Well, so far, four episodes in, and each episode to-date has been worth the price of admission. There is talk of a big announcement during the show, and the matchup with Chris Masters against Fred Rosser looks to be a doozy (Who’s Fred Rosser, you ask? All good things to those who wait, dear Clarice). So let’s get to the action.
Ring commentators Todd Keneley, James Kincaid, and Blake “Bulletproof” Troop once again have the call this week.
First Match: Danny Limelight vs. Clark Connors
So once the show started, the UWN Primetime Live Placeholder logo took center stage, but the audio was still going on with the wrestlers cutting their promos and the commentators welcoming us to Thunder Studios. At first I thought that it was only affecting me, but I noticed on the Fite.TV chat session other viewers complained of the same thing, with the FiteTeam admin replying back, “It will get fixed.” Now speaking for myself, having spent what feels like an eternity in tech support, that is a tough spot to be in whenever problems of any kind show up and customers are starting get their hackles raised. So whoever was working behind the scenes at Fite.TV to get things back up, I tip my hat to you poor blighters having to deal with that foul up. But, as they say in Germany, starting the show like that is “no bueno.”
After four and a half minutes of this nonsense, we finally get visual with Clark Connors getting into the ring for his intro. Now, let’s get this show started, shall we?
Story of this match is both competitors were recently on New Japan’s Young Lions Break show, where Connors owns a win over Limelight, and this is the rubber match for Danny. This is a match that has Limelight delivering the sizzle with his flashy moves, while Connors brings the steak in his fundamental move set. Connors keeps limelight grounded for the most part, even placing Limelight in a single leg crab, but Limelight manages to reach the ropes to break the hold. Big move was Connors going for a Spear, only to have Limelight jump on top of Connors’ back in a stomp to take the wind out of his sails. Connors gets out of the ring for a breather, with Limelight following up with what I can only describe as a scary looking plancha from the ring to Connors below on the floor. At this point Limelight takes the…err, limelight, and near the end of the match had Limelight give Connors a superplex, followed by a Fisherman’s Buster. Limelight covers, but Connors manages to bridge and rolls limelight onto his back for the win.
Your Winner: Clark Connors
After the match had Limelight offer his hand to Connors, and Connors shook it in a show of mutual respect. Nice opening match, technical glitches aside.
We send it back to David Marquez who is with a Prime Time Player in Fred Rosser (the Wrestling Artist Formerly Known As Darren Young, for those of you in the cheap seats). He’s ready tonight for his matchup against Chris Masters, which naturally brings out Masters himself to respectfully disagree with the Player. But wait a sec, there seems to be some activity behind the screen. Next thing you know, we got “Cowboy” James Storm coming into the picture. He’s just trying to look for the john, since he drank too much beer. Masters, in an act of what I call “douchenozzlery,” grabs Storm’s beer and pours it out into a wastebasket. Well, that dog won’t hunt, and Storm says he’s ready for a match, so he proposes to Marquez that this should be a three way match. I know my inner JR is saying that business picked up, so we will have that to look forward latter in the night. But for now, we send it back to ringside.
Heather Monroe (w/ Halston Boddy) vs. Elayna Black
Commentators mention that Black has been making the rounds across the country, even recently wrestling on AEW DARK. Beginning of the match was all about The Sorceress of Sin that is Elayna Black, with moves like a huracarana and a leg lariat to the Killer Bae, but it only gets Black a two count on Monroe. Match goes outside with black taking the fight to Monroe. Black tries to get back in but Boddy distract Black enough for Monroe to take advantage of the situation. Double stomp by the Killer Bae on Black, and Monroe is in the driver’s seat, following up with a surfboard on Black, then a curb stomp by Monroe, but her efforts just get her a two count. Monroe gets frustrated, and whips black to the ropes, but black gets her second wind and catches Monroe in the Octopus Stretch. Black tries for her Fade to Black double underhook DDT, but Monroe escapes to deliver a Dragon Suplex, but only gets a two count. End has Black reverse and deliver an impressive GTS to Monroe, but Boddy jumps on the apron to argue with the ref. Once again, Monroe takes advantage of the situation and uses the distraction give a high kick to Black and deliver the Bad Bitchy-Noku Driver (yes, you read that right, and that is exactly what Keneley called it) for the three count for the Killer Bae.
Winner via Pinfall: Heather Monroe
Replaying events from after the show last week, “Dirty Daddy” Chris Dickinson scares Keneley and Kincaid off and gets a mic. He threatens that he won’t come back until he (wait for it…) gets some competition. This place ain’t worth his time, and he’s fought everywhere against the best, so someone better step it up and… well, you know the drill. Moving along now.
West Coast Pro Wrestling Champion Hammerstone vs Tresario
Tresario’s gimmick seems to be snapping his fingers, and during the start, he tries to get in Hammerstone’s head by snapping in his face after doing rollups on the West Coast champ. Tresario comes close, and Hammerstone rolls out to figure a new plan. He goes back in the ring, and Tresario gets in some offense. Big move by Tresario was a body slam into an elbow drop to Hammerstone’s chest, followed by a splash, but it only gets a two count. Tresario tries to whip Hammerstone into the corner, but gets a spinebuster for his trouble, and then it’s all Hammerstone with power moves that controls the pace of the match. Tresario gets some hope spots in like a crossbody, but gets a back breaker for troubles. Hammerstone fully in control gets Tresario into a German suplex, and he tries to set up his Nightmare Pendulum finisher, but it looked off-balance and it got converted to a Jackhammer. It looked ugly, but it got Hammerstone the win.
Winner via Pinfall: Hammerstone
“No Days Off” Fred Rosser vs. Chris Masters vs. “Cowboy” James Storm
Start of the match after the intro had Storm go right at Masters, which further proves my axiom of “never take away a man’s beer.” Rosser and Storm double team on Masters, and Masters decides that he needs to roll out. Now it’s Rosser against Storm, and the match goes back and forth between the two, but Storm manages to get the upper hand over The Prime Time Player. Storm is in a corner to deliver a Last Call superkick, but Masters pulls him outside of the ring and hip tosses Storm on the concrete of Thunder Studios. Masters gets back in and gets on his offense to Rosser. Butterfly suplex from Masters to Rosser, followed by a Samoa Drop, but they only get him a two count. Storm tries groggily to get back to the ring, which makes Masters go back out to deal more damage. Match is all over the place, with Rosser just taking most of the beatings from Storm and Masters but no one gaining the upper hand yet. Big move of the match has Masters with Rosser ready for a suplex, but then Storm gets Masters with a neckbreaker, while Masters does a DDT to Rosser. Storm attempts a pin, but only gets a two count. Masters goes for the Masterlock submission on Storm, but Storm heads to the ropes to break it up, and the referee tries to get Masters to break the hold. Rosser goes behind Masters, who gives him a mule kick while the referee is still distracted. Masters now goes after Rosser, but gets a jawbreaker for his trouble, which leads to a Last Call superkick by the Cowboy. Rosser send Storm out of the ring, and grabs Masters with a Gut Check (fireman’s carry to a code breaker) finisher for the three count.
Winner via Pinfall: Fred Rosser.
After the match had Storm back in the ring facing down Rosser. But, he takes a knee and gives #BlockTheHate sign to Rosser in a show of respect.
Back to the ring, where David Marquez has an announcement. The ring has a table in the center with something covered. Marquez announces that there will be a tournament to crown the first ever United Wrestling Network World Champion. This will be an eight-man tournament, and the participants and their respective brackets will be brought up next week. I always love a good tournament, and I am curious who will be vying for the belt. Stay tuned next week. Right now, it is time for…
Your Main Event for the UWN Television Title: Dan Joseph (champion) vs. Dom Kubrick
Beginning has ring announcer Adnan Kureishy delivering the boxing style intros for each competitor (Again, it’s probably just me, but those type of intros really work well there is a crowd there. But what do I know?). This is just a slugfest from the time the bell rang, with Joseph with good chain wrestling offense on Kubrick. Joseph is fired up, and Kubrick wisely powders out of the ring. Kubrick goes back in, and gets a lightning arm drag by Joseph for his trouble. Joseph attempts a German suplex, but Kubrick escapes and goes outside the ropes and uses them to snap joseph’s neck back. Kubrick still outside leaps between the ropes and delivers a twisting cutter on joseph, but gets a one count for his troubles. Now it’s all Kubrick in control, and at one point has a cocky knee squarely on Joseph neck. Story in this match that Joseph is using his power, while Kubrick focuses his efforts on Joseph’s neck issues. Best example is middle of the match has Kubrick give a Future Shock DDT to Joseph for a two count, and Joseph delivers in kind with a Fisherman’s Buster. He only gets the two count, as joseph’s neck keeps aggravating him. Back and forth between the two, with Kubrick going high risk for a corkscrew senton on a prone Joseph, but only gets a two count for his trouble. Kubrick steps it up by sinking a Dragon Sleeper submission on Joseph, wrenching his neck back. Joseph fights through and manages to crawl to the ropes for the referee to break the submission. End has Joseph on the outside of the ropes, and Kubrick attempts to slingshot him in. But Joseph quickly gets behind Kubrick for a flash German suplex. One, two, three, and…
Your Winner, And Still UWN Television Champion: Dan Joseph
Commentators hype up next week’s show with not only the UWN World Title Tournament participants, but we will get to see The Return of Mike Bennett and the Main Event is for the NWA Television Title between Outlandish Zickey Dice vs. Da Pope. Also, on October 27th, we will see NWA Women’s Champion Thunder Rosa defend her belt against a returning Sereena Deeb.
Final Thoughts on Episode 5:
Not gonna lie, the technical issues at the start of the show was a turn off, and even some folks in the Fite.tv chat room were starting to clamor for their money back. As of this writing, the replays are still showing the same issue as the live feed, and it doesn’t look as though it has been corrected. Regardless of who or how happened, the focus should be on ensuring these issues get corrected so they don’t happen again, otherwise this can make casual viewers reassess the price of the in-demand PPV. That said, once the feed came back, it was bell to bell action from the opening bout in Limelight/Connors, and Monroe showing why she is the Killer Bae. I was pleasantly surprised by Storm getting into the mix with Rosser/Masters, and seeing both those two again was an eye opener. Masters is lean but still powerful, and Rosser is now in a better position to show his star power than when he worked for, shall we say, a less interested company. Marquez’s tournament announcement definitely sets the stage for the next few episodes, but the Main Event really showcased Dan Joseph as a up-and-coming star and why he is the current UWN Television Champ. Even with the glitch, it’s still worth the $7.99 price tag.
See you next Tuesday!