Cuatro de Mayo
By Scrub
Editor's Note: Yeah, I know I'm
a week late with my thoughts. Better late than never!
May 4 was a good day for good wrestling
in ghetto places. I was able to attend Revolution Pro's debut
in Harbor City and FUSION's debut in the City of Angels. Both
shows had great action with some really hot crowds. Rev Pro had
about 100 people in attendance while FUSION already had reports
of 500-600 people. With this column/review, I'm gonna go with
the same format I used last time, and just give my various thoughts
from throughout the day…
Rev Pro
- Harbor City may not be the most
beautifullest (I know that's not a word) city in SoCal, but the
Boys & Girls Club is a really nice venue. One of the better
venues for Indy wrestling. It's a very clean place that gives
away free candy at the door. You can't go wrong with free candy!
The acoustics inside were great, as the crowd heat was echoing
off the walls, making it seem like there were 5 times as many
people. That's why I hate outdoor venues and that's why I love
indoor venues. I hope Rev Pro continues to run shows here at the
Harbor City Boys & Girls Club. If that means more John Lambert
(Honorary Mayor of San Pedro Candidate) matches, then even better!
- King Faviano, Scorpio Sky, &
El Gallinero 4 versus American Wild Child, Black Metal, &
Zokre was one of my favorite matches of the night. This was one
of the best Los Feos… err, Los Sanchos (the AWC stable) matches
that I have ever seen. Usually, I have found that Los Sanchos
can usually become pretty predictable and lackluster, but this
six-man was a very nice change of pace. It's good to see that
the Los Sanchos six-mans are changing up now. The usually pairing
of AWC, Street Style and Top Gun Talwar was getting a little repetitive.
Really fun match, with every single person involved shining in
their own respective way. Everyone brought their A-Game tonight
(grrrrr, more clichés!). It's really cool to see all different
types of wrestlers involved in this tag, with each wrestler complimenting
the other very well. The heavyweights were mixed with the lightweights,
balancing and meshing the styles rather nicely. Scorpio hit an
over-the-top tope con hilo while hurdling his tag team partner,
Gallinero 4! It was quite the sight to see (Scrub Cliché
#85). The dive was amazing. The only thing missing from this match
was the Super Astros spot. Really good match. One of the matches
of the night.
- Angel versus Big Babbi Slymm was
good as well. Slymm's mannerisms and disapproval of Angel were
great.
- John Lambert (Mayor of San Pedro)
versus Lonestar. WOW. What more can I say? The crowd heat for
this was off the charts. No, I am not kidding. The place was going
berserk for this match. I said no, I am not kidding. The crowd
absolutely loathed Lonestar. John Lambert came out with an entourage
ala Goldberg, which immediately got Lambert some "Goldberg"
chants. One of Lambert's "bodyguards" even looked like
Ralphus from old WCW Jericho fame. While Lambert was over-selling
everything, he was still fun to watch in the ring. The crowd was
behind him all the way, because he was the fiery young babyface
mounting his comeback. That, or because he was a local celebrity
and he was giving out free lollipops. Either way, the crowd heat
alone made this match really fun. A couple minutes could have
been shaven off this match, but still, a ridiculously fun match.
John Lambert = a cool guy! I hope he wins the race for Honorary
Mayor of San Pedro!
- Hydro & Phoenix Star versus
Quicksilver & Chris Bosh was a good match that proves again
and again that Rev Pro's rookie roster is deep, and that the runnings
for SoCal 2003 Rookie of the Year will be a really tight race.
Although the six-man on the card was better than this tag, this
tag was still a good match, with Chris Bosh and Phoenix Star's
pairing that really stood out. Bosh displays a whole lot of athleticism
and plays the "face that everyone loves" role rather
well. Bosh has added some more wacky Lucha submissions to his
repertoire for this match. Quicksilver was rocking a new mask
and cape. I like his second mask more. The cape is definitely
a nice little touch. He hit the Christo (Dragon Kid-esque head
scissor submission) rather smooth. Everyone in this match looked
good, although Hydro still looks uncomfortable in the ring (He
did hit a badass swinging suplex neckbreaker, though). Rev Pro's
rookie class of 2003 is going to be a class to watch.
- Top Gun and TARO's intensity for
this match was off the charts. Top Gun's roid rage got the best
of him, as he destroyed his aviator glasses on the way to the
ring, and even hit on a girl at ringside before the match! This
match wasn't as executed as well as the preceding match or the
match that would follow it, but the charisma from both men within
the match overcame all the miscues. This was a battle of the "big
men" for the Rev Pro Junior Heavyweight Title, with Top Gun
hitting a lot of "big man" moves, like a bear hug and
the Iron Claw slam. I will always be a fan of the little guy playing
the "big man" role. Finish saw TARO hit his top rope
neckbreaker, which absolutely destroyed Top Gun and his neck.
Absolutely brutal.
- Super Dragon versus Mr. Excitement
is definitely a Match of the Year contender. Too bad it was in
front of a burnt out crowd. That's back-to-back Dragon matches
where a good match went right over most of the crowds heads. I
think if this match were in front of, say, a hot GSCW crowd, then
this match would have been appreciated a heck of a lot more than
it was by the Sunday crowd. Some would say that the match was
wasted in front of the wrong crowd, but it was still an awesome
match. In front of the Harbor City crowd, I feel that Dragon should
have played more of a "dickish-heel" role, a role that
he usually plays at the Frank & Sons shows. But instead, him
and Excitement just wrestled, without the face-heel dynamic. Some
really good matwork started off the match. Both men were hitting
their opponents signature spots, with Excitement hitting some
footstomps and Dragon hitting Excitement's rolling Boston Crab
(which Dragon modified into an STF) and an EXPLOOODAAAAH! Finish
saw Dragon hit a nice brainbuster on Excitement for the win. An
acceptable finish, although the usual Rev Pro followers were probably
waiting for a Psycho Driver. I personally like the brainbuster
finish, because it can be seen as a legit finisher anywhere else.
I mean, c'mon, he's busting brains! THAT'S SOME SICK SHIT!
- Overall, really fun show from
the Rev Pro crew. A really nice venue plus a really hot crowd
(till the last couple matches) plus solid in-ring action makes
me a happy camper. This new era in Rev Pro has the potential to
outdo its preceding eras of hybrid wrestling at the rate they
are going.
FUSION
- After Rev Pro, I decided to check
out the inaugural FUSION show. While I must say, I'm not exactly
a huge Lucha expert, nor am I a huge Lucha follower, but this
was a really good show, especially for it's debut show. The life
of an Indy fed usually depends on their first show; it can make
or break the fed. Luckily, 500 loud, hyped up fans came to see
what FUSION was all about. While the show did start an hour and
45 minutes late, and while security were haggling a lot of the
fans entering the building, and while the food was very scarce
and over-priced, the fans in attendance would not let these factors
stop them from having a good time. The really hyped crowd, along
with the great action in the ring made for yet another good Indy
show on Cuatro de Mayo.
- As stated earlier, I'm not some
Lucha specialist, so I can't break the card down like I'd like
to. But I can comment on the "American" part of the
card. American Wild Child, Angel, & Black Metal versus TARO,
Quicksilver, & Scorpio Sky was a fun little tag. It was great
to see the Latino crowd embrace the "Americans" with
open arms. They booed AWC, Angel, and Black Metal out of the building
and they cheered on Scorpio, Quicksilver and TARO. All six men
did their usual stuff, and hit their signature spots. At certain
points during the night, fans of all shapes and sizes would stop
the Rev Pro technicos for an autograph and a picture. It's really
great to see how far guys like Scorpio and Quicksilver have gone
in SoCal. At one point, they were struggling to get a booking
at WPW, and now, they are signing autographs and posing for pictures.
- The Main Event was frigging off
the charts. The heat was amazing for this match. Before the match
even started, kids were flocking to ringside, jockeying for position
with the other niños in order to get close for autographs.
I mean, the ringside area was pretty packed, all four sides of
the ring were occupied. If the rudos got a pretty crazy reaction,
imagine what the technicos got. When Konnan, Huracan Ramirez Jr.,
& Capitan Oro hit the ring, the place was going bananas. Once
all the wrestlers were in the ring, the kids followed too, and
before you know it, it looked like some insane battle royal was
going to take place with a bunch of super-charged kids doped up
on sugar. Once all the kids were clear, the match went underway.
Konnan looked awesome in there with Rey Sr. during their opening
sequence. I haven't seen Konnan look so crisp and fluid since
God knows when. I was shocked, yet delighted to see Konnan going
full-force in the ring and busting his ass in front of these SoCal
Lucha fans. The end of the match was just as crazy as the beginning,
as the throng of kids came back, armed with pens and cameras,
aimed at everyone in the ring. Kids were frigging everywhere.
It was quite the sight to see (Scrub Cliché #85). Kids
were asking for pictures and autographs while the rudos and technicos
were cutting promos! At one point, when Konnan was cutting a promo
on the rudos, several middle-aged women were cussing out the rudos
along side Konnan. Hell, everyone hated the rudos. Even middle-adged
mom's! That's pretty cool. I wouldn't have been surprised if a
near riot broke out after that show. The crowd was absolutely
hyped.
- Really good debut show from FUSION.
I'd definitely check out their next show, and I suggest you do
the same. If you live in SoCal and have yet to go to a Lucha show,
you should at least try to go to one. Hey, Lucha Va Voom is coming
up. I hear those shows are fantabulous.
FUSION was a great way to wrap up
my Cuatro de Mayo. Two really good shows with really hot crowds:
what more can a SoCal fan ask for? If Nikki wrestled in SoCal
on Cuatro de Mayo, that would have made my day complete. *smitten*
Scrub
Bruce Willis is a ghost.
scrub@socaluncensored.com
