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Csonka’s King of the Indies (Night 2) Review 3.28.15

March 29, 2015 | Posted by Larry Csonka
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Csonka’s King of the Indies (Night 2) Review 3.28.15  

Introduction
As a reminder, this will not be another traditional recap, but instead it will be a mash up of the Rs, Instant Analysis and my usual Twitter ramblings I would do during the shows; completely uncensored and as the ideas flow unfiltered to the old keyboard. Remember, this is a review; and I am here to review the show. As always, I encourage discussion and even disagreement, just do so in a respectful manner. I will be doing the review for Raw and most PPVs and iPPVs going forward.

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King of the Indies (Night 2) Review 3.28.15

OFFICIAL RESULTS
~ KOTI Quarterfinal Tournament Match: Jeff Cobb defeated Brian Cage @ 11:00 via pin [***]
~ KOTI Quarterfinal Tournament Match: Timothy Thatcher defeated Vincenzo Massaro @ 7:00 via pin [***]
~ KOTI Quarterfinal Tournament Match: Adam Thornstowe defeated Luster the Legend @ 7:00 via [**¾]
~ KOTI Quarterfinal Tournament Match: Willie Mack defeated Rey Horus @ 10:00 via pin [***¼]
~ Ultimo Dragon defeated Juventud Guerrera @ 11:00 via pin [**½]
~ KOTI Semifinal Tournament Match: Adam Thornstowe defeated Timothy Thatcher @ 11:00 via [***½]
~ KOTI Semifinal Tournament Match: Willie Mack defeated Jeff Cobb @ 12:00 via pin [***]
~ Earl Cooter defeated Grappler III @ 5:00 via pin [DUD]
~ APW Tag Team Title Match: Champions The Classic Connection defeated Sir Samurai and Bobby Hart, Marcus Lewis and Famous B and The Rocknes Monsters @ 12:00 via pin [*]
~ KOTI Finals: Adam Thornstowe defeated Willie Mack @ 17:00 via pin [***]


* You can order the show on iPPV/VOD at this link.

KOTI Quarterfinal Tournament Match: Jeff Cobb vs. Brian Cage: They worked some grappling early, as Cobb looked to use his bread and butter to ground Cage. Cage was able to use his power and speed to counteract the wrestling of Cobb. Cobb also has power, utilizing throws and suplexes as they ended up in a power for power battle down the stretch. Cobb is a freak athlete; he caught Cage off a springboard and was suplexing him around like a bag of trash. Cobb countered the discus lariat into the tour of the islands powerslam to score the win. This was a good back and forth opener, as they worked well together and most importantly worked to their strengths.

KOTI Quarterfinal Tournament Match: Vincenzo Massaro vs. Timothy Thatcher: Thatcher has been an absolute beast this weekend, really making people take notice. They grappled early, and Thatcher had the clear advantage, causing Massaro to take a powder. Thatcher constantly went for the arm bar, while Massaro tried to counter with striking. Thatcher survived a sick suplex onto his head, and countered Massaro into an arm bar to score the win. This was good as Thatcher continues to deliver this weekend, and Massaro had a much better effort than the night before.

KOTI Quarterfinal Tournament Match: Adam Thornstowe vs. Luster the Legend: Thornstowe really impressed on night one, and I am looking forward to seeing him again here tonight. Luster didn’t impress on night one, so lets hope he has a better effort tonight. He did. They had a solid match here, they put together a good back and forth package, and Thornstowe scored the win with the tombstone. This wasn’t quite as good as the previous two matches, but it adds to the solid start to this show. I have no major complaints.

KOTI Quarterfinal Tournament Match: Rey Horus vs. Willie Mack: They worked a great and fast paced open, using a lot of lucha and showing those that may not know that Mack is much more than he appears. After the lucha didn’t work out so well for Mack, he started to rely on his size and strength advantage to take control of things. Mack dragging and throwing around Horus was completely amusing. Horus was able to fight back and then use his highflying to take control back for a bit. Mack eventually scored the win with a stiff looking Michinoku driver. Back to back good performances from Rey Horus, this was a lot of fun. Mack advances to face Jeff Cobb.

Ultimo Dragon w/Sonny Ono vs. Juventud Guerrera: At this state of their careers I have no clue what to expect from these guys, I figure as long as they hit some trademark stuff and it doesn’t fall apart we’re good to go. Ultimo Dragon is 48 and looked really crisp at times, Juvi is 40 for those wondering. Ono tried to help on the floor at one point, and threw some old man kicks at Juvi, which was hilarious. They took turns working the leg of the other, and then Dragon stopped selling the leg, laid in some kicks and hit the asai DDT to score the win. It was ok, nothing special but fun to see both guys.

KOTI Semifinal Tournament Match: Timothy Thatcher vs. Adam Thornstowe: Thornstowe has been a surprise for me this weekend, I knew nothing going in about him but he has impressed. Many thought Thatcher could have a big weekend, and he’s delivered big time. Thornstowe tried to use his striking, but Thatcher removed his elbow pad and started to go to work to set up for the possible arm bar later on. This featured a bit more pro wrestling than Thatcher’s other matches this weekend, which is good because it mixes things up and also allows them to play to Thornstowe’s strengths. Thornstowe hit a DVD and frog splash late and scored the surprising victory. I really thought Thatcher was a lock for the finals with how he’s been pushed this weekend and due to his great performances. Guess not.

KOTI Semifinal Tournament Match: Jeff Cobb vs. Willie Mack: Cobb tried to rely on his wrestling and power early, and did well for himself. Mack’s experience was the story as he was able to turn things around and work more of his style a match. Both guys showed good athleticism, and it was fun overall. They did a big striking exchange near the end, and then Mack countered the tour of the islands into a cradle for the win. Another shocking win to me from what I thought would happen, but Thornstowe is an APW mainstay and Mack has been working there a lot, and since this is basically an APW show, there you go.

Grappler III vs. Earl Cooter: This was complete filler, and every bland ass independent match you wish you could skip. Moving on.

APW Tag Team Title Match: Champions The Classic Connection vs. Sir Samurai and Bobby Hart vs. Marcus Lewis and Famous B vs. The Rocknes Monsters: So this was random and not announced last night, which may have helped but whatever. They got the heat on Lewis FOREVER, it just kept going and going and going. This was a mess, the long and uninspired heat segment, then it broke down and they just did shit and it didn’t feel as if any of it mattered because Lewis (after his lengthy beating) was fresh and doing dives until the end. It lacked any thing resembling flow and cohesiveness. The champions threw powder into Lewis’ eyes and cradled him up for the win.

KOTI Finals: Adam Thornstowe w/Luster the Legend vs. Willie Mack w/B Boy: They went to the floor early and did a long segment where they brawled in the crowd. On one hand it was a fine idea, because no one else did it on the show, but on the other hand the lighting was so poor it was basically impossible to see the action. Mack missed a corkscrew splash, Thornstowe hit a double stomp and several superkicks but Mack kicked out at 1. Thornstowe then hit the frog splash for the win, even if Mack kicked out, which looked like shit. The match overall ended up being a good match, I really liked a lot of what they did and was entertained. Thornstowe is a fine pick for the win, even though I felt that Cobb or Thatcher were better choices.

* The locker room comes to the ring as Thornstowe celebrates with his trophy. Thornstowe cut a promo, thanked everyone and said that the tournament returning was Roland Alexander’s dream.

* End scene.

* Thanks for reading.

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“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”

6.0
The final score: review Average
The 411
This show felt as if it lasted FOREVER in the worst way possible. I really thought Cobb vs. Thatcher was the direction to go for the finals, and was actually surprised that neither man made it in. Overall I’d say it was a better night of wrestling than night one, but some of the booking choices and the filler matches took away from a show that would have been better without it. Drop the filler, put the Juvi vs. Dragon match between the semis and finals and that fixes a lot of things. Sometimes less is more, and that was really the case here.
legend