Pacific Coast Wrestling “Release The Kraken”
January 9th 2016
From Torrance, California
Todd Keneley & Christian Cole welcome the fans and break down the card for the night. They put hype on Scorpio Sky vs TJ Perkins and the main event, “The Almighty” Sheik takes on Montel Vontavious Porter in a Non-Sanctioned, Lights Out match.
1) 1 fall, 20 minutes: Timothy Thatcher vs “The Soul Fighter” Joe Graves
Graves was scheduled to take on “Wrestling Personified” Rik Luxury, who was unable to make it.
Winner: Thatcher after Graves locked in a Tazmission, only for Thatcher to escape with a wrist lock snap shoulder slam and quickly apply a Fujiwara Armbar for a quick Tap Out.
Good grappling contest, Graves is explosive with slams and suplexes. Respect given to both men, great exchanges on the mat. Interesting way to start a show, normally you would see something that would get the fans on their feet and attempt to keep them there for the duration of the show. This was a solid, ground-work based approach to wrestling that saw a lot of emphasis on the small things and put the fans into a focused, calm state. Thatcher is in the midst of a huge time in his career and you can see the calmness this man has as he moves in the ring, so much confidence.
MK, a man in a suit, comes to the ring and demands silence and respect from the PCW crowd, insulting them with the “talking slowly” gimmick. He cuts a promo on his “client,” The Almighty Sheik, putting over how intimidating and scary his actions have been. He sends a message to Sheik’s opponent for the night, MVP, saying he doesn’t deserve to be in the same building as Sheik! MVP comes out, tells MK that he must not know who MVP is, saying he is not afraid of Sheik, because he has fought real monsters. He talks about his past, but MK disrespects him, leading to MVP slapping him across the face and then using a Body Slam to set up Ballin’, but MK rolled out of the ring and made it to the back.
2) The Keepers of the Faith (Dom Vitali & Gabriel Gallo) vs The Classic Connection (Buddy Royal & Levi Shapiro) w/Fat Dick Johnson
Johnson is a cheap suit wearing, gold mask donning mouthpiece for the Connection, with his gritty, trash talking style. The Connection carry small star trophies to the ring. Johnson insults their opponents, calling Gallo a retard.
The Connection spend a lot of time stalling, acting intimidated by Gallo, the big man, who is being held back by Vitali, who is holding onto a chain, connected to Vitali.
Winners: Classic Connection after Gallo hooked Levi for a Piledriver, but Royal broke it up, only to be taken off his feet with a explosive Spear from Vitali, Gallo quickly leveled Royal with a Lariat and covered, but the Referee only made it to a 2 count, as he stopped and looked on in confusion, just as Vitali started punching away at Royal. Vitali continued to punch away at Royal, as Gallo argued with the Referee and then was pushed by Shapiro, into the ropes, falling to the middle rope, where Johnson hit him with a wooden cane over the head and as Shapiro tackled Vitali out of the ring, Royal covered Gallo for 3.
This dragged on a lot. The Connection did a good job at making Gallo look like a feared monster and his offense was impactful, there was just not a whole lot of build-up and pay off. Being their first show, I am looking forward to seeing if there is any continuity for this budding feud, because the Connection’s tactics make it so you want to see them beaten inside the ring.
The Keepers are paying each other respect and saying good-bye to the fans, when the screen cuts to an Almighty Sheik promo. More buildup for his match against MVP, talking about their past accomplishments and really putting the importance of their showdown over.
3) “The Golden Boy” Dylan Drake vs “The God of War” JR Kratos
Drake has a great looking, long, flowing gold and white robe. JR is a large, bald man, comes out in a black with red lining robe and throws it off as the music strikes the right cord.
Winner: Dylan Drake after Kratos scored with a beautiful Wheelbarrow Suplex, rolled over into a cover for a 2 count, but could not follow up immediately due to wear and tear on the knee. Drake pulls himself up in the corner and Kratos charges for Mounted Punches, only for Drake to use the momentum and plant Kratos with a Powerbomb onto a knee! The big man took a big move and was down, Drake used a Jacknife Hold and put his feet on the ropes, but was only able to keep JR down for 2. Drake look bewildered, arguing with the Referee about the count, as Kratos struggled to his knees, Drake pulled him up, Kratos snapped off a Jumping Knee and then used The Game Changer (Sit Out Chokebomb) for the 3 count.
Good leg work from Drake, good leg selling from Kratos. He had Dylan draped on the apron and hit a Drive-By style Knee, which landed, but affected him in a major way. Cunning, technical attack from Drake against the powerful, intelligent attack from Kratos. Great utilization of the ring and surrounding by Drake to attack the leg. This was a good, heavyweight paced match, Kratos is an impressive dude and moves very well for his size. Drake is polished, smart and has a good look.
4) Semi Main Event: Scorpio Sky vs TJ Perkins
Fans threw blue and white streamers into the ring.
Winner: Scorpio Sky after they traded shots from their knees, until Perkins got the advantage and European Uppercutted his way to his feet, but Sky charged back, only to eat a Superkick, but Sky, again, charged back and this time connected with a Bicycle Knee to the chin and then came right back with a Jumping Bicycle Knee and covered for a close 2. Both men were down and recovering, as the Referee checked on them and started his 10-count. Sky was the first one up and waited for Perkins to get up, before pulling him in a Fireman’s Carry, but TJ escaped and kicked away Sky’s arm, before pulling him into a Fireman’s Carry and dropping into The Detonation Kick, quickly following with a Flipping Cross Arm Breaker, battling for position, until Sky rolled over and took a waist lock to bring both men up. TJ fired a back elbow and switched, but Sky popped back with his own elbow, switched back and then pulled TJ up and into The Ace of Spades (TKO), immediately following with The Big Fat Kill (Shining Bicycle Knee) and the pin.
Fans are on their feet in applause after a great closing stretch and a solid example of quality pro wrestling.
Great match. Technical work that is flawless and just a great build to meaningful strikes, submissions and moves. Good appreciation from the crowd, but the commentary really is high on these guys, previous work and tonight’s work. Finishing stretch was awesome and this is match of the night.
Pre-taped promo from MVP on The Almighty Sheik, hyping their upcoming match. He talks about all of the success in his life not softening him and being ready to take it to any level it takes to show Sheik what’s up.
5) No Rules, Anything Goes match: Montel Vontavious Porter vs The Almighty Sheik w/MK
Sheik goes wild on his way to the ring, throwing chairs into the ring. MVP comes out and they each grab a chair, staring each other down and squaring off as the bell rings.
A lot of brawling on the floor, MVP knocked Sheik over the guardrail with a European Uppercut and they brawled through the fans. MVP took control of the Sheik’s Spike and stabbed the hell out of him, grinding the spike into the bloody face of Sheik!
Match was THROWN OUT after Sheik threw fire at MVP, who moved and MK took a Fireball to the face! Sheik was immediately admonished by the Referee, but he dropped him with a punch. With the Referee down, MVP and Sheik continued to brawl, seeing 2 “staff members” slide in to break them up, only to be dropped by punches. They continued to brawl, bringing out every wrestler in the locker room to pull them apart, but they would break loose and continue the personal fight, scratching and tearing at each other.
Fun, old-school type brawl, lots of punches, kicks, chair throwing, chaos in the crowd. They worked hard and are building quite the personal rivalry in this promotion. MVP hypes being back on March 26th, so seeing what comes of this will be fun. I love Sheik, the dastardly work, stiff as hell shots and just stalking, prodding style. The crowd was into, seeing as they were mere inches from the majority of the action.
OVERALL THOUGHTS Not a bad debut show. Good showcase for some lesser known, but very talented Northern and Southern California workers. Scorpio Sky vs TJ Perkins was hands down the best match of the show. They spent a lot of time building up the main event, the finish brought a loud ovation and it will be interesting to see if they have this feud be the pulse of the next show as well.
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