Man, nobody is gonna read this review of MPW Age Of Extinction in Chatsworth, CA on Friday at the Millennium Wrestling Academy. It’s PWG Battle of Los Angeles weekend. There’s no point in writing an intro about The Millennials (Daniel Moon, Brendan & Danny Divine) vs. Luchasaurus, Diego Valens, and Ray Rosas. Why even bother writing this? It’s not like anyone will see this intro or read this review.
PWG’s biggest annual event, the Battle of Los Angeles, is taking place as I write this. Even though I’m supposed to be the “PWG mark” who doesn’t put over anyone or anything that isn’t PWG, I went to MPW in Chatsworth for a second week in a row!
Things started with Auntie Hydie welcoming the fans to the show. She said she wanted to show people she’s gotten better and is a good person now. Then she was told by a staff member that she was not booked for the show. She was then escorted to the back. I thought this was hilarious. Truth be told, Hydie is not a good in-ring worker, and her character is pretty lame. This segment though was hilarious, mostly because of Hydie’s acting in this. I hope this becomes a running gag on shows going forward.
Dr. Phil Goode vs. Dustin Daniels
This was a solid opening match for two guys on their level. It had a basic Big Man vs. Little Man formula to it. Dustin used his speed and agility advantage, while Dr. Phil Goode used his size and strength to overpower Dustin Daniels. There were a lot of antics in this that the crowd enjoyed. A lot of it centered around Dr. Phil Goode being a creep, and Dustin being weirded out by him. The crowd was solidly behind Dustin and enjoyed the shenanigans of Dr Phil Goode. The finishing stretch saw some near falls being exchanged before Dustin won with a schoolboy. It wasn’t a great match by any means, but I thought Phil did better in this match than he did against Chuck Mercer last week. Dustin Daniels also looked solid in this match. The kid is going to be a star someday.
Rating: **
Bulletproof vs. Olijah Friday
Bulletproof came out acting like he was drunk or on some type of meth. He didn’t wear his bulletproof vest during the match, so that’s an improvement to his character. If his character developed into a homeless drug-addicted nutjob who thinks he’s in the army, it’d be a great act. Olijah Friday gave out autographs to people on stickie pads during his entrance. He had a lot of charisma and a solid character.
The match was basic, and the crowd was really into it. Olijah Friday looked better in this match than in past matches. Bulletproof is also getting better in the ring. The finish saw Bulletproof hit a capture back suplex on Friday onto the ring apron. They were down on the floor as the referee began to count them out, and Friday was able to roll into the ring before 10 to get a count-out win. This was a solid match. Nothing spectacular, but it was still a good match.
Rating: **1/2
After the match, Bulletproof attacked Friday. Staff members ran out to try and stop the attack. Then he hit Friday with another sick looking capture back suplex that looked like Friday got dropped on his head.
Jax Cannon and Omar Akbar w/ B.S. Cohen vs Great Zumba and Robin Shaw
Omar Akbar is from OVW. He’s got the look of a guy who would’ve been in OVW when they were a developmental territory for WWE. This match was very basic. Shaw and Zumba were the babyface team while their adversaries in this match were heels. Cannon and Akbar worked over Shaw for the heat. During the finishing stretch of the match, Zumba was tagged in and had a sequence with Cannon while Shaw and Omar brawled outside of the ring. Cannon pinned Zumba after hitting a sick looking DVD. This wasn’t a great match, nor was it bad. The crowd seemed to be less interested in this compared to the other matches, but I thought this was passable.
Rating: **
After the match, B.S. Cohen got on the mic and said Chuck Mercer will be taken out on October 4th at MPW’s King of Xtreme, an early 2000s backyard wrestling tribute show. Yes, you read that right. They’re doing an early 2000s backyard wrestling-themed show.
MPW North American Championship Match: Joshua O’Hagan (c) vs. Frankie Frank
As usual, Frankie came out teasing his singing. He was about to sing for the crowd but was interrupted by the MPW North American Champion Joshua O’Hagen, who insulted the looks of the crowd. The fans chanted “we are sexy,” which was funny. I legit had no idea there was an MPW North American Championship before tonight. The fans kept chanting “Caillou” at him because he looks like Caillou.
Things started out slow, but O’Hagan kept jawing with the crowd to keep things entertaining. Frankie wasn’t very effective as a face. He didn’t have the personality to play to the crowd for support. This resulted in the crowd being dead at some points. The two had a cool chop exchange outside of the ring at one point. Besides that, there weren’t many highlights in this match. The finish saw the referee lose his glasses and got distracted for a few moments. O’Hagan brought in the belt, but Frankie got DQ’d after he was caught by the referee holding the MPW North American title while O’Hagan was down. The referee thought Frankie hit him with the title, so he called for the bell. This was a clever finish, but the match itself dragged for the most part.
Rating: **
Millennials vs Diego Valens, Luchasaurus and Ray Rosas
Before the match, it was announced this match would be a six-man tag. Hydie came out thinking she was added to the match but was told she wasn’t. She was taken to the back and Ray Rosas came out to be Diego and Luchasaurus’ partner. The new Auntie Hydie schtick is a major hit with me.
The match started out with a good amount of shenanigans. The Millennials worked over Ray for heat during the opening moments. There was a really good spot during this where Danny Divine went for a rolling suplex but got countered by Ray into a running fisherman buster. Luchasaurus had a good showing when he got a hot tag and did some spots with the Millennials. He and Diego also did some nice double team moves in the match. Aside from that, Luchasaurus didn’t really do much in the match. Towards the end, Danny Divine ran to the back while Luchasaurus and Ray chased after him. During all this, Brendan pinned Diego. The match was going well but seemed to fall apart in the end.
Rating: **3/4
After the match, Brendan got on the mic and cut a promo about being the number one contender and challenged him to a match next week to close the show.
After the show, I was heading out of the building and saw Luchasaurus downstairs. He was taking a group photo with the members of Boulderdash SFV, the rock climbing gym where MPW’s school and venue are located at. They were having a “Dyno Comp & Neon Night Climb” thing along with a neon costume contest.
Everyone at the rock climbing place @MPW805 runs at getting a picture with @luchasaurus pic.twitter.com/VFeLUNN5oG
— SoCal UNCENSORED (@socaluncensored) September 21, 2019
Final Thoughts
This show was okay. There wasn’t anything great, but there was nothing bad on the show. The main event was the best match on the show, but it could’ve been better. While there weren’t any matches as good as some of the matches on last week’s show, it was still a solid showing from MPW. The workers keep showing improvement, and the storylines are being built well. Shockingly enough, the highlight of the show was Auntie Hydie’s new gimmick of being kept off the show. It was hilarious. There’s really nothing much else to say about this show. MPW is building something special, but not every show is going to be a home run. Still, the fans enjoyed the show, and I thought it was a solid way to spend two hours.
Again, if you’re in the SFV area, go check out MPW. They’re not going to be putting on any MOTYC or ****+ classics, but they will put on entertaining shows that aren’t long or a chore to sit through. On top of that, they also end early. If you’re a parent, they’ll be over early enough for you to get your kids some food before their bedtime. For adults, MPW shows are a fun way to start off a night before going to bars, clubs, parties, or whatever. Either way, if you’re a fan of wrestling and in the area, give MPW a chance.
