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One of the benefits of being a college professor is having a "Spring Break". The benefit of having a "Spring Break" allowed me the opportunity to attend Thursday nights' World-1 Revisited show at Academy Hall in Pottstown, PA. However, being the only person off this week, the Crew only consisted of Sidekick Ron and myself this time.
The 4 1/2 hour drive (thanks to massive traffic on the turnpike as well as a steady downpour of rain) to Pottstown was not without a few laughs as, while driving on 100 North, we noticed the sign outside "Pete's Deli" which read "Homade sausage". Ho made? I'm not even going there. Several minutes later we see the sign for our exit. Our exit is a mere 4 1/8 miles ahead. Obviously, we are not in New York anymore as I have never seen a mileage sign that said 1/8. Within a few minutes we were only 3/8 of a mile away.
The show which had a scheduled belltime of 7:30 began at 7:45 with a crowd of slightly more than 100. (Which, for a Thursday night before a holiday weekend, I thought was a good size).
Lumanaries in attendance included Eric Shaffer, Tim Walker, Sure Shot Scott, Greg Matthews (who, due to injury, was unable to wrestle), Kathy Fitz (at the door), Paul, and Monsta Mack.
The show opened with the ring announcer running down the entire card for the evening.
Referees for the evening: Mike "The Ref" Kehner, John Finnegan, and a third ref who I was not familiar with.
Your concession stand sirens for the evening were Luscious Lily, Simply Luscious and Tracy Brooks (who spent a lot more time "networking" than she did working behind the concession stand (which is fine with me)). Lily, Luscious, and Brooks did a phenomenal job serving up soda, pizza, and assorted other snacks. The meaning of "may I have a slice" dramatically changed with these three behind the counter.
As I did with my Super 8 recap, I'm not going to go into a full blown play by play of all the matches for 2 reasons. First, all the matches were pretty solid and nothing I can say here is going to do them any justice. Second, it's hard to relax and enjoy a show when you're trying to record notes on every move in the match. Being a fan of most of the guys on the card, I wanted to be able to sit back and enjoy this show without going crazy with notes, etc.
The opening match saw Simon Diamond (TNA) defeat Ricky Landell (W-1 Dojo) after the "Simonizer". Excellent opener. Ricky Landell reminded me a little too much of "Lil Naich" but held his own against the ring veteran. At one point, Simon attempted to go for the "Simon Series" but it was blocked and reversed into a DDT. The match ended in 10:59.
Next up was an eight man tag match. Los Maximos (WJ), Guillotine LeGrande (PWF), & Mana (WXW) vs. Rockin' Rebel (CZW), Rapid Fire Maldanado (IWA), Greg Spitz (IWA), & Mark Mest (Freelance). I thought (and hoped) that my days of seeing Mark Mest were over. Unfortunately, they weren't. Fortunately, he wasn't in the ring too much during the match. Some highlights of the match included a beautiful Samona Drop by Mana on Rapid Fire. Rebel knocked Mana to the floor with a clothesline and followed him outside the ring. Guillotine and Mark Mest were also battling on the floor. While most of the men were fighting at ringside, Los Maximos hit the Spanish Fly on Spitz. Rebel quickly "Ghetto Blastered" Jose for the three count in 10:10. For an 8 man tag, this match was very good. It was not the clusterf#*k that it easily could have been if the participants didn't include the veterans that this match had.
Abba's "Dancing Queen" soon blasted over the sound system. Many in attendance expected to see CSC enter, instead it was the return of King Kaluha. It must be 10 years since I have seen King Kaluha in action. While I can't quite figure out his choice of entrance music, he looked to be in excellent shape. Alex Law (W-1 Dojo) was defeated by King Kaluha (Freelance) in 8:45 after Kalhua grabbed Law's head from behind and dropped him backwards into his knee.
Low Ki (W-1/ZERO-ONE) vs. Minoru Fujita (Far East Connection) was, in my opinion, the match of the night. These two men are just amazing. Low Ki immediately locked Fujita in and armbar. Low Ki follows up with his series of kicks to the chest. Fujita blocks Low Ki's third kick, grabs his leg and rolls him over into a Bow and Arrow. Low Ki waistlocks Fujita from behind. Fujita pushes Mike the Ref and kicks Low Ki below the belt. He follows up with a beautiful Tornado DDT. Low Ki fights back and attempts his springboard but is met with a superkick. Low Ki finally does hit his handspring kick and follows it with the "Ki Krusher" for the pinfall in 13:09. Both men receive a well deserved standing ovation.
Spanky (W-1/ZERO-ONE) was defeated by Ikuto Hidaka (FEC). Spanky came to the ring to Celine Dion's "My Life Will Go On" (or whatever the song from Titanic is called). It would normally be tough to follow up a match as good as the previous one, but these two men were phenomenal. Both men battled back and forth. At one point, Spanky went for "Sliced Bread #2" but Hidaka got out of it and went for a clothesline. Spanky ducked and went for a boot but that was blocked and Hidaka picked up Spanky and powerbombed him. Hidaka continuously worked on Spanky's knee throughout the match and was able to apply a leg lock on Spanky to make him tap out in 10:07
Intermission was next. Most of the wrestler who already wrestled this evening were out to sign autographs and take pictures with the fans. I had the opportunity to meet and get autographs from Fujita and Hidaka which was a huge thrill and honor for me. Also had the chance to watch one of the locals ask Mana if he was a wrestler (before asking for a photo with him). Evidentally, the fan must have fallen asleep during the second match of the evening, which Mana was in!
Steven Corino (W-1/ZERO-ONE) def. Kohei Sato (ZERO-ONE) with a "Snow Plow" in 9:27. Sato is a huge man and, from the looks of some of the suplexes and chops he hit Corino with, very stiff. The two men battled back and forth for several minutes. Sato looked to have killed Corino with a belly to back suplex at one point. Corino called for the "Northern Lights Bomb" (which is a sure sign that he won't hit it). Sato blocked it. Sato attempted to fight back but Corino was able to lift the huge man up for the "Snow Plow" and pinfall. Another very good match.
The next match was the "Decision Match" for the WORLD-1 Tag Team Title: Josh Daniels (W-1) & Matt Striker (W-1) (the PWF Tag Team Champions) faced The Christopher Street Connection (Freelance). The usual pre match CSC antics took place and the crowd loved it. The crowd, for the most part, was hot all night and was very vocal (even if the one guy behind me was slurring every word). World-1 President, Jack Victory was introduced and he brought the titles to the ring. Prior to the match, the National Anthem was played. CSC impressed me a lot in this match as they actually wrestled a hell of a good match. At one point, CSC was on the floor and Striker press slammed Daniels and threw him out onto them. Striker hit the "Lungblower" in Buff E. All 4 men went to the floor and begin to brawl. The ref counted to 20 and the match was declared a double count out. Victory got on the mic and said "We should probably give these guys 5 more minutes." The crowd popped. Victory continued, "I just sat over there, and to be perfectly honest with you, you bored me. There wasn't enough headlocks in the match so I'm not going to torture these people and give you 5 more minutes. I'm going to have a meeting with the Board of Directors tomorrow morning and I'm going to put on the website what my decision is." The crowd turned on Victory. Great promo. Great way to put over your heel president as a heel. Excellent job from top to bottom with this match.
Masato Tanaka (ZERO-ONE) & Homicide (ROH) def CM Punk (ROH) & CW Anderson (W-1). CW Anderson does not get the credit he deserves. The man is the total package. He can wrestle, he knows psychology, he can work the mic. Why he hasn't hit it big his beyond me. During the match, Anderson and Punk worked on Homicide's arm. At one point, Anderson beat Homicide down on the floor and wailed his arm with a steel chair. Anderson and Homicide battled back into the ring where Anderson hit a spinebuster on Homicide for a two count. Tanaka was able to tag in and hit a missle dropkick on Anderson. He followed up with tornado DDT's on Punk and Anderson. Homicide hit a superplex on Punk which was immediately followed up by a Tanaka frog splash. Punk was able to get to the floor but Homicide dove out onto him, into the chairs. In the ring, Masato went for the "Roaring Elbow" but was met with a huge superkick for a two count. Tanaka battled back and hit the "Roaring Elbow" on Anderson for the pinfall. Excellent match. Who would expect anything less out of these men?
The main even was up next as "Dusty Rhodes Jr." (Dustin Rhodes representing TCW) defeated Justin Credible (W-1). Credible got on the mic and tried to get over the only way he can, by cursing up a storm. He did the usual "I'm not going to give you an ass kicking that just the best. Tonight I'm going to give you an ass kicking that's Justin... no shit you've heard that before." I guess, when in doubt, take the easy way out and curse up a storm on the mic. The two men immediately brawled all over the building. When they finally got back in the ring, Dusty Jr. hit a bulldog for two. Justin hit a superkick then, out of nowhere, Dusty Jr hit a powerslam for the pinfall.
From top to bottom (with the exception of Justin's mic work) this was a great card. The crowd seemed to love every minute of it, which is what is most important. I don't know how many of the locals realize how thrilled and honored they should actually be to see guys like Tanaka, Hidaka, Fujita and Sato in person. It's guys like this, that you don't see everywhere else on the indys, that keeps the business fresh and promotions like World-1 should be commended for bringing these guys to the states. It's only April, but behind last week's "Super 8" this is easily the best show I have seen in quite some time. After nearly 10 years of seeing him wrestle in nearly every promotion in the northeast, I finally had the chance to meet Steve Corino. Steve is a class act and asked if I was coming to Friday night's show. I told him unfortuantely no to which he replied, "Fortunately, no as Quarryville makes Pottstown look like Philadelphia". Thanks again to Steve for an outstanding evening. For purely selfish reasons, I wish World-1 was able to run a little bit closer to NY. There show, which was originally scheduled for Deer Park a few months ago, had to be moved (have I mentioned I hate my state and my State Athletic Commission?) which caused me to have to miss their debut but tonight's show more than made up for it. I wish I was able to attend one of their other 2 shows this weekend but that is impossible for me. If World-1 continues to put on shows of this quality and caliber, they should make a lasting impression in the U.S.
The ride home took a mere 3 1/2 hours of driving through the rainy, winding, twisting, and unlit roadways of the Pennsylvania mountains. Thanks to Paul for getting us to Rt 78 in one piece!
