IWA Mid-South Crowning of a Champion 1997

War Machine #1 vs Tower of Doom

Tower of Doom is a big lad, but he’s managed to dress in a way that makes him look totally unthreatening, with a big baggy black t-shirt and shorts. Everything feels like it’s at 2/3 speed, with strikes being thrown slowly. War Machine barely gets ToD up on a back suplex before hitting the worst side Russian legsweep I’ve ever seen. ToD at least has a nice elbow drop, full weight. ToD gets the win after War Machine helpfully jumps into a sky high powerbomb.

Kip Morris vs Mike Simpleton

Simpleton is a fat guy in a black t-shirt and a generic mask. Morris amusingly has “Winner” and “I’m Winning” emblazoned on his tights. This is utterly shit though. Morris controls with some plodding generic offence, apart from the amusing moment he suplexes Simpleton, who lands on top of him. Simpleton is really bad, he can’t even get thrown from the ring without getting embarrassingly caught up in the ropes. A side slam looks terrible as Simpleton basically slips from Morris’s grasp. In the end, Simpleton misses a corner splash, gets tripped and Morris gets the win. So bad.

War Machine #2 vs Chris Kidd

This was better. Not perfect, as War Machine really struggled to get Kidd over for a suplex, but some of Kidd’s offence looked decent. Nice leaping clothesline, good spinebuster, perfectly decent execution. War Machine BARELY gets Kidd up for a powerbomb that looked really dangerous, but gets distracted by #1 at ringside, and Kidd rolls him up for three.

Mad Man Pondo vs Ox Harley

Hark at young Pondo coming out with long hair and a Superman shirt, looks very different to the man he’d later become. There’s lots of mic work to start this, and the sound quality isn’t great. Pondo kicks us off with some really shitty armdrags. Harley looks better, nice kicks to the face and a decent clothesline. Pondo does some token legwork but eats a DDT on the floor and a Harley moonsault wins it. Nothing much to this.

Ian Rotten vs Tarek the Great

This is a big step up in match quality. They both look super comfortable working the mat, with the strange image of a fat scarred-up hillbilly and a skinny, balding man going through really neat exchanges on a tatty piece of shit mat. They up the tempo, with Rotten hitting a neat Full Nelson suplex and a really nice top rope rana by Tarek. Tarek does a few moves you really wouldn’t expect, a top rope twisting corkscrew and a nice moonsault press both get two. However, he ducks his head and Rotten hits a huge implant DDT for the win. This was really neat.

Bull Pain vs Justin St John

This was also fun, though Pain never really looked like losing. Pain just beats St John down, but St John does look capable, getting a few nice takedowns. Pain hits a DDT that looks great and, after St John hits a shitty leaping elbow into the corner, Pain swiftly puts him away with a neckbreaker and a top rope splash. Short but effective.

Kip Morris vs Tower of Doom

Into the second round now. ToD looks better in this match, hitting a nice running clothesline and a big legdrop. However, he’s got really lazy covers, barely leaning on top of Morris. Morris takes control on the floor, ramming Doom into the ringpost, hitting his head on the floor and nailing a nice short elbow to the head. ToD is soon bleeding, but hits a killer piledriver that really should have been the finish. ToD sells being too exhausted to cover, so at least there was no kickout. Like in the opener, ToD gets the win after his opponent helpfully leaps into a sit out powerbomb.

Ox Harley vs Chris Kidd

Another very short match, Harley mainly hits punches to control, with a chop to the face looking hilariously nasty. Kidd’s offence is pretty generic, but he too throws some nice punches, so this is at least watchable. Kidd hits a powerslam but misses a moonsault, allowing Harley to hit a reverse DDT and hit a moonsault for the win.

Ian Rotten vs Bull Pain

This starts off awesomely, as Pain throws Rotten to the floor and hits an insane suicide dive for the win. He follows this with a pedigree on the concrete, and I’m totally into this already. But then, we get disaster. The ringside camera seemingly stops working, leaving us with just the hard-cam, and at one point a member of production crew stands in front of it for at least a minute. They’re brawling in the crowd, and it’s impossible to see what’s going on. Ian hits a cannonball from the apron which looks great. We miss more floor brawling, before Pain gets him back in and hits a top rope splash for two. Ian hits his DDT, but is unable to cover and eats an RKO for the Pain victory. I really wish we’d been able to see all this, was hard to really enjoy.

Tower of Doom vs Bull Pain vs Ox Harley

Triple threat elimination for the title here. I liked how there was a constantly switching series of allegiances, with one person getting double teamed at all times. There’s a lovely big double chokeslam on ToD early doors, and we get a few nice spots. Really like Pain and ToD teaming to hit a Hart Attack into a sitout powerbomb, which eliminates Harley. It gets a bit dull from that point, felt like just two guys exchanging moves having used up their inspiration in the previous bouts. ToD hits two powerbombs without going for covers, and some Ian Rotten interference allows him to hit a big legdrop on Pain for the win. Really felt like everyone going through the motion.

UWA Solo Clasicos Vol 1

This is an IVP Videos compilation I've had for a while. As with all previous lucha reviews, I apologise for my ignorance about the genre in the following reviews...

Great Sasuke & El Matematico vs Rudy Reyna & Cassandro

Really dug the rudo team of exoticos here, especially Cassandro. Loved his vicious slaps to the chest of Sasuke when downed with a groin stretcher. Cassandro and Sasuke really pair up well in this one, both seem to complement each other well. Cassandro seems happy to bump big for all Sasuke’s offence, and they pair up well on the mat. Liked the dynamic of Matematico outsmarting the exoticos, until Reyna kisses him on the lips to confuse him. Technicos win the first fall with a Sasuke moonsault press on Reyna, which forces a change of tactics. In the second fall, the rudos are sneakier, using a double-teaming tactic of distracting and blindsiding, which works wonders for them. It allows them to isolate Matematico with a top rope legdrop/sideslam combo. Final fall sees the rudos continue to dominate, with a great German suplex by Cassandro to Sasuke, before both technicos are pinned and the exoticos win the bout. Dug this.

Los Espantos (Espanto IV & Espanto V) vs Los Estrellas Blancas (Estrella Blanca I & Estrella Blanca II)

Fun little bout here, with Los Estrellas Blancas clowning Los Espantos for most of the match, easily reversing their moves, evading any onrushing Espanto and causing Los Espantos to stooge around, before the Blancas win the first fall with a sunset flip. It takes a distraction from the referee for Los Espantos to take over, and their double-teaming is really fluid to behold. They lock in a swank double-team sub to take the fall. In the third fall, the teams split, with one pair battling inside the ring, and the other on the outside. Loved one Espanto doing an exaggerated sneaky walk to get in the ring and break up a sub, before the Espantos win the decisive fall by reversing a sunset flip. Good stuff.

Scorpio & Scorpio Jr vs Celestial & Transformer

This was a real blast, a nice pairing of dastardly rudos and really fun technicos. Scorpio Snr is an impressively ugly man, and I dug him protesting hairpulls every time he was taken over, as well as Jr just cheapshotting opponents from behind. They control the first fall with sneaky tactics, double-teams and cheap blows. Every time one of the technicos gets in the ring, they get worn down by the same cheap tactics, before a legdrop from Snr and a senton from Jr give them the first fall. This continues into the second fall, before a missed dropkick from Jr takes out his father, and the technicos take control. Loved Transformer’s spinning headscissors, and Celestial impressed with his fluidity and speed, working a nice sequence against both rudos at once. A seated senton and a sunset flip give them the equalising fall. The bulk of the final fall sees the rudos taking advantage of Transformer’s ill-advised scarf, taking it in turns to choke him with it. Everything swiftly breaks down, and the technicos win with a victory roll and an abdominal stretch. Really fun match here, really dug it.

Dr Wagner Jr & Espanto Jr vs Celestial & Coloso

This starts off with some nice mat exchanges between Espanto and Celestial, but the rudo team – and Wagner in particular – ensure this doesn’t remain a friendly contest. Coloso stupidly falls for a handshake and hug from Wagner (brilliantly assisted by Espanto Jr coming in the ring and gesturing, as if to say “Don’t worry, you CAN trust him”) and gets blindsided. The rudos use all manner of distractions and cheapshots to retain control, and soon pin both technicos for the first fall. They control the ring so easily that Wagner is confident enough to walk Coloso to the corner to tag in Celestial, knowing the referees won’t see it and won’t allow the tag. The technicos do finally comeback, and I loved the image of Celestial stalking Wagner outside the ring, who still find time to angrily gesture at the crowd. The technicos even things up with a count out, with Celestial getting backdropped outside by his partner at a great height onto Espanto Jr. Looked amazing. Things are pretty close in the final fall, and I dug Celestial stopping a pinfall by calmly grabbing the refs hand and, when Wagner looks up, slapping him in the face. Wagner has had a few close calls when attacking below the belt in the match, and him dropping Celestial bollocks first on the top rope in the final straw, earning a DQ. This was really fun, and they took advantage of having some time to give each fall plenty of time to breath.

Bull Pain, Zandokan & The Killer vs El Texano, Silver King & Enrique Vera

One of the nice things about wrestling is discovering someone you’ve never heard of, but appears to be awesome. Based off this one match, Zandokan falls into that category for me. Looking swank as fuck in black trousers and a nice shirt, hair slicked back in a ponytail, he looks like a drug cartel kingpin from an awesome 80’s straight-to-video action film. He does lots of things here that I dig, including getting fed up with Texano’s cutesy handshake avoidance and giving him a vicious headbutt in the clinch. I also loved him faking getting kicked in the groin by Vera in an attempt to win the final fall by DQ, plus he takes the biggest bump of the match by going over the top rope to the floor. Pain also looks good, dishing out a few headbutts to the arm of Silver King when in control. With the match poised at one fall apiece, The Killer proves himself to have quite the inaccurate name by running to the back from Vera, leaving his partners to eat the fall and give the match to the technicos. Fun stuff.

Fishman, The Killer & Tigre Canadiense vs Transformer, Gran Hamada & Silver King

Bit of a sprint this one, clocking in at just over ten minutes, but it’s pretty good. There’s a terrific opening section between Tigre and Silver King, just so quick and fluid, with both guys missing stuff with aplomb. Transformer fancies his luck against all 3 rudos at once, and manages to outsmart them all. Hamada wins the first fall with a rana on the Killer. Silver King hitting an RKO on Fishman is a bit of a surprise in the second fall. The rudos plan here seems to be to take out Hamada, crotching him on the ring post, then Silver King, thus leaving them able to isolate Transformer, which occurs pretty easily for the three. Final fall, and we get a good chunk of brawling all round the venue. The technicos seem in control, until a 3-way bulldog is reverse, sending all three crashing into each other and all three are pinned for the rudo victory.

Babe Face, Negro Casas & Dr Wagner Jr vs El Hijo Del Santo, Gran Hamada & Solar

Heck of a way to finish the disk. Love the real rogue’s gallery of rudos here. Opening section is Solar and Wagner working the mat, trying to force the other’s shoulders down for a 3 count. Casas and Hamada also matchup really well in their brief stint in the ring together. Casas has so much presence. The technicos take the first fall, but the rudos rebound in the second, isolating Santo and, via a double-team submission, forcing him to submit. The deciding fall sees the rudos isolate Solar, coming SO close to holding his shoulders down on a dogpile pin attempt. Solar fight back to allow Santo in, and he’s a house of fire. First he hits Babe Face with a big rolling senton, then hits a belly-to-belly on Casas for the victory. This was so fluid, all six guys looked great.