The Rebel becomes the Monarch, but he’s still planning on being a belt collector.
All matches are from the January 21, 2017 tapings.
Max Edwards vs. Gil Rogers
Edwards is without partner Flex Zerba, supposedly because Zerba is in a bodybuilding competition in San Diego. Edwards’ interference helped Zerba beat Rogers at the first NWL KC show, so this match is a logical follow-up.
Edwards is in Zubaz pants. He tries to cheap shot Rogers, but Rogers sees it coming. They go back and forth on offense a lot, with Edwards cutting Rogers off whenever he starts getting a lot of momentum. There are a couple of minor slip-ups that look awkward but don’t really detract from the match. Rogers actually plays his to his character. Edwards does a lot of workout taunts, and when he finally spits on Rogers, he riles him up enough that Rogers attacks him in the corner. The ref gets knocked down trying to pull him off, allowing Edwards to hit Rogers in the gut with a dumbbell to score another cheap win and leave Gil without a victory.
Winner – Max Edwards
Rating – OK
A new guy (later revealed to be Devlin) confronts Ray Briggs in the back, telling him that he needs to be more aggressive if he doesn’t want to be a loser. Briggs blows the guy off, saying he knows enough about aggression from his days in pro football. The new guy smiles devilishly after Briggs shoves him and leaves. Briggs doesn’t sound very natural, but the new guy does.
The Mancinis (Rudy & Geno) vs. The End (Kyle Mars & Luke Holiday)
The Mancinis are the Killer City Kings, but now they’re Italian (and possibly mobsters). They come out eating pizza. The End are the KC Wolves except more frantic and energetic. Apparently, when they’re not wrestling, they’re prepping for doomsday.
Not a bad match. I see potential in The End, but I think they’re a little hampered by their opponents here. I don’t hate the Mancinis, but I can’t deny that they’re pretty slow (especially Geno), and that seems to force The End to cap themselves so that the bigger guys can keep up. I will, however, commend Rudy Mancini on his weight loss, and I do think he and Geno try hard. They’re just limited. I also don’t think that Luke Holiday should turn his shoulder up into Rudy’s sentons anymore. That looks back for both of them.
After Mars is isolated for a while, he makes the hot tag to Holiday. The End hit some double team strike combos and get the win after Geno accidentally avalanches his brother in the corner and gets school boy’d.
Winners – The End
Rating – OK
Devlin vs. “Lakota Warrior” Red Cloud
Unless I miss my guess, Devlin is Jaysin Strife. I think he’s supposed to be a troll, or maybe just a “devil’s advocate.” Red Cloud has a singlet now, reminding me of Michael Elgin.
Fine match based on Devlin being a desperate little jerk who’s just way overmatched. He can’t keep Red Cloud grounded for very long with chinlocks. He gets a few big shots in, but Red Cloud’s never really in danger. My favorite part is when Red Cloud tosses Devlin off the top rope, and Devlin rolls through and gets up like he outsmarted the big guy, but then he turns around and gets smashed with a shoulder tackle. Red Cloud gets the pin with a rewind powerslam.
Winner – Red Cloud
Rating – Good
“The Monarch” Jeremy Wyatt (w/ Michael Strider) vs. Thor Theriot
Wyatt is now royalty, it seems, and his logo is a lion’s head. I think his new nickname is actually a reference to Kansas City’s dominant Negro League baseball team from back in the day, though there’s no sign of that in his color scheme. And now I notice that Thor’s entrance video has his head Photoshopped onto the Norse god’s body.
These two work great together. I’ve given Wyatt a hard time in the past, but that was more about how he was booked as a babyface. His in-ring is usually solid, if not great, and he’s always spot-on as a heel. Here, both guys pretty great. The story is that this is a bit of a teaser match before these two meet in the NWL KC Championship tournament. Also, apparently Strider interrupted Major Baisden earlier to complain about Wyatt’s seeding, but this incident is never shown.
Wyatt does some cheap stuff, but he doesn’t rely solely on rule-breaking because he’s actually capable. Thor, of course, is more than a match for him. He shows off his athleticism with a Swanton bomb, which I knew he could do, but it’s still impressive. The only possible criticism I can give is that Thor takes a backdrop onto the apron and doesn’t sell it to the degree I would like. But I’m the sort that sees apron bumps as more devastating than they’ve recently been portrayed. Anyway, after a back and forth battle, Thor has Wyatt on his shoulders, but Wyatt accidentally on purpose hits the ref in the face. While he’s recovering, Michael Strider gets a shot in on Thor, allowing Wyatt to hit a piledriver and get a three count.
Winner – Jeremy Wyatt
Rating – Good
As the heels leave, Strider is laughing and holding up three fingers. He puts two down and (accidentally?) flips off the camera for the briefest of moments. That probably won’t make TV.
Overall: Good. A very good main event that sets up some suspense for the future title tournament makes this a thumbs up show. All of the other matches were solid, character-building affairs. My only complaint is the amount of time one of the announcers spent talking about an incident that wasn’t shown on any of the shows.
Hook the Leg, Man! 