Last night’s MPX show was a nice test. They are moving to two shows a month. How are they going to adjust? Will they over-expose any talents? Will they still be able to keep their storylines fresh? I had so much fun, mostly because of my seats. (Thanks, Kat.) I was behind the Day family and Team Kyle. That made it worth the price of admission alone.
First match: BC & Frankie Fisher vs. Live, Fly & Die
BC got on the mic (which is always good) and explained that Zach T was out so he was going to have a special tag team partner, Frankie Fisher. You had a few stories told here. James Hawke and Frankie still remembered their feud. BC and Frankie kept on trying to tag in each other. In a really funny moment, BC (who is a take-off of a Jersey Shore character) introduced FTP: Fist-pumping, Push-ups and Tag in Frankie. Seph has come so far in the ring. He is a really good high-flyer. In a few years, I see him as being one of Texas’ best. And BC never has to learn how to wrestle nor does he ever have to win. He has so much personality and connects with that crowd so well, he will continue to be one of the best things in MPX. James was very good at engaging the crowd and trying to get them going. Eventually, Frankie just said screw it and walked off. Hawke submitted BC.
Winner: Live Fly Die
This match was a really good match and well-put-together. I was just a little confused over Frankie being used here. He should be a main eventer and didn’t make sense in the match. I know in a perfect world it would have been Zach T in the match and not Frankie. It just didn’t make a lot of sense for me. I also wanted to give props to Seph for his corkscrew plancha.
Second match: Andy Dalton vs. Kenny Steele
I was looking forward to this match as I thought it was a great opportunity for Kenny. You had the story of the great cocky physical specimen going against the wise gristled veteran. So every move Kenny would do, Dalton had an answer for. Also much can be said for how good Kenny is with the crowd. Dalton also did a good job of improvising when his music didn’t play. About the match itself, Andy Dalton had Josh Prohibition chops. For the 3 of you who will get that reference, they were some brutal chops. However, Kenny brought the win.
Winner: Steele
I wrote down that this was a fun match. What made the night fun is that Team Kyle had seats in the row in front of us. They spent the night torturing some girl. They had a party platter with some wine they kept on drinking. Kate introduced JT LaMotta who came out and cut a promo. He was so good with the crowd. He had everybody hating him in 45 seconds. He was so entertaining. Then Kristopher Haiden came out and they had a dueling promo. What made this segment so good is that you had intense LaMotta with mellow Haiden. The two just went out there and entertained.
Third match: “Just” James Johnson w/Kody Kox vs. $Payday$ w/WASP
I was a little confused at first because I thought Kody had quit in December. But I thought the two had a nice match. The best part was sitting behind $Payday$’s mom. She is a very proud mom and as well she should be. $Payday$ did a standing moonsault. He has such a natural athleticism. James Johnson did a great job of being the heel out there. $Payday$ did a great job of selling too. There was a mysterious really pretty blond (I recognized her from the indy scene, but I’ll let MPX announce who she is when it’s time.) that went to ringside and observed. She didn’t get involved, just observed. Interesting. So who is she? Why is she there? Who was she there to observe? A good wrestling promotion leaves you with questions and that’s exactly what they did with this match. $Payday$ hit the Shooting Star Press and won the match.
Winner: $Payday$
Fourth match: Carrion Arcane w/Claudia vs. Zero the Antihero
When Arcane’s music hit, Team Kyle did a song for him. They sang, “This is Arcane” to the music. I gotta admit I popped for that. Poor Zero. I think he needs to rename himself “Zero Horrowitz” or “Zero Luis Rivera” or “Hijo de The Gambler.” I know they don’t ever get the glory, but there’s a lot to be said for the enhancement talent. As Bill Goldberg once said about Bill DeMott, the streak had to start somewhere. The most important thing this match needed to do was get Arcane over as a brutal monster. That’s exactly what it did. Arcane was doing this weird eye make-up on his face. Somebody in Team Kyle, I think Choice or Regrub, said he looked like a raccoon. I thought he looked like a ninja turtle, either Leonardo or Donnatello. It was a total squash, but I even kept asking myself if tonight was going to be the night that Zero won.
Winner: Arcane
After the match, Tadlock and Arcane continued their attack. When Ben Wylde came to the rescue, Arcane channeled his inner Kane with Christian Bale’s Batman voice. He offered Ben a chance to join his group. How can Ben be evil? He is Team Pasty White. He is everything good and right with the world. Ah, the questions continue.
Fifth match: Viktor Tadlock w/Claudia vs. WASP w/$Payday$
WASP had an “You f’ed up” moment during the intros. He tried to jump to the top turnbuckle and slipped not once but twice. He can laugh at himself so he could recover just fine. This was a match with two big guys. The story was very compelling. Tadlock wanted to win on his own, but Claudia kept on interfering. $Payday$ also showed a lot of fire in WASP’s corner. Claudia red misted WASP while Tadlock was not looking and Tadlock got the pin.
Winner: Tadlock
After the match, Tadlock looked at WASP’s face and it noticed it was red. He was not happy with Claudia. Is Tadlock turning over a new leaf? (Personally, I think he’s such a natural heel, I’d like to see him stay that way, but I’ll reserve judgment until the story is done again.)
We did the contract signing with Headbanger and Frankie. Headbanger had quite a bit of swagger. He is looking a little more jacked and had the quiet intensity to counterbalance Frankie’s loud intensity. I was a little disappointed no tables were broken or that somebody’s name wasn’t written in blood. But it was a nice face off and built towards the big February show.
Main event: JT LaMotta vs. Kristopher Haiden
You can tell these are two very good friends familiar with each other outside the ring. They had really good chemistry inside the ring. This was a really good entertaining match. There was a wild crowd brawl. There was a ref bump and then Team Kyle came in and attacked Haiden. Surprisingly, Haiden kept kicking out. However, the numbers game was too much and LaMotta pinned Haiden.
Winner: LaMotta
All in all… A really great night of wrestling. Most every match went somewhere and had a purpose. The work was a lot better also. There were a few botches, but a lot less than we’ve seen in the past. My major concern is that they make sure to alternate the top of the card before they birth the next John Cena. It seems like they are doing a good job of alternating so far.
I like how they are building to bigger shows. I’m now looking forward to the late February show because it sounds like they are going to put a lot into it. There’s a few booking things that are driving me crazy, but overall it’s very well-booked. There are plenty of questions that will continue to make me come back. That’s exactly what we need.
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