wXw Kreuzzug ZXI Union City DVD Review

-Your hosts are Rob Naylor and his band of friends

Kyle O’Reilly vs. Marty Scrull

Match in Five Words or Less: Scrull Impresses

Match Summary/Analysis: This is a branch off of the LDRS/O’Reilly and Cole feud as the lesser of the two partners battle it out. I think the previous statement says a lot more about the awesomeness of Cole and Sabre. ACE pro wrestling put its website on the walls of the building in Union City. Guess if everyone is going to use their building, they might as well get some free advertising out of it. Basic to start. Stalemate. Nice elbow exchange out of a test of strength. O’Reilly gets an advantage after using a tilt a whirl backbreaker. Series of nearfalls by Scrull. The he wins a kick exchange. Kick to the back of O’Reilly’s head. Nasty. He shows a great deal of attitude. Pendulum rams O’Reilly into the corner. Back to a stalemate. Scrull with a rana and double knees in the corner. Lungblower off the second rope for two. O’Reilly out and he hits a kick to head. Crossface. Kick to the face while O’Reilly is perched on the top rope. More pinfalls by both men. Battle on the top rope. DOUBLE KNEES! PUNT! Backbreaker out of the torture rack position. I dug this match a lot. It was a great way to open the show and keep this feud simmering. Scrull and O’Reilly are rapidly rising indy stars for a reason. I think this was a particularly good way for Scrull to showcase himself in the states.

Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Marty Scrull/11:26/***1/4

Chris Dickinson vs. Karsten Beck (wXw World Tag Team Champion)

Match in Five Words or Less: Poor Dickinson

Match Summary/Analysis: Beck shouts into the microphone, but I can’t understand a word. If his past is any indication, it’s nothing important. Dickinson interrupts quickly. He starts out quickly on Beck. Some stalling as Dickinson plays air guitar with Beck’s belt and tries his jacket on. Chase is on. Dickinson continues beating the piss out of Beck. Kick to the head and a dropkick off the second rope. Beck is actually a fairly competent wrestler and an even better cowardly heel. Strike exchange. Clearly, Beck hasn’t watched Beyond Wrestling or Evolve. Beck set down on the guard rail. Hard knee to the chest off the apron. Back in the ring where Dickinson appears to injure his leg. Quick cross armbreaker and Dickinson taps. Hard to know whether the injury was real or not, buy based on how quickly the match ended and the fact that Dickinson stays in the ring for a long time, I’d say the former. Wasn’t actually a bad match before the injury. Hope Dickinson is alright.

Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Karsten Beck/6:35/*1/2

Big Van Walter and Drake Younger vs. Necro Butcher and Bad Bones

Match in Five Words or Less: AHHHHHHHHHH!

Match Summary/Analysis: When I look at a match and say, “Necro Butcher is my favorite wrestler of these four,” there’s a major problem. First move of the match… a headlock. Didn’t see that one coming. Hip toss by Necro followed by a monkey flip. That’s enough of that. Walter and Bones in now.  They clubber each other. Butcher and Bones work Walter over before a big splash in the corner takes Necro down. Bones comes in for the save. Back and forth go Younger and Bones. Side suplex and a springboard leg drop by Bones. Splash misses. Heat segment on Bones. If there was ever a match that screamed for a crazy brawl that goes all over the place and uses plunder, it’s this one. Instead, we get four brawlers trying to have a basic wrestling tag team match. Hot tag to Necro. Younger out quick. To work on Walter. He even takes the big man down. Bones back for whatever reason. Flying boot. LARIAT by Walter gets two. Younger in. Why do we have yet another heat segment on Bones. Double team by the heels. Bones no sells the beating and hits a dropkick off the top. Necro slams Younger on his partner. Bones dropkicks them both off the rope. Necro goes for a tiger driver. Younger takes care of Bones on the outside. Walter with a huge splash. 1-2-Done. About what I expected. Bad Bones’ lack of selling and the non-sensical ending (Why did Bones exit the ring when his team was about to win?) made this a very mediocre contest.

Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Big Van Walter and Drake Younger/11:59/**

Jun Kasai vs. Sami Calihan

Match in Five Words or Less: AHHHHHHHHHHH Part Two

Match Summary/Analysis: Naylor says this would be a main event anywhere in the country. I’d like to start by booking this in Justin Houston’s backyard. This would be right up his alley. They start out by attacking each other’s nipples. Swear to God. Double clothesline. Headbutt exchange. I know I asked about this in the last match, but if there were ever two guys who screamed PLUNDER, it’s these two. Instead, Kasai uses a shoe. Who uses a shoe…honestly? There was a decent shot of Kasai’s back… good God. Kasai tries to put Calihan’s jacket on, but it’s too small. Calihan hits a backdrop driver for two. A few members of the crowd want tables.I want this match to be over. Backdrop driver by Kasai. Snap suplex and headbutt from the top. He’s apparently going to use finishers from the 1980’s. LARIAT for two. Calihan comes back with one of his own. Low blow by Kasai before flipping some fans off. Electric chair and Calihan is sent hard into the top rope. LARIAT for two. Butterfly drop for two. A second but Calihan kicks out yet again. He puts some goggles on (almost loses them). He salutes but misses a dive. Charging forearm for… two. Calihan uses the goggles. Splash misses. Calihan applies the stretch muffler despite having not worked the leg AT ALL… and of course gets the tap out. *Sighs* This is every Sami Calihan match you’ll ever see. He takes a bunch of finishers, kicks out at two every, and wins after hitting two moves. Most of the time with the stretch muffler even though he never works a body part. It needs to be said. Sami Calihan is the most overrated wrestler of 2011, and it’s not even close.

Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Sami Calihan/11:43/*1/2

Adam Cole vs. Emil Sitoci

Match in Five Words or Less: Adam Cole Is Awesome

Match Summary/Analysis: We can finally get back to quality wrestling. Pose down to start. Didn’t see that one coming. Solid chain wrestling to start. Sitoci gets a quick roll-up for two and spanks Cole. Why not? More basic wrestling. Sitoci incorporates lucha and hits a rana for two. Skin the cat. Cole goes over after a bit of a delay. Plancha. Strikes in the corner. Superkick to the back of Sitoci’s head and he hits his throat on the rail. Cole pounces. Sitoci goes for a sunset flip but is hit hard with a clothesline. More roll-ups by Sitoci. Swinging neckbreaker by Cole. Forearm exchange. Sitoci comeback. Dropkick in the face. Gutbuster and split-legged moonsault gets 2.5. Battle on the top rope. Sitoci drops down. Cole jumps into an atomic drop. Backback stunner for two.  Leg Lariat. Yakuza kick. Corona crash broken up. Cole goes for a crossbody. Tombstone by Sitoci. No cover until it’s too late. Cole gets a foot on the ropes. Deeper cover so Cole kicks out. Bodyslam. Cole knocks him off the top rope. Reverse DDT out of the tombstone position for the quick win. A good match for its position on the card. Cole continues to impress as a dick heel, and Sitoci incorporated his unique style well into the match.

Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Adam Cole/12:56/***

Chris Hero vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

Match in Five Words or Less: A Technical Masterpiece

Match Summary/Analysis: This is why I sat through Calihan and Kasai. Two of the best in the world for sure.  Hero and Sabre shake hands to start. Hero tries working the leg to start. Greco Roman knucklelock. Hero obviously comes away on top. Sabre goes for a monkey flip but is denied. He gets a cross armbreaker. Hero quickly in the ropes. Octopus by Sabre. Hero gets a La Mahestral cradle. Wow. More mat wrestling. Hero focuses on Sabre’s arm. Snapmare by Hero and we have another stalemate. Sabre kicks at Hero’s legs. Strikes by Hero. Hero maintains control of this technical contest. Sabre dropkicks him outside. Hero out of the way of a dive. Sabre kicks him right in the chest a number of times. Hero uses the rail as a springboard to nail a roaring elbow. An elbow misses and he hits himself on the post. He tosses Sabre into the post to regain his composure. Sabre kicks the arm. He of course focuses on it back into the ring as a means of setting up for the cross armbreaker. Indeed, Sabre goes for it, but Sabre grabs the rope. After eating another roaring elbow, Sabre gets a triangle choke. He wrenches on the arm. Hero powers him and powerbombs him. Comeback by Hero leads to a charging forearm. Blockbuster gets two. Elbow and release suplex by Hero. Another elbow. Cross armbreaker once again. Crowd wants Hero to tap. Hero rolls over in the ropes. Headbutts in the sternum followed by a whip. Flying kick. Knee to Hero’s head. Series of pinfalls. Elbow and twisting boot IN THE FACE. 1-2-3. A great back and forth match. Hero has gotten so good at just having wrestling matches, and Sabre has shown a lot in his pseudo tour of the United States.

Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Chris Hero/18:04/***3/4

Daisuke Sekimoto (wXw World Heavyweight Champion) and Johnny Moss vs. The Briscoe Brothers (Jay and Mark Briscoe)

Match in Five Words or Less: DANGEROUS!

Match Summary/Analysis: My prediction is these four guys will hit each other really hard. Doubt I’m going out on a limb there. Feeling out process between Mark and Moss.  Briscoes on top. Nice dropkick by Jay. Sekimoto in. Champ starts out well enough but Mark helps his brother. Guess the Briscoes are playing heels in this match. Series of blows and Sekimoto is mildly annoyed. Chop exchange between Jay and Sekimoto. Moss in for another strike exchange. My prediction has come true. Heat segment on Moss. Nice overhead belly-to-belly suplex. Mark runs away from Sekimoto. He comes back in and proceeds to take punishment from the champion. Scorpion deathlock by Sekimoto. Heat segment on Mark continues as Moss works over the leg. Jay bails his brother out. Moss hits a one footed dropkick. Nice knee to Jay’s gut.  Mark dives in. Series of right hands. Splash off the second rope. Double shoulder tackle as the Briscoes control. Flying crossbody and a clothesline by Moss. Sekimoto with bodyslams and dropkicks for everyone! Double clothesline. He’s fired up. Jay hits a flatliner into the middle rope. Kick to Mark’s stomach by Sekimoto. Out of a powerbomb and a rolling senton. Moss breaks the count coming off the top. All four men battle. Clotheslines from Moss and Sekimoto on Jay. Mark ducks a similar attempt. Superkick on Sekimoto. Placed on the top rope. Iconoclasm but Moss saves the day. Jay tosses him. DVD on Sekimoto. Frog elbow by Mark. 1-2-NO! Moss is hit with superkicks from both Briscoes. Sekioto whipped. Clothesline on Mark. STF on Jay. Mark breaks the submission. Moss sends Mark outside. Hard chanrges by both men. Bodyslam. Sekimoto frog splash. 2.9. BRAINBUSTAH! Mark breaks the count. Sekimoto German suplexes Mark Briscoe and his own partner. A beautiful northern lights right into a knee right into a German. Sekimoto with a stalling German suplex for the win. This match met all my expectations and was a fine main event to the show.

Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Deisuke Sekimoto and Johnny Moss/16:39/***1/2

Line of the Night: Brett Lauderdale on commentary, “There can never be enough Buff Bagwell references.”

Finish of the Night: Chris Hero’s twisting boot to the face is always a great finisher. Considering Hero was wrestling from behind and simply struggling to come back after having his elbow worked on the entire match, I liked the way he came out the winner.

MVP: Sabre and Hero put on the best match of the night, so I’ll give it to both of them. There weren’t really a great deal of outstanding performances, but a lot of solid ones. Still, credit goes to Hero and Sabre for their effort.

The Verdict: wXw blew away their first show in the United States with their weekend in Philadelphia and Union City. Even though this definitely had a “B”show feel, there were four matches worth checking out. Nothing outstanding but a lot of good wrestling in the opener and last two matches in particular. A solid thumbs up from me.