Preshow Match #1: Kyle Kendrick defeats Matt Nicks
Preshow Match #2: Ryan Howe defeats Chris Castro
Mr. 450 defeats Kyle
Nikki St. John and Jesse Belle defeat Taylor Made and Serenity in a no disqualification match
Ashton Vutton defeats John Skyler
The Sheik and Josephus Brody defeat Da Cobra and ???
John Hennigan defeats Robert Anthony
Melanie Cruise defeats Thunderkitty in a non-title match
Harry Smith defeats Jay Bradley to successfully defend the Resistance Pro Heavyweight Championship
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When it comes to Resistance Pro this time around, there really isn’t anything profound to say. This show almost had to be better than last month. Thanks to a seemingly endless stream of promos and a horrific angle involving Jessi Corgan, last month simply wasn’t a good overall show. Despite the problems, there is one match that did achieve success. Robert Anthony and Jay Bradley had a great brawl that sent the crowd home happy and came after an emotional tribute to one of their fallen brethren. This month, each man was involved in a huge match with a former WWE superstar. In a sense, they had to rescue the show from a middle portion that had a lot to be desired.
First to Robert Anthony and his match the TAFKA John Morrison. I was expecting Morrison to tank it and barely even try. Well, I was happy to be proven wrong as these two had a nearly 25 minute match as both men went back and forth. There was an extended feeling out process as both men tried to figure out who would be the babyface and who would be the heel. As the match progressed, the Teamsters Auditorium seemed to get more behind Anthony as he was seen as their guy over John Hennigan who may never be back in Resistance Pro ever again. In a way, this match was a distant cousin to Kyle O’Reilly and Adam Cole in that the match was going along and then something seemed to click. People were going crazy by the end. This was the most into a match I’ve ever seen a Resistance Pro crowd into something. Part of it is no doubt venue related (more on that later), but the other aspect that impressed me was the way they made you believe in what they were doing. I loved Hennigan countering out of Taco Pizza and just the way they built to the finish. Even though Hennigan won clean with Starship Pain, the crowd gave both men a well-deserved standing ovation. Fantastic piece of work and this could be the first Resistance Pro match that I would give four stars.
Harry Smith and “Lonesome” Jay Bradley capped off the night with another very good wrestling match. It wasn’t as exotic as the Anthony/Hennigan match, but it told a nice story as Smith worked over Bradley’s right arm for a good portion of the match. Then, thanks to a little bit of shenanigans involving Lou D’Angeli and Raven, Smith hit a low blow and sitting powerbomb for the win. Very simple but effective way to keep the belt on the top heel. My one concern with the main event was who would step and face Smith. Resistance Pro desperately needs babyfaces at this point. Considering both Bradley and Anthony lost on this night, the promotion really needs to develop a long-term plan as it relates to every aspect of their card. In fact, when exploring what else happened, you can really see some of the issues of the promotion.
The fact that only two matches were announced the day of the show isn’t really a problem if the promotion knows exactly what is coming. From my perspective, it didn’t seem like there was a long-term plan in place. How else to explain a babyface female in Serenity teaming up with a heel female in Taylor Made? They wrestled against Nikki St. John, who it seems as though they’re building to be a top challenger to Melanie Cruise, and Jesse Belle. For literally no reason, this was made a no disqualification match. I guess because they used a chair in the end. There was some bad execution and bad chair shots in this match. These girls were not put in a position to succeed, and the bookers did a real disservice by putting them in this position. What makes the women’s division so fascinating is the way they’ve tried to make it important but also subtly stepped on their own toes. That was also shown later on in the night.
One of the things WWE was infamous for was sticking a token women’s match on the PPVs between two of the world title matches. Unfortunately, Cruise and Thunderkitty had the unenviable task of bridging the gap between the two excellent male singles matches. I still appreciate how Resistance Pro is building up Cruise as an unbeatable champion, but similar to the heavyweight championship, the division needs quality challengers and a sense of what’s coming in order to be successful. Cruise defeated Thunderkitty rather quickly
Before diving into the aspect of the show that drove me nuts, I wanted to mention the one of the preshow matches and the opener. Skidmarks of Tough Enough fame wrestled Chris Castro in the second preshow match. Poor Ryan Howe can’t do anything without letting go out of his infamous nickname. He was perfectly fine in the ring and a had a decent enough gimmick where he played the guitar (sort of a real life one man rock band), but the crowd was having none of what he was selling. Mr. 450 and Kyle Matthews wrestled in the opener and had a solid contest. Matthews was last seen being tortured by Harry Smith but for whatever reason got an awful lot of offense in on 450. Not sure how I feel about the overall story, but the action was good. 450 has been one of the better performers in the promotion and it’s good to see him finally winning matches. As much as I talked earlier about long term booking, the best/worst example of this is the tag team tournament.
I keep wondering about this tournament, and I can’t seem to get answers. Never seen a bracket. No idea who’s still alive. That’s what made what happened between Josephus Brody and Sheik so strange. Somehow, it all started with John Skyler and Ashton Vutton. They were having a good match. Skyler is a guy to watch as he can string moves together and reminds me a lot of Johnny Gargano. Vutton needs seasoning, but his gimmick and character at least give him a purpose. Rinaldo Piven, his attorney, and Jessi Corgan came out and randomly interrupted the match. Vutton won with a dragon sleeper after a lot of shenanigans and confusion. Piven got on the microphone to talk after the match only for Brody to come out and literally choking the holy hell out of him. You should have seen out red Piven’s face was. Brody calls out Sheik, and they torture Piven. Now I thought this was leading to the formation of a babyface tag team, but instead they called out a young wrestler named Da Cobra. Cobra was said to be a disciple of these two, but they began beating the crap out of him. Then an unidentified wrestler came out for the save. When I say he was unidentified, I mean it. The guy’s name was literally never mentioned. He had “Ruff Crossing” on his tights. That’s it. There was nothing wrong with the match, but the crowd was completely quiet during the various promos and the match. Are Sheik and Brody faces or heels? Are they in the tournament? When is the tournament continuing? These questions and more still to be answered at the next Resistance Pro show September 14 back at the Excalibur (booooooooo says the crowd). The Teamsters Auditorium is bigger, more convenient to get to, and just creates a better overall atmosphere. Not sure why they insist on heading back to the Excalibur.
Of the four Resistance Pro shows I’ve been to, this was the best thanks to two of the last three matches really delivering. Some quality wrestling could be found in the opener as well. There are still a number of issues to be dealt with, not the least of which is a long-term booking plan to where the quality members of this roster can know exactly where they’re going. If Resistance Pro wants to promote Nikki St. John as a legit contender, she should not be swinging chairs badly and being tossed in a random tag team match. If I am to take the tag team titles seriously, I need to see a bracket and some tournament matches very soon. Finally, Harry Smith has been a great sport as the champion, but he needs some legitimate competition. Resistance Pro has a lot of pieces. They just can’t seem to put them altogether.
To get another great perspective on the show, check out Jae’s own thoughts on the show.
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