A few days ago I finished watching the entire 3 disc set for Best of the Best V. Here's my review of the second disc......
There were still 2 matches left in the first round.......
The first matchup on the disc was between B-Boy/Sabian. Now I do enjoy me some B-Boy from time to time and I'm pretty indifferent on Sabian. He's nothing special, but I've seen him range from impressive to unwatchable. This match would be the latter, but B-Boy didn't help matters either. See anyone that is unfamiliar with B-Boy's work should know that he works you standard "Indy Strong Style" which of course is based on Japanese Strong Style wrestling...............but that's generally a myth as it doesn't really exist. It's just another fancy term for guys who throw stiff shots and work tight. But on the Indy's I haven't see anyone outside of maybe Samoa Joe that really works that style well. ANYWAY...........this match was a bit of a mess. B-Boy came across like he was dogging it, but I must admit the match was entertaining because Eddie Kingston was doing color during the match. B-Boy's forearms in this one were nothing short of pathetic and there was no real story getting worked in this. Sabian was trying though and busted out some good high flying moves, but it still couldn't save the match IMO. They pulled out a few of those "way to orchestrated to look real" spots and it made the match even harder to watch. B-boy ended up winning here, but for how long the match is............it's really frustrating to get through.
Winner - B-Boy
Rating - *1/4
Now it was time for the last match of the first round with Nate Webb going against Ebessan. Now I was curious to see how Ebessan's act would get over in front of the CZW crowd at the old ECW arena and I must admit, it was better than I thought it would. Kingston is also golden on commentary in this one as he's had some past problems in CZW with Nate Webb so he rode him pretty hard during the entire match. It was also frustrating to constantly hear Eric Gargillo constantly mispronounce Ebessan's name too. Anyway, they worked a few comedy spots here (Ebessan breaking out his Ric Flair impersonation) and having Webb bite the goofy ears on Ebessan's mask and whatnot. This match wasn't that great though as you have to sit through some mindnumbing spots like Nate Webb working submission holds. UGH. Esbessan though did well here and even though he's pretty much just a comedy act, he can do some pretty impressive stuff for being a short portly man. Although this was no technical masterpiece by any standard, it was like watching 1993 All Japan compared to the B-boy/Sabian shitfest before hand. I think Ebessan won with the shining wizard as well.
Winner - Ebessan
Rating - *3/4
Now it was time for the second round. With some pretty strong matchups here I was now getting interested..........would I be disappointed? Let's find out.....
The first match of the second round was going to be between two guys who DEFINATELY have some bad blood.............Super Dragon vs. El Generico. These two have hooked up in several indy promotions and I'm sure they've even wrestled in CZW before........but this was the first CZW match between them that I've seen. This match was INSANE. But not necessarily in a good way. See, I think they both can go and honestly as of late I've really enjoyed seeing Super D kicking the fuck out of people. But this match was one of those indy matches where guys are kicking out of shit to the point where you think the only way someone is getting pinned is if Jason Voorhees literally comes to the ring and rips someone's heart out. El Generico busted out his Brainbuster on the turnbuckle (A move that understand is crazy and reckless as all fuck..........but damn if it isn't a badass motherfucking move. Yes, badass AND motherfuckin) only to have SD kick out at two. I do love though how it seems like when El Generico is facing a harder to beat opponent he tends to go into the All Japan finish sequence (For those who aren't familiar, AJPW used to use these finishes where a guy would literally hit all kinds of moves in a row to totally destroy their opponent and get the W) mode, which pretty much rules................except for when SD brushes it off and kicks out at 2. There's no doubt this was a fun ass match to watch, but I've gotten to the point in my wrestling watching that I want a bit more realistic though. Super Dragon hit the Psycho Driver only to have Generico kick out at 2. So it was time for SD to bust out the Psycho Driver #2 which pumphandles the arm and pins the fuck out of Generico.
Winner - Super Dragon
Rating - **1/2
I was mixed at this point in the show on weather or not Steen/Hero was going to be good or not. Steen is awesome, but he has some KILLER offense that there was no way I could see Hero taking. Not that I don't think that he WOULDN'T take the moves, it just a matter of his size being an issue. Steen got jumped by Hero on his way to the ring and Hero took over from there. Steen literally got his ass kicked the ENTIRE match. Hero did his usual bust out all kinds of Kravate's on that ass offense and some dickish heel stuff that he's actually pretty good at. Not much else to say here as Steen won with a roll up as Hero got cocky...........but they did work a story here so that's more than I can say for any other tournament matches up to this point.
Winner - Kevin Steen
Rating - **3/4
Now it was time for Mike Quackenbush vs. Claudio. Now this was a match that I was really looking forward to as when he wants to be........Quack is awesome. Claudio has been really hitting his stride since around the time of this show so I wanted to see what could come of it. They did a well rounded match here with Quack selling and Claudio pulling out moves that I have never seen from him before. Good stuff here. The selling wasn't anything top notch but Quack pulled out the win and the crowd was definately surprised by it.
Winner - Mike Quackenbush
Rating - **1/2
It was now time for the final match in the 2nd round between Ebessan vs. B-Boy. I must admit that I wasn't looking forward to this one at all. B-Boy looked like shit in the first round and I wasn't really looking forward to seeing him work a comedy wrestler. They did comedy stuff at the beginning with B-Boy pulling out his own Ric Flair impression after Ebessan did it to him, some other crap work and basically both guys attempting to hit each other with Shining Wizards. WOW....I'm not gonna spend anymore time on this one.....
Winner - B-Boy
Rating - *1/2
Now it was time for the main event of THIS disc. A awful, terrible, shitfest known as the H8 Club (Nick Gage/Justice Pain) vs. DJ "I'm fat and slow" Hyde/Toby "I'm better in death matches" Klein. Now don't get me wrong, I don't hate on guys for no reason. Nick Gage in unbelievably terrible and Justice Pain can be ALRIGHT. DJ Hyde is just awful and Toby Klein can actually be acceptable, but he's mainly a death match guy. There's not much to mention here, guys fought all over the arena, people got hit with chairs. YEAAAAAAAAA.
Winners - H8Club
Rating - *
Coming soon...........part III.
What, no light tube matches?