This weekend I had the pleasure of taking in two wrestling shows, so rather than the usual formal review, I’m going to post ramblings about both of them. While nobody this weekend could top WPW’s bloody main event, most everyone I saw this weekend put in a top-notch effort. Once again EWF put on a fun evening of sports entertainment at the KOC in Covina, providing storyline twists, lots of great action, and a very impressive rookie. Like always, the place was empty when I got there, but by the time it was bell time, the place was packed. First up was a musical performance by metal heads Stoneblue, driving much of the crowd into the parking lot. This band as if it would not be out of place in 1990 at the Whiskey a Go Go, but this is 2003, and KANC is long dead. However, I’d imagine some people would like their sound, like possibly Johnny Paradise or perhaps Matt Sinister. The rhythm guitar player was entertaining as he had all of CC Deville’s old moves down pat. Rock on, brothers!
Bonsai and Alex Pincheck opened things up, and I was in for quite a surprise. Although the crowd was behind Banzai, I had my attention captured by Pincheck, who sold like a champ and bumped cleaner and solider than is usually done by rookies. He was on the defense most of the match, but every time he took a big move it looked crisp as hell. The opening sequence featured Pincheck taking a series of arm drags and clotheslines before he turned it around with a reversal of a clothesline and hit a massive big air leg drop. Banzai was a big man who moved pretty well, and the two gelled well in the ring. My only concern is that Pincheck had the same haircut as Threat, so I’m gonna stop putting him over now before it slips through the hairdo and causes a swelled head, as we all know where that could lead to…
Finish came when Pincheck attempted a running moonsault, only to miss and end up on the wrong end of a whoopee cushion. Yes, a whoopee cushion, Doink’s devastating finisher.
Canada’s Most Wanted wrestled Dick Danger and Sonny Suave. Canada was way hated by the crowd, and it was clear the fans wanted Canadian blood to be spilled. Then Danger started working a Rick Dude gimmick circa 1989. This caused fans a bit of confusion, but I was so happy to see Suave I didn’t care. I haven’t seen Suave in years, so I was ecstatic when he stepped through the curtain. They worked the crowd for a while, and eventually settled into a nice little match. Sonny didn’t really do a lot of high flying, but I got to see him work so that was enough. Dick Danger did his usual spot where his trunks get pulled down to show his thong, and walked around a lot with his ass hanging out to disturb children down in front. Finish came when Suave hit a massive tornado DDT variation that cannot be described as anything but kick ass, and the Canadians lost.
Mad Mac McIntosh wrestled Bino Gambino. Maybe wrestled is the wrong word. They taunted each other for a good ten minutes. McIntosh a guy who looked like Scott Hall who did a drunken Irishman gimmick, and for some reason this Irishman was wearing a kilt. I thought that kilts were Scottish, but what the hell; he was a drunk, after all. Bino Gambino did his goombah gimmick, and both men had way too underage eye candy with them at ringside. Bino stole Mac’s flask, then Mac stole Bino’s hat, then they argued, they made fun of each other. They did a move or two, and then started arguing again. Finally, for no reason, the two girls came into the ring and became bump dummies. Each dude beat up the other guy’s girl, by body slamming them, among other things. For the record, the two girls were named Sweet Candy and Sexy Starlet; I have no clue which girl was with what guy. The two girls finally nutted the men, and the guys teamed up to hate the girls, and there was a double DQ. The girls made friends, the guys made friends, and I hate to even imagine the match next show. This was a weird booking, and even EWF brass were wondering how things spun out of control.
I realize that the show sounds bad, but it wasn’t, it was just strange. Despite small complaints, I had a very good time, and at intermission I realized I was having a blast. Shows do not have to follow the set formula to be good, and seeing things done so dramatically different from the usual was nice for a change. It kept me guessing all night, and EWF’s family friendly environment is always a welcome change from the crowds at other venues. After intermission, things picked up big time.
Ragin’ Dawg teamed with Psycho Silly Willy to wrestle Kenny King and a guy whose name I didn’t catch. A special note to fans who see King live, it is neither funny nor clever for someone to yell, “Are you tough enough?” every time King tags in. I’m sure he’s heard it before, and I’m sure he’s tired of it. King was double teamed lot, and his partner was on the apron most of the match. Willy and Dog did a great job of cutting the ring in half, and each time King got some momentum, Dog would hit a big move. They worked the knee very effectively, and Dog a lionsault that looked like could have killed him if he’d been any further off balance. King finally hit a spine buster for the hot tag, but his partner’s momentum was stopped cold with a low blow. Dog pinned King’s partner after a frog splash, then the heels set up a table to put the man through. While the partner was lying on the table, Dog stood on the top rope, but Willy pulled the guy off the table and superplexed Dog through it. The swerve came outta nowhere, but that’s why they call it a swerve.
Bo Cooper teamed with Vizzon to wrestle Black Metal and EWF champ Steve Masters. The match started the usual way a Masters match does, with Masters whipping the crowd into a frenzy of hatred for him. Not a lot of wrestling during this, but when the wrestling starts, they hate every single thing Masters does. When I think of a true old school Indy wrestler, Masters is one of the guys who immediately come to my mind. Steve the hell out of Vizzon, as the majority of the match was spent hurting Vision like he was Ricky Morton. Bo kept getting in the referee’s face, causing massive double-teaming. At one point, Black Metal hit a sweet looking Flair flop style headbutt to Viszzon’s neither regions. Vizzon finally fought back and turned the tide with a pretty sidewalk slam, but after the tag Bo hugged Masters, and the triple team was on. Bo got bloody (what a surprise) and it all ended up with the massive beat down. Kenny King and his partner made the save, and it was established that King will wrestle Masters next Covina show for the strap, and Bo will wrestle Vizzon. After this match I had to leave due to circumstances out of my control, so I have no idea what the main event looked like. Just a note to the guy who I saw outside going to his truck for water: I understood what you were telling me, and I like that guy a lot, too. You’re gonna see him sooner than later. Thanks for the advice.
WPW was a good time this Sunday, with things being up a notch, mostly due to a few very fun matches. I kicked it with Julio Paz, and I must say that I know him, but have never kicked it at a show with him. He’s cool as hell. Match one was Kid Omega vs. El Abandonito(I probably spelled that wrong). Omega had some nice submission moves, including a great tie up involving the ropes. To my knowledge, this one of the first matches Abandonito wrestled, but I could tell he spent the extra time in training so he’d look like a wrestler his first time out. I have never seen him before, but something about the guy was strangely familiar, I just couldn’t put my finger on it. He tapped out to a painful looking backbreaker type submission. Good opener.
Mr. California wrestled Chippy Sanchez. Nice little under card match with just what it called for. A few nice exchanges, a little heat on the heel, and a sweet looking finish. Does it bother anyone else that a wrestler named Chippy Sanchez has the name Flores tattooed on his back? Julio brought that to my attention. Mr. California is getting better as a wrestler, but if he thinks he’s ready for a hardcore match with Supreme and Angel on the 13th of July, he might want to reconsider. Chippy might be tough, but he is far from an ex-XPW dude with little regard for his opponent’s safety. Chippy won with a front Russian leg sweep he dubbed, “A chip off the old block.”
Thunderwolf came to the ring doing a Tatanka style gimmick. He was to take on Infernal Jr. I wasn’t aware that Infernal was old enough for there to be a Jr., but what the hell, this is professional wrestling. I guess Infernal just gets mad booty, so a Jr. is a possibility. I liked the way these two kept up a good pace throughout the match and while both are rookies, they showed potential. Their match showed how good WPW is at turning out good new talent, and is a credit to the trainer, Martin Marin, as well as the newly formed WPW-Toryumon alliance. Infernal Jr. won with a nice sunset flip that started with both men standing on the top rope.
Joey Ryan made his triumphant return to the marketplace, stating that since Obi Matt beat him in a loser leaves town match, Joey could return because Obi moved to Kentucky. Since this was a shady thing to do, it was determined that Joey had to wrestle partner Scott Lost to determine of he could return. Lost and Ryan spent the first part of the match on the outside, making good use of the crowd barriers. They beat the hell out of each other; with Ryan seriously working on Lost’s recently injured hand. Lost gained the advantage, and hooked Ryan in the sharpshooter, but Joey made it to the ropes. After breaking the hold, Lost re-applied it, but Johnny Paradise distracted the referee, allowing Matrix to knock out Lost using his tag title belt. Joey picked up the big win.
Steve Pain and R2K wrestled Johnny Paradise and Matrix accompanied by the loveable Jason Bennett. This entire match was Steve Pain getting his ass handed to him, while referee Junior argued with R2K on the apron. R2K was funny as hell, insulting the referee, the fans, and anyone within earshot. His taunting of Junior led to Pain being double-teamed a lot, and he basically killed the match himself with his attitude. Jason Bennett, who is usually the guy who is most entertaining at ringside, took a back seat to R2K’s verbal diarrhea. R2K talked mad shit to me, to Julio, to the music guy, to kids at ringside, he basically took everything away from the action in the ring and became the center of attention. This normally sucks in a match, but his insults were so golden (In an, “Yo fool, go to school” kinda way) that it made it fun. Pain finally got himself pinned. This was a fun match to watch.
Black Angel, Calibre Ventidos, and El Angel wrestled Big E. Biggs, Zeus, and Genio Negro. This was your standard cluster bang Lucha match where this white boy did not understand a damn thing going on. It ended up a double DQ, I think, but so many guys were hitting so many others it was hard to determine who was on what team, and after the match Biggs had a fight with Genio Negro. I do not speak Spanish, so I’m in the dark here.
At this point rapper Josh E Jackson performed his song, “Josh E Super Infinity Fine” for the crowd. He danced, rapped, and sang, but the song mostly was him repeating the title over and over. Not my cup of tea, but I’m sure there were a few fans there who liked it a lot.
Desire, Infernal, Sexy Chino, and Relampago Kid wrestled Supa Badd, Catastrophe, Eric Matlock, and El Genio. Match started out with the rudos complaining on the outside that there was a girl in the ring. As they argued, Desire planchaed on all of them on the outside. This caused a quick brawl and the technicos won the first fall very quick. The rudos stepped up to the plate very quick and used mad cheating tactics to win the second fall. The whole match Desire was sexually harassed by the rudos, having her breasts grabbed at one point, and being kissed at another. Part of what makes Desire such a talent is the fact that unlike other females in wrestling, she can hold her own with the men, much like Melissa. During her battle on the outside with Catastrophe, Mysterioso appeared at ringside to hold her so that Catastrophe could kick her. The technicos won this match, but it was hard fought, and it could have gone either way. Sexy Chino was the star of this one, as the fans chanted his name like crazy, and he and Desire lit up the ring with their dirty dancing.
Main event time, and here comes Mysterioso to wrestle Silver Tyger. Mysterioso is a massive talent from Mexico, and I knew he would test Tyger to the limit. Tyger attacked without fear, but was denied on many of the opening exchanges. They did a lot of quick exchanges, popping the crowd big time with the hold for hold mutual respect poses. Mysterioso brought in a chain, and busted Tyger open wide early in the match. Tyger’s mask that is usually silver turned very red, as the blood oozed from his forehead. After taking massive amounts of punishment on the outside, Tyger finally turned it around and dropped Mysterioso on a chair, opening up his opponent. Mysterioso bled buckets, and as he was about to finish Tyger off, Desire came to ringside and interfered. Tyger got the rollup victory, and Desire left ringside with Tyger. Awesome main event, I wish I’d have taken better notes.
Overall, a nice weekend of wrestling, and if my work schedule was not so hectic, this short 2 show review would not have been so half assed and short. July promises to be a great month of wrestling, with the El Monte benefit, PCW, Rev Pro, Best of the Best, PWG, EWF, and AWS all running in addition to the weekly WPW shows. This is an awesome month to be an Indy wrestling fan, provided you have the open schedule and the cash to catch all the great shows.
Thanks for reading,
Benjamin Tomas
The Worlds Biggest Mark
