October 28th, 2012
AJ Chase and Art O’Cal are on commentary for this inaugural show, Inception presented by Smash-Wrestling!
Tadarius Thomas opens the show to take on “Rocksteady” Alex Vega. Vega wins the match in eight minutes with a huge tornado DDT on Thomas for the three count.
^Rocksteady is the nickname for this somewhat mysterious youngster, and he put up a damn solid performance in the first event match for Smash Wrestling. Vega had a dark match on an early Evolve show and also worked a Chikara show, both in 2012. Outside of those matches, he’s a virtual unknown on the indy scene. With performances like this against the someone with the talent of Thomas, he looks to have a bright future ahead of him. Solid **1/2 opening match.
From Montreal, Quebec, we have Vanessa Craven taking on Leah Von Dutch(from Ontario). Kraven wins the match in just over six minutes. Von Dutch is down and out after the match.
^Von Dutch has participated in six of the last seven events for the Shine promotion, and she’s gained tons of experience in the ring over the last few years. Dutch is also known for taking on Sara Del Rey in back to back Chikara events in 2012. Kraven has been known as a very physical wrestler across the scene, and she showed that here. The size difference here was too much for Von Dutch to overcome, and Kraven brought her a-game of aggression. Good stuff for six minutes and more than anything you would get on a Monday night these days.
Little Gregory Iron is taking on the much larger John Greed in our next match. Greed is a rookie. Greed and Iron are counted out in roughly three minutes. Greed lays out Iron after the announcement of the double countout.
^Greg Iron is a pro wrestler with cerebral palsy, and it’s quite amazing to see what he can do as a performer. This was definitely more of a comedy segment with the big guy chasing the little guy, but then the big guy hurt the little guy really bad and humor was gone. Good segment to set up what I expect might become a long term rivalry!
Matthieu St. Jacques takes on Player Uno in our next match. These guys are tag team wrestlers competing in a one on one match. Player Uno is one half of the Super Smash Brothers tag team. St. Jacques taps out to the sharpshooter around the nine and a half minute mark.
^Player Uno looked good here, and St. Jacques brought a very physical style to this ten minute contest. Uno was able to hit a lot of good spots throughout the match, and St. Jacques was able to show just how much damage he can inflict on an opponent using even the most basic of wrestling moves. Fun match here.
Tyson Dux takes on the “Hacker” Scotty O’Shea. They wrestle to a time limit draw with no winner. The rematch will take place at the next show.
^That was crazy action packed. Dux and O’Shea threw everything they had at one another and put on a fun athletic contest. I can’t wait to see what they produce in match two! ***1/4
The Overdogs(“The Iron Lion” Sebastian Suave and Josh Alexander) take on Abraham “Action” Jackson and Preston Miles in our next match. There’s a noticeable size difference here with the Overdogs having the edge in that department. Alexander pins Jackson after an assisted tiger piledriver finish in fourteen minutes.
^That was some fun back and forth action! The announcers did a good job playing up the veteran ability of the Overdogs(NOT the Underdogs as they told us repeatedly) in comparison to the new team of Jackson and Miles. Jackson and Miles worked their asses off to make to this one look competitive, and it was truly enjoyable from bell to bell with solid tag action. **3/4
It’s time for our main event with Matt Cross taking on Brent Banks! Cross wins the match at the 22 minute mark with a Death Valley Driver followed up with a shooting star press for the three count!
^While Banks has only had a few matches for major indy promotions, he seems like a major staple for the wrestling scene up north. The man possesses a ton of talent in the ring and he showcased that here with Matt Cross in this main event. Matt Cross, for those of you who don’t know, is known as Son of Havoc on Lucha Underground. Cross also competed on the Hulkamania Tour in late 2009 as Spartan 3000, and he’s wrestled virtually all over the globe. Outstanding work from these guys in a contest that truly lived up to the title of “main event” wrestling. The series of exchanges and pin attempts at the finish of this one is something any true fan of professional wrestling needs to SEEK OUT IMMEDIATELY! ***1/2
Final Thoughts: For an inaugural show, this was pretty solid from beginning to end. There wasn’t a match on the entire card that I couldn’t sit through, and those of you familiar with my work know for a fact that it’s not always the case for me with every wrestling show. I am coming off this show with some seriously positive things to say about Smash-Wrestling!
Thunder’s Matches of the night:
1. Main(Cross vs Banks) ***1/2
2. Dux vs O’Shea ***1/4
3. Overdogs vs Jackson/Miles **3/4
Smash-Wrestling offers a video-on-demand service much like the WWE Network, and every major event is available for viewing! Want to know the even cooler part about it? It’s only $7.49 per month! How could you not be excited about tons of hours of pro wrestling content at your fingertips for LESS THAN EIGHT DOLLARS PER MONTH?
You can count on me having many more Smash-Wrestling reviews in the coming weeks and months. Thanks for reading!
Until next time, you’ve been ThunderStruck!
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