A look at Destination Six Wrestling’s Boiling Point from September 15th, 2018. Plus I talk about some important issues from this show that should be addressed.
This past Saturday at AWS, I was telling a few people about some of the matches I watched from Destination Six Wrestling’s Boiling Point. Some people shook their heads. Others laughed when I described a botch from the Ashley Grace vs. Auntie Hydie match. One person though, SoCal wrestling fan Matthew Harris, was so enthralled by this that he asked me to write a review about this show. To be honest, I wasn’t sure about whether I wanted to do this, but Matthew is such a big supporter of my work that I felt like writing this in dedication to him. This one is for you buddy.
Although Matthew’s request is the biggest reason why I wrote this, I also wrote this because there were some things that really needed to be addressed. More on that as the article goes on, but I feel that there are several things in this review that almost everyone involved in the SoCal wrestling scene should read.
Now, about Destination Six Wrestling
Destination Six Wrestling was the brainchild of the late Mr. Impact, a local performer who passed away earlier this year. Despite his passing, Destination Six Wrestling became established with Mr. Impact’s mother running the promotion. D6W currently runs out of their own venue in Barstow, CA. Several people have told me that the venue has an arcade area, a lounge, and several rooms for workers to stay in while they’re in Barstow.
The promotion co-promoted its first event in August in Barstow along with Sean Black’s Amped Up Wrestling. The two most notable things about the shows involved a fan being ejected from the venue, and the commentary on a Facebook stream. Needless to say, the wrestling didn’t really give the fans much to talk about.
D6W returned for their second event, Boiling Point, at the D6W Arena in Barstow on September 15th, 2018. How did their second event turn out? Well, let’s take a look…
Inside the D6W Arena, there is a mural of Mr. Monopoly. There’s also a claw machine game with a WWE promotional box on top of it. Welcome to independent wrestling.
We start off with ring announcer Mike Oropeza giving an awkward opening introduction to the show. After trying to hype of the crowd, he introduced Sam Knight. As the camera was aimed at the entrance way, Sam Knight could be seen getting hyped up behind the dark, but still transparent, entrance curtain. Knight entered the ring and tried to hype up the crowd before cutting a promo about Mr. Impact.
He brought out Sean Black, Ryan Ramos, and Oso Loco to the ring where he talked about training in the backyard where the Santino Bros. got its start. He then talked more about Mr. Impact before doing an angle with Sean Black to hype their match. The gist of this was that Sam challenged Sean to a Falls Count Anywhere match for Sam’s “FTW” Heavyweight Championship. No, it’s not the same FTW title that Taz had in ECW. This FTW title is a customized UFC replica belt with FTW on the front plate. Sean made a comment about walking out with Sam’s girl, and then Sam got in the ring to shake Sean’s hand after acting like he was going to fight him. This was such an awkward segment.
Divine Intervention (Freddy Flores, Freddy Hellmuth, and Lord Ateu w/ Azrael) vs. Super Green, Ryan Ramos, and Steven Andrews
For a moment, I had “Divine Injustice” written instead of Divine Intervention. For those who might not know, “Divine Injustice” is the name of a song by Brody King’s band God’s Hate. I have a feeling this might be the only time you’ll ever see Brody King’s name mentioned in an article or review about Destination Six Wrestling. If I had to describe Divine Intervention to someone I knew, I’d say that they’re like the metalhead Hispanic kids from high school who always had one Caucasian friend around.
One thing I was wondering during the match was whether or not Super Green is a gimmick based on his ring skills. He was pretty bad, and I came away wondering if this guy is fully trained. I mean the workers in this match aren’t exactly good workers themselves, but they’re not terrible like Super Green. The match itself wasn’t very noteworthy. Steven Andrews did a nice dive, but aside from that, this was pretty boring. Divine Intervention won after a double team move on Super Green.
Oso Loco vs. Hell Kid
Listen, I’ll admit upfront that I am not a trained pro wrestler. I can’t run ropes, perform high spots, nor do I have the first-hand knowledge on how to protect someone else in a ring. With that said, there are certain workers who tend to have matches that make me think “I could work a way better match than this mother fucker.” Hell Kid is one of those workers. This was one of those matches. It was terrible. Hell Kid supposedly retired in the last year, and sadly, he seems like he’s out of retirement. What has SoCal done to piss off the Wrestling Gods to deserve this? Oso Loco came out to “Burn It to the Ground” by Nickelback. That really set the tone for things to come.
Hell Kid vs. Oso Loco
As I said earlier, this match was terrible. Hell Kid, who has supposedly been performing for like almost 20 years, looked like he had never been trained before. It seriously seemed as if someone took a random 40-year-old dude from a bar, painted their face, and told them to have a pro wrestling match. At one point in the match, Oso Loco would try to hit a spinebuster on Hell Kid, but Hell Kid was unable to jump high enough for Oso Loco to lift him much. This match would thankfully end soon after that when Oso Loco hit a top rope splash on Hell Kid for the win. Once again, this match was fucking wretched. Hell Kid is the worst pro wrestler ever.
Rudy Rodgers vs. Azrael w/ Divine Intervention
This match was decent. Divine Intervention would come out to the ring with Azrael. Before the match, Divine Intervention stood on the stage before Rudy dove from the ring to the stage. It looked like a four-foot jump, but it was still the best thing on this show up to this point. Most of this match centered around Rudy mounting comebacks and trying to fight off Divine Intervention, but in the end, it was Azrael who got the win with Velveteen Dream’s Dream DDT on Rudy after Freddy Hellmuth hit him with a Singapore cane.
The match itself wasn’t bad compared to the other matches on the show so far, but it wasn’t anything great. Azrael did a bunch spots that were signature moves of current and former WWE superstars. Honestly, if a worker is doing multiple moves that are synonymous with workers more famous than they are, it just makes the worker doing those moves look like an amateur.
After the match, Divine Intervention attacked Rudy. They put him in the middle of the ring to set up for a Four Post Massacre. Freddy Flores would have a hard time getting on the ropes though, as he fell off twice. That was a hilarious moment. Eventually Super Green, Steven Andrews, and Ryan Ramos ran out to make the save. Divine Intervention left, and then the babyfaces posted on the stage.
Freddy Flores gracefully climbs to the middle rope.
Destination Six Wrestling Women’s Championship Match: Ashley Grace vs. Auntie Hydie
Before the match, ring announcer Mike Oropeza came out to the ring with a pink championship belt. He then told the crowd that the originally scheduled title match between Mariah Moreno and Ayoka would not be happening due to “scheduling conflicts.” Then he said that this match will be for the newly established title. There was no reason given as to why this decision was made. What a great way to start off the lineage of the D6W Women’s Championship.
Much like Oso Loco vs. Hell Kid from earlier in the show, this was a really bad match. There were so many sloppy moments in this match, and neither woman had a good performance. Auntie Hydie was especially bad in this match. At one point, Ashley Grace went for a flying hurricanrana off the top rope. Hydie caught her and almost dropped Ashley Grace on her head. After that, she fell down and rolled backwards. The referee for the match didn’t even seem to care that Ashley Grace could’ve broken her neck and didn’t check on her after. Ashley would eventually win the match and became the first D6W Women’s Champion. Auntie Hydie really needs to get more training because her matches are pretty awful, and more importantly, she could end up hurting someone really badly.
Ashley Grace vs. Auntie Hydie
Daniel Moon vs. Voodoo Master
For some reason, Super Green was the referee for this match. At one point in the match, several fans (some were young children) called Daniel Moon a pussy. He would reply to this excellently by saying “you are what you eat” to a kid who is probably too young to understand what he meant. Not the most original comeback, but it usually works. This match was very sloppy. Daniel Moon would be the heel in this match and slowly worked over Voodoo Master, while Voodoo would try to mount comebacks.
There were several spots where there was obvious miscommunication, resulting in some very noticeable botches. Daniel Moon seemed visibly frustrated by this. During the match, Daniel Moon would loudly shout “I thought he was Super Green (pointing at the referee) you moron” at Voodoo Master. Right after that, Daniel Moon set up Voodoo Master for a lawn dart and proceeded to loudly say “ELBOWS” before Voodoo Master delivered elbows on Daniel Moon. Voodoo Master eventually won with a TKO. As I said, this was a very sloppy match. Daniel Moon has had good performances in the past, but it didn’t seem like he looked ready to carry less experienced workers like Voodoo Masters in matches like this. On top of that, it seemed like these two just aren’t ready to be working longer matches. Especially Voodoo Master.
Falls Count Anywhere Match for the FTW Heavyweight Championship: Sam Knight (c) vs. Sean Black
The story going into this match was that these two use to be partners years ago in SoCal, and now they’re wrestling each other because they use to be a team. It really felt like this match was trying to establish some type of important feel to it, but instead, it felt like an overbooked indie match trying to feel like something epic.
The match itself was pretty much a typical Heel vs. Face gimmick match that you’ll see on independent shows of this level. Sam Knight would leave the ring several times in the early part of the match after Sean Black got an advantage to get heat from the crowd. The match would also spill to the outside and into the audience where the two would brawl. At one point, Sean Black did a running tumbleweed roll off the stage onto Sam Knight. The match would end moments later after Sam Knight hit Sean Black with a spear on the stage for the win. Overall this match was very dull. It wasn’t outright bad like Oso Loco vs. Hell Kid or Hydie vs. Ashley Grace, but it still wasn’t good.
After the match, Sam Knight cut a promo putting over Sean and talked about how he had respect for him. It looked like the two were going to have a reunion before Sam kicked him in the ding-ding and told him he sucked. I find it mind-blowing that a Falls Count Anywhere match was used to start a feud. Usually, it’s the opposite. That might be the most questionable booking decision I’ve seen in SoCal this year.
D’Marco Wilson vs. Koto Hiro
Super Green was out again to referee this match too. This was the best match of the show. It wasn’t the smoothest match in terms of in-ring work, but both guys had a good performance. D’Marco Wilson worked a heelish style and kept playing to the crowd for heat, while Koto Hiro was the babyface. The two would exchange moves throughout the match and would do some spots on the apron and outside of the ring. One spot would see Koto Hiro hitting a meteora onto D’Marco Wilson on the ring apron. Moments later, D’Marco would hit a double stomp onto Koto as he laid over a skateboard deck set up on two chairs. D’Marco would get the win after hitting a double stomp with the skateboard deck onto the back of Koto Hiro.
After the match, D’Marco would tease hitting Koto Hiro with a Package Piledriver before leaving the ring.
D’Marco would leave the ring and made his way up the stage before ring announcer Mike Oropeza called for D’Marco. He would awkwardly get on the stage directly in front of D’Marco, who had to step off the stage because of Mike Oropeza stepping right in front of him. Mike proceeded to cut a babyface promo that put over D’Marco’s heel tactics. After making a reference to Mr. Impact, Mike Oropeza announced that D’Marco was being awarded the Mr. Impact Championship. After being presented with a belt, D’Marco shook hands with Koto Hiro on the stage. This was such an awkward segment all because of Mike Oropeza.
Destination Six Wrestling Championship Match: Matt Vandagriff vs. Richie Slade
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1saqInLCsBA
Before the match, Mike Oropeza cut a promo declaring the night as “magical” with “a lot of firsts.” Then he declares that they will be challenging for the D6W Championship. The D6W Championship belt is actually just a WWE Championship with the D6W logo over the WWE plates. Not only that, but it looked like it was a toy belt instead of an actual replica belt. Even if it were an actual replica belt, it’s still a terrible look for a promotion to put stickers over logos on WWE belts.
The match itself wasn’t very good. Matt Vandagriff is a tremendous talent with tons of potential. He is going to be a breakout star in a few years. I say that because he’s really not the reason why this match sucked. His performance was good actually. The match itself was just really long, and Richie Slade wasn’t very good here. He was boring on offense, fucked up some spots, and he couldn’t base for Vandagriff a few times. At one point, Vandagriff hit a really nice dive to the outside where he jumped to the top rope and front flipped off. Richie Slade looked like he took a step back as Vandagriff was in midair, and Vandagriff barely grazed Richie’s arms. Richie Slade would get the win after countering a 450 from Vandagriff by getting his knees up and putting Vandagriff in a small package.
As I said, Vandagriff had a good performance. He sold Richie Slade’s leg work as if he had just been caught in a heel hook from Rousimar Palhares. Vandagriff also hit his spots well. Despite that, Richie Slade really dragged the quality of this match down. He botched a few spots and relied on rest holds and terrible looking strikes while on offense. You can tell that he’s not the type of guy who should be having main event matches that go over twenty minutes. Along with that, you can tell that he should not be working matches with high flyers.
Final Thoughts
This wasn’t the worst wrestling show I’ve ever seen, but it is was pretty bad for many reasons. The match quality overall wasn’t very good, and the overbooking added nothing to the show. I also thought the way the D6W and D6W Women’s titles were crowned was poorly done. While there were many things about the show itself that was terrible, the biggest thing I found troubling was stuff that goes beyond the show quality, but rather how the SoCal scene still has promotions with unprofessionalism and such low standards when it comes to workers.
I’ve talked about how bad some of the performers on this show were, but I can’t emphasize enough how using some of these workers hinders the scene in so many ways. I’m not just talking about quality, but also about how having some of these people on shows is detrimental to the growth Southern California scene. There were workers on this show who were visibly inexperienced and obviously not ready to be working shows outside of their training schools.
Auntie Hydie, for example, is someone who is obviously not ready to work matches. She could’ve seriously injured Ashley Grace during their match. She’s not very good in the ring, and her being booked on shows just creates a major risk to other worker’s safety inside the ring. I don’t want to single out Hydie, as she’s not the only person in the territory who need to go back to wrestling school.
Then there was the referee of the Ashley Grace vs. Auntie Hydie match, who just walked around both women without checking on them. That was a pretty mind-blowing moment on a show full of them. Like I said about being a pro wrestler, I’m not trained to be a referee. With that said, I’ve watched this shit long enough to know that if something like that happens during a match, that the referee should at the very least check on the worker. I don’t know who the referee for that match was or where he came from, but for the safety of the wrestlers in the area, he should never be used by anyone again.
Speaking of the safety of wrestlers, this show was also a prime example of why bookers should understand how to book high flying wrestlers. The Ashley Grace botch is a good example of why workers need a strong base when doing high flying spots. Same goes for the main event. Matt Vandagriff is a really good high flyer, but like every high flyer in wrestling, he needs someone who is a strong base. Richie Slade is not one of those types of workers who can base for guys like Vandagriff. This is crucial because if you have a guy who can’t base well, you put the worker who is a high flyer at risk of being seriously hurt.
There is so much more I could say about this event, but I don’t have the time. All I can really say is that it was almost a “Greatest Hits” collection of all things wrong with the territory. I really hope some people here in SoCal read this and realize what improvements need to be made in order for this scene to grow.
