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Well, I always get e-mails from Championship Wrestling for some odd reason, so why not check out their free internet television show? Sad thing is, like most on-line television shows, there is absolutely no continuity as there was no episode on the 25th and actually not one until yesterday. They've got about as much continuity as I do with my reviews! Oh, well; let's take a look at this promotion.
It opened with a pretty cool video package talking about wrestling they way it should be, like most promotions advertise themselves as to set them apart from "sports entertainment." Still, it was a pretty cool video package and it always surprises me how Indy promotions, with no budgets, can have better video packages than TNA did in their first two years (key phrase: first two years) despite having a huge budget. Two unnamed commentators then started up the show talking about the six-way match that's starting and was apparently filmed at the 2nd Anniversary Supershow. Here we go:
Trios Match
Wayne Adkins, Josh Cody, & Matt Stevens Vs. Nick Hammonds, Shane Matthews, & Eric Darkstorm
Apparently if Wayne Adkins wins this one, he gets a shot Hammond's Junior Heavyweight Title. No idea who is who and what kind of prestige that belt has, so I'm just going to say good luck to Adkins. Eric Darkstorm, apparently someone who's worked or trained with OVW before, started it off with Wayne Adkins. Man, they started it off hot! They had some great brawling and mat-working as Darkstorm went after his arm early on and they had the crowd reacting big, which sadly, wasn't replicated at all in the rest of the match. This reminded me of the brawling Finlay & Lashley have been doing lately in WWE; not on the same level, but still very, very good and an excellent way to start off the bout. Sadly, after Darkstorm lost control, the match kind of dropped in quality as it got sloppy which was evident in a botched top-rope clothesline from Adkins to Darkstorm. Shane Matthews (called Shane Williams by the commentators for some reason) and Josh Cody then came in and Cody worked over Matthews' arm really quick until Matthews cowardly tagged out to Hammonds, the Junior Heavyweight Champ. Cody then worked over the arm of Hammonds (a popular body part) with a very ugly arm drag which saw Hammonds land awkwardly on his side for some reason. Cody then tagged in Stevens and it seems we've got no real tag team psychology! Everyone is going after a body part, but no one is staying in long enough to make it stick. This was the time where Hammonds could play heel-in-peril, something that does not exist in modern wrestling; but instead, Hammonds tagged in Darkstorm. That's good because Darkstorm is miles beyond the rest of them in quality, but it wasn't setting the stage for anything and it wasn't even real back-and-forth action. They were basically just going through the motions. I didn't even get to see much of Darkstorm because he worked over Stevens a little, Cody came back in (pretty much solidifying my point), and then we went right to a commercial break!
Commercial break times one equals a hot, hot opener to the match followed by some generic and sloppy wrestling that had me pretty disappointed.
I wish I could say the match picked up when the break was over, but I just can't bring myself to even begin to type it. Hammonds was working over Adkins when we came back and any signs of a feud between these two wasn't shown, which is sad since Adkins is looking for a title shot at Hammonds. The only real feud I've seen in the match so far was Adkins and Darkstorm in the beginning, which I guess was just because of the latter's skill. Anyway, the heels were working over Adkins' back and Adkins was playing the face-in-peril (notice the face part, never the heel). They did a good job of working over Adkins back which probably bumped this match up to an average rating, though I still wish that Hammonds and Adkins had gotten more heated. Even Matthews got more out of Adkins than Hammonds and that's sad. Adkins then made some kind of desperation move I missed which led to a horrible hot tag. First off, Adkins tagged in both of his teammates; why? Second off, the crowd could literally care less at this point which was depressing seeing as how Darkstorm got them fired up in the opening minutes of the bout. The hot tag consisted of Cody just hitting random moves and then everyone busting into the ring for a complete train wreck which involved Cody hitting four dropkicks in a row to no reaction. It probably came off worse on television than it did to the crowd too, which is horrible because it should be the other way around. The train wreck was highlighted by a missed 450 from Cody which saw him land awkwardly on his leg and it looked like he broke it; here's hoping he's fine! Stevens and Matthews somehow got on the outside to brawl, but it wasn't too important as the "excellent" commentators didn't acknowledge it and the cameras didn't even follow it. In the end, Hammonds' apparent manager, Mo Jenkins, hopped up and distracted Adkins on the top rope. He then pushed him off slightly so Adkins walked right into a Diamond Cutter from Hammonds which gave the heels the win.
Winners: Nick Hammonds, Shane Matthews, & Eric Darkstorm
Star Wrestler: Eric Darkstorm
Overall, this was a completely average match with only the opening minutes of it standing out in my mind as something special. I hate when that happens too because it'd be like two of the very best getting into the ring and sucking to no end; your hopes skyrocket and then they plummet beyond repair. I didn't really have a problem with anyone in the match except Josh Cody, who just seemed spotty, but none of them stood out. That is, except for Eric Darkstorm. If the OVW stuff the commentators were talking about is true, they definitely need to sign him to something because Darkstorm's better than a lot of guys in WWE, TNA, and OVW, as well as some ROH guys I've seen as of late. He was definitely a bright light in a dark storm (pun intended) of mediocrity we got here. If it wasn't for Darkstorm and the opening exchanges he and Adkins had, I think I might have just turned this off in disgust.
Commercial break times two equals an overly disappointing match that left me really apathetic about the rest of the show, but overly anxious to see more Darkstorm.
After the break, Wayne Adkins was on the mike bitching about Hammonds winning by cheating, which involved some tight grabbing I didn't even see. Adkins then said he needs the fans help to get a shot at Hammonds for his title in a type of match that won't have an ending like that. So he lost the match that was for a shot at the title, then bitched about it (like a heel), and now he's going to get a stipulation match for the title? Genius stuff there let me tell you. The fans had ballots in their hands, which I guess is trying to capitalize on some of the on-line polling WWE/TNA has done, so they got to pick the match. No idea what was on that ballot though, but Adkins wanted a No Holds Barred match apparently. Hammonds then got on the mike and basically said he wants the same kind of match, so I wonder what the fans will vote for? Brilliant booking here, I say. Adkins, the face, loses a title shot and then gets it later that night after bitching like a heel. Not even WCW got this low.
Commercial break times three makes me wonder how much worse this can get.
CW Junior Heavyweight Championship
Hardcore Match
Nick Hammonds (c) Vs. Wayne Adkins
Coming back from break, the match was already underway which is good and bad; bad that I missed it, but good because it was probably nothing special. For some reason, the whole roster was out there and Adkins did a dive from the balcony to all of them (thirty feet as they say). Why was the whole roster out there in a Hardcore match? No idea. These are things you need to tell us, commentators! They then skipped some footage and I guess they just wanted to show the big dive and the end of the match, which doesn't tell me the match was much better than I expected. Tony Givens & Robert Cassidy came out to help Hammonds while Adkins was out. Givens, I think, is the promoter or booker or both; just an interesting side-note. Hammonds slapped Givens for some reason and then they turned face on the heel champ by hitting him with their double team finisher called the K Town Stomp. They then told Adkins, who they had put on the top rope, to fly at him. Adkins obliged and hit a splash for the win, but apparently not for the title since it was a match of the fans' choice. Ain't that a bitch? The fans vote for a match advertised as a title match (at least by Adkins' on mouth and even the commentators were confused) and the challenger wins it, but doesn't get the title despite the fact that Adkins said earlier he wanted a shot at the title. What the hell is going on?
Winner: Wayne Adkins
Star Wrestler: Wayne Adkins
You can't tell much from clips, which is dumb considering this was basically a money match as the fans voted on it, but in those clips, we saw Adkins pick up the win and hit two of three moves we saw (the other not even being from Hammonds) so I guess that means he was the star. Absolutely riveting programming here.
The newly turned faces then lifted Adkins on their shoulders like it was some monumental victory (though not for the title). Tony Givens then was shown in a backstage interview talking about Nick Hammonds and how he was going to fire Robert Cassidy and himself on April 6th. Yeah, that makes even more sense. Givens then said that since they were getting fired anyway, Hammonds should just put them in a match against two guys of his choice. Wow, this promo has done more to confuse me then the past 24 minutes. He then said that Hammonds will face Adkins on the 6th and he knows and trained both of them. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait! So, Givens trained Hammonds, but Givens is (or was) under contract to Hammonds. Seriously, who writes this? He then put over both of them and how Adkins asked them not to interfere in their next match as he wants to beat him cleanly. Givens then stuttered a bit and put over the show inviting everyone to come out to see why Cassidy and he are the best tag team in Kingsport wrestling history. Some weird video then played of pictures of guys I couldn't make out, but I'm going to assume it has to do with this weird-ass storyline. The video then put over how it's Adkins' last shot at the title and leaves the question of how he might let it slip. They then showed the rest of the card and the show went off air thankfully.
Wow, what a show. I don't think I've ever been more insulted, confused, and disappointed by thirty minutes of wrestling television in my life. Not even late WCW or recent TNA/WWE/NJPW has been this bad. I hate to judge a promotion on one single show, but this is really leaving me with no other option. Outside of the first two minutes of the Trios match, there was nothing that stood out in my mind as anything but generic or overly stupid. I pray this does not completely reflect the quality of the company, but after a show like this, I don't even know if I'll watch another show for them.
That's going to wrap up this pretty negative review. I've still got a lot to catch up on so instead of rambling, I'll just end it now in hope that the next thing I watch is better. Don't forget about the two year anniversary of TheWrestlingVoice.com tomorrow though! 'Till next time, this is "Squared Circle Reviews" signing off and hoping you enjoy what you watch, but take my word, and don't watch this garbage.
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