Tremendous Tirades: WSX – The Complete First and LAST Season (Disc Two)

On Tuesday November 13th WSX – The Complete First and LAST Season will be available for purchase, but today you get a sneak preview of the set! Myself and Ryan Byers (of the Custom Made News and Impact Crater) dig into our archives so that we may bring you the most complete review of the product possible. Due to the size of the set, four discs, we have no choice but to break this into four separate reviews. Sit back and enjoy the first and last season of Wrestling Society X.

Thanks to Big Vision Entertainment and Keith Lipinski for sending 411 this advance copy of the DVD.

Quick Note I: The original musical numbers are cut from the DVD. When MTV decided they were not planning on releasing the DVD, the good folks at Big Vision worked a deal to be able to bring their vision to the masses on DVD. One part of the deal, however, lead to Big Vision to having to cut out the musical performances. The musical guests still appear on commentary, but their performances and any skits with them are not included on the DVD. The cover art for the box is SEXY as it has a flip open front, with the entire WSX roster. SEXY BABY!

Quick Note II: All commentary by “That 70’s Team” has to be listened to, much love from me.

Quick Note III: Keith Lipinski disappoints on commentary with his lack of Megaphone Crooning.

Quick Note IV: Some of the WSXtra episodes seem to be out of order, as to how they were shown on TV. But everything is here in its entirety.

EASTER EGG ALERT~!: For you DVD geeks out there, each disc in the four disc set has an Easter Egg! To access it you must hit up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right when you are walking down the hallway before the main menu.

WSX Episode 5
By: Larry Csonka

-Musical guest is Jibbs.

-Kloss and Ernst welcome us to the show, and we see replays of Ricky Banderas attacking last time.

-He says he and Vampiro had a war and his casket was rigged and that is why he is burnt. Vampiro’s days on earth are numbered.

-Jibbs joins the announce team.

INTERNATIONAL TAG TEAM AFFAIR – The Filth & The Fury (Teddy Hart & Matt “M-Dogg 20” Cross) vs. Team Dragon Gate (Masato Yoshino & Genki Horiguchi)

Hart and Yoshi to begin. Lock up and reversals, arm drags and a Russian leg sweep by Hart for 2. Cross and Horiguchi in, shoulder block and a hip toss by Horiguchi. To the apron and then the floor. Cross fakes a dive, and then a dropkick to Horiguchi. Horiguchi sent to the post, and Cross then with a cool splash to the floor. Horiguchi with a dropkick as Cross flies into the ring. Double team on Cross, double hip toss and a wheel barrel into a dropkick to Cross gets 2. Cross flips out of the corner, DVD neck breaker and Yoshi in and a RANA by Cross gets 2. Hart gets a SSP and Yoshi gets a tilt a whirl into an arm breaker. Gut buster by Hart, and then a reverse suplex for 2. SICK cradle hammerlock DDT by Hart gets 2 as Horiguchi makes the save. Hart yells at the ref and Horiguchi gets a reverse DDT for 2. Hart now gets the FLIPPING TIGER DRIVER 07~! F &F up top…then nail both Dragon Gate guys with top rope moves (Open Hart Surgery and SSP) and that is all.

Winners: The Filth and the Fury @ 8:44 via double pin ***

-Lacy is with Scorpio Sky. Sky is offended that Lacy said he lost. He will show the world that he is better than Sydal by beating Jack Evans. Sky is a damn fine little promo here, channeling Superstar Graham in all honesty. Good stuff.

-Last week Pac attacked Tornado. Tornado cut a promo last week and promised revenge.

6-Pac vs. The Human Tornado

Tornado attacks at the bell and gets a sweet plancha to Pac. They brawl on the floor, and Pac crotches him on the steel post. Chops by Pac, into the ring we go and Pac lays the boots to him, Broncobuster connects. Misses a 2nd try, Tornado is up and boogie boots to Pac. SPLIT kick to the balls by Tornado! 1…2…no. Tornado tunes up the band…almost hits the ref, sick spin kick by Pac levels Tornado. Pac up top… Tornado up and crotches him. They brawl up top, and a LOW BLOW by Pac and a top rope 6-factor finishes it.

Winner: 6-Pac @ 2:17 via pin *½

-Back from commercial and Team Dragon gate meets a member of the YAKUZA~! They get tossed into a van for a YAKUZA beat down. Tremendous, maybe those guys were with PRIDE.

“The Anarchist” Arik Cannon vs. Delikado

Delikado attacks before the bell. Corner back elbow by Delikado. Basement dropkick by Delikado follows. Forearm shots, off the ropes and Cannon with a spinning neck breaker. Irish whip and a corner forearm by Cannon. Irish whip again and a boot by Delikado, blockbuster connects after that. Enziguri by Cannon, Roll of the dice by Cannon. SICK BELLY TO BACK DROPS Delikado on his head~!

Winner: No Contest @ 2:00 NR

-Some thugs hit the ring and beat down Cannon. It is the crew of Delikado apparently. They lay Cannon on a table on the floor and a due leaps from the top with a DOUBLE FOOT STOMP~! They now have a wheel barrel of CEMENT and DUNK Cannon’s head in it. So that is cool, and the fireball isn’t? Right.

WSXtra Episode 5:
By: Ryan Byers

The Lovely Lacey opens the show with Arik Cannon, talking about the “backup” he’ll be bringing in against the Cartel. This is an odd side effect of the marathon, as events on WSXtra set up or play in to some events on the main show . . . so, throughout these recaps, I bet that we’ll be seeing references to events that have already aired on MTV. Oh well.

Lacey and random man throw to a recap of the WSX episode to which this Xtra was supposed to correspond. It’s the episode that featured Los Pachos Guapos defeating the Filth and the Fury in what looked like one of WSX’s least edited matches. It also featured Teddy Hart DESTROYING his knees on the guardrail and damn near breaking his neck when he went for a balcony moonsault on Jesus and then BOUNCED OFF OF HIM. Insane stuff, and probably the WSX match that would stand up best with a more “traditional” group of current fans.

Match Numero Uno: Keepin’ It Gangsta (Ruckus & Babi Slimm) vs. Luke Hawx & Al Katrazz

KIG is out with the bling ladder . . . AND A BLING TABLE~! Unfortunately, it looks like WSXtra isn’t good enough to get the CGI. Hawx and Katrazz apparently think this is a TNA match, because they ambush their opponents before the bell. Al and Slimm wind up on the inside, and they do a bunch of big man stuff while Ruckus does a series of handsprings on the floor, eventually landing in a standing moonsault on Hawx. Ruckus brings his man in to the ring after that and goes for a handspring elbow, but he’s caught and thrown with a half nelson suplex. Luke takes over on the Gangsta, hitting an outside-in moonsault for two. Babi Slimm makes the save and beats on Hawx for a little bit, but Al cuts him off with a slingshot shoulderblock. Slimm responds with a couple of right hands and looks for a superplex, only to have Katrazz thumb him in the eyes and do a ropewalk in to a tornado DDT. Ruckus pulls a Sonjay Dutt and breaks up the pin with a standing shooting star press. There’s a spear by Slimm on Katrazz, and Ruckus brings the iced out furniture in to the ring as Babi hits a spinning uranagi. There’s a swinging neckbreaker from Ruckus, and Hawx is put on the table. That sets up Ruckus climbing the ladder, and there’s a HUGE double stomp off of it and on to Luke’s abdomen. Slimm dances, drops an elbow, and gets the pin.

Match Thoughts: Usually WSX matches are chaotic, but they manage to maintain a certain level of organized chaos . . . meaning that, though there’s a lot of stuff going on, but it’s still clear what you’re supposed to be focusing on. However, the organization of the chaos was lost somewhere along the way in this match. I’m guessing that has something to do with the experience level of some of the competitors. I’ve seen Slimm and Ruckus in some regular matches, and they were nothing too great, so it wouldn’t surprise me if their lack of experience prevented them from holding up their end of the deal in this WSX style match. Things came together a little bit better towards the finish, as at least then everything was confined to the ring as opposed to going all over the building. 1/2*

After watching this match, I attempt to close a popup ad that MTV.com has thrown at me. This somehow sends me to the MTV main page, thus losing my place in the episode. I hate this website. When I get back to where I left off, I’m treated to a recap up Matt Sydal versus the Human Tornado. Tornado’s POOOOOOOOOOOOUNCE on Sydal followed by the tope in to the crowd was quite an awesome sequence. Now they’re recapping Arik Cannon and Vic Grimes versus the Cartel. Wait, didn’t Lacey just ask Cannon who his backup was at the start of the show? I’m confused. Anyway, the real star of this segment was Sara Del Ray, who was under a mask as Vic Grimes’ sister Nic. Probably the best wrestler in the whole match.

Match Numero Dos: Scorpio Sky vs. Youth Suicide

It was claimed in the WSX pilot that Youth Suicide was having his first professional match, and I’m guessing that he hasn’t had many more since then. His (kayfabed) inexperience shows, as he allows Sky to jump him as he’s entering the ring, setting up a back body drop and some whips in to the turnbuckles. There’s a backbreaker from the PWG standout, and he tries to follow it up with another back body drop. Suicide cuts that off, however, and he looks to mount some more offense with a big kick. A couple of clotheslines also connect from the inexperienced competitor, and there’s the side Russian legsweep for a Youth Suicide nearfall. Sky misses a dropkick, setting himself up for a monkey flip out of the ring . . . but then Ricky Banderas shows up. He spears the living hell out of Suicide and beats him up all the way to the locker room. This match apparently took place right before the episode on which Banderas attacked the guest band’s “roadie,” because we get footage of that thrown in as well.

Match Thoughts: Eh. I’ve only seen him a couple of times now, but Youth Suicide appears to be absolutely nothing special, just kept on the roster by the fact that he’s willing to fall in to thumbtacks and exploding boxes and whatnot. His basic offense here didn’t look good at all, though he did manage to move around the ring pretty quickly. Scorpio Sky tried to hold up his end of the bargain, but there’s only so much you can do with a lousy opponent and a match that lasts all of sixty seconds before a run-in. DUD

Footage rolls of the Cartel attacking Los Pachos Guapos in a parking lot and sending Kaos back first through a car window. This was meant to set up the match between the two teams that aired during episode eight.

Overall

This is probably the only WSX show so far (whether on TV or the internet) that I’ve considered disappointing. There just wasn’t anything that good happening here aside from the recaps, and I already saw that action on the main show. I don’t know that it was a smart move to put matches from Keepin’ It Gangsta and Youth Suicide on the same show, as they’re probably the worst three wrestlers on the roster by a wide margin. There wasn’t even anything comedic to speak of that would have saved the show from the poor in-ring. I wonder why, if MTV was only going to post three of the remaining five WSXtras, they chose this one. Surely one of the other two shows was better.

WSX Episode 6
By: Larry Csonka

-Good Charlotte is the musical guest. Matt Sydal and Lizzy rock out in the crowd, tremendous.

-Kloss and Ernst talk about Banderas and Vampiro and the deep hatred between them.

-Lacey is on the look out for Vampiro.

Jack Evans vs. Scorpio Sky

Lock up and off the ropes, snap mare and a double boot by Evans. Sky to the floor and Evans with a CRAZY 450 to the floor onto Sky! Sky rolls in, Evans misses a 450 and lands on his feet and Sky kills him with a clothesline and covers for 2. Irish whip by Sky, and then a back breaker gets 2. Missile dropkick by Evans, running Yakuza kick as well and a cover for 2. Double stomp into the moonsault by Evans for 2. Evans with the whip, eats a boot and Sky gets a dragon sleeper on Evans, but Evans gets the ropes. Chops by Sky, sets Evans up top and follows. Evans tosses him off, 450 splash connects for the win.

Winner: Jack Evans @ 3:10 via pin **

-Los Pochos Guapos talk backstage and meet up with Disco Machine. They run him off and they meet up with some chicks. Kaos is sick of losing, Jesus says next week they challenge the Filth and the Fury. If they lose they will go their separate ways. But tonight they will rock the ring rats.

-We see That 70s Team talking backstage. They will do a Disco Demolition and say that DIFH are lamer than the Ford Administration. That 70’s Team and DIFH have themed locker rooms, so awesome.

That ’70s Team (Joey Ryan and Disco Machine) vs. D.I.F.H. (Tyler and Jimmy)

EMO TEAM~! Jimmy hits on chicks, this is great. Machine and Ryan toss Tyler out of the ring as Jimmy gets some digits. Double gord buster by the 70’s team. Tyler in with a springboard dual clothesline. Jimmy hugs him and Tyler tosses him into Ryan. Then into Machine! GLORIOUS~! DOOMSDAY RANA on Ryan and then Jimmy tossed onto Machine. Ryan uses his inhaler and sets Tyler up top. Sunset flip try by Tyler, pant’s Ryan, catches him and Jimmy up top and then knocked down by Tyler. SPEAR by Ryan to Tyler to the floor. Machine in, up top with Jimmy, super powerslam and Machine gets the pin.

Winners: That 70’s Team @ 2:30 via pin *½

-The Yakuza man has sent a video of the Dragon Gate team, which is being tortured for their losing ways. He says they are almost ready and that the time is near. I think that is Sakoda, formerly a henchman type man for Tajiri. Well I’ll be damned.

-Back from commercial and Tyler and Jimmy argue. Jimmy has a plan, his guitar! He wants to hear Tyler’s feelings so they can sing them out. Jimmy says fear is the heart of love. This is so great. Jimmy says he could have found love and tries to console Tyler, but he hates hippies, which they lost to. I love these guys.

-Crazy announcer man Kalien tries to announce another match and Ricky Banderas comes to the ring and tosses him out. Banderas is here because of Vampiro. Vampiro burnt his face and he wants revenge. He will be Vampiro’s worst nightmare.

-Vampiro is out now, drooling blood. Seriously. 6-Pac attacks him and he and Banderas beat him down. Broncobuster by Pac. Youth Suicide hits the ring, and Banderas kills him and tosses him to the floor. Pac works over Vampiro as Banderas grabs Suicide and beats him all around ringside. Vampiro makes a comeback, tosses a ref and then Pac to the floor. Plancha by Vampiro and Pac kicks him in the balls. They all continue to brawl at ringside, and Vampiro tosses Pac into an industrial air conditioner. They brawl outside and Banderas and Suicide are up top of the set, and Suicide gets tossed off to the gimmicked floor and we get EXPLOSIONS! Banderas throws up blood as the show ends.

WSXtra Episode 6:
By: Ryan Byers

The Lovely Lacey is with random man to start the show, and they throw it to highlights of Ricky Banderas versus Vampiro, which I believe may have been the longest match yet on WSX aside from the rumble on the pilot. It wasn’t a terrible little bout, and I like the fact that this company is actually willing to put on different styles of matches. Contrast that with WWE , who seemingly has eight different pairs of men wrestle the same damn match on any given show. WWE is also inferior because it does not feature Kriss Kloss screaming like a five year old girl every time there’s a high spot in a match.

Now it’s time for a recap of the goings on between Los Pochos Guapos and the Cartel. For some reason, the highlight package of the match between the two teams includes a moonsault by Kaos that missed by a mile. Seriously, you couldn’t have cut that one out? Fortunately, they make up for it by including Kaos’ side Russian legsweep counter to Cholo’s second rope springboard, which may have been one of the best reversals that I’ve seen in wrestling . After that, we go to . . .

Match Numero Uno: Team Dragon Gate (Genki Horiguchi & Masato Yoshino) w/ Keiji Sakoda vs. D.I.F.H. (Jimmy Jacobs & Tyler Black)

This is Team Dragon Gate’s first match back after their “reprogramming” by Keiji Sakoda, who observant WWE fans may recognize as the Tajiri henchman who didn’t become Jimmy Wang Yang . The idea here is that Sakoda is having his men go up against D.I.F.H. to avenge one of their earlier losses. Yoshino starts with Jacobs, and Masato runs the ropes really quickly. Hey, it’s his thing. He hits a dropkick after that, and now Black and Horiguchi tag in. Genki hits dropkick number two of the match and looks for a rana, but Black turns it in to a sidewalk slam for a nearfall. Here comes Jacobs again, and he gets a back elbow off of the top rope before applying the front facelock. Odd tag by the emo boys, as Black slaps Jimmy’s foot to get back in to the match. On the apron, Jacobs responds to a “Where’s your cell phone?” chant by waving the implement around. That distracts Black and allows Genki to hit a back elbow, setting up another tag. He takes down Jacobs and then satellites around Black’s body before applying the Royal Octopus Hold. He heads up top but is cut off by Jacobs, who tries a superplex. Masato tries to turn THAT in to a powerbomb, but Jacobs reverses in to a rana. Now Tyler Black is back in to things, and he throws Jacobs in to the spear on Horiguchi. D.I.F.H. go for their still unnamed finisher, but it’s blocked, and Black is thrown out of the ring. Then, with the referee distracted, Sakoda gets up on the ring apron and sends a fireball in to Jimmy’s face. That allows Horiguchi to pull him off of the top rope and hit a variation on the Kryptonite Krunch to win things.

Match Thoughts: The in-ring work here was fine if you consider it as in-ring work divorced from any sort of storyline. However, I don’t think that the match did that great of a job playing in to the larger angle. From what the announcers were saying, the whole point of the reprogramming of Team Dragon Gate was to make them more vicious, brutal competitors. That’s all fine and good, but, to put it over, Horiguchi and Yoshino should have at least made some effort to change their styles. However, they did not. Granted, we got Sakoda interfering at the finish, but that’s not so much a change in the team’s style as it is having some new guy in their corner who is a schmuck. Oh well, at least they were finally given the opportunity to win a match, and that’s what will get them over heading in to the big exploding cage match against Teddy Hart and M-Dogg. *

Arik Cannon is backstage, and Nic Grimes walks up to smooch him. He falls out of his chair. Huh?

Match Numero Dos: Matt Classic & El Hombre Blanco Enmascarado vs. That 70’s Team (Joey Ryan & Disco Machine) vs. The Trailer Park Boys (Nate Webb & Josh Raymond) w/ Johnny Webb in a triple threat match

People who ask me why I will miss WSX have to look no further than Matt Classic protesting Disco Machine’s dancing prior to this match. Classic and Ryan start, and, for some reason, the crowd starts chanting “Nacho Libre.” Joey Ryan oils himself up, leading to Kris Kloss yelling, “The homoeroticisim doesn’t stop!” Yeah, welcome to professional wrestling . Classic takes his man down with a snap mare and goes in to the Greco-Roman knuckle lock. Ryan tries to kick out of it but is unsuccessful, and Classic takes him down again, this time with an armbar. This somehow leads to Ryan challenging Classic to a push-up contest, though he has to break for the inhaler in the middle of it. Damn that asbestos. He kicks Matt in the head after taking his hit, and here’s a tag to Disco Machine. He applies an armbar of his own, but Classic hits the JUDO CHOP and tags in Josh Raymond.

LARRY INTERLUDE~! Ryan’s recap ended here, due to an MTV.com problem. And while I hate to break into his gig, we have the chance to see what happened here thanks to the magic of the DVD! Raymond and Disco are in, the Boys double team Disco with some cool moves in the corner, dropkick, dropsault and so on. Hombre tags in and levels the boys. Ryan with a superkick to Hombre, and Raymond gets a cover for 2. Classic tags in and POLISH HAMMERS to clear the ring. Hombre pants Ryan, and then a closed fist by Classic and Ryan is out. Classic holds the ropes open for Hombre, but he dives over top with a swank dive. Matt Classic is a gentleman! Webb is in and attacks Classic, who tosses him ff and gets the IRON CLAW~! Raymond back in, PILEDRIVER by Classic! Tries one on Ryan, but he backdrops him. Ryan takes him to the floor with a dropkick. Disco slams Webb, Hombre gets a bad looking reverse head scissors. Webb distracts the ref, back cracker on Hombre by Raymond and that is all.

Winners: Trailer Park Boys @ 12:21 via pin **½

We now see the lovely Lacey with Jack Evans. Jack hits on her, and we see a video of Jack’s moves. He has the best moves in the ring and on the dance floor. Human FN Tornado is here, and they discuss their dance moves. Jack tells him to puff his fro, and THEY IZ GONNA have a dance off. They are in the ring with all of the guys watching. Matt Classic is APPALLED that this is happening in the squared circle. The dance off was a draw, and Tornado challenges him to a match.

WSX Episode 7
By: Larry Csonka

-Quiet drive is the musical guest.

-Banderas is here to beat down Suicide again as the band was plating. Banderas powerbombs a roadie into a table. Vampiro is in the balcony and the match is next week!

-Cannon has them cut the music. He has backup tonight. Vicious Vic Grimes, who is double the size from when I last saw him.

Arik Cannon and Vicious Vic Grimes vs. The Cartel (Little Chulo and Delikado)

Vic crushes Delikado with ass splashes. Head butt to the balls. He has to be WELL over 400lbs now, Jesus he is big. He does some stupid ass senton and almost lands on his head. Chulo in knocks Vic to the floor. RANA by Chulo. The Cartel beats down Vic and roll his fat ass into the ring like a whale. Chulo covers for 2. Vic gets a black out, and they have the “camera shake” when fat ass makes a big move. Cannon in, back suplex by Chulo drops him on his head. Some chick in a mask (Sara Del Ray of SHIMMER FAME) runs in and suplexes Chulo. Grimes grabs Delikado, but the Cartel in the ring, they beat him down and a high knee and dog pile cover finish this abortion of a match.

Winners: The Cartel @ 2:40 via pin ¼*

-In the back Lizzy reads some fan mail. Sydal says they have to beat Tornado to get in some more magazines. She gives him a shoulder rub and hides the mail, must be SCANDELOUS~!

Human Tornado vs. Matt Sydal (with Lizzy Valentine)

Tornado want to dance with Lizzy, that upsets Sydal, she kicks him in the steel balls and the match begins. Reversals and a dropkick by Tornado. Criss cross…POOOOOOUNCE by Tornado~! CRAZY PLANCHA misses and Tornado into the CROWD~! Nice. Sydal tosses him back into the ring, corner mount punches by Sydal and a slap and spit, smear and celebration. Sydal dances on the apron, sling shot dropkick to Tornado and a cover for 2. Nice roundhouse kick by Sydal for 2. Irish whip, and a corner clothesline by Sydal. Tornado dropkicks Sydal off the top, split kick to the balls by Tornado! Basement dropkick by Tornado. Chop block and moonsault by Sydal gets a close 2. SWEET Enziguri by Tornado. Lizzy in the ring, LOW BLOW but…STEEL BALLS are not effected! He chokes Lizzy and the letter falls out. Michinoku driver by Sydal. He checks on Lizzy and sees the letter. She takes it back, low kick doesn’t hurt Tornado. THAT NINJA’S DEAD connects and Tornado wins!

Winner: The Human Tornado @ 4:17 via pin **

-Two weeks ago Team Dragon Gate were abducted by the Yakuza for torture and brain washing by Sakoda.

-Sydal blames the letter for him losing. She say she lost…again! She doesn’t date losers. She rips up the letter, and says she cares about him. 6-Pac appears to console her. He has definitely moved up from Chyna.

Los Pochos Guapos (Joey “Kaos” Munoz & Aaron “Jesus” Aguilera) vs. Filth & Fury (Teddy Hart & Matt Cross)

Aguilera and Hart to begin. Back breaker by Aguilera. But a cool arm bar take down by Hart. Aguilera gets a big clothesline to Hart. Back elbows and a big boot out of the Nash play book. Tosses Hart to the floor. Cross and Kaos in now. Lock up and a snap mare by Cross. Kaos is pissed. Knee to Cross, Irish whip and Cross to the apron and cartwheels off the top rope and a clothesline to Cross. Reversals and counters, double stomp on Kaos by Cross gets 2. Kaos gets an Ace Crusher and Hart breaks up the pin. Aguilera hits on chicks as Kaos gets his ass beat. Kaos dropkicked to the floor. Kaos and Aguilera argue now, cartwheel tumble weed by Cross. HART KILLS HIMSELF and Aguilera with a leg drop to the steel guardrail. Aguilera suplexes Hart into a wall. Hart tosses him into the wall. Hart to the announce booth and GETS A 500 foot moonsault onto Aguilera. Cross misses a moonsault, Kaos KICKS the disco ball into Cross and covers for the win!

Winners: Los Pochos Guapos @ 3:50 via pin **

-Los Pochos Guapos celebrate.

WSXtra Episode 7:
By: Ryan Byers

Anyway, the first thing on this episode is a recap of the Sean Waltman versus Human Tornado matchup from the MTV program. It’s good to see that Waltman is still willing and able to bust out some big highspots when necessary as opposed to just dogging it, which he could probably get away with given his name. Also recapped is the Delikado vs. Arik Cannon match, which of course set up the debut of the entire Cartel and resulted in Cannon’s head being dipped in “wet cement.” It’s a shame that WSX didn’t decide to use Cannon’s Kool-Aid Man gimmick. I suppose that could get them in to some legal trouble, though.

Match Numero Uno: Los Pochos Guapos (Joey “Kaos” Munoz & Aaron Aguilera) vs. The Trailer Park Boys (Nate Webb & Josh Raymond) w/ Johnny Webb

Jug kicks it off with Jesus, and the larger man is taken off of his feet thanks to some mat wrestling . He quickly remedies that situation but runs in to a boot and then is hit with a Raymond back elbow. Jug runs in to a boot, though, and here come Kaos and Webb. Kaos goes for a clothesline, only to have the top rope pulled down, sending him crashing out to the arena bunker floor. Nate follows that up by jumping over the Hardkore Kidd and hitting his opponent with a plancha. (Speaking of, I finally learned the difference between a plancha and a tope today. Interesting stuff.) Kaos is able to get the advantage due to some miscommunication between Spider and Uncle Johnny, and the Latino crew hits a double team maneuver in the ring. Aguilera stays in there and tosses around his much smaller opponent, though Webb rolls under a clothesline to get the tag. Jug gets a Pelekick on Kaos and a kneelift/neckbreaker combo on Jesus, though he can only manage a two count. He tries for some sort of wacky body scissor move on Aguilera, but Kaos grabs the hillbilly’s red neck and slams it in to the top rope. Jesus lands an inverted powerbomb seconds later, and we’ve got ourselves a pair of victors in the form of Los Pochos Guapos.

Match Thoughts: Though there have been some WSX matches in which it’s clear that one wrestler is being treated like a bigger star than another wrestler, there have been almost no matches that have felt like squashes. This broke that trend. It was pretty clear that the Trailer Park Boys were in there for no reason other than making Kaos and Jesus look good. Frankly, I have no problem with that. It’s clear that the company wants Los Pachos Guapos to be a top tag team, though they’ve not that won that many matches due to the angle in which they have personal differences. Thus, it made perfect sense for them to come in and squash a team that they shouldn’t have much trouble with. As far as squashes go, it was fine. Nothing groundbreaking, but nothing that sucked so bad that it will cause the wrestling world to grind to a screeching halt. 3/4*

Match Numero Dos: Keepin’ It Gangsta (Ruckus & Babi Slimm) vs. Luke Hawx & Al Katrazz

Apparently the match that I recapped earlier tonight was a rematch of this one. That explains why the beginning of that one was an insane brawl. That’s not the case here, though, as Hawx calmly begins it with Ruckus, getting caught with a kick and a rana early. The Gangstas combine for an armdrag, after which Ruckus hits a huge dropkick to the face. Slimm follows with an elbow drop for two. Hawx fires back with an enzuguri, and that cues Katrazz to enter the ring with a slingshot shoulder block. He tries for more offense but is cut off by a Slimm jawbreaker. Ruckus tags in and tries to come off of the top rope, but he’s caught and slammed. Now it’s the convicts’ turn to double team, and they hit what looks like a variant on the H-Bomb. Luke stays in the ring and gets his legs sweeped out from under him, which sets up a standing shooting star press. Al makes the save before Ruckus can get the three count, and he hits a big clothesline on Slimm to boot. Then Hawx hits a high knee on Ruckus, but he’s clotheslined down by Slimm. The same fate awaits Katrazz, but Slimm’s momentum is cut off when Hawx sends him crashing out of the ring. That sets up another Pele kick from Ruckus, and he attempts some form of suplex. However, he’s too close to the ropes, and Katrazz trips him up. We all know and love this finish, which involves Hawx landing on top of Ruckus and Al holding the leg for the illicit three count.

Match Thoughts: Well, it was odd to watch the two matches of this series in reverse order. Knowing that this one was meant to set up a later encounter, it worked rather well. The two teams didn’t dog it, but they also didn’t give the crowd everything, leaving the bigger spots for the later encounter in which there would theoretically be more animosity between them. However, I do have to say that there was something weird about seeing this particular finish in WSX. Amidst all of the massive explosion, flippy-do planchas, and broken light tubes, they decided to do a spot right out of Rick Rude vs. The Warrior from WrestleMania V. You can blow somebody up in WSX and it’s considered a normal part of a match. You can throw somebody through a table in WSX and it’s considered a normal part of a match. However, if you hold somebody’s leg down during a pinfall, that is an impermissible transgression against all things good and holy which will results in the beginning of a BLOOD FEUD~! I love this promotion. *

After the match, KIG is shown socializing with the musical guest for the week, some hip hop artist that I’ve never heard of. (At least I think it’s a hip hop artist. Last I said something like this, it turned out to be Markus Riot.) Much is made about how low a man’s chain can hang. I don’t get it.

Overall

A fairly solid episode of WSXtra. It’s good to see that the program was meant to have some of its own, self-contained feuds, as this shows once again that the company intended for it to be more than just a throw-away. Plus, as previously discussed, the easy victory for Los Pochos Guapos was a good idea after they had their credibility eroded by a rather large string of losses. If there’s anything to complain about with this episode, it’s that it was almost completely disconnected from the happenings on the main show. Though they did the traditional recaps, there was nothing here that would fuel events on the main show, and nothing here was really fueled by events on the main show. If I were actually watching the episodes in order on a week to week basis, that would have me somewhat concerned that the company was beginning to give up on the WSXtra concept, though clearly that’s not what wound up happening. Anyway, this was yet another entertaining twenty-five minutes. I really hope that this stuff winds up on DVD.

Episode 8
By: Larry Csonka

-Pitbull is the musical guest.

-The announcers hype the first defense of the WSX title!

-Pitbull joins the announce team. He is apparently a huge wrestling fan.

-We get clips of “last week.” The Cartel attacked Los Pochos Guapos after the show.

-Los Pochos Guapos hit the ring. They call out the Cartel.

-They hit the ring and we have a match.

Los Pochos Guapos (Joey “Kaos” Munoz & Aaron “Jesus” Aguilera) vs. The Cartel (Little Chulo and Delikado)

Delikado in and we have a bunch of brawling and double teams to start. Delikado in control of Delikado, chops and rights to Kaos. Back spinning elbow by Delikado. Double stomp to the back of the head gets 2. The Cartel choke out Kaos, Delikado tags in Chulo, boots by Kaos and a cutter by Chulo. That gets 2. Off the ropes and a back handspring elbow by Chulo for 2. Tries again, and Kaos gets a Russian leg sweep off the 2nd rope, as a counter to the springboard back elbow, very nice. Tag to Jesus and a springboard clothesline to Chulo. Back handspring elbow to Delikado. Sidewalk slam by Jesus gets 2. Kaos in now and they try a doomsday but Mongo pulls Jesus to the floor. Delikado gets a SICK cradle piledriver after a reverse RANA by Chulo for the win.

Winner: The Cartel @ 5:40 via pin **½

-Alkatrazz and Luke are mad that they lost TV time. They see Fat ass Vic Grimes and talk shit to him, Cannon and the Spider chick. They brawl.

-Lacey is with Jack Evans. He pimps on her and she discusses his record. Evans has the best moves in the ring and the dance floor. Tornado walks in and says he respects him, but he takes issue with his dancing. Evans says to meet him back here in 15, because they will have a dance off. GLORIOUS~!

-We get a video package to hype the title match.

WSX Championship Match: Vampiro © vs. Ricky Banderas

We have a casket at ringside, wrapped in barbed wire. Another is an exploding one I would presume. This should be interesting.

Banderas charges and eats an overhead belly to belly from Vampiro. Thrust to the throat by Vampiro. One from Banderas as an answer and then a clothesline by Banderas. Vampiro to the floor and Banderas goes for a plancha, but Vampiro pulls the guardrail in and Banderas crashes into it. They brawl around ringside, and Banderas slams Vampiro repeatedly into a wall. Banderas tosses him back in and chops by Banderas. Banderas lays the boots to Vampiro, up top he goes and a GOOZLE by Vampiro as he lands and a chokeslam follows and a cover for 2.Banderas in control now, and they go to the floor. They brawl at ringside again and go up on the stage. There is a table with light tubes…POWERBOMB ON VAMPIRO THROUGH THE TABLE~! He back is covered in blood now and they go falling off the stage through a gimmicked box. Back to the ring, they stand off and a GOOZLE by Vampiro, and then by Banderas. Head butt by Vampiro. To the apron they go but the coffin with barbed wire. They brawl and try to toss each other onto it. Head butts by Banderas, goozle…and tosses Vampiro (badly) into the EXPLODING BARBED WIRE CASKET~! He covers 1…2…3!

Winner: and NEW WSX CHAMPION Ricky Banderas @ 11:15 via pin ***

WSXtra Episode 8:
By: Ryan Byers

The show opens with a Los Pochos Guapos promo, setting up the pirana death match that will apparently no longer be shown to the masses. After that, Lacey and random man throw it immediately to our first match of the show.

Match Numero Uno: Keepin’ It Gangsta (Ruckus & Big Babi Slimm) vs. The Trailer Park Boys (Josh Raymond & Nate Webb) w/ Johnny Webb

There’s no bling table this time around, but Ruckus does come to the ring with a CRUNK CUP~! The white trash jump their opponent before the bell, tossing Slimm and hitting some avalanche moves in the corner on Ruckus. Ultimately Raymond and Ruckus wind up in the ring on their own, where Jug gets the lionsault and a nice variation on the swinging neckbreaker for two. Webb is in now, and he hits some sort of wacky half nelson suplex for another near fall. He busts out a couple of dance moves and then drops the leg, though Ruckus comes back with a handspring kick to the head. That and a Pele kick lead to the tag to Babi Slimm, who is, of course, a house afire. He pulls the VADER ATTACK~! out of his bag of tricks, and then the Gangstas start double teaming. That includes an assisted handspring elbow by Ruckus on Webb. He tries for the same move on Raymond, but Jug counters in to a lungblower and steals the three count as Slimm is tied up with Webb. However, the ultimate indignity occurs when Nate Webb climbs the bling ladder. You don’t do that to another man’s iced out implements, yo.

Match Thoughts: This was one of the quicker WSX matches, and that covers a good deal of ground. However, it was good for the limited amount of time that it got. It was probably the best that K.I.G. had gelled as a team up to this point, as they focused exclusively on Ruckus until it was time for the comeback. After that, he stuck with relatively simple offense until it made sense for Ruckus to get back to his feet and resume hitting his flippy-dos. The work from the Trailer Park Boys was solid as well, though I think they’d both be better suited for a longer, more traditional tag team match as opposed to the WSX spotfest. Otherwise, this was fine given the time constraints. *

Match Numero Dos: D.I.F.H (Jimmy Jacobs & Tyler Black) vs. That 70’s Team (Joey Ryan & Disco Machine)

Here’s a simple yet effective storyline for the match: The two teams have fought twice, and each team has won once. This is the rubber match. Somebody needs to remind TNA that this can work just as well as a months long storyline about men going to prison and shooting their fathers in the back. The match opens up with Black throwing Jacobs in to a double spear on both of the throwbacks, and they follow up with a slingshot senton from Black on Ryan. Jimmy hits the ring quickly thereafter and goes in to the armbar, though Black doesn’t think that move is quite violent enough. As such, he runs in and throws his partner at Magnum, with Jimmy hitting a rana as a result. A little bit of interference by the Disco Machine allows Ryan to get back in to the game, which sets up a tag for the 70’s Team. They double team Jacobs with a two man gordbuster, which gets a two count. Disco stays on his man with a big backbreaker, after which Ryan tags in for a kneelift. He pauses to apply his baby oil, and there’s a nice standing dropkick. The Machine is right back in after that, and he trades punches with Jimmy. Jacobs eventually blocks his opponent’s fist and gets the Rude Awakening, though Joey Ryan runs in to prevent a hot tag. Black, not to be outdone, also runs in. Those two guys trade forearms, and a series of blocked suplexes leads to BOTH MEN tumbling over the top rope and to the floor. That leaves Disco and Jacobs in the ring, and the Machine looks for a superplex. Unfortunately for him, Black recovers from his spill quickly and cuts off the move. That sets up the fireman’s carry/senton/Michinoku driver sequence from D.I.F.H., and the emo boys win the three match series. Then, in a great moment, Jimmy Jacobs looks for a hug from his partner after the bell, only to get knock silly from an inadvertent headbutt by the head banging Black. Jacobs still manages to hold on to his cell phone as Tyler carries him back to the locker room. Genius.

Match Thoughts: The entire D.I.F.H./That 70’s Team series has introduced a new style of match. Generally speaking, when you see a spotfest, the spots will be broken up by periods in which guys lay around and sell for a while or periods in which there are lengthy restholds applied. In both of these situations, you wind up boring fans whose attention spans are shorter than they should be. However, instead of going with selling or restholds, these two teams decided to fill the periods in between their spots with pure comedic goodness. I wouldn’t enjoy it if every match on a card followed the similar format, but it’s a unique dynamic that certainly works here. I hope that all four of these men get an opportunity to ply their trade on a national stage again, though I’m not too hopeful for that given their sizes. **

We’re back with Lacey and random man. The set up a match for next week’s WSXtra (which in all likelihood will never see the light of day). It’s a four corners tag team match with D.I.F.H., Keepin’ It Gangsta, Luke Hawx & Al Katrazz, and the Trailer Park Boys. The winner gets a slot in a tournament to crown the first WSX Tag Team Champions, which I’m assuming was an idea for the second season.

After that, we get a replay of the Team Dragon Gate promo challenging the Filth and the Fury to an exploding cage match on the WSX season finale.

Match Numero Tres: Human Tornado vs. Jack Evans (highlights only)

This isn’t a new match shown in its entirety. Instead, what we’re getting is the footage that took place during the commercial break in the Jack Evans vs. Human Tornado match on WSX Episode 9. The two men are brawling on the floor as we start, and Tornado misses a slingshot senton when he tries to take the match back to the ring. Evans responds with a springboard spin kick, which he follows with another series of kicks and a standing Phoenix Splash. A springboard elbow also connects from the Prince of Parkland, though his subsequent springboard kick only gets two. He looks to finish with god only knows what, but Tornado reverses it in to a waistlock. There’s the standing switch by Evans, and he eventually DUMPS TORNADO ON HIS HEAD with what was supposed to be a German suplex. That’s another two count. Tornado recovers quickly and hits a Yakuza kick in the corner, followed by a seated dropkick to Evans’ face. The PWG star looks for a Tornado DDT, but Jack blocks it, hits a Northern lights suplex, rolls through, and hits the move again for a count of TWO. Evans places his man on the top rope now, but Tornado shoves him off. He tries to stand, but Evans crotches him . . . BALLS OF STEEL! THE MOVE HAD NO EFFECT! The Tornado DDT hits for real, but Evans is out at two. The footage from the commercial break ends at this point, and that’s it for the show.

Match Thoughts: Showing this sort of “bonus” footage from a commercial break was a unique concept. However, because the ending of this footage wasn’t the ending to the match, I walked away feeling a little bit unsatisfied. However, this was good stuff while it lasted. Like everything in WSX, it was not a quality match in the traditional sense. However, if you’re willing to accept the company for what it is – basically a glorified stunt show designed to be poppy and eye catching – this was perfect action for the genre. Both men moved very fluidly and both got some MASSIVE hangtime on the high flying moves that they went for. Plus the kickouts were well-timed, and the Balls of Steel spot will always get me to chuckle. Hopefully, at some point in the future, this match will be made available in an unedited format.

Overall

This episode was a little bit different than the WSXtras that preceded it. Rather than being closely integrated with the main program, this was almost a stand-alone show, with the majority being first-run in-ring action as opposed to having a couple of shorter matches interspersed with recaps. This makes sense, as all they really needed to do leading in to the season finale was push the two deathmatch main events, which they did in a rather efficient fashion. In addition to that, they also did a good job of setting up next week’s WSXtra by highlighting the teams that would be involved in the four-way against each other. In fact, by mentioning the tag team tournament, they also set the stage for the next season of the show. (Or rather, they would be setting the stage for it if it were to actually take place.) This was a very fast-paced, effective wrestling show. In addition to being entertaining in its own right, it set up not one not two but THREE future shows and developed characters throughout. Anybody who complains about how TNA needs two hours to run an effective wrestling program should take a look at this show and realize that WSX has managed to book an effective show in half the amount of time that their competitors claim is not enough.

It’s somewhat depressing that what will likely be the last episode of WSX shown to the world was also one of the best written. It leaves us with far too great of a taste of what might have been.

Thanks to Ryan Byers for his contributions to disc one and two of this review.