3PW 3rd Anniversary Show 02/20/05

Previously in 3PW…

Pro Pain Pro Wrestling
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
New Alhambra Sports & Entertainment Center
Attendance: 200
Commentary by Gerry Srauss & Mike Winner

The power of the Blog Of Doom meant that randomly posting about 3PW somehow resulted in the remaining, incredibly rare shows being unleashed to the world so it’s only polite to type about them.

This is the first show after the incredibly cursed January show so I’m sure many were shocked at the company making it to three years.

Crowd is tiny but it’s a mid 2000s Arena show so the bass is all the way so it’s at least respectfully loud. Ring announcer welcomes us to the “New Alhambra Sports & Entertainment Center” to boos so he corrects it to the “ECW Arena” to cheers. Local businesses get plugged with Tony Luke’s getting the biggest pop. I ate there when I went to the Arena in 2011 where I apparently met John Blud from Deadlock but don’t remember it.

Amish Roadkill vs. Damian Adams (w/Monsta Mack)

Roadkill is very over as he makes his entrance to Metallica’s Minus Human. No wonder Prichard thought he could feud with The Undertaker, Roadkill is aura farming. Well he’s Amish so he should be used to farming.

Roadkill dominates to start, throwing his weight around and splashing Adams in the corner. Mack pulls the ropes and sends Roadkill into the guardrail so Adams can take over to zero reaction. Mack chokes Roadkill on the ropes while Adams pleads with the crowd to boo him. Adams accidentally hits Mack, leading to Roadkill landing his trademark moves to further non-reaction. Vader Bomb looks to finish but Mack drapes Adams’ foot on the rope. Mack powerslams Roadkill but that’s good enough for a one count as Roadkill aeroplane spins Adams into Mack to set up the match winning top rope splash at 6:31.

Perfectly acceptable opener that was let down by the crowd only reacting to the entrances and finish. You wouldn’t think Roadkill would be champion in a few month’s time after this though.

Mike Kruel vs. Matt Striker

Striker’s run in 3PW saw him cosplaying as various legends which sounds dumb but got over really well with the crowd most shows. This week he’s Hollywood Striker, complete with Voodoo Child entrance.

Ring announcer clarifies that he’s from “Hollywood, Pennsylvania” and commentary gets a good line about “I would hate to see that Walk of Fame.” Striker gets the mic and he can’t get the voice down but he nails the expressions, culminating in him calling Kruel “Salvatore Bellomo” to a big pop. “Dude Brah Dude Brah Dude…are you wearing a bra?” Crowd loves him even though he sounds more like Randy Savage because not everyone can be Dan Soder.

Kruel is built like a 90s widescreen TV. Striker back rakes Kruel who oversells to the crowd’s joy. Striker does the “hsushsushuh” noises while flexing which you don’t see many people include in their Hogan parodies. Kruel removes his bandana but he has a wig underneath it so he actually has more hair than the real one. Kruel removes his weight lifting belt and whips Hogan which is blasphemy so Kruel attempts to knock down Striker with it so he limbos.

Then his hair falls off. Like the real Hogan! Striker attempts to slam the ref but HE’S TOO FAT so he slams Striker instead. Commentators are dying. Kruel lands two top rope elbows but this is time for some Hulking Up which the crowd eagerly joins in on until Striker misses the leg drop allowing Kruel to roll him up at 3:15.

Gerry Srauss yelling “he put him over clean!!” made me legit laugh which summed up this big dumb match. Crowd ate it all up and so far name-dropping Salvatore Bellomo has got the pop of the night.

Commissioner Bill Apter heads out to bore the fans. I mean introduce Michael Freedom all the way from England to be his new executive. I still don’t know anyone who knows who the hell this guy was. If this was a Herb Abrams’ show I’d assume this would be the drug mule for the month but getting your supply from England doesn’t sound right. Unless Blue Meanie really needed some Jaffa Cakes. Mike mocks the “Eagles” and explains he’s here to give this company some spice. Aye because we Limeys are often told by the Yanks that we really know how to apply spice.

Slyck Wagner Brown shows up with a ladder to set up in the ring so he can climb it to explain that he’s going to climb the ladder of success and win the title tonight. Crowd aren’t impressed by this broad visual metaphor (they’re more of an allegory-based crowd) so April Hunter heads out to accuse Slyck of using her to get a title shot. April wants a title shot too which the crowd support even though her promo skills are rotten. Sadly she ends the segment by saying “and I know things about you that you don’t want these people to know” which is something I could have done without.

After Bill says that won’t be happening because Slyck earned his shot, Bill immediately says if April beats an opponent of his choosing she gets a shot tonight. That was abrupt, unlike the rest of this time-killing segment.

April Hunter vs. The Blue Meanie

Meanie doesn’t want to wrestle a woman until April calls him a chicken. Also Bill threatens to fine Meanie $50 if he doesn’t before escalating it to $5,000 but at this point, those were the same amounts to 3PW.

Meanie lays down for April but Bill stops it and says the deal is they wrestle or the fines will continue. Bill is a beloved character but his promo skills and delivery and basically everything are all wrong for a heel character. Even Philly can’t bring themselves to boo a man this pathetic sounding. April gives Meanie a Mexican Armdrag into the ropes while the crowd are more focused on Apter meandering around at ringside like a 900 year old roomba. Meanie misses a top rope elbow which April turns into a Crossface which causes him to tap and that was it at 5:03.

This was all angle. By which I mean the match was nothing.

Slyck storms back out to tell Bill to fix this quick. Bill says it’s OK, she told April he needed to PIN the Meanie but she won via tap-out so Slyck gets the shot as scheduled.

You know when you pretend to throw a ball for a dog but the dog realises and gives you a disappointed look? Yeah, that was this.

Simon Diamond (w/Talia) vs. AJ Styles

OH THROW YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR. Simon is still trying to prove he’s a main event guy in 3PW so he’s challenging The Phenomenal One. Makes sense. He introduces the future Velvet Sky herself, Talia!

She’s really new, only just started working for Women’s Extreme Wrestling.

Diamond backs up Styles into the ropes as the commentator explain Simon has to use his strength advantage. Weird to think but yes, Simon is the bigger guy in this match and shows it off by shoving Styles down to the mat. Styles tries to use armdrags but Simon Says “no thank you” and he powers out to hit his own. Styles attempts to use matwork to slow Simon down but he’s still able to escape those side headlocks with relative ease. I’ve never seen Simon be presented this dominant. Crowd aren’t into it until Styles leapfrogs and dropkicks Simon in the mush. Yeah considering the shows were trying to fill in the ECW gap, the crowd aren’t exactly behind the leftover midcarders WWE didn’t sign. Styles’ crazy-high standing knee drop sets up some hard kicks as Styles doesn’t look exactly thrilled to be there considering he’s the face. He was the X-Division champion a week ago competing in Ultimate X on PPV so he’s rightly thinking “I’m above this.” Simon cuts off Styles with well-timed punches, applying an abominable scissors stretch with Talia helping by holding Simon’s hand. Crowd reacts to Simon acting like Akira Taue by asking Talia to show her tits. Styles’ jumping Frankensteiner is dumped into a sit-out Powerbomb for two. Styles continues to oversell Simon’s right hands until he guts it out and lands the “moonsault kick” because I guess Don West hadn’t yelled “THE PELE!!!!” enough for it to be accepted. With both men gradually getting to their feet to slug it out, Simon tries blocking Styles’ punches but AJ makes it clear that he’s done overselling and holds Simon with one arm while he rabbit punches Simon. Big lariat sets up a brainbuster for two. Phenomenal Forearm gets a very polite applause which is funny in hindsight. Moonsault-into-reverse-DDT is dodged so Simon can land a spinning punch for a near fall. “One of the best right hands in the business.” Since when?

Simon Series is converted into the fireman’s carry into a neckbreaker as the commentator yells “Styles has done his homework!” Well Simon’s only get two trademark moves. Three if you count him posing with his hand in his chin. Simon sets up the Styles Clash so Talia runs in to take it from AJ instead…but as he gets her into position he releases her and makes it clear that she has a smelly fanny. Simon’s surprise superkick only gets two but the crowd is too busy laughing at the smelly fanny spot to take it seriously. Also the commentators are laughing. “She doesn’t keep the cleanest of company.” Styles is slowly dragged to his feet but rolls up Simon with a small package like Nash vs. Bret but Simon’s bigger than both of those guys so he kicks out. Styles gets an up-and-over into a backslide which Styles himself turns into La Mahistral for the pin at 12:22.

I weirdly enjoyed seeing Simon being treated like a bruiser as Styles did a wonderful job of making it work. It’s a shame the crowd weren’t into it.

This was Styles’ last appearance as TNA cut off their partnership. Or 3PW couldn’t afford them, either/or.

Anything Goes Match
Rob Eckos vs. CJ O’Doyle

The future Robert Stone of NXT. These two have split victories over the past few shows so this is the rubber match. Nice of 3PW to build some new stars but crowd isn’t buying Rob, and they never got behind O’Doyle whose entire 3PW stint was “CJ is earning the crowd’s respect” until he didn’t.

It’s Anything Goes (in a promotion where DQs are never called) so CJ brings the intensity early on by bouncing Rob into guard rails. Rob tries charge CJ but he gets backdropped over the barricades while attempting to land safely but catches his foot on a chair and splats instead. Ouch. We brawl into the bleachers as the crowd cheer because the wrestlers are near them as the wrestlers take advantage of the small crowd to go around the entire hall, even the reasonably-priced Smart Mark Video table. CJ tries a running chair shot but Rob launches a chair into him before disrespecting the Irish flag. This powers up CJ into charge up his big sickle but Rob lands…something for two. No clue there but a follow up Lance Storm-style superkick is better. Still only gets two. CJ avoids a chair in the corner to drop toe hold Rob through the chair and ropes as the crowd clap wildly. CJ Cutter lands but he takes too long going for the pin. CJ removes his 3PW shirt to land the feud-ending leg drop at 13.52.

Not a bad match to fill the crowd and give the fans some good old-fashioned brawling and clubbering, but again the commentators were putting over the amazing connection CJ is having with these fans who clearly are only into the spots and not the guys. They boo Rob something fierce after the bell though.

Monsta Mack and Damian Adams head to the ring. “I may be fat but you’re all ugly, and I could lose weight” yells Mack who never did lose that weight. In fairness, he said “could” and not “will.” Mack invites Kruel to the ring to hand over his tag titles because Kruel’s partner Gary Wolfe is gone “just like ECW.” Kruel disagrees and thinks he can defend the titles by himself and Pearl Harbours Mack from the front.

3PW Tag Team Titles
Mike Kruel vs. Damian Adams & Monsta Mack

Wolfe left because he felt he should be paid to wrestle. He’ll never make it in this business with that attitude. Kruel holds his own until Mack lands a codebreaker. In theory. Mack lands a powerslam before attempting some of the worst push-ups I’ve ever seen before stopping at 2 1/2. Kruel takes a beating. Mack misses a Frog Splash as the commentators mock him. That’s a bit Kruel. Doomsday Device is countered into a Victory Roll but doesn’t end the match. Should have done, I love that spot. Mack flies outside and nearly lands on the timekeeper but immediately pops back in to lariat. Mack gets distracted as Talia has appeared on the apron, which lets Simon Diamond run in and hit that sneaky superkick to pin Mack to win the titles at 6:03.

I’ll give them credit for running storylines and doing more than just “here’s a match and here’s a match” but it’s a shame (yet again) that the crowd didn’t bite on any of this.

Mack is in disbelief and can’t get his words out as he wants to know why Simon is here.

Simon: Speak up!

Mack: I can’t, you kicked me!

OK that got a laugh from me. Simon explains he had a contract for the match and produces it while celebrating with Kruel who doesn’t seem to mind having to do all the hard work.

Mack: Have you seen this contract? This is bullshit, they told me everything would be OK if I switched to Geiko.

Mack’s two dumb lines were the highlight of the match. Him and Adams leave the new champs to pose as the commentators yell about it being a new era for the 3PW Tag Team division.

The belts would be immediately vacated the next show because Kruel left the company.

Rockin’ Rebel vs. Matt Striker

Oh goody. Rebel wearing a Double Trouble shirt (his tag team with Jack Victory) explains that Victory isn’t here tonight. Or any other night, he’s another wrestler who also never returned after this show as it was the end of his career as a full-timer. He runs through his list of insults (“hey hunnie here’s something you’ve heard before: don’t turn the lights on, the beer is wearing off”) as the fans eat it all up. A lot of Rich Vos fans in the crowd tonight. But wait, Real American plays and we get the Red & Yellow version of Hogan to balance the evening out. His shirt says “Striker STILL Rules” in a way I can appreciate. Rebel immediately puts Striker in the Camel Clutch which really gets the crowd into it. Rebel struggles applying the Million Dollar Dream so Striker helps him apply it. Piper’s sleeper hold is next, with Striker hulking up to escape on two. Rebel dares to leg drop Hogan, causing another Hulk Up. “We’ve seen this before. A few hours ago as a matter of fact.” Body slam, shirt tear, big boot, leg drop finishes at 2:45.

Doesn’t matter that we did this earlier, crowd still ate it all up with a red and yellow coloured knife and fork.

The ref removes his top to reveal a Ref-A-Mania shirt so they can pose together and then a bunch of kids are invited in the ring to do the Hogan poses to all four sides of the crowd in a nice moment. The children yearn for the Hulkster.

3PW Heavyweight Title Match
Christopher Daniels (c) vs. Slyck Wagner Brown

Again, Meanie deserves praise for doing his best to push young talent considering what he had to play with. Joey Matthews, CJ O’Doyle and now Slyck.

Both men do their best to give this a big fight feel with the long feeling out process on the mat featuring numerous serious side headlocks. Slyck powers out to send Daniels into the ropes but Chris pauses as Slyck tries a leapfrog, enabling him to side headlock down to the mat. Daniels sticks with them, making them as a thorough as possible. Eventually Daniels switches to hip tosses and knee drops as he’s really in the “travelling world champion from the territory days” feel now. Delayed suplex impresses the fans who aren’t sure how to take Daniels yet because he’s dominating like a heel. So he lets them know it’s OK to cheer him with a crunchy tope con hello.

Slyck has enough and cuts off Daniels as attempts re-entry so he can flatten him with the slingshot legdrop onto the apron. Slyck surfboards Daniels as the crowd chant for tables. C’mon mutants, you’ve got Daniels in his prime in front of you. Slyck does his own delayed suplex but he’s bigger than Daniels so crowd gives him silence. Daniels has to stomp his feet on an armlock to get the crowd cheering for him. So Slyck instantly cuts him off and the crowd dies again. Slyck tries yelling but it doesn’t work so he chops Daniels as hard as he can and that works. Slyck up-and-overs Daniels who connects with a well-timed STO. Daniels is a church on fire as he peppers Slyck with dropkicks and screaming. Slyck cuts Daniels off with a flying leg lariat. Slyck knows when to cut off people at the right time, I’ll give him that. STO sets up Daniels for a Tornado DDT but the ref gets bumped on a shove. Daniels’ gets the visual pin but Slyck backbreaks him down so he can grab the belt at ringside. Revving it up, April Hunter charges in to steal it from him and attempt her own shot. Slyck goes for April (oh no) so Daniels saves, so he gets Slyck in the Angel’s Wings…only for April to turn on Daniels and hit him in the back of the head with the title to give us a new champion at 19:56.

They were having a very decent main event until the interference and dumb arse turn buggered it up. But they needed something I guess to get your new big heel some heat which is an improvement on the zero reaction he was getting. Match was good for what it was.

Slyck tells the crowd “I told ya!” and tries to start a fight with a really old fat fan. I was going to post a picture but I realised that guy is 100% dead by now so I felt bad and didn’t.

Overall: Another interesting show to look back and see how 3PW had a lot more story based feuds than I remembered and wondered if the company would have been better running smaller venues Chikara style.

Probably not, but sticking with running the Arena clearly affected how a lot of fans treated them as there’s a certain level of expectations for Arena shows and Slyck being champ ain’t meeting a lot of them.

More next week.

I’ve been Maffew