klunderbunker
Welcome to My (And Not Sly's) House
In addition to the Rev Pro show on Friday night, WrestleCon also put on a Supershow in the same room (and with a lot of the same talent). This was the definition of a supershow with a little bit of everything from comedy to violence to dueling chants. To say this was a lot more energetic than most shows is an understatement.
The show was scheduled to start at 8:30 but since Rev Pro went fairly late it wound up starting at about 8:50. There were also well over 1000 people in one room sot he place was BOILING. Prices for a bottle of water (as in a regular one) at the bar: SIX DOLLARS. Realizing this was insane, I went down the street to Walgreens and bought a liter sized bottle for $1.79. At intermission I went and got two more, with all three not combining for the cost of one. I get the idea of making money but those prices would drive customers away.
1. David Starr/Caleb Kenley/Trevor Lee vs. Michael Elgin/ACH/Mascarito Dorado
That would be El Torito at the end. To give you an idea of what we were dealing with on this card, ACH was introduced as Mr. I Used This Booking To Pay My Bills. The match was under Lucha rules and it was very clear that this was going to be a very Un-PG show. Dorado did a bunch of speedy stuff, causing Lee to shout the following at his partners: WHAT IN THE F******* F*** WAS THAT??? Later, when Dorado was in a chinlock, Lee shouted at Kenley to MAKE THAT MIDGET TAP!
Dorado got beaten up for a good while (including taking a triple crotch shot to the head) until Elgin got in to clean house with the power. ACH didn't really do much here and really could have been anyone in the spot. Dorado eventually ended Starr with a moonsault in about 12:00. This was a lot of fun and a great opener. B-.
2. Low Ki vs. Shane Strickland
Let's make this clear: I've never liked Low Ki. I find him to be very one dimensional and repetitive beyond believe. He was a surprise here though and the roof came off when he appeared in the ring. They kicked each other a lot and Low Ki hit a top rope double stomp to the apron for a huge crash and the pin at 13:04. This was pretty repetitive and just kept going. D+.
3. Impact Wrestling World Title: Bobby Lashley vs. Jeff Cobb
Now this was interesting before the bell as Lashley was introduced to some country music and didn't appear. It wasn't clear what happened but an F*** THAT OWL chant started up. I couldn't see the entrance but I saw Lashley walking around ringside with no entrance. As luck would have it, I got to ask him what happened at WrestleCon and it turned out they didn't have his planned music and it's a VERY serious rule to never come out to someone else's music. He didn't come out because they didn't play the right song but he knew he was going to be the huge heel so he just came through the crowd instead.
The match was a good power brawl with Lashley not taking Cobb seriously to start and eventually getting thrown around. The more I watch of Lashley, the more I appreciate him. He's just a machine out there and looks like a tank while also being a really nice guy outside the ring. Lashley realized he had to put some effort into things so he eventually got in the Dominator and a spear to retain at about 10:45. B-.
4. Flip Gordon/Sammy Guevera vs. Angleico/Jack Evans
Angelico is my favorite from Lucha Underground so this was a treat. I didn't know who Gordon and Guevera were at first but they both put in a very solid performance and got my attention more than once. Sammy looks a lot like Justin Bieber so Evans made a bunch of jokes when he got the tag. Evans did a bunch of insane flips and eventually Angelico's running Razor's Edge buckle bomb got the pin at about 13:00. I could very easily see Gordon and Guevera as a team on a bigger stage as they had a nice, clean cut look but played good heels.
5. Team Ricochet (Ricochet/Jason Cade/Sami Calihan/AR Fox/Desmond Xavier) vs. Team Will Ospreay (Ospreay/Marty Scurll/Lio Rush/Drew Galloway/Ryan Smile)
This was a ten man tag, which is becoming one of the signature matches of the WrestleCon Supershow. Let me put this very simply: I've been watching wrestling for a long time. Like, a very long time. I've been to more shows than I can count, including three Wrestlemanias. I have never, in my entire career watching wrestling, had more fun watching a wrestling match in person.
The captains were chosen due to a great match Ospreay and Ricochet had last year in Japan which was called choreographed nonsense. The solution? Give then four partners each (which they say they were allowed to hand pick) and TWENTY TWO MINUTES to do as much choreographed stuff as they could. This included a series of about ten straight cutters, quadruple big boots, a quintuple suplex and a dance off that has to be seen to be believed. As luck would have it, I had a camera on me and filmed the second half of said dance off. Everyone danced but I only got the last few. The one that matters is included though.
[youtube]1Ue8JLwypCw[/youtube]
This was twenty two minutes of having fun with professional wrestling. It had been a very long day and I was starting to check out on the show due to a bit of a boring card. This match snapped me back to life and I had one of the best experiences I've ever had watching. Honestly I don't even remember how the match ended but that wasn't the point. Find this match online (the full show is available for $5 at Highspots' website) and have a good time being entertained by it. Easy A+ and the most fun I had all weekend.
Intermission time, which again ran long as the wrestlers were running their merch tables. It also meant time for me to meet some more wrestlers, including Angelico, Lio Rush, Flip Gordon, Sammy Guevera (very nice guy), Desmond Xavier and Moose. As I was coming back from Walgreens for water, I saw Marty Jannetty in the lobby and WOW he was out of it. I shook his hand and he started walking around without letting go while hitting on a woman. As I was heading out of the arena, I also saw Donovan Dijak watching the show as a fan.
6. DDT Ironman Heavymetalweight Title: WrestleCon Rumble
So.....explaining this title......uh......basically it's a parody of the WWF Hardcore Title where the belt can be won by ANYTHING, including a baseball bat, a ladder, a cameraman, various sex dolls, a child who had the ability to chokeslam anyone and Candace Larae, whose title win took place in a dream. This was a Royal Rumble with one minute intervals but the title could change hands via pinfall, submission or an elimination. In other words, the title can change hands during the match but the winner would be champion no matter what. Instead of going through this step by step, here are the entrants and anythign of note.
1. Joey Ryan (defending champion)
2. Colt Cabana
Here's what I'm dealing with in this match:
Bell rings.
Ryan to Cabana: GRAB MY D***!
Fans: GRAB HIS D***! GRAB HIS D***!
3. Kikutaro (Japanese comedy character)
4. Underground Luchador
This was a masked guy in a Lucha Underground t-shirt. It was obviously Matt Striker and after a rollup to pin Ryan (which wasn't an elimination), he was unmasked as such.
5. Manscout Jake Manning (He reads and beats people up at the same time)
6. George South
7. Suicide (Never unmasked, apparently Caleb Konley)
8. Mr. Hughes (Down probably 100lbs from his mainstream days)
9. Zane Riley (Mr. 305 Live)
10. 2 Cold Scorpio (One of my favorites so this was a treat)
11. Billy Gunn (Easily the biggest pop of the match)
12. Moose (Who had a staredown with Gunn for a bizarre visual)
13. Swoggle
14. Shane Douglas
15. Kevin Thorn
16. Shannon Moore
17. Hurricane (With a bad limp)
18. Abyss (House was cleaned)
19. Gangrel (That music is still SWEET)
20. Marty Jannetty
The final five were Jannetty, Moose, Gangrel, Swoggle and Ryan. I don't often say this, but Jannetty was an embarrassment. I know he's on a horrible ankle but the fans were booing him out of the building, which says a lot given how fun this match really was. Thankfully he was gone soon thereafter but it was bad while it lasted. Ryan's mighty penis eliminated Moose and Swoggle tossed him a few seconds later for the win and the title at about 25:00. Much like the Gimmick Battle Royal in 2001, this was all about having people come to the ring one more time and not the result.
Ryan immediately rolled Swoggle up to get the title back (it's defended 24/7 like the Hardcore Title) and then made the mistake of saying he would defend against anyone anytime. Then, in something I've always wanted to see and never thought I'd get to: Enter Sandman.
The Sandman came out with a full entrance, complete with the entire Metallica song, cigarettes and beer being poured into fans' mouths. Sandman offered Ryan a beer but caned him instead for the pin and the title. I've always wanted to see a Sandman entrance and it certainly didn't disappoint.
7. Johnny Mundo vs. Brian Cage
This was a TLC match, though in this case it was won by pinfall or submission. Mundo had Taya Valkyrie with him (showing off very well in basically a red swimsuit) and Cage had his real life girlfriend (which I didn't know) Melissa Santos, who did his entrance ala Lucha Underground. It's very odd to see Santos out of her ring announcer outfits but jeans and a Lucha Underground shirt worked very well. She's a very beautiful woman.
I was somewhat disappointed by this one as they really just hit each other with weapons for a bit. Taya tried to interfere and got superbombed through a table while Santos actually got physical (I don't think she ever has in Lucha Underground) and took a very protected spear through another table. That was enough for Cage as he busted out a Steiner Screwdriver onto a chair for the easy pin. I forgot to start the timer but I'd guess around 12-13 minutes. There really wasn't a need to call this a TLC match as it was basically just a glorified street fight. C-, only because of the gimmick announced.
8. Hardys vs. Rey Fenix/Pentagon Dark
The Hardys weren't playing their Broken characters here.....but yeah they were the Broken Hardys. Matt kept doing DELETE and shouted WONDERFUL a few times. Interestingly enough, CERO MIEDO was getting louder reactions than DELETE. This was actually pretty short with the Hardys never seeming to be in much danger. Fenix and Pentagon (collectively the Lucha Brothers and the reigning PWG Tag Team Champions) had some sweet double team moves though and I'm sure they'd be fun to watch more. A Twist of Fate into a double Swanton ended Pentagon at about 7:00. D+. Too short to be very good.
Post match Matt put over the Lucha Brothers (who are real life brothers as well) as the future of tag team wrestling, along with the Young Bucks and the Briscoes. Matt basically said he didn't know how much longer he and Jeff could do this (I'm writing this after they won the Raw Tag Team Titles) but he doesn't want Meek-Ma-Han to destroy tag wrestling (oh the irony). However, if any of McMahon's teams try to take over, Jeff said they would fade away and classify themselves as obsolete. Hands were shaken in a sign of respect to end the show.
Overall, this was a total blast as they basically took everyone they could find not in WWE or ROH and threw together a wrestling card. Not everything can be Wrestlemania, but it doesn't need to be. This show made me realize that sometimes you need to forget about the quality and the storytelling and such and just have fun watching people do wrestling moves to each other. I mean, this kind of stuff isn't likely to work for the masses (WAY too many kicks to the head and silly flips) but it's the junk food of wrestling: entertaining at the time and you remember it well. Really entertaining show here and I'll be back for the 2018 edition. B+.
The show was scheduled to start at 8:30 but since Rev Pro went fairly late it wound up starting at about 8:50. There were also well over 1000 people in one room sot he place was BOILING. Prices for a bottle of water (as in a regular one) at the bar: SIX DOLLARS. Realizing this was insane, I went down the street to Walgreens and bought a liter sized bottle for $1.79. At intermission I went and got two more, with all three not combining for the cost of one. I get the idea of making money but those prices would drive customers away.
1. David Starr/Caleb Kenley/Trevor Lee vs. Michael Elgin/ACH/Mascarito Dorado
That would be El Torito at the end. To give you an idea of what we were dealing with on this card, ACH was introduced as Mr. I Used This Booking To Pay My Bills. The match was under Lucha rules and it was very clear that this was going to be a very Un-PG show. Dorado did a bunch of speedy stuff, causing Lee to shout the following at his partners: WHAT IN THE F******* F*** WAS THAT??? Later, when Dorado was in a chinlock, Lee shouted at Kenley to MAKE THAT MIDGET TAP!
Dorado got beaten up for a good while (including taking a triple crotch shot to the head) until Elgin got in to clean house with the power. ACH didn't really do much here and really could have been anyone in the spot. Dorado eventually ended Starr with a moonsault in about 12:00. This was a lot of fun and a great opener. B-.
2. Low Ki vs. Shane Strickland
Let's make this clear: I've never liked Low Ki. I find him to be very one dimensional and repetitive beyond believe. He was a surprise here though and the roof came off when he appeared in the ring. They kicked each other a lot and Low Ki hit a top rope double stomp to the apron for a huge crash and the pin at 13:04. This was pretty repetitive and just kept going. D+.
3. Impact Wrestling World Title: Bobby Lashley vs. Jeff Cobb
Now this was interesting before the bell as Lashley was introduced to some country music and didn't appear. It wasn't clear what happened but an F*** THAT OWL chant started up. I couldn't see the entrance but I saw Lashley walking around ringside with no entrance. As luck would have it, I got to ask him what happened at WrestleCon and it turned out they didn't have his planned music and it's a VERY serious rule to never come out to someone else's music. He didn't come out because they didn't play the right song but he knew he was going to be the huge heel so he just came through the crowd instead.
The match was a good power brawl with Lashley not taking Cobb seriously to start and eventually getting thrown around. The more I watch of Lashley, the more I appreciate him. He's just a machine out there and looks like a tank while also being a really nice guy outside the ring. Lashley realized he had to put some effort into things so he eventually got in the Dominator and a spear to retain at about 10:45. B-.
4. Flip Gordon/Sammy Guevera vs. Angleico/Jack Evans
Angelico is my favorite from Lucha Underground so this was a treat. I didn't know who Gordon and Guevera were at first but they both put in a very solid performance and got my attention more than once. Sammy looks a lot like Justin Bieber so Evans made a bunch of jokes when he got the tag. Evans did a bunch of insane flips and eventually Angelico's running Razor's Edge buckle bomb got the pin at about 13:00. I could very easily see Gordon and Guevera as a team on a bigger stage as they had a nice, clean cut look but played good heels.
5. Team Ricochet (Ricochet/Jason Cade/Sami Calihan/AR Fox/Desmond Xavier) vs. Team Will Ospreay (Ospreay/Marty Scurll/Lio Rush/Drew Galloway/Ryan Smile)
This was a ten man tag, which is becoming one of the signature matches of the WrestleCon Supershow. Let me put this very simply: I've been watching wrestling for a long time. Like, a very long time. I've been to more shows than I can count, including three Wrestlemanias. I have never, in my entire career watching wrestling, had more fun watching a wrestling match in person.
The captains were chosen due to a great match Ospreay and Ricochet had last year in Japan which was called choreographed nonsense. The solution? Give then four partners each (which they say they were allowed to hand pick) and TWENTY TWO MINUTES to do as much choreographed stuff as they could. This included a series of about ten straight cutters, quadruple big boots, a quintuple suplex and a dance off that has to be seen to be believed. As luck would have it, I had a camera on me and filmed the second half of said dance off. Everyone danced but I only got the last few. The one that matters is included though.
[youtube]1Ue8JLwypCw[/youtube]
This was twenty two minutes of having fun with professional wrestling. It had been a very long day and I was starting to check out on the show due to a bit of a boring card. This match snapped me back to life and I had one of the best experiences I've ever had watching. Honestly I don't even remember how the match ended but that wasn't the point. Find this match online (the full show is available for $5 at Highspots' website) and have a good time being entertained by it. Easy A+ and the most fun I had all weekend.
Intermission time, which again ran long as the wrestlers were running their merch tables. It also meant time for me to meet some more wrestlers, including Angelico, Lio Rush, Flip Gordon, Sammy Guevera (very nice guy), Desmond Xavier and Moose. As I was coming back from Walgreens for water, I saw Marty Jannetty in the lobby and WOW he was out of it. I shook his hand and he started walking around without letting go while hitting on a woman. As I was heading out of the arena, I also saw Donovan Dijak watching the show as a fan.
6. DDT Ironman Heavymetalweight Title: WrestleCon Rumble
So.....explaining this title......uh......basically it's a parody of the WWF Hardcore Title where the belt can be won by ANYTHING, including a baseball bat, a ladder, a cameraman, various sex dolls, a child who had the ability to chokeslam anyone and Candace Larae, whose title win took place in a dream. This was a Royal Rumble with one minute intervals but the title could change hands via pinfall, submission or an elimination. In other words, the title can change hands during the match but the winner would be champion no matter what. Instead of going through this step by step, here are the entrants and anythign of note.
1. Joey Ryan (defending champion)
2. Colt Cabana
Here's what I'm dealing with in this match:
Bell rings.
Ryan to Cabana: GRAB MY D***!
Fans: GRAB HIS D***! GRAB HIS D***!
3. Kikutaro (Japanese comedy character)
4. Underground Luchador
This was a masked guy in a Lucha Underground t-shirt. It was obviously Matt Striker and after a rollup to pin Ryan (which wasn't an elimination), he was unmasked as such.
5. Manscout Jake Manning (He reads and beats people up at the same time)
6. George South
7. Suicide (Never unmasked, apparently Caleb Konley)
8. Mr. Hughes (Down probably 100lbs from his mainstream days)
9. Zane Riley (Mr. 305 Live)
10. 2 Cold Scorpio (One of my favorites so this was a treat)
11. Billy Gunn (Easily the biggest pop of the match)
12. Moose (Who had a staredown with Gunn for a bizarre visual)
13. Swoggle
14. Shane Douglas
15. Kevin Thorn
16. Shannon Moore
17. Hurricane (With a bad limp)
18. Abyss (House was cleaned)
19. Gangrel (That music is still SWEET)
20. Marty Jannetty
The final five were Jannetty, Moose, Gangrel, Swoggle and Ryan. I don't often say this, but Jannetty was an embarrassment. I know he's on a horrible ankle but the fans were booing him out of the building, which says a lot given how fun this match really was. Thankfully he was gone soon thereafter but it was bad while it lasted. Ryan's mighty penis eliminated Moose and Swoggle tossed him a few seconds later for the win and the title at about 25:00. Much like the Gimmick Battle Royal in 2001, this was all about having people come to the ring one more time and not the result.
Ryan immediately rolled Swoggle up to get the title back (it's defended 24/7 like the Hardcore Title) and then made the mistake of saying he would defend against anyone anytime. Then, in something I've always wanted to see and never thought I'd get to: Enter Sandman.
The Sandman came out with a full entrance, complete with the entire Metallica song, cigarettes and beer being poured into fans' mouths. Sandman offered Ryan a beer but caned him instead for the pin and the title. I've always wanted to see a Sandman entrance and it certainly didn't disappoint.
7. Johnny Mundo vs. Brian Cage
This was a TLC match, though in this case it was won by pinfall or submission. Mundo had Taya Valkyrie with him (showing off very well in basically a red swimsuit) and Cage had his real life girlfriend (which I didn't know) Melissa Santos, who did his entrance ala Lucha Underground. It's very odd to see Santos out of her ring announcer outfits but jeans and a Lucha Underground shirt worked very well. She's a very beautiful woman.
I was somewhat disappointed by this one as they really just hit each other with weapons for a bit. Taya tried to interfere and got superbombed through a table while Santos actually got physical (I don't think she ever has in Lucha Underground) and took a very protected spear through another table. That was enough for Cage as he busted out a Steiner Screwdriver onto a chair for the easy pin. I forgot to start the timer but I'd guess around 12-13 minutes. There really wasn't a need to call this a TLC match as it was basically just a glorified street fight. C-, only because of the gimmick announced.
8. Hardys vs. Rey Fenix/Pentagon Dark
The Hardys weren't playing their Broken characters here.....but yeah they were the Broken Hardys. Matt kept doing DELETE and shouted WONDERFUL a few times. Interestingly enough, CERO MIEDO was getting louder reactions than DELETE. This was actually pretty short with the Hardys never seeming to be in much danger. Fenix and Pentagon (collectively the Lucha Brothers and the reigning PWG Tag Team Champions) had some sweet double team moves though and I'm sure they'd be fun to watch more. A Twist of Fate into a double Swanton ended Pentagon at about 7:00. D+. Too short to be very good.
Post match Matt put over the Lucha Brothers (who are real life brothers as well) as the future of tag team wrestling, along with the Young Bucks and the Briscoes. Matt basically said he didn't know how much longer he and Jeff could do this (I'm writing this after they won the Raw Tag Team Titles) but he doesn't want Meek-Ma-Han to destroy tag wrestling (oh the irony). However, if any of McMahon's teams try to take over, Jeff said they would fade away and classify themselves as obsolete. Hands were shaken in a sign of respect to end the show.
Overall, this was a total blast as they basically took everyone they could find not in WWE or ROH and threw together a wrestling card. Not everything can be Wrestlemania, but it doesn't need to be. This show made me realize that sometimes you need to forget about the quality and the storytelling and such and just have fun watching people do wrestling moves to each other. I mean, this kind of stuff isn't likely to work for the masses (WAY too many kicks to the head and silly flips) but it's the junk food of wrestling: entertaining at the time and you remember it well. Really entertaining show here and I'll be back for the 2018 edition. B+.