Wrestling Review // Tough and Talented Wrestling June 18th, 2022 Columbia Club, Torrington, CT

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One of the first things which made me want to go to this show was the fact that "Dr Cool" Jay Klang was on it.  This was one of things which had me initially interested in this show, but also looking over the card I knew some of the names on it while some I didn't.  It certainly is nice to go to a wrestling show and know every wrestler on it, but when we go to wrestling shows with wrestlers we don't know we have a chance to get to meet new potential favorite wrestlers.   This main event also featured two big names in the Connecticut scene, so I also felt like I had to be there for that.

Prior to this show we, of course, headed over to Carvel for ice cream.  Nothing was really going on with the town green this time though except for someone playing a guitar and singing which may or may not have been sanctioned.  It looked like rain but wasn't raining yet, so being outside was okay.   It took a little bit, but eventually we made our way in.  I had reserved general admission seats in advance (front row had sold out) so we had our names on our chairs which was also a nice touch.

The first thing we noticed upon finding our seats and then heading to the merch table row was that none other than Kaide Lothbrok was there.   We hadn't seen him live in years but was really excited to know that he'd be there doing something.  Quentin bought a foam ax, which he then had throughout the night, and it was nice just seeing Kaide Lothbrok again.   We also headed over across the other way to the merch tables and I got a Clipper Jones shirt even though he wasn't out yet.   The future is nothing but bright for Clipper Jones.

I'd like to take a quick moment as well to address that this show was a benefit for the promoter's father who has some health issues.    In this way, it just feels like wrestling is a family- it gives you a real sense of community- which is not something covered by the dirtsheets or largely accepted in mainstream wrestling.   This is one of the things which I love about professional wrestling and sometimes you just have to go to a smaller show ("smaller" meaning not being on IWTV) to see that.

This show opened with a battle royal and whoa it felt like everyone in the tri state area was in this thing.  There were people set up behind us doing commentary so this will have some sort of official release somewhere and I'm interested to see just how many people were actually in this battle royal.   At the start of it all, it felt like people were being eliminated just because they were closest to the ropes and had nowhere else to go- though it did get confusing because people were also leaving under the ropes without being eliminated just to wait until the ring cleared. 

The funniest thing I can tell you about this battle royal is that Buff Inc was in it.  I've seen Buff Inc before, I saw them during intermission- they were in the battle royal.  That is a fact.  But I never actually *saw* them in the battle royal because of my vantage point.   But, you know, really the fact that this battle royal had so many other wrestlers in it just makes it that much more impressive that Clipper Jones won.   Not only can Clipper Jones say he won this battle royal, but he can say he did it against something like fifty other wrestlers (at least!)

The second match was for the vacant Women's Championship and in it Delilah Hayden defeated Skylar Grey.  I've always kind of been a stickler for title matches and those titles actually meaning something, so this match felt strange to me.  We've seen Delilah Hayden in NCW a number of times (and Quentin has a ton of her cats) but this was our first time seeing Skylar Grey and she just didn't look like she should be in there in a title match.  I'm all for giving ring time to students but thinking Skylar Grey could've been champion is quite scary.  I suppose she was just a last minute replacement for Alisinn Jade though.

In a grudge match, Stevie Legend took on Fly Ni Noreaga.   Stevie Legend is someone we've been following since we first saw him in BST and him having this match on this show was one of the reasons why we went as well.  Between seeing Stevie Legend wrestle locally, many of his matches also end up on YouTube if you have the time and feel so inclined.  This was my favorite Stevie Legend match so far and props to Fly Ni Noreaga for holding his own.  This match could have easily stolen the show.

Next up was a tag team match which had four teams in it and it was explained to us that it was Lucha Rules.   These four teams- according to the FB event page- were Evolutionary Scale, Battle Academy, Brothers of Redemption and Even Stevens.  Obviously, Even Stevens has been around and were the stars of this match.  I've seen Battle Academy on show flyers before for PAPW and the such.  But I really don't know about these other two teams and that wasn't the worst part of this match!

The entire entrance time when any team came out the music was either delayed or wrong.  The Even Stevens came out to... umm... not their song.  So it was weird for that reason to start, but I get it, we have technical difficulties sometimes.  Then, the match starts and the first wrestler goes outside of the ring.  I'm expecting someone else to come running in because LUCHA RULES! but, alas, they wait for that guy to come back in to continue fighting.    Eventually they did the lucha rules thing but it was funny at first it was like they weren't aware of it or forgot.

What promised to be the best match of the night saw Ichiban defend the K1 Classic Championship against both Dustin Waller and Kylon King.   All three of these wrestlers are friends and even more so than that they've all teamed together before.  This started off nice enough, like they were trying to maintain the friendship, but then Kylon King really started going after it, like he really wanted that title.  To the surprise of none, this was clearly the match of the night and when you have three athletes as talented as that inside of a ring together you can expect nothing less.

We took a brief intermission and then came back with Dan De Man and Patrick Saint telling us about the Book of Danos.  One of the things I thoroughly enjoyed about this show is that when you go to TOS it's typically a TOS crowd and so they know Dan De Man and they're familiar with what he does, but here we had this mix of fans and some of them had never seen Dan before apparently.   The fans behind me specifically were quite upset when Dan De Man went into his speech about women being inferior to men.   In fact, this played quite a big role in why character development is so important in wrestling now.

One of the fans behind me said "I don't care who he faces, I'm cheering for them because I'm booing Dan!"   This is exactly how it should be.   It doesn't have to be a clear heel vs face match every time, but when it is you better be bringing that heat as a heel.  Sometimes, it's tough to know whether or not you're supposed to cheer or boo a wrestler but Dan De Man and Patrick Saint leave nothing up for opinion.    I also miss Brother Greatness not being on this show, but I assume he's off spreading the good word elsewhere.

So Kaide Lothbrok (along with Foxxy) and Mark Alexander answered this challenge and a tag team match ensued.   The team of NOT-The Mission would pick up the win but then The Mission would try and get in cheap shots.  Kaide Lothbrok laid it out straight: He's been doing death matches while Dan was working shindies.   Kaide Lothbrok asked for not only a title shot but also for it to be No DQ.   This match alone will sell me on the 2TW show!

Next we went into somewhat of a big match as Ryan Fraust was set to take on The Mighty Bosch but somehow Dirtbag Dan got put into this match as well and if you've never seen Dirtbag Dan before just know that boy needs a shower (and then some).   This was still a fun match and at one point when Dirtbag Dan was outside of the ring he began to undo the shoe of a fan sitting in front of us.   Just those little weird things that make matches and wrestlers memorable.   You have to do the little things.

I was trying to count matches left and I knew there were at least three but the FB event page went off script as we were next treated to Red Sawyer vs Troy Stevens.   Troy Stevens is apparently in from Florida and he looks like he's on that Rock n Roll Express tour.   This was a fun match, if unexpected, and it actually ended up being on the show to replace the 2TW Title match which if was scratched for a reason I didn't hear it but still this card felt so full without yet another title match anyway.

Two matches to go and The Stepdads would successfully defend their 2TW Tag Team Championships against the Canadian Superstars, Dennis Morgan and Randy Shawn.  While The Stepdads are everywhere, the Canadian Superstars feel like they're mostly from NJ and so the way that this show brought in wrestlers from Connecticut, NY, NJ, MA and beyond just made it that much better.  And again, some fans seemed to be experiencing The Stepdads for the first time and they seemed to be enjoying it as well.

The main event saw Bull Dredd vs Slyck Wagner Brown and it was truly the battle of two wrestling legends- not just in Connecticut, but on the whole.   You can't talk about the history of wrestling in CT without mentioning either of these two and that really also helped shape the landscape of professional wrestling on the whole.   The fact that this felt like such a legendary match to experience live was another one of the reasons why we were at this show and it just feels so important for Connecticut.

If the matches which were set up on this show happen on the next show then we'll certainly be there.  Ryan Fraust vs Clipper Jones, Dan De Man vs Kaide Lothbrok (No DQ) and The Stepdads vs Even Stevens have all the makings of a show I simply cannot miss.  And who knows who else might show up!  Certainly Delilah Hayden should return as Women's Champion, but whom will she face?   We will all just have to wait and see, but I'm ready!