Cheap Wrestling for Cheap People 03.16.06: Highspots.TV

Posted by Ryan Byers on 03.16.2006

I give a video on demand service a good review when they didn't even pay me to do so. Who knew that I had scruples?

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to Cheap Wrestling for Cheap People. As always, I'm Ryan, and I will be guiding you through the trials and tribulations of being a wrestling fan who is just attempting to save a few bucks here and there. There's only one way to accomplish that goal, and it begins . . . now.

Cheap, Live Wrestling

Before we get started with the column's normal material, I wanted to pause for a little bit and use an idea that one of my readers gave me many months ago. One of the things that I haven't emphasized nearly enough in this column is that some of the best cheap wrestling that you can see is actually live wrestling, particularly on the independent circuit. Those of you who have never been to an indy show are missing out, as I've never personally had a bad time at one. Even if the action in the ring is dull, you can have a fun time with the crowd, who will generally consist of a hilarious mix of your fellow smarkity smark smarks and a small group of people who still think wrestling is all too real. In order to further support indy wrestling, I thought I'd list upcoming dates for some of the smaller promotions that I've covered in previous editions of the column. Here goes:

~ Pro Wrestling World-1, promoted by Steve Corino, runs in Bay City, MI at the Bay City Central High School on March 18 at 7:30 PM. General admission tickets are $10 for a show headlined by Corino, Ricky Landell, and N8 Mattson wrestling Krazy K, TJ Mack, and Central High School's wrestling coach in a six man tag match.

~ Jersey All Pro, one of the longest running indies in the country, will be at Aberdeen, New Jersey's Tab Ramos Sports Center on March 25. You can get in for as little as $10, and the main event pits Rhyno against Monty Brown. Plus Jay Lethal takes on AJ Styles in what appears to be the match of the night on paper, and, in a pairing you'll probably never see anywhere else, Frankie Kazarian wrestles Charlie Haas.

~ NWA Cyberspace will be at the Baker Ballroom in Dover, NJ on March 26. The cheap seats are $12, but for $30 you can sit ringside AND get a free NWA Cyberspace DVD. The main event will be a four way dance to crown a new NWA Cyberspace Champion. Rodney Mack is already locked in to the match, with qualifying matches taking place the same night to determine his opponents. Qualifying matches signed at this point are Chris Harris vs. Matt Bentley and Sonjay Dutt vs. Mana the Polynesian Warrior. The sleeper match on the show looks to be Josh Daniels vs. Bobby Roode, as both men are talented yet underappreciated young wrestlers.

~ Finally, Pro Wrestling Guerilla brings its special brand of chicanery to Hollywood-Los Feliz Jewish Community Center in LA on March 18. The $20 tickets are the most expensive in this lot of shows, but it's also the best top to bottom card being presented. In the main events, Joey Ryan defends the PWG Title against Chris Sabin, while Tag Champs Super Dragon and Davey Richards put their belts on the line against AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels. Good times are likely to be had by all.

That does it for the live shows. Depending on how popular it proves to be, this may become a semi-regular feature. I'm sure everybody is going to stay up late biting their nails in anticipation of whether this will actually be the case. To help you pass the time until a decision is made, here's this week's Cheap Wrestling tip.

Cheap Wrestling Tip #32: Highspots.TV

When I first got on to the internet and decided to look for places to buy wrestling merchandise, the first site that I stumbled across was the vaunted Highspots.com. Thanks to the usual crop of bootleg tapes and some ridiculously cheap imports form Mexico, I spent way too much money at the site. Over the years, Highspots has evolved a good deal, gaining much more merchandise from legitimate distributors, which has allowed it to look a lot more like a real business and a lot less like STONECoLdDX316SUXIT's tape trading website. Last year, the site announced perhaps its biggest change yet – the addition of Highspots.tv, a video on demand service through which we wrestling fans can pay to download matches spanning many decades and many geographical regions. Though the number of videos available is still relatively small, there's some good stuff there, generally for the low price of $3.99 per match. This week I've decided to help you, John Q. Wrestling Fan, sift through a bit of the material that is on the site so that you can determine whether plunking down your hard earned cash is worth the trouble.

What's the best way to do this? Let's just break down what is on the site by category . . .

St. Louis Wrestling – These classic matches are ripped directly from the St. Louis Wrestling DVDs that have been available all over the internet for the last couple of years. I personally haven't seen much of them, though the general consensus among younger wrestling fans seems to be that they're boring as all hell. Folks who appreciate old school grappling love 'em, though, and I can see why they would. There are some great opportunities here to see wrestlers who WWE will largely ignore despite its current nostalgia kick – guys like Bruiser Brody, Dick the Bruiser, Giant Baba, Gene Kiniski, Randy Savage, and Andre the Giant back when he was still mobile. Though it may not be your normal cup of tea, I'd suggest giving at least one match a try, particularly one with some of the bigger name wrestlers. If nothing else, it will help to flesh out your understanding of this great sport's past.

Carolina Championship Wrestling – The St. Louis matches are like a window in to the past. The CCW matches are are a look at what the guys from the past are doing these days. The CCW bouts available on Highspots primarily consist of Dusty Rhodes bunkhouse matches against Tully Blanchard, Terry Funk, and Abdullah the Butcher. Though I haven't seen those matches take place in CCW, I have seen other twenty-first century brawls involving these men against each other, and they're all in the negative star range despite Big Dust's impressive ability to get a crowd behind him. Avoid those at all costs unless you feel the need to watch some of your childhood heros stab each other with forks and hit each other with chairs for ridiculously long periods of time. However, there is a bit of gold in online CCW matches . . . and that gold is the modern rekindling of the feud between the Midnight Express and the Rock n' Roll Express. Though the two teams have obviously lost a step from their younger days, their fundamentals are just so damn good that it's next to impossible for them to have a bad match. It's a lot like watching Fit Finlay in WWE these days. At first glance, he looks like he should be two months away from the retirement home, but then he starts fighting and actually makes the world believe that he's an athlete despite his advanced age and copious injuries. The MX/RnR bouts on Highspots are the tag team version of that phenomenon, and they're well worth checking out.

Pro Wrestling Superstars: Past, Present, & Future – I've talked a bit about Pro Wrestling Superstars in these columns before. They were a series of one hour pay per view specials that featured various independent wrestling action from across North America. After their initial PPV run, they were released on a series of three DVDs entitled "Slam Bam." All of the matches from the three DVDs are available on Highspots.tv. Though I have yet to see any of Episode 3, you can check out my archived review of Episode 2 here. I've also checked out Episode 1, and it follows much the same pattern as the episode I actually managed to write about.

Pro Wrestling Guerilla – Southern California's favorite little indy has a few matches featured on the site as well, and it's probably the best modern wrestling available there. The gentlemen wrestling in these bouts are allowed to cut loose and go all out just like they would in a promotion like ROH, but PWG has a great knack for putting them in to unique matchups and generally featuring a lighthearted attitude. Plus they add some quality talent that you're unlikely to see anywhere else, including graduates of California's Revolution Pro dojo and SoCal standout B-Boy. Essentially, everything I've seen from the promotion has been well worth watching. Speaking of things I've watched, one match that I have reviewed in the past is available through the Highspots services, so here's a reprint of the review for anybody who may be considering a download:

Ebessan vs. Kuishinbo Kamen (Pro Wrestling Guerilla 88 Miles Per Hour

Kamen and Ebessan gained the vast majority of their popularity in Osaka Pro Wrestling. They're noted for wrestling comedy matches against each other, which they took on a tour of US indies throughout 2004. From what I understand, if you've seen the match once, you've seen it a million times . . . but I'm guessing most of you haven't seen it. Ebessan starts by working the mic, informing us that everybody who is not at the live show is a homosexual. He's also angry that his luggage was lost by the airline and got stuck with a fake ticket to Monday Night Raw when he made the mistake of trusting a scalper. Some yogurt from 7-11 has also recently set his ass on fire. Despite all of his hardship, he'll still put on the world's greatest comedy match. That's nice of him.

The fans throw white streamers in to the ring before the match, and Ebessan collects some, acts as if they're toilet paper, and thanks the crowd for the gift. Things kick off with a sequence in which the two men work in slow motion, including chops and sholderblocks that look as though they were performed in molasses. The world's slowest shining wizard finishes the sequence for Ebessan. Armbars are then exchanged between the two men, and Ebessan tries to counter, only to roll IN to the move as opposed to out of it. More reversals turn in to a dance sequence, and the two then take turns tripping each other. Ebessan chops and pull out the Flair/Fargo strut before resting in a neutral corner. Kamen gets a second rope rana on his man, and hen the two men bust out some breakdancing. Kuishinbo then misses not one but two diving headbutts, and Ebessan applies the sleeper. Kamen is out at two drops of the arm, and he kicks his man in the face before knocking him out of the ring and breaking the bottom rope again. The two trade places when Kamen teases a dive, and Ebessan then crotches Kuishinbo when he tries to reenter the ring. Referee Taro tries to head outside to check on Kamen, and Ebessan crotches him as well. Everybody eventually winds up back on the inside, and Ebessan looks for the Shinzaki rope walk . . . but he slips an crotches himself. Kamen takes things to the outside again and hits an Asai moonsault before we head back in. Kuishinbo gets a top rope rana, but it only gets two. The duo then trade low blows, and the referee eats one as well. An Ebessan Michinoku Driver hits, but it can't finish the match because the referee is still injured. When the referee does get back up, Ebessan hits a corkscrew moonsault, but it can only get two. At that point, Kamen winds up sending Ebessan in to Taro, and the ref grabs 'San's head for whatever reason. Kuishinbo capitalizes by clotheslining Taro, resulting in Ebessan getting DDTed. A Kamen corkscrew moonsault later, and Kuishinbo has won the match.

Match Thoughts: Given that the whole point of this match was to parody normal matches, it doesn't seem quite right to give it any sort of rating. However, I will say that it is a very unique look at a style of wrestling we'll probably never get to experience in the United States. Though reading descriptions of their matches from Japan make those bouts seem a good deal funnier, this was still very amusing and probably the only opportunity you'll get to see the duo work on a United States release.

CWF Mid-Atlantic – Highspots is based out of the Carolinas, so they've always had a good working relationship with independent groups in the area. Highpots.TV's carrying CWF Mid-Atlantic television shows is a continuation of that relationship. Newer episodes of their television program are available online for free, and older, archived shows can be purchased for just $1.99. It looks like they've got good production values for a smaller company, decent potential for distributing their product, and they've even teamed up with Dale Gange's effort at bastardizing the name of the AWA. Will they be able to parlay all of these advantages in to a watchable product? That's the subject of this week's full review, as I take on two episodes of CWF fun.

CWF Mid-Atlantic 2-18-06

"The Madd Trucker" Gary Stevens vs. Joshua Boyd

These are two very, very obese men. Seriously, it's like they pulled two stereotypical "rasslin' fans" out of the audience and threw singlets on them. Stevens hits a corner clothesline and a snap mare to start, and here's a chinlock. Boyd gets out of it with a jawbreaker, which Stevens sells with a Flair flop. Josh fires off some hard chops after that one, and he follows up with a chinlock of his own. Stevens starts a comeback with a back elbow and a kneedrop, setting up a vertical suplex. Boyd does the world's sloooooowest small package reversal for two, and Boyd catches him with a sunset flip for a nearfall of his own. The Trucker stays on top with a couple of clostheslines, and the second one nets him a win at 3:16.

Match Thoughts: For big boys, these two actually moved pretty well and executed sequences that are typically only reserved for smaller guys. It wasn't horrible by any stretch of the imagination, but the length precludes a high rating. 1/2*

If you couldn't get enough of Gary Stevens, here he is again, this time in a highlight reel of his cage match with CWF Mid-Atlantic Champion Ric Converse. Stevens is left laying in a massive pool of his own blood, but I don't care. I'm too distracted by the fact that the company's championship belt looks like it's made out of posterboard and double sided tape.

Here comes the real highlight of the show. A gentleman calling himself "Boogie Woogie Man" Rob McBride tells us that he has won the Mid-Atlantic TV Title and wishes to inform his "daddy" Jimmy Valiant about the big win. He sneaks up on Jimmy at some wrestling school or another, and unfortunately Boogie has lost his trademark beard. Jimmy apparently handed the Boogie Woogie Man name to McBride a few years ago, and he tells Rob that he's going to be the Boogie Woogie man for the next forty years. This sounds pretty ridiculous given that McBride looks like he could keel over from a heart attack at any given moment. A full-on kiss on the lips between the two men follows. I really wish I was kidding about that.

Match Numero Dos: "A Very Handsome Man" Mitch Connor, Marcellus King, & Julius Augustus vs. Brass Munkey, J-Money, & Will B. Smooth

I was going to write about how "A Very Handsome Man" is now my favorite indy wrestling nickname, but then a guy named Brass Munkey came out of the locker room seconds later. Seriously, who comes up with this stuff? It's a pier six brawl to start, and the faces (Team Munkey) clear the ring. Munkey does a tope after that, and he actually hits a fan's drink with his foot on the way down, thus spilling the whole thing on the concrete floor. If I was booking, that fan would be smartened up immediately, and the two men would be feuding over the spilled beverage the next week. Anyway, things are taking a while to regroup after the dive, but it's Connor and Will B. Smooth in the ring when things start up again. Smooth is trapped in a headlock, but he reverses it in to a headscissors. The Handsome Man tries to turn that in to a Texas Cloverleaf, but Smooth kicks him off and drops a leg on the bad guy's knee. He drops an elbow on it as well, and here comes the Munkey. He hits a dragon screw and holds on to the leg, immobilizing his opponent while a tag to J-Money occurs. Money immediately puts on a figure four, but Marcellus King is in to break it up. Connor manages to get a legal tag to him quickly thereafter, but the good guys neutralize him thanks to more leg work by Munkey and Smooth. J-Money comes back in after that, catching his opponent with a leaping clothesline, though his Stinger Splash attempt misses. King takes over on him with a high suplex, and there's a tag to Augustus, who hits a slam for two. A surfboard submission follows from Julius, but that's powered out of and reversed in to a backslide for two. A dropkick by J-Money allows him to tag Munkey, who hammers all of the heels and hits a missile dropkick on Marcellus for a nearfall. We're back to the pier sixer after that, as Money and Smooth hit a Hart Attack on King for two. They head to the outside after that, which distracts the referee to no end. Munkey gets a small package on Connor while the official is gone, with the pinning combination eventually being reversed. That plus a handful of tights equals a heel victory at 10:16.

Match Thoughts: This match wasn't actively bad, but it wasn't anything to write home about, either. All six of the men involved seemed to be passable professional wrestlers, even if they didn't necessarily have the look or charisma to be stars. (Though Connor did cut a decent promo before the match.) All of their offense looked solid, and some of it was even pretty unique. The problem came with the actual flow of the match, as we had too much dominance by the babyfaces in the early going. That lead to the attempted heat sequence being too short, which in turn lead to the match as a whole feeling lackluster. Though the closing moments were fairly exciting and well executed, they came off a bit flat due to the lack of build preceding them. *

CWF Mid-Atlantic 2-25-06

Up first . . . a recap of last week's show! 'Cuz I didn't just download and watch that five minutes ago.

Match Numero Uno: Xsiris & Joey Silvia vs. Tank Lawson & Drake Tungsten

The parade of fabulous names continue, as we've now got a kid out here who stole his surname from a metal that gained its greatest fame as a light bulb filament. Silvia and Xsiris hit a double dropkick early to clear the bigger men from the ring, and that sets up a spinning pescado from Xsiris off of Silvia's back. Tank comes back in to the squared circle for a neck snap from Joey, which he follows up with a leg lariat. A suplex fails, though, with Lawson reversing in to a slam and daring his opponent to punch him in the abs in a funny heel spot. The ab punches don't work, but a thumb to the eye does. That move leads in to a side Russian leg sweep, which sets up a tag to Xsiris. His subsequent cross body block is reversed in to an airplane spin, which is turned in to a Samoan drop. Lawson gets a bit cocky, though, and he's hit with an enzuguri. Both men tag their partners, and Lawson is a house afire. He forearms away on Drake before whipping him in to Lawson. Joey gets down on all fours after that, and X leaps off of his back with a Rocker Dropper down on to Tungsten. Silvia follows that up with a guillotine legdrop from the top, and that wraps up the match at 4:21.

Match Thoughts: This was just a squash for Xsiris and Silvia, with Lawson getting in some token offense and Tungsten doing absolutely nothing other than getting pinned. The winners could do a bunch of dives and high flying moves well enough, but I've seen so much of that at this point that it's not impressive anymore. They may as well have been trading wristlocks for the four and a half minutes. It probably would have gotten the same rating. 3/4*

Match Numero Dos: Matty Dee vs. Mikael Yamaha

There's actually a backstory behind this one, as Yamaha and his obnoxious heel manager put Dee on the shelf for quite some time thanks to a steel chair. Said story is told to us via video package, and now we're at ringside for the bout. Yamaha rolls out for some stalling in the beginning, but Dee will have none of it and hits a huge plancha on him. Yamaha is posted as well, and Dee heads up to the top rope when the men return to the ring. That's blocked, though, and Dee takes a spill to the area floor after Mikael snaps his neck over the top rope. Yamaha uses the ring apron to choke him out after that, but too much celebrating by the heel allows Matty to hit a bulldog. Mike rolls out to the floor one more time, where he catches Dee with a lariat and tosses him back in to the squared circle for a neck vice. Dee eventually escapes that and hits a springboard back elbow from the second rope, which sets up a pair of atomic drops and a clothesline for two. A couple of power drive elbows connect as well, and apparently this guy's gimmick is that he does everything twice. Actually, he does some things ten times, like the punches in the corner. Yamaha takes the advantage after that, though, dropkicking Dee in the knee. Matty's face actually slapped in to the bottom rope thanks to a bad fall, but he still manages to block a DDT. Yamaha tries to keep his advantage with a superkick, but he inadvertently nails the referee. Dee blasts Yamaha with a superkick of his own after that, and he looks to have the match well in hand thanks to a top rope legdrop. Yamaha ally Donny Dollars runs in after that, and he gorilla presses Mikael in to a chokeslam. Dollars is eventually run off by a pair of Dee's friends, but a masked man runs in and hits Matty with a chair. Mike follows that up with his DDT on to the very same piece of furniture, and the bad guy steals a victory at 7:44. There's a big heel beatdown after the match, and the masked "man" reveals himself to be Amber O' Neil of Team Blondage fame, who signed a WWE developmental deal earlier this year.

Match Thoughts: There's one big flaw in this match right off the bat – namely that the opening spot was practically a carbon copy of what happened in the match immediately preceding it. I don't know whether it's the fault of the wrestlers for not paying more attention or the fault of the producers for putting two similar matches on the same program, but either way it exposes the business a bit too much for my liking. The other problem with the bout was that, despite the fact that these two men were in a heated blood feud, they sure as hell weren't wrestling like it. If you're a high flyer and you're in a grudge match, you can still work in some highspots . . . but the match certainly shouldn't be ALL highspots like it was here. If you hate a man, go in there and act like you're fighting him, not like you're trying to out-wrestle him. *

Overall Thoughts

CWF Mid-Atlantic was nothing spectacular. In some regards, it was no worse than any other professional wrestling show that I've seen on the internet. Hell, it was ten times better than WWE Heat. Really, though, you could tell it was just a bunch of inexperienced (yet dedicated) individuals going out there and putting on what they thought a wrestling match should be. They all still had a bit to learn, but a few of them could be pretty good if they stuck with the sport and got a little bit of guidance. In short, watch an episode or two for free, but don't bother paying for them unless you somehow get drawn in to one of the storylines.

But what of the Highspots.TV service as a whole? As I mentioned at the top of the column, there is still not a huge selection on the site. However, the foundation upon which the company is building seems to be solid. There is something for just about everybody. Fans of old school wrestling can enjoy the St. Louis DVDs. Fans of modern pure wrestling can enjoy the PWG. Fans of more obscure independent wrestling can enjoy Slam Bam or even CWF. The only thing missing is a bit more international action. The downloads are all relatively high quality, and they'll be on your hard drive forever – no more of this streaming crap. Though in most cases it would be cheaper to buy a whole DVD than the matches that make it up, going a match at a time is a great way to sample new products for future purchases or select one bout from a lineup that otherwise appears lackluster. So, throw a couple of your dollars towards Highspots. They're good folks.