So-Cal WAR

[Guest DeputyHawk]

Scrub's review of the 2/13 PWW show from socaluncensored.com. When is someone going to let the general So-Cal public know that they're in one of the hottest wrestling territories in the U.S.? You gotta feel for the workers.

 

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So, as I walk into the Marketplace, I am dumbfounded for two reasons. One, there's actually lights as promised and the show is actually still going on. And two, there's more than 5 fans in attendance (not including anyone related to a wrestler somehow). I walk in and notice that there is nobody selling tickets, or so I thought. It turns out that ticket sales was located as far away as possible from the entrance to the show. Great job in positioning their folks. So it was up to the fans to find out where to pay. Or the less honorable ones (or smarter ones, whichever you prefer) just sat down and enjoyed a free show. What was WAR security gonna do, kick them out? I do want to say that I did pay $7 bucks for admission into the open air. WAR's crack security team is top notch, all consisting of about 5 ten year old kids. Legit.

 

Show starts at about 630pm and here we go with the first match!

 

Ricky Reyes defeated Lil Cholo and Eric Matlock

Pretty standard stuff here. Reyes talks Cholo into teaming up together against Matlock because, "they are both bald". Reyes also goes on to say, "yeah Knox, you are in on this too." So as both Reyes, Cholo and Knox are about to gang up on the hairy-er Matlock, Reyes doublecrosses Cholo in a very dastardly move! What a ruse. And from there, it's pretty much a standard three way dance with everyone getting in their trademark stuff, including those vicious kicks from Reyes. Reyes wins your match.

 

Davey Richards defeated Charles Mercury

This was my Co-Match of the Night. I'll get to the other one soon, don't you worry. To their credit, both Richards and Mercury busted their ass off in front of the Marketplace crowd. A gesture which was most certainly not required, but very much appreciated nonetheless. Very stiff contest from the two including a sick backdrop driver and a brutal implant ddt to the floor from Richards to Mercury. Richards gets the win via a really clean lookin shooting star press.

 

Roderick Strong defeated "Mr Wrestling" Kevin Steen

Roderick Strong made his way to the ring and Steen followed him out during his entrance to blindside him. They started to brawl amongst "the capacity crowd". The two got to the makeshift "merch table" brought by Devan and True Fan (which is your basic unsturdy poker table) and made sure the table got involved into the action. Of course, the witty one-liners from Kevin were all over the place. Action spills back into the ring and we get a standard wrestling match! Roderick rallies back against Steen and hits him with those dreaded backbreaker variations, which impressed the crowd. Strong takes the win in his Marketplace debut. Now the fly-ins have seen both sides of the SoCal spectrum.

 

Scott Lost defeated El Generico with Human Tornado as the special guest referee

My other Co-Match of the Night. These two also put on a great match in front of the few fans that decided to brave the elements. Again, all the trademark stuff you'd expect from both competitors: Generico's graceful highflying including the split legged moonsault, his Yakuza Kick to Lost's chest and the dreaded heart punch! Lost took the heart punch like a champ, as it looked like his heart was about to explode after taking such a deadly move. Lost hit his infamous superman dive in the corner and his beautiful spinning kick and his patented spear into a bridge. Tornado's one-liners and mannerisms as the ref were classic as always, which reminded me of his reffing at PCW. The two managed to brawl inside and around the port-o-potty, as demanded by the fans, which looked pretty nasty. More wrestlers got involved in the port-o-potty later. Lost took the victory with the sharpshooter. After the match, Tornado took off his slinged arm and superkicked Lost, holding the Rev Pro Jr. Title right in the downed Lost's face.

 

Markus Riot defeated Joey Epic via countout

Markus Riot comes out, then Joey Epic comes out. But Team Epic gets on the mic and says that he needs to get out of the ring because Riot is not worth wrestling. Team Epic says they're gonna take the night off because they don't want to wrestle in a venue like the Marketplace. Bosh gets on the mic and the hilarity begins. Bosh has a bottle of cologne spray and and is spraying himself all night wearing his nice Sunday clothes to the show. Your typical schmozz from Team Epic that happens at every show.

 

Silver Tyger defeated Hajima Ohara

Good match from the two. Although you feel the match is a little cheapened for being outside, just like all the other matches, but what're you gonna do? Ohara comes from the Ultimo Dragon Gym in Mexico and is apparantly hanging out in Anaheim still with WPW. Silver Tiger now has mutton chops on his mask just like Tiger Mask. What you would expect from the two cruiserweights.

 

Austin Aries defeated Super Dragon to retain the WAR Championship

What some would consider a dream match, happened at the Marketplace. Unfortunately, their debut meeting together was burnt though and done unproper. But again, what're you gonna do? These two wrestled a good match with each other, but anyone watching this and knows what these two can do know very well that these two are capable of much, much more. And I don't blame them for not going full throttle. If you were expecting an epic encounter, you'd be kidding yourself. Both guys hit their trademark stuff, although no curbstomp from Dragon. Aries added the backrake into his arsenal. Aries was also watching some Hogan tapes earlier in the day and added a couple more moves into his repetoire, making him that much more dangerous: the big boot leg drop combination! That puts suckers away! Dragon's throat was guillotined which was just enough to put him away for the 1-2-3, allowing Aries to keep the strap around his waist. Good match, very entertaining, but you know they were capable of more. I'd like to see a rematch in another fed done proper.

 

Jack Evans announces his wrestling hiatus

He says he's gonna finish out his bookings but once that's complete, he's gonna take a little break from wrestling and think things over. Jack went on to say that he was originally from the OC, and what better way to take a hiatus from wrestling than where he grew up, in the OC. This brought out Chris Bosh and Team Epic, with Bosh calling out Evans and doing his darndest to punk him out.

 

"While you beat Super Dragon with a flip, you know what I beat Super Dragon with? A small package!" - Chris Bosh

 

That got a big "ohhhhhhhhhh" reaction from the crowd. Bosh continues to call out Evans, saying he was better than him and he didn't need to flip all over the place. Bosh then blindsided Evans when he wasn't looking, which then saw Team Epic take Evans to the ring and put a beatdown on him (the Bosh/Evans segment took place by the entraceway, since the mic doesn't reach the ring). Scorpio Sky, Markus Riot, Diablo and his valet run in for the save, which broke down into a huge melee. Sky hit a beautiful dive to the outside onto Cooper. Riot was also going nuts flying all over the place. Joey Epic liked to springboard guardrails and hit his aerial attacks (who looks like a poor man's Jardi Frantz). At one point Joey Epic got Riot involved with the port-o-potty in a bad, bad way. Moreso than Lost's encounter with the portable urinal. Bo smashed Riot pretty good with a stiff chairshot to the head and a nasty suplex to the floor, then proceeded to spit in Travis's face (former RevPro announcer/2nd string PWG announcer). Chris Bosh then went on to hit Jack Evans with two Stone Cold Stunners, which Jack sold like death. Bo Cooper then had a flaming barbed wire kendo stick and then proceeded to hit Diablo in the back several times. Team Epic then abducted Diablo's valet to close the show. You'd think if fire was involved, that you'd sell that like death. But apparently, Diablo is some sort of superhuman cyborg and was selling like he took a couple a backbreakers and neckbreakers.

 

Overall, umm... I dunno what to say. I respect all the wrestlers for going out there and doing their best for the fans that did come out live and sit in the cold. These Team Epic schmozzes, I'm not big on them, but I sure hope someone out there likes them, because I can see them happening for many shows to come. Looks like the main focal point of the fed is going to be Gary Yap and Team Epic vs. Diablo and any other wrestlers that are anti-Team Epic. I will say that I do like where they are going with Evans vs. Bosh.

 

Who knows what to expect at the next show. Christopher Daniels, Hijo Del Santo, Mil Mascaras, EDIT: Hardkore Kidd and John Cena, Vampiro, Paul London, Spanky, GAMI, Michiko Ohmukai, NOSAWA, Ultimo Dragon and a slew of his Toryumon students (I'm sure I'm forgetting a ton of top tier luchadors as well, and for that I apologize) have all stepped foot and wrestled at the Marketplace.

 

To Richards, Strong, Steen, Generico, Ohara, and Aries, I just wanted to say...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Welcome to the Anaheim Marketplace.