Perry’s Perspective: What! Debut Show (1-13-18)

What! Debut Show (1-13-18)

What! is a new company that is based out of Providence, RI. The name stands for Wrestling Has a Tomorrow and I love the creativity of that. They are running out of Fete Music Hall, which was a long time venue for Beyond Wrestling. I found out about the show too close to the date and couldn’t make it so I was thrilled when they released the full show on YouTube.

MATCH 1: Anthony Stone vs Bear Bronson vs Danny Miles vs Kellan Thomas vs Little Guido vs Teddy Hart – WHAT! Scramble Match
Teddy Hart was a complete surprise to the crowd and got a huge pop (much like he did during his Limitless return the following weekend). The match was filled with as much craziness as you would expect from a scramble. This was released by What’s youtube page a week before the rest of the show and I had already watched it before this review. I skipped watching it again so no play by play but it was a fun match with Hart coming out on top and he will be facing AR Fox at the next What! show on 2/11.

WINNER: Teddy Hart @ 8:43 (**½)

MATCH 2: Ethan Page vs Simon Grimm
Commentary notes that Grimm wanted to be apart of What! From the time he left WWE and is taking on some good competition here. Grimm is also known as half of the Vaudevillians in WWE as Simon Gotch. I have not had a chance to see a lot of Grimm since his WWE release but was looking forward to see what he could do against Page who is generally an enjoyable talent in and out of the ring. Page controlled much of the offense early but Grimm was able to get in some good looking offense after reversing a clothesline into a rip cord. Page finishes off Grimm with the Spinning Dwayne.

A good match that allowed both men to show some of their best stuff and keep the show momentum going.

WINNER: Ethan Page at 10:38 (***)

Backstage promos from Matt Tremont and Trigga Da OG

MATCH 3: Sully Banger vs Trigga Da OG
I’ve never seen or heard of OG but immediately love his look, straight out of an old mobster movie with some great hip hop entrance music. Sully Banger is new to my eyes too but at first glance reminds me a lot of Silas Young. Commentary claims that Ranger is one of Biff’s (NXT’s Oney Lorcan) most promising students and I immediately gain some intrigue. Ranger appeared to tweak his ankle after coming down from an ace handle which allowed OG to hit a spinning wheel kick for the win.

WINNER: Trigga Da OG at 1:27 (NR)

MATCH 4: Dan Maff vs Matt Tremont
Maff comes out in some of the most colorful attire I have ever seen him in and it looks great. My love for Maff goes back to the DHS days in early ROH, every time I have talked with him at northeast shows he has been a total class act. The crowd is hugely into Matt Tremont from the second his music hits; which is common in the northeast. This was one of the matches that caught my eye on this card as I am expecting some brutality. Show of respect followed by Tremont & Maff exchanging strikes starts us out. Tremont tried coming off the top at one point, only to be met by a cutter from Maff. Maff got Tremont onto the top rope, which enabled him to hit a picture perfect Burning Hammer for the win.

This was the fun sprint that I was expecting and I hope both are gonna be apart of What! going forward and by the sounds of Maff’s promo after he will be.

WINNER: Dan Maff @ 6:35 (**½)

Backstage promos by Ace Romero and AR Fox.

MATCH 5: Ace Romero vs AR Fox
This has some potential as I have seen these two wrestle each other live at Limitless Wrestling (and will be part of a six man tag with Romero teaming with Josh Briggs & JT Dunn to take on Fox’s team of Teddy Hart & Sami Callihan at Limitless on 3/30). Both come out to great entrances that get the crowds pumping. Both men are hugely over with the crowd as dueling chants for both men from the get go. Ace had control but let himself get distracted by Mrs. Fox on the outside. The fight goes to the outside with suicide dives by Fox and then a front flip senton onto a prone Romero. Fox went for a huge dive off the top accross ¾ of the ring and was met by knees from Romero. Fox went for another suicide dive, only to be met with a spinning back drop from Romero onto the concrete but it was only good for 2. Fox hit a diamond dust followed by a 450 but Romero kicked out at 2.998! Fox seems to have hurt his arm, while the ref is checking on him Mrs. Fox sneaks in and hits a low blow on Romero. Romero falls and Fox pins him in awkward fashion for the 3.

The finish left me feeling flat, but it seems like Fox may have been really hurt. Hope he’s doing okay. The action before the finish was fantastic.

WINNER: AR Fox at 15:13 (***½)

Backstage promo by JT Dunn followed by an AMAZING video package that has Dunn narrating what wrestling means to him.

MATCH 6: David Ali © vs Bobby Flaco vs Leon Ruff vs Tommy Maserati – WWA4 Internet Title Four Way Match
WWA4 is the wrestling school/promotion based out of Atlanta, GA run by AR Fox. A lot of the guys in this match (if not all of them) can be seen in Fox’s entourage at EVOLVE shows. Not much of a reaction for any of these guys as I don’t think most live have seen them before (neither have I) but Ruff stood out to me most on the intros. Lots of action from all four guys but without being too familiar with any of them I have quickly forgotten who is who. I have no idea if these guys have wrestled each other a lot or not but they all looked to have great chemistry and hit most of their spots quite seamlessly. This match was loads of fun and never slowed down for a second. Flaco wins by submission.

WINNER: Bobby Flaco @ 10:45 (***¼)

MATCH 7:Christian Casanova & Ken Broadway vs Private Party
I believe I have seen Broadway at some point and Casanova is a Limitless regular; I have heard of Private Party but not watched them before. Both teams come out to some great music and I am excited for a tag team match. Private Party are made up of Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen. Casanova has some extreme heat with the crowd as they yell “get the f*ck out” as the match begins. Casanova hit Quen with a chain while Broadway distracted the ref but wasn’t able to get a 3 count. Good hell work by Casanova & Broadway as they isolate Quen for much of the early match. Once Kassidy gets in the match all rules are gone and we have what becomes a scramble match with few tags, but everything is crisp. Private Party hit Broadway with a hurricarana into a cutter to take him out. They followed this up with one member going to the top for a flip onto Cassanova in an unprettier position.

This was a fun tag match that both teams looked good in. Private Party celebrated post match by dancing with a fan and I know instantly that my 12 year old is gonna love seeing these guys live.

WINNER: Private Party @ 11:47 (**¾)

Backstage post match promo from Private Party followed by a pre-match promo from Sonya Strong.

MATCH 8: Sonya Strong vs Sumie Sakai
Strong is a talent I am not familiar with, while Sakai is a name I have heard for years but only really seen a handful of times including some very early ROH. Handshake to start, but when Strong turns her back Sakai attacks her. Sakai dominated early but once Strong got on offense she was going all out and got a near fall with a cross body off the top. Strong picks up the win the an extremely impressive feat of strength that ends in an inverted DDT. I want more Sonya Strong, and apparently so did Sakai as she lays a lip lock on post match.

WINNER: Sonya Strong @ 7:41 (***)

Promos from JT Dunn and Tommy Dreamer

MAIN EVENT: JT Dunn vs Tommy Dreamer
Dunn comes out to “Enter Sandman” which gets a huge “woah” reaction from the crowd before they get into the song. Dunn even comes through the crowd with an EC F’n W shirt while playing air guitar on a kendo stick and it is glorious! The back of Dunn’s shirt says f*ck ECW and once he gets in the ring he runs down the song and ECW to some great heat. Huge ECW chant breaks out for Dreamer during intros, while the crowd actually boos their own home town when Dunn is introduced. After a few cheap shots by Dunn, Dreamer gets on the mic. Dreamer runs down Dunn, WCW and says he is feeling nostalgic. Dreamer wants the match to go hardcore and makes it an extreme rules falls count anywhere match with the approval of the fans. Dreamer hits the Dusty elbows on Dunn to send him to the outside. Dreamer brings the fight to the outside but right when Dunn gets control back he takes the fight back to the ring. Dreamer heads backstage, leaving Dunn laying in the ring celebrating like he won but Dreamer comes back with a chain and a chair. Dreamer brings in a very stiff looking plastic table and set it up in the corner. As Dreamer looks to deliver a DVD to Dunn through the table, Ethan Page runs in to hit a low blow on Dreamer. This allows Dunn to hit an elbow for the three count. Dunn and Page attack Dreamer post match, Matt Tremont made the save.

Don’t let the rating fool you, this wasn’t the most technical match, but they were not chasing snowflakes. Dunn and Page gave us a fun 15 minute match that really flew by.

WINNER: JT Dunn @ 15:14 (**½)

Announced for What! on 2/11
Ethan Page & JT Dunn vs Tommy Dreamer & Mystery Partner
Keith Lee vs Martin Stone (NXT’s Danny Burch) (FIRST TIME EVER)
Rachael Ellering vs Tenille Dashwood (FKA Emma)
AR Fox vs Teddy Hart

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7.5

The final score: review Good

The 411

What! offered a very solid first outing in the ever emerging northeast wrestling market. Many were sad to see Beyond stop visiting Fete so with What! securing Fete as their home is a good sign for their future. There was not a bad match on this card and while nothing on the show was an early MOTYC, there were certainly matches worth checking out. The prosecution level was good and I didn't notice any blunders, which is great for a debut show. The show is free, go check them out!