This was UPW's first "big" show in a few months. The attendance was down by about 300-400 from the last show, which is probably best explained by the lack of WWE superstars and the general feeling that the last show was pretty lackluster. With the seating configuration in the Grove (which is probably the nicest venue in SoCal, along with the Mayan), and the lighting, it should still look pretty good on video.

The show started with Pete Doyle in the ring, then Rick Bassman coming out. They went over Doyle stripping Howard of the UPW Heavyweight title, and Bassman told Doyle that he "endorses the decision". Bassman then handed Doyle his metal clipboard, which was meant to be symbolic of control of the company.

One thing that I'd like to mention, is that I think UPW is doing a great job of using the Internet to help push it's storylines with the Weekly Wires and columns on it's site, and did a great job in the promos of touching on what's been happening on the Internet to familiarize fans in attendance who might not have read it, without over doing it. Everyone there knew the basic gist of what was going on, and to the people who do follow the net, they didn't have to sit through an entire recap of what has been happening. I think a lot of promotions can learn from how UPW is using the Internet to further it's storylines, while not doing it at the expense of those who aren't up to date with the websites.

UPW Title Tournament Semi Finals: Big Chris Mordetzsky over Keji Sakoda [5'09]
Before the show I had one of these two guys picked to win the title, and kind of figured this would be the finals. Big Chris is going to be a star in pro-wrestling, there's no doubt there. And with this show he really proved that he can hang with top-notch guys. Keji looked pretty good in the match too. I'm surprised how under rated Keji is. He always puts on solid matches, but rarely gets any real hype. Big Chris won this with a roll up.

Next Big Schwag comes out with Erica Porter, Ruckus, and Apocalypse and says he's restarting the Schwag Army. He also says he paid top dollar to get the Schwag Army a champion and get one of the top wrestlers around, Adam Pearce. Pearce comes eating a banana, and spits banana at a few people then cuts a promo. Which of course leads to the next match.

UPW Title Tournament Semi Finals: Adam Pearce over Skulu [5'56]
I've never seen a bad Skulu match, and I don't think I've seen a bad match from Adam Pearce. Skulu dominated the match early, and when Pearce tried to get something going, he head butted Skulu, knocking himself out. At one point Skulu gave Pearce a stink face, then later in the match Pearce dropped his pants to give Skulu a stink face, but got a banana shoved up his ass for his troubles. The Schwag Army was able to distract the ref, and Pearce threw powder in Skulu's face and got the win. Pete Doyle then came out and said that he will be the special ref in tonight's main to insure that it is fair. Everyone who has watched wrestling more than a month saw what was coming.

Steve Masters over Sabbath to retain the EWF Heavyweight Title [5'59]
This was easily the worst match on the show. I'd go as far as to say it was the show's only bad match. My main problem with the match was just the style that they worked. It was just boring. I like old school wrestling, but matches need to have some payoff. Not just boring move after boring. The match built to nothing, and the crowd quickly lost interest in it. Sabbath looked pretty crisp throughout the match. Masters looked OK too, except when taking a clothesline. Overall a bad match.

The Miz & Lil' Nate over Tony Stradlin & Kid Vicious [5'58]
Tony Stradlin had a fantastic match at the last UPW show in San Luis Obispo, and looked great once again here. The Miz should be one of the top rookie of the year contenders, it's just too bad UPW doesn't run more shows so he'd have a better chance at winning. Lil' Nate is always fun to watch, and Kid Vicious is another guy who doesn't get the hype he deserves. The four of them put on a pretty fun match. Of course Lil' Nate got his Three Stooges spots in. Nate did a splash off The Miz' shoulders and got the pin on Stradlin.

Samoa Joe over B-Boy and Frankie Kazarian [9'25]
-Samoa Joe won via submission on B-Boy.
This match was pretty disappointing. I'm not saying it was a bad match, but it definitely wasn't the match you'd expect from these three. The match had a lot of brawling through the crowd, then the ending just came out of nowhere and came off really flat. The match was OK, but not what it should have been.

Next we went to intermission so the cage for the Outlaws versus Native Nation could be built.

The Outlaws (Mike Knox, Marshal Knox, & Derrick Neikirk) over Native Nation (Navajo Warrior, Ghostwalker, & Ma'koa) [12'11]
-Ma'koa was eliminated at 7'23
-Marshall Knox was eliminated at 8'27
-Navajo Warrior was eliminated at 10'28 when he left the ring.
-Ghostwalker eliminated at 12'11
I actually thought this was a pretty good match, and told the story that they were trying to well. I'm of the school of thought that thinks gimmick matches like cage matches, or ladder matches should be saved for matches like this, where it is supposed to end a long feud. The match played out well, especially with the pre-match video clips adding to the match's story. Ghostwalker was put over strong in defeat, holding out as long as he did while being outnumbered, and the feud had a real resolution and a change with Navajo Warrior turning on Ghostwalker, which was actually built to. After the match Skulu ran down for the save, and did a splash from the top of the cage, which got a huge pop from the crowd.

Erica Porter over Sara del Rey to retain the UPW Women's Title [7'03]
This was one of, if not the best women's match that I have ever seen live in the US, featuring US wrestlers. I think this match proves the point that if you present good women's wrestling, the crowd will get into the match and move away from the cat call mentality that most women's matches have. At the start of the match, there of course were a few comments yelled at the ring, but as the match progressed the crowd started to get into it, probably more so than most of the previous matches. Erica looked great in the match, as she's clearly one of the top female wrestlers in the United States. I don't really know what is going on over on the East Coast as far as women's wrestling goes, but I'd guess Erica, Sara del Rey, and Melissa are probably the top three women's wrestlers in the US, or not far from it. That being said, I thought Sara was a little slow in the match, and really didn't look crisp at times. Still, it was a really good match, and my second or third favorite on the show. I wouldn't mind a rematch in the future.

Hardkore Inc. (Hardkore Kidd & Al Katrazz) over The Ballard Bros. (Shannon Ballard & Shane Ballard) and Scott Lost & Funky Billy Kim to retain the UPW Tag Titles [8'10]
UPW really ended on a high note with the top three matches on the show going last. This was a really good match that had a ton of action throughout. It was pretty much nonstop for the entire duration and everyone looked really good in the match. Hardkore Inc versus the Ballards is a feud that should probably never die, as they seemingly always bring out the best in each other. Hardkore Inc won when Al Katrazz pinned Funky Billy Kim.

Adam Pearce over Big Chris Mordetzsky to win the vacant UPW Heavyweight title [9'32]
-UPW commissioner Pete Doyle was the special referee for the match, and hit Big Chris with a chair, giving Pearce the win.
I thought this was the best match of the night. Pearce has really done an awesome job in 2003, after taking most of 2002 off. This was easily Big Chris' best match of his career, and he couldn't have picked a better time, having had it in the biggest match of his career. The build up to the match all through the night, plus the importance placed on the UPW Heavyweight title throughout the night really got the crowd into this. I'd say everyone saw the Doyle turn coming, but it was a necessity for where UPW is going with it's storylines, and they couldn't have asked for a better crowd reaction to end the show. Once Pearce got the win after the Doyle turn, the crowd went wild. Bassman came down to the ring and started getting beat down also (even hit with the metal clipboard) and the crowd started throwing cups of water, plastic bottles, and every piece of trash it could find into the ring. When this show comes out on video or DVD the ending is going to make the Schwag Army and Pearce come off as big time heels. WWE can learn a lot from the way UPW booked this one show, as everything worked out perfectly, and in the context of one single show UPW was able to get the fans to care about a match and the characters involved enough to bring them to a near riot.

Overall, the show was better than the last UPW show at the Grove, but it had the same problems that have plagued UPW for the last few months with there being no real blow away matches on the show. While most of the matches were above average, none really came off as memorable (except the main due to the ending). Also, while the triple threat was booked a little differently, I think UPW could stand to mix up the shows a little more. Wrestling is supposed to be like a three ring circus, and when all three rings have almost the same identical thing in them, the show starts to drag.

One thing I'd like to mention also is that during the show they played a clip from one of the Roddy Piper segments that will be on the UPW DVDs with Hardkore Kidd. The segment was absolutely hilarious and to was further proof that the WWE totally misused Piper in his latest stint there. Piper is at his best when he is working on the fly and is unscripted and this segment really proved it. I wont spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it, but these Piper segments will be worth picking up the UPW DVDs for alone.

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WPW's "Best of the West" is coming up this Friday, and it looks to be a pretty good show. Earlier this year WPW signed into a three year deal with Toryumon, which was supposed to send WPW guys there, and bring Toryumon guys here. There hasn't been a whole lot of activity on either front, with only Martin Marin (El Genio) going over to Toryumon so far, and now at "Best of the West", Toryumon wrestlers will be in WPW for the first time since the deal began.

The tournament is a one night, sixteen-man tournament featuring some of the top wrestlers from the West Coast. The one night format is not the most desirable format for a tournament with so many people, since it forces lots of short matches, but it is the most practical for indy promotions. Revolution Pro has been able to pull it off the last two years with their Revolution J tournament, so it should work out fine.

The talent pool in the tournament itself is very deep, and probably the best tournament lineup in SoCal since the first Revolution J in 2001. WPW actually tried to get Paul London for the show, but he was unable to commit in time (PWG was also wanting to book London for their August show, but him signing with WWE changed those plans).

One of the best things going for the tournament is the uncertainty over who'll win their matches. With most tournaments you can probably guess all the first round winners, but in at least half the matches in the first round at "Best of the West" it's really up for grabs.

The biggest highlight of the show will probably end up being the Toryumon match between Taji Ishamori and "Royal Brother" Henry Sugawara the 3rd. If you haven't seen these guys before you are in for a real treat.

Anyway, here are my predictions for the first round.

Disco Machine over Excalibur - This one could really go either way, but I see Disco advancing here.

B-Boy over Matrix - I think this one is pretty much a no-brainer. This should be a good matchup of guys who trained together at CCW's Palace of Pain.

Lil' Cholo over Eric Matlock - Another no brainer. I'd be surprised if Cholo doesn't make it to at least the semi finals, but I expect him to go even farther than that.

Tony Kozina over Joey Ryan - This is another match that is really anyone's guess. I picked Tony just because he drove a lot farther to get here. This match has some curse on it and probably wont happen anyway, as it always seems to get cancelled.

Jardi Frantz over Scott Lost - This one is also a toss up. Lost works WPW every week, but NorCal has to get some representation past the first round.

Frankie Kazarian over Hardkore Kidd - This is another tough one, but I'll go with Frankie just because the name he's been making for himself lately.

Super Dragon over Infernal - No way Dragon goes out in first round.

Silver Tyger over Funky Billy Kim - I'll go with Tyger here because he has the home field advantage.

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XPW is still saying they'll run again, but they are also saying it wont be for at least two more months.

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Roddy Piper will be signing autographs at Comic Con International in San Diego on july 17th through the 20th. He will be at booth AA15 in the autograph section at the following times:

Thursday, 3:00 PM-7:00 PM
Friday, 3:00 PM-7:00 PM
Saturday, 3:00 PM-7:00 PM
Sunday, 2:00 PM-5:00 PM

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I should be back early next week with news from "Best of the West" and Comic Con International.

-Steve