Johnny Rodz's World of Unpredictable Wrestling (WUW) 6/14 McReview

What's up everyone and welcome to another McReview, here on the DOI. To reiterate what I've said in previous reviews, I'm recently finding my interest in indy wrestling waning, as I have seen alot of stuff from all over the country and 90% of it is garbage. I think there are more clowns than ever before in indy wrestling and just more nonsense going on than ever before that I've hit system overload. That is why I'm cutting the amount of shows I've been going to, as I'm only going to shows that I know will be fun or feature faces you don't see at every single show. It's tough to be a wrestling fan right now because you have one company trying to pay fans to watch the stuff while the other has so much potential but has a booker that doesn't realize the year is 2008.

It's always good to go to school shows to see who will be the next crop of wrestlers on the indy scene. It's only a matter of time before everything turns over again, and the indies produce a new batch of wrestlers that the bigger indy promotions start booking. 6-7 years ago we had the Reds, the SATs, the Homicide's, the Low Ki's. Today you have the Aries', Strong's & Reefer's. It's only a matter of time that the dedicated & hardworking students fill the slots that these wrestlers will leave when they move on, whether it be that they quit or get a contract somewhere.

As I've mentioned in previous WUW reviews, WUW is primarily a student promotion, allowing the students to get some work. There really are no angles or anything, just straight up matches. There isn't much to the booking, as the booking is pretty much non existent, as the shows are designed to give the students/graduates ring time in front of a crowd. The only booking I can tell from WUW shows are just match orders, which sometimes can be downright confusing. (Like putting ticket sellers on too early that it burns out the crowd who are there just to see them, then leave during the real matches.) I also think at times that some matches are purposely booked to be bad, to see if one of the wrestlers can take over and carry a match.

From talking to some of the wrestlers & from my observations, WUW is also relying on alot of ticket sellers to generate money. This is not a new thing, as promotions all over the country do this. Helter Skelter actually has made his name into indy lure, as a guy who pays promoters to wrestle names. I've heard the phrase "Oh that guy is pulling a Helter tonight." While the students aren't "Heltering" to wrestle major names, they are heltering to win championships. As I've said in other reviews, the belts change hands every show and in the truest form of the word, are basically props, especially at a show like this.

This show took place at "Hempstead Day" in Long Island. I don't know if you guys are familiar with Hempstead, but it's basically the Harlem of Long Island. Only for a wrestling show would a white guy with tattoos and shaved head show up for Hempstead day. The fact that I always have fun at WUW shows coupled in with the fact that this show was literally 10 minutes from my house made this a very easy show to go to. The venue was very nice. It was about 1.5 the size of the Deer Park Community Center with full air conditioning. I was under the assumption that the building wanted wrestling, but if WUW could run there full time that would be great, especially during the summer when it's a million degrees at Gleason's Gym.

Anyway, I'm pressed for time here, so let's get into the results/review, before WOW booker Kaplan IMs me wondering where my report is so he can dissect the show that he "doesn't care about"!

WUW
6/14
Hempstead, NY
Refs: Don Tito, Red Young & Some Old Guy That I Never Saw Before/Didn't Get The Name Of
Ring Announcers: Johnny Rodz & the Jeremy Borash looking guy
Attendance: 250+, maybe even near 300+ with cops/building workers watching.

For the WUW Cruiserweight Title
Juan Miles d. Jorge Santi & Minyon to win the belt
This was a hot opener. Miles is not on the same level as Santi & Minyon, but despite that, he was able to win the match. This match was funny, because they made a big deal of where each guy was from. Each guy had a flag of their country, as Minyon had a Mexican flag, Santi had a Dominican Republic flag & Miles had a Puerto Rican flag. They could've had a winner gets a green card & losers get deported match, but then again, Vince Russo wasn't booking this.

Miles looked off a few times, while Santi & Minyon carried the bulk of the match. The finish saw Santi get decimated with a backstabber to the neck from Minyon. Miles then went to the top rope, somersaulted and frankensteinered Minyon for the clean & shocking pinfall.
For what it was, this was one of the better matches and got the crowd into the show.

Ken Draven d. Patrick Blare
I should note that some names I'm not familiar with and it was tough to hear the announcer, so if I have a mistake here, my bad.

These two guys came off to me as the "Backyardy Boys". There were dressed in 1998 all black Hardy Boy gear. These guys are a tag team in WUW, wrestling against each other out of respect or love or whatever.

Patrick Blare hit a copkiller on Draven about 5 minutes into this match. Draven was on his feet 2 seconds later, no selling the move. It was around this time that I stopped taking this match seriously.

Draven wins with a spinning neckbreaker.

Not a good match. I don't know how new these guys are, but they need to make their moves mean something. They were just doing stuff for no rhyme or reason. You could tell they were trying hard, but just didn't know how to put a match together.

For the Coveted Hempstead Trophy
Paul Calvey & Justin Scott d. Pastor George & Tristan Spade w/DJ Massacre, Another Rapper & An Unnamed Girl that was probably his girlfriend that he put on the show last minute

This was an odd match. Tristan Spade was presented like he was god's gift to wrestling and had a huge grand entrance, more suited for a singles match, not a tag match.

DJ Massacre came out, looking like he killed 10 bedspreads, in an all plaid suit, which looked really stuffy. Some rapper rapped for Tristan, and you couldn't make out what the hell he said. The girl went to the corner & played the Miss Michelle "5th Ringpost" role.

Something happened with security guard Gorilla Dezu & the rapper. No one understood what was said because it was hard to hear, but as Bobby G. stated to me at the time, "I didn't get it, but it was good." It was just one of those moments. I always thought Pastor George should come out with a young kid, to go for that authentic priest look.

This was an ok match that had decent heat. Tristan was a big guy and looked the most impressive out of the lot, although I'd say George was the best wrestler in there.

Tristan was busy heeling out the crowd and didn't notice that Calvey splashed Jorge for the 1-2-3.

"The Answer" Pistol Pete Simmons d. (c) The Real World's Champion "Smooth Operator" Mike Gallagher
This was one of the better matches of the show, if not the best. I always like the old school stuff better than the guys in the UFO pants flipping around for no reason. These guys wrestle a different style and actually looked like wrestlers and really stood out among the pack on the show. Unlike other matches on the show, both guys established who was "good" and who was "bad".

I have to mention that I enjoyed Gallagher busting out two moves you don't see everyday- the figure four on the ring post ala Bret Hart & The Indian Deathlock. Pete did a great job of selling his leg too, as for the whole entire match & even going to the back, he limped around.

Pete won with a backslide out of no where, making the crowd happy. Both guys worked the crowd well and the unpredictable finish worked well here.

Anthony Starr/Damien Storm/Prince Atiba w/El Shoes d. Chris Romano/Reggadones/Steve Person
This was one of the matches I was alluding to earlier, that these matches are just booked for guys to get work. It's hard to get into multi-man matches unless the characters are established & there is a personal issue between the teams. These guys wrestled hard but for me it was hard to get into, because there was no beef.

Steven Person is now marketing shirts where they say "See Steven Person, In Person". Get it Steve-IN Person In-Person? That's as ingenius as "Justin Credible". Then again, I'd rather be Justin Credible or even Steven Person than named Justin Cage. What the hell does that mean anyway?

Reggaedones reminds me of one of those old Puerto Rican wrestlers you'd see on tapes and in old PWI's based on his look and his gear. I mean that in a good way. He's not the best wrestler in the world or anything, but he has a look that's different and that's something that alot of guys on the indy scene don't have.

El Shoes was funny here, as he was Atiba's man-servant, playing a bongo for Mr. Atiba.

The finish came out of nowhere, as Starr pinned Romano. It looked like the ref only counted two. This led to all 6 guys brawling, with the face team of Atiba clearing the ring in a violent manner.

When the heels lingered around the ring, The Zombie ran out and chased them out. I could see down the line the Zombie becoming a Doink, where a bunch of indy guys start doing the Zombie gimmick, as it's something silly and always gets a reaction from the crowd.

For the WUW WORLD Title
Mark Viola d. (c) The Muskateer w/Gorilla Dezu & The Squire
Where to start, where to start...

I know alot of people in WUW, fans and wrestlers, are not a fan of The Muskateer as a person. If you've seen the Foxxy Foxxy shoot, you probably are not a fan of him either. As far as his role in WUW, he's currently the new booker and on alot of people's shitlist. I think that also comes with being "booker". If you want to lose friends in wrestling, the best way is to become booker. Then when you leave that job, you lose all the fake acquaintances. Just ask Ray Sager how many people still talk to him that used to blow up his phone every day when he was booking JAPW.

I think the best thing about this match was The Squire. The kid really does look like a Squire and looks like he was transplanted out of whatever century that the 3 Muskateer Candy bar was created in.

Mark Viola is a new WUW guy. However he is not new as a person, as he's easy in his late 40's-early 50's. Is his new found wrestling career a mid-life crisis? Who knows? The guy is doing something he always wanted to do, so more power for him. However, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to put together that when a very green old man, that looks like he needs a defibrillator, goes over for your heavyweight championship, that the guy sold alot of tickets.

I know some wrestlers get upset about stuff like this, but it's the business. The true talent will always rise to the top and ticket sellers don't last forever. That's not to knock Viola either, as I'm sure he's a nice guy, but I just don't get what people get out of selling tickets to win pretend championships. I'd rather earn it and be respected (and you can still sell tickets) than have a match like the one I saw. Again, it's mainly the wrestlers who put more stock into these titles than the fans, where they should just worry about having the best possible match, and not worry about a belt that changes every show anyway.

This match was basically a test to see if The Muskateer could wrestle himself and put on a decent outing. I thought Muskateer did a fine job of carrying the match, because while the match wasn't great, it wasn't flat out horrendous. If I was the Muskateer, I probably would've went the pots/pans & fight in the crowd for big pop routes, because that is easy stuff that anyone can do. Muskateer went the wrestling route, and you could see the mess-ups happen that it wasn't Muskateer's fault. Then again, as the veteran, perhaps he should've went for a different style of match rather than trying to put on a catch as can match.

They gimmicked this match up a bit, which was what was expected. Muskateer's enforcer, Gorilla, was kicked out of ringside by security. While this was happening, Viola punched Muskateer 45 times in the corner. Muskateer then took 2 big back body drops. Gorilla would come back to ringside. Muskateer held Viola. Viola got out about 5 minutes too early. Gorilla looked at Muskateer and threw powder at him, which looked silly, since Viola escaped from Muskateer too early. Gorilla missed with the powder, as the powder hit the ring, flat as a rock. Viola rolled up Muskateer for the pinfall, with the powder, looking like something that was taken off of Tony Montana's desk just sat in the ring. Viola celebrated like he just made the winning catch in the Superbowl. Muskateer then immediately did a promo that the match was a fluke, with no powder on his face. What I just described was super indyriffic.

El Shoes d. Benji The Clown
Benji is a real clown, not a Vinny The Autistic Goof clown, not a Sabboth the Stiffer clown but a Krusty the Clown clown. The clown didn't seem too bad, as while it was mainly a squash, he did a good job with his ring prescence, meaning that he was where he needed to be and didn't look lost, like someone in the main event (we'll get to that.)

Shoes wins after a "Shoe-ton" bomb for the pin. Fun and easy match. More matches should've been booked like this, because it was nice and short, you understood both characters, and weren't burnt out. Some matches went so long that you began to lose interest.

For the East Coast Championship
Mack Daddy Flexx d. (c) Joe So Delicious to win the championship
This is a match that has been done before around the indy scene. I think it most recently was a VPW main event.

Basic match here. These guys really used the ring well, as due to their size, the ring was shaking and made everything seem rough.

At one point in the match, Flex hit a huge superplex on Joe. I thought the ring was going to break ala Big Show/Brock. Joe came back with some power moves, and to make another Big Show reference, powerbombed Flex ala Nash/Giant at that crappy nWo PPV.

Joe would continue his assault on Flex, however, all it took was one massive lowdown to put Joe down for the count.

One of the better matches on the show. I probably would've been into it more if it was on earlier than later on the card because at this point, with 10 matches, 9 of them being long, I was getting burnt out, especially with no intermission.

WUW Tag Team Title Match
Johnny Broadway & Johnny Knockout d. (c) Club 37- Juan Jeremy & Dreamcaster
Yuck.

Broadway sold about 1000 tickets. Both guys were really green and had no clue. Like The Muskateer, Jeremy was forced to carry these guys. I was watching the way Broadway's family and friends were reacting to this match. Although Broadway or Knockout have no business in a wrestling ring yet, you could see his family believed in them a bit. I guess Rodz made dreams happen for the Broadway family. The match was pathetic and while none of their peers respect Broadway or Knockout, at least they can tell their family and friends that they are a champion. After all, they sold the tickets to do so.

Finish came when the referee, sick of Dreamcaster's cheating ways, superkicked Dreamcaster, threw Broadway on top of Dreamcaster and fast counted the three.

It's always good to be positive, so at least Jeremy & Dreamcaster got practice in trying to hide their opponents weaknessess. Unfortunately, the weakness in this match were Johnny Broadway & Knockout.

MAIN EVENT
The Zombie d. The Artist Formerly Known as The Niggataker "The Death Angel" Angelus Valkin The Voice The Rated V-Superstar Corvis Fear

The Niggataker needs to drop all the other names and just keep it at Niggataker.

This match was Wrestlecrap good, but poor Tim Arson (The Zombie) for having to keep this match together.

The Niggataker, who I thought was decent and a watchable wrestler was just flat out awful. Either he had a really bad night or maybe I was really drunk when I thought silly gimmicks aside, he was an ok wrestler.

The Niggataker seems to have gotten progressively worse, as he's now added the "Rated V-Superstar" to his name. One day he's Kane, the next the Undertaker and today Edge. I wasn't told what the V stands for. The common jokes among the wrestlers were either "virgin", "vagina" or "vile" as he's vile to watch.

For a guy who spends so much time scripting matches & asking for his own locker room, The Voice or whatever he's called this week needs to get back in the gym and practice his wrestling. There were times in this match where he was just flat out lost. He didn't even get hit in the head, so it's not like he was woozy from a concussion, he just was lost. He was more lost than Vinny The Autistic Goof trying to tie his shoes.

Zombie got a reaction I never saw before at these indy shows. When he came running around the ring, chasing ref Red Young & Niggataker around, a whole front row of kids ran out of the building, while 2 were shaking. The Zombie is babyface and fan friendly here, but I guess it's easy to see why a young kid would be scared. Maybe it would be beneficial so these kids don't get nightmares, get scarred for life and grow up to be pussies like Jac Sabboth, that Zombie after the matches greets the kids and "exposes the business". I understand kayfabe, but you don't want to see these kids be traumatized after what they see at an indy show. Some of these shows are traumatizing enough, where you don't need The Zombie to do it for you.

I found Ref Red Young entertaining too in this match, as you could see Zombie/Young have good chemistry. Zombie chasing Young around was hilarious as Young sold it well.

Niggataker was just off. Mercifully, this match ended after Arson had enough and hit a mean TKO.

Final McWord
I had a fun time at this show. I think that there are alot of decent wrestlers here. Joey B & Kaplan's Warriors of Wrestling group realized that too, as they tried taking the best guys from here and doing their own shows with them. Guys like Mike Gallagher, Pete Simmons, Flex, Joe, Arson, Santi, Minyon, Shoes & The Clown all held up their own in their matches and stood out.

As far as a show, these shows are geared more for the families & friends of the wrestlers, as you can tell based on who won belts tonight and who got huge roaring ovations. As a fan, there are some good matches, but if you're looking for a promotion with consisentency or any regular storylines with advancement, this isn't for you. As far as a night out at the matches, it's a good time.

I was talking to some fans at the show who went to the WOW show last week because of the WUW guys on it and they told me they thought the Rodz's WUW show was much better than the WOW show. While they said WOW had better storylines, they have a better time & thought the matches are better at WUW.

In some news, as everyone knows, WOW put up a very harsh letter about Johnny Rodz. According to people in WUW, WOW's staff continues to prank call people in the Rodz family which is crossing the line a bit. Kaplan of WOW told me that he could go to this show if he wanted, but seemed to have alot of excuses for not showing up. A bunch of wrestlers told me that if they saw him, he would've had his faced smashed in for all the disparaging remarks made about the Rodz family. I guess that's why Kaplan didn't show up after telling me he really wanted to be there. Gotta love the indy drama. Only in wrestling!

I think it would be great if WUW could keep this venue on the regular, as it was a great place for wrestling. The ticket seller stuff aside, this was a fun show. The ticket sellers are necessary. The business is down. The TS's provide promoters with a safety net to run shows. Blame the NYSAC for high fees that the promoters need to handle. The worst is that when people do stuff right like Johnny Rodz with the licensing & all that jazz, he has to use ticket sellers to cover expenses. However, then you get a scumbag like Jac Sabboth running shows illegally and losing all his fathers money, but doesn't need to use ticket sellers, since it's only his fathers money he is losing anyway and he can bribe certain commission inspectors. The NY indy playing field is not at a fair level and I blame that on the NYSAC for picking and choosing what shows to enforce and showing up at.

No return date was announced.

Overall
Long show that would've been better if the matches were tightened/shortened.

For more on WUW, visit WUWOnline.com

Sean "The MiC" McCaffrey
BULLSMC@aol.com

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