|
|
|
| XWF Puerto Rico by MedallaGuy | 17.8.2 |
MainBLAH |
XWF IN YOUR FACE #3 Quick intro, got back home from vacation and tuned in the TV sat morning and forgot that XWF had chose PR as their launching site for their TV programming. Knowing that many slash readers have to be curious about the XWF product, I decided to get a pen and paper and recap In Your Face. Now, since I was in vacation and don’t have a VCR I missed the first two episodes, but talking to friends that watched them they said I didn’t missed much. Only noteworthy things about the first two shows were the Cruiserweight Battle Royal which Kid Kash won, the editing of the Hulk Hogan’s match and Roddy Piper becoming a heel commish. Hopefully i will have a quick match recap of the first two episodes soon...all right enough intro let’s get to the action. This recap is brought you by: 20oz. Coca Cola and French’s Potato Sticks...mmm...classic. Show starts with a flashback to last week program, showing Rena (Mero) XWF’s CEO and Roddy Piper arguing along with another couple of clips of matches that happened last week but I can’t tell who the participants were... We are ringside, your announcers are Tony Schivonie and Jerry “The King” Lawler, but quickly it gets dubbed by some local Spanish announcers who manage to get me pretty angry in a nanosecond since its obvious they don’t know anything about wrestling, plus i miss Tony saying whatamanuver every other minute... We go to Mean Gene Okerlund in the ring and he introduces the XWF’s CEO, Rena...along with 3 bodyguards...Rena looking pretty good, but some things never change as her mic work makes the Hardy’s proud. She basically says she’s the CEO and she won’t interfere with Piper’s work, but that he has to be careful, because at the end of the day, she is still the boss. Mean Gene asks her what the main event for tonight is and she says that that is Piper’s job so she’ll let him handle that. The set is a mix of WCW’s Saturday Night ring with a smaller Nitro stage for the wrestlers to enter. Production value so far is pretty good actually, I’m quite surprised, much better than NWA-TNA’s PPV in my opinion, let’s see if it holds up. Hacksaw Jim Duggan drops a 30 second promo where he says USA #1 and remind fans that whenever he’s on the ring fans should yell loud “XWF...XWF” Hooooooo!!! I thought I missed that...but I didn’t. Local Ads time.... woohoo 15 mins in and no wrestling... In the street promo as Public Enemy...whoops, now they are known as South Philly Posse, with new street slang, and they are looking for Jasmine (St. Claire). Strangely enough they find her and ask her to be their manager, she says she will think about it. Finally, we get a match...already in the ring...Marty Jenetty who still looks in pretty good shape, although with a little gut, but still, pretty good. His opponent Drezden a 7ft giant with a good built but one can tell he’s from the Kevin Nash School of giant wrestling. On to the action. Drezden starts off with a couple of chops, punches, irish whip...crowd shot and suddenly back to a powerslam by Drezden, me thinks editing has occurred. Drezden picks up Jenetty, belly to back supplex, pick up again, going for a standing supplex, Jennety backs out of it right into a schoolboy, 1 count only. Drezden up and gets greeted by a Jennetty superkick which he no sells. Jennetty runs to the ropes for extra speed but he gets a Big Boot instead. Jennety is picked up and slammed down hard. Pick up, Irish whip, Drezden misses a clothesline, Jennety does one of his own but to no effect. Jennety goes up the ropes and tries a double axehandle from the top but he gets caught in midair by a bearhug, which Drezden then converts into an overhead belly to belly supplex. Pick up and hard powerbomb by Drezden...1,2,3. (~2:00) Big time squash to start out my XWF experience. We go backstage where we see Greg “The Hammer” Valentine pounding Commissioner Piper’s door asking why he isn’t on the card noting that he’s got the experience and the hardware to prove it. Piper sneaks in behind and pats his back saying some other time. Quickly back to the ring where we get to see Horace Hogan entering the ring, same look as WCW by the way. His opponent Josh Mathews, he of Tough Enough 1 fame, with a very, very Jeff Hardish look. Ring the bell...Hogan gets the upper hand quickly by kicking Josh couple of times in the stomach. Body slam by Hogan, followed by and Irish whip to the corner and some punches to go with it. Another Irish whip to the other corner followed up by a charging elbow to the jaw, which connects. Matthews on the canvas, drop elbow on the back of the neck by Hogan...me smelling another squash. Pick up by Hogan and throws him over the top rope to the outside, couple of chops in the apron by Hogan followed up by a slam on the padding. In the ring again where we can see Matthews in bleeding from the nose, but not heavily. Irish whip by Hogan, drops head down which Matthews takes advantage and goes for the sunset flip. The power of Hogan is too much as he picks him up from the apron and does a double choke powerbomb. Hogan covers, 1, 2...put Hogan picks him up...oh oh...WCW finish #453 coming up...Hogan goes for a standing supplex but Matthews reverses it into a inside cradle and a quick 1, 2, 3 gets him the victory (~1:45). Hogan of course is furious as Matthews hightails it back to the locker room. Great pop for Matthews, kind of surprised, but he didn’t show anything on this match. Jimmy Hart puts over 6’9” 300 pound Hail as the next big star of XWF in a recorded promo. Nothing special here. Time for some more ads...ugh. Back to the action and we have the Shane Twins already in the ring...i cannot tell them apart so #1 and #2 from now on. Their opponents from the tough streets of Philadelphia, the Publ..oops i mean...the South Philly Posse with new manager Jasmine. Rocco Rock has really lost some weight and looks good...Johnny Grunge...well, he’s still the same. #1 vs. Rocco to start off...trading of punches till #1 gets the upperhand with a hip toss, then another. Quick tag to #2, irish whip and double shoulder block to Rocco. Irish whip again and a vicious powerslam by #2. 1, 2, kick out. #2 with another irish whip, this time reversed which allows Johhny to hit #2 on the back. The distraction allows Rocco to throws a knee clip to get the big man down. Tag to Johnny who quickly stomps the right knee of #2 then goes to work on it with a leg bar. #2 tries to get out but no can do. Quick tag to Rocco, double irish whip followed by a shoulder block to the knee by Rocco who then continues to work on #2 knee on the mat old school style. Quick time again to Johnny, who does a standing splash on #2 knee. Quick tag again followed up by an irish whip and a double elbow. Rocco picks him up and whips him to the corner followed up by a clothesline. #2 falls down to the bottom rope where Rocco applies a boot choke. Rocco distracts the ref and let Jas join in the fun by choking #2 on the bottom rope as well. Snap mare by Rocco and goes for a...Lionsault...wow i didn’t expect that. But he misses and lets the Power Twin Tag activate...hot tag to #1 who clothesline the South Philly Posse a couple of times...Irish whip to Rocco who gets meet by a double face first pancake. Camera focuses on the stage where we see the Nasty Boys trying to do a run-in but they get greeted by The Road Warriors in the apron, where did they come from??? Anyhow the distraction is enough for #1 to schoolboy Rocco for the 1,2,3. (~5:30) Yes, they were actually both the legal men. We get a pier 8 brawl where the faces get the upperhand as the heels flee back to the locker room. We end the segment with the Road Warriors and the Shane Twins raising their arms together in the middle of the ring. We get a very short promo of The Wall telling other XWF fighters that he is the new man to beat. He’s got his NWA-TNA look on this promo for those who care. That tattoo on the chest had to hurt. We get Mean Gene back in the ring and he introduces Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka and his son Jimmy Snuka Jr. Superfly saying its great to be back in the ring with mean Gene and that he loves everybody watching the XWF right now. Comisioner Roddy Piper cuts in Superfly’s promo and puts down Superfly by questioning the if Jr. Is really his legitimate son...whatever. Mean Gene looks pissed, he says its not his place but he challenges Piper to come to the ring a back up his talk and fight Superfly. Piper says he wants to but he doesn’t have Rena’s permission. On cue Rena comes out and says he’s got his permission. Piper backs out by saying he has a sore shoulder but that soon they would meet in the ring, plus he’s got a job to do and right now his job is to name the main event which is Buff Bagwell and Vampiro vs. Curt Henning and “British Superstar” Ian Harrison. He then promptly leaves the stage. More local ads...damn they suck We come back to the ring and we have AJ Styles in the ring aready for his opponent who is...XWF cruiserweight champion Kid Kash. Action may be to quick to call...I’ll try my best. We start with AJ doing a hammerlock, which is reversed, which is counter reversed, which is counter counter reversed by Kash. Styles reverses again but this time puts Kash in the mat with a Greco-roman take down. Styles quickly applies the hammerlock again. Kash reverses it with a slip out and a hammerlock of his own. Both man up, Styles with a whip and hip tosses Kash, Styles then charges Kash but gets a hip toss of his own. Kash quickly charges Styles but he drops down and monkey flips Kash. Kash charges in again but Styles sweeps his feet with his arm, cover, 1 count. Styles now charges Kash who does a sweep of his own, cover 1 count. Both wrestlers stand up and do the Indy stand and stare respect spot. Kash charges in and gets meet with a beautiful arm drag Ricky Steamboat style. Kash gets up and he does a deep arm drag to Styles...they repeat the spot two more times very quickly. Kash whips AJ to the corner but he reverses, Kash bounces off and get hit hard with an AJ superkick. AJ whips him into the rope and throws a beautiful dropkick straight to the jaw... that has to be the best in the biz right now...sorry Hardcore. AJ with a chinlock resthold that Kash quickly stands up and gets off by throwing AJ to the ropes and clotheslineing him. Kash off the second rope and another clotheline to the chest. As AJ gets up Kash goes and hits a double springboard crossbody that is beautifily filmed by a hovering corner cam. Kash is up and confident, he kicks AJ, double underhook, and piledriver...if i remember that was called the Bawitaba but I bet he has another name for it now. It’s all academic as AJ is selling it like death, cover and 1, 2, 3. (~3:30). I expected more from this match to tell the truth. We go back stage where we see a meeting between Rena and the three XWF girls, hey there’s Chae...now…I really missed her...Rena notices the cam and tells security to turn the cam off and they do. We go back to the ring and we see Sony Onoo in the stage with one of his newer wrestlers Vapor. Nice solid built on this guy plus the Tajiri pants equal a great look. His opponent, Jimmy Snuka Jr, with Superfly Snuka as manager. Ring the bell...I’m in Defcon 2 with this spanish announcers, I’m begging to hear Shiovonie and Lawler...that’s how sad they are. We start off by the wrestlers trading punches, Snuka gets the upperhand and whip Vapor to the corner and clothesline him. Jr picks him up in a belly to back position but instead slams him face first into the mat...very nicely done. Another corner whip by Jr. But it’s reversed by Vapor, Jr bounces off the corner and Vapor picks him up over his shoulders, gets some momentum and a beautiful Rolling Forward Slam that would’ve made Fit proud. Cover by Vapor, 2 count only. Vapor with irish whip, misses with a chop but hits with a double chop as Jr was bouncing back. Stomp to the chest by Vapor. Pick up, corner whip by Vapor, he charges in but he meets Jr’s boot. Vapor stagering as Jr charges in, but he gets greeted by an awesome powerslam by Vapor, great velocity and gyration on it. 2 count only though. Pick up by Vapor, goes for a right hand but Jr blocks it and hits a couple of his own and then hits a rolling neckbreker. As he does we see Onoo going up in the apron trying to distract the ref. Jr politely greets him by fliping him into the ring. Dad is up and punches Onoo as Jr hits a swinging face plant DDT to Vapor, damn that had to hurt. Superfly hits a weak backbreaker to Onoo and the family signals that their going up. Crowd stands up for the first time in the program. Both Superfly and Jr go for the splash and both connect big time. Damn, Jr got hops plus he had to turn in mid air because Vapor was not in position...nice. Double count by the ref 1, 2, 3 and its over. (~3:00). Too bad about the overbooking, this would’ve been a nice match if it had time to develop. More ads...these ads are like twice as long as regular ads, about 5 minutes each break… they really are stretching the show. We come back and we get Bobby “The Brain” Hennan in my TV set and all is good in the world again. He introduces his newest tag team Curt Henning and “British Superstar” Ian Harrison. Harrison an ex body builder in excellent condition but let’s see how he works inside the ring. Their opponents first, Buff Bagwell (w. Buff top hat) and for those who were wondering what he was doing...his tag team partner Vampiro. Ring the bell. Vampiro and Harrison start off, both in a collar and elbow tie up, after a little struggle Ian uses his strength to push off Vampiro. Couple of right hands, then a kick to the mid section by Harrison. Off the ropes and hits a knee lift to the doubled over Vampiro. Pick up, more right hands by Harrison then grabs him by the throat and he executes a double choke sit down power bomb. Tag to Curt Henning who quickly punches Vampy while in the mat. Pick up and gives the perfect chop in the corner, and then another. Corner whip reversed by Vampiro, Henning bounces and gets hit by a roundhouse kick to the face. Tag to Buff, double irish whip and double elbow. Pick up and punches by Buff that take Henning in the corner where he craftily goes out of the ring. As Henning takes a breather and comes back in, Buff tags Vampiro in. Back to the action as Vampiro throws Henning to the ropes out of a collar and elbow tie up, he puts his heads down and Henning kicks him in the head. Tag to Harrison who picks up Vampiro and whips him to the corner, Vampy bounces off and gets blasted by a big clothesline that turned Vampiro inside out. Pick up by Harrison into a Gorilla Press Slam. Buff enters the ring and sneaks in a clothesline to Harrison that send him to the outside...where The Brain huddles them up to plan an attack...now that’s a manager. The faces stand in the middle of the ring back to back waiting for the heels to attack. All 4 man in the ring now, Vampiro hits a roundhouse kick to Harrison that sends Ian to the outside, Vampy perches to the top rope for what it looks an outside plancha but he doesn’t do it. Meanwhile in the ring Henning schoolboys Buff plus a handful of tights and gets the 1,2,3. (~5:30). Brain gathers his man as they leave happy meanwhile inside the ring Buff is pissed with Vampy for not helping him out. They shove and throw some punches until the locker room charges the ring and separate them...and we that we leave for now. Well all in all...i was disappointed, I expected more out of the matches especially Styles and Kash, but they didn’t have time to develop...hopefully things will get better next week. Comments, feedback and questions please email me at medallaguy@yahoo.com. Till next time... MedallaGuy from Wienerville Mail the Author Comment about this article in Wienerville |
BLAH |
Main |
||