Windy City Pro Wrestling - 12/03/01

If you were around earlier 2001, you might have noticed previous Windy City Pro Wrestling reports. In the city limits, WCPW airs on Chicago city cable channel 25, unavailable elsewhere. When I moved from my small, alley view apartment back to the suburbs, it meant no more WCPW for me, and I wasn't all that sad. The cable access show didn't really have a great match that I saw and moved along angles somewhere around a glacial pace. It wasn't a bad idea - it did a decent job of introducing the players and hyping the house shows, but it wasn't that interesting show. Nothing really clicked for me, so if that was the end of it for me, that was okay. (Of course, not a week later, I stumbled across them hyping a show on the annoying Tuesday night wrestling show on the Score - but that's another digression for another time.)

Out of nowhere (well, for me), I read (on the webpage of Justin Shapiro's spiritual leader) that WCPW was getting a slot on WJYS - home of infomericals, 1-900 phone sex commercials and religious shows. And other weird stuff in the past. So, like, why not? It's only a half hour, and maybe this time they'll convince me to stick around - and maybe have something exclusive of mine own for my site. Well, eventually - first I have to try to trick you to care about it so when it's not here you go there and find it.

Open. Hey, it's the same open I used to see. Okay, they might have added some clips in from that last Battle of the Belts and more recent stuff but it's not all that different.

Richard T. Sin welcomes us to the first WCPW show on WJYS - home of Windy City and Urban Pro. I could've lived without ever knowing that Sin existed. Now, I'm not so sure. Anyway, it turns that we're at Slag Valley Studios, where they do their studio TV and have their office. I almost went there one time. Looks like we're getting an introduction show here, which seems to be a good idea. Sin knocks on a back door to get in, but WCPW Owner (right? I think so but my tape messes up here) Sam DeCero is behind the door and thought he was going to be hosting the show and really doesn't want anything to do with Sin but since Sin got started already and he's here, he can come in.

Here's the WCPW Wall Of Fame - look at all these famous people and Richard T. Sin. Hey, it's Rob Van Dam('s picture.) Also, Hogan and Savage and Fonzie (though I didn't see him.) There's the ring. And here's the wall of champions. Oh, how cool - panels for each of their (many) titles, with a big picture of the current champion on top and 8x11 glossies of each past champion. looks spiffy. Sin tells us that next week, we'll find out how each guy/girl/whatever won each belt. This year, they'll just start out with then 15 year history of WCPW - two minutes per year? DeCero drops names of people from the past - 'King Kong' Bruiser Brody, Nord the Barbarian, Abdullah the Butcher, Sin's all excited remembering the fork.) Also, the battle of the Bam Bams - Bigelow vs Gordy at the International Amphitheater, Paul Heyman and the Midnight Express. Sam talks about "the return of the Maxx Brothers" and eight people riding their motorcycles right up to ringside. Sin remembers that Jim Neidhart was also there that same night and then does the Anvil goatee stroke. Moving ahead a dozen years or so, RVD showed up just this last year to face WCPW League Champion Terry Allen. Battle of the Belts is their prestigious event each year - in 2000, they had a three ring, 120 man battle royale, in 2001, a stacked ring battle royale. Why not take a look at the 2000 battle royale right now?

120 Person, 3 Ring Battle Royale (BotB 2000) - I will name everyone in this match, as soon as you give me a very large amount of cash. No DVDs accepted. PBP guy: "If you think I can call this, you're out of your mind." Thank you, PBP guy. I remember hearing a story that, to fill up the rings and make some extra dough, they let people pay to get into the match. Men, women, managers, anyone they could find are in this. I might have been in this and I forget. Surprisingly, there are actually more people watching then wrestling - the announcers says 3,000 and that sounds a little high to me but we don't see enough of this for me to really argue. Just enough to get the idea. I would imagine this would be kinda tough to follow. (:40) 

40 Man Stacked Ring Battle Royale (BotB 2001) - I was around for when they announced this one last time but I forget the rules for it and don't want to go check - I do remember it was convoluted. You got your normal ring, at normal ring level, and right next to it, you've got a second ring that's raised up so it's apron is at the top rope level of the first ring. Everyone's in the bottom ring as we check it out. I don't remember what the exact point of having the second ring was (except for a higher place to fall from) and we don't really stick around long enough to find out. Just go "ooh, wow, there's that ring, and there's a higher ring" and let's move on. (:37)  

This commercial for the 2000 Battle of the Belts is quite familiar. The 2001 tape isn't out yet? 

Robbins Auto Salvage commercial. This is different.

Attonrney's-At-Law. Hey, do they like have a real commercial break now? There are no real commercial breaks.

www.windycityprowrestling.com ad. As always, followed by the training center ad. Now 16 years of success! Keepin' It Real!

Sin is working out hard in the weight room. He does it wrong, Sam shows how to do it right. Sin says "What a rush" while doing curls so we can talk about Road Warriors Hawk winning one half of the tag team titles at BotB 2000 (and Sam can stare into the camera and then remember this is supposed to be a conversation with Richard.) Also, some guy named Fallen Angel Chris Daniels showed up.

I'm not bothering to bold any more because they're just going to be clips, aren't they? Here's Animal and "Bad Boy" Brett Sanders beating up the Furies to win those tag belts - I wonder if the Furies patched things up. Oh, hey, that's the Dudley Device. They won the titles, what a shock. Hawk looks fat. They're both bloody.

"Well, by god, just when you thought it was safe, I'm back!" That's nice - who are you again? No, really. He's going on about how great WCPW is because it's Chicago and WWF and WCW aren't Chicago. I still have no idea who he is. "Windy City - it rules!" Maybe he doesn't have a name. I guess I could go to the website and figure it all out.

WCPW Hotline has a phone number.

Now here's your Christopher Daniel clips of him doing funky moves. That's one I don't know the name of. That's a moonsault, I know that. Here's clip. Angel Wings gets a two count. Nice of the other guy (oh, it's Jayson Reign) to walk backwards into the ropes so Daniels can whip him. Reign's got his own funky move that's pretty much a Michonku Driver. That's a Northern Lights Suplex. They're just doing moves, break, moves. Reign's turn - funky rollup for two. Reign doesn't bother following up and they both just calmly get up so they can go into their next sequence - lariat misses by both, and Reign hits a super (or savate if you're the announcer) kick. Reign going to the top. Daniels uses the ref to crotch him. For a second there I thought Daniels was going for the Iconclasm but thankfully no. Top rope superplex. Both down. If I knew this would go this long, I'd put more effort into it. Ten minutes into the match - we've seen about two. Shoulderblock by Daniels, and as they do their Irish whip reversals, I find it remarkable how the impact of a move will totally wear off, if only you can get to your feet. I think I'm only being so cynical because they're giving me so many openings, but who can really say. Maybe it's because I'm not distracted by doing play by play and have to talk about something to fill up space here. There's the really hard kick to the head but Daniels isn't going down - here's the Last Rites but it doesn't look so good. Daniels gets the win and title anyway.

Sin promos the wrestling school's phone number in case we want to be like Daniels. "You really have to be tough enough!" Odd, that's like a show I once saw. Sam comes along to speed along the program because they have more to get it, then they waste time hyping it. Paul Heyman was the one responsible for bring WCPW Bam Bam vs Bam Bam, so I guess he should be blamed.

Here's that aforementioned same nickname match, the battle of the Bam Bams. I'm getting bad flashbacks to ECW Video ads now. This looks kinda old. Audience fashion wise, I'd say early 90s. Wow, a wonderful over the top rope DQ to end it - perhaps they shouldn't have shown that lame part. Perhaps this was the best part? Who can say. Oh, no, it's not a DQ because it was deliberate and this match must go on. They're doing a double count out anyway, which isn't much better. Both of them are wondering what the count is already because they're both seemingly really tired. Or just slow. Time passes awful quick for the ring announcers. Now they're going through the crowd. Check out the guy with the confederate flag. Yea, it's a DCO. They brawl to the locker room and the darkness.

Here's Nord the Barbarian vs Bruiser Brody. Bruiser is busted open. There's brawling. Lots and lots of brawling. This seems earlier than the last one. Unlike the last match, where fans chased Bigelow and Gordy to see what would happen, everyone runs away from these two when they brawl outside. Those punches don't look too good on television. Nord with a dropkick! Brody falls on the referee. Brody has a nice crimson mask.

Hey, it's an old interview with the Terminators, and some guy named Paul Heyman. He makes current references about Jimmy Baker, Jimmy the Greek and Jimmy Swagger. Paul promises that his guys don't have any morals to break. "1988 is indeed the year of Living Dangerously!" Heyman is the same Heyman you know and whatever.

Here's the Pure Power Audio ad. And Robbins' Auto Salvage. 

Terry Allen joins our announcers. Allen has to cover Sin's mouth so he can actually get a word in - let's watch him take on RVD. RVD just turned on Sin, apparently. "I'm gonna be ugly for the rest of my life!" Feeling out process, why are they showing this? They're not showing the whole match, I'd think. Yea, here's a clip. Look at RVD do all the flippy things you love, for a slightly smaller audience. Now Allen gets the better of RVD. RVD moonsault off a barrier. Clip, and here's Allen getting the better of RVD with a top rope superplex. Clip, Allen working on the arm. Oooh, a chin lock. Allen's angry and aggressive here. top rope move - no, RVD pushes him off the top rope but Allen lands in the top ring (they still have that set up), so they fight there. Clip, five star frogsplash. Can you get a pin in that ring? Well, Allen is mart enough to escape back into the first ring - oh RVD's gonna try to kill him again. RVD misses a high legdrop. We don't see how that match turns out, hmm.

Next week, we'll find out all about the new title holders. But for now, let's end the show suddenly and without warning.

Okay start, anyway.

The Cubs Fan
[slash] wrestling