Wrestling Retribution Project

[twiztor]

the Wrestling Retribution Project (originally the Wrestling Revolution Project) was a planned TV show that also acted as a wrestling promotion. It was founded in 2011 by Jeff Katz (Hollywood guy) using Kickstarter as a revenue stream. Until 2020, it was best known for having upset backers who never received any sort of finished product or updates of progress.  I haven't seen this program mentioned on here much, if at all, so thought i'd take a look at what's released. 

An (the?) idea for this project was that each of the wrestlers would NOT be performing as their more widely known personas, and instead would be portraying entirely new characters, with different attitudes and presentations than what they were doing on the indies. Kind of an "alternate dimension" if you will. A decent idea to keep yourself separate from the PWG, ROH, TNA, IWA, etc. of the world. 

The Wikipedia page breaks down some of the performers and which characters they are. For the sake of cohesiveness, i will only be referring to them by their WRP character names.  13 episodes' worth of content was taped over one weekend in October 2011.

In summer 2020, Katz began releasing the footage onto YouTube, broken down by rough cuts of segments and episodes. It is from these playlists that my reviews will be from. Feel free to join in with your thoughts on the performers, the owner, the episodes, or whatever else comes to mind. My plan is to watch two episodes every Monday night and post some match-by-match thoughts. I don't really know what to expect, but i've wanted to go through this for a year or so now, so it's time to make it happen.

[twiztor]

Episode 1: Marking Territory, Part 1

Spoiler

Chase Walker  vs  Artrelle Burt
Artrelle (heel) gets the jobber entrance. Chase (face) is accompanied by Aphrodite, a crimson haired vixen in a red dress and long black gloves. more or less a showcase for Chase, who wins via superkick.
Bully Pulpit: Introducing S&P (the Satanic and Profitable)
weird promo. Samual T. Havoc (Satanic) is kind of cutting a Sean O'Haire-style promo while Alexander Avarice (Profitable) is standing behind him, talking on the phone to an investor or potential client or something, and there's also some generic music playing. too much going on at one time.
el Dios Dorado  vs  SoCal Crazy
SoCal Crazy (heel) gets the jobber entrance and is in a mask and black bodysuit. Dorado (face) is also in a mask, but has white tights. the entrance music for Dorado may or may not have been played on a boombox, but it certainly sounded that way. much faster paced, armdrags and spins and flips. Dorado gets the dub after a 360 roundhouse kick followed by a tornado ddt. enjoyable for what it was, but too short to have a lasting impression
Bully Puplit: Lord of War
the Lord of War doesn't take orders anymore, but he's out for destruction. Also, "Fortunate Son" by CCR plays. promo goes on too long
"Grand Old Predator" Tommy Lee Ridgeway  vs  Pax Americana
Pax (face) gets the jobber entrance and U-S-A chants, since he's in a flag outfit. Ridgeway (heel) is gonna kill this kid. He gets major heat, including a "Fuck You Ridgeway" chant breaking out. in a total squash, Ridgeway kills Pax with a running clothesline.
Bully Pulpit: "Cornerstone" Scott Carpenter
Carpenter's here for competition and prove he's the best while 80s hype music plays
Concrete  vs.  Dave the Bruiser
Dave (heel) gets the jobber entrance. he's a fat guy in Faces Of Fear-inspired gear.  Concrete (face) is ripped. highlighting the dichotomy i guess. Concrete manhandles his opponent and pins him after a Jackhammer in another total squash.
"Simply" Stan Shooter vs Carter Swan
another jobber entrance, this one for Swan (heel).  Shooter (face) is another jacked dude but exhibits zero charisma. i was expecting a "no gimmicks needed" kind of grappler, but he ain't that. Shooter with some heel tendencies early (backing away from lock-up, etc.) and the crowd turns on him. i had to rewind to make sure i had the dynamics right. Shooter is definitely the heel now, and i guess the crowd didn't get the memo that he was always supposed to be. Shooter wins after a top rope leg drop. 
Lord of War  vs  "Liberal Redneck" Muncie McGee
whoa, we get commentary for this match. McGee (face) starts in the ring. Commentators fill in Lord of War's backstory- he was in Afghanistan but is now a soldier of fortune. Commentary is pretty terrible- i think i prefer not hearing them. another one-sided beating. this one has more MMA/submission holds, and Lord of War ends it with an FTS. 
Introducing Master Murder
MM will be debuting in-ring next week. He's a psycho maniac killer- like if AEW's Jon Moxley was on the spectrum. i don't know if that would be a good thing or not. But he certainly has my interest.
Chris Hyde  vs  "BBC" Bryce Braxton-Collins
no jobber entrance! BBC is a snooty Brit. get it? BBC, like the channel? if you didn't, they point it out by having the tv network's logo on his tights. Hyde (face) doesn't really have a character yet. this match was easily the best so far. It had limbwork and selling. Hyde wins after a discus punch (i think? the camera moved at a weird time and kinda missed the move itself). 

overall thoughts:
this show did not look good. very low rent. bland and basic setup. the chandelier hanging down looked trash-tastic. 
the show didn't sound overly good. crowd was mic'd way too loud and they chanted all. the. damn. time. definitely an example of the crowd trying to hijack a show.  the lack of commentary really hurts an upstart program like this.
too many squash matches. Even the guys who won seemed forgettable. there's 16 episodes of this? hopefully this starts to change once we get out of the introductory period. i was rather looking forward to watching these, but i think my expectations were way too high. 

 

Episode 2: Marking Territory, Part 2

Spoiler

Faris Gotch  vs  Pax Americana
Pax getting his second straight jobber entrance. Gotch also gets a face reaction. This is worked much more of a competitive match than Pax's last. Gotch wrestles very stiff style, throwing lots of hard forearms and power moves like a german suplex. Gotch forces Pax to tap out after an Indian Deathlock
The S&P  vs  Carter Swan & BD Grabinski
Swan & BD get the jobber entrance. BD is from Ames, IA so i will be rooting for him (i lived there for a couple years). Satanic takes a Kevin Sullivan-like approach to squash matches: beat the hell out of the ham 'n' egger. works for the gimmick, i suppose. this match is *just* on the legal side of assault. S&P get the dominant win.
Bully Pulpit: Lord of War
bad audio mixing on this. the Lord cuts an OK promo this time (shorter, thankfully), but this time there's a Public Enemy song i can't quite place that fights for attention.  [i had to look it up: "He Got Game"]
Master Murder  vs  "Ratpack Slim" Rod Sturma
Ratpack (jobber entrance) looks like a generic trailer trash guy (black pants, red wifebeater tanktop, long hair, shitty goatee). OK, i've decided that i don't really like this Master Murder guy. He's trying really hard to be "crazy" but it just comes across as dopey. Murder picks up the win with sort of a capture suplex.
Killshot  vs  Muncie McGee
McGee again gets a jobber entrance. this time he will be squashed by......Killshot. he doesn't seem to have much a gimmick in-ring, but he's mean and he has guns printed on his tights. Anyway, this match is better than i expected and sees Killshot win with a nice looking spinebuster.
Chase Walker  vs  "the Phoenix" Spyros Gianopulous
Spyros looks like a big dumb idiot. Another decent but short match. Chase gets his second win with the Superkick.
Tommy Lee Ridgeway  vs  "Ratpack Slim" Rod Sturma
a second Ratpack match on this episode? seems like bad editing. Ridgeway kills this guy too, also with the running clothesline.
Bully Pulpit: Bryce Braxton-Collins
he's a snooty Brit. Pink Floyd plays.
"Cornerstone" Scott Carpenter  vs  Man Mountain Mike
MMM gets the jobber entrance. He's in a green mask and pants, and stomps around like he's a huge behemoth. But he's a couple inches shorter than Cornerstone. Cornerstone has a spider on the back of his tights. I don't know what that means, if anything. Carpenter is fast and flashy. match is OK but promises more in the future. Carpenter wins after an Electric Chair pickup into a German Suplex.
Punchline at The Improv
a Seinfeld transition to start. He's in his singlet and a partially-zipped hoodie. he talks, not in jokes, but in complaints and insults. this is stupid.

overall thoughts:
a better show this week, although the lack of commentary and overbearing crowd are far and away the worst parts of what's happening. All of the in-ring stuff is decent at best, but it lacks bite. I hope that changes and we start to see some feuds develop, or some interactions between the wrestlers, or something to make us tune in next week. Ah well, 2 episodes down and 10 to go.

Edited November 9, 2021 by twiztor
formatting change

[twiztor]

Episode 3: Marking Territory, Part 3

Spoiler

The Johntourage (John Ricker & John Cage) w/Brick $Shithouse  vs  Man Mountain Mike & SoCal Crazy
MMM&SCC get the heel jobber entrance. the Johns are douchey jock bros. a 2 minute match which the Johntourage wins after the BroFlex (a stalling suplex and a springboard crossbody)
Bully Pulpit: Klaus Kessler. 
Kessler's character is one of the nihilists from "the Big Lebowski". sadly, he's one of the background ones that has a bad cliche German accent and nobody gives a shit about
Punchline  vs  Carter Swan
Carter is the jobber here, as evidenced by the lack of entrance. as debuted last week, Punchline is a stand-up comedian of sorts. His entrance and introduction involves a wooden stool and a bottle of water, which i guess works. The match itself didn't IMO. Punchline's "comedy" spots are supposed to be anything but funny, but they don't really hit the mark they need to for this to succeed. Punchline wins with a reverse Boston Crab.
Bully Pulpit: Chris Hyde
"my past is completely irrelevant". that's it. that's the entire promo. 7 seconds. 
Master Murder  vs  Spyros Gianopulous
MM is billed as from "Parts Incomprehensible", which i appreciate. hey, we get commentary again. MM remains over with the crowd and wins a pretty one sided bout via the fisherman's suplex buster.
Bully Pulpit: S&P (Satanic & Profitable)
an even worse promo than the last time, but again plagued by background music that overshadowed what was actually said. i didn't recognize this song.
"das Nihilist" Klaus Kessler  vs  "Liberal Redneck" Muncie McGee
i just noticed that Rick Knox is the refere. thankfully, this isn't a tag match. you know, for being a Nihilist, Kessler tries pretty hard to win, using big flashy moves. He reacts to the crowd as well. Kessler wins a quick one with an STO-style faceplant. Then he casually puts his ring jacket on and returns to the back. If i was booking this character, i think i'd have him get DQ'd because he doesn't care about the rules.
"Golden God" Dios Dorado  vs  Dave the Bruiser
Dave begins in the ring. Rick Knox is again reffing this match. Dave uses his size and power to get the early advantage, but this match is all about Dorado using his speed and movement to control the tempo. this match was pretty fun (in relation to the rest of the tapings). Dorado via a jumping tornado DDT that really doesn't land.
Bully Pulpit: Lord of War
LoW talks in a low tone that doesn't carry well in this promo (it's not a whisper, just the actual timbre blends in with the background music). again, music overpowers the promo itself- this time the music is a fine volume, but Lord's mic volume needed to be turned up to compensate his voice.
"The Player" "Bobby Hollywood  vs  Pax Americana
Hollywood comes out "sending an important email" on his slider phone? Blackberry? i'm not sure. Hollywood yells for a lot of the match, berating Pax and telling all of us how big of a star he is. complete squash, and not a very interesting one. Hollywood's finish is, though: he picks Pax up for a powerbomb, but instead drops onto his own back and Pax lands on his (Hollywood's) knees. i don't know that i've seen that before.
Bully Pulpit: Scott Carpenter
Carpenter's here to prove that he can win. to himself, not to anybody else.
Chase Walker  w/Aphrodite  vs  Bryce Braxton-Collins
a perfectly serviceable match, but not one that really grabbed me. Chase has lots of energy and that can help draw you into the match, but BBC doesn't exude anything that makes me care. His "catch" style leaves much to be desired. Chase wins with a Superkick.

overall thoughts:
most of these videos have less than 200 views on YouTube. the Chris Hyde video has 51. that is amazingly pathetic.
more misses than hits in this episode. relying on the same 5 or so jobbers has overstayed its welcome after only 3 episodes. 
the crowd continues to be the worst part of these shows. where did the crowd come from? are they wrestling fans? extras? paid performers? they're overly invested in each match, which again is detrimental with all the shitty chanting and taunting. nobody in the ring has earned any of these reactions.

Episode 4: Marking Territory, Part 4

Spoiler

Bully Pulpit: Chris Hyde
he mentions that he's here for the Champion's Grail and the $250,000 prize money. 
Punchline  vs  Pax Americana
Pax is a good bumper. There's less of the irreverent comedy in this match, so it lands a bit better. Punchline via reverse Boston Crab
S&P  vs  Artrelle Burt & Spyros Gianopulous
i can hear someone talking from behind the camera, but it's not commentary. i can't make it out, so i'm not sure if it's production or just somebody talking on their phone. Very distracting. a dominant win for S&P sees Profitable score the pinfall after a combination kick/elbow to Spyros in the corner. Anticlimactic finish after a match where Satanic brought the intensity.
Bully Pulpit: Klaus Kessler
he believes in nothing, but will make his opponents feel agony. very generic.
Lord of War  vs  Carter Swan
total squash. Lord of War dominates with power moves en route to a victory after a submission. Lord comes off like a real threat at least, which is more than i can say about a lot of these squash matches.
Johnny 99  vs  Dave the Bruiser
99 dresses like he's supposed to be a Mexican gangbanger. But he's not Mexican. this goes less than a minute, with 99 winning after a pump kick and a pancake. meh.
"das Nihilist" Klaus Kessler  vs  SoCal Crazy
i feel like this would be a good match to show off the two different characters and styles, but Kessler's not even close to good enough with character work to make that possible. Kessler cracks when an audience member chants "Holy Schiesse" the STO again grants Kessler das victorie.
"His Helliness" Father Dante  vs  "Ratpack Slim" Rod Sturma
may have heard that nickname incorrectly, but it sounds like something they would use here. Dante's televangelist persona is incredibly overbearing. this was fine, but not very inteesting. Dante comes off the top rope to slam Ratpack's head to the mat.
Killshot  vs  Carter Swan
Carter pulling double job duty tonight. he doesn't fare any better here, as Killshot just picks him apart. Killshot pulls the trigger with a picturesque spinebuster, and that's all she wrote.
"Grand Ol' Predator" Tommy Lee Ridgeway  vs  "Liberal Redneck" Muncie McGee
starts out as a brawl. McGee ducks a clothesline and and delivers a Side Effect onto Ridgeway to score a HUGE UPSET! wow, i did not see that coming at all. post-match, he celebrates with the crowd
Bully Pulpit: S&P
S&P run down Ridgeway for losing. This was only 30 seconds and still a waste of time.
Faris Gotch  vs  Master Murder
MM is now from "Parts Unintelligible" i can also get behind that one. short match that wasn't very good. they just didn't have very good chemistry together. Gotch gets a submission win with his Indian Deathlock, due to Punchline throwing MM's jacket around his head. 
Bully Pulpit: Muncie McGee
McGee is excited for his win.

overall thoughts:
practically this entire show was heel squash matches. if it wasn't for the lone upset, it would've been largely monotonous.
the "Bully Pulpit" segments continue to be pointless. 
this was the last of "Act 1", so fingers crossed for some angles/character progression/hierarchy happening soon. and why have only a couple matches had commentary so far? What we heard was no great shakes, but at least it gave you something to focus on besides the annoying crowd.

Edited November 9, 2021 by twiztor

[twiztor]

Episode 5: Three For The Money

Spoiler

Isaac Black (who?) announces the "Three For The Money" Challenge: 12 men, 6 teams, 3 matches, $10,000 each
Bully Pulpit: Father Dante preaches and says he will win the challenge
Bully Pulpit: Lord of War and Johnny 99 form an alliance ("Men of Honor") to win the money. more issues where it's hard to hear the Lord of War
Bryce Braxton-Collins  vs  B.D. Grabinski
another squash match. BBC ties Grabinski up in knots. Grabinski shrieks in pain very well. BBC via crossface.
Bully Pulpit: Scott Carpenter feels left out for not being in the challenge
Bully Pulpit: Klaus Kessler tells us he is paired up with Faris Gotch. he says more, but it's uninteresting and i stop listening.
Chris Hyde & Concrete  vs  Father Dante & Killshot
bad camerawork in this one- it stays way too tight on the action, so it's constantly bouncing to catch what's happening, but you don't get any context. honestly, the match gets a good amount of time and seems pretty good, but the camerawork has ruined it for me. the closer attention i pay, the dizzier i get. Chris Hyde pins Killshot after something (a clothesline?) to the back of the head. 
Bully Pulpit: S&P- they're upset that they're not in this challenge. for good reason, i say. they're one of the few actual tags. why AREN'T they in this?
"Grand Old Predator" Tommy Lee Ridgeway  vs  "Liberal Redneck" Muncie McGee
a return grudge match from last week. Ridgeway comes in house afire, but McGee is much more sure of himself, so they have a pretty good back-and-forth contest. McGee gets a second upset win, this one by countout after Ridgeway runs/is pushed into the ringpost. Did what it needed to, but would have benefitted from more time.
Faris Gotch & Klaus Kessler  vs  Lord of War & Johnny 99 (not called Men of Honor)
Lord & 99 work a very smash mouth style and put a beating on Gotch for most of the match. Gotch gets the lukewarm tag to Kessler, and more of the same. Gotch suckerpunches his partner and leaves. 99 gets the pinfall after a big pancake.this was kind of a waste of time.
Bully Pulpit: Dios Dorado is asked if he has a Napoleon Complex. "Me? I'm not French, motherfucker". 
The Illuminati (Bobby Hollywood & Stan Shooter)  vs  Punchline & Master Murder
we're back to the contrived spots and unfunny comedy. Murder seems to be the only person legitimately over with the crowd, as opposed to someone the crowd likes to chant at/to/against. Murder inadvertantly hits Punchline off the apron, so Punchline nails him with his comedian's stool. The Illuminati pick up the win after a top rope leg drop.
Bully Pulpit: Klaus Kessler. "Faris Gotch, you betrayed me. You made me......feel" that was a pretty good line and delivery.
The three winning tag teams come out to the ring for the award ceremony. a bunch of wrestlers rush the ring, beat down the winners, and steal the prize money.
Bully Pulpit: Muncie McGee is again happy that he won. yee-haw!

overall thoughts: a one night tag team tournament is not a bad idea. filling it with makeshift tag teams is more of a bad idea. 2 of the 3 matches involving one teammate turning on his partner IS a bad idea. i'm happy we're getting away from squash matches, but this tournament lacked any teeth. Maybe that would've been sharpened up with commentary, or post-production by giving us brackets or something, but as is, it left a lot to be desired. And i'm curious if this plays into the larger Champion's Grail deal or not. Again, probably would have been explained in commentary, but that's a luxury we don't have.

 

Episode 6: The Playoffs / Battle Royal

Spoiler

Bully Pulpit: Punchline: there's a $250,000 Battle Royal. Punchline doesn't want the money. then he rants and raves for 2 solid minutes while "Bad Comedian" by Art Brut plays. i like the synergy here.
we get an announcement that S&P is indefinitely suspended, due to their actions last week. Johntourage must return the money.
Bully Pulpit: Muncie McGee's two victories earned him a spot into the battle royal. 
Bully Pulpit: BBC cuts a shitty promo about being superior because he's British and he's going to win the grail.
Dios Dorado  vs  Carter Swan
decent quick little spotfest. Dorado gets the dub after a top rope bulldog-type maneuver
Bully Pulpit: Lord of War. he's a tactician and he's going to win the battle royal
Bully Pulpit: Father Dante gives us a sermon, while the Rolling Stones "Sympathy for the Devil" plays. i appreciate the Stones more than Father Dante.
Battle Royal - Winner advances to one of the 8 spots of Champion's Grail tournament. The first man eliminated from the Battle Royal is also eliminated from the Grail.
Seemingly all of the non-jobber competitors are in this. oh hey, we get commentary for this!  Ridgeway eliminates Muncie McGee early, but McGee returns the favor by pulling Ridgeway out. This is the only feud in WRP, but it's working. Apparently the order of eliminations will play into next week's tag team match. this match is hard to follow- on top of the usual battle royal chaos, the inexperienced commentators and camerapeople aren't helping. 
your final 5: Lord of War, Johnny 99, Chase Walker, Killshot, Father Dante
Killshot and Dante double team Johnny99 out, Chase Walker gets Lord of War to the apron, then gets attacked by Killshot and Dante. But Lord of War falls off anyway. Chase low bridges both Killshot and Dante. Lord of War reenters the ring (apparently he wasn't eliminated?) and tosses Walker to claim victory. not a good ending.  The Illuminati comes back down (they had eliminated themselves earlier) and call Chase Walker a homophobic slur before getting attacked and retreating. wow, that ending was pure and utter shit.

overall thoughts: the epitome of a one match show. unfortunately, it wasn't that great. at least there was commentary on that to tell us how it plays into the grander Champion's Grail picture. but man, that ending was complete trash. I don't know if they were trying to be progressive, or get heel heat, or what, but it was completely unnecessary and doesn't belong on a wrestling show. 

Edited November 9, 2021 by twiztor

[twiztor]

Episode 7: The Playoffs / Nine Lives Match

Spoiler

oh goodie, it's picking up right where episode 6 ended. Chase Walker is addressing the vile comments of the Illuminati. Chase actually handles the whole situation with class. He gets a lot of time, and calls for acceptance and that it's time to embrace the truth. He comes out as gay, to applause from the audience. Then he challenges the Illumanati. Again, this was all handled really well. It was completley unecessary, and doesn't excuse the actions of last week, but this was good.
a series of text graphics (this likely would have changed in the final presentation) announces a $30,000 "Best of Three" Series between the S&P (now reinstated), and the Johntourage (now remunerated), starting next week.
Bully Pulpit: Chris Hyde. "Nine Lives? I've got one life, and i'm gonna make the best of it". a graphic announces the titular "Nine Lives Match", where the Survivors Advance. no more information given.
"Liberal Redneck" Muncie McGee  vs  Carter Swan
Swan gets the jobber intro, with McGee upgrading to full entrance. It doesn't matter. Less than a minute in, Tommy Lee Ridgeway runs in and demolishes McGee (and Swan too, for good measure)
Bully Pulpit: Punchline. another promo where the music is mixed WAY too loud. Punchline again does a good job of filling every second with talking. he calls Master Murder a hack.
Lord of War comes to the ring. the crowd chants "Lord of Suck" and "No More War". Lord of War cuts a pretty long promo in his typical style: pseudo-intellectual political discourse, wrapped up in a disenfranchised ex-military uniform. the promo's fine, but it doesn't fit in AT ALL in this promotion. The crowd is chanting and booing the entire time. I don't know if this is what they were going for, but once again, the crowd just completely ruins anything that might have worked here.
Bully Pulpit: Bryce Braxton-Collins. BBC doesn't have a great British accent but leans heavily into it. He tries so hard to pull off the greatness of Regal, but falls pitifully short.
Bully Pulpit: Father Dante. oh come on. enough talking. we especially don't need to hear from Dante again. At least Van Halen is playing over him ("Running with the Devil" for those curious)
"Nine Lives" Elimination Match:
Punchline, Faris Gotch, Ridgeway, Chris Hyde, BBC, Concrete, & Master Murder  vs.  Scott Carpenter, Killshot, Dios Dorado, Klaus Kessler, Father Dante, Johnny 99, Stan Shooter, & Bobby Hollywood
OK, i'm reasonably sure that's the teams, as there was no ring announcer, no on screen graphics, and the camera didn't catch everybody on their entrance. Also, counting the names comes up as 7 vs 8, but i've already gone through this three times and i'm not doing it a fourth. pre match, Chase Walker attacks Bobby Hollywood and runs him to the back.
it's cool to see all of this talent assembed in one match. That being said, it's not particularly good. I was going to give a running list of eliminations, but seriously, nobody cares. It just follows the tried-and-tired strategy of "heels beat up face, heels pin face" and "heels beat up face, face scores a quick pinfall on heels". rinse, repeat. no larger story, because all of the teams are thrown together.
anyway, it comes down to 5-on-1. Chris Hyde fights valiantly, but finally succumbs and his team loses. Your survivors are Scott Carpenter, Killshot, Johnny 99, Stan Shooter, and Father Dante (who tagged himself in for the first time to steal the final pin)
Bully Pulpit: S&P. they run down the Johntourage. fine but it's hard to care. 

overall thoughts: another one match show. The problem is, this match went over 20 minutes, but almost every "segment" felt rushed. very little mattered. With 10 eliminations in 20 minutes, how do tell a story? Tag in, hit a couple spots, tag out or get eliminated. They furthered the Punchline vs. Master Murder rivalry, and Chris Hyde took a beating, but other than that, it just kind of happened. I sound like a broken record here, but the crowd fucking sucks. The lack of commentary actively takes away from the show. I'm trying to not gripe about production too much, since these are just roughs, but as they try to do more stipulations that build toward the future, it's hard to not get lost.     You know what? I'm starting to think this promotion isn't very good.

 

Episode 8: The Champion's Grail, Part 1

Spoiler

Bully Pulpit: Lord of War.  He cuts another promo along the lines of the same ones he's cut before. He runs down a few potential opponents: Chris Hyde, Johnny 99. Some Dr. Dre playing ("the Watcher"). An interesting choice. He hits a stopping point in his promo at the same second the song hits a break. perfect timing. Then he talks some more and ruins the moment.
"das Nihilist" Klaus Kessler  vs.  Dios Dorado
finally. a non-jobber match. This must not be a tournament match, as both of these guys were eliminated in the match last episode. Klaus dominates early, until Dorado escapes a move, hits a roundhouse-style kick, and scores an upset. Too short to be of note. BBC runs in and attacks Dorado. Gotch makes the save. 
Bully Pulpit: Father Dante. again. ugh. He thinks Scott Carpenter is a sheep, and sheep are for slaughtering. He runs down some other guys, but i've already stopped listening. Twisted Sister is playing ("Burn in Hell")
Bully Pulpit: Scott Carpenter. He doesn't seem impressed by Dante's promo either. Carpenter's gonna kick his ass.
Stan Shooter  vs  Lord of War
this match IS a first round tournament match. the Lord is ready to fight, but Shooter avoids the confrontation early. The ref pulls Lord away and distracts him, so Shooter takes that as an opportunity to blindside the Lord for a bit. It doesn't last long, and the Lord takes back over in short order. But he shoves the ref and gets DQ'd. i did not see that finish coming. i really thought they were building to Lord of War in the finals. 
Bully Pulpit: Chris Hyde. he's just here to do his job and get out.
Father Dante  vs  "Cornerstone" Scott Carpenter
another first round tournament match. We start out with an overly long segment of Dante overpowering Carpenter, but at about the halfway point it gets competitive and turns into a pretty decent little bout. Some good near falls. Dante scores the (gigantic!) upset by coming off the top rope and driving Carpenter's head to the mat. 
Satanic & Profitable  vs  Johntourage
this is the first in a "$30,000 Best of 3" series. credit where it's due. All 4 of these guys brought it. legitimately great match. Both teams have their shtick down. i like the dichotomy of the S&P team (Satanic does the brawling, Profitable with the technique), and Johntourage really plays the Jersey Shore douche vibe well. Johntourage takes the first win with the bro-plex. I look forward to match #2.
Johnny 99  vs  Chris Hyde
this is once again a tournament match. Hyde tries to match power with Johnny 99. He makes a decent account of himself, but comes out on the bottom each time. He starts relying on his ring savvy, and the tide starts to turn. Hyde's toughness keeps luring him back into striking exchanges, but he is slowly overtaking his bigger opponent. A non-choke into a forearm shot to the chin seals the deal and Hyde advances. Another great match.
we get rapidfire responses to Chase Walker's "revelation". it's bookended by Punchline just rambling off (he's fine with it) and Father Dante (not so much). This didn't do much for me.

overall thoughts: we finally get some WRESTLING! and some pretty damn good matches, too. the final three are worth checking out (over 1700 have watched Carpenter/Dante, while less than 150 have seen Johnny 99/Hyde. If this is what the Grail tournament is going to be like, i am looking forward to the next 4 episodes!
Tournament is shaping up nicely. Already a couple of what i would consider upsets. 

This was listed as the end of "Act 2", but since Episode 8 is "Part 1" of the tournament, shouldn't this really be the beginning of "Act 3"?

[twiztor]

Episode 9: The Champion's Grail, Part 2

Spoiler

Bully Pulpit: Bryce Braxton-Collins and Klaus Kessler. they've formed a European Union. yawn.
Father Dante  vs  Concrete
wait, why is this a tournament match? Concrete wasn't on the winning team in that big 16 man tag or whatever. At least Chris Hyde was the last survivor for his team.. but Father Dante advanced to rd2 last week, while Concrete hasn't competed yet. i already don't understand the bracket i guess. not a very deep match. the heel (Dante) dominates most of the match, the face (Concrete) makes a comeback. Concrete sets Dante up for a finisher suplex, but the ref grabs Concrete, setting him up to get nailed by Dante, who drapes his legs over the ropes to pin Concrete. The ref definitely did that on purpose, but it was played like an innocent mistake. i don't know where this is going.
Satanic & Profitable  vs  Johntourage
Match #2 in the "best of 3" series. Rick Knox is the referee, so i expect full adherence of the rules. match is not as interesting as last week, as neither team plays up their characters as much. a bit more paint-by-numbres. Johntourage goes for the Bro-Plex, but Satanic cuts it off, and it leads into a forearm to the throat, and both members of S&P pin John Cage to tie the series at 1-1.
Scott Carpenter  vs  Killshot
this is apparently "Block B" of the tournament. we get commentary! Apparently this tournament is some sort of points system. Match is off to kind of a slow start. they're brawling on the rampway when Carpenter tries a springboard moonsault to Killshot. Carpenter's feet smash into the suspended chandelier, showering both men in glass. truly a highlight. pace certainly picks up once both men are in the ring and Carpenter starts to push the advantage. turns into a pretty good match by the end. Carpenter wins with the "Cornerstoner": an electric chair pickup into a german suplex.
Lord of War  vs  Chris Hyde
another tournament match. again, i wish i understand the format, because Lord of War lost last week, while Hyde won. solid hard hitting match. Lord of War is the bigger, stronger, and heavier handed combatant, but Hyde is too tough for his own good. Hyde takes a beating but won't give up. In the end, the Lord of War locks on a leg trap sleeper hold. Hyde fights valiantly but ultimately loses consciousness.  i enjoyed this. only 135 people have watched it on YouTube.
Tommy Lee Ridgeway  vs  "Liberal Redneck" Muncie McGee
match #3 betwen these two. Ridgeway jumps Muncie as he climbs into the ring. McGee has his confidence with him, and gets quite a bit more offense in than either of his prior two victories. Ridgeway ain't having that, and ultimately levels McGee with not one, but two of his finisher clotheslines. Ridgeway nods at McGee as he leaves. A sign of begrudging respect, perhaps? solid if unmemorable match.
"Simply" Stan Shooter  vs  Johnny 99
another tournament match between a loser and a winner from last week. Shooter just picks 99 apart for most of the match. He moves from chinlocks to slams to dropkicks, not at a fast pace, but a consistent one that 99 isn't really able to adapt to. Constant pressure. 99 fights back with big strikes and looks to have the match well in hand, until Bobby Hollywood appears on the ramp and distracts him. But Chase Walker shows up, runs Bobby Hollywood off, and Johnny 99 picks up the victory after a pancake.

overall thoughts: this episode was also very wrestling-heavy, although it wasn't quite as good as last week. definitely some solid stuff in here. Again, this goes without saying, but the crowd is the dirt worst. And i really wish i knew how this "Champion's Grail" tournament worked. 

 

Episode 10: The Champion's Grail, Part 3

Spoiler

On the Street: Dios Dorados calls BBC a "fake ass poser". coincidentally, BBC just happens to be walking down the street and paintbrushes Dorado. This leads to a chase, where BBC's new partner Klaus Kessler beats him down. 
Father Dante  vs  Killshot
another tournament match. Dante is 2-0 while Killshot is 0-1 so far. they don't fight at all. they face off, then Killshot walks to the back and seemingly gets counted out. OK then.....
Bully Pulpit: Lord of War and Johnny 99. they're going to face each other. "may the best man win"
"Simply" Stan Shooter  vs  Chris Hyde
at least in this tournament match, each competitor is 1-1. match is quicker than i expected. Hyde doesn't fight from underneath this time, he is in charge of much of the match. Shooter gets a small moment of advantage, until Chase Walker distracts him from the entrance ramp. Hyde with a ripcord forearm and the victory. decent.
Satanic & Profitable  vs  Johntourage
Match 3 of 3 for the $30,000. pretty good tag match here. both teams hit their double team finisher early on, so it felt like anything could happen. towards the end, it breaks down with all 4 brawling in and around the ring, and we get the WCW Cruiserweight spot of "one jumps, three catch" and they all take turns. That's not a complaint. Johntourage is about to slide back into the ring and win via countout, but Father Dante shows up and pulls him back out, so we end up with a Double Count Out.
Bully Pulpit: Chase Walker & Aphrodite. he challenges Bobby Hollywood to "man up"
Concrete  vs  Scott Carpenter
another tournament match for Concrete, despite the fact that he's 0-1 and shouldn't have been in here in the first place. this starts out quick and keeps up a brisk pace. There's some stiff chops. All around very good match. evenly worked, with each man having their forte. Both men try their finishers, but neither can hit it. In the end, Carpenter scores a counter small package for the 3 count.
Breaking News: S&P will face the Johntourage and Tommy Lee Ridgeway & a partner for the $30,000 now
Lord of War  vs  Johnny 99
both men are 1-1 in the tournament so far. Interesting in that Lord of War beat Chris Hyde but lost to Stan Shooter, while Johnny 99 beat Shooter but lost to Hyde. total slugfest here. fun to watch. Johnny 99 ultimately prevails, but both men look like total badasses.
Breaking News: Muncie McGee announces himself as Tommy Lee Ridgeway's Partner. "the Red and Blue Connection"
Bully Pulpit: S&P. 

overall thoughts:  another solid in-ring episode. i've finally figured out the brackets for the Champions Grail Tournament. Block A (Lord of War, Chris Hyde, Stan Shooter, & Johnny 99) and Block B (Father Dante, Scott Carpenter, Killshot, & Concrete) are each round robin style. I presume the winner of each block will progress to the Final (although they may take the top 2 and have a bracket-style playoff, based on the amount of time left). I still don't understand why Concrete is in here, but after his match with Scott Carpenter, all is forgiven. Next week will be episode 11 and episode 12, the "Grand Finale", which appears like it may be super sized. This promotion started out as the drizzling shits, but the tournament format has produced some really good matches (Carpenter/Concrete being my personal highlight thus far). the S&P/Johntourage series has been solid as well. 

Edited November 23, 2021 by twiztor

[twiztor]

Episode 11: The Champion's Grail, Part 4

Spoiler

Bully Pulpit: Lord of War cuts a promo against Johnny 99, who beat him last week. i don't see the point of this, but "Hit 'Em Up" by 2Pac is playing, so it's got that going for it.
Bully Pulpit: Muncie McGee says he teaming with Ridgeway is a contradiction. And he kinda likes it.
Bryce Braxton-Collins  vs  Faris Gotch
this match gets a TON of time for a non-tournament match- around 10 minutes. it's good. i mean, my interest waned a couple of times, but nothing that happened in the ring was bad. It just didn't catch me. BBC wins with a tight rollup. i think BBC was supposed to be holding the ropes, but he wasn't. they fight a bit post-match until Klaus Kessler runs in to help BBC.
Bully Pulpit: dios Dorado. He's gonna show that Eurotrash, BBC, how he does things back in his hood. He challenges BBC to a tag team match, his match vs. BBC's hair.
S&P tell us they're going to win the $30,000. 
Father Dante  vs  Chris Hyde
OK, these guys were in separate blocks, so this is the first semifinal. Dante is 3-0 so far while Hyde is 2-1. This wasn't very good, mostly due to Dante not being very good. Dante wins anyway with his bulldog/faceplant off the top rope. Hyde is bleeding from the mouth
Bully Pulpit: Scott Carpenter. this was only 7 seconds.
Bully Pulpit: Punchline. he cuts another of his nonstop promos, while RHCP "Aeroplane" plays. He calls everyone sellouts. Punchline vs. Master Murder next week, Falls Count Anywhere.
Bully Pulpit: Father Dante. oh jesus another promo. this is a filler episode, isn't it?
Johnny 99  vs  Scott "the Cornerstone" Carpenter
the other semifinal. both men are 2-1. the Cornerstone starts off hot, taking charge by sticking and moving. Eventually, Johnny 99 catches him and puts a beating on him. Cornerstone's athleticism puts him back in control, but Johnny 99's toughness won't give up. They both put forth a pretty damn good battle, but ultimately Johnny99 is distracted by Lord of War, giving Cornerstone an extra few seconds to recover, and he pulls off the victory with a rollup.
Bully Pulpit: BBC. gotta be honest, my youtube playback for this was choppy, so i missed some of it. i didn't care enough to give it a rewatch.
Bully Pulpit: Chris Hyde. he calls out Killshot. i guess because Killshot gave Dante an easy way into the semifinals? ok.
Bobby Hollywood  vs  Chase Walker
Chase beelines for Hollywood. match has good intensity and is going pretty well. Inevitably, Bobby Hollywood takes over and the paces slows to a crawl- he kicks Walker and then makes a movie pun- repeatedly. Walker gets distracted by Hollywood's partner Stan Shooter, leading to Hollywood clocking him with a loaded fist of some kind. Chase Walker loses his revenge match. post-match, both members of the Illuminati beat down Chase Walker and the referee.Aphrodite tries to make the save, but Concrete runs them off. 
Bully Pulpit: Father Dante. again? He doesn't like losses.

overall thoughts: to me, this felt like the opposite of a "go-home" show. The Carpenter/Johnny 99 match was good and the Hollywood/Walker match was OK, but a Father Dante match AND TWO PROMOS? i get it, he's the big bad villain. Carpenter feels like the only guy on the roster that doesn't have a character. All of his matches have been solid, but his promos have all been super short and he just says he wants to win. But he doesn't say it with passion, or like he has the drive to be the very best. He just says that's what he's here to do. They've done a terrible job presenting Carpenter as the "everyman" IMO.

 

Episode 12: The Grand Finale

Spoiler

Killshot  vs  Chris Hyde
they start off with a slugfest. Hyde has his ribs taped, so Killshot targets his midsection and we get the old "internal bleeding from the mouth" thing going. This is a really good and hard hitting match that has some unfortunate occurances happen. at one point, the ref CLEARLY counts to three, but the match continues. we get numerous camera shots of the referee's back, and the ring apron, and the mat- i don't know why these made it into the product. Anyway, Hyde relies on his roaring elbow again and again and again, and finally gets the pinfall with it. Blemishes aside, i really enjoyed this.
Bully Pulpit: Father Dante. fucking again. holy shit, i am so fucking over this guy.
Bully Pulpit: S&P. hey, did you know that Muncie McGee and Tommy Lee Ridgeway are wrestling's odd couple? we get to hear about it again.
Falls Count Anywhere:  Punchline  vs  Master Murder
i feel like Master Murder is the only guy legitimately over with this crowd. This is (rightfully) as much of a brawl as it is a match. This is fun for what it is, and the crowd eats it up. They brawl to the back, and.... that's it. 
Lord of War hits on some woman in the Bully Pulpit. This was out of place.
$30,000 Elimination Match:  The Red & Blue Connection (Tommy Lee Ridgeway & Muncie McGee)  vs  Satanic & Profitable (Alexander Avarice & Samuel )  vs.  the Johntourage (John Ricker solo, John Cage is selling last week's beating)
i don't really know how i feel about this match. the first half or so is very generic, with one guy getting beat up by 2-3, then tagging out, and somebody else getting beat up for a while, and rinse and repeat. Not really much of a deeper story being told. Muncie McGee, being the smallest man in the match, eventually succumbed to a low blow and an S&P double team. I thought we were going to see Ridgeway attack McGee, but that didn't happen.
the second half is a handicap match, with John Ricker more than holding his own. He hits an awesome capture power bomb on alex and a crazy dive to the outside where it looked like he ate pavement. Brick $hithouse runs out to be a makeshift tag partner for John, but turns on him, hits a 9-1-1 style chokeslam, and S&P win the match and the money. i don't know that anybody came out of this match looking good. disappointing ending to what had been a good trilogy of tag matches.
Bully Pulpit: BBC & Klaus Kessler. BBC hyped up his mask vs hair tag match
Punchline  vs.  Master Murder continues on the stage of the comedy show where Punchline's early vignettes were set. Nice continuity. They brawl here, but it's significantly worse than what we've already seen. They continue to fight, stage right.
Bully Pulpit: Johnny 99. Amy is his wife. That's who Lord of War was hitting on earlier. OK, that context would have been beneficial half an hour ago.
The European Union (BBC & Klaus Kessler)  vs  Dios Dorado & Faris Gotch
the only one in this match i remotely care about is Dios Dorado. BBC and Kessler have been actively not good, and Gotch has been functionally invisible on these events. BBC gets crotched on the top rope, leading to Dorado with a hurracanrana followed by a tornado faceplant for the win. The faces grab the hair cutters, but BBC races to the back. no payoff.
Punchline and Master Murder brawl through an office (with only one executive in it). this is arguably worse than the comedy club setup. The continue brawling.
Last Man Standing Match: Lord of War  vs  Johnny 99
i don't remember this match being announced, but OK. their last fight was a good one. They start by squaring up like a boxing match. great way to start out. you don't see that nearly enough. This FEELS like a fight and i dig every minute of it. ok, except the ending, that was really stupid. Lord of War continually knocks Johnny 99 down for a 9 count, but at one point the referee stops counting (?) and Johnny's wife runs out to talk to him. Finally (!) the ref counts 10 and awards the match to Lord of War. dumb ending, but a travesty less than 100 people have watched this. 
Bully Pulpit: "Cornerstone" Scott Carpenter. he runs down Father Dante. This was fine.
back in the ring, Johnny 99 and his wife share a kiss. he carries her to the back. umm, ok.
Punchline and Master Murder brawl back down the entrance ramp and into the ring. Punchline brains him with a shot from the wooden stool, but only gets a 2 count. Murder with his fisherman's DDT, but also only gets a 2 count. Punchline just pummels Murder with the stool, leading for the ref to stop the fight. 
Chase Walker & Concrete  vs  Illuminati
this match was perfectly fine, but i feel like the stakes didn't matter. Last week we saw the Chase/Hollywood match that should have been the feud ender. Aphrodite distracts Bobby Hollywood, so Chase hits him with a superkick and pins him. There's a lot of distraction finishes happening.
Champion's Grail Tournament Final:  Father Dante  vs  "Cornerstone" Scott Carpenter
Dante is undefeated in this tournament, and in the first round defeated Carpenter. Can Scott overcome the momentum of Dante?  Dante tries to buy off Carpenter, but that ain't happening.  The match itself is fine. Cornerstone's athleticism and speed keep it together, since Dante kinda sucks in the ring. Cool spot where Dante "bites" Cornerstone's hand/wrist, leading to a bunch of blood.  Long story short, Cornerstone hits his electric chair german suplex for the win. Some of the faces come out post-match and celebrate with him.

overall/final thoughts: a pretty good finale episode. at least i know that i sat through the first 11 hours of footage for a last show that delivered. 

was this worth waiting 10 years for? no.
is this worth watching the entirety of? no. 
am i sorry i did? no. i've been setting out to watch a bunch of short-run and failed promotions, so i'm extremely happy this footage became available. There were some cool moments and some good matches. I've spent more time watching worse wrestling than this. 

the crowd is 100% the worst part. If you think you've seen some shows that were hijacked by the crowd, you ain't seen nothing yet. I don't understand what they were going for, or why they would allow this. It actively detracted from the match, from the show, and from the presentation. 

the lack of commentary certainly hurt the (un)finished product. Look back at how many times i was confused on what the rules are, or how the tournament was set up, or why things were happening. It was obviously already recorded (a handful of matches have the commentary included. i also now see that there's a separate playlist for commentary. why wasn't this on the individual episodes?) Why not include it? 

if you're thinking about checking some of this out, here's some standout matches:

Last Man Standing Match: Lord of War (MVP) vs Johnny-99 (Doc Gallows)
Chris Hyde (Chris Hero) vs Killshot (Machine Gun Karl Anderson)
Satanic & Profitable (Sami Callahan & Alex Reynolds) vs Johntourage (Brian Cage & Eli Drake) - Match 1 in a Best of 3 series
Scott Carpenter (Kenny Omega) vs Concrete (Chris Masters)

 

Edited November 23, 2021 by twiztor