Furious’ Black Label Pro Dropkicks & Dragons Review 7.27.19

We’re in Crown Point, Indiana. Black Label Pro is one of the promotions I got to see Mania weekend. Their Adventures in Wrestling show featured some very solid pro-wrestling but they also booked Nick Gage vs. Swoggle and Orange Cassidy vs. Bryan Alvarez. This is a company that thinks outside the box. I promised I’d be back. It’s taken a while but here we are.

Initial impressions are that the building is a fucking ugly big box and it’s quite jarring after seeing a Riptide show right beforehand.

BLP Mid-West Championship: Jake Parnell (c) vs. AJ Gray: Parnell has developed a good reputation for his matches with Gary Jay. These two work hard and it feels tonally like a Japanese style match. The execution is patchy with some notable timing problems. Especially on the finish where AJ batters Parnell with a lariat for the title. It doesn’t feel right at all. Final Rating: **1/2

Larry D vs. Jonathan Gresham: Larry is in his mid-30s and has been wrestling for 15 years. He looks like a ‘local wrestler’. He’s had a run as the IWA-Mid South champion. If that means anything in 2019. BLP look super Indie here by having Parnell standing behind the curtain chatting about his match as Gresham walks out. We can see you! I like the contrast here with a big chunky power dude against a smaller technician. Larry D does not look at home when selling and is far more effective on offence. Some of his bumps are embarrassing and it makes me question why the match is structured as it is. It’s not that he’s dogging it either, he just can’t take the spots due to his size and lack of mobility. Gresham kills himself trying to make Larry D look good and it boggles the mind what wrestles do sometimes. The match is way too long and if I never see another Larry D match I’d be fine with that. Larry D wins with a punch. I felt sorry for Gresham watching this. This was like a circus side-show act and as a novelty it was interesting but Larry D is nowhere near Gresham’s level and was attempting things here he simply couldn’t do. Final Rating: *1/2

Jaxon Stone vs. Logan Stunt: There is quite the size difference here. Jaxon charges in, Logan whiffs on a roundhouse, and that’s the match. Final Rating: DUD

Jordynne Grace vs. Swoggle: When I mentioned BLP thinking outside the box this is the kind of thing I was thinking of. Grace is deceptively short. I realised this when I walked past her outside the ResGal. So the usual size difference stuff isn’t as glaring as it is when Swoggle works a taller opponent. Jordynne has a great gimmick where if a fan is wearing her “slam me” t-shirt she can legally slam them on her opponent. I’m not sure how this falls under the remit of the rules of the game but in terms of lawsuits she should be ok. Swoggle has obvious limitations and Jordynne mostly works around them but occasionally the match collapses under the weight of those limitations. The ‘giant swing’ spot that never happens is a prime example. Allie Kat walks in, boots Swoggle in the face and that’s a DQ. Final Rating: **1/2

Gary Jay vs. Tom Lawlor: Gary Jay’s whole look screams “never going to work for WWE” and I am fine with that. Filthy Tom is so great. He’s going to be a star in this business because he feels legitimate. Some of the set ups are a little clunky here but they compensate for it by just beating the shit out of each other. Jay hits three topes right at the hardcam. Are you trying to knock everything off line? They stand there planting each other with strikes until Lawlor gets KO’d and that’s it. Easily the best thing on this show so far. Just a war between two dudes smacking each other about. Final Rating: ***1/2

Violence is Forever (Dom Garrini & Kevin Ku) vs. The Workhorsemen (JD Drake & Anthony Henry): I like this line up and I want them to smash each other about but instead I get a lot of pre-planned rehearsed stuff that doesn’t jangle my chain. Then it breaks down and just start waffling each other and that’s better. The match slips in and out of good with a terrible Ku dropkick being one of the lowlights. Ku is suffering from sunburn and that might be causing him more discomfort than he’s letting on. He has some pretty major timing issues. I’m sad that the match is messy because when it is good it’s very good but those moments are few and far between. The finish is fucking awful. It’s supposed to be a cradle turnover but they don’t get on the same page for it and it looks horrible. Final Rating: ***1/4

Promo Time: Ricky Steamboat: He’s the titular Dragon in the shows title. Danny Adams interrupts his rambling old man promo, which earns him some delightful punches to the mush.

Trey Miguel vs. Brian Pillman Jr: The more grounded Pillman Jr has incredible hair and his gear is looking more 90s by the day. He’s got a nicely rounded style. Miguel leans on his flying pretty heavily. When he’s not taking to the air I find him fairly bland. He should probably develop a personality so I stop analyzing how clunky his transitions are. Pillman mercifully puts me out of my misery and pins Miguel on a roll up counter. Good grief this was bad. The blame must solely sit at the feet of Trey Miguel. His missed clotheslines and assorted other ‘set up’ spots were fucking awful. Final Rating: *

Tenille Dashwood vs. Allie Kat: Tenille has barely wrestled this year after getting injured in ROH almost a year ago. She looks a little rusty because of that and Allie isn’t experienced enough to cover for that. Allie is sunburned too and they turn that into an angle. Even with the ring rust Tenille is the better worker here. Allie’s bumps lack snap and she’s at that stage of her career where those should be coming along. There are some really awkward spots too like a roll up where Allie doesn’t kick out and Tenille basically rolls off her because it’s not the finish. You’ll need to explain to me why either woman does what they do there. Allie gets distracted by Jordynne Grace, which is fair play because she ran in on Grace’s match, and Tenille wins with a boot to the head. Final Rating: *3/4

Danhausen vs. Effy: Facepainted, heavily tattooed Satanist Danhausen is new on me. He looks like a bit of a nerd so Effy takes him to school by sitting on him at weird angles. Danhausen decides to empty a jar of teeth into Effy’s mouth. Yes, teeth. Cradle DDT on the teeth finishes. This was absolutely nothing but weird stuff with a jar of teeth. Final Rating: *1/4

BLP Tag Team Championship – Blood Diamond (Jake Lander & Tre Lemar) (c) vs. Flip, Flop and Flyball (Boomer Hatfield & Cabana Man Dan) vs. Hysteria (Cole Radrick & Sage Philips) vs. The Space Pirates (Shane Sabre & Space Monkey): I would love this to be Flyball vs. Pirates in a straight tag but sadly it’s not to be. The crowd are fairly bored apparently and react to nothing here. Nothing at all. I mean, with this undercard I can understand it but everyone works hard and they get nothing. Most of the spots connect but the attempt to run an all-action spotfest fall flat thanks to the crowd. Pop something! The champs botch something or other on Radrick and we’re done. I suspect the show is in the process of running late because this was super rushed and nobody gave a fuck. Final Rating: **1/4

BLP Championship – Kobe Durst (c) vs. Ethan Page: Durst won the title over Mania weekend in a crazy hardcore match. Page, the former champion, is therefore due a rematch and this is it. Old Eggo does his best to save the show by throwing Durst at absolutely everything in the building. Tables, ladders, chairs. Oh my! They brawl out into the car park and Durst hits an ugly moonsault off the back of a car. I have sympathy because it’s tough to get your footing on a motor. Seeing as this is the main event they just wreck the entire building. It’s a lot of fun and easily the best thing on the show since the Tom Lawlor/Dom Garrini inspired midcard action. Page basically dominates but Joshua Bishop runs in to align himself with Durst. Page gets literally taped down by concrete blocks and cannot stand to answer the ten count. That’s quite the innovative finish. Match was suitably chaotic and at least on a par with the Mania weekend one. Final Rating: ***1/2

5.5

The final score: review Not So Good

The 411

I’m sure this is an isolated incident as I’ve seen Black Label Pro before and they’ve been completely fine but there was something in the water here. Or possibly the sun. So many people had a stinking night. Even the good matches suffered from timing issues and communication problems. Basically; it’s too hot today man.