Wrestling Review // We Are Wrestling Wanna Be Startin' Something 8/13/21 Knights Of Columbus, Ridgefield Park, NJ

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When this show was first announced- and it basically also became the announcement of the promotion as it is their first show- I was sold as soon as I saw the match between Trish Adora vs Darius Carter.   What a perfect chance for a face vs heel encounter that has somehow never happened up until this point.    But I would find that a lot of these matches were not only first time match ups but they had that idea behind them of "How has this not happened before?" but I was so glad that they were happening.

I must have said this about ten times during the show itself to various people but one of the things I love about this show is that it had a lot of diversity on the card.   It wasn't an all women's show but it also wasn't one where you felt like there was only one women's match (which is sometimes referred to by other promotions as a "special attraction") so I felt like it went along with promotions I love like Blitzkrieg! Pro, Beyond Wrestling, Invictus Pro, Battle Club Pro, Test Of Strength and Pro Wrestling Magic (for a short list)

It is also worth noting that I knew every wrestler on this show (in the sense that we had seen them wrestle live before or I really wanted to see them wrestle live) except for the students in the pre-show match but since they are students that's the point, right?   The show opened with Saieve Al Sabah taking on Matt Cross and this is just one of those matches where if you go to Middle America you'll find it headlining an indie show.   It delivered on every level of wrestling and was a great way to start things off.

The second match (not counting the pre-show type match) was Becca vs Billie Starkz.   I feel like I see Becca wrestle at least once every weekend, which just goes to show the type of star that she is becoming.   I've seen Billie Starkz on IWTV and FITE but never live before.  This was a fun match and ultimately Becca ended up playing the heel, yelling at the audience, as she sometimes does when it feels like the crowd doesn't know who to cheer for.  Billie Starkz has this presence about her- going from the screen to real life- that makes me think of like how Hellboy went from being a comic book character to portrayed by Ron Perlman on the big screen.   It's just larger than life.

For some reason Steve Pena interjected himself into a match between Yahya and Yoya.  This was a fun match though because Yoya is smaller, Yahya is big like Vader but can move and Steve Pena has that Diesel thing going on so everyone brought something different to this match but they could all still hang with each other.  I still want to see Yahya vs Yoya one on one, but this is enough to hold me over for the rest of the year if need be.

Ken Broadway is all about "If it doesn't make dollars then it don't make sense" while Richard Holliday is the "Air Pod God" and likes to rub it in the fans' faces that he's better than them.   This felt like such a perfect fit for opponents because Richard Holliday has that way of putting himself on a pedestal, above the fans, but Ken Broadway can be right up there with him so his mind games don't work.

Before intermission there was a scramble match and the rules kind of confused me.  I thought that the first two wrestlers would come out and fight and then after two minutes the third would come out and then so on until all five were in the match.   This had me excited when El Oso Blanco came out first and then Janai Kai joined him because I wanted to see them fight each other.  But then we learned that everyone who wasn't going to start the match was coming out first- it was backwards to what I thought- but it was still fun.

The match was started by Big Game Leroy and Isaiah Wolf and when I asked Big Game Leroy what game he was playing on his Switch he responded "Pokemon!"   Isaiah Wolf then went on to ask me why it mattered because this was a wrestling match and I told him that I just have a naturally curious mind, which I do.   One other funny moment in this match occurred when a child next to me asked Janai Kai if her strikes were karate and El Oso Blanco responded "I don't know but they hurt!"

Before the final four matches there was an intermission and though there were a lot of matches and wrestling in general it all went by in a timely manner and didn't feel like we were there for as long as we were.  During intermission and after the show we got to talk with everyone we wanted to and buy merch as well so I was happy about that.  I know we aren't fully out of the pandemic so I can respect a wrestler's right to stay away from fans for their health, but I also feel like wrestlers can make good money on merch so I love to see it when they do.

Prior to the pandemic I feel like MSP were on the verge of breaking out and becoming *the* tag team in independent wrestling.  If someone were to create tag titles in the same way that Wheeler Yuta holds that Independent Championship, then MSP would certainly have them.  I feel happy now that MSP seems to be getting a lot of that momentum back and have opponents like the Besties In The World.   I've seen the Besties matches before but perhaps I best know them for this clip that always used to play on IWTV during intermission where they discussed turning heel and being the "Worsties".

Seeing the Besties for the first time live against MSP was just something magical.   This was such an amazing tag team match I can't even begin to explain it.  Most tag team matches are so formulaic in the way that one person gets beat down by the other two, makes a hot tag and then the match is 90% over.   This match did not do that.  This match just had everyone beating the hell out of each other until the very end.

I was counting to myself (and Quentin) how many matches were left and I thought that there would be four because it was supposed to be Masha vs Savannah, something unannounced for KiLynn King and then the two main events.  What we didn't know was that Masha Slamovich was not there because she went to AEW for a match instead (which is huge, congrats to her) so Savannah Evans ended up facing KiLynn King.   All I'm going to say is we still need Masha vs Savannah at some point because I've told both of them my story.

Savannah Evans vs KiLynn King was everything I could have hoped for and more.  They both are about the same size- which I only note because they are both tall and intimidating- so this match seemed fairly even.   This also kind of played on the Impact vs AEW feud because KiLynn King is someone who I've seen on AEW Dark (mostly) but this was my first time seeing her live and Savannah Evans recently debuted in Impact so I'm going out of my way to watch that now as well.  It's such the power of pro wrestling.

The co-main event of the evening saw Anthony Greene take on Rob Killjoy.  This was a match that I personally called for on Twitter and when Anthony Greene was told he could pick his own opponent I was pleased that he chose Rob Killjoy because it was the match which made the most sense.  On one hand, you have Anthony Greene coming back to the independent scene with something to prove and then you have Rob Killjoy who has been here but seems to feel as if he has something to prove in every single match.  

These two went at it hard and I didn't know who was going to win until the very end.   Anthony Greene flipped Rob Killjoy over in the corner and hit a piledriver on him which looked like a more effective way to do a Canadian Destroyer and that was it.   These two guys went out there and left it all in that ring though.  AG like he never left (except he wears pants now) and Rob Killjoy just always showing up.   This match (and really this whole show) was everything that I thought it could be on paper and yet so much more.  

During the main event perhaps the only thing which outweighed the love of Trish Adora was the fact that the crowd wanted to boo Darius Carter.  This was a back and forth match, neither really seeming to best the other.   Then it happened.  Referee Nick Shin went down.  Another referee came out.  And this second ref counted the 1-2-3 for Darius Carter to win with his feet up on the ropes for leverage.  

When I tell you this place exploded with boos and taunts you will not fully be able to understand it if you weren't there.   This crowd was HEATED.  There was no way Darius Carter was making it to his car after that.  That's the vibe I got.   But then Nick Shin said no.  He told the other ref to know his role and that the decision would not stand and the match would continue.  The crowd nearly blew the roof off of the building as they were so happy that their worst nightmares were not coming true with Darius Carter holding yet another championship (and some would even say *the* championship)

Next, Darius Carter took the championship and left so I thought we were going to have an ongoing story before Trish Adora went after him, brought him back out and beat him into a pin for the win.   When I say to you, dear reader, that I have never experienced a higher intensity of emotions live for a wrestling match- the cheers for Trish Adora and the boos for Darius Carter- I want everyone to study both of these truly gifted athletes to learn how to elicit the reaction they seek.  

This was simply a fantastic show from top to bottom and to think it was the debut show of We Are Wrestling is just what makes it even more remarkable.   At the beginning of the show, it was explained to the crowd that the name is We Are Wrestling because it's not just about the wrestlers but about everyone in that building- including the fans- who make the show what it is.  I truly believe that and I believe that on this night, this Friday the 13th, this Knights Of Columbus in Ridgefield Park, NJ had the best wrestling fans.  I just want to know which one of my teeth Darius Carter thinks is fake.