Thoughts on Resistance Pro- Positives and Negatives

Walking into the Excalibur last night, I wasn’t sure what to think. Here we had a new federation being run by a musician and owned by a couple of brothers who once had a relationship with AAW. There was a ton of hype surrounding the show, particularly in Chicago because of the Billy Corgan connection. There are a number of people who have disregarded the company and even flat-out want it to fail. As someone who loves wrestling and wants as much good wrestling out in the world, I refused to subscribe to either one of these points of views. Because of the talent involved and the unique atmosphere, I was genuinely curious to see how this company came together. Everyone can go check out the live report up on the website, but this is an opportunity to see what went right and what went wrong.

The Right:

*Know how Ring of Honor and Dragon Gate USA like using generic rock music for all their wrestlers? Not the case here. Everyone had distinctive themes and with a better sound system (This is moreso a problem with the building and with the company), the music would have been an even greater asset to the show. There were various types of music being used, and each wrestler had a little something different. Even Colt Cabana had a different them than what we’re used to. Ditto El Generico. Just think of how awkward it was for an El Generico theme to play and not to automatically go “OLE!” Nonetheless, the music (and really the entrances overall thanks to the lighting and the unique look of the Excalibur) was one of the more positive aspects of the show.

*After a rather controversial interview with T.J. Hawke of 411mania, I was highly interested in seeing what Gran Akuma had to offer. I can’t say his work in DG USA or CHIKARA wowed me toward the end of his run. I didn’t hear much better concerning his CZW run either. He had a match teaming with Teddy Hart of all people against The Briscoes. To say Akuma looked great would be an understatement. This is most crisp I’ve seen him in years, literally. He was smooth. He looked in great shape. He looked motivated. Akuma might have been the MVP of the entire show thanks to his performance. Speaking of MVPs…

*When looking at overall MVPs of indy wrestling, the list pretty much has to include Kevin Steen at the top, right? How Ring of Honor hasn’t had Steen wrestle a single solitary match this year comes off as brain dead. That was shown yet again Friday night against David Hart Smith. While not being a typical indy main event, they wrestled a hard 25 minutes with lots of ebb and flow. Steen was so great as a heel, and his interactions with Tara of all people might make this DVD a thumbs up all by itself. Tara was the best wrestling fan ever (better than a lot of the people who paid 20 dollars), and Steen yelling at her made the main event special. It also helps Steen is really strong in the ring and had the ability to work an excellent match with Smith.

*When it comes to women’s wrestling, the person who usually gets regarded as the best in the world is Sara Del Rey. As great as Del Rey has been, it’s extremely unfair  to the artist formerly known as Cheerleader Melissa. She really is excellent in the ring and should be more highly regarded than she is. I’m glad R-Pro has established her as being at the top of the heap right from the get-go. If this promotion wants us to take women’s wrestling seriously, Cheerleader Melissa is the right person to slot in at the top of the division.

*I found the idea of the Briscoes having a manger absurd considering their already strong mic skills and ability to be themselves, but somehow they made it work. Darcy Dickson might have no future in wrestling and likely won’t add anything to the Briscoes act, but Jay and Mark will include her as long as they maintain a presence in R-Pro. Jay cut a hilarious promo before the match where they talked about what they would do with Ms. Dickson (Jay made sure to mention what happened in Chicago stays in Chicago), and then they proceeded to have one of the best matches of the night with Akuma and Teddy. It was utter insanity from bell-to-bell. I know Billy Corgan talked about safety for this promotion, but that pretty much went out the window with these four. Thankfully, no one was hurt, and the dumbest spot of the match was of course done by Teddy Hart, a moonsault from a second floor balcony to ringside.

Negatives:

*While there was some good to great wrestling on the show, boy oh boy were the finishes brutal. Foreign objects were used up and down this show in order to gain victories. Right from the first match, a semifinal championship match, Sheik used a spike on Generico. Look, I understand there is something to gaining heat, but to have this many BS finishes, especially when it’s your first show, strikes me

as being extremely pretentious and Vince Russo like. If I’m supposed to care about the characters and the people involved, there needs to be some context for what’s happening. If I know walking into every show, I’m going to see three or four of these type of finishes on every show, why should I become emotionally invested? Same goes for the championships. I’ll talk about the women’s gauntlet in just a moment, but look at the finishes of the heavyweight title tournament. There was Sheik using a foreign object in one match, and the main event of this first show was a freaking draw. I seriously checked the banner to make sure I wasn't watching Ring of Honor after the contest was over (Least it wasn't Time Limit Lethal). Steen and Smith both advanced into a three way with Sheik at the next show, thus making more El Generico look like a giant geek.

*The women’s gauntlet, with the exception of Cheerleader Melissa, came off pretty terribly. A number of the other girls couldn’t work or couldn’t handle being in a gauntlet with a number of other girls. I appreciate this promotion wanting to emphasize women’s wrestling from the first show, but why have Melanie Cruise come down from the VIP section, hit one move, and then immediately become the champion while in street clothes? Then to make matters worse, she calls the other girls the “drizzling shits.” So right away the women’s division is completely buried by the girl who is the champion, and the champion is in street clothes and looks like a bartender at Excalibur. Having a gong by the ring and hitting it every time a girl entered the ring into the gauntlet also came off extremely goofy. But hey, at least the belt isn’t as ugly as the Diva’s title in WWE.

*Regardless of how you feel about CHIKARA's High Noon, Icarus and Hallowicked came off as bigger stars than ever because of the fact they were on the iPPV and in big time matches. Hallowicked wasn’t completely buried in his tag team match against Kyle O’Reilly and Tony Kozina. he basically worked the entire match and lost while Matt Classic stood the apron and amused himself in various ways. Still, Hallowicked was treated as an afterthought and not to be taken seriously. He was quickly ushered out of the ring and all of the emphasis was placed on O’Reilly and Kozina (known as Team Ambition), but at least Hallowicked looked valiant in defeat. Icarus was squashed in less than a minute by “Lonesome” Jay Bradley after a lariat killed him dead. One of the most charismatic heat machines in wrestling gets demolished. I’m not saying Icarus can be a main eventer, but he’s a walking ball of hate. People love booing the guy. Everything about Icarus exudes him being a giant douche who everyone wants to just boo with all their heart. To completely bury him was a questionable decision. If you want Jay Bradley to kill someone, bring in someone from a local wrestling school who no one cares about. Don’t bring in a CHIKARA student (from Philadelphia no less) who’s busted his ass for nine years and  has some actual credibility in this business.

*I don’t pretend to know everything about the backstage machinations of pro wrestling, but when looking at the Sheik, I can’t help but be offended by nearly aspect of his game. First off, he’s blatantly ripping off a gimmick that was popular more than two (maybe three) decades ago. Second, it’s 2011, and he’s trying to get the cheapest of the cheap heat using a Middle Eastern gimmick. How is it okay in any conceivable way for wrestling companies to still use a guy with nicknames like “The Iranian Assassin” or “The Madmen from the Middle East.” Third, there’s the seediness surrounding the NWA title situation, which I quite frankly don’t have enough time to get into.  If Resistance Pro wants to be taken seriously by fans, I can’t see how allowing The Sheik anywhere near the main event scene will allow them this opportunity. His match with El Generico was simply not good. And considering El Generico is one of the best wrestlers in the world (and a man who’s held titles on three continents WITHOUT having to bribe anyone), it’s pretty depressing seeing El Generico in a nothing opener with someone who’s obviously going to be a golden boy heel for the promotion. The Sheik was brutal as Joey Machete, and he’s even worse in this terribly offensive gimmick. I wish I could flush both he and his craptacular manager out of indy wrestling for good.

Overall Thoughts:

A lot of things can be said about Resistance Pro. There were a number of positive and negative aspects. Much of the wrestling was good, but the booking had a lot to be desired up and down the card. Regardless of whether Raven or Billy Corgan are making the booking decisions, they’ve got to book better finishes. One of the reasons people aren’t purchasing wrestling right now is because wins and losses don’t matter on television. When people invest their time in something, they don’t want to feel like its being wasted. These constant BS finishes and random run-ins and goofy happenings numb fans into not caring. The evidence can be heard from fans’ apathy and seen in companies’ bottom lines. I’m not going to come down on this show either way until seeing a DVD. There are some aspects of the show I may have missed, and I really want to see the entire presentation before making final judgment.