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 1/14/17)

Presence Of Mind 

– The Gallo-Ian Sutton match served its purpose as a misguided glorified squash to further establish The Wrecking Crew’s newest “pet.” Maybe literally. Think of Gallo like a more muscular version of Rick Steiner’s “barking dog” gimmick. It worked in a sense since WCWC Pacific Northwest Champion Grappler III was with him at ringside. We also liked the idea of Sutton as his opponent because he could use a rub from some offense put in. The downward side of Sutton’s stereotypical redneck gimmick’s exactly that – it’s limiting. Luckily, Sutton showed more depth to his in-ring skills and actually put in a few decent shots that had Gallo reeling. The pulverizing party didn’t last long, as Gallo took control after a mighty powerslam to earn his way to victory. Sutton’s one-match win streak would remain that. G3’s post-match promo was fine, as it reminded us of the impending tag match where Gallo/Caleb Konley would battle Mikey O’Shea/Alexander Hammerstone next week and G3 would be handcuffed to the ropes. This was the heels marveling over their high victory chances.

– The WCWC Legacy Championship match between Eric Right and Champion Ethan HD had its share of hype, albeit through generic backstage promo exchanges that didn’t do much to extend their already-heavy storyline history. Luckily, they had that to play off of in the ring and that part didn’t disappoint. Also, this took Ethan’s runaway heel Title run and combined it with Right’s recent family quarrels with another mustachioed individual who repeatedly gets in his way. We had to know another run-in was imminent. Some match highlights included Right’s wicked German suplex that landed the cocky Ethan right on his head. Right drank the magic tonic before the mustached man came down again. This led to the finish, while albeit, it looked cool, was a little silly in theory. Mr. Mustache stood on the apron to distract the Referee while Kate Carney held Right down for Ethan to perform a double knee stomp. Again – looked really cool, but you expect us to believe that the Referee didn’t see anything behind him or even feel it? A little stretch of the imagination now. Still, we liked it for what it was, as Mr. Mustache again cost Right another match and a Title. The psychological warfare continued post-match as Mr. Mustache taunted Right as he claimed other family members were upset that he couldn’t win the big one. Right stumbled his way along backstage. Maybe this will result in a blowoff match? Will we finally get to see Granny Right?

– The Julian Whyt/King Khash-Northwest Express match was another installment of this little “foreign affairs” feud. For some reason, Mr. Tubbs sticks with Khash/Whyt because he “sees money,” even though they’re inconsistent in terms of wins/losses. NWE shows signs of gelling together better and their theme music was catchier than we remember, almost something like Smash Mouth’s “Walking On The Sun.” Did like how commentary (mostly Kris Kross) brought up the controversy of Khash’s leather spiked boots that could potentially come into play. In terms of the action, this was more of what we’ve seen in the past, as the heels cut Marcus Malone off. Whyt slipped on a slide attempt on the apron at one point, but recovered well enough. Somehow, we got to the finish which was a Blockbuster to end it all. Wasn’t that the “Kiss The Sky”? Did they drop the name now? So, NWE wins, but will this actually garner a Tag Title push or will we get another version of this match next week where the heels win this time with dastardly deeds?

– The WCWC Legacy Championship #1 Contender’s Match between “The Rock God” Ricky Gibson and “Mr. Adrenaline” Adrian Matthews was good for the pairing alone. What took the fun out of it a little was the predictability factor. Gibson has proven well enough alone since he dumped Tubbs for “Janice” (his guitar) on this singles run, but with Ethan HD as Champion, a Gibson win was highly unlikely in favor of the babyface Matthews. Then again, maybe this match was a sign that Gibson will soon cross to the babyface side, because he never did anything too heelish here. Fast-paced stuff early on with a keen mix of styles. The “story” was that Gibson’s cockiness cost him in the end as Matthews struck with the Falcon Arrow and won. This sets up a Matthews-Ethan HD Title bout, which is something to look forward to.

– The WCWC Tag Team Championship match between Champions Gangrel/Sinn Bodhi and The Heavenly Bodies was fine for us, being that we were familiar with HB before WCWC. However to the casual fan, they have to be looking at HB and wondering why they’re receiving a Title shot so soon. They have potential to be top draws as heels, so again, not a problem for us. As far as the match, it was a combination of scientific wrestling and well, stink faces. Bodhi delivered the self-chokeslam senton before HB worked their way in with some dirty tactics. They double-teamed Gangrel before Bodhi evened things up. The finish was a genuine shock to us at first because it appeared that HB had won the Titles by way of cheating, as Gangrel’s foot was held down from outside on a pin attempt for three. They decided that HB would be disqualified for their cheating and the Champs retained. A brief scuffle afterwards wasn’t enough to deter us from that confusion. That actually would’ve been a buyable surprise, but it wasn’t HB’s time yet. Hard to tell if they’ll actually get a Title run or how long this WCWC stint will be, but hopefully, they set them up better than that. HB should take some notes from Ethan HD on how to properly cheat. Nobody ever suspects him. Sigh.

Quick Results

• Gallo (w/Grappler III) def. Ian Sutton via pinfall 
• WCWC Legacy Championship – Ethan HD (Champion) (w/Kate Carney) def. Eric Right via pinfall to retain 
• The Northwest Express def. Julian Whyt/King Khash (w/Mr. Tubbs) via pinfall
• WCWC Legacy Championship #1 Contender’s Match – “Mr. Adrenaline” Adrian Matthews def. “The Rock God” Ricky Gibson via pinfall 
• WCWC Tag Team Championships – Gangrel/Sinn Bodhi (Champions) def. The Heavenly Bodies via DQ to retain