After the promotion had to stall for time due to some issues behind the scenes – which meant that Road Warrior Animal and Ric Flair were sent out to fire up the crowd – the first of a nine match card began which had the potential to be one of the best cards of the whole weekend.
Eddie Kingston versus Masato Tanaka
What I know: My mileage is lower than some for Kingston, but he is well paired up against Tanaka, someone I have always enjoyed.
Match: The two began by trading holds, but the first real forearm blow by Tanaka had Kingston delay-selling the shot and rolling to the floor to recover. For an aging guy, Tanaka still moved around and across the ring with vim and vigour as the match felt like it was all about Kingston struggling to stay in the contest for sizeable chunks. A beautiful Diamond Dust was one of the best spots as Tanaka looked to close the match out, though he was required to kick out of Kingston’s Falcon Arrow to survive. Tanaka won a strike exchange and nailed a Sliding D for the win.
Verdict: A fun opener that saw Kingston as an admirable foil for Tanaka’s hard hitting style.
Pentagon Jr. versus Rey Fenix
What I know: For anyone who even loosely follows independent wrestling, it is unlikely you haven’t seen a Lucha Bros match at some point. They both were involved in some successful matches in wXw recently at 16 Carat Gold.
Match: Pre-match, Fenix badmouthed the Young Bucks and called them scared of the Lucha Bros, before Penta called them ‘putos’. With no-one apparently in the building to fight them, Fenix issues a challenge to Fenix, one answered when Penta gets a two from a schoolboy roll-up. Fenix took to the sky almost immediately with a moonsault press to the outside, and the two men rarely let up. Some mid-match strikes and Fenix hook kicks were beautifully executed for maximum impact. Fenix’s rope work is almost unparalleled and he landed a picture perfect moonsault for a close fall. Even Canadian Destroyers weren’t enough to end the contest, but a Spanish Fly did it in the end for Fenix.
Verdict: Penta is good, but Fenix is great. Ridiculous spots, but if you love that style of wrestling, this was a very good example of it.
Puma King/DJ Z/Tajiri/Samantha Heights versus Sammy Guevara/Santana/Ortiz/Diamante
What I know: Love me some LAX as is well known, whilst seeing Tajiri even at this advanced age is at least interesting. DJ Z has impressed me in what little I’ve seen.
Match: Fought under Lucha rules, Guevara, Z and King got the match off to a quick start before the first introduction of Tajiri and a kick that had Santana leave the ring in some discomfort. A fun exchange between Ortiz and Heights ended with Ortiz blocking a monkey flip and turning it into a facebuster. Z ended up getting isolated to allow the de facto heel team to hit a range of offense, including Diamante landing Santana’s plank for two. Z gets the tag after causing LAX to hit each other with a DDT and soon everyone is taking to the air! Santana stops Tajiri from diving, but received mist and a buzzsaw kick for his trouble and a three count.
Verdict: Fun contest that utilised the various talents within the ring in an engaging enough fashion.
Robbie Eagles versus Flamita versus Arez
What I know: I caught Flamita in his SSS16 involvement, but haven’t managed to watch either of his opponents.
Match: Like the previous match, the ruleset helped this match from the get go as it was a Triple Threat, meaning all three men were in the ring at the same time. Arez is the one I know least about, but an early wheelbarrow on Flamita into a suicide dive on Eagles is an impressive sequence. Unfortunately, a more ambitious spot that saw Arez try and counter a crossbody by Eagles into a Spanish Fly as he stood on Flamita’s back didn’t quite land the way it was supposed to. The fans did begin to get more into the contest as it progressed, especially after Flamita landed a tope and a moonsault to the outside. Eagles had snuck in for a couple of offensive moves, which played into a finish as a Northern Lights Suplex by Arez saw Eagles hit a 450 to break the pinfall and get the three count himself.
Verdict: Decent action, if a little bit sloppy in places. Definitely got better as it went along.
Revolt! (Caleb Konley/Jake Manning/Zane Riley) versus The Hurricane/X-Pac/Jushin Liger
What I know: I enjoyed Manning during the WrestlePro show, but he appears to be a more heelish version of the ‘Mad Scout’ gimmick here. That is a fun looking legends team, especially as Jushin Liger is my favourite wrestler of all time.
Match: Greatest Hits Liger is fun as always, with him stretching Konley in the opening exchanges with a bow and arrow as well as a surfboard. There were crowd pleasing moments such as a dance off between the Hurricane and Manning in a match that rarely needed to break second gear. Revolt! Isolated Hurricane eventually, mainly to lead to a Liger hot tag, yet Riley halted the legend with a shoulderblock for a second heat spot. All six men ended up in the ring as we saw a shohtei, bronco buster and a chokeslam, all leading to a Liger brainbuster on Manning for three.
Verdict: A match that did exactly what it set out to do – give the fans a chance to celebrate the three winners, though especially the soon-to-be retired Liger.
Barbario Cavernario versus Dragon Lee
What I know: I’ve only ever seen Cavernario a couple of times, but loved every second. As for Dragon Lee, I saw a lot of his feud with Kamatachi and those matches blew everyone away.
Match:…unfortunately, this was the worst time that Fite could lose signal. We rejoined mid-match as the two men were down at ringside following a ringside splash by Cavernario. This did mean we went straight into Cavernario flipping DDTs and Lee hitting running Canadian Destroyers in a ridiculously slick exchange of offense. Moments later, Lee hit a falcon arrow after a hanging double foot stomp for the win.
Verdict: What we saw looked absolutely excellent. Such a shame, especially with Cavernario not booked elsewhere as far as I know.
Shane Strickland versus Zack Sabre Jr.
What I know: Zack Sabre Jr. is one of the greatest wrestlers on the planet, whilst I believe I’ve seen more matches by Strickland as Killshot in Lucha Underground than under his own name and that isn’t many by any means.
Match: Like most Sabre Jr matches, the early going have Zack jawing with the fans whilst trying to bend Strickland like a pretzel, including a neat spot where he caught Strickland out of a leapfrog by the ankle. Strickland managed to match Sabre Jr. at times on the mat, though often by utilising his athleticism to escape or reverse a hold. A Strickland chop to the quad area was nicely unorthodox, though a Pele kick to the arm put Sabre Jr. back in control. A sloppy rolling cutter earned Strickland a two count as he finally managed some concerted offense, but it didn’t last for long. Sabre Jr. even lambasted Strickland for heading to WWE during his strikes, only for this to light a fire under Strickland who landed more unique strikes. The tide continued to switch back and forth, before Strickland tried to use his momentum to hit a double stomp, only to get countered into a brutal submission to give Sabre Jr. the win.
Verdict: I felt it took a little bit of time to get going, but the finish in particular was a great spot.
SCU (Christopher Daniels/Frankie Kazarian/Scorpio Sky) versus Best Friends (Orange Cassidy/Chuck Taylor/Trent?)
What I know: Never have been as big on Daniels or Kazarian as some, but I own a Chuck Taylor t-shirt and Orange Cassidy is great.
Match: Cassidy is so over at the moment that even a battle with Daniels over his hands being in his jeans gets a raucous response from the crowd. Kazarian and Trent? offer some more conventional wrestling up until a hand slap between the two is judged to be a tag – so they switch sides. This all to set up a ‘Fingerpoke of Doom’ spot where Sky almost beats Kazarian to give the win to…SCU, I guess? It is Trent who ends up cut off in the heel corner as the match continued, though Best Friends used a Trent? low blow to gain control and beat up on Daniels in their own inimitable style.
The low blow was caused by Trent? wearing a pair of Cassidy’s sunglasses, eyewear that apparently is cursed. This is never more clear than a ‘ferocious’ strike exchange between Cassidy and Daniels as he put the glasses on. The glasses come into player later as Sky made the mistake of removing Cassidy’s, sparking a fired up Orange and earning a double chokeslam for Sky and Kazarian. Unfortunately for Cassidy, Sky took Taylor and Trent? out with a tope con hilo, leaving Cassidy open for the Best Meltzer Ever and a win for SCU.
Verdict: Bursts of high octane offense coupled with a lot of fun, yet stupid, interactions. Definitely a whole heap of good times.
Will Ospreay versus Bandido
What I know: Have watched Ospreay pretty much since his debut. Whilst I’ve heard positive things about Bandido, this is the first match I’ve seen of his.
Match: The tone was set from the opening bell with Ospreay landing a standing Spanish Fly, Space Flying Tiger Drop and a Shooting Star Press in the opening thirty seconds. Bandido is clearly more than just about flying around the ring as he showcased impressive power with a stalling suplex with an additional squat for good measure as he fought his way into the contest. Bandido also highlighted his impressive leg strength with a modified surfboard without the use of his arms. With the obligatory strike exchanges leading to a succession of forearms that have the crowd rocking after some sluggishness, Bandido avoided the Storm Breaker and hit a pop-up powerbomb to leave both men down.
The escalation continued as Bandido grabbed a nearfall off of a second rope poison rana that drove Ospreay’s head into the canvas, whilst Ospreay upped his game moments later with a springboard plancha over the guard rail. Bandido was able to reverse both the Os Cutter and the Stormbreaker before landing his modified Go2Sleep, yet an Os Cutter and Stormbreaker did eventually end the contest in favour of Ospreay. Post-match, Ospreay praised Bandido and talked about how good wrestling was for his mental health recently.
Verdict: A highlight reel of a match more than a good match in and of itself. Some excellent spots, some craziness, and a lot of impressive aerial offense.
What I now know: WrestleCon always had the potential to offer a great show with the different promotions they could draw wrestlers from, and they definitely delivered. A good mix of talent of modern day and yesteryear that engaged from start to finish.
Best match: Will Ospreay versus Bandido may not have been all my graps, but it probably was the best match on the night.
Less good: Robbie Eagles versus Arez versus Flamita is the unfortunate recipient of this, even though it was perfectly acceptable.
