Rick Victor defeats Benicio Salazar in the opening match using the Canadian Lifter(flying back elbow).
^Victor was actually trained in the Hart family dungeon and has been wrestling on the independent scene since 2001. I’m somewhat surprised by how very basic his in ring approach seem to be. Despite having a very solid technical game, it seems as though he needs a lot more work before he’s ready for any sort of push up the roster with his lack of wow factor with his moveset. Salazar doesn’t seem like anything special, but together these guys put on a decent opening match. It didn’t have anything special about it or add any hype the crowd to start the show, but it wasn’t bad.
Backstage segment with James Bronson choking out Dean Ambrose.
^Guess Bronson is still angry about losing the tapout match to Ambrose last week.
Bo Rotundo has his return match in FCW and defeats Big E Langston.
^Bo is very talented and has held both the Florida Tag Titles and the Florida Heavyweight Championship. This guy has a bright future ahead when he moves on to the main roster. To quote Mike Lightning, Langston needs to lose the singlet; it just doesn’t work for a guy of his shape. Langston is solid in most aspects, but he just needs to find his look to match to the gimmick before he gets that next push.
Summer Rae announces a thirty minute FCW 15 Championship match between Richie Steamboat and Antonio Cesaro. The two come to the ring for a photo-op and stare one another down.
^I watched these guys wrestled the twenty minute challenge, and I’m really excited for their thirty minute match. My only question here is what about the relevance of the FCW 15 Championship? The rules aren’t really being followed in the sense of the title being made for fifteen minute matches. I guess it doesn’t matter and we should just consider ourselves fortunate to see these guys go one last time before Cesaro makes his permanent jump to Smackdown.
James Bronson defeats Nick Rogers using a modified figure four leglock. William Regal attacks Bronson after the match because of his earlier taunts and Garrett Dylan tries to make the save for Bronson. Dean Ambrose comes out and he and Regal both apply regal-stretch submission holds on Bronson and Dylan, respectively. Regal and Ambrose have a stare down after they release the holds.
^Bronson is a monster in the ring, but he definitely needs work to develop his character further. So it appears that Regal and Ambrose may team up before they have their big encounter? I’m excited to see what these two do in the ring together on a technical level. The match will be extremely interesting. You know William Regal stepping in the ring at this point in his life is only done for special occasions, and so this match is definitely something worth waiting for.
Seth Rollins defeats Kassius Ohno in the main event and retains the Florida Heavyweight Championship.
^Formerly known as Tyler Black and Chris Hero, respectively in the independent circuit, these two going one on one was a huge treat for any true wrestling fan. This match was fantastic and was as good as any great pay per view main event in recent memory. Rollins is probably going to have a solid run with the title this year before moving to the main roster hopefully in the fall. Ohno on the other hand seems like he could make the jump at any point with how polished he is in the ring.
FCW delivers again with another awesome show this week. I think the reason I like these shows more than Raw and Smackdown is for a couple reasons. First, these guys are hungry and have something to prove. Second, these guys are here to develop(I know, hard to fathom in the DEVELOPmental section of a company) their skills in the ring(and in promos, but mostly in the ring) and we are treated to much more wrestling than your average main roster show. I’ll have my NXT and Smackdown columns up next this week. Until next time, you’ve been ThunderStruck!
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