Sunday, July 30, 2006

UPW Home of the Brave II - Blood Sweat and Glory

1. The Thrillaz vs. The Urban Outlaws - 2
2. Keiji Sakoda vs. Solo Sunka - 3
3. Skulu vs. Smelly - 3
4. Hardcore Kidd vs. Al Katrazz - No Holds Barred Respect - 3
5. First-Ever Vixen's Rumble - 4
6. Samoa Joe vs. Steve Corino - 5
7. Ballard Bros. vs. Native Blood - 5
8. "Future" Frankie Kazarian vs. B-Boy - 6
9. Tom Howard and Preadtor vs. Shinjio Ohtani and Masato Tanaka
10. DVD Bonus - Tom Howard vs. Shinya Hasimoto - Japan - 5

A store was closing down and getting rid of all of their product. I had a giftcard from the holidays and picked this up on a complete whim. It was a mistake. This was almost unbearable to sit through, it was lit terribly, and the one, boring ass camera angle did little to help matters. All you have to do is look at the names of the two tag teams in the opener and you'll know they'll never rise above this level. I wanted Sakoda and Snuka to be better than it was--thanks for letting me down, guys. Skulu and Smelly... again, all you have to do is look at their names and you know this is bottom of the barrel indy crap. Are we actually supposed to take a guy named Smelly seriously as an athlete? Would you actually want to put your title on and have your company represented by a guy named Smelly? The Katrazz versus Kid bout is some kind of convoluted hardcore mess, including a tame brawl outside. The women's battle royal is uninspired, and only entertaining in the same way a public execution used to be. Independent wrestling's two favorite sons, Corino and Joe, give us an unimaginative match. This was way below all expectations, but then again, Cornio has been calling in his performances since '01. Ballard Bros. and Native Blood is a more traditional tag team match, and not all together bad for what it's worth. Kazarian and B-Boy steal the show, which isn't saying much, and have a fairly enjoyable match to watch. The main event was disappointing, which seems to be a trend with this show. I used to be a huge Ohtani mark in the 90's when he was this spunky fresh-faced kid in Japan, kicking people's faces in. Now, he looks old, rugged, and like he lost that fire. Tanaka, who usually always delivers, gave an understated performance. They flew over to the states for this crap? The bonus match, from Japan, isn't that long nor special, but it's intense and a welcomed change from the rest of the DVD.

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