Falls Count Anywhere

07-22-08

Won't you be glad with me?

The people who do make it out of there, and there’s always at least one person you can find who will make it beyond the cheap rings and middle-aged ring announcers, are usually very obvious. I went to the Big Time Wrestling show in Newark on Friday the 18th and had myself a good time.

The opening match was Mother Truckin’ Otis vs. Some Big Italian Guy (I didn’t take notes, so some names might be wrong) and it was a technical disaster. It was one of the matches that could easily set one into the mindset of this being an event of depression. These were two big guys who didn’t move very well.

The Italian Guy kept using the traditional Foreign Devil heat by talking in Italian (including using some filthy words, if I remember my Godfather right) and stalling. The two didn’t have much in the way of timing, nor did they have much speed or fluidity. Mother Truckin’ Otis has a bit of charisma, and a lot of size, but really he’s perfectly suited for the Indy scene. I don’t see him going any further, but he was entertaining. The highlight of the match was The Italian Guy missing a Moonsault and then Otis giving him a running splash to get the pin.

After that, there was a match between Shane Ballard, a Canadian wrestler who I’d seen before, and Chico, who was managed by Ryan Van Klassic. The match wasn’t great. but it was more mobile than the first two. Ballard has no charisma. Chico had little charisma, but teaming him with RVK was a good move.

The match was OK, with Chico having little timing. They used all the traditional heel heat-gathering techniques. Nothing new, it could have been a match from the 1970s with the way they used the mic. There was a messy spot where Shane went for a slingshot dive and Chico and RVK didn’t take a step forward to catch him so he went down hard. The match wasn’t great, and without the goofy charisma of Otis, it was actually less of an entertaining moment.

That was followed by a tag match with my favorite BTW wrestler, L’Emperor. He’s a talented and funny little guy and he could have made it to a much bigger audience if he were a little younger and a little bigger. Hopsing Lee was his tag team partner against Shoot 2 Thrill. These guys could move, but still had some slight timing problems.

The big thing is that L’Emp knows how to work a crowd. Shoot 2 Thrill is a good team, but they also are so obviously ending their journey here. The thing is they’re not big enough and they’re not super talented. They’re talented, but not to the level where they can make it.

I like the way they go, and their timing is better than anyone else who was on the show. The match was short and there wasn’t much to it. but I was unimpressed with the match. I’m guessing that these four would perfectly represent what BTW is. It’s a decent time, and there’s some nice comedy from Hop and L’Emp, but overall, it was obvious that these folks won’t go forward, as much as that sucks.

Then was the best match of the night for me. Steve Ballard, another Canadian Ballard brother, took on a guy that no one seemed to know: Oliver John. He was built like a smaller Stone Cold and has a certain Arn Anderson-flavor to his work. He had a shaved head and a pair of floating side burns. This Ballard moves better than his brother and has more charisma. He used a lot of Canadian heat-getting techniques which seemed a bit tired, but he stalled in the Larry Zybysko style that was so classic. John was really talented, he moved well and his moves were crisp.

The two worked well together and had a match that I thought was very entertaining. The weird thing was the crowd hated Ballard, but John also acted like a heel. This was an OK thing, though it gets complicated, but they worked hard and brawled and that was a good thing. Both took a few bumps to the floor, including a suplex which was really good.

I don’t know how old this John fellow is, but if he’s less than 35, he could go places. He sells well, he got heel heat even when Ballard was really working and getting heavy boos. The match had the crappiest ending where Ballard knocked Oliver off the ring apron and then he got counted out. They brawled on the outside and to the back of the dressing room. It was a fun match.

OK, the next match was Puma vs. RVK. This was a sloppy match, but Puma’s a flyer and not the best kind. He has some timing, though not much charisma with the mask on. The kids love him, and he kicked RVK really well. His dive to the outside, technically a tope through the ropes, was the best dive of the night. RVK’s not a bad worker and has some charisma. Chico interfered for him, which is also fun.

These guys aren’t going much further in wrestling, though I think Puma could be made into a top-notch flyer for the TNA set with some more time in with big talents. I thought the ending, Puma getting the pin, was a good way to go into intermission.

At that point, they had the TNA folks come in. They brought in Rellik, Gail Kim and Traci Brooks. Traci looks like a lower case P when viewed from the side. She’s lovely and she’s actually really sweet. They sold Polaroids with the three of them in the ring. Traci has a great amount of charisma to go along with the ridiculously giant implants. Rellik was also picking up little kids for photos and generally being awesome.

This was a really good little piece of promotion, but at the same time it made the promotion look a little low rent. I mean, selling photos out of the ring isn’t exactly major league, but you have to get by. I thought that having the three of them sellign photos was a good idea, but they should have had at least one of their own guys also selling photos. Having outside stars helps, but equating them to the guys you have isn't a really good idea.

After the break it was Traci vs. Gail Kim in the ring. They’re good together, they’ve worked together in TNA so they know each other, and the match was probably the best of the night. I officially announce that Gail Kim is my hero because she threw Traci right at my feet, and as sometimes happens with these things, she kinda popped her top. Only the four seats on either side of me had the view, and thus, I feel like I am the chosen one.

The match was short, since they had to end the show by 10pm and the intermission went longer than they expected. Gail got the win, which was nice. She rolled her up and that was the finish. It was more than eye candy, as they actually worked, but it was also some really nice eye candy.

Another point that could show the depressing side of the Indies. This was a big name match with two wrestlers with decent-sized names, but they also sorta phoned it in. And even phoning it in they were better than just about anything else on the show.

The Main Event was Jason Styles vs. Rellik. I like Rellik, but he didn’t move too much. He looked solid in the match with Jason Styles, who comes to the ring with Van Halen’s Jump and does the little kick thing that David Lee Roth innovated. It’s kinda funny. He’s pretty good, and while everyone seemed to think that Rellik was a much bigger deal, Styles played the crowd pretty well. He’s got little in the way of physique, which means he’ll probably never get a chance to go much bigger, but he’s entertaining.

That said, the match was OK, with a few good moves from both guys. The ending was so unmemorable that I have no idea what the finish was, though I know that Styles won.

All in all, it was a fun night, even if the wrestling wasn’t Pro Wrestling NOAH class working. I’m hoping that the next show, featuring the Minis from Mexico (one of which is Octogoncito!) and Frankie Kazarian from TNA, is as much fun. It’s September 19th, 2008, and that’ll give me another chance to decide what the true nature of Indy Wrestling is: a little truth in a sea of dreams, or the massive wave that should wash away all hope to those that take part.

Chris Garcia