The Benson Brothers (Brad & CJ Benson) vs The Fella
Twins (Eddy McQueen & Rick Cataldo)
Interesting pairing of gimmicks, with the Benson’s being
laid-back surfer types and the Fella Twins being two guys working exotico
gimmicks. Of the two, McQueen looks more convincing as someone who might live that
lifestyle, whilst Cataldo very much comes off as a portly guy in a bad dress.
This was actually pretty fun, all four guys looked to have their upsides. I
especially dug CJ as your surfer Jim Duggan big brawler, a guy either too
laidback or too uncomprehending to release a waistlock when McQueen tries to
use escape by grinding against him. Dug Brad using a surfboard on McQueen and
actually adding a foot to the back to mimic surfing, though not so keen on him
not selling when Cataldo drapes a shinbone over his throat to choke him. The
Fellas work the heat on Brad, with Cataldo working a lot of ass-based offence
and McQueen driving some vicious knees to the spine. CJ is a fun hot tag, and
he flips Brad into a moonsault on McQueen for the win.
Stockade vs Johnny Radke
This is for Stockade’s NYWC title, and is a fun competitive
squash. Stockade is a big dude, and uses his size really well. Loved him
refusing to go over for a Radke side headlock. Stockade has massive sounding
chops and, as a heel, when the crowd chant “One more time!”, he pretends to go
for it, then locks on a headlock instead. Stockade looks like a big bear just
mauling his prey. Radke gets a brief flurry – I like that Radke’s first
offensive blow seems to unsettle Stockade, who then misses a charge into the
corner to totally yield control – and you buy a superkick as a potential
one-shot kill. It’s not enough, and Radke misses a senton and eats a big DDT
for the win. Good stuff.
Mike Verna vs Mouse
Mouse is a slight, ratty-looking kid in a shirt and
trousers, and Verna is very firmly in control. Verna knows it too, and doesn’t
want to hurt the kid, who wont stop trying to fight him. A cheapshot blow by
Mouse seems to enrage Verna, who hits a nice slingshot suplex (which has
multiple bounces on the top rope). Liked the sequence where Verna blocks a
tornado DDT with sheer power, only for Mouse to chain into a guillotine choke.
The end sees the Hounds of Hatred enter and attack Verna for the non-ending.
King Mega, Alvin Alvarez & Ultimo Maya vs GIT, J-Redd
& Iri$h
The good thing about trios matches is they’re hard to
totally mess up, even if (as is the case here), you suspect the participants
aren’t very good. The face team is three lads in vests and jeans, working
white-boy gangsta gimmicks. Trouble is none of them impress here – GIT (or
Gangsta In Training) at least takes a good beating, but J-Redd’s offense
consists of forward rolls or slipping on the ropes when trying to springboard.
Iri$h is barely in the match, so he must be the least decent. The heels at
least show some spark – I liked Alvarez realising the ref was distracted by the
face team, so quickly rushing GIT into the heel corner for a beatdown, and Mega
had a nice line in condescending covers, but this wasn’t great, before it ends
on a DQ, Maya beating the opposition down with kendo sticks.
Tyler Murphy vs Joe Gacy vs Maxwell Jacob Feinstein
Too short triple threat for Murphy’s Fusion title. Feinstein
seemed to be working as a cocky loudmouth, and I enjoyed the two faces quickly
throwing him out to work one-on-one. When he does get in, Feinstein tries to
work over the arms of both guys, bending the limb in fun ways. Gacy moves well
for a big lad, and he hits a fun, if unlikely, handspring elbow on Murphy. This
really went by too quickly, and I’m looking forward to watching more from all
three guys. Murphy gets the submission with a keylock on Gacy.
Tony Nese vs Mike Orlando
Good match here, though I think they went a bit too long at
20 minutes. Orlando had to control the bulk of the match as heel, and he didn’t
have enough interesting ways to fill time. I like Nese, and he’s pretty good as
a face, even getting to hit the springboard moonsault he always misses on 205
Live. Orlando is pretty methodical on offence, getting cocky against the more famous
Nese, and this gives Nese little openings for attempted comebacks. Orlando has
a valet to interfere on his behalf, though she gets thrown out when she puts
Orlando’s foot on the rope after a 450, the match’s first false finish. She
comes back out when Nese has Orlando in a half-crab (with the camera
unfortunately catching Nese telling Orlando to tap when the ref’s back is
turned) leading to Orlando low-blowing and getting a roll-up for two. Orlando
has a nice flying shoulderblock and a great Rydeen Bomb, and the two false
finishes do help the match, as both times you buy that Nese is going to lose,
only for him to hit a second 450 for the victory.
The Hounds of Hatred (Bam & Boo Sullivan) vs Alex
Reynolds & JT Kasin
Sadly, the main event was probably the worst match on the
show. I really dig Reynolds, guy has nice execution and carries himself well in
the ring, and I liked Bam Sullivan, but the other two guys brought this down.
Reynolds hits a great looking crossbody and suicide dive early, before becoming
face-in-peril. Boo Sullivan is really hesitant for a big lad, and has really
soft looking offence, but Bam controlled Reynolds better, and I loved his
really low Swanton – instead of getting great height on it, he really whipped
himself down with force. Giving Boo credit, he really misses an elbow drop with
intent, before Reynold’s tags Kasin in. Kasin is an odd guy to watch, he doesn’t
feel like a wrestler – his movements in the ring just feel odd. He looks like
he should be a brawler, but he hits the worst mounted punches I’ve seen in a
while. The end is a real mess, starting with the Hounds of Hatred blowing a
double-team move, before some stuff happens outside the ring involving Reynolds
and a referee (it’s dark and there’s no commentary, so it’s tough to make out).
Inside, Kasin punches the HoH’s valet in the face, rightly drawing boos despite
Kasin being a face, and he gets taken out with a loaded blow to keep the tag
belts on the hounds. Even aside from the stupidity of having a face punching a
woman, this was a sloppy bout.
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