FIST Combat has quickly established themselves as something different in the Southern California wrestling scene, with a lot of R to NC 17 humor and some pretty crazy fans. Someone asked me how it compares to SoCal’s other mature themed promotion, Lucha VaVoom, and while they aren’t very similar the best way of explaining it is Lucha VaVoom is like Playboy while FIST Combat is like Hustler. May 12th had another pretty good lineup that was sure to feature some good matches, some humor, and a lot of fun.
Prior to the show there was a “fight” in the locker room between True Grit and Azrael that spilled out into the ring area. It was apparently based on something that happened on Facebook and a podcast. Obviously the timing of it happening right before the show and it spilling out into the ring area brought questions of its legitimacy right away, but the wrestlers involved did a real good job showing anger and aggression and it came off believable enough where there was the question if it was real or not. More on that later.
Corey Jackson over Brandon Aarons, Donnie Suarez, and Tomaste [7’58]
This was my first time seeing Tomaste, who looked a little like Russel Brand, and Brandon Aarons, who looked like Tito Escondido’s younger brother. Right as the match started Officer Aaron Garvey came out and started writing people tickets. Corey Jackson told him he is delaying their match, and Officer Garvey called him “boy” which lead to everyone attacking Officer Garvey. There was one fan who thought Donnie Suarez was Middle Eastern and was going to super racist place about that. Tomaste meditated for a lot of the match and didn’t do a whole lot, but Corey Jackson, Brandon Aarons, and Donnie Suarez all looked pretty good. Corey Jackson hit an Air Raid Crash for the win.
El Snowflake (Human Tornado) over Gary Galaxy [7’12]
The crazy racist fan was claiming Gary Galaxy had a camel toe to start this match. Then he wanted Snowflake to get revenge for Rodney King. I really hope this fan’s yelling shows up on their TV show. Anywhere else it wouldn’t fly but it fits in perfectly here. This was OK. Snowflake got in all his signature spots and picked up the win after hitting Galaxy with a low blow.
Biagio Crescenzo & Azrael over Mason Dixon Line (Silas Mason & Deven Dixon) [7’35]
Before the match they were playing some rift between Azrael and Biagio with Azrael doing things like flipping Biagio off behind his back. Mason Dixon Line had a pretty big size advantage in this and at times when they’d hit the corners the entire ring would shift. This was pretty good. I thought both Biagio and Azrael looked good and wouldn’t mind seeing more of Mason Dixon Line. Hopefully someone books them versus True Grit at some point.
Post match Biagio cuts a promo complaining about the fans, and Azrael takes the mike away and mentions how Biagio is just like the rest of the wrestlers to come out of that school in Bell Gardens. This lead to True Grit and Eli Everfly coming out and attacking Azrael. The locker room empties and the fight spills outside.
Everyone knows wrestling is fake, and any time something is introduced that is a little real it can be exciting. The problem with this is I don’t think very many people at FIST was aware of whatever happened to set this up. Then adding the subsequent promos and fight with wrestling moves took any possibility of it being “real” out of people’s minds. I think the angle would have been better off with just the pre show fight. Think of how many people wanted to see Eli Everfly and Danny Limelight based off their fight, or going way back Mike Vega and Super Dragon.
B-Boy over SoCal Crazy to retain the FIST Championship [14’15]
These two have probably wrestled 100 times over the years, and even came out of the same school (SoCal Crazy a few years later than B-Boy). While the low ceiling limited SoCal Crazy’s offense somewhat, they still managed to have a really good match. There was a bit of crowd brawling and B-Boy got tossed through a few rows of chairs. SoCal Crazy has somewhat quietly been having a really good year in terms of match quality. B-Boy eventually won with a chickenwing piledriver.
Dirty Ronald McDonald over Preacher Miguel (Ruben Iglesias) to retain the Get FIST’d TV title [6’07]
Before the match they played truth or dare. Miguel said he always picks the truth and he was asked if he gets on his knees to worship God. He was later given a dare and was dared to kiss a child that was in the audience. He claimed the child was not young enough for him. The Dirty Ronald McDonald promos are the highlight of any show. The match itself was OK. Dirty Ronald McDonald is really solid in the ring. Preacher Miguel looked OK, though there were a couple of sloppy moments. Still, this was fun.
Eli Everfly & Rocketboy D’Marco Wilson over True Grit (Jesse James & Hoss Hogg) and Jacob Diez & Gary Galaxy [13’35]
Gary Galaxy got hurt early on and Jacob Diez was by himself for 95% of the match. This was really good. Everyone worked really well together and Rocketboy and Eli were bumping like crazy for True Grit. There was one sequence where Rocketboy was on all fours and Eli was powerbombed onto his back that just looked nuts. True Grit is really having a breakout year. They work so well as a team. Jacob Diez got in a lot of nice offense too. His vegan gimmick draws so much heat on these shows. The low ceiling once again likely limited some of what they could do, especially for Eli and Rocketboy but they adapted really well. This was my match of the night.
This was another fun show from FIST Combat. I’ve yet to walk away from one of these shows not having been entertained. One thing I really like about the promotion is the wrestlers are starting to open up a little more to the more R-rated atmosphere. The first show FIST had in San Diego, aside from Dirty Ronald McDonald, everyone played everything pretty much like they would on any other local independent show. Over the last few shows that has changed and more wrestlers seem to be having fun with it.
Their next show in San Diego is on June 9th and features Delirious, Kikutaro and Joey Ryan, who seems tailor made for the promotion.
Mason-Dixon line are amazing
One of the reasons SoCal Crazy “quietly” has good years – upon years – is that he’s not one to toot his own horn (outside the ring) and *gasp* he’s not on FB.