This Chaos Column is a recap of Vendetta Pro Wrestling “Terror Rising 2012” at the Lakeview Jr. High School Gym, Santa Maria October 27th 2012. There were 2 major reasons I had opted to make the 3-hour drive from the Los Angeles area to Santa Maria for Vendetta Pro Wrestling’s “Terror Rising” show, instead of the shorter trip to Pro Wrestling Guerrilla’s “Failure to Communicate” show. The first major reason was the main event–a hair vs. hair ladder match between Matt Hardy & Billy Blade. The 2nd major reason was the ladies match between 2 women listed in this year’s PWI Female 50. Seeing 1/2 of the TNA Tag Team Champions–Chavo Guerrero Jr., & Chris Masters was a plus. All the marquee talents, plus the big main event, yielded a big crowd that pretty much filled the gym. Special thanks to Referee Jay Stone for helping me “fill in the blanks” on the Survivor Series-style match.
1 – Matt Carlos p. Hector Canales w/ the Tornado DDT. Maybe Hector would’ve been better off working the Battleground Pro Wrestling show down in Los Alamitos, where the spotlight was on his Championship Wrestling from Hollywood “master”, Pinky.
2 – El Scorpio Del Combate successfully defended the VPW Tri-Force Championship, beating SoCal Crazy & Lil Cholo when he pinned SoCal Crazy w/ his version of the Psycho Driver, capping a great triple threat match that had plenty of great lucha moves.
3 – Dylan Drake made Nathan Graves tapout to the Sharpshooter submission in a match where Dylan Drake picked apart Nathan Graves’ left knee to help w/ the submission victory.
4 – Survivor Series-style 10-man tag team elimination match between “Team Parental Discretion” (Mario Banks, Mike Menace, Judah Matthew, Kevin Divine, & Damion Grundy) and “Team Creepshow” (J.D. Horror, Sledge, Ricky Ruffin, Clay Tawzer, & Jayson Cash). J.D. Horror, Kevin Divine, & Jayson Cash were eliminated in quick successions, then Damion Grundy & Clay Tawzer eliminated each other by double-countout while they brawled into the crowd, and out. Ricky Ruffin was eliminated next, and then the remaining trio of Mario Banks, Mike Menace, & Judah Matthew worked together to finish off Sledge, capping it w/ Mario Banks hitting the top rope elbow drop for the win. They went on to try to put Sledge through a table, but were run off by J.D. Horror, drawing the ire of Commissioner (& manager of The Scorpio Sky Experience) Christian Cole, who set up a feud-ending match between Parental Discretion (Mario Banks & Mike Menace) & Creepshow (J.D. Horror & Sledge) for the 12/29 show.
5 – “Vendetta Vixens” match after intermission, featuring 2 women in the 2012 PWI Female 50, w/ Shelly Martinez as the Special Guest Referee. Reby “Velvet” Sky (#14) p. Amber O’Neal (#48) w/ her version of the Twist of Fate. Great match between the two that saw Reby boot Amber O’Neal right into Shelly Martinez after eating the signature Booty Bumps from the ArenaChicks founder. Reby couldn’t get a knocked-down Shelly to do a 3-count after hitting her first Twist of Fate, and in the chaos of trying to revive her, Amber went for a packet of glitter to try to throw or blow into Reby’s face. Reby caught in time, though, to blow the glitter into Amber’s face, allowing her to hit a 2nd Twist of Fate for the pin. She didn’t have much time to celebrate, though, as Billy Blade snuck in from the back, and hit his own Twist of Fate on her, before being run off by Reby’s boyfriend, Matt Hardy.
6 – Four-Way Elimination Match for the VPW Heavyweight Championship between 1/2 of the TNA Tag Team Champions in Chavo Guerrero Jr. (C), Chris Masters, Sean Casey, & Rik Luxury (w/ Markus Mac). Great mix of comedy & wrestling that saw Rik Luxury get eliminated first when Chris Masters pinned him w/ the Tiger Bomb. Chavo Guerrero then went on to eliminate Sean Casey w/ the Frog Splash for the pin. Coming down to two former WWE Superstars, Chris Masters found an opening behind the back of Referee Sparky Ballard to low blow Chavo, then put up the Masterlock for the win & the title.
Shot of the Night – VPW – 10-26-12
SM – VPW Tag Team Championship between Su/Ka (C – Sunami & Kadin Anthony) & The Ballard Brothers (Shane & Shannon, w/ The Golddigger). Plenty of shenanigans in this one, as the Ballards tried to have it contested under “Canadian Rules” (5-count cover in the first 5-minutes, no submission until the 10:00 mark, no countouts, etc.). Whatever it was, it drew the ire of the fans, and even more so when The Golddigger distracted Referee Sparky Ballard, allowing Sean Casey to sneak in & Superkick Sunami, who had Shane Ballard in a Sharpshooter submission. Sean Casey then draped Shane’s hand over Sunami for a cover, then snuck away while The Golddigger hopped off the apron for the pin. New VPW Tag Team Champions, The Ballard Brothers.
M – Hair v. Hair Ladder Match between Matt Hardy & Billy Blade. Hard hitting match that saw plenty of major bumps, including Billy Blade getting crotched between a ladder rung in getting an apparent Superplex attempt blocked by Matt Hardy. The two men then fought for the hanging barber case on top of the ladder, w/ Matt Hardy winning the battle, as he knocked Billy Blade down onto a table that had been set up earlier, then grabbed the case for the win. Reby Sky & Su/Ka assisted in helping Matt Hardy cut off most of Billy Blade’s hair, until The Ballard Brothers & Sean Casey essentially bailed Billy Blade out. A brief promo by Matt Hardy, complete w/ a kiss & a carry of his girlfriend, Reby Sky, was followed by his trademark Hardy gesture to close the show.
Did I make the right choice by choosing this show over the PWG show? Honestly, I cannot say, as I will have to watch the PWG “Failure to Communicate” DVD later in the winter. What I can say, is that the presentation of the VPW show, combined w/ the appearances of a handful of current & former WWE/TNA talents as well as the ArenaChicks founder, and the large & rowdy Santa Maria crowd, made the 3-hour drive to and from the show worth it.
More photos from the show, click here.