-Taped from Toronto, Ontario
-Your hosts are Bill Apter and his amazing friends
-Howard Finkel comes out to put over Wrestlereunion, and incredibly, no one from Highspots or Wrestlereunion decides to embarrass him. Sal Corrente- 1 WWE-0
-El Generico vs. Michael Elgin
Match in Five Words or Less: An ROH Main Event
Match Highlights: Odd to see this as the opener when this could easily be a main event on most indy shows. Elgin establishes his power advantage right away. Headlock by Generico. Elgin hits a shoulder tackle. Leapfrog followed by a dropkick by Generico. Yakuza kick. Whip across. Running boot misses but he hits an elbow. Kick to the chest and an off the tope rana. Quick roll-up back in the ring. Chop. Into the corner for ten punches. Elgin reverses a whip. Generico up and over. Elgin catches Generico and hits a samoan drop. Knee strikes in the back. Shots to the midsection by Generico. Knee lift by Elgin. Whip across. Generico with forearms. Elgin with a knee to the midsection. Running boot as Elgin puts his head down. Clothesline no sold. A second one goes nowhere. Elgin misses a clothesline. Dropkick by Generico. Low bridge. Tope con helo! Slap but a swinging DDT is blocked. Backbreaker counter by Elgin. 1-2-NO! Running clothesline to one corner. Then another one. Blue thunder powerbomb blocked. Elgin tries running off but Generico does get the blue thunder powerbomb. Yakuza misses. Forearm by Elgin. Last Falconery gets two for Elgin. Sunset flip by Generico. Running boot blocked. Exploder by Generico into the corner. Yakuza kick! Brainbuster! Generico win!
Match Analysis: Considering the context of this match, it made sense for them not to empty out everything except the kitchen sink move wise. These two had a good opening match and not much more. Great way to get the crowd excited and into the show from the start if nothing else.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: El Generico/7:58/***
-Tito Santana (w/Rick Martel) vs. Shawn Spears (w/Jimmy Hart)
Match in Five Words or Less: Going The Other Way
Match Highlights: Spears is a younger wrestler who really never got a fair shake within WWE. Santana is a legend and former Intercontinental champion. Lock-up goes nowhere. Then they stall. Another lock-up and Spears mocks Santana. They keep things basic and Spears powders to the outside. Santana hits a shoulder block. Into the corner and Spears rakes the eyes. Series of stomps. Choke along the bottom rope. Shot to the midsection. Big stomp to the head. Modified chinlock. Knee drops. Punch exchange. Whip but Spears gets his knees up. Cover with the feet on the ropes. Santana kicks out. Back to the chinlock. Clothesline by Spears. He cartwheels and gets heat. Spears calls for the end. Big splash misses. Santana fires back with right hands. Back drop. Spears distracts the referee. Hart trips Santana. Martel chases him off. Spears with a boot. Santana small package gets three.
Match Analysis: Not a bad match by any means. Santana looks pretty good for his age and was able to keep things basic enough to where he wasn’t exposing himself too badly. Spears has a great look and charisma. How he isn’t in TNA or WWE is a bit mind-boggling. Perfectly acceptable use of six minutes even though the match wasn’t something to run out of your way to see.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Tito Santana/6:18/*1/2
-Super Smash Brothers (Player Uno and Player Dos) vs. The Great Outdoors (Jake Manning and Grizzly Redwood) vs. Rhett Titus and Caleb Konley (w/Leah Von Dutch) vs. Adam Page and Asylum
Match in Five Words or Less: Chaos
Match Highlights: Titus and Konley would be a significantly better version of The Scene. Even Bill Apter makes lusting comments at the women, so Lenny Leonard isn’t alone at least. Redwood and Page start out with a feeling out process. They set a really good pace, but Titus blind tags in. Page tags Konley. Now They are forced to battle each other after everyone ducks off the apron. Titus fingerpokes him and covers for two as everyone immediately breaks the count. Asylum is legal with Titus. Thumb to the eyes. Asylum hits a running knee strike. Armdrag into the armbar. Page works the arm and hits a low dropkick. Another dropkick and a knee drop in the throat. Titus shoves him in the corner. Double team back elbows by SSB. Standing moonsault by Dos as Uno hits the fist drop. Slam by Uno and they pose. Dos goes for the cover but only gets two. Into the corner as Titus and Konley take control. Boot by Dos and here comes Uno. Konley rammed head first into the Outdoors’ corner. Double team by Manning and Redwood. Elbow drop by Manning. Manning gordbusters Redwood on top of Konley. Redwood rammed in the corner. He fires away on Titus and knocks Konley off the apron. Snake eyes. Short forearm to the back as the heat segment on Redwood continues. Chinbreaker by Redwood but Konley recovers. They clear the other men off the apron to prevent a tag. Double back suplex attempt but Uno comes in with clotheslines for Titus and Konley. Chops on Konley. Uno gets some assistance from the official and hits a neckbreaker. Flatliner/DDT combination. Dos hits a cross body on Asylum. Springboard moonsault caught but he hits a DDT instead. Double team from the Great Outdoors. Nice spear by Redwood. Uno with a right hand. Backbreaker into the flatliner by Manning on Uno. Page comes in with chops. Manning misses a clothesline. Powerslam by Page. Konley and Titus with some nice moves. Titus ends the flurry with a dropkick. Uno hits a double pele kick. Asylum hits a double underhook into a neckbreaker. Dos rolls out of the ring. Asylum pulled out of the ring and get double kicks. Dutch kisses Titus. Dropkicks by the Great Outdoors. Page hits a shooting star press to the floor. Uno hits a tope con helo through the middle ropes on everyone. Dos wants in on the action and corkscrews outside. FATALITY! Uno pins Konley and gets his team the victory.
Match Analysis: This was a very fun match as all eight guys left it all out in he ring. Great to see SSB get the victory in this position as they’re such an underrated duo. Really everyone of these guys looked good in small doses. Not much else to say.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: The Super Smash Brothers/13:27/***1/4
-Roddy Piper comes out for a Piper’s Pit. He has some fun with the audience of course before bringing out of one of the wrestlers from the previous match. Caleb Konley comes out and he’s apparently going to host the segment instead of Piper. Konley has three minutes and he talks about wanting people to hate him. Well, that’s a great way to not get heat. Piper asks Konley to introduce the guest and even threatens to club him like a baby seal. Here comes Bruno Sammartino. Piper gives Konley the floor. Konley interviews Sammartino and goes a bit too far with some of his questions. Things get heated and Sammartino won’t let Konley take control of the mic. Piper makes fun of Konley for losing but gives him credit. Piper starts slapping Konley around a little bit. Konley slaps back. Eventually, Piper slaps him out of the ring and holds Sammartino up as a legend. Really fun for the live crowd. Did not come off nearly as well for the DVD.
-Fit Finlay vs. Harry Smith
Match in Five Words or Less: Better Than ECW
Match Highlights: These two had an infamous 20 minute borefest on ECW, but Smith is significantly improved from that match, and I think a match like that would come off far better in this atmosphere anyway. Basic to start. Finlay gets into it with a fan and invites her to under the ring as the new Hornswaggle. He invites her in the ring… and she’s really tiny. Finlay dances with her. Well, that was surreal. Back to wrestling. They keep things on the mat. Shoulder tackles my Smith. Finlay tosses him outside. He lets Smith back inside but then tosses him right back outside. Hard forearm. Finlay posts Smith’s back into the post. Clubbering blow to the back by Finlay. Smith’s back rammed into the back. Elbow drop. To the chinlock. Hard whip in the corner. Another elbow to the back. Knee to the side and an uppercut. Stomps to the front and again Smith is tossed a third time to the floor. Hard whip and a double thrust to the throat back in the ring. Off the middle rope but Smith gets his boots up. Quick roll-up gets two. Clotheslines by Smith. Whip. Finlay gets his foot up. Headbutt. Powerslam attempt countered. Superkick hits. Smith fights for the sharpshooter, but Finlay grabs the bottom rope. Smith sent into the middle rope. Finlay charges but gets caught. Powerslam ends the contest.
Match Analysis: This was a good 15 minute and not much else. They stayed basic for the most part before ending things with a flurry. Pretty simple match with a non-complicated finish.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Harry Smith/13:56/***
-Vader vs. Necro Butcher
Match in Five Words or Less: Car Wreck
Match Highlights: What a fascinating little affair this should be. Series of blows in the corner and a running splash on Necro. Back to the corner for more strikes. Another splash off the ropes. Punches to the head. Solid shot across the chest. Necro pokes him in the eye. Again he rakes the eyes. Necro with strikes of his own in the corner. Vader fires back. Shotgun chops by Necro. Just an amazing exchange of shots. Running clothesline by Necro. Kicks. Running boot to the midsection. Series of knees now. Vader comes out with a splash. to the armbar. Series of right hands and a chokeslam. Vader Bomb. 1-2-Vader lifts Necro’s shoulder up. Another chokeslam. 1-2-3?
Match Analysis: Not sure what was up with the finish. This was fun while it was lasted, but it ultimately was too short to mean anything. Having these two guys just beating the holy hell out of each other was a wise decision but I would have liked to have seen a bit more brawling and chaos.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Vader/5:51/*
-Dominic Denucci and Shane Douglas (w/Bruno Sammartino) vs. Lord Zoltan and Shawn Blanchard (w/J.J. Dillion)
Match in Five Words or Less: Thankfully Short
Match Highlights: Denucci is Douglas’s trainer. You may also remember he trained one Mick Foley as well. Douglas makes fun of JJ Dillion for managing Ric Flair of course and brings out Sammartino to manage his team. Douglas starts out with Blanchard. Quick poke to the eyes. Into DeNucci’s boot. Blow across the throat by DeNucci. He ties him up in the ropes and fires another right hand. Left hand to the midsection and a tag to Douglas. Boot and another right hand. Whip and a back drop. Back elbow. Into the corner and the heels begin working Douglas over. Tag to DeNucci but the official doesn’t see it. DeNucci has had enough and goes after Blanchard. All four men are in the ring. Series of right hands on Zultan. Douglas hits a low blow. Zultan tosses outside. Belly-to-belly suplex ends the match.
Match Analysis: When you’ve got someone as old as Denucci and a semi-retired wrestler in Douglas, it’s tough to have a great artistic contest. At least it wasn’t a long match. They kept it short and allowed the fans to honor the legends involved.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Dominic Denucci/4:48/1/2*
-NCW Femmes Fatale Championship: Kalamity (champion) vs. LuFisto
Match in Five Words or Less: Where Did This Come From?
Match Highlights: NCW is based out of Montreal. Slap exchange almost right away. Kalamity hits a shoulder tackle. Series of armdrags by LuFisto. Leg sweep. Shoulder tackle by LuFisto. They scream in each other’s face. Series of leg kicks. Leg sweep by LuFisto. Running stomp and senton. Modified ankle lock. Kalamity grabs the bottom rope. Forearm and clubbering blows by LuFisto. Clothesline and series of kicks by Kalamity. Running neckbreaker. Double knees to the back as LuFisto is prone across the middle rope. Now to the choking. Big kick to the head. Half crab. She turns around and applies a stranglehold even as she has the legs tied up. Curb stomp. LuFisto sent into the turnbuckle. Forearms and shoulder tackles. Flatliner sends the champion into the middle rope. To the chops. Back elbow by LuFisto. Armbar into the ropes. Dropkick off the middle rope by LuFisto. Into an applied headscissors. LuFisto drives Kalamity’s skull into the mat. Strikes in the corner. Whip in the corner and forearm. Running forearm on a prone LuFisto. She drops her knees. Forearm exchange. Off the ropes and a double clothesline. Exchange of chops. Kalamity comes out on top. LuFisto drives the champion’s head into her knees. Dropkick. Cannonball in the corner. Running face wash. 1-2-NO! Chinbreaker by Kalamity. Kick in the face followed by a spinebuster. LuFisto hits a back drop driver. Kalamity crotches LuFisto on the top rope. Battle on the top rope. Double stomp by LuFisto! 1-2-NO! Elbows by Kalamity. LuFisto with forearms again. Spear into the guillotine choke. Kalamity escapes the hold. Again with the forearms. Now they’re just slapping each other. Now they’re stomping each other. Jesus H. Big kick from LuFisto! 1-2-NO! Kalamity drives LuFisto down in a version of the 2K1 bomb. 1-2-NO! LuFisto rolls her up and gets two. La Maestral cradle gets two. Quick roll-up by Kalamity gets two. German suplex by LuFisto. Back fist. Big splash misses. Kalamity hits another 2K1 bomb and gets the win in a fine exhibition.
Match Analysis: These two girls walked into the ring as anonymous female wrestlers, and I have to believe this was their break-out performance. What an impressive showing by both girls here as they really showed what they were all about. I loved the strike exchanges, enjoyed the chain wrestling, and just plain was impressed by so much of what these two did. There were a couple awkward spots and some apparent miscommunication, but I dug so much of what these ladies brought to the table. A true pleasure to watch.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: /13:34/***1/2
-Roderick Strong vs. Jushin Liger
Match in Five Words or Less: Non-stop
Match Highlights: This match is one of the primary reasons I even took a chance on this DVD. Code of honor followed beforehand. Liger applies a headscissors. Strong rolls out and goes for a bow and arrow. Front facelock and a stand-off. Takedown and Liger applies a lightning fast surfboard. He rocks back and forth. Strong has no choice but to grab the rope. Liger ties Strong’s legs. Into a submission so Strong grabs the rope once again. Spinning toehold by Strong. Strong kicks away at the leg. Liger takes control and ties Strong up. Shoving match. Liger with a shoulder tackle. Chop. Strong with a chop. Liger sends Strong outside. Dropkick and a somersault senton off the apron. Snapmare into the stretch plum. Chops by Liger. Strong reverses a whip but meets with double boots. Backcracker by Strong. Chops from Strong. Into a forearm and stomps. Choking along the bottom turnbuckle. Forearms. Liger tossed into the top turnbuckle. Vertical suplex. Waistlock. Chop war which Strong wins. Whip in the corner. Liger ducks and hits a release German suplex. Chop and tilt a whirl backbreaker. Liger goes back to the surfboard. Strong finds the middle rope. Chop by Liger. Strong with a boot and enziguri. Side slam gets two. Strikes in the corner as it’s become a violence party. Running clothesline. Whip and a running forearm. Drunk slam. 1-2-NO! Stronghold! Liger makes it to the bottom rope. Liger blocks a suplex. Again with the chops. Liger with a boot. Strong hits a running knee. Gutbuster. Off the ropes but Liger hits a palm strike. Running elbow. Strong placed on the top rope. Snap superplex by Liger. 1-2-NO! Liger goes up top. Strong stops him with chops. Double underhook. Liger with headbutts. Strong blocks a sunset bomb. Liger lifts him up and drops him in the powerbomb. 1-2-NO! Frog splash. 1-2-NO! Palm strike misses. Backslide by Liger gets two. Leaping knee strike by Strong. Torture rack into the backbreaker. 1-2-NO! Gibson driver. 1-2-3!
Match Analysis: How awesome of it is for a legend to do the clean job in a match like this. I have such an incredible amount of respect for both of these men. Liger is one of the best ever and he continues to be able to have great matches in every continent and well north of 40. This was just over 15 minutes, but they packed a lot into it as this was almost non-stop action from bell-to-bell. These last two matches make PWS: Toronto an easy thumbs up if you ask me.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Roderick Strong/15:37/***3/4
-Extreme Rules Match: Tommy Dreamer and Rhino vs. Raven and CW Anderson
Match in Five Words or Less: Garbage Wrestling
Match Highlights: CW Anderson looks old but a young sprout compared to Raven. Yeesh. Glad all four men are nice enough to observe the tag team rules to begin. Raven immediately tags Anderson. Raven not wanting to wrestle? Shocking. Some actual wrestling between Dreamer and Anderson. Dreamer spits in Raven’s face. Sunset flip by Dreamer. Anderson rolls through and hits a dropkick. Stomps and a forearm. Dreamer cross body gets two. Rhino comes in and Anderson breaks away to seek advice from Raven. Shoulder tackle by Rhino. Forearm by Anderson. Clothesline by Rhino. Series of right hands. Drop toehold. Dreamer hits an elbow drop. Anderson with a whip. Dreamer gets his boot up. Big left hand by Anderson and here comes Raven. Stomps by Raven. Choking. Heat segment on Dreamer continues. Back elbow and a flatliner sends Anderson into the middle turnbuckle. Rhino punches Raven. He turns his attention to Anderson. Flying shoulder tackle. Whip in the corner. Shoulder tackle. Belly-to-belly suplex on Anderson. Raven grabs Rhino’s leg as he attempts to go for the gore. Again with the stomps. Anderson joins him. Dreamer with a right hand. He stares Raven down. Anderson goes after Dreamer. DDT attempt. Raven walks out. Dreamer chases Raven now. Back in the ring goes Raven. Right hands by Dreamer. He punches Raven out of the ring. Anderson tosses Dreamer outside. And now we take a tour of the building. Raven and Dreamer exchange fists in the ring. Dreamer DDTs Raven but gets two. In goes a chair. Dreamer brings out a table. Raven drop toeholds Dreamer into the chair as Rhino comes back in for the gore. Cover for two. Anderson breaks the count. Rhino with right hands. Superkick by Anderson. Whip. Dreamer with a low kick. Spinebuster by Anderson. Two count. Anderson sets the table up in the corner. Dreamer hits a death valley driver on Anderson through the table. This is good enough for the win.
Match Analysis: Not sure why you’ve got four guys from the original ECW and just don’t do an insane brawl. There was nothing extreme about this for most of the match. Rhino and Anderson looked quite serviceable and Dreamer at least tries. Raven did literally nothing for 12 minutes and was basically a waste of space. Not a great match by any means but not offensive either. I’m sure if you were an ECW fan, this would be right up your alley.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Tommy Dreamer and Rhino/12:08/*1/2
The Verdict: Overall, this may have been an even better show than the Los Angeles one despite there not being two four star matches. Some good action could be found in nearly every match. This combination of legends and current indy stars worked well. The biggest surprise was the woman’s match. Such an enjoyable strike fest and war between those. I would offer a strong recommendation for this show, especially on digital download.
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I think Elgin and Generico are going to end up having a rematch in this year’s BOLA for PWG.