-Taped from Chicago, Illinois
-Your hosts are Keith Lipinski and Mike “Nova” Bucci
-D’arcy Dixon, manager extraordinaire of the Briscoes, poses in the ring. Her muscular development is awfully impressive, but I have no idea what the heck she’s doing in the ring. Dixon promises to scout the other teams to see if the Briscoes are really the best team. Did she not get memo? Has she not paid attention to indy wrestling for the last seven years or so? Melanie Cruise comes down with Taylor Made and Miss Nikki. Why does Cruise get an entourage? Dixon puts Cruise over. Cruise won’t shake Dixon over. Cruise cuts a fairly awful promo putting herself over. She’s slurring her words. What’s up with that. Serenity comes down to the ring, and I guess the women’s title is on the line.
-Resistance Pro Women’s Championship: Melanie Cruise (w/Taylor Made) vs. Serenity
Match in Five Words or Less: Cruise Smash
Match Highlights: The announcers say this is a non-title match as the referee holds the belt up. These are the kinds of attention to detail things that need to be dealt with. Serenity goes for clotheslines but fails. Cruise boots Serenity once and sends her down. Side slam. Serenity tosses in the ropes carelessly. That looked horrible. Cruise brings a dog in the ring as the escorts beat Serenity up. Serenity with forearms. Cruise shoves her down. Armdrags by Serenity. Russian legsweep but instead of covering she goes after Cruise’s hair. Cruise comes back. Burning hammer. Good night.
Taylor Made goes all lesbian on Serenity after the match. Well, that was something.
Match Analysis: This was a borderline squash that didn’t exactly do anything to the legitimacy of the women’s title. Considering Melissa was the one who got shafted out of the title at the first show, why isn’t she thus the first one to get a title match? Serenity did bump well and work hard.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Melanie Cruise/3:25/*
-P-Dawg Millionaires (Shawn and Arya Daivari) vs. Robert Anthony and Mr. 450
Match in Five Words or Less: Middle Eastern Babyfaces… Hooray!
Match Highlights: I have to give R-Pro a ton of credit here. They made the Daivaris into babyfaces instead of Middle Eastern stereotypes who hate America. Good for them. This is a long time coming. Arya starts with Mr. 450. Feeling out process. Awkward leg lariat by Arya. Dropkick. Strikes from Mr. 450 in the corner. Whip. Arya goes over and hits a headscissors. Shawn tags in. Stomp to the left arm. Shoulder block. Mr. 450 with clubbering blows. Anthony tags and hits some forearms. Shawn rolls around and armdrags him. Anthony takes a powder. Side headlock. Hip toss. Anthony takes it like a champ. Anthony tells the referee he got his tights pulled. Anthony attacks with some forearms. Vertical suplex. Forearms. Arya distracts the official and the heels try to take advantage. Shawn beats Mr. 450. The brothers Daivari work over Mr. 450. Hard whip by Arya. Drop toehold. One-footed dropkick. High knee. Arya goes to the second rope. Anthony takes advantage of a distraction and hits a nice rana. Forearm. Anthony teases the older brother on the outside. Whip in the corner. Heat segment continues. Robert Anthony is doing an amazing job playing heel. Arya with some right hands. Kick by Mr. 450. Clothesline by Arya. Charge misses. Running kick to the head by Mr. 450. Bulldog and superkick gets two. Applied headscissors. Poke to the eyes. Snapmare and a chinlock. He transitions into a sleeper. Arya stays alive and hits a back suplex. Mr. 450 tags in and hits an elbow drop. He gets too penisy however. Spinebuster by Arya. Shawn finally makes his way in. Forearm and back elbow from him. Clotheslines in the corner. Bodyslam. Back drop on Anthony. Mr. 450 whipped. Enizguri. Shawn hits a powerslam. Anthony breaks the count. Heels try to double team on Shawn. Stalling vertical suplex turned into a neckbreaker by Shawn. Anthony again has to save his partner. Mr. 450 and Anthony sent into the top turnbuckle. Duel ten punches in the corner. Anthony gets out of it and hits a side winder on Shawn. Taco Pizza hits. Mr. 450 hits a swanton. Arya saves his brother. Leg lariat misses for Anthony. Leaping knee strike. Shawn clotheslines Anthony out of the ring. Springboard elbow by Mr. 450. Daivaris hit a splash/leg drop combo for three.
The Daivaris talk about the diversity of Chicago and promise to win the titles. I dig this entire segment a lot.
Match Analysis: This was definitely a formula tag team match but a very good one. Being able to see the Daivaris play babyfaces was a real pleasure. They handled it well. It helped Robert Anthony was a god amongst men. He played the heel so well, the fans couldn’t help but boo him. Maybe this wasn’t the best match of the two shows, but the match quality, booking, and post-match promo were a great package.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: P-Dawg Millionaires/15:06/***1/4
-El Generico vs. PAC The Canadian Destroyer vs. Matt Cross
Match in Five Words or Less: Better Than I Thought
Match Highlights: Generico and PAC start a one-on-one match. Crowd is split in half for this one. Some aggressive mat work to start. Neither man gets the advantage. Test of strength. Considering how muscular PAC is, Generico should have reconsidered his strategy. Nice armdrag by Generico. Snapmare and a sweep of the leg by PAC. Dropkick and immediate kip-up. They slap hands. Shoulder tackle. Generico with a trio of armdrags. Ole! Sportsmanship sort of shone but things are clearly heading south in this relationship. PAC hits a shoulder tackle. Cartwheel. Pace really picks up. Running rana by PAC. He stares Generico down. Then for whatever reason The Canadian Destroyer comes down and decides he wants in on the match because he claims to be a great high flyer. Destroyer says he wants a three way match. Generico and PAC agree. The other two men invite him in the ring. Destroyer gets into it with Chet Coppock, the ring announcer. Coppock announcers Destroyer as Petey Williams in a funny moment. So now we have a three way. Destroyer then heads outside. Destroyer nails Generico from behind. PAC and Generico aren’t happy. Destroyer won’t come in the ring. Finally, Generico and PAC surround him on the outside. They take turns forearming him. Back in the ring. Double back elbows. PAC splashes Destroyer off Generico’s back. Destroyer heads outside. PAC and Generico go back to what they were doing before. Stomps by PAC in the corner. Forearm. Tilt a whirl backbreaker by Generico. Destroyer tosses Generico out of the ring. Stomps on PAC. Now Matt Cross is out as Destroyer drags PAC down by the hair and knocks Generico off the apron. Cross complains about him not being in both the match and in this promotion. He wants to be in the match as well. And why not? We’ve got a four way. Cross, PAC, and Generico back Destroyer into the corner. Cross then turns on them with forearms. Now Destroyer and Cross stomp PAC and Generico. The faces are tossed over the top rope. Double team on PAC. Destroyer prevents Generico from helping PAC. They also double team Generico. Destroyer applies a half crab. Cross bounces back and forth and hits a leg drop. Heels try to cover Generico. PAC comes back in. Destroyer applies a camel clutch. Cross dropkicks Generico in the face. Dropkick by Destroyer while PAC is prone on the middle rope. Double vertical suplex. PAC ducks a clothesline and sends the heels into each other. PAC hits an asai moonsault out of nowhere. Blue thunder powerbomb on Destroyer gets two. Destroyer gets an elbow and rana. Generico comes back with a Michinoku driver. Cross sends PAC into the rail and goes after Generico. Chinbreaker by Generico. Cross ducks an enziguri and gets a kick. Double stomp for two. Boot by Generico. Cross body by PAC gets two. Standing shooting star press leads to a two count. Destroyer gets a crucifix pin. Modified flatliner for two. He calls for the finish. Exchange of nearfalls between all four men. Exchange of kicks. Generico hits a yakuza. PAC hits a rana and plants Generico on his head. Everyone is down. PAC hits a forearm. PAC hits an elbow out of the corner. He climbs to the top rope but doesn’t go to the balcony. Shooting star press met with knees. Canadian Destroyer. Cross doesn’t even allow a two count. Cross up and over. Generico hits a yakuza kick. TOP ROPE BRAINBUSTER but Destroyer goes outside the ring. Generico drags him back in. Cover for three. This match is almost worth it just to hear Chet Coppock announce Generico’s name.
Match Analysis: I was all set to bury this concept because you’ve got two of the best in the world and forgo it because you’re trying to shoe horn other guys on the card. Cross and Destroyer did a great job fitting in and not disturb the chemistry. This was indeed a great high flyers showcase with an awesome final couple minutes leading to the finish. This show is already significantly better than Black Friday.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: EL Generico/25:48/***1/2
-“Lonesome” Jay Bradley vs. Stephen Walters
Match in Five Words or Less: Walters Dead
Match Highlights: I only put Bradley’s nickname because of how hilariously awful it is. Speaking of awful… well, this was a perfectly acceptable squash. Walters played the role of Arika Cannons at the first show. Now he gets to die at the hands of Bradley. At least this lasts more than a minute. Hard shot to the head. Another knee to the back of the head. Referee is checking him. Walters is selling his head. Bradley takes things to the mat. Walters sent into the buckle hard. Whip to the corner. Walters sent into the buckle again. Back suplex. Elbows by Walters. Bradley hits a bodyslam and knee drop. Violence party in the corner. Referee is checking Walters. Walters sends Bradley in the corner and hits a dropkick. Forearm. Bradley reverses a whip. Boots by Bradley. Charge misses. Strikes by Walters. Leg kicks. Enziguri. Bradley boots Walters in the back of the head. He lifts his arm up. LARIAT! Done.
Match Analysis: This served its purpose to again show Bradley is a killer. Walters bumped around and sold his head injuries well. Not a great match per se but I’d say the goals were accomplished.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: “Lonesome” Jay Bradley/6:21/*1/2
-Stephen Walters at first wants to know when the match is going to beginning but then puts over Bradley. Well then.
-Colt Cabana vs. Davey Richards
Match in Five Words or Less: What A Finish
Match Highlights: Cabana is called the new mayor of Chicago by Keith Lipinski. Just between us, he couldn’t do much worse. Some early arm work from Cabana and Richards flips around before kicking him. Richards works the arm. What does Cabana do? Grab the top rope. Shoulder tackles go nowhere. Kick from Richards. Cabana trips Richards as Davey charges him. Leap frog and a dropkick by Richards. Cabana takes a walk on the outside. Grappling. Richards takes Cabana down. Cabana counters into an applied headscissors. Richards ties up the leg and rakes his hands across Cabana’s back. Cabana flips over and modify surfboards him. Into a body scissors. Then there’s a roll-up. Richards stretches him out. Cabana reverses. Another roll-up. Richards rolls outside. Cabana comes off with a superman roll-up for two. Bit of a school boy gets two. Double chops. Straight chop in the corner. Cabana bounces around the corner but Richards tosses him outside. One punt misses. A second doesn’t. Kozina interferes as Richards distracts the officials. Snapmare and an applied headscissors. He rams Cabana’s head multiple times with his legs. Kick to the chest. Kozina chokes Cabana on the middle rope. He charges but Cabana ducks. Cabana with chops. Forearm. Another chop. Richards sent into the top turnbuckle. Cabana gets boots out of the corner. Richards takes him off with a kick. Trailer Hitch. Cabana grabs the bottom rope. Snapmare into a chinlock. Richards works the left arm. Cabana kicks out of it. Chop and a forearm. Cabana dropkicks Richards while he’s going for the handspring elbow. Tope suicida met with an elbow by Cabana. Kozina eats one too. Elbow by Cabana misses. Jabs back in the ring. Richards hits a kick. Cabana hits an elbow. Series of chops. Whip across. Flying apple. Clothesline. 1-2-NO! Colt 45 countered. Flying apple off the ropes gets two. Colt 45 but Richards takes him in the corner. Shot in the corner. Richards placed on the top rope. Punches by Cabana. Headbutt and a dropkick by Richards. Cabana gets a boot out of the corner. Richards works his way around and applies an ankle lock. Cabana counters. Billy Goat’s Curse. Richards counters back into the ankle lock. Cabana grabs the bottom rope. Richards bodyslams Cabana. To the top. Cabana chops him. Richards elbows Cabana and applies an ankle lock on the top rope. Cabana lifts him up and drops Richards on the top rope. 1-2-NO! Billy Goat’s Curse turned into a roll-up. Richards rolls over into the ankle lock. Cabana rolls him up. Kick in the face. Cabana covers. 1-2-3?
Richards is knocked out after the kick by Cabana. The Canadian Destroyer and Tony Kozina argue after the match. Destroyer and Kozina turn their attention to Cabana and work his leg. Canadian Destroyer on Cabana.
Match Analysis: Colt Cabana winning with a kick in the face? Are you ribbing me? That will go down as the oddest ending of 2012. By a country mile. Good work from these two. Tons of fun counters for their typical moves. This was as good as their Ring of Honor match from the 9th anniversary show.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: /18:22/***3/4
-Lucha Squad (Heroes and Gringo Loco) vs. Da Soul Touchaz (Marshe Rockett and Willie Richardson w/C-Red, Acid Jazz, and Diamond)
Match in Five Words or Less: Lucha… SUCKS!
Match Highlights: Hearing Chet Coppock just use the words “Da Soul Touchaz” made my night. C-Red puts over Chicago and Resistance Pro while only wearing what can best be described as a pimp suit. Rockett goes to the chops immediately on Loco. Lucha sequence. Japanese armdrags by Loco. Running rana. Front facelock and a tag to Heroes. Double back drop. Loco is wearing an Under Armour shirt. Hope he’s got that sponsorship he’s been hoping for. Rockett tags in Richardson. Shoves on Heroes. Shoulder tackle doesn’t work. Clothesline misses. Slaps by Heroes. Off the ropes and they botch a rana something awful. Richardson hits a clothesline? Shoulder tackle on Heroes. Rockett hits a dropkick to mercifully end that segment. Leg drop. Bodyslam. Richardson stomps Heroes. Bodyslam. Elbow drop off the middle rope gets two. Snap suplex but Heroes’s legs get rammed into the ropes. These two? Never allow them in a ring together ever again. Heroes chops Richardson. Clothesline misses. Awkward leg lariat. Seriously, get these two out of the ring! Richardson slaps Heroes. Straight punch to the face. Elbow off the ropes. Crowd is dead. Another straight right hand. Elbow but Heroes… gets out of the way? Loco tags in and hits an awful looking rana on Rockett. Richardson slaps him in the back. Loco boots Rockett and armdrags Drichardson. Another rana on Rockett. Richardson slams him. To the second rope but a leg drop misses. Heroes dropkicks Richardson and hits a 312. High five among the luchas. Loco hits a tope con helo. Heroes hits a cross body on everyone to the floor. Heroes climbs up top again. Acid Jazz interferes. Rockett chops and hits a running clothesline in the corner. Another one. Pounce and slaps to the back of Heroes. Cover for three. Mercy.
Match Analysis: I’ve seen a lot of matches featuring Da Soul Touchaz…this was by far the worst. Loco and Heroes should never be brought back to this promotion again. Heroes in particular dragged this match down significantly. Up until the ending, neither team had any sort of defined roll. The crowd clearly didn’t want to cheer the Lucha for obvious reasons (they sucked), and Da Soul Touchaz are the hometown boys. Turning them heel is an interesting decision, and I look forward to seeing where that goes.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Da Soul Touchaz/9:54/*
-If the above match proved nothing else, it’s that D’Arcy Dixon should stick with the Briscoes. They are indeed the best team.
-Cheerleader Melissa vs. Sassy Stephie
Match in Five Words or Less: Say whaaaaat?
Match Highlights: This is a number one contender’s match for the hunk of tin Melanie Cruise is carrying around. Some mat work to start. Stephie establishes herself as a heel by pulling Melissa’s hair. Melissa shoulder tackles her down hard. Slap exchange. Melissa comes out on top. Bodyslam. Elbow drop. Pair of covers. Melissa ties Stephie’s legs up. Stephie rolls outside of the ring. Chop exchange. Melissa comes out on top. Russian legsweep by Stephie. She drags Melissa out by the hair twice. Chinlock. Kick to the back. Stephie rams her face into her knee. Front facelock. Transition into Last Chancery. Another kick to the back and some skull ramming. Stephie taunts Melissa. Samoan drop by Melissa. Clotheslines and a back elbow. Stephie counters. Melissa boots Stephie in the face. Curb stomp! Miss Nikki comes out with the dog. Melissa tells her to leave and to take the little dog too. Distraction continues. Taylor Made throws powder at Melissa. DDT by Stephie gets three.
Match Analysis: You could not book a women’s division much worse than the way Resistance Pro has done so far. First off, you had a heel champion bury the entire division in one fell swoop. Then you open this show with a lame squash title defense. Now Melissa, who is supposed to be a big-time babyface, gets offensively dominated in this match and then loses on a brutal finish involving the champion’s entourage. Having a heel win a number one contender’s match when there is a heel champion is pretty puzzling unless you’ve got something in mind. The something in mind was Stephie, who Melanie Cruise did call the “drizzling shits” (I didn’t hear Cruise make some sort of exception toward Stephie in her speech at the first show) last month, shake hands with the champion.
It’s worth noting Melissa has not been booked on either show since this one. To me, if she was done with the promotion, why not book her in the championship match and have her lose to Cruise so we get some sort of closure to that angle which was started at the first show?
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Sassy Stephie/8:02/*
-Resistance Pro Heavyweight Championship: The Almighty Sheik (w/Rinaldo Piven) vs. Kevin Steen vs. Harry Smith
Match in Five Words or Less: Of Course Steen Jobs
Match Highlights: Sheik tells Steen they should double team Smith. Steen is content to let Sheik do all he work. And Sheik does indeed start quickly on Smith. Smith comes back with a vertical suplex and a clothesline. Smith and Steen take their turn. Feeling out process. Shoulder tackle exchange. Smith hits an overhead throw for two. Bodyslam on Sheik. Stomp and a punch in the corner. Boot out of the corner and a clothesline. Steen takes advantage with an uppercut. Smith hooks a cross armbreaker. Sheik drops the knee and hits a forearm. Chop. Smith shoves him out. Knee to the gut by Sheik. Shoulder tackle by Smith. Steen prevents a vertical suplex. DDT on Smith. Steen and Sheik decide to work together. Steen interacts with the crowd to amuse himself. Sheik can’t suplex Smith on his own. Steen helps out and yells at him. Smith ducks a charge from Steen and goes for a sharpshooter. Chop block by Sheik. Why would someone try to apply a submission hold with the third person in the ring? Now the heels work over Smith’s knee. Sheik breaks out the spike and teases hitting Steen with it. Instead, he puts it back in his boot. Sheik turns on Steen and uses the spike. He puts one foot on Smith and gets two. Smith kicks out again. Knee to the gut by Sheik. Double clothesline and both men are down. Everyone down in the ring. Piven goes up on the apron. Cannonball misses for Steen. Clotheslines by Smith on Sheik. Back drop. Smith sends the heels head-to-head. Leg drop on Sheik gets two. Smith hits a superkick. Powerbomb but Sheik breaks the count. Sheik hits a neckbreaker gets two. Steen elbows Sheik and hits a lungblower. Cover on Smith for two. Back and forth go Smith and Steen. Steen goes for the sharpshooter. Sheik takes his boot off but misses Steen. Steen nails Sheik with it. Steen spits on the boot. Smith hooks the sharpshooter. Steen taps. And a siren goes off?
Steen BURIES Sheil after the match by calling him a piece of you know what. He says he’s going to keep doing it for the children. Steen goes after Sheik again. Now it’s time for the new champion to talk. Steen continues arguing with Sheik and Piven. Smith says it’s an honor to be the first champion and promises Steen a crack at the title. Steen shakes Smith’s hand. He leaves.
Match Analysis: There is no greater feeling than watching one of the hottest wrestlers in independent wrestling get relegated to third billing under a guy who’s a part-time wrestler (but at least a talented one) and someone who’s just awful. It says a lot that Steen was able to turn so much of the crowd to him over Harry Smith on this show. Even five year old kids were cheering for him! To be frank, this match was not very good. Steen and Smith probably could have delivered an excellent contest. Sheik being there ruined any hope of that with his garbage. The double team stuff was lame since the knee work went nowhere. If R-Pro is going to insist on booking Sheik as a top guy, we’re in for it.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: NEW Resistance Pro Heavyweight Champion-Harry Smith/20:17/**
-Rhino comes out of nowhere with a bag and decides he wants to challenge for the Resistance Pro championship. He asks Smith to be his friend in a really creepy manner. Rhino says he paid for a picture with the champion… so a photographer takes it. The crowd is laughing through all of this. Rhino then gets angry and demands a title match. He can’t speak but eventually gets across that there is some sort of title in his belt.
The Verdict: It needs to be said. Rise felt like a better show, particularly in the first half with a very solid tag team match, a crazy four way, and a really good singles match containing a shocking ending. Better pacing and stronger finishes also helped Rise. The problems… there were still plenty. The women’s division has been treated with such a lack of care, and this is the promotion that claims to want to emphasize women’s wrestling. That tag team match involving Da Soul Touchaz really soured me, and having Sheik in the main event doesn’t exactly leave me with a positive feeling. Harry Smith as world champion makes the most sense, both for his name value and ability in the ring. I’ll be very interested to see if the improvement continues and if R-Pro can find its identity.
One final note: You may have noticed I didn’t make one reference to the announcers on this show. That’s because they were generally inoffensive (except for talking over promos which is a big no-no in my book) and knew the product well. Dr. Keith bringing up guys’ backgrounds and putting the wrestlers over was a huge deal for me, especially after listening to Danny Dominion on the first show.
For more information on Resistance Pro, including event information and the opportunity to purchase this and all other DVDs, please check out their website.
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