On Saturday, July 23 2011, Pro Wrestling Evo presented “This is Wrestling! Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap!” live from Cabarrus Arena Gold Hall! This is Wrestling showcased the hard hitting and high-flying action synonymous with Pro Wrestling Evo, stars including Cedric Alexander, Manscout Jake Manning, Marcellus King, Caleb Konley, Team Macktion, Zack Salvation and many more! Relive the biggest night in Pro Wrestling Evo as the landscape changed forever.
Arik Royal vs Trevor Lee vs Circo
This match started off really slow as Circo was jaw jacking with the fans and I believe there was a count which I have to first off say is weird seeing as how the other two guys could have been wrestling the entire time he was outside. This turned out to be a basic match though I can’t say that it was really getting the crowd into the match for the first 2 minutes. After that though the action picked up and it was clear that Arik Royal could be a break out for Evo. Circo was obviously playing the cowardly heel and picking his spots as his mentor/leader Marcellus King was on commentary.
Trevor Lee was in and out of the match and doing some high flying stuff, but overall he was there to be the third man. Arik Royal came off the top rope for a splash onto Lee but instead of going for a pin he ran the rope and basically drop kicked Lee in the face for the pin. Not sure what the purpose of that was but still a decent ending that the crowd was happy for.
Jimmy Jack Funk Jr vs Big Country
JJF jr started out with a promo and while he was trying to bring the crowd into his gimmick I can’t say that it worked on the level that he was wanting as he was calling the crowd a bunch of red necks where as that is basically his gimmick is a red neck cowboy with a bull rope and everything. Either way Big Country then came out to defend and the crowd liked him for being the home town hero. Two big men and this started out with some mat work. Nothing special though Big Country possibly did more than I thought he could. Evo President Patrick Wright was on commentary for this match and gave some insight into event.
The match continued and while it was nothing special, it got the point across and while I can’t say that I’d pay to see Jimmy Jack Funk Jr ever, it was a good feeling moment for the crowd as Big Country got to throw him around the ring. It was a fun moment as Big Country who was wearing denim overalls took one strap down to signal to the crowd that it was about to get serious. Oddly enough this match ended in a roll up which I would not have guessed from the beginning. Solid match but I will wait to see what we get out of Big Country in the future.
Team Macktion vs Caleb Konley/Zack Salvation
Team Macktion is composed of two brothers Kirby Mack & TJ Mack who are well known mostly for being trained by the Hardy brothers. Caleb Konley started the match with Kirby and this was the money match in my opinion as Pro Wrestling Evo was really hyping this match as a special marquee match. Some good counter wrestling in this match as Conley has some crisp moves and Kirby didn’t disappoint either. TJ Mack came in to gace Zack Salvation who has been putting a lot out there on Youtube which I will be putting at the end of this review but I have to say as good as Conley & Kirby did in the beginning moments, Tj & Zack had some fun variations on old favorites. Such as Zaclk going for a reversal and then realising that he didn’t catch the head of TJ and TJ getting the reversal in the end. Repeated missing elbows also told the story that these men had either scouted eachother pretty damn well or that they were just so similar in style that they knew when it was coming. Of course the minute I typed that it was mentioned on commentary. The back story to this was that Konley had lost a match due to Salvation from the last event and in this you could tell that Konley wasn’t really caring when Salvation was getting hurt, but overall this is business and I can’t say that it was the smartest move in the world.
Team Macktion had some fun tag team moves and it was easy to see that they were easy in the ring, if not necessarily the smoothest. Overall though Team Macktion was as impressive as any other time I’ve seen them and knew how to draw the crowd into the match. At one point though I have to say there was a scary moment where Zack was getting double teamed on the top rope but pushed TJ off and then basically Styles Clashed Kirby onto the prone TJ, though I do think it was supposed to be a power bomb but either way the visual was scary.
Overall this match had some scary dives, including one into no one which by Salvation that you have to see to believe. A match that I would say is worth half the price of the DVD alone and should be seen by any fans of say PWG or ROH as any of these talents would fit into those promotions just as easily and they are being highlighted here in Pro Wrestling EVO. Team Macktions finisher is just awesome as it is a surfboard by Kirby as TJ comes off the top with a double stomp called ‘Death from Above’. Great match and worth going out of your way to see.
Manscout Merit Challenge: Manscout Jake Manning vs George Sourth Jr
Big Country is on commentary and Jake Manning vs George South Jr is so far going pretty well. Some good back and forth action between the two until one of the worst botches that by far will be in a future bothcamania vbideo no doubt. That not withstanding thsi match continued and I can’t really complain about anything. The overall story was that Jake Manning did not know who he was going to compete against and thus had to deal with an unknown talent. But in the end it was the Manscout winning with a decent combo move of a reverse atomic drop & flat liner.
Pro Wrestling EVO Heavyweight Title: Champion Cedric Alexander vs Marcellus King
This match started hard and heavy and both men showed why they were in the main event. Marcellus King is truly a ring general and while Cedric Alexander is in ROH as a tag team with Caprice Coleman I have to say that Marcellus King also should keep an ear close to his phone as ROH should bring him in asd both men carried themselves as superstars here and the crowd could tell.
This match showcased the talents of both men with sequences & chains that told a great story that King was vicious and angry that he wasn’t the champion and that Cedric Alexander was really struggling, but as champion was fighting valiantly against his challenger. King was clearly working the back for most of the match but he was still using all the heel tactics including placing his lower leg over the throat of Alexander and clearly placing the ref out of position. Just great stuff and I have to say, that this match is well worth the entire price of the DVD as these two men are talents to keep an eye on. King reminds me of an updated version of Bad News Allen. Salvation on commentary also added to the match and really kept me captured in the match as well. Evo would be wise to utilize this strength of his.
This match also ended in some controversy as Marcellus King’s cohort Circo came out and while he did not last long, it did allow Marcellus King to win the EVO heavyweight title.
I won’t tell you the complete finish as I demand that you spend that $15 to get this DVD but believe me when I say it is an ending sequence that is just pure excellence and everything I love about pro wrestling. This match coupled with Team Macktion vs Konley & Salvation are really worth it as the rest of the matches are just fun fillers. This is going to be a great promotion to watch in the NC area and if you can go to the next event you definitely should.
Also a quick shout out at Chris Shore, the ring announcer who has written an excellent novella called ‘The Following Contest is…” Check it out. At only $0.99 you can’t go wrong. Check out all the details at http://TheFollowingContest.com
You can contact me on twitter @ http://twitter.com/CGSTONG or on facebook @ http://facebook.com/CGSTONG leave a comment or ask a question and I will always respond. Thanks for your support of PWP.
Jimmy Jack Funk Jr.? Who would want to be a diminutive of a gimmick that awful?