World Wrestling League (2001 EWR Diary)

[Wardlow on Wardlow 54]

Press Release
June 2001
ESPN TO HOST NEW LATE NIGHT WRESTLING SHOW
The Monday Night Wars may be over, but don’t tell that to the minds behind the World Wrestling League. This upstart company has managed to secure a TV deal on the biggest sports channel in America, albeit, on their secondary channel, ESPN2.

On Friday, July 6th, WWL will air the first edition of it’s ‘Deep Cut’ television show. And while the WWF may have the market cornered right now, WWL still boasts quite the roster. Here are just some of the names confirmed to be signed to the promotion:

Rey Mysterio Jr.
The Road Warriors
Chris Candido and Tammy Sytch
Steve Corino
Mike Awesome
Ken Shamrock

And that’s just some of the bigger names the company has signed. All eyes will be on ESPN2 at 11PM on July 6th, to see if this promotion can sink or swim!

[Wardlow on Wardlow 54]

World Wrestling League Deep Cut
TAPED – 6/30/01
AIR DATE – 7/6/01
CAESAR’S PALACE
PARADISE, NEVADA
ANNOUNCERS – SCOTT HUDSON AND JEREMY BORASH
Ricky Steamboat makes his way to the ring to welcome the crowd to the first episode of WWL Deep Cut. Steamboat announces to the crowd that he is the Commissioner of the World Wrestling League. He goes on to say that next week, they will begin the process of crowning the first-ever WWL Heavyweight Champion. In the meantime, however, the fans can look forward to tonight’s big main event of Rey Mysterio Jr. and Juventud Guerrera taking on Simon Diamond and CW Anderson.

(Notes: Decent enough for the opening segment. Might have been better to see a match in this spot, or even an actual wrestler, rather than a suit, and I think the crowd agreed. Steamboat got some cheers upon entering, but by the time he was finished talking, the crowd was happy for him to go; 61%)

MATCH #1
AJ STYLES vs. KAZ HAYASHI vs. SCOOT ANDREWS vs. JAMIE KNOBLE
Some good old fashioned cruiserweight chaos officially kicked off the action, as we got four guys who are relatively unknown to most fans. Styles wrestled a couple of matches for WCW back in March, while Kaz and Knoble have a history in WCW as both teammates and opponents. Andrews, however, hasn’t really been given a shot on the big stage yet. But the kid’s got swagger, for sure. Calling himself the “Black Nature Boy”, he wore a Flair-esqe robe to the ring.

So this match was basically a car crash. Just four guys throwing themselves around the ring, hoping to hit one of the other guys. Knoble showed off his unique style of brawling and hit an impressive powerbomb on Hayashi. But Andrews, ever the opportunist, flung Knoble from the ring and then locked Kaz in the Figure Four, causing him to tap out.

(Notes: Fun opening match, very reminiscent of a classic WCW PPV opener. All four guys looked good and Andrews could definitely be a star; 64%)

We head to a plain room, decorated with just a black curtain and a couple of weak red lights. In walks the Sinister Minister, clad in his familiar red suit. The Minister talks about the fall of WCW and ECW, both companies he’s worked for in the past. But from the ashes, he promises a fallen angel will rise up and bring his wrath upon the World Wrestling League, that is the prophecy.

(Notes: An intriguing start to whatever the Sinister Minister is going to be doing. The mention of a “fallen angel” was definitely something to take note of. Time will tell where this leads…; 63%)

MATCH #2
MIKE AWESOME vs. FRANKIE KAZARIAN
Frankie Kazarian trained under Killer Kolwalski and has spent the last year wrestling in California for Ultimate Pro Wrestling. Kazarian gets in a few brief flurries of offense, but the match belongs to Awesome, who finishes him off in under two minutes with the Awesome Bomb.

(Notes: Did someone order a side of squash with their meal? It was a decent squash, Kazarian sold his ass off for Awesome, but I can’t help but feel like they buried the poor kid in favor of making Awesome look, well… awesome; 60%)

Before the main event, we got a video promising that we’ll see the Road Warriors next week on Deep Cut.

MAIN EVENT
REY MYSTERIO JR. and JUVENTUD GUERRERA vs. SIMON DIAMOND and CW ANDERSON
Mysterio was one of the big names hyped when World Wrestling League was announced and he’s here, main eventing the first episode of Deep Cut. Rey played the “face in peril” for the heels for the first ten minutes or so, eating several big moves from Diamond and Anderson. When Juvi got the tag, he cleaned house for bit, before Diamond and Anderson managed to isolate him in their corner. A big Spinebuster by Anderson could’ve ended it, but Juvi managed to get his shoulder up in just the nick of time. Juvi finally got the tag to Rey, who managed to plant both men in the ropes. After a running start, Rey came off the ropes with a tiger feint kick to both men. Rey then hit a springboard legdrop onto Diamond, while Juvi hit the 450 on Anderson, to give the luchadores the feel-good win to end the first episode.

(Notes: Not a bad match at all. Rey and Juvi worked well with their slightly larger opponents and Diamond and Anderson made the luchadores look good. I do wonder what plans the creative team has for Rey going forward, but this was a good first showing for all four men; 68%)

(OVERALL RATING: 61%)