This was the “Last Stop” before the big ending event for VWAA, Manifest Destiny VI where we would find out who was in the finals of the VWAA Title Tournament along with some great tag team matches which I’ve been told is going to be emphasized a lot more in 2014. VWAA utilized some great tag teams for this show, four of which made up two thirds of my stand out match picks. VWAA did a reboot in 2013 and while that created for some exciting match-ups and tournaments, it created some issues on this show for me as well. Mathais Kelevra was given a bye given he was the last Champion coming out of 2012, but he didn’t seem at all angry about this. He faced Thomas Sinclair in a tournament match, but there was no urgency from him at all. Sinclair did what he could being the smaller of the two, but eventually won because of a distraction and use of a chair to cause a count out win. I understand that it keeps Kelevra looking strong and gives Sinclair the win, but even though I’m a big fan of Sinclair, he needs to show more during these types of matches.
The opening match of Joe Firoz versus Prince Mustafa Ali was nothing special. Ali got the “easy” win with a version of the Koji Clutch which I don’t recall Ali every using in the past. The crowd interactions from Ali were fun albeit distracting during parts of the match. I felt sorry for the beloved referee PJ Drummond (he’s beloved, right?) having to put up with Ali’s antics, which I guess was the point.
Josh Crane versus Jordynne Grace was also kinda surprising. Intergender matches have never bothered me and this was a basic story. Crane wasn’t taking Grace seriously and it ultimately cost him. I was impressed with Grace though I don’t think they introduced her very well. It should have meant more that she beat Crane, who is a Drake Younger student and has a relatively good upside. Crane going forward should mean more to VWAA.
Gary Jay and Vic Capri had a match. That’s pretty much all I can say about it. I’m getting tired of seeing Capri lose because of his manager and I don’t think the crowd knew how to react to him here because Jay is clearly a heel, but so is Capri’s manager Louis Pinder. Pinder who had talked to Firoz earlier in the evening was being yelled at by Firoz who had just come out which caused the distraction and allowed Jay to win via roll up. Capri has to be sick of losing at this point so while this was a formality, I think we need to see the end of this very soon.
The first stand out match of the night was next in The League of VWAA Circuit Champion Tripp Cassidy & Reed Bentley versus the Sex Bob-bombs of Matt Fitchett & Davey Vega. The SBBs have been impressive in other promotions in 2013 and it was no different here. The heat that The League can gather coupled with the good wrestling from all four men made this an easy match to watch and enjoy. Much more wrestling than I would have originally expected given that usually the fun of all four men are their out of the ring antics. The SBBs had some very crowd pleasing tag maneuvers and the action during the final sequences was good.
Mallaki Matthews and Jeff O’Shea is another story that just needs to end. This match against the 2 Star Heroes of Matt Knicks and Chris Castro could have been better had the story between the two partners wasn’t so clunky. Missed tags and O’Shea just not being involved much in this match is basic story telling but for some reason just didn’t click and somehow made the match seem tedious to view. The 2 Star Heroes got the win and I expect them to be a fixture in 2014 for the tag division. Mathias Kelevra would come out at the end of this match and beat up both Matthews and O’Shea which made no sense given that we’re supposed to be learning something about what is going with Jeff. Matthews would come out in the next match and help Sinclair win, which just furthered this story and hopefully means we’re going to finally see what is going on.
Thomas Sinclair versus Mathias Kelevra was nothing special. Sinclair fought from underneath taking high impact move after another many times and having a lot of small comebacks. Even getting a submission move on the massive legs of Kelevra. But ultimately a double knee to the face of Kelevra with the help of a chair in between caused a count out victory and allowed Sinclair to advance to the finals of the VWAA Title Tournament. Not the kind of win that a strong protagonist needs but we’ll see what comes of it in 2014. I wasn’t too encouraged by this match but perhaps both men can mean more later on. I still don’t understand why Kelevra isn’t voicing more anger about being stripped of the VWAA Title since he’s in the tournament and by all rights should just be given a bye into the finals.
The last two matches of the night were both stand out picks. The semi-main of Too Sweet (Bryce Benjamin & Joey Marx) against Team Defend UK (Pete Dunne and Mark Andrews) was a lot better than I would have given it credit for on paper. I remembered Marx being a high flier from previous VWAA shows but I had never seen Bryce before which showed me I was missing out because he really did a lot of great wrestling in this match. All four men did and it was a great blend of high flying with the submission style of Dunne against Benjamin’s technical skill. I think both teams will mean a lot for VWAA in 2014 (if Team Defend UK can make it back to the states) and the win for Too Sweat didn’t just come out of nowhere. They showed what they can do as a tandem and rightfully so against a team who have a higher standing in fans minds.
The main event of Isaias Velazquez against Matt Cage for the final spot in the VWAA Title Tournament match at Manifest Destiny VI was exactly what I thought it would be. A great match between two men who are known for their abilities. This was a great way to end the show and I do wish that more people would go to their live shows. Matt Cage would get the impressive win here against Velazquez after hitting his Money Clip/Fireman’s carry into a knockout punch finisher.
Overall: This show had three stand out matches which I would say are worth the $9.99 price tag. The tag team division in VWAA is being built up and should be featured more in 2014. Teams like the Sex Bob-bombs and Too Sweat will be back for sure while The League still reigns atop the division. VWAA will crown a new Champion at Manifest Destiny VI(review comes out this week) and hopefully we’ll see some stabilization to the promotion this year. The attendance has gone up in these last shows in 2013 but I do hope more of you, if you can, will give them a shot and go to their shows in Addison, IL. Otherwise download this from Smart Mark Video and check out some great wrestling.
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