By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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Future Stars of Wrestling “New Year’s Resolution 2024”
Streamed on Triller+
January 28, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada at FSW Arena
This show aired live from their training center in Las Vegas, Nev. Unfortunately, the crowd is maybe 75. Jake Black and Joe DeFalco provided commentary. I’m surprised and a bit disappointed how infrequently on-screen graphics appeared here; in the past they have been more commonly used.
1. Duke Lawrence and Kevin Koa defeated Chase Bell and Jimmy Jack at 7:02. This is billed as a pre-show match. Jimmy Jack is dressed like Luke Harper in a white T-shirt and torn blue jeans. Duke Lawrence is a tall Black man; think Shane Taylor, and he hiptossed an opponent across the ring, then he hit a Black Hole Slam. Duke hit a swinging uranage to pin the smaller Chase Bell. Okay; a bit disjointed but they are clearly learning.
2. Bodhi Young Prodigy defeated Damien Desire to retain the No Limits Title at 8:53. Desire has a pink umbrella and pink ring gear and he’s clearly effeminate. Bodhi is still just 16 but I’ve seen him wrestle for more than a year now; he’s been on some GCW shows when they’ve headed West. He looks like a teenage Matt Sydal. Bodhi hit a dropkick that sent Damien to the floor. He dove through the ropes but Damien caught him and slammed his back on the ring apron at 2:00. Damien took control in the ring and kept Bodhi grounded. Bodhi hit a flip dive to the floor at 6:00. Bodhi hit a stunner but he missed a 450 Splash. Desire hit an Axe Kick to the back of the neck for a nearfall. Bodhi hit a 450 Splash for the pin. Okay match; Bodhi is younger but I bet he has more ring time.
* Graves hit the ring. He wears a baseball jersey and looks a bit like Braun Strowman. He introduced Alexander Hammerstone, who got a standing ovation. He trained and learned here. The commentary team noted other past graduates include Chris Bey, Zoey Stark, Kenny King, and Killer Kross. Hammerstone got on the mic and fans chanted “you deserve it!” They went to unveil his banner on the wall, but it was covered in graffiti! Out came Danny Limelight who laughed and said Hammerstone has never looked better. Limelight boasted that he’s been everywhere that Hammerstone has; two more heels joined him at ringside. The new guys from the first match, Duke Lawrence and Kevin Koa, attacked Hammerstone and Graves from behind, but the babyfaces quickly disposed of them. This led to a six-man tag match to headline tonight’s show!
3. Gregory Sharpe defeated Tyler Bateman, Dante King, and Cutthroat Cody in a four-way at 9:49. I don’t think I’ve seen King; he has black curly hair with a splash of white near his forehead and his hair reminds me of a crazy broken Matt Hardy. Cody is bald with a goatee. Bateman has appeared in ROH; he and Sharpe also have appeared on New Japan Strong. Lots of basic brawling among the four; not bad but not descriptive, either. Cody hit a piledriver for a nearfall at 8:00 when two more guys came from the back, dragged Cody out of the ring, and beat him up on the floor! King hit a flip dive the floor on everyone. This match is now a mess with so many people getting involved. Sharpe hit a brainbuster to pin King.
4. Jakob Austin Young defeated Lazarus (w/Alice Blair) to retain the Nevada State Title at 4:57. I have always compared Young to Drew Gulak, but his hair is brighter blond today and he’s looking more like Joe Hendry. Lazarus wore his green Mortis-style singlet and I saw him on a West Coast Pro show that occurred just 24 hours earlier. Lazarus kept Jakob grounded early on. Young hit a tornado DDT into a rollup for the pin.
* Bateman returned to the ring to attack Jakob, but Cutthroat Cody ran in with a chair to chase off Bateman. The commentators said nothing has been decided between these two warring groups.
5. “Sky High” Mondo Rox and Robbie Lit defeated “Billionaire Boys Club” Devin Reno and CLAS to become No. 1 contender at 11:22. Reno is bald; CLAS is like a heel Miz, and they wore identical green trunks and both have great physiques. Sky High are the scrawny kids who I saw get destroyed 24 hours earlier in West Coast Pro. Lit has long, dark hair with a splash of red. CLAS hit a delayed vertical suplex on Lit for a nearfall at 4:00 and the heels worked LIt over and kept him grounded. Mondo finally made the hot tag at 10:00 and he cleared the ring. Lit dove through the ropes onto the heels. Mondo got a rollup out of nowhere for the pin on Reno! Reno sold his shock at being pinned. Pretty standard, formula tag match… not bad but not really exciting either.
* The next match was slated to be Big Money Clutch vs. Kenny King. Clutch reminds me of Homicide in ring presence, presentation and style and he came out first. However, Kenny King came out on crutches and dressed in his street clothes, not his ring gear. He “claims” he needs ankle surgery. So, Action Braxton is taking his place in the match!
6. Big Money Clutch defeated Action Braxton (w/Kenny King) via DQ at 8:47. Braxton is a Black man with long dreadlocks; I’m showing my age here but he reminds me of the Milli Vanilli singers. Clutch took control early on, so Braxton rolled to the floor at 2:00 to regroup. They brawled at ringside. In the ring, Braxton hit an elbow drop at 5:30 and was in charge. Clutch hit a belly-to-belly suplex. There is money all over the ring; the ref swated it away so I’m presuming it’s fake bills. Clutch hit a Blackhole Slam and was going for the pin when King hopped in the ring and hit Clutch with his crutch. Kenny danced around the ring to show his ankle is just fine. They beat down Clutch a big more.
7. “The West Coast Wrecking Crew” Jorel Nelson and Royce Isaacs defeated “The Regulators” EJ Sparks and Thugnificent to retain the FSW Tag Team Titles at 11:35. The commentators explained how Nelson and Isaacs won the titles in a four-way at a recent show. The Regulators are both thin, muscular Black men and the commentators joked that you know they are an actual tag team because they have identical ring gear. Royce opened for his team. The commentators are doing an exceptionally poor job of telling me which Regulator is which; do they not know? Because I certainly don’t. At 4:00, they still haven’t identified which one is which.
Okay, they just identified Thugnficient, who is wearing a black T-shirt, fell off the apron and hit the guardrail at ringside. The WCWC beat down Thugnificient in their corner. Sparks (think Kofi Kingston!) finally made the hot tag at 8:00 and he hit some enzuigiris. Jorel and Thugnificent traded forearm strikes, and Thug slammed Isaacs to the mat. Isaacs hit a German Suplex on Sparks, and Jorel immediately hit a springboard fadeaway stunner on Sparks for the pin. Decent match; the commentary team needed to do better here, though. I can’t be the only viewer who didn’t know which guy was which.
* Sky High came to the ring, as their win earlier made them No. 1 contenders. However, the West Coast Wrecking Crew beat them up.
8. Viva Van vs. Rachelle Riveter vs. Mazzerati vs. Brittnie Brooks in a four-way for the FSW Women’s Title ended in a double pin at 9:43. Riveter came to the ring with her daughter, probably four or five years old. The commentator joked that it was her attempt to avoid being booed. Mazzerati has blue hair and is similar to Kiera Hogan. Brittnie is 19, white, with blonde hair half-way down her back and she wears pink. Viva has been champion for 541 days; she is of Vietnamese heritage and she carries herself like a star. The commentators pointed out that Riveter and Mazzerati are friends; one wondered what happens if they do a “Finger Poke of Doom” spot. All four brawled in the ring as we got underway.
Viva hit a flying crossbody block for a nearfall at 2:30. The heels worked together to beat down Van and Brittnie. Riveter hit a running double knees to Viva’s face at 4:30. Mazzerati tied Brittnie’s long hair around the bottom rope. Brittnie hit a double powerbomb out of the corner and got a nearfall. Viva hit some clotheslines, then a spinning heel kick to Riveter’s face, then one on Mazzerati at 7:30. The babyfaces hit stereo cannonballs in the corner on the heels. Mazzerati hit an Eat D’Feat kick. Van hit a butterfly suplex. The heels hit a Magic Killer slam on Viva, but they began arguing over who was going to cover Viva. Brittnie rolled up Mazzerati for a pin but at the same time, Riveter was pinning Van! So, we have a double pin! A commentator said the title is being held up with no champion.
* (I would have declared Riveter and Brooks as co-winners and have them square off in the future. We’ll see what they do here.)
9. Alexander Hammerstone, Graves, and Shogun defeated Danny Limelight, Papa Esco, and Hero Leu at 16:39. Shogun is Black with a great physique and he’s the champion. They said this was Papa Esco’s debut. He is rotund and bald and his singlet reads “fat boy.” Think Tyrus/Brodus Clay in size, or former ROH brawler Danny Maff. He brawled with Shogun to open. Hero Leu (think NJPW’s Hikuleo) and Graves (think a shorter Braun Strowman) brawled at 4:30.
Hammerstone and Limelight got in and fought. The heels began working over Hammerstone in their corner. Graves got in but the heels worked him over too. Limelight removed his wrist tape and choked Graves with it at 12:00. Hammerstone got in and hit a T-Bone Suplex on Limelight at 13:30. Shogun finally got in and hit a hard clothesline. Eesco hit Mark Henry Slam, and suddenly everyone was down. Leu and Shogun finally traded blows, and Shogun clotheslined him to the floor, and those two brawled to the back. Limelight tried a tornado DDT on Hammerstone but Alexander blocked it. Hammerstone hit a running knee on Eesco for the pin as Limelight ran from the ring. Just so-so.
Final Thoughts: Just an okay show and certainly nothing ‘must-see.’ I was promised a Kenny King match that wasn’t delivered. The lack of on-screen graphics meant I was guessing names often and looking up spellings later, and I’ve seen several FSW shows that I feel like I know the roster, too. This roster definitely has bigger and more muscular guys than your average indy lineup and they look ‘WWE TV-ready.’ The women’s four-way stood out so I’ll give that best match. I really like what I’ve seen from several of these guys in the past, even though I can’t say anything really clicked for me on this show. The six-man tag was a pretty standard extended beatdown.
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