XPW Matches Part One

Xtreme Pro Wrestling was an independent wrestling company that was originally based out of Los Angeles before moving to the Philadelphia area and running shows at the ECW Arena following the closure of ECW.

While holding shows in the California area, XPW was largely having matches that were death matches and to some people it was strictly known as “garbage wrestling.” However, during the existence of the company, there were several top wrestlers that competed for the company. That’s what I’m focusing in on this series, to go along with matches involving notable names.

I had thought about reviewing XPW full shows, but the negative response the full shows have gotten and not being overly interested in the majority of the full shows has made me steer clear of that. Instead, in this scheduled seven part series, I’ll look at some interesting matches from various shows. Ideally, I’ll find some hidden gems in an otherwise not so great wrestling promotion.

With that said, here we go…

Match #1: XPW World Champion Shane Douglas vs. Justin Credible
Date: 3/1/2003
Reason Reviewed: Well, first these two had a couple of matches in ECW, which weren’t bad. By this time, Douglas was starting to get back into wrestling after his WCW contract. Credible had recently been released by WWE so this could be seen as a top match for the time. I’m kind of curious to see how these guys worked together after four years. They had a match the night prior, which Douglas won. However, Credible hit Lizzy Borden with a kendo stick to warrant this match.

Right at the bell, Douglas hammers away on Credible in the ring. Douglas kicks Credible in the corner with a low blow and sends Credible flipping into the corner. Douglas continues to work over Credible with strikes and stomps. Douglas chokes Credible over the middle rope and Lizzy Borden gets a cheap shot in behind the referees back. Credible chases after her but Douglas drops him with strikes. Douglas takes Credible over with a two snap suplexs and plants Credible down with a delayed vertical suplex for a two count. Douglas hip tosses Credible and hits a reverse rolling neck snap before hitting a regular rolling neck snap a couple of times. Douglas clotheslines Credible over the top to the floor but quickly follows. Douglas sends Credible over the guard railing into the crowd. They brawl towards the backstage area with a lot of fans follow them. They are brawling into the lobby where Douglas slams Credible through a merchandise table. Douglas decides to bring Credible back towards the ring. Douglas first drops Credible gut first onto the concrete floor in the crowd. Douglas also sends Credible into empty chairs.

They are back at ringside where Douglas rams Credible groin first into the ring post. Douglas continues by sending Credible shoulder first into the ring post. Douglas grabs a piece of guard railing and tosses it into the ring. Douglas sets the guard railing up in the corner. Credible sends Douglas into the guard railing and delivered a super kick. Credible goes to the top rope with the railing and drops it across the body of Douglas. Credible goes for the cover but Douglas kicks out at two. Credible stops Douglas with a jaw breaker and goes for a dropkick but Douglas catches him and catapults Credible into the corner. Douglas low blows Credible after lifting him into the air. Douglas continues with an atomic drop and another one for good measure. Douglas gets a near fall after a dropkick. Douglas boots Credible in the corner and comes off the middle rope but Credible delivers a super kick for a two count! Douglas avoids a backdrop and plants Credible with the Pittsburgh Plunge. Lizzy Borden gives Douglas the kendo stick but Douglas doesn’t seem to want to use it. Credible throws salt into Shane’s face! Douglas is blinded by the salt as he runs into the referee in the corner and hit the belly to belly suplex. Credible sets Douglas up for the That’s Incredible which he hits! The referee is knocked out and a new referee comes out to make the count and Credible wins the title. However, as expected, the original referee wakes up and reverses it giving Credible the win by disqualification. (**. The finish looked a little weird, but the action wasn’t horrible. The brawling certainly helped them out as they aren’t going to have an all-time classic mat wrestling match. I was surprised that I enjoyed the match as much as I did.)

Match #2: XPW World Champion Johnny Webb vs. Terry Funk
Date: 6/29/2002
Reason Reviewed: I’m starting to think that Terry Funk showed up just about anywhere for the right price. I’m not expecting him to provide anything of huge entertainment here. I’ve never watched Johnny Webb in singles action, who appears to have been a top guy for XPW for a period of time. I’m hopeful I don’t regret this decision too much.

Webb quickly starts the match hitting Funk with a kendo stick and steel chair. Funk gets up and whacks Webb with the kendo stick. Funk wants fans to throw chairs into the ring, which they do. However, you can hear security scream to stop throwing the chairs. The fans don’t listen to that direction. On the floor, Funk punches a chair around the neck of Webb as they now go over the railing into the crowd. Funk sends Webb back first into a barbed wire fence. Funk has a barbed wire land mine but falls down and grabs another one. Webb avoids being hit with one of those and knee lifts Funk. Webb whacks Funk over the head with a chair. Webb leg drops Funk in the dirt before delivering another chair shot. Funk hides in a tent and is just acting all sorts of nuts. Webb kicks Funk over the back of the head, but Funk doesn’t go down. Webb hits Funk with a kendo stick a few times. Webb hits Funk over the head with a water bottle.

Funk tosses Webb into a pool filled with poop, which was used earlier in the match. Webb rams a table into Funk but Funk comes back with a bed frame to knock Webb into the pool of poop. Webb is burying Funk’s face in the poop water. Webb has a bag and it’s a bag of thumbtacks. Webb goes for a piledriver onto the tacks but Funk counters with a backdrop onto the tacks. Funk has gotten his hands on the branding iron and is trying to ignite it. A fan in the front row helps him get it on fire! Funk uses the iron on Webb! Funk gets some fluid and tries to spit a fireball but Webb bailed to the floor. Webb hits a suplex onto the tacks to regain control of the match. Funk blocks a suplex and lands on top of Webb on the tacks for a two count. Funk is rubbing the tacks into Webb’s head. Webb rolls through an inside cradle and pins Funk. (*. I can’t believe Terry Funk wrestled in a match where they wrestled in some “poop water”. Johnny Webb looks a lot like Jimmy “The King” from Ready To Rumble. The match was mostly a brawl and it wasn’t as bad as I was afraid.)

Match #3: Jerry Lynn vs. Super Crazy
Date: 3/1/2003
Reason Reviewed: I’m assuming these guys are going to deliver a good match as they are both in their primes at the time. Hopefully ending the first installment on a positive note.

Lynn takes Crazy over with an arm drag to kick off the contest but doesn’t follow up on the advantage. Crazy takes Lynn down to the canvas and nearly wins with a rollup. Lynn takes Crazy down with a snap mare but they trade arm drags leading to a standoff. Crazy works over Lynn in the corner with stomps and strikes. Lynn head scissors Crazy to the canvas and connects with a clothesline for a two count. Lynn rams Crazy head first into the turnbuckle and he falls to the apron. Lynn continues to hammer away on Crazy. Crazy slides to the floor and upon returning hits Lynn with a spinning heel kick. Lynn yanks Crazy off the apron and Crazy hits his face across the apron. Crazy clotheslines Lynn over the railing into the crowd and comes off the railing to axe handle Lynn in the front row. Crazy sends Lynn into the guard railing but Lynn drops Crazy throat first across the railing. Crazy hits a side Russian leg sweep into the railing before rolling Lynn back into the ring. Lynn leg drops Crazy chest across the middle rope after avoiding a shoulder ram. Lynn runs off the apron to head scissors Crazy on the floor!

Crazy is rolled back into the ring as Lynn goes to the top rope where Crazy stops him with a shoulder strike. Crazy hits a top rope hurricanrana but Lynn gets a two count on a rollup. Crazy quickly hits a dropkick and nearly wins with a rollup. Crazy hammers away on Lynn and plays to the crowd. Lynn elbows Crazy in the corner and spikes him with a tornado DDT for a near win. Lynn backdrops Crazy to the apron but Crazy knocks Lynn down and hit a springboard moonsault back into the ring for a two count. Lynn head scissors Crazy to avoid a power bomb and plants Crazy with a TKO for a near fall! Lynn goes for the cradle piledriver but Crazy backdrops out of it. Crazy comes off the ropes with a tornado DDT. Crazy hits a springboard moonsault for a two count. Lynn gets out of a power bomb and spikes Crazy with a cradle piledriver for the win. (***. An enjoyable match despite a crowd that wasn’t overly interested in the match, it seemed like. The match was supposed to be part of a European Championship tournament, which never concluded. This felt like a match they’d have in ECW and I enjoyed it.)

Alright, that wraps up the first installment of looking at various XPW matches. Hope you enjoyed this trip. Feel free to share your thoughts on XPW.

The next installment will have the following three matches highlighted.
Terry Funk vs. Shane Douglas
Pogo The Clown vs. The Sandman
Kaos vs. Chris Hamrick in a ladder match

Thanks for reading.