FCW is really something special in Southern California. These shows feel a lot like early PWG when they would use mostly SoCal wrestlers with a few fly-ins here and there. One difference is FCW’s crowds are bigger than those early PWG crowds. Top to bottom this was another great show, without a bad match on the show. Overall I would actually rate April 30th’s “Underground Konflict” as a stronger show than February’s “Kontrolled Kaos” but without a match that matched pure anarchy of the last’s show’s main event.
The crowd was standing room only and I’d estimate attendance to be about in the 450 range. I can’t even imagine how packed it would have been if Pentagon Jr. would have been on the card as first announced. There was a lot more merchandise for sale this time around as well. It was great seeing Bart from AWS with a booth setup.
Cara de Leon over Oso Blanco [9’05]
This was a really good fast paced match to start off the show. I had neither seen either wrestler before, but wouldn’t mind seeing more of both in the future. Oso Blanco appeared to be bleeding pretty good, with blood all over his chest and white gear. I hear vinegar works good to get blood out of your clothes. Anyway, this was a perfect match to get the crowd hot for the show. Cara de Leon’s finisher was a sort of slam where he crosses his opponent’s legs first.
Next up Mike Draven and myself presented Douglas James the 2015 Southern California rookie of the year award and B-Boy the 2015 Southern California wrestler of the year award. I normally try not to be a part of any show and this was only the second time I’ve given out any of our awards in any sort of public ceremony. The other time was after B-Boy won the Southern California wrestler of the year award in 2002. When I first started going to indy wrestling in SoCal, it was a match between B-Boy and “Radiant” Jason Redondo that really hooked me, and if not for that match I doubt SoCal UNCENSORED ever gets created. For that reason when asked to present an award to B-Boy there is no way I can say no. I fully expect to someday be presenting him his Southern California pro-wrestling hall of fame induction.
Maldecito, Matt Twizted, & Destro over Human Tornado, Ju Dizz, & Corey Jackson [8’13]
Maldecito’s gear is much improved from the last show. Good job. This was a really fun match. During the match Matt Twizted was down in the corner and Human Tornado asked for some music and proceeded to attack Twizted to the music. Then Corey Jackson got his turn followed by Ju Dizz. Destro is a pretty good big man and held his own against the smaller guys on the other team. Maldecito really moves goods for his size. Matt Twizted didn’t show a whole lot of offense but looked fine in what was there. Human Tornado was great as normal. Ju Dizz has been impressive every time I’ve see him. I can see both him and Corey Jackson being breakout stars over the next few years. The match was fast paced and managed to fit a fair bit of comedy to make for a fun match.
Terex over Brody King [6’46]
Terex moves incredibly well for a guy his size. I mean his finisher is a standing moonsault. With his look and size I can see him in Japan at some point. It’s hard to believe Brody King is a rookie. He looks so polished out there. I thought this was a really good match and these are two of better heavyweights in SoCal right now. Any promotion that has a true heavyweight division should take a look at both of these guys. Captain Comic Con interfered to help Terex get the win, so FCW promoter Gus came out and announced at the next show Terex would have to face Matt Twizted in a fans bring weapons match, and Captain Comic Con would be banned from ringside. A person sitting behind me said “I’m bringing a gun.”
Danny Limelight over Douglas James to retain XRT title 2 out of 3 falls [12’32]
What a great match. This was my match of the night hands down, and I have it as my match of the month as well. They had a really nice opening sequence where they started by delivering elbow strikes to each other then each guy kept countering the other building on their familiarity with one another in their feud. It was really fast paced and they never really slowed down, even after a fall they went right back into the match. The first two falls came pretty quickly, with Douglas James getting the first fall at 3 minutes and 30 seconds and Danny Limelight getting the second at 6 minutes and 36 seconds. I was hoping it would be like one of those big CMLL matches where they’d get the first two falls out of the way then allow the third fall to take some time. The crowd was really hot for the match too. My only negative on the match was that it wasn’t longer. I hope this wasn’t the end of this feud.
Sasha Darevko over Aaron Garvey [1’00]
Sasha came out and the first thing I hear was someone sitting by me say “thank god he has new shorts.” As you can tell by the time, this was a quick squash. After the match Sasha cut a promo, mentioned how he won the Southern California wrestler of the year webpoll and how screwed up the American election system is. He then challenged B-Boy to show who the real wrestler of the year is. Out came Mike Camden and we had a new match.
Mike Camden over Sasha Darevko [9’21]
Mike Camden showed a lot of fire. He is really evolving lately, as he has been a really good wrestler but hasn’t shown a lot of personality. Lately that’s changed and it really helps draw you into the match more. He reminds me a little bit of early Bobby Quance who people were saying the same thing about then it is like a switch flipped and he became great. I thought Sasha Darevko looked pretty good in this match too. I think the one thing that works against Sasha is he works a really old school style (which I guess fits seeing how he has a Soviet Union gimmick) and I think when you compare it to a modern indy style it is somewhat jarring if you aren’t used to it. In this match though he seemed to work a little more fast paced and he and Camden really played well off each other. He managed to generate a lot of heat too, which really helped put over Camden’s victory. There was a “USSR” and Mother Russia” chant at one point, and no “USA” chants. Anyway, I thought this was a good match and it was a lot better than their match last show (which I didn’t think was bad either).
BFF (Suede Thompson & Big Duke) over Vermin (YUMA & Kevin Martenson) [12’45]
I didn’t taI really liked this match. Suede Thompson and Big Duke were the bearded friends, but Kevin Martenson has the most impressive beard by far. I am surprised this was the second longest match on the show because it didn’t seem that long. Martenson and Yuma were good as always. Both Suede and Duke are really good as well. FCW has a pretty nice heavyweight division developing with Duke, Terex, Brody King, and Destro. I’m looking forward to Suede and Big Duke versus Reno Scum on the next show.
Thunder Rosa over Holidead [10’52]
I checked out one of their previous matches before the show and was impressed by how well they worked together. This match was better. For anyone who doesn’t know, Thunder Rosa plays Kobra Moon on Lucha Underground. I think she does a great job selling the moves and personality of the character Kobra Moon, but wrestling wise she is much better as Thunder Rosa. Both Thunder Rosa and Holidead showed a ton of personality and had the crowd completely into the match. Thunder Rosa had Holidead in a modified back-to-back submission hold that was reminiscent of Sara del Rey that she turned into a slam and followed it up with a double stomp from top rope to get the pin. This was a really good match.
B-Boy over Joey Ryan, Lil’ Cholo, Willie Mack, SoCal Crazy, and Famous B to retain the FCW Heavyweight title [22’43]
The SoCal legends match. This match featured four previous Southern California wrestlers of the year (B-Boy 2002, 2015; Joey Ryan 2006; SoCal Crazy 2009; Willie Mack 2010). Before the match got started, Joey Ryan asked who wants his lolipop. Lisa Marie Varon (WWE’s Victoria) volunteered. She then dropped to the mat after putting it in her mouth. I’ll start off by saying that the one problem with this match, and it is a problem with any match of this type, is you just can’t keep track of everything that is going on. At the start all the wrestlers were brawling outside the ring in different areas and you are pretty much limited to what is going on by you. Eventually they got back to the ring and had a really fun match. By it being a six way it really allowed each guy to do their signature spots that have made them top stars in the SoCal indy scene (and beyond) over the years. I think Joey Ryan is a really good technical wrestler, but he found something that has really gotten over with his comedy spots centered on his penis. They got those spots out of the way pretty quick by having the other wrestlers do the spots in succession so there was no slow down for it like in a lot of his matches. With it being a no-DQ match there was a lot of brawling and at one point Lil’ Cholo brought a ladder into the ring, began to climb it, then realized it wasn’t a ladder match. Luckily someone tossed him a donut to eat though. B-Boy found a coffin and brought it to the ring. I’m not sure why the Boys and Girls Club had a coffin. Maybe it’s just that bad of an area. B-Boy was able to get SoCal Crazy into the coffin, then started imitating the Undertaker and raising his hand from the mat. Joey Ryan saw his opportunity and managed to move into position so B-Boy’s hand hit Joey’s crotch. Joey Ryan then hit the YouPorn Plex on B-Boy. Eventually B-Boy got the pin on Famous B and won the match. Afterwards each wrestler said a little something on the mic about the wars they fought with each other over the years and thanked various people. Joey Ryan thanked the promoter Gus for paying him. This was a fun match, especially if you had been a fan of wrestling in Southern California for any amount of time.
As I said at the start of the review, FCW really has something special building. I highly recommend checking them out if you are in SoCal or on DVD if you aren’t. Their next show is June 18th and already announced is Brian Cage versus Jeff Cobb.
I wanted to add that it is always nice running into people I haven’t seen in awhile
