wrestling / TV Reports

411’s Ring Ka King Report 1.28.12

January 29, 2012 | Posted by TJ Hawke

The show opens at the entrance ramp with a bunch of dancing women as some guy sings. There is a big light show going on, and the crowd is red hot. The dancing and singing doesn’t really appeal to me, but it certainly seems to be getting the crowd excited for the show. That went on for a little over 3 minutes. Finally, Kubraa Sait walked down to the ring. She and the singer seemed to be letting the audience know what was about to happen, but they weren’t speaking much English, so I can’t be positive. She mentions a singles title and a tag team title. She points out the commentators who are Siddharth Kanan & Joe Bath. Those dudes looked like they wouldn’t rather be anywhere else in the world, which is pretty much the opposite impression I get from most WWE & TNA commentators. So, that’s a good thing.

Kubraa introduces Harbhajan Singh, who is the Ring Ka King Goodwill Ambassador. He’s very famous for cricket apparently. He too is excited to be here. Singh is bringing out all the wrestlers who will be competing to become the first Ring Ka King Champion. He introduces the first video for a wrestler…Chavo Guerrero Jr. Chavo says he is here in India for one thing, to win the Ring Ka King World Title. Out next is Maxx B who seems to be doing a Boxing/MMA gimmick. Sir Brutus Magnus is out next, followed by Nick Dinsmore (Eugene in the WWE) who is playing an evil doctor here. Sonjay Dutt comes out next. Then a local wrestler, Mahabali Veera came out to a big reaction. Next out was the greatest wrestler of all time , SCOTT STEINER! The last person to come out is Jim Cornette’s favorite wrestler, Matt Morgan. This is quite the motley crew to determine the first champion of a promotion. The only way it would be better is if their tournament was called the Egotistical Eight.

Singh then brings out Commissioner Jazzy Lahoria, who has Deadly Danda at his side. The Ring Ka King Championship belt then comes down from the ceiling. It needs to be noted that the production values on this show blow away TNA (never mind ROH). Singh wishes all the wrestlers the best of luck as they now try to become the first Ring Ka King champion.

Jeremy Borash is here to talk to the wrestlers in the ring! Morgan puts over India, but Magnus interrupts and says that he, Steiner, and Dutt are the best. A scuffle almost breaks out but it’s broken up by Deadly Danda. The show went 23 minutes with no wrestling to start. Hopefully that is not how every show goes from here on out, but it was fine for the first episode as they try to establish themselves to a brand new audience.

Dr. Nicholas Dinsmore vs. Mahabali Veera [Quaterfinals for Ring Ka King Championship Tournament]
Veera is treated like a god by the crowd. Dinsmore tried using holds, but Veera quickly overpowered him. Veera eventually hit a spinebuster: 1…2…3

That was…definitive. They did very little but pretty much everything they did got a big reaction, so I can’t really fault them for keeping things simple and short (less than 3 minutes). Veera didn’t do much to impress me, but it’s hard to tell in what was essentially a squash match. Veera seems to be in line for a major push.
Match Rating: Squash

Magnus, Dutt, and Steiner are in the back. Magnus is on the phone, bragging about how one of them is definitely going to win the whole tournament. What a heel stable this is. This stable needs to be brought to TNA.

The American Adonis comes out to the ring. Adonis is former WWE wrestler, Chris Masters, looking as ripped as ever. Adonis says there isn’t anyone in the country or in the arena who can break the Adonis Lock. Adonis offers up money to anyone in the audience who can break the lock. Adonis picks a guy in the crowd for the challenge. Adonis acted all condescending to him. Adonis put on the Adonis lock, and the guy quickly tapped out as the crowd booed. This program is designed for a new audience, so I can’t really criticize them for doing such an easy gimmick to get Adonis heat with the crowd. Adonis showed a lot more personality and charisma here than he ever did during one of his major pushes in the WWE. Hopefully that is a sign for things to come on Ring Ka King and the Wrestling Retribution Project.

Sir Brutus Magnus vs. Matt Morgan [Quaterfinals for the Ring Ka King Championship Tournament]
Morgan has received many pushes in TNA but he has yet to truly connect with their audiences as far as I can tell. Magnus seems to have grown into a solid all-around performer, and I hope he continues to get better.

Morgan completely overpowers him early, and the crowds treats him like a 1980’s Hulk Hogan. Morgan eventually missed a Stinger splash, and Magnus took him down with a lariat. The crowd does not approve. Magnus worked Morgan over for a while, but Morgan reversed a powerslam attempt into a cross-body. Magnus recovered though and locked in an abdominal stretch. Morgan hip tossed out of it and made his comeback. Morgan hit a discuss clothesline and a chokeslam. Morgan then easily finishes Magnus with the Carbon Footprint.

This was essentially a longer version of the other tournament match. They kept things simple and short, and the crowd ate everything up. I will never criticize this show for giving the fans what they want to see, but I do hope that some of the matches become more competitive and longer.
Match Rating: **

Scott Steiner and Sonjay Dutt come down to attack Morgan, but Mahabali Veera runs down. Those four men stare at each other as the end credits roll.

The 411: While TNA produces a show in America that I do my best to avoid, I can easily see myself watching this show every single week. It was so easy to watch, in large part, due to the great atmosphere and the enthusiasm from each and every performer on the show. The show is not attempting anything other than being fun, and I think it is definitely accomplishing that. That is not to say there isn’t room for improvement, but what promotion can’t get better at something? (Even PWG needs to release their DVDs faster and provide a MP4 option!) I look forward to seeing some of the talents I prefer to watch (Joey Ryan, Jimmy Rave, Shiima Xion, etc) go out there, but it’s encouraging to see how much I fun I had watching performers I normally prefer to avoid.

Watch this episode in 5 parts right here, as provided by Colors TV:

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TJ Hawke

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