As of late, SoCalUNCENSORED has been lagging on the updates. And for that I apologize. I, along with Masked Destroyer, are doing our best to keep this website up to speed how Steve Bryant did. Last month, the rankings were half a month late. And this month, the rankings may be late once again. While waiting for the other committee members to submit their rankings, I’ve decided to post my rankings for the month of July, and some thoughts on some of the selections I’ve made.1. AJ Styles over Rocky Romero (PWG)
This is easily Match of the Month, hands down. The fans were so split during this match, with half the crowd chanting for Rocky and half chanting for AJ. This was intense, not only in the crowd, but in the ring as well. Very well executed match. On one side, you have AJ Styles, an already established Indy wrestling super star. So you can expect a high caliber performance from the Phenomenal One. On the other side, you have Rocky Romero, a man that is taking the world by storm in 2004. Rocky has proven to fans all over the world that not only is he a great tag team wrestler, but he can be an awesome singles wrestler as well. Rocky has proved himself in Mexico for CMLL, in both the American Super Juniors and the Japan Super Juniors for New Japan Pro Wrestling, and east coast federation Ring of Honor. With a singles track record like that, it would be safe to say that Rocky would perform well with AJ. If you saw this match, and can honestly tell me that you saw a better match in the month of July, I would think you were nuts.
2. Super Dragon over CM Punk (PWG)
3. American Dragon & Christoper Daniels over Ricky Reyes & Samoa Joe (PWG)
4. Frankie Kazarian over Adam Pearce (Loser Leaves PWG, Heavyweight Title, Steel Cage Match) (PWG)
5. Ricky Reyes & Rocky Romero over Samoa Joe & Bobby Quance (NJPW-USA)
*6. Phoenix Star over Super Dragon to advance to the finals for the Spirit of the Revolution tournament (RevPro)
This match should have made the top 5, but just this past year, SoCal has raised the bar so high, and produced so many high quality matches, that a top 5 really can’t cut it anymore. I doubt SCU will be upping the top 5 to a top 10, but some of the past couple months, I felt we should have. So many great matches can get overlooked these days due to the fact that there are so many great matches in this territory. Phoenix Star vs. Super Dragon is one of those matches.
This was one of the major highlights to the Spirit of the Revolution 2. Phoenix hung with Dragon all the way to the end, although the finish was a little screwy, as Phoenix made Dragon tap out. I cannot remember the last time ANYBODY made Super D tap. Also, Phoenix rarely (or maybe never) taps out his opponents for his victories, so this was kinda odd.
But at the same time, it made perfect sense in the SOTR tournament setting, as a submission victory gave more points to the victor than a pin fall, so the tap out was crucial for Phoenix, as it helped him advance to the SOTR finals. But a tap out on Dragon from a guy that never taps people out?
1. Ricky Reyes
Ricky Reyes is my pick for Wrestler of the Month in July. He wrestled 6 matches this month, with all 6 matches being really good, while his tag team partner Rocky Romero only wrestling 4 matches. Reyes wrestled a great tag with Samoa Joe, going up against the former IWGP Junior Tag Team Champs, Chris Daniels and American Dragon. Reyes also had a good match with NOSAWA at the Inoki Dojo. Reyes and NOSAWA have had plenty of great tag matches in the past, so a singles contest between the two was just as good as their past battles. Also at the Inoki Dojo, Reyes tagged with his tag team partner Rocky Romero going up against Samoa Joe and Bobby Quance in an excellent match-up. Reyes even got the pin fall victory over current Ring of Honor Champion Samoa Joe! Reyes also had a good opening match over at the Grove in Anaheim for UPW’s Title Wave. Reyes tagged with fellow partner in crime, Los Habana Brother, Puma. They went up against big name lucha stars Konnan and Psicosis in what was said to be the Match of the Night at UPW. 6 high quality matches is enough reason to award Ricky Reyes the WOTM title for July.
2. Rocky Romero
3. Super Dragon
4. Joey Ryan
5. Puma/Pinoy Boy
6. Phoenix Star
7. Ronin
Phoenix Star and Ronin’s position on this list may be questionable for some of you, but I’ll tell you why they’re pretty high on this list. Four words: Spirit of the Revolution. One of Revolution Pro’s (and perhaps SoCal’s) greatest tournaments (although in a different format for 2004) gave Rev Pro mainstays Phoenix Star and Ronin a place to showcase their talent and ability, three times in one night! Everyone in this tourney had a great match, with Phoenix Star and Ronin taking full advantage of the opportunity, by putting on stellar performance after stellar performance after stellar performance. Reason why Phoenix and Ronin are higher than their fellow SOTR participant Angel is because of their Harbor City performances. While Angel got to defend his Rev Pro Tag Titles with American Wild Child, Ronin had a great performance with Disco Machine to open the show (and end the madness that is known as “U2 Cover Songs”) and Phoenix Star had an even greater match with Scorpio Sky for the Revolution Pro Junior Title. Last month, Scorpio Sky, Quicksilver, Top Gun Talwar and Disco Machine all had high rankings due to the Spirit of the Revolution tournament, all because of the great multiple performances from all the participants.
8. Scorpio Sky
9. Samoa Joe
10. Bobby Quance
Although not in SoCal, Bobby had a great showing at CZW’s Best of the Best 4, taking home several trophies including “Favorite Singles Match” (with Alex Shelley) and “Favorite Wrestler”
11. Scott Lost
12. Christopher Daniels/Curry Man
13. Angel
See Phoenix Star and Ronin
14. CM Punk
15. AJ Styles
One great match won’t take you to the top of the rankings.
16. Brad Bradley
17. American Dragon
18. Adam Pearce
On the latest PWG DVD, “the Musical”, Adam Pearce’s escapades in Las Vegas are documented, and is freaking hillarious. While this didn’t happen in the month of July, I just watched this now, and I thought it was worth mentioning. It’s too bad Adam’s gone from PWG… *sad*
19. Frankie Kazarian
20. Babi Slymm
Honorable Mention: Skulu
Skulu gets an honorable mention for the month of July for his great performance at AWS, defending the Tag Titles with Al Katrazz against King Jakal and Black Metal. You may think I’m joking, but I’m dead serious. Now normally, a tag match with King Jakal isn’t something I usually look forward to, but Skulu’s involvement in the match made this match a hundred times better than it should have been. Skulu just oozes charisma in the ring. He has a good gimmick and a great move set to compliment. Playing the “savage crazy man” to Al Katrazz’s “straight man” is a cool angle to play off of. With Al Katrazz going through his third tag team partner to defend his AWS belts, you’d think that the team of Skulu and Katrazz makes little to no sense. It may or may not, but the chemistry is definitely there. Skulu was the glue in this match, without a doubt. Skulu made Jakal and Black Metal look good in the ring, and like a serious threat to the AWS straps. This tag match would not have been the same without Skulu. It’s too bad that Skulu keeps his work limited to UPW and the occasional AWS show, because Skulu is truly an asset to the SoCal scene. Believe the Skulu hype (thanks to Steven Bryant). It’s legit.
Honorable Mention II: : “Lamb-Phisto” John Lambert
This guy’s cult following is utterly ridiculous (in a good way). As a face, the fans love to rally behind the honorary mayor and cheer his every move. As a heel, the fans love to boo his devilish persona out the building. While is in-ring skills need improvment, his charisma meter is just off the charts. His insane amount of charisma more than makes up for his lack of in-ring skill. His rare appearances for Rev Pro should not be taken lightly and must be seen to be believed. When John Lambert ups his in-ring game, watch out!
Scrub
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