THE TWO SHEDS REVIEW by Julian Radbourne
E-mail: twosheds316@aol.com
Website: www.twoshedsreview.com
It took them a while, but finally (pun intended), this past August, Jamie Worthing’s Total Brutality Wrestling presented their debut show, “Finally”, recently released on DVD, courtesy of WAR Productions.
First up, the massive Bull Harley takes on Japanese star The Great Tsunami, who is only a tad smaller than the big man. A slow paced match, as was expected from a bout with two big men, and while Harley impressed me, Tsunami didn’t really do it for me. He was okay on some moves, but others, well, let’s just leave it at that. Harley picked up the win with his H-Bomb splash from the second rope.
Next, my first chance to see a guy who I’ve heard a great deal about, Iceman, as he comes to the ring to announce his Hardcore Invitational, basically an open challenge. Iceman’s challenge is interrupted by “The Flawless One” Jay Phoenix, who hypes his upcoming TBW title match. Jay’s tirade is itself interrupted by Shabazz, who ends up getting attacked by Phoenix for his troubles. Devilman tries to make the save, but ends up getting his backside kicked as well.
We then move on to tag-team action, as DOA and MTX take on Mickey L and Ian Robinson, aka The Full Pack, who seem to have drawn inspiration, image wise, from the Backseat Boyz. With Full Pack showing some good team work early on, MTX & DOA slowed the pace down before the Pack came back. The match got a little messy towards the end before Robinson got the pin on DOA after a moonsault. Afterwards, the Pack got attacked from behind by Los Pervitos, who then told everyone how good they were in Spanish.
As one of the announcers does a Ron Simmons impression, Will Davison, after knocking down the entrance set, takes on Tom Beattie, who is clearly in need of a dose of Clearasil. In an enjoyable bout pitting speed against power, the commentators really don’t do this match justice by first fixating on the broken stage set, and secondly continuing with the poor Ron Simmons impersonation. The guy doing it sounded like he was about to sing Old Man River throughout. But back to the bout, and young Beattie pinned Davison after a head-scissors, Davison having show-boated after his tiger bomb.
Then it’s time for the masked man, El Ligero, to take on Rob Hunter, a guy I haven’t seen in a while. A good and fast paced bout here, with the announcers thankfully returning to normality. Ligero took the win after a tornado DDT off the ropes.
More tag-team action next, as Danny Devine and Jules Redman take on Nemesis and Marcus Kool. A different kind of tag match here, and I have to say a lot more entertaining than the previous tag match, with some impressive moves from all four men. Devine picked up the pin here, taking Kool down after a butterfly face buster. After the bout, Kool decks Nemesis with a super kick, blaming him for the loss.
Then it’s time for Iceman’s Hardcore Invitational, as he takes on the Flying Dragon. This match is a brawl – literally. Both men spend an eternity brawling around the hall, and are thrown through the chairs several times. After Iceman takes a superplex onto thumbtacks, the big guy comes back and takes the Dragon down with a spinning fireman’s carry. Not a bad little match here, but could have done with more toys!
With Tom Beattie as the special referee, it’s main event time in a fatal four way bout to crown the first TBW Champion, featuring Jay Phoenix, Devilman, Shabazz and Samson. With Shabazz eliminated by disqualification, and Phoenix pinning Devilman after a low blow, Samson pinned Phoenix with a small package after Devilman came back and hit Phoenix below the belt with his kendo stick while the referee took a snooze.
In conclusion – not bad for a debut show. Although lacking in some areas, the good stuff more than made up for this, and I was particularly impressed with the performances of Beattie, Ligero and Devilman. Production-wise, this is the first WAR production I’ve seen with commentators, and although they tended to stray at times, Kenny Casanova and Marty Vain did well, although the Ron Simmons parody was poor, and wasn’t really needed. But overall, not a bad little show here.
With thanks to Jamie Worthing and TBW for supplying a copy of this DVD. For more information on TBW, log onto www.tbwrestling.co.uk.
