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Kevin’s Alpha-1 Watch the Throne Review

July 11, 2016 | Posted by Kevin Pantoja
7
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Kevin’s Alpha-1 Watch the Throne Review  

Alpha-1 Wrestling Watch the Throne
April 10th, 2016 | Knights of Columbus in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

For those unaware, Alpha-1 Wrestling is a Canadian based promotion run, founded and owned by independent star Ethan Page (who I’ve mostly seen in Evolve). It was established in 2010 and you check out information about the company at their website (www.alpha-1wrestling.com/). Some big names have passed through the promotion including Kevin Owens, Luke Harper, Michael Elgin, Jimmy Jacobs, Colt Cabana, Carlito, Petey Williams, Eddie Kingston, Tommy Dreamer, Rhyno, Ricochet, Kyle O’Reilly and Johnny Gargano to name a few. This show is my first look into the company and will be the first of several reviews for them.

The show starts by playing Kanye West and Jay-Z’s “N***as in Paris”, which is a song I love.

Alex Daniels def. Shane Sabre in 3:45
I’ve never seen either guy compete before so this was interesting. Daniel appeared to be a high flyer as he went for an early 630. He also got in a sweet bridging German as they worked at a very quick pace. Commentary said this could be a main event in other companies, so I’m guessing both guys do well around their area. Daniels hit a damn burning hammer and only got a near fall! Sabre cut off Daniels on the top but got knocked off. Daniels then connected on a great 630 and got the win. Super quick pace and big offensive moves. I thought it was fun, but too short to be really good. After the match, Daniels staked his claim for the company’s Zero Gravity Title. **½

Ten Man Gauntlet Match: Jim Nye def. Cloudy, Dick Justice, Dr. Daniel C. Rockingham, Frankie Flynn, Hellcat, Josh Rogen, Preston Myles, Rickey Shane Page and Space Monkey in 18:24
The winner earned a shot at any title they wanted. Myles and Flynn began the match. Myles stopped to dab, instantly making me like him. He worked quickly and used an awesome inverted stunner to eliminate Flynn at 0:59. Rogen was the next man in. He’s a former Alpha-1 Champion apparently but had to deal with a hot start from Myles. Rogen did the little heel things, like hiding behind the referee and poking the eyes. He used a roll of the dice to advance at 3:39. Dick Justice showed up and everything about him is ridiculous in a good way. The crowd ate up everything he did. JJ Sadimi (I’m not sure, I couldn’t understand his last name) came out and arrested Justice for impersonating a police officer (his gear is police officer inspired) so he gets eliminated via countout at 7:04. Space Monkey is next and he seems pretty ridiculous too. He literally is out in a monkey mask and selling leg work from a previous show. He advanced at 8:39 with a Michinoku Driver like move. Rockingham was next and seems like another very interesting character. Monkey fought valiantly, survived offense and eliminated the doctor with a rana at 10:53. Rickey Shane Page made his return next and got a huge pop. He instantly knocked out Monkey and made him tap to a cloverleaf at 11:42. Page took time to cut a promo before the next entrant. He talked about taking time off for some personal problems. Jim Nye “the Science Guy” was next and ended up in a cloverleaf too. Nye tapped but Page refused to break the hold so he got DQed and Nye got to stick around. Hellcat was next and tried to steal a cheap win but Nye kicked out. Nye beat him with a rollup at 15:57. Cloudy, who I am familiar with, drew the final spot. They had a good back and forth including a nice looking rolling Paydirt by Cloudy. Nye won after using an O’Connor roll. This was a ton of fun. Wacky characters, a cool return and some pretty solid wrestling. Nye announced after the bell that he would go after the Tag Team Titles with Space Monkey as his partner! ***¼

Alessandro Del Bruno def. Nunzio in 9:01
An all Italian grudge match. Bruno apparently calls himself the “Godfather”. Yes, that is Little Guido/the Nunzio we all know. Bruno was the clear heel, hiding behind his valet, using her for interference and taking some powders outside. One thing Nunzio always did well was bump and he hasn’t lost it. He took Bruno’s offense and made it look really good at almost every turn. He also nailed a really good looking powerbomb himself for a near fall. Nunzio seemed like he may rally but well-timed interference from Ms. Chung led to a Penalty Kick that got Bruno the win. Another fun match and it was cool to see Nunzio. ***

Scott O’Shea, the Alpha-1 Alpha Male Champion, came out and called out someone called the Virus. He wanted the Virus to unmask his V for Vendetta like mask. O’Shea wanted to know what he had to do to get him to remove the mask and Virus pointed at the title. This brought out Commissioner Josh Alexander who agrees to the terms. Virus removes the mask and Seleziya Sparx. I’ve never seen her before but she gets a great reaction and “Holy Shit” chants. She gets her title shot tonight in a no disqualification match as she is added to the main event.

Alpha-1 Zero Gravity Championship: Kobe Durst (c) def. Heidi Lovelace in 14:51
Lovelace started this by leaping out onto Durst during his entrance. He hit her with a chair shortly after telling me this was going to be hardcore. They brawled around the ring and even outside by picnic tables. Back in the ring, she caught a leaping Durst in a sitout powerbomb for two. The crowd was completely in all of this. She tried a double knee drop through the table but it didn’t break so she went up for a senton and double stomp that still didn’t break it. She got pissed and finally broke it with a powerbomb. She lit him up with a serious of running kicks before hitting a rana onto a chair. He threw a chair viciously at her head, busting her open. They fought onto the bar where she tried a rana off of it through a nearby table. Del Bruno showed back up as Durst blocked the rana and penalty kicked her! Durst took advantage and hit a PILEDRIVER OFF THE BAR THROUGH THE TABLE! I couldn’t tell if he pinned her or the referees stopped the match here but wow, what a finish. The whole thing was great. I know a lot of people aren’t into intergender or violent matches and I get that. I really enjoyed this and am looking forward to seeing more of Lovelace, who is one badass chick. ****

Alpha-1 Tag Team Championship: The Theory of Evolution def. Black Spades (c) and Eric Carnie and Gregory Iron in 11:28
The Theory of Evolution is the fun duo from earlier, Jim Nye and Space Monkey. They played the underdogs, especially considering their match earlier. Monkey continued to sell the leg well. Black Spades busted out some pretty impressive double team offense and you could just tell that they’ve developed good chemistry over time. Money nailed a monkey flip which just made me chuckle. Black Spades eliminated Carnie and Iron with the Shatter Machine, leaving the champions alone with the hurt tandem from earlier. Iron turned on Carnie after their elimination. Space Monkey played the face in peril and his selling was really good. Nye got the hot tag and did well with it. He hit a powerbomb and then they busted out the Rocket Launcher to pull off the upset. Like most of the show, I found this fun. Black Spades came across well and are a really solid tag team, while Monkey’s selling helped his team make for a great underdog story. ***

Ethan Page def. Shane Douglas in 15:16
Billed as “The Ego vs. The Franchise”. You could file this under matches I never expected to watch. The crowd treated it like a huge deal, which certainly added to everything. They played to the crowd and did a bit upping each other. Page found Space Monkey’s helmet at ringside and used it for a headbutt. They eventually moved away from the fun and games into a more serious contest. Page survived a second rope spinebuster and the Franchiser before winning via Headshot. Fine match here as they kept things enjoyable and worked around some of Douglas’ physical limitations. After the match, Shane shot on WWE & TNA, put over Page and shared a beer with Nunzio. **½

Alpha-1 Alpha Male Championship: Seleziya Sparx def. Scotty O’Shea (c), Brent Banks and Cheech in 15:02
Nobody wanted any part of Sparx, pissed at her for the Virus angle. She took that opening to sit on the side while everyone else went at it before joining in herself. She quickly found herself outside again, sneaking in to try and steal the win. The three men involved did a good job without her, pulling out some cool spots. Cheech got eliminated first by Banks with the Bankroll at 10:50, only for Sparx to come in and roll him up at 10:58 and he’s gone. It came down to Sparx and the champion, O’Shea. Sparx came at him with big offense, including a series of powerbombs for two. O’Shea planted her with a piledriver but hesitated on a corner cannonball. She rolled him up for a near fall so he gave in and superkicked her. He hit the cannonball but the Virus ran out and kicked him in the nuts! This new Virus nailed him with a curb stomp (not the Seth Rollins version) and laid Sparx on O’Shea for the win. I sound like a broken record, but that was another fun match. Everyone worked hard, the eliminations made sense, nobody looked weak and the angle at the end came off great. ***½

Sparx got up, exhausted and asked for a microphone. She wanted to defend the title right there against the masked man. The referee agreed and you could see fans return to their seats.

Alpha-1 Alpha Male Championship: The Virus def. Seleziya Sparx (c) in 0:09
Sparx laid down instantly for the Virus. She handed him the title and he revealed himself to be JOSH ALEXANDER! Alexander had to retire recently and is the commissioner but is now also the champion. He cut a heel promo after, saying that he took all of the fans’ money and then fired former champion Scotty O’Shea. He announced that he would defend the title on the next show against Heidi Lovelace since she hurt her neck. He is still the commissioner.

7.0
The final score: review Good
The 411
My first look at Alpha-1 proved to be a fun endeavor. The show flies by and clocks in at just under two hours, making for a very easy watch. There are no bad matches at all. Page/Douglas and the opener were the lowest rated but both are pretty fun. The show is highly entertaining with a lot of wacky characters. There’s a bit of everything here including blasts from the page (Douglas & Nunzio), comedy moments, good tag team wrestling, a major angle playing out and an awesome hardcore brawl. I look forward to more.
legend

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Alpha 1 Wrestling, Kevin Pantoja