Connor McGrath
Spring is here and so is another edition of ECPW On Fire. So throw Old Man Winter out of the room (and make him STAY OUT) and get to readin’ my thoughts about some small time New Jersey indy rasslin. Let’s get ride down to ringside for the action.
This weekend’s show starts with a weird cold open where Junior Flow is seen working out in the ring with an unknown wrestler at the ECPW Training School while Joey G looks on. Flow throws the ham and egger out of the ring. Joey G is APPALLED at this behavior and lets Junior Flow know about. Junior Flow just stares at him dead eyed. I don’t think I’ve seen a commentator so incredulous over a wrestler’s behavior since Vince McMahon getting worked up about Stone Cold during Austin’s formative months in late ’96/early ’97. Joey G has to mention how upset he is about Junior Flow’s new attitude at least once every ten seconds every time Flow is on screen. Anyway, this 15 second segment just serves to set up that this show will revolve again around Junior Flow’s betrayal of his father Frankie and his subsequent attitude change/heel turn.
Mr. Thursday Night Vs Joey Simone
Mr. Thursday Night has a valet with him but I don’t catch her name. This is the third time I’ve seen Mr. Thursday Night and they’ve never explained his nickname. In fact, one of the topics of conversation during this match is how nobody understands why Mr. Thursday Night calls himself that. The best guess Ken Reedy and Joey G have is that MTN goes out on Thursday Nights. I can’t hate him for that. I’ve always been a big proponent of Thirsty Thursdays. Enough people are out so you don’t feel like an alkie loser for going out like you might if you went out early in the week but the bars aren’t as packed as they are on Friday or Saturday. Anyway, the reason I’m talking about my social drinking habits is this match is fairly unremarkable. I watched it a half hour ago and barely remember it. MTN wins with a Scorpion Death Drop after Simone acts like a dumbass and gets distracted by Thursday’s valet on the apron. Meh. C
Big Bad John (with Vincent Valentine) Vs General Bobby Lee Walker (with The Creeper)
Storyline here is Walker’s manager The Creeper was “discovered” by Vincent Valentine during Valentine’s first run in the company and now their clients are fighting each other. The Creeper really doesn’t manage much. He’s just an ECPW On Fire superfan that I believe is a special needs person. I kind of hope that assumption is wrong because the idea of a special needs person being in a stable of carnival freaks at one point is a bit beyond the pale even for pro wrestling. ANYWAY. Bobby Lee Walker has a Southern hillbilly type gimmick. This is pretty much an extended squash for Big Bad John and not a very good one at that. D
Vincent Valentine cuts a green screen promo on Walker and The Creeper, bragging about how he’s done what he promised he would do last week. Valentine hypes up another match next week between another protege of his, Luka The Sideshow Freak against The Punisher Martinez. I’m not sure whether I’m digging Valentine yet or not. He brings a good level of energy to that show but that good level of energy sometimes sounds like somebody impersonating Mark Hamill’s Joker.
Bandido Jr Vs Junior Flow
This is a grudge match. Bandido is Frankie Flow’s tag team partner and Junior cost them the titles. The announcers put over the fact that unlike Frankie, Bandido has no problem beating the pulp out of Junior. You’d think that would set up an intense brawl but not really the case here outside of the last few minutes. Couple side notes: The audio levels on commentary, especially Joey G, are really messed up (alternating between indecipherable and REALLY LOUD) and I have to watch the match almost on mute to protect my poor, little ears. Also, crowds at the Paramus Elks Lodge have been pretty decent the past few shows. Definitely becoming the home venue for this promotion. Back to thoughts on the actual match Junior Flow is a guy who can pull off some neat spots but also messes up a lot of simple stuff. This is one of those matches that is just there to set up a rematch. The finish comes when Bandido Jr gets fed up with Junior Flow’s heel antics and grabs a chair. Frankie Flow runs down to ringside and takes it away from Bandido and tries to reason with him. While this happens, Junior sneaks behind Bandido and low blows him to draw the DQ. I haven’t seen a low blow earn a disqualification in years. It’s a cheap finish but I kind of like it for nostalgia purposes. C
After the match, Frankie pulls apart Bandido and Junior with Junior eventually scampering to the back. Bandido Jr challenges Junior to a No DQ match at the next show at the Paramus Elks Lodge. Junior accepts and Papa Frankie looks distraught that his tag team partner and his son will be fighting again.
We end the show with Joey G recapping the feud between Bandido and Junior Flow and hype for the rematch.
I sound like a broken record with all of my end of the shows recaps but I feel like my thoughts on this week’s show are pretty similar to my thoughts on last week’s. Once again, layout wise, the show was focused and well structured, centering itself around showcasing the Flow Family’s implosion and Vincent Valentine being evil. However, the content of the show leaves a lot to be desired. Frankie Flow-Junior Flow aren’t particularly great wrestlers or charismatic (though Frankie’s done a good job as a distraught Dad that wants to be the better man and stay above the fray despite the betrayal) and we haven’t really gotten an explanation as to why Junior has betrayed his father. Just that he did it and supposedly a horrible person for doing so.
All of this seems to serve as filler and to distract from the fact that six months after the title was held up, we still don’t have a ECPW On Fire Champion. The whole situation has gone from baffling to upsetting to just downright humorous. I somehow have my doubts that things will shake themselves out after the Triple Threat Unification Cage Match on April 4th. I’d really like to be wrong and have the ECPW On Fire Universe figure out who is going to be “The Guy” in the promotion but I have my doubts. Hopefully, I can change my tune and hopefully all of YOU will have a great week. And remember that while April Fools is coming up and is full of fun and games, there’s no fun and games to be had with a sick pet! Remember to never feed your dogs chocolate.
