Wrestling Review // Paradise Alley Pro Wrestling Wild Wild Wrestling II September 25, 2022 @ The Cadillac Ranch, Southington, CT

https://www.paradisealleyprowrestling.com/

Photos from this event can be found in a Facebook Album here :::

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1078155236248030&type=3

Though Paradise Alley Pro Wrestling is from Connecticut, I had never been to one of their shows before.   I saw a flyer that said there would be a 15 woman battle royal and inside that graphic was Isana, Jessie Nolan, Elle Valentine, Big Juicy and Sazzy Boatright, which quite frankly was enough for me to immediately decide to go to this show.  The sad thing I want to get out of the way about this show is that it was 21+ so Quentin couldn't go with us, but I truly feel like a lot of the heel work would've went over better if they were yelling at children (and the kids were yelling back)

The Cadillac Ranch is such an interesting place that I felt like I wanted to also go to this show just because of the venue.   But, if there wasn't any women on the show I wouldn't have gone and if all the women I listed weren't on it I might have also stayed home.  But if you bring any of those names up there within a half hour of me I'm going to feel obligated to go to that wrestling show because I've driven more miles than that to see them before (and will again!)

One of the biggest things about this show is that there were a handful of wrestlers I knew from seeing on other shows, but then there were also just a lot of wrestlers I didn't know.  I think going to a wrestling show every once in a while outside of your comfort zone is nice because it introduces you to new wrestlers.   And you may not always like them all, but at the same time you might find someone who you've never seen wrestle before and become a fan of them.

Much of the time Jess and I were there we were debating when the women would wrestle.  It felt like it would be a middle of the show match, but then we kept thinking about how it was really one of the only advertised matches and so it could main event.   Match after match after match it became more apparent that we had to wait until the very end to see who we came to see but that was actually really smart by PAPW because had they put any match on after that one I wouldn't have cared as much about it.

Most everything leading up to the main event was fun though.   We saw Battle Academy, who we've previously seen at Tough and Talented Wrestling, and now they're seemingly everywhere on my Twitter timeline.  Lucas Chase was doing his thing, holding it down, while Ryan Fraust and Bull Dredd were a tag team.   It was also great seeing Vlad just flat out destroy someone.  

The women's battle royal was where it was at and when my favorites started getting eliminated I got sad though.  Sazzy Boatright was eliminated by Elle Valentine, but Elle Valentine did this cool move of jumping onto the middle rope and dropkicking Sazzy Boatright out of the ring.   If you're going to go out, at least go out with style!

When it came down to the final four I wanted any of them to win except for the one who eventually did.   Skylar Grey picked up the win and title and I understand this idea because she is a student of PAPW but a good way to get me back to a PAPW show would've been to put the title on literally anyone else in the match.  What I don't understand is why after the match we were supposed to cheer and congratulate her on winning when she is part of Battle Academy who I'm pretty sure are heels because one of them just kept yelling "Fuck you!" at everybody else.

I'd like to say something like "This show was only twenty minutes away and had it been two hours away I wouldn't have gone to it" but that would be a lie.  I would've drove two hours just to see this main event match.  Not only was it seeing all of these wrestlers I love but I got to see Nakoma Tala for the first time live.   

Before the show started and throughout the show a few wrestlers were selling merch but Nakoma Tala had, in my opinion, the best merch table set up.   And when I walked by I couldn't help but stop and notice it but then also notice she had a Slam Buddy.   I was thinking I wasn't going to buy merch at this show but as soon as I saw that Slam Buddy I told Jess "I need that".   

One of the things I love about pro wrestling and the state of it right now is that no matter what you love about it, you can find what you love about it and embrace that.  If you love death match wrestling, you could likely find a death match show to go to at least once a month.  Same for lucha libre or very technical wrestling- whatever you're most passionate about.   For me, it is women's wrestling and PAPW definitely delivered on that front with this battle royal.

It was nice to sort of explore the local scene of wrestling in CT- to go to a local promotion we've never been to before but has been around a while- and also just to see wrestlers we knew and love as well as one we hadn't seen before or even heard of.  From that dude that looked like Ricky Schroeder to Bloodsaw, from The Mighty Bosch to Blade Bandit, there was just not a dull moment on this show and if even one of these names comes back I'll likely visit PAPW again.