Like last week, they start up with the opening video which is really impressive for just a simply Indy promotion. Sadly, that was the only thing that impressed me last week. Hopefully, this week will be a bit better. For those wanting to watch it, you can download this show at necw.tv. It’s pretty self-explanatory from there.
We start off with Grayson Alexander and Steve King welcoming the fans and they are on location. They then run down the card and these are just matches that recently happened on the IRON 8 card from a few days ago. Holy shit, Rebecca Knox is on the show tonight! I just saw her and commentated on her match in NWA-VA on the 22nd. No offense to her as she is really nice, but I hope her match tonight is better than her one with NWA-VA. In doing some research, it looks like Fergal Devitt, her traveling buddy, was also on the IRON 8 card. What a coincidence! Too bad we won’t see Devitt tonight as he is simply grand in that ring.
Frankie Arion Vs. Jon Thornhill
This was a pretty good match. It started off hot with some great chain and mat wrestling. Sadly, it didn’t stay that way. However, as the match transitioned out of the opener, it kept the feeling and the momentum going which was a great thing. In the middle of the match, there was a stretch of like a minute that saw some pretty sloppy wrestling and selling, but they caught it right back up and got the crowd pretty hot for an opener. I was shocked to see Arion do the mat work in the beginning too as last week he was basically a fast worker and this week, he’s methodically taking someone down. There wasn’t much psychology, but in five minutes, what kind would you ask for? It’s not like they did anything, besides no-selling a move in that minute span I talked about, that would garner a psychological rant by me. Thornhill was a little generic in the match, but with some conditioning and a gimmick, the guy could do wonders. In the end, Arion hit his variation of the Dudley Dog which Thronhill bumped awkwardly to.
Winner: Frankie Arion
Star Wrestler: Frankie Arion
The match itself was a bit disappointing after the opening part as I hoped for a pure technical match, but it still delivered with some good promise and flowing. Arion impressed me immensely though as I didn’t think this guy could hang with the technical aspect of wrestling. His work in the beginning was a pure highlight reel for competition and mat wrestling and I loved his unique offense and charisma towards the end. Thronhill was also good, but he took some things very awkwardly that strained credibility and his generic look and offense didn’t help much either. Thornhill is a guy I could see getting this accolade in a few months; however, Arion was the true star in this opening bout that did well of pumping me up for the rest of the show.
They show commercials for a DVD called Super Slam that they are selling followed by an ad for a Hurricane Katrina benefit match coming up.
Number One Contendership For NECW Tag Team Championship
RAVE Vs. The Logans
Holy shit, this was a damn great tag team match and if I could think of any other curse words to use to describe it, I would. RAVE was still a little sloppy, but I love how in the early points of the match, they go right for a body part and take it down with some quick and unique moves. That shows some great attention to detail. There was no face in peril in this match either; this was straight competitive tag team wrestling. Back and forth, stiff blows, great tag spots, and some huge selling all made this match a great one. Man, after last week’s snore fest, I was surprised that NECW has me marking out a bit almost halfway through the night. This was just great and I loved the tag team psychology and the ability they had to get the crowd into the ring without doing any hot tags, any face in peril spots, or any of the generic tag team spots we are all used to. I am not a fan of tag team wrestling, but it is matches like these that make me instill some faith in the genre. Finish came when the Logans hit a double team wheelbarrow suplex/diamond cutter variation which was definitely impressive and had me retracting some things I said about RAVE last week.
Winners: The Logans
Star Wrestlers: The Logans
Like I did with the Hall Brothers in a past NWA-VA review, I couldn’t tell which brother was which, so why not give it to both of them? Just kidding. In all honesty, the two were both indistinguishable in skill which speaks miles of their skill and quality as a team. If there is one thing I hate about tag teams, it’s the fact that it’s a bad worker with a good worker nine times out of ten. My all time favorite tag team (the Dudleyz) even has that problem as Bubba Ray is clearly carrying D-Von. This is clearly not the case with this team. These workrate machines were firing on all cylinders tonight. Like I mentioned earlier, RAVE was a bit sluggish and out of place at times; but where they failed, the Logans succeeded and then some. Man, their offense was just great and very unique. The only complaint I have about this match was that I would like to have seen the Logans target a body part, but with the pace of the match and style they worked, it made sense not too. Great job by these guys and I’m genuinely impressed by NECW this week.
