Monday, June 29, 2015

Alpha-1 Wrestling: Final Act Five Review

Josh Alexander gets a shot at the Open The Freedom Gate Title!


Alpha-1 Wrestling: Final Act Five
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada 11/2/14

So I’ve heard of Alpha-1 Wrestling here & there, but this was my first time ever watching a show from there. It’s a promotions that runs mainly in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. I believe the promotion is owned by “All Ego” Ethan Page. A few matches on the card caught my attention, such as The Open The Freedom Gate Title Match and the Ladder Match, both of which I heard were really good. Let’s see how this show went.

1.) Open The Freedom Gate Title - Ricochet vs. Josh Alexander: ****1/4

I figured this would be the Main Event, but in fact, this is the opening match! Not only that, but I believe this is the first time these two have ever faced off in singles competition. This is a sanctioned Open The Freedom Gate Title Match, which is pretty cool. As far as the match goes, it was freaking great! Ricochet & Josh Alexander are just two exceptional wrestlers, and they put on a truly great match. Lots of really cool action from both guys in this one. Eventually, Ricochet is able to put away Josh Alexander with a Shooting Star Press for the victory to retain his Open The Freedom Gate Title.

2.) Dick Justice vs. Shane Sabre: **1/4

Sabre is probably better known as part of The Goat Brigade (who compete mainly in Smash Wrestling). On this show, he’s in singles competition against Dick Justice, who starts the match by pointing a finger gun at Sabre and pats him down. Sabre then steals the finger gun, but Dick Justice kicks it away! This was a fun little match. It had its moments (including Dick Justice tickling Sabre), but in the end, Sabre rolls Dick Justice up for the win.

3.) AIW Intense Title - Triple Threat Match - Davey Vega vs. Eric Ryan vs. Cheech: ***1/2

We see a lot of AIW regulars competing in Alpha-1, and this is a prime example of that, as Davey Vega is defending his AIW Intense Title against Eric Ryan. Before the match can start, Cheech comes out. He says it wouldn’t be Final Act without Cheech, and inserts himself into the match. It was weird, but I guess it makes sense to a degree, since Cheech is also an AIW regular. This was a really solid Triple Threat Match. Good action from all three guys in this one. Eventually, Vega is able to score victory, retaining his AIW Intense Title!

4.) Four-Way Elimination Match - “All Ego” Ethan Page vs. Louis Lyndon vs. Tyler Thomas vs. Ryan Swift: ***½

Here we have an interesting mix of competitors. You have Ethan Page & Louis Lyndon, who are both regulars in AAW & AIW, and then you have two younger wrestlers in Tyler Thomas & Ryan Swift. The match is taking place in a venue with a low ceiling, and there is a chandelier hanging just about the outside of the ring. At one point, they hit the chandelier, and part of it breaks! Swift is eliminated first by Louis Lyndon. Page then eliminates Lyndon soon thereafter. It comes down to Page & Tyler Thomas, and in the end, Thomas scores the pin on Page for the upset win!!

After the match, Page talks about not even knowing the name of the guy who just beat him, calling him “Blue Tights”. He calls all the fans scumbags, and asks for his name. He says Tyler Thomas, and Page responds by saying “nobody cares”, and takes him out! Page calls himself Jesus and says “I’ll be your savior, bitch!” before leaving.

5.) Ladder Match - Seleziya Sparx vs. Jasmin: ****

So the basic story behind this match is that Jasmin (who just recently got signed by WWE) kidnapped Seleziya Sparx’s dog Peanut. Yes, you heard that right. Jasmin kidnapped Seleziya Sparx’s dog!! How EVIL!! It was decided that these two would settle their issues in a Ladder Match, with the custody of Peanut on the line! I wasn’t really sure how this would go, as I haven’t seen many women’s Ladder Matches. This match ended up being great! It was actually pretty crazy! These two worked really hard, and it resulted in a great Ladder Match. These two just beat the crap out of one another with Ladders & Chairs. We even had a big spot where Seleziya hit Jasmin with a Kryptonite Crunch off the top of a Ladder through a Table!! Seleziya climbed back up the Ladder, securing the victory and the custody of her dog Peanut (by the way, to clarify, I guess they must have hung a key of some sort). Incredible stuff!

6.) Alpha-1 Zero Gravity Title - Josh Rogen vs. Rickey Shane Page: **¼

Josh Rogen comes into this match as the Alpha-1 Zero Gravity Champion. Early on in the match, Rogen goes for a dive, but gets caught up in the ropes in an ugly botch. This was weird, as it was basically an extended squash match. Rogen got some offense in, but it was all Rickey Shane Page, who wins the match and the Alpha-1 Zero Gravity Title.

After the match, RSP takes the mic. He dares anyone to take the Alpha-1 Zero Gravity Title from him, and promises that he will hold the title for a long time. He then hits Rogen with two rolling elbows before leaving.

7.) 5-on-5 Elimination Match - Eric Cairnie, “Psycho” Mike Rollins, Scotty O’Shea, Steve Brown & Ty Colton vs. The Oppression (Justin Sane, Kingdom James, Lionel Knight, Ski Mask I & Ski Mask II): **1/2

From what I can gather, The Oppression are seemingly invaders who have aligned themselves with Brent Banks. You know it’s a really indie stable when two of the guys are just know as Ski Mask I & Ski Mask II. Here, they’re taking on a team representing Alpha-1 in an 5-on-5 Elimination Match. In the end, all of The Oppression were eliminated, as O’Shea, Brown & Cairnie won the match for Team Alpha-1. They would lose “Psycho” Mike Rollins & Ty Colton in their victory. The match was ok, but I just couldn’t get into The Oppression. They come off as very indie.

After the match, The Oppression come back out and attack Team Alpha-1. Brent Banks, who is the current holder of the Alpha-1 Alpha Male Title, comes out to join the attack, but the rest of the Alpha-1 roster comes out for the save! Alpha-1 Management then announced that the Alpha Male Title Triple Threat Match is now a Lumberjack Match! Seems like it was made this way to counter the potential interference of The Oppression.

8.) Alpha-1 Alpha Male Title - Triple Threat Lumberjack Match - Brent Banks vs. Ashley Sixx vs. Alessandro Del Bruno: ***¼

As I mentioned earlier, Brent Banks comes in as the champion, and he’s defending against Ashley Sixx & Alessandro Del Bruno. This was a pretty solid match. There was a lot of good action in the ring, but of course, there was a ton of involvement from the lumberjacks. Various brawls breakout outside the ring throughout the match. There were some cool moments. This included Sixx getting back dropped from the top rope by Alessandro Del Bruno onto everyone, and then Del Bruno giving Banks a hurricanrana off the top rope onto everyone! In the end, Del Bruno hits a 450 Splash on Sixx, but he gets pulled out by a member of The Oppression. This allows Banks to take advantage and cover Sixx for the victory, retaining the Alpha Male Title to close the show.

Overall: 8.0/10

This was my first time seeing Alpha-1, and I thought they put together a pretty solid show. The first half of the card was great. You had two amazing matches in Ricochet vs. Josh Alexander and the Ladder Match between Seleziya Sparx & Jasmin. Those two matches are definitely worth seeing. You also had two really good multi-man matches in the AIW Intense Title Triple Threat Match and the Four-Way Elimination Match. The 2nd Half of the show wasn’t quite as good, but the Main Event was a fun way to close the show. On the whole, it was an enjoyable show, and it was really good to see titles from WWNLive & AIW defended.


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