This was my first time watching anything related to FWE but when I read about an AJ Styles vs. John Hennigan two out of three falls main event I could not resist.
We open with some guy in the ring introducing one of the commentators who apparently used to be an in ring performer but had to retire. Yeah, I can already tell you I'm not going to care about these commentators. There is a basketball hoop behind the guy in the ring though and I find that to be interesting. Not the biggest venue, but it has more rows than that Union Get the Glory tournament.
Match One: Johnny Gargano vs. Bandido Jr.
Gargano gets a "Johnny Wrestling" chant. As much as I've heard about Johnny Gargano I have never actually seen him wrestle as part of a full show, but rather just pulled matches and match highlights here and there for him. There is a wrestling promotion that books shows in Connecticut and they have Bandido Jr. on their cards usually, so that's as much as I know about him. Bandido Jr. says "Eddie Wrestling" and he might have been introduced here as "Eddie Bandido Jr." for all I know. The crowd starts a "Fuck 'em up, Johnny, fuck 'em up" chant and I guess the "F" in FWE does not stand for family. Bandido Jr. hit a huge outside dive and as his luchadore name suggests he is a high flyer. Gargano pulls Bandido Jr. out of the corner for a backcracker and this is the ring technician versus the high flyer, the proverbial Taz vs. Sabu match up if you will. Gargano stretches Bandido Jr. with an armbar that also has his legs wrapped around his body, torquing that neck. Bandido Jr. manages to get the leg off the back of his head and fight out of the armbar to break the hold. That was something I've never seen before and I did think it was the end, as I didn't know how he'd get out of it. Gargano looks like he's going for a big move and ends up simply applying a chinlock for a "That Was Awesome" chant. That allows both wrestlers the time to rest. Bandido comes back with some clotheslines and then a dropkick from the top. Gargano has some moves reversed and then so does Bandido Jr. but neither man can put the other away. The two begin trading blows, which leads to superkicks. Gargano dumps Bandido Jr. outside and hits a suicide dive on him. The commentator says something about this being a good start to the action on a Wednesday night, and yes, it is odd this is on a Wednesday. You know what night of the week never has any wrestling on? Tuesday. Gargano hits a running long dart right into the second rope. Gargano then has Bandido Jr. up in an electric chair, then twists him over and plants him face first on the mat for a three count. That was a nice move I've never seen before and I'm excited for Gargano vs. Galloway. Bandido Jr. also looked good here. The commentators said that could have been the main event and I have to agree. That was a most excellent match.
Match Two: Wes Draven / Mike Law / Jorge Santi vs. Ben Ortiz / Kai Katana / Van Shields
Ben Ortiz is dressed like Bam Bam Bigelow and is billed as "The Beast". All six of these men are different and so it will be interesting to see them fight. Kai Katana is doing the Great Kabuki thing that makes every Japanese wrestler blush. Katana has half of his face painted while Wes Draven has half of his face painted as well. Santi, the biggest man on his team, starts things off with Shields who is of decent size but has just a generic indy wrestler look to him. Mike Law is tagged in and this guy is built like Harvey Whippleman. Draven comes in and so does Katana. It's a battle of the painted faces. So Wes Draven wrestles in Hayabusa/Sabu pants and he also has this vest type shirt I thought was ring gear but he's wearing that still. My advice to Wes Draven: Wearing more clothes when you wrestle doesn't make you look bigger. Standing next to Mike Law makes you look big! Ortiz is in against Mike Law and it doesn't even begin to feel like when Bam Bam Bigelow threw Little Spike Dudley into the crowd at ECW. The commentator who isn't a former wrestler says Ben Ortiz is from House of Hardcore and is a student of Tommy Dreamer so he might have been on that iPPV I'm trying to block out of my mind. I'm not going back to check it though. There is a lot of action in this match and high flying moves by Draven and Santi onto everyone on the outside. The non-wrestler commentator says they all have the Bandido syndrome because they're not afraid to kill themselves... Mike Awesome is sad by this. Oh, the commentator just says he does commentary for HoH too. Try and live down that last show then, son!! Back in the ring, the three faces (I guess?) work over Mike Law in their corner. By the way, AJ Styles came out for guest commentary but his mic is set at a much lower level than the other two and I can barely hear a word he's saying. It's like the other two are set to ten and AJ Styles' mic is down at three. Sometimes, when the commentator says "Van Shields" it sounds like he's saying "Sam Shields", but I'm going with what Cage Match dot net tells me for the official names and all that. Ben Ortiz hits a double powerbomb which is part of a superplex and the commentators blow out their mics screaming after that one. Following a frogsplash by Katana onto Mike Law this match is over via pinfall. It was chaotic but still somewhat fun. I was trying to find out via the FWE official website if it was "Sam" or "Van" Shields but all I found out was that the commentator who used to be a wrestler is named EJ Risk and he used to be in a tag team with VSK. Mike Law was also beat down after the match... by who, I am not sure.
Match Three: Orange Cassidy vs. VSK
Orange Cassidy also fights in that CT based promotion, which is called Northeast Wrestling, that Bandido Jr. does. EJ Risk gets up at the commentary booth and says he made VSK to his face. Cassidy has ripped jeans on and apparently that is how he wrestles. There is a "Tropicana" chant directed at Orange Cassidy and I thought they were saying "Colt Cabana". A lot of the match was just chants about VSK's hair and things based on oranges for Cassidy. This match is slow and boring, but I'm using the time to find out who attacked Mike Law after that last match. Well, nothing is helping me to figure it out so if I can't find out by the end of this show (as if to say he doesn't appear later on in the card) then I will just leave it as a mystery. This match came to an end when EJ Risk, who is supposed to be a commentator and retired from the ring, got up on the apron to argue with his former tag team partner VSK. The distraction allowed Cassidy to spit orange juice in the face of VSK and pin him with a roll up. A cheap victory in an otherwise lousy match which seemed to be a way to further a feud between former tag team partners. I'm beginning to feel like the retirement of EJ Risk is a work. I'm also beginning to feel like the name EJ Risk is stupid.
Match Four: Robbie E vs. Chuck Taylor
Robbie E is out first and I remember seeing him in his early days with Matt Striker. Whatever happened to Matt Stryker?? I think Robbie E can go in the ring I just don't like his gimmick in TNA. Chuck Taylor is everywhere so far this year, is he not? I think out of all of the wrestling shows I've watched in 2015 the only one who might have been in as many different promotions as Chuck Taylor is the Young Bucks. Robbie E starts screaming like a girl. Come on, Robbie, you're better than that. Taylor misses a cross body as he came up short and it didn't look like he was ever going to hit it. Robbie E gets on the mic and asks if this is supposed to be a joke, bro. Robbie E says something about this not being elementary school and he gets chants of "Boring" and "Shut the Fuck Up". How is this supposed to be good? We have two talented wrestlers in the ring and instead of letting them go, they're going to be involved in... a foot race? Robbie E runs around the gym while Chuck Taylor just hides at ring side and jumps into the ring right before Robbie can. That was a complete and utter waste of time. Why are we paying money to watch this, FWE? Taylor deserves better and we know Taylor is capable of so much more, so what exactly is going on here? Chuck Taylor gets the eventual win and the commentators act surprised. Have they ever seen Chuck Taylor before? The guy is good, this promotion is beginning to look like the joke.
Match Five: The Juicy Product (David Starr / JT Dunn) vs. Anthony Nese / Jigsaw
For whatever reason, JT Dunn was at HOH8 without David Starr. Juicy Product has been in CZW, Full Impact Pro and other promotions previously though. I do remember Jigsaw from when I used to be a fan back in the day, back when I was more heavily involved in professional wrestling than I am now, and of course Anthony Nese was on HOH8 as well as having an amazing match with Davey Richards at EVOLVE 38. The guy who attacked Mike Law before looked like JT Dunn only he had a bigger beard and red in the back of his hair. I'll have to go back and check the audio better. (Most of the audio in the beginning of this show wasn't too good) Some chants for Juicy Product. At one point, Jigsaw hits an over the top rope double foot stomp onto Starr followed by a springboard moonsault by Nese. It was a nice tag team combination in a match that has been hard hitting and full of action. To perhaps show my age and when I was into wrestling the most before, I'm used to Jigsaw being in pants and here he is wrestling in trunks. Starr was worked over for a while, but Juicy Product eventually got control back and worked over Nese. The fact that Anthony Nese was at HOH8 on Saturday, EVOLVE 38 on Sunday and is now here on Wednesday just goes to show you what a professional he is because that match on Sunday should have given him at least a week off not just a couple of nights. Jigsaw comes in hot with elbows and chops, then hits a brainbuster on Starr. Only a two count as Dunn makes the save. Starr pulls Jigsaw to the outside and JT Dunn pulls off a high risk move to the outside that might have taken him out of the match. Double team move by Jigsaw and Nese but it's not good for three. The commentators both point out how amazing this show has been thus far and let me just say that if you have to point it out like that I have to question who it is that you're trying to convince. With Jigsaw on the guard rail outside, JT Dunn hits a double stomp on him from inside the ring. That was crazy. Nese hits a double stomp on Starr, a tornado DDT on Dunn and Jigsaw gets another double stomp for a near fall. The crowd chants "This is Wrestling" because, you know, you might have thought you were at the ballet. JT Dunn is finally able to get the three on Nese before Jigsaw can make the save. That was a really solid tag team match and the commentators keep talking about it being Wednesday but NXT and Lucha Underground are both on Wednesdays already. Why not go to Tuesday? Nothing is on Tuesday.
Vincent Theurer.
Match Six: Deonna Purrazzo(w/ DG Haven) vs. Shelly Martinez
Before the match, Robbie E is announced as joining the commentary table and I shall now watch the rest of this show on mute. No, I'm not kidding. Martinez has her face painted and is dressed in next to nothing. She, of course, was a vampire in WWE and part of LAX in TNA. Hard to tell if she looks good or not under all that makeup. Martinez poses and there is little wrestling going on so far. It is noted by the commentators that Deonna has been in TNA as well as a Rosebud in WWE. Really, who hasn't been a Rosebud though? Deonna gets in control at one point and just begins hitting Martinez hard. Martinez fights back and hits a cross body for a two count. Following a leg sweep into choke slam type of combination, Shelly Martinez gets the pin and win. She can wrestle, no doubt, and Deonna had a pretty decent showing herself as she had some hard hits in there. As Deonna is leaving with DG Haven, Martinez spits on them from inside the ring and I'm having Montreal Screwjob flashbacks. Despite what the commentators were hoping for, there were no nipples slipped here tonight.
An announcement is made of someone who is getting their car towed. The crowd does not care and neither do I.
Match Seven: Chris Hero vs. Tommy Dreamer
Chris Hero comes out to his own theme and he just competed against Drew Gulak, of course, a few short nights ago so it is strange to see him back already. I've been a Tommy Dreamer fan for a long time, something like twenty years, but after watching House of Hardcore VIII (or perhaps suffering through it is more accurate) I want to see Tommy Dreamer get KTFO by Chris Hero here. This is Chris Hero's debut in FWE and I always wonder whether or not Hero would be welcome back in WWE one day or perhaps more importantly if he'd be open to going back. After the ref does a kip up, the crowd chants "one more time" and Dreamer does a kip up with the help of the ref and Hero. That was a bit we could have done without. Dueling chants for Hero and Dreamer. This match is starting slowly, but it is methodical in that sense and that comedy spot took them out of it so it wasn't needed but they're getting back into it now. Rolling senton by Hero for a one count. On a side note: I found out who attacked Mike Law (finally) and will post about it at the end of the show with a link of how I found out. Chris Hero takes a break to tie his boot. This has nowhere near the same intensity as Hero-Gulak. Someone threw some trash in the ring and it appeared as if Dreamer verbally scolded them. Maybe they also just thought HOH8 was garbage? Hero was messing with his boot, the lace was untied and maybe he was faking an injury, but this just lead to him planting his other boot into the face of Dreamer as Tommy came to check on him. Hero begins taking it to Dreamer and with every blow Dreamer takes I think about every mistake HOH8 made and how it is worth it. They trade blows on the outside. Hero rolls back in to avoid the count out and Dreamer could be knocked out. Dreamer finally sits up and starts yelling at Hero in that "Is that all you've got?" way. Chris Hero was not a part of HOH8 on Saturday night so I'm sure he's glad he wasn't, but if he did watch it then I'm sure he's beating up Tommy Dreamer for all of the rest of us who also did. Chris Hero misses a top rope moonsault and the match is seemingly reset here as the ref begins his ten count. Back on their feet, the two men begin trading blows. Following a clothesline, Dreamer seems to have gained some control. As he winds up for a big move though, Hero hits him. Good back and forth now between these two men. Dreamer hits a clothesline but Hero is up first and then hits a roaring elbow for a two count. It is noted by the commentators that Chris Hero has taken the chair of Noelle Foley now and she is the daughter of Mick Foley but also- I believe- training to be a wrestler. She also does videos for Ringside Collectibles if you want to go to WrestlingFigs.com and see them for yourself. Hero hits a rolling senton onto chairs which were on top of Dreamer but it's only good for two. Apparently there are no disqualifications here. Hero sets up some chairs in the corner and of course that leads to the reversal because whoever spends all the time setting them up usually ends up getting put through them. Dreamer still only gets a count of two. Backslide by Dreamer for another two. Dreamer rams Hero head first into the corner where a chair is set up and then hits him with a piledriver for the pin and the win. This could have been a better match somehow but it was all right for what it was. It had that early 2000's WWE feel to it though because it was a lot of Tommy Dreamer getting beat up for the majority of it only to come back with a few quick moves for the win. I felt it was evenly matched at one point, but Hero did a lot more damage and Dreamer came back with seemingly minimal effort to win it. Dreamer shakes the hand of Hero after the match and I must urge Chris Hero to not go work for HoH. Post match, Dreamer gets on the mic and puts over Chris Hero. Oh, sure, but he couldn't put him over with the pin after being beaten down so badly, huh? Dreamer says HoH, PWG and FWE. Apparently PWG also has shows here. Chris Hero gets on the mic and drops an f-bomb. He says they love pro wrestling and so do I. Tommy Dreamer says he loves Daniel Bryan but he wants them to change the "Yes!" chant to include an f-bomb in it. If this was 1999 this might have worked. Dreamer says to say that during Raw on Monday night whenever you don't like what's happening. What has Dreamer started?? Okay, maybe nothing, but still... the thought of it is amusing.
Match Eight: The Young Bucks (Champions) vs. The Colony (Fire Ant / Silver Ant) *FWE Tag Team Title Match*
Always fun to see The Colony, but there are a lot of Young Bucks chants right away. I'm hoping maybe they can do something to impress me against The Colony that I haven't seen them do before. Still, The Colony is a better choice for them to face than a makeshift tag team, which of course takes us back to HOH8 but I'll get past that for now. This should be good if only for The Colony. A "Bullet Club" chant and once again I believe people just like the Young Bucks because they are in that particular faction which has gotten over like the nWo version of Japan. There is a "Fuck the Trademarks" chant, as WWE has recently filed trademark for the "Too Sweet" deal from the nWo days which the Young Bucks do, so there's that. Young Bucks say they are not going to stop doing the "Too Sweet" thing because they're stuck in the 1990's so we'll see how that plays out for them legally. I wish the commentators would stop saying Wednesday but I never watch anything in real time anyway so whatevs. The Colony hit a double suicide dive, shove the Young Bucks back into the ring and then the Bucks hit their own pair of suicide dives. If someone shows this footage to Vince McMahon I don't know whether or not he'd sue but he will definitely have a good cry I'd imagine. Young Bucks do a lot of clowning, gyrating in the middle of the ring while saying "suck it" and that allows The Colony to take control. After some superkicks and moves the commentators note could be from video games, the Young Bucks are back in control. Does it bother anyone else that the Young Bucks have to hit a thousand superkicks within one match? Does anyone else remember when one perfectly executed superkick could win a match? Shawn Michaels remembers. Fire Ant dumps Matt Jackson to the outside and I only know he's Matt per the commentators. Silver Ant comes into the match with a missile dropkick. All tag team matches involving the Young Bucks should just be tornado tag team rules because it's just too much action to try and keep track of (and yes, that was kind of a compliment to the Young Bucks) Fire Ant hits a huge move to the outside onto both of his opponents. Matt Jackson appeared to be going to the top rope to hit Fire Ant inside the ring but instead hit a moonsault outside of the ring onto Silver Ant. One Young Buck powerbombs Silver Ant into the corner as the other YB superkicks him in the back of the head. Ouch. Then The Colony come back with double team moves of their own. Silver Ant puts one of the YB in a Texas cloverleaf. The other YB comes in to break it up but Silver Ant doesn't care. Silver Ant rolls him over into an ankle lock and Fire Ant puts the other YB in an ankle lock as well. Both YB roll through and superkick The Colony to the outside. With Silver Ant back in the ring, the YB hit their finisher called the Melterdriver (is that right?) that I think I've seen before but it's basically a spike piledriver as one Jackson comes flying over the rope and flips into the spike (so the YB flips, not the guy taking the move) and that's the end of the match. Post match, the Young Bucks get on the mic. Nick Jackson says, "WWE, sue this, brothers!!" and then Matt backs it up by saying they'll have to cut their hands off. Challenge accepted! A good match between these two. Better than their match against reDRagon at the ROH 13th Anniversary show, yet still not quite as good as their match against O!4K at CZW 16.
Match Nine: Joey Ryan / Candice LeRae vs. Paul London / Veda Scott *FWE Tri-Borough Title / FWE Women's Title Tag Team Match*
So both titles are on the line here and Candice LeRae is the Women's Champion while Paul London holds the Tri-Borough Title. I like to think of the Tri-Borough Title as being like the WWE IC Title and I'll even call it the TB Title. I've never seen Veda Scott fight, only as an annoying mouth piece for Moose in ROH, but Paul London is one of my all-time favorites. London wears a red jumpsuit ala Duke "The Dumpster" Drose and he makes his way to the ring through the crowd which seems to take A LOT of time. Ryan and LeRae (aka "The World's Cutest Tag Team") are napping in the ring. Funny. I need to watch some of their matches in PWG now. Joey Ryan of course part of TNA for a short feud with Al Snow for no real reason and Paul London was in WWE as a former tag team champion. Well, now that they're finally in the ring Paul London is taking off his jumpsuit not ala Duke Drose. London is wearing blue and red trunks as he did in his early ROH days and yet he has sneakers on instead of boots. Interesting. As they explain the title situation, they're basically saying that if Veda Scott gets pinned Paul London could lose his TB Title. Seems like Joey Ryan has more to gain in this match than Paul London, no? Joey Ryan gives his lollipop to some girl in the crowd as they chant "You've got herpes!". He couldn't have done that during Paul London's long ass entrance? We finally start with Joey Ryan and Veda Scott proving Paul London does not have to be pinned to lose his tuberculosis title. Veda fakes a suicide dive onto Joey Ryan but then hits him with a baseball slide dropkick. Veda uses the guardrail to do the Undertaker-walking-the-top-rope spot on Ryan. Robbie E wonders why Veda Scott wears a skit over her trunks and I wonder why Robbie E has a selfie stick and horrible gimmick in TNA. London and Candice are in the ring now. I'll call the women by their first names because it's easier. London hits an atomic drop on Candice. She fights back with some forearm chops, no stranger to competing against men in the ring. Now it's finally Joey Ryan and Paul London in the ring together. I just checked the PWG website and their newest DVD which is up for pre-order does not have The World's Cutest Tag Team on the card. Bummer. Still looks like a good card and as their first DVD of 2015 I might need to check that one out. Ryan puts Candice up in a fireman's carry and uses her feet to knock down Veda. Candice hits a suicide dive to the outside on London while Ryan gets a two count on Veda. London hits a double stomp from the top rope onto the back of Joey Ryan and then Candice hits the ballsplex on London. There is a "Cutest Tag Team" chant. Another series of moves and Ryan still can't pin Veda Scott. Ryan has Candice up again in the fireman's carry but London hits him with a dropkick, taking Candice out with a Samoan drop by her own partner. Veda hits a backslide on Candice for the pin and the win. Wow. Veda Scott did next to nothing in this match and yet she wins a title. At least Paul London didn't lose his title by Joey Ryan pinning Veda Scott. This match still left something to be desired. If you do matches out of five stars this is an easy two at best. With the main event match next though this makes sense as a sort of breather between that tag team title match and then the potentially biggest match on the show. I forgot that this could have just been filler as I was used to the EVOLVE way of doing things (Each match better than the last) but there is no way that was better than the previous match.
Match Ten: John Hennigan (Champion) vs. AJ Styles *FWE Heavyweight Title Best Two Out of Three Falls Match*
AJ Styles is out first and while it is noted on commentary that he is the current IWGP Champion (still) he does not have the belt with him. I was wondering if he still had the title but assumed he did. I do think it is odd he's not wearing it, but are the Young Bucks still IWGP Tag Team Champions? They didn't have those belts with them either, so who knows. Dueling chants of "AJ Styles" and "Bullet Club" but I know why AJ Styles is a star even without the Bullet Club. As John Hennigan makes his way to the ring, the commentator says this could be a Wrestlemania main event. Based on this year's Wrestlemania card/build, Gargano-Bandido would have been a better main event. But I get where he's going with this being a battle between two of the best stars from TNA and WWE respectively and yet they both are tearing it up still, AJ Styles in New Japan and ROH as well as John Hennigan in Lucha Underground. A "Fuck TNA" chant and, yes, Robbie E is still on commentary. Can we discuss why Robbie E is still employed by TNA and AJ Styles isn't?? Dueling chants for "AJ Styles" and "Johnny Mundo". Robbie E asks who Johnny Mundo is. Maybe if Robbie E watched Lucha Underground he'd want to go there and leave TNA. Come on, your buddy Striker is there. The FWE commentator wonders what John thinks of the name "Johnny Mundo" but I can tell you it is nowhere near as bad as EJ Risk. He then calls this a dream match and I am inclined to agree. It's like Japan vs. Mexico in some weird way even though neither of these guys is Japanese nor Mexican. Hennigan works Styles over at the commentary table at one point and I was waiting for Styles to confront Robbie E but it is for a later time I suppose. It is also pointed out that this is the first time these two men have met and that's kind of odd but cool. Hennigan tries to work the faster paced, high flying style match and AJ Styles is trying to slow it down with the Japanese strong style. Hennigan hits Starship Pain and scores a three count for the first fall. Hennigan leads 1-0. AJ Styles rolls to the outside for a breather so the ref has begun counting him out. Hennigan gets caught in the leg and sells an injury as Styles locks on a submission hold. Hennigan has no choice but to tap and this is now tied at 1-1. That was a quick comeback for AJ Styles, but Hennigan had to tap there or risk further injury since this match is two out of three. Hennigan knew that wasn't going to lose him the title so that was a smart move to save further damage. Hennigan takes a breather but then comes back into the ring. Styles works over the leg of Hennigan again but Hennigan applies a headlock as well. Hennigan hits a nice neckbreaker for barely a one count. Hennigan hits Styles with some stiff shots but cannot get past that one count. The FWE commentator says if you take away Styles' ability to fly you take away half his offense and I think he needs to watch some NJPW. Styles works back with an elbow drop onto a fallen Hennigan. Styles is bleeding from the nose. Styles suplexes Hennigan into the turnbuckles for a two count. With Styles on the apron and Hennigan inside the ring, Styles went for a springboard something but while he was on the top rope Hennigan knocked him to the outside. That looked like it really hurt. Hennigan barely has the strength to pull himself over the top rope with a running start and land on Styles outside. The two trade clotheslines and both men seem exhausted. Suplex attempts by Hennigan are blocked and Styles hits a neckbreaker. Styles looks to be going for a Styles Clash but Hennigan hits the back body drop to stop it. A running knee by Hennigan is good for only two. Hennigan comes into the ring over the top rope and Styles catches him and gives him a backbreaker over his knee. Ouch. Springboard flying elbow by Styles into a torture rack and then powerbomb by Styles. Hennigan might be done, but the count is only two. Both men are being counted down now. The crowd is chanting "Break His Neck" as AJ Styles is looking for a Styles Clash and that's not even funny. Styles has a submission attempt again but it doesn't stick. The two are trading blows and I'm distracted by someone showing up outside in a red car. A couple more moves, Styles Clash and AJ Styles is the new FWE Heavyweight Champion winning the match 2-1. The Young Bucks come out and celebrate with AJ Styles. The FWE commentator says that the Bullet Club has all of the gold in FWE. Take that, Paul London and Veda Scott! Hennigan does the "Too Sweet" with the Young Bucks, which is funny because there was a rumor going around not that long ago the Young Bucks declined an offer to appear in Lucha Underground because they felt they weren't offered enough money, though I wasn't really a fan of them before that nonsense. The commentators sign off and the show is over.
I was actually trying to find out more about Shelly Martinez's opponent and none of the "major" wrestling websites like PW Ponderings, PW Torch and even Cage Match dot net even had that match listed in their results. I did find this video on 1495sports.com: here which helped me to realize that the guy who attacked Mike Law earlier on in the night was indeed Kevin Tibbs. Also, the commentator I never referred to by name throughout this show was Jordan Schneider and thanks to the official FWE website for helping me figure that one out. Overall this wasn't a bad show but it wasn't the best show of the year or anything either. One thing I need to point out is that Jordan Schneider kept making numerous references to the fact of how good this show was, how good the matches were and at the end of it he even said that from the top to bottom this might be the best card FWE has ever run (Which might be true because this is their first show that I've seen, but not every match on here was five stars and I feel like that was what he was implying) Here is my free tip for Mr. Schneider in the regard of him trying to constantly put this over as the best match/show ever. There exists a phone company whom I won't name by name and they have commercials on Hulu+ all the time about how they have the most coverage in the United States for the least amount of money. One night, when we saw the commercial for the hundredth time my wife says to me that someone she works with has them as their provider and they never have any service, lots of dropped calls, etc. It makes sense though. If you're putting out a good service at an affordable price then you're not going to pay for commercials to brag about it because a) you have customers and b) it's a waste of money. This particular wireless provider is feeding you this propaganda via commercial because they want to get you into a contract before you realize how awful their service is and what's more so is that their prices can't be that great if they're using money to advertise instead of make their service better or just simply pass the savings on to you. What I'm trying to say is that anyone who is the best doesn't walk around saying "I'm the best! I'm the best!" because they know they're the best and so does everyone else. A little less of the patting yourselves on the back (or none at all) could go a very long way for FWE. Let the fans decide what they thought of the match rather than cramming your opinions down their throat like a late night television salesman. Again, just my thought. EVOLVE 38 had one of the best match for match cards of 2015 if not of all-time on Sunday night and do you know how many times that was stressed by the commentators? I believe the number is zero. They let the wrestling speak for itself and FWE should learn from that and let their matches speak for themselves rather than operating under the belief that if you say something three times someone is more likely to remember it and thus they might think it to be true if it is a matter of opinion.
The show opened hot with Gargano-Bandido Jr. but it took a turn from there to the not so good. The six man tag was all right for what it was but Cassidy-VSK should have never been on the iPPV while the Taylor-E match made me mad because I know these two could go and do so much more if they just cut the comedy out. Juicy Product-Nese/Jigsaw was a decent enough tag team match for its place on the card and all but Dreamer-Hero could have been so much better in so many ways. If you see Tommy Dreamer vs. Chris Hero on paper (or computer screen) you have certain expectations. This match didn't exceed these expectations because it didn't even live up to them. If Dreamer was going to win with the piledriver, why not a DDT for Hero to kick out of? How about any sort of offense for Tommy Dreamer to make him seem like he should have won that match convincingly, huh? The last three matches played roles well, with the tag team title match perhaps stealing the show, the mixed tag team match more or less being filler and the main event being okay but nowhere near as good as I expected it could be either. Where were the high flying moves? John Hennigan has had much better matches with Prince Puma in much less time in Lucha Underground and I'm even inclined to say that his match airing that very same night against King Cuerno inside a steel cage wasn't that much worse than this one. AJ Styles had a better match at the ROH 13th Anniversary show against ACH and anything Styles has done in Japan was better than this. So how did this just feel like it was going to be so big and so special but somehow end up just crashing and burning?
I'm not one to give shows ratings in terms of being out of five stars or on a letter grade like we're in school but this definitely felt like a C+ show simply because some of the lowest points that would have made this an F could only bring the final grade up to a C because of the few good points it had. The card should have been shuffled around a bit, unless they're not going for that every match is better than the next feel and that's okay because WWE and TNA have never followed that strategy either. The majority of the problem here was not living up to expectations and I think that on paper this looked like an A+ card but it just fell short of that by the way it was presented and some of these matches played out. The price tag isn't that bad though, as you're not paying even $24.99 or more to watch this, but if you're really a huge fan of these wrestlers or only want to see the two or three matches that made the show then go for it. By far not the worst wrestling show I've watched this year (House of Hardcore VIII undoubtedly takes that honor) but it's closer to the bottom than the top for sure.
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