Connor McGrath
Wrestling On Fire is a nationally syndicated professional wrestling program that combines footage of “current” wrestling shows promoted by independent wrestling federations across the Northeast and classic matches from the various wrestling territories of yesteryear. Each weekend, I take a semi-comical and critical look at the half hour version of their program.
Hello, folks! Hope you’re enjoying the swing of Spring wherever you are and welcome to (the recap to) another edition of Wrestling On Fire. Some changes this week as the logo has officially changed from the NWA logo to the new Wrestling On Fire logo.
And we start with a promo from Mike Mondo, formerly Mikey of the Spirit Squad. Mondo cuts a promo on “The Greek God” Papadon and he says he’s coming t0 NWA On Fire to take him down. Production values for this promo has improved 10 fold. Mondo is playing a fired up babyface. He uses the phrase “ON FIRE” approximately a dozen times in the promo and finishes by saying “It’s on like Donkey Kong!” Well, I guess the production values and star levels have improved somewhat, the quality of the promos haven’t so far!
Homicide Vs Lance Anoa’i.
The announcers, Ken Reedy and occasional NWA On Fire competitor Ray Ray Marz are our commentators this week. They’re still obviously in a state of flux because the announcers refer to the show as “NWA On Fire” but the graphics say Wrestling On Fire. I’ll use the new On Fire logo for the show photo because, hey why not? This venue looks a bit better than the usual dives they’ve ran and again, production value is better. Lance Anoa’i is the son of Headshrinker Samu. Homicide, of course, is a former ROH and TNA star. Anoa’i over powers Homicde and pummels him for a couple minutes to the crowd’s delight. The bloodthirsty kids in the crowd chant “Break his arm” Anoa’i misses a charge and Homicide takes over. Reedy lets us know this is a Liberty States Wrestling show. Reedy freaks out and says Homicide is “literally trying to rip Anoai’s face off”. They don’t call him “Homicide” for nothin’. Reedy and Marz plug upcoming Liberty States Wrestling and PWS shows. Anoai finally launches a comeback. Anoai pays tribute to his cousin Rikishi by ramming his butt into Homicide’s face. Homicide uses heel chicanery to take back over but Anoa’i ducks a clothesline and hits a Rock Bottom. Anoa’i misses a big splash and Homicide hits a t-bone suplex for the win. Winner: Homicide via pinfall. Even working at half speed, these guys were 10x better than the usual current day NWA On Fire match I’ve seen on this show. Match was solid, meat and potatoes formula and had a simple story that it told well; Anoa’i was the stronger, quicker plucky young powerhouse but Homicide was able to use his ring smarts and bend the rules to get the win.
And we get a repeat of last week’s Apter Alley for some reason. And that’s the end of the show. This fuckin’ show!
Halfway through, I was ready to give this show a huge thumbs up (despite the goofy Mike Mondo promo that opened it). The match featured this week, while not a MOTY candidate or anything was far better than the usual fare featured on the show and production had greatly improved (though the commentary was still a bit muffled). But then laziness reared its ugly head again and we saw a mediocre, overlong segment we saw last week. Even if this show is a few weeks behind (and the announcers did hype a PWS show that happened last weekend), that’s no excuse for showing the same Ted DiBiase/Bill Apter in such a short span. Still I’m optimistic about the future of this television show. It actually might become a show worth watching for reasons other than unintentional comedy purposes. If getting indy veterans like Ricky Reyes and Papadon was a step in the right direction then getting legit stars like Homicide and genuine up and comers like Anoa’i is a massive leap towards being a viable indy wrestling organization. There’s still a long way to go but already, this company is unrecognizable from a few months ago when goofs like The Giant Pharaoh and Josef Von Schmidt lumbered across the screen. I still have to give this show a Moderate Thumbs Up!
Stay tuned next week for another (recap of a) episode of Wrestling On Fire!
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