Retaliation on May 7th, 2011
Pre-Show Match: Tyler Priegel vs. Bucky Collins
Collins utilizes some trickery early on and lands a standing moonsault. He hurricanranas Priegel into the middle turnbuckle but gets crotched on the top rope. Priegel drops Collins back-first across the top turnbuckle. He takes control until Collins hurricanranas out of a powerbomb attempt. Collins hits a twisting neckbreaker for a nearfall. Priegel responds with a backbreaker and an exploder. Collins connects with shotgun knees followed by a running knee strike for the win at 3:41. Both men showed a lot of promise in only four minutes and DREAMWAVE pre-show matches are never a chore to watch. *½
Ace Martino and Justice Jones come out after the match. Jones hits a chokeslam on Collins and throws him out of the ring. Martino says that Shane Hollister will have the shortest career ever in DREAMWAVE because his first match tonight will also be his last.
Acid, the new DREAMWAVE World Champion, makes his way to the ring to officially start the show. He thanks the crowd for believing in him and talks about how he was on the verge of retiring at one point. Austin Roberts interrupts and reminds Acid that he's the #1 contender. Mason Beck comes out and throws his name into the hat as well. Roberts and Beck have a pretty intense stare-down as Acid comically points out. They run into the ring and attack Acid. “Mr. 450” Hammett makes the save and stands tall in the ring with Acid as Roberts and Beck retreat.
Opening Match: DREAMWAVE Tag Team Titles: C.J. Esparza and Bret Gakiya © vs. Yabo the Clown and Chuckles
Both teams start brawling before the opening bell. Esparza lands a standing moonsault onto Yabo. Zero Gravity follow with stereo planchas to the floor. Back in, Esparza lands a standing corkscrew press onto Chuckles. Yabo interrupts a springboard attempt, allowing Chuckles to connect with a clothesline on Esparza. Yabo misses his top rope leg drop and gets taken down by a spin kick from Gakiya. Gakiya lands a lionsault onto Yabo but falls victim to a sit-out gourdbuster. No Laughing Matter isolate him until he connects with a springboard dropkick on Chuckles and makes the tag. Esparza lands a standing shooting star press onto Chuckles and takes out Yabo with a dive. Chuckles hits a twisting brainbuster on Esparza and No Laughing Matter add a tandem chokeslam. Zero Gravity respond with an ace crusher-flying crossbody combination on Chuckles to retain their titles at 5:24. I'm a big fan of Yabo and I could see him working well in a tag team setting. I wish this match would have received more time so No Laughing Matter could have displayed more of their teamwork. However, Zero Gravity delivered a wealth of exciting action and this was a solid first title defense. **½
Jay Repsel introduces himself to Shane Hollister in the locker room. Hollister is excited to be apart of DREAMWAVE. Austin Roberts comes by and asks what's going to happen to Hollister when Repsel rips his heart out. Roberts complains about management and says that Repsel will soon be able to see his master plan.
Match #2: Shane Hollister vs. Justice Jones
Jones utilizes his power advantage to start. Hollister connects with a knee strike but runs into an overhead suplex. Jones takes control and hits a nice jumping backbreaker. Hollister attempts a springboard maneuver but Jones catches him and hits a powerslam. Jones misses a corner charge and Hollister connects with a missile dropkick. Ace Martino jumps onto the apron but Jones accidentally knocks him off. Hollister sneaks in an innovative rollup for the victory at 6:40. The crowd was able to get behind Hollister rather quickly and he picked up a nice win in his debut. Jones showcased some impressive power moves and I don't think the quick rollup loss hurt him. Still, I know these two have a better match in them if given more time. **¼
Match #3: Dan Lawrence vs. Joey Marx
Marx does a few flips during his entrance and Lawrence challenges a kid in the crowd to a dance-off. The referee conveniently knows the dance-off rules. Lawrence puts forth a solid effort but the crowd boos him. The kid starts breakdancing and undoubtedly wins the dance-off. Lawrence attacks before the opening bell. Marx hits a northern lights suplex but finds knees on a lionsault attempt. Lawrence drives him into the turnbuckles and dances a little for good measure. He takes control until Marx fights back with a few atomic drops and a lariat. Lawrence avoids a spin kick and hits a neckbreaker. Marx responds with a neckbreaker of his own and lands a standing shooting star press. They battle up top and Lawrence hits an overhead suplex for the win at 6:36. The crowd enjoyed the pre-match shenanigans and they wrestled an entertaining back and forth contest. I like Marx when he teams with Bryce Benjamin and he was able to hold his own in a singles setting as well. However, the trend I’m finding so far on this show is that every match would have been better with more time. **¼
Waylon Beck is looking for Cousin Bobby in the locker room. He hasn't seen him since they lost the DREAMWAVE Tag Team Titles last month. Mason Beck says that he has more important things to worry about. He asks Waylon to stay out of trouble tonight.
Match #4: Ace Martino vs. Matt Knicks
Martino had hinted that he was going to wrestle a LaSalle legend and the crowd is disappointed that it’s not Prince Mustafa Ali. However, Knicks went through the trouble of dressing up like Ali. Knicks, mocking Ali, stumbles around the ring as though he’s out of shape. Martino dominates and picks up the victory at 0:58. I don’t know if Ali will ever wrestle again, but the crowd would go crazy for his match against Martino.
Martino names himself the “prince of DREAMWAVE wrestling.” The real Prince Mustafa Ali comes out and connects with a spin kick on Knicks. Ali follows with a spear and stands tall in the ring. Ali challenges Martino to a match. A distraction from Justice Jones allows Martino to hit a spear on Ali. Jones chokeslams Ali through two propped chairs. Shane Hollister runs out to make the save.
JC Costilli brings out Lex Luger for an interview. Luger says that it’s great to be in LaSalle and claims that he’s liked what he’s seen from DREAMWAVE. Ryland Foxx of all people interrupts and blames the fans for his attack last month. Foxx introduces his personal attorney and says that he’s suing DREAMWAV
E. Luger reviews the litigation and starts giving legal advice. He tosses the papers into the crowd and Foxx starts flipping out. Marshe Rockett appears out of nowhere and lays out the attorney with an ace crusher. I’ve just witnessed Lex Luger solve a lawsuit so I can scratch that off of my bucket list.
Match #5: Greg Glover vs. Waylon Beck
Glover is looking for revenge after the Beck Family attacked Brian Nelson last month. A video is shown before the match revealing that Glover locked Cousin Bobby in a closet in the locker room. They start brawling in the crowd. Glover hits a shinbreaker in the ring along with a senton. He connects with a vicious clothesline but gets caught by an enzuigiri. Beck hits a fireman’s carry neckbreaker. Glover connects with a running knee strike and hits rolling german suplexes. He follows with a diving headbutt to Beck’s knee. Glover applies a standing figure four for the win at 4:35. Glover looked like an absolute monster here, although I’m not sure if Beck needed to lose in under five minutes. They definitely told a good story during their limited time. On the other hand, and not to sound like a broken record, I wish this match would have lasted longer, especially since Glover went through the trouble of kidnapping Cousin Bobby. **¼
Glover sends Beck through a propped chair after the match. Mason Beck eventually comes out to chase Glover away. Glover tells Mason that he's next.
Match #6: Steve Boz vs. Scott Keyes
The commentators try saying that this match has major implications on the world title picture. Didn't Kevin Thorn beat Keyes in four minutes two months ago? Boz connects with a superkick for the victory at 1:26. Considering that this match consisted of only one move, I can't really give it a rating. I guess the idea was to let us know that Boz is focused.
Mason Beck and Waylon Beck are in the locker room. A doctor is checking on Waylon after the post-match attack from Greg Glover. Dan the Man interrupts and says that Waylon got what he deserved. Waylon starts hitting on Dan the Man's manager as Mason becomes increasingly frustrated.
Match #7: Silas Young vs. Dan the Man
Young is making his official debut in DREAMWAVE here after costing Steve Boz his match last month. Young immediately takes control and hits a backbreaker-lariat combination. Dan the Man gets pushed to the floor and Young maintains control back in the ring. Dan the Man fights back with a satellite headscissors followed by a bulldog. He connects with a rolling double stomp and hits a DDT. Young dodges a tiger feint kick and lands the Peegee Waja Plunge for the win at 7:44. While I thought that most of the matches so far deserved more time, I actually wish this match would have been shorter. I’m probably never going to buy Dan the Man as a serious threat so I was surprised that he received so much offense, especially against the debuting Young. *¼
Steve Boz runs to the ring and attacks Young. Boz knocks down Young with a shoulder tackle. Young is barely able to escape a superkick. Security members hold Boz back as Young retreats.
Match #8: Nick Brubaker vs. Marshe Rockett
This is the first match in a best-of-five series. They trade strikes and Rockett hits a flapjack. Rockett connects with a series of chops around ringside. Brubaker uses some random woman as a distraction to gain the advantage and he takes control in the ring. Rockett builds some momentum but gets slowed down by an enzuigiri. Rockett comes back with a leg lariat and hits a double-underhook suplex. Brubaker fights off an ace crusher and hits an exploder. He goes to the middle rope but Rockett hits an ace crusher out of nowhere in a cool moment. Brubaker sneaks in a low blow and rolls up Rockett for the victory at 7:30. This best-of-five series is a logical progression from the A-List breakup and I can see these two putting on a decent string of matches. Brubaker has always meant a lot to DREAMWAVE and I'm glad that Rockett is moving away from the pre-show and towards the semi-main events. They didn't give away too much in this first match, but hopefully they build on it during future encounters in the series. **¾
Match #9: Acid and “Mr. 450” Hammett vs. Austin Roberts and Mason Beck
Beck takes down Acid with a shoulder tackle and gets a big smile of his face. Hammett connects with a missile dropkick on Beck and Acid follows with a springboard dropkick. They both land lionsaults as well. Roberts and Beck find an opening to connect with stereo kicks but Acid and Hammett respond with stereo chops. The crowd even gets in a few chops on the heels. Acid and Hammett work together to hit a suplex on Beck. Beck responds with a fallaway slam-samoan drop combination. The heels isolate Hammett until he connects with a gamenguiri on Beck, lands a flying crossbody, and makes the tag. Acid hits a side slam on Roberts along with a nice lungblower. Beck plants Acid with a fireman's carry slam. Hammett hits a tornado DDT on Beck. Roberts hits a lariat-uranagi combination on Hammett. Beck shrugs off a springboard maneuver from Hammett. He positions Hammett for a powerbomb but gets sent over the top rope by a hurricanrana. Roberts grabs the DREAMWAVE World Title and hits Acid with it. He calls for the referee but Acid kicks out at two! Roberts now brings a chair into the ring. Jay Repsel tries to prevent him from using it. Acid takes advantage of the situation and hits a chair-assisted lungblower for the win at 14:47. This was a great showcase for four of the main players in DREAMWAVE. Acid and Hammett looked strong coming off title wins last month, Beck continued to look like a monster, and Roberts played his role perfectly. The action effectively incorporated the ongoing stories between Acid/Roberts and Hammet/Beck. Even the finish worked in some story as Roberts has been breathing down Repsel's neck recently. DREAWAVE excels at storytelling and this main event brought everything together while still providing worthwhile action. ***½
Overall: Retaliation ran into the unfortunate problem of quantity over quality. There are ten matches on this DVD and I found myself wishing that half of them would have received more time to develop. The main event doesn't run into this problem, however, and the show definitely closes on a high note. Another positive coming from this show is that the stories are all moving along at a nice pace and even if the wrestling isn't up to par, I still find myself looking forward to the next show. As far as a recommendation is concerned, I simply can't give this show one based on the strength of the main event alone.
For more information, check out dreamwavewrestling.com