The Fight Before Christmas on December 3rd, 2011
Pre-Show Match: Justice Jones and Matt Knicks vs. Nate Knox and Joey Hegland
Knox lays in a few punches on Jones before running into a boot. Knicks enters the match and loses the advantage for his team. Jones takes care of Knicks’ blunder and PRIDE isolate Hegland. Knicks accidentally missile dropkicks Jones. Hegland hits a german suplex on Knicks. The Dudesons put a bag over Jones’ head and tape his feet together. The Dudesons follow with a double team blockbuster on Knicks for the win at 6:14. I understand that Knicks’ role is to make life hard for Jones, but this was still a surprising loss for them. The match was mostly played for comedy and while the crowd enjoyed it, I have to think that it did more harm than good. *
J.C. Costilli makes his way to the ring to start the show. He says that he never thought he’d be the CEO of DREAMWAVE. He announces that there is a new vendor in the building tonight and Jay Repsel comes out in a hotdog suit. Costilli sends him into the crowd to sell hotdogs. Justin McIntyre III interrupts and reveals that he is Repsel’s legal advisor. He threatens Costilli with an injunction. Repsel claims that Austin Roberts and himself will have the last laugh tonight.
Opening Match: Mason Beck and Nikki vs. Colt Cabana and Dan the Man
Cabana spends the first minute of the match scaring Nikki off the apron. He hip tosses Beck a couple of times. DTM connects with a leg lariat on Beck but gets knocked down to the canvas. DTM attempts a quick crucifix to no avail and snaps off a hurricanrana. Cabana and DTM find success with some double teaming. Nikki eventually enters the ring and attacks DTM from behind. Cabana restrains her but Beck makes the save. Beck and Nikki work over DTM until he avoids a charge from Beck and makes the tag. Cabana connects with a series of punches and a bionic elbow on Beck. He follows with the flying asshole. Nikki tries to interject herself but gets spanked for her troubles. Beck boots Cabana in the face. DTM snaps off déjà vu on Beck, who responds with a splash mountain. Nikki covers DTM for the victory at 12:46. It was fun to watch both teams attempt to string together double team maneuvers and this was a well-worked opener. I think everyone is awaiting the eventual confrontation between Waylon and Mason, which should be quite the battle. **½
Match #2: Christian Rose vs. Bucky Collins
Collins takes a seat in the crowd during Rose’s pre-match promo running down the fans. Collins slaps Rose before the opening bell and lands a standing moonsault. Rose stomps him down to the canvas and connects with a spin kick to the back of the head. Rose takes control after a flash kick. Collins finds life with an enzuigiri but gets planted with a full nelson slam. He escapes a falcon arrow and connects with a knockout kick. Collins follows with double knees in the corner. Rose hits a gutbuster and connects with a roaring elbow for the win at 4:45. I liked this match much better than Rose’s debut against Ninja Bill last month. He looked like a calculated killer and a legitimate threat here. Although it seemed like these two could have a worthwhile ten or fifteen-minute match, I’m glad that Rose received a chance to look strong. **¼
Match #3: Ace Martino vs. Steve Boz
The winner will become the #1 contender for the Alternative Title. Boz snaps off a headscissors and connects with a spin kick. He adds a basement dropkick and an enzuigiri. Martino avoids a superkick and retreats to the floor. Back in, Boz connects with a slingshot elbow drop and a dropkick in the corner. Martino pulls him out of the corner by his hair and takes over. Boz comes back with a springboard crossbody. Martino dodges another superkick and hits an exploder. Boz answers with a uranagi and both men are down. Boz hits a twisting neckbreaker and connects with a leg lariat. Martino has yet another superkick scouted and hits a neckbreaker of his own. Boz responds with a burning hammer but Martino is able to get his foot on the bottom rope during the pin attempt. Boz misses a superkick and Martino low blows him behind the referee’s back. Martino hits a flatliner and applies a koji clutch for the victory at 8:45. These two have been apart of some solid multi-man Alternative Title division matches and they showed good chemistry with each other here as well. I liked the story of Boz outclassing Martino for the most part and Martino simply taking advantage of Boz’s over-reliance on superkicks to pick up the win. Martino will finally receive his one-on-one title match against “Mr. 450” Hammett. **¾
Match #4: Falls Count Anywhere: Brian Nelson vs. Greg Glover
Nelson attacks before the opening bell. Glover lands a springboard crossbody and clotheslines him to the outside. Glover misses a plancha but recovers with another springboard crossbody in the ring. He hits a german suplex. A distraction from Ryland Foxx allows Nelson to connect with a dropkick. The action goes to the floor where Glover throws Nelson into the ringpost. He then proceeds to handcuff Foxx to the ringpost. Nelson runs to the back and Glover gives chase. The camera cuts to Glover pinning Nelson in an elevator. Nelson back drops Glover into a metal container and hits him with a trash can. They brawl into the locker room where Justice Jones is clearly rooting for Nelson. Glover lands a dive off of a table. Nelson hides in another room and jumps Glover from behind. The camera cuts to them brawling in the crowd. They battle on the apron where Nelson hits a back suplex. He tells the crowd to clear out of their seats and mockingly throws Glover back into the ring. Glover lands a plancha to the floor and brings a chair into the ring. Nelson low blows him and hits a burning hammer onto the propped chair for the win at 9:08. Note that the match was clipped to account for the brawling throughout the venue. This was an entertaining falls count anywhere match that undoubtedly took advantage of its stipulation. Both men have really come a long way since I first saw them as a team at the beginning of the year and their series of matches has been memorable thus far. I would assume that a final encounter is coming up at ANNIVERSARY III next year and this contest was a quality precursor to it. ***
After the match, Nelson announces that he’s going to repeatedly hit Glover with a chair. Seven chair shots later, Nelson finally leaves the ring as staff members come out to check on Glover.
Match #5: DREAMWAVE Tag Team Titles: C.J. Esparza and Bret Gakiya © vs. Cousin Bobby and Cousin Dixie
Gakiya snaps off a few armdrags on Bobby, who quickly returns the favor. Dixie enters the ring and stops Gakiya in his tracks. Esparza attempts a springboard maneuver but just bounces off of Dixie. He lands a standing corkscrew press onto Bobby and connects with a basement superkick. Dixie runs over Esparza on the apron and the Beck Family isolate him. He flatlines Bobby into Dixie’s groin and makes the tag. Gakiya lands a lionsault onto Bobby. Dixie tries to break up a pin attempt but accidentally splashes Bobby. Nikki jumps onto the apron and provides a distraction. Bobby hits a backbreaker on Esparza and Dixie follows with a corner hip attack. Gakiya connects with a spin kick on Bobby but runs into a chokebreaker from Dixie. Bobby plants Gakiya with a spinebuster. Dixie hits the Kickapoo Destroyer on Gakiya and the Beck Family become the new DREAMWAVE Tag Team Champions at 10:06. The Beck Family have been pretty much unstoppable since Dixie debuted so their title win makes sense. In fact, Zero Gravity didn’t look like they had much of a chance here. While the action was engaging for the time given, I think some of the match quality was sacrificed to highlight the Beck Family’s dominance. Zero Gravity’s title reign will be remembered for them having worthwhile title defenses against a wide variety of teams and they really made the most out of their run with the belts. **½
Match #6: Dan Lawrence vs. Colin Cambridge
Lawrence says before the match that everyone is about to see a new Dan Lawrence. Cambridge connects with corner punches but gets caught by a missile dropkick. Lawrence maintains control until Cambridge fights back with a series of punches. Cambridge hits a backbreaker-neckbreaker combination and goes back to the corner punches. He follows with an innovative backcracker for a nearfall. Lawrence hurricanranas him from the middle rope and locks in a full nelson for the victory at 5:49. It’s no secret that Lawrence is a talented in-ring performer and it seems as though he’s finally being put into a position to show that in DREAMWAVE. His submission victory showed a new side of him and I’m excited to see how he progresses in 2012 with his new attitude. **
Match #7: Marshe Rockett vs. Rhino
After Rockett laid out Jay Repsel with an ace crusher at Brawl at the Mall 2, Repsel hired Rhino to take him out here. Not a bad choice. Rockett hits a slingshot senton and goes to the middle rope. Rhino grabs his foot and pulls him down to the canvas. Rhino takes control until Rockett flips out of a suplex and hits an inverted DDT. Rockett connects with a leg lariat and hits a high leg drop. Rhino avoids an ace crusher and accidentally Gores the referee. Rockett connects with a mafia kick but there’s no referee to count his pin attempt. Another referee runs into the ring and counts the nearfall. Rhino hits a belly to belly suplex. He charges for the Gore but Rockett catches him with an ace crusher for the win at 11:08. This played out pretty much like how you’d expect. Rhino controlled for most of the match but eventually got caught by Rockett’s agility. The only problem is that instead of booing Rhino for cheating and working for Repsel, the crowd cheered him and chanted him to hit the Gore. However, this was a nice win for Rockett as he moves up the card. **½
C. Red orders a hotdog for Rockett and himself after the match from Repsel. He says that Rockett has beaten Jason Hades, Nick Brubaker, and Austin Roberts. C. Red demands that Rockett wrestles whatever guest DREAMWAVE brings in for ANNIVERSARY III. The lights go out and Prince Mustafa Ali is here! Before he can even say anything, C. Red challenges him on Rockett’s behalf. Ali attacks C. Red with the microphone and low blows Rockett. He plants Rockett with an implant DDT, raises his fist into the air, and walks to the back.
Match #8: DREAMWAVE World Title: First Blood: Austin Roberts © vs. Acid
Jay Repsel is in Roberts’ corner. Acid thesz presses Roberts and connects with a flurry of punches. Roberts retreats to the floor. Acid goes under the ring and blindsides Roberts. He sends Roberts into the ringpost and bites his forehead. Acid attempts a chair shot but it gets blocked. In the ring, Acid connects with corner punches. Roberts drives him shoulder-first into a propped chair and takes control. Acid comes back with a suplex onto the chair. He hits a springboard lungblower. Roberts ducks a flying chair and it hits the referee. Roberts low blows Acid and loosens a top turnbuckle pad. Acid returns the favor with a low blow of his own and drops Roberts onto the exposed turnbuckle. Roberts is bleeding but the referee is still down. Repsel low blows Acid and hits him with the title. He then squirts ketchup on Acid’s forehead. The referee sees Acid and calls for the bell. Roberts retains his title at 14:02. While the finish left a lot to be desired, there was still more to come in the evening. This match did its job of making Roberts look like he barely escaped with the title, adding to the believability of Waylon taking the belt in the aftermath. **
Waylon’s music plays and he comes out with his Good As Gold briefcase. It looks like he’s cashing in…
Match #9: DREAMWAVE World Title: Austin Roberts © vs. Waylon
Waylon hits Roberts with the briefcase and pins him. Repsel pulls the referee out of the ring. Mason Beck runs out and plants Waylon with a splash mountain. Roberts covers Waylon to retain his title at 1:14.
Repsel gets on the microphone and says that no one can beat Roberts. Nick Brubaker interrupts and makes it clear that his focus is on the DREAMWAVE World Title.
Overall: The Fight Before Christmas kept the ball rolling as far as storylines were concerned, as is the case with most DREAMWAVE shows. The Beck Family ended Zero Gravity’s lengthy reign with the titles, Prince Mustafa Ali returned, and Nick Brubaker started his ascension back to the main event. However, the in-ring quality just wasn’t there. The undercard peaked at the falls count anywhere match, even though I thought a lot of the contests moved the storylines in the right direction. While the main events of DREAMWAVE shows are usually worthwhile, even the main event on this show was used to build to a future confrontation. ANNVERSARY III is certainly shaping up to be quite the show, but unfortunately I cannot give this one a recommendation.
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