Big Time Wrestling TV 7/22/16

More matches from their training facility this week. I don't have any dates on these shows but they all seem recent (okay, got confirmation that they happened in June 2016).

1. Kimo vs. Dylan Bostic

This match was good enough, but it felt rushed. It felt a little more like an exhibition. Hank Renner Jr. annoyed and also begrudgingly impressed me by using "folderol" in a sentence without making it sound out of place. Both guys did some things I liked here, with Bostic impressing me more. I really liked the stooging bump Bostic took to the floor off a Kimo forearm. It was one of those fun 3 part bumps that reminded me of something John Tatum might do, where he flops through the ropes, rolls to the apron, flops off the apron to the floor, etc. Was also impressed by the height he got on a standing rana, nice cravate, and little things he would do like catching a mule kick to the shoulder but immediately holding his jaw, and how he would cheat when facing the crowd (the set up of the building means the crowd is all on one side of the ring), holding the tights specifically when the fans could see it. They were nice touches.

2. Rik Luxury vs. Tony Vargas

Short match, just 5 minutes. I was really hoping for a little more as Luxury is a guy who can work a fun 8 minute match. Vargas seemed to tire out early and I'm not sure if that factored into the quick finish. There was also some confusion as both guys worked heel for the first couple minutes. Luxury complained about a hair pull, but right after Vargas was biting him behind the ref's back. Renner awkwardly talked about how Luxury is the one who is always untrustworthy, but then had to act like Vargas flat out biting a dude's face was just business as usual. Luxury looked good here, love his spot where he locks up with a guy and then gets tossed face down into the mat. He threw a couple great right hands, nice eye poke, planted Vargas with a nice DDT off the ropes. Vargas for his part threw out a nice spinebuster bomb, and a decent enziguiri.

3. Synn vs. Devin Danger

I really liked this one. Synn is a big guy and while Danger isn't exactly small he's clearly smaller than Synn. So we did get some nice brick wall spots with Danger smacking into Synn, and this was maybe the best I've seen somebody work around Synn. I dug Danger's cannonball into the corner, and then he one-ups it by doing a crazier missed one right after, which then leads to Synn hitting a massive one! Danger had some nice straight right hands, loved him finding new ways to slam into Synn and then bumping off it, and the ways he would sneak in offense like snapping Synn's neck over the top rope from the apron and following that up with an unexpected slingshot twisting moonsault. Synn hits his standing splash and Danger kicks out, so Synn hits another and Danger kicks out of that. I was expecting that to be it so suddenly we have a nice fighting underdog on our hands! But Synn splats him with a nice powerbomb (apparently 12 feet in the air, according to Hank Renner Jr....Yeesh.) to end it. This was my first time seeing Danger and I really dug him, would love to see more. Synn is a really big guy, kinda shaped like Akebono (but not THAT big) and brings something different to these shows.

Read more!

Big Time Wrestling TV 5/6/16

Local Bay Area fed Big Time Wrestling started popping up on local TV a couple weeks ago, and I've been meaning to check out their show. Finally remembered to set my DVR (5 AM on Friday mornings!) so let's see what they have to offer.

1. Classic Connection (Levi Shapiro & Buddy Royal) vs. Chaos Inc. (Tony Vargas & Synn) (12/4/15)

This was really good, and a great way to dive into their TV. Vargas was the only guy I was unfamiliar with. Synn looks like a taller, fatter B-Boy. Shapiro and Royal have been working as the Classic Connection for many years, but really seem to be peaking as a team. Chaos worked over Shapiro to start and Shapiro was good bumping around for them, with the best part being Shapiro getting tied in the ropes and getting blasted by a Synn lariat. Shapiro took it great, with his arms tied behind him, and ended up falling back into the ring in a great Terry Funk-like way. But things got really good when the Classic isolated Vargas and began working over his knee. It started simply enough with Shapiro tagging out and holding onto Vargas' leg while Royal dropped a knee on it, but then there were all sorts of low kicks, shoulder tackles, and a brutal spot where Royal gets bodyslammed onto Vargas' prone knee. Vargas was good selling the leg, doing a great fall down on a rope running spot, and him fighting back against the Classics was good. One spot I had to rewind as Royal is setting up a figure 4 near the ropes, and Vargas pushes him off with his good leg, and Royal gets launched over the top to the floor. Great looking spot. Royal gets more bonus points as back in he puts the figure 4 on the proper leg. We build to the hot tag and Shapiro tosses powder in Synn's eyes and hits a superkick. Classics set up a superplex spot with Shapiro aiming to suplex Royal onto Synn, but Synn moves and hits a splash for the win. This was a really good tag with Synn being the only weak point. He looked fine in the first couple minutes, but looked tentative and off on his hot tag, then hit a real weak standing splash for the pinfall. I really liked this tag, really want to see more Classic Connection. This was easily my favorite match of theirs.

2. Shane Kody, Mike Matthews & Chico Navarro vs. Ballard Bros. & El Guerrero (1/22/16)

Oof this one was bad. Ballards looked fine and I liked a couple of Matthews' exchanges, but everybody else looked bad. Chico Navarro has been working in BTW for a decade and looks completely untrained. I mean, right down there with the worst worker you've ever seen on any wrestling show. He's only in for a minute or so, but it's not too hard to imagine any fan from the crowd stepping into the ring and doing at least as well. He has no clue how to position himself, no clue what to do between "moves" other than stand there going "come on, come on", and nothing he does resembles something a pro wrestler might do. Just brutal. Kody is in his early 50s and can't do  much more than throw bad punches and slaps. He is the spitting image of current Jim Duggan, though I'd much rather see current Duggan in the ring.  Guerrero wears athletic shoes and basketball shorts, and does nothing athletic in the ring. He and Kody had a "throwdown" at one point where they I believe were attempting to exchange punches or...something. Looked like two guys leaning against each other waving their arms towards the others' face. Luckily Shannon Ballard works most of this. The commentary crew kept acting as if it were impossible to tell the Ballards apart, even though Shane is a good 30 lb. more than Shannon at this point. But the Ballards did the best with what was available, but man was there nothing at all available. I cannot understand a fed putting someone like Chico Navarro on TV.

This is the third episode, and what a mixed bag it was! A tag I really really liked, and a really bad 6 man tag. However, I did like how they made use of their TV time. A year or two ago when Pro Wrestling Revolution ran TV, it was the most poorly managed wrestling show possible. They would show full ring entrances, really long, bad promo segments that are at best amusing to the crowd there live, and just stretch 10 minutes matches out to fill 30 minutes. It was a mostly embarrassing wrestling presentation. This was a show that was at least clearly edited for max TV exposure. They fit two long matches into the airtime by cutting right to the opening bell and cutting away right after a match would finish. No wasted time. Ring entrances are completely pointless on a show like this, ad BTW gets it. Let the commentary crew explain who is in the match. They also wisely ran upcoming show announcements in a runner at the bottom of the screen. That's way more efficient and doesn't cut away from any ring time. The audio commentary is poorly recorded, but that's the case with most indy wrestling so judging it as bad as it seems. The main commentator was not good, but at least sounded like a professional.

Overall it's an easily digestible half hour of local wrestling television, and I'll definitely come back for more.

Read more!