USA Pro Blood, Sweat and Tears II 4/4/2003

Written by: Sean McCaffrey from http://www.declarationofindependents.net/doi/pages/index1.html

Just a quick note before reviewing the show, they had Miller Lite Water beer on tap, but at least they had something to drink there, and for 3 bucks it wasn’t too bad. The attendance was around 500, considerably less than last show. Show started on time and was only 5 ½ hours, a big difference from last time, but still a little long. I’ll talk more about that later.

In a 4 team elimination match:
The Boogie Knights d. All Money is Legal, Team Corona and The Solution to retain the #1 contendership to the USA PRO Tag Titles.
Solid opener and got the crowd going. Boogie Knights continue to improve and always work well with the talented Solution. All Money is Legal got the short end of the stick here, as they were eliminated first, but they looked good in the limited time they had. Team Corona, a great team in NYWC, looked out of their element in the Queens atmosphere. It’s hard to push new tag teams, when you don’t explain who they are. The end saw the Boogie Knights defeat the Solution. Solution needs more time in matches, and can be a dominant tag team in USA, especially since they need more established tag teams outside the DRS, DHS (who broke up), SAT (who are “fired”) and BK. For John Shane, if you’re reading this, this was PERFECTLY ACCEPTABLE WRESTLING (PAW)

Masked Maniac d. Trekkie, Josh Deeley and Tony Lo in another 4 man elimination match.
I don’t try to hold anything back in my McReviews, so I won’t change that here. This match sucked. Josh Deeley needs to take a lesson from “The MiC”, and review shows not to wrestle on them. He is a disgrace to everyone else who wrestles in that ring. Trekkie is another guy who can use a few bottles of Trim Spa. I’m glad to see him away from Wayne, as he was dragging him down. The fact that Trekkie and Josh Deeley are considered “wrestlers” is mind boggling. Tony Lo looked ok again, and I really haven’t seen him enough to formulate an honest opinion. Maniac is good when he talks, not when he wrestles. This match was way too long for a 5 ½ hour show, and was really the only bad spot of the whole show. Some fans even turned their back to the ring in disgust, but I won’t name names. I’m not a fan of the star system, but this was a -***** star match. When the promoter of the company bashes the talent and says this match sucks on the way to the ring, then it should’ve never been booked. Finish saw Tony Lo tap out to a Masked Maniac chokehold.

In a 5 man dance, TNT d. Takashiita (as he was billed on the card), James Newblood, Chuwi and Jav.
These guys had the best ticket seller match of all time. This shows how if a ticket seller is dedicated, and wants to wrestle on the show, then at least get trained and impress the fans. This was a spot fest and featured some indescribable moves. One of the sickest spots saw TNT hit a spinning rock bottom on Newblood, off the top rope and into the other 3 men. TNT finally got the win, and got the bad taste of the previous match out of the fans mouth.

Wayne d. Azraeal and Dan Barry
It’s great to see Dan Barry working other promotions. This is a great wrestler, and like his gimmick says, “everyone’s favorite wrestler.” Azraeal is another proven star and can get a good match out of anyone. Wayne is getting better match in and match out and hit some uncharacteristic moves, such as flying body press from the ring to the floor. Dan Barry and Azraeal were solid as usual too. Wayne pinned Azrael to finish a great match. PAW.

DRS w/Deranged (In DRS gear) d. Quiet Storm and Mikey Whipwreck
DRS and Deranged= hottest heels on the indies. I thought Mikey Whipwreck retired? No one ever retires in wrestling I guess. This was a PAW match as well. Quiet Storm really lives the gimmick, as he doesn’t get as much coverage and recognition as he should. Whipwreck is Whipwreck and plays to fans very well. DRS eventually got to the win, due to some heelish antics. It’s good to see USA boys get put over name guys like a Whipwreck. Smart booking and a good match.

Homicide d. Chris Daniels for the USA PRO Extreme and US championships in the match of the night.
Running down the card you knew this had to be the match of the night, and it was. PAW of course, and had everything from ring psychology to chain wrestling to fan reaction. This was match you’d like to watch on TV. No stupid gimmicks. Just 2 guys wrestling and having the fans get into it. Homicide got the duke in this one.

Post Match: USA CEO Frank Goodman announces that Homicide is wrestling in Japan, and will not be able to wrestle on the next 2 USA cards. Therefore, he is stripped of the US and Extreme titles. The matches for these titles will be taken place later tonight. Goodman promised Homicide a shot at both belts, once he is available to return, but will only be paid once, because Goodman is a jew. (In his own words, not mine) Crowd popped for Homicide, and he got the respect he deserved from the fans.

Christopher Street Connection d. Simon Diamond and Striker
Becky Bayless interfered, which didn’t make sense for later on in the night. CSC got the win over Diamond/Striker, and due to a pre-match stip, Diamond and Striker had to dress up in women outfits for the Becky Bayless/Kruel wedding. CSC are one of the most over tag teams today. Diamond and Striker team well together, and it will be interesting if they team in other promotions. Good match.

Low Life Louie Ramos d. The Elm Street Kids
Wow. Lightbulbs, mousetraps and tables galore. Blood, Sweat and Tears was the name of the show, and this match lived up to that. From staples in Louies head, to going through a light bulb table, from going through a barbed wire table, this was the death match to end all death matches. The fans gave the respect it deserved too, which was nice, as Louie made the ESK look respectable and a threat to be reckoned with. With all the blood spilled in this match, you could’ve got at least 10 blood transfusions out of it. Match was brutal, and much love goes to the victor, Louie, for wearing a Declaration of Independents shirt!

3 Minute Intermission, to clean the crap up in the ring.

Crazy Ivan d. Danny Demanto, Justin Cage, Kevin Matthews, Poppalicious, J-Train, Southern Vinny Styles, Pat Gunner, Kraka and Static in a battle royal, for the new USA PRO Americas title.
Wow, so now we have a US and an Americas title. Why? Like Mr. Dexter pointed out, why not just merge it and have the United States of America title. The funny thing is, after Ivan won it, it was just a WWE Tag Team title. This was a good worked battle royal, and the ending was funny, as Ivan was pit against 3 black guys, – Kraka, Static and J-Train. Ivan defeated the odds in the name of white power, and got the win.

Xavier d. Devon Storm
I didn’t think we’d see Xavier, but luckily we did, as he’s one of the best wrestlers on the indy circuit today. I haven’t seen Storm in a while, so it was good to see him, even though he’s getting “Bradshawish” in size. Allison Danger, the DOI covergirl, was lovely as usual, and made sure Xavier got the win. If it wasn’t for the Homicide/Daniels match, this was your match of the night. Another PAW match, and hopefully we’ll see more of Storm in USA.

Kruel d. Billy Reil and Tim Arson for the vacated US title
This was for the belt Homicide vacated earlier. Decent little match. Kruel got the win over his long time rival Billy “The Highlight” Reil. Good work by all wrestlers involved.

Note: It’s 3 am as I’m writing this, and I’m trying to rush it, cause I got a huge weekend of ECWA Super 8 and WXW, so don’t feel like I’m just brushing by the matches lol.

Monsta Mack d. Sandman after Raven interfered and evenflowed Sandman
Mack is looking like a decent singles competitor. Sandman was the usual Sandman, with blood, beer and Singapore canes for all. I was glad to see Mack get the win, as he’s pegged to be the “Anvil Neidhart” of DHS. Mack looked good here, so it will be good to see him wrestle more singles matches. Sandman is a true pro for making Mack look good. Mack got the win after the evenflow from Raven.

For the vacated by Homicide Xtreme Title:
Reefer d. Ghost Shadow, Brian XL and Deranged
Wow great match and another PAW match. The rules were complicated as hell, and didn’t make sense, so I’m not going to bother to explain them. It was just you had to pin everyone a bunch of times. Really dumb rules, but it didn’t hurt the work rate and fan reaction to this match. You have 4 of the most talented wrestlers in one ring, so it was easily a great match. Reefer finally got the USA PRO respect he deserved, and became the new champion. Can’t complain about that. Deranged is still the best singles heel in USA pro. Ghost Shadow and XL looked very well here as well.

The Wedding was up next, and guess what, it had a swerve! What a shocker! To fast forward a bit, Becky slapped Kruel, said Striker was the father of her baby, then made out w/Striker. (So why did she slap and cause Striker to lose earlier?) There were some antics w/the CSC and Diamond and BK as well, but I got to get some sleep here. The show is 5 ½ hours, and it takes me 2 hours just to review it lol.

Chris Candido w/Tammy d. Mafia
Mafia is a great all around worker. Candido is one of those guys who can go out and have a good match with anyone on any given day. Another PAW match, which was solid until the stupid ending. Balls Mahoney interfered and laid out Mafia. Why? Mafia turned on Monsta Mack to join up with Balls. Another great long term booking plan here, which had the fans in confusion. Match was still good, but could’ve used an explanation on the turn.

Balls Mahoney d. Saturn
What a surprise. Everyone knew Balls was going to win this. Balls can have good matches with anyone, but it seems like he’s always in the world title program and you know he’s gonna win, and if he loses, he will get a rematch the next show. The problem with indy wrestling in general is that, if you have a guy for a one shot deal, then everyone knows he’s not gonna win the title. I personally would’ve had Saturn win the belt, then lose it to Credible or Raven ala WM IX fashion. Match was still decent, but the attendance was dwindling, as the show was again a marathon. When the shows go late, it hurts the main events, as it sucks the energy out of the crowd. Balls got the win, after Chris Candido interfered, and laid out Saturn.

Justin Credible d. Raven
Like I just said, time is a factor, but the fans that were there popped huge for both men. The match was a bloodfest, and Credible got the win in the end, despite Trinity interference. Solid match.

Final McWord
Better show than last show. There was only one bad match and no gauntlets! What’s with all the 4 way matches? It’s like well we can’t think of anything else, so let’s have 4, 4 way matches on the show. The 4 ways were good matches though, so it didn’t really take away from it. Josh Deeley and Trekkie should not be allowed to wrestle until they have been trained properly. It’s offensive. Solid card and a solid showing by USA pro. USA is improving, and are listening to the fans, (no gauntlet matches) but really need to work on the time factor. It sucks the energy out of the main event, and fans leave before the main event goes on. You had 2 really excellent matches and the rest were all great, w/the exception of what I mentioned. USA pro is getting better with every show. Check out usaprowrestling.com for upcoming info.

Thanks for reading.