Sad fact: I’ve never been to the west coast of the United States. I’ve only ever known California through movies and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. Would love to visit LA and get caught up in some weirdo David Lynch noir plot. Until then, I’ll have to settle with West Coast Pro Wrestling to experience the Californian lifestyle.
Steven Tresario vs. Gringo Loco vs. Nick Wayne
3-way matches: the bane of all indie wrestling shows. I know you’ve got to get all of your people on the card, but it’s time to try something new. Just dump ‘em all in a big battle royal, I don’t know. The longer this went, the more I felt myself turning into Jim Cornette. Not a pleasant feeling. Don’t want to rag on Nick Wayne because he’s literally 16 years old, but the AEW contract is kind of a head scratcher.
Rating: Three’s company
Rickey Shane Page, Atticus Cogar & Bobby Beverly vs. Midas Kreed, Alpha Zo & D-Rogue
Still too long, but at least you had some bad guys doing villainous shit and babyfaces making hot tags. Yep, I’m about ready to cash in my pension. RSP stole the show with his smirking heel schtick and the Conglomerate brought the high energy comebacks.
Rating: Allright
B-Boy vs. Vinnie Massaro
Two veterans who know how to put a wrasslin’ match together doing just that. They mostly stuck to the basics – a refreshing strategy considering the movez-heavy approach on this show. Massaro came off as a tough old Japanese wrestling midcarder and I mean that in the best possible way. Seeing B-Boy back in action brought back memories of those early Rev Pro tapes (SoCal version) that introduced the Internet to Super Dragon and company. Time is a flat circle, etc.
Rating: Solid!
Masha Slamovich vs. Nicole Savoy vs. Kylie Rae vs. Rachael Ellering
This started off all over the map, but the car crash factor eventually became part of the appeal. All four got over organically and the Ode to 1999 WWF sequence helped put everything over the top.
Rating: Harmless fun
Davey Richards vs. Kevin Blackwood
The HWL US indie trek project is mostly a bad idea until stuff like this comes up. Blackwood appeared in my Black Label Pro review, having a vanilla back and forth with LEGIT LEYLA, of all people. Taking the hard-nosed, mat-based route with Richards was a much better look for him and now I’m thinking there might be something to this kid.
I missed the entire ROH run that put Richards on the map, but I recall much Internet snark about his over-seriousness. Truth be told, he looked head and shoulders above anyone on this card up to this point. Pure ring polish coupled with the kind of Dynamite Kid intensity that can only mean the guy is a total sociopath. Love that shit. The kicks landed right on the money and so did that brilliantly-executed rollup finish.
Rating: Helluva’ match
Blake Christian vs. Titus Alexander
Another good one. High-flyin’ Blake Christian very much looked like a guy who would’ve been called up for a Dragon Gate tour back in the pre-COVID timeline. Ridiculous speed + high-level execution and creativity. If you’re a fan of what is commonly known as Cool Shit, you’re likely going to dig this youngster. Alexander had the timing and heel cutoffs down, but would benefit from playing up the douchebaggery even more. Here I am, just handing out this great advice for free. Is this Happy Wrestling Land or the god damned Performance Center!?
Rating: Straight-up FUN
Jacob Fatu & Juicy Finau vs. AJ Gray & Effy
Mostly enjoyable tag romp that played to everyone’s strengths. A lot to like about Fatu and Finau: two big samoan bros who do big samoan shit. Fatu will also randomly throw out a crazy ass dive and I must respect it. Him and Gray seemed to have a propension for beating the brakes off each other. I wouldn’t be opposed to checking out that title match between the two coming up next month.
Rating: About three stars, I think
ACH vs. Mike Bailey
BANGER ALERT! Two guys well known for their tag work in Japan hooking up in the US and delivering the best possible execution of the Indie Dream Match layout. They did the classic opening standoff and it just escalated from there in completely wild fashion.
Now would be a good time to mention that West Coast Pro have a very wholesome crowd who boosted this main event to new levels by being shockingly not-annoying by American indie standards. Never burying the action in dumbass chants and just reacting organically. I respect THE WEST COAST FLOCK.
The match balanced its endless amount of crazy shit with a high-level comprehension of wrestling basics – probably my favorite combination when it comes to Epic Match Wrestling. Wicked striking – both dudes laying in their chops and kicks like they were still working in Korakuen Hall.
There was a Fuminori Abe-esque dragon screw from ACH near the end with such absurd timing that a dude in the front row nearly had a heart attack. Bro, I felt the exact same. Both guys kept outdoing each other as the match went on – from the zero-hesitation-top-rope-Quebrada sequence to the impossible-to-describe-Tiger-Driver-from-split-position shocker. Independent wrestling putting its best foot forward.
Rating: Get it on the spreadsheet, baby.
