The reported attendance for the final night of the WWN’s tour of China was 10,500.Even if that was inflated (and this is wrestling so there’s a very good chance it was) that’s a far cry from the average turn out for an EVOLVE, Shine or FIP card. Even on WrestleMania weekends the company comes nowhere close to attracting even half of that number. So in terms of opening up a fresh market and getting a good attendance number the WWN tour’s final offering was a success.
Pleasingly it was also a success in the ring. The show
kicked off with new FIP champion Rich Swann defending against his buddy AR Fox.
Well, it kicked off with that after the ridiculously long entrances were done
and dusted. Even Fox seemed to get a lengthier entrance than usual. The show
had fifteen minutes on the clock before the two even locked up.
Swann got in the first major move when he turned Fox
upside down with a drop kick. The challenger came back with a springboard drop
kick to Swann and followed up with a nice tope and a split-legged senton. Swann
fought out of a sleeper (hey, it was a pacey exchange and they needed a
breather) only to be floored with a cross between a Flatliner and a DDT that
Fox should think about introducing as a regular move. It was far more
impressive than Low Mein Pain.
Fox leapt to the top rope to try something but ended up
taking a hurricanrana from the champ. After a brief exchange of right hands Swann
scored with an scissor kick and a rolling senton. Fox came back with the
twirling brainbuster. Swann got a Lethal Injection and went for a frog splash.
Fox rolled out of the way and clambered to the top rope to go for a Swanton
bomb. That was also avoided and Swann took another stab at hitting his frog
splash. It worked out better for him on the second attempt: he connected and got
the three count for his first successful FIP title defence.
As Swann and Fox posed together they were attacked by the
Bravado brothers. They gave Fox a Gentlemen's Agreement and did some posing of
their own before Johnny Gargano turned up to chase them off. He shook hands
with Fox and shared a little nod of respect with Swann before being thanked for
his help by Lacey and the Chinese host. Gargano told them the Bravados were
jerks (strong words, right?) and said that he’d “had” to help. More importantly
he said he was focused on winning the Open the Freedom Gate title in the main
event (as well as the infinitely less important Beijing Cup).
Match number two pitted Valkyrie teammates Su Yung and
Allysin Kay against each other. Being the smaller, and therefore more
sympathetic, of the pair Su Yung played the valiant underdog babyface while Kay
played the bullying heel.
Yung ducked in and out of the ring at the start of the
match but was caught soon enough. Kay then spent the majority of the match very
convincingly pulverising her. In the closing moments Su began getting her act
together but was haulted when Kay suffered an eye injury. That turned out to be
a swerve when Kay got her in a schoolboy rollup to win.
Jody Kristofferson v Chuck Taylor came next. It was
another loss for Kristofferson, again by count out. Despite the losses he
suffered on every one of the supershows I enjoyed Kristofferson's work. And he
was portrayed as someone who could handle some of EVOLVE's bigger names but who
wasn't experienced enough get the win over them. I’d like to see more of him on
EVOLVE cards. For the record Earl Cooter took another pasting after the match.
In an odd move Biff Busick and Timothy Thatcher faced off
again. They'd last done so four nights earlier on the Chengdu show. In theory
there's nothing wrong with the two facing off twice on the same tour but it did
feel a little off. I think it’s because there were no other repeat matches.
As was the case in Chengdu they didn't get the length of
time I'd expected. They did put on another very good match though. And it was notably
different to their previous encounters, with the top rope being used and the
two men swapping around the body parts they were concentrating on. Busick ended
up tapping to Thatcher's armbar. They shook hands after the match.
Ivelisse Velez's Shine championship defence against Mia
Yim followed that. After a feeling out process in which the two swapped the advantage
and showed how evenly matched they were the challenger got the first big move
with a top rope arm drag. Velez responded with a super kick, a top rope
hurricanrana, a kick to the face from the apron and a tornado DDT.
Yim got in some kicks and applied a leg lock. Velez
reversed into an Indian death lock and then a Haas of Pain (which was nice to
see). She released that quickly, creating a moment that would have benefited
from a commentator acknowledging how tough the hold is to keep applied.
After taking an Exploder suplex Yim German suplexed Velez
into a turnbuckle and then applied a bow and arrow. That too was released
fairly quickly, with Velez taking the opportunity to catch Yim in The Undertaker’s
version of the gogoplata. Yim gradually worked her way up to her feet before
ramming the champion into a buckle.
They exchanged chops and then got roundhouses at the same
time. Back on their feet Velez bulldogged Yim before Yim recovered and knocked
her down with kicks to the face and a drop kick. Velez managed to throw her out
of the ring and hit a hurricanrana from the apron. When made it back into the
ring she was immediately hit with a spinning instep kick for two.
When Velez went to the top Yim cut her off, back dropping
her to the mat and scoring an iffy-looking 450 (which hit Velez’s knees and was
sold as though it had been a lot more impactful) for a two count. Velez escaped
the package piledriver and got in some slaps. An attempted top rope move from
Velez backfired when Yim grabbed her and successfully hit the package
piledriver to win the Shine championship.
Fittingly this was the best women's match of the tour.
The audience seemed to enjoy it well enough but Velez and Yim still deserved
more from them. After the match the two shook hands and hugged. A bit of bad
grace surfaced in the former champ when she tried grabbing the title belt and
leaving with it. Yim told Lacey and the Serious Chinese Host that it was
special to be champion. She said she'd be back (presumably in China) to defend
the gold.
The penultimate match of the night saw the Bravado
brothers and The Colony challenging the Premier Athlete Brand for the Open the
United Gate championships in a three-way elimination match. It was a natural
tag match to end on as both challenging teams had had title shots on previous
shows, but it did slightly devalue the belts to be defended against the same
assortment of guys across four shows.
The first fall was fought between The Colony and the
Bravado boys. Fire Ant hit a crisp tilt-a-whirl headscissors and a a tornado
DDT on Harlem and both Ants got suicide dives but it wasn’t enough to get them
the first pinfall. Harlem caught Fire Ant on the top rope and gave him a sit
out power bomb. That was followed by Gentlemen's Agreement to send The Colony
backstage.
As they had two nights earlier The Brand played the faces
opposite the challengers. After an initial flurry Barreta was isolated and
worked over with such villainous moves as back rakes, rope chokes, and the
dreaded Bandwagon double elbow. He once again impressed with his ability to
sell convincingly.
After a blown spot where the referee forgot he was meant
to be distracted by Konley to allow the Bravados to drag Barreta back to their
corner Konley tagged in. He got a solid reaction from the crowd as he fired
through the heels. The four repeated their spot from a few nights earlier with
the Bravados double suplexing Konley and Barreta slipping in at the last second
to power bomb them. It got a bigger reaction here, but it was still a little
cheeky of them to recycle a spot on back-to-back pay-per-views.
Once everyone was back on their feet Barreta went for the
Murray knee but got clotheslined. Konley ate an enziguri and a German suplex
and the Bravados signalled for the Gentlemen's Agreement. ‘The Obsession’
fought them off, back dropped Lancelot out of the ring, shoved Harlem into
Barreta's Gobstopper, and then pinned him with the double jump moonsault. The
closing moments really elevated the quality of the match. I’d like Konley and
Barreta to get more chances to team.
The tour culminated with Ricochet defending the Open the
Freedom Gate championship against Johnny Gargano in a rematch from April’s Open
the Ultimate Gate. For the record Ricochet won there, capturing the gold and
ending Gargano's twenty-eight-plus month title reign. Oh, this match was for
the Beijing cup too. That's a real prize right there.
They took a while to get going, milking the crowd and
going through some basic exchanges before Ricochet got a headscissors and a
drop kick. They avoided one another’s moves outside the ring and on the apron
before Gargano got his spear through the ropes. He followed up with a snapmare,
something Ricochet would do back to him a few minutes later.
As Ricochet turned the tables it became clear he was
playing the antagonist in the match, choking Gargano on the ropes and shouting
at people in the audience. After performing a standing moonsault (and the snapmare
receipt mentioned above) Ricochet started punching Gargano with closed fists
and then dropped him with a springboard clothesline.
They did Gargano’s duelling suplex attempt spot (which I
personally find boring, although the crowds in China seemed to adore them)
before ‘The Whole Shebang’ ran through Ricochet with clotheslines and gave him
a pop-up power bomb for two. Ricochet rolled to the apron to recover but got
kicked off by Gargano, then hit with a suicide dive. A lad in the audience
loved that, giving Gargano a cheery thumbs up as he celebrated.
Back in the ring Gargano got a DDT on Ricochet then went
for the lawn dart. Ricochet slipped out that and performed a fantastic Pele
kick followed by his float over northern lights suplex. When Gargano kicked out
Ricochet gave him a loud slap to the face before heading out to the ring apron.
The challenger tried to hit a super kick but Ricochet blocked it and gave
Gargano a Death Valley driver instead, sending him slumping down to the
ringside mats.
Gargano made his way back into the ring at nine. Presumably
he forgot he had a twenty count. ‘The Future of Flight’ leathered him with
kicks and spat in his face (which seemed a bit much after Swann and Barreta had
done the same thing in the main event of the previous show). Gargano psyched
himself up and smashed the champion with elbows and an enziguri. Ricochet
managed to grab him for a Benadryller but Gargano escaped, only to be dropped
with a Superman punch.
Ricochet went to the top and hit a Shooting Star press. Gargano
kicked out. Ricochet hoisted Gargano onto his shoulders and went to the second
rope. Gargano elbowed out and tried for a hurricanrana. Ricochet blocked it.
When Gargano tried the move again he got it but nimble ol’ Ricochet landed on
his feet.
Gargano scored with a super kick. Ricochet scored with his
own. Ricochet went for a kick to the mid-section (that’s real wrestling lingo
there, “mid-section”) but Gargano caught his foot and flipped him over on to
his knees. There he gave him another super kick before pulling him back to his
feet to finally hit the lawn dart, which surprisingly earned him the victory
and the championship.
It was a very good match, topping off a very good event
and a very good tour. The fact that WWN were able to put on four such enjoyable
and worthwhile shows with a relatively small roster at their disposal is a
testament to the hard-working nature of the talent and Gabe Sapolsky’s ability
as a booker. The news that China tours will become an annual event for the
league is very welcome.
***
Results summary:
Rich Swann def AR FoxAllysin Kay def Su Yung
Chuck Taylor def Jody Kristofferson by count out
Timothy Thatcher def Biff Busick
Mia Yim def Ivelisse Velez to win the Shine championship
The Premier Athlete Brand def The Bravado Brothers and The Colony
Johnny Gargano def Ricochet to win the Open the Freedom Gate championship
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