UWC Championship Wrestling

[S.L.L.]

Thanks SLL. Always like reading your reviews, and I appreciate your feedback. We just ran Twiggy vs. Bravo this past week on UWC Championship Wrestling, and I think that's a Bravo match you'll like a bit more, as it really felt at the end of it, Bravo came out of the match with a lot more respect from the crowd after having a good match with Twiggy. Also, there was a Bivians/Bravo match at a UWC show that I didn't put up as television (but will probably air during the summer, as our last show until September is June 4th) that I think was pretty good, too.

 

BTW, I think you'll like what I'm doing this summer, since I received what can only be called the UWC back catalog of footage from the promoter, so I have all sorts of Unholy Alliance matches that haven't been seen before that I'll be airing this summer, and I'm going to work with Lassiter and Ripper on a Best of the Unholy Alliance DVD this summer as well.

Nice. Definitely sounds like I have some fun stuff to look forward too.

 

As for that match, while I'm not surprised you liked it knowing how you feel about both teams, I can say that you probably liked it more than the wrestlers themselves - I'm sure you noticed the botched spot where Garrison landed on his head, on what he thought was a back bodydrop and what Unholy thought was supposed to be a flapjack. He actually went to the hospital after the match and it was a bit of a scary situation. Between that and the commissioner not getting a solid cue for where he had to be, which caused the interference to get mucked up some, both teams went to the back less than happy with their match.

Yeah, I'm just talking from the perspective of a fan, but that did look really nasty. I can see why that match would work better for me than it would for them.

 

I like to think that I'm getting less stiff as we move forward. I wouldn't say I'm a natural actor or anything, but I'm slowly feeling more at ease with the camera on.

You are. You've graduated from keeping your hands stiff at your side to moving your hands around more but in kind of an awkward way. I didn't want to comment on stuff like that too much, at least not until I've totally caught up so I know where you're at right now. Still, the actual commentary is good, and I think you do a good job of getting over the wrestlers and the importance of the matches, which is the most important thing.

[S.L.L.]

Don't Change the Channel, Don't Touch that Dial, We've Got it All on UWC

 

 

"Tiger Mask blood and Adrian Adonis DNA"...OK, that was cute, but I liked Joe Rules better as Wallace Shawn than Charlie Sheen. On the bright side, this was the least load-like in-ring performance he's ever given. It was the only match on the show, but it was one of the better ones I've ever seen from them, so this wasn't a hard call. The whole set-up for turning the tag into a six-man was great, with Rules' goofy "this is what I'd to Biggie Biggs if he was here" bit while Biggie enters the ring behind him. And then the match itself was a blast. Bubba incorporating the shootstyle armholds to take advantage of Biggie's injury was clever. I think Big Rig was the star of the heel team, though. He bumps around really well for a guy his size, but lays in his offense enough to stay a credible threat. I felt like he was doing the lion's share of the work for his team, and that suits me just fine. We also have a long Twiggy FIP section, and Twiggy is just great in that scenario. He has proven before that he's an excellent seller, so it's not surprising that he excels in this role, and it really makes the match. This was also the best screwy finish they've pulled off yet, though it was also the least screwy screwy finish, as Bravo's interference didn't lead directly to the finish. Yeah, loved this one.

 

 

We're back to two matches, both of which were enjoyable. I think Dave Patera's singles excursion did him good. He looks really sharp now and definitely stood out to more than the has in the past. The downside is that "Textbook" Philly Madison kinda feels more one-dimensional by comparison, though I was amused that his textbook was apparently the UWC rulebook, and his attempts to lecture the ref with it were fun. Silly Billy also showed a bit more fire here beyond his usual comedy stuff. His brawling looked good, he had a nice elbowdrop, and the crane kick was cute. I've mentioned before that his playing the retard gimmick as more just childlike works well for him, but if the pre-match promo is any indication, he has now transcended even that and become the defender of the retarded and the children, and who has adopted their trappings as a show of solidarity, which is one of the most mind-meltingly great gimmicks I've ever seen, even if it exists solely in my head. Also, Slayer is a perfectly fine third-rate Sabu, and if your show is supposed to be as squeaky clean as this one, there's no point in getting a first or second-rate one, anyway. Unholy Alliance vs. Secret Society was also really good. The Secret Society was a little disappointing here. Not bad by any means, but not Mighty Mo's best showing and Savage Payne (whom I'm guessing I haven't seen before unless I'm told otherwise) looked solid but unremarkable. Still, Unholy Alliance put on a good show, and the Secret Society ate all their stiff shots really well. At one point early in the match, Ripper looked like he tweaked his knee doing a dropkick, and with the lack of height, ended up booting Payne in the jimmy. Kinda impressed by both guys coming back from that.

[Cox]

Don't Change the Channel, Don't Touch that Dial, We've Got it All on UWC

 

 

"Tiger Mask blood and Adrian Adonis DNA"...OK, that was cute, but I liked Joe Rules better as Wallace Shawn than Charlie Sheen. On the bright side, this was the least load-like in-ring performance he's ever given. It was the only match on the show, but it was one of the better ones I've ever seen from them, so this wasn't a hard call. The whole set-up for turning the tag into a six-man was great, with Rules' goofy "this is what I'd to Biggie Biggs if he was here" bit while Biggie enters the ring behind him. And then the match itself was a blast. Bubba incorporating the shootstyle armholds to take advantage of Biggie's injury was clever. I think Big Rig was the star of the heel team, though. He bumps around really well for a guy his size, but lays in his offense enough to stay a credible threat. I felt like he was doing the lion's share of the work for his team, and that suits me just fine. We also have a long Twiggy FIP section, and Twiggy is just great in that scenario. He has proven before that he's an excellent seller, so it's not surprising that he excels in this role, and it really makes the match. This was also the best screwy finish they've pulled off yet, though it was also the least screwy screwy finish, as Bravo's interference didn't lead directly to the finish. Yeah, loved this one.

Agree on the Joe Rules - I kinda wish he'd get away from the Sheen stuff, but he's having fun with it, and it's not bad, so what can you do. The match itself was originally really supposed to be a tag team match as Biggie had another engagement originally for this date, but it turns out he was able to make the show after all, so we decided to make it a six man and use it as a showcase for Bubba, and to kick off the Twiggy/Bravo feud.

 

 

We're back to two matches, both of which were enjoyable. I think Dave Patera's singles excursion did him good. He looks really sharp now and definitely stood out to more than the has in the past. The downside is that "Textbook" Philly Madison kinda feels more one-dimensional by comparison, though I was amused that his textbook was apparently the UWC rulebook, and his attempts to lecture the ref with it were fun. Silly Billy also showed a bit more fire here beyond his usual comedy stuff. His brawling looked good, he had a nice elbowdrop, and the crane kick was cute. I've mentioned before that his playing the retard gimmick as more just childlike works well for him, but if the pre-match promo is any indication, he has now transcended even that and become the defender of the retarded and the children, and who has adopted their trappings as a show of solidarity, which is one of the most mind-meltingly great gimmicks I've ever seen, even if it exists solely in my head. Also, Slayer is a perfectly fine third-rate Sabu, and if your show is supposed to be as squeaky clean as this one, there's no point in getting a first or second-rate one, anyway. Unholy Alliance vs. Secret Society was also really good. The Secret Society was a little disappointing here. Not bad by any means, but not Mighty Mo's best showing and Savage Payne (whom I'm guessing I haven't seen before unless I'm told otherwise) looked solid but unremarkable. Still, Unholy Alliance put on a good show, and the Secret Society ate all their stiff shots really well. At one point early in the match, Ripper looked like he tweaked his knee doing a dropkick, and with the lack of height, ended up booting Payne in the jimmy. Kinda impressed by both guys coming back from that.

Good call on the dropkick. Apparently Ripper's knee briefly went out during the dropkick and poor Savage Payne ate it right in the junk. The good thing, though, is that me and the commissioner jibber-jabbering on commentary covered up for the fact that Ripper very loudly yelled "FUCK!" when his knee went out, so if our commentary has achieved nothing, it has censored a wrestler yelling an expletive. Savage Payne was new to the YouTube channel, though not to UWC. He was part of the company like 13 years ago, retired for a number of years, and this was his return. That chop that Lassiter threw on him was way worse in the building than it appeared on video, the crowd was still buzzing over it a few minutes later. I really liked Silly Billy in his match too, and Patera is pretty much the definition of a good hand.

[S.L.L.]

I would've killed if I'd been in the UWC, but what's the difference, that's all behind me now

 

 

Cox doing his "Lance Russell wondering if Lawler and Funk will show up for the empty arena match" bit is the most natural he's looked in front of the camera so far. I'd say that's how should approach things all the time - and maybe it is - but it actually kinda made his usual stiffness work in a roundabout way, as you kinda see that that's just the face he puts on when he's trying to look good for the camera. He's not really that stiff and unnatural. That's just how he tries to pay the bills. He's not Chris Wilcox: Cub Reporter 24/7. There's actually a man behind the mask. Speaking of masks, we're back to one match this week, specifically The Secret Society challenging Blackhearted Justice for the tag belts, which again makes this easy to rate. In this case, it's not as good of a one match as Biggie/Twiggy/Orphan vs. Rules/CB4, but it's still a winner. Neither of the Secret Society guys were at their very best on offense here, but Blackheart was great working face in peril, so I could go along with it. They did eat all the BHJ offense really well when things turned around. After the BHJ/Unholy Alliance match where Garrison got his bell rung, kinda surprised to see him bust out that heinous looking German suplex, but I'm definitely not complaining. Grimaldi worked the glorified manager role well, too. This show also had an awesome music video showing clips from their most recent Burlington County College show. Really excellent choice of clips. Definitely left me wanting to see the show. Also, with wrestling having been televised on Saturday nights for something like 30 years following it's initial release, I'm always surprised that no one (to my knowledge, anyway) ever thought to use "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" on a wrestling show before. Better late than never.

 

 

I'm thinking the Blackhearted Justice promo at the opening is probably the best promo in the short history of this show. Lots of guys on the indies can fake intensity and get pats on the back from psychopathic manchildren and embarrassing scenesters. It's another thing entirely to make you feel like some serious shit is going down. Blackheart usually cuts promos as cocky, funny, cool babyface, and he's very good at it. In episode four, we got to see him step outside of that as an honest, decent guy who wants to do right in spite of his cocky facade, and he worked well there, too. Now we see him as guy so pissed off that he's not even thinking about trying to look cool, and it's fantastic. For a wrestler, that range is pretty good, especially for a guy working a poverty row indy fed. For his own part, Garrison isn't as eloquent as Blackheart, but he's sincere, and I always felt that mattered more. This is also a one match show, with a singles match between newcomers Jael Rose and Stephon Smith turning into a tag match with Rose and Smith against the Staten Island Wrecking Crew. It's the least of the three one matches, but it's definitely not without it's charm. I don't know what Rose and Smith's backgrounds are other than that they apparently trained together and did tours of UK, but they looked like the real deal here. Pretty polished, and they laid in their shots well. Also have to give it up for the dueling Butt Butts at the finish. SI Crew held up their end of the match alright. Sally D suplexing guys twice his size always looks cool, and T-Bonz' sell of the missed top-rope splash was pretty great. He could of killed Smith if he actually landed that thing. We end on kind of a sour-ish note with the Biggie Biggs interview, though. It wasn't all bad. Biggie aping Dusty in his promos usually works, and Biggie doing more personal interviews "as himself" usually works, but mixing and matching the two felt off, though he still got the message across pretty well. Then we get Bubba running in for the beatdown, and it's a solid enough beatdown, but good lord did Cox look out of place when it was going down. Like I said above, he doesn't need to be "Lance Russell wondering if Lawler and Funk will show up for the empty arena match" all the time, but he desperately needed that kind of naturalism here, because it really drained the severity out of the moment.

[Cox]

I would've killed if I'd been in the UWC, but what's the difference, that's all behind me now

 

 

Cox doing his "Lance Russell wondering if Lawler and Funk will show up for the empty arena match" bit is the most natural he's looked in front of the camera so far. I'd say that's how should approach things all the time - and maybe it is - but it actually kinda made his usual stiffness work in a roundabout way, as you kinda see that that's just the face he puts on when he's trying to look good for the camera. He's not really that stiff and unnatural. That's just how he tries to pay the bills. He's not Chris Wilcox: Cub Reporter 24/7. There's actually a man behind the mask.

Thanks. I think my problem is, I try to do too much in these segments, and it becomes more about remembering everything that I need to say than it does about trying to say everything in a natural way. I'm hoping that as the weeks progress, it becomes less about remembering everything that I need to do in these segments and more about how I can make them more entertaining. This week, I just got to tool on my friend, and that comes naturally to me, so that was easy enough.

 

This show also had an awesome music video showing clips from their most recent Burlington County College show. Really excellent choice of clips. Definitely left me wanting to see the show. Also, with wrestling having been televised on Saturday nights for something like 30 years following it's initial release, I'm always surprised that no one (to my knowledge, anyway) ever thought to use "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" on a wrestling show before. Better late than never.

Cornette actually made a "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting" video in SMW, which is where I got the idea. I had a lot of fun putting that music video together, I'd kind of like to do more of these using footage from future shows, but this one came to me in a bit of inspiration after the show.

 

We end on kind of a sour-ish note with the Biggie Biggs interview, though. It wasn't all bad. Biggie aping Dusty in his promos usually works, and Biggie doing more personal interviews "as himself" usually works, but mixing and matching the two felt off, though he still got the message across pretty well. Then we get Bubba running in for the beatdown, and it's a solid enough beatdown, but good lord did Cox look out of place when it was going down. Like I said above, he doesn't need to be "Lance Russell wondering if Lawler and Funk will show up for the empty arena match" all the time, but he desperately needed that kind of naturalism here, because it really drained the severity out of the moment.

Yeah...I cringe when I watch myself at the end of this one. First, I had no immediate reaction to the guy in the prison jumpsuit attacking the heavyweight champion during our interview. Then I yell at Bubba and kinda make him look like a pussy when he doesn't attack me for talking out of line. Overall, probably my worst performance to date, and a good example of why I should probably try to stick to playing straight man in stand-ups with Grimaldi for a while, or failing that, channel my inner-Lance Russell.

 

But I did like Biggie's promo here, because I think it set up our next few months of main events - Biggie wrestling Bubba and then Legion (well, it wound up being Big Rig when Legion got hurt, but they're both members of Devastation LLC) and then Twiggy Ramirez after that. So if we accomplished anything, it's that we set up our next few months of main events and got over the arm injury before the Bubba match to make people think that Bubba could win the title, so even if I kinda stunk, at least the other participants held up their end of the bargain.

[Cox]

Hey SLL, as the biggest Unholy Alliance fan on the internet, which of the Unholy matches that you've seen over the past few months would you think would work best on a Best of Unholy Alliance DVD? I'm working on one at the moment, and am going to include a few older clips as well, but I wanted to include 1-2 current matches as well so I was curious as to what you think is their best work.

[S.L.L.]

I think their first match after the face turn against the Secret Society is the one that stands out the most to me.

[Cox]

Thanks. If there's one thing I accomplish at all with all of this UWC stuff, it's getting people to realize that The Ripper is really good. Just one of those guys who seemed to fall through the cracks in wrestling, since he's been around 20 years, working in the Northeast to boot, and I doubt anybody knows who he is.

[Cox]

Since I haven't blatantly plugged my own stuff, Diego Corleone-style, in a while...

 

Episode 11:

(Warhead and The Orphan vs Legion and Big Rig, Unholy Alliance vs. Short Bus Express)

Episode 12:

(Twiggy Ramirez vs Geoffrey Bravo, what a lot of UWC fans considered to be the best match we've had since the "TV" started)

Episode 13:

(Biggie Biggs vs. CB4 Bubba for the UWC heavyweight title, which apparently nobody watched for reasons I haven't been able to figure out)

Episode 14:

(Staten Island Wrecking Crew vs. Mind and Muscle, goofy backstage "UWC Board of Directors" meeting)

Episode 15:

(Commissioner Grimaldi is "fired," Secret Society vs. Unholy Alliance for UWC tag team titles)

Episode 16:

(Biggie Biggs vs. Big Rig vs. Silly Billy for the UWC heavyweight title)

Episode 17:

(Jael Rose and Stephon Smith vs. Staten Island Wrecking Crew, Big Rig and Legion vs. Orphan and Warhead rematch)

Episode 18:

(Secret Society vs. Blackhearted Justice vs. Unholy Alliance for UWC tag team titles, Philly Madison vs. Silly Billy, winner gets the #20 spot in the Browns Mills Rumble, loser gets the #1 spot)

[Cox]

Quick update on some recent TVs:

 

Episode 19:

(2nd annual Browns Mills Rumble)

Episode 20:

(Biggie Biggs vs Twiggy Ramirez, probably the best match in the UWC in 2011)

Episode 21:

(Slayer vs Fierce Fuego, Adam Aces vs Andd Bivians)

Episode 22:

(profile on new UWC heavyweight champion Geoffrey Bravo, features Bravo vs Peter Cross and Bravo vs Justice Garrison)

[Negro Suave]

Quick update on some recent TVs:

 

Episode 19:

(2nd annual Browns Mills Rumble)

Episode 20:

(Biggie Biggs vs Twiggy Ramirez, probably the best match in the UWC in 2011)

Episode 21:

(Slayer vs Fierce Fuego, Adam Aces vs Andd Bivians)

Episode 22:

(profile on new UWC heavyweight champion Geoffrey Bravo, features Bravo vs Peter Cross and Bravo vs Justice Garrison)

 

Not my favorite match of me

[Cox]

Sorry man - one of the selling points for the summer shows is to show matches that I haven't already aired. Let me know if there's anything else that's been taped (I started taping back in September) that you wouldn't want to air during your week. Basically that boils down to the three CB4 matches and two Mind and Muscle matches.

 

EDIT: And a Staten Island Crew match from January, but I didn't love the finish on that one.

[Negro Suave]

Sorry man - one of the selling points for the summer shows is to show matches that I haven't already aired. Let me know if there's anything else that's been taped (I started taping back in September) that you wouldn't want to air during your week. Basically that boils down to the three CB4 matches and two Mind and Muscle matches.

 

EDIT: And a Staten Island Crew match from January, but I didn't love the finish on that one.

Eh It doesn't bother me what is aired really thats just a match i was hoping for more from. I hope to get another chance to work against bravo

[Cox]

I've stopped plugging these since I feel like a shill plugging my own stuff all the time, but this week's episode features an old match with Twiggy Ramirez and Low Ki from 1999, so in case anybody wanted to see really, really early Low Ki, check it out. Also features a Biggie Biggs/Twiggy Ramirez match that SLL thought highly enough about to write up a little bit on Segunda Caida last year.

 

[Cox]

As I mentioned, I've largely stopped posting about these here, as I really don't like plugging my own stuff and it wasn't generating much discussion at all here, so I'm not looking to clog the board with my own shills. That said, I'm really happy with how the last two weeks of TV have turned out, with a couple of big angles to help set up our big year end show which doubles as a Toys For Tots fundraiser, so I wanted to share and would love feedback if anybody has any to provide.

 

Little background: Our lead heel manager Joe Rules put a bounty on the head of Silly Billy (yes, I know the name is kinda ridiculous, but the guy is super over to our largely kid-oriented crowd and he's not a bad worker to boot). Unfortunately, Joe had to leave UWC for a while afterwards, so we had to create a new stable based on the two wrestlers he had left (our heavyweight champion Geoffrey Bravo and Big Rig) and our best talker not affiliated with anybody and his tag team partner. We used this as a way to kick off the new stable on this show and put some heat on them to build to our big heavyweight title match at our Toys For Tots event. The second show, in particular, I think is really strong and features the best pop I can ever remember at a UWC event, that I don't think is totally captured on camera.

 

Episode 39:

Episode 40:

[Negro Suave]

S.L.L. needs to recap us again where you at homey!

[Cox]

Somebody wants some love for his match with Spartan!

[S.L.L.]

S.L.L. needs to recap us again where you at homey!

Buried under a mountain of 80's lucha, which is not the worst place to be if you're a wrestling fan, but it kinda forces me to shift around my priorities. But I'm not that far behind. The Pirate vs. The Spartan will be watched!

[Negro Suave]

S.L.L. needs to recap us again where you at homey!

Buried under a mountain of 80's lucha, which is not the worst place to be if you're a wrestling fan, but it kinda forces me to shift around my priorities. But I'm not that far behind. The Pirate vs. The Spartan will be watched!

 

That makes it sound like an episode of Deadliest Warrior when you put it that way.

[Cox]

That's kind of why we booked it.