WOW ‘Next-Gen’ Thoughts: Damn Good Indie Work

Based out of Staten Island, NY, Warriors of Wrestling presents “do-it-yourself” wrestling at its absolute finest.

With a healthy dose of young standout stars such as Chris Banks, Jason Kross, Chris Steeler and Jose Salvador, the potential within WOW sees no limits.

On January 28th, WOW presented the first show of their fifth year in existence, “Next Gen” at the Fun Station in Staten Island, NY.

Eight matches on the card, WOW talent sought to entertain. They did.

Matches:

Society of Ventrue vs. Church of Hierarchy (WOW Tag Team Championship): In a contest stuffed with armdrags, chops and double-team maneuvers, the newly reformed Society of Ventrue were victoriously crowned new champs with a vicious superkick/German suplex combo.

Chris “The Show” Steeler vs. Nick Sabre: In a lively bout, the cocky “Picture Perfect” Steeler got the better of Sabre as he obliterated him with a slight jumping cutter variation. The win alone wasn’t enough for Steeler as he attacked Sabre after the 3-count and obtained a chair and performed the same finisher on it. Referees came out to try to stop Steeler, but were of no avail.

Fallah/Harley vs. “Rudeboy” Riley/El Musky: The zany duo of Riley and Musky did their best to intimidate the heavyset Fallah as they taunted him throughout the bout but their tricks quickly grew old to Fallah as he dominated the latter part of the contest as Fallah pinned Riley to win it for his team.

Abdul Naser (w/Nephtali Rodriguez) vs. Jason Kross (WOW Heavyweight Title): Naser and Kross went back and forth while the sinister Rodriguez made his presence felt at ringside as he cheered on his “Syndicate” stablemates and argued with fans. Rodriguez also had his presence known in the ring, as he clobbered Kross in the back with a golf club with the referee distracted. Kross was able to kick out at two and countered Naser’s body slam into a roll-up for the sudden victory.

Jeff Gallow (w/Nephtali Rodriguez) vs. Antonio Rivera vs. “Five-Star Stud” Joey Ace: In this triple threat, things played out like a wrestling edition of “Survivor,” as these three athletes did their best to outwit, outplay and outlast each other. Joey Ace emerged out on top in a decent bout with plentiful hard hits.

Absolutely Latino (w/Jose Salvador) vs. Jarret Foster/Alan Stride: A competitive spirit was in the air for this match as pushes and shoves led to quick armdrags and rest holds. Absolutely Latino’s Chachi brought a chair into the equation and it was over for Foster and Stride.

Earn E-Z vs. Jose Salvador: White boy “gangsta” E-Z came out and rapped a few “diss” lines to Absolutely Latino (think John Cena circa 2003) whom didn’t take them lightly as Salvador attacked him with various strikes and suplexes. E-Z capitalized on Salvador’s missed frog splash attempts to pull out the “W,” but his celebration was cut short by Absolutely Latino as they attacked him post-match.

American Nightmare vs. Joey B/Nero: In this 3-on-2 handicap tag main event, “brawl” was the key word as the action went out of the ring as all five men nearly spilled their guts on the floor. “Rudeboy” Riley interfered on behalf of Joey B/Nero but was quickly taken out with a chair. Chris Banks, who was ambushed by American Nightmare earlier in the show, followed Riley to do the same and was also knocked down but soon overcame them. With Bank’s help, the three men worked together and took down American Nightmare for the win. After the match, Banks, who also voiced personal problems with Joey B earlier, offered his hand to Joey B and the two shook hands and celebrated.

Final Thoughts: A solid show that put guys like Nepthali Rodriguez, Chris Banks, Benjamin Quinn and Jason Kross over. Some matches lasted longer than needed, but most of the wrestlers worked hard to keep the crowd entertained. Something must’ve worked as they were hot all night long as they definitely had their favorites. WOW started 2012 off with an absolute bang.

Photos by Susan Greenblatt