Friday night, Resistance Pro Wrestling returned once again to the Excalibur in downtown Chicago for their latest event which featured a rematch for the World Title between Harry Smith and Rhino, as well as a lot of other exciting matches featuring some of the best up and coming talent around, as well as a long-time superstar.
D’Arcy Dixon came out with her newest prospect, Eric St. Vaughn. This was the same guy who posed with her at the last show but this time he got a proper introduction. D’Arcy also mentioned how her team, The Briscoe Brothers, are going to win the tag-title tournament and become the first Resistance Pro tag-team champions. D’Arcy and Eric then proceeded to show their stuff by doing a pose-down in the ring. These two must live in a gym as they were in phenomenal shape. After a couple of minutes of poses, their time in the spotlight was cut short by an extreme intruder.
Lou E. Dangerously, not seen in a wrestling ring since he days in ECW, took it upon himself to let himself into the ring uninvited and started causing some trouble. He seemed to be upset somehow with Billy Corgan running a wrestling federation and generally badmouthed the promotion. Security tried to keep him at bay while former ECW star, Nova (aka: Simon Dean from the WWE) tried to talk some sense into Lou. Eventually they calmed him down and shooed him out of the ring so the first match could start.
Matt Cross and Mr. 450 came to the ring to take on Tripp Cassidy and Sue Jackson in a match that was part of the tag-team title tournament. When Cross and 450 reached the ring ropes while on stage, Chris Hall clocked 450 and he and Cross gave him a beat-down. Matt Cross got on the mic and explained how it was his choice who is partner would be, and he was going to trade up to Chris Hall. Once Mr. 450 left the ring area the match got underway. Sue Jackson was a monster sized individual who was on par with Chris Hall as far as size goes. Early on, Hall did the heavy lifting for his time and when he had Jackson down on the mat, Cross would tag in, bounce off the ropes and do a senton splash on Jackson while yelling, “weeeee” as he jumped, then promptly tag back out. They repeated this process a couple of times before continuing to maintain control through most of the match. Jackson and Cassidy rallied with Cassidy looking especially good. Mr. 450 came out and tried to interfere too but Cross/Hall still got the win. After the match, Cross and Hall gave Mr. 450 a pretty severe beating which should set up a nice feud between Cross and 450, which would be a very good thing for the fans as they are good ring workers and would do well in a program together.
“The Ego” Robert Anthony took on ACH in what was billed as a “spotlight match”. Ego is one of the best guys on the RPro roster and he once again proved that he is going to be a breakout superstar. ACH was over big time with the crowd with his amazing energy and upbeat persona. He took every bit of Anthony’s insults and gave plenty back to him. The two put together a really good match that made both guys look great. As entertaining as Ego is as a heel, these traits are going to eventually make him a babyface, and ACH is a rock-solid babyface who won over a huge chunk of the audience. There was a lot of great back and forth action and some funny moments such as ACH doing the splits to try to get out of a hammer lock, which disgusted Ego. When he got ACH in the hold again, he once again split out of it. They turned up the heat from there in a nicely paced match that mixed solid mat work with some cool high spots that came to a finish when Ego got ACH in his surfboard slam to get the win. The crowd applauded both men and chanted “please come back” to ACH.
It was time to bring out the ladies as “The Matrix” Taylor Made took on Serenity. Taylor was accompanied to the ring by Women’s Champion, Melanie Cruise and Nikki St. John (complete with a little dog in a travel bag). Melanie was still limping around and had a crutch to help her with her allegedly bad knee. A knee that seems to be healing slower than Cowboy Bob Orton’s arm. The match strangely started off with some actual wrestling but quickly turned into more of a brawl with the two slapping, chopping, pulling hair, and flipping each other all around the ring. It got rather sloppy at times with a couple of botched spots, but eventually Serenity got the win, much to the shock and disgust of the Melanie Cruise empire. They came in after the match and interviewer Zach Thompson tried to ask Melanie about her injury and how she is going to have a match at the next show with TNA’s, Angelina Love, which resulted in Melanie slapping the taste out of Zach’s mouth, who wisely said he’d try to interview her some other time.
Lonesome Jay Bradley took on Sean “X-Pac” Waltman in what they billed as a “#1 contender’s match”. Sean got a huge pop from the crowd when he came out. Jay Bradley is a classic, arrogant, heel and he has been showing lately how he has the goods to back it up. This time out it wasn’t a quick, “one and done” match for him, Waltman would make him work for it, and work they both did! The match started and the two quickly spilled out onto the floor where the two fought for a few seconds before Bradley crotched Sean on one of the metal posts holding up the balcony. This was more dangerous than you’d think as there was a shelf there where people had set their beer bottles and the bottles all broke and spilled to the floor. Bradley then tried charging Waltman with a big forearm and Waltman ducked out-of-the-way which resulted in Bradley smashing his own arm hard on the post. This was his “clothesline arm” too and he was favoring it for quite a while afterwords. They made their way back into the ring and had a really good match with the quicker Waltman making Bradley really work hard to keep up with him and get the upper hand. At one point, Waltman hit his X-Factor move and looked like he was going to win, but he got overconfident and when he hit Jay with his Bronco Buster, all that did was piss off Jay who charged out of the corner and level Waltman with his clothesline which got Jay the win.
After the match was over, Bradley demanded a title shot and said he’d be watching the main event match this evening and planned on challenging the winner of the match, he also pulled out a sharpie and in a total heelish move, autographed interviewer Zach Thompson’s forehead. Zach was taking a lot of abuse this evening! When he left, Sean Waltman, clearly winded from his match, took the mic and thanked the fans for the ovation, told them that he was really happy to have been given the chance to work, and thanked Resistance Pro for giving him a chance. He also put over Jay Bradley big time as well as the rest of the roster. He was truly humbled by the warm reaction he received after years of ups and downs and “personal demons” and he was a true class act this evening who worked hard, appreciated the crowd, and helped elevate a younger talent on the rise. It’s a safe bet that Sean would be welcomed back after how truly classy he was at this show. It was one of the highlights of the evening and a true “feel-good” moment.
In another tag-team tournament match, Sky High (John Skyler and Ashton Vuitton) took on Rising Sun (Samuray Del Sol and Lince Dorado). This was a really fast-paced match full of non-stop action. There was a lot of high spots, double team moves and excitement. Vuitton has this metro sexual runway model gimmick and at one point while he had his opponent on the mat, he yelled out “catwalk” and proceeded to walk the runway on top of his opponent’s back. This got him a lot of heat with the crowd and he and Skyler did a good job as being a heel tag-team. Both teams looked great in this match and after 15 minutes or so, Rising Sun got the win. The crowd was hot for the entire match.
The Almighty Sheik took on Steven Walters in a falls count anywhere match. This also meant no disqualifications. This is the kind of match where the Sheik really shines and this was easily his best showing in Resistance Pro. The two squared off and quickly got out on the floor and started fighting there. Walters got the upper hand briefly and went back into the ring which gave Sheik the opportunity to find some chairs under the ring that he tossed into the ring. Walters grabbed one and Sheik did as well and they started fighting with them. Sheik got the upper hand and threw his chair into Walters in the same way that Sabu used to in his matches. The action moved to the stage where The Sheik took his spike and stuck Walters in the head a few times which busted him open. The now bleeding Walters and Sheik took the fight into the crowd, in the balcony and back down the stairs until they found their way back to the ring. Try as he might to persevere, The Sheik was too much for Walters and put him in the Camel Clutch which won him the match. Walters at this point could have gotten over as a sympathetic babyface after the beating he took from The Sheik but instead decided he was frustrated with his career thus far in Resistance Pro and randomly pledged allegiance to The Sheik, who made him pray on his carpet. This was a good match and The Sheik finally got to show what he’s capable of. Where Walters goes from here will have to be seen as his heel turn seemed almost random.
The main event was a world title rematch between the champion, Harry Smith, and Rhino. Rhino brought his most prized possession, his ECW world title belt he has had ever since the company folded, and put it on the line if he lost. The match was similar to the one they had last month which saw the two trading holds and jockeying for position. Rhino spent his time trying to soften up Harry’s back and midsection while Harry was working on Rhino’s arms. The match built nicely to some bigger moves but neither guy ever had a clear advantage as they were pretty evenly matched. When Harry managed to get Rhino in his sharpshooter in the middle of the ring, Lou E Dangerously once again returned and ran into the ring and clocked the referee. The referee called for the bell and Harry thought he won the match (as all this went on behind his back). The match was declared a no-contest due to the interference. This meant Harry keeps his title and Rhino didn’t lose his prized possession. This also meant that the score between the two still hadn’t been settled. Rhino wanted the match to be restarted immediately. Billy Corgan came to the ring and gave a profanity-laced verbal beating to Lou E and declared that at the next show there would be a rematch for the title in a steel cage where no one can interfere and there would be a clear winner once and for all. Raven (an agent for Resistance Pro) came to the ring and interjected himself in the mix by saying he would be the special guest referee and claimed he would be unbiased, while at the same time bad-mouthing Harry Smith saying he was just an “OK champion”.
Once again RPro put on a solid wrestling show with only a couple of hiccups and a lot to like. The talent in the federation is top-notch and it was a very fun wrestling show that easily gave the fans their money’s worth. They are quickly becoming a wrestling company to watch and are on the path to greatness.
Check out tons of additional photos from this event here!
