This Easter weekend, we decided to give ourselves a bit of a treat and offer some hidden treasures in the world of wrestling to our friends. Anything was up for grabs, as long as you enjoyed it and the person receiving the match could access it!
Let's hop to it!
ANTI-FUN POLICE vs. DAVE BENSON PHILLIPS & SESSION MOTH @ RIPTIDE
WHY I CHOSE BY MATT CONNOLLY
If WSBF made a wrestler I'm pretty sure it would turn out like Session Moth. Dave Benson Phillip's was a staple of my childhood. Combine the two and you have #goodcontent. I hope whoever's gets this enjoys it.
FOREWORD BY SHAFI
As your reigning, inaugural WSBF Shock Mastermind Champion I have yet to decide whether reviewing wrestling matches is now beneath me. Whilst that decision is made by my team of esteemed advisors I have delegated the task of reviewing this match to my wife Sophia.
Sophia does not watch wrestling, I took her to a Rev Pro show around 5-6 years ago and she vowed to never watch wrestling again. In the spirit of Easter let’s see if this match can resurrect her hatred for the theatre of the squared circle or if she will finally be converted.
MATCH REVIEW BY SOPHIA
I’m no expert when it comes to wrestling. In fact, I could probably name a maximum of 10 wrestlers in total. However, when my husband mentioned Dave Benson Philips was participating in a match, I was genuinely intrigued. Like most people born in the 80s, I loved Philips’ energy on BBC’s “Get Your Own Back” and the notorious “Gunk Dunk” round. With a 10 day old baby in arm, I decided I would get my priorities straight and craft my first ever wrestling review.
“The Dark Destroyer” came out first, rousing the crowd in an intimate venue with his unmistakable energy. His outfit was expected - a bright yellow smiley faced t shirt and purple leggings. It seemed like it wouldn’t matter how the match would fare – he had the nostalgic crowd wrapped around his finger.
Session Moth Martina was up next. Her caricature of a party hard mum with 68 kids was somewhat humorous and unsettling at the same time. I was impressed by her loutish confidence in a match dominated by men.
Finally came the Anti Fun Police. Deputy Dan (sic) certainly had the athleticism out of the two but it was Los Federales (“Sexy”) Santos’ character which stole the show for me. His terrible command of Spanish, bizarre outfit and lack of agility made it clear that he was an important part of generating humour in the match. He certainly made me chuckle.
The match overall was somewhat entertaining but dominated by Martina. I watched it for DBP and although there were moments of some good entertainment from him, they were fleeting. The poo emoji inflatable and random two guys who came into the ring distracted me from the headline contender and I would have loved to have seen more interaction with Philips and Santos. I think it was a missed opportunity.
Overall, as a wrestling novice, I’d say it opened my eyes to the work ‘real’ wrestling entails. Having visited York Hall (once) and watched the odd WWE match with my husband, I respect the training and discipline it takes to choreograph a wrestling match a lot more. I can’t say I enjoyed watching this, but it has made me rethink the complexity involved in crafting an entertaining match.
WINNER - SHAFI, FOR DELEGATING & HAVING A WIFE THAT RESPECTS COMEDY GRAPS
KENTA KOBASHI vs. SAMOA JOE @ RING OF HONOR
By JCH
Yeah. They twat each other really hard. It's awesome words cannot do it justice. watch it below!
WATCH HERE - KOBASHI vs. JOE
WINNER - WATCH IT AND FIND OUT
WILL OSPREAY VS MATT RIDDLE (PROGRESS 39: THE GRAPS OF WRATH)
By BRUM
Thanks to JCH for this lovely quarantine gift. I don’t remember much about this match apart from enjoying it a lot. PROGRESS 39 was the one with the qualifying matches (of which this was one) for a multi-man title match at the end of the night. I remembered it being a Thunderbastard match but it looks like I’m wrong.
Though I don’t remember much about the match itself, JCH picked it so it must be involve a shit load of knees. Anyway, here we go. Riddle out first to Warren G. Tune. Ospreay out to AC/DC. Jim with the announcements. He only gets half way through them though as on the crescendo of “Ospreay” we get a KNEE (1) from Riddle to start things off.
Big German. Corner strikes. DOUBLE KNEE (3). Ospreay in trouble. Exploder. Broton. 2 count. Woof. More offense from Riddle. We’re 2 mins in & Ospreay hasn’t dodged or reversed anything, nevermind any offense of his own.
Riddle still in total control. Commentary (I should say “Comms” as this is a JCH pick. I won’t) mention how Riddle has only been wrestling 18 months at this point & gives a murderer’s row of his vanquished opponents. It’s impressive.
Just shy of 3 mins in & Will turns up, with an arm drag & an upkick. Then that floatover kick he does off the ropes. Flying forearm. 2 count. Riddle’s back through with a springboard flying KNEE (4). We’re now on the outside & Will flips off a wall onto Riddle. He then does some misc flippy shit from the ring to the outside & hits it. Wowzer.
Riddle gets back in the ring & Ospreay does a kind of Blockbuster but through the middle rope. Standing shooting star & some strange spiral tap kind of move from the Bret rope. 2 count. Riddle no sells a back kick from Ospreay & unloads with some strikes, culminating in a KNEE (5). Back fist from Will and then a bicy from Riddle. Both men down.
Both men on their knees & trading strikes. They rise to their feet & this continues. Ospreay puts his hands behind his back & takes a beating from Riddle. Ospreay fires up though & hits a Cheeky Nandos followed by a botched poisonrana.
Will hits the Robinson Special but an OsCutter attempt gets reversed into a spinning tombstone! 2 count! Riddle goes straight into a leg trapped back mount & rains down strikes. He transitions that into the Bromission & Will taps!
SUMMARY: What a hoot that was. Cheers JCH. The knee-rate only came in at 1 per 99.6 seconds which is low for a JCH pick but no complaints here. That flew by. It’s mental how good Riddle was this early in his career.
WINNER – RIDDLE BY BROMISSION
DO FIXER vs. BLOOD GENERATION @ RING OF HONOR
A few weeks ago in the Nerd Group chat, Do Fixer vs Blood Generation was bought into the conversation as an excellent example of a match to show a complete wrestling newbie to try and convert them to the beauty of our sport. I jotted it down on my list of matches I should see before I die and went about my business. As chance would have it, it seems that it has stayed at the forefront of someone's mind and therefore I get to review it for you right now!
I'm a bit excited actually. I have no clue who these teams are as I am neither cool enough nor nerdy enough to have a clue about ROH in this period. First to the teams. No entrances for me to digest but getting to know these six dudes is the real challenge. Starting with Do Fixer and a guy called Ryo Saito. He is giving me Kojima vibes but doesn't seem to have the same love of bread as he has a fifty pound weight disadvantage on the NJPW veteran.
Next is Genki Horiguchi. He looks like the party guy. I'm basing that solely because he has a fun hat on. Finally, Dragon Kid. He looks like a competition winner. He's a masked wrestler and his costume is all green so I guess I can work with Dragon. To their opponents. The Blood Generation. Masato Yoshino is up first.
He is shredded and wears bicycle shorts. Then we have Naruki Doi. Typical looking wrestler really. Trunks are his choice of attire. Finally, the only man I know here, CIMA! I've even seen CIMA wrestle Chris Brookes at a Fight Club Pro show. Shades of any Progress match at Ally Pally as streamers fill the ring but once these are disposed of we are ready for some action.
I struggle with the action early on because everyone is just very crisp and good at what they are doing. The only guy who particularly stands out is Dragon Kid because his splash of Green is so bright. It's not that it's bad by any stretch, it is just right now it appears to be get your shit in time over telling a story.
Five minutes later and a little more shape to this now. It appears that Blood Generation are a bit more prepared to do the dirty stuff, grab tights and hair, than their opponents. Early on the smoothness of tags had favoured Do Fixer but now BG are cutting the ring off a taking control a bit. Generation do a great job isolating Horiguchi whilst also increasing the physicality. Eventually he manages a suplex and a hot tag and then we get the high spots that the long beatdown stretch earned.
Both sides throw big flips and moves at each other. Saito hits a string of fisherman busters on CIMA that are a particular highlight as the match breaks down. The action then proceeds to be too fast to call with high risk move after high risk move. It's lucha rules so it's literally people feeding in and hitting bonkers shit on each other for the next five minutes with commentary not even bothering to call the acton as it's frankly migrane-inducing trying to keep up.
The crowd are going potty for every spot and there does feel a raise in stakes after every set piece. Dragon Kid wins it with a summersault hurricanrana that I have only ever seen executed on Wrestling games. It's bananas. All of these guys got their shit in and even though the match is 14 years old it feels like it would steal the show on a card in 2020.
SUMMARY: What did I think? I don't really know. I'm exhausted by that final stretch. I can't really fault anything here and would tell people to source it out even if it is probably not a match I would watch again. Thanks for the present! Wash your hands and stay safe!
WINNERS - DO FIXER BY WRESTLING GAME MOVEZ
NO DISQUALIFICATION MATCH: EDDIE GUERRERO vs. EDGE @ SMACKDOWN
BY ROSS CASEY
A big thanks to friend of the group Ash, who recommended me this match via Twitter. I can honestly say I have never seen it nor knew it existed before he sent it to me. An Easter treasure indeed!
These two were clearly in a feud at the time due to the match stipulation and they waste zero time getting after eachother as the bell rings. Got to love that psychology. My big takeaway from the opening exchange is that the annoying woman who seems to scream for Okada at all NJPW shows appears to be in attendance. I know these two are handsome, but please stop shrieking.
Eddie Guerrero has the better of the first half of this match, wearing down Edge with strikes and submissions, not allowing the younger competitor to gain any meaningful momentum. Guerrero has such intensity, it is striking how similar he is to Benoit in that case, but with added heel charisma.
Things take a turn for the extreme when Edge clotheslines Eddie over the top rope. The former Brood member gets a ladder from under the ring (which Cole expertly describes Edge a master of due to his past history) and goes to blast Guerrero with it but strikes the ref. Great bump!
Guerrero responds by getting a chair and cracking Edge with it a couple of times (to the ribs and back, thankfully not the head) whilst the crowd are molten with their hatred for him. You forget just how good he was a heel. Masterful. He misses a Frog Splash attempt though.
A new ref has arrived after the break, paying off the big ref bump. It showed footage from the break of Edge hitting the spear, and having Eddie pinned but no ref was in place. Connolly would be fuming.
There's an awesome spot where Edge turns a leg scissors attempt off the top from Guerrero into a powerbomb. The timing is perfection. Before long, we have two ladders in the ring and Edge is place on one with another on top of him in some kind of sandwich that the girl in the crowd would pay for. Eddie then splashes on top in a spot that can't have been fun for either wrestler.
WOW. The next spot is insane as both throw punches on top of a ladder, Guerrero spots an opportunity and hits a sunset flip sitout powerbomb off the top of it. Fuck me what a move. Edge somehow kicks out at two and the crowd are now at a fever pitch.
Guerrero charges Edge and suffers a back body drop into a ladder in the corner as his body twists and crumples on the steel. That was ugly awesome. The finish comes with a ladder setup in the corner, and Guerrero balancing on the ropes using the ladder, only to get caught with an impaler DDT off it by Edge.
Edge sells the brutality of the move too, having taken a flat back bump off a ladder in administering it and slowly drags his body on top of Eddie for the win.
SUMMARY: This is bloody brilliant. A hard hitting grudge match, with psychology, a slow build and an amazing crescendo. They play clear face and heel, the crowd fully buy into it and commentary does a great job of calling the action, both in-ring and from a storyline perspective. Thanks for that Ash, I loved it.
WINNER - EDGE BY IMPALER DDT OFF A LADDER
Happy Easter, diggit!
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