We at Pro Wrestling Ponderings recently had a chance to acquire a Highspots TV account. Since I now have access to all kinds of wrestling, I thought it might be fun to dive into some of the footage and review individual matches for the website. This will not be a comprehensive look at everything that can be found, but I will occasionally post about five or so random matches. This week, I want to examine Cedric Alexander’s PWX career since I’ve heard nothing but good things and am always looking to see how badly Ring of Honor is holding someone back. I picked five matches to review and watched them. Hopefully this will guide your viewing practices, not only exposing yourself to more great talent but also some great companies. I will be looking at a number of different wrestlers in the coming weeks and months. I may also watch some of the shoot interviews as well. So enjoy!
-Cedric Alexander vs. Eddie Edwards (Premiere Wrestling Xperience – Evil Twist of Fate – 10.5.2012)
PBP: Immediate lock-up. Feeling out process. The crowd is very much behind Alexander. Edwards with a shoulder black. Back-to-back armdrags. Off the ropes. Alexander rolls underneath and trips Edwards. Springboard elbow. Chinlock. Back elbow. Kick and chop. Leaping senton. Chops on a prone Alexander. Running kick. Spin kick. Running side kick and a two count. Edwards counters a back suplex. Boot out of the corner. Back elbow by Alexander. Edwards rolls underneath. Running knee strike. Alexander gets tossed out of the ring. Taunting kick. Chop by Edwards. Chops right in front of Alexander’s family. Edwards blows kisses in a great heel move. Alexander comes back with chops of his own. Edwards rips and bites the face before hitting yet another chop. Alexander tossed back in the ring. Edwards taunts the fans and slowly makes his way back in the ring. Forearm exchange. Knee by Edwards. Whip across. Edwards with a modified chinlock. Alexander elbows his way out. Clubbering blow. Again to the forearm exchange. Knee by Edwards. Alexander sent to the apron. Sunset flip. Edwards monkey flipped outside. Plancha to the outside. Springboard clothesline leads to a two count. Waistlock exchange. Alexander elbows his way out. Back elbow out of the corner. Middle rope lungblower. Alexander with a full nelson facebuster. Alexander climbs to the top rope, but a foot stomp misses. Edwards hits a chop. Leaping kick and chin checker hits for Edwards. 1-2-NO! Vertical suplex blocked. Alexander has an O’Connor roll blocked. Backbreaker into the knees hits. 1-2-NO! Edwards catches Alexander in a firemen’s carry. Facebuster. Spin kick by Alexander. Superkick by Edwards. Running dropkick by Alexander. Edwards prone in the corner. Running dropkick. 1-2-NO! Alexander climbs to the top rope. Frog splash met with knees. Edwards hits a double stomp. 1-2-NO! Immediately into the single leg crab. Alexander rolled to the middle of the ring. Edwards stomps the head. Referee has no choice but to stop the match.
Analysis: Given the status of both men, I completely understand Edwards going over despite Alexander being the hometown babyface. Great effort by both men. Edwards elevates his opponents like so few can even if he isn’t the most charismatic wrestler in the world. The thing I like about Alexander is the speed and intensity he hits his offense. It comes off as so sudden that the crowd can’t help but get involved. This very easily could have been an above average match on an ROH mid-card.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Eddie Edwards/15:28/***1/2
Cedric Alexander vs. Bobby Lashley (Premier Wrestling Xperience – Brady Bakken’s Battle on the Mountain Top-11.17.2012)
PBP: Interested in this more for the freak show aspect than anything else. Lashley wins a lock-up pretty easily as you might expect. Shoulder tackle sends him down. Alexander exits the ring but comes back in. Lashley shoves him away. Straight right hand. Lashley is not impressed. Leapfrog and hip toss. Clothesline on Alexander. Whip to the corner. Running shoulder block. Stalling vertical suplex by Lashley. Lashley teases charging Alexander, but Alexander runs out of the ring instead. Elbow by Lashley. Alexander sent into the apron. Back in the ring. Alexander with a dropkick. Tope suicida. Lashley rammed back first into the apron. Waistlock by Alexander. Elbows from Lashley. Dropkick by Alexander. Chinlock by Alexander. Double axehandle in the back. Back to the waistlock. Lashley elbows out. Alexander battles out of a Torture Rack position. Double boots. Cover for two. Elbows by Alexander. Alexander tries wearing Lashley down with with waistlock once again. Spin kick and belly-to-belly suplex by Lashley. Clothesline. Back elbow. Bodyslam. Elbow drop. Torture rack right into a backbreaker. Spear countered into a DDT by Alexander. Running dropkick. 1-2-NO! Springboard clothesline caught. Spear by Lashley. 1-2-3! Lashley wins.
Analysis: Like all Bobby Lashley matches, I feel I enjoyed this far more than I expected. Solid work all around. Loved the spear finish as Alexander sold it like a champ. The dynamic of having a power wrestler versus a speedier wrestler isn’t always an easy one to execute, but they did a solid job nonetheless. Good match.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Bobby Lashley/10:50/***1/4
Cedric Alexander vs. Adam Page (Premiere Wrestling Xperience – Enemy Territory – 3.29.13)
PBP: Code of honor followed. Immediate headlock takedown by Page. Shoulder tackle by Page. Alexander exits the ring. Exchange of wristlocks. Shoulder tackle by Alexander. Page trips him up and grabs a headlock. Alexander wrenches the arm. Shoulder tackle by Alexander. Leapfrog. Armdrag by Page. Alexander moves him to the corner. Elbow to the midsection. Headlock. Shoulder tackle. Pace picks up. Alexander with a chop. Exchange. Page chops Alexander in the corner. Alexander comes back with one of his own and hits a spin kick. Page with a spinning back kick. Headlock by Page. Alexander with elbows. Page hits one of his own. Snap suplex. Alexander catches Page and just drops him. That was not a smart move. Quick two count. Page sends Alexander to the apron. Page tosses Alexander off balance into the top rope. Dropkick by Page after using the ropes as leverage to slingshot him up. Back in the ring. Headlock. Knee to the midsection. Alexander with back-to-back kicks. Strike exchange. Back kick by Alexander. Page with a clothesline. Back drop. Alexander again with a spin kick. Page with a legsweep. Standing shooting star press gets a two count. Page sent to the apron. Forearm. Battle on the top rope. Alexander sends Page off. Double stomp misses. Back elbow. Page hits a powerslam. 1-2-NO! Alexander rammed into the corner. Page climbs to the top rope to meet Alexander. Alexander sends him off. Cross body countered… I guess. That looked awkward. Forearms by Page. Alexander with a half nelson suplex. A second one after Page no sells. Running dropkick in the corner. Sweet Moses. Page rolls outside. Bell rings and we have a draw. But wait a minute. Adam Page gets awarded a decision by the referee. WHAT?
Analysis: Seriously one of the dumbest things I’ve seen in independent wrestling this year. A referee declaring a winner? Since when? Hell, this didn’t even make sense. Page is bleeding, and the match was even at best. The finish made no sense, and given the overall sloppiness coming from both men, this was a disappointment. Also, advertising this as only having a 15 minute time limit was a giant sign post saying this was going to be a draw. Very disappointed in this.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: No-contest/15:00 draw/**3/4
-Cedric Alexander vs. Kyle O’Reilly (Premiere Wrestling Xperience – Hunt for the Gold -5.26.13)
PBP: Code of honor followed. Feeling out process as they incorporate chain wrestling. Shoulder block sends O’Reilly down. O’Reilly begins working Alexander’s left arm. Alexander comes back quickly with a dropkick. Forearms. O’Reilly up and over behind his opponent. Alexander goes low with a dropkick. KneeDT. Duel leg locks. Alexander gains full advantage. O’Reilly’s leg tied into the rope now. Dropkicks. A third one misses. O’Reilly twists Alexander’s arm and sends him down. Hammerlock and O’Reilly sends him into various corners. To an applied headscissors where Alexander has to get his foot on the bottom rope. Alexander up and over. Roll-up for two. O’Reilly hyperextends the shoulder. Hammerlock. Follow-up with a knee strike. Left shoulder across the top rope. Boot out of the corner by Alexander. Back suplex blocked. O’Reilly applies a fujiwara armbar. Alexander to the ropes. O’Reilly with a backbreaker while also hammerlocking the arm. Enzuguri from Alexander. Strikes by Alexande…with the right arm. Running side kick. Finlay roll. Split-legged moonsault gets two count. He teases a dropkick but instead hits a running back elbow. Alexander with a boot from the apron. Springboard clothesline countered into the armbar. Alexander slams him for two. Forearm in the corner. he can’t whip O’Reilly out of the corner. O’Reilly crawls underneath and hits a jawbreaker. Running forearm. Flying kick. Butterfly suplex into the cross armbreaker. Alexander rolls him up for two. O’Reilly with a knee, kick, and forearm. Alexander sunset flip. O’Reilly small package for two. Kicks. Alexander with a big spin kick and both men are down. Exchange of kicks. Both men exhaust themselves. European uppercut by O’Reilly. Dropkick by Alexander. Knee strike and tornado DDT by O’Reilly. Alexander counters into a brainbuster and gets the victory.
Analysis: Lots of psychology early on as they each picked a body part to work over. Some very smart work by both men. There wasn’t a ridiculous finishing sequence but rather something that made sense given the context and kept the crowd involved. Just a really fun exhibition and you can really see O’Reilly improving into one of the best in the world with matches like these.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Cedric Alexander/17:20/***1/2
-Cedric Alexander vs. Jay Lethal (Premiere Wrestling Xperience- It’s All About Me- 06.29.2013)
PBP: Lethal goes for an early roll-up for two. Alexander with one of his own. Both have the same idea with dropkicks. Legsweep and quick one count by Alexander. Dropkicks again don’t hit. They go basic next. Hip toss and dropkick Lethal. Alexander rolls outside and stalls for a bit. Lock-up. Lethal controls with a headlock. Shoulder tackle. Alexander leapfrog. Chop by Lethal. Hip toss countered. Alexander manages a headscissors. Dropkick of his own sends Lethal outside now. Lethal takes advantage of the count before coming back in the ring. Headlock takeover by Alexander. Lethal whips him. Alexander up and over and then a rana. Wheelbarrow into the armdrag. Alexander sent to the apron. Dropkick misses. Lethal with a superkick. Springboard dropkick. Tope suicida connects. Chop goes nowhere. In the ring for a two count. Back elbow. Knee placed in the back of Alexander. Vertical suplex blocked. Clothesline misses. Alexander with right hands. Forearm. Whip across. Boot by Alexander out of the corner. Back elbow. Handspring elbow leads to a two count. Waistlock exchange. Lethal taken completely out of the ring. Alexander hits a dropkick. Tope con helo. Lethal tossed out of the ring. Cover gets two. Applied headscissors. Out of the hold as the locker room clears to watch the match. Handspring but Alexander avoids it. Running kick to the head for two. Forearm sends Lethal down. Running knee. Into the corner with a pair of forearms. Whip across. Lethal with a boot. Single leg kick off the middle rope. Punch exchange. Pace picks up as they go back and forth. Lethal Injection blocked. Alexander with a judo throw. Spin kick misses. Enziguri by Lethal. Lethal Combination. 1-2-NO! Lethal heads to the top rope. Alexander rises. Lethal steps down. Kick to the midsection but the brainbuster is countered. Lethal brings him up and down in a facebuster for two. Alexander crotches Lethal on the top rope. Right hand. Rana blocked. Alexander hits a pumphandle suplex for two. Alexander to the apron. Right hand. Springboard clothesline. 1-2-NO! Lethal reverses the whip. Up and over to the apron. Right hand and missile dropkick connects. Running forearm. Lethal Injection. 1-2-NO! Much of the crowd is standing. Piledriver but Alexander blocks. Chop and kick from Alexander. Superkick by Lethal. Another one. Alexander with a spin kick and then a hard clothesline. Both men are kneeling. Right hands. Forearms as they rise to their feet. Back suplex into the knees. Running dropkick. Brainbuster countered. Another running dropkick on a prone Lethal. Brainbuster number one. No cover. Alexander instead hits brainbuster number two and covers for three to a standing ovation from both the crowd and the wrestlers on the outside.
Analysis: I was expecting a really good match. As it turns out, I got a borderline classic with these two going back and forth. Just some absolutely incredible back and forth from these two. It’s unreal to see what these two were able to do. Alexander proved how underutilized he is within the context of Ring of Honor by keeping up with a top talent in Jay Lethal and getting the crowd behind him. Lethal is another guy who doesn’t get the credit he deserves for being one of the best in the business either. This was a joy to watch. The crowd’s enthusiasm and having the wrestlers come out to watch only added to the ambiance.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Cedric Alexander/22:40/****
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