People generally ask me why I watch some of the smaller indie shows. Why don’t I just stick to the stalwarts (ROH, PWG, CZW, DGUSA/EVOLVE) and known indie promotions with talent that are known for their abilities and will for the most part, reach expectations if not exceed them. The answer I always give is simple. I watch promotions for the talent that will headline tomorrow’s top promotions. VWAA Building Legends is one of those shows where I was able to catch a glimpse of some of the talents that are making names for themselves across the indie landscape. The main event featured Matt Cage, Prince Mustafa Ali, Isaias Velazquez, and Gary Jay. Four men whose names are constantly popping up in our results, three of which have been making waves in AAW. It comes to no surprise that VWAA is the place for these men to get in more ring experience while perfecting their craft.
The show from top to bottom had some decent matches and a few that surprised me. No, none of them were four star classics, but they all had their out-of-the-box qwerks that provided more entertainment than I expected just looking at the card on paper. The opening match of Eric Ryan versus Bolt Brady out of Texas and Ricky Starks. I can’t say that Brady wowed me here, in fact I think the match may have been better without his involvement. He just didn’t seem comfortable in the ring and threw some of the sequences off. Starks on the other hand was good and I think he and Eric Ryan, a proven name in my book, would have had a better singles match. Ryan got the win, but I’m hoping to see more of Starks in the future.
The six man tag match was not my cup of tea going in. It was Daryck St. Holmes, Brown Morning of Belarus, & Jojo Bravo defeating YBBO (Jeff O’Shea and Mallaki Matthews) & Qefka the Quiet. Looking at this, if you’ve ever listened to me on a podcast or read a past review, you’ll know this is not the type of match I’d generally enjoy. But somehow all six men really got me into their story. From strange pantomimed sequences from Qefka to the commentary team who let me know Jojo Bravo was a “trained sumo” despite his smaller stature and svelte waist. Daryck St. Holmes didn’t get to do as much classic wrestling as I would have liked to see but the YBBO showed a lot more this time around than in the previous month. The ending furthered O’Shea’s issue with Matthews as he was entranced by Ophidian and left Matthews to take the fall. Moments after, Jojo Bravo and BMoB were attacked by the returning Methias after he was called out by Daryck St. Holmes. Somewhere down the line, I want to see this match.
Reed Bentley advanced in the VWAA Title Tournament after defeating Rickey Shane Page. This wasn’t the match I thought it could by, but the crowd enjoyed it for the solid effort it was. There was just something missing and it might have been some of the extraneous talking by RSP throughout it while trying to get under the skin of Reed.
The triple threat tag match was one I was really looking forward to as it featured the debut of Team Defend UK (Pete Dunne & Mark Andrews) on their midwest tour against 2 Star Heros (Matt Knicks & Chris Castro) and the always entertaining Estonian Thunderfrog and Joe Firoz. I can’t deny that there were a few mistimed spots including the near match ending avalanche style super-plex which did not look good at all. But all six men otherwise had some good technical wrestling, particularly the boys from across the pond. Shocking, I know. Dunne and Andrews really showed their stuff here and I think Knicks and Firoz were just the men to oppose them. Lots of focused British catch-as-catch-can style from Dunne and Andrews as Firoz and Knicks showed what the American hybrid style can bring to the table. Estonian Thunderfrog would mainly go against Castro as both were the largest men in the match which provided comic relief and made the match more entertaining than I would have given them credit for. It is a stand-out match for this event, just not for the quality of in-ring abilities, but more for the well rounded entertainment it brought.
Thomas Sinclair is a man who I’ve said since I started watching VWAA deserves more attention and I believe this match with Ophidian was a good example. Both men really focused on their submissions moves, with Ophidian working Thomas’s arm the entire match. Good story telling with Sinclair in trouble most of the time against the veteran cobra-style master, but showing he could more than hang with Ophidian at the same time. Their sequence of submission trading at the end was good and I think both men should be working with each other more in the future. Sinclair advanced in the VWAA Title Tournament with his win here and it’s easy to see that he’s going to be the face of VWAA in 2014.
The main event of the night, as I said above, featured Gary Jay teaming with Isaias Velazquez as he tried to earn a spot back into the VWAA Title tournament. Matt Cage chose his partner, Prince Mustafa Ali as their feud continued. The wrestling here was good and probably the match of the night but I really enjoyed how it integrated several stories including the ALi/Cage feud, Gary Jay trying to earn back title contention, and Isaias proving that he rightfully is the “definition” of VWAA wrestling. Ali and Cage would get the win here, but not after repeated attempts to one up each other or to prove that the other was the inferior wrestler. I would say if you’re a fan of any of them, you should go out of your way to check it out.
Overall: Top to bottom I think VWAA proves here that they are giving younger talents a chance and that’s more than enough reason for me to recommend this show at under $10. Wrestlers like Matt Knicks, Pete Dunne, Mark Andrews, and others got to show what they can do and what they can improve upon in 2014. The main event along with Thomas Sinclair versus Ophidian round out a solid show. In 2014, you should be spending less on WWE PPVs and VWAA would be a good promotion to start supporting.
You can buy it from Smart Mark Video for only $9.99 HERE
Stand out matches:
Davey Vega & Mat Fitchett vs. Reed Bentley & Tripp Cassidy
Mark Andrews & Pete Dunne vs. Too Sweet (Bryce Benjamin & Joey Marx)
Isaias Velazquez vs. Matt Cage
Where to follow VWAA:
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A special review of Manifest Destiny VI will be out Thursday with a mini preview of what’s coming from VWAA’s first show of 2014
Here was the corresponding video preview featuring the free match of Isaias Velazquez vs Arik Cannon