UPW Title Wave 7.31.04 Review
by Stan aka SoCal Strong Style
Attendance: approx. 450
UPW returned to the lovely Grove in Anaheim, California. UPW brought to SoCal wrestling fans 12 stacked matches along with 6 huge WWE/WCW stars plus 1 MTV star and a couple NWA-TNA guys, the “regular” cream of the crop SoCal Indy guys, and of course, how could I forget, Raw Dawg Energy Drink!
Ricky Reyes/Puma vs Konnan/Psychosis
This was a very good opener for the show. Lots of good mat work from all 4 guys involved. Konnan/Psychosis were the fan favorites in this match as are most big names who work UPW shows. Puma and Psychosis start out the match trading holds. In comes Ricky Reyes and Konnan and the match really takes off from there. Really good mat work as both Reyes and Konnan trade submission holds. Puma/Psychosis back in and Puma delivers a nice rana followed by a bunch of chops. Reyes and Konnan back in and Konnan hits a shoulder block and then a rolling clothesline. Psychosis tags back in and is kicked from outside the ring by Puma and then suplexed by Reyes. Konnan checks in and assists Psychosis with a double team shoulder block on Puma. Konnan gets Puma into a submission hold (not sure what Konnan calls his submissions) and Reyes makes the save with a very stiff kick to Konnan. Reyes tags in and dishes out a fisherman’s suplex to Psychosis. Psychosis has a brief flurry when he hits a spinning heel kick on Puma only to have Reyes tag in and regain control. Reyes gives Psychosis a very stiff kick, followed by another suplex. The match ends with Konnan getting Puma to submit with a hold I am not familiar with. This was one of the best UPW matches I have ever seen. More like an Indy style match then the usual WWE style matches I’m used to seeing from UPW. Reyes was great in the heel role and was surprisingly stiff with Konnan. Match of the Night!
Big Babi Slymm vs The Miz
The Miz comes out first to a decent response and cuts a promo about a new show he has coming up on TV. Big Schwag interrupts the Miz’s promo and tells the Miz that his fifteen minutes of fame are up. Schwag also announces that this is his retirement show from UPW. A short Babi Slymm promo is shown on the video screens. Match gets underway and sees Slymm deliver a stiff clothesline. Slymm controls most of the match until Miz hits him with a nice top rope bulldog. Slymm regains controls and hits a spear on Miz. Miz is regaining control when “Scrap Iron” Adam Pearce comes out and throws powder into The Miz’s eyes allowing Slymm to get the duke. Post match, Slymm and Pearce hit the Miz with a spiked piledriver. Pearce then goes into full heel mode berating the crowd. This was a so-so match that was made much better thanks to Pearce’s run in and promo. It really made this match seem a lot better than it was.
Antonio Maestre/Lionheart/Shawn Riddick vs Joey Ryan/Scott Lost/Tommy Williams (the X-Foundation)
This was a very fun match mostly due to the great work of the X-foundation. X-Foundation were in full heel mode for this match, which is a rarity in SoCal Indy rings. Highlights of this match included a nice top rope leg drop by Shawn Riddick, an awesome spear by Scott Lost, and a top rope dive by Tommy Williams. X-Foundation controlled most of this match, and finally got the pin with their top rope elbow drop combo. Shades of Demolition! Scott Lost looked really good here and worked the crowd very well. I liked seeing the X-Foundation playing the heel role for a change. They did it a lot better than I would have expected. Fun match with lots of action.
Post match Chynna comes out and sings a song for the crowd. It was really bad and the crowd did not like it much. After the song, Chynna says she will stay at the announcers’ table and check out the women’s match.
Erica Porter vs (C) Valentina for the UPW Women’s Championship
I’ll start this out by saying Valentina was looking really good. She looks like she has dropped about 20 lbs since she was last in PWG. That being said, this was about what I’ve come to expect from a women’s match in UPW, or just about anywhere else on the Indy circuit. Valentina was OK, but made a few mistakes that were quite obvious during the match. It soon became very clear that Porter was carrying this match from the get go. Big Schwag comes out to the aid of Schwag Army member Porter during her match and at one point chokes Valentina. Porter ends up getting the pin and becomes the new UPW Women’s Champ. Post match, Schwag calls out Chynna and dares her to come to the ring to face Porter. Eventually she does and lays out both Schwag and Porter and throws the women’s belt at Porter. Crowd popped really big for Chynna taking them out.
Lil Nate vs Tommy Wilson vs Andrew Hellman vs Tony Stradlin in a #1 Contender’s Match for the UPW Cruiserweight Title
This was in my opinion the worst match of the night. While it wasn’t horrible, it just never seemed to get off the ground. I’d much rather see Tony Stradlin moving up the card instead of constantly being put in matches with undercard guys. Pre-match, there was a kind of funny Lil Nate promo that put over Nate’s white boy afro. The match however was “just there”. No horrible botches or anything like that but it just didn’t click. Crowd wasn’t into this match much at all and neither was I. Stradlin gets the pin fall after a spinning heel kick to Nate while he was perched on the top rope. Stradlin is the new #1 Contender for the Cruiserweight title.
Justin Sane vs “Shooter” Tony Jones
This match started out trying to be a shoot style match, with lots of stiff kicks and submission attempts. It was quickly obvious that Jones was working with a guy way below his level. Sane was stiff and bordered on dangerous at times with his sloppiness in the ring. He also spent a lot of time calling out fans who did not care for him. Asking them to meet him outside if they wanted some. It didn’t seem like this was part of Sane’s gimmick. It just seemed like Sane didn’t know how to react to a crowd booing him, and seemed genuinely angered by the fans. Sane ends up getting the win by submission with an armbar on Jones. The good of this match was all Jones. Sane has a lot of work to do. He did show promise but looked very green at times with the much more seasoned Jones.
At this point in the show, they announce Diamond Dallas Page who comes to the ring to a huge pop from the crowd. Big Schwag cuts a promo telling DDP he is too old and only “real men” belong in the UPW ring. Schwag asks DDP, “What are you like 42?” DDP replies, “No, I’m 48!” (Damn, I didn’t know he was that old!) At this point, Babi Slymm and Adam Pearce run in and attack DDP. DDP is able to fight them off. DDP then calls out the Miz and challenges Slymm and Pearce to a tag match. Slymm and Pearce are game, thus setting up the match for later on in the program.
Diamond Dallas Page/the Miz vs Big Babi Slymm/”Scrap Iron” Adam Pearce
DDP and Slymm start out match the match with DDP in control. Pearce comes in and gets hit with a spinning clothesline from DDP. Pearce gains control with a low blow to DDP. DDP soon regains control and tags in Miz. After a couple of armdrags by Miz, Slymm and Pearce soon are in control of Miz. Pearce and Slymm then spend the next few minutes giving Miz a beatdown. Schwag gets in on the action and chokes Miz from the outside. Pearce gives Miz a suplex after telling DDP to, “Feel this bang.” Miz was dominated for most of the match with DDP stuck on the apron. Finally DDP gets the hot tag and cleans house. I can’t remember who got the pin, but the team of DDP and the Miz win by pinfall. This was a really good match that had the crowd on the edge of their seats. Pearce did a masterful job as a heel and worked the crowd very well. The crowd liked this match second best of the show from what I could tell. Cool to get a chance to see DDP live one more time. I am really glad Pearce got a chance to work with DDP.
The Predator vs Apocalypse
This was a matchup of the biggest and baddest workers UPW has to offer. Both guys are monsters! Apocalypse resembles a younger Papa Shango and the Predator reminds me a lot of a mix between Bruiser Brody and the Berzerker [Editor’s Note: Berzerker was basically a Brody rip-off]. This match was much better than I was expecting. Both guys put in a great effort. Very stiff and hard hitting match. Tons of brutally stiff chops dished out by Predator. Predator also hit a reverse chokeslam, which I can’t remember seeing anyone do before. Predator controlled most of this match and ended up getting the pinfall. However, the celebration was short lived. The ref realized that Apocalypse had his foot on the ropes. The ref then restarts the match. Predator immediately hits Apocalypse with a brutal clothesline for the pin about ten seconds later. This was another very solid match, as I was impressed by the Predator. This was one of the better matches I’ve seen from him.
At this point Rick Bassman comes out to award the new UPW title belt to Tom Howard. Howard comes to the ring but is interrupted by Sean O’Haire and former UPW Commisioner. I forget his name but he is the guy Bassman fought for control of UPW [Editor’s Note: Pete Doyle was the former commish]. This sets up O’Haire vs Tom Howard for the new UPW title later in the evening.
(C) “The Future” Frankie Kazarian vs NOSAWA for the UPW Cruiserweight Championship
Going into the show, this would have been my pick for Match of the Night considering the workers involved. It didn’t turn out that way, much to my surprise. This was pretty much the standard stuff from both guys here. Nothing really bad, but it felt very uninspired to me. I have seen both guys work much better matches. The crowd responded very little to either guy. My favorite part of match was NOSAWA giving Frankie a brutal kick to the nuts. It was super stiff! All in all, pretty standard stuff with nothing much to make this match stand out. Frankie wins by pinfall to retain the UPW Cruiserweight Championship.
Team Savage vs Al Katrazz/Oliver John vs Native Blood vs (C) the Ballards in a Fatal Four Way for the UPW Tag Team Championship
Match started out with fans throwing streamers into ring, but I’m not really sure why though. Wild brawl that saw both Native Blood and Team Savage counted out as they continued to fight amongst the fans. Very wild brawl into the crowd! The Ballards were then left to take on Oliver John and Al Katrazz. Ballards were being controlled for the most part from here on out. Eventually, Shane was hit with the doomsday device for the near pinfall. At this point, Justin Sane does a run in and attacks the Ballards for no apparent reason, considering Sane’s guys were in control. Match ends with Ballards winning by disqualification. Post match, El Jefe names the new group of Al Katrazz, Oliver John and Justin Sane, “the West Coast Cartel”. After the unveiling of The West Coast Cartel, the Cartel beat down the Ballards. Decent match for a fatal four way. The run in by Sane didn’t make much sense due to timing. Once you get past the run in, this match was pretty good.
(C) Tom Howard vs Sean O’Haire for the UPW Championship
This match started out with O’Haire retreating to the crowd to avoid Howard. Howard chases him down from behind and lays into O’Haire at the front of the second tier of seats. They quickly make their way back to the ring and trade shots for a couple minutes. O’Haire delivered a couple of kind of weak kicks to Howard’s back, “US Indy” style [Editor’s Note: the dreaded Indy Kick~!!]. Howard soon returned the favor in a much stiffer way. Howard got the pinfall after O’Haire’s manager Pete Doyle accidentally hit him with the UPW belt while aiming for Howard. [Editor’s Note: Got this email straight from Pete Doyle himself: Just an FYI, Tom did not pin Sean, Sean was disqualified once the ref saw me hit Tom with the belt.] This match wasn’t very long, but was very fun. Howard is as complete as they come in UPW. He has made a fan out of me. He was the glue in this match for sure. O’Haire looked a little rusty, but still held his own. Crowd was very into this match for the short time it lasted.
Rikishi/Skulu vs The Outlaws
The crowd went crazy when Rikishi came out to the ring accompanied by Tonga Kid. Biggest pop I’ve heard at an Indy show. Skulu is quickly becoming a favorite of mine as well. The guy can really move and knows how to entertain. This match had the crowd hot from start to finish. Most of the match saw Skulu and Rikishi in control with few exceptions. The crowd popped huge when Rikishi gave Outlaw Knox a stinkface. I can’t remember what the finish was other than Skulu and Rikishi winning. Post match, Rikishi brought a very cute young boy who was a midget into the ring to dance along side himself and Skulu. A little girl was brought in too. Watching the young boy getting his chance to dance in the ring with his idol was the highlight of a very good night. The boy was very over with the crowd (as well he should be!). He even broke out a worm dance prior to returning to his seat that even had Rikishi marking out big. Very sweet moment. To see the look on the boy’s mother’s face in the crowd as she was enjoying it all was priceless. Her decade was made! A great finish to a great show!
A couple of side notes from the show: There were PWG flyers for the next show on all the seats in the grove. Good idea PWG! Maybe we will see some new faces at the next show. Also, Jon Ian gets no respect at UPW. All night he was being hit with”Ruben [Studdard of American Idol fame]” chants from the crowd. Not cool! A UPW crowd is much like a WWE crowd. Only negative was that a few guys were trying to play the “tough guy fan” role for a good portion of the show. Outside of that one issue, this was by far the best show I’ve ever seen from UPW. I will be the first to admit that I have been less than impressed by UPW in the past (last years Title Wave show for example). However, UPW made a believer out of me Saturday night without question. They ran one of the best shows seen in SoCal in the last couple of years. Good stuff from start to finish. Much props to UPW and staff.
Thanks for reading,
Stan aka SoCal Strong Style
email Scrub for feedback on this review!
