“Wrestling is Art’s” debut weekend is easily the best show any of the companies in the Wrestling Is family have put on. Their rosters were the strongest both in the ring and in terms of name value. I was excited for their next set of shows, but their first show back would lack some of the star power the first show did. Colt Cabana, Mike Quackenbush, AR Fox, Chuck Taylor, and Drew Gulak would not be presented on the card (although Quackenbush was on commentary). However, guys such as Jaka, Francis O’Rourke, and Green Ant, newcomers like Jigsaw, and special guests Sho Funaki and Antonio Thomas held my interest and made me wonder if Wrestling is Art could succeed without those names who were absent.
Kobald and The Estonian Thunderfrog had a match that was literally all over the place. They fought in the crowd, around the ring, in the ring, and it was all pretty entertaining. I’m not usually a fan of Kobald’s singles bouts, but I have to admit he worked smartly by continously targeting the Thunderfrog’s back after a spill down the bleachers and kept things enaging with the audience. I was happy to see the Thunderfrog go over because he remains a shining light in all of the Wrestling Is companies.
Another guy who has been a stand-out competitor is Francis (Frank) O’Rourke. No matter who he’s facing, it usually ends up being one of the best matches on the card. Anthony Stone impressed both in his CHIKARA Young Lions Cup matches as well as in Beyond Wrestling. These two were an excellent match for one another and kept O’Rourke’s quality match streak going. O’Rourke hits hard and Stone’s a guy who can take it. The basic story here was O’Rourke used his strength and aggression while Stone countered with his agility. While O’Rourke put on his usual great performance, it was Stone who wowed the Haverhill crowd this time around. When you’re able to sneak in double knees, a tornado DDT, and a Pele kick from out of nowhere, you earn their admiration. I cannot believe this only went six minutes. I loved every minute of it. These guys deserve more attention everywhere.
I was looking forward to Jaka (another one of my favorites in these companies) taking on Sugar Dunkerton and was disappointed to hear Dunkerton through no fault of his own was off the shows. I had heard of his replacement Brian Fury before but had only seen him intermittently. I’m happy to say he was a completely acceptable substitute. His style worked very well with Jaka’s, as he too was able to throw heavy strikes and surprising offense to “wow” the crowd. Jaka obviously the one to get the win, but this was the second show (the first being Wrestling is Fun’s April event) where Sidney Bakabella was involved in the finish. Having Bakabella as his mouth piece is one thing, but Jaka is good enough and capable of winning matches on his own. I’m a big fan of the Bakabella character but his involvement in matches, especially the finishes, should be toned down for the betterment of the matches as a whole.
The Heart Throbs had been in CHIKARA twice in 2012 and had fun outings each time out. When I say Antonio Thomas coming in against Jigsaw I expected more of the same. Thankfully, that’s what I got. There were some antics including a push-up and Hindu squat contest, and Thomas using a plush monkey, but at the end of the day he and Jigsaw had a competitive bout. Thomas was able to control Jigsaw on the mat, so he would get to the ropes and hit the floor to stop his momentum. Jigsaw would then go after the arm and eventually get him a crossface to secure the victory. It wasn’t the most exciting bout, but it was rock solid in its storytelling and they defined their characters with ease. Jigsaw seems to do these Wrestling Is shows infrequently and I hope that will change.
Juan Francisco de Coronado vs. Jervis Cottonbelly was perplexing. The story they tried to tell was that Herbert, Coronado’s manservant, was not on the same page as him. For example, Herbert would try to grab Cottonbelly’s foot and grab Coronado’s instead. Cottonbelly put a fake mustache and hat on Herbert when Coronado wasn’t looking which of course made Coronado angry. All of this led to the finish where Herbert ended up grabbing Cottonbelly’s foot and allowing Coronado to sneak in a German suplex for the win. I get what they were going for, but it all felt really forced and didn’t completely come off correctly. For one, Herbert is not the best at conveying emotion. He mood didn’t change one bit during the entire match. Whether it was him being slapped in the face, cheating, or seemingly going along with Cottonbelly’s tactics, his general demeanor did not change whatsoever. It was an odd match and a rare not-so-great outing from both performers.
I had no idea what to expect from The Devastation Corporation vs. The Batiri. With both of them being Rudos I was puzzled to how this would work out. If you asked me before hand, I would have never guessed The Devastation Corporation would be the sympathetic characters. Shockingly, I think it worked. The Batiri took a really smart approach by trapping Max Smashmaster’s leg in the ropes and going to town on it. They also utilized a lot of tandem offense which was necessary considering how much larger the opponents were. Their demeanor and the ways in which they would double team actually made Smashmaster look sympathetic, enough to where McMassive got a positive reaction for his bigger moves in his comeback. The finish helped too, as Kodama kicked McMassive right in the groin for a DQ. The finish was abrupt and very dissatisfying, which is a shame considering how much of a success I thought the story of the match was. In the end, it goes to show that maybe somewhere down the line a Tecnico Devastation Corporation could work.
If you only know Funaki as Smackdown’s “Number 1 Ring Announcer”, boy is this main event going to open your eyes. He and Green Ant had a mat clinic. There was no nonsense out of Funaki, just great mat wrestling. Green Ant was the perfect opponent for him to showcase this against. Green Ant smartly worked over his leg in the hopes of getting the Cloverleaf and ended up being caught with a tornado clutch to give the Kaientai vet the win. It’s a shame Green Ant couldn’t get the victory, but there were plenty of instances in the match itself where he looked dominant and at times even better than his opponent. Definitely a highlight of this event and a great way to cap off the show.
Overall: While this show wasn’t the home run the first two Wrestling is Art shows were, the matches (for the most part) are strong enough to still earn it a recommendation. The one positive about the bigger names not being on the show was that it presented the opportunity for many New England wrestlers and other guys from the Wrestling Is universe the chance to stand out. Most of them took the ball and ran with it. The biggest detriment to the show was the amount of interference and some questionable match finishes. Thankfully, those are both easily fixable elements. So far Wrestling is Art is succeeding in establishing its own identity and just needs more show-to-show stories to really makes things successful.
For the low price of just $4.99, you can purchase the show on mp4 from Smart Mark Video or stream it on SMVOD.
For more information on Wresting is Art, visit their website and follow them on Twitter. Also check out my “Wrestling Is” Tumblr for information on all the Wrestling Is companies, which is also siphoned through the CHIKARA Special Twitter.
Quick Results/Match times/Ratings
1. The Estonian Thunderfrog defeated Kobald in 10:20 by countering a spear into a Jackknife pin. **½
2. Francis O’Rourke puts down Anthony Stone with a half-nelson suplex at 5:53. ***
3. Jaka gets the win over Brian Fury at 7:52 with a double choke bomb. **¾
4. After a poke to the eyes, Jigsaw submits Antonio Thomas to a Fujiwara armbar at 14:02. **¾
5. With the help of his manservant Herbert, Juan Franscisco de Coronado puts Jervis Cottonbelly away at 9:34 with a German Suplex. **
6. The Batiri (Obariyon & Kodama) are disqualified at 8:08 against The Devastation Corporation (Max Smashmaster & Blaster McMassive) after Kodama kicked McMassive in the groin. **
7. Sho Funaki pins Green Ant with a tornado clutch at 16:50. ***½