Sunday, May 31, 2015

Random Match Reviews #2 (5/31/15)

I take a look at matches from Lucha Underground, Dreamwave Wrestling, C*4 Wrestling, AIW & the NWA!



So if you recall, I tried this concept back in January. I planned on doing some follow up, but unfortunately, the time just wasn't there. Hopefully, now that it's Summer, I'll have the chance to do more of these.

1.) NWA Smoky Mountain - The Big One (8/4/11) - ROH World Title - Davey Richards (with Kyle O'Reilly & Tony Kozina) vs. Chase Owens: ****


This match is taking place in Kingsport, Tennessee. Davey Richards is the ROH World Champion, and is defending his title against Chase Owens (who has recently gained some fame through his work in New Japan). Things started slow with lots of technical wrestling between these two, but as was the case of most Davey Richards matches during his ROH World Title reign, the action definitely picked up down the stretch. Owens showed a lot in this match, but unfortunately, he felt short of victory, as Davey Richards got the win, and retained the ROH World Title.

2.) AIW - WrestleRager: Night 2 (9/6/14) - Johnny Gargano vs. Candice LeRae: ***3/4



These two actually had a match against each other just a week earlier in PWG during the 2014 Battle of Los Angeles Tournament. They faced off in the 2nd Round, and Gargano was victorious. I heard a lot of good things about this match, and after watching it, I think it definitely lived up to the hype. It was definitely better than the match a week earlier, but part of that was because this match had no referee screw up at the end. Lots of back & forth action from both of these competitors. The crowd and the commentators (one of them being Eddie Kingston) were going crazy. Gargano dished out a lot, but Candice was resilient and never gave up. That resilience paid off, as she was able to pin Gargano for the victory.

3.) C*4 Wrestling - Something Wicked This Way Comes (9/27/14) - Six-Man Tag - "Speedball" Mike Bailey & The Super Smash Brothers vs. "Unbreakable" Michael Elgin & Tabarnak de Team (Mathieu St. Jacques & Thomas Dubois): ****1/4

This match occurred during the period in the fall of 2014 when Michael Elgin was trapped in Canada after he lost the ROH World Title at All-Star Extravaganza VI. On this show, he's teaming up with Tabarnak de Team (who have been wrestling quite a bit in Beyond Wrestling) to take on "Speedball" Mike Bailey & The Super Smash Brothers. This was a great Six-Man Tag. It started a little show, but the action picked up at various points. It was a really long match (about twenty-five minutes), but the action definitely kept me invested. In the end, The Super Smash Brothers would hit their tag team finisher (Fatality!) on one of the members of Tabarnak de Team to score the win for their team.

4.) Lucha Underground - Season 1, Episode 1: Welcome To The Temple (10/29/14) - Johnny Mundo vs. Prince Puma (with Konnan): ****



Here we have the Main Event from the debut episode of Lucha Underground, featured Ricochet as the newly christened Prince Puma, with Konnan by his side, taking on Johnny Mundo, who is more famously known for his run in WWE as John Morrison & Johnny Nitro. They really could not have picked a better Main Event for the debut episode of Lucha Underground. This was a very good match! These two put on a really entertaining match with a lot of cool action. We know how good Prince Puma is, and he took Johnny Mundo to the limit in this one. Eventually, Mundo was able to put away Puma for the victory.

After the match, the two competitors show each other respect. Then, Dario Cueto (owner/promotor of Lucha Underground) comes out. Earlier in the episode, he had promised $100,000 to the Luchador who impressed him the most. It looks like he's going to give the briefcase of money to Johnny Mundo, but Cueto closed the lid on him. Mundy tries to go for the briefcase, but he & Prince Puma are attacked by The Crew, which consists of Cortez Castro (Ricky Reyes of ROH fame), Mr. Cisco, & Big Ryck (formerly Ezekiel Jackson in WWE). Cueto then gives the money to The Crew (I guess they "impressed" him the most) to close the show.

5.) Dreamwave Wrestling - Season Premiere (2/7/15) - Dreamwave Tag Team Titles - AC/DC (Arik Cannon & Darin Corbin) vs. Colt Cabana & Dick Justice: **1/2

I believe this is the Dreamwave Wrestling debut for Dick Justice, who's teaming with Colt Cabana against Arik Cannon & Darin Corbin for the Dreamwave Tag Team Titles. This was a decent match. Of course, with guys like Cabana & Dick Justice involved, there was a fair amount of comedy. The highlight of which was Dick Justice riding Corbin like a horse (I'm not joking. This actually happened). Eventually, Cannon & Corbin would get the win over Cabana & Dick Justice, retaining the Dreamwave Tag Team Titles.

There you have it! My second batch of Random Match Reviews is compete. I hope to actually follow though with doing more of these. There are a plethora of interesting matches from various promotions that I would like to look it.

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