Addition to OMEGA review

I've been asked to list the individual matches from the OMEGA: Uncommon Passion DVD. If you haven't read my review on dawrestlingsite.com , please do so now.

The matches are:
Cham Pain and Otto Schwanz vs Surge (Matt Hardy) and Venom (Jason Ahrndt) -
Not a bad match at all. Venow was a really good big man. You usually don't find a guy like him on the indies. Otto turned into a really good big guy, but he seems a little green here. I'd give the match about **1/2.

Serial Thrillas vs. The Hardys (I)-
This is a very good match. It's hurt for me by the total lack of a crowd. I counted 11 people in the camera view. Doesn't change the fact that the guys busted their butts, but it does take down the significance somewhat. ***

Will O' the Wisp vs. Surge -
Jeff and Matt doing stupid gimmicks. The match isn't very good either. This one is glamourized in the documentary, but it doesn't come off nearly as well as they make it seem. **

Serial Thrillas vs. The Hardys (II)-
Another very good matchups from these teams, but this time it's a packed house and the crowd is hot. I'd put it in the **** range.

Shane and Shannon vs. Joey and Christian -
This is actually from a reunion show after both teams had "made it big". It doesn't do much for me, really. * 3/4

What I'm Watching

I've kinda fallen off the TV wrestling map lately. WWE has just never really been my thing. Back in the Monday Night Wars era, I watched exclusively WCW. After they went under, I switched to RAW and stayed pretty faithful up until the last couple of months. I just can't make myself care about it. I would love to get into TNA, and thought I would once they got primetime, but they are just too zany for my tastes. That basically leaves me with indies and my DVD collection, so here is what I've been into:
Last night I watched the match disc from "Rise and Fall of ECW". Even though you've seen this stuff a million times now, you have to appreciate the passion those guys had, and the genuine concern they pulled from the crowd. Say what you like about "the mutants", but ECW fans loved their wrestling, and I won't fault them for that. Watching the Pitbulls vs Raven and Stevie match reminded me that I had once seen Pitbull 1 at a local indy show. It had to have been shortly before his death, I'll have to dig around to find the dates because it has been a few years. Despite his roid-rage personna, he was a very nice, gentle guy that night. That team may have ad more mainstream appeal than anything else in ECW had the tragedies not struck them down. Hey, whatta you know? We're talking about pro-wrestling and untimely tragic death comes up. Go figure.
I recently purchased the "OMEGA: Uncommon Passion" documentary done by Highspots. It was well done, if only a bit underwhelming. It is still incredible to me how many major leaguers came out of this one tiny promotion, which eaither tells me that Matt Hardy has an eye for talent, or is very persuasive in getting jobs for his friends. The interviews were good, but not too deep-digging. Matt's were the best. He dished a little more dirt than some of the others. Listening to Cham Pain was a little sad, as he seemed like the one friend who got left behind. He actually was a talented guy too. The matches are OK, but much like old ECW matches, if you aren't up on the stories the matches just don't mean as much. Still, the DVD is easy to watch, and while you may not be really moved by it, it won't hurt you.

Bye Crockie!

Wow, that's a bad title. I was looking for an emphatic phrase to place before "I've been busy lately." And I have. Somehow, holding down a fulltime job, a part time job with the music dept. of my church, working on CD's with two different bands, and playing 2-3 gigs per week hasn't left much time to be the superdad that I normally am. It's funny how hard you'll work for things you've wanted all your life only to realize that those things aren't that important. I try my best to get home each night for at least an hour or two, but honestly, sometimes I'm just driving from gig to the other, getting home in the wee hours of the morning if at all. My four year old daughter has taken to calling me Josh. Pretty depressing.
That being said, I've got to shows tomorrow, both of which I am very excited about. Opening for one of my favorite bands at a festival earlier tomorrow, and then playing late night at a cool little venue called The Purple Onion. The new Mama Said disc is really coming out great. My fingerprints are a lot more apparent on this one, as I was actually hired after the last one was mostly recorded. Also, Mechanical Tiger's first CD is coming right along, and really showing some exciting potential.
So, that's that. I'm tired. Time to hit the sack for a couple of hours before heading out to the next show.

Y'all have a good weekend.

CWF Midatlantic - New Years Knockout (1-8-05)

I’ll keep the intro short. The Standard CWF production from the Carolina Sports Arena, which is not bad at all. Looks like a pretty full house, and the crowd stays hot throughout the night.

Gregory Vercetti vs. Rock-n Roll Matty Dee

Matty Dee has a very fun 80’s rock gimmick. He looks like a pretty talented worker, and he plays the gimmick to the hilt. Vercetti plays a pretty effective arrogant heel. From what I’ve seen before, he’s not bad in the ring. This could make for an interesting opener.The first few minutes of the match consists of some good, fast paced chain wrestling with neither man getting the upper-hand. This ended when Vercetti turned a rana attempt into a power bomb and proceeded to control the match with some impressive power moves for a guy his size. When Matty Dee made his comeback, he put out for display some really nice aerial moves, all the while keeping up his goofy gimmick. As far as entertainment and offense go I think Matty is there. I hope he gets the opportunity to do some more serious stuff in the future, because he seems to have great potential. For now though…he’s very entertaining. The match ends in about ten minutes with Vercetti using the ropes for leverage during a pin. Things got a little sloppy towards the end, which detracts from the match a bit, but for an opener, this is perfectly acceptable. **

Mad Trucker Gary Stevens vs Classic Chris Collins

Hey look! It’s DWB’s favorite ref, Katie Kincaid! Stevens is loud and violent, and does a good job getting the crowd riled up early on. He also delivers some brutal chops. Collins doesn’t get in very much offense, but he looks OK in what basically amounts to an extended squash. Stevens gets the win in 7 minutes, when he sneaks a club in the ring to use on Collins. He continues the beating after the bell, but is finally persuaded to stop by Kincaid. Not a lot of technical wrestling going on here, but a fairly enjoyable little brawl. *1/2

Lee Maguire vs. American Steel Ninja

Ninja’s got a good look, and is a very athletic cruiserweight type. Maguire would appear to be generic jobber at this point. Maguire does bump and sell good for Ninja’s offense, and the little offense that he has, Ninja makes it look good too. Ninja has one move that makes the Canadian Destroyer look like a good logical move. Much like the Canadian Destroyer though, it is fun to watch, despite breaking the illusion for a couple of seconds. Ninja ends this one in just over 4 minutes with what appears to be The Karate Kid’s crane kick. I’ll give it *1/4.

We then go to a pre-taped promo segment, and honestly I’m a little lost as far as what the storyline is about, but it looks like some pretty decent stuff. The outcome of this segment saw a double chain match booked which I reviewed from the 2-5-05 show.

Matt Houston and Tank Lawson vs. Orlo Helmer and Kid Justice

Orlo and Tank both look like just big, brutish guys that you really wouldn’t want to piss off. They start the match with some basic big man stuff, which makes Kid Justice seem really quick and nimble when he gets in the ring. I really like the segments with Tank and Justice in the ring together. Justice sells well, and Tank comes across with some strong strikes and suplexes. Justice would seem to be the perfect sympathetic figure for the heels to build heat on, but honestly, the crowd seems disengaged for the most part. That being said, he did stay in there a bit long, considering the crowd reaction. However, when he finally made the hot tag to Orlo, the crowd did come alive. Orlo picked up the pin shortly thereafter. About 9 minutes all together. *3/4

Next up is a fantastic pretaped promo by Ric Converse. He was still supposed to be a heel at this point, but you can tell a large portion of the crowd would love his character.

Kamikazi Kid vs. Ultra Dragon

The setup for this match is that Ultra Dragon is Kazi’s student. Dragon thinks he is ready, but Kazi says he’ll have to prove it by taking on his teacher in the ring. Cool stuff and it seems at first that the crowd doesn’t know how to react or who to cheer. That’ll all be immaterial in just a moment.The match starts with Kazi slapping dragon in the face, and getting a big Kazi chant from the crowd. This chant actually keeps springing up for the better part of the match. Very nice work between these two early on, and Kazi whips out some great submission moves that I haven’t seen before. Actually, the first several minutes just serves to put Kamikazi Kid over as a bad dude with an incredible moveset. Dragon soon proves that he has learned well when he puts a guillotine on Kazi in the flashiest way I have ever seen. The crowd goes silent for the first time in this match when Kazi hits some type of backbreaker variation. It just looked and sounded incredibly painful. This match really gets interesting when it makes it way outside the ring. Lots of great brawling, and Kazi actually does a moonsault out of some girls lap. This gets the biggest Kazi chant of the night, and I even had to join in at home. Dragon does a beautiful moonsault from the apron to the floor, and you start hearing some dueling chants. This isn’t that manufactured ROH crap though, this is legit great crowd response. Dragon climbs back up to the top rope and goes for a hurricanrana to the floor. The crowd goes silent for the second time during this match when his head bounces off the floor of the Carolina Sports Arena. The sound is a little worse than the visual; just a nasty, loud thud. It’s incredible that this only halted the action for about 20 seconds, and we’re back to even bigger dueling chants. They get back in the ring, and do some more high impact, incredibly innovative stuff. It’s really unbelievable to hear the crowd at this point, as they started out firmly behind Kazi, and now seem split about 50 / 50. The crowd goes silent for the third and final time when Kazi misses what appeared to be a 630. There is no question that he is hurt for real, as he lays motionless. Dragon picks up the pin and the win in about 21 minutes. Kazi lays motionless for about another 10 minutes as several guys from the locker room come out to assist. You can tell this is a serious situation, and I’ve got to say that is one of the worst bumps I’ve ever seen. It was a relief to see him finally move. Still, one of the funnest spot-fests I’ve seen this year. ***3/4

They play another pretaped promo, this time with Brad Attitude, and it’s another good one. They really did a fantastic job in building up this match between Converse and Attitude.

Alex Adonis, Jay Sinn and Donnie Dollars vs. Southside Players and Brass Monkey

Honestly, it’s hard to even watch another match after the last one. It was just draining, and I’m sure this match will suffer for it. Adonis comes off as a real jerk, and another guy I wouldn’t want to mess with. Before the match even begins, he’s threatened almost everyone in the arena. Jay Sinn’s doing some good comedy heel work, but Adonis even has to cut that off. This guy is angry. Mostly standard heel tactics by the Adonis team; phantom tags and such. Brass Monkey takes quite an extended beating for the face team, and for his part, he does a fine job of selling. When Monkey finally makes his comeback, he starts flying around pretty nicely, and the crowd does come alive. The ending comes when Adonis lands a great top rope chokeslam on J-money and gets the pin in around 11 minutes. After the bell, Adonis continues to obliterate the faces for another couple of minutes, and we take a second to notice Kamikazi Kid being taken to the hospital. Nothing to offensive here, but it just couldn’t match the intensity of the Kazi / Dragon match. The most enjoyable parts of this match for me were when Jay Sinn was in doing his comedy bit. It may have been the right time to do more of a comedy match after such an intense encounter. Like I said though, nothing bad, if a little too long. **

Gemini Kid comes out for a promo, and there’s really too much storyline stuff going on here for me to adequately explain. It’s a great promo though, as Kid runs down an 18 year history that has led his present feud with Micheal Yamaha. In short, Gemini Kid is doing a Midnight Rider angle where he was forced into retirement. Now a mysterious masked wrestler, Number Man, is getting revenge on Gemini’s enemies. Number Man is scheduled for a match tonight with Yamaha, but Gemini hints heavily that we may be in for some surprises. This brings out our boy Brad Stutts who does his normal great mic work. I’m not just saying that either guys, he really is a fantastic promo. The pink sports coat and green tie are also a nice touch. Good segment all around.

Rob McBride vs. Corey Edsel

Pre-boogie woogie McBride here, as this is the angle that actually led to the new Boogie Woogie gimmick. The story is that McBride and Edsel are friends…or “bird dogs” as McBride so eloquently puts it, but Corey recently lost the title and is looking to get back to the number 1 contender spot. Good face / face chain wrestling to start, with clean breaks and nice shows of respect. It starts breaking down a bit when McBride lays a kiss on Corey. This seems to insult “Dangerous E” and he really turns up the intensity a notch. It’s always impressive to watch how well Corey moves at his size, and honestly McBride isn’t too far behind. As the match progresses, we start to see the conflict building withing Corey Edsel. He wants to brawl at times, bujt pulls punches since McBride is his friend. Both guys pull out some impressive power moves, and technical moves not usually seen between two super-heavyweights. McBride gets the pin in 11 minutes with a nice backslide, leaving Corey sitting in the ring with growing frustration. Now, this match will be remembered for the aftermath, but they really did have a nice little match going anyway. However, what happens next is incredible. The two shake hands and McBride is leading the crowd in a COREY chant, when Corey finally snaps and attacks Rob. It really is a sadistic beating, and you can see some ringside fans turning their heads from the viscous display. Corey takes McBride’s blood, and uses it as warpaint. A large part of the crowd is genuinely disgusted, but not me. This is great stuff. This is how you do a heel turn. Gee Star and American Steel Ninja come out to check on McBride. He is covered in blood and going into some kind of seizures. Great drama here with the faces helping McBride out of CSA. When they get to the parking lot, Corey is waiting and attacks again. Gee Star really does a nice acting job here screaming “Corey don’t” over and over in the Greensboro night. It’s really kind of chilling, especially when you see the huge grin on Corey’s face as he walks off into the night. Beautiful. Probably about **1/4 for the match, but when it is all said and done, the match seems immaterial. I’m starting to believe more and more that Corey Edsel could be a valuable asset for any wrestling company in the world.

Micheal Yamaha w/ Brad Stutts vs. Number Man for the Mid-Atlantic TV Title

The crowd knows right off that Number Man is Gemini Kid, and are therefore solidly behind him. Yamaha is a good southern heel too, so this match has nice heat. This is a nice match with nice crowd response, but it kind of suffers the same fate as the six man tag, following such an intense segment. Number Man chases Stutts to the locker room, and when he comes back he is on fire locking an STF on Yamaha and almost getting a submission. Yamaha briefly regains control, but Gemini Kid comes out of the locker room, with Brad Stutts tied up and gagged. This confuses Yamaha who is then rolled up by Number Man for the three count in 14 ½ minutes. Number Man gets the TV belt and removes his mask to reveal Gemini Kid protégé Jesse Ortega. **3/4

Overall impression:Honestly, this tape is about two moments – the Kazi / Dragon match, and Corey Edsel snapping. The filler is also pretty good though so I have to say CWF delivers again, even though there is only the one blow-away type match. It is a bit much to watch in a single sitting, with the various highs and lows, so I’m betting that it was split into more than one TV show. Still, it would be worth watching if only for either of the incredible moments mentioned above.

Feel free to discuss this review at Da Wrestling Board.