A few years ago my then-girlfriend, now-wife and I were driving from our home in Orangeburg, South Carolina to Charlotte, North Carolina every two weeks for shows by a now defunct promotion called NWA Charlotte. We had a good time with those but the expenses (monetary and otherwise) of going up and down the road became a real burden (expenses - and other matters - were an issue for NWA CLT as well seeing as how they closed their doors less than a year after opening). Getting to the show I attended this past weekend didn't pose any of those challenges (the traffic-related headache caused by the South Carolina State University/Benedict College football game notwithstanding) as it took place a mere 30 minutes up the road in Columbia, SC at The Loose Cockaboose Bar & Grill (located in the shadows of Williams-Brice Stadium) where WrestleForce presented Fall Brawl 4 - A Date With Fate.
Three things I will mention right off the top in talking about this event:
1) Yes, this show was held at a bar.
2) Yes, the matches took place outside.
3) Yes, it was raining that evening.
Only in the world of independent pro wrestling will you ever see those three factors meet up and still yield what was a successful and mostly entertaining event. Here are the results and my thoughts on each match.
Match #1 - Eric Bradford defeated Brandon Paradise
If you watched the first season of Redneck Island on CMT, you've seen Eric Bradford before as he was one of the members of that cast. Only people who are familiar with the Carolinas wrestling scene will get this reference, but now that Bradford has longer hair he has a rather striking resemblance to a slightly chubbier Zack Salvation.
Pretty good opening bout. Both of these guys have been around for years and they're plenty capable. Bradford got a heel's reception even though his gimmick has him playing up his past as a cheerleader for the University of South Carolina. I've mostly only seen Paradise work in tag team matches; that scenario favors him as he's a skilled athlete but he doesn't come off as being naturally charismatic.
Match #2 - Anthony Henry defeated Josh Magnum
Henry was originally supposed to have had a match with former ECW/TNA star Christian York but York was unable to make the event. Henry came out and demanded a match, going so far as to begin calling out people from the crowd for a challenge. Low and behold, Josh Magnum just happened to be in the crowd - and wearing knee pads under his blue jeans, no less.
Magnum is known in the Carolinas as being a daredevil when it comes to his willingness to put his body on the line for the sake of his matches, and that mentality hasn't left him even though these days he's more or less retired from active competition. Henry got the best of him as a failed swanton bomb off the top of a nearby rooftop proved to be Magnum's undoing. This was one of the better (if not the best) matches on the card, in my opinion.
Match #3 - Hammer defeated Hexx
I'm not completely up to snuff when it comes to WrestleForce's storylines, but I gather these two were in the past aligned together as members of a faction called the Twisted Metal Rebels. I've seen Hexx wrestle in the past when he was doing a masked gimmick where he called himself Hexxon - that character was kind of a knock off of a character like Abyss from TNA, and ironically enough people in this crowd were heckling him for his current look being a knock off of that of Necro Butcher.
Hammer won via disqualification when Hexx brought a chair into the mix, violently whopping Hammer repeatedly across the back with it. Not a whole lot else to write home about here as this was definitely a piece to an evolving story that served its purpose in extending the feud.
Match #4 - Sixx vs. Cerebus ended in no contest
This was a match billed as being a battle of monsters. Sixx has long terrorized the Carolinas as a masked fiend, wreaking havoc upon any who would dare get in his way. Cerebus, also known as "The Lycan Assassin" (he was also previously known as Wolfie D from PG-13 and Slash from The New Church - talk about an identity crisis), is in a similar category as he's a sizable man who comes to the ring wearing armor and appears to have fangs.
I can't not mention that Cerebus' "armor" looks more like something that would've been worn by a villain from a 1980s laser tag TV show thanks to the blue light-up piece at its center. These two characters are from the goofier side of wrestling, where the gimmick is of the utmost importance. I don't have a problem with wrestlers using stuff like this these days, but at the same time it's difficult to ignore the corniness of it.
That said, I like matches like this because they wind up being brawls. They're fun to watch because of their unpredictability, even though in this case it didn't actually have much of a point seeing as how within 10 minutes the two of them disappeared behind the curtain never to be seen again.
Match #5 - WF Tag Team Championship Match (held under elimination rules): Steven Walters defeated Judgement (Crimson & Jon Malus), The Flock (Sick Boy & Lodi), The Fortunate Sons (Billy Brash & Jesse Windham), Playboy's House of Style (BJ Hancock & Michael Frehley), and Brady Pierce & Jake James
There was a lot going on here, suffice to say. The order of entry was: 1) Pierce & James, 2) Playboy's House of Style, 3) The Fortunate Sons, 4) Judgement, 5) The Flock, 6) Steven Walters.
Steven Walters and John Skyler were crowned champions after Walters defeated Crimson & Jon Malus on his own; Skyler did not appear until after the match was over. Walters & Skyler had been gaining some notoriety as a tag team attraction, working under the team name of The Love/Hate Machine, but I've noticed that they've been doing an angle very similar to this in just about every promotion for which they've been employed. They're obviously splitting up, and that begs the question - who's Shawn and who's Marty (here I go again making a wrestling reference that not everyone will get)?
I'd like to say this next bit as an aside to this match because of one of the involved competitors. There are those in the wrestling business who make a big deal out of steroid usage and how those substances should be frowned upon because they provide an unnatural edge in an industry where success is as much about physical appearance as anything. I tend to agree with this sentiment. Even though wrestling isn't a legitimate sport like football or baseball, steroids can be dangerous when used improperly. What's more, while they can make a guy who has a few physical gifts look like a younger version of Randy Orton, they can also make that same guy look like a walking advertisement for acne medication and male breast augmentation. Please lay off the gas, kid - I'd be fine if I never saw another bleeding pustule on some guys back for the rest of my life.
Match #6 - Triple-Threat Women's Match: Nita Monet defeated Mia Svensson and Pandora (with Reby Sky as referee)
Female wrestlers don't always receive the same level of respect and attention that their male counterparts get, and that's upsetting generally speaking. There are some very talented wrestlers out there who just happen to be women and the fact that audiences dismiss their additions to this great form of performance art is troubling to me.
I got the impression that that's what happened with this match as the crowd was not at all buying what these three ladies were selling. The biggest draw to the contest seemed to be the presence of Reby Sky, former Playboy model and fiance to former WWE Superstar Matt Hardy (who would be appearing later on the card in the main event). Truth be told, the rain had been coming down at a slight drizzle up until this match as it began to fall harder and with increasing volume. That coupled with the fact that the show had been going for close to 3 hours probably lead to the crowd being less than interested in a match that was ultimately not much more than a special attraction.
To make matters worse, the day was giving way to night and darkness was enveloping The Loose Cockaboose. There appeared to be lights available outside the club but none of them were used, for whatever reason. So not only are we, as fans, now watching wrestling while sitting in the rain - we're watching very poorly lit wrestling while sitting in the rain.
Match #7 - WF Championship Match: Chase Stevens (champion, w/Judgement) defeated Matt Hardy
The show began around 5 PM and by the time the main event rolled around it was almost 7:30 PM. Not exactly a late night but as I've stated before now, it was raining off and on the entire time and the precipitation was increasing. The worsening darkness wasn't helping matters at all. I don't mind sitting in the rain, personally, and the only place I was going after this show was Taco Bell for a late dinner so I have nothing to especially complain about (forgive me if my commentary makes it sound that way; I'm merely setting the stage, as it were, in describing conditions). However, I'm going to look at this from the perspective of a typical wrestling fan, one who potentially has never been to a WrestleForce event previously. I'm wet, it's dark, I'm in a bar, and all I want is to see Matt Hardy wrestle - was this worth my $10 and whatever I'm out in terms of the cost of getting to/from the event? More importantly, have I seen anything here this evening that is going to make me want to see another WrestleForce show?
Regardless, this bout was fairly basic in that it had all the makings of a classic wrestling scenario involving an outnumbered good guy in the form of Matt Hardy facing seemingly ridiculous odds but coming out to face his adversaries (those being Chase Stevens flanked by Jon Malus and Crimson) with the courage of a lion nevertheless.
I will say this about Matt Hardy, not that it hasn't been said elsewhere obviously - he throws a fantastic punch! This is an aspect of pro wrestling that goes overlooked so often but the ability to do little things well, like delivering a realistic looking punch, can turn an average wrestler into a star. Hardy throws them like few others I've seen and I admire that a lot.
Chase Stevens is one of a lot of guys who are out there working independent shows right now who could realistically be in a promotion like WWE or TNA but isn't. He's got a good look, he's got charisma, and he's got talent. There's not much I don't like about him or his work as I've seen him around the Carolinas going as far back as 2007 when he and Andy Douglas were still working as a tag team in the form of The Naturals. They had some really great matches back then, most notably against the likes of Team Macktion (Kirby & TJ Mack) as well as the Elite Icons (Jake Manning & Joey Silvia).
Overall Thoughts
As indie shows go, this one wasn't too bad but it was plagued by a lot of things that took away from the experience in general.
For starters, The Loose Cockaboose is a good watering hole to go watch a game, but it's a small bar with limited parking. On a day like this one where there was an event being held at Williams-Brice Stadium, parking was more or less nonexistent as there were folks going to the game making use of the spaces to which TLC patrons would've normally had access. Had I not arrived as early as I had, I wouldn't have had anywhere to park. There's no signage directing traffic to one lot or another, and I wasn't out there to check but I somehow doubt there was ever an attendant in the lot to direct people on where to go once the lots near TLC were at capacity.
I don't get having the show at a bar. It's not that I'm against night clubs or establishments like TLC (trust me, bar shows can be a lot of fun), it's that the environment can be more than a little off-putting to the core audience wrestling shows should attract. Women and children should be the first ones off a sinking ship - likewise, they should be your target audience for an event like this. Why? Because if the kids want to come to the show, they have to bring their parents and you know they're going to want a drink or snacks; you increase your ticket sales and invite opportunities for concessions. Similarly, women (and some guys) want to see sweaty, glistening, muscular, attractive men (don't be shy, ladies, it's okay to admit it); even if they're married or dating a guy, if there's a dude on a show they have the hots for they're going to come to the show. There were a few kids at Fall Brawl 4 (which was odd because, again, this was a bar) but I can't help thinking there would've been a much larger crowd on hand had this been held at a rec center or other more socially acceptable venue.
Speaking of concessions, for this event you had drinks served at the bar and I believe hot dogs and hamburgers from the grill. They have Coke and various other non-alcoholic beverages (energy drinks, mostly) but here again you have the issue of the show being held at a bar. You're going to force a Mom or Dad who may not drink booze to wade through 20 guys liquored up on cheap suds, some of whom are smoking, in order to get to the bar so that they can order a couple sodas for their kids? Not exactly a welcoming environment.
Next, I go back to what I'll just refer to as "production issues". The advertised time for the doors to open was 4 PM and they didn't open until 5 PM. Late starts aren't anything new to this type of show, so that was no real surprise nor is it a big deal for me. I've just grown to expect late starts and late finishes because no one in indie wrestling seems to be able to run a timely event. The rain didn't especially bother me either seeing as how I actually find sitting in the rain rather refreshing. My legitimate concern is the lack of lighting, and this plays into how the late start affected the show as a whole.
As a promoter, you have to realize we're getting to the time of year where the days are shorter. That being the case, you should either have your ducks in a row as far as keeping things on a schedule is concerned so you don't wind up forcing your fans to watch a show in darkness or cut out some of the extraneous stuff from the line-up. There were two intermissions during this show and a couple segments that could've been trimmed for brevity's sake.
Perhaps more importantly, a promoter should realize that darkness and moisture create a lot of potential safety issues for fans and talent alike. If the venue can't supply proper lighting, buy or rent some industrial shop lighting. It doesn't have to be elaborate, it just has to work. What's that, Mr. Promoter? You don't have the budget for it? So you would sooner pay the medical bills of a fan who slipped and fell onto the concrete at ringside because they couldn't see the puddle of water they were walking into because you ran an outdoor event at night with no lights? Do you really want to be the guy who ran a show with a wet ring and slick ropes that wound up leading to an injury for an internationally known star like Matt Hardy?
Why am I being so critical? Because I think of things like this. It's in my nature to analyze logistics and to consider ways of improving an experience. If I were a pro wrestling promoter, that's what I would be concerned about - providing an experience that a fan will want to have again and again. Repeat business, in other words. I admit that it's easy for me to nitpick this sort of thing (while offering solutions at the same time) because I'm on the outside looking in. What do I know about anything, though, right? I'm just a guy with a blog who has been paying money to go to shows like this for better than 15 years.
All that having been said, WrestleForce has announced their next show, All Or Nothing, which will be held at The Hangar in Cayce, SC on Sunday October 20. For more information on WrestleForce, check out their offerings via the links below.
http://www.WrestleForce.net/
https://www.facebook.com/WrestleForce
https://twitter.com/WrestleForce
http://www.youtube.com/user/wrestleforce
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