Welcome back wrestling fans!
The weeks keep on ticking away and the wrestling does too, more and more to watch each week. But, your intrepid reviewer will trudge through the fields and brave the trenches, unafraid to do what must be done to keep these reviews coming!
Another DPW show down this week, still a few months out from watching the 2 year anniversary show in December and I'm starting to feel excited. I see the boys promoting current shows with exciting matchups, new champions and crazy cards (still can't believe they got Roddy for Limit Break and now FTR is coming through for Super Battle?! WHAT?!) and I really want to jump ahead and watch current shows but I must abide. I've gotta stay the course and work my way up to the current product. I'm too far to give it all up now.
Here's where I'm at for this week;
I started watching the Vince McMahon doc with my fiance on Netflix recently and hoo boy, that's something else, isn't it? Not quite the "double shovel burial" I heard some people calling it but I wouldn't say that Vinnie is coming out of this one looking any better after the year he's had. Only reason I mention the doc here is because I'm planning on doing a Deep Dive Rewind of the series, going episode by episode and covering the lies, truths, and half told stories as best I can. each review will take some time to finish, and I already planned on the Deep Dives being on a "as I get them done" basis so while there's no timetable for when you can expect to see it come across your feed, I'll more than likely make an announcement when it's closer to D-Day.
Myron Reed vs. Jay Malachi - DPW No Pressure - 05/21/2023
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| Fired up and ready to go. DPW |
No Pressure 2023 featured 2 matches that were being billed as "Dream Matches," with Tankman and Bojack squaring up in a decent-if-not-clunky battle of the big boys in the main event while Malachi and Reed faced in a "battle of the cutters" match. Mali-cutter vs. Flame On. Malacki has really established himself as DPW's biggest and best homegrown talent. They've put a lot of time and effort into making sure Malachi is always in a prominent, important position on the card and every match he's in feels important and special.
Reed was featured in a recent review along with Tankman and Kevin Knight in an exceptional 3 way dance and has been a real standout recently. I honestly thought these two had a match already but apparently not. This clash feels special right from the opening bell.
They get in each others faces and start ripping into each other. Reed tries to send Malachi to the outside but gets reversed and sent out himself, and Malachi takes off to the ropes behind him, rebounds, and soars through the ropes and into Reed. He's fired up and the crowd is with him as he rolls Reed back in the ring and starts trash talking to the camera, but gets caught by Reed who comes through the ropes as a receipt! We're barely a minute into the match and we're already trading dives to the outside. Lets fucking go!
Did I say "dream matches" earlier? What I really meant was "mirror matches," because when Malachi get back in the ring they *perfectly* trade armbars until they both go for it and get caught in the middle, rising together with arms locked. Boots sidestepped, dropkicks mirrored perfectly and stereo kip ups, how hard is it gonne be to fight someone who fights exactly like you do?
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| Air traffic control got mixed up on this one. DPW |
Malachi offers a handshake in the middle and Reed is hesitant but accepts the offer but pays for it, with Malachi pulling him to the ropes and giving himself a short springboard off the top and into a head scissors take down on Reed.
There's no real clear-cut advantage for either guy early on here. You'd usually have one guy start to wear down the other and take advantage of them being on the backfoot, but Malachi and Reed are so quick and sharp that they're constantly fighting for control. That being said, Reed does get Malachi back outside and flattens him with a crossbody over the top rope. Rolling him back inside, he latches onto the torso of Malachi and starts to squeeze, staying with him as Malachi is able to get to his feet.
Malachi breaks the grip and catched Reed with a superman punch, stunning him as he hits the ropes, ducking behind Reed for a big german suplex, but he's back on his feet with Malachi! He snatches Malachi and drives him up and over with a nasty german, but Malachi bounces up (is this boy... bouncy?) and is back on his feet again! He leaps into the air, snatching Reed by the head with his feet and spiking him with a poison rana! Can you guess what happens next? Reed is back up again, and drives Malachi over and down with a poison rana of his own. Vicious stuff.
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| Not much better than a good old german suplex, is there? DPW |
Reeling from the rana, Malachi backs into the corner and rebounds with a twist, spin kicking Reed across the jaw leaving him jelly legged but still standing. He snatches Reed from behind in the back suplex position and suplex's him onto his fucking head, holding him for a close 2 count. The crowd has been on fire from the get go but the wild back and forth spurs them on to start a "both these guys" chant.
Fighting in to the corner, Malachi laces Reed with a heavy handed chop and starts to charge off for the opposite corner, but gets pulled back and into the corner as Reed tries something of his own. Malachi stops him dead, cracking him with Dusty style punches and drops him into the middle buckle face first, drilling him with a spinning kick to the ribs. With Reed rolling back to centre, Malachi swings himself over the top rope and springboards, what seems like five miles, colliding with a crossbody that only offers him a 2 count.
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| The second Malachi takes to the air, physics stop working. DPW |
Back on his feet, Malachi calls for the Mali-cutter (maybe not the best idea, but you do you boss) and hits the ropes, but Reed snatches him out of the air and drops him with a back suplex, using Malachi's own momentum against him. Malachi rolls to the apron for reprieve but Reed sees an opportunity, hitting the ropes for a cutter to the outside. He catches Malachi as he takes to the skies and pulls him down off the apron but Malachi lands on his feet! He tries to send Reed into the corner post but gets caught with a back elbow, only for Malachi to send Reed over the barricade into the crowd and crack him in the head with a kick when he tries to climb back over.
Once again, Malachi decides that today is a perfect day to defy gravity. If Isaac Newton is watching this match from heaven he's probably throwing apples at the wall and cursing up a storm (he's the guy who done invented gravity, remember?). Reed is still outside the barricade, unable to climb back in after getting kicked in the head. Malachi initially climbs to the top rope but thinks of a better idea, hitting the ropes not once, not twice, but three times before taking off, soaring over the top rope, across ringside and into no mans land, landing on Reed and the first two rows of chairs. In. Sane.
Back inside the ring now, Reed avoids a top rope stomp from Malachi and rolls to the apron. When Malachi tries to shoulder barge him off the edge, Reed sidesteps and catches him across the back with a big scissors kick, knocking Malachi back to centre. Feeling some life once again, he take off from the top rope but gets ducked. Landing on his feet, Reed follows up with a decapitating pump kick that drops Malachi like a bag of hammers.
Reed pulls Malachi up off the canvas in a back suplex position again, but carries him to the ropes and springboards his feet off the top, using that extra momentum to drill Malachi with a sit out powerbomb for a close 2 count. This is why guys like Malachi and Reed stand out, they make the delivery of a cutter or a powerbomb unique and fun. This shit rules, man.
Keeping Malachi off his feet, Reed catches him with a great step up enzuigiri that puts Malachi on his ass. Reed rips Malachi up off the canvas by the arm, catching him in a firemans carry position and swinging him out and down with a rope assisted draping flatliner. It looked a bit rougher than he probably intended, but damn that looked mean. He forces him over for a cover but still, only gets 2.
Now, Malachi is on the defensive, rolling to the apron for air. Reed kips up quickly after Malachi pulls him down by his shoulders and gets caught with another enzuigiri, giving Reed enough time to charge the ropes and fly up, over and down, bringing Malachi down with him in a cutter to the floor!
Back inside, Reed drops Malachi with another pump kick and calls for his cutter, Flame on. He takes off for the ropes and steps up to the second, but Malachi meets him on the strand and flips him back, planting Reed with a spanish fly! Malachi is fired up and ready to kill, hitting the ropes for a Mali-cutter but gets caught, the same way he caught Reed on the floor a few minutes before.
Reed is able to drop Malachi with a cutter that spikes him on the top of his head. He springboards off the corner but gets caught mid air by Malachi and dropped with a cutter. But not the cutter. Malachi heads for the corner and bounces off the second rope onto the third, flying backwards with unreal precision and snagging Reed by the neck with a Mali-cutter for the 3.
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| Legitimate springs for legs. DPW |
God damn. That was a lot of cutters in the last few seconds of that match, let alone all the other action in the 10 or so minutes before it! What a sprint, what a showing from both Malachi and Reed. Insane futures ahead of the both of them, especially considering Malachi has been with NXT for close to a year now and has been doing really well for himself.
Steve Austin vs. Vince McMahon - Steel Cage - WWF In Your House 27: St. Valentine's Day Massacre - 02/14/1999
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| Cautious to enter the cage of the hungry wolf. WWE |
As I mentioned earlier, I've been watching the McMahon doc and just got to the final part the other day. I'll have a full, proper review of it in the coming weeks but one thing that was a big takeaway for me is this: my fiance might love the attitude era. During the episode where they went over the companies boom period in the late 90's and the rise of Steve Austin, she was having a ball. Watching all the clips from the most batshit insane era of wrestling TV ever was a real thrill to her, being a fan for only as long as we've been together and really only watching wrestling on occasion when I've got a match or show on in the living room. She's about as casual a casual fan that you can find, but she had the reaction of "man, we should just binge the fuck out of the attitude era!" My immedieate answer was "hell yes," followed by, "its probably one of the worst era's for actual in-ring wrestling. It was almost all backstage segments and promos that people really remember." But there was one match that she agreed to watch with me the next night, at her request, and it was Austin vs. McMahon inside a steel cage.
This match will be kinda tricky to talk about, mostly because the majority of the action happens outside the actual confines of the "match." By that, I mean Austin and Vince spend nearly 20 minutes brawling outside the cage and in the crowd without the bell actually sounding. This is important, because the only way to win this match is by escape. No pinfalls, no submission, no KO or surrender. Climb out or walk out, that's the only way.
I can't say that I'm really a fan of the "escape the cage" stipulation majority of the time, I feel like it can work for heels more often than not but if a babyface really wants to lay into his enemy, I feel like him saying "alright, time to leave now!" is kinda a lame way to end a match. It worked for the legendary Bruno Sammartino vs. Larry Zbyszko steel cage match in their Showdown at Shea match where Bruno dismissed Larry and marched out the cage after laying a beating into his rival, but by and large, I feel like it's a pretty lame way to end a cage match.
Austin is out first and gets a massive ovation, soaking up the crowd as he climbs in the cage and hits his four corner salute. McMahon is out next, looking unbelievably natural in his muscle shirt and black jeans. One chicken breast, two asparagus diet like you wouldn't believe. The video package for this match shows clips of McMahon assuring Austin that no member of the corporation will interfere in the match and if Austin is to win, McMahon's victory at the Rumble will be null and void and Austin will have the world title shot at Wrestlemania 15. Big implications in this match.
Vince starts by climbing the cage, taunting Austin at the top before climbing down and making his way to the door to join his adversary. He nearly puts a foot on the apron before climbing back down, pacing at ringside, really trying to wrap his head around actually joining Austin in the cage. Austin decides he's had enough of waiting for Vince, so he climbs out after him, chasing him around the ring until Vince climbs in the cage, turning the tables on Austin now.
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| This guy is totally insane. WWE |
Vince is standing in the doorway now, whereas Austin was at least standing in the ring to let Vince try and join him. Every time Austin gets close to the steps, Vince is kicking and swatting at him, at one point grabbing the top of the door and the opening and fucking swinging out to try and kick him. Austin decides to try another tactic, heading around to the side of the cage in front of the announce position and starts to climb. Vince meets him at the top and starts swinging, half climbing over, staying right on top of Austin every time he even shifts on the cage.
Austin tries to jump off the cage but lands wrong and tweaks his knee, grabbing at it and using the announce table to try and stand, but it's a struggle. Vince's composure changes, climbing down the cage and watching Austin the entire time. He rushes to the door and climbs out, strutting around the ring to pounce on his wounded opponent but, as Austin always says; DTA. Don't trust anybody.
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| Don't let your guard down, pal! WWE |
Austin uncoils like a spring off the ground, crashing into Vince with a lariat that flattens the boss. Finally, Austin has his hands on Vince and the fight is on. He sends him over the table and uses Lawler's crown to dink him in the head. He tosses him into the cage and then into the front row, stomping him out and pouring water over him as the audience goes nuts. This match is all Austin right now, Vince is desperate for air, finally getting a chance to counter Austin by sending him face first into the cage. He doesn't press his advantage, however, instead opting to climb the barricade and taunt Austin who's back on his feet in seconds.
Vince realizes the situation he's in all too late, darting into the crowd and up the steps but Austin is nipping at his heels, and the pair finally meet again half way up the arena steps in a literal sea of bodies. It's an insane visual seeing these two dudes swinging at each other, surrounded by event staff trying toh old back the tide of people that just want to get in on the action too.
Eventually, Vince is sent back over the barricade and Austin follows close, playing basketball with his head on the exposed metal barricade along the entrance ramp and cage wall. Austin grabs Vince by the hair again to give him another taste of steel but Vince just starts climbing the cage instead. Austin lets him go and takes a step back, watching this crazy old bastard (he's 54 here!) try and climb away from him.
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| "The hell you doin up there son?!" WWE |
Austin yanks him down and cracks him with a right hand, stunning Vince as he moves to another side of the cage, starting to climb up again. This time, however, he's about 6 feet from the wide open cage door. Austin stands back with his hands on his hips, looking back at the crowd as if to say "the fuck is this guy doing right now? Seriously?!" Again, he yanks Vince back down and sends him into the cage wall, taking a seat in a chair set up by the announce position to catch his breath.
Vince crawls around the ring and tries to climb one more time, this time Austin opts to climb up with him. They trade punches and kicks between climbing higher and higher, until they're peeking up over the top of the cage. Austin grabs Vince by the hair and starts feeding him the cage again, but after two skull shots off the cage, Vince goes flying back! He practically leaps off the cage and obliterates the spanish announce table.
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| Buh bye! WWE |
A different camera angle shows Vince's back eating the entire edge of the table before it breaks under him, a nasty way to land. Austin climbs back inside and watches as the referees and medical staff start tending to Vince, who's laying lifeless in the rubble. My lovely fiance who has been in the medical field for as long as I've known her started busting out laughing when the "EMT's" started tending to Vince, pointing out "ah yes, lets use a SOFT neck brace. That makes sense."
They roll Vince onto a backboard and start to stretcher him out as the Fink gets in the ring to make the call.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the winner of this bout-" Austin snatches the mic from his hand and doesn't mince words.
"That's bullshit!"
Fink takes his leave as Austin commands the ring, saying he made some guarantees and none of them have been made good on yet. With a signature "EH-EH," he dismisses the fact that the match is over, because it never even started. He calls to "jackass, that's you in the black," one of the guys in the crowd around Vince, asking him "is that son of a bitch still breathing?"
The response isn't exactly a yes, more of a "c'mon, let's take him away Austin," but that's all the yes he needs. He asks the crowd if they want him to finish this can of ass whoopin' and they respond with a thunderous "HELL YEAH."
And with that, he tosses the mic and starts the climb, trash talking his entire way up and back down. He follows the procession taking Vince away, tossing guys away one by one until he's all alone with the boss. He charges the ring with stretcher and dumps Vince off the long way right in front of the cage, falling off the back board that Austin uses to clobber Vince across the back with.
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| Don't think I've ever seen one of these things used properly before. WWE |
Finally, both men are inside the cage and the match has actually started. It's pretty elementary, with Austin dropping Vince with a lariat, talking trash and stomping him out before taking to the middle turnbuckle to drop some knees on his chest. And with that, Austin calls for the door! He's grinning from ear to ear knowing that he put a real good ass whoppin on Vince and goes to leave him for dead, but Vince somehow has enough life in him to give Austin the finger, calling him back in the cage.
Austin climbs back inside, closing and locking the door behind him as he does and goes back to Vince, dropping him in the corner and wailing on him with boot after boot. He gets too cocky and pays for it, with Vince cracking Austin in the jewels as he taunts him. This is enough of an opening for Vince to try and escape, making it all the way to the top and just barely over until Austin meets him up there. He cracks him with a few right hands, enough to stun Vince as he's draped across the top of the cage by his waist. With the crowd seeing the same thing Austin does, they explode, watching as the Texas Rattlesnake shitcans Vince up and over the cage wall and down into the ring hard.
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| Graceful landings were never Vince's strong suit. WWE |
Back inside, Austin sends Vince head first into the cage wall and it busts him open. Austin decides that now is the perfect time to take his leave and starts to climb, getting up and over until he catches sight of Vince again. Bleeding, kneeling, and gasping for air in the middle of the ring, double birds flying defiantly in the wind. Austin climbs the cage in the most insane way possible, bouncing like a freak with each step, excited that Vince has basically given him another excuse to keep the ass beating going on a bit longer.
Vince has second thoughts, however, going for the corner and starting to climb out himself. Austin watches, hands on his hips, until he decides to start playing basketball again. He dribbles Vince skull first off the cage wall, until he fall down in a heap and gets stomped out for his trouble. With Vince back in the centre of the ring again, Austin lines up his target, waiting as Vince struggles to his feet before delivering the kick to the gut. The crowd explodes and the flash bulbs fill the screen as Austin stuns Vince!
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| Vince has got to have eaten hundreds of stunners in his career. I swear. WWE |
He's down on the canvas with him again, trash talking and cussing up a storm mere inches away from his ear. The camera zooms in close and Austin keeps the trash talking going for a bit longer than you;d expect, but that's because from beneath the ring, The Giant emerges! Cutting a hole through the canvas, Paul Wight (complete with long blonde hair) starts sending Austin into the cage wall as Vince rolls to safety.
With Austin groggy, Vince gets back to his feet and starts calling the shots, telling Paul to toss Austin into the cage wall. The Giant is happy to oblige, scooping Austin up like the bride on her wedding night and runs him into the cell wall, but it breaks as Austin hangs on for dear life. The wall swings wide out towards the ramp, with Austin mere feet above the ground. He lets go and tumbles to the floor, with the referee calling for the bell.
Austin wins!
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| I can't imagine this was Vince's plan all along. WWE |
When you look at what took place between the ropes and during the actual confines of "the match" itself, its pretty uninteresting. 10 minutes in the cage for your main event? People nowadays would be screaming for their money back, but the action surrounding that cage brawl more than made up for it. This match is the sum of its parts, in truth, and its peak attitude era nonsense. Surprisingly, this is the one and only time Austin and Vince actually have a one-on-one match, if you can believe it! I knew they spent the majority of their time at each others throats in promos and segments, but I could have sworn they had at least another match or two against one another. Either way, this was a lot of fun to watch and I was smiling the entire way through. Can;t get much better than that, can you?
There we have it folks! Another week done. We're close to week 20 which means another trip to the roulette table, and I'm really looking forward to seeing what that has in store for us. Like I said earlier, I plan on working on some Deep Dive Rewinds for not only the McMahon doc, but a few other things I'm wanting to shine a spotlight on. Keep your eyes peeled friends!
As always, hit me up if you've got any recommendations, feedback, or general comments. The blog has had this new face lift for a week now and I'm really, really liking the new look. Let me know if there's anything you think I should add or change, I'm all ears! cliffmorganwstl@gmail.com
Until next time, take it easy friend-o's!
Cliff Morgan
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