C4 Wrestling’s return to Montreal on November 26, 2011 was not on Smart Mark Video, so I do not have the DVD or MP4 in my possession. What I do have is the continuation of season five from January 21, 2012. This show featured the first title defense from Stu Grayson since his official heel turn and formation of the the Authority as well as the crowning of new world tag team champions since Kevin Steen had to the belts because of his various commitments to Ring of Honor. In some ways, this show was an improvement technically, but there were still some problems. The hard cam looked significantly better, but the number two camera did not have near the video quality. While, I sort of got used to it, it’s still a ding against the company that the DVD had inconsistent quality. Also, I was able to hear the in-ring promos a bit better, but the audio quality on the commentary for the main event was terrible. I couldn’t hear a word.
We began with two pre-show matches. Nothing too relevant or important but they were included on the DVD. Lucky Sabiti defeated Johnny Gavroche in under three minutes by submission while Thomas BuBois dominated Pat Skillaz before finishing him off with a modified spinebuster.
The show started proper with the C*4 tag team title match. Kevin Steen forfeited the belts because of his unavailability. The three top contenders were determined to be Checkmate, 3.0, and the Wave brothers. This was a very sloppy and awkward match at times with some bright spots. Checkmate of Christopher Knight and Lionel Bishop looked solid and showed why they deserved to be the champions. They looked the smoothest, and it really seemed like the Waves were the ones holding the match back from its full potential. A team like 3.0 can put together a solid match if for no other reason than their characters. As heels, they’re able to let loose even more and not have to worry about getting adulation from the crowd.
Up next was a segment that tonally didn’t seem to make much sense. Back in November 2011, we saw a three way battle between Josh Alexander, Michael Von Payton, and Rahim Ali. Once they were a unit. Then they were forced to break up. Alexander dominated toward victory and seemingly moved on to bigger things. Ali and Von Payton’s issue wasn’t over. Ali came out to a bit of a mixed reaction. After referring to Von Payton as a family member, he describes what happened at the finale and being told by his former partner to retire from wrestling. Von Payton responded by coming out to apologize. This led to what was supposed to be a friendly encounter. Now, this probably doesn’t read badly, but it was tough for me to tell who the babyface and heel were. The wrestlers also got easily distracted by the crowd and made a lot of jokes. To me, even if Von Payton was eventually going to turn heel, this should have been taken more seriously, especially given what happened in the match. Ali and Von Payton had an okay match for eight minutes before Ali got “hurt.” Von Payton teased helping him out of the ring before attacking him. This could have been something meaningful, but I had a tough time really embracing this as a serious angle because of what happened earlier on. I assume this is the start of a feud, but I’m not enthustastic for what’s to come because the wrestlers themselves did not seem to take it seriously.
The first good match of the night saw the new version of the After Party maintain their undefeated streak as they teamed up with Ethan Page to wrestle Alessandro Del Bruno, Brent B, and Jae Rukin. This was a fun six man tag that effectively continued to build up the After Party as a threat and not just a comedy team. It’s worth noting Page hit his finisher and would have gotten the pin if not for his own teammates. Rukin, Brent, and Del Bruno probably would not excel in singles as much, but in six man tags, they can hide their weaknesses much easier.
Up next was a strict power battle with Mike Rollins wrestling Franky the Mobster. I’ve heard a great deal about Franky in various Kevin Steen interviews. This was like watching two mirror images of each other exchange moves. There was some comedy included related to them both being off kilter, but I enjoyed the action, and Franky won with back-to-back chokebombs. It’ll be interesting to see if this is the start of something for Franky. I think it’s a smart strategy to have him win over someone similar in stature and personality to start his run.
Stu Grayson and the rest of the Authority came out for an extended promo segment which then led into a tag team match. The key is Grayson establishing himself as the top heel, which he did successfully right from the start of his entrance. A red carpet was thrown down for him by Sebastian Suave. Right away, you get the sense of who Grayson is as a character. In the smarmiest way possible, Grayson offers a handshake to Uno. Naturally this is refused, and we get a match where Uno teams with Scott O’Shea to wrestle Suave and Mathieu St. Jacque. Grayson even threw a briefcase filled with Player Dos gear right in Uno’s face. A solid visual to get across what happened. If nothing else, the match that ensued effectively got the message across that we were witnessing the start of a feud which would likely encompass all of season. Therefore, I understood why St. Jacque and Suave picked up the win . Suave in fact pinned Uno and built off what happened two shows earlier. Clearly, if you want to establish a heel group, you need to give them wins early so they’re a threat and not end up with something like the Aces and Eights where it’s a bunch of geeks in biker gear. The action in the match was solid and conveyed the emotion well. Not an outstanding battle but a good act one to a story.
Because some wrestlers were unable to show up, Twiggy defeated Addy Starr in a match that felt relatively pointless and wasn’t very good. Starr can be good in these intergender matches, but this didn’t work for whatever reason. Twiggy, who had been a heel teaming with Beef Wellington, definitely leaned toward the heel side in this match with some underhanded tactics, including winning with a handful of Starr’s trunks. Lots of blatant sexism and I can only imagine where this is headed next. I’m assuming a change in Twiggy’s character where he hates women. Hopefully, it will be effective.
The semi-main event featured El Generico wrestling Josh Alexander in what was my most anticipated match of the evening. I couldn’t help but be disappointed by the fact they only got 12 minutes to tell their story. Selezyia Sparx came out to watch the match and seemed to be scouting Josh Alexander for the Authority. I was worried about her interfering, but thankfully she just watched the match. Having a second straight match end with a roll-up was pretty annoying and detracted from could have been an easy match of the night contender. With a few more minutes and a logical ending after a hard fought battle, I can imagine loving this as opposed to barely liking it.
I was hoping for a really great match to put this card over the top to the B- range, but Mike Bailey and Stu Grayson didn’t get the time to develop a strong main event. C4 has some really good ideas about telling stories and I like the slow builds. It makes following the promotion seem important for each show as opposed to skipping an event because “nothing important happened.” There was quite the ending flurry, leading to a Grayson victory to bring this to the three star mark, but this again didn’t really feel like an epic ending to the show. Honestly, Bailey wrestling Brodie Lee felt far more important and epic despite the fact both matches got similar time, and this was the main event of the show. Not once, did C4 make me believe Bailey was going to be the heavyweight champion. That my friends is a problem.
I feel very similar about this show as I did the previous one. There were some interesting elements and good matches but nothing blowaway or worthy enough to make this a must buy. I don’t think what C*4 is doing is “bad,” but I’m not sure whether the in-ring is strong enough for casual indie fans to fully embrace it.
Grade: C
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-Taped from Ontario, Canada
-Commentators: Adam and Mike Rotch
Lucky Sabiti defeats Johnny Gavroche by submission./2:51/1/4*
Thomas Dubois vs. Pat Skillz by pinfall after a modified spinebuster./3:58/*1/2
C*4 Tag Team Championship: Checkmate (Christopher Knight and Lionel Bishop) defeats 3.0 (Shane Matthews and Scott Parker) and Johnny Wave and Alex Wave to win the C*4 Tag Team. They pinned Alex Vega after a double team fishermen’s buster. /11:51/**1/4
Rahim Ali and Michael Von Payton went to a no-contest. Ali was unable to continue because of an apparent back injury./7:50/N/R
Alessandro Del Bruno, Brent B, and Jae Rukin vs. The After Party (Cecil Nyx and Chaz Lovely) and Ethan Page. Lovely pins Del Bruno after a Spinning Dwayne by Page./13:22/***
Franky the Mobster defeats Mike Rollins by pinfall after back-to-back chokebombs/10:26/**3/4
The Authority (Mathiew St. Jacque and Sebastian Suave) defeat Player Uno and Scott O’Shea by pinfall. Suave pins Uno after a modified Michinoku Driver./13:34/***1/4
Twiggy defeats Addy Starr by pinfall after holding Starr’s tights on a roll-up./6:03/*
Josh Alexander defeated El Generico by pinfall with a roll-up/11:28/***
C4 Championship: Stu Grayson (w/Selezyia Sparx) defends successfully over Mike Bailey by submission with a dragon sleeper./10:56/***
For more information on C*4, including upcoming shows and a shop to buy DVDs directly, check out their website. You can also buy their DVDs, MP4s, and online streams at Smart Mark Video.
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