***SPOILERS – Vertigo 2.2 Tapings***
What's up, LOP Land? Mikey Moose here as usual with your heads up on what to expect from the upcoming episode of Vertigo. As usual, I brought a steady supply of signs to the show. Here's a picture of me with one of my favorites.
(http://www.thedreamrealm.net/images/LPWsign1.jpg)
Anyway, same as always, I'll tell you what went down and give you a few of my thoughts, you decide whether or not it's worth your time to watch it. I hit the Pyromania show first this week, so I'll give you the results of the match they taped there first.
Match 1:
Aldous Gregory & The Xiemlez vs. Jesus Malkovich & Medos
Just some comments before I begin. Whenever I see Aldous Gregory, I think "Pet the furry wall." Not saying that's good or bad, but there it is. The Xiemlez… I'm not entirely sure how to pronounce it, but for the sake of my spellcheck I will henceforth refer to him as Seamless. With a name like Jesus Malkovich, you are destined for greatness. Medos… I got nothing.
Seamless and Aldous make their way out first (Thousand Foot Krutch is an awesome band, by the way), followed by Malkovich and Medos. The action starts off between Aldous and Medos, and it quickly turns into and out and out brutalization. Medos doesn't even get off so much as a punch before he's beaten down and manhandled by Gregory. Seamless and Aldous go through a series of quick tags and just continue destroying Medos and preventing him from reaching his corner to tag out.
Oh, I got one now. Medos should change his name to Me-Doze because it looks like he never even got it out of neutral in this match. Score.
These two guys continued tagging in and out, hitting power move after power move and just mugging Medos until I wasn't sure whether or not he was actually conscious anymore. After about five minutes of this, Aldous went for the first cover of the match, and it was broken up by Malkovich, who finally entered the ring for the first time since the opening bell. Aldous got a hold of Malkovich and tossed him out of the ring where he hit the floor. Hard.
He then turned back to Medos and nailed him with the Poetry Slam (basically a reverse STO, for those who don't know). He was about to go for the cover when Seamless tagged himself in, slingshot over the ropes and landed on Medos for the pin and the win. After the match, while the ref raised Seamless's hand in victory, Gregory was fuming and got in his face. They exchanged some words, and Gregory laid him out for the count. No joke, one punch, one dropped wrestler.
Aldous Gregory & The Xiemlez (2.92 APS + 3.18 APS + 2.2 Vote = 8.30 Total)
Jesus Malkovich & Medos (2.48 APS + 0.00 APS + 0.1 Vote = 2.58 Total)
Mikey's Thoughts: Good offense by Seamless and Gregory, horrible showing for Medos, and Malkovich really got screwed here. I'm interested to see where the issue between the tag partners will lead in coming weeks, so that's a plus. Average squash match, with Medos moving into jobberville. I hear the rent's cheap.
*****
After this match they set up for the main Pyro show, so I'll jump ahead to the matches they taped before Insanity.
Match 2:
Captain Crooked vs. Trey Spruance
I've been following Spruance's career for a while now. He's had his ups and downs, but he's got talent that is being sorely misused by the company. This Captain Crooked guy is new, but I'm starting to like him. He's really out there, but that separates him from the pack. We'll see how he works out in the coming months.
PLEASE NOTE: I wrote the above paragraph on the flight to NYC for the show, before I had seen this match.
The Captain was out to the ring first, and his theme song was the most normal thing about him. He even moves strangely. Anyway, the Captain was waiting in the ring, and then Trey's music hit, but no one came to the stage. Like, 2 minutes go by, and finally Spruance made his way out on to the stage. He looked around in a daze and started stumbling his way to the ring. He walked right past me on his way down the ramp, and man, I know what it looks like when somebody's gone. I guess the gimmick finally caught up to him, because he sure as hell wasn't all there.
Trey went to roll into the ring but had trouble getting under the bottom rope. He finally slid in, but got his foot caught, and when he yanked it free he stumbled and fell face first on the mat. The ref checked on him, then went over and said something to the Captain. Trey got to his feet, the bell rang, the captain grabbed Trey and planted him with the Crooked Face. He knelt down for the cover, and three seconds later this one was over. The Captain stood around looking confused for a minute, and refs came out to help Trey to the back. It seemed like he didn't really know where he was. Not pretty.
Captain Crooked 3.32 APS + 2.40 AVS =5.72
Trey Spruance 0.00 APS + 0.40 AVS= 0.40
Mikey's Thoughts: Honestly, I just hope Trey's ok. I wouldn't be surprised if this match didn't make it to air, or if it does, I bet they cut out the entrances.
Match 3:
Magic vs. Syanide
You've got to assume that this will be the main event of the episode considering the people involved. I'm interested in seeing where Magic's storyline is going, what with searching for the driver who took down Jude Maxwell, but I'd like to see a little more development along the way. Syanide has his back covered by a veritable supergroup of allies in the new Apocalypse stable, so I'm interested to see how he will distinguish himself from guys like Ash and X who cast long shadows.
Anyway, Syanide was out first (alone, which surprised me) followed by Magic. The two squared off, and with a few clubbing blows, Syanide took control. Didn’t last long though, as Magic came back with some right hands that rocked the much larger man. From then on, Magic kicked it into high gear, using Syanide's larger size to his own advantage. Magic was running in overdrive, and it seemed that Syanide couldn't get it past first gear. Every time Syanide tried for a comeback, Magic was just too quick for him.
There was a nice sequence toward the end of the match where Magic went for a bulldog, but got tossed into the corner by Syanide. The big man smashed Magic's face into the turnbuckle, and then lifted him up into the position for a super back drop. As Syanide climbed the ropes, Magic somehow managed to spring off of the ropes, grabbing Syanide's head as he sailed over and planted him with a reverse Shock Magic! Totally fluid, and definitely best move I had seen on any of the Vertigo matches this month. It was academic from there, and Magic hooked the leg and the ref counted to three.
Magic 1.96 APS + 1.80 AVS = 3.76
Syanide 0.00 APS + 0.60 AVS = 0.60
Mikey's Thoughts: Another squash, and another surprise. I was expecting more out of Syanide considering the high profile situations he's been in lately. I'm curious how this will affect his momentum moving forward from here. Magic was on point, though, and hit a few really good moves, salvaging the match. If we see some more development in his ongoing angle, I'll be really pleased with how they are booking this returning star.
*****
All in all, I'd say Vertigo was a decent show, but nothing spectacular. The ring work was solid, but there was too much of a jobber-esque feeling to the guys who were on the losing end of the matches this week. Again, not sure that was the original intent with Trey, but having all three matches essentially squashes leaves a little bit to be desired. Hopefully the creative team will come up with something a little more interesting next time around. If you've got nothing else going on, definitely check it out or set your DVR to tape it, but don't go too far out of your way.
That's it for this month, people. I'll be back again next time around with more spoilers, saving you all time and money. Just a quick note to all the people who sent hate mail after the last show: Bite me. I've been a wrestling fan as long as I can remember, I know a hell of a lot more about the wrestling business than you do, and I've got a hefty trust fund that lets me hit all the shows, so it looks like you're stuck with me. Deal with it. Until next time, don't forget to wipe, and stay off the pipe. Haters.
Mikey Moose (Mike_Rulz@hotmail.com)