The evening got underway with a confrontation between commissioner Sebastion Maze, and Joe Rodriguez. Joe demanded to be included in the steel cage main event (for the UAPW championship). Maze pointed out that Joe hadn't paid the $5,000 fine levied due to his bad behavior at the last show.
Maze then ordered him to wrestle against Renzo Da Great. Joe secured an early advantage with a low mule kick. Renzo staged a come back, but fell victim to two DDT's. Rodriguez picks up the win.
Next up, newcomer Big Jake South, collided with Rampage. South is a large, powerful youngster, who could be a future main eventer. Rampage gave it his best shot, but after a spinning choke slam, could not beat the three count. Give the "w" to Big Jake!
Third match of the night saw saw Manitoba native, Scotty Fraytown, square off with Michael Zane. The pink clad (an homage to Bret Hart?) heeled it up with gusto. Zane was batterred from pillar to post, but still picked up the win with a well timed "small package," for the pin fall victory.
Last bout before intermission, was a tag battle featuring "The Untouchables," (Jake Frost, and Brent Daniels) accompanied by radio personality (WIOT) Grizzly Brown, taking on a high flying team composed of "The Wild Child," and his partner, Greg (didn't catch his last name).
This was, in my opinion, the best match of the night. The heel team, The Untouchables and the smaller face team performed the time honored tag formula, complete with missed (by the harried Referee) tags, punished heroes, and dramatic comebacks, hot tags, etc.). Wild Child, and his partner picked up the win. And then suffered a beat down by their foes. Undoubtedly setting up a future battle.
After the break, the first odd bit of booking, saw Ice Tre take on "The Homeless Avenger," Dick Nasty, with a third opponent involved. Was it a handicap match? a three-way? No clear declaration. After some intense, if at times confusing, action, Third guy won with a spinning DDT.
Next up: a "Homeless Street Fight," between "Mister Main Event," and Grady. This was a comedy match, complete with whip cream, skid-marked shorts, etc. (somewhere Lou Thesz is spinning in his grave!). I admit I am not a fan of comedy matches, but if you are going to have them. They need to be kept short (in my humble opinion). This one went on way too long, from one end of the large venue to the other. Eventually most of the crowd stopped caring, and the bout was called a draw.
Now it was time for the main event. A short break was needed to set up the steel cage, and UAPW took great pains to make sure it well secured. The combatants were Criss Chambers, and Carnage, Carnage attacked his opponent on the way to the ring and a lengthy brawl ensued, culminating in Criss being put through a table.
Once in the cage, the gladiators waged a brutal war. Both men were bloodied, Chambers was put through yet another table! As both battered and damaged combatants rolled on a mat covered with the detritus of their weapons allowed warfare, Joe Rodriguez entered the ring.
After laying chair shots down on everyone within reach, Joe pinned Carnage, and was awarded the title? Was this a "money-in the-bank" match? The ending was confusing, and distasteful. A word of caution to the booking committee: screw job finishes generate heat in the short term, but can be deadly in the long run. Look at how the Sheik killed the Detroit territory, for an example of this path's perils.
On the plus side the show was well paced, and well thought out. If UAPW can learn from its mistakes, this promotion has a bright future.
