Ricocheting from the indies to WWE

Ricochet battles Will Ospreay

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

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Earlier this week WWE announced indy star Ricochet has signed a deal to start work at the Performance Center in Orlando. He'll be a part of the NXT brand as he continues to develop and hone his craft. It'll be a nice boost into the NXT system with fresh faces coming in. Additionally, it's been reported the tag team War Machine and women's star Candice LeRae are also NXT-bound.

Ricochet, whose real name is Trevor Mann, is actually not far from where I live now. For those who know, I'm a morning news anchor in southern Illinois. Mann grew up in Paducah, Kentucky which is about 45 minutes away. So after learning of his signing, I ran a story on the news about "local wrestler headed to WWE." It's a great excuse to get some wrestling stories on the newscast.

Ricochet vs. Austin Lane

I've had a chance to watch Ricochet wrestle in person a couple of times. The stand out occasion for me was when he faced Austin Lane in the main event of a Cape Championship Wrestling show in August 2016. You can see a portion of that match here (I can't figure out how to post an Instagram video on this blog.)The two put on a clinic in the ring which exceeded my expectations. Not only was I impressed with the guest star on the show, but Lane also. 

Ricochet's signing is welcomed by me and in my 1-2-3 cents, he could also help breath some new life into the Cruiserweight division. I don't know what the future holds for Neville (I'm still hoping he returns) but the man formerly known as Prince Puma would certainly add some sizzle to 205 Live. I can't imagine he'll be on NXT long, but even if he is, it'll be a benefit for both sides. 

Even though I don't know him personally, I'm excited someone from my neck of the woods is getting a break in the largest wrestling (sports entertainment) company in the world. Ricochet's signing should be enough to encourage men and women toiling in the independents to keep pushing. Also, youngsters should see this as a reminder to NEVER give up on their dreams. Heck, it's something even us old timers could use too.

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Old guys yelling at clouds

By Chad Smart

@chadsmart & @my123cents on Twitter
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Kevin has recently taken to using a Simpsons reference whenever I criticize/complain about something. He refers to a throwaway newspaper picture of Grandpa Simpson with the caption, “old man yells at clouds.” It’s actually annoying because it’s a go to phrase. At least he’s stopped saying, “too soon.” I’ve decided to take Kevin’s love of that phrase and turn it into a weekly segment.

The intent is to find people who complain about something and take them to task for it and not to be the old man yelling at the clouds. The first installment looks at recent Twitter comments made by wrestling veteran Vader towards a New Japan match between Ricochet and Will Ospreay. Vader had the following to say about the match.

Before I saw Vader’s tweet, I saw another tweet that included a 30-second GIF from the match. Based on the GIF, I was inclined to agree with Vader. The acrobatics of Ricochet and Ospreay, while impressive, highlighted an aspect of independent wrestling that has been slowly pushing me away as a fan for the past few years. I can appreciate the talent and athleticism involved however when a wrestling match looks more like a ballet than a fight. For me, if a match looks too choreographed it takes me out of the action and there’s no emotional impact. Instead of wanting to see who can win the match, I’m simply watching to see who can do the most impressive flip. Whether Vader’s criticism contributed or if it was their plan from the beginning, New Japan put the entire match up on YouTube for free.

After watching the entire match, I still think there are some valid complaints to be made. However, my initial skepticism of the match was unfounded. The original GIF was from the first two minutes of the match. In context it comes off as the evolution of the counter-counter- stand off moves Jerry Lynn and Rob Van Dam were doing in ECW in the late ‘90s. After that segment the match progressed into a wrestling match. Granted, a wrestling match filled with more flips and insane counters than any match involving Vader.

If you haven’t seen the match, I’d suggest you watch it and make up your own mind. Is it a competitive wrestling match or is it a perfect example of what Lance Storm once said would be justification for including professional wrestling as an Olympic sport. Is it a fight or figure skating without ice? I don’t know if Vader saw the whole match or just the GIF. If Vader had not watched the whole match before tweeting, I hope he’s taken the time to watch it and would be curious to know if he had the same opinion. If he had seen the whole match, I think he’s failed to understand wrestling has changed since he was running wild and getting his eye popped out of his head by Stan Hansen.

Everyone is entitled to his or her own opinions. In this case, my opinion is Vader was yelling at clouds.

Indy Stars Rise to the Top

By Kevin Hunsperger @kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

All American Pro Wrestling returns to the Black Diamond Harley Davidson Warehouse in Marion, Illinois for another taping of Collision.  The May 19th show (no Kane will not be there) has several great local and regional indy talent already booked.

Hatton (who we saw on WWE Extreme Rules against Ryback) will be on the card.  He takes on Mike Sydal (the younger brother of WWE star Evan Bourne).  These two have been tag team partners before and now will go one on one.  It's fair to say each man is quickly climbing the ladder of success in the independent ranks.  Hatton of course recently made his WWE pay per view debut.  Sydal has made appearances in Ring of Honor and other promotions around the country.

Indy star Ricochet makes his debut with the company.  He's made quite a name for himself around the country and the world.  "The Future of Flight" has been wrestling for Dragon Gate USA and has agreed to team with Mark Sterling (his regular partner Jeremy Wyatt is on the mend after suffering a broken leg).  That duo will face Minor Threat, Ace Hawkins (who also wrestled at WWE Extreme Rules as "Aaron Relic") and Brandon Espinosa.  This match will determine the number one contenders to the tag team championship, which is currently held by Team Overkill (Matt Cage & Christian Rose).

But that's not all, and we may actually have new champs for the winner of that match to face.  Team Overkill will defend against Team Triple X.  Jay Spade and Joey O'Riley are best friends and two of AAPW's best high flyers.  Can their aerial assault trump the mind games of Cage and Rose?  Should be an outstanding match.

All your other AAPW favorites will be a part of the action too.  So join us.  Tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for kids.  Veterans get in free.  See you there Saturday night.  Doors open at 6, belltime is 7 p.m.  Be there!  If you don't live in the area, watch Collision and All Access on the AAPW YouTube channel.

End of an Era: The Closing of the ECW Arena

Sabu gets Extreme!

By Chad Smart
@chadsmart on Twitter

Saturday, January 14 will most likely see the last wrestling events held at the famed ECW Arena in Philadelphia, PA. Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) will hold an afternoon show while EVOLVE will hold an Internet Pay Per View in the evening. The owner of the Arena plans to renovate the building and focus more on other live events other than wrestling in the future. If this weekend turns out to be the last weekend for wrestling, it will be a sad date for fans of independent wrestling and the proverbial final nail in the ECW legacy coffin.

The Arena garnered notoriety during the ‘90s as the home to ECW. The “bingo hall” on the south side of Philly became as synonymous with wrestling as the Sportatorium in Dallas, the Omni in Atlanta and Madison Square Garden in New York. Fans would pack the arena on a monthly basis to see an independent promotion that would play a major role in redefining pro

wrestling during the later part of the 20^th century.

Rob Zombie Guy & Hat Guy

Due to ECW’s popularity, not only was the venue legendary, so were some of the fans that populated the shows every month. You can go up to any ECW fan and say, Hat Guy or Rob Zombie Fan and they were instantly know who you are talking about. It was during ECW’s existence where fans who were at every show started to gain the perception they were a part of the company. This, at times unfortunate, trait has spilled over to fans in TNA’s Impact Zone and a few other independent promotions.

After ECW closed up shop in early 2001, the ECW Arena became THE place for all the other promotions that desperately wanted to be the new ECW to run shows. If memory serves me correctly, during 2001 and 2002, there were so many different promotions running shows at the Arena they were over saturating the market and no company was having near the success ECW had with the venue. It probably didn’t help that most of the companies were trying to be ECW instead of being something new.

The Arena today

Over the past six years most of the top Independent companies ran the Arena on a regular basis. Ring of Honor used it for TV tapings. Dragon’s Gate did a few PPV tapings in the Arena.  CZW ran the most shows in the Arena over the past decade. Chikara used it as the location for the Chikara Wrestle Factory training school as well as a regular venue for shows during the year, including their annual three-night tournament King of Trios.

The King of Trios is probably the biggest reason why I am disappointed to see the Arena closing. KOT is usually held in March or April and this year it would have fit perfectly into my time off in between jobs so I had already mentally made plans to attend the biggest weekend in Indy wrestling. There has been no word about KOT this year, but with Chikara announcing a show in Rahway, New Jersey for April 14 and a Midwest weekend in Chicago and Lafayette, Indiana the weekend of April 28-29, fan speculation is Chikara didn’t have a suitable venue to hold the tournament and is therefore either not doing King of Trios this year or it will be later in the year.

As for the shows running on Saturday, CZW has a main event title match of Devon Moore defending against Adam Cole. Plus former CZW owner John Zandig will face current CZW owner DJ Hyde. Those two are actual wrestlers so it won’t be like Vince McMahon vs. Eric Bischoff. I don’t really know much about CZW so I can’t comment on the quality of their shows.

In the evening, EVOLVE has a main event title match of Johnny Gargano vs. Ricochet. While there are more wrestlers on the EVOLVE show that I’ve heard of, again, I haven’t seen anything from the promotion so I don’t know what to expect and can’t comment as to the quality of the shows other than the wrestlers themselves are extremely talented so I’d expect a good show. In addition to their normal roster, the former voice of ECW, Joey Styles and the Original Gangsta, New Jack have been announced as appearing on the show as well as other tributes to the legacy of the Arena. Fans wanting to check out EVOLVE or just wanting to be a part of history by watching the last show from the Arena can order the Ippv at by clicking here. 

What will be interesting to watch over the course of 2012 is waiting to see if another venue in Philadelphia, or another city becomes the new hotbed of Independent wrestling. Of course the totally biased thing to say now is that new venue could be the AAPW Arena in Marion, Illinois. While I wish the best for AAPW, I will take a wait and see approach to see where the next big thing in wrestling rises.

Have any memories of the ECW Arena? Share them on the My123Cents Facebook page.