Wrestlerock 5 - DVD Review

This edition of The Two Sheds Review sees us taking another trip down under as we make a return visit to Greystoke Entertainment and their latest DVD release, Wrestlerock 5: Survive of Die, as the Lebanese shoot fighter Carnish challenges Lazer for the Wrestlerock title in a Surrender Match.

After the initial introductions from Julian James and Chris Fresh, James introduces everyone to the ring girl for the evening, the lovely Cupcake. It’s then that Fresh introduces his own surprise, in the form of TNT Music Factory, who proceed to dance, well, if that’s what you can call it. It’s this that brings out Mad Dog, who proceeds to clear house. I’m not quite sure what purpose this actually served if I’m honest with you.

Then it’s on to the first match of the night, the number one contenders match featuring Spike Steele, Slex and Mad Dog. The Dog doesn’t even wait for Slex to get to the ring before launching himself off the top rope onto Steele and the departing TNT Music Factory. And then, the fast-paced action again, in which we saw some great double and triple teams from all three wrestlers. But as the match wore on, things did seem to get a little strained, and some of the moves didn’t look as smooth as they had done at the beginning of the match. In the end Slex, clearly the standout wrestler of the match, took Steele down with a spinning kick to the head to get the winning pinfall. Not a bad opener, but a little let down towards the end.

Krackerjak Kontinental time next, where the only rules being that there are no rules, with Krackerjak facing Jay Andrews. Before the match begins, Krackerjak promises to take things up to death match proportions, but finds that his various weapons of choice have been covered in bubble wrap, thanks to the man who wants to spoil everyone’s fun, Brave Dave. Dave then reveals that he’d got all hardcore matches banned by the local council. He then assigns himself as the referee for the match. It’s quite funny to see Jak and Andrews hitting each other with those bubble wrapped trays at the beginning. But it’s not just the trays that are covered in the bubble wrap - the steel chairs and kendo sticks are as well. In fact, the thumb tack filled pi�ata from the last show is now even filled with lollypops, so this match is more softcore than hardcore. The interesting angle with Dave aside, the action seemed a little disjointed at times, and it wasn’t until Jak and Andrews decided to clobber Brave Dave to get him out of the way that things got turned up a notch. With Dave knocked out cold, the hardcore tendencies returned. Out came the trays, the scissors, and the staple gun, and the blood. They literally tear each other apart, piledrivers on the stage, power bombs on the floor, and to top things off, Jak wrapped himself in barb wire, jumped off the top rope, and put Andrews through a table on the floor. But when Brave Dave finally comes to, he disqualifies Krackerjak and awards the victory to Andrews. Afterwards, Dave grabs the microphone and challenges Krackerjak to a World of Sports match. Not bad, but I couldn’t help but feel that things were dragging on a bit towards the end.

We then see footage of Tricky D and Daniel Swagger training Rohan Herbstreit for his upcoming match. Rocky Balboa he ain’t. 

The third match of the night sees Steve Frost take on his former manager, the aforementioned Rohan Herbstreit, in a no DQ match, with Wrestlerock Deputy Sherriff Joey Russell. Rohan has his boys Tricky D and Swagger along with him. It’s essentially a three-on-one contest. As Rohan exercises outside the ring, Tricky and Swagger try to take care of Frost in the ring, and while they double up to good effect on Frost for quite a while, the man monster comes back well, and manages to get the better of his opponents, and after he’s taken care of them, it’s Rohan’s turn. Rohan takes a hell of a beating from Frost, before being almost broken in half by Frost’s tremendous looking power bomb. A three count later, and Frost has the victory. A extraordinary bout here, with a great storyline and tons of great action. Everything was perfectly executed here.

Main event time, as Lazer, accompanied by Slex, defends the Wrestlerock title against Carnish, accompanied by his manager Sebastian Walker, in a Surrender match, in which the winner can only be declared when their opponent’s corner man throws in the towel. After the Lebanese national anthem is plated, Carnish attacks Lazer during the playing of the Australian anthem. Tons of action and drama follow in another great match. Both men put in great performances in a match which sees Carnish tap out twice, a mass brawl involving the corner men, and in the end, with Carnish locking in the camel clutch, and with blood starting to pour out of Lazer’s mouth, Slex reluctantly throws in the towel, awarding the match and the Wrestlerock title to the challenger. A tremendous bout worthy of it’s main event status, this is one I’d definitely recommend looking at again.

DVD extras include music from Los Amigos (the rock in Wrestlerock), and more footage from the Rohan Herbstreit training video, including out takes.

In conclusion - I’d heard a great deal about how Wrestlerock 5 was the best Wrestlerock show so far, but I would have to disagree a little. While the second half of the show was tremendous, and a well executed piece of wrestling entertainment, the first half was a little sloppy and overlong at times, which detracted from my enjoyment a little. But overall Wrestlerock 5 was a good show, and I’m looking forward to seeing their next DVD release.

With thanks to Rohan Herbstreit for supplying a copy of this release. To get your copy of Wrestlerock 5: Survive or Die, or any of the previous Wrestlerock releases, log onto www.wrestlerock.com.au.