Tag Archive: Dalton

  1. MPX Retribution June 16, 2013

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    This is my first time at MPX after over a month. I needed a break to recharge my batteries and take a break from my writing. I got quite a smack from one wrestler and knew I needed to get out of the house.

    Dark Match: Carlos Esquivel vs. Kenny Steele

    I know I missed a few shows but is Kenny face now? And if he is, does the crowd know it? The crowd is not buying this face turn (I mean, worse than the Randy Orton face turn when he got Ortoned). If Kenny is face, he should spend some time studying some faces in MPX (Frankie, Steven, Jerome) and some guys outside MPX (ACH mostly). Carlos played the heel nicely and did his share of carrying the match. It was just a reactionless match.

    Winner: Kenny

    We introduced everybody. If James Hawke wants to wear a hat, that’s fine, but he needs to wear it backwards. He looks like Kyle Davis with it on front. There is some ring announcer whose name is, as best I can figure out, Not Kate. He wore shorts and tennis shoes. Not exactly my idea of professional.

    First match: JD Kros w/Nigel Rabid & Frankie Fisher vs. Ben Wylde

    Joshua City was missing to be able to wrestle so it was just Kros vs. Wylde. Wylde has apparently swallowed a tapeworm or something. He was looking like he’s lost a lot of weight. The gut is nearly gone, and he looks trimmer than I’ve ever seen. The match was really smart for the experience level of these two guys. Kros worked on a body part the whole match. The match maybe went on a little too long, but it exceeded my expectations. Kros used Nigel’s briefcase to get the pin.

    Winner: Kros

    Second match: Jerome Daniels & Matt Palmer vs. Andy Dalton & JT LaMotta

    This match was really good, probably my favorite match that didn’t include Barrett or Greg this year. You had 4 guys who have wrestled each other all over everywhere. The #DirtyMinds tag team of Dalton/LaMotta, I would put them up against any team in Texas for being the best. Andy Dalton is also becoming one of the best all-around talents in Texas. I would put him in the Top 5 in Texas. Jerome sold and bumped like crazy. All 4 gelled well.

    Winner: #DirtyMinds

    Being really frustrated with the referee, Palmer started attacking him. MPX is continuing a tradition of Fight Survive Win which will have 4 captains. Steven Kirby will be one captain. He was going to fire Palmer but Valo showed up and announced Palmer was a competitor on his team.

    Third match: Paige Turner w/Nigel Rabid vs. Livi La Vida Loca w/Claudia & Puddin’

    Claudia comes out to the ring with a Batman doll she calls Puddin’. Under Claudia’s tutelage, Livi has a Robin doll. No word yet on what the Robin’s name is. It’s the little things this company does so well. I dare call Livi the most over wrestler in the company. She just does this energetic goofball thing really well and the fans love her for it.  This is by no means Mercedes Martinez-LuFisto in work. There is still some work to be done on both sides. Paige is working on her crowd engagement and has some good facials. It reminded me of #GrumpyCherry (Cherry Bomb  in CZW, WSU, aka Evil Cherry, otherwise known as my favorite wrestler on the planet), which is not a name I use lightly. The more I see Livi, the more I think MPX could be on the verge of something special.

    Winner: Livi

    We had an intermission. The wrestlers didn’t seem to mingling as much as they usually do.

    Fourth match: Kristopher Haiden vs. Danny Saint in a Street Fight

    This match was billed as a “Come as You Are” street fight. Haiden wore a Batman t-shirt, and Saint wore his Joker jersey. I loved the irony. This match was brutal. Both were bleeding like crazy. At some point, somebody attacked with a water bottle. It got the water all over me. At least I hope it was water after the story Mick Foley tells about Kevin Sullivan and the dipping spit. This was so insane. My section got cleared out because there was a brawl in the crowd. This was like being there for Necro Butcher-MASADA, at least without the skewers or light tubes. The yellow chair that is used only by MPX during street fights got a chant. I’d dare say it got the second biggest pop of the night. The finish was really good. Saint kept on kicking out so Claudia threw in the towel because of her love for him. I remember a Wifebeater-John Zandig match like that.

    Winner: Haiden

    Haiden, not accepting that, did one more move and then pinned him. Nigel Rabid introduced himself and the third captain in the FWS event and then announced 3 members (Haiden & Glamour Hammer). Li Fang came out. Nigel thanked him for his offer, but he might be busy. That’s where “Just” James Johnson came on the loudspeaker and told Nigel that Li wasn’t wanting to be part of his team. Johnson was the 4th captain, and the team he was captain of was the Asian Nation. Matt Andrews, who had been sitting silently in the crowd, appeared and attacked the Rabid Empire to a “Welcome back” chant. He was revealed as the next member of the Asian Nation. If they are looking for a 4th member, may I suggest Kana? Please?

    Fifth match: BC vs. Scott Murdoch

    BC went out to the ring first and challenged anybody to come out and wrestle him. I knew it was Murdoch. I think everybody but BC knew that Murdoch was coming out. My respect goes out to anybody facing Murdoch. Thankfully BC had a few layers of shirts on. It was a nice short match. Murdoch chopped BC to death. BC got himself dq’ed by choking Murdoch on the ropes past the 5-count.

    Main event: Gregory James vs. Barrett Brown in a 30-minute Iron Man Match

    This is the match that brought me out tonight. This match had a lot to live up to, including the first two times they’d wrestled. Their wrestling was really good. I think the greatest test for these two was if they be able to put together an entertaining match of that length. I didn’t take too many detailed notes because as a fan, I just wanted to sit back and watch this. There were a few problems, including the time clock. I hated the finish. It was tied at 3 as time ran out. So my 30 minutes of watching this were meaningless. I hated this now and I hated it in Wrestlemania XII. In sudden death overtime, Barrett won the belt.

    Winner, and new champion: Barrett

    But we weren’t over yet. Mike Foxx came out to cash in his title shot.

    Real Main Event: Barrett Brown (c) vs. Mike Foxx

    This wasn’t so much of a match as a mugging. Or, as its also known, Foxx being Foxx.

    Winner, and new champion: Foxx

    All in all: So we’ve got a new champion. Not really sure that Foxx needs it, but it adds some legitimacy to the belt by him holding it. I see there being some good names who could face him: Barrett, Murdoch, Jerome, Frankie, his real-life brother-in-law Carrion Arcane, maybe skinny Wylde (?), Franco d’Angelo.

    Both the tag match and the street fight were great. Livi is beginning to improve week after week. There are some things that need to be fixed (*cough, cough, Kate*). Overall, not their greatest show, but it’ll be nice to see where they go from here.

  2. MPX-A Star is Born 9-22-2012

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    Well, I’m in Day 5 of no caffeine, and I warned everyone about it. So if Old Cranky White Man comes out here, I apologize.

    Dark match: Dax Daring vs. Steven Kirby

    I was a little confused at first. Who was I supposed to go for? When I say “A Star is Born” I think that was the theme throughout the night.  However, mostly I refer to Daring. He looked great in this match. He had a certain methodical intricacy to his moves. The first time I saw him, he served as a backdrop to Kanoa. The other time I saw him I was ring announcer and had no idea of what was going on in the ring. Tonight was his chance to shine, and boy did he. Later on in the night, he had the whole crowd chanting he was awesome.

    Winner: Kirby

    I wrote down this is the greatest dark match I’ve ever seen. After the match, Steven grabbed the mic and had the people give it up for Dax. Then Kenny Steele came in the ring and attacked Dax. Before you knew it, Kanoa & Mike Foxx were in there attacking Kirby. And as if Liam Neeson had said it himself, they released the Murdoch. Kyle Valo came out and announced there was going to be a 6-man.

    First match: Zero the Antihero vs. Andy Dalton

    Zero is crazy over. He’s never won a match. He’s our underdog. We want to see him win but never do. He cut a promo on his video-gaming. I had no idea what he was talking about. Andy Dalton is on fire here. The previous show, he had what I’m calling the match of the year so far. And tonight he was on fire. Zero & Dalton clicked. I saw a lot from Dalton tonight. As a heel, he kept the crowd in it. I like it when a heel encourages the crowd to keep cheering for their favorite.

    Winner: Dalton

    We were treated with an appearance from Franco D’Angelo. I feel bad for him because the crowd didn’t know who he was. I’ve followed his story of the awful car wreck and then his miraculous recovery. The fact the man was breathing, much less standing in the ring, much less planning a return to the ring, was great. What I give him credit for is changing the flow of his promo to where the crowd was behind him. And if I may take a moment, welcome back, Mr. D’Angelo.

    Second match: Jordynne Grace vs. Claudia

    Claudia is insane over with the crowd. This was my first time to see Grace as a heel. My previous match I’d kinda seen her in was a 3-way match where she was kind of the tweener. I like her work. The match was pretty decent. The crowd was in it the whole time, engaged. Just like Athena (who was in the crowd) is becoming the new “It girl” on the national stage, I think Grace is becoming a new “It girl” in Texas. Everything clicked well and the crowd stayed in it.

    Winner: Claudia

    MPX needs more women’s wrestling, and they have a perfect person to build their division around who is always in the crowd. There are some great name in Texas to bring in: Barbi Hayden, Miss Diss Lexia,   Rachel Summerlyn, Reyna Pink, Starr Venus (who is one of the legit nicest people I’ve ever met in wrestling) & Angel Blue. And there are some great names on a national stage I’d love to see come in: Jessicka Havoc, Allysin Kay, Mia Yim, Veda Scott, Marti Belle.

    Third match: The Modern Movement vs. Regrub & Matt Andrews w/The Following

    This was another match where everything seemed to be firing on all cylinders. Regrub was pretty good with the live crowd. And Andrews is so committed to his character. Regrub & Andrews wrestled good, smart tag team wrestling. And then there was TMM. They are such a good tag team. And I can’t help but feel that when I watch those two wrestle, that I am watching something on the verge of something special. This was such an emotional match, I kept finding myself caught up in the emotion. After 16 years of watching wrestling, not a lot catches me up in my emotions. The match ended when Carrion Arcane walked out and grabbed Kate and took her to the back. Greg of TMM was distracted and Choice got the pin.

    Winner: Choice & Regrub

    After the intermission, Arcane and Kyle Valo walked out with Kate being led in chains. Since Kate had not pre-approved her outfit, she had a new outfit to wear. It was Princess Leia’s bikini. In the world of “Pic or it didn’t happen,” here is visual proof.

    Fourth match: Dax Daring, Steven Kirby & Scott Murdoch vs. Kanoa, Mike Foxx & Kenny Steele

    Kanoa & Foxx started before their match with promos. They were going to humiliate the derby girls. The derby girls have become ours now. You don’t mess with them. Kenny took a lot of punishment in this match taking the chops of the night which went to Scott Murdoch. Every time I see Kanoa, I see more and more from him. But the real star of the night was Dax. He had such a great showing. He’s flashy and the crowd was chanting, “Dax is awesome.” During those two matches, Dax went from “Hey, it’s that one guy” to a full-fledged star. Kenny won the match with the Snow Plow.

    Winner: Kanoa, Foxx & Steele

    Fifth match: Viktor Tadlock vs. Joshua City vs. Danny Saint vs. Carrion Arcane vs. Frankie Fisher vs. Ben Wylde

    Last night, I heard one of the competitors refer to this match as a cluster. There were some parts of it that came off as a cluster. But the match itself wasn’t one. Instead of a cluster, I will say “complicated” & “multi-layered.” They did the plancha onto 7 guys with Frankie which looked pretty cool. I hate it when every match has this on the card. But only once per match makes the move seem special, which it did. I see a lot of potential to this Joshua City. He has  a lot of natural charisma and some X-factor stuff you can’t teach. The more I watch Arcane, the more of an unsung hero I see him being. The drama to end the match was great. Saint had Arcane in an arm hold and they milked it.

    Winner: Saint

    After Saint won, there was a great face-off with Steele. I am now sold on their match. The main event was supposed to be Kristopher Haiden and Matt Palmer in a rematch of the last show where Haiden snuck in to win the title. Haiden walked out wearing his Smackdown suit. Then he announced he had the night off. Instead of the title match we thought we were going to get, we got Matt Palmer vs. Andy Dalton.

    Main event: Matt Palmer vs. Andy Dalton

    Matt Palmer. Andy Dalton. That is all. You had the two guys deliver an epic match. With one match, Dalton elevated himself in a whole other category. He established himself as an elite heel in this company. This match was filled with near-falls. The story was that Haiden was doing commentary and kept on getting frustrated by Dalton’s inability to beat Palmer. Eventually Haiden went in and interfered.

    Winner by dq: Palmer

    All in all… A very strong outing from the MPX locker room. Between Dax Daring, Kanoa, Jordynne Grace & Andy Dalton, we are witnessing some very fresh faces doing some great stuff. If you have any of those 4 showing up near you, it is definitely worth watching. It had the right dose of comedy (Kate’s bikini) and drama and intensity. This was a great wrestling product.

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  3. MPX-The Era of Kyle Begins-9-8-12

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    I’m going to have a hard time convincing people I’m not a smark if I use a derivative of the first ever Ring of Honor show. While a far cry from being perfect, I think this is perhaps one of the best shows I’ve seen from MPX. It’s like they’ve been waiting a long time for tonight and everything clicked. This whole night was about Kyle Valo taking over and what the effects would be.

    First match: Frankie Fisher & Steven Kirby vs. Joe Angelo Garcia & JD Kros

    I was quite pleased with Frankie’s work as a face. To me, Frankie is one of the most natural heels I’ve ever seen. But he does the babyface quite nicely. Steven has so much enthusiasm and natural charisma. Between him and Frankie, they both are great pros at listening to the crowd and reacting. It was Garcia’s first match so he gets immunity on his in-ring work. He looked professional and had a nice look. The crowd decided he looked like Mark Wahlberg, but I thought he looked more like Adam from HBO’s hit show “Girls.” The major thing is if you are a heel, tell your family to boo you. This is pretty much Heel 101. The match itself was fun and the crowd was into it. I didn’t see any botches or anything.

    Winner: Kirby & Fisher

    Kirby & Fisher have good chemistry together. Garcia walked back like nothing had happened. Sell, sell, sell.

    Second match: Danny Saint w/Claudia vs. Kenny Steele

    It took the crowd a little bit to warm up with this match. Saint is a good person to pair Steele with. I think he will be good for building up Steele and giving him legit experience. The crowd was weird during this match. They seemed to not care about the chain wrestling/catch-as-catch-can stuff. I liked Claudia in her role with the dynamic she added. At one point Saint had him in a Boston Crab and the crowd was riveted.

    Winner: Steele

    Since this was the first time these two had wrestled, it’s hard to build up a chemistry naturally. Andy Dalton came out without music. Dalton was ON FIRE with his promo. He called Kate Carroll (the heart and soul of the company) every name one could call a lady in a PG world. Out came Kate’s boyfriend, Gregory James, to defend her honor. They play Macho-Elizabeth so well. Greg and Dalton traded some pretty intense promos. Dalton’s dad was brought up. I wanted more of the dueling promos, not from the dueling promos, which I think is pretty nice praise.

    Third match: Kristopher Haiden vs. Barrett Brown

    Well, according to Kyle Valo’s rules, Barrett could not go off the top rope or do anything outside the ring. Barrett might have well been tied with both hands behind his back. I was really impressed by what I saw by both of these guys. The momentum was good. I was able to see Barrett have another type of match. Based on in-ring work alone, (aka, no car hood) this is one of the best matches I’ve ever seen Haiden have. The ref was knocked out and when he came to, Barrett was outside the ring at Haiden’s hands. (I think. The night was difficult for me to take notes). Haiden convinced him that Barrett was cheating and the ref disqualified him.

    Winner: Haiden

    I hated this finish. I hate it any time in wrestling somebody decides to do this. I hated it when Kevin Nash did this on Sid at Starrcade. In football, if you tell a ref there was pass interference, he doesn’t just throw the flag like an idiot. It was insultingly bad.

    Fourth match: Andy Dalton vs. “Headbanger” Gregory James in best of 3 falls

    Wow. These two guys really brought it. Both guys were firing on all cylinders. There was really nice back-and-forth. I gotta admit I didn’t take too many notes as my chair ripped during the last match and I was standing and it was hard to take notes. Dalton won the first fall. The back-and-forth continued. There was a DDT onto the ring apron that was insane to take by Dalton. Greg went back into the ring and there was a countout. The referee was going to do another 10-count. Dalton crawled back in at 9 and a half. He was also showing off a bloody forehead. And then the match got more stiff and more brutal. There were near-falls galore. But Greg came away with the win.

    Winner: Gregory James

    If you do not know the name Gregory James, learn it. This is my choice for “Match of the Year” so far. The crowd was into it, there were lots of near-falls and blood happened. I would have just liked to see this match have maybe a month or two more build-up. Zero the Antihero came out, and talked about how he’d never won a match. He was ready to finally win a match. It was easy to see his influence when he sat down legs crossed in the ring. He did a great job of listening to the crowd and cutting a promo in his character. The crowd loves Zero. I think one of the reasons why is that he’s a video game geek and has that connection with the crowd. Zero and Kyle Valo had a dueling promos segment. The crowd loved it. Valo made a match with Zero and James Hawke.

    Fourth match: Zero the Antihero vs. James Hawke

    I think I’m about to call Hawke “The Crowd-Killer.” I keep on trying to rack my brain on what it is that cools a hot crowd quite like he does. I guess it’s that they just don’t buy him. What I would have him do is take a few months off and then come back fresh. We are at a point where they are shoving him down our throats and with every shove, it makes him harder to come back and the audience care about him. The actual match itself was fine. The two meshed well together. The crowd even popped for the Mortal Kombat spot. Zero looked unable to compete and Frankie came out to his rescue. Kyle Valo ruled him unable to compete.

    Winner: Hawke

    Fifth match: Kanoa vs. Scott Murdoch w/ Steven Kirby

    I’m really liking what I see from Kanoa. You can also tell Murdoch has been working on his physique. Kanoa did a lot of bumping and sold like crazy. Murdoch has a lot of commitment behind his moves. I really like this new chapter of Murdoch’s work here. He is very focused and really brings it. He and Kanoa clicked really well.

    Winner: Murdoch

    Sixth match: Asian Nation (c) w/Nigel Rabid vs. Tad Wylde

    Both teams have connected with the crowd. Tad Wylde is great for the crowd, and the Asian Nation is equally good at keeping them engaged. One thing that I love about Li Fang of the Asian Nation is that his face is so expressive that he doesn’t have to say much. And when he does, it’s in Chinese (or a foreign language I don’t recognize) so it keeps the crowd hating him (because Heel 101 says to speak in a foreign language). One of my favorite spots of the year was Ben Wylde giving “Just” James Johnson what looked like an Atomic Wedgie. It was so entertaining. There was another really awesome looking spot with Wylde doing a double suplex with both members of the Asian Nation. The finish came with Johnson doing his finish on Li by mistake.

    Winner: Tad Wylde

    I’ve watched Ben Wylde from the beginning of his career, so it’s nice to see how far he’s come. He’s worked really hard to make it to this place. After the match, the Asian Nation were in the ring and Kyle Valo verbally berated them on the mic. Johnson began to fire back on his mic. I dare call Johnson one of the best on the mic in MPX. He kept on going on the mic that he didn’t notice that Li & Nigel had both left the ring. When Johnson turned around to call on their support, Li was standing right at the curtain. He bowed and left. It reminded me of what St. Francis of Assisi once said- “Cut your promo. And if necessary-use words.” (Maybe St. Francis said “Preach the gospel” instead of “Cut your promo” but you get the gist.)

    Main event: Matt Palmer (c) vs. The Following in a Gauntlet Match

    Palmer was total bumping machine in this match. First up was Matt Andrews. While their match was short, the actual wrestling part of it was very nice. Choice suffered victim to Palmer’s signature maneuver. Then in next was Regrub. Palmer bumped and sold more.  Regrub stopped during his match and pointed me out. So in response, Hi, back to you, Regrub. And then Palmer made pretty short work of Regrub. Then it was between Palmer and Carrion Arcane. Palmer still had no quit in him. Arcane is such a professional and carries so much intensity in and out of the ring. Palmer had Arcane in a submission hold and they just worked the drama. I loved what they did there with the hold.

    Winner: Palmer (or so we thought)

    After witnessing the carnage and retaining, Kristopher Haiden came out and did a clothesline that best I can figure out, decapitated Palmer. Kyle Valo counted to 3 for Haiden to get the win and win the title from Palmer.

    All in all… As a matter of full disclosure, my sister- and brother-in-law are very close to Haiden and his girlfriend. Haiden was usher at her wedding. He’s also the person telling me about this new place he had just started wrestling at 2 years ago, which was MPX. I also thought it was rather odd that he’s been wrestling forever and this was the first time I’d ever seen his parents there. So forgive me for a moment when I say to Haiden congratulations. You have worked your tail off for the past few years. You not only have worked on your game, but you’ve helped make those around you better. You truly deserve this moment.

    The reason for my personal disclosure is that I am excited with the direction they can go with Haiden on top. There’s a lot of really credible challengers waiting for him: Greg, Barrett, Frankie, Kirby, Johnson. A lot of feuds were blown off tonight, and some new directions were introduced. Oh, and Jerry Lynn on November 10th.

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    photo courtesy of Staci Brown