ACTION Wrestling - Action for Kids 29/06/2018

AC Mack & Ike Cross vs the Lynch Mob

Good opening bout, the Lynch Mob are well served to fast paced matches like this, and the heel team of Mack and Cross look really good in opposition. The Lynch Mob hit huge dives from the off, before working some quick double teams. Mack takes over on Matt Lynch in a really neat way, as Mack forces him backward through the ropes and Irish whips him throat-first into them. Cross is clearly a terrific athlete, getting nice height on a corner splash and he takes a big bump off a backdrop to the floor. Matt Lynch eats a huge spear from Cross for two, with Joey pushing Mack on top to break the fall. The Lynch Mob pick up the win with a rolling senton/frog splash/moonsault combo, enjoyed this. Good start to the show.

James Ryan vs James Bandy

I’d been impressed with Bandy on the debut show, so it was nice to see what he could do here in singles action, and what he did seemed really good. Nice jumping knee, sharp elbows in the corner and a nice dropkick on the floor through the ropes. Ryan played to the crowd well, though his offence seemed a bit softer than Bandy’s. Bandy makes a comeback after a short Ryan offensive spell, hitting some nice kicks before nailing a running dropkick for the win.

Tragedy Ann vs Aja Perera

Probably the weakest match of the show, albeit still decent in places. There were little bits I liked, such as Ann hitting a mule kick after a compactor legdrop and Aja had a few nice moves, with a facebuster and a running knee both looking good. However, there were a few awkward bits that dragged the match down – Ann running Perera into all four corners looked weak, an odd spinning slam didn’t really work and there’s a strange moment when Ann runs at Perera and bends down into position for a piledriver for no reason. Perera hits a Franchiser into a flatliner for the win.

Cain Justice vs Anthony Henry

This, on the other hand, was really good. Loved the opening matwork, with both guys jockeying for position, felt super competitive. Henry escaping a single-leg crab by forcing himself backwards through Justice’s legs looked great, and I liked Justice trying to get control by yanking Henry off the apron to the floor, only for Henry to immediately hit a forearm instead. A big exploder through the chair follows, must really have sucked for Cain. Justice finally gets control by using the ringpost to his advantage, contorting Henry’s hand over the top and through the loop on the side of the post. Cain from this point works the arm nastily, maintaining good focus. There’s a really clunky roll up sequence mid-match that doesn’t really work, but after that they get back to the good stuff. Loved Justice catching a kick, with Henry rolling though from there to lock in a submission, the commentary suggesting that Henry might have deliberately given the leg to allow him to transition to the submission. However, Justice gives a low blow behind the refs back and locks in the Twist Ending to win. Really good stuff.

Team TAG (Kevin Blue & Chris Spectra) vs Michael Spencer & Chance Rizer

Dominant victory for Team TAG, with Spencer and Rizer getting just enough hope spots to keep it competitive (including Rizer briefly getting the visual pin on Blue with the ref distacted). Rizer gets a nice run of offence to start, before Spectra cuts him off as he goes for a dive. Team TAG then work over Rizer, including a nice belly to belly by Spectra. They don’t do anything fancy, just nice simple control, keeping Rizer in their part of the ring. Tag Team 101, essentially. After a melee, where Rizer scores the visual pin, Spectra hits a huge shoulderblock, with Rizer taking a nasty looking bump, and a double team assisted DDT gets the win.

Billy Buck vs Cabana Man Dan

This immediately follows the previous match, with Dan making the save as Team TAG and Buck continue a beatdown. Dan is a short little spitfire, seems to have real energy and physical charisma, and he looked very good here. Dug him avoiding being blindsided at the bell by side-stepping a charging Buck, and taking him down with a fun mixture of takeovers and pins. Buck stomps on the bare feet of Dan to get an advantage, and allows Team TAG to beat Dan down on the floor. Buck controls CMD nicely and even gets to show some ring smarts as well, avoiding Dan leaping out of the corner and slamming his head to the mat. When he does make his comeback, Dan is like a bouncing ball, leaping up into a chinbreaker, hopping over and nailing a mule kick to the jaw. Team TAG try to interfere, but CMD chops them both down with his flip flops. However, this leaves him exposed as he turns around into the Buckshot superkick for the loss. Really enjoyed this, CMD comes across as a really likable fired up face, whilst the heels come across as suitably nefarious and smart enough to take advantage of their openings.

Slim J vs Cam Carter

Really loved the opening to this, with both guys countering and rolling through moves, gave the air of competitive one-upsmanship. I’d never seen Slim J before, and I was really impressed. He’s really fluid in the ring, just feels totally natural in the ring. Carter continued the good impression he made on the debut show, ending a nice kick combo with a really high German suplex. I liked how the veteran Slim J didn’t give Carter a second to breath, at one point nipping to the top rope and hitting a big spinning kick so quickly. Slim J commits to a big missed moonsault and we get a nice strike exchange that actually feels like a fight. Slim J takes a big kick to the face, and stumbles into the corner, subtly hooking the top rope with his arm to stop himself falling down. Lovely bit of selling. Carter hits a destroyer and a really nice 2^nd rope 450 for two. Slim J hits a superplex that he chains into a guillotine that feels like it should be the finish, but Carter powers to his feet and hits a double underhook brainbuster for the win.

Tracy Williams vs Arik Royal

This is for Williams’s Powerbomb title. Loved the commentary putting over Royal having two victories over Williams already, and throughout the match they make the suggestion that Royal might have his number. They tell a really good story here, with Williams working a limb, in this case Royal’s arm, and taking advantage of his openings to try and damage to his chosen damage point. For his part, Royal goes for big shots, using his raw power to break Williams down. Williams’s offence to Royal’s arm looks convincing, with nasty kicks to the armpit, hitting big downward chops with the arm propped on his own shoulder, plus his opportunistic attacks are really well worked. He lures Royal into throwing a wild punch just to yank the arm over the ropes, he lets Royal take his time going to the top in order to catch him with a crossface mid-dive and, when he gets caught on the top rope a la Ric Flair, he grabs the arm and drops it over the top rope again. When Royal is on offence, he beasts Williams, hitting a huge overhead toss, crushing him in the corner with a shoulder charge before sprinting Williams to the other corner to crush him again. He also hits a lovely stump piledriver, making it look like a struggle to get Williams up. Royal gets a two after a big tackle, with the ref recovering from a bump to keep him looking strong, before Williams locks in a Fujiwara armbar to get the tap. Thought this was excellent.

Valkyrie: V - Valhalla

One of the few "problems" with the explosion of footage becoming available in the last few years is that I find it remarkably easy to end up with more wrestling than I can watch. For example, this show, which I paid actual money for three years ago, then left it sat on my hard drive unwatched. Decided maybe it was time to give it a go.

Sumie Sakai vs Lexia Avery

Fair opener. Avery has a considerable size advantage over Sukai, but seems afraid to really commit, both with her weak strikes and with some of her bumping. Sakai is experienced enough to compensate for this, and adds some nice little touches to the match. Loved her going for a Boston Crab by holding Avery’s legs, letting the ref count a pin and Avery to lift her shoulder, then going with that movement to turn the larger opponent over. I’ll give Avery credit, her good moves look impressive, with a nice side slam and a meaty looking kerb stomp, and I dug her viciously kicking the rope as Sakai lies over it. Sumie has move painful looking chops, almost like she’s trying to convince Avery to lay them in more. The end sees Avery try an Air Raid Crash, but Sakai rolls through and locks a tight cradle to win.

Nina Monet vs Davienne

Good early impressions, as Monet really locks in her headlocks tightly. Davienne takes control with an awkward looking shoulderblock (how awkward? I didn’t realise what had happened until the commentator decided that was what had happened), but makes up for it with a decent stomachbreaker. Monet has a nasty streak, locking Davienne in a submission and kicking her in the back of the head. Short match sees Lexia Avery interfere and distract Davienne, allowing Monet to hit a side Russian legsweep and a leaping DDT to win.

Nikki Addams & Dickie Rodz vs Nyla the Destroyer & Aja Perera

Intergender match here, as Addams and Rodz challenge the massive Nyla to a 2-on-1 match, only for Perera to come out to even the sides. Rodz being the only male doesn’t unbalance the teams as he’s pretty much portrayed as a goof and he’s not much bigger than Nyla. Because the match is basically building up to Nyla getting in the ring, we get heat worked on Perera pretty much from the get go. Perera gets a few moments, hitting a boot as Addams tries a top rope nothing from the top rope. Addams hits a lovely top rope Eat Defeat as compensation. The build up to the hot tag leads to a few awkward moments like Perera getting a chance to tag, going to her corner, then deciding to go back on offence again. Nyla does eventually get in, blitzing Rodz with clotheslines, then planting him with a powerbomb from the corner for the win.

La Rosa Negra vs Hania the Howling Huntress

Two out of three fall match here, and it felt like two decent-good wrestlers being hamstrung by overbooking. The work both do looks really good. Negra in particular impresses, seems to have good instincts. For example, at one point she goes for the three amigos, but she adds a punch to the stomach between suplexes to keep Hania weak. Hania hits a few nice combos, lovely legsweep into a low dropkick, and she gets great height on a flip senton. Negra sells really nicely too, flying like a ragdoll on Hania’s offence, and getting into the right position to take offence in a natural manner. The problem comes with the booking, which sees Negra’s entourage interfering in clumsy ways. She’s joined by JGeorge and a towering lady called Natalie, and they seem to fail to understand that you want to interfere behind the refs back. At one point, Natalie gets on the apron and kicks Hania in full view of the ref, who has to awkwardly turn away and pretend he didn’t just see it. Even the commentator has to clumsily explain it as the ref somehow not spotting it. Later, Natalie just gets in the ring, runs the ropes in a manner the referee couldn’t miss, then tries a suicide dive that spectacularly misses both JGeorge and Hania. You know the booking is failing when the crowd are chanting “This ref sucks” instead of the heat going to the heels. In the end, with each wrestler having a fall apiece, JGeorge gets in, accidentally hits Negra with a superkick and Hania hits a leaping reverse DDT for the win. Good wrestling in a poor match.

Ashley America vs Little Jeanne

Curious to see WCW alum Jeanne appear on this show. Cagematch tells me she didn’t wrestle for 6 years, then came back to wrestle on this card. Very quick stuff here, America (who is the heel, which you wouldn’t guess from her name) jumps Jeanne before the bell, but is unable to maintain any control. Jeanne hits a nice clothesline, works a bodyscissors nicely, whilst America only gets in a few basic moves. Ashley tries a deathlock, but Jeanne elbows free and hits a second-rope suplex to win. This was fine.

Kacee Carlisle vs Jessie Brooks

This is for Carlisle’s Queen of Valkyrie title. Really liked the presentation here, as they managed to make a match between two ladies I don’t know into a real big match atmosphere. Julius Smokes is accompanying Brooks, and his rapidfire motormouth persona contrasts nicely with her stoic silence, making her look like a badass. This is turn carries over to Carlisle, because her refusal to back down, getting in Brooks’ face mean that she too comes across as a tough lady. The match? Really good, neither seem afraid to lay in the shots, as they exchange blows with an audible thud. Brooks hits a series of lovely running forearms in the corner. Nice submissions interspersed too, loved the Camel Clutch that Brooks locks in, really nasty angle and she holds a tight chinlock at the time too. Neither lets up the intensity either, and I liked Carlisle resorting to an eyepoke just to get a moment of control. The end is the only disappointment. Brooks climbs to the second rope to hit vicious knees to the back of Carlisle’s head (which looks great), sending Kacee into a tree of woe on the outside of the ring. Brooks lays in some shots, only for Carlisle to just hit a double-arm DDT, draped from the top rope, to win. Just felt like it came from nowhere. Overall, a good match.

Fred Yehi vs Dickie Rodz

Well, this was odd. A match not advertised that seems to being fought after the show with no audience (bar a load of wrestlers surrounding the ring like lumberjacks), with no commentary and you can even see the ring announcer in the background putting his coat on and heading off for the night. So, this seems to be a practise match, but it’s still fought with some intensity. Rodz comes off far better here, and Yehi looks terrific. They work a decent mat section before turning the heat up. Loved the headbutts that Yehi hits. Rodz hits a nice back suplex, but Yehi starts bridging out of pins and breaks a second back suplex with a big elbow to the head. Yehi gets the win with a sudden exploder, a running flatliner and the Koji Clutch for the victory. Nice little curio here.