In the TH style. Original airdate of this was February 9, 2013.
Highlights:
General Observations:
Match of the Night: Jessicka Havok (c) vs. Athena, WSU Championship Match - They tore the remains of the house down that Jazz and Rachel Summerlyn did most of the work on at Queen of Queens last year. This time, they were the ones who brought the place down all by themselves. In the rare case where the sequel was better than the original, Athena and Jessicka Havok may have thrown gasoline on the fire lit that could turn out to be one of wrestling's great modern rivalries.
The match had a classic bully/underdog feel to it, with Havok as the brash, mouthy Champion asserting her dominance in unique and painful-looking ways. The way she moved seamlessly from tortuous move into even more excruciating variants. She turned a camel clutch (where she was biting Athena's neck) into a backbreaker into a lariat. She combined submissions and strikes like she was a medieval dungeonmaster. Maybe the most spiteful and awful thing she did was lock Athena into another camel clutch, scream "I'M GOING FOR HER WEAVE!" and try to rip her hair out while face-washing her on the mat. Those verbal taunts though, man, they were best touches. She hurled screaming obscenities and taunts to Athena as she was trying to break her. Evil that lets you know its evil is the best kind, and Havok certainly let Athena know the providence of her intentions. Spoiler alert, it was baaaaad.
But for every barbed prong Havok shoved at Athena, the Wrestling Goddess had something to throw back at her. It was mostly her kicks, especially a single leg dropkick she went back to time and time again. At times, her comebacks were lightning quick, whether it was coming out of nowhere to sweep out Havok's leg into a heel hook, or trying like hell to get away from Havok's death grip and slid under her into a pumphandle hold. Her pluck would be the end of her. As she climbed the top for her O-Face, Havok intercepted her, thumped her to the mat with an avalanche Air Raid Crash, and put her down to even their series at two. That being said, I wouldn't mind if they went 2,000 matches.
Overall Thoughts: Okay, first thing's first, the Chris Dickinson/Addy Starr angle was pretty awful in its execution. I get the intent; I think that Starr is such a natural at getting her ass kicked that when Dickinson amped the apparent stiffness up towards the end of the match, it might have appeared overstated because she's so fearless about bumping hard to the mat. However, I don't think there's any excusing the angle. Apparently, there's set up to it, but for people who haven't followed Beyond Wrestling or kept up to date with it, the lack of context will definitely take them by surprise. Again, everyone has a different line, and I know that not everyone is going to see what happened in the post-match angle as feigned sexual assault like I did. But I think it's a signpost of how far we are to getting to true gender equity.
That being said, as bad as that angle was, the show at large was silky smooth with a ton of high moments. I thought it started out slowly, but it started to kick into high gear with Niya/Veda Scott and rose exponentially with each match, Dickinson/Starr excluded. There seems to be a bit of a dichotomy between the lower card and the main event, but WSU right now has a lot of wrestlers who can carry the top half of the card while the ones below have promise. I'm not sold on Ezavel Suena or Niya, but I think with a little more experience with the company and its oeuvre, Kimber Lee, Veda Scott, Neveah, Jessie Brooks, and Christina von Eerie can grow and make the promotion as deep as SHIMMER without having to bring in all the joshis (and that's not a knock against SHIMMER either, by the way).
The questionable segment on the show was really questionable; I don't want to see a guy shoving his ass in a woman's face without her consent ever again. That's a really black mark. But I feel like if I can forgive WWE for its transgressions, and if I can forgive R-Pro for its transgressions, then I can let this one slide. The show was good enough to want to recommend it and keep following the new direction of the promotion.
Highlights:
- Neveah put Jessie "Bonesaw" Brooks down with a bridging German suplex in the opening match.
- In a match that featured more spitting than normal, Christina von Eerie defeated Kimber Lee with a straitjacket lung blower.
- Veda Scott pinned Niya after the Mind Trip, but special guest referee Jana missed Niya's foot on the bottom rope.
- Cherry Bomb ran her mouth with some sublime trash talk, but she wasn't able to overcome Kalamity and her Kalamityville Horror.
- In a Beyond Wrestling showcase, Chris Dickinson used a way-too-deep pull of the tights to roll up Addy Starr. Afterwards, he pulled his pants down and shoved his ass in her face, as per the stipulation.
- Athena went to war to try and claim Jessicka Havok's WSU Championship, but she was felled by an avalanche Air Raid Crash.
- In a falls count anywhere match, LuFisto used a Burning Hammer from the apron through a table on the floor to put down Mercedes Martinez. After the match, Lufi offered her hand, which Martinez accepted nominally before rescinding it with an attack after Lufi turned her back.
General Observations:
- Neveah wore a CZW t-shirt for the opening match, which led color commentator Cindy Rogers to ruminate over a war between CZW and WSU. I really hope that was just something to make conversation and not a thing that's going to happen.
- No more a contrast between two performers than between Christina von Eerie and Kimber Lee in their entrances. CVE's was stoic, understated, muted even. She didn't even do her "OY! OY! OY!" chant, while Lee played to the crowd and even did a split in the corner on the second rope.
- If there was any better way to get over than by habitually spitting on your opponents, then I'm not sure what it is. CVE continued her streak from the week before at National Pro Wrestling Day by hocking loogies on Lee at various points in the match.
- After the fall, CVE took the time to step on Lee's back and wipe her feet. Delicious heel moves are best ones.
- Niya's ring gear would have been nice if she was going to the club. That's all I'll say about that.
- Veda Scott took the opportunity to attack Niya before the bell. I've been noticing a marked mean streak in Scott, which would make her more an ambulance chaser rather than a prestigious defense attorney. I think that's how you have to go as a wrestling lawyer though.
- Okay, if you're in a wrestling crowd and chant "You fucked up!" at what you perceive to be a botch, please do us all favor and don't procreate. This popped up twice during the Niya/Scott match, and both times, the flub wasn't even that noticeable.
- The match was an "Uncensored Opportunity," which meant there was a roster spot on the line. Niya was "robbed" of a roster spot, so of course she'd be really fuckin' pissed. Even with the terrible gear, she won me over with her temper tantrum.
- I'd feel like a hypocrite if I didn't mention how bad Kalamity's gear is either, but in my defense, I think Kalamity makes it a lot easier to forget that she's dressed like a lingerie model when she really gets pumping in the ring.
- Cherry Bomb, oh man, look at the mouth on you. Mark Henry may be the best in-match shit-talker in wrestling history, but judging on this match alone, I'd say she was giving the World's Strongest Man a run for his money.
- Okay, I think they have something with Cherry Bomb here, because she heeled it up something fierce in this match. Forget just the trash talking, it was the stalling, the licking of the palm before chopping, the eye pokes. Amazing work.
- Although the look on Kalamity's face, like she was about to get her head dunked in some dogshit, when Cherry Bomb grabbed her by her hair, was priceless too.
- Okay, I get wanting Addy Starr to get her ass kicked in an underdog scenario. She's good at taking a beating. I also get wanting to get Chris Dickinson over as a major bad guy by having him pull the tights on the deciding pinfall. But that tight pull was way too deep in that I really didn't need to see her ass. I really didn't need to see him pull his pants down and sit on her face either. That was disgusting, and I'm saying that as a guy whose line is pretty hard to cross.
- You know a match is going to be awesome when the first move in it is a gamengiri to the boobs like the one Athena landed on Jessicka Havok.
- I think Havok was watching the Cherry Bomb match backstage and thought she had to upstage her with her own shit-talking. I gotta say, I think of the chirpers on this card, Cherry Bomb wins the night. Dunno, I think Havok relied on the word "bitch" a little too much.
- Okay, in another life, Havok must have been a torture master in some medieval dungeon, because she busted out probably the most sadistic new submission hold I've ever seen, grabbing Athena in a chinlock with one arm and wrenching her leg back in a standing single crab with the other.
- "I'M GOING AFTER YOUR WEAVE!" Oh man, that's just evil, J. Hav.
- I hope Michael Elgin and Davey Richards watch this match at some point, because when someone does a top rope Air Raid Crash, it should fucking end the goddamn match, goddammit.
- LuFisto came out to the announce table during her entrance, placed Pegaboo down, then went over offset of the entry way to attack Mercedes Martinez before she could know it. That's planning!
- The event was held at the Flyers Skate Zone, which is a hockey rink most of the time, so it was only natural that Martinez sent Lufi into the boards. The ref was too chicken to call two minutes for boarding, but the two ended up in the penalty box anyway, jousting on top of a table, a sequence that included Lufi using a broom handle to whack and choke Martinez.
- Lufi used the railing on the bleachers as leverage for an octopus hold. Let that sink in for a little bit.
- Martinez went for a fisherman buster on the apron after one in the ring couldn't finish Lufi off, but then Lufi took it to the next level with a Burning Hammer to the floor into a table. I don't care who you are. When you see that, you either cringe, mark out, or do both.
Match of the Night: Jessicka Havok (c) vs. Athena, WSU Championship Match - They tore the remains of the house down that Jazz and Rachel Summerlyn did most of the work on at Queen of Queens last year. This time, they were the ones who brought the place down all by themselves. In the rare case where the sequel was better than the original, Athena and Jessicka Havok may have thrown gasoline on the fire lit that could turn out to be one of wrestling's great modern rivalries.
The match had a classic bully/underdog feel to it, with Havok as the brash, mouthy Champion asserting her dominance in unique and painful-looking ways. The way she moved seamlessly from tortuous move into even more excruciating variants. She turned a camel clutch (where she was biting Athena's neck) into a backbreaker into a lariat. She combined submissions and strikes like she was a medieval dungeonmaster. Maybe the most spiteful and awful thing she did was lock Athena into another camel clutch, scream "I'M GOING FOR HER WEAVE!" and try to rip her hair out while face-washing her on the mat. Those verbal taunts though, man, they were best touches. She hurled screaming obscenities and taunts to Athena as she was trying to break her. Evil that lets you know its evil is the best kind, and Havok certainly let Athena know the providence of her intentions. Spoiler alert, it was baaaaad.
But for every barbed prong Havok shoved at Athena, the Wrestling Goddess had something to throw back at her. It was mostly her kicks, especially a single leg dropkick she went back to time and time again. At times, her comebacks were lightning quick, whether it was coming out of nowhere to sweep out Havok's leg into a heel hook, or trying like hell to get away from Havok's death grip and slid under her into a pumphandle hold. Her pluck would be the end of her. As she climbed the top for her O-Face, Havok intercepted her, thumped her to the mat with an avalanche Air Raid Crash, and put her down to even their series at two. That being said, I wouldn't mind if they went 2,000 matches.
Overall Thoughts: Okay, first thing's first, the Chris Dickinson/Addy Starr angle was pretty awful in its execution. I get the intent; I think that Starr is such a natural at getting her ass kicked that when Dickinson amped the apparent stiffness up towards the end of the match, it might have appeared overstated because she's so fearless about bumping hard to the mat. However, I don't think there's any excusing the angle. Apparently, there's set up to it, but for people who haven't followed Beyond Wrestling or kept up to date with it, the lack of context will definitely take them by surprise. Again, everyone has a different line, and I know that not everyone is going to see what happened in the post-match angle as feigned sexual assault like I did. But I think it's a signpost of how far we are to getting to true gender equity.
That being said, as bad as that angle was, the show at large was silky smooth with a ton of high moments. I thought it started out slowly, but it started to kick into high gear with Niya/Veda Scott and rose exponentially with each match, Dickinson/Starr excluded. There seems to be a bit of a dichotomy between the lower card and the main event, but WSU right now has a lot of wrestlers who can carry the top half of the card while the ones below have promise. I'm not sold on Ezavel Suena or Niya, but I think with a little more experience with the company and its oeuvre, Kimber Lee, Veda Scott, Neveah, Jessie Brooks, and Christina von Eerie can grow and make the promotion as deep as SHIMMER without having to bring in all the joshis (and that's not a knock against SHIMMER either, by the way).
The questionable segment on the show was really questionable; I don't want to see a guy shoving his ass in a woman's face without her consent ever again. That's a really black mark. But I feel like if I can forgive WWE for its transgressions, and if I can forgive R-Pro for its transgressions, then I can let this one slide. The show was good enough to want to recommend it and keep following the new direction of the promotion.
