This is my first time to be able to attend a Pro Wrestling Onslaught show. (So if I misspell or get any names wrong, please forgive me.) They had a few hiccups overall. The main event's challenger's car was stalled on the way there. There were audio difficulties all night. At one point, it seemed there was nobody around to cut the music. But there was a nice frantic energy to the night. And for the most part, I think the wrestlers found a way to deliver a pretty nice show.
I'm not sure if this was the usual ring announcer, but he could use a little more practice. For instance, the show will be on gofightlive.tv, not .com. But part of it might have been the overall sound difficulties.
First match: Frankie Fisher vs. WASP
I am no stranger to either here. I know how crowds react to them at MPX. I was curious how they would translate outside. Frankie has such a good heel presence. He knows how to get in a crowd's collective face and make them mad. WASP is great as a face. He has a nice charisma and got over well with the crowd. (Babyface 101: Go shake hands with the grandma in the wheelchair on the front row.) There was some good comedy in this match. Frankie is such a natural heel and plays the doofus persona really well. WASP had a lot of chants and if there was any lull, Frankie goaded them on. This was a very good opener.
Winner: WASP
I am very pleased with Frankie's heel work. It was a very good opener that got the crowd going.
Second match: Magnum JA vs. Kristopher Haiden
Magnum JA has been a fixture at indy shows for a long time, but this was his first match. He gets a “first match” immunity. I will say that he has a lot of energy and enthusiasm. The story they told was that Magnum was excited that he was having his first match & Haiden was going to break him in. Haiden carried him well. The match was well-received and pretty decent for a first match. Magnum paid his first of what will be many dues.
Winner: Haiden
Out came Byron Wilcott with his understudy Jerome Daniels. He is such a great talker and has such a good ring presence. There isn't anything he does that isn't entertaining. Old Cranky White Man doesn't like Yo Momma jokes, but he was very interactive with the crowd. He and the crowd enjoyed themselves.
Third match: Barrett Brown vs. Carrion Arcane w/Vanity Valentine
I was sitting near the Brown family so I will just say he has the most devoted parents. Arcane is so good with ring presence. I want to give him a nickname. Maybe “Texas' Dark Menace.” This was my first time to see Vanity Valentine. She looks really tall (or has really spiky heels) and is really pretty. She has a nice Gothic look and goes well with Arcane's look. Barrett is a very good (natural) babyface and is very good at getting the crowd going. I was impressed with Valentine's work. She is very good at doing the heel interference and also really good at engaging the crowd. They wrestled a power vs. high flyer match. The word I wrote down for Arcane was “unrelenting.” So while he isn't the fastest wrestler ever, he's always there with a power move to incapacitate you. Barrett had a nice come-from-behind win.
Winner: Brown
Out came a large curly-headed man with a blow-torch. Yes, you read that right. A blow-torch. There are certain things that you should not do in professional wrestling. A blow-torch as a weapon is one of them. Even Necro Butcher draws the line some places. This took place in a gym. I have a hard time hearing most things, much less a promo cut in a gym. I didn't know who this guy was, and he was wanting to be Barrett's manager or something. Barrett should not talk. Not that he can't; he has such an intensity, he shouldn't have to. Now this guy is a GM. Is anybody else really tired of GM's?
Fourth match: ACH (c) vs. Jerome Daniels vs. Ophidian
So I'm going to sound a little mark-ish here so bear with me. I love Ophidian's work, as I'm a Chikara fan. I may have been the only person in the crowd who'd heard of Chikara, but I was excited to see somebody I only knew from DVD's and iPPV's live. And this was my first chance to see ACH live. ACH recently received a big push in the wrestling world by being put over by Colt Cabana on the Art of Wrestling po
dcast. He currently has a lot of hype surrounding him. I know Beyond Wrestling is bringing him in, and there are talks of him making his Absolute Intense Wrestling debut in a few weeks. So tonight I got to see why. He has an amazing charisma. While coming to the ring, he saw my section of the bleachers and came to shake hands with us. It's the little things. I know Pac is “The Man Gravity Forgot.” But I now name ACH “The Texan Gravity Forgot.” Ophidian definitely did not mail it in. He came out and did his entrance. He started doing the the hypnotize thing on ACH and then ACH called a time out and they started dancing. Really funny. Jerome did his heel thing and sat in the chair at ringside until he needed to get involved. It didn't JUST seem like he was the #3 guy. Easily the match of the night.
Winner: ACH
During the intermission, I stimulated the economy by buying an Osiron Portal t-shirt. Ophidian came out and was very friendly. I think he was just happy to see a Chikara fan in Texas, but he did his pose when I took my picture with him. (I told you. I marked out.) He worked the crowd and definitely wasn't “Hollywood.”
Fifth match: Seph Annunaki, Sebastian Envi & Billy Club vs. Street Milk, Carlos Esquivel & Zero the Antihero
I love that I gave Seph his nickname. I have spoken to Envi before on Twitter, but surprisingly I have never seen him live before. I have never seen Zero as a heel before, nor had I seen Milk nor Club. Street Milk started the match off with Seph in what had to be one of the stiffest slaps I've ever seen. And he seemed to put him through the ringer. The heels played face in peril with Seph for most of the match. Seph is a good bumper and helped get them over as heels. There were a lot of really complex stories told nicely. Amanda as ref did a really good job (as did all the refs in general the whole night). And let me take a moment to say that the crowd was very hot and did well all night. Seph & Envi were victims of a Billy Club heel turn.
Winner: Carlos, Zero & Street Milk
They were quite brutal to Seph, and it looks Seph will grow into a big babyface there.
Sixth match: Chuck Martin vs. Scotty Masterblaster (c)
This match was announced as a No Disqualifications, Falls Count Anywhere Match. I really enjoy Scotty's work. He is a good babyface and comes out with the confetti gun. Martin makes a pretty decent heel. Scotty got a few chants before all the heels came out and attacked him. Martin stold the pin and the belt.
Winner and new champion: Martin
They continued attacking Scotty until he was motionless. Good job of selling.
Seventh match: JT LaMotta & Gary Jay vs. The Submission Squad vs. Pinguino Ultimo & El Partyo & Sex Ba-Bombs
This was a very good match. LaMotta is always very solid and one of Texas' top names. I really liked Pinguino Ultimo's look. He is very tall, and I liked the really cool gimmick. This was a very complex 4-way tag match. LaMotta & Jay were very solid in their work. Submission Squad looked a little indy craptacular, but their in-ring work was very good. Ultimo & Partyo had solid work (even though Partyo looked really small). And the Sex Ba-Bombs were very solid in their ring work. They had a nice look as a tag team. I was impressed by LaMotta's & Jay's double-teaming. The Submission Squad was very good with the crowd. And they also were quite innovative with their submissions.
First fall: LaMotta & Jay
Second fall: Submission Squad
Good match. Received a “That was awesome” chant.
Main event: Byron Wilcott (c) w/Jerome Daniels vs. Mike Dell
Chad Thomas was originally supposed to be in this match, so kudos to Dell & Wilcott for having a good spontaneous match. I am not that familiar with Dell, but the crowd was really into him. Wilcott has such an amazing presence and has a very good look. I could see him being very successful in Japan. The two had a good match for how such short notice it was. Wilcott is so interactive. Daniels is also a very good second banana and has a nice charisma. He distracted the referee when Dell had Wilcott down for the count. And then Wilcott turned it around for a win.
Winner: Wilcott
All in all… I know this will be on gofightlive.tv later on this year. It was a nice show. Texas has a real hotbed of talent right now. If you're an Ophidian fan, he really delivered. If you have never had the chance to see JT LaMotta, Barrett Brown or ACH, give it a shot. Those are some of Texas' rising stars (especially ACH, since he won't be rising anymore as he'll be a star).
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