Wrestling Review // Test of Strength Halloween Throwdown 2 10/2/21 Waterbury, CT

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During the last full week of September- prior to the week of this show- Quentin and I were in Florida (at Disney) so we missed a few wrestling shows along the way.   This also made it so that the last wrestling show we went to was Pro Wrestling Magic and before that was the previous Test of Strength show.  Usually, it feels like we go to ten other wrestling shows before we get back to TOS again but this time it felt more like we were picking up where we left off since the two shows felt closer together somehow.

Halloween Throwdown 2 opened up with the Brick City Boyz taking on The Firm for the Tag Team Championship.   What's funny is that you might wonder why the Brick City Boyz just seemingly get to come into TOS and are given a title shot, but if you look at the name of the promotion it is about testing your strength so why not.   I've also seen the BCB twice before- in BST and PWM- and both times they were heels.  This is one of those things that TOS does that I love and it's they can turn a heel team into faces just by putting them up against bigger heels.

As there were chants of "Brick City Sucks" someone in the crowd yelled "Not today" and that immediately got the crowd on the side of the challengers.   This was such a fun match because Sammy Diaz and Elijah 6 play the perfect heels.   Eli came outside of the ring at one point and asked us "How are y'all doing?" and after we replied he said "I don't care!"-- a true heel move.  The crowd was firmly on the side of Brick City, something I had never seen before, but they just couldn't overcome the numbers game.

This took us into what was one of my most anticipated matches of the show: Karen Bam Bam vs Evie De La Rosa.  This was the first time that we were seeing Karen Bam Bam without the TOS Title and that was because of Evie De La Rosa.  It's one thing to get on that bad side of Karen Bam Bam by costing her a match but it's even worse to cost her the title.   This one broke down into shenanigans as Dan DeMan and Brother Greatness came out to attack Karen Bam Bam.  Dan DeMan was dressed like The Joker, which was a cool Halloween costume four or more years ago.

To show how truly twisted the mind of Dan DeMan is though, you have to wonder why someone who doesn't believe women should be in the same ring as him is going against Karen Bam Bam when she is clearly better.   It's not a fight that any wrestler in their right mind would really pick.  But on top of that, Dan DeMan (and Brother Greatness) then began working with Evie De La Rosa to attack Karen Bam Bam.   What makes Evie De La Rosa exempt from the whole "women in wrestling" rule?  You can't say women don't belong in your ring and then bring a woman into your little faction.  But I'm sure Dan "Not Cruella" DaMan will have a video posted somewhere that addresses this.

I've seen Ben Ruten before, as he has appeared for such promotions as Camp Leapfrog.  I was excited to see him live for the first time but the crowd was against him because they just love Ryan Fraust so much.  I must note though that after this match, Ben Ruten and Ryan Fraust shook hands out of respect and it was a classy move.   I really want to start seeing Ben Ruten everywhere and in the future I'm pretty sure that I will.

One of the funnier sides of TOS lately has been TJ Howell III playing caddy to Ryan Fraust.  To be fair, Cold Cash broke up when TJ Howell III thought he could turn on Ryan Fraust without consequences, so, it only seems fitting.  At one point during the match, TJ Howell III said "My name is TJ!" but I pretended like he said "CJ" and asked him if the "C" stood for "caddy".  When the wrestlers stand in front of us then get so annoyed they move away I know I've done my job as a fan.

This match also went into an impromptu match between TJ Howell III (who was dressed like he worked at Staples, but really his shirt said Statefarm-- for the record my insurance is Progressive) and a man simply known as Vlad who just flat out destroyed the former caddy of Ryan Fraust.   I'm not sure the business between Howell and Fraust is over- I'm not sure it ever will be- but this was a happy ending to the story for now.

A six way Number One Contender match was up next and the amount of talent in this thing was crazy.  Jordyn Rowe came out first and was another one of the wrestlers who moved away from us because we kept taunting him.   He also headed towards the exit when Bonez came out because he was scared and rightfully so.  I always feel like I live in my own little bubble when it comes to wrestling in the sense that I like who I like without paying so much attention to the crowd reactions the wrestlers get on the whole.  Bonez is just one of those wrestlers that might largely be a heel elsewhere but you couldn't convince me of it because I absolutely love everything about him.

Interestingly enough, during this match we got a Bonez chant going and he seemed into it.   This match also featured Bobby Ocean, SWB, Jora Johl and Danny Miles.   I had the pleasure of Danny Miles being knocked out of the ring right in front of me so I got to tell him that he was the worst member of The Unit.  I still feel like there's unfinished business between Jordyn Rowe and SWB that calls for a one on one match, but really anyone in this match versus anyone else in this match one on one is money waiting to be deposited.   

From a six way into a tag team four way, we got to see one of my new favorite tag teams in Hippy Dicky Moon & Love, Doug or as they will now be known: Peace & Love.   I know Love, Doug is part of Love In The City with TJ Crawford but someone can be a member of two tag teams at the same time, right?  There's enough love to go around.   I really want to see them together more!   This match also featured the returning duo of The Notorious Mimi & Encore Moore, JC Storm was with one half of The Haven and Dan DeMan was in this match with Brother Greatness.  I will say that the interactions between Dan DeMan and Brother Greatness are a great reason to keep them together as a tag team.

During this match, Brother Greatness kept looking for Mike Skyros and at some point early on we (as the crowd) found out that if we yelled "He's behind you!" or "He's over there!", Brother Greatness would look and be tricked.  At one point, Love, Doug put Brother Greatness' jacket under the ring and I then told Brother Greatness that Skyros was under the ring.   It's the little things such as that which make everything about professional wrestling such a delight for me.

We pushed right through without an intermission (I assume because of the NEW show later that night) and we went into a tag team match featuring The Shook Crew vs Miracle Generation.   As much as Dustin Waller and Kylon King pull out the show-stealing matches in singles competition, when they are together it just works so well.  The Shook Crew also came out dressed as each other, which was a little bit confusing and for a brief moment in time Bryce was my mom.   I really love seeing Shook Crew everywhere that I can and Miracle Generation is just consistently putting on the best matches so you know this went down just ever so perfectly.

In the semi-main event, VSK took on Magnificent Marcos for the TOS Championship, which still feels odd to say.  I thought that the GM of TOS would be impartial but Alex Rojas got into the ring before the match to do the introduction for Magnificent Marcos.   I'm probably just reading too much into it, but I still feel like a swerve is coming and Alex Rojas has been pulling the strings to get Marcos where he is and to keep him there.  VSK had this match won on more than one occasion but Honest Abe had to get involved when he should've been thrown out.  But, if we're being fair, Marcos should've been thrown out for stealing Brutus Beefcake's tights.  

The main event saw two of the best in TOS go at it in a hard-hitting, fast paced style.  Mike Skyros was bested by Ichiban on this day to crown a new Champion but in a sign of pure class even Mike Skyros himself admitted that Ichiban was just the better man that day.    As a fan of Ichiban, I am happy for him (and the place just exploded when he won) but I also felt confused and it was bittersweet that Mike Skyros lost.    Without thinking about Ichiban at all and just taking the title loss as a negative, I feel like the positive which could come from it would be for Mike Skyros to get a shot at that TOS Championship and end the reign of Marcos.  

As we head into the end of the year, it's interesting to think about the recent changes to TOS and how it will make their 2022 look.   Ichiban will have a target on his back now.  Jay Freddie will hopefully return one day to go one on one with TJ Crawford and reclaim the tag team titles he never lost with SWB.   But a tag team title shot for Peace & Love would also be cool.   And when will Dan DeMan finally learn that women are equal?  I don't know, but I'm here for the ride and it's a lot of fun.