Post by adamclark52 on Dec 23, 2017 1:31:42 GMT -5
Major League Wrestling “Hybrid Hell”
June 20th, 2003
From the War Memorial Auditorium in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
Commentators: Joey Styles
Jerry Lynn and Christopher Daniels come out for Jerry’s match. Daniels informs the crowd that Jerry has seen the light and is with him now. Jerry gets on the mic and tells the crowd he doesn’t care about them any more. He goes off on Paul London not being there to wrestle him tonight and calls anyone from the back to come and wrestle him.
Jerry Lynn w/Christopher Daniels vs. Kid Romeo
I was as entertained by this match as much as I’ve ever been by a Jerry Lynn match. The crowd really didn’t seem too enthused either though. I even heard a few “boring” chants. So I guess I’m not alone? He really doesn’t play a good heel either. As much as I’m not a fan of his he is the petulant face.
Winner: Jerry Lynn
Francine comes to the ring. I think it was very cold in the arena. She berates the crowd and introduces Michael Shane.
Michael Shane w/Francine vs. Homicide
Okay, Homicide came out to Hatebreeds I Will Be Heard making this is the greatest DVD ever. This match wasn’t too bad. It wasn’t as stiff as the usual Homicide match but he still almost killed himself twice. The ending sequence was pretty funny when Homicide made Francine head-butt Michael Shane ten times in the nads but the final pin was weak.
Winner: Homicide
Billy Fives vs. Christopher Daniels w/Jerry Lynn
This wasn’t anything special.
Winner: Christopher Daniels
Los Maximos vs. Samoan Island Tribe
This was not good at all. Mana of the Samoan Island Tribe took some sickening chair shots to the head at the end. But the Samoan Island Tribe weren’t very good; Mana especially.
Winners: los Maximos
After the match the crowd chanted for the Samoan Island Tribe to show their tits and the one took his shirt off...
Kenzo Suzuki vs. NORMAN SMILEY w/G.I. Ho
Any time NORMAN SMILEY is on my TV I am a happy man. And Kenzo Suzuki; there’s a face I haven’t seen in years. He was much better here then he ever was in the WWE.
Winner: Kenzo Suzuki
After the match NORMAN SMILEY wouldn’t Big Wiggle G.I. Ho in the middle of the ring.
The Extreme Horsemen (CW Anderson and Simon Diamond) come out to be presented with their belts as the first ever MLW Global Tag-Team Crown Champions. Dr. Death Steve Williams comes out and announces he has a new partner. They attack him before he can say who it is but then his partner comes to the rescue...D’Lo Brown...really, D’Lo Brown.
For the MLW Global Tag-Team Crown Championships
The Extreme Horsemen (champions) vs. Dr. Death Steve Williams & D’Lo Brown
This match was just okay.
Winners: the Extreme Horsemen
After the match D’Lo Brown asks the crowd if they’re “down”.
Mikey Whipwreck w/the Sinister Minister vs. Sabu w/Bill Alfonso
This was probably one of the most boring Sabu matches I’ve ever seen. I say “one of the” because I watched a lot of his WWE run.
Winner: Sabu
After the match Sabu was about to hit the Sinister Minister with a spike but Christopher Daniels and Jerry Lynn made the save. Then as Sabu and Bill Alfonso were leaving Alfonso threw water in the air and must have hit a light or something because something landed on his head and he started bleeding all over the place.
CM Punk vs. Raven
This was a different match for me to watch because I’ve never seen CM Punk as anything but “the man”. He was practically a nobody here. The match was pretty boring. Michael Shane came out and helped CM Punk get the win.
Winner: CM Punk
Afterwards Punk and Shane kept the beatdown on Raven going until NORMAN SMILEY came out to make the save. He grabs the mic and spews some gold. They set up a tag team match for the next show.
No Disqualifications Match for the MLW World Heavyweight Championship
Mike Awesome vs. Satoshi Kojima (champion)
Aside from some good chops at the beginning this was very disappointing. Awesome looked very sluggish and like he really just didn’t want to be there. And Kojima did absolutely nothing for me.
Winner: Mike Awesome (new MLW World Heavyweight champion)
Steve Corino comes out (to a Scooter! song, +1) and congratulates Mike Awesome on his win. Then he asks for a title shot RIGHT NOW!
For the MLW World Heavyweight Championship
Mike Awesome (champion) vs. Steve Corino
This was actually better than the last match. It was as close to a stereotypical ECW match as this ECW-lite show has gotten so far. The Extreme Horsemen helped Corino get the win.
Winner: Steve Corino (new MLW World Heavyweight champion)
Barbed Wire Match
Steve Corino vs. Terry Funk
This match was certainly bloody. Maybe even bloodier than the infamous Funk-Sabu Barbed Wire Match. But it didn’t have the impact on me that one did. I’m not sure if I was to watch that one today I’d like it. The allure of matches like this has passed me by at this point in my life.
Winner: Terry Funk
Afterwards the Extreme Horsemen come out and assault Funk. Steve Williams comes to the rescue but he gets laid out too. Then Enter Sandman plays over the P.A. system and the Sandman makes his way to the ring. He does his usual entrance as the Extreme Horsemen continue to beat on Funk and Williams...
...eventually he gets in there and helps Funk and Williams clear the ring of the Extreme Horsemen. Before they leave Corino tells the three of them that this isn’t over.
_____________________________________________________________
This was really not a good show. The problem that plagued it is the same problem that plagues a lot of shows I watch from 2002-2004: MLW was trying hard to be ECW. But unlike Ring of Honor (who’s earliest shows tried the same thing in terms of pacing) this one depended almost entirely on ECW alumni…at least the ones the WWE wanted nothing to do with at the time. And a lot of the guys here just seemed like they had other places they’d rather have been. I give Major League Wrestling a pass though because all federations have humble beginnings. Sadly they folded a year after this only to return in 2017.
Obviously a lot of ECW alumni were at this show but some I didn’t mention were John Finnegan and Mike Keener refereeing every match and the two security guards who were at every ECW show. The ring announcer was Stephen DeAngelis (the ring announcer from the early Ring of Honor shows) and “Hulk Hogan guy” was there too.
The entrance music was all edited in on this show and it was terrible. Not the songs themselves but the fact that they were so obviously edited in. At first I thought they were edited in but then I thought maybe the guy working the soundboard at the show just kept turning the volume up really loud for some reason. Whatever it was it was really bad. They were editing in copyrighted music too so I don’t know why they didn’t leave the original audio?
I picked this show tonight by random generation. I have so many wrestling DVDs I don’t know where to go next. I was thinking of putting everything in a box, sticking my hand in it and watching whatever came out. But I’m a stickler for watching stuff chronologically. So I just put the names of all the federations I have DVDs that I still have to watch into one of those random online generators and MLW came up first. I’m kinda glad it did because Womens Extreme Wrestling came up second.
Overall not a very good show at all. The Homicide verses Michael Shane match was probably the best match on the show and even it was just okay. But I still have one other Major League Wrestling DVD to watch so maybe the random generator will make me watch it tomorrow.
