Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.

By Nicholas Jason Lopez

“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.

(Aired 4/9/16)

No Sleepers Needed

– Ever since becoming Lucha Underground’s flagship play-by-play commentator, we’ve forgotten how good of a heel Matt Striker could be in a wrestling role. He just oozes charisma that could make your mother hate him and she doesn’t even have to like pro wrestling. That takes skill. Anyways, Striker in this “Wrecking Crew associate” role is good as far as pushing younger talent like Marcus Malone and (in this episode) Jeff Boom, as they squared off one-on-one style. Striker bragged in a pre-match promo that if he couldn’t beat a guy not in his league like Boom, he’d willingly fight Gangrel next week in a match where he’d be blindfolded. The match itself was okay while it lasted. Boom looked good in his second WCWC showing, bouncing off Striker’s namesake style rather seamlessly. The heel veteran-face rookie dynamic was what made it work. However, all was overshadowed by the finish, where Gangrel distracted Striker enough for Boom to catch him with his cutter finisher to score an upset and make next week’s proposal a cold reality. Not for naught though, because Striker/Blanchard got their heat back by beating down Boom after the bell.

– Gangrel continued to make a difference on this episode at The Wrecking Crew’s expense, this time outlasting Kassius Koonz in short, yet fierce in-ring action. The Grapplers both brawled to the back shortly after the opening bell. Morty Lipschitz sat in on commentary to critique Gangrel, but it didn’t deter the “Vampire Warrior” from his eternal mission. Gangrel winning was no surprise, but we did like how Lipschitz openly accused Gangrel of pulling on Koonz’s hair to help him win.

– It also appears we’ll finally get our “Battle Of The Grapplers” showdown as per their interaction in the previous match and from the WCWC Legacy Champion Grappler III/Blanchard backstage promo, where G3 vowed to force The Grappler into sheer obscurity.

– Normally, we urinate on the tired “angry foreign heel” gimmick, but there’s something fresh about Khash – the middle eastern powerhouse from The Grappler’s Academy. We also liked that they elevated his long feud with Malone from small stages to the TV show, letting both guys organically get over by being evenly matched. The finish involved Khash avoiding Malone’s Kiss The Sky finisher to counter with his Khash Clutch (his own variation in more than the name but how he actually applies the move) to give the brash heel a notable victory. We’re eager to see more of Khash and how Malone looks to bounce back from yet another tough loss.

– Surely, after you finally uncrown Gangrel from his reign as WCWC Pacific Northwest Championship and hold onto the gold by any means necessary, you can feel unbeatable. That was the case for one Champion Caleb Konley, who continues to be an intricate part of WCWC TV with his straight-forward “chicken heel” character mixed with his great in-ring ability. On the other side, we had “The Gentleman Brawler” Eric Right – a throwback character who relies on his handlebar mustache good looks, magic tonic and sleeper hold to propel him to victory. Put these two together and you have something decent. We originally thought this feud was designed as a way for Konley to cheaply retain the belt and that’s how it turned out, but they gave Right an incredible comeback story, earning another shot at Konley by beating 20 other guys in a match and Striker on the same night. There was nowhere else to go for him but up. Konley played his “chicken” card by making Right’s sleeper hold illegal, to the point where Right was out to prove he didn’t need it to beat Konley and was willing to go in a 20-minute Iron Man match to show it. The stage was set for a good main event and the match lived up to the hype, as they worked a pace that worked within the stipulation. A scoreboard with a running time clock would’ve helped, but you can’t get everything golden these days. Konley stole the first fall with dirty tactics and was much the aggressor right down to the final minutes, when Right made his comeback by drinking a secret stash of his tonic and tied it up at one. The finish was a bit conflicting since it contradicted Right’s whole “I don’t need a sleeper to beat you” stance, but we guess they went with the ‘ol “turnabout’s fair play” here. After all, winning a Title using a hold that was banned for the match and with another official making the count, you set up a reason for a rematch. We can’t see this feud ending anytime soon. It’s good for Right, but maybe bad for Konley, who can’t keep a consistent streak going.

Quick Results

• Jeff Boom def. Matt Striker (w/Jeremy Blanchard) via pinfall
• Gangrel def. Kassius Koonz (w/Grappler III) via pinfall
• Khash def. Marcus Malone via submission 
• WCWC Pacific Northwest Championship – 20-Minute Iron Man Match – Eric Right def. Caleb Konley (Champion) two falls to one ton become new Champion