Doc Marlee and Big Schwag open the show. They don’t have faces for television. The audio is totally out of synch as well.
Michael Modest vs Frankie Kazarian vs Tony Jones
I really enjoyed the static static lines and choppy video in this one. Someone tell Doc not to dub over a tape more than once, it lowers the overall quality. Anyway, I usually don’t like three way matches, but I enjoyed this. I’d like to see Kazarian vs Modest in a singles because Jones dragged the match down. Modest broke the ring after taking his head first bump into the corner. I guess you reap what you sow when you deal with child labor. Not a very good first impression for new fans tuning in. It made UPW look bush league. DJ Junior comes out and fixes the top rope! :: high five:: Modest did his Ultimo Dragon headscissors onto Kazarian. Jones got up before the move, saw what was coming and layed back down. It was a nice touch. The camera work in this match was atrocious. We get a nice close up of Modest’s forehead after Kazarian delivered a superkick. Big Schwag yells at Kazarian to tap out, yet no submission is being applied. Kazarian eventually gets the win after pinning Jones with a roll up.
Next up is a bad skit with Samoa Joe and Hardkore Kidd. Joe wears a comical hat. Johnny Webb stealing Rob Black’s car on XPW TV was Masterpiece Theater compared to this. After a commercial break we get a segment called University News. Bassman talks to students. This was supposedly filmed at LA Boxing but the camerawork would suggest it was filmed on a fishing boat in rough seas. A clip of promo class is shown, Smelly talks about Mr. Poopy Pants. They show a clip of B-Boy from a Lite show. One of his matches might have been able to save this show. The show cuts back to the hosts where Big Schwag brags about their fifteen WWF signees in eighteen months. How many of those are left again?
Next, is a segment on Mikey Henderson and how he is short.
UPW SoCal Title Match: Mikey Henderson vs Juventud Guerrera
Schwag asks if Juvy’s title belt is the “Bangladesh Cruiserweight Lightweight Title From the Himalayas.” I can’t imagine how that Comedy World show didn’t pan out. A commercial cuts off the hosts in mid-sentence. After the break, Mikey & Juventud do some nice matwork. Schwag comments that lucha libre sounds like a restaurant in Pacoima. Can he possibly get anymore annoying and obnoxious? The match had some good action, but the finish was blown. Juventud felt like lifting his shoulder after Mikey gave him the Air Raid Crash. They do the same exact spot again for the finish which looked terrible.
After another commercial we are treated to a “UPW Classic Moment.” They show a clip from October of 2000 of Triple H. There is no audio for the first 20 seconds or so. Triple H ends up giving pedigree’s to the Drunken Irishman, and Big Schwag. I’m sure first time UPW viewers really enjoyed seeing a WWF superstar beat up some fat guy that they haven’t heard of. Following that is another great segment with Rick Bassman, and Samoa Joe. Joe complains about being left off the card.
UPW World Title Match: Tom Howard vs Christopher Daniels
After the ring intro’s, there is a commercial for Johnny Workout’s “Wheel with a Handle.” This was pure gold. I wonder if that’s how Mikey Henderson got his spectacular abs. The bad camera work climaxed in this match, as they decided to show Sadyst yelling at Adam Marantz instead of showing Tom Howard’s quebrada. Daniels won with the Last Rites. Best match of the show. Afterwards, Samoa Joe runs in and gives Daniels the Island Driver. He then pummels Daniels with some devastating shoot punches. Note to cameramen: next time, use the zoom out button.
Overall, the wrestling in this show wasn’t bad but the production sure was. If the show’s going to be taken seriously and professionally, maybe it should look like it wasn’t recorded thru Doc Marley’s Quicktime player off of steaming video. Hopefully there will be changes by next week’s show.
