Polejump’s Reviews: NRW Shocktober 2015
Polejump reviews the newly designated NWA-NRW’s Shocktober 2015
I do like that they used Boogeyman for a Halloween show and because of Boogeyman I’m actually going to sit here for the next hour or so and watch the show. I love me some Boogeyman. I’ll give thoughts in this thread:
– Opening promo to start the show and whilst it looks interesting I can’t understand what is being said. I have a decent pair of headphones and I can only hear every second or third word. I don’t know if the NRW people are reading this but maybe invest in a boom mic so we can hear the audio instead of the crowd.
– I have now had to skip the promo because I can’t understand what is being said but at the end of the promo he throws to a video which is the NWA hype video with stolen footage so I assume during the promo he announced that NRW had become NWA-NRW. The crowd are politely clapping and don’t seem to really care but the wrestlers outside of the ring care.
– Whoever is on their editing and production side knows what they’re doing which is good. A lot of indies overlook this but we have smooth transitions and some modern looking graphics. Nothing five star but definitely not amateur either.
– Both announcers sound really good for guys who probably haven’t received actual broadcast training. Little bit of a problem with the audio but I can overlook it.
– Anaya Vs Mercury. The announcers tell me that there is a big history between these two and as a guy who is absolutely new to their product I appreciate them telling me that but if they have this big history and really hate each other why are they wrestling to start? This type of thing happens everywhere but if I hate someone I’m going to brawl for 10 minutes rather than lock in a head scissors. A fun opener though really liked both guys especially Mercury.
– The Revengers Vs Bronson and Phynx. Revengers doing a super hero gimmick but they look cheap. Some cool costumes would be really good for them. Bronson and Phynx doing a horror gimmick which looks cool. Doctor Beefcake has a cool name but I don’t really rate him and think his tag partner The Ranger is much better. Bronson and Phynx broke up during the match which is simply yet effective. Pretty average match nothing good nothing bad.
– Dozer Vs Mario Vanjur. These two have apparently just graduated from wrestling school recently. Dozer looks like Bray Wyatt when he was Husky Harris and is over as hell. Mario pretty generic but tall and in good shape. These two had a good match and Mario kind of won me over with his ability. Out of the 8 wrestlers who have been on in the first thirty minutes I’ve only been unimpressed by two of them. Announcers talking about how there could be a future rubber match since both guys have won 1 match a piece. I say bring it on.
– The Boogeyman Vs XJ Chaos. Chaos is stick thin and is doing a juggalo gimmick which I can’t get behind. Boogeyman still in good shape and is still over. Boogeyman has to have at least 25-30 kilograms on Chaos. Pretty much a 3-4 minute squash with Boogeyman winning with a pump handle slam. I saw pretty much the exact same match at a WWE House Show back in 2006 with Boogeyman beating Orlando Jordan. Chaos gets the worm treatment and PJ is pretty disappointed with this one although I guess it is what you’d expect from Boogey.
– Angel Vs Daisy for the “Lockettes” Title. Daisy kind of looks like the bitchy older sister that you’d see whenever you visited your friends house and Daisy is a baby face name. Angel kind of plain as well although more attractive than Daisy. Angel has some really good moves and is quite athletic. Daisy is pretty poor in the ring and tried too hard to heel it up when she was already over as a heel.
– Jeff McCallister Vs Tyler Stinson. Stinson doing an MMA gimmick which is way too overdone these days. Jeff McCallister kind of doing an ice man gimmick where he’s intense and just cares about the win. Jeff kind of an older guy but still in good shape so this one has potential. McCallister not making any effort at all to hide the fact that he’s calling spots which I don’t like. More weird audio problems. Jeff McCallister wins and maybe he’s having a night off but I have a feeling he may be the promoter of this show and might be putting himself in a spot he doesn’t deserve. A decent “pure” wrestling match but not my cup of tea. Both guys are clearly good at what they do though.
– Hoodlum Vs Stephen Ashburn for the NWA-NRW Heavyweight Title (They should consider calling it the NWA Colorado Heavyweight Title). Ashburn is very very generic right down to the generic tattoo. Hoodlum is Anaya’s brother and I liked Anaya so I should like this guy as well. Title looks cheap which I’d like to change because their women’s title looked professional. Audio problems again. They have a heel authority figure who reminds me a lot of Bruce Tharpe but even worse. This guy is an obese bald guy and he’s attacking the wrestlers and taking away from what is really a great hardcore match. Match finishes with Hoodlum leaping from the ring into the entrance ramp and putting Ashburn through a table. Both guys absolutely killed one another and I can respect that.
So…the conclusion? Apart from a couple of guys (And a girl) who struck me as green this is one of the best smaller indy shows I’ve ever seen in my life. So many promotions try and do ROH style shows these days and every match has 50 high spots and goes for 20 minutes but this was a 90 minute wrestling show and pretty much gave me everything I want from wrestling. We had some wacky characters, we had some solid wrestling, a name wrestler and a fantastic main event.
There were some camera and sound issues which bother me and the using copyrighted material thing irks me but I can overlook those because the show was honestly a lot of fun. I will be watching their shows again and NWA-NRW has a new fan in me.
Shawn, I don’t particularly like you but I appreciate you looking out and suggesting I give these guys a shot. That was a really fun 90 minutes.