X Division Champion. A.J. Styles is also an eight year veteran and loyal employee of the TNA brand. So why is it that without any fued, any publicity, any respect for him as a champion, the backstage geniuses in TNA took the strap off of him?
In TNA, in the last three to four years, I’m not sure there is another wrestler who is as damn good as Styles that has been treated with such casual disrespect by the bookers and creative staff. Christopher Daniels is up there pretty high, but not at the Styles level. It is taken for granted in TNA that A.J. Styles will grin and sell any crappy angle they toss him into. Do we all remember when Styles was Kurt Angle’s bitch? How about his crush on Karen Angle—as if she had any friggin business being on Impact to begin with.
Even Styles himself finally got pissed off at Vince Russo and complained about how poorly he was being booked as the TNA Champion. I, for the life of me, cannot understand why the hell A.J. Styles continues to be loyal to a company that has strayed so far from it’s original style and purpose. I cannot see why he continues to grin and put up with the garbage he is asked to do. I don’t see any career benefit for him to stay in a company that does nothing but bitch him around.
While I am also unenamored with the WWE product as of late, I will admit that the opportunities in WWE may be greater for Styles than the ones he is being given—or rather not being given—in TNA. A.J. does not need Ric Flair as a sidekick to get him over. Styles is already over, and he’s a better wrestler than Flair could have ever hoped to be in his prime. Maybe he doesn’t have the Nature Boy strut or the level of mic skills that the Nature Boy does, but he is far from bad on the mic. He’s better than a lot of guys in TNA as far as mic skills go. Let’s count them: Matt Morgan, Abyss, Jay Lethal, alex Shelley, Chris Sabin. Do I need to continue?
Another point I’d like to make is that RVD apparently thinks he’s too big to be wrestling guys from TNA. Last year in a radio interview, RVD wondered how people could possibly want to see him wrestle guys like Christopher Daniels after he was wrestling and beating guys like Booker T and Triple H. Here’s a newsflash. Those guys are old news. Yes, they are respected veterans, and rightfully so, but the future is coming. The wrestling business has to evolve, just like any other business. You can’t stay on top forever, so why not try to give a push to somebody who deserves their shot. Terry Funk did it for years.
I understand that RVD has always been openly arrogant about his skills in the ring, and ten years ago he could do that and get away with it. For the last three years however, RVD has been picking and choosing where and when he wants to wrestle, which is certainly a privilege of being as big a name as RVD is. The fans—or rather the marks—haven’t seen him unless they are “smart marks” and follow him on the internet and in Europe and Japan. I suppose that’s part of the reason he can just come back and be handed a belt after so little effort or time in a company he has never previously worked for.
My view is that if you’re going to be the champion, you need to put in more of a full schedule than the one RVD is signed to, and you’re matches need to be of a better quality than Van Dam’s have been up to this point in TNA. Much like the Dudleys—or Team 3D if you prefer—he looks a bit complacent in the wrestling ring, but if you’ve seen any of the matches he’s been wrestling in Europe or Japan, that shouldn’t be a surprise to you. Also, he’s not doing any house shows at all. Does it make any sense to be doing house shows all over the country and not having your World Heavyweight Champion at any of them? Of course it doesn’t.
I don’t think I’d be anywhere near as pissed about this if Styles hadn’t been bitched around so much in the past few years, and if the TNA braintrust had given RVD and Styles a well publicized and well-planned fued that culminated in RVD beating A.J. Styles. As it stands, I hope like hell that Styles is going to get more time in the ring with RVD to show that he is every bit as good as RVD. This is a dream fued for any wrestling purist such as myself and for it to be a one shot deal would be not only a disappointment to the fans, it would be a blatant show of disrespect to A.J. Styles. It would be another instance of TNA disregarding and mistreating guys that have been with them and stood behind them for years now, but that’s something that TNA has gotten extremely good at in the last couple years, so it wouldn’t be at all surprising.
Rob Van Dam has been in TNA for all of two months now, if that long. Yes, he is a veteran of the wrestling business, and he is a former world champion—not that his one title reign really counts for that much since he got screwed out of it anyway. Well, Styles is also a former World Champion, Tag Chhampion, X Division Champion. A.J. Styles is also an eight year veteran and loyal employee of the TNA brand. So why is it that without any fued, any publicity, any respect for him as a champion, the backstage geniuses in TNA took the strap off of him?
In TNA, in the last three to four years, I’m not sure there is another wrestler who is as damn good as Styles that has been treated with such casual disrespect by the bookers and creative staff. Christopher Daniels is up there pretty high, but not at the Styles level. It is taken for granted in TNA that A.J. Styles will grin and sell any crappy angle they toss him into. Do we all remember when Styles was Kurt Angle’s bitch? How about his crush on Karen Angle—as if she had any friggin business being on Impact to begin with.
Even Styles himself finally got pissed off at Vince Russo and complained about how poorly he was being booked as the TNA Champion. I, for the life of me, cannot understand why the hell A.J. Styles continues to be loyal to a company that has strayed so far from it’s original style and purpose. I cannot see why he continues to grin and put up with the garbage he is asked to do. I don’t see any career benefit for him to stay in a company that does nothing but bitch him around.
While I am also unenamored with the WWE product as of late, I will admit that the opportunities in WWE may be greater for Styles than the ones he is being given—or rather not being given—in TNA. A.J. does not need Ric Flair as a sidekick to get him over. Styles is already over, and he’s a better wrestler than Flair could have ever hoped to be in his prime. Maybe he doesn’t have the Nature Boy strut or the level of mic skills that the Nature Boy does, but he is far from bad on the mic. He’s better than a lot of guys in TNA as far as mic skills go. Let’s count them: Matt Morgan, Abyss, Jay Lethal, alex Shelley, Chris Sabin. Do I need to continue?
Another point I’d like to make is that RVD apparently thinks he’s too big to be wrestling guys from TNA. Last year in a radio interview, RVD wondered how people could possibly want to see him wrestle guys like Christopher Daniels after he was wrestling and beating guys like Booker T and Triple H. Here’s a newsflash. Those guys are old news. Yes, they are respected veterans, and rightfully so, but the future is coming. The wrestling business has to evolve, just like any other business. You can’t stay on top forever, so why not try to give a push to somebody who deserves their shot. Terry Funk did it for years.
I understand that RVD has always been openly arrogant about his skills in the ring, and ten years ago he could do that and get away with it. For the last three years however, RVD has been picking and choosing where and when he wants to wrestle, which is certainly a privilege of being as big a name as RVD is. The fans—or rather the marks—haven’t seen him unless they are “smart marks” and follow him on the internet and in Europe and Japan. I suppose that’s part of the reason he can just come back and be handed a belt after so little effort or time in a company he has never previously worked for.
My view is that if you’re going to be the champion, you need to put in more of a full schedule than the one RVD is signed to, and you’re matches need to be of a better quality than Van Dam’s have been up to this point in TNA. Much like the Dudleys—or Team 3D if you prefer—he looks a bit complacent in the wrestling ring, but if you’ve seen any of the matches he’s been wrestling in Europe or Japan, that shouldn’t be a surprise to you. Also, he’s not doing any house shows at all. Does it make any sense to be doing house shows all over the country and not having your World Heavyweight Champion at any of them? Of course it doesn’t.
I don’t think I’d be anywhere near as pissed about this if Styles hadn’t been bitched around so much in the past few years, and if the TNA braintrust had given RVD and Styles a well publicized and well-planned fued that culminated in RVD beating A.J. Styles. As it stands, I hope like hell that Styles is going to get more time in the ring with RVD to show that he is every bit as good as RVD. This is a dream fued for any wrestling purist such as myself and for it to be a one shot deal would be not only a disappointment to the fans, it would be a blatant show of disrespect to A.J. Styles. It would be another instance of TNA disregarding and mistreating guys that have been with them and stood behind them for years now, but that’s something that TNA has gotten extremely good at in the last couple years, so it wouldn’t be at all surprising.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Kevin Kelly Wants to Punch Drug Abusers in the Face?
In a recent addition of his blog, current ROH announcer and former WWE announcer Kevin Kelly (that’s right, the ugly hermaphrodite himself) had some extremely harsh things to say about drug abusers in the wrestling business, and drug abusers in general. Kevin mentioned that he had been watching an episode of Intervention on A&E (marvelous name dropping by the way Kevin) and said of the subject of the episode, “I didn’t feel sorry for her. I wanted to punch her in the face.” I sincerely hope I’m not the first person to say to Kevin Kelly, what the holy freaking Christ is wrong with you? He went on to say that anyone who abuses drugs “needs a kick in the ass and a push in the right direction.” While it is true that drug abuse is inherently negative and that people who fall into such a cycle do sometimes need a strong push in the right direction, saying that you want to punch them in the mouth is far beyond callous.
Let’s examine the state of the wrestling business and see if we can better understand the drug problem that has made itself evident in the media over the last few years. Maybe we can come up with something a bit more critical as a solution other than punching random people in the face like some sort of self-righteous idiot.
The wrestling business, despite the ignorant assumptions of the uninformed, is real in that these guys do get hurt. They take bumps and they get injured. That part of the business is absolutely not fake. I don’t think Vince McMahon is sitting in his ocfice chair in Stanford and saying, “Let’s put our biggest star on the injured list for nine months with a fake leg injury. Let’s do it for posterity, and maybe to liven things up a bit.” Folks, if you’re dumb enough to think that these guys “know how to fall”, then maybe somebody should drop you on your head a few times on top of a sheet of plywood covered in a scant inch of canvas, and see how you come out. I’ll bet it won’t be too fun.
All digressions aside, the wrestling business has a high incidence of injuries, and severe ones at that. In the wrestling business it is not uncommon to see torn ACLs, torn PCLs, torn tendons, shattered bones, broken backs, broken necks, even ruptured testicles—just ask tommy Dreamer about that one. It’s true that these guys get paid pretty well for their troubles, but money itself does not relieve pain. What does relieve pain you ask. Well according to just about every doctor practicing in our great country, pills relieve pain. What’s the first thing they do when you go to the ER experiencing sever back pain, sever neck pain, severe leg pain, severe abdominal cramps, severe rectal bleeding? They send you home with a bottle full of painkillers. Of course people are going to get hooked on them. Doctors hand the damn things out like they were M&Ms on Halloween for Christ sakes.
With that being said, let’s acknowledge the fact that there is no system set up for wrestlers after they get let go from one of the big companies. If you get fired from WWE or TNA, and you don’t get hired by the other company, what do you do? You take bookings in the indy feds, and the indy feds can’t afford to pay the kind of money that WWE or TNA does. So when you get injured, if you don’t have private insurance, which is expensive even for somebody who’s making a decent salary, you’re screwed. So you go to the ER and instead of getting some good long-term kind of solution to your pain, you get painkillers, because that’s the only kind of treatment you can afford with no pension or retirement benefits.
Now let’s get into this a bit more personally. As far as Kevin Kelly is concerned, I think what he said was incredibly sanctimonious. This is obviously a man who has no sympathy for another human being struggling with addiction. What I have found is that people that say the sort of things that Kevin Kelly said have almost never been in that situation. It’s easy for you to condemn others when you’ve never walked in their shoes. Addiction is not something that is easily combated. The people that kick addiction cold turkey are very rare. Hell, people who kick addiction with councelling are pretty rare as well. Oh yeah, councelling is another thing that the big two don’t offer to their employees.
So since Kevin Kelly can’t constructively express his disgust or disapproval for drug users, and can’t seem to manage to find any sympathy for them either, I won’t bother to express my contempt for his blatant ignorance constructively. I’d like to punch Kevin Kelly in his face and then stick a heroine needle in his arm so he can get a chance to understand just how screwed these people can be. Kevin Kelly, you’re an idiot. You should take some time and put forth some effort to express your feelings in some sort of intelligent manner, and maybe people wouldn’t think that wrestlers, wrestling fans, and anyone associated with the wrestling business are morons like you.
Let’s examine the state of the wrestling business and see if we can better understand the drug problem that has made itself evident in the media over the last few years. Maybe we can come up with something a bit more critical as a solution other than punching random people in the face like some sort of self-righteous idiot.
The wrestling business, despite the ignorant assumptions of the uninformed, is real in that these guys do get hurt. They take bumps and they get injured. That part of the business is absolutely not fake. I don’t think Vince McMahon is sitting in his ocfice chair in Stanford and saying, “Let’s put our biggest star on the injured list for nine months with a fake leg injury. Let’s do it for posterity, and maybe to liven things up a bit.” Folks, if you’re dumb enough to think that these guys “know how to fall”, then maybe somebody should drop you on your head a few times on top of a sheet of plywood covered in a scant inch of canvas, and see how you come out. I’ll bet it won’t be too fun.
All digressions aside, the wrestling business has a high incidence of injuries, and severe ones at that. In the wrestling business it is not uncommon to see torn ACLs, torn PCLs, torn tendons, shattered bones, broken backs, broken necks, even ruptured testicles—just ask tommy Dreamer about that one. It’s true that these guys get paid pretty well for their troubles, but money itself does not relieve pain. What does relieve pain you ask. Well according to just about every doctor practicing in our great country, pills relieve pain. What’s the first thing they do when you go to the ER experiencing sever back pain, sever neck pain, severe leg pain, severe abdominal cramps, severe rectal bleeding? They send you home with a bottle full of painkillers. Of course people are going to get hooked on them. Doctors hand the damn things out like they were M&Ms on Halloween for Christ sakes.
With that being said, let’s acknowledge the fact that there is no system set up for wrestlers after they get let go from one of the big companies. If you get fired from WWE or TNA, and you don’t get hired by the other company, what do you do? You take bookings in the indy feds, and the indy feds can’t afford to pay the kind of money that WWE or TNA does. So when you get injured, if you don’t have private insurance, which is expensive even for somebody who’s making a decent salary, you’re screwed. So you go to the ER and instead of getting some good long-term kind of solution to your pain, you get painkillers, because that’s the only kind of treatment you can afford with no pension or retirement benefits.
Now let’s get into this a bit more personally. As far as Kevin Kelly is concerned, I think what he said was incredibly sanctimonious. This is obviously a man who has no sympathy for another human being struggling with addiction. What I have found is that people that say the sort of things that Kevin Kelly said have almost never been in that situation. It’s easy for you to condemn others when you’ve never walked in their shoes. Addiction is not something that is easily combated. The people that kick addiction cold turkey are very rare. Hell, people who kick addiction with councelling are pretty rare as well. Oh yeah, councelling is another thing that the big two don’t offer to their employees.
So since Kevin Kelly can’t constructively express his disgust or disapproval for drug users, and can’t seem to manage to find any sympathy for them either, I won’t bother to express my contempt for his blatant ignorance constructively. I’d like to punch Kevin Kelly in his face and then stick a heroine needle in his arm so he can get a chance to understand just how screwed these people can be. Kevin Kelly, you’re an idiot. You should take some time and put forth some effort to express your feelings in some sort of intelligent manner, and maybe people wouldn’t think that wrestlers, wrestling fans, and anyone associated with the wrestling business are morons like you.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
The Reaction to TNA Reaction
Last week, I read on a wrestling news site that TNA president Dixie Carter—a person in charge of a wrestling company that knows jack about wrestling—had announced the premiere of a new TNA program on Monday nights to run consecutively with Impact. I believe the ridiculous tag line had something to say about “diving into the combustable backstage world of TNA wrestling.” That’s not an exact quote, but it’s close enough for government work.
In essence, TNA Reaction is a reality show, and I’m sure it’s just as scripted rigged, and pointless as every other “reality based” show on television right now. Why don’t they just call it Survivor TNA or Big Brother TNA Edition?
What TNA president Dixie Carter, Hulk Hogan, and the incomparable Eric Bischoff must be hoping this show will do is fool the blatant marks of TNA into feeling like they aren’t blatant marks. I’m sure I am not the only person that has noticed that Hogan and Bischoff have been showcasing some backstage discussion on Impact about who’s “getting over with the fans” and who’s “good for business”. Okay guys, Christopher Daniels was good for business. He was a solid wrestler with a wide range of maneuvers and a legitimate talent for in-ring and promo work, unlike the seven foot two inch tall man with one liquid ounce of brain matter that’s getting pushed as being good enough to take out Hernandez, otherwise known as Matt Morgan.
While there may be some prepubescent children, oblivious teens, and clueless forty year old men watching TNA that will buy this TNA Reaction crap, I—as an educated mark—will not. Call me pretentious. Say I’m no different than any other mark out there if you like, but the reality is, I know when I’m being condescended toward and when my intelligence as a paying fan of professional wrestling is being insulted. These backstage and boardroom jackasses ought to remember that if I stop paing to see their product, they start losing money. There is no wrestling business without the fans, and if you piss the fans off, your business goes down the old crapper.
Apparently, I’m not the only person who is turned off by TNA Reaction. At the very least, there are a lot of other people who just don’t care The first ever installment of TNA’s new show did a 0.3 rating. Which brings me to the ultimate point of this entry.
How the hell does TNA expect to compete with WWE, even with WWE’s newer less tolerable product, when they put crap like this on TV opposite Monday Night Raw? How do they expect to build up new stars, or rejuvenate the careers of old stars when they fire solid workers like Christopher Daniels? Most importantly, what in the blue hell (thank you Dwayne Johnson) was Bob Carter thinking when he put his Hollywood Hannah Montana promoting daughter in charge of the everyday workeigs of a freakingprofessional wrestling company? The wrestling gods (and I most certainly do not mean JBL) need to save us from this utter garbage that we are forced to watch on the national scale right now.
In essence, TNA Reaction is a reality show, and I’m sure it’s just as scripted rigged, and pointless as every other “reality based” show on television right now. Why don’t they just call it Survivor TNA or Big Brother TNA Edition?
What TNA president Dixie Carter, Hulk Hogan, and the incomparable Eric Bischoff must be hoping this show will do is fool the blatant marks of TNA into feeling like they aren’t blatant marks. I’m sure I am not the only person that has noticed that Hogan and Bischoff have been showcasing some backstage discussion on Impact about who’s “getting over with the fans” and who’s “good for business”. Okay guys, Christopher Daniels was good for business. He was a solid wrestler with a wide range of maneuvers and a legitimate talent for in-ring and promo work, unlike the seven foot two inch tall man with one liquid ounce of brain matter that’s getting pushed as being good enough to take out Hernandez, otherwise known as Matt Morgan.
While there may be some prepubescent children, oblivious teens, and clueless forty year old men watching TNA that will buy this TNA Reaction crap, I—as an educated mark—will not. Call me pretentious. Say I’m no different than any other mark out there if you like, but the reality is, I know when I’m being condescended toward and when my intelligence as a paying fan of professional wrestling is being insulted. These backstage and boardroom jackasses ought to remember that if I stop paing to see their product, they start losing money. There is no wrestling business without the fans, and if you piss the fans off, your business goes down the old crapper.
Apparently, I’m not the only person who is turned off by TNA Reaction. At the very least, there are a lot of other people who just don’t care The first ever installment of TNA’s new show did a 0.3 rating. Which brings me to the ultimate point of this entry.
How the hell does TNA expect to compete with WWE, even with WWE’s newer less tolerable product, when they put crap like this on TV opposite Monday Night Raw? How do they expect to build up new stars, or rejuvenate the careers of old stars when they fire solid workers like Christopher Daniels? Most importantly, what in the blue hell (thank you Dwayne Johnson) was Bob Carter thinking when he put his Hollywood Hannah Montana promoting daughter in charge of the everyday workeigs of a freakingprofessional wrestling company? The wrestling gods (and I most certainly do not mean JBL) need to save us from this utter garbage that we are forced to watch on the national scale right now.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
New WWE Stable on the Way
I read recently that WWE is considering putting together a new stable. With the breakup of Legacy—and wasn’t it about time—Randy Orton, Cody
Rhodes, and Ted DiBiase Jr. all have openings for new storylines. What I read is that WWE is considering forming a stable called the Fortunate Sons. The stable will be headed by Ted DiBiase Jr. and comprised of his younger brother Brett DiBiase and Joe Hennig (son of Curt Hennig), who are both currently working with each other in a well-regarded fued in the FCW developmental federation. Of Course, this idea raises a few points with me.
First, what about Cody Rhodes? It is my opinion—and feel free to disagree if you like—that Cody Rhodes may be the best wrestler out of the three men that formerly comprised Legacy. Randy Orton is no prize these days. He may be one of WWe’s top stars but the guyh is made of glass. Randy Orton’s in-ring style has noticeably changed in the past year or so since he returned from his shoulder injury. He spends less time in the rin wrestling and more time slinking around outside the ring jawing with the crowd. His matches are rarely exciting or entertaining anymore. And let’s not forget to mention the fact that the guy is an asshole in the backstage and in his personal life.
Ted DiBiase Jr. may be a very sound technical wrestler, but again, Cody Rhodes has him beat. DiBiase is solid in the ring, but not always very exciting and his promos tend to be long, labored, and downright boring. Which of course raises my second question, why have DiBiase head the faction? Honestly, if I have to endure him getting major promo time, I may shoot myself. He might actually be more boring on the mic than the “new and improved” chris Jericho, and Jericho makes me want to pour acid into my ears lately.
So here’s what’s going on. Randy Orton will be shoved into another high card or main event storyline with another wrestler equally as boring as him, probably John Cena. Ted DiBiase will end up heading the Fortunate Sons and cody Rhodes will get screwed over by the whole deal. This is yet again an example of WWE’s flat out incompetence in managing their roster. Talented guys like Cody Rhodes, Matt Hardy, MVP, and so many others get tossed into mid-card or low-card stories usually meant to push somebody else who’s on their way up, and old geezers and marginally talented hacks get all the damn attention.
Rhodes, and Ted DiBiase Jr. all have openings for new storylines. What I read is that WWE is considering forming a stable called the Fortunate Sons. The stable will be headed by Ted DiBiase Jr. and comprised of his younger brother Brett DiBiase and Joe Hennig (son of Curt Hennig), who are both currently working with each other in a well-regarded fued in the FCW developmental federation. Of Course, this idea raises a few points with me.
First, what about Cody Rhodes? It is my opinion—and feel free to disagree if you like—that Cody Rhodes may be the best wrestler out of the three men that formerly comprised Legacy. Randy Orton is no prize these days. He may be one of WWe’s top stars but the guyh is made of glass. Randy Orton’s in-ring style has noticeably changed in the past year or so since he returned from his shoulder injury. He spends less time in the rin wrestling and more time slinking around outside the ring jawing with the crowd. His matches are rarely exciting or entertaining anymore. And let’s not forget to mention the fact that the guy is an asshole in the backstage and in his personal life.
Ted DiBiase Jr. may be a very sound technical wrestler, but again, Cody Rhodes has him beat. DiBiase is solid in the ring, but not always very exciting and his promos tend to be long, labored, and downright boring. Which of course raises my second question, why have DiBiase head the faction? Honestly, if I have to endure him getting major promo time, I may shoot myself. He might actually be more boring on the mic than the “new and improved” chris Jericho, and Jericho makes me want to pour acid into my ears lately.
So here’s what’s going on. Randy Orton will be shoved into another high card or main event storyline with another wrestler equally as boring as him, probably John Cena. Ted DiBiase will end up heading the Fortunate Sons and cody Rhodes will get screwed over by the whole deal. This is yet again an example of WWE’s flat out incompetence in managing their roster. Talented guys like Cody Rhodes, Matt Hardy, MVP, and so many others get tossed into mid-card or low-card stories usually meant to push somebody else who’s on their way up, and old geezers and marginally talented hacks get all the damn attention.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Huge Talent, Horrible Booking
All right, it’s been a long ass hiatus. No doubt about that. To be quite frank, I’m not sure that the wrestling business, as far as the big two go, is even worth writing about now that I have the time again.
Today’s topic is, surprise surprise, bad booking. This time let’s talk about bad booking in WWE, since almost all booking in TNA sucks, we won’t even bother with them.
A few months ago, WWE signed Bryan Danielson, the self-proclaimed and very arguably “best wrestler in the world”. After he had signed his contract, it was made known that Danielson would be skipping the developmental FCW federation and going straight onto main WWE programming. I assumed that Smackdown would be a good fit for Danielson. He’s not exactly young, but his style of wrestling fits better with the style of Smackdown, which feels a bit more young than that of Monday night Raw’s cavalcade of old geezers. But no, that wasn’t their choice. Instead they let Danielson sit at home and collect a paycheck. Well, more accurately they let him train at Randy Cotour’s dojo in Las Vegas and collect his paycheck. When the word finally came around that Danielson was to show up on WWE programming, I was extremely excited. And then there was NXT.
Let’s digress to talk a bit about NXt right now. NXt is made up of a bunch of guyhs who have little to no experience under their belts, and it shows. I’m not sure who half these guys are. They sure as hell haven’t had any kind of tenure in the indies. The only established wrestler, and multiple time champion, is Bryan Danielson. These other guys aren’t even in his league. Yet David Otunga gets better friggin booking than Danielson because he’s dating Jennifer Hudson, and Vince wants to get her to work with WWE on some horrible Hollywood angle. What’s friggin new. WWE hasn’t been about wrestling for quite some time now.
So, up to this point, I don’t believe Danielson—or Daniel Bryan if you prefer—has even won a match on NXT. Hell, he hasn’t even gotten enough time in the ring to have a decent match, with the exclusion of his debut against Chris Jericho. So here’s a guy that’s wrestled and defeated guys like Jushin Liger, Takeshi Morishima, Nigel McGuinness (who isn’t being booked a whole hell of a lot better than Danielson is right now), CM Punk, and about a thousand other great guys, yet he’s being booked as a total loser.
Am I the only one who’s feeling the outrage here. Shaimus has the fraggin World Heavyweight Title and Bryan Danielson is losing every match. Shaimus is boring as hell. He’s not fun to watch, and he’s not a very damn good wrestler either. But still, he’s the push that Danielson deserves.
All I want, is for once, just once, to have the bookers in WWE get their heads out of their fat lazy asses.
Today’s topic is, surprise surprise, bad booking. This time let’s talk about bad booking in WWE, since almost all booking in TNA sucks, we won’t even bother with them.
A few months ago, WWE signed Bryan Danielson, the self-proclaimed and very arguably “best wrestler in the world”. After he had signed his contract, it was made known that Danielson would be skipping the developmental FCW federation and going straight onto main WWE programming. I assumed that Smackdown would be a good fit for Danielson. He’s not exactly young, but his style of wrestling fits better with the style of Smackdown, which feels a bit more young than that of Monday night Raw’s cavalcade of old geezers. But no, that wasn’t their choice. Instead they let Danielson sit at home and collect a paycheck. Well, more accurately they let him train at Randy Cotour’s dojo in Las Vegas and collect his paycheck. When the word finally came around that Danielson was to show up on WWE programming, I was extremely excited. And then there was NXT.
Let’s digress to talk a bit about NXt right now. NXt is made up of a bunch of guyhs who have little to no experience under their belts, and it shows. I’m not sure who half these guys are. They sure as hell haven’t had any kind of tenure in the indies. The only established wrestler, and multiple time champion, is Bryan Danielson. These other guys aren’t even in his league. Yet David Otunga gets better friggin booking than Danielson because he’s dating Jennifer Hudson, and Vince wants to get her to work with WWE on some horrible Hollywood angle. What’s friggin new. WWE hasn’t been about wrestling for quite some time now.
So, up to this point, I don’t believe Danielson—or Daniel Bryan if you prefer—has even won a match on NXT. Hell, he hasn’t even gotten enough time in the ring to have a decent match, with the exclusion of his debut against Chris Jericho. So here’s a guy that’s wrestled and defeated guys like Jushin Liger, Takeshi Morishima, Nigel McGuinness (who isn’t being booked a whole hell of a lot better than Danielson is right now), CM Punk, and about a thousand other great guys, yet he’s being booked as a total loser.
Am I the only one who’s feeling the outrage here. Shaimus has the fraggin World Heavyweight Title and Bryan Danielson is losing every match. Shaimus is boring as hell. He’s not fun to watch, and he’s not a very damn good wrestler either. But still, he’s the push that Danielson deserves.
All I want, is for once, just once, to have the bookers in WWE get their heads out of their fat lazy asses.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)