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Going into this show we knew it was going to be a long one because it had over ten matches announced and we ended up with fifteen. Had this show been ten matches it might have felt less like we were going into an all-day event and that would've meant cutting five matches, but hey, I know exactly how I would've done it. The positive of this all though is that the show went nearly four hours but it didn't feel like it. It moved along rather nicely, especially when some of the opening matches went by because those felt more like the filler to me.
The fate of Ichiban was somewhat up in the air when his original opponent, Willow Nightingale, was no longer cleared to wrestle at this show. Ichiban vs Mortar wasn't a bad match, but it's the type of match you could see on Thursday at Wrestling Open and when there were so many matches on the show already, we could've done without this. I also think that Focus Pro Wrestling was to have Ichiban vs Jake Something at their last show and I think Mortar replaced Jake Something.
Tying the first and second matches together, we could've easily had Aaron Rourke vs Ichiban and eliminated a match right there. Because as much as I love Aaron Rourke this win really did nothing for him and, again, these are two wrestlers we could've seen at Wrestling Open in this match. At least give Aaron Rourke one of the big touring names to face!
The Big Boofa vs Kris Brady was the first match where I really felt like we had a show and I questioned it going on third because it was out there to steal the show. This match felt like it went by too quickly and it definitely has the potential to do so much more if someone hopefully decides to run it back.
Brad Hollister fought Ryan Clancy to a double count out and since there wasn't even a winner, this match could've happened on Wrestling Open. There was no good reason for this match to have been on this show. And I like Brad Hollister so why not put him in there against one of the bigger touring names as well? Is the gimmick of Ryan Clancy supposed to be ironic- like he's called "Fancy" the way big people are called "Tiny"? Whatever the case, it doesn't work for me, though the crowd at the White Eagle seems to enjoy him.
Best Bros were up next against The Mane Event and there was no looking back from here. It's weird to boo The Mane Event, but alas, that is how this goes in Worcester. Facing Best Bros made it a little bit less weird though because I had to chant Best Bros as much as I could as this was their last date in the U.S. for now.
I'm going to type this here- and I've said this before as well- but it's going to serve as a reminder for whoever reads this. If you have not seen Best Bros wrestle live before, when they return to the U.S. and if you have the chance to do so, you must take it. Best Bros are worth going out of your way to see as they are just that special and unique.
From one tag team match into another, we went into Above The Rest vs YoKai. This is fun because last time I saw Best Bros and YoKai was versus each other. I had never seen Tristen Thai wrestle live before, but I have seen Gabriel Skye quite a few times. I really like what these two are doing as a tag team and they were also really popular with the crowd so I feel like this tag team is doing something special and I'd like to see them more places.
Trish Adora and Manders fought in the battle of the lariat. This was a match that I think only Beyond could've booked but it worked so well. I was a little annoyed by the fan on the hard cam (who was White Eagle Drunk) yelling at Manders like "Does it make you feel good to beat up a woman" and things like that which make it feel like we're about to open up this discussion on intergender wrestling again. But that fan was a problem all show and I guess good for her for living her best life.
As Love, Doug made his way to the ring we found out that Allie Katch was not there. I'm not sure what happened with the fans at home, but yes, that was how we found out that Allie Katch was not there. So already this show was down Willow Nightingale and Allie Katch, but what can you do? It's card subject to change and you can't control everything. This took us into Love, Doug vs Little Mean Kathleen.
If we were just told that Love, Doug was too depressed from being stood up and he wouldn't be appearing on this show either that would've made more sense and this match was okay but it wasn't really needed. (We need a WWR+ show on 2/12 but it feels too late for that to happen now)
CPA was out next and Slade knew the assignment because he attacked CPA before CPA could even get into the ring. This was a show that needed to move along and keep the pace to avoid going on for six hours and Slade knew that. I actually really enjoyed the Slade vs CPA match because it felt like a lot of violence and I do enjoy violence.
I want to say that Bobby Orlando is having one of those years where he's facing just opponents you might not think he'd ever face. At GSPW, we saw Bobby Orlando vs Kevin Blackwood. Now, we're seeing Bobby Orlando vs B3CCA. This was such a fun match because the crowd got behind Bobby and told B3CCA she couldn't do a backflip. I felt like B3CCA was getting some cheers when she first came out, but apparently she's still a heel. Either way, I was just glad to see B3CCA again.
Matt Tremont vs Sidney Bakabella was a match that really happened and first off, I'm glad to see that Matt Tremont is working matches outside of H2O and ICWNHB where he doesn't have to do death matches. This is a different side of Tremont, but it's so good. During this match, I heard Bakabella tell the ref he messed up his knee and I thought it was real because of how it seemed to be sort of a secret.
After Channing Thomas hit Tremont with the brass knuckles and then Bakabella ran back in to make the pin, I was sure we had a new champion. As Jess pointed out, why not let Bakabella's win stand because eventually Krule is going to find him. But the referees overturned it and the match went on, but for a brief moment in time, I will always remember the time I saw Sidney Bakabella win the Gerryweight Title.
Earlier in the show we had this brief five minute intermission, but now, with three matches (that we knew of) left, we had been told it'd be a fifteen to twenty minute intermission. I was already full of merch I couldn't carry, but wrestlers were coming out so we made our way to the tables. We stood in line for Best Bros, AKIRA and Masha and Matt Tremont. Once again, I was full of more merch than I could carry.
I also got some food because I was hungry. I had a sausage and peppers grinder which was so good. The bread was so soft! If I knew it was going to be like this, I would've been eating the entire show.
We came back from intermission and went right into Wheeler Yuta vs Marcus Mathers. In some ways, I thought this would be the last match, but then again, I don't really know how such things were decided and I'm glad that I didn't have to decide them. Wheeler Yuta is the current ROH Pure Champion, so you know he's good inside that ring. I've seen a few Marcus Mathers matches, but I didn't get what all the hype was about until I saw this match.
Wheeler Yuta is like the Ricky Steamboat of this generation in the way that if he can't get a good match out of you, no one can. And Marcus Mathers did not win this match but he certainly held his own. There was more than one occasion where Yuta had scouted a move so he'd counter it, but then Mathers would counter it right back. Even going back to earlier in January, this just didn't feel like that same Marcus Mathers I saw in the scramble at GSPW.
Miracle Generation took on AVD next and I love AKIRA and Masha Slamovich so I wanted to cheer for them but everyone else was behind Miracle Generation. I know, I get it, MirGen is there each and every Thursday at Wrestling Open, so I knew that they would be winning this match. But it was at least fun to see AVD for the time they spent in the match and, yes, Kylon King overshot a dive and landed like ten feet behind us during this match as well.
As we were ready for the main event, Channing Thomas came out and demanded a match. Tracy Williams answered the challenge and if you were paying attention at home, Tracy Williams was listed on the site as talent appearing but without a match announced, so this just made sense. Channing Thomas was victorious, so I think in the near future we really need to have a discussion about Channing Thomas winning that IWTV World Championship.
In the main event, Alec Price took on Lio Rush in what has to be one of the best wrestling matches of the year thus far. They both went all out and in some ways, as it got further into the match, it just felt like you didn't know what one of them would have to do to beat the other because they both just kept doing it all. This was just one of those matches everyone should go out of their way to see and I just cannot speak highly enough about it.
I don't remember when it was, but at some point during the announced card I bought tickets for this show because it was two days before my birthday. But then, after I bought tickets, AVD got announced. And Best Bros got announced. And Lio Rush got announced. And if I hadn't already had tickets, I would've certainly bought them just to see Alec Price vs Lio Rush, but this whole show, top to bottom, had some matches that really went above and beyond.
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