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INDY WRESTLING THREAD~


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8 hours ago, Casey said:

What's your cut-off for spoilers for PWG shows, though? Even now with the just announced six month delay for new shows on Highspots... do you expect people to keep it spoilered until you see it? Because people are just now getting their Mystery Vortex blu-ray preorder, and that event was in AUGUST.

This was what 3 days though? I mean at least use the spoiler tag. We have them for a reason.  Would I prefer PWG get their shit together and get stuff out quicker? Of course I would.

 

What did we do back in 2002 when ROH took forever to get DVD's out?

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I went to a newly revived Pro Wrestling Explosion card this past Friday, nostalgic myself for a bit of the old CHIKARA and to see some new (to me?) talent. I will say that this quite modern style of pro wrestling presentation (and despite my or any other codger's protestations it is pro wrestling) is not up my alley. RAF is able to see'n'overcome his prejudices, baby, dontcha know, so I walked in with clear eyes and an attempt at a pure heart. To circumvent my usual lengthy diatribe I will merely state that I prefer a more "sports build" presentation to my professional wrestling. Don't tell this to my 28YO ECW besotted past self.

I mean no disrespect when I say that wrestling is like pizza - I'll always eat it, and even bad pizza is still pizza. I had a good time although sometimes my heart hurt. There were some standout workers to watch for: Ryan Mooney, Travis Jacobs, and my fave raves The Hispanic Mechanics aka Jos A & (wait for it) Jos B, which is sheer genius. Special mention and Mostest Professional Award goes to Megabyte Ronnie, who overdelivered in an intergender match.

Here is my take: Intergender Matches Are The Modern Equivalent Of '70s/'80s USA vs. Russia Matches. 90% of IG matches are booked the same because it is difficult to do otherwise, especially if it is a "cold" match without an angle or feud or in the case of many indies, the audience's unfamiliarity with the workers. IG and USA/USSR matches are often merely crowd pleasers, reinforcing the sensibilities of the viewers and delivering the expected beats and gratifying patterns. Does this make them bad or worthless? No, just perfunctory.

Take it away, Roland Barthes, my main Froggy genius: "Wrestlers, who are very experienced, know perfectly how to direct the spontaneous episodes of the fight so as to make them conform to the image which the public has of the great legendary themes of its mythology. A wrestler can irritate or disgust, he [or she] never disappoints, for he [or she] always accomplishes completely, by a progressive solidification of signs, what the public expects of him [or her, get with it, Roland]."

As I said, a fun show, but my major objection was the use of couple of workers who appeared so green as to be a danger to their opponents, and certainly to my suspension of disbelief. Part of the gimmick for this fed, and others like it, is the openness, inclusion and fairness of it's choice of workers (again, matching the imagined sensibilities of the paying crowd). Screw that, RAF wants to see bigger-than-life characters doing things beyond my ken, not folks to identify with. Just try to shock my, or at least stretch my expectations. I self-differentiated a while ago, Jack.

I would go back. Support your local indies, kids!

Edited by thee Reverend Axl Future
staircase thoughts, and the proper promotion name
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My son had a blast at the show. Can’t wait for the next one. Unfortunately Kylie got hurt. She landed on top of her head on an awkward suplex and that turned into a flat finish. Then she rolled out of the ring where I couldn’t see her and the ref and fans started waving for help, which isn’t fun to see. Then a bunch of refs and wrestlers helped her to the back. She was upright so I don’t think it was devastating but it certainly wasn’t selling or an angle. Hope she’s ok. 
 

Awesome show otherwise. 

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Athena and Rosa went to a 30 minute draw. Athena's first match since her Ember Moon days four months ago and she was out to prove something. I can't say I was ever huge on Moon in WWE as I was never quite sure who or what she was supposed to be and that bled through into her ringwork. They company didn't know how to position her and never gave her a ton of opportunities. Certainly never a heel run and after seeing this, everything might have been different if they had. This was a little too 50-50 for me as it was worked as a "dream match." Both of them had control for a time but the transitions generally felt squishy. A couple of ring rust moments too where Athena was trying to base or hit stuff late. It's not to say that that most of the specific moments of the match weren't good in isolation.

Moreover, Athena showed me a lot when it came to her character work. She edged heel early off of a fake leg injury and never really looked back, though the crowd really didn't want to go along with it as it was her first match back in the wild. Terrible reactions to 2 counts and escaped submissions are an absolute plague upon modern wrestling and hers were some of the best I've seen recently. Just a real strength for her that's going to both serve her well and make everyone around her (Ruby, Cole, etc.) look all the worse for the comparison. Once she gets a few more matches back under her belt, I think there'll be an amazing heel run for her somewhere in 2022. Once Britt loses Hayter, I could see her bouncing back with an equal partnership with Athena in the back half of the year, for instance, something like that.

(Rosa was good as always and got to flex a little more given the extra time allotted here). 

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Wasn't Athena a heel in the indies before WWE? I always thought it was weird they never gave her a shot as a heel. They might have had trouble with it during her first NXT run, but I think they could have made it work on the main roster or during her second NXT run.

Edited by Eivion
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2 hours ago, Eivion said:

Wasn't Athena a heel in the indies before WWE? I always thought it was weird they gave her a shot as a heel. They might have had trouble with it during her first NXT run, but I think they could have made it work on the main roster or during her second NXT run.

She was face most of the time but did have heel runs. She was heel when she first started in SHIMMER, always thought she had a great swagger and confidence then as a heel with her then-entrance music of Rihanna's "Rockstar 101", worked great.

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Pseudo cross-posted from the Impact thread

Josh Alexander's US Visa expired so he is off the Terminus show and the AML show he was booked (and any other bookings in the states he might have had at the moment)

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On 2/13/2022 at 9:53 AM, Matt D said:

Athena and Rosa went to a 30 minute draw. Athena's first match since her Ember Moon days four months ago and she was out to prove something. I can't say I was ever huge on Moon in WWE as I was never quite sure who or what she was supposed to be and that bled through into her ringwork. They company didn't know how to position her and never gave her a ton of opportunities. Certainly never a heel run and after seeing this, everything might have been different if they had. This was a little too 50-50 for me as it was worked as a "dream match." Both of them had control for a time but the transitions generally felt squishy. A couple of ring rust moments too where Athena was trying to base or hit stuff late. It's not to say that that most of the specific moments of the match weren't good in isolation.

Moreover, Athena showed me a lot when it came to her character work. She edged heel early off of a fake leg injury and never really looked back, though the crowd really didn't want to go along with it as it was her first match back in the wild. Terrible reactions to 2 counts and escaped submissions are an absolute plague upon modern wrestling and hers were some of the best I've seen recently. Just a real strength for her that's going to both serve her well and make everyone around her (Ruby, Cole, etc.) look all the worse for the comparison. Once she gets a few more matches back under her belt, I think there'll be an amazing heel run for her somewhere in 2022. Once Britt loses Hayter, I could see her bouncing back with an equal partnership with Athena in the back half of the year, for instance, something like that.

(Rosa was good as always and got to flex a little more given the extra time allotted here). 

I just watched this (it showed up in my feed on YouTube for whatever reason) and, MAN!  Athena looks fucking awesome.  AEW has got to sign her.  My Ladies Match Of The Year so far.  Thunder Rosa rules.

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21 hours ago, Blue Dragon said:

Wonder which promotion will end up being the true no 3 in USA in the future..

https://wrestlingnews.co/other/ec3-former-wwe-mega-star-adam-scherr-braun-strowman-tv-deal-imminent/

Given the talent, the way of their message, and the people who seem to support them in wrestling, I guess the TV deal is with Newsmax or OAN  

 

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