I am late to the review this week. There has been a lot of crying at my household lately. With my daughter being a newborn and always crying, and Daniel Bryan retired so I have been suffering a mean case of the wrestling allergies. Still riding an emotional rollercoaster so let’s just get into it.
American Wrestling Federation’s Sunday Shockwave
Ariya Daivari kicks off the show. He says tonight is finally here. Ariya is putting his AWF title on the line against Sepio Saunders. He is the only ever two time AWF champion. At the end of the night he will stay champion. Then we go to commercial.
And I’m Like… Kind of excited for this. I have a strong feeling Sepio will win the match. For the past few months there have been hints that he is supposed to win. First when he got his leg injured at the hands of then champion Ricky Love. Then Ricky and AWF had a separation. That made it so Daivari and Duggan had a match for the vacant title. During these episodes DJ Draper was known to give Tony DeNucci guff for ‘putting the company behind’ Sepio Saunders. Sepio had the only other match that was shown from Eaglebrook. Daivari is the go to guy for AWF, he has all the tools and makes a great champion. IF you wanna pass the torch, you have your best heel lose to your best face, right? The only problem I’d have with that is, where does it go from there? The chase is always the most fun and there isn’t much competition for Sepio outside of maybe three of four guys. I don’t know let’s see what happens.
AWF Heavyweight Title Match
Ariya Daivari (c) vs. Sepio Saunders
I am not sure who the commentators are. I can make out DJ Drapers voice, but not the other guy.
Daivari starts the match off by stalling and playing to the crowd. This is the largest crowd I have seen in a while at AWF.
Whoever the other commentator is, is pointing out how smart Daivari is for doing a wristlock out of a collar and elbow.
The match starts pretty old school with the stalling and then the ‘action picks up’ after some rope running and shoulder blocking. Then we get a test of strength and some more stalling.
Ok, I am not sure if Dj Draper is on commentary. I still don’t know the names of the guys and the audio is a little A.M. radio so it’s hard to make out voices.
Davari is wrestling a slow and deliberate pace. After the match got into its groove Daivari started hitting suplexes and front face locks. The commentators do a good job at calling the moves and telling us what is happening in the ring. They both sound alike so when one calls the crowd idiots, I don’t know who is supposed to be the bad guy commentator and who the good guy one is. I would like to have these guys tell me why this match is happening, the back story behind it, maybe some insight on what the wrestlers prepare for. Ask them before it starts, just some simple questions to accent the story more. I want to be invested in this match and if I was a first time viewer, the match would have no gravity or consequence, I need to be told what the consequence is, or how important this match is for Sepio.
Saunders is in control and uses his strength more in his offensive skill set than speed. Here he does a airplane spin to a gut buster deal. Daivari is crawling to his feet and Sepio went for a kick. Ariya used the ref as a shield and after a DDT gets a two count.
This match hasn’t really built but it seems like we are in the waning stages. Daivari has signature moves and hits them, a discus clothesline and a superkick. The commentators freak out off the near fall and all of a sudden are selling how important the belt is to both men. How Saunders is showing something he has never seen. It doesn’t fit because the story of the match isn’t being helped by the commentary at all.
Daivari has been trying to get quick pins on Saunders. He has resorted to using the referee as a shield twice. He has hit his signature moves but not his carpet dive. Saunders takes all this punishment and continually kicks out. Sepio is fighting through it and hitting moves of his own. There isn’t much of a story outside of that. These guys are almost equals and show it in the ring, except for Daivari’s cheating. There is no body part that is getting worked over, no previous matches to build off of, no back story to invest in. It is almost wrestling for the sake of wrestling.. BUT FOR A TITLE. The commentators are unauthentic and feel so forced.
Daivari hits Sepio with the belt and gets the W. Daivari is taunting as Sepio crawls around the ring.
And I’m Like… That was the match they have been building for a while now.. It was very lackluster. I am upset because I expected better out of this. They have been putting on pretty good shows lately and I thought that since it was a title match it would be more special. It felt like a normal match. I hope that is the first step in the chase. I was ready for Saunders to be champion because this show groomed me for that. The title match was under 10 minutes, but it still put Daivari over as a cheater and Saunders over as ‘more guts than brains’ yet valiant.
The show comes back from commercial with some hard rock cymbals and a guitar loop. We see many of the AWF stars punching each other and then we have an Arik Cannon highlight reel that ends with a nearfall. Then we see the lucha action of the AWF with the flippy doos and stuff. The guitar lick is still going and it’s like 8 measures long so it repeats MANY a TIMES.
Then we see Daivari and Saunders video package for the belt. I am unsure if it is the match we just saw, but then I see all the stuff we just saw…. I am so confused by this episode. In one half hour, we see the match then the highlights. The highlights make the match look so much more exciting. We also see that it wasn’t the main event. There were three matches that followed the title match. The main event was Tony DeNucci beating on Benny Stacks and Jeff Price. This music is SO REPETITIVE!! It ends with a thank you from everyone at AWF.
Tony DeNucci cuts a promo about the live events. Mr. Anderson and Demolition will be there.
And I’m Like… I feel like I criticize this show a lot. It comes from a place of love though, I love professional wrestling. I love Minnesota. Those two are going hand-in-hand in the form of this show. The problem is, it doesn’t come seem like people care about the show. The live event advertising is good, the promo’s before the matches are good. The commentary needs work most of the time, but that seems like a very difficult job. The show just feels disorganized, like there is no editor. There doesn’t seem to be a person that wants the show to make sense. Tonights episode featured a title match with no storyline or video package. After the short match we get a repetitive music with highlights of something. We aren’t told what that something is. I know it’s the 10 year anniversary show, but that is only because I have been watching this show for half a year. I mean to sum it up the best, let me show you the live event ads, then I’ll show you the last ad for joining the WRESTLING school. See if you can tell what is wrong with the wrestLing ad.
Do you see it? I blog about wrestling, I don’t do much physical activity.. does that make me a Wrester? See what I mean though, not even spell checking the damn ad..
Pro Wrestling Battleground Episode 86
Rob James is on this episode.. So I know PWB does not post current matches because James says he hasn’t wrestled since October .
Hey would you look at that… Maybe we can do this from now on.
Should I still include pictures if the video is there? Let me know!
Rob James vs. Arik Cannon
The ref checks the knee and elbow pads of Rob James, who then asks the ref if he wants to check his ass too.
Cannon bends over and asks the ref to check his butt too.. Arik is known as the anarchist, his hair looks like a dapper young fellow though.
Rob decides to work out in front of the crowd a bit. I am sure the ladies love that.
Early on we see some athleticism like bridges and kip-ups, and we see some technical wrestling like arm stomps out of a wristlock. Arik has a double chin lock and Rob works hard to get out of it, he screamed loud and fought, finally getting out.
They attempt to shoulder block each other but neither of them fall. Rob tells Arik he is a brick house and Cannon should ask the lady in the front row. Arik acted like he couldn’t hear James and they decided to have a shoulderblock off.
Cannon dives over the top rope to a mild reaction. The chop to James chest gets a good reaction. I forget who the commentators are, but they do the same style of commentary as AWF. The difference is PWB’s commentators seem more authentic and astute.
Rob James is kinda on another level right now. He is squating over Arik’s face, he is doing chokes with push ups. He has the 360 degree entrance sometimes. He hits on and yells at the referee and crowd. He has people on the outside to cheat for him a.k.a. Minnesota Mafia. Very enjoyable and entertaining. Some of the moves he does before taunting doesn’t give me the impression that Arik should be down that long.
Rob James tries an elbow drop and misses, he tries again and misses, he tries with thelp of Benom and misses also. Cannon is slowly working his way back into this match. The other guy on the outside is a hindrance to Cannon but he is starting to work it out.
James hits four punches to the head of Arik and Cannon is dazed for a good few minutes. Cannon fires back with some offense though, Arik gets the crowd hyped up and adds some excitement to the match. A GORGEOUS neckbreaker. Arik fakes a punch so James throws a punch to counter, Cannon grabs that hand and turns it into a neckbreaker. Lovely.
Rob James gets a very close nearfall with his move “The Epic Teabag”. For real this guy is a treasure. Both of these men make me enjoy Minnesota wrestling. Venom distracts the referee and Rob James kicks out of Total Anarchy at 2. Rob James grabs his fanny pack and hits Venom with the pack instead of Cannon which was obvously going to happen.
Arik hits the BRAIN BUSTER! For the win.
And I’m Like… I really enjoyed that match and the work of both competitors. There were times when Cannon felt a little slowed down and not too excited but that changed towards the end of the match. It’s real sad that Rob James is out on injury but he has time to cultivate his character more. I remember when Bray Wyatt was injured he was able to fine tune his character and that helped SO MUCH.
Steel Domain Wrestling
Aaron Corbin vs. Travis Cole
As usual Mick and Ed are our commentators.
Travis Cole is up against the Golden Idol’s Aaron Corbin, so you know the numbers are against him. Corbin is said to cheat in every match he is in.
There is a USA chant and the commentators say this makes absolutely no sense. The crowd jibber jabber with the wrestlers.
Honestly this is the best commentary team in Minnesota. Mick knows what he is doing. He should run a clinic or something.
Corbin is doing the stalling thing that we see from so many bad guys. A funny little spot happens where every time Corbin tries for a test of strength Cole switches hands. The commentators get stuck on some fan that is walking around. He sits down next to Mick’s daughter and “no she can’t see.”
The tape cuts a few times and it feels like time is slipping . It happens multiple times, one time it cuts and the commentators say “this crowd just chants anything ‘wonderbread’ chant?” Mick says we need to buy a ticket and go to 65th and Portland because “it is electric in this building”.
Cole is working over Corbin’s arm for most of the match. Aaron is able to turn the match around after hitting an elevated reverse neckbreaker. The theme of the night seems to be cheating.
The Golden Idol chokes Travis, Cole sits on the bottom turnbuckle trying to regain his breathe when Corbin hits a cannonball in the corner to establish dominance. Mick brings up that Darin Corbin has been missing from the SDW scene because the Corbins are some of the busiest wrestlers in the Midwest.
I feel like this match is very basic, but it works well. Much of that has to do with the commentary. Every match has had a neckbreaker after some brawling. Every match has had some cheating too. We start time slipping again.
Corbin stands on Travis’ crotch and puts “his balls in his throat”. Mick is sure to clarify. Corbin gets hit with a german suplex out of the corner. That is a way to get someone off your crotch. Corbin shows that he is frustrated after many pin attempts. Travis keeps fighting back and hitting a big move or two.
Cole hits two Polish hammers and then some sort of reverse DDT. That gets two that is over exaggerated by the referee lol.
Travis tried for a piledriver, got it reversed, and hit a t-bone suplex for two. Travis starts stomping his foot and throws Aaron into the corner. Corbin reverses it and gets caught in a sunset flip that Corbin rolls through and uses The Golden Idol’s help to achieve victory. Mick called Idol “that fat bastard.”
And I’m Like… That match followed the same protocol as the other matches. Overall this one had me invested the most. The match was old school and the manager got involved a lot. I didn’t like the ref’s exaggerated two count but I laughed and enjoyed it.. The commentary really helps. The crowd is more vocal too. Aaron Corbin might be better than SDW shows, I don’t know though cause it’s hard to make out the facial expressions.
Classic Steel Domain Wrestling
Falls Count Anywhere Match
‘Scrap Iron’ Adam Pearce w/ Johnny Stewart vs. Sexy Ace Steel
Pearce’s entrance legit shocks me. He seems to attack the crowd!!! Adam Pearce grabs the mic and says “you picked the wrong one, you little punks, I will slap you in your god damn mouth.” Mick puts him over as a “true heel” a 5-time NWA World Champion. Mick says this feud is what started St. Paul Wrestling which is now Steel Domain and Ace Steel is the one who brought CM Punk into professional wrestling.
Pearce has the mic again and has something to say. “There is no way, tonight in Hopkins, that I am gonna do falls count anywhere. These people are too reckless and too dangerous.” I still am amazed that Pearce is an NXT trainer. That is very cool, wonder if Chad Gable gets better treatment. Ace Steel says he is gonna take it to Pearce no matter what and chases him down.
The crowd attacks Pearce. Well not the crowd, little kids!! lolol I love wrestling. Fuckin right SDW!
This match works well because of the sense of urgency Steel has whenever he does anything. The viciousness Pearce’s offense is, and the way he sells is spot on. Mick talks about how both these guys have wrestled in ROH and around the country. Then we hear that Ace Steel took some time off for undisclosed reasons.
Pearce is able to turn it around and get advantage. I wonder what year this is recorded. It looks like early 90’s video technology. ROH is a thing though, and CM Punk was namedropped, so… 2004? 2005? I’m gonna say around 2007 because of timeline with ROH and stuff.
This is crazy that it was 10 years ago. Production for many promotions is such a high quality now-a-days. We are very lucky to be alive during this era of wrestling. The ability to watch any era of wrestling and have quality video from MANY wrestling promotions.
The camera could not keep up with the action and they wrestled for a bit while the camera looked around in circles. Steel had this drunk lady hold a chair and rammed Pearce’s head into the chair. The drunk lady won’t stop though and keeps attacking Pearce. Security gets involved. I am very disappointed I didn’t know this existed when I was in high school. I really missed out on a great local scene… my loss. Thank goodness they post these classic matches.
Johnny Stewart puts a tire in the ring. Pearce gets rocked in the head by the tire and then Steel throws it at Johnny. Pearce gets Andre The Giant’d in the ropes and Steel hits a dropkick for a near fall. Pearce hits a great low blow but Ace sells it for a little bit but is quickly able to hit a superplex. Mick says that it’s gotta be 130 degrees in the building and his commentating partner is not disagreeing.
LOL Steel takes his shirt off and Mick screams “SEXY ACE” Steel does a top rope elbow drop for the win.
And I’m Like… That was a crazy match!! They went all over the place. The story was WAR! and Adam Pearce did not get much offense in. That drunk lady was having a blast, I wonder if she even remembers it? More of that please! It’s so nice to not be underwhelmed during a local match. I have a feeling that I missed out on something special during those times. Maybe I am missing out on something special in these times. There are many shows coming up soon. Find out here for constant updates
Steel Domain Wrestling -February Fracas
Richfield American Legion
6501 Portland Avenue Richfield, Minnesota
Doors 6PM – Belltime 7PM
Independent Wrestling International Presents:
Broken Hearts and Broken Backs
7:30 Bell Time
6:45 Doors Open
February 19, 2016 Revolution Wrestling Alliance Waseca American Legion – 7:30PM Waseca, Minnesota
February 20, 2016 -AWA Stories From Behind The Lens Presented by Polish Joe Ciupik and Al De Rusha Croation Hall Ballroom 446 2nd Avenue South South St Paul, Minnesota 12PM – 3PM Open Forum Q & A 3PM – 10PM Classic Videos Admission – Absolutely FREE!
And this last one is the same place I had my wedding reception!!!
Minnesota Extreme Wrestling
Friday, February 12, 2016 Coon Rapids Legion – 7:30PM
11640 Crooked Lake Blvd NW Coon Rapids, Minnesota
Thanks you all!! Please like and share to spread the word and support local wrestling.
Have a good one, and thank you to all the wrestlers out there chasing their dream and living their passion.
-Jake
