PWR Resurrection - DVD Review

This past October I reviewed my first ever Pro Wrestling Revolution DVD, the double shot show of Mid-Day Turbulence and Red Eye Flight. Now it’s time to return to this well known US indy for another look, going back to August of last year for Resurrection. Our hosts for the evening are Rob Goldenberg and The Puppet Master.

After legendary manager Jimmy Hart kicks off the show, Mike Magnum comes down to the ring, and issues a challenge to World Champion Samir Ahmed II. He then asks Hart to be in his corner. Hart happily agrees to this request, before they’re interrupted by Ahmed and his manager Bobby Rydell. The manager readily accepts Magnum’s challenge.

Then it’s on to the first match of the evening, a number one contenders match for the International title, featuring “The Pyromaniac” Flames, Damien Darling, and Donny Bon Jovi. For an opening match, it was okay, but given the high-flying skills of Flames and Bon Jovi, I couldn’t help but think that it would have been better if it had been a singles match between those two. That being said, Darling did okay as well, taking the win after taking Flames out with his version of the razor’s edge.

Next up, tag-team action, with “Pure Perfection” Will Wagner and Busta Uppa taking on El Sandwich and Bushwacker Luke. Yes, it‘s that Bushwhacker Luke, now with unfeasibly black hair. El Sandwich is described as a sandwich loving luchadore. Wagner, meanwhile, is the nephew of Curt Hennig, hence the nickname. As with the previous match, it’s okay, but it’s nothing special. Luke is still doing the old comedy routines that wowed WWF fans all those years ago, which the kids in the crowd just lapped up. When Wagner and Uppa are eventually allowed to show their skill, they’re actually quite good. But in there end there was only going to be one winner, as Luke and Sandwich took care of both men with the old Bushwhacker battering ram, with Luke getting the pin on Uppa. Not bad I suppose, but maybe I’m only saying that because I outgrew the Bushwhacker’s act nearly twenty years ago.

It’s back to singles action next with Sabotage, accompanied by Mike Trash, facing another former WWE star, Tito Santana. The best match of the show so far. Santana may not be as fast as he used to be, but he was still able to put on a good match with the younger Sabotage. Sabotage showed some great moves of his own, but I’m left to wonder if he really needed Trash out there as his manager. Anyway, Santana emerged victorious in this one, taking down Sabotage with his trusty old flying forearm. Boy, did that bring back some memories.

The first title match of the evening follows, with Armand DeMuerto challenging Chris Forza for the International title. Time to be totally honest. While Forza looked great, and looked like he’d fit in well with any of the bigger promotions, DeMuerto looked very poor. He looked nervous, and almost everything he did looked sloppy, like he wasn’t really putting much effort in. Thankfully, he didn’t win, as Forza retained the title after a top rope moonsault.

Then, Dan Barry comes down to the ring in an attempt to get some more signatures for his petition to get Johnny Ova reinstated. Barry’s quickly interrupted by The Wrecking Crew, Magic and Draven, who refuse to sign the petition. Barry than challenges the two big men to a match with his partner, Luscious Joe, and if the Crew lose, they have to sign the petition. This was certainly better than the last match I saw from the Crew. With a bit of fine tuning they could be a great monster team. Joe and Barry also did their part to make this a good match, with Barry pinning Magic after a corkscrew drop from the top rope, meaning that Johnny Ova was reinstated. After the match, Barry introduced Ova, but instead, Bobby Rydell came down to the ring to badmouth Barry. Eventually, Ova makes an appearance, which naturally doesn’t sit too well with Rydell. But it all turns out to be a ruse. As Ova is about to clobber Rydell, Barry comes up from behind and takes Ova down with a DDT, before leaving with Rydell.

Then it’s on to the second title match of the evening, with Rave Nation, Menace and Jester, accompanied by Bones, challenging Demolition Blast and Brimstone, the Carnival of Destruction, accompanied by Vito Bari. It’s the proverbial David v Goliath battle here, except that David was able to get in more shots than Rave Nation were. Apart from a few fleeting moments of offence, this was a dominating performance from COD, and they certainly looked better than they did in the last match I saw them in. The end came when the two big guys took out Jester with the decapitation device finisher, with Brimstone getting the winning pin. Not bad!

Main event time, with Mike Magnum, accompanied by Jimmy Hart, challenging Samir Ahmed II, accompanied by Bobby Rydell, for the World title. This was by far the best match on the show, a back and forth which featured great ring psychology (which was somewhat missing from some of the previous matches), great moves and a very good storyline. Even the managers got in on the action, with Hart decking Rydell at ringside. Plenty of false finishes as the match came to an end, which saw Rydell trying to toss the title belt to Ahmed while Hart was distracting the referee, only for Magnum to catch it before clobbering Ahmed with the foreign object. Three seconds later, and Magnum was the new World Champion, ending a very good match.

In conclusion - this is certainly the better of the two PWR DVDs I’ve reviewed, but only just. Guys who really underperformed in the first DVD put on better matches here, but there were still a few wrestlers on this show who were obviously a little green around the gills as it were. The main event match between Magnum and Ahmed was the best match on the show.

Production wise, it’s okay, your usual indy fare, but I must make a few comments about Rob Goldenberg’s commentary style. Basically, it sucked. His play-by-play was awful, and I lost count of the number of moves he mis-called, the most obvious one being when he called an elbow drop a leg drop. Thankfully, the Puppet Master corrected him, but in a way that just made Goldenberg’s mistakes look worse.

So does this release get my recommendation? Hard to say. If you’re willing to take the bad with the good, then you’d probably find something here to like. If you’re looking for a guarantee of great action, then this isn’t the DVD for you.

With thanks to the Sports Webcasting Network for supplying a copy of this release. Visit their website at www.sportswebnet.com for information on how you can see this show online, or to purchase a copy of this DVD. To find out more information on Pro Wrestling Revolution, visit www.pwrwrestling.net.