APW TV Workrate Report: 3/19/11

We start with some heavy breathing Jeckels promos that are just embarrassing. It's Blackwell, Jeckels, and DARKNESS, who is just an unfortunate character. She's like 5'2" 220 lb. gal who doesn't actually seem to wrestle, just kinda hunch over and glower. I mean, if somebody wants to give their money to a wrestling school, a wrestling school will never turn them down. But really, what could Roland think when she walked in the door? He knows what the current landscape is for women's wrestling in America. I'm really curious about her goals, what she hopes to accomplish in the wrestling business.

1. Levi Shapiro (the Unorthodox Jew) vs. Dave Dutra starts us off. I've seen Shapiro in a battle royal before, but nothing other than that. They start with matwork, but Shapiro is really loose on hammerlocks and headlocks. Dutra has a cool leg trip takedown but that doesn't go anywhere. Shapiro starts winning me over by following up an eyerake with raking Dutra's face across his boot laces. The announcers point out that former APW manager Betty Beefcake is in the crowd. Speaking of low-talent females who gave APW their money...

Shapiro controls for awhile with stomps and boot chokes, but Dutra slides through his legs to transition to offense. Nice atomic drop, and then does that running flying knee that it seems a bunch of guys are doing these days. I think Evan Bourne and Trent Barretta are doing it, and I've seen it in ROH, too. Could this move take some 2011 indy thunder away from the backcracker? Dutra goes over here, pretty nothing match. One guy controlled to start, other guy took over to win. Sand through hourglass.

I'm starting to really like Timothy Thatcher. I think with his size and scuzzy British look and soundhe has maybe the best chance of anybody in APW

2. Blackwell & Jeckles the Jester vs. Mr. Wrestling IV & Vennis DeMarco is our main and looks like they're giving it plenty of time. Blackwell doesn't really fit into the goth stable (aside from being obese and pasty white), as the only thing he really does differently now is wear a tiny amount of black face paint. He does bump huge off a double dropkick, though. IV does way too much comedy for me to take him seriously as a main eventer, and it can come off really obnoxious. Vennis will often do 3 things I don't like for every one move I like, such as throwing some problematic punches before hitting a real nice clothesline, and then doing a weak elbowdrop...but then locking on a real nasty wristlock/cravate combo...then doing a real weak crossbody.Dammit Vennis! I'm torn. TORN. OK, Vennis takes a real big bump to the floor, and then does Jeckles a huge favor by bumping huge, backwards into a table off of a horrendous dropkick by Jeckles. Jeckles went to kick him through the ropes, but his legs don't get high enough and the kick just putters out. Point: Vennis.

Blackwell in and throws a great elbow. I love his elbows. Then he does a great combo of corner splash/belly to belly/elbowdrop. If there is a better huge fat guy currently wrestling today, I sure don't know it. Jeckles comes in and throws some nice short elbows and before he does much more Blackwell tags back in, this time throwing Mr. Wrestling IV around. Blackwell misses a butt splash allowing IV to tag out, and Vennis comes in with a nice seated dropkick but then a crummy somersault legdrop. It has to be this way. Match ends with interference and a blind tag, kind of a weak finish.

Match was OK but didn't really warrant enough to fill the 18 minutes it went. Blackwell looked great as always, but the other guys went wildly back and forth from adding to the match to taking away from the match. Next week's line-up doesn't look too promising, but I guess you never know.