Travicity
03-12-2011, 04:56 PM
I recently discovered this promotion, after one TNA too many, and thought I would try to spend some time giving my thoughts on this relatively new (25 episodes in!) group. I am still familiarizing myself with the product so most of the names/faces are unknown to me, which is exciting in this spoiler-filled age. I hope you enjoy. That being said, without further ado . . .
Welcome to NWA Hollywood!
The show starts off with a great intro sequence, in which a techno/dub mix of "Thus Spake Zarathustra" (Wooo!) is played as classic in-ring footage of Lou Thesz, Andre the Giant, Dusty Rhodes, and Ric Flair sans blood slowly morphs into the current NWA Hollywood roster. Very nicely done.
We start off right away (no opening promos thank you wrestling lords) with a match. Our announcers for the evening are Excalibur (sadly without The Lady of the Lake) and Todd Keneley.
Match 1) Jerek Matthews V. Ruben Iglesias
As the pair lock up the announcers hype up the gentlemen in the ring. They start with the family wrestling history of Ruben then turn towards Matthews’ "happy personality." Matthews bears a strong resemblance to a young Hugh Morris. So much so, in fact, that for a minute I hoped Bill Demott would drive up to the Hollywood Arena in a Delorian frantically waving a rapidly fading picture of Hugh G Rection. Flair could play the part of the "bloody post-Libyan attack" Doc Brown.
The match is pretty good- solid back and forth action, evenly matched, until . . .
Jason "Big Nasty" Watts comes to the ring, laying out both men- Matthews gets the worst of it with a Crucifix Bomb. Big Nasty takes the mike (in a funny moment, the ring announcer stepped over Matthews to get in the ring and talk to Watts) and calls out "Hollywood" Joey Ryan. Apparently he has been chasing him for weeks. The challenge is answered in standard promo fashion, the match is on . . .
Match 2) "Big Nasty" Jason Watts V. "Hollywood" Joey Ryan
Joey Ryan has a good look and decent mike skills. He moves well in the ring, but it seems like there isn't much for him to work with in Big Nasty. Watts is a big dude, with an afro currently in its nascent form. He should let the afro grow out, morphing it into a horrorshow of Mike Knoxian proportions. He moves like the Yeti and sells like Giant Gonzalez, dominating most of the match with the standard big man move set (multiple big boots, head butts, slams, etc), until Joey Ryan reverses a power bomb attempt into some kind of arm bar suplex. This doesn't put the big man down, but three(!) superkicks in rapid fashion finish the job. In an odd moment, the announcers talk about how Ryan usually only needs two kicks to beat someone, but Big Nasty took three. It's strange to use a non-super superkick as a finisher- you would figure one would normally be enough. Okay match, slowed down by the big man.
Winner- Joey Ryan Via super kick Blitzkrieg.
Back to ringside and the announcers hype up the main event. They mostly talk about a group called The Standard. I have only just started watching, so I don't know who that is, but they seem like the force to be reckoned with in this company.
Backstage Promo Time!
We hear from Tommy "Mr. Megastar/Super Dave 2000" Wilson and Cedric "The Hitman". They hype their upcoming tag match while wearing sunglasses indoors, which violates my rule number 1. Nice suits, though. What's the big, shiny, heavy briefcase for, Hitman?
Match 3) Tommy "Mr. Megastar/Seriously, he looks like an enormous Super Dave Osbourne action figure" Wilson and Cedric "The Hitman" V. Andrew Hellman and Famous B
Famous B is a great name, by the way. The face team of Hellman and Famous B (so good) show some good teamwork to start off, taking control of the early stages of the match. It's pretty one sided, until Mr. Megastar gets a chance to nail Famous B outside the ring, giving his team the advantage. They unload on the faces. A tag team style powerslam is followed by a sit out power bomb on Famous B, courtesy of Mr. Megastar. Famous B kicks out at two, which, alas, highlights a problem I have with "indy" wrestling: they kick out of everything! When Super Dave hits a sit out power bomb, the dude should stay down! If they kick out of that, what sort of crazy moves would need to keep them down? It takes away so much from the drama of the match. Okay, rant over- the match ends when Cedric tries to show us what the briefcase is for, all over the prone body of Hellman, but the face-in-distress grabs the case and hits him with his own weapon, just like Splinter did to Shredder. That’s what he gets for giving kids video games and cigars. The ref sees that and calls for the bell. Fun match, and Famous B’s spinning moonsault to the outside was the highlight of the show for me. Famous B stood out here, but everyone worked hard.
Winner by DQ- Tommy Wilson and Cedric.
The heels leave, the briefcase still in the hands of Andrew Hellman. I smell an angle going forward . . .
Backstage Promo Time!
"Pretty" Pete Avalon is talking about his match with Nick Madrid, and his Tartan style sunglasses make me realize I should be a bit lenient on my rule number one. He is a member of The Standard, despite looking 14 years old, and he will take care of business tonight. Pretty good promo, and he had some good exchanges with the interview guy, whose name I am not drunk enough to spell.
Back to the ring. They do a good job of hyping up Nick Madrid, discussing his recent victory over the champion, Adam Pierce.
Match 4) "Pretty" Pete Avalon V. Nick Madrid
Some flippy floppy action to start with, the usual "arm drag to back drop to flippy thing to kick" sort of stuff, but they both pull it off well and settle to a slower rhythm pretty soon. Good action, with both men showing some good fire here, despite Avalon needing a blood transfusion or a sandwich or something. Big clothesline by Madrid, followed by a Side Effect that only gets a two count (see rant above), Avalon takes advantage but succumbs eventually to The Running Of The Bulls (tornado DDT).
Winner- Nick Madrid
Decent match, and both men looked good. Adam Pierce lays out Madrid in the aisle and comes out to give a promo about Colt Cabana, the new No. 1 Contender. He gives a good promo, much better than the others we have gotten tonight (which makes sense given the age of most of these other peeps). He does the old school "insult the audience" bit- funny moment where a kid in the audience looks like he's gonna throw a bottle in the ring and the kid’s mom stops him. He shows some footage of punishing Cabana and ends the promo with The Lord's Prayer, which is always fun in my book. Pete Avalon calls out another member of the standard, Joey Kaos, whose match against Willie Mack is next . . .
Match 5) Willie Mack V. Joey Kaos
Willie Mack is a solidly built dude, seems to have good baby face mannerisms. Joey Kaos looks like Ultimate Warrior made a bet with the Devil and lost, dragging Superfly Snuka down with him. Willie is good in the ring. Crisp moves, very fast for his size, and has a lot of charisma. He starts with some good power moves as the baby face manages to fend off all three members of The Standard, until the numbers game eventually becomes too much for him. Kaos hits an Otunga Flapjack to take control.
They return from commercial and it's been evened up again somehow (I hate when that happens and they don't show it). Funny "head butt to crotch" moment, followed by Mack's Human Tornado dancing/kicks tribute to Kaos in the corner. Man, I miss that guy. Unfortunately, we don't get top see a crotch-driven hulk up.
By the way, during this match, Adam Pierce is doing a great job being the smarmy heel at ringside. He is really getting the crowd into it. I haven't seen him before but I am really digging his character. The announcers make a "Trials of Hercules" reference (let's hope Pierce doesn't own any horses) as Mack hits the Chocolate Thunder Bomb for what should be the pin, until Avalon and Pierce jump him, resulting in a big snozzfest and DQ win for Mack.
Winner by DQ) Willie Mack
After the match The Standard continues the beatdown until Nick Madrid comes in and fights them off. Heels outside the ring jeering, faces inside celebrating together, and that's our show.
See you next week!
PWI
Welcome to NWA Hollywood!
The show starts off with a great intro sequence, in which a techno/dub mix of "Thus Spake Zarathustra" (Wooo!) is played as classic in-ring footage of Lou Thesz, Andre the Giant, Dusty Rhodes, and Ric Flair sans blood slowly morphs into the current NWA Hollywood roster. Very nicely done.
We start off right away (no opening promos thank you wrestling lords) with a match. Our announcers for the evening are Excalibur (sadly without The Lady of the Lake) and Todd Keneley.
Match 1) Jerek Matthews V. Ruben Iglesias
As the pair lock up the announcers hype up the gentlemen in the ring. They start with the family wrestling history of Ruben then turn towards Matthews’ "happy personality." Matthews bears a strong resemblance to a young Hugh Morris. So much so, in fact, that for a minute I hoped Bill Demott would drive up to the Hollywood Arena in a Delorian frantically waving a rapidly fading picture of Hugh G Rection. Flair could play the part of the "bloody post-Libyan attack" Doc Brown.
The match is pretty good- solid back and forth action, evenly matched, until . . .
Jason "Big Nasty" Watts comes to the ring, laying out both men- Matthews gets the worst of it with a Crucifix Bomb. Big Nasty takes the mike (in a funny moment, the ring announcer stepped over Matthews to get in the ring and talk to Watts) and calls out "Hollywood" Joey Ryan. Apparently he has been chasing him for weeks. The challenge is answered in standard promo fashion, the match is on . . .
Match 2) "Big Nasty" Jason Watts V. "Hollywood" Joey Ryan
Joey Ryan has a good look and decent mike skills. He moves well in the ring, but it seems like there isn't much for him to work with in Big Nasty. Watts is a big dude, with an afro currently in its nascent form. He should let the afro grow out, morphing it into a horrorshow of Mike Knoxian proportions. He moves like the Yeti and sells like Giant Gonzalez, dominating most of the match with the standard big man move set (multiple big boots, head butts, slams, etc), until Joey Ryan reverses a power bomb attempt into some kind of arm bar suplex. This doesn't put the big man down, but three(!) superkicks in rapid fashion finish the job. In an odd moment, the announcers talk about how Ryan usually only needs two kicks to beat someone, but Big Nasty took three. It's strange to use a non-super superkick as a finisher- you would figure one would normally be enough. Okay match, slowed down by the big man.
Winner- Joey Ryan Via super kick Blitzkrieg.
Back to ringside and the announcers hype up the main event. They mostly talk about a group called The Standard. I have only just started watching, so I don't know who that is, but they seem like the force to be reckoned with in this company.
Backstage Promo Time!
We hear from Tommy "Mr. Megastar/Super Dave 2000" Wilson and Cedric "The Hitman". They hype their upcoming tag match while wearing sunglasses indoors, which violates my rule number 1. Nice suits, though. What's the big, shiny, heavy briefcase for, Hitman?
Match 3) Tommy "Mr. Megastar/Seriously, he looks like an enormous Super Dave Osbourne action figure" Wilson and Cedric "The Hitman" V. Andrew Hellman and Famous B
Famous B is a great name, by the way. The face team of Hellman and Famous B (so good) show some good teamwork to start off, taking control of the early stages of the match. It's pretty one sided, until Mr. Megastar gets a chance to nail Famous B outside the ring, giving his team the advantage. They unload on the faces. A tag team style powerslam is followed by a sit out power bomb on Famous B, courtesy of Mr. Megastar. Famous B kicks out at two, which, alas, highlights a problem I have with "indy" wrestling: they kick out of everything! When Super Dave hits a sit out power bomb, the dude should stay down! If they kick out of that, what sort of crazy moves would need to keep them down? It takes away so much from the drama of the match. Okay, rant over- the match ends when Cedric tries to show us what the briefcase is for, all over the prone body of Hellman, but the face-in-distress grabs the case and hits him with his own weapon, just like Splinter did to Shredder. That’s what he gets for giving kids video games and cigars. The ref sees that and calls for the bell. Fun match, and Famous B’s spinning moonsault to the outside was the highlight of the show for me. Famous B stood out here, but everyone worked hard.
Winner by DQ- Tommy Wilson and Cedric.
The heels leave, the briefcase still in the hands of Andrew Hellman. I smell an angle going forward . . .
Backstage Promo Time!
"Pretty" Pete Avalon is talking about his match with Nick Madrid, and his Tartan style sunglasses make me realize I should be a bit lenient on my rule number one. He is a member of The Standard, despite looking 14 years old, and he will take care of business tonight. Pretty good promo, and he had some good exchanges with the interview guy, whose name I am not drunk enough to spell.
Back to the ring. They do a good job of hyping up Nick Madrid, discussing his recent victory over the champion, Adam Pierce.
Match 4) "Pretty" Pete Avalon V. Nick Madrid
Some flippy floppy action to start with, the usual "arm drag to back drop to flippy thing to kick" sort of stuff, but they both pull it off well and settle to a slower rhythm pretty soon. Good action, with both men showing some good fire here, despite Avalon needing a blood transfusion or a sandwich or something. Big clothesline by Madrid, followed by a Side Effect that only gets a two count (see rant above), Avalon takes advantage but succumbs eventually to The Running Of The Bulls (tornado DDT).
Winner- Nick Madrid
Decent match, and both men looked good. Adam Pierce lays out Madrid in the aisle and comes out to give a promo about Colt Cabana, the new No. 1 Contender. He gives a good promo, much better than the others we have gotten tonight (which makes sense given the age of most of these other peeps). He does the old school "insult the audience" bit- funny moment where a kid in the audience looks like he's gonna throw a bottle in the ring and the kid’s mom stops him. He shows some footage of punishing Cabana and ends the promo with The Lord's Prayer, which is always fun in my book. Pete Avalon calls out another member of the standard, Joey Kaos, whose match against Willie Mack is next . . .
Match 5) Willie Mack V. Joey Kaos
Willie Mack is a solidly built dude, seems to have good baby face mannerisms. Joey Kaos looks like Ultimate Warrior made a bet with the Devil and lost, dragging Superfly Snuka down with him. Willie is good in the ring. Crisp moves, very fast for his size, and has a lot of charisma. He starts with some good power moves as the baby face manages to fend off all three members of The Standard, until the numbers game eventually becomes too much for him. Kaos hits an Otunga Flapjack to take control.
They return from commercial and it's been evened up again somehow (I hate when that happens and they don't show it). Funny "head butt to crotch" moment, followed by Mack's Human Tornado dancing/kicks tribute to Kaos in the corner. Man, I miss that guy. Unfortunately, we don't get top see a crotch-driven hulk up.
By the way, during this match, Adam Pierce is doing a great job being the smarmy heel at ringside. He is really getting the crowd into it. I haven't seen him before but I am really digging his character. The announcers make a "Trials of Hercules" reference (let's hope Pierce doesn't own any horses) as Mack hits the Chocolate Thunder Bomb for what should be the pin, until Avalon and Pierce jump him, resulting in a big snozzfest and DQ win for Mack.
Winner by DQ) Willie Mack
After the match The Standard continues the beatdown until Nick Madrid comes in and fights them off. Heels outside the ring jeering, faces inside celebrating together, and that's our show.
See you next week!
PWI