Last time I looked at the first five episodes filmed for MTV's short live Wrestling Society X. What I found was a wrestling show held back by a short runtime. Shows and matches butchered by attempts to be cool and edgy editing and camera work. And some bad booking from rushing into a title match to killing potentially awesome moments by going a step to far. But there was also a young and motivated roster trying to put on the best shows they could. And some good idea did shine though along with great potential. Sadly by the time WSX got to these episodes the show had already been canceled. The rating weren't good enough for MTV to go forward of course MTV didn't help things by putting this show head to head with WWE's version of ECW. While yeah that show wasn't a ratings giant it still was a wrestling show being put on by the company with the biggest fan base. And no it wasn't that WSX debuted and than ECW showed up ECW was on air for months by the time WSX started up. Say what you want about TNA and Spike move to Mondays a few years ago but they had the sense to move Impact back to Thursday when it wasn't working.
Episode Six- They finally identified Ricky Banderas as Ricky Banderas I assume this was on WSXtra. And I again give them credit for using WSXtra to give there shows more run time but really the identity of the guy that attacked the champion should be unveiled on the actual TV show not the web show because you know what not everyone is going to watch the web show. Yes some will but not everyone will its like in a movie when they say "Oh the book explained it better." I should not have to do homework. I notice Kaeilin had a new look with make up and some how a magic baton appeared in his hands sadly it didn't led to a change in his style or get him to stop running around. After one episode of a decent musical guest on commentary we got stuck with Good Charlotte who sucked same issue as usual talked to much and yelled out dumb things.
Scorpio Sky vs Jack Evans- Funny claim Ernst said Sky has never played a sport… Ok I know wrestling is written but in the context of the show ITS A SPORT! The kind of match you would expect from this two lots of highflying. Evans won after a 450. Honestly I thought they were setting up a 3 way feud and should have Sky beat Evans so he than he could brag to Sydal he beat Evans. Again they seem lack story lines for a number of guys.
Backstage Aaron Aguilera tried to make things up with Kaos by introducing him to a couple of girls. Kaos though was still upset and pointed out to his parter they should be more like Cross and Hart. Aguilera said they would face them next week and if they lost Kaos could go his own way but tonight he wanted Kaos to enjoy the girls witch Kaos agreed. I actually like this promo since episode one that been telling us "Kaos likes to party that' s why he and Aguilera are friends" but they never showed that. Instead we Kaos always being serious why Aguilera wanted to go party. Finally we see him acting like the guy they claim he is.
DIFH Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black vs. That 70's Team- This ladies and gentlemen is WSX legacy Doing it For Her! See Black and Jacobs teamed for the first time here. And the two had such good chemistry they kept teaming even leading to the Age of the Fall in ROH. Tyler Black was already a star on the rise but his time in Age of the Fall made him the hottest name on the indy scene leading to classic matches with several of ROH's top names a ROH world title run and eventually he would join the WWE where he's not Seth Rollins of The Shield. I think DIFH's gimmick was Jimmy was Emo and Tyler had rage issues. If you have only seen Black/Rollins WWE work you should seek out his Indy work. The guy has only been allowed to show a little of what he can do in the WWE. That's 70's team won with a power slam from the top on Jimmy as he kept flirting with a girl. Match was ok but like so many in WSX it didn't never got a chance to really get going.
We than get footage of the "abducted" Team Dragon Gate. I have a feeling they wanted this to be kind of scary and intense but it just came off as silly. Also Ernst made a point to say the team looked like crap when they actually looked just the same as always. Backstage Tyler Black let out a scream pissed off that Jimmy wasn't there for him. Jimmy wanted to talk about there feelings. Only for Tyler to keep screaming at him. I have feeling this was supposed to be funny but it wasn't not even close.
As dumb ass Fabian Kaelin was about to announce the next match Ricky Banderas came out to attack him. Making Banderas my favorite WSX talent ever! Banderas called out Vampiro. As Vampiro made his entrance 6-Pac jumped him from behind him. As the beat down on the WSX champion got started Youth Suicide a guy not seen since the WSX rumble ran out for the save only for Banderas to spear him. As Pac worked over Vampiro while Youth Suicide got taken out by Banderas. Eventually Vampiro got the advantage and brawled with Pac out. At this point Banderas and Suicided reappeared at the top of the WSX bunker. The show ends as Bandears tosses Youth Suicide off and into a stack of boxes below. This could have been a really effective end as again the played up if Pac was the one in charge. But WSX ruined it right at the end when Youth Suicide went through the boxed they did that stupid fake explosion effect. Adding that doesn't make it look cool it makes it look fake. Even worse Banderas has a habit of rolling his eyes so you can only see the white like the Undertaker does but WSX felt the need to add some strange glow.
Episode six had some missteps. For one I can't get over them unveiling Ricky Banderas name on the web show. Again something so huge should be on the actual show. Image if WWE did an angle where a masked guy attacked CM Punk and injured him so badly Punk may never wrestle again and turns out it was John Cena only the didn't unmask Cena on PPV or Raw or even Smackdown but WWE Superstars. WSX had one TV show that's the only place major angles advancements should take place.
Episode Seven- Just as the musical guest Quite Drive finished there song Youth Suicide was tossed onto the stage followed by Ricky Banderas. After laying out Youth Suicide, Banderas than took out a "roadie." Vamprio came out to stare down with Banderas. It was announced next week the two men would square off the WSX championship. Decent open and unexpected breaking the usual open of Kloss and Ernst just hyping the show. The Cartel made there entranced followed by Arik Cannon after a recap of the ending of episode five. Cannon introduced his parter the fat ass known as Vic Grimes.
The Cartel Lil Cholo and Delikado with Mongel and El Hefe vs Arik Cannon with Vic Grimes- Kloss referred to Grimes as legend witch is a freaking joke. Grimes is one of those guys that every time I see I wonder why people were booking him. The guy was fat pushing 500 LBS yeah he could do a few moves but he was by no means good and the guy used Hardcore a crutch to cover he couldn't work. Even worse they had do a stupid camera shake when even Grimes hit a moves. As Lil Cholo took out Cannon. Sarah Del Rey in a mask debuted and attacked him. This was the start of Del Rey doing the gimmick of Nic Grimes who was Vic's sister. The Cartel jumped lard ass and finally pinned him by pilling on him. I have no idea why Sarah Del Rey was put in a mask and I have no idea why anyone would hire Vic Grimes.
Backstage Lizzy Valetnine was reading a letter. When Matt Sydal asked her about it she claimed it was a fan letter. Lizzy and Matt hyped Sydal's match with Human Tornado. Yeah this was the start of the Lizzy is cheating on Sydal story I talked about on part one. And this was an ok kick off to it. How much you would have liked it would depends on how much you like Soap Opera stories in wrestling.
Matt Sydal with Lizzy Valentine vs Human Tornado- Tornado hit on Lizzy allowing Matt to jump him. The two had an athletic take on the old criss cross exchange. Early on Tornado sent Sydal to the outside and went for a flip dive but Lizzy pulled her man out of the way. Instead Tornado took out a bunch of plants in the crowd. Lizzy came in for a low blow latter in the match and again Tornado no sold it witch is just stupid. Its a low blow like a chair shot just sell it. After the love note fell out of Lizzy's purse it distracted Matt allowing Tornado to hit the DND for the win. Decent match and was given a little time but I don't think they needed the note to be the thing that distraced Sydal it just made him look stupid.
The showed team Dragon Gate being tortured and it's clear someone booking WSX is a big Clockwork Orange fan since the scene was similar to one out of the movie also that idiot Kaelin is dressing more and more like he belong in that movie. To bad they weren't Doctor Who fans . Backstage Lizzy and Matt argued about the letter. As Sydal hit the showers we saw 6-Pac approach Lizzy and insult Matt. The idea here was to make Pac a red hearing for Lizzy's other man. This was meant to led to short feud between Sydal and Pac that could have been a passing of the torch moment. But it also takes Pac out of the story with Vamprio and Banderas suddenly and they had been implying he was the one that got Banderas into WSX.
Los Pochos Guapos vs The Filth and The Fury- They played up the back LPG was winless while TFTF was undefeated. Early on Aguilera dominated with his power. But once Kaos and Cross tagged in Filth and Fury took over. Instead of the show the fans after every spot they instead showed one of the parters on the apron witch I get more than showing the fans.When Kaos went for a tag Aguilera was flirting with a girl. Wait did DIFH get LPG's script by mistake? After ramming Aguilera into a pillar Teddy went up the platform where the announce table and hit a dive on Aguilera on it. In kind of a let down finish Kaos grabbed back the disco ball (Stolen from that's 70's team and given to the girl Aguilera was flirting with) tossed it at Cross and than kicked it to end the undefeated streak. The big deal is it looked like the kick just hit the ball and never touched Cross. Match was ok but nothing to special but as usual I think lack of time hurt it.
Lucky number seven? Not really the open was ok but a let down that Vampiro and Banderas just looked at each other the title match was mentioned once and never again. You would think they would talk that up the entire show how finally next week Vampiro and Banderas would finally meet in the ring. Vic Grimes sucks and will always suck and it's a real waste of money hiring him.If they wanted a "Hardcore Legend" there were other names out there. Main event like I said had some issues seemed strange to just end Hart and Cross' winning streak. Maybe they figured they didn't want to have Aguilera and Kaos feud just yet.
Episode Eight- The musical guest was freaking Pit Bull. I hate Pit Bull I hate his music I hate his commerciacs I hate anything he appears in and on. I don't why he became a big star but he did. The guy was annoying and even wore he pretty took over commentary. So if Pit Bull wanted to talk about something that's what was talked about. We get footage of the Cartel attacking Los Pochos Guapos after the previous show. The announcers pointed out the attack was unprovoked and they had no idea why the Cartel would go after Kaos and Aguilera. Speaking of those two they hit the ring and drove of Kaelin before he had a chance to talk. I really don't why they would start this feud when the Cartel was feuding with Cannon and Grimes. Los Pochos Guapos called out the The Cartel who came out for a match.
Los Pochos Guapos vs The Cartel with Mongrel and El Hefe- Ernst explained these teams had to settle it in a match since the WSX tag title were coming and if these two teams didn't follow the rules they couldn't be contenders. WHAT? I get what he was trying to do he was trying to explain why Kaos and Aguilera wouldn't just jump The Cartel on the streets or something but the main event of the show is Ricky Banderas getting a title shot after jumping Vampiro time and again. Also shouldn't the mean the Cartel can't get a title shot since they attacked people out of a match. The Cartel picked up the win after Delakido hit a pile driver on Kaos. Ok match but I'm confused how this became a feud when they had on going story lines already.
Backstage a pissed off Luke Hawx and Alkatrazz got in a figh with Arik Cannon, Vic, and Nic Grimes. Wait wait wait… I know all wrestling companies have a bad habit of dropping feuds and going in another direction with no notice but did some mess up the scripts? Hell it seemed like some of Hawx's comments were meant to be said by a Cartel member when he insulted Nic Grimes. Lacey interviewed Jack Evans. Evans claimed to have the best moves in the ring and the dance floor. The Human Tornado showed up and seemed to take offense to Jack's claims of dancing skills setting up a dance off for WSXtra.
WSX Championship Vamprio © vs Ricky Banderas- Before the match we got a video recapping Vampiro's title win and Banderas arrival in WSX. Witch I liked and added a little bit to this title match. There were two caskets at ringside one with barbwire and the other I assume was rigged with explosives given there history and the fact they did that with Pac's match with Vampiro. From what I understand there were concerns that the makeup on Banderas face might come off but it appeared to stay in tact. The two exchanged a series of power moves.
Mid way though match after a commercial break they aired a video on Team Dragon Gate revamping them abducted by that guy who is now named Sakod. Turns out team Dragon Gate was going to debut on WSXtra… WTF? FIrst your re-debuting a team on the web show ok but you already took fans out of the match with a commercial break now you air this before the match resumes. Now on the last episode of Impact Wrestling they had AJ Styles vs Magnus title for title match. Since that aired on free TV they needed to do a commercial break like WSX had to do but they didn't air a video of Austin Aries demanding another match with Chris Sabin because the time to hype other stuff is not during a world title match.
We get highlights of what went down during the break and when we return to live Banderas suplexed Vampiro off the apron. They two men brawled over to the stage where the musical guest perform and Banderas power bombed Vamprio through a table with light tubes on it. Ok why was that on there? Does Pit Bull use that in his shows? OH and than Vamprio no sells it. I understand maybe a table and if Bandears had set the tubes on it but it was just there and I hate when people no sell huge sports like that. If going through a table with light tubes can't hurt someone how can I but a normal move can. Eventually they got back to ringside where Banderas choked slammed Vampiro into the casket with Barbwire witch exploded. Banderas got the pin and won the title. Match started off ok but than between that stupid video to hype the web show and the no sale on a huge spot killed it. Also they built for this match for weeks this was supped to be a huge moment a turning point in the company that saw the title change changes and turn Banderas from invader to the top guy but it just felt so flat.
This episode was just confusing and poorly done. Feuds got switched up for no real reason. The main event was damaged but dumb ideas and even worse the announcers really sucked here. Pit Bull is an idiot. Plus as I said with Kloss and Ernst they are going for the good guy and bad guy team but there fighting is so annoying its remind me of Cole and King from a couple of years ago. And that's not a good thing that means they were fighting so much they ignored what was going in the ring. Commentary needs to add to the show not distract you from it.
Episode Nine- This was the last episode of WSX to air on TV. We open with a recap of the Banderas winning the WSX title. The musical guest was Styles P never heard of him but I do wish I was watching Best of AJ Styles. But after Pit Bull I'll take anyone and thankfully Styles seemed to be a wrestling fan and was respectful to the guys wrestling. And I don't mean he just happened to know a few names he appeared to have decent amount of knowledge.
Alkatrazz & Luke Hawx vs Arik Cannon & Vic Grimes with Nic Grimes- Thankfully the started out with Hawx and Cannon. They kept doing that stupid ground shaking thing when ever Vic did a move. Witch is a freaking joke its part of that whole pushing things to far and looking fake thing I have talked about. Sadly instead of letting the three guys that could work they kept brining in Vic Grimes. As Alkatrazz and Grimes brawled outside Grimes charged though wall of light tubes that had just appeared this week so of course you knew it was going to be used at some point. Match like anything with Grimes sucked. Because they kept having to let the guy have time in the ring. Post match Nic checked on Cannon setting a story for next year where Cannon's girlfriend would debut and feud with Nic.
Lacey interviewed Kaos and Aguilera. Lacey pointed out everything bad that had happened to Kaos since the start of the company. Aguilera interrupted and challenged the Cartel to a Piranha Deathmatch for next week. I wish I was making that up. When your making the WCW 49'er match look like a good idea time to quit.
Scorpio Sky vs 6-Pac- Thank god 6-Pac was back in his usual gear instead of the pink shirt. Strangely 6-Pac worked this mach as a face even though he's been a heel since day one. I know the fans would naturally pick Pac over Sky given Pac's been on TV for years but why work the match as a face? Pac suddenly working as a face hurt the match. I never think it's a good idea for a guy to just change for no reason. Especially when they had pushed Pac as a top heel. Pac wins after the 6-Factor.
Lacey asked Lizzy Valentine and Matt Sydal for an interview. Lacey asked about the rumors about Lizzy and 6-Pac. Lizzy got pissed and walked off. Wasting time witch would have nice to have for the next match.
Jack Evans vs Human Tornado- These two had a dance off on WSXtra that was declared a draw. To start the two men started off with a little dancing. I actually like that given the two guys gimmicks and its be like two wrestlers who both use the super kick both teasing going for it early. The fun and games ended and the two men started exchanging some hard moves. We see some footage from "during the break" witch looked pretty good and again makes me wish the show had at least an hour. Tornado locked in a Dragon Sleeper but the bell rang. Fabian Kaelin came in and declared it was a time limit draw the announcers acted pissed he was calling off the match. They tried to hype this up as some epic back and forth battle but because most of the action took place during the commercial break it failed to be that.
Now there was another reason for Kaelin calling off the match as I mentioned he was now dressing like he should be in the movie Clockwork Orange. See the original die for Kaelin was he to be a dark master of the WSX. But MTV wanted him to have more of a "rockstar" look. So WSX gave him that to start but than after the pilot than MTV changed there mind and wanted him to go back to the first look. The producers decided if that was going to happen it would go slowly. Week to week more of the first look would appear and him calling off the match was supposed to set up he had power in WSX. Now what amazes me is WSX is smart enough build for this but nos smart enough to cut the Pac vs Sky and Sydal/Lizzy interview to give more time to Evans and Tornado so there match could be epic back and forth. Look every broadcast wrestling show only has so much time. You have got to be smart about it if wanted to have Evans and Tornado in a match that leaves you on the edge of you seat than give them time. You could figure out another way to set move foreword with the Sydal and 6-Pac story.
Lacey was with Matt Classic when Team Dragon Gate appeared and challenged The Filth and the Fury to a Exploding Steel Cage Time Bomb Match. Again I'm not make that up. Now there was history there since Filth and Fury had beat Team Dragon Gate but the two teams hadn't really feuded. And just say Exploding Steel Cage Time Bomb Match out loud sounds like something a ten year old would come up right?
This episode was a fail. You had a match they wanted to be epic but all the epic stuff we only saw in a highlight package. We had sets ups for two stupid gimmick matches with no real build. And we had Vic Grimes.
Episode Ten- WSX was supposed to have seasons. So this was meant to be its season finale that big episode that gets us talking and desperate for the show to come back and pick up. So in other words this show needed to be big. Now this episode has never aired on TV. I am going to assume given the fact the show was cancelled and the trouble it already had with the fireball someone saw the two matches for it and said "NOT A CHANCE IN HELL!" The open is Kloss and Ernst hyping the two matches for tonights. We get a video of the Cartel taking out various attacks on WSX talents.
Piranha Death Match Los Pochos Guapos vs The Cartel- There was a fish tank like you might have at home or seen in a doctor's office at ring side witch was said to contain the Piranhas. To win you had to trap a member of the team in there for a three count. Now some of you may remember Aguilera as Jesus in the WWE who had a short and forgotten feud with John Cena. Now if you do you no doubt remember the guy was pretty big so it was clear there was no chance of him getting "trapped" in the tank. Look if you going to do this match at least make it look like anyone could lose. Again if WWE does a casket match the have the casket big enough either guy can fit into. Before the match started Aguilera and Kaos took out El Hefe and Mongol. Big problem with this match is like most "put guy here" matches all the drama comes down to will he fall. Also this was such a stupid stipulation could you see WWE or TNA or ECW or WCW even at there worse doing this? Not helping this "big match" had everyone on commentary making jokes. Again I know every team does joke around but not duding big matches with a super dangerous stipulations. Aguilera mistimed a clothesline that sent Kaos into the tank and the Cartel used a wood pallet to trap him for the 3 count. Stupid stipulation makes for a bad match.
Backstage Lacey tried interview Scorpio Sky only for Vampiro to interrupt. Sky pointed out Vampiro no longer had any power leading to a brawl. The referees tried to stop Vampiro from killing Sky and failed. Various wrestlers came out only get beat down by Vampiro. The announcers clammed Vampiro had been missing since losing the title funny they never mentioned it. Vampiro called out Banderas who ran out. Strange it came off like Vampiro was now the heel while Bandears was now the face. Witch makes no sense given the way the story has been booked. And again if Vampiro was missing mention that on the show.
Matt Sydal found Lizzy with 6-Pac and snapped attacking Pac who quickly fought back and laid Sydal out. We than cut to Lacey who announced that Human Tornado and Jack Evans would face off (next season) for the first ever WSX high flyer title. Wow that jumped quickly I get they had to set up for season two but man we went from a brawl to another brawl to face off in about ninety seconds.
Exploding Steel Cage Time bomb Match The Filth and the Fury vs Team Dragon Gate with Sakoda- Two sides of the ring were rigged with explosives that would go off when ever touched. A "bomb" hung above the ring once the button hit the wrestlers had thirty seconds to escape before it went off. As Cross was getting in the ring Sakoda attacked him leaving Teddy in the ring along alone with Team Dragon Gate. Cross dove into the ring off the top taking out both member of Dragon Gate. This was another of those matches that featured tons of action during the break. TFTF tried the same moves that won the match last time only for Yoshino to move an have M-Dogg hit the canvas. Sakoda just gets in the cage witch was unlocked. Teddy had a chance to hit the bomb and win the match but chose to come off the platform with a shooting star press. Cross missed a move and hit the cage trigging the explosion on the side of the cage. Sakoda blinded Teddy with fire leading Teddy to power bomb the referee. After that Sakoda tossed Teddy into the wall. Yoshino hit the bomb timer setting off another blast. I guess Team Dragon Gate won since they weren't in the cage when the big blast went off. Match was a mess it was high spot after high spot after high spot and explosion after explosion after explosion. It goes back to what I said about the WSX rumble on episode one there is no time to take in what I just saw. So none of the moves have any real Impact. Its just a mess of stuff being thrown at me.
Episode ten was a big swing and a big miss. They wanted this to be epic but instead it was goofy as hell. The stipulations only hurt the show because they were so crazy. It seemed like once again WSX was trying to show they could push things farther than WWE and TNA were willing to. But when it sounds like a kid is booking you show don't push pull back.
With MTV canceling the show the producers did shop WSX around to other networks but there were no takers. Did WSX deserve another chance? Maybe. There were a lot of issues with these ten episodes but there was also potential. The half hour time slot really shot this thing in the foot a little extra time would have helped a lot in several situations. I also feel they would have benefited from some Vince McMahon type overseeing it all. Someone that knew what they were going for but also understood when to say no. Because there is potential here. At times when they slowed down got rid of the dumb tricks and just let the guys wrestle we got good stuff. Yeah there was goofy stuff but you know TNA's early shows had a team dressed like a couple of giants penises and ROH opened its first show with the Christopher Street Connection and had several appearance by Towel Boy. You learn as you go on and would have been nice to see what WSX could have learned in a second season.
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