THE TWO SHEDS REVIEW by Julian Radbourne
E-mail: twosheds316@aol.com
Website: www.twoshedsreview.com
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G’day cobbers! This edition of The Two Sheds Review is taking it’s first ever trip down under to the suburb of Richmond in Melbourne, Australia, to take a look at Greystoke Entertainment’s debut Wrestlerock 1 show, which was held at the Corner Hotel in Richmond this past May.
We begin with a look at the pre-show press conference, which includes promo clips from various wrestlers, a well put together piece to introduce the show. We’re then introduced to our announcers for the evening, Chris Fresh and Julian James, who is also acting as ring announcer for the show. We then get the chance to meet ring girl Emily Grace, certainly the nicest looking person on the show this evening, as she proceeds to throw a few t-shirts to the ringsiders.
We then move on to your first match, as the Rock ‘N’ Roller Laser goes against Trikki D. Before the match begins, Daniel Swagger, who had to pull out of this match because of injury, comes down to ringside. The first noticeable thing is that the announcers are doing their job over the venue’s public address system, so those in attendance can hear the commentary as well. The match starts off slowly, and it’s a few minutes before the cruiserweights break out the high-flying stuff. But just as things get turned up a notch, the Vanity Inc faction arrive on the stage, and call a halt to the contest. Their leader, Jack Pott, gives a profanity-laden promo before his men, Stefan Kool and Blade challenge Trikki and Laser to a tag match later in the show. In case you’re wondering, the Trikki/Laser bout was ruled a no contest.
Next up, the first ever Hardcore Hotel match, with “Red Hot†Ricky Diamond opening the place for business, with Mad Dog answering Diamond’s opening challenge. While it’s not the best hardcore match I’ve seen, it was entertaining in it’s own way, and even though some of the weapons shots looked a little weak, when Mad Dog slammed Diamond from the ring through a ringside table, now that look good. Afterwards, Dog rolled Diamond back into the ring so he could get the winning pinfall.
We then move away from the action with a ceremony to honour Australia legend Ox. After Emily Grace gives him his lifetime achievement award, and Julian James says a few words afterwards, promising a video package, Sebastian Walker and the massive Canadian Bulldog interrupt things, presenting a video of their own, which isn’t exactly complimentary to Ox. Ox then throws down a challenge to Walker and the Bulldog, which is answered by Walker’s introduction of Khanish, an MMA fighter from the Lebanon. Khanish gets in a few good shots, but Ox ends up destroying him, while continually doing his flies up and top button throughout the exchanges.
Time for the main event, tag-team action as Laser and Trikki D take on Stefan Kool and Blade, along with their manager Jack Pott. A pretty good match, with Kool really impressing, and a controversial ending, with Rohan Herbstreit appearing out of nowhere, and distracting the referee so Blade could hit Trikki with a brief case, getting the pin moments later. Then, as Rohan proceeds to insult the crowd, the massive Steve Frost comes down to the ring, as Rohan and his men run for cover. However, Frost then attacked Trikki and Laser, as well as chokeslamming the injured Daniel Swagger. Rohan then gave Frost a title belt, proclaiming him the first Wrestlerock champion, and as Frost is about to cause more damage, Mad Dog, compete with barbwire chair, comes to the ring to clean house and to bring the show to an end.
The DVD extras are many and plentiful, and include the Wrestlerock press conference, a couple of matches, as well as a round-up video.
In conclusion – debut shows are always tricky to review. Wrestlerock 1 has it’s good and bad points. Some of the wrestling seemed a but hit and miss at times, but then again that may be because I’ve never seen any of these guys before. Production-wise, the majority of it can’t be faulted. The atmosphere of the small venue was captured perfectly. Chris Fresh and Julian James did a good job on commentary, although I’d have preferred it if the commentary wasn’t relayed through the venue’s sound system, but recorded onto a proper soundtrack on the DVD. But in all, Wrestlerock shows a lot of promise, and hopefully I’ll be able to see more of their shows soon.
With thanks to Rohan Herbstreit for supplying a copy of this release. To find out more information on Wrestlerock and their upcoming shows, visit www.wrestlerock.com.au.
