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DVD Review: Payback - Presented by Warriors of Wrestling
By Brett Schwan
Available at warriorsofwrestling.com
The Warriors of Wrestling Payback event took place on August 2, 2008.
The DVD opens with a Jason Kross and Thorr promo. The promo is filmed in what looks to be the venue parking lot and honestly is pretty weak.
First match sees Jason Kross def. Thorr with a running elbow.
Next, "The Voice" Angelus Valkin def. J.T. Highlander with a spear. The match was solid but there were at least 5 finishing moves that could have been great finishes for the match. However, no one seemed phased by them. Thank God for the deadly spear.
Ken Scampi then comes to the ring with Foxy Foxxy. Foxxy issues an open challenge. Hulko then comes to the ring. He introduces The Irish Bruiser. The open challenge is now answered and this leads to a tag match...
Hulko & The Irish Bruiser def. Ken Scampi & Foxy Foxxy. Women in men's matches? Anyone who ever read this site knows my thoughts on that. Anywho, the match ends with Scampi and Hulko battling at ringside and Bruiser splashing Foxxy for the pinfall.
Chris Banks cuts a promo in the back.
Dan Dillinger def. Chris Banks by DQ after a low blow. JT Highlander then gets in the ring and he and Banks double team Dillinger.
The Latin Revolution cut a promo in the back.
Next up is a match for the W.O.W Tag Team Championship. The Latin Revolution (Tony Torres & Antonio Rivera) def. The American Nightmare (Logan Black & Matt Kaplan) to become the new W.O.W Tag Team Champions. Solid match which saw the ref get clotheslined and then the Latin Revolution hit a lungblower and a semi frog splash for the victory.
Up next were three promos, all conducted by Sam Gomez. American Nightmare, Frank Scoleri, and Lucifer Darksyde all had stuff to say (Darksyde didn't actually say anything) about their upcoming matches.
In a Lumberjack Match, Frank Scholari and Lucifer Darksyde went to a no contest. That right, a no contest in a lumberjack match. Ugh. What's the point?
More promos, this time by Alex Balboa then Ryan Sawyer.
In a Triple Threat Match, Ryan Sawyer def. Alex Balboa & John Justice when Sawyer hit Justice with an impaler for the pinfall.
The Wifebeaters and All Star Lou and Spartan then had some promo time.
In a Tag Team Woodshed Match "where straps and belts are legal",
The Wifebeaters (Joey B. & Jay Reynolds) def. All Star Lou & Spartan
after interference by the Canucks.
David Kalypso promo time.
For the W.O.W No Limits Championship, Maximus Sex Power def. David Kalypso
to bevome the new W.O.W No Limits Champion. I'm not quite sure what makes
the W.O.W. No Limits Championship any different than any other title other
than it doesn't seem to take much wrestling ability to hold it.
More promos!! Maximus, B.A. Kidd, Chris Cartagena get their turn to speak!
In the I Quit Match, Chris Cartagena def. B.A Kidd when B.A. Kidd tapped
out to a Texas Cloverleaf. Minutes earlier in the match, Kidd had Cartagena
in a Sharpshooter and Cartagena seemingly was tapping out. However, since
he never actually said "I Quit!" the match continued. Or so
I thought. Minutes later, Kidd tapped out but never actually "Quit"
and the match was ended. Uh, ok.
Damien Dragon and Steve Corino each have promos to set up their title match.
In the main event, for the W.O.W Heavyweight Championship, "Simply the Best" Damian Dragon def. "Mr. Wrestling III" Steve Corino to become the new W.O.W Heavyweight Champion. Corino dominated the first 10 minutes of the match with mat wrestling, arm drags, and arm bars. The two men then went to the floor, where Corino dominated some more until Dragon was able to ram him, shoulder first, into the ringpost. Dragon then continued to work on Corino's injured shoulder. Corino cameback and put Dragon in the Figure 4. Ken Scampi ran in and hit the ref. Foxxy then entered and put a chain on Dragon's foot. She then stood there looking like a deer in the headlights for no apparent reason. Corino got up and attempted to piledrive Foxxy. Dragon hit a superkick on Corino and miraculously the ref was revived just in time to make the three count and crown Dragon the new WOW Hvyt Champion.
The DVD ended with a Team Zero promo.
The majority of the matches were solid, even if the booking wasn't. Unfortunately, the DVD had no "Play All" function so it returned to the main menu after every single promo and match (and with all those promos, it was painstaking). It took away from the flow of the show to have to constantly press the down arrow and start the next segment. I've been following pro wrestling for as long as I can remember and I honestly never heard of 90% of the guys (and gals) on this show. I'm not quite sure where they all came from and/or who trained them (if anybody). Some of them were excellent, some needed work, others didn't belong in the ring. The commentary was done by Johnny Romano and Dan Big Mouth Jackson. One of them miscalled a LOT of moves. Luckilly, the other one was there to correct or cover up for him. A decent watch (although it took me a week to get through it all) for the true die hard wrestling fans.
