PWS WrestleReunion
1-28-12
Westin Hotel
Los Angeles, Callifornia
On January 28, 2012 PWS presents a Wrestling Superstars show at WrestleReunion, the following is a full review of that dvd which you can get NOW at www.highspots.com and Remember the following is…..#1MansOpinion
Mick Foley & “Iron” Mike Tyson come out to welcome the crowd & do a promo. Foley talks about reffing the New Age Outlaws versus the Steiners later tonight and has a great line, saying that “Rick Steiner never liked me & Scott Steiner is out of his F***ing mind” Tyson briefly speaks about “Superstar” Billy Graham but I couldn't make much of his promo out.
Excalibur & Marty Derosa are on commentary for tonights event.
Arik Royal vs Adam Page
Very nice chain wrestling from both of these mid atlantic mainstays. Big Arik Royal more than keeping up with the much smaller Adam Page. Royal takes advantage displaying his brutal kicks but Page gets the advantage right back with a very nice dropkick followed by a shooting star press off the ring apron to the FLOOR! Page brings Royal back into the ring & the lights go out as VADER's music plays and he hits the ring to a huge response. Once Vader hits the ring Royal throws Page to Vader but the Mastodon goes after BOTH men. Brutal strikes and classic “Vader offense” including a vader bomb, big splash and powerbomb from the Master of that move.
#1MansOpinion: Excellent opening segment. I have the pleasure of seeing Page & Royal on a regular basis in North Carolina and have to say they both looked at home on somewhat of a larger stage in Los Angeles. It was very cool to see Vader interrupt the match but the way Page & Royal were going I could've watched their match develop another 15 minutes. Vader was awesome here and it should be mentioned once again Page & Royal were both very good. ***
The New Age Outlaws(Billy Gunn & Road Dogg) vs The Steiner Brothers
Special Guest Referee: Mick Foley
Outlaws come out first to their old school “Oh You Didn't Know?” entrance which the crowd chants right along with. Funny moment when Gunn goes to do his “If you're not down with that” line he tells Road Dogg “Hell I'm blown up from your speaking part”. Very entertaining & nostalgic from the NAO here. Gunn goes through several catchphrases of The Rock & Stone Cold before hitting the “Suck It!” line to the delight of a hot crowd in LA. The Steiner Brothers out next and the crowd is divided with dueling chants, Scott grabs the mic and percedes to cuss out the entire arena assuming the heel role for the Steiners. Foley calls for a substitue referee but thinks twice saying “I am hardcore legend therefore I will be in this ring…cowering in the corner”. Steiners with the advantage to start and clear the ring of both Road Dogg & Gunn. A lot of comedy in this one including Rick Steiner biting Billy Gunn's posterior several times. Steiners controlled much of the match isolating Road Dogg, Gunn gets the tag and gets some heat before being hit with a classic Scott Steiner belly to belly. Steiner then pushes guest official Foley, who thinks about going for Mr. Socko but doesn't and Scott turns around into a Fame-Asser from Billy Gunn, fast count by Foley and The New Age Outlaws win.
#1MansOpinion: This one was good from a nostalgic point of view. The comedy was overplayed. While each of these men are certainly older than they used to be they all can still go pretty well and I would've liked to see more. We did see all of the “old favorites” from both teams. I always liked Scott best within the Steiner Brothers tag team and that proved true again in this match. ** 1/2
British World Of Sport Rules Match
Colt “Boom Boom” Cabana vs Fit Finlay
The match will have 3- 5 minute rounds with one single fall either by pinfall or submission ending the contest at any time. Colt is out to the ring first & very over with the crowd. Handshake offered by Cabana to begin and Finlay wants none of it. Very nice, crisp Technical, catch as catch can wrestling through round 1 with Finlay having a small advantage. Stalling from both men and feeling out one another in round 2. Cabana first asks his corner man to slap him to pump him up(which he does) then asking the corner man to slap Finlay(which he smartly declines). Very nice arm wrench and forearm shot spot, Finlay into a submission as the second round comes to an end. Finlay jumps Cabana in the corner to start the 3rd and final round & goes right back to the arm submission. Finlay controls the first half of round 3 but Cabana comes back with the “flying A-Hole” and Dusty Elbows but Finlay hits the “Kryptonite Krunch” in the end picking up the pinfall.
#1MansOpinion: This was very entertaining and an excellent display of crisp technical wrestling. Cabana, as we all know is one of the best showmen on the indy scene or even in professional wrestling. Finlay has always impressed me, never showing any decline of in ring skill having had such a long career. *** 1/4
7OH!4(Caleb Konley & Cedric Alexander) vs The UnHoly Alliance(Mikey Whipwreck & Tajiri)
Konley & Alexander obviously two more guys who I have the pleasure of seeing on a regular basis around the Carolina indies and who are each on the verge of exploding into bigger things. Tajiri & Whipwreck hit the ring teaming up for the first time in nearly 10 years bringing back some ECW nostalgia with them. Mikey and Caleb start off both displaying phenomenal athleticism. Both men tag out and we now get Cedric Alexander vs Tajiri, a matchup of some of the most brutal kicks of the past vs the most brutal kicks of the present. Tajiri is the first to strike with a trio of vicious kicks on Alexander followed by some classic tag team wrestling(We've missed you) from The Unholy Alliance. Whipwreck with a springboard flip to the outside onto both members of 7OH!4. Alexander & Konley respond with some very nice tag team wrestling of their own and begin to work over Whipwreck. Very nice exchange with Alexander blocking a spinning middle rope ddt but getting superkicked by Whipwreck and Tajiri gets the hot tag hitting a roundhouse kick on Alexander and the springboard elbow on Konley but Alexander saves the match at a 2 count. Tajiri with another roundhouse on Alexander and the green mist spit into Konley's face. Whipwreck hits the “Whippersnapper” and Tajiri covers Konley for the victory.
#1MansOpinion: This match had classic 90's era ECW tag team wrestling written all over it. It would've been right at home on any ECW PPV in the 90s. 7OH!4 is ready for bigger and better things and Tajiri & Whipwreck didn't miss a step in the last 10 years. To this point the whole show has been very entertaining but I'd say if you covet GREAT tag team wrestling as I do, BUY THIS DVD for this matchup! **** 1/4
Lucha Libre Minis Match
Demus 316 vs Mascarita Dorada
Demus 316 is a larger mini not much shorter than Rey Misterio Jr(I had to). And Dorada is perhaps the most famous mini in wrestling. Incredible speed from Mascarita Dorada to start the match. Dorada hit several impressive moves including a tope suicido and moonsault before going up once too many times and Demus got the knees up to take the advantage. Demus using the power advantage to throw Dorada all around the arena. Amazing tilt awhirl headscisscors that went on for 10-15 seconds, just amazing to see. Dorada follows it with a top rope diving hurracanrana and the crowd in LA is really into Dorada & Demus. Back in the ring & Dorada again hits the tilt awhirl head scissors this time getting a small package out of it for the victory.
#1MansOpinion: Never been a big fan of the minis but historically the lucha minis are the most talented and entertaining. Both of these men were impressive and Demus had one of the cooler characters I've seen from a mini(not counting Haiti Kid of course) Certainly if you enjoy the minis or lucha libre style this is a match for you. Not being a big fan I was thoroughly entertained with what these two men did, unbelievable speed and athleticism. ***
First Time Ever Meeting- No DQ/No Countout
“The Innovator of Violence” Tommy Dreamer vs “Mr. Wrestling” Kevin Steen
Steen with the early advantage biting Dreamer and hitting a somersault legdrop followed by a low blow and a plancha to the outside. Dreamer with a bottle of water to the head of Steen and ramming him into the guardrail but Steen crotches Dreamer on the rail to regain the advantage. The two go out into the crowd very early in the match and Steen hits Dreamer with a crutch. Steen drags Dreamer up to the camera pedestal, again biting him and knocking him off through a table(which doesn't break). Dreamer back in control hitting Steen with a DVD from his own merch table, then a trash can. Dreamer goes to the back and brings a trash can full of “plunder” including a hockey stick,parking cone, a stop sign and other weapons of mass destruction. First wrestling move of this great street fight is a sunset flip from Dreamer getting a 2 count but Steen reverses it into a sharpshooter. Brutal cannonball senton using a stop sign by Steen but Dreamer again kicks out at two. Steen hangs Dreamer in the tree of woe and hits a dropkick but again Dreamer is out at 2. Dreamer goes for the piledriver but Steen hits a lowblow followed by a DDT for another nearfall. Steen goes up top but Dreamer now has Steen in the tree of woe and drives a broomstick into Steen's crotch. Diving dropkick using the stop sign by Dreamer and he retreats to outside Dreamer puts the ringbell on Steen's crotch & grabs “Thor's Hammer” from a fan at ringside cracking the bell & Steen's delicates in the process. Steen Blocks a DDT attempt , puts Dreamer on the guardrail in the ring and hits a senton bomb to pick up the win and put an end to this brutal match of two of the best brawlers in professional wrestling. After the match Steen gets the mic & says he respects Dreamer but Raven comes out and pulls Steen to the outside and hits an “EvenFlow” DDT on Dreamer.
#1MansOpinion: Once again past meets present here as far as Hardcore athletes and that's no slight to Dreamer who more than held his own with the man who surpassed him as “Mr. Hardcore” Kevin Steen. It was very apparent that both these men have mastered the hardcore match as they went all around the building, using various methods of “plunder” as well as took the action back to the ring. This match was brutal, hard hitting, innovative and very good. *** 1/4
Roderick Strong vs “The Manscout” Jake Manning
Good mat wrestling between these two early on, finally Jake gets the arm and begins to work it over but Roddy flips out and hits a picture perfect leg lariat. A chop war ensues next with each man lighting up the others chest, then the action goes outside where another chop war takes place. The two get back in the ring and one of THE BEST pinfall/reversal series I've seen in awhile which seems to go on for at least a full 90 seconds and neither man can get the 3 count. The exchange ends with Strong hitting a beautiful dropick and he takes over with forearm strikes and a back suplex. Manning, howerver is not done as he hits his patented airplane spin and gets a nearfall. Roddy then blocks a piledriver attempt but Jake hits a backbreaker/flatliner combo, the ref counts three but Strong had his foot on the rope and again “The Manscout” comes half a second away from beating the former ROH champ. Roddy mounts a comeback hitting an ensuguiri, angle slam, and a sick kick followed by a lung blower which finally puts away Jake.
#1MansOpinion: This was a very good match. Not one blown spot that I can recall. The California crowd seemed unfamiliar with “The ManScout” who mainly works in the mid-atlantic but by the end of the match this crowd was into the match. Roddy was the overwhelming favorite having worked ROH and California based PWG. Strong is brutal and as technically gifted as they come, Manning MORE than held his own with the former ROH champ in this one and the two ended up having one of my most enjoyable matches of the card. *** 1/2
Harry Smith vs Davey Richards -#1MansOpinion M.O.T.N.
This one started out with a feeling out process, neither man able to get an advantage on their opponent. Richards, then began working over the arm and leg but Smith with a nice kip up and gets Richards arm to take control. The two displayed some nice, crisp mat wrestling going back and forth with neither man able to keep the advantage for long. Smith hit a nice belly to belly but Richards responded with a running punt that nearly took Smith's head off. Richards then hit a suicide dive to the outside and the match really picked up pace from this point. Back in the ring Richards with a missle dropick and he begins to focus on the leg of Harry, Smith attempted a comeback with the stalling suplex but his knee wouldn't hold and Richards continued to inflict pain on the knee with a dragonscrew leg whip. Richards goes to the top but Smith is able to crotch him and hit an amazing stalling suplex from the middle rope. Harry Smith is still favoring the knee and Richards jumps right back on him with brutal kicks and a lariat but Smith won't go down, Richards then hits a superkick followed by a powerbomb but Smith is out again. The crowd at this point is fully invested in this match and are split 50/50 with “Let's Go Davey” and “Let's go Harry” chants. Smith goes for the running powerslam but Richards slides out the back and applies the ankle lock, this next series was PHENOMENAL! Smith rolled through and got a cross arm breaker and really cranked on it but Richards reversed back to the ankle lock only to have Smith roll through and lock in the sharpshooter, Richards would NOT give up and HE rolled through and put on his own sharpshooter, still neither man would tap. Finally Smith went for a powerbomb but Richards rolled down for a sunset flip and Smith blocked it much like Bret & Harry's Father Davey at SummerSlam in Wembley, this time however Davey rolled up Smith out of the blocked sunset flip for the win one of the better finishes to a match I've seen this year.
#1MansOpinion: For my opinion of this match I have to agree with Davey Richards post match comment “How stupid do they have to be up North to let this guy get away huh?” Indeed Davey. I think Harry Smith showed that he had natural wrestling ability in this match and just never got to display it with WWE, working a strong style, submission style and catch as catch can with arguably one of the best workers in the world in Davey Richards. I would definitely reccommend getting this DVD for this matchup. ****
The Young Bucks(Nick Jackson & Matt Jackson) vs El Generico & The Great Sasuke
A bit of a slow start to this one as TYB are jawing with the crowd and being cocky. El Generico gets it going with an around the world arm drag and chops followed by corner punches. Nick pulls Generico's leg and TYB take control. Excellent job of old school tag team wrestling by The Bucks here cutting off the ring on Generico and tagging in and out. Finally Generico explosed with a overhead belly to belly in the corner. Sasuke comes in with a dive on Matt and Generico is right back for a tope con hilo onto Nick. Blockbuster by Sasuke gets a nearfall, but Sasuke wastes too much time going up top again and TYB hit a superkick and a dropkick on their opponents. Sasuke is able to tag out and Generico comes back in with a high crossbody and a nearfall. TYB go for a doubleteam but a miscalculation on the ensuguiri knee lift causes Matt to hit Nick and Generico tags. Sasuke hits a springboard dropkick but Nick low bridges Sasuke and Nick reverses a “Casadora” front powerbomb into a face buster for a nearfall on Generico. El Generico avoids the “More Bang for Your Buck” attempt but TYB hit a double superkick followed by a tandem tombstone piledriver and nearly pick up the win but Sasuke breaks it up at the last second. Sasuke dives outside the ring onto Matt Jackson and in the ring Generico hits Nick with Sasuke's senton finsiher for a 2 3/4 count. Generico follows up with the “Heluva” kick and the turnbuckle brainbuster to pick up the win in an crazy match.
#1MansOpinion: This one started out slow with TYB playing to the crowd but once it got going it really got going. Too much action to keep up with, Generico is one of the more exciting guys to watch right now and is super over with the crowd(as was Japanese legend Sasuke) TYB have some really nice innovative tag team offense and all four men worked well together. Sasuke's in ring time was limited but Generico and TYB are familar with one another and really made the match work. *** 1/2
WrestleReunion Legends “Wrestle Royale”
Entry Order:
1. Matt Classic 11.Robbie E
2.Lanny Poffo 12. Virgil
3.Rock Riddle 13. Greg Valentine
4.Carlos Colon 14. Konann
5.Gangrel 15. Dan Severn
6.Jesse Hernandez 16. Jimmy Hart
7.Mondo Guererro 17.The Godfather
8.Kevin Sullivan 18.Brutus Beefcake
9.Polito Suicida 19. Bradley Ray Schreck(Contest Winner)
10.Tommy Dreamer 20. Raven
There were no eliminations until 10 men were in the ring and then they started going pretty quickly. One story was that Matt Classic was so old he had feuded with all these guys so each person that came in went straight for Classic. Kevin Sullivan entered #8 with a singapore cane and hit everyone with it. A lot of old feuds reignited including Jesse Hernandez and Rock Riddle, Kevin Sullivan and Carlos Colon. Robbie E came out 11th(the current TNA TV champ at the time) and said he would be the youngest legend to ever win the Legends Wrestle Royale. Of course he was dumped immediately by Tommy Dreamer. The Godfather got a big pop as he entered with the Arena Chicks as his “Ho Train” and Brutus Beefcake put a sleeper hold on 19th entrant and contest winner Bradley Ray Schreck, and then cut Schreck's hair before elimiating him. Raven came out last, flipped off Tommy Dreamer and tried to leave but Kevin Steen blocked his way and threw him in the ring as Dreamer returned the DDT and then elminated himself going after Raven as they brawled to the back. The final four came down to Brutus Beefcake, Greg Valentine, Dan Severn, and The Godfather. Severn was jawing with special ringside enforcer Ken Shamrock and Greg Valentine dumped him out. Severn then pulled Valentine out by his hair from the outside. Back inside the ring The Godfather his the “Ho Train” running splash in the corner and eliminated “The Barber” to win the 2012 Wrestle Royale.
#1MansOpinion: This was a fun, nostalgic match to see old feuds get started again and some stars from the past along with some people that are a bit before my time. Matt Classic was entertaining as always, a lot of the guys were much slower than what we're accustomed to but what should we expect from these guys who've given most of their life to this sport? No star rating on this one it was just a fun way to cap off a great show.
#1MansFINALOpinion: WrestleReunion 2012 was an excellent show top to bottom! Nostalgia was the word of the night with The Steiners taking on The New Age Outlaws,Vader making an appearance, many legends in the Wrestle Royale and stars of the past taking on some stars of the future and present. Not to be lost in that Nostalgia is that some REALLY GOOD WRESTLING took place on this show!! Harry Smith vs Davey Richards would be my personal MOTN, after seeing how WWE used Smith I was blown away to see what he could do in there with Richards. TAG TEAM wrestling was resurrected as The UnHoly Alliance vs 7OH!4 is another matchup I would urge you to buy this DVD for, just great tag team wrestling and that is something we don't get to see a lot with the current product we are offered. I would highly reccommend you picking this up and you can do so at www.highspots.com which is a great place to find all GREAT wresting dvds from WWE, TNA, ROH, DGUSA, PWG, and various indies from around the U.S.
Seen this show? Agree or disagree with #1MansOpinion? I'd love to hear thoughts and comments you can email me at JustJer17@aol.com or find me on twitter @The1andonlyJer–Thanks!