Beginning this month, I’m going to experiment with a new column idea which I blatantly ripped off of Sean Radican from PW Torch (If you’re reading this, hi Sean.) Essentially, I watch a lot of independent professional wrestling shows which I thankfully don’t need to review for PWP thanks to our capable staff of writers. However, I feel it’s important to write even a paragraph or two about them. One of my goals this year is to do a better job keeping track of the best shows and matches, so at the end of the year, I can do a more formal rewards column. This column will not only help me get a significant jump start on that process but serve as a guide for lists and seeing some of the booking decisions over a period of time. Essentially, I am going to do a short write-up of each show, no more than a paragraph or two, and provide a link to PWP’s review of it. Consider this a reader’s digest version of wrestling reviews.
Beyond Wrestling-We Care A Lot (6/13/2013)- The funny part of this show is Biff Busick versus. Eddie Edwards could very easily have been the main event of the show given the slow build and epic feel. This was the first of three singles match between the two, and the chemistry came across immediately. I liked the technical start and teasing of strikes for a few minutes before eventually delivering. Then the match turned into one of the most physical wrestling matches I saw all year. Nothing else on the show came close to topping the opener. The main event went a little long as there were a ton of spots in a four way match between AR Fox, Black Baron, Ric Knight, and Charade. Charade has a ton of potential but was way too sloppy. Bit weird to see Knight win given Baron pinned Fox and Charade. Pretty spectacular spotfest when everything was being hit. The only aggressively bad match took place between The Wingmen and Whaling City Wrecking Crew. This match didn’t fit it on the show at all. I got bored quickly, and they did nothing to engage the audience. Eric Corvis/Anthony Stone and JT Dunn/Jaka were both fun big man versus little man matches. Johnny Cockstrong/Pinkie Sanchez and KOA/Team Tremendous both delivered in the comedy department and were tons of fun. This show was a good precursor to Americanrana.(B)
Evolve 25 (1/10/2014)- I hate living in a world of hyperbole, but I have to imagine this will remain one of the top shows of the year. There were five matches. I would give four of them at least four stars with the final two matches as dark horse match of the year candidates at ****1/4. This is a rather simply booked show with tons of great action. Anthony Nese and Trent Baretta kicked off the night in tremendous fashion with a great FIP title defense that featured no interference and a clean finish. The FRAY! match wasn’t great, but it served its purpose well. Ricochet continues to be one of the best performers in the world and why he isn’t with WWE boggles my mind. I was slightly disappointed with Chris Hero’s performance against Drew Gulak, but this match showed he’s back to form and as good a wrestler as you’ll see on the indies. The six man tag on this show was top notch and a much better reflection of what the Bravados and Bucks can do against each other. Regardless of how it came together, Davey Richards in Evolve for one night was a success as he had a great match and put over the champion clean. No complaints from me. (A)
Although I disagree with Ryan Rozanski pretty significantly, I always appreciate his perspective on shows. Check out his Evolve 25 review, which is still very positive.
Evolve 26 (01/11/2014)- Not as good of a show as 25 but still very solid. Ricochet and Trent Barreta is the stand-out match of the evening. Funny to think that these two guys are arguably as must see as anyone on the independents given Trent was buried on WWE C shows for years. I liked the comedy match as it broke up the flow of the show in a positive way. Maxwell Chicago is the perfect undercard wrestler for Evolve or DG USA shows because he is the antithesis of that style. Chris Hero and Anthony Nese was a very good back and forth match as one would expect. The tag match with Uhaa Nation and AR Fox against Jon Davis and Johnny Gargano felt long and could have easily been cut by five minutes. Ending the show with the Bucks against Ronin really didn’t make sense because of how inconsequential the match was in the greater context of Evolve, but the action still delivered. A strong recommendation to buy. (B+)
Ryan Rozanski wrote all about this show as well.
Evolve 27 (01/12/2014)- The weakest of the three shows but still tremendously solid up and down the card. The fact that the company had no technical issues and was able to present an HD quality stream is almost a success onto itself, but the wrestling and booking also felt better and more consistent. There are still problems, such as Chris Hero and Roderick Strong both receiving title shots and not really deserving them, but there were strides made in building up rivalries and telling stories. For example, Ricochet won two huge singles matches in preparation for an Open the Freedom Gate title match sometime in New Orleans during Wrestlemania weekend. Johnny Gargano and Uhaa Nation capped off the weekend in very good fashion in the main event. Gargano’s title defenses seem to be ending rather repetitively, and man does he need to lose that title to Ricochet. Giving him the title for 900 days is fine, but his heel character really hasn’t evolved since the Shingo match. A lot of people are praising the Rich Swann/Jon Davis match. I thought it was good but like the tag match from the night before, went way too long. The weakest of the three Hero singles matches came against Chuck Taylor. My favorite segment of the show actually wasn’t even a match but the epic brawl between the Bravado Brothers and Young Bucks. I felt like the volume really got turned up here, and it feels like there’s actual hatred between the two teams after this weekend. There was intensity in what they were doing, and I’m hoping the feud matures because the WWN Universe desperately needs something like this to make fans interested beyond just the great wrestling. I think putting Anthony Nese and Trent Baretta together makes a ton of sense given their histories and abilities. Plus, they can be used as a tag team or in singles moving forward. Letting them pick up a win was another smart choice in a weekend that finally felt like it had more booking hits than misses. (B)
Yes, Ryan Rozanski did a full review of this show as well. He was a busy little bee for us this month.
CZW- Answering the Challenge (1/11/2014)- This was not a good professional wrestling show at all, particularly the first half which felt like forever. There was also a lot of masochistic level violence on the show for no reason. I’m fine with death matches in CZW if they serve a purpose, but there were multiple instances of pointless violence taking away from the performers or just outright serving zero purpose. Did JT Dunn really need to be spike piledriven through a table in the fourth match of the show? Why did Masada have to torture Alexander James as a babyface? I could almost understand Masada going after Drew Gulak in such a way but the D-Team member of his group? Seemed way over the line. I’m happy the Beaver Boys won the tag belts regardless of the match quality against BLK OUT. Gulak and tHURteen was actually the best match on the show with a fun ending. Booking wise, having Devon Moore beat Alex Colon is a little wonky and defeats everything CZW was doing with him the last year in making him a top flight heel and elevating him. If the push isn’t working, you can find a actual rising star to beat him and not rely on someone who doesn’t really need a the television title to become more over. (D+)
No PWP review yet but I’ll send some hits the Torch’s way as a thank you for the column idea. Have at it.
To purchase the Evolve shows, check out WWN Live. The upgraded cameras make a huge difference in audio and video quality.
For CZW, check out their iPPV website. Their service has proven to be pretty reliable.
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“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”. I love this format. I don’t need a move-by-move breakdowns, I want to know if a show worth watching or not and why. Nailed it.
No love for Dickinson/Busick!?