Connor McGrath
It’s finally Monday and it’s finally May! One of my least favorite days of the week but one of my favorite months of the year. Longtime personal friends of the ConnMan might know that May is the month of my birthday! Yes, we’re just a few weeks away from the 26th Year of the ConnMan. I do have an Amazon Wishlist available if anybody would like to bear gifts for me. Let’s hope that the stars of ECPW On Fire give me an early birthday present for me by having a good show this week!
We open with an ad for ECPW On Fire’s upcoming shows. Their monthly(ish?) show at the Paramus Elks Lodge is happening May 16th. And they’ll be at the Guardian Angel Auditorium (?! RIP Ray Traylor) in Allendale, NJ on May 23rd. I guess that ECPW On Fire Tour of Maine in May might not be happening. Don’t those guys know it’s my birthday?
Kraig Stagg (with Doug DeVito) Vs Fenris
Fenris is new to me. He’s a short, slightly stocky guy with a mohawk and facepaint on. I’m not sure what his gimmick i other than that. This is basically another showcase for Stagg, DeVito’s new protege, who we saw last week. Fenris gets in slightly more offense than the job guy last week (as in, he actually gets some offense) but it’s basically, a showcase for Stagg, who the announcers put over as DeVito’s “Insurance Policy” in case Andrew Anderson loses the ECPW Title. Match is whatever. I haven’t gotten a chance to see Stagg against someone who didn’t look they were right out of wrestling school so I can’t really pass full judgment on him but this wasn’t very good. Stagg wins with the Press Slam into a Spear move, that’s kind of unique (although it’s done a lot sloppier on this week’s show than it was on last). C-
ECPW Heavyweight Championship Match: “The Re-Enforcer” Andrew Anderson (c) (with Doug DeVito) Vs Ricky Palmer
Speaking of Andrew Anderson, he defends the Heavyweight Title on the show for the second week in a row. Who does he think he is? Eric Young!? He’s facing Ricky Palmer, a promising up and comer, who is getting his first big opportunity. I got to give credit to the announce team as they’ve really slowly grown on me the past few months. Reedy, in particular, when he’s serious and not relying on smarmy heel schtick is as good as almost any big leagues. Him and Joey G do a really good job of painting the picture of this match. Palmer is the green but promising young buck getting the shot of a lifetime against the grizzled, ring general heel champ.
Match itself is a bit of a styles clash but not terrible. Palmer’s new and all of the other matches I’ve seen him do have basically been squashes (some with him on the winning end and some staring at the lights above the ring). It’s kind of weird for him to do his power stuff against a fortysomething wrestler like Anderson, who isn’t getting thrown around by anybody. Anderson’s definitely got a weird, early-mid ’90s Greg Valentine-esque build. I can’t tell if he’s just out of shape or he’s strong fat. Anyway, I’m hardly one to talk about weird body types.. After a slow start, things get going decently by the end. Anderson’s not the best worker in the company but he’s definitely one of the smarter ones and he does a good job of putting over Palmer but not at his expense. By the end, the crowd’s really into this match and thinks Palmer is about to pull off the massive upset but Anderson grabs a quick win with a Samoan Drop. C+ Decent match, especially considering the circumstances and this should elevated Palmer to a permanent spot in the mid-card, at least.
Wrestling On Fire Television Title Match: Ricky Reyes (c) Vs Kai Katana
Once in a while, this show knocks it off with its usual goofy, cartoony nature and attempts some serious rasslin. Usually, these segments involve former ROH guy and current WOF TV Champ Ricky Reyes. Tonight, he’s facing Kai Katana, another one of WOF’s more promising workers. Kai Katana impresses me during his entrance when some goofy kids mug right in his face and he continues selling his stoic, Great Muta-esque gimmick. The announcers hype this as a potential Match of the Year candidate. Ricky Reyes is really on another level from 99% of the roster. He’s got the crisp timing and movement that only comes as a result of working regularly against first-rate workers. Katana’s got some promise but for the first two-thirds of the match, he’s wrestling a slower, more deliberate pace than I’m used to him seeing. Anyway, like the last match, this match gets a lot better as it gets going. At one point, somebody gets thrown out of the ring and Reedy boasts that they don’t have mats at the Paramus Elks Lodge. What is this, early ’90s WCW? Reyes wins the match with a suplex, which is kind of an anti-climatic end for a match with a bunch of near falls. Still, decent match. B-
Well, hey, this show was pretty decent. Got off to a slow start but by the end, it turned into a solid show. Can they sweeten the pot and have two decent shows in a row? I don’t know but for now, I was happy to see a decent, no-frills show. They followed the KISS rule…not a role conjured by Paul Stanley & company, the Keep It Simple, Stupid one. Everything on this show was basic but logical. And I think we had clean finishes all night so kudos to whoever booked this.
So ends another edition of your favorite Monday Tradition. I hope everyone gets a chance to dance around the Maypole sometime but one thing you may never do is feed your dogs chocolate! Thanks for reading and tune back in next week, same time (probably), same place (definitely)!
