Since this website started I have gone to wrestling shows all over the state, across the country, and even in several other countries, but I had never made it out to a show in Imperial County which is right next door. One of the main reasons is for years there really weren’t very many shows out there, despite Mexicali being right next door. Over the last few years it has picked up a lot however. About six months ago Venue Wrestling Entertainment and have been bringing in some pretty decent talent. I had actually tried to make it to their last show when they brought in Lil’ Cholo and Mariachi Loco, but wasn’t able to fit it into my schedule, but the announcement of the former Fenix making his SoCal debut as Rey Fenix on their October 21st show I figured this would be a great time to finally check them out.
The venue VWE uses is the Ricochet Rec. Center, which was a pretty cool venue. They had a large trampoline park, a RC track, a restaurant, and a video arcade. And that is just the part of the venue I saw walking to where the wrestling was. Inside the area where the wrestling took place, they had a pretty cool setup with their entrance ramp, plus they had a full bar and an ice cream vendor to go along with the regular merchandise tables.
Before the show the owner got in the ring and welcomed a couple new people to the VWE staff and announced that another member of the staff, Grey Mask, was getting a promotion.
Veinom & Biggie Biggz over Mr. Wright & Mr. Impact [9’53]
I think Veinom is one of the most under rated local luchadors. He is always fairly impressive in everything I see him in. He and Biggie Biggz were the faces in this match. This was my first time seeing Mr. Wright and Mr. Impact. Neither one was very flashy as they worked a pretty basic style, but were both solid in the match. I thought this was a pretty good for an opener and got the crowd going. Veinom hit a frog splash to pick up the win.
Rocketboy D’marco Wilson over Damian Smith [15’48]
I thought this was a really good match for the most part, but probably went on a little too long. Both guys were hitting a lot of really stiff chops. Rocketboy really got over with the crowd, with some kids even offering him ice cream to try and help him out. I should mention that a large percentage of the audience was kids, probably more than any other SoCal crowd. With so many kids things that would get over in front of some other crowds like mat work, or some of Damian’s suplexes, didn’t get over as well here, while any kind of high flying, even a normal cross body, got over huge. Anyway, this match was really good for the first 8 or 9 minutes but after that it started to drag a little. Rocketboy eventually picked up the win after hitting Damian with the skateboard after jumping from the top rope.
Toxik & Exodus over Motros Jungle & Sexy Rose (La Golosa) [13’18]
Lots of comedy spots in this match with Sexy Rose, who was over huge with the crowd. There was some decent stuff when Motros and either Toxik or Exodus was in the ring but also a lot of stuff that didn’t work. They did a spot where everyone stood in a group waiting for Sexy Rose to do a plancha to the outside. That’s always one of my pet peeves to have everyone just standing there in a group waiting for the move. The kids in the crowd were really into the match, but I wasn’t really a fan of it to be honest.
Black Danger over Efekto to win the VWE Lightning Belt [5’45]
Originally this was supposed to be Black Danger versus Maverick, but prior to the match Maverick was stripped of the Lightning title for no-showing. Efekto who was the number one contender for the title came out and it was announced the winner would win the Lightning belt, and Black Danger’s The Crash Junior title would also be on the line. Black Danger is really good and is always a welcome sight on any show. I don’t think I’d seen Efekto live before, but what I’d seen of him on viodeo has seemed pretty solid. Unfortunately because the show was going long and had to end by a certain time because of the venue it was a really quick match and neither guy got to do a whole lot. Black Danger won with a devastating looking package piledriver to win the VWE Lightning title.
Rey Fenix over Rayden [14’22]
This was a really good match. I’m told Rayden is a new identity for a luchador who has been around for years. He was pretty good and pretty much everything he did was crisp. Both guys had a little trouble with balancing on the top rope, but that was an issue in some earlier matches as well. Rey Fenix was great. A lot of name luchadors will do the minimum they can get away with on U.S. indy lucha shows, but Rey Fenix has gone all out in every match I’ve seen him in. Rey Fenix hit the Spanish Fly and got the pin. As I said, a really good match. People were throwing money in the ring afterwards. Rey Fenix cut a promo in English and Spanish thanking the fans after the match.
Overall I thought VWE put on a really fun show. If you have younger kids and want to take them to a show but don’t want to expose them to some of the stuff that goes on at other shows, VWE is a good choice as the show was also really family friendly. There was very limited brawling outside the ring and no one was getting thrown through rows of chairs or doing anything any parents might find offensive for all the kids in the audience. If you are in the area I’d definitely recommend checking out one of their shows. If you are a fan of lucha libre you probably won’t be disappointed.
