On this show, Peter Avalon makes his final appearance in MPW before he heads to AEW and more as MPW heads to their Kings of Xtreme show next week.
I got to the building around 6:50 PM. Usually, by the time I get to MPW’s shows, the crowd is inside and waiting. This time, they were outside. The show started at 7:20, which was later than usual. Thankfully, MPW shows are short, so this wasn’t much of an issue.
The Great Zumba vs Jax Cannon w/ Barry Cohen
The fans were behind Zumba at the start. There was a lot of comedy from him as usual. Zumba had control before Cohen got involved, leading to Cannon getting the heat. Cohen was late on his cue to grab Zumba’s foot, so Zumba ended up tripping a second before Cohen grabbed his foot. Zumba mounted a comeback and gave Cannon a motorboat. Yeah, you read that right. Cannon got the win after hitting a bunch of elbows from mount before the referee stopped him. I’m an MMA fan, but I hated this finish cause it looked awful. The crowd was into this but it was very basic. It wasn’t terrible but not great either. I only hated the ending.
Rating: *3/4
After the match, Cannon kept elbowing Zumba before Chuck Mercer’s music played. Chuck came out and challenged Cannon to a Last Man Standing match next week at MPW Kings of Xtreme.
8-Bit Lit (Michael Hopkins & J2 Mattioli) vs. Diego Valens and Frankie Frank
Valens and Hopkins started out. They had a really fun opening sequence where they did some nice acrobatic stuff. While they worked a straight sequence that was mostly high-paced action, J2 and Frankie were more aggressive. Frankie was being more heelish than his partner. Despite the whacky heel/face dynamic, they worked well as a team and had some good double team moves. Hopkins really shined in this match. He had the best performance of all the workers in this match and show. Diego got the win after hitting Juan with a ripcord wheel kick. Solid match with some good moments. Hopkins was the best performer in the match. Him vs. Diego in MPW for the title would be really cool if it were to happen.
Rating:**1/2
Following the match, Auntie Hydie was introduced. She got on the mic and said she was cleared to wrestle and issued an open challenge. Nobody answered. A staff member entered the ring and said she doesn’t have a match and that she has to go. Then she left the ring, without a match once again.
Rating: *****1/2
Robin Shaw vs Dr Phil Goode
As you’d expect, this had some comedy in it from Dr. Phil Goode. Robin Shaw was more aggressive here and worked a more intense style, which I really liked. He got a good amount of offense before missing a leg drop, leading to Dr. Phil Goode working him over for heat. Shaw mounted a comeback after Dr. Phil Goode missed a senton from the second rope before getting the win. This was an okay match at best. There were some entertaining moments, but this wasn’t anything spectacular. Robin Shaw’s performance was really good though.
Rating: **
Ray Rosas vs. Danny Divine vs. Pirana Canrana vs. Dustin Daniels
The winner of this match was going to move on as the last entrant into the Kings of Xtreme Battle Royal next week, while the losing wrestler who takes the fall will enter first. More on that show later.
All four guys started out wrestling each other before things broke down after Danny Divine complained. Everyone attacked him and the match turned into a series of one-on-one sequences, followed by a few dives from Dustin Daniels and Pirana Canrana. The ending came out of nowhere as Pirana got the win after falling on a laid-out Danny Divine. This was solid, although seeing Pirana Canrana trying to hold up Dustin Daniels for a delayed suplex was a little uncomfortable. This had a lot of spots and the pace made for a fun match.
Rating:**1/2
Daniel Moon vs Peter Avalon
This was a really solid match. Peter had a good performance here and came off like a star. There was a really cool spot where Peter went for a slingshot move on Moon but got countered with a running German Suplex by Moon. Brendan and Danny Divine came out to help Daniel Moon but were unsuccessful. Their distraction was still enough to get Daniel Moon the win. This went back-and-forth, and the match was a good showing for both guys. It wasn’t spectacular because it wasn’t a very long match, but it was the best match of the show up to this point.
Rating: **3/4
Chuck Mercer vs Brendan Divine
Brendan came out still selling a shot to the mouth during the last match. He got on the mic and complained that he wasn’t facing Diego Valens after he challenged him last week. Then he teased leaving, but the fans taunted him for being chicken. The match started with him spitting on Chuck while on the ring apron, leading to Chuck dragging him Brendan into the ring.
After dragging Brendan into the ring, Mercer controlled the match before Brendan mounted a comeback. Things were pretty basic in this match. While both guys had a solid performance in this, it wasn’t outstanding. As I said, this was pretty basic for the most part and focused heavily on storytelling. Brendan kept being a mouthy brat, while Chuck was the spunky babyface. Danny Divine and Daniel Moon came out but were stopped by PPRay. As they were brawling, Jax Cannon came out to attack Chuck. As a 4-on-3 brawl broke out, Diego Valens ran out to even things up before the babyfaces took out Jax Cannon. The match was then ruled a No Contest.
Rating: **
After things calmed down, Diego got on the mic and said he’ll face Brendan next week in a Ladder Match. Everyone except Ray Rosas and Peter Avalon began to leave. Ray got on the mic and said a few words about Peter going to AEW. The show ended with PPRay having one last dance in the LA area as the locker room came out to pay their respect to Peter. The show came to an end around 9 PM as well, which was perfect.
Final Thoughts
Match wise, Peter Avalon vs. Daniel Moon was the best on the show, followed by the four-way match. Everything else was solid. Even if the ratings don’t reflect it, there wasn’t a terrible match on this show. The Auntie Hydie stuff continues to be hilarious. She’s become a highlight of these shows with her antics. The best performer on the show was Michael Hopkins, who is a student of B-Boy at Level Up Pro Wrestling. That guy has gotten so much better since debuting, and he keeps improving with every match he has. Everyone should keep an eye on him.
I also have to comment on referee Brian. He’s got a nerdy look, and the crowd gives him so much shit that he plays well with. It’s hilarious the way he interacts with them. Now that Rick Knox is going to AEW, I think this dude might be my new favorite local referee.
This wasn’t the best MPW show I’ve seen, but it wasn’t the overall worst show I’ve seen. I liked the angle at the end of the show to build up to the next event, and it was a good way to send fans home happy after two weeks of heels going over being the closing moments of shows. Nothing great stood out, but that’s also a positive as there was nothing awful that stood out.
Next week, MPW presents its Kings of Xtreme show. The promotion is advertising it as their “tribute to early 2000s era Backyard Wrestling.” I hope this means every entrance song is Linkin Park, Drowning Pool, Korn, Limp Bizkit, Disturbed, Kid Rock, Metallica, and other trashy hard rock bands. I also hope there are tons of plastic cookie sheets used as weapons in every match. This is looking to be a fun show. As of now, we have Diego Valens vs. Brendan Divine in a Ladder Match for the MPW title, a Battle Royal, Chuck Mercer vs. Jax Cannon in a Last Man Standing match, and more. I won’t be able to go to this, but if you’re in the area, check it out.
