Home ▸ A Ruff Look At Wrestling ▸ MPX-Mayhem at Midcities II 5-21-11

This was a very big step for MPX tonight. The crowd was packed. I felt like a lot of wrestlers really brought it. There is some great improvement, plus we had some nice debuts. They opened the night with a 10-bell salute for the Macho Man with all the wrestlers coming out and surrounding the ring. The best part was all the wrestlers holding Slim Jims up. Perfect tribute.

Then Kate came out and introduced James Hawke. Hawke thanked the troops and honored those who killed Bin Laden. Then he paused so he could hear the National Anthem. Understand I have personal biases and think the national anthem is sacred. I can’t handle angles around national anthems. I hated when they would interrupt the Canadian national anthem in the old WWF. I hated the Amazing French Canadians when they would mock their own national anthem. So I hated Frankie and this Daniel fellow interrupting the national anthem. I understand what MPX was trying to do, but it just bothered me a whole lot. Mike Dolenz came out and made a match with Frankie and Hawke for later that night.

First match: Carlos Esquivel vs. Zero the Anti-Hero

I got to do streamers for Zero, which was fun. Carlos has a very nice heel presence, and Zero is a natural babyface. Carlos was great at engaging the crowd, and he kept arguing with the fans and doing what heels do. Zero is a very good high-flier, and the two have very good chemistry. It was everything a first match should be. Esquivel put him in a submission hold and Zero tapped out after some nice drama.

Winner: Carlos

Second match-Team Kyle Invitational 8-Man Tag Match: Jinn, Lucha Lucha, Ryan Gauge & Justin Sane vs. Kenny Steele, Regrub, Chris Preston & WASP

I want to use the word cluster, but that generally has a connotation of chaos. It wasn’t chaos; it was just busy. It was the MPX debut of Sane and Preston. I’m not sure if these guys were fighting their first match or not, but they looked well. Preston looked like he was having a white contest with WWE’s Sheamus. Sheamus still won. There were some multi-layered stories. WASP wanted to get in and fight and they kept on tagging other people. Kenny looked like gold. Mother Ruff was very impressed with him, which says something as this was her first time to ever see him. Then there was a new storyline where Jinn was going to do a drop-kick and missed and kicked Lucha. The match ended with WASP coming in and clearing house and punching the guy rather than wrestling him.

Winner by DQ: Jinn, Lucha, Gauge & Sane

After the match, Kyle was mad at WASP, saying that he always ruined everything. Then Jinn & Lucha were discussing the accidental drop-kick on the way back. Are we going to see Jinn & Lucha feud? I can see there being some crazy matches between those two. After everything, Kenny was in the ring alone and Matt Palmer came in through the crowd and took some revenge. Steele-Palmer? Yes, please!

Third match: Ben Wylde w/Kyle Davis vs. Scott Murdoch

This match was very well-done. Murdoch is a great monster and plays his role very well. This was a very good “big man” match, even though a few people in the crowd chanted boring. (I guess through their La Parka masks, they couldn’t see a 1260 splash onto exploding barb wire while doing Kinataro Kanemura’s dance.) Kyle is very-well utilized in this role. He helped keep Ben focused during the match, like a master motivator. Murdoch and Wylde were pretty brutal. Murdoch ripped off Ben Wylde’s t-shirt. I’ve never seen Ben without that t-shirt. He will have to get a new tie-dye or start a new focus. Ben won the “reddest chest of the night” award. He also had a white contest with Sheamus, but I think he and I have the same skin condition (both proud members of Team Pasty White because of our redhair). Ben got the pin.

Winner: Wylde

Murdoch didn’t like not winning. So he took it out on a few people. When Kyle tried to stop him, Murdoch did a powerbomb on Kyle. Murdoch turned heel by power-bombing Kyle Davis. Who’da thunk it? The angle was well-played out. Afterwards my mother asked me if he was really injured. Overall, the best match I’ve seen Ben have.

Next to the ring came out Nemesis: Carrion Arcane, Viktor Tadlock & Claudia. After a short promo from Claudia, a well-known Texas female wrestler was sitting in the front row. If you don’t know who she is, I’ll let it be a surprise. (It was my second time to see her, and she’s very well-known in the Texas indy scene.)

Fourth match: Lady in the crowd vs. Claudia

This my first time to see Claudia in the ring. I was really surprised with what she could do. She wrestles a very athletic high-flying type of match. I could see Claudia having a successful indy run and wrestling in an underground-type promotion, like Anarchy Championship Wrestling in Austin. And dare I maybe say SHIMMER in a few years? And nameless lady did a great job in this match, as well. She’s a great natural babyface. Claudia won thanks to some Arcane interference.

Winner: Claudia

I hope we build up to a nice feud, and nameless lady returns. After nameless lady was helped to the back, she took the mic and said, “Now where was I?” Kris Haiden came out and said he was injured, but he had found a replacement. Haiden & Arcane had a nice verbal showdown. Then Nemesis attacked Haiden. After a mini-beatdown, Lance Hoyt’s music hit and he rushed to the ring. You would have thought he was Sting in ’97 by the way the crowd popped for him. Hoyt said that he was going to have Arcane in the ring, and then Arcane said he was injured. Instead, Hoyt would have Tadlock (which was a huge opportunity for Tadlock).

Fifth match: Jiggle-O & $Payday$ (c) vs. Cash & Carry

They explained Scotty’s absence very well, so Jiggle-O (who was also in on the Sheamus Pasty White Invitational) introduced his tag team partner. This was a very good match. Zach plays the amoral beast very well. $Payday$ has really improved over the past month. Jiggle-O and $Payday$ also worked well together and had nice chemistry. The match ended with WASP coming out and interfering.

Winner: Jiggle-O & $Payday$ by DQ

This made sense. Cash & Carry should beat both champions. They also don’t need to lose a title match.

Sixth match: Frankie Fisher vs. James Hawke

I love the whole “I’m more patriotic than you” aspect of this match. Frankie’s entrance started with Hogan’s/Obama’s “Real American.” Perfect. This is becoming one of my favorite feuds in MPX. The match was very nicely-crafted. Hawke put Frankie in the STF, and Frankie tapped out.

Winner: Hawke

As part of winning this match, James Hawke got to choose the stipulation of their next match. It will be a strap match made out of red, white & blue.

Seventh Match: Lance Hoyt vs. Viktor Tadlock w/Claudia & Carrion Arcane

It was really good of MPX to give the ball to Tadlock. This was a very crucial match, probably MPX’s most important match to date. It was a big match for all involved. Anybody with the last name of Tadlock was there (I know this because they all sat to my right.), so you knew Tadlock was going to bring it, and he did. Not only did Tadlock bring it, so did Hoyt. There are many “bigger” names who will come out to a show and mail it in, if they are “incredible” enough to show up at all. (Pun intended) It was very nice match and quite possibly the best I’ve ever seen him look. If nobody has called Tadlock the “Texas Rhino,” I’m coining that phrase. Hoyt knew how to build up a crowd. I hope the younger guys in the back were watching how he did that. Such a big night, and all involved delivered.  Claudia tried to spray the red mist into Hoyt’s face and got it in Tadlock’s face instead. Hoyt got the win.

Winner: Hoyt

It popped the crowd, and Tadlock didn’t lose anything by losing to Lance Hoyt.

Main Event: Matt Andrews (c) vs. “Headbanger” Gregory James

After seven matches, we were all pretty drained, but this was a pretty big main event. I was concerned about the crowd leaving early, but most of them stayed for the main event. That’s happened in shows past, and that can really deflate a crowd. There was a lot of emotion in this crowd, and it shone through this match. The MPX regular fans have really rallied around the Headbanger. He’s very over in this crowd. The match had a lot of near-falls, and from somebody who has watched wrestling consistently since 1996, I didn’t know who was going to win this. Kate was channeling her Miss Elizabeth standing and cheering her man on. And the greatest Macho Man tribute was Headbanger doing an elbow off the top rope. (I personally would have loved to see him get the pin with it.) Headbanger got the win and became the champion.

Winner (and new champion): “Headbanger” Gregory James

A very crucial night, and I think they brought it. My mother enjoyed herself, and the crowd seemed to be really in to it. Headbanger-Choice has to be the best one-on-one match I’ve seen in MPX to date. It had a lot of things I liked. A really fun show.

For more on MPX Wrestling, click here: http://metroplexwrestling.com/

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