Written by: Sean McCaffrey from http://www.declarationofindependents.net/doi/pages/index1.html
Pro Wrestling World 1
2/8/04
Falls River, Massachusetts
Approx Attendance: 450-500 (People had to be actually turned away at the door due to the place meeting the maximum occupancy)
I must mention that this was the worst ring I ever saw. Even worse than the crappy ring that Gino rents out. Even the BWO ring with no elevation is better than the one in Falls River. The turnbuckles had no padding inside, and were just flat little pieces of cloth. The ring mat was bumpier than a 15 year old acned up face. The ring’s nick name must’ve been the anklebreaker because with the crappy mat and the fact there were holes all over the place. World 1 doesn’t own their own ring, but after seeing this ring, they might reconsider.
Keep in mind that this was the first ANNOUNCED World 1 show. This was a benefit show for Chris Litchfield, who has cancer.
I pulled this off the World 1 website, http://www.zerooneusa.com . This is the story of the kid who the show was for:
CREDIT: KATHLEEN DURAND , Herald News Staff Reporter
The Herald News (01/12/2004)
FALL RIVER — Christopher James Litchfield is too young to know what it’s all about, but there will be a lot of people rooting for him on Feb. 8 at a big wrestling event.
Christopher, 4, had a cancerous tumor removed Wednesday at New England Medical Center in Boston, and his mother, Lisa, said he now has to undergo six weeks of chemotherapy and radiation treatment.
Pro Wrestling World-1, in conjunction with Wrestling Spotlight, will present the wrestling program at the Cultural Center, 205 S. Main St. All proceeds will go to the Christopher James Litchfield “We Can Beat It” Cancer Fund.
Although she has health insurance, Litchfield said she’s incurred many expenses that are not covered. Christopher was able to come home for the weekend, but he’ll be back in the hospital for the next six weeks and his mother will be there, too, staying at the Cam Neely House. Until now, Christopher was having chemotherapy, but not radiation.
Scott Ebbesen, Lisa Litchfield’s brother, is coordinating the benefit. The host of a cable access wrestling show, Ebbesen said he hopes it will be a big success in helping Christopher and his family with expenses and in making other families aware of the rare form of cancer that afflicted him.
Litchfield said the cancer affected her son’s muscles. The surgery required incisions in his stomach and right buttock, where Litchfield first noticed a lump in July. A biopsy revealed that he had a tumor. With the surgery and treatment, she said, Christopher’s chances are good. Doctors have told her that one out of 20,000 children develops this type of cancer before age 5.
Bob Cruise, who has been involved in wrestling for 10 years as a ring announcer, is helping Ebbesen with the wrestling event. There will be a pre-show at 3:15 p.m., followed by the main show at 4 p.m. The pre-show will feature four matches with wrestlers from New England. There will be 12 matches in the main show, with such wrestlers as Steve Corino, Jerry Lynn, Justin Credible and Japanese wrestlers Masato Tanaka and Yoshihito Sasaki.
Cruise is associated with a Japanese organization that wants to hold pro wrestling programs in the United States; it agreed to host a benefit for Christopher.
Ebbesen said about half of the seats have already been reserved. The tickets are $10. They are available at Bubbles N’ Paws, 1180 Plymouth Ave.; Pizza, Etc., 4171 N. Main St.; and online at http://www.wrestlingspotlight.com.
Parking in the lot on Pearl Street behind the Cultural Center will be available at no cost, and the Cultural Center is not charging for the use of its facility.
Ebbesen said some people are making donations beyond the price of the tickets. One man who recently lost his job purchased two tickets and donated $50 to Christopher’s fund.
He and Cruise both hope that Christopher can be at the fund-raiser, but they said it depends on how he feels that day. He’s been using a pediatric walker because the surgery affected his right leg.
“My goal is to have Christopher there and to have Sara make the presentation to him,” Cruise said, referring to his 4-year-old daughter.
Fans will have a chance to meet and greet the pro wrestlers at no additional charge, and there will be a raffle and other surprises, Ebbesen said.
“Hopefully, they’ll get to meet the man of the hour,” Christopher, he said.
The program will be filmed and will be shown on a Japanese 24-hour wrestling network.
Litchfield said Christopher is a fighter. “I worry about him getting chemo and radiation at the same time. He’ll be so sick.”
Anyone who wants to donate to Christopher’s fund can write checks to Christopher Litchfield and mail them to Scott Ebbesen at 192 Fountain St., Fall River, MA 02721.
The reason I reprinted the story was for anyone interested in donating any money to this cause. It also shows how good pro wrestling can be when good people are behind it. More on that at the end of the review. Onto the review.
The show started off with a New England Showcase show, which was just 4 matches of New England locals. A video package later, featuring the NE guys, and we were on our way. I also gotta shout Ralfeala who told me she was the biggest Solution fan of all time.
Jason The Legend d. Maverick Wild
For some reason, Maverick Wild was telling fans that this match was going to suck. Probably not the best strategy to start a show. Jason is a huge guy, and hit an impressive sitdown fireman carrybreaker. At one point in the match, Jason lifted up his arm, unveiling armpit veins. Very odd to see these blue tubes in an armpit. Eh, call me conspicuous I guess. Jason wins this match with a reverse powerslam. I guess the match did suck for Maverick wild.
Blade/Mighty Mini d. Andre Lyon/Flava Mike w/Mercedes (Not Martinez)
BEWARE MISS MICHELLE! Mercedes will be taking your spot as 5th ringpost. Mercedes, who must’ve done some shopping at the bunny ranch in Las Vegas, looked like it was her first wrestling show ever. Puberty looked like it was 2 years away for Mighty Mini. Mini also looked like he raided AJ Styles closet, as he had the same tights, boots, and even hooded jacket. On the positive side, flattery is the sincerest form of imitation. This match wasn’t too hot, which was unfortunate because the building was cold. Blade wins this with a swanton bomb on Andre.
Dylan Kage w/Talia d. Vince Vicallo
This was a pretty decent match. The way the women came out, match order wise, went from least experienced to most experienced, as April Hunter followed this match. This was a decent match. Talia got involved quite a bit. Finish saw Talia get on the ring apron, almost get bumped by Vince, and as Vince prevented bumping into Talia, Kage wound up and placed a superkick on Vince’s face. Too many indy wrestlers are doing superkicks as finishers these days. Still, fun match.
Slyk Wagner Brown w/April Hunter d. Luis Ortiz
This was the best match out of the showcase matches. Lots of submissions early in. Slyk and Luis then exchanged heavy hands in the middle of the ring. At one point in the match, it looked like Luis almost killed Slyk. He went to go for a running powerbomb, or set up Slyk for a superplex, but as he was running, he tripped on the uneven mat surface, sending Slyk head first into a turnbuckle that had no padding, which meant Slyk’s head slid right past it and colliding with the mat with no protection. Luckily and thankfully, Slyk was ok. He was able to hit his gorilla press slam, followed by a moonsault, for a 2 count. Slyk eventually won with the Holy Slyk. Good match, except for the Slyk almost getting decapitated part.
After that, we moved onto the main show of World 1.
As was the theme song for the past two days, Prodigy’s “Breathe” blasted in the background as the fight schedule was announced. We also see a World 1 video.
Steve Corino comes out. He thanks the crowd for showing up. He put over the New England showcase matches. He calls World 1 special, and speaks about the benefit for Chris.
CM Punk (ROH) and Homicide (ROH) went to a 15 Minute Draw
PREMATCH: CM Punk challenged a little kid to a fight in the ring, while standing outside of it. The little kid got up and CM Punk rolled right into the ring, making the kids day.
This was an excellent match, which started off with uncharacteristic comedy by Homicide. Both wrestlers realized the ring sucked more cock than a broke hooker. They exposed the ring, making fun of the turnbuckles, holes in the ring and lumps. As far as the match, CM Punk put Homicide in an interesting position. He put Homicide’s legs in a STF position. He then took Homicide’s XXL shirt, and wrapped and held Homicide’s legs in the shirt. Punk then toyed around with Homicide. There were lots of submissions in this one. Homicide was able to put on a neck leck on Punk with his legs. Both then rolled from one side of the ring to the other, even taking down the ref in the process. Homicide hit a huge piledriver, and as he was going for the pin, the ring announcer said the match went over the time limit. Good way to keep both guys strong.
POSTMATCH: Crowd chanted 5 more minutes. Punk told them buy a ticket next month.
Solution/Guillotine LeGrande (SSCW/PWF respectively) d. Alex Law/Ricky Landell/Greg Spitz (World 1 Dojo/World 1 Dojo/IWA PA)
This was another ass whooping for Law/Landell. Havok held Law in a stalling suplex for almost 40 seconds. Law and Landell ate big chops from The Solution. Guillotine worked alot of submissions into this match. Papadon hit a nice Malenko kick on Spitz. Guillotine was able to make Landell tap out to what seemed like a sit down cobra clutch. (Don’t know what he calls it) Finish came out of nowhere. If these are Law/Landells 5th match as pro wrestlers, good things are in store for them.
Rapidfire Molanado (IWA PA)d. Mega (FREELANCE)
Mega choked Rapidfire alot in this match, either by putting his leg across Rapidfires neck, or just using his hands. At one point in the match, the ref said, “GET OFF HIS ESOPHAGUS.” Well, that was the first time I ever heard that before. The crowd was into Mega, because he was big. Lots of “Truffle Shuffle” chants, which I didn’t get. Rapidfire wins this with a rollup.
Like I said before, the ring was horrible. Referees and officials went to go fix the ring. A ring crew express and a Dunn and Marcos chant broke out. Funny shit.
The Christopher Street Connection (JAPW) d. Jack Victory/Dr. Heresy (PWF/Freelance)
The ref in this match sort of acted like, and looked like Joe from the Three Stooges. (Credit: Ralf) This was the most entertaining match of the night. Buff-E was on fire with his comments. Neither wrestler wanted to get in the ring with Buff E, so he said “Both of you guys can come in here,” then promptly bent over. The crowd ate it up huge. Buff-E asked the ref to check Dr. Heresy’s crotch, because he said he didn’t have that foreign object when the match started. (That would be an erection joke lol) Jack Victory looked to be legit freaked out by the two fags. Mace told Jack that the V stands for violation. Victory/Heresey aren’t the best wrestlers, but they put on a great and entertaining (and that’s what it’s all about in the end) match with the CSC. CSC win with the gaybasher on Dr. Heresey.
Jerry Lynn/Steve Corino (NWA TNA/World 1) d. John Walters/Spanky (ROH/Zero 1)
This was an excellent match. The crowd really got behind John Walters, the hometown favorite, and Spanky, the most recent wrestler to be on national TV. Corino did his STO and ddt to Spanky. There were alot of leg submissions in this match by both teams. Spanky hit one of the best superkicks of the weekend on Corino. Lynn hits the cradle piledriver on Walters and pins him to pick up the victory for his team. Really good match.
INTERMISSION
Fucking blue laws, there was a bar at the show, but all they were serving was coffee and donuts. Then again this is a charity show, so I guess they didn’t want belligerant drunks acting up. Drunks are getting a bad name! Fuck the sterotype.
PWF Tag Team Champions Match
(C) Josh Daniels (PWF) d. (c) Matt Striker (PWF)
Both these guys collectively are the PWF Tag Team Champions. This was a really good match. Josh Daniels might be the sleeper darkhorse of World 1, as every match he had was really good. Striker is really coming into his own. Again, Striker was injured and wrestled none the less in a broken ring. Daniels rolled up Striker for the win. Good match.
After this, they had a segment/presentation for Chris Litchfield. They showed a video montage of Chris, which had his family in tears. Spongebob was even there to Chris’s delight, and the other kids in attendance. Corino talked about the money raised and said if he could help again he would do anything in his power. This was something that I thought set World 1 out to be something different than everythng else, as they didn’t need to do this, but did it because it made a difference.
Masato Tanaka/Yoshihito Sasaki (Zero 1) d. CW Anderson/Simon Diamond (MLW/NWA TNA “The Extreme Horsmen”)
Good match here. Tanaka got streamers for his match. Tanaka was the crowd favorite and was hitting flipping ace crushers, big splashes and vicious forearms in this one, to the crowds delight. Simon hit his suplex special, which is two back suplexes, then a front suplex on Tanaka. Most of the match however saw the Zero 1 team get most of the offense, although Simon/CW hit a beautiful double superkick on Tanaka. Finish saw CW hit the spinebuster on Yoshihito, and as CW turned around he got played with a huge roaring elbow from Tanaka, and Tanaka got the 1-2-3. PAW match.
For the PWF Universal Championship
Low Ki (Zero 1) d. (c) Justin Credible (PWF) to win the championship
Wow, Low Ki went to work on Credible. Credible looked like a lobster after the match after the vicious chops and kicks of Low Ki. Credible took a hell of a beating. I couldn’t believe the ease that Low Ki beat Justin Credible. During the match, someone yelled out “Stiff him Low Ki!” Credible stopped and said “how about I stiff you you fuck!?” Funny stuff. Credible was able to get off a superkick and a that’s incredible, but it wasn’t enough. Ki then put Credible in the Ki Klutch for the submission victory.
Final McWord and wrap up of the World 1 tour
Overall, all three shows were excellent. There were no angles, no promos, just 8 straight (and sometimes 9) wrestling matches. World 1 easily has the best talent roster today, outside of the WWE. I honestly was never big into puroresu, as lucha libre is my favorite foreign wrestling style, but after watching these shows I got into it. It was just 3 straight nights of great wrestling matches. Matches were put together and the reason the wrestlers wanted to win for was pride. That was cool.
Bringing the PWF belts back is interesting. The PWF is a defunct promotion, so it seems that the titles will only change hands at World 1 shows. The CZW belts and World 1 belts were also defended so that was cool. It was also good to see wrestlers representing a promotion, making it really a “world” thing.
What World 1 did for Chris, is incredible. It shows that wrestling can be a positive tool. World 1 seems to be full of positive energy and not full of the crap and bullshit that many other promotions have. From the looks of things, it seemed to be one of the best lockerrooms today, and it showed in the ring.
Even though I saw all three shows live, I’d still get them on tape, as they were three great shows. I thought their attendance was pretty good, hopefully it’s enough to keep World 1 to keep running shows in the area. No return date or dates were given.
I think it’s safe to say that World 1 had a successful debut, and here’s to hoping they stay.
I would definitely go back to World 1 again, and it easily is becoming one of my favorite feds to see. I’d recommend the tapes to anyone who missed it.
Big thanks to Steve Corino and staff on a weekend well done. Also big props to Luscious Lily for holding down the tables.