Future Endeavors 7/30 Power Poll: We Rushed Punk... Back to the Top of the Power Poll

Problem?
Photo Credit: WWE.com; manipulation: unknown

Welcome to yet another edition of the Future Endeavors Power Poll, a poll ranking wrestlers on a weekly basis based on how awesomely they performed or were portrayed on a Tuesday-to-Monday cycle. It is voted by a who's-who of wrestling bloggers, including my blogging Daniel Bro-yan, PizzaBodySlam. I will list the top ten, and then post and comment on my ballot. Here goes:

1. CM Punk (1)
2. John Cena (6)
3. Rey Mysterio (7)
4. Alberto Del Rio (3)
5. Christian (4)
6. Daniel Bryan (2)
7. Dolph Ziggler (NR)
8. The Miz (8)
9. Mark Henry (5)
10. Zack Ryder (NR)

And now, my ballot:

1. CM Punk - OH NOES THEY RUSHED HIM BACK HURRRR

2. Kevin Steen - Three matches at PWG EIGHT, three wins, including taking home the World Championship. If it weren't for CM Punk, Steen would be the hottest property in wrestling right now, I think.

3. Gregory Iron - Yeah, he lost his match at AAW, but he got a rub from Punk that every other wrestler in the world would kill for.

4. Rey Mysterio - He may have been Champion for only 90 minutes, but what a 90 minutes it was!

5. John Cena - Yeah, he got shown up by Punk, but hey, that match with Mysterio was awesome.

6. Daniel Bryan - He's cashing in at WrestleMania! It's a long way off, and a lot could happen, but, *sniff*, our boy is growing up.

7. Dolph Ziggler - Hey guys? Dolph Ziggler's pretty good.

8. Christian - He's a sneaky fella, fella. Wait, that was supposed to be Sheamus related. This is Christian. Oh well, be that as it may, Christian is still tearing it up on Fridays.

9. The Miz - The match between him and Mysterio was a seriously good tilt. His ring work is catching up with his character.

10. Jim Ross - BAH GAWD. BAH GAWD. BAH GAWD. Yeah he's not a wrestler. No, I don't give a shit. It was good hearing JR again.

Finlay's In Battle of Los Angeles This Year, Guys

The man

Via PWG's site

PWG has announced the eight names to compete in this year's Battle of Los Angeles tournament, held in Reseda August 20th (is it just me, or are they having BOLA earlier and earlier in the year every year now?) The competitors are Willie Mack, World Champion Kevin Steen, former Champ Claudio Castagnoli, Roderick Strong, Eddie Edwards, Chris Hero, El Generico and... wait for it...

Finlay.

They fucking got Finlay for BOLA this year, and they've paired him off with Steen in the first round. It's at this point that I submit to PWG to stop being so awesome because they're all the way on the West Coast and I got a kid coming and I can't in good conscience plan a West Coast road trip to Reseda when I gotta feed a baby GAWD. I'll say it before and I'll say it again; I expect no one to feel sorry for my jealousy because I live in Philly, the mecca of indie wrestling in America. However, that'll never stop me from being out and out jealous that SoCal has one of the two best indies in America and that I can't go to experience it live without great personal cost.

*Awaits backlash from people who note I'll be going to both shows this weekend for the other best indie fed in America*

But yeah, Finlay vs. Steen is obviously Match of the Year candidate bait, but some of those other first round matchups are good looking too. Chris Hero vs. Willie Mack is something that a lot of people have been looking forward to. Eddie Edwards vs. Roderick Strong is a match we've seen in ROH, but that doesn't mean it won't be really good in PWG too. Claudio and Generico is tried-and-true proven goodness. So yeah, it's no stretch to say that if you live in SoCal, like wrestling and don't go to this, you're a terrible person and deserve to be dragged around East Los Angeles by your pinkie toes.

Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein - Please visit his site to view the plentiful amounts of pictures he's taken for DGUSA, ROH and other indie feds: Get Lost Photography

Strike While the Iron Is Hot, Dammit: Why Punk Coming Back Last Night Was Good

Pictured: The Right Call
Photo Credit: WWE.com

The end to last night's RAW was pretty epic from where I stood. CM Punk, coming out to ruin John Cena's party after winning the WWE Championship from Rey Mysterio in a hastily-announced match (one that quite frankly Mysterio in character should have bitched about like Christian did, although his circumstance was worse), "Cult of Personality" blaring, fans chanting for him once they knew who it was coming out from the Gorilla position. To me, it signaled that the WWE has a burgeoning megastar on their hands, one who could at the very worst help Cena, Mysterio and Randy Orton populate the top of the card as heroes and at best could be their biggest star since The Rock or Steve Austin. The segment itself took a lot of criticism though, but not for execution.

It seems there are a lot of people out there who didn't like the timing of it, that Punk should have been stowed away from view for much longer than the one week he was away. Some of them no doubt were the ones who said RAW sucked last week because there was no Punk, but I do take comfort in seeing that most people criticizing this were different from that crowd. It gives credence to my view that Internet wrestling fans don't share a hive mind and actually have their own individual thoughts and feelings. Still though, I can't help but disagree with that crowd. Why?

Surely, you all know about Seth Rollins, aka Tyler Black. Before he was scooped up by WWE, he was probably the most popular guy in ROH for three years running. His big moment, winning the ROH World Championship, though felt flat, almost anti-climactic. Why? Because he'd spent three years futilely chasing the title, losing at every turn he could have. The iron was hot for him to win in 2008 and 2009. So why wait to strap him until the 2010 Anniversary Show, after he'd already gone to a crowd-deflating time limit draw with Austin Aries at Final Battle 2009 three months prior?

Conversely, look at Kevin Steen. A little over a month ago, he made giant waves getting himself "kicked out" of a ROH show in New York as part of an ongoing angle. This has made him the hottest property in the indies ongoing, and if it weren't for Punk, he'd be the hottest thing in wrestling I'd imagine, at least in my scope, which admittedly is a bit skewed. Regardless, Steen has worked indie crowds into a fever pitch, becoming one of the most in-demand wrestlers for any fed to bring in. So what does PWG do? They put the World Championship on him. They struck when the iron was hot, and now, people are talking about them. Well, they'd be talking about them even more if Punk hadn't shown up in AAW on the same night.

But that's the thing. Punk gets people talking, like Black did in ROH and like Steen is doing now in every promotion but ROH (although under the guise of a ROH angle, if that makes sense). Why wouldn't you want the spotlight to be on him in front of fans that want to see him and want to cheer for him? You could argue that he "hasn't been away" enough, but I argue that every second between his disastrous feud with the Undertaker in late 2009 and his epic promo on 6/27 this year was him being "away" from the limelight. He's been building up this furor among his most ardent supporters, all while just haphazardly being there for the rest of the fans, being a dickish heel (enhancing guys like Big Show, Mysterio and Orton along the way), but also showing flashes of awesomeness like his role as an announcer or his Slammy acceptance speech. When he "returned" so to speak, that was the first catharsis. The second one was winning the title. The third was his return and his promise to continue being the voice of the voiceless that essentially made him a good guy.

This isn't the case of someone who has been overexposed needing to go away to freshen up like Cena at the end of last year (although before they haphazardly sprinted to the finish between his first night "gone" and TLC, I really didn't have a problem with him not missing any time then either in terms of how the story could have been told). This is a guy who just, as many people are saying now, had his "Austin 3:16" moment. He doesn't need to be kept away to be built up more. He needs to be paying off on that buzz before he gets too cold.

Black is the ultimate cautionary tale here. Hell, ROH itself is the cautionary fed. Everyone seems to love ROH, but there's a reason why they don't have widespread TV or big mainstream appeal, and it's not because of the style of wrestling. I seriously do think that more wrestling can get over if presented right. However, in the last few years, it hasn't been presented right. The only feud that they've really hit on all cylinders for was El Generico vs. Kevin Steen. Why? Because it was tense all the way through, and it ended at the right time with Generico giving Steen his comeuppance. Otherwise, they waited too long to put the title on Black. They waited six months too long to put the title on Davey Richards. The fact that they put the title on Jerry Lynn at all (instead of Black or even Roderick Strong, another guy that could be argued was kept too long from the title depending on how you view their fanbase) should tell you that ROH's booking model isn't exactly the best one to emulate.

And believe me, Punk does not deserve the same fate as Black. He needs to have the crowd feeding off him, wanting him to be there and anticipating his matches at SummerSlam rather than at Hell in a Cell, whatever they're replacing Bragging Rights with or at Wrestling Match: The PPV Event. As it stood last night, a SummerSlam main event of Cena and Alberto del Rio or even Mysterio would have been nice, but not something that would be must-see for a lot of fans out there. Now that Punk's involved to continue the story with Cena he began in the build to Money in the Bank? Yeah, you get a lot more people excited.

That's why Punk is back, and more importantly, why he needs to be back. Then again, maybe I'm not the best example since I wanted him to sign his contract extension on top of the Spinner Belt. And yeah, I loved the viral stuff they were starting to do and may even continue to do. Again, we don't exactly know what the circumstances of Punk being there last night were, and for all we know, he might have been "crashing the party" (that video on WWE.com where he says "I'm baaaack!" notwithstanding… then again, if it doesn't happen on camera, does it happen?). But yeah, this is certainly the right call. Again, following up on that is key, but I have a strange feeling that everything's gonna be alright.

Weekend Wrap-Up: Gregory Iron, Household Name

- On a weekend where arguably the best indie promotion not on television had its anniversary event with a big title change, the biggest news of the weekend came not from Southern California but from Berwyn, IL and AAW. As I noted on here, CM Punk came to their show Saturday and cut a promo putting over one Gregory Iron (not on WWE as was originally reported). Here's the video:

Iron, man!
Photo Credit: Lyle C. Williams

That is some classy, classy stuff right there. I had no idea that Iron suffered from cerebral palsy. That's awesome that he's wrestling at all given his condition. It's also awesome that Punk did that promo for Iron. As for the show, the big promo came after Iron and Colt Cabana lost a tag match to the Awesome Threesome. Also on the card, Michael Elgin took out Brent B, Arik Cannon defeated Jimmy Jacobs, and Silas Young regained the AAW Heavyweight Championship with a 2 falls to 1 win over Dan Lawrence.

- Speaking of new Champions, PWG has a new World Titleholder, and it's not Chris Hero either. Kevin Steen won the title, defeating Champ Claudio Castagnoli to regain the strap, this after having wrestled two other matches that evening. Talking about being an iron man. This is a great move, I think, as PWG has always struck when the iron is hot, this being yet another example of that. IT was also Claudio's second match of the evening, as he had defeated Hero one-on-one in the match before his loss. Steen defeated PAC in the opener and teamed with CIMA to defeat the Young Bucks in a grudge tag match. Also on the card saw Roderick Strong and Alex Shelley defeat Ricochet and El Generico, and the RockNES Monsters taking out Joey Ryan and Scorpio Sky.

- El Hijo del Bamboo is your Burger King of the Ring, crowned Saturday in Danbury at the latest Interspecies Wrestling Show. He defeated Frankie Arion in the final. The tournament also featured Pinkie Sanchez, Player Uno and a guy named Lloyd Cthulowitz. Oddly enough, Llody Cthulowitz is my new favorite name in all of wrestling. Also on the card, Twiggy defeated Eddie Kingston in a No DQ match.

- Finally, it seems the Osirian Portal cannot catch a break as Ophidian dropped a blog today stating that his jaw has been wired shut and he'll be out for a month or so. Damn, given Amasis' recent retirement, I guess that's a fleshwound comparatively speaking, but it still sucks. The Egyptian time travelers can't catch a break, can they? Someone wrap Hieracon in cellophane! In all seriousness, here's hoping for a speedy recovery for the Venomous and Vile Serpent from the Nile.

Whatever Happened to the Athletic Fat Guy?

Steen: Not svelte, but definitely the goods

Earthquake. Vader. Big Boss Man. Bam Bam Bigelow. The mainstream feds used to be full of athletic big men who had beer bellies to go with their technical prowess and in some cases, high flying moves. Commenter Lucius lamented on Twitter that the athletic fat guy has gone to the wayside. True, if you scour the WWE's roster right now, you'll find one guy who fits the "athletic" mold, rather than the monster role. That guy is Brodus Clay, who's also totally not on TV right now. Mark Henry is a fat guy, but he's also very much a monster-type. He fits a stereotype more than anything else. There's nothing wrong with that at all, as Henry is among the best things going right now in my opinion, but again, variety is a spice of life that WWE doesn't use a whole lot of.

Impact is slightly better. Samoa Joe and Bully Ray are both beer-gutted wrestlers who move around quite well for guys their size. The indies have two other really good examples, one being Kevin Steen, obviously, and the other being Eddie Kingston. Kingston is a borderline example, as he's not really that fat. Steen is a better example in terms of body type. Both men are tremendous wrestlers. Then again, enumerating all those guys, plus adding in maybe Husky Harris, and it's six guys tops who fit the mold. In terms of how many sheer wrestlers are out there, that might be a small number, but then again, what fat people in America today are athletic as well?

Body types have changed over the years too. Be it steroids, better conditioning, better diet, more discipline, more pressure from management to have a better body type or whatever, you don't see nearly as many barrel chests or doughy stomachs anymore. Like it or not, WWE's neuroses over body type have ruled the day to the point where if you want to be a wrestler, you have to acquiesce to WWE's idea of what a wrestler looks like.

Be that as it may, how many truly great athletic fat guys have there been? I wonder if the number of guys with beer guts who can fly around the ring with ease now is just the same as it's been historically. However, the difference is, Boss Man, Earthquake, Vader and Bam Bam all were near the top of the card in WWF, WCW or both. Bam Bam main evented WrestleMania. Boss Man teamed with Hogan and Quake and Vader both feuded with him. Meanwhile, Clay and Harris aren't on TV, Joe and Bully are in a company with no direction, and Steen and Kingston both are kings of the indies.

So maybe Lucius has a point here. It's the number of athletic fat guys, but how they're presented. As a fan of guys like the four historic guys and as boosters of Steen, Kingston, Brodus and Joe, I love seeing this wrestler archetype get its due. So I say yes, let Clay back on WWE TV. Yes, sign Steen, War King and even Joe (if he's available) to WWE and push them to the moon. All body types are welcome, actually. Homogeny is never a good thing. Variety is a spice best applied liberally.

Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein - Please visit his site to view the plentiful amounts of pictures he's taken for DGUSA, ROH and other indie feds: Get Lost Photography

Kevin Steen Is Out for Blood

I don't think you'll like him when he's angry...

Via ROH World and his own website

Looks like WWE isn't the only fed right now looking to blur the lines. Kevin Steen, who was infamously tossed out of Best in the World after turning on his former mentor Steve Corino, has posted an open letter to ROH fans and management concerning his actions. I think it's really well-done and wrought with emotion and passion. Much in the same way as his promo and wrestling style was soaked in blood, this letter seems to have the vitriolic hatred behind it that made Mr. Wrestling a must-watch wrestler in 2010.

Steen focuses his rage on Jim Cornette for forcing him out of the company because he wanted to impress Sinclair and for dumping guys like Adam Pearce, Austin Aries, Necro Butcher, Jimmy Rave and Gabe Sapolsky (which elicited a couple of groan-inducing Tweets asking Steen not to use his name and then pandering for an EVOLVE booking... I like Gabe, but he should have DMed Steen and not used the opportunity to be so cheap). Obviously, he also raged against Corino for "castrating himself" after Steen left the company. He promised to take the whole company down as well, which should make for some entertaining television. Granted, I doubt he'll be able to spew blood, either his own or other guys', if this angle is made a focal point of television once it starts back up, but I don't think Steen needs blood to show his sadistic side.

Either way, this is an interesting turn in the story, and it's something that really has my attention, which I can't say for a lot of other angles in ROH right now.

Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein - Please visit his site to view the plentiful amounts of pictures he's taken for DGUSA, ROH and other indie feds: Get Lost Photography

Weekend Wrap-Up: Holy Balls, What a Busy Weekend

FUCK YEAH GREEN ANT

- Chikara's tripleshot over the weekend was greeted with great critical acclaim, as always, and some big things went down. For one, the Colony got the win over the BDK in the main event Saturday in Taylor. It was supposed to be a battle of the last two King of Trios-winning teams, but Ares had to drop out because of a family emergency. In his place was Sara del Rey. That's not the biggest news. For me, it was the Colony won via Green Ant tapping Claudio Castagnoli with the cloverleaf. I don't know about you, but I think that's awesome. So happy for Green Ant getting the big moment in the sun. Hell, it wasn't a very good weekend for the BDK at all, as they were getting their comeuppance like whoa. Friday night's main event saw Da Soul Touchaz finally get a measure of revenge on the devious Germans with a massive splash on Jakob Hammermeir by BlackDust himself, Willie Richardson. The Throwbacks got a win Saturday against Tim Donst and Hammermeir, and the Spectral Envoy of UltraMantis Black and Hallowicked took out the Donst/Hammermeir teaming on Sunday.

In other matches of interest, Eddie Kingston defeated Colt Cabana on Friday, but as the weekend progressed, he started getting harassed by one Vin Gerard. Gerard attacked Kingston after his 12 Large Summit match on Saturday against Mantis, and then again interfered on Sunday in his match against Hieracon. That could be interesting going forward. In Sunday's main event, the team of the Colony and Mike Quackenbush defeated FIST and Gerard in an atomicos match, via an Ant Hill splash on Johnny Gargano. Also, Frightmare retained his Young Lions Cup against Kodama.

As for the 12 Large Summit, here's a recap of those matches:

FRIDAY - Sara del Rey d. Icarus, Claudio d. Hallowicked, Mantis d. Fire Ant
SATURDAY - Quackenbush d. Ophidian, Kingston d. Mantis

Those results have a logjam at the top of Group A, with Quack, SDR, Claudio and Hallowicked all with two points. Group B has a similar jam, although with one fewer wrestler in the mix. Gerard, Kingston and Mantis all having two points. I have a feeling this one's going to be interesting to the wire, folks.

- Chikara's Sunday afternoon festivities weren't the only thing going on in Cleveland. Yes, AIW's Absolution 6 took place, and my my, it wasn't a very good day for Gargano at all. After eating the pinfall in the Chikara main event, he went and lost his Absolute Championship as well. Now, was it to Tim Donst, the guy he was scheduled to defend against, or was it against someone different who happened to work for Flexor Industries? At this point, I'm not sure as I can't find ANY results for the main event anywhere on the Internet. I wonder if this is intentional. I'll report as soon as I find out, but if Donst is the new Absolute Champion? Get ready to buy earplugs, because we won't hear the end of it. Also on the card, Kingston and a newly rejuvenated BJ Whitmer had one of the best matches of the weekend by observers. Whitmer got the duke. Also, Chest Flexor of the aforementioned Flexor industries got squishified by Tursas, in what I can only describe is perhaps the faciest thing Tursas has ever done.

EDIT: Good news, Donst isn't the new Absolute Champion. It's Shiima Xion, who cashed in his shot at the title via winning the Todd Pettingil Invitational Tournament. So, big month for Xion, who made his Impact debut last week, and is now the top guy in his home fed.

- Arguably the biggest event of the weekend was ROH's Best in the World, which saw two new Champions crowned. In the main event, Davey Richards defeated Eddie Edwards in a reportedly epic match that TWB superfan Billy Dunlevy claimed that "you'd have no soul" if you didn't enjoy. I'd say that was high praise. Also on the card, Christopher Daniels dropped the Television Championship to El Generico. Side note, if you bitch because they defended the title on something that wasn't on TV, then please reconsider your priorities and perhaps why you're a wrestling fan. Same deal goes if you bitched that Kevin Steen didn't honor his stipulation to leave town for good. I for one am thrilled as fuck to see Steen back in ROH, and even more thrilled that he turned on Steve Corino and Jimmy Jacobs, partially because he's one of the few guys that the smark maxim of "everyone's better heel" works for, but mostly because Steen vs. Corino most likely be the greatest brawl in the history of professional wrestling. I am not exaggerating. Okay, maybe I am, but it'll be damn close and damn cool. Also on the card, the World's Greatest Tag Team kept their titles, which makes sense, because the All-Nite Express isn't ready, the Briscoes are old hat and the Kings of Wrestling? Well, the scuttlebutt is that they have contracts on the table to go to WWE. VERY EXCITING SCUTTLEBUTT.

- Anarchy Championship Wrestling in Austin had their Queen of the Joshis Tournament yesterday, and I have results courtesy of With Leather managing editor and ACW superfan Brandon Stroud. Anyway, Rachel Summerlyn won the tourney, defeating Athena in the finals. Also participating were Portia Perez, Mia Yim, Christina von Eerie, Angel Blue, Serena Deeb and Amanda Fox. Outside of Summerlyn taking the tournament, the biggest thing to happen on the card was Perez's manager, Super Electro, unmasking to reveal himself as Robert Evans. He ended up costing Perez her semifinal match against the aforementioned Summerlyn. That's a feud that I'd move to Austin to see. Yes, I am dead serious. Here's a complete rundown of the tournament, because B-Stroud was kind enough to send it over to me:

ROUND 1:
Perez d. Yim, Summerlyn d. von Eerie, Athena d. Blue, Fox d. Deeb

SEMIFINALS:
Summerlyn d. Perez, Athena d. Fox

FINAL:
Summerlyn d. Athena

Also on the card, Davey Vega defended his ACW Championship against Darin Childs.

- Women's Superstars Uncensored held their Uncensored Rumble Saturday, which was won by Lexus over 22 other women. She'll get a crack at Mercedes Martinez, whose reign as Champion has now stretched over 44 defenses and 30 months, making her maybe the longest reigning Champion, male or female, around right now? I don't know, maybe some arcane NWA title that gets defended once every solar eclipse is longer held, but holy shit, for a fed that operates as regularly as WSU seems to, that's impressive. And remember, she defended the title like three or four times on EVOLVE cards too. Also on the card, Jillian Hall made her wrestling return, putting over Kristin Astara in her first match since leaving WWE. Cindy Rogers retired by defeating Allison Danger and both Sassy Stephie and the Boston Shore retained their respective Spirit and Tag Team Championships.

- And just in case you couldn't get enough indie wrestling news, CZW held its annual Tournament of Death Saturday, won by MASADA (who hopped on a plane and landed in Austin the next day to appear in ACW). He defeated Dysfunction, Matt Tremont and then Masashei Takeda for the win. He'll get a shot at Danny Havoc's Ultraviolent Underground Title, and the winner of that will go onto a garbage match Champion vs. Champion affair against Ryuji Ito, Big Japan's Deathmatch Champion. Doesn't sound like my cup of tea, but it's certainly a big deal. Also on the card, Sami Callihan, whose star is ascending exponentially in the indies, earned a chance at DJ Hyde's CZW World Championship by defeating Greg Excellent.

- And in one bit of Impact Wrestling news, Hulk Hogan dropped on his Twitter that the former TNA would be going on the road every other week to tape Impact starting in August. Good move for the company. Now if they can only stop booking shit shows...

Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein - Please visit his site to view the plentiful amounts of pictures he's taken for DGUSA, ROH and other indie feds: Get Lost Photography

Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!

Know Your Indie Wrestlers: Kevin Steen

Mr. Wrestling

Who: Kevin Steen
Also Known As: Mr. Wrestling IV
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 238 lbs.
Hometown: Marieville, QC

Promotions: PWG, ROH (alumnus), C*4, IWS, CZW (alumnus)

Affiliations: His most current affiliation is in the Nightmare Violence Connection in PWG with Akira Tozawa. Even though Tozawa will be leaving America for the time being, I assume the bond will remain strong. In ROH, he was last seen palling around with Steve Corino, and the rumor is he'll be returning a changed man with Corino and Jimmy Jacobs to combat the House of Truth. His most classic pairing was with El Generico, but that was shattered at Final Battle 2009 with a chairshot to the head.

Twitter: @SteenIsChange

Signature Moves:
Package Piledriver


Steenalizer


Apron Powerbomb


CAAAAAANONBALLLLLLLL


The most impressive 450 splash I've ever seen


Moonsault


Accolades:
PWG World Heavyweight Championship
PWG World Tag Team Championship (2x, w/ El Generico)
ROH World Tag Team Championship (w/ El Generico)
IWS World Heavyweight Championship (3x)
IWS Canadian Championship
C*4 Championship
C*4 Tag Team Championship (w/ Mike Bailey)
CZW Iron Man Championship
2010 Wrestling Observer Best Brawler
2010 Wrestling Observer Feud of the Year (vs. El Generico)

Promos:

Promo to Sylvian Grenier en Francaise


Pre-Survival of the Fittest 2010


2005 Promo for PWG as Champion


Interrupting AJ Styles


C*4 Promo


Steen vs. Southwest


Post-match promo with Akira Tozawa


All About Kevin Steen:

His Matches - If you've never seen a Kevin Steen match, then I feel like you're missing out. Seriously, he's one of the best all-around grapplers in the game today, indies, mainstream, American or foreign. You have this guy, and he's not a bodybuilder or a beanpole, and yet he flies around more gracefully than most spot machines anywhere. I mean, did you see the moonsault and the 450 I posted above? They're among the best in the business. He also is among the best brawlers in the industry. Dave Meltzer and his readers weren't full of shit here when they voted him Best Brawler last year. I've seen him in person tearing it up with Colt Cabana and El Generico.

The best part about him isn't the flying or the brawling. No, he's a bona fide head dropper. That package piledriver, taken by the one and only Bryce Remsburg TWICE, is one of the best moves going today. And if that weren't all, the guy's so expressive and emotive in the ring. His facial expressions are top notch. As a heel, his taunting is excellent and adds so much to his matches. Hell, he even COMMENTATED his own match a couple of time last year in ROH. Seriously, you want to talk about the "Best in the World" moniker now that Danielson's left the indies, don't look at Davey Richards. Don't look at Eddie Edwards, or Low Ki or even Claudio Castagnoli, Chris Hero or Akira Tozawa. It's Kevin Steen. It's always been Kevin Steen.

His Character - The meme among Internet fans is guys are always better heel than face. While I think that's bullshit in most cases, in this one, it's true. While Steen's an alright face character, his best work comes as a heel, a sadistic almost psychopathic heel with silly undertones that only serve to bolster his sickness in-character. Just go back to the feud with Generico last year; Steen played his character perfectly.

As a face, he can be a little dry, but then again, there have been some great moments of him as a babyface in promos where he'd just deadpan lines or look at the guy in the segment with him like he was nuts, totally making the scene work. Still, while his face work isn't bad, as a younger Hannibal Lecter, he shines brightest.

Why You Should Know Him - Steen is one of the most versatile wrestlers out there in the indies today. Why he's not on WWE's radar is beyond me, but if I were in Johnny Ace's or Jim Ross' spot, I'd be throwing a developmental deal at him faster than you can say l'etats, c'est moi. Be that as it may though, he's definitely one of the best guys on the indie scene, which makes it that much more baffling why ROH let him go at the end of last year, just to replace him with guys like Homicide (who's good, but a retread) and Rhino (who blows).

Regardless, we're lucky for having Steen on the indies. He's a treat to watch, and I'm not alone in this. Steen is among the most fan-favorite wrestlers among the indies, garnering huge positive reactions despite his alignment. The fact that he's so over means that feds want to book him. If he comes to a promotion in your town, buy tickets as soon as he's announced. Seriously, he's that good.

Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein - Please visit his site to view the plentiful amounts of pictures he's taken for DGUSA, ROH and other indie feds: Get Lost Photography

Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!

The Wrestling Podcast, Episode 5: Tom Ford Talks PWG

Vol 5: Paul London Calling

This episode is an all-PWG affair, as Philly ex-pat Tom Ford and I talk about All-Star Weekend 8. We run the card down and talk about the stuff that happened, as well as veering off into other conversation during it, among them, who the best women wrestlers are, why Akira Tozawa is awesome and whether I’d pay money to see Claudio Castagnoli give a 100-rotation airplane spin to Evan Bourne on WWE PPV (spoiler alert, I totally would). We finish by talking briefly about TV, since Ford is a HUGE TV nut. LISTEN!

Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!

BIG Shake-up to PWG All-Star Weekend Night One

Via the PWG boards

Mr. Wrestling pulling double duty tonight

No sooner do I get done writing my preview and pimping Shelley/Ki and Tozawa/Edwards as must-see matches than this happens. Low Ki will miss Night One of All-Star Weekend 8 due to an undisclosed family emergency. Therefore, two new matches have been made in the fall out. The first one will pit Alex Shelley against Eddie Edwards in a match featuring one-half of each of the best tag teams in the world today (even if the American Wolves are going through bit of a marital spat in ROH right now).

The second match is one that will rekindle the hottest feud in all professional wrestling from 2010 as El Generico will team with Ricochet, the guy he was scheduled to face originally, against Akira Tozawa and Kevin Steen. Whoa. Talk about making the best of a bad situation. Steen was originally slated to face Willie Mack tonight. Okay, so whither Mack? Well, actually, the Steen/Mack match isn't going anywhere. Yep, Kevin Steen will wrestle twice tonight. Now I'm really jealous.

Anyway, here's hoping that Ki's family troubles aren't so serious and that they get resolved as beneficially for him as possible.

Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein - Please visit his site to view the plentiful amounts of pictures he's taken for DGUSA, ROH and other indie feds: Get Lost Photography

Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!

An Event That Lives up to Its Name: PWG All-Star Weekend Preview

WAR TOZAWA

The Southern California indie scene has a relatively new player in town in NWA Hollywood. They've generated a good buzz and made the rest of the nation aware that there's more to the greater Los Angeles indie scene than Pro Wrestling Guerrilla. Granted, it's using a lot of the same players, but with the TV exposure and the more regular storylines, well, it's the new thing.

That's not to say you can forget about PWG. Oh hell no, there will be no way that the elder statesman of SoCal indie feds should be ignored or diminished, and the big reason is that they produce cards like the one starting tomorrow night at American Legion Hall #308 in Reseda, CA. Yes, it's All-Star Weekend again, the eighth installment of their star-studded all-weekend long affair, and this year's proceedings have a lineup of talent that totally makes the fed justified in the name of their event.

You can find the full cards here, but I'll do you even better and preview some of what I feel will be the standout matches of the weekend. When you've got a talent roster of Claudio Castagnoli, Austin Aries, Roderick Strong, Chris Hero, the Young Bucks/Generation Me, Kevin Steen, Akira Tozawa, El Generico, Alex Shelley, Low Ki, Eddie Edwards, Chuck Taylor, Scorpio Sky, Joey Ryan and Ricochet among others wrestling for you, it would take a lot of aggravating factors for it to turn out to be average let alone bad, so yeah, maybe I don't need to sell you on the matches they have booked, since you could throw darts and create random matches from that lineup. But I am anyway. Why? Because I love PWG and I love writing about it.

Night One, which is tomorrow (Friday), is headlined by two pretty killer title matches. The titular main event is a Clash between Kings. Claudio Castagnoli defends his PWG World Heavyweight Championship. Both Claudio on his Twitter as well as the official PWG preview swear this match will remain friendly, as the two have been nearly inseparable since reuniting in ROH early in 2010. Things can be a bit different in LA-LA Land though, as wrestlers go there to change their images rather than be the same people they are, say, on the East Coast. Is that a guarantee that things will boil over? I can't read it right now, although with all the platitudes going around, I'd say it's a near lock that there'll be some kind of feud coming out of this. That being said, I don't think you could ask for a better Night One title bout than the one that the PWG faithful are going to see tomorrow night. These guys know each other and know each other's limits better than anyone else but themselves. I think this could be a serious MOTY candidate.

The other title match is, of course, the PWG Tag Team Championship match between the Bucks and the RockNES Monsters. While I'm not as sold on Johnny Yuma, the Rock half of the challengers, the NES half of Johnny Goodtime is more than adept at covering for his partner, as he's shown in several episodes of NWA Hollywood, where the Monsters are featured quite prominently. Given that they're in there against one of the best tag teams in the business in a match that should have plenty of heat, I think we have the recipe for what could steal the show or even get the main event slot given how protected the PWG Tag Titles and division on the whole has been. When the Bucks aren't forced to job to Matt Hardy in glorified handicap matches on Impact, well, they shoot fireworks. This match will get time, and I think it'll be really good.

The next two matches are the kinds of dream-type matches that make any PWG card must-see. The first will pit two guys that were riding on top of the world late last year in the big companies only to suffer precipitous misfortunes that ended up benefiting indie fans like you and me (and before you n00bs say anything, re: Shelly, I'm talking more about TNA's bright idea to tease a MCMG breakup, not his clavicle injury). Alex Shelley, still of TNA fame, takes on Low Ki, formerly Kaval, in what will definitely be a hard-hitting match with all the spotlight on it. The last Shelley tilt in PWG I witnessed with my own eyes was at As the Worm Turns against Chris Hero. It was, in a word, epic. Ki will have some big shoes to fill, but if anyone can, it'll be him and his lethal kicks of chest-reddening destruction.

The last match I wanted to highlight for Night One is not El Generico/Ricochet, mainly because if you don't know why that match is going to be awesome, or at the very least exciting if flawed, then you need to jump out of a window. No, the fourth match that I think will knock it out of the park is Akira Tozawa taking on Eddie Edwards. I had always been cognizant of Tozawa, but when I finally saw him live for the first time at King of Trios a month or so ago, the man blew me away with his ability. The Other Wolf is making his PWG solo debut (after making his total debut at DDT4 with partner Davey Richards), and I think he provides a great foil for Tozawa here. Bonus points will be had for this match if Tozawa has the same hairstyle and facial hair for this as he did at King of Trios. All the bonus points in the world will be had if he wears a keyboard necktie to the ring.

Night Two isn't slouching in the match quality department either. The title situations for this card will not be set until Night One is in the books, but all four potential title matches look like the goods to me. First up, Claudio will battle Ki in the titular main event right now, although if Hero wins the title and the Young Bucks retain on Night One, I can totally see the Tag Team Championship match taking the final bow of the weekend. Anyway, this is a classic size mismatch, which worked so well for Ki as Kaval in WWE during his NXT and mostly-Superstars run. The difference is that in this match, Claudio will actually sell extensively for the big-voiced-in-a-small-framed wrestler more than just in token style like Jack Swagger and the like were instructed to do. I expect a very physical, strike-based match with a lot of potential for Ki to bump like a pinball for Claudio's big move offense.

The other potential World Championship match might sound a bit unsure to you, but again, trust me on this one, it should be really, really good. Hero is slated to go against Willie Mack in this match. If you don't know who Mack is, well, he's a great story. He was actually one of PWG's original fans, going to all the early shows in the promotion's history. Then, he went and got himself trained, and now he's turning into SoCal's hottest property. He's wrestled guys like Roderick Strong in PWG and Austin Aries in NWA Hollywood, and now, he has the opportunity of a lifetime to impress the indie world at large, whether it's for the strap or not. Hero is about as big-name an opponent as they come nowadays, and I think that Mack, the guy who has a similar kind of look and style as Samoa Joe had in the indies, is more than game for the challenge.

The first of two potential Tag Title matches is a historic one. Should the Bucks retain tomorrow night, Saturday's match with Generation Next will be for the straps. If you don't know who Generation Next is because you're more of a neophyte indie fan, well, it's Roderick Strong and Austin Aries. Yep, in only their second match after reuniting for the first time in over five years (the first one is Night One against the Cutler Bros., one of my new favorite tag team acts by the way), Aries and Strong may have the chance to capture gold. Honestly, this may turn out to be the best match of the weekend. Bar none. It's must see. Seek out the DVDs for this match, even if nothing else interests you on the card.

Finally, the other potential Tag Title match will pit those RockNES Monsters against the Nightmare Violence Connection teaming of Tozawa and Kevin Steen. First off, can I tell you how much I love their tag name? It's a throwback to the AJPW tag team the Miracle Violence Connection, consisting of Terry Gordy and Steve Williams, and the changing of the first word to Nightmare only proves to perfectly exemplify the wrestling styles of both men. The funny thing is that they kicked so much ass at DDT4 that despite their ruthless heel aggression, they were pretty much got the biggest face reactions of the tournament. Go figure. Anyway, I can't wait to see the interplay between Goodtime and Tozawa here, as well as the sheer amounts of brutish thuggery that the NVC are going to whip out. I have a feeling that this one should be worthy of a classic PWG Tag Title defense should the belts go RockNES' way on Friday night.

As if In-n-Out Burger, the Grill 'Em All Burger truck, the idyllic warm weather year round and the massive amounts of hot women populating the region didn't make me jealous enough of Southern California, PWG takes the cake. If you're there, you need to go to Reseda and buy up a general admission ticket before they sell out, even if it's just for one of the nights. You don't need to be an over-optimist, a PWG apologist or really anything else but a realistic indie wrestling fan to know that your purchase will be well-rewarded, and that All-Star Weekend will more than live up to its name.

Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein - Please visit his site to view the plentiful amounts of pictures he's taken for DGUSA, ROH and other indie feds: Get Lost Photography

Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!