Modern Indie Wrestling

[Dylan Waco]

I am way behind on posting my thoughts on the Scenic City Invitational here because of travel and other craziness, but let me just say both shows were brilliant. If you are looking for a card full of "this is awesome!," MOTYCs, neither show will give you that, but that's not really my preference especially in a tournament format. Instead what the promoters and booker managed to do was put together a great couple of shows where the local talent was put over strong, build to big spots and moments occurred from one match to the next, surprise finishes (both in terms of execution and winner and losers) got over huge and had meaning, and absolutely nothing on either show was less than entertaining. There is no question the live perspective and hot crowd may have helped, but I honestly enjoyed every match, perhaps in part because they were all worked differently. I thought the booking of Jimmy Rave throughout the tournament was genius (I also thought the booking of Kongo Kong was excellent, and I hope Empire considers bringing him back in), and made more so by the way reality, rumor and work sort of blended together. That is almost NEVER done right in wrestling, but it was done perfectly here. I even ended up thinking the decision to do a four way elimination final was the right move, after being lukewarm on the idea at first, because it was also booked brilliantly.

 

To me Rave was the standout performer, and his match with Anthony Henry was a MOTYC (this seemed to be a quick consensus opinion of virtually everyone who was there, and the match got a post-bout standing ovation which almost never happens on Southern indie shows), but so many guys really brought their A game. I was talking about it briefly with my buddy Ben who attended the shows with me, and we were both really impressed with both the local star Gunner Miller, and Gunner from TNA (who you could argue was the second best guy in the entire tournament). The responses to Kongo Kong were interesting as he seemed to have gotten over huge by the end of the main event, and the fans were buzzing about him after the shows (he's practically all my dad and uncle could talk about), but Larry Goodman of Georgia Wrestling History, and a couple of other people who will remain nameless felt he was a little incomplete. I don't want to dwell on that point but it was interesting to see how strong the difference of opinion seemed to be with him.

 

I would strongly recommend people buy these shows via Whoo! Wrestling when they become available. If you like diverse wrestling cards, where things build to a payoff both within matches, and from match to match, the SCI was excellent. There were several matches I absolutely loved (Henry v. Rave, Rockwell v. Gunner, the four-way main event, Chip Day v. Gunner Miller, Gunner Miller v. Jimmy Rave which had an awesome angle at the finish, Jason Collins v. Caprice Coleman, et), but as top-to-bottom enterprises they are definitely the best indie shows I've ever been to, and very probably the best wrestling shows I've ever been to. If you can make the trip next year do not miss it.

 

Here is the article I wrote on the event for VoicesOfWrestling.com. Results are included at the bottom, as well as a link to Larry Goodman's reviews of the shows.

 

http://www.voicesofwrestling.com/2015/08/10/the-scenic-city-invitational-an-appreciation/

[NotJayTabb]

How likely are the shows to be VOD? I've been hearing a lot of good things, but not sure I could justify the likely cost of DVD shipping to the UK

[Troy]

Dylan, I was considering making the trip till I seen they were changing the format to a one-night tourney with trios, tag, or intergender tag. Very disappointing. I think a two-night tag tournament could possibly work but why change something when it's good?

[Dylan Waco]

Dylan, I was considering making the trip till I seen they were changing the format to a one-night tourney with trios, tag, or intergender tag. Very disappointing. I think a two-night tag tournament could possibly work but why change something when it's good?

 

Let me sort out the confusion.

 

The promoter Scott Hensley wants to do a separate "event" on Black Friday. It will NOT be the SCI version 2.0. The second SCI will occur next year around this time I would assume. Scott has already been contacted by people who are interested in working that show, and though I haven't heard the names yet, I would expect there will be a great field next year (as there was this year).

 

The Black Friday show is still up in the air. That would be a single night show (the SCI will almost assuredly not be changed to single night next year), a special event in it's own right, that would be a different sort of tourney. My preference would be a trios tourney, but a tag tourney would almost certainly be really good too. I think they could get some awesome tag teams to work the event (Day/Hollis, Washington Bullets, Double Dragons (The Hamill's), Team IOU, are all teams I could see working the tourney just among locals/semi-regulars in the area), and would not be surprised to see a big surprise or two if things shaped up right. I will try my best to make whatever show goes on Black Friday, because the SCI was outstanding and the same people would be running it. But they will be completely distinct events.

 

To answer NotJayTabb, last I talked to the people at Whoo!, it was planned to be available via DVD and VOD, so if VOD is the better option for shipping reasons I think you will be good to go.

[Troy]

That's refreshing to hear. Thanks for the info

[Laz]

I've checked out a little bit of PROGRESS, specifically whatever free stuff they have on YouTube (a few matches and the entire Chapter 13 show). I like it. The matches encompass a decent range and there's enough promise in certain guys (Paul Robinson, Will Ospreay, the London Riot, Mastiff, Rampage Brown, and Jimmy Havoc in particular) that I want to keep watching frequently.

 

Is the VOD service they offer worth it? There's enough to like about the shows (in some ways reminding me of the short lived Hybrid Wrestling out of Ohio) but I'm wondering if it's worth the ~$8 US a month. Thoughts?

[kingliam]

I've checked out a little bit of PROGRESS, specifically whatever free stuff they have on YouTube (a few matches and the entire Chapter 13 show). I like it. The matches encompass a decent range and there's enough promise in certain guys (Paul Robinson, Will Ospreay, the London Riot, Mastiff, Rampage Brown, and Jimmy Havoc in particular) that I want to keep watching frequently.

 

Is the VOD service they offer worth it? There's enough to like about the shows (in some ways reminding me of the short lived Hybrid Wrestling out of Ohio) but I'm wondering if it's worth the ~$8 US a month. Thoughts?

There are 30+ shows with both PROGRESS and ENDVR shows, they update with new shows very quickly and have a good mix of wrestlers. If you've enjoyed it so far, I think you'll find it good value.

 

I'm 8 shows into a chronological watch through and have found the shows to all be at least solid, if not very good.

[Hobbes]

I've been working my way through 2015 PWG recently and I just saw one of those matches where I have to immediately talk about, even though it's the wee hours of the morning and I should be trying to get back to sleep.

 

Trevor Lee and Andrew Everett vs. The Beaver Boys May 22 2015 PWG

 

This is the kind of match that will get overlooked by a lot of people. It's on what is widely considered to be PWG's worst show in a long time (And rightly so), it was the main event of a show that went very long, which caused the crowd to be not quite as into it at the start as they normally may have, and it doesn't have the name value of some other big PWG matches this year. But hot damned if this wasn't one of the best tag matches I've seen in a while. PWG is very much 70-80% go go go spotfests, which isn't for everyone, but this was something of a rarity for PWG. You get a hot start, where Everett gets to show off his world class agility, and then with the ref distracted, he takes a chair shot to his surgically repaired knee. What follows is a very traditional, face in peril match. It's worked incredibly well, with so many great little touches. Everett's selling is great, just anguished screams and groans, he tries a springboard move but his knee gives out, he is about to mount a comeback but as he runs to the ropes his knee gives out. Even when he is trying to make a comeback off of his back, he is always kicking with just his good leg. And when it is time for him to mount his comeback, he changes his selling from screams to angry frustrated slaps of the mat, just to let you know the tide is about to turn.

 

Just as good is Trevor Lee, who shows more far emotion than he has in PWG to date (To the point that even the commentary acknowledges it). He plays the angry, desperate partner so well. When Everett gets hit with the chair, Lee storms into the ring screaming obscenities with such emotion that the PWG crowd gives his performance a chant like he just did a crazy dive. At one point as he's watching Everett get beat down he has his hands in a praying position, and in one of my favorite spots in the match, he runs down the apron after Everett takes a particularly vicious bit of offense, not to illegally defend him, but just to reach through the ropes so he can offer him support and see if he's ok.

 

The match is structured so smartly for the most part. Everett gets his fun offense in early before the attack which will limit what he can do, you get the great face in peril sequence, which leads to an angry Lee finally getting revenge by pulling the second rope down when one of the Beaver Boys hits it, which directly leads to a very nice Trevor Lee hot tag where he runs wild for awhile before the heels take control again, because with Everett hurt they have the numbers advantage. If there's a flaw to this match, it went probably two or three minutes longer than it should have. There was a perfect point to finish it, where Lee is hitting offense and Everett has recovered enough to slowly climb the turnbuckles, before eventually hitting a 630. Now, Everett does hit this move, and maybe two or three over moves that involve big vertical leaps, but because it was only two or three and he sold them so well, afterwards, it didn't really break my disbelief at all. Particularly the 630, where you can see Everett off to the side taking maybe 4 or 5 times longer to climb the turnbuckles than he usually would, all so he can hit that one big move he has left in him. Unfortunately, they proceed to kick out of it and do another two or three minutes of nearfalls, ending with Trevor Lee winning with a small package. It wasn't a horrible finish, as Everett, after taking a couple crazy bumps, recovers just enough to hold one of the Beaver Boys from breaking the pin, and it fit Trevor Lee's PWG gimmick of winning out of nowhere with small packages.

 

The Beaver Boys played their parts fine, but this was the Lee and Everett show. It's quite possible that I end up liking this match more than anybody else, but I feel like it bridged the gap between a smartly worked old school tag and a fast paced modern PWG main event. I kind of think that the bulk of this match is kind of a PWG match for people who usually aren't into PWG. Oh and Everett and Lee took two or three insane bumps in this match, with none perhaps crazier than Alex Reynolds grabbing Everett by his hair and just tossing him on his head.

[Tim Cooke]

With Rey Jr. doing the Indy Dream match tour (vs. Mistico in AAA, vs. Red from August, Ki in November, and hopefully more Zack Sabre Jr., New Japan guys, etc.

- Danielson is obviously a dream match but probably won't happen because of circumstances), it's interesting to see a very small indy boom right now.

 

PWG over the weekend sounded like a lot of fun and I'll judge the shows myself when we get the DVD's. It is certainly not the 2002-2005 Indy boom, but it's still something.

[Blehschmidt]

Here are the full Battle of Los Angeles results so people can decide what if anything they want to check out.

 

-Night 1-

 

Brian Cage over Aerostar

Biff Busick over Andrew Everett

Will O'Spreay over Mark Andrews

Angelico/Jack Evans over Ricochet/Rich Swann

Trevor Lee over Trent Barretta

Pentagon Jr. over Drago

Matt Sydal over Fenix

The Young Bucks and Roderick Strong over Zack Sabre Jr, Tommy End, and Marty Scurll

 

 

-Night 2-

 

Marty Scurll over Rich Swann

Jack Evans over Angelico

Chris Hero over Timothy Thatcher

Fenix/Aero Star over Drago/Pentagon Jr. (was said to be so good that fans were throwing money in the ring)

Tommy End over Drew Gulak

Mike Bailey over Drew Galloway

Zack Sabre Jr over Ricochet

The Young Bucks and Super Dragon over Biff Busick, Trevor Lee, and Andrew Everett

 

 

-Night 3-

 

 

Jack Evans over Brian Cage

Chris Hero over Biff Busick

Marty Scurll over Trevor Lee

Zack Sabre Jr over Pentagon Jr

Mike Bailey over Tommy End

Will O'Spreay over Matt Sydal

Roderick Strong, Super Dragon, and The Young Bucks over Angelico, Fenix, Ricochet, and RIch Swann

Chris Hero over Jack Evans

Mike Bailey over Will O'Spreay

Zack Sabre Jr over Marty Scrull

Drew Gulak, Chuck Taylor, Trent Barretta, Drew Galloway and Aero Star over Timothy Thatcher, Mark Andrews, Andrew Everett, Tommaso Ciampa and Drago

 

Zack Sabre Jr over Mike Bailey and Chris Hero

 

[concrete1992]

If you aren't on Twitter you might not have heard that the much raved about, mostly by Dylan, Scenic City Invitational has been released on VOD today: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/sceniccity2015

 

I'm only halfway through Night 1 but unless these shows fall off a cliff then this may be the best bargain in indie wrestling this year. Whoo Wrestling going this Vimeo route is tremendous because they take it a step further than most other promotions on the site have. Not only can you buy both shows for $11 (or if you buy this weekend use the code LABORDAY to save 10%) but you can also buy individual matches. While I went for the whole thing, if you are really strapped for cash and need to see Rave vs. Henry then that is a tremendous value. It feels like the south has been so far behind compared to other independent wrestling regions in the States that Whoo going above and beyond the vast majority of the promotions in regards to delivering these shows is amazing to see. The wrestling is good, it is MORE than affordable and the customer can choose the way they buy into the shows. All those aspects I believe are worth supporting in a world where PWG's BOLA will run you $50 before S&H. I think anyone on this board especially who doesn't buy this tournament is out of their mind.

[Grimmas]

If you aren't on Twitter you might not have heard that the much raved about, mostly by Dylan, Scenic City Invitational has been released on VOD today: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/sceniccity2015

 

I'm only halfway through Night 1 but unless these shows fall off a cliff then this may be the best bargain in indie wrestling this year. Whoo Wrestling going this Vimeo route is tremendous because they take it a step further than most other promotions on the site have. Not only can you buy both shows for $11 (or if you buy this weekend use the code LABORDAY to save 10%) but you can also buy individual matches. While I went for the whole thing, if you are really strapped for cash and need to see Rave vs. Henry then that is a tremendous value. It feels like the south has been so far behind compared to other independent wrestling regions in the States that Whoo going above and beyond the vast majority of the promotions in regards to delivering these shows is amazing to see. The wrestling is good, it is MORE than affordable and the customer can choose the way they buy into the shows. All those aspects I believe are worth supporting in a world where PWG's BOLA will run you $50 before S&H. I think anyone on this board especially who doesn't buy this tournament is out of their mind.

13.09 Canadian!

 

Just got my download and stream copy, what a great value.

 

There will be a review of this on This Week in Wrestlsing podcast coming out a week from Saturday.

[Childs]

Got it and looking forward to it.

[concrete1992]

So the Nick Gage Invitational took place last night for Game Changer Wrestling...without Nick Gage. They tweeted something about parole but hard to tell if it is a shoot. Still, considering it is a 2015 deathmatch tournament it looks pretty darn alright from clips. The atmosphere is completely fuggin' scuzzy in the best way possible. The fact that there seems to be honest to god people in attendance ups the ante.

 

In Chikara King of Trios news/rumor, Fenix swore very loudly in his match (the news) and was told to leave afterwards because of it(rumor that robviper says is not at all true. Too bad).

[Blehschmidt]

Fenix is competing today and they've advanced to the finals. I think everything has been smoothed over.

[Grimmas]

Drago and Pentagon Jr are coming to Smash in November!

[concrete1992]

Canadia is on fire.

 

Mike Baliey vs. Jack Evans happened at IWS

 

Mike Bailey vs. REY F'N MYSTERIO WILL HAPPEN IN MONTREAL, MARCH 5th!

[NotJayTabb]

Went to my second Legacy Wrestling show at the weekend, where they were crowning their first British Heavyweight champion. I was pretty happy to see the crowd significantly up on last time, and much more into the show, which is a heartening sign for a formative company. The tournament boasted a strong line up, not necessarily the biggest names in the UK, but quite a good mix of talent (including the recently, randomly PWI500 placed Kay Jutler). It also featured three examples of my favourite type of wrestler - massive bearded fat men who wrestle like monsters (in this case both Henchmen, Jim Diehard and Benton Destruction, and the debuting Bison Brody).

 

MVP of the night was undoubtedly Robbie Brookside trainee Jack Starz, who had two great matches in the space of an hour. First he took on local worker Will Collins in a great match. Collins is pretty green, but makes up for it by being a natural athlete and impressively strong. There was a great spot where Starz had him in a tree of woe, ready for a top rope stomp, only for Collins to sit up and throw him across the ring. Got a great crowd reaction. They ran a story here where Collins had hurt his back slamming big Benton Destruction in the first round, but as he relied a lot on his power, he was forced to grit through it to hurt Starz. However, he fatally missed a top rope splash and Starz put him in a single-leg Liontamer (complete with knee to the back of the head) for the tapout.

 

The final was also pretty good, considering both Starz and JD Knight were on their third match of the night. However Starz had squashed underdog Arcade in 3 mins in his first round match, so was in better overall nick than Knight, plus had had a longer break before the final. Still, this was a really close, heated final before Starz locked in the Liontamer for the tapout. Really great show, they've got a nice bit of momentum building.

[concrete1992]

All Pro Wrestling just posted their show from Friday on Youtube. Notable matches include Gangrel vs. Tim Thatcher, Dylan Drake vs. MVP, and JR Kratos vs. Chris Masters. This is a stark contrast for APW, where often shows may never see the light of day. Couldn't tell you if this is a push in any direction but I accept this gift while it is here.

 

[Tim Evans]

Went to a local indie tonight called Vintage Wrestling. They haven't run a show since May but I like going to the shows cause it's not booked by Chaysen Rance and his stooges and they usually bring in some good talent. Tonight's show had the Dark City Fight Club, Maxwell Chicago(one of my fav indie guys), Sam Shaw and WWC Universal champion Mr. 450.

 

Shaw wrestled early 00's Florida indie superstar Bruce Santee. He's a regular for the group who recently got in legal trouble I think. Anways, this was sort of a comedy match and the first half was Santee trying to get Shaw to break character.. It worked for the most part. Second half was Santee trying to chop Sam because Santee is famous for his chops I guess. That what Michael Tarver who was sitting near me said. Finish was Shaw pulling the ref in front of a Santee chop and Santee got Dq'd. One of the better matches of the night.

 

Maxwell Chicago wrestled Afroboy for the Vintage Internet/TV title. This group used to have local paid programming tv on the public access channel here but I don't think it's aired in months. Afroboy is what you think, a guy doing a black exploitation gimmick. Maxwell was the heel here which I've never seen him do but he was good at it. He even did the Tiger Driver 91 which floored me. And afroboy kicked out of it cause INDIE wrestling.

 

Rest of the show was fine. 450 faced this guy named Rome who broke his ankle about a minute into the match after taking a 450 dive and trying to get out of the way of a child. This guy was like 300 pounds too. He tried to tough it out but just didn't work. Dark City Fight club wrestled Beast Mode( Biff Slater and Don Maximo, the lost Maximo cousin) in an ok match with a Dusty finish. Main event was Simon Sez who does a fake Simon diamond gimmick and is the promoter vs Milo Beasley who's been around forever and does a homeless gimmick. Fun all over the gym brawl with charishots to the head and table shots. Nothing better than live wrestling.

[Johnny Sorrow]

I accidentally went to a death match tourney in a crazy rock bar tonight in Denver. Had an awesome time, 😄

[Blehschmidt]

I am ring announcing a show next weekend being headlined by Brian Christopher (of course doing the Too Cool gimmick), and a Shane Douglas vs The Maestro match!!

[NotJayTabb]

In sad BritWres news, Kris Travis has just announced his retirement on Twitter. He'd made his comeback 2 months ago after conquering stomach cancer, but he's had to cancel a few booking in the past week and has obviously had some medical advise that he can't wrestle again. Really sad, as he was a heck of a wrestler and could easily have transferred that onto an international stage. His matches with Devitt and Masters in PCW were both really well received and Project Ego (his tag team with Martin Kirby) have been arguably the UK's best tandem in the last couple of years. Massive shame, hopefully he's able to return to good health soon.

[nickmaniwak5]

IWAMS shill! If you live in the Kentuckiana area, we have a show coming up on Friday! We also announced the TPI returns this December! All details below!

TWO SIDES GO TO WAR

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 25TH

COLGATE GYM

230 E. MONTGOMERY ST

CLARKSVILLE, IN

DOORS OPEN- 7:15

BELL TIME - 8:00

ALREADY SIGNED:

MAIN EVENT

"The Iron Demon" SHANE MERCER defends his newly won IWA Midsouth World Title against the man he beat for it, "The Hood Ninja" HY-ZAYA in Hy-Zaya's rematch.

"The Monsta" KONGO KONG takes on REED "BY GOD" BENTLEY.

#1 CONTENDER'S LADDER MATCH

JOHN WAYNE MURDOCH vs. IAN ROTTEN vs. JOSH CROW vs. AMERICAN VIKING vs. ? vs. ?

The winner gets a match vs the IWA World Champion (either Mercer or Hy-Zaya after 9/25) at the "19TH ANNIVERSARY SHOW" on 10/9

"MEAN" MITCH PAGE & JC ROTTEN will take on "THE PHOENIX" DALE PATRICKS & making his official return to IWAMS action, "NEVER SAY DIE" JOSH CRANE.

PLUS MANY MORE OF YOUR IWA FAVORITES IN ACTION!

TICKETS PRICES FOR THIS EVENT -

Floor seats will be $15 and general admission will be $10! Kids 13 and under will receive $3 off their tickets! Please note- some of you have been to the Colgate gym... general admission seating is auditorium seating. There is a big difference in a floor seat and a GA seat and there will be strict enforcement of seating.

https://www.facebook.com/events/651486878324694/

=======================================================================

THE 2015 TED PETTY INVITATIONAL (#TPI15)

FRIDAY DECEMBER 11TH

COLGATE GYM

230 E. MONTGOMERY ST

CLARKSVILLE, IN

DOORS OPEN- 7:15

BELL TIME - 8:00

ALREADY SIGNED TO APPEAR:

1) KONGO KONG

2) HEIDI LOVELACE

3) TIMOTHY THATCHER

4) JONATHAN GRESHAM

5) MASADA

6) CHRIS HERO

7) 2 COLD SCORPIO

5 MORE SPOTS LEFT! Whoever the IWA MS World Champion is will get an automatic spot into the tournament.

ADVANCE TICKETS-

Front Row- $25

Floor- $20

GA- $15

Whatever tickets remain will go up in price by $5 at the door, but I am telling you now that tickets are limited! You can get them now via PayPal at [email protected]!

https://www.facebook.com/events/909191559117991/

[subatomic_elbow]

I don't know if anyone else is in upstate New York, but 2CW is going to be putting on some big shows this weekend. I'm going to the Monday show in Binghamton: Young Bucks vs. American Wolves, Dalton Castle, Veda Scott, Roderick Strong vs. Kassius Ohno err Chris Hero. Can't wait!