By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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LA Fights “Volume 5”
Streamed on YouTube.com
July 16, 2022 in Baldwin Park, California at American Legion Post #241
I have to start off by saying I hate the set-up of this building. There is a large, large mirror across from the hard camera. Why? It is creating all sorts of weird reflections of the wrestlers’ movements in the ring, and that is quite distracting. They wisely used the ringside cameras often. This is a large room with a high enough ceiling it won’t be a problem for high-flyers, and the crowd is perhaps 150.
1. Starboy Charlie defeated Lucas Riley at 12:38. Charlie is the teenager who just returned from injury and he’s a decent worker. Charlie hit a nice Northern Lights suplex. They traded hard forearms and spin kicks to each other’s thighs. Charlie hit a stunner. Riley hit a brainbuster, then he applied a Fujiwara Armbar. Charlie applied a Muta Lock, and Riley tapped out. Good opener; these youngsters tried really hard.
2. Titus Alexander defeated Damian Drake at 8:13. Again, Titus reminds me of Ethan Page in looks and heelish mannerisms. Drake wore a pink shirt and reminded me of a young Joey Ryan. Titus hit a brainbuster for a believable nearfall at 6:30. Damian hit a Dragon Suplex, a handspring-back-stunner, and another stunner, for a believable nearfall. Titus nailed a Michinoku Driver for the pin. Titus continues to impress.
3. Brandon Gatson defeated Gregory Sharpe and Midas Kreed at 9:58. Sharpe, a Black man, has the blank stare (think Dexter Lumis) of a psycho killer. Kreed, also a Black man, is talented and reminds me of Wes Lee. Gatson is a seasoned pro; I remember first seeing him in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla in about 2010. Fast-paced reversals to start. Sharpe set up for a Pounce, but hit a running kick rather than a spear. Cool spot. Sharpe powerbombed one guy onto the other in the corner.
Gatson gave Kreed a backbody drop, but Kreed rotated and hit a splash on Sharpe. Gatson hit a Spanish Fly. Kreed nailed a dive to the floor on Sharpe. Gatson hit an impressive Sasake Special flip dive to the floor at 7:00. In the ring, Kreed hit a Saito Suplex.. This has been fast-paced and fun. Kreed did a Cloud Cutter that didn’t quite land. Gatson hooked Kreed’s leg and hit a fisherman’s DDT for the pin. Really fun.
4. Juicy Finau defeated Rob Shit at 6:53. Rob looks like a 1980s rocker in his black vest; I wasn’t impressed with his recent hardcore match in GCW, but again, that’s not my preferred style. Juicy is wearing his Blue Meanie-style half-shirt, letting his huge gut hang out the bottom. He just is unhealthy in how huge he is. He bodyslammed Rob early and dominated. Rob went for a sunset flip at 3:30, but Juicy just dropped all of weight down on Rob’s chest for a nearfall. Rob clipped Juicy’s knee, hit a Curbstomp, and got a nearfall. Rob dove off the top rope, but Juicy caught him and hit a massive Samoan Drop to score the pin. Blah.
5. Jack Cartwheel defeated Jordan Cruz at 11:56. Cruz has a good physique; he’s not a small cruiserweight, and I saw him on a recent GCW show. They both did cartwheels, and the ref did too. Cartwheel is a great high-flyer. Cartwheel hit a variety of armdrags. Cruz hit a huracanrana, then an impressive flip dive to the floor at 3:30. In the ring, Cruz applied a Texas Cloverleaf. Cartwheel hit a nice dropkick, then a delayed German Suplex for a nearfall at 6:00.
Cartwheel nailed his slingstot twisting senton, then a rolling Death Valley Driver for a nearfall. Cruz hit a German Suplex into the corner, and they were both down. They traded forearms while on their knees, then from on their feet. Jack went for a cartwheel, but Cruz hit a spear to cut him off. Cruz then nailed an impressive jumping Styles Clash for a believable nearfall at 9:00. Nice. Cartwheel got a crucifix takedown rollup for a nearfall, then he applied a cross-armbreaker. Cartwheel hit a Sasake Special flip to the floor, then a second-rope Shooting Star Press (he barely reached Cruz, who was a bit too far into the center of the ring) for a nearfall. Cruz hit a tombstone piledriver for a nearfall at 11:30. Cartwheel got another crucifix takedown rollup for the pin. That was a very, very good match.
… Lazarus hit the ring and said he’s not leaving. He issued an open challenge.
6. Early Morning Guy Steel defeated Lazarus at 1:53. EMGS debuted at the Dallas Mania weekend GCW shows and he has a cult-like following. He wears tan overalls, a plaid shirt and a cartoonish mask. The crowd loves this guy, and there is a great mystery over who this is. Steel hit a powerbomb seconds into the match, then a Canadian Destroyer, then a second-rope moonsault. He has some weight around the middle, so it is impressive to see him hit that move, similar to watching PCO hit it. Steel hit a top-rope double stomp to the chest for the pin. Fun and harmless.
7) B-Boy and Lil Cholo defeated Nick Wayne and Jordan Oliver at 14:26. I’ll call Wayne and Oliver “Team Cloud Cutter” because they are both using it as their finisher. The announcer said B-Boy and Cholo have nearly 40 years combined experience in the ring. Looks like this is a face-face matchup, which is fine. Oliver and Cholo opened and traded quick moves, then B-Boy got in to face off with Wayne. Wayne hit a huracanrana and a dropkick, and B-Boy bailed and regrouped. Back in the ring, B-Boy put his hands behind his back and let Wayne unload some forearms on him. Oliver slammed Wayne onto Cholo for a nearfall at 4:30, and they began to work over Cholo.
Cholo hit a double clothesline. B-Boy got in and he tied up Oliver on the mat. Cholo hit a nice delayed vertical suplex for a nearfall at 7:30. Wayne finally made the hot tag, and he hit spin kicks on both opponents. Wayne hit a Dragon Suplex on Cholo at 9:30, but he couldn’t hit the Cloud Cutter. Oliver hit a Mafia Kick. B-Boy landed awkwardly on the floor, and we may have a legit injury, as everyone just stopped and stalled. B-Boy rolled in the ring, tagged in Cholo, and the match continued, with B-Boy lying down on the ring apron. He eventually got up, so I guess he’s ok. He tagged in, too.
Oliver hit a stunner on B-Boy, and Wayne immediately hit a frogsplash for a nearfall. It looked awkward, as if Wayne was protecting B-Boy’s ribs. Wayne hit a superkick, then he nailed the Cloud Cutter. However, Cholo hit a Cloud Cutter on Wayne. B-Boy hit a Cloud Cutter on Oliver. Wayne hit a second-rope Spanish Fly on B-Boy, and they were all down at 13:30. Cholo got a rollup on Wayne, grabbed the ropes for leverage, and scored the tainted pin. Good match. B-Boy continued to sell an injury on the floor, and the way he and Cholo were talking to each other has me convinced this injury is real. If it’s not, he is doing a heck of a job selling.
8. Hunter Freeman beat Cutthroat Cody at 13:00. Freeman is really tall and wrestles in tan pants; the announcers note he is wearing the same clothing from the GCW show a night earlier, with dried blood on it. My first time seeing Cody, who is bald and average sized. The announcers say he’s known for some death matches. He appears to be older, maybe in his mid-30s. Freeman dove face-first over the top rope at 1:30, nearly coming down on the top of his head. They brawled on the floor with chairshots to the back and head, and Freeman was bleeding from the forehead.
They continued to brawl in and out of the ring, with both now bleeding. Cody gave Hunter a backbody drop onto four open chairs at 7:00. Cody hit a piledriver for a nearfall. Cody got a door from under the ring at 11:00 and set it up in the ring on two chairs. He poured thumbacks onto the door. However, Freeman powerbombed Cody onto the tack-covered door. Freeman picked him up and gave him another chokeslam onto the broken door for a nearfall. Freeman grabbed a shard of the door, hit Cody over the head with it, and scored the pin. I didn’t like anything about this, other than Freeman’s impressive dive to the floor.
9. Kevin Blackwood defeated Sandra Moone in an intergender match at 14:46. I’ve seen a handful of Moone matches, and she’s really good, but she is much thinner and smaller than Blackwood, so to me, this match is just absurd that he would give her any offense. They traded standing switches. He applied a sleeper, then a hard clothesline, and he’s totally dominating. He hit a snap suplex for a nearfall at 6:00.
They fought in the ropes and he chopped her on her chest. She hit a second-rope missile dropkick, and they were both down. She hit a sit-out powerbomb. He nailed a running forearm into the corner, then an Exploder Suplex for a nearfall at 9:30. She hit a roaring forearm. She tried to pick him up but her arms buckled as she dropped him on a turnbuckle, and got a nearfall. (If she can’t safely pick him up, she shouldn’t try.) Blackwood hit a double stomp on her dhest at 11:30.
Blackwood hit a Death Valley Driver for a believable nearfall, and that should have really ended this. He dove off the top rope, but she hit a kneelift into his gut. Moone hit a gut-wrench suplex for a nearfall, but she again had trouble holding him and nearly dumped him on his head. Moone applied a Dragon Sleeper on the mat. Blackwood hit a jumping Tombstone Piledriver, but she kicked out at 14:00. Absurd. He hit a Helluva Kick in the corner, then a top-rope double stomp to her shoulders as she walked toward him, to score the pin.
Final Thoughts: I believe Jordynne Grace could beat up a man. I believe Rachel Ellering could, too. Maybe Masha Slamovich. But Moone is just average height and weight for a woman, and I couldn’t get into that match. They are both fine wrestlers, I just couldn’t get into this as a realistic battle.
So, I’ll go with Cartwheel-Cruz for best match, as Cruz has impressed in the handful of times I’ve seen him. That Oliver/Wayne tag match was good, but B-Boy’s injury hampered it. I do believe he suffered some type of injury, because that match should have easily been in my top spot. I’ll go with the Gatson three-way match for third best, as he helped navigate two green young guys to a really entertaining match.
Yes, there are a lot of raw, green kids here. But it is a free show on Youtube, and everyone is trying hard. I really hope if they ever use this building again… they cover the dang mirrors! The show clocked in at 2 hours, 15 minutes.
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