Before we get into the show, it is worth noting that this episode can be watched- for free- on the official Blitzkrieg Pro YouTube channel which can be found above. Yup, I embedded it right into my review I'm so fancy. It is also on a local channel in Connecticut though and I know what you're thinking: "But you're from Connecticut, so why are you watching it on YouTube?" Well, I don't have cable so I don't get the channel it is on. Still, I like that it is here for all the world to see and represent Connecticut Professional Wrestling nice and proper.
We open with a story from Matthew James- who is wearing a lot of green and has a mohawk- about how we're living in the golden age of professional wrestling because so many names are coming from the independent scene and going onto television. I like that it works both ways too-- that you can still see guys on NXT and in your local promotions. James says if you've wondered where this talent is coming from then check out AIW and EVOLVE. Just kidding, he says look no further than here, though AIW and EVOLVE are also both good.
I like the video opening as it shows a lot of action. The Blitzkrieg! Pro logo is really nice looking too- very professional and crisp. The opening package doesn't remind me of ROH but it reminds me of something. There was this one promotion I was watching on YouTube and they had Colt Cabana fight for them a lot, perhaps it was them. Either way, this looks like a well produced show thus far and for those wondering, yes, the opening package could make or break you.
Matthew James is back and talking about the different talent in BPW. I'm not sure if I'm more disturbed by the light reflecting in his glasses or off of his head. I'm also not sure he needs to be holding a microphone since he could just have a mic on him and any time you see anyone else in professional wrestling talking like this (Josh Mathews in TNA comes to mind) I don't remember them holding microphones, but I get it, it's nice to see the logo on the mic and just look professional too. I suppose if he didn't have a microphone one might say to get him one so I'm not going to stress over that too much.
These names are nice, but it's better to see them in action so Matthew James takes us into our first match which is a triple threat and took place at the event called "Blitzkrieg! Pro and Chill". It is Sasha Jenkins vs. Tomahawk vs. Ken Broadway (w/ Ariela Nyx). Right away I can tell you that Sasha Jenkins is going to get thought of as being a female a lot now with that name- since Sasha Banks is in WWE- but Ariela Nyx also reminds me of the name Nia Jax. Aw hell, let's just go for the trifecta of name association: Tomahawk is like Tatanka.
Match One: Sasha Jenkins vs. Tomahawk vs. Ken Broadway (w/ Ariela Nyx)
The commentators checked in and I didn't catch their names but it's all right. Too much WWE and TNA has me blocking out most commentary. That and the fact that I'll watch lucha libre and Japanese wrestling so I don't know what the commentators are talking about any way. In this case, it does kind of help with the names of knowing who everyone is, but it's not that big a deal for a life-long professional wrestling fan such as myself.
Sasha Jenkins is a smaller guy, but somewhat tall it would seem, and he seems to have a similar build of Pepper Parks. I don't know why, or if it's the wrestling or not, but he does remind me of Pepper Parks. Ken Broadway seems to be the power man of this match and even though he might not be as physically big he reminds me of Monty Brown. Remember that guy? Tomahawk has his face painted and so he is the era of Tatanka when he returned in the early 2000's.
Jenkins and Tomahawk started with Broadway on the outside, waiting for his move, and then when Tomahawk left Broadway came in so this felt like a match where someone had to tag but I'm pretty sure all three were able to be in the ring at one time. Ariela Nyx did her job like a good valet should. At one point, the lights began to flicker but the commentators covered it by saying "He hit him so hard he knocked the lights out!". I'll be real: I thought The Undertaker might be doing a run-in.
Sasha Jenkins begins channeling Ernest Miller by punching, jabbing and dancing in front of both his opponents. Tomahawk hit a spinebuster on Jenkins, then kind of rolled him towards the ropes for some reason which allowed Broadway to hit to go for a pin attempt on Tomahawk. They go through the usual pin breaking up scenario in a triple threat match.
In a rather funny moment, Tomahawk looks like he is about to hit Ariela Nyx (And I'm under the impression Tomahawk is supposed to be a good guy, so we'll have to discuss later what it means for him being a good guy if he is going to chop a woman) but Ken Broadway gets in the way, yells out his pin number and tells Tomahawk to go get himself a haircut. Oddly enough, Tomahawk seems to oblige as he leaves the match. Broadway goes for some sort of running knee of Jenkins who was playing oppossum, ducks and scores the pin with a roll up. Triple threat matches tend to only end when one man is unable to break up the pin between the other two and this was a rather unique way of getting there.
As we go back to Matthew James he tells us about how Sasha Jenkins won that match but Ken Broadway has already qualified to be in a scramble match to crown the first ever BPW Champion. James sends us to Tim Jensen who is the commissioner for The Commissioner's Corner. Jensen gives us the rundown of who wll be in the five man scramble match and tells us that so far only four people have qualified. He mentions their old name but it is bleeped out. (Damn you, University of Vermont) Basically, the four men in the scramble right now have qualified by winning a five man scramble and then some of the losers of the other scrambles will get a second chance to qualify. The match to determine the fifth participant happens at "Furious Styles" though, which took place on March 26th, so I'm showing you how long it's taking me to watch this episode and write about it since that happened last weekend and we have the five man scramble set. This show did air before that though, so it's okay.
Commissioner Tim Jensen has a CT state flag on his desk.
Jensen sends it back to Jack Osbourne... Err, Matthew James who says what I said about them bleeping out their former name. He gets bleeped out too and then makes a thing about it. He says that they shared the name with a clothing company who made them change it, but isn't it a song anyway? Ah well, we have to move forward and Blitzkrieg! Pro is a good name even if it's hell on typing it.
Matthew James takes us back to the first ever show- which was before they were BPW- and says they paid tribute to Eric Newton by putting on a battle royal, his favorite match. Matthew James explains to us how a battle royal works because if you're watching professional wrestling for the first time, why not watch Blitzkrieg! Pro on YouTube (Unless you're crazy and live in CT)
Match Two: Erik Newton Memorial Battle Royal
There are a bunch of guys in this match and so I have no idea who everyone is. Yeah. I can't tell you a lot of what is going on but the commentator guy totally says "Us Vs. Them Wrestling" without getting bleeped. Good to see that BPW has the consistency of The WWE Network. I heard that Ken Broadway was eliminated and he's probably one of the only guys I'd recognize in here. And Sasha Jenkins is gone as well. This started with a lot of guys, but the eliminations are fast. At least the commentator guy called one of the wrestlers "IRS Jr." before I did. And apparently Tomahawk is in here. I know him at least from the previous match. There is a big, clown looking guy named Toxix (sp?) who gets eliminated. This might be easier if I could find a roster page for BPW. Tomahawk gets eliminated. The East Coast Bastard Crew looks like The Crist brothers and CM Punk in his early days. There is also this guy with white face paint who otherwise looks like B-Boy. And apparently someone in this match had the nickname "The Masshole", but unfortunately that is false because everyone in that state is one. It's not a matter of "There can only be one" because they all are. (I kid, of course) The face paint B-Boy guy was The Necromancer. It comes down to The East Coast Bastard Crew vs. Nate Nastic. I kept thinking they were calling him "Nate Nasty". He's like a combination of Samoa Joe and Chilly Willy. Still, Nate Nastic manages to eliminate all three and the last one out was simply called Rude Boy and he's the tattooed guy who makes me think of old school CM Punk.
Matthew James sends us to someone cutting a promo about "Furious Styles". He seems to be from the East Coast Bastard Crew and my thoughts are if you're a faction of three then all three of you should be cutting this promo not just one of you. Where is your solidarity??
Matthew James says that guy was James Leary so that means I have two names of ECBC now. James says the next match he wants to show us (Wait, he's in charge of what matches we get to see? Cool) is a tag team match from their show back in December. I actually wanted to go to that show back in December to see Leva Bates but it happened to fall on the same day we went to Lake Compounce for my Mom's birthday. Matthews James says that, for him, this match is the best representation of Blitzkrieg! Pro.
Match Three: The Batiri vs. The Minute Men
I recognize The Batiri from CHIKARA and they were one of the other reasons why I wanted to go to this show. Devin Blaze goes on a rant about how he doesn't care if people call them "ICP" because ICP was in ECW, WCW and WWF. Okay, but latching onto a popular gimmick is not how you get ahead in professional wrestling... Or is it? The funny thing here is that The Minute Men (as "Delicious Devin" and "Terrific Tommy") are on CageMatch.net but Blitzkrieg! Pro is not. I kind of like "Terrific Tommy" better than Tommy Trainwreck though. When you think of wrestling and "This match is going to be a trainwreck", you know... Not where your mind wants to be. I'm still trying to figure out the commentators but it's cool. They can just keep discussing Stacy Kiebler because it's 1999 and all is fine. The Batiri seemed to be taking a lot of the punishment in this match. Eventually, this just broke down into a fight and then it became anyone's match. After much more back and forth action, all four men are down. The Minute Men end up getting the win in a hard fought battle and wow, that was a hell of a tag team match and I didn't know who was going to win it but both teams deserve your respect now.
Matthew James closes out the show and wishes us a good night (How does he know I'm watching this at night? GET OUT OF MY CLOSET!) All of the names I didn't spell correctly come up in the final credits and apparently James Leary, part of the ECBC, directed this episode. They also give us the commentator names but you can look for yourself if you really care. Or BPW can just make a roster page on their website. In any event, we are closing in on their next even in April and they should have another show up soon even though I have no idea how often they will air. But this is definitely worth taking the time to watch on YouTube since it can be viewed for free and if you happen to find yourself in CT and the stars align then head out to one of their live events. You never know what you might see.
More information on Blitzkrieg! Pro Wrestling can be found here.
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