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 5/28/16)

Time To Get Weird 

– The opening tag team match between The Shadows and The Midnight Marvels had the feel of a Marvels squash victory, but unraveled into something else entirely. The idea of the match came off like a wildly melodramatic off-Broadway rendition of “Spider-Man: The Musical,” as two masked superheroes battled three figures dressed in all black. We’ve never thought of The Shadow was more than a jobber, so the idea of a group with that pushed gimmick can be risky. We had thought the match had gone on far too long for a face squash victory, as the heels dominated throughout. There was a hot tag to Spyder Warrior, but the momentum didn’t last long and thanks to the outside factor of Miss Shadows, the heels actually won this. As far as their mission to “expand the sun,” well, we’re not so sure about that, but it could keep the Marvels busy for a while. At the same time, it probably hurts their image when they can’t even beat the lowly Shadows squad. That’s a somber show start if there was ever any. It could get cool if say, The Shadows “possess” Lemon Drop or something like that. Time will tell.

– We had another WCWC debut in the form of Fame. Nick Fame, that is. Complete with a “Manservant named Julio,” this guy oozed style and charisma for sure. On the other hand, we had Marcus Malone, who has become the equivalent of WCWC’s Neville – popular with the fans for his great performances, but his many losses makes him vulnerable. The bout was shorter than expected with Malone close to victory, only to fall victim to Fame’s Piledriver finisher. Want to see more of what Fame could offer, that was barely a taste.

– Jeff Boom has eased in his transition from newcomer to featured star and on this show, he’d receive a shot at the WCWC Pacific Northwest Championship. His backstage promo helped hype that contest with a statement that he had the number of The Wrecking Crew lately and that made him come off as a true threat. Now if only Champion Grappler III didn’t just win the belt back, we’d believe it even more that Boom could win.

– Time for another glorious WCWC debut with JJ Garrett now on the scene as he took on Mikey O’Shea. Garrett flashed some “swag” and came off as the “annoying white boy next door,” so if that’s what they were going for, mission accomplished. This was an okay match with nothing flashy. Though Garrett showed some fight with avoidance of the Gunslinger early on, a horrendous botched moonsault was tough to ignore. Ouch. That said, it was the Gunslinger that eventually did him in. Newcomers can’t win ’em all.

– We’d yet to hear from The Wrecking Crew, but that quickly changed with their backstage promo to also hype the WCWC Pacific Northwest Championship match. They still urged the idea that Grappler III was the “one and only” Grappler around now. What a rambunctious bunch.

– The WCWC Pacific Northwest Championship match between Boom and Champion G3 with Morty Lipschitz on commentary was entertaining while it lasted thanks to the antics of Kassius Koonz/Jeremy Blanchard on the outside, but just like a typical WCWC bout, it was plain overbooked by the end. Boom got to hit his finisher, but Koonz pulled him out of the ring before a three-count could be reached, for a DQ finish. The post-match developments were more memorable, as WCWC Legacy Champion Eric Right made the save and exclaimed he was sick of The Wrecking Crew. Guess we’ll get a tag match in the near future.

– Best known as Kizarney of WWE fame, Sinn Bodhi was back in WCWC to team with Gangrel to take on the WCWC Tag Team Champions Greg Romero/”The Rock God” with the belts on the line. Bodhi’s backstage promo hyped the contest with a focus on his rivaled history with the “Vampire Warrior” headed in. Bodhi felt more Bray Wyatt than Kizarney, but he probably was Wyatt before Wyatt came around. Just a comparison more than anything.

– The WCWC Tag Team Championship main event between Gangrel/Bodhi and Champions Romero/Gibson was also good action-wise. The dynamic between former rivals on a team dictated the pace early on and as they tightened their chemistry, the heels cheated to win (surprise surprise) as Gangrel was clobbered with the 8-ball. An early tease of something different occurred earlier when Bodhi was hit with the 8-ball, but kicked out at two. Guess it’s the same old story here. These overbooked finishes get tiresome eventually. Let’s hope they think outside the box sometime soon. Despite that. Romero/Gibson have settled in as dominant Champions and it’ll be fun to see who can take them down, while something might’ve been teased between Gangrel/Bodhi to happen down the line.

Quick Results

• The Shadows (w/Miss Shadow) def. The Midnight Marvels via pinfall
• Nick Fame (w/Julio The Manservant) def. Marcus Malone via pinfall 
• Mikey O’Shea def. JJ Garrett via pinfall
• WCWC Pacific Northwest Championship – Jeff Boom def. Grappler III (Champion) (w/Jeremy Blanchard, Kassius Koonz) via DQ; Grappler III retains 
• WCWC Tag Team Championships – Greg Romero/”The Rock God” Ricky Gibson (w/Mr. Tubbs) def. Gangrel/Sinn Bodhi via pinfall to retain