Brian Cage vs. Colt Cabana, Eli Everfly is crazy, Kikutaro, and more.
Note: Steve and I were going to do a joint review, but he’s got a busy workload. So I’m going solo for this one.
To watch Bar Wrestling 6, check out Bar Wrestling on Pivotshare or the Highspots Wrestling Network.
B-Boy, Eric Watts, and Brody King vs. Eli Everfly, Super Panda, and Pinkie Sanchez
Steve was raving about this match after the show happened, and gave it a ****1/4 rating. I was kinda skeptical about whether or not it was that good. While I didn’t rate it as highly as Steve did, I still found it to be a really fun spotfest. The story was simple. On one team you had three bigger guys in B-Boy, Watts, and Brody. On the other team, there were three smaller guys with Eli, Panda, and Pinkie.
The two standouts in the match were Brody and Eli. They’ve been killing it so much lately, and they had some really fun sequences with each other here. While Brody had a good showing, Eli was the star of the match. He had some nice offensive sequences, and was on the receiving end of what is probably the “Spot of the Year” in SoCal. Even Will Ospreay was impressed!
crazy times at the brink of death with @newagepunisher @DarthWatts @Brodyxking
Check out @BarWrestling Head of the Household for just $5.99 to see this insane 6 man tag & much more! https://t.co/6B4Q1cyQsz#barwrestling #indywrestling #rko pic.twitter.com/ruKP3tPdda
— LA MOSCA (@EliEverfly) November 23, 2017
Again, this was a really good match. Eli did a bunch of crazy shit, Pinkie did a dive off the top of the bar, and Super Panda continues to entertain me. The finish saw referee Rick Knox give B-Boy a Stone Cold Stunner, leading to Super Panda getting the win for his team with a school boy roll up.
Rating: ***1/2
Xia Brookside vs. Tessa Blanchard
I had low expectations going into this. I’m not into women’s wrestling. I find it to be overrated. Sorry Gregg. Tessa had a match that was praised by many against Candice at Bar 4, but I thought it wasn’t very good. I’ve seen a few of Tessa’s matches and never really thought she was anything great like people make her seem to be (and, well, like 90% of women’s wrestlers too).
This was my first time seeing Xia. I feel like she could end up in the WWE as she has a look they can market. I’ve heard nothing about her, so I didn’t know what to expect.
With that said, I thought this was a somewhat solid match at the start. Xia was really impressive for a female wrestler. Tessa was alright here, but Xia just seems more polished overall. There was a Back Drop Driver by Tessa onto Xia that looked sick from the angle that was shown, but the editor didn’t switch to the hard cam angle so the fans watching could get a better view of it. That sucked. The finish saw Tessa hit a Codebreaker from the top rope leading to a pin.
The match was okay I thought. Like I said, Xia seemed like the better worker of the two. The match kinda seemed rough when Tessa was in control. Either way, Xia seems like she could be a star in the future. The biggest problem I had with this match was the overuse of the Codebreaker. I feel like so many women’s matches these days are full of those and lung blowers the same way the Canadian Destroyer and apron bumpss are overused in men’s matches.
Rating: **
Jeff Cobb vs. Kevin Kross
On commentary, Louden Noxious and Kevin Condron talked about how there are too many people in Los Angeles. They and everyone else who moved here after 1997 should leave.
Onto the match. I really liked the way Cobb and Kross fished for underhooks before Cobb hit a nice trip takedown. Cobb tossed and slammed Kross throughout the match. There’s nothing more entertaining in wrestling than watching Jeff Cobb lifting heavyweights and slamming them around like an adult throwing a kid around. Kross also showed off some of his strength when he hit a nice Exploder Suplex on Cobb. He would later hit a sick Back Drop Driver on Cobb.
The finishing sequence saw Cobb trying to put away Kross, but to no success. Eventually Kross had Cobb in a Cobra Clutch, but Cobb countered that by walking up the ropes, flipping over, and getting a pin like Bret Hart. This was a solid match. I thought it was a good showcase of Cobb’s offense, but overall it wasn’t a blow away match.
Rating: **3/4
The World’s Cutest Tag Team (Candice LeRae & Joey Ryan vs. Extra Talented (Aaron Solow & Ricky Starks)
Two things before I talk about the match. First, Candice seems to excel when she’s working men who can base for her offense. When she’s working with other women, her matches aren’t as good as the ones she has with men. Second, she’s the workhorse of her team with Joey Ryan the same way Scott Lost was with his team with Joey.
As for the match, it was disturbing. What disturbed me was Joey doing his schtick with very young children at ringside. A mother even covered her child’s eyes at one point. Like I don’t find Joey’s act funny, but I don’t find it to be offensive the way Jim Cornette does. With that said, Joey doing this shit in front of kids is gross. Even the kids looked disturbed by the things he did!
They’ve probably seen worse on the internet, but still…
Joey allowing kids at Bar Wrestling shows is such a bad look for his promotion, but that’s another rant for another time.
The wrestling itself was okay. Candice did her spots, and Extra Talented weren’t bad. Steve was talking about how he thought they were really good here. I thought Aaron Solow was the better of the two. The formula was standard as usual with Joey and Candice matches. You had comedy, a heat segment on Joey, hot tag, Candice doing offense, spots, ass comedy spots, sodomy spots, and a finish. As I said above, Candice performs better with men. I think it’s because she’s spent most of her formative years in wrestling working men. She did well here, and everyone else was okay. Candice and Joey won in a pretty solid match.
Rating: **1/2
Kikutaro vs. Hot Young Briley
I love Kikutaro. He’s the best. I’m really not a fan of Briley though. I’m just not into the slow, character driven style of his matches. Him vs. Kiku was good though, as they blended very well. Plus Kiku is hilarious and could make a lot of people who are terrible come off as entertaining. Hearing the little girls screaming for Briley during this match almost made my head explode.
This match was what you usually get in Kikutaro matches. The “what you doing?” spot, his “45%, AAAAHHHH 75%, AARRRGGHHHH 95%!” schtick, and the running into the boot of his opponent while they were in the corner were all included. There was a funny moment where Briley hit the ropes, stopped in front of Kiku who was crouched down, causing Kiku look up against going “What?” Briley then hit a jumping DDT on him. Kiku got the win with a Shining Wizard, and the little girls at ringside screamed and looked as if they cried. Those kids should’ve been in bed.
Like I said, this was solid comedy match. Kikutaro is the pro wrestling equivalent of a Japanese Larry David. He’s a comic genus who can turn random situations into something ridiculous. He carried Briley to a fun match. We need more Kiku in our lives.
Rating: **3/4
Team Big Brother (Austin Matelson & Jessie Godderz) vs. H.A.T.E (Ray Rosas & Peter Avalon)
Before the match on commentary, Kevin Condron said this was the main event. Tremendous.
Austin Matelson is also LuchaSaurus for those who don’t know. During the match, people chanted “LuchaHuman” at him as a play on that other gimmick. The match started out pretty standard with both teams getting offense in. Eventually Matelson did q swerve injury angle and came back as LuchaSaurus after H.A.T.E beat up Godderz for an extended period of time.
This match was pretty solid for the most part. It was obvious that Matelson was going to return under his LuchaSaurus gimmick, but this was still an enjoyable match. LuchaSaurus got a good amount of offense when he entered the match. There was a cool spot where Peter Avalon tried to counter a Chokeslam with a rana attempt, but LuchaSaurus countered that counter with a sit-out powerbomb.
The finishing stretch saw everyone hitting spots. Godderz looked like he almost powerbombed Ray Rosas out of the ring when he went for one into the turnbuckle. Team Big Brother got the win shortly after in a good match. Godderz seems solid,. I heard he’s living in Southern California now. I think he’d be a decent addition to shows out here.
Rating: ***1/4 (I added an extra 1/4* cause Ray and Peter each did a backflip)
Colt Cabana vs. Brian Cage
I really liked this match. It was a fun, modern heavyweight style match that had some funny moments mixed in. Cabana is perfect for this environment, as he’s a funny worker who can put on good matches.
As always, Cabana provided the comedy here. One of the funniest moments of the match was when Cabana and Cage did a criss-cross spot, with Cabana yelling “STOP!” at Cage to make him look up for a slap. Instead of connecting, Cabana missed Cage’s chin completely. He looked as if he was about to cry, and received a shoulder tackle for his troubles.
Later in the match,, Cabana got into a Test Of Strength with referee Rick Knox, and lost. Cabana would also try to shield himself from Cage outside of the ring by hiding behind a fan. When he was thrown into the ring, he brought a fan into the ring to protect him from Cage. Shortly after that, Cabana tried to get help from an old woman in a wheelchair at ringside.
Wrestling wise, Cabana did some nifty old school British-style techniques. The finish saw Cabana go for a Quebrada, but was caught by Cage. He then lawn darted Colt into the corner, and followed that with a German Suplex and F5 combo. This was a fun match. Both guys kept things fun, and the closing moments were great.
Rating: ***1/2
Final Thoughts
Seeing kids watching Joey’s match was really disturbing. It still blows my mind that Joey lets kids into a show called BAR Wrestling, with the marketing emphasis centering around getting drunk. The commentary was pretty bad for this show. Louden Noxious continues to be the worst addition to the SoCal scene this year.
This was a pretty solid show. The trios opener, the H.A.T.E/Team Big Brother, and main event were the best matches of the show. Kikutaro was entertaining as always. Everything else was okay. If you have time to kill I’d recommend checking this show out. The next Bar show is on December 14th in Baldwin Park. Check out the events page for more information.
To watch Bar Wrestling, check out Bar Wrestling on Pivotshare or on the Highspots Wrestling Network.
