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XWA "Wresolution '17"
Providence, Rhode Island
July 16, 2017
XWA is a promotion that has been running weekly on Thursday nights in the area. They have been earning a reputation for having a good mix of veterans while giving up and comers a chance to get work and to shine. Today, they reached for the stars by running the building that is home the Brown University Ice Hockey team. Speaking of stars, they also brought in major ones such as Rey Mysterio, Ricochet and John Morrison to try to fill the place up. While they fell short of expectations, there was still some very good wrestling to be had.
MATCH ONE: Buff Dad & 2 Buff v. Tough Guy, Inc. (Bob Evans & Tim Hughes) v. Alpha Male & Nick Delta
Buff Dad is literally an older guy with a dad body who wrestles with his son. Not much to this match. 2 Buff pinned Delta after jumping off of Buff Dad's shoulders with an elbow drop that almost went horribly wrong.
WINNERS: Buff Dad & 2 Buff
MATCH TWO: Ladder Match for the XWA Firebrand Title - Travis "Flip" Gordon (c) v. Maxwell Jacob Friedman v. Mike Orlando v. Kyle The Beast v. Donovan Dijak v. Vinny Marseglia v. Tessa Blanchard
This was insanity. Marseglia had this wild entrance inspired by his Friday the 13th gimmick in which he ended up "killing" Freddy Krueger as he came out. Blanchard was announced as a surprise entrant. She then proceeded to take the worst beating of everyone. She deserves a ton of credit for not only hanging with the boys, but going above and beyond to earn her keep.
I can't say the same for Mike Orlando, who gave Blanchard the most reckless and dangerous German suplex I've ever seen (and that includes every gross German from All Japan back in the day). I don't know how she wasn't paralyzed, because she landed on top of her head. While cooler heads prevailed and everyone was cordial, this was so outrageous that I felt like I should say something about it.
Flip Gordon is nuts. The set-up of the belt was like the Ultimate X, so there were four really big posts at each corner. So what does he do? He climbs to the top of one and jumps off of it to the floor. If I had to estimate, I would say they were 20 feet in the air. You might want to find this one on Twitter or Instagram.
The finish saw MJF have the match in hand when Vinny Marseglia climbed the ladder with his now-patented AX. MJF was so terrified by this that he tossed himself off the ladder and Vinny grabbed the belt for the win. Fun match.
WINNER: Vinny Marseglia
MATCH THREE: Number One Contenders Match - The Fraternity v. The Amazing Graysons v. The Crusade For Change
Unfortunately, this match could never get going. There were two heel teams and the crowd wasn't rallying behind the Graysons. They were all working hard, but the Graysons, who do a high flying gimmick, weren't connecting on their big moves. Following such a wild ladder match, they were already at a big disadvantage. It happens, so it's not meant to be disrespectful.
The match also went a little too long. The finish saw Gangone pin one of the Grayson's with a Burning Hammer into a GTS.
WINNERS: Crusade For Change
The recently retired Brian Fury came out for an interview segment, only he was the one doing the interviewing. Mike D'Antonio, the bass player from Killswitch Engage, was in the front row. Fury put over that he was at their concert recently and saw Mike wearing a New Japan t-shirt before the show. Fury asked him his opinions on the main events of JT Dunn-John Morrison and Ricochet-Mysterio. D'Antonio chose Morrison and Ricochet.
MATCH FOUR: "Man of Steel" Mike Verna v. Richard Holliday
It seems like this audience was preconditioned that unless you're a big name or a well-established local guy that they shouldn't be interested, and unfortunately, these two had to deal with that.
Pretty simple babyface/heel match, and I don't mean simple as a pejorative. Holliday had a roll-up and put his feet on the ropes for a two count. Verna came back and hit a fireman's carry into a uranage for the win. Verna has been making more appearances in New England, including in Chaotic, and continues to get better with each outing.
WINNER: Mike Verna
MATCH FIVE: For the inaugural XWA Tag Team Titles - New Gore Order (Mike Graca & Josh Briggs w/Tripilicious) v. LAX (Ortiz & Santana) v. Take Me Home Tonight (Ace Romero & Anthony Greene)
Originally, Romero & Greene were not involved as they lost a match on Thursday to Graca & Briggs for this spot. However, ring announcer Rich Palladino told the crowd he was just informed by XWA officials that since they cheated to win, Romero & Greene were in the match.
This was very good. Everyone worked really hard. The match built toward a huge tope by Romero to the floor after he was cut off twice. For those who don't know, Romero is probably somewhere around 400 pounds, so it's visually impressive when he does it.
Romero & Greene hit a combo cutter on Briggs for the win.
WINNERS: Take Me Home Tonight
MATCH SIX: Keith Lee v. "Mr. Athletic" Jeff Cobb
This match was a lot of fun and very impressive from both men. The story was the freak athleticism of the monster Lee against in insane strength and aerial prowess of Cobb.
Cobb was able to deadlift Lee quite a few times, which is you haven't seen it, is a pleasure to watch. Lee finished the match with a humongous jackhammer.
WINNER: Keith Lee
MATCH SEVEN: JT Dunn v. John Morrison
This was really fantastic. Both men had their working shoes on. The story of the match was the elbow of Dunn against the feet of Morrison. Lots of great nearfalls. Morrison almost got the win by hitting Dunn's finisher the Death By Elbow (rolling elbow). After a two count, Dunn got him with a crucifix for the quick pin.
WINNER: JT Dunn
MATCH EIGHT: XWA Heavyweight Title - Anthony Henry (c) v. Paul London v. "The Product" David Starr
If you haven't seen London's entrance recently, it's a little out there, but it's also amazing. He will literally go all throughout the ENTIRE crowd and shake hands, slap high five and take selfies with people. That's why in a building this big, it took about 10 minutes.
Lots of really fun spots involving all three, which can be hard to sometimes do in a triple threat. London with a great double stomp from the top to a leaned over Henry right into a splash on Starr.
London with two straight Shooting Star Presses, including one from the second rope, which were incredible.
London got tossed to the floor and Henry caught Starr in a small package off a suplex reversal for the win.
WINNER: Anthony Henry
MATCH NINE: Jason Blade v. Kenny Dykstra
Fairly quick match. Blade got the win with a reverse arm breaker. After the match, Dykstra was down clutching his shoulder. After the show, I went backstage and he had his arm in a makeshift sling. He said he was okay and that "this isn't ballet." Very tough and very nice guy, I'd like to see him get more looks for biggest spots on the independents.
WINNER: Jason Blade
MATCH TEN: Battle Royal
A lot of local students in this one mixed with some of the XWA regulars. Wrecking Ball Legursky won when he eliminated Buff Dad.
WINNER: Wrecking Ball Legursky
MAIN EVENT: Ricochet v. Rey Mysterio, Jr.
I haven't seen Mysterio live in many years. The last time I saw him in person, he looked like all the miles on his body had been catching up with him. Tonight, the hands of time were turned backwards because Mysterio was absolutely incredible. The same goes for Ricochet, but that's no surprise.
Excellent aerial exchanges early before Ricochet started playing heel, including hitting the People's Moonsault. Rey was tremendous in selling. This was an athletic clinic with really sound psychology.
Rey teased the 619 a few times before he finally hit it. He went to follow it with the West Coast Pop, but Ricochet caught him on the mat, stood up and hit a fireman's carry into a Kryptonite Krunch variation for the win. Outstanding match.
WINNER: Ricochet
After the match, they put each other over on the mic, including Rey questioning whether he could keep up with the younger generation, but Ricochet said he definitely could. They thanked the crowd and that's a wrap on the show.
Overall, the show went a little long even without an intermission. There were some outstanding matches, but the lack of a crowd in such a large building took about from the atmosphere. I applaud the XWA for going for it, but I think the show would have been better served in a smaller building.
Follow XWA online @TheOfficialXWA
Follow me @HelloCrockett
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