NYWC Sideshow 2018

This show is the last stop before Psycho Circus, the annual show headlined by the eponymous titular match, equal parts Wargames and Cage of Death. The matches here build up nicely to the show, a lot to enjoy in this one.

Bull James vs Johnny Radke

This is part of a “Pick Your Poison” deal, with Alex Reynolds and James picking opponents for each other before their title match at Psycho Circus. At first, I thought James was selling disinterest, working over the leg of Radke whilst looking uncommitted, but then I realised he was showing his reluctance to hurt Radke. There’s no commentary, so James has to get this story over purely with his facial expressions, and he achieves this, including some fun bits where Radke tries to escape from the mat, only for James to casually down him again. By the end, James realises he’s got to finish it, and swats away an attempted top rope crossbody by Radke, and finishes with a seated senton. Nice bit of storytelling.

Alex Reynolds vs John Silver

As a counterpoint, James has chosen Reynolds’ long time tag partner to face him, and Silver looks fired up. I saw at the start that this match was 17 minutes long, and I had a bit of trepidation. I like both guys, but Reynolds is particular has had a few off matches in my NYWC watching, and I wasn’t sure they could fill the time entertainingly. So, it was a real relief that this was really fun. Reynolds has an entourage of Rick Cataldo, King Mega and Blake Morris, and they wisely work a bit early on where the three get evicted from ringside following some interference, which keeps the rest of the bout from being filled with cheap interference. I liked how both men seemed to know what the other was about to do, part of them knowing each other so well. Silver hits some nice throws during the match, using his diminutive stature to get underneath Reynolds and sending him flying. Both have some nice offensive moments, like Silver blocking a sunset flip by holding the ropes, using them to drag Reynolds into position then hitting a big double stomp. Meanwhile, Reynolds nicely chains a side Russian legsweep into a crossface. Silver has real nice execution on his moves, some nice snap to his uppercuts. The end sees Cataldo coming back out to distract the ref, and I loved the nearfall as Silver takes out the rest of the returning entourage, only to get rolled up for two. Reynolds hits a Stundog Millionaire and locks in another crossface for the tap. Really good stuff.

Beer Belly Bandits (JT Kasin, General Romero & Bo Pritchard) vs Anthony LaCerra, Jesse Vane & Joey Conway

Neat six man tag, thought this was a heap of fun. I’m really high on LaCerra and Vane, think both guys have great athleticism and move really well, coupled with really nice looking offence. Loved the height Vane gets on a pop up dropkick. The heat gets worked on Kasin, with some nice Born & Bred double teams. Loved LaCerra holding a leglock on Kasin to allow Vane to hit a springboard splash, just solid tag team wrestling. First time I’ve seen Conway, and whilst he was notably a step below his partners, he looked fine. LaCerra and Vane hit nice simultaneous kicks on Kasin, and LaCerra looks good chaining moves on Kasin, not giving him time to recover. Pritchard gets the hot tag, moves really well for a big man, but he gets distracted by LaCerra wielding a beer, and a dual superkick to the head finishes him off.

Benson Brothers vs The Rep vs Punk Relics vs Matt Striker & Tinder Tom

Bit of a mess this one. This match would have been improved tenfold if the Striker/Tom team wasn’t a part. Really didn’t like Tom from the start. He looks like a scrawnier Colin Delaney, one of his first acts was to dry hump the mat, then he ends up in some “hilarious” accidental 69 positions with Striker. Even aside from that, the work from the other teams looked a bit sloppy in places, though all three teams also did bits I liked. I just feel like any combination of the three good teams in a 2-on-2 match for the same amount of time would have been better. The Bensons win with CJ flipping Brad into a moonsault on Striker for the win.

Matt Tremont & G-Raver vs Aiden Baal & Mouse

This is a lot of fun. Because Baal is the only credible member of his team, Mouse takes a fun beating at different points in the match. Loved the huge Samoan drop Tremont hits on him, and because Mouse has an appropriate rattiness about him, it’s really entertaining watching him take a beating.. Baal doesn’t do anything fancy on offence, but what he does looks really good. Really solid looking elbow drops. The heat gets worked on G-Raver, with Mouse’s cameo not looking too bad, before G-Raver hits a diving DDT on Baal to make the hot tag. Tremont looks great coming in, battering Mouse before blasting the heels with a great double clothesline. He hits a Death Valley Driver on Mouse ONTO Baal, and G-Raver hits a swanton for three. Really liked this.

Willow Nightingale vs Vanity

This works for the most part. There are some awkward exchanges, a few moments where they almost seem to pause as if to remember what to do next, but there’s also a lot here to like. Willow is really good in the early stages at selling her frustration when Vanity is getting the better of her. Willow messes up Vanity’s hair after an exchange, which felt like a good way of taking control of someone with that moniker. Vanity has some good looking offence, and I like how she controlled her focus on one area, clubbing at the back of Willow. She maintains this control with a decent looking camel clutch. Willow hits a nice spinebuster, not much elevation on it, but it looks like she’s trying to drive Vanity into the mat. The match winning DVD for Nightingale feels like it comes out of nowhere, but on the whole I enjoyed this.

Stockade, Devon Moore & Terra Calaway vs Bam Sullivan, Jeff Cannonball & Victoria von Black

This is a Doorway to Hell match, which means there are a load of doors in the ring with sharp objects attached to throw your opponents into. The winning team gets the advantage in the forthcoming Psycho Circus match, though I didn’t know this until it was announced after the match. Which is good, because that would have given away who was going to win. With this acting as almost a preview to that match, they don’t give everything away, but the spots we do get are still pretty nasty, no half arsing it here. Moore gets brutally slammed through a door with jagged metal sticking out by Cannonball, but is able to use his speed advantage to evade the big man and in return dropkick Cannonball into a door with sliced up beer cans poking through. There’s no real story, with people fighting on the floor while a member of each team does battle in the ring, but it’s a fun spectacle. Stockade looks great, love how he uses his weight to add to his moves. His bulldog looks like he’s really dragging opponents to the floor, and his Shining Wizard looks deadlier when a man that size is flying at you. More fun spots follow, Sullivan getting backdropped into a door covered in carpet strips and Cannonball crushing Stockade with a full weight cannonball. The women aren’t highlighted much until the finish, where Calaway goes to slam von Black onto light tubes, only for Cannonball to punch her, causing her to fall backwards onto the lights, von Black landing on top for the win. Man, I really can’t wait for the Psycho Circus match.