Indy News Update #2 for December 30, 2011
Submit your Indy news and results to: AdamMartin@wrestleview.com
Steven Ashe sent this in.
Tuesday December 27 2011
GCW – Great Canadian Wrestling
SEASONS BEATINGS
Oshawa, Ontario
HARMONY HALL
Attendance: 130+
Ring Announcer: Gentleman Geoff
Referees: Jeremy Hogel, Sean Cassidy
Bellringer: Evad
Guest Timekeeper: the wizard of id
OIW Notables in attendance:Dave Linton, Sean Ryker, Big Mac, “Bloodthirsty” Bob Kapur, Mike Mastrandrea, Dr Mask, WTFH Wrestling, Tabercill Whom, Bernadette & Adam, Frank Bruno
Show Notes:
-Seasons Beatings was the last wrestling show of 2011 (in Ontario)
-Show was a fundraiser for a number of charities… Sick Kids Hospital, Simcoe Hall Settlement House, something to do with Anemea (didn’t catch the name)
-There were a couple “Rock Chicks” (I dunno who they were. Tight white tops, tight dark shorts, legs, boobs. You know, Rock Chicks.)
-Raffle draws were held prior to show start and various times during the show as well. Prizes ranged from autographed photos of WWE stars & legends to dvds to ROH T-shirts
-Venue is an old church or something. Roomy with a high ceiling
Official show opening at 2:10pm when Gentleman Geoff welcomed fans to “the final show of 2001” (He blamed his mistake on “Eggnog, I’ve had too much of it.”)
1. Rip Impact def Ryan Ruks [8:40]Ryan Ruks (not ‘Rush’ like other reports said) is a graduate of the Lance Storm Academy. A very recent graduate. He’s very green and that showed. It was evident Ruks does have an understanding of the basic rudiments of grappling combat and how and when to switch up tactics. He displayed some good counter-wrestling which kept the more experienced Rip Impact on his toes, more than once Ruks turned an Impact offensive maneuver into a position of his own advantage. He cheated too which helped keep the match more competitive than the gap in their respective ring experience would suggest. Ruks has some height, looks to be 6 ft anyway and while he’s a few hundred-thousand reps away from any real muscle definition his body type suggests he could fill out quite nicely. Got to work on his cardio though as he appeared to be badly gassed relatively early in the bout.
As to the bout… Ruks kept it on the mat more than Impact would have liked but he never really had the “High Risk Hero” in any real jeopardy and Rip was able to end 2011 with a win after snatching an overconfident Ruks with a cradle from the mat. What was remarkable about this opener was how the fans received it… loudly and with great enthusiasm. Simple chops brought cheers. Ruks was jeered and insulted throughout the match while Impact had loud vocal support from bell to bell. Such a hot reception to the first match bode well for the rest of the card.
2. Totally Random (Hardkore Hick & King Sphinx) def Team SnowStorm (Cecil Nyx & Derek Platinum) [8:46]In a bizarre coincidence, it started snowing as this match started
Hardkore Hick & King Sphinx weren’t introduced as “Totally Random” but I thought it was an appropriate name for their pairing. Not as cute as “Team SnowStorm” is for their opponents but still. Actually, as Tag Team monikers go, Nyx & Platinum’s Team SnowStorm is very cool and fitting. (Think about it.)
But yea, Hardkore Hick & King Sphinx? GCW never ceases to amuse.
Like the opener this tag contest had a veteran vs rookie dynamic. Both Nyx and Platinum are newcomers to the mat whereas their opponents have some years behind them. Hick’s been around for about 10 years and Sphinx for 2 or 3 thousand (most of it in Egypt). All that experience didn’t make things easier for them against their speedier and younger opponents. In the early minutes of the bout Platinum and Nyx had the bad guys scrambling much to the delight of the crowd. Platinum impressed by bodyslamming the 300+ lb Hardcore Hick and Cecil Nyx earned instant cred (with me anyway) by knocking that ridiculous blue penis off King Sphinx’s chin with an old school snap-mare. Totally Random resorted to some rather sketchy tactics and managed to isolate Nyx for an extended beatdown. Hick & Sphinx worked well cutting off the ring, using false tags and goading Platinum to attempt the save thus giving them more leeway for double-teams on Nyx while Ref Cassidy was distracted by Platinum.
Eventually Cecil was able to tag Platinum and the place exploded in cheers as he cleaned house on both the bad guys but unfortunately for Team SnowStorm and the fans, it was a short lived good guy rally. Sphinx entered the ring to break up a Platinum pin attempt and that brought Nyx in to even things up. In the ensuing all-in melee Hick brought his rope and cowbell into the ring. Nyx wrested the weapon away from Hick but was caught holding it by Ref Cassidy who immediately moved to confiscate the foreign object and remove Nyx from the ring. So it was that Cassidy failed to see King Sphinx Camel-Punch Derek Platinum right in the balls. Seconds later Sphinx held Nyx at the ropes as Cassidy counted Hick’s cover on Platinum giving Totally Random an upopular victory.
Hard to go wrong with a traditional style tag match and this one certainly kept the 130+ fans entertained. Lots of fun.
I think this was the 1st time either of these teams tagged together. Nyx & Platinum seemed to fit and work together very well and I could see them developing some great stuff should they decide to team together often. Hardkore Hick & King Sphinx are a Totally Random team. No doubt about that. Hick already has a pretty steady tag partner in Eddie Osbourne (They’re “The HillBullies”) so it’s unlikely he’ll tag with Sphinx again but ya never know. (Especially in GCW.)
3. Onyx def The D-Man [3:01]This contest, the 272lb Onyx against the 145lb D-Man was the shorted of the Seasons Beatings matches. Onyx was billed as hailing from Toronto but I and other Southern Ontario/GTA regulars have never seen him before so he may be from Toronto but he hasn’t done much wrestling in these parts. There was a contingent of fans who did know him and during introductions and the match they were the only ones cheering for him. The rest of the audience was solidly behind local rookie The D-Man.
D-Man is 6 feet tall so that 145lbs is spread pretty thin (he looked downright skinny next to the muscled bulk of Onyx) but to his credit D-Man looks to be athletic and given his young age may yet have a spurt of muscle mass development. As you’d expect of a competitor his size & weight, his offense is a speedy aerial array of headscissors, ‘rana’s, dropkicks and flying strikes, much of it launched from the ropes. Unfortunately it was mostly ineffective against the much larger Onyx who blocked a ‘rana attempt and delivered a devastating elevated sit-out powerbomb to win the match in convincing fashion.
Fans gave Onyx a loud round of applause which, while somewhat strange (he was the bad guy, after all) it was certainly deserved. A very impressive GCW debut for the big man from Toronto. (More than a couple of the other wrestlers on the card shared their inclination to believe Onyx could get noticed by WWE and perhaps offered a tryout or camp. He’s got size, a good look and although he only gave a glimpse of his skills in this match it was enough to see there are skills there.)
As for The D-Man… think Zakk Atticus and you’re in the right neighborhood. Very charismatic, enthusiastic and athletic. That’s 3 “tics” in the potential for a solid indy career column for sure.
4. Special Seasons Beatings 3-Way:
Twiggy def “Sex Appeal” Terry Steele and “Mr Wrestling” Kevin Steen [8:04]
I always enjoy the speculation around an advertised appearance by Kevin Steen. “Mr Wrestling” has a reputation around these parts as “Mr No-Show”. It’s a bummer when he doesn’t show but almost always a gas when he does because Steen is truly becoming one of the most entertaining wrestling stars not signed to a WWE contract. GCW fans got a treat with this match which was truly a Seasons Beatings Special 3-Way attraction even if advertised star Shane Mathews didn’t show up. The guy who took his place, “Sex Appeal” Terry Steele, was about as good a replacement for Mathews as you could hope for. Not only did Steele wrestle like Shane Mathews, he looked exactly like him. Like, exactly. He even sounded like him! The 3rd guy in the match, the guy who fans rallied behind right from the start and the eventual winner of the contest was Quebec-based star Twiggy. (The current reigning Inter-Species Wrestling champion.)
As his name suggests, Twiggy isn’t a big guy… pretty darn skinny in fact. Where Twiggy excells (and other skinny guys fail) is…
1st, that he wears an outfit with lots of fringes which disguise his thin frame and make his speedy aerial stuff even more visually striking…
and 2nd, he doesn’t possess miracluous (read: unbelievable) recuperative powers or strength beyond what his frame and musculature could reasonably be expected to deliver.
Twiggy is one of the most believable skinny pro wrestlers to grace Ontario rings. I could name half a dozen skinny Ontario regulars who would do well to study what Twiggy does in the ring because it’s what they should be doing.
Anyway, the match was awesome. Fans loved it and Twiggy pinning a surprised Kevin Steen to win the bout was definitely the feel-good moment of the show thus far.
By the way, Kevin Steen was heard to remark how much he enjoyed his first GCW experience and would love to return so here’s hoping “Mr Wrestling” appears for GCW in 2012. (And Steele & Twiggy too for that matter.)
Intermission
The usual stuff at break time during GCW shows… crowds at the merch and food concession (no alcohol available), wrestlers doing the meet and greet thing with fans. Biggest attractions were on Angelina Love and a huge line of fans paid $10 each for an autograph or photo (with many dropping a 20 for both.) Outside, the snow was still coming down.
Show 2nd half began with Tomer Shalom’s manager Elias Gould challenging “any jabronie” in the back to wrestle Shalom. GCW Brass Knuckles Champion Buck Gunderson came out and indicated he’d be willing to scuffle with the “Superstar of David.” Buck was wearing his title belt (which was the only thing he was wearing that was even remotely clean.) Elias Gould was quick to spot an opportunity and suggest Gunderson put his title on the line and just to make it interesting why not make it “No DQ, Anything Goes, Falls Count Anywhere”? Buck quickly agreed and the fight was on…
5. GCW Brass Knuckles Championship:
No DQ, Anything Goes, Falls Count Anywhere:
Buck Gunderson def “Superstar of David” Tomer Shalom w/ Elias Gould by submission to retain the title. [10:26]
This is my pick for Match of the Night. The preceding challenge drew fans attention back to the show and the match had them leaving their seats in excitement. Gunderson and Shalom brawled in and out of the ring. With Anything Goes rules Elias Gould was free to interefere at will which he did on many occasions (and more than once, Buck made him sorry he’d joined the action.) Chairs and tables came into play as they fought toward and up onto the stage. Fans were 100% behind Gunderson and cheered his every offensive move while booing Tomer Shalom’s efforts just as loudly. It was really a gas!
After a back and forth battle that saw each man give and take some serious punishment the fight returned to the stage for the final time. Shalom hoisted Buck up onto his shoulders but before he could execute whatever move he’d planned Gunderson suddenly threw a fireball into his face. The “Superstar of David” tumbled from the stage and Gunderson jumped on him with a chickenwing-chinlock-bodyscissors thingy and Shalom submitted.
Buck Gunderson goes down in the history books as the last man in 2011 to successfully defend his belt. Tomer Shalom’s effort is in the books too… as in “Too bad buddy. Maybe next year. Ahahahahaha!”
6. “Vanilla Gorilla” Steve Brown def “The Catch as Catch Can Crustacean” Bastian Snow [5:33]
It didn’t take long for the buzz from the last match to vanish. By the time “Vanilla Gorilla” Steve Brown had sauntered around the ring for 3 minutes the venue was the quietest it had been since they let fans in the building. Bastian Snow’s entrance, where he has to enlist the help of fans to slide into the ring, just added to the sense that everything was moving in slow motion. The match wasn’t horrible but it didn’t click with the crowd and many of them turned hostile. “Boring!” and “This sucks!” were a couple commonly voiced complaints from more than one or two fans. (And that 2nd complaint is very telling. “YOU suck” is one thing, “THIS sucks” is another thing entirely.)
Granted, the Gunderson/Shalom match was hard to follow but that doesn’t explain why this one kinda fell flat as a fart at the dinner table.
Brown vs Snow had potential… Bastian Snow is a crab, complete with a spiky shell on his back and eyeballs on the end of stalks sticking out of his head and Brown is a crabby 350+ lb guy in shiny purple shorts. On paper that match-up just screams entertainment, yes?
But, no.
7. Main Event: Intergender Tag Match:
Brent Banks & Seleziya Sparx def Shawn Spears & Angelina Love [20:53]
Prior to the start of the Seasons Beatings main event Shawn Spears came out to the ring to have a few words with fans. Basically, Spears had to go out there and tell fans that they weren’t going to get to see the main event they’d been expecting because “Dangerboy” Derek Wylde & Cherry Bomb weren’t there. Such lousy news, delivered right on the heels of match that was anything but crowd pleasing could have turned the crowd against the show. Thankfully, Shawn Spears is one of the best talkers in Ontario. By the time he introduced his tag partner, Angelina Love, fans were in a brighter mood. When Love talked about coming home to Canada and how she attended Durham College back in the day the place was once again full of energy. When Love then turned and called Oshawa the “armpit of Ontario” the crowd grew angry… but for all the right reasons. When Brent B & Seleziya Sparx were introduced fans embraced them as their heroes and the last match of the year was underway.
The match ended almost 21 minutes later with Sparx pinning Spears after Brent B leveled the former WWE Superstar with Sliced-Bread. Fans went nuts. They’d been cheering, jeering, laughing and clapping from bell to bell. I’ve sorta seen this match before but it was still very enjoyable. For those seeing such intergender match gems like spankings and not-the-kiss-you-were-expecting moments for the first time it was a riot.
And that was the last Ontario show of 2011… GCW “Seasons Beatings” definitely ended the year on an upbeat note. Fans seemed to like the new venue and almost all of them loved the show. Here’s hoping GCW draws that many and more to their next Oshawa show. It would be nice to see them pulling 200-300 a show like they have in the past.
GCW shows are often wild crazy affairs with matches, promos and more all seemingly tossed willy-nilly into a pro wrestling salad but more often than not it all comes together and fans have a great time. Seasons Beatings was no exception.
I think promoter David Wyldstar said something about the next GCW show being in February but I could be wrong. (It was right after the main event and still very noisy.) OWIE will have it on our Events Page as soon as we hear of a solid date. You can also check the GCW website or the GCW Facebook Thingy.
That’s it.
Play safe this New Year
– Gordo