Written by: Bob Colling
Upstate Pro Wrestling presents Headlocks & Homeruns III
Date: 8/2/2014
From: Perry, NY
The show starts off with a guy who setup the show with a fundraiser addressing the crowd and thanking them until Cloudy came out and told him to leave the ring. Cloudy says that he’s undefeated at these events and he’s issued an open challenge. He’s heard an ECW original has accepted the challenge. That man is… Rhino.
Opening Contest: Cloudy vs. Rhino: Cloudy controls Rhino with a headlock to start, but is sent into the ropes and met with a shoulder block by Rhino. Rhino looks for a gore, but Cloudy bails to the floor to avoid it. Cloudy drops Rhino throat first over the top rope and hits a missile dropkick for a near fall. Cloudy forearms Rhino a few times in the corner, but runs into a chop. Rhino takes Cloudy over with a suplex for a near fall. Rhino sits on the top rope, but Cloudy knocks Rhino to the floor. Cloudy delivers an axe handle off the apron before returning to the ring and choking Rhino. Cloudy delivers a neckbreaker for a two count. Rhino fights out with a few strikes, but Cloudy yanks him down by his hair and delivers a quick leg drop. Cloudy double stomps Rhino for a near fall. They collide as Rhino comes out of the corner. Rhino decks Cloudy several times with right hands and back elbow. Rhino shoulder rams Cloudy in the corner and tosses Cloudy across the ring with a belly to belly suplex. Rhino waits in the corner for the GORE. Cloudy gets up and kicks Rhino to avoid it. Cloudy hits an ace cutter for a two count. Rhino tries for a TKO, but Cloudy wiggles free and boots Rhino in the corner. Rhino misses a clothesline, but recovers to GORE Cloudy for the win. (**. That wasn’t a bad start to the show as Rhino actually gave quite a bit to Cloudy, which I was not expecting. Cloudy did a fine job in the heel role and Rhino seemed motivated to put forth a competitive match.)
Second Contest: Colin Delaney & Pepper Parks vs. The Flex Express (Dunn & Marcos): Parks and Marcos kickoff the tag match. Marcos knee lifts Parks to get the cheap advantage. Marcos tries for a few shoulder blocks, but Parks doesn’t budge. Marcos uses his shake weight before running into a scoop slam by Parks, but Marcos wiggles free and is met with a shoulder block and an actual scoop slam. Dunnt enters and is slammed to the mat, as well. Marcos knee lifts Parks and delivers a few strikes in the corner. Parks clotheslines both men coming out of the corner and Delaney hits a top rope crossbody onto both men. Delaney keeps wrist control on Dunn for a moment, but Dunn counters. Delaney heel kicks Dunn into the corner and plays to the crowd. They trade a couple of pin attempts before having a standoff. Dunn knee lifts Delaney and follows up with a strike. Delaney kicks Marcos over the top rope and crotches both men on the top rope before shaking the ropes. Dunn and Marcos and slingshotted back into the ring from the apron and worked over in opposite corners. Dunn and Marcos are able to hit stereo bulldogs along with high fives to gain control of the match. They try again and are sent into the ropes.
They become winded and Marcos hip tosses his own partner. Dunn does the same and they start taunting each other. Delaney almost pins Marcos with a rollup and delivers right hands in the corner. Dunn forearms Delaney in the corner and chokes him for a few moments. Marcos tags in and kicks Delaney followed by a superkick from Dunn for a near fall. Delaney is kicked into the corner and Marcos keeps control with strikes. Delaney nearly wins wit a rollup, but Marcos clotheslines Delaney. Dunn drives Delaney down with a vertical suplex. Dunn slams Delaney and Marcos misses a senton off of Dunn’s shoulders. Marcos forearms Dunn and Delaney delivers a forearm to Marcos. Parks gets tagged in and cleans house with strikes. Dunn elbows Parks but runs into a slam. Parks drives Marcos down with a neckbreaker. Marcos hits a Slice Bread on Parks. Delaney forearms Marcos and an elevated Codebreaker. Marcos shoves Delaney off the ropes and Dunn hit a Death Valley Driver on Parkers. Marcos hits the senton off of Dunn’s shoulders and cleanly pins Parks! (**1/2. That’s a shocking result as I was not expecting the Flex Express to win at all, but I like it. They are a regular tag team and should be able to beat two singles wrestlers. The match was decent and held my attention. It served it’s purpose on the undercard.)
Third Contest: Nick Ando vs. Balls Mahoney: Early on, Mahoney keeps control of Ando’s left arm with elbow strikes to the shoulder. Mahoney bites Ando’s hand causing Ando to bail to the corner. Mahoney shows that he doesn’t have teeth so there’s no argument. Mahoney hip tosses Ando and keeps arm control on the mat until Ando reaches the ropes. Mahoney headbutts Ando a few times and tosses Ando to the floor. Mahoney hits Ando with a drink as they brawl around ringside. Mahoney rams Ando into the guard railing face first. Mahoney sends Ando into the ring steps. Mahoney sends Ando into the guard railing back first as the fans is responding quite well to Mahoney. Balls jabs Ando several times but misses a right hand and Ando bails to the floor. Ando shoulder rams Mahoney from the apron and delivers a few strikes. Mahoney misses a splash in the corner and Ando nearly wins. Ando sends Mahoney hard into the corner back first. Mahoney elbows free from Ando, but is yanked down from behind for a near fall. Ando climbs to the top rope missing a diving headbutt. Mahoney decks Ando with a few clotheslines and jabs. Mahoney tries for a punch, but Andso eye rakes Mahoney and jabs Balls with a chair causing a disqualification. Ando misses a chair shot. Mahoney finally decks Ando with a right hand and grabs the chair. Mahoney proceeds to smash Ando over the head with the chair. Wait a second, the referee counts the fall so I guess Mahoney won by pin. (1/2*. You’re not going to get a good match out Mahoney in 2014. It’s just not going to happen.)
Fourth Contest: Brian Myers vs. Marc Hauss: Hauss knocks Myers down early on and plays to the crowd. Hauss shoulder blocks Myers, but runs into a dropkick. Myers keeps a headlock on Hauss, but Hauss counters with a head scissors on the mat. Myers kicks Hauss on the back, but Hauss fights back with strikes. Myers trips Hauss to the mat followed by a kick to the head for a near fall. Hauss sends Myers face first into the corner and hits a running dropkick to a seated Myers for a two count. Hauss forearms Myers to the mat for a two count. Hauss stops Myers with a right hand and taunts him. Hauss scoop slams Myers for a near fall. Myers avoids a running senton by rolling to the floor. Myers tries for a sunset flip and gets a two count. Hauss decks Myers with a clothesline for a near fall. Hauss knee lifts Myers followed by a neckbreaker and clothesline for a two count. Myers kicks Hauss in the corner and nails Hauss with a running yakuza kick. Myers forearms and dropkicks Hauss into the corner. Myers hits a forearm in the corner and a sit out powerslam for a near fall. Hauss plants Myres with a kneeling DDT followed by a regular DDT for a two count. Myers nails Hauss with a pele kick for a two count. Myers is crotched on the top as Hauss shoved the referee into the ropes. Hauss tries for a superplex, but Myers holds onto the ropes and shoves Hauss off. Hauss hits a neckbreaker out of a back suplex to earn the clean win. (**1/2. A decent match with another unexpected finish. These are the kind of results that need to happen so that there’s value in your local talents. Myers worked well in there and they made for an entertaining match.)
Fifth Contest: UPW No Limits Champion Gabe Saint vs. Shark Boy: Saint bails to the floor to avoid Boy in the opening moments of the match. Boy threatens to punch Saint in the corner, but backs off. Boy hammers away on Saint in the corner and delivers a back elbow. Boy clotheslines Saint over the top to the floor. Saint wants to do a test of strength, but Boy dropkicks Saint instead and keeps arm control on the mat. Saint knocks Boy down with an elbow strike and misses a leg drop. Boy bites Saint’s butt and Saint bails to the floor. Saint drops Boy throat first over the top rope from the floor and maintains the advantage. Saint keeps Boy on the mat with a chin lock. Boy breaks free and is met with a clothesline. Saint heads to the top rope missing a splash attempt. Boy hits a Thez Press followed by right hands and a forearm drop. Boy hits a running bulldog out of the corner for a near fall. Boy drops Saint with a neckbreaker for a two count. Saint avoids a stunner and nails Boy with something around his fist for the win. (*1/4. It’s not a good match as Boy was really just working the Stone Cold gimmick. I don’t think this was designed to be a good match.)
Sixth Contest: Scott Steiner vs. Ron Falco: Steiner starts off with a knee lift and chops in the corner to control Falco. Steiner shoulder blocks Falco followed by a few stomps and chops against the ropes. Steiner tosses Falco overhead with a suplex and they go to the floor. Steiner sends Falco into the railing and ring post. Steiner clotheslines Falco followed by an elbow drop for a two count. Steiner chops Falco against the ropes and gets distracted by Falco’s manager. Falco low blows Steiner from behind to gain the cheap advantage. Falco slams Steiner for a two count. Falco connects with a middle rope dropkick for a two count. Falco leaps off the middle rope and is caught by Steiner with an overhead suplex. Steiner decks Falco with strikes several times followed by a back elbow. Steiner rams Falco into the corner and delivers a chop. Steiner hits a belly to belly suplex for a near fall. Steiner decks the manager off the apron and hits a flatliner. Steiner locks in the Steiner Recliner and wins the match. (1/2*. Well, Steiner is obviously not the wrestler he was and this was never going to be a good match. It’s cool to see Steiner live, but he’s not putting forth what you remember from your childhood. He has certainly changed his style to have a longer career.)
Seventh Contest: Battle Royal: I don’t know a good amount of the guys involved, but there’s actually a decent amount of known local names like Dick Justice and Cheech involved in this. I’m surprised that Cheech couldn’t get a better spot than this. Mattick wins the match with a bridging rollup.
Main Event: Hellcat & Rob Sweet vs. Danny Doring & Tommy Dreamer in a steel cage match: Doring is wrestling in athletic pants and a t-shirt and Dreamer is in his usual gear. Hellcat and Sweet have matching gear and look to be in pretty good shape. Sweet and Hellcat try to escape early, but are stopped and sent into the cage. Sweet clotheslines Doring in the corner but Dreamer decks him from behind. Doring clotheslines Hellcat in the corner. Dreamer hits a splash on Hellcat in the corner followed by an elbow drop for a two count. Dreamer bites Sweet in the corner. Doring chops Hellcat and Dreamer rams Sweet’s head into the cage several times. Dreamer puts a figure four on Sweet and Doring grabs Hellcat for a figure four as well. Hellcat and Sweet are able to break free from the holds. Hellcat rams Doring into the cage a few times. Sweet clotheslines Dreamer in the corner. Doring superkicks both men and rams Sweet into the corner back first. Dreamer puts Hellcat in a tree of woe, but leaves the cage to get a chair from a fan. Dreamer also gets a table into the ring. Doring misses a middle rope elbow drop. Sweet kicks Dreamer through the door and rams Dreamer into the cage face first. Hellcat slams Doring face first onto a steel chair. Dreamer is met with a side Russian leg sweep/dropkick combo for a two count.
Doring hits a double jaw jacker as Dreamer sets a table up in the corner. Dreamer puts Sweet through the table with a Death Valley Driver. The crowd wasn’t happy with the table break so Dreamer does it again to Sweet. Dreamer plays to the crowd and Doring dropkicks Dreamer on the knee. Doring sends Dreamer into the cage face first! Hellcat with a running boot and covers Dreamer but the referee doesn’t want to count. Hellcat covers Dreamer and wins the match. (*1/4. That was a disappointing cage match as they really didn’t do a whole lot and the flow of the match was just off. I’m glad that Doring turned on Dreamer as that makes a lot of sense and Doring is a far better heel than he is a babyface. Hellcat and Sweet winning was the right call.)
Final Thoughts:
I was interested in this show largely because there was several known names involved. The undercard had some decent matches, but the second half of the show was just not very good at all. There’s nothing to see here and it’s a skippable show.
Thanks for reading.