This week, PPRay explodes on your face when Ray Rosas takes on Peter Avalon in the main event. Plus other stuff. Also, LOL@the GOP and Donald Trump’s sad attempt to repeal and replace Obamacare. Idiots!
To watch this episode of Championship Wrestling From Hollywood, or to check out shows from promotions such as ROH, check out the Fite TV app.
I’m taking a different approach to my review this week. Rather than go through it in order while talking shit with videos that amuse me thrown in, I’m just going to do things in various talking points while also taking a look at various things that would hinder CWFH’s ability to draw a television audience. I’m going to break things down by different factors. Promos/segments, matches, storylines, and other thoughts. That, and this was the only video I could find for this week that I wanted to sue for the review.
Promos and Segments
The opening intro with Toasterdork Grant trying to ask the fake Marquez son questions about the abuse of his powers. Watts would come in and have a discussion regarding a problem the fake Marquez son was having, and Watts not defending the UWN Tag Team Titles in 30 days. It was a decent angle, but a terrible way to start the show. After the first match, scumbag Ray Rosas did a backstage interview with Toasterdork Grant about his match with Peter Avalon. Then after two matches, a few commercials breaks, and a lame Nick Cutler promo, we had a second Ray Rosas promo conducted by Joshua Shibata as if the first one didn’t exist. Kevin Condron made his unwanted return to CWFH television as he was featured in a storyline that just isn’t riveting.
Matches
Dicky Maier vs. Yuma was a mixed bag, as Maier had a good performance in this and continues to be one of the most entertaining aspects of this show. Yuma had really lame offense as always, and the Pac 3 at ringside were an annoying distraction. Add in the fake crowd noise, and you have a pretty unwatchable segment that doesn’t do anything to help Dicky Maier. Tito Escondido vs. Eric Watts had a match that was mostly about advancing the Tito/fake Marquez son and Peter Avalon. It was ok. Tito had a really good performance. The finish was just awful though, as Tito won by a DQ after Watts kept hitting him with strikes that the announcers tried to sell as closed fists from a loose mount. Tito took out Watts after he got back up. This show has really botched the creative direction of Tito Escondido’s character. He’s supposed to be the “Bad Dude” but isn’t booked that way.
The useless tag match between Ruben Iglesias and Pinky vs. the Classic Connection was exactly that: useless. Pinky had a good performance, but this match just sucked overall. Nick Cutler vs. Ryan Taylor was a good showcase of Ryan Taylor’s abilities, but Cutler was pretty slow and dragged the match down a bit. The main event of Ray Rosas vs. Peter Avalon was pretty good with Ray always outsmarting Peter in the opening moments, and Peter regaining control after targeting Ray Rosas’ knee that was injured several years ago, adding some story depth to this match beyond them just being former partners. Had this taken place in front of a better crowd and on a show people actually watch, I could see this match being highly regarded and praised by fans.
Storylines
With the way he’s been booked lately, it seems like Dicky Maier is bound for some type of singles push and possible face turn. Tension between him and the Pac 3 continues to grow. This is becoming one of the few storylines this show is doing right, but I’m sure the creative people will fuck that up. Tito Escondido being a target of this new heel faction with the fake Marquez son and Peter Avalon isn’t really being played out as well as it could be, and Tito’s character hasn’t been booked correctly. Like I said before, Kevin Condron’s story isn’t riveting. People have no reason to care for his bullshit. He was a heel commentator that the audience didn’t know or care about, lasted two weeks because he was just a replacement, and then started crying like a bitch for no reason. There’s nothing really good about this storyline and it should just be aborted. The Ray Rosas vs. Peter Avalon was really good, and the story behind it was a good concept but also terribly executed. Two Ray promos on one show and nothing from Peter this week to get heat from the TV audience did these guys no favors. If CWFH is planning on doing a rematch with these guys, they need to hold off on it for about 8-10 episodes before they get involved in some type of match against each other before an eventual rematch a few weeks later.
The direction of the show is somewhat better, as it seems more focused on building up Dicky Maier, utilizing Peter Avalon’s strengths, having a story for Tito, and reintroducing Ray Rosas to the elevation audience. One problem with this episode was there was no mention or continuation of the Tyler Bateman, Jarek 1:20, and Scorpio Sky angle. That was a huge problem and an example of how this program really needs better people to handle the creative direction of CWFH.
Other Thoughts
Something that I found interesting when look at my program guide when I caught part of the show after UFC Fight Night 107 on UFC Fight Pass was that in the Los Angeles market there were a lot of live sports programs running against CWFH in the same time slot. CWFH had to compete with Monster Energy Supercross was on Fox and the NCAA Basketball Tournament was on CBS. Wrestling wise, Lucha Azteca, which broadcasts Lucha Libre Elite shows from Mexico, on the local Azteca TV affiliate at 4:30pm. What was CWFH’s answer to counter their program in case potential viewers saw Lucha Libre ion their program? Nick Cutler, a guy who cut a shitty promo earlier in the episode, in a match with Ryan Taylor where he loses predictably, followed by a fucking Kevin Condron angle. Lucha Azteca had a fun women’s match going on during this.
The show was full of uselessness throughout, so chances are people are going to be tuning out when they see a guy like Levi Shapiro walking out for a wrestling match in 2017. I mean, why would they watch him when they can watch Charles Barkley, Kenny “The Jet” Smith, and Ernie Johnson doing a March Madness halftime show? Factor in all the other stuff that’s on pay TV or people who have Netflix, Hulu, or WWE Network and chances are CWFH isn’t holding their audience’s attention with what they have. There are so many choices out there for people’s entertainment, and CWFH doesn’t do a good job at giving the audience to stay tuned in for the entire hour.
The fake crowd noise continues to be a huge problem with the show. It’s very loud, annoying, and distracting. It adds no heat to the matches and the TV audience is going to be turned off by it. I’ve also talked to fans who have been to CWFH tapings and they say that it is pretty annoying and distracting. These shows would be better off if they had silent crowds rather than these awful sounds that will just drive away the audience.
Overall
This episode was pretty bland overall. The Ray Rosas vs. Peter Avalon match was the saving grace of the show, but that’s about it. I highly recommend people check out the match on the Fite TV app.
