Gordo, the wizard of id, Reviews:

NSW KINGDOM COME

April 15/06 Hamilton, Ontario

Venue: Unit 13 Admission: Free

The Advertised Card:

Six Man Tag Match: James Gracey, Stephen Elias, ???? vs ‘Awesome’ Adam Reed, Steve Brown, Timothy Dalton w/Pandora

NSW Cruiserweight Championship: The Prodigy (C) vs Scotty O’Shea

‘Showtime’ Brett Scholl vs Kwan Chang

3 on 1 Match: Generation Now vs Mike Stevens

No DQ: PP Smalls vs Dynamite Dino

‘The Talent’ Dan Morris w/Sapphire vs Jay Phoenix

NSW Intercities Championship: Mark Shaw (C) vs Devon Parkside

Triangle Match for #1 Contenders Shot at Tag Team Titles: Justin-Sane & Draven vs “Beauty & The Beast” (HHV w/Kyle Davenport & Danny Magnum) vs Matt the Dancing Kid & Toste

Intercities #1 Contender Triple Threat: Logan Savage vs P.D. Flex vs Kris Law

New School Wrestling (NSW) is a wrestling school/Indy Fed based in Hamilton, Ontario. Located in a small warehouse unit in an industrial park, it is home to a new generation of aspiring stars looking to make their mark in the squared circle. NWS runs free shows on a monthly basis to give their students and alumni a chance to perform in front of a live audience. Owned and operated by promoter Steve Brown, the school has been running cards under the NSW banner since December 05.

The stars of New School Wrestling

The Venue: Unit 13, 95 Hempstead Dr. is just one of many faceless garages in a long nondescript warehouse. Aside from a poster advertising the show taped to the door, there’s little to distinguish it from the adjoining units that house small businesses like import offices, storage facilities, auto mechanics and, since this is Canada, probably a marijuana grow-op or two. Inside, the NWS team has constructed some bleachers, put up an entrance ramp and splashed some paint on a couple of the walls. The ring itself takes up so much interior space that on one side; there is no room to fit seats between it and the wall. Madison Square Garden this ain’t. The show was filmed for future DVD release with ‘the voice of NSW’ Julian Logan, sitting front row to provide commentary. I’d estimate the crowd at about 60-75 people.

Pre Show: Accompanied as usual by Mrs. Id, I spent some time after our arrival, meeting and greeting some of the NSW roster. First though, I took a little heat from one David M. Parsons, promoter of International Anarchy Wrestling (IAW) who was there to scout talent. I’ve described Parsons before as an over-the-top, in-your-face, type-A personality and he certainly did nothing to change my previous assessment. Apparently, he’s still a little sore that I screwed up the name of his company in a story I did a while back and, well, he was kind enough to tell me that again. As it’s a story I’m still covering, I’m sure we’ll discuss it some more. Anyway, local Ontario Indy wrestler, Rip Impact, was nice enough to show me around and introduce me to the young stars of NSW. Many of them are very young (especially compared to me) and some of them aren’t very big either. I’ve got to admit, if someone had pointed a few of these guys out to me on the street as wrestlers, I wouldn’t have believed it for a second. It didn’t take long for that perception to change once the card started but I’ll get to that in a bit. A pleasant surprise was seeing P.D. Flex, another Ontario Indy star, who is as funny outside the ring as he is talented in it. As some of the guys worked out some stuff in the ring, I saw another icon of the Ontario Indy scene; Red Sweater Guy: Craig Wilhelm. Naturally, I had to introduce myself to Ontario’s most recognized fan. Turns out Craig is a very nice young fellow and proved invaluable in providing me details about the NSW guys and helping me keep everyone’s name straight during the show. Somehow, with help, I got the NSW roster into the ring to pose for a photo then took a seat to watch the show. I wasn’t sure what to expect. I was hoping it wasn’t going to be a spotfest of high risk moves and stinker matches, full of blown spots and untalented wannabes. Lord knows, I’ve seen more than my share of those exhibitions, so I’ve earned the right to be cautious. As it turns out, I had absolutely nothing to be worried about. The stars of NSW put on a helluva wrestling show!

Jay Phoenix vs ‘The Talent’ Dan Morris w/Sapphire: Morris should probably be called ‘The Voice’ instead of ‘The Talent’ as his vocal barrage started immediately upon his arrival. (But I guess that moniker is already taken.) It was pretty obvious that he was the heel as good guys don’t often strut around calling themselves ‘God’ and the crowd idiots. Jay Phoenix presents an all-round good-guy type of persona and if a beaming smile was a finishing move he would have won the match before it started. The opening moments had a great sequence of mat wrestling and counters that saw Phoenix gain a slight edge. After some stalling on the outside, Morris returned to the ring and a brief comedy exchange between him, the crowd and Phoenix erupted into a face slapping contest. Morris took solid control and dominated the bulk of the action, targeting his opponent’s legs. Early on, the seat of his pants ripped wide open, and I’m talking from asshole to breakfast wide open, but it did little to slow his assault or his ongoing vocals. Phoenix managed the occasional weak rally but the outside interference of the lovely Sapphire spoiled his efforts. He finally rocked Morris with an enzeguri that actually shut “The Talent’ up for a few moments. A fusillade of strikes from both guys saw Morris capitalize on a Phoenix mistake and a big slam put Phoenix down for the 3 count. A very nice opening match and a good solid effort from both guys. The only way this could have been better is if it was Sapphire’s pants that had split open. (I would have marked out for that!)

Next, NSW World Champion Timothy Dalton and a motley collection of associates took over the ring for a promo spot. Dalton, clad in a suit and bowtie, more closely resembles a James Bond Bobblehead figure than he does his namesake. He and the crowd exchanged insults for a few minutes while the rest of the group stood around looking cocky. Seemingly taking offense to an admittedly weak “boring” chant that lasted all of 5 seconds, Dalton & crew returned to the back.

Intercities #1 Contender Triple Threat: Logan Savage vs P.D. Flex vs Kris Law – Of the three, Logan Savage looks the most like a wrestler. Flex is talented and has some size, while Kris Law looks like a regular Joe off the street. What he lacks in size, he makes up for in heart and an incredible capacity to take punishment, something Savage and Flex teamed up to deliver right from the bell. Flex brought a tennis racquet to the battle with him and Savage brought Adam Reed. After beating down Law, the partnership dissolved when Flex nailed Savage with a wicked enzeguri kick. Some very stiff action between them in the ring gave Law no break as Reed pummeled him at ringside. Flex went outside and began firing chairs into the ring while Savage regrouped and Law re-entered. Soon enough, all 3 guys were laying into each other with high impact moves onto the chairs and stiff striking attacks. Just when it appeared Flex had the edge over both his opponents, Law nailed him with a chair, shattering it over his head. Flex’s head actually broke through the center of the seat and he rapidly developed some huge welts as a result. Law pressed his advantage on Savage but Brett Scholl ran in to interfere, causing the ref to miss the pin. Finally, with Flex dealing with Scholl, Law scored the win over Savage and became the #1 contender. Thanks to Flex, this match had some comedic moments but the rest of it was a very hard hitting 3-way brawl. The crowd was solidly behind Law in the role of abused underdog and popped for his win. A very entertaining scrap.

‘Showtime’ Brett Scholl vs Kwan Chang – Immediately following his win, Kris Law grabbed the mic and laid a verbal smackdown on Scholl, who was still lingering at ringside. Law said he brought the “Asian Nightmare” Kwan Chang to kick Scholl’s ass and Chang made his entrance. Tossing Law his ring jacket and kendo stick, Chang invited Scholl into the ring. Scholl’s clumsy entrance and cowardly heel demeanor brought a chuckle from the fans but Chang was not amused and seized early control. Both fighters used a heavy hitting ground based attack and switched the advantage back and forth, Chang using his chops and Scholl using tried and true techniques, like eye gouges and hair pulls. A couple minutes into the match, both guys looked tired and simultaneous kicks to the balls put them both down. Law, who was still at ringside, delivered a blistering Kendo stick strike to Scholl’s head as he was hanging in the ropes and Chang quickly scored the pin. After the match, Chang kicked the shit out of Law but I don’t know why. I don’t think it was just for laughs because the ‘Asian Nightmare’ never cracks a smile.

NSW Intercities Championship: Mark Shaw (C) vs Devon Parkside – Neither one of these guys is very big or muscle heavy so it looked to be a fast paced encounter. Shaw was the larger of the two. According to Parkside’s pre-match promo, Shaw should have just given him the title because they’re friends but when that didn’t work he came out blazing. The first few minutes were a back and forth trade off of punches, forearms and other shots but Shaw started hitting some power moves to gain the edge. Parkside rallied back with some double stomps to the Champs back and head. Shaw used his power to fight back but a spiked DDT laid him out for a top rope double stomp to his chest. Parkside continued the attack, working submission attempts and more double stomps. Eventually Shaw’s punches and a couple of devastating suplexes immobilized the quicker Parkside long enough for the Champ to deliver a top-rope elbow drop and final suplex for the win. This was a very entertaining match that had some brutal high impact moves. Multiple pin attempts and Parkside’s aerial attack, coupled with Shaw’s killer suplex display had fans on the edge of their seats. Maybe not X-Division stuff but definitely Velocity worthy. (It’ll never happen because of the size issue.)

No DQ: PP Smalls vs Dynamite Dino – Smalls came out first, accompanied by Logan Savage, and presented a very cocky demeanor. Short, but stocky, he wears what looks to be a kid-sized pair of sweatpants on his head. Dynamite Dino is a small guy and looked very happy considering he was staring at a potential 2 on 1 beating. I expected these guys to take it right to each other because of the ‘no DQ’ stip but the match began slowly. Dino landed a beautiful dropkick that stunned the larger Smalls (Larger Smalls – that doesn’t sound right.) but telegraphed a slam attempt and found himself on the receiving end of a ground and pound attack. Dino’s speed soon saw him regain control and Smalls’ attempts to bring a chair into play were foiled as Dino caught him in the corner and laid in a punch countdown, which the crowd declined to participate in. Soon enough, Smalls got a solid grip on the smaller, but quicker, Dino and slammed him onto the chair. After that, it was all Smalls, working Dino over with the chair and a chain while Savage, at ringside, took every opportunity to lay in cheap shots. After reversing a whip which sent Smalls into the chair, Dino headed outside and took the fight to Savage. Savage delivered a low blow and Dino once again found himself on the punishment end of things. Smalls hung him in the tree of woe and delivered a chain-wrapped punch to his nuts and Dino fell to the outside. Savage choked him out with a chair and delivered more chair shots when they both entered the ring. Dino rallied after the heels missed a move and Smalls bailed to the outside. Dispatching Savage, Dino chased after Smalls but another chain-wrapped punch, this one right to the mouth, busted him up. Back inside, Smalls feigned concern about Dino’s injury but it was just a ruse to sucker him in for the pin. After the match, a bloody Dino was helped to the back. The crowd, for the most part, farted on this match by staying quiet, despite Dino’s many comebacks and the heels working every dirty trick in the book.

I think he had all his teeth when he started the match.

Tag Team 4-Way Match for #1 Contenders Shot at Tag Team Titles: Justin-Sane & Draven vs “Beauty & The Beast” (HHV w/Kyle Davenport & Danny Magnum) vs Matt the Dancing Kid & Toste vs Paul Wright & Glen Dubar – With the addition of Wright & Dubar, the advertised Triangle match became a 4-way that was wild and crazy from the opening bell until the final pin. With so many different styles and sizes of competitors it proved to be almost too much action to watch at once. The two smallest guys in the match, Matt & Toste, appeared to be the crowd favorites but that and their obvious size disadvantage made them targets for the other teams. Matt in particular took a beating from almost everyone in the match and was nearly pinned numerous times. Every pin attempt was broken up though, as there was no way the ref had any real control over so many bodies. When Justin-Sane entered the fray, things really lit up and bodies started spilling everywhere when the action took to the air. Multiple dives over the top and wild brawling on the outside further excited the crowd; as did the constant cheap shots from HHV’s manager, Davenport. After a relatively short amount of time, Magnum crunched Justin-Sane with a piledriver to snatch the pinfall victory. These types of multi-team matches usually go one of three ways: They’re either highspot crapathons, complete clusterfucks or highly entertaining brawls. Fortunately, this was one of the latter examples. In a side note: HHV seemed to focus more attention on Mrs. Id than he did on the match so it’s lucky for him that his partner Magnum was able to get the win.

NSW World Championship: Timothy Dalton (C) w/Pandora & Steve Brown vs Kex – Dalton, still attired in his suit & tie, delivered a promo about defending his title every month even though he wasn’t scheduled to do so. He lamented the fact that no one on the NSW roster was worthy of challenging for the belt. Enter Kex. I don’t know if this guy is supposed to be the Little Green Sprout or Peter Pan. I wouldn’t call him skinny exactly, but the stick he carried had bigger shoulders than he did. Apparently, he’s a pixie of some sort and carries magic dust with him. Anyway, while Pandora distracted him with her ample cleavage, Brown handed Dalton a selection of weaponry which the Champ carefully considered before settling on a kendo stick. Dalton clobbered Kex in the head, called for the bell, pinned him, stole his magic dust and left. If The MiC had been there, he would have left too.

3 on 2 Handicap Match: Generation Now (Sean Cassidy, Alex York & Corey Mason) w/Dalton vs Mike Stevens & Michael Elgin – The Generation Now members were first to arrive and I couldn’t help but think about The MiC again. Given his feelings about guys who don’t ‘look’ like wrestlers, I can only imagine what he would think about Generation Now. If you added all their ages together, they’d be about as old as me (I’m 47) and their total combined weight might not equal one Big Show bowel movement. Seriously, these guys are in their mid-teens, not too far past growing pubic hair… they’ve got a ways to go before they start growing muscles too. So I thought: ‘Here come the flippity-do highspots but I was pleasantly surprised to discover that wasn’t the case once the match started. Their scheduled opponent, Mike Stevens, came out next and he was big enough, and well muscled enough, that Mrs. Id suddenly started snapping more pictures than she’d shot all night. Stevens announced that his partner, Michael Elgin, was in the building and so it became 3 against 2. Elgin and Stevens totally dominated the early action against their smaller foes with Mason suffering the brunt of their attack. At one point they each caught one of the other GN members in cross-body attempts and used them as weapons to batter Mason further. When Mason finally tagged York into the match, he too was abused and brutalized. Eventually, Stevens was tripped up by interference from Dalton and a concerted triple team attack beat him down.  Elgin tried numerous times to make the save but the ref kept ordering him back out which enabled Generation Now to continue their combined assault. The crowd was right into this match and got even hotter when the ref missed Stevens’ tag and again forced Elgin from the ring. Finally, the squat powerhouse could stand no more and brushed the ref aside before laying a beating on all 3 GN members. The ref finally got him back outside and Generation Now swarmed back onto Stevens like a pack of skater dudes on a homeless bum. To the cheers of the crowd, Stevens’ fought back and made the hot tag. Elgin entered the ring and leveled York and Mason with a double lariat and absolutely pummeled Cassidy with chops. Moments later he caught Mason coming off the top and, with him on his shoulders, managed to snare Cassidy and York from the top as well. Carrying all 3 GN members on his shoulders, Elgin walked to the center of the ring and delivered a triple-decker Samoan drop! Teenage angst went bouncing everywhere and, as Stevens cleaned house on the outside, Elgin pinned Cassidy for the win. After the victors had left, commentator Julian Logan entered the ring to sing their praises, but Dalton ordered GN to attack and they immediately beat Logan down. P.D. Flex led the charge from the dressing room to make the save.

Michael Elgin takes out the trash

NSW Cruiserweight Championship: The Prodigy (C) w/Steve Brown vs Scotty O’Shea – Another match-up between guys whose ‘look’ would have had The MiC crying in his beer, this contest was fast, wild and very appreciated by the fans. Scotty O’Shea was the undisputed favorite, maybe because he had so many friends and family there to see him. (He even pointed out his Dad in the middle of the match!) The action started with both guys working through a series of mat wrestling holds and counters. A very fluid sequence that ended with O’Shea monkey-flipping Prodigy to the outside. Following that with a ‘rana from the apron, O’Shea pressed his attack but Prodigy gained control and took the action back into the ring. Prodigy maintained the edge, concentrating his attack on O’Shea’s gut but the crowd favorite kept escaping the pin. With the crowd solidly behind him, O’Shea managed a few weak rallies but the Champ dominated most of the action. O’Shea started a comeback in earnest which saw both guys deliver an amazing sequence of attacks, counters and reversals. It was a beautiful series to watch and ended with O’Shea landing an enzeguri that put Prodigy down for a 2. O’Shea’s first attempt off the corner saw him caught and powerslammed to the mat but he nailed his next try. The match broke down into a punching contest that ended when the ref got bumped. With the ref down, Prodigy brought in a chair but ended up bouncing it off the ropes into his own face. O’Shea capitalized with a jump from the top rope into a DDT and the now recovered official counted the pin, during which, Brown lifted Prodigy’s foot onto the ropes. With the crowd going wild, and O’Shea celebrating his win, Brown argued with the ref. Seeing Prodigy down, with his foot still on the ropes, the ref ordered the match to restart. Seconds later Prodigy pinned O’Shea with a roll-up and of course, he used the ropes for leverage. Neither O’Shea nor the crowd was happy about the skullduggery but it set up a rematch nicely. This was the match of the night despite the fact the two guys involved hardly look like prototypical wrestlers. From bell to bell the story unfolded in a logical sequence and both guys excelled from a technical standpoint. A very exciting match to watch that was enlivened by O’Shea’s running commentary. If Prodigy was a couple inches taller and a few pounds heavier he’d fit any cruiserweight division in the world.

Six Man Tag Match: James Gracey, Stephen Elias & Scotty O’Shea vs ‘Awesome’ Adam Reed, Steve Brown & Timothy Dalton w/Pandora – Kex, still nursing his head, accompanied Gracey & Elias to the ring. Elias grabbed the mic and explained Deanna Conda was suffering from a ruptured ear drum and wouldn’t be appearing. (Too bad, I’d been looking forward to meeting her.) He revealed the mystery partner was none other than Scotty O’Shea. The heel team, led by Steve Brown, didn’t seem too concerned by that announcement. An initial 6-way brawl to start things off saw Brown and Dalton flee, leaving Reed to fend for himself. Once he too had fled the ring, there was some stalling before the match settled into a regular 6 man tag. Things went back and forth for a few minutes with lots of comedy spots. Eventually, the bad guys gained the advantage only to lose it again when Brown bagged himself on the ropes after missing a Yakuza kick. The faces all took turns kicking the rope into Brown’s nutsack which the crowd appreciated, but it didn’t do much to solidify their advantage. Some ‘old school’ ref distraction saw the bad guys once again take control. O’Shea’s high flying and some quick tags switched things back and forth and eventually Dalton found himself at a disadvantage. This led to Brown and Reed running in on his behalf and the match once again broke down into a brawl. As all 6 guys pounded on each other in the ring, Pandora kicked the crap out of Kex on the outside, repeatedly ramming his face into the apron. With Kex out of the way, Pandora slipped the stolen magic pixie dust to Dalton but Gracey knocked it into his own face. Blinded, Dalton was quickly pinned, giving the victory to the good guys. Kex managed to gain a small measure of revenge by throwing the pixie dust in Pandora’s face after the bell. To the taunts and jeers of the NSW faithful, the beaten, but still defiant bad guys retreated to the back, leaving the faces in the ring to take their bows.

Final Thoughts: Once I got over my initial shock at the ages and size of most of the competitors, I was pleasantly surprised to see them deliver a very solid entertaining show. They added to the ‘old school’ feel of the presentation by announcing each wrestler’s weight and the time limit of each match. For a night of free wrestling entertainment, NSW delivered 2 ½ hours of pure enjoyment. Steve Brown and the NSW trainers are to be commended for not only giving these youngsters a chance to live their dream, but also for instilling in them the importance of knowing the basics and working traditional matches. That being said, it’s apparent that for a lot of the NSW roster, this is as high as they’re ever going to climb. The reality of wrestling is that size does matter and many of these guys just don’t have it. Still, it’s nice that a place like NSW exists so they, and fans of wrestling, can get together and enjoy the magic. I know I did and I’m pretty sure Jim Londos would have enjoyed the show as well.

Comments to the wizard of id can be posted on the message board or directed to: zapflash@sympatico.ca

Check out NSW’s website at: http://www.nswwrestling.cjb.net/

And finally, check out this picture of Sapphire choking Jay Phoenix on the ropes. Tell me you wouldn’t mark out if those pants ripped!