Those of you have been reading Pro Wrestling Ponderings for awhile now that I am a big fan of the School of Roc Class Wars YouTube show. So much so that I interviewed the majority of the cast last Winter and plan to do so again with Season 2. When I learned that they were having their first live show, “Two Turn Tables and a Wrestling Ring”, I could not be more excited. There were a few reasons for this. Not only was I excited to see the show as a fan of the product, but also to see some of the newer faces I had to yet to see in action and had only heard of through brief (and effective) YouTube clips. I wanted to see just how far the guys from the first season had come and what the new crop of students had to offer.
The one new guy I was most interested in seeing was Mat Russo. An awesome promo was released promoting his devastating submission move The Calf Slicer, which to me added a layer of intrigue that the other newcomers did not have. It was also documented that he had an issue with a tag team known as The Social (Fabrice & Chris Conway), which was another duo of newcomers that I was curious to see. Throw in Billy Roc as Russo’s partner and you have yourself a potentially great match. There are two things the match did really well: psychology and character development. After this match, I knew their personalities and how it worked into their style of wrestling. Russo and Roc are known for their technical expertise and mat wrestling, so they used that in the opening moments to get control. The Social portrayed their arrogant demeanor while they were busy wearing Russo down. I personally enjoyed Conway popping a cap off his water bottle for literally no reason before coming off the top rope. Little things like that go a long way in my book. Russo however locked on his Calf Slicer on Conway and picked up the win for his team. It was an awesome way to get Russo over in one match and make all the hype over his submission move valid. I could go on about how great Billy Roc is, but if you have seen the man wrestle you already know that. This was a terrific way to get the crowd going and get over three new characters all at once.
Three other students debuted in singles matches: Ripper Thomas, Joe Pittman, and Buck Boulder. To be honest, when I saw the Ripper Thomas video SOR had put up on their YouTube page, I was not interested. The “scary larger guy” gimmick has been done to death and nothing about that video made me feel like there was anything more to the character than what was on the surface. I’m sad to say the match didn’t change my opinion on him. It was your typical match of chokes, forearms and other assorted strikes. The fact that the match went over 10 minutes also seemed silly for what they were trying to accomplish. Buck Boulder won me over very quickly in his debut match against Marc Houston. He’s a bigger guy (roughly 6 ft 9 inches legit) and moves like a Junior heavyweight. The crowd got SO into him very quickly between his uniquely unexpected offense and the strength of both his and Houston’s interactions with one another. Houston ended up getting the win, but it was Boulder who got the fans respect in the end. I didn’t what I anticipated heading into the match, but I leave wanting to see more of Boulder. If you were to ask me which of the new School of Roc Class Wars graduate has the best chance of “making it”, he’s the one.
Joe Pittman to me has the most sterling personality of the crew. I’d check out this video to get an idea of what he is all about. He is a bit of a meathead, he’s a big arrogant, yet his take on this archetype I find to be unique. I actually thought he hit a mark right in the middle of being too brash and too subtle to get the right response from the crowd. While he has that, you could definitely tell this was his debut match in the ring. His in ring work was solid but didn’t have anything in his arsenal to set him apart. It was very basic, which is fine, but after seeing some really impressive action in previous bouts it was tough to get into a more old school style of match. His opponent, Rob Ramer, played to Pittman’s strengths and made the match all about him. Weirdly the crowd turned into Pittman’s favor by the end, but I don’t know if that was the crowd going into business for themselves. Ramer ended up getting the win here too giving us a nice story: all three debutantes falling to more seasoned wrestlers from the area. In a way it’s weird, because you would want your own guys to look strong, but at the same time it’s less realistic for all of them to defeat guys much more experienced than them. The only one I have a slight issue with losing is Ripper Thomas. I don’t think it was the right call to make him lose if we’re supposed to see him as some sort of terrifying monster. In a way the loss humanized him, but it also fit in with the story they wanted to tell. It’s a Catch 22, if you will. I look forward to seeing how all three of these guys develop over time.
A trios tournament is upcoming in the future of School of Roc Wrestling. In the middle of the show was a trios match between those who I consider to be the “main event” competitors of the promotion: The League (Tripp Cassidy, Reed Bentley, & “Big” Sue Jackson) against the Tecnico trios of Dale Patricks, Heidi Lovelace, and Trevor Court (who in a way is replacing Remi Wilkins who Tripp Cassidy forced Billy Roc to oust from the school/company). I could go into some of the exciting moves these guys did, but I’ll sum it up with this statement: this has the same characteristics of a top shelf CHIKARA trios match or one of those PWG trios matches that would open their shows and get things off to a roaring start. This was a fifteen minute match that felt like five. All six people in the match have such well defined characters and the fluidity in the ring to pull off such an exciting bout. Far and away this was the best match on the show and the one that the crowd was the most invested in, which is a testament into the hard work all six have done. The League picked up the victory after Jackson pinned Patricks with the Close Shave (a double choke bomb) and will now be entrants into the School of Roc trios tournament. This match right here is the reason to buy the show.
The main event featured U-Gene (the one and the same from WWE) against “Sexy” Shawn Cook. Right off the bat you should know that this is not the kind of wrestling I personally enjoy seeing on independent shows. I feel it’s best for those who built the company, whatever company it may be, to get top billing and be the primary focus/direction. However, there’s no denying the value characters like U-Gene add to shows. For one, it adds credibility to the promotion and gets some people in the door who may have otherwise not given the card a second look. Both U-Gene and Cook are your archtypicals hero and villains, and those same type of fans need something a little more on the surface to get into wrestling rather than a more cerebral approach. That being said, I think this main event accomplished its goal. At one point, the referee was knocked down by accident. This allowed The League to run in. Eugene was able to take them out with some WWE moves. Cook then threw powder in U-Gene’s eyes and score the victory. Dale Patricks, Heidi Lovelace and Trevor Court came out to dispute the decision with the referee. This caused a war with all eight participants. U-Gene got the pin and the REAL victory by dropping Cook with an RKO shortly after. The Tecnicos stand victorious in the ring and do a little dancing. After the trios match, Reed Bentley had a comment for the camera: “it’s never going to be about people like you U-Gene; it’s always going to be about hungry scrappers like us.” That is the type of world I hope independent wrestling will eventually reach, and I think the School of Roc roster is strong enough to get to that point if they aren’t there already. Nonetheless, I liked the inclusion of the students in the main event, though I can’t say I was thrilled with U-Gene single handedly taking down The League.
After the show, Tripp Cassidy announces that “Big” Sue Jackson is his first choice for Team Cassidy for School of Roc Class Wars Season 2 starting in January. Reed Bentley seemed dejected by this, but Billy Roc was there moments later to scoop him up as the first pick for his team, Team Roc, in Season 2. Tripp and Sue thought it was a joke, but Reed took the choice very seriously and stuck around to train with Roc. Tripp and Sue were none too pleased.
Overall: This show was just about what I expected. The upper classmen put on some excellent matches, the under classmen had solid enough matches that at least got the chance to show us what they were about, and the main event was exactly what you would expect that helped springboard those on the cusp of being main eventers into that very spot. I give it a thumbs in the middle because about half the matches are worth checking out, though the ones in which the match quality isn’t the highest at least serve some sort of purpose. Even if the show isn’t something you wish to check out, I strongly encourage everyone to keep tabs on what the School of Roc is doing.
You can purchase the show on DVD, as an mp4, or On Demand from Smart Mark Video. Be sure to check out a ton of free content on the School of Roc YouTube page, including the entire first season of Class Wars. For more information on the School itself, visit their official website.