The Masked Wrestler

[KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!!]

Anyone watch this yet? The first episode just debuted on IWTV.

The concept is just like what it sounds like. It’s the wrestling version of The Masked Singer. It is a single elimination 8 man tournament where all the participants are disguised. Each episode features one match where the loser must unmask. The tournament winner gets an IWTV Championship title shot.

It’s not the worst thing to do a wrestling take off of. However I think the only ones who could pull it off to do justice to the concept is WWE or AEW. No one else really has the budget to hire talent that would make the guessing part fun. Even the real show The Masked Singer fails at this a lot as it is really at the mercy of how many notable names Fox can afford and scrounge up.

[Ultimo Gallos]

Watched the debut last week. Was fun. TOnight is Limitless Wrestling The ROad season 2 premiere and then ep 2 of Masked Wrestler.

I hope at least one of the Masked Wrestlers is Funaki.

[El Pollo Guerrera]

Sounds like Michinoku Pro's World Mask Tournament, except that one was a round-robin tourney. Enjoyed the final match for 'last place', Gran Naniwa beat Sultan Gargola in a bloody brawl.

[carp (SPC, Itoh Respect Army)]

Enjoyed the first episode; it was a nice, tight little match.

Disappointed that the first guy unmasked is out of the tournament, but he definitely seized his spotlight with his hilariously dense Q&A video and a lot of nice spots.


The judges were incredibly annoying and unfunny, but hey, it's a Masked Singer redux.


I don't think the issue is budget (although it WOULD be cool to see the WWE do a similar thing with past roster members), so much as the show needs to make it clear to the audience the kinds of wrestlers it could be. Like, if I'm a super indie wrestling nerd, I could play along, but as it is, I need some sense of the scope, here.

[KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!!]

Oct 21, 2020 19:54:19 GMT -5 carp (SPC, Itoh Respect Army) said:

Enjoyed the first episode; it was a nice, tight little match.

Disappointed that the first guy unmasked is out of the tournament, but he definitely seized his spotlight with his hilariously dense Q&A video and a lot of nice spots.


The judges were incredibly annoying and unfunny, but hey, it's a Masked Singer redux.


I don't think the issue is budget (although it WOULD be cool to see the WWE do a similar thing with past roster members), so much as the show needs to make it clear to the audience the kinds of wrestlers it could be. Like, if I'm a super indie wrestling nerd, I could play along, but as it is, I need some sense of the scope, here.

That’s the problem with the concept and why it needs a bigger budget. As a an indie wrestling take on a popular show you’re dealing with a niche of a niche of a niche. And I just can’t imagine the audience for that is that big. Like how many indie nerds are at that level where they can pick out fully disguised obscure workers?

[chrom]

This guy in or no buys

[Deleted]

Has anyone made any WHO jokes yet?

I think this would be a great concept for a bigger company like Impact using current and past names and making it one of there One Night Only shows.

I’m glad guys are getting work and this is a cool concept and Ill be interested to see where it goes but right now it reminds me from Scott Pilgrim...

“Why can’t we play a secret show?” Nobody knows who we are all our shows are secret”

[carp (SPC, Itoh Respect Army)]

Oct 21, 2020 22:29:33 GMT -5 @uppitynerd said:

Has anyone made any WHO jokes yet?

I think this would be a great concept for a bigger company like Impact using current and past names and making it one of there One Night Only shows.

I’m glad guys are getting work and this is a cool concept and Ill be interested to see where it goes but right now it reminds me from Scott Pilgrim...

“Why can’t we play a secret show?” Nobody knows who we are all our shows are secret”

Ehh, IWTV doesn't exactly have a "roster" of nobodies. The guy unmasked in the first episode is definitely someone I knew about, and I'm hardly someone who spends all their time keeping up with indie wrestling.

[Mozenrath]

It's a fun concept.

Dark joke-wise, though, part of me pictures Joey Ryan and Marty Scrull making this their business model to get bookings.

[carp (SPC, Itoh Respect Army)]

A... less good second match. The winner was a big lug who did not look particularly good in there.

The loser spent the whole time pretending to be Nick Gage, which is much less fun than it sounds, since it didn't pay off in the match in any way.

[Ultimo Gallos]

Enjoyed both episodes so far.

KTB was doing a decent Nick Gage impression in the ring. But Come on Nick is injured when this was filmed.

[carp (SPC, Itoh Respect Army)]

Oct 23, 2020 10:52:55 GMT -5 Ultimo Gallos said:

Enjoyed both episodes so far.

KTB was doing a decent Nick Gage impression in the ring. But Come on Nick is injured when this was filmed.

I mean set up a spot where the opponent is fooled because he expects a Gage move and it's switched up on him.


(OK actually I guess you could say he lost because he tried to counter the finisher with a chokebreaker, but since that's not really "his move," he couldn't pull it off fiiinnnnneeee KTB isn't a bad wrestler)

[KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!!]

Oct 23, 2020 16:48:22 GMT -5 @adnonlkc said:

Oct 21, 2020 20:39:00 GMT -5 KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!! said:

That’s the problem with the concept and why it needs a bigger budget. As a an indie wrestling take on a popular show you’re dealing with a niche of a niche of a niche. And I just can’t imagine the audience for that is that big. Like how many indie nerds are at that level where they can pick out fully disguised obscure workers?

If they were producing programming for a wide audience on national television using obscure indie guys, that would be one thing, but this is programming specifically designed to be viewed by the subscribers to IWTV, who know who these guys are. It's essentially a way to have new programming on IWTV to keep those fans entertained with fresh content during the pandemic, when not all of the featured promotions as part of the subscription are running again yet. It's a way to maintain their subscriber base when fewer live wrestling events exist at the moment. 

I get that. I just think it’s a good enough concept that with a bigger company behind it and broader appeal it could realize its potential. As it is it’s not a bad placeholder for new content. Especially since being able to produce new content is such an issue right now.

[carp (SPC, Itoh Respect Army)]

Okay, I'm getting super into this; it's light, but a fun thing to check in on. The matches have been too short (though some of the competitors are awfully green, so it might be just as well), and they really should have 2 matches an episode. But I really like how the anonymity has been playing in to the ring psychology: in the first match, they were both super-cautious. In the second match, KTB tried to trick his opponent but it backfired because he couldn't do the moves well enough. In the third match, the winner made a huge deal about his adaptability, but kept just trying to do his finisher, and it only worked because he got a chance to blindside his opponent, not because he adapted to anything.

It'd still be better if there was some sense of scope rather than just all indie wrestlers. Like, only people who have already challenged for the title at some point, or something.

[carp (SPC, Itoh Respect Army)]

The first revealed guy I had never heard of (Tre La Mar, who works somewhere called AAW), but also the best match. Dude won a fan, tonight. Suspect his opponent is Tony Deppen, and is the eventual winner.

[Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]]

Nov 7, 2020 1:46:04 GMT -5 carp (SPC, Itoh Respect Army) said:

The first revealed guy I had never heard of (Tre La Mar, who works somewhere called AAW), but also the best match. Dude won a fan, tonight. Suspect his opponent is Tony Deppen, and is the eventual winner.

AAW is a really good promotion, probably the biggest Indie in Chicago. A lot of good talent has wrestled there there. Kris Statlander is their current women's champion and there are some other AEW Talent that wrestle there in fact, and Eddie Kingston had a really impressive stay there

Here's their roster page: aawpro.com/roster

[Ultimo Gallos]

AAW is a damn good indie.

Tre Lamar is a guy I just discovered earlier this year. He faced Trey Miguel on a BLP show.

[Ultimo Gallos]

So next to last episode just ended.

I am saying WyldKat is PJ Hawx. Thought Stokely Jr was Big Ramp. Then Stokely Jr removed his gloves and I realized it couldn't be big ramp.

[carp (SPC, Itoh Respect Army)]

Nov 18, 2020 22:32:01 GMT -5 Ultimo Gallos said:

So next to last episode just ended.

I am saying WyldKat is PJ Hawx. Thought Stokely Jr was Big Ramp. Then Stokely Jr removed his gloves and I realized it couldn't be big ramp.

It was another excellent little match, which isn't surprising based on who one of the participants was. I really liked the novel way they got the referee to turn away so they could do the cheating spot. They're building up two really good characters for the finals, where both talk a big game about how cerebral and analytical they are about figuring out their opponents under the mask, but Wildkat is full of shit and ends up just cheating.

I kinda have no idea who the two finalists are. Wildkat's kinda wrestling like A Very Good Professional Wrestler, and he fits the character, but I don't think he has the body type. Cabana Man Dan, maybe?

[Ultimo Gallos]

Nov 19, 2020 17:50:19 GMT -5 carp (SPC, Itoh Respect Army) said:

Nov 18, 2020 22:32:01 GMT -5 Ultimo Gallos said:

So next to last episode just ended.

I am saying WyldKat is PJ Hawx. Thought Stokely Jr was Big Ramp. Then Stokely Jr removed his gloves and I realized it couldn't be big ramp.

It was another excellent little match, which isn't surprising based on who one of the participants was. I really liked the novel way they got the referee to turn away so they could do the cheating spot. They're building up two really good characters for the finals, where both talk a big game about how cerebral and analytical they are about figuring out their opponents under the mask, but Wildkat is full of shit and ends up just cheating.

I kinda have no idea who the two finalists are. Wildkat's kinda wrestling like A Very Good Professional Wrestler, and he fits the character, but I don't think he has the body type. Cabana Man Dan, maybe?

Too Tall to be Cabana Man Dan. And IIRC Masked Wrestler was filmed right after the Collective show in Indiana. CMD caught Covid at the Indiana show and hadn't wrestled until recently and that was for New South.

Still say Wyldkat is PJ Hawx. Right height and build. And I could see Luke using his connections to get his son booked on a show like this. PJ is starting to break out and be known outside the NOLA/Houston area. You had the video ,last year i think,that went viral of PJ jumping off the second floor of the mall into the ring.