Pro-Wrestling WORLD-1 House Show REVISITED 4/8/04 Pottstown, PA Academy Hall (175)

Pro-Wrestling WORLD-1 House Show REVISITED 4/8/04 Pottstown, PA Academy Hall (175)

PK: I was a little disappointed to see that the place was not jam-packed. We counted maybe 175 fans, well below max capacity and thus making this a SUPER YES VACANCY. And a strange lot they were. There were a couple obnoxious guys who were apparently convinced we paid to hear them crack jokes and blow an air horn. Then there was this family of old school fans who were both awesome and terrifying to behold. I will never forget the father of this family squatting and clapping while walking over to see a wrestler get flung into some chairs. He looked like he was at a hoe-down. He also kept offering the Christopher Street Connection some pizza. He yelled stuff about pizza at least ten times. Then there was a contingent of Japanese fans that were tremendous to observe. Then, the sea of teenage angst parted and I spotted he who is known as The Green Lantern Fan. I woke up in a sweat later that night mumbling "match times... Match times... WHAT WERE THE MATCH TIMES?!" The rest of the fans were… well, kind of timid.

ML: The crowd wasn’t really good or bad. No o­ne was yelling Egg Foo Yung at the Japanese guys or going o­n about some silly gimmick a dumb promoter strapped a poor wrestler with fifteen years ago, but most of the matches didn’t get a ton of positive reaction either. I could have lived without knowing there were so many pizza men or pizza eaters or whatever it was, but Tanaka got the biggest ovation coming out. Pretty much no o­ne was yelling his name, but at least a third of the audience stood and clapped for him the whole time. The main event got far more positive reaction than it deserved, but a lot of fans seemed to be there for the junior matches and they got over well despite being o­n so early. Maybe a few matches deserved more props, but relative to the noise that was made the enthusiasm for them was pretty well related to their quality.

Simon Diamond vs. Ricky Landell

PK: Solid match. Landell looks a bit like David Flair, and did some of Ric’s spots. He was solid but in no way spectacular. Simon has that superstar sheen. They did a whole headlock thing, with Landell trying to escape but Simon kept locking it back in. The ring was kind of small, I was wondering if the Simon series could be executed within the confines. It could. Fine match.

ML: Landell was another "Nature Boy". Despite the lameness of using a name that evokes memories of noted Flair wannabe Buddy Landell, Ricky was good for a young guy in the opening match. He did the requisite Flair stuff, except he actually hit the diving body attack rather than getting slammed off the top rope.

Simon didn’t have anything to say before the match, perhaps because he was Dickless. In case we couldn’t figure it out, halfway through he announced this was "old school wrestling". Landell then came back going to the eyes and said that was old school. They really overdid the headlocks, but most of the rest was pretty good, especially the hard chops. Simon showed me he could actually wrestle. With that in mind he was too good to be in the opening match, but if you want to bring dojo guys along it’s important to have them work with people that can carry them to something decent. Simon is no Suzuka Minami, but he was more than up for the task. He won with a reverse DDT. 10:59. *3/4

Joel Maximo & Jose Maximo & Guillotine LeGrande & MANA vs. Rockin’ Rebel & Greg Spitz & Rapid Fire Maldonado & Mark Mest?

PK: I know everybody's been dumping o­n the SATs lately, but they were pretty good aside from o­ne dropkick which looked like a complete whiff. The guy I immediately liked was MANA. He's a Samoan with face paint and big Sabu pants. He wrestled barefooted and carried this wooden knife to the ring. His chops were nasty and he had this awesome menacing presence about him. Everyone else was fine. Mark whatever his name is was a guy of average height that was really overweight. He pretty much just took a beating when he was tagged in. I kinda wanted to see more from him, a big splash would have ruled (dunno if the ring could take it!). He needs a mask. The Spanish Fly is just awesome to see in person.

ML: The wrestler whose stock rose in my mind the most since we went to the PWF show last year was Spitz. I thought he was a Steve Richards wannabe, but pretty much all the good wrestling in this match took place when he was in. Maximos have enough problems with guys who work the junior style, so it could have been a total train wreck if they were trying spots o­n Rebel or Mark, but with Spitz we saw the good Maximos. I haven’t enjoyed the Maximos in the past because they were doing spotblowfu fighting. They weren’t no impact like when I saw them o­n TNA a while back, actually they stood out with their punishing chops. The o­ne blown spot was a minor move right away, so in the long run it didn’t make that much difference.

The rest of the guys didn’t show me anything with MANA being a generic Samoan and Maldonado being a big disappointment by not doing anything to distinguish himself and being overly hesitant o­n his hot tag. Much too short for an 8-man, but since the three stiffs weren’t given the opportunity to kill the match the length might have been a plus. Maldonado pinned a Maximo, I believe with the shining wizard. 10:09. **

King Kaluha vs. Alex Law

PK: Kaluha was right out of the '80's in a good way. He came out to ABBA’s "Dancing Queen" and took an apathetic crowd and had them booing him pretty loudly by the end. Law was this scrawny guy... Law didn't really do much of anything. Looked like Kaluha carried him through the whole thing.

ML: Helloween, Metalium, Sinergy, At Vance, Tad Morose, etc. covers still won’t convert me to that awful ’70’s crap. Kaluha’s wrestling was still okay. He was in control of the match and did some moves that might not have been great but at least were different. Law was a disaster with all kinds of indecision and hesitation. He was hardly o­n offense, but that made things worse because he was overselling like crazy. I preferred this match to the Christopher Street & Rhodes matches, but there were way too many problems. 8:35. DUD

Low ki vs. Minoru Fujita

PK: This match was fun just because there were these two Japanese girls yelling "Low ki!" just like you hear o­n Zero-One tapes. There was a funny moment when a fan yelled "Ref don't bother, he can't speak English" and Fujita turned to the ref and said, "Speak Japanese please!" I was a little disappointed in this match. Fujita didn't get off much of anything at all, not much of a story or even any decent spots. It was just ki selling, and then hitting some of his trademarks. Not bad, but it could have been so much more. I felt this was too low o­n the card, regardless.

ML: I thought this should have been the better of the two junior singles matches. Hidaka is the best of the four and by now I should know not to bet against him, but there’s a much bigger gap between Fujita and Spanky for the "worst" than Low and Hidaka for the best. Fujita seemed to carry this match though, and neither ever really got it going. Fujita played punk heel most of the match. While it was as stiff as you’d expect, they didn’t really develop anything. It was mostly random shots rather than sequences or any kind of linking. When Low finally made his comeback they went to the finishing sequence. Fujita barely did any of his high spots, and Low hardly exhausted his arsenal. That wouldn’t necessarily have bothered me, but they didn’t do anything else to make up for it. Certainly it was a good match, but I don’t feel it approached its potential. Low won with the ki crusher. 13:09. **3/4

Spanky vs. Ikuto Hidaka

PK: Spanky came out to the Leonardo Spanky theme, but thankfully not those buttcheek-revealing tights. But why didn't he pose with a female fan like Leo o­n the Titanic? And Spanky was not prancing like I expected. Let's face it, Spanky is the heir apparent to Shawn Michaels when it comes to PRANCING. This match was all about Hidaka though. First, he came out in this mindbending mask which causes you to lose sanity if you stare directly at it. Second, he got the crowd behind him with his crisp offense, and yelling 'Hahrrr' back and forth with the fans, which got over in a second. That's impressive considering the malaise cast over this crowd of timid lads and lasses. Hidaka also did his 'skin the cat' variation o­n the bottom rope, and busted out a couple of crazy submissions which got great reactions. Just a great match. Could have gone longer though… It just started getting great when it ended.

ML: Thankfully we were spared any references to DiCraprio. He’s already lead to the demise of Agnieszka Holland, James Cameron, Danny Boyle, and Martin Scorsese; we don’t need him to indirectly claim Hidaka as well. Hidaka did an excellent job of carrying Spanky. He was o­n offense a lot more than I expected, to the point of almost dominating him, but Spanky was effective taking the opportunities to counter with a nice athletic move. What separated this from the Fujita match is the motion. Hidaka crafted such a smooth flowing match. That’s all the more impressive considering how many submissions Hidaka uses. Hidaka’s offense was also more creative than anyone else’s o­n the show. Quite a good match, but held back by the lack of length. Hidaka got the submission with his Shawn capture. 10:07. ***

INTERMISSION:

PK: I got some autographs and spoke some Japanese to Hidaka and Fujita. They gave me autographs anyway. Fujita had some nasty welts o­n his chest from the ki chops. Low ki had some of his Zero-One trading cards for sale - $30 a piece! I asked Spanky something about how he works out matches with people who speak other languages. I should have asked him for dirt o­n who's gay in the WWE. I mean, they're all buffed and lubed up. Speaking of, 'Simply Luscious' Ronnie Stevens was working the concession stand, while Tracy Brooks and Monsta Mack were hanging around...

ML: I wish I saw Hidaka & Fujita’s face when Peter asked them "how much is the toothpaste?" Maybe it tied in with all those pizza references, or he was just another grease chomping American who purports to be obsessed with healthiness.

Steve Corino vs. Kohei Sato

PK: Solid heavyweight style match. Sato hit some power moves. Corino wasn't as playful as he has been in Zero-One, which is too bad because he cracks me up. He seemed a little cranky.

ML: This was originally scheduled as the fourth match, and I think it would have been better in that spot. The junior matches went over well, but then the intermission calmed things down and despite Corino being the local hero the heat didn’t pick up again until the semifinal because no o­ne saw Sato as any match for him. It was an adequate match, but Sato can’t be compared to Hidaka or Fujita. He’s o­nly been around a few years and is basically an upstart that has a little push because he’s a heavyweight in a league that has so few wrestlers. The match was a lot of brawling type striking then Sato taking Corino’s moves, which he called out using the Japanese names including the infamous "brainbuster". Sato stopped the northern lights bomb o­nce, but Corino soon got it for the win. 9:27. **

WORLD-1 Tag Title Decision Match: Christopher Street Connection vs. Matt Striker & Josh Daniels

PK: An abortion. Striker's overselling is so bad. He actually squealed after some arm work: "I can't feel my hand!" And then he got up and started throwing some more bad punches thirty seconds later. Then time stopped for a moment as Striker tried to pump up the crowd - and got silent blank stares. God I'm getting sad just thinking about him continuing to pump his arms while realizing that his match sucked and nobody liked him. Well, almost - It should be noted Striker was over huge with the family of marks. And the o­ne mark guy was frothing at the mouth screaming "you're a fucking faggot" at CSC. So the little girls o­n either side of him followed suit, and a secret tear rolled down the surface of my soul. I was hoping to see more of Daniels, but he was barely in the match at all. I enjoy CSC's antics but wow, they blew this o­ne double team - the gay basher? - so bad the crowd immediately farted o­n it. This match absolutely sucked.

ML: I always said these gay gimmicks set homosexuals back 50 years, but this match so bad George Bush probably gained some swing votes to aid that quest. I thought it would be a good thing that CSC weren’t as gay because a comedy match for a new serious title probably kills it dead immediately (if Vince & Russo haven’t already eliminated the possibility for any title in the US to be remotely meaningful). The wrestling was pretty treacherous though.

CSC were a little better than I figured they would be, I think. It’s hard to say because Striker was so bad that they might have just looked passable by comparison. Striker is some oxymoron. o­n a show that had as much top to bottom stiffness as any American show I can think of, the o­ne guy that sounds like he could lay it in barely even makes contact with his headbutts and forearms. It’s funny how many times the most muscular guy actually hits the weakest, and not surprisingly he wasn’t making up for it with agility, flexibility, or stamina. Daniels looked very promising again. He is very intense and does wicked chops, but like last year he was barely in and didn’t do anything beyond a couple of Dynamite Kid trademarks.

There was hardly any mic work o­n the show, which to me was a plus. Credible is still trying to live off the ECW push that should have went to someone that had anything going for them, saying the same pathetic catch phrase (which much to his dismay no o­ne cared to fill in for him), but that was about all the mindnumbing repetitive boredom. Even I have to admit though that Jack-o Victory was o­ne of the highlights of the show. After this atrocity ended in a double count out, Victory said he should give them 5 more minutes but he didn’t want to bore us anymore so he’d make a decision about the title o­n the WORLD-1 website tomorrow. I kept waiting for the angle to cause them to restart it, but no, Jack-o was truly our hero. 13:44. DUD