Ok, so as I mentioned in my last column I'm gonna start doing more dvd reviews be it, local stuff, WWE, TNA, ROH, or old school stuff from over 1,500 dvds I've got laying around my house. I don't do star ratings and I don't do hold for hold descriptions, just a synopsis of the match and my thoughts on them. Then kind of a summary at the end. My first one is gonna be the New Experience Wrestling DVD Episodes 7 & 8. I've read alot about them, I've written columns on it, and I've seen some random matches on youtube but this will be my first opportunity to see the TV shows in full. Let's get to it.
New Experience Wrestling TV Episode 7
Your hosts/commentators are Brian Thompson and John Steele
Promos
Greg Anthony vs. Greg King
Hand shake at the beginning of all matches
As it's been mentioned by others but I wanted chime in here, they've done a very good job fixing up their training facility to have the old TV5 studio feel. A much look than small promotions that do t.v. in what's obviously a firehouse or in the case of DCW a few years back an abandoned Wal-Mart building.
Interesting rolling front facelock from Anthony on King....things kinda went awry for a few moments after a botched leapfrog but they pulled it back together....telling a good story Anthony the more experienced of the two staying a step ahead of young King......King looked good here but Anthony gets the win.
Matt Justyce vs. Derrick King
Prematch promo DK says he's been wrestling for 16 years...damn that's hard to believe but it's true. Another veteran vs. student match. the fans pop for a hip toss from DK......the patented Derrick King backdrop makes an appearence....Abdominal stretch into a pinning combination...wow, a long way from the days of watching him scream like a girl while running from Brandon Baxter back in '98 in various towns.....Justyce looks better in the this match than the one I saw previously from him.....Good match from these guys..with the British Bulldog/Bret Hart sunset flip/cradle finish....nice.
Byron Willcott/Dustin Starr vs. Eric Wayne/Kid Nickels
Looking forward to seeing Wilcott in action here, and also seeing Dustin Starr in the ring for the first time in quite a while. While I have read and heard a lot about Dustin in recent years I haven't actually seen any of his matches since I wored some shows with him in his "Beale Street Posse" days. (Correction, I've seen a couple of matches off Memphis Wrestling) Didn't realize Alex Wright had a wrestling academy...we'll see if Wilcott picked up the patented Alex Wright dance....Nice counter from Wayne out of the test of strengh spot.,,,,,Starr establishing himself as the first true heel of the night through his use of the ropes for breaking holds and complaining frequently to referee Downtown Bruno......Nickels has come a LONG way from his early work...got slipped up a few times during some reversals but looked pretty good and over with the fans.....awkward suplex reversal as Starr hooked Nickels from the right/"wrong" side.......Wayne back in....he's definetely over with the crowd here.....Dustin Starr laying it in with some nice forearm shots and a stiff kick to the back....Nickels takes the pinfall on Wilcott with a crossbody. I like what I've seen out of Wilcott so far and Dustin shows he can do more than just run his mouth and piss people off.
New Experience Wrestling Episode #9 Stan Lee vs. Matt Justyce
Stan Lee well known in the Mid South area, I've haven't got to see a lot of his work, a few matches on youtube, I also so the UWL tournament he won on the infamous internet pay per view deal from a while back. Some really good mat wrestling to start out, tons of holds and reversals. A nice series of moves that ends in a botched 'tilt a whirl' spot that appeared to have legit injured Stan as they quickly finished the match with Justyce covering him for the pin. Don't know if Matt was scheduled to go over but at least they had the good sense to take it home right there instead of waiting around or God forbid an awful finish like Justyce waiting around tripping over Lee to pin basically pin himself like that God-awful Intercontinental title match finish with Steve Austin and the late Owen Hart at SummerSlam '97. Still not a smooth as some of the others Matt Justyce seems to be improving each time I see him. Stan Lee much like his partner Derrick King is a really talented guy that should be wrestling on bigger stage somewhere than he currently is. Perhaps he will escape the south one of these days and get some national exposure.
Next up we've got Greg King vs. Derrick King
This should be an excellent match. Derrick's work is well known and Greg King seems to be on of the more natural talents here in N.E.W. as most of his pretty fluid in comparison to some that are still hit or miss.......Wait a minute, Derrick King has no showed and is gonna forfeit the match......Dammit, I was looking forward to this match. Apparently Matt Justyce since his match was cut short due to Stan Lee's injury and DK isn't there, we're gonna get instead.....
Greg King vs. Matt Justyce
I seen a match between these two from one of the early episodes online recently. Ironically on the previous episode it was said that Byron Willcott was trained by Alex Wright (not sure I'd advertise that but, o.k.) Greg King looks very similar to Alex Wright when he first arrived in WCW, when he was the young babyface whose gimmick was he wore a leather jacket and did homoerotic dances before the match to generic techno music, good to see Byron didn't pick that up at the Alex Wright Wrestling Academy, let's hope Greg King continues to steer clear of that as well.
We start off with a handshake and go right into the match. Nice test of strength spot with some good reversals and pin attempts. The announcers are putting over the school heavy on commentary which is smart. So far this match has been better than their previous encounter, much more fluid movement. Old school working the arm in this one. Nice headlock takedown reversal by Matt Justyce on the mat, I've never seen it done that way before but it looked good. A leap frog goes wrong with King coming down directly on Justyce's back but he appears to be ok. One thing they are doing in all the matches that I really like and have griped about in the past is they are frequently going for covers, rather only at the finish as seems to be the case a lof times nowadays. King gets the win with a nice sunset flip off the top....handshake at the end as well.
Eric Wayne vs. Scott Fury
Ok, so this is the infamous match if I'm not mistaken where Fury gets his teeth kicked in....I'll have to wait and see. A couple of nice looking armdrags by Fury to start, returned by Wayne. Wayne with a chickenwing while ramming Fury's head into the mat is brutal looking. One thing I like about this match and I guess Eric in particular is the intensity. if your gonna convey this as a more competitve promotion then it needs to be more physical and more intense. (physicality and intensity doesn't nessacerily equate to being STIFF) You can convey intensity in a match beyond beating the hell out of one of another. I've seen some of the most physically stiff matches in the world still look phony as hell because the wrestlers expressions and body language didn't convey any emotion or realism that they were actually competing for something, it's just two guys knocking the hell out of each other.
On the flip side of that, I think that's an element that missing with some of the other guys on the show in N.E.W. is they are going through the motions and things make sense but the smile on their face or the pacing of the match doesn't convey the emotional aspect of the match.....ok so enough wrestling philosphy, back to the match.
The kick in question in the corner just happened and I really think the backlash from this was a bit overblown. Perhaps it was a bit reckless but clearly accidental, though if I was Scott Fury I still probably would've been pissed also. Good finish a missed crossbody but then dodged the kick and got the victory with a german suplex.
MAIN EVENT Kid Nickels vs. "Golden Boy" Greg Anthony
Nickel with some nice amatuer style wrestling in the beginning. He then goes to the arm, very reminiscent of the Andersons. Anthony goes quite a while without any offense but takes over with a 'chop block', which know allows him to work over the leg of Nickels. Good selling from Nickels. Sweet looking elbow off the top rope onto Kid's knee. Anthony manages to block Nickel's attempt at one of his patented finishing hold twice but gets rolled up and pinned for his trouble.
SUMMARY-
The production is pretty good aside from the annoying deal where the screen goes black for a few seconds when they switch cameras at some points. The opening sequence is cool.
Brian Thompson and John Steele make a good announcing team. The announcing on these shows were better than some of the earlier where they just really beat you over the head TOO MUCH that this was a "new experience" and not what you see out of other wrestling promotions...don't get me wrong some of that is needed and good but the first show or two it was just way overblown....IMHO at least.
I liked the shows and I think the concept is good however as I mentioned prior some of the guys need to turn up the intensity level for this thing to work. The other thing is at some point you've to have some angles, there's only so many times you can watch tests of strength and headlock takedown reversals before it becomes repititious. Give me a reason to keep tuning back in each week. It doesn't have to be anything flashy or over the top just something more than just matches for the sake of matches. I'm sure now in the more recent shows that the U.S. Jr. title has been brought in that will help with developing feuds and storylines for the guys. I plan on checking out Volume 2 and writing something on it in the next week.
If you wanna check this dvd you can order here at RRO at this link
