No Escape on October 1st, 2011
Pre-Show Match: Houston vs. Joey Hegland
I don’t like Hegland’s chances here at all. Houston hits a powerslam along with a fallaway slam. Hegland blocks a charge and gets on his unicycle. He rolls into a bicycle kick. Houston hits a spinebuster for the win at 1:14. This was a basic squash match for Houston as he continues to build momentum. I’m anxious to see what he can do against more legitimate competition in longer matches so hopefully he’ll start appearing on the main shows soon. ½*
Jay Repsel and the new DREAMWAVE World Champion Austin Roberts make their way to the ring to start the show. The crowd chants “you sold out” at Repsel. He informs the crowd that they are the Revolution. A video is played showing Justin McIntyre III giving Acid a restraining order to stay away from the building tonight. Security then escorts Acid from the building. Repsel and Roberts decide to issue an open challenge for the DREAMWAVE World Title. Jason Hades of all people interrupts as the crowd goes crazy. Hades says that Repsel is the biggest jackass that he’s ever met and reminds everyone that he never lost the DREAMWAVE World Title in the first place. Thus, Roberts has something that belongs to him. Hades lets Revolution know that he’ll be seeing them around and heads to the back. Repsel introduces a “real” challenger for Roberts and Ninja Bill comes out, leading to…
Opening Match: DREAMWAVE World Title: Austin Roberts © vs. Ninja Bill
Roberts holds on to a side headlock and controls on the mat. He transitions into a spinning bulldog and hits a butterfly suplex. Repsel claims on commentary that the championship committee spent many hours picking an opponent for Roberts tonight. Roberts hits a shoulderbreaker and cuts a mid-match promo with Repsel mocking Bill. During this time, Bill finds life with a series of clotheslines. He connects with corner punches and hits a lungblower. Bill reveals himself to be Acid!! Repsel rings the bell out of desperation and calls for security. Acid dares security to try to remove him from the building. Repsel shows a video of Acid at ANNIVERSARY last year promising to retire if he lost another singles match. Acid claims that he never lost at Good As Gold. Repsel fires Acid and security restrains him. J.C. Costilli interrupts and tells Repsel that he can’t fire anyone unless he agrees to it as well. While Costilli can’t take away Repsel’s power right now, he can at Survival of the Fittest in November. Repsel and Costilli will pick teams to compete in an eight-man elimination tag team match. If Repsel’s team wins, Costilli will quit DREAMWAVE. If Costilli’s team wins, Repsel will be fired. Call this match a no contest at 6:23. I don’t think it would be fair to give this match a rating, as it was more of an extended segment. However, I thought everyone involved did an excellent job of drawing the official battle lines and explaining what exactly happened at the last show. The eight-man tag team match at Survival of the Fittest next month should be a huge deal and this segment setup that contest nicely.
Match #2: Colt Cabana vs. Tyler Priegel
Priegel gets very defensive about Cabana touching his dodgeballs early on. He even forces the ring announcer to make an announcement regarding the matter. Cabana proceeds with some dodgeball-based offense and connects with a flurry of punches. Priegel gets tied up in the ropes and Cabana throws a dodgeball at his chest. Some kids from the crowd enter the ring and Cabana acts as the gym teacher. The kids throw the dodgeballs at Priegel. The referee contemplates throwing a dodgeball as well but Priegel escapes the ropes and attacks Cabana from behind. Cabana puts the dodgeball bag on Priegel’s head and sneaks in a quick rollup for the victory at 7:15. Once again, I don’t think a rating is warranted here considering over half of the match was a dodgeball game. I’ve certainly never seen anything like this before and the crowd loved this match. Cabana just has a way of connecting with crowds and this contest was a good example of that.
Mick Foley, the special guest for tonight’s show, makes his way to the ring. He will be the referee in the main event tonight between Greg Glover and Brian Nelson. Foley talks about never seeing a dodgeball game before at a wrestling show and plugs his comedy show. Ryland Foxx and Brian Nelson interrupt. Foxx calls Foley irrelevant and questions his ability as a referee. Foley says that DREAMWAVE brought him in to stop Foxx from getting involved in the match and that’s exactly what he’s going to do. Greg Glover runs out as Foxx and Nelson retreat.
Match #3: Marshe Rockett vs. Yabo the Clown
Yabo attacks before the opening bell. Rockett fights back with a powerslam and lands a flying crossbody. Yabo blocks a charge and connects with a lariat. He lays in a double stomp. A distraction from C. Red allows Rockett to hit an ace crusher from the middle rope for the win at 2:48. I can’t think of a good reason why this match only received three minutes. Yabo challenged for the DREAMWAVE World Title earlier this year and this quick loss made him look like a goof. I’m all behind Rockett winning and moving up the card but I didn’t see the point of this match. *½
Match #4: Gregory Iron vs. Dan Lawrence
Iron is making his debut in DREAMWAVE in this match. Lawrence teases Iron with a test of strength and starts dancing. Iron slaps him and snaps off a few armdrags. Lawrence hits a slingshot senton and takes control with a facewash dropkick. Iron escapes a sleeper hold with a stunner and hits a senton. He follows with a neckbreaker and a jawbreaker. Lawrence ducks a clothesline and connects with a yakuza kick. Iron reverses another sleeper hold into a rollup for the victory at 6:48. The crowd was able to get behind Iron and I think he would be a good fit for DREAMWAVE. He worked well with Lawrence and they had a solid exhibition for the time given. **¼
Match #5: DREAMWAVE Alternative Title: “Mr. 450” Hammett © vs. Steve Boz vs. Ace Martino
Martino attempts to assert his dominance early on to no avail. Boz cartwheels out of a headscissors attempt by Hammett. Martino connects with a double clothesline but gets caught by stereo spin kicks. Hammett snaps off a hurricanrana on Boz, who responds with a headscissors. Martino pulls Hammett out of the ring and rams him into the apron. He snaps Boz’s neck across the top rope and takes over. They do a three-way sleeper hold spot and Martino hits a double chinbreaker. Hammett gets crotched on the top rope and Boz kicks him to the floor. Boz connects with a leg lariat on Martino but falls victim to a basement DDT. Hammett hits a neckbreaker on Boz, which causes him to DDT Martino. Boz hits a russian leg sweep-flatliner combination. Hammett connects with an enzuigiri on Martino but gets caught by a gamengiri from Boz. All three men are down. Hammett lands a flying crossbody onto Boz and connects with a springboard forearm smash. Martino hits rolling suplexes on Hammett. Hammett connects with a missile dropkick on Boz while landing on Martino with a senton. Martino applies a koji clutch on Hammett but Boz breaks up the hold. Boz hits a nice tornado DDT on Hammett for a nearfall. Martino catches Boz with a lightning spiral but Hammett breaks up the pin attempt with a splash. Martino reapplies the koji clutch on Hammett but he’s able to reach the bottom rope. Boz connects with a superkick on Martino. Justin McIntyre III comes out and informs Boz that he didn’t pass his physical this afternoon and yells at him for entering himself into this match. Hammett sneaks in a rollup on Boz to retain his title at 11:23. The thing that I appreciated most about this match was that it didn’t have the “two men in the ring, one man on the floor” problem that most triple threat matches run into. There were many creative three-way spots throughout the match and a genuine feeling down the stretch that anyone could win. I would go even higher with the rating if not for the uncharacteristically quiet crowd and the finish. The Alternative division has been producing some quality matches as of late. ***
Match #6: Waylon and Dan the Man vs. Mason Beck and Cousin Bobby
I’m pretty sure that Waylon dropped his last name after his falling out with the Beck Family at the last show. Super Val accompanies Waylon and DTM to the ring. The Beck Family attack before the opening bell. Waylon lays in a few punches on Mason but runs into a boot. Waylon avoids a charge from Mason but gets blindsided by Bobby. DTM tries to make the save and receives a backbreaker for his troubles. The Beck Family isolate Waylon until DTM connects with a series of strikes and hits a tornado DDT on Bobby. He follows with a double stomp-seated senton combination. Bobby plants DTM with a spinebuster and hits a belly to belly suplex on Waylon. The Beck Family hold Waylon in place while Nikki slaps him. Super Val takes down Nikki and starts brawling with her. Mason accidentally mafia kicks Bobby. Waylon attempts to finish off Bobby but the Beck Family’s music starts playing. A large masked man in overalls walks to ringside and enters the ring. He clotheslines Waylon and the referee calls for the disqualification at 6:33. This match was used to add a new dynamic to the Waylon/Beck Family feud as seen by the finish. However, up until that point, I thought the match was moving along nicely. This feud is only starting to heat up but I can see a lot of fun tag team matches coming out of this feud in the coming months. **½
The masked man hits a chokebreaker on DTM and connects with a running knee strike on Waylon. He absolutely crushes DTM with a senton. Mason holds Super Val in place while the masked man hits a flipping piledriver on Waylon. The Beck Family stand tall in the center of the ring. Mason throws the Good As Gold briefcase at Waylon and asks him if it was worth it.
Match #7: Nick Brubaker vs. Shane Hollister
Hollister snaps off a few armdrags and adds a hurricanrana. He connects with a spin kick and lands a dive to the floor. In the ring, Hollister misses a flying double stomp but connects with a spin kick. Brubaker responds with an enzuigiri and a springboard gamengiri. Hollister blocks a dive attempt. They battle on the apron where Hollister hits an inverted DDT. They trade forearms and tease finishers. Brubaker connects with a lariat but gets caught by a chinbreaker. Hollister dazes him with an enzuigiri and follows with a flying knee strike. Brubaker dodges a knockout kick and tries a rollup for a nearfall. He hits a powerbomb but misses a flying crossbody. Hollister comes off the top with double knees and finds success with a knockout kick. Brubaker smartly inches towards the ropes to stop a pin attempt. Hollister escapes a fisherman suplex but falls victim to a bucklebomb. Brubaker connects with an enzuigiri and hits a fisherman buster for the win at 8:31. After winning the best-of-five series against Marshe Rockett, this was a good follow-up match to establish Brubaker as one of the top contenders in DREAMWAVE. The fans are also starting to get behind him quite a bit. I think Hollister was the right opponent for him and Hollister has been extremely enjoyable in his DREAMWAVE appearances thus far. The shorter duration and a few moments of miscommunication during the match are my only complaints and I’d like to see a rematch at some point down the line. **¾
Match #8: DREAMWAVE Tag Team Titles: C.J. Esparza and Bret Gakiya © vs. Justice Jones and Matt Knicks
Knicks just punches Gakiya in the face, so I’m guessing that Jones has taught him a few things. Gakiya responds with a headscissors and snaps off a japanese armdrag. Zero Gravity catch Knicks with stereo slingshot dropkicks. Jones turns the tide with a double samoan drop. He overhead chokeslams Gakiya from the middle rope and PRIDE isolate him. He is able to catch Knicks with a spin kick and make the tag. Esparza connects with a springboard clothesline on Knicks and hits a bulldog. Gakiya kicks Jones in the face but gets tripped up on the apron. Jones elevates Esparza into the apron and lays him out with a powerslam. Knicks tries to pin Esparza but Gakiya breaks up the attempt with a leg drop from the top rope. Gakiya gamengiris Jones off the apron and takes him out with a dive to the outside. Knicks and Esparza battle on the top rope and Knicks gets sent to the canvas. Esparza connects with his shooting star elbow drop and Zero Gravity retain their titles at 6:54. These two teams packed a lot of action into seven minutes and I really enjoyed watching the interactions between Jones and Knicks. Zero Gravity are having an effective title reign, delivering solid matches against a wide scope of teams with different styles. **¾
Match #9: Cage Match: Greg Glover vs. Brian Nelson
Mick Foley is the special guest referee. They lock up and neither man can gain the advantage. Nelson slaps Glover and they exchange punches. Glover hits a german suplex and catapults Nelson into the cage. He repeatedly throws Nelson into the cage. Nelson blocks a charge and back drops Glover into the cage. Nelson connects with a dropkick and takes control with a uranagi. Glover comes back with a spin kick and a running knee strike. Nelson blocks a bulldog but falls victim to a german suplex. Nelson escapes a powerbomb and falls to the canvas clutching his knee. It turns out to be a ruse and he rams Glover face-first into the cage. Nelson hits a DDT and kips up to his feet. Glover belly to belly suplexes him into the cage and both men are down. Both men climb the cage and Nelson takes them both down to the canvas with a backcracker for a nearfall. Glover stops Nelson from escaping through the door and hits rolling german suplexes. Nelson responds with a german suplex of his own and they keep trading german suplexes. Glover misses a diving headbutt and Nelson starts climbing the cage. Glover recovers in time and hits a german suplex from the top rope! He tries to escape through the door but Ryland Foxx slams it into his head. Nelson hits a torture rack slam for a two count. Glover flapjacks him into the cage. Nelson saves himself by delivering a low blow. He low blows Foley as well. Glover narrowly stops him from escaping the cage. Foxx enters the ring and attacks Glover. Foley gets to his feet and uses Mr. Socko on Foxx and Nelson. Glover hits a tiger driver for the victory at 17:54. The biggest compliment I can give this match is that it avoided some of the problems that I usually find with cage matches. They spent the first half of the match displaying their hatred for each other and there weren’t any contrived spots later in the match where someone could have escaped but didn’t. Not everything went according to plan, but their big spots came off well and the crowd responded nicely to them. I don’t think this is the end of their feud so I’m excited to see where the feud is headed throughout the rest of the year. ***¼
Overall: No Escape put me in a position that I sometimes find myself in at the end of a DREAMWAVE show. While all of the angle advancement on the show went off without a hitch and I enjoyed a majority of the matches, the short duration of those matches was underwhelming. The Brubaker/Hollister contest as well as the tag team title match could have been taken to the next level with some more time and the Rockett/Yabo encounter never received a chance to get off the ground. With that said, the matches that were given a decent amount of time came through and that’s definitely a good sign. This show barely misses a recommendation but, as usual, I like where the programs in DREAMWAVE are headed.
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