PWInsiderXTRA - WWE News, Wrestling News, WWE

Live Report:

The Cynical View

Irish Whip Wrestling

Dublin 9/12/07

I returned to the distant, yet colourful land of Irish Whip Wrestling on Sunday 9^th December, as the group ran a show in Clontarf, Dublin, inside the Irish Wheelchair Association.

I should point out that I’m never, ever, going to ask a Dubliner for directions again. Ok, so supposedly, the venue was near the dart station in Clontarf. Easy to find. Fair enough. Except, no-one from either side of the train journey have ever heard of the building, or the street it was located in. Okay. So after terrible service from the rail staff, a random woman on a meander was asked. She revealed that the area was close enough to walk to, and not far enough to be “worth taking the bus”.

So I spent the next 40 odd minutes dandering around deserted streets in the dark ,with my girlfriend, having no idea whatsoever where we were going. It was hardly walking distance you fools! So yeah, if you’re not from Dublin and you’re ever going to this place, email me, or the Irish Whip staff for directions. For God sake, don’t ask the Dublin folk!

-Mad Man Manson opened the show, calling out the Ballymun Bruiser, challenging him to a match that would see his future bout with Eugene be put on the line. Good segment, setting up a neat mini-story for the evening with the most over baby face.

This was a pretty nice opener that had the crowd lifted to good spirits. Bingo was especially over, this being his hometown. Warrren emerged dressed in full getup, which is the first time I’ve seen him as such, like a modern day, post-grunge Big Boss Man. Despite that ridiculous description, the look works for him.

This was a reasonably paced, light heavyweight match, with a sustained beat down on Warren. Nothing fancy, but the nightspots were crisp, and the fans stuck with the baby face all the way. Ballance hit a few sweet manoeuvres towards the end, including a nice running knee, and a cool backcracker, that looked a million time better than Chris Jericho’s current finisher. A Steamboat style cross body from the top was enough to get the win for Bingo, although I would like to have seen them go a little longer. Good opener.

Some of these guys were new to me. Jones, who I’ve seen before, is easily , has aesthetically, the most accomplished look of the bunch. They started out energetically with typical heel shenanigans cutting the good guys (Tara Doyle’s team) short of their shine. Hurley and Irish Dragon were both in the ring for what seemed like nano-seconds, before they tagged out again, leaving Tara to eat the bulk of the beat-down from the heels. They had the crowd going with this one, as the small, freezing venue, rallied behind her. She showed good spirit throughout, and absorbed some stiff looking shots, which had some of the family members in attendance wincing somewhat. The final moments of the match were almost a calamity though, with a couple of awkward moments of timing, but it was still enjoyable enough, and they worked hard, going for several tricky sequences near the end. Irish Dragon picked up the victory with a perfect sunset flip bomb. Tara and ones were certainly the most impressive throughout this one.

These two young guys delivered a fast paced affair in this outing, that was relocated from it’s intended setting on at Gym Wars 25. However, I don’t think the bulk of the crowd understood the build up to the match. That said, these guys still did a good job of engaging the crowd from the outset. They battled hard, and stiff, letting us know that there was something on the line here. I was disappointed this wasn’t actually a longer match however, which would have gave them more time to tell a story amidst the nice exchanges. Still, a good match though, that saw Skelly win the tournament following a roll-up.

Zero Gravity Championship Match

I’m a big fan of Red Vinny, as he’s impressed me each time I’ve seen him in the ring, so my expectations were fairly high for this. Bam’s got a Trent Acid/Hardy’s sort of look, and commands one’s attention with his presence. Unfortunately, this wasn’t what I expected, and mainly consisted of Bam working over Vinny. I presume this was intended to lead to a hot comeback for the Champion, however Vinny was injured after a nasty tumble over the top rope, and his comeback did not materialise. Instead, he pinned Bam in a messy, hasty finish (not these guys fault, it really couldn’t be helped). Afterwards Vinny needed to be helped to the back by staff. Luckily, he seemed okay after the show, but looked in bad shape at the time.

Ballymun Bruiser defeated Mad Man Manson

This was a typical Manson comedy match, with the stipulation that the winner would be the one to face “Eugene”, when he makes his Irish Whip debut in March. Despite the telegraphed outcome (mainstream media have picked up already on Bruiser’s big encounter), this was a good use of Manson, and provided a fine storyline for this Dublin crowd.

The Ballymun Bruiser got the dodgy win following a match where the highlight was unquestionably the spot that saw a three-way nipple-tweaking incident involving the referee.

I haven’t seen Caiman in action before, but he’s a big, goofy Welsh guy, who utilises a plethora of typical big man moves. Viper’s entrance, which is intense, and a notch above most of the guys, seemed to freak out the kiddies, thanks to It’s intensity. This was your formula Vic/Mandrake bout, with the bonus novelty of Caiman as a third guy. The Welshman got on the microphone early during this, and taunted Mandrake, whilst Viper beat him down. Lots of crowd interaction throughout this. Basic big man stuff, with the action picking up towards the end, with a frenetic array of big spots. Mandrake eventually got the pinfall on Caiman, after smashing him with a top-rope dropkick.

In all, although a smaller scale than the shows I’ve previously attended, this was enjoyable as usual. The Irish Whip crew did their best with their relatively small crew on the night, to provide a good, solid couple hour’s worth of entertainment. As per the norm, this resulted in a feel-good atmosphere, that saw some decent action, that sent the kids home happy. Personally , I’d like to see Viper in a fresh feud of some kind, and hope the rivalry with Mandrake will soon run it’s course. Elsewhere, I was very impressed by Brother Skelley’s work, in what was a highly entertaining contest, though disappointed that the Zero Gravity match seemed to unfortunately end early.