Wrestling Review //
Pizza Party Pro
"Pop! Pop!"
December 29th, 2022
The Wrestival / Worcester MA
Not only was this the first show of The Wrestival 2022, but it was our first Wrestival show ever as we got tied up and didn't make it last year. We arrived in Worcester in a timely manner and before doors opened, Quentin found a tree to run around. As we got into line, we went inside and the sight once getting in was quite a sight to be seen. I'm not going to name names, but there were wrestlers from all of the different shows and even not on the shows just scattered about.
Quentin and I went to put stuff down to claim seats and that ended up not mattering because right before the show started we moved more towards the center anyway. As I looking over the merch tables, I noticed that one of the wrestlers who was out there was LuFisto. You have to understand that I have been watching LuFisto matches since the early 2000's but have never seen her wrestle live before- this was to be my first time. So it caught me a bit off guard to just look over and "There she is!"
"Pop! Pop!" was also our first Pizza Party Pro show, which is a shame because we really should be at all of their shows if we can. Their shows have different types of matches, but overall I just feel like they're so much fun. This show somehow just flew right by. I was wondering how they would handle the concept of the first show ending and the next show starting, but we hung out for quite a bit after "Pop! Pop!" ended and still were out of there at 5:30- with Wrestling Open set for a 7pm start time.
The show opened up with Jordan Blade vs Marcus Mathers. Regardless of how you feel about either wrestler, Jordan Blade is a star not just in the way that she has a legit background and is scary on the mat but because of the way she just carries herself around the ring. The mere fact that this was the only show on The Wrestival that Jordan Blade was announced for annoyed me, but also, why isn't Jordan Blade on television somewhere every week? This match was great and I especially enjoyed the part where the young prodigy tapped out.
Somehow this took us into what could have been a main event with Dan Barry and The Boar (with Officer Miller) taking on The Goons. Quentin made an Among Us sign for Big Dust and all of The Goons seemed to like it, so that was a plus. It's funny because The Goons were really somehow the babyfaces of this match and they were hella over in Worcester. There were chants for "drugs", "weed", "just say yes" and even "meth"! I truly feel like Erica and The Goons are destined to do this dance forever (and I'm good with that) but on this day, in Worcester, drugs won. (Just like the real war on drugs!)
If you think that was odd, we went into a match next where Eel O'Neal took on Brother Greatness. As Greatness discussed sinning and Jesus, the crowd started a chant for Satan. This seemingly wholesome show about pizza has somehow turned into a scene in an apartment with some devil-worshipping heathen passed out on the floor, a needle in one arm and a slice of pepperoni stuffed crust in the other.
I love the fact that Brother Greatness is on Wrestling Open every week. He is such a great character and such a great wrestler. Eel O'Neal needs a spotlight as well though, as Eel has truly had the best year of his career in 2022 and only seems to be going to bigger and better places in 2023. I don't know how, but we need more Eel O'Neal above the CT border in 2023 please!
What I'm going to say next people might not like but here goes. There was a match scheduled between Weber Hatfield and Tony Deppen. Rich Palladino announced that Tony Deppen was unable to appear and the crowd booed. Look, I get it, you wanted to see Tony Deppen and you don't get to see Tony Deppen. I don't know what the exact issue was as to why Tony Deppen didn't make it, but even if it was him wanting to spite the fans- who cares?
I've seen Tony Deppen wrestle quite a few times and across quite a few states. This was only the second time I've ever had him cancel on a show I was attending. But people make it seem like this is something he does all the time. If you're so mad, why didn't you come to Blitzkrieg! Pro and see him versus MV Young?? Whatever the reasons, life happens and I can't fault someone for such a thing so I'm kind of upset seemingly everyone else was booing.
Weber Hatfield ended up issuing an open challenge and it was answered by Love, Doug. Jimmy Lloyd is standing behind me, but here comes Love, Doug. Weber Hatfield came over to Quentin and I after running around the ring several times and I told Weber "You have the zoomies!" This was a really fun match and the crowd was behind Doug but it also just makes me miss what was happening a few years ago- and it really made me miss Camp Leapfrog. It might have even made me miss it enough to go to Philly in March for HTW.
The Floor Is Lava match was up next and we missed both Pancakes and Big Dan Champion but no announcement about their whereabouts (I assume brawling through PA somewhere together) This match was really fun but I also wondered what would happen if everyone somehow fell in the lava. Shea McCoy is a star and two for flinching will pop me every time! (Pop! Pop!) I also don't know where King Crab has been, but I've really been missing him in Blitzkrieg! Pro lately. Again, another reason to go to HTW.
As we approached the last two matches, I felt like those in charge of Pizza Party were smart enough to realize that Karen Bam Bam vs Austin Luke was a big time match. The fans in Worcester didn't really know what to think because Karen Bam Bam probably hasn't been in Worcester since I last was and Austin Luke appears as part of a group of H2O kids. But anyone who knows the true potential of these two, knows what a huge match this was and if anything I feel like it ended a little bit early but that just makes me want to also say let's do the rematch.
The main event was LuFisto vs Kennedi Copeland and this very much deserved the main event, not just for women's wrestling but for all of professional wrestling. This was such a great match that there were more than one chants for LuFisto despite her being the heel and yelling at the ref and fans. When I look over at Quentin sometimes while he's watching the show, he just has this child-like wonder about him and that's how I felt during this match. I was just in awe.
After the show I felt like we had to talk with everyone who wanted to talk with us. There is this border in CT somewhere that wrestlers from south of CT don't always cross into the MA area and we haven't been going to NJ as much this past year so I miss a lot of these wrestlers because it truly feels like we were seeing them several times a month and now we're seeing them several times a year.
We bought a Switch game that Big Game Leroy has, as his merch game is always on point. Prior to the show, we met LuFisto, took a picture with her and I bought a shirt. I was looking at her merch though because she had DVDs for sale (of her matches specifically) and I was thinking during the show about how many different DVDs she had, how much they cost, etc. So we figured out that there were six in total and they were priced at 2 for $20. I was going to ask for a discount if I bought all six, but at those prices $60 was a damn fine deal so I went for that as well.
This show was just so much fun and it really set the tone for The Wrestival, for us. If it wasn't an hour until doors for Wrestling Open, we might have stayed because I had that "I want to see more wrestling!" mentality, but being that this was day one of three for us, I also used that motivation to guide me into Friday.
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